South Africa: Task team to fast-track Marianhill police station construction

The KwaZulu-Natal provincial government has recommended the establishment of a multi-agency task team that will fast-track the construction of a new police station in Mariannhill, near Pinetown.

Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs MEC, Siboniso Duma, made the announcement during his oversight visit to the Marriannhill Police Station on Sunday.

Duma, who is also a leader of government business, led the provincial government delegation during the Premiers Crime-Fighting Imbizo, held at KwaNdengezi sport field.

Duma said the move to build the new police station follows Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncubes announcement on drastic interventions to take the war to criminals and build safer communities, made during the State of the Province Address in February.

Mariannhill has made headlines due to acts of extreme violence and wanton shootings of people by brazen criminals.

These include five people who were gunned down in a vehicle repair workshop in February and 14 people killed in separate incidents, which left the community living in fear.

The construction of the new police station is the provincial governments commitment to increase law enforcement in KwaNdengezi and surrounding areas, which are serviced by Mariannhill and KwaNdengezi police stations.

Duma said the National Department of Public Works and Infrastructure Development, together with eThekwini Municipality, have identified land to build a new police station in Mariannhill.

Once formed, the task team which will include three spheres of government, will meet regularly to clear all bottlenecks that may delay the construction of the new police station.

The MEC said the police station will be a modern facility with advanced technology, which will respond to the provincial governments resolve to confront crime head on and close all spaces for criminals.

The new police station will go a long way in fighting rampant crime in Mariannhill, Mariannridge, Dassenhoek, KwaNdengezi and surrounding areas. As government, we cannot rest on our laurels while our communities are held at ransom by criminals who kill with impunity.

The new police station will allow for quicker response times to emergency situations, provide a more visible policing and offer specialised services to the community.

Duma condemned the multiple killings of people, including the proliferation of drug dens and drug abuse by young people in these areas, and urged the communities to work with government and police to root out crime in KwaZulu-Natal.

Police officers who are suspected of colluding with criminals in the commission of crime in the area were also condemned. Meanwhile law enforcement officers were urged to operate in a fair and just manner, while serving the community.

However, Duma warned that building a new police station alone may not be enough to address the root causes of crime in the community.

Addressing poverty, inequality, and social ills also plays a critical role in reducing crime rate, he said.

The MEC also visited KwaNdengezi Police station to monitor crime and gender-based violence (GBV) cases, as well as challenges faced by the police stations.

During his visit to the two police stations, Duma unveiled two park homes that will serve as victim-friendly rooms where GBV victims will receive psycho-social support.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2023-04-17. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Xiplomacy: China and Brazil -- friends oceans away

Xinhua) 08:06, April 17, 2023

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his wife receive flowers presented by children from the Shanghai Children's Palace of the China Welfare Institute and pose for a photo with them upon arrival in Shanghai, east China, April 12, 2023.

Ever since China and Brazil established diplomatic ties 49 years ago, the two countries have maintained close high-level exchanges and solid political mutual trust.

BEIJING, April 16 (Xinhua) -- "I've gotten a job, bought a sofa and a refrigerator with the money I earned, plastered the exteriors of my house with cement, have access to the Internet at home, and learned how to make business contacts, purchase and market online. All my dreams have come true," Marlene Araujo Dias told Xinhua.

Living in a forested village in the northern Brazilian state of Tocantins named Malhadinha, Araujo Dias is one of the many locals feeling their lives have changed since the launch of a Chinese-built fruit processing plant in August 2021. The change, which Araujo Dias described as "turning plain water into red wine," epitomizes close cooperation between the two countries oceans away.

The latest state visit of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to China, during which he and Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks, has mapped out an even brighter future for bilateral ties, where the two biggest developing countries and emerging markets in the Eastern and Western hemispheres work together to deliver greater benefits to the two peoples, and play a more important and positive role for peace, stability and prosperity in their regions and around the world.

"FRIENDSHIP IS LIKE A BOTTLE OF WINE"

"Friendship is like a bottle of wine, the older, the better." This Brazilian proverb quoted by Xi during his visit to Brazil in 2014 was repeated by Lula on Thursday when he praised the relationship between the two countries as "extraordinary" in China.

Ever since China and Brazil established diplomatic ties 49 years ago, the two countries have maintained close high-level exchanges and solid political mutual trust. In 1993, Brazil became the first developing country to establish a strategic partnership with China, and in 2012 that partnership was upgraded to a comprehensive strategic one. From 2006 to 2022, the China-Brazil High-Level Coordination and Cooperation Committee held six meetings, pushing for continuous fruits in all-round bilateral practical cooperation.

Agricultural products, minerals and petroleum have been pillars in the economic cooperation between China and Brazil. Investment from China in infrastructure and projects for the public good has benefited Brazilians. Moreover, the opening of a new cargo air route linking the southern Chinese metropolis Shenzhen to Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city, earlier in April is expected to further stimulate e-commerce trade between the two countries.

High-level interactions have become more frequent in recent years, too. In July 2014, Xi went to Brazil to attend the sixth BRICS summit, and met with leaders from the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. In November 2019, he travelled to Brazil again to attend the 11th BRICS summit. Lula, an old friend of the Chinese people who has visited China multiple times, chose China as his first destination outside the Americas after taking over the Brazilian presidency early this year.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visits an exhibition hall on the latest development in digital technology and digital economy at the Shanghai Research Center of Huawei in Shanghai, east China, April 13, 2023. (Xinhua/Gao Feng)

Stressing that China always sees its relationship with Brazil as a high priority on its diplomatic agenda, Xi said Friday that "China welcomes more high-quality products from Brazil into its market. China will actively explore greater synergy between its Belt and Road Initiative and Brazil's reindustrialization strategy."

The two countries have also jointly played an important role in today's turbulent world, communicating and coordinating closely within such multilateral frameworks as the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, BRICS and the Group of 20.

Facing global changes of a magnitude unseen in a century, China and Brazil are resolved to practice true multilateralism, advocate the common values of humanity, work for a more just and equitable international governance system, truly safeguard the common interests of developing countries and international justice and equity, and build a community with a shared future for mankind, Xi said Friday.

Lula said Brazil stands ready to work with China to contribute to developing countries' efforts to shake off unfair rules and realize a fairer and more balanced development.

"NEW RECORD IN TRADE"

Moored at the Port of Acu in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Chinese supertanker YUAN PENG YANG quietly awaits its departure for Asia once it is fully loaded with containers of Brazilian crude oil.

Vinicius Patel, director of the Port Administration, told Xinhua that exporting crude oil and iron ore to China has been one of the core businesses of the port since its operation in 2014.

"We signed new contracts with Chinese companies last year. Our exports to China have hit a new record," Patel said.

The buzz of the port is a stellar example of the booming trade between China and Brazil. "When I first visited Beijing, few analysts imagined that the Sino-Brazilian partnership would acquire the relevance it has today. Since then, our trade has multiplied 16-fold and China has become Brazil's main trading partner," Lula said in a written interview with Xinhua shortly before departing for his state visit to China.

"The value of our exports to China is greater than the sum of our exports to the United States and the European Union," he said, "China is a great engine for the Brazilian agro-industry."

China has been Brazil's biggest trade partner for 14 consecutive years, and Brazil is the first Latin American country to hit a trading volume of over 100 billion U.S. dollars with China.

A container ship docks at Rio de Janeiro Port in Brazil, March 20, 2023. (Photo by Claudia Martini/Xinhua)

In 2022, two-way trade stood at 171.35 billion dollars. China imported 54.4 million tons of soybeans and 1.11 million tons of frozen beef from Brazil, taking up 59.72 percent and 41 percent of their total import amount, respectively, showed data from China's General Administration of Customs.

On Feb. 7, the People's Bank of China signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Central Bank of Brazil to establish RMB clearing arrangements in Brazil, a move experts say will improve bilateral trade efficiency and defuse external risks to provide an effective safeguard mechanism for trade between the two countries.

After the talks between Xi and Lula on Friday, the two presidents witnessed the signing of various bilateral cooperation documents on trade and investment, digital economy, scientific and technological innovation, information and communications, poverty reduction, quarantine, space and others.

Gustavo Biscassi, head of External Affairs of Brazil's mining giant Vale, told Xinhua that for his company, which has been exporting products to China for the last 50 years, "China is not only our largest market, but also a critical supplier for the mining, infrastructure and logistics equipment and services."

"We are looking forward to continuing our close cooperation with China in the next 50 years," he said.

"WHEN CULTURES COME TOGETHER"

On Jan. 19, red lanterns, Chinese paper-cuts and lion dances decorated the ancient Brazilian city of Recife. Hundreds of Brazilians gathered at the city's Marco Zero Square on this very day, not only to mark the arrival of the Year of the Rabbit, but also to celebrate the inclusion of the Chinese New Year into Recife's official calendar.

"Our historical heritage, with the reception of the light show of China, is as if the two cultures are united ... and talk a little to the world that brotherhood between peoples is possible. And that, how beautiful it is when cultures come together!" said City Councilor Cida Pedrosa.

"The relationship between peoples is extremely important, because what makes a culture flow and (stay) alive is when one culture meets another culture," she said.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks at the inauguration ceremony of the new president of the New Development Bank (NDB), Dilma Rousseff, former Brazilian President, at the bank's headquarters in Pudong, Shanghai, east China, April 13, 2023. (Xinhua/Gao Feng)

On Sept. 19, 2022, Recife okayed a decree proposed by Pedrosa to establish the Chinese New Year as an official holiday in the city. In early February this year, the city of Foz do Iguacu in southern Brazil also decided to make the Chinese New Year celebration an annual event.

Cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries have been flourishing over the years, for example, in sports, medicine and the arts. Fourteen Confucius Institutes have been established in Brazil, the most among Latin American countries, and Brazil has set up a national festival to celebrate every August the arrival of Chinese immigrants to Brazil.

In February 2021, the first Chinese school in Brazil opened in Rio de Janeiro. Two years later, the two countries launched virtual courses for teaching Chinese language and culture to beginners.

China and Brazil need to capitalize on the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations next year to carry out more people-to-people exchanges, and cultivate stronger public support for Sino-Brazilian friendship, Xi said Friday.

Similarly, Lula said he has full confidence that Brazil-China relations will embrace a brighter future.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Hailey library to host People of the Moon on Thursday

The Hailey Public Library will celebrate Earth Day with a talk by former park ranger Ted Stout from his new book, People of the Moon, on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Town Center West, 116 S. River St.

Stout will share insights, stories and historical images about the vast and fascinating lava fields at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, located about 45 minutes from the Wood River Valley. To illustrate the book, the Stout drew from extensive park archives as well as collections at Boise State University, United States Geological Survey and other institutions.

Craters of the Moon is a fascinating place in every season and has a rich geological and cultural history, Kristin Fletcher, the librarys programs and engagement manager, said in a news release. Ted really knows the Monument and will share many personal stories. Hes also conducted extensive research and tracked down incredible historical images.

For more information, call the library at 208-788-2036 or go online to www.haileypubliclibrary.org.

Idaho officials warn of scams targeting small business

Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador and Secretary of State Phil McGrane have issued a warning to the states small businesses about misleading ads offering business compliance filings including certificates of existence or UCC statements.

The mailings, which demand large fees, look like government forms and include deadlines to create a false sense of urgency, according to a news release from the Secretary of States Office.

Ive directed my Consumer Protection Division to investigate these deceptive mailings, Labrador said in the release. Idahos small business owners shouldnt have to deal with scams like these.

Any Idaho business that has lost money to a business compliance company can file a complaint with the Attorney Generals Office at https://www.ag.idaho.gov/.

Also:

Forensic chemist Cat Helms

will talk about the deadly poison taxine found in ornamental yew during Lunch & Learn session on Tuesday from noon to 1 p.m. at Town Center West in Hailey, 116 S. River St.

 Times-News
On the morning of April 9, one of the Northwests largest cross-governmental efforts in recent years  involving the the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes Fish and Game Department, Idaho Fish and Game, Idaho State Police and the Idaho Transportation Department  got underway in a rural area in eastern Idaho, along Interstate 15 south of Blackfoot.

The objective: Moving about 600 elk to the east side of the freeway, some distance from people and traffic.

It was not a sudden appearance for the animals. Back before Christmas, Fort Hall law enforcement was reporting large herds of elk and deer have migrated onto the Reservation, along with numerous moose. Winter conditions have pushed these animals to lower elevations along I-15, I-86 and nearby Reservation roadways, posing a potential hazard to motorists.

Area governments took notice and made some attempts to help, but the elk, as is their wont, were persistent.

That might seem a one-off of odd wildlife news except that, increasingly in the last few years, Idahoans living in cities have been getting a lot more up-close and personal experience of wildlife than once was the case.

Its not just Idaho, of course: People all over the country are reporting more encounters with the wild.

Travis Gallo, who teaches urban ecology at George Mason University in northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., remarked that, Animals are just savvy, and theyre starting to adapt because development is pushing them into cities. (Such as Washington, which is developing a sort of wildlife-relations program.)

But as Idaho has grown and as climate has shifted in recent decades, the critters are moving into human settlements.

The Department of Fish and Game has cautioned residents around Boise as well as other Idaho cities to keep their pets well protected and possibly indoors as much as possible during the upcoming coyote denning season.

It also specifically alerted people around Twin Falls and elsewhere in the Magic Valley about increasing reports of coyote and fox activity  [One encounter] involved a fox that aggressively approached a man walking through a large vacant lot near Fred Meyer in Twin Falls. The report also noted that domestic cats have disappeared from the neighborhood.

And those reports only skim the surface. Within the last month, just that one department reported (these are headlines from their news releases):

April 11:

Fish and Game officer shoots dog for chasing and killing a deer in Pocatello

April 10:

Juvenile mountain lion caught in residential chicken coop in Hailey

April 10:

Coyote conflicts with off-leash dogs continue in the Boise foothills

March 30:

F&G captures mountain lion in Ammon neighborhood

March 21:

Mountain lions continue to be active throughout the Wood River Valley

March 20:

F&G continues to monitor mountain lion activity in McCall

Again, its not that weve never seen any of this kind of thing before. Its that were seeing more of it.

What this gets to is, we need to consider our relationship with the wild world.

One immediate response, this being Idaho, would be: Just shoot em. And therell be cases where extreme measures will be needed, maybe including more creative hunting options. But for the most part, that wont suffice; studies have shown that when animal populations dwindle sharply, increased reproduction tends to compensate.

Idaho, like other places, likely will need to employ a variety of responses, from coordinated efforts like the Blackfoot elk-movers, to greater care in keeping attractants  like food and small animals  away from hungry or predatory wildlife.

Maybe a little less comfortably, Idaho may want to take a look at how it manages its growth. Some of the increased interaction between people and wildlife grows out of the expansion of people living in and taking over areas where animals were accustomed to traveling and eating.

The possible answers are several. This belongs on the agenda for Idaho governments going forward.
Countries such as the Philippines may look at Japans success in significantly reducing the smoking problem with the introduction of heated tobacco producta smoke-free alternative that carries far less harm than traditional cigarettes.

Currently approved smoking cessation strategies such as quitting cold turkey, prescription medicines and nicotine replacement therapy do not work for many smokers. For such smokers as well as those who do not want to quit, heated tobacco products provide a less harmful alternative, said Dr. Peter Harper, a consultant medical oncologist at Guys and St. Thomas Hospital in London and chairman of the Toulouse Cancer Centre in France.

An independent study found that heated tobacco has accelerated the decline in cigarette sales in Japan. Researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina and at the University of Ottawa said the acceleration in the decline in cigarette sales in Japan since 2016 does, in fact, correspond to the introduction and growth of sales of heated tobacco products in the country.

BONDS by IQOS

This provides countries such as the Philippines an opportunity to help millions of smokers who would otherwise continue to smoke if not given an effective alternative.

The dramatic drop in smoking prevalence in Japan happened because of the availability of heated tobacco products which enabled many smokers, who would have otherwise continued to smoke cigarettes, to switch to less harmful smoke-free alternatives, said Dr. David Khayat, a professor of Oncology at Pierre et Marie Curie University and head of Medical Oncology at La Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital, both in Paris, and adjunct professor at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.

ADVERTISEMENT

Data show that after the introduction of heated tobacco in Japan in late 2014, combustible tobacco sales registered 9.5 percent in average annual decline from 2015 to 2018. In the Philippines, 1 in 4 adults are smokers and the annual smoking quit rate is a measly 4 percent.

PMIs local affiliate PMFTC Inc. introduced IQOS in 2020 and the more affordable BONDS by IQOS last year. These devices are specifically used with specially designed tobacco sticks called HEETS and BLENDS, respectively. Both products do not burn tobacco. They generate smoke-free aerosol instead of smoke.

The Japanese National Health and Nutrition Survey noted a profound decline in adult cigarette smoking prevalence following the introduction of heated tobacco products. While 20 percent of adults reported smoking every day or some days in 2014 (prior to the introduction of heated tobacco products), smoking prevalence dropped to 13 percent in 2019. The survey also showed that an overwhelming majority of heated tobacco users, 76 percent in 2019, did not report any cigarette smoking.

Heated tobacco products heat tobacco just enough to release a nicotine-containing aerosol without burning the tobacco. Because tobacco is heated and not burned, there is no smoke, and the levels of harmful and potentially harmful chemicals in the generated aerosols can be significantly reduced compared to cigarette smoke.

People smoke for nicotine but die from the burning of tobacco at over 350C. The combustion of tobacco generates smoke and ash containing a toxic mix of chemicals that causes serious health effects, including fatal lung diseases and cancer, said Harper.

Nicotine does not cause cancer. Doctors even prescribe nicotine replacement therapy to help smokers quit. Exposure to the carcinogens present in the smoke of combustible cigarette is what causes cancer. There is a dose-response relationship  the greater the exposure to a carcinogen, the higher the risk to develop cancer, said Khayat.

IQOS, the heated tobacco brand of Philip Morris International, was introduced in Nagoya, Japan in late 2014 as a city-pilot and launched nationwide in staggered phases through 2016. Data show that Following the introduction of IQOS, cigarette sales began to substantially decline in each of the Japanese regions from 2015 to 2016. Before this nationwide launch, total tobacco sales in Japan declined at a rate of 1.8 percent on average between 2011 and 2015.

Japan has the highest prevalence of heated tobacco use in the world and is the country where heated tobacco products have captured the highest share of the tobacco market. PMI research revealed that heated tobacco uptake in Japan coincided with an accelerated decline in the sales of the predominant combustible tobacco categories, cigarettes and cigarillos in the country. Across all brands, heated tobacco products reached almost one third of the total tobacco market in Japan by 2021.

The introduction of IQOS was the most likely explanation for the remarkably progressive decline in cigarette sales in Japan, according to researchers working for the American Cancer Society who published their study in the British Medical Journals Tobacco Control. The independent study looked at 2014-2018 cigarette sales data from 11 of Japans 12 regions, representing 99 percent of the countrys population, and 72 percent of all cigarette sales.

Aside from the launch of heated tobacco, the researchers investigated other potential causes for the decline, such as pricing, stricter regulations, the availability of competing heated tobacco products, or even just chance. They determined that those factors were unlikely to be the main causes of the decline in cigarette sales.

Furthermore, the downward trend of combined tobacco sales continued even after the launch of heated tobacco. This can be interpreted to mean that it did not lead to an increase in overall tobacco consumption, and that many smokers in Japan, who would have otherwise continued to smoke cigarettes, have switched to heated tobacco.

Meanwhile, a peer-reviewed study that looked at real-world data from the Japan Medical Data Center insurance claims database found a statistically significant reduction in hospitalization rates for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (and ischemic heart disease in Japan after the introduction of hweated tobacco products.

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.


At least four people were killed and several injured in a Saturday night shooting at a teen birthday party in Alabama, in the latest deadly spasm of American gun violence.

Local news reports said the shooting occurred at a Sweet 16 party at a dance studio in Dadeville, a small town northeast of the state capital Montgomery, with at least 20 people shot.

There were four lives tragically lost in this incident, and theres been a multitude of injuries, Sergeant Jeremy Burkett, a spokesman for the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA), told reporters Sunday.

Annette Allen told the Montgomery Advertiser that her grandson Phil Dowdell was among those who died: he had been celebrating his sister Alexiss 16th birthday when gunfire ripped through the party.

He was a very, very humble child. Never messed with anybody. Always had a smile on his face, Allen said of her grandson, a high school senior due to graduate within weeks. She said Dowdells mother was also shot and wounded.

ADVERTISEMENT

Everybodys grieving, Allen said of the small community of some 3,000 residents.

More than 12 hours after the tragedy, neither Burkett nor other law enforcement officials provided any details on who may have perpetrated the shooting and why, whether a suspect has been detained or identified, or specifically how many people were injured and what their ages are.

We cant share anything further at this time, the sergeant said, adding only that it was tied to a birthday party.

Local media and witnesses have said several wounded people, many of them teens, were transported to local hospitals for medical attention.

Dadeville Chief of Police Jonathan Floyd called the town a tight-knit community full of wonderful people.

ALEA said its State Bureau of Investigations has launched a probe together with Dadeville police and federal agencies including the FBI.

Television station WRBL of nearby Columbus, Georgia reported heavy police activity overnight and crime scene tape around a building in Dadeville, where it said white sheets could be seen covering parts of the floor.

Heartbreaking



State leaders took to Twitter Sunday offering prayers and decrying violence but they did not provide details on what happened.

This morning, I grieve with the people of Dadeville and my fellow Alabamians, state Governor Kay Ivey posted. Violent crime has NO place in our state, and we are staying closely updated by law enforcement as details emerge.

US Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, called the shooting heartbreaking.

The United States, a country of around 330 million people, is awash with some 400 million guns, and deadly mass shootings are a regular occurrence.

The latest deaths came on the 16th anniversary of the deadliest school shooting on record in the United States, in which 32 people were killed at Virginia Tech in 2007.

Separately, police confirmed two people were killed and four others wounded in a shooting late Saturday at a crowded park in Louisville, Kentucky, the same city where a bank employee slaughtered five people at his workplace last Monday.

There have been 163 mass shootings in the United States so far in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The non-profit group defines a mass shooting as having a minimum of four victims shot, either injured or killed, excluding any shooter.

Efforts to tighten gun controls have for years run up against opposition from Republicans, staunch defenders of the constitutional right to bear arms.

The political paralysis endures despite widespread outrage over recurring shootings.

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.
A US warship sailed through the waters separating Taiwan and mainland China, the US Navy said, days after Beijing staged war games around the self-ruled island.

Led by the United States, multiple Western navies regularly conduct freedom of navigation operations to assert the international status of regional waterways such as the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.

The USS Milius guided-missile destroyer conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit April 16 (local time) through waters where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law, the US Navy said in a statement.

The ship transited through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal State.

This was the first such US operation through the waterway since January.

ADVERTISEMENT

The US 7th Fleet shared images Monday on Twitter of crew looking out into the strait, one of the most crucial waterways in the world for international shipping.

China said on Monday it had tracked a US warship through the Taiwan Strait, adding that the United States had hyped up the transit.

Colonel Shi Yi, a Chinese military spokesman, said troops in the area remain on a high level of alert at all times and will resolutely defend national sovereignty and security as well as regional peace and stability.

China claims Taiwan as its territory and has vowed to bring the island under its control one day. It also claims the entire Taiwan Strait as its territorial waters.

Taiwans defence ministry said on Monday that during the vessels transit, its military had closely monitored the dynamics in our surrounding sea and airspace, and the situation was normal.

War games 

China launched three days of military exercises around Taiwan on April 8, simulating targeted strikes and a blockade of the island.

The drills were in response to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wens recent visit to the United States, where she met with Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy.

Beijing bristles at any official contact between Taipei and foreign governments.

On the final day of last weeks drills, Taiwans defence ministry said 54 Chinese planes crossed into Taiwans southwestern and southeastern air defence identification zone (ADIZ)  the highest recorded in a single day since October 2021.

That same day, the USS Milius sailed through waters claimed by Beijing in the South China Sea.

That deployment triggered condemnation from China, which said the vessel had illegally intruded into its territorial waters.

Since the war games ended, Chinese warships and aircraft have continued to circle Taiwan.

On Monday, Taipeis defence ministry said it had detected four warships and 18 aircraft, four of which had crossed its southwestern ADIZ.

The guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon sailed through the Taiwan Strait on January 5, months after McCarthys predecessor Nancy Pelosi visited the island.

Pelosis trip sparked Chinas largest-ever war games around Taiwan.

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.
The COVID-19 positivity rate in the National Capital Region (NCR) maintained its upward movement in the past week, posting a 7.2 percent last weekend, based on data by independent monitoring group OCTA Research on Monday.

OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David said the percentage of people who were found positive for COVID-19 in NCR among the total number of individuals tested there slightly went up from 6.5 percent on April 8, to 7.2 percent on April 15.

Official figures suggested the coronavirus has infected at least 4.08 million and killed 66,441 since it swept ashore in March 2020.

High positivity rates were also recorded in three provinces: Misamis Oriental (22.7 percent), Camarines Sur (21.1 percent), and Rizal (20.2 percent).

There was also an increase observed in Benguet, Bulacan, Cavite, Cebu, Laguna, Pampanga, Pangasinan, and Zamboanga del Sur.

ADVERTISEMENT

The countrys daily average of new COVID-19 cases also increased by 23 percent from April 10 to 16, the Department of Health reported Monday.

The DOH posted 341 daily infections from 278 recorded between April 3 to 9.

Overall, there were 2,386 new cases and 20 verified deaths in the recent week.

During the same week, the tally of severe and critical infections went down to 356 from the previous 378.

Only 12.3 percent or 234 out of the 1,900 intensive care unit (ICU) beds are in use, while 17.4 percent or 2,929 of 16,791 non-ICU beds are utilized.

At least 78,443,972 or 100.4 percent of the countrys target population (78,100,578) have been vaccinated against COVID-19, including 82.16 percent of 8,721,357 senior citizens, as of March 19.

A total of 23,811,248 have received booster shots out of the fully vaccinated population.

To date, the country has logged over 4.08 million coronavirus cases and more than 66,420 fatalities.

The Philippines on Sunday logged 443 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the active tally to 9,569.

NCR remained to be the region with the newest COVID-19 cases in the last two weeks with 1,344 cases.

It was followed by Calabarzon with 493, Davao Region with 446, Northern Mindanao with 301, and BARMM with 232.

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.
By Macon Ramos-Araneta and Rey E. Requejo

The Chinese Embassy in Manila said Ambassador Huang Xilian was misquoted after he drew flak for saying the Philippines should deny American troops access to its bases if it cared about the fate of 150,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Taiwan.

In a tweet Sunday, the embassy said Huangs remarks were either misquoted or misinterpreted or simply taken out of context.

The embassy provided a transcript of his speech to set the record straight.

Some tried to find excuse for the new EDCA (Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement) sites by citing the safety of the 150,000 OFWs in Taiwan, while China is the last country that wishes to see conflict over the Strait because people on both sides are Chinese, the official transcript of Huangs speech read.

ADVERTISEMENT

But we will not renounce the use of force, and we reserve the option of taking all necessary measures. This is to guard against external interference and all separatist activities.

The Philippines is advised to unequivocally oppose Taiwan independence rather than stoking the fire by offering the US access to the military bases near the Taiwan Strait if you care genuinely about the 150,000 OFWs, it also read.

The last part of the statement drew criticism from administration officials as well as the opposition.

The Department of National Defense and National Security Council said the Philippines was not meddling in Chinas affairs with Taiwan.

NSC spokesperson Jonathan Malaya, while stressing the countrys principle of non-interference, chided the ambassador for what was seen as a veiled threat.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had also said the four new EDCA sitesincluding two near Taiwan would not be used for offensive attacks.

On April 3, the Philippines announced it would give the United States military access to four new bases on top of the existing five under EDCA: two in Cagayan, one in Isabela, and another on Balabac Island in Palawan.

The Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO), meanwhile, said China has no control over the employment of OFWs in Taiwan, which acts independently in hiring foreign workers.

MECO chairman Silvestre Bello III, a former Labor secretary, said there were actually almost 200,000 OFWs in Taiwan, and that their welfare and interest were all well protected.

He said Taiwans Ministry of Labor is even coordinating with the Department of Migrant Workers to hire more Filipino teachers and hospitality workers, and even fishermen and farmers.

He said there was no cause for alarm, despite rising tension in the Taiwan Strait.

Bello also said he saw no relation between the welfare and protection of OFWs and EDCA, which grants US troops access to designated Philippine military facilities and allows them to build facilities, and preposition equipment, aircraft, and vessels. Permanent basing, however, is prohibited.

Our OFWs are in good condition. There is no cause for alarm. I will be the first one to tell all of you if there is an emergency situation. But right now, there is no tension. Taiwan is very normal, he said in Filipino.

Also on Monday, the Department of Foreign Affairs said the Philippines has a contingency plan to rescue thousands of OFWs in Taiwan in case they get affected by the rising tension in the Taiwan Strait.

Meanwhile, former National Security Adviser Clarita Carlos said China practically pushed the Philippines into the arms of the United States with its continuing aggression in the West Philippine Sea.

We have to walk that fine line between leaning for our military and defense towards the United States of America and leaning on commerce and trade and other relationship, social and cultural, with China, Carlos said on ANCs Headstart.

Please, from your end, you only need to change your behavior in the South China Sea, and believe me, there will be a sea change in our relationship with your country, she said, addressing Chinese officials.

Senator Francis Tolentino proposed that the countrys Balikatan exercises should prepare for a sea evacuation of OFWs in Taiwan if geopolitical tensions with China escalate.

He said the simulation of an evacuation should be included in upcoming drills as a precautionary measure.

Tolentino, also the vice-chairman of the Senate committee on foreign relations, reminded Huang that EDCA and the Balikatan exercises were not designed for any skirmishes in the Taiwan Strait but rather for the protection of the Republic of the Philippines.

EDCA is for the protection of the Philippines. This is not to project military force outside the jurisdiction of the Philippines, he said.

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada urged the government to exhaust all means to ensure that the OFWs in Taiwan are safe and that they are repatriated if it becomes necessary.

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.
We cannot fathom the statement of Beijings ambassador to Manila Huang Xilian the Philippines is stoking the fire of regional tension by offering expanded military base access to the United States.

Huang told a recent forum: Facts speak louder than words. Obviously, the US intends to take advantage of the new EDCA sites to interfere in the situation across the Taiwan Strait to serve its geopolitical goals, and advance its anti-China agenda at the expense of peace and development of the Philippines and the region at large.

Psyched up, the Philippine government ridiculed the statement, saying Philippine bases will not be used as a staging point for American troops if war breaks out over Taiwan.

The Philippines has no intention of interfering in the Taiwan issue and will not allow itself to be used by other countries to interfere, National Security Council spokesperson and Assistant Director-General Jonathan Malaya said in a statement.

National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano has made our position clear the increased security cooperation between the Philippines and the United States is meant to develop and strengthen the capabilities of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to enable it to protect and defend the territory of the Philippines and is not meant to contain or counter any nation in the region or to interfere in another nations affairs, he added.

ADVERTISEMENT

That was s direct response to Huang who said the United States was using the Philippines and taking advantage of the situation in the Taiwan Strait to expand its military presence in the region.

Malaya said the country is only concerned in modernizing and improving the defense capability of the Philippine military which had been repeatedly confronted by bullies in the West Philippine Sea.

Earlier this month, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the Philippines would not allow bases being used by American troops as part of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement for launching offensive attacks.

We will not let any of our bases be used for whatever offensive action, Mr. Marcos said in Filipino at the sidelines of the Day of Valor commemoration in Bataan.

These are just to help the Philippines if the country needs any help..

EDCA, signed in 2014, underlines the strategic importance of the Philippines to its ally the United States, coming at a time of concern over Chinas conduct in the South China Sea and tension over self-ruled Taiwan.

The EDCA allows US access to Philippine bases for joint training, pre-positioning of equipment and building of facilities, but it is not a permanent presence and President Marcos Jr has assured China the bases would not be used in any offensive action.

His statement came with the successful conduct of the amphibious raid in the Balikatan 38-23 which reinforces the Philippine Navys commitment in ensuring national sovereignty, security and stability.

This years Balikatan started April 11 and will end on April 28.

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.
MAP supports a multi-sectoral approach to address malnutrition and child stunting

Manila, Philippines  In line with its mission to create a positive impact in nation-building, the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) has launched its campaign against malnutrition and child stunting in the country. Heeding the urgent calls to help solve this persistent societal problem that can imperil childrens ability to achieve a better quality of life, MAP has laid out initiatives that will complement the Philippine Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Project (PMNP). The goal is to contribute to the improvement of the overall nutritional status of Filipino children.

As a business group, we can have greater impact acting collectively in the fight against malnutrition and child stunting, said MAP President and BDB Law Founding Partner, Atty. Benedicta Dick Du-Baladad in a press conference with MAP partners, and members of the media.

We at MAP hope to expand our role beyond fund generation and philanthropy to a shared responsibility in addressing malnutrition in the country, participating in the programming and governance of nutrition strategies and interventions. It will be a shift from a transactional to a transformational partnership with the government, said Atty. Du-Baladad.

According to Du-Baladad, MAPs presence in the food, retail, healthcare, education and logistics industries, as well as other sectors could help leapfrog progress through interventions and actions that can contribute in addressing the countrys malnutrition problems effectively and sustainably. We will do our share and engage the private firms, organizations, and individuals to heed this call, starting with our own MAP members and expanding the circle to other groups so that together we can all work in building a more progressive future for the country, she added.

Dr. Cielito Ciel F. Habito, Governor-in-Charge for MAPs Cluster on Resilience and Recovery, discussed the magnitude of the problem and offered solutions that can be done to move forward.

ADVERTISEMENT

Child stunting is a major threat to the nations future, Dr. Habito shared. MAPs ecosystem is diverse and can potentially muster the collective strength of the private sector to mobilize and help the government achieve the countrys nutrition objectives. As we are among the leading employers in the country, MAP can strategically influence its network of employees in the delivery of support services like nutrition literacy. 

The Impact of Child Malnutrition

According to the World Bank, the Philippines has one of the worst cases of child stunting in the world, ranking fifth with the highest stunting prevalence among countries in the East Asia and Pacific Region, and is among the 10 worst countries in the world.

The World Health Organization (WHO) clarifies that stunting is a growth and development impairment of children resulting from poor nutrition, repeated infection and inadequate psychosocial stimulation. When this happens specifically during the first 1000 days from birth to 2 years of age, it can lead to adverse consequences that will limit a childs ability to reach his full mental, physical and economic potential.

We should be worried, said Du-Baladad, If the problem is not addressed in an urgent and decisive manner, we will be placing our countrys future in the hands of stunted children becoming adults whose capacity to be productive, competitive and creative are limited, thus affecting national development and progress.

Addressing malnutrition and child stunting requires a strong focus on governance, involving coordinated actions by many actors across sectors and across levels of government according to the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement. As such, the recent infusion of resources from the World Bank is expected to boost the PMNP with timely and critical support. The PMNP underscores the importance of holistic nutrition-sensitive programs that address key underlying determinants of nutrition. This includes food security, access to services, and environment, as well as nutrition-specific interventions or those that deal with the immediate causes of maternal and child malnutrition such as micronutrient deficiency, underweight, stunting, wasting and obesity.

The road ahead

MAP is committed to harnessing the contributions that various industries and sectors can extend to intensify the efforts towards reduction of child stunting. It will reach out to the agencies overseeing the national malnutrition program, such as the Department of Health, the National Nutrition Council, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development, and will pursue ways on how the private sector can further support the PMNP in reversing child stunting trends in the country.

MAP will actively seek for the governments declaration of child stunting as a priority national agenda and concrete actions that will be cascaded at the community level. Such national support can enable budget to be allocated to the initiative and resources can be made available to reorient feeding programs with greater emphasis on maternal nutrition, babies and toddlers, and form competition policy in agriculture and food value chains, among others.

Most importantly, MAP recommends an active pursuit of tripartite partnerships  business sector, government and community  for a whole-of-society approach in fighting malnutrition and child stunting and its adverse effects.

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.
King Mohammed VI, Commander of the Faithful, accompanied by Crown Prince Moulay El Hassan, Prince Moulay Rachid and Prince Moulay Ismail, chaired, on Sunday at the Royal Palace in Casablanca, the fifth religious lecture of the holy month of Ramadan that was delivered by Mufti of Tanzania Aboubakr Zoubeir Mbwana.

The lecture focused on the theme The symbolism of the Commandery of the Faithful and its presence in the religious thought of the Ulema of East Africa: Tanzania as an example.

The lecturer stressed that the Commandery of the Faithful ensures the protection of religious ends and the preservation of the provisions of the Islamic Shariah, in accordance with the supreme values of Islam, invoking the Quranic verse O believers! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger and those among you who are in command.

The logical manifestation of this is the consensus of the sages that no human society can be established and no stability can be achieved without Man submitting to an Imam who takes care of his condition, manages his affairs, and guarantees his tranquility, the lecturer said, adding that the practical manifestation of this lies in the Commandery of the Faithful, adopted by Omar Ibn Khattab, and perpetuated after him by the caliphs of the Muslims.

He noted that Morocco has not deviated from adherence to the Great Imamat, to which Moroccans have been attached since the second century of the Hegira, during the Idrissid era, and this attachment has continued to be linked to the Alawi Kings, as evidenced by your presidency of the institution of the Commandery of the Faithful, the preservation of its symbolism, and the care with which You discharge its obligations with sincerity and loyalty.

This is what makes You a unique example in the Muslim world, for it is one of the constants of the nation and a privilege for which God Almighty has distinguished You, he added.

Regarding the presence of the Great Imamat in the religious thought of African countries, in terms of belief, behavior and loyalty, the Mufti of Tanzania reviewed three axes, including the doctrinal path, the behavioral path and the loyalist path.

He noted in this connection that the ulema of Africa, aware of the place of the Great Imamate in Islamic research and its importance in the study of belief, have given it primary importance and considered it a duty to be contemplated in the person of one who has been distinguished by this divine honor.

Given the fact that most of the African ulema belonged to the Achaari doctrine, the Commandery of the believers occupied a central place in their religious and theological thinking, explained the lecturer.

In this regard, Professor Abu Bakr Zoubeir Mbuana highlighted the religious, spiritual and civilizational links that bind Morocco to Africa, the Sheikhs of Sufi brotherhoods in different countries of the continent considering Imarat Al Mouminine as an institution to which they are proud to belong and for which they do not cease to raise prayers to the Almighty to fill with His blessings King Mohammed VI, who placed Africa at the heart of his concerns.

The majority of Muslims in Africa have links with the institution of Imarat Al Mouminine in Morocco, through scientific travel and through the intermediary of sheikhs of Sunni Sufism, he noted.

The Mufti also underlined the Sovereigns efforts to fulfill his duty towards the African continent, efforts that are based, he said, on the spiritual ties uniting Morocco and Africa, which are manifested by the strengthening of feelings of affection and loyalty towards the Commander of the Faithful.

Our pride as Africans in the institution of the Commandery of the Faithful and what it represents as a religious symbol in African countries in general, is part of the continuity of the attachment of our ancestors to this institution throughout the history of the Moroccan State, he insisted, considering that it is a responsibility that has led several sub-Saharan regions and some African countries to perform the duty of allegiance, bayaa, to the Commander of the Faithful in Morocco.

In the same vein, the Mufti of Tanzania welcomed the initiatives launched by King Mohammed VI, through the institution of the Commandery of the Faithful, including the call to correct the image of Islam in world public opinion, and the great interest that the Sovereign takes in the Bayt Mal Al-Quds Asharif Agency to provide aid and support to the Palestinian population in the Holy City, as well as the creation of the Mohammed VI Center for the Dialogue of Civilizations in Chile in 2004, as a link for civilizational communication between Morocco and Latin America.

He also recalled the Kings initiative to create the Mohammed VI Foundation for African Ulema, which works to unify and coordinate the efforts of Muslim ulema, in Morocco and in the rest of African countries, to publicize, disseminate, and enshrine the values of tolerant Islam, highlighting the various scientific and cultural activities carried out by the institution.

Likewise, the lecturer hailed Moroccos tradition to build mosques in different African countries, a tradition perpetuated by King Mohammed VI.

For the Mufti of Tanzania, the components of the religious system in Morocco are considered the model and the beacon to follow.

At the end of this fifth lecture of the holy month of Ramadan, King Mohammed VI was greeted by Yahya Istaquf, President of the Ulema Revival Association in Indonesia; Abdelhakim Al Anis, Chief Researcher at the Department of Islamic Affairs and Charitable Action in Dubai; Mohamed Moussaoui, President of the Union of Mosques of France; Libyan theologian Abdelaziz Al Karoui; Ismail Lutfi Jafakia, president of Fatoni University in Thailand; Aziz Hassou Fitch, president of the Mashaikha Islamia in Croatia; and Arif Abdallah Sakrad, president of the Muslim community in Timur.

The Sovereign was also greeted by presidents of the section of the Mohammed VI Foundation of African Ulema in Liberia, Cameroon, and Benin.
Rifles, artillery and fighter jets were used in the capital and several cities in the country of 45 million people.

At least 97 civilians (56 on Saturday and 41 on Sunday) have died in clashes that began Saturday in Khartoum between Sudans regular army and a powerful paramilitary group. The fighting continued on Sunday for the second consecutive day in a power struggle between the two generals who have been in charge of the country since their coup in 2021.

Throughout the capital, men in fatigues, weapons in hand, strolled through streets empty of civilians, while columns of smoke have been rising since Saturday from the city center where the main institutions are located.

According to press reports, heavy gun battles are taking place between the military and paramilitary in the northern suburbs of Khartoum, as well as in the south of the city.

The international community, which watched helplessly as the coup detat took place in October 2021 and has since failed to convince the generals to sign a plan to end the crisis, has been calling for a cease-fire.

The Arab League met urgently on Sunday in Cairo, at the call of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, two influential players in Sudan, one of the poorest countries in the world, torn by war for decades.

On Sunday, the bombing resounded again in the deserted streets of Khartoum, which were filled with the smell of gunpowder. On social networks, doctors are still asking for help, safe corridors for ambulances and a ceasefire to treat the victims.

The military had warned on Facebook: The air force will conduct operations to finish with the rebel militias of the Rapid Support Force, civilians must stay at home.
The first operational Kenyan satellite was put into orbit last Saturday by a rocket of the company SpaceX which took off from California (United States), according to images of the American space company.

The launch, initially scheduled for last Monday evening had been postponed several times this week due to bad weather conditions in the United States.

On Saturday, a SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket took off at 06:48 GMT from the U.S. base of Vandenberg (California), before deploying an hour later several dozen satellites, including the Kenyan Taifa-1 (Nation-1 in Swahili).

Designed and developed by a team of Kenyan researchers, the satellite will provide data in the areas of agriculture and environmental monitoring in Kenya, valuable for the future of this East African country currently experiencing a historic drought.

In a joint statement last week, the Kenyan Ministry of Defense and the Kenyan Space Agency (KSA) touted a major milestone that should give a boost to Kenyas nascent space economy.

If we benefit directly from space exploration, we will be able to improve our food security, explained Pattern Odhiambo, an engineer at KSA, who participated in the project.

With the images of the multispectral camera of the satellite, we will be able to have high quality data of earth observation, it will help us to predict the yield of crops, he detailed.

Kenya had sent its first nano-satellite into space in 2018.

As of 2022, more than 50 African satellites have been sent into space, according to Space in Africa, a Nigerian company that tracks African space programs.

Egypt was the first country on the African continent to send a satellite into space in 1998.
Timosse Maquinze, former guerrilla leader of the armed arm of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), the main opposition force, demanded the resignation of party president Ossufo Momade, accusing him of proven inability to lead the party.

On behalf of the combatants present and not present [] we demand that Ossufo Momade resigns as president of Renamo, Timosse Maquinze said at a press conference last Saturday in the central Mozambican city of Beira.

According to Timosse Maquinze, the president of Mozambiques largest opposition party has systematically violated Renamos statutes, and therefore an extraordinary congress must be called to appoint a new leader, in a peaceful manner.

With the inability of President Ossufo Momade to lead Renamo proven, we demand that the president of the national council urgently calls an extraordinary congress so that, in a peaceful way, Renamo finds a leadership that corresponds to the wishes of the party members, said Timosse Maquinze.

These positions on Timosse Maquinze come when there is only one base of the former Renamo guerrilla left to close, under the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) process provided for in the peace agreement signed with the government of the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), the third understanding between the parties, all signed following cycles of violence.

This is the second time that an influential member of the armed arm of the largest opposition party in central Mozambique has called for Ossufo Momades departure since his election in 2019 following the death in 2018 of historic leader Afonso Dhlakama.

Months after Ossufo Momades election, Mariano Nhongo, also another influential party guerrilla leader, created the self-proclaimed Renamo Military Junta, a splinter group of the main opposition political force demanding Ossufo Momades departure.

Mariano Nhongo was shot dead in a forest in the district of Cheringoma, province of Sofala, center of the country, during an exchange of fire with a police patrol, after months of offensive by government forces aimed at stopping the armed attacks of his group, responsible for the death of more than 30 people in roads and villages in the provinces of Manica and Sofala, according to authorities.
A minister and a former minister of Equatorial Guinea are suspected of being involved in a case of embezzlement of public funds to the tune of ten billion CFA francs (15.2 million euros), announced the national television (TVGE).

The investigation focuses on a group of five Equatoguineans behind the creation of several fictitious companies since 2019, to obtain public contracts by forging the signature of the president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, in particular. The latter has been at the head of the state since 1979, and holds the world record for longevity in power for a head of state still alive, excluding monarchs.

The five were arrested and are being held at the gendarmerie in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, the third richest country in sub-Saharan Africa in terms of GDP per capita (World Bank, 2021), but ranked 172nd out of 180 countries in the Transparency International corruption barometer.

These individuals had created nine fictitious companies that offered maintenance services, public building maintenance and beach services, according to the TVGE, which added that these companies had concluded 24 fraudulent contracts with the government.

TVGE accuses in particular Rufino Ndong Esono Nchama, Minister of Culture, Tourism and Promotion of Crafts since 2017, and Valentin Ela Maye, who was Minister of Economy and Finance between 2020 and 2023, of having been in the pay of these fraudulent companies.

State television said the court was looking into their alleged links with certain fictitious companies, and said that these two important figures were each receiving five million CFA francs per month (about 7,600 euros).

The opening of the investigation was confirmed by a source close to the case who requested anonymity, saying that investigators are still trying to determine the number of people involved. The hearing of Mr. Nchama requires the authorization of the Prime Minister, TVGE said. When asked, the Ministry of Justice did not specify the nature of the charges against the suspects, nor the penalties they may incur.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

The deep learning framework, named CT-EMT, relies on evidential multi-task learning for predicting various cell types in Hematoxylin & Eosin-stained digital pathology images. CT-EMT effectively localizes the presence of nuclei, which further segments and categorizes the different cell types present in the given whole slide image. Credit: University of Eastern Finland

Researchers at the University of Eastern Finland have developed a cutting-edge deep learning model to predict the presence and to count various cell types in the tumor micro-environment. The multi-modal deep learning approach is expected to improve the accuracy and efficiency of cancer diagnostics and treatment planning.

Identifying the different types of cells present in the tumor micro-environment can provide valuable information about the tumor's histology and the underlying biology. Accurate and reliable cell type counting is also necessary for research and clinical applications. Researchers can use cell counts to study the distribution of different cell types in the tumor micro-environment and its association with patient outcomes. In clinical practice, cell counts can be used to monitor the response to therapy and track disease progression.

"There is a need for better methods for cell type counting in pathology images using deep learning approaches. Current approaches based on segmentation and regression have limitations such as requiring precise pixel-level annotations, difficulty in handling overlapping nuclei or obscured regions, and lack of information on individual cell type location. Additionally, probabilistic models tend to produce uncertain predictions and can result in over-confidence in predictions," says Doctoral Researcher Raju Gudhe, who contributed to developing the proposed approach in the Cancer AI research team at the Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Eastern Finland.

Performance evaluation of CT-EMT compared to the existing cell-type counting frameworks. The ground-truth annotations are overlayed on the original image patch. The bar-plot represents the estimated cell type counts with the colour codes given in the legend. Credit: University of Eastern Finland

The study, which was presented at SPIE Medical Imaging 2023 in San Diego, proposes a new evidential multi-task deep learning approach, in short CT-EMT, to address the limitations of current methods for cell type counting in whole slide tumor images. The proposed approach formulates cell type density estimation and cell type counting as regression tasks, and nuclei segmentation as a pixel-level classification task. The authors have trained and evaluated the model on two open-source datasets: PanNuke and MoNuSAC.

The proposed cell type segmentation and counting approach has outperformed the state-of-the-art HoVer-Net and the StarDist models with relative improvements of 21% and 12%, in terms of mean panoptic quality.

The developed model can provide compelling interpretations of diverse cell types and can be applied to various downstream tasks in computational pathology, such as tumor grading, prognosis, and treatment planning. This work will contribute to the development of more accurate and robust digital pathology tools that can assist pathologists and clinicians in diagnosing and treating cancer patients.

"The UEF Cancer AI research team aims to explore the potential of using deep learning technology in cancer and health data analysis," says Senior Researcher Hamid Behravan of the University of Eastern Finland.

"Our study will involve the development and evaluation of cutting-edge deep learning algorithms for analyzing cancer and various types of health-related data, including medical images, genomic data, and electronic health records. We believe that this approach has the potential to significantly improve the accuracy and efficiency of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment planning, as well as to facilitate the discovery of new insights and patterns in cancer data. We hope that our research will contribute to the advancement of precision medicine and the development of more effective and personalized approaches to breast cancer prevention and prognosis."

More information: Naga Raju Gudhe et al, Predicting cell type counts in whole slide histology images using evidential multi-task learning, Medical Imaging 2023: Digital and Computational Pathology (2023). DOI: 10.1117/12.2654117 Conference: spie.org/conferences-and-exhib  edical-imaging?SSO=1
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Research shows that uninsured people are more likely to get care later in pregnancy, and less care overall. This increases risks for mothers and babies. Credit: Shutterstock

On March 31, 2023 the Ford government in Ontario ended the expanded health-care funding it put in place when the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020.

This funding allowed everyone in Ontario to access essential health care. For the hundreds of thousands of people living in the province without health insurance, this meant access to necessary surgeries, emergency care and labor and delivery services without thousands of dollars in hospital and physician bills.

As a midwife who has worked in Toronto for over 20 years, largely with uninsured populations, and an associate professor who has focused my research and activism on this issue, I am acutely aware of how these cuts will impact pregnant people and ultimately all Canadians.

Insurance status

There are many reasons someone may not have health insurance. These can include homelessness; mental health issues; addiction; having documents withheld by an abusive partner, landlord or employer; and, for a growing number of people who live and work across Canada, lack of legal immigration status.

Increasingly, people may spend years with precarious immigration status, all the while building a life here and eagerly waiting for applications to come through. For example, a student applying for a work permit may fall out of status while one application expires and another comes through.

Research shows that uninsured people are more likely to get care later in pregnancy and less care overall. It is well accepted across medicine that prenatal care is linked to healthier outcomes for pregnant people and babies. In particular, prenatal care is associated with dramatically lower rates of preterm birth and low birth weight babies.

Health-care costs for babies born too small and too early are among the highest of all health-care expenditures. It's estimated that Canada spends about $8 billion per year in health costs related to preterm babies. Babies born too small and too early are also among the most likely to have lifelong health issues, including profound cognitive and physical impairment.

There is a simple bottom line argument here: prenatal care is cheap and sick babies are very expensive.

Refugees in all but name

With increasing global health and economic disparities, we are seeing more people cross and/or stay within our borders to work and live. Like many others who work with these populations, I can say that many who do not have refugee status are refugees in all but name: escaping impossible conditions and trying to build a future here.

The same week the Ontario government discontinued its expanded health-care coverage, eight people drowned trying to cross the St. Lawrence River in Quebec while trying to escape deportation. These are the acts of desperate people.

While hospitals are not going to turn people away in emergencies, many pregnant people need access to hospital-based care before there is an emergency, and in fact to avoid an emergency. For example, someone who needs a cesarean section because labor would be too risky, may be required to pay $6,000 or even more before they can access a provider.

For some people, this could mean deciding between rent, feeding their children or getting basic health care.

Inevitable emergencies

It is inevitable that many people will not have access to prenatal care and will wind up in an emergency department, where the hospital will be ethically required to provide care anyway. Hospitals requiring advance payment does not make people less pregnant, less high-risk or less in need of a cesarean. It means people going without care and coming to the hospital in need of emergency surgery, which has the highest cost and risks of any birth.

Adding another layer of complexity to this puzzle is that, as global cesarean section rates skyrocket, more and more undocumented migrants in Canada have had a previous cesarean section. For many, this means the safest option for delivery is a repeat cesarean section.

Putting all the pieces together, discontinuing expanded health-care funding means higher numbers of already marginalized people having less prenatal care, more preterm births and low birth weight babies, and more emergency cesarean sections for deliveryall of which result in worse outcomes, more cost on the system and more moral distress on health care providers. How is this a good idea from any angle?

A study released just one week before these cuts were announced showed the many benefits of having the expanded funding in place, including improved access to prenatal care. It also demonstrated the relief health-care providers felt at not having the moral distress of having to decide who was able to access necessary care.

Lessons learned

The expanded funding put in place during COVID-19 revealed a few things.

First, the fact that it was implemented is an acknowledgement that it was needed. If we have universal health coverage for all who live here, why did we need the program in the first place?

Second, it demonstrated that it was not a massive burden to our health-care system to provide this care. The Ontario Medical Association estimated this program cost $15 million over three years. Even if it was several times more, this is very little of our health-care budget. By providing primary and preventive care, as well as prenatal care, the program likely saved money by avoiding more expensive acute and emergency care, and it certainly saved lives.

Third, this program brought caregivers and organizations together, with health-care associations asserting that this is a health equity issue, not a medical tourism issue. Immigration status has long been established as a social determinant of health, along with factors including poverty, racialization and education level. It is about time we address this issue in Canada.

The decision to discontinue extended care is going to cost us. Not just in terms of health-care dollarsit is always better to treat high blood pressure than manage a strokebut in terms of our ethics.

Several decades ago, we decided as a country that everyonerich or poordeserves access to health care. Canadians have taken pride in this and it is part of our national identity. Until everyone is covered, we need to acknowledge that we do not, in fact, have universal health care, and decide what this means to us as a country.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

The World Happiness Report published annually on 20 March is out, and there's no surprise at the top. For the sixth straight year, Finland is the world's happiest nation.

Since we can't all move to Finland, what can we learn from them? "Is it, are they doing things that we wish we'd seen before and we can start doing? Or is it something unique about their climate and history that make them different? And fortunately, at least from my perspective, the answer is the former," explained Prof. John Helliwell, one of the report's authors, to CNN.

Dr. Frank Martela is a psychology researcher who studies the basics of happiness. He is also a lecturer at Aalto University in Finland. In a CNBC article from January 2023, he puts forward three things Finns never do to maintain a high quality of life.

Don't show, don't tell

First, Finns don't compare themselves to their neighbors. "There's a famous line by a Finnish poet: 'Kell' onni on, se onnen katkekoon.' Roughly translated, it means: Don't compare or brag about your happiness. Finns really take this to heart, especially when it comes to material things and overt displays of wealth."

"Focus more on what makes you happy and less on looking successful. The first step to true happiness is to set your own standards, instead of comparing yourself to others."

Nature and trust

Second, Finns don't ignore nature's benefits. According to a 2021 survey, almost 90% of them consider nature to be an important part of their lives. Employees are entitled to four weeks of summer holidays and one week during winter. The countryside is a very popular destination.

"Spending time in nature increases our vitality, well-being and a [sic] gives us a sense of personal growth. Find ways to add some greenery to your life, even if it's just buying a few plants for your home."

Last but not least, Finns don't break the circle of trust within their communities. They trust each other and attach great importance to honesty, as shown in a 2022 social experiment aimed to test the honesty of citizens. In total, 192 wallets were dropped in 16 cities around the world. Helsinki came in first when citizens returned 11 out of 12 wallets to their owners. Mumbai, India, came in second with nine.

"Think about how you can show up for your community. How can you create more trust? How can you support policies that build upon that trust? Small acts like opening doors for strangers or giving up a seat on the train makes a difference, too."
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Newborns of non-refugee immigrant females are at overall lower risk of serious illness and death than those of Canadian-born females in low-income neighborhoods in Ontario, according to new research published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

Previous research has looked at the risk of adverse outcomes for newborns in low- v. high-income neighborhoods, but there is little evidence on the respective risks for immigrant and nonimmigrant mothers living in similar low-income neighborhoods. Both immigration status and living in a low-income neighborhood have been associated with poorer neonatal outcomes.

To understand the risk of severe neonatal morbidity and mortality (SNMM) in infants born to immigrants compared with nonimmigrants, researchers looked at data on all live, in-hospital births of single babies (singleton) at 2042 weeks' gestation between 2002 and 2019 in Ontario. Ontario, Canada's largest province, receives about 53% of female immigrants entering the country.

Indicators of severe neonatal morbidity included breathing support, intravenous fluid use, early birth (before 32 weeks' gestation), very low birth weight and respiratory distress.

During the study period, there were 414 241 singleton births to 312 124 females aged 15 years and older living in low-income urban neighborhoods. Of live births, 148 050 were to immigrants and 266 191 to Canadian-born females. The risk of SNMM for newborns of immigrant females was significantly lower than for newborns of Canadian-born females (49.7 per 1000 live births compared with 65.6 per 1000 live births). However, risk varied depending on the country of origin, with a higher risk of SNMM in newborns of immigrants from Jamaica and Ghana and in those with longer residence in Ontario.

The Healthy Immigrant Effect may explain some of these differences.

"Immigrant females who are healthier and more resilient may be most capable of migration; the immigration policy of a host country may preferentially select healthy immigrants," writes Dr. Joel Ray, a physician at St. Michael's Hospital, a site of Unity Health, and scientist at ICES, with co-authors.

"Another explanation may be that some immigrants have greater net income, educational achievement and health literacy than the average for a low-income neighborhood," adds Dr. Patricia O'Campo, co-author and epidemiologist, St. Michael's Hospital and the University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario.

The research underscores the importance of looking at trends at neighborhood levels and that there is variability within areas.

"Efforts should be aimed at improving the overall health and well-being of all females residing in low-income areas, and at determining if the risk of adverse birth outcomes can be equitably reduced among immigrant and nonimmigrant groups," concludes Jennifer Jairam, a Ph.D. candidate from the University of Toronto.

More information: Morbidity and mortality of newborns born to immigrant and nonimmigrant females residing in low-income neighbourhoods, Canadian Medical Association Journal (2023). DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.221711 Journal information: Canadian Medical Association Journal
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Emma, 18, stands for a portrait in Georgia on Thursday, March 23, 2023. The aspiring artist, with attention deficit disorder and occasional depression, says worries about academics and college are a huge source of stress. Lately in myself and my friends, I realize how exhausted everyone is with the pressures of the world and the social issues and where theyre going to go in the future," Emma added. All of these things pile up and crash down." Credit: AP Photo/Brynn Anderson

Anxiety over academics. Post-lockdown malaise. Social media angst.

Study after study says American youth are in crisis, facing unprecedented mental health challenges that are burdening teen girls in particular. Among the most glaring data: A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report showed almost 60% of U.S. girls reported persistent sadness and hopelessness. Rates are up in boys, too, but about half as many are affected.

Adults offer theories about what is going on, but what do teens themselves say? Is social media the root of their woes? Are their male peers somehow immune, or part of the problem?

The Associated Press interviewed five girls in four states and agreed to publish only their first names because of the sensitive nature of the topics they discussed. The teens offered soberingand sometimes surprisinginsight.

"We are so strong and we go through so, so much," said Amelia, a 16-year-old Illinois girl who loves to sing and wants to be a surgeon.

She also has depression and anxiety. Like 13% of U.S. high school girls surveyed in the government report, she is a suicide attempt survivor. Hospitalization after the 2020 attempt and therapy helped. But Amelia has also faced bullying, toxic friendships, and menacing threats from a boy at school who said she "deserved to be raped."

Makena, a high school senior in Mississippi, speaks about school pressures during a visit to a community park, a place that brings back happy memories to the 18-year-old, Tuesday, April 4, 2023. Makena says she has had therapy for depression and has grown up in a community where mental health is still sometimes stigmatized. Credit: AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis

More than 1 in 10 girls said they'd been forced to have sex, according to the CDC report, the first increase noted in the government's periodic survey. Sexual threats are just one of the burdens teen girls say they face.

"We are trying to survive in a world that is out to get us," Amelia said.

Emma, an 18-year-old aspiring artist in Georgia with attention deficit disorder and occasional depression, says worries about academics and college are a huge source of stress.

"Lately in myself and my friends, I realize how exhausted everyone is with the pressures of the world and the social issues and where they're going to go in the future," Emma added. "All of these things pile up and crash down."

Zoey, 15, was raised in Mississippi by a strict but loving single mother who pressures her to be a success in school and life. She echoes those feelings.

Amelia, 16, sits for a portrait in a park near her home in Illinois on Friday, March 24, 2023. We are so strong and we go through so, so much," says the teenage girl who loves to sing and wants to be a surgeon. Amelia has also faced bullying, toxic friendships, and menacing threats from a boy at school who said she deserved to be raped." Credit: AP Photo Erin Hooley

"School can be nerve racking and impact your mental health so much that you don't even ... recognize it, until you're in this space where you don't know what to do," Zoey said. She's also had friendship struggles that ended in deep depression and felt the discomfort of being the only Black kid in class.

Several girls said they face added pressure from society's standards that put too much focus on how they look.

"A lot of people view women's bodies and girls' bodies as sexual," Emma said. "It's overwhelming to have all these things pushed on us."

The #MeToo movement began when these girls were quite young, but it intensified during the pandemic and they're hyperaware of uninvited sexual advances.

Boys are less aware, they suggest. The girls cite crass jokes, inappropriate touching, sexual threats or actual violence. Girls say the unwanted attention can feel overwhelming.

Amelia, 16, holds her phone as she sits for a portrait in a park near her home in Illinois, on Friday, March 24, 2023. She had depression that was exacerbated during the pandemic and received help at a children's hospital. We are trying to survive in a world that is out to get us," Amelia says. Credit: AP Photo Erin Hooley

"We deserve to not be sexualized or catcalled, because we are kids," Amelia said.

Siya, an 18-year-old in New Jersey, said almost every girl she knows has dealt with sexual harassment. "That's just been the normal for me," she said.

"When you're walking alone as girl, you're automatically put in this vulnerable situation," Siya said. "I think that's so sad. I don't know what it feels like to not have that fear."

Makena, a high school senior in Mississippi, said she and her friends sometimes wear baggy clothes to hide their shapes but boys "comment, no matter what."

She has had depression and therapy, and said she has grown up in a community where mental health is still sometimes stigmatized.

"Often in the Black community we aren't as encouraged to express emotion" because of what previous generations endured, said Makena, who works with a teen health advocacy group. "We're expected to have hearts of steel," she said. "But sometimes it's OK to not be OK."

Makena, a high school senior in Mississippi, pulls at her hair as she speaks during a visit to a community park, a place that brings back happy memories to the 18-year-old, Tuesday, April 4, 2023. Social media has completely shifted the way we think and feel about ourselves" in good and bad ways, Makena says. Shes felt pressure to be perfect when comparing herself with others online. But she also follows social media influencers who talk about their own mental health challenges and who make it seem OK for me to feel sad and vulnerable," she said. Credit: AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis

Social media platforms contribute, with their focus on superficial appearances and making perfectionism seem attainable. Girls say they're just part of the problem.

"Social media has completely shifted the way we think and feel about ourselves" in good and bad ways, Makena said.

She's felt pressure to be perfect when comparing herself with others online. But she also follows social media influencers who talk about their own mental health challenges and who make it seem "OK for me to feel sad and vulnerable," she said.

Girls have historically been disproportionately affected by depression and anxiety. But those statistics at least partly reflect the fact that girls are often more likely than boys to talk about feelings and emotions, said Dr. Hina Talib, an adolescent medicine specialist and spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Zoey, the Mississippi 15-year-old, says boys have to keep up a "macho facade" and are less likely to admit their angst.

Amelia, 16, sits for a portrait in a park near her home in Illinois on Friday, March 24, 2023. We are so strong and we go through so, so much," says the teenage girl who loves to sing and wants to be a surgeon. Amelia has also faced bullying, toxic friendships, and menacing threats from a boy at school who said she deserved to be raped." Credit: AP Photo Erin Hooley

"I feel like they might feel that way, we just don't see it," she said.

A study published in March in The Journal of the American Medical Association found that in 2019, before the pandemic, about 60% of children hospitalized for mental health reasons were girls. A decade earlier, the difference was only slight.

COVID-19 lockdowns added another dimension, thrusting academic and social lives online, Talib said. Some kids entered the pandemic as youngsters and emerged with more mature bodies, socially awkward, uncertain how to navigate friendships and relationships. They live in a world beset with school shootings, a rapidly changing climate, social and political unrest, and restrictions on reproductive care and transgender rights.

The CDC report released in February included teens queried in fall 2021, when U.S. COVID-19 cases and deaths were still high. Other data and anecdotal reports suggest many teens continue to struggle.

"The pandemic as a percentage of their lives is huge," said Talib.

Emma, 18, sits for a portrait in Georgia on Thursday, March 23, 2023. The aspiring artist, with attention deficit disorder and occasional depression, says worries about academics and college are a huge source of stress. Lately in myself and my friends, I realize how exhausted everyone is with the pressures of the world and the social issues and where theyre going to go in the future," Emma added. All of these things pile up and crash down." Credit: AP Photo/Brynn Anderson

Expecting kids to be unscathed may be unrealistic.

"It's going to change a generation," she said.

 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Increasing treatment access and reducing undiagnosed infections is vital for combatting HIV, UNSW researchers have shown.

A 10-year study into the impact of HIV "treatment as prevention" has found that a 27% increase in people accessing effective HIV treatment saw HIV infections decrease by 66% between 2010 to 2019, in NSW and Victoria.

The findings, published today in The Lancet HIV, show the success of HIV treatment as prevention in reducing new HIV infections, especially when complemented by the availability of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and increased access to diagnostic testing.

Treatment as preventionor TasPis a global public health strategy that is built on the evidence that HIV treatment results in virally suppressing the HIV virus, which effectively reduces an individual's risk of transmitting HIV to zero. While there is strong evidence from clinical trials to support TasP's effectiveness, Kirby Institute and Burnet Institute researchers are the first to analyze the impact of this strategy on overall HIV infections at a population level.

"To test the 'big picture' impacts of this important HIV prevention strategy, we examined 10 years of clinical data from over 100,000 gay and bisexual men in New South Wales and Victoria," said Dr. Denton Callander, who led the research at UNSW's Kirby Institute. "We found that over time, as viral suppression increased, HIV incidence decreased. Indeed, every percentage point increase in successfully treated HIV saw a fivefold decrease in new infections, thus establishing treatment as prevention as a powerful public health strategy.

"Our research shows that investing in HIV testing is crucial for HIV elimination," said Dr. Callander.

During the course of the study, a range of other HIV prevention strategies were rolled out in NSW and Victoria, including the introduction of PrEPa pill that prevents HIV negative people from acquiring HIV.

"While TasP is an important public health strategy, its true potential is unlocked when used in combination with the widespread availability of PrEP, and increased access to HIV testing and treatment, especially when delivered equitably," says Dr. Callander.

Over the past decade, governments, clinics and community-based organizations in NSW and Victoria have worked to remove antiretroviral prescribing restrictions, enabled community pharmacy dispensing, reduced patient treatment costs, and educated those at risk of HIV about the individual and prevention benefits of early and sustained treatment.

"Australia is on track to become one of the first countries globally to virtually eliminate the transmission of HIV. The results of this research show that further investment in HIV treatmentespecially alongside PrEPis a crucial component of HIV elimination," says Professor Mark Stoove from the Burnet Institute, who is co-senior author on the paper.

Jane Costello, CEO of Positive Life NSW, welcomes the research findings around the benefits of early and effective treatment and other strategies for positive communities, and the contribution this will make to the overall Australian HIV response.

"People living with HIV have always known that TasP is an effective HIV prevention strategy to reduce the levels of the HIV virus in our bodies, slow the progression of HIV and its impact on our immune system, and offer protection to those we care about and love," she said.

More information: Denton Callander et al, HIV treatment-as-prevention and its effect on incidence of HIV among cisgender gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men in Australia: a 10-year longitudinal cohort study, The Lancet HIV (2023). DOI: 10.1016/S2352-3018(23)00050-4
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

When she entered Cooper University Hospital's outpatient clinic in Camden, New Jersey, in October 2021, Ashley (last name withheld due to privacy concerns) could barely walk.

Open woundsa common result of injecting the drug xylazinecovered her legs from ankles to knees. She had already sought addiction treatment at another hospital, but the staff had dismissed her severe pain. But a doctor working at Cooper that day happened to have trained at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphiaan epicenter of xylazine use and overdoseand recognized the 29-year-old's symptoms. Ashley cried in relief.

"I was terrified to get help," she says. After being admitted, her wounds were so painful that she had to be sedated the first several times her dressings were changed.

A veterinary tranquilizer sometimes referred to as tranq or sleep cut, xylazine began appearing in the mid-Atlantic's illicit drug markets as early as 2006. Its presence slowly increased, and overdose deaths involving the drug have ballooned 20-fold in several cities and states since 2015. Xylazine combines powerfully with fentanyl to produce a longer high, and it's easily diverted from legal sources like farms and veterinary facilities. It's also cheap: $6$20 per kilogram, per the DEA, while a similar amount of fentanyl cost $10,000 to $90,000 in 2019.

Using xylazine can come at a high physical cost: It causes profound sedation and hypotension and has been associated with deep, unhealing wounds characterized by dark, dead tissueindependent of the injection sitewhich put people using it at high risk of amputations.

Ashley has lived at the crest of the xylazine wave for years. Unbeknownst to her, the opioids she used were likely cut with xylazine as early as 2017. Now, she is one of the first case studies for xylazine withdrawal treatment. Because xylazine is not an opioid, established medications like methadone and buprenorphine cannot address its debilitating withdrawal symptoms.

"We don't know what the best way is to manage xylazine dependence and withdrawal, to be honest," says Ashley's doctor, Matthew Salzman, MD, a Bloomberg Fellow and an assistant professor of Emergency Medicine at Cooper. "I'd like to think that I practice evidence-based medicine and am current with my practice, but the truth is, this is something that we're still learning about."

Salzman estimates that the vast majority of his patients who use drugs are now getting xylazine in their supply, but the extent of xylazine's role in the region's overdose crisis is still unknown. Many medical examiners do not test for xylazine, few emergency departments test patients for it, and public health data remain limited.

However, this may soon be changingat least in Maryland. In collaboration with the Maryland Department of Health, Renee M. Johnson, Ph.D., MPH, an associate professor in Mental Health, received funding from the Bloomberg American Health Initiative to bolster monitoring efforts. As the Maryland Xylazine Workgroup, they will soon publish an initial report with data from Maryland's overdose reporting system, drug testing program, and Vital Statistics Administration.

The report's findings are still awaiting final approval, but Johnson hints at the forthcoming data's potential value for toxicologists. "There appears to be a very wide range in how much xylazine it takes to contribute to an overdose," she says. "It's hard to tease apart what's the fentanyl and what's the xylazinewhat's contributing to death," she says.

Across the country, another Bloomberg Fellow, Wren Ronan, director of services for Portland Street Medicine, is bracing for xylazine's impact in the Pacific Northwest. The drug has just recently begun to appear in the local supply, says Ronan.

"It's just really clear that the basic infrastructure to address what's comingwhat we know is comingis just not available at all," says Ronan, who's already seen individuals with xylazine's trademark tissue necrosis. Staff at Portland's hospitals aren't sufficiently aware of xylazine symptomatology to adequately respond to the emerging wound care needs, Ronan says.

Another obstacle for patients is the pervasive stigma among health care providers against people who use substances, particularly those with wounds. The devastating effects of this stigma range from inadequate care and poor treatment outcomes to patients delaying or avoiding care altogether.

"[Some nurses] just think, "She was on drugs, so she just wants to be high more,'" says Ashley. She now realizes she almost lost both of her legs because of her fears of poor treatment. Her positive experience at Cooper remains relatively uncommon.

Harm reduction approaches like street medicine could help fill the gaps. Cooper Medical School's street medicine program, for example, connected Ashley with a wound care clinic when she was discharged. Her healing process is ongoing, but she is now able to change her own dressings. She is looking forward to being able to swim and ice skate again one day.

Another potential solution is safe supply, a harm reduction strategy to distribute uncontaminated drugs to mitigate consumers' risk of overdose. As xylazine becomes a more ubiquitous adulterant, safe supply could also help prevent amputations and secondary infections. While not yet commercially available, xylazine test strips and overdose reversal medications could be another part of the solution.

"I think that both surveillance and new programming are a side-by-side need that we have right now," Ronan says. But as new data emerge at what feels like a crawling pace, harm reductionists and those on the leading edge of xylazine treatment are tasked with the urgent priority of keeping people alive in the meantime.
Workers in the office spend 25% more time in career-development activities than their remote counterparts, according to new data from a team of economists who have analyzed working from home since the pandemic began.

Those who came into work devoted about 40 more minutes a week to mentoring others, nearly 25 more in formal training and about 15 additional minutes each week doing professional development and learning activities, according to WFH Research, a group that includes Stanford University economist Nicholas Bloom.

The figures, based on surveys of more than 2,400 U.S. adults who are able to work from home, lend quantitative support to CEOs such as JPMorgan Chase & Co.s Jamie Dimon and Morgan Stanleys James Gorman, who have said that workers  particularly younger staff  need to be on-site more often than not to learn and develop alongside more experienced colleagues.

Wall Street banks have been in the vanguard of corporate campaigns to get workers back to offices more often, but those efforts have clashed with workers demands for flexibility in what is still a tight labor market. This has resulted in an ever-changing morass of hybrid arrangements.

Nearly half of employees who can work from home have a hybrid arrangement, while just over a third are fully on-site and 20% are fully remote, data from WFH Research show. The new figures support the shift to hybrid work schedules, as workers need a few days each week to mentor and be mentored, said Jose Maria Barrero, a member of the research group from Mexicos ITAM business school.

While bosses are banging the drum on the value of in-person mentoring and professional development, theyve had little to support their arguments beyond vague references to the power of so-called watercooler moments when workers spontaneously connect to share ideas and advice. Now they have the WFH data, along with two new research papers: One, The Power of Proximity, argues that working in the same building has an outsized effect on workers on-the-job training. That effect is even more significant for younger workers, according to the paper, from economists Natalia Emanuel of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Emma Harrington of the University of Iowa and Harvard Universitys Amanda Pallais.

Older workers not coming back to the office may depress younger workers skill accumulation, wrote the economists, who studied more than 1,000 software engineers between August 2019 and December 2020. This may be particularly important as young workers learn the most on the job, benefit the most from proximity, and are much more likely to quit when proximity is lost.

The second paper, from Harvard Business Schools Zoe Cullen and Richard Perez-Truglia of the University of California at Berkeley, found that when employees have more face-to-face interactions with their managers, they are promoted at a higher rate. Employees social interactions with their managers can be advantageous for their careers, the authors wrote, and this phenomenon could explain a third of the gender gap in promotions at the large financial firm they studied.
ELKO, Nev.  Anger, devastation and concern for her patients washed over Dr. Bridget Martinez as she learned that her residency training program in rural northeastern Nevada would be shuttered.

The doctor in training remembered telling one of her patients that, come July of this year, she would no longer be her physician. Martinez had been treating the patient for months at a local health care center for a variety of physical and psychiatric health issues.

She was like, I dont know what Im going to do, Martinez said. It almost set her back, I would say, to square one. Thats so distressing to a patient.

Martinez and three other resident physicians make up more than a third of the family practice providers at a health clinic in Elko, a city of about 20,000 people in the largely rural 500-mile stretch between Reno, Nevada, and Salt Lake City. Another patient cried and said she was unsure who her provider would be once Martinez returned to Reno to finish training.

Established in 2017, the rural family medicine training program in Elko is shutting down for a variety of reasons, including financial struggles, lack of a united support system and a historical lack of health care investment in the area. Experts say systemic factors are common barriers to establishing and sustaining training programs for doctors throughout rural America.

More than 100 million people, or nearly one-third of the nation, have trouble accessing primary care, according to a recent study published by the National Association of Community Health Centers. This number has nearly doubled since 2014. The pandemic worsened provider shortages nationwide, but the problem is more acute in rural areas, which have long struggled to recruit and retain doctors and other medical professionals. Researchers say the relative lack of providers is one reason people living in rural areas experience worse health outcomes than people who live in urban areas.

Experts say expanding the number of medical residency training programs in rural areas is key to filling gaps in care because many doctors  including more than half of family medicine physicians  settle within 100 miles of where they train. And while the number of training programs has increased in rural areas during the past few years, research shows 98% of residencies nationwide are in urban areas.

Members of Congress have introduced several bills to address the health provider shortage, but they have not yet advanced.

Meanwhile, rural medical training programs need more state and federal investment to grow and remain sustainable, said Dr. Emily Hawes, associate professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Medicine and deputy director with the federal Rural Residency Planning and Development Program.

There have been positive milestones, she said, including provisions in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 that created more flexibility in funding and accreditation for rural hospitals that want to establish residency programs.

Congress also created the Rural Residency Planning and Development Program, which Hawes helps lead. The initiative funded its first cohort in 2019. Since then, the programs parent agency, the Health Resources and Services Administration, has given more than $43 million to 58 organizations in 32 states to launch rural medical residency programs. As of last fall, the recipients had created 32 accredited training programs in family medicine, internal medicine, psychiatry and general surgery, and received approval for more than 400 new residency positions in rural areas.

But its not enough, Hawes said.

For starters, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services dont reimburse rural hospitals for medical residency programs at the same rate they do urban hospitals, despite rural hospitals facing similar or higher costs. Rural hospitals lower patient volumes and higher rates of underinsured or uninsured patients affect how much the government pays to fund graduate medical education, or GME.

Hawes and other doctors argued in a research paper that rural hospitals participating in resident physician training should be paid the full cost of hosting residents, which amounts to at least $160,000 each annually.

The challenge of paying residents salaries proved to be part of the problem for the program in Elko.

Officials at Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital decided, when they launched their residency program six years ago, not to use CMS funds to pay salaries and instead to pay those costs out-of-pocket. That amounted to about $500,000 a year, said Dr. Daniel Spogen, a professor in the Family and Community Medicine Department at the University of Nevada-Reno School of Medicine and director of the medical residency training program in Elko.

In retrospect, Spogen said, he wishes he and other faculty had pushed the hospital to pursue CMS funding, because it would have given the program a stronger financial foundation.

In a February press release, hospital officials said the decision to close the medical training program was difficult but necessary, because of rising costs and increased requirements.

In the end, the community and residents suffer the consequences, Spogen said.

Hawes said rural communities and their resident physicians often benefit mutually: Residents experience a more diverse and involved training than they would in a larger hospital, because having fewer residents and doctors means they can take on bigger tasks. Martinez recalled treating a gunshot wound in the emergency room, something she said she probably would not have gotten to do in a Reno hospital.

Closing any rural medical residency program ends a key opportunity to locate physicians in the areas where theyre most needed, said Hawes. Martinez and her husband, who is also finishing his medical training, had planned to stay in Elko. While thats not off the table, she said, theyre keeping their options open now.

8 statistics that explain the rural doctor shortage 8 statistics that explain the rural doctor shortage Nearly 4 in 5 rural U.S. communities are short on medical staff There are fewer health care providers per capita in nonmetropolitan areas 1 in 4 rural teensand 1 in 5 rural adultsdon't have a primary care doctor who they see regularly Compared to metropolitan areas, there are more than twice as many rural counties in health professional shortage areas Medical practices in the most rural locations treat four times as many Medicare patients as metropolitan practices 142 rural hospitals have closed since 2010 1 in 5 medical schools ran a formal rural program in 2019 Hundreds of millions of dollars are going toward mitigation efforts and solutions for this shortage
MONDAY, April 17, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- -synuclein seed amplification assays (SAAs) can classify people with Parkinson disease with high sensitivity and specificity, according to a study published in the May issue of The Lancet Neurology.

Andrew Siderowf, M.D., from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues assessed the diagnostic performance of the -synuclein SAA in a cross-sectional analysis based on assessments conducted at enrollment for Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) cohort participants from 33 participating academic neurology outpatient practices worldwide. The sensitivity and specificity of the -synuclein SAA was examined in participants with Parkinson disease and healthy controls.

The analysis included 1,123 participants: 545 with Parkinson disease, 163 healthy controls, 54 participants with scans without evidence of dopaminergic deficit, 51 prodromal participants, and 310 nonmanifesting carriers. The researchers found that for Parkinson disease, sensitivity was 87.7 percent and specificity was 96.3 percent for healthy controls. Overall, -synuclein SAA had sensitivity of 98.6 percent in sporadic Parkinson disease with the typical olfactory deficit. In subgroups including LRRK2 Parkinson disease and participants with sporadic Parkinson disease without olfactory deficit, the proportion of positive -synuclein SAA was lower (67.5 and 78.3 percent, respectively). An even lower -synuclein SAA positivity rate was seen for participants with the LRRK2 variant and normal olfaction (34.7 percent). Eighty-six percent of participants with rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder and hyposmia (prodromal individuals) had positive -synuclein SAA. Of the nonmanifesting carriers, 8 percent were positive.

"These findings have immediate implications for clinical trial design, both to identify pathologically defined subgroups of people with Parkinson's disease and to establish biomarker-defined at-risk cohorts," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry; PPMI is funded by multiple partners, including biopharmaceutical companies.
ALBERTON  Not many seventh-graders produce a documentary film that screens at an international film festival. But not many seventh-graders watch as a police officer shoots and kills a black bear just outside their schoolyard fence, either.

It was that wild moment last fall that motivated students at the Alberton School to learn about how and why bears come into conflict with humans around the small town 30 minutes west of Missoula  and what could be done about it. The story of bear conflict in Alberton, and recent efforts by concerned residents to secure bear attractants, are chronicled in Fatal Attractants, a roughly 15-minute documentary planned, filmed and edited by five seventh-graders and one eighth-grader in the schools project-based learning class. The film earned support from the International Wildlife Film Festival, Montana Arts Council and National Endowment for the Arts.

Fatal Attractants recounts some notable incidents in the long history of bear conflict in Alberton, including a pillaging of Brovold Community Orchard last summer. That event, along with the bear at the school, spurred concerned residents to form a group to address bear conflict. The documentary also traces events that transpired as the students were working on the film over the winter, including the Alberton Town Councils decision in March to support developing a Bear Smart program. The film includes interviews the students conducted and filmed themselves, provided footage of bears in the area, and footage of the students performing a necropsy on the yearling bear that was killed at the school.

After a screening for students on Monday, Fatal Attractants will have two public screenings at the Alberton School during an exhibition on Wednesday, April 19. Those screenings are free and scheduled for 5 and 5:30 p.m. Wednesdays exhibition also features a childrens book about the bear at the school created by Angela Hood, one of the seventh-graders who made the film. (At 6:15 p.m., first- and second-graders perform The Jungle Book.)

Then, at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, April 23, Fatal Attractants hits the big screen at The Roxy theater in Missoula as an official selection of the 2023 International Wildlife Film Festival. It will screen alongside The Giant Bears of Alaska documentary. The student filmmakers will hold a Q&A session after. Tickets are $9. The festivals website notes that Fatal Attractants is a kids movie. But although it was produced primarily by middle schoolers  they edited the final cut Wednesday and finished the film poster Thursday  the documentary tells a robust story worthy of viewing by all ages.

Nick Ehlers, the director of project-based learning at Alberton School, said that after the school was locked down and the bear was shot, The whole community  there was a bit of an uproar of, Why did this have to happen? His students, like other people in the community, wondered what had gone on before the bear met its demise at the school, and why bear conflict seemed to be surging. And, they wondered, is there anything they could do about it?

We didnt want more bears getting killed, said Stormy Adams, a seventh-grader who worked on the film. We wanted people to know how to keep bears away, try to bear-proof your trashcan, keep your stuff put away so those bears wont come back.

Adams and Hood were part of a team that included seventh-graders Elijah Porras, Avarie Reed-Nehf and Michael Powell, and eighth-grader Dawson DeVoe. Originally, Adams and Reed-Nehf said, the group set out to produce a much smaller video: We were going to do a small PSA, maybe a 30-second PSA. And Nick was like, This is a really good idea, we should turn this into a documentary. And we kept working on it, getting more footage, getting more interviews, and it became a documentary.

Ken Grinde, a video producer who works with The Roxy and as the film festivals media educator, remembered Reed-Nehf as the first to realize they were on to something bigger, just as the group concluded their first interview, with Bob Summerfield of Brovold Community Orchard.

As we were walking back, Avarie turned to me and said, Oh my gosh, is this actually a documentary? recalled Grinde, who mentored the students on the technical points of filmmaking. When she said that, I said, I dunno, what do you think? What are your questions? What do you want to know more about?

So, under Ehlers and Grindes guidance, the team sought more interviews with more subjects, exposing new elements of the story. Grinde said, The way I would express it to students is, Were asking a question by making this film, but were not trying to answer it. Were trying to document asking it.

Ask they did, in interviews with Summerfield, Laura Collins and Jamie Jonkel of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks, Chad Bauer of Republic Services, Town Council member Kyle Cirincione and others. That left the students with about 24 hours of footage and accompanying audio that they cut down first to about a half-hour rough cut, then a 15-minute final cut.

Editing was one of the more challenging parts of the process, the students said. It hurt to cut out good footage that was redundant or, worse, marred by a technical issue. Adams lamented the good interviews that we had to cut, sadly, because of the audio.

For Ehlers and Grinde, the primary challenge was tackling a long-term project when students only had one 50-minute class period a day to work on it.

You can barely open the project and start in that time, Grinde said. Bells, incredibly structured time and short classes  public school is just an incredibly tough place to be creative. But, he noted, he is a product of public schools himself, and he hopes to keep creative projects like film in public schools. The goal, he said, was that the students will stick with it after the project ends and hes no longer advising them.

Im not going to deny that Ill do some things on the editor while they watch, to demonstrate things  but I was only out there one day a week, then theyre working on it on their own without me, he said. For the most part, Im trying to make myself irrelevant. The idea is that after Im long gone, theyll just know how to do it.
Missoulas breakneck pace of building projects shows no sign of cooling off.

The total market value of all construction in Missoula in 2022 was $322.7 million, just shy of the all-time record of $325.2 million set in 2021.

Thats according to the citys Community Planning, Development and Innovation office, which issued 1,067 building permits last year.

Since the end of the Great Recession, red-hot demand for housing in Missoula and a correlated interest in commercial projects has fueled a long-running building boom, although some years have seen much more activity than others.

The market value of all projects in Missoula hit a spike of $277 million in 2017, dipped in 2018, 2019 and 2020 and then roared back to unprecedented heights after the pandemic in 2021 and 2022.

The number of permitted dwelling units decreased 36% from 2021 to 2022, from a total of 1,338 to 861. Still, thats a huge increase from the roughly 460 homes each year that were permitted in both 2019 and 2020.

One of the big reasons why 2021 saw so many housing units green-lighted was because of a huge apartment project on the Northside, The Villagio.

There were a few big housing projects permitted in 2022, including a 42-unit complex on Rimel Road and a 35-unit apartment project on southwest Higgins. A search of all the building projects listed by the city last year reveals lots of cannabis dispensaries as well as a new Texas Roadhouse restaurant at Southgate Mall, right next to a new Hobby Lobby. Both those projects are still under construction.

Eran Pehan, the director of the city's office of Community Planning, Development and Innovation, said she and her team have been inundated with development applications. They've tried to reorganize to speed up the process over the last couple years.

"Weve made and maintained good progress on building permits review times with our current level of staff," she said in an email. "However, to achieve that, and to address our historic level of subdivision applications, other things have suffered. This has resulted in backlogs and delays for rezoning applications, subdivision exemption applications, and other reviews that do not have statutory deadlines."

The office reorganized in November of 2020 in the face of crushing demand.

"The decision to prioritize building permits was one we made in collaboration with the development community," Pehan said. "It was the most effective thing we could do to support the creation of new homes today while addressing the larger complications and delays related to our code. This prioritization has allowed us to make tangible and meaningful progress towards our immediate goal to create more housing, while working on the broader goal to modernize our code."

The city is in the process of rewriting its building and zoning codes.

"One of our primary goals in code reform is to streamline and simplify our code, which will allow us to make even more headway on permit review timelines alongside reducing the review times for all other land use review, without needing to add significant capacity to our planning team," Pehan added.

Missoula Mayor Jordan Hess, speaking at a recent City Club Missoula forum, said code reform will be transformative.

"(It) doesn't sound very sexy," he said. "But it is probably the most impactful thing that we can do to improve the livability of our community and the affordability of housing for the next generation."

Looking forward

It appears 2023 will also be a year of explosive growth. Even out-of-state developers are getting in on the action. For example, an Arizona company called Miramonte Homes is planning a 163-unit subdivision on the western edge of Missoula. That's in addition to a 146-unit development it's in the final stages of completing nearby.

Eric Entringer, president of the company, said it was attracted to the Missoula market for a number of reasons.

"The city offers an exceptional quality of life to its residents with a publicly funded four-year university, employment diversification, job growth, exceptional open space and more," he said.

It may have more projects on the horizon.

"Miramonte is a long-term investor in the markets we operate, including both the city and county of Missoula as well as greater Montana," Entringer said. "We continue to look for development opportunities throughout the city and county and are excited about our future projects in Missoula."

Commercial buildings are also an important part of the construction boom.

A huge new mixed-use residential and commercial complex is under construction near the intersection of Mullan and Reserve Street. Called Mullan Crossing, it will feature restaurants, housing and business spaces.

Recently the Missoula Economic Partnership helped secure a $27,000 state-funded planning grant to help Zip Beverage expand and build a massive new distribution warehouse and headquarters in town.

"Zip Beverage is expanding into new markets, hiring and training new employees and investing in their Missoula headquarters," said Grant Kier, CEO of the Partnership. "The Big Sky Trust Fund grant will support architectural and engineering planning for their new facility."

For a list of big development projects in the works that need to be reviewed by the city, visit EngageMissoula.com.
A bill that would codify parts of the federal Indian Child Welfare Act into state law passed the Senate on Friday after a contentious discussion on the floor.

Thirty-eight senators voted in support of the bill in the second reading, and 12 were opposed. In the third reading, which also happened Friday, 33 people voted in support and the same 12 senators remained opposed. Because the bill passed the House in a different form, it must first be reconciled before heading to the governors desk.

Known as ICWA, the Indian Child Welfare Act determines how Native children are put in foster or adoptive homes, prioritizing family and tribal placements. The federal law was enacted in 1978 in response to decades of state child welfare and private adoption agencies separating Native children from their families.

House Bill 317, which has received strong public support in its committee hearings, comes as the federal ICWA is under threat. The federal Supreme Court in July will issue a ruling on a case that challenges ICWAs constitutionality. At least 10 other states have codified ICWA into state law, including, most recently, Wyoming. Every tribe in Montana also passed a resolution that supports codifying ICWA into state law.

Brought by Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, HB 317 commits the state to prevent, when possible, out-of-home placements for Native children that are inconsistent with the rights of their parents and the interest of tribes. It prioritizes placements that preserve and honor a childs tribal culture and connections.

The attached amendment sets the termination date for 2025 and outlines contingent voidness, meaning that if the federal court strikes ICWA down in its entirety, the Montana ICWA would become law for two years.

Sen. Jason Small, R-Busby, carried the bill on the Senate Floor, and Windy Boy said the bill wouldve had a tougher go if it was a Democrat who was carrying it. Small, Northern Cheyenne, is one of two Republicans on Montanas American Indian Caucus.

Im glad it went through, but what doesnt surprise me is there will always be a fraction of this body that will never vote a certain way, regardless of what it is, Windy Boy said. This session in particular is so partisan.

Heated floor discussion



Senators discussed the merits of HB 317 for nearly an hour during its second reading.

Small, who introduced the bill, said it was a collaborative effort between experts, leaders and those impacted by the issue.

This boils down to an issue of states rights and its willingness to protect its residents, he said, urging his colleagues to support the bill.

Several Republican senators expressed opposition.

Sen. John Fuller, R-Kalispell, said the bill should be forestalled until the Supreme Court has made a decision. He said ICWA might be or very likely is wrong and unconstitutional. The Supreme Court has not yet issued a ruling on the case, and in 2019, 486 federally recognized tribes and 59 Native organizations filed an amicus brief defending its constitutionality.

Sen. Forrest Mandeville, R-Columbus, spoke of Tony Renova, a 5-year-old Crow child who in 2019 was abused and killed by his biological parents, with whom he was placed under ICWA.

I respect your culture, I really do, he said. But we have to keep the welfare of these children in mind.

Several senators, including Susan Webber, D-Browning, argued that ICWA was put in place to do exactly that.

This bill protects children if theyre taken out of their cultures, said Webber, who is Blackfeet. We have to know who we are. We look in the mirror and were different.

Sen. Shane Morigeau, D-Missoula, said several children had been placed under his mothers care, per ICWA guidelines, and they grew up happy, healthy and became successful.

A tragedy happened, he said in reference to the Renova case. But success of kids staying home in communities with family members, growing up in their communities they know, growing up with role models and family members, learning their culture, knowing their identity, knowing who they are empowers them to be the person we all want them to be when theyre older.

Sen. Ellie Boldman, D-Missoula, said what happened to Renova was a tragedy, and she cited another case in West Yellowstone involving the abuse and murder of a 12-year-old boy from a non-Native family.

The abuse and neglect tragedies, they dont prefer one color or the other, she said.

Sen. Steve Hinebauch, R-Wibaux, said he heard from a proponent in committee that 49% of kids on the reservation are being investigated for child abuse.

Do you think thats true? he asked Small.

Small replied, I cant imagine in this world that half of the families on the reservations are being investigated for anything abusive with their children.

Hinebauch said he would vote no on the bill, arguing that it drives wedges between the two races.

Sen. Jeremy Trebas, R-Great Falls, said he would support the bill if it applied aspects of ICWA to all children in Montana. Sen. Dennis Lenz, R-Billings, brought a bill that does just that, and it unanimously passed the Senate in March.

This policy was passed by Congress, and I get why, Trebas said. I get the history of it, and I think it was good then. But I think it is wreaking havoc on our foster system now.

Webber countered this point and said that ICWA was created for Native families because they are overrepresented in foster care systems. According to the National Indian Child Welfare Association, Indigenous children are four times more likely to be removed by state child welfare systems than non-Native children, even when their families face similar problems. Frank Edwards, an assistant professor at Rutgers University who studies national policies like ICWA, said one of every four Native children in Montana have a lifetime risk of being in foster care.

Sen. Daniel Emrich, R-Great Falls, asked Small if the word Indian was struck from the bill, would he still support it? Small answered that, yes, Lenzs bill applying some ICWA concepts to all children passed the Senate 50-0.

Emrich remained unconvinced.

When I look at stuff like this, a lot of people seem to think its great for the tribes, Emrich said. And that may be the case, but if this is good legislation, if this is a good law, it should not have the word Indian in the legislation.  It doesnt matter what race theyre from. It doesnt matter what culture theyre from, theyre kids.

Sen. Mike Cuffe, R-Eureka, pushed back, saying that without the word Indian, the legislation would be a whole different bill. Cuffe said he would support HB 317.

In his closing, Small reiterated that ICWA has not been found unconstitutional and that the Senate already supported a bill dubbed ICWA for All.

If ICWA wasnt good, why would we include that name in something else? he said. Its a gold standard.  This bill needs a green light. Its good.

When asked if he was surprised by the discussion on the floor regarding his bill, Windy Boy answered, A pass is a pass.
It will take almost four years to develop a new plan for restoring grizzly bears in wild country along the Montana-Idaho border, according to a proposed workplan submitted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

FWS filed its response on Friday to a federal court ruling ordering the agency to reconsider a grizzly reintroduction plan for the Bitterroot Ecosystem that had lain dormant for 22 years. In Alliance for the Wild Rockies et. al. vs FWS, grizzly recovery coordinator Hilary Cooley and the State of Idaho, U.S. District Judge Don Molloy ruled that FWS had unreasonably delayed implementing its own 2000 decision to transplant 25 grizzlies to the recovery area.

Now, almost 40 years have passed, and nothing has been done; no bears, no community advisory committee, no community or other educational instruction in towns or schools for bear safety, safe practices in garbage storage techniques, and other ways to reduce attracting bears, Molloy wrote on March 15. He gave FWS until April 15 to present an updated timeline.

Because of the change in circumstances arising from individual bears dispersing within the Bitterroot Ecosystem with greater regularity, the Service plans to take a fresh look at its strategy for supporting restoration of grizzly bears to the Bitterroot Ecosystem, FWS wrote in its response to Molloy. With the preparation of an EIS (environmental impact statement), the Service anticipates considering a range of alternatives, including options to facilitate natural recolonization through affirmative actions, such as identifying connectivity areas, addressing sanitation issues, future augmentation, and/or revising the recovery plan chapter for the Bitterroot Ecosystem. Because of the substantial public interest in the restoration of grizzly bears to the Bitterroot Ecosystem, the Service will conduct a public scoping process to invite input on the possible range of alternatives for consideration in the draft EIS.

The case grew out of an effort in the 1990s to create an experimental population of grizzly bears in the Bitterroot Ecosystem  one of six recovery areas designated as grizzly habitat under the Endangered Species Act protection plan. While the 25,140-square-mile expanse of the Bitterroots along the Montana-Idaho border and an extensive roadless and wilderness complex farther west in Idaho were historic grizzly strongholds, the entire population was killed off in the early 20th century.

After almost 15 years of public debate and scientific research, FWS approved a plan to transplant 25 grizzly bears in the Bitterroot Ecosystem in 2000. Unlike naturally occurring grizzlies in the Northern Continental Divide and Greater Yellowstone ecosystems, those Bitterroot bears would be an experimental population managed through a local community advisory committee.

But the FWS plan was finalized just as President Bill Clintons administration was transitioning to that of President George W. Bush. Bushs Interior Department officials changed course in 2001 and chose a no action option. Confusingly, that 2001 proposed rule was never officially adopted.

Were very happy the Fish and Wildlife Service has committed to initiating a whole new National Environmental Policy Act process, Alliance for the Wild Rockies Executive Director Michael Garrity said in an email on Monday. That will include an open and transparent process, including public review and comment, to produce a Draft and Final Environmental Impact Statement and a new Record of Decision, rather than supplementing the outdated, never-implemented decision from two decades ago.

Garrity called the Bitterroot Ecosystem the lynchpin to recovering and delisting grizzly bears because it is the connecting corridor between the Cabinet-Yaak, Selkirk, Northern Continental Divide and Yellowstone ecosystems grizzly populations."

Grizzlies have had threatened status under the federal Endangered Species Act since 1975. Their recovery plan envisioned assisting or creating viable populations in six recovery areas of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Washington. Two of those areas, the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, now support about 1,000 grizzlies each.

But the other areas have struggled. Even with some transplanted bears, the Cabinet-Yaak and Selkirk recovery areas each have around 50 grizzlies. The North Cascades recovery area had a handful of bears but now appears to have no resident grizzlies.

The Bitterroot recovery area also has no confirmed resident grizzlies. But it has seen a growing number of bears from other areas exploring its landscape as well as other nearby Montana mountain ranges to the east.

The lack of a comprehensive recovery plan in the Bitterroot Ecosystem has meant some grizzlies captured there have been relocated back into their original ecosystems, instead of being allowed to colonize the new landscape.

FWS noted its workplan schedule accounts for the agencys significant workload and limited resources. That includes another proposed grizzly reintroduction effort in the North Cascades Ecosystem. It also contends with FWSs 12-month review of petitions from Montana and Wyoming to delist grizzlies from ESA protection in the Northern Continental Divide and Greater Yellowstone ecosystems.

The Bitterroot plan will include participation with the Nez Perce Tribe, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks and several national forests. Public scoping of the process should begin this winter. A final record of decision could be released around October 2026.
CHICAGO  The first openly gay person to lead the American Medical Association takes the reins at a fractious time for U.S. health care.

Transgender patients and those seeking abortion care face restrictions in many places. The medical judgment of physicians is being overridden by state laws. Disinformation is rampant. And the nation isnt finished with COVID-19.

In the two decades since Dr. Jesse Ehrenfeld first got involved with the AMA as a young medical resident, the nations largest physicians group has tried to shed its image as a conservative self-interested trade association. While physician pocketbook issues remain a big focus, the AMA is also a powerful lobbying force for a range of public health issues.

Two years ago, the AMA won widespread praise for announcing a plan to dismantle structural racism within its ranks and the U.S. medical establishment. It has adopted policies that stress health equity and inclusiveness  moves that inspired critics to accuse it of wokeness."

At 44, Ehrenfeld will be among the AMA's youngest presidents when he begins his one-year term on June 13. An anesthesiologist, Navy combat veteran and father of two young children, he spoke recently to The Associated Press about his background and new job.

The conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

Q: Why is your being part of the LGBTQ community a big deal at this moment, and how will it inform your role as AMA president?

A: I didnt run as a gay man. Thats not my platform, but its a part of my identity. And people know that.

Representation and visibility is so important. I cant tell you the number of emails, letters, phone calls, text messages that I got when I was elected into this role from people around the world that saw this as an important moment, an important recognition of what inclusivity and equality can be to help advance health equity for everyone.

Q: How will your experience as part of the LGBTQ community inform and influence your new role?

A: Ive experienced the health care system as a gay person, as a gay parent, as in many ways wonderful positive experiences and other ways, some deeply harmful experiences. And I know that we can do better as a nation. We can do better as a system that can lift up health. And I expect that therell be opportunities to shine a light on that during my year as president.

Q: What are examples of those experiences?

A: Theres so many times where our health care system just does not accommodate people who arent in the majority. As a gay parent and a gay dad, I cant tell you how many forms I filled out where theres a place for the mom and a place for the dad. Its a small thing. But its a signal that were different and maybe were not welcome or accepted.

When you have those small, subtle irritations that add up day after day after day, whether youre an LGBT person or from a minority group, that causes stress. These friction points  are so pronounced for so many who are in underserved communities, so many in the LGBT community, and particularly for transgender individuals. And I know we can do better.

Ive been fortunate to have two beautiful boys brought into this world with the support of an incredible group of physicians. But there were definitely lots of moments along the way where it was clear that we were a little bit different than everybody else in a way that didnt need to be.

Q: This seems like an unprecedented time for political interference in medicine.

A: Im deeply concerned about government intrusion into decision-making for patients. The Supreme Court ruling around abortion has had profound implications for reproductive rights. And fundamentally, patients have a right to access evidence-based health care services. That includes comprehensive reproductive health care. It includes care for transgender people.

States that ban abortion, that ban health care for transgender youth are placing the government right into the patient-physician relationship. And we know that this leads to devastating health consequences and can jeopardize lives. The AMA continues to speak out against these kinds of actions.

Q: What power does the AMA really have to protect those rights?

A: I dont think were powerless at all. The AMA was deeply involved in helping the Biden administration put out guidance to help physicians and patients understand that you dont have to disclose private medical information to third parties. And well continue to call for things like unrestricted access to (the abortion drug) mifepristone.

Q: Will addressing the nations mental health crisis be part of your role?

A: We need Congress to take action. There have been 15 years now of repeated failures by health care companies to comply with what was a landmark law in 2008 around mental health parity and substance use disorder.

That law passed by Congress has never been enforced. Those violations continue to be more serious than they were a decade ago.

It affects patients with autism. It affects patients with eating disorders, substance use disorders. It delays care. Its harming patients.

And we are likely causing deaths to happen that are avoidable. We know that there are federal actions that could be taken to help with this, including enabling patients to recover losses associated with an improper denial of care.

The other aspect around mental health access that is really important is permanently expanding access to telehealth.

Best and worst states for health care Best and worst states for health care The 10 states with the best health care The 10 states with the lowest rank for health care Additional findings: Outcome, cost and access data rankings Depending on state, Americans' cost for care can vary significantly Methodology
A bill designed to curb reckless and dangerous bounty-hunting tactics in Montana has advanced to the state Senate and backers say its likely to pass in the coming days.

It passed the House on an 83-17 vote in late January, was endorsed by the Senate Business, Labor and Economic Affairs on Thursday and the full Senate is expected to vote on it soon. Its sponsor in that chamber is Butte Democrat Ryan Lynch.

A few changes have been made so if approved by the Senate, the bill must return to the House for another vote. But its biggest proponent, Montana Auditor and Insurance Commissioner Troy Downing, is confident it will win final approval and be signed by Gov. Greg Gianforte.

Downing, a Republican, proposed the legislation in response to a botched bounty hunt in Butte that turned fatal and other violent incidents.

The bill would require all bail recovery agents to be trained and licensed and in most circumstances, notify police of planned apprehensions. They would have to be 21 or older, could not be convicted felons and must be instructed on procedures for detaining people, their civil rights, the use of force and civil liability, among other things.

Numerous bondsmen have opposed the bill, saying its restrictive and based on the misdeeds of a few bad actors.

They have sought changes and especially want a provision requiring bail agents to charge and collect at least 10-percent of cash bonds upfront. They say it would eliminate payment plans and defendant debts that can lead to confrontations.

The provision is included in another bill the bond industry backed that also passed the House. It is sponsored by Republican Rep. Steve Gunderson of Libby, whose family was in the bail bond industry for 35 years.

The main tool for a bad actor or a bad bondsman is to put a defendant on a payment plan and keep their hooks in them by threatening jail throughout their court process, Gunderson said during a Senate Business and Labor Committee hearing on that bill.

That bill was tabled by the committee last week, likely killing it, and the 10-percent bail provision was not added to Downings bill. He opposed its inclusion.

Frank Cote, government affairs director in the Auditors Office, said bondsman typically charge defendants 10 percent up front, but requiring them to do that would be unique in the insurance industry or any industry.

And adding such a requirement to Downings bill would muddy the waters of its other provisions, Cote said.

Downing and the bills House sponsor, Republican Rep. Bill Mercer of Billings, say there have been several reckless bounty hunts in recent years that put innocent people in danger.

The Butte incident was even worse, they say, and Mercer has called it the tipping point that led to legislation this year.

Prosecutors say on Dec. 19, 2021, bondsman Jay Hubber and another man, Nicholas Jaeger, barged into William Harris house in Butte looking for a bail-jumper. There were several other people in the house, too.

Hubber tased the bail jumper and as they wrestled, Jaeger grabbed Hubbers pistol and fatally shot Harris, prosecutors say.

They charged Hubber and Jaeger  a convicted felon  with deliberate homicide and aggravated burglary. Both men have pleaded not guilty and are taking their cases to trial, with Hubbers set for May 1.

Proponents say bail bondsmen play an important role in Montanas criminal justice system but some basic regulations are needed.

When youre talking about fugitive recovery, its as close as you can think of (to) a process in which civilians have the ability to exercise arrest authority, so the question is, what sort of balance should we have? Mercer told the Senate committee.
Under a legislative proposal to cut in half the statute of limitations on campaign finance violations, prosecuting one of the most famous political scandals in recent Montana history might not have been possible.

House Bill 947 would slash the time allowed to pursue campaign finance violations to two years, instead of the current four-year period allowed for those cases to take shape. The bills sponsor, Rep. George Nikolokakos, R-Great Falls, told a state Senate committee earlier this week that the bill would bring the timeline closer to that of some other types of cases, like property damage.

In both of the bills committee hearings in the House and Senate, no one testified for or against it other than the bill sponsor. But reached by phone Thursday, former Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl said that timeline would have prevented him from pursuing a high-profile case against former lawmaker Art Wittich, who was found guilty in 2016 of illegally accepting corporate campaign contributions and illegally coordinating with a political group.

That is the only case in the history of the office (of political practices) thats been prosecuted to a full verdict before a jury, Motl said. And that wouldnt have been possible had the statute of limitations been reduced from four to two years.

Thats because the complaint that led to the successful case against Wittich was filed following a 2010 complaint filed by a Republican candidate against a primary candidate in a separate election. Motl famously received a box of documents after he took office in 2013 that had been discovered in Colorado. They contained information about outside spending groups that tied into that 2010 complaint and also implicated other lawmakers.

That complaint was the legal handle that I could use to enforce (violations) against all the others, Motl explained.

The case also led to successful settlements or court judgments against more than a half-dozen other lawmakers and candidates who received illegal campaign services from the spending groups.

The office of political practices is complaint-driven, meaning the commissioner needs a complaint to initiate action against someone who potentially broke campaign law. There was a backlog of cases when he took office, Motl said, including a number of cases from 2010 and 2011. Under the proposed two-year statute of limitations, he wouldnt have been able to pursue any of those.

Even under the current four-year time frame, Motl added, he ran out of time to pursue all the campaigns that were implicated in the case. He filed his lawsuit against Wittich in 2014.

I identified the complaints and got them filed within that one year (after taking office), and I still missed a bunch of people, he said. There are a bunch of legislators who also got similar treatment that I didnt learn about until we had done discovery.

The case against Wittich, in particular, garnered national attention and helped stoke support for Montanas 2015 Disclose Act, which created stricter campaign finance requirements. Motls prosecution of the case wasnt without controversy, however, with some of Wittichs fellow Republicans arguing the Democrat-appointed commissioner unfairly targeted the lawmaker. The jury found Wittich guilty in a 10-2 decision that was later upheld by the state Supreme Court. He was fined $68,000.

HB 947 would also reduce the amount of time candidates need to retain campaign materials to bring that in line with the proposed statute of limitations. Nikolokakos also told lawmakers that reducing the timeline for bringing those complaints could help limit the potential for political shenanigans.

A long statute of limitations gives political opponents an opportunity to file complaints long-past elections, usually for purposes of nuisance or retribution, he said during the bills first hearing, at the end of Match.

Motl disputed that characterization, saying he wasnt aware of it being abused in the past.

The bill was a late-comer to the session, flying through the House amid a flurry of last-minute debates, votes and bill hearings leading up to the transmittal deadline for legislation that deals with money. While it primarily deals with policy, it also appropriates $500 to the political practices office for website updates.

HB 947 passed the House one day before the deadline on a nearly party-line vote, with Republican support and Democrats opposed. It cleared the Senate State Administration Committee on an 8-2 vote after its hearing Wednesday, with one Democrat joining all seven of the committees Republicans to send it to the floor.
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP)  As explosions and gunfire thundered outside, Sudanese in the capital Khartoum and other cities huddled in their homes for a third day Monday, while the army and a powerful rival force battled in the streets for control of the country.

At least 185 people have been killed and over 1,800 wounded since the fighting erupted, U.N. envoy Volker Perthes told reporters. The two sides are using tanks, artillery and other heavy weapons in densely populated areas. Fighter jets swooped overhead and anti-aircraft fire lit up the skies as darkness fell.

The toll could be much higher because there are many bodies in the streets around central Khartoum that no one can reach because of the clashes. There has been no official word on how many civilians or combatants have been killed. A doctors' group earlier put the number of civilian deaths at 97.

The sudden outbreak of violence over the weekend between the nation's two top generals, each backed by tens of thousands of heavily armed fighters, trapped millions of people in their homes or wherever they could find shelter, with supplies running low and several hospitals forced to shut down.

Top diplomats on four continents scrambled to broker a truce, and the U.N. Security Council was set to discuss the crisis.

Gunfire and shelling are everywhere, Awadeya Mahmoud Koko, head of a union for thousands of tea vendors and other food workers, said from her home in a southern district of Khartoum.

She said a shell stuck a neighbors house Sunday, killing at least three people. We couldnt take them to a hospital or bury them.

In central Khartoum, sustained gunfire erupted and white smoke rose near the main military headquarters, a major battlefront. Nearby, at least 88 students and staffers have been trapped in the engineering college library at Khartoum University since the start of fighting, one of the students said in a video posted online Monday. One student was killed during clashes outside and another wounded, he said. They do not have food or water, he said, showing a room full of people sleeping on the floor.

Even in a country with a long history of military coups, the scenes of fighting in the capital and its adjoining city Omdurman across the Nile River were unprecedented. The turmoil comes just days before Sudanese were to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting.

The power struggle pits Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the commander of the armed forces, against Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The former allies jointly orchestrated an October 2021 military coup. The violence has raised the specter of civil war just as Sudanese were trying to revive the drive for a democratic, civilian government after decades of military rule.

Under international pressure, Burhan and Dagalo had recently agreed to a framework agreement with political parties and pro-democracy groups, but the signing was repeatedly delayed as tensions rose over the integration of the RSF into the armed forces and the future chain of command.

The U.S., the U.N. and others have called for a truce. Egypt, which backs Sudan's military, and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates  which forged close ties to the RSF as it sent thousands of fighters to support their war in Yemen  have also called for both sides to stand down.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is attending a Group of Seven meeting in Japan, spoke by phone with Burhan and Dagalo separately and underscored the urgency of reaching a cease-fire, according to the State Department's principal deputy spokesperson, Vedant Patel.

On Tuesday, Blinken told reporters in Japan that indiscriminate military operations are "recklessly endangering civilians, diplomats, including U.S. personnel, and humanitarian personnel.

Blinken said a convoy of clearly marked U.S. Embassy vehicles came under fire Monday, and that preliminary reports indicate the attackers were linked to the RSF. He said everyone in the convoy is safe and at home.

Blinken called for an immediate 24-hour ceasefire as a step toward a longer truce.

In a joint statement Tuesday, the G-7 foreign ministers condemned the fighting. We urge the parties to end hostilities immediately without pre-conditions, it said, calling for them to return to negotiations and reduce tensions.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said late Monday that Cairo was in constant contact with both the army and the RSF, urging them to halt the fighting and return to negotiations.

But both generals have thus far dug in, demanding the other's surrender.

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell tweeted that the EU ambassador to Sudan "was assaulted in his own residency," without providing further details. EU officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Dagalo, whose forces grew out of the notorious Janjaweed militias in Sudans Darfur region, has portrayed himself as a defender of democracy and branded Burhan as the aggressor and a radical Islamist. Both generals have a long history of human rights abuses and their forces have cracked down on pro-democracy activists.

Heavy gunbattles raged in multiple parts of the capital and Omdurman, where the two sides have brought in tens of thousands of troops, positioning them in nearly every neighborhood.

Twelve hospitals in the capital area have been forcefully evacuated and are out of service because of attacks or power outages, the Sudan Doctors' Syndicate said, out of a total of around 20. Four hospitals outside the capital have also shut down, it added in a statement late Monday.

Hadia Saeed said she and her three children were sheltering in one room on the ground floor of their home for fear of the shelling as gunfire rattled across their Bahri district in north Khartoum. They have food for a few more days, but after that we dont know what to do, she said.

Residents said fierce fighting with artillery and other heavy weapons raged Monday afternoon in the Gabra neighborhood southwest of Khartoum. People were trapped and screaming inside their homes, said Asmaa al-Toum, a physician living in the area.

Fighting has been particularly fierce around each side's main bases and at strategic government buildings  all of which are in residential areas.

The military on Monday claimed to have secured the main television building in Omdurman, fending off the RSF after days of fighting. State-run Sudan TV resumed broadcasting.

On Sunday, the RSF said it abandoned its main barracks and base, in Omdurman, which the armed forces had pounded with airstrikes. Online videos Monday purported to show the bodies of dozens of men said to be RSF fighters at the base, strewn over beds, the floor of a clinic and outside in a yard. The authenticity of the videos could not be confirmed independently.

The military and RSF were also fighting in most major centers around the country, including in the western Darfur region and parts of the north and the east, by the borders with Egypt and Ethiopia. Battles raged Monday around a strategic airbase in Merowe, some 350 kilometers (215 miles) northwest of the capital, with both sides claiming control of the facility.

Only four years ago, Sudan inspired hope after a popular uprising helped depose long-time autocratic leader Omar al-Bashir.

But the turmoil since, especially the 2021 coup, has frustrated the democracy drive and wrecked the economy. A third of the population  around 16 million people  now depends on humanitarian assistance in the resource-rich nation, Africa's third largest.

Save the Children, an international charity, said it has temporarily suspended most of its operations across Sudan. It said looters raided its offices in Darfur, stealing medical supplies, laptops, vehicles and a refrigerator. The World Food Program suspended operations over the weekend after three employees were killed in Darfur, and the International Rescue Committee has also halted most operations.

With the U.S., European Union, African and Arab nations all calling for an end to fighting, the U.N. Security Council was to discuss the developments. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was consulting with the Arab League, African Union and leaders in the region, urging anyone with influence to press for peace.
Former Manchester United player Roy Keane during the Carabao Cup match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester United at the City Ground, Nottingham on Wednesday 25th January 2023.

Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane has taken a humorous swipe at ex-colleague Gary Neville, telling him he didn't think he'd make it as a player in the first team.

Keane joined Manchester United in 1993 from Nottingham Forest, which coincided with the club bringing the Class of '92 through the Red Devils' academy. Gary Neville was one of a number of players including Ryan Giggs, David Beckham and Paul Scholes who all made it at Old Trafford as homegrown stars.

During a discussion about the current Arsenal side and the youngsters that have been brought from the Gunners' Hale End production line through to the first team, Keane was asked about the similarity between Arsenal's young core and the United youngsters of the early 1990s. Naturally, the cantankerous Corkonian couldn't resist a subtle dig at his Sky colleague.

"We were doubtful honestly when Gary came across" Roy Keane on when @GNev2 first broke into the Manchester United team  pic.twitter.com/ciy3SxsUOGApril 16, 2023

See more

"We were doubtful honestly when Gary came across," Keane joked (we think), before praising the likes of Giggs and Scholes.

Keane has frequently mocked Neville over his time as a Sky pundit, suggesting that the former full-back wasn't good enough to play for the club. On several occasions, the ex-Republic of Ireland international has claimed that Neville only played at right-back because there was no one else to fulfil the role.

Roy Keane took the Manchester United captaincy in 1997, skippering the side to 10 titles in an eight-year spell before leaving for Celtic in 2005. Neville then took up the role for the Red Devils, leading his boyhood side to another 10 titles with the armband before his retirement in 2010.
The value of an education is not always measured in dollars.

Education and learning open new worlds to students. It allows us to grow and solve challenges within our community. Students should consider what they will learn, what they want to do with their life, what will fulfill them and how they will use what they learn to make their community a better place.

Education also should provide return-on-investment (ROI). ROI is an important part of the conversation and includes everything from salary to community interests to family and personal fulfillment. The beauty of a community college is that these are not mutually exclusive benefits. At Western Piedmont Community College (WPCC), you will find programs that have a great ROI and prepare you for a fulfilling career, too.

Nevertheless, prospective students are sure to have questions as they consider options for colleges and majors. Is college really worth it? After all, college is an investment of time, money, and energy. In todays economic climate, where were hiring signs are common, a job with a strong sign-on bonus may seem like a better, faster solution. You may be wondering Do I have what it takes to go to college? It is normal to have questions and/or doubts about what to do with your life. You might fear locking into a career that you will come to hate. Your college of choice might seem out of reach. You might be getting mixed advice from family members, friends, co-workers, teachers and counselors. Not to mention that the admission process can be confusing. In fact, college feels like a secret society at times. For those struggling with these questions, community college and apprenticeships might be a solution.

An apprenticeship program is one of the best ways to maximize your education investment. In January 2022, WPCC started an apprenticeship program called Partnership for Apprenticeship and Career Exploration (PACE). As an apprentice, you learn what you really need to know. Students go to work and class each week and immediately apply what they are learning in the classroom to real world work situations. The work experience enhances the classroom experience as students ask questions and dig deeper into what they are seeing in the workplace.

Thanks to WPCCs industry and funding partnerships, students complete their education with virtually no cost while also working and earning a salary. In fact, many employers pay students for the time they spend in classes at WPCC.

As students demonstrate their new skills and gain experience, their wages increase, too. The return-on-investment is very high for the program, and it is a great learning experience. Employers get to know the students through the process and partner with their employee to support their growth as a student and employee.

In the workplace, students apply what they learn in the classroom and see its importance. They learn skills related to timeliness, communication and teamwork through practical applications at their business. These businesses are not all manufacturing.

It is true that apprenticeships are mostly associated with manufacturing, but WPCC has a comprehensive program with apprentices in other fields such as healthcare. WPCCs latest program is in Emergency Medical Technology/Paramedic through a partnership with the Burke County EMS department. We are excited to continue to expand offerings to additional fields in the next few years.

WPCC apprenticeship programs provide a great first step to education and lead to additional opportunities. On average, PACE apprentices will save $50,000 to $100,000 over a traditional university path. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that people who complete apprenticeship programs earn $250,000 more during their career than people with only a high school diploma.

If you also complete an associate or bachelors degree program, the salary gap increases more. With a start in an apprenticeship program, students seeking a bachelors degree may continue with WPCCs educational partners. Many of these partners are North Carolina colleges and universities offering online and distance learning options and most employers offer tuition reimbursement programs for employees.

As an alternative to traditional college programs, the PACE apprenticeship program provides a strong foundation for career success. Apprentices focus not only on learning information and specific skills in the classroom, but also building their capacity to be life-long learners with the confidence to develop new skills throughout the life of their career. WPCCs PACE program is an investment in yourself and your future.

If you would like more information about going to college or apprenticeships, WPCC would love to speak with you about the PACE program and how it fits with your career interests and life goals. You can find more information on our website at www.wpcc.edu/pace.
A local organization has planned a special event to honor three local Revolutionary War patriots buried in the cemetery at First Presbyterian Church of Morganton.

The Col. Alexander Erwin chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution invite the community to attend a grave marking ceremony to honor the service of Capt. William Wilson, Pvt. William Walton Sr. and John Duckworth at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 22, in the churchs cemetery. The group will dedicate granite markers placed at the bottom of the graves, in conjunction with the John Sevier SAR Chapter of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the Catawba Valley SAR Chapter of Hickory, according to Robert Patton, local SAR chapter president. Each marker lists the patriots name and birth and death dates, and are decorated with a SAR minuteman emblem.

The program will include the introduction of the patriots descendants attending the ceremony and presentations on the lives of the three men. The descendants will be invited to speak about their patriot ancestors as well. The graves will be honored with wreaths, a musket salute and the playing of Taps.

Patton shared the three patriots biographies. Wilson, from Rowan County, served from 1776-81 and fought at the Siege of Charleston and the battles of Ramseurs Mill, Camden, Cowpens and Cowens Ford, where he was wounded. Walton, from near Amherst, Virginia, served as a mounted rifleman in 1780 and fought at the battles of Camden and Kings Mountain. Duckworth, from Rowan/Burke County, served in the North Carolina Continental Line from 1776-80 and went on multiple tours, including the battles of Ramseurs Mill and Kings Mountain. He was wounded in both later engagements.

All of those men who were patriots and fought for the existence of the United States fired muskets against the Tories and were willing to die for their freedom, Patton said.

The idea for the ceremony came from Gen. Burwell B. Bell (ret.), a member of the Tennessee SAR chapter, according to Patton. Bell was aware that his patriot ancestor, Walton, was buried in Morganton and wanted to do something to honor him. The president of the Tennessee chapter, Cliff Kent, called Patton and inquired about having a ceremony at FPC. Local SAR chapter members took a closer look at the graves in the church cemetery, did some research in the SAR online records archive and found two more patriots.

Bell is scheduled to attend the ceremony, along with his sister, Amelia Rector Bell Knight. Other organizations supporting the event include the Quaker Meadows chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Historic Burke Foundation.

We hope you will join us in recognizing these great Revolutionary War patriots, Patton said. I hope (people) will come away with a renewed sense of patriotism from observing the ceremony. We would love to have as many descendants of these patriots as possible represent their families at this event. I know that there are many, many descendants of these three men who live in Burke and surrounding counties. I fear that most of those descendants are not aware they are descendants. I would encourage anyone who has Duckworth, Walton or Wilson as a part of their ancestry to consider attending and honoring those names.

History by and large is somewhat dormant, and anything we can do to revive and revitalize our patriot history from the Revolutionary War is really important.
In 1888 Butte had no regular opticians, despite an exploding population that was probably approaching 20,000. Optometry and ophthalmology had only started as real professions in the 1870s, and most opticians were clockmakers and jewelers dealing in eyeglasses that were chosen largely by trial and error.

The first scientific optician to visit Butte was probably Dr. David S. Harmon, an itinerant optometrist who had invented several devices for examining eyes and measuring their abilities to focus. His Otimator reportedly had 400 lenses for evaluating vision and must have been similar to the scopes used by optometrists today. He claimed it was the only one in the world, which was probably a slight exaggeration.

Harmon also brought to Butte his Duplex Eye Illuminator, which was a way of examining the interior of the living eye, similar to Hermann von Helmholtzs 1851 invention, the ophthalmoscope. Harmons Optotypi ad visam determinadam was a chart similar to the Snellen eye chart with letters, but with symbols, which he touted as appropriate for children and illiterate patients.

Harmon was a Russian who was educated at the Polytechnic University of St. Petersburg, but he could not graduate because he was Jewish. With the help of the Freemasons, he fled to America in the 1870s after his nihilist and anti-monarchist politics got him in trouble in Russia, and after further training, he began to travel the United States offering his specialized services, usually in 10-day visits.

Harmon published extensive testimonials of his work in the Butte newspapers to promote his visit in March and April 1888, when he held forth in Room 6 of the Napton Block (a building on Granite Street, the predecessor to the present Napton that was built in 1906). Lawyers, government officials, medical doctors, and more provided notarized reports of his skill. He was not a mere spectacle peddler, but a scientific man, and one Nevada patient wrote that his eyeglasses were to my eyes like a juicy steak to a natural tooth compared with a false set.

Even using his complex equipment, Harmon did not charge for examinations, only for the eyeglasses he made to the specifications he determined. He offered both manufactured glass lenses as well as ground pebble glasses, carved from optical quartz crystal imported from Brazil.

After traveling across the U.S. to California, Nevada, Oregon, Idaho, Nebraska, and New Mexico as well as Butte from about 1885 to 1889, Harmon settled in Norfolk, Virginia, where he had a successful practice until he died in an accidental fall in 1903 at age 52. He was an active member of Norfolks Beth-el Synagogue, the Odd Fellows, Masons, and the Royal Arcanum fraternal organization.

About four years after Harmons visit, Butte had its first permanent medical doctor specializing in diseases of the eyes and ears. Dr. Thomas A. Grigg arrived in Butte in 1892 and served the community for 40 years, until his death in 1932 at age 71. Grigg came to the U.S. from his native Prince Edward Island, Canada, and lived at 856 West Silver Street.

By 1917 Butte had five oculists (medical doctors who were eye specialists) including Grigg, as well as five opticians, 2 optometrists and one ophthalmologist.
Officials are warning Montanans to keep themselves and their pets away from dead birds, as a bird flu outbreak now in its second year starts to infect more mammals.

In Montana, close to 82,500 domestic birds have been culled from the ongoing outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI, since the state saw its first case in a poultry flock last April.

But on top of the losses for farm-raised birds, the outbreak has also taken a harder toll on wild birds than in years past. Thats led at least 12 mammals in Montana to succumb to the disease, which experts say they likely got from eating infected wild birds.

Its meant a busy year for Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks and the states Veterinary Diagnostic Lab, which are sampling and testing animals to see how the H5N1 strain has spread across species.

According to lab data as of March 31, employees have confirmed one black bear, two grizzly bears, two raccoons, one red fox, and six striped skunks as non-negative for bird flu. The samples are then sent to a national lab in Iowa where they are confirmed positive.

The lab also confirmed the influenza strain in three bald eagles, five turkey vultures, 13 red-tailed hawks, and 21 great horned owls.

The situation is much different than the last time an HPAI outbreak roiled the country, said Erika Schwarz, the clinical veterinary microbiologist whos in charge of leading the bird flu testing for the state lab.

That outbreak, which spanned from December 2014 to June 2015, killed more than 50 million birds across the country. Cases went down as the weather got warmer.

But this time around, animals continued to contract the virus through the summer. A year later, the outbreak has killed 58 million domestic birds in the U.S. and counting, and impacts to wild birds and mammals have been more severe too, Schwarz said.

Montanas lab didnt test mammals for bird flu during the last HPAI outbreak or at start of this one, according to Schwarz.

That changed in October, when Montana officials started hearing of mammals contracting bird flu in other states.

The lab had saved samples from two grizzly bears, and a black bear originally misidentified as a grizzly, who were all euthanized for neurological problems. Originally, officials thought the bears had rabies, but those tests were negative.

Schwarz said a few weeks later, on a whim, the lab thought to test those samples for bird flu and were startled to see them come back positive.

Clinically, the symptoms for rabies and bird flu are the same, Schwarz said. Animals will show signs of neurological distress, like abnormal movements and circling, tremors, seizures, and not fearing humans.

Since the bears, the lab has started to test any animals with those symptoms for both rabies and bird flu.

Its a heavy workload for the labs employees, but Schwarz said theyre trained to handle high amounts of testing. Cases have slowed a little this winter, but theyre expecting them to pick back up again, Schwarz said.

This outbreak and how long its persisted is unusual, Schwarz said. Its left a lot of scientists just baffled.

In the last outbreak, Montana didnt see wild bird die off so there werent infected dead birds on the landscape for other animals to get into, said FWP wildlife veterinarian Jennifer Ramsey. Thats changed now.

Last week, three domestic cats  two in Nebraska and one in Wyoming  contracted the virus after eating wild birds. A dog in Canada died of bird flu the week prior.

Its not something new  mammals have been infected with avian influenza viruses in the past, Ramsey said. We just havent dealt with it to this extent here before. Its concerning.

People should make sure to keep their pets away from dead birds, and always wear gloves if they have to handle a carcass, Ramsey said.

U.S. health officials are monitoring how the virus is changing overtime, Ramsey said. The longer the virus circulates and the more species it infects, the easier it is to mutate.

So far, theres no evidence of the virus spreading from mammal to mammal, which would cause significant concern, Ramsey said. A handful of humans who worked closely with infected birds got the virus in 2022 but recovered.

The threat of mammal to mammal spread was amplified when animals at a Spanish mink fur farm died from bird flu in January. But Schwarz said those animals were in such close proximity to each other, allowing a greater opportunity for the virus to spread quickly through many animals.

When we think about the types of mammals that we see acquiring the virus here, they are mostly solitary or semi-solitary carnivores and mesocarnivores, Schwarz said. So the risk of seeing this kind of rapid mammal-to-mammal spread would probably be quite a bit lower.

People should report any unexplained animal mortalities to FWP, Ramsey said. While the state has limited resources, and tries to focus testing on areas and species where bird flu hasnt been confirmed yet, reports help officials better understand where the virus is.

Cases in mammals have been concentrated in places like Bozeman and Missoula, where there are more people to report mortalities. But thats not to say other parts of the state dont have similar amounts of virus thats going undetected, Ramsey said.

Montana is a very large, rural state if Im sitting here at my desk in Bozeman, I have no idea what somebody may be seeing in another town, Ramsey said. So having those calls and reports is helpful.
An Alabama home where Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders planned the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches has been sold to a historical museum in Michigan and will be moved to a site near Detroit for preservation. The Jackson House will be dismantled starting later this year and trucked more than 800 miles to The Henry Ford Museums Greenfield Village in Dearborn. The project is expected to take up to three years. The 3,000-square-foot bungalow was owned by dentist Sullivan Jackson and his wife, Richie Jean. It provided a safe haven for King and other civil rights leaders as they strategized the three marches protesting racist Jim Crow laws that prevented Black people from voting in the Deep South.
Muscatine's City Council last month approved the purchase of three Conex containers for $9,485 for the Muscatine Fire Department, with the price being covered by American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.

Although these containers wont be ready for the latest round of Fire Academy applicants to use, work is now being done to turn these units into a brand-new live fire training facility at Muscatine Fire Department Station 2. A substitute for the acquired mobile homes the academy was using before for training, these units are said to provide both a cost savings and an impactful training tool for the department.

Before the purchase, Battalion Chief Darrell Janssen, Capt. Andy Summit and Lt. Andrew McSorley researched the Conex units thoroughly, leading to the conclusion that through some moderation and conversion, the containers are flexible enough to simulate realistic fire scenarios while also having a lower impact on the environment and on the departments time and finances.

Many on-staff spent hours preparing the trailers we were using for fire training, putting up drywall, fixing the floors and prepping for the live burns, Summitt said. It was a costly, time-consuming process. We knew that there had to be a better way, one that was more durable and less costly.

(The Conex boxes) are safer, easier, last forever and really cheap, McSorley added.

Once the training facility has completed construction, members of the Iowa City Fire Department, which already uses Conex containers in its training, will stop by to help instruct the Muscatine Fire Department on how to do the burns within the boxes.

The first of the Conex boxes, measuring 8 feet by 40 feet, arrived April 11 at the Stewart Road training site. Because of the concrete pads slight arch leading to one end of the container being 16 inches off the ground, a level pad made of crushed asphalt also had to be installed by the Department of Public Works. More pads will be created before the arrival of the other containers.

Hoffmann, Inc. and MUSCO lighting, meanwhile, donated some additional help, including a welder, and a forklift truck to help the additional installation and fabrication for the new training facility, for which the fire department expressed gratitude.

Once all the containers are in Muscatine, the plan is for the first container to house the burn room. It as well as the second and third boxes will be used to simulate rooms in a home, with the second and third boxes having ports for smoke machine pipes to be plugged into in order to replicate a smoke-filled house. Walls will also be built within the containers to further help make the simulation feel accurate to real life, while additions like fake bathrooms and closets will remind those going through the training to search areas such as those thoroughly.

According to Summit, once the current academy trainees finish using the county burn trailer, it will permanently be replaced by the newly completed facility.

My vision is that in the next couple of years we will go up maybe two, three and four stories high, Summitt said. We can stack them to make an upstairs, and to simulate basements. You can even stack them vertically to simulate elevators that you can repel down into. It will be the future training ground for sure.
WAPELLO  The Louisa County Public Health Services (LCPHS) Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Annual Report was approved by the county board of health (BOH) at its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday.

LCPHS Administrator Roxanne Smith reviewed the report with the board, pointing out it summarized the services yearly public health and home health activities.

The status of the countys Community Health Needs Assessment/Health Improvement Plan (CHNA/HIP) was reviewed under the public health section of the report.

The five-year CHNA/HIP had been completed in 2015 by the LCPHS and the Iowa Department of Public Health. The assessment/plan had established three priorities: Elderly Wellness and Preventing Injuries from Falls; Increased Vaccinations to Prevent the Spread of Disease; and Emergency Planning to Prepare, Respond and Recover from Public Health Disasters.

The LCPHS had intended to update the plan in FY 22, but the COVID epidemic forced the service to postpone that effort. However, it was able to partner with the College of Public Health at the University of Iowa; and a public health student assisted in creating a survey to gather community data for the next CHNA/HIP cycle.

The report also identified emergency preparedness activities completed in FY 22. Among these were continued planning and preparation to respond to pandemic influenza; continuous revision of the Public Health Emergency Plan; and Health Alert Network test participation.

Communicable Disease Surveillance was also continued by the LCHPS. According to the report, 2,573 cases of reportable diseases were reported in Louisa County between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022.

The 2,551 COVID cases made up the bulk of these reports, with Campylobacter (7); and Salmonella (6) the next most frequent.

The public health section also reported on the countys TB Infection Program, Immunizations and Environmental Health.

The Home Health Services section was broken down into Skilled Nursing activities; Home Health Aide/Homemaker effort; and the countys Newborn Home Visiting effort.

The total number of Skilled Nursing visits were 855; while the Home Health Aides completed 1,425 visits over the fiscal year period; and Homemakers completed 1,518 visits.

There were no Newborn Home visits, and Smith attributed that to the county not having a hospital to provide referrals.

The report also provided a financial summary.

The BOH also approved several grant applications for FY 2024. These included a six-year Public Health Emergency Preparedness grant; Immunization grant; and Public Health State grant.

Staff nurse Leah McElhinney also provided an update to the BOH on the countys QAPI (Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement) program. McElhinney said the program had been on the back burner during the COVID pandemic but was now being revisited, especially with a focus on Home Health activities.

She and Smith both pointed out many of the needs identified through the program had already been recognized and were being addressed by the staff. However, federal officials require documentation of those activities, and the two said they were continuing to develop methods to provide that documentation.

County sanitarian Brian Thye also provided a report on his environmental health activities for the past month.
When she was a college freshman, Joslyn Chaiprasert-Paguio was told by a doctor she had a common sexually transmitted infection called the human papillomavirus but not to worry. Four years later, a few days before her wedding, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer, which caused complications when she became pregnant. She had a hysterectomy eight years later, after the disease returned in 2021.

The 38-year-old medical journal editor of Menifee in Riverside County, California, hadnt been immunized as a teenager because there wasnt yet a vaccine for HPV, which causes nearly all cervical cancers and a handful of other potentially lethal forms of the disease in men and women. Now, her 10-year-old daughter, Samantha, is scheduled to get her first shot this month.

This is the only vaccine that prevents cancer, Chaiprasert-Paguio said.

A bill pending in the California legislature would require schools to notify parents that their kids are expected to be vaccinated for HPV before entering eighth grade, as part of a push to get more children inoculated against the cancer-causing strains of the virus, theoretically before they become sexually active. AB 659 stops short of mandating the vaccine for middle schoolers, as the bill originally proposed. Lawmakers stripped out that provision without any debate, reflecting the contentious nature of school vaccine mandates even in a state with some of the nations strictest immunization laws.

Now is a tough time to be taking up that fight, said Michelle Mello, a professor of law and health policy at Stanford University, noting that anti-vaccine sentiment has drawn more attention since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The proposed legislation by Assembly member Cecilia Aguiar-Curry would instead require public college students under 26 to provide proof of immunization against the virus, a more palatable idea for parents uncomfortable with a vaccine that links teens to sex.

Anti-vaccine activists pounced on the bill, denouncing it as an egregious example of government overreach. A group called the Freedom Angels claimed credit for pressuring lawmakers into dropping the vaccine mandate for young teens, calling it a huge victory.

Since its debut in 2006, the HPV vaccine has elicited unfounded rumors that the shots could cause neurological damage or make teens sterile. Fewer than 55% of kids in the U.S. ages 13-15 were vaccinated against HPV in 2020, a rate far lower than those for other routine childhood shots. By comparison, more than 90% of adolescents are up to date on the Tdap vaccine, which protects against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis. A single dose of the HPV vaccine has a list price of $268, according to drug manufacturer Merck.

Most states do not require HPV immunizations for school as for diseases like polio and chickenpox, which can spread easily in classrooms through the air or touch. Just three states, Rhode Island, Virginia and Hawaii, as well as Washington, D.C., currently require student vaccination against HPV for sixth or seventh graders.

Mostly Republican pushback against COVID-19 vaccine mandates has spawned a spate of proposed legislation in conservative states, such as Montana and Idaho, which weaken or roll back government and private-sector requirements. In Iowa, which has the nations second-highest cancer rate, lawmakers are considering a bill that would strike a requirement that schools inform students about the HPV vaccine.

Even before COVID-19, a rising wave of parents who refused to vaccinate their kids allowed diseases that had been all but eliminated decades ago  like measles and pertussis or whooping cough  to return.

In this reality, passing good public health policy means long-term strategizing, said Crystal Strait, who leads the pro-vaccination group ProtectUS. Thats how she sees Aguiar-Currys amended HPV vaccination bill.

Its a step, she said. We have to do something. Too many people are being harmed by preventable cancer.

Nearly everyone contracts HPV at some point, though usually without symptoms. But a handful of strains of the virus can linger in the body and develop into cancer of the cervix, vagina, vulva, penis, anus or throat. Studies have confirmed that the HPV vaccine reduced the risk of getting cancer by nearly 90% when given to girls and boys in their early teens, likely before theyre exposed to dangerous strains of the virus.

Academic research shows that teens in states with HPV vaccine mandates have been much more likely to receive the shot.

Weve had this war against cancer for decades, and now we have a cancer vaccine and people are debating whether we should work to assure that everyone gets it, said Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, a public health professor at the University of Southern California who previously served as San Franciscos director of STD Prevention and Control Services. Its hard to wrap your mind around.

Rates of cervical cancer, once a leading cause of cancer deaths for American women, have fallen with the vaccine and stepped-up Pap smears. Still, more than 37,000 cancers caused by HPV are diagnosed annually, and cervical cancer alone still killed more than 4,000 women last year.

States with the highest cancer rates States with the highest cancer rates #50. Arizona #49. New Mexico #48. Colorado #47. California #46. Virginia #45. District of Columbia #44. Utah #43. Indiana #42. Oregon #41. Texas #40. Hawaii #39. Wyoming #38. Alaska #37. South Carolina #36. Washington (tie) #35. South Dakota (tie) #34. Michigan #33. Massachusetts #32. Florida #31. North Dakota #30. Idaho #29. Missouri #28. Minnesota #27. Alabama #26. Tennessee #25. Oklahoma #24. Montana #23. Vermont #22. Kansas #21. Illinois (tie) #20. Maryland (tie) #19. Delaware #18. Nebraska #17. Pennsylvania #16. Georgia #15. North Carolina #14. Ohio #13. Connecticut #12. Wisconsin #11. Mississippi #10. Rhode Island #9. New Hampshire #8. Maine #7. West Virginia #6. New Jersey #5. New York #4. Arkansas #3. Louisiana #2. Iowa #1. Kentucky
WASHINGTON  When Rep. Kevin McCarthy emerged from a messy 15-ballot election and ascended to House speaker, he was emboldened rather than chastened by the fight, declaring that his father taught him early on in life: "It's not how you start; it's how you finish."

But as the embattled Republican leader from California rounds the first 100 days at the helm of a slim House Republican majority, it is proving hard to shake off the spectacle of the unsteady launch that has become a defining backbeat to McCarthy's speakership.

So far, McCarthy has logged surprise successes in the new Congress: The Republican House has passed dozens of bills, many of them bipartisan, including politically potent efforts targeting crime and the COVID-19 pandemic that left President Joe Biden almost no choice but to sign the bills into law.

McCarthy has opened the Capitol more fully to visitors, relishing the onlookers who stop to snap selfies during his impromptu hallway news conferences. He hosted his first foreign leader, President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan, with a diplomatic flourish, leading a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers standing up to China.

On Monday, McCarthy was expected to give a speech at the New York Stock Exchange, another sign of his rising influence.

And yet.

It's 100 days into the new Congress, and McCarthy's speakership is what one senior congressional Democratic aide compared to the spotlight on the theater stage, with the audience waiting for the play to begin and then suddenly, the realization there is no script.

McCarthy is performing the role as speaker  second in line to the presidency  but the Republican leader allied with Donald Trump remains stubbornly limited in action because of his uneasy grip on the gavel. Any single lawmaker is able to call for a vote to oust the speaker from office.

As such, McCarthy has been unable to steer House Republicans to start delivering on broader pursuits  the GOP promises for border security or budget cuts to prevent a debt ceiling crisis, for starters. How he handles them will be the defining challenge that makes or breaks his next 100 days.

"This is where McCarthy finds himself," said Jeffery A. Jenkins, a professor of public policy at the University of Southern California who has written about House speakers.

"The power of any single speakership is endogenous," he said. "This Congress, McCarthy will always have little wiggle room. He will have to walk a tightrope."

In many ways, it was inevitable that whoever followed the last House Speaker, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., would operate differently because of the oversize role she played as one of the most powerful congressional leaders in modern times. She often quips it has become a shrinking speakership under the Republican.

But McCarthy is remaking the speaker's office in his image, including reclaiming a private room just steps from the House floor for meetings. The silver-haired father shuns many of the formal trappings of Congress  he may never return to the televised briefing room at the Capitol for formal news conferences  as he begins to tap into the enormous powers at his disposal.

He often suggests he's being underestimated. House Republicans stunned Washington with some unexpected early victories when they took control in January for the first time in four years.

Republicans all but forced Biden into signing early bills into law, including one to roll back the District of Columbia's criminal code. Democrats were furious when the White House abandoned efforts to veto the measure and played into the GOP's tough-on-crime rhetoric.

On other measures, McCarthy found Democrats willing to cross party lines  to create a select committee focused on U.S. competition with China, to require the administration to declassify as much intelligence as possible about the origins of COVID-19 and to require an abrupt end to the national pandemic emergency.

Hard-right critics who withheld their support of McCarthy during the excruciating 15 ballots it took to become speaker until he agreed to their demands seem relatively satisfied at the outcome.

"He's performed better than I thought he would," said Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., the past chairman of the Freedom Caucus, in an interview. "I can't complain."

To establishment conservative observers, the House under McCarthy is a welcome contrast to the past two years of Democratic party rule in Washington.

"Now there's actually a check and balance," said Eric Cantor, a former GOP leader. "He is delivering that every day and very effective, obviously, at holding his troops together."

But the struggle to become speaker is never far behind, thanks to a Trump-aligned power center in Congress that propped McCarthy up and could just as easily tear him back down.

Trump's support ensured McCarthy won his race to become speaker, both men have said, but the former president's backing can easily be lost.

As McCarthy balances his own Reagan-styled optimism against the more extremist Trump-aligned populists in his conference, he has kept close to Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a top Trump ally. She has been leading efforts to ease detention conditions for defendants facing some of the most severe charges stemming from the Capitol insurrection.

In another gesture toward his right flank, McCarthy released thousands of hours of the riot video footage about the riot to Fox News' Tucker Carlson, who has fanned false conspiracy theories of the attack. McCarthy was among those members of Congress who voted on Jan. 6, 2021, against certifying Biden's 2020 election victory over Trump.

The House Democrats' campaign arm issued a recent memo saying the new House GOP majority is "too extreme to lead."

Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., and a longtime leader of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, said in an interview that the drawn-out election to make McCarthy speaker "was the most embarrassing week of all in the history of Congress  and I don't think things have gotten much better."

Even the House investigations into Biden and his family that were supposed to be a capstone of the new Republican majority have spun into a free-for-all with several committees examining all aspects of the federal government.

"Tough job," said GOP Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, told The Associated Press about the speaker. "But he's doing great."

Photos: Scenes from historic speaker vote of 118th Congress
CHICAGO  When the U.S. prisons director visited the penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, recently, she stopped by the federal death row where Bruce Webster is in a solitary, 12-by-7 foot cell, 23 hours a day.

Webster's not supposed to be there. A federal judge in Indiana ruled in 2019 that the 49-year-old has an IQ in the range of severe intellectual disability and so cannot be put to death.

But four years on, the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Prisons havent moved him to a less restrictive unit or different prison.

Why? His own lawyer, who secured a rare legal win in persuading a court to vacate Websters 1996 death sentence in the kidnapping, rape and killing of a 16-year-old Texas girl, says shes baffled.

How can I not get this guy off death row? an exasperated Monica Foster said in a recent interview. Well, I did get him off death row. But why cant I physically get him off death row?

Asked about Webster's continued placement on death row, a Justice Department official said only that the Bureau of Prisons is considering Mr. Websters designation determination.

Webster's case illustrates chronic bureaucracy in the prisons system and the difficulties in getting anyone off death row. There's sometimes additional reluctance to act in death row cases given the nature of inmates' crimes.

In Webster's case, he and three accomplices kidnapped a sister of a rival drug trafficker in 1994, kicking their way into an Arlington, Texas, apartment as Lisa Rene frantically dialed 911. They raped her over two days, then stripped her, bludgeoned her with a shovel and buried her alive.

Bureau of Prisons Director Colette Peters has said she's committed to reforms. Her visit to Terre Haute was part of regular inspections of U.S. prisons. It came months after a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana seeking to end the solitary confinement of federal death row inmates, saying that practice results in severe psychological damage.

The Biden administration should see moving Webster as an uncontroversial if modest step toward fulfilling President Joe Bidens campaign pledge to stop federal executions for good, Foster argued.

This case is a no brainer, the Indianapolis-based federal defender said. There is zero political liability for doing the right thing here and moving him off death row.

Webster, who wants to be transferred to a prison near his hometown of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, must be resentenced. Its supposed to be a formality because life in prison is the only available sentence.

When his lawyers and the Justice Department asked in joint 2021 motion for U.S. judge in Texas where Webster was tried in 1996 to resentence him, the judge refused, saying he lacked jurisdiction.

Judge Terry Means also chided his Indiana counterpart, Judge William Lawrence, for tossing Websters death sentence, saying Lawrence had brushed aside jurors finding, including that most rejected Websters intellectual disability claims.

That judgment is final, the government said about Means' ruling, adding that it is the department's position "that Mr. Webster is not currently subject to a valid death sentence.

Responsibility to get Webster off death row lies squarely with the Justice Department, Foster said.

The Justice Department executed 13 U.S. death row inmates, some of them Webster's friends, in the last months of Donald Trump's presidency. While Biden's Justice Department paused the executions and reversed decisions to seek death sentences in some cases, it continues to seek them in others.

Lawrence based his Webster ruling on Atkins v. Virginia, a landmark Supreme Court decision in 2002 ruling that executing those with intellectual disabilities violated Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment.

That decision hasn't prevented some inmates with such disabilities from being executed, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. It identifies 25 cases where that's happened since that ruling, including two federal inmates executed under Trump, Alfred Bourgeois and Corey Johnson.

Whether Webster qualified as intellectually disabled centered on three questions: Was his IQ significantly below average, did he show an inability to learn basic skills and was the onset of the disability apparent before age 18?

In his ruling, Lawrence cited tests putting Webster's IQ between 50 and 65, below the benchmark score for intellectual disability of 70. The average is 100.

During arguments, Webster's lawyers said he relied on others to tie his shoes late into childhood, and, as a teenager, had trouble playing card games because he couldnt distinguish between clubs and spades.

Prosecutors accused Webster of playing dumb. They said he intentionally answered IQ questions incorrectly to avoid the death penalty. They said proof of his aptitude included how, during a jail stint, he figured out how to pick locks on a food chute to slip into a womens section.

Webster also has been able to hold a job, albeit criminal in nature, a government filing added. "Being a successful drug dealer is no less demanding than holding any number of legitimate jobs.

The decisive evidence, however, were newly obtained Social Security records from before the killing indicating Websters IQ was within the intellectually disabled range. That evidence, despite requests for it, wasn't made available at his trial.

Why executions by firing squad may be coming back in the US Intro When was the last execution by firing squad? What has caused the lethal drug scarcity? Are they more humane? But is death by firing squad really painless? Are firing squads more reliable? Were firing squads ever in wide use? Has the Supreme Court weighed in?
KANSAS CITY, Mo.  An 84-year-old white man who shot a Black teen at his front door in Kansas City, Missouri, last week has been charged with armed assault, and the Clay County prosecutor said Monday there was a racial component to the case.

Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson said at a news conference that Andrew Lester shot 16-year-old Ralph Yarl, who is recovering at home after being released from the hospital on Sunday.

When asked if anything was said between Lester and Yarl that made Thompson believe the shooting was racially motivated, Thompson said nothing like that is indicated in charging documents.

We understand how frustrating this has been but I can assure the criminal justice system is working and will continue to work, Thompson said at a news conference.

Yarl was supposed to pick up his two younger brothers last week when he approached the wrong house. Lester came to the door and shot Yarl in the head -- then shot him again. No words were exchanged before the shooting, the probable cause statement said.

Lester told police that he lives alone and had just gone to bed when he heard his doorbell, according to a probable cause statement. He said he picked up his gun and went to the door, where he saw a Black male pulling on the exterior storm door handle and thought someone was breaking in.

Community leaders and an attorney for Yarls family had earlier demanded justice for the Black teen. Thompson said an arrest warrant was issued but Lester was not yet in custody.

The shooting outraged many in Kansas City and across the country. Rev. Vernon Howard, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Kansas City, said in a statement Monday that the homeowner should immediately be arrested for what he called a heinous and hate-filled crime.

The Missouri Senate held a moment of silence for Yarl on Monday. We pray for justice, Democratic Sen. Lauren Arthur said.

The shooting happened Thursday night in a middle class neighborhood in north Kansas City. Yarl was sent to pick up his twin younger brothers. He didn't have a phone with him and went to the wrong block, his aunt, Faith Spoonmore, wrote on a GoFundMe page set up to help pay medical bills. By Monday afternoon, $1.4 million had been raised.

Graves said that Yarl's parents asked him to pick up his brothers at a home on 115th Terrace, but he mistakenly went to 115th Street, the Kansas City Star reported.

Spoonmore wrote that Yarl pulled into the driveway and rang the doorbell.

The man in the home opened the door, looked my nephew in the eye, and shot him in the head, Spoonmore wrote. When Yarl fell to the ground, the man shot him again.

Spoonmore wrote that Yarl approached three different homes "before someone finally agreed to help him after he was told to lie on the ground with his hands up. The AP could not independently confirm this account.

Yarl is a bass clarinetist who earned Missouri All-State Band honorable mention and who plays several instruments in the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of Kansas City, Spoonmore wrote. A statement from the North Kansas City School District described Yarl as an excellent student and talented musician.

Yarl was released from the hospital Sunday and is recovering at home, his father, Paul Yarl, told the Kansas City Star. Spoonmore said Yarl is doing well physically but has a lot of trauma to overcome emotionally.

Police have not identified the shooter or his race, though civil rights attorney Ben Crump said the family provided information indicating he was white. He did not elaborate.

By Monday afternoon, the home where the shooting happened had been vandalized. Black spray-paint on the side of the house showed a heart with 16 in the middle. Eggs splattered the front windows and the door.

The shooting has caught the attention of national figures.

Vice President Kamala Harris wrote on Twitter that she and her husband were praying for Yarl.

Lets be clear: No child should ever live in fear of being shot for ringing the wrong doorbell," Harris tweeted.

Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., wrote on Twiter that "the man who did this should be charged AND we need to work for the legislative and heart change to prevent these tragedies.

Graves said investigators will consider whether the suspect was protected by Stand Your Ground laws, which allow for the use of deadly force in self-defense. Missouri is among around 30 states with such laws.

These laws breed a society of violence and fear while providing cover for those who harm, maim and kill others, state Rep. Marlene Terry, a St. Louis Democrat who chairs the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus, said in a statement.

A message seeking comment from Republican Gov. Mike Parson, a staunch gun rights supporters, wasnt immediately returned.

Crump, who has represented families in several high-profile case of Black people being shot, including those of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, called it asinine that charges have to wait for an interview with Yarl.

We all believe that if the roles were reversed and this was a Black citizen who shot a 16-year-old for merely ringing his doorbell, they would have arrested him, and he wouldnt have slept in his bed that night, Crump said.

Two days after Yarl was shot, a 20-year-old woman was killed by a homeowner in Upstate New York Saturday after the car she was in drove to the wrong address. Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy said Kaylin Gillis was in a car with three others looking for a friends house.

As the car was turning around, Kevin Monahan came out and fired two shots, one of which struck Gillis. Monahan was charged with second-degree murder.

Dont sugarcoat it: How to talk to your kids honestly about racism Helping your childs health Talk to your child honestly The appearance of impropriety When a child enters school Reaching out to other families
On this episode of the Utterly Moderate Podcast, we are joined by Michael Shermer from Skeptic Magazine to discuss the rise of conspiracy theories in America.

Make sure to check out Shermer's new book on the subject, Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational.

The Connors Forum is an independent entity from the institutions that we partner with. The views expressed in our newsletters and podcasts are those of the individual contributors alone and not of our partner institutions.

Episode Music:
Republicans upset with Donald Trumps indictment are escalating their war on the prosecutor who charged him. They're trying to embarrass Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on his home turf. The House Judiciary Committee's field hearing near Bragg's offices was billed as an examination of the Democrats pro-crime, anti-victim policies. Democrats call it a partisan stunt aimed at amplifying conservative anger at Manhattans first Black district attorney and deflect from the criminal charges Trump faces. It's the latest effort by Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Jordans to use his congressional powers to defend Trump from what he says is a politically motivated prosecution.
NEW YORK (AP)  Two men were arrested Monday on charges that they helped establish a secret police station in New York City on behalf of the Chinese government, and about three dozen officers with China's national police force were charged with using social media to harass dissidents inside the United States, authorities said Monday.

The cases are part of a series of Justice Department prosecutions in recent years aimed at disrupting Chinese government efforts to locate in America pro-democracy activists and others who are openly critical of Beijing's policies and to suppress their speech.

One of three cases announced Monday concerns a local branch of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security that had operated inside an office building in Manhattan's Chinatown neighborhood before closing last fall amid an FBI investigation. The two men who were arrested were acting under the direction and control of a Chinese government official and deleted communication with that official from their phones after learning of the FBI's probe in an apparent effort to obstruct the inquiry, according to the Justice Department.

Though China is believed to be operating secretive police outposts in countries around the globe, Justice Department officials said these arrests were the first of their kind anywhere in the world.

This is a blatant violation of our national sovereignty, Michael Driscoll, the head of New York's FBI field office, said at a news conference announcing the cases.

The men, identified as Harry Lu Jianwang, 61, of the Bronx, and Chen Jinping, 59, of Manhattan, both U.S. citizens, were arrested at their homes on Monday morning. A lawyer for Lu declined to comment. An email message seeking comment was left with a lawyer for Chen.

At no point did the men register with the Justice Department as agents of a foreign government, U.S. law enforcement officials said. And though the secret police station did perform some basic services, such as helping Chinese citizens renew their Chinese driver's licenses, it also served a more sinister function, including helping the Chinese government locate a pro-democracy activist of Chinese descent living in California, officials said.

New York City is home to New Yorks finest: the NYPD," said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace, the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, whose office brought the cases. "We dont need or want a secret police station in our great city.

Justice Department officials in recent years have prioritized prosecutions of whats known as transnational repression, in which foreign governments work to identify, intimidate and silence dissidents in the U.S.

A signature case concerning China was announced in 2020, when the Justice Department charged more than a half-dozen people with working on behalf of the Chinese government in a pressure campaign aimed at coercing a New Jersey man wanted by Beijing into returning to China to face charges. In January, the Justice Department charged three men in an alleged plot that originated in Iran to kill an I ranian American author and activist who has spoken out against human rights abuses there.

In America, the law protects all of us equally from persecution, violence and threats of violence," said David Newman, a top official in the Justice Departments national security division.

As authoritarian governments  whether the PRC, Russia, Iran, or others  become more brazen in their efforts to trample the rights and liberties that are the bedrock of our democracy, the Department of Justice will redouble its efforts to defend our democracy, our democratic institutions, and our sovereignty, Newman said, using an acronym for the People's Republic of China.

In a separate scheme announced Monday, the Justice Department charged 34 officers in the Ministry of Public Security with creating and using thousands of fake social media accounts on Twitter and other platforms to harass dissidents abroad.

Prosecutors say the defendants, all part of a specialized task force that worked out of a police facility in Beijing, also used social media to spread Chinese government propaganda on subjects including racial justice protests in the U.S., Russia's war against Ukraine and human rights issues in Hong Kong. All of the defendants remain at large and are believed to be living in China.

In addition, prosecutors on Monday announced that eight Chinese government officials who are believed to be currently living in China were charged with directing an employee of a U.S. telecommunications company to remove Chinese dissidents from the companys platform.

Jin Xinjiang, also known as Julien Jin, a former China-based Zoom executive, was among 10 people charged in an amended complaint. He was initially charged in December 2020, when authorities alleged that he tried to disrupt a series of Zoom meetings in May and June of that year that were meant to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre.

At the time, Jin served as Zooms primary liaison with Chinese government law enforcement and intelligence services, regularly responding to requests by the Chinese government to terminate meetings and block users on Zooms video communications platform, authorities said.

Tucker reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Bobby Caina Calvan in New York contributed to this report.
The government will establish a committee to lead in restoration efforts of Lake Ol Bolossat in Nyandarua County, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has said.

Speaking when he led the planting of 10,000 trees in Shamata Ward, the Deputy President said the committee will be coordinated by Cabinet Secretary for Environment Soipan Tuya.

I have visited the lake and am so shocked. If we do not act, it will disappear. We have agreed with the Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya to convene a consultative meeting of all stakeholders on conservation and saving the lake, he said.

The Deputy President said different proposals have been made. Such proposals will be subjected to discussions for a collective decision to save the lake, he added. Ongoing efforts by various stakeholders like community-based organisations and institutions will be consolidated for better results.

While encouraging Kenyans to plant more trees, he said that the livelihoods of the people around the lake have been disrupted due to the disappearing lake.

He commended the work being done by the leaders of the region in reclaiming the lake. He singled out Nyandarua Senator John Methu for organizing the event, which targets to plant at least 100, 000 trees by the end of the current rain season.

I want to thank Senator Methu for inviting us to this tree planting exercise. As you are aware, President William Ruto has asked us to plant at least 15 billion trees by 2032. As we plant trees to save this lake, we are also contributing to the call of our President, he said.

According to the Cabinet Secretary Tuya, the country can attain 15 billion trees if each Kenyan plants at least 30 seedlings per year until 2032.

This will be key in combating the negative effects of climate change and boost food security.

This lake, which was about 43 square kilometres has shrunk considerably, getting worse in the past several months as the country experienced the longest dry season in 40 years.

The lake was home to more than 300 bird species, hippopotamuses, various fish types, among others. The loss of biodiversity in the lake has led to diminished revenues from fishing, tourism and other economic activities.

Lake Ol BolosSat is also the source of River for Ewaso Nyiro, the third longest river in Kenya, starting from Nyandarua, cutting through Laikipia and Garissa counties towards Somalia.

CS Tuya said if the lake is not restored, the lives of the people downstream will be in danger too.

-DPCS
By PCS

First Lady Mama Rachel Ruto hosted Muslim women at State House in Nairobi for Iftar, the fast-breaking evening meal during Ramadan.

The First Lady recognised the important role Muslim women play during this fasting period as the backbone of their families and communities.

The First Lady celebrated the role of women as a critical pillar in the family, and even during this month, women are at the centre of breaking fast and hosting Iftar, which brings families together.

The First Lady mentioned that women have a critical role in preserving the sanctity of family and are protectors, and we agreed as mothers to fight for family, especially during modern times when family and children are under attack.

She further urged the ladies to be a living example of their faith and to be agents of social change in their families and communities.
By PCS

The Government is committed to addressing the challenges facing Kenyans.

President William Ruto said the government is focused on issues that will change the lives of ordinary people.

Speaking in Narok and Kiambu counties where he launched water and road projects, the President said only unity of purpose will move the country forward.

He asked leaders to focus on transforming the country and stop politicking.

I am ready to work with all leaders to change Kenya. I will work with any lesder who wants to improve the lives of Kenyans, he said.

The President launched the Sh1.5 billion, Narok Town Sewerage Project in the company of Governors Patrick Ole Ntutu (Narok) and Joseph Ole Lenku (Kajiado), MPs among other leaders.

He also commissioned a Sh73 Million Water Project in Suswa that will supply five million liters of water a day to more than 40,000 households in the area.

The President said the Government has set aside Sh350 million for water in the county.

We are building dams and pans to supply water for domestic and irrigation use so that we can eradicate hunger in Kenya, he explained.

Later, President Ruto in company of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria, Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi, Majority Leader Kimani Ichungwa and dozens of MPs and MCAs, launched the upgrading to bitumen standard of 90-Kilometres of roads in Gachie/Limuru, Kiambu County.

He noted that the roads will ease the flow of farm produce and goods to the market.

This will open up access to economic opportunities for people in the area. This is the spirit of our Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda.

The President said the Government is working round the clock to reduce the cost of living.
Canada is deeply concerned about Azerbaijan's establishment of checkpoint in Lachin corridor

Relocation of 28 patients from Artsakh canceled because of Azerbaijans deployment of checkpoint

General Singh Rana: India and Iran are working to expand military cooperation

NATO Secretary General calls on Georgia to redouble reform efforts

Entry of humanitarian goods from Armenia to Artsakh has been somewhat restored

Rasmussen: There must be political and economic consequences for Azerbaijan

State minister: Humanitarian goods, fuel imports to Karabakh completely disrupted

Foreign Minister of Iceland: Free movement through the Lachin corridor must be restored

Biden and Harris have started raising campaign donations

Thomas de Waal: There will be new conflict between Karabakh and Azerbaijan

digiPOS digital terminal from Ardshinbank: cash register in your smartphone

Marukyan: US, France, Russia, EU ready to guarantee implementation of peace treaty to be signed with Azerbaijan?

Israel ambassador expresses solidarity with Armenian people

Aliyev promises Europe more Azerbaijani natural gas

Azerbaijanis put You are entering the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan road sign near Hakari bridge

Armenia economic activity index up 12.2% in first quarter

Bob Menendez: It's time to halt security assistance to Baku

Explanation made regarding Armenia v. Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan v. Armenia court cases

Armenia opposition MP: Russia is taking steps on the spot, Azerbaijan internal troops are also there

Pelosi: Last year our delegation had solemn honor to visit Armenian Genocide Memorial

Armenia flag hoisted over Italys Reggio Calabria city hall

Biden to run in 2024 US presidential race

Karabakh MP: Negotiations to reopen Hakari bridge are in progress with Azerbaijan

CoE Commissioner for Human Rights says she tried to visit Karabakh but could not

Schiff: International observers should have been sent to Karabakh, Lachin corridor years ago

US Congress members re-introduce Armenian Genocide Education Act to House of Representatives

Adam Schiff: There should be sanctions on Azerbaijan

Armenias Pashinyan to Israels Netanyahu: Our relations have positive prerequisites for moving to new qualitative level

Chaarat Gold company discontinues talks for Lydian Armenia purchase

American Armenians march, with huge Karabakh flag, to Turkey embassy in Washington

Adam Schiff: I've never been more concerned, frankly, that there may be another major outbreak of war

Germany Bundestag human rights committee head: New Azerbaijani checkpoint contradicts international law

Loucas Fourlas visits border regions of Armenias Syunik province

Adam Schiff submits to US Congress draft resolution recognizing Karabakh independence

France FM to visit Armenia and Azerbaijan, to discuss situation in Lachin corridor

Newspaper: Pashinyan-Putin telephone conversation result being awaited

Karabakh ombudsman: Azerbaijan takes blatantly brazen step that directly contradicts tripartite statement

Kamala Harris on Armenian Genocide: Let us never forget, let us rededicate ourselves to speaking out against hate

Bruno Retailleau: Azerbaijani checkpoint installation on Hakari bridge could be beginning of new large-scale operation

Canada FM issues message on Armenian Genocide 108th anniversary

The struggle for international recognition of this horrific crime continues. President of Cyprus

U.S. Ambassador to the OSCE: The United States is deeply concerned about Azerbaijan's actions

Valerie Boyer: Turkey has started a new war of aggression in Armenia and Artsakh

The Second President of Armenia visited Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex with his wife and son

Azerbaijan's decision to set up checkpoints in the Lachin corridor contradicts EUs call to reduce tensions

Russian Defense Ministry noted Azerbaijan's unilateral and uncoordinated actions

Foreign Minister of Artsakh Meets with Head of the Republicans Group of the French Senate

France commemorates 108th Anniversary of 1915 Armenian Genocide: Macron

Commemoration ceremony was held in Amsterdam near the monument dedicated to the victims of the Armenian Genocide

PACE Rapporteur wants to visit Lachin corridor

Trudeau on Armenian Genocide Memorial Day: Canada will continue to promote peace and justice

Greece PM on Armenian Genocide: We are against any act that incites discrimination, violence against humanity

European People's Party on Armenian Genocide: We urge Turkey to acknowledge reality of past

Italy MP: International organizations access to Karabakh for humanitarian aid should be facilitated

PACE pays tribute to Armenian Genocide victims with minute of silence (VIDEO)

Representation at ECtHR: Armenia will apply to International Court of Justice regarding Lachin checkpoint matter

Yeghishe Kirakosyan: Armenia will apply to International Court of Justice regarding Lachin checkpoint issue

Levon Aronian: Message of remembering and demanding must be directed towards ourselves

Biden: We renew our pledge to never forget Armenian Genocide

Armenian Genocide commemoration event held in Istanbul

Russia ambassador, embassy military attache lay flowers at Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan (PHOTOS)

Peskov on setting up Azerbaijani checkpoint at Lachin corridor: Situation not easy, requires extra effort

Greece president: We honor Armenian Genocide victims memory

Russia calls on Armenia, Azerbaijan to immediately return to existing agreements

Armenian Genocide victims honored at PACE chamber courtyard (PHOTOS)

Bruno Retailleau on Armenian Genocide victims: They are our victims also

Artsakh MFA: Armenian people are again facing threat of new Genocide

France senator: We should help Armenia arm itself

Karabakh president: Today more than ever we need to turn words into action

Greece FM: Preserving Armenian Genocide victims memory is minimum duty of all humanity

Sotk gold mine of Armenia inactive for 10th day due to periodic Azerbaijani shooting

Colorado declares April 24, 2023 as Armenian Genocide remembrance day

Ambassador: France stands with Armenia to commemorate victims of 1915 Genocide (PHOTOS)

Karekin II: Azerbaijan's goal is to de-Armenianize, take over Karabakh

US Congressman Adam Schiff to introduce bill recognizing Karabakh independence, sovereignty

Karabakh MFA: Any proposal to discuss Azerbaijans illegal demands is tantamount to condoning its genocidal policy

Karabakh president pays tribute to Armenian Genocide victims

Catholicos visits Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan

Armenia ex-President Sarkissian: We must be able to move forward without retreating from our identity, history

Armenia army General Staff chief: We are doing positional improvement work at Tegh village

Nathalie Loiseau: No one should approach risk of new violence against Armenians lightly 108 years after Genocide

Armenia MFA: Armenians in Karabakh are facing danger of genocide, ethnic cleansing even today

Netherlands ambassador expresses support to Armenians in the words of great poet Hovhannes Tumanyan (VIDEO)

Georgia Armenians hold torchlight procession in Tbilisi

PM Pashinyan, other state officials visit Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan (PHOTOS)

Kristina Kvien: No US sanctions against Azerbaijan at the moment

MFA: France condemns setting up of Azerbaijani checkpoint at Lachin corridor, demands to reopen corridor

Karekin II: Fight for just cause of Armenians, contribute to prevention of genocidal acts and crimes

Armenia ex-President Serzh Sargsyan: Bloody scimitar which has now become Bayraktar hangs over our people again

Armenia PM: This is best moment to think about past, present, future

Armenian Genocide Memorial entrance closed

108 years later: It is Armenian Genocide victims commemoration day

State minister: People of Karabakh have right to demand from players to make clear assessments, take steps

US 'deeply concerned' by Azerbaijan's checkpoint in Lachin corridor

Edmon Marukyan: Peaceful Armenians of Artsakh taken hostage by Azerbaijan

Kanaani: Iran's military program is solely defensive

Ministry of Defense of Armenia: The Ministry of Defence of Azerbaijan has spread disinformation

Erdogan: Putin to take part in fuel delivering ceremony to Akkuyu

Security Council of the Republic of Artsakh makes a statement

Kosovo Serbs boycott local elections
The government of the Republic of Armenia (RA) has presented details regarding the ongoing negotiations with Azerbaijan.

As stated in the report on the implementation of the RA government's plan for 2022, the Armenia-Azerbaijan negotiation process took place in the following main directions: Treaty on Armenia-Azerbaijan peace and establishment of relations, Nagorno-Karabakh issue settlement, unblocking of transport and economic communications in the region, border delimitation, security, and humanitarian issues.

Several meetings were held to discuss these matters.

Three rounds of work on the peace and relations establishment treaty took place, during which Armenia and Azerbaijan exchanged observations and recommendations. For the RA, the approach is acceptable that the signing of this treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan can be separated from the process of settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, with the logic that an international mechanism of discussions between Stepanakert and Baku be formed. It is essential for the RA that guaranteed mechanisms for addressing the security and rights of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh be formed, and which will have international visibility and engagement.

"In the context of the Armenia-Azerbaijan treaty, the formation of security guarantees for the RA's 29,800 square kilometers, formation of a practical mechanism for possible misinterpretations over the text of the treaty and settlement of disputes," the report says.

It is noted that by virtue of the agreements reached in Prague on October 6, 2022 and Sochi on October 31, 2022, Armenia and Azerbaijan have reaffirmed their commitment to recognize each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty in accordance with the provisions of the UN Charter and the 1991 Almaty Declaration. According to the Sochi declaration, the parties clearly agreed to refrain from the use of force or the threat of its use, to discuss and resolve all problematic issues, respecting the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The RA is interested in unblocking the economic and transport communications of the region and is ready to implement it in accordance with the RA legislation within the framework of the Armenian Crossroads project. The new opportunities for the movement of cargo, goods, and citizens will obviously increase the appeal of the Armenian Crossroads for international and regional passenger and cargo transportation, significantly emphasizing Armenia's unrealized logistics role in the region, which in turn will also provide additional security and stability guarantees.

The report notes that agreements on a number of humanitarian issues in Armenia-Azerbaijan relations remain unaddressed. Contrary to point 8 of the tripartite statement of November 9, 2020, Azerbaijan continues to keep 33 captured Armenian citizens in prison. The RA pursues, in all international courts, the task of captured Armenians and their return. During 2022, it was possible to secure the return of 31 captured Armenian citizens. The issue of missing persons also remains important in the relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. On the Armenian side, the location of 975 citizens is considered unknown, 777 of them as a result of the first Karabakh war in the early 1990s, 196 as a result of the 44-day war in 2020, and two as a result of the September 2022 aggression. The RA consistently raises at international judicial and diplomatic instances the issues of forced disappearances, as well as torture of captives, and torturing and dishonoring of dead soldiers' corpses.

In 2022, Armenia returned to Azerbaijan 35 bones of allegedly missing Azerbaijanis and three maps of the possible locations of the bodies. During 2022, Armenia submitted these four complaints to the European Court of Human Rights against Azerbaijan:

1) Regarding the mass violations of human rights committed during the 44-day war and during the following two months, including violations of the right to life, the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment, the right to private and family life, the right to property, and a number of other rights.

2) Regarding violations of rights, including illegal deprivation of liberty, as a result of illegal trials against captured persons.

3) Regarding the violations of human rights as a result of the occupation by the armed forces of Azerbaijan in the sovereign territory of Armenia.

4) Regarding the events of Parukh and Karaglukh villages in Nagorno-Karabakh and the events that took place at the Lachin corridor.

During 2022, Armenia filed a complaint against Azerbaijan at the UN International Court of Justice regarding the application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The complaint refers to all manifestations of racial discrimination, the motive of which is hatred towards ethnic Armenians. Petitions for compensation for property and non-property damages have been and will be submitted by Armenia in all interstate appeals in court.
The report on the progress and results of the 2022 plan of the Government of the Republic of Armenia (RA) states that on September 13, 2022, the armed forces of Azerbaijan launched a large-scale aggression against the sovereign territory of the RAand using large-caliber weapons, artillery, missile systems, and drones.

As a result of the aggression, the Armenian side had 225 casualties, including 3 civilians, 293 servicemen and 7 civilians were injured, and 20 servicemen were captured. The armed forces of Azerbaijan targeted 36 settlements in Syunik, Vayots Dzor, Gegharkunik Provinces of Armenia, as a result of which 192 houses, 3 hotels, 2 schools were partially or completely destroyed, 1 medical facility, 1 banquet hall, 4 barns, 7 electrical infrastructures, 5 water infrastructures, 3 natural gas pipelines, 1 bridge, 2 motorways, and 1 street were damaged, and 2 ambulances and 4 cars were targeted.

The armed forces of Azerbaijan entered the sovereign territory of Armenia in several directions. As a result of its aggressions against Armenia during 2021 and 2022, Azerbaijan occupied more than 150 square kilometers of the sovereign territory of Armenia, and 75 square kilometers of the sovereign territory of the RA has been under Azerbaijani occupation since the 1990s.

In relation to the Azerbaijani aggression on the sovereign territory of the RA on September 13, 2022, the RA has officially appealed to the Russian Federation to implement the provisions of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to ensure the security and territorial integrity of the RA, and in order to ensure sovereignty, in accordance with Article 4 of the Collective Security Treaty, to provide appropriate supportincluding militaryto the RA, and to hold discussions in a special session of the UN Security Council on this aggression against the RA.

In connection with the aggression, a special meeting of the CSTO Collective Security Council was held on September 13, 2022 in the format of a videoconference. And according to its decision, on September 15, the operational group of the CSTO Joint Headquarters arrived in Armenia to carry out a monitoring mission.

On November 23, 2022, a session of the CSTO Collective Security Council was held in Yerevan, during which the Armenian side emphasized that no adequate response was received from the CSTO regarding Azerbaijan's aggressions against the sovereign territory of Armenia. The Armenian side recorded that the drafts of the Declaration of the CSTO Collective Security Council and on joint measures to provide assistance to the RA submitted for signing during the session do not contain a clear political assessment of the aggression against Armenia and an action plan to eliminate the consequences of this aggression and restore the territorial integrity of Armenia.

In addition, due to the uncertain positions expressed by a number of CSTO member countries, the need to adjust the zone of responsibility of the CSTO has arisen. Without specifying the mentioned issues, then RA did not consider it appropriate to sign the mentioned documents, which is why the decisions were not adopted.

The aforesaid report states that in connection with Azerbaijan's military aggression against the sovereign territory of Armenia, on the basis of Armenia's request, a special meeting of the UN Security Council was held on September 15 under the chairmanship of France. During this meeting, the member states of the UN Security Council noted the inadmissibility of the use of force, emphasized the observance of the norms of international humanitarian law, emphasizing also the fact of targeting civil infrastructure in Armenia.

On October 21-27, 2022, an OSCE needs assessment team arrived in Armenia to get acquainted with the situation created in the border areas and settlements of Gegharkunik, Vayots Dzor, and Syunik Provinces as a result of the Azerbaijani aggression that began on September 13.

As a result of the agreement reached at the quadrilateral meeting between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, French President Emmanuel Macron, and European Council President Charles Michel in Prague on October 6, 2022, the Council of the European Union (EU) adopted a decision on October 17 on Armenia and deploying EU observer-experts along the international border between Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan. The mission's mandate included monitoring the situation along the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan in order to support confidence-building between the two countries and to provide more substantive EU support to border commissions. This EU monitoring mission completed its mandate on December 19, 2022. On January 23, 2023, the EU Council agreed to the proposal to set up a new civilian missionthe EU Mission in Armenia (EUMA)in the territory of Armenia for a period of two years. And on February 20, 2023, this mission started its work in Armenia.
Today, compared to 2019, we have a 35-percent growth in the field of tourism according to the data of the first quarter, which brings great resources to the Republic of Armenia. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this in his address at Mondays meeting of the Police Board on the occasion of Police Day in Armenia.

"It depends also on the work of the Police [of Armenia] whether, upon returning, these people will encourage others to come to the Republic of Armenia or, on the contrary, they will say, It is better you choose another place and go somewhere else. These are interconnected. Its about billions of [US] dollars that will either flow into Armenia or flow out of the Republic of Armenia as a result of your work.

"Thank God, today at least in the field of economy, economic growth, our affairs are good; and I want to believe, I believe, and I am convinced that it is also thanks to your work because, as we have agreed, we are doing everything to create equal conditions, equal opportunities, to create conditions for everyone's equality before the law, the rule of law. Of course, we have not reached the ideal, but we must work in that direction every day," the Armenian PM said, addressing the Police of Armenia.
Jim Alexander recalls climbing a telephone pole to photograph the funeral of Duke Ellington in May 1974, an event that attracted more than 12,000 New Yorkers and featured Ella Fitzgerald singing him home.

For more than three decades, Tom Dorsey was the trusted portraitist of Black families involved in civil rights, business and politics, including Ambassador Andrew Young, Hank Aaron and Marvin Arrington Sr.

In late March, in a program organized by Emory Libraries in partnership with the Michael C. Carlos Museum, they appeared before an audience in the Jones Room of the Woodruff Library primed to hear more about their incomparable experiences as photographers of African American life.

As Valeda F. Dent, vice provost of libraries and museum, said in her opening remarks, having joined Emory less than a year ago: One of the reasons I was drawn here is because of programming like this, which you will not find anywhere else. We are both honored and blessed to be in the company of these gentlemen.

The evening of conversation coincided with exhibits at Emory involving both men.

Creative Justice: A Celebration of Emorys Arts and Social Justice Fellows Program honors work that Emory professors and students have done with Atlanta artists since 2020 to foster change. Alexander served as an Arts and Social Justice Fellow in 2021, and one component of the exhibit  on view through May 13, 2023, in the Woodruff Librarys Schatten Gallery, Level 3  features his photography. Alexander also has placed a large collection of his photographs with the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library.

Over at the Carlos Museum is A Very Incomplete Self-Portrait: Tom Dorseys Chicago Portfolio, which will be on view through July 16, 2023, in the Works on Paper Gallery, Level 1. This portfolio of black-and-white photographs, taken while Dorsey was enrolled at the Art Institute of Chicago, reveals the barren infrastructure of an underserved community and the resilience and stark beauty that can be discovered amid bleak circumstances. In 2022, Dorsey gifted the portfolio to the museum hoping that others might find the images useful.

Carlton Mackey, co-creator/co-director of Emorys Arts and Social Justice Fellows Program and assistant director of community dialogue and engagement at the High Museum of Art, served as the nights moderator. He started by letting both men define the main contours of their lives and careers.

Shooting what he wanted to shoot

Jim Alexander picked up a camera  a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye won in a game of dice  in 1952, at the age of 17, while in the U.S. Navy. His first exhibit came in 1968 when he graduated from the New York Institute of Photography with a degree in commercial photography. While still in school, Alexander recalls being struck by the falsity of the medias contention that Black people were free at last. It didnt seem so to him.

To provide a counternarrative, Alexander had the idea of documenting Black life for 10 years. He enjoyed the good fortune of having Gordon Parks as a mentor, whose images focused so powerfully on race relations, the civil rights movement and the African American experience. Sounds like you got a plan, but your ass is going to starve, Parks warned him.

Alexander, however, already foresaw that the documentary work would have to be on the side, as he termed it, while his living came from teaching photography. That early conversation came full circle when Parks attended Alexanders Blues Legacy exhibit at the first National Black Arts Festival in 1988. Impressed by Alexanders portfolio, Parks said, Well, Jim, you ran around and shot what you wanted to shoot.

Being self-directed in this way has resulted in Alexanders work being showcased in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History and the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Alexander was honored with the Ebon Dooley Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021.

Skip carousel The Brotherhood March II in 1987 attracted 15,000+ protestors marching against racial exclusion in Forsyth County, Georgia. Photo by Jim Alexander. At the Forsyth County courthouse, leaders  including Hosea Williams (center)  called for an end to conditions that led to the countys having been all-white since 1912. Photo by Jim Alexander. Previous Next

Reflecting the positive potential of the human spirit

Born in Augusta, Georgia, Tom Dorsey grew up poor on the west side of Chicago. After being knocked out by a brick thrown at someone else when he was in the sixth grade, Dorsey began having memory and attention problems that persist to this day. He dropped out of high school and joined the U.S. Air Force  a move, he says, that saved my life.

Dorsey and his wife were involved in music publishing through ABC Records and friendly with major artists such as Curtis Mayfield. Eventually feeling that the music business posed a danger to his familys values, Dorsey worked for the U.S. Postal Service for more than a decade.

Restless, he then turned back to the creative pursuits that had helped him survive as a bullied young man  the oddball, as he described himself, with a mixed-up mind. Dorsey earned a degree in fine art from the Art Institute of Chicago and set up an enormously successful business doing portraiture of Black families.

Regarding the philosophy he brought to that work, Dorsey notes: There are many sides to all people. But the more positive visual self is the only one I try to see with my camera. My photographs reflect the positive potential of the human spirit I saw every time I was given the opportunity to trip the shutter.

Skip carousel Dorsey set out to document the pervading physical and spiritual coldness he felt during childhood on the west side of Chicago. Photo by Tom Dorsey. Dorsey set out to document the pervading physical and spiritual coldness he felt during childhood on the west side of Chicago. Photo by Tom Dorsey. The images in A Very Incomplete Self-Portrait are deeply personal and also extraordinary documents of 1971 Chicago. Photo by Tom Dorsey. The images in A Very Incomplete Self-Portrait are deeply personal and also extraordinary documents of 1971 Chicago. Photo by Tom Dorsey. Previous Next

Teach your children well

Alexander is 88, and Dorsey is 85. They have achieved greatness in their own right and been elbow to elbow with it across decades. But for both men, the joy of the nights conversation was to focus on the next generation.

Dorsey established the mentoring program Brother2Brother in 2006 in partnership with the Atlanta Public Schools. This year, he is mentoring nine Douglass High School Ninth Grade Academy students. Dorsey vows, I am nothing more than an advocate for the man-teens, as he playfully calls the mentees. He adds, I will help these young men in this way until I am not here anymore.

Dorseys hope is to use his own struggles to inspire others. Everything that I cussed at and said why me? was necessary to get me to this point, he says.

Mackey responded: In the midst of all the challenges you faced, you considered yourself worthy of the pursuit of your ideas and dreams. You are giving people permission to do that for themselves. That is a beautiful model of mentorship.

Alexander, for his part, says: To do mentorship right, you have to be serious about it. He works with younger photographers. I gather them up, and we document something that needs attention from a cultural perspective, he says. Last year, he took eight photographers to Mississippi to chronicle the achievements of Black blues musicians.

Picking out audience members with whom they had collaborated, Dorsey and Alexander took turns shining a light on their younger collaborators.

Mackey concluded the evening by noting: The role of the artist is to transfer the longings of peoples hearts. These magicians have given us a vision of ourselves. This has been a chance to literally sit at your feet and learn. We are so grateful.

Skip carousel (l to r) Jim Alexander, Carlton Mackey (moderator) and Tom Dorsey explored bearing witness, seeking justice and providing mentorship. Audience members also had the opportunity to view the two exhibits Emory currently has on Alexander and Dorsey. Alexanders documentary skill has resulted in invitations from organizations outside the U.S. Now retired, Dorsey invests significant time in mentoring Atlanta-area young men through Brother2Brother. Previous Next
11:11





On Sunday, at least 11 people died due to sunstroke as the function, attended by lakhs, was held in an open ground in Kharghar area of Raigad district. Forty-four people were admitted to five hospitals in and around Kharghar. Out of them, 20 are still undergoing treatment while the others have been discharged, according to the Raigad district information officer.





The Kharghar police have registered accidental death reports (ADR) in connection with the 11 fatalities, an official said. The deceased included eight women. Ten bodies were handed over to their relatives, according to officials.





Lakhs of people had come for the event held on a 306-acre ground in Kharghar.





The nearest weather station to the spot had recorded a maximum temperature of 38 degrees Celsius. Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Ajit Pawar visited the MGM Hospital at Kamothe in Navi Mumbai late Sunday night and enquired about the health of the people undergoing treatment there after suffering from sunstroke.





Talking to reporters, he termed the incident as "most unfortunate" and said the priority was to ensure the patients get well soon. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader claimed it was a function of the Maharashtra government. "It is a well known fact that during April-May, the temperature is very high. During these days, the temperature is around 40 degrees Celsius," he said.





"Hence, it needs to be probed as to who had fixed the noon timing for the award function," the NCP leader said.





Pawar said the function could have been held in the evening and Union Home Minister Amit Shah could have taken a chopper to reach the venue. Shah on Sunday conferred the Maharashtra Bhushan Award on spiritual leader and social reformer Appasaheb Dharmadhikari at the event.





The Chief Minister's Office (CMO) in a release on Sunday night said, "At least 11 deaths apparently due to sunstroke have been confirmed." Panvel Municipal Commissioner Ganesh Deshmukh said there was no report of any new fatality so far. "Twenty four people were discharged from hospitals after treatment on Sunday," he said.





A police official said the highest number of 15 sunstroke patients were admitted to the MGM hospital. The patients in other hospitals in Navi Mumbai were also recuperating and they were stated to be in stable condition, he added.





Shinde had on Sunday told reporters outside a hospital in Navi Mumbai that at least 50 people were admitted there out of which 24 are still hospitalised while the rest have been discharged after primary treatment. He termed the deaths "very unfortunate". The CM said the kin of the deceased will be given a compensation of Rs 5 lakh.





Many of the followers of Shree Parivar (Dharmadhikari's organisation) had reached the venue on Friday and stayed there till the function concluded at around 1.30 pm on Sunday. Some people complained of dizziness and other complications on Sunday. Some also fainted at the function ground. They were initially treated at make shift medical facilities and later rushed to hospitals. -- PTI

At least 20 people were still undergoing treatment after suffering from sunstroke at the 'Maharashtra Bhushan' award function in Navi Mumbai, an official said on Monday.
23:25

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday claimed that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had dialled Union Home Minister Amit Shah after the Election Commission revoked Trinamool Congress's national party status to request him to repeal the decision.





Adhikari's remarks drew a sharp retort from Bengal's ruling party, which dubbed the Leader of Opposition in the state assembly as a 'habitual liar'.





The EC withdrew the national party status of the TMC, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Communist Party of India (CPI) last week.





"Yesterday, we saw how Mamata Banerjee had demanded the resignation of Amit Shah. But, after the EC revoked the national party status, she had repeatedly called him to request that the decision be repealed. It, however, did not yield any result," Adhikari said, while addressing a rally at Singur in Hooghly district.





He also reiterated that the TMC would cease to be even a state party in future.





Reacting to Adhikari's comment, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh asserted there is not even an iota of truth in it.





"Suvendu Adhikari is a habitual liar. We have seen how he has earlier brazenly lied about several political developments. His remarks are baseless and don't have an iota of truth. Having a national party status or not is notional. It is not going to impact the growth of the TMC," Ghosh said.





Banerjee had on Monday slammed Shah for 'conspiring to topple' her government before its natural term in office ended, following his remarks last week at a rally, where he claimed that the TMC government in Bengal would not survive beyond 2025 if the BJP wins 35 seats in next year's Lok Sabha polls. -- PTI


Acclaimed violinist David Kim, concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra and a Carbondale native, will return to Southern Illinois on April 24 for an afternoon masterclass with students followed by a free evening recital on campus. (Photo credit: Allie Skylar Photography)

SIU hosts acclaimed violinist, Carbondale native David Kim on April 24

CARBONDALE, Ill.  David Kim, a Carbondale native considered one of the finest and most accomplished violinists in the world, returns to Southern Illinois University Carbondale on Monday, April 24, for an afternoon masterclass with students and free evening recital on campus.

Kims evening program, From Prodigy to Professional  A Life in Music, is at 7 p.m. in the Old Baptist Foundation Recital Hall. The recital and master class are sponsored by the SIU Student Fine Arts Activity Fee and the Southern Illinois Symphony Orchestra.

Admission is free, and reservations are not required. The public is also welcome to attend a master class for SIU string students scheduled for 1 p.m., also in the recital hall.

David Kim, a Carbondale native, is concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra  the instrumental leader of one of the worlds most distinguished ensembles. His return to Carbondale and SIU in an admission-free recital is a unique cultural event for Southern Illinois, said Ed Benyas, professor of oboe and director of orchestras in the SIU School of Music.

Kims performance is portrayed as a journey with Kim as he describes his experiences and struggles to reach the pinnacle of his career. Interspersed with performances of some of David's favorite works, this is a humorous, sometimes jarring, and often poignant story not to be missed.

Kim will be accompanied by pianist Jeffrey DeVault, who was a finalist in the American Guild of Organists Regional Competition for Young Organists and the Albert Schweitzer Organ Festival.

Kim was born in Carbondale in 1963 and started playing violin when he was 3 years old. When he was 8, he began studies with famed violin instructor Dorothy DeLay, and later received both his bachelors degree and masters degree from The Julliard School. He also has honorary doctorates from Eastern University and Dickinson College.

His first book, The Audition Method for Violin, was published in 2022 and is a collection of standard orchestral excerpts that walks readers through each work with Kims suggestions on execution, audition strategy, bowings and fingerings.

For more information about these events, email benyas@siu.edu.
Jio Institute has partnered with the Principals' Training Center (PTC), headquartered in Florida, US, to bring training programmes for educators and school leaders in India. PTC is a leading provider that caters to the unique professional learning needs of practising and aspiring principals, teachers, heads of departments, counsellors, and board members of schools worldwide, according to Reliance Foundation's statement released on Monday. "It provides world-class, research-driven, practical training, designed to be put into practice in K-12 schools," it added. The first PTC programme being launched in India is 'Creating an Effective School'. According to the statement, it offers the knowledge and skills for school leaders to articulate a vision to design and implement a plan for an effective school focused on student learning and improving outcomes. According to the statement, 'Creating an Effective School' is open to educators and leaders from across all educational boards and schools - international schools, CBSE schools, ICSE schools, and schools affiliated to state education boards. The programme will be offered from May 22 to 28, 2023. It will be a seven-day residential programme at the Jio Institute's campus in Ulwe (Navi Mumbai). Scholarships will be provided to select candidates based on merit. The programme will address the 'big picture' of what schools are and how leaders can optimise conditions to maximise learning by focusing on results. All PTC courses utilise simulations, case studies and other practical training strategies. The statement also said the course content had been tailored to meet the requirements of the Indian context. "Collaboration between Jio Institute and Principals' Training Center is a powerful alliance to bring innovative educational practices and training to our schools, that can pave the way for a brighter future of our students," G Ravichandran, Provost, Jio Institute, said, adding, "Our partnership with PTC underscores our commitment to providing world-class education that is responsive to the changing needs of the world." "We are thrilled to collaborate with Jio Institute and offer the first programme 'Creating an Effective School' in India," said Bambi Betts, Executive Director at Principals' Training Center. "Significant research confirms that school leaders can have a meaningful impact on student learning..." The PTC's Certificate of International School Leadership is earned by completing four 'essential skills' courses, according to the statement. These are Creating an Effective School; Leadership and Team Dynamics; Instructional Supervision and Evaluation; Curriculum Leadership; Assessment Leadership; and Technology Leadership, among others. Internationally, over 8,000 educators and school leaders from around the world have benefited from the PTC courses, according to Reliance Foundation. Jio Institute is a leading institution of higher learning and is committed to providing students with a transformative education. It is a multi-disciplinary higher education institute set up as a philanthropic initiative by Reliance Industries and Reliance Foundation. (ANI)
New Delhi [India], April 17 (ANI/NewsReach): "Mother Teresa & Me" is a powerful story of three extraordinary women whose lives are intertwined by hope, compassion, and love. The makers have released the first poster of 'Mother Teresa & Me'. As soon as the film's poster was launched, it started creating a lot of buzz on social media, and many liked it. This film tells the story of Mother Teresa's early years in India (from the mid-1940s), as shown was trying to help the poor, sick, and dying. It also tells the story of Kavita, a British young girl of Indian origin who travels today to India in search of answers to some major questions. The film will be released in English and Hindi and will be seen in cinemas only. The Swiss/Indian Kamal Musale, known for films such as "Curry Western" and "Millions Can Walk", has directed this intriguing story of entwined destinies. Speaking about the cast, Banita Sandhu is a British actress of Punjabi descent who began her career at 11 years old. She received critical acclaim for her debut in Shoojit Sircar's October (2018) and returned to university to complete her degree.Talking about her character 'Kavita' she said "We are very similar in many ways. She is a young girl still figuring out her life and identity. Trying to process and work through her relationships and her relationship with herself. However, our reactions to these things are very different, which is what drew me to her. She can get quite agitated, which I found difficult to relate to at first. We put in a lot of effort in rehearsals." Playing Mother Teresa, Jacqueline Fitschi-Cornaz, an actress with over 30 years of experience, started the idea of this movie. She co-produced it with Kamal Musale, Richard Fritschi and Thierry Cagianut. It is particular in the sense that this film was financed only with donations, and all profit will go to poor children, providing healthcare and education. Known to play powerful and heart-touching characters in most of her films, Deepti Naval is an American Indian actress who debuted in 1980 with Ek Baar Phir, for which she won her first Best Actor award, and has since appeared in over 90 films, the most recent of which was the acclaimed Oscar-nominated Lion. Deepti's major contribution has been in the field of art cinema, where she has received critical acclaim for her sensitive and real-life characters that highlight the changing role of women in India. Kamal Musale, a Swiss-Indian filmmaker, has made films since 12. After graduating in film direction and scriptwriting from the National Film and Television School in England, the filmmaker went on to create over 30 films, including features, documentaries, and art movies, which have been shown at prestigious festivals such as Cannes (The Three Soldiers) and Locarno (Aline, Raclette Curry), and have won numerous awards. He lives in India, Switzerland and the U.K. Helmed & written by Kamal Musale. Produced under the banner of Curry Western Movies (Pvt Ltd), Les Films du Lotus (Sarl) & Kavita Teresa Film (Ltd). Starring Banita Sandhu, Jacqueline Fritschi-Cornaz & Deepti Naval are there in prominent roles. Apart from that, Vikram Kochhar, Bryan Lawrence, Heer Kaur, Kevin Mains, Lina Baishya, Shobu Kapoor, Mahi Ali Khan, Faith Knight and Jack Gordon are there in pivotal roles.The film's heads are all female: Keiko Nakahara the DOP, Rekha Musale the Production Designer, and Nupoor Kajbaje Battin the Line Producer. The music score was composed by Peter Scherer, Annick Roddy, Walter Mair & Laurence Crevoisier. Cinepolis and PEN Marudhar are going to release the film across India."Mother Teresa & Me" will hit the screens on 5th May 2023. This story has been provided by NewsReach. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsReach)
New Delhi [India], April 17 (ANI/PNN): The shelter home incident in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, surprised everyone. The pain and suffering of its victims will soon be seen on the big screen. Writer-director Kumaar Neeraj has made a realistic film based on this case named "Nafisaa". The poster launch of Spark Media Presents Nafisaa was held at Impresa Hotel, Mumbai in the presence of Writer Director Kumaar Neeraj, Producer Vaishali Dev, Associate Director Simran Kaushik and DOP Najeeb Khan. The poster of the film was raised by lighting a lamp, which reflects Nafisaa's pain and reminds of the painful incident in Muzaffarpur. Kumaar Neeraj said that when I read the news of this incident in the newspaper, I was very impressed and felt that a film should be made on this subject. It took me many years to write the script, do a lot of research, meet the victims, felt their pain and suffering deep inside and put all those troubles on paper and then going to present it on screen. We have not taken any creative liberties in making this movie but have tried to present exactly what happened; though the names of the characters have been changed, true events inspired the movie. The artist has not got make-up done; we have not shown beauty anywhere but have shown the bitter truth. Although there were many difficulties in getting it censored, but I have presented the truth with full honesty. The writer and director of the film told that making a film on such a subject was very challenging and full of dangers, but I did not give up. The film's producer Vaishali Dev said that the film has not been made to promote or glorify crime, but Nafisaa has a message. This is eye-opening cinema. So far, the poster has been launched, soon its teaser will be released. The film's cameraman Najeeb Khan has claimed that this film will shake the society. This Hindi film based on Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual abuse is produced by Vaishali Dev while Associate Producers are Beena Shah, Munni Singh and Khushbu Singh. Its cameraman is Sunny Deol's Gadar fame Najeeb Khan. A song will also be seen in this film under the direction of famous Bollywood choreographer Ganesh Acharya. Director Kumar Neeraj says that by not showing all that is published in the newspapers or on the internet in relation to the incident of Muzaffarpur, the film has worked to bring out such truth of the girl child, which people are not aware of.. How girls were oppressed and exploited there. What kind of harassment the girls living there had to face, all this truth will be seen. Nafisaa's artist and guest Rohit Bhardwaj, Noida District Judge Anil Kumar Yadav, Akshay Verma Prime News owner Mohsin Khan were present at the poster launch. Nisad Raj Rana, Prakash Dev, Manisha Thakur, Raju Kumar, Urzaan Ikchhapuria, Heena Khan, Divya Tyagi, Hansika Jahangid, Dinsha Gulati, Tejaswani Prakash, Govind Kumar were also present. This story is provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PNN)
Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday said in the area of biofuel, "we had a target of 20 per cent (petrol mixed with ethanol) biofuel mixing by 2030 but PM Modi has changed the target to 2025 and we will achieve it within the next year". During the global conference on compressed biogas under the theme -- Towards Progressive Policy Framework for a Robust CBG Foundation and Growth, the minister said, "We also reached our biofuel target of 2022, five months before the target." The discussion on Monday focused upon the feedstock availability, compressed biogas (CBG) offtake, fermented organic manure, and carbon credits, among others. During an interaction with media persons on Monday, the minister said, "Compressed bio gas (CBG) is one of our highest priorities. A lot of states have done a great thing and you will see that in the near future, the number (production) will shoot up." Talking about the challenges of CBG production, he said, "Everything requires stakeholders -- public sector, private sector, state government and the Centre. You require plant and machinery which is freely available. You require capital, feed and then, you require agriculture. Everything is available her now." The ministry added, "We will go on this imperative of CBG -- the doability of CBG and the practical success of leading there. This needs to be spread across the country." IFGE- CBG Producers Forum has organised the conference on compressed biogas, which is supported by the ministry for petroleum and natural gas, the government of India. The conference is being held on April 17 and 18 in India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, with the objective to apprise the industry regarding the initiatives taken by the government for the development of compressed biogas industry and to identify the areas where policy modifications are required. (ANI)
New Delhi [India], April 17 (ANI/ATK): Filmgiants Pvt. Ltd. and Tycoon Global Company are going to jointly organize 'Filmgiants Tycoon Global Governance and Business Awards'. Film actor Raajveer Sharma and Sanjeev Jain have joined hands. According to reports, both the companies will jointly organize this award ceremony. There is a 5-year agreement between the two companies. According to the sources, Sanjeev Jain had tied up with actor Raajveer Sharma in December last year itself, but it could not be confirmed. It is noteworthy that in the past also this award was organized in Mumbai. In which many veterans of the cinema world were involved. Film actors Anupam Kher, Darshan Kumar, director Anees Bazmee, choreographer Bosco Caesar, Sajid Nadiadwala's wife Wardha Nadiadwala, Salman Khan's bodyguard Shera along with big business houses were honored at the award ceremony. When our correspondent contacted film actor Raajveer Sharma to confirm this award show which is going to be held in Delhi soon, he said that Sanjeev Jain is his good friend. Together we are going to organize 'Filmgiant's Tycoon Global Governance and Business Awards'. Confirming the news, Raajveer Sharma said that this year's 'Filmgiant's Tycoon Global Governance and Business Awards' will be very grand. According to Raajveer Sharma, this award will be organized in a five star hotel in Delhi in the month of June. In which big stalwarts of film, business and politics will be involved. Along with this, senior officials of the bureaucracy will also participate. Raajveer also confirmed that along with the film world, the owners and representatives of the country's big business houses will be honored in this award ceremony. Along with this, various dignitaries and distinguished citizens of the country will also be honored. The award will be distributed by the cabinet minister in this function and many national personalities will be honored for the great work done by them. Along with this, film stars will also be honored for their contribution to Indian cinema. Recently the shooting of Raajveer Sharma's music album 'Apni Mohabbat' has been completed. Whose song has been written by Saurabh Tiwari (Joint Secretary, Central Secretariat), a prominent officer of the Government of India and has also acted in it. Raajveer Sharma was also invited as a special guest on the occasion of the release of the book 'Bharat Ki Vaccine Vikas- Gatha' written by another prominent officer of the Government of India Sajjan Singh Yadav (Additional Secretary, Ministry of Finance) at the Book Fair organized at Pragati Maidan in the month of March this year. The event was attended by Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, Government of India along with many dignitaries. Raajveer Sharma had said in his interview that Sajjan Singh Yadav is his elder brother. According to our sources, there is no doubt that actor Raajveer Sharma has close relations with many eminent personalities and politicians. Many film actors are their close friends, which itself confirms that this award ceremony organized by Raajveer Sharma and Sanjeev Jain will be very prestigious, huge and grand. This story has been provided by ATK. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/ATK)
New Delhi [India], April 17 (ANI/NewsReach): The world of tech entrepreneurship is an exciting and ever-changing landscape, filled with innovative and driven individuals pushing the boundaries of what is possible. From Silicon Valley to New York City, Tech Entrepreneur Parmarth Mori is revolutionizing the way he lives, works, and communicates with the world from India's high-tech metropolis city Ahmedabad to a small town Wadhwan City, in the Gujarat State of India. At the heart of tech entrepreneurship is a desire to create something new and meaningful, to solve problems, and make a difference in the world. Whether it's developing an agriculture app, building a revolutionary new platform, or launching a cutting-edge startup, Parmarth is driven by a passion for innovation and a desire to farm with the help of Ai. But what does it make him a successful tech entrepreneur? First and foremost, tech entrepreneurs are problem solvers. They are able to identify gaps in the market, pinpoint areas where there is a need for technology, and develop solutions that are both effective and sustainable. Parmarth Mori is recognized as Next Generation Tech Entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of many tech companies, including PM Communications which is recognized as one of the Best Tech Company in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. In addition to problem-solving skills, a tech entrepreneur also possesses a strong sense of resilience and perseverance. They are able to weather the ups and downs of the startup journey, bounce back from setbacks, and maintain a positive attitude in the face of adversity. Another key trait of successful tech entrepreneurs is the ability to communicate effectively, build trust, and forge strong connections is critical in the world of tech entrepreneurship. Of course, no successful tech entrepreneur operates in a vacuum. A strong team, a supportive network of mentors and advisors, and a deep understanding of the market and industry trends are crucial factors in achieving success in this field. But perhaps the most important quality of a successful tech entrepreneur is a willingness to take risks. Whether launching a new product, entering a new market, or making a strategic pivot, tech entrepreneurs are always willing to take calculated risks in pursuit of their goals. In conclusion, the world of tech entrepreneurship is one of endless possibilities, innovation, and disruption. From problem-solving and resilience to relationship-building and risk-taking, successful tech entrepreneurs possess a unique set of skills and qualities that enable them to thrive in this exciting and ever-evolving field. This story has been provided by NewsReach. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsReach)
The central government will hold a roundtable conference on how to redress grievances pertaining to the real estate sector in Mumbai on Tuesday. According to a statement from the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution, the department of consumer affairs is organising a round table conference on "How to effectively redress the grievances pertaining to real estate sector" in Mumbai on Tuesday. The conference will be organised in association with the Maharashtra government. Pertinently, real estate cases comprise around 10 per cent of the total cases in Consumer Commissions. So far, since inception, 2,30,517 cases have been filed by the consumers in various consumer commissions, 1,76,895 cases have been disposed of till now and 53,622 cases are pending, according to the ministry. Despite separate tribunals such as Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) and National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to deal with the cases pertaining to housing sector, the pendency of cases is rising in various consumer commissions. It is for the first time, the department is conducting such a large-scale conference to redress the consumer grievance in real estate sector, according to the statement. Some key areas that will be covered in the conference will be systemic policy interventions required to reduce litigation in the housing sector. In this regard, the cases filed in the Consumer Commissions would be analysed and major factors that result in consumer cases will be identified and presented for deliberations, according to the ministry. In addition, why more number of cases are filed before Consumer Commissions despite there being separate authority such as RERA for specifically dealing the cases pertaining to the housing sector will also be discussed. Meanwhile, deliberation on how to ensure that the sector cases are dealt in an effective and speedy manner will also be done. The disposal of pending cases through the National Lok Adalat held on November 12, 2022, and "Grahak Madhyasthata Samadhan" on December 16, 2022, by the states/district consumer commissions reported exemplary outcome. Also, the department earlier organised a roundtable conference on consumer and the insurance sector to facilitate stakeholder consultation on insurance cases in consumer commissions. The Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, will chair the conference. Members of National Commission, presidents of State Commissions of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Chandigarh, and Gujarat, president of the RERA Appellate Tribunal Maharashtra, RERA Chairmen from Delhi and Maharashtra, Presidents of District Commissions of Delhi, Bengaluru, Thane, Pune, Raigad, and Chandigarh, and others There will be representatives from the ministry of housing and urban affairs (MOHUA), RERA, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI), government of Maharashtra, Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), and all the builders' fraternity are also likely to participate in the conference. The department of consumer affairs is continuously working towards reducing the pendency of cases in the Consumer Commissions so as to protect the interest of the consumers and reach the goal set by the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, according to the ministry's statement. In respect of this department organised many campaigns to reduce the pendency in the consumer commissions and have addressed the issue multiple times. (ANI)
Addressing a conference on biofuels, Puri said he was confident that government will be able to supply 20 per cent ethanol blended petrol by next financial year.

In February, petrol blended with 20 per cent ethanol was rolled out at selective pumps in 11 states, to promote awareness about green fuels.

As of now, 10 per cent ethanol is blended in petrol.

Meanwhile, Puri further said that India had achieved blending of 10 per cent ethanol in petrol in June 2022, five months ahead of the schedule.

Ethanol blended petrol is expected to reduce carbon monoxide emission in two wheelers by 50 per cent and 30 per cent in four-wheelers.

--IANS ans/uk/

( 163 Words)

2023-04-17-19:54:04 (IANS)
Former actor Sana Khan, who is expecting her first child with husband Mufti Anas Saiyad, attended Baba Siddique's Iftar party on Sunday. However, her and Anas' presence caught the netizens' attention for all the wrong reasons. A pap video from the bash has been doing the rounds on the internet in Sana could be seen being dragged and hurried by her husband from the venue. The video irked many social media users as they thought Anas Sayed made Sanna uncomfortable. "Such an illiterate man he is," an Instagram user wrote. "My God. What the use of fasting when u can't treat ur pregnant wife properly. Imagine how she is treated between 4 walls," another user wrote. Sana took notice of the video and netizens' comments. In no time, Sana took to the comment section of the particular video and clarified that her partner was hurrying her on her insistence since she was feeling uneasy. "This video just came to my notice. And I know it looks weird to all my lovely brothers and sisters and to me, in fact. We lost contact with driver and car once we came out and I was standing for longer than usual and started sweating and (getting) uncomfortable, so he quickly wanted to get me in so I can sit and have water and some air. I was the one to tell him let's go in quick as we did not want to disturb the paps (paparazzi), who were there clicking pics of all the guests. So just a request, please don't think otherwise. Thank you all once again for your concern. Loads of love to everyone here," she wrote. Sana, best known for featuring in Bigg Boss 6 and Salman Khan's film 'Jai Ho', quit her acting career before she married Anas in November 2020. Earlier in March 2023, she confirmed her pregnancy news in an interview. "I'm looking forward to it. Obviously, it's a different journey altogether. Bohot emotionally bhi thoda mere liye as a woman ek up and down both chalta rehta hai (Emotionally, I have been facing many ups and downs). But I think it's a beautiful journey. I'm waiting to have my baby in my arms... that's it," Sana had said. (ANI)
A video from the sets has been doing the rounds in which actors Ranbir Kapoor and Bobby Deol are seen celebrating the end of the film's UK schedule.

The duo looked super happy as they cut the cake together.

Both stars have grown their beard for their roles in Animal, which is directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga.

Recently, Bobby shared a video of him working out for his character.

He dropped the video in which he is seen doing dumbbell lateral raises.

'Animal' also stars Anil Kapoor and Rashmika Mandanna.

On December 31, 2022, the makers unveiled Ranbir's fierce look from the film. Sharing the picture, Rashmika wrote, "Animal first look is here. So, so excited for you all to see this look."In the first look poster, Ranbir Kapoor looks deadly as he holds an axe in his hand.

Animal's first look has Ranbir Kapoor holding an axe in his hand.

The film has also been filmed in Himachal Pradesh and actor Saif Ali Khan's Pataudi Palace near Delhi. It will be out on August 11, 2023. (ANI)
Health officials have said that including Barah, there are only two active Covid cases in Assam.

Though there are "almost negligible" Covid positive cases in Assam, yet the state is prepared to deal with a surge in cases, said state Health Minister Keshab Mahanta.

"We have increased our preparedness. Assam is doing well, and there is no need to panic. Tests have been conducted on a regular basis, and the positive cases are almost negligible, however, we have not brought down our guard," he said.

A state Health Department official told IANS that more frequent flying abroad is the "root cause of elevated infection rates in some pockets of the country".

"Kerala and Maharashtra are popular departure points for frequent international travel. As a result, we have seen a surge in the number of cases that typically begin in these two states. As Delhi is the centre, a significant number of positive cases are also evident there," the official said.

Meanwhile, the Superintendent of Guwahati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Dr. Abhijit Sarma, said, "The pattern of rise in Covid-19 cases starts from South India and North India, slowly coming towards the northeast."

--IANS tdr/sha

( 215 Words)

2023-04-16-21:42:03 (IANS)
District Collector S. Valarmathi has also directed people to maintain social distancing in crowded areas.

However the state Health Department has said that there was no need of panic as the state has not witnessed any large clusters and the cases are mostly isolated.

It has, however, asked elderly people and those with co-morbidities to wear masks and not to move around in crowded places.

In the last 24 hours, the state reported 502 new cases that include people coming from the UAE, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand, and France.

--IANS aal/vd

( 127 Words)

2023-04-16-22:16:03 (IANS)
In a tragedy, at least eight persons succumbed to heat stroke and over three dozen have been hospitalised after a mammoth function in which Union Home Minister Amit Shah conferred the 'Maharashtra Bhushan 2022' award on reformer Appasaheb Dharmadhikari. On hearing of the disaster, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and others rushed to the MGM Hospital in Navi Mumbai late this evening to enquire after the wellbeing of the devotees admitted there. "There is sad news... Around 7-8 persons have died due to heat stroke," a grim Shinde later told media persons. He also announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of the deceased and said the other patients are being cared for properly. Reacting sharply, Congress chief spokesperson Atul Londhe said that it was a government function and hence the safety of the participants was its duty. "So many people have lost their lives. The government should be booked for culpable homicide and action should be taken against those responsible," he demanded. Londhe termed as "carelessness" on the part of the government to have organised such a massive event in the open grounds at the height of the summer season. In fact, during his speech, Amit Shah had saluted the people for sitting patiently in the 42 degrees C temperatures as an example of their dedication to Appasaheb Dharmadhikari. The organisers had claimed that nearly 20 lakh people had attended the mega-event and Shinde had proudly proclaimed how it had broken previous records. Peopley had been trooping into Mumbai in buses, trucks or boats from the Konkan and other parts of the state since the past two days to witness the event. Many could be seen wearing scarves, caps, umbrella caps or dupattas and other headgear to escape the blistering heat in the function which went on for nearly three hours this afternoon. Soon after he was conferred the 'Maharashtra Bhushan' award, Dharmadhikari had donated the prize money of Rs 25 lakh to the CM's Relief Fund. --IANS qn/vd ( 345 Words) 2023-04-16-22:20:02 (IANS)
In wake of the sensational murders of arrested gangster-turned- politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Ahmed in Prayagraj while under police custody, the RJD on Sunday said that there was clear "Jungle Raj" in Uttar Pradesh and there is a provision for the implementation of Article 356 of the constitution. "Atiq Ahmed, during his interview with media persons on March 29, claimed that he would be brought out from jail on the pretext of something followed by his murder. He also told the media persons that a police officer informed him about such a plan. On April 15, his apprehension was proved true," RJD national Vice President Shivanand Tiwari said. "Whenever, Atiq Ahmed came into public places, a large number of police force surrounded him. There was no chance for any media persons to reach there. On April 15, the cops had brought Atik Ahmed and his brother out of the police van. Some media persons reached there easily and took his interview and the killers posed as media persons executed the murder. Who had allowed media persons to go close to Atiq Ahmed who was in police custody," he asked. "Atiq Ahmed was facing more than 100 criminal charges and there are possibilities that the court would give him capital punishment. No one objects to the decision of the court. But the way killers were given an opportunity to murder Atiq Ahmed and his brother, it proved that the government of Uttar Pradesh does not believe in law and judicial process. The state, which was not ruled through law and legislatures is called Jungle Raj. In such a state, there is a provision for the implementation of Article 356 under the Constitution," Tiwari added. Meanwhile, the Bihar government is on high alert, especially in the districts adjoining Uttar Pradesh. A large number of people cross from UP's districts like Ballia and Ghazipur to catch trains in Buxar and police of these districts are checking every person crossing the border into Bihar. --IANS ajk/vd ( 350 Words) 2023-04-16-20:32:02 (IANS)
Open public spaces in Greater Hyderabad will be rejuvenated through meaningful urban designs for public activities like libraries, play areas, social gatherings, and points for economic convergence. An MoU was Sunday signed between the Telangana government and Hyderabad Urban Lab Foundation (HUL) to promote sustainable models, tools, and best practices for low-cost urban innovation and sustainable urbanisation. The HULF will work in partnership with the local stakeholders, private organisations, architecture students and colleges, non-profit and philanthropic sectors. This initiative aims to promote well-thought-out design solutions for the informal settlements like slums, abandoned and open places, stepped spaces and places where there rapid urbanisation. Through this initiative, these spaces will be converted into vibrant living spaces using "Urban Acupuncture". Officials said all this will be taken up using low-cost intervention techniques. Citizens have been requested to send the list of such open spaces to Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). Almost all localities including slums have open spaces, varying from few hundred yards to about an acre. They are often neglected, used to dump garbage, construction and demolition waste and over a period of time, turn into a place which is used for consumption of alcohol or illegal activities. Left unattended, they often turn dangerous from a safety viewpoint, especially for women and children. The Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department, along with the Revenue Department and the GHMC, will identify and inventorise all such land parcels and over a period of time develop them into meaningful public activities. The effective use of urban designing and architecture can set the plan for development for such sites, in consultation with local stakeholders so that ownership is there and once the plan made ready, the MAUD Department and the GHMC can actually implement those plans for effective utilisation and meaningful rejuvenation of such places. The Hyderabad Urban Lab Foundation, led by Anant Maringanti, has come forward to promote well-thought out design solutions for urban infrastructure and aesthetic deficits in Hyderabad, by working in neighbourhoods in an 'urban acupuncture' mode. They made a detailed presentation to Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister K.T. Rama Rao on Saturday. Special Chief Secretary, Municipal Administration and Urban Development, Arvind Kumar, GHMC Commissioner Lokesh Kumar, and all Zonal Commissioners were present. A day later, the Department signed a MoU with HULF in the presence of the minister. --IANS ms/vd ( 406 Words) 2023-04-16-20:34:03 (IANS)
Hitting out at the BJP, the Goa Congress on Sunday said that leaders of the saffron party, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, "failed to show the guts to speak truth over Mhadei issue" in front of people of the coastal state. "Today none of the BJP leaders dared to speak over the Mhadei issue during Amit Shah's public meeting (in South Goa). However, Shah tried to divert the issue by boasting of state schemes, which always remains unfulfilled," said Chairman of Goa Congress Media Cell Amarnath Panjikar. Referring to Shah's remarks, during a public rally in Karnataka's Belagavi in January, that the Centre "has resolved the long dispute between Goa and Karnataka over Mhadei and allowed the diversion of Mhadei to Karnataka to satisfy the thirst of farmers of many districts", Panjikar said: "Pramod Sawant and other leaders of the BJP had got a good opportunity to clarify this issue, in the presence of Amit Shah." Recently, Goa BJP President Sadanand Shet Tanavade has said that BJP leaders have "guts to tell even the media in Karnataka that the Goa government will not compromise on the Mhadei river issue". On this, Panjikar said, "Forget about speaking in front of the media in Karnataka, the state BJP leaders even failed to make a statement in Goa itself." "BJP has today proved that it is 'masters of U-turn' and doesn't have guts to face the public on Mhadei issue. They only know how to suppress voice of people who seek justice against their dictatorship. Today all Goans have come to know the real fake face of BJP leaders," he said. --IANS sbk/sha ( 288 Words) 2023-04-16-22:48:04 (IANS)
An Uzbek man, who fled to Chandigarh Airport to take a Dubai flight, after his attempt to smuggle 3,208 gram gold failed at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport here, was held before he could board it, a Customs official said on Sunday. "He had left the gold hidden in a trolley and has fled to Chandigarh. We detained him over there on Saturday and brought him back to Delhi," said the official. "The man had concealed 15 gold chains and 17 semi-spherical gold items totally weighing 3,208 grams, worth Rs 1,68,24,051, inside the luggage trolley. But realising that he might be caught, he left the trolley nearby an X-ray machine on April 13 and left the airport," the official added. The gold items were recovered on the same day. After investigation, the accused was identified and it was learnt that he had planned to flee to Dubai from Chandigarh. The information was shared with officials there and he was held and later brought back to the IGI Airport. "The recovered gold has been seized under Section 110 of Customs Act and the accused passenger has been placed under arrest under Section 104," the official said. --IANS atk/vd ( 215 Words) 2023-04-16-23:22:05 (IANS)
On the occasion, a laser show was also organised at the temple.

After offering prayers Union Minister Rajnath Singh took to Twitter and said, "Feeling blessed after offering prayers at the historic Somnath Temple in Gujarat. Jai Somnath!".

Union Minister Rajnath Singh is on a visit to Somnath and he will be attending the 'Saurashtra Tamil Sangamam' on Monday.

"Today, 16th April, I shall be reaching Somnath in Gujarat. Looking forward to attending the 'Saurashtra Tamil Sangamam', which will start tomorrow morning. The Saurashtra Tamil Sangamam will showcase the centuries-old cultural linkages between Gujarat and Tamil Nadu," he tweeted.

On the occasion, Saurashtra Tamil Sangamam mentioned that people will witness centuries-old Saurashtra and Tamil Sangamam at the holy land of lord Shiva on Monday.

"A day before STSangamam, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh offers prayer at Somnath Temple. We all will witness centuries-old Saurashtra and Tamil Sangamam tomorrow at the holy land of the lord shiva. Celebrating History, Celebrating Culture! Vanakkam Somnath," the official media handle of STSangamam tweeted earlier. (ANI)
Prominent Lingayat leader and former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar on Monday joined the Congress party a day after he quit the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the May 10 Assembly elections in the State. Shettar who arrived at the Congress office in Bengaluru this morning was inducted into the party by Congress chief MallikarjunKharge, the Karnataka state Congress president DK Shivakumar and the Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Siddaramaiah. Senior BJP leader Amar Singh Patil also joined Congress along with Shettar. Speaking at the occasion, Shettar said, "Yesterday I left BJP and today I joined the Congress party. Many are surprised as an opposition leader, former chief minister and party president is joining Congress. BJP has given me every position and being a party worker I always worked for the party's growth." " I was among those who organised and worked for the growth of the (BJP) party. Yes BJP gave me respect and position. I won as an MLA six times and I I thought I would be naturally fielded for the seventh time," he said "I thought being a senior leader, I will get the ticket, but when I came to know that I am not getting it, I was shocked. No one spoke to me nor tried to convince me, not even gave assurance about what position will I get," he stated. "On April 11the party incharge said I had not been given a ticket. He spoke to me like speaking to a child. What should I do? I got a call in the morning and I was spoken to like I am a first time MLA or aspirant. I'm hurt. I was treated badly, " Shettar said.Shettar further said, "I was contacted by DK Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah, Surjewala and MB Patil. When they invited me I came without any other option. I am joining Congress wholeheartedly." Addressing reporters Congress chief Kharge said, "I do not need to give more introduction about Jagadish Shettar. His joining will boost the enthusiasm of the Congress, He is the person who not only wins alone, he is a person who is capable to win more seats. Though he was in Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Jana Sangha, he is a non-controversial person. We have worked together." "Our target was 150, now after Shettar's joining it is confirmed that we will reach the target," added the Congress chief. Taking to Twitter, Congress MP Randeep Singh Surjewala said, "A New Chapter, A New History, A new Beginning.... Former BJP CM, Former BJP President, Former Leader of Opposition, Six times MLA, Jagadish Shettar joins the Congress family today. Karnataka Congress welcomes him." Notably, Karnataka State Congress in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala, Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar met former CM Shettar in Bengaluru after he resigned from BJP on Sunday. In this regard, Jagadish Shettar took to Twitter and said, "Fed up with the political events of the past few days, I have resigned from my MLA seat and will discuss my next move with the activists. As usual, I believe that your love and blessings will always be with me". Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala on Sunday said that Shettar was humiliated and BJP has crumbled like a house of cards. Shettar tendered his resignation as an MLA to Karnataka Assembly Speaker, Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, at Sirsi on April 16. Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had earlier mentioned that BJP president JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had promised Shettar a big post in Delhi. "Jagadish Shettar has been a senior and an important leader in this region. JP Nadda and Union Home Minister had promised a big post in Delhi to Shettar. Everything would have been fine if the former CM had continued," Bommai told media persons in Hubballi. Bommai said that tickets are being denied to some candidates as opportunities are being given to the young generation. Shettar, a six-time MLA from the constituency, was reportedly advised by the party to stand down and not seek a fresh term as MLA from the Hubli-Dharwad Central segment, following which his followers expressed their anguish against the party's high command. On Saturday after announcing his resignation Shettar also mentioned that there was a conspiracy against him, which is why he was denied a ticket. Meanwhile, former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Sunday said if Shettar comes back to BJP, the party would welcome him. The Karnataka assembly elections will be held in a single phase on May 10, with the counting of votes scheduled on May 13. (ANI)
Centre informed Supreme Court that the petitions seeking legal recognition of same-sex marriage merely reflect urban elitist views and cannot be compared with the appropriate legislature which reflects the views and voices of a far wider spectrum and expands across the country. The Centre's submission came in a fresh application before the Supreme on the issue pertaining to legal recognition of same-sex marriage and raised questions on the maintainability of the petitions as a preliminary issue saying that the prayers made would entail the judicial creation of a social institution called "marriage" of a different kind than contemplated under the existing law. Various petitions seeking legal recognition of same-sex marriage will be heard by a five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court on April 18. Centre informed the apex court that any further creation of rights, recognition of relationships and giving legal sanctity to such relationships can be done only by the competent legislature and not by judicial adjudication. Centre said that the petition seeking legal recognition of the same-sex marriage issue has far-reaching implications. Centre informed the Supreme Court that question concerning the legal recognition of same-sex marriage and its parity with the existing concept of marriage, as an exclusively heterogenous institution, which is governed by the existing legal regime and has a sanctity attached to it in every religion in the country, seriously affects the interests of every citizen. It raises critical issues as to whether questions of such a nature, which necessarily entail the creation of a new social institution, can be prayed for as a part of the process of judicial adjudication, Centre informed the Supreme Court. Centre further informed the court that the petitions seeking legal recognition of same-sex marriage merely reflect urban elitist views and cannot be compared with the appropriate legislature which reflects the views and voices of a far wider spectrum and expands across the country. Centre stated that the institution of marriage is a recognition of a social union of two people which will be conferred with a sanctity attached to the institution of marriage. It is submitted that any law recognizing persons' relationship and conferring legal sanctity thereupon, essentially involves a codification of societal ethos, cherished common values in the concept of family across religions in society and such other relevant factors, into legal norms, Centre further stated. Centre said that the petitioners seeking recognition of same-sex marriage do not represent the view of the entire population of the nation. "This would not in fact and cannot, in law, mean a majoritarian approach. This is the only constitutional approach permissible under the Constitution while recognizing any socio-legal relationship as an institution with sanction under the law. The competent legislature is the only constitutional organ which is aware of the above-referred considerations. The petitioners do not represent the view of the entire population of the nation," Centre further said. Centre submitted that the question as to which social relationships will be recognised by the appropriate Legislature is part of the legislative policy to be decided by the representatives of the people as the representative of the people are the appropriate democratic institution to under Article 246 keeping in mind, among other things, the sanctity attached to the institution of marriage in the country, the societal ethos, cherished values in the concept of family and other such relevant considerations. Centre further added there is no denying that the Constitution provides for the power of judicial review. Still, judicial review should not become judicial legislation and the Personal Laws in India essentially represents a social concurrence by which certain norms have been crystallised into law. Centre informed the apex court that judicial intervention to create this new institution of same-sex marriage risks upsetting this balance apart from being without jurisdiction. The Centre further informed that same-sex marriage issues are left for being decided by the competent Legislature where social, psychological, religious and other impacts on society can be debated. It would also have to be seen if such recognition or creation would dimmish the special status enjoyed by heterogeneous institutions of marriage across the country and this will ensure that wide-ranging ramifications of recognizing such sacred relationships are debated from every angle and legitimate state interest can be considered by the Legislature, Centre further said. Centre submitted that though India is a country of several divergent religions, castes, sub-castes and schools of religions, the personal laws and customs all recognise only marriage amongst heterosexual persons. The institution of marriage is necessarily a social concept and a sanctity to the said institution is attached under the respective governing laws and customs as it is given sanctity by law on the basis of social acceptance. Centre submitted that social acceptance and adherence to societal ethos, common values, and shared beliefs across religions, in case of recognition of the "socio-legal institution of marriage" is not be confused with majoritarianism. (ANI)
After former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar joined Congress, Leader of Opposition in State Assembly Siddaramaiah on Monday said that despite coming from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Shettar is a 'secular' person. A day after quitting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Jagadish Shettar on Monday joined Congress ahead of the upcoming state assembly elections in Karnataka. Speaking on the occasion, Siddaramaiah said, "I welcome former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar to our party. He is known as a decent politician in Karnataka. Though he is from RSS, he is a secular person." "I worked with him as the opposition leader and he was the opposition leader when I was CM. He was an honest party worker in BJP and always stood with the party, not for personal gain," the Congress leader added. Shettar arrived at the Congress office in Bengaluru this morning. His induction to the party took place in the presence of Congress chief MallikarjunKharge, Karnataka state Congress president DK Shivakumar and Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Siddaramaiah. Senior BJP leader Amar Singh Patil also joined Congress along with Shettar. Speaking at the occasion, Shettar said, "Yesterday I left BJP and today I joined the Congress party. Many are surprised as an opposition leader, former CM and party president is joining Congress. BJP has given me every position and being a party worker I always worked for the party's growth." "I thought being a senior leader, I will get the ticket, but when I came to know that I am not getting it, I was shocked. No one spoke to me nor tried to convince me, not even gave assurance about what position will I get," he stated. Shettar further said, "I was contacted by DK Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah, Surjewala and MB Patil. When they invited me I came without any other option. I am joining Congress wholeheartedly." Congress president Kharge said, "I do not need to give more introduction about Jagadish Shettar. His joining will boost the enthusiasm of the Congress, He is the person who not only wins alone, he is a person who is capable to win more seats. Though he was in Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Jana Sangha, he is a non-controversial person. We have worked together." "Our target was 150, now after Shettar's joining it is confirmed that we will reach the target," added the Congress chief. Taking to Twitter, Congress MP Randeep Singh Surjewala said, "A New Chapter, A New History, A new Beginning.... Former BJP CM, Former BJP President, Former Leader of Opposition, Six times MLA, Jagadish Shettar joins the Congress family today. Karnataka Congress welcomes him." Notably, Karnataka State Congress in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala, Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar met former CM Shettar in Bengaluru after he resigned from BJP on Sunday. In this regard, Jagadish Shettar took to Twitter and said, "Fed up with the political events of the past few days, I have resigned from my MLA seat and will discuss my next move with the activists. As usual, I believe that your love and blessings will always be with me". Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala on Sunday said that Jagadish Shettar was humiliated and BJP has crumbled like a house of cards. Shettar tendered his resignation as an MLA to Karnataka Assembly Speaker, Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, at Sirsi on Sunday. Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had mentioned that BJP president JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had promised Shettar a big post in Delhi. "Jagadish Shettar has been a senior and an important leader in this region. JP Nadda and Union Home Minister had promised a big post in Delhi to Shettar. Everything would have been fine if the former CM had continued," Bommai told media persons in Hubballi. Bommai said that tickets are being denied to some candidates as opportunities are being given to the young generation. Shettar, a six-time MLA from the constituency, was reportedly advised by the party to stand down and not seek a fresh term as MLA from the Hubli-Dharwad Central segment, following which his followers expressed their anguish against the party's high command. On Saturday after announcing his resignation Jagadish Shettar also mentioned that there was a conspiracy against him, which is why he was denied a ticket. "There is a conspiracy against me, will tell everything after resigning," Shettar told ANI. After being left out from the BJP's candidate lists, Shettar had issued an ultimatum to the party, saying he would consider his future political course if denied a ticket from his preferred segment. Meanwhile, former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Sunday said if Shettar comes back to BJP, the party would welcome him. The Karnataka assembly elections will be held in a single phase on May 10, with the counting of votes scheduled on May 13. (ANI)
Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Monday said that the way former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar was treated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should not be meted out to anyone. A day after quitting the BJP, former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar on Monday joined Congress ahead of the upcoming state assembly elections. Speaking on the occasion, Siddaramaiah said, "The way he (Jagadish Shettar) was treated in BJP, this should not happen to anyone in any party. He is hurt now. BJP has disrespected its community and supporters. After Jagadish Shettar has joined us, we will win more than 150 seats. His joining will give a boost to the party." "I welcome former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar to our party. He is known as a decent politician in Karnataka. Though he is from RSS, he is a secular person. I worked with him as the opposition leader and he was the opposition leader when I was Chief Minister. He was an honest party worker in BJP and always stood with the party, not for personal gain," he added. Shettar arrived at the Congress office in Bengaluru this morning. His induction to the party took place in the presence of Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Karnataka state Congress president DK Shivakumar and Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Siddaramaiah. After joining Congress, Shettar said, "Yesterday I left BJP and today I joined the Congress party. Many are surprised as an opposition leader, former CM and party president is joining Congress. BJP has given me every position and being a party worker I always worked for the party's growth." "I thought being a senior leader, I will get the ticket, but when I came to know that I am not getting it, I was shocked. No one spoke to me nor tried to convince me, not even gave assurance about what position will I get," he stated. Shettar further said, "I was contacted by DK Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah, Surjewala and MB Patil. When they invited me I came without any other option. I am joining Congress wholeheartedly." Senior BJP leader Amar Singh Patil also joined Congress along with Shettar. Speaking on the occasion, Kharge said, "I do not need to give more introduction about Jagadish Shettar. His joining will boost the enthusiasm of the Congress, He is the person who not only wins alone, he is a person who is capable to win more seats." "Though he was in RSS and Jana Sangha, he is a non-controversial person. We have worked together. Our target was 150, now after Shettar's joining it is confirmed that we will reach the target," added the Congress chief. Notably, Karnataka State Congress in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala, Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar met former CM Shettar in Bengaluru after he resigned from BJP on Sunday. In this regard, Jagadish Shettar took to Twitter and said, "Fed up with the political events of the past few days, I have resigned from my MLA seat and will discuss my next move with the activists. As usual, I believe that your love and blessings will always be with me". Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala on Sunday said that Jagadish Shettar was humiliated and BJP has crumbled like a house of cards. Shettar tendered his resignation as an MLA to Karnataka Assembly Speaker, Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, at Sirsi on Sunday. Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had mentioned that BJP president JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had promised Shettar a big post in Delhi. "Jagadish Shettar has been a senior and an important leader in this region. JP Nadda and Union Home Minister had promised a big post in Delhi to Shettar. Everything would have been fine if the former CM had continued," Bommai told media persons in Hubballi. Bommai said that tickets are being denied to some candidates as opportunities are being given to the young generation. Shettar, a six-time MLA from the constituency, was reportedly advised by the party to stand down and not seek a fresh term as MLA from the Hubli-Dharwad Central segment, following which his followers expressed their anguish against the party's high command. On Saturday after announcing his resignation Jagadish Shettar also mentioned that there was a conspiracy against him, which is why he was denied a ticket. "There is a conspiracy against me, will tell everything after resigning," Shettar told ANI. After being left out from the BJP's candidate lists, Shettar had issued an ultimatum to the party, saying he would consider his future political course if denied a ticket from his preferred segment. Meanwhile, former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Sunday said if Shettar comes back to BJP, the party would welcome him. The Karnataka assembly elections will be held in a single phase on May 10, with the counting of votes scheduled on May 13. (ANI)
According to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), the meeting will provide an opportunity to discuss a range of transport-related issues and find new and innovative solutions through mutual cooperation and consultation.

Such a meeting presents a unique opportunity to not only strengthen the foundations of federalism but also foster deeper collaboration and coordination between Central and State/UT governments for the benefit of all, said the Ministry statement.

Keeping up with technological advancements, the Ministry said it has taken several measures with a view to developing future-ready road transport in India, with safety and sustainability being the key driver of all such measures.

Voluntary Vehicle-Fleet Modernization Program (V-VMP) has been launched to promote the reusability of resources by extracting valuable raw materials from scrapped vehicles, thereby promoting a circular economy, the statement further said.

The Ministry said extensive work is being undertaken to promote renewable energy and decarbonization including incentives for electric vehicles, adoption of alternate fuels like hydrogen, ethanol blends, bio CNG etc, development of green highways etc.

Several initiatives have been taken for Road Safety such as road safety audit and remedial/ corrective measures, provision of safety features in vehicles, electronic monitoring & enforcement, setting up driver training institutes, rules for the protection of good samaritans etc, added the statement. (ANI)
After gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed was killed in Prayagraj, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said that Atiq was the second former MP from the Muslim community to be "murdered without impunity". "Atiq is the second Muslim ex-MP who was murdered with impunity. Ehsan Jaffry was ruthlessly hacked to death by a mob in Gujarat in 2002 and today it's Atiq. Shot and killed in police custody," tweeted Owaisi. Atiq Ahmed represented the Phulpur Lok Sabha constituency between 2004-2009. Ehsan Jaffry was a member of the 6th Lok Sabha. He was killed by a mob in the Gulbarg Society massacre on February 28, 2002, following the Godhra incident. After Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Ahmed were shot dead in Prayagraj, AIMIM chief Owaisi called the incident a "cold-blooded murder" while adding that people who are celebrating this killing are "vultures". Addressing the mediapersons on Sunday, Owaisi said, "Uttar Pradesh's BJP government has a role in this. Supreme Court-monitored investigation should be done and a committee should be formed. No officer from Uttar Pradesh should be included in the committee. This was a 'cold-blooded' murder." He further said, "How did they (killers) get those weapons?... Why were they raising religious slogans after killing them? What will you call them if not terrorists? Will you call them Patriots? People celebrating this incident are vultures..." He said the incident raises a big question about the law and order situation. The AIMIM chief questioned whether the public will have any faith in the constitution and Law and order of the country after this incident. "I have always been saying that BJP in Uttar Pradesh is not running the government by the rule of law but by the rule of gun," he said. Owaisi further demanded Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's resignation. "I demand the resignation of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the Supreme Court to form a team and investigate this matter. We also demand all police officers present there should be removed from service," he said. "Atiq and his brother were in police custody. He was handcuffed. JSR (Jai Shri Ram) slogans were also raised. The killing of both is the failure of Yogi's law and order system. Those celebrating encounter raj are also responsible for this murder," Owaisi added. Days after Atiq Ahmed's son Asad was killed in an encounter in Uttar Pradesh's Jhansi, the gangster-turned-politician and his brother, Ashraf Ahmed, were killed on Saturday while being taken for a medical examination in Prayagraj. Both the gangsters collapsed on the spot after they were shot at nearly point-blank range. The bodies of the gangster-turned-politician and his brother were brought to Kasari Masari burial ground in Prayagraj for burial. Minor sons of gangster Atiq Ahmed were brought to the burial ground from a juvenile home. Atiq Ahmed was accused in the 2005 Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Raju Pal murder case and also in the Umesh Pal murder case which happened in February this year. Uttar Pradesh Police so far arrested a total of three shooters in this incident. (ANI)
Shenzhou-15 taikonauts complete 4th spacewalk, setting China record

Xinhua) 08:11, April 17, 2023

This screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on April 15, 2023 shows Shenzhou-15 taikonaut Zhang Lu waving after performing extravehicular activities outside the Wentian lab module. The Shenzhou-15 taikonauts on board the orbiting Chinese Tiangong space station have completed their fourth spacewalk, the China Manned Space Agency said on Sunday. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

BEIJING, April 16 (Xinhua) -- The Shenzhou-15 taikonauts on board the orbiting Chinese Tiangong space station have completed their fourth spacewalk, the China Manned Space Agency said on Sunday.

Fei Junlong and Zhang Lu, together with Deng Qingming who worked inside the space station and the supporting team on the ground, collaborated to pull off all set tasks on Saturday. Fei and Zhang have since safely returned to the Wentian lab module.

The trio have now performed extravehicular activities on four occasions since they were launched into space in November 2022, setting a domestic record for the most spacewalks by a single crew.

During the latest extravehicular mission, they installed several items of equipment, including the extravehicular extended pump sets, the cross-module cables, and supporting devices for the extravehicular payload platform, laying a foundation for carrying out subsequent large-scale science and technology experiments outside the space station, the agency noted in a statement.

This screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on April 15, 2023 shows Shenzhou-15 taikonaut Fei Junlong (L) getting ready to exit the Wentian lab module. The Shenzhou-15 taikonauts on board the orbiting Chinese Tiangong space station have completed their fourth spacewalk, the China Manned Space Agency said on Sunday. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

This screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on April 15, 2023 shows Shenzhou-15 taikonaut Fei Junlong exiting the Wentian lab module. The Shenzhou-15 taikonauts on board the orbiting Chinese Tiangong space station have completed their fourth spacewalk, the China Manned Space Agency said on Sunday. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

This screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on April 15, 2023 shows Shenzhou-15 taikonaut Zhang Lu (below) exiting the Wentian lab module. The Shenzhou-15 taikonauts on board the orbiting Chinese Tiangong space station have completed their fourth spacewalk, the China Manned Space Agency said on Sunday. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

This screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on April 15, 2023 shows Shenzhou-15 taikonaut Zhang Lu performing extravehicular activities outside the Wentian lab module. The Shenzhou-15 taikonauts on board the orbiting Chinese Tiangong space station have completed their fourth spacewalk, the China Manned Space Agency said on Sunday. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

This screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on April 15, 2023 shows Shenzhou-15 taikonaut Fei Junlong saluting after performing extravehicular activities outside the Wentian lab module. The Shenzhou-15 taikonauts on board the orbiting Chinese Tiangong space station have completed their fourth spacewalk, the China Manned Space Agency said on Sunday. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

This screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on April 15, 2023 shows Shenzhou-15 taikonaut Fei Junlong performing extravehicular activities outside the Wentian lab module. The Shenzhou-15 taikonauts on board the orbiting Chinese Tiangong space station have completed their fourth spacewalk, the China Manned Space Agency said on Sunday. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

This screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on April 15, 2023 shows Shenzhou-15 taikonaut Fei Junlong performing extravehicular activities outside the Wentian lab module. The Shenzhou-15 taikonauts on board the orbiting Chinese Tiangong space station have completed their fourth spacewalk, the China Manned Space Agency said on Sunday. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Replying to a tweet by a Member of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly, Jacob Zhimomi, the Prime Minister tweeted, "Good! We've seen tremendous energy towards Swachhata all across India, which has led to tangible benefits in various sectors including health and women empowerment."

"Carrying forward PM Shri @narendramodi Ji's vision of Swachh Bharat, Nagaland is leaving no stone unturned to achieve the same. Sharing pics of completed works from Tuensang district under Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin), 2022-23.1/2," Jacob Zhimomi tweeted.

The Swachh Bharat Mission was launched on October 2, 2014, with an aim to make the country open defecation-free and also universal sanitation coverage.

Earlier in 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 to make all our cities 'Garbage Free' and 'Water Secure'.

Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 envisions making all cities 'Garbage Free' and ensuring grey and black water management in all cities other than those covered under AMRUT, making all urban local bodies Open Defecation Free + (ODF+) and those with a population of less than 1 lakh as ODF++, thereby achieving the vision of safe sanitation in urban areas.

Exhorting the people across the country to get involved in the cleanliness campaign, PM Modi said taking the campaign forward will be a giant towards fulfilling Mahatma Gandhi's dream of a clean India. (ANI)
Singh was suffering from heart-related ailments and breathed his last at around 1:00 am on Monday.

The veteran journalist started his career with the Times of India in Tripura and was associated with the field of journalism for over three decades.

He also worked in Economic Times, and BBC and covered the entire North East India.

Assam Chief Minister expressed condolences on the demise of PP Singh and wrote on Twitter - "Deeply pained to learn about the demise of veteran journalist Pushp Paul Singh, who was a well-known face of media for 3 decades in the North East. I offer my sincere condolences to his aggrieved family & well-wishers. Om Shanti!"

Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal also paid his condolence and wrote on Twitter - "Saddened to learn about the demise of veteran journalist PP Singh. An outspoken voice for the people, he leaves behind a glowing legacy in the media fraternity. My deepest condolences to his family and friends. Om Shanti."

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma also expressed his condolences on the demise of the senior journalist. (ANI)
Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi mentioned the petition by TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee before the bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud.

The lawyer submitted that the directions passed by the single judge are wholly extraneous to the petition.

The court listed the matter for April 24 and said that till the next date of listing, there shall be a stay of all actions against the petitioner in pursuance of directions of the single judge.

Calcutta High Court last week said that Abhishek Banerjee and Kuntal Ghosh, accused in the matter related to irregularities in the recruitment of staff in schools in West Bengal, can be questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED). (ANI)
Nearly two days after three persons posing as media persons gunned down gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Ahmed in Prayagraj, the Uttar Pradesh police authorities have announced to form two special investigating teams (SITs) to probe the sensational killing incident. The first SIT which would be headed by Additional DCP (crime) Satish Chandra has been formed to probe the murder case registered at Shahganj police station, according to an order issued by Prayagraj Commissioner of Police, Ramit Sharma on Sunday. The second SIT has been formed to supervise the first one. This SIT will be headed by ADG Prayagraj Zone Bhanu Bhaskar, and would also have Prayagraj Commissioner of Police and Director Forensic Science Laboratory as its members, an order issued by the Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police, RK Vishwakarma on Sunday, read. Besides, the state government on Sunday also announced to form a three-member judicial enquiry committee to probe the murder of Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Ahmed. The committee will be headed by Allahabad High Court (Retired) judge Arvind Kumar Tripathi, and have two others including retired judge Brijesh Kumar Soni, and retired IPS officer Subesh Kumar Singh. Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf Ahmad were shot dead by men posing as press persons on Saturday night while being taken for a medical examination in Prayagraj. Both the gangsters collapsed on the spot after they were shot at nearly point-blank range. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath soon after the incident took cognizance and ordered to set up a judicial commission in the matter. All three shooters, Arun Maurya, Sunny Singh and Lovelesh Tiwari who killed Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf, have been sent to 14-day judicial custody by the district court on Sunday. On Sunday, the last rites of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf took place at a family graveyard in the Kasari Masari area of Prayagraj. Minor sons of gangster Atiq Ahmed were brought to the burial ground from a juvenile home. Atiq Ahmed was accused in the 2005 Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Raju Pal murder case and also in the Umesh Pal murder case which happened in February this year. (ANI)
Police sources further said that the police have started looking for two people in the case of helping the accused persons who killed Atiq.

In this regard, four people have been detained, and are being interrogated.

Police said that the two people whom the police are looking for are being raided at five places.

Police claimed that the two suspected accused provided help to the three accused, which could include arranging weapons, and organizing their stay in Prayagraj.

Days after Atiq Ahmed's son Asad was killed in an encounter in Uttar Pradesh's Jhansi, the gangster-turned-politician and his brother, Ashraf Ahmed, were killed on Saturday while being taken for a medical examination in Prayagraj.

Both the gangsters collapsed on the spot after they were shot at nearly point-blank range.

The bodies of the gangster-turned-politician and his brother were brought to Kasari Masari burial ground in Prayagraj for burial.

Minor sons of gangster Atiq Ahmed were brought to the burial ground from a juvenile home.

Atiq Ahmed was accused in the 2005 Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Raju Pal murder case and also in the Umesh Pal murder case which happened in February this year.

Uttar Pradesh Police so far arrested a total of three shooters in this incident. (ANI)
The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the office of Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on a plea of the Delhi government against LG's approval with riders to send government school teachers to Finland for training and prohibiting teachers from receiving foreign training in the future. A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice JB Pardiwala sought a response from the office of LG on the Delhi government's plea. Advocate Shadan Farasat, appearing for the Delhi government, told the bench that it is clear that LG cannot take an independent decision in this regard and he can't say that no such Finland training will be there in future. In wake of the LG prohibiting government school teachers from receiving foreign training in the future and approving riders to send them to Finland for training, the Delhi government has approached the apex court seeking direction to the LG to act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers. On March 4, LG cleared some of the teachers for the Finland programme but was mandated against such exercises in future. The plea sought direction for affirmation of the proposal sent by the Delhi government's State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) to send primary in-charge teachers at government schools in the national capital for training to Finland in the months of December 2022 and March 2023. It further sought the quashing of LG's order dated March 4, 2023, which was passed after an inordinate delay, thereby rendering the proposal completely infructuous. The plea sought direction to "Set aside the order passed by LG on March 4, 2023, and affirm the proposal of the SCERT, Delhi government October 18, 2022." "The elected Government of the NCT of Delhi is constrained to file the present petition due to the unwarranted and deliberate delay caused by the Lieutenant Governor in approving the proposal sent by the SCERT to send primary in-charge teachers of government schools in Delhi for teacher's training to Finland in the months of December 2022 and March 2023," said the plea. Additionally, LG's observations seek to place an effective embargo upon conducting such programs in the future, the Delhi government said. The Arvind Kejriwal led-AAP party government said that even though the aforesaid proposal was first submitted to the LG in October 2022, it was only approved -- subject to several amendments and conditions -- five months later i.e. on March 4, 2023, when it had become infructuous. "While granting the approval, the LG has stated that such teachers trained in said program shall only become trainers in India and that in future, there was no need for such training programs to be conducted abroad, instead, they should be conducted within India. In this context, the Petitioner (Delhi government) is seeking a re-declaration of the well-settled position of law that the Governor is bound to act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers and has no independent decision-making power," it added. The AAP government accused LG of "rejecting" the proposal for the training programme at Finland. However, LG had given "approval" and noted that the Delhi government had refused to bring on record the "impact assessment of the foreign training programmes conducted in the past" by the Delhi Government. (ANI)
Union Minister of Tourism, Culture and DoNER G Kishan Reddy has written to Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao regarding Telangana "not utilizing Rs 610 crores of the allocated amount from the CAMPA funds in the last 3 years". In his letter dated April 16, the Union Minister highlighted that Telangana had not spent the amount as per their own Annual Plan of Operations (APO) for afforestation under the Compensatory Afforestation Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) Fund G Kishan Reddy in his letter highlighted that the conservation of nature is an inherent part of India's civilisational ethos and culture and forests provide habitats for many types of wildlife, and medicinal herbs, and also provide livelihood opportunities for tribal communities. "Keeping all this in mind, the Union Government has created a comprehensive strategy to increase the forest area lost due to various development programs across the country and the Compensatory Afforestation Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) has been set up to restore the lost forest area in the respective areas by increasing the trees," he added The Union Minister further stated that the Government of India released Rs. 3,110 crores of funds in the year 2019-20 under CAMPA. These funds were to be utilized in accordance with the Annual Plan of Operations (APO) of the Telangana Government as approved by the Central Government. The Minister in his letter said that in the last 3 years from 2019-20 to 2021-22, the Government of Telangana was not able to fully utilize the funds in accordance with its own approved annual plans. G Kishan Reddy said that approximately Rs. 610 crore was unutilised by the Government of Telangana and due to the inability to fully utilize the funds provided by the Government of India under the CAMPA Fund for afforestation, there is an impact on the habitats of various flora and fauna. The Union Minister also highlighted that the state government was not releasing the state share in various Centrally Sponsored Schemes related to wildlife conservation. The recent report by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) regarding the number of tigers in the country makes it clear that Telangana was one of the few states where the Tiger population decreased and immediate conservation measures need to be taken. "Apart from afforestation, the Union government also releases funds from time to time under various central government-sponsored schemes for forest conservation, wildlife conservation, and maintenance of parks and zoos. So far in the last few years, about Rs. 30 crore funds have been released. Many reports make it clear that the state government is neglecting to utilize these funds properly" he said in a letter to CM Telangana. Union Minister further said that there is a serious delay in releasing funds of Rs 2.20 crore which the state government is supposed to release as its share under Project Tiger. "The recent report by NTCA had brought to light that Tigers were locally extirpated from Kawal tiger reserve and Chennur of Telangana and the NTCA report further stated that if management activities like prey augmentation, habitat restoration, and protection are undertaken with serious efforts, tiger reserves and protected areas in the states of Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, still hold potential for further recovery of tiger populations," he said. G Kishan Reddy requested the Telangana Chief Minister to take the initiative towards these matters and take appropriate measures to restore the lost forest area in the state by making full use of the funds released by the central government under the CAMPA fund, and promptly release the funds to be released by the state government as its share for the various central government sponsored schemes related to wildlife conservation. (ANI)
Coming down heavily on Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday accused the ruling party and RSS of attacking the democracy in India. Addressing a public meeting in poll-bound Karnataka's Bhalki, Rahul Gandhi said, "In India, if someone spoke of democracy for the first time and showed the path to it, it was Basavanna ji. Sadly, today people of RSS and BJP are attacking democracy. The thinking of Basavanna ji of participation by all, a place for all and that everyone should go ahead together is being attacked by BJP and RSS. They are spreading hatred and violence in India." Rahul further alleged the BJP runs a government of 40 per cent commission in Karnataka. "You know the BJP very well in Karnataka. I did not coin the slogan of '40 per cent Commission government', it was coined by you - the people of Karnataka," he stated. Rahul Gandhi also accused BJP of neglecting the OBC community. "If we want to take OBC in the country forward and give them their rights, the first step would be for the Prime Minister to release data of the OBC census. The PM will never do this as he does not want the welfare of OBC. Congress will do this as soon as we get the opportunity...," he said. Notably, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding that the decennial Census that should have been conducted in 2021 be done right away, and a Caste Census be made an integral part. Meanwhile, former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar joined Congress on Monday quitting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the Assembly elections in the State. Shettar arrived at the Congress office in Bengaluru this morning. His induction to the party took place in the presence of Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Karnataka state Congress president DK Shivakumar and Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Siddaramaiah. After joining Congress, Shettar said, "Yesterday I left BJP and today I joined the Congress party. Many are surprised as an opposition leader, former CM and party president is joining Congress. BJP has given me every position and being a party worker I always worked for the party's growth." "I thought being a senior leader, I will get the ticket, but when I came to know that I am not getting it, I was shocked. No one spoke to me nor tried to convince me, not even gave assurance about what position will I get," he stated. Shettar further said, "I was contacted by DK Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah, Surjewala and MB Patil. When they invited me I came without any other option. I am joining Congress wholeheartedly." Senior BJP leader Amar Singh Patil also joined Congress along with Shettar. Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Assembly Siddaramaiah alleged Bharatiya Janata Party disrespected the Lingayat community. "Lingayat community is a big community in Karnataka, they (BJP) accept BS Yediyurappa as their leader, and Jagadish Shettar was always in the second position. They also disrespected Yediyurappa by bringing him down from the CM post, which is why he cried when he resigned," said Congress leader Siddaramaiah. He said despite coming from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Shettar is a 'secular' person. "I welcome former chief minister Jagadish Shettar to our party. He is known as a decent politician in Karnataka. Though he is from RSS, he is a secular person. I worked with him as the opposition leader and he was the opposition leader when I was CM. He was an honest party worker in BJP and always stood with the party, not for personal gain," added Siddaramaiah. Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar said several MPs want to join Congress. "Former Chief Minister, former Deputy Chief Minister and others including many MPs unconditionally want to join Congress. I welcome all of them," Shivakumar said. Shivakumar gave the 'B' form to Jagadish Shettar, ahead of his nomination filing for the Karnataka Assembly elections. Shettar, a six-time MLA from the constituency, was reportedly advised by the party to stand down and not seek a fresh term as MLA from the Hubli-Dharwad Central segment, following which his followers expressed their anguish against the party's high command. On Saturday after announcing his resignation Jagadish Shettar also mentioned that there was a conspiracy against him, which is why he was denied a ticket. After being left out from the BJP's candidate lists, Shettar had issued an ultimatum to the party, saying he would consider his future political course if denied a ticket from his preferred segment. The Karnataka assembly elections will be held in a single phase on May 10, with the counting of votes scheduled on May 13. (ANI)
He was to be produced before the court in an NIA case. He was being brought from Bathinda Jail, Punjab.

The court of Principal District and Sessions judge Dharmesh Sharma was informed that Punjab Police and other agencies are on the way to Delhi and will not be able to reach here within Court hours.

Thereafter the court ordered them to take him to Jail and produce him tomorrow morning before the court.

The court has also directed the jail authorities to ensure the safety and security of Lawrence Bishnoi as he is a high-risk accused.

The court on April 11 issued a production warrant to produce Lawrence Bishnoi in a case registered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under section related to Waging war against the State, conspiracy to wage war against the State, sections 17, 18, 18 B and 38 of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

The above case is pending before the NIA court. The charge sheet has already been filed.

He has also been named in other criminal cases. (ANI)
Kerala Legislative Assembly turns 25 years on May 22 and will start functioning in the new building.

The Speaker's visit was to formally invite the Vice President to inaugurate the 25th-anniversary celebrations.

After the meeting, the Speaker said that Vice President assured him that he would attend the inauguration of the Rajjata Jubilee celebrations.

The Speaker presented a plaque bearing the picture of the Kerala Legislative Assembly to the Vice President.

On March 22, the budget session of the Kerala assembly was adjourned sine die by Speaker A N Shamseer as differences between the members of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) and opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) widened over last week's mayhem in the House.

The budget session was scheduled till March 30. (ANI)
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and workers on Monday staged a protest outside the Delhi assembly against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, over the excise policy case in which the Aam Admi Party leader was questioned by CBI on Sunday. On Sunday, Kejriwal was questioned for nearly nine hours in the matter in which former deputy chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who held the excise portfolio and several other ministries, was arrested last month. The Central Bureau of Investigation recorded Kejriwal's statement in connection with the Excise policy case on Sunday and said that it will be verified and collated with the "available evidence". According to a statement by the CBI, the Chief Minister of Delhi, was issued a notice under section 160 Cr.P.C for his examination in this case on 16.04.2023 and answering various questions related to the case. He joined the investigation today and his statement has been recorded u/s. 161 Cr.P.C. "The statement will be verified and collated with the available evidence," the statement had said. CBI had registered a case against the then Deputy Chief Minister and Minister In-charge of Excise, GNCT of Delhi and 14 others for an investigation into the allegations of irregularities in framing and implementation of the Excise Policy for the year 2021-22 and extending post tender benefits to private persons. After investigation, one charge sheet was filed by CBI on 25.11.2022 against the CEO of a Mumbai-based firm and 6 other accused persons. The AAP leaders on Sunday staged a protest against Kejriwal's questioning in the national capital. Various leaders of the party including senior leaders like Raghav Chadha, Sanjay Singh and others. However, they were later released by the police. AAP workers had protested in Punjab's Amritsar also against Kejriwal's questioning. Ahead of his appearance before the central investigative agency concerning the excise policy case, Kejriwal had paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat in the national capital on Sunday. Kejriwal was accompanied by his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Maan, AAP MP Sanjay Singh and other top leaders of the party. Before heading to the CBI office, Kejriwal had said that the central agency would arrest him if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government gave the orders. (ANI)
A fire broke out in a local train at Botad Railway Station in Gujarat on Monday. The train was scheduled to depart for Ahmedabad today evening. No injuries were reported during the incident. Further details are awaited. (ANI)
A bench of justices BR Gavai and Vikram Nath allowed Gokhale's application observing that a chargesheet has been filed in the matter.

Gokhale's counsel apprised the court that Gokhale had been in jail for 108 days. Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the respondent, opposed Gokhale's plea.

Gokhale challenged Gujarat High Court's order refusing to release him on bail in a case related to alleged irregularities in crowdfunding money. Gujarat High Court on January 23 dismissed the plea filed by Gokhale.

The TMC Spokesperson has been lodged in jail after he has arrested by the Cyber Crime Branch of Ahmedabad Police from Delhi on December 30 last year in connection with the alleged misappropriation of crowdfunded funds in Gujarat.

He has been booked under various sections dealing with cheating, forgery and criminal breach of trust.

Earlier, Gokhale was arrested by the Gujarat Police on December 6 for allegedly spreading fake news related to the money spent on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Morbi in Gujarat after the suspension bridge collapse tragedy. (ANI)
The Supreme Court on Monday set aside the Rajasthan High Court's order, summoning IPS officer Ajay Pal Lamba for recording his evidence as a court witness in a case related to self-styled godman Asaram's appeal against his conviction in a minor's rape case. A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and MM Sundresh asked Rajasthan High Court to expeditiously decide Asaram's appeal against his conviction in the rape case. The apex court allowed an appeal filed by the Rajasthan government challenging the High Court's order asking Jaipur's Additional Commissioner of Police Lamba to record his evidence as a court witness in the case. "We have allowed the appeal and set aside the impugned judgment. We request the High Court to take up the appeal for hearing expeditiously," the top court said in its order. Asaram's appeal against his conviction is pending before the High Court where he has argued that the entire prosecution case is false and fabricated and filed an application to summon Lamba, alleging that a video recording by him might have influenced the testimony of the teenager. He said the victim's graphic description of the alleged crime scene - Asaram's private quarters or 'kutia' -- was allegedly influenced by a video recording of the place by the IPS officer when he was serving in Jodhpur. The girl had not given any description of the interiors of the 'kutia' in her handwritten complaint or the statement recorded by police on August 20, 2013, the counsel of Asaram said. Lamba, in his book, 'Gunning for the Godman: The true story behind Asaram Bapu's conviction', the then DCP (West) in Jodhpur had said that he filmed the scene of crime on his mobile phone just in case it was needed during the investigation. A lower court had sentenced Asaram to life imprisonment in 2018 for the rape of a minor at an 'Ashram' in Jodhpur in 2013. The appeal against the order of the trial court is pending before the High Court. (ANI)
The Supreme Court on Monday eased the condition imposed on Abdul Nazir Maudany, accused in the 2008 Bengaluru serial bomb blasts case, and allowed him to stay in his hometown till July 9. However, a bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi made it clear that Maudany would have to bear the expenses for the escort by the Karnataka Police. Abdul Nazir Maudany urged the Supreme Court to ease his bail conditions and allow him to stay in his hometown in Kerala to take care of his father, who is sick. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Abdul Nazir Maudany, urged the top court to relax the bail condition and allow him to visit his father, a retired headmaster, in Kerala, who is sick. Senior Advocate Sibal has also apprised that Maudany was out on bail for eight years and has not done anything during the period when he is out on bail. "After we have heard learned counsel appearing for the parties, looking to the applicant's own medical condition as well as his ailing parents who are residing in the State of Kerala, as an interim measure, consider it appropriate to order that the applicant be allowed to visit the State of Kerala for a period upto July 9, 2023, to meet his ailing parents accompanied by the Karnataka Police Escort and return in the same manner. The charges for the same shall be borne by the applicant himself," the top court said. "It is open for the State of Karnataka to take all such precautions to ensure that the applicant does not abuse the liberty granted," the top court said. However, the Karnataka Government lawyer opposed the Maudany plea seeking relaxation and said that according to the public prosecutor handling the blast case, the proceedings in the matter will take another two months to conclude. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal had urged the court to allow Maudany to stay in his hometown for a month under surveillance. Karnataka Govt lawyer said that he has founded an organisation in Kerala which is banned. The court thereafter asked the state government to file a reply. The court in the last hearing had opined that it was very conscious while granting Maudany's bail and hence the conditions were imposed. The court said that it will take up the matter on Monday. In 2008, as many as eight serial bomb blasts took place in Bengaluru, leading to the death of one and caused injuries to many others. (ANI)
Amid rift with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot over probe into alleged corruption during the previous BJP government, Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Monday said he has often come across a person who do not look back after getting "power and money". "Only that tree is strong and tall, whose roots are strong. I have often seen a person who does not look back when he gets money and power," Pilot said, without taking any names. Pilot, a former Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister, said that a person who stays in public rules the hearts of people and will move forward. Pilot last week sat on a day-long protest in Jaipur, calling for action by the Ashok Gehlot government against alleged corruption during the BJP rule under former chief minister Vasundhara Raje. The Congress had said that Pilot's move was "anti-party activity" and said he should raise any such issue in party forums. In his speech on Monday, Pilot also emphasised unity among people and said that one has to stay away from those who want to create a rift. "There are many forces who want to create a rift and want to create obstacles. There are many challenges and these are increasing with time, so we have to take a pledge to deal with them. You have to walk on the path of truth. It is difficult but we have to move forward," he said. Congress has made efforts to fight factionalism in Rajasthan which will face assembly polls later this year. The factionalism had resurfaced again during the Congress presidential election when a meeting of legislatures could not be held despite presence of AICC observers in Jaipur. (ANI)
The matter was listed before a bench of Justices Joseph and BV Nagarathna.

After a brief hearing, Justice Joseph rescued from hearing the case and ordered that matter be listed before a bench of which he is not a member.

During the hearing, the bench questioned NGO 'Association for Democratic Reforms' for challenging Goel's appointment and asked it to show which rules were violated.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan appearing for the NGO submitted that he responded by proposing that the appointment was done arbitrarily and the whole process was malafide.

He said the selection process adopted by the government was questionable.

The plea said that there were 160 officers who belonged to the 1985 batch and some of them were younger than Goel.

"However, without any explanation as to why the officers who were younger in age than Goel and who would have a full tenure of six years as mandated by Section 4 of the Election Commission (Conditions of Service of Election Commissioners and Transaction of Business) Act, 1991 were not empanelled, the government appointed Goel as Election Commissioner," it added.

Former bureaucrat and a former IAS officer of the Punjab cadre, Arun Goel assumed charge as the new Election Commissioner of India in November last year. (ANI)
The police apprehended the accused when a match between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders was underway at the stadium on Sunday, the police said.

The police also recovered cash, five IPL match tickets, three SIM cards, nine mobile phones, two debit cards and passports among other materials from their possession.

A case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Gambling Act has been registered against the accused.

Further information is awaited. (ANI)
Launching a scathing attack against the YSR government, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national general secretary, Nara Lokesh on Monday said that agriculture is in deep crisis after Jagan Mohan Reddy has become the Chief Minister. "The State is now in third place in farmers' suicide and Jagan never reviewed insurance to the farming community," Lokesh said during an interaction with farmers at Venkatapuram of Alur Assembly segment in Kurnool district during his ongoing Yuva Galam pada yatra. He also promised to bring down the expenditure on farming soon after the TDP comes to power. Stating that stringent action will be initiated against those who are now selling spurious seeds, Lokesh said that the Vedavathi project will be completed with eight TMC feet capacity. Though the TDP did not win the Alur Assembly seat in 2014, the then chief minister, Chandrabbau Naidu, never neglected this area, he said. Assuring the farmers that Minimum Support Price (MSP) will be provided for tomatoes, the TDP national general secretary said that Jagan, who promised Rythu Rajyam before coming to power, has now turned the State without any farming. "Cotton farmers are the worst affected during the YSRCP rule," he said. As Lokesh's Padayatra entered the Alur assembly segment, he was given a warm welcome by the party leaders, Kotla Suryaprakash Reddy, Kotla Sujathamma and Kotla Raghavendra Reddy besides scores of party activists. Later, the villagers of Gudimiralla met Lokesh and submitted a memorandum to him in which they said that the farmers were not getting MSP for tomatoes and onions. Lokesh promised to pay the MSP once the TDP forms the government again. The Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ) leaders also met Lokesh and in a memorandum they submitted to him, the journalist union leaders demanded that accreditation be issued to all eligible scribes. They also wanted the health scheme and other facilities to be revived and house sites to be allotted to them. (ANI)
Hitting back at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's remarks that the BJP is attacking the democracy of Basavanna, founder of the Lingayat sect, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Monday said that the former MP's politics consists of lies and hit jobs. The Union Minister's remarks came after Rahul Gandhi accused the ruling party and RSS of attacking democracy in India. Addressing a public meeting in poll-bound Karnataka's Bhalki, Rahul Gandhi said, "In India, if someone spoke of democracy for the first time and showed the path to it, it was Basavanna ji. Sadly, today people of RSS and BJP are attacking democracy. The thinking of Basavanna ji of participation by all, a place for all and that everyone should go ahead together is being attacked by BJP and RSS. They are spreading hatred and violence in India." Responding to it, the Union Minister took to Twitter and said, "We know Rahul Gandhi politics consists of lies and hit jobs. It has been this way for several years now. But brazenness with which he is talking of Lingayat community and Basavanna is another level." He said that Rahul Gandhi and former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah divided the Lingayat community in 2018 Karnataka elections. "Same Rahul n his buddy Sidda tried their best in 2018 Elections to divide Lingayat community. Rahul's Cong worships no god, respects no community - only does n says whatever is required to divide people n get votes - and they will fail again as they did in 2018," he tweeted. In other tweets, he expressed confidence that the BJP will return to power in the southern State. "Karnataka neither wants nor supports the decrepit, corrupt n divisive politics of Cong/JD(S) that it has endured for 6 decades. @BJP4Karnataka will on basis of its 3 1/2 years of work in the most challenge-filled period in history of Karnataka & 72 new faces with commitment to serve willl win these elections wth a decisive mandate to continue development n progress for all Kannadigas," he said. "72 new faces out of 224 in @BJP4Karnataka candidates for #KarnatakaElections2023 BJP is the party wth Energy, Integrity & commitment to build PM @narendramodi ji's vision of a Nava Karnataka n NewIndia Yes some old faces will be disgruntled n go join the Cong - Cong is a party of the past of Karnataka, BJP is party for future of Karnataka," Chandrashekhar added. (ANI)
An Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) of cyber experts taught tips to prevent cyber crimes to specially-abled children in Madhya Pradesh's Indore district on Monday. The ADGP, Varun Kapoor explained the ways to the children studying at Indore Deaf Bilingual Academy with the help of their teachers on the occasion. These children have mobiles and internet connectivity, but they do not know how to save themselves from cyber frauds. In view of this, Additional DGP Kapoor shared the tips and the teachers explained them to these children through sign language. Kapoor said, "Awareness is very important for cyber security. Hearing impaired children also use mobile like normal people, so we explained to them about the cyber problems, digital fingerprint, information security and cyber crime. Whatever I explained to them, their teachers taught the children through sign language." On the other hand, the Director of Indore Deaf Bilingual Academy, Monica Punjabi said, "Today ADGP Varun Kapoor explained the things related to cyber security to the children in our academy. Many children use mobiles, so the risk of cyber attacks is increasing with them. For the first time, this kind of training has been given to deaf-mute children here." Many children from various states across the country came here to study in the academy. Around 600 children study here from class nursery to college, she added. (ANI)
Vice-Chancellor University of Kashmir Professor Nilofer Khan on Monday reviewed the varsity's preparedness for the upcoming Youth-20 Consultation meeting, a mega event being held under the aegis of India's G20 Presidency, said an official release. According to the release, the Vice-Chancellor took a detailed brief from chairpersons of various committees constituted by the University earlier to oversee logistical and other arrangements for the event scheduled to be held on May 11. The chairperson of each committee apprised the VC about the up-to-date status of preparations within the realm of each committee, added the release. Underlining the high significance of the event for Jammu and Kashmir in general and the University of Kashmir in particular, Prof Nilofer said, "All arrangements should be finalised and completed well before the fixed timelines to ensure smooth conduct of the event, which is being attended by three Union ministers, eight international speakers, 12 national speakers, 25 international delegates, 25 national delegates, besides several other top functionaries of the Central government and UT administration." The release said, "The theme for the Youth20 Consultation is: 'Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction: Making Sustainability a Way of Life'." The Vice-Chancellor laid emphasis on ensuring full-proof arrangements in all domains, including, the invitation to delegates and participants, boarding and lodging of guests, participation of faculty and students, transport facilities, catering arrangements, cultural programmes and publicity and awareness about the event. The VC directed that participation in the event should not remain confined to the University of Kashmir alone but include student and faculty participants from other universities in the Union Territory of J-K and even the UT of Ladakh for wider dissemination of the message of Youth20 Consultation. "Participation from Jammu and Ladakh regions will make the event more inclusive and action-oriented," said VC Khan. She also laid emphasis on the continuation of various activities by teaching departments across campuses under the umbrella of Y20 and G20 to raise awareness of 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) identified for attainment by G20 Countries. Registrar Dr Nisar A Mir and other senior functionaries of the University attended the meeting. (ANI)
Twenty-two girl students suffered food poisoning allegedly after consuming contaminated food in the girls' hostel canteen of a private university in Madhya Pradesh's Indore district, a hospital official said on Monday. These girls consumed the food in the university hostel on Sunday night and they were admitted to a hospital in the district on Monday morning. Hospital Manager Dr Rajesh Lekhi said, "22 girl students were admitted in the hospital suffering from food poisoning, out of which the condition of 13 girl students was serious and one was admitted into ICU. The health condition of all the students is stable now and their treatment is going on." These students had said that they had eaten food in the canteen of the private University last night, after which they suffered from the food poisoning. A few students came on their own and a few came along with the hostel warden in the hospital, the hospital manager said. "We have informed the parents of these students and their treatment is going on," he added. (ANI)
Deputy Chief Minister (Minority Welfare) SK Amzad Basha, Ministers Jogi Ramesh, K Venkata Nageswara Rao, MLAs, MLCs, minority leaders and other public representatives were also present.

During Ramzan, people have two main meals - the 'suhoor' or 'sehri' just before dawn and the 'iftar' after sunset.

According to Islamic beliefs, Ramzan is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting to commemorate the first revelation of the Quran to the Prophet Muhammad.

Ramzan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which involves rigorous fasting for about 30 days.

During this month, Muslims do not consume food or water from dawn to dusk. They eat Sehri (a pre-dawn meal) and break their day-long fast with 'Iftar' in the evening.

Eid ul-Fitr is celebrated on the first day of Shawwal, the 10th month of the Islamic lunar calendar.

The festival is celebrated by sharing a delightful dish Seviyan (Vermicelli) that comes under different varieties like 'Hath Ka Seviyan', 'Nammak Ka Seviyan', 'Chakle Ka Seviyan' and 'Laddu Seviyan'. All these variants can be used in the dish called 'Sheerkurma', which is also prepared on Eid and distributed among friends and relatives. (ANI)
Rajasthan Congress in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa on Monday held a feedback session with party MLAs in the presence of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and state Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra. Sources in the party said that the Congress is now trying to get the MLAs into election mode. As part of this process, one-to-one talks were held with Congress, Independent and supporting MLAs for three days. Meanwhile, the Gehlot camp and the Sachin Pilot group were again seen in a face-off during the feedback session. When pro-Pilot MLA Harish Meena went to give his feedback, Dotasra introduced him to Randhawa saying that he had been a DGP before, was also an MP in the BJP and was also among those visiting Manesar. Meena got angry as soon as Dotasra mentioned Manesar, and said that if he speaks like this again and again, it will not only be difficult but impossible for the party to win. "Priyanka Gandhi and Ahmed Patel had called and talked to us," Meena said as Randhawa pacified him. During the feedback session, a questionnaire with 13 queries was given to the MLAs. "What is the the plan you have to remove the anti-incumbency factor against you", "Any suggestion to reduce the anti-incumbency factor against the government", "What did you do to make ERCP an issue in your constituency", and "Which are the most impactful schemes in your constituency" were a few of the queries. The MLAs were also asked about their social media status and if they are handling it on their own. --IANS arc/arm ( 278 Words) 2023-04-17-20:18:04 (IANS)
BJP on Monday announced its candidate for the Hubballi-Dharwad Central seat hours after former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar joined the Congress as the electioneering picked up momentum in the sourthern state with the nomination process to end in two days. Jagadish Shettar's resignation from BJP and his joining Congress has made Hubballi-Dharwad Central a key battle in the assembly polls. Shettar, a six-time MLA, represented the seat in the outgoing assembly and was keen to be given ticket from the constituency. He is second senior leader from the Lingayat community to leave the ruling BJP and join Congress in the past four days. Former Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi had joined the Congress on Friday. The process of nominations has also picked up momentum with senior leaders from various parties filing their papers. Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar filed his nomination from Kanakapura constituency. Former Prime Minister HD Dewegowda's grandson Nikhil Kumaraswamy on Monday filed his nomination as a candidate of Janata Dal-Secular candidate from the Ramanagara seat. JD-S leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy filed his nomination from the Channapatna assembly constituency. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressed rallies in Bidar to boost the Congress campaign and urged people to give at least 150 seats to the party. Within hours of Jagadish Shettar leaving the party and joining Congress, the BJP on Monday announced its third list of 10 candidates for the Karnataka Assembly polls that included Hubli-Dharwad Central. With announcement of 10 more candidates, the BJP has so far declared 222 candidates of 224 seats in the state assembly. BJP state general secretary Mahesh Tenginkai has been chosen as the party candidate from Hubli- Dharwad (Central) assembly constituency which was previously held by Shettar, a six-time MLA and a former Karnataka chief minister. A senior BJP leader said that Mahesh Tenginkai is a dedicated party worker and represents the same community as Jagdish Shettar. "The CEC has shown faith in him and is confident that he will come out victorious," the leader told ANI. Another leader said that Tenginkai has handled party responsibilities and is a strong candidate. "Mahesh Tenginkai has been associated as an office bearer of the Yuva Morcha and has held organisational responsibilities in the state. He is a dedicated party worker and is a strong candidate as he has worked dedicatedly in the region," he said. In the list of 10 candidates declared on Monday, BJP has dropped Arvind Limbavali from Mahadevapura but has given a ticket to his wife Manula Aravind Limbavali. Nomination process for the May 10 assembly polls in the state will end on April 20. The BJP had declared 189 candidates followed by 23 candidates in the second list. The result of assembly polls will be declared on May 13. Various candidates across parties filed their nominations in seven constituencies in s Shivamogga for the upcoming state Assembly elections. Two brothers in the Soraba constituency, Madhu Bangarappa from Congress and Kumar Bangarappa from the BJP filed their nominations. The two brothers offered special pooja at the Ranganatha Swamy temple at different times and took the procession to the election office to submit their respective nomination papers. Former chief minister BS Yediyurappa's son and BJP candidate for the Shikaripura constituency BY Vijayendra also filed his nomination. Aam Aadmi Party candidate Netravati filed nomination papers in Shimoga city. Chandrakanth Patil filed his nomination as BJP's candidate from Gulbarga North Assembly constituency Shettar who arrived at the Congress office in Bengaluru on Monday morning was inducted into the party in the presence of Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, DK Shivakumar and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Senior BJP leader Amar Singh Patil also joined Congress along with Shettar. Speaking at the occasion, Shettar said he was treated badly by the BJP. "Yesterday I left BJP and today I joined the Congress party. Many are surprised as an opposition leader, former chief minister and party president is joining Congress. BJP has given me every position and being a party worker I always worked for the party's growth," he said. "I was among those who organised and worked for the growth of the (BJP) party. Yes BJP gave me respect and position. I won as an MLA six times and I thought I would be naturally fielded for the seventh time.I thought being a senior leader, I will get the ticket, but when I came to know that I am not getting it, I was shocked. No one spoke to me nor tried to convince me, not even gave assurance about what position will I get. "On April 11 the party incharge said I had not been given a ticket. He spoke to me like speaking to a child. What should I do? I got a call in the morning and I was spoken to like I am a first time MLA or aspirant. I'm hurt. I was treated badly, " Shettar added. The former Chief Minister said he is joining Congress "whole-heartedly". Kharge said Khattar's joining will boost the enthusiasm of Congress workers. "I do not need to give more introduction about Jagadish Shettar. His joining will boost the enthusiasm of the Congress, He is the person who not only wins alone, he is a person who is capable to win more seats. Though he was in Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Jana Sangha, he is a non-controversial person. We have worked together.""Our target was 150, now after Shettar's joining it is confirmed that we will reach the target," he said. BJP leader and Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said Shettar "would be used and later thrown out by Congress". "Shettar has gone to the party that expelled Virendra Patil, Bangarappa and Devaraj Urs. They first honour people and then insult them after the election. Jagdish Shettar will be used and will be thrown out. Till BS Yediyurappa is with us, the Lingayat community will be with us," Bommai told reporters. "Someone has to give a reason when he leaves the party. BJP has given everything to Shettar in his political life over the last 25 years. There is no question of ignoring them." In his speeches, Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP government in Karnataka of corruption. "You know the BJP very well in Karnataka. I did not coin the slogan of '40 per cent Commission government', it was coined by you - the people of Karnataka," he stated. Rahul Gandhi also accused BJP of neglecting the OBC community."If we want to take OBC in the country forward and give them their rights, the first step would be for the Prime Minister to release data of the OBC census. The PM will never do this as he does not want the welfare of OBC. Congress will do this as soon as we get the opportunity...," he alleged. (ANI)
Members of the Congress-affiliated student organisation, Kerala Student Union (KSU), protested against the central government in front of the Accountant General's office here on Monday alleging saffronisation of National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) textbooks. As the protesters tried to break the barricades, the police used water cannon to disperse them. Political controversies erupted after NCERT omitted certain portions from its syllabus. NCERT said commissions were part of a 'rationalisation' process, but not buying this argument many opposition party leaders said that it was part of the RSS agenda to "communalise India's history by distorting it". Commenting on the controversy, Kerala education minister V Sivankutty on April 9 demanded that the NCERT board should be reconstituted with representatives from all states. He alleged that NCERT'S decision is on behalf of RSS. "The decision to exclude certain key portions from NCERT textbook can't be the decision of NCERT alone, it can only be seen as the decision of BJP govt. They have the same ideologies as RSS and BJP government is implementing the visions of RSS. The NCERT should be reconstituted with representatives from all states," V Sivankutty alleged. He also alleged that the central government pursued a vested political interest rather than an academic interest. He further said that Kerala will not use NCERT textbooks of 11th and 12th standards. "we will not use NCERT textbooks in 11th and 12th standards. The central government is giving importance to vested interest rather than academic interests". The critics of the decision mainly focused on the ommissions related to Mughal history from the NCERT syllabus. (ANI)
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has sought a reply from the country's naval authorities and the Margalla police station on a petition seeking the recovery of a 'missing' naval officer. IHC Justice Arbab Mohammad Tahir issued notices to the naval authorities and the SHO and sought their reply by April 26, Dawn reported. The petition cited the secretary of defence, commanding officer Pakistan Naval Service (PNS) Zafar and the station house officer Margalla as respondents. The petition stated that Lieutenant Hafiz Mohammad Habibullah was inducted into Pakistan Navy and after completing his initial training from the Pakistan Naval Academy he was granted of short service commission and was transferred to PNS Zafar on Sept 11, 2019. According to the petition, the officer was under mental stress because of the behaviour of his seniors. On Sept 14, 2022, Naval Intelligence arrested him. He was released after one day and was again picked up on October 26, 2022, and was released after two days, Dawn reported. The petition said that the commanding officer forced the officer to resign from service. However, the officer filed a representation before the competent authority under section 23 of the Pakistan Navy Ordinance 1961 against alleged ill-treatment meted out to him. On April 12, 2023, the officer went to his office in PNS Zafar as per his routine. At around 2 pm, he sent a message to his father that his commanding officer was calling him, the petition said, adding that after a few hours when the officer did not come back to his home his father tried to contact him but to no avail, Dawn reported. His father went to the office at PNS Zafar but the staff expressed ignorance about his whereabouts. The commanding officer also declined his request for a meeting, the petition added. He then went to the police station Margalla to lodge a First Information Report (FIR) regarding the missing of his son, Dawn reported. The police officials contacted the Naval Police about the matter and on their instruction refused to entertain his application seeking registration of the FIR, the petition added. It requested the court to issue directions to the naval authorities and police to recover the officer. (ANI)
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday hailed Russia's broad ties with China, including military cooperation, as he met with Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu in Moscow, Voice of America (VOA) reported. Putin in his opening remarks said: "Development of relations between our two nations is going well in all areas, in the economy, social, cultural and educational sectors, and in military departments." The Kremlin posted footage of the meeting showing Putin shaking hands with Li and then sitting down at a table. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was also present, as per VOA. China last week announced Li's visit to Moscow, saying that he would meet Russian defence officials. The meeting with Putin was, however, not mentioned. Chinese President Xi Jinping met Putin in Moscow last month. According to VOA, China, Russia have strengthened their ties since Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year. China has officially claimed neutrality on Moscow's invasion but at the same time, Russia and China have declared they have a "no-limits" partnership. A peace plan has been offered by China to end the fighting in Ukraine, but it does not call for Russia to withdraw its troops, as demanded by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before peace talks can occur. China has often denied sending military equipment to Russia, but a Kyiv official said last Friday that Ukrainian forces are finding a growing number of components from China in Russian weapons used in Ukraine, as per VOA. The New York Times (NYT) recently reported that public opinion in Ukraine towards China is souring as Beijing is maintaining its professed neutrality in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. China had been Ukraine's top trade partner, importing barley, corn and arms. Now, Russia's war raises the question: Is there still a relationship? asked Vivian Wang in an NYT article. Notably, last time in January 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and China's top leader, Xi Jinping, spoke, when they celebrated 30 years of diplomatic ties, hailing their "deepening political mutual trust" and their people's "profound friendship." However, since the start of the war on February 24, Xi has not spoken to Zelenskyy, despite the latter's repeated requests. And the "sound and stable" relationship they touted seems like a distant memory, reported NYT. (ANI)
Russia's deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, who is also the country's Minister of Industry and Trade on Monday arrived in the national capital to co-chair the Intergovernmental Russian-Indian Commission, which is aimed at enhancing trade ties between the two countries. Taking to Twitter, the Russian Embassy in India posted, "Denis Manturov arrived in the Republic of India on a working trip. On April 17, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation - Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Denis Manturov arrived on a two-day working visit to the Republic of India, New Delhi." On the first day of his visit, Manturov will co-chair the 24th India-Russia Inter-governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) The IRIGC-TEC is the main institutional mechanism supervising economic cooperation. It integrates six working groups on economic and trade cooperation, modernisation and industrial cooperation, energy, tourism and culture, science and technology, and IT. A plenary meeting of the intergovernmental commission (IGC) will be held on Tuesday, following which the co-chairs will sign the final protocol of the 24th IGC meeting. Both sides plan to discuss the issues of bilateral trade, and economic and humanitarian cooperation. Manturov will also hold a number of bilateral meetings, the Russian Embassy in India said in a tweet. A number of institutionalized mechanisms have been set up for the development of economic cooperation between the two countries. The primary institution at the government level is IRIGC-TEC. Last month, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Manturov co-chaired the virtual meeting of IRIGC-TEC. Jaishankar and Manturov reviewed the progress achieved in the various Working Groups and Sub-Group Meetings under the IRIGC-TEC framework since their meeting in Moscow in November 2022 and gave guidance to prepare the ground for the next in-person meeting of IRIGC-TEC which will be held in New Delhi at mutually convenient dates. The Inter-governmental Commission is a mechanism for regularly monitoring bilateral progress across the sectors of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries which was set up by an Agreement on Inter-governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation signed in May 1992. The first session of IRIGC was held on 13 and 14 September 13 and September 14, 1994. So far, 23 IRIGC meetings have been held. The 23rd Session of IRIGC was held on September 14, 2018 in Moscow. The 24th IRIGC-TEC meeting will be hosted by India and today's review meeting will pave the way for the same. As per Indian figures, bilateral trade during April 2020-March 2021 amounted USD 8.1 billion. Indian exports amounted USD 2.6 billion while imports from Russia amounted USD 5.48 billion. For the same period, as per Russian figures, bilateral trade amounted to USD 9.31 billion, with Indian exports amounting to USD 3.48 billion and imports amounting to USD 5.83 billion. (ANI)
The United States and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will co-host the 18th Annual NATO Conference on Arms Control, Disarmament and Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Non-Proliferation, on Monday. Taking to Twitter, State Department said, "This week, the US will co-host with @NATOthe 18th Annual Weapons of Mass Destruction Nonproliferation Conference." "NATO Allies, Invitees, and Partners are gathering at a timely and important moment to discuss the ongoing challenges in international security and how the NATO Alliance can continue to strengthen the rules-based international order," it added. Meanwhile, in the statement, the State Department said that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman will deliver remarks at the opening session of the conference on Tuesday. The 4-day conference will be chaired by Under Secretary of US State for Arms Control and International Security Bonnie Jenkins and is closed to the public. "The conference (from April 17-20) will also be preceded by a high-level civil society public event in partnership with Howard University's Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs Center to discuss the evolving challenges in arms control, disarmament, nonproliferation, and other areas of global security, as well as ideas on how to build a safer, more secure world," the statement read. "Since 2004, the Annual NATO Arms Control, Disarmament and WMD Non-Proliferation Conference has been organized by NATO with an Ally as a co-host to provide an opportunity for informal discussions on WMD threats by senior national officials. The 18th Annual Conference is hosted for the first time in North America and will include approximately 175 participants from over 50 NATO Allies, Invitee, Partners, and International Organizations," the statement added. The last edition of the NATO Conference on Arms Control, Disarmament and Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Non-Proliferation was held in September 2021 in Copenhagen, Denmark, according to the statement released by NATO. Denmark and NATO hosted the 17th Annual NATO Conference. (ANI)
China launched a satellite into orbit with some rockets debris falling into a "no-fly zone" off the coast of northern Taiwan, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense said adding that it did not pose a safety threat, reported FocusTaiwan. In a statement, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense said that the forces had monitored the whole process of the rocket launch through joint intelligence and surveillance. Notably, China informed Taiwan that a no-fly zone will be implemented north of the country the following week, NHK World reported, citing Taiwan's transportation ministry on April 11. The no-fly zone, located 85 nautical miles north of Taiwan and within the Taipei Flight Information Region, was marked out for a 27-minute period from 9:30 a.m. to 9:57 a.m. Sunday because of the possibility of falling rocket debris, according to FocusTaiwan. Earlier, China reportedly warned Taiwan's northern flight information zone of the upcoming airspace closure, to conduct aerospace activities in the area. China said the duration would be five hours per day from April 16-18. However, it will be reduced to about half an hour on only April 16, following the complaint lodged by Taiwan's ministry, NHK World reported. The transportation ministry cautioned that the shutdown was inappropriate and would provide significant and unnecessary safety hazards in its complaint against China. China intends to block airspace over the high seas north of Taiwan, according to Taiwan's defence minister, who stated that defence officials will closely monitor Beijing's aerospace actions, which may include a potential satellite launch, according to NHK World. As tensions between Taiwan and China continue to escalate, Taiwan recently tracked the People's Liberation Army's 18 aircraft and 4 naval ships from 6 am on Monday (April 10) to Tuesday (April 11). In an official release, Taiwan's Defence Ministry stated, "18 PLA aircraft and 4 PLAN vessels around Taiwan were detected by 6 a.m.(UTC+8) today. 4 of the detected aircraft had entered Taiwan's southwest and southeast ADIZ. R.O.C. Armed Forces have monitored the situation and tasked CAP aircraft, Navy vessels, and land-based missile systems to respond to these activities." (ANI)
France and India are all set to start military exercise 'Orion' at Mont-de-Marsan, an Air Force base of the French Air and Space Force (FASF) on Monday. Taking to Twitter, France Ambassador Emmanuel Lenain said, "France warmly welcomes the @IAF_MCC contingent that will take part in exercise #Orion2023 from today! French & Indian #Rafale jets will soon fly together in the skies of France." The exercise will be conducted from 17 April to 05 May 2023, with the IAF Contingent comprising four Rafale, two C-17, two ll-78 aircraft and 165 air warriors. This would be the first overseas exercise for the IAF's Rafale aircraft, according to the statement released by Defence Ministry. "Besides the IAF and the FASF, Air Forces from Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Spain and the United States would also be flying in this multilateral exercise. Participation in this exercise would further enrich the employment philosophy of the India Air Force, by imbibing the best practices from other Air Forces," the statement read. Earlier, defence officials told ANI that Indian Rafale combat aircraft are likely to participate in a multinational wargame codenamed Orion which is being hosted by France and involving many of its NATO and other important allies. "Indian Air Force Rafale fighter jets are likely to fly to France to participate in Exercise Orion being held at a French air base there. The wargames are planned to be held from the third week of April to May 5," defence officials told ANI. Orion is reportedly the largest ever multinational exercise being carried out by the French defence forces which have involved their Army, Navy and Air Force along with their allies the US and the UK. Over 7,000 NATO troops have reportedly taken part in the drill involving the land forces of their NATO allies. The Indian Air Force is also going to take part in Exercise Copeindia from April 10 in Kalaikunda, West Bengal. There is the possibility that the schedule of the drills and availability of American F-15 fighter planes may see some changes, sources said. The Rafale aircraft are the latest fighters to have been inducted into the Indian Air Force and are considered to be the most potent in the entire Asian region. The 36 Rafales have been completely inducted and they have played a significant role in improving the country's operational preparedness along both the borders with Pakistan and China. (ANI)
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday said that India and Russia have crossed bilateral trade target of USD 30 billion before 2025 adding that it is expected that the trade will continue to increase. While addressing the India-Russia Business Dialogue in Delhi, he said, "We have crossed the bilateral trade target of USD 30 billion before the year 2025 which was the target year given to us by our leaderships. And in fact for the period April 2022 - February 2023, I understand that the trade is actually about USD 45 billion and the expectation is that this will continue to grow." Jaishankar said that India and Russia need to motivate businesses on both sides. He said that they are determined to make India a "global manufacturing hub." "We need to motivate business on both sides. You can see that there are big changes going on like Make in India. We are determined to make India a global manufacturing hub. I want to emphasise the opportunity of Make in India and Russia as Russia is known for its technological strength," Jaishankar said. Speaking about the relations between India and Russia, Jaishankar said that the two nations have historic people-to-people ties. He also spoke about the possibility for greater business between the two nations in the tourism sector. In his remarks at the India-Russia Business Dialogue, Jaishankar said, "Our two countries historically have also had a strong people-to-people connection. But, I must point out that we actually get less than 1 per cent of Russia's outbound tourism. So, now when we are talking today of exploring new areas and new opportunities, I would also flag that whether more direct flights to more destinations will provide a possibility for greater business when it comes to tourism." EAM Jaishankar emphasised that the ties between India and Russia have not changed. He said, "Our partnership today is a subject of attention and comment, not because it has changed, but because it has not. Indeed, it has been among the steadiest of the major relationships of the world in the contemporary era. But that by itself is not enough." Jaishankar said that Russia is looking more towards Asia and for India, it means broadening of engagement between the two nations which was overly dependent on military, nuclear and supply space cooperation. "We share a commitment to a multipolar world and that also means a multipolar Asia. Russia is today looking much more towards Asia, a reassessment from its traditional focus. For India, this could mean a broadening out of our engagement that was overly reliant on the triad of military, nuclear and supply space cooperation," Jaishankar said. "For Russia also it presents a broader set of options as Russia looks eastwards, its resources and technology complementarity can be a powerful contribution to India's growth. And this is a growth of a 3.5 trillion economy that is expected to grow at more than 7 per cent for at least a decade or more. And I would say that our ties, our cooperation are best advanced through more intensive bilateral engagement," he added. In his address at the India-Russia Business Dialogue, he said, "We are discussing the importance of connectivity and the north-south and maritime corridors have been considered. There is also discussion on payment issues like International trade settlement in the Indian Rupee." EAM Jaishankar said that there is concern regarding the trade imbalance. He highlighted the need to work with Russia on a very urgent basis to address the trade imbalance. He said that addressing the issue means addressing the impediments, whether they are market access impediments, non-tariff barriers or they are regarding payment and logistics. "There is also understandable concern about the trade imbalance which these new volumes have created. And we need to work together with our Russian friends on a very urgent basis of how to address that imbalance. And addressing that imbalance really means addressing the impediments, whether they are market access impediments, whether they are non-tariff barriers, whether they are related to payments or to logistics," Jaishankar said. He further said, "I really cannot emphasize this enough. I think we should also, in a business gathering be honest about the short and medium-term challenges that we face. And there could be, quite frankly, there could be over compliance there could be over anxiety or even over caution on our side and equally on the Russian side there could be an inadequate appreciation of the concerns and the risks that Indian businesses face. So I would say what really the future of our economic cooperation requires is the willingness, the ability to really look at it from the point of view of the other party and then come up with solutions which will overcome the obstacles." In his remarks at the India-Russia Business Dialogue, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said that his country is looking forward to intensifying negotiations on Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India. While addressing the Russia-India Business Dialogue, Manturov who is also the Russian minister of industry and Trade said, "Together with Eurasian Economic Commission, we are looking forward to intensifying negotiations on Free Trade Agreement with India." (ANI)
Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade, Denis Valentinovich Manturov on Monday asserted for the possibility of "wide use of national currencies and currencies of friendly countries" to "allow the minimization of expenses and currency risks." Addressing the Russia-India Business Dialogue, Manturov said, "Resolving the issue of smoothness of mutual settlements could give another impetus for trade and industrial cooperation. Within the framework of the intergovernmental dialogue, we propose to consider the possibility of the wide use of national currencies and currencies of friendly countries. This will allow the minimization of expenses and currency risks." Manturov is on a two-day visit to India to intensify negotiations on Free Trade Agreement with India and work on the signing of the Russia-India Bilateral Agreement for the Promotion and Protection of Investments. "I am sure that trade preferences and mechanisms that guarantee the protection of investments will be in demand among Russian and Indian businessmen," said the Russian Dy PM. Speaking on transport and logistics infrastructure as one of the most important tasks, Manturov said, "India could become one of the key partners within the framework of the development of the International North-South Transport Corridor. Also, we believe that it is important to expand direct air connectivity -this is a necessary condition for regular exchange of business delegations and increase of mutual tourist flow." He said that these agendas will be covered in Intergovernmental Commission and will be discussed at the session tomorrow. A plenary meeting of the intergovernmental commission (IGC) will be held on Tuesday, following which the co-chairs will sign the final protocol of the 24th IGC meeting. Manturov also said he is looking forward to receiving additional suggestions after today's informal interaction between Russian and Indian companies. "Taking this opportunity, I would like to point out several platforms for our further business contacts. We invite our Indian partners to visit the international industrial exhibition INNOPROM, which will take place on 10-13 July in Ekaterinburg. I think you might also be interested in participating in foreign sessions of INNOPROM in Uzbekistan (Tashkent) at the end of April, and in Kazakhstan (Astana) in September this year. And certainly, we expect the Indian delegation at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum in June and at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok in September," he said. The Russian Minister of Industry and Trade further extended gratitude to the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Russia-India Business Council for assistance in the organization of today's event - Russia-India Business Dialogue. (ANI)
Manturov is on a two-day visit to India to co-chair the Intergovernmental Russian-Indian Commission, which is aimed at enhancing trade ties between the two countries.

India and Russia are discussing a free trade agreement, a move that would further deepen bilateral commercial ties that have flourished since war broke out in Ukraine.

On the first day of his visit, Manturov co-chaired the 24th India-Russia Inter-governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC)

The IRIGC-TEC is the main institutional mechanism supervising economic cooperation. It integrates six working groups on economic and trade cooperation, modernisation and industrial cooperation, energy, tourism and culture, science and technology, and IT.

A plenary meeting of the intergovernmental commission (IGC) will be held on Tuesday, following which the co-chairs will sign the final protocol of the 24th IGC meeting. Manturov will be co-chairing the meeting of the bilateral Inter-Governmental Commission with External Affairs Minister S Jaishanakr on April 18, 2023.

Both sides plan to discuss the issues of bilateral trade, and economic and humanitarian cooperation. Manturov will also hold a number of bilateral meetings, the Russian Embassy in India said in a tweet.

A number of institutionalized mechanisms have been set up for the development of economic cooperation between the two countries. The primary institution at the government level is IRIGC-TEC.

Last month, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Manturov co-chaired the virtual meeting of IRIGC-TEC. (ANI)
UK's Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), Admiral Tony Radakin on Monday met CDS General Anil Chauhan and said, "India and the UK are natural partners in a world that is becoming more contested and volatile." Both Chiefs also reviewed progress on various pillars of the UK-India defence partnership and exchanged views to further expand ties in all domains. "We share many of the same democratic instincts and values and are committed to the rule of law. We are respected military powers, both undergoing significant investment and modernisation and exercising together across, land, sea and air. But we can do more. I value the opportunity to meet with General Anil Chauhan to discuss how we can develop our partnership in a way that benefits our mutual security and prosperity," said Radakin. Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan was today called on by his British counterpart Admiral Sir Tony Radakin. Discussions focussed on augmenting strong bilateral defence cooperation as well as a collaboration under the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative of the Government of India, according to Defence officials. Radakin is taking part in a series of high-level meetings in India this week, continuing momentum in building strategic ties between the two countries and held discussions with Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Hari Kumar, Chief of Army Staff, General Manoj Pande, Defence Secretary, Giridhar Aramane, and Additional Secretary Defence Production, T Natarajan. "My visit to India reflects the United Kingdom's belief that our security is indivisible from that of the wider world. As a global trading nation it matters to the UK that the Indo-Pacific is open and free, which is why the British Armed Forces are establishing the broadest and most integrated presence in the region of any European nation," said UK's CDS. "India and the UK are natural partners in a world that is becoming more contested and volatile. We share many of the same democratic instincts and values and are both committed to the rule of law. We are respected military powers, both undergoing significant investment and modernisation, and exercising together across, land, sea and air," Radakin said. Radakin is on a three-day visit to India and began his trip by paying homage to the fallen soldiers at the National War Memorial this morning, ahead of his first meeting with his Indian counterpart, General Anil Chauhan. Over the next two days, Admiral Radakin will be hosted by various establishments of the Indian Armed Forces across the country, with a view to boosting military-to-military engagement and exploring opportunities around the co-creation of future technologies. The UK and India are natural partners in defence and share a strong and enduring relationship, including collaboration in research, development and training. Following the signing of an updated Memorandum of Understanding in 2019, discussions around industrial collaboration in the aerospace sector have progressed, with the UK's Minister for Defence Procurement visiting in February and the First Sea Lord visiting in March. "India is a valued defence partner for the UK and our relationship continues to flourish across our research and industrial sectors. Both our nations are committed to the stability and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific and we continue to train and operate alongside our Indian partners to promote security in the region," said Ben Wallace, UK's Defence Secretary. In recent weeks, HMS Lancaster visited Kochi to train alongside the Indian Navy as part of Exercise Konkan, while five Mirage 2000 fighters were flown by Indian Air Force pilots in the Royal Air Force's largest aerial exercise in the UK - Exercise Cobra Warrior. Later this month, soldiers from the Indian Army will deploy to the UK to take part in Exercise Ajeya Warrior, training alongside the British Army. The visit of CDS also coincides with the visit of the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) of the Royal Air Force, Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston. The visit of two of the senior-most officers of the UK's armed forces exemplifies the importance with which the UK holds its defence and security partnership with India. (ANI)
A Chinese national, arrested on charges of blasphemy, was shifted from Upper Kohistan to Abbottabad in a Pakistan Army helicopter on Monday afternoon over safety fears, Komila Station House Officer Naseeruddin said, reported Dawn. A Pakistani worker claimed that the Chinese supervisor scolded him for dodging work under the pretext of Ramzan prayers. Both work for the Dasu Dam hydroelectric gravity dam which is under construction in Kohistan district. Preliminary reports suggest that a Chinese officer in Dasu Dam scolded some employees for spending more than the designated time for Tarawaeeh prayers which led to an argument and a false blasphemy accusation. While confirming the arrest, SHO Naseeruddin said that a first information report (FIR) had been registered against the Chinese national at the Komila police station, reported Dawn. The complaint, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, invokes Section 295-C [use of derogatory remarks, etc., in respect of the Holy Prophet (Peace be Upon Him)] of the Pakistan Penal Code. Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in the country as even rumours of sacrilegious remarks can incite lynch mobs and deadly violence. The accused, who works at the Dasu Hydropower Project, was taken into custody by the Komila police on Sunday night after labourers at the site accused him of blasphemy, reported Dawn. Police identified the man as Tian from China and said he was arrested on Sunday night, hours after hundreds of residents and labourers working on the project blocked Karakoram Highway and rallied to demand his arrest, reported Pakistan Today. Hundreds gathered again on Monday morning and stormed the main district police station, believing the man was hiding in the building. But officials, fearing the man might be attacked, had moved him to another district by military helicopter. A local administration official in Dasu, around 180 kilometers north of the capital Islamabad, said the army and paramilitary troops were deployed "to ensure the safety of the engineers," reported Business Recorder. The Dasu Dam construction contract was awarded to the China Gezhouba Group Company in 2017, and the project is shrouded by tight security. Mob attacks on people accused of blasphemy and even lynching attacks are common in Pakistan. Rights groups say blasphemy accusations have often been used to intimidate religious minorities and settle personal scores. In February 2022, a middle-aged man was stoned to death by a mob over the alleged desecration of the Holy Quran in a remote village of Khanewal district. The killing had come on the heels of an identical incident in Sialkot, where a Sri Lankan engineer was lynched by factory workers on Dec 3, 2021, on blasphemy charges, reported Dawn. In January 2022, the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) in a report stated that as many as 89 citizens were killed in 1,415 accusations and cases of blasphemy in the country since independence. The report said that from 1947 to 2021, 18 women and 71 men were extra-judicially killed over blasphemy accusations. The allegations were made against 107 women and 1,308 men. Out of the total, 1,287 citizens were accused of committing blasphemy from 2011- 21. "The actual number is believed to be higher because not all blasphemy cases get reported in the press," the report had said, adding more than 70 per cent of the accused were reported from Punjab, reported Dawn. The report had said misuse of blasphemy laws is often described by courts as an unlawful act. It had said the Islamabad High Court had previously suggested to the legislature to amend the existing laws to give equal punishment to those who level false blasphemy accusations. (ANI)
The Anti-Violent Crime Cell (AVCC) police, in collaboration with law enforcement agencies, raided Shah Latif Town police station and recovered two youngsters who were abducted for ransom by Karachi Police, reported The News International. The two kidnapped youths Asad and Arman, were abducted from Zakaria Goth for a ransom of Rs 50 lakh, but a deal was settled for Rs 10 lakh. The AVCC police arrested four suspects, including two policemen, during the raid. A case has been registered against them while the search for another suspect, who happens to be the incharge of a special party of Malir Division police, is underway, reported The News. Meanwhile, the Shah Latif SHO denied his involvement in the kidnapping of the two youths. He has, however, been suspended and the District Malir SSP has initiated an inquiry to ascertain how the abducted youths were brought and kept at the Shah Latif police station. "I have no link with the kidnapping," the suspended Shah Latif SHO, Malik Mazhar Iqbal Awan, said as he spoke to The News. "Those who were involved in the kidnapping have been arrested and a case against them registered." The family of the abducted youth started receiving ransom calls, and the abductors began collecting the money in return for releasing the hostages. After receiving the case, the AVCC police initiated a search for the abductors, and the investigation was carried out on technical grounds. As soon as the abductors received the ransom money, they were taken into custody by the AVCC police, and the hostages were recovered from the room of the police station, reported The News. The abductors first called the families to Quaidabad and then to Shah Latif Town for the collection of ransom. As soon as the four suspects received the ransom money, the AVCC police took them into custody. During the interrogation, the suspects revealed that the hostages had been kept in a room at the Shah Latif Town police station. The youths were kidnapped by a private party of the SHO who claimed that they were kept in the police station by a special team of the Malir police. "Neither did my mobile van go to pick up anyone nor did I know about any kidnapping," he said. A total of three cases have been registered against the suspects involved in the abductions on the state's complaint, reported The News. This comes following the recovery of kidnapped men from a police station in District Central in the last week of March. In the last week of March, the SHOs of the North Nazimabad and Hyderi police stations were suspended after three abducted friends were recovered from the North Nazimabad police station, reported The News. A case was registered against police personnel and others on the complaint of relatives of the abducted citizens. The FIR read that the kidnappers had demanded a ransom of Rs 5 lakhs for the release of the three men. It also read that the kidnappers asked the complainant to come to different areas along with the ransom money and lastly, they asked him to come to the North Nazimabad police station. (ANI)
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov on Monday met representatives of Russian and Indian businesses in New Delhi. The business forum participants discussed issues to further enhance Russian-Indian practical cooperation, including within the Intergovernmental Commission (IGC). Indian business representatives got acquainted with a cluster investment platform - a new measure of support, which can be applied to joint projects, the Russian Embassy in India said in a tweet. The platform provides soft loans for the manufacturing of priority products, subsidies for pilot batches, preferences for insurance premiums and income tax. Addressing the gathering, Manturov, who is also Russia's Minister of Industry and Trade, termed IGC a "unique mechanism" for comprehensive discussion of topical issues on the Russian-Indian agenda. "The IGC is a unique mechanism for a comprehensive discussion of topical issues on the Russian-Indian agenda with the participation of specialised departments and organizations of the two countries. We are talking not only about trade and economic relations, but also about humanitarian areas of interaction, such as education and culture," Manturov said. Manturov, who arrived earlier today in New Delhi, spoke about the measures taken to strengthen Russia's "technological sovereignty". He noted that there is no goal to completely replace everything. "We will rely on trusted foreign partners. We will make every effort to expand our cooperation ties to exchange competence and experience in the most promising technological areas," he said. Russian Embassy said in a tweet that particular importance has been attached to the issues of mutual access of products to the markets of both nations. "Together with the Eurasian Economic Commission, it is planned to intensify negotiations with India to conclude a free trade agreement." It said an agreement on the encouragement and mutual protection of investment is being worked out. "Additionally, the issue of signing a #RussiaIndia agreement on the encouragement and mutual protection of investment is being worked out. Trade preferences and mechanisms that guarantee the safety of investment will be in demand by both Russian and Indian businesses." Sergey E Cheremin, Minister of Moscow City Government, told the media that they discussed the opportunity of wider cooperation with Indian banks and Russian commercial banks. He said that Russia is looking at the opportunity to promote cooperation in pharma, manufacturing, car manufacturing, producing spare parts and telecom equipment. "We discussed the opportunity of wider cooperation with Indian banks and Russian commercial banks, because of the misbalance in the bilateral trade between the two countries," Sergey E Cheremin said. "We are looking at the opportunity to promote cooperation in pharma, manufacturing, car manufacturing, producing spare parts, microelectronics, and telecom equipment. We will support the joint efforts to promote our bilateral technoparks for start-ups in the field of IT & digitalisation," he added. Cheremin stressed that Russia is seeking to enhance inter-regional cooperation between Indian states and "our national regions". "We want to enhance interregional cooperation between the states of India & our national regions. We are ready to look at the opportunity to sign a cooperation between the Maharashtra government-Moscow & Uttar Pradesh government-Moscow city government that will be our next page of development with smart and safe city cooperation," he said. (ANI)
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Eight Sialkot police officers and employees have been sacked in Pakistan over their involvement in murder and corruption cases and absence from government duty, Dawn reported. According to the department, DPO Hasan Iqbal took action against 135 officials after complaints of people and departmental inquiries. The department forcibly retired ASI Ijaz Ahmed for receiving a bribe from a person and ASI Murtaza Ghamman over their involvement in a murder case. Constable Muhammad Rashid has been dismissed for his involvement in a murder case in Shakargarh. Meanwhile, Azmat Ali was dismissed for his involvement in the Satrah police station murder case, as per the Dawn report. Furthermore, constables Zeeshan Ahmed, Shiraz Ahmed and Adeel Ashraf and police van driver Yasin were sacked for continuous absence from government duty. The department ordered the confiscation of services of 85 police and traffic police officers and employees for their negligence in duty. DPO Hasan Iqbal directed 43 police officers and employees to continue their work and warned them regarding departmental disqualification, as per the Dawn report. Meanwhile, the Anti-Violent Crime Cell (AVCC) police, in collaboration with law enforcement agencies, raided Shah Latif Town police station and recovered two youngsters who were abducted for ransom by Karachi Police, The News International reported. The two kidnapped youths - Asad and Arman were abducted from Zakaria Goth for a ransom of Rs 50 lakh, but a deal was settled for Rs 10 lakh. During the raid, the AVCC police arrested four suspects, including two policemen, as per the news report. A case has been lodged against them while the search for another suspect, who happens to be the incharge of a special party of Malir Division police, is being conducted. SHO Shah Latif denied his involvement in the kidnapping of the two youths, as per The News International report. However, he has been suspended and the District Malir SSP has started an inquiry to find how the abducted youths were brought and kept at the Shah Latif police station. "I have no link with the kidnapping," the suspended Shah Latif SHO, Malik Mazhar Iqbal Awan, said as he spoke to The News. He further said, "Those who were involved in the kidnapping have been arrested and a case against them registered." (ANI)
At least 854 people were killed or wounded in militant attacks and counterterrorism operations in the first quarter of this year, according to Dawn. Alarmed by this rising graph of terrorist attacks, the squabbling institutions have shown signs of a truce and pulling back from the precipice the country has reached. But it is an uneasy, even brittle pause. The politicians have shown signs of willingness to talk. The executive and the legislature's fight with the judiciary still rages, the army has stepped in by showcasing the results of its anti-terror operations, warning everyone to fall in line. All eyes are on the army under Gen Asim Munir. At the in-camera meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC), he addressed last week, he has shown the results - as per the ISPR, the army's PR setup - of taking on the militants on and from across the western border. He has projected as leading the action, asking the others to join in with a "whole-of-the-system" approach. The terror threat appears to have provided the much-needed face-saver to the politicians who, without conceding as much, are willing to talk to each other. Of them, ousted premier Imran Khan, who would not talk to the 'chors' (thieves) in the Shehbaz Sharif Government, has announced a team for holding talks. So has the PPP, an impatient ruling coalition partner. The ball is now in the court of the PML-N that has little option but to talk - and keep dragging it. The significance of the process lies in the fact that the initiative for political reconciliation has come from the chief of Jamaat-e-Islami, the party that wields more influence than the popular vote and always acts at the behest of the army. Simultaneously, another of the army's allies, the party of Maulana Fazl-ur-Rahman, is back in action to nudge the ruling coalition, particularly the Sharifs, to come to the talks table. The Maulana, who was barely visible in the media, has suddenly begun to mark his presence as the convenor of the ruling PDM. Imran Khan, who could not force a snap poll despite getting the dissolution of the two most powerful provinces, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has however, still retained his mass popularity and hopefully for him, the political support base. He is now focusing on the foreign media, still acting as a martyr and insisting that he may be assassinated. In this, he has received tremendous support from sections of the media and the judiciary at different levels that allowed him bail in several cases instituted by the government to keep him tied down. He has largely succeeded in projecting himself as a valiant fighter and a martyr among the middle classes, his principal support base. Of significance is his lobbying with the United States that he has for the past year accused of 'conspiring' to oust him. He is reaching out to individuals and groups among the American lawmakers, hoping to be heard on Capitol Hill by the Biden administration. The coming weeks will show how the Sharifs who control a truncated legislature resolve their open and unseemly disputes with the top judiciary. Not new to Pakistan's experience, this confrontation has humiliated the top judges as never before. With elections a few weeks away, the focus is shifting towards the public that has been held to ransom by sky-rocketing prices and food shortages leading to riots and deaths among those waiting to buy their rations. But election campaigns tend to divide the people and Pakistan is likely to witness volatility in the coming months. The elections may not solve any of the problems the country faces, but they will allow letting off the much-accumulated steam in Pakistan's polity. (ANI)
India on Monday hosted its 100th G20 meeting, the Meeting of Agriculture Chief Scientists (MACS) in Varanasi. The meeting was inaugurated by Union Minister VK Singh. As per an official release, six meetings are proposed in Varanasi. In the meeting, representatives of 20 powerful countries discussed nutrition-rich foods, food security and climate-friendly farming, giving the message of a healthy world. In view of the G20 meeting in Varanasi, the Yogi government made elaborate security and other arrangements for delegates from different countries. The entire city and the Ganga Ghats have also been beautifully decorated for the occasion. Addressing the opening ceremony, VK Singh said that the G20 summit is being held in India this year due to the efforts of the Government of India. "Among the meetings to be held before the conference, the important meeting of the Agriculture Working Group has started in Varanasi today. It is noteworthy that on the call of the Prime Minister, the United Nations declared the year 2023 as Miletus Year. So, the delegates will emphasize the inclusion of coarse grains (millets) in our main food during the three-day meeting," he remarked. He added that the delegations are not only being introduced to the taste of millets but are also being taken to meet farmers and interact with start-ups. "The global market for millets was USD 470 million and it is estimated that by 2026, its gross annual growth rate will increase by 4.5 per cent," Singh said. In view of these facts, it is likely that now the consumption of coarse grains will increase in India as well as in the world. This will not only create new jobs in India but also in other parts of the world, increase farmers' income and ensure food-nutritional security. On Tuesday, delegates will discuss digital agriculture and sustainable agricultural value chains, and public-private partnerships in agricultural research and development, and discuss this in the G20 communique by the MACS communique. About 80 delegates from G20 member countries, i.e., Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom, USA and Apart from the European Union, invited guest countries to include Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Spain, UAE, Vietnam and international organizations such as United Nations, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, World Health Organisation, World Trade Organisation, International Labor Organisation, FSB, OECD, Chairpersons of regional organizations AU, AUDA-NEPAD, ASEAN and special invitees by India i.e., International Solar Alliance, CDR and Asian Development Bank are participating in this three-day meeting. (ANI)
REUTERS/Stringer

Eleven people have died in India after a crowd of up to two million people were kept waiting for four hours in 100 degree heat without shelter at a state-sponsored awards ceremony in a Mumbai suburb.

Some 600 people fell ill due to dehydration and exposure, of whom 50 were hospitalized, and 11 died, Eknath Shinde, chief minister of Maharashtra state whose capital is Mumbai, wrote on Twitter.

Three people remain on critical support, reports have suggested.

Climate change has brought intolerable heatwaves to India in recent years.

The gigantic crowd gathered Sunday, in very humid conditions and beating sun, in the suburb of Navi Mumbai to attend the ceremony, according to Indian website NDTV.com. Cabinet ministers were present for the event which was honoring a veteran social activist, Appasaheb Dharmadhikari.

The Indian Express said the function was attended by roughly two million people, but the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)which governs Maharashtrasaid about a million people attended the prize-giving, the Indian Express newspaper reported on Monday.

Shindes office described the deaths as sad and disturbing and promised compensation for the victims relatives in a tweet which said the outcome was a very unexpected and painful incident adding, We share in the grief of their families.

However political opponents of the BJP were quick to say the tragedy was due to government negligence and that criminal charges should be brought.

Rival politician and former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said Monday, after meeting patients in hospital: We have met the people who are undergoing treatment. I interacted with four to five patients. Two of them were in critical condition. The event was not planned properly. Who will investigate this incident?

The Indian Express, which described the tragedy as possibly the largest heatwave-related death toll from a single event said that the distance travelled by some attendees might have been a factor in them falling ill, while another doctor was quoted as saying: I have seen in the photos, there was no shade It also needs to be checked if drinking water was available for the huge crowd. It is essential to drink water regularly while attending such gatherings in the open.

Story continues

Al Jazeera reported that heatwaves are becoming increasingly common in India and have killed more than 6,500 people in the country since 2010. The eastern state of West Bengal is currently in the grip of a heatwave that has prompted a shutdown of all schools, colleges and universities.

No heat wave warnings were issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday, reports said. A hot summer is being forecast globally due to a predicted recurrence of the El Nino weather system later this year.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
As rules allowing the distribution of the abortion drug mifepristone move rapidly toward the Supreme Court, the anti-abortion movement is turning a Victorian era anti-vice law designed to control public morality through the policing of mail.

In their decisions restricting the distribution of mifepristone, District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Donald Trump appointee, and two other Trump-appointed judges on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals adopted interpretations of the 1873 Comstock Act that could lead to a total nationwide ban on abortion.

Enacted at the height of the Victorian Era, the federal Comstock Act and state-level copies authorized the Postal Service to search the mail for anything that could corrupt public morals. The banned materials ranged from pornographic pictures and drawings, literature deemed obscene, informational documents explaining sex, sexuality, contraception and abortion, advertisements for contraception and abortion and any item that could be used for contraception or abortion.

The law was used to prosecute thousands of people and seize hundreds of thousands of mailed papers, pictures and objects, including more than 8,000 boxes of medication used for abortion from 1873 to 1907. The legal crackdown led by the laws namesake, postal inspector and moral crusader Anthony Comstock, faced strong opposition from a new wave of feminists and progressive and libertarian-minded activists. As public sentiment changed over the years, the law fell into disrepute, with its supporters mocked for practicing prudish Comstockery.

Its restrictions fell one by one in the middle of the 20th century following a series of court decisions endorsing free speech and legalizing contraception, in Griswold v. Connecticut, and then abortion, in Roe v. Wade, leaving it with little practical application outside of the distribution of child pornography.

But then five conservatives on the Supreme Court overturned the right to an abortion granted in Roe in the 2022 case of Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization. While Congress had removed the section of the Comstock Act restricting the distribution of materials related to contraception following Griswold, it never removed the restrictions on abortion. Suddenly, the Comstock Act was back in play.

Story continues

Abortion rights advocates rally outside the US Supreme Court on April 14 in Washington, D.C., speaking out against abortion pill restrictions.

Abortion rights advocates rally outside the US Supreme Court on April 14 in Washington, D.C., speaking out against abortion pill restrictions.

The decisions in both the district and appeals courts in the Fifth District show that conservative judges are ready to interpret the Comstock Acts abortion restrictions in a broad manner that could not only make it impossible to mail abortion drugs, but also for any abortion clinic to operate anywhere in the country.

This is probably the most promising path forward to get to a national ban on abortion, said Mary Ziegler, a law professor at University of California-Davis and a historian of the anti-abortion movement.

The law is now a live issue in the courts and should be soon in the 2024 presidential election. Since the law is already on the books, a presidential administration opposed to abortion could order the law to be enforced without waiting for the courts to do anything. This could effectively make it illegal to operate as an abortion provider anywhere in the country.

The resurrection of the Comstock Act as an anti-abortion weapon began in Eastern New Mexico, where Pastor Mark Lee Dickson of Right to Life East Texas led a campaign to get towns and counties to enact ordinances using the Comstock Acts language to effectively ban abortion within their boundaries.

Dickson and former Texas Solicitor General Jonathan Mitchell had already paved new ground in anti-abortion law in Texas as the architects of the states anti-abortion law enacted as SB 8 in 2021. Passed before the Supreme Court overturned Roe, SB 8 found a way around Roes abortion protections by authorizing private citizens to file civil suits against anyone providing or helping someone obtain an abortion.

Mitchell and Dickson first deployed the legal framework for SB 8 in Waskom, Texas, on the border of Louisiana. It was rumored that an abortion provider from Louisiana might move their practice across the state line into Waskom. Dickson helped the city council enact an ordinance that used the language that would eventually become SB 8. Their success led them across the state to enact more local ordinances until eventually the legislature passed a statewide law.

After the Supreme Courts decision in Dobbs, abortion became illegal in Texas. Some abortion providers looked to relocate to New Mexicos border with Texas in the city of Hobbs. Dickson worked to get the city to enact an ordinance effectively banning abortion there. But instead of using civil suits to enforce it, Dickson turned to the language of the Comstock Act.

Mark Lee Dickson (center) of Right to Life of East Texas is a pioneer of using the Comstock Act in pursuit of a nationwide abortion ban.

Mark Lee Dickson (center) of Right to Life of East Texas is a pioneer of using the Comstock Act in pursuit of a nationwide abortion ban.

Specifically, Dickson relied on Section 1641 and Section 1642 of the 150-year-old law. These parts of the law ban the mailing or transportation of any article, instrument, substance, drug, medicine, or thing which is advertised or described in a manner calculated to lead another to use or apply it for producing abortion, and any drug, medicine, article, or thing designed, adapted or intended for producing abortion, respectively.

A group of 20 Republican attorneys general cited these Comstock Act provisions in a letter to Walgreens and CVS to pressure the two pharmacies to stop providing mifepristone to patients.

These two sections of the Comstock Act were also cited in both decisions on mifepristone by Kacsmaryk and the three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. They argued that a reading of the plain text of the law suggests that the mailing of abortion drugs for any reason is illegal.

This contradicts an opinion by the Biden administrations Office of Legal Counsel put out in December 2022 making the legal case for why the Comstock Act does not make the mailing of abortion drugs like mifepristone illegal. The opinion argues that through a series of lower court decisions and legal guidance, the Comstock Acts restrictions only apply when the sender knowingly intends for them to be used unlawfully.

Calling the interpretations of the Comstock Act adopted in the mifepristone decisions absolutely bonkers, Jennifer Dalven, director of the Reproductive Freedom Project at the ACLU, said that if courts adopt them it would be absolutely catastrophic.

Dickson agrees that this interpretation of the Comstock Act would be catastrophic for abortion providers, but with one big difference. He believes that there is no need for a judicial interpretation on the issue  even if he hopes for one. Instead, he says that there is already a de facto abortion ban found in Comstock Act Sections 1461 and 1462.

I dont think we need a court opinion to say that these laws are enforceable, Dickson said.

The Biden administration may choose not to enforce the Comstock Act, he said, but that doesnt mean a different presidential administration couldnt interpret the law in a way that allows them to prosecute abortion providers, abortion drug manufacturers and anyone who violates it.

A 1906 comic by L.M. Glackens mocks anti-vice crusader Anthony Comstock as 'St Anthony Comstock, the Village Nuisance.'

A 1906 comic by L.M. Glackens mocks anti-vice crusader Anthony Comstock as 'St Anthony Comstock, the Village Nuisance.'

A new Republican administration could decide to bring action against the abortion industry for violating [the Comstock Acts] section 1461 [and] 1462, Dickson said.

While the Supreme Court, which stayed the Fifth Circuits decision on Friday while it considers the case, may simply dismiss the mifepristone case for lack of standing or rule on it without commenting on the Comstock Act, this issue is not going away.

Both Dickson and Ziegler believe that the Supreme Courts conservatives will adopt some form of the interpretations of the Comstock Act used by Kacsmaryk and the Fifth Circuit appeals court judges at some point.

Even if they dont, the election of an anti-choice Republican president in 2024, as Dickson suggests, could effectively ban abortion nationwide by launching prosecutions of abortion providers under the Comstock Act.

Democrats have two options, they can just hope the Supreme Court doesnt interpret the Comstock Act the way the Fifth Circuit did and hope that this issue just goes away or they can actually get rid of the Comstock Act, Ziegler said.

Unlike a court ruling affirming fetal personhood rights to impose a national abortion ban, the threat of an effective ban through the Comstock Act could be eliminated by simply repealing the law. And even if Republicans, who control the House, wont go along with it, the politics are on Democrats side.

For Democrats, there is no losing on a repeal proposal because, even if Republicans wont vote for this, it would be great to get them on the record about why its a good idea to have a law that says you cant mail any drug intended or adapted for abortion, including non-abortion drugs, from the moment of fertilization, Ziegler said. Because that is 100% not where the American people are on this.

If not, Dickson promises that the Comstock Act will force the hands of abortion providers to shut down entirely.

When Im reading these court opinions, Im seeing that what is happening is the abortion industry is going to be Comstocked, Dickson said. The abortion industry cannot escape this federal law  this de facto federal abortion ban. Sooner or later, the Comstock Act will catch up with the abortion industry.

Related...
Correctional facilities in 35 regions of Russia have lost 17,000 inmates during the war in Ukraine.

Source: Russian online media outlet Mediazona

Quote: "Neither the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia (FPS), nor Prigozhin (Evgeny Prigozhin, the Russian financier and founder of the infamous Wagner Group) or the Ministry of Defence of Russia published any official information about the number of inmates recruited to fight in the war. The scale of recruiting may have been assessed based on the prison population statistics, but the Federal Penitentiary Service ceased publishing it for some time, and in January, it reported that it does not decrease anymore."

Details: Mediazona analysed the information published on the websites of 35 regional departments of the penitentiary service and concluded that by the beginning of 2023, the number of inmates in these regions decreased by 17,000 persons in total.

The biggest numbers of inmates that "went missing" are in Samara (2,723 people), Chelyabinsk (1,574) and Kirov (1,153) Oblasts of Russia, as well as in Tatarstan (1,040).

A few regions shared the information about recruitment in its correctional facilities; they confirm the statistics of prison population of the FPS for Tula Oblast, while the numbers turned out to be smaller in Krasnoyarsk Krai and in Yaroslavl Oblast.

The total number of missing inmates in these 35 regions as of the beginning of 2023 is 17,000 (which is more than half of the rate of annual countrywide decrease of prison population).

Mediazone remarks that the collected data is incomplete.

It also states that the reason for the significant increase of the number of inmates in Smolensk Oblast in Russia and in the occupied peninsula of Crimea is unknown: there is no information about newly built correctional facilities there.

The journalists contacted inmates in several regions in order to find out how the FPS statistics correspond to the data about recruitment in correctional facilities.

Story continues

The source of Mediazona from a correctional facility in Tula Oblast reported that nearly a thousand persons were recruited to the front: this was the number given to the members of the FPS. The statistics also confirms this: as of the beginning of 2022, 6,400 people were held in the correctional facilities in Tula Oblast, and as of the beginning of 2023, the number was 5,500 (i.e. 875 inmates less).

At the same time, in some regions the numbers published by the FPS do not correspond to the testimonies of the inmates. For instance, a correctional facility in Krasnoyarsk Krai reports that the annual number of inmates remained relatively the same (54 inmates less). Herewith, several sources reported about the activity of recruiters in this region. Former political prisoner Ivan Astashin wrote that 270 inmates from the Norilsk Correctional Facility-15 alone went to war.

Background:

On 4 July, it was revealed that the inmates of the correctional facilities in St. Petersburg were being recruited to fight in the war against Ukraine in the Wagner Group PMC.

On 20 July, it was reported that the Wagner PMC recruited Russian inmates in more than ten correctional facilities in Russia.

On 25 July, the Journalist Investigations Center MediaHub pointed at the messages about the recruitment by the Wagner PMC on social media in Kyrgyzstan. The Wagner PMC passed the recruitment to the war against Ukraine for the recruitment of the employees to private security companies throughout Russia.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
YUBA CITY, Calif. (AP)  Authorities in Northern California on Monday said they had arrested more than a dozen men from two warring criminal syndicates whose violent rivalry they say was responsible for a mass shooting at a Sikh temple and a brutal sword attack at a parade in 2018.

Sutter County District Attorney Jennifer Dupre said the two syndicates were responsible for multiple shootings where 11 people were shot, including five people at a Sikh temple in Stockton last year and two more victims at a temple in Sacramento last month.

None of the victims died. Dupre said all of the men arrested are part of California's Sikh community and were members of one of two rival groups whose feud was fueled by intense personal connections.

This started out as one group, and one faction broke off, and since then they have been rivals trying to outdo each other. Mainly they show up places and try to shoot each other, Dupre said, comparing it to the U.S. Civil War where brothers were fighting against brothers.

Dupre said the arrests are not related to the murders last year of a Sikh family in the San Joaquin Valley, which included the killings of an 8-month-old baby, the baby's parents and an uncle.

Dupre said the violence began in 2018 at the annual Sikh Parade in Yuba City, one of the largest South Asian festivals held outside of the Indian subcontinent. There, Dupre said, a man was beaten so hard with a sword that it broke. The violence soon escalated to shootings, including one at a wedding party in 2021.

The rash of violence attracted the attention of the Yuba-Sutter Narcotic and Gang Enforcement Task Force, which launched an investigation with assistance from the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and various other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.

The investigation intensified in March, when authorities learned of potential violence at a Sikh parade in Sacramento. Dupre said police stopped two cars before they reached the parade, arresting seven people and seizing four handguns and two other guns with large capacity magazines.

Story continues

A shooting still happened at the parade, injuring two people, but Dupre said a mass casualty incident was prevented.

If those weapons had gotten into the parade, it could have been a bloodbath, Dupre said.

Altogether, Dupre said police seized 41 guns during the investigation, including a weapon described as a machine gun.

Authorities arrested 17 people, including Karandeep Singh, Pardeep Singh, Pavittar Singh, Husandeep Singh, Sahajpreet Singh, Harkirat Singh, Tirath Ram, Dharamvir Singh, Jobanjit Singh, Gurvinder Singh, Nitish Kaushal, Gurminder Singh Kang, Devender Singh, Karambir Gill, Rajeev Ranjan, Jobanpreet Singh and Singh Dhesi.

Dupre said five other people  Amandeep Singh, Harmandeep Singh, Gursharn Singh, Grucharan Singh and Jaskaran Singh  have not yet been arrested.

Dupre said the men have not had a court appearances yet. It's not clear if they have attorneys yet who can speak on their behalf.

Yuba City, a city of nearly 70,000 people along the Feather River just north of Sacramento, has a large Sikh community. Locals often refer to the area as mini Punjab, named after the Indian state where many Sikhs live. Each November, tens of thousands of people travel to the city for Nagar Kirtan, one of the largest Sikh gatherings in the U.S.

Sikhs also have a large presence throughout California's Central Valley. The Sacramento County Assistant Sheriff said seven of the shootings occurred in Sacramento County within the past year.

The investigation in this particular case and the charges that have been brought forth does not in any way reflect or represent the vibrant Sikh community that are such an important and vital part of the greater community in this region, Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho said.
An investigation into a 19-year-old who was hospitalized after becoming highly intoxicated has led to charges for five people, Georgia officials say.

Glynn County police said they arrested Lauren C. Strother, 56, and Carlton J. Strother, 46, on Monday, April 17 in connection with the hospitalization of Trenton Lehrkamp. Each is charged with maintaining a disorderly house and contributing to the delinquency of dependency of a minor.

Police also filed complaints against two juveniles, according to a news release. The first juvenile is charged with simple battery and criminal trespass. The second juvenile is charged with possession and use of drug related objects.

A 17-year-old boy was also arrested in connection to a separate investigation stemming from the Lehrkamp case, officials said in a news conference with local media outlets shared by WSAV.

The teenager is charged with battery, according to polices news release.

The charges come after Lehrkamp, 19, was dropped off the evening of Tuesday, March 21 at Southeast Georgia Health Center. He was highly intoxicated from a mixture of controlled substances and alcohol and was in critical condition.

At the time of his hospitalization, reports circulated alleging that Lehrkamp was autistic and had been force fed alcohol at a St. Simons residence.

In their news conference, officials said this was untrue information that spread on social media.

Contrary to the reports, Lehrkamp is a 19-year-old high school graduate who is not autistic, according to District Attorney for the Brunswick Judicial Circuit, Keith Higgins.

On March 17, Lehrkamp went to a residence with high school students between the ages of 14 and 17 where he voluntarily drank alcohol, engaged in an egg fight and sat in a chair to be hosed off, Higgins said. Lehrkamp went back to the same residence on March 21 where he again voluntarily drank alcohol.

Trenton voluntarily drank alcohol until he blacked out, Higgins said. No one drank alcohol down his throat or forced him to drink. No one pushed a funnel down his throat. No one urinated on him.

Story continues

Police said their investigation is ongoing.

St. Simons Island is about 75 miles north of Jacksonville, Florida.

Two teens killed after prom when their car gets pinned underneath semi, AL reports say

Man finds 16-year-old niece dead in vacant field, California cops say. Teen arrested

Kidnapped teen woke up in strange home after Uber driver gave him a drink, TX cops say
The discovery of ancient relics on a Swedish island has left experts puzzled.

Two silver Roman coins  known as denarii  were unearthed on Gotska Sandon, an isolated island off the southeastern coast of Sweden in the Baltic Sea, according to a March 24 news release from Sodertorn University. One of the coins dates to the rule of Roman emperor Trajan (98-117) while the second coin dates to Antoninus Pius time (161), according to the researchers.





Experts said the coins are an exciting find, but they raise several questions.

Similar silver Roman coins are not unusual finds in the neighboring island of Gotland, but archaeologists said they arent sure how the coins ended up in Gotska Sandon, according to the university.

One working theory is that the coins came from an ancient shipwreck along the islands coast, experts said.

Another theory is that the coins are somehow connected to the remains of hearths and fireplaces that have been also found around the island, according to the university. Other theories could tie the coins to an ancient settlement on the island, or that the coins are linked to the ancient production of seal oil.

Gotska Sandon is the most solitary island in the Baltic, according to its website. Experts from the university said they have been working on an archaeological project exploring the site since 2020, adding that further research this year may provide an explanation for the coins presence on the island.

2,000-year-old altars found under water in Italy belong to ancient kingdom, experts say

2,000-year-old artifacts unearthed by archaeologists in Pompeii. See what they found

2,000-year-old hall unearthed in Italian villa where Roman emperor and knights partied
The previously announced sale of Kentucky Power, the utility company that serves a large portion of Eastern Kentucky, has been canceled, the company announced Monday.

In December 2021, American Electric Power, the parent company of Kentucky Power, announced that it was selling the Kentucky utility to another energy company, Liberty Utilities. After receiving the necessary in-state approval of the deal last year, the companies havent been able to get go-ahead from federal regulators. AEP and Liberty agreed to terminate the deal Monday.

Kentucky Power customers are essentially unaffected by the canceled sale, the company said in a press release announcing the termination of the deal. No account, billing or payment information will change. The Ashland-based utility serves about 165,000 customers across 20 counties.

As a partner in Eastern Kentucky for more than 100 years, were renewing our focus on bringing opportunities to the region and supporting the communities we serve. We are working diligently to reimagine our strategy with the goal of not just supporting Kentucky but being an essential part of its economic and energy future, said Julie Sloat, AEP president and chief executive officer, in a press release.

In April 2022, Attorney General Daniel Camerons office and some Eastern Kentucky legislators opposed the proposed $2.8 billion deal, arguing the sale would do little to ease high electricity rates.

A month later, Kentuckys Public Service Commission  the body which regulates utilities in the state  approved the sale, but only with modifications to the deal.

However, federal regulators with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, declined to approve the sale in December. According to the commission, the sales parties did not provide enough evidence to show the deal wouldnt have an adverse effect on rate payers.

The FERC denial was a rare one. Over the past decade, the commission had only declined approval for five of the nearly 2,000 similar such cases, Willie L. Philipps, the FERC Commissioner, wrote in the commissions denial.

Story continues

AEP and Liberty reapplied for FERC approval of the deal in February but a final decision had not been made in the case.

Going forward, Kentucky Power will focus on bringing economic development to the region while also ensuring rates meet the regions needs and address costs while providing reliable service to customers, the company said.

Cindy Wiseman also was named company president and chief operating officer  a role she had served in on an interim basis, according to the news release.
Two Chinese nationals were arrested Monday on charges of operating an illegal police station in New York City to "monitor and intimidate" critics of the Chinese government, the Justice Department said.

Lu Jianwang, 61, of the Bronx, and Chen Jinping, 59, of Manhattan, are accused of setting up the first overseas police station in the U.S. on behalf of the Fuzhou branch of China's Ministry of Public Security.

The secret police station, which was in an office building in Chinatown, was closed in the fall of 2022 after those operating it became aware of the FBI investigation, federal prosecutors said.

FBI agents raided the station last October and also seized cellphones belonging to Lu and Chen. The agents found evidence that communications between the two men and with a Ministry of Public Security official had been deleted, federal prosecutors said.

The FPSSOC Principals in the picture include, among others, the defendants Lu Jianwang and Chen Jinping, unblurred, sit with five others associated with the FPOSS. (U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York)

In interviews with the FBI, Lu and Chen admitted that they had deleted their communications with the official after learning about the Justice Department probe.

Lu and Chen were arrested at their homes. They were expected to be arraigned Monday afternoon on two charges: conspiring to act as agents of the People's Republic of China and obstruction of justice.

It was not clear if the two men had hired attorneys.

It is simply outrageous that Chinas Ministry of Public Security thinks it can get away with establishing a secret, illegal police station on U.S. soil to aid its efforts to export repression and subvert our rule of law, said acting Assistant Director Kurt Ronnow of the FBI Counterintelligence Division. "This case serves as a powerful reminder that the Peoples Republic of China will stop at nothing to bend people to their will and silence messages they dont want anyone to hear."

China says the overseas outposts are not police stations but service centers that help Chinese nationals with tasks such as renewing their drivers licenses. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Tuesday that the Justice Department allegations were unsubstantiated.

Story continues

The U.S. has maliciously linked the overseas service stations for overseas Chinese with Chinese diplomatic and consular officials, making unfounded accusations. This is pure political manipulation, the spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, said at a regular news briefing. The overseas police stations you mentioned simply do not exist.

FBI Director Christopher Wray, in an appearance before a Senate committee last November, said he was "very concerned" about the existence of unauthorized stations in the U.S. involved in Beijings influence operations.

Wray's remarks came a month after the human rights group Safeguard Defenders released a report that revealed the presence of Chinese police service stations in major cities around the world, including New York.

Lu Jianwang stands with an official of China's Ministry of Public Security holding a sign which reads Fuzhou Public Security Bureau, Overseas 110 Report to Police Service Station,

In addition to the charges against Lu and Chen in New York, the Justice Department on Monday also unsealed two other criminal complaints in federal court in Brooklyn accusing 44 Chinese nationals of engaging in harassment and repression schemes that targeted U.S.-based critics of Xi Jinping's government.

One complaint against 34 officers of Chinas national police describes a proposal by the Ministry of State Security for a massive data mining project to collect negative comments about China on Twitter and hunt down the individuals who made them, wherever they live, using a database of email and phone identifiers.

The complaint also says China continues to spread propaganda on social media through anonymized fake accounts that often appear to belong to users outside the PRC, the People's Republic of China.

The third complaint accuses 10 others of disrupting meetings on the platform of an unidentified U.S. telecommunications company commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

These cases demonstrate the lengths the PRC government will go to silence and harass U.S. persons who exercise their fundamental rights to speak out against PRC oppression, including by unlawfully exploiting a U.S.-based technology company, said Matthew G. Olsen, assistant attorney general of the Justice Departments National Security Division

The 44 defendants are believed to live in China and remain at large.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
A recent study from the University of Washington is renewing warnings that heat may be a silent killer.

The study led by Joan Casey, a professor in the schools Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, shows that the heat wave that hit Washington in 2021 contributed to 159 deaths over three weeks.

Official estimates from the Washington State Department of Health only included people killed directly by heat exposure.

But the UWs study includes deaths that the heat wave contributed to indirectly, including drownings, transportation accidents, violence and self-harm.

Researchers say that this expanded measure captures the true toll of the heat waves, noting correlations between temperature spikes and deaths from injuries.

Official death tolls may miss deaths not immediately and obviously tied to high temperatures, but those previously counted may represent just the tip of the iceberg, to use a poor analogy for a heat wave, said Casey.

Researchers are now calling on public health officials to plan for the potential widespread impacts of future heat waves.

Public health officials should allocate a portion of their budget to these extreme but increasingly common events, Casey said. Communities require additional support for things like cooling centers  especially in places like the Pacific Northwest, where air conditioning is not common.

Specific actions researchers recommended include promoting safe swimming to prevent drownings and offering increased mental health services.
Goodbye, Chevy Camaro.

Goodbye, Dodge Challenger.

While muscle cars fade into the sunset, America's favorite pony is undergoing a technology transformation.

At age 59 on Monday, the iconic Ford Mustang is making a play for younger buyers while keeping the current Mustang fans in the stable. (We'll explain how shortly.)

And all eyes are trained on Laurie Transou, chief engineer of the Mustang program.

Laurie Transou, chief engineer of the Ford Mustang program, is launching the 2024 edition. She is seen here on March 26, 2023 at Phoenix Mills in Plymouth.

The mechanical engineer learned to drive a stick shift in a Mustang GT at age 16, growing up in Livonia. She traveled with her father to Ford Performance race team events, meeting drivers. Hank Lenox, lead engineer for Ford racing powertrains, made sure his little girl knew cars. After earning undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Michigan, she joined Ford Motor Co. Her career has flourished despite leaving for nearly a decade to raise children.

Since 2007, she has played a key role behind the scenes at Ford. Now she's in the spotlight launching the 2024 Mustang. Transou is often at Flat Rock Assembly on the factory floor talking with UAW members and all other players involved.

"Mustang represents the essence of everything Ford is. Mustang is freedom. Mustang is fun," Transou, 55, told her team in early April. "It represents a history of where our companys gone and where our company is going."

Named chief engineer in January, she declines to take credit and points to her whole team.

"We've worked very hard together," she said of the team's hundreds of engineers, launch, finance, plant and marketing people. Her perspective is unique because her family experience illustrates a deep understanding of what it takes to bring a car to life, having come from a Ford family and marrying into one, too. Her husband, sons and daughter all work for the Dearborn automaker now, in everything from supply chain and material planning to logistics and finance.

Laurie Transou, chief engineer of the Mustang program, works at Ford along with her husband, daughter and sons. They're seen here at Phoenix Mills in Plymouth on March 26, 2023. From left: Tom Wojan, a Ford summer finance intern from Michigan State University; Claire Wojan, Ford product financial analyst; R J Transou, battery buyer; Laurie Transou; Rob Transou, global purchasing director, ICE propulsion and thermal systems, Rob Transou, global purchasing director, ICE propulsion and thermal systems and Nolan Transou, Ford College Graduate Program participant who rotates through different business units every 18 months or so.

Transou has worked on the Ford Expedition, F-150 and F-250 trucks and the Ranger. She ran point for the powertrain strategy for both battery electric vehicles and internal combustion engine vehicles as well as brake design, vehicle quality and planning and strategy for overall programs.

Story continues

Working on Mustang, she said, can't be compared with any other program.

'Evolutionary'

Design remains vital, Transou said.

"The silhouette of the Mustang changes with each generation," she said. "I would say it's evolutionary rather than revolutionary."

The upcoming 2024 Mustang is "a bit more edgy and modern" but maintains cues from the 1960s, Transou said.

A 2024 Ford Mustang is on display after it debuts during the 2022 North American International Auto Show held at Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit on Wednesday., Sept. 14, 2022.

"Jaw-dropping" performance is essential, and that means not just straight-line performance but also the steering and feel of the ride, she said. This is the car where people want a convertible, manual transmission to feel the changing gears, the growling exhaust.

"With the new Mustang, we've tried to lean in to creating a next generation of enthusiasts," Transou said. "Every generation has a uniqueness. But we've got this core, target customer who's disruptive, edgy and sexy and wants a vehicle that's expressive of who they are."

More: Report: Ford makes most U.S.-assembled vehicles

This latest car won't be without controversy, she said.

The advanced new instrument display in the cockpit is an example.

"Some people want to stay pure and have analog displays," Transou said. "It's a bit of a risk to take that on."

Ford decided the display's digital technology and flexibility delivers features owners will love, like customizing exhaust sound, suspension, steering response and colors on the dashboard display.

The 2024 Ford Mustang has an all-new digital cluster that can be modified by color and content depending on the driver's mood.

The company is targeting "rebels" from Gen Z (born between 1997-2012), Millennials (born between 1981-1996) and women of all ages.

"The Mustang customer always likes to kind of go against the norm," Transou said. "In this world of chaos, they like to have these edgy and free experiences but be a bit more controlled about how they do it. They like to be in control."

A 2024 Ford Mustang is on display after it debuts during the 2022 North American International Auto Show held at Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022.

Using a gaming platform with 3D graphics delivers a new feel for the vehicle. And digital customization is key. Drivers can choose drive modes from different Mustang eras, tailoring what's depicted on the dashboard.

Younger buyers exude more optimism and lean into color, she said. "They love color. So we have Grabber Blue, Rapid Red ... color seat belts, color stitching."

The 2024 Mustang, Mustang GT and Mustang Dark Horse deliver different levels of power. The last, with a 5.0-liter V8 engine and 500 hp, is the first all-new Mustang Performance vehicle in two decades.

This 2024 Mustang includes two industry firsts:

Remote Rev, allowing the driver to stand outside the vehicle and use the key fob to rev the engine. At first, it gives a low growl, followed by the sound of the exhaust.

An electronic drift brake that allows the driver to drift through turns, a feature designed in partnership with world champion drifter Vaughn Gittin Jr.

More: 2024 Mustang debut thrills crowd with sleek style, new engines and features

"He worked directly with us," Transou said.

I hope you all are as pumped as I am for this!!! #fordmustang #fordperformance pic.twitter.com/9kIGTlG4oE  Vaughn Gittin Jr. (@VaughnGittinJr) April 3, 2023

Jim Baumbick, Ford vice president of product development and quality, said, "Mustang sits at the top of our icons. Im thrilled that Laurie, who literally grew up in a Mustang, is taking the reins to help lead Mustang and the team into the future.

'Last man standing'

General Motors and Stellantis are bailing out of the traditional muscle car game as they discontinue production of their powerful, loud, internal-combustion muscle cars, said Karl Brauer, executive analyst at iseecars.com, a car listing and data site.

Watching advanced technology blended with American muscle makes now, in many ways, the best time to own these vehicles, said Brauer, who recently placed an order for the Dodge Demon 170.

Karl Brauer, executive analyst at iSeeCars.com, a car listing and data site, says he can't understand why people don't buy vehicles in colors other than black, white and gray. This is his 2019 Ford GT, taken in Lake Elsinore, California, on March 8, 2019.

"Its fascinating to see Ford, so far, showing no sign of backing off of Mustang support. If anything, theyre going all in," Brauer said. "Its going to leave all these fans of traditional American performance cars and muscle cars with just the Mustang. And it seems like poetic justice. Mustang started the craze. At one point there was the Firebird, Camaro, Barracuda, Javelin, Mercury Cougar. But the last man standing was the first man standing in this category, the Ford Mustang."

More: Mustang Mamas crushing car stereotypes in their muscle cars: 'That's empowerment'

Transou declined to reveal what's ahead for Mustang.

"We can't share future product plans," she said. "There's still a strong demand for gas-powered vehicles."

Sales of the Mustang from January through March of this year were up 5.2% to 14,711 vehicles.

Laurie Transou, chief engineer of the Ford Mustang program, is seen here on March 26, 2023, at Phoenix Mills in Plymouth.

Transou is waiting for her new Rapid Red Mustang GT with a Carmine interior and stick shift.

"Driving a Mustang is the experience," she said. "After a day of work, whether I'm in Dearborn or home in Northville, I love to put the top down and just drive. I love hearing the exhaust note, feel the wind in my hair, driving my manual transmission. I like driving the vehicle Up North, where there are open roads and really experience all the Mustang has to offer."

The 2024 Ford Mustang has innovative Brembo brake systems made by the Italian manufacturer for high-performance cars and motorcycles.

The 2024 Mustang is scheduled to arrive at dealerships this summer. The base model EcoBoost starts at $32,515. Dark Horse starts at $59,565.

More: A huge blunder: GMs decision to ditch Apple CarPlay, Android Auto sparks backlash

More: How Ford got into prestigious racing series GM is dying to join

More: Ford archivist warned everyone photo release would be popular. No one believed him.

More: She is chief engineer of all-electric Ford F-150, leading a revolution

Free Press staff writer Mark Phelan contributed to this report.

Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: 313-618-1034 or phoward@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @phoebesaid.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ford engineer targets Gen Z, Millennials and women with Mustang tech
Planning for a $140 million project to revamp 5.5 miles of Ribaut Road  used by tens of thousands of commuters daily in Port Royal and Beaufort  has begun, and residents are being asked for their ideas.

Transforming the automobile-dominated corridor, a dangerous stretch for pedestrians and bicyclists, into a complete street for all users thats safer and looks better, is the goal, says Brittanee Bishop, Beaufort Countys transportation program manager.

The work, she adds, will affect a lot of people.

The project will be four times the length and cost of the 1.5-mile, $33 million redevelopment of Boundary Street in Beaufort and cross multiple jurisdictions, affecting traffic across northern Beaufort County.

Beaufort County, which is partnering with Beaufort and Port Royal in the planning effort, is calling the ambitious project Reimagine Ribaut Road.

It will be looking for input from the public at a meeting from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday at Technical College of the Lowcountry, 921 Ribaut Road. Its the first public meeting on what will take years to get from blueprints to construction.

Were not just trying to throw these improvements down their throat, Bishop said. We know it is unsafe, but were a working partner.

Average daily travel count is 31,800 vehicles on the proposed 5.5-mile mixed-use corridor from Boundary Street in Beaufort to the Russell Bell Bridge in Port Royal, which includes Beaufort Memorial Hospital, the Technical College of the Lowcountry, the U.S. Naval Hospital, apartment complexes, single-family homes, convenience stores and restaurants.

Ribaut, a primary evacuation and truck route, connects Beaufort and Port Royal, but traffic headaches and safety issues have accompanied population growth. Daily, Ribaut becomes clogged during morning and evening rush hour with motorists using it not only to travel between Beaufort and Port Royal but also to reach Parris Island Gateway on their way to Bluffton and Hilton Head Island and Ladys Island Drive en route to the Sea Islands.

Story continues

The posted speed limit is 40 mph but speeds are often higher making it dangerous to cross for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Van Willis, the Port Royal town manager, says Ribaut Road has developed into a high-speed corridor for motorists.

What were not interested in seeing, Willis said, is a continuation of whats going on.

The town would like to see lower speed limits and more pedestrian-friendly features. As it stands, Ribaut divides one part of Port Royal from the other, Willis said. And the road is truly unsafe for pedestrians and bicyclists to cross, Willis said, even at traffic signals.

Improvements to the intersection of Ladys Island Drive and Ribaut Road, which funnels motorists across the McTeer Bridge to the Sea Islands, also are integral to the project, Willis said. Currently, larger trucks that cant get across the Woods Memorial Bridge in Beaufort are diverted to the Bell Bridge, which only adds to traffic congestion, he said.

Traffic moves along Ribaut Road at Royal Palms Road on Friday, April 7, 2023 in the Town of Port Royal. Beaufort County will have a meeting on April 20 at Technical College of the Lowcountry to discuss the Reimagine Ribaut Road project  a 5.5 mile stretch of Ribaut Road from Boundary St. to the Russell Bell Bridge.

Were doing as many cars as Boundary Street if not more, Willis said, referring to the busy street in Beaufort that was rebuilt for $33 million, with the work finishing up in 2018.

Complete Streets is an approach to planning, designing, building, operating and maintaining streets that enables safe access for all people including pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and transit riders, Bishop says.

We want to make it more accessible for all users and increase safety for all users, Bishop says.

The sidewalks along Ribaut are narrow and located right at the edge of the curb, Bishop noted. Bringing sidewalks off the curb and making grass buffers are options that will be considered, along with medians. We really just want to hear what the public wants, Bishop said.

Another goal is improving the aesthetics. Streetlights and possibly burying overhead utilities will be looked at.

We want to make sure we make it a beautiful improvement and bring a sense of place to the community, Bishop said.

Beaufort County, Bishop said, is anticipating putting a transportation sales tax plan to improve roads before voters in 2024 that would include funding for the project.

With it being $140 million, the county would need some funding source in place to make this project happen, Bishop said.

It will take multiple funding sources to get the project through to construction, she said.

Beaufort County has hired Stantec Consulting Services Inc. for $270,000 to conduct master planning.

The planning process will take six months while the design will take two years. Its possible construction could begin in late 2025 or early 2026. But the work will depend on funding, Bishop added.

A drone photo taken above Naval Heritage Park of Ribaut Road looking north on Friday, April 7, 2023 in the Town of Port Royal. Beaufort County will have a meeting on April 20 at Technical College of the Lowcountry to discuss the Reimagine Ribaut Road project  a 5.5 mile stretch of Ribaut Road from Boundary St. to the Russell Bell Bridge.

Thursdays meeting will be one of several that will be conducted, Bishop said.

In addition to the meeting, the county has come up with an online survey at www.reimagineribautroad.com with an interactive map where residents can provide comments.

The long-term look at the major transportation corridor for Port Royal, Beaufort and Beaufort County could take a decade to complete, Beaufort Mayor Stephen Murray said.

Murray has has no preconceived notions on what the project should entail, but whatever comes out of the planning, he wants Ribaut to have greater pedestrian access and safety, which has been a problem as long as he can remember.

We were strictly forbidden by Mom to ride bikes on or across Ribaut Road, said Murray, who grew up in the Mossy Oaks neighborhood.

Now is the time for residents to speak up, Murray said, either at the meeting or through the online survey.
[Source]

A 24-year-old man was arrested for throwing an explosive device at Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a campaign event in western Japan.

Kishida was visiting Saikazaki port in Wakayama prefecture to deliver a speech in support of his ruling partys candidate in a local election when the 24-year-old suspect threw a 20-30 cm (8- to 12-inch) metal pipe bomb in his direction on Saturday.

Footage of the incident shows Kishidas security kicking the explosive device away and hurriedly rushing the Prime Minister away from the scene.

When the device explodes, the scene turns chaotic as several people start screaming and scrambling to get away as white smoke fills the air. Several police can be seen holding the suspect down before dragging him away.

More from NextShark: Couple Charged With 'Mischief' After Racist Assault on Asian Coffee Shop Manager in Canada

More from NextShark: Suspects Face Charges for Killing 6-Year-Old Boy in Road Rage Shooting in California

I ran frantically, and then, 10 or so seconds later, there was a loud sound and my kid started crying. I was stunned, my heart is still beating fast, a woman at the scene told NHK, according to CBS News.

Story continues

Kishida was successfully evacuated from the area.

Despite the incident, he later continued his campaign speeches before returning to the Tokyo region in the evening.

There was a loud blast sound at the previous speech venue. Police are investigating details, but I'd like to apologize for worrying many people and causing them trouble. An election that's important to our country is taking place, and we must work together and follow through on it.

Hiroshi Moriyama, Kishidas election strategy chairman, described the attack as an unforgivable atrocity.

Elections are the core of democracy, and we should never tolerate threats or obstruction by violence, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno also told reporters.

One police officer was slightly injured, according to local reports.

No other injuries among the crowd were reported in the incident.

The motive of the suspect, who is from the Hyogo region, is currently unknown. It is not clear what the explosive device was or how many the suspect was carrying.

The attack occurred ahead of nationwide local elections, including by-elections for vacated parliamentary seats.

The incident is reminiscent of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abes assassination, which occurred in July 2022.

Abe was also at a campaign event when he was fatally shot with a homemade gun by 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami, who held a grudge against a religious group that he believed Abe had promoted.

Police reports noted that the shooting could have been prevented with better planning and on-site security.

Next month, Japan will host the G7 leaders' summit in Hiroshima, where foreign ministers from Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Italy and the European Union are expected to discuss Russias war in Ukraine, North Koreas weapons tests and Chinas belligerent rise in militaristic aggression, particularly against Taiwan.
Three Americans missing off the coast of Mexico likely encountered "significant" weather and waves as they attempted to sail their 41-foot sailboat from Mazatlan to San Diego.

United States and Mexican authorities have been searching for Kerry O'Brien, Frank O'Brien, and William Gross, who have not contacted friends, family, or maritime authorities since April 4.

"When it started to reach into five, six, seven days and we started to get a little more concerned," Kerry's brother Mark Argall told ABC News.

PHOTO: Ocean Bound sailboat, the boat three Americans were sailing from Mexico in before going missing. (USCGNorCal)

U.S. Coast Guard commander Gregory Higgins expressed concern that the weather in that region worsened around April 6, with swells and wind creating waves potentially over 20 feet high. The three were sailing a capable 41-foot fiberglass boat, with similar sailboats successfully circumnavigating the planet. However, the lack of clear information about the sailors' location, partially attributable to the lack of GPS tracking and poor cellular service near the Baja peninsula, has left the families of the missing Americans uncertain about their loved ones' whereabouts.

"We have all been spinning our wheels about the different scenarios that could have happened," Gross' daughter Melissa Spicuzza said.

Kerry and Frank O'Brien, a married couple, initially decided to travel to Mexico to sail a 41-foot LaFitte sailboat named "Ocean Bound" to San Diego after the boat underwent repairs near Mazatlan, Mexico, according to Argall.

MORE: 6 children rescued near water diversion tunnel in Auburn, Massachusetts

The couple decided to hire Gross, a mechanic by trade and sailor with more than 50 years of experience, to help navigate the boat from Mazatlan to San Diego. Spicuzza recounted that friends of Gross would compare him to the 1980s fictional television character and improvisational savant MacGyver based on his ability to repair boats.

"Whatever it takes, he'll get it rigged up. He'll get it working," Spicuzza described.

Story continues

The Coast Guard believes the sailors left their slip (the equivalent of a parking spot for boats) on April 2. They eventually departed Mazatlan on April 4, based on Facebook posts and cellphone usage.

PHOTO: William 'Bill' Gross is seen with his daughter, Heather, in this undated photo. (Courtesy Heather Alcazar)

The sailors expected the trip across the Gulf of California to Cabo San Lucas, where they planned to pick up provisions, would take two days. However, the Coast Guard does not believe the sailors ever stopped in Cabo San Lucas. Since April 4, marinas throughout the Baja Peninsula have not contacted the vessel, nor have any search and rescue crews spotted it.

According to Higgins, the weather worsened around April 6, with winds of 30 knots, strong swells, and waves making navigation more challenging. Spicuzza added that the sail from Mexico to California is inherently tricky since sailors need to navigate against the wind and current.

"From the tip of Baja all the way back up to Alaska, you're going against wind and current, so it's a more difficult, exhausting sail, but of course, doable with the experience that's on board," Spicuzza.

MORE: 1,200 aboard 2 migrant boats rescued in Mediterranean

Spicuzza added that the group's initially planned 10-day journey was likely unrealistic. Sailing against the wind and current would require the sailors to tack frequently, essentially zig-zag to make progress despite sailing into the wind, which could extend the journey to two and half weeks.

Moreover, according to the Coast Guard, the boat lacks trackable GPS navigation, such as a satellite phone or a tracking beacon. The limited cellular service in that region of Mexico also makes triangulating the cell position difficult.

Robert H. Perry, the designer of the 41-foot sailboat, noted that their boat was likely manufactured in Taiwan 35 years ago. Despite its age, the fiberglass sailboat itself was a time-tested, ocean-navigating boat.

PHOTO: Frank and Kerry O'Brien are seen in this undated file photo. (Courtesy OBrien Family)

The travel circumstances have left family members uncertain about the status of their loved ones. Based on the timing, it appears possible they are "just going to roll into San Diego like nothing happened in maybe about a week," Spicuzza suggested, with the radio silence attributable to some electronic issue. Alternatively, the Coast Guard has worked on plotting where their life raft might have drifted under current weather conditions.

"It's just been a roller coaster of emotions the last several days; I want my dad home, I want him safe, [and] I want the O'Brien's home safe," Spicuzza said. "I'm very much looking forward to sitting around a table with all of them and joking about the time they got lost at sea  that is the hope."

ABC News' Elisha Asif, Helena Skinner, Zohreen Shah, and Amantha Chery contributed to this report.

3 missing sailors likely encountered 20-foot seas near Mexico: Coast Guard commander originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
A 31-year-old man is dead after police said he was shot inside a vehicle in northeast Dallas Sunday night, according to a news release.

Dallas police said Darwin Givans, 31, died at the scene in the 11100 block of Amanda Lane around 10:45 p.m. Saturday.

Police are looking for two men they said approached the vehicle and shot Givans while he sat inside it before getting into a black, newer model sedan with stock rims, dark tint and a Texas license plate and fleeing the scene.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact Detective Timothy Johnston at 214-671-3584 or email timothy.johnston@dallaspolice.gov.
From the Russian River Valley to Willamette, these Pinots are ready to party.

Getty Images

For centuries, Burgundy has been the benchmark for top Pinot Noir. And while the great vineyards of that storied region remain at or near the top of the wine-quality pyramid, the best Pinots from the United States are every bit as worthy of attention and adulation. The 45 below, all from between 2018 and 2021, represent a selection of the cream of the domestic crop. Whether from well-known and beloved appellations like Oregons Willamette Valley or from California stalwarts like Russian River Valley or relatively new AVAs like West Sonoma Coast, these cellar-worthy wines, up to around $175, are vinous superstars in their own right.

2019 Alma Rosa Radian Pinot Noir Santa Rita Hills

Rich, deep aromatics of carob and coffee beans set the stage for a velvet-textured palate that rolls with black cherries, sweet oak spice, and a wave of crushed blueberries, singed spearmint, and orange oils.

2021 Atelier Pinot Noir Russian River Valley

This is a savory expression of Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, with star anise, wild oregano, and toasty oak combining with root beer spice, tamarind paste, and black cherry liqueur to deliver a wine of power and detail.

2019 Authentique Wine Cellars Pinot Noir Eola-Amity Hills

This particular bottling is for the Childrens Cancer Therapy Development Institute, but any chance you can get your hands on a bottle of Nicholas Keelers wines is an opportunity to jump at. This one is coiled with energy and crunchy with fine-grained tannins and acidity, and finds real harmony between savory notes reminiscent of chanterelles and demi-glace as well as autumn orchard fruit, boysenberries, and rose hips. Also of note: Keeler is doing some fascinating things in the wine-NFT space under the project name Bored Grapes, bringing together virtual experiences with actual liquid counterparts that can be acquired and enjoyed IRL.

2018 Bailey Family Wines Pinot Noir Willamette Valley

Wonderfully Burgundian on the nose, this wine showcases sun-warmed soil, dried porcinis, cranberry raisins, and cinnamon-baked apples before a palate of licorice, cardamom, and sumac that spice wild strawberries and cherries, sandalwood, cigar tobacco, and leather.

Story continues

2018 Balletto Vineyards Sexton Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir

Savory and brambly, this Pinot Noir shows notes of leather and cigar tobacco that are sweetened up with boysenberry and black raspberry conserve. A sweep of toasted walnut lends greater depth, and a punch of acidity keeps it lively alongside a complicating dusting of nutmeg.

2019 Benovia Winery Martaella Pinot Noir Russian River Valley

The single vineyard that this is grown in is named for the proprietors mothers, and its a wonderfully fitting homage: Its a delicious wine in which toasty and sweet spice notes complicate flavors of grilled plums and ripe apricots, oolong tea, kirsch-filled dark chocolates, and espresso. A suggestion of brown-sugar-cured bacon wraps things up on a ripe-savory note.

2020 Cakebread Cellars Apple Barn Vineyard Pinot Noir Anderson Valley

Estate-grown and full of life and vibrancy, this balances brambly berries, rhubarb compote, fresh cherries, grilled stone fruit, and carob with more umami-rich flavors of sun-warmed stones and seashells that lend the vanilla-spiced finish a deliciously savory character.

2019 Calera Ryan Vineyard Pinot Noir Mt. Harlan

Taut and coiled with energy, this nonetheless also boasts a savory and anchoring core of earthiness. The counterpoints of mixed cherries and red plums alongside wild scrubby herbs and peppercorn spice make for a particularly compelling single-vineyard expression of Pinot Noir.

2021 Cattleya Cuvee Number One Pinot Noir

Hailing from Russian River Valley, this bursts from the glass with red raspberries and plums, Earl Grey tea, wild strawberries, bing cherries, nutmeg, and a subtle dusting of cocoa powder on the graceful finish.

2020 Domaine de la Cote La Cote Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills

This is ethereal on the nose, like Grand Cru Burgundy in its elegance, subtlety, and detail. Its bursting with energy, lifted from the glass with the perfume of roses and violets and a hint of lavender, and layered with coriander, red cherries and purple plums, pomegranate seeds, rooibos, forest floor, blood oranges, and sarsaparilla. A backbone of crunchy minerality runs through it all, lingering through the long finish that promises decades of evolution.

2019 Donnachadh Estate Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills

Up-front fruit and sizzling, aromatically complex spice dance together in this well-structured, organically farmed Pinot Noir. The sappy tannins carry ripe red and black cherry flavors, as well as a dusting of rose petals and porcini powder, and all of it is cut through with lively acidity that promises a decade of age, if you can wait that long.

2020 DuMOL Wester Reach Pinot Noir Russian River Valley

Coiled and savory, this is anchored by a beef bouillon-like sense of umami, though the brandied cherry flavors are assertive enough to work as a balanced counterpart. It all wraps up with a mineral and black tea finish, joined by a final grace note of lavender and violets.

2018 Dutton-Goldfield Van Der Kamp Vineyard Pinot Noir Sonoma Mountain

Dan Goldfield produces a fantastic range of Pinot Noirs each vintage, and considering them side by side is always a rewarding exercise. This 2018 single-vineyard offering showcases so much of what he does right year after year: Its ripe and rich yet full of mouthwatering aciditya vivid bottling that balances black plums, blackberries, and pomegranate seeds with cracked peppercorns and deeply steeped tea. The spice note sweeps back in on the long finish.

2018 Emeritus Vineyards Pinot Hill Elite Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast

Emeritus produces a reliably delicious and terroir-specific lineup of Pinots, some of them exploring the differences from one hillside to another. This one is full of life and particularly unforgettable, concentrated and exceptionally balanced, framed by lengthy spicy-sweet tannins, and bursting with mandarin oranges, lemon-lime, fresh cranberries, Chinese five-spice powder, and carob.

2019 Et Fille Kalita Vineyard Pinot Noir Willamette Valley

Concentration and mouthwatering acidity go hand-in-hand in this structured, cellar-worthy wine that finds a razors edge balance between earth-driven savorinessthere is a fascinating note of speck on the finishand perfectly ripe mountain berries. A subtle framing of scrubby herbs and grilled orange slices are joined by dried flowers and white cardamom.

2019 Evening Land Vineyards Seven Springs Pinot Noir Eola-Amity Hills, Oregon

Very pure on the nose, almost Burgundian, with aromas of purple berries and tomato vines gently seamed with green peppercorns. These set the stage for an energetic palate, bright with blood oranges and cherries, and anchored by toasted coriander seeds, peppercorns, dried flowers, forest floor, and scorched earth. This reminds me of a beautifully crafted Givry.

2020 FEL Savoy Vineyard Anderson Valley Pinot Noir

Courtesy of Fel Savoy Vineyard

Exuberant with rhubarb compote, wild strawberries, and raspberry conserve, this Pinot also shows a zip of peppercorn spice. The finish rolls along with plums, cherries, and carob, all of it balanced, rich, and mineral at the core, with a subtle floral perfume coming through.

2021 Flowers Sea View Ridge Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir

Mike Battey

Estate bottled and full of energy, this dances along with cranberries and pomegranate seeds, all underpinned by a core of mineral and hints of oranges, all resolving with a briny, taut finish.

2019 Frank Family Vineyards Carneros Pinot Noir

Courtesy of Frank Family Vineyards

Generous in style, as fans of Frank Family wines will love, this also finds a lovely sense of balance between cafe mocha and grilled vanilla notes and sappy dark cherries and mashed purple plums. This producer may be better known for their Cabs ands Zinfandels, but the Pinot Noir should not be ignored.

2018 Goldeneye Ten Degrees Pinot Noir Anderson Valley

This absolutely seamless Pinot Noir is unabashedly rich and exuberant with purple plums and Earl Grey tea, both sweetened by cinnamon-dusted caramel, crushed blueberries, and candied rose petals. More woodsy spices come through on the finish, where bergamot, star anise, and raspberry-jam-seamed sachertorte sneak in and lend further generosity.

2019 Joseph Phelps Vineyards Freestone Vineyards Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast

Brambly and mountain berries mingle with a lifted herbal characteroregano, thyme, tomato vinewhich lends this real freshness on the nose, an almost Burgundian character. On the palate, this is propulsive and detailed, the silky texture carrying flavors of cherries, plums, pencil led, and candied violets, as well as a hint of citrus through the mineral and tea-flecked finish.

2019 Keller Estate La Cruz Vineyard Pinot Noir Petaluma Gap

Tomato vine and wild scrubby herbs lift this lavender-kissed, red-fruited Pinot from the glass, while lemon-lime and cranberry vibrancy find counterpoints in freshly tilled earth.

2019 Kosta Browne Keefer Ranch Pinot Noir Russian River Valley

The single-vineyard offerings from Kosta Brown are justifiably clamored for, and this particular one is a fantastic example of why. Its a precise Pinot in which darker plum and wild berry notes mingle with aniseed, toasted vanilla pod, and tobacco, as well as flashes of bergamot, hoisin sauce, and Chinese five-spice powder. Its silky in texture, making it great right now, but structured enough to stand the test of another decade-plus with ease.

2021 Kutch Wines McDougall Ranch Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast

Courtesy of Kutch Wines

Jamie Kutch has become a widely respected producer of single-vineyard Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and this terrific bottling is a notable example of why. It bursts from the glass with watermelon, cranberries, and dried goji berries, as well as mandarin oranges, espresso with a twist of orange peel, and bing cherries. Sweet, Earl Grey tea-like tannins roll through a long and forest-like finish, and a licorice quality marks the entirety of it. This is one for the cellar, a gorgeous Burgundian Pinot Noir that is also true to its Sonoma origins.

2018 Littorai One Acre Pinot Noir Anderson Valley

Initially tight and coiled, this unfurls with gorgeous notes of hot rocks, tobacco leaf, black cherries, tea, and hints of blood oranges. Suggestions of star anise and bergamot emerge with air in this detailed, layered red.

2019 Lussier Golden Fleece Pinot Noir Anderson Valley

Fabulously aromatic with rose petals and gobs of red cherries, all with a wisp of red licorice. On the palate, this is lithe and energetic, with notes of cinnamon, clove, and sarsaparilla complicating those mouthwatering cherries.

2018 Lucienne Doctors Vineyard Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands

This Pinot, from Hahn Estate, is a sustainably farmed, ripe, and rich expression of the appellation, with black raspberries, baked plums, and chocolate, all layered with sweet oak spice that will make this particularly friendly alongside roasted meats.

2018 Lynmar Estate Quail Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir Russian River Valley

Sappy and dripping with kirsch on both the nose and palate, this is a generous Russian River Valley Pinot Noir that will appeal to fans of more opulent fruit (wild strawberry preserves, black raspberries, Amarena cherries, smashed blueberries) as well as savory Pinots that showcase soy sauce, porcini broth, and aniseed, as well as a subtle coating of cocoa powder.

2019 MacRostie The Loch Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast

This bottling, essentially MacRosties tete-de-cuvee, is a ripe, dense, concentrated yet still energetic evocation of black raspberries, cocoa powder, chocolate-enrobed orange peels, bing cherries, and pomegranate syrup, all of it carried along on a structured, sweetly tannic frame thats sappy and delicious now and also promises a decade or more of evolution.

2018 Maggie Hawk Jolie Pinot Noir Anderson Valley

Estate-grown, ripe, and propulsive, this is a wonderfully layered Anderson Valley Pinot, with flavors of goji berries, dried plums, candied blood orange, and star anise. With air, bing cherries and rooibos tea emerge, and are joined by woodsy spices and licorice root.

2018 Marine Layer Lyra Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast

The sense of tension in this wine is really appealing, and amplifies the wild red-berry fruit that dominates the palate. Fresh oranges sweep in, and benefit from a judicious dusting of sweet and woodsy oak spice.

2021 Mathew Bruno Sun Chase Vineyard Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast

This Pinot is produced in a more fruit-forward and powerful style, with waves of kirsch and chocolate ganache joined by satsuma citrus, cafe mocha, and warm vanilla French toast. For fans of richer, more forward Pinot Noirs, this is a surefire hit.

2018 Migration Bien Nacido Vineyard Pinot Noir Santa Maria Valley

A riper expression of Pinot Noir, this has enough acidity pulsing beneath the surface to keep it fresh. Melted chocolate and orange flavors are enrobed in caramel and spiced with toasty vanilla and nutmeg. Plums, dried orange peels, and rose petals gain traction with air.

2019 Minus Tide Manchester Ridge Vineyard Pinot Noir Mendocino Ridge

Lucille Lawrence

Notably translucent and herbaceous in the best possible sense, this is a deliciously Burgundian expression of Pinot Noir, full of cranberry and red mountain-berry flavors that are flecked with fresh herbs, citrus oils, and an underpinning of forest floor that finds a beautifully calibrated counterpoint in a lingering note of rose hips. This is an absolute steal of a wine at under $50, and proves that splurges dont have to cost a fortune.

2021 Paul Hobbs Pinot Noir West Sonoma Coast

Courtesy of Paul Hobbs Winery

Still youthful and dominated by its concentrated fruit, this nonetheless shows excellent potential. Give it a few years, and the snappy pomegranate, cranberry, blood orange, black raspberry, and forest floor notes will settle down and turn into a beautifully cohesive whole. Even now, the dusting of allspice and star anise lend it lovely complexity, and the length, integration of tannins, concentration, and bright mineral acidity make it a success.

2020 Rams Gate Carneros Pinot Noir

Courtesy of Ram's Gate

Concentrated and ripe, this is also vibrant with citrus-like acidity and plums. Flavors of beef bouillon and soy sauce mingle with wild strawberries, black cherries, and huckleberries, with a snap of peppercorn spice sweeping in through the sappy finish. The balance of fruit with more savory notes is beautifully calibrated.

2018 Reeve Kiser Vineyard Lower Block Pinot Noir Mendocino County

This is full of cranberries and raspberries, as well as thyme and fresh oregano at the edges. Only 1,140 bottles of this excellent Pinot were produced, but theyre well worth looking for: With deeply steeped herbal tea, turmeric powder, red cherries, and dried goji berries, this shines even more brightly with air.

2018 Resonance Resonance Vineyard Choix du Coeur Pinot Noir Yamhill-Carlton

Courtesy of RAsonance Vineyard

A standout from the Yamhill-Carlton AVA of the Willamette Valley, this is crafted from five individual barrels of old-vines Pinot. Its a loamy, earth-driven wine whose meaty bass notes find terrific lift from brambly berries and woodsy spice. There are distinct notes of beef bresaola and cured black olives on the nose, and the flavors of black raspberry conserve and dried rose petals make this a complex, lingering winner.

2018 Sangiacomo Roberts Road Vineyard Pinot Noir Petaluma Gap

Seriously concentrated aromatics of raspberries and cherries are lifted with hints of violets, before a palate of red and black cherries, cocoa-dusted plums, hoisin sauce, beef bouillon, star anise and cloves, and a finish that simmers with Szechuan peppercorn and black tea.

2018 Sea Smoke Southing Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills

Courtesy of Sea Smoke

Grown in the Sea Smoke Estate Vineyard, this is both savory and ripe, with silky, impressively delineated, and sweet tannins framing mouthwatering flavors of black raspberries, pomegranate, cranberries, orange oils, and wild herbs. Beneath it all thrum fresh-dug chanterelles and forest floor, which are terrific counterpoints to rose hips, wild cherries, compressed watermelon, and red plums.

2018 SOM LS Vineyard Pinot Noir Eola-Amity Hills

Formerly known as State of Mind, SOM has produced a joyous Willamette Valley Pinot Noir with this 2018. It practically explodes with purple plums, huckleberries, and crushed blackberries, and sweet spice (clove, cardamom, vanilla), all of it rolling along a silky texture that still finds terrific tannic structure fit for five to 10 years of aging.

2020 The Hilt Estate Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills

Courtesy of The Hilt

Vintage after vintage, this is deliciously idiosyncratic Pinot Noir, grown in a vineyard whose proximity to the Pacific and exposure to its winds lend the wine a real sense of tension. In 2020, it shines with red-berry fruit and high-toned spice, mouthwatering acidity, and a sappy, flower-flecked finish that lingers with red cherries and raspberries, all anchored by saline minerality. At right around $50, this tastes like much more of a splurge than it actually is.

2019 Vice Versa Platt Vineyard Pinot Noir Sonoma County

Aromas of stewed cherries, mulberries, and black raspberries are spiced with sarsaparilla and bubble gum before a palate of vibrant acidity and taut, dusty tannic structure, both framing flavors of bing cherries, blood oranges, and candied violets before a long, saline finish.

2019 WillaKenzie Estate La Crete Pinot Noir Yamhill-Carlton

Courtesy Jackson Family Wines

LIVE Certified and salmon-safe, this small production (just 94 cases) wine is worth looking for. A fascinating note of pastrami spice (in the best possible sense!) lends meaty complexity to the nose, and seasons a palate generous with plums, cranberry raisins, flamed orange peel, and wild cherries. Notes of Chinese five-spice powder and loamy earth linger through the structured, snappy cherry finish.

2018 Windracer Sealift Vineyard Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast

Full-throttle and unabashedly ripe, this rings in at 15.1% ABV. And while that is certainly a controversial number for Pinot Noir, the liquid itself works: Kirsch and cassis roll like a wave and carry cafe mocha, cinnamon stick, toasty vanilla, sarsaparilla, and wild-strawberry compote through the structured finish.



For more Food & Wine news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on Food & Wine.
This courtroom sketch, from left, depicts Madison County prosecutor Rob Wood, Lori Vallow Daybell and defense attorney Jim Archibald during opening statements of Vallow Daybells murder trial in Boise, Idaho, Monday, April 10, 2023. Prosecutors have charged Vallow Daybell and her husband, Chad Daybell, with multiple counts of conspiracy, murder and grand theft in connection with the deaths of Vallow Daybells two children: Joshua JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan. Both are also charged in connection with the death of Chad Daybells previous wife, Tammy Daybell. | Lisa C. Cheney via Associated Press

In the first week of testimony in the much-anticipated trial of Lori Vallow Daybell, prosecutors laid out what they believe the motive was behind a series of alleged killings.

Money, power and sex.

Vallow Daybell has made headlines worldwide as the mother with doomsday beliefs who is now charged with murder, conspiracy and grand theft in connection to the deaths of her two children and Tammy Daybell, the spouse of her fifth husband, Chad Daybell.

Chad Daybell, who is also charged in the three deaths, has pleaded not guilty and will face a separate trial.

So far, jurors at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, have heard from police detectives and family and friends of the couple who described Vallow Daybells spiral and the chilling circumstances leading up to the childrens murder.

The Deseret News and KSL spent the week in the courtroom covering the trial, where video and audio recordings have been banned. From Tammy Daybells cause of death, to Vallow Daybells bizarre beliefs, here are five key takeaways in the murder case that shocked the country.

Related

Tammy Daybells cause of death

Tammy Daybell died from asphyxiation at the hands of another person, prosecutors revealed Monday.

Daybell died on Oct. 19, reportedly in her sleep, and authorities originally did not suspect foul play. But almost two months later, her body was exhumed, and the results of her autopsy were not public until Monday.

Joe Powell with the Fremont County Sheriffs Office described on Tuesday why the circumstances around Daybells death raised eyebrows  She was healthy, her age, there was no sign of heart or blood pressure (problems). With her husband being with another lady so soon after.

Story continues

Prosecutors also alleged that Tammy Daybells cold and stiff body had been moved by Chad Daybell by the time law enforcement responded  and that he seemed to show no remorse.

Witnesses said Tammy Daybell was suspicious about her husbands relationship with Vallow Daybell.

Texts between Lori Vallow Daybell and her now deceased husband, Charles Vallow, were also shown in court, where Charles tells Lori that he knows she is having an affair with Chad Daybell. Your husband and my wife ... theyre having an affair, he emailed Tammy Daybell.

JJ and Tylees final days

Two of Vallow Daybells former friends  Melanie Gibb and Zulema Pastenes  took the stand to describe the last instances Tylee and JJ were seen alive. Both women were part of Vallow Daybells inner circle, and on separate occasions visited her in Rexburg around the time the children went missing.

Pastenes  who was briefly married to Alex Cox, Vallow Daybells brother, before his death  described Vallow Daybells troubling belief that JJ was going to have a very short life and that Tylee was possessed by a dark spirit. She visited the family in September 2019, and when she asked Vallow Daybell where Tylee was, the mother responded she had to be free.

And Gibb was in Rexburg on Sept. 22, which coincides with the last known time JJ was seen alive. During that trip, she said, Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow Daybell would kiss, hug, and dance, despite Daybells wife still being alive.

Vallow Daybell told Gibb that JJ had an evil spirit in him.

She would tell me he would say things like I love Satan. She told me he would climb up on the refrigerator and go on top of the cabinets. He was acting just more aggressive, she said.

On the evening of Sept. 22, Chad Daybell carried JJ upstairs and put him to bed.

He quietly came down and I asked him why his neck was so red and he said that JJ had scratched his neck, she said.

On June 9, 2020, police discovered the bodies of Tylee and JJ, buried in shallow graves in Daybells backyard. Tylee appeared to have been burned, according to Rexburg Police Detective Ray Hermosillo. JJ was found bound by duct tape.

A descent into extreme beliefs

Central to the case is Vallow Daybells fringe religious teachings  which included a belief she had lived past lives, a rating system of light and dark used to determine whether someones body had been taken over by an evil spirit, and that she and Daybell would lead a group of 144,000 people who would see the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Chad Daybell told Lori Vallow Daybell when they first met that they had been married many times in previous lives.

Her and Daybells beliefs evolved to include zombies, a label the couple used to refer to people who are possessed, to the point of no return. They described specific ways to deal with zombies, as detailed by a journal entry from Pastenes that was submitted as evidence.

For zombies, death was freedom, and the body had to be destroyed to avoid another dark spirit from taking it over. That meant putting water and fire and destroying the body ... so there would be no way for another demon to come in.

Both Gibb and Pastenes described a similar theme  people who questioned, challenged, or were an inconvenience to Vallow Daybell, were labeled dark spirits. That included Charles Vallow, Tammy Daybell and JJ and Tylee, all of whom were killed.

Alex Coxs role in the case

Alex Cox, who died of blood clots the day after news broke that Tammy Daybells body would be exhumed, was described in court testimony as the groups warrior.

Cox shot and killed Charles Vallow in what was originally deemed a self-defense shooting. His cell phone was also in the vicinity of Tammy Daybell the day a masked man reportedly shot at her in her driveway, and in the Daybells backyard around the last time Tylee was seen, near the spot where her body was later discovered.

And Vallow Daybells defense attorneys have filed an alibi that claims she was in her own Rexburg apartment with her friends when the children were killed in an apartment belonging to Cox.

Prosecutors said that a witness reported seeing Cox carrying JJ in his arms. It was peaceful, Lindsey A. Blake said, but JJ was never seen again.

Prosecutors also played a recording of Daybell reciting what he said was a blessing for Cox, given shortly before Coxs death. You have already assisted us in ways that can never be repaid, Daybell tells him, as he, Cox, and Vallow Daybell all weep, and you will continue to do so as you move forward in this life.

I think Im being their fall guy, Cox said on the night before his death, according to Pastenes. I said, Fall guy for what? What is it that you have done? What have you done that you would be the fall guy for?

Pastenes testified Cox never gave her a straight answer.

Vallow Daybells defense

Being a defense lawyer is not always a popular job, R. James Archibald told jurors during his opening statement last Monday. Archibald, along with John Thomas, have been assigned to defend Vallow Daybell.

Archibald reminded the jury that they are to only consider the allegations against Vallow Daybell  your focus will be on the actions of Lori. Not on Chad, not on Alex, he said, while emphasizing that the publicity about the case that has tainted so many people is not evidence.

Vallow Daybells alibi, Archibald said, is that she was in a different apartment when JJ and Tylee were killed, and in Hawaii when Tammy Daybell was killed.

Youre here to determine if there even was a conspiracy, he told the jury.

Greg Skordas, an attorney of more than 38 years who is serving as a KSL legal analyst, said that alibi could help the defense with the murder charges, but not conspiracy.

Theyre saying she wasnt even around  she wasnt even in the same state when all of this happened. That kind of plays into the homicide itself, but maybe not the conspiracy because you can still aid and abet when youre in a different state, he said.

Skordas noted that Vallow Daybell could still face a life sentence, even if she is only found guilty of conspiracy. Even if they get her on two or three, the judge can still put her away for a very long time, he said.

In his cross examination this week, Thomas focused on what seemed like small details and discrepancies in timelines presented by the witnesses. When he questioned Gibb and Pastenes, he zeroed in on their involvement in the group, and whether they too believed in concepts like zombies, vibrations and past lives.

Its still not clear whether Vallow Daybell will take the stand in the trial, which is expected to last nearly eight weeks.
Whos your Kentucky Derby horse?

Saturdays Lexington Stakes at Keeneland marked the end of the prep-race season, and now the field is essentially set for the 149th running of the Kentucky Derby on May 6 at Churchill Downs.

History shows there likely will be a couple of defections over the next couple of weeks  more on that later  but we know the top story lines for this years race.

Forte is the likely favorite. Japan could have three contenders. Bob Baffert is out once again.

Several contenders already have arrived at Churchill Downs to prepare for the Kentucky Derby, and others will make their way over the next two weeks.

Nothing about the field is official until the post-position draw on Monday, May 1, but heres what we know right now about the top 20 horses on the Kentucky Derby points list.

Forte, with Ira Ortiz Jr up, wins the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Keeneland on Friday, November 4, 2022, in Lexington, Kentucky.

Kentucky Derby 2023: Here's your complete guide to this year's race at Churchill Downs

Run for the Roses field: Which horses are in and on bubble for the 2023 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs?

Todd Pletcher the one to beat

Todd Pletcher has won the Kentucky Derby twice  Super Saver in 2010 and Always Dreaming in 2017  and may have the top two choices in this years race.

Florida Derby winner Forte is expected to be the Kentucky Derby favorite. Hes looking to become just the fourth 2-year-old champion since 1980 to go on and win the Kentucky Derby, joining Street Sense (2006-07), American Pharoah (2014-15) and Nyquist (2015-16).

Blue Grass winner Tapit Trice has won four straight races and could be the second choice in the Kentucky Derby morning line. Louisiana Derby winner Kingsbarns, whos undefeated in three races, is Pletchers third Kentucky Derby contender.

We feel great about the hand we have right now, Pletcher said.

Luis Saez piloted Tapit Trice past Tyler Gaffalione aboard Verifying to win the 2023 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes April 8, 2023 at Keeneland.

Pletcher is one of three trainers in the Derby field with multiple horses, joining Louisvilles Brad Cox (Angel of Empire, Hit Show, Verifying) and Tim Yakteen (Practical Move, Reincarnate). Cox could have a fourth contender in Jaces Road, who currently ranks No. 21 on the points leaderboard.

Story continues

Five trainers are set to make their first Kentucky Derby start  Larry Rivelli (Two Phils), Hidetaki Otonashi (Derma Sotogake), Ben Colebrook (Raise Cain), Joel Marr (Wild On Ice) and Yoshito Yahagi (Continuar).

'We feel great': Tapit Trice takes Blue Grass, strengthening Todd Pletcher's hand for Kentucky Derby 2023

How many horses have won Triple Crown?: Meet winners of the Derby, Preakness and Belmont

Japanese horses prominent

Only two horses bred in Japan have competed in the Kentucky Derby  Master Fencer (sixth in 2019) and Crown Pride (13th in 2022)  but that number will increase this year.

Derma Sotogake and Continuar are safely in the field, and Mandarin Hero could join them with a few defections.

Derma Sotogake, a son of Mind Your Biscuits, won the UAE Derby on March 25 to clinch his spot in the Run for the Roses. Continuar, a son of Drefong, earned his spot via the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby. He finished third in the UAE Derby.

Derma Sotogake with jockey Christophe Lemaire wins Group 2 UAE Derby over 1900m (9.5 furlongs) at the Meydan racecourse in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, March 25, 2023.

Mandarin Hero currently ranks No. 25 on the points leaderboard and would need five defections to make the Derby field. The son of Shanghai Bobby was the runner-up in the Santa Anita Derby.

Sixteen of the horses in the current Derby field were bred in Kentucky. Angel of Empire will try to become the third Pennsylvania-bred to win the Derby, joining Lil E. Tee (1992) and Smarty Jones (2004). Wild On Ice will try to become the third Texas-bred to win the Derby, joining Assault (1946) and Middleground (1950).

In Case You Missed It: Derma Sotogake wins UAE Derby

Oldest Kentucky Derby jockey

Wild On Ices Ken Tohill, 60, is set to become the oldest jockey in Kentucky Derby history.

Tohill will get the chance after guiding Wild On Ice, a 35-1 long shot, to victory in the Grade 3 Sunland Park Derby on March 26.

Jockey Ken S. Tohill atop Wild on Ice, #7, after winning the 18th running of the Sunland Derby at Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino in Sunland Park, New Mexico, Sunday, March 26, 2023.

According to Equibase.com, Tohill has won 4,099 races since 1979 with career earnings of $71.1 million. The Sunland Park Derby victory was his first in a graded-stakes race.

Jon Court became the oldest jockey in Derby history in 2019 when the 58-year-old guided Long Range Toddy to a 16th-place finish.

Happy Birthday?: Why are Kentucky Derby thoroughbred horses born January 1? The history behind the practice

Who might back out?

While most of the top 20 are committed to running as long as theyre healthy, at least two trainers have expressed at least some doubt.

Trainer Chad Brown told the Daily Racing Form he wants to see Blazing Sevens work at least once before committing to the Kentucky Derby. Blazing Sevens finished third in the Blue Grass and is expected to work Saturday or Sunday at Keeneland.

Trainer Chad Brown talks with the media on the backside at Churchill Downs on April 29, 2022.

Brown chose to skip last years Kentucky Derby with Early Voting, who went on to win the Preakness.

Sun Thunder trainer Kenny McPeek told the DRF hes still on the fence about his horses status for the Derby, adding, I do believe the partnerships inclination is to run. Sun Thunder finished fourth in the Blue Grass.

The top three horses on the bubble for the Derby are No. 21 Jaces Road (third in Louisiana Derby), No. 22 Skinner (third in Santa Anita Derby) and No. 23 Cyclone Mischief (third in Florida Derby).

Kentucky Derby 2023: What to look for in the horses in the Churchill Downs paddock

Who's the top sire?

Good Magic, who was the runner-up to Justify in the 2018 Kentucky Derby, has three progeny in this years field  Mage, Blazing Sevens and Reincarnate.

Violence (Forte, Raise Cain), Into Mischief (Rocket Can, Sun Thunder) and Candy Ride (Hit Show, Confidence Game) have two sons in the field.

Violence, trained by Pletcher, finished second behind Orb in the 2013 Fountain of Youth but never raced again.

Into Mischief, trained by Richard Mandella, was 3-3-0 in six career starts. His best win came in the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity in 2007 at Hollywood Park.

Candy Ride, bred in Argentina and trained by Ron McAnally, won all six of his career races, capped by a victory in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic in 2003 at Del Mar.

Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @KentuckyDerbyCJ.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Horses in the 2023 Kentucky Derby: Everything to know ahead of draw
Photo: The Canadian Press Const. Harvinder Dhami, a member of the Strathcona County detachment east of Edmonton, is shown in this handout image provided by the RCMP. The RCMP is set to provide an update on the vehicle crash that killed one of its Alberta-based officers last week. Const. Harvinder Dhami died early Monday morning while driving to help other officers with a noise complaint.THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-RCMP

SHERWOOD PARK, Alta.  The RCMP say a regimental funeral will be held later this week for one of its Alberta-based officers who died in a crash while heading to help another officer.

The funeral for Const. Harvinder Dhami, a member of the Strathcona County detachment east of Edmonton, will be held Thursday morning at Millennium Place in Sherwood Park, Alta., and will be preceded by a procession from Bethel Lutheran Church.

Dhami, who was affectionately known as Harvey, died early on April 10 while driving to help other officers with a noise complaint.

The Mounties previously said Dhami's vehicle hit a large concrete barrier on a road northeast of Sherwood Park.

While police had said they would give more details on the crash investigation at a news conference Sunday, Cpl. Troy Savinkoff and Sgt. Deanna Fontaine told reporters the investigation remains ongoing and that police wouldn't speak to it yet.

Detachment Supt. Dale Kendall said at the news conference that Dhami responded to an "urgent request" for backup to assist a fellow officer who was attempting to make two arrests.

"Const. Dhami upheld his oath to protect and to serve to the very last moments of his life," said Kendall.

Dhami, who was 32, is survived by his wife, mother and two siblings.

Savinkoff said Dhami's family will be present for the funeral but has requested privacy.

"This is an event where we expect quite a large turnout from officers from various departments," he said, but didn't have an immediate estimate on how many people are expected.

Millennium Place will be closed to all but invited family members, friends and first responders, but RCMP say the public are welcome to line the funeral procession route. They say a live feed of the procession and funeral service will be provided on the Alberta RCMP YouTube channel.

Strathcona County says it will open its community centre for the public to view the funeral via the livestream.

Kendall said Dhami's family put community service first, noting it guided the career choices of his closest family members. His sister works in mental health services, Kendall said, while his brother and cousin work with the Peel Regional Police and the Vancouver Police Department respectively.

She said Dhami served meals to elderly members of the Punjabi community in Brampton, Ont., and served with Meals on Wheels for three years.

"His dedication to helping others was a foundational piece of his character," Kendall said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 16, 2023.
Floridas Division of Hotels and Restaurants routinely inspects restaurants, food trucks and other food service establishments for public health and cleanliness issues.

The reports are public information.

During the most recent inspections in Manatee County, local restaurants were cited for issues including not properly sanitizing dishes and lack of employee food safety training.

Here is what inspectors found:

Cork & Kale, 6231 Lake Osprey Dr., Lakewood Ranch

Sanitizer used to sanitize equipment was not at proper minimum strength. An inspector took a sanitizer reading of zero. Corrective action was taken.

Smoked salmon was stored over cooked chicken in a walk-in cooler. Corrective action was taken.

Butter chips and cream cheese were cold held at temperatures greater than 41 degrees. A stop sale was issued due to temperature abuse. The items were discarded.

Hamburgers and steaks that were being held for future use were not date-marked.

A soda gun nozzle was soiled with debris.

No test kit was at hand to measure the strength of sanitizer in use for warewashing and/or wiping cloths.

There was no hot water measuring device available to measure the heat in a dishmachine.

There was no proof provided that food employees were informed of their responsibility to report info about their health and activities related to foodborne illnesses. Corrective action was taken.

Hood filters were soiled with a buildup of grease.

In-use tongs were stored on an oven door handle. Corrective action was taken.

A vent over the cook line was peeling paint.

The restaurant met inspection standards.

Lucky Pelican Bistro, 6239 Lake Osprey Dr., Sarasota

Dishmachine sanitizer was not at the proper minimum strength. An inspector advised setting up manual warewashing until the dishmachine was functioning properly.

A can opener blade was soiled.

There was no proof provided that food employees were informed of their responsibility to report info about their health and activities related to foodborne illnesses.

Proof of required training was not available for some employees.

There was food buildup on shelving used to hold frying batter.

No handwash sign was posted at an employee handwash sink.

Food warmers on the cook line were soiled with a heavy buildup of grease and debris.

In-use tongs were stored on an oven door handle. Corrective action was taken.

There was dust buildup on ceiling tiles and vents in the cook line area.

The restaurant met inspection standards.

Story continues

Stone River Retirement Community, 7360 55th Ave. E., Bradenton

During a follow-up visit for previous violations, an inspector observed several unresolved issues.

Raw animal foods (turkey, beef and pork) were not properly separated from one another in a walk-in cooler based upon minimum required cooking temperature.

There was no proof provided that food employees were informed of their responsibility to report info about their health and activities related to foodborne illnesses.

Food was stored on the floor.

A kitchen entrance had a gap at the threshold that opened to the outside.

Another follow-up inspection was required.

Calu Comfort Food, 2119 63rd Ave. E., Bradenton

During a follow-up visit for previous violations, an inspector observed several unresolved issues, including that there was no proof of required food safety training for any employees.

Another follow-up inspection was required.

Subway, 5810 Ranch Lake Blvd., Bradenton

During a follow-up visit for previous violations, an inspector observed several unresolved issues, including that there was no certified food manager for the restaurant.





Another follow-up visit was required.

Cypress Springs Gracious Retirement Living, 9085 Town Center Parkway, Bradenton

Raw animal foods (chicken and pork) were not properly separated from each other in a walk-in cooler based upon minimum required cooking temperature. Corrective action was taken.

Cleaner was stored next to coffee filters in a wait station cabinet.

A certified food manager or person in charge lacked knowledge of foodborne illnesses and symptoms of illness that would prevent an employee from working with food, clean equipment and utensils and/or single-service items.

There was no proof provided that food employees were informed of their responsibility to report info about their health and activities related to foodborne illnesses.

Soup was stored uncovered in a walk-in cooler.

An open employee drink was stored in a cooler with food to be served to customers.

A case of food was not stored at least 6 inches off of the floor.

Floors in a dry storage are were soiled.

A chef was preparing food without a hair restraint.

Vents were soiled over a coffee station.

There was an accumulation of limescale on the inside of a dishmachine.

The establishment met inspection standards.

Editors Note: According to the Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation, these reports are a snapshot of the conditions present at the time of the inspection and are public record. The agency is required to inspect every licensed restaurant at least once per year, but new and high-risk establishments tend to be inspected more frequently.

When an emergency shutdown order is given by an inspector, it must first be reviewed and approved by agency supervisors. In order for a business to reopen, an inspector will continue visiting the establishment daily until compliance is met. Some citations may include a financial penalty. Inspectors may also respond to complaints, which can be filed at www.myfloridalicense.com.

The Bradenton Heralds weekly dirty dining reports list restaurants where inspectors found issues that might concern the average diner  such as unsafe food temperatures, employee hand-washing issues or moldy drink machines  regardless of whether or not the businesses passed inspection.
People gather for a rally on July 15, 2022, demanding justice for Jayland Walker at a courthouse in Newark, New Jersey. The Peoples Organization for Progress organized the rally after police killed Walker in Akron, Ohio, on June 27, 2022. According to a medical examiner, Walker was shot 46 times.

People gather for a rally on July 15, 2022, demanding justice for Jayland Walker at a courthouse in Newark, New Jersey. The Peoples Organization for Progress organized the rally after police killed Walker in Akron, Ohio, on June 27, 2022. According to a medical examiner, Walker was shot 46 times.

An Ohio grand jury decided Monday not to charge the eight officers responsible for ending a 25-year-old Black mans life after a traffic stop last year in Akron.

The officers  seven of whom are white  fired at Jayland Walker more than 90 times on June 27. The authorities claim that Walker shot at law enforcement officers from inside his vehicle first and then fled on foot. But Walker was unarmed when he was killed. He had been shocked by a Taser and shot or grazed by bullets 46 times.

The officers were put on paid leave after killing Walker.

The grand jury just a little while ago issued what is called a no bill, meaning that there will be no state criminal action, no charges at the state level, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said in a news conference on Monday, according to ABC News.

The special grand jury in Summit County Common Pleas Court heard evidence for five days last week and announced its no-bill decision Monday.

Multiple officers, each making an independent judgment about a threat and acting independently to neutralize that threat, creates a dynamic that amplifies the use of force exponentially, Yost said, according to The New York Times. That being said, it is critical to remember that Mr. Walker had fired on the police and that he fired first.

Walkers killing unleashed days of protests and calls for justice  leading to the arrests of advocates and a citywide curfew. His killing has sparked conversations about the unwarranted violence that ensues all too frequently during routine traffic stops.

A poster is displayed on the stage during a news conference on July 13, 2022, following the funeral service for Jayland Walker at the Akron Civic Center. A grand jury announced Monday it was not returning charges against the eight police officers involved in Walker's death.

A poster is displayed on the stage during a news conference on July 13, 2022, following the funeral service for Jayland Walker at the Akron Civic Center. A grand jury announced Monday it was not returning charges against the eight police officers involved in Walker's death.

Story continues

Ahead of the grand jurys announcement, businesses and people in the community were preparing for potential demonstrations in response to the grand jurys decision, NBC affiliate WKYC-TV in Cleveland reported.

Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan released a statement earlier Monday, saying leaders were committed to listening to the communitys concerns.

As we prepare for whatever is to come from the grand jury as they make decisions in the office-involved shooting of Jayland Walker, we remain committed to listening to our residents and making space for their voices and concerns while also prioritizing everyones safety, Horrigan said. At the beginning of this process, I asked our community to have patience with the investigation, and we are now getting very close to some answers. I have an overwhelming amount of faith in the Akron community, and I know we will lean into our partnerships and relationships through the uncertainty of the days ahead.

The Ohio attorney generals office declined to provide HuffPost with a statement, deferring to a news release.

This case took more than a week because of the volume of evidence presented, Yost said in the news release. Its important to note that the job of my office in this case was to investigate and present evidence to the grand jury. The grand jury was instructed about the law by the judge who oversees it, not by the prosecutors, to avoid any question about the accuracy of the instruction.

The attorney generals office has made investigative documents available to the public.

Related...
86% of the Ukrainian soldiers who came back from Russian captivity have stated that they had been subjected to direct physical torture.

Source: Dmytro Lubinets, Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) Commissioner for Human Rights, in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda.

Quote: "We are opening our own proceedings for each released serviceman and we are recording facts that once again confirm the inhuman treatment of prisoners of war. Regarding torture, according to our information, 86% of those who came back from captivity reported direct physical torture. This, by the way, was established not only by us, but also by the international human rights mission of the United Nations. They have approximately the same numbers."

Details: At the same time, the ombudsman refused to specify what kind of torture was involved. Lubinets stated this is due to the fact that when Ukrainian high-ranking officials publicly voice such facts, "the Russians begin to treat our prisoners of war even more cruelly".

Background: On 10 April, Ukraine brought back 100 more of its soldiers from Russian captivity (in particular, the defenders of Mariupol, Azovstal and Hostomel). Some of them have suffered serious injuries and illnesses.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
Kris and Jeymi on 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way on TLC

Warning! The following contains spoilers for the 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way "The Tongue Has No Bone, but It Cuts Deep." Read at your own risk!

Kris Foster and Jeymi Noguera seemed like a couple to watch from the beginning of Season 4 of 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way, as they married not long after meeting in person for the first time, and almost immediately faced turmoil. Following the latest argument over webcam between the 90 Day Fiance spinoff couple, I can't help but think there's more to the story that viewers haven't been made aware of.

The latest episode picked up with Kris back in America, after she'd originally voiced a need to return to Alabama to testify in a court case over a stolen motorcycle. Kris explained in her confessional that it was only intended to be a short stay, but that she decided to remain in her home state for work purposes, as a means to help support Jeymi back at their Colombian home, as well as to secure proper narcolepsy medication.

When Jeymi appeared on the webcam call, she wasn't happy to see Kris, and it was revealed this was apparently the first time they'd spoken on camera in a month; it was said they've had little contact with one another overall since Kris returned to Alabama. The latter was quick to get loud while defending herself, telling Jeymi she wasn't able to answer every phone call due to work, and said Jeymi's negative attitude was proof that she wasn't appreciative of what Kris was sacrificing for their betterment. When Jeymi said she'd rather feel connected to her wife than have the money, Kris abruptly left the call.

Kris did explain that she was unable to work for a period of time while in Colombia, meaning they didn't have any solid means of income since Jeymi wasn't currently employed. But that while back in Alabama, she'd been essentially doing a host of odd jobs and menial duties such as yard work and painting houses for money, which technically feels like the kind of non-contracted work she could also be doing in Colombia if she really wanted to.

Story continues

And while Jeymi and Kris appear to have spoken on the phone during that phase, despite some calls going unanswered, it does seem specifically strange that the 90 Day Fiance couple had only spoken on webcam once during that entire month. With Jeymi being unemployed, and no time difference between Colombia and Alabama, one would think it'd be easy enough for Kris to find enough time to answer the phone, since her pick-up gigs don't require 24/7 attention.

Kris' constant deflection and odd answers have me thinking that there's more to their story that hasn't come to light yet, and that 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way is deliberately holding off some key information that would add contextual sense to all of this. Is it possible that Kris realized she didn't want a life in Colombia, and/or that her marriage to Jeymi was a mistake, but doesn't know how to address the issue head on?

It seems like one of the two may feel just such a way eventually, as they aren't currently together based on social media posts. One can never be too sure of what's "real" or not when it comes to 90 Day Fiance cast members posting on social media, so we may just need to wait and see what happens in upcoming episodes for more definitive answers. Hopefully, Kris' true reasons for avoiding Jeymi and Colombia will become clear in the coming weeks, and it'll be more than just busy schedules to blame for their lack of communication.

90 Day Fiance: The Other Way airs on TLC on Sundays at 8:00 p.m. ET. Those that miss the episode can always check out 90 Day Fiance on streaming via Discovery+. This is certainly a season folks want to stay current on, as there's some big drama happening each week.
An ancient canoe with 900 years of history was pulled to the surface of a North Carolina lake, video shows.

The centuries-old boat is believed to be tied to Native Americans who had a presence around Lake Waccamaw, in the southeastern part of the state.

Our history is still unfolding, Michael Jacobs, chief of the Waccamaw Siouan Tribe, told WECT. When the colonists made contact with our tribe, theres a lot of the things that we hailed as historical and meaningful to us that were still putting together.

The Waccamaw Siouan Tribe teamed with state officials to recover the canoe Wednesday, April 12. A team of about a dozen people brought the boat from under a dock and raised it out of the murky water, according to a two-minute video that the N.C. American Indian Heritage Commission shared on Facebook.

The 28-foot canoe was found buried underneath the surface when a group was on the lake in 2021, Jacobs told McClatchy News in a phone interview.

I stepped on it and I thought it was a log, swimmer Eli Hill told WECT. I tried to pick it up and it never came up. So, we kept digging at it and it just kept going.

Jacobs said people used to bury canoes to preserve them, similar to the way people park their cars in safe places today. The canoe might have been used for transporting people or goods along the Waccamaw River, which winds toward the present-day Georgetown, South Carolina, area.

It would have been a trade highway back in the day for our people going back and forth and transporting goods before colonists even came over, Jacobs said.

The canoe, which was lifted from about six inches of sand at the bottom of the lake, is being conserved and taken to Waccamaw Siouan lands, according to the Columbus County News and information the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources shared with McClatchy News in an email.

The Waccamaw Siouan Tribe is recognized by the state of North Carolina. The people, believed to have sought refuge in the states swamp lands after an 18th-century war, now live on the edge of the Green swamp about thirty-seven miles west of Wilmington, the tribe wrote on its website.

Story continues

Jacobs said the unearthing of the canoe helps paint a more complete picture of history.

We just werent living there, he said. We were thriving as a people.

Ship hidden beneath Caribbean harbor may be prize from American Revolution, experts say

Search underway for key WWII battlefield hidden on Pacific seafloor off Guam, team says
Just days before the Biden administration asked the Supreme Court to preserve access to a key abortion medication, the Justice Department issued a routine, but little-noticed announcement that the manufacturer of the drug  Danco Laboratories  had settled claims it violated customs laws.

Further, the federal government will award a bounty-like payment of about $116,000 to the anti-abortion legal entity that blew the whistle on the alleged violations.

Dancos only product is mifepristone, the drug at the center of the legal case before the Supreme Court and one of two parts of most medication abortions in the U.S.

Under the settlement dated March 31 and released last week, Danco agreed to pay $765,000 to the U.S. to resolve allegations that, from 2011 to 2019, the company failed to both properly label imports of the drug as originating in China and pay customs duties on imports lacking those labels.



Under the deal, Danco denied the allegations leveled by the Life Legal Defense Foundation in a lawsuit filed in a Sherman, Texas, federal court back in January 2021. However, the drugmaker said it was settling to avoid the delay, uncertainty, inconvenience, and expense of protracted litigation, according to the agreement.

The DOJs April 12 press release about the settlement names Danco, but does not mention the now high-profile abortion drug at the center of the dispute, mifepristone.

"Danco is committed to operating ethically and legally and reaffirms that this case did not concern the safety or efficacy of Dancos product," the company said in a statement. "The settlement allows Danco to continue to focus on providing high quality, safe, and effective medication to women in the United States."

Life Legal, a Napa, Calif.-based nonprofit group that opposes abortion, brought its suit under whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act. That allows third parties to file challenges on behalf of the U.S. government and claim between 15 percent and 30 percent if the action is successful.

Story continues

Life Legal will receive approximately $116,000 from Dancos payments to the Justice Department over the next roughly nine months, according to the settlement.

In a particularly awkward provision for Danco, which was specifically founded to ease access to medication abortion by distributing mifepristone in the U.S., the drug firm agreed to pay over $46,000 directly to the anti-abortion organization to cover its legal fees and costs related to the suit.



The suit was filed nine days after Joe Biden was sworn into office in January 2021, seemingly setting up a showdown between a president who supports abortion rights and the drugmaker. In accordance with federal law, the complaint was kept under seal while the government investigated. A judge unsealed portions of the records earlier this month.

Last week, the Justice Department and Danco asked the Supreme Court to preserve access to mifepristone after a lower court suspended FDA approval of the drug. Justice Samuel Alito issued a short-term stay while the court considers the request.
Ralph Yarl reportedly rang a white mans doorbell by mistake while trying to pick up his twin brothers in Kansas City, Missouri, at which point the 16-year-old was shot in the head and again while on the ground.

A community is calling for justice after a Black teenager who unintentionally rang the wrong doorbell was shot twice by a white man at the home.

According to The Kansas City Defender, Ralph Yarl, 16, went to the wrong address while trying to pick up his twin brothers in Kansas City, Missouri. He rang the doorbell and was then shot once in the head through the glass door and a second time while he lay bleeding on the ground.

Family members said Yarl managed to get up and run from the property, stopping at three houses before getting assistance, The Kansas City Star reported.

A community is demanding justice for Ralph Yarl (above), a 16-year-old who was shot after he rang the wrong doorbell in North Kansas City. (Photo: Screenshot/YouTube.com/Fox 4 News Kansas City)

Yarls aunt, Dr. Faith Spoonmore, referred to the incident as a hate crime rather than an error. You dont shoot a child in the head, she said, The Defender reported, because he rang your doorbell.

Officers took the unidentified shooter to police headquarters to get his statement but released him with no charges, which left Yarls family outraged.

This man intended to kill an innocent child, Spoonmore claimed, The Defender reported. He looked him in the face and shot him, and the individual is free to go about his day as if he did a great deed.

According to The Star, Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said Sunday that the department is trying to ensure the investigation progresses as swiftly as possible to present the case to the Clay County prosecutor.

Graves said law enforcement needs information, including a formal victim statement and forensic evidence, to file a case before making an arrest. She noted that the teen, who was critically wounded, has not yet been able to provide police with such a statement.

Patience Gaye, 33, emigrated to America from Liberia, just like Yarls parents. She joined at least 200 others in a peaceful demonstration Sunday in the Northland neighborhood of Kansas City. Expecting her first child, Gaye said she is overcome with a new fear as she watches Yarls battle to recover.

Story continues

How do you protect a Black kid? Gaye questioned, according to The Star. What are we supposed to do now? We left our countries because we dont want to be killed.  They came to America for a better life. How is this a better life?

The Yarl family wants help from supporters to raise awareness about the case and the problem of racial violence in America. The fact that the police said it was an error is why America is the way it is, Spoonmore contended, The Defender reported.

She has set up a GoFundMe effort for Yarl that has raised more than $1 million as of Monday. The crowdfunding platform describes the high school junior as a fantastic kid who loves music and has ambitions to visit West Africa before enrolling at Texas A&M University to study chemical engineering.

Ralph deserves to have the future that he has dreams about, the GoFundMe reads. He deserves to be the light that shows the world that LOVE wins and that humanity is still Good.

The GoFundMe message notes that even after healing physically, the teenager has a long journey ahead of him mentally. Life looks a lot different right now, it reads.

The trauma that he has to endure and survive is unimaginable, the effort states, calling him the familys miracle.

We have heard these types of stories many times, Spoonmore added, and unfortunately, most black boys are not alive to get another chance.

According to The Star, civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Lee Merritt will represent the Yarl family. Crump has defended families in high-profile cases, including those of Trayvon Martin and George Floyd. Merritt represented the families of Ahmaud Arbery and Cameron Lamb, who was shot to death in 2019 by Kansas City detective Eric DeValkenaere.

It is inescapable, said Crump, The Star reported, not to acknowledge the racial dynamics at play.

TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and Android TV. Also, please download theGrio mobile apps today!

The post Activists, police chief respond to shooting of Black teen who pushed the wrong doorbell appeared first on TheGrio.
The popularity of electric vehicles (EVs) is increasing rapidly. According to recent trend analysis, sales of new EVs rose by an astounding 65% in 2022, a growth that is made all the more significant by the fact that, overall, new car sales declined 8% during the same period. In 2022, nearly 6% of all new car purchases were EVs, cresting the 5% tipping point that analysts feel signifies these vehicles entry into the mainstream. So, its likely that, if youre thinking about purchasing a new car, an electric vehicle will be in your consideration set: an option among your field of possible choices. Given that, you may have lots of questions regarding the things you need to think about in deciding if an EV is right for you, and, if so, which one you should choose.

Fortunately for you, were here to help. AD has been covering the EV market since its inception, and, with the help of Brian Moody, executive editor of AutoTraderan online marketplace for car buyers and sellersweve created a list of things to consider.

1. Price

The first thing to consider is price, Moody says. Most new electric cars are quite expensive right now. To support this, Moody points out that the average transaction price for a new electric vehicle is well over $60,000, while the average new-car transaction is in the high $40,000 range. He adds that, while there is a number of small, inexpensive (sub-$30,000) gas-powered cars, trucks, and SUVs priced below this threshold, the number of affordable EVs is very low.

However, new federal tax breakspart of the Biden administrations wondrous infrastructure billand other incentives can potentially bring those prices close to parity, as may recent price drops on popular EVs like the Chevrolet Bolt, Ford Mustang Mach-E, and Teslas Model 3 and Y. As with everything in buying a new car, do your research.

Display informs about battery charge level in the electric car Photo: Getty Images

2. Range

With gasoline-powered vehicles, price tends to scale with higher performance. With EVs, price tends to scale with longer range. So, a less expensive electric car often means it has a smaller battery, Moody says. Many EVs that are available for under $30,000, like the Nissan Leaf or Mini Cooper EV, can travel fewer than 150 miles on a charge, while 300 or 400 miles of range is reserved for six-figure vehicles like the Lucid Air sedan or GMC Hummer truck. The $25,000 Chevrolet Bolt hatchback breaks this mold with an impressive 258 miles of range.

Story continues

It is also important to consider automakers stated range numbers. Many manufacturers will advertise a total rangesay 200 mileson a fully charged battery, but this comes with caveats. Theyll often tell you, dont charge it all the way up, because that affects long-term battery health, Moody says. So, be sure to look into that as well.

3. Driving Habits

In a gasoline-powered car, one must take ones regular commute into account when considering issues like fuel economy and fuel prices. Driving a big, guzzly SUV 100 miles daily could eat into ones bank account. With an EV, the considerations are different. Unless your commute is over 50 miles each way, even the lowest-range EVs should be able to cover the distance. But this requires the ability to recharge overnight at home, or during the workday at your job.

Additionally, if youre regularly visiting a friend, relative, or second home that is several hundred miles away, and it lacks a charger, you may not be able to make it there or round-trip on a single charge and will need to budget that into your routine.

Aerial view of luxury cars in electric charging station next to the highway with solar panel carport. Photo: Getty Images/Artur Debat

4. Charging

The current state of our public charging infrastructure makes this a very important consideration. Charging currently works best for homeowners who have their own charging setup. People who buy electric cars todayabout 80% of them charge up entirely at home, Moody says. This is convenient for their regular commute and daily driving, but can leave them seeking a public charger, if they need to take a longer trip.

There is an increasing number of public chargers out there. But many public chargers are poorly maintained, unavailable to the public, nonexistent, nonfunctional, and/or incapable of charging at the stated rate.

There are additional challenges if you live in an apartment building, and/or in a residence without access to dedicated parking or the ability to install a home charger.

Its also important to be aware of an electric vehicles capacity for fast charging. High-end EVs like the Porsche Taycan, Audi e-Tron GT, and Lucid Air offer the capability for very high-speed charging, as do more affordable vehicles like the Kia EV6 and Hyundai Ioniq5. This can really speed up public charging times. However, one must be able to find a high-speed charger that is functional, available, and capable of providing high-output electricity. This is no easy task. So it is important to question manufacturers advertised statements on charging rates, as these are often predicated on the highest rates of charge, and these may not be readily or consistently available in the real world.

5. Climate

Electric vehicles are a lot like people: They operate optimally within a very narrow temperature band. When the temperature gets too hot or too cold, it has a negative impact on overall range. So, if you live in San Diego, high fives all around, Moody says. But, if youre in the Northeast during a polar vortex, or in the Southwest during a heat wave, thats different. Range is going to diminish.

6. Choice

EVs are a fast-growing segment of the automotive market, expanding into categories including small hatchbacks, midsize sedans and SUVs, and even full-size pickups. But, currently, there are not as many options as there are in the world of gasoline-powered vehicles. There are very few legitimately large SUVs, for example, Moody says. This is changing and will continue to change as manufacturers add more EVs to their fleets.

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

More Great Stories From AD
Over the weekend, we started a cult. It was one of those things that happen when you decide to stop drinking for a few weeks. It's an avocado-oriented octopus cult called Octo-guacamolians. But that's not important right now. What is important is that we fed the parameters of the cult into GPT-4, and it came up with a number of remarkably coherent and reasonable rites, rituals and, well, all other aspects of cultiness. Later the same weekend, I was reflecting on what I've done for much of my life and started to wonder whether I was a proto-AI for a while.

A publisher saw the post and asked if I wanted to write a book about macro photography. I said yes, then had to learn how actually to do macro photography.

You see, I found myself in an interesting situation for a while there. I wrote a stack of books about photography, starting with one on macro photography, followed by a bunch of others. Portraiture, travel photography, etc. In the weird times before we settled on "mirrorless" for the current slew of image-capturing devices, there was a hot moment when nobody really knew what to call them, so we were referring to them as Compact System Cameras (CoSyCa) and so on -- and I brilliantly thought I would name the entire genre EVIL -- electronic viewfinder, interchangeable lens. The publisher agreed, and we even ended up publishing a book called EVIL photography. Those were the days of experimentation, a brave, brand new world where nobody really knew what was what, where was where, and whether anything really mattered anyway.

The story of my macro photography book was particularly interesting; back in 2005, I built a macro lens out of a Pringles can (really, it was just a convenient tube to reverse a 50mm lens, but... it worked!), which ended up on slashdot, digg and all of those pre-Reddit-era link aggregation sites. In the process, I racked up a ton of traffic and got to learn the hard way why we use AWS and such these days -- back in the mid-naughties, we ran our own servers, which meant that my host was very grumpy that there was suddenly a ton of traffic to this one particular page, and threatened to unplug the server because it was taking up too many resources. Ah, the heady days of the early internet.

Story continues

In any case, a publisher saw the post, and asked if I wanted to write a book about macro photography. I said yes, then had to learn how to actually do macro photography. The great thing about book publishing is that it takes a long time. So I bought a new camera, wrote a letter to Canon saying that I was writing a book about macro photography, asking if they wouldn't pretty please send me a few macro lenses, and went to my local bookstore and bought a bunch of books and magazines about macro. I spent the next four months looking at porn (that was my day job -- long story) and taking macro photos, teaching myself and taking notes as I went along. In the end, I distilled all my notes and learnings into my first book.

All the subsequent books were, essentially, the same thing: I learned everything I could about a subject, distilled it and wrote it up, illustrating it with photos I took along the way. Are they the best macro/travel/portrait photos you've ever seen? Probably not. But my publishers would tell me that was okay; I had a rare gift of being able to learn the thing, do the thing, then teach the thing, and string sentences together that mostly made sense in a way that book-buying audiences seemed to enjoy.

In addition to writing my own books, I've ghost-written a bunch of books as well (most of which I can't say anything about because NDAs and contracts, ssssh), but they were the same thing but in a different way. I would soak up as much information as I can, then distill it into a coherent form, matching my style as far as possible to something that the other person would have plausibly written. I've written books about venture capital, photography and some far more esoteric topics.

When I started learning more about how the AIs work -- how they can emulate the forms of other artists and even the writing styles of other writers -- I found myself having an existential crisis. This thing I had been doing for 20+ years could now be done by computers.

As a university student, I had a number of internet friends who were word-playing dilletantes, crafting the most obtuse prose we could, in the styles of Franz Kafka, Werner Herzog and the OMG! EXCITING! KAWAII! styles that were meandering across the internet. It was fun and educational, as a writer, to get a sense of how much flex there is, stylistically and creatively, in the writing of words.

I have to admit, I was scared to ask GPT-4 to try out some of the writing prompts I remember from back in the day.

I asked it to "Write 100 words about the joy of kittens in the style of Werner Herzog":

The joy of kittens is a fleeting, visceral experience, a mere glimpse into the chaos of existence. As they frolic, we are reminded of our own primal desire to play, to explore the unfathomable cosmos. These tiny creatures embody the fragility of life, their innocence bearing the weight of the relentless march of time. Yet, in their eyes lies an indomitable spirit, a force that defies the entropic nature of the universe. It is in these ephemeral moments that we are granted a reprieve from the crushing indifference of the cosmos, our hearts swelling with warmth, as we are engulfed by the rapture of their presence.

I asked it to "Write 100 words about the joy of kittens in the style of Franz Kafka":

Within the shadowy corners of existence, one might find solace in the unassuming presence of kittens. Their delicate purrs, woven into the fabric of reality like an intricate tapestry, are an enigmatic paradox of innocence and primal nature. The joy they evoke, a fleeting moment of respite from the existential weight we carry, is an elusive treasure that eludes our grasp like a whisper in the wind. The dance of feline innocence, reflected in their vibrant eyes, a window into the depths of their souls, fills the void of human longing with a warm, ephemeral glow, rendering the unbearable burden of existence momentarily bearable.

And my heart broke a little.

God, this is good.

This unassuming little AI was able to do, seemingly effortlessly, what my compatriots and I had been slaving over for hours. The ramifications of that are terrifying on so many levels. Fake news, fake reviews, fake everything, can now be cranked out on an industrial scale, and all good enough to be just-about-plausible.

It is often said that humans will do jobs until machines can come along and do it well enough for cheaper. That's true for most of the field of robotics -- it is possible (maybe) to build a car by hand, but robots have taken over much of manufacturing, for good reason.

In being asked to write books on various topics, I'm reflecting on how similar my instructions were to the kinds of prompts I give to GPT now. "Hey Haje, could you write a book on travel photography? Same kind of style as your portraiture book, but focused on lighter gear and taking photos on the go?" Well. Yes, sir, I can.

And in the midst of all of this, I'm reminded of the time I received a copy of a book that had my name on the cover but that I didn't write.

And in the midst of all of this, I'm reminded of the time I received a copy of a book that had my name on the cover but that I didn't write. My book publisher had re-purposed most of the copy I wrote for a book that flopped, had an editor re-write parts of it and then re-published it with a completely different title and angle. Somehow, that also happened while the publisher was being acquired, or sold, or went through a management change of some sort, which resulted in nobody actually telling me this was happening. The first time I knew this book existed was when a FedEx box with five copies of it turned up at my doorstep, followed (a few days later) by (ironically) my advance check. Legally, they were in the clear -- I had signed away the rights to my book, and they were able to turn it into cartoons or bobbleheads or movies or dance performances. At least, that's how I read "any media," -- but it turns out that "any media" could also mean "another book." Silly me.

In today's world of generative AI, all of the above doesn't sound completely outrageous. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a huge, Texas-sized helping of deja vu as I'm watching AI unfold in front of our eyes.

What I'm left with is the question of whether humans are still better than our robot overlords. And that's the thing that truly scares me. A generative AI with full access to the internet can out-research, out-write and out-post any human. It can emulate any writing style, and can even throw typos into the mix to throw you off its scent, should it decide it needs to. There are still some supposed tell-tale signs of AI-generated text, but as a writer, I have to admit I don't know what I'm looking for, and I'm as likely to be fooled as anybody else at this point.

The truly scary thing is how we got to GPT-4 so quickly, and that there's a lot of numbers left before we hit infinity. In other words: The shortcomings of GPT-4 will be shredded by whatever comes next, and as a writer, I feel like I have every reason to worry.

Oh, that cult we formed? We co-created it over a delicious meal of pallet wine (yes, really -- wine bought by the pallet, which I did not partake in, as per my earlier comment about not drinking) and Mexican food. I introduce you to The Octo-guacamolians: A group dedicated to the worship of an eight-armed avocado god named Guacamoctopus. They hold weekly rituals that involve the creation of intricate guacamole mandalas and underwater dance performances.

I mean. If it didn't exist before, it exists now.
Workers recover a piece of debris from Air France Flight 447 in 2009. Forca Aerea Brasileira via LatinContent via Getty Images

A Paris court on Monday cleared Air France and Airbus of involuntary manslaughter charges related to a 2009 plane crash that killed 228 people.

While it was determined that there were several negligent incidents from both companies, "a probable causal link isn't sufficient to characterize an offense," the court ruled, per Reuters.

The ruling follows an intense public trial held over Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330 that disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009, while en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. The remains of the plane and its black box recorders were found on the ocean floor two years later.

It was determined that the crash occurred when the plane encountered a mid-ocean thunderstorm. After the plane's "airspeed sensors froze and gave false readings, the pilots failed to follow correct procedure and lost control of the plane, which plunged into the ocean," BBC News reported.

A subsequent investigation by The Associated Press found that "Airbus had known since at least 2002 about problems with the type of pitot tubes [airspeed sensors] used on the jet that crashed, but failed to replace them until after the crash." Airbus was accused of not informing its airlines about issues with the sensors, while Air France was accused of not training its pilots on contingencies when the sensors froze, per AP.

However, following a decade of legal proceedings, the court has ruled there was not enough direct evidence against the two companies to hold them liable, a decision that was decried by the victim's families and legal counsel.

"Our lost ones have died a second time. I feel sick," Claire Durousseau, whose niece died in the crash, told Reuters. Daniele Lamy, the head of the main Air France 447 victims' association, added that she was "mortified and overwhelmed" by the decision.

You may also like

5 unethically funny cartoons about Clarence Thomas

Leaked U.S. files jumped from online spats to global breach through pro-Russia account run by U.S. Navy vet

Codeword: April 15, 2023
Photo: The Canadian Press Signage is photographed at the Ontario Liberal Party's 2023 Annual Meeting at the Hamilton Convention Centre in Hamilton, Ont., on Sunday, March 5, 2023. The OLP is set to announce its new leader on Dec. 2, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Alex Lupul

Ontario Liberals are set to vote for their new leader through ranked ballots in late November, with the results to be unveiled Dec. 2.

The party's executive announced Sunday that it has set out the rules and timelines for the race to replace Steven Del Duca, who resigned after the Liberals did not win enough seats in the 2022 election to have official party status at the legislature for the second campaign in a row.

Several would-be candidates have said they are exploring leadership bids, including MP Nate Erskine-Smith, MP and former Ontario cabinet minister Yasir Naqvi, and current provincial caucus member and former MP Ted Hsu.

The party said it will host at least five debates around the province during the race.

The Liberals say they will soon announce the opening date for official candidate registration, but the deadline has been set as Sept. 5 and candidates must have an entry fee of $100,000 and a refundable $25,000 deposit.

Selecting our next leader is central to setting the stage for a successful campaign that will end Doug Fords disastrous term as Premier, party president Kathryn McGarry said in a statement.

Liberals from all across Ontario are feeling energized following our partys largest annual meeting in over 20 years, and are eager to continue building on this momentum as we prepare for a strong and competitive leadership race."

The word competitive was in italics in McGarry's statement, suggesting a dig at the NDP.

Marit Stiles was officially crowned leader of the New Democrats in early February after she was the only contender when nominations closed in December. The Liberals have boasted that there will be more interest in their top job and their leadership race will help to gain new members while raising money and the party's profile.

But the timing also means Stiles will have a year's head start on introducing herself to voters ahead of the 2026 election.

Liberals will cast their votes by ranked ballot on Nov. 25 and 26, with the party set to announce round-by-round results the following weekend on Dec. 2.

Members at the party's annual general meeting last month overwhelmingly voted to ditch delegated conventions and move to a one-member-one-vote system. Proponents say the process is more democratic, and delegated conventions put too much power in back rooms.
Master Sgt. Zachary Cooper last month received the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Pentagons highest award for extraordinary aerial achievement, for his courage and quick thinking when a nighttime ground patrol turned deadly in Afghanistan in 2019.

He scrambled to fix a problem that prevented his aircraft from firing its weapons, saving the lives of 184 U.S. and partner troops who faced intense and effective enemy fire from insurgent fighters on the ground, according to his award citation. He joins thousands of other American aviators who have been recognized for their exceptional efforts in air warfare.

Cooper served as a tactical systems operator with the 363rd Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing in Afghanistan, where he flew with Air Force special operators in missions targeting al-Qaida and the Taliban.

Tactical systems operators are airborne intelligence specialists who, as part of the crew on a special operations aircraft, can vacuum up data from the surrounding area using interchangeable surveillance kits onboard and help direct operations accordingly.

On Feb. 8, 2019, Cooper was part of a team guarding ground forces from an unnamed armed aircraft over Helmand province, the Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan, when his plane  the only armed asset overhead  couldnt fire its weapons. The citation did not describe the issue.

First Air National Guard flight nurse receives highest flying award

Cooper figured out a way to resolve the problem in time for the crew to conduct multiple airstrikes on enemy positions, the citation said. Several strikes targeted enemies in danger close range of U.S. and partner forces, it added.

He expertly contacted tactical command and control early in the sortie, alerting them of the dire and deteriorating ground situation, and requested additional close air support assets, the citation said.

F-16 Fighting Falcon jets came to the rescue, killing multiple enemy fighters and destroying buildings. Cooper also called in a medical evacuation for a badly wounded foreign service member.

Cooper received the award at a March 28 ceremony at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia. He enlisted in the Air Force in 2005 as a fighter jet maintainer and later retrained as an airborne ISR operator.

It was one of those nights, like many others, where things just clicked for us as a team and we were able to do the right things at the right times, he said in a release. It really was a team effort and the professionalism of all involved was second to none.
Rishi Sunak met Akshata Murty at Stanford when he was studying there on a Fulbright scholarship. (PA)

Rishi Sunak is under investigation over a possible failure to declare the shares his wife holds in a childcare agency that was boosted by the budget.

Parliament's standards watchdog has opened an inquiry into the prime minister under rules demanding that MPs are "open and frank" about declaring their interests.

It is understood the investigation relates to the shares Sunak's wife, Akshata Murty, holds in Koru Kids.

Murty is the wealthy daughter of an Indian billionaire and has already found herself embroiled in political controversy over her tax affairs. Yahoo News UK profiles her and how the couple acquired their immense wealth.

Who is Rishi Sunak's wife Akshata Murty?

Murty, 43, was born in Hubli, to Indian tech billionaire Narayana Murthy who founded the IT company Infosys; the company is now estimated to be worth around 67.6bn.

Time magazine has described him as the "father" of India's IT sector, with an estimated net worth of around 4bn.

Murty studied at Baldwin Girls' High School in Bangalore, India and then moved to California where she studied economics and French at Claremont McKenna College.

Read more: The video which shows the big problem facing Rishi Sunak

Akshata Murty's father, Narayana Murthy, has been described as the Bill Gates of India. (Reuters)

Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murty made the Sunday Times Rich List 2022. (PA)

She later attended the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising before heading to Stanford University where she gained a Master of Business Administration (MBA).

It was at Stanford where she met Sunak, who was there on a Fulbright scholarship.

Sunak and Murty married in her hometown of Bengaluru in 2009, and have two children - Anoushka and Krishna.

The pair have four homes including a 1.5m mansion in Sunak's constituency of Richmond (Yorkshire), a 6.6m townhouse in Kensington, London, and a home in Santa Monica, California, which has an estimated value of 5.5m.

Watch: Who is Rishi Sunak?

What's her net worth and how did she make her wealth?

In 2007, she worked as a marketing director at tech company Tendris before starting her own fashion company which closed in 2012.

Story continues

After the closure of her fashion company, she became the director of Catamaran Ventures, an Indian venture capital fund, where she co-founded the London branch with Sunak - which is owned by her father.

Murty owns a 0.91% share of her father's technology company, Infosys, worth around 615m as of October 2022.

Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murty have two young daughters, Krishna and Anoushka. (Getty Images)

Read more: LBC host shuts down 'racist' caller who says Rishi Sunak 'isn't even British'

The businesswoman also owns shares in Jamie Oliver's restaurant businesses, as well as Wendy's, Koro Kids, and is director of Digme fitness.

According to Bloomberg, Murty has a total net worth of 1.06bn.

However, according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2022, Sunak and Murty's combined net worth at 730m - making the incoming prime minister the wealthiest MP in parliament.

Why has Murty been criticised?

Sunak is being investigated over a possible failure to declare an interest in an "open and frank" manner.

It is understood the inquiry relates to the shares Murty owns in Koru Kids, a childcare agency which could benefit from a new policy announced in the spring budget.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced a pilot of incentive payments of 600 for childminders joining the profession, with it doubling to 1,200 for those who sign up through agencies.

Murty was listed as a shareholder for one of those agencies, Koru Kids, as recently as 6 March.

Sunak was urged to "come clean" about his family shares last month after being questioned by MPs over why the childcare policy favoured private firms.

Appearing before the Liaison Committee, he did not mention Murtys shares in the firm.

Asked if he had any interests to declare, Sunak said: "No, all my disclosures are declared in the normal way."

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Akshata Murty has a net worth of over 1bn. (Getty Images)

Koru Kids, which is one of six childminder agencies listed on the governments website, welcomed the new incentives in the budget as great.

Downing Street said Sunak will clarify how it was declared as a ministerial interest, rather than to the Commons.

In April 2022, it emerged she was registered as a non-domiciled resident of the UK which could have enabled her to avoid millions of pounds in tax.

After intense political pressure and backlash from the public, Murty announced she was changing her tax arrangements.

"I understand and appreciate the British sense of fairness and I do not wish my tax status to be a distraction for my husband or to affect my family," she said in April.

"For this reason, I will no longer be claiming the remittance basis for tax."

Murty has also come under criticism after it emerged Infosys was still operating in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.

Additional reporting by Nadine Batchelor-Hunt.

Watch: Labour leader says 'nobody targeting PM's wife' as he defends adverts
Alec Baldwin has called on a judge to throw out an especially misguided lawsuit against him by the family of the late Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Hutchins died in October 2021 after being struck by a live bullet during rehearsals on set in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The films director Joel Souza was also shot and injured but survived the incident.

In January, Baldwin was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter over the shooting of 42-year-old Hutchins.

The actor pleaded not guilty, having previously claimed he was told the gun was safe and denied pulling the trigger.

The following month, Hutchins parents and sister filed a lawsuit against Baldwin and others, seeking compensation for infliction of emotional distress, negligence and a loss of consortium.

In court documents filed last week (obtained by The New York Post), Baldwin argued that the lawsuit should be dismissed because the family had been distant from the cinematographer in the years leading up to her death.

The loss of a daughter and sister is undoubtedly painful in any circumstance. Yet Plaintiffs  who had been distanced from Halyna physically, financially, and emotionally for years before her death  have no viable cause of action against Defendants, Baldwin said, adding: This action is especially misguided.

Hutchins died on the set of Rust in 2021 (Getty Images for SAGindie)

The 30 Rock star also argued that he already reached a settlement with Hutchins husband Matthew in October, with the court documents reading: She left behind a husband and a son in California, who promptly filed claims in New Mexico for wrongful death and loss of consortium.

Matthew Hutchins and Alec Baldwin, both operating under the specific desire to honour her legacy and do what is best for Halynas son, reached a settlement in October 2022. That should have been the end of the matter, but it is not.

The charges in the criminal case against Baldwin carry a maximum penalty of 18 months in prison and fines.
Thomas Petry bond hearing at the Volusia County Courthouse in DeLand, Monday, April 17, 2023.

Thomas Petry, the wrong-way driver who court records show fled the scene after the pickup he was driving crashed into a car, killing popular Tik Tok personality Ali-Spice and two others, was released from jail Monday on a $335,000 bond.

Petry, 54, of Orange City, had been held without bond at the Volusia County Branch Jail since his arrest on April 7. Petry was charged with three counts of vehicular homicide, three counts of leaving the scene of a fatal crash, and other charges.

Petry was behind the wheel of a Toyota Tacoma pickup truck going westbound in the eastbound lane of State Road 44 just east of Interstate 4 on Dec. 11 when the truck crashed head-on into an Infiniti Q50, investigators said. Petry had been drinking alcoholic beverages with Joanna Dillon, 37, of Deltona, in the hours before the crash, according to police. Dillon owned the truck Petry was driving.

Killed in the crash in the Infiniti were Alexandra Dulin, 21, also known as Ali Spice on TikTok to almost a million followers, Kyle Jacob Moser, 25, of Daytona Beach, and Ava Fellerman, 20, of Treasure Island.

Legally entitled to bond

Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols on Monday noted that Petry was entitled to bond under the law and she did not see anything legally that would preclude him from getting it. But the judge said she would consider the statements from the families in setting the bond amount.

Nichols later set bond at $335,000 and also required Petry to adhere to a number of conditions, including random urinalysis and no drugs without a prescription. He is also required to stay away from bars and any restaurant that has a bar. The judge asked if Petry had a passport and his attorney, Richard Zaleski Jr., said he did not.

Petry's attorney had asked for a bond of $100,000 while the prosecutor asked for $1.6 million.

Petry was released from the county jail at 10:55 p.m. after posting the bond.

Bond hearing in Ali Spice case Accused wrong-way driver in crash that killed Ali Spice seeks release from jail

Story continues

Ali Spice Fatal crash Bond set for driver of car in which Ali Spice was a passenger when she was killed in crash

Before arrest in Ali Spice crash Accused driver in Ali Spice car crash: 'I'm not hiding'

Devin Perkins, 22, of New Smyrna Beach, was driving the Infiniti and suffered serious injuries. Perkins was going 100 mph and also had tested positive for THC and alcohol, according to a charging affidavit.

Perkins was also arrested on April 7 and charged with three counts of vehicular homicide and one count of reckless driving-serious bodily injury. Perkins, 22 was released from the Volusia County Branch Jail on Thursday on $80,000 bail.

Dulin's and Moser's family members asked at a hearing Thursday that the judge set a bond for Perkins so he could be released. On Monday opposed bond for Petry.

'How do you run from that?'

Mosers mother, Theresa Moser, said in an emotional statement during the hearing Monday that Petry had left people to die at the crash site.

How do you leave? How do you run from that? Moser said.

TikTok star Ali Spice was killed in a car wreck near DeLand early Sunday, according to family and friends.

She said she had lost her son.

We dont have any more holidays with our children. Hes got holidays with his family. He's got birthdays with his family. We dont have that, Moser said.

Petry appeared to wince at her comments at one point and looked down at the floor at another.

Dulins father, Jimmy Dulin, appeared via Zoom and also asked that Petry be held without bond, saying he had fled the scene rather than remain and help.

"He did a horrible horrible thing," Jimmy Dulin said of Petry.

Petry made no statement during the hearing other than answering questions from his attorney.

No prior arrests

Petry said he had no prior arrests. He said he had four children and three grandchildren.

He said he owned a business called Affordable Car Care in Eustis. According to Florida Corporate records, Petry is listed as the registered agent and manager.

In response to questions, Petry said he retained a lawyer after the crash. That lawyer, who no longer represents him, told him he would likely be arrested and face prison time.

You were aware of all that and surrendered upon arrest? Zaleski said

Yes, I did, Petry said.

Zaleski said Petry knew what was coming and did not flee in the months before his arrest. He has ties to the community, home, and business

The defendants behavior itself speaks for itself, his charged with leaving the scene, Assistant State Attorney Dan Megaro said in asking for the higher bond.

Theresa Moser and other family members in the group declined to comment after the hearing.

Petry's supporters also declined comment after the hearing. A man in the group identified them as good friends. The group included two young women, one of whom had been crying after Petry was led into court.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Accused wrong-way driver in Ali Spice crash post bail, released
Ali Wong at the premiere of "Beef." Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix

Ali Wong says she's been frustrated getting Asian food with non-Asian people in the past.

She recounted being asked countless questions after taking out friends who begged her to go to dim sum.

Wong said that it's people being "squeamish" and asking "a ton of questions" that bothers her.

Ali Wong said that she's gotten frustrated while getting Asian food with non-Asian people who bombard her with questions and sometimes express disgust during a meal.

During a segment on "The Kelly Clarkson Show," Wong and host Kelly Clarkson discussed one of Wong's "beefs," referencing the title of her new Netflix series "Beef," in which she stars alongside Steven Yeun. The beef in question  getting Asian food with non-Asian people.

"When I was living in New York and a bunch of stand-up comics would be like, 'Take me to dim sum, I wanna go to dim sum,' and then we'd go to dim sum and they'd be like, 'What is that? Ew! What is that? What is that? What is that? What is that?" Wong said.

"And they're basically asking, 'Why is that not a sandwich?'" she continued. "And it's like, 'you asked me to take you here!" And also, with dim sum, it's all pork and shrimp. Just eat it."

Dim sum is a meal composed of small plates and is part of the Cantonese food tradition. These dishes may include har gow, a shrimp dumpling, loh mai gai, glutinous rice wrapped in lotus leaves, shu mai, a steamed dumpling, and chicken feet, amid a number of other classics.

Clarkson told Wong that she thought her frustrations were going to lie in non-Asian people gravitating towards "the most Americanized basic" culinary items, like choosing chicken tikka masala from the breadth of Indian cuisine.

"It's more when people are squeamish," Wong said. "And ask a ton of questions."

Read the original article on Insider
The Orange County Sheriff's Department on Monday investigated a bomb threat that was phoned into Aliso Niguel High School. (Marc Martin / Los Angeles Times)

Aliso Niguel High School was briefly evacuated Monday morning after a bomb threat  which proved to be "unfounded"  was called into the school, Orange County sheriff's officials said.

Authorities said the threat was called in around 8 a.m., about two hours before classes were scheduled to start. School starts at 10 a.m. on Mondays, according to a district spokesperson.

Capistrano Unified School District spokesperson Ryan Burris said the campus was evacuated while law enforcement searched the school. Students were moved to Foxborough Park.

"The campus was cleared, students are safe, and the Orange County Sheriffs Department is investigating," Burris said.

Orange County Sheriff's Sgt. Mike Woodroof said the school was cleared and closed to students and staff out of an abundance of caution.

After sweeping the area, the Sheriff's Department's bomb squad cleared the campus and said the threat was unfounded, authorities announced via social media.

There were no reports of injuries, Woodroof said, and the campus reopened shortly after 11 a.m.

Burris noted that while the evacuation proved to be unnecessary, "every situation is unique, and we adapt based on the circumstances and communication with law enforcement."

"In this instance, school was not in session and most students who were on campus were not in classrooms," he said.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Ahmad Jamal, a towering and influential US pianist, composer and band leader whose career spanned more than seven decades and helped transform jazz, pop and hip-hop, has died at age 92.

Jamal released about 80 albums, building friendships and influence with greats such as Miles Davis, and was sampled by rappers including Nas, helping to lure a larger pop audience to jazz.

He won myriad awards over the course of his career, including France's prestigious Ordre des Arts and des Lettres in 2007 and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017.

Born Frederick Russell Jones in a humble suburb of Pittsburgh in 1930, he first sat down at a piano when he was three years old and began studying music seriously when he was seven.

He converted to Islam and changed his name when he was 20, though he avoided the more political side of the era's Black Power movement, putting his focus on a "search for peace".

The jazz scene he entered in the 1950s was often characterised by a hectic, explosive style.

By contrast, Jamal's playing was spartan and reserved, surprising his audience with long empty stretches, sudden breaks and romantic flourishes.

It took a while for people to catch on.

"His musical concept was one of the great innovations of the time, even if its spare, audacious originality was lost on many listeners," the New Yorker wrote last year.

But many were paying close attention.

Though they never collaborated, Davis often paid homage to Jamal. In his autobiography, Davis wrote: "(Jamal) knocked me out with his concept of space, his lightness of touch, his understatement, and the way he phrased notes and chords and passages."

He worked in a trio -- most notably with bassist Israel Crosby and drummer Vernel Fournier with whom he recorded his breakthrough album, 1958's "Ahmad Jamal at the Pershing: But Not for Me", which stayed on the Billboard magazine charts for more than 100 weeks, becoming one of the best-selling instrumental records of its time.

Story continues

- 'Alternative universe' -

US music critic Ted Gioia wrote that Jamal "opened up an alternative universe of sound, freer and less constrained than what we had heard before. The rules of improvised music were different after he appeared on the scene."

"The Awakening" from 1970 developed the sound -- "a fine example of Jamal's stately and understated elegance" in the words of Pitchfork -- but it also had a long afterlife, influencing hip-hop artists in the coming decades, sampled most famously by Nas on his 1990s hit "The World is Yours".

Jamal never stopped experimenting, bringing in explosive percussionist Manolo Badrena in the 1990s and still recording critically lauded work into his late 80s.

"I live an exciting life, and when you live an interesting life, you keep discovering," Jamal told AFP during a visit to France in 2012.

"Musicians blossom and build themselves. Some basic things are still there in my music, the melodic sense for example, but the density of sound has changed with age, and the rhythmic part has become more elaborate," he added.

His death, reportedly from prostrate cancer, was confirmed to US media by his family.

dw-er/lb
A viral TikTok exposed a secret perk to being a woman in Germany: You get reserved spots in parking garages.

A German woman named Janine (@janineandgen) shared the video. Janine lives in the U.S. but was visiting her home country with her girlfriend, Gen, when the subject came up.

Whats frauen parkplatz? Gen asks Janine as the two women walk through a parking garage.

Its for women, Janine responds, though that only confuses Gen even more.

So only women can park here? asks Gen. Why?

Because theyre a little bit bigger, Janine explains.

The spots are bigger? What the f***, Gen says.

Turns out, there really are designated spots for women  but the reason is a point of contention.

According to TikTok comments, many people feel its for safety reasons.

they are closer to the entrance and have cameras. So safer, one TikToker explained in the comments.

Usually theyre nearer to the exit, not in far away corners, more lights, and they have cctv, added someone else. Same for family spaces (bigger tho).

More space for moms to take their babies/kids in/out of the car too! explained another person.

In fact, other European countries have similar spots.

Same in Switzerland, closer to the entrance and cameras, nothing to do with size, one person wrote.

But others had a different take on why the parking spots exist  one thats considerably less kind.

I thought it was because they needed a wider turn to not hit adjacent vehicles, one person commented.

Safer: for people parking next to them, less risk for denting your door, another remarked.

Thats to keep all the mens cars safe from being bumped or scratched, said someone else.

According to USA Today, women-only parking spots came about in the 1990s to protect women from sexual assault. But over the years, they have drawn criticism as some perceive them to be sexist.

In 2015, Frankfurt Airport came under fire for painting these parking spots pink.

In Germany, it is a legal requirement to provide these designated parking spaces for women  with proximity to the terminal entrances, Frankfurt Airport spokesman Robert Payne told USA Today at the time.

Story continues

Payne added that the spots were painted pink simply for quick and easy recognition by women drivers  sometimes traveling with children.

But not everyone viewed them that way.

Its very patronizing for women to be singled out this way, Geraldine Herbert, editor of Wheels for Women magazine, told The Local in response to the controversy.

The fact that the spots were bigger and wider also felt like it carried some extra meaning.

According to Herbert, they only reinforce the stereotype that women are bad at parking. If anything, she added, all parking spaces should be bigger to accommodate larger cars and SUVs, which have become the norm.

In an essay for Medium that same year, an American living in Germany wrote that some areas designate 10-30% of the spaces for women.

In this case, the author was grateful.

Because Ive spent possibly too much time researching sexual assault statistics, I know in the United States, 1 in 12 completed or attempted sexual assaults occur in parking garages, wrote the articles author, Lauren Longo. One in twelve.

In addition to the parking spots, Janine has surprised her girlfriend with a lot of cultural differences in Germany.

In one video, she explains how common it is to open packs of water bottles or other drinks at the grocery store and simply purchase one.

In another, Gen seems confused as to why Germans pump their gas first and pay afterward, which is the opposite of America.

But what if you steal the gas? she asks Janine.

Why would you steal the gas, there are cameras everywhere? Janine asks.

Despite these little differences, none have drawn as much commentary as the frauen parkplatz thing. So far, the video has 15.7 million views and counting.

In The Know by Yahoo is now available on Apple News  follow us here!

The post American is shocked to discover Germany has special parking spots just for women appeared first on In The Know.

More from In The Know:

Woman impulsively places $82,000 bid on home, accidentally wins: Im going to have to find a second job

Family gets '300-year-old' surprise when they start renovating their home

I'm a lifestyle editor, and these 18 April Nordstrom new arrivals are already in my cart

Amazon shoppers just found the perfect lightweight shoe you'll wear all summer: 'Totally live up to the hype'
This article originally appeared on Velo News

Organizers of the Amstel Gold Race brushed off allegations that a close-driving race vehicle assisted Tadej Pogacar in the depths of Sundays Dutch classic.

The finale of the beer-branded race gained added fizz Sunday when the driver of the organizers lead car made a close pass around the Slovenian as he galloped toward solo victory.

The vehicle went around and then lingered a few dozen meters in front of Pogacar for several kilometers on the narrow Dutch lanes, during which time the UAE Emirates leaders gap at the front of the race inched upward.

Social media duly frothed with rage at the slipstreaming influence the car could have made.

I mean COME ON, wrote Healys EF Education-EasyPost team boss Jonathan Vaughters.

Again, vehicles are influencing the race. Drafting at two meters behind a car gives drag reduction of 65 percent(!) and time gain of about 36 seconds per kilometer(!), wrote aerodynamicist Bert Blocken. We still have a lot of educating to do 

Amstel Gold Race director Leo van Vliet - who was riding in the circumspect blue BMW - defended the action when he spoke on In Het Wiel podcast Sunday.

Ive heard the criticism, Van Vliet said. We drove behind Pogacar, and then at some point Healy got closer, so we had to pass.

I know the course, it only gets narrower, Van Vliet continued. When we drove past [Pogacar], we still had to be careful because the road was not very wide. If someone takes a picture and a car is driving in front of him ... What am I supposed to do with that?"

Van Vliet, who raced through the early 80s and saw a half-dozen Tour de France starts, doubted how the cars draft could advantage Pogacar.

Story continues

"I raced myself and I cant imagine it, he said. And what good is it for me to do so? Oh well, let them talk, I cant do anything about it.

Pogacar dismissed the incident when he spoke after the podium ceremonies, marking it as just one of the many occasions when in-race convoys advantage or disadvantage riders.

"I didnt like it. But this happens all the time when they are at the front of the race. They pass and they sink back again. Thats how it always goes, Pogacar told Wielerflits.

I cant do much about it. I can only ride as fast as possible. The car was too close, but I dont think the moment lasted too long.

Amstel is also available on draft. pic.twitter.com/tKaxUQM78U -- Bram Wulteputte (@CyclingBram) April 16, 2023

Quality work by #AGR23 race organizers... motorpaced (Derny) racing on the track is always the most exciting. So, guess they are bringing it to the road now. -- Jonathan Vaughters (@Vaughters) April 16, 2023

When there is a race going on but you have to advertise your beer. pic.twitter.com/f0kI8tcVUh -- Cycling out of context (@OutOfCycling) April 16, 2023

For exclusive access to all of our fitness, gear, adventure, and travel stories, plus discounts on trips, events, and gear, sign up for Outside+ today.
On March 23, lawmakers crowded into a packed Capitol hearing room to harangue the CEO of the social app TikTok about the company's Chinese ownership and the risks it posed to U.S. national security. Months earlier, President Biden had signed a bill banning TikTok from federal employees' devices, to prevent sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands.

What the members of Congress didn't know was that state secrets had been trickling out for months on social media and were beginning to circulate in ever-wider online forums - not on TikTok, but on U.S.-owned Discord. In the two weeks after the TikTok hearing, those classified documents would make their way into public view on U.S.-owned Twitter - and remain there for days, as owner Elon Musk mocked the idea that he ought to remove them.

Subscribe to The Post Most newsletter for the most important and interesting stories from The Washington Post.

The leaks, which included assessments of the Ukraine war and revelations of U.S. spying, didn't stem from any foreign adversary's sinister plot. Rather, they appear to have stemmed from a 21-year-old U.S. National Guard member's desire to impress his online pals.

The Discord document dump is the latest in a colorful 21st-century tradition of secrets spilled online, from WikiLeaks' earliest uploads to Russian operatives' hack of the Democratic National Committee. At a time when swaths of the U.S. government are fixated on Chinese spycraft, it serves as a reminder that information leaks in the internet age can come from just about anywhere - a risk the U.S. government has generally accepted as a price of free speech, said Anumpam Chander, a law professor at Georgetown University and an expert on technology regulations.

"The internet was never designed with national security at its heart," Chander said. "It's inherently vulnerable."

The hypothetical threats posed by TikTok's Chinese ownership aren't about leaked classified documents. They include fears that China's government might demand or covertly gain access to data on the app's American users, or persuade the company to secretly manipulate its algorithms in ways that promote or suppress certain ideas. In particular, the ban of TikTok from government devices is meant to guard against the possibility that Chinese Communist Party members or officials could gain access to the personal data of U.S. officials.

Story continues

There's no hard evidence that any of those things have happened. Both the Chinese government and TikTok insist they never will, and TikTok has taken unusual steps to limit the exposure of Americans' data, such as not tracking their precise location using GPS, as countless other mobile apps routinely do. And the Pentagon has official guidance for troops on how to use TikTok safely.

Still, the theoretical possibility has sparked bipartisan furor in Washington. Not content with the government devices ban, some congressional Republicans and Democrats, and the Biden administration, are scrambling for a legal basis on which to ban the app altogether. One approach would give the secretary of commerce special powers to crack down not just on TikTok, but also on whole categories of apps whose parent companies are based in countries designated as "foreign adversaries."

The fears are understandable. China is known to spy. Barriers between Chinese companies and the Chinese government are flimsy. And President Xi Jinping has put the screws to tech firms in the past.

Yet if the goal is to plug the holes in the U.S. information sphere, banning TikTok and other foreign apps might be like a Band-Aid on a colander.

Some 3 million Americans hold government security clearances, and thanks to the internet, any one of them can connect with, send information to, or get hacked by pretty much anyone else, anywhere in the world, at any time. Edward Snowden, who revealed National Security Agency surveillance programs, and Reality Winner, who leaked an intelligence report about Russian election interference, intentionally publicized classified information for political and moral reasons. A staffer at the DNC clicked a link in a phishing email that gave Russian hackers access to Chairman John Podesta's login credentials. U.S. forces abroad have inadvertently exposed the location of secret facilities through their use of fitness apps.

Now Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, is accused of uploading tranches of classified documents to a private chat group on the social app Discord, mostly just because he could. Reporting indicates that one member of his private chat then uploaded some of the documents to a much larger Discord group, and they gradually spread from there - ultimately making their way onto Twitter and into public view.

Over the years, the largest social networks have attempted, with mixed results, to constrain the spread of certain types of information deemed harmful, from covid-19 conspiracy theories to deepfake videos to hacked private information, especially in public-facing feeds. But keeping a given class of material off the internet entirely has proved nearly impossible; if Facebook and Twitter won't host Alex Jones or a mass shooting video, some other site surely will. Even child pornography flourishes in the internet's darker alleys, despite being illegal and aggressively policed.

Chander acknowledges it's possible that China could obtain compromising information on U.S. officials via secret back doors in an app like TikTok. It's just that there are so many other ways to obtain compromising information on the internet that the focus on TikTok can feel like a distraction - especially given that the type of information TikTok gathers is "not your typical blackmail material, or your typical espionage material," Chander said.

"The general tenor of the conversation at the national level has focused our attention on TikTok as if the American people are supposed to galvanize to protect ourselves" by deleting a Chinese-owned short-video app, he said. "Why aren't we being taught how to protect ourselves from ransomware? Why isn't there a national campaign to prevent phishing efforts? The Russian [Internet Research Agency] showed they did not have to own Facebook to own Facebook." Such initiatives, Chander believes, would do far more to secure Americans' information than a TikTok ban.

The Washington Post reached out to more than a dozen lawmakers active in discussions about national security and technology for comment. Several expressed concerns about the leak, but most did not return requests for comment, and none addressed what, if anything, should be done about the role of platforms used to disclose sensitive materials.

Meanwhile, Montana on Friday became the first state to pass a law banning TikTok altogether.

- - -

The Washington Post's Cristiano Lima contributed to this report.

Related Content

Water cuts could save the Colorado River. Farmers are in the crosshairs.

Is Lewis Hamilton too old to keep winning? Other drivers say it's complicated.

A year ago, Musk asked, 'Is Twitter dying?' He may have his answer.
Photo: Rachel Shill Cook Rachel Shill Cook and stepdaughter Addison Shill found a Megalodon tooth fossil near the Nechako River.

A Prince George mother and stepdaughter were exploring the Nechako River just outside of Miworth when they found a prehistoric fossil, last week.

Rachel Shill Cook and her 13-year-old stepdaughter Addison Shill were looking for agates along the Nechako River when they found something unusual.

Usually when it's a nice day, we want to get out for a little bit and she's really big into finding agates, so we decided to just take the opportunity to do it, explained Cook, adding that the river was quite low that day so they were able to explore some areas they normally dont get to see.

Cook said she saw something she thought was an agate but once she scooped it out of the mud, it turned out to be a tooth like structure that looked like a fossil.

She asked her stepdaughter what she thought it might be.

She says, Well, I don't know, it looks like a shark's tooth, but way bigger, said Cook. The pair then decided to post it on social media to see if anyone had any answers.

Because my thought was actually that it wasn't what I thought it was.

However, once Cook posted a picture of the object to Questions and Answers of P.G. on Facebook, the overwhelming response was that it was a Megalodon tooth.

A Megalodon is an extinct species of shark that lived approximately 23 to 3.6 million years ago.

Then Ive had a lot of people reach out to me privately, but one woman was a paleontologist and she said yeah, you 100 per cent have a Megalodon tooth on your hands.

Cook has since done some research and spoken with museums in Victoria and Tumbler Ridge, and the feedback shes been given has been the same, that while megalodons were never in the area the tooth most likely caught a ride on a glacier before ending up buried in the Nechako.

While the fossil is currently sitting in a Tupperware container in her house, Cook says shed like to eventually donate the tooth somewhere it could be a benefit to science.

I know that Megalodon teeth from what I've been reading on the internet can be quite common in some places. But to find one here is incredibly rare.

Cook notes it will be hard to top this experience the next time she and Addison are exploring the river.

She told me it's probably going to be pretty boring looking for agates now  The Megalodon tooth kind of raises the bar on neat things to find a river.
Jury selection began Monday morning in the first day of the trial of Andrew Gillum and Sharon Lettman-Hicks on public corruption charges.

Gillum, former Tallahassee mayor and the 2018 Democratic nominee for Florida governor, and Lettman-Hicks, his longtime mentor and owner of P&P Communications, are charged with illegally soliciting campaign donations and pocketing them in their own accounts. Gillum also is charged with lying to the FBI about gifts undercover FBI agents gave him during a 2016 trip to New York City.

Here are the latest developments in the trial:

Decoding the indictment ABCs: Guide to the people, organizations in Andrew Gillum corruption trial

Twelve jurors, three alternates picked to serve on Gillum jury

A jury of twelve plus three alternates were picked to serve during the Andrew Gillum/Sharon Lettman-Hicks trial. The jury is made up of nine women and six men. Five of the jurors are Black.

Late in the afternoon, the defense objected to a government request to strike one of the jurors, a Black man. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Milligan said the man looked at articles about Gillum and that he fell asleep during jury selection.

David Markus, one of Gillum's lawyers, said the man "didn't say anything that was objectionable" and that the court knew nothing about him other than his race.

"Based on the number of jurors we have that are Black males, we feel that this strike is racially motivated," Markus said.

However, U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor, who is presiding over the trial, ruled against the defense, saying the government provided reasons to dismiss him that were "race neutral."

Judge Allen Winsor is presiding over the corruption trial of Andrew Gillum.

Another juror who mentioned how much LGBTQ rights mean to her was also struck by the government.

Throughout the day, Winsor and the lawyers questioned jurors in a sidebar session that was largely inaudible because of white noise played in the courtroom. Winsor asked jurors if they could put aside their personal feelings to fairly hear the evidence and follow the law.

Story continues

Some of the jurors mentioned in questionnaires that they generally distrusted politicians. Others acknowledged reading news articles about the case before the trial began.

Opening arguments are set to begin at 8:30 a.m. at the U.S Courthouse in Tallahassee.

Judge mentions possible witnesses during jury selection

U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor asked prospective jurors this morning whether they knew anyone on a list of possible witnesses and if so whether that would impact their ability to fairly consider the case.

Among those mentioned were the aliases of two undercover FBI agents, "Mike Miller" and "Brian Butler." He did not mention another agent, "Mike Sweet," who played a key role in the corruption investigation.

Also mentioned were City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow, former City Commissioner and ambassador to Portugal Allan Katz, major Gillum donor Donald Sussman, Gillum's brother Marcus Gillum, lawyer/lobbyist and Gillum adviser Sean Pittman, former City Manager Anita Favors, Gillum's former civil lawyer, Barry Richard, Vince Evans, former lobbyist and Gillum friend Adam Corey and Scott Arceneaux, former executive director of the Florida Democratic Party.

"The right to a jury trial in our courts is one of the most cherished rights we have," Winsor told prospective jurors. "That's why we're here."

Tallahassee City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow said he doesn't know why he was mentioned today as a possible witness in Andrew Gillum trial. He said he was never subpoenaed to testify. I honestly dont know. I havent been contacted or asked any questions about it.

Alex Morris, an attorney for Lettman-Hicks, said later in court that he had no plans to call Matlow.

Gillum speaks to the media on his way into court

Gillum spoke briefly to reporters this morning as he headed in the U.S. Courthouse in Tallahassee. His wife, R. Jai Gillum, and other family and friends of Gillum and Lettman-Hicks showed up to support them.

"Gotta long day ahead," Gillum said. "But if we're fortunate, we'll get a fair jury. That's all we want."

The government releases exhibit list

The governments exhibit list in the Andrew Gillum trial includes recordings from Hamilton, the Hard Rock Cafe and a boat ride in NYC; a 2018 gubernatorial debate between Gillum and Ron DeSantis, when Hamilton came up and a Gillum interview with the Tallahassee Democrat.

The evidence includes financial statements and emails related to his gubernatorial campaign and a trove of wiretapped conversations between undercover agents and Gillum.

The agents disguised as developers also recorded conversations with Adam Corey, Gillum's former campaign treasurer and friend before a public falling out; Gillum's brother, Marcus; and influential lobbyist, Gillum friend and advisor, Sean Pittman. A conversation between Gillum and his brother was also recorded.

Back story: Sean Pittman encountered 'Mike Miller,' too

One eve of trial, Gillum claims he's innocent in fund-raising Facebook post

On the eve of trial, Gillum took to Facebook, acknowledging that he is facing "one of my greatest challenges yet" but that he is "innocent" of the charges against him.

"First, let me state unequivocally, that I am innocent of the gross allegations being made against me. I have never taken advantage of my office or position to cheat, con, or deceive anyone," Gillum said. "To the contrary, I have always fought on behalf of those who sit on the margins of our society, no matter what the cost. While this case has targeted my character, service, and actions, I want you to remember that I am the same Andrew that youve known all along  a man of character and integrity with a heart for service."

A scene from the proceedings at the Leon County Federal Courthouse, where U.S. Judge Allen Winsor is presiding over the corruption trial of Andrew Gillum. On the defense side (left to right), Mutaqee Akbar sits next to Sharon Lettman-Hicks. Next to her is Andrew Gillum besides his attorney David Markus. Evan Hurley, an FBI agent who is coordinating with the prosecuting team sits at the other facing the jury box.

He closed with a fundraising appeal to raise $1 million for his defense.

"I cant win this fight alone. Thank you for the prayers and words of support that you extend to me and my family. Please keep them coming... And for those who are able, please consider making a donation to my legal defense fund. I am so grateful to Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump, Angela Rye, Bakari Sellers, and a host of other friends who helped to establish the Bring Justice Home Legal Defense Fund."

"My family and I have made considerable financial sacrifices to defend my innocence, and your contributions will go toward the $1 million in additional funds needed to cover the trial and my legal representation."

Crowdfunding the defense: Andrew Gillum lawyer accuses FBI agents of 'misconduct' as Ben Crump raises money for his defense

Gillum, who would have been Florida's first Black governor had he won the 2018 election, noted that he was first elected to the City Commission at the age of 23 and that in 2018, he came "closer than any Democrat for (governor) in over 20 years."

"Justice frequently alludes (sic) people who look like me," Gillum said. "But I know that a fair trial with a representative jury who is able to hear the full truth and facts will have no choice but to render me innocent against these allegations."

Gavel to gavel coverage

While cameras and electronics are not allowed in the courtroom, stay tuned to tallahassee.com for daily updates from longtime investigative reporter Jeff Burlew (@jeffburlew on Twitter).

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com and follow @JeffBurlew on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Andrew Gillum trial: Jury selected, possible witnesses, live updates
Andrew Yoon

Andrew Yoon daydreams of a not-so-distant future, and of a book club that would take up a title resembling his "We Are Invited to Climb," a work of "dynamic chance poetry."

"And they will all read different versions of the same book, and they will come together and they will talk about it," Yoon said. "In that room, when theyre discussing this blurry sort of book, they will conjure up another thing that doesnt exist on any of the individual pages. That would be very exciting."

Set to appear at next week's Unbound Book Festival, Yoon wrote an unusual amount of possibilities into "We Are Invited to Climb." Both penned and coded through computer programming, these poems round available bends, adopting fresh meaning and altering the reader's experience.

The book can be handled as an object of physical media or accessed online through a "free live generating edition," in which a simple click refreshes the lines themselves.

More: Unbound can't-miss events, from Amazon to horror stories, sports writing to Kansas City lit

Measuring where music and poetry meet

Yoon often compares his present-tense work to past expectations of who he would be. He was "supposed to be a pianist," but for several years has created new music on the melodica, a handheld keyboard instrument that asks the artist to blow into a mouthpiece, initiating tone.

"Supposed to be a composer," Yoon's life bent toward poetry after studying true icon John Cage. Known to mainstream audiences for his ambient, ever-changing composition "4'33," Cage's 1961 book "Silence" spoke truth to Yoon  about Zen Buddhism, the creative life and, most importantly, the overlap between music and poetry.

Dipping a toe at a time into lyrical waters, Yoon noticed techniques and theories which serve both disciplines.

"If you chart the harmonic speed of a piece of music, you can draw out where the excitement curve is. And you can do the exact same thing in poetry," he said, through examining enjambments, turns of phrase and other poetic devices.

Story continues

Thinking about what's the same about music and poetry is infinitely more fascinating than considering their differences, Yoon added.

Yoon extends an invitation to climb

"We Are Invited to Climb"

Visit https://weareinvitedtoclimb.org/ on a Tuesday morning and you encounter "unique live-generated version 58081536338" of Yoon's book. A series of lower-case musings introduce the experience:

"These words change. the collection youre reading is but one of countless possibilities left to chance, rendered anew when you loaded this page," Yoon writes. "while the contours within are composed with intention, wherever many ways to draw a line were found, those many ways were preserved."

They represent not only an invitation to climb but a sort of cultural olive branch and a soft call to breathe deep. Yoon writes:

"These words are made in earnest, with the sincere hope that they may bring you a small bit of peace. i thank you for being as you are and i wish you many quiet moments to come."

More: Plan to read these books from Unbound festival authors

The initial title poem beckons us to meet ourselves and to see which past and present versions of life and personhood we  and the world outside  contain. Click to affect the art, and the changes are both subtle and surely felt.

The poem's physical structure shifts, changing the experience of the eye as it relays meaning to the brain, then the heart. Measurements of time within the poem change, from days to months. As does the named anatomy of a plant. A valley becomes a mountain, and kite strings reach in opposite directions.

But the invitation to climb and the "strange compassion in the scale of it all" remains a steadfast source of light.

Chance poetry affects its maker similarly, in ways small but great. The work is a salve for Yoon's indecision, he joked  if five words might fit one space, he can enter them all as possibilities. "We Are Invited to Climb" also is a book-length address to concerns of creative ego and commodification.

Yoon's process helps "reduce the amount of me present in the work," he said. In doing so, it liberates the author from perfectionist tendencies  and from the very concept of the author itself.

"We have a lot of baggage, I think, from the 19th century of the genius artist that I think were still trying to shake off," he said. "To me, this is a really interesting way to go about challenging that. How can you even talk about a perfect work when the work is one of a googleplex?"

These poems read more like Yoon, he believes, and the process feels more properly weighted  "less life or death"  as he honors the plurality of choices that might suit a given piece of verse.

Writing chance and change into each poem also strips away our worst definitions of value  what the poem might be worth in dollars and cents  to emphasize our best. That is, what a poem means to the reader, how it works on and in them.

"I dont think it completely defeats the demon," of commodification, "but it definitely poses some challenges to it," Yoon said.

Writing and reading are always processes of discovery, Yoon affirmed. A shift in sunlight or sitting in a different chair might affect the second reading of a given poem, let alone years' worth of emotions and fresh experiences. "We Are Invited to Climb" underlines that sensation, that a poem is forever changing "even if it doesnt change," Yoon said.

And the writer's own sense of real-time revelation came home to him in exhilarating ways.

"Not only am I surprised where my fingers are taking me, but Im also surprised where the text actually goes," Yoon said.

On AI, 'chance-lations' and what's next for Yoon

Yoon arrives at Unbound during a precarious moment for those who prize language. Some creators fear the use of artificial intelligence, or AI, in writing waters down a very significant slope.

Yoon shares their concerns, and is quick to illustrate the differences between AI and the processes behind "We Are Invited to Climb." AI is more of a "black-box" technology that cannot, by its nature, completely show its work, he said.

While his dynamic poems travel in unpredictable directions, Yoon remains the source of their theology and themes. At least at one point, he knew every word. His role as a creator is "building a tree of possibilities  and letting it zip through the tree in an unpredictable way," he said.

Fixing his gaze on the future, Yoon is interested in creating a "chance-lation" of the Tao Te Ching. The ancient Chinese text is notoriously difficult to translate, he said, written with vague grammatical principles that obscure the identification of subject and object.

Pulling together a number of existing translations, as well as his own ideas, could result in a sort of "meta-translation" and a deeper expression of his own ideals about the dynamic nature of art, Yoon said.

Yoon will read alongside Sun Yung Shin and Jennifer Maritza McCauley at 10 a.m. Saturday at Top Ten Wines; he will participate in the On a Cyborg Society panel with Alexander Weinstein and Akil Kumarasamy at 11:45 a.m. at Serendipity Salon. For more information on this year's Unbound, and a full author lineup, visit https://www.unboundbookfestival.com/.

Aarik Danielsen is the features and culture editor for the Tribune. Contact him at adanielsen@columbiatribune.com or by calling 573-815-1731. Find him on Twitter @aarikdanielsen.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Andrew Yoon brings the poetry of taking chances to Unbound fest
JERUSALEM (AP)  Antisemitism rose in the U.S. in 2022 and shows little sign of abating worldwide as political radicals have gained mainstream popularity, researchers said in a report released Monday.

The report was released by Tel Aviv University's Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry and the U.S.-based Anti-Defamation League as Israel began observing its annual day of remembrance for the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust.

Last year's report found that 2021 set a new high for antisemitic incidents, with the coronavirus pandemic fueling a worldwide rise in antisemitism. This year the researchers said that 2022 did not mark a universal reversal of the trend, and in some countries, most alarmingly the United States, it intensified.

Other countries with large Jewish populations, such as France, Canada, Argentina and the United Kingdom, showed a decrease in antisemitic incidents from the previous year.

The ADL found that the number of antisemitic incidents in the U.S. increased by more than 35% in the past year, from 2,721 in 2021 to 3,697 in 2022. Antisemitic and white supremacist propaganda in the U.S. also hit new levels, the organization said.

Antisemitic hate crimes rose in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, home to the countrys three largest Jewish populations, according to their police departments.

The researchers found that visibly identifiable Jews, particularly ultra-Orthodox Jews, who are also known as haredi Jews, are the primary targets of antisemitic violence in the West.

Haredi Jews are the main victims not only because they are easily identifiable as Jews, but also because they are perceived as vulnerable and unlikely to fight back, the report said.

The rise in Jew-hatred in the U.S. is not limited to white supremacists. It said that the antisemitism of the far-right and far-left are pushing into the mainstream of American culture and politics from both sides.

While antisemitism in America is nothing new, since World War II, American Jews have lived securely in the knowledge that civil society and its institutions are a reliable buffer against discrimination, prejudice and violence, the reports authors wrote. Violent attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions in recent years have shattered the perception of exceptionalism.

In Israel, the report also criticized the new government's inclusion of the ultranationalist religious Jewish Power party, founded by the successor of the late racist anti-Arab rabbi, Meir Kahane. The paper said the party has polluted Israeli public discourse with chilling racist expressions that would have led to the immediate termination of their political careers in other democracies.

"The obvious must be stated: Racism is racism, and Jewish racism is as deplorable as other forms of racism, and should never be excused or tolerated," the report said.
Antonov engineer detained in Kyiv for high treason

A leading engineer of Antonov aircraft manufacturing was suspected of participating in the network.

The investigation revealed that he posted on Russian social networks Vkontakte and Odnoklassniki videos of speeches by Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin's warlord in Chechnya, as well as materials justifying a full-scale invasion. He also supported Russian propagandists' calls for the destruction of Ukraine.

Read also: SBU charges former head of Antonov over destruction of An-225 in Hostomel

The engineer was detained in Kyiv.

The suspects publications were aimed at undermining national security, confirmed the Ministry of Justices Research Center for Forensic Examination of Intellectual Property.

Read also: Former Antonov plant director faces new charges for failing to evacuate plane to Germany  SBU

He was charged with encroaching on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine (Part 1 of Article 110 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code) and now faces up to five years in prison.

A total of six propagandists from Ivano-Frankivsk, Zakarpattia, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts participated in the network, the SBU said. They created several social media accounts that were used to discredit the Ukrainian Defense Forces and incite anti-Semitic sentiment in the region.

The investigation is ongoing.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
The Minnesota Twins and starting pitcher Pablo Lopez agreed Monday on a contract that adds $73.5 million over four seasons, according to a person with direct knowledge of the deal.

The person confirmed the agreement to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the contract was still pending completion of a physical exam and had not yet been announced by the club.

Lopez's first season with the Twins has started splendidly after he arrived in a trade with Miami that sent 2022 American League batting champion and fan favorite Luis Arraez to the Marlins. The right-hander has a 1.73 ERA through four starts with 33 strikeouts in 26 innings and only 15 hits allowed.

Lopez was the hard-luck loser Sunday in New York, when Yankees ace Gerrit Cole pitched a two-hit shutout to beat the Twins 2-0. That was the second complete game in the major leagues this year. The first one also came at Lopez's expense, when 2022 National League Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara pitched a three-hit shutout April 4 to beat the Twins 1-0.

Lopez is making $5.45 million this season, his second year of arbitration eligibility. The new deal will give the Twins some additional long-term stability around a rotation that has emerged in 2023 as a clear strength of the team. The Twins entered their day off Monday with a 2.58 starting pitcher ERA that was the best in the major leagues.

Sonny Gray, Kenta Maeda and Tyler Mahle are all in the final year of their contracts, eligible to become free agents in the fall. Their uncertain status for next season only underscored the team's interest in committing to Lopez, who posted a 3.94 ERA over 94 starts with the Marlins.

Joe Ryan is the only other starter under club control beyond 2023. There's viable depth in Triple-A, including Bailey Ober, who has a 3.81 ERA in 31 major league starts, and Chris Paddack is due back from Tommy John elbow surgery around midseason this year. But the 27-year-old Lopez, a native of Venezuela, has given the Twins an ace-caliber leader to build around. He took the mound for a career-high 32 starts last season.

Story continues

The Twins, who lead the AL Central with a 10-6 record, start a three-game series Tuesday in Boston against the Red Sox.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday upheld the second-degree murder conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the 2020 killing of George Floyd, rejecting Chauvins request for a new trial.

Chauvin, who is white, was called to arrest Floyd, who was Black, outside a store after the clerk believed the 43-year-old was attempting to pay with counterfeit money.

After placing Floyd in handcuffs, Chauvin kneeled on his neck for more than nine minutes. Video footage of the incident heard Floyd repeatedly telling Chauvin and the other officers on the scene he could not breathe. Floyds death sparked nationwide protests against police brutality and racism.

Judge Peter Cahill sentenced Chauvin to 22 1/2 years after jurors found him guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Chauvin also faced a separate federal civil rights charge, for which he pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to 21 years in federal prison. He is serving his federal sentence in Arizona concurrent with his state sentence.

Last April, Chauvins attorney, William Mohrman, appealed the conviction in an 82-page brief, arguing the former police officer did not receive a fair trial, jurors  who were not sequestered during the trial  felt pressured to convict, and Chauvins case should have been moved out of Minneapolis.

The primary issue on this appeal is whether a criminal defendant can get a fair trial consistent with constitutional requirements in a courthouse surrounded by concrete block, barbed wire, two armored personnel carriers, and a squad of National Guard troops, all of which or whom are there for one purpose: in the event that the jury acquits the defendant, Mohrman said in oral arguments in January.

The appeal also argued Chauvin, as an on-duty police officer, could not be convicted of second-degree unintentional murder involving third-degree assault because on-duty officers are authorized to use force when the suspect they are arresting is resisting.

Story continues

But on Monday, the three-judge appeals court denied the appeal, stating although police officers undoubtedly have a challenging, difficult, and sometimes dangerous job  no one is above the law.

When they commit a crime, they must be held accountable just as those individuals that they lawfully apprehend, Appeals Judge Peter Reyes wrote for the panel. The law only permits police officers to use reasonable force when effecting a lawful arrest. Chauvin crossed that line here when he used unreasonable force on Floyd.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
By Horacio Soria and Juan Carlos Bustamante

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentine, fighting one of its worst outbreaks of dengue in recent years, is sterilizing mosquitoes using radiation that alters their DNA before releasing them into the wild.

The South American country has this year recorded over 41,000 cases of the disease transmitted by mosquitoes, far above the equivalent level in previous years of major outbreaks in 2020 and 2016, government data showed.

"This mosquito, due to the rise in temperature in our country and the world... is able to spread more. Their population keeps on moving further south," said National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA) biologist Marianela Garcia Alba.

To fight back, CNEA biologists have been experimenting with atomic sterilization since 2016. They are sterilizing 10,000 males per week and aim to increase that to 500,000. They expect to release the first batch of sterilized males in November.

"They are sterilized through ionizing energy and those sterile males are freed into the fields and when they meet with a wild female, their offspring are not viable," said Garcia Alba. "This way, by successive release of such males we'll be able to reduce the population of the vector mosquito."

Dengue is transmitted through the bites of aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Its symptoms include fever, eye, head, muscle and joint pain, nausea, vomiting and fatigue.

Similar techniques to sterilize pests using the same radiation found in X-rays have been utilised for decades, helping global efforts to control diseases such as chikungunya, dengue and Zika.

(Reporting by Horacio Soria and Juan Bustamente; Writing by Adam Jourdan, editing by Ed Osmond)
A 73-year-old man was arrested after being accused of chasing six teens and firing a gun near them because they were driving too fast, Utah officials told news outlets.

At 10:30 p.m. on April 15, Santa Clara-Ivins police officials were dispatched after receiving reports of a weapon offense, according to KSL.

The man, identified as Alan Culver-Ashby, told police he had followed the teens car because they were driving fast and kicking up dust and rocks, the station reported.

He then ordered six juveniles onto the ground before firing a round of ammo near them, KUTV reported citing an affidavit.

The teens, three of them initially in the car and three in the front yard of a home, ran inside the house, according to KSL.

Culver-Ashby tried to get inside the house but wasnt successful, according to KUTV.

He was stopped by officers after leaving the house and placed under arrest, according to ABC 4.

McClatchy News reached out to police on April 17 and is awaiting a response.

The man was booked into the Washington County Jail on six counts of aggravated assault and one count of felony discharge of a firearm , according to ABC 4.

Santa Clara is in southwestern Utah, and about 120 miles northeast of Las Vegas.

Man posts videos with teenager on OnlyFans before fatal shooting, Washington cops say

Teen shot to death while trying to buy cellphone, SC cops say. 19-year-old sentenced

Brothers among 3 arrested in deadly shooting of 17-year-old, South Carolina cops say
Prosecutors in L.A. County are reviewing a case presented by the Los Angeles Police Dept. against actor Armie Hammer. (Jordan Strauss / Invision / Associated Press)

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office is reviewing a case brought against actor Armie Hammer, who has been accused of sexual assault by multiple women and who allegedly coerced others to engage in aggressive sexual activities.

The case is "under review," D.A. communications director Tiffiny Blacknell told The Times on Monday. Blacknell confirmed to CNN that the Los Angeles Police Department had presented a case against the actor to the D.A.'s office.

Hammer's attorney, Andrew Brettler, did not comment on the case when reached by The Times.

Blacknell did not disclose additional information about the case nor identify the complainant or complainants. The "Call Me by Your Name" star, 36, has been under investigation by LAPD sex-crimes detectives since 2021 after multiple women publicly accused him of sexual assault.

A source close to the LAPD investigation confirmed in March 2021 that the allegations were made by the same woman who alleged in a news conference that she was violently raped by Hammer, the great-grandson of late oil tycoon Armand Hammer.

"The Social Network" actor's career came to an abrupt halt in early 2021 after dozens of disturbing text-message exchanges purportedly between Hammer and young women circulated online. In the messages, Hammer allegedly shared cannibalistic desires and his obsession with erotic BDSM practices  allegations that were further underscored last fall in the three-part Discovery+ documentary "House of Hammer."

Im here to own my mistakes, take accountability for the fact that I was an asshole, that I was selfish, that I used people to make me feel better, and when I was done, moved on, Hammer told Air Mail this February in his first interview about the allegations. Im now a healthier, happier, more balanced person.  Im truly grateful for my life and my recovery and everything. I would not go back and undo everything thats happened to me.

The "Death on the Nile" actor has denied any nonconsensual sexual activity but acknowledged in the interview that the power dynamics were off in some relationships because of his age and fame. He also admitted he was emotionally abusive to his accusers.

Story continues

Hammer traced his interest in erotic BDSM practices to sexual abuse he said he experienced for nearly a year, when he was 13, committed by a youth pastor at his church.

Times staff writer James Queally contributed to this report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Photograph: Guillermo Arias/AFP/Getty Images

Mexican authorities have arrested the head of migration for the state of Chihuahua in connection with a fire which killed 40 people at a government-run detention facility in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez last month.

The death of the migrants sparked outrage across Mexico after surveillance footage showed that officials failed to unlock the doors of the holding cell where migrants were trapped.

The arrest of the director, Salvador Gonzalez Guerrero, a retired Marine rear admiral, is the most high-profile arrest so far in the investigation into the cause of death of the migrants. Last week, the office of Mexicos attorney general announced the director of the National Migration Institute (INM) is also under investigation.

Related: Most were unconscious: Mexican firefighter recounts tragic migrant center blaze that killed 40

But the case of the fire in the Ciudad Juarez facility is not the only one.

In 2020, a Guatemalan migrant died in a detention center in the state of Tabasco after migrants trapped there protested their arrest by starting a fire in the building. Fourteen others were hospitalized due to smoke inhalation.

A Mexican news outlet found at least 12 fires have broken out in government-run migrant centers since 2019.

The INM has long been accused of human rights abuses against migrants traveling north through Mexico to the US, including, in the past four years, reports to Mexicos National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) of sexual assault, torture and cruel treatment, according to records from the institution.

A spokesperson at the INM declined to comment for this story.

In 2019, the CNDH said that migration officials tortured a Honduran migrant and threatened to disappear him. In 2021, Mexican immigration agents were caught on video throwing a migrant to the ground and kicking him in the face.

Earlier this year, the CNDH denounced migration officials after they handcuffed a Salvadoran migrant to his bed for five days as punishment for launching a hunger strike. The increase in human rights abuses comes as the military has increasingly gotten involved in immigration-related tasks.

Story continues

After the Chihuahua blaze, Mexicos president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, said one of the detainees had set fire to a mattress in protest at his impending deportation. But when the fire spread, the president said officials were unable to release the migrants because the person with keys to the cell was not present.

Under Lopez Obrador, the INM has increased the number of retired military officials who oversee migrant holding facilities in Mexico, according to a report published last year by the Mexico-based human rights nonprofit Foundation for Justice.

Nineteen out of 32 Mexican facilities were directed by retired military officers, the report states. And with that have come more human rights abuses in government-run migrant centers, according to Ana Lorena Delgadillo, director of the organization.

This took a radical turn when Lopez Obrador decided to militarize migration enforcement, she said.

The reports of human rights abuses come as Lopez Obrador, under pressure from the US, ramped up enforcement efforts to stop migrants from traveling through Mexico to the southern US border.

Since the beginning of his administration, the president  popularly known as Amlo  has repeatedly overseen the deployment of the countrys national guard to join immigration officials in breaking up caravans of migrants arriving across the countrys southern border with Guatemala. And late last year the national guard and police broke up a camp of migrants along the Rio Grande, in Ciudad Juarez, where they were waiting to cross into the US.

The root of much of what is happening is a result of migration policies that the United States has put in place and that Mexico has decided to accept, Delgadillo said.
Photo: The Canadian Press A person uses a cell phone in Ottawa on Monday, July 18, 2022.

Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says Canadians from coast to coast are united in one message to telecom providers.

We pay way too much for telecom services and we want more options, full stop, the minister declared on March 31 as he waved through the final approval for Rogers Communications Ltd.s takeover of Shaw Communications Inc.

Ottawas rubber-stamp was punctuated by his decree that the merger  through a side-deal selling Shaws Freedom Mobile to Quebecor Inc.s Videotron  would establish a viable fourth player to spur competition in the market and offer Canadians a cheaper alternative to the major companies.

Other recent developments have prompted renewed attention toward competition in telecom. In February, Champagne ordered the CRTC to implement new rules to enhance consumer rights, affordability and competition. The regulator has since launched a review aimed at bolstering competition and lowering consumer costs, though it applies only to wholesale internet sales. A review of the federal Competition Act is also underway.

But industry experts say significant structural reforms are needed to promote competition in Canadas heavily concentrated telecommunications sector, including regulatory changes and the removal of long-standing barriers to entry for new carriers.

Ben Klass, who researches the industry in Canada, noted the landscape is dominated by the Big Three  Rogers, Bell Canada and Telus Communications Inc.  who can afford to build costly network infrastructure. That lets them sell both directly to customers and to smaller companies that pay for network access. Because the big companies are the ones paying for the networks, they have an outsized affect on the sector as a whole.

Much of the public policy in this area over the last 30 years has been focused on improving competition in service provision as opposed to just simply competition in the building of networks, he said. (The government) has never really gone far enough toward enabling those companies that rent the infrastructure to actually compete in the marketplace."

That's created an impasse, he said.

"We've been in this sort of halfway house for the past 25 years, where they've said, We know we need these companies in the marketplace to provide price discipline and innovative services, but we don't want to harm the (same) companies that build the infrastructure.

Telecommunications consultant Mark Goldberg takes an opposing tack, saying the industry is far more competitive than conventional wisdom suggests. Goldberg said competition in telecommunications should be compared to other countries rather than other sectors.

You're talking about an industry that's extremely capital-intensive to build networks, he said. Canadian wireless carriers spend 50 per cent more per customer in capital compared to the rest of the G7 plus Australia. The nature of our climate and terrain and all of that adds costs."

In a statement, Rogers spokesman Cam Gordon said the Shaw merger will make the industry more competitive.

"We compete vigorously in a competitive market where prices are decreasing every year while Canadians pay more for most other goods and services," he said.

Bell and Telus did not respond to requests for comment.

Wireless prices are better than they were five years ago. While the consumer price index for consumer goods and services has risen by more than 15 per cent since 2019, the cellular service costs in Canada have decreased by over 30 per cent in the same period.

This is evidence of "vigorous competition among both national and regional providers," says the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, which represents companies that provide services and products across the wireless sector ranging from service providers to tower builders.

CWTA spokesman Nick Kyonka said providers have made record investments to upgrade their networks, which are considered among the best performing globally.

"Those who suggest that the Canadian wireless market is more concentrated than other countries are misrepresenting the facts," he said in an email, citing a recent report by Bank of America Global Research that ranked Canadas wireless market the second-least concentrated of 44 surveyed countries.

But a report released in February by Wall Communications Inc., which conducts an annual comparison of Canadian phone and internet prices to other jurisdictions, found Canada still had among the highest prices internationally for cellphone and broadband service in 2022.

Carleton University communications professor Dwayne Winseck, the director of a research project about Canadian media concentration, blamed regulatory hesitance and fragmentation on the part of the CRTC, Competition Bureau and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.

Regulators need to steel their spine,take the political hits and serve the constituents that elected them and the broader view of the public interest," said Winseck.

Researcher Klass pointed to models that have been used in other countries, such as structural separation, wherein companies that build such infrastructure cannot sell directly to the customer.

It's something that's been considered a number of times in the context of the Canadian regulatory environment. They've never gone so far as to do it.

The CRTCs announcement in March to lower some wholesale internet rates by 10 per cent is encouraging, said Keldon Bester, co-founder of the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project. The regulator in 2021 reversed its own earlier decision to drop wholesale internet rates amid protests from major operators, which had argued the lower rate would have them selling at a loss.

In a statement, the CRTC said it is committed to ensuring that Canadians have access to reliable, affordable and high-quality telecommunications services and enhancing the competitiveness of telecommunications.

Spokeswoman Patricia Valladao highlighted the regulators public proceeding to promote competition for retail Internet services given the changing market conditions and the importance to Canadians of having access to greater choice and more affordable services.

The Commission expressed concern about relying solely on its existing regulatory tools as a means to achieve those objectives. As a result, the CRTCs review will consider whether it would be appropriate to impose additional regulatory measures, including measures at the retail level.

Bester said hes also optimistic about Ottawas ongoing review of the Competition Act, launched last fall, which covers everything from the broad scope of the act to enforcement methods and corrective measures set out.

The approved merger of Rogers and Shaw should raise questions for the federal government as it pursues its modernization of the act, said University of Ottawa professor Jennifer Quaid, whose expertise is in competition law.

In January, the Federal Court of Appeal rejected the Competition Bureaus bid to quash the deal as it appealed a previous ruling from the Competition Tribunal in favour of the pact. (The court sided with the tribunals view that there was no substantial lessening of competition at risk.)

Rogers-Shaw is kind of a confirmation that we need to rethink the decision-making body that is used for competition matters, which is currently the Competition Tribunal, said Quaid.

Beyond the long, cumbersome process of going through the tribunal, she pointed to the difference in the kinds of things the commissioner has to prove versus what the merging parties have to prove.

That complaint was highlighted by the Competition Bureau in its submission last month to Ottawa on the ongoing review. The bureau said the Competition Act should be amended to allow for structural presumptions like those in place in the U.S.

That would shift the burden to the merging companies to prove why their deals are unlikely to substantially reduce market competition, replacing the current system that requires the regulator to demonstrate the reverse.

Maybe there's some other parts of merger law that needs to be looked at or changed because  it seems like the commissioner never manages to successfully make its case to the tribunal, said Quaid.

Bester said he hoped the review would yield stronger provisions to block and deter harmful mergers and revitalize Canada's abuse of dominance laws that help protect consumers from the power of dominant corporations.

What we get for that competition, I think, is not worth what the telecoms are selling. So it's quite dire.
Boris Eldagsen with DALL-E 2. Courtesy Photo Edition Berlin

Boris Eldagsen's image "The Electrician" came first in a category at the Sony World Photography Awards.

But there's a catch  the image was actually generated using DALL-E 2, the artist said.

Eldagsen said he wouldn't accept the prize. The category now does not have a winner.

An artist says his image that won first prize in a photography competition was actually generated by AI.

German photographer Boris Eldagsen said that he wouldn't be accepting the prize because his image "The Electrician" wasn't a real photo. It had come top in the creative category in the open competition at the World Photography Organisation's Sony World Photography Awards 2023.

"AI is not photography," Eldagsen, who has been a photographer for around three decades, wrote on his website. "Therefore I will not accept the award."

Boris Eldagsen said that the image "has all the flaws of AI." Boris Eldagsen with DALL-E 2. Courtesy Photo Edition Berlin

The 1940s-style black-and-white image shows a woman stood behind another with her hand on the other woman's shoulders. Other hands appear to be adjusting the dress of the woman in the foreground. Both women's gazes are averted.

Though the image looks photorealistic, there are some signs that it has been generated by AI, such as the position of some of the fingers, the appearance of some fingernails, and the shape of one of the women's pupils. Her dress also appears to blend into her arm.

"It has all the flaws of AI, and it could have been spotted but it wasn't," Eldagsen told Insider, adding that he was surprised the image won. After hearing of his success in early March, he immediately told the competition's organizers that the image was AI-generated, he said.

AI image-generation sites such as DALL-E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion have boomed in popularity over recent months. In their prompts, users can ask the sites to create artwork in the style of a particular artist or images of events that never happened  leading to deepfake images of former President Donald Trump being arrested going viral. Users can also ask the platforms to edit existing images.

Story continues

Eldagsen told Insider that he generated the image in September using DALL-E 2 in a process he referred to as "promptography."

"For me, working with AI image generators is a co-creation, in which I am the director," he wrote on his website. "It is not about pressing a button  and done it is. It is about exploring the complexity of this process, starting with refining text prompts, then developing a complex workflow, and mixing various platforms and techniques."

Eldagsen told Insider that he wanted to start a conversation around the relationship between AI and photography. Competition organizers should create separate categories for AI-generated art, which is becoming increasingly realistic, he said.

Some of the images Boris Eldagsen generated with DALL-E 2 in the process of creating "The Electrician." Boris Eldagsen with DALL-E 2. Courtesy Photo Edition Berlin

"Midjourney 5 really looks like photography," he said.

"The Electrician" has since been removed from the Sony World Photography Awards 2023 and no longer features on the World Photography Organisation's website or at the physical exhibition in London.

A spokesperson for CREO, the company behind the awards, told Insider that the category "The Electrician" won "welcomes various experimental approaches."

"As such, following our correspondence with Boris and the warranties he provided, we felt that his entry fulfilled the criteria for this category, and we were supportive of his participation," the spokesperson continued, adding that the image was removed after Eldagsen declined the award. The category now does not have a winner.

"While elements of AI practices are relevant in artistic contexts of image-making, the Awards always have been and will continue to be a platform for championing the excellence and skill of photographers and artists working in the medium," the spokesperson added.

"The Electrician" is part of a series by Eldagsen called "pseudomnesia," the Latin term for "fake memory." The images are "fake memories of a past, that never existed, that no-one photographed," created by putting them through AI image generators between 20 and 40 times, Eldagsen says on his website.

Images from Boris Eldagsen's "pseudomnesia" series. Boris Eldagsen with DALL-E 2. Courtesy Photo Edition Berlin

"The photographic language of photography has now separated itself from the medium," Eldagsen told Insider.

"It's free floating. It's an entity in itself and got all the knowledge and the quality of the image making from the photographic medium. But is it photography? That's a debate I just wanted to start. I don't have easy answers."

Read the original article on Business Insider
The family of a man who died in a Georgia jail cell due to a bed bug infestation has filed a criminal investigation lawsuit.

Last summer, LaShawn Thompson was arrested in Atlanta on simple battery charges for an incident that took place, according to USA Today. After being taken to Fulton County Jail, he was eventually transferred to the psychiatric wing of the facility since officials insisted he was mentally ill.

On Sept. 19, the 35-year-olds body was found lifeless in his cell. He was reported dead after multiple attempts to save him by police and medical staff on-site, according to the Fulton County Medical Examiners report. Although there were no signs of external or internal physical injuries, the examiner noted that bed bugs were on his entire body. Due to the unsanitary conditions of the jail, it was determined that there was a severe bed bug infestation, and the cause of his death is unknown.

His family hired attorney Michael D. Harper, the President and CEO of The Harper Law Firm, to file a criminal investigation lawsuit because his death couldve been prevented, and inmates shouldnt be subject to living in environments that are health hazards. Furthermore, they are hoping someone is found responsible for his death as well.

Mr. Thompson was found dead in a filthy jail cell after being eaten alive by insects and bed bugs, Harper said. Were asking for a criminal investigation into the matter and (major) changes at the jail.

Harper shared with USA Today that the medical center at the Fulton County Jail showed that medical professionals noticed Thompsons health was declining but didnt proceed to further investigate to learn the root of the issue, essentially not doing their best to help keep inmates healthy.

They literally watched his health decline until he died. When his body was found one of the detention officers refused to administer CPR because in her words she freaked out. The jail cell Mr. Thompson was housed in was not fit for a diseased animal. He did not deserve this, the lawyer explained.

The Fulton County Sheriffs Office sent Thompsons family their condolenses and launched an investigation into the incidents that led to Thompsons death after learning about it. In addition, a $500,000 budget was approved to address the improper living conditions of the jail along with more routine checks for not only the inmates, but that sanitation process as well.
By Eimi Yamamitsu, Mayu Sakoda and Tom Bateman

TOKYO (Reuters) - An explosive thrown at Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at an election rally on Saturday has raised alarming questions about the state of VIP security, less than a year after a former premier was gunned down and weeks before Japan hosts G7 leaders.

Kishida was about to speak at a by-election campaign event at a fishing harbour in Wakayama City, western Japan, when a smoking metal cylinder landed within a metre of him.

Kishida was bundled away from the partly enclosed area as police and bystanders subdued a suspect. Seconds later the small device exploded. Media said one or two people were slightly hurt.

The incident exposes vulnerabilities in Japan's security system and a failure to institute changes following the killing of former prime minister Shinzo Abe during an election campaign last year, four experts interviewed by Reuters said.

"There is no doubt that it was a security failure because the prime minister was giving his speech at the worst possible place where he couldn't possibly be protected," said Mitsuru Fukuda, a Nihon University professor specialising in crisis management terrorism.

"In light of (Abe's) shooting, police have said their security plans would be reviewed and revised, but I don't think they are implementing any of these measures," he said.

Abe's killing by a man with a homemade gun sent shockwaves through Japan, where gun crime is exceedingly rare, and prompted a review of security protocols for politicians, who routinely come in close contact with the public.

'TURNING POINT'

No motive is known for the Wakayama explosion but it comes at a critical time for Kishida and Japan, as hosts of Group of Seven ministerial meetings this week and a leaders' summit in the city of Hiroshima, Kishida's home constituency, in May.

Fukuda said for such big, international events, authorities are able to provide solid security by mobilising a huge police presence. But it is the smaller, less formal events at which vulnerabilities can be exposed.

Story continues

"We are at a turning point where Japan needs to change its awareness and security system because the possibility of being targeted is increasing," Fakuda said.

The National Police Agency had approved the security plan for the weekend rally in Wakayama, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Monday.

The government has instructed authorities to strengthen security measures and to ensure safety precautions at gatherings of VIPs, he added.

Kishida is among government officials who acknowledged flaws in security when Abe was gunned down last July.

In Saturday's attack, the suspect was about 10 metres from Kishida, according to media reports.

The premier was being served a speciality seafood dish just before the attack, media reported, and news videos showed Kishida looking toward an outdoor parking area, with the crowd behind him in a roofed enclosure.

In one video, a smoking canister lands and rolls toward Kishida as shouts fill the air. A security agent blocks the device with a bulletproof briefcase kicks it away, as he and other security men crowd around Kishida and push him toward a parking area.

'EXTREMELY DANGEROUS'

After the device was thrown, a bystander grabbed a young man in a headlock, while someone who appeared to be another member of the public grabbed the suspect around the waist as police swarmed and dragged him to the ground, videos showed.

"There's no doubt this was an extremely dangerous incident," said Katsuhiko Ikeda, former superintendent general of the Tokyo police.

He said it showed that a review of security plans by the National Police Agency could only go so far.

"A big factor is whether the forces on the ground can make the correct decision in every eventuality, and have the proper sense of crisis," he said.

Isao Itabashi, chief analyst at the Council for Public Policy Chief, said public appearances by top politicians should be indoors, with bag checks and metal detectors in place.

"The biggest issue here was that an explosive device made its way in," he said. "The lessons from Abe's incident haven't been applied."

Initial reports called the blast a smoke bomb, but investigations and a search of the suspect's home indicated he had material to make pipe bombs, media reported.

One bystander, a fisherman, said the blast had injured his back, the Asahi newspaper reported. Part of the explosive device was found on a roof, 40 metres from where it went off, public broadcaster NHK reported.

(Reporting by Eimi Yamamitsu, Mayu Sakoda, Tom Bateman, Rocky Swift; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim, Robert Birsel)
Prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump has been retained by the family of a Black 16-year-old boy who was shot by a white homeowner for appearing at the wrong address last week.

Crump announced on Sunday that the family of Ralph Paul Yarl, a high school junior in Kansas City, Mo., retained his offices after the teenager was shot twice  once in the head, once in the arm  by an unidentified white male.

According to Faith Spoonmore, Ralphs aunt, her nephew was on his way to pick up his younger brothers from a friends house last Thursday when he accidentally went to the wrong address.

He pulled into the driveway and rang the doorbell, Spoonmore posted online. The man in the home opened the door, looked my nephew in the eye and shot him in the head. My nephew fell to the ground, and the man shot him again. Ralph was then able to get up and run to the neighbors house, looking for help.

But Ralph had to run to three different houses before he was helped, Spoonmore added. Her nephew was taken to a local hospital in critical condition. He is alive and now recovering.

Spoonmore has since created a GoFundMe page to help raise money for her nephews medical expenses. As of Monday morning, more than $940,000 had been raised for the family.

According to Kansas City police, officers did respond to reports of shots fired on April 13. They arrived to find a teenager outside a residence that had been shot by a homeowner.

The homeowner, who remains unidentified, was taken into custody and placed on a 24-hour hold. They were released pending a further investigation, said Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves in a news conference Sunday.

She added that at this time, there is no information to show if the shooting was racially motivated, though she recognizes the racial components of the incident.

But Crump is calling for the shooter to be identified and arrested.

There can be no excuse for the release of this armed and dangerous suspect after admitting to shooting an unarmed, non-threatening and defenseless teenager that rang his doorbell! Crump said in a statement.

Story continues

We demand swift action from Clay County prosecutors and law enforcement to identify, arrest and prosecute to the full extent of the law the man responsible for this horrendous and unjustifiable shooting.

Crump is known for representing the families of Black Americans, particularly in cases of police killings. He has represented the families of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and now Tyre Nichols. Rev. Al Sharpton has labelled Crump Black Americas attorney general.

Ralph, who plays multiple instruments, has been described by his teachers as a kind soul and musical genius, said Spoonmore. His goal is to receive an academic or music scholarship to attend Texas A&M University to major in chemical engineering. He wants to visit West Africa before starting college.

Life looks a lot different right now, Spoonmore said. Even though he is doing well physically, he has a long road ahead mentally and emotionally. The trauma that he has to endure and survive is unimaginable. He is our miracle. We have heard these types of stories many times, and unfortunately, most black boys are not alive to get another chance.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  Australia is working to stabilize relations with China but could not return to the thriving economic relationship with its biggest trading partner that existed 15 years ago, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Monday.

Icy bilateral relations that deteriorated during the previous conservative Australian governments nine years in power have shown signs of improvement since Wongs center-left Labor Party was elected almost a year ago. Minister-to-minister meetings have resumed, China has recently lifted restrictions on Australian coal imports and Australia hopes a 3-year-old tariff barrier on Australian barley will be lifted within months.

But Wong said that trade relations could not return to the level when conservative Prime Minister John was in power from 1996 until 2007. Trade was then separated from political and strategic priorities.

I have been very clear that we seek to stabilize the relationship, Wong told the National Press Club. I think both countries know we are not going to go back to where we were 15 years ago.

During Howards era, you could have your strategic relationship with the United States and the economic relationship with China and the worlds stayed separate -- we dont live in that sort of world anymore, Wong said.

China has imposed a series of official and unofficial trade barriers to Australian exports in recent years, particularly since the previous government angered Beijing by calling for an independent investigation into the causes of and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While Australian businesses and state leaders were impatient for Chinese barriers to be lifted for exports including wine, wood and seafood, Wong described diversifying to other markets as a smart thing to do.

Even with increased diversification, China will remain Australias largest trading partner for the foreseeable future, and a valued source of foreign investment, where it meets our national interests, she said.

Story continues

Australia has blocked the sale of assets including critical infrastructure to Chinese companies on national security grounds in recent years.

Wong said Australia was working toward maintaining a predictable, rules-based Asia-Pacific region where no country dominates and no country is dominated.

She agreed with U.S. President Joe Biden on the need for guardrails  communication channels between the United States and China to minimize the risk of military misunderstanding and miscalculation  as developed during the Cold War by the United States and the former Soviet Union.

President Biden has made overtures to China toward agreeing guardrails. It is in all the worlds interests that his overtures are met, Wong said.

I have said this to my Chinese counterpart and to his predecessor. And I will keep saying it, she added, referring to Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and the man he replaced in December, Wang Yi.
SYDNEY (AP)  Two suspected Chinese spies gave a Sydney businessman envelopes of cash for information about subjects including a government deal with the United States and Britain to build a fleet of Australian nuclear-powered submarines, prosecutors told a court on Monday.

The businessman, Alexander Csergo, was refused bail when he appeared by video link from prison in Sydneys Downing Center Local Court charged with one count of reckless foreign interference.

The charge, included in laws against covert foreign interference and espionage that angered China when they were legislated in 2018, carries a maximum 15-year prison sentence.

He is accused of accepting money from two suspected Chinese spies he knew by the names Ken and Evelyn in exchange for handwritten reports on Australian defense, economic and national security arrangements since 2021 while he worked in Shanghai, where he owns a communications and technology infrastructure consultancy business.

The subjects included the AUKUS partnership among Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States to create an Australian submarine fleet powered by U.S. nuclear technology that was announced in September 2021, prosecutor Connor McCraith said.

U.S. President Joe Biden and the leaders of Australia and Britain announced details of the deal in March, including that Australia would buy secondhand Virginia-class submarines from the United States and build a new AUKUS class of submarines with Britain.

The suspected spies also requested details about Australias partnership with the United States, Japan and India known as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or the Quad, as well as information about lithium and iron ore mining in Australia, the prosecutors alleged.

Csergo has been in custody since Friday, when he was arrested at his home in the Sydney beachside suburb of Bondi. He had been questioned for weeks by police and agents of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, the nations main domestic spy agency.

Story continues

McCraith said Csergo admitted early in the questioning that he suspected Ken and Evylen were spies soon after meeting them but remained in contact with them for two years.

He clearly has links to the Chinese state and two people he clearly thinks work for the MSS (Ministry of State Security), McCraith told the court. He also traveled back to Australia with a shopping list of requested information, he said.

McCraith said a reasonable person would have alerted Australian authorities immediately after being approached.

Instead, Csergo continued to communicate with the male suspected spy, including inviting him to visit Australia, McCraith said.

Csergos lawyer, Bernard Collaery, said there was nothing sinister about his clients behavior and that he was an experienced, successful businessman who was lauded for developing working relationships in China.

Businesspeople such as our client know all roads lead to the state, whether it be the state economic intelligence agency" or the Ministry of State Security, Collaery said.

Cash payments for consulting reports might have a color to it in Australia but might be the way its done in China -- its not necessarily sinister, Collaery added.

Collaery said the reports were from publicly sourced documents, plus Csergos own creative efforts, and were nothing close to espionage.

Magistrate Michael Barko said Csergo was a very well-educated, sophisticated, worldly businessperson who was entitled to the presumption of innocence.

But Csergo faced a strong case from prosecutors, including several substantial admissions, Barko said.

Csergo told ASIO investigators he met Ken and Evelyn in empty cafes in Shanghai and believed the cafes had been specially cleared for him, according to court documents.

Csergo also believed Ken and Evelyn had been assigned by Chinas spy agency as his handlers, the documents say.

I dont know what they do in China, but in this country, if I were to read those facts to any layperson, they would be highly suspicious of the conduct of the defendant, at the very least, Barko said.

Csergo is due back in court in June.

Collaery told reporters outside the court that the Law Council of Australia, the peak group representing the nations legal profession, had long warned that the scope of the foreign interference laws was too broad.

If you work as a consultant in any foreign country, and you are any person, whether youre a private contractor or a government official, and you undertake consulting work that may relate to Australias foreign influences or national security such as articles on the supply of lithium, iron ore, you, according to this legislation ... can be guilty of foreign influence, Collaery said.

This is an issue of absolute civil liberties, Collaery said. The subset of all of this, is China. These are the drums of foreign antipathy coming down into the state of New South Wales.
By Kirsty Needham and Lewis Jackson

SYDNEY (Reuters) -An Australian man has been refused bail after being charged with a foreign interference offence for accepting cash from suspected Chinese intelligence agents, with a Sydney court saying his close ties to China made him a flight risk.

Magistrate Michael Barko said Alexander Csergo was a "sophisticated, worldly businessperson" who had been on the radar of Australian intelligence for some time before his arrest on Friday.

The prosecution had a strong case against Csergo, who had lived in China for decades, Barko said in refusing bail.

Csergo is alleged to have arrived back in Australia this year with a "shopping list" of intelligence priorities he had been asked for by two people he had suspected since 2021 to be agents for China's Ministry of State Security, the court heard.

The pair, named in court only as "Ken" and "Evelyn", first made contact with Csergo through LinkedIn.

This shopping list had been discovered by Australian intelligence authorities three weeks after Csergo returned to Sydney, the court was told.

Csergo had been allegedly asked to handwrite reports about Australia's AUKUS defence technology partnership with the United States and Britain, the QUAD diplomatic partnership, iron ore and lithium mining, Barko said.

A marketing executive, Csergo, 55, was arrested in the beachside suburb of Bondi on Friday. He is the second person charged under Australia's foreign interference law, which criminalises activity that helps a foreign power interfere with Australia's sovereignty or national interest. It carries a maximum 15 year prison sentence.

Csergo appeared in court via video link from Parklea Prison where he is being held as a high security prisoner. His mother and brother were in court.

Csergo had told Australian intelligence agents in an interview that when he met Ken and Evelyn in Shanghai cafes and restaurants, the establishments had been empty and he suspected they had been cleared, Barko said.

Story continues

He developed a high level of anxiety and was in "survival mode", he had told the Australian authorities.

Csergo had exchanged around 3,300 WeChat messages with the pair, and had accepted cash payments in envelopes, Barko said.

Barko raised concerns for Csergo's safety, saying some people may not want him to give evidence against China.

Csergo's lawyer, Bernard Collaery, had sought bail, saying the reports Csergo had written were based on publicly sourced information and the case against his client was "shallow and unsubstantiated".

Prosecutor Conor McCraith disputed this, saying it was not all open source because he had engaged covertly with two others to prepare reports. He also said Csergo had not come to Australian authorities with his concerns about Ken and Evelyn, and had instead invited Ken to come to Australia.

Collaery said making cash payments was a common business practice in China, and Csergo undertook the consulting work during the COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai as a source of income.

"Of course he believed Ken and Evelyn were keeping tabs on him. That's how it works in China, he became very worried about it," Collaery said.

Csergo had worked in China since 2002 in data marketing, including for a major international advertising agency.

Collaery said Csergo's career had come "tumbling down" since his arrest and he had no intention to return to China and instead planned to pursue the Australian government for damages for ruining his career.

Collaery told media outside the court the case was a "civil liberties" issue and raised concerns about the scope of the foreign interference law introduced in 2018.

"If you work as a consultant in any foreign country... and you undertake consulting work that may relate to Australia's foreign influences or national security... you can be guilty of foreign interference," he told reporters.

(Reporting by Kirsty Needham and Lewis Jackson; Editing by Michael Perry and Lincoln Feast)
When all hope seemed lost for these writers, social media rallied together to offer support. (Photo illustration by Joamir Salcedo for Yahoo; photos by Getty Images)

Suzanne Young was thrilled to have a chance to promote her latest novel, In Nightfall, at a book launch event in Tempe, Ariz., last month. After all, she'd spent nearly a year writing it.

I even picked up little gift bags for readers with fun items from the book, Young, who writes teen and young adult fiction, including New York Times best-seller Girls With Sharp Sticks, tells Yahoo Life about the event, which the indie-bookstore host had spent weeks promoting. Further adding to her excitement, Young's teenage son was going to interview her for an author Q&A.

But things took an unexpectedly upsetting turn when the author arrived at her event to find that no one else had shown up.

I didnt know what to do," she recalls. "I felt so lonely." While a couple of folks did eventually arrive  a local author and a college professor  it wasnt enough to fill the space, which was lined with rows and rows of empty chairs.

Youngs shock quickly turned into devastation, then embarrassment. I went into the bathroom and got choked up," she says. When I came out, I saw them collapsing most of the chairs. My son was trying to make me laugh. He was like, Its OK, mom. We can still do the Q&A. I dont care if anyones here. And that just broke me.

The Q&A portion went ahead without a crowd, as Young tried to hide her disappointment. As she tells Yahoo Life, a lot of authors already grapple with self-doubt because of working independently, "and theres no way to gauge how interested people are in your work. So when something like this happens, it can be crushing.

Later that night, Young impulsively snapped a photo of the empty chairs and posted it to Twitter, adding the caption: "If you ever want to see a career low point, this is it. Crying my entire way home."

If you ever want to see a career low point, this is it. Crying my entire way home. pic.twitter.com/aQ8LDMi8H5  Suzanne Young (@suzanne_young) March 29, 2023

It was just a moment of disappointment, she admits.

Story continues

But Young's mood changed the next morning when she discovered that her tweet had racked up more than 1 million views, and a pileup of supportive comments from authors, comedians and public speakers  including fellow writers Tara Moss, Caitlin Flanagan and Princess Diana's brother Charles Spencer, all sharing their own similar stories.

I couldn't believe that so many people had gone through it as well, and that they had felt that lonely, too, Young says, adding that hearing that others understood her pain made it that much easier to bear.

And those who shared are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to authors who have experienced similar lows  with one writer even telling Yahoo Life that facing empty event rooms is just a "rite of passage."

'These moments don't define your worth as a writer'

Michael Northrop, who wrote Book of the Dead, found himself in a similar situation in October 2015 during a book tour stop in Boulder, Colo.  and felt obligated to open up about it when he saw Young's tweet. "It stings, but it's a blip!" he wrote alongside an image of empty chairs from his event.

Its one of those things thats imprinted in your memory, he tells Yahoo Life, recalling the moment when organizers were forced to cancel the event after waiting an hour for people to come. They never did.

It's a sinking feeling, he says of his emotions that night. You feel like you've let people down: The chairs are set up in your honor, youre the reason for the event and no one shows up. And you feel sort of responsible.

It stings, but it's a blip! I almost never think of this one anymore (unless someone says "Boulder"). pic.twitter.com/lN6DAjRO3z  Michael Northrop (@mdnorthrop) March 29, 2023

Luckily, that night's disappointment was short-lived, Northrop says.

It was a low point, but when you combine it with all the other positive experiences in publishing, it just becomes part of the process, he says. This is why Suzanne's post got such a response. It is such a recognizable moment, but its just one of many moments. These moments don't define your worth as a writer.

That's a lesson fantasy writer Chelsea Banning had to learn in December 2022 at the kickoff book signing event for her debut novel, Of Crowns and Legends, which she arrived at only to find empty.

I had expected a few attendees, as I had some people say they were coming, she tells Yahoo Life. As the hours ticked by and only a couple of people trickled in, it was pretty disheartening and embarrassing.

That night, Banning took to Twitter to vent her disappointment.

Only 2 people came to my author signing yesterday, so I was pretty bummed about it. Especially as 37 people responded "going" to the event. Kind of upset, honestly, and a little embarrassed.  Chelsea Banning Author (@chelseabwrites) December 4, 2022

In the following days, Banning amassed thousands of new followers and countless supportive messages from authors  including none other than heavyweights Margaret Atwood, Cheryl Strayed and Stephen King, who chimed in with their own embarrassing stories to provide perspective.

It's a wonderful feeling to know that even writers you don't know have your back," says Banning, whose story now has an even happier ending: At a sold-out book event in January, readers lined up around the block waiting to see her. It was a total "night-and-day" moment, she says, adding that she hasn't lost sight of the lesson she learned through the no-show event.

Author signings have been hard for authors for decades, Banning says. As we saw with all the replies to my tweet, even the biggest authors had nobody show at their signings. It's a rite of passage as an author.

When it happens, its totally embarrassing, adds award-winning author Eric Rosswood, who experienced his own no-show event in 2022 while promoting his childrens book, Strong, co-authored with Rob Kearney. Rosswood, at a Barnes & Noble in New Jersey. I sat at a table for an hour to sign books and nobody came up to me.

Still, even when something bad happens, there's always something positive that can come out of it, Rosswood says, noting that the support he received from other writers was the silver lining.

Next up was @BNCliftonCommon! They even had STRONG out on a display table! How cool is that? I signed copies and left bookplates for future orders.  #ReadStrong pic.twitter.com/3UzQW37jO3  Eric Rosswood (@LGBT_Activist) May 15, 2022

You can never stop learning, no matter where you are in your career, he says now. Everybody in the industry is so supportive and helping each other up. We're cheerleaders for each other, and having that behind you, it kind of helps get you past any slump that you have because, for me at least, the slumps are clumsy.

'I started to write down all the things that I was grateful for'

For best-selling childrens book author Jamar J. Perry (Cameron Battle and the Hidden Kingdoms), who made headlines last month when no one showed up to an Atlanta bookstore event for his latest release, Cameron Battle and the Escape Trials, such slumps are his "worst nightmare."

I remember that morning being very nervous about the whole thing, Perry tells Yahoo Life, explaining that, after nearly an hour of waiting, no one had arrived, which left him feeling "embarrassed."

I just felt like I was a failure," he says. "I felt like no one wanted to hear from me and I'm a horrible writer. All those thoughts entered my head.

But when he got back to his hotel that night, Perry recalled a conversation with his media escort that changed his perspective on the situation.

She told me that morning about having a gratitude journal. It was just a little side comment that didn't really mean as much in the morning, but at night, it meant the world, he says. So, I started to write down all the things that I was grateful for. When I woke up the next morning, all of the depression, the stress and anxiety had gone away  and it was replaced with gratitude.

Thats when he decided to share his story on Twitter: Not one person came to my Atlanta tour event, he wrote alongside an image of himself outside the bookstore. Instead of being bummed about it Ive decided to focus on being grateful that I get to do this work.

Kinda embarrassing to admit, but not one person came to my Atlanta tour event. Instead of being bummed about it Ive decided to focus on being grateful that I get to do this work.



Lets thank the bookstore & order all 50 copies they have of my books! https://t.co/sx5iz5tNh3 pic.twitter.com/7VtvN0xjqY  Dr. Jamar J. Perry (@jamarperry) March 2, 2023

Perrys tweet went viral, raking in 2.5 million views to date and collecting thousands of comments from other writers offering advice and support. And since then, the Atlanta bookstore has sold over 500 copies of Perrys new book, per Publishers Weekly.

The public response was an unexpected surprise. I literally wrote the tweet and then I went to the airport, but there was no Wifi. I didn't know it went viral until much later," says Perry, noting that the experience gave him more opportunities to find the gratitude in other areas of life.

"Its important to find the moments where you feel grateful and happy that you get to do this work," he says. "Not many people get to be authors. And the fact that you're able to write an entire book  and get that book published  is an accomplishment in itself.

Kosoko Jackson, award-winning author of books including Im So (Not) Over You and Yesterday is History, echoes those sentiments, advising writers to have compassion for other creatives during their lowest moments  something he experienced during his own no-show book event in 2022. That's why it's important to have a "thick skin," he says.

There's 100 reasons why people didn't show up. You shouldnt take it personally," he says, calling his 2022 event a "demoralizing experience." In hindsight, however, there are always highs hidden within the lows.

There were three staff members who did show up, who took time out of their day to come to this event when they were on their breaks," Jackson pointed out of his event. "That meant something to me."

Wellness, parenting, body image and more: Get to know the who behind the hoo with Yahoo Life's newsletter. Sign up here.
Judy Blume took to Twitter to clarify her comments about being "behind" J.K. Rowling.

The author said that her interview with the Times of London was "taken out of context."

She issued a statement saying that she "wholly" supports the trans community.

"Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret" author Judy Blume has clarified her comments in a recent interview in which she said she supported J.K. Rowling.

The "Harry Potter" author has come under fire a number of times in the last few years over her offensive comments about the transgender community. In the past, many "Harry Potter" actors like Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Eddie Redmayne have spoken out against Rowling's comments and supported transgender fans.

Blume recently spoke to the Times of London ahead of the new "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret" movie, and was asked about her opinion on Rowling and the online backlash over her comments.

The 85-year-old author briefly noted, "I am behind her 100 percent as I watch from afar." Journalist Hadley Freeman wrote that this was "referring to the abuse Rowling has received for speaking up in defense of women's sex-based rights."

However, Blume issued a statement on Twitter on Sunday saying that her comments were taken "out of context," explaining that she was trying to say she empathizes with someone being harassed online.

Blume wrote: "I wholly support the trans community. My point, which was taken out of context, is that I can empathize with a writer  or person  who has been harassed online."

The author went on to say that she disagrees with anyone who doesn't support the LGBTQ+ community, adding: "I stand with the trans community and vehemently disagree with anyone who does not fully support equality and acceptance for LGBTQIA+ people. Anything to the contrary is total bullshit."

Blume followed up with a second tweet pointing to a recent interview she gave to Variety, in which she discussed books being banned in the United States.

Story continues

In the interview, Blume said: "No child is going to become transgender or gay or lesbian because they read a book. It's not going to happen. They may say, 'Oh, this is just like me. This is what I'm feeling and thinking about.' Or, 'I'm interested in this because I have friends who may be gay, bi, lesbian.' They want to know!"

She added: "I just read a book that was wonderfully enlightening to me. It's called 'Gender Queer.' It's probably the No. 1 banned book in America right now. And I thought, 'This young person is telling me how they came to be what they are today.' And I learned a lot, and became even more empathetic."

Read the original article on Insider
MILAN  European states are looking to autonomous underwater vehicles, or AUVs, to safeguard critical infrastructure.

The vulnerability of telecommunications and energy networks and other submersed systems has long been recognized. For almost a decade, concerns have been raised by experts and officials regarding the Russian Navys growing interests and activities in proximity to NATO cable routes. However, it was not until February that the alliance created the Underwater Infrastructure Coordination Cell dedicated task force, based at the Brussels headquarters.

Last month, the European Commission updated the European Maritime Security Strategy, which called for regular live maritime exercises involving civilian and military actors, better monitoring and protection of critical maritime infrastructure and ships from physical and cyber threats and the removal of unexploded ordnance and mines at sea. As part of this effort, the European Defense Fund 2023 Call for Proposals allocated 90 million euros ($98 million) for underwater warfare, including for the development of unmanned anti-submarine and seabed warfare as well as mine countermeasures capabilities.

The Nord Stream pipeline rupture in September 2022 and security crises resulting from the war in Ukraine have acted as a catalyst for many entities  commercial and government  to start taking a harder look at how best to protect these infrastructure, said Nick Stoner, director of business development for Anduril Maritime, a supplier of autonomous underwater vehicles, or AUVs.

In terms of the EU infrastructure, about 250 communications systems connect the trading bloc to the global internet, of which two-thirds are submarine cables laid in the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, North Sea and the Baltic Sea.

A 2022 analysis carried out by the European Parliament on the security threats found that while a complete EU-wide blackout is highly unlikely from an attack on the networks, given the sheer number of cables and contingency available, it could be plausible in an armed conflict.

Story continues

A coordinated or simultaneous attack on several cables and the repair infrastructure could cause significant disruption, it said. This is particularly the case for [more] vulnerable EU member states to cable-related internet outages, such as islands and oversea territories, some of which rely on very limited cable connections or lack access to dense land-based networks.

The Nord Stream rupture shows that attacks on infrastructure can be low-cost operations achieved through non-sophisticated and available means, the experts said. Hence, it is advantage to counter them using affordable defensive systems such as AUVs.

The trend towards using AUVs has actually been a longstanding one in the commercial sector, said Sidharth Kaushal, research fellow focused on sea power at the U.K.s Royal United Services Institute. Energy companies have long used their monitoring capabilities to survey undersea infrastructure and for tasks like the support of maintenance functions.

Michael Bohnert, an engineer focused on emerging technologies at the RAND Corporation, said the primary value of AUVs is in providing persistent monitoring of infrastructure for days or weeks at a time, though challenges remain.

Ocean currents, vehicle presence [and collisions], difficulty sensing and ground topology are more challenging for unmanned systems than airborne missions, he said.

European action

Countries in Europe are moving to acquire AUV systems that can be used to protect submerged infrastructure.

In February, the Italian Ministry of Defense unveiled its latest requirement for seabed operations to integrate AUVs and remote operated vehicles with its U-212A submarine and future U212 Near Future Submarine. The goal is to award a contract for the study of the most effective platforms available on the market to combine onboard these manned systems.

In December, Teledyne Marine confirmed that the Polish Ministry of Defense bought three more Gavia AUVs to equip Kormoran II-Class Mine Countermeasure vessels it ordered last June. The Polish Navy operates a fleet of the AUVs, which it has been relying on since 2015 as a mine countermeasure.

That same month, Exail won a contract from Frances defense procurement agency for the rental of an AUV, the A18D, for use by the countrys Navy to conduct testing and define its future requirements as part of the countrys Seabed Warfare Strategy.

The Danish Ministry of Defense Acquisition and Logistics Organization agreed in 2021 to buy six Light AUVs from the Portugals Oceanscan-MST. Five were reported to have side-scan sonar modules to locate mines, and the other was fitted with an ID functionality to capture high resolution pictures and laser-scan the seabed. The drones became operational last summer.

The U.K. recently awarded contracts to procure AUVs including two Gavia Offshore Surveyors and three Iver 4 580s. The former can be configured to carry out a multitude of missions including multi-domain intelligence and reconnaissance missions, anti-submarine warfare and seabed warfare.

Andurils Stoner said his company has responded to requests for information and delivered proposals to numerous European and international partners regarding its Dive-LD, a customizable, commercial low-cost AUV.

What the Nord Stream attacks showed is that even a relatively shallow pipeline in a constricted, highly trafficked area is vulnerable to sabotage, he said in an interview. No region of the world is immune and the potential for state-sponsored nefarious action increases both the vulnerability and likelihood of this.
Int'l community calls for immediate ceasefire in Sudan

Xinhua) 08:13, April 17, 2023

This photo taken on April 15, 2023 shows smoke rising in Khartoum, capital of Sudan. (Photo by Mohamed Khidir/Xinhua)

BEIJING, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Sudan's military conflict between the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is sparking a wide range of concerns from the international community, with many countries and international organizations calling for an immediate ceasefire.

Already leaving at least 56 dead, and 595 others wounded, the conflict, which erupted on Saturday morning and raged into Sunday, still showed no sign of easing off.

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday strongly condemned the outbreak of fighting between the two forces, said his spokesman.

"The secretary-general calls on the leaders of the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces to immediately cease hostilities, restore calm and initiate a dialogue to resolve the current crisis," said Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman, in a statement.

In notes to correspondents, Dujarric said Guterres spoke to Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat on how to de-escalate the situation.

In a separate call, Guterres spoke with RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Guterres will continue his efforts, including by speaking to Sudanese Armed Forces commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, as soon as possible, said the spokesman.

In a statement, the AU said it "has continued to follow very closely and with deep concern the developments" in Sudan, urging the political parties, civilians, and military in the country to find a consensual solution to the crisis.

Egypt also expressed its great concern on Saturday, urging all Sudanese parties to protect the lives of citizens and prioritize the higher interests of their nation.

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit on Saturday expressed his shock at and condemnation of the armed fighting, especially during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.

He called for an immediate halt to the escalation and bloodshed, adding that the Arab League General Secretariat is ready to intervene to end the fight.

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an East African bloc, on Saturday called on Sudanese warring parties to resolve differences through dialogue.

"These reports of fighting will not only cause setbacks but will also cause serious instability and insecurity to Sudan and the region at large," the IGAD said in a statement.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) also urged Sudan's conflicting parties to exercise restraint and resolve the crisis through dialogue.

In a statement, the UAE Embassy in Khartoum expressed deep concern and reaffirmed the importance of de-escalation and finding a peaceful solution through dialogue. It also emphasized the need to support the political process in Sudan and achieve national consensus for the formation of a government.

Qatar, Libya, Iran and Jordan also joined in urging Sudan's conflicting parties to immediately stop fighting and resolve their differences through peaceful means.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Photo: The Canadian Press People wait for SpaceX's Starship to launch in South Padre Island, Texas, Monday, April 17, 2023.

SpaceX called off its first launch attempt of its giant rocket Monday after a problem cropped up during fueling,

Elon Musk's company had planned to fly the nearly 400-foot Starship rocket from the southern tip of Texas, near the Mexican border.

The countdown was halted at the 40-second mark because of a stuck valve in the first-stage booster. Launch controllers couldnt fix the frozen valve in time, and canceled the attempt. The countdown continued, and fueling was completed, as a dress rehearsal.

No people or satellites were aboard. There wont be another try until at least Wednesday.

The company plans to use Starship to send people and cargo to the moon and, ultimately, Mars.

On the eve of the launch attempt, cars, campers, RVs and even bicycles and horses jammed the only road leading to the launch pad, where the stainless steel rocket towered above the flat scrubland and prairie. Enthusiasts posed in front of the giant letters that spelled out Starbase at the entrance of the SpaceX complex, and in front of the rocket two miles farther down the road, which ended at the gulf.

On Monday, spectators were barred from the area, and instead packed a beach about six miles away on South Padre Island.

Ernesto and Maria Carreon drove two hours from Mission, Texas, with their two daughters, 5 and 7, to watch.

I got sad. They got sad, when the launch attempt was canceled, Maria Carreon said.

They can't return for the next try but planned to have fun on the beach Monday.
GRAY MATTER: Balenciaga brought its raw architecture concept  which exalts aged concrete floors, stained metal fixtures, exposed ventilation and unfinished walls  to its new boutique in Hamburg, Germany, which opened Monday.

The two-story unit at 20 Neuer Wall spans about 5,800 square feet and carries the brands menswear, womenswear, accessories, bags, jewelry and eyewear.

More from WWD

The French fashion brand, controlled by Kering, also operates stores in Munich and Berlin. The Hamburg addition brings the number of Balenciaga stores in the world to 299.

The brand shared images of the store empty, extolling what it calls an atemporal setting, not associated with one particular era. Its intentionally rough surfaces and simulated corrosion certainly stand in contrast to the stereotypical codes of luxury  acres of rare marble and gleaming surfaces.

A bench by Tejo Remy for Droog Design, composed of vintage and deadstock Balenciaga fabrics strapped tightly together, offers a touch of color and texture to the uniformly gray environment.

Polished shelving, floor-to-ceiling mirrors, and digital screens will punctuate the vacated effect with modernity, according to the brand.

In line with Kerings ambitions to reduce its environmental impact, Balenciaga said its raw stores are are designed with respect to existing structural elements resulting in stores inherently consuming fewer virgin materials.

Balenciaga, which went quiet in the wake of its advertising scandal last year, seems to have resumed normal brand communication after its return to the runway last March  a low-key show that dialed down the provocation to put the focus on the art of making clothes.

The facade of the new Balenciaga store in Hamburg.

Best of WWD

Click here to read the full article.
fire performance on a beach in Bali - Unruly tourists cause problems in Bali

With stunning beaches, lush forests, and scenic rice paddies, Bali attracts nature lovers and adventure seekers. The islands unique Hindu culture fascinates visitors with colorful ceremonies, traditional music, and intricate dance performances. Locals, known as Balinese, are known for their hospitality and welcoming spirit, making visitors feel at home. However, since the pandemic, theres been a new crop of unruly tourists and expats slowly corrupting the beauty of Bali with their behavior.

On March 2, a group of tourists visiting Bali filed a complaint about crowing roosters disrupting their sleep.

Instead of mediating the situation between the tourists and the owner of the roosters, top officials in Bali, including the governor and the chief of the tourism agency, urged the tourists to respect local culture and threatened them with deportation.

Photo Credit: Peggy Anke

Not A Playground for Tourists

A PhD candidate studying Balinese culture suggests that tourists sometimes do not fully understand that Bali is still a home for people and not just a playground.

In response to growing complaints, Balinese authorities are proposing measures to curb misbehavior from tourists. One measure includes the installation of large billboards with messages on how to behave appropriately.

On Sunday, local police caught 171 foreign tourists who violated traffic laws. As a result, the governor is considering banning tourists from renting motorbikes. The issue has even sparked responses from national-level politicians, who have threatened to declare the offenders persona non grata.

While the Balinese rely heavily on tourism as their main source of income, some locals are angry with tourists. Their grievances are the result of a lack of respect, especially from tourists who break the islands COVID-19 rules to throw parties. Instances of visitors painting on fake COVID masks, stripping naked at sacred sites, having sex on public beaches, flouting traffic rules, and working without proper visas is also a major concern.

Despite the increasing restrictions, Bali is still planning to welcome almost double the number of tourists it received in 2022.

RELATED: Bali Considers New Rules To Attract Quality Visitors After Tourists Disrespect Hindu Temples
Hundreds of Bangladeshi Muslims gathered on an open field in Dhaka on Monday to pray for rain after the metropolis of 20 million people recorded its hottest day in almost 60 years.

Police said more than 500 worshippers congregated on the Aftabnagar playing ground, where popular TV cleric Shaikh Ahmadullah led the prayers.

"They held the prayers for rains. They also held prayers for easing the temperature and protection from the heatwave," local police chief Abul Kalam Azad told AFP.

The poor, low-lying South Asian nation of 170 million people is at the forefront of climate change with frequent deadly floods and ever-more-erratic rains.

The rains that usually fall in April and May have failed to materialise this year and the country has been gripped by unusually hot weather since April 4, Afroza Sultana from the Meteorology Department told AFP.

On Sunday temperatures in Dhaka soared to 40.6 degrees Celsius (105.1 Fahrenheit), the highest since April 30, 1965, when the temperature hit 42 degrees Celsius, she said.

Sultana said temperatures would gradually decline in the coming days and rains were expected later in April, just before the country celebrates its largest festival, Eid al Fitr.

sa/stu/leg
ANDREW COOPER/NETFLIX

The new Netflix and A24 series Beef, starring Ali Wong and Steven Yeun, has become a viral sensation since it premiered all 10 episodes on April 6. The comedy-drama, about a road-rage incident gone haywire, has garnered plenty of praise for its lead performances, the shows depiction of church culture and even a Hoobastank needle drop. However, a resurfaced podcast clip featuring one of Beefs supporting actors, David Choe, is casting a shadow over the acclaimed series. And recent efforts to erase the video from social media are making fans even more upset.

Last Thursday, reporter Aura Bogado shared a now-removed video of Choe, who plays Isaac on Beef, on his former podcast DVDASA, describing himself as a successful rapist. In the 2014 recording, he tells his co-hosts in graphic detail about the time he received a massage from a Black woman he calls Rose, masturbated in front of her and forced her to perform oral sex.

The sound on my first TikTok ever was removed due to a community guideline violation. Its merited given @davidchoes description of this brutal sexual assault.



Waiting to hear why @aliwong and @steveyeun made a decision to give Choe this platform. Silence really speaks volumes. pic.twitter.com/qT6f0cb3AA  Aura Bogado (@aurabogado) April 14, 2023

She's definitely not into it, the now-46-year-old says in the clip. But shes not stopping it either. I say, Kiss it a little, she says, No, all the massage oil is on it, and I take the back of her head. And I push it down on my dick, and she doesn't do it. And I say, Open your mouth, open your mouth, and she does it. And I start facefucking her.

In the video, which Bogado has since reposted from TikTok, one of the podcast's co-host, porn actress Asa Akira, pushes back against Choes upsetting claims. Youre basically telling us that youre a rapist right now, and the only way to get your dick hard is rape, she says. Yeah, Choe responds.

David Choe, as in the guy who detailed the way he raped a woman? And then came back to say it was just a misunderstood version of his reality? Ok. https://t.co/qL2yhiU3bG  Aura Bogado (@aurabogado) April 13, 2023

This isnt the first time Choe, a popular New York graffiti artist whos worked with Vice, CNN, HBO, Hulu and FX before co-starring in Beef, has been called out for his disturbing remarks. After initially receiving backlash for the podcast episode in 2014, he released a statement on DVDASAs website (thats no longer active) claiming that the story was actually false.

If I am guilty of anything, its bad storytelling in the style of douche, he wrote. Just like many of my paintings are often misinterpreted, the same goes with my show. He went on to say that the anecdote was not a representation of [his] reality.

I'm sorry if anyone believed that the stories were fact, he wrote. They were not!

In 2017, he wrote another lengthy post on Instagram about the clip, claiming he had ZERO history of sexual assault.

In the days since Beefs release, many Twitter users, in addition to Bogado, have re-discovered the troubling podcast snippet and otherslike a conversation where Choe defends Akira hypothetically hooking up with a 13-year-old boy, posted by Brooklyn emcee Nitty Scott. Meanwhile, Canadian restaurateur and author Jen Agg, tweeted that she had known about Choe being shit for ages.

also, this. i am so disturbed pic.twitter.com/xdRL8BSJR7  Nitty Scott (@NittyScottMC) April 13, 2023

Ive known about David Choe being shit for agesdef came up around the Chang connection in food circles. He VERY OBVIOUSLY is deeply misogynist & that story is disgusting (whether hes ~joking~ or not & it really doesnt sound like a joke). What were they thinking hiring him??  Jen Agg (@TheBlackHoof) April 17, 2023

Quite glaringly, no one representing the show, including Choe, has responded to the resurfaced incident. Twitter users also noticed that Wong, whos friends with Choe and plays Amy on Beef, recently locked her Twitter account. (The Daily Beast reached out to representatives for Netflix and A24 for comment.)

Conversation about the controversial artist ramped up again on Sunday when users noticed their tweets of the podcast clip being removed from Twitter. Writer Meecham Whitson Meriweather tweeted that his account was locked after he posted the recording of Choe. Bogado also posted a DMCA notice she received from Twitter Support after they removed her post on copyright grounds.

According to the screenshots, the video is owned by the David Young Choe Foundation. Additionally, an audio file of the podcast episode uploaded by writer Melissa Stetten on Google Drive has been removed for violating the sites terms of service.

David Choe wrote to Twitter to get the video I posted of him talking about the woman he says he raped taken down on copyright grounds.



He claims his *nonprofit* owns the copyright to the video of him talking about the alleged rape. pic.twitter.com/6IaSXTOeQ1  Aura Bogado (@aurabogado) April 16, 2023

Unsurprisingly, these prohibitive measures have only caused a Streisand Effect on social media. Over the past 24 hours, Twitter users, including critics and other verified accounts, have taken Netflix, A24 and others involved with Beefincluding Wong and Yeun who are executive producersto task for hiring Choe despite his past claims. In addition to playing the formerly incarcerated cousin of Yeuns protagonist Danny on the show, Choe also supplied paintings for the episode's title cards.

WRT the previous point, that seems to apply with the David Choe podcast, because he frames the escalating sexual violence as something the victim didn't want. He's explaining it was nonconsensual.  Kat Tenbarge (@kattenbarge) April 17, 2023

Whether or not David Choe's rape story is true, it ought to go without saying that committing sexual assault is abhorrent to joke or boast about. It is the type of thinking and behavior that should not be platformed or condoned.  Rebecca Sun  (@therebeccasun) April 17, 2023

Im late to this David Choe stuff, but am I correct that he went on a podcast to brag about committing rape and then, when people got upset, said I didnt rape anyone. I just made up a very detailed story about raping someone for reasons and thats supposed to fix it somehow?  Aubrey Hirsch (@aubreyhirsch) April 17, 2023

Reposting this again so you lot can get a grip. Both Steven Yeun AND Ali Wong are friends with David Choe. Friends. Buddies. Homies. Pals!



They knew. Stop acting like they didnt know because you like them. https://t.co/bP77IgOdUI  Clarkisha Kent (@IWriteAllDay_) April 17, 2023

Beef deserves better than Are we having parasocial relationships with television now? The production hired David Choe knowing his history. Nobody is innocent in this.



Beef deserves *exactly* what its getting. https://t.co/1yJM09tfs8  Raven Brunner (@raventbrunner) April 17, 2023

While all parties have been slow to respond to the scandal, Choes past comments are particularly not a good look for A24. The independent film and television company came under fire just a few weeks ago after Variety reported sexual-misconduct claims against Sebastian Bear-McClard, who co-produced the Safdie Brothers films Good Time and Uncut Gems. A recent Rolling Stone report alleging disturbing details about Sam Levinsons forthcoming HBO show The Idol, a co-production with A24, have also put the buzzy, Oscar-winning studio in a negative light.

Overall, the controversy surrounding Choe comes as a disappointment, given the overwhelming success of Beef, as a show created by and starring Asian people. However, the silence from the shows creators has led to an important discussion online about how much we value representation over issues like sexual assault.

Beef Hides Rom-Com Tropes to Set Up That Surprisingly Amorous Ending

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
/ Credit: Rodin Eckenroth

"Beef" actor David Choe is facing criticism over a resurfaced podcast interview from 2014 in which he discusses sexually assaulting a masseuse, a story he later claimed was fictional.

Choe's comments have resurfaced in the wake of his role as Isaac Cho in the newly released Netflix show "Beef," which is led by actors Ali Wong and Steven Yuen and has received critical praise.

In the clip, which has been circulated online in the wake of the hit Netflix show's release on April 6, Choe details getting an erection during a massage and performing sex acts in front of and with the masseuse, whom he called Rose.

According to transcripts of the video published by BuzzFeed News following its original release in 2014, Choe detailed masturbating during the massage and forcing Rose to participate in a sex act she was "definitely not into," admitting that this was "rapey behavior," but denying that he was a rapist.

The full clip of the interview from Choe's podcast, DVDASA, was posted to Twitter by journalist Aura Bogado, who tweeted on Sunday that it had been taken down after someone identifying himself as Choe asked Twitter to remove the video on copyright grounds. Bogado also tweeted a clip of the interview in a TikTok she says was removed from the video platform for violating community guidelines.

In clips of the interview that remain on social media, Choe describes the masseuse as "half Black, half White" and recounts being excited by "the thrill of possibly going to jail."

"You're basically telling us that you're a rapist now, and the only way to get your dick really hard is rape," the podcast's co-host, Asa Akira, says, to which Choe responds "Yeah," before referring to himself as "a successful rapist."

Following criticism of the interview in 2014, Choe posted a statement to the podcast's now-defunct website in which he denied being a rapist and claimed that the story was not factual or "a representation of my reality," BuzzFeed News reported.

Story continues

Choe, who is also a successful graffiti artist, released another statement about the interview on Instagram in 2017 after a mural he painted in New York City was spray-painted with the word "rapist." At the time, Choe again denied that the story he told on his podcast actually occurred, and wrote that he had "ZERO history of sexual assault."

CBS News has reached out to Choe for comment, as well as to Wong, Yuen and Netflix. Neither Wong nor Yuen, who are also producers of the show, have addressed the incident publicly.

Prosecutor announces felony charges against homeowner in shooting of Ralph Yarl

Homeowner charged in Kansas City shooting of Black teen Ralph Yarl

Gunman in Alabama Sweet 16 shooting still at large
"Beef" actor David Choe is being criticized after a 2014 podcast video clip resurfaced on Twitter.

The video from the now-defunct "DVDASA" podcast sees Choe tell a story about assaulting a massage therapist.

He previously apologized for his comments in 2014 and 2017. He later said the incident was fabricated.

David Choe, an actor and artist who appears on Netflix's hit show "Beef," is under fire for recently resurfaced comments he made about sexual assault on a 2014 podcast.

Between 2013 and 2014, Choe hosted the "DVDASA" podcast alongside porn actor and director Asa Akira, in which the pair discussed life, relationships, sex, and work.

Described upon launch as "uncensored" and "uninhibited," Choe has come under heavy criticism over the years for a particular episode from 2014 in which he joked about sexually assaulting a massage therapist.

Gawker reported on the podcast in 2014, including the full transcript of Choe's comments.

During the 2014 podcast episode, seen by Insider and documented by Gawker, Choe said that he was on an "erection quest" and went to a massage parlor, explaining how he slowly forced himself on a masseuse.

The artist  whose artwork is featured in the title cards in multiple episodes of "Beef"  said that when the massage started, he wanted to ask if he could begin masturbating, before realizing that it sounded "creepy."

Choe explained, according to Gawker: "I'm like, wow, that sounds so creepy. So I go back to the chill method of you never ask first  you just do it, get in trouble, and then pay the price later."

The actor described his actions as "rapey behavior" during the episode, Gawker reported at the time, before saying: "I know, I'm so sorry. It's disgusting."

Choe then said he forced the masseuse to fellate him, noting that "she didn't want to do it."

He continued to discuss the incident, Gawker said, including the moment he tried to convince her to have sex with him, but she declined.

Story continues

While Choe's cohosts discussed the event as rape, he joked that "the thrill of possibly going to jail is what achieved the erection quest."

The actor apologized in 2014 for the episode in a now-deleted blog post, reported Gawker. In a statement, Choe said the story was "a complete extension of my art." He blamed "bad storytelling in the style of douche" for some of his more explicit comments.

"I never thought I'd wake up one late afternoon and hear myself called a rapist. It sucks. Especially because I am not one. I am not a rapist. I hate rapists, I think rapists should be raped and murdered," Choe wrote at the time, per Gawker.

Choe issued another apology on Instagram in 2017 when the clip resurfaced again, saying: "In a 2014 episode of 'DVDASA' I relayed a story simply for shock value that made it seem as if I had sexually violated a woman."

"Though I said those words, I did not commit those actions. It did not happen. I am deeply sorry for any hurt I've brought to anyone through my past words. Non-consensual sex is rape and it is never funny or appropriate to joke about."

Choe said that he told the story "at the height of my mental illness," adding that he sought treatment at mental health facilities for several years thereafter.

Representatives for Choe and Netflix did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Following the debut of "Beef" earlier this month, the video resurfaced again on April 14. Writer Aura Bogado shared the clip on Twitter to raise awareness about Choe's previous statements due to his recent role in "Beef." She followed up with a reposted TikTok video explaining the situation. But the sound was removed due to a community guideline violation, which she says was due to Choe's comments about the assault in the podcast.

Bogado also said in her tweet: "Waiting to hear why Ali Wong and Steven Yeun made a decision to give Choe this platform. Silence really speaks volumes."

Representatives for Wong and Yeun did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

On Sunday, however, Bogado, along with several others who posted the video, said on Twitter she had received a copyright complaint that led to the video's removal from her Twitter account. A screenshot of the complaint shared by Bogado suggests the complaint came from Choe himself through his nonprofit organization, The David Young Choe Foundation. (Insider was not able to independently verify the provenance of the complaint and whether it was, in fact, filed by Choe and his organization.) Meecham Whitson Meriweather, another Twitter user who posted the video, forwarded Insider a copy of the email he received from the foundation.

"Beef," from showrunner Lee Sung Jin, has been met with widespread acclaim from subscribers and critics alike. Many viewers are praising series leads Ali Wong and Steven Yeun for their performances as warring protagonists, Amy Lau and Danny Cho, two Los Angeles residents who get into a feud after a road rage incident. Choe plays Danny's ex-convict cousin, Isaac Cho.

Choe is also an acclaimed artist  mainly using spray paint and watercolor in his work. He was previously commissioned to paint murals at Facebook's Palo Alto headquarters back in 2005  and was paid $60,000 worth of stocks in the company, something which made him $200 million when the company went public.

The star also painted a poster of Barack Obama in 2008 as part of a grassroots campaign, and it was later hung up in the White House once Obama became president.

Read the original article on Insider
ROME (AP)  The doctors caring for former Premier Silvio Berlusconi in a Milan hospital, where he was admitted with a lung infection. said Monday that his treatment continues now that he is out of intensive care.

His longtime personal physician, Alberto Zangrillo, and a hospital blood cancer specialist, Fabio Ciceri, signed off on the brief medical bulletin a day after the media mogul was transferred from the ICU at San Raffaele hospital to a regular-care section.

Berlusconi, 86, was hospitalized on April 5. Days later, doctors revealed he has chronic leukemia as well as the lung infection.

The latest medical bulletin gave no hint at when Berlusconi might be discharged. It said that at the moment, the clinical status and the response to treatment allowed for the transfer out of ICU. The treatment and monitoring of functional parameters continue," it said.

The Forza Italia party he founded three decades ago is a partner in the coalition government of far-right Premier Giorgia Meloni. Berlusconi holds no Cabinet post, although he has a Senate seat.

The former three-time premier and one of Italy's richest businessmen, Berlusconi has been dogged by medical problems over the years. He has suffered serious heart problems, and in 2020 was admitted to the same Milan hospital, in critical condition, for treatment of COVID-19.
Floating in the port of Los Angeles, a strange-looking barge covered with pipes and tanks contains a concept that scientists hope to make waves: a new way to use the ocean as a vast carbon dioxide sponge to tackle global warming.

Scientists from University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) have been working for two years on SeaChange -- an ambitious project that could one day boost the amount of CO2, a major greenhouse gas, that can be absorbed by our seas.

Their goal is "to use the ocean as a big sponge," according to Gaurav Sant, director of the university's Institute for Carbon Management (ICM).

The oceans, covering most of the Earth, are already the planet's main carbon sinks, acting as a critical buffer in the climate crisis.

They absorb a quarter of all CO2 emissions, as well as 90 percent of the warming that has occurred in recent decades due to increasing greenhouse gases.

But they are feeling the strain. The ocean is acidifying, and rising temperatures are reducing its absorption capacity.

The UCLA team wants to increase that capacity by using an electrochemical process to remove vast quantities of CO2 already in seawater -- rather like wringing out a sponge to help recover its absorptive power.

"If you can take out the carbon dioxide that is in the oceans, you're essentially renewing their capacity to take additional carbon dioxide from the atmosphere," Sant told AFP.

- Trapped -

Engineers built a floating mini-factory on a 100-foot (30-meter) long boat which pumps in seawater and subjects it to an electrical charge.

Chemical reactions triggered by electrolysis convert CO2 dissolved in the seawater into a fine white powder containing calcium carbonate -- the compound found in chalk, limestone and oyster or mussel shells.

This powder can be discarded back into the ocean, where it remains in solid form, thereby storing CO2 "very durably... over tens of thousands of years," explained Sant.

Meanwhile, the pumped water returns to the sea, ready to absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Story continues

Sant and his team are confident the process will not damage the marine environment, although this will require further testing to confirm.

A potential additional benefit of the technology is that it creates hydrogen as a byproduct. As the so-called "green revolution" progresses, the gas could be widely used to power clean cars, trucks and planes in the future.

Of course, the priority in curbing global warming is for humans to drastically reduce current CO2 emissions -- something we are struggling to achieve.

But in parallel, most scientists say carbon dioxide capture and storage techniques can play an important role in keeping the planet livable.

Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) could help to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 as it offsets emissions from industries which are particularly difficult to decarbonize, such as aviation, and cement and steel production.

It could help to tackle the stocks of CO2 that have been accumulating in the atmosphere for decades.

- 'Promising solution' -

Keeping global warming under control will require the removal of between 450 billion and 1.1 trillion tons of CO2 from the atmosphere by 2100, according to the first global report dedicated to the topic, released in January.

That would require the CDR sector "to grow at a rate of about 30 percent per year over the next 30 years, much like what happened with wind and solar," said one of its authors, Gregory Nemet.

UCLA's SeaChange technology "fits into a category of a promising solution that could be large enough to be climate-relevant," said Nemet, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

By sequestering CO2 in mineral form within the ocean, it differs markedly from existing "direct air capture" (DAC) methods, which involve pumping and storing gas underground through a highly complex and expensive process.

A start-up company, Equatic, plans to scale up the UCLA technology and prove its commercial viability, by selling carbon credits to manufacturers wanting to offset their emissions.

In addition to the Los Angeles barge, a similar boat is currently being tested in Singapore.

Sant hopes data from both sites will quickly lead to the construction of far larger plants that are capable of removing "thousands of tons of carbon" each year.

"We expect to start operating these new plants in 18 to 24 months," he said.

rfo/amz/tjj/dw
Federal data shows Black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than white women.

Monday marked the end of Black Maternal Health Week, a week-long national campaign founded and led by the Black Mamas Matter Alliance to raise awareness and community-building about the perspectives and experiences of Black mothers and birthing people.

Federal agencies are also meeting with lawmakers to discuss solutions for improving these outcomes.

The CDC reports more than 80 percent of pregnancy-related deaths nationwide are preventable. This is one of the reasons why organizations like MomsRising are pushing for federal changes.

They want Congress to reintroduce and pass the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act.

It would provide more funding to help diversify the perinatal workforce.

The numbers dont lie. We do better when we have people in the room, or throughout that hospital system, that are looking at the ways that we are specifically being treated and black women are treated in general, said Monifa Bandele, chief strategy officer at MomsRising. So, making sure that were pushing these pipelines, making sure people have access to doulas and midwives.

Bandele said theyre also pushing to expand Medicaid coverage up to one year postpartum.

Because in many states, you can get on Medicaid when youre pregnant, and then it runs out maybe six weeks after, well now maybe youre back at work [and] now, maybe if you had a C section, you dont recognize hemorrhaging like all of these things can happen and can be very tragic, said Bandele.

MomsRising is also pushing for a federal paid family medical leave program to improve health outcomes.

Advocates say there are also some state level efforts to pass similar Momnibus bills. This includes proposals in North Carolina and New Hampshire. They say New York City passed its own Black Maternal Health bill last summer.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Photo: The Canadian Press NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh speaks in the foyer prior to question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, April 17, 2023. Singh says Pierre Poilievre's criticisms of the CBC amount to an attack on Canadian culture by the Conservative leader  and Quebec and francophone culture, in particular. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says Pierre Poilievre's criticisms of the CBC amount to an attack on Canadian culture by the Conservative leader  and Quebec and francophone culture, in particular.

Singh addressed the issue, speaking in French, after Twitter added a label to CBC's main account on Sunday indicating the broadcaster was "government-funded media."

That move prompted the corporation to announce today it was hitting pause on its use of the socia-media platform, which described the BBC in the same way before changing its own label to "publicly funded media."

CBC receives roughly $1 billion in taxpayer money annually but it says the label is inaccurate because it maintains editorial independence and receives its funding through a vote in Parliament.

Poilievre regularly promises to slash that funding and sent a letter to Twitter last week requesting that the label be applied to accounts associated with CBC News, but did not mention Radio-Canada, the French-language wing of the broadcaster.

Poilievre has suggested in media interviews that while he believes in defunding the CBC, he sees the value in its French-language programming  but along with the NDP, the Bloc Quebecois is raising concerns about that approach.

Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet said on Twitter that Poilievre is playing a risky ideological game, and that he's openly threatening French and access to information and the arts.
Black parents say they play a much more active role in their childrens education than they did before the pandemic, according to a new poll released this month. Large majorities look favorably on policies like private school vouchers and education savings accounts, and comparatively few want the K12 experience to remain the same.

The results come from a survey of African American parents of school-aged children conducted by the research and polling company Morning Consult. Its findings, while capturing only a moment in time, may reflect educational preferences that have shifted significantly away from traditional public schools in the COVID era.

Morning Consults survey was administered to roughly 1,300 respondents across January and February on behalf of EdChoice, an Indianapolis-based advocacy group that backs school choice. During the pandemic, the organization has maintained tracking polls of parents and teachers on general perceptions of K12 education. Black adults, including parents, have been included both in those ongoing efforts and in separate surveys as districts adjusted to the demands of remote instruction and virus mitigation.

Related National Poll Finds Overwhelming Support Among Black Teachers & Parents for ESAs

Overall, 57% of respondents said they supported education savings accounts  a financial vehicle that offers families money to spend on educational costs of their choosing  even without being provided a description of their function. Even higher proportions supported school vouchers (62%), open enrollment of public schools (66%), and charter schools (68%).

Paul DiPerna, EdChoices vice president of research and innovation, said he found it notable that families attitudes toward such policies have remained fairly stable even as the circumstances surrounding schools have changed dramatically. In a similar poll conducted in the fall of 2021, for example, two-thirds of African American parents said that COVID had made them more open to the idea of homeschooling; 65% said they were supportive of homeschooling today.

Story continues

Paul DiPerna

At the time [of the previous poll], the pandemic looked a lot different for parents and schools, DiPerna said, invoking the Omicron wave that closed or severely disrupted schools in early 2022. But some of these levels of support are still high for other modes of learning besides the traditional district school.

Black respondents in other public opinion research, including a February survey commissioned by the school choice advocacy group Yes. Every Kid., have demonstrated high levels of support for policies like vouchers and education savings accounts. Although such polls can provide substantially different findings depending on how questions are worded, African American parents somewhat more favorable attitudes toward school choice could be related to their relative satisfaction with local schools, which has been lower than that of white parents in some previous polls.

Related Arizona Parents are Using Public Ed $ for Kayaks, Trampolines & SeaWorld Tickets

That openness to alternative modes of education could be somewhat greater than for parents of other backgrounds. In all, just 39% of African American parents said their post-pandemic preference would be for their children to spend the entire school week completely outside the home. By comparison, EdChoices February tracking poll of all K12 parents found that a slightly greater figure, 41%, said they favored such an outcome.

Black families have clearly demonstrated a greater willingness to experiment with learning outside traditional schools over the last few years. According to 2021 figures from the U.S. Census, the percentage of African American students classified as homeschoolers leapt from just 3.3% to 16.1% over the first COVID year. That explosive growth was undoubtedly powered by the adaptation to online learning, but updated federal figures are expected to show that participation in homeschooling has remained elevated among American families in the years since.

Related Homeschooling 2.0: Less Religious and Conservative, More Focused on Quality

Support for other forms of non-traditional schooling were also shown to be high, mostly in line with the attitudes of other demographic groups. Sixty-two percent of Morning Consults respondents said they had a favorable opinion of microschools (defined as a public, private, or homeschool learning environment that enrolls 25 or fewer students); somewhat surprisingly, 9% of respondents said their children were presently enrolled in a microschool.

Alex Spurrier

Alex Spurrier, an associate partner at the nonprofit research and consulting group Bellwether Education Partners, said that while its difficult to gather real-time enrollment data on just how many families are experimenting with learning opportunities outside of traditional districts, the responses show greater interest and participation in programs like microschools.

I think the openness and interest in some of these different options is one data point showing that theres pretty strong demand among [African American] families for different kinds of education options than what their kids might be accessing currently.

Black parents were also likely to say they were more involved in their childrens education than in the pre-COVID era, with 43% saying they felt much more involved. Among those with annual incomes over $75,000  more than two-thirds of respondents said they were either somewhat or much more involved than before.

But the direction forward still isnt clear. Asked whether they wanted their childrens general K12 experience to either change or stay the same, 62% said they sought some kind of change. While 38% reported that they were looking for something new, however, a sizable minority (24%) said they wanted things to revert back to the pre-COVID status quo. Just under one-quarter of parents said they preferred that schooling stay as it is now.

DiPerna said that the evidence clearly pointed to an openness to new educational experiences  either through school choice policies like vouchers and charters  or initiatives like microschools, pods and tutoring that can be implemented in a variety of settings. That curiosity exists among families of all backgrounds, he argued, and even in spite of the fact that roughly half of parents (including 57% of African American parents) said that their own local schools are on the right track.

Even with the overall satisfaction levels with schools, you still see that theres an underlying preference for different types of schools  non-trivial numbers, by any definition, especially if you extrapolate to the full population of students around the country.
GoFundMe

The family of a 16-year-old boy shot twice in the head by a white man last week has labeled the act a hate crime after saying the teenager was just trying to pick up his younger siblings from a friends house.

The boy, Ralph Yarl, mistakenly went to the wrong house in a Kansas City neighborhood on Thursday, according to a GoFundMe set up by his aunt to handle medical expenses.

Yarl pulled up the driveway and rang the doorbell. The man in the home opened the door, looked my nephew in the eye, and shot him in the head, his aunt, Faith Spoonmore, wrote. My nephew fell to the ground, and the man shot him again.

Still conscious, Yarl ran for help, but Spoonmore alleged that he had to run to 3 different homes before someone came to his aid, and then only after ordering the 16-year-old to lie on the ground with his hands up. He was hospitalized, but has a long road ahead mentally and emotionally, the fundraiser page reads.

A massive crowd has amassed in front of the white man's home who attempted to murder 16 year old Black boy Ralph Yarl in Kansas City Missouri pic.twitter.com/f100JlEihV  The Kansas City Defender (@KCDefender) April 16, 2023

The alleged gunman, who has not been identified, was taken into custody and brought to a police station to give a statement. Placed on a 24-hour hold, he was released pending further investigation, something the chief of the Kansas City Police Department spent much of a short Sunday press conference justifying.

The vast majority of cases to include violent crime involve the suspect being released pending further investigation, Chief Stacey Graves said. In this case, the prosecutor requires more information from investigators that would take more than 24 hours to compile throughout the weekend.

She explained that detectives were working to compile forensic evidence and take a formal statement from Yarl. It was not clear if he was in a condition to make a statement on Sunday.

Story continues

We want the community to know that we are committed to justice in this case and every case and work everyday to seek that justice for all victims of all crimes, Graves said, adding that she personally was listening and understood the communitys concern.

On Sunday afternoon, hundreds of protesters gathered to demonstrate outside of the alleged gunmans home on 115th Streeta short drive from 115th Terrace, the friends house where Yarls brothers had actually been located.

That right there, Spoonmore said at the gathering, gesturing to the house, is a lot of hate. This right hereshe pointed to the crowdis a lot of love.

Civil rights attorneys Lee Merritt and Ben Crump said they have offered pro bono services to the family, according to the Kansas City Star. Ralph is fighting for his life, Merritt tweeted on Sunday morning. This man must be arrested. We are on our way.

His name is #RalphYarl a 16 y/o who went to the wrong address to pick up his siblings.



He was shot in the head by a white man who didnt want him on his property. He shot him a 2nd time for emphasis.



Ralph is fighting for his life. This man must be arrested. We are on our way.  Lee Merritt (@MerrittForTexas) April 16, 2023

On the fundraising page, Spoonmore called her nephew a fantastic kid who dreams of attending Texas A&M for chemical engineering.

Last summer, she said, he attended the Missouri Scholars Academy, a program for high-achieving students. Yarl is also a talented bass clarinet player who leads a section of his schools marching band, and plays multiple instruments in the Northland Symphony Youth Orchestra.

Ralph can often be found with a musical instrument, Spoonmore wrote. He loves them all.

She also noted that Yarl was lucky to be alive, explaining, He is our miracle. We have heard these types of stories many times, and unfortunately, most black boys are not alive to get another chance.

This was not an error. This is a hate crime, she posted on Instagram soon after the incident. You dont shoot a child in the head because he rang your doorbell.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
Ralph Yarl, the teenager who was shot in the head and arm by a white homeowner on April 13, 2022. Credit - Gofundme

Ralph Yarl, the Black 16-year-old boy who was shot twice after accidentally ringing the doorbell of the wrong home when picking up his brothers, is crying buckets of tears, his mother told CBS News.

Ralph was shot after he went to collect his two younger brothers on Thursday before 10 p.m., according to police. Police said Ralph mistook the address 115th Terrace for 115th Street, where he was shot. He was released from the hospital on Sunday after suffering life-threatening injuries, and is now recovering at home, according to local media.

His mother, Cleo Nagbe, says that Ralph is doing considerably well, but says that he is replaying the tragedy over and over again.

Cleo Nagbe told @GayleKing that her son, 16-year-old Ralph Yarl, is crying "buckets of tears" as he recovers from two gunshot wounds.



She said Ralph is replaying the situation over and over again. pic.twitter.com/RkOG34FqtE  CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) April 18, 2023

Andrew Lester, the 84-year-old white homeowner who shot Ralph, turned himself in Tuesday afternoon at the Clay County Detention Center. He faces felony charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action for the April 13 shooting. The assault charge carries potential punishment of up to life in prison, while sentences for armed criminal action range from three to 15 years.

Lester claimed to police that he opened fire through the door of his home without saying a single word because he was scared to death of the unarmed teen. Clay County prosecutor Zachary Thompson said Monday that there appeared to be a racial component to the case, but he clarified that the probable cause statement did not indicate that the case was racially motivated.

Story continues

According to charging documents, Lester told police shortly after he shot Ralph that it was the last thing he wanted to do, but says he believed he was protecting himself against a physical confrontation, which he would not have been prepared for given his advanced age. Lester pointed to Ralphs size, which he claimed was 6 feet, and Lesters inability to defend himself as the reasoning behind his actions. (Ralphs aunt, Faith Spoonmore, told CNN he is not that tall.)

Protests have erupted in Kansas City and across the nation following the shooting, and the incident has received widespread attention on social media. President Joe Biden spoke to Yarls family, the White House confirmed on Monday, offering his prayers for Ralphs health and for justice, according to a statement from the familys attorneys. Vice President Kamala Harris tweeted: Lets be clear: No child should ever live in fear of being shot for ringing the wrong doorbell. Every child deserves to be safe.

The family has launched a GoFundMe which has amassed nearly $3 million so far.

Heres what we know about the case.

What happened?

On April 13, Ralphs family asked him to pick up his younger twin brothers from a friends house.

According to Spoonmore, who identified herself as Yarls aunt and has started a GoFundMe page, the homeowner opened the door, looked my nephew in the eye, and shot him in the head. My nephew fell to the ground, and the man shot him again. Ralph was then able to get up and run to the neighbors house, looking for help. The Kansas City Star reports that Yarl had to ask for help at three different houses before he got the aid he needed.

Officers responded to reports of a shooting and found that Yarl had been wounded. Police said Sunday that he is in a stable condition. Despite the severity of his injuries and the seriousness of his condition, Ralph is alive and recovering, said civil rights attorneys S. Lee Merritt and Benjamin Crump in a statement issued on behalf of Yarls family. Crump has represented the families of victims in other high-profile shootings, including Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd.

Read More: Inside Ben Crumps Quest to Raise the Value of Black Life in America

According to Spoonmores funding page, Ralph plays multiple instruments in the metropolitan youth orchestra and participated in the Missouri Scholars Academy for gifted high school students in 2022. His goal is to attend Texas A&M University to study chemical engineering.

Protestors march in Kansas City, Mo., on April 16, 2023, to bring attention to the shooting of Ralph Yarl, 16, who was shot when he went to the wrong house to pick up his brothers on April 13. Susan PfannmullerThe Kansas City Star/AP

The prosecutor said Lester, who lived alone, shot Yarl with a .32-caliber revolver through a glass door. No words were exchanged between the two. There were no witnesses or video of the shooting itself.

Excerpts of the prosecutors probable cause statement posted online reveal that Lester told police he picked up his gun after hearing the doorbell ring while laying down. He opened an interior door and saw a black male approximately six feet tall pulling on the exterior door of his house. Believing it was a break-in attempt, he fired twice after opening the door.

Lester said he was scared to death because of his inability to defend himself and clarified that shooting was the last thing he wanted to do, according to the statement.

Darron Edwards, lead pastor of the United Believers Community Church, says the community is shocked by the actions that transpired against Yarl.

The way we are told right now that this has happened, ringing a doorbell and instantly, getting shot two times, is not how you want to look at your city, Edwards says. I started thinking about the little kids at Halloween that trick or treat, can they ring the doorbell?

On Sunday, hundreds of people took to the streets in Kansas City in protest, chanting justice for Ralph and Black lives matter.

Neighbor describes helping Ralph Yarl after shooting

James Lynch, the good Samaritan who rushed to aid Ralph, said he heard someone screaming for help in the typically tranquil neighborhood. I thought he was dead, Lynch told NBC News. He hasnt even begun to live his life yet. He didnt deserve to get shot.

Lynch, who is Lesters neighbor, was getting ready for bed when he heard the teenager scream that he had been shot. The 42-year-old father of three, had seen Ralph banging on the door of Lesters home through his kitchen window; he was trying to figure out what was going on next door after he heard shouting.

Lynch ran over to the yard, where he found Ralph covered in blood.

Lynch and another neighbor tried to stop the bleeding. He asked the teenager his name and ageand Ralph struggled to respond but did spell his name. The duo stayed until paramedics arrived.

I didnt do anything but hold a kids hand so he wouldnt feel alone, Lynch said. He had just gotten shot twice; he had a hole in the side of his head

That kid is tougher than I am.

Why was the shooter released?

Lester, who at the time remained unnamed, was initially taken into custody and placed on a 24-hour hold while investigations were carried out, Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said in a news conference Sunday. He was later released because charges had not yet been made, Graves confirmed. This sparked concerns among the wider community that there would be no accountability for the shooter.

Prosecutors charged Lester on Monday, and he turned himself in on Tuesday.

BREAKING: This is a mugshot just released by @kcpolice of Andrew Lester, 84. He is the suspect in the #RalphYarl case.@kmbc pic.twitter.com/7hJSvEi8h0  Matt Flener KMBC (@MattFlenerKMBC) April 17, 2023

It is situations like this that feed the ongoing distrust in law enforcement when Black people are the victims of excessive or deadly force at the hands of white citizens and law enforcement, Gwen Grant, president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City, told the Kansas City Star. The notion that a victims statement is required is unfathomable to me. Homicide victims dont give statements, yet the perpetrators get arrested.

This is one [event] you cannot divorce from race, Edwards says. The family wants justice.

Police previously said that they were waiting for a formal victim statement and forensic evidence to fill out a case file. Graves also said they were investigating whether the gunman was protected by Missouris stand your ground law, which allows people to use deadly force if they believe it will protect them from death or great bodily harm.

But as investigators and Lesters legal defense look to the self-defense laws that may apply in this case, Sean D. OBrien, a professor at University of Missouri Kansas City School of Law, tells TIME, Theres still a reasonableness standard. He has to be able to point to something to say he was in fear of [the] ringing [of] the doorbell, and [Yarl] being Black by itself is not going to cut it.

With reporting by Chad de Guzman, Sanya Mansoor, and Armani Syed.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said she would not support a move by Senate Democrats to temporarily replace Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on the Senate Judiciary Committee, arguing such a move would help Democrats pack the court with activist judges.

I will not go along with Chuck Schumers plan to replace Senator Feinstein on the Judiciary Committee and pack the court with activist judges, Blackburn said on Twitter on Monday. Joe Biden wants the Senate to rubber stamp his unqualified and controversial judges to radically transform America.

Feinstein, 89, has been away from the Senate while recovering at home from a shingles diagnosis. A pair of House Democrats called for her to resign from the chamber last week.

With Feinstein away from the Senate, Democrats have been unable to push judicial nominations through the Judiciary Committee for a full floor vote to be confirmed. Feinstein has rejected calls for her to resign but said she supported Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) appointing a temporary replacement for her on the Judiciary panel.

The move to temporarily replace Feinstein would require Republican support, with 60 votes needed in the full chamber to confirm the replacement. When Feinstein called for the replacement, it was unclear whether GOP lawmakers would be supportive of a move that could help Democrats confirm more judges.

Along with Blackburn, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) also signaled that he would not be supportive of the move to replace Feinstein on the panel.

Republicans should not assist Democrats in confirming Joe Bidens most radical nominees to the courts, Cotton said on Twitter over the weekend.

Confirming federal judges has been a priority for the Biden administration and Senate Democrats since the party won a slight majority in the 2022 midterms. President Biden has outpaced nearly all of his predecessors in confirming judges.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk said that U.S. government agencies had full access to direct messages on the platform in an excerpt of an interview with Tucker Carlson released Sunday afternoon.

The degree to which various government agencies had effectively had full access to everything that was going on on Twitter blew my mind. I was not aware of that, Musk tells Fox News anchor Carlson in one clip cut from a longer interview set to air Monday night.

Would that include peoples DMs? Carlson asked.

Yes, Musk responded.

In another clip posted on Monday morning, Carlson jokes with Musk about Twitters recent decision to remove the New York Times blue verification badge following news that the outlet would not pay for Twitter Blue.

You called them diarrhea  you did, you did  Im just quoting you. You describe their Twitter feed as diarrhea, Carlson says smirkingly prompting the tech billionaire to laugh before correcting the anchors statement.

I said its the Twitter equivalent of diarrheaits a metaphor, Musk said.

The executives comments come on the heels of the recent controversy surrounding Twitters decision to label National Public Radio government-funded media, which led the outlet to ditch the platform altogether.

NPR will no longer post fresh content to its 52 official Twitter feeds, becoming the first major news organization to go silent on the social media platform, David Folkenflik, a media correspondent for the news site, wrote on Wednesday morning.

Story continues

The announcement coincided with a series of tweets on NPRs official account directing users to download their app, sign up for their newsletter, and follow their Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn accounts.

The first clip shared by Carlson of the interview last Friday also teased a segment on artificial intelligence.

AI is more dangerous than, say, mismanaged aircraft design or production maintenance, or bad car production in the sense that it has the potential  however, small one may regard that probability, but it is non-trivial  it has the potential for civilizational destruction, Musk said.

The full interview is set to air Monday night.

More from National Review
An Eatn Park in Washington County was closed while police investigated a bomb threat made against it on Sunday.

A spokesperson from Eatn Park Restaurants said the threat was made against their location in Canonsburg in the afternoon.

Police were called to the scene and inspected the building. They found no evidence of danger.

We are grateful for the prompt response of local law enforcement at our Canonsburg Eatn Park this afternoon, who ensured the safety of our guests and team members following a non-credible bomb threat, said the spokesperson.

The restaurant has been reopened.

Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW




By Khalid Abdelaziz and Nafisa Eltahir

KHARTOUM (Reuters) -Sudan's battling factions both claimed to have made gains on Monday as violence cut power and water in the capital, and the U.N. envoy to Sudan said the two sides showed no signs of being willing to negotiate.

Fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed at least 185 people and injured more than 1,800, said U.N. envoy Volker Perthes amid airstrikes and fighting in Khartoum and strife across Sudan. Their power struggle has derailed a shift to civilian rule and raised fears of a wider conflict.

Smoke hung over the capital, and residents reported a clamour of airstrikes, artillery fire and shooting that shut hospitals in a city unused to violence.

"The two sides who are fighting are not giving the impression that they want mediation for a peace between them right away," Perthes told reporters by videolink from Khartoum.

He said the sides had agreed a three-hour humanitarian truce. But for a second day fighting continued despite the promise of calm, according to Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya TV reporters broadcasting from Khartoum.

The fighting in Khartoum and its adjoining sister cities of Omdurman and Bahri since Saturday is the worst in decades and risks tearing Sudan between two military factions that had shared power during a rocky political transition.

Army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan heads a ruling council installed after a 2021 coup and the 2019 ousting of veteran leader Omar Bashir during mass protests. RSF leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, is his deputy.

Egypt and the United Arab Emirates were working on a ceasefire proposal for Sudan, two Egyptian security sources said. Cairo is the most important backer of Sudan's armed forces while Hemedti has cultivated ties with foreign powers including the United Arab Emirates and Russia.

In a speech broadcast by Egyptian state television late on Monday, Egypt President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said he was in regular contact with the army and RSF to "encourage them to accept a ceasefire and spare the blood of the Sudanese people".

Story continues

Under an internationally backed transition plan, the RSF was shortly due to merge with the army. Burhan on Monday branded the RSF a rebel group and ordered it dissolved.

In comments to Sky News, Burhan said he was secure in a presidential guesthouse in the defence ministry compound. The army later said the scope of security operations was widening, which would cause restrictions on citizens' movements.

RSF leader Hemedti, whose whereabouts since Saturday have not been disclosed, called the army chief "a radical Islamist who is bombing civilians from the air".

While the army is larger and has air power, the RSF is widely deployed inside neighbourhoods of Khartoum and other cities, giving neither faction the edge for a quick victory.

The violence could destabilise a volatile region and play into competition for influence there between Russia and the United States, and among regional powers that have courted different actors in Sudan.

The European Union said its envoy to Sudan was assaulted in his residence on Monday but did not give details.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to Burhan and RSF Commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo to urge a ceasefire and said both sides had a responsibility to "ensure the safety and wellbeing of civilians, diplomatic personnel, and humanitarian workers," the State Department said.

HOSPITALS DAMAGED

Offices, schools and petrol stations in the capital were shut on Monday, while health services were widely disrupted and doctors said most major hospitals had gone out of service.

The bridges linking Khartoum with Omdurman and Bahri across the Nile River's two main branches were blocked by armoured vehicles, and some roads leading from the capital were impassable. Television images showed a fire raging at the international airport inside the city.

With water and power cut across large parts of the capital, some residents were venturing out to buy food, forming queues at bakeries.

There has been no police presence on the streets of Khartoum since Saturday, and witnesses reported cases of looting.

"We're scared our store will be looted because there's no sense of security," said Abdalsalam Yassin, 33, a shopkeeper who had bought extra stock ahead of the coming Eid al-Fitr holiday.

U.N. chief Antonio Guterres urged a return to calm, saying an already precarious humanitarian situation was now catastrophic and U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths said fighting had shuttered many aid programmes.

The eruption of fighting over the weekend followed rising tensions over the RSF's integration into the military.

Discord over the timetable for that process delayed a framework deal for a civilian transition that was due to be signed earlier this month.

Egypt's Sisi also said he is in touch with the RSF to ensure the safety of Egyptian troops, who had been in Sudan for joint military exercises.

(Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz in Khartoum, Nafisa Eltahir, Omar Abdel-Razek, Moaz Abd-Alaziz and Hatem Maher in Cairo, Humeyra Pamuk in Tokyo, Michelle Nichols at the U.N. and Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Writing by Aidan Lewis and Angus McDowall; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Cynthia Osterman)
Border guards repelled several attacks by Russian invaders in the city of Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, on Easter: six Russians were killed and five wounded.

Source: State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (SBGS)

Quote: "Border units are conducting heavy military operations as part of the Defence Forces with the Russian occupation forces outside the fortress city of Bakhmut."

Details: On 16 April, Russia attacked a stronghold of border guards twice. The Russian invaders made the first attempt to break through after lunch. During a long battle, the State Border Service soldiers repelled the assault group.

A few hours later, Russia resumed the offensive, attracting additional infantry and increasing artillery fire. Two Russian groups of attackers tried to surround the position. Border guards exposed the intention of Russians, made a manoeuvre and engaged in a shoot-out.

The State Border Guard Service reports that short-range combat clashes continued until night, and Russians were stopped at the defence line.

Russian estimated losses amounted to 11 people: 6 killed and 5 wounded.

Background: According to the evening report of General Staff on 17 April, Bakhmut and Marinka remain in the epicentre of military operations at the front.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
Before landing the part in the 2009 comedy The Hangover  the role that would catapult him to stardom  actor Bradley Cooper was either playing the nerdy, good guy friend (Alias) or the rich boy with anger issues (Wedding Crashers), but never the leading man.

And around those early days, he purchased his first house in Venice, California, which hes kept for almost two decades.

The charming two-bedroom, two-bathroom bungalow is now on the market for $2.4 million.

This idyllic celebrity hideaway was Bradley Coopers first house in Venice, tucked away behind mature landscaping to offer complete seclusion and privacy, the listing on Compass describes. He worked with renowned interior designer Santillana de Chanaleilles to reimagine the interiors, now boasting a natural and raw aesthetic that features reclaimed wood ceilings, concrete floors, and impeccable attention to detail throughout.

The 1,571-square-foot residence has many high-end features scattered inside and outside including:

Great room

Oversized concrete breakfast bar

Fireplace

French doors

Back yard

Natural light

Bonus room

Built-in barbecue

Fire pit

Hot tub

With its exceptional layout that provides ample space and seclusion for hosting gatherings, this residence is one-of-a-kind, listing agent Diana Braun said in a news release.

Situated in an ideal spot for those who enjoy the California beach lifestyle, it boasts enticing amenities such as a fire pit, jacuzzi and outdoor living space. Although the local housing market has undergone some changes since last summer, the demand from buyers remains robust, and they now have a greater selection to choose from. Despite the increase in inventory, it has yet to reach the levels seen during the previous recession.

Following his success with The Hangover franchise, Cooper went on to star in numerous award-winning films such as Silver Linings Playbook, American Sniper and The Guardians of the Galaxy, where he voices Rocket the raccoon.

Top Gun actor Anthony Edwards lists his seaside California abode for $6.5M. See it

Is it a portal to hell? Hidden room in Virginia home for sale is scaring people
Anchiy/Getty Images

Fact checked by Nick Blackmer

About 1 in 5 patients surveyed said that if they received abnormal mammogram results, they would not go in for follow-up imaging if they had to pay a deductible.

Most abnormal mammograms are false positives, experts said, but additional follow-up imaging tests are necessary to determine if someone has early-stage breast cancer.

These high deductibles or other fees exacerbate existing health disparities and deter people from getting the preventative breast cancer care they need, experts said.

Anchiy/Getty Images

A significant percentage of patientsabout 21%say that they would skip follow-up breast imaging after an abnormal mammogram if they had to pay a deductible, new research shows.

The study, published on April 4 in Radiology, asked about 700 participants if, in a hypothetical situation, they would forgo this additional imaging to confirm whether they had breast cancer. The high percentage of people who said they would illustrates how cost is often a barrier for breast cancer screenings and diagnoses, experts said.

We do know that peoples decision to use health care is sensitive to the cost that they pay out of pocket for that care, Anna Sinaiko, PhD, assistant professor of health economics and policy at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told Health. If you raise costs for patients, they do use less care, even when it's needed and appropriate.

Heres what experts had to say about why such a significant portion of patients may be skipping breast cancer imaging, why thats cause for concern, and what to do in the face of high costs.

Additional Costs Deter People From Seeking Breast Cancer Imaging

Currently, if a person goes in to get a mammogram, it will most likely be at no cost to them. This is thanks to an Affordable Care Act (ACA) rule which requires insurance companies to provide one free mammogram annually, as theyre deemed a preventative service.

But if a person gets their mammogram results back and their health care provider spots something abnormal, theyll be called for additional imaging. This is where things can get expensive.

Story continues

Once they find something and they want you to come back and get an additional imaging exam, that might be mammogram, but often its ultrasound or MRI or some other kind of imaging. Then that no longer is called a screening test, Karen Kuntz, ScD, professor of health policy and management at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, told Health. Its a diagnostic test. And so now that can trigger a co-payment.

Hoping to investigate the effect of these additional imaging costs, researchers gave a survey to patients at Boston Medical Center between September 2021 and February 2022.

There were 714 people who answered the survey question, If I knew that I had to pay a deductible for the additional imaging [to make sure my screening mammogram is normal], I would skip this additional imaging. About 21% of the respondents said that they would, and nearly 60% said they wouldnt consider skipping the follow-up imaging.

Additionally, 707 participants answered a question on whether they would skip breast cancer screening altogether if they knew that theyd have to pay a deductible for follow-up tests later on. About 18% said they would skip this initial screening mammography, while about 66% said they would not.

Besides those who gave a yes or no to each hypothetical statement, a significant portion of people said they werent sure what they would doanother 20% said they were undecided on whether they would skip a follow-up imaging after an abnormal mammogram, and 16% said they didnt know if they would skip initial mammography.

This could indicate that the actual number of people who end up avoiding these follow-up tests and screenings is even higher.

The study also found that certain demographic groups were more likely to skip breast imaging than others. In line with pre-existing health disparities, people who were less-educated, had a lower income, were not white, and had Medicaid or no insurance were most likely to avoid both mammography and additional breast imaging due to cost.

Its going to increase disparities in breast cancer outcomes, which is what we dont want, Kuntz said.

The study does have a few limitations, experts explained. Since there were only a few hundred participants, the results may not reflect the sentiments of the entire U.S. population who are eligible for mammograms. Also, the researchers asked patients to explain their behavior in a hypothetical situation, which could mean theyd act differently when faced with an actual abnormal mammogram and high deductible.

Still, the studys findings seem to be in line with what researchers already know. A study published last year found that about 20% of people did not return for their follow-up examination after receiving inconclusive mammogram results. And the problem is apparent outside of breast cancer screening, tooabout 40% of survey respondents reported skipping a recommended medical test or treatment because they were worried about cost.

Related:Nearly 50% of Women Skip Preventative Health AppointmentsHere Are the Checkups to Prioritize

The Importance of Follow-Up Imaging for Early Detection

Receiving abnormal mammogram results is fairly common, said Therese Bevers, MD, medical director of the Cancer Prevention Center at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. But its always better to be safe.

While 80% [of abnormal mammograms] are not breast cancer, 20% are, Dr. Bevers told Health. Where do the two intersect? How many of the 20% of breast cancers are going to be in that one of five women who elect to not get the further workup? And so then things progress, and shes ultimately diagnosed at a more advanced stage.

This is precisely what healthcare providers are trying to avoid, Sinaiko explained.

Cancer outcomes are a lot better the earlier it is detected, she said. We want patients to go for their mammograms to be screened so that we can catch the disease as early as possible, then it just leads to better survival and quality of life.

The findings are also concerning because they raise the question of whether skipping care is common practice even after people get diagnosed with breast cancer, said Sarah Tevis, MD, assistant professor of surgery at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

If its such a barrier that they cant even get [screened] to get diagnosed, are they going to be able to afford to follow through with the treatment recommendations that we provide? she told Health.

Related:MRIs May Detect Cancer in Dense Breasts Better Than MammogramsShould You Get One?

What People Can Do to Get Their Breast Imaging Costs Down

Though its important for people to commit to additional breast cancer imaging if necessary, it can be hard to quantify the cost. For one, the cost often depends on the type of imaging a provider orders, the experts said.

They could maybe just need a diagnostic mammogram that reassures the radiologist that theres nothing concerning going on, Dr. Tevis said. Or they could need a mammogram and an ultrasound and a biopsy and an MRI.

If more intensive exams are required, she explained, thats where the costs could become quite significant.

What the patient themselves is responsible for paying also depends on if they have health insurance, and the type that they have.

If the additional breast imaging falls under someones deductible, Sinaiko explained, they will have to pay the full cost. It may be less expensive if a person has a copay or coinsurance, where theyll pay a flat fee or a percentage of the cost, respectively.

In addition to the cost of the care itself, patients may be discouraged from going to their follow-up if they have to find childcare, travel long distances, or take time off work, Dr. Tevis added.

As you start to think about the different financial barriers to getting that further workup, you can see why some women may find that prohibitive, Dr. Tevis said. Ive seen women who dont have insurance and who cant afford their screening exams who have come in with a breast cancer diagnosis that probably would have been picked up on a screening mammogram.

Lowering costs may be a matter of simply redefining what is considered a preventative screening test versus a diagnostic test. If follow-up appointments were considered the former rather than the latter, public and private insurance would likely cover them.

The intent of the screening mammogram is early detection, Dr. Bevers said. Just getting the screening mammogram isnt enough. Youve got to complete the workup. And so the workup really is part of the screening.

Covering preventative care is also to the benefit of groups such as insurance companies and employers, Sinaiko added, since it increases the odds that someone will need less aggressive care down the road if their cancer is caught early.

But for now, experts agree that people should make a plan for what they should do if they were to need a follow-up breast exam. They can call and ask their insurance provider to spell out what exactly is covered, Kuntz said, and they may want to consider shopping around to see if they can find better coverage for these follow-up tests, Sinaiko added. Healthcare facilities may also have financial counselors or other resources that people can take advantage of, Dr. Tevis said.

Beyond the individual level, however, real change in the costs associated with follow-up breast imaging may need to come from a higher level. This could include everything from legislative pressures on insurance companies, to raising awareness of the importance of attending these types of appointments, experts agree.

Covering that initial screening mammography is a huge step in the right direction, but patients need to be in a position where they can actually determine whether they have breast cancer.

People are becoming more and more aware that, Oh, this is great that were covering the screening tests, but we have to cover all of the follow-up tests as well, Kuntz said. Otherwise, theres no effectiveness[theres] no upside to doing that first test if you cant do the follow-up.



Related:How To Fight Medical Bills

For more Health news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on Health.
A Northern California man was found guilty Monday of assaulting officers with bear spray and obstructing the certification of 2020 election results at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Sean Michael McHugh could serve up to 20 years in prison and three years of supervised release because of his role at the insurrection, U.S. District Judge John D. Bates said during the half-day bench trial on Monday. McHugh, 35, also could pay up to $250,000 in fines and other penalties.

The Auburn construction worker agreed that some actions he took on Jan. 6  the use of bear spray against police officers and goading rioters with a megaphone that Were storming the Capitol and This is our country, were not going to let this happen  could result in a guilty verdict.

In turn, federal prosecutors dismissed eight of the 10 counts McHugh faced in his indictment.

While McHugh admitted in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to spraying a police officer and pushing a metal sign, he said those actions were taken out of context. McHugh agreed to facts stipulated upon by prosecutors and his lawyer, Joseph Allen, but he wanted to contextualize his actions before being sentenced.

He mentioned that his mother was being hit by rubber bullets around the time he unloaded bear spray onto the police officer. McHugh also said that his bear spray was not as strong as what police officers used on Jan. 6.

The bear spray McHugh used, the judge said, was 50% stronger than police pepper spray and hazardous to humans. McHugh temporarily blinded a police officer during the riot.

Later in direct Facebook messages, the judge noted, McHugh wrote, I unloaded a whole can of bear spray on a line of cops I got three of them down really really good.

And McHugh with other rioters pushing a 10- to 15-foot-wide metal sign into officers, the judge said, could have knocked someone unconscious. McHugh said that he did not intend to harm officers, rather he thought protesters were flipping the sign, which featured former President Donald Trump, around to demonstrate that, Yes, this is Trump country.

Story continues

Bates said McHugh shouted police officers were protecting pedophiles and protecting communists. He said that McHugh claimed I have a job to do, and its defend the Constitution.

In declaring his guilty verdict, Bates said that McHugh voluntarily assaulted a police officer with bear spray, causing bodily harm, and knowingly intended to halt the certification of President Joe Bidens 2020 electoral win by calling rioters to the Capitol with his megaphone.

McHugh is expected to be sentenced in Washington on Sept. 7 and will remain in custody in the district until then. He retains the right to appeal the count of obstructing the certification of 2020 electoral votes and the sentence Bates hands down.

Almost two years in custody

McHughs attorney Allen  a Branson, Missouri, lawyer, whom he retained last year after asking to replace his federal defender  appeared via videoconference: His flight was canceled and rebooked. McHugh claimed many times that he had trouble speaking with Allen from the correctional facility he has been held at.

He has been held in a Washington, D.C., jail for about two years.

McHugh had asked to be released pending trial because of his deteriorating mental health, claims of abuse and need to help his family. He had also asked his trial be moved to Sacramento and his charges dismissed multiple times. The judge denied these requests in March.

Amy Hunt, his fiance who was at his trial on Monday, wrote in an online fundraising campaign that McHugh was being held in solitary confinement conditions and was scared for his life. She wrote that he was like any conservative American; the effort had raised more than $69,000 before McHughs trial started Monday.

Sean stood up his country that day like everyone else did that day to peacefully rally for the truth, Hunt wrote. Sean never imagined the nightmare that he would witness and become trapped in.

Before the Jan. 6 riot, McHugh had accumulated a criminal history in the Sacramento region dating back to 2006. Most of these happened while he was on probation and supervised, court documents say as part of the reason why he has been held in custody.

Bates, the judge, said that this criminal history could enhance his penalties, depending on what court officers recommend through a report in line with sentencing guidelines.

More than 1,000 charged over insurrection

McHugh is one of more than 1,020 people who have been charged nationwide for the insurrection. He was one of about 339 defendants facing charges of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers, according to April 5 tallies by the Justice Department.

He is one of four Sacramento-area residents prosecuted for crimes that took place during the insurrection. He faced the most serious charges, and was the only one who remained in custody for the duration of the case.

Jorge Aaron Riley, a Republican Party activist from Sacramento, pleaded guilty to a single felony count of obstructing an official proceeding in March as a result of his actions on Jan. 6, which included allegedly entering then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosis office. Riley, 45, is expected to be sentenced in September.

Tommy Frederick Allan of Rocklin, who was accused of taking a U.S. flag and some documents from the Senate, was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison years in December. Allan, 54, must also pay $2,000 to the Architect of the Capitol and a $100 fine.

Valerie Elaine Ehrke, an Arbuckle home designer, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of parading or picketing at the Capitol. In 2021, Ehrke, 55, was sentenced to three years probation, 120 hours of community service and $500 fine for the Architect of the Capitol.
Queen Camilla was reportedly left hurt over being labelled the villain by Prince Harry in his memoir, a source has suggested.

In Spare, which was released in January, Prince Harry claimed that his stepmother leaked stories about the royal family to the media to bolster her image.

I have complex feelings about gaining a step-parent who I thought had recently sacrificed me on her personal PR altar, he wrote.

He says meeting Camilla  referred to as the Other Woman in his book  was like an injection, writing: Close your eyes and you wont even feel it.

Harry continued: I remember wondering... if she would be cruel to me; if she would be like all the evil stepmothers in the stories.

Then, during ITVs Harry: The Interview, the Duke of Sussex claimed stories began to be leaked after both he and his brother begged Charles not to marry Camilla.

In a new interview, sources close to the Queen have been reflecting on her journey ahead of her coronation.

Of course it bothers her, of course it hurts. But she doesnt let it get to her, Fiona Petty-Fitzmaurice, Marchioness of Lansdowne, told The Sunday Times of Camillas reaction to the memoir.

Charles and Camilla married in 2005 but they have been linked since the Seventies (Getty Images)

Ms Petty-Fitzmaurice is one of the Queens six companions and is married to Charles, 9th Marquess of Lansdowne.

It comes as Buckingham Palace has announced that Prince Harry will be attending the coronation on 6 May, without his wife Meghan Markle, who will stay at home with their children in California.

King Charles is reportedly using the coronation as an opportunity to mend family divisions, reports have claimed.

This includes bringing the disgraced Prince Andrew, the Duke of York in from the cold after reports claim that he was asked to leave his Windsor residence Royal Lodge.

A source told PageSix: Relations between the King and his brother have never been this bad. It has turned into a real battle which he never expected and its left him tired and infuriated.

Meanwhile, The Independent has learnt that the Duchess of York has not been invited to the coronation.

The Independent has contacted Buckingham Palace for comment.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said that Canada will hand over to Ukraine a Russian AN-124 aircraft (also known as Ruslan  ed.) and other assets of the aggressor state.

Source: Shmyhal on Facebook

Quote: "A new package of sanctions against Russia from Canada. In particular, against the Volga-Dnepr company.

We are preparing to confiscate the AN-124 aircraft and other assets belonging to the aggressor in Canada and transfer them to Ukraine."

Background: The court seized 12 AN-124-100 Ruslan transport aircraft belonging to the Russian airline Volga-Dnepr as part of criminal proceedings initiated at the request of the state-owned Antonov company.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
It's not just American broadcasters departing Twitter in opposition to the "government-funded media" label. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is "pausing" its use of Twitter over the label's implication that the government may influence its editorial output. Reporting is "impartial and independent," the media outlet says.

There's no word on whether or not the CBC is in discussions with Twitter to alter the label. We've asked the broadcaster for comment. The UK's British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) succeeded in having Twitter change its label to "publicly-funded" soon after a quickly-organized interview with Elon Musk, who said he agreed with the corporation's description of itself.

The CBC is a Crown corporation, which means it's completely owned by the Canadian government but editorially independent  the country's Broadcasting Act enshrines that hands-off approach in law. It also makes some of its money from advertising.

Attention to the issue in the US began in earnest when National Public Radio (NPR) objected to "US state-affiliated" media labelling. Twitter changed the label, but to a "government-funded" designation that still implied bias. NPR quit the platform days later. The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) made a similar move, noting that most of its revenue comes from private sources.

The CBC's halt won't necessarily lead Twitter to change its label policy. However, it makes clear that the exodus is an international phenomenon. Don't be surprised if the trend continues in other countries where similarly structured broadcasters operate.

Update 04/17/23 11:50PM: Elon Musk tweeted that since CBC claimed to be less than 70 percent government-funded, Twitter has updated its profile to say that it's a "69% Government-funded Media."
The state representative from McCurtain County has joined the growing chorus of those saying officials there who reportedly discussed murdering journalists and reminiscing about racist policing should resign immediately.

Eddy Dempsey, R-Valliant, said the comments published by the McCurtain Gazette-News don't reflect how the county really is.

"I honestly think they should resign," said Dempsey. "I mean, to this point, there's no hearsay, no two words (about it); they were recorded, so it should be a resignation."

Oklahoma Rep. Eddy Dempsey.

According to the newspaper, Sheriff Kevin Clardy, investigator Alicia Manning, Jail Administrator Larry Hendrix and District 2 Commissioner Mark Jennings were part of an impromptu discussion after the March 6 meeting of the county Board of Commissioners.

A portion of the audio recordings was released online over the weekend, and while the audio matched some of the quoted material in the story, The Oklahoman has not yet independently verified who the speakers were in the recordings.

More: McCurtain Co. commissioner resigns amid controversy over violent remarks

Idabel mayor calls for resignation; officials call for accountability

Craig Young, mayor of Idabel, attended the county commissioners meeting Monday and also called for resignations.

The mayor of Idabel, Craig Young, is at the county commissioners meeting calling on resignations. pic.twitter.com/DieKk5INrA  Erin Christy (@Erin_Christy) April 17, 2023

The state senator who represents the area, George Burns, R-Pollard, declined to comment and said Monday morning he was waiting for more details to emerge. A spokesman for Attorney General Gentner Drummond said the office is investigating the situation and has no comment.

U.S. Rep. Josh Brecheen tweeted Monday that "those involved must be held accountable so the people of McCurtain County can have faith in their government."

Story continues

More: Transcript of McCurtain County Sheriff, Commissioners discussing lynching, hiring hit men

"These vile comments reflect the heart condition of a few and do not reflect the values of McCurtain County and Oklahoma," said Brecheen, who represents southeastern Oklahoma in Congress.

These vile comments reflect the heart condition of a few and do not reflect the values of McCurtain County and Oklahoma.



Those involved must be held accountable so the people of McCurtain County can have faith in their government. https://t.co/mRl0pvTKx1  Congressman Josh Brecheen (@RepBrecheen) April 17, 2023

Dempsey said he's known those individuals for a long time and was surprised to hear what was said.

"Being from southeast Oklahoma, I don't honestly think it was serious, but you still can't take things like this lightly. You live in a glass bubble when you become a politician," he said. "I hope this gets resolved quickly. All my life we always say we don't get enough recognition in southeast Oklahoma, but we don't need this kind of recognition."

Gov. Kevin Stitt calls for McCurtain County officials to resign

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said Sunday in a release that McCurtain County officials should resign after the accusations were published mid-April in a local newspaper.

"I am both appalled and disheartened to hear of the horrid comments made by officials in McCurtain County," Stitt said in a statement late Sunday. "There is simply no place for such hateful rhetoric in the state of Oklahoma, especially by those that serve to represent the community through their respective office. I will not stand idly by while this takes place.

"In light of these events, I am calling for the immediate resignation of McCurtain County Sheriff Kevin Clardy, District 2 Commissioner Mark Jennings, Investigator Alicia Manning, and Jail Administrator Larry Hendrix."

More: Gov. Stitt calls for McCurtain County officials to resign

Stitt also said he will be calling on the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to begin an investigation "to determine whether any illegal conduct has occurred," according to a media release accompanying the statement.

The FBI and the Oklahoma attorney generals office have copies of the recording, according to the Gazette.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: State officials call for immediate resignations in McCurtain County
Heather Kasten is the president/CEO of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce.

At the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce, were in the business supporting the needs of the business community. And one business issue that we repeatedly hear employers struggling with is talent and workforce. In todays terms, the word workforce seems to have many different meanings. Opinions vary from hiring, to retaining, to upskilling, to being ready for the future growth of a company. Its a word that employers use to describe their own set of employees and its a word that Chambers and EDCs use to describe their communitys ability to meet the needs of companies in the region.

For close to 12 years, CareerEdge has been focused on providing companies with an exceptional labor force in the following target industries: health care, manufacturing, insurance, automotive, construction and skilled trades. The network of partnerships includes bringing together funders both private and public, educators, employers, and other community-based organizations.

Through the collaboration of these entities, CareerEdge and the Sarasota Chamber offer employers assistance in these four core programs:

 Employer Grant Funding: Eligible businesses may apply for up to $50,000 in grants to fund training programs to upskill incumbent staff, providing them an edge in retaining their top talent while giving team members the opportunity to gain skills and advance in their careers and earning potential.

 Internship Reimbursement: CareerEdge's funding reduces the employer expense of a paid internship through partial wage reimbursement. Well developed internship programs provide employers the chance to identify future staff members, while interns build experience and grow their resume. A true win-win.

 On-the-Job Training Incentives: Employers may be eligible for wage reimbursements if they offer on-the-job training, teaching workers the knowledge, skills, and competencies needed to perform a specific job while earning a paycheck.

 "Bridges to Careers" Fast-Track Training: Through strategic partnerships with local schools and technical colleges, CareerEdges tuition-free fast-track training programs provide hands-on, accelerated, and effective training to assist individuals in securing employment and allows employers to have skilled employees filling in-demand positions faster.

Story continues

With the primary focus on listening to employers and uncovering their pain points, CareerEdge continues to strive toward creative ways to solve complex workforce challenges and provide solutions to benefit companies and provide life-changing opportunities for members of our community.

Over the last two years, CareerEdge and Suncoast Technical College combined efforts and resources to help students learn construction-related skills by building an eco-friendly tiny home on the schools campus. This was a first-of-a-kind training approach where students took what they were taught in the classroom and immediately applied it in the field. The innovative two-year project allowed 185 students to earn a total of 145 industry-recognized certifications throughout the course of the project.

Last month, CareerEdge kicked off a brand new program for high school seniors in Marine Tech Service, an exciting partnership with Suncoast Technical College and local boat manufacturer Chris-Craft. This 12-week fast-track program will equip students with the fundamental skills and know-how to be considered for immediate employment just as they graduate from high school. Were so excited about these students and the opportunity they have.

Last year, CareerEdge and its employer partners invested nearly $1.1 million in workforce development in our region, according to CareerEdges 2022 annual third-party evaluation. As a result, over 500 workers received training resulting in over $3 million in increased aggregate annual earnings. The ripple effect of these increases in wages equates to over $4.6 million in total economic impact across our region, as estimated by the RIMS-II model for economic analysis. To date, CareerEdge and its employer partners have invested $15.5 million in workforce development, training over 7,100 workers since 2010.

In order for businesses to thrive, they need trained and quality individuals to help them produce their given product or service. CareerEdge and the Sarasota Chamber are finding creative ways and solutions to meet the workforce needs in our region.

To learn more about the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce and its workforce initiative, CareerEdgeFunders, please visit us at sarasotachamber.com.

Heather Kasten is the president/CEO of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce and has been with the organization since March 2019. Contact her at hkasten@sarasotachamber.com or 941-556-4050. Dan Sidler serves as the Chambers vice president of CareerEdge and economic development and may be contacted at dsidler@sarasotachamber.com or 941-556-4045.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota Chamber tackles workforce challenges with creative solutions
The trial of Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo, accused in a federal civil lawsuit of abusing his authority to target Little Havana businesses, is moving south to Miami  at least temporarily.

On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Rodney Smith told attorneys representing Carollo and businessmen William Fuller and Martin Pinilla that the trial will be moved to Miamis federal courthouse until further notice because of the clean-up following the historic downpour that flooded much of downtown Fort Lauderdale, where the trial began early last week.

The Broward County jury already chosen to hear the case, the judge said, would be accommodated with transportation to Miami. It was unclear if the move would last the duration of the trial.

Last Wednesday, a rain system unexpectedly stalled over Fort Lauderdale, leaving almost 26 inches of rain in its wake, flooding homes and businesses and causing the shutdown of Broward County schools and Hollywood-Fort Lauderdale International Airport. Though most of the flooding had subsided by this week, the cleanup continued. Schools and the airport reopened. It wasnt immediately clear how badly the rainfall damaged the Broward County Federal Courthouse on Broward Boulevard, where the first week of the trial took place.

Carollos civil trial was originally to take place at Miamis Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. U.S. Courthouse before Judge Federico Moreno. At some point it was transferred to Federal Judge Rodney Smith  such transfers are not particularly unusual  who was in Miami at the time. But before the trial began Smith transferred courts to Broward County, where the trial began two weeks ago. The lawsuit was originally filed in 2018.

Carollo, Miamis most controversial and longest-tenured commissioner, has denied claims by Fuller and Pinilla that he abused his elected position and pressured managers in Miami to send code enforcement officers to investigate several of the mens businesses. The duo say Carollo began his attacks almost as soon as they began to publicly support Alfonso Alfie Leon, whom Carollo defeated in a runoff in 2017.

Theyre seeking damages of $2.4 million and punitive costs.
SEATTLE (AP)  Luis Castillo retired his first 18 batters, Jarred Kelenic hit an RBI single and the Seattle Mariners beat the skidding Colorado Rockies 1-0 on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.

Kelenic extended his hitting streak to a career-best 10 games and played outstanding defense in right field, including a diving catch in the eighth inning that saved a run.

Seattle managed only four hits but won its fourth in a row. Colorado has dropped its last five games.

What an awesome outing by Luis Castillo, Mariners manager Scott Servais said. Total control of the whole game today.

Castillo (1-0) struck out the side in the second and fanned eight over the first six innings before Jurickson Profar led off the seventh for the Rockies with a soft single to left-center. Kris Bryant followed with an infield single.

But with two outs and runners at second and third, Castillo got Ryan McMahon to line out to shortstop J.P. Crawford, ending Colorados only threat.

It came into my mind around the fifth inning when I looked up at the scoreboard and I realized nobodys gotten on base Castillo said through a translator. And I remember just going into the dugout and everybodys just quiet.

Castillo permitted two hits and struck out nine in seven innings. Justin Topa worked a one-hit eighth, and Paul Sewald struck out the top three batters in the order to finish the three-hitter and earn his fourth save.

Kelenic delivered an RBI single to right field in the sixth to score Ty France from second base.

On defense, Kelenic snagged two hard-hit balls to keep Castillos bid for a perfect game intact, then made a terrific grab in the eighth to rob pinch-hitter Elias Diaz.

I got a good jump, Kelenic said. Ball was tailing away from me and I knew I had to just beat it to the spot. Those balls are tailing like that, you have to outrun it.

Noah Davis, making his first major league start for the Rockies, retired his first eight batters before Kolten Wong singled. Davis pitched five scoreless innings, allowing three hits and three walks while striking out five.

Story continues

I thought his poise was there in his first major league start, Colorado manager Bud Black said.

Dinelson Lamet (1-1) walked two in the sixth before Brad Hand gave up Kelenics run-scoring single.

TRANSACTION

To clear a roster spot for Davis, the Rockies optioned INF/OF Nolan Jones to Triple-A Albuquerque. Jones didnt get into a game with Colorado after being called up Tuesday. He was hitting .359 with six home runs and 14 RBIs at Albuquerque.

Davis made one relief appearance in 2022 for the Rockies. He made three starts at Albuquerque with a 4.26 ERA.

UP NEXT

Rockies: LHP Kyle Freeland (2-0) faces Pittsburgh on Monday. Hes allowed two runs in 18 2/3 innings this season.

Mariners: RHP Chris Flexen (0-2) looks to rebound Monday against Milwaukee after allowing eight runs on 10 hits in his last outing.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
A former Georgia daycare CEO has been sentenced to more than three years in prison and will be required to pay more than $1.3 million in restitution after pleading guilty to check kiting and tax schemes last year.

Ilene Farley, 62, of Stone Mountain was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Marc T. Treadwell on April 12. Her prison sentence of 37 months will be followed by three years of supervised release.

This sentencing comes after Farley pleaded guilty on Nov. 16 for bank fraud and failure to pay over trust fund taxes.

As CEO and president, Farley was responsible for handling the finances of Tender Years Learning Corporation (TYLC), a Georgia-based company that operated 17 daycares within the state. Seven locations were in Macon and Warner Robins.

Check kiting involves taking advantage of the time known as the float between the presenting of a check and the receipt of funds in order to use non-existent funds in a checking or other bank account. By falsely inflating a bank account balance using this method, written checks that would have bounced are able to clear.

From April of 2018 to July of 2019, Farley sent more than $75 million in unfunded amounts through TYLCs Bank of America and Citizens Trust Bank accounts using a check kiting scheme, according to the justice department.

Bank of America discovered the scheme in July of 2019 and promptly closed Farleys accounts. By then Bank of America had lost $514,240, court records show.

Farley also engaged in trust fund tax fraud, according to the justice department. As CEO of TYLC, Farley was required to withhold and pay trust fund taxes for her employees, including Medicare, Social Security, and federal income taxes. Employers are required to send these funds to the IRS every quarter.

From 2015 to 2019, Farley withheld $844,091.77 worth of trust fund taxes from employees paychecks that was never sent to the IRS, the DOJ said.

The DOJ said that when Farley pleaded guilty, she admitted to knowingly defrauding Bank of America and Citizens Trust Bank in addition to not paying trust fund taxes.

Her $1.3 million owed in restitution will be split with $514,240 going to Bank of America and $844,091 going to the IRS.

Farleys case was investigated by the FBI and the IRS.
The numbers showed a wide variation in coverage in different geographic regions. Shutterstock

In 2020 the World Health Organization introduced a plan to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health threat by 2030. The first step towards this goal is to have 90% of girls fully vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV) by the age of 15 years. Gynaecological oncologist Lynette Denny spells out how much progress still needs to be made, and what hurdles need to be overcome.

How big a threat is cervical cancer in sub-Saharan Africa?

Cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers in women. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest cervical cancer diagnoses worldwide. Cervical cancer mortality rates in the region are three times higher than the global average. The burden of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa contributes to the disparity. In 2021, in southern Africa, 63.8% of women with cervical cancer were living with HIV, as were 27.4% of women in eastern Africa.

Most cases of cervical cancer are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), which is transmitted through skin to skin contact, including sexual activity.

How do countries compare in meeting the WHO target?

By June 2020, more than half of the WHO member states  thats 107 out of 194  had introduced HPV vaccination nationwide or partially.

The numbers showed a wide variation in coverage in different geographic regions. High-income countries such as Australia and New Zealand had the highest complete coverage with HPV vaccination at 77%. Low- and middle-income countries lagged far behind  only 41% had introduced HPV vaccination by the end of 2019. Only 20% of the eligible population in sub-Saharan Africa has been vaccinated.

Levels of vaccination matter because, with wide coverage of the appropriate age group, over time it is theoretically possible to eliminate HPV as a human pathogen. This was the case with smallpox.

Most (90%) of low- and middle-income countries deliver vaccination through schools and facility-based vaccination. The two-dose schedule is the most common. When the HPV vaccine was initially approved for use, it was given to girls aged 9-13 in three doses. Dose one intially; dose two at one or two months after the first dose; and a third dose six months later.

Story continues

It later became evident that two doses gave the same level of immunity as three doses.

It is now recognised that one dose is as good as three doses in preventing HPV infection in the general population. In April 2022 the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation concluded that a single-dose HPV vaccine delivers solid protection against HPV, that is comparable to two-dose schedules. However, they recommended that people living with HIV continue to receive three doses where feasible, and if not, at least two doses, due to the limited evidence.

The lower number of doses has important cost and logistical implications. Administering one dose may be a game changer in widening the coverage of eligible girls. In South Africa, the dropout rate from the vaccination programme after the first vaccination in 2014 was 18% and it increased to 26% in 2018 and 2019. The equivalent dropout rate in high-income countries averages 11%.

In 2019, 33 of the 107 HPV vaccination programmes were gender neutral  both girls and boys were being vaccinated. Vaccinating both boys and girls will increase what is known as herd immunity, which means that the prevalence of HPV in the population will decrease. In addition, boys will be protected from HPV associated anal, penile and oro-pharyngeal cancers. However, including boys in vaccination programmes when most girls arent vaccinated is not cost-effective.

Globally, it was estimated in 2019 that 15% of girls and 4% of boys were vaccinated.

Whats the surest way of achieving the WHO goal?

There are many important steps.

A critical starting point is to gain political support for HPV vaccination. There needs to be high level collaboration between the ministries of health, education, social development and existing immunisation programmes.

The most successful programmes have used school-based facilities for vaccination. But this excludes adolescents who are not in the school system, hence the need to create facility-based programmes.

Widespread information and population education is critical - education campaigns should include parents, the general population, teachers and healthcare workers.

An adequate supply of vaccine is crucial and the vaccine administration infrastructure must be robust. All the logistics of vaccine implementation, such as distribution, cold chain management, waste control and clinical care must be attended to. Good statistics and information should be maintained and monitored regularly.

Anti-vaccination programmes need to be monitored and their allegations responded to promptly and with cultural sensitivity.

What are the hold-ups?

COVID has had a major impact on many HPV vaccination programmes. Low- and middle-income countries were particularly hard hit. As an example, the South African programme coverage reduced from 85% when introduced in 2014 to 3% in 2020. The programme is still trying to recover.

Along with the impact of COVID on immunisation practices, the recommendation to include boys and older women in vaccination programmes resulted in a worldwide shortage of HPV vaccines. The shortage was recognised in 2020 and was predicted to last three to five years. A statement released by the International Papillomavirus Society recommended that gender neutral vaccination as well as that of older women be temporarily suspended. And that, during the supply constraint, HPV vaccination should be reserved for girls aged 9 to 14.

What should countries be focused on?

Current commercially available HPV vaccines are prophylactic. They will protect individuals who have never been exposed to HPV infection from being infected, and prevent 70%-90% of all cervical cancers. (No vaccine is 100% effective.)

I have spent the past 30 years researching safe, feasible and effective alternatives to the Pap smear for the prevention of cervical cancer. When I began this work in 1995, the HPV vaccine had not yet been produced. Its arrival made the possibility of ending cancer associated with HPV infection a reality.

Who gets vaccinated should depend on age, gender and resources. Girls aged 9-14 years should be prioritised. As resources increase, girls aged 15-18 years should be included. Thereafter, women aged 19-26 years should be included. Vaccinating boys should go ahead only once at least 90% coverage has been achieved in girls aged 9-14 years.

Vaccinating older women, most of whom would already have been exposed to HPV infection (even if subsequently cleared) should be reserved for high resource settings that have reached widespread vaccination coverage.

There are many advantages to vaccinating boys, particularly in preventing HPV-associated cancers in men and in men who have sex with men, as well as increasing herd immunity. However, expanding the programme to include men has implications for resource distribution and possible exclusion of other vulnerable groups.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. The Conversation has a variety of fascinating free newsletters.

It was written by: Lynette Denny, University of Cape Town.

Read more:



Lynette Denny receives funding from National Institutes of Health, USA
Given the piles of bodies strewn about the stage at the end of Is God Is, it would be easy to mistake the scene for the finale of Hamlet. But there are no flights of angels singing anyone to rest in this dark revenge tale by Aleshea Harris, now in its Chicago premiere at A Red Orchid Theatre. Rather, a familiar lullaby ominously recurs throughout the show, portending doom for the family at the center of this modern myth, which echoes elements of Greek and Shakespearean tragedies with a hearty dose of Biblical wrath.

Directed by Marti Gobel, Is God Is stars Aja Singletary and Ashli Rene Funches as Racine and Anaia, Black American twin sisters in their early 20s who live together somewhere in the northeastern United States. Anaia is the quiet, emotional one, while Racine is fiery and impulsive. Both young women share scars from a fire they survived as toddlers, etched onto their skin with thick clumps of makeup that are more symbolic than realistic.

Advertisement

When they receive a summons from their long-lost mother, the sisters find her near death in a medical institution, hooked up to tubes and wrapped in gauze-like fabric that covers the full-body scars she sustained in the same fire that injured her daughters. Karen Aldridge cuts a terrifying figure as the mother, simply named She, gasping and groaning her way through her dying wish for the twins: to find and kill their father  the man who set her on fire 18 years ago  and bring her back a souvenir. Lots of blood is fine, she wheezes as she wheels her IV stand offstage.

Reasoning that their mother is their god, since she made them, Racine and Anaia follow orders and set out for California to find their victim. Ever the more squeamish and reluctant partner in their vengeful mission, Anaia is propelled along by the rage-filled Racine. They soon learn that the man who sired them is living in a posh Hollywood neighborhood with a new wife and a new set of twins, boys who are nearly 17.

Advertisement

Humor temporarily lightens the mood when we meet this second family. Elder twin Riley (Donovan Session) is a gay hipster with a fondness for succulent plants and arugula salads, while the pretentious Scotch (Andrew Muwonge) fancies himself a budding poet. Rita Wicks makes a brief but memorable appearance as Angie, their exasperated mother, who plans to run away from her privileged but unhappy life. She performs a hilarious bird-flipping dance as she makes her escape, which is cut short by a run-in with Racine and Anaia.

Ashli Rene Funches and Aja Singletary in "Is God Is" at A Red Orchid Theatre. (Fadeout Media / HANDOUT)

When the twins appear at the house, Scotch assumes their dad has hired strippers as an early birthday present, setting up situational humor that soon turns dark. No need to rehash the play-by-play, but the body count steadily rises until the final confrontation with their father, a menacing figure with the archetypical name of Man (Kevin Minor).

In the small Old Town storefront that A Red Orchid calls home, the violence of this play is always in your face. Although the sleight of hand tends to be obvious at such close range, Jyreika Guests fight choreography is grim and intense; a rock in a blood-soaked sock is the favored murder weapon. Content warnings, which can be found on the theaters website, are plentiful for this production.

Sydney Lynnes set design, Levi Wilkins lighting design, Daniel Etti-Williams sound design and Kemet Gobels music complement the gory subject matter well. In a striking opening sequence, the sound of a heartbeat thuds along to flashing red lights that illuminate a circular set piece  an image that could represent either the womb that brought forth the twin girls or the many hearts that will be stopped by their hands.

There is little sense of redemption in this play, but it sharply condemns the cycle of violence and revenge in which this family is trapped. An anti-authoritarian message emerges as the woman whose daughters call her god is revealed to be cold and capricious, with questionable motives. The judicial and foster care systems also come under fire as we learn more about Racine and Anaias past. These young women have been failed by every authority figure and institution in their lives; its no wonder they want to burn it all down  but the cost is simply too great. Although there is hope for new life in the end, its a bitter victory.

Emily McClanathan is a freelance critic.

Review: Is God Is (3 stars)

When: Through May 28

Advertisement

Where: A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 N. Wells St.

Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Tickets: $30-$40 at 312-943-8722 and aredorchidtheatre.org
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday upheld former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin's second-degree murder conviction in the killing of George Floyd, and let his 22 1/2-year sentence remain in place.

Chauvin's attorney had asked the appeals court to throw out the ex-officers convictions for a long list of reasons, including the massive pretrial publicity. He also argued that legal and procedural errors deprived Chauvin of a fair trial. But the three-judge panel sided with prosecutors who said Chauvin got a fair trial and just sentence.

Floyd died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, used his knee to pin the Black mans neck to the ground for 9 1/2 minutes. A bystander video captured Floyds fading cries of I cant breathe. Floyds death touched off protests around the world, some of which turned violent, and forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism.

Police officers undoubtedly have a challenging, difficult, and sometimes dangerous job. However, no one is above the law," Appeals Judge Peter Reyes wrote for the panel. "When they commit a crime, they must be held accountable just as those individuals that they lawfully apprehend. The law only permits police officers to use reasonable force when effecting a lawful arrest. Chauvin crossed that line here when he used unreasonable force on Floyd.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who assembled the prosecution team, said in a statement that he was grateful we have a system where everyone, no matter how egregious their offense, is entitled to due process and fair treatment."

The Courts decision today shows once again no one is above the law  and no one is beneath it, Ellison said.

A voicemail and emails were sent to Chauvins attorney, William Mohrman. He argued on appeal that the trial judge should have moved the case out of Minneapolis because of extensive pretrial publicity and unprecedented security precautions due to fears of violence.

Story continues

The primary issue on this appeal is whether a criminal defendant can get a fair trial consistent with constitutional requirements in a courthouse surrounded by concrete block, barbed wire, two armored personnel carriers, and a squad of National Guard troops, all of which or whom are there for one purpose: in the event that the jury acquits the defendant, Mohrman said in oral arguments in January.

But Neal Katyal, a special attorney for the state, argued that Chauvin got one of the most transparent and thorough trials in our nations history."

Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill sentenced Chauvin to 22 1/2 years after jurors found him guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Chauvin later pleaded guilty to a separate federal civil rights charge and was sentenced to 21 years in federal prison, which he is now serving in Arizona concurrent with his state sentence.

Judge Cahill managed this trial with enormous care, and even if Chauvin could identify some minor fault, any error is harmless, Katyal said. The evidence of Chauvins guilt was captured on video for the world to see.

Mohrman argued that the pretrial publicity was the most extensive of any trial in Minnesota history, and that the judge should have moved the trial and sequestered the jury. He said the publicity and the riots, the citys $27 million settlement with Floyds family announced during jury selection, the unrest over a police killing of a Black man in a Minneapolis suburb during jury selection, and the sealing off of the courthouse, were just some of the factors prejudicing Chauvins chance of a fair trial.

His appeal also focused on one juror who participated in a civil rights event commemorating the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.s March on Washington, a few months after Floyds death. Only after the trial did the juror reveal that he had been there.

But the appeals court ruled that Cahill did not abuse his discretion in deciding those issues.

Local defense attorney Mike Brandt, who has followed the case closely, said he was not surprised that the appeals court affirmed Chauvins conviction and found no errors that would have changed the outcome. Appellate courts give judges wide discretion and are loath to micromanage how they run trials, he said. He added that Cahill created a solid record to justify the decisions he made in a high-pressure case where literally the eyes of the world were on him.

The appeals court declined to address whether it was legally permissible to convict Chauvin of third-degree murder. The defense said a 2021 Minnesota Supreme Court decision in a different police killing case that clarified the definition of that crime meant the law no longer fit the facts of Floyd's killing. But the appeals court noted that the trial judge never formally adjudicated that conviction nor did he sentence Chauvin on that count.
WINDY CITY MAYHEM - Chicago mayor-elect warns against vilifying chaotic Teen Takeover that terrorized city. Continue reading 

ACT OF STEALING - Squatter victims fed up with being landlords after feeling wronged by legal system. Continue reading 

BREW BATTLE - New Budweiser ad does a complete 180 after Dylan Mulvaney controversy. Continue reading 

CIVILIZATION DESTRUCTION - Concerns of bias in AI grow after Elon Musk issues new warning. Continue reading 

OPINION - I was assaulted by a transgender mob and this is what I plan to do next. Continue reading 

-

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

JAW-DROPPING - GOP Sen. Ron Johnson sounds the alarm on revealing Biden family bank records. Continue reading 

GOING AFTER 45 - Pro-DeSantis super PAC unloads on Trump for friendly fire in first TV ad. Continue reading 



TIME IS RUNNING OUT - Senate Dems put on the spot, asked directly if Feinstein should step down. Continue reading 

Click here for more cartoons

CRITICAL INITIATIVE - Ivy League university moves to prioritize 'free expression' months after students heckled conservative pundit. Continue reading 



ALL IN - Melissa McCarthy says 'The Little Mermaid' Ursula performance was '100 percent' inspired by drag queens. Continue reading 

ITS JUST HORRIFIC - Betsy DeVos on how new Title IX rules would have affected her own swimming career. Continue reading 

NIPPED IN THE BUD - Wyoming news site finds more than a third of small-town bars surveyed are experiencing Bud Light boycotts. Continue reading 

PUNISH AND SCARE - Iranian regime directly involved in poisoning hundreds of students in effort to stifle protests: report. Continue reading 

BIDEN BOMBSHELL - Hunter's partners had revolving door access to VP Joe. Continue reading 

ROYAL PAIN - Prince Andrew 'resentful' toward King Charles, 'dragging his heels' to leave lavish home, experts claim. Continue reading 

SYMBOL OF HOPE - Virgin Mary statue withstands earthquake in Turkey as cathedral collapses. Continue reading 



WINGING IT: Watch as a woman on a Florida beach is attacked by a swarm of hungry seagulls - and how she managed to scramble away in time. See video 

Story continues

WATCH: What happens if China masters AI first? See video 



WATCH: China targets GOP lawmaker with sanctions over Taiwan as tensions soar. See video 

Whats it looking like in your neighborhood? Continue reading

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube

Twitter

LinkedIn

Fox News First

Fox News Opinion

Fox News Lifestyle

Fox News Entertainment (FOX411)

Fox News

Fox Business

Fox Weather

Fox Sports

Tubi

Fox News Go

Thank you for making us your first choice in the morning! Well see you in your inbox first thing Tuesday.
Leonid Pasichnik, the so-called leader of the "Luhansk People's Republic" terrorist group, has spent a week quarantined in a hotel in Moscow without the right to leave his room before a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Source: Radio Svoboda

Journalists from Donbas Realii, a Radio Svoboda project, obtained a recording of Pasichniks intercepted conversation from their sources in one of the Ukrainian secret services.

The recording was verified under examination by the National Center for Media Forensics, an educational and scientific centre at the University of Colorado in Denver.

Details: Pasichik told his assistant Alexandr Soroka about his stay in quarantine. Soroka is reportedly a former member of the Chief Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia.

Quote: "So I have a meeting on the 20th [of December]. Im not allowed to leave the room until the 19th. They locked me up. This is a two-room suite. Ive been f***ing sitting here for over a day, my sides hurt, my a** hurts, Im sick of lying down.

They do not let me go anywhere, I cant go anywhere. They bring food to the suite. I will sit here locked up until the 20th. On the 20th, there will be a meeting and award ceremony."



Details: The conversation dates back to December 2022.

On 20 December 2022, Putin awarded Pasichnik with an order "For Services to the Fatherland" and met with the head of the Luhansk Oblast occupation administration in person.

In the recording, Pasichnik also mentions the internal conflict in the "Luhansk Peoples Republic", saying he cannot control Igor Kornet, the so-called "Minister of Internal Affairs of the Luhansk Peoples Republic".

Kornet formed a gang of collaborationists, who used to work in law enforcement, in the occupied territories of Ukraine. This gang is terrorising farmers and entrepreneurs. Pasichnik stated that he had informed Putin about all problems, and the latter promised to deal with them.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
DOJ

The FBI arrested two alleged Chinese agents at their homes in New York City on Monday for allegedly running an illegal Chinese police station in the heart of New York City, according to court documents obtained by The Daily Beast.

The two alleged operatives, Harry Lu Jianwang of the Bronx and Chen Jinping of Manhattan, are accused of operating at the behest of Beijing and its Ministry of Public Security, Chinas domestic security service, in order to silence critics of Beijing, court documents state.

The illegal overseas police outpost was established to threaten critics inside the United States and monitor them, U.S. officials said Monday.

For his part, Lu was allegedly responsible for helping Beijing locate a Chinese dissident living in California just last year, according to U.S. officials. He was also enlisted to harass a purported Chinese fugitive, in order to pressure them to return to China with threats of violence, according to the court documents. Lu has allegedly been participating in counterprotests in Washington, D.C. since about 2015.

When Lu and Chen became aware of an FBI probe into their activities, they destroyed evidence and erased their communications, U.S. officials said.

A picture of the alleged secret police station. DOJ

It is simply outrageous that Chinas Ministry of Public Security thinks it can get away with establishing a secret, illegal police station on U.S. soil to aid its efforts to export repression and subvert our rule of law, Acting Assistant Director Kurt Ronnow of the FBI Counterintelligence Division said.

Lu and Chen are expected to appear in court Monday afternoon in Brooklyn.

Troll farm

Chinas national police service has also been running a secret army of trolls pretending to be Americans on social media in order to harass Chinese dissidents and amplify divisions in the United States, U.S. officials said Monday. Thirty-four individuals have been charged with using social media to harass and threaten Chinese dissidents, as well as trying to amplify division in the United States and undermine confidence in America's democratic processes.

Story continues

Several alleged group members of the social media troll farm. DOJ

Its not the first time the FBI has caught on to the Chinas Ministry of Public Securitys efforts to run influence and disinformation operations in the United States. Last October, authorities arrested two Chinese nationals and charged seven Chinese national for surveilling and harassing a U.S. resident to return to China.

The social media troll group, known as the 912 Special Project Working Group, allegedly focused on targeting those with political views that run counter to Beijings government interest, such as advocating for democracy in China.

The group, which is also known as the Cyber Investigation Group, is part of a broader group called the Command Group, according to court documents obtained by The Daily Beast.

The group maintained thousands of online accounts for their operations, including those under the names Susan Miller,and Leslie Sherman, who were made to look like they were from New York, and Bethany Pena and Bill Giao, who were made to look like they lived in California.

Chinas social media troll operatives were instructed specifically to avoid looking like they were flooding the field, according to court documents, which may partially explain their limited reach.

Chinese Spy Boss Conviction Marks New Chapter in War on Espionage

Some of the groups tasks have allegedly included spreading misinformation about the origins of COVID, accusing the Biden administration of provoking conflicts in the South China Sea, blaming the United States for provoking Russias war in Ukraine, and amplifying narratives about racial discrimination in the United States.

The troll farm was assigned to focus its social media operations on the U.S. midterms in 2022, and made posts targeting both Democrats and Republicans, according to the court filings. The group at other times amplified posts from Russian accounts that accused the U.S. intelligence community of being responsible for the Nord Stream pipeline explosion, the court documents state.

Some of the group members were allegedly tasked to write articles from Beijing, while others were responsible for videos.

At times, the Chinese government operatives contacted actual social media users on the internet perceived to be sympathetic to China, the court documents state.

Zoom infiltration

On Monday, the Department of Justice also accused Julien Jin, an executive at Zoom, of working directly with and taking orders from Chinas Ministry of Public Security and the Cyberspace Administration of China to disrupt Zoom meetings that touched on content that ran counter to Chinas interests.

Prosecutors had previously announced charges against Jin for helping China disrupt and censor Zoom meetings focused on commemorating the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.

The charges you've heard about today reveal a series of brazen criminal schemes directed by the Ministry of Public Security, David Sundberg, the FBIs assistant director in charge of the FBIs Washington Field Office said Monday of China's schemes.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
China on Monday is pushing back against American sanctions targeting two Chinese companies and four nationals that the Treasury Department alleges are "supplying precursor chemicals to drug cartels in Mexico for the production of illicit fentanyl intended for U.S. markets."

The Treasury Department said Friday that the sanctions against Wuhan Shuokang Biological Technology Co., Ltd., Suzhou Xiaoli Pharmatech Co., Ltd., Yao Huatao, Wu Yaqin, Wu Yonghao and Wang Hongfei are "part of a whole-of-government effort to counter the global threat posed by the trafficking of illicit drugs into the United States that is causing the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans annually, as well as countless more non-fatal overdoses."

"China, in the spirit of humanitarianism, has been trying to help the U.S. as best it can," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said during a news briefing, arguing that moves from the U.S. to impose sanctions "seriously undermines" bilateral cooperation between the two countries over drug control, according to Reuters.

He reportedly added that China has lodged a complaint with Washington over the sanctions.

ATTORNEY GENERAL GARLAND ANNOUNCES INDICTMENTS AGAINST EL CHAPOS SONS, BLASTS CHINA FOR FENTANYL EPIDEMIC

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin is leading the country's criticism in response to U.S. sanctions targeting two Chinese companies and four Chinese individuals the Treasury Department says are linked to the global fentanyl trade.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the State Department and Treasury Department for comment.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

The Treasury Department said it filed the sanctions after working in "close coordination" with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Justice Department.

Shortly after those were announced, the Justice Department unveiled a wave of indictments on Friday against members of the Sinaloa Cartel, which authorities are calling "the largest, most violent, and most prolific fentanyl trafficking operation in the world."

WHITE HOUSE OUTLINES PUSH TO CRACK DOWN ON FENTANYL FLOW, AMID TENSIONS WITH MEXICO

Attorney General Merrick Garland said Friday that a number of the sanctioned Chinese individuals are defendants in indictments against Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel, which is suspected of trafficking fentanyl.

The indictments were unsealed in the Southern District of New York, Northern District of Illinois and District of Columbia. Top lieutenants of the Sinaloa Cartel, the sons of infamous drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who are collectively known as the Chapitos, are accused of smuggling significant quantities of drugs through Mexico and into the United States, as well as having their security forces horrifically torture and kill their victims.

Story continues

Attorney General Merrick Garland said Friday that the precursor chemicals used to manufacture fentanyl -- a deadly synthetic opioid more than 50 times more potent than heroin -- come from Chinese chemical and pharmaceutical companies.

"The United States government is using every tool at its disposal to combat the fentanyl epidemic. The PRC government must stop the unchecked flow of fentanyl precursor chemicals that are coming out of China," Garland said. "Earlier this morning, the Treasury Department announced sanctions against two Chinese companies and five related individuals for their roles in the sale of fentanyl precursor chemicals from China to the Sinaloa Cartel. Four of those individuals are defendants in this case."

According to the Justice Department, fentanyl is the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18 to 49 and is the main driver of the opioid epidemic that has ravaged U.S. families and communities in the past eight years. Between 2019 and 2021, fatal overdoses increased by approximately 94%, with an estimated 196 Americans dying each day from fentanyl, DOJ said.

Fox News Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's defence minister Li Shangfu said the country is willing to work with Russia to have close strategic communications between their militaries, state media reported on Monday.

Li, who met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Sunday, also said China is willing to strengthen multilateral coordination and cooperation with Russia, said CCTV news.

"China is willing to work with Russia to make new contributions to the maintenance of world and regional security and stability," Li said, according to the report.

(Reporting by Beijing and Shanghai newsrooms; Editing by Kim Coghill)
BEIJING (Reuters) - China is highly concerned about heightened Israeli-Palestinian conflict and favours the two sides resuming peace talks as soon as possible, Foreign Minister Qin Gang said on Monday.

Qin, in separate phone calls with his Israeli and Palestinian counterparts, said China is willing to play a constructive role in promoting peace in the region, according to statements posted by China's foreign ministry.

U.S.-brokered peace talks aimed at establishing a Palestinian state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza -territories Israel captured in a 1967 war - have stalled for almost a decade and show no sign of revival.

(Reporting by Twinnie and Meg Shen; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
(Bloomberg) -- The Chinese military planned to conduct major military activities in the Yellow Sea, the countrys maritime agency said, without elaborating on the nature of the plans.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The exercises will take place from 9 a.m. to noon Tuesday, the Maritime Safety Administration said in a statement Monday. The agency warned mariners against entering waters off the coast of Shandong province, an area that is the site of frequent military drills and well away from the territory of the USs regional security partners.

China has ramped military and aerospace activities off its coast in recent days amid simmering tensions with Taiwan and the US. China similarly declared an area north of the democratically run island off limits Sunday due what it said was the risk of falling debris from the launch of a weather satellite.

Tensions over Taiwan, which Beijing considers to be part of China, are especially heightened after President Tsai Ing-wen met US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last week, prompting the Chinese military to conduct drills in the area. Beijing restricted flights and shipping around Taiwan in August as it held military exercises to protest a visit by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

--With assistance from Jeremy Diamond.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
China's foreign minister told his Israeli and Palestinian counterparts his country is ready to help facilitate peace talks, state media Xinhua reported Tuesday.

The separate phone calls between Foreign Minister Qin Gang and the Israeli and the Palestinian top diplomats comes amid recent moves by Beijing to position itself as a regional mediator.

Qin encouraged "steps to resume peace talks," and said that "China is ready to provide convenience for this," in a Monday phone call with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, Xinhua reported in a summarization.

And Qin told Palestinian foreign minister Riyad Al-Maliki that Beijing supports the resumption of talks as soon as possible, according to a Xinhua summary.

In both calls Qin emphasized China's push for peace talks on the basis of implementing a "two-state solution," Xinhua said.

China has been on a recent diplomatic offensive, brokering the restoration of ties in March between Iran and Saudi Arabia -- rivals in a region where the United States for decades has been the main diplomatic powerbroker.

Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations have been stalled since 2014.

bfm/jh
BEIJING (Reuters) -China condemns U.S. sanctions on Chinese firms and individuals over their alleged involvement in fentanyl trade, and has lodged representations with Washington, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday.

"China, in the spirit of humanitarianism, has been trying to help the U.S. as best it can," spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a regular news briefing.

Wang said repeated moves by the United States to impose sanctions "seriously undermines" bilateral cooperation in drug control.

Washington on Friday imposed sanctions on two entities based in China and four Chinese nationals, accusing them of supplying precursor chemicals to drug cartels in Mexico for the production of illicit fentanyl intended for the United States.

(Reporting by Joe Cash, Ethan Wang and Liz Lee; Editing by Alex Richardson and Barbara Lewis)
This is a poster on the stage during a news conference following the funeral service for Jayland Walker at the Akron Civic Center in Akron, Ohio, July 13, 2022. A grand jury in Ohio will hear evidence this week to decide whether police officers should face criminal charges in the shooting of Jayland Walker, a 25-year-old Black man whose death sparked protests in Akron last summer. (Gene J. Puskar/AP)

AKRON, Ohio  An Ohio grand jury declined to indict eight police officers who fired 94 shots in the death last year of Jayland Walker, a 25-year-old Black man who fired at least one round at officers during a car and foot chase, the states attorney general announced Monday.

Walker was shot 46 times in a hail of gunfire that lasted just under seven seconds after he jumped out of his still-moving car and ran from police, said Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.

Advertisement

He had ignored commands to stop and show his hands and then reached toward his waistband and raised his hand as officers were chasing, Yost said. Some of the officers first used Tasers before firing their guns, he said.

But the officers, not knowing Walker left his gun in the car, believed he was going to fire again at them, Yost said. He said it is critical to remember that Walker had fired at police, and that he shot first.

Advertisement

The shooting last June that Walkers family said was brutal and senseless sparked protests in Akron. On Monday, the citys mayor and police chief urged residents to react peacefully, acknowledging that tensions are high.

Turn toward one other and not on each other, said Mayor Daniel Horrigan.

During a tear- and frustration-filled response press conference, the Walker family and their allies mourned the grand jurys inaction and called on Akron residents to protest loudly for justice and change. Democratic U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes, of Akron, said she will ask the department to investigate the patterns and practices of the Akron Police Department.

I still cant comprehend how a young man has 46 bullet holes from officers and that is justified, Sykes said, while also urging people to honor Walkers memory by protesting peacefully. I ask you to remember the words of Jaylands family by speaking up. But do so without violence.

The family and the NAACP previously have called on the Justice Department to open a federal civil rights investigation.

Bobby DiCello, an attorney for Walkers family, criticized the states investigation, saying police gunned down Walker execution-style. Paige White, another attorney for the family, said the investigation was skewed in favor of the police and that Jayland didnt have a chance.

Akron Police Department, when you call for peace, when you call for no destruction, when you call for respect  where was your respect for Jayland? White said.

The state investigation found that police first saw Walker driving with a broken taillight and a broken light on his rear license plate, but they decided not to follow him. They saw him 10 minutes later at the same intersection and decided to pursue him for the equipment violation, Yost said.

Advertisement

Police said Walker refused to stop and then fired a shot from his car 40 seconds into the pursuit.

Officers chased the car on a freeway and city streets until Walker bailed from the still-moving vehicle and ran into a parking lot where he was killed while wearing a ski mask, body cam video showed. Authorities said he represented a deadly threat. A handgun, a loaded magazine and a wedding ring were found on the drivers seat of his car.

Police union officials said the officers thought there was an immediate threat of serious harm and that their actions were in line with their training and protocols.

Dash-cam video from a police cruiser captured images of Walker firing the gun from his car, said Anthony Pierson, an assistant state attorney general. Walker had no criminal history and had never fired a gun until he went to a shooting range with a friend in early June, Pierson said.

Walker had been grieving his fiancees recent death but his family had no indication of concern beyond that, a family representative previously said.

Pierson wouldnt speculate about Walkers state of mind that night and said there was no direct evidence that he was suicidal.

Advertisement

That night he encountered the police he wasnt acting himself, Pierson said. By all accounts he was a good person, a good man.

Blurry body camera footage released last summer did not clearly show what authorities say was a threatening gesture Walker made before he was shot.

Akron Police Chief Steve Mylett said Monday that the city will begin an internal investigation into the shooting, but he would not release the names of the eight officers because of ongoing threats against them.

The officers, who initially were placed on leave, will remain on administrative duties. None of the eight officers appear to have been disciplined for any previous use of force incidences, according to investigation records released by the state

While the grand jurys decision shows no crime was committed by the officers, in no way does that take away from the tragedy of June 27, Mylett said.

Attorneys for the eight officers released a statement calling the incident a tragedy for the entire community, including Walkers family and all of the officers who were involved. A split-second decision to use lethal force is one that every police officer hopes he or she will never be forced to make, the statement said.

Advertisement

A county medical officer said the autopsy found no illegal drugs or alcohol were detected in Walkers body.

After taking over the investigation last summer at the request of Akron police, prosecutors with the Ohio attorney generals office presented the case to the grand jury.

City leaders have been preparing for potential demonstrations and set up a designated protest zone downtown outside the city hall building, where plywood covered the first-floor windows. Theres also temporary fencing around the county courthouse and many businesses boarded up their windows.

The citys school district canceled classes on Tuesday in the wake of the grand jury announcement.

Less than 24 hours before the chase, police in neighboring New Franklin Township had tried to stop a car matching Walkers, also for unspecified minor equipment violations. A supervisor there called off the pursuit when the car crossed the townships border with Akron.

Seewer reported from Toledo. Associated Press writers Julie Carr Smyth and Samantha Hendrickson in Columbus, Ohio and Michael Rubinkam in Allentown, Pennsylvania, contributed.
Supporters of a religious group, Tehreek-e-Labiak Pakistan, chant slogans during a rally against a woman recently arrested over blasphemy charges in Lahore, Pakistan - AP Photo/K M Chaudary

Pakistani police have arrested a Chinese national on blasphemy charges, after he allegedly insulted Islam and the Prophet Muhammad, risking a rare flare-up in tensions between Beijing and Islamabad.

Hundreds of Pakistanis descended on a residential camp for Chinese workers near the Dasu Hydropower Project in northern Pakistan, late on Sunday, chanting death threats against a Chinese national, named Mr Tian, who could face the death penalty.

Mr Tian, who is allegedly in charge of heavy machinery for the China Gezhouba Group Company at the site, had insulted Allah and the Prophet Mohammed, following an argument with his Pakistani employees, who had returned to work late after completing prayers during Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, according to the police report.

Mr Tian allegedly told the men they had spent too long praying.

Protesters gathered at the Chinese camp from villages across the region as news of the alleged blasphemy spread and the crowd only dispersed four hours later, after the Pakistani police fired warning gunshots into the air.

To ensure Mr Tians safety, he has been flown by police to Abbottabad, about 85 miles north of Islamabad, where his case will be heard by an anti-terrorist court, according to local Pakistani journalists.

Mob violence

Blasphemy is considered one of the worst crimes in Pakistan and is punishable by death.

Typically, those found guilty languish on death row, with no sentence ever being carried out, but some of the accused are lynched in mob violence.

In February 2022, an angry mob killed a mentally unstable man in a remote village in eastern Pakistan, after he allegedly desecrated the Quran inside a mosque.

Police attempted to arrest the man, but an angry mob stoned him to death and hung his body from a tree.

Human rights organisations allege the Pakistani authorities have used the countrys blasphemy laws as part of a broader crackdown on the nations minorities, including its Christian and Shia Muslim populations.

Story continues

In August 2020, at least 42 blasphemy cases were registered across Pakistan in a single month. The majority who faced trial were Shia Muslims.

Asia Bibi, a 52-year-old Christian woman, was sentenced to death by hanging in Pakistans eastern Punjab province after being found guilty of blasphemy.

Ms Bibi claimed the accusations were false and had resulted from an argument with several other women in her village over drinking water.

The case triggered an outpouring of international support for Ms Bibi, but mass protests in Pakistan were in favour of her receiving capital punishment and two senior Pakistani politicians were assassinated for advocating on her behalf.

Her family went into hiding and a conservative Muslim cleric placed a bounty of 1,415 on her head.

Eventually, a Pakistani court cleared Ms Bibi, citing insufficient evidence. She was flown out of the country and has since applied for asylum in France.

Laws tightened

In January, Pakistan tightened its blasphemy laws to punish those who insulted the Prophet Muhammads wives, companions or close friends with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The countrys deputy speaker, Zahid Akram Durrani, described the legislation as historic and praised Pakistans lawmakers for expanding the law.

It is unclear what will happen to Mr Tian, and Beijing has yet to comment on his arrest.

Public anger is running high, but Islamabad and Beijing are firm allies, and it is unlikely that China will permit Pakistan to execute one of its citizens.

Beijing has invested at least 50 billion in its China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which is part of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative, and it has rolled over billions of pounds worth of Pakistani debt to stop Islamabad defaulting during the worst economic crisis in the countrys history.

Beijing has described China and Pakistan as all-weather strategic co-operative partners, and the two countries have regularly conducted military exercises together on land and at sea.

However, it is understood that China has privately expressed security concerns over its citizens in Pakistan, following a series of deadly attacks by insurgent groups, particularly in the Balochistan province, who say Chinese investment is not benefiting the regions residents.

In July 2021, work in Dasu was suspended for several months, following a suicide attack on a bus carrying Chinese nationals in the Kohistan district, killing nine of them.
[Source]

A Chinese man is facing prosecution in Pakistan after an angry mob swarmed to attack him due to blasphemous comments he had allegedly made against Islam.

The man, identified only as Mr. Tian, was reported to be an engineer who supervises heavy machinery at China Gezhouba Group Company, which is currently working on a hydropower project in the Dasu area of the upper Kohistan district.

Tian was arrested Sunday night at a residential camp after hundreds of locals gathered around the area and chanted death threats against him. The angry mob also threw stones at the camp, according to the South China Morning Post.

Police soon arrived at the scene and fired warning shots to disperse the crowd. A formal complaint stated that Tian had made insulting remarks and derogatory gestures to disparage Allah and the Prophet of Muslims while staff members collectively prayed the day before, as per VOA News.

More from NextShark: Suspect in Brooklyn subway shooting in custody after NYPD offers $50,000 reward

Tian allegedly reprimanded a pair of drivers for taking too much time to pray, leading to the heated argument.

Muslims are currently observing the holy month of Ramadan, a period that involves fasting, prayer and reflection.

The labourers said they were fasting but denied that work had slowed down, which led to an exchange of heated words, an anonymous police officer said, according to the Daily Mail. Later, the labourers accused the engineer of making blasphemous remarks.

More from NextShark: Japanese city, citing 'changing times,' to recruit those of any gender for 'princess' ambassador roles

Tians alleged comments then spread like wildfire to nearby villages. The next day, hundreds moved to block the Karakoram Highway, the worlds highest international road connecting Pakistan to China.

Police rescued and arrested Tian, but the mob was not satisfied. By Monday morning, they stormed the local police station  convinced that Tian was hiding there  and left only after officers showed paperwork that he was being charged with blasphemy.

Story continues

The case was eventually registered against Tian; however, a council of religious leaders that was leading the protest withheld its decision to prosecute him after the drivers admitted that they did not actually hear him make the remarks, SCMP noted.

More from NextShark: Witnesses film group of men attacking Oakland Asian victim during daylight robbery

The accusers then claimed that they heard about the allegations from Tians interpreter. The council reportedly summoned the interpreter, but they did not respond.

Tian, however, remains in custody. According to reports, he was flown out of Kohistan to neighboring Abbottabad, where his case will be heard by an anti-terrorist court.

Funded by the World Bank, the Dasu hydropower project has seen tightened security since 2021 after nine Chinese and four Pakistani nationals were killed in a suicide bombing. While the project is not part of Chinas billion-dollar investment in Pakistan, Chinese nationals work and live at guarded residential camps in the area.

More from NextShark: Cedar tree in Japan bears uncanny resemblance to Totoro from Studio Ghiblis My Neighbor Totoro
Chrissy Teigen has started a debate about a pregnant mother being asked to clean up her daughters spilled popcorn on a United Airlines flight, sparking a range of responses from fellow celebrities.

MLB pitcher Anthony Bass took to Twitter on Sunday to post a picture of his two children, whom he shares with wife Sydney Rae James, on a plane. In the caption, he alleged that when a flight attendant noticed the popcorn on the floor, next to his childs seat, the worker asked Bass wife to pick it up.

The flight attendant @united just made my 22 week pregnant wife travelling with a five-year-old and two-year-old get on her hands and knees to pick up the popcorn mess by my youngest daughter, he wrote on Twitter. Are you kidding me?!?!

The next day, Teigen went on to reshare Bass post, as she noted how his remarks about United could ultimately stir up a conversation online.

Oh man this is exactly exactly the kind of tweet twitterers love. god speed, friend, she wrote, before adding in a second tweet: Also: wet paper towel.

Along with Teigen, some other celebrities have responded to the post, including Jessie James Decker, who is the sister of Bass wife.

On her Instagram Story on Sunday, James criticised United Airlines and shared more details about the flight, as she defended her sister.

As you know, she is five months pregnant, high risk, and also travelling alone with her two small children, she wrote in the since-expired post, which has been shared on Twitter. Blaire accidentally spilled some popcorn in the aisle and the flight attendant came up to Sydney with a trash bag, and a wet wipe, telling her the (captain) wants Syd to clean up every drop.

She went on to describe how Sydney was on her hands and knees during the flight, trying to clean up the popcorn.

[She was] crying in the aisle, completely humiliated and exhausted, with her children. While everyone else watched, Decker added. Way to go United.

Other Twitter users responded to Teigens tweet about the incident to defend Bass wife.

Story continues

I still think the key word here is Pregnant! Never assume the health of a pregnant woman is okay! Give the woman some respect! one wrote.

Another added: They are going to clean the plane anyway after it lands & everyone gets off.

Oh man this is exactly exactly the kind of tweet twitterers love. god speed, friend https://t.co/CHwFfkxh1O  chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) April 17, 2023

Some people emphasised their support for Sydney, after Bass revealed on Twitter that United Airlines was the one who gave his children the popcorn.

I was rolling my eyes until I read [that] United gave them the popcorn, one person claimed. Is there a messier dry snack on earth? If an airline gives popcorn to anyone they have it coming.

However, many people had different thoughts about the situation, as they claimed that Bass children could have cleaned up popcorn themselves, as opposed to his wife or airline staff.

Interesting that he expects service workers to clean up after his kids instead of teaching the kids to clean up after themselves AND he was too cheap to hire a nanny to travel with his HIGH RISK heavily pregnant wife & two kids. And it appears they had a layover as well. pic.twitter.com/kmoyK5wtYh  KD (@Fly_Sistah) April 17, 2023

Omg a five-year-old can easily pick up popcorn, the Mom didnt need to do it, one wrote.

As a former airline worker, Id just like to say you cant have it both ways. You cant leave a massive mess on the plane and expect to not have travel delays, another added. The plane doesnt magically clean itself between flights. More mess = more time resulting in possible delays.

A third added: Oh for the love of God. Theyre two and five, a perfect age to give them a small job of cleaning up after themselves. Its called a life lesson and family teamwork.

On Sunday, Bass went to Twitter to share that hes been in contact with the airline company, writing: Thank you everyone for the support. United Airlines is taking care of matters with the flight attendant internally.

The Independent has contacted a representative for United Airlines for comment.
A Norfolk Southern train passes through the Queensgate neighborhood of Cincinnati on Monday, April 3, 2023.

Hello! I'm Sherry Coolidge, and I'm the Cincinnati city government reporter for The Enquirer.

When I started covering Cincinnati City Hall in 2014, a lot of readers knew me from my coverage of courts, police and Hamilton County. Since then, I have chronicled the citys budget, changing neighborhoods and a spate of corruption.

Much of my recent coverage has focused on the proposal to sell the city-owned Cincinnati Southern Railway for $1.6 billion  a deal that would affect the citys budget forever. Much of the deal was cut in secret, but records being released now are shedding light on how it came together.

Among the things we learned: There was a dinner at a downtown steakhouse where the deal was discussed. Officials were also forced to tweak a planned payment to Cincinnati to comply with the city's charter.

To learn more about this and how Cincinnati taxpayers lost out on $500,000 in the sale, click here.

Voters still have to approve the sale, so please keep reading the many stories yet to come.

What else you need to know today

 Weather: High of 50. Windy and chilly with periods of clouds and sunshine.

 Joey Votto: On pause from rehab assignment: 'My swing is not there yet'

 988: Ohio's suicide hotline is seeing a spike in calls. How is the state handling it?

 Calling all bookworms: Check out the most interesting Cincinnati history books found in The Enquirer archives.

 Today in history: The Reds Palace of the Fans opened on April 17, 1902.

 Unlock At the Table with Keith Pandolfi and Charlie's Chalkboard newsletters with a Cincinnati.com subscription 

Today's top headlines:

Reds starting pitcher Luis Cessa, left, talks with catcher Luke Maile after walking a batter during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday.

 Disastrous first inning hands Luis Cessa, Cincinnati Reds a blowout loss to Phillies

Baklava from LEYLA Mediterranean

 Knafeh, qatayef, baklava, more: Best desserts in Cincinnati for Ramadan and Eid Al-Fitr

Usha Kaushik received care at the Christ Hospital's South Asian Comprehensive Cardiovascular Clinic. She detailed her story about dealing with heart issues and why south Asian community is at such high risk.

 'It has to be tailored to them:' Doctors spread awareness for South Asian heart risks

An Amazon Air jet is loaded at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in Hebron, Ky., on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023.

 CVG to open aircraft mechanic school as industry experiences candidate shortage

 UC football loses Jaheim Thomas to transfer portal post-spring practice

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Railroad sale, Joey Votto comeback update | Daily Briefing
Kate McSweeney-Pishotti

Less than two weeks after Columbus Public Safety Director Robert W. Clark announced his resignation, Mayor Andrew J. Ginther announced his appointment of the city's first woman public safety director to replace him.

Kate McSweeney-Pishotti, who has spent three-and-a-half years as Ginther's deputy chief of staff, was named Monday as the next director of the city Department of Public Safety.

Addressing the scourge of guns: Columbus leaders ready to launch anti-violence program offering gang members way out

In a Wednesday interview, Ginther defended his quick selection that did not involve a candidate application process and considered no other candidates.

"We really wanted to keep that momentum going with someone who had the experience, the qualifications that Kate has," Ginther said. "When you find the right person, you need to take advantage of the momentum you've built and act swiftly and decisively."

McSweeney-Pishotti said she was "thrilled" for her new role.

I am honored and humbled by this incredible opportunity to lead the Department of Public Safety, McSweeney-Pishotti said in a prepared statement. It is an immense responsibility, but one I am prepared to accept. I am eager to continue the great work weve started, to support the women and men who keep our city safe, and to continue to advance change and reform our residents expect.

McSweeney-Pishotti will replace Clark, who was appointed in September 2021 to as director of the city Department of Public Safety.

Previous: Robert Clark, Columbus public safety director, to leave city later this month

Clark, a former longtime assistant special agent-in-charge at the FBI Los Angeles field office, announced on April 4 that he would be leaving Columbus for a job in Philadelphia later this month. Clark's last day in office was Saturday, He is now vice president of public safety at the Philadelphia Housing Authority.

Robert W. Clark, then-director of the Columbus Department of Public Safety, spoke Jan. 27 a police class graduation ceremony at the James G. Jackson Columbus Police Academy.

McSweeney-Pishotti will oversee a total of more than 3,700 uniformed and civilian employees in Columbus' fire and police divisions with an annual budget of more than $700 million.

Story continues

Ginther said in a news release that McSweeney-Pishotti will also work closely with the newly formed Office of Violence Prevention on non-law enforcement, anti-violence strategies in Columbus.

Office of Violence Prevention: Rena Shak announced as executive director of new Columbus office, first of its kind in Ohio

McSweeney-Pishotti does not have direct law enforcement or firefighting experience, a divergence for a post that has traditionally been filled by experienced public safety professionals.

In her previous position as Ginther's deputy chief of staff since December 2019, McSweeney-Pishotti was a liaison to the public safety department, working closely with police and fire personnel, according to a news release. In that role, McSweeney-Pishotti also was part of the effort to implement the city's first Civilian Police Review Board, which investigates complaints about alleged police misconduct, as well as the establishment of the Office of the Inspector General to investigate those complaints and report to the review board.

Prior to that position, McSweeney-Pishotti spent three years as the deputy director of public safety after 18 years as an aide in the legislative research office serving Columbus City Council. She's also worked as a probation officer and as a bailiff in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.

McSweeney-Pishotti has a master's degree in criminal justice from Tiffin University and a bachelor's degree from the University of Dayton.

Ginther said McSweeney-Pishotti has a "wealth of experience" and has created relationships with first responders and community members. He said McSweeny-Pishotti will also serve as the civilian oversight for police and fire.

"We offer the support, the resources, the training, the equipment  but also the accountability that the public requires  making sure things are being done the right way," Ginther said.

McSweeney-Pishotti said in a Wednesday interview that she felt she had the experience that was needed to help the police and fire divisions do their jobs effectively.

"The mayor talked about this (role) being the civilian oversight of police and fire  I'm that civilian," she said. "I would also argue there's thousands of people behind the scenes in public safety, and I've worked in many, many roles behind the scenes."

Eric Lagatta is a reporter at The Columbus Dispatch covering public safety, with a focus on in-depth coverage of social justice issues and crime trends.

elagatta@dispatch.com

@EricLagatta

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Two weeks after Clark resigns, Columbus has new public safety director
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas plans to amend his financial disclosure forms to include a 2014 deal to sell properties in Georgia to a billionaire, CNN reported Sunday night.

A source close to the justice said Thomas didnt believe he had to disclose the deal as he lost money on the transaction, adding the exclusion was an oversight and that he fills out financial documents with the help of aides. Despite that assertion, federal law appears to require any real estate deal to be reported on financial disclosure forms, regardless if the person makes a profit.

The real estate transaction was first reported last week by ProPublica, nearly a decade after it took place. The outlet detailed the sale of three properties in Savannah, Georgia, to Harlan Crow, a Texas billionaire and longtime friend of Thomas and his wife. Its the first known instance of money going directly from Crow to Thomas.

The three properties  a home and two vacant lots  were purchased by Crow for $133,363 from the justice, his mother and the family of his late brother. Contractors later made improvements to one of the properties where Thomas mother still lives. The deal included a provision that she live there rent-free for the rest of her life, although she pays property taxes and insurance.

Crow said last week he purchased the three properties at market rate to someday create a public museum at the Thomas home dedicated to his life. (He still owns the home, but has since sold the vacant lots.)

The scandal is the second involving Crow in two weeks. ProPublica also published a report detailing nearly 20 years of lavish trips in which Thomas accompanied Crow on his yacht, his private jet and at a private resort in the Adirondack mountains. The justice did not disclose the trips, which took place nearly every year.

Early in my tenure at the court, I sought guidance from my colleagues and others in the judiciary, and was advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the court, was not reportable, he said after the report.

Story continues

Thomas has not yet commented on the real estate deal.

Democrats issued immediate calls for an investigation into the matter. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the justice should be referred to the Justice Department for his failure to disclose the gifts.

Related...
(Bloomberg) -- The Sudanese paramilitary group battling the army for control of the North African nation ruled out a cease-fire as diplomats struggled to halt fighting that threaten to erupt into a full-blown civil war.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Clashes resumed at dawn in the capital, Khartoum, on Monday and continued throughout the day, with some of the most intense violence around the main international airport and army headquarters, along with the neighboring city of Omdurman. Hospitals in the capital were hit by heavy artillery, doctors and labor unions said. The death toll climbed to more than 180, with at least 1,800 people injured, according to the United Nations.

Representatives from the United Arab Emirates, the UK, US and Saudi Arabia  a group known as the quad that tried to restore elements of civilian rule after a 2021 coup in the North African country  made calls to both parties to halt the hostilities, said western diplomats who asked not to be identified. African Union Commission President Moussa Faki Mahamat is preparing to travel to Sudan to try and negotiate a cease-fire, the continental body said in a statement.

Right now is not the time to deal with this kind of initiative or cease-fire because the Sudanese Armed Forces are losing control, said Yousif Ezzat, chief political adviser to Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group.

The conflict erupted on Saturday after a long-simmering dispute between the army under Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF. The fighting throws into chaos plans for a power-sharing government that was supposed to lead Sudan to democratic elections after the coup. A deal was seen as a way to restore billions of dollars of frozen aid and was being closely monitored by Western powers and Russia and China, which covet its strategic Red Sea coastline and mineral resources.

Story continues

Read more: These Are the Key Foreign Power Brokers in the Sudan Conflict

On a visit to Japan for a gathering of G-7 foreign ministers, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke separately with both al-Burhan and Dagalo and underscored the urgency of reaching a ceasefire, according to a statement on Tuesday.

With neither appearing willing to back down, the conflict is likely to be protracted, Verisk Maplecroft said in a research note. That raises the risk of refugees fleeing into a wider region already reeling from conflicts in Libya, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Somalia, and of neighboring countries joining the fighting, it said.

Each side has been supported by different regional states, the army by Egypt and the RSF by the UAE, Verisk Maplecroft said. Oil exports from South Sudan may also be disrupted in coming weeks  the majority of the neighboring countrys oil is refined at a facility north of Khartoum thats close to the fighting, it said.

The RSFs Ezzat claimed Burhan had lost control of the army general command and his office, leaving him without the authority to negotiate with the RSF. Multiple calls to a spokesman for the Sudanese army went unanswered when Bloomberg sought comment.

In a statement Monday, the army said buildings around its headquarters had been targeted, but they had not been overrun.

To suggest that these headquarters have fallen into the hands of the rebels are in line with campaigns to mislead public opinion, it said. We are holding on to all our headquarters, and we are getting very close to the moment of decisiveness

In addition to fighting in Khartoum, there have also been clashes in el-Fasher in the western region of Darfur over control of the airport, as well as Nyala in South Darfur. Further skirmishes took place in Blue Nile state near the border with Ethiopia and in Port Sudan, a key trading zone and crucial conduit for the oil that arrives by pipelines from South Sudan.

Residents of the capital including Adele Ali, a civil engineer who lives near the airport, said thered been no power and water for two days. People are scared to go outside their houses for fear theyll be attacked and their possessions looted, he said.

Each party is claiming they are doing the right thing, he said by phone. From our point of view they are both wrong.

Whats Behind the Fighting in Sudan and What It Means: QuickTake

The European Union ambassador to Sudan was assaulted in his residence on Monday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell wrote on Twitter.

This constitutes a gross violation of the Vienna Convention, Borrell said. Security of diplomatic premises and staff is a primary responsibility of Sudanese authorities and an obligation under international law.

--With assistance from Iain Marlow, Zainab Fattah, Arijit Ghosh and Michael Gunn.

(Updates death toll in second paragraph.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Clayton County voters will cast their ballots in the race to replace embattled former Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill Tuesday.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

No candidate for sheriff got 50% of the vote last month, so voters are headed back to the polls. Chief investigator for the Fulton County Solicitor Generals Office Clarence Cox is running against interim Sherifff Levon Allen.

TRENDING STORIES:

Channel 2s Justin Carter talked to people in College Park who said this election is critical.

Jacqueline Gleaton has lived in Clayton for 35 years and said the county needs new eyes.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

My most concern is the jail right now, because its not up to par, Gleaton said. We need improvements there.

Inmate deaths and violence at the jail has cast a dark cloud over the sheriffs department. The conviction of former Sheriff Victor Hill for breaking the law by strapping detainees into restraint chairs as punishment also looms over the position.

Incumbent Allen is known as Hills godson and mentor. Allen wouldnt talk to Channel 2s Tom Jones on election day last month. Carter tried reaching him again on Monday, but got no response.

Carter did talk to his challenger, Cox, who said hes feeling good and has big plans for Clayton County.

The first thing were going to do is a forensic audit on dollars, Cox said. " Were going to do equipment audits. Were gonna do personnel audit.

Cox said he wants to bring integrity back to the sheriffs office.

Its gone. Its been gone for quite some while, Cox said. And we want to bring trust and legitimacy to the sheriffs office.
Climate activists involved in the protest halt train and shoveled coal out of its wagons (Twitter/@RisingTideAus)

Around 50 climate activists have been arrested in Australia after halting a train carrying coal to protest against the exports of the fossil fuel.

The train was brought to a halt near Newcastle, a major coal export terminal in New South Wales, on Sunday morning by protesters who began shovelling coal out of the wagons.

The train remained stationary for at least four hours as security personnel tried to control the crowd.

The protest was organised by the group Rising Tide, which demands the cancellation of all new coal projects. Coal, the dirtiest of all fossil fuels, is responsible for a majority of greenhouse gas emissions that take have global heating to dangerous levels.

Twenty protesters climbed on the train to unload the coal using shovels, while another 30 provided support, according to a statement from Rising Tide.

Police later charged 47 activists with rail corridor offences and released them after issuing court attendance notices.

Two activists, however, were charged with malicious damage and one with assaulting a security guard.

Rising Tide tweeted an image showing protesters on and around the train.

We have halted coal into the worlds biggest coal port, demanding the ALP [the ruling Australian Labor Party] heed UN warnings and immediately cancel all new coal projects, tweeted the group.

We have halted coal into the worlds biggest coal port, demanding the ALP heed UN warnings and immediately cancel all new coal projects. pic.twitter.com/hbbxUGyA4G  RisingTideAustralia (@RisingTideAus) April 16, 2023

In another video, protesters are seen chanting No New Coal as security personnels can be seen present at the spot.

Devni was born in Sri Lanka and lives in Sydney. She is calling on people to sign the climate pledge!



Her family is at risk and she is calling for #climatejustice



Join her and hundreds of us and sign here https://t.co/rzbNpzjD7I #ClimateCamp2023 pic.twitter.com/vb8lQE9nT5  RisingTideAustralia (@RisingTideAus) April 16, 2023

Newcastle is considered the worlds largest coal export terminal and the largest bulk shipping port on Australias east coast.

Story continues

Despite the Labor governments pledge to cut the countrys carbon emissions by 43 per cent by 2030, the country has not ruled out new fossil fuel projects as the climate crisis remains a highly divisive issue for the worlds largest coal exporter.

As the world continues to grapple with the impacts of climate change, demands for more action surrounding fossil fuel projects, emissions reductions and environmental policies are gaining momentum.

The world has already warmed by about 1.1C since the industrial era began and temperatures are continuing to rise. They are soon expected to cross the 1.5C target of the Paris Agreement.
In the wake of the first use of the atomic bomb and the widespread fear triggered by the Cold War, nuclear fallout shelters began to spring up throughout the U.S. to protect from the potential of an unprecedented act of war striking the country.

From private homes to rural properties and media outlets, Charlotte was not immune from the phenomenon, with multiple shelters built in the area. And while many bunkers are a historical relics of a bygone era, some are still choosing to construct new fallout shelters.

Heres what to know about fallout shelters in Charlotte:

History of fallout shelters

The concept of nuclear fallout shelters sprung up after the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Japan during World War II, per the Smithsonian.

In the bombs wake, the U.S. government launched the Federal Civil Defense Administration in 1951. The department distributed nearly half a billion pamphlets to the American people that included depictions of shelters.

Decidedly suburban, heteronormative, and middle class in nature, this visual of white American families carefully lining shelter shelves with canned goods or taking their children by the hand as they walked toward their underground refuges broadcast a clear government-sanctioned message: A family that is together, well organized and ready could survive the next war, the Smithsonian states.

As the Cold War stretched, so did fear of a potential nuclear attack. And families, businesses, and government agencies continued to see fallout shelters as useful.

In the wake of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Kennedy administration created the Emergency Broadcasting System, which at the time included bunkers at radio stations throughout the country, NPR reported. The idea was that even during an attack, the president would still be able to address the nation.

Fallout shelters in Charlotte

Many fallout shelters in the Charlotte area were built during the 1960s as concerns about a nuclear conflict with the Soviet Union continued.

Story continues

In November 1962, The Charlotte Observer reported that its own building was equipped as a fallout shelter, The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission notes.

And in 1963, a shelter was constructed underneath WBTs radio station as part of the Emergency Broadcasting System, per NPR.

Businesses invested in bunkers, too, including AT&T, who opened a facility in Stanfield in 1967. Less than an hour outside of Charlotte, that facility has 60,000 square feet of space encased in 2,100 tons of steel and 10,000 cubic yards of concrete, WFAE reported previously.

Inside, its a multi-story structure with a kitchen, bathrooms, showers, a 12,000-gallon water tank (and) central air conditioning, per WFAE, and was last put up for sale in 2003.

Decades after the Cold War winded down, even the occasional homebuyer will still find a shelter.

In 2017, WCNC shared the story of a couple who found a 50-foot room about 20 feet under the South Charlotte home they were looking to buy. It was estimated that the shelter was built in the 1960s by the houses original owner, WCNC reported.

Are fallout shelters still being built?

Although fallout shelters may seem like a relic of a previous era, some across the country still embrace the idea.

There are companies in various states that build bunkers for people who want one on their property, and there are even bunker brokers, the New York Times reported, that help connect prospective buyers with builders.

The Times report found that some homeowners want one as preparation for a potential doomsday situation, while others simply use them as additional living space for their homes.

And the government is still in the bunker business, too.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the Federal Emergency Management Agency put millions into the National Public Warning System, a network of specially designated commercial and public radio broadcast stations with special facilities for working with FEMA to provide emergency alert and warning information to the public.

FEMA equips NPWS stations with backup communications equipment and power generators that enable them to continue broadcasting information to the public during and after an emergency event, the agency says.
For many progressives, the past decade has been littered with disappointments. But recent down-ballot victories are providing hope of reshaping the Democratic Party from the bottom up, rather than from Washington.

In Chicago earlier this month, a former teachers union organizer unexpectedly won the mayors race. In St. Louis, progressives secured a majority on the municipal board. The next opportunities could lie in Philadelphia and Houston, which also hold mayoral elections this year.

Advertisement

The focus on lower-level contests already has helped progressives gain power and influence policy at a local level, organizers say, shaping issues such as the minimum wage. It also may help the movement find future stars, with todays city and county officials becoming tomorrows breakout members of Congress and only moving further up the political ladder.

Progressives have taken a look at how to be strategic and how to build power, said Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants who was a leading national voice for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders 2016 and 2020 presidential bids. If you look around and you say, Who is ready to run for president? If your field is shallow, what do you have to do? Youve got to build the bench.

Advertisement

This years focus on state and local races follows years of incremental progress and some stinging setbacks. Sanders electrified the left with 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns that centered on bold calls for universal, government-funded health care. But he lost each time to rivals aligned with the Democratic establishment who advocated for a more cautious approach.

On Capitol Hill, progressive candidates successfully defeated several high-profile incumbents during the 2018 midterms and the election of candidates like New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. But from New York to Michigan and Ohio and Texas, prominent progressives were defeated during primary campaigns last year. And, as President Joe Biden now gears up for reelection, he faces no serious challenge from the left.

Still, Sanders and others have left their mark, pushing mainstream Democrats to the left on key issues like combating climate change and forgiveness of student loan debt while inspiring some of those at the forefront of todays movement.

That includes Chicago Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson, who appealed to a diverse and young electorate as he campaigned with Sanders and other top congressional progressives.

Lets take this bold progressive movement around these United States of America, Johnson said in his victory speech.

Our Revolution, an activist group which grew out of Sanders 2016 White House bid, endorsed Johnson and progressive candidates who recently won three of four seats on the St. Louis City Board of Aldermen. That gave progressives a slim majority in a city where the mayor, Tishaura Jones, is also a self-described progressive.

Our Revolution said it activated its 90,000 members in Chicago an average of three times each to urge them to vote for Johnson, and made 100,000 phone calls in St. Louis. The group is also backing Helen Gym, a progressive former Philadelphia City Council member who is among roughly a dozen candidates competing in next months Democratic mayoral primary.

When we win on the ground in our cities, thats actually the blueprint, because we cannot wait for Congress, Gym said during a recent call with Our Revolution volunteers.

Advertisement

Our Revolutions executive director, Joseph Geevarghese, said local progressive organizing, including for races like school board, is more effective now than it has been in decades.

Were building power, bottom up, city by city, Geevarghese said, adding that in major metropolitan areas youve got credible progressive slates vying for power against the Democratic establishment.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers and a Democratic National Committee member, countered that there doesnt have to be tension between the partys left and moderate wings. She said Johnson called for addressing quality of life issues such as homelessness through consensus-building, rather than ideological confrontation.

Every one of these cities are complicated places and you have to work together to get things done, Weingarten said. You have to work with people you dont always agree with. And that is a strength and not a weakness.

It hasnt all been rosy for progressives. Moderate candidates topped progressive alternatives in last weeks Denver City Council races.

But there are more opportunities ahead. In the nations fourth-largest city of Houston, Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who has been an outspoken progressive in Congress since she got there in 1995, is running for mayor.

Advertisement

And the left isnt abandoning congressional races.

Progressive champion Rep. Barbara Lee and fellow Democratic Rep. Katie Porter, who was a vocal supporter of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warrens progressive campaign for president in 2020, are among those running to replace retiring California Sen. Dianne Feinstein next year.

In Arizona, Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, a progressive 43-year-old Iraq war veteran and Spanish speaker who represents much of downtown Phoenix, is trying to unseat Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. She left the Democratic Party last year and, if she seeks reelection, would run as an independent.

Working-class Democrats are getting elected, and corporate Democrats are not, said Chuck Rocha, a key architect of Sanders 2016 campaign who heads Nuestro PAC, which has endorsed Gallego. But Rocha was quick to caution that Gallego isnt running as a progressive or liberal savior.

Hes going to run as I was an enlisted Marine who had to sleep on my mamas couch until I got a bed in college and has been a champion of working-class folks in the state of Arizona, Rocha said.

Questions about a resurgent Democratic left come as Biden prepares to formally kickoff his reelection campaign and will have to decide how to frame his political vision and ideology to appeal to swing voters. After besting Sanders and Warren in the 2020 primary, Biden embraced major progressive goals, promoting expanding social programs and climate-change fighting green energy.

Advertisement

Biden eventually oversaw passage of dramatic federal spending increases, including on health care and green technology. He tried to forgive student loans for millions of Americans, but saw the plan challenged in court.

On other issues, however, Biden has been more moderate. After major legislation to curb police brutality and institutional racism stalled in Congress, the president signed an executive order to make modest reforms. He also has said repeatedly that, rather than heed calls by some progressives to cut funding for law enforcement, the answer should be more police funding.

More recently, the president angered liberal Democrats by failing to veto Republican-championed legislation reversing new, local crime regulations in the nations capital and approving a major oil drilling project in Alaska.

Biden campaign aides say hes shown flexibility to best respond to ongoing political and policy challenges. And Rocha said that Gallego will benefit from Bidens 2024 campaign, which should rely heavily on promoting his administrations legislative accomplishments and how they benefited working-class families in swing states like Arizona.

But some progressives say the White House should take notice of the movements down-ballot wins.

I hope hes paying attention, said Hannah Riddle, director of candidate services for the activist group the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. Running on economic populism is a winning strategy. And that model can be replicated all over the country.

Advertisement

Weissert reported from Washington.
Campaigner, and former Metropolitan Police Officer John Murray, is holding a memorial service for WPc Yvonne Fletcher who was murdered outside the Libyan Embassy, London, in 1984 - Colleague who promised Yvonne Fletcher justice says private prosecution to be launched within months - Belinda Jiao

A former police officer who vowed justice for murdered colleague Yvonne Fletcher has pledged to launch a private prosecution against her alleged attacker within months.

John Murray, 67, said he was close to bringing criminal proceedings against the prime suspect in the murder of WPc Fletcher, 25, who was killed outside the Libyan Embassy on 17 April 1984 during a protest by anti-Gaddafi activists.

Mr Murray, who cradled WPc Fletcher as she lay dying and promised to find those responsible, won a civil claim against Saleh Ibrahim Mabrouk, an ex-Gaddafi aide, in 2021 when the Libyan was found to be jointly liable for her shooting.

The memorial to Yvonne Fletcher in St James Square, central London - Colleague who promised Yvonne Fletcher justice says private prosecution to be launched within months - Belinda Jiao

A judge found Mabrouk was an "active participant" in a "common design to fire upon the demonstrators" and concluded that he was "jointly liable with those who carried out the shooting of Yvonne Fletcher, for the battery inflicted upon her".

Mabrouk was arrested in 2015 in connection with the case but was later released without charge after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said no prosecution was possible due to evidence being withheld on the grounds of national security.

The memorial to Yvonne Fletcher in St James Square, central London - Colleague who promised Yvonne Fletcher justice says private prosecution to be launched within months - Julian Simmonds for The Telegraph

'We will see him in a criminal court'

Speaking at a memorial in St James Square in central London to mark 39 years since WPc Fletcher was shot dead, Mr Murray said he was close to bringing a private prosecution against Mabrouk.

"Why is the CPS, why have they not referred charges against Mabrouk, why has our government so badly let us down with no support in getting Mabrouk back to this country to face trial," he said.

"I can tell you this now, we have won in the past, we will win again in the future. We will take a private criminal prosecution against Mabrouk. This is in hand as I speak, we will see him in a criminal court and we will get justice finally for Yvonne Fletcher and all the other victims. "

He said he had all the evidence needed to convict Mabrouk and a KC was currently working on launching a private prosecution within the next three months. Mabrouk is currently living in Libya and would need to be extradited before facing trial.

Story continues

Saleh Ibrahim Mabrouk outside his home in Reading in 2017 - Colleague who promised Yvonne Fletcher justice says private prosecution to be launched within months - Geoff Pugh for The Telegraph

Private prosecutions are rare but any adult has the right to apply to a magistrates court to bring one. If the court decides a prosecution can be brought it will issue a summons to the defendant and the case would then be sent to the Crown Court.

The Crown Prosecution Service can take over any criminal prosecution once it has been brought and Mr Murray said that it was not too late for prosecutors to bring their own case.

Mr Murray said the memorial was "a very emotional day" adding that "39 years ago now I stood in this very spot and held my friend as she was dying".

"We tend to forget that on the day Yvonne was murdered quite a few other people were shot and injured," he added.

"Their voice will be heard as well because nobody shall be forgotten or the tragic events that day, I can promise to you that I will fight until the bitter end to get justice not only for me, not only for Yvonne but for us all and that includes the men and women who are serving today because it is so important that they know that someone somewhere, should something happen to them, look after them. Let's get justice for Yvonne."

Mabrouk, who is barred from the UK, did not defend the civil case but has denied involvement in the killing.
Companies may need to spend up to $97,000 per employee on relocation assistance to get their workers back to the office, The Wall Street Journal reported. Getty Images

Companies are bringing back relocation assistance to employees, per The Wall Street Journal.

Moving workers can cost companies up to $97,000 per employee.

The benefits are one way employers are hoping to bring workers back to the office and end remote work.

Companies are desperate to get workers back into the office  and some may be willing to spend tens of thousands on relocation benefits to do just that, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Businesses like Chevron and Walmart now require some new hires to go into the office after the pandemic forced many companies to adopt remote-work policies, according to the Journal. In turn, companies are willing to pay employees to relocate.

Hiring platform ZipRecruiter noted there were 3.8 million recent job listings that mentioned relocation assistance, whereas fewer than 2 million job postings mentioned the perk in 2020, the Journal reported. 75% of job listings on Indeed now mention relocation benefits, per the Journal.

But it's not coming cheap. Moving a new hire can cost $19,000 for a renter and up to $72,000 for a homeowner, ARC Relocation, a service that helps companies relocate workers, told the Journal. It's even more expensive for companies to relocate current employees  from $24,000 for a renter to $97,000 for a homeowner.

"We have seen a significant rise in clients since companies began to mandate remote workers to return to the office," William Mulholland, the owner of ARC Relocation, told Insider.

The biggest cost, Mulholland said, comes from realtors who are hired to help employees buy and sell their homes. A realtor commission for an average home, he said, is $21,000.

Relocation assistance can also subsidize the cost of packing and shipping household possessions, as well as several months of rent for company housing, per the Journal.

Hyalker L. Amaral, a marketing professional based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, decided to take a job at a pharmaceutical company in the Chicago area in part because the company offered an onboarding bonus large enough to pay for his move. Relocating "isn't a cheap endeavor," Amaral told the Journal.

Story continues

Appian, a cloud computing company based in Virginia, paid 109 remote workers who joined the company over the last three years to relocate to Virginia, the Journal reported. One worker told the Journal that he is satisfied with the offer.

"We're still believers in in-person work," Matt Calkins, the CEO Appian, told the Journal.

Appian did not respond to Insider's immediate request for comment.

Relocation assistance is just one way companies are hoping to get workers back into the office.

Earlier this month, JPMorgan execs told senior managers they will pursue "corrective action" if they don't go to the office at least three days a week. In March, Elon Musk, CEO of Twitter, told employees that "the office is not optional" less than a year after he told employees at Tesla to find new jobs if they refuse to return.

But many remote employees aren't happy with the mandates. In March, Amazon, for instance, rejected an internal petition signed by around 30,000 employees to protest the company's new return-to-office mandate. Some worry that going back to the office could make them less productive and hurt their work-life balance.

"It's already an ugly war, and it's unfortunate," Abbie Shipp, a professor at Texas Christian University's business school, told Insider.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Competitions and concerts always highlight the Whitewater Centers annual Tuck Fest. The three-day festival that celebrates the outdoor lifestyle is set to take place from April 21-23.

ALSO READ: Cheerwine Festival returns to Salisbury this spring

The event features more than 35 races or competitions including trail running, kayaking, biking, climbing, stand-up paddleboarding and adventure racing.

This years band lineup includes headliners Amanda Shires (Friday), Moon Taxi (Saturday) and Bahamas (Sunday), along with many others.

There will also be vendor villages spread throughout the grounds that will feature more than 30 outdoor brands such as Teva, Hoka, Outfitters, Sun Bum and Coolvio.

Kid-friendly activities include a youth obstacle challenge, youth trail and bike races, and tandem kayak races.

There is no fee for spectators coming to watch the events and bands. Parking costs $6.

ALSO READ: Taste of Charlotte food festival returns to Tryon Street this spring

Registration is required to participate in races and competitions. A one-time flat fee covers access to all races and competitions throughout the three-day festival. Click here for more information.

For more information on the festival, go to tuckfest.whitewater.org.

Fun festival fact: The name Tuck Fest comes from the Tuckaseegee Ford and Trail, a historical landmark located at the USNWC. The Ford is the first known crossing point along the Catawba River that was traveled by Native Americans and European settlers.

VIDEO: Top 5 hiking trails in the Charlotte area
New Delhi  An Indian couple has allegedly died by suicide by using a guillotine-like mechanism to decapitate themselves in a sacrificial ritual, police said Sunday.

Hemubhai Makwana, 38, and his wife Hansaben, 35, both died by decapitation after using a homemade bladed mechanism in a hut on their farm in the western state of Gujarat, police said.

"The couple first prepared a fire altar before putting their heads under a guillotine-like mechanism held by a rope," Indrajeetsinh Jadeja, a police sub-inspector, was quoted as saying by Indian news outlets. "As soon as they released the rope, an iron blade fell on them, severing their heads, which rolled into the fire."

Fire is considered sacred in Hinduism and it plays a significant role in several worship rituals. The couple apparently designed the device used in their beheading in such a way that their heads would roll into the fire altar, completing their sacrificial ritual.

A file photo shows people lighting candles for a Hindu religious ceremony during a Dev Diwali festival in Varanasi, India. / Credit: Getty/iStockphoto

Police, who said they had found a suicide note addressed to family members, have launched an investigation. The couple is survived by two children and their parents.

The incident took place sometime between Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, when police were alerted.

Family members reportedly told police that the pair had offered prayers in the hut every day for the last year.

Ritual human sacrifices are not unknown in India, where official data show there were more than 100 reported cases between 2014 and 2021. But almost all known cases of human sacrifice involve people killing others to please gods, rather than themselves.

Earlier this month, Indian police arrested five men for murdering a woman in 2019 inside a Hindu temple in Guwahati, in what they said was a case of ritual human sacrifice.

SpaceX postpones launch of massive Starship rocket

Officers not charged in Jayland Walker's death

Group of golden retrievers honors Boston Marathon dog Spencer
We may never know the true origins of Covid-19, a Chinese doctor who helped lead the countrys pandemic response has said as cases of the new variant soar in India.

Dr George Fu Gao told The Telegraph he is not optimistic the origin of the virus will ever be known.

Its too sensitive; too politicised, he said, adding: We must focus on science.

Dr Gao who led the Chinese Center for Disease Control when the Covid-19 virus first emerged in 2019, made the comments at the Rhodes Policy Summit on pandemic preparedness in London on Friday.

His comments come as a new coronavirus strain dubbed Arcturus appears to be driving a surge in Covid-19 cases in India, prompting the country to resume vaccine production and sparking fears it could lead to a rise in cases in the UK and elsewhere.

India clocked 60,313 active cases on Monday, federal home ministry data showed.

Officials said last week cases that the diseases is moving towards the endemic stage in the country, reported Press Trust of India

Key Points

What are the symptoms of the new Covid variant?

How many cases of new variant are in UK?

What do we know about the new Covid variant?

Doctors urge caution: This is one to watch

Millions eligible for Covid booster urged to book appointment

07:38 , Katy Clifton

Millions of people are eligible for a Covid booster jab from today.

The NHS has issued 1.25 million invitations through the NHS app, where appointments can be made. Eligible people include those aged 75 and over, and anyone aged five and over who has a weakened immune system, alongside the care home programme of vaccinations which began two weeks ago.

NHS director of vaccinations and screening Steve Russell said: "The covid vaccine still has a crucial role to play in protecting those at greatest risk of severe illness from the virus, including those with a weakened immune system as well as all aged 75 and above.

"It is great to see that around 320,000 people have booked in to get a jab with around hundreds of thousands of further slots available across the country this week alone.

Story continues

"The NHS Covid-19 vaccination programme has delivered almost 145 million vaccine doses since December 2020 and staff will not stop in their efforts to give people extra protection. I would urge anyone eligible for this extra protection to get their spring covid vaccination at the earliest opportunity and give yourself peace of mind this summer."

Arcturus: New Covid variant sweeping India shows unique symptom in children

07:00 , Eleanor Noyce

In case you missed it...

A new Covid variant dubbed Arcturus which is driving a surge of fresh cases in India seems to have some unique symptoms in children, experts have pointed out.

The XBB.1.16 strain, a sub-variant of Omicron, has been found in 22 countries, including Singapore, Australia, the UK and the US.

It is believed to be responsible for an uptick in infections in India, leading to the government adopting new measures to stop its spread, including bringing back some mask laws and running hospital drills.

India recorded 11,109 new cases on Friday, the countrys health ministry said, a sharp jump from 7,830 new Covid cases reported in the last 24 hours. The numbers reported are the highest in eight months with the active caseload surging to 49,622.

The spread of the strain, first detected in late January, is worrying experts, as it seems to exhibit unique symptoms in children, one of which is conjunctivitis.

Read more:

Latest Covid variant sweeping India shows unique symptom in children

Arcturus: What do we know about the new Covid variant?

05:00 , Eleanor Noyce

In case you missed it...

A new Covid strain behind a surge of infections in India has sparked fears it could also lead to a rise in cases in the UK.

Research indicates Arcturus could be one 1.2 times more infectious than the last major sub-variant.

Also known as Omicron subvariant XBB.1.16, the strain was first identified in January and has been monitored by the World Health Organisation (WHO) since 22 March.

Addressing Arcturuss emergence at a press conference on 29 March, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHOs technical lead for Covid, said: Its been in circulation for a few months.

We havent seen a change in severity in individuals or in populations, but thats why we have these systems in place. It has one additional mutation in the spike protein, which, in lab studies, shows increased infectivity as well as potential increased pathogenicity.

My colleague Joe Sommerlad reports:

What we know about the new Arcturus Covid variant

Why the world is unprepared if new Covid variant Arcturus proves deadly  in graphs

03:00 , Eleanor Noyce

A new coronavirus variant is making headlines around the world, causing cases to rise and prompting warnings from scientists that it could soon be the dominant strain.

The Arcturus variant has led to a spike in infections in India, which recorded 11,109 new Covid infections on Friday  the biggest jump in almost a year  and it has now been found in 22 countries, including the UK, Singapore, Australia and the US.

A subvariant of Omicron, the XBB.1.16 strain is being studied by experts, who fear that its spike protein mutations could make it more aggressive. It causes novel symptoms in children, including conjunctivitis.

Virologist Professor Lawrence Young from the University of Warwick told The Independent that the rise of the new variant in India is a sign that were not yet out of the woods.

We have to keep an eye on it, he said. When a new variant arises you have to find out if its more infectious, more disease-causing, is it more pathogenic?

These kinds of things highlight the importance of genomic surveillance, but a lot of countries, including our own, have let our guard down a bit, and we cant be sure what variants are around and what level of infection theyre causing until we see a significant outbreak.

Nick Ferris reports:

Why the world is unprepared if new Covid variant proves deadly  in graphs

Editorial: We cannot afford to be unprepared for the next pandemic

02:00 , Eleanor Noyce

The most regrettable  indeed dangerous  consequence of the governments living with Covid approach is that it leaves the country so poorly prepared for the next pandemic, or indeed a recrudescence of Covid, such as via the Arcturus coronavirus subvariant that is now emerging.

As our package of reports highlights, there is worrying evidence that the authorities are taking unacceptable risks with public health. Sad to say, it is as if Britain has learned nothing from the initial response to the coronavirus crisis in the spring of 2020. Have we really learned so little, and forgotten so much?

While the return to normality  thanks to the combined efforts of the NHS, the public compliance with the emergency lockdowns and the vaccines  is obviously welcome, Covid has not gone away. Far from it.

Editorial: We have only to reflect on the vast cost  at least 400bn  of the last pandemic to Britain to understand the force of the old medical adage about prevention being better than cure:

Editorial: We cannot afford to be unprepared for the next pandemic

Covid vaccine still has a crucial role in protecting against the virus, says NHS director

01:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Millions are eligible for the spring Covid-19 booster from Monday as hundreds of thousands of vaccination appointments are made available to book through the NHS.

NHS director of vaccinations and screening Steve Russell said: The covid vaccine still has a crucial role to play in protecting those at greatest risk of severe illness from the virus, including those with a weakened immune system as well as all aged 75 and above.

It is great to see that around 320,000 people have booked in to get a jab with around hundreds of thousands of further slots available across the country this week alone.

The NHS Covid-19 vaccination programme has delivered almost 145 million vaccine doses since December 2020 and staff will not stop in their efforts to give people extra protection.

I would urge anyone eligible for this extra protection to get their spring covid vaccination at the earliest opportunity and give yourself peace of mind this summer.

Those invited should make sure their appointment takes place at least three months after the last dose.

The last spring vaccination appointments will be offered on June 30, with more targeted seasonal campaigns likely in the future.

Millions eligible for Covid jab as spring booster campaign begins

Monday 17 April 2023 00:30 , Eleanor Noyce

Millions are eligible for the spring Covid-19 booster from Monday as hundreds of thousands of vaccination appointments are made available to book through the NHS.

Around five million people in total are eligible for a booster until the end of June, with the first vaccinations taking place from Monday across 3,000 sites in England.

Eligible people include those aged 75 and over, and anyone aged five and over who has a weakened immune system, alongside the care home programme of vaccinations which began two weeks ago.

Over 725,000 Covid vaccination boosters remain available for this week, with more than 320,000 appointments already booked through the NHS Covid-19 vaccination programme.

The NHS has issued 1.25 million invitations through the NHS app, where appointments can be made directly.

A further one million people will be asked to book a vaccine appointment this week if they are yet to do so.

Top scientists warn the next pandemic is coming and were not ready

Sunday 16 April 2023 22:36 , Eleanor Noyce

The UK is not ready for the next global pandemic because public services are being dismantled and key research is being defunded, experts have claimed.

More than three years after the global outbreak of coronavirus, top scientists have warned that the UK is no better prepared for a pandemic than it was in 2020.

They say another epidemic on the scale of Covid-19 is inevitable, but that disinvestment in infection-monitoring services, dismantling of key infrastructure, and the state of the NHS mean the country is losing ground.

The warning comes as virologists told The Independent that the new Covid-19 variant behind a surge of 10,000 new Covid cases a day in India may turn more aggressive, and could become the dominant strain in the UK.

The variant, first identified in January and known as Arcturus, has been found in 22 countries, including the UK and the US, and has prompted India to resume its production of vaccines.

Read the full story:

Top scientists warn the next pandemic is coming and were not ready

Industrial action will affect recovery from Covid, says NHS Providers deputy chief executive

Sunday 16 April 2023 22:48 , Eleanor Noyce

NHS Providers deputy chief executive Saffron Cordery said strikes have had a massive impact on patients.

She told BBCs Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: We know that there has been a massive impact on patients, disruption across the board and we know that there have been much higher risks on patient safety.

Ms Cordery added that 330,000 procedures, operations and appointments have been cancelled so far - not including the impact from strikes in the past week.

She said industrial action will affect recovery from Covid, staff morale and productivity.

UK losing ground over disinvestment in Covid research, expert warns

Sunday 16 April 2023 18:00 , Martha Mchardy

The UK is losing ground over government decisions to disinvest in research into Covid-19, an expert has warned as cases of the new Arcturus variant.

Professor Peter Horby, the lead for the groundbreaking Covid Recovery trial and head of the Pandemic Sciences Institute, also warned that the UK would be ill-prepared if a new pandemic were to hit in the coming years.

The Oxford professor said that, despite the government backing scientific work during Covid, disinvestment since means that the UK is now losing ground. He claimed that researchers on the Covid Recovery trial  which was launched in 2020 and has identified four treatments for the disease  are having to rely on philanthropic funds because there is no sustained investment.

There were some good strategic moves by the UK government [in response to the pandemic], but I have been disappointed by whats happened since then, he said.

What weve seen is there has been the discontinuation of funding of some of the jewels in the crown of the UK response, like the ONS survey, like the Covid Geonomics Consortium, like the Recovery trial ... the mothballing of the [Covid lab] facilities.

Instead of building on the successes, [the government has] been dismantling the successes, and I find that a potential risk for the future.

He added: We may be back in the position that we saw ourselves in 2020, where weve got a new threat and we dont have the diagnostics, the drugs, the vaccine, or the surveillance capabilities that we would desire.

Nothing has changed: Expert says world likely to see another virus outbreak on the same scale in the next 15 years

Sunday 16 April 2023 17:30 , Martha Mchardy

The world is likely to see another virus outbreak on the same scale in the next 15 years, a former government scientific adviser has warned.

Sir David King, a former chief scientific adviser to the government, who led the 2006 research that closely predicted the Covid pandemic told The Independent: Were in the same position as we were in 2020. Nothing has changed... if anything it has got worse.

Sir David said the government had failed to invest in the NHS and he was in no doubt that it was in a worse position than it was three years ago.

The former government adviser added that, by failing to fund the health service or bolster Britains ability to respond to another pandemic, the government is discounting the future.

Thats what the pandemic in 2020 proved: that we had jettisoned all of the processes that would have managed the epidemic. I see no signs of this being reversed at the moment, he said.

If you wait for the next epidemic, which I think is where the government may be now  if you wait until the next vaccine is developed, for whatever disease that is, it will take months and months for that vaccine to arrive. We cannot rely on that. We will have many, many cases, itll get really out of hand again, and then well have hospitals completely overwhelmed by an outbreak of this kind.

What is long Covid, what are the symptoms and how long does it last?

Sunday 16 April 2023 17:10 , Martha Mchardy

What is long Covid?

The NHS says of long Covid: Most people with coronavirus (Covid-19) feel better within a few days or weeks of their first symptoms and make a full recovery within 12 weeks. For some people, symptoms can last longer.

This is called long Covid or post Covid-19 syndrome. Long Covid is a new condition which is still being studied.

Medical professionals have identified two forms of the condition, drawing a distinction between ongoing symptomatic Covid, in which the symptoms last for four to 12 weeks, and post-Covid syndrome, which is said to have occurred if symptoms endure for over 12 weeks.

What are the symptoms?

The most common symptoms listed by the health service are extreme tiredness, shortness of breath, loss of smell and muscle aches.

(PA)

However, long Covid appears to strike different patients in different ways and other reported symptoms include everything from problems with memory and concentration (or brain fog) to chest pain, difficulty sleeping, heart palpitations, dizziness, pins and needles, joint pain, depression and anxiety, tinnitus and earaches, feeling sick, diarrhoea, stomach aches, loss of appetite, a high temperature, cough, headaches, sore throat and changes to sense of smell or taste and rashes.

Erectile dysfunction and hair loss have also been associated with long Covid in the past.

What help is available and how long can it take to recover?

The official advice is to seek a GPs appointment if your symptoms persist four weeks after a negative test, at which point your doctor might seek further tests if your life is continuing to be impacted by your condition.

This might mean blood tests, checking your blood pressure and heart rate, a chest X-ray or measuring your oxygen levels, the NHS says.

Your doctor will discuss treatment options depending on your specific symptoms and their severity, with referral to a specialist a possibility in extreme cases.

As the condition is so variable, recovery can take place within a matter of days or take as long as 12 weeks or more.

Research is still being undertaken to resolve unanswered questions about long Covid, with Dr Marc Sala of the Northwestern Medicine Comprehensive Covid-19 Center telling The Guardian: We dont quite have our finger on the pulse of whats wrong, what biologically is causing it, and thats a big problem. Its hard to direct drugs or treatments without having the biological underpinnings for why someone is feeling so fatigued with exercise.

Doctors point out that, despite the global upheaval caused by the coronavirus, it is still a relatively young disease after three years, at least in research terms, so more time will be needed to truly understand its quirks, with the sheer number and variety of symptoms associated with it complicating the picture considerably.

That will be little comfort to long Covid sufferers, however, many of whom express frustration or dismay that others do not appear to believe that their condition is real or that they are exaggerating their discomfort.

Anyone suffering from long Covid is directed by the NHS to its Your Covid Recovery website for further help and support.

Top scientists warn the next pandemic is coming and were not ready

Sunday 16 April 2023 16:30 , Martha Mchardy

The UK is not ready for the next global pandemic because public services are being dismantled and key research is being defunded, experts have claimed.

They say another epidemic on the scale of Covid-19 is inevitable, but that disinvestment in infection-monitoring services, dismantling of key infrastructure, and the state of the NHS mean the country is losing ground.

Sir John Bell, a leading immunologist and a member of the UKs Covid vaccine taskforce during the pandemic, said it was too easy to dismiss Covid-19 as a once in a generation crisis.

Writing in The Independent, he warned that it is a question of when, not if, another pandemic strikes, adding that the nation needs to adopt an always on approach that includes building a more resilient healthcare system, carrying out better surveillance, and identifying future threats.

(AP Photo/Patrick Sison)

Despite everything we have learned, we are not ready for the next pandemic, he wrote. The next pandemic could be even more devastating than the last. We must be in a constant state of readiness for the next big health crisis  if we do not act now, we will not be forgiven.

He referred to modelling that suggests there is a 38 per cent chance that another pandemic will happen within our lifetime, which would have the potential to cause even greater destruction.

Professor Teresa Lambe, one of the principal investigators leading the Oxford-AstraZeneca programme, said the UK had failed to take on board many hard-learned lessons from Covid. She warned that the public will be sitting ducks in a new pandemic if there are no further efforts by the government to invest in preparation.

She highlighted the governments decision to disband tracking systems  including its gold standard Covid survey, the last remaining system used to monitor infections  as a sign that the country would not be fully prepared for another pandemic.

Writing in The Independent, she described such surveillance systems as crucial for identifying new variants, tracking case numbers and helping the UK to tackle any virus spread. She added: We have learnt time and again that we need to track this virus carefully to distinguish if the current vaccine recommendations are enough.

She added: Without more of a concerted effort to work together and invest in pandemic preparedness, we are sitting ducks for the next virus.

Rebecca Thomas and Thomas Kingsley report:

Top scientists warn the next pandemic is coming and were not ready

Why the world is unprepared if new Covid variant Arcturus proves deadly  in graphs

Sunday 16 April 2023 16:10 , Martha Mchardy

A new coronavirus variant is making headlines around the world, causing cases to rise and prompting warnings from scientists that it could soon be the dominant strain.

The Arcturus variant has led to a spike in infections in India, which recorded 11,109 new Covid infections on Friday  the biggest jump in almost a year  and it has now been found in 22 countries, including the UK, Singapore, Australia and the US.

A subvariant of Omicron, the XBB.1.16 strain is being studied by experts, who fear that its spike protein mutations could make it more aggressive. It causes novel symptoms in children, including conjunctivitis.

Nick Ferris reports:

Why the world is unprepared if new Covid variant proves deadly  in graphs

Most of the world has now ended Covid contact tracing, data shows

Sunday 16 April 2023 15:10 , Martha Mchardy

Most countries around the world no longer trace the contacts of those who are infected with Covid, data analysed by The Independent shows, meaning that they are unable to effectively follow and monitor the spread of any new outbreak.

At the end of 2022, the UK, France and Spain no longer carried out contact-tracing, while the US and Canada were only doing so in a few cases.

The UK government shut down the majority of its Covid surveillance programmes in the spring of 2022, even after experts warned that such a move might well be premature.

The data suggests the world would be unprepared if new the new Covid variant Arcturus proves deadly.

Arcturus: What is the new Covid variant causing a surge in cases

Sunday 16 April 2023 14:35 , Martha Mchardy

Daily Covid vaccinations have plunged 99% since June 2021

Sunday 16 April 2023 14:10 , Martha Mchardy

Daily Covid vaccinations have plunged 99% globally since June 2021, according to data analysed by The Independent.

The data suggests the world is unprepared if new the new Covid variant Arcturus proves deadly.

Daily Covid vaccinations around the world have dropped to around 250,000 doses per day.

Across the world, thousands of vaccine centres have shut, and vaccine manufacturing has also plummeted. It would take some time to turn these trends around.

Many countries, including the UK, have now stopped widespread vaccinations, and have instead offered booster shots to more targeted groups, such as older people and those who are immunocompromised.

While more than 5 billion people around the world have now received a Covid jab, vaccines do not remain 100 per cent effective for ever. One 2021 study reported by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that vaccine effectiveness against infection dropped from 91.8 per cent to 75 per cent in the state of New York over the space of just a few months.

The statistics come as around 30 per cent of the worlds population  largely in the global South  remains unvaccinated against the disease.

Voices: Will we ever reach a point where Covid is no longer a threat to our everyday lives?

Sunday 16 April 2023 13:30 , Martha Mchardy

Without more of a concerted effort to work together and invest in pandemic preparedness, we are sitting ducks for the next virus.

Teresa Lambe reports:

Opinion: Will we ever reach a point where Covid is no longer a threat?

Europe unprepared for new Covid strain as testing has plummeted to negligible levels, data shows

Sunday 16 April 2023 13:10 , Martha Mchardy

Europe would be unprepared if the new Arcturus Covid variant were to prove deadly as testing has been scaled back, data shows.

Data analysed by The Independent shows that many countries have significantly scaled back their Covid testing, meaning that many would be unprepared if the world were to be hit by another deadly Covid strain.

The latest testing data, as tracked by analysts at Oxford Universitys Our World in Data project, shows that testing levels have plummeted, including in Europe, where testing has plummeted to negligible levels.

Testing fell from 613 daily tests per 1,000 people at the start of 2022 in Europe, to negligible levels by July of the same year.

Without testing, our understanding of Covid and its transmission is limited. Testing has given policymakers a window into how the virus spreads, and has allowed countries to impose measures to try to limit that spread, such as isolating those infected and tracing their contacts.

If a new deadly variant of Covid were to hit, high levels of testing would allow countries to make more targeted healthcare interventions, as opposed to implementing another costly, large-scale lockdown.

New Covid variant in India sign that were not yet out of the woods, virologist says

Sunday 16 April 2023 12:10 , Martha Mchardy

Virologist Professor Lawrence Young from the University of Warwick told The Independent that the rise of the new variant in India is a sign that were not yet out of the woods.

We have to keep an eye on it, he said. When a new variant arises you have to find out if its more infectious, more disease-causing, is it more pathogenic?

These kinds of things highlight the importance of genomic surveillance, but a lot of countries, including our own, have let our guard down a bit, and we cant be sure what variants are around and what level of infection theyre causing until we see a significant outbreak.

India records over 10,000 Covid cases and 23 deaths in a day

Sunday 16 April 2023 11:07 , Martha Mchardy

India recorded 10,093 Covid cases in the past 24 hours. It is the fourth consecutive day the country has recorded over 10,000 cases of the virus as the new Arcturus variant appears to be driving a surge in Covid-19 cases in the country.

The case count is about six per-cent lower than yesterdays count of 10,747 infections, while 11,109 new Covid infections were recorded on Friday, the biggest jump in almost a year.

The surge in cases has prompted the country to resume vaccine production and sparked fears it could lead to a rise in cases in the UK and elsewhere.

Indias active caseload reached 57,542 on Sunday, while 23 deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours, taking the fatality rate to 1.19 per cent, according to the health ministry data.

Experimental drug could reduce fatigue in long Covid patients, study says

Sunday 16 April 2023 09:48 , Martha Mchardy

An experimental drug could significantly reduce fatigue in long Covid patients, according to a new study.

Scientists believe the drug, called AXA1125, could increase energy production in cells and reduce inflammation in people with the virus.

The small-scale clinical trial involving 41 patients was carried out by researchers at the University of Oxford.

The scientists involved in the study are now calling for larger studies to confirm the findings.

Participants were given either the AXA1125 drug or a dummy placebo treatment twice a day for four weeks.

The results, published in Lancet eClinical Medicin, showed those who received the drug reported significantly improved levels of fatigue.

Those who were given the AXA1125 drug were also able to walk further than those given the placebo.

Scans also showed the drug recipients mitochondria - the power generators inside cells - were more likely to be in better health. However, this result was not statistically significant.

Associate Professor Betty Raman, the studys principal investigator, said: The reduction in patients own reports of fatigue is really positive news, and we hope that further work will help us understand the underlying processes behind this improvement too.

There is still some way to go in treating all patients with long Covid.

Our results focus specifically on fatigue, rather than the breathlessness and cardiovascular issues that other long Covid patients have reported.

Disturbed sleep 'may explain Covid breathlessness'

Sunday 16 April 2023 08:48 , Tara Cobham

Disturbed sleep may partially explain the common long Covid complication of breathlessness, according to a UK study.

Researchers discovered that fitful sleep in patients hospitalised with Covid-19 was likely to be a driver of shortness of breath, also known as dyspnoea.

The study of patients in 38 hospitals around Britain was led by scientists from the University of Manchester and the University of Leicester.

The research team discovered that 62 per cent of participants who had been admitted to hospital for Covid had sleep disruption, which was likely to persist for at least 12 months.

The findings highlight for the first time the association between two post-Covid symptoms: breathlessness and sleep disruption.

Arcturus: New Covid variant sweeping India shows unique symptom in children

Sunday 16 April 2023 04:00 , Eleanor Noyce

A new Covid variant dubbed Arcturus which is driving a surge of fresh cases in India seems to have some unique symptoms in children, experts have pointed out.

The XBB.1.16 strain, a sub-variant of Omicron, has been found in 22 countries, including Singapore, Australia, the UK and the US.

It is believed to be responsible for an uptick in infections in India, leading to the government adopting new measures to stop its spread, including bringing back some mask laws and running hospital drills.

India recorded 11,109 new cases on Friday, the countrys health ministry said, a sharp jump from 7,830 new Covid cases reported in the last 24 hours. The numbers reported are the highest in eight months with the active caseload surging to 49,622.

The spread of the strain, first detected in late January, is worrying experts, as it seems to exhibit unique symptoms in children, one of which is conjunctivitis.

Stuti Mishra reports:

Latest Covid variant sweeping India shows unique symptom in children

Delhi logs 1,396 Covid cases on Saturday

Sunday 16 April 2023 02:00 , Eleanor Noyce

According to Delhis health department, the city logged 1,396 Covid cases on Saturday. The highest numbers in 15 months, The Times of India reports a positivity rate of 31.9%.

The Arcturus strain is believed to be responsible for an uptick in infections in India, leading to the government adopting new measures to stop its spread, including bringing back some mask laws and running hospital drills.

India recorded 11,109 new cases on Friday, the countrys health ministry said, a sharp jump from 7,830 new Covid cases reported in the previous 24 hours. The numbers reported are the highest in eight months with the active caseload surging to 49,622.

NHS England urges people aged 75+ or those with weakened immune system to book spring Covid booster

Sunday 16 April 2023 00:01 , Eleanor Noyce

People aged 75 or above or those with a weakened immune system may now book their spring Covid vaccine.

NHS England has urged that those eligible can make an appointment through the NHS app, online or by calling 119.

People aged 75 or above, or those with a weakened immune system, can now book their spring COVID-19 vaccine.



You can book at https://t.co/kFXGT0nmm2, through the NHS App, or by calling 119. pic.twitter.com/NJTQlOkdoU  NHS England (@NHSEngland) April 14, 2023

Arcturus: How many cases of new variant are in UK?

Saturday 15 April 2023 23:00 , Eleanor Noyce

A new Covid strain dubbed Arcturus which is driving a surge of infections in India has been detected in the UK.

First identified in January, Arcturus - also known as Omicron subvariant XBB.1.16 - has been monitored by the World Health Organisation since 22 March.

It has been detected in 22 countries, including in the UK, US and India, and research suggests that the strain could be 1.2 times more infectious than the last major sub-variant.

The new strain is suspected to be behind a growing number of cases in India, with health authorities in Delhi recording 11,109 new Covid infections on Friday.

Although Arcturus has been detected in the UK, it is not spreading on the same scale - with the UKHSA saying that 66 cases have been recorded up to 11 April.

Read the full story:

Arcturus: How many cases of new variant are in UK?

New Covid variant sparks fear as India sees huge surge of infections

Saturday 15 April 2023 22:00 , Eleanor Noyce

In case you missed it...

A new variant of Covid-19 named Arcturus is behind a fresh surge of infections in India.

The Omicron sub-variant XBB.1.16 strain is on the verge of devastating the country where cases have soared 13-fold in the last month.

Indias health ministry launched mock drills this week in an attempt to see if hospitals are prepared to deal with a possible influx of patients following the rise in cases.

Wearing face coverings in public has been made compulsory again in some states, being the first time in more than a year.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is currently monitoring Arcturus, also known as XBB.1.16, which was first detected in late January, with officials saying it had some mutations of concern.

My colleague Thomas Kingsley reports:

New Covid variant sparks fear as India sees huge surge of infections

Covid no longer: Leading cause of death in England and Wales revealed

Saturday 15 April 2023 21:00 , Eleanor Noyce

In case you missed it...

Covid-19 has dropped out of the top five leading causes of death in England and Wales for the first time since the start of the pandemic, figures show.

Coronavirus was recorded as the main cause of death for 22,454 people in 2022, or 3.9% of all deaths registered, making it the sixth leading cause overall.

In both 2020 and 2021 Covid-19 was the leading cause of death, with 73,766 deaths (12.1% of the total) and 67,350 (11.5%) respectively.

By contrast, dementia and Alzheimers disease was the leading cause in England and Wales in 2022, with 65,967 deaths registered (11.4% of the total), up from 61,250 (10.4%) in 2021.

The other causes in the top five were ischaemic heart diseases (59,356 deaths and 10.3% of the total); chronic lower respiratory diseases (29,815 deaths, 5.2%); cerebrovascular diseases such as strokes and aneurysms (29,274 deaths, 5.1%); and trachea, bronchus and lung cancer (28,571 deaths, 5.0%).

Read the full story:

Covid no longer: Leading cause of death in England and Wales revealed

Over-75s urged to get latest Covid-19 booster as hospital rates remain high

Saturday 15 April 2023 20:00 , Eleanor Noyce

In case you missed it...

People aged 75 and over are being urged to book a slot for a fresh coronavirus booster jab, with appointments available in England from Monday.

Covid-19 hospital admissions remain highest among over-75s, with the rate currently standing at 34.9 admissions per 100,000 people for 75-84 year-olds and 74.5 per 100,000 for those aged 85 and above.

Rates have fallen in recent weeks but are still well above those for other age groups.

Around five million people in England are eligible for the latest booster, including everyone aged 75 and over, older adult care home residents and those with a weakened immune system.

Some care homes have already been visited by vaccination teams, but the rollout of jabs begins in full next week.

Ian Jones reports:

Over-75s urged to get latest Covid-19 booster as hospital rates remain high

Arcturus: What do we know about the new Covid variant?

Saturday 15 April 2023 19:00 , Eleanor Noyce

In case you missed it...

A new Covid strain behind a surge of infections in India has sparked fears it could also lead to a rise in cases in the UK.

Research indicates Arcturus could be one 1.2 times more infectious than the last major sub-variant.

Also known as Omicron subvariant XBB.1.16, the strain was first identified in January and has been monitored by the World Health Organisation (WHO) since 22 March.

Addressing Arcturuss emergence at a press conference on 29 March, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHOs technical lead for Covid, said: Its been in circulation for a few months.

We havent seen a change in severity in individuals or in populations, but thats why we have these systems in place. It has one additional mutation in the spike protein, which, in lab studies, shows increased infectivity as well as potential increased pathogenicity.

My colleague Joe Sommerlad reports:

What we know about the new Covid variant Arcturus

India restarts Covid vaccine production as new infections soar 30% in one day

Saturday 15 April 2023 18:00 , Eleanor Noyce

India is ramping up its vaccine production following a rapid surge in Covid-19 cases driven by a new subvariant dubbed Arcturus.

The country recorded 10,158 news Covid cases on Thursday, a 30 per cent surge in one day, according to the federal health ministry data.

The XBB.1.16 strain, a sub-variant of Omicron, has been found in 22 countries, including Singapore, Australia, the UK and the US. It is believed to be responsible for the uptick in infections in India and seems to exhibit unique symptoms in children, one of which is conjunctivitis.

Serum Institute of India, the worlds largest vaccine producer, has restarted the manufacture of Covid-19 vaccines, the chief executive Adar Poonawalla said.

Read the full story here:

India restarts Covid vaccine production as new infections soar 30% in one day

Arcturus: What are the symptoms of the new Covid variant?

Saturday 15 April 2023 17:00 , Martha Mchardy

Symptoms of the new Arcturus variant of the Covid-19 infection include high fever, cough, and itchy conjunctivitis or pinkeye, a paediatrician has said.

Vipin Vashishtha, a paediatrician and former head of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Immunisation tweeted that an infantile phenotype of the variant seems to be emerging.

The symptoms of the variant include high fever, cough, and itchy conjunctivitis or pinkeye, Dr Vashishtha told the Hindustan Times newspaper.

Conjunctivitis  an eye infection causing redness, itchiness and swelling in the eyes  has previously been reported as a symptom of Covid, but not often, Richard Reithinger, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the nonprofit research institute RTI International, was quoted as saying to Fortune.

Experts have also warned that the new variant seems to exhibit unique symptoms in children, one of which is conjunctivitis.

Researchers at Nebraska Medicines Truhlsen Eye Institute identified the virus in the eyes tear film, which could lead to conjunctivitis.

Dr Vashishtha, however, said in his tweet that he treated infants with high fever, cold and cough, and non-purulent, itchy conjunctivitis w/ sticky eyes, not seen in earlier waves.

Other doctors have been seeing rising cases of Covid in children as well.

Usually, these children come with simple respiratory infections of cough, cold and fever, and when tested they turn out to be positive, paediatrician Dr Rahul Nagpal told India Today.

Dr Nagpal said the main symptoms of XBB.1.16 in adults resembled the flu, including a nasal discharge, sore throat and cough.

The Arcturus XBB.1.16 variant is a recombinant of two sub-variants of BA.2, and a preprint study from scientists at the University of Tokyo suggested that it spreads about 1.17 to 1.27 times more efficiently than its relatives XBB.1 and XBB.1.5.

New Covid variant sweeping India shows unique symptom in children

Saturday 15 April 2023 16:00 , Martha Mchardy

A new Covid variant dubbed Arcturus which is driving a surge of fresh cases in India seems to have some unique symptoms in children, experts have pointed out.

The XBB.1.16 strain, a sub-variant of Omicron, has been found in 22 countries, including Singapore, Australia, the UK and the US.

It is believed to be responsible for an uptick in infections in India, leading to the government adopting new measures to stop its spread, including bringing back some mask laws and running hospital drills.

The spread of the strain, first detected in late January, is worrying experts, as it seems to exhibit unique symptoms in children, one of which is conjunctivitis.

Vipin Vashishtha, a paediatrician and former head of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Immunisation tweeted that an infantile phenotype of the variant seems to be emerging.

The symptoms of the variant include high fever, cough, and itchy conjunctivitis or pinkeye, Dr Vashishtha told the Hindustan Times newspaper.

Conjunctivitis  an eye infection causing redness, itchiness and swelling in the eyes  has previously been reported as a symptom of Covid, but not often, Richard Reithinger, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the nonprofit research institute RTI International, was quoted as saying to Fortune.

Mapped: Worst areas in UK for Covid cases amid fears over new Arcturus variant

Saturday 15 April 2023 15:00 , Martha Mchardy

Englands North East currently has the highest Covid infection rate of any UK region, according to new figures from the Zoe Health Study app.

Nearly 1.25 million people are currently thought to have symptomatic coronavirus in the UK, according to the Zoe Covid study, whose estimates are based on users self-reporting symptoms and test results.

This is down from a recent peak of nearly 1.5 million suspected symptomatic infections a fortnight ago, which itself was below previous highs of more than 1.6 million over New Year and in mid-October.

The ongoing study, run by Kings College London, found that rates of daily new symptomatic infections are highest in Englands North East, where there are potentially as many as 2,188 new daily cases per million people, based on data from Wednesday.

There are estimated to be up to 1,716 new cases per million in the West Midlands, which is followed closely by Scotland and the North West.

These infection rates contrast with an upper estimate of 1,301 new daily cases per million people in the South East. Overall, there were estimated to be more than 81,000 new symptomatic cases of Covid in the UK on Wednesday, according to Zoe app data.

The map below shows estimated rate of new daily symptomatic Covid cases per million people in each region, detailing the upper and lower range of the estimates, based on data from Wednesday:

Arcturus: How many cases of new variant are in UK?

Saturday 15 April 2023 14:00 , Martha Mchardy

A new Covid strain dubbed Arcturus which is driving a surge of infections in India has been detected in the UK.

First identified in January, Arcturus - also known as Omicron subvariant XBB.1.16 - has been monitored by the World Health Organisation since 22 March.

It has been detected in 22 countries, including in the UK, US and India, and research suggests that the strain could be 1.2 times more infectious than the last major sub-variant.

The new strain is suspected to be behind a growing number of cases in India, with health authorities in Delhi recording 11,109 new Covid infections on Friday.

Although Arcturus has been detected in the UK, it is not spreading on the same scale - with the UKHSA saying that 66 cases have been recorded up to 11 April.

Comparatively, 57,842 overall Covid infections were recorded in the week up to Thursday, a 20 per cent drop from the previous seven days.

Eleanor Noyce reports:

Arcturus: How many cases of new variant are in UK?

Arcturus: What do we know about the new Covid variant?

Saturday 15 April 2023 13:00 , Martha Mchardy

A new Covid strain behind a surge of infections in India has sparked fears it could also lead to a rise in cases in the UK.

Research indicates Arcturus could be one 1.2 times more infectious than the last major sub-variant.

Also known as Omicron subvariant XBB.1.16, the strain was first identified in January and has been monitored by the World Health Organisation (WHO) since 22 March.

Joe Sommerlad reports:

What we know about the new Covid variant Arcturus

We may never know true origins of Covid, leading Chinese doctor says

Saturday 15 April 2023 11:59 , Martha Mchardy

We may never know the true origins of Covid-19, a Chinese doctor who helped lead the countrys pandemic response has said.

Dr George Fu Gao told The Telegraph he is not optimistic the origin of the virus will ever be known.

Its too sensitive; too politicised, he said, adding: We must focus on science.

Dr Goa made the comments Rhodes Policy Summit on pandemic preparedness in London on Friday, also attended by former prime minister Tony Blair.

The Dr was leader of the Chinese Center for Disease Control when the Covid-19 virus first emerged in 2019.

He added: there is no evidence which animals... the virus comes [from].

Indonesia detects two cases linked to Arcturus variant

Friday 14 April 2023 14:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Indonesia yesterday said it has detected two cases of the Arcturus variant of coronavirus in the country.

So far, there are two cases (of Arcturus) that have been found, health ministry spokesperson Mohammad Syahril confirmed in Jakarta.

The patients, whose infections were detected based on genome sequencing in the last week of March, experienced mild symptoms, officials said.

One of the patients, a 30-year-old woman, had no history of overseas travel and had received the first booster Covid-19 vaccine, CNN Indonesia reported.

Covid cases rising in Singapore

Friday 14 April 2023 14:00 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Singapores Covid-19 infections almost doubled in the final week of March to the highest this year, according to the federal health ministry.

Health minister Ong Ye Kung said that about three in 10 of the current cases were reinfections. The estimated number of daily infections rose from about 1,400 a month ago to 4,000 last week.

However, the minister assured that there is no evidence any of the current XBB strains caused more severe illness.

No evidence to prove Covid came from animals, says ex-head of China CDC

Friday 14 April 2023 13:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

There is no evidence as yet that proves the Covid-19-causing virus came from animals, George Gao, former head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today.

Mr Gao, who was speaking at a London summit on preparing for pandemics, was the head of the agency when Covid was first detected in Wuhan in China at the end of 2019.

Even now, people think some animals are the host or reservoir, he said. Cut a long story short, there is no evidence which animals where the virus comes.

New Covid variant Arcturus likely 1.2 times more infectious

Friday 14 April 2023 13:00 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

The new variant of coronavirus, dubbed as Arcturus, is reportedly 1.2 times more infectious than the Kraken variant, according to a study by the University of Tokyo published on the biology research website bioRxiv.

Arcturus has been reported in several states in the US, including California, Washington, New Jersey, New York, Virginia and Texas, New York Post reported.

Its been in circulation for a few months. We havent seen a change in severity in individuals or in populations, but thats why we have these systems in place, Maria Van Kerkhove, WHOs Covid-19 technical lead, said in late March.

It has one additional mutation in the spike protein which in lab studies shows increased infectivity as well as potential increased pathogenicity, she added.

Worst areas in UK for Covid cases amid fears over new variant

Friday 14 April 2023 12:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Englands North East currently has the highest Covid infection rate of any UK region, according to new figures from the Zoe Health Study app.

Nearly 1.25 million people are currently thought to have symptomatic coronavirus in the UK, according to the Zoe Covid study, whose estimates are based on users self-reporting symptoms and test results.

This is down from a recent peak of nearly 1.5 million suspected symptomatic infections a fortnight ago, which itself was below previous highs of more than 1.6 million over New Year and in mid-October.

Andy Gregory has more.

Mapped: Worst areas in UK for Covid cases amid fears over new variant

India restarts Covid vaccine production

Friday 14 April 2023 12:00 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

India is ramping up its vaccine production following a rapid surge in Covid-19 cases driven by a new subvariant dubbed Arcturus.

Serum Institute of India, the worlds largest vaccine producer, has restarted the manufacture of Covid-19 vaccines, the chief executive Adar Poonawalla said.

The Pune-based company produces AstraZeneca vaccines under the label Covishield, which constitutes at least 70 per cent of the Covid vaccines administered in the country.

Just as a precaution, we have done it so that people have Covishield as a choice if they want it, Mr Poonawalla told the Press Trust of India.

More here.

India restarts Covid vaccine production as new infections soar 30% in one day

How many cases of new variant are in UK?

Friday 14 April 2023 11:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

A new Covid strain dubbed Arcturus which is driving a surge of infections in India has been detected in the UK.

Although Arcturus has been detected in the UK, it is not spreading on the same scale  with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) saying that 66 cases have been recorded up to 11 April.

Comparatively, 57,842 overall Covid infections were recorded in the week up to Thursday, a 20 per cent drop from the previous seven days.

Eleanor Noyce reports.

Arcturus: How many cases of new variant are in UK?

Covid no longer: Leading cause of death in England and Wales revealed

Friday 14 April 2023 11:00 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Covid-19 has dropped out of the top five leading causes of death in England and Wales for the first time since the start of the pandemic, figures show.

Coronavirus was recorded as the main cause of death for 22,454 people in 2022, or 3.9 per cent of all deaths registered, making it the sixth leading cause overall.

In both 2020 and 2021 Covid-19 was the leading cause of death, with 73,766 deaths (12.1 per cent of the total) and 67,350 (11.5 per cent) respectively.

More here.

Covid no longer: Leading cause of death in England and Wales revealed

Worlds largest vaccine maker ramps up production

Friday 14 April 2023 10:18 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Adar Poonawalla, the chief executive of Serum Institute of India (SII) told The Independent in a statement that the company has resumed the production of the Covid-19 vaccine, Covishield, in response to the increasing number of SARS-CoV-2 virus infections.

The company also has six million doses of the Covovax vaccine, which are readily available to private hospitals depending on the demand and can also be used as heterologous booster doses, he added.

The company has taken this precautionary measure to ensure that people have the option of Covishield if they choose.

Stuti Mishra reports.

Doctors urge caution: This is one to watch

Friday 14 April 2023 09:40 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious diseases expert based at the University of East Anglia, told MailOnline that the variant is unlikely to cause a big wave.

I suspect we will see a wave of infections with this variant, professor Hunter said. I doubt it will cause a big wave, probably not even as great as the one we have just had in the UK.

Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist from the University of Warwick, told The Independent that the cases need to be monitored.

These kinds of things highlight the importance of genomic surveillance but a lot of countries including our own have let our guards down a bit.

And we cant be sure what variants are around and what level of infection they are causing until we see a significant outbreak.

Maria Van Kerkhove, WHOs technical lead on Covid, said, this is one to watch. She added that health experts havent seen a change in severity in individuals or in populations.

India records highest number of cases in months

Friday 14 April 2023 09:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

India on Friday recorded 11,109 new Covid infections, the biggest rise in cases for almost a year. The country currently has 49,622 active cases, according to the federal health ministry.

The southern state of Kerala reported 3,420 cases, while the capital Delhi and Maharashtra in the west logged 1,159 and 1,115 cases respectively.

There were 29 Covid-related deaths recorded in 24 hours.

Fears new Arcturus Covid variant could become dominant in UK

Friday 14 April 2023 08:52 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Virologist Dr Stephen Griffin from the University of Leeds said Arcturus is growing at a faster rate than other variants and is rapidly outcompeting others in India.

He added that the new variant, which is now spreading globally, is particularly concerning because of limitations in genomic sequencing and tracking, leaving the UK completely in the dark after it stopped publishing ONS Covid case figures last month.

So far in the UK, Arcturus accounts for just 0.4 per cent of cases, according to the GISAID virus sequencing database  but that proportion is expected to increase considerably.

Arcturus has a growth advantage of about 1.2 compared to what weve had recently, Dr Griffin told The Independent.

Its conceivable it could outcompete what weve had recently but there are other variants in the mix so its hard to know which one will become dominant.

Thomas Kingsley reports.

Fears new Arcturus Covid variant could become dominant in UK

What are the symptoms of the new Covid variant?

Friday 14 April 2023 08:31 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

The XBB.1.16 strain, a sub-variant of Omicron, has been found in 22 countries, including Singapore, Australia, the UK and the US.

The variant, dubbed Arcturus, is believed to be responsible for an uptick in infections in India, leading to the government adopting new measures to stop its spread.

The spread of the strain, first detected in late January, is worrying experts, as it seems to exhibit unique symptoms in children, one of which is conjunctivitis.

Vipin Vashishtha, a paediatrician and former head of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Immunisation tweeted that an infantile phenotype of the variant seems to be emerging.

The symptoms of the variant include high fever, cough, and itchy conjunctivitis or pinkeye, she said.

Stuti Mishra reports.

Latest Covid variant sweeping India appears to have this new symptom
Three people were killed and five seriously injured in two separate crashes over the weekend in Manatee and Sarasota counties.

The first crash happened at about 3:20 p.m. Saturday on State Road 70 near Saddlebag Trail and Myakka City, Florida Highway Patrol reported.

A 57-year-old man from Bradenton was driving a pickup that was towing an RV, headed west on 70.

He lost control, the RV detached and the truck rotated into the eastbound lanes, hitting a van driven by an 80-year-old man from Dunedin.

The Bradenton man was pronounced dead at the scene, and his passenger, a 52-year-old man from Oakland Park, Florida, was flown to a hospital with serious injuries.

The Dunedin man and his passenger, a 75-year-old woman also from Dunedin, were flown to a hospital with serious injuries.

The RV went onto the shoulder and hit a tree.

The second crash happened at 7:10 p.m. Saturday on Interstate 75 in Sarasota County, south of mile marker 196.

A 59-year-old man from Naples driving a 2006 Hyundai was in the left inside lane and swerved into the center lane, hitting a pickup.

The truck rotated, went onto the grass shoulder and overturned. Two backseat passengers were ejected  a 64-year-old man from North Port and 50-year-old man from Lowell, Indiana.

The North Port man was pronounced dead at the scene, and the Lowell man was flown to a hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

The driver, a 63-year-old woman from North Port, and front passenger, a 41-year-old woman from Lowell, were taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

The sedan driver fled the scene but was found a short time later on Laurel Road and arrested, according to a press release.

Donald Leif Johnsen, 59, faces two counts of leaving the scene of traffic crash involving a death, and two counts of DUI manslaughter, FHP said.

Both crashes remain under investigation.
Mugshot

A conspiracy theorist at the center of controversy over a creationist theme park has been arrested for alleged sexual assault of a nine-year-old.

Christopher Link Jones, 55, was arrested late last month in Aiken, South Carolina, the Aiken Standard first reported. An arrest warrant shows Jones charged with criminal sexual conduct with a minor under 14. Jones was previously convicted of battery and lewd acts on children in California.

Jones California criminal record created rifts at Dinosaur Adventure Land, a creationist theme park where Jones is friends with head preacher Kent Hovind, and where Jones has been accused of sexually abusing a boy. Hovind and Jones have blamed the previous conviction on a plot to silence Jones for what he claims was his work with Infowars founder Alex Jones.

Hovind told The Daily Beast that Jones is still welcome at Dinosaur Adventure Land (DAL) despite the new charges.

Ive known Chris for many years, Hovind told The Daily Beast. He gets accused of things all the time, but everybody gets their day in court. I dont know the details on that [the charges].

Hovind, who spent nine years in prison for tax avoidance, runs the DAL park in Repton, Alabama. The park is advertised as family-friendly, featuring playgrounds, animals, and a science center that claims that humans and dinosaurs shared the earth mere thousands of years ago. Former DAL workers, some of whom lived at the park, have accused Hovind of enabling a culture of impunity for Jones and for other close friends, who allegedly abused drugs, stole money, and killed a dog on or near DAL property. Hovind was also convicted of domestic violence in 2021a ruling he is appealing.

Preacher Accused of Enabling Pedophile at Creationist Dino Theme Park

Former DAL residents previously told The Daily Beast they distanced themselves from Hovind after he allegedly arranged for Jones to share a bed with an 11-year-old boy whom Jones had brought to DAL in 2019. The boy, whom The Daily Beast is not naming, later told his mother that Jones had touched his genitals through a paper towel. Recordings from a 2021 meeting of DAL staff and residents, previously reported by The Daily Beast, show Hovind dismissing concerns about the incident.

Story continues

Thats Chriss decision and the kids decision, Hovind said during the 2021 meeting, when DAL residents raised concerns about Jones wrestling with the child, or sharing a bed with him. How people here react to that is their decision. Hes got a right to wrestle with a kid if he wants and youve got a right to say Im not getting around Chris.

Reached for comment, the boys mother told The Daily Beast that Jones arrest in South Carolina last month was related to her son. The arrest warrant does not appear to relate directly to DAL (which is located in Alabama), but to an incident approximately two years before the DAL visit, when the boy was nine. The boys mother previously stated that Jones was her boss, and that he had sometimes looked after her son prior to the DAL trip.

Neither Jones nor his lawyer returned requests for comment on Jones arrest. Jones left jail last month on a $15,000 bond, court records show.

Jones was previously convicted on three charges of lewd acts on children, after he made three boys (ages nine, 11, and 12) play strip poker with him. He was also convicted of battery for spanking a naked seven-year-old boy.

He and Hovind have blamed the past cases on political persecution. Jones claims to have recorded undercover footage from Bohemian Grove, a campsite for the rich and powerful that has long been the subject of conspiracy theories. Jones claims he gave the footage to Infowars founder Alex Jones (no relation), prompting government forces to pursue sex crime charges against him.

Kent Hovind, head of Dinosaur Adventure Land, who is accused of sheltering a predator. Wikimedia Commons

He got a job there and video taped a bunch of stuff and they wanted him in prison, Hovind said in a voicemail to a DAL resident who called to ask about Jones criminal past.

Neither Infowars nor an Alex Jones spokesperson returned requests for comment.

Reached by phone about Jones latest arrest, Hovind said it was not feasible to perform background checks on all DAL visitors. Even so, he said. I would doubt hes guilty.

But Hovind doesnt need to perform a background check; hes already aware of Jones past conviction.

Well even that doesnt mean youre guilty, Hovind said. How many people, later, convictions get overturned? Thousands of them. Sometimes 20 years, 50 years later.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
Croatia denies political asylum to five Chechen asylum seekers

They can now be deported back to Russia, the representative of the Assembly of Chechens of Europe, Isa Dudayev, said.

"Interpreters of the court said that the verdict was issued without any evidence and was based on mere assumption that the applicants for protection were Islamist extremists," he said.

Chechens who were in Croatia in transit cited unwillingness to participate in the war against Ukraine among the reasons for claiming asylum.

Read also:

They are currently staying in an immigration center and now may be transferred to another country or deported to Russia.

The final decision of the Croatian authorities is still unknown.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Belfast-based charity and social enterprise Orchardville is one of the organisations involved

Hackers have stolen data from charities and community organisations in a cyber attack on a Londonderry-based IT company.

Evide manages data for about 140 organisations across the island of Ireland and the UK, including groups that work with victims of sexual crime.

It was targeted in a ransomware attack last month.

Specialist cyber crime officers from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) are investigating.

"Enquiries, in conjunction with our national partners, are ongoing," a PSNI spokeswoman said.

"As such, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time."

Phone numbers

Belfast-based charity and social enterprise Orchardville is one of the organisations involved.

Its database has information about participants and next of kin contacts - but no financial details are held.

In a letter to service users seen by the BBC, Orchardville said it was not yet known how much of its data, if any, had been accessed.

"But we wanted to make you aware of what has happened as soon as possible so that you can be more alert to any suspicious attempts to contact you," the organisation said.

Dublin-based One in Four, a charity that works with adults who have experienced childhood sexual abuse, has been contacting users.

Its chief executive Maeve Lewis told RTE's Good Morning Ireland programme that data including phone numbers and email addresses has been stolen.

Computer keyboard

"We were told by the cybersecurity experts that that data is very valuable because it can be sold to people who then go on to commit or try to commit fraud, by for example, getting bank account details or other personal data," she said.

She said more than 1,000 people who have engaged with the charity may be affected and the charity had managed to contact about 500 of them to date.

"We do know that any attachments, any letters, any reports for example, to child protection services, they have not been accessed," she added.

It is understood three other Republic of Ireland sexual abuse charities have been affected.

Story continues

'Unusual traffic'

Evide said it had became aware of the incident when unusual traffic was detected on its network.

"As soon as we became aware that a third party had accessed our systems we immediately contacted the PSNI and engaged the services of experienced cyber-security specialists to assist us to contain the issue, support recovery efforts, and conduct a thorough investigation," the firm said.

"We have provided notifications to all relevant stakeholders and clients and also notified the relevant authorities, including the Police Service of Northern Ireland who notified An Garda Siochana (Irish police)."

RTE is reporting it understands hackers have made ransom demands but that has not been paid.

A spokeswoman for An Garda Siochana said it was "assisting the PSNI in its investigation into a ransomware attack on a company based in Northern Ireland that has customers across the island of Ireland".

"The Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau has been providing advice to a number of companies," she added.
Dadeville Mayor Jimmy Frank Goodman Sr likened the mass shooting to a war zone

Few details have emerged about Saturday's deadly mass shooting in a small Alabama city - and locals are waiting patiently for answers.

Dadeville Mayor Jimmy Frank Goodman Sr was visibly shaken as he spoke in the lobby of city hall, just a few steps away from where the shooting happened.

He recalls receiving a call at about 23:00 on Saturday. "What happened after then and who did it, I have no idea," he told BBC News.

"When I got to the hospital it was chaos over there. There were people crying, bodies going into the emergency room and bloody clothes on the ground."

At least four people died and 32 others were injured in the shooting at Mahogany Masterpiece, a venue in a former bank in the old-fashioned brick-lined downtown.

But police have not yet released details of what happened inside the club, the name - or names - of the suspected assailant or assailants, or any hint as to what happened to them after the shooting.

On Monday evening the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said in a statement that their investigation was continuing and that handgun shell casings, but no high-powered rifle ammunition, had been recovered at the scene.

They said they were still working to establish a motive and possible suspects, and appealed to the public for help.

It is unclear how the shooting eventually ended.

The dance club where the mass shooting occured on Saturday night

Despite a lack of information that is unusual at this stage of an investigation, Mr Goodman urged calm and said he trusted the authorities to track down those responsible.

"I understand why they [police] are not putting out information. It just happened Saturday and today's just Monday. It takes time to bring things together," he said.

"The ones who were there, they aren't talking [to anybody else] because the authorities are talking to them," Mr Goodman said. He compared what he'd seen to his experience of a war zone.

"It's not grown-ups like it was in Vietnam, these are kids," he said. "They are schoolkids trying to graduate, trying to make their parents proud. It's devastating."

Story continues

The mayor's patience is shared by others we spoke to in the town of about 3,200.

"We have a lot of trust in law enforcement to take their time and get things right," said Theresa McKelvey, who owns a yarn store with her husband nearby.

On Monday morning there was little activity inside Mahogany Masterpiece, its windows now pockmarked with bullet holes.

Later, a cleaning crew arrived. A couple of people stopped by to lay floral tributes at the club's front door.

The venue of the Sweet 16 birthday party is pockmarked with bullet holes

At Dadeville High School, officials are considering what to do about graduation next month. Sporting events have been cancelled, and counsellors have been drafted in to help students make sense of the violence.

There is no indication when investigators will issue further updates - or when the town's patience might wear thin.

One man working a couple of doors down from the dance club expressed a flicker of frustration as he glanced towards the scene of the crime. He said he'd heard rumours about the killings, but refused to give his name.

"Somebody out there must know something," he said.

With reporting by North America producer Rebecca Hartman and correspondent Jessica Parker.
Protestors march on April 16, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo., to bring attention to the shooting of Ralph Yarl, 16, who was shot when he went to the wrong Kansas City house to pick up his brothers. (Susan Pfannmuller/AP)

KANSAS CITY, Mo.  An 84-year-old white man who shot a Black teen at his front door in Kansas City, Missouri, last week has been charged with armed assault, and the Clay County prosecutor said Monday there was a racial component to the case.

Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson said at a news conference that Andrew Lester shot 16-year-old Ralph Yarl, who is recovering at home after being released from the hospital on Sunday.

Advertisement

When asked if anything was said between Lester and Yarl that made Thompson believe the shooting was racially motivated, Thompson said nothing like that is indicated in charging documents.

We understand how frustrating this has been but I can assure the criminal justice system is working and will continue to work, Thompson said at a news conference.

Advertisement

Yarl was supposed to pick up his two younger brothers last week when he approached the wrong house. Lester came to the door and shot Yarl in the head -- then shot him again. No words were exchanged before the shooting, the probable cause statement said.

Lester told police that he lives alone and had just gone to bed when he heard his doorbell, according to a probable cause statement. He said he picked up his gun and went to the door, where he saw a Black male pulling on the exterior storm door handle and thought someone was breaking in.

Community leaders and an attorney for Yarls family had earlier demanded justice for the Black teen. Thompson said an arrest warrant was issued but Lester was not yet in custody.

The Kansas City police chief said an investigation is ongoing but that, so far, race does not appear to be a factor.

The shooter was taken into custody Thursday but released the next day after consultation with the prosecutors office, Police Chief Stacey Graves said at a news conference on Sunday. The firearm used was found at the home, she said.

Rev. Vernon Howard, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Kansas City, said in a statement Monday that the homeowner should immediately be arrested for what he called a heinous and hate-filled crime.

The Missouri Senate held a moment of silence for Yarl on Monday. We pray for justice, Democratic Sen. Lauren Arthur said.

The shooting happened Thursday night in a middle class neighborhood in north Kansas City. Yarl was sent to pick up his twin younger brothers. He didnt have a phone with him and went to the wrong block, his aunt, Faith Spoonmore, wrote on a GoFundMe page set up to help pay medical bills. By Monday afternoon, $1.4 million had been raised.

Advertisement

Graves said that Yarls parents asked him to pick up his brothers at a home on 115th Terrace, but he mistakenly went to 115th Street, the Kansas City Star reported.

Spoonmore wrote that Yarl pulled into the driveway and rang the doorbell.

The man in the home opened the door, looked my nephew in the eye, and shot him in the head, Spoonmore wrote. When Yarl fell to the ground, the man shot him again.

Spoonmore wrote that Yarl approached three different homes before someone finally agreed to help him after he was told to lie on the ground with his hands up. The AP could not independently confirm this account.

Yarl is a bass clarinetist who earned Missouri All-State Band honorable mention and who plays several instruments in the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of Kansas City, Spoonmore wrote. A statement from the North Kansas City School District described Yarl as an excellent student and talented musician.

Yarl was released from the hospital Sunday and is recovering at home, his father, Paul Yarl, told the Kansas City Star. Spoonmore said Yarl is doing well physically but has a lot of trauma to overcome emotionally.

Advertisement

Police have not identified the shooter or his race, though civil rights attorney Ben Crump said the family provided information indicating he was white. He did not elaborate.

By Monday afternoon, the home where the shooting happened had been vandalized. Black spray-paint on the side of the house showed a heart with 16 in the middle. Eggs splattered the front windows and the door.

The shooting has caught the attention of national figures.

Vice President Kamala Harris wrote on Twitter that she and her husband were praying for Yarl.

Lets be clear: No child should ever live in fear of being shot for ringing the wrong doorbell, Harris tweeted.

Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., wrote on Twiter that the man who did this should be charged AND we need to work for the legislative and heart change to prevent these tragedies.

Advertisement

Graves said investigators will consider whether the suspect was protected by Stand Your Ground laws, which allow for the use of deadly force in self-defense. Missouri is among around 30 states with such laws.

These laws breed a society of violence and fear while providing cover for those who harm, maim and kill others, state Rep. Marlene Terry, a St. Louis Democrat who chairs the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus, said in a statement.

A message seeking comment from Republican Gov. Mike Parson, a staunch gun rights supporters, wasnt immediately returned.

Crump, who has represented families in several high-profile case of Black people being shot, including those of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, called it asinine that charges have to wait for an interview with Yarl.

We all believe that if the roles were reversed and this was a Black citizen who shot a 16-year-old for merely ringing his doorbell, they would have arrested him, and he wouldnt have slept in his bed that night, Crump said.

Two days after Yarl was shot, a 20-year-old woman was killed by a homeowner in Upstate New York Saturday after the car she was in drove to the wrong address. Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy said Kaylin Gillis was in a car with three others looking for a friends house.

Advertisement

As the car was turning around, Kevin Monahan came out and fired two shots, one of which struck Gillis. Monahan was charged with second-degree murder.

Salter reported from OFallon, Missouri. Nick Ingram in Kansas City and Summer Ballentine in Columbia, Missouri, contributed to this report.
Through Monday morning, no information had been released through law enforcement about a suspect or suspects, any arrests made, weapons used or a possible motive in Saturday nights mass shooting in Dadeville that left four dead and 28 injured.

The names and ages of the dead had not been released. Sgt. Jeremy Burkett of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency handled information in three news conferences held Sunday in Dadeville but took no questions. He has stressed the fluid nature of the investigation and asked for information from the public.

Even the smallest detail can be important, Burkett said at a 5 p.m. Sunday news conference.

But law enforcement officials said early Sunday that a public safety emergency did not exist in Dadeville.

That was confusing to Erica Jackson, a Dadeville resident who attended the 5 p.m. conference, held in the back parking lot of the Tallapoosa County Courthouse.

I was hoping to hear that they had the people responsible, she said. We need to know. Are they still out there? Why wont anybody tell us anything?

Community members embrace during a prayer vigil at First Baptist Church in Dadeville, Ala., on Sunday, April 16, 2023. A deadly shooting happened late Saturday night at Mahogany Masterpiece dance studio in downtown Dadeville.

More: Dadeville victim attends vigil in hospital gown, details shooting

Area law enforcement agencies in the state have also gotten little information through the usual official channels. There have been no "be on the lookout," or BOLO, bulletins sent to police departments or sheriff's offices in the state listing physical description of a suspect or suspects, or any other details for internal law enforcement use.

On Sunday, Pastor Fred Hutcherson, of Zion Hill Baptist Church, asked the gathering to inform law enforcement if they know anything.

This is our city, these are our people, he said. The way to show our love is to get involved the right way and talk with law enforcement. Social media is not the place for it.

That plea was echoed by Dadeville Mayor Jimmy Frank Goodman.

Our law enforcement agencies need our help, he said Sunday afternoon.

Along with the Dadeville Police Department and Tallapoosa County Sheriffs Office, the case is being worked by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI.

Story continues

According to the Associated Press/USA Today/ Northeastern University mass killing data base, the Dadeville shooting is the 16th mass killing event in the nation this year. That ties the number at this point during the years 2008 and 2009. Also, the last three mass killings happened in public spaces: a school (Nashville, Tenn.), a bank (Louisville, Ky.), and a dance studio (Dadeville), said James Alan Fox, Lipman Family Professor of Criminology, Law & Public Policy at Bostons Northeastern University. Fox manages the database.

And in just a span of three weeks. That is unusual as well, he said.

The database, which tracks mass shootings as well as other mass causality events, shows that since 2006 there have been 546 mass killing events resulting in 2,838 deaths.

Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Dadeville shooting: Days later, no details released about suspect
An incredible human drama in space exploration ended with the miraculous safe return of the three Apollo 13 astronauts on this day in history, April 17, 1970.

"In Mission Control, pandemonium erupted," NASA reports of the joy that overwhelmed the command center after the mission's capsule splashed down in the South Pacific shorty after noon Central Standard Time, just four miles from rescue recovery ship USS Iwo Jima.

The fate of the three astronauts of Apollo 13  Commander James Lovell, Command Module pilot John "Jack" Swigert and Lunar Module pilot Fred W. Haise  gripped the nation for three days after an explosion on board forced NASA to abort its third planned manned mission to the moon.

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, APRIL 16, 1889 FUTURE HOLLYWOOD LEGEND CHARLIE CHAPLIN IS BORN IN LONDON

"The Iwo Jimas skipper, Captain Leland E. Kirkemo, and Rear Admiral Donald C. Davis, Commanding Officer of Task Force 130 the Pacific Recovery Forces, welcomed them aboard the ship," states NASA.

"President Richard M. Nixon telephoned to congratulate them on their successful recovery."

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

The safe return of the Apollo 13 astronauts after their lunar landing mission encountered technical difficulties, April 17, 1970. From left to right, Lunar Module pilot Fred W. Haise, Mission Commander James A. Lovell (front) and Command Module pilot John L. Swigert (1931-1982).

The events that followed the frightening explosion 300,000 miles from Earth tested the mettle of America's bravest explorers and the engineering and scientific talents of the best and brightest minds of the nation.

"Houston, weve had a problem here," Apollo 13 command module pilot John "Jack" Swigert famously told NASA Mission Control three days earlier with incredible composure, moments after an oxygen tank exploded on board.

The astronauts had been startled suddenly by a sharp bang and vibration, then a warning light.

Swigert's actual words were slightly different than the phrase, "Houston, we have a problem," that has since entered the American cultural lexicon.

Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon and Tom Hanks looking out the ship window in a scene from the film "Apollo 13" in 1995.

But the enduring popularity of phrase ingrained in everyday conversation and pop culture is a testament to the grip the fate of the men had on Americans as breathless reports unfolded on national newscasts and local newspapers.

Story continues

Just nine minutes earlier, the crew had completed a 49-minute TV broadcast back to Earth.

BIBLE EXHIBIT CHALLENGES BELIEF THAT FAITH AND SCIENCE HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH EACH OTHER

"This is the crew of Apollo 13 wishing everybody there a nice evening  Good night," Lovell said at the end of the segment.

Conditions changed quickly.

Navy swimmers fasten a floatation collar around the Apollo 13 capsule as it floats after splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. Aboard are James Lovell, John Swigert, and Fred Haise.

"With warning lights blinking, one oxygen tank appeared to be completely empty and there were indications that the oxygen in the second tank was rapidly depleting," writes NASA of the frightening chain of events.

"Thirteen minutes after the explosion, Lovell happened to look out of the left-hand window and saw the final evidence pointing toward potential catastrophe."

Lovell reported, "We are venting something out into the ... into space," he reported to Houston.

FIRST MEN ON THE MOON, A UNIQUE AMERICAN ACHIEVEMENT, STILL AMAZES US TODAY

It was the mission's supply of oxygen gas rapidly escaping.

NASA was forced to rewrite the book on space flight, literally, to get the men safely back to Earth.

Apollo 13 - NASA, 1970. Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas: Three of the four Apollo 13 flight directors applaud the successful splashdown of the Command Module Odyssey, April 17, 1970. Artist NASA.

"Ground controllers in Houston faced a formidable task," states NASA.

"Completely new procedures had to be written and tested in the simulator before being passed up to the crew."

Mission control had to figure out how to stop the leak, conserve power and water and prevent carbon dioxide from filling the spacecraft and killing the men.

They also had to turn the missions Lunar Module, dubbed Aquarius, into a lifeboat  using the resources of the vehicle that was supposed to land on the moon to not only help the astronauts survive but then help guide the Command Module back to Earth.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER

"The navigation problem had to be solved; essentially how, when and in what attitude to burn the LM [landing module] descent engine to provide a quick return home," states NASA.

The incredible survival of the astronauts has lived on as an example of American ingenuity and teamwork.

It inspired, among other chronicles, a Hollywood version of events, "Apollo 13," in 1995, starring A-list actors Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon and Gary Sinise. Ron Howard directed the film.

NASA deemed the mission a "successful failure."

It failed to reach the moon, but all three men on board survived and the lessons of the technical failures helped improve the safety of future missions.

Writes Space.com, "The mission stands today as an example of the dangers of space travel and of NASA's innovative minds working together to save lives on the fly."
Smyrna police said an attempted burglar was shot to death by a homeowner in Smyrna on Sunday night.

This is the second time a homeowner has shot someone attempting to break into a home in Smyrna in less than a month.

Channel 2s Michell Newell was in Smyrna, where officers received reports of a person shot in the area of Lochloman Lane and Highland Drive around 7:30 p.m.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Police have not released the identities of the burglar or the homeowner. They did tell Newell that they believe the homeowner was acting in self-defense.

Newell attempted to talk to the homeowner, but he didnt want to be interviewed.

A neighbor said they heard gunshots and then police swarmed their neighborhood.

Hearing the news of it being an actual burglary and someone actually getting hurt is alarming, the neighbor said. He didnt want his face shown on TV, but said that his nieces, nephews, and other children in the neighborhood were shaken up.

They were all crying and not understanding what was happening, he said. Mostly, like this is sd. I cant believe this happened. For the most part, this is a safe community.

TRENDING STORIES:

Last month, a woman shot and killed a man who forced his way into her Smyrna apartment. That shooting happened at the Alder Park Apartments on Cumberland Way.

Police said the man started beating on the womans door and then broke through the window.

Its unclear if the woman and man knew each other.

The two shootings were less than two miles apart and less than two miles from Truist Park.

The investigation into the most recent shooting is ongoing.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

IN OTHER NEWS:
Tarrant County elections administrator Heider Garcia resigned from his position in a letter dated April 16 after working for the county since 2018.

During his time as elections administrator, Garcia received death threats despite his work in ensuring election transparency.

In a 2022 letter sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Garcia cited threats he and his family received following skepticism surrounding the 2020 election results.

The states final 2020 general election results audit report recorded Tarrant County as administering a quality, transparent election.

What threats did Heider Garcia receive?

Garcia outlined instances of targeted accusations following the 2020 election in his 2022 letter.

Garcia said that Conservative political commentator Michelle Malkin did a segment on Newsmax about Tarrant County and claimed Garcia was a Venezuelan born operative that had fled the country.

The Gateway Pundit website tied Tarrant Countys Democratic voter turnout to Garcias hiring.

Texas State Representative Steve Toth tweeted Meet Heider Garcia of SmartMatic as hes grilled in the Philippines over voter fraud. He now runs election in Tarrant County Texas What could go possibly wrong?

A Senatorial candidate in Florida tweeted I want more intel on him ASAP and later that I need more on Heider Garcia.

In the 2022 letter, Garcia said he saw threats on social media that said HUNT HIM DOWN, @heidergarcia needs to leave Texas and the U.S as soon as possible, hang him when convicted from fraud and let his lifeless body hang in public until maggots drip out his mouth and Whats his address.

Garcia said a Twitter account posted his address on Nov. 22, 2020 in response to a tweet from Sidney Powell, a former attorney to former President Donald Trump.

We were lucky enough that my wife saw it as we were going to bed, and we were able to report it and have it taken down within 2 hours, Garcia said in the letter. Can you imagine the level of stress this put on us? I could not sleep that night, I just sat in the living room, until around 3:00 a.m., just waiting to see if anyone had read this and decided to act on it. The next days were the Thanksgiving break, I spent those days installing security cameras around my house and preparing response plans with my wife for worse case scenarios.
DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis said AI is "the most important invention that humanity will ever make." UNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images

The CEO of Alphabet's DeepMind said there's a possibility that AI could become self-aware one day.

This means that AI would have feelings and emotions that mimic those of humans.

DeepMind is an AI research lab that was co-founded in 2010 by Demis Hassabis.

The CEO of Alphabet-owned AI research lab, DeepMind Technologies, spoke about the potential of artificial intelligence in an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes," which aired on Sunday.

DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis told CBS that he thinks that AI might one day become self-aware.

"Philosophers haven't really settled on a definition of consciousness yet but if we mean self-awareness, and these kinds of things ... I think there's a possibility that AI one day could be," he said.

This would mean that AI has emotions and feelings that mimic those of humans. One former Google engineer was fired after making unfounded claims that an AI bot that the tech firm was developing was sentient. Experts told Insider that the bot was simply programmed to sound real and that is far off from developing such machines.

AI has experienced rapid development in recent months as a result of the launch of OpenAI's chatbot ChatGPT in October, which took the internet by storm because of its wide-ranging abilities like writing essays and songs and even coding  major tech firms like Google and Microsoft have launched similar tools in an effort to compete.

DeepMind was founded in London in 2010 by Hassabis and cofounders Shane Legg and Mustafa Suleyman. Their goal was to create AI systems that could perform certain tasks as well as humans could. The company was acquired by Google in 2014 and later became a subsidiary of Alphabet after Google's restructuring.

One of its early successes was creating a computer program that beat a human champion in a board game considered to be harder than chess. It's also contributed to medical research by developing an AI program that predicts the shape of proteins with a high level of accuracy  something researchers struggled with for decades. The discovery could help doctors improve the treatments of patients and prescribe the best medication.

Story continues

Hassabis told CBS that he believes AI is "the most important invention that humanity will ever make."

When asked about whether consumers will adapt easily to AI, he said: "We're an infinitely adaptable species," and used smartphones as an example of how quickly people can adapt to new tech.

"This is going to be another one of those changes like that," he said.

DeepMind did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment about Hassabis' comments on AI.

Read the original article on Business Insider
The Lubbock County Courthouse.

A 31-year-old man pleaded guilty on Monday to stabbing two Lubbock County Sheriff's Deputies while responding to a shoplifting report at a Walmart in South Lubbock.

However, Miko Butler's plea did not result out of a deal with the Lubbock County District Attorney's Office. So, District Jude William Eichman will determine his punishment at the end of a sentencing bench trial in the 364th District Court.

Butler pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault against a public servant, a first-degree felony that carries a punishment of 5 years to life in prison. A prior conviction for burglary of a habitation could be used to raise his minimum punishment level to 15 years.

He entered his plea as 66 potential jurors waited in the hallways of the Lubbock County Courthouse to be selected as jurors at his trial.

Butler was arrested on June 20, 2020, four hours after the two deputies working security at the Walmart at 4315 South Loop 289 were notified of a shoplifter leaving the store.

Deputy Samuel De Larosa, who was working an off duty-security job at the store and wore his uniform and badge, approached the suspected shoplifter, later identified as Butler, and called for backup. Deputy Constantino Galvaz arrived shortly in a marked patrol vehicle.

The two deputies attempted to stop Butler, who defied them, according to officials. The deputies placed Butler under arrest and he reportedly resisted and fought the officers. During the fight, Butler reportedly drew a large folding knife and wielded it against the deputies, who suffered stab and slash wounds, according to the warrant.

Butler reportedly ran away and both deputies were taken to University Medical Center for treatment. Delarosa was released from the hospital later that night after receiving several stitches to his arm. Galvaz was released the next day.

The Lubbock County Sheriffs Office SWAT team, Metro Crimes Unit, Lubbock Police Department and the Texas Anti-Gang Unit worked together to search for the deputies attacker.

Story continues

Lubbock County sheriffs officials issued images of Butler from Walmart security cameras, which resulted in tips that identified him as the suspect.

Investigators interviewed Butlers grandmother, who identified him from the images, saying she recognized the shirt he wore because she gave it to him.

Investigators also found Butler's fingerprints on the recovered stolen items left at the scene, the warrant states.

Butler was found at the Motel 6 near 66th Street and I-27, according to a sheriffs office news release.

He was taken by ambulance to an area hospital to be treated for a dog bite from a sheriffs office K-9 and was booked into the Lubbock County Detention Center, where he had been held since.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Miko Butler pleads guilty to aggravated assault of Lubbock deputies
Officers in Pennsylvania received a helping hand  actually, a foot  from a pizza delivery driver, video shows.

The delivery driver for Coccos Pizza in Aston helped make the arrest of an alleged carjacker Sunday, April 16, outside a home in Brookhaven.

Doorbell camera video shows a car crash into an electrical pole as the delivery driver was at a homes doorstep. The car was being driven by a 17-year-old who was being chased by police, according to the Delco Daily Times.

Thats a high-speed chase, a woman inside the home is heard saying as police cars are shown in the video.

The delivery driver took a few steps toward the curb as the teenager exits the car and tries escaping police on foot.

But he was thwarted by the driver, who maintained his grip on the pizza as he tripped the teenager. Officers were right behind to detain the suspect.

I started walking towards the road, but I couldnt do anything with my hands because Im holding the pizza, so I just stuck my leg out, the driver told WPVI.

Warning: The video below contains graphic language.

He said in an interview with WTFX he wanted to do his part because he was raised to step in if you see something thats not right.

Coccos said the pizza was delivered unharmed.

The delivery driver earned a shoutout from the Brookhaven Police Department, which hinted that he should apply to be an officer.

I understand the pizza ended up being delivered without any further incidents, Brookhaven Police Chief Michael Vice told WCAU. But, in all seriousness, we do ask people to not intervene. We do want to let the police handle it. But, in this case, it did work out.

The 17-year-old and a 19-year-old passenger were arrested and charged with receiving stolen property, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, fleeing and eluding police, resisting arrest, possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia, as well as numerous traffic violations, according to the Daily Times.

Brookhaven is about 20 miles southwest of Philadelphia.

Story continues

Papa Johns driver fatally shot during Indiana delivery, reports say. Loving father

Dominos worker fell on SC familys porch. Now they raised $250,000 for her retirement

Snacks left for delivery drivers get wholesome reaction. Capri Suns are my favorite!
You can earn more than $3,000 a week.

COROIMAGE/Getty Images

The next big "travel job" just might be a health care gig: nursing.

Registered nurses in the United States can merge their professional skills with their passion for travel by signing up to be travel nurses. According to nurse.org, travel nurses fill in at hospitals, clinics, and other health care facilities experiencing nursing shortages. Each assignment typically lasts about 13 weeks.

These stints often pay well: At present, travel nurses can earn more than $3,000 per week. (In 2022, the national average pay for travel nurses was $150 an hour, CNBC reported. In comparison, the average registered nurse salary was $39.78 an hour, according to NurseJournal.org.) Plus, many agencies cover housing or provide a housing stipend.

The compensation varies by location, with the highest rates often seen in states like California, Texas, Massachusetts, Washington, and New York. And while escaping to the beaches of Hawaii for a few weeks sounds idyllic, destination locations like Hawaii and Florida can pay less.

Other variables for rates are how specialized the applicant is and what department they work in. According to Fortune, the highest-paying travel nurse jobs are in intensive care units, the emergency department, and medical surgery.

Solskin/Getty Images

To score the best assignments, nurse.org recommends nurses be flexible, work with reputable agencies known for pay transparency, connect with multiple agencies to increase the odds of finding placements, and maintain licenses in several states.

Being a nurse is not the only way to get paid to travel. Take flight attendants, for example, who travel on the job and have the perk of free flights. Or digital nomads, who parlay remote jobs into the freedom to travel the world.

Additionally, companies sometimes look to hire people for temporary jobs that allow them to travel to dreamy destinations, like when the Aruba Tourism Authority started looking for someone to become the island's weather person for a week. Or when Netflix said it would pay an experienced flight attendant up to $385,000 to work on its private plane.

For more Travel & Leisure news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on Travel & Leisure.
Welcome back to Forgotten Fact Checks, a weekly column produced by National Reviews News Desk. This week, we round up the Washington Posts propaganda-filled reporting on TikTok, take on a New York Times hit piece on the fight over gender ideology, and cover more media misses.

Washington Post Goes to Bat for TikTok

Many elected Republicans and Democrats agree: TikTok is a danger to Americans and should be banned , or at the very least heavily regulated.

Among the laundry list of concerns surrounding the massively popular short-form-video app: ByteDance, TikToks China-based owner, has allegedly spied on American citizens, including several tech journalists; the app has the ability to boost or censor videos in response to the whims of the Chinese Communist Party; the platforms trends and filters threaten the mental health and safety of American children; and, of course, TikTok has a huge collection of user information, including biometric location data for more than 100 million users in America alone.

Because TikToks parent company is based in China, lawmakers have expressed concern that it would be required to comply with Chinese laws requiring companies to provide the CCP with access to user data and other proprietary information.

But over at the Washington Post, no one seems too concerned. In fact, the papers recent coverage of the issue has veered into pure PR.

If the goal is to plug the holes in the U.S. information sphere, banning TikTok and other foreign apps might be like a Band-Aid on a colander, WaPos technology news analysis writer Will Oremus wrote in an analysis piece published on Monday.

The article cites the recent leak of classified military documents by Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old intelligence operative with the Massachusetts Air National Guard, as evidence that China doesnt need TikTok to find U.S. secrets. Teixeira was arrested for the leak, which included top secret information about the war in Ukraine, among other things.

Story continues

While lawmakers were holding a hearing on TikTok last month where they crowded into a packed Capitol hearing room to harangue TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, What members of Congress didnt know was that state secrets had been trickling out for months on social media and were beginning to circulate in ever-wider online forums  not on TikTok, but on U.S.-owned Discord, Oremus writes.

In the two weeks after the TikTok hearing, those classified documents would make their way into public view on U.S.-owned Twitter  and remain there for days, as owner Elon Musk mocked the idea that he ought to remove them.

Oremus underscores that the leaks didnt stem from any foreign adversarys sinister plot but instead from a 21-year-old U.S. National Guard members desire to impress his online pals. He says the leak is part of a colorful 21st-century tradition of secrets spilled online, from WikiLeaks earliest uploads to Russian operatives hack of the Democratic National Committee.

Why ban TikTok when its not the only way American data and information can be compromised, the writer seems to suggest.

The write-up is largely a continuation of a similar argument Oremus made last month around the hearing: Americas online privacy problems are much bigger than TikTok.

That report quotes TikTok CEO as saying, I dont think ownership is the issue here. With a lot of respect: American social companies dont have a great record with privacy and data security. I mean, look at Facebook and Cambridge Analytica.

Oremus adds: Hes not wrong. At a hearing in which TikTok was often portrayed as a singular, untenable threat to Americans online privacy, it would have been easy to forget that the countrys online privacy problems run far deeper than any single app. And the people most responsible for failing to safeguard Americans data, arguably, are American lawmakers.

And another Washington Post piece excerpted from the papers newsletter The Tech Friend suggests lawmakers must make a better argument than, Trust us, TikTok is bad. The article quotes former Biden White House adviser on tech and competition policy Tim Wu. If youre going to take something from the American public, we need to tell them why, Wu said.

The piece claims that, U.S. officials have been warning about TikTok for four years without providing specific evidence of harm. This is despite a mountain of reporting on the apps threats.

In another report, the paper trots out Chinese dissident Kim Wongs success on TikTok as evidence the app cant be so bad. Wong has attracted a giant online audience with his Mandarin-language videos criticizing the Chinese government:

Wong says he understands and supports the calls to ban TikTok in the United States because of its potential for misuse by the Chinese state. But he also calls TikTok a uniquely powerful tool for reaching young Mandarin-speaking people around the world. Blocking it would close off an influential route for questioning the Chinese governments authoritarianism  and mean one fewer voice breaking through.

Yet China has its own version of TikTok called Douyin, which is also owned by ByteDance and has detailed rules banning criticism and subversion of the PRC and its Communist Party. The Chinese apps community self-disciplinary regulations say Douyin adheres to and promotes the traditional culture and virtues of the Chinese nation and the core values of socialism. The guidelines ban content that damages the national image or interests of the PRC, subverts state power, or encourages people to protest. Other banned content includes any postings damaging the image of the PRC or any revolutionary leaders, heroes, and martyrs or advocating independence for Hong Kong, Tibet, Taiwan, and Xinjiang.

So, what U.S. users of TikTok see is entirely different from what Chinese users of Douyin are permitted to see. Even so, leaked documents in 2019 indicated TikToks site-moderation guidelines instructed moderators to censor videos that mention Tiananmen Square, Tibetan independence, or Falun Gong. At the time, the Washington Post reported that amid widespread pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, a search for Hong Kong returned barely a hint of unrest in sight.

Now, the paper has changed its tune on TikToks censorship. A recent article seems to argue that TikTok cant possibly be censoring or otherwise wielding influence over what content can be shown and boosted since videos about the Chinese spy balloon were allowed to go viral on the platform.

One such video capturing one of Chinas most embarrassing geopolitical blunders wasnt suppressed, and was viewed more than 2.3 million times in two days, despite the user who posted the video having just 3,000 followers:

TikToks opaque recommendation algorithm, like those of its American social media competitors, makes it hard for outsiders to know exactly which videos are being surfaced or ignored. And TikToks critics have said that should fuel suspicion that ByteDance  TikToks parent company, founded in Beijing  could work to sink videos critical of China and elevate ones extolling the ruling Communist Partys ideals. But the spy balloon suggests a more nuanced situation: that of a colorful, chaotic social network containing many views of the same events, hewing to no clear political dogma and reflecting the creativity and sensibilities of a vast and raucous user base.

It should go without saying that the identification of a few popular videos that cut against the CCPs interest does not negate the many documented examples of censorship and manipulation that benefit the dictatorial regime.

The Post has also taken up the argument advanced by some of the more nakedly self-interested Democrats in Congress, arguing that the fight over TikTok is a generational one because social media and TikTok in particular provide a means to speak truth to power directly, immediately and loudly.

Older Americans  like lawmakers  simply cant understand that because it is not something that was available to them when they were young, columnist Philip Bump argues.

After all, its still the case that older Americans hold disproportionate political and economic power, if not cultural power, Bump adds. That colors the current debate over potentially banning TikTok dramatically. Its not only a fight over what TikTok does and a gulf in the perceived threat posed by the platform. Its also a reflection of the fact that political power is wielded by a group that generally doesnt use the platform.

Washington Post tech reporter Drew Harwell made a similar comment about lawmakers seeking to ban the app despite likely having never used it themselves:

Today, members of Congress who have never used TikTok will be calling for the ban of a free-expression platform used by 150 million across the U.S. We're covering it all here: https://t.co/IFixoyiCb8  Drew Harwell (@drewharwell) March 23, 2023

Meanwhile, Taylor Lorenz, the Washington Posts lead purveyor of misinformation, could not miss out on a chance to join the fray: Congress had a lot to say about TikTok. Much of it was wrong. Her fact-checks centered on viral challenges that members of Congress attributed to TikTok, despite the trends having predated the apps existence. The article, which also quotes a disinformation researcher from the Accelerationism Research Consortium, a nonprofit studying the threat of far-right extremism to democratic societies, goes on to suggest that the existence of dozens of videos bashing China and calling attention to the Uyghur genocide and the Tiananmen Square massacre refutes concerns from lawmakers about TikToks documented censorship.

So what gives? The Washington Post previously published combative scoops about the dangers of the app before this most recent explosion of propaganda.

The Washington Examiner noted last month that the Washington Post cant stop shilling for TikTok. It suggests the paper is carrying water for the app because it has 1 million followers on its own TikTok account and even has a designated TikTok team. The Washington Post has also allowed the app to advertise within its pages:

Today's advertising wrap around the A-section of The Washington Post  Chinese-owned TikTok stepping up the lobbying campaign. pic.twitter.com/a26dgbwYVP  Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) March 18, 2023

The TikTok ads come after the Washington Post previously came under fire for accepting more than $4.6 million from China Daily, an English-language newspaper controlled by the CCP, between 2016 and 2020. As of May 2021, the Washington Post  and the New York Times and Wall Street Journal  had severed ties with China Daily, according to the Washington Free Beacon.

Headline Fail of the Week

This week, the New York Times offered a hard-hitting look into How a Campaign Against Transgender Rights Mobilized Conservatives.

Defeated on same-sex marriage, the religious right went searching for an issue that would re-energize supporters and donors, a subheading on the story reads. The campaign that followed has stunned political leaders across the spectrum.

NRs Charles C. W. Cooke succinctly points out the absurdity of the pieces claims:

We wish to do crazy stuff thats never happened before.

No.

Why are you searching for a new campaign? https://t.co/5u0FT9XKyv  Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) April 16, 2023

Media Misses

Gun control activist David Hogg had a distasteful response to Republican Senator Rick Scotts announcement that his friend was killed in the Louisville bank shooting last week:

Must be tough knowing youre complicit  David Hogg  (@davidhogg111) April 11, 2023

Jen Psaki, less than one year removed from her role as a Biden administration mouthpiece, now considers herself a journalist:

.@semaforben asks @jrpsaki if she considers herself a journalist: I do  To me, journalism is providing information to the public, helping make things clear, explaining things, having conversations with people that people want to learn more about. pic.twitter.com/C8hL6666GZ  Semafor (@semafor) April 10, 2023

The Daily Beast wrote a profile of the Louisville bank shooter that came pretty close to doing PR for a killer:

BREAKING: 23-year-old Connor Sturgeon was a former varsity hoops star and finance grad-turned-banker who had reportedly been fired from his job in recent days. One former friend described him as the popular kid in high school.https://t.co/EBBezAxyug  The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) April 10, 2023

More from National Review
Democratic senators are getting antsy over the lack of progress on legislation to avoid a national default and want House Democrats to begin working on a plan to force Republicans to vote on a bill to raise the debt limit.

Democratic senators want to avoid a summer standoff on extending the nations borrowing authority, which would rattle financial markets and the broader economy that may be heading toward a mild recession in the second half of the year.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has shelved the idea of circulating a discharge petition to force a vote on a clean debt limit increase, opting instead to put pressure on Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to schedule such a vote himself.

But McCarthy is showing no signs of backing down from his demand that President Biden agree to big spending cuts in exchange for raising the debt ceiling, even as Biden refuses to negotiate and House Republicans have been unable to unite on specific demands.

Thats led some Senate Democrats to say their House counterparts should start working on a procedural maneuver known as a discharge petition as an emergency backup plan in case McCarthy continues to dig in his heels.

I think that they should definitely file a discharge petition in the House. I think they should file a couple of bills that provide a menu of options. They should file a number of options and then be prepared to move forward on discharge petition, said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who served in the House leadership before winning election to the Senate.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said hes deeply concerned about the danger of a national default later this year.

Every passing day leaves me more deeply concerned because they dont seem to be constructively interested in a path forward, he added of House Republicans.

Blumenthal expressed pessimism about negotiating a deal with McCarthy, who has yet to offer a detailed plan for reducing spending. Democrats say such a plan would need to be the starting point of any talks.

Story continues

At some point they will have to move forward with a discharge petition, he predicted of House Democrats. As we come closer to cataclysmic financial meltdown, I think the pressure will build on Republicans to be realistic.

Blumenthal said there should be consideration of moving a discharge petition soon, adding: It ought to be begin as soon as necessary.

Members of the House minority can use the House discharge rule to bring a bill to the floor without the support of the majoritys leadership by collecting signatures from a majority of the chambers members.

Democrats control 213 House seats, which means they would need at least five Republicans to get the 218 signatures they need.

Democrats in both chambers think they could get a handful of moderate Republicans to sign a petition to circumvent McCarthy to avoid a default if there doesnt appear to be another viable option, though none have publicly said they would do so.

Jeffries waved aside the possibility of moving a discharge petition when asked about it at a press conference last month.

The most viable option right now is for the extreme MAGA Republicans in the House to get their act together and do what they consistently did when Donald Trump was the president of the United States of America, he told reporters, noting the House raised the debt ceiling three times under Trump without fanfare.

Using a discharge petition to force a vote on a bill is time-consuming and would take weeks to complete  perhaps as long as two and a half months.

Any debt limit measure to be moved with a discharge petition would have to be referred to a House committee at least 30 days before attempting to move it to the floor.

Further complicating the picture, lawmakers may also have to file a motion to discharge a rule from the GOP-controlled Rules Committee establishing the process for how the debt-limit measure is handled on the floor.

And the Houses Rule XV states that motions to discharge bills and resolutions from committees shall be in order only on the second and fourth Mondays of a month.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said she favors House Democrats circulating a discharge petition to move a clean debt-limit increase if thats what it takes to get it passed.

We need a clean debt limit, she said.

Warren noted it could take weeks to collect 218 signatures and navigate the complicated procedures in the House, adding so get started now.

She warned that its hard to know in advance when exactly the Treasury Department is going to run out of flexibility to continue paying the nations debts.

The x date can be tricky to set with precision. Whats nuts is that the Republicans are trying to run us right up next to it. Theres no reason for that other political theater, she said.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen informed McCarthy and other congressional leaders on Jan. 19 that the Treasury Department had begun using extraordinary measures to keep the government from defaulting.

The period of time that extraordinary measures may last is subject to considerable uncertainty, including the challenges of forecasting the payments and receipts of the U.S. government months into the future, she wrote.

Some Democratic senators worry the date when the nation faces default may arrive without enough advance warning to give House Democrats the time they need to discharge a clean debt limit bill to the floor for a vote before disaster strikes.

Theres growing pessimism in both chambers that McCarthy and Biden will agree to any deal to raise the debt ceiling and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), who will be back in the Capitol Monday after a five-week absence because of a concussion, has not given any signs that he will step in to broker a compromise, as he did during the 2011 debt-limit standoff.

Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), a close friend of McCarthy, told Punchbowl News that he had never been more pessimistic about where we stand with the debt ceiling.

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said that he doesnt see Republicans willing to back down anytime soon, based on his conversations with House members.

I talked to some of the House members from Oregon. They gave me description of what it feels like on the House side  It sounds like the mode of operation is to drive the nation off the cliff, he said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The four defendants charged in the ComEd bribery scheme are, from left, consultant Jay Doherty, lobbyist and former ComEd executive John Hooker, retired lobbyist Michael McClain and former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore. (Chicago Tribune photos)

Near the end of a long day of animated testimony Monday, former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiores voice grew quiet.

The jury in the ComEd Four bribery trial had just heard for the second time a wiretapped recording on which she told a close associate of then-House Speaker Michael Madigan, You take good care of me, and so does our friend, and I will do the best that I can to, to take care of you.

Advertisement

Its a comment prosecutors have held up as real-time evidence of a scheme to bribe the powerful Democratic speaker, complete with a coded reference to Madigan and seemingly imbued with pay-to-play politics.

But Pramaggiore testified her comments in that September 2018 call with Michael McClain have a totally innocent explanation.

Advertisement

Asked why she said Madigan took good care of her, Pramaggiore said she wasnt talking about it in the legislative sense, but perhaps about when the speaker had helped find her son volunteer work years earlier.

She also said that by referencing Madigan as our friend she was just trying to placate McClain.

Mike reveres the speaker, and I would often mention him in our conversations in order to enhance our relationship, Pramaggiore told the jury.

The exchange marked a day in which Pramaggiore methodically denied each of the allegations against her in the hot-button political corruption case, which is now in its sixth week.

In her roughly six hours of direct testimony, which began Thursday, Pramaggiore repeatedly said she was not involved in any scheme to influence Madigan and that she never believed he held his thumb on the scale to deliver for ComEds legislative agenda.

She said she had no idea the company she headed from 2012 to 2018 had been paying lobbying subcontractors out of her own budget  let alone that they were former elected officials and precinct captains with strong ties to Madigan, then the most powerful politician in the state.

And the jobs given to 13th Ward acolytes? The summer internships doled out by ComEd to college kids recommended by the speaker? The utilitys hiring of a law firm headed by Democratic operative and longtime Madigan associated Vicor Reyes?

None of it had anything to do with any illegal scheme, she said.

Advertisement

No, we werent bribing Speaker Madigan, Pramaggiore said bluntly at one point Monday.

Prosecutors will get the chance to cross examine Pramaggiore on Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenwebers 17th floor courtroom swelled to capacity during Pramaggiores highly anticipated testimony, which is a rare and risky move for a criminal defendant to take, especially in a high-stakes political corruption case.

A theater major from Dayton, Ohio, who earned a law degree and rose to become one of Chicagos top female executives, Pramaggiore is hoping to convince the jury she is the highly ethical and honest leader described by her long lineup of character witnesses, not the person on FBI wiretaps who seemed at ease with participating in an Illinois notoriously rough-and-tumble political system.

Jurors will have to weigh Pramaggiores statements on the witness stand against what she said in the covert recordings, when she repeatedly pushed for things that Madigan wanted, sometimes even against the wishes of other top executives at ComEd or its parent company, Exelon Utilities.

At the end of her direct examination, her attorney, Scott Lassar, asked whether Pramaggiore was careful about her relationship with Madigan.

Advertisement

Yes I was, she replied. You have to be careful about the appearance of impropriety and your relationships with all public officials. I just think you need to be cognizant of that.

Charged along with Pramaggiore are McClain, a former lobbyist and Madigans trusted confidant; Jay Doherty, a former ComEd contract lobbyist and ex-president of the City Club, and John Hooker, a longtime ComEd lobbyist.

The indictment alleged the scheme included steering $1.3 million in payments from ComEd to Madigan-approved subcontractors, appointing former McPier boss Juan Ochoa to the utilitys board of directors, hiring Reyes clout heavy law firm, and stacking the utilitys summer internship program with candidates sent from the 13th Ward.

All four have pleaded not guilty. Their lawyers have contended the government is trying to turn legal lobbying and job recommendations into a crime.

Madigan and McClain face a separate racketeering indictment that is set for trial next year.

Under questioning from Lassar, Pramaggiore remained largely poised and conversational, often answering questions with long explanations about her role in winning the legislative victories she says saved ComEd from a period of declining revenues, crumbling infrastructure.

Advertisement

Among those bills was the smart grid legislation passed in 2011, which for the first time set a formula rate that ComEd could bill to customers, and the Future Energy Jobs Act legislation that was passed on the last day of the fall veto session in December 2016.

Pramaggiore stressed that the legislation was passed through old-fashioned legal lobbying, not bribery, and ComEd conceded many demands by Madigans staff that cost the company millions.

Particularly in the case with FEJA, which began as an effort to save two failing nuclear power sites, she said their team at ComEd and Exelon brought together a broad coalition of environmentalists, consumers and organized labor to compel Madigan and other legislative leaders to bring the bill up for a vote.

The bills had to stand on their own. The bills had to make political sense for the speaker and his caucus, Pramaggiore testified. I dont think that hiring people would have any influence on that calculus.

One of the most sweeping denials Pramaggiore delivered from the witness stand dealt with Madigan-backed subcontractors that are central to the allegations. Pramaggiore testified that she did not even know there was an issue with ComEd subcontractors until after this investigation became public in 2019.

Lassar took Pramaggiore through a secret recording made by Fidel Marquez, a former senior vice president who cooperated with the government in the case, in which they discussed how to explain the subcontractors to her successor, Joe Dominguez, a former federal prosecutor.

Advertisement

I met with Jay, uh, Jay pretty much, well he did say, Well, you know all these guys do is pretty much collect a check, um, and you should just leave it alone,  Marquez said on the February 2019 recording. Dont mess with it, just leave it alone, um, otherwise things can go, you know, bad for us in Springfield.

Pramaggiore blurted on the tape, Oh my God, and Lassar had the recording paused in court.

Why do you think you said, Oh, my God?  he asked Pramaggiore.

She testified she was taken aback that Marquez was telling her that there were subcontractors originally lined up years before by her predecessor, former ComEd CEO Frank Clark, but still getting paid.

Even after that call, Pramaggiore testified, she still did not know that the subcontractors were related to Madigans operation.

Among them, according to court testimony, were former Ald. Frank Olivo of Madigans 13th Ward fiefdom; two former precinct captains, Ray Nice, and Ed Moody, the former Cook County recorder of deeds; and former Ald. Mike Zalewski, who represented the 23rd Ward based in Madigans sphere of influence.

Advertisement

Pramaggiore testified that she put her signature on Dohertys annual contract as a matter of routine, and that she expected underlings to have checked out the contract thoroughly by the time it got to her.

She also sought to explain to jurors why she said to Marquez that Dominguez would take a victory lap if he learned of the subcontracts. She testified that the two were rivals and that he would blame her for a management mess-up on her watch.

Pramaggiore also attempted to explain another part of the call highlighted by prosecutors, where she told Marquez, We do not want to get caught up in a ... disruptive battle where, you know, somebody gets their nose out of joint and theyre forced to give someone a five-year contract.

She testified she wasnt specifically talking about Madigan getting his nose out of joint  just that it was a bad time in general to rock the boat. I didnt use Madigans name, she said.

Did you think that Fidel Marquez had told you that a crime had been committed? Lassar asked.

Pramaggiore responded, No.

Advertisement

There was nothing to suggest that we were in that sort of world, she said. It sounded like a management problem. I thought Fidel had been mismanaging these people.

Pramaggiore also attempted to downplay the string of Madigan job candidates that ended up on ComEds payroll, saying she denied many jobs for people he sent her way. She also said that receiving hiring recommendations from public officials was just part of the job.

Among the politicians to send people her way over the years were Mayor Richard M. Daley, U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, Gov. Pat Quinn, Cook County States Attorney Anita Alvarez and state Rep. Luis Arroyo, Pramaggiore said.

She also acknowledged that politics played a role in the push to put Ochoa on ComEds board  but not in any illegal way. She said that not only had Madigan recommended Ochoa, so had then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel. He called me on the phone, she said.

Pramaggiore says it was a positive that Ochoa was recommended by both Democratic heavyweights because it showed he had a good network, she says.

It also represented a good opportunity to create some goodwill with these two elected officials, Pramaggiore said.

Advertisement

Afternoon Briefing Daily Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox each afternoon. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy >

She testified that despite what was discussed on one of the wiretaps, there was never any plan on her part to hire Ochoa for some other part-time job at ComEd that would pay the same as the $80,000-a-year board seat.

That would not have been very smart on my part, she said.

Earlier Monday, Pramaggiore testified about another undercover recording made in 2018, where she told McClain that her promotion to Exelon wouldnt have been possible without their help.

It never would have happened without you, and John (Hooker) and the speaker, she said on the recording. I mean, really, cause the only reason I am in this position is because ComEd has done so well, and you guys have been my, my spirit guides and more on that, I love you guys.

Pramaggiore testified she was referencing McClain and Hooker when she talked about spirit guides, not Madigan.

[ ComEd Four bribery trial: What you need to know ]

[ ComEd Four trial: Evidence seen and heard by the jury ]

jmeisner@chicagotribune.com

Advertisement

rlong@chicagotribune.com
Democrats appear divided on whether Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) should resign given her lengthy absence from the Senate that could prove to be a challenge for President Joe Bidens legislative agenda amid the partys narrow majority in the chamber.

Feinstein, 89, who is recovering at home in San Francisco after being hospitalized with a case of shingles, last week asked Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to appoint a replacement for her on the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee after many of her colleagues voiced concern that her absence could stand in the way of confirming Bidens judicial nominees.

However, the move would require GOP approval, and its still unclear whether Republicans would be prepared to grant the request.

In the meantime, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), one of the first Democrats to ask for Feinsteins resignation, on Sunday said his calls for her to step aside come out of respect for the American people who expect their officials who seek elected office to be up to the task.

If youre gonna sign up to do these jobs, show up, Khanna told Fox News Sunday.

Feinstein has so far missed 60 votes this year.

Khanna also drew a contrast between the cases of Feinstein and Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who recently left a hospital after spending six weeks getting inpatient treatment for clinical depression and is expected to return to the Senate this week. Fetterman suffered a stroke while he was campaigning last year.

Its one thing to take medical leave and come back, its another thing when youre just not doing the job, Khanna said, adding that Feinstein has not clarified when she would be in a position to return to Washington.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who sits on the Judiciary Committee, said while she takes Feinstein at her word that she plans to return to Washington, Democrats have many crucial votes coming up, including on the debt ceiling, that would require the California senators presence.

Story continues

Democrats have a slim 51-49 majority in the Senate, while Republicans control the House of Representatives.

If this goes on month after month after month, then shes going to have to make a decision with her family and her friends about what her future holds because this isnt just about California, its also about the nation, Klobuchar told ABCs This Week.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) says "this isn't just about California, it's also about the nation" when asked whether Sen. Feinstein (D-CA) should resign.



Klobuchar emphasizes it's Feinstein's "decision with her family" but highlights importance of her vote on debt ceiling, et al. pic.twitter.com/wMOEzXzcUs  The Recount (@therecount) April 16, 2023

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who caucuses with Democrats, said Feinstein should be the one to determine her future in the position.

The decision about whether somebody should resign, rests on that individual themselves, Sanders told MSNBCs Inside With Jen Psaki Sunday. I dont think she should be forced out.

"The decision about whether somebody should resign, rests on that individual themselves. I don't think she should be forced out." @SenSanders on calls for Senator Feinstein to resign. pic.twitter.com/JKZxHizAex  Inside with Jen Psaki (@InsideWithPsaki) April 16, 2023

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) went a step further than Sanders, describing the calls for Feinstein to leave the Senate as sexist and politically motivated.

Ive never seen them go after a man who was sick in the Senate in that way, Pelosi said.

The questions around Feinstein also appear to pose a challenge for California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who would be the one to appoint her replacement should Feinstein resign.

Feinsteins current term ends in January 2025. She is not seeking reelection.

Newsom in 2021 pledged to nominated a Black woman in her place if she stepped down, and many have already suggested Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), who is already running for Feinsteins Senate seat in 2024, should be picked.

Yet, such a move could alienate the other candidates in the race, Reps. Katie Porter and Adam Schiff.

Khanna, who is backing Lee in 2024 and is serving as a co-chair on her campaign, said Newsom would also have the choice to appoint a caretaker.

He doesnt have to appoint someone in the current race, and I would support the governor doing that, Khanna told Fox News.

Related...
WASHINGTON (AP)  Democrats efforts to temporarily replace California Sen. Dianne Feinstein on the Senate Judiciary Committee met quick opposition Monday from Republicans, complicating their plan as some of President Joe Bidens judicial nominees remain on hold during her extended medical absence.

Feinstein, 89, last week asked to be temporarily replaced on the Senate Judiciary Committee while she recuperates in her home state from a case of the shingles. The statement came shortly after a member of Californias House delegation, Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, called on her to resign from the Senate, saying it is unacceptable for her to miss votes to confirm judges who could be weighing in on abortion rights, a key Democratic priority. Feinstein has been away from the Senate since February.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Monday that he is moving forward and hopes to put a resolution on the Senate floor this week seeking a temporary substitute on the panel. But it's unclear if Democrats will have the votes.

Multiple Republicans indicated on Monday that they would object to the rare request, meaning there would have to be a roll call vote  and Democrats would need at least 10 Republicans to vote with them for approval.

Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican on the Judiciary committee, said on the Senate floor that he hopes to see Feinstein back in the Senate soon, but until then, President Bidens most controversial, partisan judicial nominees will have to wait.

Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, a member of Republican leadership, said she wouldn't support a temporary replacement. Were not going to help the Democrats with that," she told reporters.

The uncertainty over Feinstein's status, and over the fate of some of Bidens judicial nominees, is the latest tangle for Schumer as he navigates his partys one-seat majority in the Senate. Feinsteins absence comes as another Democratic senator, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, has also been on an extended medical leave. Fetterman, 53, returned to the Senate on Monday after checking himself into the hospital in February for clinical depression.

Story continues

It also comes as bipartisan votes on federal judgeships  lifetime appointments, in most cases  have been increasingly steeped in partisanship. While the Judiciary committee has moved some of Bidens judicial nominees with a handful of GOP votes, Republicans are loath to give approval to a plan that will help Biden place more judges on the bench.

I will not go along with Chuck Schumers plan to replace Senator Feinstein on the Judiciary Committee and pack the court with activist judges, tweeted Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., a member of the Judiciary panel.

Democrats say the are currently 12 federal judge nominees they have been unable to advance because of Feinsteins absence. It is unclear how many of the nominees would be able to move with some Republican support.

Several Republicans questioned the motivations behind the effort. North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said he was skeptical because Democrats aren't trying to replace Feinstein on the Intelligence or Appropriations panels.

Why one and not all three? asked Tillis, who is also a member of the Judiciary Committee.

Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Chuck Grassley of Iowa said they think Democrats are pressuring Feinstein unfairly.

Collins said that she and Feinstein are good friends, and she thinks there has been a concerted campaign to push her off the Judiciary committee. I will have no part of that, Collins said.

Feinstein has come under increasing pressure to resign or step down from her duties. While she has defended her effectiveness, she has faced questions in recent years about her cognitive health and memory, and has appeared increasingly frail.

In 2020, she said she would not serve as the top Democrat on the Judiciary panel after criticism from liberals about her handling of of Justice Amy Coney Barretts confirmation. Earlier this year, she said she would not serve as the Senate president pro tempore, or the most senior member of the majority party, even though she was in line to do so. The president pro tempore opens the Senate every day and holds other ceremonial duties.

Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, a longtime member of the panel who is the same age as Feinstein, chastised Democrats for denying Feinstein the opportunity to become chairman of the committee and trying to force her out of office because shes old."

I dont intend to give credence to that sort of anti-human treatment," Grassley said.

If Feinstein were to resign immediately, the process would be much easier for Democrats, since California Gov. Gavin Newsom would appoint a replacement. The Senate regularly approves committee assignments for new senators after their predecessors have resigned or died. But a temporary replacement due to illness is a rare, if not unprecedented, request.

It is unclear how long Feinstein will be away. Her office has not given a timeline for her return, and Democrats have not said for how long they would seek a temporary replacement. She has been away from the Senate since Feb. 27, just two weeks after she announced she would not run for another term next year.

Schumer said he spoke to Feinstein in recent days, and she believes she will return soon. She is hopeful of that and so am I.

Asked if Feinstein should resign, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin said Monday that Im not going to push her into any other decision. Durbin had previously expressed frustration about his committee's stalled nominees.

Durbin appealed to his Republican colleagues to show a little kindness and caring for their colleague."

If the Senate votes to replace her on the panel, I think we can take care of this issue, do it very quickly, Durbin said. "I hope we can find 10 Republicans who will join us in that effort.
Washington  Sen. Dianne Feinstein's unusual request to be temporarily replaced on the Senate Judiciary Committee while she continues to recuperate from a long illness may not be one that's easily granted.

Her prolonged absence from the committee and the Senate as a whole has stalled Democrats' confirmation of federal judges, given the party's two-seat majority in the chamber. The 89-year-old California Democrat has missed dozens of votes since she was hospitalized with shingles in February. Feinstein has not returned to Washington since she was released from the hospital in early March "due to continued complications," she said last Wednesday.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he wants the Senate to allow another Democratic senator to temporarily take Feinstein's place on the committee this week.

Senate rules require the entire chamber to elect members to standing  or permanent  committees, but each party is largely responsible for choosing which of its members will serve on each panel. The parties nominate potential committee members at the start of a new Congress, but senators do not officially serve on the committees until they are elected by the entire Senate.

Senate Democrats rely on the Steering and Outreach Committee to nominate members for all committee assignments. Committee members "usually make nominations by consensus. However, if significant competition exists for a particular seat, then secret balloting usually is conducted and the majority-vote winner is granted the nomination," according to the Congressional Research Service.

If Feinstein's temporary replacement is treated as a vacancy, Democrats would turn to the committee to make a nomination before Senate Democrats approve the assignment by unanimous consent.

After that, Schumer would bring up a resolution on the Senate floor. If he does so via unanimous consent, a single senator could object to the replacement. The resolution would then go to a floor vote and require at least 60 votes  including at least 10 Republicans  to pass.

Story continues

But several Republican senators have already said they have no plans to throw Democrats a lifeline, making it likely Democrats will have to find another route to replace Feinstein.

"Republicans should not assist Democrats in confirming Joe Biden's most radical nominees to the courts," Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas tweeted Saturday.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee tweeted Monday that she would not help Democrats "pack the court with activist judges."



Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina also said Monday he would not support a temporary replacement, calling it an "unprecedented request solely intended to appease those pushing for radical, activist judges."

"Never, not once have we allowed temporary substitutes on committees, and now is not the time to start," Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said Monday on the Senate floor. "Republicans are not going to break this precedent in order to bail out Senator Schumer or the Biden administration's most controversial nominees."

"Sen. Feinstein has been a mainstay of this body for more than three decades," Cornyn continued. "And I hope to see her back in these halls soon. But until then, President Biden's most controversial partisan judicial nominees will have to wait."

If Schumer is not able to replace Feinstein temporarily, the California senator may face more pressure from within her party to resign.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who also sits on the Judiciary Committee, said Feinstein had made "the right decision to step off" the panel, but she suggested that there might come a point in time if Feinstein's absence goes on for an extended period of time, "she's going to have to make a decision with her family and her friends about what her future holds," Klobuchar told ABC's "This Week."

"Because this isn't just about California, it's also about the nation," Klobuchar said. "And we just can't  with this one vote margin  and expect every other person to be there every single time."

"Phantom of the Opera" actress looks back after show's final curtain call

Boston marks 10 years since deadly marathon bombing

Fox News defamation trial delayed over possible settlement
Did you know Denzel Washington and Drake have a history? It starts when Washington met the Canadian rapper and actor as a young kid and gave him some advice thats still stuck with him.

The 68-year-old actor was a guest on Good Morning America, celebrating the opening of the Boys and Girls Clubs 5,000th location. Washington is one of the organizations national spokespersons.

He spoke about the clubs impact on the youth and told a story about meeting a young man in Toronto.

You just never know who you touch, the American Gangster actor said. I met a kid in Toronto who came up and was fascinated because I was like this star, and he wanted to talk to me, and he couldnt believe that he met me.

He finished the memory, sharing a shocking revelation, adding, Well, 10 or 15 years later, he came up and he said, You dont remember when you met me. I said, No. His name is Drake. And he said what I said to him, he never forgot.

While Washington didnt reveal the words of wisdom he shared with the rapper, it left a lasting impression. In 2017, the Grammy Award winner revealed a tattoo of Washington. The portrait of Washington is him in his role as jazz trumpeter Bleek Gilliam in the 1990 Mo Better Blues.

The actor spoke about the tattoo when he did an interview with Jimmy Fallon.

Now you got me wondering where is that [on his body], he said in reaction to seeing the ink. Thats crazy. But I think he got some other people he admires.

Outside of the chance encounter with one of raps biggest stars. Washington sang the praises of the organization and how it changed his life.

I was that 6-year-old kid that was nervous, he said. What am I now? Im still that 6-year-old, wide-eyed kid whos curious about life. I was being taught about grace, about winning with grace and losing with grace, and being a leader and all of these things.

The latest Boys and Girls Club location is located in Elgin, Illinois.

According to the official news release, the new location is 20,000 sq. ft. and sets a record for the legacy youth-development organization, marking the largest scope and scale the nonprofit has ever reached in its 163-year history.

Washington was hand to celebrate the new locations opening and his 30th anniversary as the organizations National Spokesperson.
The Disney versus DeSantis fight headed into round three on Monday as Floridas governor announced that the Legislature will revoke development agreements that undercut the authority of the new local board he appointed and he will impose new regulations on the powerful entertainment company.

We want to make sure that Disney lives under the same laws as everybody else, said Gov. Ron DeSantis at the headquarters of the Reedy Creek Improvement District near Orlando.

DeSantis said he has authorized state agencies to increase regulatory oversight of Disney operations, such as the monorail system and amusement rides. He suggested the DeSantis-controlled oversight board could sell the Disney-run utility and negotiate with the state to use the companys land for other purposes.

Maybe create a state park, maybe try to do more amusement parks, he said. Someone even said like, maybe you need another state prison. Who knows? I mean, I just think that the possibilities are endless.

READ MORE: How did the Disney-DeSantis feud develop? A timeline from COVID rules to culture wars

The announcement comes two days before the newly-named Central Florida Tourism Oversight Districts Board of Supervisors is scheduled to review a new proposal to strengthen its authority over planning, zoning and land development regulations for the special taxing district that operates the 39-square-mile property on which Walt Disney World exists.

DeSantis said the new board on Wednesday will declare the last-minute agreements signed by the old board with Disney void because they have a plethora of legal infirmities.

Parental Rights bill lit the fuse

DeSantis first targeted Disney last year after he was angered at the companys vocal opposition to the Parental Rights in Education law, also known as the dont say gay bill. The governor then tried and failed to dismantle the Reedy Creek Improvement District with legislation but had to withdraw that effort because it would have left local residents to shoulder nearly $1 billion in debt that Disney would otherwise have paid for.

Story continues

In February, DeSantis sought again to wrest control of the Disney-controlled district, including within the two cities under its jurisdiction, Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista. At his urging, he asked the Legislature to dissolve Disney-controlled Reedy Creek and replace it with the Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board whose members are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate.

But that effort was thwarted when the Disney-backed board outmanuevered the governor and entered into last-minute development and restrictive covenant agreements with Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, U.S., Inc. on the eve of the legislative special session to pass the DeSantis-backed plan.

Under the agreements, which last for decades, the existing regulations are frozen in place and the governor-controlled board is effectively limited in what it can do with the special districts property.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis holds a news conference to sign the Reedy Creek bill on Monday, Feb. 27, 2023.

That property includes the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios and the Animal Kingdom, which are inside the city limits of Bay Lake, and Disney Springs which is in the city of Lake Buena Vista.

READ MORE: DeSantis fundraising sees small-donor financial windfall from public feud with Disney

The arrangement removes the DeSantis boards authority over land-use regulations, restrictions on things such as building heights, and future development projects  including the potential regulation of two new theme parks allowed in the agreements.

DeSantis, who has also ordered his inspector general to investigate, suggested the move was corrupted by self dealing and other ethical violations.

Legislation may seek to dissolve agreements

The proposed legislation, which is expected to be released later this week, will take the governors fight to a new level by declaring the development agreements no longer lawful in Florida and potentially ordering the company to do what the state wants with its property.

Thats a classic taking of property, said J.C. Planas, a Miami lawyer who teaches about Disneys special district in his local government law class at a South Florida law school.

He said the governor and legislators have attempted to portray the arrangement with Disney as unique when it is treated like any other taxing district in the state.

The reason that Reedy Creek sets the millage rate and the tax rate for Disney was because they provide all the municipal services, he said. Reedy Creek has not been doing anything different than other municipal service providers.

READ MORE: DeSantis orders investigation into Disney districts board. Disney CEO Iger fires back

The DeSantis-controlled board can take a vote but it opens them up to a lawsuit, he said. And I have a feeling Disney has other contingency plans in place and didnt think the development agreements would be the last thing.

Jake Schumer, a municipal attorney in the suburban Orlando law firm of Shepard, Smith, Kohlmyer & Hand, also warned that the proposed legislation could lead to litigation.

It will be very difficult to draft a law which creates a situation where compliance with the development agreement is impossible without either singling out Disney in a way that hands them a strong case, violates the promises to bondholders, violates the contracts clause or some combination of the three, he said.

But even if they succeed in that or Disney doesnt fight it, that still leaves the restrictive covenants, which were arguably more dramatic and extraordinary in their limitations.

How might legal challenges play out?

Michael Wolf, a professor of local government and property law at the University of Florida, said in an interview with the Herald/Times last month that Disney could respond to such an effort that Florida has preempted its private property rights.

That would open up a difficult conflict for the Florida Supreme Court, Wolf said. The conservative court will have to choose between defending the rights of private property owners, which is typically something that conservative judges do, and supporting an administration that is taking, perhaps what appears to be a conservative political strategy against a major corporation.

Disney did not immediately respond Monday to a request for comment. Last month, the company defended the actions of the Reedy Creek Improvement Board, saying they were done in public meetings following the state Sunshine Law requirements. At a Disney annual shareholders meeting earlier this month, Disney CEO Bob Iger called DeSantis move anti-business and anti-Florida.

In a recent interview with Time, Iger said he would be happy to meet with DeSantis to discuss the future of the district.

I do not view this as a going-to-mattresses situation for us. If the governor of Florida wants to meet with me to discuss all of this, of course, I would be glad to do that, he said. You know, Im one that typically has respected our elected officials and the responsibility that they have, and there would be no reason why I wouldnt do that.

Legislators back DeSantis

Two legislators who appeared with the governor said they are ready to continue to battle with the corporate powerhouse in an attempt to influence the entertainment content the company produces  a position that could lead to First Amendment challenges.

Its time for Disney executives to have a sober conversation and retake the company from the radical ideologies that have hijacked it, said Rep. Carolina Amesty, a Windermere Republican. You are in the business of entertaining children and families. You are not in the business of social reengineering or promoting radical political ideologies. And if you think you are we have good news for you. As our great governor has said, Florida is a place where woke goes to die.

Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, said he had some advice for Disney: You are not going to win this fight. This governor will. Just let it go.

Amesty was saying the quiet part out loud, Planas said. They are afraid that Disney uses LGBTQ characters and they want to put an end to that.

Mary Ellen Klas can be reached at meklas@miamiherald.com and @MaryEllenKlas
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a news conference at the Reedy Creek Administration Building, Monday, April 17, 2023, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. | John Raoux, Associated Press

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday the Florida State Legislature will introduce a bill that will stop the Walt Disney Corporations attempt to circumvent the states oversight process.

At a press conference, DeSantis said Disney was in direct defiance of the will of the people of Florida, after a Disney-controlled special district board passed a last-minute agreement that gives broad powers to the company before the new state-appointed board could take over.

We have a government of laws not a government of men, he said. We want to make sure Disney lives under the same laws like everyone else.

Last month, the Disney-controlled Reedy Creek Improvement District voted to strip powers from the newly created Central Florida Tourism Oversight District over all zoning, infrastructure and air-rights, giving Disney an advantage in development expansion negotiations in the future.

The new state tourism board was created after DeSantis and the Florida legislature clashed with Disney over the companys public lobbying against Floridas Parental Rights in Education Act that prohibits discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten to third grade classrooms.

Related

DeSantis called Disney a California-based, woke corporation not aligned with the values of Floridas parents. Disney said the bill was harmful to LGBTQ youth.

In response, DeSantis and the GOP-controlled Florida Legislature recently abolished the Reedy Creek Improvement District, a special tax district that essentially allowed Disney self-governance for the past 55 years.

But in the waning days of the districts existence, the board  made up of Disney-elected members  negotiated a contract with Disney that leaves DeSantis new board effectively powerless beyond maintaining roads and basic infrastructure.

Story continues

The Sunshine State governor is calling on the legislature to void the contract.

Disney did special deals to circumvent that whole process because they controlled that board. Its basically a legal fiction that they negotiated it with themselves to give themselves the ability to maintain their self-governing status, DeSantis said at the press conference.

The DeSantis administration has previously argued the agreement is likely illegal, but Disney said it followed the law.

All agreements signed between Disney and the district were appropriate, and were discussed and approved in open, noticed public forums in compliance with Floridas Government in the Sunshine law, the company said at the time of the agreement.

During the press conference, DeSantis said Disney may be big and powerful, but they are not superior to the laws.

People visit the Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., April 18, 2022. | Ted Shaffrey, Associated Press

He said that the conflict between Disney and the state was central to last years elections and that Floridians made their voice clear. The state legislature moved to sunset Disneys self-governing status as a result of what they believed the voters wanted.

But, DeSantis said, (Disney) thought they could create some type of development agreement that would essentially render everything that we did null and void, and put them in control for perpetuity.

Lawmakers at the press conference said the bill voiding the contract will be introduced next week. And the new state-appointed board will meet Wednesday to consider, among other things, possibly changing how Disney is taxed by the state, DeSantis said.
Ron DeSantis holds a press conference on Disney

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has floated the idea of building a prison near Disney's Florida theme park.

The threat, made smiling, came as he vowed to take new steps to assert state control over the special district that oversees the media giant's property.

The Republican has been fighting with Disney since last year, when the firm criticised a Florida law curtailing gender and sexuality education.

The feud has drawn national attention to the possible presidential candidate.

Though Mr DeSantis has not announced plans to run in the 2024 presidential contest, he has raised his profile promising to confront what he describes as a "woke" liberal agenda in education and corporate America.

He turned on Disney after the company, under pressure from its staff, spoke out against the state's Parental Rights in Education Act, dubbed by critics the "Don't Say Gay" bill, which bans education about sexual orientation and gender identity for pupils aged nine and under.

State lawmakers responded by voting to restructure the special district that was created more than 50 years ago to oversee development at Walt Disney World, giving the governor, not the district's land owners, power to appoint members to its governing board.

But the new board has since said Disney had sidestepped its authority with a last-minute deal, which gives the corporation near total control over development in the district in perpetuity or until "21 years after the death of the last survivor of the descendants of King Charles III, king of England".

On Monday, Mr DeSantis said there were a "plethora" of legal problems with that deal and the board would formally declare it invalid at a meeting this week.

State lawmakers are also preparing new legislation to strip Disney of other perks, he said, calling the state's approach a "one-two punch".

One of the proposals is to make amusement park rides in special districts, like Disney's, ineligible for an existing exemption granted to amusement parks from state safety inspections.

Story continues

Mr DeSantis said he also expected the district, under its new governing board, to explore development on land in the district that is not owned by Disney, floating the idea of a state park, other amusement rides or a prison.

"Who knows? I just think the possibilities are endless," he said smiling broadly.

Mr DeSantis has said Disney's manoeuvres are efforts to defy the will of Floridians and state lawmakers, calling it a fight over whether corporations should be granted special treatment under state laws.

Disney did not respond to a request for comment.

Disney chief executive Bob Iger has previously said the company had a right to take a public stand and described Mr DeSantis's position as "anti-business" and "anti-Florida". He has accused the governor of seeking "to punish a company for its exercise of a constitutional right".
Despite the fact that there is infighting between the Russian Defene Ministry and Yevhen Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner PMC, Wagner militants are being reinforced with modern means to capture the city of Bakhmut.

Source: ISW report



Details: The report points out that the news of the reassignment of Russian Airborne Commander Mikhail Teplinsky indicates that the Russian Defence Ministry is seeking to work more closely with the Wagner Group to complete the capture of Bakhmut, despite the obvious tensions between Prigozhin and the Defence Ministry leadership.

In addition, experts say, Prigozhin has also reduced his outspoken attacks on the Defence Ministry in recent days.

Russian military bloggers also report that Wagner's forces are using T-90 tanks in Bakhmut, indicating that the Russian leadership has provided the PMC with more modern means to capture the city.

Experts point out that the Russian military command appears to be increasingly shifting responsibility for offensive operations in Ukraine to the Russian airborne forces.

According to experts, it is unlikely that Teplinsky will be able to restore the previous status of the Airborne Forces as an elite unit due to the significant losses in Ukraine.

"Widespread losses to previously elite units that are now being restaffed with poorly trained mobilised personnel are likely to have long-term impacts on the combat effectiveness of these units, and the replacement of a single commander is highly unlikely to be able to solve such pervasive damage," the report reads.

Experts also note that Wagner's group released 130 Ukrainian prisoners of war on 16 April, which suggests that Wagner could have carried out the exchange independently of the Russian Defence Ministry.

The report suggests that Wagner's PMC may be trying to force mobilised Russian servicemen to sign contracts with Wagner, possibly in an effort to compensate for losses in Ukraine.

As an example, experts cite the fact that conscripts from Moscow and Ivanovo oblasts of the Russian Federation in a public complaint published on 16 April claim that the Wagner group forced 170 mobilised servicemen to sign contracts with it.

Story continues

Earlier, Russian sources claimed that 100 conscripts in Luhansk Oblast disappeared on 7 April after refusing to sign contracts with Wagner.

ISW Key Takeaways for 16 April:



The Russian military command appears to be increasingly shifting responsibility for offensive operations in Ukraine to the Russian Airborne (VDV) troops.

News of Teplinskys reappointment suggests that the Russian MoD is seeking to work more closely with the Wagner Group in order to complete the capture of Bakhmut, despite obvious tensions between Prigozhin and the traditional MoD establishment.

Russian milbloggers seized on an opportunity to denigrate St. Petersburg Mayor Alexander Beglov in a manner that indicates that Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhins anti-Beglov campaign has permeated the Russian ultra-nationalist information space.

The Wagner Group released 130 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) on 16 April, suggesting that Wagner may have engaged in the exchange independently of the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD).

The Wagner Group may be attempting to force mobilised Russian personnel to sign contracts with Wagner, possibly in an effort to offset Wagners losses in Ukraine.

Russian forces conducted limited ground attacks south of Kreminna.

Russian forces continued ground attacks in and around Bakhmut and along the Avdiivka-Donetsk City line.

Russian forces reportedly intensified the rate of artillery strikes in the south of Ukraine.

Russian mobilised personnel continue to publish public complaints against Russian commanders alleging mistreatment.

A Russian source stated that the Wagner Group is involved in the abduction of Ukrainian children from Bakhmut.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
Supreme Court building in New York. Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images

After the 2020 election, Ginni Thomas was apoplectic. She spent weeks firing off texts and emails urging Donald Trump's chief of staff and state legislators to overturn the results, saying Trump's defeat would ensure "the end of America." When the messages were later made public, Thomas insisted she had not discussed her belief the election was stolen with her husband and "best friend," Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. That's convenient, since the justice never recused himself from cases involving Trump, the election, or Jan. 6. Last week, we learned that Justice Thomas failed to report that he and Ginni have been vacationing like billionaires for decades on the private jet, superyacht, and lakefront resort of conservative megadonor Harlan Crow. Crow assures us that while he showered expensive freebies on Thomas and a clubby group of movement conservatives that included Federalist Society head Leonard Leo, no one asked the justice "about a pending or lower court case."

In the wake of Roe's demise, several conservative justices have expressed great indignation that the court's "legitimacy" as a neutral arbiter was being questioned. Justice Samuel Alito said critics  who include Justice Elena Kagan  cross "an important line" in suggesting the justices' activist rulings are motivated by personal and religious beliefs. But where is that line, when a justice can secretly accept trips and gifts worth millions from a benefactor with a distinct agenda? Last week, a federal judge Trump appointed because of his anti-abortion, religious activism ruled that abortion drug mifepristone should be taken off the market in every state. His ruling reads like a pamphlet from a right-to-life group. In recent years, polls indicate, public confidence in the judicial branch has plunged to a record low. Only 40 percent of Americans approve of the Supreme Court itself, now widely seen as a third political branch of government. Legitimacy can be squandered.

Story continues

This is the editor's letter in the current issue of The Week magazine.

You may also like

5 unethically funny cartoons about Clarence Thomas

Leaked U.S. files jumped from online spats to global breach through pro-Russia account run by U.S. Navy vet

Codeword: April 15, 2023
In the aftermath of a fatal shooting on March 5 in the Five Points neighborhood of Athens, police detectives said a car carrying the suspected shooters returned to the parking lot of Bethel Midtown Homes.

During those dark hours a surveillance camera recorded their demeanor after their gun blasts fatally wounded 24-year-old JaiVanni McDavid of Athens.

The young men with guns can be seen celebrating what happened, Ryan Piechocinski, a prosecutor for the state Office of the Attorney General, recently said at a bond hearing for two of the four suspects.

Teen sentenced: Athens teen sentenced to 15 years in Bethel Midtown Village slaying

Burglar shot: Police: Athens man shoots, injures intruder in attempted burglary

That scene of a celebration is expected to be shown to a jury when the suspects go on trial.

But at the hearing Friday, two of the suspects asked a judge in Clarke County Superior Court for bond.

Judge Lisa Lott heard arguments for and against bail and ultimately decided to deny bond for both Anthony Quinn Brown, 19, and Glendarius Jamius Tate, 20, both of Athens.

A lawyer for a third suspect, Jaen Makale Appling, 20, of Athens received a delay for his bond hearing and a fourth suspect, 16-year-old XZydric Faust, was not scheduled for a hearing. Faust, who will be tried as an adult, is in a youth detention center in Marietta.

A suspected gang shooting

McDavid was struck in the head with a bullet and died later at a hospital in Athens. The shooting occurred just after midnight outside a home on Northview Drive, where a party was taking place. The party was advertised on social media, according to Piechocinski, who was appointed as a special prosecutor for the case.

Piechocinski said police are still reviewing a street gang aspect to the crime as it appears the four murder suspects belonged to a gang that was a rival group to some of those attending the party.

A mother buries her son

During the hearing, McDavids mother, Giovanna McDavid, spoke of her son, a gifted athlete during his Clarke Central High School days. He was working at the Caterpillar plant in Athens at the time of his death.

Story continues

While she expressed feelings of sorrow for the mothers of the suspects, she said the difference is I buried my son.

We all love our kids. None of us should be standing up here right now, she said about the crime.

But she also expressed some fear.

I dont know if his friends would come and shoot up my house, she said.

McDavids girlfriend also expressed a fear of reprisal.

Arguments for and against

Browns attorney, Ryan Swingle of Athens, said if his client is released, he would live with an aunt 87 miles away in Dallas, Georgia.

In arguing against a bond, Piechocinski said Brown was identified as the gunman armed with a 9mm pistol. Brown was on probation for an April 2022 misdemeanor threats conviction, and he was on bond for a pending charge of possessing marijuana with intent to distribute in Walton County.

The prosecutor said that Tate was interviewed twice by police and he initially lied about his whereabouts, but later admitted he was at the scene and had a gun. Police believe Tate was armed with an AR-15 rifle and in the Bethel Homes video Piechocinski said Tate is shown holding that gun and leaving with it.

Tate also was out of jail on bond for a pending family-violence battery charge, the prosecutor said, adding that police also obtained a cell phone conversation where Tate calls an associate to help him create an alibi that takes him away from the scene of the crime.

Tate, a lifelong Athens resident, has a child and his girlfriend is pregnant with their second child, according to testimony.

During the hearing, Tates attorney Brian Howard, asked people in the courtroom if they were there to support Tate to stand up.

At least 20 people stood up in support of the man, his lawyer said went to Clarke Central and was never known to be violent.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Two murder suspects denied bond in Five Points of Athens slaying
Governors State University faculty and staff strike at the edge of the GSU campus on Tuesday, April 11, 2023. Classes will resume Monday after unionized faculty and staff reached a tentative agreement with the school administration. (Eileen T. Meslar / Chicago Tribune)

Classes will resume Monday at Chicago State University after unionized faculty and staff suspended a 10-day strike, having reached a tentative four-year agreement with the school administration, union officials said Sunday.

About 160 members of CSUs chapter of the University Professionals of Illinois (Local 4100) went on strike April 3 after almost a year of bargaining to secure a fair contract.

Advertisement

Our members never wanted to strike, but being forced to do so has made us more unified and stronger than ever, said CSU UPI President Valerie Goss. I thank all of our amazing members, students, and supporters who stood up and spoke out with us every step of the way.

The agreement  which was reached after intensive bargaining over the weekend between the unions bargaining team and CSU administrators  would provide faculty and staff with pay increases while recognizing the universitys financial constraints, according to union leaders.

Advertisement

It would also allow union members to make up for critical time lost during the strike in order to support students through services that include extended office hours, tutoring sessions, registration meetings and exam sessions.

Additional details of the agreement will be made public after all union members are able to review it and after a ratification vote is held. If the agreement is approved, it will take effect immediately.

adperez@chicagotribune.com
A classroom discussion from Ohio State's Institute for Chinese Studies, part of the university's East Asian Studies Center

Some faculty members at Ohio's public universities are worried that language in state Senate Bill 83 about ending partnerships with Chinese institutions could result in significant cuts to the state's economy and educational offerings.

SB 83, also known as the Ohio Higher Education Enhancement Act, proposes a number of changes that could dramatically alter campus life at Ohio's public colleges and universities. Among the proposals, SB 83 would ban all academic and financial relationships between Ohio's public institutions and those located in China.

Bill sponsor Sen. Jerry Cirino, a Republican from Kitland, told The Dispatch that Chinese partnerships are a national security concern.

Jerry Cirino

"Communist China's activities around the world and to their people are far more egregious than what Russia is doing to Ukraine," Cirino said.

The bill would ban Ohio universities and colleges from accepting donations or gifts from China. The measure would require higher education institutions to report any current partnerships with Chinese institutions to the Ohio Department of Higher Education's chancellor and would bar them from entering into new partnerships.

Cirino said the bill doesn't require universities to break any contracts they currently have in China but would bar renewals and new agreements.

Mitch Lerner, an Ohio State history professor and director of its East Asian Studies Center, said the bill could do real damage to the university's programs.

Mitchell Lerner

If this bill passes in its current form  it would mean a significant loss of funding for programs that connect Ohio to the world in ways that benefit our students and our community  financially, but also socially and culturally, and in ways that simply can't be measured, Lerner said.

This isnt the first time that Chinese institutions have been the subject of concern over espionage of technology and other economic intelligence.

In 2021, an Ohio State professor was sentenced in what federal prosecutors described as a scheme to steal biomedical research for China.

Story continues

It was one of the highest-profile prosecutions of the Department of Justice's China Initiative, aimed at economic espionage, which ended in 2022. Though the program secured some convictions, it was also accused of unfairly targeting Chinese academics in the U.S. with flimsy cases. At least one Chinese professor is suing the FBI.

In 2022, the University of Akron ended its Confucius Institute program because the Department of Defense restricts research funding to universities that host programs sponsored by the Chinese government.

Almost every public university in Ohio currently or has previously had partnerships with a Chinese institution.

Partnerships at OSU and other universities in the state with Chinese institutions range from study-abroad programs for undergraduates, dual-enrollment doctorate programs, faculty exchanges and other initiatives.

'It would be devastating'

The bill could have a significant impact on Ohio State, which has partnerships with 30 universities in China, facilitated through its China Gateway center. Those partnerships are among 135 memorandums of understanding or agreement with institutions in East Asia, including around 20 new agreements signed with China between 2018-21, according to a grant application the university filed in 2022.

Ohio State offers nine active study-abroad programs in China, according to OSU's Office of International Affairs website, and the university has a four-decade long relationship with Wuhan University for student and faculty exchange for lectures, advanced studies and research.

If SB 83 were to pass and prevent OSU from renewing its partnerships with Chinese institutions, Lerner said he is worried about knock-on effects to other programs like Korean and Japanese studies.

The Ohio State University's East Asian Studies Center is based at the Enarson Classroom Building, seen here.

The East Asian Studies Center currently has a $2.2 million grant through the federal Department of Educations Title VI programs. This grant supports students to study Chinese, Japanese and Korean, as well as for Ohio State to host conferences, cultural events and workshops, all of which bring tourism, resources and cultural opportunities to Ohio, Lerner said.

In order to renew the grant, OSU must compete with other universities across the country by demonstrating a breadth of programming and partnerships in East Asia.

But by banning its partnerships with Chinese institutions, the bill would put OSU in a less competitive position for Title VI grants, Lerner said, jeopardizing these programs in the future.

If we lose Title VI  it would be devastating, he said.

Cirino said he does not anticipate a ban on Chinese partnerships having any effect on other East Asian study programs.

"The last time I checked, Japan, the Philippines and South Korea are all friends of the United States," he said. "Communist China is no friend of ours."

Concerns about chilling effect on Chinese international students

Some faculty at Ohio universities have expressed concerns that Cirino's bill would have a chilling effect on Chinese international student enrollment.

Chinese students are OSUs largest international group, making up more than half of the schools 5,813 international students in 2022, according to school enrollment data.

International students contributed $265.9 million to Ohio State's main campus in the 2021-22 year, "in addition to  immeasurable academic and cultural value," according to NAFSA: Association of International Educators. During that same school year, international students brought in more than $1 billion to Ohio's economy.

The notion of trying to recruit Chinese students to come to a place where there are bills that are actively denigrating or working against our partnerships with China  I think that is a problem, Lerner said.

Cirino said there is nothing in SB 83 that prohibits Chinese students from attending Ohio's public universities.

Cheryl Young, associate vice president of global initiatives at Miami University

But Cheryl Young, associate vice president of global initiatives at Miami University, said the bill's ban on partnerships with Chinese institutions could send the wrong message.

"(Chinese students) will go to states where they're welcome," she said. "We felt it during the last presidential administration and in a lot of the rhetoric around COVID."

Miami University has nine active partnerships in China, which fall into two categories: recruitment and cross-cultural programming.

The university has partnerships with some Chinese high schools and colleges to recruit students to attend Miami. If SB 83 were to pass, Young said those partnerships would end, creating a hole in the university's recruitment efforts.

Of the 1,402 international students enrolled at Miami in fall 2022, 807 were from China.

"International students bring so much diversity to southwestern Ohio," Young said. "It won't completely go away, but it will change."

Miami University's campus seen through the sun dial at the north end of Central Quad, April 9, 2019.

shendrix@dispatch.com

@sheridan120

pgill@dispatch.com

@pitaarji

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Some Ohio universities worry about SB 83 ban on Chinese partnerships
The long-running feud between Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Walt Disney Co., started nearly two years ago, when the company required its on-site employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Then, when it criticized the governor over Floridas legislation about restrictions in public schools about teaching and discussing gender identity and other issues, the governor accelerated the feud.

Heres the timeline:

 Spring 2021: The Legislature passed and the governor signed a bill that would give Disney special treatment to crack down on social media companies after several conservatives said their accounts had been banned. Republican sponsors added a last-minute amendment exempting companies that own theme parks, particularly to allow programs run by Disney+ for example, that collect viewer reviews, to be exempt from the ban. It turns out that the governors own staff helped to create the Disney carve-out.

READ MORE: DeSantis announces new round of actions against Disney through Legislature, new board

 Summer 2021: The governors war with Disney starts. The company requires all its on-site employees to be fully vaccinated. By late October, the governor announced he would impose fines against Disney and others with vaccine mandates.

Gov. Ron DeSantis removes his mask after arriving at Universal Studios Florida in Orlando to participate in a roundtable discussion with theme park leaders about safety protocols and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Wednesday, August 26, 2020. Executives from Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld Orlando delivered remarks and answered questions from the governor.

 March 11, 2022: Disney employees pressure the company to take a stand against the proposed Parental Rights in Education legislation. CEO Bob Chapek sends a message to all employees especially our LGBTQ+ community, and says hes sorry the company didnt act sooner and announces that Disney is pausing all political contributions in the state.

 March 28, 2022: Disney doubles down in a company statement that the Parental Rights in Education bill, dubbed by opponents as the dont say gay bill, should be struck down by the courts.

The companys statement, posted on Twitter the same day that DeSantis signed the bill into law, said the company would support national and state organizations working to achieve those outcomes.

Story continues

Floridas HB 1557 ... should have never passed and should never have been signed into law, the companys statement read.

 April 19, 2022: DeSantis asks the Legislature to revoke Disneys special district and self-governing status when it meets in a special session on redistricting.

 April 19, 2022: Disney notifies Orange County that it had signed two new agreements with the Reedy Creek Improvement District.

 April 21, 2022: The Florida Legislature passes the measure and DeSantis signs it into law, but the idea quickly hits a snag and, to dissolve the district, the state would have to find a way to pay off an estimated $1 billion in the districts debt.

 April 21, 2022: Disney quietly sends a note to its investors that it is confident the Legislatures attempt to dissolve the special taxing district violates the pledge the state made when it enacted the district in 1967, and therefore was not legal.

 May 1, 2022: One of the nations leading bond rating agencies warns that if Florida doesnt resolve a conflict over its decision to repeal Walt Disney Worlds Reedy Creek Improvement District and its obligation to investors, the move could harm the financial standing of other Florida governments.

 July 22, 2022: The State of Florida approves the Comprehensive Plan upon which the Reedy Creek development agreement is based.

 Jan. 25, 2023: Reedy Creek holds a public hearing on a series of agreements that will leave in place local land-use regulations that favor Disney for the next 30 years and a set of restrictive covenants that will limit what the DeSantis-aligned board can do with Disneys property.

 Feb. 6, 2023: Legislature meets in special session and abandons plan to dissolve Disneys special taxing district and instead releases a new plan to rename the district and let DeSantis choose the people in charge.

 Feb. 8, 2023: Reedy Creek board meets for a final time and votes to approve the series of agreements and restrictive covenants.

 Feb. 11, 2023: Legislature gives final approval to changes that would shift control of the Reedy Creek Improvement District from the Walt Disney Co. to DeSantis but leave the taxing district intact.

 Feb. 27, 2023: DeSantis signs into law the bill to give the governor control over Walt Disney Worlds governing body.

 March 29, 2023: The newly appointed Central Florida Tourism Oversight District announces that it has discovered the development agreements and restrictive covenants that will limit its power over Disneys property.

 April 3, 2023: The Walt Disney Company holds it virtual annual shareholders meeting and during a question-and-answer period CEO Bob Iger says the governors retaliation against the biggest taxpayer in the state is anti-business and anti-Florida.

 April 3, 2023: DeSantis orders his inspector general to conduct an investigation into the Disney-controlled board agreements.

 April 6, 2023: DeSantis gives a speech at Hillsdale College in Michigan and says he is considering imposing new taxes on hotels and tolls on the roads within the Reedy Creek Improvement District area and the state will direct the development of the property the district owns around Disney.

 April 17, 2023: DeSantis announces plan to revoke the development agreements that undercut the authority of the board he appointed and to impose new regulations on Disney operations.

To come:

 April 19, 2023: Central Florida Tourism Oversight Districts Board of Supervisors is scheduled to meet and review a new proposal to strengthen its authority over planning, zoning and land development regulations for the special taxing district.

 In the next week: Legislation will be drafted in Tallahassee to revoke the development agreements.
Tania Romero, a graduate student at Cal State L.A. and an avian biologist, checks the feathers of a Townsend's warbler caught in a net at Bear Divide in the San Gabriel Mountains. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

The San Gabriel Mountains loom like an impregnable fortress for millions of migrating birds making their long and perilous journey to distant breeding grounds in the far north.

But scientists recently discovered that many of these spring migrants use a surprisingly unassuming strategy to get over the peaks: They fly extremely low over a dirt parking lot wedged between steep slopes at the western end of the range.

There is no simple answer to the phenomenon in the area known as Bear Divide, which has become a hot spot for avian research projects, about 30 miles north of Los Angeles.

On a recent weekday, a dozen biologists armed with nets, calipers and notebooks gathered before daybreak at the Angeles National Forest site to take a full accounting of one of Californias great wildlife spectacles.

At the first rays of light, the silence was broken by hundreds of colorful birds pouring through one of the only places in the state where migrating birds fly during daylight hours, just a few yards off the ground.

A Nashville warbler is caught in a net at Bear Divide in the San Gabriel Mountains. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Here they come, said Tania Romero, a biology student at Cal State Los Angeles, as a small yellow-and-black bird suddenly stopped in midair, entangled in a mist net.

Moments later, Romero, 30, and her colleagues set to work. They recorded its vitals  a plump and healthy Townsends warbler weighing 8.4 grams, about as much as a ballpoint pen  and gently clamped an identification band on one of its legs.

Then she released it back into the morning sky to complete its journey north to breeding grounds in the dense coniferous forests of the Pacific Northwest.

Exactly why the area attracts as many as 13,000 tanagers, orioles, buntings, grosbeaks and warblers on a single day is not entirely understood. But scientists suggest that the topography has a funneling effect on birds during their long-distance migrations along the Pacific Flyway stretching from Central America to the Arctic.

Maeve Secor, a PhD student at USC, processes a Nashville warbler caught in a net on a ridge-line known as Bear Divide. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Exactly why the area attracts as many as 13,000 tanagers, orioles, buntings, grosbeaks and warblers on a single day is not entirely understood. Above, a Orange-crowned warbler. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

For birds flying north over the Los Angeles Basin and encountering the San Gabriel Mountains, Bear Divide is like a gate in the castle wall," said Ryan Terrill, a biologist at Cal State Stanislaus who has studied the novel migratory passage since it was discovered in 2016.

Story continues

But to fully understand the burst of avian life, researchers first need to answer a few burning questions: At what point in their journey do these mixed-species flocks of birds decide to pour through Bear Divide rather than fly over or around the mountains?

And when did this strange evolutionary migration strategy begin?

There is so much we still dont know about these birds and their world, said Lauren Hill, 33, the site's lead bird bander. For example, no one knows where they were before showing up here after sunrise.

To help crack that mystery, Romero will soon begin outfitting birds at Bear Divide with tiny transmitters linked to an international network of tracking stations operated by Birds Canada, a nonprofit organization dedicated to avian science and conservation.

Visiting students from a Loyola Marymount University avian and biology class watch as Tania Romero, an avian biologist, talks about a warbler caught in a net at Bear Divide. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Jayde Blair, a wildlife biologist, studies a lazuli bunting, a blue migratory bird from Mexico, caught in a net at Bear Divide. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Pasadena Audubon recently partnered with the U.S. Forest Service to fund and install a $10,000 tracking station at Bear Divide. The data it gathers, combined with ongoing research projects, will help scientists better understand complex migratory behavior and upgrade conservation strategies at a time when climate change is upsetting the delicate balance between life-and-death conditions in ancient habitats.

"We're excited to see this phenomenon explored by researchers," said Roman Torres, forest supervisor of the roughly 700,000-acre Angeles National Forest. "Bear Divide is an important place in the Pacific Flyway."

Migrating birds typically fly at night, although morning flights are not uncommon in the eastern United States. But scientists know of only one other location in California where migrating birds fly in daylight hours: Butterbredt Spring in eastern Kern County.

At Butterbredt Spring, however, nocturnal migrants continue flying into the daylight hours. At Bear Divide, scientists say, they appear to stop somewhere and wait for sunrise before whooshing through the passage at about 30 mph.

Because Bear Divide has few trees, counting and identifying these birds can be challenging for even seasoned birders.

But by 8 a.m. on Tuesday, a team led by Kelsey Reckling, 31, had counted 500 birds representing 38 species, including lazuli buntings, chipping sparrows and hermit warblers.

Van Pierszalowski, a birder, left, and Ian Davies, from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, search the morning sky for migrating birds at Bear Divide in the San Gabriel Mountains. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Nearby, the anticipation of scientific discovery was high as others trudged through thick brush and over rocky trails to recover and examine specimens snagged in mist nets stretching more than 1,000 feet across the divide.

Its amazing to see something so inspiring and truly wild unfolding in a big dirt parking lot, Chris Spurgeon, spokesman for Pasadena Audubon, said with a smile. But Southern California is full of nondescript places that to birders are pure magic.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
US-MILITARY-INTELLIGENCE-DOCUMENTS-LEAK-MEDIA

Security guards stand outside the entrance to the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse, in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 14, 2023. - Jack Teixeira, 21, an employee of the US Air Force National Guard, was due to appear at the federal court on Friday, authorities said, after he was arrested on suspicion of leaking a trove of sensitive US government secrets. Credit - Joseph Prezioso- AFP

Voices from across the political spectrum are demanding to know how 21-year-old National Guardsman Jack Teixeira even allegedly had access to top-secret classified documents on the war in Ukraine, imperiling the safety of Ukrainian troopsnot to mention allied unityand giving a priceless gift to Vladimir Putin when he needed it most.

Im stunned by this, former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson under the Obama Administration said on Sunday, while Republican Senator Lindsey Graham commented: I am stunned that somebody at that level could have so much access  some people need to be fired over this.

Just this morning, Congressman Jim Himes, who serves on the House Select Committee on Intelligence, said that it is almost inconceivable that this particular individual A) had access to the information, B) that the individual was able to print this stuff out and take it away and photograph it. And then finally, in a world of very advanced technology, that apparently this stuff could live on the internet and various chat rooms and be viewed by people quite possibly for weeks or months before the Department of Defense became aware of it being in the wild in the first week of April. Defenders of the intelligence community will point out that much of the real work in intelligenceparticularly in supporting warfighters and decision makersis actually driven by junior enlisted and officers. They are the ones that heroically assemble briefing books, collect and review material, and ensure that senior intelligence officials are well briefed. Intelligence chiefs are not keeping the books, collecting the data, or running the models: they are consuming the information that comes up within the organization. Access by up to a million pairs of eyes seems a tad reckless and needless, but to rip out the junior analysts would mean the whole workflow would fall apart.

Story continues

Defenders will also point out the context of how we got here: after the 9/11 Commission found that one of the major reasons we had such a massive intelligence failure before the attack was that intelligence was not being shared quickly and efficiently within our government, the U.S. moved toward the opposite pole, adapting intelligence infrastructure to allow for the flow of intelligence across agencies and the military and allowing for more eyes than ever before on the most sensitive secrets.

But there is something obviously broken systemically within the intelligence community that allows for three major national security intelligence leaks in less than a decade, including fellow IT systems administrator Edward Snowdens infamous trove to Chelsea Mannings Wikileaks document dump. Even if the Manning leak was 750,000 pages compared to the hundreds of pages in this case, any leak is unacceptable and can put sources, methods, and lives at risk. Three times is enough. The challenge for the government now is to channel its outrage into an actionable set of steps to ensure Teixeiras leak is the last for a very long time.

Here are some of the most urgent questions that the intelligence community needs to address to fix a broken system:

1. Accessibility  Who has access to information, and why?

It seems need-to-know has evolved into want-to-know. In each of the Teixeira, Snowden, and Manning leaks, none of these traitorous hangers-on had jobs anywhere related to intelligence analysis and the decision-making process, and yet each had seemingly unlimited access to a smorgasbord of classified intelligence.

Indeed, there is something that is ridiculously pathetic about this latest saga, almost too ridiculous to imagine up were it not true: somehow, this extremely junior enlisted barely old enough to drink alcohol, fresh out of high school, was able to obtain regular access to some of the nations most sensitive top-secret classified documents. Teixeira reportedly had no ulterior motive for leaking the documents other than to show off to a virtual video game chatroom of loners seeking friends in youthful immaturity.

Not only does it appear that one can have the resume of a Walmart greeter and gain access to the countrys most sensitive information, but it seems Gmail does a better job of locking out unwitting users who have forgotten their passwords than the federal government seems to do of walling off highly sensitive information. Intelligence leaders should redesign processes to restrict access to information to a genuine need-to-know basis to limit unnecessary sharing of sensitive information. In no other organizations are such tangential figures provided as vast high-level information and access to secrets. Now is the time for the government to fix these fundamental flaws with the protection of classified information.

2. Transportability  How is it so easy to smuggle out classified documents?

Teixeira allegedly smuggled classified printouts by folding them up to fit in his pant pockets, then taking surreptitious snapshots of them once outside sensitive compartmentalized information facilities (SCIFs). If it is really this easy for a guileless 21-year-old to smuggle classified papers out into the open, only to be discovered when the documents later circulated online, how many other individuals might have carried away classified documentswhether accidentally or intentionallyescaping all scrutiny? One cannot even walk out of a public library carrying library books this easily. There needs to be better guardrails and protections to ensure classified material stays behind close doors. Some balance between stronger administrative procedures and stronger accountability for personal trust needs to be struck which is not overly reliant on either to the detriment of the other.

3. Detectability and Accountability  How does the intelligence community monitor and track the distribution of classified information thats out in the public?

The fact that these leaked documents were reportedly public for over a month on video game chat servers without drawing any attention it appears from the federal governmentthe government seems to have only responded after Twitter and media commentators picked up on the leak widelysuggests there are gaping holes in security protocol for tracking the handling and distribution of classified material.

The wide-ranging nature of these disclosures has already been well-established. Teixeiras documents included troop movements on Ukrainian battlefields and private assessments of Ukrainian military capabilities, briefings intended for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, databases of weapons and munition inventories, intelligence channels into Russia, and much more. How can the federal government allow for such a vast array of classified material to float online without even a smidgeon of scrutiny? Perhaps they overlooked obscure video game chatroom servers on Discord, but it is pushing our luck to hope that the FSB and other rival countries intelligence agencies are just as hapless in not discovering these documents for months until they became outdated.

4. Vetting and Ongoing Monitoring  What do we know about individuals who have access to classified information?

The CIA and FBI both experienced embarrassing and highly damaging security breaches with Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen, respectively, both of whom were discovered to be spying for Russia. What followed were increased security measures to protect against insider threats, including investigations into finances and travel of employees and routine polygraphs of individuals. The military has high standards for entry and conduct, but that is not a replacement for thorough and ongoing vetting of employees who have clearances. And while First Amendment rights must be balanced against national security concerns, the Teixeira case suggests that the military may need to keep better tabs on what social media and internet platforms personnel with clearances are accessing, perhaps through disclosure requirements.

5. Addressing extremist views  What do military personnel believe?

Immediately after being appointed, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ordered immediate changes to combat extremism in the military, an initiative that was long overdue considering four times as many people with military backgrounds have been arrested for extremist crimes over the last decade than in the decade prior. However, Austins efforts have encountered resistance from conservatives in Congress, who in 2022 called on the Pentagon to immediately halt counter-extremist programs in a report which accompanied the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act. The most recent leaks reveal that playing politics with extremists in the military is no longer an option: Teixeira allegedly held racist, antisemitic, and anti-government views, and he found a community of like-minded individuals in the chat room where he held court. Such behavior has no place in our military and presents a clear and present national security threat.

***

The U.S. has had to contend with three destructive leaks of sensitive information over a decade from low-level malcontents who had no business accessing any of the information they had access to. It is past time for the intelligence community to fix a broken system.

Benjamin Franklin warned facetiously, Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead. Surely, 290 years later, we can do better.
A courthouse employee makes their way into the grand jury room at the Summit County Courthouse on March 28,.

A special Summit County grand jury declined to charge the eight officers who shot and killed Jayland Walker on Monday by issuing a "no-bill."

A grand jury decides if people should be indicted with crimes and face a trial with a regular jury to determine their guilt or innocence. If the nine grand jurors decline to file an indictment, they return a no-bill.

At least seven of the nine grand jurors must approve any indictment.

A "no-bill" doesnt prohibit the prosecutor from seeking an indictment from another grand jury, such as in a case if additional evidence is discovered.

Grand jury in Jayland Walker case: Grand jury decides officers won't face criminal charges

Grand jury decision: No criminal charges for 8 Akron officers who shot Jayland Walker

Jayland Walker case: Here's what you need to know about how a grand jury works

What happened to Jayland Walker?

Eight Akron officers fatally shot Walker 46 times on June 27 after he led officers on a crosstown car chase, during which police say the 25-year-old Black man fired a single shot from his vehicle. Walker was unarmed and running in a ski mask when he was shot after a short foot chase near Wilbeth and South Main. A handgun was found in his vehicle, police said.

Akrons police union defended the officers action as consistent with their training, while Walkers family decried his death as senseless and said he was not a criminal. Walkers fiancee died in a traffic crash weeks earlier.

The incident has become the subject of protests, the creation of a new police review board, plans for new cruiser dashcams and strained relations between Akrons police and citizens.

Akron Police Chief Steve Mylett asked the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation to complete an independent criminal investigation. The officers were put on leave following Walker's death but were reinstated to desk duty in October.

Summit Countys first-ever special grand jury convened April 10 to hear prosecutors from the Ohio Attorney Generals Office present BCIs findings.

Story continues

Akron police also will conduct a separate internal investigation to determine if any department regulations were violated by the officers.

From the editor: We're providing this coverage for free to registered users. Consider supporting local journalism

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Jayland Walker case in Akron: What does 'no-bill' mean?
WASHINGTON  The Justice Department on Monday bolstered its support for Ukraine's pursuit of Russian war criminals, announcing the U.S. will detail a prosecutor to the Netherlands to assist in the daunting effort.

Attorney General Merrick Garland, appearing with Ukraine's Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin, said the U.S. official would be deployed to The Hague's European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation to focus on crimes against Ukraine as part of an existing seven-nation partnership.

Garland also said that a "legal adviser" would be dispatched later this summer to the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv to provide additional assistance.

More: US officials pledged to hold Russia accountable for war crimes in Ukraine. Congress wants receipts.

More: Arrest warrant issued for Vladimir Putin over war crimes by International Criminal Court

"For over a year, Russia has engaged in an unjust war against Ukraine, committing atrocities at the largest scale of any armed conflict since the Second World War," Garland said. "And for over a year, the people of Ukraine have fought with courage and conviction to protect their country.

"They have worked with unflagging resolve to record the brutalities committed against thousands of Ukrainian men, women, and children  and to hold the perpetrators of those atrocities accountable under the law."

More: AG Merrick Garland makes unannounced trip to Ukraine, reaffirms US vow to pursue war criminals

Kostin said the country is "grateful" for the continuing U.S. support, adding that the deployment of a prosecutor to the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression Against Ukraine represented the "first practical step" toward establishing a special prosecution tribunal.

The Justice Department meeting comes as Kostin and Deputy Attorney Lisa Monaco prepare to testify before separate congressional committees this week spotlighting Russian war crimes.

Story continues

More: AG Merrick Garland visits Ukraine in meeting with top prosecutor leading war crimes inquiry

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco in January.

Kostin is expected to appear Wednesday before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, along with two survivors Russian atrocities. Monaco also is slated to testify Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Moscow has repeatedly denied allegations that Russians are committing war crimes in Ukraine, where it maintains it is conducting a "special operation."

Widespread evidence of systemic war crimes, which are considered to be among the most serious violations of international law, have been well documented in Ukraine. They include the bombing of civilian infrastructure, forced deportation of minors, raping of women and children, mass graves and torture chambers.

Contributing: Francesca Chambers

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ukraine war: DOJ bolsters effort to prosecute Russian war criminals
WASHINGTON  The Department of Justice Monday announced a trio of cases charging Chinese security officials with operating as agents of the Chinese government and in transnational schemes related to censoring Chinese dissidents and democracy activists.

United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace said the three cases show the People's Republic of China engaged in a campaign to protect its authoritarian worldview and extend the reach of its system into the United States.

The first complaint charged two individuals for acting as agents of the Chinese government in connection with operating an illegal overseas police station of the Chinese government.

Two additional criminal complaints charged 40 officers of the Chinese government's Ministry of Public Security (MPS). The complaints state the MPS officers established a task force to commit crimes targeting Chinese democracy activists and censoring speech of Chinese dissidents.

Smart analysis delivered to your inbox: Sign up for the OnPolitics newsletter

More: US charges sons of El Chapo, Sinaloa cartel members in fentanyl trafficking crackdown

Illegal overseas police station

Eastern District of New York US Attorney Breon Peace speaks during a press conference in New York City on October 18, 2022.

DOJ announced the arrests of two New York City residents who were Chinese intelligence officials for opening and operating an illegal overseas police station in lower Manhattan for a provincial branch of China's MPS.

The police station encompassed the entire floor of an office building and provided illegal government services like helping Chinese citizens renew their Chinese driver's licenses, according to Peace.

In one instance, an official with China's national police directed one of the defendants who worked at the police station to help locate a pro-democracy activist of China living in California, Peace said.

"In other words, the Chinese National Police appear to have been using the station to track a U.S. resident on U.S. soil," Peace said.

Story continues

The complaint alleges the two defendants destroyed evidence of their communications with Chinese police when they learned of an FBI investigation and obstructed justice.

The defendants face a maximum sentence of five years in prison if convicted of conspiring to act as Chinese agents and a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison if convicted of obstructing justice.

More: Justice Department sues Google, alleging company has monopolized advertising market

'Internet troll farm'

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a speech during the opening ceremony of the 20th National Congress of China's ruling Communist Party in Beijing, China, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022.

The second case charged 34 MPS officers for their involvement in a task force that targets Chinese democracy activists and dissidents located outside of China.

Peace said the task force operates as an "internet troll farm" and its members created thousands of fake online personas used to harass, disparage and threaten dissidents and activists worldwide.

In one example, Peace cited how MPS officers would harass Chinese dissidents by interfering with virtual meetings  drowning out meetings with loud music, screams and threats.

"We cannot and will not tolerate the Chinese government's persecution of pro-democracy activists who have sought refuge in this country," Peace said.

More: 'Invisible' crisis: Public defenders still underfunded, understaffed 60 years after key SCOTUS ruling

Censoring speech

In a separate criminal complaint, DOJ's Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division David Newman announced charges against an additional 10 individuals, including six MPS officials, for their role in helping the Chinese government censor speech.

Newman said MPS officers targeted participants in virtual meetings that took place on a U.S.-based tech company's platform in an effort to censor politically sensitive topics unacceptable to the Chinese government, such as the Tiananmen Square Massacre.

"All these cases share a lot in common, including Chinese officials working for and at the direction of the Chinese government and targeting people here on U.S. soil," Newman said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: DOJ: China officials arrested in operation of NYC police station
DOJ headquarters. Liu Jie via Getty Images

The feds charged 46 defendants in three separate cases connected to China's covert operations on US soil.

Two men are accused of hosting a secret Chinese police outpost in Manhattan.

The DOJ also accused 34 defendants of operating an internet troll farm aimed at targeting Chinese dissidents and pro-democracy activists.

The Justice Department announced charges Monday against 46 people in connection to the Chinese government's efforts to spread propaganda in the US and target dissidents on US soil. The announcement marks one of the first criminal prosecutions related to the shadowy network of police stations China maintains outside its territory and without the host state's approval.

Officials announced a trio of cases against a total of 46 defendants:

One case accuses two New York men  Lu Jianwang and Chen Jinping  of operating an "undeclared secret police station" for the Ministry of Public Security, which is China's national police force, out of Chinatown in Manhattan. The New York Times reported that it wasn't immediately clear if Lu and Chen had lawyers.

The second case accuses 34 members of an MPS task force of operating an internet troll farm to target and harass Chinese dissidents and pro-democracy activists.

The third case charges a total of 10 defendants with conspiracy to commit interstate harassment and unlawful conspiracy to transfer means of identification. The complaint accuses a former China-based employee of a US tech company of working closely with the MPS to stifle free speech online. Among other things, officials accused the former employee, Julien Jin, of removing content that was critical of the Chinese government and fabricating evidence of Terms of Service violations in order to shut down virtual meetings organized by those critical of the Chinese Communist Party.

The US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Breon Peace, announced the three cases in a news conference Monday.

Peace said the cases are critical to the US's "fight against the People's Republic of China's transnational activities" and added that the MPS has "repeatedly and flagrantly violated our nation's sovereignty."

Story continues

The secret police outpost that Lu and Chen are accused of operating was located two miles from the EDNY's office, Peace said. The station was shut down last fall after the two defendants learned of an FBI investigation into the matter, prosecutors said. Lu and Chen have been charged with obstruction of justice, and they're also accused of destroying evidence after finding out about the FBI's inquiry. They were arrested in New York City on Monday morning.

Peace said that the police outpost conducted "some government services," but that in order to do so, individuals acting as foreign government agents must notify the US attorney general of their activities, which the defendants did not do.

More importantly, he added, the outpost had a "more sinister use," including in one instance, trying to locate and track a pro-democracy Chinese dissident on US soil.

It would have been "unthinkable" if the New York Police Department tried to do the same in Beijing, Peace said.

The second case revolves around nearly three dozen MPS officers accused of being part of a task force called the "912 special project working group."

Peace said that rather than working to "protect people or combat crimes," this task force "commits crimes" by targeting Chinese activists and dissidents online.

Specifically, officials accused the defendants of trying to "harass" and "threaten" organizers that the Chinese government views as a threat to the Chinese Communist Party whose leaders rule China.

Among other things, the feds say that the 34 defendants repeatedly tried to interfere with and shut down virtual meetings hosted by opponents of CCP; used fake online personas to spread Chinese government propaganda and stoke political divisions ahead of US elections; and amplify conspiracy theories about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a result of the case, Peace said, "the world now has a unique, never before seen view of how the PRC government deployed this army of internet trolls."

The third case, which was announced by DOJ official David Newman, accuses Jin, the former US tech employee, of working with the MPS to scrub online content that was critical of the PRC. Other defendants named in the complaint include six MPS officers, two individuals working for the Cyberspace Administration of China, and one other civilian.

That defendants' alleged crimes "created real effects for victims in the United states, victims whose rights the Department of Justice is committed to protecting," said Newman, who serves as the principal deputy assistant attorney general for the DOJ's national security division.

The three cases detail how China "has engaged in a multi-front campaign to extend the reach and impact of its authoritarian system into the United States and elsewhere around the world," Newman added.

Officials said Monday that the MPS is the common thread in the cases, and Newman said they show how the organization's actual role is more broad, "extending to intelligence and national security operations far beyond China's borders."

Update: This article has been updated to reflect 10 total defendants charged in connection with efforts to remove online content critical of the Chinese Communist Party, per newly unsealed indictments.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A view outside Fox News studios in New York City. (Ed Shaffrey/AP)

The highly anticipated trial in the defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News, which was set to begin Monday morning, has been delayed. Its now scheduled to start on Tuesday.

In a statement issued by the court late Sunday, Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis announced the decision to push back the start of the trial, including jury selection, until Tuesday, April 18, 2023 at 9:00 a.m.

Davis addressed the decision in court Monday morning but offered no additional insight, saying only that such delays are not unusual.

This is not a press conference, he said.

While Davis indicated that the trial would continue as planned on Tuesday morning, some reports suggest that Fox may be making a last-ditch effort to settle the matter out of court.

Yahoo News will bring you live updates from the trial. In the meantime, heres what you need to know about the case.

What is this case about?

Attorney Sidney Powell, with Rudy Giuliani, speaks on Nov. 19, 2020, about lawsuits contesting the results of the presidential election. (Sarah Silbiger for the Washington Post via Getty Images)

The case centers on a number of false claims and baseless conspiracy theories that Fox News hosts and guests made on air in the wake of the 2020 presidential election, which alleged that Dominion Voting Systems, an election technology company, had somehow rigged voting machines to help Joe Biden steal the election from then-President Donald Trump.

Dominion has accused the conservative cable news giant of repeatedly broadcasting those claims, which it knew were false, as part of a cynical strategy to recover viewers loyal to Trump, who had abandoned the network for other conservative outlets like Newsmax after Fox reported, accurately, that Biden had won Arizona.

Dominion is seeking $1.6 billion in damages plus additional punitive damages, which are uncapped in Delaware, for the harm that it says Foxs defamatory broadcasts caused its business.

What evidence does Dominion have?

Fox News host Tucker Carlson at Fox Nation's Patriot Awards in November 2022. (Jason Koerner/Getty Images)

A lot, it seems. Emails, text messages and other testimony in a 192-page court filing submitted by Dominion in February revealed that Fox News figures were aware that the 2020 election conspiracy theories touted by Trump were bogus, even as they repeatedly broadcast the false claims.

Story continues

The communications showed that on-air personalities, including primetime hosts Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity, privately cast doubt on Trumps claims that Dominion's voting machines were rigged in Bidens favor.

The messages included in the filing also revealed panic among the hosts because the network was the first to project that Biden would win Arizona, which angered Trump.

He could easily destroy us if we play it wrong, Carlson wrote in a text message to his producer two days after the election.

A few weeks later, though, Carlson sounded eager to move on from covering Trumps falsehoods. We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights, he texted a colleague on Jan. 4, 2021. I truly cant wait.

He added: I hate him passionately.

What does Fox say?

Anti-Fox News protesters outside the News Corp. building in New York City on March 21. (RW/MediaPunch /IPX via AP)

Fox News argues that it was simply reporting on the newsworthy allegations of voter fraud that Trump and his allies were promoting in the wake of the election and that the broadcasts in question should be protected under the First Amendment.

In its own pretrial filings, Fox accused Dominion of cherry-picking soundbites, omitting key context, and mischaracterizing the record.

Who is expected to testify?

Sean Hannity hosts his primetime Fox News show. (Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)

In a March court filing, Dominion indicated that it wants several of Fox News star hosts and top executives to testify during the trial. Among those who could take the witness stand are Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott and Fox News president Jay Wallace, as well as hosts Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity, Maria Bartiromo and Bret Baier.

The jury could also hear from Abby Grossberg, a former Fox News producer who, in a separate lawsuit filed in March, accused the network of pressuring her into giving misleading testimony during an earlier deposition in the Dominion case.

Earlier this month, the judge said Dominion could even force Fox Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch and his son CEO Lachlan Murdoch to testify, concluding that the Murdochs are relevant to the case.

Why is this case such a big deal?

Defamation cases rarely go before a jury, and if opening statements in the Dominion case are delivered Tuesday as planned, it could be the start of what the New York Times has called the trial of the century.

In the landmark 1964 ruling New York Times v. Sullivan, the Supreme Court set a particularly high bar for public figures who seek to bring libel cases against media organizations, requiring them to prove that defamatory statements were made with actual malice or that the defendant knew they were false at the time or acted with reckless disregard for the truth.

This standard, which is extremely difficult to meet, is meant to give media outlets freedom to make mistakes while reporting on newsworthy events, as long as they dont do so deliberately. Fox has argued that its coverage of Trumps voter fraud allegations should be covered by the First Amendment, accusing Dominion in a statement of taking an extreme view of defamation law that would stop the media in its tracks.

However, many legal scholars and ethics experts have said that Dominion appears to have an unusually large volume of evidence that Fox hosts and executives knew the vote rigging claims were false at the time they were aired and broadcast them anyway.

What has the judge said so far?

An artist's sketch of Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)

Davis has already dealt a significant blow to Foxs defense in a pretrial ruling last month, in which he concluded that Dominion had successfully proved that the statements in question were false, meaning a jury will have to decide only whether Fox should be liable for broadcasting them.

In the same ruling, Davis poked holes in Foxs argument that it was simply reporting on newsworthy statements from a sitting president and his allies by noting that the network failed to balance those claims with statements provided by Dominion and various government officials disproving the fraud allegations.

Ahead of the trial, Davis also sanctioned Fox for withholding relevant evidence from Dominion and the court, including regarding Rupert Murdochs role at Fox News. The networks attorneys had repeatedly maintained that Murdoch, the founder and chairman of Fox Corporation, Fox News parent company, had no official role at the cable news network. A week ago, however, the attorneys revealed that Murdoch is also officially the executive chairman of Fox News, prompting condemnation from the judge, who promised to launch an investigation.

I need people to tell me the truth, Davis said at a hearing earlier this month. By the way, an omission is a lie.

How long is the trial supposed to last?

About six weeks, according to the Associated Press.

Will it be televised?

Cameras will not be allowed in the courtroom. A live audio feed will be available through a special phone line set up by the court, but Davis has banned any recording or rebroadcasting of the proceedings. Several media outlets objected to the ban, asking the judge to allow them to record and use excerpts of the audio. Davis has yet to rule on that request.

What has Trump said about the case?

Donald Trump speaks during the National Rifle Association Convention in Indianapolis on April 14. (Darron Cummings/AP)

The former president has multiple legal battles of his own to worry about, but that doesnt mean he doesnt have strong opinions about the case, as evidenced by the all-caps missives posted to Truth Social, his social media platform, on Monday morning.

IF FOX WOULD FINALLY ADMIT THAT THERE WAS LARGE SCALE CHEATING & IRREGULARITIES IN THE 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, WHICH WOULD BE A GOOD THING FOR THEM, & FOR AMERICA, THE CASE AGAINST THEM, WHICH SHOULD NOT HAVE EXISTED AT ALL, WOULD BE GREATLY WEAKENED. BACK UP THOSE PATRIOTS AT FOX INSTEAD OF THROWING THEM UNDER THE BUS - & THEY ARE RIGHT! THERE IS SOOO MUCH PROOF, LIKE MASS BALLOT STUFFING CAUGHT ON GOVERNMENT CAMERAS, FBI COLLUDING WITH TWITTER & FACEBOOK, STATE LEGISLATURES NOT USED, etc., read Trumps message.
Nearly 40 suits allege that an array of corporations  including Wells Fargo & Co. and Delta Air Lines  made false claims about their diversity and equity efforts over the past three years.

Some large corporations are at the center of dozens of lawsuits due to their failure to live up to diversity commitments they made, most of which came after George Floyds death at the hands of Minneapolis police.

Following Floyds murder in 2020, many businesses moved quickly to issue statements and adopt new procedures to combat racial, ethnic and gender inequalities among their employee ranks. According to Bloomberg Law, several investor and employee lawsuits mention those new policies, and more are sure to follow if firms dont incorporate DEI pledges into board and staff operations.

Youre going to likely  at least for a while  continue to see that tested, said Tyree Jones, who chairs Reed Smiths Global Labor and Employment Group, Bloomberg Law reported. Particularly as more companies too, sign on with very clear DEI goals and objectives, and then their employees or shareholders seek to hold them accountable for that.

A sign marks a Wells Fargo bank in Mill Valley, California. The company is among several businesses that are being sued for their failure to uphold their commitments to diversity in the workplace. (Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Nearly 40 lawsuits allege that various businesses, including Wells Fargo & Co. and Delta Air Lines Inc., made false claims about their efforts to diversity and equity over the past three years.

Wells Fargo is embroiled in at least five shareholder lawsuits asserting the bank violated its fiduciary duties by breaking federal anti-discrimination rules. The company allegedly performed sham interviews to nominally fulfill a diversity-enhancing policy, according to one suit last month filed by the Asbestos Workers Philadelphia Pension Fund.

Wells Fargos board took action on DEI concerns only after negative media coverage forced them to, the lawsuit claims. According to internal documents cited by the pension fund, the board still had major difficulties meeting its DEI goals after chief executive officer Charlie Scharf launched his Diverse Search Requirement program, which mandated interviewing diverse candidates for any open positions paying more than $100,000 annually.

Story continues

Bloomberg Law ran searches on lawsuits for diversity, DEI and diversity, equity and inclusion and other terms to gauge the scope of cases shareholders and employees filed against firms in the United States since Floyds May 2020 killing enraged millions.

Sarah Fortt, worldwide co-chair of Latham & Watkins LLPs environmental, social and governance practice, noted that the rise in lawsuits appears to result from increased employment discrimination claims based on historically protected classes, such as race/ethnicity and gender. She also noted a spike in reverse discrimination claims.

According to a March 2021 lawsuit against Delta Airlines, a worker faced sexism, discrimination, antagonism and harassment, alleging treatment that violated its policies. Citing the companys internal ethical policy manual, equal employment opportunity and non-discrimination policy, the employee claimed Delta neglected its policies and procedures.

A judge rejected the case five months later only because the employee failed to file the allegations  reaching back to 2017  within the 300-day requirement period.

According to Bloomberg Law, a Wells Fargo spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuit and Delta did not answer a request for comment.

Some of the lawsuits take the form of shareholder derivative proceedings, in which investors claim that a companys failure to achieve specific DEI goals  such as raising the proportion of women in management  caused the value of its stock to decline.

Jones stated that shareholder derivative actions have been present in the responses he has observed over the past two years, really on both sides of the coin.

Either challenging that the company was really fulfilling its stated commitment to DEI objectives, he said, according to Bloomberg Law, or questioning whether the companys commitment to DEI objectives was actually taking away from the bottom line and a non-business related distraction.

DEI-specialized lawyers, academics and practitioners contend that companies must balance the needs of the business, employees, shareholders and customers when creating progressive initiatives while averting legal action from any of those groups.

Jones and others suggested that one strategy is formulating policies aspirationally or in general terms. Instead of creating a strict quota to employ a specific number of people of color for its board, a corporation may aim to match the proportion of people of color in its workforce to that of people of color on its board.

Elena Philipova, director of sustainable finance at Refinitiv, a data and research division of the London Stock Exchange Group, said the most prosperous businesses are open and honest about their objectives, pay attention to their staff and incorporate DEI objectives into all operations.

It really needs to be genuine and authentic and built into the DNA of the organization, noted Philipova, Bloomberg reported, and then being transparent about it.

TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and Android TV. Also, please download theGrio mobile apps today!

The post Dozens of lawsuits filed after companies fail to fulfill diversity promises, per a new report appeared first on TheGrio.
For President Joe Biden, preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon is a core national security objective. Biden administration officials across the government frequently state that the U.S. will do whatever is required to accomplish this goal and that all available options are on the table to ensure Tehran never becomes a de facto nuclear weapons power.

The U.S., in partnership with its allies, has sat down with Iran for about a year and a half in an attempt to bring the 2015 Iran nuclear deal back to life. Diplomacy, however, has run aground since September, when Tehran reportedly walked away from a draft agreement that would have granted the parties some major wins: economic sanctions relief for Iran and a stringent inspections regime for the U.S.

Advertisement

There have been no negotiating sessions since then. Irans nuclear program, meanwhile, isnt standing still. According to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley, Iran is less than two weeks from producing enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon and months away from producing an actual nuclear warhead if it decides to do so. The situation is getting so tense that some think tanks in Washington are recommending stronger U.S. action against Iran, including military strikes and even regime change, if Iranian leaders dont turn away from their current course.

[ Geoff LaMear: A military strike would not guarantee a nuclear-free Iran ]

But military action runs the high risk of Iranian military retaliation against the tens of thousands of U.S. forces stationed in the Middle East at any given time. Given the constellation of U.S. military bases in the Persian Gulf in range of Irans ballistic missile inventory, Tehran would have plenty of targets to choose from. The risk-reward ratio of igniting a regional conflagration for the sake of temporarily degrading Irans nuclear program is out of whack.

Advertisement

Diplomacy, however frustrating it has proved to be, remains the least costly way to accomplish two of the Biden administrations goals simultaneously: preventing an Iranian nuclear bomb while avoiding another war in the Middle East. If the White House has even a slight chance of threading this needle, it will need to revise its negotiating posture.

This may sound odd at first. Iran, after all, is the party most culpable for why the nuclear talks are in purgatory. It was Iran, for instance, that decided at the last minute to retable its demand that the International Atomic Energy Agency formally shut down its yearslong investigation in return for a signature. It is Iran that refuses to answer the IAEAs legitimate queries about previous nuclear work. Iran continues to insist on a guarantee from Biden that economic sanctions wont be reimposed by a future administration  a guarantee Biden doesnt have the power to give.

Unfortunately, the current U.S. position only adds to the difficulties. When the nuclear talks began in April 2021, the White House wisely chose to separate the nuclear file from other points of dispute between Washington and Tehran, including but not limited to Irans support for terrorism, the civil-turned-proxy war in Yemen and the periodic rocket attacks that Iran-supported militias launch toward U.S. locations in Iraq and Syria.

The strategy was an outgrowth of President Barack Obamas, who understood early on that tackling everything at once was a recipe for leaving the negotiating table with nothing to show for the effort.

As Obama told The New York Times Thomas Friedman when the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, was signed in July 2015, Were not measuring this deal by whether we are solving every problem that can be traced back to Iran, whether we are eliminating all their nefarious activities around the globe. The deal, he commented, would be measured on one metric alone: whether Iran remained nuclear-free.

Biden, however, has settled on a strategy far different from his former bosss. Rather than being siloed from each other, nuclear and nonnuclear issues are increasingly being lumped into the same basket. Tehrans military support for Russias war in Ukraine, human rights abuses at home and the ongoing crackdown on anti-government protesters have become as much of a driver of the current impasse as the nuclear program itself.

[ Ali Tarokh: Draconian sanctions and warmongering undermine democracy in Iran ]

If public words are any guidance, it appears as if the U.S. will settle for nothing less than Iranian policy concessions across the board. U.S. special envoy Robert Malley told the BBC on Feb. 1 that the U.S. wants Iran to come back into compliance with its nuclear obligations and stop aiding Moscows aggression in Ukraine.

Less than two weeks earlier, Secretary of State Antony Blinken essentially admitted during a news conference with United Kingdom Foreign Secretary James Cleverly that negotiating a framework toward the JCPOAs reimplementation was a no longer a priority. As Blinken said at the time, The JCPOA has not been on the agenda as a practical matter for many months now. Its not our focus. He then listed two issues that were: Irans arms shipments to Russia and the stifling of protests inside Iran itself.

Advertisement

Read between the lines, and the message becomes clear  if Iran still wants U.S. sanctions relief, it will have to go above and beyond respecting its nuclear obligations. Donald Trump made similar demands during his presidency, only to leave office having accomplished nothing.

The point isnt to absolve Iran of its poor behavior. Indeed, it is possible Irans supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, believes his nation no longer needs to trade its nuclear progress for economic prosperity; the Iranians are increasingly looking East and leaning more heavily on China as an economic counterbalance to the West.

None of us can say with certitude what Irans political leadership is thinking at any given moment. What can be said with reasonable certainty is that by asking for too much, the White House is making a difficult situation downright impossible.

Daniel DePetris is a fellow at Defense Priorities and a foreign affairs columnist for the Chicago Tribune.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
Randy the ring-tailed lemur is an enthusiastic, if slightly fussy, research subject.

Splay-legged and wide-eyed, he buried his snout in a purple plastic cup last week and began his experimental task of the day  to eat a mash of dragon fruit, bell peppers, squash and blackberries.

Then, with two long bulbous fingers, Randy reached into his plastic cup, plucked a chunk of bell pepper out, and threw it to the side.

Bell peppers are an important data point for Duke Lemur Center researchers: they are studying how different types of seeds grow after passing through a lemurs digestive tract.

But ultimately, Randy has a lot of control over whether  and how  he chooses to participate in scientific studies at the DLC.

We do research through voluntary participation, said Erin Ehmke, director of research. Were not forcing them to do anything.

For decades, non-human primates  with whom we share more than 95% of our DNA sequence have offered scientists a window into complex human diseases.

Erin Ehmke, director of research at the Duke Lemur Center, feeds Ring-tailed Lemurs fruit and seeds as a part of an ecological experiment in the facilitys forested enclosure on Wednesday, April 12, 2023, in Durham, N.C.

Studying their brains and bodies, which closely resemble human anatomy, has produced numerous medical advances, like HIV treatments, the COVID-19 vaccines and chemotherapy.

But what makes them such good models for studying human problems, namely their human-ness, is also what has thrown the future of primate research into uncertainty.

A Ring-tailed Lemur eats fruit and seeds as a part of an ecological experiment in a forested enclosure at the Duke Lemur Center on Wednesday, April 12, 2023, in Durham, N.C.

In the last decade, mounting ethical concerns about whether intelligent animals should be subject to invasive experiments have pushed federal agencies to scale back funding and some of the countrys largest primate research centers to shutter.

The Duke Lemur Center leaders see an alternative approach to primate research, where research questions can be studied non-invasively and even with the primates cooperation.

Its a way of changing the paradigm of research: it can be humane and theres still a lot of great work that comes out of it, said Greg Dye, executive director of the center.

Tiny hats and computer games

On the centers 100 acres of enclosed forest, lemurs spend most of their days napping in trees and foraging for wild fruits and leaves. For nearly 60 years, the institution has housed generations of lemurs, our most distant primate cousins, whom Ehmke likes to call living fossils.

Story continues

When lemurs living there are used in research, Ehmke said theyre treated as willing participants, giving lemurs like Randy the latitude to turn up their noses at unappetizing peppers.

At a minimum, experiments conducted at the DLC cannot cause harm to the lemurs, many of whom belong to critically endangered species.

A Ring-tailed Lemur enjoys the morning sun in a forested enclosure at the Duke Lemur Center on Wednesday, April 12, 2023, in Durham, N.C.

The board responsible for vetting research proposals asks a simple question when judging whether to approve the experiment: Would we do this study on ourselves?

But Ehmke thinks some of the best research proposals go a step further, to think up experiments the lemurs actually enjoy.

One study, for example, provided lemurs with blankets and memory foam mattresses to study their nesting behavior. In her office Ehmke keeps a photo of one of the study participants, peering out contently from a cocoon of blankets.

Another research project used a touch-screen computer to study color blindness in ruffed lemurs. In exchange for raisins and dried cranberries, they were trained to tap a red square when it popped up on the monitor.

Some lemurs liked playing the computer game so much that the scientists had to bribe them with treats to stop playing, said Raymond Vagell, a Texas State University Ph.D. candidate, who has centered his research around primates at the DLC.

The lemurs do not want to leave, Vagell told the Lemur Conservation Network. Its like a child that cant get enough of their video games or TV.

A ruffed-lemur plays a computer game designed to test color blindness. Some of the primates enjoyed the games so much, they had to be lured away from the computer with treats.

A scientific opportunity

Vagell said non-invasive research is not just an ethical perk it can also produce better scientific research.

Depending on what questions youre asking, a stressed animal will give you different data than an animal thats not stressed, he said.

These harmless research techniques, when applied creatively, can also be used to study trickier biomedical topics, like brain diseases, Ehmke said.

DLC researchers plan to use computer games to track cognitive decline in mouse lemurs, who, like humans with Alzheimers disease, experience brain shrinkage and a build-up of amyloid plaques as they age.

Ehmke said many primate researchers have been challenged to find new, non-invasive methods to collect primate data thanks to the DLCs policies.

It could be something as simple as swapping a blood test for a saliva sample, which DLC researchers collect by letting lemurs chew banana-flavored cotton swabs.

One visiting scientist who had previously bolted a camera into lemurs skulls to study their eye movement was pushed to redesign their entire experiment, Ehmke said.

At the DLC, the scientist discovered it was possible to collect similar data by conditioning the lemurs to wear Velcro camera hats and tiny vests to hold the battery packs.

One lemur, so taken with the training, began to happily put the hat atop his own little head, Ehmke said.

Teddy Rosenbluth covers science and health care for The News & Observer in a position funded by Duke Health and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work.
(Bloomberg) -- Russia and China pose the greatest threats to the national security of the Netherlands, according to Dutch intelligence agency.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Beijing is an important trading partner of the Netherlands, but it poses the greatest threat to the Dutch economic security, the General Intelligence and Security Service, known by its Dutch initials AIVD, said in its annual report published on Monday. The agency said China targets Dutch high-tech companies and institutions through corporate takeovers, academic cooperation, as well as illegitimate (digital) espionage, insiders, covert investments and illegal exports.

The report comes as the Netherlands announced plans to expand restrictions on semiconductor equipment under pressure from the Biden administration as the US seeks to undermine growing Chinese chip production capacity. It also follows an earlier intelligence report by the AIVD that said Russia has covertly mapped Dutch infrastructure in the North Sea and undertakes activities that indicate espionage and preparatory actions for disruption and sabotage.

Read: Dutch Seek Middle Ground as US-China Chip Dispute Intensifies

Earlier this year, ASML Holding NV, a critical cog in the global semiconductor industry, accused a former China-based employee of stealing confidential information. The Dutch technology company, which makes machines needed to produce high-end chips used in everything from electric vehicles to military gear, initiated an internal investigation and tightened security controls after discovering the incident, which may have violated export controls.

The intelligence agency said many Dutch companies and institutions find it difficult to make a proper risk assessment of economic and scientific cooperation with China. The country often conceals that the Chinese government or the Chinese army may be involved in such cooperation in the background, said the report. The disadvantages of cooperation often only become apparent in the longer term.

Story continues

The agency said Iran and North Korea are also involved in digital attacks, in addition to Russia and China.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Tuesday at a regular press briefing in Beijing that relevant officials should stop hyping up the so-called China threat narrative.

Read: Macron Gets Europes China Problem  and Hes Making It Worse

(Updates with comment from Chinas Foreign Ministry.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Eastbound 103rd Street is closed in the 9400 block due to a crash, the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office said.

The 9400 block of 103rd Street is west of Old Middleburg Road South and near Duval Charter School at Westside K-8.

JSO said the crash will have the road closed for an undetermined length of time.

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]

Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
As a teenager with dreams of becoming a professional dancer, Katie Kilbourn often found herself comparing her body to the ones she saw on stage. By age 16, she started engaging in disordered eating behaviors  initially restricting the food she consumed and later purging.

Through therapy and support groups, Kilbourn, 31, of Sacramento, eventually found healing. But it wasnt until her eating disorders had taken over her life that she says anyone talked to her about accepting and celebrating the body she was given.

I was well into my late teens before I started hearing people say things like all bodies are good bodies or that you can be successful no matter what you look like, she said. If someone had talked to me when I was like 12 or younger, I think it would have helped nip things in the bud.

Assemblyman Josh Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, is hoping a new bill he authored will do just that for young girls and teenagers growing up in California today. That includes his three young daughters, ages 8, 11 and 12.

Theyre coming from a generation that was pushed into social media, especially in the pandemic, without having proper guardrails around its impacts on their emotional development, Lowenthal said about his daughters. And Im seeing the effects firsthand.

Assembly Bill 10 would require school districts, county offices of education and charter schools to develop and adopt policies and resources about body shaming before the 202526 school year.

Teen eating disorders on the rise after the pandemic

Body shaming  criticizing or commenting on the appearance of oneself or others in a way that often leads to comparison and shame  has spread alongside the explosion of social media in recent years.

Research shows that girls start to express concerns about their weight or shape as early as age 6.

Nearly 1 in 10 Americans is believed to struggle with an eating disorder, which includes anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder, during their lifetime, according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders.

Story continues

But young girls and teens today seem to be at an even greater risk.

A study published in November 2022 found that eating disorders among young adults spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thats in addition to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that revealed nearly 3 in 5 U.S. teen girls felt persistently sad or hopeless in 2021  double that of boys and a nearly 60% increase over the past decade.

Jessica BarthNesbitt, regional nutrition director for Eating Recovery Center, said efforts like Lowenthals bill to increase awareness and education will be critical to reverse those trends.

When you talk about bringing curriculum around self-esteem into schools, that really does help influence someones view of their own body and other bodies in addition to helping to dispel some of the misinformation that may be in the media around what an ideal or normal body is for people, she said.

Body shaming and bullying policies inside California schools

While many school districts have anti-bullying policies in place, Lowenthal said he believes more education is needed.

Its not necessarily about bullying in a way that kids are trying to inflict pain, he said. What Ive found is that kids are talking about each others bodies and comparing them, but they dont understand the impacts it may be making on their friends.

Sacramento City Unified School District has a bullying policy that states a student shall not be harassed, intimidated, or bullied based on a slew of characteristics, including disability; gender; race or ethnicity; religion and sexual orientation. The districts student sexual harassment policy also prohibits graphic verbal comments about an individuals body.

Al Goldberg, a spokesperson for Sacramento City Unified School District, said the district does not comment on pending legislation.

The goal of this bill is not to put a burden on schools, Lowenthal said. We simply want to make sure that teachers and administrators have the resources available so theyre armed to deal with it.

Rejecting negative body comments for next generation

Although its been more than a decade since Kilbourn engaged in disordered eating behaviors, she said there are still a lot of aspiring dancers who face pressure to lose weight and look a certain way.

Seeking to combat that culture, Kilbourn created a nonprofit dance company centered around inspiring body positivity and self-appreciation.

And while shes working as a dance instructor to inspire confidence in her community, she hopes a similar message can be spread more widely through schools.

I want to give children the tools that they need to stand up for themselves and to continue fighting back against this negative culture that we live in, she said. And if we start to have these conversations with younger students and younger children, hopefully we can have that impact on them sooner.
Eddie Marsan has shut down an agitated fan who called him a woke lefty after he defended Good Morning Britain presenter Adil Ray against racist bullying.

Earlier this month, Ray opened up about the racism he had been subjected to on social media following disparaging comments made about British-Pakistani men by Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

To see the racist bullying @adilray has been subject to over the last few days, has been heartbreaking, but the way hes dealt with it, with skill, humour and far superior intelligence has been inspiring, Marsan tweeted on Sunday (16 April).

The next day, a user responded to The Power stars post, angrily writing: I wish you were like the characters you portrayed. Not the woke lefty who tweets what he thinks people want to hear [middle finger emoji].

Shortly after, Marsan replied: Have you seen the characters I play?

The 54-year-old British actor currently features in Amazon Prime Videos new original series The Power as London crime boss Bernie Monke.

Across his lengthy and varied acting career, Marsans best known for his portrayal of real-life fraudster John Darwin in The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe, despondent former boxer Terry Donavan in Ray Donavan, and the villainous Red in Hancock.

Have you seen the characters I play? https://t.co/S59MNOsmvh  Eddie Marsan (@eddiemarsan) April 17, 2023

On 2 April, Braverman singled out British-Pakistani men while discussing the government crackdown on child sexual abuse.

Braverman claimed that a predominance of certain ethnic groups  and I say British Pakistani males  hold cultural values totally at odds with British values.

Later that week on GMB, while discussing the governments refugee policy, Ray shared his fear that the country was becoming more divided.

We had another divide this week with [Bravermans] comments about the community that I belong to, the British-Pakistani community, the presenter said.

Simply labelling British Pakistani men [as having] an issue when it comes to English white girls, he continued, I have suffered nothing but racism for the last seven days.
An 85-old Beaufort County man died Thursday afternoon in a head-on collision on a Jasper County highway, according to the Coroners Office.

Charles Chaplin, the driver of a Cadillac SRX, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, which took place around 4:25 p.m. on Highway 462, Jasper County Coroner Willie P. Aiken III announced.

Headed south, Chaplin was driving around another vehicle when he lost control and went into the northbound lane, striking a Ford Explorer head-on, Aiken said.

The other driver was taken to Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah and was still in the hospital as of Tuesday afternoon.

Born in Port Royal in 1938, Chaplin served in the U.S. Air Force before becoming a full-time commercial fisherman in coastal South Carolina, a vocation that became his heart and soul, according to his obituary. Remembering Chaplin by his fondness for animals, his family encourages donations to the Beaufort County Animal Shelter or Jasper Animal Rescue Misson.

A service for Chaplin is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday, April 20, at Anderson Funeral Home, to be followed by burial with military honors in Beaufort National Cemetery.

The Ridgeland Police Department is investigating the crash.
Eleanor Catton. Courtesy Image

New Zealand novelist Eleanor Catton is the author of The Luminaries, which won the 2013 Booker Prize. Her follow-up, Birnam Wood, is a current best-seller about a group of climate activists battling a U.S. billionaire over a remote tract of land.

'Who Cooked Adam Smith's Dinner? A Story of Women and Economics' by Katrine Marcal (2012)

In this highly readable book, Swedish journalist Katrine Marcal explodes the foundational myths of the free market, exposing capitalist pieties, immaturities, and self-deceptions and refocusing our attention on the deep interconnectedness of labor and love. Buy it here.

'Frankenstein' by Mary Shelley (1818)

It's hard to believe that Shelley was only 19 when she wrote this fearsome, deeply felt, up-to-the-minute contemporary, formally perfect novel. What would our culture look like without Frankenstein? I can't even imagine it. Shelley spawned whole genres and experiments. Buy it here.

'On the Abolition of All Political Parties' by Simone Weil (1950)

I have lent my support to political parties in the past, but after reading this, I vowed never to do it again. Weil argues persuasively that the endgame of party membership is losing the ability to think for yourself; a true citizenry should be discussing policies, not parties. She also offers an interesting alternative model. A book that speaks urgently to our times. Buy it here.

'Minor Detail' by Adania Shibli (2017)

Dispossession, occupation, memory, and control are all coolly interrogated in this spare and devastating novel about a woman who becomes obsessed with a "minor detail" of history: the rape and murder of a Palestinian woman in 1949. The exacting prose style filled me with such dread that I couldn't bear to stop reading. Buy it here.

'A Dark-Adapted Eye' by Ruth Rendell (1986)

This complex thriller had me wrong-footed right until the end. One of Faith Severn's aunts murdered another, and was hanged for it. Years later, Faith tries to piece together what really happened. I was blown away by the assurance and sophistication of this interwoven family story. Buy it here.

Story continues

'The Vagrants' by Yiyun Li (2009)

I read this astonishing novel more than a decade ago and it has never let me go. Set in Communist China in the aftermath of an execution, the story raises urgent questions about censorship, the nature of protest, and the psychology of crowds. I am curious to reread it. I can only imagine that its powerful message will resonate all the more powerfully today. Buy it here.

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.

You may also like

5 unethically funny cartoons about Clarence Thomas

Leaked U.S. files jumped from online spats to global breach through pro-Russia account run by U.S. Navy vet

Codeword: April 15, 2023
Tarrant County elected officials expressed support Monday for outgoing elections administrator Heider Garcia.

Garcia resigned via a letter dated April 16 sent to County Judge Tim OHare and County Administrator G.K. Maenius. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram obtained the letter on Monday.

Garcia, who has been the election administrator since 2018, referenced a meeting with OHare and their different views about how to run elections as the reason for his departure.

You made it clear in our last meeting that your formula is different, thus, my decision to leave, Garcia wrote. I wish you the best; Tarrant County deserves that you find success.

In a statement Monday afternoon, OHare wrote: As County Judge and Chair of the Tarrant County Election Commission, I want nothing more than quality, transparent elections in Tarrant County. Supporting the creation of an Election Integrity Task Force was all about quality, transparent elections. Mr. Garcia voluntarily resigned his position, and I wish him well in his future endeavors. I will be calling a meeting of the County Election Commission in the coming days to discuss the hiring of a new Elections Administrator.

Tarrant County leaders have discussed in recent months ideas to look into voter fraud, despite audits that have failed to find issues.

Tarrant GOP chair Rick Barnes, who is running in the 2024 commissioners race, said its fair to ask why things are done a certain way, and if the answer is thats how its always been done, its not a fair answer.

In a statement, Tarrant County Democratic Party chair Allison Campolo wrote she was alarmed about the circumstances that lead up to Garcias resignation.

We condemn Judge Tim OHare and other members of the extremist Republican party for fostering an environment of misinformation and distrust in our electoral process such that a professional Elections Administrator can no longer facilitate voting in Tarrant County, she wrote.

Story continues

Campolo also wrote the party was concerned OHare would select an election denier to replace Garcia as elections administrator who would remove transparency and disenfranchise voters.

We ask all Tarrant County voters to remain vigilant on whom Judge OHare is interested in for Tarrant Countys next elections administrator, and to make your voices heard at the Commissioners Court, she wrote.

The @TarrantDemParty is extremely concerned with the resignation of Elections Administrator Heider Garcia. We are asking all citizens to stay vigilant and in contact with the Commissioners Court in the process of hiring our next Administrator. pic.twitter.com/3BzTR509sx  Dr. Allison Campolo (@AllisonCampolo) April 17, 2023

Commissioner Roy Brooks said Garcia was one of the best elections administrators in the state of Texas.

He said Garcia had routinely received praise for how he ran elections from both Republicans and Democrats.

He runs good elections, Brooks said. He has been transparent as the elections administrator with both the commissioners court, the party chair and individual voters, even inviting them to come out and participate in mock elections using real voting machines so that people can get a feel for how the system works and they can follow the ballot they pass through the entire elections process.

Brooks said he hoped OHares hand-picked successor would rise to the same performance levels Garcia had set in Tarrant County. Brooks also said he did not think Garcias resignation said more about OHare than it did Tarrant County elections.

Commissioner Gary Fickes told the Star-Telegram he thought Garcia did a good job, but was surprised Garcia stayed on as long as he did because things got pretty rough on him.

Fickes said there was a third group of people who thought Tarrant Countys elections werent being run properly before mentioning the Secretary of States office audit that came back clean.

You got to give a lot of credit to the people who are running it, and that would be Heider, but he still was being attacked and that we, you know, we had something going on in our elections, Fickes said. There was something wrong with Tarrant County elections. I never could get anybody to show me what was wrong.

Commissioner Alisa Simmons wrote on Twitter on Monday it was unfortunate that a stellar county Elections Administrator, who has operated an office void of political interests, is forced to resign. This is what you get when you have commissioners court members playing political chess with our elections process.

It is unfortunate that a stellar county Elections Administrator, who has operated an office void of political interests, is forced to resign. This is what you get when you have commissioners court members playing political chess with our elections process. https://t.co/sZrYZgUVwS  Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons (@CommALSimmons) April 17, 2023

Simmons wrote in a separate Facebook post that This highly regarded elections expert has more elections experience in his pinky finger than the Tarrant County judge who has repeatedly disrespected this man.

Fort Worth City Secretary Fort Worth City Secretary Jannette Goodall wrote in a statement sent to the Star-Telegram that the county would continue to be a valued partner to the city and its municpal election process.

I thank Elections Administrator Heider Garcia for his collaboration and association with previous elections, she wrote. Additionally, I have faith that the establishment of the strict protocols and procedures we have in place, lend well to safeguarding the integrity of our May 6 election, as well as future elections. I wish Heider well.

Commissioners Manny Ramirez was not immediately available for comment.

The U.S. Department of Justice, which investigates and pursues violations of federal civil and criminal laws related to voting, declined to comment.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk claimed in an interview that the U.S. government has full access to users private direct messages, saying knowing that information blew his mind.

In an excerpt of his Fox News interview with host Tucker Carlson, Musk told Carlson that he was shocked to find out about the governments ability to read users direct messages on his platform.

The degree to which government agencies effectively had full access to everything that was going on on Twitter blew my mind, Musk, who recently founded an artificial intelligence company called X.AI, told Carlson in the interview set to air on Tuesday. I was not aware of that.

Would that include peoples DMs? Carlson asked Musk.

Yes, Musk replied to Carlson.

Musk also expressed his concern about the latest wave of artificial intelligence, referred to as A.I., telling Carlson that he believes the technology has the potential to destroy civilization.

AI is more dangerous than, say, mismanaged aircraft design or production maintenance, or bad car production in the sense that it has the potential  however small one may regard that probability, but it is non-trivial  it has the potential for civilizational destruction, Musk said.

The remarks come as Musk, who officially purchased the social media platform last month, has embroiled himself in another feud with National Public Radio (NPR), an independent news organization.

NPR announced last week that it would let its Twitter accounts go dormant and no longer post on the social media platform in response to Twitter adding a state-affiliated media label to a number of media outlets that receive some public funding.

Twitter then dropped the state-affiliated label and changed it to say government funded, after receiving widespread pushback from the decision.

In a statement, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said that NPR is an independent news organization, saying If anyone were to follow their coverage, it is clear that they are indeed an independent news organization.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Tarrant County election administrator Heider Garcia is latest election administrator in Texas to step down over concerns about election integrity.

Garcia resigned in an April 16 letter citing differences with county judge Tim OHare over how to administer a quality, transparent election, according to a letter obtained by the Star-Telegram.

Michele Carew, who served as Hood County election administrator between August 2020 and November 2021, said the political pressure leading to Garcias resignation is becoming more commonplace in Texas.

Its honestly embarrassing for Texas elections, she said. As an election administrator, were brought in, were nonpolitical, we do a job, we follow the law, and this is the thanks that we get.

Carew resigned after a facing months of attacks on her integrity from Hood County officials over unfounded claims of fraud and bias stemming from the 2020 election.

She pointed to three Gillespie County election officials who resigned over similar complaints in August 2022 to frame Garcias resignation as part of a statewide trend.

Making people unhappy is part of being an elections administrator in Texas, said Trudy Hancock, president of the Texas Association of Election Administrators.

While Hancock didnt see Garcia stepping down as part of a trend, she said there has been a lot of turnover in the election administration field since the 2020 presidential election.

The increased stress can start weighing on you, she said. I want to be around a long time for my grandkids.

Chris Davis, who runs elections in Williamson County, said Garcias resignation is a loss for the voters of Tarrant County.

He set the gold standard for Texas elections by being able to prioritize both accuracy and transparency, Davis said.

His shoes are going to be quite large to fill for anybody to succeed him, he said.
Yemen's warring factions conclude large-scale prisoner swap

Xinhua) 08:15, April 17, 2023

Prisoners released disembark from a plane during a prisoner exchange at the Sanaa airport in Sanaa, Yemen, April 16, 2023. (Photo by Mohammed Mohammed/Xinhua)

ADEN, Yemen, April 16 (Xinhua) -- In a significant step toward resolving the protracted conflict in Yemen, the country's warring factions successfully completed a massive exchange of prisoners on Sunday, with a total of 887 detainees swapped over three consecutive days.

Yahya Kazman, chief of the negotiation committee from the internationally-recognized Yemeni government, said the third and final batch of the swap took place successfully on Sunday, with the arrival of three simultaneous Red Cross flights at the airport of Sanaa and the airport of Tadween in Marib, central Yemen.

Over the past three days, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the United Nations have facilitated the transportation of hundreds of prisoners between Yemen's regions and Saudi Arabia via various airports.

A released prisoner is welcomed at the Sanaa airport in Sanaa, Yemen, April 16, 2023. Photo by Mohammed Mohammed/Xinhua)

High-profile figures, including Nasser Mansour Hadi, the brother of former Yemeni president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, and Mahmoud Al Subeihi, the country's former defense minister, were among those who were freed.

The prisoner swap comes as part of ongoing efforts aimed at building trust between the Yemeni government and the Houthi militia, who have been engaged in a brutal internal conflict since late 2014.

It is also widely regarded as a vital milestone in preparing a favorable environment and showcasing mutual commitment from both parties to actively participate in forthcoming peace negotiations with the ultimate aim of achieving permanent peace.

Following the successful exchange of prisoners between the Yemeni government and the Houthi militia, local observers said that the move has ignited a glimmer of optimism for further deals that could potentially lead to the release of all those held in captivity.

Yemen has been embroiled in a years-long military conflict after the Houthi militia, backed by Iran, took control of several northern cities and ousted the Saudi-backed Yemeni government from the capital, Sanaa in 2014.

The ongoing conflict has resulted in a staggering number of casualties and has pushed the Arab world's poorest country into a humanitarian crisis, including widespread famine.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Activists protest in New York on March 9, 2023, against a public safety training center being built near Atlanta. The facility has become a focal point of demonstrations opposing development in one of the state's most pristine forests. (Spencer Platt / Getty Images)

While federal law prohibits international terrorism, it defines but does not yet prohibit domestic terrorism. In the absence of congressional authorization, the FBI and Justice Department simply have not had the resources to address the increasing frequency of white supremacist violence over the last decade.

Fortunately, most states filled the gap after 9/11. The first wave of state laws in 2002 closely followed the federal Patriot Act of 2001 in focusing on threats such as the use of weapons of mass destruction. And in the past five years, many states updated their anti-terrorism statutes to cover racially and religiously motivated domestic hate crimes.

Advertisement

Unfortunately, some states have also been using their anti-terrorism statutes to combat progressive activism. The most recent example is in Atlanta, where Georgias anti-terrorism statute, despite containing a provision protecting free speech, is being wielded against 42 individuals who have been protesting the building of a public safety training center known as Cop City in the Weelaunee Forest. Their terrorist crimes include attending a music event sponsored by environmental activists, marching in downtown Atlanta and tree-sitting. And to compound the injustice, the Atlanta Police Department apparently didnt make the effort to find probable cause against all of the defendants, according to reporting by The Guardian.

Even if the ridiculous charges are suddenly or eventually dropped, the damage has already been done. Most of these individuals have been imprisoned for weeks to months without bail, and they still face long and costly legal battles.

Advertisement

As progressives see more and more of their ideological compatriots being forced into the criminal justice system, many of them will be less likely to exercise their own First Amendment rights to free speech and association. This chilling effect will only be compounded by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemps Jan. 26 declaration of a state of emergency against unlawful assemblage. In direct contradiction of the federal Posse Comitatus Act, this declaration gives the governor power to use the National Guard against its own citizens, even in the context of lawful political protest.

Prosecutors are referring to many of the Atlanta defendants as outside agitators, the very same pejorative label that was applied to Freedom Riders and other civil rights protesters in the 1960s. The idea is to other them, to create the impression that this isnt our fight, that they dont belong, that they are opposed to us. The goal, in other words, is to divide movements from locals who might sympathize with them. This is a tactic that was commonly employed in the war against international terrorism; it explains the divisive anti-Islamic rhetoric that many Americans used, and many other Americans were subjected to, for years after 9/11.

Georgia is hardly alone in its unconstitutional crusade against progressives. In Tennessee, Republican legislators recently expelled two Black House Democrats and sanctioned a third legislator, a white woman, because they stood with March for Our Lives protesters demanding sensible gun reforms.

Several states have passed protest restriction laws that criminalize what is otherwise legitimate policy advocacy. South Dakota and Alabama subject not-for-profit organizations to vicarious liability for individual acts of vandalism. North Carolina equates peaceful marching with rioting and criminalizes merely supporting a march that results in criminal behavior.

With incremental fascist steps like this, it is only a matter of time before we see drag show attendees or parents attending a protest against book bans being arrested and charged with terrorism. Other targets will likely include activists for racial justice, environmental justice, assault weapon bans, abortion rights, labor rights and transgender rights.

Congress should once again consider passing a federal domestic terrorism law. Just as the federal government is our primary shield against international terrorism, it should be our primary shield against domestic terrorism as well. The federal government is in a much better position than the states to monitor and minimize this threat, and too many Republican-dominated states are now abusing their own anti-terrorism statutes. They are using these statutes not to combat terrorism but to weaken their political opposition.

This development threatens the First Amendment rights of all Americans, both left and right.

Beth Gazley is a professor at Indiana University at Bloomingtons Paul H. ONeill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Ken Levy is a professor at Louisiana State Universitys law school.

Advertisement

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
The greatest show Fox News has never put on is about to start.

Imagine a Fox News program that utilizes the talents of the no-nonsense news anchor Bret Baier along with those of the opinion host Tucker Carlson. One that also puts anchor The Five mainstays Dana Perino and Jeanine Pirro into the mix, along with business anchor and commentator Maria Bartiromo. One that features possible appearances by Fox News executives like Suzanne Scott, the CEO of the operation, and Jay Wallace, its top news executive. A program that tops it all off with a potential cameo by Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, two of the controlling shareholders of Fox News media-conglomerate parent, Fox Corporation.

More from Variety

If the most popular shows on Fox News Channel generate regular viewership of around 3 million, one has to wonder what a program with such an assemblage might capture.

Barring a last-minute settlement agreement, an obscure voting-technology company will, starting Monday and over the next five or six weeks, give rise to just such a series. All of the aforementioned personalities could appear in a whopping $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit that Dominion Voting Systems has brought against Fox News and Fox Corp. It makes for great television, and I hope we get to watch every minute, says Ken Paulson, the former USA Today editor who is director of Middle Tennessee State Universitys Free Speech Center, an academic unit that examines issues related to the First Amendment.

At issue in the jury trial, slated to be heard in Superior Court of Delaware, is whether Fox News deliberately amplified conspiracy theories that attributed allegations of vote-rigging in the 2020 presidential election to Dominion, even though many Fox executives and anchors knew full well, or at the very least suspected, they were complete hokum. Multiple authorities have determined that Joe Biden won the election over Donald Trump, but Dominion alleges Fox News caused more than a billion-and-a-half dollars worth of damage when it discussed claims that Dominion had swayed the election, then repeated those statements and refused to engage in efforts to set the record straight. Fox News faces a second defamation suit from Smartmatic, another voting technology firm, that is seeking $2.7 billion in damages.

Story continues

Some observers wonder if a settlement may not lie in the offing. There is some precedent. Walt Disney in 2017 paid what is believed to be $177 million to settle a defamation case brought against its ABC News by Beef Products Inc., a South Dakota meat producer. ABC News was among several news outlets to report on the safety of a low-cost processed beef-trimmings product from BPI that has been more commonly known as pink slime. Disney never retracted the ABC News report but said in a statement that continued litigation of this case is not in the companys interests. Damages could have come to as much as $5.7 billion under South Dakota law. Intriguingly, one attorney representing BPI in the case was Dan K. Webb. He is also representing Fox News in its case against Dominion.

Dominion appears eager for its legal moment. In the coming weeks, we will prove Fox spread lies causing enormous damage to Dominion, the company said in a statement. We look forward to trial.

The case has already spurred a raft of bizarre disclosures. A cache of depositions, emails and texts has revealed that many Fox producers, anchors and executives were skeptical about the false claims around the election. Some executives believed anchor Maria Bartiromo, in particular, was prone to disseminating wacky statements on her programs and on social media. In a pre-trial deposition, Bartiromo said she still wasnt sure whether allegations made against Dominion were accurate or not. Rupert Murdoch acknowledged in one deposition that he felt some of his hosts endorsed the false claims, and admitted he had the authority to keep lying Trump surrogates who espoused the theories off of Foxs shows. I could have. But I didnt, he said, according to a Dominion court filing.

Others were caught behind the scenes trying to put distance between themselves and President Trump, a favorite of the Fox News crowd. Tucker Carlson, a conservative focal point and the most-watched single anchor on Fox News, in 2021 texted that he hated President Trump passionately, according to text messages made available through pre-trial discovery. We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights, Carlson said, according to court filings. I truly cant wait.

Every minute of the trial wont be on TV, as Paulson hopes, but the ensuring media coverage and social chatter may create the impression that it is. And while some may watch to see how Fox News navigates this challenge and the public-relations debacle certain to foment around it, others are monitoring whether the travails Fox faces carry over to the broader industry.

It does impact these questions of when can reporters repeat newsworthy but false allegations made by high public officials, says Lyrissa Lydskey, a prominent media law scholar based at the University of Florida. Can they report to us newsworthy but false allegations without fear of crippling defamation liability?

At first blush, Dominion appears to have significant advantages. Judge Eric M. Davis of Delaware Superior Court, who is overseeing the case, has suggested Fox has withheld evidence to which Dominion was entitled and threatened to appoint an outside attorney to ensure Fox grants access. And he has already ruled that Dominion doesnt have to prove the statements Fox News repeated were false. The jury will have to decide on whether the company did so with actual malice and, if so, what damages should be awarded.

But proving so wont necessarily be a foregone conclusion. Showing that anchors and executives spread the falsehoods with deliberation, the current legal standard, is difficult. Fox has argued that Dominion has cherry picked statements that will not hold up when put in context. The companys attorneys will have to hope they can convince the jury that many of the comments already released dont show knowledge of a mission to pass along the wingnut theories tied to the 2020 election and Dominion. If the attorneys fail to do so, Fox will have to bet they can convince the jury the $1.6 billion the voting technology company is seeking is overblown, and hope to pay out less.

The company has already made a case in pre-trial hearings, offering evidence that Dominion has enjoyed robust results in recent months, well after claims against it were aired on Fox News. One Fox attorney cited financials that show that Dominion has not been harmed to the extent that their expert has suggested.

Dominions lawsuit is a political crusade in search of a financial windfall, but the real cost would be cherished first amendment rights, Fox said in a statement. While Dominion has pushed irrelevant and misleading information to generate headlines, Fox News remains steadfast in protecting the rights of a free press, given a verdict for Dominion and its private equity owners would have grave consequences for the entire journalism profession.

Most cases of this sort dont end up generating the payout the aggrieved party seeks, says Lydskey. It is a common litigation tactic to set your damages really high as an echoing point, not necessarily believing you are going to get all of that.

If the case doesnt go Foxs way, the company would likely appeal and, in doing so, could set a trajectory for a higher court, where a change to current libel laws might become a possibility, says Bob Richards, a professor of First Amendment studies at Penn States Bellisario College of Communications. Any time a high-profile case is made against a news organization, there is always potential for laws to be somehow affected that may in the long run affect all media, he says.

Some journalism advocates think Fox is getting scrutiny that it deserves. As a news organization, your obligation is to be as truthful as possible and to take great care when you are affecting someone elses reputation, says Paulson. You destroy your franchise if you recklessly damage other peoples reputation.

Even though Fox seems poised to fight, it may risk damage to its brand as the court proceedings linger. Each appearance by a Fox executive or personality will likely generate its own separate news cycle and the revelations and testimony will probably pull back the curtain around Foxs internal procedures and news judgement. Even so, a lot has been made public, and ratings at Fox News  one of the top measures of success at the company  have remained steady and the bulk of the networks lineup continues to beat rivals MSNBC and CNN handily in terms of overall viewership.

Fox is betting on itself, guessing that its viewers wont care much for the trial (though on Sunday, Fox News media correspondent Howard Kurtz announced he would be covering the proceedings from Delaware. Its been a very rough week for Fox he told viewers during an on-air appearance). Even so, there is a show, and it will go on  and on, and on, and, perhaps, on. This is the stuff of late-night monologues and Saturday Night Live opening sketches. It looks like they may be in court for quite some time, says Richards.

Best of Variety

Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.
The Station is a weekly newsletter dedicated to all things transportation. Sign up here  just click The Station  to receive the full edition of the newsletter every weekend in your inbox. Subscribe for free.

Welcome back to The Station, your central hub for all past, present and future means of moving people and packages from Point A to Point B.

As many expected, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed aggressive emissions standards that will slash the amount of pollution emitted from tailpipes to protect public health; the agency also noted in its 758-page document that in addition to and separate from this proposal, the administration has recognized the need for action to address climate change.

The new standards would apply to model years 2027 through 2032. For light-duty vehicles, the EPA proposes increasing the stringency each year. The target for the light-duty fleet is 82 grams/mile (g/mile) of CO 2 by model year 2032. That would mean a 56% reduction in projected fleet average GHG emissions target levels from the existing MY 2026 standards.

While the proposal is technology agnostic, most automakers would likely meet the new standards by accelerating the shift to EVs. The EPA projects this could result in EVs accounting for two-thirds of new light-duty vehicle production and 46% of new medium-duty vehicle production (driven mostly by electrification of vans) by 2032.

To put that in context, new EVs accounted for 5.6% of total market share in 2022.

So, can industry meet these new standards (if they are enacted)? It depends on who you ask.

The auto lobby believes the standards are unrealistic, citing EV charging infrastructure, grid resiliency, supply chain and access to critical materials as the primary hurdles. Zero emissions advocacy organizations like ZETA, environmental groups and companies like Rivian that only produce EVs took the opposite stance.

Want to reach out with a tip, comment or complaint? Email me at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com. You also can send a direct message to @kirstenkorosec.

Story continues

Reminder that you can drop us a note at tips@techcrunch.com. If you prefer to remain anonymous, click here to contact us, which includes SecureDrop (instructions here) and various encrypted messaging apps.

Micromobbin'

the station scooter1a

Async has released photos of its new A1 Pro, and the design is certainly...interesting! It's got a minimalist feel to it, but also looks rather boxy -- like something a kid in the 80s would dream up as a futuristic-looking bike. But design aside, can't argue with 150 miles of range.

Cake launched a flagship store in Seoul, South Korea as part of its continued expansion plan throughout Asia.

Want an e-scooter but don't know where to start? Here's a roundup of some of the best e-scooters on the market this year.

Helbiz, now known as Micromobility.com, is opening up a ghost kitchen in NYC. The kitchen will be on West 38th Street, and the first three brands will be Burger & Sons, Pokaii and What the Farm.

"Helmet Man" is a real-world superhero who has given away 56,000 helmets to micromobility riders in India. His mission has bankrupted him, but he was motivated by the passing of a friend in a motor vehicle crash.

Juiced Bikes is joining a small but growing list of companies adopting UL safety certification for batteries. This is in response to the wave of e-bike battery fires hitting cities like New York.

The e-bike community is getting hyped about Mavic's new X-Tend electric motor system, which might change the way brands design their bikes. It is lightweight and the motor disengages from the drivetrain completely when not in use. The system's still in prototype phase, but Mavic hopes to have it ready for production bikes by 2026.

Porsche eBike Performance is recruiting heavily for a team to develop the company's first e-bike motor, which CEO Jan Becker hopes will set a new standard in quality and usability.

Uber said it will fund an e-bike buy-back program for delivery workers in New York City in response to a spate of e-bike battery fires in the city. The company also said it would support an additional fee on food deliveries to help workers afford safer options. The pilot program is in partnership with Zoomo, which offers e-bikes for delivery workers as a subscription service, and The Equitable Commute Project. Workers will be able to trade in older e-bikes for credit to invest in a new e-bike and access rent-to-own pricing models.

Wheels announced an expansion of its micromobility operations in Boston.

Deal of the week

money the station

Remember when Uber started offloading a bunch of its moonshots to focus on its core business of ride-hailing and delivery? Welp, it seems to be sort of doing that again.

Careem, the Middle East-based ride-hailing company that Uber bought in 2019, is spinning out its super app business into a new startup backed with $400 million from Emirates Telecommunications Group Company.

Emirates Telecommunications, the UAE telco giant that is now known as e&, is buying a 50.03% stake from Uber into the new company called Careem Technologies. Following the deal, Careem will be broken into two companies, Careem Rides and Careem Technologies.

Uber will retain full ownership of Careem Rides, a business that will be staffed by 260 people. The far larger business is Careem Technologies, which will operate the Super App along with all other verticals. This business will be owned jointly by e&, Uber and Careems three co-founders, which includes Mudassir Sheikha and Magnus Olsson. This unit, which will be led by Sheikha, will have about 1,400 employees.

Other deals that got my attention ...

Aurora issued last week a prospectus for a proposed mixed shelf offering to raise $350 million.

AutoLeap, the Toronto-based auto repair software startup, raised $30 million in a Series B funding round led by Advance Venture Partners. Existing investors Bain Capital Ventures, Threshold Ventures and Maple VC also participated. David ibnAle from AVP is joining AutoLeaps board.

Ecopro Materials, which makes cathode active materials used in EV batteries, wants to raise at least 500 billion won ($377 million) in an initial public offering in Korea, Bloomberg reported citing unnamed sources.

Frayt, a last-mile on-demand delivery and logistics platform based in Ohio, raised $7 million in a Series A funding round led by Refinery Ventures with participation from Capital Midwest, Venture 53 and the JobsOhio Growth Capital Fund.

General Motors led a $50 million investment into lithium extraction and refining startup EnergyX. With the deal, the legacy automaker says it will help EnergyX scale its lithium-extraction tech. In exchange, GM will get exclusive access to some of the lithium that EnergyX sources from mining companies in North and South America.

Natix Network, a Hamburg-based startup that crowdsources cameras to create a network that produces real-time maps of cities, raised $3.5 million in a seed found led by Blockchange Ventures. Other investors include XYO, Mysterium Network, CVVC, Mulana Capital, Blockarm Capital, Techstars, Plug and Play Ventures and CoinIX Capital.

Repowr, a B2B startup that developed a digital platform for logistics companies find and access trailers and other transportation equipment, raised $8 million in a Series A round led by UP.Partners. Crowley Maritime, Koch Disruptive Technologies, McVestCo VC (venture arm of Trimac), NFI Ventures, Perot Jain and 9Yards Capital also participated in the round.

Whizz, an e-bike subscription service for last-mile delivery drivers, raised $3.4 million in a seed round. Investors included Joint Journey, TMT Investments and a group of unnamed angel investors, according to the company.

Notable reads and other tidbits

ADAS

Ford received approval from U.K. regulators for its eyes-on, hands-off, advanced driver assistance system, called "BlueCruise" system. This is very limited, at least for now. Ford said drivers of enabled Mustang Mach-E models can use the system on 2,300 miles of pre-mapped motorways in England, Scotland and Wales, designated as Blue Zones.

Autonomous vehicles

General Motors made a video with Chair and CEO Mary Barra, Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt, GM President Mark Reuss and GM EVP Doug Parks (oh, and was that a brief cameo by co-founder Dan Kan?) all taking a ride in the Cruise Origin in California. Take a look and note some of the changes in the vehicle since it was first unveiled back in January 2020.

Didi announced it's working with Chinese carmakers to deploy robotaxis to the public on a 24/7 basis by 2025, which will complement its network of millions of drivered cars.

Waymo's robotaxis were flummoxed by dense fog in San Francisco, causing the driverless vehicles to pull over and impede some traffic. The vehicles eventually moved out of the area.

Speaking of Waymo, an eagle-eyed Reddit user noted this nugget about future services in the company's deployment program quarterly report filed with the California Public Utilities Commission. Under the section that asks the company to describe any new services that might be added in the near term, Waymo wrote that it is "currently exploring additional partnership opportunities for meal delivery, among other efforts."

Zoox shared more information about its self-certification and occupant-protection efforts, including videos of its crash testing, following scrutiny from federal regulators.

Electric vehicles, charging & batteries

ElectraMeccanica Vehicles said it will offer to buy back the 429 SOLO vehicles that were recalled after discovering they could experience a loss of propulsion increasing the risk of a crash. Steering, braking and lighting systems are not impacted, the company said. ElectraMeccanica said it will work directly with customers to complete the vehicle repurchase process, free of charge. Reservation holders will be issued a refund.

Ford plans to spend $1.34 billion (C$1.8 billion) to turn its 70-year-old Oakville facility in Canada into an assembly plant for its next-generation of electric vehicles. The upgrade includes completely retooling the facility that currently produces the internal combustion engine-powered Ford Edge and Lincoln Nautilus to one that only produces EVs. The project will begin in the second quarter of 2024.

Hyundai Motor Group announced plans to invest 24 trillion won (~$18 billion) in South Koreas EV industry through 2030. The news comes a week after Kia, which falls under the Hyundai umbrella, announced its own 32 trillion won (~$24 billion) investment into electrification and future business areas.

Lucid Group said it produced 2,314 vehicles in the first quarter and delivered just 1,406 vehicles during the same period, suggesting that demand for the luxury EV is slipping.

Revel has finished building its second public EV fast charging station in Brooklyn, New York. The new hub has 15 public charging stalls capable of charging speeds up to 150 kW and is open to the public 24/7, with no entrance fee or limits on EV brand.

Tesla continues to lower prices, this time in Europe and Israel. Oh, and could this be what the refreshed Tesla Model 3 will look like? Folks are abuzz after a photo purporting to be the next Model 3 made the rounds on Reddit.

In-car tech

Luminar said it has completed the build-out of its factory in Monterrey, Mexico. The company said it first Iris sensors out of the facility are beginning to ship to customers. The new dedicated facility is operated by Celestica.

Ouster issued a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission and asked the agency to investigate what it describes as "unlawful imports" of Hesai lidar sensors. Ouster said the Hesai sensors infringe on five valid and enforceable patents owned by Ouster. Hesai responded to TechCrunch in an email with this statement: "We believe the claims have no merit and we will defend our IP rights."

Legislation, lawmakers & lawsuits

California regulators are taking legal action against Tesla to force the company to comply with a state investigation into allegations of unlawful harassment of and discrimination against certain Black Tesla workers.

Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), sent a letter to Tesla CEO Elon Musk demanding he provide information about policies in place at the company to prevent the unauthorized collection and distribution of customer data. The letter (maybe more of an ultimatum) comes a week after Reuters reported that Tesla employees shared private videos and photos captured by cameras in Tesla vehicles.

Washingtons Senate unanimously passed a bill that will make the state the first in the nation to grant ride-hail drivers the right to paid family and medical leave. The bill, HB 1570, builds on driver rights won in 2022s Expand Fairness Act.

People

Aurora named Nat Beuse as its first "Chief Safety Officer." (Note: Beuse was already heading up safety at Aurora before this executive-level position was created.) Prior to joining Aurora, he was the head of safety at Uber ATG.

Harley-Davidson said that CFO Gina Goetter is leaving the company at the end of April. David Viney, who is vice president/treasurer, will also serve as interim CFO until a replacement is found.

Nikola Corporation announced that Gerrit Marx, Lynn Forester de Rothschild and Mark Russell are retiring from its board at this year's annual meeting scheduled for June 7, 2023.

Zeekr hired Spiros Fotinos, a former Lexus executive, to run its operations in Europe.

Ride-hailing and car sharing

Turo, the peer-to-peer car rental company, plans to block access to third-party services like CarSync and Fleetwire starting April 30, according to an email that hosts received and TechCrunch viewed.

Uber is committing $7.5 million to helping New Zealand drivers go electric, sort of. Starting July 1, the company is giving the first 750 eligible drivers (AKA drivers with an EV) a 50% service discount up to $5,000 per year over two years. The service fee is what Uber charges drivers for use of its platform, so now certain drivers with EVs will shell out 14% of their ride earnings rather than 28%. Uber will also launch Uber Green in the country in May, which allows riders to choose specifically to ride in a hybrid or electric vehicle.
Tulare Lake is reemerging as flood water spreads across miles of California farmland. Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

To get a sense of the enormous amount of water atmospheric rivers dumped on the Western U.S. this year and the magnitude of the flood risk ahead, take a look at Californias Central Valley, where about a quarter of the nations food is grown.

This region was once home to the largest freshwater lake west of the Rockies. But the rivers that fed Tulare Lake were dammed and diverted long ago, leaving it nearly dry by 1920. Farmers have been growing food on the fertile lake bed for decades.

This year, however, Tulare Lake is remerging. Runoff and snowmelt from the Sierra Nevada have overwhelmed waterways and flooded farms and orchards. After similar storms in 1983, the lake covered more than 100 square miles, and scientists say this years precipitation is looking a lot like 1983. Communities there and across the West are preparing for flooding and mudslide disasters as record snow begins to melt.

Tulare Lake, long dry, begins to reemerge in March 2023 as flood water spreads across farm fields. NASA Earth Observatory

We asked Chad Hecht, a meteorologist with the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at the University of California San Diegos Scripps Institution of Oceanography, how 2023s storms compare to past extremes and what to expect in the future.

How extreme were this years atmospheric rivers?

California averages about 44 atmospheric rivers a year, but typically, only about six of them are strong storms that contribute most of the annual precipitation total and cause the kind of flooding weve seen this year.

This year, in a three-week window from about Dec. 27, 2022, to Jan. 17, 2023, we saw nine atmospheric rivers make landfall, five of them categorized as strong or greater magnitude. Thats how active its been, and that was only the beginning.

Where atmospheric rivers hit during the first half of the 2023 water year, which started Oct. 1. The arrows show where the storms were strongest, but their impact reached far wider. Center For Western Weather and Water Extremes, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

In all, the state experienced 31 atmospheric rivers through the end of March: one extreme, six strong, 13 moderate and 11 weak. And other storms in between gave the Southern Sierra one of its wettest Marches on record.

These storms dont just affect California. Their precipitation has pushed the snow-water equivalent levels well above average across much of the West, including in Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Idaho and the mountains of western Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico.

Story continues

Snow water equivalent is a measure of the water in snowpack. Many basins across the West were well over 200% of average in 2023. NRCS/USDA

In terms of records, the big numbers this year were in Californias Southern Sierra Nevada. The region has had 11 moderate atmospheric rivers  double the average of 5.5  and an additional four strong ones.

Overall, California has about double its normal snowpack, and some locations have experienced more than double the number of strong atmospheric rivers it typically sees. The result is that Northern Sierra snow water content is 197% of normal. The central region is 238% of normal, and the Southern Sierra is 296% of normal.

What risks does all that snow in the mountains create?

There is a lot of snow in the Sierra Nevada, and it is going to come off the mountains at some point. Its possible we are going to be looking at snowmelt into late June or July in California, and thats far into summer for here.

Flooding is certainly a possibility. The closest year for comparison in terms of the amount of snow would be 1983, when the average statewide snow water content was 60.3 inches in May. That was a rough year, with flooding and mudslides in several parts of the West and extensive crop damage.

This year, portions of the Southern Sierra Nevada have passed 1983s levels, and Tulare Lake is filling up again for the first time in decades. Tulare Lake is an indication of just how extreme this year has been, and the risk is rising as the snow melts.

The transition from extreme drought in 2022 to record snow was fast. Is that normal?

California and some other parts of the West are known for weather whiplash. We frequently go from too dry to too wet.

2019 was another above-average year in terms of precipitation in California, but after that we saw three straight years of drought. We went from 13 strong or greater magnitude atmospheric rivers in 2017 to just three in 2020 and 2021, combined.

The onslaught of powerful atmospheric rivers pushed precipitation to well above average across large parts of the West in 2023, following three years of severe drought. Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

California relies on these storms for about half its water supply, but if the West gets too many atmospheric rivers back to back, that starts to have harmful impacts, like the heavy snowpack that collapsed roofs in the mountains this year, and flash flooding and landslides. These successive storms are typically referred to as atmospheric river families and can result in exacerbated hydrologic impacts by quickly saturating soils and not allowing rivers and streams to recede back to base flow between storms.

Are atmospheric rivers becoming more intense with a warming climate?

Theres been a lot of research on the impact of temperature because of how reliant California is on these storms for its water supply.

Atmospheric rivers are long, narrow corridors of water vapor in the sky that typically start in the tropics as water evaporates and is pulled poleward by atmospheric circulations. They carry a lot of moisture  on average, their water vapor transport is more than twice the flow of the Amazon River. When they reach land, mountains force the air to rise, which wrings out some of that moisture.

In a warming climate, the warmer air can hold more moisture. That can increase the capacity of atmospheric rivers, with more water vapor resulting in stronger storms.

An example of an atmospheric river approaching the West Coast. Space Science and Engineering Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Research by some of my colleagues at Scripps Institution of Oceanography also suggests that California will see fewer storms that arent atmospheric rivers. But the state will likely see more intense atmospheric rivers as temperatures rise. California will be even more reliant on these atmospheric rivers for its snow, which will result in drier dries and wetter wets.

So, were likely to see this whiplash continue, but to a more extreme level, with longer periods of dry weather when were not getting these storms. But when we do get these storms, they have the potential to be more extreme and then result in more flooding.

In the more immediate future, were likely headed into an El Nino this year, with warm tropical Pacific waters that shift weather patterns around the world. Typically, El Nino conditions are associated with more atmospheric river activity, especially in Central and Southern California.

So, we may see another wet year like this again in 2024.

This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. If you found it interesting, you could subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

It was written by: Chad Hecht, University of California, San Diego.

Read more:



Chad Hecht receives funding from California Department of Water Resources, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sonoma Water, Yuba Water Agency, & Orange County Water District.
Editors note: This story is a collaboration between the Kyiv Independent and Delfi Estonia. No official accusations have yet been made against the entities mentioned in this story.

Having emerged in the wake of Russias full-scale invasion, Glory to Ukraine has since been the largest charity helping Ukraine in Estonia.

With a population of 1.3 million, almost every adult Estonian has donated to the charity at least once. It has raised a total of at least 6.5 million euros, according to its own reports.

The charitys success brought its founder Johanna-Maria Lehtme a Person of the Year title, a medal from the Estonian president, and a seat in parliament at the March election with the liberal Eesti 200 party.

But just days after the election, a public scandal erupted. The advisory board of Glory to Ukraine raised questions about Lehtmes work and announced an internal audit suspecting the misuse of funds by the charitys two Ukrainian partners.

The advisory board doesn't specify exactly how they suspect the funds were misused.

The Kyiv Independent and Delfi Estonia have identified the Ukrainian organizations in question. Both are Lviv-based and connected to one another.

One is All For Victory, a charity of Hennadiy Vaskiv, a former deputy mayor of Lviv.

The other one is IC Construction, a company run by Vaskivs friend and former colleague at the mayors office, Roman Panasiuk, and officially owned by a manicurist allegedly working at the beauty salon of Vaskivs wife. The company has received 1.5 million euros from the Estonian chairty, or every fourth euro donated, according to people familiar with the case.

Panasiuk, director of IC Construction, confirmed the money transfer but denied the allegations that the funds were misused.

onstruction company or charity?

The Ukrainian charity All For Victory and Estonian fund Glory to Ukraine have been evidently working very closely together.

Their social media is abuzz with pictures and videos of the joint distribution of aid packages to civilians in front-line villages, often marked with both charities' logos. Estonian Lehtme and Ukrainian Vaskiv appear in pictures together. Both have got awards from Ukraines Defense Ministry for their charity work.

Story continues

Sometimes, Roman Panasiuk, the director of IC Construction, is seen alongside them. Despite the publicity being centered around the All For Victory charity, it appears that its actually IC Construction  a for-profit company  thats been getting the majority of Estonian peoples donations.

Roman Panasiuk (right), director of IC Construction, Hennadiy Vaskiv (center), head of All For Victory charity, and Johanna-Maria Lehtme, head of Glory To Ukraine charity (second from right), pose for a photograph with the equipment bought for Ukraine's military with Estonian people's donations on Feb. 14, 2023. (Hennadiy Vaskiv via Facebook)

IC Construction, an LTD, is registered in what looks like a residential building near the center of Lviv. While its primary focus is on construction, it has registered 78 other activities with the Ukrainian company registrar. They range from providing taxi services to the production of spices and seasonings.

The IC Construction was registered in September 2021, but its rise coincided with the beginning of the Russian invasion in early 2022. According to the company, thats when the for-profit company shifted its focus from construction to charity work  but remained a for-profit on paper.

IC Constructions reported revenue last year amounted to Hr 41.7 million or about 1 million euros, while the net profit was Hr 9.3 million or about 250,000 euros, according to YouControl, a Ukrainian database of companies.

Panasiuk, the companys director, confirmed to the Kyiv Independent that almost the entire revenue of the company came from Glory to Ukraine in Estonian peoples donations.

Not 100%, but almost, yes, Panasiuk said, (Glory to Ukraine) was our main partner. They were so professional in everything that we just did not have the time and opportunity, and desire, frankly, for anything else. All our attention and energy were dedicated to them.

According to him, IC Construction, which remains a for-profit, was getting the money as contract payments for goods or services, not as donations.

As for making 250,000 euros in profit, most of it from Estonian donations, Panasiuk said that the companies are meant to be profitable.

Sources familiar with the case said Ukraines State Bureau of Investigation has started a probe into the alleged misuse of Estonian donations in Ukraine.

When approached for comment, the Bureau neither confirmed nor denied the case, saying that disclosing information about a pre-trial investigation is only possible if approved by the prosecutor or detective in charge of the case.

Panasiuk said he is unaware of any investigation and of the scandal in Estonia involving the Glory to Ukraine foundation.

According to him, about a month ago, the Estonian charity suddenly stopped paying the invoices issued by IC Construction despite active contracts between the two entities.

"They did not say that they would no longer work with us, Panasiuk said. I spoke to the director (of Glory to Ukraine, Johanna-Maria Lehtme), and she said that while the audit is ongoing, they would not make any payments to Ukrainian funds."

Lehtme told Delfi Estonia that she has no complaints about her charitys Ukrainian partners, called them heroes, and called the accusations a disinformation attack.

She then added that those who have problems with her charitys Ukrainian partners should jump on a plane and go speak directly to them. If you have the courage, she wrote in her response to Delfi Estonia.

Planes have not been flying to Ukraine since the beginning of Russias full-scale invasion of the country.

Closely connected Ukrainian partners

The two Ukrainian partners of Glory to Ukraine are interconnected through its ownership and management.

Its not clear why the Estonian charity did not simply transfer the money to its Ukrainian counterpart, All For Victory, but instead transferred most funds to its affiliated for-profit company, IC Construction.

IC Construction is owned by Marta Luta, who, according to YouControl, bought the company in August 2022 from Oleksandr Chernov. He is the head of logistics for All For Victory.

Marta Luta poses for a photograph at the Healthy Beauty salon in Lviv, where she appears to work as a manicurist. The salon is owned by Oksana Vaskiv, the wife of Hennadiy Vaskiv, former deputy mayor of Lviv. (Marta Luta via Instagram)

According to her social media accounts, Luta works as a manicurist at Healthy Beauty, a salon in Lviv. The salon is owned by Oksana Vaskiv, the wife of Hennadiy Vaskiv, who is one of two owners of All For Victory. He owns 50% of the charity, while the other 50% is owned by a man called Yehor Stupakov. Vaskiv said that he co-owns the charity with his friends from Kharkiv. Stupakov doesnt seem to be a public figure.

Luta has not responded to a request for comment.

"I don't know if Marta Luta works in the same beauty salon as my wife or not because I don't interfere in my wife's business activities," Vaskiv said.

Vaskiv and a person resembling Luta appeared in pictures together from a Palm Sunday service on April 9. According to Vaskiv, he does not know who owns IC Construction and only communicates with its director, Panasiuk.

(L) The head of All For Victory charity, Hennadiy Vaskiv, and the owner of IC Construction, Marta Luta (in the middle), pose for a picture together during the Palm Sunday service on April 9, 2023. (Credit: Facebook account of Vaskiv)

Panasiuk became the director of IC Construction when Luta bought the company in August 2022.

Vaskiv and Panasiuk have known each other since at least 2018, when they worked together in the Lviv mayors office. Panasiuk was the head of the economic division in the infrastructure department in the Lviv mayors office when Vaskiv was the deputy mayor for finance and economy in 2017-2021.

While serving in the mayors office, Vaskiv got infamous for receiving financial aid meant for employees with housing issues, while having several apartments and large cash savings.

There is other evidence of the close connection between All For Victory and IC Construction.

The two entities appear to work from the same office. IC Construction allows All For Victory to use its office, according to Vaskiv.

All For Victory has a sister entity, an NGO of the same name. It is led by Panasiuk, the director of IC Construction.

Ukrainian charity dismisses accusations

For all its publicity, All For Victory doesnt publish any reports about its financials: where the donations come from and how they are spent. Other Ukrainian charities normally publish such reports.

Read more: Here's how to support the Ukrainian military

For example, Ukraines largest military-aid charity, Come Back Alive, publishes information on every hryvnia received and spent.

The most common way of reporting is social media publications with the detailed description of what, where, and to who was bought and sent, said Maksym Zinchuk, coordinator of Come Back Alive. Omitting to report on it just wont work since people are used to being informed where their money goes. Not doing it means losing the people who supported you.

Addressing the absence of public reporting about the charitys financials, Vaskiv said he never aimed for people to support his charity with donations but with goods for the army.

Since the first days, it just so happened that we have been delivering goods, cars, and drones (to the military). I tell foreigners: We do not need money, its always a contentious matter on the one hand, and on the other hand, it requires a lot of resources to search and buy it all, he said.

Despite Vaskivs claims, All For Victory does publically ask for donations. Calls to donate money can be found on the website of Glory to Ukraine and in the now-archived version of All For Victory website, as well as on Facebook and YouTube.

We will show (the financial reports). We just havent had the time yet. Our cash turnover is small, Vaskiv said, promising to run an audit and publish its results.

In March, soon after Glory To Ukraine had announced it was conducting the audit, the website of All For Victory went down and is still unavailable. According to Vaskiv, its due to technical problems.

The Estonian Glory to Ukraine said it would stop its cooperation with its two Ukrainian partners while the audit is ongoing. Panasiuk confirmed the halt in relations, but Vaskiv said his charity is still working with Glory to Ukraine as before.

According to Vaskiv, All For Victory is currently preparing to send several vehicles to the front that arrived from Estonia as part of aid from Glory to Ukraine.

Vaskiv blames the allegations against his Estonian partner both on disinformation efforts of the Russians and Lethmes political rivals attempts to tarnish her reputation before the European Parliament elections next year, where he claims the Estonian intends to run.

While the audit in Glory to Ukraine is ongoing, the charitys advisory board emphasizes that it hasnt brought any official accusations yet.

"Our Ukrainian partners have been operating in extremely difficult conditions, where decisions have to be made quickly, normal procurements are often not realistic, said council member Kristo Tohver, who was appointed in March.

Both when conducting an audit and formulating public assessments, we have to realize that it is our partners who have fought shoulder to shoulder for the freedom of their homeland in the conditions of full-scale military aggression."

Note from the author:

Hello, its Anna Myroniuk, head of investigations at the Kyiv Independent.

The work that charities and volunteer organizations are doing in Ukraine, helping the military and civilians in the affected areas, is vital. Donations to Ukraine help the country to survive and defend itself against the Russian invasion.

However, its also important to ensure transparency so the public can see where the money comes from and how it is spent. Many charitable organizations in Ukraine made it their rule and always report on their donations and spending.

We at the Kyiv Independent try to help shed the light on how donations to Ukraine work. Help us do this and other important work by becoming our patron.
Fighting raged in Khartoum again on Monday

A US diplomatic convoy came under fire in Sudan on Monday but nobody was hurt, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said.

"This action was reckless, it was irresponsible and of course unsafe," he told reporters in Japan after G7 talks.

Sudan has been gripped for days by deadly fighting between rival forces.

Earlier, it was reported that the EU's ambassador in Sudan, Aidan O'Hara, has been assaulted at his home in the capital Khartoum.

Around 185 people have been killed and more than 1,800 injured in three days of fighting in Sudan, according to the UN. The city has seen air strikes, shelling and heavy small-arms fire.

Both the army and a paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) claim to control key sites in Khartoum, where residents have been sheltering from explosions.

Mr O'Hara was not "seriously hurt", Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin confirmed.

He described the attack as a "gross violation of obligations to protect diplomats".

Mr Martin described the ambassador as an "outstanding Irish and European diplomat who is serving the EU under the most difficult circumstances".

Aidan O'Hara became the EU ambassador to Sudan in 2022

"We thank him for his service and call for an urgent cessation of violence in Sudan, and resumption of dialogue," he said.

Earlier, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell tweeted that the security of diplomatic premises and staff was a "primary responsibility" of the Sudanese authorities.

EU spokeswoman Nabila Massrali told AFP news agency the EU delegation had not been evacuated from Khartoum following the attack. Staff security was the priority and security measures were being assessed, she added.

Sudan: The basics

Sudan is in north-east Africa and has a history of instability: The military toppled long-time leader Omar al-Bashir in 2019 after mass protests

It then overthrew a power-sharing government in 2021, putting two men at the helm: The head of the army and his deputy, who is also the head of a paramilitary group called the RSF

They disagree on how to restore civilian rule to Sudan: The RSF leader claims to represent marginalised groups against the country's elites but his forces were accused of ethnic cleansing

Story continues

US state department spokesman John Kirby said there were currently no plans to evacuate US personnel, despite ongoing security concerns and the closure of Khartoum's airport but he urged all Americans to treat the situation "with the utmost seriousness".

The conflict has forced many civilians to shelter in their homes amid fears of a prolonged conflict that could land the country in deeper chaos.

On Monday, clouds of smoke were visible above Khartoum's main airport, with TV showing images of fires and explosions. Army air strikes targeted RSF bases, some of which are embedded in residential areas.

Hospitals were shelled, doctors say. Damage was reported at al-Shab Teaching Hospital in Khartoum along with two other clinics.

The fighting is between army units loyal to the de facto leader, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, a notorious paramilitary force commanded by Sudan's deputy leader, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti.

Hemedti said on Monday that the international community must intervene, and branded Gen Burhan "a radical Islamist who is bombing civilians from the air". Gen Burhan has said he is willing to negotiate.

The two sides held a brief ceasefire on Sunday to allow the wounded to be evacuated, although it was not clear how strictly they had stuck to it.

The regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development, or Igad, will send the presidents of South Sudan, Djibouti and Kenya to the country to try to broker peace.

Igad's executive secretary, Nuur Mohamud Sheekh, told the BBC there were some signs that progress could be made.

"They are preparing to travel to Sudan to meet with the two leaders but they are engaging with them through back channel diplomacy, they are speaking to these leaders to cease hostilities, to stop the fighting and return to the negotiating table," he said.

"Both these leaders are agreeable to mediation, which by itself is a very positive development over the last few hours. Our leaders have experience when it comes to mediating in conflicts."

More on Sudan

Additional reporting by George Wright and Patrick Jackson.

Banner saying 'Get in touch'

Are you in the affected areas? If it is safe to do so share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:

If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union member countries' envoys in Brussels will discuss this week a move by Poland and Hungary to ban grain and other food imports from Ukraine, a senior EU official said on Monday.

The senior EU official, speaking under condition of anonymity, said low global prices and demand meant the grain was staying in the bloc rather than being sold on. The oversupply became a political problem for Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party in an election year.

"We expect Poland and Hungary to offer some explanation and there will also be reaction by the European Commision," said the official, adding that the matter was raised at the last summit of EU national leaders, including by Slovakia and Romania.

"There is an issue and we expect the Commission to come up with a proposal on that... We'll see what we can do in the coming weeks and months."

Ukraine's agriculture minister said Kyiv wanted to re-open food and grain transit via Poland as a first step at talks in Warsaw on Monday.

(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska)
Eddy Chen/HBO

Actor Angus Cloud shot to fame as Fezco, the kindhearted drug dealer on HBOs hit show Euphoria, but Clouds own alleged drug use is now being called into question. The 24-year-old is the subject of a long and convoluted Twitter thread posted over the weekend by Diomi Cordero, who says he is Clouds former talent manager and that hes seeking outstanding management commissions from Angus totaling over $60,000.00.

In his tweets, Cordero says he resigned as Clouds talent manager in February 2022 due to Angus verbal abuse, emotional distress & severe drug addiction.

In the 18-part thread, Cordero alleges that he first met Cloud while working as a mental health technician at a rehab facility, and that the actor expressed his desire to be represented by a young, Black talent manager. Cordero says he then left his job to represent Cloud, and set about securing a publicist, an accountant, a SAG-AFTRA account, and other necessary career infrastructures for Cloud, whose personal life was in a state of disarray, Cordero claims.

On February 21st 2022, | resigned as Angus Cloud's talent manager. My decision to resign was prompted by Angus' verbal abuse, emotional distress & severe drug addiction, which rendered it impossible for me to continue my professional relationship with him. (THREAD) pic.twitter.com/flxRSRDMt2  DIOMI (@Diomi) April 14, 2023

Cloud was doing well and maintaining his sobriety for a time during the filming of Season 2 of Euphoria, Cordero alleges, but things eventually deteriorated. By November 2021, the actor had evidently relinquished control of his addiction, Cordero writes.

In January 2022, Cordero alleges, he received a frantic call from one of Clouds roommates, who said Cloud was overdosing. Cordero gave the actor Narcan, CPR, and did mouth-to-mouth, he writes: Regrettably, as he regained consciousness, Angus vomited onto my face.

Story continues

While accompanying Cloud at a movie shoot for the next 30 days in Oklahoma, Cordero writes that it was remarkable that the actor was able to maintain his sobriety for a full month, but that he has PTSD symptoms from assisting Cloud through the experience.

Barbie Ferreira Reveals Why She Really Left Euphoria

By February 2022, Cloud had relapsed and his behavior towards me had become extremely abusive...he had gone to the extent of degrading me publicly in front of his friends & even my colleagues, Cordero alleges, adding that he resigned as the actors manager shortly thereafter.

Angus is currently being managed by Sam Lutfi & I find it incredibly interesting how Sam is somehow always associated with celebrities who are dealing with mental health and/or addiction issues, Cordero added, alongside screenshots from articles about Luftis associations with Britney Spears and Courtney Love. So please keep Angus in your thoughts & prayers.

The Daily Beast has reached out to Cloud for comment.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
The defrocked Roman Catholic cardinal who became the face of the churchs clergy sex abuse crisis has been charged in Wisconsin with sexually assaulting an 18-year-old man more than 45 years ago, court records show.

A criminal complaint filed Friday alleges that Theodore McCarrick, who was removed from the priesthood in 2019 after a Vatican investigation found he had sexually molested adults and children, fondled a man in 1977 while staying at a cabin on Geneva Lake in southeastern Wisconsin.

The alleged victim, who is not named, told investigators that McCarrick had repeatedly sexually assaulted him since he was 11 and even brought him to parties where other adult men sexually assaulted him, according to the complaint.

McCarrick became the highest-ranking Roman Catholic official in the U.S. to face criminal charges for sexual abuse when he was accused in 2021 of sexually assaulting a teenage boy in Massachusetts at a wedding reception in 1974. His attorneys asked the judge in that case earlier this year to dismiss the charges, saying that McCarrick, now 92 and suffering from dementia, is not competent to stand trial.

The once-powerful priest was ordained in 1958 and became archbishop in Newark, New Jersey, in 1986 and then archbishop of Washington, D.C., in 2000. He rose to power despite church officials knowledge of accusations against him. A two-year Vatican investigation into McCarricks tenure found credible reports of his problematic behavior dating back to 1999, including an inquiry confirming that McCarrick had slept with seminarians.

The church has confirmed it made financial settlements with adults who accused McCarrick of sexual misconduct. McCarrick retired in 2006 but continued to be active in political circles until he was defrocked by Pope Francis in 2019.

Wisconsin prosecutors learned of the alleged 1977 assault through a program dedicated to prosecuting instances of abuse by faith leaders, according to a news release. Officials were able to charge McCarrick because the statute of limitations does not apply to people who are not residents of the state. A similar law allowed Massachusetts prosecutors to bring their case against McCarrick more than 40 years later.

Story continues

McCarricks attorney in Massachusetts, William Fick, did not immediately return a phone call or email sent Monday. An attorney for McCarrick has not yet been listed in the Wisconsin case.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters

The feds are reportedly probing a former U.S. Navy non-commissioned officer whos accused of overseeing a prominent Russian propaganda account that made leaked documents from the Pentagon go viral this month.

Sarah Bils, 37, was unmasked this weekend as being behind the online persona Donbass Devushkawhich roughly translates to Donbass Girldespite her being a New Jersey native who lives in Washington state.

Two U.S. defense officials told United States Naval Institute News that Bils is now being probed for potentially sharing four classified docsallegedly leaked initially by Massachusetts Air Guardsman Jack Teixeira, who was arrested last weekto Donbass Devushkas 65,000-plus followers on Telegram.

Exact details on the probeand potential charges for Bilshave not been released.

A Navy biography for Bils says she was an aviation electronics technician who worked out of Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Washington state until November 2022. Speaking from her home, she admitted to The Wall Street Journal that shes partially behind the Donbass Devushka network, which describes itself on its social media pagesincluding Twitter, Telegram and YouTubeas engaging in Russianstyle information warfare.

But Bils told the paper shes just one of 15 people all over the world with access to the propaganda accounts, maintaining that she wasnt the administrator who posted the classified U.S. intel. Instead, she claims she was the admin who eventually deleted the posts.

The leaked docs quickly went viral in Russia after they were posted by Donbass Devushka on April 5, the Journal reported, with several large Russian social-media accounts picking up the documents and reposting. The channels posts with the classified documents remained online for days.

Some very interesting potential intel, the Telegram channel for Donbass Devushka posted with screenshots of the documents. The authenticity cannot be confirmed but looks to be very damning nato information.

Story continues

It was the virality of this post that alerted U.S. authorities that classified intel was compromised. Previously, Teixeira, 21, had been posting other classified documents to a private Discord channel for months but the docs never went public, group members told The Washington Post.

Bils said she never used her position in the Navy to leak classified intel and that she didnt work with Teixeira, telling the Journal, I obviously know the gravity of top-secret classified materials. We didnt leak them.

The military and Justice Department have not made a public statement about Bils and her alleged role in amplifying the leak. Gen. Pat Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, told the Journal that the military has ordered a review of intelligence access, accountability, and control procedures to nix future leakers.

Teixeira has been charged with unauthorized detention and transmission of national defense information and unauthorized removal of classified information and defense materials. The feds allege that he shared classified information on social media starting in December.

Members of Teixeiras Discord channel told the Post that he shared screenshots of battlefield conditions in Ukraine, highly classified satellite images of the aftermath of Russian missile strikes, and vivid details on troop movements within Ukraine.

The Donbass Devushka network has basked in the aftermath of this months leaksgaining thousands of new followers. Those new to its multiple social media pages were met with posts advertising pro-Russia merchandise and a promise that proceeds would go to the mercenary Wagner Group and the Russian military.

The Journal reported that Bils was honorably discharged from the military in November after a significant demotion. Bils told reporters that shed left the Navy because she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, and that she has some Russian heritage.

On a podcast that shares the same name as her popular Telegram channel, Bils spoke with a slight Russian accent, the Journal reportedan accent other outlets have described as being phony. She also posed as being a woman from the Donbas region of Ukraine, one of the bloodiest areas of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict.

Bils told the Journal her old gig gave her clearance to view top-secret information but that she no longer has that access.

I dont even know the authenticity of the documents or what they say, she told the Journal about the leaked intel shared on her page. I am not very well versed in reading documents like that.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
The Caesar salad from Poltergeist in Echo Park. (Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)











I like to think of salads as playgrounds for my favorite dressings. Sharp shallot vinaigrette, creamy Blue cheese and punchy, salty Caesar. Most of the time I lean toward a wedge. Cobbs are fun. Caesar is always welcome. This weeks recommendations celebrate excellent salads. Because sometimes, you just need a salad.

Caesar salad at Poltergeist

Diego Argoti once described his new restaurant Poltergeist, inside the Button Mash arcade bar in Echo Park, as a neighborhood restaurant, if a neighborhood restaurant were dreamed up by an alien. Before the restaurant, he hosted pop-up dinners where people waited in hours-long lines for his garlic chive tagliatelle with spicy chile oil, basil leaves, emerald plum XO sauce, smoked mushrooms and pistachio tahini. And the handmade Sonora flour alkaline noodles in a kielbasa dashi with yellow mustard, neon relish and a quail egg. I omitted some of the components for brevity, but you get the idea. This is a chef for whom rules and conventions do not exist.

For Poltergeist, Argoti fashioned a menu that keeps the spirit of his Estrano pop-ups intact, but with a little more structure.

"You have your salads, pastas, your mains, or whatever you see on menus every day now, but it's kind of like catfishing an audience right now," he said. In a way, the menu is designed to kind of be an upside down or parallel universe of what youd expect."

In that same vein, it might make sense that his least favorite salad to eat, the Caesar, is his favorite to make.

I order them anywhere I go, he said. Its my favorite salad to not like. There is comfort in knowing what Im not going to like about it.

He challenged himself to create a Caesar-inspired salad he actually enjoys. Something that will get the Caesar salad fans to order it, then completely reanimate the salad they think they know and love.

What arrives at the table is a miniature replica of Krypton. Tall, green jagged shards tower over the bowl, concealing thorny tentacles of frisee and mountain of shaved Parmesan curls underneath. The pieces of kryptonite are actually fried rice paper flecked with a green powder made from basil, parsley and lime leaf. You break the pieces and mix them into the salad to create de facto croutons.

Story continues

Argoti uses a lemongrass oil for the dressing and blends in egg yolks, pickled mustard seeds, lemon, raw lime leaves, capers, fish sauce and cold-smoked anchovies. He finishes the salad with a drizzle of his house vinaigrette, made with sesame oil, mirin, aleppo pepper and a minimal amount of rosewater.

The Parmesan cheese and anchovy immediately register Caesar salad. But then there's a quick fusillade of lemongrass and lime leaf, a tidal wave of Thai basil and some serious oomph from the fish sauce. Its heavily dressed and unevenly tossed, with intense pockets of dressing and cheese that ensure each bite is its own adventure.

I use my hands like a claw machine from 'Toy Story,' to toss it, he said.

It sounds like a lot, and it is. But the flavors entangle, harmonize and build into an otherworldly Caesar unlike any other.

Chicory salad and citrus salads from Isla

The chicory salad from Isla in Santa Monica. (Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)

Brian Bornemann may be known best for his mastery of fresh seafood at Crudo e Nudo in Santa Monica, but at the new Isla down the street, he's a salad wizard. His chicory salad eats like the best bites of a heavily curated cheese board over a bed of purple and green Coleman Farms treviso.

It's a salad presented in four acts. At the very top is a blanket of burnt onion ash, jet black and earthy, prepared in the restaurant's wood-burning oven. Next is a walnut anchoiade, a sort of chunky anchovy garlic salsa with toasted walnuts and citrus. He tosses in some squares of Cypress Grove Cheese's Midnight Moon, a nutty and buttery aged goat cheese. Then comes the lettuce, bitter and just a tad wilted under the weight of all the nuts and cheese. And for the finale, a sharp vinegar sauce along the bottom of the plate, crowded with tiny squares of shallots swollen with ruby port and Pedro Ximenez sherry vinegar.

Citrus salad from Isla in Santa Monica. (Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)

Bornemann is also taking whatever citrus is in season and fashioning it into an exemplary version of a salad with no greens at all. Supremes of pomelo, various oranges and mandarinquats are piled onto a plate with caper berries and tossed with a chile crisp. For crunch and even more dimension, he finishes the salad with a charred Meyer lemon dressing and a marcona almond dukkah spiked with fennel pollen and yuzu oil.

Each component is singular and present. The mandarinquats specifically, served with the peels attached, are like sweet buried treasure. I hope my dining companion didn't notice me selfishly fishing them out of the salad.

The plate of citrus also serves as a condiment for the various meat, vegetable and seafood skewers that make up the bulk of the menu. Next time, I might order the citrus salad as a starter and another as a side.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The path to safe communities free of poverty and inequity runs through the schoolhouse door. While we are taking immediate steps to deal with violence, the choice to make lasting systemic change has seldom been closer. When lawmakers return to Springfield in mid-April to begin their final deliberations on the state budget, they can choose to provide more educational opportunities for all Illinois students, especially those from our most vulnerable and disadvantaged communities.

While I am a strong advocate for Catholic education, I am also an advocate for families who choose public school education. Everybody wins when parents, who know their children best, have the opportunity to pick the schools that meet their childrens needs. Lawmakers have three specific actions they can take this spring to strengthen quality educational opportunities for all children.

Advertisement

First, lawmakers can increase public education funding. In 2017, they passed the evidence-based funding formula, or EBF, that scrapped an archaic method of funding K-12 education and transformed the formula to one that met more students needs. That historic legislation was a win-win for both public school students and those low-income families hoping to choose private schools for their children.

As Catholic bishops of Illinois said at the time, The governor and other elected officials deserve our praise for turning an out-of-date school funding blueprint into a distribution formula that is both fair and equitable across the state.

Advertisement

By every objective standard, EBF is working as intended to reduce funding gaps between low-income and wealthy school districts. Since evidenced-based funding started, the number of underfunded districts has declined. Public school districts have been provided with more than $1.6 billion in additional money, with 99% of it going to historically underfunded districts.

I urge lawmakers to preserve this extraordinary progress. Gov. J.B. Pritzker has recommended $506 million in increases to K-12 public education including an additional $350 million in EBF funding for this year, and I commend him for his recommendation. However, state forecasters indicate that this year, revenue is coming into state coffers at a level higher than originally projected. There is an opportunity to increase EBF funding above $350 million, which would do even more to help Illinois families.

The sooner we take concrete steps to invest in our schools, the sooner we will see every school district fully funded and the educational attainment proved to benefit our children and our society increase.

Second, the governors education plan also included increasing state funding to recruit teachers from diverse communities and an additional $100 million for the Monetary Award Program. Last year, the MAP program provided 145,000 grants to low-income students to help pay tuition at a public or private college, university or trade school in Illinois. Access to higher education can lift all Illinois students to better outcomes, and I urge representatives and senators to increase MAP funding in this years budget.

Finally, the Invest in Kids Acts Tax Credit Scholarship Program expires soon. That program, which was part of the improvements to EBF in 2017, has provided nearly 40,000 scholarships to low-income families so their children could attend the nonpublic elementary and secondary school they determined would best serve them. Demand for the program is so strong that for every child granted a scholarship, three students remained on a waiting list.

I implore the General Assembly to recognize that Illinois children are unique individuals deserving of the best chance we can provide for a better life. Tax credit scholarships have provided that chance to children from across the state, including children of color and those with exceptional abilities. Let us take advantage of this years opportunity to increase education funding and honor the promise to make our childrens future our priority.

Cardinal Blase Cupich was appointed by Pope Francis to be the ninth archbishop of Chicago in 2014 and a cardinal in 2016. He is a co-chair of the Dialogue with Muslims for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
By Aidan Lewis and Khalid Abdelaziz

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Fighting in Sudan since April 15 has killed hundreds of people, sparked a humanitarian crisis with thousands fleeing their homes and prompted foreign countries to evacuate their citizens for fear of an all-out civil war in an already unstable region.

WHAT TRIGGERED THE VIOLENCE?

Tension had been building for months between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which together toppled a civilian government in an October 2021 coup.

The friction was brought to a head by an internationally-backed plan to launch a new transition with civilian parties. A final deal was due to be signed earlier in April, on the fourth anniversary of the overthrow of long-ruling Islamist autocrat Omar al-Bashir in a popular uprising.

Both the army and the RSF were required to cede power under the plan and two issues proved particularly contentious: one was the timetable for the RSF to be integrated into the regular armed forces, and the second was the timing for when the army would be formally placed under civilian oversight.

When fighting broke out, both sides blamed the other for provoking the violence. The army accused the RSF of illegal mobilisation in preceding days and the RSF, as it moved on key strategic sites in Khartoum, said the army had tried to seize full power in a plot with Bashir loyalists.

WHO ARE THE MAIN PLAYERS ON THE GROUND?

The protagonists in the power struggle are General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the army and leader of Sudan's ruling council since 2019, and his deputy on the council, RSF leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commonly known as Hemedti.

As the plan for a new transition developed, Hemedti aligned himself more closely with civilian parties from a coalition, the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), that shared power with the military between Bashir's overthrow and the 2021 coup.

Diplomats and analysts said this was part of a strategy by Hemedti to transform himself into a statesman and cement his position at the centre of power. Both the FFC and Hemedti, who grew wealthy through gold mining and other ventures, stressed the need to sideline Islamist-leaning Bashir loyalists and veterans who had regained a foothold following the coup and have deep roots in the army.

Story continues

Along with some pro-army rebel factions that benefited from a 2020 peace deal, the Bashir loyalists opposed the deal for a new transition.

WHAT'S AT STAKE?

The popular uprising had raised hopes that Sudan and its population of 46 million could emerge from decades of autocracy, internal conflict and economic isolation under Bashir.

The current fighting, centred on one of Africa's largest urban areas, could not only destroy those hopes but destabilise a volatile region bordering the Sahel, the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa.

It could also play into competition for influence in the region between Russia and the United States, and between regional powers who have courted different actors in Sudan.

WHAT'S THE ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL ACTORS?

Western powers, including the United States, had swung behind a transition towards democratic elections following Bashir's overthrow. They suspended financial support following the coup, then backed the plan for the new transition and a civilian government.

Energy-rich powers Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have also sought to shape events in Sudan, seeing the transition away from Bashir's rule as a way to roll back Islamist influence and bolster stability in the region.

Gulf states have pursued investments in sectors including agriculture, where Sudan holds vast potential, and ports on Sudan's Red Sea coast.

Russia has been seeking to build a naval base on the Red Sea, while several UAE companies have been signing up to invest.

Burhan and Hemedti both developed close ties to Saudi Arabia after sending troops to participate in the Saudi-led operation in Yemen. Hemedti has struck up relations with other foreign powers including the UAE and Russia.

Egypt, itself ruled by military man President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi who overthrew his Islamist predecessor, has deep ties to Burhan and the army, and recently promoted a parallel track of political negotiations through parties with stronger links to the army and to Bashir's former government.

WHAT ARE THE SCENARIOS?

International parties have called for humanitarian ceasefires and a return to dialogue, but there have been few signs of compromise from the warring factions despite a lull in the fighting that has allowed foreign nations to extract some of their citizens.

The growing humanitarian crisis in a country already reliant on aid to feed its people could lead to large numbers of refugees. Already, up to 20,000 have left for neighbouring Chad, 10,000 for South Sudan and growing numbers are heading north to Egypt.

The army branded the RSF a rebel force and demanded its dissolution, while Hemedti called Burhan a criminal and blamed him for visiting destruction on the country.

Though Sudan's army has superior resources including air power and an estimated 300,000 troops, the RSF has an estimated 100,000 troops deployed across major cities. The protracted conflict comes on top of a long-running economic crisis and existing, large-scale humanitarian needs.

The RSF can draw on support and tribal ties in the western region of Darfur, where it emerged from militias that fought alongside government forces to crush rebels in a brutal war that escalated after 2003.

(Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Edmund Blair)
A widowed woman with dementia had $1.2 million stolen after her exterminator tricked her into trusting him, federal prosecutors said.

Karl Hampton, 65, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, convinced the 85-year-old woman he was her son and would care for her personally and financially between 2018 and 2020, according to officials.

His influence caused her to give him power of attorney and name him in her Revocable Living Trust and will  so he could gain control over her money and property after she died, prosecutors said.

Karl Hampton was found guilty of 12 felony counts in connection with the fraud scheme, which also involved his wife, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Middle District of Tennessee announced in an April 14 news release.

Deborah Hampton was charged with conspiracy and money laundering with her husband, who was also charged with wire and mail fraud, in 2021, according to prosecutors who said she pleaded guilty to money laundering in February.

McClatchy News contacted attorneys separately representing Karl and Deborah Hampton for comment on April 17 and didnt immediately receive a response.

Karl Hampton is accused of spending the widows money on luxury goods, including a Lexus, a 4.3-karat diamond ring, and invested $170,000 interest in an exterminator business.

How the fraud scheme unfolded

Karl Hampton worked as the widows exterminator from January 2016 through May 2019, according to a criminal complaint. He earned roughly $28,000 a year working for Belle Meade Exterminating Company while his wife was unemployed, the complaint says.

In April 2018, the widow was meant to inherit half of her sisters estate following her death in December 2017, the criminal complaint says.

Between January and December of 2019, Hampton liquidated the widows sisters investment accounts at Vanguard, Charles Schwab and Lincoln Financial for his own gain, according to the complaint.

After Vanguard, Charles Schwab and Lincoln Financial separately mailed the widow checks worth roughly $139,000, $107,000 and $24,000, Hampton took the majority of the money for himself, the complaint says

Story continues

He also liquidated an Ameren investment account belonging to the widow, who was mailed a check worth nearly $71,000 as a result in February 2019, according to the complaint. He bought a 2019 Kia Soul the day after this check was deposited into the widows bank account.

One month after becoming the womans power of attorney in April 2019, Hampton quit his job, started buying lottery tickets and funded his lavish lifestyle, the complaint says.

He methodically drained her bank accounts, took out a $500,000 line of credit in her name using her property as collateral, and amassed huge charges on her credit cards, according to prosecutors.

Karl Hampton used $21,000 of the stolen money for a down payment on a 2018 Lexus in his wifes name, the complaint says.

He and his wife also spent $21,452 on the diamond ring, according to the complaint.

Karl Hamptons sentencing is scheduled for August 11, prosecutors said. His wife will be sentenced on June 16, the release said.

Woman steals $2.8M from Holocaust survivor and uses it for life of luxury, feds say

Man steals $84,000 from ill mother-in-law and spends nearly half on guns, feds say

TSA officer stole thousands in unemployment while working at Florida airport, feds say
F. Murray Abraham has been accused of sexual misconduct, reportedly leading to his Mythic Quest exit.

Rolling Stone published a report claiming that the White Lotus Season 2 actor was at the center of two complaints. Per the outlet, the first incident led to Abraham being given a warning and told to keep away from some of the shows actresses, according to a production source. A second incident was brought to Mythic Quest creator and star Rob McElhenney, who reportedly decided to have Abraham exit the Apple TV+ series ahead of its third season.

More from IndieWire

At the time, Abrahams exit was addressed by McElhenney to Variety, saying, Its a bummer to not have Murray in this season. But we recognize that [his character] C.W. is a beloved character and obviously a huge part of the show. So, we made sure that we have a really fitting tribute to him. We definitely address it in a big way.

The official story was that Abraham was too busy shooting The White Lotus on location in Sicily to film Mythic Quest.

Now, Lionsgate issued a statement regarding allegations of sexual misconduct.

We take allegations of misconduct seriously and investigate them thoroughly, a spokesperson told IndieWire. As a matter of corporate policy, we do not discuss our personnel actions.

In addition to Mythic Quest and The White Lotus, Abraham has starred in Inside Llewyn Davis, The Good Wife, and Homeland. The 83-year-old Oscar winner made his onscreen debut in 1971.

Abraham addressed his problematic White Lotus character Bert, an insatiable flirt who despises the #MeToo movement, in a December 2022 interview with The New York Times.

I think Bert is absolutely legit  you know hes for real, Abraham said, praising series creator Mike White for his writing. I grew up with people like that.

Story continues

White said of Abrahams convincing turn in the role, Bert says a lot of questionable things and has kind of a problematic attitude toward sex and women and relationships. I just thought itd be funny to have an actor who also has this kind of buoyancy and a What me worry? type of attitude. Theres something very mischievous about Murray, and he could obviously play the villain. But he also has this likable, unsinkable quality to him.

Best of IndieWire

Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.
F. Murray Abraham left the show Mythic Quest after multiple incidents of sexual misconduct, a new report claims.

The Oscar winners departure from the Apple TV+ show initially made news last April, but now Rolling Stone has revealed how two incidents of alleged sexual misconduct led to the 83-year-olds ouster.

According to sources close to the production, Abraham was first warned to keep away from some of the shows actresses before a second incident was brought to creator and co-star Rob McElhenneys attention. After that, sources say the Amadeus actor was dismissed from Mythic Quest.

Initially, production company Lionsgate offered few details, saying it does not comment on matters concerning personnel.

Following Rolling Stones reports, a spokesperson for the company told HuffPost, We take allegations of misconduct seriously and investigate them thoroughly. As a matter of corporate policy, we do not discuss our personnel actions.

F. Murray Abraham discusses the Apple TV+ series Mythic Quest at New York's Build Studio in 2020.

F. Murray Abraham discusses the Apple TV+ series Mythic Quest at New York's Build Studio in 2020.

HuffPost also reached out to Abrahams team, which did not immediately return a request for comment.

Mythic Quest tells the story of the fictional video game studio behind a popular role-playing game. Abraham played the shows prickly head writer C.W. Longbottom, opposite McElhenney, Charlie Day and Megan Ganz.

In light of Abrahams exit, his character was written off of Mythic Quest. 2022s Season 3 premiere revealed Longbottom decided to script his own end after learning he was terminally ill.

Mythic Quest was simultaneously renewed for a third and fourth season in 2021. Production on a fourth season has yet to start.

Related...
The claim: Cows and pigs will start being injected with mRNA vaccines in April 2023

An April 3 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows a screenshot of a tweet that asserts a major change is coming to the U.S. food supply.

BREAKING NEWS: the lobbyists for the cattleman and pork associations in several states have CONFIRMED they WILL be using mRNA vaccines in pigs and cows THIS MONTH, reads the start of the tweet. WE MUST SUPPORT #Missouri #HB1169. It is LITERALLY the ONLY chance we have to prevent this.

The original tweet was shared more than 25,000 times.

Follow us on Facebook! Like our page to get updates throughout the day on our latest debunks

Our rating: False

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said there are no mRNA vaccines approved for cows. All vaccines are given to animals at the discretion of their owners, and there is no change coming to the policy in April 2023, the department said.

No vaccine mandates for cows, pigs

There is no change coming to vaccines for livestock this month, said Marissa Perry, a spokesperson for the USDA. .

There are no mRNA vaccines currently used in beef cattle in the U.S., according to both Perry and Hunter Ihrman, director of policy communications for the National Cattlemens Beef Association.

In an April 5 statement, the association said beef cattle are vaccinated to treat and prevent an array of diseases, but none of those vaccines use mRNA technology.

While research indicates such a vaccine could be available at some point, it would need to be researched and reviewed by the USDA before being rolled out, Ihrman said.

While mRNA vaccines have been licensed for pigs, cats and dogs, those vaccines have numerous biological differences compared to the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines used in humans," said Perry.

Fact check: COVID-19 mRNA vaccines cannot cause the disease, don't have live virus

Not vaccinating animals would invite a host of problems, according to Alan Young, a professor of veterinary and biomedical sciences at South Dakota State University and the chief technology officer for veterinary vaccine developer Medgene Labs.

Story continues

Vaccines are a critical tool in animal health to maintain healthy animals, which is what you want for food consumption, Young said.

Vaccines animals receive vary by factors including their species and surroundings, according to one expert.

Veterinarians consider the animals, environment and health challenges for specific animals or groups of animals when choosing vaccines, so not all pigs from all farms receive the same vaccines, said Abbey Cannon, director of public health and communications for the American Association of Swine Veterinarians.

All vaccines used for food animals undergo strict safety and quality evaluations, Cannon said.

Clinical trials play an essential role in the development of new medicines, including mRNA-based vaccines and treatments.

Despite the safety and efficacy of the vaccines, Perry said there is no mandate for livestock vaccinations.

It is a personal and business decision left up to the producer and will remain that way, she said.

Missouri House bill scheduled for hearing

Missouri House Bill 1169, mentioned in the original tweet, addresses the concept of human genes being affected through food consumption.

It would require specific labeling for products that could act as a "gene therapy or that could possibly impact, alter or introduce genetic material or a genetic change into the user." The bill would also require "fully informed consent" from individuals before a company exposes them to a product that could "infect, transmit to or be absorbed in any way that would act as a medical intervention, vaccine, drug or genetic modification."

But Young said claims suggesting vaccines can be given to animals and subsequently transferred to humans are mind-boggling.

He said there are mandatory withdrawal periods for all animals who receive a vaccine, as previously reported by USA TODAY. The withdrawal period ensures that any potential residue is gone before the animal enters the food supply, Young said.

Pall Thordarson, the director of the University of New South Wales RNA Institute, previously told USA TODAY there is little concern about mRNA vaccines being passed on to someone through the consumption of meat or milk because the mRNA breaks down in "a matter of days at most."

Fact check: There is no evidence 45,000 people died from vaccine-related complications

The Missouri bill is scheduled for a House hearing on April 19 but does not have a committee vote scheduled. In order to become law, the bill would have to make it through both the Missouri House and Senate prior to the end of the legislative session on May 12.

When reached for comment on the claim, the Facebook user provided no evidence of an impending change in livestock vaccines.

Our fact-check sources:

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.

Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: No mRNA vaccine approved for cattle in US
(Reuters) -Sentenced on Monday to 25 years in prison on charges including treason, Vladimir Kara-Murza joined a growing list of Russians who have received long jail terms after speaking out against President Vladimir Putin or the invasion of Ukraine. Here are some of the most prominent cases.

VLADIMIR KARA-MURZA

Kara-Murza, 41, was convicted by a Moscow court over a series of interviews and speeches last year in which he condemned Russia's leadership and the war in Ukraine. The 25-year term he received was the harshest of its kind since Russia invaded its neighbour last February.

ALEXEI NAVALNY

Navalny, the most prominent opposition figure in Russia, is serving sentences totalling 11-1/2 years at the IK-6 penal colony at Melekhovo, about 235 km (145 miles) east of Moscow. He was convicted of fraud and contempt of court, charges that supporters and human rights groups say were trumped up to silence him. His spokeswoman said last week he was suffering severe stomach pain and weight loss, which his allies fear may be the result of slow poisoning.

ILYA YASHIN

Opposition politician Yashin was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison in December 2022 on charges of spreading "false information" about the army. He was tried over a YouTube video in which he discussed evidence uncovered by Western journalists of alleged Russian atrocities in Bucha, near Kyiv, and cast doubt on the official Moscow version that such reports had been fabricated as a "provocation" against Russia.

ALEXEI GORINOV

Gorinov, a Moscow district councillor, was jailed for seven years in July 2022 on charges of spreading false information about the armed forces. He had told a council meeting in March that children were "dying every day" in Ukraine. Gorinov was the first person to be jailed under harsh new censorship laws that were passed eight days after the start of the war.

ANDREI PIVOVAROV

Pivovarov, who had headed a now-defunct activist organisation called Open Russia, was jailed for four years in July 2022 on charges of leading an "undesirable organisation".

Story continues

ALEXEI MOSKALYOV

Moskalyov was investigated by police after his daughter Masha, then 12, drew an anti-war picture at school in 2022. He was alleged to have discredited the armed forces in his own social media posts, and was sentenced in March to two years in jail. He fled house arrest the night before the verdict but was captured in Belarus and extradited back to Russia.

IVAN SAFRONOV

In a case that predated the invasion of Ukraine, Safronov was sentenced to 22 years in prison for treason in September 2022 after prosecutors said he had disclosed state secrets. A former defence reporter who became an adviser to the head of Russia's space agency, he was arrested in 2020. He said he had revealed only information that was already in the public domain. Supporters said his harsh punishment showed Russia's contempt for media freedom.

(Reporting by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
(Reuters) -Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza was convicted of treason by a Moscow court on Monday and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

WHO IS HE?

Kara-Murza, 41, is a historian, journalist and opposition politician who holds Russian and British passports and studied in England at Cambridge University. He was a close associate of Boris Nemtsov, a leading opposition figure who was assassinated near the Kremlin in 2015, and continued to speak out against President Vladimir Putin despite the mounting risks.

Twice, in 2015 and 2017, Kara-Murza suddenly fell ill in what he said were poisonings by the Russian security services, on both occasions falling into a coma before eventually recovering. Russian authorities denied involvement in the incidents. Kara-Murza's lawyers say that as a result, he suffers from a serious nerve disorder called polyneuropathy.

Kara-Murza was one of a small number of opposition politicians who remained active in Russia after it invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and publicly condemned the war in defiance of new censorship laws.

WHAT WAS HE ACCUSED OF?

Kara-Murza was arrested in April 2022, hours after CNN broadcast an interview in which he said Russia was being run by a "regime of murderers".

He was declared a "foreign agent" and accused of spreading false information about the actions of the Russian military in Ukraine in connection with a speech he had given the previous month in the Arizona House of Representatives, where he said Putin was "dropping cluster bombs on residential areas, mothers' homes, hospitals, and schools".

In July he was additionally charged over his involvement with two foreign-based opposition forums that are labelled by the Russian state as "undesirable". Finally, on Oct. 6, he was charged with treason over public speeches he had made in Lisbon, Helsinki and Washington.

Prosecutors requested a 25-year jail term.

HOW DID HE RESPOND TO THE CHARGES?

Story continues

The trial was held behind closed doors but Kara-Murza's wife and lawyer released a copy of a speech he delivered to the court. He said he had done nothing wrong and compared the proceedings to Josef Stalin's show trials of the 1930s.

"Criminals are supposed to repent of what they have done. I, on the other hand, am in prison for my political views. I also know that the day will come when the darkness over our country will dissipate," said Kara-Murza, who has described the entire case against him as being based on "political vengeance".

(Reporting by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
BuzzFeed News; Cole Burston / Getty Images; Kevin Winter / Getty Images; MEGA / GC Images via Getty Images

Thanks to powerful new generative artificial intelligence tools, its getting difficult to tell if your favorite artist is actually singing  or in a great many cases, rapping  on tracks floating around YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

In February, superstar DJ David Guetta posted a video clip of himself live in concert, playing a song that he created using AI-generated Eminem vocals, clearly without the rappers permission. Then theres Savages, a track by French hip-hop act AllttA that uses AI-generated vocals of Jay-Z, whose familiar voice adds something ineffably compelling to the track, according to New Yorker writer Kyle Chayka . More recently, Heart on My Sleeve  an impressive AI-created Drake/The Weeknd collaboration that some suspect is a startups marketing ploy  went viral on social media.

More tracks like these keep appearing every day, many of them faux cover songs made by relative unknowns. And not everyone is pleased. Last week, Drake posted on his Instagram that an AI-generated version of him rapping Ice Spices Munch (Feelin U) was the final straw. Rihanna, however, has yet to respond to AI-generated versions of her performing songs by Beyonce, Katy Perry, Maroon 5, and more.

Meanwhile, Universal Music Group  which counts Drake and Rihanna among its many artists  has reportedly asked music streaming services, including Spotify and Apple Music, to work with them to stymie the scraping of content that can enable music generative AI tools to work.

The music giant may have been acting in response to the thoughts of an influential analyst for BNP Paribas Exane who recently said that AI-generated music was a new disruptive threat to the way the industry works. The technology raises a host of legal questions that no one seems to have answers for yet.

For now, fans seem to be enjoying the ambiguity. Take YeezyBeaver, a 22-year-old from Oklahoma whose YouTube channel features Kanye West performing a range of songs, the most popular of which is a surprisingly charming cover of Hey There Delilah by Plain White Ts. YeezyBeaver, who asked that BuzzFeed News not use his real name, said that he started creating AI-generated music thanks to a post on a Ye Discord fan server that linked to a voice model of the rapper and provided instructions on how to insert the model into generative AI tools that can create new music.

Story continues

YeezyBeaver and many others use a tool called So-Vits-SVC , which has become so popular that it has its own hashtag on TikTok that has 2 million views. He first tried it out by putting Yes voice on Drakes track Jungle, an experiment that went mildly viral on TikTok. I just started looking for other artists, songs that I think Kanye would sound good on, he said. And then that's pretty much how we got to here.

Another user called pieawsome, an American college student who spoke with BuzzFeed News on condition that his real name not be used, is also playing around with Yes voice. Hes a member of the internets Kanye unreleased community, dedicated to Yes unfinished work. I realized we had enough Kanye material where we could probably make an AI model out of it to finish some of the songs, pieawsome said.

So he chopped up a capella sections from the available but not officially released Ye audio and fed it into So-Vits-SVC. After a few days of training, the result was impressive, so he pushed his Kanye voice model out onto Discord. People started working with it, and [the music produced] got passed around a bunch of people, pieawsome said. It wasnt long before Travis Scott liked an Instagram post featuring a track  Ye covering Ice Spices Munch  made using the model.

The first AI music video that Jered Chavez, a 19-year-old student at the University of South Florida, posted to Instagram was a mind-bending one: Drake, Ye, and Kendrick Lamar singing Fukashigi no Karte, the closing song to Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai, an anime series popular on the internet. I thought it was a cool concept, Chavez said. Im clearly not the first one to start it, but what makes my page stand out is I try to put a little twist on it and add a comedy aspect.

The student said that the comedic approach is designed in part to insulate him from risks associated with creating the work. With this area of AI, theres a lot of controversy and ethical concerns, Chavez added. Obviously, people that make this music and use this AI are taking someones likeness and, most of the time without permission, creating something thats essentially putting words in peoples mouths.

Chavez pointed out that this could be especially troublesome when it comes to the use of generative AI to replicate the voices of dead artists. Theyre not around to give their approval, and we dont truly know what they would want, he said. That doesnt seem to bother those behind BohemianRhapsod.ai , which allows users to conduct a choir of 16 AI-generated versions of Freddie Mercury through perhaps Queens most famous hit.

While a consensus is forming that generative AI is potentially troublesome, no one really knows whether hobbyist creators are on shaky legal ground or not. pieawsome said he thinks of what he does as the equivalent of modding a game or producing fanfiction based on a popular book. Its our version of that, he said. That may be a good thing. It may be a bad thing. I dont know. But its kind of an inevitable thing that was going to happen.Jonathan Bailey, former chief technology officer of Soundwide, a music technology company, has a different take. I think you can make a persuasive argument that using AI to reanimate Jay-Zs voice to have him rap or sing something he never created is kind of a form of identity theft, he said.

Im not a lawyer, Bailey added. Lawyer Donald Passman of Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman, Inc., who has represented major artists such as Adele and Taylor Swift throughout his storied career, declined to weigh in on the use of AI to imitate artists for this story. He said that he didnt want to say anything inconsistent with a position he might later take in court. Its way too new, Passman said of the tech.

Some music labels appear to already have made their minds up. Discord servers focusing on AI have reported that many YouTube channels that post AI-generated music have been hit with copyright takedowns. I guess thats one way of tackling it, Chavez said. But honestly, now this technology is out there, I dont think people are ever going to stop using it.

The responsibility lies in the judgment of the people that are making [AI-generated music], he continued. I try to use my best judgment. This is kind of new territory for everyone.

More on this
The shooting of a Black teenager who rang the wrong doorbell after mistaking the residence for one a block over has sparked outrage on social media, a weekend protest and calls for the shooters arrest.

Nationally prominent civil rights attorneys Lee Merritt and Ben Crump announced Sunday that they were taking the case and promptly criticized authorities in Kansas City, Missouri, for releasing the man who opened fire, who they said is a white man.

Ralph Paul Yarl, 16, was released from the hospital Saturday after he was shot just before 10 p.m. Thursday.

Yarl, a high school junior whose teacher said his goal is to study chemical engineering in college, was shot once in the head and a second time in the arm, Merritt and Crump said in a joint statement.

Ralph Yarl (via GoFundMe)

"There can be no excuse for the release of this armed and dangerous suspect," the lawyers said.

Kansas City police said the child mistook a residence in the 1100 block of Northeast 115th Street for the location of his siblings, who were at a home in the 1100 block of Northeast 115th Terrace, according to NBC affiliate KSHB of Kansas City.

Demonstrators targeted the location Sunday as word of the shooting started to reach a national audience through social media.

Protesters marched toward the residence where the shooting took place, chanting What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!

Yarls aunt, Faith Spoonmore, said Sunday at the protest: My nephew is alive and he is healing. It is not the story that that individual intended for us to tell. We are telling a story that is different from the stories that you normally hear, KSHB reported.

Police Chief Stacey Graves explained why the man who opened fire was released and vowed to investigate thoroughly.

The resident, whose name and race has not been released by police, was taken into custody and held for 24 hours, the maximum for a suspect in a felony until charges are filed.

After consulting with the Clay County prosecutors office, the homeowner was released pending further investigation due to the need to obtain a formal statement from the victim and compile additional information for a case file to be presented, the chief said.

Story continues

A firearm was taken as evidence, Graves said.

She said that a vast majority of felony suspects are released after 24 hours but that many are re-arrested once enough evidence is gathered to trigger charges.

In this case, Graves said, detectives, working "as expeditiously and as thoroughly as we can," will work to build a solid foundation for prosecution.

"As soon as the case is complete, it will be presented to the Clay County prosecutor for their review," she said.

I want everyone to know that I am listening and I understand the concern we are receiving from the community, she added.

Clay County prosecutors said in a statement on Monday that, "at this point, we have not yet received a criminal referral from the Kansas City Police Department regarding this case. However, we are actively working with law enforcement in an attempt to speed up that process so that we can review the file when it is submitted and determine whether criminal charges are appropriate."

Investigators will consider whether the suspect was protected by Missouris Stand Your Ground law, Graves said.

The law says a would-be shooter defending life or property does not have to retreat before taking violent action.

Graves also said she has been in touch with the teen's family and is listening to the concerns of the Black community.

Mayor Quinton Lucas, who attended the news conference, said there's a "thorough" investigation underway now.

"We will make sure we do all we can to be fair, to make sure we're as expeditious as possible and more than anything to make sure that everyone, no matter their background, knows that justice can be obtained here in Kansas City," he said.

Lucas also said he's been in touch with the victim's family.

"My heart goes out to the victim of this shooting, the victim's family, my heart goes out to everyone impacted," he said.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
The Daily Beast/Reuters/Clay County

The white Kansas City homeowner who shot 16-year-old honors student Ralph Yarl for going to the wrong house to pick up his siblings claimed to police that he believed someone was attempting to break into the house because the teen pulled on his door handlesomething prosecutors say Ralph disputed in an interview from his hospital bed.

Andrew Lester, 84, is facing charges of assault in the first degree and armed criminal action, Clay County Prosecutor Zachary Thompson said Monday. Lester was taken into custody on Tuesday after surrendering at the Clay County Detention Center, according to the sheriffs office.

There was a racial component to the case, Thompson said, but did not elaborate. When asked why Lester was not being charged with attempted murder, Thompson explained that the possible sentence under assault was more severe.

This is his booking photo: pic.twitter.com/HCdLpiTPsx  Clay County, Missouri Sheriff (@SheriffClayCo) April 18, 2023

A probable cause affidavit released Monday evening by the Clay County Prosecutors Office says police were dispatched to Lesters home at 9:52 p.m. on April 13.

Yarl was found in the street a few doors down, according to the affidavit.

I observed the front storm door glass broken with blood on the front porch, Det. Dennis Paquette stated in the document. I observed blood on the driveway... I also observed blood in the street in front of [a nearby home].

Lester, who was standing inside his house, allowed officers to search the home. Cops spoke to a witness who said they heard a vehicle pull into Lesters driveway at around 9:50 p.m., and said they thought it odd for the elderly man to have a visitor so late. The witness, who did not see the shooting, said they then heard two to three gunshots, followed by someone screaming that they had been shot, the affidavit states.

Story continues

Crime scene technicians recovered a .32 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver on a chair in the living room, with two spent rounds in the cylinder and live rounds in the remaining chambers, according to the affidavit. They also took a hard drive connected to the homes security cameras, but found the footage was no longer functional.

In an interview with investigators shortly before 11:30 p.m., Lester said hed just got into bed when he heard the doorbell. Lester picked up his gun before going to answer it, and claimed he saw a Black male approximately 6 feet tall pulling on the storm door handle, the affidavit says.

[H]e believed someone was attempting to break into the house, and shot twice within a few seconds of opening the door, it continues, adding that Lester insisted he had been scared to death.

Detectives were able to interview Yarl in the hospital on April 14, according to the affidavit. He told cops he walked up to the door and rang the bell, then waitedbut never pulled on the handle. When Lester showed up, Yarl said he was immediately shot in the head and fell to the ground, then he was shot in the arm as he lay there, wounded.

Dont come around here, Yarl said Lester told him as he got up and ran away to keep from being shot a third time.

Lester, a former aircraft mechanic, was taken to the KCPDs East Patrol unit but after he was booked and fingerprinted, he was released pending further investigation.

In a statement, civil rights attorneys Lee Merritt and Ben Crump, who are jointly representing Yarls family, said, Moments after the family got off the phone with President Biden, who offered his prayers for Ralphs health and for justice, we learned that the prosecutor will be charging the man who is responsible for the deplorable shooting of this innocent boy.

The lawyers called for an end to gun violence against unarmed Black people, adding, While this is certainly a step in the right direction, we will continue to fight for Ralph while he works towards a full recovery.

The charges were issued just hours after a representative for Yarls family accused local police of not being honest about why they they hadnt yet arrested Lester, who at that point had not been named.

Merritt said in a social media post on Monday that Ralph gave a bedside interview to investigators while hospitalized on Friday, directly contradicting a narrative offered by police that no arrest had yet been made because cops had thus far been unable to take a victim statement.

Merritt also said the alleged shooter was detained for two hours, not 24 hours, as KCPD Chief Stacey Graves said previously.

I cannot say for certain why the appropriate arrest hasnt been made by law enforcement, Merritt said. I can say with absolute certainty the excuses being offered are not true.

Thompsons Monday press conference came less than two hours after Kansas City police said theyd submitted their case files to the Clay County Prosecutors Office to weigh potential charges.

Ralphs grandfather, Sebastian Nagbe, told The Daily Beast in a text message on Monday that his grandson was hanging in there.

The talented musician and aspiring scientist continues to improve, is responsive, and is home after spending three nights in the hospital, his father, Paul Yarl, told The Kansas City Star. Yarl added that Ralphs mother, a nurse, took time off from work to tend to her son.

Ralph went to pick up his younger brothers from a friends house on April 13, according to an April 14 video posted to TikTok by Ralphs aunt, Faith Spoonmore. However, she said Ralph did not have his phone to figure out the directions and pulled into the driveway of the wrong house. The house he was looking for was on 115th Terrace but he mistakenly went to 115th Street, one block over.

A man opened up the door, looked [Ralph] in the eye, and said, Dont ever come back here, as he shot him in the head, Spoonmore, on the brink of tears, said in the video. My nephew fell down, and the man shot him again.

Spoonmore said that her nephew had to get up and run to three different neighbors homes for help. When he finally reached the third house, she said, someone agreed to help him after forcing him at gunpoint to put his hands up and lie on the ground.

He laid on the ground like he passed out before the neighbor called the police for help, Spoonmore said. ...You hear these stories about racism in America but you have this little bit of hope because you feel like its so far away, it would never happen to your family. It would never happen to you. But God, the people in this country are sick.

Its so hard to believe that this amount of hate lives in people, she continued. This is America.

Lester was taken into police custody for a 24-hour hold, but was released due to the need to obtain a formal statement from the victim, Police Chief Graves said Sunday.

However, Crump and Merritt said there was no reason for Lester to have been released.

There is no excuse for the release of this armed and dangerous suspect after admitting to shooting an unarmed, non-threatening, and defenseless teenager that rang his doorbell, the attorneys said Monday. We demand swift action fromprosecutors and law enforcement to identify, arrest, and prosecute to the full extent of the law the man responsible for this horrendous and unjustifiable shooting.

Michael Kelly, a family friend whose wife works in oncology at a hospital with Ralphs mother, told The Daily Beast that he was baffled by the shooting.

This is your neighbor, Kelly said, adding that he definitely felt racism was a factor in the shooting. If this was a white woman at night, would [the neighbor] have shot her? I 100 percent doubt it.

And although Graves acknowledged the racial components of the shooting while saying Sunday that investigators did not have evidence it was racially motivated, another neighbor who wished to remain anonymous told The Daily Beast that race was a component.

Ferguson was here, she said, referencing the fatal shooting of Mike Brown at the hands of police. It just sucks. I hope [the shooter] gets charged. Regardless of what his reasoning was for doing it, there is no good reason to ever do that to somebody.

The neighborhood is a mixed one, the neighbor continued, noting there are kids of all races living there. The street names are confusing, and mail is delivered to the wrong homes on a regular basis. It would be super easy for a person to confuse one for the other, according to the neighbor. I just want to make sure the world doesnt think every neighbor here is okay with this shit happening, she said.

In a statement on Monday, North Kansas City Schools Superintendent Dan Clemens described Ralph as an excellent student and talented musician. He maintains a stellar GPA while taking mostly college level courses. While he loves science and hopes to pursue that career path, his passion is music. Thankfully, we know he is now recovering alongside family.

Clemens said he was experiencing anger, frustration, shock and disbelief over the incident that nearly took the Staley High School juniors life, and vowed to provide additional resources this week at all schools throughout the district.

A hospital employee who works with Ralphs mother told The Daily Beast on Tuesday that a group of coworkers pooled their money together to buy the teen a piano, which was delivered to his home on Sunday. They hope the instrument will be helpful as a form of physical therapy as Ralph continues to heal, she said.

In a GoFundMe page organized by Spoonmore, who did not respond to The Daily Beasts request for comment, she described her nephew as a fantastic kid who plays several instruments and looked forward to majoring in chemical engineering in college.

Life looks a lot different right now, Spoonmore wrote.

The fundraiser had already raised $1.7 million by Monday afternoon.

If convicted, Lester faces life in prison.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
In 2017, the Illinois General Assembly passed the historic bipartisan Invest in Kids Act, which increased annual public school funding through the evidence-based formula and has already provided $1.6 billion in new funding to public school students since the laws passage.

The Invest in Kids Act created Illinois Tax Credit Scholarship Program for children to attend any private school that best fits their needs. The program allows donors to give through scholarship-granting organizations  such as Empower Illinois and Big Shoulders Fund, among others  to provide much needed partial or full scholarships to economically eligible families. In turn, it provides a 75% tax credit to those donors.

Advertisement

To date, more than $300 million in private dollars has been raised, but more importantly, nearly 40,000 scholarships have been awarded to K-12 students across the state. Kudos to members of the Illinois legislature for their foresight in doing whats right for all Illinois children.

Unfortunately, the part of the law that provides scholarships to children expires after this year, unless the legislature acts now to extend it.

Advertisement

As an educator and co-founder of Village Leadership Academy and It Takes A Village Family of Schools, which serve mostly African American and Latino children on the Near South and West sides of Chicago, I can attest to the benefit this program has provided to families in our community.

Thanks to the tax credit program, families can confidently enroll their children in an education environment where they believe their children will thrive, such as schools that offer high academic standards, exposure to world history and geography, appreciation for cultural differences, development of critical thinking and perspective taking skills, and decision-making in leadership development.

Tax credit scholarships are an investment in our childrens future, our families future and our communitys future. Its not just an investment in education; its also an investment in violence prevention, poverty reduction and economic acceleration.

During the last three years, the tax credit scholarship program has helped us provide 88 scholarships worth more than $1 million for students and families. We hope the extension of the Invest in Kids Act will not only provide stability to families by maintaining existing student scholarships, but also connect even more students to this life-changing resource. Currently, there are more than 26,000 children on the waitlist for scholarships across the state, which speaks to the need and interest in the Invest in Kids Acts Tax Credit Scholarship Program.

We ask all members of the General Assembly to renew this vital scholarship program during the spring session. Better yet, since the pilot program has been an incredible success for the most vulnerable children across Illinois, lets make the scholarship program permanent.

The Invest in Kids Act was born out of bipartisanship and our diverse legislature coming together to address an important issue for all Illinoisans who are educating our children.

We at Village Leadership Academy, along with our diverse coalition of partners across the state, ask our legislative leaders to act now to alleviate our families uncertainty about the future of the tax credit program. In the spirit of bipartisanship, once again act on behalf of all children by removing the sunset from the Illinois Tax Credit Scholarship Program now.

The Invest in Kids Act creates an opportunity for all of us to invest in our future  our children. We need our state legislators to fortify this opportunity for and investment in Illinois children.

Advertisement

Anita Andrews-Hutchinson is co-founder of It Takes A Village Family of Schools and Village Leadership Academy.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
By Julia Symmes Cobb

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Dissident FARC rebels who rejected a landmark peace agreement in 2016 said on Sunday they are ready to set up a dialogue with the government on May 16 to begin peace talks to bring their group, the Estado Mayor Central (EMC), out of the armed conflict.

Leftist President Gustavo Petro - a former member of the urban guerrilla group M-19 - pledged to end six decades of an armed conflict that has left more than 450,000 dead by signing peace or surrender agreements with rebels and criminal gangs, in addition to fully implementing the pact with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

The EMC is one of two breakaway factions of the FARC and is made up of former leaders and fighters who did not accept the peace deal, which allowed in 2016 the reincorporation into civilian life of 13,000 people who formed a political party and received 10 seats in Congress.

"We announce before the whole world that our delegates to the dialogue table with the Colombian state, headed by the national government, are already ready for May 16 of this year," Angela Izquierdo, spokeswoman for the armed group, told journalists.

There were no immediate comments from government officials.

Attorney General Francisco Barbosa suspended arrest warrants against more than 20 EMC members in early March, which facilitated the start of peace talks to be held in the Llano del Yari, on the border between the departments of Meta and Caqueta, in the south of the country.

The group, made up of 3,530 people - 2,180 combatants and 1,350 auxiliaries - has maintained a bilateral ceasefire with the Colombian government since the beginning of the year.

The other dissident FARC faction is the Segunda Marquetalia, which in August 2019 returned to the armed struggle, claiming that the state failed to comply with the peace agreement.

Petro's government reestablished peace talks with the rebels of the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the two parties seek to advance towards a bilateral ceasefire agreement in a third round of talks to begin soon in Cuba.

(Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb,; Additional reporting by Nelson Bocanegra; Editing by Drazen Jorgic and Chizu Nomiyama)
A resident walks past a mural depicting armed members of the Ulster Volunteer Force, a paramilitary group, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. (Charles McQuillan / Getty Images)

By now, these walls were meant to have fallen.

Just as they did at the height of the Troubles  three blood-soaked decades of sectarian and political violence that shook Northern Ireland and transfixed a watching world  separation barriers still snake their way between neighborhoods of low-slung red-brick row houses, keeping mainly Roman Catholic Irish nationalists and Protestants loyal to the British crown physically separated from one another.

Nearly 50 feet tall in some spots, daubed with slogans and topped by metal spikes, the dividing lines are known, with scarcely a trace of irony, as peace walls. In the quarter-century since the Good Friday agreement, the landmark deal that largely ended the conflict, successive target dates for dismantling the barriers have slipped past, one after another.

Ah no, love  they wont come down in my lifetime, I dont think, said Kathleen Smyth, 63, walking with her daughter and granddaughter on Falls Road, the main thoroughfare in west Belfast, where the tricolor of the neighboring Irish Republic flutters from flagpoles.

A gate in the "peace wall" dividing Protestant and Catholic neighborhoods in west Belfast. At night and on weekends, it is shut, closing off passage to pedestrians and vehicles. (Laura King / Los Angeles Times)

Across the divide on Shankill Road, where many tattered storefronts display the Union Jack, 35-year-old maintenance worker William Harveson angled his chin in the direction of a sturdy gate that would seal off foot and car traffic through the barrier in a few hours, at sunset.

Its still needed, he said. Just in case.

Cautionary notes like these have been a recurring theme amid commemorations of the anniversary of the agreement, signed on April 10, Good Friday, of 1998.

With some 3,600 people killed and many more maimed in the 30 years leading up to the accord, it is hailed as a vital lifesaving intervention. The pact, meant to keep balance between unionists who want to stay in the United Kingdom and nationalists who want to be part of the Republic, is also seen as a singular success story in U.S.-brokered conflict resolution.

Northern Ireland is a small place  fewer than 2 million people  but over the course of the Troubles, the sheer numbers of deaths and disappearances, imprisonment and injuries, left few families across the six counties untouched.

Story continues

Scaled up, its like your Civil War, said Peter McLoughlin, a politics lecturer at Queens University Belfast.

The milestone anniversary, though, has called attention to ongoing rancor that caused the power-sharing government  the deals centerpiece  to founder more than a year ago.

Commemoration organizers had hoped a political rapprochement would have happened by now, rather than casting a pall over ongoing anniversary events. This week, many of the agreement's architects, former President Clinton among them, are gathering in Belfast, along with leaders and dignitaries including Britains King Charles III.

President Biden joins others for a group selfie after a speech at Ulster University's campus in Belfast, Northern Ireland. (Patrick Semansky / Associated Press)

President Biden, in a speech in Belfast last week, hailed the accords achievements, but warned that hard work lay ahead to prevent a relapse into violence.

Northern Ireland will not go back, he declared, dangling the prospect of greater economic incentives if rival politicians can once again join together in a functioning government.

With the Troubles on the cusp of living memory and beginning a passage into history, some observers point to a fundamental disconnect: the starkly different stories that people tell themselves and each other about the years of violence.

Masked youths throw gasoline bombs at a police Land Rover as Republican protesters opposed to the Good Friday agreement hold a parade in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, last week. (Peter Morrison / Associated Press)

Theres no consensus, really, on what took place and what it all meant, said Sandra Peake, who heads Northern Irelands largest support network for Troubles victims and survivors. So it can be hard to see a common way forward.

::

'Paying the price for everyone's peace'

More than anything, Fiona Kelly fears coming face to face with her fathers convicted killer, who lives in her same small town. Under a prisoner release mandated by the Good Friday accord, he was freed after two years.

Its been 30 years since Gerry Dalrymple was gunned down, but Kelly, 50, said she thinks every day of Daddy, a carpenter with a quiet sense of humor and a wide circle of friends among Protestants and fellow Catholics. He had no affiliation with any armed group.

Johnnie Proctor also lives in the same community as a man imprisoned for killing his father, a reservist in what was then the overwhelmingly Protestant police force, in 1981. He was 1 day old when his 25-year-old father, also named John, was shot dead as he left the hospital after visiting his wife and newborn son.

The assailant, eventually sentenced to a life term, served less than three years.

Ive probably seen him and spoken to him without even knowing, said Proctor, now 41, who sells and services farm machinery. But I put it aside  I dont want to be thinking of who looks like him, who could be him.

Besides the loss of their fathers, Kelly and Proctor share another bond: Both sat for large-scale portraits by the internationally acclaimed painter Colin Davidson of people who suffered grievous loss  bereavement, injury, disappearance of a loved one  in the Troubles.

The 18 works, collectively titled Silent Testimony, are on display this month at Stormont, the seat of the now-suspended Northern Ireland Assembly. Monumental yet intimate, each portrait measures about 4 feet by 4 feet, and is tightly focused on the subjects face. Viewers tend to linger long before them.

Davidson, whose subjects have included musicians, actors and the late Queen Elizabeth II, and who once gave painting lessons to Brad Pitt, said the Good Friday agreement left him with the piercing sense that those who had suffered the most had somehow been left behind.

I realized that this massive section of the community was paying the price of everyone elses peace, said the 54-year-old artist, who lives outside Belfast.

Davidsons subjects sat for their portraits nearly a decade ago and met one another when the exhibition, which has toured extensively, originally opened in Belfast.

Four of the sitters have since died, but the survivors are friendly with one another; some have become extremely close. They reunited this month for the opening at Stormont.

Throughout the conflict, acts of violence were committed by all sides  nationalists, loyalists and state forces. But Davidson made the deliberate decision not to refer to the religion or political affiliation of anyone involved, whether victim or perpetrator, in short texts accompanying the portraits.

Instead, seeking to impart a common humanity, he recounted the circumstances of loss in the simplest terms: names, places, dates, a detail or two. He insists the paintings always be displayed together.

Davidson found his subjects by working with a trauma center called WAVE, which has provided material and mental-health support to thousands of people coping with the Troubles aftermath. He and its specialists found subjects of different faiths and from different walks of life, from inside and outside Northern Ireland.

Each portrait is emotionally wrenching, each in its own way. Paul Reilly, whose 20-year-old daughter Joanne was killed in a 1989 bombing, asked to sit for Davidsons sketch in her bedroom, which he had preserved exactly as it was when she died, with a clock whose hands he set to the moment of her death.

Margaret Yeaman, whose facial injuries from a 1982 bombing left her blind, always wore dark glasses, but removed them for her sitting so Davidson could depict her eyes, which critics consider one of the most striking aspects of his portraiture. She, of course, was never able to see the haunting likeness that resulted.

Kelly said thinking of her childrens future helped her arrive at the conviction that the Good Friday agreement, for all its sorrowful legacy, is for the good of the country. She doesnt flinch from painful memories of her fathers killing, though, because forgetting would be a kind of death.

Proctor said he carries the enduring lesson that religion and political backgrounds shrink into insignificance in the face of grief.

One side or the other, none of that matters, he said. We all understand each other.

::

'It all seemed normal. But of course it wasn't'

Martin Mulholland well remembers the surreal sight: He was looking, impossibly, from his hotel concierge desk straight onto the main stage of Belfasts Opera House.

It was May 1993, and a thunderous blast set off by the Provisional Irish Republican Army had knocked a gaping hole in the masonry dividing the opulent music venue from the hotel where he's worked for four decades. A Belfast landmark, the Europa Hotel claims the dubious distinction of being hit 33 times by bombs  including one that struck even before its doors opened in 1971.

British troops stand guard as bomb experts search through the wreckage after a terrorist blast hit the ground floor of the Europa Hotel in Northern Ireland's capital in 1975. (Associated Press)

In the well-practiced sotto voce of a veteran concierge, Mulholland offered an addendum: Only five of the explosions that damaged the building, he said, were from incendiary devices planted inside the hotel itself.

Miraculously, none of the attacks on the hotel resulted in fatalities. It was probably such a high-profile target, Mulholland said, because it was a symbol of investment, English-owned, and was home away from home to dozens of international journalists, so any strike in the vicinity was guaranteed to garner attention.

Somehow you got used to it  it all seemed normal, said Mulholland, whose 58 years have been bisected by the Troubles and the post-Good Friday era. But of course it wasnt, not in any way.

::

'Its like theyre talking about World War I'

In Belfasts central core, the rattle of gunfire and the heavy tread of British military vehicles has long been replaced by coffeehouse chatter, art-house buzz and the din of construction.

Where customers were once searched when entering the tiniest of shops, now teens, pensioners and young parents pushing strollers freely wander the walkways of a huge semi-enclosed shopping mall. The urban perimeter of Belfasts downtown  a forbidding network of barbed wire, concrete and 12-foot fences  has long since vanished.

The bustling exterior, however, belies a society still profoundly wounded, said Siobhan ONeill, a professor of mental health sciences at Ulster University.

Compared with the rest of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland suffers from significantly higher rates of suicide, post-traumatic stress disorder and addiction  which ONeill and other researchers consider a legacy of years of strife, reverberating a generation later.

For many people the conflict is still very real, part of their everyday lives, said ONeill, who studies trans-generational trauma. Those who suffered continue to do so.

Lars Jackson, 15, of Belfast, was born 10 years after the Good Friday agreement. Lars identifies as neither Protestant nor Catholic. (Laura King / Los Angeles Times)

The countrys young, especially those from the most economically deprived areas, remain vulnerable to the long-term effects of the violence, at home and in the society at large, experts say. But they also have a greater tendency than their elders to look to the future rather than the past.

Lars Jackson, a 15-year-old with a shock of acid-green-dyed hair, a leopard-print jacket and multiple piercings, does not identify as either Protestant or Catholic. Most of Lars' friends don't either, the teen said.

Thats not like something we even talk about, Lars said.

The Good Friday agreement, signed a decade before Lars' birth, seems like ancient history  and all that preceded it even more so.

I heard family stories, yeah  my grandparents house was bombed, Lars said. But really, if people talk about the Troubles and that, to me, its like theyre talking about World War I.

::

The future, and the Brexit wild card

If the past is prologue, what does the future look like?

The uneasy sense of unfinished business stemming from the Good Friday agreement extends far beyond the current parliamentary deadlock, a recent flare-up of political violence, or complications surrounding Brexit, the U.K.s exit from the European Union.

Northern Ireland was created as a Protestant-majority enclave, but that power dynamic is undergoing a dramatic shift.

In the latest census, Catholics for the first time outnumbered Protestants, becoming a plurality but not a majority. And in elections last year, Sinn Fein became the first nationalist party to win the most seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

"Demographics will certainly continue to trend in a way that the nationalist population grows more than that of the unionists, said Robert Savage, an author and history professor at Boston College. "Unification is a subject that will come up," he said, but most analysts do not foresee a referendum any time soon on whether the six counties stay in the U.K. or join with the Republic of Ireland.

A couple walk along a so-called peace wall this month in Belfast, Northern Ireland. (Charles McQuillan / Getty Images)

Under the Good Friday agreement, Northern Ireland's secretary of state would be required to call a "border poll" if it appeared likely that a majority would vote to leave the U.K.

Not in the next five years, I think, McLoughlin, the Queens University lecturer, said of referendum prospects. But tensions involving Brexit could prove a wild card, he said.

For all its import, the Good Friday agreement may prove only one plot turn in a long narrative arc. History as drama is playing out, literally, in a production this month at Belfasts historic Lyric Theater based on the final high-wire negotiations.

The Owen McCafferty play, titled Agreement, has been playing to a sold-out house. In a rave review, the Irish Times lauded it as a compelling political thriller with echoes of Greek drama.

Its a pleasant surprise, really, said the theaters artistic director, Jimmy Fay. Works related to the Troubles, he said ruefully, arent always good box-office.

Meanwhile, Northern Ireland may at last be decoupling itself, at least in the eyes of the outside world, from its long association with seemingly ceaseless conflict.

At the tourism office across from Belfasts ornate City Hall, a couple from Australia debated how to pass the afternoon: one of the popular Troubles-themed taxi tours of murals and peace walls? Or the Titanic Experience, a sprawling interactive exhibit on the doomed ocean liner that famously set sail from the Belfast shipyards?

The Titanic, they finally decided. Its a story with an ending everyone knows.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Michael J Driscoll, the assistant director in charge of the FBI New York field office, at a news conference held by the Department of Justice to announce the arrests in New York City on Monday - REUTERS/David 'Dee' Delgado

The FBI arrested two alleged Chinese Communist Party agents for running secret police stations in the heart of New York to spy on and intimidate exiles.

The arrests of Lu Jianwang, 61, and Chen Jinping, 59, are the first criminal charges worldwide over Beijings attempts to bypass diplomatic and legal norms to harass and persecute its citizens beyond its borders.

Dozens of alleged Chinese overseas police stations have been discovered abroad, including in the UK, the Netherlands and Canada, prompting authorities to launch police investigations.

The US Justice Department on Monday revealed what it called evidence of expanding espionage and security activity by the Chinese government on American soil.

The Manhattan indictment was one of three separate cases to be revealed, suggesting more brazen activity by China inside the US in the wake of the spy balloon controversy.

The charges alleged the two defendants were operating the illegal overseas police outpost in Chinatown in lower Manhattan on behalf of the Ministry of Public Security of the Peoples Republic of China.

Prosecutors said an official with Chinas National Police directed one of the defendants, a US citizen, to help locate a pro-democracy activist of Chinese descent living in California.

In other words, the Chinese national police appear to have been using the station to track a US resident on US soil, Breon Peace, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said.

Illegal offices searched by FBI

FBI counterintelligence agents searched the illegal offices, located on the third floor of a nondescript building, in autumn of last year.

When news of the search was first reported, the Chinese Embassy in Washington downplayed the role of the outposts, saying they were staffed by volunteers who helped Chinese nationals perform routine tasks, such as renewing their drivers licence back home.

New York prosecutors said a tip-off of the search led to the men deleting phone communications made with their Chinese handlers.

Story continues

The pair were charged with obstruction of justice and accused of destroying evidence, as well as conspiring to act as agents of the Peoples Republic of China.

It is simply outrageous that Chinas Ministry of Public Security thinks it can get away with establishing a secret, illegal police station on US soil to aid its efforts to export repression and subvert our rule of law, said Kurt Ronnow, acting assistant director of the FBIs Counterintelligence Division.

This case serves as a powerful reminder that the Peoples Republic of China will stop at nothing to bend people to their will and silence messages they dont want anyone to hear.

Two other complaints

In addition to the New York complaint, two others were filed in Washington - one against 34 members of Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, and another against a group of 10 people that included eight Chinese government officials.

The first alleged that members of the group created thousands of fake online personas on social media sites, including Twitter, in order to target Chinese dissidents with online harassment and threats.

These online personas also disseminated official Chinese government propaganda and narratives to counter the pro-democracy speech of the Chinese dissidents.

The Justice Department alleges they were spreading disinformation, attacking US democracy and blaming [the] US for Covid-19 coronavirus.

The second case involved Chinese security officials allegedly spying on Zoom calls. The officials, along with an employee of the telecoms company, are alleged to have disrupted meetings held by dissents on the platform.
Lu Jianwang leaves the Brooklyn court

US prosecutors have arrested two men in New York for allegedly operating a Chinese "secret police station" in Manhattan's Chinatown neighbourhood.

Lu Jianwang, 61, and Chen Jinping, 59, both New York City residents, face charges of conspiring to act as agents for China and obstruction of justice.

They are expected to appear in a federal court in Brooklyn on Monday.

China has previously denied operating the stations, calling them "service centres" for nationals overseas.

Mr Lu of the Bronx and Mr Chen of Manhattan worked together to establish the first overseas police station in the United States on behalf of China's Ministry of Public Security, the US Department of Justice alleged on Monday.

The outpost was closed in autumn of 2022, the department said, after those involved became aware of an FBI investigation into the station.

"This prosecution reveals the Chinese government's flagrant violation of our nation's sovereignty by establishing a secret police station in the middle of New York City," said Breon Pearce, the top prosecutor in Brooklyn.

The stations are believed to be among at least 100 operating across the globe in 53 countries, including the UK and the Netherlands. And last month, Canada's federal police announced an investigation into two Montreal-area sites thought to be police outposts.

Lu Jianwang in court

"The PRC's [People's Republic of China] actions go far beyond the bounds of acceptable nation-state conduct. We will resolutely defend the freedoms of all those living in our country from the threat of authoritarian repression," said assistant attorney general Matthew Olsen, from the Justice Department's National Security Division.

According to prosecutors, Mr Lu was closely connected to Chinese law enforcement, and was enlisted to help China with "repressive activities" in the US beginning in 2015, including harassing Chinese dissidents.

In 2018, he allegedly participated in efforts to push a purported Chinese fugitive to return to China, including repeated harassment and threats to the individual and his family, living in China and the US. And prosecutors said he was also enlisted to locate a pro-democracy activist in China. Mr Lu denied these actions when confronted by US authorities.

Story continues

He and Mr Chen were questioned by authorities in October 2022, when the FBI conducted a search of the suspected station. Their phones were seized as part of the search and both men admitted they had deleted communication with an official from China's Ministry of Public Security who was allegedly directing their behaviour in the US, prosecutors alleged.

If convicted, both Mr Lu and Mr Chen face up to 25 years in prison.

Chinese embassies in the US and Canada have said the locations are "overseas service stations'' opened during the pandemic to assist nationals abroad with driver's licence renewal and similar matters.

But human rights groups have accused China of using the outposts to threaten and monitor Chinese nationals abroad.

Last month, the Canada's federal force asked Chinese Canadians who may have been targeted by threats from "alleged Chinese police stations" to come forward.

"We're in the process of making sure the RCMP is following up on this and that our intelligence systems are taking this seriously," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said last November that his agency was monitoring reports of such stations, calling them a "real problem".

"To me, it is outrageous to think that the Chinese police would attempt to set up shop, you know, in New York, let's say, without proper co-ordination," Mr Wray said. "It violates sovereignty and circumvents standard judicial and law enforcement co-operation processes."

In a separate complaint unveiled by US officials on Monday, 34 officers from China's Ministry of Public Security were charged with using fake social media accounts to harass Chinese dissidents in the US and spread official Chinese government propaganda.

Prosecutors said all of the accused belong to an elite task force known as the 912 Special Project Working Group, whose purpose is to "target Chinese dissidents located throughout the world, including in the United States".

"As alleged, the PRC government deploys its national police and the 912 Special Project Working Group not as an instrument to uphold the law and protect public safety, but rather as a troll farm that attacks persons in our country for exercising free speech," US Attorney Peace said.

All 34 of these defendants are believed to live in China or elsewhere in Asia.
A federal judge in charge of the United States case against nearly a dozen defendants in the brazen assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise took prosecutors to task Monday for delaying the trial, saying he is troubled by the fact that the jailed defendants are being forced to spend more than a year behind bars before they can go to trial.

Its very troublesome to me, U.S. District Judge Jose Martinez said. Im a fairly conservative guy, but I dont believe you should round somebody up and put them in jail until you know whats going on. ... I dont want to have a case sitting around for a couple of years while people are in jail. It bothers me.

There are currently 11 defendants in federal detention in Miami in the plot that led to Moises July 7, 2021, assassination. Most of the defendants are charged with supporting a conspiracy to kidnap and kill the Haitian president, while two others are charged with export violations involving bulletproof vests. The vests were smuggled to former Colombian soldiers in Haiti who allegedly carried out the fatal shooting of Moise and seriously wounded his wife, Martine.

The jailed defendants in Miami are from Colombia, South Florida and Haiti. A trial date was initially set for May 8 in Miami federal court, although one of the defendants, businessman and convicted cocaine trafficker Rodolphe Jaar, pleaded guilty last month to three charges related to his role in the plot.

A dual Haitian-Chilean citizen, Jaar, 50, admitted to providing money to pay for weapons, food and lodging for Colombian commandos and others suspected of killing Haitis president. In exchange for the plea deal, Jaar is hoping to avoid a potential life sentence for providing material support in the plot.

On Monday, federal prosecutor Andrea Goldbarg told the judge she expected more defendants to cut plea deals in order to avoid trial. However, given that this is a very complex case with a voluminous amount of discovery, in various languages and from three countries, Goldbarg said she did not foresee a trial happening this year.

Story continues

A trial date in 2023 is unlikely, she said. Prosecutors, Goldbarg said, estimate that they will need at least four more months to turn over evidence to defense attorneys.

Before you go and arrest people you have to have a good idea of what they did and how you are going to prove it, the judge responded.

The judge then asked which defendant has been detained the longest while awaiting trial. Defense attorney Alfredo Izaguirre, who represents former Colombian soldier Mario Antonio Palacios Palacios, responded that his client has been in custody since January 2022. Palacios was the first to be arrested in the U.S. after he was picked up in Panama during a layover to Colombia from Jamaica, where he fled after the killing.

Two years from the time they were arrested? Martinez asked. That doesnt seem right.

Speaking on behalf of the defense lawyers, most of whom have been court appointed, Henry Bell told the Miami federal judge that they have a lot of information to sift through. Bell represents Frederick Bergmann Jr., who is described as being part of the financing arm of the operation and faces one of the lesser charges in the case involving the smuggling of bulletproof vests from Florida to Haiti.

Bell said the lawyers cant competently defend this case or negotiate plea deals with prosecutors without reviewing the evidence, starting with an enormous amount of cellphone text messages.

A lot of important evidence is contained in our clients cellphones, Bell said. Theres a lot to go through, even downloading the stuff ... is an arduous task. We really do need the time.

Martinez told prosecutors to get moving on handing over the discovery evidence.

Martinez set another status hearing in two months, and set a new trial date for July 17. He said he recognized that the trials delay is in the interest of justice and noted that the cases complexities require a substantial amount of preparation.

In a separate investigation in Haiti, more than 40 suspects have been arrested in the plot. Most of them remain in custody in Port-au-Prince, where they are still awaiting formal charges. The case, which had stalled, has regained momentum under the supervision of its fifth judge. Last week, Haitian police arrested a new suspect, Mozart Prevot, the driver of one of the jailed U.S. defendants, former Sen. John Joel Joseph.

Miami Herald federal courts reporter Jay Weaver contributed to this report..
A third and final suspect was arrested in connection with the homicides of two men who were drugged, robbed and killed in separate incidents after visits to New York City gay bars last year, two senior law enforcement officials said Monday.

Jayqwan Hamilton, 35, was charged with murder, robbery, grand larceny, identity theft and conspiracy connected to the deaths of John Umberger, 33, a political consultant, and Julio Ramirez, 25, a social worker, the officials said. Two other men  Robert Demaio and Jacob Barroso  were arrested in connected with the deaths earlier this month.

Umberger and Ramirez were found dead after they visited gay bars in Manhattans Hells Kitchen neighborhood last year. Both had left the bars with at least one unknown person before their bank accounts were drained of thousands of dollars using facial recognition access on their phones, relatives said.

Last month, the medical examiners office ruled their deaths as homicides caused by a drug-facilitated theft. Multiple drugs were found in their systems, including fentanyl, lidocaine and cocaine.

Police obtained security video showing Hamilton and Demaio entering and leaving Umbergers temporary residence in Manhattans Upper East Side, two senior law enforcement officials have said.

John Umberger; Julio Ramirez. (Linda Clary; Family photo)

Through a search warrant, police also recovered two videos from Demaios phone that showed Demaio and Barroso at the site of Umbergers death, the two officials said. In one of the videos, the officials said, Umberger appears to be unconscious, lying face up on a bed at his temporary New York City residence.

Police named Hamilton, Demaio and Hamilton last month as among those responsible for a broader citywide robbery pattern that includes at least 17 victims. The incidents  which include Ramirezs and Umbergers robberies and deaths  occurred from Sept. 19, 2021, to Aug. 28, authorities have disclosed.

Two additional suspects were apprehended in connection with the string of robberies.

Story continues

Andre Butts, 28, was arraigned this month on robbery, grand larceny and identity theft charges. Butts was captured on security video buying sneakers with Ramirezs credit card, according to prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorneys office. He pleaded not guilty and is being held on $100,000 bail after he tried to flee during his arrest, prosecutors said.

Shane Hoskins, 31, was arraigned last month on felony larceny and identity theft charges in connection with the same string of robberies.

An indictment naming Hoskins, Demaio, Butts, Barroso and a fifth unidentified co-conspirator outlined a pattern in which victims were incapacitated to the extent that their ability to perceive events became diminished so the suspects could then steal their cellphones and credit cards. The men would use the physical cards and information stored on the victims phones to transfer money to themselves and make purchases, the indictment says.

NBC News has spoken with several gay men who said they survived similar incidents from December 2021 to last month.

New York City police previously confirmed that multiple groups of criminals are committing such crimes against men visiting the citys gay bars. Police also said similar crimes were being committed against patrons of bars without any LGBTQ affiliation.

A separate group is suspected of committing similar crimes against 26 victims, two law enforcement officials said last month. One of the subsequent groups victims was the fashion designer Kathryn Marie Gallagher, whose death in July was ruled a drug-facilitated homicide by the medical examiners office, the officials said.

Last month, the New York City medical examiners office also confirmed that it is investigating several additional deaths in similar circumstances to those of Ramirez and Umberger. It is unclear, however, whether they were found dead after having visited gay bars or whether they were connected with Demaio, Barroso and Hamilton.

A spokesperson said the medical examiners office could not comment further due to the ongoing criminal investigations.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
The congressional war on TikTok resumed Monday.

Rep. Jeff Jackson, a Democrat from Charlotte, continues to find stardom on the social media platform amassing 1.6 million followers. But Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from Huntersville, says members of Congress are risking not only congressional information but the personal information of their constituents by continuing to use the platform.

U.S. officials have growing concerns that the Chinese government is using the social media platform and its parent company, ByteDance, to spy on Americans.

On Monday morning, Tillis and Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Republican from Texas, led 15 other Republican members of Congress in writing a letter to leaders of the Senate Rules Committee and the Committee on House Administration to prevent their colleagues from continuing to use the social media platform. The letter was first published Monday by Politico.

Concerns about TikTok use

The lawmakers main point of concern stemmed from information that came out of a March 23 House committee hearing with TikToks CEO.

It is clear from the testimony and comments from TikTok CEO, Shou Zi Chew, that all members of Congress must lead by example and immediately stop using the platform for official communications, the Republicans wrote in their letter. As such, we urge you to amend the House and Senate rules to bar members of Congress from continued use of TikTok and take any other appropriate measure to mitigate the risks of this de-facto, spyware app.

More than half the states, including North Carolina, have already banned TikTok from government devices. There are also bills before Congress to ban the platform from American devices. Montana could soon become the first state with a full ban on its residents devices.

And while Republicans have been growing louder in the movement to censor the platform altogether, the topic is a bipartisan one.

When Chew met with lawmakers last month, he faced backlash from both parties about potential Chinese surveillance of Americans through the app.

Story continues

Chew told them he was working to take U.S. data out of China so that he would not have to comply with a Chinese law that requires him to hand over his companys data to the Chinese government without notification to its users.

But he was unwilling to discuss what resources were shared between TikTok, ByteDance and TikToks Chinese counterpart, Douyin, and whether the latter two helped him prepare his testimony.

North Carolina and TikTok

Jackson has defended his use of TikTok against criticism from Tillis and other Republicans.

I used my presence on TikTok to explain exactly why there is a national security risk and how we could address it, Jackson told McClatchy last month. It was watched by millions. Thats a lot more than any senator will accomplish by throwing a little rock at me.

It appears only one other member of North Carolinas congressional delegation uses TikTok: Rep. Wiley Nickel, a Democrat from Cary, who hasnt posted since February and hasnt reached the level of followers that Jackson has.

Jacksons TikTok success largely came after he posted a video shot at 2 a.m. explaining to his constituents in the most basic terms what led to the crash of Silicon Valley Bank.

But Jacksons use of TikTok led to the ire of Tillis, who sharply criticized members of Congress for using the social media app in a news release, and while he didnt name Jackson directly, he did link to an article about Jacksons success on the app.

China is one of the biggest geopolitical threats America has ever faced, Tillis said then. Its beyond reckless for members of Congress to still be encouraging their constituents to use TikTok despite knowing the Chinese Communist Party is mining all their personal info. Protecting Americans from the CCP is more important than getting views.

And Jackson and Nickel both found themselves the subject of ethics complaints after a conservative organization noticed that both had used the same accounts to campaign for their election and then continued to use the same account in Congress. Among other complaints were the use of videos and photographs shot in the Capitol, which violates their rules.

Jackson seems undeterred about using the app, posting a video Monday morning about the fake outrage his colleagues display in Congress to draw media coverage.

Ban the app, letter says

Even after the March 23, 2023, hearing in which it became blatantly clear to the public that the China-based app is mining data and potentially spying on American citizens, members of Congress continue to utilize the app to communicate with their constituents, lawmakers letter reads.

Some members of Congress who regularly use the app have minimized the security threat to our nation, and their defense is not compelling, considering there are several popular social media apps that are not at the same risk for the potential transfer of sensitive, private information to an adversarial foreign government.

The lawmakers listed warnings members of Congress have received about TikTok going back to March 2020.

It is troublesome that some members continue to disregard these clear warnings and even encouraging their constituents to use TikTok to interface with their elected representatives  especially since some of these users are minors, the letter wrote. We feel this situation warrants further action to protect the privacy of both sensitive congressional information and the personal information of our constituents.
Move over Coronation Chicken, there's a new culinary concoction with UK royal approval for the crowning of King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla -- "Coronation Quiche".

Seven decades after the lightly curried chicken dish was created for Queen Elizabeth II's crowning, her son on Monday unveiled the recipe for a baked savoury tart to mark his coronation next month.

Chosen with his wife, Camilla, who will also be formally crowned on May 6, the quiche was selected "in celebration of Coronation Big Lunches" occurring over the long weekend of events, Buckingham Palace said.

The lunches, which aim to bring neighbours and communities together to celebrate the country's first coronation in 70 years, will be staged nationwide, primarily on Monday May 8.

Camilla has been patron of the associated Big Lunch initiative since 2013.

In keeping with Charles' green environmental credentials, the new Coronation Quiche does not contain meat but instead features spinach, broad beans and tarragon.

The palace, which unveiled the recipe online, described it as "a deep quiche with a crisp, light pastry case and delicate flavours".

"Eat hot or cold with a green salad and boiled new potatoes -- perfect for a Coronation Big Lunch," it added, also releasing a video of a palace chef making the savoury dish from scratch.

Coronation Chicken -- a bright yellow dish of cold chicken in a curry cream sauce with a well-seasoned dressed salad of rice, green peas and mixed herbs, served cold -- has become a British culinary classic.

It was created in 1953 by Constance Spry, then director of Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in Winkfield, near Windsor, to appeal to the tastes of guests from around the world.

She had been tasked with putting on a banquet for foreign dignitaries after Elizabeth's coronation on June 2, 1953.

jj/phz/ach
The United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Japan and France have formed an alliance aimed at squeezing Russia out of the international nuclear energy market.

Source: Agreement reached in Sapporo, Japan, on the sidelines of the meeting of G7 countries, as reported by European Pravda, referring to a statement published by the UK government on 16 April

The five countries agreed to use the respective resources and capabilities of each countrys civil nuclear power sectors to undermine Russias grip on supply chains.

This agreement, according to the announcement, will support a stable supply of fuel for today's needs as well as ensure the safe and reliable development and use of fuel for advanced reactors in the future.

The agreement is planned to be used as a basis for pushing the Russian Federation entirely out of the nuclear fuel market, and doing so as quickly as possible. The purpose of such a step is to cut off another means for it to fund Putin's barbaric attack on Ukraine.

"The UK has been at the very heart of a global effort to support Ukraine, defeat Putin and ensure that neither him nor anyone like him can ever think they can hold the world to ransom over their energy again," said Energy Security Secretary Grant Shapps.

Background:

The German government has recently advocated the introduction of European Union sanctions against Russia's nuclear industry against the background of the Russian armed invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine has been asking the EU for many months to introduce sanctions against the nuclear industry of the Russian Federation, but to no avail.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
By Brendan O'Brien

(Reuters) -Five people remained in critical condition on Monday after a weekend shooting at a teenage birthday celebration in rural Alabama that left four dead, hospital authorities said.

A total of 28 people were injured in Saturday's shooting at the Mahogany Masterpiece Dance Studio in Dadeville, a community of 3,200 people about 50 miles (80.47 km) northeast of Montgomery. The shooting occurred during a "Sweet 16" party, authorities said.

All four who were killed were high school seniors. Of the nine injured who were still hospitalized, five were in critical condition, Heidi Smith, a spokesperson for Lake Martin Community Hospital, said at a news conference on Monday.

"Dadeville is just a very small community. It was just really difficult because everybody knows everybody and seeing people come through the emergency room that you know, was very difficult," Smith said.

One of the four people killed during the violence was a high school football player who was among those attending his sister's "Sweet 16" birthday party, the Montgomery Advertiser newspaper reported.

The newspaper, quoting the victim's grandmother, identified the slain teenager as Phil Dowdell, whom she said was set to graduate in a matter of weeks and planned to attend Jacksonville State University on a football scholarship.

Authorities have not said whether any suspect in the shooting had died or been arrested. They have also not disclosed what may have led to the bloodshed.

The shooting follows separate outbreaks of deadly gun violence in Tennessee and Kentucky that prompted local leaders to call for tighter gun control measures.

Mass shootings have become commonplace in the United States, with more than 163 so far in 2023, the most at this point in the year since at least 2016, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The nonprofit group defines a mass shooting as any in which four or more people are wounded or killed, not including the shooter.

The Alabama shooting also comes less than two weeks after five people, including teenagers, were shot in Isle of Palms, a beach community in South Carolina. That shooting stemmed from a fight that broke out during a "senior skip day" in which high school seniors celebrate their upcoming graduation by taking a school day off, authorities said.

(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Chicago; Editing by John Stonestreet and Bill Berkrot)
Vloggers Jenny LeFlore, her sons Obie Q. LeFlore, 6, and Jameson LeFlore, 2, record an Instagram reel at an ice cream shop in Hyde Park on April 13, 2023. LeFlore takes issue with proposed state legislation that would set a rate for how much someone under 16 is compensated when they appear in at least 30% of a channels vlogs. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

Shreya Nallamothu was scrolling through TikTok the summer before her freshman year of high school when she started to notice how much content featured children performing in professionally produced family videos, or vlogs.

At first, I didnt think much of it, Nallamothu, now 15, told the Tribune. But as the content kept populating her YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook pages, she began to research the laws concerning children in the vlogging industry and learned that there is often a lot of exploitation that can happen in situations like this and there is no legislation in place to protect them.

Advertisement

Nallamothu became a catalyst behind state legislation that would set a rate for how much someone under 16 is compensated when they appear in at least 30% of a channels vlogs  defined in the legislation as monetized video content.

The bill, which was passed unanimously by the Senate and is now before the House, would require that a minimum of half a videos earnings, prorated based on the amount of time the person under 16 appears, be set aside in an account that is accessible only to the child when they turn 18. So, if a video made $100 and a minor was in half of the video, then that minor would be paid at least $25 for their work. If there are multiple children in the program, they would share the money evenly.

Advertisement

Its important for us to set the ground rules for how this should be done, Sen. David Koehler, a Peoria Democrat who is sponsoring the legislation. Its perfectly fine if parents want to do this and its done in a very wholesome and respectable way. If the children are used simply as a cash cow to enrich them then I think that begins to strain this.

Shreya Nallamothu, a sophomore at University High School in Normal, said she was struck by the number of children in online videos while scrolling through TikTok. Nallamothu became a catalyst behind state legislation that would set a rate for how much someone under 16 is compensated when they appear in at least 30% of a channels video content. (Shreya Nallamothu)

The influencing industry is massive, with some estimates showing it brings in over $15 billion annually. Two of the top 10 highest-earning YouTubers were children under 18, according to a January 2022 report in Forbes. One personality that is frequently on Forbes top earners list is Ryan Kaji, star of the Ryans Toys channel, which started when his parents began filming him at 3 years old and, according to Forbes, in 2021 had more than 33 million subscribers and earned more than $25 million.

As Nallamothu started to dig into the issue of child video compensation, she asked her favorite teacher at University High School in Bloomington if she could do an independent study on the topic and began the process of creating a cogent policy memo to pitch to lawmakers.

The first probably couple of months was just research, Morgan Schmidt, the history teacher who oversaw Nallamothus independent study, said. And then it started to take shape of OK, I found certain things, more specific research, and then by December she was already reaching out to assemblymen in Illinois ... seeking out people to take on this bill.

Nallamothu, who worked with a group called Quit Clicking Kids to craft potential legislation, said she reached out to over a dozen state senators before Koehler, whose district includes her home, decided to look into her research and then drafted a bill.

Protection of children in these circumstances is usually viewed through two lenses: compensation for hours worked and protection of the childs control over videos they are in once they become of age. While the first is relatively straightforward to legislate, the second can be more difficult.

Washington state is trying to pass a bill that would accomplish both objectives. But the legislation is stalled, meaning that if the Illinois legislation makes it to Gov. J.B. Pritzkers desk it would be the first of its kind in the nation to enforce this level of compensation for child vloggers, Koehler said.

An Illinois woman who says she experienced trauma having events of her childhood vlogged by adults  including her first period, illnesses and the aftermath of a car crash  testified in support of the Washington bill in February.

Advertisement

Because the digital footprint I had no control over exists, when you Google my name, simply just my first name, childhood photos of me in bikinis will pop up, the woman, who used an alias, told state legislators. Im terrified to have those weaponized against me again.

The Washington bill would have allowed people who were part of vlogs as children to remove that content when they turned 18. Nallamothu wanted a similar clause in the Illinois bill, but said it ended up being taken out with the first amendment just due to the feasibility.

Koehler said that while he hopes to revisit this part of the bill, employees at Meta (formerly Facebook) met with him and expressed the fair point that scrubbing vlogging content from the internet is impossible at times.

Jenny LeFlore, a full-time content creator in Chicago who provides online parenting recommendations, is supportive of the bill but sees flaws in some aspects of it.

She takes issue with the bills definition of vlog as content shared on an online platform in exchange for compensation and vlogger anyone who produces compensated video content, language she finds overly broad.

But LeFlores main problem is a requirement that channel owners closely document the time stamps for which their children are present on a vlog to ensure the children are allotted their proper payment.

Advertisement

I think that is setting up people to fail because I think that is hard to really quantify, she said.

Jennifer Lane, who is a fashion, beauty and motherhood content creator with over 150,000 followers on Instagram, has similar concerns as she tries to figure out how to share earnings with her daughter.

I do a lot of content on my own and then some of my content is with her, Lane said. So just kind of keeping track of what shes in, how much shes in of that video or of that post or the content, and just kind of keeping track of everything.

Show me your poses, says Jennifer Lane while taking photos of her daughter Madeline in Seneca Park on April 8, 2023, in Chicago. (Shanna Madison / Chicago Tribune)

Koehler said that he feels the time stamp requirements are necessary and fair.

Its not that tough anymore to be able to timestamp something, but you have to have some kind of way of measuring this if its going to be effective at all, Koehler said.

LeFlore said that her son receives an industry standard $85 an hour for sponsored content where his appearance is requested. She puts the money in a protected trust fund.

Advertisement

LeFlore said she supports how the bill would require her son to be paid a portion of the total earnings rather than his own rate, even though it will shift the industry in Illinois significantly. The biggest adjustment would be in the negotiation rooms with advertisers, she said.

Its going to change the business side, obviously taxes. But its also going to change the conversation between creator and brand because creators are going start demanding more money if brands want kids to be a part of any of the videos, she said.

Child and family vlogging is rife with controversy. Questions around the ethics of both promoting content toward kid viewers as well as documenting minors that at times cannot legally consent are part and parcel of the industry.

Vlogger Jenny LeFlore, her sons Obie Q. LeFlore, 6, and Jameson LeFlore, 2, record an Instagram reel at an ice cream shop in Hyde Park on April 13, 2023. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

Many popular channels have also been publicly shamed. One family vlogger had to respond to criticism when they filmed the process of adopting and raising a young boy but then placed the child back up for adoption a few years later.

Nallamothu, who testified in front of the Senate Labor Committee said this bill is less about preventing bad actors and more about putting up standards for the industry.

One of my worries with this is that people will take it as They are my kid, you honestly think I am endangering them? she said. But this is more of like a protective measure.

Advertisement

Concerns that the entire social media industry is underregulated are especially acute where children are involved.

I realized that there are lots of calls to action, but there is no legislation in place that would protect this in any of the 50 states, Nallamothu said. So at this point, Im kind of like, OK, we have to start somewhere in one state, we have to put something in the books because this is such an unregulated field.

hsanders@chicagotribune.com
A Palm Beach County firefighter woke up Saturday morning and discovered his vehicle had been stolen. But something he left in the car led police to a trove of stolen and illegal accessories  and what they hope is the break-up of a vehicle theft ring.

Besides his gear, the first responder had left an Apple MacBook Air in the vehicle. When he pinged it on another electronic device, it showed it was at a home in the 9800 block of Southwest 80th Dr., in Kendall.

Police quickly got a warrant signed by a judge and before 6 p.m. that night visited the home. Inside, according to police: two motorcycles with altered vehicle identification numbers, two signal-jamming devices, four license plates belonging to stolen vehicles, a gun and cartridges and 58 refurbished key fobs from a Mercedes-Benz, a Dodge Ram, a Jeep and other cars.

All three people arrested were charged with third-degree grand theft conspiracy. There also were individual charges.

Christian David DaSilva, 18, has been charged with altering VINs, making counterfeit VINs and petit theft. Ivon Carlos Sifonte, 18, has been charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, defacing and altering VINs. And Alyssa Taylor MacFarlane, 23, is facing counts of altering VINs and petit theft. All three remained in jail on Monday and it was not clear if they had retained defense attorneys.
By Dawn Chmielewski and Lisa Richwine

(Reuters) -Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Monday fired another shot in his battle with Walt Disney Co, saying the state's Republican legislature would take steps to nullify the company's effort to circumvent state oversight of Walt Disney World.

DeSantis, a likely Republican presidential candidate who has made attacking "woke Disney" a common theme, said the legislature would revoke a development agreement Disney struck with outgoing members of an oversight board.

"They thought they could create some type of development agreement that would render everything that we did null and void," DeSantis said. "Thats not gonna fly."

The ongoing tussle between DeSantis, who has yet to announce a presidential bid, and one of Florida's largest employers began in March 2022 when Disney's then-Chief Executive Bob Chapek spoke out against a bill limiting discussion of sexuality and gender identity in Florida elementary school classrooms.

Republicans named the bill the Parental Rights in Education Act, while opponents criticized it as the "Don't say gay" law.

DeSantis said the new bill, announced on Monday, would return control of the special district that is home to Disney World to a state oversight board run by the governor's appointees.

Among other things, it will give the board the power to decide how to develop land adjacent to Disney's theme parks. DeSantis said the possibilities included a state park, other amusement parks or a state prison.

Disney shares were off about 0.2% at $99.68.

DeSantis and the Florida legislature have been working to eliminate the virtual autonomy the company enjoyed over Disney World for more than 50 years, saying that constitutes an "unfair advantage." Disney employs some 75,000 people in the state.

Florida lawmakers passed a bill in February giving DeSantis effective control over a board that oversees municipal services and development in a special district in central Florida that encompasses Walt Disney World resort.

Story continues

Current Disney CEO Bob Iger called the move a retaliation, "anti-business" and "anti-Florida." The company had no comment on DeSantis remarks on Monday.

Before the takeover by DeSantis appointees, Disney pushed through changes to the special tax district agreement that limit the board's action for decades.

An attorney for the newly constituted Central Florida Tourism Oversight District last month described what he called the shocking revelation that the agreement had been reached three weeks before DeSantis signed legislation granting the state authority over the district.

Ive never seen anything like this, said attorney Daniel Langley on March 29.

The pact cements a 10-year comprehensive plan, adopted on July 15, 2022, that serves as a blueprint to guide future development. It gives Disney the option to add a fifth major theme park, two minor parks, 1 million square feet of retail space and some 14,000 hotel rooms.

It also ensures that future boards would honor a commitment to $527 million in planned capital improvements to support Walt Disney Worlds growth over the next decade.

"We are a government of laws, not a government of individual men or even a government of 'woke' corporations based in California," DeSantis said.

(Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski and Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
Its one thing for Gov. Ron DeSantis  and the Republicans who control the Legislature  to get on their soap boxes decrying woke indoctrination at state universities. Its another to hurt Floridas higher-education standing because someone wants to run for president.

The Florida Legislature nowadays operates as a factory that turns cultural grievances into policy thats often vague and  as if by design  full of unforeseen consequences. Take the confusion caused by last years laws dealing with school books and restrictions on lessons about sexual orientation, gender identity and race. Afraid to run afoul of the new rules, some school districts pulled books from their shelves. In Miami-Dade County Public Schools, LGBTQ history month got the ax.

But, every now and then, lawmakers give us a small glimpse that they might know that culture wars are not necessarily conducive to good legislation.

The Herald recentlly reported about the complete rewriting of a bill touted by the governor to get rid of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts  known as DEI  in higher ed. Faced with the possibility that Senate Bill 266 could threaten the accreditation of some college courses and programs, a GOP-led Senate committee on Wednesday scrubbed any references to DEI.

Bill still a bad one

We would normally call that watering down bad and unnecessary legislation. But, at the end of the day, SB 266  and its House version  still exerts unprecedented control over the type of curriculum thats allowed in classrooms and whos entitled to academic freedom. That is the opposite of what the college experience should be: the exploration of ideas that might challenge a students perception of the world, sometimes causing discomfort.

The Senate legislation still would require colleges to review their programs and ensure they are complying with Floridas mission to not teach theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States and were created to maintain social, political and economic inequities.

Story continues

As opponents of the bill pointed out, the legislation creates a broad ban against those concepts, leaving lots of room for interpretation. A ban on systemic racism theories, for example, can touch any major, from English literature to pre-law. It muzzles academics and creates an environment where paranoia, not intellectual exploration, reigns. Thats why some professors are warning that their colleagues from out of state are thinking twice before taking a job in the Sunshine State, as WFSU recently reported.

Deans sidelined

The bill also potentially inserts politics into the hiring and firing of full-time faculty by putting those decisions under university presidents without requiring them to seek any input from others. This is an improvement from a previous bill version that left that decision to a universitys politically appointed board of trustees, but, again, its unnecessary. Currently, deans, department chairs and faculty committees make most hiring decisions, the Herald reported. The bill also makes it harder for faculty to appeal their firing or loss of tenure.

These changes wouldnt be so worrisome were it not for DeSantis explicit mission to exert granular, ideological control over Floridas prestigious university system.

Take the appointment of former House Speaker and DeSantis ally Richard Corcoran to run New College of Florida. The tiny liberal arts college in Sarasota went through a conservative takeover by DeSantis cronies, who pushed out its previous leadership. They shut down the schools diversity and inclusion office.

Even scarier is the possibility that the power to chose faculty could rest in the hands of Central Florida state Rep. Randy Fine, known for his revenge style of politics. Fine told the Sun Sentinel hes been approached by the governors office as a potential pick for president at Florida Atlantic University. Among the egregious things Fine is known for saying is that drag queen performers groom children, a term normally used to describe child molesters.

Its easy then to see how quickly higher-education decisions can be made not for academic rigor, not by educators, but by elected officials with a political agenda. This is the kind of dangerous meddling lawmakers are inviting into our university system.

Ideological battles are better fodder for cable-TV punditry than lawmaking. Its time they take notice.
Cold case detectives believe that they're closing in on solving the 1988 murder of retired U.S. Army officer Robert Hecht, who was found slain at his home the morning after hanging out at a local bar in Punta Gorda, Florida.

Hecht, who was 58 years old when he was killed, was last seen at the bar on the night of Nov. 26, 1998, with a man named Ray who spoke with a southern accent.

The next day, Hecht's sister called police after her brother failed to pick up the phone for their weekly call. Officers found him dead inside his home later that day. Authorities have not released his cause of death in order to preserve the integrity of the investigation, but Hecht was the "obvious victim of murder."

Detectives from the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office took a fresh look at Hecht's murder in 2009 and were able to identify Ray last year as Kenneth "Ray" Miller, who died in 2007. He was born in Kentucky but lived in Kingsport, Tennessee.

Case files show that two days after Hecht's murder, his brand new 1989 Lincoln Town Car was seen parked at a grocery store in Lenoir, North Carolina, about 700 miles north of Punta Gorda. Ray was observed in the vehicle, along with a "white female with long blonde hair." The car was found abandoned a few days on Main St. in Lenoir.

FLORIDA WOMAN TURNS TABLES ON ARMED EX WHO SHOWED UP TO APARTMENT, KILLS HIM WITH ONE SHOT

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

A local Punta Gorda resident was identified as a suspect during the initial investigation three decades ago, but authorities think that person should be able to clear their name in light of new information the cold case team has uncovered.

Detectives are now turning their attention to the unidentified woman with blonde hair, who they think may hold the key to solving the case.

"Cold Case Detectives are actively looking to determine why the victims car was driven to, and left on Main St. in Lenoir, NC," the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office said. "Detectives strongly believe that this female can assist in this murder investigation, and they have no reason to believe that this female is involved in the murder."
A proposal that would require school districts to share local property-tax revenue with charter schools is teed up for consideration by the full House, after a committee debate Monday about whether it could bring parity.

Property taxes collected through discretionary 1.5-mill local levies go toward such things as constructing and renovating traditional public schools and buying land. Meanwhile, charter schools largely receive such money through the state budget.

The Republican-controlled House Appropriations Committee voted 20-7 along party lines Monday to approve a bill (HB 1259) that would allow charter schools to receive part of the local money. Charter schools are public schools but often are run by private organizations.

Eventually, over time, charter school students will be on parity with district public school students in terms of the 1.5 mills, bill sponsor Jennifer Canady, R-Lakeland, said.

Under the bill, school districts would be required to share the money based on charter schools proportionate share of total school district enrollment. Charter school enrollment next fiscal year is projected to total 371,253 students, according to House analysts, representing about 13.6 percent of enrollment in public schools.

Canady said the bill would provide what she called a five-year glide path, which would phase in sharing the property-tax money.

The glide path would lead to districts sharing a portion of 20 percent of the money in the 2023-2024 fiscal year; a portion of 40 percent in the 2024-2025 fiscal year; a portion of 60 percent in 2025-2026; a portion of 80 percent in 2026-2027; and a portion of 100 percent in 2027-2028 and beyond.

Districts are expected to collect $4.4 billion from the 1.5-mill levy next fiscal year, according to a House staff analysis. Under the phased-in approach, they would provide a total of $55.9 million to charter schools next year.

We have a sharing in this bill of 20 percent of the 1.5 mills, Canady said, referring to the first year. And so, this is the beginning of a way to make sure that charter school students, who are 70 percent minority and 51 percent (recipients of) free and reduced (price) lunch, get closer to parity in terms of the resources that are provided to them.

Story continues

But Democrats on the panel pushed back against such arguments.

Rep. Christine Hunchofsky, D-Parkland, pointed to different requirements and standards that traditional public schools must follow when building facilities.

I think parity is great, but we dont have parity in the requirements of building schools. The traditional public schools are held to a different building standard. Theyre used as hurricane shelters. There are lots of other things going on, Hunchofsky said.

But Rep. Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola, argued that student performance in charter schools outpaces performance in traditional schools and suggested that charter schools face harsher consequences for poor results.

When charter schools have examples of financial impropriety, those charter schools cease to exist. The same cannot be said about government-run schools in Florida. So absolutely we should be working on parity. Because the safe bet is charter schools, Andrade said.

Chris Moya, a lobbyist for Charter Schools USA, said purchases beyond construction-related costs that are allowed with the money would provide a direct benefit to students.

Often, one of the uses permitted by law is actually software, tablets, technology. So, to be against this policy would be to say we want to continue the digital divide amongst minorities and poor students, Moya told the House panel.

But House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa, disagreed that the bill is geared toward benefiting students.

This really is about the businesses, the contracts, the leases for these buildings. Not really school performance, not really providing the students with the things that they need, Driskell said.

A similar bill (SB 1328) would need approval from the Senate Appropriations Committee before it could go before the full Senate.

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]

Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
The Florida Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up a battle about an effort to impose rent controls in Orange County, after an appeals court rejected a rent-control measure on last years ballot.

As is common, the Supreme Court did not explain its decision. But justices effectively let stand an Oct. 27 ruling by the 5th District Court of Appeal that sided with the industry group Florida Realtors and the Florida Apartment Association and blocked the rent-control measure.

The Orange County Commission in August passed an ordinance that put the rent-control proposal on the November ballot. But the appeals court pointed, in part, to a 1977 state law designed to prevent rent controls and said Orange County had not met the requirements to justify its proposal.

A panel of the appeals court, in a 2-1 ruling, said the ordinances findings did not illustrate an existing housing emergency as required by law.

While we do not minimize the evidence supporting a complex, multifaceted issue affecting renters in Orange County, it was insufficient under the law to support a rent control measure, the 34-page majority opinion said.

The late-October ruling came as voters were already casting ballots in the November election, with the appeals court saying that, at a minimum, it anticipated the results of the ballot initiative will not be certified. The measure appeared on the ballot and received support from 59% of voters, according to the Orange County Supervisor of Elections website.

Orange County took the case to the Supreme Court, disputing the appeals courts interpretation of the 1977 law and urging justices to resolve the dispute.

The Fifth District has interpreted the statute in such a restrictive manner that even findings of a genuine and grave housing emergency will never be sufficient to present rent control measures to the voters, Orange County attorneys wrote in a December brief. Respectfully, the (Supreme) Court should exercise its jurisdiction to ensure local governments maintain the ability to address housing emergencies through rent control measures under appropriate circumstances.

Story continues

But in a January brief, attorneys for the rent-control opponents made a series of arguments about why the Supreme Court should not hear the case, including that the Fifth District issued a thorough and well-reasoned opinion providing clear guidance to the trial court and to the parties.

Five of seven Supreme Court justices take part in decisions about whether to hear cases. Justices Charles Canady, John Couriel, Jamie Grosshans and Renatha Francis agreed the court should not take up the case, according to Mondays decision. Justice Jorge Labarga supported hearing arguments.

As the Supreme Court considered the case, lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis last month approved a wide-ranging housing bill (SB 102) that prohibits local rent controls.

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]

Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
A 39-year-old Florida woman is being charged with second-degree murder for allegedly killing her 54-year-old sister. According to WFLA, Charee Howard called police on Tuesday, saying she choked her sister to death.

When officers responded to the home which the sisters shared in St. Petersburg, Florida, they found the body of Sherry Lynn.

According to the siblings family, the sisters were very close. Loved ones said Lynn was like a mother figure to Howard since their parents passed away. However, the family believes Howard has been dealing with mental health problems.

They say she hadnt slept for three or four days and started hallucinating whatever it is, I aint no doctor, Michael Hobbs, the sisters brother, told WFLA. She needs more attention than just being in jail.

Lynn, who worked in real estate, is remembered for her inspiring character.

Shes a good kid, I know shes in heaven, Hobbs said. This is a sad, sad thing for us and a sad day.

Howard is being held in jail while police are waiting for an autopsy report to determine Lynns official cause of death.
A Florida woman who "lived a life of luxury" with $2.8 million that she swindled out of an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor in a romance scam pleaded guilty on Friday to one count of wire fraud, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced.

Peaches Stergo, 36, faces up to 20 years in prison when she is sentenced on July 27.

"This conduct is sick  and sad," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. "Using the millions in fraud proceeds, Stergo lived a life of luxury, purchasing a home in a gated community and a Corvette, taking vacations at hotels like the Ritz-Carlton, and buying thousands in designer clothing, while at the same time causing her elderly victim to lose his apartment."

She met the victim on a dating website several years ago, then started asking to borrow money to pay an attorney in early 2017 so that he would release funds from an injury settlement that didn't actually exist, according to the indictment.

A Florida woman is facing 20 years in prison for allegedly scamming a Holocaust survivor out of his life savings

No settlement funds were ever deposited to her account, but she repeatedly demanded more money over four and a half years from the victim, who wrote 62 checks totaling over $2.8 million. Stergo also impersonated a TD Bank employee and created fake invoices from the bank to trick the elderly victim, according to the indictment.

HOW TO AVOID THE WORST DATING APP SCAMMERS

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Over the course of the fraud, Stergo bought designers clothes from stores like Louis Vuitton and Hermes; bought a boat and multiples cars, including a Corvette and Suburban; and went on expensive vacations where she stayed at places like the Ritz-Carlton.

The victim, meanwhile, lost his life savings and his apartment during the scam.

Romance scammers stole a record $1 billion from Americans in 2022, according to the latest data.

A federal public defender listed as her attorney in court documents did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday. Stergo also agreed to pay $2,830,775 in restitution and forfeit the various luxury items that she purchased.

As more Americans have turned to online dating in search of love, romance scams have been on the rise. An estimated 73,000 Americans were defrauded out of a record $1 billion in 2022, according to the consumer group Comparitech.
An Indiana nurse accused of removing a COVID-19 patient's oxygen at a poorly staffed nursing home has pleaded guilty to a felony, but will receive no jail time.

Connie Sneed, 54, of New Albany, pleaded guilty Thursday in Clark Circuit Court to knowingly or intentionally acting as a physician's assistant without a license, a Level 6 felony. Under the plea deal, she received a suspended sentence of 540 days, which means she won't serve jail time as long as she stays out of trouble.

Sneed did not immediately return phone calls from IndyStar.

Sneed was a licensed practical nurse at Wedgewood Healthcare Center in Clarksville when she drew attention from authorities for what prosecutors called a "brazen" Facebook post.

Trending now: Indianapolis family seeks perfect dog for perfect son, but time isn't on their side

In the post, Sneed said she asked the patient if he wanted her to remove his oxygen mask so he could "fly with the angels." She described it as "the hardest thing I've ever done in 28 years."

The patient, James Godfrey, 72, died on April 30, 2020, hours after his oxygen was unhooked. He had been a resident at the nursing home for more than a month. His medical conditions included dementia and occasional depression.

Sneed was initially charged in March 2021 with practicing medicine without a license, a Level 5 felony that carries a penalty of up to six years in prison. The charge was amended to the lower level felony as part of Sneed's plea deal with Clark County prosecutors.

'I hate my life': Baseball phenom, 13, dies by suicide. He came home from school, left video

Clark County Prosecutor Jeremy Mull said in an email to IndyStar that it was important to him that Sneed be convicted of a felony given the gravity of her actions. But he said other factors favored a sentence without prison time, including Sneed's belief that she was helping a suffering patient, her distinguished record as a nurse and her acceptance of responsibility. The plea deal also allowed the case to be resolved without putting the deceased patient's family through a lengthy trial, he said.

Story continues

"This case presented countervailing considerations, but at the end of the day, the evidence left me convinced that Ms. Sneed was a nurse who deeply cared for her patients, but who made a mistake in judgment that led to a very serious result," Mull said. "I am satisfied that this particular conviction and sentence is just and fair in this case."

In an interview with state health inspectors a few days after Godfrey's death, Sneed confirmed that she had removed the resident's oxygen. She said that she'd had a "terrible" week and was caring for more than 40 COVID-19 patients at the facility when she forgot to notify the resident's physician of his decline.

Red flags: Here's what to do  and what to look out for  when choosing a nursing home

Sneed also told inspectors the resident's daughter had told her "if it was her father's wishes she could remove the mask."

Going into the pandemic, Wedgewood had the lowest possible staffing rating from federal regulators  much below average  and was in the bottom 15% for total staffing nationally. It remains poorly rated.

The nursing home was among the facilities hit particularly hard by the virus. At least 80 residents contracted the coronavirus and 22 died, according to state health data. The 124-bed facility is owned by Columbus Regional Hospital and operated by CommuniCare.

Records show the nursing home and Columbus Regional Hospital settled a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Godfrey's family, but the hospital has not disclosed the terms.

Janet McSharar, a medical malpractice attorney who represented the hospital in the case, said she could not discuss it. "Both parties to this claim agreed to the confidentiality of the settlement," she said, "including all terms thereof."

IndyStar has filed a public records request seeking a copy of the settlement.

Wedgewood fired Sneed on May 6, 2020, after its executive director determined Sneed had not obtained a doctor's order to administer oxygen nor to later remove the oxygen supply.

The state's professional licensing database shows her nursing license has been suspended since May 2021.

Staffing problems at Indiana nursing homes were the focus of an IndyStar investigation in 2020.

Read IndyStar's investigation: Nursing home residents suffer as county hospitals rake in millions

The investigation found that more than 20 county hospitals, including Columbus Regional, had acquired almost all of Indiana's nursing homes  at least on paper  to access enhanced Medicaid payments available only to publicly owned nursing homes.

The hospitals, however, diverted much of the money away from the nursing homes to pad their own bottom lines, even as nursing home residents languished in poorly staffed facilities.

Columbus Regional, for example, collected nearly $123 million in enhanced Medicaid nursing home payments from its eight nursing homes from 2013 to 2020. It then diverted about $55 million of that money to the hospital, while nursing homes such as Wedgewood remained among the most poorly staffed in America.

Contact IndyStar reporter Tony Cook at 317-444-6081 or tony.cook@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @IndyStarTony.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Nurse who removed COVID-19 patient's oxygen pleads guilty to felony
Zipair is preparing to launch some of the cheapest long-haul flights between the U.S. and Japan. The airline is a subsidiary of Japan Airlines offering a new route between San Francisco and Tokyo. One-way ticket prices starting at just 10,000 Japanese yen, or $91, make it an attractive option for budget-conscious travelers.

To obtain this ultra-low fare, however, the passenger must be six years old or younger. The ticket must also be purchased in Japan.

For passengers who are seven years old or older, one-way tickets start from 35,000 yen, or $325.

Five Flights A Week From San Francisco To Tokyo

Zipair will operate five flights a week between San Francisco and Tokyo, its third flight route across the Pacific. It currently operates flights between Tokyo and six cities  Los Angeles, San Jose, Honolulu, Bangkok, Seoul, and Singapore.

Flights between San Francisco and Tokyo are scheduled to begin operations on June 2, 2023.

Photo Credit: Zipair

Zipair is partnering with San Francisco International Airport to provide the new route. San Francisco International is one of the largest and busiest airports in the United States.

The airlines president, Shingo Nishida, expressed his confidence that the new service would provide a valuable link for commercial and cultural exchange for their mutual customers.

ZipAirs Mixed Reviews

Zipair, which launched commercial flights in October 2020, ranked sixth on Skytraxs list of the worlds best long-haul, low-cost airlines last year. However, the airline has mixed reviews from passengers online, with an average rating of 3 out of 10 from 32 reviews on Skytraxs customer reviews.

Some passengers have complained of delays and cancellations. Others have praised the airline for its smooth check-in process and excellent experience.

Photo Credit: Zipair

Despite the mixed reviews, Zipairs ultra-low ticket prices are sure to attract a lot of attention. The airlines low fares are perfect for budget-conscious travelers who are looking to save money without compromising on comfort.

RELATED: Must-Visit Attractions In Tokyo, Japan
JoAnne Marilyn (Henricks) Salerno, a longtime Aurora resident and business owner, is being remembered for her impact on the lives of the people she worked for over the years.

A graduate of West Aurora High School and the Patricia Stevens Modeling Schools, she owned and operated JoAnnes School of Charm and Modeling in Aurora from 1957 to 1984. She passed away in late March.

Advertisement

From 1972 to 2001, she was state director for the Miss Illinois USA and Teen USA Pageants, becoming the executive director in 1973.

She trained seven national winners and was a fixture in Illinois pageantry.

Advertisement

She was just a very positive force for the women and girls she worked for, said Jim Gibson, who has hosted more than 1,500 televised events, including many Miss Illinois pageants, working with Salerno. Gibson also is an accomplished musician who is a member of the Fox Valley Arts Hall of Fame.

I hosted 1,500 of these, and I worked with every pageant director, and the thing I can tell you is, I could tell every time a woman had worked with JoAnne, Gibson said. They had more confidence, more polish, they were more secure. It was a very positive thing for these women.

Salerno was teaching classes at Patricia Stevens within months of attending classes there. She was sent to the Patricia Stevens Philadelphia facility to manage and direct. She also modeled professionally.

After returning to Aurora, she married Anthony Tony Salerno in 1955, who was an Aurora attorney. In 1957, she started JoAnnes School of Charm and Modeling.

She trained seven national winners, beginning in 1969 when Rose Marie Klespitz of Aurora captured the title of Miss American Teenager.

In 1973, Amanda Jones of Evanston won the Miss USA title. When Karen Morrison won the Miss USA title in 1974, Salerno became the first Miss USA State Director to have back-to-back wins during her first two years. In 1984, Cherise Haugen of Sleepy Hollow won the Miss Teen USA title.

Through the years, Salerno produced and won hundreds of additional local and state pageants, including many winners of the Miss Photoflash Pageant. At one time, all 10 finalists in the Miss Photoflash Pageant were or had been students of hers.

Her trainees have been featured on numerous magazine covers, local and national advertisements, movies and television.

Advertisement

At one point, she and her husband jointly produced their own beauty pageants, doing live telecasts on WGN Television from 1979 to 1983. The show received Emmy nominations each year.

In 1997, she and her husband retired to Boca Raton, Florida, however, she continued to produce pageants until 2001.

Gibson described Salerno as incredible driven and very competitive. He said she was a role model as a rare female business owner in the 1950s - she had to get her mother to co-sign on a loan to start her business in 1957 because no one else would, he said.

Gibson said when she was running a pageant, on the Sunday morning before winners were announced, she would speak to the participants and tell them this could be a very positive thing, or a negative thing.

Thats the kind of approach she took, Gibson said. It wasnt just a tiara. She was making a big difference in these womens lives.

In lieu of flowers contributions can be given in JoAnnes name to K9s for Warriors, 260 South Roscoe Road, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, or at donate.k9sforwarriors.org. Donations also can be made to St. Judes Research Hospital, stjude.org.

Advertisement

slord@tribpub.com
The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) has arrested the former head of the Kherson railway station who helped the Russian Federation move troop trains to Ukraine.

Source: Security Service of Ukraine

Details: During stabilisation measures in liberated Kherson, the SSU has arrested a local resident who supported the Russian invaders at the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

After the capture of the city of Kherson, he voluntarily cooperated with the occupiers and joined the ranks of the local occupational administration of the Russian Federation. There, he was appointed station manager of the city railway station, which was part of the Kherson railway unitary enterprise created by the aggressor.

Quote: "In this position he helped the invaders establish a railway connection for the needs of the occupying groups on the southern front.

He participated in the organisation of the unimpeded transporting of military equipment, weapons and ammunition from the territory of the Russian Federation to Kherson, which had been captured at that time. For this, he issued criminal orders to his subordinates. If they refused or failed to carry out the illegal instructions, he threatened to "hand people over" to the punitive bodies of the ruscists.

After the liberation of the southern city, the suspect tried to "lie low" and avoid justice. However, SSU officers found and arrested him."

More details: The SSU investigators served the perpetrator with a notice of suspicion under Art. 111-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (provision of assistance to the aggressor state). The issue of whether to remand him in custody as a measure of restraint is being decided. The investigative actions are ongoing. The investigation is being conducted by SSU employees under the procedural guidance of the Prosecutor General's Office.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
A former Northern Kentucky city employee has pleaded guilty in connection with stealing more than $180,000 she used for personal purchases that included expensive furniture, a $1,900 Chanel tote and remodeling work at her home.

Allison Donaldson, 50, of Covington, pleaded guilty April 14 to one charge of wire fraud and one charge of aggravated identity theft.

Donaldson worked in the Public Works Department for the City of Covington from 2005 to May 2022 as an administrative manager, according to court records.

The city issued credit cards in the names of employees that they could use for government expenses.

Donaldson had access to the credit card information of other employees. As part of her job, she was supposed to log in credit card purchases and upload receipts and invoices into the citys bookkeeping system.

Donaldson abused her authority to fabricate and manipulate invoices and receipts to make it appear personal purchases she made were for legitimate expenses, according to her plea agreement.

She also forged receipts and invoices to make it appear her personal purchases had been made by other employees and that a supervisor had approved them, the plea agreement said.

Donaldson uploaded the fake documentation to the bookkeeping system, and the city paid for the purchases.

An audit showed Donaldson used her credit card and the card information of other employees to make $184,736 in purchases for her benefit from February 2020 until March 2022, when she quit after being confronted with irregularities in purchases.

The sample of purchases cited in the plea agreement were: $1,293 for a leather Louis Vuitton agenda; $1,899 for a leather Chanel tote; $3,015.70 for a 5-drawer chest, 3-drawer chest and nightstand from Crate and Barrel; $4,095 for a cabinet; $4,603 for work on her Mercedes Benz; $2,866 for an outdoor umbrella; $4,594 for a outdoor fireplace; $9,450 for a down payment to remodel her master bathroom; and $19,726 in payments to remodel her garage.

Story continues

The plea agreement spelled out how one fraudulent purchase in October 2020 worked:

Donaldson used information from the city credit card of a co-worker to buy four bar stools at a cost of $4,677 from Serena & Lily, a luxury furniture store.

The company sent her an email to confirm the stools were shipped to her home.

Donaldson used content from that email to make a fake receipt for the purchase of water filtration equipment for a city pool, then uploaded it to the bookkeeping system.

That fabricated email showed the other employee had ordered the equipment and received it, according to Donaldsons plea, but he told police that wasnt true.

Police found the four bar stools at Donaldsons house.

U.S. Attorney Carlton S. Shier IV called Donaldsons conduct an egregious betrayal.

Any time public servants turn to greed and misappropriate public funds, it does serious damage, Shier said in a release. Not only does it deprive communities of necessary  and often very limited  resources, but it severely erodes the trust that communities place in their government.

The fraud charge Donaldson pleaded to is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, though sentences in federal court often are less than the maximum under advisory guidelines.

The identity theft charge carries a mandatory two-year sentence on top of any sentence on the fraud charge.

U.S. District Judge David L. Bunning scheduled sentencing in September.
HOWELLPolice have charged two 32-year-old Neptune men, including a former UFC fighter, with burglarizing a home on West Farms Road the day after Christmas and making off with more than $200,000 in exotic jewelry and valuables.

Arrested March 31 by detectives from Howell and the Monmouth County Prosecutors Office were Dathan Thompson, at his home, and Karl Roberson, the former UFC competitor, who was taken into custody during a traffic stop in Neptune.

Karl Roberson (red gloves) celebrates beating Jack Marshman (blue gloves) during UFC 230 at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

Both men were charged with burglary, theft and criminal mischief. Roberson was additionally charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance and weapons offenses.

Police charge that Roberson was driving a vehicle connected to the burglary. After Robersons arrest, detectives executed a search warrant and found a defaced 9mm handgun with an extended magazine, packages of crack cocaine and marijuana, and items from the burglary, Howell police said.

For subscribers: Retired Howell police chief had sex with female employee at work, she told detectives

Roberson's attorney, Tara Breslow of Freehold, declined comment. Thompson's attorney could not be immediately reached.

The worst of the charges both men face can bring up to 10 years in prison if they are convicted. The drug and gun charges for Roberson carry the same potential prison term.

A burglar approaches a house on West Farms Road on Monday, Dec. 26, 2022. He and another man made off with nearly $250,000 from the home, the owner told police.

The burglary of the West Farms Road home happened shortly before 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 26. Surveillance cameras showed two burglars walking out from the woods west of the home. They forced their way in through a rear door, police said.

A camera picked up one of the men going into the homeowner's bedroom and stealing a large amount of jewelry, police said. The two men left together, walking back into the wooded area that they initially came out of, police said.

The homeowners estimated the value of the jewelry to be between $234,000 and $245,000, police said.

Howell Detectives Ryan Jackson and Anthony Romano conducted the investigation using analysis of cellular data among other evidence to turn up several suspects.

Story continues

A still from a surveillance footage shows a burglar approaching a home on West Farms Road in Howell Monday afternoon. He and another man made off with nearly $250,000 in jewelry, the homeowner told police.

Roberson earned his UFC opportunity through Dana Whites Contender Series in 2017 and made 10 appearances with the promotion, posting a 4-6 record. He exited the UFC on a four-fight losing streak, which culminated with a third-round TKO loss to Kennedy Nzechukwu last July at UFC on ESPN 39.

USA Today contributed to this story.

Ken Serrano covers crime, breaking news and investigations. Reach him at 732-643-4029 or at kserrano@gannettnj.com

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Ex-UFC pro Karl Roberson, of Neptune NJ, charged in jewelry heist
Wagner PMC

The commanders provided detailed accounts of how they brutally killed people, including the execution of over 20 Ukrainian children and teenagers, and the detonation of a pit containing more than 50 wounded captives, in a video published on April 17.

The former commanders said the orders came from both Prigozhin and unit commanders. Prigozhin also approved of terrorist methods and the brutality of the murders.

I executed the order with my own hand  I killed children (...) We were ordered to sweep and destroy everyone (...) We killed everyone  women, men, pensioners, and children, including little ones, five-year-olds, recounted former Russian prisoner Azamat Uldarov.

Read also: Russia sending elite units to Bakhmut due to heavy PMC Wagner losses

Former commander Alexei Savichev said that after the exchange of prisoners of war in February 2023, Russian officers gave orders to shoot without words anyone over the age of 15. Around 10 teenagers were executed along with others.

Read also: Wagners Prigozhin proposes Russia ends war in Ukraine

Savichev also revealed that failure to obey orders, including killing civilians, resulted in execution by firing squad.

Following the publication of the testimonies, Presidential Office head, Andriy Yermak, said that there were not enough confessions and that harsh and fair punishment is necessary.

Russian terrorists have confessed to the murder of Ukrainian children in Bakhmut and Soledar. Its about war criminals from the Wagner PMC, but this sheds light on the crimes of the Russian army in Ukraine. They kidnap our children and kill them (...) We will learn all the facts about the crimes and find everyone who committed them. We are doing everything to bring our children back, he wrote on Telegram.

Read also: Wagner troops now rely on regular Russian forces near Bakhmut, Ukraine says

Gulagu.net interviewed former Russian prisoners who were recruited by Wagner. Both Uldarov and Savichev were personally pardoned by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in late August and early September 2022, and the project say they both are 100% in Russia.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
The Auburn Tigers have offered a scholarship to Josiah Abdullah, a wide receiver in the class of 2025, Abdullah announced via Twitter on Saturday.

The Atlanta, Georgia native attends Woodward Academy and holds offers from many top programs such as Alabama, Tennessee, Texas, Arkansas, Florida State, Texas A&M, LSU, Michigan, Florida, Georgia, Ohio State, and Clemson.

On3s recruiting prediction machine is not high on Abdullahs chances of committing to Auburn at this time. That could easily change as Hugh Freeze and company start to ramp up their recruiting efforts towards the receiver.

The prediction machine currently gives Tennessee a 53.2% chance and Alabama a 16.5% chance of landing Abdullah.

Abdullah is the No. 126 player as well as the No. 22 wide receiver in the class of 2025 according to On3. According to Rivals, he is a four-star wide receiver and the No. 9 prospect from the state of Georgia for the 2025 cycle. He has yet to receive a ranking from 247Sports.

More Recruiting!

Linebacker Zavier Hamilton puts Auburn in top four Four-star LB Joseph Phillips includes Auburn in top five Tight end Martavious Collins commits to Auburn

Story originally appeared on Auburn Wire
A defamation trial related to falsehoods about the 2020 US presidential election aired on Fox News was delayed Monday as the network reportedly sought to settle with vote machine maker Dominion.

Delaware judge Eric Davis announced that the start of proceedings in the highly anticipated civil case would be pushed back by a day to Tuesday.

He gave no reason for the postponement but the Wall Street Journal -- owned by Rupert Murdoch, who also owns Fox News -- reported that the conservative channel is exploring ways to settle the case.

A settlement would mean 92-year-old Murdoch and star anchors, such as Tucker Carlson, would avoid having to testify in court.

A spokesperson for Fox did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Dominion Voting Systems sued Fox News for $1.6 billion in March 2021.

It alleges that the news behemoth promoted Donald Trump's false claims that its machines were used to rig the 2020 presidential election that he lost to Joe Biden.

The company argues that Fox News aired the falsehoods while knowing they were untrue.

Dominion says that the network began endorsing Trump's conspiracy narrative because the channel was losing its audience after it became the first television outlet to call Arizona for Biden, projecting the Democrat would win the presidency.

Fox News denies committing defamation. It claims it was only reporting on Trump's allegations, not supporting them, and is protected by free speech rights enshrined in the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

It is difficult for plaintiffs to win defamation suits in the United States due to the First Amendment. A trial would test the extent of free speech rights for media in America -- even when broadcasting election falsehoods.

In pre-trial hearings, Davis ruled that there was no question Fox aired false statements about Dominion.

For Dominion to win however, it would have to prove that Fox News acted with actual malice, a tough burden to meet that has been a bedrock of US media law since 1964.

Story continues

Dominion's lawsuit has already proved embarrassing to Fox.

Murdoch admitted in a deposition in the case that some on-air hosts had "endorsed" the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.

But he denied that the network in its entirety had pushed the baseless claim, according to court documents filed by Dominion in February.

Dominion's lawyers also released a trove of internal Fox News communications in which some commentators expressed a dislike of Trump, despite praising him on air.

Fox News has accused Dominion of "cherry-picking and taking quotes out of context."

pdh-arb/bgs
Wilmington, Del.  This weeks blockbuster trial in Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit against Fox News was delayed by 24 hours, reportedly due to ongoing settlement talks.

Superior Court Judge Eric Davis said in a statement late Sunday evening, just hours before opening arguments in the case were slated to begin, that he would delay the start of the trial by one day.

The delay comes as lawyers for both sides are set to meet Monday to discuss a last-minute deal to avoid trial, The Washington Post reported, citing two people familiar with the talks.

The Wall Street Journal reported late Sunday Foxs lawyers were making an 11th-hour push to strike a settlement deal.

A representative for Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment and a spokesperson for Dominion declined to comment on potential settlement talks.

During a hearing early Monday, Davis said he still expected the proceedings to begin on Tuesday morning.

This is not unusual, I have not gone through a trial that has not had a delay of some kind, Davis said from the bench on Monday, before holding a brief sidebar with attorneys for both sides and adjourning for the day.

Dominion is suing Fox for defamation over its coverage of the 2020 election and former president Trumps baseless claims of voter fraud, alleging the network knowingly aired false claims about its software being pushed by Trump and his allies.

Fox has defended itself on First Amendment grounds and has accused Dominion of inflating its financial valuation and cherry picking quotes from its employees in recent court filings to drum up press coverage of the case.

In a court filing over the weekend, Foxs lawyers pointed to an April 14 e-mail they received from Dominion saying the company would not seek to have the jury consider the profit damages it had previously alleged, adding that Dominion was knocking more than half a billion dollars off the damages claimed in its complaint.

Story continues

Davis made no mention of a potential settlement in the case on Monday morning.

Dozens of journalists are stationed near the Wilmington, Delaware courthouse ahead of the expected trial.

Updated on April 17 at 10:56 a.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
(Getty)

In the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, the most-watched cable news network in the US gave Donald Trump and his allies a platform for their false claims that it was rigged against him.

At the centre of many election lies, conspiracy theories and the former presidents spurious legal challenges to reverse the outcome was Dominion Voting Systems  a voting machine company baselessly accused of flipping votes.

Those claims were aired uncritically on Fox News.

Those claims were false, a judge has determined.

And further, many of the networks top on-air personalities, producers and executive leadership at Fox Corporation knew that, including right-wing media mogul Rupert Murdoch and Tucker Carlson, the most-watched host on the most-watched network.

This week, a judge in Delaware, where Fox is incorporated, is expected to preside over a six-week jury trial stemming from Dominions $1.6bn lawsuit against the network, which will defend itself against Dominions argument that false statements about the company in the wake of the election were defamatory, costing Dominion significant business and reputational harm.

On Sunday evening Judge Eric Davis announced that the trial had been suddenly delayed  mere hours before opening statements were scheduled to begin on Monday morning.

No explanation was given for the sudden delay but multiple reports have revealed that Fox News is now pushing to settle the case before the trial gets under way. Lawyers for the two sides are expected to meet on Monday to discuss a potential settlement, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Defamation cases rarely go to trial, but it will be up to the jury in Superior Court in Wilmington to determine whether the claims on Fox News meet the high bar for the actual malice standard  meaning that the network knowingly presented false claims with reckless disregard for the truth.

In his 80-page decision allowing the case to go to trial, Judge Davis wrote that the evidence developed in this civil proceeding demonstrates that [it] is CRYSTAL clear  emphasis his  that none of the Statements relating to Dominion about the 2020 election are true.

Story continues

We want to encourage a robust and wide-open discussion about public affairs, especially about how to run our governments, and we want to allow for some breathing room  to let people talk about this without having to do the full journalistic run at it, Andrew Geronimo, director of the First Amendment Clinic within the Milton and Charlotte Kramer Law Clinic at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, told The Independent last month.

But what you cant do is knowingly lie about somebody in a way that damages them.

A judge in Delaware Superior Court in Wilmington is presiding over the case against Fox News (REUTERS)

The former president waged a public assault on absentee or mail-in voting, which he called a hoax and corrupt before a single ballot was even cast in 2020 elections, casting public doubt about the process in an apparent effort to justify challenging the outcomes.

In the months that followed, Republican lawmakers across the US launched a coordinated campaign under the guise of preserving election integrity and restoring voter confidence that the president himself undermined.

The persistent lie that the election was stolen from him  and his legal teams baseless attempts to overturn millions of Americans votes  fuelled violence at the US Capitol on 6 January, 2021, sustained election investigations and audits in an effort to reverse the outcomes in states that Mr Trump lost, and inspired GOP-led legislation in nearly every state to change how elections are run.

The trial is among several election-related cases playing out in courtrooms and prosecutors offices across the country.

Mr Trump, whose pursuit to upend an American election is driving his 2024 ambitions, was criminally charged in New York in a case involving hush money payments to at least two women ahead of his 2016 election, and a prosecutor in Georgia is reportedly considering charges against more than a dozen people connected to Mr Trumps attempt to pressure officials to overturn his loss in the state in 2020.

Fox was also separately sued by a now-former producer who has accused the companys lawyers of coercing her testimony in the Dominion case.

Mr Trump and Mr Murdoch were not close; Mr Murdochs The Wall Street Journal called his former know-nothing nuisance a catastrophe and Mr Murdoch himself said he was embarrassing the country.

But their fortunes intertwined with Mr Trumps presidency and its aftermath, which boosted Fox ratings but now presents significant threats to both men.

Despite Mr Murdochs apparent support for the networks correct prediction that Joe Biden won in the state of Arizona, Fox leadership met over concerns of mounting viewer backlash over the call, according to court filings.

Network leadership appeared to agree to provide a platform for wild claims that the election was stolen from Mr Trump because positive impressions of Fox News among its viewers dropped precipitously after Election Day to the lowest levels the network had seen, Dominion argues.

Attorneys for Dominion, appearing outside Delaware Superior Court, have argued that Fox News relied on lying to viewers about the 2020 election facing pressure from competing networks. (REUTERS)

Indeed, Dominions extensive filings leading up to the trial have stitched together a much-larger picture of the Fox organisation, its decision making, and its concerns over declining viewership with competition from other networks that indulged the former presidents conspiracy theories.

Attorneys for Fox News have argued that the network not only had an obligation to cover those allegations, especially those endorsed by a sitting president, as newsworthy, but that they also are protected by the First Amendment.

The networks legal team has warned that the case could set a dangerous precedent for press freedoms and media companies abilities to report on other newsworthy allegations.

This case is and always has been about the First Amendment protections of the medias absolute right to cover the news, a Fox spokesperson said in a statement shared with The Independent.

Fox will continue to fiercely advocate for the rights of free speech and a free press as we move into the next phase of these proceedings.

Dominions case alleges that Fox News is a media empire that relies on lying to its audience.

The companys extensive court filings revealed private admissions among Fox producers, executives and programme hosts questioning or ridiculing the networks unreliable guests and their dubious arguments about Dominion, while, at the same time, conceding that the network risked alienating Fox viewers if it publicly rejected those claims.

Really crazy stuff. And damaging, Mr Murdoch wrote in a message on 19 November 2020 email as he watched Mr Trumps former attorney Rudy Giuliani airing false claims about Dominion during a press conference, court filings show.

Last week, Judge Davis rebuked Fox lawyers for not being straightforward with him.

He imposed a sanction against Fox News and Fox Corporation for allegedly withholding evidence in the case and said he was considering appointing an outside counsel to investigate Foxs handling of documents and whether it had withheld details about the scope of Mr Murdochs role.

The judge ruled that if Dominion needed other depositions, Fox would have to do everything they can to make the person available, and it will be at a cost to Fox.

That evidence includes recordings between Mr Giuliani and a Trump campaign aide with Fox personality Maria Bartiromo, which Dominion said was turned over just one week earlier.

Davida Brook, a lawyer for Dominion, told the court last week that the legal team was still receiving relevant documents from Fox despite an imminent trial.

We keep on learning about more relevant information from individuals other than Fox, she said. And to be honest we dont really know what to do about that, but that is the situation we find ourselves in.

In a statement, Dominion said the evidence to be presented at trial will show that Dominion was a valuable, rapidly growing business that was executing on its plan to expand prior to the time that Fox began endorsing baseless lies about Dominion voting machines.

Dominions business suffered enormously as a result, according to a statement. and its claim for compensatory damages is based on industry-standard valuation metrics and conservative methodologies. We look forward to proving this aspect of our case at trial.
Some of Fox News' most prominent personalities are expected to testify in the Dominion lawsuit trial

Testimony in the highly anticipated defamation trial pitting Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News is set to start - and jurors may be seeing a few familiar faces.

Dominion, a voting technology company, is suing Fox for $1.6bn (1.29bn) in damages, claiming that the TV network knowingly spread falsehoods about the firm's role in the 2020 US election that ousted Donald Trump from the White House.

Over the course of the trial, jurors are likely to hear from billionaire Fox owner Rupert Murdoch and immensely popular - and controversial - TV host Tucker Carlson, among an array of other executives and well-known on-air personalities.

Jurors will be asked to determine whether Fox showed "actual malice" by knowingly and willingly reporting things that were untrue and potentially damaging for the voting machine maker.

Fox denies the claims. In a statement sent to the BBC, the company said the lawsuit "is a political crusade in search of financial windfall" and said Dominion "has pushed irrelevant and misleading information to generate headlines".

Here's what we know about some of the key players in the case and how they fit in.

Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch

Dominion claims that Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch played a key editorial role at Fox News

As the trial begins, all eyes will be on Fox Corporation's 91-year-old co-chairman and his son Lachlan, who is the co-chairman and CEO.

In the lawsuit, Dominion claims that the two Murdochs held ultimate editorial responsibility during the elections, and allowed falsehoods about Dominion to be spread despite knowing they were untrue.

Court documents filed by Dominion after a deposition of the elder Mr Murdoch revealed that he did not believe many of the theories being "endorsed" by some Fox commentators.

In retrospect, he said, he would have liked the company to be "stronger in denouncing it".

He also said that he "could have" prevented conspiracy-prone guests from appearing on-air, but did not.

Story continues

Tucker Carlson

Tucker Carlson was privately dismissive of many of the claims against Dominion

In the aftermath of the 2020 election, the now 53-year-old TV host broadcast more than 20 episodes of his show that Dominion's lawsuit claims were defamatory.

Off-camera, however, Mr Carlson repeatedly dismissed the claims, which he called "absurd" and "insane", according to communications revealed in court documents.

Additionally, while he was publicly a vocal supporter of Donald Trump's claims of fraud in the 2020 election, court documents show that he said he hated the former President "passionately" and that he "can't wait" to ignore him.

Dominion's lawyers are likely to focus on these inconsistencies in their bid to prove the "actual malice" needed for a successful defamation case.

Sean Hannity

Guests on Sean Hannity's show repeated baseless claims about Dominion

Another TV star expected on the stand is Sean Hannity, the host of the popular and his self-titled "Hannity" show on Fox.

In court documents, Dominion's lawyers have specifically singled out an episode of the show that aired on 30 November, 2020 in which Mr Hannity had Sidney Powell, a former Trump lawyer, as guest.

During the episode, Ms Powell repeated baseless conspiracy theories about Dominion's role in the election.

Mr Hannity later said in a deposition that he did not believe Ms Powell's claims "for one second", despite having brought her on his show.

Ms Powell, for his part, features heavily in the lawsuit and is among one of three people who repeatedly repeated conspiracy theories on Fox shows, including Mr Hannity's, Mr Carlson's and others.

Internal communications show that Fox News employees repeatedly told each other they did not believe many of the allegations.

Former House Speaker Paul Ryan

Former House Speaker Paul Ryan became a member of Fox Corporation's Board in 2019

Mr Ryan, 53, served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019. In March 2019, he joined the board of the Fox Corporation.

According to court documents filed by Dominion, Mr Ryan sent a message to Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch calling for "solid pushback" against outlandish claims in the wake of the 2020 election.

"I think we are entering a truly bizarre phase of this where he has actually convinced himself of this farce and will do more bizarre things to delegitimize the election," he said, adding that he saw the election as an "inflection point" for the network.

Suzanne Scott, Fox News CEO

Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott expressed concern that the network would lose viewers after calling Arizona in Biden's favour

Among the top Fox executives expected to testify is Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott.

Dominion's court filings single her out as ultimately being "responsible for the content of the shows" on the network, with the "authority to direct shows to not host certain guests or broadcast certain content".

On 9 November 2020 - just days after the election - Ms Scott e-mailed Rupert Murdoch to stress upon him the importance of keeping an audience "who loves and trusts" the network, particularly after Fox's decision to call the state of Arizona in Joe Biden's favour.

That call, she said, had been "damaging", but could be addressed by an effort to "highlight our stars and plant flags letting the viewers know we hear them, and respect them".

Additionally, Dominion's court filings show that the firm alerted Ms Scott, along with several other top Fox executives, that they were airing "verifiably wrong information".

Experts have noted that a significant part of Dominion's case will be to show that Fox was repeatedly warned about the falsehoods being shared on-air.
Frozen biological material in storage at the IVMED fertility clinic in Kyiv, Ukraine on March 21, 2023. (Laetitia Vancon/The New York Times)

The couple had dreams of a big family. They would have five children, who would have their fathers mop of curls, his smile and dreamy eyes. They would teach the children how to paint and make pottery and take them on long walks in the forests near their hometown, Sloviansk, in eastern Ukraine.

Then Russia invaded their country, shattering their plans. The husband, Vitaly Kyrkach-Antonenko, volunteered to fight and died on the battlefield when his wife, Nataliya, was three months pregnant with their first child.

Now, still deep in mourning, she says she will not give up their dream. She intends to give siblings to her firstborn. Like hundreds of other Ukrainian soldiers, her husband froze his sperm before heading back to battle in the hope that if he did not make it home, he could still pass on his genes.

Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times

Vitaly, his wife said, will be the father of all our future children.

For many Ukrainians, the idea of saving soldiers sperm is at once personal and patriotic. It helps men who want to ensure something of themselves remains if they die, and it brings comfort to their partners. In a country now famous for its spirit of resistance, it is also one more way of fighting back. It leaves open the possibility, at least, of preserving Ukrainian bloodlines even as the Kremlin insists that Ukrainian statehood  and by extension Ukrainians as a separate people  is a fiction.

The concept of denying that type of erasure has caught on enough that the parliament is debating a bill that would allow soldiers to freeze their sperm at the states expense.

This is a continuation of our gene pool, said Oksana Dmytriieva, the Ukrainian lawmaker who wrote the bill, which has already cleared a hurdle toward passage in an initial vote.

Several clinics have already begun offering the service free, at their own expense. And Nataliya Kyrkach-Antonenko has unexpectedly become something of a role model for the cause, using her Facebook page to encourage male soldiers and their wives to give themselves the option of making a family, no matter what happens on the battlefield.

Story continues

The modern world allows us to give birth and raise the children of our fallen loved ones  the bravest and most courageous humans in this world, she wrote. Raise them worthy of their father, with the same love for Ukraine, and give them the chance to live in the country for which their father shed his blood.

Such messages of resistance seem to have reached Russia too.

A pro-Kremlin reporter, Olga Skabeeva, said recently on Russian state television that soldiers freezing sperm amounted to genetic experiments to construct a nation.

With the help of artificial selection, she warned, a whole army of selected Ukrainians with an increased level of Russophobia will be bred.

Natalya Tolub, a spokesperson for the IVMED fertility clinic in Kyiv, Ukraines capital, said in an email that the reporters statements were a sign that the Ukrainians had hit their mark. Success, she wrote.

Her clinic, she said, is freezing the sperm of about 10 soldiers every week.

Among them was Yehor, 31, who had been with his girlfriend, Svitlana Braslasvska, 25, for only a few months when they decided to freeze his sperm.

As he headed back to battle last month after a short break, he said that he felt calmer and more fearless than the first time he went. He credited experience, time  and the sperm he left behind in a clinic.

We are fighting for freedom for our children; we also have the right to have them, said Yehor, who asked to be identified only by his first name for security reasons. Doesnt matter if they will be born in that way, or even after us.

But he said his interest in freezing his sperm was also about not decreasing the number of our patriots, people who will later defend, develop and build our country.

Braslasvska does not want to think about whether she would opt for assisted reproduction if he did not return, but she said the war had made her think about having children for the first time. She interpreted her new interest as a physical effect that the war was having on her, an impulse to continue our nation.

Despite Ukrainians bravado in the face of adversity, experts say that Ukraine cannot rebuild its population, which was already declining before the war, by using frozen sperm for pregnancies. But Jay Winter, a retired Yale University historian, said that wasnt the point.

By offering not only to die for Ukraine, but also to provide for new life, soldiers were making a statement  showing their commitment to national survival. And the survival of the Ukrainian nation, he said, is what this war is about.

The exact number of Ukrainian men who have frozen their sperm is hard to come by, but Oleksandr Mykhailovych Yuzko, a doctor and the president of the Ukrainian Association of Reproductive Medicine, said that requests had risen at clinics all over Ukraine.

He said he expected the sperm to be used not only by some widows, but also by women whose husbands suffer injuries  physical or mental  that render them impotent. He said the government needed to do more to help women have soldiers children, by paying for assisted reproduction procedures as well.

The first part is the preservation of reproductive cells, he said. The second part is the restoration of the reproductive potential of Ukraine.

The idea of freezing soldiers sperm is not new. During the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, several cryogenic firms offered the service free to U.S. troops. In Israel, the families of fallen soldiers have gone a step further, fighting to advance a bill that would allow a family to use the sperm taken from a dead soldiers body for procreation, unless he had previously objected to it. Critics in Israel call the notion planned orphanhood.

Dominic Wilkinson, a professor of medical ethics at Oxford University, said that in his view the rush by some Ukrainian soldiers to freeze their sperm was ethical, so long as both partners agree beforehand that it can be used if the man dies.

There are many children who have only a single living parent, he said. That doesnt mean that it would be wrong to bring that child into the world.

Petro Patij, a doctor at a fertility clinic in the Western Ukrainian city of Lutsk, said that many of his clients were still couples coming in for family planning consultations or to solve fertility problems, but he now feels obliged to also ask the men if they would like to freeze their sperm.

Its very hard, said Patij. They want to hear something optimistic and you have to propose to them to freeze sperm because one of them might die tomorrow.

And for some widows, moving on to give birth to their deceased partners children is not easy.

Nadiia Lytovchenko is one of those who is struggling.

Last years invasion started on her fifth wedding anniversary with her husband, Andrii. By the end of the summer, he was dead, killed in a Russian ambush, leaving his wife alone with their baby boy  and the sperm he had frozen a few years earlier as he feared an escalation of hostilities with Russia.

Its hard to decide and too early to think about using his sperm, said Lytovchenko, who is wrestling with her grief, the financial hardships created by her husbands death and the reality of raising their child alone.

But its nice to know that you have this possibility, she said, before pausing. Its just nice to know.

c.2023 The New York Times Company
The following items were taken from area police department reports and releases. An arrest does not constitute a finding of guilt.

Darien

DUI

Advertisement

Anthony Herman, 55, of the 400 block of N. St. Louis Avenue, Chicago, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, operating uninsured motor and driving with expired plates, at 1:48 a.m. April 3.

Nora Fox, 27, of the 2900 block of S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, was charged with driving under the influence, attempting obstructing justice, improper lane usage, improper turn at intersection, disobey traffic control signal, use of unsafe tires, no registration plate and operating a motor vehicle with suspended registration, at midnight April 6.

Advertisement

Eitvydas Burokas, 25, of the 1900 block of Farmington Court, Naperville, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, at 2:31 a.m. April 7.

Robert Cannon, 21, of the 600 block of Glenhurst Court, Romeoville, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, speeding and improper lane usage, at 3:56 a.m. April 9.

Domestic battery

Daniel Dorsey, 65, of the 900 block of North Frontage Road, Darien, was charged with two counts of domestic battery and aggravated assault on a police officer, at 7:32 a.m. April 3.

Traffic violations

Ariana Henderson, 22, of the 6700 block of S. Echo Lane, Westmont, was charged with driving while license suspended and speeding, at 7:10 p.m. April 5.

Neil Bhatia, 24, of the 0-100 block of Baker Lane, Naperville, was charged with driving while license suspended and operating an uninsured motor vehicle, at 11:58 p.m. April 6.

Disorderly conduct

Advertisement

Mack Brown, 29, of the 2300 block of Sokol Court, Darien, was charged with disorderly conduct, at 11:08 a.m. April 7.
A new Gov. Ron DeSantis administration rule took effect recently to forbid the popular DJI-manufactured drones (Da Jiang Innovations) and other foreign aircraft from being used by state agencies  including colleges and universities.

While the Florida State University Center for Disaster Risk Policys drone team currently has 35 operational drones, 14 others  which have usually been used during disasters  have been stashed away on its shelves because of the new law.

Out of the 14 banned drones, most of them are DJI drones the team used to help during significant events such as the Surfside, Florida condo collapse at Champlain Towers in June 2021 and Hurricane Ian in southwest Florida in September 2022.

For years, weve used DJI aircraft because theyre inexpensive and easy to use, FSU Center for Disaster Risk Policy Director David Merrick told the Tallahassee Democrat. Now weve shifted away from them to a Paris-based company called Parrot, which is fine, but theyre just not the same quality.

Members of FSU' Center for Disaster Risk Policy team on site at Champlain Towers South: PhD researcher Austin Bush; CDRP director David Merrick; Dr. Robin Murphy of Texas A&M University and FSU researcher Justin Adams.

The DeSantis administration rule was finalized in efforts to get rid of any threatening foreign influence that might exist across the state through the devices.

In a committee hearing, Department of Management Services Secretary Pedro Allende noted that federal agencies Chinese-manufactured drones over concerns about spying, but he was not able to provide proof of such evidence.

As a state, were a high-value target, Allende said, according to the Miami Herald. Florida has troves of information that our adversaries want on both the civilian and military sides.

Other affected agencies in the state include police and fire departments. One lawmaker estimated that police and other agencies have bought an estimated $200 million in DJI drones over the years, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

Florida State University Center for Disaster Risk Policy Director David Merrick aggregates livestream information coming in from drone teams on practice missions across Tallahassee as he oversees hurricane preparedness drone training based at Apalachee Regional Park Thursday, June 3, 2021.

Related news: FSU drone team, FAMU faculty assist with Hurricane Ian search and rescue efforts

More: Florida State drone team brings help, expertise to Surfside condo collapse site

Story continues

Besides DJI, Autel  another popular Chinese manufacturing company that makes drones  is also forbidden under the rule.

The law on the use of drones was initially passed under Senate Bill 44 in 2021, which required the Department of Management Services to publish a list of approved drone manufacturers that meet security requirements.

On April 5, the department officially published a list of five approved manufacturers  Skydio, Parrot, Altavian, Teal Drones and Vantage Robotics  most of which are based in the U.S.

The list was then archived and replaced with a set of minimum security standards that drone companies must meet in order to be approved, and they include the requirement for government agencies to only purchase and use drones that do not come from foreign countries of concern, according to the rule.

Hallandale Police Department Sgt. Andrew McClelland, right, and Officer Galen Wilson fly their department's drone during a hurricane preparedness training facilitated by Florida State University at Apalachee Regional Park Thursday, June 3, 2021.

We knew this was coming for a while, Merrick said. But frankly, nothing is as cost effective as DJI and Autel.

On the low end, the drones made by the approved manufacturers cost about five times as much as DJI drones, according to Merrick. The cost of DJI drones can range from $200 to $2,000, depending on the devices size.

Merrick added that the drones from the approved manufacturing companies perform about 80% of what the DJI drones would do.

Other FSU news: FSU bans TikTok, other apps from campus after statewide regulation from Board of Governors

More: FSU students, Tallahassee residents rally against permitless carry

Boone County DSAR deploys a DJI M30T on the Pine Island Causeway after Hurricane Ian, with FSU's Emergency Management and Homeland Security Program as the lead agency.

He also says the biggest challenge has been in teaching since there are classes on FSUs campus  such as Application of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems  that teach students how to fly drones. The DJI drones that would normally be used by students are not as difficult to operate compared to the other types.

Through Tallahassee Community College, the Wakulla Environmental Institutes Unmanned Technology Applications program is also impacted by the drone rule as a result of having to adapt to the new aircraft.

The purpose of the institutes program is to educate students on the various aspects of the drone-related field through training courses and a seminar series.

A new group of drones was recently bought for use in the program from companies including Parrot, Skydio and Teal Drones to replace the aircraft that were previously being used, which were all DJI-manufactured  14 for training and 10 in the classroom setting.

The replacement drones were, in some cases, up to four times the amount of a DJI drone, TCC Wakulla Environmental Institutes Associate Director Albert Wynn said. However, they are not yet equipped with some of the more recent functionalities  like multispectral imaging  that would allow us to train in things like precision agriculture training for farmers.

Albert Wynn is the TCC Wakulla Environmental Institutes Associate Director.

Technology is always evolving, and we are always on the lookout for how the college can upgrade our drones to expand our program, he added.

Most of the new drones have already been delivered to the institute and are currently being used to train instructors, according to Wynn.

Other TCC news: Tallahassee Community College joins New College of Floridas transfer student program

More: TCC aims to stay 'accessible' by not changing tuition. Financial audit recommends increase.

While FSU's 35 approved drones that are being used mostly consist of devices from the Parrot company, Merrick says that more drones could eventually be purchased soon to make up for the ones that are grounded, but it is not yet confirmed.

Theres always cybersecurity concerns, and thats true about any devices when you dont know exactly where it was manufactured or whats in it, Merrick said. I dont think theres a greater risk because of drones versus phones, tablets and other network devices that we use all the time.

Contact Tarah Jean at tjean@tallahassee.com or follow her on twitter @tarahjean_.

Never miss a story: Subscribe to the Tallahassee Democrat using the link at the top of the page.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story did not state that the list of five approved manufacturers have been archived. There is now a set of minimum security standards that drone companies must meet in order to be approved, which has replaced the list of manufacturers.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU, TCC impacted by Florida, DeSantis rule that forbids popular drones
KARUIZAWA, Japan  Top diplomats from the Group of Seven wealthy democracies vowed a tough stance on Chinas increasing threats to Taiwan and on North Koreas unchecked tests of long-range missiles, while building momentum on ways to boost support for Ukraine and punish Russia for its invasion.

Russias war in Ukraine consumed much of the agenda Monday for the envoys gathered in this Japanese hot spring resort town for talks meant to pave the way for action by G-7 leaders when they meet next month in Hiroshima.

The world is at turning point on the fighting in Ukraine and must firmly reject unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force, and Russias aggression against Ukraine and its threats of the use of nuclear weapons, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told his colleagues, according to a Japanese summary.

For the American delegation, the meeting comes at a crucial moment in the worlds response to Russias invasion of Ukraine and efforts to deal with China, two issues that G-7 ministers from Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Italy and the European Union regard as potent challenges to the post-World War II rules-based international order.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and Japan's Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi meet during a G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting at The Prince Karuizawa hotel in Karuizawa, Japan, Monday, April 17, 2023. (Andrew Harnik/AP, Pool)

A senior U.S. official traveling with Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters that the Biden administrations goal for the talks is to shore up support for Ukraine, including a major initiative on Ukraines energy infrastructure launched at last years G-7 gatherings in Germany, as well as to ensure the continued provision of military assistance to Kyiv.

Ramping up punishment against Russia, particularly through economic and financial sanctions that were first threatened by the G-7 in December 2021, before the invasion, will also be a priority, the official said.

Ukraine faces an important moment in coming weeks with Russias current offensive largely stalled and Ukraine preparing a counteroffensive. The U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss Blinkens priorities at the closed-door meetings, said there would be discussion about ways to deepen support for Ukraines long-term defense and deterrence capabilities. That might also improve Kyivs position for potential negotiations that could end the conflict on its terms.

Story continues

The role of Japan  the only Asian member of the G-7  as chairman of this years talks provides an opportunity to discuss coordinated action on China. Leaders and foreign ministers of G-7 countries, most recently France and Germany, have recently concluded visits to China, and the diplomats in Karuizawa are expected to discuss their impressions of where the Chinese stand on numerous issues, including the war in Ukraine, North Korea, and Taiwan, which is a particular sore point in U.S.-Chinese relations.

At a private working dinner on Sunday night that was the diplomats first formal meeting, Hayashi urged continued dialogue with China on the many global challenges where participation from Beijing is seen as crucial. Among the Chinese interests that are intertwined with those of wealthy democracies are global trade, finance and climate efforts.

But the diplomats are also looking to address Chinas more aggressive stance in the region, particularly toward Taiwan, the self-governing democracy that Beijing claims as its own.

Hayashi told ministers that outside nations must continue building a constructive and stable relationship, while also directly expressing our concerns and calling for China to act as a responsible member of the international community, according to a summary of the closed-door dinner.

China recently sent planes and ships to simulate an encirclement of Taiwan. Beijing has also been rapidly adding nuclear warheads, taking a tougher line on its claim to the South China Sea and painting a scenario of impending confrontation.

The worry in Japan can be seen it its efforts to make a major break from its self-defense-only post-World War II principles, working to acquire preemptive strike capabilities and cruise missiles to counter growing threats.

Blinken had been due to visit Beijing in February, but the trip was postponed because of a Chinese spy balloon incident over U.S. airspace and has yet to be rescheduled.

Blinken met briefly with Chinas top diplomat, Wang Yi, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Forum, but high-level contacts between Washington and Beijing have become rare. Thus, Blinken will be seeking insight from his French and German counterparts on their interactions with the Chinese, the senior U.S. official said.

Despite indications, notably comments from French President Emmanuel Macron, that the G-7 is split over China, the official said there is shared worry among G-7 nations over Chinas actions. The official added that the foreign ministers would be discussing how to continue a coordinated approach to China.

Another senior State Department official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity to describe the closed-door meetings, said the G-7 would release a communique Tuesday that would make clear the groups strong unity over Russias war in Ukraine, China and the broader Indo-Pacific, particularly North Korea, the need to maintain the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, and to improve relations with Pacific island nations.

The official downplayed suggestions that fissures are emerging over China. G-7 members, the official said, want to work with China on common challenges, but will stand up against Chinese coercion and attempts to water down or circumvent international rules regarding trade and commerce.

The official said that in numerous recent diplomatic engagements with Chinese officials, G-7 members had stressed to Beijing that any supply of weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine would be met with serious consequences, as would attempts to change the status quo of Taiwan. The official said that European members now have a better understanding of how a roiling of the status quo would affect their interests, notably their economies.

North Korea is also a key area of worry for Japan and other neighbors in the region.

Since last year, Pyongyang has test-fired around 100 missiles, including intercontinental ballistic missiles that showed the potential of reaching the U.S. mainland and a variety of other shorter-range weapons that threaten South Korea and Japan.

Hayashi expressed grave concern over North Koreas launch of ballistic missiles with an unprecedented frequency and in unprecedented manners, including the launch in the previous week, and the G-7 Foreign Ministers strongly condemned North Koreas repeated launches of ballistic missiles, according to the summary.
The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) countries have agreed at a meeting in Karuizawa, Japan, to strengthen control over compliance with anti-Russian sanctions and to respond better to third-country arms sales to Russia.

Source: Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, currently presiding over the G7, as reported by European Pravda

Quote: "They [the Foreign Ministers  ed.] concurred into reinforcing coordination to prevent and respond to evasion of sanctions as well as third-party weapon supply to Russia."

Details: Moreover, the G7 foreign ministers confirmed that they remain committed to intensifying, fully coordinating and enforcing sanctions against Russia, as well as continuing strong support for Ukraine.

They stressed that Russia must withdraw all forces and equipment from Ukraine immediately and unconditionally.

Also, in addition to condemning President Putins announcement to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, the G7 Foreign Ministers reaffirmed that Russias irresponsible nuclear rhetoric is unacceptable.

Background: Allegedly secret US military intelligence documents that have been leaked to the public show that China has approved the supply of certain lethal weapons to Russia despite warnings from Western countries.

China has assured that it does not export weapons to the parties involved in the war in Ukraine.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
The international Group of Seven (G7) has to convince the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin that he will not be able to achieve his goals and remain united in its support for Ukraine.

Source: Ukrinform, citing Annalena Baerbock, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany

Quote: "As a crisis response team with a long-term mission, last year the G7 countered Russian aggression with one obstacle after another, helping people in Ukraine in the winter, introducing sanctions against Russia and oil price caps. Our support has helped Ukraine endure the Russian energy war and the winter offensive."

"At stake now is showing Putin our resolve in ensuring he does not achieve his goals through attrition and fatigue."

"As the G7, we are strong together because we know for sure what we stand for: an international order, in which the rule of law and international law take precedence; might doesnt make right.

[We stand for] economic ties based not on dependencies but on just and universal competition principles."

Details: Baerbock said that G7 representatives will reiterate and reinforce their commitments during the G7 meeting in Japan.

She recalled the fact that Japan had taken over the G7 presidency from Germany and thanked Tokyo for being a fully reliable partner.

She added that as a group of the most developed democratic countries, the G7 was successful in confronting authoritarian forces when its partners and friends around the world had confidence in it.

At the same time, the unity of the G7 countries should not be seen as an attempt to impose their restrictions on others or to widen the gap [between the G7 and other countries], Baerbock stressed.

She reiterated that the G7 was working to resolve debt crises in many countries, was determined to prevent global hunger, and was fighting the greatest security threat of the century  climate crisis.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
By Humeyra Pamuk and Sakura Murakami

KARUIZAWA, Japan (Reuters) - The Group of Seven nations see eye to eye on the need to stand up to any Chinese "coercion" or efforts to exert control in the Taiwan Strait, a senior U.S. State Department official said on Monday, amid increased tensions around Taiwan.

Concerns about what the G7 wealthy nations see as China's increasingly aggressive stance on Taiwan and more broadly in the Indo-Pacific region have been in sharp focus during talks among G7 foreign ministers in the Japanese resort town of Karuizawa.

"The message is the same across the G7: that we want to work with China in those areas where China is prepared to work with us," a senior U.S. State Department official told reporters on a call.

"We are certainly going to stand up against any coercion, any market manipulation, any efforts to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait," the official added.

The G7 ministers are keen to demonstrate a unified front, especially after recent comments by French President Emmanuel Macron which were perceived in some Western capitals as too weak towards China and sparked a backlash.

After visiting China this month, Macron cautioned against being drawn into a crisis over Taiwan driven by an "American rhythm and a Chinese overreaction".

As the only Asian member of the G7, Japan has been deeply concerned about any possible action by Beijing against nearby Taiwan.

Beijing views Taiwan as Chinese territory and has not renounced the use of force to take the democratically governed island. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen says only the island's people can decide their future.

"The impact the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait has on our country is a given, but it is a crucial factor in the wider safety and security of the international community as well," Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said after a bilateral meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Story continues

Hayashi also told reporters that French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said France has "deep feelings" about respecting the status quo and maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

'OWN RULES'

Japan said the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong had conducted air operations with jet fighters and helicopters between April 10-16. China's state media has said its navy carried out combat training around Taiwan last week.

Russia too has also been keen to show force in the Pacific, and recently launched naval exercises by its Pacific Fleet, drawing criticism from Tokyo.

China is increasingly trying to replace international rules with "its own rules", German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Monday on the sidelines of the G7 meeting.

"Many of our partners in the region feel more and more that China increasingly wants to exchange the existing common binding international rules with its own rules," said Baerbock, who last week met her Chinese counterpart in Beijing last week.

The G7 comprises the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Canada.

China's top diplomat Wang Yi "hopes and believes" Germany will support China's "peaceful reunification" with Taiwan, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Sakura Murakami; Additional reporting by Friederike Heine in Berlin; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Gareth Jones and Philippa Fletcher)
For G7 diplomats meeting in the Japanese resort town of Karuizawa, unity was the name of the game on Monday, with ministers lining up to insist there is no daylight between them on China policy.

The two days of talks are taking place under the long shadow cast by controversial remarks from French President Emmanuel Macron, who last week suggested Europe should avoid "crises that aren't ours".

From the opening remarks of Monday's first session, the desire to emphasise common ground was on clear display, with Japan's Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi telling his counterparts "the unity of the G7 is extremely important".

Monday's first session, and the ministers' working dinner the night before, focused on China and regional challenges, with Hayashi urging counterparts to "demonstrate to the world the G7's strong determination" to defend the "international order based on the rule of law".

Host Japan has put regional challenges atop the agenda, and recent events including Chinese military drills around Taiwan and North Korean missile tests have sharpened that focus.

As the ministers began talks, the US Navy announced it had sailed a guided-missile destroyer through the Taiwan Strait in a freedom-of-navigation operation, with Beijing saying it had tracked the vessel.

The controversy over Macron's remarks will prompt closer scrutiny of whatever language a final statement uses on China and its threats to seize self-ruled Taiwan.

But comments during bilateral talks on Monday showed the direction of travel, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying discussions so far had "only reinforced the convergence of views that we have", as he met with his French counterpart Catherine Colonna.

"We're united, we're giving clearly the same signal to the rest of the world that any situation requires respect of international law as a precondition to the rest," Colonna added.

- Striking a balance -

The ministers are expected to agree strong language in a final statement on Tuesday, warning against militarisation of the South China Sea, and repeating opposition to any "change of the status quo by force" on Taiwan.

Story continues

They are also likely to warn about the weaponisation of trade, and the need for diversification of supply chains on sensitive material like semiconductors -- seen as another message directed at Beijing.

"There is a lot of unity in the room and basically you'll see that reflected," a senior State Department official said.

The ministers will send the message that "we want to work with China but we are certainly going to stand up against any coercion" or market manipulation, the official added.

Still, for all the outward expressions of unity, Macron's comments reflect the fact that there are real differences among the allies, said Jacques deLisle, director of the Asia programme at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia.

"Europe's assessments of China and views of Taiwan have moved toward positions that the US has favoured. But this has not brought consensus," he said.

"Washington's views of China have become still more negative and, relatedly, signals of support for Taiwan have grown much stronger, maintaining a gap between European and American positions."

And in a sign that the daylight between the allies remains a concern, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned Europeans "must not withdraw into our shells."

"We must not limit ourselves to defending the European peace," she told a press conference in Karuizawa.

Despite the focus on China, Ukraine has remained a priority at talks with the diplomats committing to "intensifying" sanctions against Russia, without outlining any specific new measures.

They also agreed stepped-up efforts to "prevent and respond to evasion of sanctions as well as third party weapon supply to Russia," likely to be seen as a further warning to China, among others, on cooperating with Moscow on its war in Ukraine.

bur-sah/mca
Action News Jax has learned new details about a fire at a Student Transportation of America school bus yard that happened early Friday morning.

The fire is being investigated as arson by the State Fire Marshal and Floridas Bureau of Fire, Arson, and Explosives Investigations, according to a Jacksonville Sheriffs Office incident report.

JSO responded to the bus yard on New Berlin Road East at 2:14 a.m. to assist the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department.

A man sent to respond to the yard by STA told JSO that the gate was left open and was supposed to be locked by the last bus driver leaving the property, the report said.

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]

The gate was wide open when JFRD arrived, the JSO report said, and there was no sign of forced entry.

A witness told JSO she was driving on Interstate 295 near Heckscher Drive when she saw large smoke clouds off the expressway and then large flames.

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]

She got off the interstate and pulled into the bus yard parking lot and saw multiple school buses on fire. She also said the front gate was wide open and she then heard a loud explosion, the report said.

JSO made contact with the landlord for the property. He came to the yard. What happened next is redacted from the report, but then JSO appears to be saying what was observed in a surveillance video, stating unknown suspect at 0109 parking on the back side of the building. The suspect is seen walking down a small path on the side of the building and then walking to the back of the buses on the fence line. The suspect is at the buses where the fire started and is down there for about 5 minutes. The suspect is then seen running away from the fire back to the suspects vehicle before fleeing the scene. The fire started at 0118 hours. The suspect appears to be driving a red vehicle.

Five buses in total were damaged by the fire. JSOs report said the damage to the buses is estimated to be $400,000.

Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

It was a busy Monday for New York Rep. George Santos.

Not only did the Long Island Republican announce his intentions to run for re-election in 2024, despite being accused of fabricating nearly his entire resume to win his seat in the first place, he also introduced seven new bills.

One of those bills is called The Minaj Act, which aims to establish a development period for new vaccines in order to generate public confidence, according to Semafor reporter Kadia Goba.

Of course, the bill is named after rapper Nicki Minaj, who expressed skepticism over the COVID-19 vaccine in 2021 after she alleged that it made one of her cousins friends impotent.

Jordan Klepper Confronts George Santos Outside Trump Circus

Little information is available about the bill or what this development period would look like. All vaccines, including the ones for COVID-19, already undergo a thorough testing process before being approved for public use.

Santos Nicki Minaj-inspired legislation is the latest odd development in his tenure as U.S. representative of New Yorks 3rd Congressional Districta term that may be getting a sequel with the news of his re-election campaign.

Good isnt good enough, and Im not shy about doing what it takes to get the job done, Santos said in a press release announcing his candidacy. Im proud to announce my candidacy to run for re-election and continue to serve the people of NY-3.

Santos has belatedly admitted to, among other things, lying about working for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, attending Baruch College, and being Jewish.

He also recently reached a plea deal with prosecutors over a 2008 check fraud case in Brazil, and is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for alleged unlawful campaign activity, sexual misconduct against an ex-staffer, and violations of conflict-of-interest laws.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have called for Santos resignation following these scandals and admitted lies. According to a January poll, 78 percent of his own constituents think he should step down.

Story continues

Nevertheless, he thinks he deserves another term. Since the Left is pushing radical agendas, the economy is struggling, and Washington is incapable of solving anything, we need a fighter who knows the district and can serve the people fearlessly, and independent of local or national party influence, his statement said.

ANNOUNCEMENT: I am proudly announcing my bid for re-election for #NY03. This is about TAKING BACK our country and restoring greatness back to New York.



To support donate here:https://t.co/BH2nGK54vp pic.twitter.com/LGJdPcsyP6  George Santos (@Santos4Congress) April 17, 2023

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
Rep. George Santos leaves a GOP caucus meeting on Capitol Hill on January 25, 2023. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Rep. George Santos insulted his potential Dem rival's chin during a heated Twitter exchange.

The tweet backfired on Santos, who faced quick backlash and raised the profile of his opponent.

"Corrective jaw surgery helped me breathe normally & saved my life," Josh Lafazan fired back.

Rep. George Santos launched a personal attack against his potential Democratic rival, insulting Nassau County Legislator Josh Lafazan's chin during a heated Twitter exchange. It backfired spectacularly.

Twitter users unleashed on the embattled GOP House member from New York and sided with Lafazan, who quickly fired back: "Corrective jaw surgery helped me breathe normally & saved my life. My insurance covered it, & it's why I'm fighting so hard for universal health care"

Lafazan, who earned name recognition and a fundraising opportunity from the exchange, continued, "You are beneath the office you hold. And I can't wait to replace you in Congress, in 2024 or sooner. Send postcards from jail".

The nasty exchange started about a New York Post story reporting Santos is expected to announce his reelection campaign on Monday, despite facing calls from within his party to resign over multiple scandals involving lies about his background, including that he is Jewish.

Lafazan, who lost his Democratic primary bid for the House seat in 2022, at one point wrote that he wouldn't need to lie to get elected, unlike Santos. "My credentials are clean, I'm actually Jewish, & unlike yours, my diploma from Harvard is real," he wrote.

That's when Santos responded with a photo of Lafazan and wrote, "Real like your chin?"

The pushback from Twitter was so fierce that some users noted that Santos temporarily turned off replies.

"Real like your resume?" responded one Twitter user. "I'll be donating to Josh," wrote another.

Another noted that many hadn't heard of Lafazan until Santos' tweet. "Now he's got the support of thousands all over the country. You just blew any chance you had left of re-election. You should have deleted this tweet!"

Read the original article on Business Insider
New York Republican Representative George Santos (R., N.Y.), whose political career this year has been riddled with bizarre scandals concerning his credentials and finances, announced Monday that he would be running for reelection.

Since the Left is pushing radical agendas, the economy is struggling, and Washington is incapable of solving anything, we need a fighter who knows the district and can serve the people fearlessly, and independent of local or national party influence, Santos said in a statement.

Good isnt good enough, and Im not shy about doing what it takes to get the job done. Im proud to announce my candidacy to run for re-election and continue to serve the people of NY-3, he said.

Santos touted the campaign promises hes worked to fulfill in his first 100 days in office, such as securing the border, lowering the high cost of living, and fighting New York Governor Hochuls soft-on-crime policies. However, in that time window, Santos has also faced allegations of fabricating parts of his background, financial misconduct, and overall shady behavior.

After claiming he received a degree from Baruch in 2010, Santos later admitted that he never graduated from any college, the New York Post reported. He also said he worked at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, but neither firm has any record of his working at the banks, the article noted.

The Washington Post wrote that the congressman appeared to have been involved in a Ponzi scheme. And in January, Santos submitted peculiar campaign expense reports to the Federal Elections Commission, including 40 charges for precisely $199, one dollar below the benchmark that would require his team to keep receipts or invoices for their expenses.

Since March, the House Ethics Committee has been investigating Santos. Several GOP representatives from New York urged his resignation in the wake of the stories about his record. In February, House Democrats introduced a resolution for Santoss ouster from the chamber. The sponsor, Democratic Representative Robert Garcia, said his continued pattern of fraud and deception is especially worrisome to our own LGBTQ+ community, and its time we act and immediately expel him from Congress. Santos is the first openly gay non-incumbent Republican elected to the House, according to the New York Post.

Story continues

When I ran in 2022, no one said wed win. Thats a safe Biden seat, they said. Well guess what? That D+2, Biden +10 seat I won by 8.5 points, Santos said in his Monday statement. Not only won but made history as the first openly gay Republican elected to Congress.

More from National Review
Clarendon Hills Middle School band director Eric Morong couldnt be prouder of the schools eight-grade band, which has been selected to perform at the University of Illinois SuperState Concert Band Festival May 5 in Urbana.

The CHMS band was one of only eight middle school bands from Illinois chosen to participate in the festival, which also includes several high school bands in three classes, based on school enrollment.

Advertisement

In order to be considered, bands needed to submit recordings of performances, which were reviewed by judges. Recordings were sent by Feb. 21, and bands were notified of their acceptance March 31. This is the first time in 10 years that CHMS has been chosen to play at the festival.

I was very excited when I found out that we had been selected, Morong said. These kids really got hit by COVID the last couple of years, so there was a lot of remote learning in what we were doing. Even when we were able to get back together, we meet in two separate classes, not together, so we only have everyone playing together when we meet two or three times before a performance.

Advertisement

Morong said he believes judges were most impressed by the musicianship of the individual players in CHMSs 38-member band.

This is one of the smallest groups weve had, but we get a big sound, Morong said. We have an outstanding percussion section, and everyone in this band really enjoys playing together.

While CHMS was up against other middle schools from around the state for a spot in the festival, there is no competition while playing there.

Its just a great opportunity for our band to be selected to participate, Morong said.

Laura Deppe and Nathan Brown are two members of the strong percussion Morong mentioned. Laura has been playing for four years and Nathan for three.

I have to say being chosen for SuperState completely shocked me, Laura said. As a middle school band, I expected we would not make it because so few are chosen. I am most excited about the experience awaiting me and to show my passion towards my instrument in front of a new crowd.

Nathan said he also was very excited about performing at the festival.

Its a real honor, he said. I think it will be a lot of fun, and its great because weve put in so much work.

Advertisement

Avery Croff has been playing flute for four years and is looking forward to performing in the festival with the rest of the CHMS band.

Our band has great chemistry, and were excited for the opportunity to represent our school on such a grand stage, Avery said. I know, as a band, were thrilled to end our middle school experience with this big honor and chance to showcase our skills. Everyone has worked to improve to be their best musician, and we cant wait to perform.

Avery, Laura and Nathan all gave kudos to Morong.

We are very fortunate to have Mr. Morong as our dedicated band director, Avery said. He strives to help us improve individually and collectively.

Laura said Morong gives outstanding feedback to each band member, so we can learn from our mistakes instead of ignoring them.

Mr. Morong brings so much energy each and every day to the band room, Laura said. I feel like Ive never seen him have a bad day.

Advertisement

Nathan said Morong works very hard as a director and pushes the band members to work hard.

He picks pieces that are challenging and then helps us play them better, Nathan said. He really has a lot of faith in us, and that makes us work harder and perform better.

Along with Avery, Laura and Nathan, the band includes Sophie Abitz, Emma Andrzejewski, Joseph Szot and Walter Tims, flute; Katie Tonjes, oboe; Kathy Gu and Mary Malham, clarinet;

Mia Salbego, bass clarinet; Elias Danko, Ethan Danko, Rahul Devulapally and Lucas Will, alto saxophone; Nikhil Rao, tenor saxophone; John Saunders, baritone saxophone; Sophia Admire, MarkDillenburg, Luke Gabriel, Bailey Knoll, Tildy Kucklick, Kiran Patel,

Nathan Patel and Deniz Yankol, trumpet; Abigail Woodbury, French horn; Erick Chavez, Samuel Gilman and Bjorn Vinje, trombone; Colin DeKuiper and Seamus OMeara, euphonium; Sahi Bonthala and Abigail Dalton, tuba; and Auden Bunnow, Joanna Marsten, Jack Sefton, Steven Zhao and Zachary Tallard, percussion.

Chuck Fieldman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
There's some controversy in the photography world as an AI-generated image won a major prize at a prestigious competition, PetaPixel has reported. An piece called The Electrician by Boris Eldagsen took first prize in the Creative category at the World Photography Organizations Sony World Photography Awards  despite not being taken by a camera. Eldagsen subsequently refused the award, saying "AI is not photography. I applied [...] to find out if the competitions are prepared for AI images to enter. They are not."

Eldagsen's image is part of a series called PSEUDOMNESIA: Fake Memories, designed to evoke a photographic style of the 1940s. However, they are in reality "fake memories of a past, that never existed, that no one photographed. These images were imagined by language and re-edited more between 20 to 40 times through AI image generators, combining inpainting, outpainting, and prompt whispering techniques."

In a blog, Eldagsen explained that he used his experience as a photographer to create the prize-winning image, acting as a director of the process with the AI generators as "co-creators." Although the work is inspired by photography, he said that the point of the submission is that it is not photography. "Participating in open calls, I want to speed up the process of the Award organizers to become aware of this difference and create separate competitions for AI-generated images," he said.

Eldagsen subsequently declined the prize. Thank you for selecting my image and making this a historic moment, as it is the first AI-generated image to win in a prestigious international photography competition, he wrote. How many of you knew or suspected that it was AI generated? Something about this doesnt feel right, does it? AI images and photography should not compete with each other in an award like this. They are different entities. AI is not photography. Therefore I will not accept the award.

Shortly thereafter, the photo was stripped from the show and competition website and organizers have yet to comment on the matter. Eldagsen actually traveled to London to attend the ceremony and even got up on stage (uninvited) to read a statement in person.

It's not clear if the organizers knew the work was AI-generated or not (Eldagsen said he told them it was). In any case, rather than shrinking from the situation, they should be embracing it. AI-generated art has entered the culture in a huge way over the past year, with AI winning both photo and art competitions over the past few months. Eldagsen's piece is bound to create conversations about how to handle it, particularly when it encroaches into traditional mediums.
German and British air forces teamed up to intercept a Russian aircraft that was collecting intelligence near NATO airspace, officials say.

"What this intercept has proven is that together with our German allies, we are able to act with speed and decisiveness to effectively ensure the Alliances security," a Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot said of a Monday mission to intercept a Russian aircraft over the Baltic Sea, according to a RAF press release.

The comments come after Eurofighter Typhoon fighter planes from the German Air Force and Royal Air Force executed a joint mission to intercept the Russian aircraft, which was flying over the Gulf of Finland and Baltic Sea in an apparent intelligence-gathering mission.

UK, GERMANY SCRAMBLE FIGHTERS TO BLOCK RUSSIAN JETS HOURS AFTER US DRONE CRASH

Typhoon fighter planes from the Royal Air Force fly during the annual Red Flag joint military exercise in Nevada on Feb. 8, 2023. (Reuters / Carlos Barria)

The NATO fighter planes were able to visually identify multiple Russian planes that were identified on radar flying close to the alliance's airspace, the press release said, with one of the aircraft being identified as a Russian IL-20 Coot-A intelligence aircraft.

"We often see Russian military aircraft flying over the Baltic Sea, and so this was a routine intercept for us," a pilot involved in the mission said. "Nevertheless, the importance of intercepting these aircraft and our commitment to the collective defense of NATO airspace remains steadfast and resolute."

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

According to the RAF, the Russian aircraft was "flying in a safe and professional manner" but was escorted through Estonian airspace before being handed over to an escort from the Swedish Air Force.

Typhoon fighter planes from the Royal Air Force fly during the annual Red Flag joint military exercise in Nevada on Feb. 8, 2023. (Reuters / Carlos Barria)

RUSSIA, US EXCHANGE BARBS IN DIPLOMATIC CLASH DAY AFTER RUN-IN AS QUAD LEADERS DISCUSS REGIONAL SECURITY

"This was another demonstration of our readiness and commitment to react at speed to conduct a live intercept," said Wing Commander Scott MacColl, who commands the 140 Expeditionary Air Wing. "These combined RAF and German Air Force intercepts continue to enhance NATO cohesion, ensuring seamless cooperation and understanding during these missions."

Story continues

The incident comes just one month after a similar intercept of a Russian aircraft near Estonia in March, when RAF and German fighter planes were scrambled to escort what was identified as a Russian air-to-air refueling aircraft that failed to communicate with Estonian air traffic control, according to the Associated Press.

The U.K. and German air policing of the region is meant to bolster NATO's defense of its eastern flank amid Russia's continued invasion of Ukraine.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

"Our allies and partners in the region should remain assured that NATO is here to stay, and the U.K. continues its commitment to collective defense of NATO airspace," MacColl said.

The Russian Ministry of Defense did not immediately respond to a Fox News request for comment.
The Isar II Nuclear Power Plant near Essenbach, Germany was shut down Saturday. E.ON Kernkraft GmbH via Wikipedia

Germany shut down its three remaining nuclear power plants Saturday night, shedding a source of low-carbon power that critics say is needed to meet the countrys climate goals.

The plants, initially set to be shut off in December, were kept online through the winter to help cope with a cut in the supply of imported Russian gas. With Germany now heading into summer, when demand for gas heating falls, leaders took the Emsland, Neckarwestheim II, and Isar II nuclear plants offline, the Associated Press reports.

The move was cheered by anti-nuclear campaigners, who celebrated the conclusion of a decades-long push, catalyzed by the disaster at Chernobyl, to end nuclear power in Germany. But critics say the country should be prioritizing the drawdown of highly polluting coal, which accounts for close to a third of German electricity generation. Germany is aiming to shutter its coal fleet by 2038 on its way to hitting net-zero carbon emissions by 2045, and the loss of nuclear power could make it harder to reach this goal.

The three nuclear plants shut down this weekend can supply more than 10 million, or a quarter, of German households with electricity, dozens of scientists said in an open letter calling on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to keep the plants online. The resulting reduction in the amount of electricity required from coal-fired power plants could save up to 30 million tons of CO2 per year, which is more than the yearly emissions of Denmark.

ALSO ON YALE E360

Averting Crisis, Europe Learns to Live Without Russian Energy
Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Sunday called for AI regulations and guidelines to ensure the breakthrough technology is aligned to human values.

AI will soon impact every product of every company and disrupt jobs, Pichai said during an interview with CBSs 60 Minutes. He said that writers, accountants, architects, software engineers and other knowledge workers will feel the biggest impacts.

Pichai added that without guidelines, AI could be abused by bad actors. The technology could be used to quickly create deepfake videos to spread disinformation and could cause a lot of harm at a societal scale, he told CBSs Scott Pelley.

How do you develop AI systems that are aligned to human values, including morality? Pichai asked. This is why I think the development of this needs to include not just engineers, but social scientists, ethicists, philosophers, and so on, and I think we have to be very thoughtful.

Pichai said that society must collectively decide how AI should be integrated, adding that its not for a company to decide.

The Google executive said hes concerned that society might not be ready for the lightning-fast pace of AI advancements. But hes optimistic about the large number of people who have started worrying about the implications of AI at a relatively early point in its development.

Google is currently developing a swath of AI products and is publicly testing its chat AI, Bard. Pichai said that the company is holding back more advanced AIs to ensure that society can get used to the technology.

OpenAI, which operates the popular ChatGPT platform, and other AI companies are also keeping more powerful technologies away from public consumption.

Google has released its own recommendations on how to regulate AI.

Last month, a group of tech leaders including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and Tesla CEO Elon Musk penned a letter calling on companies to pause AI development, citing risks to society.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Lawmakers of both parties may have gotten more than they bargained for during a field hearing in New York City on Monday organized in the shadow of former President Trumps indictment in the city.

Ostensibly about high crime rates in New York under the leadership of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D), who is prosecuting Trump, House Judiciary Republicans faced a series of complaints from their Democratic colleagues that the hearing was little more than an effort to aid a political ally facing criminal charges.

Over the course of a sometimes-raucous four hours, Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) struggled to manage numerous interruptions from the audience, protestors and, at times, the invited witnesses.

Todays hearing is about the administration of justice and keeping communities safe, something that has always been a central focus of the House Judiciary Committee, Jordan said in his opening remarks.

As we all know, fairness under the law is a bedrock principle of American democracy. In this country, justice is supposed to be blind, regardless of race, religion or creed, he added. However, here in Manhattan, the scales of justice are weighed down by politics. For the district attorney, justice isnt blind  its about looking for opportunities to advance a political agenda, a radical political agenda.

Lawmakers trade barbs, crime stats

Lawmakers spent much of the hearing trading barbs over its motive and swapping statistics about crime rates  with Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) at one point moving to hold the hearing near Jordans district instead, pointing to higher rates of some crimes in Columbus, Ohio.

Seated at the witness table were eight witnesses, a mix of family members of victims of crime as well as advocates for both addressing crime and gun violence, and even a Democratic member of the New York City Council alarmed by crime rates in the city.

To our witnesses here today who shared their pain and trauma in being victims of crime and violence: I am so sorry for the impact that has had on you and your families, said Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Penn.).

Story continues

I applaud your courage in trying to take that pain and move to change things going forward. But I fear that you have been revictimized by this hearing because this hearing is not going to provide that change. Its not a serious effort to make our communities safer. Our Republican colleagues arent in New York City to prevent crime. Theyre here to protect someone whos been charged with committing crimes, she said, referring to Trump.

Braggs office has pushed back on GOP claims that the city is overwhelmed by crime.

D.A. Bragg is reducing crime in Manhattan, reversing a tough spike that began before he even took office. Virtually, every major crime category is lower in Manhattan now than it was last year, a spokesperson for the office wrote in a statement following the hearing. During the first quarter of 2023 the NYPD reported steep declines in most major crime categories, including murder, rape, robbery, and burglary.

For outside politicians to now appear in New York City on the taxpayer dime for a political stunt is a slap in the face to the dedicated NYPD officers, prosecutors and other public servants who work tirelessly every day with facts and data to keep our home safe, the spokesperson added.

Throughout the hearing, the offices official Twitter account posted statistics on enforcement action under Bragg.

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), the top Democrat on the committee, sought to take that comparison further, drawing in a witness to rattle off a string of statistics about crime in red-leaning states.

And Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) accused Republicans of hosting the hearing in New York to embarrass or intimidate Bragg because of the Trump indictment.

The majority denies that this is the purpose of todays hearing, Schiff said. They would have you believe it is a mere coincidence that all of a sudden and out of the blue the chairman decided that the state of New York is a wonderful place to do a hearing.

Not the chairmans home of Ohio with its high rates of murder, but New York state. And of all the cities in New York, they would pick New York City. And of all the boroughs of New York in New York they pick Manhattan. Apparently Manhattan is just lovely this time of year, he continued. What a remarkable coincidence we are meant to believe. Of all the gin joints and all the towns in all the world, we just happen to walk into this one. How absurd.

Republicans highlight Braggs policies

Republican lawmakers and witnesses repeatedly brought up a Day One memo Bragg issued at the beginning of his term that instructed his office to use pretrial detention only for those charged with the most serious crimes. It also called for not prosecuting certain low-level offenses.

The New York Police Department commissioner and Republicans criticized the memo, and the district attorney revised his policies the next month. That did not deter GOP lawmakers from using the memo as fodder for attacks.

Hes taken his soft-on-crime approach to real criminals, Jordan said of Bragg, outlining parts of the memo. He then quoted Paul DiGiacomo, the president of the New York Citys Detectives Endowment Association who testified at Mondays hearing.

Bragg gives criminals the roadmap to freedom from prosecution and control of our streets. In Braggs Manhattan you can resist arrest, deal drugs, obstruct arrest and even carry a gun to get away with it. And guess what happened under this new policy? More crime, Jordan said, listing off statistics of felony assaults, robberies, burglaries and grand larcenies and more in the city.

Fiery hearing leaves witnesses frustrated

But witnesses during the hearing expressed frustration at not getting more time to respond to Democrats talking points and at Jordans management of chatter and disruption to the hearing.

Please dont talk down to the witnesses, one said as Jordan asked for quiet in the hearing room.

They keep addressing us, the victims who are here to testify and make change. Were here to effectuate change and theyre not allowing us to comment at all, said Jennifer Harrison, founder of Victims Rights NY.

Harrisons group describes itself as being literally on the battleground of good vs evil fighting against George Soros and his puppet candidates who want a complete breakdown of society.

In one testy exchange toward the end of the hearing, Madeleine Brame  the chairwoman of the Victims Rights Reform Council and the mother of a homicide victim  shot back at Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) when the New York Democrat explained why he believes Republicans refrained from frequently mentioning Trump during Mondays event.

Dont insult my intelligence, Brame yelled out, which Goldman rejected. Youre trying to insult me like Im not aware of whats going on here, okay. Im fully aware of whats going on here, okay.

Thats why I walked away from the plantation of the Democratic Party, she added, leading Jordan to request that the committee be in order.

The hearing  which was preceded by a press conference held by Nadler, New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D), other Democratic lawmakers and gun prevention advocates  marked a shift in how Democrats have handled the off-sight hearings.

Other earlier hearings held beyond the halls of Congress were boycotted by Democrats, allowing the GOP to interview witnesses and air talking points with little challenge.

But Democrats sprung into action for the New York hearing, including roping in lawmakers otherwise not serving on the Judiciary Committee.

Goldman does not sit on the panel but he received a waiver to participate in Mondays hearing, which took place in his district. House GOP Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (N.Y.) and Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) also received waivers to attend the hearing.

In a few minutes the House Judiciary Committee will convene what the chairman calls a field hearing. It may have some of the trappings of a hearing  we will have opening statements and witnesses and the members who will ask questions. But dont be fooled, this is not a serious exercise. This is a political stunt, Nadler said.

Adams told the cameras welcome to the safest big city in America.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
WASHINGTON  The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing Monday in Manhattan to highlight what they claim is rampant crime in New York City. But Democrats say the hearing's real purpose is to interfere with the Manhattan district attorney after former President Donald Trump's indictment.

"We're here today in Lower Manhattan for one reason and one reason only: The chairman is doing the bidding for Donald Trump," said Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., whose district includes Manhattan.

The raucous field hearing welcomed Congress back to session after a two-week recess in lawmakers' first time convening since Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicted Trump on 34 felony charges of falsifying business records.

Stay in the conversation on politics: Sign up for the OnPolitics newsletter

More: Manhattan DA Bragg sues House GOP Rep. Jordan over Donald Trump criminal case

Bragg declines to testify

House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, called on Bragg to testify before the committee, but Bragg declined.

"The House GOP continues to attempt to undermine an active investigation and ongoing New York criminal case with an unprecedented campaign of harassment and intimidation," Bragg tweeted in a statement.

The heated hearing, which strayed from crime in New York City to the former president's indictment, left Democrats pointing the finger at the GOP for holding what they called a "sham hearing" in an effort to suppress the prosecution of Trump.

Here are some key moments from the hearing, which is ongoing as of noon Monday:

Nadler comments draw outburst

Nadler said the hearing was an effort to intimidate and deter Bragg from his work.

He said the judiciary committee has demanded access to the inner workings of an ongoing criminal case involving Bragg's charges against Trump. That puts future congressional oversight at risk, Nadler said.

Bragg has filed a lawsuit against Jordan, calling the Ohio Republicans inquiry into the Trump case an unprecedentedly brazen and unconstitutional attack on a local criminal case.

Story continues

It is an outrageous abuse of power. It is, to use the chairman's favorite term, a weaponization of the House Judiciary committee," Nadler said to outbursts from the audience.

Schiff: GOP acting as 'criminal defense counsel' for Trump

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., speaks during the Oct. 13, 2022 hearing of the committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., blamed GOP committee members for using the hearing as a means to disrupt, interrupt and interfere with the prosecution of Trump and said it is a "vain attempt to intimidate or embarrass the prosecutorial authority."

"They would have you believe it's a mere coincidence that all of a sudden, out of the blue, the chairman decided that the state of New York is a wonderful place to do a hearing," the California representative said.

Schiff said the Republican leadership is acting as "the criminal defense counsel" for Trump.

The comment brought an outburst from an audience member in response to Schiff's comments. The man continued screaming while Capitol police escorted him out of the hearing room.

Rep. Cicilline calls for change of venue

Rep. David Cicilline says "moving on" and dismissing impeachment case is "wrong."

After a witness testified that crimes rates have decreased in New York City, Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., questioned Jordan about how the hearing could be transferred to Ohio, where the homicide rate is three times higher than in New York's, according to Bragg's office.

New York Police Department statistics show homicides, shootings, burglaries and robberies are down during the first quarter of the year.

"How do we move the venue so we can have a hearing in a city or state that has a serious crime problem? The state of Ohio," Cicilline said.

Jordan: Braggs lawsuit to block subpoena extraordinary and unconstitutional

Jordan filed his response Monday to Braggs lawsuit, which aimed to block a subpoena to one of his former prosecutors, calling the strategy extraordinary and unconstitutional.

Jordan subpoenaed Mark Pomerantz, who helped investigate Trump and wrote a book about it, to ask about his role in the probe. But Bragg asked U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil to throw out the subpoena

Pomerantz quit the district attorneys office a year ago in frustration because Bragg was skeptical about charging Trump. But a Manhattan grand jury indicted Trump on 34 counts of allegedly falsifying business records as part of paying hush money to women who claimed to have had sex with Trump.

The House Judiciary Committee is investigating Bragg because he vowed to investigate Trump as part of his 2021 campaign for Manhattan district attorney, Jordan said in his court filing. Presidents need to be protected from lawsuits during or after their administrations, to avoid influencing their policy choices, according to Jordan. Lawsuits against lawmakers or their committees or members should also be blocked because they could hinder congressional investigations, according to Jordan.

Plaintiff District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Jr., seeks extraordinary and unconstitutional relief from this Court to impede a Congressional inquiry by preventing a witness from complying with a duly issued subpoena, Jordans filing said.

Vyskocil scheduled a hearing in the case Wednesday.

Contributing: Bart Jansen

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: House GOP hearing in NYC on crime targets Trump indictment, Dems say
A photo of Jack Teixeira in uniform posted to the Facebook page of his mother's business. Facebook

The GOP chairman of the House intel committee criticized MTG for praising the alleged Pentagon leaker.

If the alleged leaker is found guilty, Rep. Michael Turner said, "That's not someone to look up to."

Republicans allied with Trump have rushed to the accused leaker's defense since his arrest last week.

GOP Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio, chairman of the House intelligence committee, rejected the notion that the alleged Pentagon leaker, Jack Teixeira, is a hero who exposed the truth about the war in Ukraine  as some Republicans like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia have suggested.

Margaret Brennan of CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday asked Turner for his reaction to praise of Teixeira from Greene and other prominent conservatives like Fox News' Tucker Carlson.

Turner forcefully rebuked Greene's false suggestion that Teixeira "told the truth about troops being on the ground in Ukraine," underscoring that the US military is not directly involved in the Ukraine war and has no troops fighting against the Russian invaders.

"If he's brought through this process, and he's found guilty, it will be of espionage, it's of being a traitor to your country," Turner went on to say of Teixeira, 21, an Air National Guardsman who was charged with unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information and unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents by prosecutors in federal court last week.

"That's not someone to look up to. That is someone who has compromised his country and has certainly compromised our allies. That's not the oath that he took. That's not the job that he took," Turner said.

A spokesperson for Greene did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the criticism from Insider.

Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) April 17, 2023

Teixeira, who was an IT specialist on Otis Air Force Base in Massachusetts and had top secret clearance, is suspected of leaking what could be hundreds of secret Pentagon documents. Many of the leaked documents, which made their way across various online platforms in recent months, related to the war in Ukraine.

Story continues

The highly classified documents offered a window into US spying on friends and foes alike. The leak  the most significant intelligence breach for the US military in roughly a decade  has placed the US in a precarious position with allies. Military experts have also raised concerns that the leak could hurt Ukraine on the battlefield.

Though the available evidence suggests that Teixeira allegedly leaked the documents largely out of a desire to impress about two dozen online gamer friends, Republicans like Greene have suggested without evidence that he had grand motives and have portrayed him as a whistleblower.

"Many are calling Jake Teixeira [sic] a hero for pulling back the flimsy transparent curtain and revealing what we suspected all along," Greene, an opponent of US aid to Ukraine and close ally of former President Donald Trump, said in a tweet. Greene also groundlessly implied that Teixeira was being singled out because he's "white, male, christian, and antiwar."

Teixeira asked his friends to delete any secret files he shared with them after news of the leak broke, according to a gamer's account to the Washington Post. There's little evidence he was vying to become a whistleblower.

Other Republicans have also criticized Greene over her comments. "There is no justification for this, and for any member of Congress to suggest it's okay to leak classified information, because you agree with a cause is terribly irresponsible and puts America in serious danger," Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who also has close ties to Trump, told ABC News on Sunday.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Theres a new push from Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill to get their colleagues off TikTok, with warnings that the security and privacy threats from the popular video app are closer than they appear.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) are focused on banning their own colleagues from using TikTok. The pair, joined by 15 other Republicans, wrote a letter calling on leaders of the Senate Rules Committee and the Committee on House Administration to rein in use of the app by their fellow lawmakers.

We urge you to amend the House and Senate rules to bar members of Congress from continued use of TikTok and take any other appropriate measures to mitigate the risks of this de-facto, spyware app, they write in the letter, sent on Monday.

The lawmakers push follows internal guidance on Capitol Hill from the top cybersecurity officials in each chamber starting back in 2020, warning staff against downloading or using TikTok. The memos have centered on concerns that the Chinese government could get its hands on TikToks massive amounts of user data because the app is owned by a Chinese company, ByteDance.



The video app has an estimated 150 million monthly American users, including some lawmakers who use the popular platform to connect with constituents through videos about what theyre up to in Washington and back home.

It is troublesome that some members continue to disregard these clear warnings and are even encouraging their constituents to use TikTok to interface with their elected representatives  especially since some of these users are minors, Tillis and Crenshaw write. We feel this situation warrants further action to protect the privacy of both sensitive congressional information and the personal information of our constituents.

They are calling on the House and Senate to change chamber rules to bar members from using the app for official business. This would still leave the door open to members having campaign accounts on the platform but would keep them from using it as an official platform or dedicating any staff time to producing TikTok content.



Story continues

The White House has offered support for broader, bipartisan efforts that could ban TikTok on a wider scale, and the Department of Justice is reportedly investigating ByteDance on suspicion of spying on American citizens and journalists.

When Beijing said it would fight any forced sale of the app, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle pointed to that stance as evidence that TikTok would never be fully divorced from governmental interference.

There is a growing list of bills from Democrats and Republicans already out there. One, from Senate Intelligence Chair Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Senate Minority Whip John Thune, would formally allow the Biden administration to ban technologies from China and five other countries. Another proposing a TikTok ban is from Chair Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) of the House Select Committee on China and the panels ranking member, Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill). A bill allowing sanctions on certain companies, including TikTok, from House Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas) already advanced out of that committee last month, but without support from any Democrats.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this report misstated Sen. John Thune's leadership title.
After threatening Gov. Roy Coopers top aides with legal consequences for not showing up to answer questions, Republican lawmakers will allow them to testify later this month to respond to complaints of meddling and intimidation from the State Bureau of Investigations director.

Reps. Jake Johnson and Harry Warren, chairmen of the state House Oversight and Reform Committee, had requested that Coopers chief of staff, Kristi Jones, and general counsel, Eric Fletcher, appear before their committee on Tuesday related to their meetings with SBI Director Bob Schurmeier.

Last week Jones said she and Fletcher would not be available to speak with the committee on that date, as the chairs had planned.

Jones also complained that state legislators are focusing on Schurmeiers discrimination and meddling accusations, ignoring serious concerns about his workplace practices.

But on Monday she offered alternative dates to testify and added: we welcome the opportunity to testify on this topic, concerns raised about the SBI and the consequences of the General Assemblys efforts to remove normal oversight of the Bureau.

Johnson told The News & Observer that they will now plan for the aides to testify April 26.

As long as it leads to true and forthright testimony regarding the content of the meetings that took place between the Director and Governors staff, we are more than willing to accommodate this new date, he wrote in an email.

March testimony

Schurmeier testified last month that Coopers top aides were meddling in his hiring decisions and trying to force him out of his job with unfounded discrimination claims. At that meeting, he asked the General Assembly for support in making the SBI an independent agency, by moving it out from under the Department of Public Safety.

Robert Schurmeier, director of the State Bureau of Investigation, speaks in 2016 after his nomination by then-Gov. Pat McCrory.

The draft House budget proposes moving the SBI from the department, whose secretary is part of Gov. Roy Coopers cabinet, to its own separate, cabinet-level department.

Story continues

Jones Friday letter argued that state personnel laws prevent officials in Coopers office from addressing Schurmeiers accusations and urged that Schurmeier waive that protection before anyone else testifies.

The waiver would allow us to have a more meaningful discussion about our personnel conversations with Director Schurmeier and ultimately help provide the most productive workplace for the men and women of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, she wrote.

In a letter dated Saturday, the committee chairmen wrote they were disappointed in Jones response, pointing out that the only obligation is that they appear and provide truthful testimony.

Under state law, your refusal to appear before the committee until we obtain a written waiver from Director Schurmeier is potentially grounds for contempt, the letter said.

Its not necessary to delve into the confidential personnel matters, it states.

This is about the basis for the Governors Administration to insert itself into the managerial decisions of an independent law enforcement agency, the letter added.

Neither side in this dispute has provided specifics about the personnel matters Schurmeier first mentioned.

In his March testimony, Schurmeier said Coopers top aides asked him twice to resign late last year after discrimination accusations. He said that the governors office threatened to have an outside agency do a formal investigation. The investigation hasnt taken place, according to both sides.

In a previous letter, Jones expressed concerns about the SBIs lack of racial diversity among agents, promotion decisions and training.

Kristi Jones, chief of staff to Gov. Roy Cooper

Over the past several years, current and former agents and others have contacted us to share a variety of information that left us increasingly concerned about the direction of the SBI and whether it was continuing to meet its high historical standards, Jones wrote.

What the NC law says

North Carolina law states that a House or Senate committee may invite witnesses to testify. A House committee chair may issue a subpoena for such testimony after a majority vote and with the permission of the speaker or speaker pro tempore of the House.

Anyone who fails to obey a subpoena or fails or refuses to testify shall be deemed in contempt. If a majority of a committee votes to hold someone in contempt, officials can file a complaint in Superior Court, which could result in jail time.

But that might not be necessary in this case.

Jones letter Monday proposed three dates she could testify in April or May.

Ensuring fair workplace and human resources practices under the law is of the utmost importance and we welcome the opportunity to testify on this topic, concerns raised about the SBI and the consequences of the General Assemblys efforts to remove normal oversight of the Bureau, Jones wrote.

In 2017, a state Senate committee voted to take the rare step of issuing a subpoena to Larry Hall after he failed to appear for the third time at a confirmation hearing to become Coopers Cabinet secretary over the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. Hall testified and was eventually confirmed, ending a contentious legal standoff, The N&O reported at the time.
Republican billionaire Harlan Crow says his friend Clarence Thomas is the victim of a political hit job amid outrage over reports that the Supreme Court justice failed to disclose various luxury vacations Crow paid for, as well as a real estate deal.

I think its a political hit job, Crow said in an interview with the Dallas Morning News, adding that he doesnt think the media cares as much about him as they do about Thomas.

But I think that the media, and this ProPublica group in particular, funded by leftists, has an agenda to destabilize the court. What theyve done is not truthful. It lacks integrity. Theyve done a pretty good job in the last week or two of unfairly slamming me and more importantly than that, unfairly slamming Justice Thomas, Crow said.

The initial report from ProPublica  an independent, nonprofit news organization  earlier this month found that Crow paid for Thomas to take part in multiple expensive vacations over two decades  trips the justice never reported. A follow-up article from last week reported that Thomas also didnt disclose a 2014 real estate deal hed made with the Texas billionaire.

Stephen Engelberg, ProPublicas editor in chief, told the Dallas Morning News that both Crow and Thomas were given detailed, written questions in advance of the stories, and that while Thomas declined to respond, Crows answers were included in full.

Thomas said after the first article that he was advised that he did not need to disclose the luxury trips.

Crow in the Dallas Morning News interview repeated his assertion given to ProPublica that hed bought the Georgia home that Thomass mother was living in to eventually turn it into a museum on Thomas.

The findings from ProPublica have ignited outrage from Democrats about ethical standards on the countrys highest court.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) called for Thomas to be impeached over the findings, and Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats have urged Chief Justice John Roberts to investigate.

Story continues

A lot of people that have opinions about this seem to think that theres something wrong with this friendship. You know, its possible that people are just really friends, Crow told the Morning News, adding that he wouldnt try to influence the justice on matters such as abortion.

Asked whether he would be friends with Thomas if he didnt have the Supreme Court justice title, Crow told the outlet, Its an interesting, good question. I dont know how to answer that. Maybe not. Maybe yes. I dont know.

Crow also said he doesnt know what mega donor means.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Robbins ousted police chief David Sheppard said Monday he hired an attorney and filed whistleblower complaints against Mayor Darren Bryant, claiming he was wrongfully terminated.

Sheppard, who had been chief since October 2021, said he believes a factor in his dismissal regards his questioning of directions he received from Bryant in the handling of a car driven by a Robbins resident killed in a Feb. 12 crash.

Advertisement

Three 13-year-olds were taken into custody in connection with the crash that killed 70-year-old Donald Carter. The teens were allegedly driving a stolen car at the time.

In a statement Saturday, Bryant said he thanked Sheppard for his service and wished him well in his future endeavors.

Advertisement

The mayor said deputy Chief Carl Scott has been named as acting chief until a replacement is named.

Robbins Mayor Darren Bryant (Village of Robbins)

Donald Carter (Desmond Carter / HANDOUT/Desmond Carter)

Sheppard said he was fired Thursday after refusing to voluntarily resign from the job. Before coming to Robbins, Sheppard worked for 26 years for the Cook County sheriffs police, working as a patrol officer, sergeant and a criminal investigator.

Unofficial vote totals show he was elected earlier this month to a four-year term on the Evergreen Park Elementary District 124 Board. Sheppard lives in Evergreen Park.

In a statement Monday, a spokesman for Bryant said the mayor would not elaborate on his reasoning for firing Sheppard other than the mayor wants some broader goals met and believes a change in the management of the department is needed to achieve these initiatives.

Sheppard said he was called to the mayors office last Thursday and that after entering the room he was told by Bryant that the Robbins Police Department is at its best its ever been, but that the mayor told him he wanted to go in a different direction.

Sheppard said he has hired an attorney and that the Village Board needs to approve Bryants actions in firing him and naming a replacement chief.

The former chief said he has filed whistleblower complaints with agencies including the Justice Department and Illinois State Police.

He said his work record was exemplary, and that I gave 150% to the job. Sheppard was hired, but not yet sworn in, when the departments officers walked off the job over a dispute over pay and equipment.

Advertisement

A new contract that boosted base pay for officers was agreed to after Sheppard officially became chief.

I work 10-12 hours a day, Sheppard said. I took one day off and that was for the (school board) election.

Sheppard said he has had an uneven relationship with Bryant, and that things came to a head after police began their investigation of the crash that killed Carter.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy >

Sheppard said the vehicle was taken to a large building where public works vehicles and road salt are stored. He said police had to keep Carters car enclosed because state police had not yet processed it for evidence in the crash investigation.

Chain of custody in investigations is just standard police work, Sheppard said.

We needed to keep the car out of the elements, Sheppard said. We had no other place to safely store it.

Advertisement

He said he was contacted by the mayor not long after the car was towed to the villages salt shed and told it had to be moved because it was blocking public works vehicles. Sheppard said he contacted the public works director, who said that was not the case.

Sheppard said the car was eventually taken to the villages vehicle impound lot, but that he was confounded by the mayors orders to move the vehicle and explained to Bryant the need for preserving the evidence until it could be examined.

This was a very high-profile case, Sheppard said. We would definitely not drop the ball by moving it out into the rain or snow.

mnolan@tribpub.com
GOP megadonor Harlan Crow has defended his relationship with Justice Clarence Thomas after a series of bombshell ProPublica reports. Chris Goodney/Bloomberg via Getty Images

GOP megadonor Harlan Crow defended his ties to Justice Clarence Thomas.

Crow attacked ProPublica which has published bombshell reports about Crow paying for luxury trips for Thomas.

"I think it's a political hit job," Crow told The Dallas Morning News.

GOP Megadonor Harlan Crow slammed detailed reporting about him financing some of Justice Clarence Thomas' luxury travel while also struggling to answer what if any relationship he would have with Thomas if he wasn't on the nation's highest court.

"I think it's a political hit job," Crow told Dallas Morning News columnist Cheryl Hall in his largest response to ProPublica's bombshell reports. "I don't think the media cares really much about Harlan Crow, and I think they're right. They shouldn't care much about Harlan Crow."

Crow also blasted ProPublica, a nonprofit journalism organization that has won six Pulitzer Prizes, as "funded by leftists" that has the aim to destabilize the Supreme Court.

"But I think that the media, and this ProPublica group in particular, funded by leftists, has an agenda to destabilize the Court. What they've done is not truthful. It lacks integrity," he said. "They've done a pretty good job in the last week or two of unfairly slamming me and more importantly than that, unfairly slamming Justice Thomas."

ProPublica has extensively reported on how Crow, a Texas billionaire, has paid for lavish trips for Thomas and his wife, Virginia "Ginni" and also purchased property from Thomas. Multiple Democratic lawmakers have called on Chief Justice John Roberts to investigate Crow's gifts and why Thomas failed to properly report the generosity. Federal ethics experts previously told ProPublica that Thomas violated judicial guidelines by not disclosing the gifts.

In response to Crow's comments, ProPublica's editor-in-chief Stephen Engelberg told the Morning News that ProPublica invites the Texan to provide details "so we can correct any inaccuracies." Engelberg added that the publication reached out to Justice Thomas and Crow with extensive questions about what their reporting uncovered.

Story continues

"As investigative journalists, our job is to unearth the facts. If Harlan Crow disputes the accuracy of our reporting involving Justice Clarence Thomas, we invite him to provide us with the details so we can correct any inaccuracies," Crow told The Morning News.

CNN reported early Monday morning that Thomas intends to amend his financial disclosure to properly report Crow company buying three properties from a trio of co-owners, including Justice Thomas and his mother in 2014.

Crow defended his relationship with Thomas, arguing that any relationship "has some kind of reciprocity" but that called it "insane" that he would try to influence the seniormost justice on the Supreme Court.

"Do you think I would try to influence him about my point of view on that matter? No, of course not," Crow said. "That's insane. We have different points of view on that and probably other issues."

Crow said he and Thomas have developed a strong friendship. He also struggled to answer what their lives would be like if Thomas wasn't on the Supreme Court.

"It's an interesting, good question," Crow told Hall. "I don't know how to answer that. Maybe not. Maybe yes. I don't know."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

GOP megadonor Harlan Crow bought SCOTUS justice Clarence Thomas' mother's house in October 2014.

Thomas' mother still lives there rent-free, CNN reported. According to Zillow estimates, that would have saved nearly $155,000.

Thomas received widespread scrutiny after a bombshell ProPublica report on undisclosed finances.

Clarence Thomas' mother is living rent-free in the home GOP megadonor Harlan Crow bought from the family, according to CNN.

And that deal may have saved her more than $150,000 in rent for the property, according to Zillow estimates.

Last week, ProPublica revealed Crow's undisclosed 2014 purchase of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' childhood home in Savannah, Georgia  part of a widening scandal around Thomas and Crow's close relationship.

An occupancy agreement allows Thomas' 94-year-old mother, Leola Williams, to stay in the home without paying rent for the rest of her life, CNN reported. While Williams doesn't pay rent, she's responsible for other expenses such as property taxes and insurance, CNN added.

According to Zillow's estimates for what the property would cost to rent, Williams could have saved as much as $154,900 over the years.

Zillow estimates suggest that the Savannah property's rent has fluctuated between $1,100 and $2,400 over since its sale on October 15, 2014.

ProPublica reported that after the sale, renovations equating to thousands of dollars were made to the home, including a repaired roof and a new carport. Slate reported that Williams still lives at the home.

The house where Clarence Thomas was raised. Thomas S. England/Getty Images

The news comes just days after another ProPublica report on Thomas' relationship with Crow, which included over 20 years of luxury vacations and gifts that Thomas accepted and never disclosed.

Thomas defended the trips by citing a "personal hospitality" exemption in disclosure requirements.

Over the past few weeks, Thomas has faced growing calls to resign or be impeached. But legal experts told Insider that there's basically no chance the conservative justice will be removed thanks to a lack of regulatory and disciplinary options for dealing with corruption on the Supreme Court.

Story continues

Crow lashed out at ProPublica and the broader narrative of his relationship with Thomas in an extensive interview with The Dallas Morning News. The billionaire said it was "insane" to suggest that he would ever try to influence the current longest-serving justice.

As for the properties he purchased, Crow said "kind of drives me crazy" that anyone would think there was anything untoward about the transactions. The Dallas developer said he wants to eventually build a museum centered on Thomas' boyhood home at the site.

"His life story is an amazing American life story: born into deep poverty. Father gone. Mother  the lady whom we're talking about  really not able to do a lot to help raise her two sons," Crow said. "Ultimately raised by his grandparents, who were illiterate. Growing up in Jim Crow Georgia."

As for additions to the home, Crow tried to cast any improvements as modest upgrades for an old woman.

"When we made this purchase, she was just an 84-year-old lady, or something like that. I built a carport, so that she can park her car. It's not an enclosed garage. That's what I did," Crow said. "Now, you said improvements to the house. I don't remember any other rooms. However, if there was a commode that was terrible, I might have fixed it. I don't know."

Read the original article on Business Insider
WASHINGTON  Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., announced Monday that he is running for re-election, despite calls for him to resign and ongoing investigations at the federal, state and local levels.

"I am proudly announcing my bid for re-election for #NY03. This is about TAKING BACK our country and restoring greatness back to New York," he tweeted.

Santos has repeatedly lied about his background, both before he was elected last year and since he took office.

Santos said in a statement Monday that no one said he would win last year because people said it was a safe Democratic seat. He beat Democrat Robert Zimmerman 53.8% to 46.2%.

Rep. George Santos (Julius Constantine Motal / NBC News)

"Not only won but made history as the first openly gay Republican elected to Congress," he said.

Santos campaign doesn't have much money to spend on his re-election at the moment. It had just $25,000 in its account as of March 31, according to a campaign finance report filed Saturday with the Federal Election Commission. The campaign raised just $5,000 in the first three months of the year and spent $8,000  all on refunding contributions to past donors.

Nassau County legislator Josh Lafazan, a Democrat, has launched a campaign for Santos' seat. He tweeted Monday: "Im the Democrat who will replace Santos in Congress. ... The key to taking back the House is removing fraudster George Santos once and for all."

Santos was recently accused of being the mastermind behind a credit card skimming scheme  allegations he has vehemently denied. He has also been accused of stealing thousands of dollars raised for a lifesaving operation for a veterans service dog, lying that his mother was at the World Trade Center during the 9/11 attacks and failing to file accurate and timely financial disclosures.

In March, the House Ethics Committee opened an investigation, which it said would determine whether Santos engaged in unlawful activity with respect to his 2022 congressional campaign; failed to properly disclose required information on statements filed with the House; violated federal conflict of interest laws in connection with his role in a firm providing fiduciary services; and/or engaged in sexual misconduct towards an individual seeking employment in his congressional office.

Story continues

The FBI is also investigating allegation involving a veteran's service dog. In addition, Santos faces investigations by the New York attorney general's office and the Nassau County district attorney's office.

Santos first came under scrutiny after The New York Times published a bombshell investigation in December indicating that much of his resume appeared to have been manufactured, including claims that he owned numerous properties, was previously employed by Goldman Sachs and Citigroup and had graduated from Baruch College.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
PA State Police have announced the arrest of a suspect wanted in the April 14 arson of the former Gouldsboro Inn. Any connection with other fires in Wayne and Lackawanna counties remains under investigation.

Michael Angelo Yzkanin, age 20, of Gouldsboro in Lehigh Township, has been charged with a first-degree felony of Arson-Danger of Death or Bodily Injury; Arson-Intent to Destroy Unoccupied Building (F2); Reckless Burning or Exploding (F3); Causing Catastrophe (F1); Risking Catastrophe (F3); Failure to Prevent Catastrophe (M2) and Burglary (F1).

State Police say that Yzkanin was identified as the actor observed on the home surveillance camera. Gouldsboro Volunteer Fire Department was called out at 4:40 a.m., April 14.

According to the affidavit filed by Trooper Nicholas Desantis, the blaze at 572 Main was observed by a passerby who saw fire coming from the first-floor windows. The passerby called 9-1-1. The former inn was described as a vacant two-story residence with its windows boarded up.

The owner of the former inn said the doors had all been locked when she was late there a week before, the affidavit states. A surveillance camera showed an unknown white male with facial hair and a hooded sweatshirt, the hood being over his head. State Police distributed this to the media searching for tips.

The video showed the person lighting pieces of paper on fire and placing it on the floor. He then used this fire to light additional paper. The video shows the fire spreading till it severed electrical and Wi-Fi service.

The Fire Marshall Unit's investigation showed that the fire was heaviest in the rear of the structure where the second floor collapsed into the first floor.

Troopers interviewed a woman who allegedly identified the person on the video to be the suspect arrested, Yzkanin. The suspect was living a very short distance away Yzkanin's girlfriend told investigators she was asleep at the time and could not verify if Yzkanin was home at the time of the fire.

Story continues

Cell phone data records revealed that Yzkanin was in the vicinity of the fire when it started, the affidavit states.State Police asked nearby residents to check their home surveillance cameras for any unusual activity prior to the fires. Anyone with information is asked to contact the State Police in Dunmore (570-963-3156) or Honesdale (570-253-7126).

Yzkanin was charged April 16 by Magistrate Bonnie Carney. Yzkanin was lodged in Wayne County Prison in lieu of paying bail set at $250,000. He awaits a preliminary hearing on April 26.

Gouldsboro Volunteer Fire Department was assisted by approximately eight other fire departments with 55 firefighters responding. Gouldsboro Fire Chief Dave Miller led the firefighting effort.

Fire officials thanked the public for their generous supply of water, Gatorade, snacks and other food left for the firefighters. Kay's Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria donated trays of pizza.

The State Police Fire Marshall Unit is also investigating a fire that broke out in the wee hours two days before, at 581 Main Street, less than a block away. Both fires were ruled as arson. They were both unoccupied structures.

This article originally appeared on Tri-County Independent: Suspect in arson at Poconos inn will face multiple felonies
Continuing his aim towards the Walt Disney Co., Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a plan to retake the Magic Kingdom after the states plan to control Disneys special district was largely thwarted just before a new state-appointed board could officially take over.

It was just weeks ago Disney made headlines by seemingly outflanking the Governor and Florida Legislature by striking a deal that relinquished significant authority back to Disney until the death of the final living decedent of King Charles III.

READ: Gov. Ron DeSantis surrogates escalate tit-for-tat versus Disney

Thats not gonna fly, said DeSantis in a Monday press conference.

Now, Governor Ron DeSantis has announced a multi-layer plan to take back control.

A bill will soon be filed in the State Capitol revoking the contract, while the new state-run board looks at options to nullify the deal on its own.

Potential legal challenges could be coming as well.

We want to make sure that Disney lives under the same laws as everybody else, said DeSantis.

But part of the Governors plan would subject Disney to regulations other major theme parks are exempt from, including ride inspections.

State Representative Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando) said the ride inspection piece is just one of the Disney-specific attacks.

These are policies that specifically target one company, said Eskamani.

READ: DeSantis board says Disney stripped them of power

The Governor also discussed reappraising Disneys property values, raising millage rates to pay down the districts $1 billion debt, banning mask mandates in the district and notably, the Governor floated some ideas concerning what the state could do with non-Disney-owned land in the district.

Maybe create a state park, maybe try to do more amusement parks. Someone even said, like, maybe you need another state prison. Who knows, said DeSantis.

Governor DeSantis Provides an Update on Floridas Response to Disney https://t.co/RgldbtQEMs  Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) April 17, 2023

Eskamani said shes skeptical the Governors plan will stand up in court, but she said shes disheartened to see the Governor continue his crusade against the Magic Kingdom.

Story continues

The only other type of government that has such a sick obsession over controlling private enterprise are Communist governments, said Eskamani.

Action News Jax has reached out to Disney for comment on the Governors new plan but did not receive a response directly addressing Mondays announcement.

During an April 3 shareholders meeting, Disney CEO Bob Iger criticized DeSantis actions as anti-business and anti-Florida.

Disney posted on Twitter after the press conference announcing the first-ever Disneyland After Dark: Pride Nite for their theme parks.

The first-ever Disneyland After Dark: Pride Nite is coming to @Disneyland during Pride Month in June! This separately ticketed event celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community & allies will have themed entertainment, Disney characters, specialty menu items & more: https://t.co/Y6vOJ3QXms pic.twitter.com/j97sB1kHod  Disney (@Disney) April 17, 2023

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]

Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
A man holds up the program following the funeral services for Jayland Walker. Aaron Josefczyk / Reuters

A grand jury in Ohio declined to bring charges against eight police officers over the shooting death of Jayland Walker in Akron last year because evidence showed he had fired first at authorities, officials said Monday.

Walker, a 25-year-old Black man, was shot 46 times as he tried to flee on foot following an attempted traffic stop and ensuing car chase shortly after midnight on June 27.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost told reporters at a news conference that following the results of an independent investigation, the grand jury had determined the officers were justified in using deadly force because Walker had shot at them first.

The law allows officers to use deadly force to defend themselves or others against a deadly threat, Yost said.

At the time of the shooting, officers claimed they had seen a muzzle flash as Walker shot at them from his car.

Yost said body camera evidence, as well as recovered bullet casings, showed that Walker had fired at least one shot at police prior to his death.

Its virtually certain he was shooting the gun at them, Yost said. He certainly was shooting at the time police tried to pull him over.

Walker exits his vehicle and runs before he is shot to death. Handout . / Reuters

After exiting his car while wearing a ski mask, Walker could then be seen reaching toward his waistband, leading some officers to believe he was reaching for a weapon.

However, Walker did not have a weapon with him as he fled on foot.

Some officers tried to use stun guns to subdue Walker, but other police fired handguns at him when he turned during a chase with his arm extended, as they thought he was about to shoot at them.

The officers believed Mr. Walker was a threat to them. They believed he was a threat to themselves and other officers, Ohio Assistant Attorney General Anthony Pierson told reporters. As a result, he was shot.

Hearing a gunshot that they believed had come from Walker, officers continued to fire at him as he fell to the ground and rolled around.

The entire shooting lasted around 6.7 seconds but saw police fire a total of 94 bullets.

Story continues

The grand jury consisted of three men and six women. Two of the grand jurors were Black, Pierson said.

Demonstrators protesting against the shooting in July. Gaelen Morse / Reuters

The officers were not named by the Ohio attorney general because they were not ultimately charged.

Walker had been mourning the recent death of his fiance prior to the incident, but asked by a reporter whether Walker had been trying suicide by cop, Pierson declined to speculate on his thinking.

Walker did not have any drugs or alcohol in his system at the time of his death.

He was going through a very tough time and he was hurting, and the night he encountered police he was not acting himself, Pierson said. By all accounts, this was a good man, a good person with no prior criminal record, so he was not acting himself.

During a news conference Monday evening, attorneys for Walker's family and community leaders slammed the attorney general's office for their handling of the case.

"Today, the attorney general just let the entire world know and let this family know that Jayland Walkers life does not matter," Paige White, one of the family's attorneys, said. "That police officers can unleash over 90 shots and not a single one held accountable."

"When Jayland was shot he was running away, he was unarmed," White continued, calling the lack of an indictment "a miscarriage of justice." "Those are two things that we know, and for any state official to stand up there and justify what was done to Jayland shame on you. Shame on each and every one of you. What we saw happen this week in the grand jury was a miscarriage of justice."

Rev. Robert E. DeJournett, a cousin of Walker, said that while the family doesn't want to see violent protests in response to Monday's news, they don't feel peaceful right now.

"How can we be calm when an injustice we believe has happened," DeJournett said, calling Monday a "sad, sad day" for his family and for the community. "It's not over. Were not giving up. Were going to continue to fight."

Though Walker's family was not privy to state prosecutors' presentation to the grand jury, they said that the office's comments during Monday's news briefing suggested to them that it was skewed in favor of the police. Bobby DiCello, another attorney for the family, said he was told by prosecutors that they believed there was a greater than 50% chance that someone would be indicted.

"I'm not bringing the prosecution and I didn't see the evidence, but I saw what I saw on TV today," DiCello said. "Jayland didn't have a chance."

Rep. Emilia Strong Sykes, who represents the Akron area in Congress, said she is planning to formally ask the US Department of Justice to investigate the city's police department, saying that the attorney general's news conference left her with more questions than answers.

"As we heard our attorney general say, the state criminal investigation is over, but that doesn't mean this opportunity to seek justice is over," Sykes said. "The federal government can and should take up the mantle and investigate this police department."

Community leaders called on people to continue protesting and fighting for change and justice for Walker.

"We didn't get an indictment here but there's an indictment on the city of Akron that there's change that has to occur," said Judi Hill, president of the local NAACP chapter. "We don't want them to think they can get away with this again."

More on this
Jayland Walker's mother, Pamela, left, and grandmother Betty listen to a press conference by the family's attorneys following a Summit County grand jury's decision to not charge eight officers who shot and killed Walker June 27. Attorneys decried the decision and said they will push to hold Akron police accountable.

The eight Akron officers who shot and killed Jayland Walker last June wont face criminal charges in his death.

A special grand jury of six women and three men, including two Black citizens, on Monday returned a no-bill in Summit County Common Pleas Court, which means the jurors found the actions of the officers were justified.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said Walker fired out of his vehicle while he was being chased by officers. He said a shell casing was recovered from the entrance ramp to state Route 8 and the ballistics matched the gun recovered in Walker's car after the shooting. A Cuyahoga Falls officer also witnessed Walker firing a shot and it was recorded on his dash camera, Yost said.

Jayland Walker

"The law allows officers to use deadly force to defend themselves or others against a deadly threat," Yost said.

However, Yost said, the legal justification doesn't change the tragedy of 25-year-old Walker's death.

"I grieve the loss of this promising young life, though I recognize no words of mine will offer comfort to the family," he said.

The special grand jury was convened beginning last week at the request of Yost for the sole purpose of considering the Walker case. The jurors heard five days of testimony and then deliberated, with Yost holding a press conference via Zoom at 3:30 p.m. Monday to announce the decision.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost speaks about the grand jury decision not to charge the eight police officers involved in the killing of Jayland Walker in this screenshot from a virtual press conference Monday, April 17, 2023.

Grand jury's decision prompts mixed reaction

The announcement prompted immediate reaction from the community and Akron leaders, including U.S. Rep. Emilia Strong Sykes, D-Akron, who issued a statement saying she will ask the U.S. Department of Justice to begin an investigation into the Akron Police Departments practices.

Deacon William Dancy with St. Ashworth Temple of God Church in Christ, Akron NAACP President Judi Hill and Kevin DeJournett watch the Facebook live video announcement about the special grand jury decision in the Jayland Walker case. Eight Akron officers will not be charged for killing Walker last year.

Weve seen it too many times, she said. A routine traffic stop ends in death, and a family and community mourn the loss of a son. A brother. A friend. A neighbor. As this country and community reckons with another tragic death, we find ourselves yearning for a justice system that protects us all.

Story continues

Demetrius Travis Sr., a cousin of Jayland Walker, said in a text message: "Disappointment cannot began to express how I feel about this decisionWhatever happens because of this decision is not on the Walker family, it is due to a continuing disregard for the lives of black and brown people in the United States of America."

Walker family attorney Bobby DiCello, who led a news conference early Monday evening at St. Ashworth Temple in Akron, railed at the state-led investigation, saying, "In my lifetime, I haven't seen anything like this."Seated beside him was Jayland Walker's mother, Pamela Walker, and he was joined by several community leaders in calling for people angered by the grand jury outcome to lift up their voices.

Akron attorneys who represent the Akron police union and three of the officers involved in Walker's shooting said all the officers cooperated with the investigation and answered all the BCI investigators' questions.

The Akron FOP acknowledges the pain and suffering of Mr. Walker's family and joins them in calling for peace in our community," the attorneys said in a statement.

Attorney Don Malarcik said the officer he represents was thankful and relieved when he heard the grand jury's decision.

"He also knows this is not a day to celebrate," Malarcik said.

The identities of the officers, whose names have been withheld by the city, still werent released after the grand jurys decision.

A spokesman for Yost said the attorney generals office only publicly names officers who have already been identified by their own departments.

Akron chief asked state to investigate Walker's shooting

Walker was shot in the early morning hours of June 27 more than 40 times by eight Akron officers after a car and foot chase. He was wearing a ski mask and unarmed.

How did Jayland Walker die?: Jayland Walker had 46 entrance wounds and died from 'devastating injuries,' examiner says

Akron Police Chief Steve Mylett asked the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), an arm of the attorney generals office, to handle the investigation. Mylett says this will now be the norm for the department. Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh also asked the attorney general's office to present evidence to the grand jury.

A protester calls for justice for Jayland Walker during a demonstration July 4, 2022, held outside the Harold K. Stubbs Justice Center.

Walker's shooting touched off a series of protests in Akron last summer, with dozens of arrests made and police at times deploying tear gas or pepper spray to disperse crowds. Several downtown businesses were damaged and fires were set.

From our editor: Why local journalists matter for covering the Jayland Walker case from beginning to end

In preparation for the special grand jury and the protests that were anticipated after it, tall metal fences were installed around the Summit County Courthouse on the High Street side and concrete barriers were placed on the sidewalk on the Broadway side. Lower-level windows on City Hall were boarded up.

In preparation for the special grand jury hearing to review the Akron police shooting of Jayland Walker, workers installed guard rails around the perimeter of the Summit County Courthouse.

BCI investigated the shooting and then handed over its findings to assistant prosecutors with Yosts office. The assistant prosecutors then presented the case to the special grand jury, which began meeting last Monday.

A vote of seven of nine grand jurors was required. The jurors first had to decide if Walker's shooting was justified or if another officer would likely have reacted in the same way. If they found that the shooting wasn't justified, they then would have had to decide if there was probable cause that the officers had committed a crime.

What to know about grand jury: 'Solemn duty:' Ahead of Jayland Walker case, what we know about the grand jury process

Yost declined during the press conference to say the breakdown of the grand jury's vote, which he said is kept secret. He also wouldn't answer questions about who testified before the grand jury.

Officers fired 94 shots at Walker over 6.7 seconds, according to Yost and Senior Assistant Attorney General Anthony Pierson.

"Most of officer-involved shootings involve an officer or perhaps an officer and a partner. It is unusual, although hardly unprecedented, to have this many officers firing their weapon at the same time at a single subject. The sheer number of shots is one of the things that makes the video so hard to watch ...That being said, it is critical to remember that Mr. Walker had fired on the police, and that he shot first," Yost said.

State official details what led to Jayland Walker's death

Pierson outlined the evidence collected during a state investigation, including what led up to the deadly encounter.

Pierson said New Franklin officers attempted to pull Walkers 2005 Buick Century over about 2:30 a.m. June 26 when they spotted the car with a license plate light out. The officers entered the vehicle into their system, then began to pursue it but then called off the chase when it got too dangerous for such a minor violation.

One of the New Franklin officers said the driver was wearing a black hoodie and he thought he was white, though he later said he wasnt sure.

Pierson said all indications are that this was Walker.

About 12:22 a.m. June 27, Akron officers again spotted Walker's car in about the same area where he was driving in the early morning areas the previous day. The officers initially decided not to pull the car over but changed their minds when they saw the car return to the area and again go on Route 8, Pierson said.

A Cuyahoga Falls officer saw the Akron officers following Walker's car and decided to follow as well. As Walker drove onto Route 8, the Falls officer's dash camera captured an image of Walker firing a shot, Pierson said.

"This officer's dash camera is the best vantage point to show Walker firing a round from his vehicle," Pierson said.

Pierson said officers chased Walker's car on Route 8 and then by foot when Walker jumped from his rolling car. During the foot pursuit, Pierson said Walker turned and faced the officers and reached into his hoodie and waist band, which officers took as indications that he might have been reaching for a weapon.

Pierson gave a step-by-step description of the moments before officers fired after Walker fled his car. This included still images of the officers' body-worn camera videos.

"As Mr. Walker turns at one particular point in time, he raises his arm out. At that point in time, he is shot by responding officers. The officers believed that Mr. Walker was a threat to them. They believed that he was a threat to themselves and other officers. As a result, he was shot," Pierson said.

Walker was 'hurting,' state investigator says

Pierson said Walker, who worked as a delivery driver, had no prior criminal history. He said Walker bought a gun about a week before his shooting.

Asked whether this might have been a suicide-by-cop scenario, Pierson said they don't have any clear evidence about this. Pierson did say, though, that Walker was having a difficult time after his fiancee had recently died.

"He was hurting," Pierson said. "That night, when he encountered police, he was not acting like himself. He was a good man, a good person."

Pierson said he "is not willing to make a leap" about Walker's intentions.

Yost, though, said people can examine all of the evidence in the BCI investigation that has been provided on the attorney general's website to draw their own conclusions about this and other questions they have about Walker's shooting.

Grand jury's decision doesn't mean end of Walker case

The grand jurys decision wont put an end to the Walker case.

The Akron Police Department will do an internal investigation to determine if the officers violated any internal policies and procedures.

Community members have requested that the Department of Justice and FBI investigate the shooting.

Walkers family is expected to file a civil lawsuit against the city and officers.

Beacon Journal staff writers Betty Lin-Fisher, Tawney Beans and George Thomas contributed to this report.

Additional Jayland Walker coverage and timeline

BCI report: What the state investigation of fatal Akron police shooting may reveal

How grand juries work: What to know about the special grand jury

In-depth: Why police nationwide rarely face charges when they kill in the line of duty

Earlier coverage: What we still don't know in the Akron police killing of Jayland Walker

Jayland Walker: A look back at the Akron Beacon Journal's coverage since June 27

Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com, 330-996-3705 and on Twitter: @swarsmithabj.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Grand jury: No charges for Akron officers who shot Jayland Walker
FAIRFAX, Va. (AP)  A grand jury has refused to indict a former northern Virginia police officer after he fatally shot an unarmed shoplifting suspect outside a busy shopping mall in February.

Authorities presented the case to a grand jury for an indictment against Wesley Shifflett, who shot and killed Timothy McCree Johnson outside Tysons Corner Center on Feb. 22.

Fairfax County Commonwealths Attorney Steve Descano  who ran for office on a reform agenda that included holding police accountable for misdeeds  had called a press conference Monday, presumably to announce criminal charges.

But the noon press conference was first delayed, then canceled. Later in the day, Descano issued a statement saying he's evaluating all options following the grand jury's decision.

Since, by law, no prosecutors were permitted to be present in the room when the investigating officers made their presentation to the grand jury, I cant say for sure what information was conveyed to the grand jurors, Descano said.

The shooting occurred after Shifflett and another Fairfax County police officer chased Johnson on foot from the mall after receiving a report from security guards that Johnson had stolen sunglasses from a Nordstrom department store.

Dimly lit body camera video shows the chase and the shooting. The officer is heard saying Get on the ground and later saying stop reaching as shots are fired. After the shooting, Shifflett tells another officer that he saw Johnson continually reaching in his waistband.

A search of the grounds after the shooting turned up no weapons.

Shifflett's lawyer, Caleb Kershner, praised the grand jury for its decision.

The grand jury has seen this case for exactly what it is, Kershner said.

Kershner said Johnson's death is a tragedy but that his client acted reasonably when he believed he saw Johnson reaching for a weapon in his waistband.

Shifflett was fired last month for what Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis called a failure to live up to the expectations of our agency, in particular use of force policies.

Story continues

A lawyer for Johnson's family likened the shooting to an execution. Johnson's mother, Melissa Johnson, said officers shot her son when all they knew at the time was that he was Black and male and had allegedly triggered an alarm from a store for some sunglasses.

Descano, in his statement, said he had contacted Johnson's family Monday morning and told them he expected an indictment.

So I can only imagine their pain and shock when they received the news that the officer  who shot and killed their unarmed son  was not indicted, he said.

The Johnson family's lawyer, Carl Crews, said Descano's office had indicated to the family that prosecutors anticipated obtaining a manslaughter indictment.

Crews noted how rare it is for grand juries to reject an indictment; he said he suspects that police officers who presented the evidence  something that's done in Virginia outside of prosecutors' presence  shaded their delivery to protect one of their own.

We have to figure out a way to crush the blue wall of silence, Crews said, advocating for Descano to try again with a different grand jury.

Defense lawyer Kershner said it would be vindictive and almost anti-police if Descano were to try to obtain an indictment from a different grand jury.

The grand jury, thank God, did the right thing, and the commonwealth's attorney's office now has to accept that, he said.
A Grand Prairie teen was killed Saturday evening after being trapped under a Kawasaki Mule following a rollover crash in Mansfield, according to a news release from police.

Police said the driver of the Kawasaki Mule, a utility side-by-side, rolled the 4-wheeler while trying to make a turn in a cul-de-sac on Woodland Drive around 5 p.m. Saturday.

According to the Tarrant County Medical Examiners Office, the teen who died was 16-year-old Darius Jones.

Police said Jones was trapped under the vehicle when it rolled over. He was taken to a hospital, where he died. The driver of the vehicle survived with minor injuries.

Police are still investigating the crash and have not announced whether the driver will face any charges.
Crystal Quade seen here at the annual Democrat Days gathering at the Double Tree Hotel in Springfield on April 15, 2023.

Greene County Democrats said they are ready to take the state back in 2024 at their annual Dem Days of the Ozarks  with many at the event encouraging House Minority Leader and Springfield-native Crystal Quade to run for Governor of Missouri next year.

The event marked its 100-year anniversary this year as Democrats from across the state converged into Springfield over the weekend. Recently elected Chair of the Missouri Democratic Party Russ Carnahan told the hundreds of assembled Democrats that enthusiasm for their party in Missouri is "palpable and growing." Carnahan took aim at Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, who recently announced his 2024 campaign for governor.

"When he announced for governor, he let the truth come out," he said, noting Ashcroft said that Missouri Republicans have "failed to deliver" since gaining full control of the state.

"I couldn't have said it better myself!" Carnahan declared to a standing ovation.

More: Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft announces run for Missouri governor

To many of the Democrats assembled Saturday at the Springfield Doubletree by Hilton, the answer to Ashcroft's candidacy is their own Crystal Quade, who will be term-limited out of the House of Representatives in 2024.

At a morning event, Democratic Attorney General candidate Elad Gross asked any Democrat in the room to encourage Quade to run  causing applause and a standing ovation from the crowd.

"The Democratic Party for the state of Missouri has to stand for the working people of this state, period. We need to rebuild this party throughout our state. And one thing that this room in particular can do that would further that pretty immediately is to convince Crystal Quade to run for governor in the state of Missouri.

Quade has previously hinted at a gubernatorial run and has said she is "absolutely" considering it, according to reporting in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She tried to tamp down those expectations at her Dem Days appearance.

Story continues

Images from the annual meeting of the Greene County Democrats seen here at the Double Tree hotel in Springfield on April 15, 2023.

"I'm ready for 2024!" she declared to much cheering.

"No, not in that way, calm down," she added with a laugh.

From the time he was defeated for state senate a decade ago, its been clear Jay Ashcroft feels holding office is his birthright based on his fathers accomplishments instead of a sacred duty to serve the citizens of Missouri, Quade said in a statement following Ashcroft's announcement  referencing the elder John Ashcroft, who was at one time U.S. Attorney General and Governor of Missouri.

"Missourians deserve a governor who is dedicated to them, not an extremist who thinks hes entitled to the Peoples Mansion because of his last name, she said in the statement.

So far, no Democratic candidates have announced a run for governor.

In her remarks Saturday evening, Quade said that the "tide is turning" in Missouri.

"We feel that rage turning into motivation and the people are ready to fight. They're ready to fight for 2024 and they want our state back. And it's not just Democrats, the people want our state back," she said.

Greene County Democrats were joined by St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones, who said that Missouri is "under attack" by Republicans.

"Our right to vote is under attack. Our right to health care is under attack. Our right to an abortion is under attack. Our right to unionize is under attack. And we will stay under attack until we as Democrats show up," Jones said.

Images from the annual meeting of the Greene County Democrats seen here at the Double Tree hotel in Springfield on April 15, 2023.

"This change is not going to happen if we sit at home on our hands because we're waiting for someone to save us. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the Democrats who are going to take Missouri back, and that means getting off our asses and doing the work."

Jones also said that Republicans have gone too far in their legislative priorities and will be punished by the voters next year.

"Republicans have jumped the shark and are worried about trans children living in their truth instead of children being killed in our schools."

Jones called out Missouri Senators Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt, who she said "don't give a damn" about Missouri and are using the U.S. Senate as a "steppingstone to get to the White House."

"They are absolutely useless," she said of the dual U.S. Senators. Democrats were joined by Lucas Kunce, who is a Democrat running against Hawley in his 2024 re-election.

Candidates focus on AG's emergency rule on gender-affirming care

At a Saturday morning Dem Day event, rival Democratic candidates for Missouri Attorney General denounced incumbent Andrew Bailey's recently announced emergency rule restricting, and in some cases banning, gender-affirming transgender care for both adults and minors.

If the rule is implemented, those prescribing hormone replacement therapy for transgender patients must comply with a lengthy series of requirements or face lawsuits. According to Democratic state representative and candidate for Attorney General Sarah Unsicker, she knows many doctors who are ending treatment of transition-related healthcare rather than comply with the Attorney General's order.

"We found out about this as legislators from somebody who has been on these hormones for 10 years, who is an adult, and all of a sudden, they're gonna have to stop taking them or travel to who knows where to get what's medically necessary for them. This is a very serious situation for them," she said.

More: Missouri Attorney General's emergency rule appears to halt all 'experimental' trans care

Unsicker likened efforts to restrict or ban gender-affirming care to efforts restricting or banning abortion.

"Imagine a world where you don't control your health care, there are laws preventing you from getting the health care that you need and that your doctor says you need. Imagine a world where you can't speak out about this, because there are repercussions. Not everyone can speak truth to power. Not everybody has to imagine this world because so many Missourians are living in it."

Former Assistant Attorney General Elad Gross, who is Unsicker's opponent in the Democratic primary, also focused on the emergency rule in his remarks to Greene County Democrats.

"Its an order that says, 'I know a lot of folks are getting health care services, but I'm scared of trans people so I'm going to put this rule in place saying you can't do that.' But Andrew Bailey's fear will get a lot of people hurt..." Gross told the crowd of about 100 assembled Democrats.

Gross also noted he has spoken with potential plaintiffs impacted by the ruling, who he encouraged to sue the attorney general to overturn the healthcare restriction in court.

After the emergency rule was announced last week, Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri released a statement promising to take "any necessary legal action against Attorney General Andrew Baileys emergency regulation restricting access to gender-affirming care."

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Greene County Democrats, Crystal Quade prepare for 2024 in annual gathering
The following items were taken from area police department reports and news releases. An arrest does not constitute a finding of guilt.

Elmhurst

Battery

Advertisement

Jacob Lynch, 29, of the 600 block of North Michigan Street, Elmhurst, was charged with domestic battery  making physical contact, domestic battery which causes bodily harm and assault at 10:02 p.m. April 9.

Burglary

Advertisement

Alexander Soliveras, 42, of the 1600 block of North Meade Avenue, Chicago, was charged with residential burglary, possession of a controlled substance, criminal damage to property and theft at 6:30 p.m. April 6 after police responded to the 300 block of North Clinton Avenue for a report of someone breaking into a vacant house there.

Investigation of a January burglary on the 400 block of Highland Avenue in which one suspect distracted the resident while two others entered the house has resulted in arrest warrants and charges against two men.

Michael John, 45, of the 10400 block of Ann Court, Rosemont, was charged with residential burglary on Feb. 14.

Andy Bimbo, 33, of the 7200 block of West Wellington Avenue, Elmwood Park, was charged with residential burglary on March 15.

At 3:24 a.m. April 11, after an officer saw a gray Dodge Challenger driving away at high speed from the area of Dominos, 1036 S. York St., and Subway, 1034 S. York Street, glass doors were found shattered at both stores, which had been burglarized. Investigation continues.

Dominesha Parker, 29, of the 5300 block of South Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Chicago, was charged with burglary at 12:21 April 11 after it was alleged she stole merchandise she was hired to deliver.

Cannabis

Travon Rush, 20, of the first block oof Poplar Creek Drive, Elgin, was cited for driving without insurance, possession of cannabis, possession of tobacco (by a minor), possession of open alcohol, driving with license plate covers and driving without a rear license plate light at 9:41 p.m. March 31.

Advertisement

In the same incident, Nicole Johnson, 19, of the 400 block of Hillside Drive, Streamwood and Delvon Johnson, 19, of the 1700 block of Queensbury Circle, Hoffman Estates, were cited for possession of tobacco by a minor. Leila Mannias, 18, of the first block of 40W Powers Road, Huntley, was cited for possession of cannabis under 21.

Criminal damage to property

Devon Gibson, 34, of the 600 block of North Laramie Avenue, Chicago, was charged with criminal damage to property and possession of cannabis at 8:28 p.m. April 7 after police were called to Elm Creek Apartments, Elm Creek Drive.

Disorderly conduct

Nicola Fasano, 37, of the 4400 block of Hoover Street, Rolling Meadows, was charged with disorderly conduct and public indecency at 2:09 p.m. April 7.

DUI

Advertisement

Deborah Fonseca, 28, of the 100 block of South Lincoln Avenue, Addison, was charged with driving under the influence, driving with a revoked drivers license, improper lane use, possession of open alcohol and failing to wear a seat belt at 12:29 a.m. April 8.

Talana Stewart, 34, of the 5800 block of South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, was charged with driving under the influence, speeding and improper lane use at 5:27 a.m. April 9.

Scott Erickson, 29, of the 8800 block of East Teal Lane, Wilmington (Ill.), was charged with driving under the influence, endangering the life of a child, two counts of failing to reduce speed to avoid an accident, transport of alcohol and improper lane use at 3:22 p.m. April 12 in connection with an accident on the evening of April 11.

In the same incident, Anjelica Marsala, 30, of the 2200 block of Ridgeland Avenue, Berwyn, was charged with aggravated battery to a police officer.

Christopher Arturi, 59, of the first block of North Charles Avenue, Villa Park, was charged with driving under the influence at 9:02 p.m. April 12.

Forgery

Advertisement

An unidentified offender obtained a business check from Innovative Support Solutions, 259 E. Third St., and cashed it, as reported April 6. A company representative was able to have the transaction canceled.

A resident reported that a check she mailed in early March in a box at Cottage Hill and Park avenues was altered and deposited in an unknown account.

Fraud

A resident reported April 12 being advised in a fraudulent email to call a number, where he was told to withdraw cash from his bank, deposit it in a Bitcoin teller machine and text the QR code for the transaction. Police are investigating.

Identity theft

A resident reported that a check to Com Ed she dropped in a box on Cottage Hill Avenue was intercepted, altered and cashed. The mailbox was one of two Elmhurst boxes broken into in early March.

Advertisement

Order of protection violation

Juan Galan, 43, of the 600 block of North Meadows Boulevard, Addison, was charged with violating an order of protection at 10:17 a.m. April 6.

Theft

A package was reported stolen from a porch in the 100 block of North Berteau Avenue between 1:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. April 7.

Lydia Gonzalez, 51, of the 800 block of Bristol Avenue, Westchester, was charged with retail theft from Kohls, 303 S. Route 83, at 5:34 p.m. April 7.

A resident reported someone removed the rims and tires from her vehicle in the 100 block of West Butterfield Road between 10:30 p.m. April 8 and 7:21 a.m. April 9.

Advertisement

A locked Vario bicycle was reported stolen from a rack at Elmhurst University, 190 S. Prospect Ave., between 3 p.m. March 24 and 11 a.m. April 4.

Theft by deception

An employee of an Elmhurst business reported April 7 that he had responded to what he thought was a text from his boss asking him to buy iTunes gift cards. After sending the card information, he realized he had been deceived.

Traffic

Jorge Villazana Jr., 20, of the 1400 block of South 3rd Avenue, Maywood, was charged with attempted possession of a fraudulent drivers license and unlawful use of an electronic communication device at 10:54 a.m. April 7.

Monica Rivas, 51, of the 400 block of West St. Charles Road, Elmhurst, was cited for driving with a suspended drivers license, speeding and failing to wear a seat belt at 9:27 p.m. April 9.

Advertisement

Ruth Reynoso, 45, of the 7500 block of West 61st Street, Summit, was charged with driving with a suspended drivers license, operating a vehicle while using an electronic communication device and improper lane use  crossing a lane boundary at 11:08 p.m. April 10.

Marilyn Kelly, 62, of the 1000 block of Westmore Meyers Road, Lombard, was cited for driving without a valid drivers license, driving without insurance and driving with expired registration at 11:40 p.m. April 12.

Jose Tabera Moreira, 35, of the 500 block of West Grand Avenue, Elmhurst, was charged with driving without a valid drivers license and driving with expired registration at 3:29 a.m. April 13.

Unlawful use of a credit card

A resident told police someone fraudulently used her credit card information for a liquor purchase around noon on April 7.

Graydon Megan is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
On March 31, 9-year-old Evelyn Dieckhaus was scheduled to sing Louis Armstrongs classic song What A Wonderful World at a play at Nashvilles Covenant School. Instead, country music artist Vince Gill stood in the sanctuary of Woodmont Christian Church and sang it at her funeral, just four days after the mass school shooting that devastated our hometown.

We are a former U.S. Senate Majority Leader representing the State of Tennessee, a Nashville-based orthopaedic trauma surgeon who has treated far too many gunshot victims, and the pastor who officiated over Evelyns funeral. And we are begging  on behalf of those weeping in our nations pews and hospitals and on the steps of our corridors of power  for an end to Americas epidemic of firearms-driven death.

We were heartened by recent news that Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed an executive order strengthening background checks and called on the state legislature to do more. But we, as a state and a nation, need to do more.

Our inability to find the sensible middle ground between upholding the Second Amendment and keeping firearms out of the wrong hands has turned us into a country where gun violence is now the No. 1 cause of death among children under 18. The perfect storm of easy access to firearms combined with a pandemic-fueled mental health crisis has brought us to a boiling point.

Friends of the family leave after the funeral of Covenant School student Evelyn Dieckhaus, 9, at the Woodmont Christian Church Friday, March 31, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. Stuffed animals were given out to families and children during the service. Dieckhaus was one of six students and adults killed in a mass shooting at the school Monday.

Innocent people  including, most recently, five employees of a Louisville bank just doing their jobs last Monday morning  are paying with their lives while we fail to act.

Hear more Tennessee Voices: Get the weekly opinion newsletter for insightful and thought provoking columns.

Here are four ideas for what to do now

As representatives of three crucial facets of American life  faith, medicine and politics  we offer the following starting points for commonsense, bipartisan agreement to reduce gun violence:

Enact extreme risk protection orders. Adopted by 19 states across the political spectrum, these laws have shown early evidence of reducing suicide deaths, and give concerned families and law enforcement a tool to use when someone poses a credible threat but has yet to commit a crime. When used effectively, these laws allow for temporarily confiscating the firearms of potentially dangerous people or barring them from purchasing firearms. Tennessee Lt. Governor Randy McNally has shown interest, and Governor Lee told The Tennessean, Most practical, thoughtful people believe that individuals who are a threat to themselves or to others shouldnt have access to weapons. We agree. Implement child-access prevention and safe storage laws. Both types of laws promote safe and responsible gun ownership. Child-access prevention laws impose penalties on adults who allow children unsupervised access to firearms, while safe storage laws require gun owners to store firearms unloaded and in locked containers and/or disabled with trigger locks. One recent RAND study examined state gun laws and changes in gun fatalities over a 36-year period (1980-2016), and determined that implementing strict child access laws, which often include safe storage requirements, was linked to a 6% decrease in gun deaths. Tennessee and other states should also consider safe storage in cars; more than 70% of all guns reported stolen in Nashville were taken from vehicles and stolen guns are more likely to be used in criminal activity. Expand background checks to all firearms purchases. Governor Lee is right when he says, The existing background-check process for purchasing a firearm only works when there is accurate and timely information that's available. Furthermore, it only works when applied to all firearm purchases. In states like Tennessee without universal background checks, data indicate that those legally prohibited from purchasing weapons circumvent the system by obtaining firearms through private sales. Tennessee and other states should close this loophole, as fourteen other states have done. Require firearms safety courses for ownership. Every licensed hunter in Tennessee must complete a hunter education course. As explained by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency: Tennessees Hunter Education program works. Since 1975, when a formal hunter education program was introduced, the number of hunting and firearm-related accidents in Tennessee has declined dramatically.

Story continues

If we know this type of education reduces firearms injuries and accidental deaths, why not apply an education and training requirement to firearm ownership? In addition to improving safety, it could also weed out individuals who only plan to use firearms for nefarious purposes or who are mentally unwell.

Sign up for Latino Tennessee Voices newsletter:Read compelling stories for and with the Latino community in Tennessee.

Sign up for Black Tennessee Voices newsletter:Read compelling columns by Black writers from across Tennessee.

We have rights and responsibilities as citizens

All four of these recommendations have one underlying premise: the right to bear arms is a fundamental part of our Constitution, but it comes with responsibility.

Bill Frist

As a society, we are not only responsible for preventing needless deaths, but we are also responsible for the health and welfare of the next generation. Yet the latest data show child and teen death from guns increasing by 50% in the last two years.

This is irresponsible. The American people know it. The vast majority of Americans support sensible gun laws. The vast majority of Tennesseans do too.

Clay Stauffer

The people of this country are demanding the wonderful world that little Evelyn Dieckhaus never got the chance to sing about. They deserve nothing less. If we intend to survive as a nation, gun rights and common-sense gun laws must be allowed to co-exist.

Sen. Bill Frist is a heart and lung transplant surgeon, former U. S. Senate Majority Leader, and chair of the Global Board of The Nature Conservancy.

Rev. Dr. Clay Stauffer is senior minister of Woodmont Christian Church and an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University

Alex Jahangir

Dr. Alex Jahangir is an orthopaedic trauma surgeon at the Level 1 trauma center in Nashville and the past board chair of the Metropolitan Nashville Public Health Department.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Gun violence: Common-sense steps to address No. 1 killer of children
Roughly half of North Americas 154 bat species are under threat from population decline in the next 15 years, according to a new report.

The inaugural State of the Bats report from the North American Bat Conservation Alliance indicates 52 percent of species could be at risk and that climate change will affect up to 82 percent of those species in the next 15 years.

Other hazards include wind turbine mortality and white-nose syndrome, a fungal disease that has already killed millions of bats on the continent.

Close

Thank you for signing up!

Subscribe to more newsletters here

The latest in politics and policy. Direct to your inbox. Sign up for the Energy and Environment newsletter

Bats are particularly valuable to ecosystems and biodiversity due to their role as insectivores. Bat consumption of insects protects agriculture and forests that could otherwise be overwhelmed, while their herbivore counterparts are essential to seed dispersal.

Bat flights are also a major boost to local tourism economies in cities like Austin.

Bats face many challenges today and the conservation landscape is increasingly complex, Jeremy Coleman, National WNS Coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Co-chair of the North American Bat Conservation Alliance, said in a statement.

While there is more to do, the level of international collaboration we have achieved for bat conservation in North America is a bright spot and a cause for optimism going forward, Coleman added.

The report, released Monday, found wind turbines kill about half a million bats annually and energy production overall threatens 45 species. The report noted that wind developers and researchers have identified ways to deploy wind energy in ways that do not threaten bats, and should deploy those solutions to avoid further threats to bats.

The analysis identifies individual species as well as the primary threat they face. For example, the endangered Florida bonneted bat, which lives only in southern Florida, is predominantly threatened by a combination of climate change and urban development causing habitat loss.

Story continues

Other species have a wider habitat range but are still threatened, such as the northern long-eared bat, which is found as far south as Alabama and as far north as British Columbia, but has seen its populations devastated by white-nose syndrome.

However, the report also said earlier efforts that have resulted in population recovery for once-threatened bat species can serve as a model for avoiding catastrophe.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Black women holding signs during a march

Now that spring is here, its a good time to visit Washington D.C. The nations capital is full of fantastic museums and cultural centers.

If your schedule permits, visit We Who Believe In Freedom: Black Feminist D.C. This special exhibition was designed by The National Womens History Museum (NWHM).

It debuted on March 30 and runs through September 15, 2024.

Photo Credit: Chris Grafton

What Makes The Black Feminist Exhibit Special?

Women, particularly Black women, have been the lifeblood of many social movements throughout history. However, they dont always get due recognition, which is why this exhibit is so important.

According to Black Enterprise, it highlights more than twenty Black women activists, whose work in Washington, D.C. influenced national policy from the turn of the 20th century, through the civil rights and Black Power movements.

Our inaugural exhibit explores the stories and voices of Black feminist organizers and theorists whose work changed the trajectory for the lives of millionswork that continues today and is often overlooked in history books, said Susan D. Whiting, Board Chair, NWHM. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library is a beautiful venue to exhibit this important cultural content and, as a public building, ensures that the exhibit is accessible to all.

We Who Believe In Freedom: Black Feminist D.C., was curated by historians Sherie M. Randolph and Dr. Kendra Taira Field.

Where Is The Exhibit And Who Is Featured?

Youll find the exhibit on the first floor of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library.

How much does it cost to visit? Nothing.

Theres also an online exhibition that expands on the physical one.

When Black feminism is raised, Angela Davis, Alice Walker, and Shirley Chisholm usually come to mind. Their contributions to the movement are widely recognized. But there are many other Black feminists, past and present, who furthered the cause.

The exhibit amplifies the contributions of less famous Black feminists, including Anna Julia Cooper, Mary Church Terrell, Eleanor Holmes Norton, and Loretta Ross.

Story continues

Things To Do In Washington D.C.

Whether youre going for a stroll along the Tidal Basin, or visiting one of the museums, Washington D.C., offers something for all.

If youre a fan of Ethiopian food in particular, youll have many choices. When refugees fled unrest in their home country in the 1970s and 1980s, they built a community in the U.S. capital. Dukem and Das Ethiopian Cuisine, are just two of many Ethiopian eateries in D.C.

Also, if youre looking for Instagram inspiration, check out DCs most Instagram-worthy locations.

RELATED: How To Spend A Day In Black-Owned Washington, D.C.
Eleven people died of heatstroke in India after an estimated one million spectators waited for hours in the sun at a government-sponsored awards ceremony, officials said on Monday.

Around 20 people were hospitalised and 300 felt ill at the event near the western city of Mumbai on Sunday, when temperatures hit close to 38 degrees Celsius (100 Fahrenheit) with high levels of humidity, local media reported.

Senior government officials attended the ceremony, including Interior Minister Amit Shah, who praised the crowd for waiting so long in the sun.

The office of Maharashtra state Chief Minister Eknath Shinde described it as a "sad and disturbing incident" and promised compensation for the victims' relatives.

India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party said around a million people attended the event, the Indian Express newspaper reported.

The opposition Congress party accused the government of negligence and said it should face criminal charges.

Heatwaves have killed more than 6,500 people in India since 2010, and last year saw record temperatures in several cities across the country.

The hot spells are becoming harsher and more frequent across South Asia, spurred by climate change, according to scientists.

Authorities in the eastern state of West Bengal announced a week-long shutdown of all schools, colleges and universities from Monday due to the heat, local media reported.

Last year, India suffered coal shortages, the main source of electricity in the nation of 1.4 billion people, as electricity demand peaked in the heat.

Many parts of India rely on trains to supply water during the summer.

Scientists also believe the annual monsoon rainy season is becoming more erratic and powerful, causing greater flooding.

bb-str/stu/dhw/axn
Tarrant County elections administrator Heider Garcia has resigned from his position he has held since 2018.

In a letter obtained by the Star-Telegram, dated April 16 and addressed to County Judge Tim OHare and County Administrator G.K. Maenius, Garcia cites a meeting with OHare and different ideas for running transparent elections as the reason for his departure.

In the section of the letter addressed to OHare, Garcia wrote that his formula to administer a quality transparent election stands on respect and zero politics and that compromising on those values wasnt an option for him.

Garcia and elections administrators across the country have been under fire following the 2020 presidential elections. Heres a timeline of Garcias time serving Tarrant County.

Heider Garcia hired out of California

Ahead of the March election, Garcia was hired as Tarrant County elections administrator in February 2018.

Garcia was hired out of Auburn, California, where he served as elections manager for Placer County.

Garcia replaced Nathan Neblett, the Houston man who held the job for two weeks in January 2018 before county officials decided to release him from the post.

None of the issues have to do with new voting machines

In the November 2019 election, voters faced a few issues when voting on new machines purchased by the county.

The Tarrant County Commissioners Court approved the $11 million plan for new electronic voting machines in August 2019. Garcia was on-hand to give voters a demonstration of how to use the machines ahead of the November election.

A few of the issues reported at the time for the November 2019 election, were that some machines werent working, paper jams occurred and ballots didnt print properly. However, Garcia said the issues were not tied to the new machines.

None of the issues that were being discussed Tuesday have to do with the equipment, Garcia told the Star-Telegram at the time. They are all related to the human factor.

Story continues

Gearing up for 2020 election

Ahead of the 2020 presidential election and still under pandemic limitations, Garcia and Tarrant County geared up for a busy election season.

Due to the pandemic, the county received over 30,000 mail-in ballot applications ahead of the November election. Using partial funds from the countys roughly $2.1 million in federal funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, they purchased additional printers, scanners and faster inserting equipment.

At the November 2020 election, the county declared an election emergency and needed more mail-in ballot counters after roughly 17,000 to 18,000 ballots couldnt be read by ballot-sorting machines.

An extra 56 people were brought in to help recount the mail-in ballots that had the printing error. A few days after the election emergency, Tarrant County finished counting ballots.

2020 election challenges, audits and death threats

In September 2021, the Texas Secretary of States Office announced it would audit election results in Tarrant, Dallas, Harris and Collin counties.

The audit was to test voting machines accuracy, cybersecurity and identifying and removing ineligible voters who cast ballots in 2020. A few months later in January 2022, results of the audit were released which showed few problems for Tarrant County.

Several Texas counties were required to do a partial manual recount at some of its voting locations within 72 hours of polls closing. About 17,000 to 18,000 of the mail-in ballots in Tarrant County had defective bar codes, which required the partial manual recount.

Tarrant County found no discrepancies between its electronic and manual counts at seven election precincts, the report shows. The results were as expected and Garcia said he would continue to work with Secretary of State on the audit.

In August 2022, the Texas Tribune reported that Garcia had received death threats after the 2020 presidential election. Garcias home address was leaked and he also received messages threatening his children.

Announcement of election integrity unit lead to resignation

County judge Tim OHare, district attorney Phil Sorrells and Sheriff Bill Waybourn, announced the formation of an election integrity unit in Feburary 2023.

No members of the Tarrant County Commissioners Court were told about the unit ahead of the announcement and neither was Garcia.

You made it clear in our last meeting that your formula is different, thus, my decision to leave, Garcia wrote in his resignation letter addressed to OHare. I wish you the best; Tarrant County deserves that you find success.

Throughout Garcias time in Tarrant County, his office had undergone multiple measures to ensure election transparency, like inviting members of the public to the elections office to participate in a mock election while workers tested machines.

Garcias last day will be June 23 to allow his staff to complete duties surrounding upcoming municipal elections and potential runoffs.
NEW CASTLE, Ind.  A Henry County man faces an arson charge over allegations he tried to set fire to a female acquaintance's car.

Jordan Malachi Weston, 30, was arrested April 10 after authorities were called to a home in Kennard in western Henry County.

A woman at that address, in the 200 block of South Main Street, told Henry County sheriff's deputies that Weston became enraged when she refused to give him a ride to New Castle.

The woman  who said she had declined to drive because she had been drinking alcoholic beverages  reported the Kennard man kicked her car, punched an exterior mirror and beat on the vehicle's windshield.

She said he also tried to set the car on fire. Investigators said the vehicle's gasoline cap had been removed, and that they found a burnt piece of rope "laying in the fueling area."

More: Dunkirk woman charged with arson in fire at her home

When the woman called 911 dispatchers, Weston reportedly tried to take her cellphone before grabbing her by her shirt and also shoving her.

The arson charge filed last week against Weston in Henry Circuit Court 2 is a Level 6 felony carrying up to 30 months in prison. He also faces misdemeanor counts of domestic battery, criminal mischief and possession of paraphernalia.

Weston  who continued to be held in the Henry County jail on Monday under a $10,500 surety bond and a $950 cash bond  has received a July 10 trial date.

In Henry Circuit Court 3, Weston in March was convicted of invasion of privacy.

According to court records, he has also been convicted of possession of meth, criminal mischief, driving while intoxicated and possession of marijuana.

Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Henry County man accused of trying to set woman's car on fire
A boardwalk along the Strahl Lake trail in Brown County State Park.

This past Sunday turned out to be a beautiful spring day. Sunny skies and warm temperatures prevailed, so I found myself on a trail at Brown County State Park. The park is located near Nashville, Indiana, and was first opened to the public in 1929. The park, with almost 16,000 acres, is one of the largest state parks in Indiana. I had decided to hike the Strahl lake trail.

This lollipop-style trail begins with a 0.7 mile side trail (or spur trail), at the Brown County State Park Nature Center and quickly descends 300 feet, which includes a wooden staircase with 170 steps that leads to Strahl Lake.

Trail 6, the lake trail itself is a 1.5 mile loop around the lake. I decided to come in on the dam side, an alternate trailhead that has fewer stairs and a beautiful view of a waterfall. Its nice to have choices sometimes.

The lake was in beautiful form on this day and I was looking forward to hiking the loop.

There were wooden stairs and walkways along one side of the lake and a dirt path along the other. I chose the latter side to start my exploration of this beautiful place.

The pine trees along the hillside were tall and there were quite a few of them. The scent of pine permeated the air. There was fresh green moss growing on some old, rotting logs and on the base of some of the tree trunks. Spring flowers were popping up throughout the woods and at last, I felt at home here in this forest.

Strahl Lake itself isnt too big. Its only about seven acres. On this day, the surface water of the lake was reflecting the colors of the blue sky over head.

A view of Strahl Lake in Brown County State Park from the shore.

There were families walking the trail and people walking their dogs. It made for a festive atmosphere on the trail as everyone seemed to be in good spirits.

The woods smelled like damp moss and dirt and the songbirds had returned to the forest. There was a lot of proof of life to be seen and heard everywhere. Birds singing, frogs croaking, and turtles sunning themselves along the water's edge. Trees with buds and small green leaves. Spring had officially arrived.

Story continues

I made my way around the lake and I took lots of photos in the process. I really enjoyed my afternoon at Strahl Lake.

It had been a great hike and a wonderful day at a small Indiana lake. Welcome spring! Its good to have you back!

To get to this place: Take Ind. 46 East to Bloomington. Continue on 46 to Brown County towards Nashville. Before Nashville you will see a large sign of the park and the park entrance is on the right.

A quote for your week: We take photos as a return ticket to a moment otherwise gone.  Katie Thurmes, photographer

Until the next trail,

Susan

This article originally appeared on Evening World: Hiker describes visit to Brown County State Park's Strahl Lake
ALBANY, N.Y.  Thanks but no thanks.

Thats been the message from unions, business groups and real-estate interests approached about donating to an advertising campaign backing Gov. Kathy Hochuls budget priorities, according to nine people tied to the various industries.

Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg gave American Opportunity, the group run through the Democratic Governors Association, $5 million last month to run pro-Hochul ads across New York and send mailers to constituents in lawmakers districts.

But it appears few other political heavyweights in the state whove backed past fundraising efforts followed Bloombergs lead.

Would-be donors said the effort was started too late in the budget season to affect negotiations.

Nobody other than Mike Bloomberg has a pressing desire to set money on fire because it's been spectacularly unimpactful, said one Democratic strategist granted anonymity to talk about behind-the-scenes discussions about the requests.

How much the fund has raised above the $5 million from Bloomberg is uncertain, and several Democratic insiders said its unclear whether the group is still soliciting contributions now that the budgets two weeks late and counting.

The campaign has refused to disclose its donors, saying the contributions will be released when its first public filing is required in July.

American Opportunity is a 501(c)(4) established to promote social welfare and policies, and it has registered in New York state as a grassroots lobbying entity. Our report in July will disclose contributions, as required by state law, said Christina Amestoy, a senior adviser for American Opportunity who also works for the Democratic Governors Association.

A Democratic strategist close to the governor who helped organize the campaign said the main message is that Hochul plans to stick to her goals in budget talks, particularly her push to toughen bail laws and press municipalities to build more housing.

Story continues

Kathy Hochul is fighting for and holding the line on the most important issues that New Yorkers face  you see that in the Siena poll and others  not because its the easy fight, but its the right fight, said the adviser who was granted anonymity to discuss the campaigns thinking.



The campaign already spent at least $4.5 million in TV ads to promote Hochuls agenda, with $2.8 million targeting the New York City market, according to AdImpact, which tracks spending. It was unclear whether more ad time had been bought.

The ads and mailers urge voters to thank Hochul for her efforts and to press lawmakers to support her agenda. The American Opportunity website includes a link that says, Tell Gov. Hochul to keep up the work shes doing to make New York a safer, more affordable home for our families and sends readers to the state website where they can send a message to the governor.

For her part, Hochul has defended the spending, but downplayed Bloombergs support.

This is an independent expenditure. I didnt align myself with anyone. Im taking support from anybody in the state of New York who supports our policies and many, many people do, she said March 30 on New York Public Radio.

Though the effort hasnt led to the usual special interests writing big checks, it doesnt mean Hochul has struggled to raise cash for her own campaign. Last year, she raised more than $50 million for her election to a first term, a state record, through major donors in the real-estate industry in New York City, business groups and unions.

But the budget ads have done little to sway some lawmakers as progressives in particular push back on changes to bail laws  although shes likely to get much of what she wants  and reject her mandate to require municipalities to build new homes, although a compromise is being discussed.

For me, it doesnt matter. I take it as a badge of honor. I know what I'm standing up fighting for, Sen. Robert Jackson (D-Manhattan) said after mailers from the group were sent to his constituents last month.

In fact, Bloombergs support has had the opposite effect in some ways by mobilizing progressives to fight for higher income taxes on the rich and to reject the billionaires influence on the state budget. They have held weekly rallies at the Capitol to push back on the ad campaign.

The governor has demonstrated that she is willing to hold up a $230 billion budget to do the bidding of her billionaire supporters while working-class New Yorkers continue to be crushed by the unaffordability crisis, said Charles Khan, the organizing director of Strong Economy for All, a union-backed advocacy group.
HONG KONG (Reuters) - One of the most prominent democracy activists in Hong Kong over recent years, Joshua Wong, was sentenced on Monday to three months in prison over an information breach involving a police officer, according to a post on Wong's Facebook account.

The 26-year-old rose to prominence in 2014, when, as a bespectacled teenager, he emerged as a leader of student-led democracy protests in which roads in the heart of the financial centre were blocked for 79 days.

In Monday's ruling, he was sentenced for breaching a court ban on disclosing personal information about a police officer who opened fire at a protest in 2019, according to the post.

Wong attended the hearing but did not speak, a witness in the court said.

The court did not immediately publish a written judgement, delivering only an oral sentencing on Monday. Wong's lawyer was not immediately available for comment.

Wong galvanized international support for the former British colony's pro-democracy movement, meeting politicians from the United States, Europe and elsewhere, and drawing the wrath of Beijing, which says he is a black hand of foreign forces.

Wong was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 for his role in the 2014 protests, known as the Umbrella movement because of the umbrellas protesters wielded to protect themselves from water cannon and tear gas.

Wong is one of 47 pro-democracy figures who have been charged with conspiracy to commit subversion, under a national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020, for participating in an unofficial primary election that year.

Western governments have criticized the law as a tool to crush dissent but Chinese and Hong Kong authorities say it has brought stability the semi-autonomous financial hub after months of sometimes violent protests in 2019.

(Reporting by Farah Master and Jessie Pang; Editing by Robert Birsel)
By Greg Torode

HONG KONG (Reuters) -Hong Kong's top Catholic cleric is due to arrive in Beijing on Monday on the first visit to the Chinese capital by a bishop of the former British colony in nearly 30 years, despite signs of new Sino-Vatican tension.

The visit by Bishop Stephen Chow and several of his senior priests at the invitation of Bishop of Beijing Joseph Li Shan comes weeks after the Vatican announced that China had unilaterally installed a new bishop to Shanghai, an appointment that took the Vatican by surprise.

The Vatican said it was informed of the decision just a few days before the Chinese announcement, and has previously accused China of violating a bilateral accord, renewed last October, over the appointment of bishops.

The deal struck in 2018 was a bid to ease a longstanding divide among mainland China's roughly 12 million Catholics between an underground Church that swears loyalty to the Vatican and the state-supervised Catholic Patriotic Association.

For the first time since the 1950s, both sides recognised the pope as supreme leader of the Catholic Church.

In a statement to Reuters ahead of his five-day trip, Chow - who was appointed by the pope - said he hoped to "promote exchanges and interactions" between the mainland and the broader Church, in particular with Asia.

When asked if he was carrying any message for his hosts from the Vatican, Chow, through a spokesperson, said: "This is an exchange of visits between dioceses. Mainland China has established liaison with the Vatican on state affairs."

China's National Religious Affairs Administration and its state-backed Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association did not immediately respond to requests from Reuters for comment.

Vatican officials have said the 2018 deal, the details of which have not been disclosed, does not apply to Hong Kong given the "one country, two systems" arrangement that secured its handover from British to Chinese rule in 1997.

Story continues

Freedom of religious belief and worship is detailed in Hong Kong's mini-constitution, known as the Basic Law, which has governed the city's status as a Special Administrative Region of China since Britain handed it over in 1997.

Some Hong Kong priests and Catholics fear Chinese authorities are gradually tightening control over the church in the city of just over 7 million people, about 400,000 of whom are Catholic, in part through the growth of exchanges between senior clerics.

Chow did not rule out raising those concerns with his mainland counterparts.

"It is possible to touch on different religious or other concerns. Up to now, there is no restriction in religious freedom in Hong Kong per se," he said.

A spokesperson for the Hong Kong government's home affairs bureau said religious freedom was protected under the Basic Law and the authorities refrained from interfering with religious bodies if their activities were lawful.

"Hong Kong is an open and inclusive city, characterised by a diversity of religious beliefs," the spokesperson said.

Pope Francis named Chow as bishop of Hong Kong in May 2021 - a long-delayed appointment amid growing Western concern over human rights and freedoms in the Asian financial hub.

(Reporting by Greg Torode, additional reporting by Laurie Chen; Editing by Robert Birsel, William Maclean)
The Glenview Park District is pursuing a Park and Recreational Facility Construction Act (PARC) grant from the State of Illinois Department of Natural Resources to fund proposed improvements to Park Center.

According to a new release those improvements which may include:

Advertisement

 Adding new aquatics features and amenities such an indoor water ninja course and water play elements, improving accessibility, and adding isolated temperature controls for enhanced lap swimming and expanded programming Updating the East Wing, including the Lakeview Room and adjacent outdoor patio, to expand programming, expand functionality and include integrated technology

To invite public feedback about the recommended facility upgrades, the Park District is holding an open house from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday in the lobby of the Park Center, 2400 Chestnut Avenue, the release said.

Advertisement

As we prepare to apply for grant funds, the communitys feedback is essential, Michael McCarty, Glenview Park District Executive Director, said in the release. Our goal is to deepen our sense of community in Glenview and provide programs and services that enrich everyones happiness and health.

McCarty said the open house is the first of several listening opportunities to identify community priorities for facility upgrades.

This open house is a chance for us to come together and share ideas on how best to improve Park Center as we develop the grant application, McCarthy said

A representative from Williams Architects, the firm that designed Park Center in 2000 and developed concept designs for the new recommended upgrades, will be available at the open house to answer questions about design elements.

If awarded the PARC grant, the project would begin in late 2024 or early 2025, according to the release. The District is saving for capital replacement improvements in these areas and these funds would be used toward the matching requirement of the grant.

If the grant is not approved, the Park District would scale back the project and delay some of the capital replacement projects until adequate funding is available. The 2023 PARC grant deadline is June 30 and an award announcement is anticipated sometime in mid-2024.
A work horse was injured Saturday afternoon after a traffic crash on a busy road in Lee County, Florida.

According to a Facebook release from the sheriffs office, a call came in about one falling out of a trailer on Palm Beach Boulevard near Interstate 75 in Fort Myers.

Deputies arrived to assess the horses injuries. An investigation revealed that a harness broke during transport, causing the animal to tumble onto the cement.

The owner was cooperative, and advised he would seek a better way for the animal to be transported, according to the sheriffs office.

The 2,000 pound white horse, named Alexander the Great, according to local station NBC 2, suffered a small scrape and is receiving follow-up treatment from a veterinarian.

Alexander is reportedly a draft horse used to pull coffins (as well as brides) for a horse drawn carriage company called Elite Celebrations.

The Lee sheriffs office says that the safety of animals is a top priority for the agency, and authorities will follow up with the owner and vet to determine if the incident was a case of neglect or cruelty.

Witness Robert Brindley told the local TV station that seeing the horse in the road was an unusual sight.

I think thats pretty intense, he said. That usually doesnt happen around here. There might be cows that get out of the fence, but that typically doesnt happen.
WASHINGTON  The clash between the Manhattan district attorney who indicted Donald Trump and House Republicans who defend the former president continues Monday when Congress is back in session with a congressional hearing about crime in New York.

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, scheduled the hearing to highlight rising crime in New York during what he called the politically motivated prosecution of Trump. But Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg contends violent crime is actually down in the city.

The hearing is the latest escalation of accusations stemming from the unprecedented 34 felony charges of falsifying business records against Trump.

It's just one of many conflicts Congress faces this week as both chambers return from a two-week recess. A lot has happened since lawmakers' last day on Capitol Hill, which was the same day the former president was indicted. He has since been arraigned and charged.

Also during their absence:

Federal authorities arrested a suspect after a leak of top secret military documents related to the war in Ukraine

In Texas, a federal judge ordered a pause on U.S. approval of the abortion medication mifepristone  the latest in an effort to block access to medical abortions across the country.

The country saw three mass shooting s  two in Louisville, Kentucky and one in Dadeville, Alabama.

There were some fissures among House Democrats about Sen. Dianne Feinstein, with Reps. Ro Khanna and Dean Phillips calling on her to resign and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying the California senator deserves the respect to make her own choices.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration and House Republicans grew further apart on federal spending, the debt ceiling and a potential catastrophic default.

White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients said its time for Republicans to show their budget and raise the limit on how much money the nation can borrow.

Story continues

Just in the last administration, Congress raised the debt ceiling three times with no drama, Zients said in an exclusive interview with USA TODAY.

Avoiding defaulting on the nations debt is non-negotiable, Zients said, and the last thing we need is debt ceiling brinksmanship.

Stay in the conversation on politics: Sign up for the OnPolitics newsletter

Pentagon document leak: Here are the biggest takeaways after U.S. military secrets leaked

House Judiciary seeks Bragg testimony

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, speaks during a subcommittee hearing on Feb. 9, 2023.

Jordan scheduled a hearing at 9 a.m. Monday to highlight rising crime in New York calling for Bragg to testify before the committee to show that he "is more focused on going after Donald Trump than crime in his own backyard."

"If New York City is the 'safest big city in America,' then why are so many people leaving?" Jordan asked in a tweet.

He demanded Bragg answer committee questions and subpoenaed a former prosecutor in the office, Mark Pomerantz, who wrote a book about the investigation. Bragg declined to testify and filed a lawsuit to block the Pomerantz subpoena. Bragg called Jordan's demands a brazen and unconstitutional attempt to interfere with a local criminal prosecution.

New York Police Department statistics show homicides down 14% during the first quarter of the year, shootings down 17%, burglaries down 21% and robberies down 8%, according to Bragg's office. But the homicide rate is three times higher in Columbus, Ohio, than in New York, the office said.

"The House GOP continues to attempt to undermine an active investigation and ongoing New York criminal case with an unprecedented campaign of harassment and intimidation," Bragg tweeted in a statement.

The hearing will feature testimony from at least three witnesses:

Jose Alba, former Manhattan bodega clerk

Madeline Brame, chairwoman of the Victims Rights Reform Council and mother of a homicide victim

Jennifer Harrison, founder of Victims Rights New York

Debt ceiling showdown nears for Congress

President Joe Biden talks with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of Calif., on the House steps as they leave after attending an annual St. Patrick's Day luncheon gathering at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, March 17, 2023.

Congress is set to address the debt ceiling and a potential catastrophic default as House Republicans have maintained they will tie the debt ceiling to long coveted spending cuts.

Zients, the White House chief of staff, repeated President Joe Bidens insistence that discussions about raising the debt ceiling should be separate from negotiations over the federal budget and possible spending cuts. But budget talks cant proceed until Republicans release their spending plan, he said.

Having a discussion around the budget is a good thing to do, but its hard to do until we know what their budget actually is, Zients said.

The federal government hit its borrowing limit of $31.8 trillion on Jan. 19, forcing the Treasury Department to take extraordinary measures to pay the nations bills. The government is projected to run out of money to pay Social Security benefits, military paychecks and other programs by this summer unless Congress votes to raise the debt ceiling, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Biden has called for an unconditional increase in the debt limit but has said hes open to a separate budget agreement with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. Biden released his nearly $6.9 trillion budget proposal in March, reviving plans to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans and corporations and to expand the government's social safety net and transform the economy.

McCarthy and other Republicans are looking to eliminate what they call "wasteful spending in Washington" as part of a deal to raise the debt ceiling. But they havent yet come up with a unified plan identifying which programs they want to cut.

The problem here is that we dont know what the Republicans stand for on the budget to date, Zients said. They havent presented one. You need one in order to have the conversation about the budget.

More: What happens if the US hits the debt ceiling? Here's what to expect if we reach debt limit.

More: Biden slams conservative Republicans spending demands amid debt ceiling debate

Texas judge suspends approval of abortion pill

Boxes of the drug mifepristone sit on a shelf at the West Alabama Women's Center in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on March 16, 2022.

In what's one of the most divisive debates in the country, lawmakers will have to address a Texas federal judge's ruling ordering a pause on U.S. approval of the abortion medication mifepristone.

The Biden administration said it will ask the Supreme Court to intervene to allow expanded access to the pill.

A federal appeals court ruling sided with the Biden administration and left the Food and Drug Administration's 23-year-old approval of mifepristone in place, allowing Americans to continue to access it. But it also limited that access, temporarily preventing Americans from receiving it through the mail or later in a pregnancy.

The appeal is the latest abortion dispute to reach the Supreme Court since a 5-4 majority overturned last year Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that established a constitutional right to abortion.

Lawmakers demand answers after major Pentagon leak

The Pentagon is seen from Air Force One as it flies over Washington, March 2, 2022.

Classified documents are in the national spotlight again after a 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guardsman leaked a trove of highly sensitive documents from the Pentagon revealing U.S. assessments of the war in Ukraine and other secret information on U.S. military activities.

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have expressed outrage at the leaks in what has become a massive intelligence crisis for the Pentagon, with some calling for congressional action on safeguarding classified information.

I think its time that Congress plays a role here in setting some parameters, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told NBC News.

But even so, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., one of the Houses most firebrand conservative members, went out of her way to defend the leaker, implying in a tweet that the Biden administration is the real enemy.

More: Air National Guardsman arrested in Pentagon document leak

More: Gang of Eight gets access to Trump, Biden and Pence classified documents

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Congress returns to NY hearing on Bragg, debt ceiling fight with Biden
As the Republican field for 2024 comes into sharper focus, GOP lawmakers in Washington have started to pick sides early in the primary fight.

Even after he became the first sitting or former president to face criminal charges, former President Trump has seen a flock of Republicans in D.C. line up behind him as he begins his third White House campaign. The polling favorite to win the nomination has racked up some powerful endorsements in Congress.

Here are the federal lawmakers who have endorsed Trumps 2024 presidential campaign.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.)

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.)

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Md., on Thursday, March 2, 2023.

After Trump endorsed Tuberville in his Senate race in Alabama in 2020, Tuberville said Trump is the leader America needs in 2024.

Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.)

Sens. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) leave the Senate Chamber following a procedural nomination vote on Tuesday, May 3, 2022.

Sens. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) leave the Senate Chamber following a procedural nomination vote on Tuesday, May 3, 2022.

In the wake of Trumps New York indictment, Hyde-Smith endorsed Trumps campaign, citing his work to secure the southern border and his economic policies.

Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.)

Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.)

Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) addresses reporters during a press conference on Tuesday, February 14, 2023 to discuss the new Washington, D.C., criminal code introduced by the House.

Schmitt, who was endorsed by Trump in his Republican primary in Missouri, said the former president has my support.

Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.)

Sen.-elect Ted Budd (R-N.C.)

Sen.-elect Ted Budd (R-N.C.) leaves the Old Senate Chamber following the Senate Republican leadership elections on Wednesday, November 16, 2022.

Another Republican that Trump endorsed in his Senate GOP primary, Budd handed down his endorsement of Trump last week, saying Americans need a return of the America First agenda to restore prosperity and peace.

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio)

JD Vance, right, speaks as Sherrod Brown, left, looks on

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) makes an opening statement during a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on Thursday, March 9, 2023 to discuss the derailment of an Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine, Ohio last month.

Story continues

Vance endorsed Trump in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal earlier this year, praising his foreign policy legacy, saying his presidency marked the first real disruption to a failed consensus and the terrible consequences it wrought.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)

I am for Trump not because of the flaws of anyone else. I am for Donald Trump because I know what Im gonna get, Graham told Fox News in January.

Long a close Trump ally, Graham joined Trump earlier this year as the former president launched his 2024 South Carolina campaign team and has encouraged supporters to donate to Trump in the wake of his indictment in Manhattan.

At the same time, Graham has praised fellow South Carolina Republican senator Tim Scott after he announced hes launching an exploratory committee for his own possible presidential campaign, saying Tim will be a powerful force in the 2024 election cycle if he chooses to run.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.)

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.)

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) questions Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw during a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on Thursday, March 9, 2023 to discuss the derailment in East Palestine, Ohio last month.

Mullin, who won his senate seat with Trumps backing last year, endorsed the former president for a second term earlier this year, calling him the strongest president of my lifetime and adding that hes proud to call Trump my friend.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.)

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) questions Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson during the third day of her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Wednesday, March 23, 2022.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) questions Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson during the third day of her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Wednesday, March 23, 2022.

Blackburn said she thinks Trump will fix the countrys economic woes and secure the border if he returns to the Oval Office.

He did it once, and he will do it again. President Trump will Make America Great Again, and I look forward to having him back in the White House, Blackburn, who was backed by Trump in her jump from the House to the Senate in 2018, said in a statement.

Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.)

Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.)

Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) addresses reporters during a press conference on Tuesday, February 14, 2023 to discuss the new Washington, D.C., criminal code introduced by the House.

Blackburns fellow Tennessee senator Hagerty backed Trump a whole-hearted endorsement and said he looks forward to working with Trump to help our great nation find its way back from the precipice.

Rep. Barry Moore (R-Ala.)

Rep. Barry Moore (R-Ala.)

Rep. Barry Moore (R-Ala.) is seen during a press event on Thursday, September 29, 2022 to discuss House Republicans Commitment to America plan.

Moore said on CNN that he wishes he could endorse Trump five more times after he was indicted by a New York grand jury.

Rep. Dale Strong (R-Ala.)

Rep. Dale Strong (R-Ala.)

Rep. Dale Strong (R-Ala.) arrives for a closed-door House Republican conference meeting on Tuesday, January 10, 2023.

Strong endorsed Trump right after he launched his White House campaign following the 2022 midterms, saying on social media Trump closed our borders, brought back thousands of American jobs and had the economy growing like never before.

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.)

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.)

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) addresses reporters during a press conference on Friday, March 10, 2023 with members of the House Freedom Caucus to discuss the debt limit.

Biggs was one of the first representatives to endorse Trump after he launched his campaign, tweeting on the day of his campaign announcement that President Trump is the leader of the Republican Party. Lets Make America Great Again.

Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.)

FILE  Eli Crane, a Republican candidate for the 2nd Congressional District in Arizona, is introduced by former President Donald Trump as Trump speaks at a Save America rally on July 22, 2022, in Prescott, Ariz. The vast 2nd Congressional District in Arizona will be a key factor in determining which political party has the majority in the states delegation. Former Navy SEAL Eli Crane emerged from a crowded field of Republicans in the primary to take on Democratic U.S. Rep. Tom OHalleran in the Nov. 8 general election. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

Crane also endorsed Trump on social media on the day he launched his third White House bid, saying he looked forward to supporting the former president.

Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.)

Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) leaves the Capitol Hill Club in Washington, D.C., following a closed-door House Republican conference meeting on Wednesday, April 27, 2022.

Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) leaves the Capitol Hill Club in Washington, D.C., following a closed-door House Republican conference meeting on Wednesday, April 27, 2022.

The night that Trump announced his campaign, Gosar tweeted in all caps: Make America Great Again!

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.)

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.)

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) addresses reporters during a press conference on Friday, March 10, 2023 with members of the House Freedom Caucus to discuss the debt limit.

Boebert said on NewsNation earlier this year that she of course support(s) Trump for becoming the next president.

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.)

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.)

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) is seen during the fifth ballot for Speaker on the second day of the 118th session of Congress on Wednesday, January 4, 2023.

Donalds decided not to endorse his home state governor in Ron DeSantis, instead throwing his support behind Trump, saying earlier this month that Trump is the one leader who can get the U.S. back on track.

Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.)

Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.)

Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) leaves a closed-door House Republican Conference meeting at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, January 25, 2023.

Mills endorsed Trump in an interview with Time Magazine last week, saying Republicans should be unifying around Trump after he was indicted earlier this month.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.)

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.)

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Md., on Friday, March 3, 2023.

Gaetz argued that Trump should be the nominee for the party in 2024 in a November op-ed for The Daily Caller, saying there were many more accomplishments left to achieve if Trump is elected.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.)

Rep.-elect Anna Luna (R-Fla.) speaks with Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)

Rep.-elect Anna Luna (R-Fla.) speaks with Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) during the second day of the 118th session of Congress on Wednesday, January 4, 2023 as the House attempts to vote for a Speaker.

Luna, who has been an outspoken Trump supporter, told Politico last month that she was supporting Trump over DeSantis, saying I love them both.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.)

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.)

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is seen during a press conference on Thursday, March 30, 2023 following the passage of The Lower Energy Costs Act.

Greene laid out her support of Trump even before he officially announced his bid, saying in November that Trump has her complete and total endorsement on social media.

Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.)

Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.) objects to statements made by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.)

Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.) objects to statements made by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) as he nominates Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) for Speaker during the fourth day of the 118th session of Congress on Friday, January 6, 2023.

Bost offered his full endorsement of Trumps 2024 campaign on Twitter in February.

Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.)

Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., votes for Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, during the third round of votes for House Speaker on the opening day of the 118th Congress at the U.S. Capitol, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023, in Washington.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Miller endorsed Trump the night of his campaign launch, citing on Twitter his border security efforts and anti-abortion policies.

Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.)

Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., right, speaks as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif., listens during a news conference on the House Jan. 6 Committee, Thursday, June 9, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Banks told the New York Times in November 2022 that he supported Trump, saying he transformed our party.

Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.)

Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.)

Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) asks questions during a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing to discuss fraud and waste in federal pandemic spending on Wednesday, February 1, 2023.

Higgins said he was endorsing Trump out the gate on Twitter, throwing his support behind the former president right away.

Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.)

Van Drew, a former Democrat who switched parties while Trump was president, told the New Jersey Globe that he was endorsing Trump in 2024, adding he is a loyal guy.

Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.)

Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.)

I really loved his policies, thought it was one of the most successful presidencies in America in terms of energy policy, the economy, tax policy, regulatory policy, Hudson told CBS17 shortly after the midterms. But while the North Carolina Republican has said he supports Trump  and was endorsed by him in the midterms  he said at the time that hell support the partys nominee, whether or not thats Trump.

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.)

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.)

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) is seen following a closed-door House Republican Conference meeting on Tuesday, February 28, 2023 at the RNC Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Stefanik backed Trump before hed officially launched his 2024 campaign, endorsing him preemptively days after the midterms in November.

Under his presidency, America was strong at home and abroad, our economy was red hot, our border was secure, our neighborhoods were safe, our law enforcement was respected, and our enemies feared us, she said in a statement to Breitbart News.

Rep. Mike Carey (R-Ohio)

Rep. Mike Carey (R-Ohio)

Rep. Mike Carey (R-Ohio) arrives for a House Ways and Means Committee hearing to discuss the Presidents FY 2024 budget with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Friday, March 10, 2023.

Carey backed Trump just after the midterms, bashing the failures of the Biden administration and arguing that, with Trump back in the Oval Office, America will rise from these crises and become great again.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio)

FILE - Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, left, speaks during a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill, Feb. 9, 2023, in Washington. House Republicans on Thursday, April 6, subpoenaed one of the former Manhattan prosecutors who had been leading a criminal investigation into Donald Trump before quitting last year in a clash over the direction of the probe. Jordan ordered Mark Pomerantz to testify before the committee by April 30. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

FILE  Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, left, speaks during a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill, Feb. 9, 2023, in Washington. House Republicans on Thursday, April 6, subpoenaed one of the former Manhattan prosecutors who had been leading a criminal investigation into Donald Trump before quitting last year in a clash over the direction of the probe. Jordan ordered Mark Pomerantz to testify before the committee by April 30. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

Longtime Trump ally Jordan told Fox News Digital earlier this week that hes 100 percent behind the former president, for him all the way.

Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio)

Rep.-elect Max Miller (R-Ohio)

Rep.-elect Max Miller (R-Ohio) is seen following the seventh ballot for Speaker on the third day of the 118th session of Congress on Thursday, January 5, 2023.

I wouldnt be here without his support, and President Trump will always have my support, Miller said on Twitter just after Trump announced his 2024 bid.

Rep. Russell Fry (R-S.C.)

Rep.-elect Russell Fry (R-S.C.)

Rep.-elect Russell Fry (R-S.C.) participates in a photo op for newly elected House members for the 118th session of Congress outside the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, November 15, 2022.

Trump unveiled a list of names on his South Carolina leadership team in January, with Fry among them.

Rep. William Timmons (R-S.C.)

Timmons was also named to the Trump campaigns South Carolina team. Timmons has been outspoken in defense of Trump as he faces criminal charges in Manhattan, calling the case political persecution that he predicts will backfire.

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.)

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) speaks at a House Education and Labor Committee hearing examining the policies and priorities of the Department of Labor on Tuesday, June 14, 2022.

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) speaks at a House Education and Labor Committee hearing examining the policies and priorities of the Department of Labor on Tuesday, June 14, 2022.

Like Timmons, Wilson was also named to Trumps leadership team in South Carolina.

Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.)

Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.) addresses reporters after a closed-door House Republican conference meeting on Tuesday, June 14, 2022.

Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.) addresses reporters after a closed-door House Republican conference meeting on Tuesday, June 14, 2022.

Harshbarger backed Trump over the weekend, arguing the former president has a proven track record of delivering results and lamenting what she sees as Biden administration failures on the economy and immigration. She was also tapped to be part of the Trump 2024 leadership team in Tennessee, along with the states two GOP senators and other House lawmakers.

Rep. John Rose (R-Tenn.)

Rep. John Rose (R-Tenn.)

Rep. John Rose (R-Tenn.) gives fruit snacks to his kids during the first day of the 118th session of Congress on Tuesday, January 3, 2023.

Now more than ever, America needs a strong leader with a track record we can trust, Rose  also on Trumps Tennessee team  said over the weekend. I am endorsing Donald Trump for President in 2024.

Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.)

Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) listens to Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.)

Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) listens to Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.) following the twelfth ballot for Speaker on Friday, January 6, 2023.

Fleischmann told Tennessees The Advocate and Democrat in February that we need a Republican in the White House and said hell support Trump if he runs and wins the GOP nomination. But he also said theres a great group of potential candidates in the Republican field.

Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas)

Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas)

Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) arrives for a closed-door House Republican conference meeting on Tuesday, January 10, 2023.

Trump is the ONLY PERSON who can save America in 2024!!! Jackson wrote on Twitter just days after Trumps announcement.

Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas)

Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) is seen prior to a press conference on Wednesday, June 15, 2022 to discuss those still in a Washington, D.C., jail for committing crimes during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) is seen prior to a press conference on Wednesday, June 15, 2022 to discuss those still in a Washington, D.C., jail for committing crimes during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Nehls, backed by Trump in the midterms, said in November that Trump has his complete and total endorsement.

Donald Trump is pushing for peace. Joe Biden is pushing for World War III. Thats the difference, Nehls wrote in January.

Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas)

Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) addresses reporters during a press conference on Wednesday, April 27, 2022 with members of the Republican Study Committee to discuss Title 42 and their recent trip to the border in Texas.

Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) addresses reporters during a press conference on Wednesday, April 27, 2022 with members of the Republican Study Committee to discuss Title 42 and their recent trip to the border in Texas.

Trump announced Babin as part of his Texas Leadership Team ahead of a rally in Waco, Texas, last month.

Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas)

Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) leaves a House Republican Conference meeting at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, December 1, 2021.

Burgess endorsed Trump in March, saying the former president has a proven record of delivering for the American people and always will put America First. Hes also on the campaigns leadership team in Texas. Trump backed Burgess in the midterms.

Rep. John Carter (R-Texas)

Rep. John Carter (R-Texas)

Rep. John Carter (R-Texas) leaves a closed-door House Republican conference meeting on Tuesday, January 10, 2023.

Carter was also named as part of Trumps leadership team in Texas in March.

Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas)

Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, speaks during a news conference as he calls for the impeachment of the Department of Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jess Rapfogel)

Named to the Trump campaigns leadership team in the state, Fallon has harshly criticized the Biden administration, comparing it to Trumps time in office. Fall was endorsed by the former president in the midterms.

Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas)

Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas)

Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) arrives to the House Chamber on Wednesday, January 4, 2023 for the second day of the 118th session of Congress as a vote for Speaker continues.

Under President Trump, America had a secure border, we were energy independent, and parents had a say in our childrens education. I look forward to President Trump once again righting the ship, Gonzales said just after Trumps campaign launch.

Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas)

Stephen Miller

Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Md., on Saturday, March 4, 2023.

Hunt has thrown his support behind Trump in 2024, according to the Texas Tribune.

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas)

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas)

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) leaves a closed-door House Republican conference meeting on Tuesday, January 10, 2023.

Sessions joined Texans Babin and Carter as part of Trumps leadership team in the state.

Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas)

Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas) is seen during a press event to introduce the newest member, Rep. Mayra Flores (R-Texas), outside at the Capitol Steps on Tuesday, June 21, 2022.

Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas) is seen during a press event to introduce the newest member, Rep. Mayra Flores (R-Texas), outside at the Capitol Steps on Tuesday, June 21, 2022.

Van Duyne was also announced as a member of the former presidents leadership team in Texas.

Rep. Randy Weber (R-Texas)

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.)

Weber is also on Trumps Texas leadership team.

Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas)

FILE  In this July 12, 2018, file photo Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas, listens to testimony from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin during a hearing with the House Financial Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington. At least 10 lawmakers and three congressional caucuses have ties to organizations that received federal coronavirus aid, according to government data released this week. Among businesses that received money was a car dealership owned by Williams. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Williams, also on the Trump campaigns Texas elected leadership team, has thrown his support behind Trumps reelection bid.

Rep. Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.)

Rep. Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.)

Rep. Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.) arrives to the House Chamber on Wednesday, January 4, 2023 for the second day of the 118th session of Congress as a vote for Speaker continues.

Mooney told WOWK-TV13 after Trumps 2024 launch that the former presidents conservative policies are what we need for this country.

Backed by Trump in 2020, Mooney also been vocal in decrying the Manhattan prosecutors case against Trump, in which the former president was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, and has said he stands with Trump against purely political persecution.

Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.)

Rep.-elect Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.)

Rep.-elect Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.) returns to the House Chamber on the second day of the 118th session of Congress on Wednesday, January 4, 2023. The House adjourned earlier in the afternoon following the sixth ballot for Speaker.

President Trump stood with me for my election in 2022, and I am proud to stand with him in 2024, Hageman told Breitbart earlier this year. The Wyoming congresswoman was Trumps pick to oust Trump critic and former Rep. Liz Cheney (R) during the midterms.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The lone charge against an Idaho woman accused of being involved in the case of Michael Vaughan, a Fruitland boy who went missing nearly two years ago, was dismissed Monday morning.

She now faces new charges  but not for anything related to Michaels disappearance.

Sarah Wondra, 35, of Fruitland, was arrested in November and charged with failure to report a death. Her arrest came as police excavated the backyard of the home she shared with her husband, roughly half a mile from the Vaughan family home.

The excavation did not turn up the boys remains, but authorities said they believed he was buried there at one point and then moved.

The charge against Wondra had been the only one filed connected to the boys case.

At the request of the state, Wondras case was dropped without prejudice by and for the reason that based on evidence in the States possession State v. Akins, 164 Idaho 74 (2018) may be a defense, according to court records filed Friday.

The State v. Akins case cited in court involved a body wrapped in a tarp and a shower curtain being found in Lake Coeur dAlene. A woman was charged with failure to notify authorities of a death, but the Idaho Supreme Court ruled that the states prosecution of that charge would violate her Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.

Payette County Prosecutor Mike Duke and Wondras defense attorney, Brett Schiller, did not immediately return the Idaho Statemans request for comment Monday on the dismissal.

Wondra was charged on March 23 with three felonies in a separate case: aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a controlled substance and destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence.

Court documents show that on April 13, 2022, Wondra allegedly pointed a gun at the head of a guest who was staying with her and then brought the gun in a purse to her parents house. Wondra admitted to bringing the gun there, because she knew she was not supposed to be in possession of a firearm, according to an affidavit. When police responded to a 911 call about the incident, they found that she unlawfully possessed acetaminophen/hydrocodone, commonly sold under the brand name Vicodin.

Story continues

Sarah later admitted to having a previous prescription that was no longer valid and she kept the pills, Benjamin Key, Fruitland police officer, wrote in the affidavit.

Why was Sarah Wondra arrested in the Michael Vaughan case?

According to a probable cause affidavit that was later sealed, police served a search warrant on the Wondra home on Nov. 11 last year based on information they received from Wondras husband, Stacey. It remains unclear when or why police spoke with Stacey Wondra or what he told him that prompted the excavation.

Police have offered few details about what they found. In December, they said cadaver dogs used in the excavation had alerted to the presence of human remains. Fruitland Police Chief JD Huff told reporters that police strongly believe based on evidence that Michael was abducted and is deceased, and that his remains were buried and later moved from the property.

In a January Facebook post, the Fruitland Police Departments most recent update, officials said only that they found several pieces (of) evidence that were sent to a private lab for DNA analysis.

Sarah Wondra was at the residence when police arrived. According to the affidavit, she told an officer that God told her Stacey had killed Michael and buried the boy in a neighbors yard. She later backtracked, saying Stacey did not hurt the boy but had buried him in the Wondras backyard, the court document said.

Wondra also told police that someone identified in the affidavit only as Adrian had been the one that had done it, and he was scared to tell anybody. Police later announced that they were looking for Adrien Lucienne, of Toledo, Ohio, and Brandon Shurtliff, of Kuna, saying they believed the men had first-hand knowledge of Michaels abduction.

Neither man has been charged in the case; nor has Stacey Wondra.

Soon after her arrest, Wondra was declared mentally unfit to proceed in court and sent to a mental health facility to have her competency restored.
Two newly-elected justices of the Illinois Supreme Court have declined to recuse themselves from a case challenging the states recently passed ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

The court as a whole also issued an unsigned order declining to disqualify them.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs in the case, which include state Rep. Dan Caulkins, R-Decatur, filed a motion March 30 asking Justices Mary Kay OBrien and Elizabeth Rochford, both Democrats, to recuse themselves from the case or, in the alternative, that the court disqualify them from participating.

The motion noted that both received substantial campaign donations during their 2022 campaigns from Gov. JB Pritzker and House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch, both of whom are named defendants in the case. The motion also noted that both received endorsements from two prominent gun control lobby organizations, Gun Violence Prevention PAC and Giffords PAC.

According to campaign finance records, both judicial candidates received $500,000 each from the JB for Governor campaign and another $500,000 each from the Jay Robert Pritzker Revocable Trust. Both also received contributions from Welchs campaign committee, $350,000 for OBrien and $150,000 for Rochford.

The significance of the campaign contributions cannot be understated as often in politics, cash follows cash, especially when one considers the stake the Governor and/or Speaker were taking in the race(s), the motion stated. Thirty-Nine percent (39%) of Justice OBriens cash came from litigation stakeholders. Thirty-Six percent (36%) of Justice Rochfords cash came from litigation stakeholders.

The motion also cited a joint statement from G-PAC and Giffords PAC issued Nov. 9, the day after the election, in which the groups touted the victories of 88 gun-safety candidates they had endorsed in the election.

Chief among them are victories in both contested Illinois Supreme Court races as well as a pickup in the Illinois Senate and four pickups that build the supermajority in the Illinois House, the groups said.

Story continues

G-PAC congratulates the gun safety candidates who were victorious in the general election, particularly newly elected Supreme Court Justices Elizabeth Rochford and Mary Kay OBrien as well as Senator-elect Rachel Ventura and Representatives-elect Diane Blair-Sherlock, Nabeela Syed, Mary Beth Canty and Laura Faver Dias, they said.

In their motion, the plaintiffs attorneys conceded that there is no Supreme Court rule specifying how a justice could be disqualified. But they did cite portions of the Illinois Code of Judicial Conduct, which states in part that, A judge shall be disqualified in any proceeding in which the judges impartialitymight reasonably be questioned.

That includes cases in which the judge has a personal bias or prejudice concerning the parties, attorneys or issues involved, as well as cases in which the judge has made public statements outside of a court proceeding that appear to commit the judge to a particular decision.

In Illinois, the decision on whether Supreme Court justices should recuse themselves from a case rests solely with the justices themselves, and both OBrien and Rochford declined to do so.

In separate orders written by each of the two justices, OBrien and Rochford noted that the plaintiffs did not point to any specific pledges or statements that would indicate a bias in the case. They both also argued that the contributions they had received were within the states campaign finance limits for judicial elections.

Both justices cited a case involving now-retired Justice Lloyd Karmeier, a Republican, who was asked in 2014 to recuse himself from hearing an appeal in a $10 billion class action lawsuit against tobacco giant Philip Morris. Plaintiffs in that case argued that Philip Morris parent company, Altria Group, had given $500,000 to a group that supported Karmeier.

The claim that a judge may not hear a case because a party may have some association with a public interest group or political party that did support or may have supported the judges candidacy has no basis in the law, would be unworkable and is contrary to the very notion of an elected judiciary, Rochford quoted Karmeier as writing at the time.

When judges are elected, as the Illinois Constitution requires, it is inevitable (and entirely appropriate) that interest groups will support judges whose judicial philosophies they believe are most closely aligned with their own views, Rochfords quotation of Karmeier continued.

OBrien quoted Karmeier as well, stating: Litigants must not be permitted to create the grounds for recusal by criticizing the judge or casting sinister aspersions, nor may a party engage in judge-shopping by manufacturing bias or prejudice that previously did not exist.

Lawmakers passed the ban on more than 170 types of semiautomatic firearms and high-capacity magazines during a special lame duck session in January. Gov. JB Pritzker signed it into law within hours of its passage, making Illinois the ninth state to enact such a ban.

There are currently two challenges to the law pending in state courts. The Caulkins case originated in Macon County while a separate suit filed by attorney Thomas DeVore, the 2022 Republican candidate for attorney general, originated in Effingham County.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear the Macon County case on an expedited schedule while the Effingham County case is being held in abeyance pending the outcome of the Macon County case.

The law is also being challenged in federal court in East St. Louis where a judge heard oral arguments last week.
By Arpan Chaturvedi

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Court appeals in India to legalise same-sex marriage are "urban elitist views", the government has said in a new court document that seeks the dismissal of the challenge and says that parliament is the right platform to debate the matter.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has already opposed the appeals, including some by gay couples, on the grounds that same-sex marriages are not "comparable with the Indian family unit concept of a husband, a wife and children".

"The petitions, which merely reflect urban elitist views, cannot be compared with the appropriate legislature which reflects the views and voices of far wider spectrum and expands across the country," the government said in a filing to the Supreme Court on Sunday and seen by Reuters.

"Dismiss the present batch of petitions on grounds of maintainability," said the 102-page filing, which added that any court decision to recognise same-sex marriage would mean a "virtual judicial rewriting of an entire branch of law".

A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dhananjaya Yashwant Chandrachud will be hearing the case from Tuesday and it will be live-streamed on the court website and on YouTube. The country's highest court decriminalised homosexuality in 2018 by scrapping a colonial-era ban on gay sex.

The government said it had to "take into account broader views and voice of all rural, semi-rural and urban population, views of religious denominations".

At least 15 appeals have been filed with the court in recent months stating that without legal recognition, many same-sex couples could not exercise rights such as those linked to medical consent, pensions, adoption or even club memberships.

Same-sex marriages are not as widely accepted in Asia as in the West.

Taiwan was the first in the region to recognise such unions, while same-sex acts are illegal in some countries such as Malaysia. Last year Singapore ended a ban on gay sex but took steps to bar same-sex marriages.

Japan is the only country among the Group of Seven rich nations that does not legally recognise same-sex unions, although the public broadly favours recognition.

(Reporting by Arpan Chaturvedi; Editing by Gareth Jones)
India lost 668,400 hectares (ha) of jungles on average between 2015 and 2020, a new report has said.

The is only second to the scale of deforestation in Brazil, noted the report released last month by Utility Bidder, a UK-based utility costs comparison firm. Brazil lost nearly 1.7 million hectares of forest between 2015-2020, as climate change adversely affected forest growth.

Read more

datawrapper-chart-Gmzap

Utility Bidders report analyzed deforestation trends in 98 countries over the past 30 years.

As the country with the second largest population in the world, India has had to compensate for the increase in residentsthis has come at a cost in the way of deforestation, the report stated. Since prime minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, his government has given an impetus to stalled projects approved under his predecessor, besides launching fresh ones. For this, vast areas of forestry needed to be cleared.

Indias infrastructure push

In the five years since 2018, Indias environment ministry has earmarked around 88,903 hectares of forest land for non-forestry purposes such as transmission lines, railways, and defence projects, junior minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey told parliament earlier this month.

Of this, the largest share of 19,424 hectares was diverted towards road construction, followed by 18,847 hectares for mining and 13,344 hectares for irrigation projects.

Such development projects have come at the cost of environmental degradation, resulting in lethal disasters, experts said.

While most of the cities of India are gasping for breath n has a poor to severe air regime,govt in its wisdom of growth proposes to CHOP over 2.3 million (23 lakh) trees. Do we realize that we r building a breathless nation? Why cant we build around trees n not over them? pic.twitter.com/d96a4Zvbs5  Vimlendu Jha   (@vimlendu) February 3, 2023

In January this year, land subsidence in the sub-Himalayan town of Joshimath affected nearly 20,000 people. The town in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand is a key gateway to several mountain expeditions, trekking trails, and pilgrim centres.

Story continues

Many environmentalists are of the view that this crisis was a result of the hydropower projects undertaken in and around Joshimath.



To compensate for the loss of forests, a tree-planting drive would be carried out, minister Choubey had said in parliament.



However, a report published by The Indian Express newspaper in March showed that even existing numbers for Indias forest cover might not be reliable.

...bungalows of ministers and senior officers, the Reserve Bank of India building and parts of the campuses of AIIMS and IIT in Delhi are classified as forests in official maps. It shines a light on the ambiguities and grey areas that could prevent the countrys afforestation programme from achieving its potential, the report said.

More from Quartz

Sign up for Quartz's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.
Twitter employees have posted 180 reviews on Blind since Elon Musk took over Getty Images

Google searches for "Twitter sign up" have fallen 81% since peaking last November.

Searches for deleting accounts have now returned to pre-Musk levels.

But those relating to joining Twitter appear to be less common than before the acquisition.

Interest in joining Twitter has plunged in the six months since Elon Musk's takeover, according to Google Trends data compiled by the web-hosting company Fasthosts.

Google Trends' index for searches of "Twitter sign up" has plummeted 81% from a November peak, just weeks after the world's second-richest person took control of the social-media company.

Fasthosts' report adds that searches for how to delete accounts have now returned to pre-Musk levels, but those relating to joining Twitter appear to be less common than before the acquisition.

That could be because so many people have now joined Twitter  as Musk has said usage is at an all-time high, and tweeted an internal report saying it had crossed 250 million daily users for the first time.

Although Fasthosts suggests it would be "idealistic" to say this is the only reason for the declining interest. "Searches being as low as they are will not be the scenario those in charge were hoping for, a sign of potentially sluggish future growth," it said.

The search index for "Twitter verification" has also fallen a drastic 96% in the same period, as Musk introduced the controversial Twitter Blue subscription. It allows anybody to get the blue checkmark for $8 a month, while businesses are being asked to hand over $1,000 a month for a gold checkmark.

Last week, Musk told the BBC that Twitter's finances are now "roughly breakeven" after it was looking at a $3 billion negative cash flow for the year  partly due to being saddled with debt from his takeover deal.

That fiscal improvement came after Musk laid off 80% of staff, landlords sued the company for alleged non-payment of rent, bathrooms were left without toilet paper, and furniture was auctioned off.

Story continues

The reduced workforce has made the platform harder to keep online, with one outage happening because an employee accidentally deleted data and there was nobody left on the team responsible.

Insider contacted Twitter for comment. The company responded with an automated message that didn't address the inquiry.

Read the original article on Business Insider
An Iowa City Police Department (ICPD) Ford Police Interceptor vehicle is seen, Friday, July 16, 2021, in Iowa City, Iowa.

More than a dozen family members and friends of 20-year-old Cristian Martinez, the Muscatine man who has been missing since Saturday, gathered for a search party in Iowa City Monday evening.

Martinez, according to Iowa City Police Department, was last seen in the area of Harrison Street in Iowa City around 12:56 a.m. April 15.

Jerry Martinez, 27, the older brother of Cristian, was at Open Heartland Monday evening, which hosted friends, family and associates of the Martinez family as they prepared to pass out flyers around downtown Iowa City.

I'm not trying to think negative, trying to find the positive outcome as of right now, Jerry Martinez said.

Jerry he texted his brother around 10 a.m. Saturday morning, asking if he had a good evening. He didnt get the quick response he normally gets from his younger brother.

Cristian had gone to Iowa City to hang out with friends, something that he doesnt often do, according to Jerry.

Jerry said he called his brother and realized his phone was dead.

Thats when he became concerned, checking to see if his mother had heard anything in addition to checking with Cristians friends.

Cristians friends believed he had returned home to Muscatine, Jerry said. Cristian would typically stay the night during previous visits and return home in the morning.

Members of Monday evenings search party passed out flyers in downtown Iowa City featuring Cristians photo and information about where he was last seen.

Jerry said he and Cristian's loved ones are spreading the word of his brothers disappearance in an effort to gather tips.

The Johnson County Sheriffs Office and Iowa City Police enlisted help from from Johnson County Emergency Management and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the outflow of the Coralville Reservoir to search the depths of the Iowa River. The Iowa City Fire Department assisted with a search of Ralston Creek, Lee Hermiston, public information officer for ICPD, said in an email to the Press-Citizen.

Story continues

Hermiston did not say whether Iowa City Police believe there are other people involved in Martinezs disappearance.

Martinezs phone had died earlier in the evening and his loved ones were unable to reach him, Iowa City police mentioned in a previous release.

Law enforcement has produced a strong effort to locate Martinez, announcing in a release sent out Tuesday afternoon they've conducted several visual searches of where he was last seen, including a sweep of railroad tracks as well as drone footage of the river banks. Officers have also reviewed Martinez' bank account and cellphone activity in addition to surveillance video from sources throughout Iowa City, the University of Iowa and Johnson County.

Persons with information on Martinez' whereabouts are asked to contact police at 319-356-5275.

A candle light vigil and prayer will be held for Cristian at 5 p.m. Tuesday evening at the Pedestrian Mall.

Paris Barraza covers entertainment, lifestyle and arts at the Iowa City Press-Citizen. Reach her at PBarraza@press-citizen.com or 319-519-9731. Follow her on Twitter @ParisBarraza.

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Iowa City police search for Cristian Martinez, a missing Muscatine man
The Iowa Senate voted to confirm Chad Aldis as director of the Iowa Department of Education Monday, installing the former think tank vice president and "school choice" advocate over Democrats' objections.

The Senate voted 37-13 Monday to confirm Aldis, with all 34 Republicans in favor along with three Democrats: Sens. Tony Bisignano, D-Des Moines; Izaah Knox, D-Des Moines; and Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames. The remaining 13 Democrats were opposed.

Gov. Kim Reynolds appointed Aldis  a native Iowan, think tank vice president and "school choice" advocate  to lead the department last month. His first day was March 15.

Chad Aldis

The appointment comes at a pivotal time for Iowa's education system.

Earlier this year, Reynolds signed a sweeping "school choice" law that will allow every Iowa family to access up to $7,600 per student to pay private school costs like tuition and fees.

She's also pursuing a host of other changes to Iowa's education system, including changing school regulations, restricting which bathrooms transgender students can use at school and prohibiting schools from teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity through sixth grade.

Democrats said Aldis is the wrong person to lead Iowa's education department during those changes.

"He has not been a teacher, he has not been an administrator. He has not worked in public schools in any position," said Sen. Molly Donahue, D-Cedar Rapids. "For the last 20 years, he has been focused on education reform. His experience encompasses education policy, advocacy and research that spans multiple states in charter school laws and private school choice. That is not the resume of a pro-public school advocate who is looking to help navigate the rough seas ahead for our public schools."

Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, praised Aldis' nontraditional background and said he's interested in "empowering parents in the state of Iowa."

"Hes interested in increasing the student performance of all the schools in the state of Iowa," Zaun said of Aldis. "He comes from a business background. I think thats really important."

Story continues

Aldis was previously the vice president for Ohio policy at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, where he began working in 2013. In that role, he testified to the state's Legislature in favor of private school choice and about school funding, charter school accountability and graduation requirements, according to his biography.

Before that, he served as the executive director of School Choice Ohio and has worked at the Florida Department of Education and for the Walton Family Foundation.

Gubernatorial appointees require a two-thirds majority to be confirmed, or 34 votes in the 50-member Senate. Republicans won a 34-seat supermajority in last fall's election, allowing them to confirm Reynolds' appointees without Democratic approval.

Senate confirms four to seats on Iowa Board of Regents

The Iowa Senate voted 34-16, along party lines, to confirm Robert Cramer to serve on the Iowa Board of Regents after he was previously rejected a decade ago.

"His public service is remarkable in terms of the many boards he has served on and contributed to the community in so many ways," said Sen. Ken Rozenboom, R-Pella.

Former Gov. Terry Branstad nominated Cramer for a seat on the board in 2013, but Cramer was rejected by the Senate, which was led by Democrats at the time.

Cramer is a former board chair of the Family Leader, a conservative Christian organization, and Democrats objected to his views on same-sex marriage and LGBTQ rights. Cramer ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2014.

"Mr. Cramer was nominated to the Board of Regents a decade ago and was rejected at that time because he had publicly expressed opposition to equal rights for LGBT students," Quirmbach said. "I asked him in a recent conversation to describe how his views had changed. His response was, 'Not that much.'"

Cramer is a vice president at Cramer & Associates, Inc., a Grimes-based bridge building and repair company. He formerly served on the Johnston school board.

The Senate voted 48-2 to reconfirm Sherry Bates to the Iowa Board of Regents and 49-1 to reconfirm Nancy Dunkel to the board. Bates was appointed in 2014 and Dunkel in 2017.

And senators voted 48-2 to confirm James Risewick to serve on the Board of Regents. He was appointed in 2022 to fill a vacancy whose term expires in 2025.

Senate confirms Reynolds' picks for Economic Development, Workforce departments

The Senate also voted Monday to confirm several other members of Reynolds' team, including some who have long served in state government.

Some of those directors will be taking on more responsibilities after Reynolds signed a massive law earlier this month that will reorganize Iowa's state government and reduce the number of cabinet-level state agencies by more than half, from 37 to 16.

More: Gov. Kim Reynolds signs law reshaping Iowa government, reducing agencies. What it does:

The Senate voted 50-0 to reconfirm Debi Durham as director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority and the Iowa Finance Authority. She has led IEDA since 2011 and began her dual role leading both agencies in 2019.

The Economic Development Authority will absorb several state cultural, arts and historic programs when the new law takes effect July 1.

The Senate also voted 42-8 to reconfirm Beth Townsend as director of Iowa Workforce Development. Townsend has served as IWD director since Branstad appointed her in 2015.

Several Senate Democrats said they couldn't support Townsend based on her work implementing Iowa's unemployment insurance program, which legislative Republicans last year cut by 10 weeks, as well as her work on a committee recommending changes to Iowa's child labor laws.

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa Senate OKs Gov. Kim Reynolds' pick to lead Department of Education
China replies to unfairness with sci-tech self-reliance

09:02, April 17, 2023 By Liu Zhihua and Wang Yu ( Chinadaily.com.cn

A view of the Lujiazui area in Shanghai, East China. [Photo/Xinhua]

Outlook: External oppression will only 'motivate China'

Faced with the threats of "decoupling" and "breaking chains", China is expected to intensify efforts to deepen its high-level opening-up policy while cementing self-reliance in key areas, an eminent member of the country's academia said.

Such an approach is expected to help China make breakthroughs in resolving bottlenecks in major technologies and move up the global value chains, which in turn will help keep global industrial and supply chains stable and boost world economic recovery, said Zhao Zhongxiu, president of the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, in an exclusive interview with China Daily.

His insight indicates China's likely response to the rising protectionism that has been behind the profound reconstruction of global value chains in recent times. Zhao, who is also an expert on international trade, said such issues have spawned both challenges and opportunities for the Chinese economy.

"Since the outbreak of the global financial crisis that started in 2007, the global value chains have been rewiring and even contracting. ... The reshaping of the global value chains has picked up momentum in recent years due to the combined influence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the China-United States trade disputes," Zhao said.

Multinational corporations are increasingly concerned about their supply chain stability and are, therefore, shortening their value chains due to protectionist moves by some countries to encourage industrial reshoring, as well as the impact of the pandemic on the global economy, he said. "In such a situation, China may face an intensifying risk of its manufacturing industry moving out, but it may also see new opportunities to upgrade its economy."

Zhao believes it is crucial for China to further its reform and opening-up policy in order to continuously enhance the domestic business environment and vitalize market entities, and in turn offset the impact of external negatives, as some countries are obsessed with excluding China from the global industrial and value chains to cap its rise.

"China must continue to firmly advocate multilateralism and an open world economy, with concrete actions to expand high-quality opening-up, deepen reform to enhance the socialist market economy and create a more enabling business environment.

"The vast, open and unified Chinese market is sure to provide even greater business opportunities for both Chinese and foreign enterprises, which will be beneficial to the whole world," he said.

According to Zhao, China will likely play a bigger role in promoting fairer, more open, inclusive and sustainable global governance.

As the world's second-largest economy, China has encountered rising containment attempts from the US in recent years, including those in advanced manufacturing and other high-end industries.

Apart from levying additional tariffs on a large number of Chinese products, the US has included many Chinese market entities on its export control list, imposed sanctions on Chinese enterprises and reportedly plans to ban US investment in some Chinese enterprises.

In particular, the US has strengthened its efforts to ally with other countries to curb the development of China's chip industry.

While such external pressure has caused only limited disruptions to China's industrial upgrade so far, it will likely create a paradoxical outcome. External oppression, Zhao said, will motivate China to increase its self-reliance in key areas, enhance the resilience of its industrial and supply chains, and proactively transform and upgrade the value chains with a digital and green approach.

Zhao's view is in line with the report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in October. The report said the main objectives and tasks for the nation in the next five years include making breakthroughs in promoting high-quality economic development and achieving greater self-reliance and strength in science and technology.

The goals include making new strides in reform and opening-up, further improving the socialist market economy and putting in place new systems for a higher-standard open economy.

"China's advance in institutional opening-up with regard to rules, regulations, management and standards will boost the productivity of the economy," Zhao said, adding that rich experiences gathered from bold trials at pilot free trade zones and the Hainan Free Trade Port are expected to be promoted and applied in other parts of the country at a fast clip.

Executives of many companies around the globe acknowledge the benefits of globalization. Experts believe that stretching the concept of national security and distorting the global value chains will only harm everyone.

Cristiano Amon, president and CEO of US chip giant Qualcomm Inc, said in late March that the company, in providing technologies and semiconductors for wireless communications, power-efficient computing and artificial intelligence, has worked closely with other companies across industries around the globe, including those in China.

Such collaboration and cooperation, Amon said, is the way forward to innovate, advance the development of society and drive economic growth.

"Qualcomm has a long history in China that spans nearly three decades. We are proud of the deep relationships we have built over the past 30 years ... and the new partnerships we are building today," he added.

Ma Si contributed to this story.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Members of Most Blessed Trinity Parish in Waukegan talk about the trash and more they collected as Earth Week began. (Steve Sadin / Lake County News-Sun)

Earth Week in Waukegan started Saturday with the assurance the carbon emissions from two of Waukegan High Schools campuses will be neutralized with the planting of 384 trees in the city and beyond.

As members of the schools Environmental Club considered their entry for the Presidential Environmental Youth Award, they wanted to find a way to sell and plant enough trees to compensate for carbon emitted from the schools Washington campus.

Advertisement

Amanda Moore, a senior who will study environmental engineering next year at Tufts University in Boston, said there is a formula to learn how much carbon is emitted from a particular place.

We did the formula, and learned the school emitted 300 tons of carbon from the Washington campus, Moore said. We needed to plant 250 trees. What we did was enough to cover the (Alternative/Optional Education Center), too.

Advertisement

The Environmental Clubs tree planting is one of scores of events with hundreds of participants occurring through Earth Day this Saturday in Waukegan as part of the citys second-annual Earth Week, beautifying the community with an environmental impact.

After organizing quarterly cleanups along the Amstutz Expressway for nine years, local accountant Marty Wozniak wanted to find a way to get more community participation clearing trash from other parts of the city.

Wozniak held an organizational meeting last year and people got involved, including Ald. Lynn Florian, 8th Ward, and Ald. Felix Rivera, 7th Ward. There were Dumpsters in each ward for people to deposit trash and other unneeded items through the week.

Faith-based groups are getting involved and helping this year, Wozniak said of the events 2023 growth. These groups are family-involved, with parents and kids helping together. The schools are getting involved.

Florian said after putting the Dumpsters in each ward a year ago to make it easier for people to dispose of trash, she worked to get other groups involved, numbering in the hundreds. Keeping trash off the streets is a community effort.

Id love to get people to stop littering, Florian said. Every time someone drops something on the ground, somebody has to pick it up.

Krystal Hernandez, a Waukegan High School senior who will study material science and engineering at the University of Illinois in Champaign in the fall, is another member of the Environmental Club leadership team. She said the project exceeded expectations.

People would buy five and tell us to donate three, Hernandez said. The (Waukegan) Port District donated 100 trees. We planted them at the harbor this morning

Advertisement

Max Pekcan, the general manager of the Waukegan Port District Harbor and Marina, said the 100 trees planted at the harbor Saturday morning will have a lasting effect. They are part of an overall beautification project there.

Im a sailor, and I love nature, Pekcan said. Anyone who harms it is my enemy. I want to do everything in m power to beautify the marina, and make it ecologically friendly.

Along with the tree planting Saturday, Robert Kutzler, the operations manager at the harbor and marina, said there will be a cleanup effort there at noon this Saturday. It includes divers from the Waukegan Fire Department and a private club going into the water to retrieve trash under the surface.

While the high school students were planting and handing out trees for planting Saturday, volunteers from Most Blessed Trinity Parish and the Christian Neighbors Church Cleanup Group were clearing trash from different areas around the city.

Deacon Mike Klatt of Most Blessed Trinity said the group filled 33 garbage bags and eight recycle bags, as well as finding seven tires and three shopping carts as they worked for two hours at Holy Family Catholic Church.

Members of the group went to Immaculate Conception Catholic Church later Saturday and plan to be at Queen of Peace Church Catholic Church and the soup kitchen this Saturday.

Advertisement

Were beautifying our neighborhoods, Klatt said. We hope others follow our example.

During the week, there were going to be Dumpsters between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday at 711 8th Street and the intersection of 12th Street and Greenfield Avenue. People can deposit unwanted items between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Tuesday at 100 North Lewis Avenue, and at the intersection of Genesee and Julian streets.

Dumpsters will be available between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Wednesday at Grand Avenue and Yeoman Street, as well as at 1702 Walnut Street. They will be available at the same time Thursday at 1800 North Sheridan Road and 2600 Sunset Avenue. Friday people can deposit unwanted items between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. at 2662 Belvidere Road.

Wozniak said the week will conclude with a celebration for the participants Saturday.

For Hernandez, the tree planting project is a start. When she graduates from college, she plans to return to Waukegan and devote a career to improving the environment in her hometown.

We have those Superfund sites here, Hernandez said. I want to help do something about them, and make this a better place. Its my hometown.
Flight PS752 was shot down near Tehran on January 8, 2020

One commander was sentenced to 10 years, with the remaining soldiers receiving sentences ranging from one to three years.

The trial of this case was one of the most important, delicate, and complex judicial processes in the country in recent years, the court said.

Read also: Does Israel need to prepare? Who attacked Iran and what Tehran's response will be

The commanders actions that led the downing of the plane were linked to his lack of awareness of the situation and his mistaken belief that the detected target was hostile, said the court.

Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800, en route from Tehran to Kyiv, was shot down shortly after takeoff on Jan. 8, 2020, killing everyone on board, including 11 Ukrainians. Most victims were citizens of Iran and Canada.

Read also: Tehran prepared to investigate use of Iranian drones in Ukraine, FM says

Four days after the crash, the Iranian military admitted that they shot down the Ukrainian plane. The black box recorded the jet being struck by two Iranian missiles. The first damaged the plane, but the pilots managed to keep it flying. The second missile destroyed the plane.

Iran says it was a mistake by the person operating the air defense system, not a deliberate order from military leaders.

Ukraine disagrees and wants access to the investigation.

Ukraine is also seeking compensation.

Ten Iranian officials were accused of involvement, but Iran has not made their names and positions public.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
More than 300 poisoning incidents have occurred at schools around Iran, which critics argue could not happen without Tehrans acknowledgment or approval.

"These attacks are most probably designed to punish and scare the Iranian people for the widespread protests that erupted in September 2022 after the murder of Mahsa Amini," Saeed Ghasseminejad, senior Iran and financial economics adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), told Fox News Digital.

The FDD, a Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan think tank, tracked attacks across Iran and counted 328 chemical attacks as of April 14, sourcing information from local reports and videos posted on Twitter. Most reports included the number of victims, ranging from a dozen to almost 100 in some cases.

Ghasseminejad, who was a prisoner in the infamous Evin Prison in Tehran for opposing the clerical regime in Tehran, squarely blamed the incidents on Irans government and argued that such attacks could not have happened  especially in the significant numbers they have  if the government was not at least supportive of them.

IRAN SMUGGLED WEAPONS TO TERROR PROXY UNDER GUISE OF HUMANITARIAN AID: REPORT

"The sustained, sophisticated and widespread chemical attacks against schools, primarily targeting girls, have the regimes fingerprints on them," Ghasseminejad said.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

"Given the totalitarian nature of the regime in Tehran and its massive investment in and obsession with monitoring and controlling the society, it is preposterous to believe that such attacks could have happened without the green light from the security and intelligence establishment."

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in March ordered authorities to investigate some of the poisonings, which occurred at girls' schools, describing them as "noxious fumes" that made the girls sick. Authorities at the time suggested the attacks mainly targeted women's education, but the FDD report noted at least half a dozen incidents targeting boys' and mixed schools as well.

Story continues

This map of Iran shows sites of purported poisonings over the past months, totaling 328 as of April 14, 2023.

Children complained of headaches, heart palpitations, feeling lethargic or otherwise unable to move. Some described smelling tangerines, chlorine or cleaning agents.

At a cabinet meeting, Raisi said the Interior Ministry should probe the incidents with help from the health and intelligence ministries and promptly release the results to the public, marking the first public acknowledgment of the poisonings. A senior official one day before the acknowledgment tried to downplay the matter as "psychological warfare" by unnamed enemies of the country.

"Over 99% of this is caused by stress, rumor and psychological war started particularly by hostile TV channels to create a troubled and stressful situation for students and their parents," the deputy interior minister, Majid Mirahmadi, told state TV. "Their goal was to force schools to close."

ISRAEL MILITARY BUILDS UP AI BATTLEFIELD TECH TO HUNT HAMAS TERRORISTS, PROTECT AGAINST IRAN THREAT

Protests broke out across Iran following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on Sept. 16, 2022, who was rushed to a hospital after the countrys so-called morality police took her into custody for allegedly not wearing her hijab  or headscarf  correctly.

Witnesses describe her as looking as if she had been beaten. She died an hour after she arrived at the hospital.

The resulting protests have continued since then, displaying the greatest resistance to the regime since the 1980s.

The regime announced in March that it had pardoned some 22,000 protesters who were arrested during the protests. The statement by Iran's judiciary head, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, offered for the first time a glimpse of the full scope of the government's crackdown.

It also suggests that Iran's theocracy now feels secure enough to admit the scale of the unrest.

The regime has sentenced several individuals to death, with three people sentenced to death in January on charges of "waging war on God." The three men  Saleh Mirhashemi, Majid Kazemi and Saeid Yaghoubi  were accused of killing members of the Basij militia, a paramilitary group affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

DESPITE IRANIAN ATTACK KILLING AMERICAN ABROAD, BIDEN PURSUES NUCLEAR DEAL WITH AYATOLLAH'S REGIME

"These executions are a key component of the regime's effort to suppress protests," State Department spokesperson Ned Price tweeted recently. "We continue to work with partners to pursue accountability for Irans brutal crackdown."

Despite acknowledging that the regime has carried out an extreme and "brutal" crackdown on the protests, the Biden administration remains committed to pursuing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)  also known as the Iran nuclear deal.

It's been reported that a return to the deal would give Tehran access to some $275 billion in financial benefits during its first year alone.

Negotiations over the deal hit a snag late last year as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken admitted that talks had gone "backwards" as Iran continued to add "extraneous demands, demands unrelated to the JCPOA itself."

Naftali Bennett, who served as Israel's prime minister between 2021 and 2022 as part of a rotational agreement for a coalition government, argued that Irans role as a major backer of proxy groups and motivator for terrorism in the region should make it of paramount importance to keep the country from attaining weapons-grade uranium and from allowing it economic relief.

"Iran is the epicenter of the terror in the whole region," he told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. "When you see the terror, that's Iran, when you see Hezbollah terror, that's Iran. Islamic Jihad terror, that's Iran," he said. "Iran is an empire of terror that is funding, training, arming and ultimately giving commands to its arms that are enveloping the entire region, and that's why the correct policy is to hit Iran at its head, not to fight the arms, but to go to the jugular."

The Iranian mission to the U.N. did not respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment by time of publication.

Fox News Digitals Andrew Murray and Paul Best and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - President Isaac Herzog called for unity during Israel's annual Holocaust commemorations on Monday as the nation remains deeply divided over plans by the far-right government to implement a judicial overhaul.

The president's office has been engaged in talks between Israeli opposition members to broker a compromise with the governing coalition over planned judicial changes which would see Israel's highest court stripped of much of its power.

While proponents of the plan say it would restore balance between Israeli authorities, critics say it removes checks and balances on government actions.

"I appeal to you, citizens of Israel, with a simple prayer: let us leave these sacred days, which begin tonight and end on Independence Day, above all dispute; let us all come together, as always, in partnership, in grief, in remembrance," he said at the opening ceremony of the memorial day.

Meanwhile, at a separate ceremony in Tel Aviv Synagogue, a member of parliament from Netanyahu's Likud party chose to leave a memorial ceremony after being heckled by audience members.

Videos on social media show participants chanting "shame" at member of parliament Boaz Bismuth who delivered a speech despite minor scuffles.

A spokesperson for Bismuth said he completed his speech and called on those present to "preserve the sanctity of the day".

A leader of Israel's opposition, Benny Gantz, criticised the hecklers and called for unity.

"I condemn this, and although I understand the differences of opinion and distress felt by many in the nation, I ask everyone to show restraint in these holy days," Gantz wrote on Twitter.

(Reporting by Emily Rose; Editing by Christina Fincher and Alison Williams)
Self-propelled howitzer M109

Read also: SAMP-T systems to arrive from Europe in June, later than expected  leaked documents

A long convoy of these howitzers was filmed several days ago at the Udinerailway station in Italy, the outlet wrote.

"Among those already at the front and those seen back in Udine, there are at least thirty tracked howitzers, while some sources speak of even double that number," wrote the paper.

A total of 60 M109L self-propelled guns have been already sent or will be sent to Ukraine, according to La Repubblica's sources.

Italy delivered the sixth package of military assistance for Ukraine in February. It included SAMP-T mobile anti-aircraft defence systems, as well as Skyguard chemical laser-based area defense systems and Spike missile systems.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Raoul Moat became the subject of the country's largest manhunt in decades

The police chief who led the hunt for murderer Raoul Moat says she is "horrified" his crimes have been turned into a TV drama.

The former bouncer shot and injured his ex-girlfriend, killed her new partner and blinded a police officer in 2010 before killing himself.

Sue Sim, who was Northumbria Police's chief constable at the time, said the series was "glorifying" tragic events.

ITV said the drama had been based on "extensive research".

Police began a week-long manhunt in July 2010 when Moat shot and injured Samantha Stobbart and shot dead her boyfriend Chris Brown in Gateshead just days after being released from Durham prison where he had been serving a sentence for assault.

He went on to shoot traffic officer PC David Rathband who was finishing his shift in a marked patrol car in Newcastle. PC Rathband lost his sight in both eyes and took his own life in 2012.

Having gone on the run, 37-year-old Moat was spotted in Rothbury, Northumberland, and following a six-hour stand-off turned his gun on himself.

Sue Sim addressed reporters in Rothbury in 2010 as the media descended on the Northumberland village

The first episode of The Hunt for Raoul Moat was broadcast on ITV1 on Sunday with two further episodes to come later and on Tuesday.

Ms Sim told the BBC's 5 Live Breakfast it was too soon to relive the events on TV as they were "within the lifetime of everyone who was there".

"I was absolutely horrified when ITV told me they were going to make what they called a dramatisation, which means they don't have to be quite as factual with the events as they would have to be if they were using a documentary title," she said.

"I won't watch it. I actually lived the events, I know exactly what happened.

"I've read what the producer had to say about how they wanted to highlight the views of his victims, highlight the police, highlight the journalist [involved] and to, in effect - and these are their words - demonise Moat.

"The issue is Moat has children who have to have this awful thing their father did brought back to them."

PC David Rathband was blinded by Moat who approached him as he sat in his police patrol car

Ms Sim, who retired in 2015, said she understood the production company had notified PC Rathband's widow, Kath, about the series by email and described that as "appalling".

Story continues

"This is within a generation. The reality of it is this is purely just for the glorification of a terribly tragic incident. It just seems to be the worst type of television to me.

"[Kath] and her children are having to live this dramatisation.

Sue Sim, who has since retired, was Northumbria Police's chief constable at the time

"For what end is this being done other than to make a huge amount of money for the people involved?

"They phoned me to let me know I would be appearing in it. I expressed my concern to them.

"I asked them if they had all the facts. They said they were working with people who'd been there at the time.

"I just said if you are going to do it, and I disagree with it, please make sure you use the facts and they uttered the immortal words, 'it's a dramatisation, Mrs Sim'."

Moat was spotted near a river in Rothbury and a stand-off ensued

ITV said screenwriter Kevin Sampson and executives at World Productions had based the drama "on extensive research, wide-ranging interviews conducted with those personally involved in the case and published accounts".

It added: "Some scenes have been created for the purposes of dramatisation and some names have been changed to protect certain individuals.

"Rather than focusing on Moat's mythology, our drama tells his victims' story, challenging viewers to address issues, themes and perspectives they may not previously have considered."

Follow BBC North East & Cumbria on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to northeastandcumbria@bbc.co.uk.
Janet Jackson kicked off her Together Again tour this weekend in Florida. (Richard Shotwell / Invision/AP)

Janet Jackson kicked off her highly anticipated Together Again tour this weekend in Florida with an epic, 40-plus-song set list and a guest appearance from "Today" co-host Sheinelle Jones.

The revered performer opened her tour Friday at the Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Fla., where she sang a number of classic hits including "Control," "Nasty," "All for You," "Scream" and "Rhythm Nation," according to NME.

She also performed a few songs  such as "Damita Jo," "Enjoy," "Girlfriend/Boyfriend," "Like You Dont Love Me" and "Do It 2 Me"  live for the first time, NME reported. The show, which features music from her 1993 "Janet" and 1997 "Velvet Rope" albums as well as several other songs from her back catalog, consists of six acts.

Here's the full set list, per USA Today:

1. "Damita Jo"



2. "Together Again" (DJ Premier Remix)



3. "Feedback"



4. "So Much Betta"



5. "If"



6. "No Sleeep" / "Got 'Til It's Gone" / "That's the Way Love Goes" / "Enjoy"



7. "What Have You Done For Me Lately" / "Nasty"



8. "The Pleasure Principle"



9. "Because of Love"



10. "When I Think of You" / "Diamonds"



11. "The Best Things in Life Are Free"



12. "Control"



13. "When We Oooo" (intermission interlude)



14. "Together Again" (Deeper Remix)



15. "Come Back to Me" / "Let's Wait Awhile"



16. "Lonely" / "Funny How Time Flies (When You're Having Fun)" (Remix)



17. "Again"



18. "Any Time, Any Place"



19. "I Get Lonely" (TNT Remix)



20. "The Body That Loves You" (interlude) (contains elements of "Runaway," "You Want This" and "Spending Time With You")



21. "Doesn't Really Matter"



22. "All for You"



23. "Come On Get Up"



24. "Free Xone" / "Throb"



25. "Girlfriend/Boyfriend" / "Like You Don't Love Me" / "Do It 2 Me"



26. "So Excited"



27. "New Agenda" / "The Knowledge"



28. "Miss You Much"



29. "Love Will Never Do (Without You)"



30. "Alright" / "Escapade"



31. "Scream"



32. "Black Cat"



33. "Rhythm Nation"



34. "Together Again" (encore)

During Jackson's encore performance of "Together Again,"Jones joined her onstage. The "That's the Way Love Goes" artist extended an invitation for the broadcast journalist to be one of her backup dancers for the day after Jones channeled Jackson for the 2019 Halloween episode of NBC's "Today" show.

Story continues

"I would love for you to join me," Jackson told Jones a few months ago while promoting her tour on the morning program. "You should."

Fast-forward to this weekend, when Jackson gave Jones a backstage tour and a rare interview reflecting on her life, career and upcoming documentary, which will include footage from the Together Again tour.

"Maybe it's because I'm not as shy as I used to be," Jackson said of her decision to document this phase of her journey. "I'm a little bit more open to sharing more in my life than I ever did before."

After practicing for hours with Jackson's backup dancers and alone in her hotel room, Jones performed a short routine to the tune of "Together Again" alongside her idol at the Hard Rock Live.

"Last night I kept trying to find the place between being out of my body and trying to stay in my body and actually get on that stage," Jones said Monday on "Today."

"When I was in high school, I had pictures of news anchors on one wall, and then I had pictures of Janet Jackson on another ... and when I was in seventh grade, I would make up dances to Janet. And so to be on that stage last night, it was ... surreal."

Jackson's Together Again tour encompasses more than 30 cities across the United States and Canada, including five stops in California. The veteran musician is scheduled to come to Irvine, Los Angeles, San Diego, Highland and Mountain View in June.

On June 10, Jackson will headline opening night of the Hollywood Bowl's 2023 season with support from Ludacris and members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's youth orchestra.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
[Source]

Maggie Tokuda-Hall, an Oakland author of Japanese descent, has called out Scholastics deeply offensive suggested revisions to her 2022 childrens book while offering to license it for their Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) narratives collection.

Tokuda-Hall was given an offer from Scholastics Educational Division to license her book Love in the Library, which is a love story set in a World War II Japanese American incarceration camp. The story is inspired by the story of her grandparents  Tama and George  who found love and joy amid war.

In the authors note, Tokuda-Hall wrote, [My grandparents] improbable joy does not excuse virulent racism, nor does it minimize the pain, the trauma, and the deaths that resulted from it. But it is to situate it into the deeply American tradition of racism.

However, Scholastic suggested that she remove the phrase virulent racism, the last sentence and a paragraph that reads:

More from NextShark: Washington Man Fatally Stabs 11-Year-Old Brother in Public

As much as I would hope this would be a story of a distant past, it is not. Its very much the story of America here and now. The racism that put my grandparents into Minidoka is the same hate that keeps children in cages on our border. Its the myth of white supremacy that brought slavery to our past and allows the police to murder Black people in our present. Its the same fear that brings Muslim bans. It's the same contempt that creates voter suppression, medical apartheid, and food deserts. The same cruelty that carved reservations out of stolen, sovereign land, that paved the Trail of Tears. Hate is not a virus; it is an American tradition.

Scholastic claimed that Tokuda-Halls statement about racism is politically sensitive, adding that the section goes beyond what some teachers are willing to cover with the kids in their elementary classrooms, according to NPR.

This could lead to teachers declining to use the book, which would be a shame, Scholastic reportedly wrote in an email.

Story continues

More from NextShark: SF Mayor London Breed proposes $500,000 budget for Asian victims with limited English proficiency

Tokuda-Hall, who was excited about the opportunity, contemplated compromising with Scholastic before declining and giving them a hard "no" for the horrific demand for censorship.

The author publicly posted a statement on her website that read in part:

They wanted to take this book and repackage it so that it was just a simple love story. Nothing more. Not anything that might offend those book banners in what they called this politically sensitive moment. The irony of curating a collection tentatively titled Rising Voices: Amplifying AANHPI Narratives with one hand while demanding that I strangle my own voice with the other was, to me, the perfect encapsulation of what publishing, our dubious white ally, does so often to marginalized creators. They want the credibility of our identities, want to market our biographies. They want to sell our suffering, smoothed down and made palatable to the white readers they prioritize. To assuage white guilt with stories that promise to make them better people, while never threatening them, not even with discomfort. They have no investment in our voices. Always, our voices are the first sacrifice at the altar of marketability. More from NextShark: Alibaba Founder Jack Ma Donates $14 Million to Develop Coronavirus Vaccine And excuse my language, but absolutely the f*ck not.

Tokuda-Hall also posted the email she sent back to her original publisher, Candlewick Press, who passed along Scholastic's proposal.

It's a deeply offensive offer. It's a deeply offensive and particular edit. To say yes, we'd like to sell your grandparent's story but not in a way that connects them to the suffering of those just like them now for fear of potential bans is, to put it lightly, cowardly. They will not have the right to sell this story because they've proven to me that they're not up to the responsibility of it. Nor do they have the right to tell me and people like me that our family's stories must stay in the past where they're deemed no longer political. More from NextShark: Yale Grad Student and U.S. Army Veteran Gunned Down in the Street Near University

So, to Scholastic, with all due respect: absolutely not. I wish them the best of luck finding safe AANHPI books that cater to the white readership they prioritize, Tokuda-Hall concluded.

Two days after Tokuda-Hall spoke out about the offer, Scholastic issued a statement to NPR.

This approach was wrong and not in keeping with Scholastic's values, the company's CEO Peter Warwick wrote. We don't want to diminish or in any way minimize the racism that tragically persists against Asian-Americans. We must never do this again.

Warwick added that Scholastic has contacted Candlewick to apologize to Tokuda-Hall, noting that the company failed to consult with their mentors for the Rising Voices collection. He hopes that the author will still accept the offer without any compromise on the authors note.

It is our sincere hope that we can start this conversation over and still be able to share this important story about Ms. Tokuda-Halls grandparents, who met in a WWII Incarceration camp, with the authors note unchanged, Warwick said, according to Publishers Weekly.

It is not clear whether Tokuda-Hall will consider the revised offer as of this writing.

Tokuda-Hall has previously published other childrens books, including Also an Octopus, The Mermaid, The Witch and The Sea and Squad and has more books forthcoming.
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Monday that Tokyo had lodged a protest with Russia over its military exercises around disputed islands near Japan's Hokkaido.

Matsuno also said that Russia informed Tokyo that it would conduct missile exercises around the disputed islands between April 18 and 22.

Separately, Russia last Friday said it would conduct missile launches and torpedo tests as part of a surprise inspection of its Pacific naval fleet.

(Reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Alex Richardson)
The fatal police shooting led to protests last year

A grand jury in Ohio has declined to indict eight officers who shot a black man in a traffic stop last year saying they were legally justified in killing him, the state's attorney general said.

An autopsy report found Jayland Walker, 25, was shot at least 46 times by Akron police after an attempted stop and chase for a minor traffic violation.

Police say that he fired a single shot at them first while fleeing in his car.

Mr Walker's death sparked major protests in Akron last year.

Body camera footage released by the police shows Walker, in a ski mask, jumping out of the moving vehicle from its passenger side and ducking into a parking lot where police opened fire on him from multiple directions.

Police later found an unloaded handgun, one magazine of ammunition and a wedding band in the driver's seat of his vehicle.

Ohio Republican Attorney General Dave Yost announced the jury's decision in a news conference on Monday.

He said that that the Akron police officers did not know that Walker's gun remained inside the car when he fled on foot, and that he made a threatening gesture before he was shot.

Walker "reached for his waistband in what several officers described as a cross-draw motion, planted his foot and turned toward the officers while raising hand," Mr Yost said.

"Only then did the officers fire, believing Mr Walker was firing again at them."

A toxicology report found that Walker, a food delivery driver with no criminal record, did not have drugs or alcohol in his system at the time of his death.

The fatal arrest took place on 27 June 2022 as officers attempted to stop him for a minor traffic violation - a darkened license plate light.

"Mr Walker was going through a very tough time in his life," said Assistant Attorney General Anthony Pierson on Monday, adding that his fiancee had died shortly beforehand.

"He was going through a very tough time and he was hurting. And that night that he encountered the police, he was not acting (like) himself," he said, according to NBC News.

Story continues

"By all accounts, this was a good man, a good person with no prior criminal record, so he was not acting (like) himself."

The eight officers involved in the shooting were placed on administrative leave, but returned to work about three months after the shooting.

The group fired a total of 94 shots in a span of 6.7 seconds. Three of the officers fired 18 times each.

The jury's decision did not need to be unanimous in order for the officers to face charges. Seven of the nine jurors - who sat to hear five days of evidence - would have had to vote to indict in order for prosecutors to bring charges.

The specially-convened grand jury included six women and three men. Two of the three men are black, according to the Akron Beacon Journal newspaper.

Barricades had been erected at the Akron City Hall and the local courthouse ahead of the jury's decision.
Shalesa Beasley, center, and her family members wear an image of her daughter Jaymeisha Beasley, the fiancee of Jayland Walker, during a protest in front of the Akron Police Department at the Harold K. Stubbs Justice Center on Friday, July 1, 2022, in downtown Akron. Beasley was struck and killed by a hit-skip driver in Cincinnati in May 2022, a month before Walker's death.

A month before Jayland Walker was shot and killed by Akron police officers, his fiancee was killed in a car crash near Cincinnati.

The eight police officers involved in Walker's death last summer will not be criminally charged, a special grand jury decided, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said Monday.

Who was Jayland Walker's fiancee?

Jaymeisha Beasley, 27, was struck by a hit-skip driver on Interstate 71 near Cincinnati while traveling with her family. Walker was not with Beasley when she died.

According to NBC News, Beasley's mother, Shalesa Beasley, said Beasley was killed in a hit-and-run on May 28 in Warren County in southwest Ohio. Shalesa Beasley told NBC News that she was traveling to Kentucky with Beasley and her other daughter when a semi rear-ended their van.

Beasley, who was asleep in the back and not wearing a seatbelt, was ejected from the van onto the highway and died after an oncoming vehicle hit her, Shalesa Beasley told NBC News.

Shalesa Beasley told NBC News that her daughter and Walker started dating when they were 15 and had gotten engaged about a year before Walker's death, saying they were inseparable. The two had just started discussing wedding plans and were in the process of buying a home together when she died, saying Walker was "heartbroken" over her death, according to NBC News.

Grand jury decision: No criminal charges for 8 Akron officers who shot Jayland Walker

How did Jaymeisha Beasley die?

According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, one person was killed and three others were injured after the crash around 1 a.m. May 28, 2022, on the southbound lanes of Interstate 71 in Warren County.

According to the Enquirer, a semi was headed south on I-71 and crashed into a van that was going at a slow speed. A passenger in the van  Jaymeisha Beasley  was thrown out of the vehicle and onto the ground, then hit by another car driving down the interstate that did not stop, the Enquirer reported.

Story continues

Did Jayland Walker commit 'suicide by cop'?

During a virtual press conference Monday about the grand jury's decision, Senior Assistant Attorney General Anthony Pierson said there was no evidence that Walker committed "suicide by cop" but said Walker was going through a difficult time after the recent death of his fiancee.

"I don't want to speculate as to what Mr. Walker was thinking at the time, but I can say this, that it has been made public that Mr. Walker was going through a very tough time in his his life. I think it's been documented that Mr. Walker's fiancee had died a short time before this incident happened. And he was going through a very tough time. And he was hurting," Pierson said.

Jayland Walker updates: Watch live: City of Akron holds press conference after grand jury decision

"And that night that he encountered the police, he was not acting himself. By all accounts, this was a good man, a good person with no prior criminal record, so he was not acting himself. But other than that, I'm not willing to make a leap as to his intentions on that night," Pierson said.

According to the 227-page report from the Ohio attorney general's office, Walker's Google account showed searches for what happens when you drink bleach on May 30, drinking bleach on June 10 and quickest ways to die on June 10. His mother and sister said he showed no signs of being suicidal. The Beacon Journal is reading through the report and will post updates on what it contains.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Who was Jayland Walker's fiancee? Jaymeisha Beasley died before shooting
A Buffalo Grove man was killed over the weekend when he lost control of his motorcycle on a Kenosha County roadway, according to Wisconsin authorities.

Scott E. Wicks, 54, was killed and a female passenger on his Harley-Davidson was injured in the single-vehicle crash, the Kenosha County sheriffs office said.

Advertisement

The crash happened at 3:37 p.m. Saturday in the 700 block of 312th Street, near Burlington. Police said as Wick neared the intersection with 7th Street, he failed to negotiate a curve. His motorcycle left the road and crashed into a ditch.

Police said the road was slick from a rainstorm.

Advertisement

Wick was pronounced dead at the scene. The passenger was taken to a hospital with what police said were not life-threatening injuries.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
Joe Exotic in 2013. Sue Ogrocki/AP Images

Joe Exotic was sentenced to 21 years in prison on a murder-for-hire charge.

In a Fox News interview, the "Tiger King" star blamed the Trump Administration for his conviction.

A prerecorded message interrupted the interview, saying, "This call is from a federal prison."

Joe Exotic, the star of Netflix's "Tiger King," is adjusting his plans to run for president in 2024 and he has a message for Donald Trump: "Karma's a bitch, ain't it?"

Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage, filed earlier this year to run for president all while serving a 21-year sentence for a murder-for-hire plot in an Atlanta federal prison.

The "Tiger King" star previously tried and failed to get a presidential pardon from Trump, and he appears to have held a grudge for being omitted from the pardon list ever since.

During a phone interview from Atlanta Penitentiary with Fox News' Lawrence Jones, Exotic blamed the Trump Administration for putting him behind bars.

"His administration is the one who screwed me over and put me in here for an agenda to stop you from owning a tiger and petting a baby tiger," he said. "All I got to say to him is, 'Karma's a bitch, ain't it?'"

Exotic also suggested there was no fault with Trump's indictment concerning a hush-money payment made to a porn star when asked if he believed the charges were "fair."

"If the man broke the law, he needs to pay the price," Exotic said. "No different than President Biden or Hunter Biden or Obama or anybody else."

Shortly after Trump was indicted, Exotic welcomed the former president to the "party."

In his closing statement during the interview, Exotic encouraged people to visit his campaign website to learn more about his platform, but he was cut off as viewers were inadvertently reminded where he was calling from.

"This call is from a federal prison," an automated voice recording can be heard saying.

Exotic initially filed to run for president as a Libertarian but announced on April 11 that he would be changing his party affiliation to Democrat. The Federal Election Commission's database does not yet show that Exotic has re-filed to switch his party.

Story continues

Exotic told Fox News he was turned off by infighting in the Libertarian party and felt the party's views were "too far out there." He then listed a mix of hot-button conservative and liberal views.

"I believe in pro-choice. I believe in the 2nd Amendment. I still don't believe that anybody under 21 should have an assault rifle. I believe in LGBTQ. Transgender things should not be happening to kids under 18," he said: "There's just views on every aisle that I agree with."

Read the original article on Business Insider
(Getty Images)

SenatorJohn Fetterman returned to the United States Senate on Monday after treatment for depression kept him away for six weeks.

Mr Fetterman exited his car in his trademark black hooded sweatshirt, gym shorts and sneakers and placed his hand over his heart as he returned to the chamber ahead of votes on Monday afternoon.

Mr Fetterman posted a photo of his return to the Senate.

Its good to be back, he tweeted.

its good to be back pic.twitter.com/bdqW3W7FAj  Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) April 17, 2023

The newly-elected Senator from Pennsylvania suffered a stroke last year shortly before the Democratic primary in May. Despite that, he still beat Republican television star and physician Mehmet Oz in the general election.

In February, Mr Fetterman checked into George Washington University hospital after he experienced lightheadedness but checked out shortly thereafter. But Mr Fetterman later checked into Walter Reed Medical Center in February to undergo treatment for depression.

Mr Fettermans return comes as the Democratic caucus grapples with the continued absence of Senator Dianne Feinstein, 89, who has been out of the Senate for a similar time with shingles. Last week, Ms Feinstein, who announced earlier this year that she would not seek re-election, asked to be temporarily removed from the Senate Judiciary Committee as she recovers. This comes as Democrats hope to continue to confirm President Joe Bidens nominees.
For the first time in more than two months, Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman returned to the Senate.

The senator returned to Capitol Hill on Monday.

Fetterman was out after checking himself into Walter Reed Medical Center for clinical depression.

RELATED >>> Sen. John Fetterman checks himself into hospital for clinical depression

His office said hes now in remission, and he was released from the hospital last month.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> John Fetterman to return to Senate next month after hospital stay

Fetterman tweeted once he returned, saying, Its good to be back.

its good to be back pic.twitter.com/bdqW3W7FAj  Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) April 17, 2023

Wednesday, Fetterman is scheduled to chair a hearing on nutritional assistance in the farm bill.

It will be his first time chairing a subcommittee hearing.

Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW

TRENDING NOW:

Pittsburgh man charged for allegedly assauling priest at South Side monastery New charges filed against Butler County mechanic, 3 new victims come forward Duquesne University Police Department strikes after nearly 8 months of negotiations VIDEO: As locals celebrate Orthodox Easter in Allegheny County, thoughts remain with war-torn Ukraine DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts
E. Jean Carroll (left) and former President Donald Trump (right). Getty/Getty

A judge denied Donald Trump's bid to delay E. Jean Carroll's rape trial because of his indictment.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan expressed concern the request was "another delay tactic" by the former president.

The battery and defamation trial is scheduled to start April 25 in Manhattan federal court.

A judge has turned down former President Donald Trump's request to delay E. Jean Carroll's rape and defamation case to allow the "media frenzy" surrounding his recent indictment to die down.

US District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan said some of the so-called media frenzy had been caused by Trump himself.

"Mr. Trump's assertion that the media coverage of his indictment and arraignment was so overwhelming that a 'cooling off' period is needed before selecting a jury in this case, and that it would be effective, is unproven and speculative, not to mention illogical," Kaplan wrote in a Monday order. "There was, of course, a great deal of media coverage  some of it invited and, indeed, provoked by Mr. Trump."

"It does not sit well for Mr. Trump to promote pretrial publicity and then claim that coverage that he promoted was prejudicial to him and should be taken into account as supporting a further delay," he wrote.

Kaplan ordered that Carroll's trial against Trump will proceed on schedule, starting April 25 in Manhattan federal court.

Carroll has accused Trump of raping her in a Bergdorf Goodman changing room in the mid-1990s and says he defamed her when he loudly denied her allegation when she went public with the claim during his third year in the White House. Trump has denied all of her allegations.

Last week, Trump's lawyers made two last-minute requests to delay the trial a month, including a request to reopen discovery so that they could probe LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman's financial support of the lawsuit. The judge allowed a brief reopening of discovery but denied Trump's request to delay the trial.

The other request was for a one-month "cooling off" period to allow the "media frenzy" surrounding Trump's recent indictment in New York over alleged hush money payments to die down.

Story continues

Judge Kaplan said Monday he wasn't convinced such a "cooling off" period is needed or "that it would be effective" in insuring Trump receives his right to a fair trial. Trump's lawyers expressed specific concerns over being able to impanel a jury that wouldn't be tainted by the news of Trump's indictment.

Kaplan also voiced concern that the "request to adjourn the trial is another delay tactic by Mr. Trump," in his litigation with Carroll, which has spanned more than three years.

Carroll "is now over 79 years of age and is entitled to her day in court just as both parties are entitled to a fair trial," Kaplan wrote.

"In consideration of the ages of both parties and extensive pretrial litigation ... it would not be in the interest of justice to permit further delay absent a strong justification," Kaplan added.

Joe Tacopina, an attorney for Trump, and Robbie Kaplan, an attorney for Carroll, both declined to comment Monday.

Read the original article on Business Insider
(Getty)

A federal judge in New York City has rejected former president Donald Trumps eleventh-hour attempt to once again postpone his long-delayed civil defamation and rape trial on the grounds that publicity surrounding his recent indictment necessitated a cooling-off period to ensure an impartial jury.

Judge Lewis Kaplan on Monday ordered the trial, which stems from two civil lawsuits brought against the ex-president by writer E Jean Carroll, to commence on 25 April as previously scheduled.

In a ten-page order and opinion, Judge Kaplan said the one-month delay Mr Trumps attorneys had asked for would have no impact on the potential jury pool in the case, which will be tried in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.

There is no reason to assume that a sufficient number of fair and impartial jurors cannot be found on April 25, 2023 or that it would be materially easier to find such jurors on May 23, 2023, he said.

Judge Kaplan added that the jury selection process would address the matter of publicity stemming from Mr Trumps indictment and other matters, including inquiry into prospective jurors awareness, if any, of Mr. Trumps various legal troubles  past, present and perhaps future  and jurors ability and willingness to render a fair and impartial verdict in this case, regardless of any prior knowledge or attitudes.

He added that at least some portion of the publicity around the criminal charges against Mr Trump is of the ex-presidents own doing and chastised him for attempting to use coverage he precipitated to delay his own trial.

There has been no shortage of recent news articles focused on Mr. Trumps own public statements on his social media platform and in press conferences and interviews he has given about his indictment, he said. It does not sit well for Mr. Trump to promote pretrial publicity and then to claim that coverage that he promoted was prejudicial to him and should be taken into account as supporting a further delay.

The judge also said it was difficult to ignore the possibility that the eleventh-hour request from the ex-president was a dilatory tactic to delay a trial that comes more than three years after Ms Carroll sued Mr Trump for defamation after he said he could not have raped her because she was not his type.

In consideration of the ages of both parties and extensive pretrial litigation that has occurred in both of Ms. Carroll's actions, it would not be in tl1e interest of justice to permit further delay absent a strong justification. Mr. Trump has not provided any such justification, he said.
Judy Blume is responding to Sunday Times headline stating she is 100 percent behind fellow author J.K. Rowling, seeking to emphasize that she stands with the trans community against discrimination.

In an interview with the British newspaper, Blume said of Rowling, I love her. I am behind her 100 percent as I watch from afar. According to The Sunday Times, Blume was referring to the backlash Rowling has received for speaking up in defense of womens sex-based rights.

But in a statement shortly after the interview was published, Blume said that was untrue.

I wholly support the trans community, Blume wrote Sunday in a statement shared to social media. My point, which was taken out of context, is that I can empathize with a writer  or person  who has been harassed online.

I stand with the trans community and vehemently disagree with anyone who does not fully support equality and acceptance for LGBTQIA+ people. Anything to the contrary is total bulls-, wrote Blume, who spoke to the Sunday Times ahead of the release of a cinematic adaptation of her classic novel Are You There, God? Its Me, Margaret.

Rowling has repeatedly been accused of making transphobic comments in social media posts and during interviews. In a lengthy 2020 blog post, the Harry Potter creator said transgender women and girls should not be permitted to use public facilities such as restrooms consistent with their gender identity, citing her experience as a survivor of sexual assault.

She maintains that she has nothing against transgender people and supports the LGBTQ community.

Blume on Sunday additionally pointed to a recent interview with Variety where she said she opposes efforts to ban books in school libraries that some parents or individuals consider to be inappropriate for young readers.

More than 40 percent of books banned last year explicitly address LGBTQ themes or have protagonists or prominent secondary characters who are LGBTQ, according to a September PEN America report.

Story continues

I just read a book that was wonderfully enlightening to me. Its called Gender Queer, Blume told Variety last month. Gender Queer, a memoir and graphic novel by Maia Kobabe, who is nonbinary, was named the most challenged book of 2021 by the American Library Association for its focus on LGBTQ identities and images considered by some to be sexually explicit.

This young person is telling me how they came to be what they are today, Blume said of Kobabes memoir. And I learned a lot, and became even more empathetic. Thats what books are all about.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Dimitrios Kambouris / Variety via Getty Images

Judy Blume said Sunday that she wholly supports the transgender community after an article in a British newspaper quoted her as saying she was behind J.K. Rowling 100 per cent.

The author of the classic childrens novel Are You There God? Its Me, Margaret was profiled in the Sunday Times newspaper by Hadley Freeman, a journalist who quit the Guardian last year in part because she said that outlet censored her from writing more anti-transgender stories .

Freemans profile  headlined Judy Blume: Im behind JK Rowling 100 per cent  discussed Blumes career at length but prominently featured her comments about the Harry Potter writer in its opening paragraphs.

I love her, Blume was quoted as saying about Rowling. I am behind her 100 per cent as I watch from afar.

In subsequent sentences, Freeman then said Blume was specifically referring to the abuse Rowling has received for speaking up in defence of womens sex-based rights.

Given that Blume has faced repeated attacks since the 1980s, for her books descriptions of adolescent sexuality and puberty, Freeman wrote, she knows what its like to be pilloried as an author.

Neil Mockford / FilmMagic

Freeman then asked whether Blume had reached out to Rowling, to which Blume said she had only communicated with her a few times previously. I havent been in touch with her during this tough time. Probably I should, Blume was quoted as saying.

Given the articles headline and framing  and the fact it was behind a paywall that stopped many people from reading more of the story  many people online were quick to express their disappointment at what they perceived as Blumes support of anti-trans discrimination.

But on Sunday afternoon, Blume tweeted a statement in which she said she stands with the transgender community.

Blume said she had been trying to say she could empathize with people who receive harassment online, but that the articles suggestion that she did not support equality and acceptance for the LGBTQ community was bullshit.

Story continues

In a subsequent tweet , Blume also pointed to an interview she did with Variety last month in which she railed against banning books to try to prevent children from becoming LGBTQ and in which she praised Maia Kobabes memoir Gender Queer.

Its probably the No. 1 banned book in America right now, Blume told Variety. And I thought, This young person is telling me how they came to be what they are today. And I learned a lot and became even more empathetic. Thats what books are all about.

Many LGBTQ people and allies were quick to thank Blume for showing support.

@judyblume Love and admiration to you, Ms. Blume  its ridiculous that your words were so shamelessly exploited as a way to further divide people. Thank you for supporting trans rights. 10:25 PM - 16 Apr 2023

Judy Blume is the best https://t.co/Te86L4KaQ0 11:28 PM - 16 Apr 2023

Judy Blume said Are you there Fuck Around? Its Me, Find Out. https://t.co/GenskeHmKC 11:23 PM - 16 Apr 2023

But others said she had caved to cancel culture.

Judy Blume caved in about 12 hours and put out a struggle session statement. Shes 80 and very successful, you would have thought she wouldnt care anymore. Just goes to emphasise how brave @jk_rowling is. 07:05 AM - 17 Apr 2023

"Are you there, God? It's me, morons."Judy Blume. The cancel culture mob is now going after... Judy Blume. I've got nothing. https://t.co/FMHRZAXPTe 01:44 PM - 17 Apr 2023

Last year, Freeman profiled The Handmaids Tale author Margaret Atwood for the Guardian . In one tense exchange, Freeman repeatedly pressed Atwood to clarify her views on trans people.

Everything in nature is on a bell curve. We have this two-box thinking [about gender] because its biblical, so wool over here, linen over there, Atwood said.

I think youre making too much of this! Atwood eventually told Freeman.

Atwoods handling of Freemans questions received praise in the LGBTQ media .

Following the Blume controversy, many criticized Freeman for what they said was her obsession with the trans community.

Does Hadley Freeman have a list of her favourite authors to interview solely to ask if theyre rabid terfs like her? Can one of her friends sit her down and ask if shes okay? https://t.co/MXzie3odmN 07:51 AM - 17 Apr 2023

Imagine interviewing Judy Blume  a dream  and misrepresenting her so throughly on your hobby horse topic that she has to issue a statement calling what you did bullshit. That would be a VERY bad day at the office in my book. 07:21 AM - 17 Apr 2023

This headline, in addition to being manipulated and misleading, is also just insulting: youre interviewing Judy Blume about her career, and you lead with this? 06:42 AM - 17 Apr 2023

Hadley Freemans dedication to interviewing legendary authors like Judy Blume and Margaret Atwood to minimize their literary achievements and twist their words into support of her own anti-trans rhetoric is as well-documented as it is pathological and inane. https://t.co/akHhcwk6be 07:52 PM - 16 Apr 2023

In a series of tweets on Monday, Freeman defended her story and denied taking Blumes comments out of context or misquoting her.

I did not ask Blume about the criticisms against JK Rowling - she brought them up herself, Freeman said.

There is much to be said about how gross it is today that Blume - of all wonderful people - is publicly dragged for showing friendship to another female author, Freeman added. But Ill just say, all the men on here who get off on screaming at women supporting women? Seek help.

More on this
Judy Blume, at the April 15 premiere of Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret,. is setting the record straight after discussing J.K. Rowling in a recent article. (Photo: AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Judy Blume is clarifying her support for the transgender community after sharing in a new interview with the Sunday Times that she is "behind" fellow author J.K. Rowling "100%," which some took as an expression of support for the Harry Potter author's controversial views on sex and gender.

"I love her," Blume, whose 1970 book Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. has been adapted into a film being released on April 28, told Sunday Times writer Hadley Freeman of Rowling. "I am behind her 100% as I watch from afar." Freeman, who has frequently covered gender-critical feminism, wrote that Blume's quotes was "referring to the abuse Rowling has received for speaking up in defense of womens sex-based rights." But in a new statement, Blume says otherwise.

Taking to social media on Sunday after her quote from the paywalled article went viral, Blume, 85, claimed that her quote about Rowling had been "taken out of context." According to Blume, she was referring to the vitriol and threats Rowling says she has dealt with as a result of sharing her views, which many have called transphobic. The Blubber author stressed her own support for the trans community.

"I wholly support the trans community," Blume shared. "My point, which was taken out of context, is that I can empathize with a writer  or person  who has been harassed online. I stand with the trans community and vehemently disagree with anyone who does not fully support equality and acceptance for LGBTQIA+ people. Anything to the contrary is total bulls**t."

Blume went on to direct her fans to a recent interview she gave to Variety, in which she spoke out against book bans, many of which center on LGBTQ content.

Story continues

What are you protecting your children from?" she told the outlet. "Protecting your children means educating them and arming them with knowledge, and reading and supporting what they want to read. No child is going to become transgender or gay or lesbian because they read a book. Its not going to happen. They may say, Oh, this is just like me. This is what Im feeling and thinking about.' Or, Im interested in this because I have friends who may be gay, bi, lesbian. They want to know!

Per my recent interview with Variety: pic.twitter.com/ncLSyYqfql  Judy Blume (@judyblume) April 16, 2023

In a speech earlier this month, Blume also drew parallels to the censorship attempts she herself encountered as a writer who introduced young readers to topics like puberty and sexuality

"With me it was sexuality, and specifically puberty  which to some people was a very dirty word. It wasnt something the censors wanted to talk about with their kids," she said during Variety's Power of Women luncheon in early April. "You know  if they dont read about it, they wont know about it, and if they dont know about it, it will never happen to them  guess what."
Judy Blume made her support for the LGBTQ+ community clear after seeming to side with J.K. Rowling in a new interview.

Blume, a pioneer of young adult fiction, was met with quite the backlash after defending the controversial Harry Potter scribe in a profile for the U.K.s Sunday Times.

In the piece, the author of Are You There God? Its Me Margaret said she was 100% behind Rowling, whom she declared a victim of Twitter.

Judy Blume appears on

Judy Blume appears on "Late Night With Seth Meyers" in 2015.

Though Rowling was beloved for her fantasy saga, her profile has soured in recent years. Shes positioned herself as a casualty of cancel culture amid ongoing accusations of transphobia, both online and in her work.

While Blume told The Times she was a Rowling fan, the bestseller admitted she wasnt up on every word, fueling controversy.

That didnt stop people from calling out the writer online, sending her name to the top of Twitter trends.

@judyblume as a mom of a gender-queer young adultwho read all your books growing up and became a writerplease educate yourself.  Alyson Gold Weinberg (@AlysonGWeinberg) April 16, 2023

To be clear: Im mad at Judy Blume *either* for supporting that person, OR for saying that she supported someone but also not knowing what was going on.



Either version is bad.  Courtney Milan  (@courtneymilan) April 16, 2023

Blume revised her remarks on Twitter just hours after the piece was published, saying her words were taken out of context and that she wholly support[s] the trans community.

The Blubber author continued, saying she was only trying to empathize with a writer  or person  who has been harassed online. Blumes books have faced scrutiny over the years for their candid depictions of adolescent sexuality and puberty.

Story continues

The author repeated her support for the trans community, adding that she vehemently disagree[s] with anyone who does not fully support equality and acceptance for LGBTQIA+ people. Anything to the contrary is total bullshit.

The novelist also shared an excerpt from a March interview with Variety, where she blasted book bans happening across the nation.

What are you protecting your children from? she told the outlet. Protecting your children means educating them and arming them with knowledge, and reading and supporting what they want to read. No child is going to become transgender or gay or lesbian because they read a book. Its not going to happen.

School districts in 26 states have moved to ban or investigate library offerings in their communities, according to NBC News. Last week, the war on learning reached new levels when Republicans in Missouris House of Representatives voted to completely strip the public library system of state funding.

Related...
Justice Clarence Thomas in his dissenting opinion to Supreme Court decision on Thursday repeated a misleading claim about COVID-19 vaccines. Erin Schaff/Associated Press

Clarence Thomas received rental income from a firm called Ginger Limited Partnership, WaPo reported.

The real estate firm's partners included Thomas' wife Ginni Thomas, her parents, and her 3 siblings.

The firm shut down in 2006, but Thomas continued to report income from the defunct company.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas reported receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars of rental income from a real estate company since it dissolved more than a decade ago in 2006, according to The Washington Post.

The firm, Ginger Limited Partnership, was created in 1982 by his wife Ginni Thomas and her relatives, WaPo reported. Ginni, her parents, and her three siblings were partners at the firm, according to the report.

The company dissolved in 2006, and state records show a new firm was created the same year under a similar name, Ginger Holdings, LLC. But since then, Thomas reported receiving a total of $270,000 to $750,000 from the defunct firm, records reviewed by WaPo showed. The exact amounts are unknown because the disclosure forms only ask for a range to be reported.

A Supreme Court spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

This is not the first discrepancy to be found in Thomas's disclosure reports. Recent ProPublica investigations revealed Thomas failed to report lavish vacations from GOP mega-donor Harlan Crow and a 2014 real estate deal in which Thomas sold his childhood home to Crow.

Federal law stipulates that government employees, including Supreme Court justices, must disclose real estate transactions worth more than $1,000.

The findings renewed calls from Democratic lawmakers to impeach the 74-year-old justice, but judiciary ethics experts told Insider removing Thomas is highly unlikely.

Unseating a lifetime appointed Supreme Court justice requires a similar process as removing a US president: A simple majority of the House of Representatives must vote to impeach, and then two-thirds of the Senate must vote to convict.

"One issue we have is that the only discipline of Supreme Court justices is the extreme form of impeachment or removal," Scott Lemieux, a professor of political science at the University of Washington previously told Insider. "Clarence Thomas could shoot someone on Pennsylvania Avenue and this Senate wouldn't remove him."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Dax, one of the Lake County sheriffs office K-9 superstars, should have earned another doggy treat last week. He helped collar a man who barricaded himself in an Ingleside garage.

He also took a bite out of the accused perpetrator. Authorities said the man violated an existing order of protection after he threatened to kill the woman who owned the home. Good dog, Dax.

Advertisement

Indeed, the suspect, a 53-year-old Ingleside man, had an active arrest warrant for a previous violation of an order of protection, according to the sheriffs office. Deputies gave the guy a sporting chance, telling him Dax would be released on him if he didnt surrender.

As so often happens in these perp vs. K-9 situations, the dog was released and bit the suspect on the leg as he was hiding under a bench in the garage. Now thats a really good dog.

Advertisement

Dax is a member of the K-9 cadre teams at the sheriffs office, which number seven. Most of Lake Countys major municipal police departments have at least one K-9 officer.

Sheriff John Idleburg is an avid supporter of K-9 cops, noting, We have seen what a tremendous resource they are to Lake County.

They have proven their worth, credited for locating hundreds of missing people, fleeing suspects, numerous discarded firearms or other evidence, and hundreds of pounds of illegal drugs, according to the sheriffs office, and supporting law enforcement in the county.

There are an estimated 30,000 law enforcement K-9s in the U.S.

Across the country and in different settings, mans best friend has proven itself in police duty, combat, customs inspections, airport security and beyond. They work hard, as do their human partners.

Now comes New York City, which has a mechanical canine to aid in policing efforts. Leave it to the urbane, sophisticated New Yawkers to come up with the lame name of Digidog for their robodog. That is one name that is not going to put fear in criminals.

Ironically, the robot police dog was reintroduced last week after the city dropped its usage nearly three years ago. At that time, Big Apple officials canceled a contract for a $94,000 pilot program.

Back then, some had called the remote-controlled, four-legged machine creepy looking and alienating, according to The Associated Press. Other cities across the country also have tested robodogs.

Advertisement

Certainly, that $94,000 figure can buy a lot of kibble for Lake Countys police dogs. Besides, how do you praise a robot after a task well-done?

Along with the cost of training, which can run to $15,000 per dog, and food, another thing that adds to the tab for four-legged K-9 officers is keeping them safe. To that end, bullet-and-stab protective vests also are used for the dogs, like their human partners wear.

The value of a vest is $1,800, weighs upward of 5 pounds and comes with a five-year warranty. One of the sheriffs office K-9s, Zeus, will receive his body armor in eight to 10 weeks, Idleburg announced last week.

Lake County News-Sun Twice-weekly News updates from Lake County delivered every Monday and Wednesday By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy >

A donation from the Massachusetts-based nonprofit organization Vested Interest in K9s, Inc., is covering the cost. Zeus vest is sponsored by a $985 donation from Barbara Napolitano of west suburban Oak Brook.

Since 2009, the group has given out more than 5,043 vests to K-9s in all 50 states, an amount valued at $6.9 million through private and corporate donations, according to the sheriffs office. It is so important to keep our canine deputies as safe as possible, Idleburg said.

Unlike real K-9 cops, New Yorks robotic canine Digidog doesnt have to worry about bad guys doing it harm. Thats cold comfort.

Advertisement

Surely, partners of K-9 cops would prefer to depend on a living, breathing comrade in tight situations instead of an aloof and detached canine android. Robot vacuums are fine; a canine android, not so much. As dog owners can attest.

Charles Selle is a former News-Sun reporter, political editor and editor.

sellenews@gmail.com.

Twitter: @sellenews
Operations were temporarily suspended in Kings Island's Action Zone Saturday night after Mason police received a report of a "suspicious person" outside the park.

The 17-year-old arrested Saturday near Kings Island on a weapons charge was carrying a 9mm pistol and 12 bullets, according to a police report.

Operations were temporarily suspended in the Action Zone Saturday night after Mason police received a report of a "suspicious person" outside of the park.

The teen from the Cincinnati neighborhood of Westwood was arrested, according to the report. Police said they recovered the gun, a Smith and Wesson semi-automatic, the ammunition, an iPhone 8 and a Nike fanny pack.

The charges listed on the report were receiving stolen property, having weapons under disability and obstructing official business. The report does not offer any details about these charges.

The Enquirer is not naming the teen due to his age.

The Enquirer asked Mason police for any other incident reports generated in connection with the amusement park this weekend. No other reports were provided. Mason police officials said no other reports were available "at this time," so it's unclear if any other incidents took place.

This was the 2023 opening weekend for Kings Island. The park made many improvements to its security after a spike in violent incidents in 2021.

Park officials have not responded to requests for comment at the time of this report.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Juvenile arrested near Kings Island amusement park had a handgun
A Memphis Police Department program that would try to tamp down on young people committing crimes in Memphis' Downtown district has been put on pause, a spokesperson for the City of Memphis confirmed Monday afternoon.

The program, called the Juvenile Crime Abatement Program, was announced Friday evening in a video posted to Twitter by MPD. The video featured Deputy Chief Don Crowe and Colonel Dennis McNeil, the commander for MPD's Downtown precinct, talking about the program's goal to curb the "influx of juveniles gathering on weekends in the Downtown Entertainment District" that are responsible for "a vast majority of thefts" in the area.

The program's announcement was met with backlash from activists and community members that have spent the months after the death of Tyre Nichols, a man who was beaten by Memphis Police officers and later died, fighting for reform in the police department.

Downtown Memphis Commission CEO and President Paul Young, who is also a candidate for Memphis mayor, said MPD's video being posted to social media was the first time he had heard of the program, and he "immediately reached out to MPD."

"We had some questions, and want to have a better understanding of how this would impact downtown," Young told The Commercial Appeal Monday. "[MPD] agreed to pause the program and its implementation until we have further discussion...I had a conversation with Chief [Cerelyn "CJ"] Davis this morning and she agreed that she wanted to have that discussion as well."

Officers from departments around the Mid-South gather for a Sea of Blue in honor of MPD Officer Darrell Adams who was killed Saturday when he was struck by an 18-wheeler while investigating a two-car crash on Interstate 40 West near North Watkins, according to the Memphis Police Department. Adams, 34, had worked with the department since April 2016.

In an email response sent late Monday afternoon, Lt. William Kaiser, a public information officer with the Memphis Police Department, said the department is working to "promote a safe and enjoyable environment" and is having discussions with stakeholders about enforcing the 1996 curfew ordinance downtown.

The ordinance says people under 17 years nold are to be home between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. Friday through Sunday. The ordinance allows 17 year olds to stay out an hour later.

Story continues

"The Memphis Police Department is currently working to develop a citywide plan to address a myriad of problems, which will promote a safe and enjoyable environment throughout our city this summer," Kaiser said in the email statement. "Contrary to the report that MPD will be targeting juveniles, the department is having initial discussions with key stakeholders regarding a collaborative approach to curfew enforcement downtown...As a part of the summer plan, MPD will enforce the current curfew ordinance. It is our intent to ensure the safety and well-being of all our young people by quickly reuniting them with a parent or legal guardian."

Before the program was announced, The Commercial Appeal obtained a PowerPoint presentation about the unit  which MPD Public Information Officer Major Karen Rudolph on Friday night said was a "rough draft" that was "incorrect, and not approved." That presentation included language stating officers in the program would target and approach minors for vague, and subjective, reasons, that were dubbed "illegal activities."

"This team will monitor juveniles and young adult pedestrians for illegal activities, to include but not limited to, solicitation of candy or food, handing out flyers for donations, playing loud music, [being] inappropriately dressed, dancing in the street, and any other activity deemed inappropriate or actions that disrupt the harmony of the downtown community," the presentation said.

Rudolph, although not responding specifically to a list of questions from The Commercial Appeal on Friday night, said the Juvenile Crime Abatement Program was "not a unit; it is a program," though the presentation outlined a "team" comprised of one lieutenant, two sergeants and eight officers. Next to that outline is a chart naming the police part of the unit, though only one sergeant is listed.

The presentation also detailed plans for a plain clothes officer to use the roof of the AutoZone building, on Front Street, "to identify criminal behavior," though the video released by the department Friday did not mention an officer being stationed there.

Crowe, in the video, said the program would help maintain "peace and order" in the downtown area.

"The Juvenile Crime Abatement Program is committed to providing a safe environment, safe from juvenile delinquency, by maintaining peace and order," Crowe said. "We will create an environment primarily for adult patrons after hours, free of unruly juvenile behavior and mischievous activity. We will monitor curfew violations, arrest juvenile offenders when necessary, and hold parents or legal guardians accountable for the presence and actions of their children in the downtown area."

More: MPD program will target juvenile crime, presentation targeting clothing was 'rough-draft'

Although MPD said the program would help usher an environment that focuses on adults, Young said the goal of the Downtown Memphis Commission is to make downtown safe and welcoming for everyone.

"I can't speak to what was intended in [MPD's] messaging, but I can speak to what we are looking to create downtown, which is an inviting space for all ages," Young said. "We have a number of amenities, our parks, recreational spaces, that are in downtown. And we believe they cater to all ages. We're continuing to think about what other amenities we can bring downtown that are going to be attractive to our young people and people of all ages."

Young also said that he has heard conversations about how to help young Memphians, and heard some instances of negative activity, but said he has not heard widespread complaints.

"There are conversation around how to engage our young people across this country," Young said. "And, certainly, we've seen and heard instances where there have been young people involved in some negative activity around car break-ins and things of that nature. But I'm not hearing widespread, broad complaints about the young people. In general, I think it's just about creating a safe environment overall for our community."

Lucas Finton is a criminal justice reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com and followed on Twitter @LucasFinton.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: MPD program targeting juvenile crime downtown on ice, officials say
Authorities have announced charges against a Kansas City, Missouri, man accused of shooting a 16-year-old Black teen who had mistakenly gone to the mans home to pick up his younger siblings.

Clay County Prosecutor Zachary Thompson said at a Monday news conference that hes filed two felony counts against Andrew Lester, an 84-year-old white man: assault in the first degree and armed criminal action. The announcement came less than an hour after Kansas City police said they submitted their investigation to the prosecutors office for review.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Lester, with bond set at $200,000.

Lester twice shot Ralph Yarl, in the head and arm, on Thursday night after the high school junior rang his doorbell, mistakenly thinking he was at the house where he was supposed to pick up his twin younger brothers.

According to the probable cause statement, Lester shot his .32-caliber revolver through the glass of his front door. Yarl never entered the home, and there were no words exchanged between the two. There is also no video of the shooting, according to Thompson.

Officers responding to a 911 call on Thursday found Yarl in front of a nearby home, according to the probable cause statement. A witness told police they heard Yarl screaming that he was shot after Lester fired his gun.

The witness observed him knock on neighbors doors asking for help. The witness did not see the shooting, the statement said, confirming an earlier statement by Yarls aunt that the teen visited several homes in the neighborhood before someone finally helped him.

Yarl was released from the hospital on Sunday and is being cared for at home by his family, according to the Kansas City Star.

Even though he is doing well physically, he has a long road ahead mentally and emotionally, his aunt, Faith Spoonmore, said on the familys GoFundMe page for Yarl. The trauma that he has to endure and survive is unimaginable.

Crump said Yarl is still struggling with stress from the ordeal but he and his family are happy he is alive after being shot in the head. Because Yarl is young and strong, he said, they hope for a full recovery.

Story continues

Thompson said he thinks there was a racial component in the shooting.

In Clay County, we enforce the laws and we follow the laws, he said. That does not matter where you come from, what you look like, [or] how much money you have.

Yarls family has retained famed civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who said before the news conference that it is inescapable not to acknowledge the racial dynamics at play.

Thompson said that he decided against charging Lester with attempted murder because under Missouri law, first-degree assault carries a longer punishment. If Lester is convicted of that charge, he could face 30 years to life. The second charge could bring a sentence of three to 15 years.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story said Ralph Yarl was killed. He was seriously wounded in the shooting. A previous version of this story also incorrectly listed Lesters age as 85.

Related...
Defendants charged with crimes in Kansas will go another year without statutory speedy trial rights as the court system works through a backlog of cases from the COVID-19 pandemic.

One day after President Joe Biden signed a federal resolution ending the COVID-19 national emergency, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly and lawmakers took action to extend pandemic speedy trial suspensions.

Kelly's action Tuesday in signing House Bill 2121 suspends speedy trial rights for people accused of committing crimes, raising concerns defendents' constitutional rights.

"It's kind of something we have to do after the pandemic," said Sen. David Haley, D-Kansas City. "The courts were shut down for a while, and we originally enlarged speedy trial to give two extra years while the courts were shut down. No one was in person and the backlog was accrued."

The Kansas County and District Attorneys Association had pushed for a broader overhaul of the state's speedy trial laws with HB 2121, but lawmakers opted to instead extend the pandemic emergency suspension period. It passed the House 112-9 and the Senate 32-8.

"We've extended this multiple times now," said Sen. Mark Steffen, R-Hutchinson. "This right to a speedy trial is foundational to our judicial principle of innocent until proven guilty. This has to be the last time this extension is made."

Last month marked the three-year anniversary of when speedy trial rights were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, first by judicial order and later by the Legislature, said Clayton Perkins, chief attorney of the Capital Appellate Defender Office and the legislative committee co-chair for the Kansas State Board of Indigents' Defense Services.

"Speedy trial remains one of what I think is hopefully few of the rights that were suspended during the pandemic that we are still waiting to restore, and we're now talking about an extension for a fourth year of keeping those rights suspended," Perkins testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Prosecutors feared criminals could escape justice

Criminal defendants have the right to a speedy trial guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution Bill of Rights, the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights, neither of which are directly affected by the law. Kansas also has the speedy trial right in state statute.

Story continues

Perkins described the statutory speedy trial right as an enforcement mechanism for the constitutional right, which also ensures the orderly administration of justice.

Under the Kansas speedy trial law, prosecutors generally must bring a jailed criminal defendant to trial within 150 days of arraignment  or 180 days for a defendant out on bond  or else charges are dismissed.

The law contains provisions to allow for the deadline to be extended by the court, but not for reasons like a pandemic. So when the coronavirus pandemic disrupted the judicial system and shut down trials, officials took steps to suspend the speedy trial deadlines. The most recent suspension was scheduled to expire May 1.

More: Gov. Laura Kelly signs off on plan to suspend speedy trial requirements until 2023 after pandemic backlogs courts

Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree testified that reinstating the speedy trial deadlines would overwhelm the local court system and it would be physically impossible to try all the cases.

Without the extension, said Johnson County District Attorney Stephen Howe, it would have been "a free for all about who's going to be able to get what cases tried in the next four to six months," with "prosecutors trying to pick and choose who's going to get justice." Some criminals, he said, "would potentially escape justice."

The new law extends that to March 1, 2024, meaning that criminal defendants arraigned after March 19, 2020, will have to wait another year before any time is assessed against prosecutors for any reason.

Public defenders say removal of deadlines slows justice

Perkins acknowledged that the pandemic caused the original backlog of cases because jury trials couldn't happen.

"But we're also talking about some cascading sort of effects that have come from the fact that we've had a suspension," he said. "I think people who operate under a system that has deadlines kind of understand the concept that when deadlines go away, things go a little slower."

Trial deadlines help encourage plea negotiations, he said.

"What we have heard from defense counsel is that since the speedy trial deadline has been suspended and that trial demand is no longer enforceable, those negotiations don't happen at the same pace," Perkins said. "There isn't that ability to require a trial, which then pushes to resolution of more cases at the speed that they did prior to the pandemic."

Howe said prosecutors do not want to delay justice.

"Frankly, delays do not help prosecutors, but instead hinder us in case presentation," he said.

More: Advocates, lawyers split on pausing key trial requirement due to pandemic

Will lawmakers extend speedy trial suspension again?

The March 1 deadline gives next year's Legislature a chance to consider extending it again before the suspension expires.

But legislators who voted for HB 2121 indicated their support was given reluctantly.

"I do not want these people to come back in a year and ask for another extension," Steffen said. "They need to get caught up, they need to get their work done, so our judicial system can work as our forefathers designed it."

"It's kind of kicking the can down the road while we try to bring it back to a sense of normalcy post-pandemic," Haley said. "I would hope they get everything straight  I expect the court system to right itself by the deadline."

Prosecutors and public defenders said there are various efforts underway to relieve the backlog, but a shortage of attorneys  particularly defense attorneys experienced enough to handle the most serious cases, like murder and sexual assault  is hindering their work. They blamed relatively low pay and limited number of positions, both of which are set by the Legislature.

"Believe it or not, there's not enough lawyers," Howe said. "I know a lot of people don't feel that that's actually a bad thing, but it's true."

Howe testified that his office pre-pandemic normally had about 3,500 active cases at a time, but months of pandemic shutdowns led to the number ballooning to more than 5,500 by early 2022. The backlog of about 2,000 cases was reduced to about 1,300 cases by the end of the year.

So in about one year, the office eliminated about one-third of the backlog, with one more year to address the remaining backlog.

"I am particularly concerned about ensuring that we are not back here next year, arguing about extending the suspension of speedy trial for a fifth year," Perkins said. "I think the fact that speedy trial is resuming is an incentive to work through these systems and get down this backlog."

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Speedy trial right remains suspended in Kansas as COVID emergency ends
Efforts to reduce the numbers of Kansas minors who drink alcohol and smoke tobacco products have largely been successful.

Kansas teenagers are smoking and drinking at historically low rates, with nearly three in four teenagers reporting they have never drank more than a few sips of alcohol.

Meanwhile, mental health efforts have finally made strides to break a yearslong increase in the rates of teens experiencing depression and suicidal thoughts, although those numbers remain high.

The data comes from the 2023 Kansas Communities That Care survey, which is annually administered in Kansas schools to sixth-, eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders and asks about youths behaviors and attitudes to subjects such as smoking, drinking, drug use and other risk factors.

More: Kansas ranks No. 33 for school mental health

Fewer Kansas teens are drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes

Less than one in 10 Kansas students surveyed said they had drank alcohol in the past 30 days, with 73% saying they had never drank more than a few sips of alcohol in their lifetime.

Comparatively, only 6.5% of teenagers said they had smoked at least once in their lifetime, down from nearly 50% in the late 1990s. E-cigarette use, or vaping, is also down to 17.7%.

Shana Burgess, director of prevention at Johnson County Mental Health Center, attributed the decreases to several state and federal initiatives, including laws in the past 15 years to bar indoor smoking and to increase the minimum age for sale of tobacco products to 21.

Marijuana usage among Kansas teens has also seen a similar decrease in the past 25 years, but rates have been more persistent in the past few years of pandemic-era schooling, hovering at about 9% of survey respondents reporting they had ever smoked marijuana in their lifetimes.

As legalization of marijuana shifted (in Colorado and Missouri), we saw marijuana rates increase, while tobacco decreased as we implemented the Clean Indoor Air and Tobacco 21, Burgess said.

Even among students who have drank or smoke, the frequency has gone down. In the 30 days prior to taking the survey, teens reported drinking alcohol at 9%, vaping at 6%, binge drinking at 5% and marijuana at 3%.

Story continues

Kansas students continue to report high rates mental health struggles

Another promising statistic was that the number of students reporting feeling depressed dropped for the first time, from 38.4% in 2022 to 34.6% this year.

The number of students reporting having ever had thoughts of suicide also decreased, but only slightly, to 30.3% in 2023. Just over 11% of respondents said they had at some point in their lives tried to kill themselves.

More: Suicide rates are a Kansas 'public health crisis,' experts say

Over the short period the survey has asked about mental health, students reporting thoughts of depression and suicide had generally increase, including in the last few years of COVID and post-pandemic education. One theory is that better awareness of mental health has made students more willing to open up about their struggles, even on an anonymous survey.

But if this years decreases are slight, they still show a turnaround that could hopefully continue in the coming years, Burgess said.

We would love to see these rates continue decreasing until were at zero suicides and were supporting people for treatment and recovery, Burgess said. There are a lot of strategies that are going on in our communities. I wouldnt be able to name just one, but I think that young people are getting more mental health education and resources at their schools.

Keep paying attention

Although changes to state law have greatly decreased local participation rates in some Kansas counties, statewide data remains reliable with a sample size of more than 30,000 teenagers, or about 20% of students eligible to take the survey.

We have a team of statistical analysts who reviewed all the data that came in to make sure we were accurately reflecting Kansas, said Monica Murnan, director of center and community supports at the Greenbush Education Service Center, which administers the survey. After the survey closed, we reviewed several areas of validity and felt confident that the data did reflect a true picture, while maybe not as robust of a picture as weve had in the past.

More: You now must be 21 to purchase cigarettes in Kansas, as Gov. Laura Kelly signs age change

Greenbush analysts are working closely with districts with statistically large enough samples to look at local trends and areas to watch in the survey so as to direct future prevention and response efforts, Murnan said. Theyll issue a more comprehensive summary of statewide trends in the coming months.

In the meantime, Murnan said the raw data paints a good picture of the state of Kansas teens mental and physical health.

Ive been in this field a long time, and I feel like what this data says to us is, Keep paying attention, Murnan said. Keep asking, because so often in this world, we do not listen to those under 18, and in Kansas, we have an incredible opportunity to hear a whole lot of voices at one point in time.

Rafael Garcia is an education reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached at rgarcia@cjonline.com or by phone at 785-289-5325. Follow him on Twitter at @byRafaelGarcia.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas teen drinking, smoking rates drop: Communities That Care survey
Former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake holds a wide lead over other prospective challengers in a hypothetical Arizona Senate Republican primary, according to a new poll.

A poll released by J. L. Partners and shared with The Hill on Monday found Lake receiving 38 percent support in an Arizona Senate GOP primary among registered Republican and undeclared voters, followed next by former Arizona gubernatorial candidate and developer Karrin Taylor Robson at 10 percent.

Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb came in third at 8 percent, followed by former Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters with 7 percent, former state Attorney General candidate Abe Hamadeh with 4 percent, businessman and former Arizona Senate candidate Jim Lamon at 3 percent and 2 percent saying someone else.

But a large swath of respondents  29 percent  say theyre undecided, meaning theres plenty of time for voters to coalesce around a candidate other than Lake. So far, Lamb is the only candidate to enter the race officially.

Lake retained an edge among both voters who expressed a preference for former President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) as their presidential picks. But among voters who did not have a presidential primary preference, Lake found herself tied for first place against Robson at 13 percent.

If Kari Lake decides to run, its clear she is not only the front-runner but will run away with the nomination. The GOP establishment would be smart to get behind her right away so we can win Arizona, said one GOP strategist who requested anonymity to speak candidly.

The polling comes as Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) has not yet formally announced whether she will run for reelection, though The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that shes gearing up for another run.

Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) has announced a run on the Democratic side; because Sinema is now a registered independent, it frees them up to run separately to avoid a primary challenge.

Story continues

The polling is also likely to confirm fears some Republicans have expressed about a possible Senate bid from Lake, whose name recognition remains strong among her base but whose espousal of election conspiracy theories could cost her in a general election.

The same poll found Trump leading DeSantis in Arizona, 47 percent to 24 percent.

The J. L. Partners poll was conducted between April 10 to April 12 with 550 registered Republicans and undeclared voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs

Royalist is The Daily Beasts newsletter for all things royal and Royal Family. Subscribe here to get it in your inbox every Sunday.

Kate Middleton has built up resentment against Meghan Markle after Kate was reportedly asked not to go to the queens deathbed to make it fairer for Meghan also not to go.

Royal biographer Robert Jobson writes in his new book, Our King, that there were fears Harry would insist on bringing Meghan if Kate was there.

The Daily Mail reports that Jobson writes in the soon-to-be-published book, Privately, [Charles] wanted to say Meghan was not welcome. But he couldnt say that to Harry so he personally intervened and asked Kate to stay back so that it was fairer on Meghan, despite the fact Kate wanted to be there with the queen.

In his book, Spare, Harry described the frantic few hours as he and Meghan tried to get to Scotland to bid the queen farewell.

Harry wrote: Then came another call from Pa. He said I was welcome at Balmoral, but he didnt want ... her. He started to lay out his reason, which was nonsensical, and disrespectful, and I wasnt having it.

Dont ever speak about my wife that way.

He stammered, apologetic, saying he simply didnt want a lot of people around. No other wives were coming, Kate wasnt coming, he said, therefore Meg shouldnt.

Then thats all you needed to say.

By now it was mid-afternoon; no more commercial flights that day to Aberdeen. And I still had no response from Willy. My only option, therefore, was a charter out of Luton.

Harry ended up arriving much later than other members of the family who were whisked north on an army jet that day.

The new revelations will do little to dampen speculation that William and Harry will not meet when Harry travels to the U.K. for Charles coronation next month. Although Harry has reportedly had a conversation with Charles, he is understood not to have spoken to William since the publication of his book.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
Kate Middleton felt resentment towards Meghan Markle for causing her to miss Queen Elizabeth IIs final moments, according to the author of a new royal book.

Royal commentator Robert Jobson, who is the author of Our King: Charles III: The Man and the Monarch Revealed, made new claims about the late monarchs family during a recent interview with Australian publication The Daily Telegraph. He noted that before the Queen died at her home in Scotland in September, immediate members of her family rushed to the city to see her.

However, Jobson pointed out that Prince Williams wife, Kate, and Prince Harrys wife, Meghan, did not join their spouses on this trip to Scotland. The royal commentator alleged that now King Charless III was the one who asked the two women not to come.

If Catherine doesnt come, Meghan cant either, its not appropriate for wives to attend, he claimed to the Australian magazine, as reported byThe New Zealand Herald.

Despite the claim, Jobson still alleged that the Queens youngest son, Prince Edward, was accompanied by his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, when visiting the late royal in September.

Jobson went on to claim that while the Duke of Sussex wanted his wife with him to see the Queen, his father allegedly didnt want this, but he couldnt tell Harry that.

Harry was insisting Meghan travel with him to Scotland as the Queens life ebbed away but the King said it was only for the children and grandchildren to be with the Queen, he claimed. Privately, he wanted to say Meghan was not welcome but he couldnt say that to Harry so he personally intervened and asked Kate to stay back so that it was fairer on Meghan.

Jobson claimed the request for Kate to to stay back, while her husband was saying goodbye to the Queen, ended up impacting her feelings toward Meghan.

Kate deliberately stayed away but she desperately wanted to be there with the Queen in her last moments. Thats eaten Kate up and has built up resentment towards Meghan, the author added.

Story continues

He also claimed that when the late monarch passed on 8 September, she was with Charles and his wife, Queen Camilla, and Princess Anne, the Queens only daughter. William, Edward, Sophie, and the Queens third child, Prince Andrew, reportedly arrived at 5pm that day, two hours after she passed. Harry joined the rest of the group at 8pm.

According to Jobson, there was also some tension between Kate and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex during a walkabout in London after the Queen passed.

On 10 September, William and Kate walked alongside Harry and Meghan as they greeted well-wishers near Windsor Castle nine days before the Queens funeral. Pictures of the four wearing mourning attire quickly made headlines at the time, with Harry and Meghan holding hands. This was also their first engagement under their new titles after stepping back from royal duties in 2020.

In his book, Our King Charles III: The Man and the Monarch Revealed, Jobson claimed that sources told him that while the four seemed amicable on the day, that wasnt the case. He said that, according to sources, the image of unity was an illusion.

He made claims about the Princess of Wales feelings during that walk, writing: Catherine later admitted to a senior royal that, such was the ill feeling between the two couples, the joint walkabout was one of the hardest things shed ever had to do.

In his bombshell book, Spare, Harry has made multiple claims about the royal family, including a story about a physical altercation that he had with his brother.

He also alleged that there were several occasions where Kate and William were hostile towards his wife. For example, he shared some tense texts between Meghan and Kate about the infamous bridesmaid dresses for the Duke and Duchess of Sussexs 2018 wedding.

On 12 April, Buckingham Palace announced that Harry will attend his fathers coronation ceremony in May, while Meghan will remain in California with their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

According to a friend of the Sussexes, Harry reached out to the King, since the realease of his book, which came out in January. As reported by The Telegraph, a friend of Harry and Meghan said that there had been some positive conversations between him and his father. The publication also alleged that Harry held peace talks with the King, before his presence at the coronation was confirmed.
This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is at risk of suicide please call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, text TALK to 741741 or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.

Kathy Griffin is getting real with her fans, opening up about her everyday experience with post traumatic stress disorder and anxiety attacks.

The 62-year-old comedian shared for the first time publicly in a video last week that she had been diagnosed with an extreme case of complex PTSD, asking fellow TikTok users to share how they cope with similar conditions.

If any of you know my story, youll understand that this really started for me about five and a half years ago, wink, you know, the cancer didnt help, she said, maintaining a smile throughout.

TODAY.com has reached out to representatives for Griffin.

In 2021, Griffin shared that she would be undergoing major lung surgery amid her battle with cancer.

The My Life on the D-List funny woman elaborated upon her health issues further on Instagram at the time and said that she had attempted suicide the year before.

The last time I was in a hospital was in June 2020 when I tried to take my life and overdose on prescription pills, Griffin said. With over a year clean and drug free, I now know I can do this and anything I want without those devil pills.

In May 2017, CNN ended its deal with Griffin to appear on their New Year's Eve program, which she had hosted with Anderson Cooper for nearly a decade, following a controversial tweet.

At the time, Griffin had posted a brief video clip on Twitter of herself holding a bloodied head that appeared to be that of former President Donald Trump. In a follow-up tweet, she clarified that she does not condone violence and that her video was merely mocking the Mocker in Chief. The tweets have since been deleted.

According to the National Center for PTSD, complex PTSD stems from experiencing chronic trauma that repeats for months or years at a time.

Story continues

In the comedian's TikTok videos, she explains how her symptoms manifest and the things that have helped her manage them.

On April 14, she posted a video where she shared that she had an "eight-hour attack" of anxiety the day before.

"Today I felt like one might be coming on, I started to feel like a little iffy, so I'm on my walk now, and I'm outside and looking at the ocean, which is helpful," she said in the video. "I'm sort of, almost mid an anxiety attack right now, but it feels good to be walking my way through it, and I just keep telling myself it won't last forever."

The next day she shared that the attacks start with a tingling in her chest, then "it goes right to my stomach."

"But so far today I'm OK, and that's how it is, I just kind of never know, it's day by day," she said.

In the caption, she wrote that the "last year and a half has been plagued with PTSD stuff."

"Its funny. I dont have anxiety about performing, but I have anxiety about life," she said in the caption.

She then took to TikTok April 16 to share a post documenting how she was getting ready for a trip to the farmers market and explained that putting on makeup "for almost no reason" helps her manage symptoms related to PTSD and anxiety.

"So, we're going to a farmers market today and, you know, I like to sort of be overdressed sometimes for stuff because getting ready gives me something to do. I don't have to wallow in weird thoughts or stuff like that."

I also like being overdressed. It just gives me something to do to get dressed up, she continued. So I have to show you this outfit because its ridiculous.

She poked some fun at herself in the caption, writing, "Hahaha. Yes, I will put on makeup and get dressed up to go to the farmers market if it takes my mind off my #PanicAttacks #PTSD #Anxiety #AnxietyAttacks."

In the comment section, fans loved her candid approach to talking about mental health.

"Kathy I've absolutely LOVED you since I was a little kid! Thank you for sharing & normalizing your struggles," one person wrote. "You're incredible."

"Hey, you're doing it, doing something. That in itself is amazing," another wrote, adding the medal, clapping and heart emojis.

One TikTok user commented, "It's fantastic that you're taking care of you! Those that suffer from this knows most don't have the energy to do it. You're inspiring others."

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Flag of the Republic of Kazakhstan

The NSC is investigating 10 criminal cases on the facts of the participation of citizens of Kazakhstan in military operations on the territory of Ukraine, the committee confirmed in response to a request from the KazTAG editorial office.

Read also: Kazakhstan says CSTO will not participate in war against Ukraine

There is no information about the persons involved or their actions as pretrial evidence is not subject to disclosure in accordance with Art. 201 of Kazakhstans Criminal Code.

Read also: Russian soldiers in Kazakhstan fear to fight in Ukraine, refuse to return home, says Ukraines intel

Kazakhstan can imprison citizens for up to nine years for participating in foreign armed conflicts, according to Article 172 of its Criminal Code.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Keanu Reeves and his longtime girlfriend, artist Alexandra Grant, kissed on the red carpet. (Photo: Elyse Jankowski/FilmMagic)

Love is in the air  and on the red carpet  for Keanu Reeves and his longtime girlfriend, Alexandra Grant.

On Saturday the John Wick 4 star, 58, and Grant, 49, stopped to kiss for the cameras as they walked the red carpet at the 2023 Museum of Contemporary Art Gala at the Geffen Contemporary in Los Angeles. Grant, a visual artist who has exhibited her work at MoCA in the past, wore a long red floral dress while Reeves wore a suit and striped tie.

The couple kissed for the cameras on Saturday. (Photo: Momodu Mansaray/WireImage)

When Reeves was asked last month what his "last moment of bliss" was, he cited an intimate moment with Grant.

"A couple of days ago with my honey," Reeves told People. "We were in bed. We were connected. We were smiling and laughing and giggling. Feeling great. It was just really nice to be together."

The couple went public with their relationship back in 2019, but have known each other for several years. In 2011, they first collaborated on a "grown-up's picture book" called Ode to Happiness which featured Grant's artwork, with text written by Reeves. They later collaborated again on a second art book, titled Shadows, in 2016. After revealing their relationship in 2019, Grant said she received a significant amount of attention from the public.

I think every single person I knew called me in the first week of November, and that's fascinating, she told British Vogue.
Emily Thornberry with Sir Keir Starmer in 2017 - Heathcliff O'Malley

The Crown Prosecution Service under Sir Keir Starmer let down Jimmy Saviles victims, it has emerged Emily Thornberry said at the time.

Ms Thornberry, who now serves as part of Labour leader Sir Keirs top team as shadow attorney general, made the remarks in 2012 when she held the same role under Ed Miliband, a newly resurfaced clip shows.

The Labour frontbencher attacked the public prosecutor, which at the time was under the command of Sir Keir as director of public prosecutions (DPP), in an episode of Question Time aired on Oct 25 that year.

Ms Thornberry told the studio audience: Im really disappointed in the Crown Prosecution Service for letting down these victims. When evidence comes forward, Im really shocked that they did not go ahead with the prosecution.

Its being investigated by the Crown Prosecution Service, its a bit like the BBC doing an investigation of itself, or the health service doing an investigation of itself, or Broadmoor doing an investigation of itself.

Emily Thornberry in 2012 on the failures of Starmer's CPS to prosecute Savile:



'I'm really disappointed in the Crown Prosecution Service for letting down these victims. When evidence comes forward I'm really shocked that they did not go ahead with the prosecution.' pic.twitter.com/RdfkCTx5dY  j (@jrc1921) April 16, 2023

Sir Keir was DPP from 2009 until 2013  a stint covering the time in which the CPS failed to prosecute Savile, who was posthumously revealed to be one of the UKs most prolific sex offenders.

Savile was interviewed under caution in 2009, at which point the police consulted the CPS for guidance about allegations.

Sir Keir was not the lawyer responsible for the cases and has said he did not know about the failure to prosecute Savile until after the entertainer's death in 2011. He went on to appoint Alison Levitt QC, his principal legal adviser, to examine the decisions.

Story continues

In the wake of a damning report which found failings on the part of the CPS and argued it should have sought to build a prosecution, Sir Keir criticised his organisations handling of the cases and said her findings should represent a watershed moment.

A source close to Ms Thornberry said: Surely any right-minded person would have agreed with Keir Starmer that this case was mishandled by the team responsible.

So it hardly seems controversial that Ms Thornberry said so at the time, and welcomed Keir Starmer's decision to review the handling of that case.

Separate criticisms made by the shadow attorney general of the CPS in 2010 and 2012, covering her frontbench colleagues time in charge, have also resurfaced in recent days.

'Urgent rethink' needed

In September 2012, Ms Thornberry wrote to Sir Keir and Dominic Grieve, the then-attorney general, to demand an urgent rethink of the CPSs decision to weaken guidelines that specialist barristers must deal with every stage of a rape prosecution.

She added: Rape campaigners have denounced this as backsliding. The trial process can be notoriously traumatic for rape victims.

Sir Keir sat on the Sentencing Council in 2012 when it was agreed that child sex abuse should not get an automatic prison sentence, although a maximum of 14 years behind bars was set.

A source close to Ms Thornberry noted her statement, which is still available on her website, also criticised the coalition governments decision to cut the CPS budget by 25 per cent over the course of the parliament.

This was a criticism of the impact of the cuts imposed by the Tory government on the CPS, and no criticism of the CPS itself, or Keir Starmer as DPP, the source insisted.

Last year, then-prime minister Boris Johnson sparked outrage by accusing Sir Keir of prosecuting journalists and failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile. He later clarified the opposition leader had nothing to do personally with those decisions.

The political row over Sir Keirs time in charge of the CPS has re-emerged in the past fortnight after a series of attack adverts released by Labour, which have painted Rishi Sunak as soft on crime and suggested he did not want to jail child abusers.

Last week, an investigation by the Declassified website revealed Sir Keir billed taxpayers almost a quarter of a million pounds for his travel costs during the four years in charge of the CPS, more than three times the spend of his successor.
(Netflix/Instagram)

A Kentucky man has sued Netflix after the streaming giant used a photograph of him holding a hatchet in a true crime documentary.

Taylor Hazlewood, 27, wants at least $1m in damages from the company after they used one of his Instagram pictures as part of The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker show, according to The Washington Post.

Mr Hazlewood sued Netflix for defamation and misappropriating his likeness in a Texas court on 10 April. The lawsuit states that Mr Hazlewood, who works as a respiratory therapist in an intensive care unit, is not connected to the murder case in any way.

The 85-minute documentary was released on 10 January and tells the story of Caleb Kai McGillvary, a nomadic backpacker who went viral for a bizarre news interview he gave in 2013.

Mr Hazlewoods lawsuit states that he quickly began getting messages from friends and family about his picture appearing in it.

What is happening here? one friend asked. So something not so chill happens later in the documentary. Youre [sic] picture shows up again after hes [sic] charged with murder and its just bad vibes. Another friend asked, Bro wtf, are you in that?

The suit claims that toward the end of the film, a voice asks Is this a guardian angel or a stone-cold killer? as Hazlewoods photo is shown.

In the interview, Mr McGillvary told a California TV station how he had used an axe from his backpack to attack a man who had picked him up after the man had first crashed into a utility worker and then assaulted a woman.

Following the interview, Mr McGillvary gave a string of interviews and appearances, including on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

In May 2013, he was arrested for the murder of New Jersey lawyer, Joseph Galfy. He claimed self-defence in the killing but in 2019 was convicted of murder and sentenced to 57 years in prison.

Hazlewood is, of course, beyond angry that Netflix would implicate and connect him to such a salacious and infamous story and individual, the lawsuit states.

And it added: Hazlewoods reputation has clearly been tarnished. There are many acquaintances who will see Hazelwoods photograph in the Film and will assume the worst without contacting Hazelwood to get the truth.
A Corbin mother and her boyfriend have been indicted in connection to her 3-year-old childs death, according to Kentucky State Police.

Alexandra Ward, 20, and 22-year-old Jordan Taylor, both of Corbin, were indicted after a state police detective presented the case of the toddlers death to a grand jury, KSP said in a news release Monday. Taylor was indicted on charges of murder, sodomy and strangulation. Ward was indicted on charges of complicity to murder and complicity to strangulation.

Both suspects have been taken into custody, KSP said.

On Feb. 19 the Whitley County Sheriffs Department notified KSP about the death of a 3-year-old. Court documents say the infant was transported to a hospital and later declared dead by the Whitley County Coroners Office.

The lead detective went to the hospital and learned that the victim had injuries that werent consistent with Taylors statements, according to court documents. The injuries to the victim were documented from the head to the feet and on all sides of the body.

Taylor told authorities he was the only one supervising the 3-year-old up until the ambulance arrived on scene. Taylors arrest citation indicates he invoked his fifth amendment rights shortly after the beginning of a non-custodial interview and refused to take a blood test.

A search warrant was later obtained and executed for a blood test from Taylor. His arrest citation did not describe the results of the test, but he was booked into the Whitley County Detention Center the night of the incident.
And was paired with a sheer turtleneck underneath.

Amanda Edwards/Getty Images

Two looks, one day  thats how Kerry Washington fights off her Sunday scaries. Touching down in Los Angeles, the actress has had a nonstop parade of very good looks. With her bold choice of color and head-to-toe denim, she is giving a sense of practicality and utility with a dash of sexy.

On Sunday, the actress showed off her fashion prowess with not one, but two outfit changes throughout the day. She modeled her first look at the SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversations while promoting her new Hulu comedy series, Unprisoned. For the occasion, she sported a Veronica Beard long-sleeved denim wrap dress with a black sheer turtleneck that peeked out from underneath. Upping the sexy on the beloved all-denim trend, the maxi-length dress featured a front high slit and was accessorized with a fitted belt cinched at the waist. Kerry finished off the look with black Louis Vuitton pointed-toe heels and layers of gold jewelry.

Amanda Edwards/Getty Images

Related:Kerry Washington Said She Raised Her Kids to Know "Not Everybody's Going to Hold Your Hand"

The actress slicked back her hair into a middle-parted ponytail with intricate twists in the back, and she completed her glam with a smoky eye, highlighted cheekbones, and lipgloss.

Randy Shropshire/Deadline via Getty Images

To close out the evening, Kerry debuted a second outfit at Deadline's Contenders Television event, dressed in a Christopher John Rogers hot pink tailored suit with plunging neckline that revealed nothing but a stack of gold necklaces below. The oversized blazer and pantsuit set was paired with pointed-toe heels and a crocodile-embossed leather handbag.

For more InStyle news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on InStyle.
(Bloomberg) -- Fighting between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group has claimed the lives of at least 97 civilians, set back hopes of a return to civilian rule after a 2021 coup and sparked fears of a full-blown civil war.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Any escalation in the conflict would reverberate across northeast Africa and further afield given that Sudan borders on seven other countries and the Red Sea, and has drawn a number of foreign companies intent on tapping its abundant mineral and oil reserves.

These are some of the key international players:

The Quad

The United Arab Emirates, the UK, US and Saudi Arabia set up a group known as the Quad that tried to restore elements of civilian rule after the coup. The conflict threatens to derail plans for a power-sharing agreement and ultimately democratic elections. While the UAE and Saudi Arabia have lobbied both sides to stop fighting, the two nations forged close ties with RSF head Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo after he dispatched troops to fight in Yemen, where the two Gulf powerhouses have also been active. There are also major commercial considerations at play for the UAE: In December, an Emirati consortium signed a $6 billion preliminary agreement with Sudans government to build a new port and other infrastructure on the Red Sea coast.

Read more: Whats Behind the Fighting in Sudan and What It Means: QuickTake

Ethiopia and Egypt

Ethiopias construction of a giant dam on a tributary of the Nile has raised hackles in neighboring Egypt and Sudan, which rely on the river for most of their fresh water. Chaos in Sudan could complicate talks aimed at resolving a standoff over how quickly the billion cubic-meter (2.6 trillion cubic-foot) reservoir behind the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is filled. The instability in Sudan could deprive Egypt  which has traditionally been a strong backer of the Sudanese army  of a key ally in its opposition to the project.

Story continues

Read more: Why Ethiopias $5 Billion Dam Has Riled Its Neighbors: QuickTake

Russia

Russias government has been seeking to forge closer relations with Sudan and other African countries as Western powers seek to isolate it over its invasion of Ukraine. Last year, Dagalo met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and their governments agreed to deepen ties in agriculture, mining, manufacturing, oil and gas. The Wagner Group, a Kremlin-linked private military contractor, already has interests in Sudans gold-mining industry. Russia has also lobbied Sudan to secure a military base on the Red Sea. Russia hasnt specified whether it is taking sides in the latest conflict.

Read more: How a Sanctioned Russian Company Gained Access to Sudans Gold

China

China is one of the biggest foreign investors in Sudan, having maintained links with dictator Omar al-Bashirs administration and the current military rulers even as Western nations imposed sanctions and blocked aid. The state-owned China National Petroleum Corp. owns oil assets in Sudan, including a key stake in the main refinery in Khartoum, the capital, a share in an oil pipeline that ferries crude from neighboring South Sudan. Theres a risk that those could be damaged or nationalized, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. China is backing a $640 million restoration of Sudans railway network, with CRRC Ziyang Co. supplying the country with freight-train carriages.

Read more: China Adds Call for Cease-fire in Sudan as Civilian Deaths Climb

Chad and the Central African Republic

Sudans neighbors could potentially play a role in the conflict if it continues and escalates, particularly in the western Darfur region where clashes have been reported. CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadera is close to Dagalo  with their forces teaming up with Wagner mercenaries to fight against anti-government rebel groups in northeastern CAR. Chads leader Mahamat Deby is seen as an ally of Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who heads the Sudanese army.

--With assistance from Jeremy Diamond.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Yuki Iwamura / AP

The trial in Dominion v. Fox News, which has already resulted in bombshell revelations about the right-wing media giant and the 2020 election, is scheduled to begin Tuesday. Unless a settlement is reached, a jury will determine whether Fox is financially liable for broadcasting and promoting false claims about Dominion Voting Systems voting machines rigging the 2020 election  and the case could have a big impact on the consequences of broadcasting false claims and conspiracy theories in the future.

During the pretrial discovery period, text messages between Fox News anchors and executives, along with hundreds of pages of filings and depositions, were released to the public, giving people an unprecedented look inside Fox News and the chaos behind the coverage of the 2020 election and the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. It also revealed that several of the networks hosts and executives did not believe the election fraud claims they were promoting on air.

Its extremely rare for a defamation case to go to trial; most civil lawsuits are dismissed or settled. An unexpected delay on Monday led to speculation that settlement talks were back on, and negotiations can continue up until a verdict is reached.

At stake is not only monetary and reputational damage, but the case could also test the longtime standard that actual malice, or knowing that something is a lie and spreading it anyway, is necessary to prove defamation of public figures  some observers believe the case could end up at the Supreme Court. Either way, the case will doubtless influence political coverage at Fox and other networks as the 2024 campaign heats up.

Opening statements are scheduled for Tuesday in Delaware, where both Fox and Dominion are incorporated, and the trial could last up to six weeks. Heres everything you need to know as it begins.

Dominion Voting Systems ballot counting machines are lined up at a warehouse during testing of election equipment in Estancia, New Mexico, on Sept. 29, 2022. Andres Leighton / AP

First of all, what is Dominion Voting Systems?

Dominion Voting Systems is a private corporation that makes voting machines and equipment used in 28 states nationwide.

Story continues

Why and when did Dominion sue Fox News?

After the 2020 election, then-president Donald Trump began spreading false claims about election fraud and lies that Dominions voting machines were rigged and had flipped votes meant for Trump to Joe Biden. In one instance, on Nov. 12, 2020, the former president tweeted that DOMINION DELETED 2.7 MILLION TRUMP VOTES NATIONWIDE.

During this time, Fox News hosts and guests repeatedly promoted and broadcasted false claims, such as that the company was tied to the late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and that the machines rigged the 2020 election against Trump, even after the claims had been debunked. Then in 2021, Dominion Voting Systems filed a lawsuit against Fox News and its parent company, Fox Corp, alleging that the network pushed conspiracy theories and had defamed Dominion in the weeks and months following the election, damaging its reputation and business.

Dominion alleges that Fox hosts and executives knew that the false claims made about the voting machines were untrue or that they acted with reckless disregard for the truth.

In the complaint against Fox, Dominion argues that Fox sold a false story of election fraud in order to serve its own commercial purposes, severely injuring Dominion in the process.

The truth matters, the complaint continues. Lies have consequences.

What damages is Dominion seeking?

Dominion is seeking $1.6 billion in compensatory damages, and it is also seeking lawyer fees, security costs, and punitive damages.

Rupert Murdoch introduces thensecretary of state Mike Pompeo during the Herman Kahn Award Gala on Oct. 30, 2019, in New York. Mary Altaffer / AP

Whats happened in the case so far?

During the discovery process, a cache of internal messages showing Fox executives, producers, and pundits privately disagreeing with Trumps claims about how the 2020 election was fraudulent were made public. They showed that many within Fox News, including hosts Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and Tucker Carlson, seemed not to believe the false election claims, even though they pushed the allegations on their shows.

One of the text conversations released from January 2021 was between Carlson and an unidentified colleague. I hate him passionately, Carlson said , speaking of Trump. We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly cant wait, Carlson said in another text message.

He also lamented the failures of the Trump presidency. "That's the last four years. We're all pretending we've got a lot to show for it because admitting what a disaster it's been is too tough to digest," Carlson wrote. "But come on. There really isn't an upside to Trump."

In a text from November 2020 from Carlson to Ingraham, Carlson criticized conservative lawyer Sidney Powell, who pushed the election fraud allegations. Sidney Powell is lying, by the way. I caught her. Its insane, Carlson wrote . Its unbelievably offensive to me. Our viewers are good people and they believe it.

Text messages also show Fox News hosts disparaging Trump's attorneys. Carlson said Trump, along with lawyers Lin Wood and Powell, had "so discredited their own [voter fraud] case, and the rest of us to some extent, that it's infuriating."

In one pretrial hearing, Dominion attorneys played a deposition that showed Fox Corporation chair Rupert Murdoch, 92, admitting that he didnt believe the election fraud accusations and said that several Fox News hosts, including Jeanine Pirro and Hannity, were endorsing the lie that the election was stolen from Trump without evidence.

Asked by a Dominion attorney whether or not he could have directed Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott to stop hosting guests who promote the false election fraud claims on Fox, Murdoch said that he could have, but that he didnt .

As he considered motions for summary judgment, Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis said it was CRYSTAL clear that none of the statements relating to Dominion about the 2020 election are true.

He also rejected a claim from Fox News that the statements about Dominion were opinions and, thus, not defamatory.

The statements were capable of being proven true, and in fact, the evidence that would prove the statements was discussed many times (but never presented)," the judge wrote . "Moreover, the context supports the position that the statements were not pure opinion where they were made by newscasters holding themselves out to be sources of accurate information."

The judge has said that it will be up to the jury whether Fox acted with actual malice.

Tucker Carlson in a Fox News Channel studio on March 2, 2017, in New York Richard Drew / AP

What does Dominion have to prove?

Because the judge has already ruled that the statements are false, Dominion doesnt need to prove that the statements are untrue, but just that there was actual malice. In order to do this, Dominion must show that Fox knew the statements were false or prove that it acted with a reckless disregard for whether the claims were true, a test that stems from the 1964 Supreme Court case New York Times v. Sullivan.

The actual malice rule takes into consideration that reporters might sometimes make unintentional mistakes when working against a deadline, Gabe Rottman, the director of the Technology and Press Freedom Project with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, told BuzzFeed News earlier this year.

"If it were possible for an honest reporter who makes an honest mistake to face a lawsuit every time they do, then that will chill reporting. It will mean fewer stories and less investigative journalism," Rottman said. "Thats why the actual malice rule is there."

But Times v. Sullivan does not give media outlets the endless right to spread false information, especially if it can be proved that they know it is untrue.

In the complaint against Fox, Dominion alleges that even after Fox was confronted with the direct facts disproving its lies about Dominion, the company refused to retract its false and defamatory statements, thereby further demonstrating its actual malice in publishing them.

Dominion also states that it sent hundreds of emails to Fox News reporters and producers rebutting Foxs false claims, adding that it even spoke with Fox News president and executive editor Jay Wallace and detailed Foxs defamatory falsehoods about Dominion and explained how and why they are false. The voting machine company also says it sent Fox retraction demand letters in November and December 2020.

Nevertheless, Fox refused to retract any of its false and defamatory statements about Dominion, the complaint reads, and instead repeatedly doubled down on its false and defamatory statements by continuing to publish and republish them.

A headline about President Donald Trump is displayed outside Fox News studios in New York on Nov. 28, 2018. Mark Lennihan / AP

What is Fox saying?

In a brief filed by Fox , the company held that it aired the claims of rigged voting machines because they came from a sitting president and people close to him and thus were newsworthy.

An attempt by a sitting President to challenge election results and reverse the outcome of his re-election bid is as newsworthy as it gets, the filing states. Media outlets around the country and the world thus provided extensive coverage of and commentary on the Presidents allegations and lawsuits.

Fox maintained that Fox News fulfilled its commitment to inform fully and comment fairly, adding that Some hosts viewed the Presidents claims skeptically; others viewed them hopefully; all recognized them as profoundly newsworthy.

The network alleges that it covered Dominions denials and gave the company opportunities to tell its side.

In short, Fox News did exactly what the First Amendment protects: It ensured that the public had access to newsmakers and newsworthy information that would help foster uninhibited, robust, and wide-open debate on rapidly developing events of unparalleled importance, the court filing by Foxs lawyers states.

Fox also claims that Dominions lawsuit is an assault on the First Amendment and the free press.

Who is expected to take the stand?

According to the Associated Press , Carlson, Hannity, and Murdoch are expected to testify. Many also believe that Pirro, Scott, and former host Lou Dobbs will also take the stand.

Will you be able to watch it on TV?

No cameras will be allowed, per the Delaware court policy, and the judge recently denied a request by media companies to broadcast audio excerpts.

What are the possible outcomes?

If Fox loses, the company will likely be stuck with a steep payout, its stock price could take a hit, and its reputation would be damaged. Fox News has argued that if it loses, the case will hurt press freedoms and the First Amendment.

A free-flowing, robust American discourse depends on First Amendment protections for the press news gathering and reporting, a Fox Network spokesperson said in a statement to the New York Times .

If Dominion loses, it would not only uphold the extremely high bar for media defamation, but it might prompt Fox News and other networks to broadcast even more falsities in the future.

If Fox loses, one thing that it says is that there are limits to propaganda, to lying on televisionto misinforming your viewers, Jay Rosen, professor of journalism at New York University, told CNN . If Fox wins, it kinda says the opposite, there are no limits.

Whatever happens in the Dominion trial, its far from the end of Fox News problems. In 2021, Smartmatic, a global technology company from London, also filed a $2.7 billion defamation suit against Fox News and Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo, Trumps former lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and Dobbs.

The lawsuit came after the network broadcasted a series of false claims concerning Smartmatic voting machines and the 2020 election. Around a month ago, the New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan gave the go-ahead for the Smartmatic case to proceed.

More on this
The shooting of a Kansas City, Missouri, teenager has sparked national outrage and raised questions about the safety of Black youth and their ability to live freely in America without automatically being categorized as a threat.

Ralph Yarl, 16, was reportedly shot twice by a white resident, Andrew D. Lester, after he rang the wrong doorbell on Thursday, April 13. He is currently recovering after suffering gunshot wounds to his arm and head, according to his attorneys. Lester was charged with felony assault and armed criminal action Monday. If convicted, he could face life in prison.

Ralph Yarl, 16, is in critical condition after being shot by a Kansas City, Missouri, homeowner on April 13, 2023. (Photo: GoFundMe)

There was a racial component to this case, prosecutor Zachary Thompson said. However, Lester was not yet arrested as of Monday evening.

Who is Ralph Yarl?

A GoFundMe started by a woman who identified herself as Ralphs aunt, Dr. Faith Spoonmore describes the teen as a fantastic kid.

He is a member of the Technology Student Association and Science Olympia Team, who also engulfed himself in music. Spoonmore said Ralph is the section leader of his schools marching band and one of the top bass clarinet players in Missouri. He recently earned Missouri All-State Band recognition with an honorable mention, according to his aunt.

Ralph can often be found with a musical instrument. He loves them all, she wrote.

The 16-year-old is looking forward to graduating high school. He plans to visit West Africa before taking up chemical engineering at Texas A&M University.

When asked how he plans to get into this university, he said, Well, if they have a scholarship for music or academics, I know I can get it, Spoonmore recalled, who is Ghanaian American.

What Happened the Evening Ralph Yarl Was Shot?

Yarl was shot by an unidentified white man after mistakenly arriving at the wrong address to pick up his younger twin brothers, his aunt says. He rang the doorbell at 1100 block of Northeast 115th Street instead of 1100 block of Northeast 115th Terrace, one block away, reports show.

Story continues

Spoonmore said the homeowner looked him in the face and shot him. The first shot struck him in the head, and after he fell, the man shot Ralph again, according to his aunt.

This man intended to kill an innocent child simply because he rang the doorbell of the wrong house, she said in an Instagram video.

Ralph told police he ran to three other doors before he collapsed in a familys driveway.

Kansas City Police say officers responded to a call about a shooting around 10 p.m. and arrived to find Ralph injured outside a residence.

There was a decent amount of blood going from our door to the street. It was horrible, Zach Dovel told The Washington Post. He was bleeding out right in front of our mailbox.

The shooter was initially taken into custody and held for 24 hours before being released.

Police Chief Stacey Graves said in a press conference that state law only allows authorities to hold a person suspected of a felony for 24 hours until charges are filed. Graves said investigators need to gather more forensic evidence and obtain a victim statement to move the case forward.

As soon as the case is complete, it will be presented to the Clay County prosecutor for their review, the chief said.

Reaction to Ralph Yarls Shooting

Dozens of protesters held a demonstration Sunday outside of the home of the man accused of firing at Ralph Thursday evening. Many in the Black community believed from the start that the shooting was racially motivated.

When Black lives are under attack, what do we do? asked a woman leading the crowd holding signs in front of the home.

Stand up and fight back, the crowd responds.

Stand up! The woman shouts.

Fight back, the crowd replies.

The shooting has also gotten national attention with Spoonmores online fundraiser for Ralph securing more than $1 million in donations by Monday morning.

A number of Black celebrities also posted photos of the boy expressing their outrage and urging followers to pressure local prosecutors to file charges.

This innocent child is now fighting for his life. This could be your child. This should NOT happen, wrote award-winning actress Halle Berry on her Twitter page with more than 830,000 followers.

His name is #RalphYarl and Im sick and tired of this feelingmy heart completely broke when I learned this precious 16-year-old, who accidentally rang the door of the wrong address in an attempt to pick up his siblings, was shot in the head (1/3) pic.twitter.com/4VaZo7EFVE  Halle Berry (@halleberry) April 17, 2023

Sadden and sick to my stomach, when will this STOP, wrote supermodel Naomi Campbell on her Instagram page in the caption with a photo of Ralph, shared with nearly 15 million followers.

The photo and message urging followers to call Thompson were also shared by D.L. Hughley, Viola Davis, Anthony Hamilton, Keke Palmer, Sherri Shepherd and Damon Idris, among others on Sunday and early Monday.

The attorneys acting on Ralphs behalf have launched an independent investigation into the shooting and plan to meet with local, state and federal prosecutors to ensure accountability.
[Source]

Residents at a Chinatown apartment complex in Los Angeles are rallying against a 300% increase in rent.

As L.A.s COVID-era eviction moratorium expired at the end of March, tenants at Hillside Villa marched to Mayor Karen Basss home on Friday to seek protection from the huge spike in rent and inundation of eviction notices.

During the march, protesters held red cloths, including one that read Hillside Villa is our place. We will not be displaced.

"We have three demands. One is to fire Ann Sewill, who is the head of the housing department, for her complete inaction and unwillingness to support working-class tenants in this city," said Sunik Kim, an organizer with the tenants association, according to ABC7. "Our second, clear update on the appraisal process of eminent domain for Hillside Villa. Third, is eminent domain now."

More from NextShark: Filipino American lawmaker expelled by Tennessee's Republican-led House over gun control protest

According to advocates, 124 families residing in the apartment building, including those receiving Section 8 subsidies, are facing rent increases that they cannot afford.

We dont want to be homeless, and we want to stay there, tenant Mary Ramos Monina said. We are not asking to (live) free as a tenant, but we want to pay what we can afford. Thats all we ask.

We got five three-day notices last month alone, tenant Alfredo Espinoza told KTLA. As the tenants and families of Hillside Villa, we stayed the night in front of the mayors mansion, and we start day two out here to show that we are not going to let the citys inaction put us on the streets.

More from NextShark: LA's Historic Filipinotown to unveil $587,000 entrance arch paying tribute to frontline healthcare workers

The tenants and their supporters are urging the city to buy the property in order to control rents.

They are requesting the Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHP) to follow through with their plan to make an offer on the building, which was first presented by L.A. Councilmember Gil Cedillo in February 2021.

Story continues

However, no action has been taken by the LAHD as of date.

More from NextShark: KFC China forced to sell chicken feet due to inflation

Those are essentially evictions, Kris Chan, a community organizer, told KTLA. Our tenants cannot afford that, and theyll be pushed to the streets.

In response to the protests, Basss office released a statement that read:
Mayor Karen Bass said she wants to boost hiring at the Los Angeles Police Department, which has lost hundreds of officers in the past three years. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Ten years ago, the Los Angeles Police Department celebrated a historic hiring milestone, announcing the city had reached a target sought by at least two mayors and multiple police chiefs: 10,000 officers.

That achievement was the culmination of an expensive seven-year campaign waged by then-Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, much of it during a global recession that ravaged the city's finances.

Now, within a three-year span, those gains have been erased. The LAPD is hemorrhaging officers, with more leaving the force than are joining it. Police Chief Michel Moore reported last week that sworn staffing had fallen to 9,103, down nearly 1,000 from 2019, the year that preceded the outbreak of COVID-19.

Mayor Karen Bass is looking to confront the issue head on by ramping up hiring and lifting barriers to recruitment. Her proposed budget, which will be released Tuesday, will call for the city to restore the department to 9,500 officers  an extremely tall order, given the ongoing staff exodus.

"I know that that is ambitious, but I think it needs to happen." she said.

Bass will release her proposed budget, her first since taking office in December, amid a growing number of departures from the LAPD, not just by those nearing retirement age but also some of the department's much newer officers.

In an interview, Bass said she fears the accidental release of photographs of LAPD officers, recently provided by the department in response to a public records request, could accelerate the outflow. If the city fails to fix its recruitment and retention problems, the LAPD could easily fall below 9,000 officers in the coming months, Bass said.

The call to rebuild the LAPD will almost certainly generate pushback from groups such as La Defensa, which advocates for alternatives to prisons and policing. Ivette Ale-Ferlito, the group's executive director, said the city should take advantage of the drop in police staffing, by expanding the number of unarmed specialists who respond to residents experiencing mental health crises or other emergencies  and ensuring those workers are compensated at levels typically reserved for police.

Story continues

"This is an opportunity to be able to start investments into alternatives to law enforcement responses, Ale-Ferlito said.

A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents rank-and-file officers, said his group welcomes the mayor's efforts to "rebuild the LAPD after years of neglect."

"This staffing decline didn't start with Mayor Bass," union spokesperson Tom Saggau said. "But we hope it ends with Mayor Bass."

The LAPD has lost nearly 1,000 police officers since 2019. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

On paper, Bass is proposing what looks like a minor adjustment to the LAPD's authorized staffing. For nearly a year, the department has been budgeted for 9,460 officers, the amount approved by the City Council. Bass' hiring target represents an increase of 40.

On another level, however, getting to 9,500 would be an incredibly tall order. The department is expected to lose about 600 officers in the coming year due to retirements and resignations. To reach Bass' target, the LAPD would need to hire 1,000 officers over the next fiscal year, at a time when Police Academy classes are frequently half or two-thirds full.

Bass acknowledged the difficulty, saying she's "not super confident" the LAPD will reach her goal.

"But I think it's very important to set that as a marker  very important," she said. "There's no way I would say, 'I want to get to 9,200.' Again, because I'm really worried about further attrition."

Bass will send her budget proposal to a council that is ideologically further left, and more skeptical of police, than it was when she launched her campaign in 2021. Two of the council's newest members, Hugo Soto-Martinez and Eunisses Hernandez, argued against police hiring during their campaigns.

A third, Councilmember Nithya Raman, ran in 2020 on a platform that called for transforming the LAPD into a much smaller, specialized armed force."

Hernandez said Friday she wants police staffing to continue on its downward trajectory. She and Soto-Martinez said they want money that goes unspent on LAPD staffing to be shifted into social services.

City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, pictured in December, said she wants to see staffing levels at the LAPD continue to shrink. She has called for the city to shift money away from police hiring and into other social programs. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

"Our priority is to invest that money in programs that address some of the most common 911 calls, like homelessness, mental health and drug treatment, so we can alleviate the burden on police officers and improve public safety for the community," Soto-Martinez said.

With the LAPD struggling to recruit, Raman is also making the case for expanded social services, such as after-school programs. "These programs are often easier to hire for, and are proven to make communities safer," she said Sunday on Twitter.

The LAPD is not the only big-city law enforcement agency facing a shrinking workforce. According to FBI data, police department ranks in New York City and Philadelphia have decreased 8% and 9%, respectively, since 2019, while Chicago experienced an 11% drop.

That phenomenon can be traced, in part, to a shrinking labor pool and growing public scrutiny after a spate of high-profile police killings, said Niles R. Wilson, senior director of law enforcement initiatives for the Center for Policing Equity, which studies ways to reduce racism in policing. Many big-city agencies are losing officers to smaller, suburban departments that offer better pay and fewer risks, he said.

Wilson said younger people are less likely to go into a profession with longer hours and a high risk of injury. At the same time, he said, cities have begun sending mental health teams or other unarmed responders to calls once fielded by police.

I think youre going to start seeing [police] staffing levels are going to adjust, as jurisdictions start to adopt more alternative response models, Wilson said.

In Los Angeles, Bass has begun moving in that direction, opening an office of community safety that does not involve police. Meanwhile, the LAPD has responded to the decrease in staffing by scaling back key operations.

The department has closed front desks at the vast majority of its police stations during nighttime hours and reduced the size of specialized units, such as those that pursue fugitives and investigate human trafficking, Moore said. The LAPD's cold-case teams, which investigate unsolved murders, are staffed by reserve officers, he said.

"We've protected the uniformed patrol officers" who head out into neighborhoods, Moore said. "But we've downsized narcotics units in every area. We've downsized vice units in every area."

LAPD Chief Michel Moore inspects a graduating class at Los Angeles Police Academy in June. He says the department has dealt with a staffing shortage by downsizing narcotics units, vice units and other operations. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

The debate over police spending has been further complicated by a recent drop in crime. Homicides in L.A. were down 26% through April 1, compared with the same period last year. Robberies have declined 19% over the same time frame, while violent crime is down nearly 12%, according to department figures.

Raman recently highlighted the downward trend on social media. Moore, asked about those numbers, countered by saying crime has increased in many categories compared with 2019, the last pre-pandemic year.

Compared with four years ago, homicides are up 8% this year, while the number of shooting victims has climbed 30% and the number of vehicle thefts by 47%, LAPD figures show.

The Police Protective League, which is in contract talks with Bass and other city leaders, has argued in recent weeks that the city is not doing enough to persuade officers to stay. Union leaders said officers are experiencing low morale caused by rising anti-police sentiment, insufficient pay and difficult working conditions created by staffing shortages.

Saggau, the union spokesperson, said officers assigned to 10- or 12-hour days are regularly being ordered to work two to four additional overtime hours to meet minimum patrol levels, leaving them exhausted. Officers who specialize in gangs, narcotics or other subject areas are being pulled away from those duties to ensure that minimum patrol levels are maintained, Saggau said.

Moore said he attributes the rising number of departures to the "turmoil" of the last three years  COVID-19 and growing anti-police sentiment following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Some foes of policing have threatened officers on social media, he said.

Officers "are looking around the country and saying, 'Wow, I could go someplace else and get a hiring bonus of 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 thousand dollars,'" Moore said.

Desperate to hire officers, city officials are looking to provide signing bonuses of $15,000 to $20,000 to new hires  a proposal heading to the City Council. The department has stepped up recruiting at historically Black colleges and East Coast universities. LAPD brass are looking at resurrecting the "bounce program, which allows the chief to bring retired officers back for up to a year, in hopes of luring back as many as 200 retired cops.

The drop in LAPD staffing can be traced to 2020, the year City Hall was buffeted by a major budget crisis  one triggered by COVID-19 shutdowns  and massive street protests over Floyd's murder. Demonstrators were demanding that city funds be shifted away from police and into social services.

Mayor Eric Garcetti and the council agreed to cut LAPD staffing to about 9,750, freeing up about $26 million. In the period that followed, the department kept shrinking, with officers leaving in larger-than-expected numbers.

Near the end of his term, Garcetti argued for a force of more than 9,700. Council members adopted what they said was a more achievable goal: 9,460 officers by June 30, the end of this fiscal year.

Protesters demonstrate against police brutality outside Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti's home in June 2020. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Those numbers also turned out to be unrealistic, with the department now more than 350 officers below the council's goal.

While running for mayor, Bass promised to take the department back up to 9,700. She said she picked that number because it was the amount already authorized in the city budget.

Bass said she plans to spend the coming year determining the number of officers needed at the LAPD. Moore, for his part, said he would be satisfied with a return to 10,000.

"If we could have the workforce we had pre-pandemic, I think that we'd have a safer city," he said.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
St Austell Bay in Cornwall is home to one of the largest known seagrass beds in the UK, a new report has revealed.

The nearly 360 hectare (900 acres) seagrass bed was discovered using acoustic surveys, which identify areas of the sea acting as highly effective carbon stores.

The acoustic surveys focused on historically under-recorded habitats of seagrass.

The report was published by Cornwall Wildlife Trust and Natural England.

Abby Crosby, Cornwall Wildlife Trust marine conservation officer, said the discovery was "a very exciting development".

Ms Crosby said: "Seagrass is one of the largest carbon sinks we have globally, despite covering only 0.1% of the ocean floor.

"It also serves as a shelter, feeding ground and nursery for a host of marine life, including vulnerable species such as seahorses, and the young of commercial fish and seafood stocks.

"Seagrass beds play an important role in helping to combat erosion of the coastline from the waves, as storms increase in their intensity due to climate change."

Listen: Abby Crosby, from Cornwall Wildlife Trust, explains why the discovery is very exciting

Volunteer dive surveyors from Cornwall Wildlife Trust's Seasearch programme found a total of 122 different species of plants and animals within the seagrass and maerl beds.

The findings come from the St Austell Bay Blue Carbon Mapping Project, part of the G7 Legacy Project for Nature Recovery announced by the Prime Minister at the G7 Summit held in Cornwall in 2021.

Follow BBC News South West on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to spotlight@bbc.co.uk.
CBS News has reviewed over 50 documents that appear to be part of the leak of highly sensitive information. The documents' presence online prompted a criminal investigation that led to the arrest on Thursday of a 21-year-old Air National guardsman, Jack Teixeira.

It's not known how many documents Teixeira is alleged to have leaked. The criminal complaint against him refers to "dozens," and the Washington Post recently stated that it had reviewed about 300. CBS News has not authenticated the documents, though the Pentagon has acknowledged at least some of the leaked documents are real.

How recent is the information in the documents?

The majority of the documents CBS News has reviewed contain information from the end of February and the beginning of March.

Who leaked the Pentagon documents?

Jack Teixiera, a 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guardsman, has been accused of leaking the documents. Teixeira, of Dighton, Mass., was arrested on April 13 and according to the criminal complaint, has held a TS/SCI  Top Secret clearance, with access to Sensitive Compartmented Information  since 2021.

Are the documents from the CIA?

While some of the documents that have been reviewed by CBS News appeared to originate from the Central Intelligence Agency, others seem to come from other agencies across the intelligence community, including the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Geospatial Agency. These agencies collaborate with each other and others to collect, analyze and share intelligence across the U.S. government. There are 18 intelligence agencies, all of which are overseen by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

What was in the Pentagon leak?

A number of documents from intelligence agencies were disclosed, including information about the Russia-Ukraine conflict, China, Turkey, South Korea and Israel.

What do the documents say about the Russia-Ukraine conflict?

There are maps detailing movements and figures relating to military capabilities on both sides of the conflict. One of the more pressing documents, dated Feb. 23, states that Ukraine's BUK (SA-11) air defense systems will be depleted by March 31, 2023 and its S300 (SA-10) missile systems will be depleted by May 2, 2023. The Wall Street Journal found a leaked document dated five days later, Feb. 28, which contained a slightly longer timeline that said Ukraine would run out of weapons for these systems on April 13 and May 3. This would pose a major challenge to Ukraine, leaving them vulnerable to air attacks by Russia.

Story continues

Another document estimates that while Russia's ground capability is at 63%, its air capability stands at 92%. In contrast, Ukraine's ground capability is estimated to be at 83%, while its air capability stands at 68%. This imbalance in fighter jets and other aircraft puts the Ukrainian army at a disadvantage.

The documents also contain intelligence on casualties on both sides. Russia has sustained significantly more casualties than Ukraine, with an estimated 189,500-223,000 fighters killed or wounded in action. On Ukraine's side, losses are estimated to be between 124,500-131,000.

Some documents also offer insight into Russian infighting: one contained intelligence that Moscow's Federal Security Service (FSB) has accused the Russian Defense Ministry of "obfuscating" total Russian fighter casualties in Ukraine by excluding deaths from the National Guard, Wagner Group, Chechen mercenaries and other unofficial organizations. In one document the FSB claimed the actual figure of Russian dead and wounded is closer to 110,000. The last public figures released by Russia  from September 2022  said only 5,937 Russian soldiers had been killed in combat.

Ukrainian civilian death estimates vary wildly, between 8,101-41,000.

The Ukrainian government has said the information contained in the documents has not jeopardized a planned counteroffensive.

What about the Wagner Group?

Information about the Wagner Group, a Russian private military company, is included in documents about the war in Ukraine, especially in assessments of the fighting around Bakhmut, where Russia has enlisted the Wagner Group to supplement its official military forces. One document describes the assault on Bakhmut by the Wagner Group as "sluggish," noting that the group only progressed 2.7 kilometers per month from July 2022 to January 2023.

In early 2023, officials from Wagner sought weapons from other countries like Turkey, Syria, China and Belarus, probably for its fights in Mali, Ukraine or both. Wagner personnel were seeking drones, electronic warfare systems and howitzer artillery, according to one document. Belarus appears to have delivered some weapons, but China had not sent Wagner any weapons  even for testing  and had no contacts with Wagner as of January 2023.

Another document details Wagner's pursuit of potential contracts with the government of Haiti to help it contain local gangs, which have been running amok in the country, since the assassination of the Haitian president in 2021

Who was supposed to see the documents and who prepared them?

Many of the documents appear to be part of briefing slides for the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon, which could include analysis from the Defense Intelligence Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency and other intelligence agencies. One of the documents is titled "CIA Operations Center Intelligence Update" and includes updates under different subheadings like "Near East," "Russia," "China" and "Africa." Several others indicate the document was prepared by the J2, the Joint Staff's intelligence arm.

What do the documents reveal about China?

Some documents contain information about China's weapons programs. For instance, one noted that on Feb. 25, China tested a "developmental" intermediate range ballistic missile-class multirole hypersonic glide vehicle. It traveled 2,100 kilometers in 12 minutes. Hypersonic weapons are harder to defend against since they travel at more than five times the speed of sound and maneuver while in air, unlike traditional ballistic missiles that travel in an arc.

Another two of the documents assessed that China is "probably" developing cyber attack capabilities to "hijack" control of Western satellites, and that Defense Department supply chains remain exposed to Chinese state-owned surveillance manufacturer Hikvision which is "disguising" its products via its resellers.

Others show U.S. monitoring and concern about China's expanding influence in other countries, noting that Jordan was feeling economic pressure from Beijing to include Chinese telecoms company Huawei in its switch to 5G technology, and Nicaragua negotiating with a Chinese company to build a deep-water port off its coast.

What other countries are discussed in the leaked documents?

Israel, Turkey, and South Korea appear in several of the documents.

One listed scenarios under which Israel might decide to provide lethal aid to Ukraine. At this point, Israel has provided nonlethal support, including humanitarian and financial aid, to Ukraine, but has stopped short of providing lethal aid. According to the leaked documents, the U.S. believes that this could change if Israel were to adopt a model similar to Turkey, but "under U.S. pressure." Turkey supplies weapons to Ukraine but still maintains a relationship with Moscow.

The document also predicts Israel would provide lethal assistance to Ukraine if Russia expanded its strategic assistance to Iran, if Israel requested increased support from the U.S. against Iran or if Russia struck Israeli forces in Syria.

Another document, apparently from the CIA, alleged that the Israeli Secret Intelligence Service (Mossad) leaders encouraged officials and Israeli citizens to join recent waves of protests against the current Israeli regime. In response, the Israeli government said in a statement that the assertion was "mendacious and without any foundation whatsoever."

Other documents described signals intelligence, that is, gathered by eavesdropping, on South Korean leadership. The entry detailed disagreement within South Korea's National Security Office on how to respond to U.S. requests to sell ammunition to Ukraine and a plan to sell ammunition directly to Poland to satisfy the United States' ultimate goal without causing controversy domestically. The South Korean government said these documents were "fabricated," without offering specifics.

On described a private Russian military firm and another group linked to the Wagner Group that attempted to train protesters in Turkey for eventual use in Moscow's ongoing efforts to destabilize Moldova.

What are the classification markings on the documents?

The trove of documents contains highly classified materials from multiple U.S. intelligence agencies, including the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), which specializes in military intelligence; the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which is an all-source intelligence agency that specializes in human intelligence; the National Security Agency (NSA), which specializes in electronic surveillance and intercepts; the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), which focus on satellite and other overhead intelligence, and others.

In many cases, the leaked entries include finished, not raw intelligence, meaning intelligence officials and analysts have consolidated and contextualized the initial reports and intercepts that were collected.

There are a number of standard classification markings on the documents that indicate the origins of the material and how restricted it might be.

There are three tiers of classification: "Top Secret," "Secret" and "Confidential," all of which correspond to the potential damage that unauthorized disclosure of a given document may cause.

Among the markings on the documents are:

(TS)  "Top Secret" information (S)  "Secret" information (C)  "Confidential" information (SCI)  Sensitive compartmented information

(HCS)  HUMINT [human-source intelligence] Control System (SI)  Special Intelligence, which includes signals and communications intelligence (TK)  Talent Keyhole, which includes satellite and space-based imagery intelligence (FISA)  Includes electronic surveillance activities approved under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act

(RSEN)  Risk Sensitive

(FGI)  Foreign Government Information (NOFORN)  Not Releasable to Foreign Nationals (FVEY)  Five Eyes intelligence alliance including the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand

Revolutionizing Lithium Extraction and Recycling

Expert analyzes the rise of more affordable electric vehicles

SpaceX postpones launch of massive Starship rocket
Jake Teixeira Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Federal agents arrested Jack Teixeira, a junior intelligence officer in the Massachusetts Air National Guard, on Friday for allegedly stealing classified intelligence from the Pentagon and CIA and posting it to a Discord chat room he administered. But members of Teixeira's small, invitation-only server insist he never meant for the photographed files to be seen beyond the 20 or so young acolytes he was trying to instruct in global geopolitics from December 2022 until Teixeira deleted the server on April 7, when they had become a serious global breach of U.S. national security.

The files' path from Teixeira's Thug Shaker Central server to the front page of newspapers winds through a pair of slightly larger Discord servers to 4Chan then pro-Russian social media and Twitter, The Guardian details. On March 1, a Thug Shaker Central member called "Lucca" posted them on a server focused on the Filipino YouTuber Wow Mao. Another user grabbed them from there and posted them on a Minecraft-centric server during a brief April 4 argument on Minecraft and the Ukraine war, typing: "here, have some leaked documents."

Krralj, the user name for a purported Serbian college student who administers the Wow Mao server, told ABC News that Lucca is a teenager and "a hyperactive kid" who "wants to tell everyone everything all the time." When Lucca posted the intelligence files, he added, "we all thought they were fake."

Another, unidentified Wow Mao member said he posted the files to a larger Minecraft server "thinking they were fake and would make a funny joke," he told The Guardian. "About a month later, in early April, somebody posted them on 4chan to win an argument. That later got to Russian Telegram channels." And the Russian Telegram account that got the files noticed, The Wall Street Journal reports, was Donbass Devushka (Donbas Girl), "the face of a network of pro-Kremlin social media" accounts overseen by a Sarah Bils, a former U.S. Navy noncommissioned officer in Washington State.

Story continues

Bils, 37, told the Journal she is the administrator of the Donbass Devushka persona but just one of 15 people "all over the world" involved in running the network. One of the other administrators, none of whom she named, posted four of the files on April 5, she said. They were quickly picked up by larger pro-Russia Telegram accounts. Donbass Devushka, with 65,000 followers, is "definitely one of the fastest growing English language, pro-Russian communities," said Finnish researcher Pekka Kallioniemi.

One of the documents leaked on Discord, The Washington Post reports, warns Pentagon leaders that Russian government trolls are getting much better at spreading misinformation and Kremlin propaganda online, without getting caught by social networks.

You may also like

5 unethically funny cartoons about Clarence Thomas

Leaked U.S. files jumped from online spats to global breach through pro-Russia account run by U.S. Navy vet

Codeword: April 15, 2023
A woman embraces Dadeville High School football player Antojuan Woody at a prayer vigil on Sunday, April 16, 2023, outside First Baptist Church in Dadeville, Ala. Alabama law enforcement officers were imploring people to come forward with information about a shooting that killed multiple people and injured over two dozen others during a teenagers birthday party on Saturday, April 15. | Jeff Amy, Associated Press

At least four people were killed and 28 injured in a shooting at a birthday party in Alabama Saturday night, officials said.

Dadeville is a small town about an hour northeast of Montgomery, on the coast of Lake Martin that is home to about 3,000 residents, reported The Associated Press.

At 10:34 p.m. on Saturday night, a teenager from Dadeville High School was having a 16th birthday party when gunfire rang through the Mahogany Masterpiece dance studio, reported The New York Times. The police have not released any details about the shooter as of Monday morning.

There were 40 to 50 people in attendance at the party, DJ Keenan Cooper told local ABC affiliate WBMA. Cooper said that he tried to project partygoers by hiding them behind his equipment table.

I only tried to help who was in front of me, so I had a lot of people under the table and beside me trying to protect them, he told WBMA. After everybody ran out, I made sure they were OK and thats when I came out and the police arrived.

Related

Four were killed in the shooting, and at least 15 teenagers were transported to the local Lake Martin Community Hospital, a hospital spokesperson told The New York Times. From there, nine were transferred to larger hospitals for a higher level of care, and five of those nine are in critical condition.

An interfaith vigil was held Sunday at the First Baptist Church of the area by Pastor Jason Whetstone, leader of the Christian Faith Fellowship, reported The Associated Press.

All of our hearts are hurting right now, Pastor Whetstone said at the vigil, per AP. Were just trying to pull together to find strength and comfort.

Although not much has been released on the victims of the shooting, Pastor Ben Hayes, the chaplain for the Dadeville Police Department, says that most  if not all  were teenagers from Dadeville High School, per CNN.

Its a very close, tight-knit community, everybody knows everybody, Hayes told CNN. Thats why this is so difficult  I knew these kids personally, most people did.

Story continues

The county police department of Tallapoosa is asking anyone with information about the shooter to call a hotline, which they linked to in a tweet Monday morning.

If you have any information about the active shooter that occurred on 4/14/23 in Dadeville please call: ALEA tip line 1-800-392-8011 orhttps://t.co/k9L0RLlr9k THIS WILL GO TO A LINK THAT IS SETUP TO GO TO ALEA.  Tallapoosa Co SD (@TCSD6200) April 17, 2023

Related
After a Columbus woman had her leg amputated following a dog attack in March, the Ledger-Enquirer obtained documents that reveal dog bites have become a common occurrence in Muscogee County.

Over the past three years, 1,165 dog bites have been reported to Columbus animal control  an average of 388 per year.

In 2020, there were 431 reported bites. Last year, the number dropped to 339. While the data does not describe each bite in detail, the attacks can be severe.

In 2020, two tan pit bulls attacked a couple at night, leaving one in critical condition, the L-E reported.

On March 1, a woman conducting a survey of housing for a public agency was bitten so badly by a pit bull that her leg was amputated: Kim Golden, the COO for Neighborworks, suffered a severe wound that required amputation of a lower part of her leg.

Kim Golden leaves the courtroom Friday afternoon.

Golden testified in a hearing regarding the dogs future, saying she now has to crawl up and down the stairs in her home to take a shower.

I saw parts of my body that shouldnt be on the outside, on the outside, Golden said during her testimony.

The Columbus Animal Control Board met Thursday night to discuss the outcome of Cowboy, the pit bull mix belonging to Edward Murray that bit Golden. Murray argued at the same hearing the Golden was on his property and should have used common sense to avoid the attack.

The board upheld its previous classification of Cowboy as vicious, after an appeal by Murray, said Canita Johnson, a division manager for the citys Animal Control Board. She said that means Cowboy will remain in custody of the animal control office until further court proceedings.

While Georgia law defines a bite as something as simple as a scratch, public works director Drale Short said, a majority of the bites reported come from victims being bitten by animals the person doesnt know.

Drale Short is the director of public works in Columbus, Georgia.

A study published in March 2019 showed a national average of over 300,000 emergency department visits for dog bites per year between 2005 and 2013.

Story continues

Rabies is another concern connected with animal bites. If someone is bitten by a dog that isnt updated on its shots the dog is required to go into quarantine for at least 10 days while its monitored for signs of rabies.

The Georgia Department of Public Health confirmed one case of rabies found in a dog in Columbus in March after it was attacked by a raccoon.

Dr. Rebecca Reamy at Piedmont Columbus Regional has treated people for dog bites at the hospital.

She said when people arrive with dog bites, medical staff try to determine who the dog belongs to and whether they have a current shot record. Hospital staff work with animal control to determine the vaccination status of the dog.

The rabies vaccine consists of four shots administered to the site of the bite and to the leg or arm.

Piedmont Columbus Regional treated 436 animal bites in 2022, according to records they provided.

Reamy said dog owners should keep their animals vaccinated and have dogs neutered or spayed. People should avoid stray dogs and not disturb dogs while theyre sleeping or eating.

I would just say for families not to ever think that their dog wont ever bite, because every dog has the possibility of biting, she said.
An attempt by the Republican-dominated Tennessee General Assembly to change a portion of the way Knoxville city elections are conducted is expected to be taken up by the Senate on Monday as city officials do research to determine whether to challenge the action in court should it pass.

If citizens want to change Knoxvilles nonpartisan elections, that can be done by a referendum under the citys Home Rule form of government, City Law Director Charles Swanson said Thursday. We dont think it should be determined by the state Legislature, he said.

An amendment to a general election law that would require Knoxvilles six district representatives to be elected only in their respective districts rather than by a citywide vote has already passed the House. It is sponsored by state Rep. Elaine Davis, a Republican representing Knoxs 18th District.

The same legislation in the Senate was originally sponsored by Dr. Richard Briggs, a Republican representing the 6th District, but when he kept it from moving out of a committee, it was taken over by Sen. Frank Niceley, a Republican who lives in Strawberry Plains. The Senate was scheduled to vote on it on Thursday but adjourned without taking action. Under Senate rules, its expected to come up Monday.

Elaine Davis hugs a supporter after her speech at the GOP Election Party at the downtown Crowne Plaza in Knoxville on Nov. 8, 2022. Davis, who won the race to represent the 18th District in the Tennessee General Assembly, is the sponsor of an amendment to a general election law that would require Knoxvilles six district representatives to be elected only in their respective districts rather than by a citywide vote

Helping to shepherd the legislation is political consultant Erik Wiatr, who was active in Knox County Republican politics two years ago when former GOP Chairman Dan Herrera and others got a ticket of Republicans to run against Knoxville City Council incumbents in the citys elections. None in this group was elected.

Knoxville City Council has six district members and three at-large members. In this years elections, the 5th District represented by Charles Thomas is open, as are the three at-large seats, mayors position and city judge post.

Davis said, as a county gal (meaning she lives outside the city limits), she became aware of the run-off elections being citywide as vice chair of the Knox County Republican Party under Herrera. Having district representatives who are not elected in districts during a general election is a disenfranchisement for the district voters, she said. She said she committed to Herrera and the county GOP to change the law.

Story continues

Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon gives a few remarks during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Fort Kid playground in downtown Knoxville on March 6. She will unveil her 2023-24 budget during her State of the City address on Wednesday, April 26.

Wiatr described the council's method of selecting district representatives as racist intentions to appease civil rights advocates. Those being oppressive wanted whites to decide (Black representation), he said.

When the present election system was established beginning with the 1969 city elections, one purpose was to ensure the election of a Black representative from a district with a majority of Black residents. That is the 6th District, which runs through East Knoxville, downtown and the Mechanicsville area.

The present council has three members who are people of color.

Wiatr said former state Rep. Pete Drew, then a Democrat, introduced legislation to have council members elected by voters in their district. A News-Sentinel story in 1985 said Drew also filed lawsuits to get the system changed, but all his efforts failed. Drew was a city primary winner in 1977 but lost a general election to Casey Jones. Drew has since run for office as a Republican and an Independent.

Swanson said some laws of general application can affect the city but the courts also have held that home-rule charter forms can prevail. He said the citys 60-year history with the present election system shows it does not violate any civil rights laws as some supporters of the proposed state legislation are claiming.

Davis indicated she has been surprised at an attempt by city officials to stop the legislation. She said Mayor Indya Kincannon had a breakfast meeting attended by most City Council members and most of the Knox County legislative delegation to discuss potential legislation. At that time, she said, she mentioned the election change as one of her priorities.

No one said a thing, she said.

Vice Mayor Andrew Roberto said the format did not allow for a back and forth among participants.

Then Kincannon and city lobbyist Tony Thompson tried to get Davis to postpone committee action but she declined, said Fiona McNally, city director of legislative affairs. One reason the delay was sought was the committee was meeting on Feb. 28 and council had scheduled a meeting in Nashville with lawmakers on March 1, she said.

Roberto has been active since in trying to have more discussion about it with lawmakers. He sponsored a resolution adopted unanimously in a special council meeting that asked the legislature not to intervene in the citys elections rules. Even Councilmember Janet Testerman, a well-known Republican who had run for the legislative seat won by Davis, supported it.

Briggs, while initially concerned about the election change meeting constitutional requirements, now supports it. He said among those who question the present set-up are representatives of the Council of State Governments. At the time the system was chosen, the Municipal Technical Advisory Service was a consultant with the city. The argument for having district representatives elected citywide was to have officeholders looking at the city perspective on issues and not concentrating on district problems.

Davis debunks this thinking. She said when she served briefly on the Knox County Commission as a district representative, she looked at items, like the budget and the sheriffs office, with a county perspective.

Briggs said he doesnt want to throw a monkey wrench in this years city elections, where the deadline for candidates to file qualifying petitions is noon May 18.

As a result, he said he would attempt to amend the bill Monday to say it goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2024, to get past this years city elections. He predicted on Wednesday that it would pass the Senate.

If it does, it will have to go back to the House for final approval since that version doesnt mention the Jan. 1, 2024, date, he said.

As for Wiatr, he said no one is paying him to work on this legislation and some other bills hes interested in. Im not a lobbyist, he said.

OTHER POLITICAL NOTES:

 Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon will unveil her 2023-24 budget during her State of the City address on Wednesday, April 26, at a luncheon at the site of the Transforming Western initiative in Beaumont at 1800 Vermont Ave. This is $200 million-plus collaborative plan to revamp, renew and reconnect Knoxvilles largest public housing community.

A brown-bag lunch will be provided to guests who preregister by calling the citys 3-1-1 number or 865-215-4311 by Friday, April 21.

From 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. on April 26, a section of Vermont Avenue between Bowling Avenue and Hooker Street will be temporarily closed to accommodate the address and luncheon. State of the City event parking will be available on both sides of Vermont Avenue.

The official program will begin at noon, and guests are encouraged to arrive as early as 11:30 a.m. to secure parking and allow time for mingling.

 The current members of the Knox County Election Commission have been reappointed officially by the Tennessee State Election Commission after being recommended by Knox County lawmakers, and will reorganize at a meeting at noon Monday, April 17, in the main assembly room of the City County Building.

Knox County Chancellor Chris Heagerty, a former election commission chairman, will administer oaths to Hannah Hopper, Julie Gautreau, Bob Bowman, Eddie Smith and Adronicus Thomas. It is expected that Hopper will be reelected chair and Gautreau, secretary.

The commissioners are expected to reappoint Chris Davis as administrator of elections. His wife, Tennessee Court of Appeals Judge Kristi Davis, is on the agenda to swear in the administrator.

Georgiana Vines is retired News Sentinel associate editor. She may be reached at gvpolitics@hotmail.com.

Editor's note: Two names that were spelled incorrectly have been updated.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Vines: Move to change city's nonpartisan elections heads to Senate
Lil Durk is giving back to his home city of Chicago. The rapper has launched the Durk Banks Scholarship Fund in collaboration with Howard University, Amazon Musics Rotation and his Neighborhood Heroes foundation.

Change the narrative, Lil Durk told Billboard. Its stuff we never got a chance to do, or somebody never did for us. A lot of people dont do it as far as the music era that were in. In my age range, its more toward, Lets go feed them turkeys; lets go feed them meals. My team came together, where we turned it up a notch. I wanted to come up with something that was different and impactful.

Two students from Chicago were awarded $50,000 to fund their freshman tuition at Howard University. Lil Durk also donated $250,000 to the HBCUs Graduation Retention Access to Continued Excellence Grant, which will go to Chicago-bred students to help them finish their studies.

For me to boost them up and get them to the next level, it was like a no-brainer, the rapper added. And this scholarship was a super-no-brainer for me. For me and my team, having my own scholarship is like a Grammy.

The recipients were presented the scholarship Friday during Howard Universitys Springfest 2023. Lil Durk, who was performing as a headliner, brought the students up on stage to congratulate them.

Lil Durks Neighborhood Heroes Foundation said its goal is to ultimately put $10 million into the Durk Banks Scholarship fund.

Online, one of the recipients celebrated the news.

I received the GRACE Grant my last two years at Howard, and it was a BLESSING! she wrote.

I received the GRACE Grant my last two years at Howard and it was a BLESSING! https://t.co/9P0XSU03Sw  ki. (@keptlikeki) October 13, 2021

Lil Durk also spent $100,000 on an all-expenses-paid trip for 20 high schoolers to visit Howard University last week, reported Billboard. They stayed on campus and were paired with a Howard student mentor.

Story continues

The rapper recently decided to pursue his studies. He is currently studying to get his G.E.D.

In my mind, its like keeping going on the knowledge, he told Billboard. I wanna be super-smart and on point with everything from technology, music, streaming and any subject.

Lil Durk expressed the importance of doing his part and giving back to his community.

We always see it on T.V. or on the internet, Oh, he gave out a scholarship, but at the time, I didnt understand. Now its gonna be bigger than life when we do it, he said.
A teacher who has since resigned is accused of taking indecent liberties with at least four different students at a Lincolnton elementary school, investigators said.

In a news release, Lincolnton police said they learned about the first accusation in February, which involved a student at Battleground Elementary School. After investigating, police found three more victims.

The suspect, Brittain Lee Nichols, 29, of Fort Mill, is accused of carrying out sex crimes with some of the victims more than once while at the school.

ALSO READ: Former NC trooper guilty of sex crimes against children

Nichols was charged with 24 counts of felony sex offenses: 12 counts of taking indecent liberties with a student and 12 counts of taking indecent liberties with a child.

All of the alleged incidents happened at the school and some of the alleged victims had more than one encounter with the teacher, authorities said.

Nichols was arrested on Monday. He was given a $150,000 bond and was taken to the Lincoln County jail. He was released hours later after posting bail.

According to Battleground Elementarys website, Nichols was the schools music teacher. He also taught the East Lincoln High School and North Lincoln High School marching bands. A spokesperson for the district confirmed he no longer works for Lincoln County Schools.

The spokesperson said Lincoln County Schools initially investigated Nichols and turned everything they learned over to law enforcement in February. They had to do so before any information could be released because of the confidential nature of the situation for both the students and Nichols, the district said.

ALSO READ: Police: No evidence to support juvenile being inappropriately touched at school

Nichols faced a judge Tuesday morning and said very little as the judge read his charges. After his court appearance, Channel 9s Dave Faherty tried to talk with the former teacher about the allegations, but his lawyer said they have no comment at this time.

Story continues

Really shocking

Kristin Britts two daughters go to Battleground Elementary and had Nichols as their teacher. She was shocked by the allegations.

He taught all three of my kids music in elementary school and they all learned recorder from him, she said. And its really shocking because they all had nothing but positive, good things to say about him.

Parents said elementary school children should be able to trust their teachers.

I would never think he should be around another child, said parent Allen Asbell. Thats the way I feel and thats the way it should be.

Its horrible to even think about, said parent Mindy Fuller. Knowing that my son was recently in Battleground, its hard to take.

ALSO READ: Grandmother, ex-husband charged with abducting Lincoln County 5-year-old

Monea Owens has two children who attend the school and said she never got a message or letter from the school about the investigation.

Im definitely going to make sure I talk with my kids when they come home to make sure, you know, that he never did or said anything, she said.

Larnette Frazier has two grandchildren at the school and said she had concerns about the former teacher.

I felt like he was always over friendly with the kids, Frazier said. And I guess the vulnerability, because the kids were thinking he was being nice.

Nichols was placed on administrative leave, the spokesperson said, and then resigned from his position as a music teacher at Battleground Elementary. The district also notified the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction of the allegations.

Lincolnton police asked anyone with information to call Det. Diallo at 704-736-8900.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

(WATCH BELOW :2 charged with murder after mans death in Lincolnton, sheriff says)
Lindsay Graham; Marjorie Taylor Greene. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images;John Bazemore-Pool/Getty Images

Sen. Lindsey Graham criticized Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's defense of the accused Pentagon leaker.

Graham called Greene's stance "irresponsible" and one that puts America "in serious danger."

"That's one of the most irresponsible statements she could make," Graham said on ABC's "This Week."

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham has ripped GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's defense of the Air National Guardsman charged in the leak of secret Pentagon documents, calling her stance "terribly irresponsible" and one that puts America "in serious danger."

"That's one of the most irresponsible statements she could make," Graham said of Greene's hailing of 21-year-old Jack Teixeira during an interview Sunday on ABC's "This Week."

Greene, as well as other prominent far-right figures like Fox News host Tucker Carlson, quickly rushed to the defense of Teixeira who was charged last week in connection with the leak of dozens of classified US documents.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (@RepMTG) April 13, 2023

"Jake Teixeira is white, male, christian, and antiwar. That makes him an enemy to the Biden regime," the Georgia congresswoman wrote in a tweet the day Teixeira was arrested by FBI agents at his family home in Massachusetts.

Greene added, "He told the truth about troops being on the ground in Ukraine and a lot more. Ask yourself who is the real enemy?"

Graham said during the Sunday interview that what people like Greene are "suggesting will destroy America's ability to defend itself."

"That it's okay to release classified information based on your political views. That the ends justify the means. It is not okay," the South Carolina senator said.

Graham continued, "There is no justification for this. And for any member of Congress to suggest it's okay to leak classified information because you agree with the cause is terribly irresponsible and puts America in serious danger."

Story continues

Hours after Graham's criticism of Greene, Greene posted a doctored image of him on Twitter holding a Bud Light can that featured a photo of trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney. on it.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (@RepMTG) April 16, 2023

Conservatives have blasted Bud Light's recent partnership with Mulvaney and have called for a boycott of the brew.

Last week, Donald Trump Jr. called for the end of the conservative-led boycott against Bud Light, which is owned by Anheuser-Busch, over the parent company's partnership with Mulvaney.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) called statements made by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) defending the suspected leaker of U.S. intelligence documents "irresponsible."

On Thursday, 21-year-old Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, was arrested in connection with the leak, and later charged with possessing classified documents pertaining to national security and possessing national defense materials. The material included top-secret documents on the war in Ukraine and intelligence gathered on Israel and South Korea.

Greene, a member of the House's Homeland Security Committee, tweeted that the suspect is "being treated like a traitor and criminal," and accused the Biden administration and Department of Defense of "acting like criminals."

This is "one of the most irresponsible statements she could make," Graham said during an interview with ABC News' This Week on Sunday, adding, "If you're a member of the military intelligence and you disagree with American policy and you think you're going to be okay when it comes to leaking classified information, you're going to go to jail." Military members are "less safe" because of the leak, he continued, and "there is no justification for this. And for any member of Congress to suggest it's okay to leak classified information because you agree with the cause is terribly irresponsible and puts America in serious danger."

On Fox News Sunday, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) said the suspect is being called "a traitor" by some and "a hero" by others, but "neither side has the information or the data to be able to make that decision yet, because there's been no investigation, and we haven't even had our first classified briefing, which will happen later this week when we're back in session."

The Senate Intelligence Committee will also open an investigation into the leak, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said Sunday on CNN's State of the Union. The committee has focused "intensely on how we keep our secrets safe," she stated. "And I have a lot of questions about why were these documents lying around. Why did this particular person have access to them? Where was the custody of the documents, and who were they for? We need to know the facts. We need to know who this airman was, why he felt he had the authority or ability to show off confidential documents, secret documents to his friends."

Story continues

You may also like

5 unethically funny cartoons about Clarence Thomas

Codeword: April 15, 2023

Why empty offices are a ticking time bomb for banks
A live 6-foot shark found its way onto dry land on Sunday, April 16, in front of stunned Outer Banks visitors along the North Carolina coast.

Coastal photographers Wes and Beth Snyder report the shark appeared around 4:45 p.m. on Pea Island.

This shark washed ashore still alive right in front of Beth and I, Wes Snyder wrote in a Facebook post. Its still alive on the beach but I imagine its beaching because its dying.

The predator was believed to be a sandbar shark, a species that grows to 8 feet and has severely declined from over fishing in recent years, N.C. State University reports.

Video shared by Snyder shows it was pushed ashore by waves and continued to show signs of life. It bore a tag with the numbers 415046, which revealed it had been tagged earlier in the day, Snyder said.

The shark died about a half hour after being found, he wrote in an update.

Blood was coming out of the gills and mouth and we were told to not try and rescue it, Snyder posted. We dont have health insurance and I wasnt about to try and wrangle a 6(-foot) shark back in the ocean.

His Facebook video had been viewed nearly 30,000 times as of April 17 and gotten nearly 2,000 comments and reactions. Many were from people who felt sorry for the shark.

As much as I am afraid of them, this is still sad to watch, Kimberly Nazar-Grant wrote on Facebook.

Huge wound on 8-foot shark is seen zipped back up years later, scientists say

Angler spying on sharks with camera notices one staring back off the Australia coast

Anglers busted with 1,000 pounds of shark illegally caught off Texas, officials say
For the first time in eight years, the American Academy of Pediatrics is formally addressing childhood nicotine and tobacco use. Its new policy paper, which appears in the latest edition of Pediatrics, recommends, among other things, that pediatricians actively screen adolescents for tobacco and nicotine use.

Why the update?

The AAPs last tobacco statement was in 2015, said Pediatrician and paper Co-Author Susan Walley, MD. And at that time we were seeing just, really, the emergence of e-cigarettes and vaping, as well as other new tobacco products.

AAP now sees vaping and other tobacco derivatives as a full threat to the health of American children.

Unfortunately, what weve seen in that interim period is that e-cigarettes and vaping devices are the most common tobacco product used by adolescents today, Walley said. One in six high school students are current tobacco users, and one in twenty middle school students.

While Walley uses the term tobacco its more a reference to anything containing nicotine. And its clear from national figures adolescents preferred form of nicotine. The CDC reports that about two to three percent of U.S. high schoolers use cigarettes and cigars -- but more than 14 percent use e-cigarettes.

Overall, the CDC found about 16.5 percent of high school kids use nicotine products, with use by girls edging out boys.

Walley said nicotine product manufacturers continue to use deceptive marketing to lure young users in -- including the offering of flavors.

Theyre addicting a whole new generation of our youth, she said. We have teenagers who are so addicted to these products that they cant go a school day without using them covertly.

Walley said doctors are especially concerned about the possible long-term effects of e-cigarettes -- something they dont yet know because the products havent been around long enough. But in the short term, Walley said theyre seeing serious, even fatal, lung injuries from vaping.

Story continues

Could vaping be as harmful as cigarette smoking? Walley said that while some e-cigarettes contain synthetic nicotine, others use nicotine from tobacco plants.

We see some of the same toxicants as in cigarettes, she said. Nitrosamines, microscopic heavy metals, aldehydes.

Whether synthetic or natural, nicotine is nicotine in one respect: its highly addictive -- perhaps especially for kids.

" Adolescent brains are not mature and so theyre able to become addicted to even intermittent use of these products, Walley said.

The new policy paper recommends pediatricians not only screen for nicotine use in adolescents -- but also check for use by parents and caregivers. If a child is having an issue with nicotine addiction, the paper also recommends treatment -- but not with e-cigarettes.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
A lorry cab was split in half in a crash on the M6 motorway near Stafford, Staffordshire. (SWNS)

This is the shocking aftermath of a motorway crash that left a lorry cab cut in half after it caught fire.

Photos from the scene of the crash on the M6 show how the cab was sliced apart.

The incident happened on a stretch of the motorway near Stafford, Staffordshire, on Sunday morning.

National Highways reported the crash shortly after 11.45am.

Miraculously, the driver of the lorry was able to exit the vehicle after the crash and was treated at the scene for injuries not believed to be serious. He was later taken to hospital.

A section of the M6 was closed after the lorry crash on Sunday. (SWNS)

Emergency services staff at the scene of the crash on the M6 in Staffordshire. (SWNS)

It is understood the lorry overturned and caught fire.

Traffic was halted in both directions between junction 12 for Cannock and junction 13 for Stafford as the emergency services attended the scene.

Read more: Where are the UK's smart motorways and which ones are being scrapped?

The HGV lorry cab was split in two and its engine was strewn across the motorway.

A spokeswoman for West Midlands Ambulance Service told Yahoo News UK: "Two ambulances, two paramedic officers and the Midlands Air Ambulance from Cosford were sent to the scene and a Community First Responder was also in attendance.

"On arrival, crews discovered a lorry had been involved in a collision and the driver, a man, was already out of the vehicle.

"Ambulance staff treated the patient for injuries not believed to be serious before conveying him by land ambulance to New Cross Hospital for further treatment."

Traffic was stopped in both directions between on a section of the M6 after the crash. (SWNS)

A spokesperson for National Highways said: "The M6 in Staffordshire is closed northbound between J12 and J13 due to a road traffic collision involving a Heavy Goods Vehicle which has overturned and caught fire.

"Central Motorway Police Group, Fire and Rescue, Air Ambulance and National Highways Traffic Officers are on scene. The southbound carriageway has been released.

"Traffic within the northbound closure is currently being released past the scene."
Louisville Metro Police Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey decried gun violence and pushed for change after the city suffered its second mass shooting in a week. The two incidents have left a total of seven people dead.

A shooter killed five people and injured at least eight others after opening fire at Old National Bank in Louisville on Monday last week. On Saturday, two more people were killed after shots were fired into a crowd at Chickasaw Park.

This is frustrating. This is very frustrating. I know that Monday was a very high-profile event, but for LMPD, for EMS, for fire, for University Hospital, for this community, this is every night. This is not okay, Humphrey told reporters, per footage from WHAS11.

This has to change. We can talk about the politics of guns. We can talk about mental health issues. We can talk about the breakdown of the family. Its all of it. Its all of it, Humphrey said.

The Louisville shootings are among more than 160 mass shootings in the United States this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The shootings come shortly after another high-profile massacre left three children and three adults dead at an elementary school in Tennessee.

We have to be dedicated to both short term and long term solutions in this problem. We cannot sit up here and continue to blame other people for the problems that we have in our own community, Humphrey said.

We all need to be there to take care of this problem. There is no one solution to this problem.

A Louisville doctor involved in treating the shooting victims has also pleaded for policy makers to take action on gun violence.

To everyone who helps makes policy  I would simply ask you to do something. Because doing nothing, which is what we have been doing, is not working, said University of Louisville Hospital Chief Medical Officer Jason Smith at a press conference last week.

Theres only so many times you can walk into a room and tell someone theyre not coming home tomorrow. And it just breaks your heart. When you hear someone screaming, mommy or daddy, it just becomes too hard day in and day out to be able to do that, he added.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
President Emmanuel Macron on Monday staunchly defended his widely unpopular pension reform but said he regretted that no consensus had been found on the change.

Addressing France for the first time since signing the reform into law over the weekend, Macron said he understood the "anger" felt by the French over the raising of the retirement age.

Macron signed the legislation early Saturday, just hours after its banner change to hike the retirement age from 62 to 64 had been validated by the constitutional court, prompting accusations he was smuggling the law through in the dead of night.

After three months of protests and strikes, the left and unions have vowed not to give in and warned of mass protests on the May 1 Labour Day.

Polls have consistently recorded a majority of French opposed to the reform, which the government rammed through parliament using a controversial mechanism to avoid a vote.

Speaking from the Elysee Palace, Macron defended the reform as "necessary" and insisted "doing nothing" was not a solution.

"Has this reform been accepted? Obviously not. And despite months of consultations, no consensus could be found and I regret it."

Noting the protests that have raged against the reform, he added: "No one, especially not me, can remain deaf to this demand for social justice."

"The answer can be neither in rigidity, nor in extremism," said the president, adding his "door will always be open" to talks with the unions.

- 'Within slapping range' -

Macron's personal popularity ratings have eroded with some analysts suggesting he has given a head start to far-right leader Marine Le Pen down the long path to 2027 elections.

Unions have meanwhile spurned an invitation to the Elysee for talks.

Opponents from across the board after Macron's speech said it had only reinforced concerns about how the reform was handled.

"He chose to turn his back on the French and ignore their suffering," said far-right figurehead and former presidential candidate Marine Le Pen.

Story continues

Hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon said Macron was "totally out of touch with reality" while CFDT union leader Laurent Berger added that it contained "nothing concrete" for the labour movement.

Macron said he had tasked his government led by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne to lead 100 days of action "at the service of France".

The prime minister should lay out a roadmap in the next days with the first results to be announced on France's national day on July 14, Macron said.

He promised "major announcements" during May including action against juvenile delinquency and also "reinforcing controls against illegal immigration".

Macron earlier had lunch with Borne and then met key figures from his party including ultra-loyal rising stars tipped for promotions such as Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu, 36, and Budget Minister Gabriel Attal, 34.

- 'Far from finished' -

But no cabinet reshuffle is planned in the near future, several sources close to the presidency told AFP.

The president, often consumed with diplomacy, will this week also make at least one trip within France after criticism even from within his own camp that he is failing to connect with people.

"I want Macron to spend more time on the ground," said one minister, who asked not to be named. Even "within range of being slapped".

His wife Brigitte, in a rare public comment, insisted that the presidential couple were "not isolated" despite it being a "complicated period for the French".

The crisis also comes at a time of increasing challenges on the international stage for Macron, who faced accusations of cosying up to China on a visit to Beijing last week.

Macron, 45, came to power in 2017 promising reform and a fresh new politics. But opponents accuse him of increasingly reclusive and anti-democratic behaviour.

"Emmanuel Macron is far from finished from having to deal with the social and political crisis, which he continues to dangerously stir up," said Le Monde newspaper in an editorial.

The daily noted Le Pen was the only politician whose popularity has been notably boosted by the crisis, while trust in France's democratic institutions has fallen.

"The cost of the pensions reform appears to be exorbitant," it said.

sjw/ah/jm
More than 100 prisoners of war were flown from Saudi Arabia to Yemen on Monday, further buoying peace hopes a day after a major exchange of 869 captives ended, the ICRC said.

Two International Committee of the Red Cross planes carrying 48 prisoners each flew to Sanaa, Yemen's rebel-held capital, while a third with eight captives headed for government-controlled Aden in the south, the humanitarian group said.

The "unilateral" release is outside the terms of the three-day exchange that was negotiated between Yemen's Huthi rebels and government officials and finished on Sunday, ICRC media adviser Jessica Moussan told AFP.

"We welcome this initiative and are pleased to see that humanitarian considerations are being taken for the sake of reuniting families," Moussan said. "This will bring immense relief to the families of the detainees."

The ICRC was "facilitating" the transfer by providing air transport and logistical support, and by interviewing the captives, Moussan said.

The release of 104 captives, days before the major Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr, takes the total number to 973 freed since Friday.

During a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Monday, the UN's special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said the releases demonstrated "the power of peaceful negotiations" and said there had not been "such a serious opportunity for making progress towards ending the conflict in eight years".

The Iran-backed Huthis seized Sanaa in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention months later.

Hundreds of thousands have died in the conflict, which has also triggered a major humanitarian crisis.

A UN-brokered ceasefire that started in April 2022 has sharply reduced casualties. The truce expired in October, but fighting has largely remained on hold.

The Saudi-led coalition's spokesman, Turki al-Maliki, confirmed the extra releases, saying they "completed" the prisoner exchange.

This "extension of previous humanitarian initiatives" aims to help "stabilise" the lapsed truce and create an "atmosphere of dialogue", Maliki said, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.

Story continues

Last week, a Saudi delegation held talks in Sanaa aimed at establishing a more durable ceasefire. The discussions ended without a truce but with an agreement to meet again.

Grundberg referred to the "constructive dialogue" in Sanaa and said: "A supportive regional environment will reinforce peace efforts in Yemen."

But he cautioned that "the tide could still turn unless the parties take bolder steps yet towards peace."

He urged swift progress in releases all of Yemen's conflict-related detainees, as "many more Yemenis" are still waiting for the return of loved ones.

The prisoner releases come a month after Gulf heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to re-establish diplomatic ties, sparking a wave of rapprochement across the troubled region.

Analysts say Saudi Arabia now accepts its prolonged military campaign will not defeat the rebel forces.

bur/am/th/noc/it
VALLETTA (Reuters) - Sixty migrants who were rescued from two boats in the central Mediterranean landed in Malta on Monday in the biggest arrival of migrants on the island for months, eyewitnesses said.

The migrants were picked up by a merchant ship between Malta and Libya following instructions by Malta's rescue authorities.

The rescue came days after Malta was criticised by a senior Italian politician as well as charities Alarm Phone and Sea Watch for failing to rescue boat people in its search and rescue zone.

"Good news. We have learned that the two boats in distress were rescued by merchant vessels that Malta eventually ordered to intervene," Alarm Phone said on Monday.

On Sunday night the same charity accused the Maltese authorities of refusing to order rescue operations for the two boats.

The Maltese government and its armed forces have not commented on the rescue and have not reacted to the criticism.

Earlier in April, Tommaso Foti, who heads the ruling right-wing Brothers of Italy grouping in Italy's lower house of parliament reacted angrily after Malta failed to rescue some 400 migrants who packed a fishing boat in its search and rescue zone.

The migrants were eventually taken to Italy. In a belated reaction, the Maltese armed forces said they never received a rescue request from the people on the boat.

"Malta's attitude is starting to grate," Foti said last week. "They (Malta) consistently pretend not to see and never intervene. Our coastguard is under pressure."

Migrant arrivals have surged in Italy this year. Over 34,000 migrants came ashore so far in 2023, compared to 8,600 in the same period in 2022, according to Italian government data.

Maltese authorities deny the existence of any plan to systematically ignore rescue calls.

However according to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Malta had received only one rescued migrant since the start of the year.

(Reporting by Christopher Scicluna; Editing by Christina Fincher)
Police arrested a man in Tulsa, Oklahoma last week after finding more than 20 explosive devices in a car parked near the historic Black community known as Black Wall Street.

According to Fox 23, the man is identified as 32-year-old Daniel Charba.

Police said they found the car parked at an auto repair shop, located less than two miles from the historic Greenwood and Archer intersection on Black Wall Street, and tracked it to Charba. When police searched Charbas home in west Tulsa, they found more explosives.

Police said they found a total of about 20 explosives and 50 pounds of chemical precursors, The Black Wall Street Times reported.

Black residents in the city still feel the pain of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Thousands lost their lives and their businesses at that time when the community was attacked with city-sanctioned bombs and burnings.
Phoenix police car

Phoenix police said they were investigating an early morning shooting that left one man dead on a residential street.

Officers responded to calls of shooting near 63rd and Campbell avenues on Monday morning. Upon arrival, they found a man in the road with gunshot wounds, police said.

The Phoenix Fire Department attempted lifesaving measures on the man, later identified as 36-year-old Reynaldo Medrano Jr., but was unsuccessful. Medrano was pronounced dead on the scene, police said.

Detectives spoke with witnesses and investigated the shooting. No one has been detained in relation to the incident, according to police.

Detectives have asked anyone with information to call the Phoenix Police Department or Silent Witness if they wish to remain anonymous.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Man dead after shooting in Phoenix, police said
A surfer died after his friend noticed he was face down in the water and helped pull him to shore, Oregon rescuers said.

The 51-year-old Portland man was surfing with a friend, who noticed the man was facedown and unresponsive as they paddled through less than 3-foot high waves near Seaside Cove on Saturday, April 15, Seaside Fire and Rescue said in an April 17 news release.

Three surfers, including the mans friend, pulled him to shore, rescuers said.

The surfers were performing CPR on the man when rescuers got there, according to the release.

Rescuers said they took the man to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Seaside Cove is about 80 miles northwest of Portland.

Beachgoer swims through frigid surf trying to save surfers in California, police say

Surfing accident kills firefighter known for his selfless spirit, Florida officials say

Ricochet the surf therapy dog dies after life of triumph helping others, owner says
A missing dad was last seen leaving a bar 17 years ago  and now, human remains have been found inside his SUV, officials said.

The SUV was in about 10 feet of water when it was discovered in a Florida pond, the Sunshine State Sonar Search Team wrote April 14 in a Facebook post.

The vehicle reportedly belonged to Robert Helphrey, who was 34 years old when he vanished on May 22, 2006.

On the night of his disappearance, Helphrey  a military veteran and manager at the Thirsty Marlin seafood restaurant in Palm Harbor  joined two of his co-workers at nearby Peggy ONeills Irish pub. After leaving the pub, he planned to meet with a friend but never showed up, according to the Pinellas County Sheriffs Office and the Tampa Bay Times.

His family describes him as a hardworking, dependable person and a devoted parent, and they dont believe he would have left without telling anyone, Sunshine State Sonar wrote.

After the missing persons case went cold, the search organization said it teamed with detectives in 2021. It searched more than 150 bodies of water before helping to find the SUV in a Palm Harbor pond.

Though Helphreys SUV was pulled from the water, mystery lingers in the case. As of April 17, Pinellas County deputies said a medical examiners office was trying to determine the identity of the person found inside the vehicle.

Brian St. Arnold, owner of the Thirsty Marlin, told WTVT he believes his friend made a wrong turn the night he was last seen.

Its just amazing that nobody saw him that night, St. Arnold told the TV station. No one heard anything. He didnt yell for help.

Helphrey is described in a Facebook post as being 190 pounds and 5 feet, 11 inches tall with strawberry blonde hair. An investigation was ongoing as of about 10:30 a.m. April 17, deputies told McClatchy News in an email.

Palm Harbor is roughly 25 miles northwest of Tampa.

Body found in submerged car of beloved teacher who vanished in 2020, Florida cops say

Calls about bodies found along road linked to body in submerged car, Florida cops say
Crosley Green, a 65-year-old Florida grandfather who spent nearly half his life in prison for a murder he says he didn't commit, returned to custody on Monday even though a judge ruled that he'd been wrongfully convicted. He spent his last days of freedom spending time with his fiancee and attending church services.

Green, who was found guilty of murder in 1990 and sentenced to death, had his conviction overturned in 2018, but his nightmare wasn't over yet. Prosecutors fought the ruling from Judge Roy B. Dalton, which kept Green in prison for several more years.

Green was granted a provisional release in 2021 after his lawyers cited health concerns during the pandemic. On April 7, 2021, he left Calhoun Correctional Institution outside Tallahassee, Florida. He greeted family members and enjoyed his first taste of freedom: strawberry ice cream.

But the state of Florida appealed the decision that led to Green's release and won last year. His conviction was reinstated.

"The last two years have been the best years of my life," Green said in a statement provided by his attorney. "I reunited with my family and met my grandkids for the first time. I learned a new job that I really love. I've enjoyed worshiping with my church in Titusville. And I've begun new relationships that have changed my life. I would like to live the years I have left in freedom and peace."

Katherine Spikes hugs fiance Crosley Green / Credit: Crowell & Moring/Nerissa Johnson

Green's lawyers fought to keep him free. His team petitioned the Supreme Court to hear Green's case, but in February, the Justices declined to hear the case. Judge Dalton then ruled Green needed to turn himself in by April 17 to continue serving his life sentence.

Green said he has faith in God that people will see he deserves to be free, even as he prepared to return to custody Monday evening.

"I am not bitter. I am not down and out," he said. "I am trying to set an example of faith and hope for my family, for my church and for my town."

Story continues

Green, accompanied by his fiancee and attorneys, turned himself over to the Florida Department of Corrections on Monday. He hugged family members before walking inside.

Keith Harrison, one of Green's attorneys, called it a dark day for justice.

"The only avenues left to pursue are parole or clemency, and we are hopeful that the State will see that no public interest is served by keeping Mr. Green behind bars," Harrison said in a statement. "We will never stop fighting for Mr. Green's freedom. Although our avenues within the court system are exhausted, we believe the State of Florida will do the right thing by Mr. Green."

CBS News' "48 Hours" has been covering the case for years.

Green was arrested in the April 3, 1989 death of 22-year-old Chip Flynn, who was shot to death in a Central Florida orange grove.

Flynn's ex-girlfriend, Kim Hallock, told police she and Flynn had been kidnapped by a Black man. She said she managed to escape. Hallock identified Green in a questionable photo lineup.

Kim Hallock picked Crosley Green [#2] as the assailant from this photo lineup. Green's picture is smaller and darker than any of the other pictures making it stand out. Investigators also told Hallock that the man that they suspected was in the lineup. This is no longer allowed under Florida's current laws. / Credit: BCSO

There was no physical evidence tying Green to the shooting. Green said he was at a party at the time of the murder.

Green was arrested and charged with kidnapping, robbery and murder, despite the lack of direct evidence.

Just a few months after the shooting, two Brevard County officers who had been first on the crime scene expressed their doubts about the arrest. Patrol Deputy Mark Rixey and Sergeant Diane Clarke went to Assistant State Attorney Christopher White and told him they thought Hallock was the likely shooter. Hallock's story was inconsistent, both officers told White.

Rixey later said, "I told him that I thought she did it." White took notes of the meeting but didn't turn over the information to Green's attorney, "48 Hours" reported.

At trial, prosecutors presented three witnesses, including Green's own sister, who claimed he had confessed. Later, all three, who had been facing legal problems of their own, recanted saying they had been pressured to testify against Green.

Green was offered a plea bargain at trial in 1990, but he refused to take it, maintaining his innocence. He was convicted by an all-White jury and sentenced to death. Lawyers eventually got him off death row due to errors in the sentencing process.

Rare wildflower super blooms arrives in California, Arizona

Minneapolis changes noise ordinance to allow Muslim call to prayer at all hours

Barry Humphries, comedian who created the character Dame Edna, dies at 89
A man set fire to multiple unoccupied homes before leading police on a chase, according to a North Carolina sheriffs office.

Dispatchers received several calls about unoccupied homes on fire in an area between Pinetops and Tarboro on the morning of April 15, according to a news release from the Edgecombe County Sheriffs Office.

One of the callers described a vehicle they saw leaving one of the houses and a local police officer started to follow it, the release says. Deputies joined the pursuit and followed the vehicle for several miles before the driver got out of the car and tried to flee on foot, the release says.

Deputies eventually arrested the driver, a 54-year-old man, and charged him with five counts of second-degree arson, felony fleeing to elude, driving while impaired and reckless driving to endanger, according to the sheriffs office.

He is being held on a $510,000 bond, the sheriffs office said.

Pinetops and Tarboro are two towns in Edgecombe County in northeastern North Carolina. Tarboro is the county seat and is about 75 miles east of Raleigh.

Man uses blowtorch to set house on fire with woman and dogs inside, Florida cops say

Man chopped down trees so theyd fall on newly built homes, North Carolina cops say

Mannequin on fire in field was actually a burning human body, Florida cops say
A Colorado man who shot and killed a new father in May 2021 was acquitted of murder charges Monday.

Kevin Woodard, 30, was accused of first-degree murder in the shooting death of 39-year-old Jason Carroll on May 2, 2021, following a confrontation inside of Carroll's residence in the 1000 block of Berkley Avenue.

The jury debated for several hours Friday afternoon and Monday morning before finding Woodard not guilty of first-degree murder. Woodard did plead guilty to possession of a weapon by a previous offender, a class 6 felony, and admitted in court he was not allowed to own a gun when he shot Carroll.

During his trial, which lasted less than a week, Woodard testified on his own behalf that he acted in self-defense when he shot Carroll in the chest, killing him.

Woodard testified in court that Carroll had come back into the apartment that Carroll shared with his girlfriend, Monica Paradise, and their newborn child in the early morning hours of May 2, after he'd left earlier that day following a verbal fight with Paradise.

Woodard testified that Carroll grew furious after noticing his clothing and personal possessions, which had been thrown in the trash by Paradise following their fight, were missing. He said Carroll started asking repeatedly for his things while cursing.

He alleged that Carroll locked the door, saying, "No one leaves until I get my (stuff)." As Carroll turned to lock the door, Woodard testified, he noticed a knife clipped to Carroll's pocket.

Woodard testified that Carroll approached him and he tried to go around one side of the coffee table in the apartment to avoid Carroll. However, Woodard said Carroll intercepted him, and two friends of Carroll's were also standing between him and the door of the apartment.

At this point, Woodard claimed, he saw the 7-inch fold-out pocket knife in Carroll's hand. He claimed that Carroll lunged at him, attempting to stab him, leading him to shoot Carroll once in the chest at close range.

Story continues

After Carroll collapsed outside the door of the apartment, Woodard said he purposely left his phone behind for those present to call 911, before fleeing the scene. Woodard stated he intended to turn himself in to his probation officer in Denver but was arrested in Arapahoe County before he got the chance.

Woodard claimed he had not mentioned the knife in a previous interview with a Pueblo police detective because he did not want Caroll's child growing up knowing that their father had attacked someone and been shot.

"I did not want to kill that man," Woodard testified.

During his closing arguments, Jake Lilly, an attorney representing Woodard, emphasized that no one in the apartment during the shooting was an "angel," with all involved parties in the case having criminal records.

Lilly also stated that the knife Woodard claimed Carroll attacked him with was found in the middle of the street outside the apartment. The knife, Lilly said, had a partial DNA match for an "unknown female," which he inferred may have been Paradise taking the knife and throwing it away from Carroll into the street to conceal the alleged attempted assault on Woodard.

Lilly also reminded the jury prior to their deliberations that even if they believe Woodard could have acted differently, Colorado law allows for lethal force in certain threatening situations.

"Could he have acted differently? Maybe. But in situations like that, things tend to happen real fast," Lilly said. "I'm betting for everyone involved that night, things happened real fast."

Assistant District Attorney Anthony Marzavas questioned Lilly's version of events in his closing arguments, noting it was a small apartment without much room between the door and the couch where Woodard was sitting with his girlfriend at the time of the incident.

Marzavas contended that with the time and distance involved, he did not believe Woodard would have had the time to stand, orient himself toward Carroll, cock the gun, aim and shoot before Carroll would have reached him.

"Woodard would have had a stab wound," Marzavas said.

Marzavas also questioned Woodard's logic in not telling the Pueblo detective who interviewed him that Carroll had tried to stab him, stating that with the kind of consequences Woodard faced, a reasonable person would not think first and foremost of the well-being of a child they had just met.

The claim that Paradise or another woman would have disposed of the knife in the street also didn't make sense, Marzavas argued, because if someone had the wherewithal to dispose of the knife in the two- to three-minute window before police arrived on scene, they would not have thrown it in the middle of the street, where arriving first responders would easily locate it.

Following the not-guilty verdict, Carroll's mother, Lisa Leibbrand, stated she was "shocked" and felt the 10th Judicial District Attorney's Office had done a convincing job of presenting the case. "If that man is allowed back out on the street, we're all in danger," Leibbrand said.

Woodard still faces attempted murder charges in Fremont County stemming from an unrelated nonlethal shooting on May 3, 2021, the day after he shot Carroll and the same day of his arrest in Arapahoe County.

A jury trial is scheduled for Aug. 30 in that case.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the name of Kevin Woodard's attorney. The attorney's name is Jake Lilly.

Questions, comments, or story tips? Contact Justin at jreutterma@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @jayreutter1.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Man acquitted in Pueblo murder case from 2021 fatal shooting
The Lubbock jury was urged to consider a sentence that would send a message to Larry Pearson  who had prior convictions for ongoing family violence and aggravated robbery  and society.

A prosecutor said she is making an example out of a Texas man who received a 70-year sentence for spitting on a police officer during an arrest.

Jurors in Lubbock County handed the lengthy sentence to Larry Pearson, 36, on Tuesday after finding him guilty of two counts of harassing a public servant the day before. According to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, typical prison sentences for harassing a public servant range from two to 10 years.

However, Pearsons two prior felony convictions  for aggravated robbery and continuous family violence in 2009 and 2019, respectively  increased the range of his penalty to 25 years to life in prison.

Larry Pearson (center), 36, received a 70-year prison sentence after being convicted of harassing a public servant when he spat on police officers in Lubbock County, Texas, during his arrest last spring. (Photo: Screenshot/YouTube.com/Everything Lubbock)

We asked [the jury] to just consider the life that hed been leading, prosecutor Jessica Gorman said, the Avalanche-Journal reported.

Gorman emphasized that the sentence would not have been as substantial for someone with no criminal history.

But I think the reason for that enhancement being the law is if youre going to choose to live a life of crime and to be a criminal, you can do that around other criminals in prison and not in a free society with law-abiding people, she said.

According to the Avalanche-Journal, a Lubbock police report detailed how a woman flagged down an officer in northeast Lubbock in April 2022 to report Pearson, who was a passenger in her car, for domestic abuse.

The report noted that the victim had multiple visible injuries on her face as she informed the officers that Pearson had a weapon  which turned out to be an airsoft gun  and had hit her several times.

The unidentified woman claimed Pearson stopped assaulting her when they reached the nearby intersection after he saw a police car. After passing it, Pearson threatened her again, she said. You know you have an a whooping coming, he reportedly warned her before punching her again, for the third time, in her face.

Story continues

Pearson allegedly became angry that officers arrested him rather than the victim after backup arrived, prompting him to kick at their vehicle doors. Gorman said he spat at authorities when they opened the door to order him to stop kicking.

Pearson reportedly continued to spit and resist after being taken to the Lubbock County Detention Center.

During the final arguments of the sentencing phase of Pearsons trial, KLBK News reported, prosecutor Gorman urged the jury to consider a punishment that would send a message to him and society.

Defense attorney Jim Shaw told the jury that the sentence was inflicted for a simple misdemeanor in a situation that got out of control. Gorman, however, disagreed.

In Texas, if youve been to prison multiple times, two consecutive times and then you commit another felony thats a third degree or higher, youre whats called a habitualized criminal, Gorman contended, the Avalanche-Journal reported, where your minimum is 25 years.

TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and Android TV. Also, please download theGrio mobile apps today!

The post Man who spat on police during arrest gets 70 years appeared first on TheGrio.
Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez has undergone successful surgery on the fractured metatarsal which prematurely ended his season.

The Argentina centre-back was carried off on a stretcher during Thursdays Europa League draw with Sevilla on Thursday and it quickly became apparent the 25-year-old would play no further part in the campaign.

Martinez has now had an operation on his right foot and the player posted a picture on Instagram post-surgery with the message: Everything went really well, thanks to God!

Many thanks for all of your messages. Now focusing on the recovery.

Martinez is expected to make a full recovery in time for the start of next season but his absence leaves United without either of their first-choice centre-backs as Raphael Varane was also injured against Sevilla and is expected to be out for a few weeks.
Mariupol destroyed by invaders (illustrative photo)

"Here were 29 multi-story residential buildings. It's now a mere wasteland. Cheremushky (a microdistrict in Mariupol). Prymorsky District. Mariupol. April 2023. 'Russian World'," the video caption reads.

Russian occupiers have destroyed 400 multi-story residential buildings in Mariupol in order to hide the evidence of their crimes, Mariupol mayor Andriy Boychenko said on March 9.

Andriushchenko published another video on March 15 showing a widely devastated Mariupol captured from above.

Read also: Escape from hell: Women of Mariupol tell their stories of living under occupation and escaping the siege

Out of a pre-war population of over 430,000, he told Radio NV that around 90,000 people have stayed in the occupied city, mostly pensioners.

That is down from 100,000-120,000 that remained in the city in June 2022, following the siege of the city, according to figures from Mariupol city council.

In early June 2022, around 200,000 people fled the city to Ukrainian-controlled areas; 50,000 to 70,000 left for other settlements in the occupied coast of the Sea of Azov, while 47,000 were abducted or forced to go to Russia or Belarus.

Mariupols civilian death toll is estimated to be about 22,000, said the city council.

Another mass grave area appeared at the Staryi Krym cemetery in early April, adding to the over 10,000 graves identified using satellite imagery, as the Associated Press discovered in late 2022.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene surrounded by other Republican House member at President Joe Bidens State of the Union address on February 7, 2023. Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Marjorie Taylor Greene has become cozier with the GOP establishment  and vice versa  in recent months.

She's donated to several vulnerable GOP incumbents and sent $275,000 to the party's House campaign arm.

But even as she becomes a key part of the party machinery, her beliefs and positions remain unchanged.

As the institutional Republican Party raises the money necessary to defend the GOP's tenuous House majority, more and more of it is coming from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.

The congresswoman's latest quarterly filings with the Federal Election Commission reveal that Greene has spent a total of $311,000 this year on helping the party win tough House races.

That includes a hefty $275,000 contribution on February 28 to the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC)  House Republican's main campaign arm  as well as $2,000 apiece on March 29 to 18 other House Republicans, many of whom sit in districts that Democrats plan to target during the 2024 campaign.

Here are some of the vulnerable House Republicans that accepted $2,000 from Greene:

Juan Ciscomani of Arizona, who represents a Tuscon-area swing district.

David Schweikert of Arizona, one of the most vulnerable House Republicans who represents a Phoenix-area swing district.

Anthony D'Esposito of New York, whose upset victory on Long Island helped pave the way for the new GOP majority.

Mike Garcia of California, who represents a Los Angeles-area district that Joe Biden won in 2020.

Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon, who narrowly defeated a progressive candidate in a district long held by Democrats.

Jen Kiggans of Virginia, who defeated Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria in November 2022.

Monica De La Cruz of Texas, whose Rio Grande Valley-based districts borders the US-Mexico border.

Greene also gave $2,000 to other more hardline conservatives whose districts aren't as deep-red, including House Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, and Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma.

Story continues

It's a stark departure from Greene's first two years in Congress, when 11 of her GOP colleagues joined with Democrats to boot her from her committee assignments over her history of violent online rhetoric and her prior belief in the QAnon conspiracy theory. Greene has since embarked on an attempt to clean up her image.

During that time, Greene donated to just a handful of other GOP candidates who share her hard-right views, some of which did not make it past Republican primary elections. She did contribute a total of $350,000 to the NRCC, which she's now on track to potentially exceed.

Her contributions to the party's most vulnerable lawmakers are likely to raise eyebrows  and become a key opportunity for Democrats, given her history of controversial statements.

One of Schweikert's Democratic opponents is already calling on the Arizona congressman to return Greene's contribution.

Greene walks with Arizona Rep. David Schweikert, one of the most vulnerable House Republicans at the Capitol on March 28, 2023. Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images

Greene's increased generosity towards the rest of the party comes amid her emergence as a key ally of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, despite her past criticisms of him.

Additionally, as a newly-minted member of the influential House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, the Georgia congresswoman recently lead a group of her Republican colleagues on a tour of the DC jail, where she has alleged that January 6 rioters are being mistreated.

But even as Greene's relationship with the institutional Republican Party has changed, her views and positions have largely stayed the same.

As recently as two months ago, the Georgia congresswoman floated the idea of a "national divorce," and she has become an outspoken defender of the Massachusetts Air National Guardsman who's now accused of leaking classified Pentagon documents online.

And during a recent interview on 60 Minutes, she defended her incendiary contention that Democrats are a "party of pedophiles."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Maryland State Police are searching for clues in a shooting that happened overnight in Salisbury, leaving one teenager dead and a 22-year-old man injured.

Officers with the Salisbury Police Department responded to reports of shots fired on E. Carroll Street near Buena Vista Avenue, and when they arrived, they found two victims suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.

State Trooper Police Car from the Maryland State Police on parking lot.

Police said JaSiah Sincer Johnson, 16, of Salisbury was taken to TidalHealth Peninsula Regional Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

MARYLAND POLICE ARREST EASTERN SHORE MAN FOR DOUBLE HOMICIDE

The other victim, 22-year-old Jamere Capri Maynes, also of Salisbury, was taken to TidalHealth Peninsula Regional to be treated for his injuries.

Maryland State Police also responded to the scene and its homicide unit has taken the lead on the investigation.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Crime scene tape and police siren lights.

Also working on the investigation are the State Police Criminal Enforcement Division and Salisbury Police Department.

MARYLAND STATE TROOPER SHOT DURING TRAFFIC STOP ON EASTERN SHORE

The crime scene was processed on Sunday and all evidence was sent to the State Police Forensic Sciences Division crime laboratory to be analyzed.

Throughout the day, investigators interviewed residents and witnesses to determine what led to the shooting.

Still, police are still looking for suspects.

Police encourage anyone with information to call the Maryland State Police, Salisbury barrack, at 410-749-3101 to leave an anonymous tip.
Hello and welcome back to Max Q!

In this issue:

Starship

So long, Terran 1

Three brothers want to harvest water from the moon for propellant

News from Stoke Space and more

I am writing this on Friday, so by the time you read this on Monday, Starship may have already taken to the skies. Or blown up! Who knows!?

In any case, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued the launch license to SpaceX for the Starship orbital flight test at the close of business Friday -- giving everyone a LOT to look forward to over the weekend.

As a reminder: Starship is the most powerful rocket ever built. Once operational, it will be capable of carrying 100-150 tons (100,000-150,000 kg) into orbit. For reference, SpaceXs workhorse rocket, Falcon 9, has a payload capacity of 22,800 kg. To get that much mass to orbit, Starships 33 Raptor engines will generate more than 16.5 million pounds of thrust at lift-off.

So far, it looks like the company is still targeting Monday, but that could change depending on technical readiness, weather and other variables.

Starship stacked

Image Credits: SpaceX (opens in a new window)

Relativity Space is retiring Terran 1 after just a single test flight to double-down on development of its next-generation Terran R rocket, which is now configured to be even larger than previously announced.

The six-year-old company is making other significant changes to Terran R: The rocket will no longer be completely reusable, but fitted with an expendable second stage. In addition, its design will rely less on additive manufacturing, the technology that Relativity is best-known for advancing and that it has touted in each of its capital raises. These changes mean that the 270-foot tall Terran R will now have a payload capacity of 23.5 metric tons to low Earth orbit and 33.5 metric tons when launched as a fully expendable vehicle.

While Relativity has been upfront about Terran 1 mostly functioning as a development platform to technologically pave the way for Terran R, it was assumed that the company would fly Terran 1 at least a few more times before retiring it.

Story continues

Relativity Space Terran R

Relativity Space Terran R. Image Credits: Relativity Space

A new startup founded by a trio of SpaceX veterans  who happen to be brothers  aims to build an in-space transportation network, using reusable spacecraft propelled by water harvested from the moon.

Argo Space Corporation, founded by Robert Carlisle, Ryan Carlisle and Kirby Carlisle, is betting that lunar propellant will untether space activities from Earth  and unlock a bustling economy beyond low Earth orbit (LEO).

Their plan takes aim at several key limitations of the space economy: First, all existing orbital transport vehicles are focused on LEO, not more demanding orbits like geosynchronous (GEO) or cislunar. Second, none of these vehicles are reusable. Third, theres no method of refueling even a theoretical reusable vehicle. And last, any such method would likely depend on Earth-based resources for propellant.

Image Credits: Argo Space

More news from TC and beyond

European Space Agency's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) spacecraft is now on an eight-year journey to Jupiter. (ESA)

Firefly Aerospace completed a full duration static fire test ahead of its Victus Nox mission for the U.S. Space Force. (Firefly)

ispace listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, a little less than two weeks before its first lunar lander is set to arrive on the moon. (TechCrunch)

Kepler Communications closed a $92 million Series C round to grow its real-time satellite data relay network. (TechCrunch)

Loft Orbital was selected by Ball Aerospace to manufacture and operate an experimental testbed for the Space Development Agency on its Longbow satellite platform. (Ball)

NASA is confident Blue Origin will have the New Glenn rocket ready for the ESCAPADE mission in 2024. (SpaceNews)

Orbex's CEO Chris Larmour said he was stepping down after eight years leading the small launch company. (TechCrunch)

Rocket Lab will now be launching NASA's TROPICS satellites from New Zealand, instead of Virginia. (Rocket Lab)

Seraphim Space found that European space investment beat U.S. investment for the first quarter of this year, the first time European spending has outpaced American. (Seraphim)

Slingshot Aerospace is increasing its optical sensing network for objects in low Earth orbit by more than double, adding 80 new sensors across 20 global locations. (Slingshot)

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission launched its new space bureau, which will be headed by Julie Kearney. Previously, Kearney was special counsel for space law and policy at the commission. (FCC)

Max Q is brought to you by me, Aria Alamalhodaei. If you enjoy reading Max Q, consider forwarding it to a friend.
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has issued an executive order to address the citys crisis with fentanyl and other synthetic drugs.

The order is part of a comprehensive Downtown Activation Plan to revitalize and reimagine the citys downtown area while ensuring it is safe.

Downtown is the heart of Seattle and is powered by people  workers, neighbors, families and visitors alike. Todays actions are centered on immediate steps to make downtown safe, welcoming, and a destination for activities and experiences that bring people together, said Harrell.

The executive order directs:

The Seattle Police Department to make stopping the distribution and sale of drugs a priority in partnership with other law enforcement agencies and work with the Seattle City Attorneys Office, King County prosecutors, and the local branch of the Justice Department to arrest and prosecute those responsible.

The Seattle Fire Departments Health One program to be expanded on a pilot basis to include an overdose response unit dedicated to quickly engaging survivors to increase acceptance of services or referrals for support.

Create a research-based drug reduction pilot program known as contingency management, which encourages those with drug addictions to stay clean and participate in treatment services by rewarding them with low-dollar gift cards. The 12-week program is conducted where people live instead of in a medical setting.

Explore funding and a site for a post-overdose diversion facility.

Expand access to treatment and overdose reversal medications, especially in areas with high overdose rates.

Form a public health workgroup and law enforcement task force to analyze strategies and programs, and design improvements to expand effectiveness.

In addition, some of the first steps and short-term initiatives for the Downtown Activation Plan include:

Filling up to 20 vacant storefronts by early summer through the Seattle Restored program, which helps small businesses, entrepreneurs and local artists.

Reopening City Hall Park on Jun. 15 with new lighting enhancements, around-the-clock security and activities like movie days, a jumbo chess board, concerts, food trucks and more.

Increasing the number of Metropolitan Improvement District ambassadors who help keep downtown streets clean.

Encouraging more frequent closings of downtown streets for special events, such as street festivals and music concerts.

Waiving street-use permit fees for food truck operators and pop-up food vendors.

Improving street and sidewalk lighting in problem areas, increasing trash pickups and expanding graffiti removal, focusing on the Chinatown-International District.

This is not about restoring the downtown of the past, but rather boldly reimagining what is possible for the future, said Harrell.




From the Quarter Pounder to the Big Mac, McDonalds is known for its burgers, but its also known for its innovation  after all, it did revolutionize the entire restaurant industry. Thats why news of another change coming to the chain should come as no surprise.

On April 17, McDonalds announced that its burgers will be undergoing a few small changes to make them better than ever, according to the golden arches.

McDonad's new-and-improved McDouble (McDonalds)

McDonalds says the companys in-house chefs have been cooking up small but tasty improvements to several of the chains key menu items, including the Big Mac, McDouble and its classic Cheeseburger, Double Cheeseburger and Hamburger.

The magic is in the details, the chain says, before outlining the quartet of improvements:

Softer, pillowy buns that will be freshly toasted

A new and improved melted cheese that the chain says will make you want to savor every last bit off the wrapper

Burger patties which will feature a juicier, caramelized flavor from adding white onions while the burgers are still on the grill

Even more of everyones favorite Big Mac sauce," because the more sauce, the better

Ill always remember my first burger from McDonalds. And now my culinary team and I have the best job in the world: thinking about ways to bring even more of that iconic McDonalds taste to fans, said Chef Chad Schafer, McDonalds USAs senior director of culinary innovation, in a press release.

We found that small changes, like tweaking our process to get hotter, meltier cheese and adjusting our grill settings for a better sear, added up to a big difference in making our burgers more flavorful than ever, he said.

Big Mac (McDonalds)

The new formulations have already rolled out internationally, specifically in Australia, Canada and Belgium, but here in the states, you may have already noticed a bit of improvement if youre on the West Coast.

Although the burger changes are making their full American debut later this year, McDonalds has already started rolling them out in several cities on the West Coast and in the Southwest, like Los Angeles, California; Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; San Francisco, California; Sacramento, California; Phoenix, Arizona; Las Vegas, Nevada; Salt Lake City, Utah; Denver, Colorado; Boise, Idaho; Tucson, Arizona and surrounding cities. Customers nationwide will be able to taste the difference at all restaurants by 2024.

Story continues

To celebrate the changes to burgers rolling out to drive-thrus across the country, McDonalds has revived everyones favorite burger larcenist, the Hamburglar, to help with the announcement in a pair of commercials, narrated by everyone's favorite hornery HBO billionaire, Brian Cox.

The last time our erstwhile-retired burger-pilferer hit our screens was all the way back in 2015, when the chain introduced a much more adult-looking version to fans.

Back this time, however, is the McDonaldland resident mischief-maker in his more bucktoothed and child-friendly form and hes on the loose in select cities, according to McDonalds, so you might see him pop up in your neck of the woods.

When you spot his notorious cape and striped outfit in your city, youll know thats when you can head to your local McDonalds to get your hands on our best-ever burgers, McDonalds says. After all, if everyones favorite burger thief is on the hunt for them  we know theyre worth it. Robble. Robble.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Mesquite police have arrested a substitute teacher who was fired after she was accused of encouraging students to fight in a classroom last week.

Natally Garcia, 24, of Dallas, faces four charges of endangering a child, Mesquite police said in a news release Monday. Investigators determined that Garcia engaged in conduct that placed four students in a Mesquite ISD school in danger of bodily injury, police said.

On Thursday, the Mesquite Police Department was notified of the incident, which occurred at Kimbrough Middle School on Wednesday. Video of the incident was forwarded to Mesquite police investigators for review.

This is a developing story. For the latest updates, sign up for breaking news alerts.
COVID-19 spread is considered low as of Thursday in southwestern Illinois by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and several metro-east hospitals have recently eased their masking policies.

Heres when to mask up at hospitals in Belleville, OFallon and more metro-east locations.

Memorial Hospital Belleville

BJC HealthCare is no longer requiring universal masking in its facilities, including Memorial Hospital in Belleville, as of March 22.

Masks will continue to be readily available for those who prefer to continue wearing a mask, and patients who would prefer their providers wear a mask may request that, the March 22 release said.

Masking is still required for those visiting patients who are positive or suspected positive for COVID-19. It is recommended for anyone experiencing symptoms of respiratory illness or anyone who has had a recent exposure to respiratory illness.

The hospital system may reinstate the universal masking requirement during respiratory virus surges.

Hospital Sisters Health System

Hospital Sisters Health System facilities in Illinois, including locations in OFallon, Highland, Breese and others, no longer require all patients to wear masks as of March 22.

Masking will still be required for patients, employees and visitors who:

May have respiratory illness or symptoms similar to COVID-19 or the flu

Have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 in the last 10 days

Visit or care for patients who are in isolation

We also will continue to respect and honor patient requests for HSHS colleagues to wear masks when delivering care, spokesperson Kelly Barbeau wrote in an email to the News-Democrat.

OSF Saint Anthonys Health Center in Alton

OSF Saint Anthonys Health Center in Alton is currently mask-optional, spokesperson Randy Schorfheide told the News-Democrat in an April 10 email.

Masks are required for employees who have not received the COVID-19 vaccine.

SSM Health St. Marys Hospital

SSM Health St. Marys Hospital in Centralia lifted requirements for universal masking, social distancing, symptom screening and physical barriers March 15.

However, we support team members, patients, and family members of patients who prefer to remain masked or ask staff to wear masks during patient care, spokesperson Erin Rinderer wrote in an email to the News-Democrat.

This story may be updated.
Michelle Budge, Deseret News

The destructive influence of Mexican cartels and the drugs they traffic, particularly fentanyl, is well known on both sides of the border, and some Republican lawmakers say its time for the U.S. government to respond.

News broke over the weekend that armed men stormed a resort in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato on Saturday, killing six adults and a child. Although it was not immediately clear who was responsible for the violence, Reuters reported rival drug cartels have been doing battle in the region.

On the American side of the border, cities and towns are struggling with an increase in violence and drug addiction, and many local leaders, including Jonathan Lines, a supervisor in Yuma County, Arizona, say that a more aggressive approach from the federal government is necessary. Yuma County shares almost 150 miles of border with Mexico.

I dont know anybody in Yuma whose lives have not been touched by fentanyl over the last few years, Lines said in a phone interview with the Deseret News.

For Lines, anecdotes that illustrate the cartels presence in Yuma come easily. His housekeepers son, he said, was killed by a fatal dose of fentanyl.

The pressure that the people feel when its applied from the cartel is pretty significant, Lines added. So, I think that a more collective approach with law enforcement and military is needed to combat these challenges.

Lines, who is also a former chairman of the Arizona Republican Party, isnt alone in his position. A growing chorus of Republican lawmakers, including Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee, are calling for more aggressive action against Mexican cartels.

This year, multiple bills have been introduced in the U.S. House and Senate that would designate Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations in order to broaden the actions that can be used against them.

In an interview with the Deseret News, Lee said he made it clear to Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador during a visit in March that the GOP is not trying to start a war within Mexico.

Story continues

I think theres some misunderstanding about exactly what designating them as terror organizations would do, Lee said. The purpose of doing that is primarily to give U.S. law enforcement officials at the U.S. Treasury additional tools to be able to seize assets... tools we wouldnt otherwise have. And I actually think thats important.

Another bill, introduced by Texas Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw, would give authorization for the use of military force against Mexican cartels, similar to those approved for Iraq and Afghanistan.

My legislation will put us at war with the cartels, Crenshaw said in a January press release. Crenshaw later said in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that No one is talking about an invasion or a war with Mexico. Instead, the authorization for the use of military force would provide the minimum authority needed to operate with the Mexican military, as weve done with other allies battling internal insurgencies.

Once considered a fringe idea, these aggressive tactics have now become a common refrain among Republicans, with former president Donald Trump, and other 2024 hopefuls Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy, promising to take military action against the cartels if elected commander in chief.

This stance comes as the number of undocumented immigrants and illicit drugs trafficked across the border by Mexican cartels reaches unprecedented levels. According to data released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, in 2022, there were a record 2.5 million border encounters, compared to 550,000 in 2020. That same year, 13,400 pounds of fentanyl were seized by border patrol officers, compared to 7,300 pounds seized in 2020, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that Fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin and has become the leading cause of death among adults ages 18 to 45, with more than 70,000 people dying from a fentanyl overdose in 2021 and again in 2022.

But opponents of the idea say that designating Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations or authorizing military force would risk shattering Americas relationship with the Mexican government, escalating violence along the southern border and embroiling the country in another war on terror, all without addressing the true underlying causes, including Americas demand for illicit drugs.

Knocking out some drug labs in Mexico will not solve the basic problem. And designating the cartels as terrorist groups is hardly a solution, said Brian Jenkins, a senior adviser at the RAND Corporation, in a piece for The Hill. Jenkins suggests that the moves by Republican lawmakers are meant to send a loud message and dont address the deeper problem. But Lines and others believe inaction will cost more American lives.

A threat to national security

Mexican cartels became the dominant supplier of drugs to the U.S. after Colombian narco-traffickers were toppled by U.S. intervention in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In the decades since, cartels like the influential Sinaloa Cartel, and its offshoots, have engaged in internecine warfare, government intimidation and indiscriminate killings, and now control vast swaths of Mexican territory.

Jeffrey Addicott, a retired Lt. Col. and professor of national security and terrorism law at St. Marys University in San Antonio, Texas, said that due to the cartels entrenchment in Mexican society, it might be better to view them as virtual states rather than criminal drug organizations.

The cartels have all the attributes of a nation state, Addicott said in a phone interview with the Deseret News. They have an armed force, they have a taxing system, they have geographic areas where they operate.

And alongside this growing perception of sovereignty, cartels have grown increasingly bold in their violence against officials and citizens.

In March, four U.S. citizens were kidnapped by cartel members just across the border from Brownsville, Texas. Two were killed and the other two were returned to Mexican authorities.

In August of last year, cities across northern and central Mexico burst into flames in an unprecedented show of violence as cartel members reacted to the attempted arrest of one of their leaders

In November 2019, three women and six children were murdered in an ambush by cartel members.

The cartels power is also shown by their control of the drug trade, Lines said. The number of both immigrants and drugs crossing the border have skyrocketed in recent years.

Yuma County has been especially hard hit, Lines said, with fentanyl-related deaths significantly higher than the national average. In testimony to Congress, Yuma County Sheriff Leon N. Wilmot said his county had 50 overdose deaths in 2022.

But while border communities like Yuma may be on the frontlines, the impacts of the cartels power can be felt across the county, according to Joshua Trevino, the chief of intelligence and research at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

Its important to move away from a framework where these are really just border issues, Trevino said in a phone interview with the Deseret News. All of the above is really a 50 state problem at this point.

Policy proposals and problems

Talk of addressing cartel violence through military action was renewed when Crenshaw and Florida Republican Rep. Mike Waltz introduced a bill to authorize military force against cartels in January, shortly after an explosion of cartel violence in northern Mexico that left over 30 dead.

The bill authorizes the president to use military force against those responsible for trafficking fentanyl  or carrying out other related activities that cause regional destabilization in the Western Hemisphere. The authorization would apply only to individuals and organizations outside of U.S. territory and would sunset after five years.

Its difficult to know what an authorization of military force against Mexican cartels would do, Trevino said, but Crenshaw and Waltz have clarified that it would not mean an invasion. Rather, the authorization could be used to conduct intelligence operations, special forces missions, and cyber and drone attacks.

Among the bills in the House and Senate that would designate specific Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations, a version put forward by Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Mike Lee of Utah, and three others, would formally designate nine Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations, making it easier to prosecute and use military force against them and granting the Secretary of Treasury authority to freeze the cartels assets.

Such measures were considered during the Trump administration but failed to materialize.

Critics of these measures say the terrorist designation could hurt migrants by making them subject to prosecution based on their reliance on cartels for entering the U.S. There is also fear that such action would escalate cartel violence and harm an already strained relationship between the U.S. and Mexico.

The history of the United States declaring war or authorizing the use of the military against non-state actors is not a happy one, said Justin Logan, director of defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute, in an email to the Deseret News. There has been little examination of what a military campaign would look like.  At this point it is just flailing, and thats dangerous.

Whats more, Logan said, these efforts are unlikely to have any effect on the amount of drugs crossing the border. When the U.S. defeated drug trafficking operations in Peru and Colombia, they moved to Mexico. If the U.S. were to eradicate Mexican cartels, the drug trade would just crop up somewhere else, Logan said. Theres just too much money to be made.

As long as Americans are willing to engage in risky behavior like taking drugs, and as long as there are astronomical profits in supplying them, there will be little way to break out of this morbid cycle, Logan said.

Though the U.S. has a history of launching operations to topple drug trafficking cartels, the actions currently being considered by Congress would be unprecedented, Addicott said. For one, the U.S. has never designated a drug cartel as a terrorist organization, and past anti-cartel campaigns have always involved close coordination with the governments of other countries.

The difference here is that theyre looking at doing it with or without the cooperation of the Mexican government because the Mexican government has shown that theyre either unwilling or not able to take action against the cartels, Addicott said.

Fighting cartel corruption

Despite decades of attempted cooperation between the U.S. and Mexican governments to address cartel violence, including billions of dollars to modernize Mexicos security and judicial systems, there appears to be very little to show for it. Cartel homicides hover near an all-time high, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crimes International Homicide Statistics database.

Frustrated by the lack of success, some U.S. lawmakers now talk openly about acting without Mexicos consent. Mexican authorities have responded with outrage.

We are not going to permit any foreign government to intervene in our territory, much less that a governments armed forces intervene, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said last month in response to a tweet from Crenshaw.

But Trevino said he considers unilateral action by the U.S. the only viable option.

The bottom line is that the efforts have failed because the Mexican state values cooperation with the cartels more than it does doing right by its own citizens, Trevino said.

Recent government policies in Mexico have deemphasized arresting cartel members. And Trevino says if cartels dont face tougher pushback their corrupting influence will continue to spread across the boarder, referring to several incidents in which Texas sheriff departments were found to be engaged in drug trafficking.

Democratic civics is a very fragile thing and cartels are a direct threat to that, Trevino said. You can either have cartels flourishing as they are  in which case Democratic civics in America is over, or we can fight them.

Lines agrees that the coercive pressure of the cartels is a daily reality for many on the frontlines. His brother, a border patrol officer, was recently forced to arrest one of his own agents who was caught trafficking drugs for the cartel in his border patrol vehicle.

It broke morale just to see one of your own being coerced into doing something from the cartel, Lines said.

Lines says that many border patrol officers are overwhelmed and discouraged by these pressures and that the time for the U.S. to act with decisive force against the cartels is now.

If there was any other possibility, I would like to know what it is, Lines said. I know that as a local community, we have done everything that we can do.

Suzanne Bates contributed to this article.
Microsoft Windows Insider users can see messages to "sign into your MIcrosoft account" and "Use Microsoft 365 for free"



Just some of the fun messages users could expect to see pop up in the Start menu if Microsoft releases this update to the wider public.

Microsofts Windows 11 Start Menu is becoming more and more like a dancing inflatable tube man gesticulating wildly outside a used car lot. The last Windows 11 update added advertisements for Microsofts OneDrive cloud backups for some users when they click on the little Windows icon on the desktop. Now the Redmond, Washington company wants to bombard you with more ads for its other free services every time you go to sign out.

The company shared details about its Windows 11 Insider preview build 23435 Friday. This beta build, which is just going out to Insider users for now, includes a new Gallery mode for File Explorer, which should make it easier to browse photos. But more importantly, the company shared details on its controversial in-OS advertising scheme that its now dubbed badging. These not-ads appear for local user accounts as small messages hovering right above the sign out button when clicking on the Start menu.

Read more

The company claims that this will help users recognize the benefits of signing up for a Microsoft account, OneDrive, Microsofts Office replacement (365), and other security services. Its unclear based on the messages if the 365 ad will navigate to the companys 1-month free trial, but one of the ads does mention the initial, bare 5GB of cloud storage offered for free on OneDrive when signing up. The previous version of the OneDrive ad shown by Microsoft last month came with alarming Back up your files text, while the new version reads simply Access your files from everywhere.

For comparison, Google Drive gives users 15GB of storage for free, though that total is shared among Gmail and Google Photos. Microsoft offers users an additional 15GB of email storage not connected to OneDrive.

Story continues

These ads highlight the benefits of signing in with a Microsoft account, according to the company, and are targeted primarily at local account users. Microsoft tried to downplay the badging rollout by reminding users its taking feedback for these ads. The company has been trying out various advertising schemes in its start menu since late last year, and the user response online has been mostly negative.

Of course, theres going to be a fair bit of negativity bias for any change like this. Users can currently disable these ads by navigating through Windows settings, but if these ads go live, most regular users wont have the wherewithal to disable them. Microsoft has not made the option to disable the ads clear in any of its messaging so far.

Its a bold move, considering how Microsoft itself as well as its biggest competitors are wrangling regulation and lawsuits over allegations of anticompetitive practices. Apple and Amazon in particular have come under fire for pushing their own products in their App Store and online marketplace, respectively.

It doesnt take much to imagine all the other ways the tech giant could nudge regular users into buying into its services, whether through File Explorer or perhaps even the boot screen... oh wait, its already tried that before.



More from Gizmodo

Sign up for Gizmodo's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC 2023, Friday, March 3, 2023, at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Md. Pompeo said Friday, April 14, that he is not entering the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. | Associated Press

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he will not run for president in 2024 as a Republican candidate, and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is also looking unlikely to run, leaving room for the early voter favorites  former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Susan and I have concluded, after much consideration and prayer, that I will not present myself as a candidate to become President of the United States in the 2024 election, Pompeo said in a release posted on Twitter on Friday.

It is simplest, and most accurate, to say that this decision is personal. The time is not right for me and my family, he explained.

He said that he and his wife will continue to actively engage as parents, Sunday school teachers, community leaders and business leaders, adding that, There remains much to do and the conservative cause is worthy.

To the team thats been working alongside me to prepare for a campaign, thank you. Your work gave me the time and the space to seriously consider seeking the presidency and a real chance to earn the votes of Americans and to have had the chance to win, he said.

Pompeo, who said he was considering a 2024 presidential campaign earlier this year, was polling low among other GOP candidates as well as hopefuls. A national Quinnipiac University poll from February found that he had the support of only 4% of voters surveyed.

Related

Still, Pompeo hinted at a future bid for president, saying that he is 59 years old and that there remain many more opportunities for which the timing might be more fitting as presidential leadership becomes even more necessary.

Meanwhile, Youngkin, who was also listed among potential candidates for 2024, said he is focused on the Virginia General Assembly elections in November. But if he sticks to this timeline, he will miss the first Republican primary debate in August, as The New York Times reported. Waiting past the summer would push him behind other candidates in fundraising and voter favorability, making it unlikely for him to run.

Story continues

Republicans who have already announced their bids for the 2024 presidential election include Trump, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

Yet, the latest Morning Consult poll shows Trump in the lead with 56% of support from Republican primary voters and behind him is Floridas DeSantis, backed by 23%.

If your name isnt Donald Trump or Ron DeSantis, you start really far behind, Scott Jennings, a Republican political strategist, told The Associated Press. If youre one of these folks thats kind of looking at it, you dont really have the luxury of time.
A Pope County, Minnesota deputy was killed in the line duty while responding to a domestic incident at a home in Cyrus on Saturday night.

Members of the Glenwood and Starbuck police departments and the Pope County Sheriffs Office responded to the call just before 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Once officers arrived, they attempted to arrest a subject involved in the incident, which resulted in the exchange of gunfire between a man inside the home and officers.

MINNESOTA MAN MAULED, KILLED BY FOUR PIT BULLS IN DEADLY ATTACK

Two deputies with the Pope County Sheriffs Office were struck by gunfire, as was an officer from the Starbuck Police Department.

The Starbuck officer was not hospitalized and one of the Pope County Sheriffs deputies was treated for injuries and released.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

The roof of a police patrol car at night, with the blue and red lights flashing.

The other deputy who was shot, Deputy Josh Owen, was transported to an area hospital in critical condition and later died from his injuries, police said.

MINNESOTA MAN'S ALLEGED MURDER-FOR-HIRE PLOT THWARTED FOR SECOND TIME

"Yesterday, April 15, Pope County law enforcement lost a brother," the sheriffs office said in a Facebook post. "Our sympathies and love are with Deputy Josh Owens family, and the families of the other deputies and officers involved."

Also killed in the incident was the man who exchanged gunfire with police, who has not been named.

Police said there is no threat to the public at this time and the investigation is ongoing.

Owen has been a member of the Pope County Sheriffs Office for about 12 years.

He leaves behind a wife and son, as well as he canine Karma.

"Devastating news out of Cyrus," Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz posted to Twitter. "Our prayers are with the family and community of the Pope County Sheriffs Deputy who was killed in the line of duty last night. My administration is in touch with local officials and stands ready to support the community."
A tweet claiming Canada has seen only 11 people die in school shootings in the country's history was recirculated in posts advocating for stricter gun laws following a deadly assault on an elementary campus in the US state of Tennessee. The figure is not supported by official data and is misleading; it excludes shootings at Canadian universities, and without a uniform method to count incidents, cross-country comparisons are inaccurate.

"Canadian here, your neighbour with cold winters and sensible gun laws. Did you know we've had 11 school shooting deaths?" says text repeatedly shared on Facebook. "Not this month or this year, but total, in history. And absolutely no deaths in elementary schools. Why? Because gun laws save lives."

The text is from a tweet initially published on June 4, 2022, a week after the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Since it was originally posted, the tweet has circulated as a screenshot on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter thousands of times, often after a mass shooting in the US.

In a reply to the original tweet, the account clarified it was only counting shootings at K-12 schools, but the reshares of the message exclude this context.

The screenshot is shared indiscriminately in response to shootings including when actor Mark Hamill shared the image five days after the shooting at Michigan State University in February 2023.

A screenshot of one of the reposts of the misleading statistic, taken April 17, 2023.

Noah Schwartz, an assistant professor of political science at the University of the Fraser Valley, said he found the statistic misleading, citing the Ecole Polytechnique shooting at a university in Montreal, where 15 people died in 1989.

"That's what prompted a lot of our gun control legislation that we had in the 1990s," Schwartz said.

History of Canada school shootings

Schwartz researches firearms policy in North America and said neither the US nor Canada has a central agency to collect data on the number of mass shootings in schools.

News outlets in Canada, such as the Toronto Star and CBC, have put together lists attempting to tally the total lives lost at deadly shootings at schools.

Story continues

According to this reporting, there have been incidents at four colleges and universities, eight K-12 schools and one daycare, since 1975. Shootings at K-12 schools led to the deaths of 11 students and three school staff members.

One spree involving a school shooting in La Loche, Saskatchewan was also preceded by the shooting and deaths of two brothers off-campus. In the 2013 shooting at the daycare, two staff members were killed.

Separate shootings at the University of Alberta, Concordia University and Dawson College, led to the deaths of a combined seven university staff members and two adult students, in addition to the 15 people who died in the Polytechnique attack.

The misogynistic motivations of the shooting at Ecole Polytechnique in 1989 resulted in the deaths of 13 female university students and one female staff member, followed by the suicide of the gunman.

It prompted a national debate on firearms policy and the passage of Bill C-17 in 1991, imposing waiting periods and safety courses for gun license registration, as well as safe storage laws. This was followed by the adoption of the Firearms Act in 1995, which created a gun registry and centralized licensing rules.

How are school shootings counted

Independent projects in the US which track school shooting deaths vary on whether they include incidents at colleges and universities in the same category as K-12.

"Different agencies will have different definitions of mass shootings, which then leads to difficulties of how do we count mass shootings," Schwartz said. "So, any type of statistical comparison is going to be problematic."

According to Schwartz, criminologists will track crime incidents per 100,000 people to gauge the prevalence of a particular crime, such as mass shootings.

The US population is nearly 10 times larger than Canada's 38 million, "so already, if we had the exact same gun laws, the exact same rates of gun ownership, we would expect there to be more people being killed in school shootings in the United States than in Canada," he said.

A database from the gun-control research organization Everytown listed the US rate of gun-related death as 4.38 per 100,000, while in Canada it was 0.62 deaths per 100,000. This does not specify death rates from school shootings.

Statistics Canada, the Canadian federal data-collection agency, tracks crime rates per 100,000 people as well, but also doesn't have a category for school shootings.

Schwartz said that while the likelihood of these events occurring is lower in Canada, the country still has problems with gun violence that would best be addressed by looking at accurate statistics and whole-picture analysis of what societal issues cause gun-related death.

"In these debates, no matter how valid our causes, if we don't tell the truth, then we are still doing wrong," he said.

More of AFP's reporting on misinformation in Canada is available here.
Its often said that the quarterback is the most important position in sports. But Kentuckys hard-fought weekend against Tennessee made a strong case for the softball pitcher.

Now more than three weeks without ace Stephanie Schoonover, who is out indefinitely with a forearm injury, the Wildcats have looked to Italian Olympic team member Alexia Lacatena.

During Fridays 2-1 loss in eight innings to sixth-ranked Tennessee, Lacatena threw 113 pitches, allowing six hits and two earned runs. She struck out six and walked just one batter. Taylor Ebbs fifth home run of the season put UK on the board.

Friday night was a very gutty performance, UK head coach Rachel Lawson said. We did a great job. We had a great performance on the mound and it was a good softball game. We didnt end up on the right side of things for us, but we played well.

In that game, the 17th-ranked Wildcats became the sixth team to hold the Lady Vols to two runs or less this season.

On Saturday and Sunday, the Wildcats didnt deliver that same fight.

Tennessee (34-5 overall, 13-2 Southeastern Conference) completed the series sweep with Saturdays 10-2 victory and Sundays 15-1 win in five innings  the first time this year the Wildcats (25-13-1, 7-8) have been swept in an SEC series.

Today and yesterday, totally different story, Lawson said Sunday. We were tentative in the box. On the mound, we werent commanding our pitches. ... They were pretty much hitting everything they wanted to. I just dont think we played hard. I think we played like they were the number 10 team in the country. And I think we played like we didnt think we deserved to be there. And I think anytime you do that, a team as good as Tennessee is going to whoop up on you. Weve got a couple of days, hopefully well be able to change our mindset and get back on the right side of things mentally.

On Saturday, Tennessee leaned on a balanced offense to handle the Wildcats in six innings. In front of a season-high 1,887 fans at John Cropp Stadium, UK fell victim to a slow start; an issue that would persist into Sundays contest.

Story continues

On Saturday, Tennessee scored five runs in the first two innings and continued to build upon its quick start. On Sunday, the Lady Vols scored six runs in the first two innings, never looking back.

Without Schoonover, the Wildcats had to look elsewhere for an ace. After pitching a complete game Friday, Lacatena wasnt available Saturday. Kennedy Sullivan, Taylor Hess and Izzy Harrison shared responsibility in the circle, each giving up at least two runs.

UK catcher and captain Kayla Kowalik led the Wildcats on Saturday, going 2-for-3, including putting the Cats on the scoreboard in the fourth when she doubled and later crossed the plate.

You kind of win some and you lose some, Kowalik said. And you learn along the way, you know, when to take things personally and when to kind of let it roll off your back. I think Fridays loss we can take a little bit personally. And Saturday and Sunday, we can kind of, you know, let it roll off our backs and kind of get a move on and just kind of forget about it, honestly. And just move on to the next game.

Lacatena returned to the circle Sunday before she was replaced in the third by Sloan Gayan after issuing more walks than she had in the entirety of Fridays game. However, regardless of who made their way to the circle  Lacatena, Gayan, Sullivan or Hess, no UK pitcher could stop the bleeding. Lacatena gave up six runs, while Gayan allowed four, Sullivan three and Hess two.

Two Lady Vols delivered showstopping performances Sunday. First baseman McKenna Gibson had two three-run home runs, and center fielder Kiki Milloy hit two solo homers.

No. 6 Tennessee hit everything they wanted to, against UK on Saturday and Sunday, according to UK head coach Rachel Lawson.

Kayla Kowalik doubled and later scored during Saturdays loss to Tennessee. The Volunteers outhit Kentucky 25-8 on the weekend.

The Wildcats sole run arrived in the fourth, when Grace Lorsung drove in Vanessa Nesby.

Despite Lacatenas high-level performance Friday, Lawson said Tennessee was prepared for her Sunday.

They knew what to expect, Lawson said. So that really helped their cause, but shes got to make sure that she can command both sides of the plate and throw a different game plan when youre playing a team as good as Tennessee. Today, I think, was a learning experience for her and I expect shell come out better next time she comes out and pitches.

Kentucky is now in a tie for seventh place in the league with South Carolina and LSU. Tennessee remains at the top of the SEC standings.

The Wildcats will play at Northern Kentucky on Tuesday before hosting Arkansas this weekend.
The bodies of two men were found in a storage unit, with one man dismembered, days after their friends and co-workers reported them missing, Massachusetts officials said.

Kiryl Schukin, 37, and Pavel Vekshin, 28, were located inside rubber storage bins at the unit in Brighton, a neighborhood in Boston, before midnight on April 14, according to the Middlesex County District Attorneys Office.

The men were stabbed to death, and investigators also found bleach, rubber gloves and their personal items in the unit, officials said.

Leonid Volkov, 37, of Medford, who authorities said knew the pair, was arrested on murder charges the evening of April 15, the district attorneys office announced in an April 16 news release.

He had rented the storage facility using one of the victims names, officials said. The victims were married, WCVB-TV reported.

Friends and co-workers of Schukin and Vekshin initially reported the couple missing on April 9  but said they hadnt heard from them since March 30, according to an earlier news release.

Suspect entered mens apartment before bodies were found, officials say

During the investigation, it was discovered that Schukin was the guarantor on the lease for Volkovs apartment, officials said.

Volkov was recently evicted from his apartment when Schukin refused to be the guarantor on the leases extension, according to the release.

At some point, Volkov and Schukin met up in a rented U-Haul truck, officials said. Volkov was seen driving the truck on March 29, according to the release.

The U-Haul truck was found at the storage facility where the mens bodies were discovered, officials said.

Additionally, investigators believe Volkov is the individual seen in video footage going in and out of the mens apartment days after they were last seen, officials said.

Volkov used the U-Haul to take the mens items from their apartment to the storage facility, according to the release.

He was arrested without incident in North Attleboro, also spelled North Attleborough, about 45 miles southwest of the storage facility, officials said.

Story continues

Volkov is due in Somerville District Court for an arraignment on April 18, the release said.

Medford, where hes from, is about 5 miles northwest of Boston.

Air National Guardsman applies to be a hitman online, feds say. Put me in coach!

Man killed by relatives dogs had most of his clothing ripped off, Minnesota cops say

Son had father killed at McDonalds drive-thru after he survived other attacks, feds say
CHISINAU (Reuters) - Moldova told Russian politicians not to meddle in its internal affairs on Monday after barring a Russian delegation from entering the country ahead of a regional election.

The delegation led by Rustam Minnikhanov, governor of Russia's Tatarstan region, had been due to attend a forum in semi-autonomous Gagauzia region, which holds elections on April 30 to name the head of its government.

Moldova, which applied to join the European Union last year alongside its neighbour Ukraine, has repeatedly accused Russia of trying to destabilise the country, something Moscow denies.

Minnikhanov arrived in an official Tatarstan government plane but was not allowed off the aircraft. Police said in a statement his trip aimed to bolster support for a pro-Russian candidate standing at the elections.

"Supporting a candidate at local elections in Moldova is not a valid reason and the authorities ask Russian bureaucrats to refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of our country," the border guard service said.

Minnikhanov posted a video on social media in which he said he and his delegation had been labelled undesirable, a move he described as regrettable. He said the people of Tatarstan and Gagauzia, both home to Turkic peoples, were "brothers".

Gagauzia is an autonomous region home to a Turkic population that is pro-Russian and Orthodox Christian.

(Reporting by Alexander Tanas; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Angus MacSwan)
LaToya Sharps second pregnancy didnt go as smoothly as she hoped. The then 42-year-old developed gestational diabetes and, after 17 hours of labor, had to have an emergency cesarian-section.

As she recovered in the hospital, she began struggling to breathe and her blood pressure spiked. When she laid down, she felt as if she were drowning. Sharp learned she had postpartum preeclampsia.

I have a medical background and I was thinking in my mind, Pre means before. This is something that happens before pregnancy because I had a normal blood pressure all throughout pregnancy, Sharp, 44, of North Carolina, tells TODAY.com. They said this can happen 48 hours after delivery or even up to six weeks after and I was shocked.

Pregnancy and postpartum preeclampsia

In 2016, Sharp learned she was pregnant. But it was ectopic and one of her fallopian tubes ruptured. She had surgery to remove the tube and then later she had a procedure to shrink uterine fibroids. The loss of her tube and surgery on her uterus made it difficult for her to become pregnant. When she did become pregnant, everyone felt surprised, but Sharp also worried.

La'Toya Sharp worked as a nurse and never realized that preeclampsia occurred after delivery. She wanted to share her story to raise awareness so that moms experiencing symptoms after birth seek care. (Courtesy La'Toya Sharp)

Basically, everyone was like, This is a miracle, she says. I went into this pregnancy very concerned. Sharp was at advanced maternal age and developed gestational diabetes and needed to take insulin. Doctors wanted to induce her delivery because gestational diabetes causes babies to grow faster and they still wanted the baby to pass through her birth canal. Labor lasted a long time.

After 17 hours of labor, they were like The babys not coming, Sharp says. We had to do a C-section.

When Sharp saw her baby girl, Nova, she says she was surprised. She convinced herself that she was having a boy, but she was happy Nova was healthy. Doctors soon learned why Sharp couldnt deliver the baby vaginally. A large fibroid blocked Novas path. Still, the two seemed to be doing well. But two days later, Sharps blood pressure increased.

Story continues

I was having shortness of breath, she says. I was thinking to myself, Why is my pulse ox low? And why am I short of breath?

Her doctor, Dr. Lisa Johnson of Northwell Health in Long Island, New York, told her she needed to stay in the hospital because Sharp had preeclampsia. She didnt realize it could occur after birth and she felt worried by her symptoms.

I have a background as a cardiothoracic ICU nurse, she says. I knew that when you laid down you should not feel as if you are choking. I started having kind of like a frothy sputum and I knew something is wrong.

Johnson ordered an X-ray to understand why Sharps oxygen levels plummeted and why she felt as if she were drowning while resting.

My lungs were full of fluid, she said. They were like, We have to get you on a diuretic,  I actually went into pulmonary edema.

Even when she was in cardiac care undergoing treatment, La'Toya Sharp pumped every two to three hours so her baby, Nova, could have breast milk in the nursery. (Courtesy La'Toya Sharp)

This meant that Sharp couldnt visit her baby in the nursery to breastfeed her. But she still wanted her daughter to have her colostrum and breast milk and pumped while she was receiving treatment. Nurses brought the baby to the floor where Sharp was receiving treatment so she could see her and try to feed the baby.

Doctors ended up removing about eight liters of fluid from Sharps lungs.

I was really drowning, she says. It got my blood pressure under control.

La'Toya Sharp feels amazed by her daughter, Nova, now 19 months old. (Courtesy La'Toya Sharp)

Postpartum preeclampsia

Preeclampsia occurs in about 3 to 7 percent of pregnancies, according to the National Library of Medicine. In some cases, it occurs after the baby is delivered, but its considered rarer.

We dont really understand preeclampsia in general, Dr. Catherine Weinberg, director of high-risk cardiovascular obstetrics at New York City's Lenox Hill Hospital, who treated Sharp, tells TODAY.com. We know it can happen anywhere after 20 weeks of pregnancy to up to about six weeks or so postpartum.

Signs of preeclampsia include:

High blood pressure

Swollen hands or faces

New headaches

Protein in urine

Blurry vision

Shortness of breath

Weight gain from fluid retention

Abdominal Pain

These symptoms remain the same for postpartum preeclampsia though new parents often do not receive the same close monitoring as they do prior to birth. Postpartum preeclampsia most often develops within a 48 hour period after birth so many people are still at the hospital being monitored.

People at greater risk of developing preeclampsia include:

African American women

Those with a family history

People with chronic hypertension

Those who develop gestational hypertension

People with obesity

People who have lupus or diabetes

People who have undergone IVF

People older than 35

Doctors use some of the same medications for people with preeclampsia both before and after delivery.

We use a magnesium drip, Weinberg says. We also address their blood pressure.

Preeclampsia is a serious medical condition the requires treatment. Left untreated people can develop seizures and even die.

Women can die from untreated preeclampsia, Weinberg says. We dont want it to go untreated.

She notes that experts know that people who have preeclampsia are at greater risk of heart conditions. They are more likely to develop heart diseases, such as high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, heart failure, atrial fibrillation or stroke.

La'Toya Sharp feels grateful that Dr. Catherine Weinberg cared for her while she had postpartum preeclampsia. (Courtesy La'Toya Sharp)

'Caring for yourself is caring for the baby'

After staying two weeks in the hospital, Sharp went home. She still struggled to breastfeed because Nova had problems latching. Whats more, Sharp developed postpartum depression.

It was rough, she says. I ended up enrolling in therapy.

Some days I didnt make it to the shower, she says. It was a struggle  period. I felt like throwing up I was so exhausted. 

After about two months, Sharp began feeling better and got my groove. Nova is now 19 months old and shes smart and independent.

Im amazed, she says. I went through so much adversity. The results are something beyond what I could have imagined.

She says she feels grateful she spoke up about her symptoms and her health care team treated her quickly.

You have to take every symptom seriously and not dismiss it, Sharp says. We just think, Oh OK we can dismiss it. I just got to care for my baby. But now caring for yourself is caring for the baby.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
A man is accused of killing his girlfriend after she said she did not want children with him, Texas police say.

The woman, later identified as 22-year-old Jade Alyssa Alvarez, was initially listed as a Jane Doe when her body was discovered Thursday, April 6, by a police officer patrolling the streets, according to the San Antonio Express-News. She had been shot multiple times in the back, the publication reported.

At the time, authorities did not know who killed Alvarez. But they were familiar with her boyfriend, 23-year-old Adam Byrd, who KSAT reported has an extensive criminal history.

Several days before Alvarez was killed, Byrd entered a San Antonio store with a handgun and demanded money from two employees, KSAT reported, citing an arrest warrant affidavit.

The same gun, according to WOAI, was used in the fatal shooting of Alvarez. Charged with aggravated robbery from the April 1 incident, Byrd was not captured until after his involvement in Alvarez death.

Byrd was reportedly linked to the killing when a witness said they were with Alvarez before her death.

Alvarez was speaking to Byrd using the witness phone, and Byrd asked the witness to drop her off on Capitol Avenue in San Antonio the night of April 6, according to details of an affidavit obtained by KENS. When the witness complied, that was the last time Alvarez was seen alive.

Byrd, who was wanted for aggravated robbery, was brought in for questioning after the witness identified him from a photo officers provided, according to KSAT. During the questioning, Byrd reportedly admitted to killing his girlfriend.

Byrd admitted to shooting and killing Alvarez, using the same gun as he did in the robbery, KENS reported, citing an affidavit. They were reportedly having an argument because he wanted to have a baby with the victim, and she did not. Eventually, she was shot and killed, and he is said to have taken off.

Jail records show Alvarez was booked into the Bexar County jail April 13 and was charged with murder.

Story continues

Alvarez worked in the food industry and planned on attending college in the fall, according to an obituary. She was the mother of a 3-year-old son.

One loved one said in a Facebook post Alvarez will be truly missed by everyone.

Your smile was so contagious and welcoming, Lile Pegram said in the post. Losing you will be felt for many years to come.
A view of the TikTok app logo is pictured in Tokyo, Sept. 28, 2020. Montana lawmakers approved a bill that would make it the first U.S. state to ban TikTok. | Kiichiro Sato, Associated Press

The Montana House of Representatives voted on Friday to approve a bill that would ban TikTok on all personal devices in the state.

The House voted 54-43 in favor of the bill, making Montana the first state to pass legislation completely banning the social media app, The Associated Press reported.

Several states, including Montana, have banned TikTok on state-owned devices.

What happens next?

The bill will now go to Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, who will decide whether or not to sign it into law.

Brooke Stroyke, a spokesperson for Gianforte, stated, The governor will carefully consider any bill the legislature sends to his desk, but did not confirm if he will sign the bill into law, according to CNN.

If the ban is enacted, it will face significant legal challenges, as well as pushback from TikTok.

Brooke Oberwetter, a TikTok spokesperson, stated, We will continue to fight for TikTok users and creators in Montana whose livelihoods and First Amendment rights are threatened by this egregious government overreach, per The New York Times.

How would the TikTok ban in Montana work?

The Montana bill proposes a ban on TikTok that would prohibit TikTok downloads on any device and would fine app stores and TikTok $10,000 per day for giving anyone in the state the ability to download the app, Deseret News previously reported.

Related

The ban would began in January 2024 and would become void if Congress passes a national measure or if TikTok severs its connections with China, according to AP.
Three days ago a 16-year-old was shot after approaching the door of the wrong Kansas City home while going to pick up his brothers.

In that time, his name and his story have spread not only across the Kansas City metro, but across the country, as activists and celebrities join the chorus of community members calling for justice for Ralph Yarl.

Ralphs aunt, Faith Spoonmore, has said that her nephew was headed to pick up his younger brothers, who are twins, from a friends house on 115th Terrace. He ended up ringing the doorbell at a home on 115th Street instead.

There, a man opened the door, saw Ralph and shot him in the head, Spoonmore said. When Ralph fell to the ground, she said the man shot him again. Ralph got up and ran from the property, but he had to ask at three different homes before someone helped him.

The homeowner who allegedly shot Ralph was taken into custody Thursday, placed on a 24-hour hold and then released, Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said Sunday.

An investigation into the shooting is ongoing as authorities gather other information, including a formal victim statement and forensic evidence, Graves said.

Local leaders

It is appalling and flat-out unacceptable that the shooter remains free. It is extremely difficult to understand why a statement from the victim is required to detain the assailant, said Gwen Grant, president/CEO of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City.

It is situations like this that feed the ongoing distrust in law enforcement when Black people are the victims of excessive or deadly force at the hands of white citizens and law enforcement, she said. Clearly, race is a factor here that cannot be ignored. The notion that a victims statement is required is unfathomable to me. Homicide victims dont give statements, yet the perpetrators get arrested.

Darron Edwards, lead pastor of the United Believers Community Church in south Kansas City, said it is concerning the potential that a person could be shot for ringing someones doorbell.

Story continues

If this case involving Ralph Yarl is considered a justified shooting, lets begin the process to end political canvassing, Edwards told The Star.

And if anyone feels that statement is an overreach, add to it trick or treating as well. We dont have a race problem solely in Kansas City; we have a race problem in America. As a faith leader and a parent, my heart breaks over this situation, he said.

Edwards said faith leaders would host a news conference at noon on Tuesday at the Clay County Circuit Clerk on 11 S. Water St. in Liberty.

Rev. Emanuel Cleaver III, senior pastor of St. James United Methodist Church in Kansas City, told The Star the shooter needs to be charged.

It is an example of how much of a trigger happy society we are, he said. Apparently, it is acceptable to shoot someone for ringing the doorbell if the person is black. Surely, the Stand You Ground law does not apply here.

The pastors father, U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Missouri Democrat, said he was very thankful that Ralph was alive and recovering.

But there is not a child in the world that deserves to be shot for ringing the wrong doorbell, Cleaver said in a written statement.

While I pray for the healing of Mr. Yarl and his family, I am anxiously awaiting a swift, thorough, and comprehensive investigation into the shooting by local authorities.

Amaia Cook, an organizer for Decarcerate KC, said the incident and lack of action against the shooter show that racism within the police department affects the greater community. An investigation into the incident isnt enough, Cook said, and the city must also address racial inequality that fuels violence against Black people.

It is an outrage that while a white shooter gets away after being investigated by the KCPD, a Black child is now in the hospital fighting for his life, the organization said. We must confront the reality that the KCPD protects their interests and privileges those within their community, even when they are not wearing a badge.

Michele Watley, founder of Shirleys Kitchen Cabinet, a non-profit organization to empower Black women, criticized Kansas Citys mayor, police commission and other elected leaders for not speaking up about Ralph sooner.

Three days after the incident took place and after hundreds took to the streets to protest, the Kansas City Police Department and the mayor finally provided minimal information about the situation, she wrote. There are more questions than answers regarding the release of an individual that shot a teenage child knocking on their door, the identity of the shooter and why they are roaming free in our neighborhoods.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas tweeted Sunday evening that Ralphs shooting left him angered and heart-broken.

This never should have happened, he tweeted, later adding: I expect authorities to soon complete a thorough investigation and present a full case file to prosecutors.

Like many, I am heartbroken and angered by the recent shooting of a child in our community who simply came to a doorstep to pick up his younger siblings. This never should have happened.  Mayor Q (@QuintonLucasKC) April 16, 2023

Vernon Howard, in a statement on behalf of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Kansas City, wrote that the Kansas City remains one of the most unsafe locations for Black people in the country.

He later added: Parenthetically, the facts surrounding the shooting of Ralph Yarl are an indictment upon racism and hate in Kansas Citys culture, where unarmed Black children and adults are far too often the victims of intimidation and terror. We are a traumatized community living with the reality of our bitter wound within our community and City.

State Rep. Marlene Terry (D-St. Louis), Missouri Legislative Black Caucus Chair, demanded in a statement Sunday that KCPD investigate the shooting quickly and with full public transparency.

Ultimately, this tragic incident underscores why shoot first, ask questions later policies like so-called Stand Your Ground laws do far more harm than good, Terry wrote. These laws breed a society of violence and fear while providing cover for those who harm, maim and kill others.

Kansas Citys police chief on Sunday said investigators will consider whether or not the suspect was protected within the Stand Your Ground laws.

He is my student, my kids friend, my neighbor, my nephew; he is a kid that we all know. In our own Kansas City backyard, Kelly Wachel, a spokeswoman for the Park Hill school district, wrote on Twitter.

He is my student, my kids friend, my neighbor, my nephew; he is a kid that we all know. In our own Kansas City backyard. https://t.co/tq2fQsAyUS  Kelly Wachel, APR (@KellyWachel) April 17, 2023

The shooting yesterday of Staley High Junior Ralph Yarl, an honor student who is planning on attending Princeton I was told by schoolmates, brought out hundreds of protesters to the northland, Councilman Kevin ONeill, District 1 at-large, Tweeted from the protest. Honestly, this makes no sense and needs a thorough investigation.

The shooting yesterday of Staley High Junior Ralph Yarl, an honor student who is planning on attending Princeton I was told by schoolmates, brought out hundreds of protesters to the northland. Honestly, this makes no sense and needs a thorough investigation. pic.twitter.com/lTWzsp9aQP  Kevin ONeill KCMO (@KOneillkcmo) April 16, 2023

Are we ready to talk about why Kansas City has expanded north so quickly? Tweeted Manny Abarca, a Jackson County legislator. The fact that Ralph couldnt get help at three doors, is also concerning but seemingly left out of the stories. This is a cultural issue, that needs to be discussed just like the quantity of shots!

Are we ready to talk about why #KansasCity has expanded north so quickly?



The fact that Ralph couldnt get help at three doors, is also concerning but seemingly left out of the stories. This is a cultural issue, that needs to be discussed just like the quantity of shots! https://t.co/NEeNUlIOlz  Manny Abarca (@MannyAbarcaIV) April 17, 2023

National voices call for an arrest

On Sunday, Bernice King, the daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. tweeted out contact information for the Clay County prosecutors office.

My goodnesslets be for justice, which is a continuum, she also wrote. That means the man who did this should be charged AND we need to work for the legislative and heart change to prevent these tragedies.

#RalphYarl. My goodnesslets be for justice, which is a continuum. That means the man who did this should be charged AND we need to work for the legislative and heart change to prevent these tragedies.



Use the contact info below https://t.co/MSsdbCFKvy pic.twitter.com/sBVMrEM0XK  Be A King (@BerniceKing) April 17, 2023

Donna Brazile, the former interim head of the Democratic National Committee, also shared the familys GoFundMe.

Please read up about this tragic shooting of #RalphYarl.



Family starts fundraiser for KC teen shot while trying to pick up his younger brothers https://t.co/WaHHjlt2SV  Donna Brazile (@donnabrazile) April 16, 2023

Ralph Yarl should be home with his family, dreaming about his future. Instead, he is fighting for his life. Ralph was only trying to pick up his younger siblings, but was shot twice in the head after ringing the wrong doorbell, Former Kentucky state representative Charles Booker wrote on Twitter. Being Black is not a crime. Ralph deserves justice.

Ralph Yarl should be home with his family, dreaming about his future. Instead, he is fighting for his life. Ralph was only trying to pick up his younger siblings, but was shot twice in the head after ringing the wrong doorbell.



Being Black is not a crime. Ralph deserves justice. pic.twitter.com/EvPMP6H1Eb  Charles Booker (@Booker4KY) April 17, 2023

The Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and author, urged his Twitter followers to pray for Ralph, while sharing a photo of the teen with his bass clarinet.

Pray for 16-year-old #RalphYarl. Shot in the head, twice, for ringing the wrong doorbell. pic.twitter.com/YQUSNA1BLb  James Martin, SJ (@JamesMartinSJ) April 17, 2023

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump told The Star on Sunday that his Florida-based law firm will help represent the teens family.

You cant just shoot people without having justification when somebody comes knocking on your door and knocking on your door is not justification. This guy should be charged, Crump said.

Crump has represented the families in several high-profile cases including Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, as well as Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.

We've been retained by Ralph Yarl & his family following the unjustifiable shooting of the 16-yo by an unidentified white male assailant. @MerrittForTexas & our legal team demand Clay County prosecutors & law enforcement swiftly identify, arrest, & prosecute the man responsible! pic.twitter.com/FmX2S7ZEZh  Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) April 17, 2023

The family will also be represented by Lee Merritt, a Texas-based civil rights attorney who has previously represented the family of Cameron Lamb, who was fatally shot by KCPD detective Eric DeValkenaere in 2019.

There can be no excuse for the release of this armed and dangerous suspect after admitting to shooting an unarmed, non-threatening and defenseless teenager that rang his doorbell! Merritt wrote on Twitter.

There can be no excuse for the release of this armed and dangerous suspect after admitting to shooting an unarmed, non-threatening and defenseless teenager that rang his doorbell!



Our offices have been retained to seek justice for Ralph Yarl. We demand immediate action. pic.twitter.com/ILGLDQxl8y  Lee Merritt (@MerrittForTexas) April 16, 2023

Celebrities say his name

A few female celebrities took to Twitter Sunday to demand justice for Ralph.

His name is #RalphYarl and Im sick and tired of this feeling, tweeted actor Halle Berry, who said her heart broke when she learned about the shooting.

His name is #RalphYarl and Im sick and tired of this feelingmy heart completely broke when I learned this precious 16-year-old, who accidentally rang the door of the wrong address in an attempt to pick up his siblings, was shot in the head (1/3) pic.twitter.com/4VaZo7EFVE  Halle Berry (@halleberry) April 17, 2023

Berry demanded that the person who shot Ralph be arrested. So did actor Kerry Washington, who urged her Twitter followers to close out of Netflix and call the Clay County prosecutors office on Sunday .

Instead of waiting around for #LoveIsBlindmake a phone call. For #RalphYarl. Demand that Prosecutor Zachary Thompson make an arrest and bring the appropriate charges. 816-736-8300  kerry washington (@kerrywashington) April 17, 2023

Actor Jennifer Hudson also tweeted Ralphs name Sunday, adding that she was praying for his recovery.
Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman is explaining why hes no fan of both Black History Month and the description African American.

Black History Month is an insult. Youre going to relegate my history to a month? he asked in an interview with The Sunday Times published Saturday.

Also African American is an insult. I dont subscribe to that title, Freeman continued. Black people have had different titles all the way back to the n-word and I do not know how these things get such a grip, but everyone uses African American.

What does it really mean? he asked. Most Black people in this part of the world are mongrels. And you say Africa as if its a country when its a continent, like Europe.

To emphasize his point, Freeman noted how people talk about Irish Americans or Italian Americans, not Euro Americans.

Freeman, who stars with Florence Pugh in the new movie A Good Person, made the same point almost two decades ago in 2005 when he described the annual celebration of Black History Month in the United States each February as ridiculous.

Youre going to relegate my history to a month? he asked in a 60 Minutes interview with Mike Wallace. What do you do with yours? Which month is White History Month?

When Wallace said he was Jewish, Freeman asked if he wanted a Jewish History Month. Wallace said he didnt.

Oh, why not? Why not? You dont want one? I dont either, Freeman replied. I dont want a Black History Month. Black history is American history.

How are we going to get rid of racism? Wallace asked Freeman.

Stop talking about it, the actor responded. Im going to stop calling you a white man, and Im going to ask you to stop calling me a Black man.

Related...
Morgan Freeman discussed race in a new interview. (Photo: Michael Kovac/Getty Images for AFI)

In a rare new interview with U.K. newspaper the Sunday Times, Oscar winner Morgan Freeman explained why he objects to the term "African-American," and why it's an "insult" to limit the teaching of Black history to just one month.

In the interview, Freeman, 85, was asked about his past comments, in a 2005 interview with CBS's Mike Wallace, about how not talking about race might help end racism.

Two things I can say publicly that I do not like: Black History Month is an insult. Youre going to relegate my history to a month? Freeman responded.

Also African-American is an insult," he added. "I dont subscribe to that title. Black people have had different titles all the way back to the n-word and I do not know how these things get such a grip, but everyone uses African-American. 'What does it really mean?"

He continued, "Most Black people in this part of the world are mongrels. And you say Africa as if its a country when its a continent, like Europe," comparing it to people of European heritage being referred to by a specific country, such as Irish-Americans or Italian-Americans.

When interviewer Jonathan Dean mentioned fellow actor Denzel Washington, and his statement Im very proud to be Black, but Black is not all I am, Washington echoed those sentiments.

Yes, exactly. Im in total agreement," Freeman shared. "You cant define me that way. He also noted that he's "so very envious of Denzel's career, because he's doing what I wanted to do."

Freeman, who currently stars with Florence Pugh in A Good Person, went on to discuss how things have changed since he first started acting in the 1960s, rising up from small stage roles to the beloved children's program The Electric Company. He believes the industry has become increasingly inclusive, noting that for a long time roles for Black actors were typically comedic When I was growing up there was no me in the movies," he shared.

Story continues

The change is that all people are involved now, Freeman added. Everyone. LGBTQ, Asians, Black, white, interracial marriages, interracial relationships. All represented. You see them all on screen now and that is a huge jump.

The actor also mused on where he might have ended up if he hadn't found success in Hollywood.

People ask, What would you be doing if you didnt make it? I dont know," he said. "Driving a limo? But I would be in community theater. I would be acting. But along with guts it also takes luck. You need courage and serious luck. I credit my career with both.
Photograph: Alfredo Estrella/AFP/Getty Images

When Isidros phone rang past his bedtime, he knew it could only mean a fire had started somewhere in Ciudad Juarez. The man on the other end of the line told him to head to the immigration detention center near the bridge that connects the Mexican border city with El Paso, Texas.

At around 10.20pm on 27 March, Isidro didnt know he was on his way to an epic tragedy.

Related: All the doors are closed to Afghans: from fall of Kabul to limbo in Mexico

When he arrived, he quickly changed into his fire gear and ran to the door of the burning building, passing several lifeless bodies on the ground outside. He was unsure if those men were still alive.

One of the firefighters said to me, Theres more people inside. Go! Go! Hurry! Thats when I realized this could be a tragedy, said Isidro.

He asked for his true identity to be withheld due to concerns about his safety, as those who fought the fire have been barred from speaking to media amid a federal investigation. Isidro, not his real name, provided the Guardian with some pictures of the fire and audio of related calls to back up his account of being involved.

According to surveillance footage verified by a Mexican government minister, guards attempted to leave the facility as flames grew and smoke filled a cell housing dozens of Latin American migrant men who were unable to escape. Forty migrants died, while more than 20 others sustained injuries.

Isidro entered a hellish scene.

People werent screaming for help. They had been inhaling carbon dioxide produced by the fire, so most of the migrants were unconscious, he said in an exclusive interview.

He began carrying body after body from the facility. Most seemed to have been overcome by smoke, he recounted, and he and his fellow firefighters found about 20 huddled in the bathroom area where they had fled, turning on the shower to try to dissipate choking smoke.

After carrying over a dozen people out of the building, I spotted a man sitting on top of a toilet, in the fetal position. I couldnt really see his face, but I rushed in, Isidro said.

Story continues

I grabbed him by the arms and a partner grabbed his legs and as we were taking him out of the building, the man opened his eyes. He never said thank you, but I felt then he knew he would survive, he added.

Mexican federal prosecutor Sara Irene Herrerias said the 40 deaths were being investigated as suspected homicides, accusing those in charge of doing nothing to evacuate the victims.

Mourners carry the caskets of fire victims Miguel Rojche Zapalul and Francisco Rojche Chiquiva in Nahulate, Guatemala, on 12 April. Photograph: Reuters

Most recently, the Mexico attorney generals office filed charges against Francisco Garduno, the head of the countrys National Immigration Institute (INM), for allegedly not preventing the deadly blaze, despite earlier warnings about poor conditions in migrant detention centers.

Two days after the fire, local lawyer Javier Vasquez Campbell filed a complaint on behalf of some of the victims against Salvador Gonzalez Guerrero, a top INM official in the state of Chihuahua, where Juarez sits. The complaint, reviewed by the Guardian, said: Gonzalez Guerrero gave an order via a phone call that migrants housed at the place where the fire started should not be released under any circumstances.

Gonzalez Guerrero could not be reached for comment. Federal agents are pursuing him with an arrest warrant and as of late last week he was considered a fugitive, El Diario newspaper reported.

Vasquez Campbell also said that two detention center guards and one immigration official reached out to him shortly after the fire seeking legal counsel out of concerns they may be targeted by federal prosecutors.

Human rights groups have long denounced poor conditions and overcrowding in immigration detention centers in Mexico. Some low-quality snapshots from inside the Ciudad Juarez detention facility, taken some weeks before the fire and shared with the Guardian, showed dozens of occupied bunk beds and other migrants in mattresses across the floor.

According to a press release by the INM, 68 migrants from Central and South America were detained at the facility on 27 March. One day later, Mexicos president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, said the blaze started when migrants set mattresses on fire to protest against their looming deportations.

Isidro remembered seeing the mattresses in flames as he frantically searched inside the secure facility for anyone still showing vital signs.

It was during our last walk around the center, when we were making sure that no one was left behind, that I realized there werent emergency exit routes, nor fire extinguishers, said Isidro.

The conditions inside the detention facility as he observed them appear to violate a federal regulation implemented in 2011 to establish guidelines for employers and workers in case of a fire.

The guidelines require workplaces, including those under federal jurisdiction such as immigration detention facilities, to display notices about fire risks, evacuation routes, emergency exits or stairs, and details about where to find a fire extinguisher.

Roberto Briones, director of civil protection in Ciudad Juarez, who oversees the fire department, declined a request to answer questions about the conditions inside the detention center on 27 March. However, he previously told local media that he did not receive any reports of a fire starting at the immigration facility.

Briones said it was a captain from the fire department who saw smoke coming out of the immigration facility and called the fire station.

That matches Isidros knowledge of the event and an audio message from a member of the fire department shared with the Guardian.

According to Isidro, anyone trapped in a fire has as little as three minutes to escape death.

Three weeks after the deadly fire, Lopez Obrador suggested that the detention facilitys door remained closed while migrants were trapped inside because the person who had the keys wasnt there.

Isidro believes the tragedy could have been prevented with better safety conditions and a faster reaction time.

If we had been called in time, we wouldve saved more people, he said.
Xin Zhaoguo felt a sense of nervous anticipation as he prepared to open the kiln. Just one day earlier, he had carefully placed 200 cups inside and fired them for a full 10 hours.

Now, after allowing the interior to cool, it was finally time to reveal the results.

He couldn't help but feel excited at the prospect of seeing his new creations.

It was this element of surprise that made Xin's work more rewarding. "That is the special thing about colored glaze  you will never know if you have been successful or not until you open the kiln," Xin explains.

"The charm of colored glaze is in its unpredictability, with each piece taking on a unique pattern and hue that can never be replicated," he says.

Xin, 48, is an inheritor of Zibo-style colored glaze, an intangible cultural heritage of the city in Shandong province. It's a traditional Chinese ceramic craft which is renowned for its unique and vibrant colors.

Originating in the Song Dynasty (960-1279), colored glaze has become an important calling card for folk art in Zibo. It was popular in the 1980s and the '90s and products were sold to overseas markets. However, in the past two decades, fewer people have continued engaging in the handicraft, as it is not easy to make a living.

With more than three decades of experience in this field, Xin has won multiple prizes with his unique colored glaze creations. He is designing more new products to explore greater possibilities of this traditional Chinese skill, as well as trying to spark the interest of younger customers.

Together with his wife Zhao Zengxia, Xin is also gathering other local intangible cultural heritage inheritors in Zibo to better preserve these traditional skills through research, communication and collaboration.

Born in Zibo, Xin was introduced to ceramics at a young age due to his family's involvement with the traditional craft. His father, uncles and grandfather were all renowned color glaze masters, and he learned his skills from them.

Xin remembers watching his father and uncles making pottery every day, and observing in amazement that a lump of clay could transform into vessels of different shapes in their hands, as if by magic.

Driven by this curiosity, Xin developed a strong interest in clay. With his keen eye, Xin learned the pottery making techniques by observing and assisting his family with tasks such as trimming, glazing and firing.

The process of creating the Zibo-style pottery involves applying various colored glazes onto the surface of the ceramic during production, which are then fired at high temperatures to create an artistic effect.

Creating surprises

He was amazed by the transformation that occurred during the firing process, where pieces of the same color that went into the kiln would emerge with an array of different shades.

However, as the years passed, Xin lost interest in clay and went to work in a mechanical factory for three months, during which time, his hands, once accustomed to working with clay, touched hard, unyielding metal.

He soon realized that, unlike being a lathe operator, which requires following strict rules, his passion lay in more creative pursuits.

From then on, he has been practicing making colored glaze. "My fingerprints have been worn off, so I can't use them for fingerprint recognition or opening my electronic lock. My hands are no longer responsive to these tasks," Xin says.

One of Xin's signature designs is his Ruoque (meaning "as if defective") cup, which has won him numerous awards. At first glance, the vessel looks roughly produced, but it's actually made with a delicate touch.

According to Xin, the cup is inspired by the Taoist work, Tao Te Ching, and he believes that truly great achievement does not come from perfection.

The origin of the design comes from a cup he once made that cracked, and it looked like the bark of an old tree. Xin, inspired, after numerous attempts, finally created the Ruoque cup. It is made from rough clay with fine craftsmanship. Although its exterior appears utilitarian, the rim, bottom and inside of the cup are crafted with exquisite detail.

"I used a combination of clay and other special materials to create a chemical reaction that resulted in an irregular pattern of cracked glaze," Xin explains.

"When you drink tea from the cup, you won't feel any scratches or roughness, and the handle of the cup will also become smoother with use," Xin says.

His Yuanrong (meaning "harmony") cup is another of his signature items. The smooth, round, bulbous-shaped cup has no support at its bottom, but cannot be knocked over.

According to Xin, the meaning behind the design is to encourage people to be flexible and adaptable, and to not be stubborn.

One of Xin's works features a white-goat pattern that emerged naturally during firing. Xin explains that this is the uniqueness of color glaze, which often brings unexpected surprises. "You will never make another with the same pattern," he says.

Onward together

Zhao and Xin were classmates in junior middle school. They fell in love and have been together for about 30 years.

Zhao, born in 1977 to a family with a ceramic business in Zibo, remembers that she used to help her parents in their ceramic stores with her elder brother. She took over the family business at the age of 18.

Zhao recalls that, in the 1990s, ceramics were mass-produced and one batch could contain tens of thousands of tea sets.

That trend has changed, she says, noting that people no longer require their ceramics to be functional.

"Customers, especially younger ones, have high requirements for porcelain, and many people insist that the design has to be both attractive and interesting," Zhao says.

In 2013, Zhao and Xin established Zhaoxia Ceramics, to make cultural and creative ceramic products designed by themselves.

Zhao recalls that the past decade, experiencing the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, has been hard, yet worth it.

"The development of the ceramic business over recent decades is like a miniature version of society in China," Zhao says. "It's now an era that is led by the customers."

They also collaborate with young designers to create new products. "With our 30 years of experience, we can help them to make their designs a reality," Zhao says.

As well as the series of products that are all handmade by Xin, Zhao says that their studio also launches two sets of cultural and creative products each year. This year, they are designing presents to celebrate four key moments in life, including marriage and enrollment into a prestigious school.

Xin pays great attention to the inheritance and promotion of the special techniques required to make Zibo-style color glaze. He also actively participates in various cultural activities and exhibitions and guides apprentices in his own studio.

On many visits to Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province, China's porcelain capital, Xin met with local craftsmen. Xin thinks that, as inheritors, they should combine traditional craftsmanship with digital technology to better pass down their skills.

Under the title of "Master Xin's studio", Xin livestreams on short-video platform Douyin every afternoon between 2 pm and 4 pm. He is surprised that there are thousands of people watching him making porcelain, and he enjoys answering their questions. Some fans even visit his studio to learn from him in person after watching his videos.

The couple also invites scholars, design teams and professionals from across the country to their studio to discuss how to further popularize glaze culture.

Xin and Zhao have also established a handicraft culture research institute in Zibo to gather together the city's craftsmen. "We want to be their agent, helping produce and sell their craft works, which is a way of helping to pass on these skills," Zhao says.
(Photo: NASA)

Opinion. This week is celebrated as Earth Week. On Saturday, April 22, Americans will commemorate the 53rd anniversary of the first Earth Day back in 1970. The day was established as a community-based effort to bring awareness to environmental issues.

Even with all of the efforts every year, Mother Earth is suffering.

Two weeks ago, I moderated a panel discussion at the Reservation Economic Summit (RES) in Las Vegas that was organized by the Department of Energys Tribal Energy Loan Guarantee Program. During the discussion, one of the panelists, Lacey Horn (Cherokee), the former treasurer of the Cherokee Nation made a statement about climate change that has stayed with me since.

We are also experiencing massive climate changes - and experts are saying its too late to stop climate change. We had a chance 30 years ago, but today in 2023 its about building our future by adapting, Lacey said.

Laceys statement was very consistent with a stern warning scientists delivered on climate change issued back on March 20, 2023 by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in the AR6 Synthesis Report, which reads: Climate change is a threat to human well-being and planetary health There is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called the report a clarion call to massively fast-track climate efforts by every country and every sector and on every timeframe. Our world needs climate action on all fronts: everything, everywhere, all at once.

The report provides a stark overview of the devastation already being felt around the globe through high levels of greenhouse gas emissions. The effects have been devastating on Mother Earth. Climate change has caused extreme weather that has led to deaths due to intense heat waves in several parts of Earth. Millions of lives and homes have been destroyed in droughts and floods and increasingly irreversible losses'' in vital ecosystems.

Story continues

For some Native Americans, global warming and climate change have been on their agenda for decades. Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga Nation Oren Lyons has been telling audiences that it is time to pay attention to the warning signs Mother Earth is trying to convey through catastrophic acts of nature. Lyons goes as far to say that the sudden wind shifts are fulfillment of Indigenous prophecies that date back generations.

Science can point out dangers, but science cannot turn the direction of minds and hearts. That is the province of spiritual powers within and without our very beginnings, Lyons said.

In a June 27, 2021 article entitled Dispossessed, Again: Climate Change Hits Native Americans Especially Hard, The New York Times writes: From Alaska to Florida, Native Americans are facing severe climate challenges, the newest threat in a history marked by centuries of distress and dislocation. While other communities struggle on a warming planet, Native tribes are experiencing an environmental peril exacerbated by policies  first imposed by white settlers and later the United States government  that forced them onto the countrys least desirable lands.

And now, climate change is quickly making that marginal land uninhabitable. The first Americans face the loss of home once again.

As I walked through the week, Mother Earth was heavy on my heart and mind. Horns statement came back to me during last weeks Native Bidaske show as Jenna Kunze and I interviewed National Congress of American Indians President Fawn Sharp (Quinault). I asked her if we are too late to address climate change. She smiled and said, No.

Anytime that thought even enters my mind, and its taken a lot for me over the years to resist the temptation to become apathetic and I trained my spirit not to go there because its unthinkable if you even toyed with the idea that we might be at a point we cant give up hope, Sharp said.

Tribal nations, she said, need to step up with Indigenous knowledge to help curtail the devastation of climate change. She mentioned the traditional ways tribes have used to burn forests in order to control growth that lead to massive forest fires.

Its up to tribal nations to really educate people about the root solution to this challenge. We need to return and align with traditional teachings that we have. We have to respect the earth, Sharp continued.

During this Earth Weekand throughout the yearwe must remember to respect Mother Earth. The earth is not ours, it belongs to future generations.

Thayek gde nwendemen - We are all related.

About the Author: "Levi Rickert (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation) is the founder, publisher and editor of Native News Online. Rickert was awarded Best Column 2021 Native Media Award for the print\/online category by the Native American Journalists Association. He serves on the advisory board of the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association. He can be reached at levi@nativenewsonline.net."

Contact: levi@nativenewsonline.net
On Monday, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing in Manhattan to allow those affected by violent crime the chance to tell their stories and discuss whether District Attorney Alvin Braggs policies are worsening crime in their city.

Committee members were at loggerheads about the propriety of the hearing and why New York City had been chosen, with Representative Adam Schiff (D., Calif.) asserting that the selecting the borough of Manhattan in the city of New York was for one reason only: The GOP leadership in Congress doing what it has done best for the last 6 years, and that is act as the criminal defense counsel for Donald J. Trump.

Trump has been accused by Bragg of 34 counts of falsifying business records related to hush-money payments made in the lead up to the 2016 presidential election. In a wide-ranging speech after he pleaded not guilty, the former president accused Bragg of pursuing a politically motivated prosecution. The same charge has been leveled against Bragg by Republicans including Jim Jordan (R. Ohio), the Judiciary Committees chairman.

Both Republicans and some of the witnesses called to speak in front of the committee took issue with the characterization of the Monday hearing as political.

Madeline Brame, chairwoman of the Victims Rights Reform Council and the mother of a homicide victim, explained that she doesnt hear anyone talking about politics or Trump except for the other side, referring to the Democrats on the committee.

Victims can care less about anyones political ideology or party. Neither do criminals. They dont roll up to a person and ask them if theyre a Democrat or a Republican before they bust them in the head, or before they push them in front of the train, or before they stab them to death, Brame explained.

Brames son, Sergeant Hassan Korea, was assaulted by a gang and stabbed by four people he did not know in an incident caught on video, according to Brames written testimony.

Story continues

Brame claimed the prosecution of the individuals who killed her son was mishandled by district attorney Alvin Bragg. Brame said that during Braggs tenure, she had been told by an assistant district attorney that the DAs office didnt have the resources to try all four defendants.

She added that one of them, Mary Saunders, pleaded guilty to a completely manufactured charge of assault with a shoe and sentenced to one year time served. Another perpetrator, Travis Stewart, pleaded guilty to attempted gang assault and was sentenced to seven years only because of his priors. None of the circumstances changed surrounding the brutal, savage butchering of my son. The only thing that changed was the Law and DA Alvin Bragg, Brame wrote.

The victims-rights advocate also waved away crime statistics brought up by some committee members, saying the average New Yorker doesnt care about any statisticWe care about the mothers who have to visit the morgue to identify their deads child body.

Jordan zeroed in on Braggs Day One Memo as being at the center of a continuing lack of public safety in New York.

The policies being implemented by this district attorney are going to ruin this great city, explained Jordan. Its driven by that Day One Memothat Day One Memo that sent a message to this town to the bad guys in this town: You can do bad things, but youre not gonna get prosecuted.

In a statement announcing his Day One Memo, Bragg explained that he would continue to prosecute violent crimes, but avoid prosecuting certain minor offenses that have no impact on public safety, including marijuana, fare evasion, some trespass cases, driving with 1 or 2 license suspensions, noncriminal offenses such as traffic infractions, resisting arrest for any non-criminal offense, prostitution, and obstructing governmental administration.

Regarding robberies, the memo instructed assistant district attorneys to make a common-sense difference between two very different types of cases: a person holding a knife to someones neck, and someone who, usually struggling with substance use or mental health issues, shoplifts and makes a minimal threat to a store employee while leaving.

One of the witnesses, Robert Holden, a Democratic Member of the New York City Council from Queens, said during the hearing that these small crimes contribute to a lack of public safety in the city.

Ive had so many friends leaving this town. They just see the quality of life dropping they go out on the street, theres people driving down the wrong wayTheres people robbing stores. You know all the pharmacies in New York have to be under lock and key. Its so bad, these small crimes, Holden said, arguing that Braggs soft-on-crime message should never have been broadcast to criminals.

Holden added that his family wont take the subway anymore due to how unsafe its become and cited statistics that theres been an increase in the seven major crimes recently.

We fought so hard in the 90s to stop this crime wave that we had in New York City and we did it, said Holden, but now its being rolled back to the good old days.

Republicans on the committee also zeroed in on New Yorks gun laws and whether they are making the city safer.

Representative Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) pointed out that several of the victims brought up by the committees witnesses were stabbed to death. He asked one of the witnesses whether knives kill.

Where theres a will theres a way and if evil wants to attack, evil is going to attack, said Jennifer Harrison, founder of Victims Rights NY, whose boyfriend was stabbed to death.

New York might have strict gun laws, but it also have conflicting gun laws, she explained, adding that all they want to do is talk about gun legislation on the books, but if its not enforced, which is what Alvin Bragg is doing, then its not going to matter and people are going to die.

Barry Borgen, another witness and father of a victim of an anti-Semitic hate crime, said criminals will get guns either way. Its not going to change.

Democrats reiterated their view throughout that the hearing was highly political. This committee has used every means at its disposal to disrupt, interrupt, and interfere with the prosecution of Donald Trump, explained Schiff, adding that the hearing is a vain attempt to intimate or embarrass the prosecutorial authority.

Representative Mike Johnson (R., Ohio) defended the hearing on the grounds New York City is one of the most egregious examples in America of crime and soft-on-crime policies.

Jordan asserted that New York City is only where the committee is starting its series of field hearings on crime.

Were going to have other hearings. Were going to go wherever we need to go, Jordan said.

Yes, we could be having this in Los Angeles. Yes, we could be having this in San Francisco. There are other places around the country in which, systematically, district attorneys are not enforcing the laws and leading to the kind of terrible stories were hearing here today, explained Issa.

More from National Review
A Coast police officer and four other civilians were injured Sunday when shots rang out on U.S. 90 on the final day of Black spring break.

The shots could be heard in the 2400 block of the beachfront highway near Surf Style and elsewhere, authorities confirmed.

Biloxi police spokesperson Grandver Everett said authorities are still trying to piece together exactly what happened, where and how many were injured.

We were all outside our vehicles working traffic and it started, Everett said Sunday, noting that he could only speak for what he saw from his vantage point.

It was all around us, Everett said.  We had officers responding to multiple locations.

The Biloxi police officer who was shot and injured was among other officers from different agencies responding to the action that also prompted crowds in the area of gunfire to run for safety. A video shows members of law enforcement helping the injured officer get to an ambulance.

The officer sustained injuries to his arm and was treated at an area hospital, Biloxi Spokesperson Cecilia Dobbs Walton said Sunday night. The other victims also suffered injuries and were taken to an area hospital for treatment.

At this point, we know everyone is stable, Biloxi Police Chief John Miller said Sunday from the scene. Some are in serious condition, but everyone is stable.

Miller added that the officer shot is doing pretty good and that the public should pray for him and the other victims.

Everett said Monday morning that all five victims are either in stable condition or have been released from the hospital.

Biloxi police, the Harrison County Sheriffs Department, and officers from Gulfport, Ocean Springs, and surrounding agencies are also on scene to assist.

Highway 90/Beach Boulevard was closed for hours from Beauvoir Road to Edgewater Mall. Miller said police were trying to collect every piece of evidence we can get in the aftermath of the shooting.

No arrests have been made as of Monday.

Story continues

A Coast police officer was injured after law enforcement responded to a shooting near Surf Style on U.S. 90 in Biloxi on April 16, 2023.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigations, which investigates all police-related shootings statewide, has also been called to respond to investigate.

The Mississippi Department Of Public Safety commissioner Sean Tindell said the agency is still gathering information.

The incident Sunday comes a day after reports of gunfire at Edgewater Mall that resulted in its early closure, though police said they had not found any gun or evidence of a shooting there. There was also a fatal shooting Saturday night at a Biloxi apartment complex.

Miller said that the incidents police have dealt with this year are not usually an issue during spring break.

Sun Herald visual journalist Hannah Ruhoff contributed to this report.

Law enforcement officers canvas the ground looking for evidence outside Surf Style in Biloxi after a chaotic shooting during Black Spring Break that left one police officer injured on Sunday, April 16, 2023.

Law enforcement officers stand outside Surf Style in Biloxi after a chaotic shooting during Black Spring Break that left one police officer injured on Sunday, April 16, 2023.

Law enforcement officers stand outside Surf Style in Biloxi after a chaotic shooting during Black Spring Break that left one police officer injured on Sunday, April 16, 2023.
(Bloomberg) -- Myanmars military rulers have announced the release of more than 3,000 prisoners as part of a holiday amnesty, a week after one of the deadliest air strikes carried out by the junta since it seized power.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The State Administration Council announced the move, which included the release of 98 foreigners, as part of the traditional New Year state pardons. The foreign detainees to be released and deported include five Sri Lankan nationals.

Its not immediately clear if any of those due to be freed are political prisoners, and whether the junta will also reduce jail terms for ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and ex-president Win Myint.

The juntas decision to release the prisoners comes as it faces intense international criticism for an air attack in Sagaing region which reportedly left more than 100 civilians dead. The United Nations, the US and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have all strongly condemned the April 11 violence. The military said it was targeting opposition fighters.

The regime has been accused of using increasingly brutal tactics to subdue its opponents as it struggles to curb a reinvigorated civil conflict, which has seen ethnic armed groups and resistance forces take on a military unable to stabilize the country since seizing power in a February 2021 coup.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing justified the takeover after alleging widespread fraud in a November 2020 election, in which Suu Kyis party won more than 80% of available seats. Independent election monitors found no major irregularities.

The military had said it intended to hold elections by August this year, but the date appeared to shift after emergency rule was extended by another six months. Forty opposition parties were dissolved last month, including Suu Kyis National League for Democracy, after failing to register themselves with the poll panel by a prescribed deadline. The planned polls have been dismissed as a sham by the UN and the US.

Story continues

Since the coup, some 3,240 civilians have been killed and more than 21,300 others have been arrested in a crackdown on pro-democracy movements. Four political prisoners, including a lawmaker close to Suu Kyi, were executed last July. More than 100 others have been sentenced to death, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) is joining other transportation departments across the county to mark National Work Zone Awareness Week after surveys showed that hundreds of people died just in 2020 due to work zone crashes.

>> TRENDING: $1 million bond set for man accused shooting, killing girlfriend in Urbana

National Work Zone Awareness Week will comprise of a week dedicated to reminding drivers to pay extra attention near or at work zones, a spokesperson for ODOT said.

Its important that drivers remember to look out for the safety of our road crews as they work hard to keep our streets and highways safe, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said. Paying attention, slowing down, and giving crews room to work are simple steps that all drivers can take to prevent tragedies in our work zones.

Nationally, 857 people, including 117 workers, were killed in 774 total deadly work zone crash in 2020.

In Ohio, 23 people, none of them workers, died from 21 deadly work zone crashes in the same year. However, the number of total crashes near or at work zones was sharply higher, totaling 4,628.

In 2022, the Ohio State Highway Patrol wrote 4,477 work zone citations with 35 percent of them being for speeds exceeding 20 mph over the speed limit.

Too many of these work zone crashes are the result of drivers not paying attention, speeding, or following the vehicle in front of them too closely, ODOT Director Jack Marchbanks said. It is imperative that drivers give extra attention to the road in work zones and obey the speed limits and other signs so that everyone makes it home safe at the end of the day.

This years National Work Zone Awareness Week will be themed Work With Us, hosted by the Missouri Department of Transportation.

Wednesday will be Go Orange Day. The public is encouraged to wear orange to show awareness for work zone safety and support for road workers. The department requests photos be shared on social media using hashtag #NWZAW and #Orange4Safety.

Story continues

Thursday will feature a push on social media. Organizations, companies, institutions, and individuals are asked to share safety messages and use hashtags #NWZAW and #WorkZoneSafety.

The week will conclude with a moment of silence on Friday.

John Pasko, the last ODOT employee killed on the job, was hit on March 15, 2018 while clearing brush along Interstate 680 in Mahoning County. He was the 162nd name added to the ODOT Worker Memorial.
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -The United States and more than 40 other countries said in a joint statement on Monday that they were deeply concerned over Russia's detainment of a Wall Street Journal reporter and protested Moscow's "efforts to limit and intimidate the media."

They also said in the statement, read to reporters at the United Nations by U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield: "We urge Russian Federation authorities to release those they hold on political grounds, and to end the draconian crackdown on freedom of expression, including against members of the media."

Evan Gershkovich, who was hired by the Wall Street Journal shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine last year, was arrested last month in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg. It is the first time since 1986 that an American reporter has been held for alleged espionage in Russia.

When asked about the joint statement on Monday, Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said: "Only the court can decide if he's guilty or not."

On the accusation in the joint statement of a "draconian crackdown on freedom of expression" by Moscow, Russia's Deputy U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy posted on Twitter: "That's how interference into internal affairs looks like."

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Susan Heavey and Rosalba O'Brien)
The U.S. Navy sailed through international waters in the Taiwan Strait on Sunday with a destroyer ship, leading China to denounce the move as a threat to its national security.

The USS Milius transited a part of the Taiwan Strait beyond the territorial sea of any coastal state, according to the U.S. 7th Fleet.

Milius transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, the fleet said in a statement. The United States military flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said the U.S. sent the ship through the Taiwan Strait to flex muscles, which he said poses a threat to Chinas sovereignty and security and undermines regional peace and stability.

China urges the US to immediately end such moves of violation and provocation and stop causing troubles for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, he said at a Monday press briefing.

The naval action comes about a week after the USS Milius, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer vessel, also sailed near Chinese artificial naval bases near the contested Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.

Tensions in the Indo-Pacific are high following three days of Chinese naval and air drills over Taiwan earlier this month, which Beijing ordered after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen met with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in California.

China sees Taiwan as historically part of the mainland after those fleeing a 1949 communist takeover in Beijing established the Republic of China opposition government on the island.

The U.S. recognizes Taiwan as part of China but maintains informal ties with the nation.

Washington has warned that China is bent on reclaiming Taiwan, by force if necessary, and has increasingly sought to support Taiwanese independence through arms sales, diplomatic ties and financial support.

American forces are also building up a presence in the Indo-Pacific, recently announcing more bases in the Philippines and a deal with Australia that includes increased U.S. and British submarine visits in the country.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
One design includes a series of seemingly floating atriums, hovering over a courtyard decked out in walls of glass. Another has sharp fins jutting toward the sky, reminiscent of angled sails.

For now, they're just ideas, but the Navy is hoping to build public interest and donations for a new national museum in Washington, D.C., releasing new conceptual artwork last week.

The Navy said Thursday that the museum will be located near Navy Yard, part of the nation's capital that overlooks the Anacostia River and a quickly developing district that the sea service is hoping will be the repository for its history.

Read Next: Pay Troops At Least $15 Per Hour? A GOP Lawmaker Wants to Raise the Military's Minimum Wage

Thirty-seven architecture firms submitted qualifying concepts for the facility, but only five were chosen for the showcase.

"We are pleased to display five visions for the future of the National Museum of the U.S. Navy," Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro said in a press release. "While each concept is different, all of them show how we might celebrate our Navy's accomplishments, honor our veterans and point the way toward the Navy's future."

The designs, however, are not part of the final design competition, according to The Washington Post, and are meant to generate interest for not only other architectural firms to join the competition, but for the Navy and public to buy into the concept.

"It's not the final design competition for actually building the museum," retired Rear Adm. Samuel J. Cox, the director of the Naval History and Heritage Command, told the newspaper last week. "But one of these firms could wind up being the finalist for that when it occurs. Or it could be somebody else."

Fundraising is the key catalyst to begin the actual competition, Cox added. When -- and what -- that number will be is unclear.

"While financial discussions are premature at this point, we are working with [the] Navy Museum Development Foundation," Lt. Ian McConnaughey, public affairs officer at Naval History and Heritage Command, told Military.com Monday.

Story continues

The Navy Museum Development Foundation was selected by the Navy in October "to secure the funding required to build a state-of-the-art national Navy museum," according to its website.

The architecture firms have been working since January to complete the designs, which include an atrium and a courtyard for ceremonies; the designs also integrated naval concepts into the architectural artwork -- sails, aircraft, or a swift boat, for example.

The building would constitute 270,000 square feet and about "100,000 square feet of net gallery space," according to the Navy.

Charles Swift, the acting director of the Museum of the United States Navy, the service's current historical institution, said the designs are an important first step in the process of completing the project, which according to the Post, will begin in 2025.

The new Navy museum would be the first national service museum located directly in D.C. The national Army museum, as well as the Marine Corps museum, are located in Northern Virginia.

The Naval History and Heritage Command also listed its Facebook page and email in case the public wants to weigh in on the design ideas.

"These ideas incorporate the feedback the Navy has received from working groups of active-duty sailors and represent the work of historians, curators and other professionals at Naval History and Heritage Command," McConnaughey said. "We welcome the public's feedback on these five concepts as we continue to work towards our new museum and cultural center for the Navy."

-- Drew F. Lawrence can be reached at drew.lawrence@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @df_lawrence.

Related: 9 Must-see Military Sites to Visit in Washington, D.C.
[Source]

Around 4,800 individuals have fallen victim to an identity theft scam that targeted Asian Americans in Texas, the states Department of Public Safety (DPS) announced last week.

The agency first learned about the scheme last December but did not alert victims as it carried out investigations and arrests. In February, officials announced that at least 3,000 drivers licenses had been affected.

Authorities previously described the perpetrators as a Chinese organized crime group based in New York working in a number of different states. They said the group did not hack government websites but exploited vulnerabilities in the states main portal, Texas.gov.

According to officials, the fraudsters allegedly targeted Asians from various backgrounds to find similar names and look-alikes to aid Chinese nationals who are living illegally in the U.S.

More from NextShark: S. Korean religious leader who claims to be the messiah arrested on sexual assault charges

The groups scheme begins with pulling a victims personal data from the dark web and using that data to answer password security questions on Texas.gov. They then use stolen credit cards to order copies of active licenses, such as those that have been reported missing or stolen.

DPS spokesperson Travis Considine said the department sent its second round of letters to those affected by the scam, which has now ballooned to 4,800.

Aside from English, the letter was communicated in Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese.

More from NextShark: Tokyo Olympics Official Resigns After Plus-Sized Model Pig Comment

I think thats awesome, Ping Du, a victim, told the Dallas Morning News. Not everyone is necessarily fluent in English so if they are sending out letters in [a] language other than English, that would help reach more folks who really need this information.

Du has obtained a new drivers license through an expedited process. However, he still gets calls from his bank about malicious attempts to access his account.

Story continues

According to the DPS, several subjects have already been identified as part of the scheme.

More from NextShark: Chinese man lured by fake job ad is held captive as 'blood slave' for months in Cambodia

At least four states and the FBI are investigating the case.

Those who believe they were targeted are urged to report their case at www.iwatchtx.org. Meanwhile, those seeking more information on identity theft can visit the Texas Attorney General's website.

More from NextShark: Asian American Celebrities Call Out Republicans for Voting Against Bill Condemning Anti-Asian Hate
Paul Archuleta - Getty Images

Neighbours spoilers follow.

The Neighbours revival continues to surprise fans  this time by casting Hollywood star Mischa Barton in a guest role.

Former The OC and The Hills star Mischa is heading Down Under to play American Reece, whose arrival in Erinsborough is far from what it appears to be.

The news comes on the same day as Neighbours has officially resumed production, and adds another high-profile international star to the show's legacy.

George Pimentel

Related: Neighbours reveals first pictures as filming begins on new season

Margot Robbie, Kylie Minogue, Guy Pearce and Russell Crowe are only a few of the worldwide stars who started their careers on Ramsay Street as young actors.

"Im excited to be part of this iconic shows next chapter, and I am really looking forward to being back in Australia, a place I know and love! I think the character of Reece is going to be a great role for me to explore and play with," Barton said.

Producer Jason Herbison added: "With Neighbours launching on Amazon Freevee in North America, we are beyond excited to have an actor of Mischas calibre join us for the beginning of this exciting new chapter. Mischas character is dynamic and unpredictable and will have an instant presence on Ramsay Street. Our loyal viewers are going to love her, locally and abroad.

Paul Archuleta - Getty Images

Related: Neighbours confirms return for Melanie Pearson in show revival

Barton is best-known for playing Marissa Cooper in cult classic US primetime soap The OC, after breaking through as a child actress in The Sixth Sense. She most recently appeared as herself in The Hills.

Neighbours returns in the second half of 2023 with new episodes streaming free on Amazon Freevee in the UK and US. Network 10 will retain first-run rights in Australia for the new series.

Read more Neighbours coverage on our dedicated homepage

You Might Also Like
East African leaders call for immediate ceasefire as fighting rages in Sudan

Xinhua) 09:04, April 17, 2023

NAIROBI, April 16 (Xinhua) -- East African leaders on Sunday called for an immediate end to the ongoing fighting in Sudan where military clashes have killed at least 56 people and injured nearly 600 others.

The Kenyan Presidency said the leaders from the regional bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), held an emergency virtual session on Sunday where they called for an immediate cessation of hostilities between the parties to the conflict in Sudan.

Those in the emergency session were President William Ruto of Kenya, Salva Kiir of South Sudan, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Ismail Omar Guelleh of Djibouti, and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia.

"President William Ruto asked IGAD leaders to take a firm position on the crisis to restore peace in the country," the presidency said in a statement issued in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.

The leaders resolved to send presidents Kiir, Ruto and Guelleh at the earliest possible time to reconcile the conflicting groups.

The leaders also asked the two parties to the conflict in Sudan to provide a safe corridor for humanitarian assistance in Khartoum, Sudan's capital, and other affected towns.

Violent clashes erupted on Saturday between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum and other cities, where the two sides traded accusations of initiating the conflict.

Sudan's Central Doctors' Committee said that at least 56 civilians had been killed while 595 more have been injured, among them soldiers who are in critical condition.

The tension between the two military forces has escalated since Wednesday in the Merowe region in northern Sudan, after the RSF moved military vehicles to a location near the military air base there, a move that the army considered illegal.

Deep differences have emerged between the Sudanese army and the RSF, particularly regarding the latter's integration into the army as stipulated in a framework agreement signed between military and civilian leaders on Dec. 5, 2022.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
With no dedicated music teacher at Jieban Primary School, its piano sat idle, gathering dust for years.

Meanwhile, even though there is a music teacher at Huanxi Primary School, which has more than 200 students, his role is simply to teach the children songs to sing.

Before 2020, almost none of the students at the mountain-encompassed schools in Fuzhou, capital of the eastern province of Fujian, had ever touched a musical instrument.

However, early last month, a combined orchestra performed eight traditional folk tunes with professional musicians at a concert venue.

This seemingly impossible achievement was made possible by a group of musicians, mostly music teachers, who visited Huanxi every Friday afternoon for three years and provided free music classes for the students.

The idea of founding an orchestra occurred to them in April 2019. Yang Xiumei, a local housewife and also one of the orchestra's founders, invited her flute teacher to visit her home area during spring.

After finding that the township has delightful natural scenery, the teacher invited some musician friends to a gathering in Huanxi, and they all fell in love with the place, according to Yang.

"While dining and having tea together, some of the musicians casually proposed setting up an orchestra for the children," she said.

Positive response

Without giving the idea much thought, she responded positively. "I just thought it would be good for children in this mountainous area to learn musical instruments. I didn't imagine they would reach such a level," she said with a smile.

As a native, Yang automatically became the contact point between the musicians and local schools, and a recruitment drive was quickly held at Huanxi Middle School.

Though the classroom was packed with students and their parents, only one girl and her brother had a slight familiarity with the erhu, a traditional two-stringed instrument played with a bow, and the hulusi, a gourd flute.

The other students had never touched an instrument before.

"Actually, the siblings didn't know much, either. You could hardly say they knew more than those who had never learned to play an instrument," Yang said.

Neither the students who signed up to join the orchestra nor their parents had any idea of what an orchestra was, and they didn't know how long the children would persist with the music classes, she added.

In total, there are no more than 300 students at the two schools, she said. After excluding those from higher grades who are busy with classes and those in lower grades who are too young to learn, there is a very limited number of candidates for the orchestra.

Moreover, members leave constantly: some go after graduating, while the children of migrant workers quit because they have to return to their hometowns. These factors have made it difficult for the orchestra to operate, Yang said.

Nie Zhiyong, the orchestra's conductor and one of its founders, said that though they would like to recruit members and decide what instruments are suitable for them based on physical attributes, such as hand size, it would be hard to get enough members if those standards were applied too rigorously.

"So, if some students have a strong passion and really want to join, we usually tell them that they are welcome," he said.

He noted a series of other factors that hamper the orchestra's operations. For example, not all the musicians are able to drive more than 30 kilometers to Huanxi  part of the journey is along winding mountain roads  every week, he said.

To date, 20 to 30 musicians have volunteered to teach, but only seven visited regularly in the past three years. Usually, they make 400 to 800 yuan ($58 to $116) per 90-minute class, but they only received a subsidy of 200 yuan for some of the classes they gave in Huanxi, each lasting 2.5 to 3 hours, he added.

The township government provided the subsidies for the first three months, while the Fuzhou Cultural Center covered the cost for one month. Now, though, the Fuzhou Committee of the Communist Youth League of China regularly provides funding.

Nie recalled that the musicians taught without receiving any subsidies for an extended period of time.

Initially, funding from the township government ensured that all the musicians received free dinners if they went to give classes, but the money soon stopped. Nie estimates that Yang has spent 20,000 to 30,000 yuan to provide food for the musicians. "She knew we had not asked for payment for the classes, and she insisted that we should not have to pay for our food as well," he said.

He added that a lack of equipment poses another challenge, as a standard traditional Chinese orchestra requires more than 10 types of instruments, he said. Many of the originals  some bought by the Huanxi township government in 2019 and others donated by the Fuzhou Cultural Center in 2020  are badly worn and need to be replaced. "As we recruit more members, we obviously don't have enough instruments," Nie said.

Magical transformation

He noted that the children in Huanxi are not as confident as their urban peers, so it was understandable that they were nervous when they went to rehearse at the Jiuritai Concert Hall in urban Fuzhou on March 4 for their performance the following day. "Despite there being not even a single audience member, they looked extremely uneasy when they took the stage," he said.

He has discovered that music has the magic to transform these children, which has encouraged him and the other musicians to remain devoted to the orchestra, despite all the difficulties.

A Grade 5 boy in the orchestra used to be socially awkward, and he even felt uneasy when he had to stand next to a girl, Nie said. However, he is a different person now: he is poised when communicating with others, and he outperforms his peers in playing the sheng, a reed pipe wind instrument.

Since the March 5 performance, Nie has noticed that many of the students are more confident and mature.

"You can feel from the way they play that they are relaxed," he said, adding that their performance is now even better than that of some university orchestras in Fuzhou.

Chen Zhongsheng, principal of Jieban Primary School, is also impressed by the changes in his students. "I have seen their determination improve, and they have become increasingly capable of deep concentration," he said.

He added that his school's poor musical education facilities have made him appreciate and cherish the opportunities offered by the musicians.

More than 20 of his 69 students joined the free music classes at the beginning, he said. However, he noted that many of the children have had to stop because of inadequate transportation.

Some of the students live 30 minutes from the school by foot, he said, and though local buses between the school and Huanxi township often visit to pick the children up and then take them back when the class ends at 6 pm, it is quite late when they get home.

Moreover, in winter, the sun sets at 6 pm, so it is difficult for the students to get home on the dark, hilly roads, he added.

Chen Shuming, principal of Huanxi Primary School, is proud of his students because he never imagined that they would one day stage a performance in a professional concert hall.

"None of them had any background in playing musical instruments, and most had never even heard of the sheng," he said, recalling the time the Friday classes were launched at his school.

"It was a great achievement for them to stage a performance at the Jiuritai Concert Hall, but they went even further by performing eight songs," he said. "They are much more confident now."

Dreams, influence

Despite never having touched a musical instrument before, Chi Yuxin was one of the first students from Huanxi Primary School to join the music classes in 2019. Now age 12, she has discovered a world of joy through music.

First, she studied the erhu for about two years, before changing to percussion. Now, she concentrates on percussion, but still plays the erhu when she has enough free time.

"If I'm busy with homework, I practice (percussion) for half an hour a day. If not, I spend an hour," she said, adding that she has bought a drum pad to improve her skills at home.

Chi has enjoyed singing since she was very young, and has seen her sense of rhythm grow stronger since she joined the classes. "Every day when I am taking a shower, I sing songs. I really enjoy that," she said.

She is happy that her brother, a third grader, has joined the orchestra this year. He has chosen to learn the ruan, a traditional plucked stringed instrument. "He chose to join, probably under my influence," she said.

Chi said she plans to keep learning music after she enters middle school. "My dream is to be a doctor. That dream has not changed, but music will enrich my spare time," she said.
Netflix has apologised after a much-publicised livestream of its hit dating show was delayed due to a glitch.

The Love is Blind reunion aired at 20:00 BST (15:00 ET) on Monday in a pre-recorded broadcast.

Fans of the show, which involves couples getting engaged before they see each other, vented their frustrations on social media.

The technical reason for the delay was unclear but the streaming giant said it was "incredibly sorry".

There are no spoilers for the Love is Blind reunion in this article.

While some viewers in the US were able to watch the stream about 75 minutes after its scheduled start time, most were met with a screen reading "there's an issue with the livestream".

Netflix announced delays as time progressed and by 02:30 BST - 90 minutes after it was due to begin - the streaming giant apologised and told fans it was filming the episode instead.

"To everyone who stayed up late, woke up early, gave up their Sunday afternoon we are incredibly sorry that the Love is Blind Live Reunion did not turn out as we had planned," Netflix tweeted in a statement.

"We're filming it now and we'll have it on Netflix as soon as humanly possible. Again, thank you and sorry."

Netflix did not give a reason for cancelling the livestream, but show host Vanessa Lachey indicated it was a technical error in a live video on Instagram, captioned: "Apparently we broke the internet."

This was Netflix's second attempt at bringing to its audience a live event, after it successfully streamed a Chris Rock stand-up special in March this year.

The comic's routine aired mostly without fault, with only a few users reporting problems via social media at the time, but technical errors meant the Love is Blind livestream never started at all for most people.

And Downdetector, which tracks websites, showed more than 10,000 people in the US reported the website was not functioning during the stream.

Story continues

Angry fans took to social media to voice their frustrations, and Netflix retweeted US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - who joked they needed a hero from a previous episode of the show to help save it now.

Someone call Lucia the seamstress to fix this. I believe in her  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 17, 2023

It comes as Netflix has announced its intention to move towards more live programming, including a deal to broadcast the Screen Actors Guild Awards from 2024.

But the decision to delay the reunion caused consternation, with fans in the UK who chose sleep over the livestream waking up to find out the episode was not available.

Some called the delay in putting the episode online unacceptable, with others pointing out that it meant the spoilers were now being spread across social media.

And some global viewers have even claimed they are no longer interested in watching the show at all.
The "Love Is Blind" cast celebrate Netflix's first live reunion in New York City on April 4, 2023. Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Netflix

The highly anticipated reunion episode of Netflix's "Love Is Blind" was delayed on Sunday.

Fans eagerly awaiting the live stream were disappointed, and even enraged, by the delay.

Netflix apologized on Twitter, saying it would upload the episode "as soon as humanly possible."

Angry fans have lashed out at Netflix after the highly anticipated "Love is Blind" live reunion was delayed because of technical issues.

The special episode of Season 4 of the hit reality show was supposed to air at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday. But shortly before that, the streaming giant tweeted that it would be up within 15 minutes, The New York Times reported.

About an hour and a half after the scheduled start time, Netflix tweeted an apology, saying that it was "incredibly sorry" for the delay.

"To everyone who stayed up late, woke up early, gave up their Sunday afternoon we are incredibly sorry that the Love is Blind Live Reunion did not turn out as we had planned. We're filming it now and we'll have it on Netflix as soon as humanly possible. Again, thank you and sorry," Netflix's tweet at 9:29 p.m. ET said.

Later at 1:40 a.m. ET, Netflix tweeted that the show would be available "globally at 12pm PT on April 17. Promise."

At 2 a.m. ET, however, "The Reunion" special was still unavailable, according to checks conducted by Insider. But some media reports  including The Washington Post  said that the episode eventually aired around 9:15 p.m.

"Love Is Blind," which has four seasons on Netflix, chronicles the experiences of singles who try to fall in love without ever seeing each other face-to-face. It is one of Netflix's most popular shows, more than once sitting atop Netflix's top 10 list.

But the delay tested the patience of the show's fans, many of whom took to social media to vent.

A Twitter user, CandiceOBeauty, wrote: "How you gonna test going live NOW. This is like making Mac n cheese for the first time ever on Christmas day. NOW AINT THE TIME BABY." The tweet was viewed 82,300 times as of press time.

Story continues

Even Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez chimed in, tweeting: "Someone call Lucia the seamstress to fix this," referring to a seamstress who fixed one of the cast's trousers before he was about to get married.

Netflix's competitors were quick to capitalize on the technical mishap. Bravo, the network which runs "The Real Housewives of New Jersey," tweeted at 8:28 p.m. ET that it would never "keep you waiting for a reunion," adding a winking emoji.

Currently, Netflix remains the most-watched streaming service globally and had about 647 million viewers in 2022, with rivals like Amazon Prime and Disney+ coming close behind. Netflix reported an annual revenue of $31.6 billion in 2022.

A representative for Netflix directed Insider to Netflix's tweet when asked for comment.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Flag of the Netherlands

Read also: Ukraines agriculture remains barely profitable, expert says

This is the first concrete part of the EUR 2.5 billion in recovery support the Netherlands pledged to Ukraine earlier this year.

Most of the funding has been earmarked for military support, but Schreinemacher assured that other supports are also being carefully considered.

EUR 40 million is directed specifically to agricultural companies so that they can purchase grain this season or replace agricultural machinery that has broken down, she said.

The remaining EUR 60 million is intended not only for the purchase of generators, but also, for example, road repair. The generators will be delivered in autumn, she said.

Read also: Ukraine urgently requires $1.5 billion for demining agricultural land

Schreinemacher added that she does not yet know which other recovery projects the Netherlands will invest but added that anti-personnel mine clearance is at the top of the list because people want to get home safe.

The minister emphasized that the Netherlands would continue to support Ukraine as long as necessary.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Boxes of the drug mifepristone. (Allen G. Breed / Associated Press)

The Supreme Court's fast-track encounter with abortion pills this week may reveal much about the three justices who were crucial to overturning Roe vs. Wade and the constitutional right to abortion.

Are they traditional conservatives who are skeptical of politically driven lawsuits that seek to change the law and public policy?

Or are they so deeply opposed to abortion that they will look favorably on a lawsuit that would overturn regulations set by the Food and Drug Administration and sharply limit access to a medication that has been used by more than 5 million American women over two decades?

A partial answer may come soon. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., who oversees appeals from Texas and Louisiana, issued an administrative stay to put the matter on hold until Wednesday.

The nine justices must decide whether to block a lower court decision to revoke the FDA's approval of the drug, mifepristone, entirely or impose new restrictions on its use, such as forbidding sending the drug through the mail or limiting its use to end pregnancies to seven weeks instead of the FDA's current 10-week limit.

It takes a five-vote majority to issue such an order. Assuming the three liberal justices vote to block the lower court's ruling, that means the Biden administration needs the support of at least two conservative justices.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. is a strong possibility since he parted with his conservative colleagues last year and voted against overturning Roe, though he supported upholding Mississippi's 15-week limit on abortion.

Alito, who wrote the 5-4 opinion in the Dobbs case overturning Roe, has a long track record of opposing abortion rights, as does Justice Clarence Thomas.

Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh are harder to predict.

All three voted to overturn Roe, a landmark ruling that many conservatives never accepted, in part because it began with a 1970 liberal, public-interest lawsuit that eventually struck down abortion restrictions in 46 states.

Story continues

Barrett, a former Notre Dame law professor, made clear she was morally opposed to abortion, but told senators during her Senate confirmation that her personal views would not determine her decisions in court.

In past writings before he was a judge, Gorsuch pondered whether a fetus could be considered a person protected by the Constitution. He, too, insisted during his confirmation he would decide legal questions based on the law, not his personal beliefs.

Kavanaugh joined them to overturn Roe and wrote in his concurring opinion that because the Constitution said nothing about abortion, decisions about it should not rest with judges.

"The nine members of this court will no longer decide the basic legality of pre-viability abortion for all 330 million Americans," he wrote. "That issue will be resolved by the people and their representatives in the democratic process in the states or Congress."

That pledge is now being put to the test.

Not long after the justices struck down the nationwide right to abortion, a group of antiabortion advocates that included doctors set up an office in Amarillo, Texas. They filed a lawsuit to challenge the legality of mifepristone, knowing it would come before U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee with strong antiabortion views.

As widely predicted, Kacsmaryk revoked the FDA's 2000 approval of mifepristone and said his nationwide order would take effect a week later.

That sent Justice Department lawyers to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans seeking to block Kacsmaryk's decision.

A 2-1 majority agreed it may be too late to challenge the safety of a drug used since 2000, but not too late to strike down the FDA's decisions from 2016 to extend use of the pill to end pregnancies up to 10 weeks and permit sending it by mail.

Appealing to the Supreme Court, Solicitor Gen. Elizabeth Prelogar argued the decisions from Texas broke with decades of settled law and practice. The abortion pills had remained legal under five presidents  Republicans and Democrats  and no judge had invalidated the FDA's approval of a drug, she said.

She stressed how the decisions conflict with the legal principles espoused by conservatives.

Usually, they are wary of according standing to litigants who simply disagree with a law or government policy and cannot show how they are or will be personally harmed as a result.

The antiabortion doctors, of course, do not perform abortions or prescribe abortion pills. So how could they be injured?

Kacsmaryk theorized that "adverse events from chemical abortion drugs can overwhelm the medical system," and as a result, an antiabortion doctor who works in an emergency room may be forced to treat a patient in distress after taking the pills.

Justice Department lawyers called that far-fetched, considering that mifepristone has been on the market for decades and has proved to be safe when used in combination with a second drug, misoprostol.

Conservative justices have also consistently deferred to the FDA on matters of drug safety.

Just two years ago, the court's conservatives set aside an order from a judge in Maryland who had temporarily lifted the FDA's requirement that women seeking the abortion pill must first go in person to a hospital or medical clinic.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Maryland judge said such visits posed a danger to the health of these patients, and he issued a nationwide order to block the rule.

When the outgoing Trump administration appealed on behalf of the FDA, the Supreme Court issued a brief order overturning the district judge.

"My view is that courts owe significant deference to the politically accountable entities with the background, competence, and expertise to assess public health," Roberts wrote in FDA vs. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Writing separately, Alito and Thomas criticized the judge for taking it "upon himself to overrule the FDA on a question of drug safety," and for ignoring the court's past warnings "against judicial second guessing of officials with public health responsibilities."

While the three liberal justices dissented, the order spoke for the rest of the court.

In decades past, the late Justice Antonin Scalia often railed that his liberal colleagues would distort the law whenever an abortion case came before them.

"Does the deck seem stacked? You bet," he wrote in dissent in 2000 when the court upheld an 8-foot buffer zone around people entering or leaving a medical clinic. He thought it clearly violated the free-speech rights of sidewalk protesters.

"Today's decision is not an isolated distortion ... but one of many aggressively pro-abortion novelties announced by the court in recent years."

Now that the court has a solidly conservative majority, liberals worry about what might be called aggressively antiabortion novelties.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  The United States, South Korea and Japan conducted a joint missile defense exercise Monday in waters near the Korean Peninsula as they expand military training to counter the growing threats of North Koreas nuclear-capable missiles.

Last week, North Korea conducted one of its most provocative weapons demonstrations in years by flight-testing for the first time an intercontinental ballistic missile powered by solid propellants, as it pursues a weapon that's more responsive, harder to detect and could directly target the continental United States.

North Korea's unprecedented run of weapons tests has so far involved more than 100 missiles of various ranges fired into the sea since the start of 2022 as the country attempts to build a viable nuclear arsenal that could threaten its rival neighbors and the United States.

The South Korea-U.S.-Japan training could trigger a belligerent response from North Korea, which condemns the United States' military drills with its Asian allies as invasion rehearsals. The North has used those drills as a pretext to accelerate its own weapons development, creating a cycle of tit-for-tat that has raised tensions in recent months.

South Koreas navy said Mondays three-way naval drills took place in international waters off the countrys eastern coast and focused on mastering the procedures for detecting, tracking and sharing information on incoming North Korean ballistic missiles. The one-day naval exercise involved an Aegis destroyer from each country.

The drills goal is to improve our response capabilities against ballistic missiles and strengthen our ability to conduct joint operations as North Koreas nuclear and missile threats continue to escalate, Jang Do-young, a spokesperson of South Koreas navy, said in a news briefing. Japan's Joint Staff in a statement stressed the need to strengthen trilateral cooperation as the security environment surrounding Japan increasingly becomes severe" because of North Korean missile activities.

Story continues

The United States and South Korea also launched drills Monday involving some 110 warplanes, including advanced F-35 fighter jets, that will continue through April 28.

The U.S.-South Korean aerial drills are designed to enhance combined airpower execution and train aircrews to successfully respond in combat scenarios involving robust surface-to-air and air-to-air threats, according to the militaries. The training events reaffirm the U.S.s ironclad commitment to the ROK, the U.S. Seventh Air Force said in a statement, using the initials of South Koreas formal name, the Republic of Korea.

Also Monday, South Korea and Japan resumed a security meeting of senior diplomats and defense officials following a five-year hiatus. The meeting is one of many recent events that show ties between Seoul and Tokyo are improving in the face of North Korea's evolving nuclear threats after years of disputes over history and trade.

During Mondays meeting, South Korea's Defense Ministry said Seoul and Tokyo discussed North Koreas nuclear program and a trilateral cooperation with the United States.

The United States and South Korea conducted their biggest filed exercises in years in March and have also held separate naval and aerial drills involving a U.S. aircraft carrier battle group and nuclear-capable B-52 bombers. The North responded by dialing up its own testing activity.

Monday marks 11 straight days that North Korea has not responded to South Korean checkup calls on a set of cross-border inter-Korean hotlines, South Korean officials say, raising concerns about potential kinetic provocations. Communications on those channels are meant to prevent accidental clashes along the rivals sea borders.

On Saturday, a South Korean naval vessel fired warning shots to repel a North Korean patrol vessel that temporarily crossed the countries disputed western sea boundary while chasing a Chinese fishing boat. There were no exchanges of fire between the North and South Korean vessels.

While the Souths military strengthened monitoring and readiness after the intrusion, it didn't immediately detect any unusual activity from the North Korean military, Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Lee Sung Jun said Monday.

North Koreas aggressive nuclear push under ruler Kim Jong Un is aimed at forcing the United States to accept the idea of the North as a legitimate nuclear power and negotiating economic concessions from a position of strength, many experts say. Nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang have remained derailed since 2019.

However, there are also signs that the costs of Kims campaign is piling up as North Korea apparently grapples with food insecurity and other domestic problems worsened by pandemic-related border restrictions that disrupted trade with China, its main ally and economic lifeline. Chasing tangible economic achievements, Kims government has prioritized construction and agricultural projects.

The Norths official Korean Central News Agency said Monday that Kim attended an event over the weekend celebrating the building of 10,000 new homes at a district in Pyongyang. The project is part of broader plans to supply 50,000 new homes in the capital under a five-year national development plan that runs through 2025.

During Sundays event, Kim called the housing project a long-cherished plan aimed at providing his people with more stable and civilized living conditions, KCNA said.

Experts say North Korea has severe shortages in quality housing that deepened over decades of economic decay. But living conditions are much better in Pyongyang, where Kim in past years has pushed huge development projects that upgraded housing for elites and changed the citys skyline.

___

Associated Press writer Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) has introduced a bill to repeal California's travel ban to states with laws discriminatory to LGBTQ people. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

In 2016, in a burst of anger over anti-LGBTQ legislation approved in North Carolina, Tennessee and elsewhere, the California Legislature approved a ban on taxpayer-funded travel to states with laws discriminating against people based on gender identity or sexual orientation.

Democrats for the most part were enthusiastic. Stick it to the bad guys! Send a message that California wont do business with bigots! Refuse to tolerate intolerance!

In fact, though, the travel ban has been something of a bust. It hasnt done much if anything to achieve its goal, assuming its goal was to pressure other states to protect and expand LGBTQ rights. Instead, during the intervening years, the number of states being boycotted, which began with Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee, has grown to 23.

Now, seven years after the ban went into effect, theres a movement underway to repeal it. And it's long past time.

For the most part, the arguments being put forward for repeal are sensible, practical ones that justify the decision to backtrack.

The ban hasnt appeared to change peoples attitudes in the banned states, nor has it changed their laws.

And it's got lots of loopholes. Travel to banned states is allowed if the trip is deemed "required." Even if it's not, legislators may travel to those states as long as they pay with their campaign funds, rather than state tax dollars. Trips by athletes from California's public universities are permissible too if they're funded by corporate sponsors or private boosters. Meanwhile, the travel ban has obstructed legitimate academic research and travel to conferences by UC and Cal State scholars and students.

But while the arguments for repeal are all legitimate, they miss what to me is the single biggest problem with the ban: Imposing a boycott on nearly half the states in the union further divides us as a country. It exacerbates political polarization and creates obstacles to communication with the very people we need to be persuading.

Story continues

That point that was made last month by Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego), who introduced the repeal legislation and is leading the fight for its passage.

Although she initially voted for the ban back in 2016, Atkins now believes its time for a pivot, as she put it, because "polarization is not working." She hopes to repeal the boycott and replace it with a California-sponsored publicity campaign in red states to encourage LGBTQ acceptance and discourage discrimination. Her bill is scheduled for its first committee hearing on Monday.

Atkins has some perspective on the subject, having grown up lesbian in the South.

I know from personal experience growing up in a rural community, where it is more conservative, that the way to change peoples minds is to have impact and direct contact and to open hearts and minds, Atkins said recently.

Atkins comments go to the heart of an ongoing debate among moderate Democrats, liberals and progressives. Should we engage our political adversaries and seek to persuade them  or should we throw up our hands and deem them unreachable and unreasonable? Is it more effective to work within the democratic system with those we disagree with, or to accept that theres an unbridgeable chasm between us and settle in for battle?

Like Atkins, I'm in the engagement camp (though sometimes my commitment is sorely tested). Deep as our differences are in the United States and offensive as anti-gay and anti-transgender laws are, initiating state-against-state boycotts rather than opening avenues of dialogue strikes me as counterproductive if we still have any hope of making American democracy work.

I called Atkins last week to talk about her belief that California needs to adjust its strategy.

I think everyday people are tired of polarization, she told me. Were so focused on what we believe, and if you dont agree with me Im not going to deal with you. It separates us and thats a really bad thing.

Atkins said that as a legislator who has to work with others to make law, she believes in civility and diplomacy even with those whose positions are opposed to her own.

I know many progressive people who believe that we're past the point of cooperation, that compromise with Republicans is a fools errand and that theres little to be gained from discussions with conservatives, evangelicals or bigots who simply cant be reasoned with.

But I cling to the idea of engagement because Im not sure what the alternative is.

Besides, attitudes can and do change. Sometimes it happens slowly, but it can happen. And gay rights is actually a great example of that.

As recently as 2004, Americans opposed same-sex marriage by 60% to 31%, according to the Pew Research Center. By 2019, 15 years later, those numbers were reversed  with 61% supporting gay marriage and 31% opposed. Republican support for gay marriage climbed from 19% to 44% in that period.

Now Im not saying 44% support from Republicans is so great. Marriage equality should be considered a basic human right, yet not even half of all Republicans support it.

But 44% is a lot higher than 19%.

And I believe that number is more likely to keep rising if there is communication. Opponents of gay rights famously change their attitudes when they meet people who are gay, work with people who are gay, have conversations with people who are gay or realize that members of their own families  people they love  are gay.

Not because they're threatened with travel bans, trade wars or the wrath of California Democrats.

@nick_goldberg

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The best received of Spanish series at last months Malaga Festival, Nights in Tefia (Las Noches de Tefia) hit the festival with already strong buzz. The latest from Spains Buendia Estudios and SVOD service Atresplayer Premium whose titles also include Veneno and Cardo, Nights in Tefia proved a critics favourite. Written and directed by Miguel del Arco, a distinguished Spanish playwright and theater director, it turns on Airam Betancor who, living in Tenerife in 2004, recognises an old man shuffling down the street: Robles.

Hes the same man who, 42 years before, as a prison guard at the euphemistically named Tefia Penitentiary Agricultural Colony on Fuerteventura, another Canary Island, had beaten and tortured Airam as a teen inmate of the Francoist labor camp designed as a dumping ground for undesirables, from political dissidents to the socially unruly and homosexuals.

More from Variety

The sight of Robles, who has moved into Airams neighborhood to live with his daughters family, sparks in Airam nightmares of his time at Tefia, where he was subjected to forced labor as a daily quarry worker, beaten and raped and falls in love with the bravest and most rebellious of the inmates, the unrepentant homosexual Flores (a tearaway performance by Patrick Criado). But he also remembers how his time there was made bearable, by nightly tales imagined by another inmate, a bohemian theater director, nicknamed Seriales, set at the fictitious Tindaya, the most famous music hall in the capital where every inmate has an alter ego, Airam as a costume designer.

Nights in Tefia turns on repression: Franco regimes whose brutal concentration camps are little commented on, even today in Spain; Airams, who denies the deep traumas Tefia has left on him, or his true being; and Spains, whose left has had to battle to expose the crimes against humanity under Franco, which much of the country would prefer to sweep under the carpet.

Story continues

Variety chatted with Del Arco in the run-up to MipTV where Nights in Tefia will be brought onto the international market by Atresmedia TV International Sales.

In 2019, Spanish historian Carlos Hernandez de Miguel published a 556-page book detailing 300 concentration camps created by Francos regime. He also observed that statistics are necessary but dont make real sense unless were able to understand that behind every figure there were thousands of men, women and families. Your series goes one step further through fictions marvellous capacity to create empathy, allowing viewers to feel what victims felt and sense their humanity..

In a way, thats the thesis of the series, its a fiction that can cure us, which creates an emotional connection with the victims. Newsreels just create a kind of anaesthesia. Youre told 30 immigrants have drowned in the Mediterranean, and think what a shame and go on eating.

A dissident under Stalin, Anna Akhmatova I think, wrote that the only form of resistance to Stalin was the imagination. Did you discover real cases of prisoners creating anything comparable to Tindaya?

Not any specific cases, but the imagination has been a constant as one of the principal arms of resistance. Victims of terrible institutions attempt a kind of distance. I wanted the humor, which the camp prisoners use to survive, to create a special empathy with viewers. The challenge was not to fall into frivolity, or comic farce. But humor, the more the more terrible the situation, was absolutely necessary.

One of the most impactful decisions you take is to shoot the real past in B&W, the 2004 present in color and Tindaya in a glitzier color. Yet theres a certain sense of darkness to the Tindaya sequences and color tones in 2004 scenes have a certain ordinariness to them.

Those were choices we made when we selected the camera and lensed we were going to use for each world. There had to be a relation between the screenplays darkness and Tindaya, that its colors didnt pop on the screen. We used flyers to taper the luminosity of the Canary Islands so that the 2004 scenes werent too sugar-coated.

The series turns on repression: Francos regimes, Airams, Spains.

We are all narratives, we narrate ourselves, our partner, we settle into a fiction that we try to make fit with the life we want. Such is the horror of the concentration camp in who ch he spends 17 months that Airam invents himself, his life, which has nothing to do with his true being until 40 years later, he sees again a face that he hardly recognises but which awakens a dormant narrative. It awakens as well when he begins to talk to the documentary filmmaker who tells him that hes not interested in Tindaya and should stick to the facts. To which Airam replies with a certain irony that remembering back he doesnt know what is more important, the fiction in the past or the reality.

And how does this play out?

Theres a twist in Episode 6 which underscores how what we believe we are is a fictional narrative and how a historical memory [as a country] is absolutely necessary to be able to narrate and construct a country. Spain has been built on the fiction of an exemplary transition [from dictatorship to democracy] and it was really a transition of oblivion. We attempted to make a fresh start to be able to go on subsisting without facing up to the events that have shaped this country.

Best of Variety

Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.
The elephant in NJ Transits room is the continuing lack of a customer advocate.

Members of the public have spent years inquiring almost every month at the agencys board meetings about when the position  which was created by law in December 2018  would be filled. No fewer than seven people at the February board meeting mentioned wanting a customer advocate to be hired.

Yet the position has been vacant since October 2020, when Stewart Mader, who initially held the job, left after scrutiny that varied from vicious attacks online to more measured gripes questioning why the position seemed designed as a mouthpiece for the agency.

NJ Transit board member Shanti Narra took on the task of overseeing the hiring process  a task that has proved far more complicated than any typical hire.

Board Member Shanti Narra attends a NJ Transit Board meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023 in Newark, NJ.

For one thing, the hiring is supposed to be made not by agency officials but by the board, which consists of unpaid volunteers who have other jobs. In addition, its not totally clear how this person should fit in as an employee who has to work with agency staff but also act independently  and answer to the board. And the board wants to fill the position without repeating past mistakes.

Job posting TBD

Narra, who did not respond to an email with questions and a request for an interview, said at last months board meeting that the goal is to have someone in this job in the spring.

The job has not been posted.

Narra has spent months pleading with the public to be patient as she surveys board members about the job posting. She has also warned that the burden of this job could be more than a single person can handle  given that its advocacy is for more than 176 million annual customers who use a statewide network of buses, light rail and commuter trains, as well as services for seniors and those with disabilities.

"NJ Transit continues to work closely with the board, through the board chair, on the recruiting strategy that will attract the most qualified applicants for this position. While there is no specific timetable, the job description is being finalized," said NJ Transit spokesman Kyalo Mulumba. "This remains a priority for the NJ Transit board of directors, and updates will continue to be provided through the board.

Story continues

'A fair deal of concern'

As you know, our first customer advocate came into a lot of criticism," Narra said during the March board meeting. "With an agency this size and with the length and breadth of our state, it is a position that is very tough, and we certainly dont want to set anyone up for failure.

I have a fair deal of concern about a single person having the ability to do everything that everyone seems to want out of a customer advocate, Narra said.

Last year, the agency put out two job postings that received dozens of responses from interested candidates, but none was deemed qualified.

That wasnt a satisfying answer to many legislators at last years transportation budget hearings, where the majority of questions focused on the customer advocate vacancy.

Rethinking the position

It is inexplicable that they havent been able to find anyone qualified to perform this function and the commuters who are supposed to be served by the advocate have been left without representation, Assemblyman Raj Mukherji, D-Hudson, said in a recent interview.

It is inexplicable that they havent been able to find anyone qualified to perform this function and the commuters who are supposed to be served by the advocate have been left without representation, Assemblyman Raj Mukherji, D-Hudson, said of NJ Transit's vacant customer advocate position.

So Mukherji drafted a bill this year that redefines the position.

I firmly believe the rider advocate should be independent and autonomous, should have an office with resources and staff, and should be reporting to a three-member commission whose accountability is to the Legislature and the governor, rather than Transit, he said. I just dont think they can be that effective when theyre supposed to hold their boss accountable.

The way it would work is a three-person council  made up of appointments by the New Jersey Senate president, Assembly speaker and governor  would hire and fire the customer advocate, who would oversee a staff for the office. The customer advocate would be accountable to the Legislature and governor, rather than the agency or its board.

Except for supervision by the commission, the Rider Advocate shall not be subject to any supervision or control by the Commissioner of Transportation, the board of the corporation, the executive director of the corporation, or any other staff of the department or corporation, Mukherji's bill reads.

No Senate companion bill yet

Assemblywoman Shama Haider, D-Bergen, signed on as a sponsor to the bill. A Senate version of the bill has not yet been introduced, but state Sen. Brian Stack, D-Union, is reportedly planning to introduce it.

Mukherji said NJ Transit President and CEO Kevin Corbett and his team have been more responsive to his districts requests, inquiries and needs than others in the past, including hosting a Q&A last summer with agency officials and constituents about improving Hudson County transit service.

This bill, he said, is about making sure that the commuter is always zealously represented and not subject to changes in leadership at the agency.

The office, which would be funded by the state Treasury Department, would conduct monthly meetings with NJ Transit customers, make presentations to the Legislature, the governor, NJ Transit and its board, conduct investigations, and research and prepare reports.

Asked whether this new office would be at NJ Transit headquarters, Mukherji said, Theyll still be housed there  but they can walk around with swagger.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ Transit customer advocate post remains vacant, but new ideas emerge
Commenting on the supply of weaponry by the allies, Oleksii Danilov, Secretary of Ukraines National Security and Defence Council, emphasised that Ukraine will not begin its counter-offensive unprepared.

Source: Danilov in an interview to AP

Quote: "If we arent ready, then nobody will start unprepared."

Details: According to Danilov, the allies are helping Ukraine to reach the level of equipment necessary for the start of a counter-offensive.

At the same time, the Secretary emphasised that sometimes the officials of allied countries "promise one thing and do a completely different one". He did not specify what he meant by this.

Background:

On 17 April, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian soldiers pay with their lives for the time they wait for weapons deliveries  this happens every time partners delay or hesitate on the type or certain characteristics of weapons.

Earlier, the American publication Washington Post stated that Ukrainian counter-offensive is delayed due to slow supply of weaponry.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!






AKRON, Ohio  The eight Akron police officers who shot and killed Jayland Walker last June won't face criminal charges in his death.

A special grand jury in Summit County Common Pleas Court on Monday returned a no-bill, which means the jurors found the actions of the officers were justified. The jurors heard five days of evidence and testimony and began their deliberations Monday.

The officers, whose names have been withheld by the city, werent released after the grand jurys decision. A spokesman for Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said the attorney generals office publicly names only officers already identified by their own departments.

The police killing of Walker, a 25-year-old Black man, sparked weeks of protests in Akron last summer, occasionally leading to clashes between police and demonstrators and damage to several businesses downtown. To prepare for protests after the special grand jury's decision, tall metal fences and concrete barriers were installed around the Summit County Courthouse, and lower-level windows on City Hall were boarded up. Schools and colleges in the area moved to remote online learning.

Jayland Walker with his mother, Pamela, right, and sister, Jada.

What happened during the police shooting of Jayland Walker?

Police tried to stop Walker for a traffic violation and an equipment violation on June 27. Police said he fired a shot from his car and fled the vehicle wearing a ski mask, body camera footage showed.

After a car and foot chase, Walker was shot more than 40 times by eight officers. Walker was unarmed, but a handgun was found in his vehicle, officials said.

What's next for the officers?

The Akron Police Department will conduct an internal investigation to determine whether the officers violated any internal policies and procedures. Community members have requested that the U.S. Justice Department and FBI investigate the shooting.

Yost has said that if the officers weren't indicted, he would immediately release an investigative file that probably would include hundreds of photos, dozens of video and audio recordings  many never before seen or heard by the public  and thousands of documents, including interviews with police, mobile phone records, social media posts and search warrants.

Story continues

In a news conference late Monday, Akron Mayor Daniel Horrigan and Akron Police Chief Steve Mylett said they planned to reach out to the Walker family about the grand jury's decision.

Mylett reiterated that the department would not release the officers' names because of safety concerns as they remained on administrative duties. The chief added that the city can choose a path either toward healing or a path toward destruction.

"It is my sincere prayer and hope that we choose a path toward healing," Mylett said.

Family reaction to grand jury decision

Walkers family will file a civil lawsuit against the city and officers closer to the one-year anniversary of his client's death, family attorney Bobby DiCello said.

In an emotional separate news conference with Walker's family and community leaders on Monday, DiCello said his client "didn't have a chance," based on the grand jury's decision.

DiCello also responded to Mylett's request earlier Monday for peaceful protests.

"When I heard the chief of police say he wants no destruction, he wants no problems, he wants peace, he needs to know the pain of the family of Jayland Walker," said DiCello, adding that "city leadership has been destroyed."

DiCello also urged protesters to demonstrate peacefully and nonviolently, including some who have been called "violent mongrels who support this cause  prove them wrong."

Ohio state Rep. Emilia Sykes said tearfully that she "still can't comprehend how a young man has 46 bullet holes," referring to the number of times officers shot Walker.

The congresswoman said she would formally request that the Justice Department to conduct a "practices and patterns" federal investigation of on the Akron Police Department.

"Accountability and public safety must co-exist together," Sykes said. "Im not going to run away from this challenge. None of us will."

Dig deeper

Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com and on Twitter: @swarsmithabj. Contact Breaking News Reporter N'dea Yancey-Bragg at nyanceybra@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @NdeaYanceyBragg

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Jayland Walker police shooting: No criminal charges for Ohio officers
Students learn about job opportunities at a job fair in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, on Feb. 7, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]



The average monthly salary for new recruits in 38 major cities including Beijing and Shanghai saw a slight rise in the first quarter of this year as employers remain cautious about labor costs due to the current status of the economy, industry insiders said.

Recruitment platform Zhaopin recently released a report saying that the average salary for new recruits in 38 major cities was 10,101 yuan per month ($1,470) in the first quarter, a slight rise of 0.9 percent year-on-year.

However, the year-on-year growth rate continued its trend dropping from about 10 percent during the first two quarters last year, to about 4 percent in the latter half of last year, then to 0.9 percent in the first quarter this year. The salary is also 4.3 percent lower than in the fourth-quarter of last year, after companies optimized recruiting plans.

Of the 38, which also include cities such as Changsha and Wuhan and cities with stronger economic strength like Hangzhou and Xiamen, employers in Shanghai offer the highest average new monthly salary of 13,433 yuan, followed by Beijing at 13,251 yuan per month and Shenzhen at 12,668 yuan per month.

The report said that vacancies in sectors like new energy and tourism are subject to higher recruitment salaries because of State-level support policies for national emissions peak and carbon neutrality goals, and also because of the relaxation of COVID-19 policies.

Employers on the platform offer an average monthly salary of 11,233 yuan for job seekers applying for positions related to new energy, ranking the industry eighth among the 10 with the highest salaries for new recruits.

Jobs such as tour guides and consultants saw new salaries increase by 8.9 percent year-on-year, averaging 7,678 yuan per month.

Yang Li, a 37-year-old from Shaanxi province who switched from being a bespoke travel planner to a livestreaming anchor in 2022 due to the pandemic, is ready to get back into tourism.

"I loved my previous job and I've been eager to get back into the sector as tourism is booming thanks to the new COVID-19 control policies. I used to earn over 10,000 yuan a month before the pandemic, and I've had three job invitations from travel agencies with good offers."

Yan Xiangjun, president of the Shandong College of Tourism and Hospitality, said that employers now look for job seekers with multiple skills for tourism-related vacancies, especially the ability to produce short videos and do livestreaming.

According to the Zhaopin report, educational background also matters and vacancies requiring a higher education offer higher initial salaries. Jobs requiring a doctoral degree offer an average monthly salary of 30,578 yuan on Zhaopin, and 17,983 yuan for those with a master's degree.

The platform said that there will be increasing competition in the job market as the economy recovers, so job seekers should adjust salary expectations in accordance with their abilities and companies' needs.
Two months after the Somerset County Republicans threw a holiday party at Char Steakhouse in Raritan, the restaurants owners were growing frustrated.

The credit card an organization official presented the day of the party had been rejected, but the owners of the restaurant, which has hosted the annual gathering for years, agreed to let them come up with an alternate form of payment, according to an email obtained by POLITICO.

Its been 60 days and they are not returning our calls, emails, or texts, Marianne Ingrao, one of the owners, wrote in mid-February. We are hoping to resolve the matter amicably. My brother wants to file a police report but I asked him to hold off. I dont want any bad press for the GOP. Anything you could do would be appreciated. We are just asking for a call back and will be willing to work with them on a payment plan if necessary.

The bill was eventually paid, according to Somerset GOP Chair Tim Howes and former Sen. Christopher Kip Bateman, who said he interceded to get it done. But the episode shows just how far the party has fallen.

As recently as 2017, Republicans completely controlled the wealthy suburban county, where they had dominated for decades. The county produced Republican Gov. Christie Whitman and even the Republican gubernatorial nominee in 2021, Jack Ciattarelli. They also had one of the strongest fundraising operations in the state.

Now, Somerset County Republicans hold no county-wide offices and there isnt a single Republican from Somerset County in the Legislature.

The partys financial woes didnt end with the steakhouse bill. They were months late on rent for their Somerville headquarters and, most alarming to Howes critics, the party hasnt filed a legally-required campaign finance disclosure with the Election Law Enforcement Commission since January 2021, when it reported just shy of $12,000 in the bank.



The lack of disclosure risks major fines for the cash-strapped committee. And some party officials say theres even less of an excuse for that under the leadership of Howes, an election attorney.

Story continues

A group of Somerset Republicans including Bateman is now attempting to get Howes to resign and, failing that, to get a detailed accounting of the partys finances. But Howes, who was easily reelected chair in 2022, plans to stay in office until his term is up in 2024, leaving his critics to see if theres a way to force him out.

My interest is just making the Republican Party relevant again in Somerset. It hasnt been for a lot of reasons. You cant blame the chairman for everything, but we havent won an election in years, Bateman said in a phone interview with POLITICO.

On April 4, almost two dozen current and former party officials, as well as several former elected officials from the county  including Bateman and former Gov. Donald DiFrancesco  outlined their complaints in a letter to Howes calling for his immediate resignation.

Your failure to comply with the mandatory legal requirements set forth by ELEC, as well as your utter lack of transparency and your denial surrounding this failure, are indisputable and indefensible, reads the letter, which accuses Howes of financial malfeasance and deception.

The letter claims that the partys fundraising has dropped to historic lows, that its six months behind in rent payments for its Somerville headquarters, and notes that all eight countywide Republican candidates during his tenure have lost by record margins.

If you refuse [to resign], we will call a special meeting of the SCRO to remove you from office, they wrote.

Years of decline beginning with Trump election

Howes, who took on the chairmanship in 2020, cant be blamed for the drastic political shift in Somerset county. Republican losses there started before Howes took the reins, with the GOP going from holding every county-wide office in 2017 to none by 2021.

I came in the sixth inning. I was the middle relief pitcher, Howes said in a phone interview.

Howes said party officials had a difference of opinion with Char Steakhouse on how many people attended the holiday party and that once we settled that, I dropped off the check.

Howes also said that the partys rent has since been paid and that hes working on perfecting the overdue ELEC reports now that he has a new treasurer in place, but declined to say why the party has gone two years without filing them.

As far as an explanation, Im not there yet, Howes said. As far as what happened, well get to that. At some point were going to hold a meeting so that everybodys questions can be answered. I think the committees questions need to be answered before they read it on the internet.

The effort to oust Howes was first reported by New Jersey Globe.

The Somerset County Republican Partys downfall coincided with the presidency of Donald Trump, whose gains for Republicans in formerly competitive blue collar areas were offset by stunning losses in middle-class and wealthy suburban counties like Somerset, and whose continued presence on the political stage has allowed Democrats to cement their control.

Can he just go away? Bateman said. Hes the gift that keeps on giving for Democrats, unfortunately.



But Howes critics within the GOP dont believe the party will be in position to stage a comeback under his leadership. The partys former treasurer, Robert Damiano, resigned on March 30 over the filings with ELEC, according to a letter he sent to Howes.

You and I have had conversations regarding the accuracy of the records that I need to file correct ELEC reports. Each time, I was told that I would get all the information that we needed. However, that never happened, Damiano wrote.

Howes did not explicitly blame Damiano, but said we got back control of our records from the former treasurer.

At this point, I took the steps within 24 hours of accepting his resignation of getting a new treasurer with a good reputation, very ethical, hard working and weve begun the process of going back to making sure everything was filed.

Damiano declined to comment.

Howes isnt up for reelection as chair until 2024, and he says theres no mechanism to remove him. His critics acknowledge its not in the party bylaws, but believe that state laws provide a way to remove him.

Howes said that under his leadership Somerset County Republicans have gained 14 seats at the municipal level and noted that they have performed better in off-year elections, when federal candidates arent on the ballot.

Its not your mothers Somerset County. In a D+10 county we still outperformed both by way of margin and by percentage the deficit, Howes said. Im here to win county races. I didnt come here to be the nice guy that runs good campaigns but we still dont win. We came very close in 2021  very close. We intend to win this year and weve been moving forward despite this distraction.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article misstated former Gov. Donald DiFrancesco's home county.
Sebastian Aho is always one of the first Carolina Hurricanes players on the ice in warmups before a game, and will be again Monday when the Stanley Cup playoffs begin at PNC Arena.

Aho is the first skater in line behind the starting goalie, head down, game face on.

On a Hurricanes team not lacking competitors, the Finnish center is one of the most intense. Aho burns to win. A selfless type interested only in leading his team to victory, he is willing to do whatever is necessary, and will do that against the New York Islanders in the opening round of the playoffs.

All that is good, and has helped make Aho the Canes most valuable player. But it also became something of a detriment when forward Andrei Svechnikov was lost for the season to a knee injury in March.

There was much talk among the Canes of everyone stepping up their games to fill the absence of the power forward, who was selected for the NHL All-Star Game this season. Aho took it upon himself to do more, to ask more of himself, to the point it took something of a toll on him in the final month of the season.

Sometimes, thats the hardest part, Aho said in an interview Saturday. You want to do pretty much everything out there. Youre over-trying it. And when youre trying to do everyones job, it probably means youre not doing your job as well as you could.

We obviously feel bad for Svech but we do have a job to do. You do it as a group. You dont do it by yourself.

Canes coach Rod BrindAmour said Saturday was was no doubt that Aho was trying too hard to be too good.

We talked about it a couple of games ago, BrindAmour said. And thats good. You want your guys to feel like they have to do more. But he knows and hes got to realize theres only so much he can do. We want the best of him.

Apr 13, 2023; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Carolina Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho (20) controls the puck against Florida Panthers defenseman Marc Staal (18) and center Eetu Luostarinen (27) during the first period at FLA Live Arena. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

Were not picking up the slack of Svech being out  one guy cant do that. Its a group effort. We all just have to be a little better as a group and no different with him. (Aho) is our best player but he doesnt need to be super human. Hes just got to be him.

Story continues

Aho was centering a line with Svechnikov and Seth Jarvis against the Vegas Golden Knights when Svechnikov was injured in the March 11 game at PNC Arena. Svechnikov, who appeared to catch a rut in the ice, tore his right ACL and soon underwent surgery, leaving a void in the lineup and in the locker room.

It was tough, defenseman Brent Burns said. He was such a huge piece. Hes such a special guy, an awesome guy.

In the 18 games Svechnikov was out the Canes were 9-8-1, clinching the Metropolitan Division by one point over the New Jersey Devils by winning their last two games.

We believe in this group, with or without Svechy, Canes captain Jordan Staal said Saturday. Obviously wed love to have him but theres not much you can do about it. I think we still believe in how we play and how we do things.

Aho had nine goals and three assists in those last 18 games, including a hat trick against the Philadelphia Flyers, in closing the regular season with a team-best 36 goals. His 67 points in 75 games were second behind Martin Necas team-leading 71 points.

But Aho also took some penalties that were uncharacteristic down the stretch. One was listed as Sebastian Aho hooking against Sebastian Aho as he was called for a penalty against the Islanders Aho in their last regular-season matchup, won 2-1 by the Hurricanes at PNC Arena.

As the Canes failed on power play after power play, Aho showed some frustration that seemingly leaked into other parts of his game.

Ive talked to him a little bit about that and he understands its not easy, Staal said. He has a lot of pressure on himself, when a big guy like (Svechnikov) goes down, on the offensive side of things.

You cant put that pressure on yourself and expect to make something happen every shift. He cant get frustrated if the power play isnt clicking or if a couple of shifts here and there doesnt go your way. You cant let that get you off your game and how we play.

Hes understood that and I think the last few games hes played a lot better. I think hes going to be a horse for us.

In his 48 playoff games the past four years, Aho has 18 goals and 46 points. He has experienced all the highs and lows, of being favored and being the underdog, of winning a Game 7 and also losing one.

Everything about the playoffs is different, Aho said Saturday. It will be that way Monday.

Its the intensity level, fans going nuts in the building, he said. Its loud, its electric.

Aho will be one of the first on the ice Monday to experience it again, head down, game face on.

Its the best time of the year, he said.
Taiwan's armed forces hold two days of routine drills to show combat readiness ahead of Lunar New Year holidays at a military base on January 11, 2023 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Annabelle Chih/Getty Images

Taiwan can't fight off China alone, even if it gets NATO weapons, said an APAC security expert.

There's "no situation" where Taiwan can pull off its own defense like Ukraine has, she said.

Taipei's game plan will rely on holding out so the US can arrive, she told The Washington Post.

Taiwan's ability to defend against a hypothetical Chinese invasion wouldn't hinge on whether the island can fight off Beijing, but whether it can hold out until US forces arrive, said a political scientist who studies China's military and Asia-Pacific security.

There's "no situation under which Taiwan can defend itself without direct military intervention from the United States," Oriana Skylar Mastro, a fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, told The Washington Post.

It's a scenario often compared to Russia's war in Ukraine, where Kyiv has successfully rebuffed the Kremlin's advances for a year with a NATO-supplied arsenal, but no official reinforcements.

Taiwan's game plan will have to be different, according to Mastro, who's also a strategic planner for the US Air Force Reserve's Indo-Pacific Command, per The Post.

"Taiwan has to be able to hold out long enough for the United States to get enough forces in theater," Mastro told the outlet.

And US forces would be significantly delayed if war does break out over the Taiwan Strait, she added.

"We cannot get there quickly. It's basically submarines and US aircraft that are going to be operating from the southwest islands of Japan and eventually from bases in the northern Philippines," said the political scientist, per The Post.

"Taiwan is just completely outmatched," Mastro told Insider when reached for comment. "China has over two million people in the military, Taiwan has 180,000."

Mastro noted that aspects of China's military  such as the number of vessels in its navy  are often compared to the US military's capabilities.

"It's just logical in a lot of scenarios that if the Chinese military could beat the US military, they can most definitely beat Taiwan's military, which is far smaller, not as well-equipped, and not as well-trained," Mastro said.

Story continues

Taiwan would also need to get its supplies from allies like the US by air or sea, Mastro said, unlike Ukraine which has long land borders with NATO countries. "Whatever Taiwan has on the first day that the war starts, that's all they're going to get from the United States, unless we're directly fighting with them," she said.

The US has been urging Taiwan to purchase more defense systems, but there's "just not a possibility of giving them enough capability to hold off China forever," Mastro said.

The White House has long cleaved to a "strategic ambiguity" playbook when it comes to China and Taiwan, refusing to say if the US would defend the self-governed island should Beijing mount an offensive.

President Joe Biden twice appeared to break from that strategy, explicitly saying in 2021 and 2022 that Washington would send American troops to Taiwan  though The White House walked back his comments each time and declared no change to its Taiwan policy.

Taiwan's Defense Ministry press department did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment sent outside regular business hours.

April 18, 2023: This story was updated to reflect Mastro's response to Insider.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A federal jury convicted two North Texas men on Friday for their role in a scheme to fraudulently bill TRICARE millions of dollars for compounded creams that were medically unnecessary and procured through kickbacks and bribes, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Brian Carpenter, 56, of Bridgeport, was a podiatrist who signed prescriptions for compounded pain and scar creams for TRICARE beneficiaries to whom he never spoke and whom he never examined or treated. TRICARE is the health care program for U.S. service members and their families.

Jerry Lee Hawrylak, 69, of Lake Worth, recruited Carpenter to sign the prescriptions and recruited TRICARE beneficiaries to accept the medically unnecessary creams, the Justice Department said in a news release.

From November 2014 to January 2017, Carpenter and Hawrylak caused a Fort Worth-based pharmacy involved in the conspiracy to fraudulently bill TRICARE about $8.5 million for these creams, according to the release.

Carpenter and Hawrylak each were convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and six counts of health care fraud. They are scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 23 and face a maximum of 10 years in prison on each count. A federal district court judge will determine their sentences after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Former biathlon boss Anders Besseberg was charged with "aggravated corruption" in Norway on Monday for allegedly covering up Russian doping cases in exchange for favours including prostitutes and hunting parties.

"There is sufficient evidence to prove that he accepted bribes continuously over a ten-year period," Senior Public Prosecutor Marianne Djupesland said in a statement.

"The seriousness of the matter is emphasised by the breach of trust his actions represent in light of his position as president of the IBU," the official with the Norwegian National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime (Okokrim) added.

According to a statement from Okokrim, Besseberg, who headed the International Biathlon Union (IBU) between 1992 and 2018, accepted "bribes in the form of watches, hunting trips and trophies, prostitutes and a leased car".

The charges, which relate to matters from 2009 to 2018, echo the conclusions of a damning report from an independent commission set up by the IBU, published in January 2021.

The 77-year-old Norwegian denies any wrongdoing.

"Besseberg asserts that he never allowed himself to be corrupted and that he did not try to influence the anti-doping work of the IBU in favour of anyone," his lawyer Christian Hjort told Norwegian news agency NTB.

The IBU said in a statement they had taken note of the charges and that they had collaborated with Okokrim "on this complex and long-running case" and would "continue to offer their full and unconditional support in reaching a resolution".

In 2021, the IBU's external review commission, set up by the Swede Olle Dahlin who had succeeded Besseberg, concluded that the Norwegian had protected "Russian interests" for many years with the help of the Secretary General Nicole Resch.

Based on testimony from whistleblowers, raids by Austrian and Norwegian police, and a report from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the commission concluded that Besseberg had received at least $200,000 (164,900 euros) from Russian officials, accepting invitations to hunting parties in Russia and having receiving the services of prostitutes.

In return, he allegedly concealed several doping cases and lobbied intensely in favour of Russia.

phy/map/jll/ea/pb
After hundreds of teenagers and young adults descended on the Loop in downtown Chicago over the weekend, destroying cars and brawling in the streets, Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson cautioned against demonizing the vandals.

It is not constructive to demonize youth who have otherwise been starved of opportunities in their own communities, Johnson said in a statement released on Sunday.

Our city must work together to create spaces for youth to gather safely and responsibly, under adult guidance and supervision, to ensure that every part of our city remains welcome for both residents and visitors.

NEW: In response to the Teen Takeover in Chicago over the weekend, Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson briefly condemned the violence before lashing out at those criticizing the criminals. "It is not constructive to demonize youth who have otherwise been starved of opportunities in pic.twitter.com/FoJMs8aXW7  Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 17, 2023

Over the weekend, two male teenagers were shot amid the chaos as local law enforcement arrested nine adults and six juveniles, with charges ranging from unlawful use of a weapon and possession of a stolen vehicle to reckless conduct.

While Johnson, a former Cook County commissioner, deflected attention from the violence and misbehavior, Chicagos sitting mayor, Lori Lightfoot, was unswerving in her condemnation of reckless, disrespectful and unlawful behavior.

As I have said before, we as a city cannot and will not allow any of our public spaces to become a platform for criminal conduct, Lightfoot noted in a statement. Most importantly, parents and guardians must know where their children are and be responsible for their actions. Instilling the important values of respect for people and property must begin at home.

Johnson has come under fire for earlier comments made in support of defund the police and his advocacy for reallocating social spending toward more therapeutic approaches to crime.

Story continues

I dont look at it as a slogan. Its an actual, real political goal, Johnson said during a radio interview in 2020. Chicagos failed approacheshave brought trauma to communities across the city.

More from National Review
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced Monday that the state legislature is preparing a bill to revoke development agreements that a Disney-controlled special district board provided to the company before a state-controlled board took the reins in March.

During a press conference, DeSantis said the previous boards agreements, which essentially handed over control of development within the district to Disney, werent legal, and were in direct defiance of the will of the people of Florida. Disney, he said, essentially was negotiating with itself to prevent the state from taking control of development in the district.

Thats not going to work, he said. Thats not going to fly.

Florida law allows the legislature to revoke development agreements, he said, and lawmakers are preparing a bill to do just that. The bill will likely be filed next week, DeSantis said.

Disney, he said, is going to live under the same laws as everybody else, pay their fair share of taxes, and honor the debts that theyve accumulated over these years.

The governor also made a series of not-so-subtly-veiled threats about what his new board could do with control over the Reedy Creek Improvement District: raise taxes on Disney to pay off debts faster, prohibit policies mandating mask-wearing, create more workforce housing, require anti-child-trafficking warnings inside Disneys resorts, sell off the districts utilities.

He noted that some of the land in the district isnt owned by Disney. That land could be used for a variety of purposes; maybe a new state park, or more amusement parks, DeSantis said. Someone even said, maybe you need another state prison. Who knows, I just think the possibilities are endless.

National Review has reached out to Disney for a response to DeSantiss announcement.

DeSantis held the press conference in Lake Buena Vista, Disneys mailing address.

The DeSantis administration first went to battle with Disney last year after the company publicly denounced the states new Parental Rights in Education bill. The bill prohibits the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools to students in kindergarten through third grade. Opponents labeled it the Dont Say Gay bill.

Story continues

After receiving pressure from Disney employees, then-CEO Bob Chapek said that the companys leaders were opposed to the bill from the outset, and Disney declared that the legislation should never have passed and should never have been signed into law. The company suspended political donations in Florida as an act of protest.

Last April, DeSantis retaliated by signing a bill that stripped Disney of its 56-year-old independent special district status, which had granted it the privilege of creating its own regulations, building codes, and other municipal services.

Lawmakers later decided against dissolving the district, but voted instead to give the governor the power to appoint the districts board members.

However, before the DeSantis-appointed board took over in March, the Disney-controlled board handed control of the districts development over to Disney.

The new board members cried foul. This board loses, for practical purposes, the majority of its ability to do anything beyond maintain the roads and maintain basic infrastructure, new board member Brian Aungst said during a meeting in March.

The DeSantis administration has argued that the move was likely illegal, and they have vowed to challenge it in court. They have argued that the previous board intentionally limited required public notices in order to avoid scrutiny. Disney said that is not the case.

All agreements signed between Disney and the District were appropriate, and were discussed and approved in open, noticed public forums in compliance with Floridas Government in the Sunshine law, Disney said in a statement at the time.

DeSantis acknowledge that Disney is big and powerful, but he said they are not superior to the laws that are enacted by the people of the state of Florida. The decisions around Disneys special improvement district were debated during last years elections.

Decisions about the district were made as a state, as a people, through the medium of our elections, he said, but Disney didnt care. While lawmakers were considering the best options for addressing the district, Disney did basically special deals to circumvent that whole process, he said. Disney negotiated with themselves to give themselves the ability to maintain their self-governing status, DeSantis said.

They thought they could create some type of development agreements that would essentially render everything that we did null and void, and put them in control for perpetuity, he said.

The state-controlled board is expected to meet Wednesday to discuss its next steps. Another possible consideration for the board  changing how Disney is taxed.

Basically, you had a situation where the company could appraise its own property, DeSantis said. Imagine if you could appraise your own property. Would you appraise it too high or too low? Of course, youre going to do it too low in terms of the taxes.

The new board, he said, is going to be able to get that done and get a more honest assessment about that.

Florida lawmakers who spoke at the press conference accused Disney leaders of attempting to thwart legislative efforts in order to maintain an advantage over their competitors and other businesses.

I hate corporate welfare, absolutely hate corporate welfare, state Senator Blaise Ingoglia said. They were their own government. And I would argue that is an egregious form of corporate welfare.

His word of advice for Disney leaders regarding the fight: Just let it go, he said, referencing the song from Disneys Frozen.

You are not going to win this fight, he said.

State Representative Carolina Amesty from Central Florida accused Disney of turning into the public-relations arm of extremist ideologues who are attempting to indoctrinate children. Disney leaders need to take a sober look at what theyre doing and retake the company, she said.

I have news for the woke administration at Disney: This is not California. This is the free state of Florida, she said. And in Florida you dont get to indoctrinate our kids or write your own rules.

More from National Review
Oleksii Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council (NSDC) of Ukraine, has said that so far Ukraine does not see Russia using Chinese weapons at the contact line.

Source: Danilov in an interview with TSN

Quote: "Today, we see no signs of weapons manufactured in China on the contact line. If this had appeared here... You will recall that when Iranian-made attack drones appeared, we immediately made a statement about this fact. What is more, we dismantled them, as they say, piece by piece, and even officially asked those countries whose components were used there why this happened and that it should be stopped.

We are not seeing any Chinese weapons on our contact line at the moment. As soon as this happens, we will immediately inform the public and the world. But, based on China's global issues, we do not see why it should supply weapons to the Russian Federation today."

Details: Commenting on the alleged US military intelligence report from leaked Pentagon documents that China has approved the supply of lethal weapons to Russia, Danilov said: "Additional alleged documents related to this leak may now appear".

The NSDC Secretary said that Russia is now "asking all countries for help because it lacks weapons", including China. "But Russia understands that it cannot defeat us militarily; they have a plan for internal destabilisation. This is their priority now," Danilov argues.

Background:

Allegedly secret US military intelligence documents that have been leaked to the public suggest that China has approved the supply of certain lethal weapons to Russia despite warnings from Western countries.

The EU's chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, warned that China's position and actions regarding Russia's war against Ukraine are one of the factors that will determine the future of relations between Beijing and Europe.

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said that the country would not sell weapons to the parties involved in the war in Ukraine and would regulate the export of dual-use civilian and military goods.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
(Bloomberg) -- Nuclear powers within the Group of Seven nations pledged to end Russias dominance over global atomic-fuel markets, potentially cutting off a critical source of geopolitical currency for Russian President Vladimir Putin more than a year after his invasion of Ukraine.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Canada, France, Japan, the UK and US committed on Sunday to jointly dislodge Russia from global nuclear supply chains. Even amid Western sanctions over the war, the Kremlins state-owned nuclear giant, Rosatom Corp., has remained the worlds biggest exporter of reactors and fuel.

This agreement will be used as the basis for pushing Putin out of the nuclear fuel market entirely, and doing so as quickly as possible, according to a statement from UK Energy Secretary Grant Shapps. The commitment took shape at a nuclear-industry conference convened on the sidelines of the G-7 meeting in the Japanese city of Sapporo.

The US and its European allies have been weighing tough sanctions targeting Russias nuclear sector for more than a year but have struggled to strike an agreement. The concern is that shutting off their own nuclear industries from Russian supplies would be too economically painful. Rosatom provided about a quarter of the enriched uranium needed for the 92 reactors in the US in 2021. In Europe, utilities that generate power for countries with about 100 million inhabitants still rely on the company.

Weve allowed ourselves to become dependent on too few sources of supply, said Dan Poneman, Chief Executive Officer of Centrus Energy Corp., a company trying to reboot a US uranium-enrichment industry. It will take four or five years to replace that capacity that they world has come to rely on.

Story continues

Russia has come under increased pressure at the International Atomic Energy Agency for endangering nuclear security following the seizure of Europes biggest atomic-power plant early in its war against Ukraine. The Zaporizhzhia station, with six reactors designed to generate a fifth of Ukraines electricity, was subsequently targeted by artillery and missiles, threatening to provoke a radiological accident. Its now being operated by engineers from Rosatom.

Russia has demonstrated it is an unreliable supplier, US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said. Nations need to re-work global nuclear supply chains to work with companies and countries that share their values, she said.

While some European nations  including Bulgaria, Finland and Slovakia  have taken steps to diversify away from Russian nuclear fuel, Rosatom has been building a pipeline for future supplies with new reactor projects across Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Rosatom isnt handicapped by non-proliferation rules imposed by the US Department of Energy. In India, which has been under Western trade restrictions since it tested a nuclear weapon in 1974, Russia supplies nuclear fuel and is building two reactors scheduled to open in 2025. In China last year, Rosatom provided more than $375 million worth of fuel for a reactor that the US Department of Defense is concerned could bolster Beijings nuclear-weapons stockpile.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
A group of U.S. Navy sailors helped save the day by assisting passengers who were stranded on a ferry in Washington state Saturday.

A four-engine jumbo class ferry named the Walla Walla ran aground on Saturday afternoon near Bainbridge Island, west of Seattle. It departed from Bremerton, Washington earlier.

Officials believe a generator on the ship failed, shutting off the power and causing an earthquake-like sensation to the passengers.

"When we impacted it felt like an earthquake. We shuffled around, it moved everyone around and everyone was confused" passenger Kyle Bulger recalled to FOX 13 Seattle.

TRAIN CARRYING HAZARDOUS MATERIALS DERAILS IN RURAL MAINE, RESIDENTS WARNED TO STAY CLEAR

All passengers were offloaded from the Walla Walla by 10 p.m. local time and taken to Bremerton, officials said.

Sailor Jakob Stroud told KOMO that many U.S. service members stationed at Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton were aboard during the time. Dozens of Navy personnel were reportedly headed to the Submarine Ball in Seattle on Sunday.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Stroud said that several service members helped passengers on the stranded vessel.

BIDEN UNVEILS TOUGHEST-EVER EMISSIONS RULES IN BID TO FORCE ELECTRIC VEHICLE PURCHASES

Onlookers watch as a vessels assist a ferry that ran aground near Bainbridge Island in Washington state on Saturday.

"It was just second nature at that point. It was a different boat with different people," Stroud explained to KOMO. "We all kind of worked together and helped everyone do life jackets and guide them were they needed to go."

The U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Northwest confirmed that all 596 passengers and 15 crew members on board were rescued by Kitsap Fast Ferry vessels without injuries.

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

There were also 175 cars stuck on the ship, which were all successfully removed by Sunday. Stroud said he waited 18 hours to get his car back.

U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Northwest responded to assist local ferries disembark passengers from the stranded vessel in Rich Passage.

Fox News' Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.
How much rainfall will typhoons bring this year? Chinese scientists will be able to answer such questions more accurately in future thanks to the launch on Sunday of the Fengyun-3G (FY-3G), a satellite dedicated to measuring precipitation on Earth.

With a lifespan of six years, FY-3G is the country's first satellite allowing scientists to monitor the Earth's precipitation from space, one of only three such satellites in the world. It was developed by an institute of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, and its ground system will be built and operated by the China Meteorological Administration.

The 20th member of the Fengyun series, the FY-3G will highlight the strength of China's low-orbit meteorological satellite constellation and significantly improve the early warning capability for global rainstorms, said Chen Zhenlin, head of the central meteorological observatory.

In the past, precipitation data was obtained mainly by ground-based rain gauges and radar. However, equipment shortages and uneven distribution made it difficult to acquire large-scale and high-precision information.

Ground devices have blind spots, but satellites in space can rectify this deficiency, making data available for places where ground-based measurements are sparse, said Zhang Peng, deputy director of the National Satellite Meteorological Center.

To increase the accuracy of precipitation monitoring and early warning, scientists have also mounted dual-frequency precipitation measurement radar on FY-3G, which will enable the satellite to accurately observe drizzle, even at an altitude of 407 km.

Qian Bin, the chief designer of the FY-3G, said the satellite adopts a low-inclination orbit, with an inclination of 50 degrees. It will provide precipitation data mainly within the range of 50 degrees north latitude to 50 degrees south latitude.

In the next six months, FY-3G will undergo in-orbit tests and meet the challenges of meteorological disasters such as rainstorms and typhoons in the upcoming flood season, according to the meteorological administration.

China currently has a total of eight Fengyun meteorological satellites in orbit, providing data products and services to 126 countries and regions.
Peggy Sweeten, 52 at the age of her disappearance, was last seen Jan. 17, 1998.

GROVE  Investigators believe a 55-gallon metal drum found at the bottom of a lake in northeastern Oklahoma could be tied to the case of a woman missing for 25 years.

Peggy A. Sweeten, 52 at the time of her disappearance, was last seen Jan. 17, 1998. She was living with her husband, James Lee Sweeten, now 78 and a former school superintendent, at a lakefront home with a boat dock on Grand Lake, northeast of Grove, Oklahoma.

At the time of Peggy Sweeten's disappearance, her husband told authorities she had left with a man she'd met online, but Patrick Sweeten, the couple's son, said his mother did not use email. The Oklahoman previously reported that none of Peggy Sweeten's personal belongings  including her car, clothes, photos or mementos  were missing.

Detectives said that Patrick Sweeten had told investigators in 1998 that he'd noticed a 55-gallon drum had abruptly gone missing on his parents' property. When the son questioned the father about the whereabouts of the drum, he was dismissive and said he knew nothing about it, Patrick Sweeten told investigators.

Last Wednesday, local fire officials, sheriff's deputies and investigators used an underwater drone and a magnetic locator as they began searching the deep waters surrounding the Sweetens' old lakefront home. Friday, officials found a 55-gallon drum standing upright but covered in sludge. Mesh buckets were used to pull some of the contents from the drum.

More: Son blames father in woman's disappearance in Grove

Authorities said no remains were recovered at the time, but they next hope to use underwater equipment to safely recover the drum without losing anything inside of it.

James Sweeten was identified as a "person of interest" on a 2011 warrant when authorities searched underneath a tool shed on the property built shortly after Peggy Sweeten's disappearance. A two-day search uncovered nothing.

James Sweeten had previously refused a polygraph test and a noninvasive search of his property. The warrant also stated James Sweeten was having an affair in late 1997, investigators wrote.

Story continues

Court records show James Sweeten filed for divorce in February 1998, three weeks after his wife went missing. A divorce was granted in April 1998, after Peggy Sweeten did not appear in court for the proceedings. The warrant said James Sweeten had told his son he'd received a call from Peggy and she wasn't coming back.

Patrick Sweeten has said in the past he believes his father had something to do with his mother's disappearance. Peggy Sweeten has long been "presumed" dead by state attorneys.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Drum found in lake could be connected to 1998 missing Grove woman's case
Ohio GOP Rep. Jim Jordan, left, and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, right. File photos/AP

Rep. Jim Jordan held a Manhattan hearing criticizing its 'soft-on-real-crime' DA.

The House Judiciary Committee hearing was met with pushback about crime in red states like Jordan's.

One Democrat even tried to get the hearing adjourned to Jordan's higher-crime state of Ohio.

GOP Rep. Jim Jordan came to lower Manhattan on Monday to criticize what he called District Attorney Alvin Bragg's "soft-on-crime approach to the real criminals," but ended up facing hard-to-ignore facts about his own state's record on violent crime.

Jordan, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, conducted what protesters called the "sham" committee hearing after Bragg  who is Manhattan's first Black district attorney  became the first prosecutor to bring charges against Trump, a move that has sparked GOP outrage.

"Here in Manhattan, the scales of justice are weighed down by politics," Jordan said in his opening statement for a House Judiciary Committee hearing that focused on a crime surge that New York and other major cities suffered in 2022, Bragg's first year as DA.

"Rather than enforcing the law, the DA is using his office to do the bidding of left-wing campaign funders," said Jordan, the committee's chair.

Democrats repeatedly tried to interrupt the hearing with some inconvenient truths: crime stats that show that New York City is actually among the safest big cities in the country and major crime that is far higher in red states than in blue ones.

At one point, a Democratic committee member even stopped the hearing to demand the hearing be adjourned to higher-crime Ohio, Jordan's home state.

Ohio's homicide rate (8.7 deaths for every 100,000 residents) is 73% higher than Manhattan's (5.0 deaths per 100,000 residents), according to an analysis published by the New York Daily News on Monday.

"Mr. Chairman? Parliamentary inquiry?" Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline shouted, after anti-gun expert Jim Kessler concluded a recitation of statistics showing higher crime in red states.

Story continues

"In light of the testimony we just heard," Cicilline asked Jordan about 90 minutes into the hearing,"what is the mechanism for the committee to transfer this hearing to Ohio, where the crime rate is significantly greater?"

There was a brief back-and-forth over whether Cicilline's request was a motion or a parliamentary inquiry.

"I'm asking how do we move the venue so we can have a hearing in a city or state that has a serious crime problem? The state of Ohio?" Cicilline persisted.

Jordan then told Cicilline that his time had expired and that his ruling cannot be appealed.

Sparks also flew just outside the hearing door, where protesters shouted, "The hearing is a sham!" and "Let the public in!" as Federal Protective Service officers held them back and ushered them toward an elevator bank.

Jordan and other Republicans didn't mention Trump by name on Monday. But Jordan in particular echoed the former president in condemnation of Bragg for his "radical political agenda" in the face of rising crime.

Jordan's statistics focused on 2o22, when crime rose in cities around the country, although murders declined that year in New York.

New York, however, is now witnessing a dip in major crime, as recently noted by FactCheck.org. Murders, robberies, rape and shooting incidents are all down in the city for the first three months of this year.

NYPD stats show that the first three months of 2023 have seen a decline in Manhattan crime compared with the first three months of last year.

Homicides are down 9%, shootings are down 14%, robbery is down 10%, burglary is down 23%, and transit crime is down 11.5%, Bragg tweeted Monday, citing NYPD numbers.

Last month, Kessler's center-left think tank, Third Way, published a report, "The Red State Murder Problem," showing that in 2020, per capita murder rates were 40% higher in states won by Trump than those won by President Joe Biden.

In a counterpoint statement at Monday's hearing, Rep. Jerrold Nadler  a Manhattan Democrat and Jordan's predecessor as Judiciary chair  mentioned Trump repeatedly, along with that downtick in his district's crime.

He accused Jordan of "playing tourist in New York" and pretending to care about crime while "doing nothing, nothing, to stop the gun violence that terrorizes our nation."

"Let me be very clear," Nadler began. "We are here in lower Manhattan for one reason, and one reason only. The chairman is doing the bidding of Donald Trump," Nadler said.

Bragg, too, has fought back against GOP criticism, particularly the Judiciary Committee's efforts to investigate and slow his prosecution of Trump.

Just two days after Trump was indicted, Jordan subpoenaed Mark Pomerantz  the former Manhattan prosecutor who led the Trump investigation under Bragg's predecessor  to appear before the committee for a deposition. Pomerantz wrote a book criticizing Bragg for failing to prosecute Trump more aggressively.

Bragg responded by suing Jordan and the House Judiciary Committee; his lawsuit seeks to block the subpoena and to stop Jordan's investigation.

"They are using their public offices and the resources of this committee to protect their political patron, Donald Trump," Nadler said of the GOP-led committee on Monday.

"You can pretend you are not here on Donald Trump's behalf," Nadler added. "But you cannot stop the New York criminal justice system from running its course and you will not intimidate New Yorkers with your brief visit to this city."

Read the original article on Business Insider
AKRON, Ohio (AP)  An Ohio grand jury declined to indict eight police officers who fired 94 shots in the death of Jayland Walker, a 25-year-old Black man who fired at least one round at officers during a car and foot chase last summer, the state's attorney general announced Monday.

Walker was shot 46 times in a hail of gunfire that lasted just under seven seconds and roiled yet another city amid heightened tensions with police over the killing of a Black man that started with a routine traffic stop.

Akron's mayor and police chief urged residents Monday to protest peacefully, acknowledging that many are angry with the shooting last June that Walkers family has called brutal and senseless.

Turn toward one other and not on each other, said Mayor Daniel Horrigan.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said the state's investigation found that Walker jumped out of his still-moving car, ran from police and ignored commands to stop and show his hands. Some of the officers first used Tasers to try and stop Walker, Yost said.

But Walker reached toward his waistband and raised a hand as officers were chasing, Yost said. The officers, not knowing Walker left his gun in the car, believed he was going to fire again, Yost said. He said it is critical to remember that Walker had shot first.

Responding with tears and frustration at a subsequent press conference, the Walker family and their supporters mourned the grand jurys decision and called on Akron residents to protest loudly for justice and change. Democratic U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes, of Akron, said she will ask the U.S. Justice Department to investigate the patterns and practices of the Akron Police Department.

I still cant comprehend how a young man has 46 bullet holes from officers and that is justified, Sykes said while also urging people to honor Walkers memory by protesting peacefully. I ask you to remember the words of Jaylands family by speaking up. But do so without violence.

Story continues

The family and the NAACP previously have called on the Justice Department to open a federal civil rights investigation.

Bobby DiCello, an attorney for Walker's family, criticized the state's investigation, saying police gunned down Walker execution-style. Paige White, another attorney for the family, said the investigation was skewed in favor of the police and that Jayland didnt have a chance.

Akron Police Department, when you call for peace, when you call for no destruction, when you call for respect  where was your respect for Jayland? White said.

The state investigation said police first saw Walker driving with a broken taillight and a broken light on his rear license plate, but they decided not to follow him. They saw him 10 minutes later at the same intersection and became suspicious, Yost said.

Police said Walker refused to stop and then fired a shot from his car 40 seconds into the pursuit.

Officers chased the car on a freeway and city streets until Walker bailed from the still-moving vehicle and ran into a parking lot where he was killed while wearing a ski mask, body cam video showed. Authorities said he represented a deadly threat. A handgun, a loaded magazine and a wedding ring were found on the drivers seat of his car.

Police union officials said the officers thought there was an immediate threat of serious harm and that their actions were in line with their training and protocols.

Dash-cam video from a police cruiser captured images of Walker firing the gun from his car, said Anthony Pierson, an assistant state attorney general. Walker had no criminal history and had never fired a gun until he went to a shooting range with a friend in early June, Pierson said.

At the time of the shooting, Walker was grieving his fiancees recent death, and his family and Pierson said his actions that night were out of character.

That night he encountered the police he wasnt acting himself, Pierson said. By all accounts he was a good person, a good man.

Authorities checked Walkers online history and found in the weeks before his death searches for phrases including drinking bleach and quickest ways to die, according to an investigative report released Monday.

The report also contained information from a Euclid, Ohio, police captain who told investigators that Walkers best friend interviewed for a police job in that city days after Walkers death and suggested it had been suicide by cop.

But when interviewed by investigators, the friend strongly disputed that, telling detectives that Walker was distraught but never mentioned suicide.

Pierson was asked at the news conference if Walkers death could have been suicide. He declined to speculate about Walkers state of mind but said there was no direct evidence he was suicidal.

Akron Police Chief Steve Mylett said Monday that the city will begin an internal investigation into the shooting, but he would not release the names of the eight officers because of ongoing threats against them.

The officers, who initially were placed on leave, will remain on administrative duties. None of the eight officers appear to have been disciplined for any previous use of force incidences, according to investigation records released by the state.

While the grand jurys decision shows no crime was committed by the officers, "in no way does that take away from the tragedy of June 27, Mylett said.

Attorneys for the eight officers released a statement calling the incident a tragedy for the entire community, including Walker's family and all of the officers who were involved. A split-second decision to use lethal force is one that every police officer hopes he or she will never be forced to make, the statement said.

A county medical officer said the autopsy found no illegal drugs or alcohol were detected in Walker's body.

After taking over the investigation last summer at the request of Akron police, prosecutors with the Ohio attorney generals office presented the case to the grand jury.

City set up a designated protest zone downtown outside city hall, where plywood covered the first-floor windows. Temporary fencing circled the county courthouse and many businesses boarded up their windows.

But hours after the grand jury's decision, the protest zone was almost entirely empty on a cold, windy night mixed with snow flurries and rain.

The city's school district canceled classes on Tuesday in the wake of the grand jury announcement.

Less than 24 hours before the chase, police in neighboring New Franklin Township had tried to stop a car matching Walkers, also for unspecified minor equipment violations. A supervisor there called off the pursuit when the car crossed the townships border with Akron.

___

Seewer reported from Toledo. Associated Press writers Julie Carr Smyth and Samantha Hendrickson in Columbus, Ohio and Michael Rubinkam in Allentown, Pennsylvania, contributed.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)  Oklahoma's governor is seeking the resignation of four county officials after a newspaper's audio recording apparently captured some of them complaining about two of the paper's journalists and knowing hit men and where two holes are dug.

A portion of the recording was released by the paper, and it also appears to capture one of the four making racist comments about Black people.

Gov. Kevin Stitt said Sunday he was seeking the resignations of McCurtain County Sheriff Kevin Clardy and three other county officials: sheriffs Capt. Alicia Manning, District 2 Commissioner Mark Jennings and Jail Administrator Larry Hendrix.

I am both appalled and disheartened to hear of the horrid comments made by officials in McCurtain County," Stitt said in a statement. There is simply no place for such hateful rhetoric in the state of Oklahoma, especially by those that serve to represent the community through their respective office.

The McCurtain Gazette-News released portions of an audio recording following a March 6 county commission meeting in which Clardy, Manning and Jennings appear to discuss reporters Bruce and Chris Willingham. Jennings tells Clardy and Manning I know where two deep holes are dug if you ever need them, and the sheriff responded, I've got an excavator.

Jennings also said he's known two or three hit men in Louisiana, adding "they're very quiet guys.

In the recording, Jennings also appears to complain about not being able to hang Black people, saying: They got more rights than we got.

The Associated Press could not immediately verify the authenticity of the recording. None of the four returned telephone calls or emails from The Associated Press on Monday seeking comment.

A spokeswoman for the FBIs office in Oklahoma City said the agencys policy is not to confirm or deny any ongoing investigation. Phil Bacharach, a spokesman for Attorney General Gentner Drummond, said the agency had received an audio recording and is investigating the incident, but declined to comment further.

Story continues

More than 100 people gathered outside the McCurtain County Courthouse in Idabel on Monday, with many of them calling for the sheriff and other county officials to resign.

Bruce Willingham, the longtime publisher of the McCurtain Gazette-News, said the recording was made March 6 when he left a voice-activated recorder inside the room after a county commissioner's meeting because he suspected the group was continuing to conduct county business after the meeting had ended in violation of the state's Open Meeting Act. Chris Willingham, a reporter at the paper, is Bruce Willingham's son.

I talked on two different occasions to our attorneys to make sure I wasn't doing anything illegal, Bruce Willingham said.

Bruce Willingham said he believes the local officials were upset about stories we've run that cast the sheriff's office in an unfavorable light, including the death of Bobby Barrick, a Broken Bow, Oklahoma, man who died at a hospital in March 2022 after McCurtain County deputies shot him with a stun gun. The newspaper has filed a lawsuit against the sheriff's office seeking body camera footage and other records connected to Barrick's death.

Bruce Willingham said he has also turned over his audio recordings to the FBI and the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office and added he has had several conversations with federal investigators.

Joey Senat, a journalism professor at Oklahoma State University, said he was shocked to hear the comments made in the recording, especially in light of recent killings of journalists in the U.S., including the arrest last year of a Las Vegas-area elected official accused of fatally stabbing a veteran newspaper reporter who had been investigating him.

The whole conversation seemed deplorable, Senat said. I was shocked as I assume most people were not only about the comments about journalists, but the racist comments regarding African Americans. Joking doesnt excuse that.

Senat said under Oklahoma law, the recording would be legal if it were obtained in a place where the officials being recorded did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy.

McCurtain County is in far southeast Oklahoma, bordering both Arkansas and Texas, in a part of the state often referred to as Little Dixie, because of the influence in the area from white Southerners who migrated there after the Civil War.

With its rolling, forested hills in the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains, the area has become a tourism hotbed attracting a steady stream of visitors from the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

State Rep. Eddy Dempsey, a Republican who represents the area in the Oklahoma House, said the recorded comments don't reflect the values of his constituents and echoed Stitt's call for the four people involved in the conversation to resign.

All my life, we've always said we don't get enough recognition in southeast Oklahoma, Dempsey said. But we don't need this kind of recognition.
Broken Bow, Oklahoma, has fewer than 5,000 people and will be in the path of totality for 2024's Great North American Eclipse. Here's how to plan your trip.

Lori Duckworth/Oklahoma Tourism

April 8, 2024, is going to be a very exciting day for stargazers. It's when the total solar eclipse will be visible across the United States, drawing thousands if not millions of eager viewers to its path. During the eclipse, the moon will travel between the Earth and the sun, blocking out the sun's light and plunging parts of the world into darkness for as long as four minutes and 28 seconds. To see the show, you'll want to head into the path of totality, where the moon will completely cover the sun.

In the U.S., the path of totality will cross 13 states: Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, and Maine. So, to prepare, we're finding the best small cities to visit for the Great North American Eclipse next year. Our first pick is Broken Bow, Oklahoma, for a lesser-known viewing hub with a population of fewer than 5,000, where eclipse chasers can enjoy great outdoor activities, good food, and fun, rustic-chic cabin rentals.

What to Do

When you think of Oklahoma, you probably picture flat plains. But there are mountains, albeit small ones, in the southeast corner of the state, where you'll find Broken Bow. And that makes Broken Bow a hub for outdoor adventures. Many people use the town as a base camp for Beavers Bend State Park, a 3,400-acre recreational area on the edge of Broken Bow Lake known for boating, hiking, and fishing. While there, don't miss a visit to the Forest Heritage Center to learn about sustainable forestry. If you're looking for some exciting indoor activities, go rock climbing at Crag Climb Beavers Bend, axe throwing at Bigfoot Axe Throwing, or bowling at Gutter Chaos, where you can also catch live music and karaoke night.

Where to Eat and Drink

There's a surprising variety of dining options throughout the Broken Bow area, from hippie-inspired pizzas at Grateful Head Pizza Oven to homemade ice cream at Okie Girls Coffee & Ice Cream to classic tavern eats and cocktails at Abendigo's. For drinks, stop by Fish Tales Winery & Bistro, Knotted Rope Winery, Mountain Fork Brewery, Beavers Bend Brewery, or Hochatown Distilling Co.

Story continues

Where to Stay

There's no shortage of log cabins, both traditional and strikingly modern, in the Broken Bow area, some of which are on resorts, with amenities like pools and community centers, and others that can be found on vacation rental sites like Vrbo and Airbnb. But for a (somewhat rustic) hotel stay, check out Beavers Bend Lodge or Hochatown Lodge.

How to See the Eclipse

The total solar eclipse will occur on April 8, 2024. In Broken Bow, the eclipse will begin at 12:28 p.m. CDT and end at 3:07 p.m. CDT, with totality occurring from 1:45 p.m. CDT to 1:50 p.m. CDT.

How to Get to Broken Bow

It's best to fly into Texas and rent a car to get to Broken Bow. You can either fly into the small airport in Paris, Texas, about 65 miles away, or the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, which is about 170 miles away.

For more Travel & Leisure news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on Travel & Leisure.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

GOP megadonor Thomas Peterffy said he changed his mind about financially supporting DeSantis.

Peterffy told the Financial Times he didn't like the governor's stance on abortion or book bans.

Peterffy is on board with DeSantis in his battle against Disney, however.

A mega wealthy GOP donor in Florida who initially wanted to back Governor Ron DeSantis should he run for president said he's taking it back.

Thomas Peterffy told Financial Times that DeSantis' "stance on abortion and book banning" meant that he and "his friends" are no longer planning to give the Republican governor their money. Peterffy also said he believed that DeSantis had lost "momentum."

DeSantis signed into law the Stop Woke Act and the Don't Say Gay Act in 2022. These laws have resulted in the removal of thousands of books not approved by the state from school classrooms. He also signed into law a six-week abortion ban on Thursday.

Peterffy, however, also told the publication that he fully supported the governor's stance on Disney, calling it "insane" for a private company to "take a stand on gender issues." DeSantis has been battling Walt Disney World in Florida after the company publicly objected to Florida's proposal to ban the discussion of sexual orientation in K-3 public classrooms.

DeSantis attempted to take away the theme park's self-governing status and appoint a board to oversee it, but a legal loophole resulted in the board becoming powerless.

Peterffy, a chairman for the brokerage firm Interactive Brokers, previously donated $200,000 to DeSantis' 2018 gubernatorial campaign.

DeSantis has not announced a 2024 run for president, but he has continued to tease the possibility.

A spokesperson for DeSantis' office and Interactive Brokers did not respond to a request for comment.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Hardees in downtown Fort Mill wont reopen Tuesday.

The drive-thru was open but the dining room closed Monday afternoon. Employees at the store told customers Monday is the last day the restaurant will be open. Several people shared online earlier in the day theyd been informed, as customers, the store would close.

Immediate efforts to obtain comment from the corporate office for Hardees were unsuccessful.

The Tom Hall Street restaurant sits at the top of Main Street. Decades of diners have come and gone there, many of them in breakfast meeting clubs when Fort Mill had far fewer places to gather. Former U.S. Rep. John Spratt, Jane McColl and Hugh McColl sold the downtown property to Spartan Food Systems in 1978 for the restaurant. That company became Hardees Food Systems.

Hardees Restaurants out of Tennessee owns the 3,000-square-foot restaurant site now. In addition to food, the property has one of the larger parking areas in a downtown thats grown with restaurants and shops in recent years.

The nearest Hardees locations are on Gold Hill Road between Fort Mill and Tega Cay, and at Rock Hill sites on Herlong Avenue and Mana Court. York and Clover have other locations.
When Nikki Duslaks son repeatedly returned home from school traumatized from what he learned that day, she knew something had to change. To challenge Avery, who was then five years old and learning beyond his years, the school placed him in a classroom with older students  as old as 13. But the lessons  like ones about slavery, persecution and the Holocaust  would bring Avery to tears and give him nightmares.

While Duslak told school officials that her son wasnt emotionally ready, even though he was academically advanced, the school wasnt able to offer an alternative.

Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter

So Duslak, who spent nearly a decade teaching in central Florida public schools, decided that she was going to start her own school, just for Avery, and other children like him who needed alternative ways of learning a rigorous curriculum.

This journey literally started with a bottle of wine and the book Nonprofit [Kit] for Dummies  its a real thing  and I just started reading, Duslak said. And I thought, I dont know how, I dont know how Im going to do this, but Im going to do it.

After a long, arduous process of creating a 501(c)(3) that was further complicated by a government shutdown at the end of 2018 into early 2019, Duslaks nonprofit became official by the end of that year. She opened the doors to CREATE Conservatory in the spring of 2020  with seven students and at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Related Teachers Leaving Jobs During Pandemic Find Fertile Ground in New School Models

While CREATE was already in the works before the pandemic, the global crisis steered numerous states to create or expand school choice programs that gave families more flexibility to decide how their children are educated. Florida currently has a bill that seeks to further extend its already diverse school choice programs.

CREATE, which offers flexible and unique learning programs designed to reach children who do not thrive in a traditional format, and focuses on teaching science, technology, engineering and mathematics through arts integration, has since grown to enroll 27 students across grades K-6. Of those, 26  or 96%  attend the school at no cost, thanks to private donations and corporate sponsorships, as well as state-funded scholarships, administered by nonprofit Step Up For Students. Step Up For Students primarily works with four school choice scholarships underwritten by the state of Florida that makes nontraditional schooling possible for families who may not otherwise be able to afford it.

For Duslak, those contributions are the lifeline that allows CREATE to reach and teach students who have the potential to succeed  but need to be able to learn in a way that isnt necessarily provided to them in traditional classrooms, said Kim Levine, a corporate donor to the school and CREATE board member.

What [CREATE] offers to our community is a place where, basically just kids that are kind of different in some way, can come and just be themselves, she said.
US Navy sailors lining up on the USS Carl Vinson. Getty Images

A popular pro-Russia social-media account is run by a Navy veteran, per reports.

Donbass Devushka, whose real name is Sarah Bils, previously claimed to be from Eastern Europe.

The account helped to spread the leaked Pentagon documents that were posted on Discord.

A social-media account that spread misinformation about the war in Ukraine and pro-Russian war talking points was created by former US Navy non-commissioned officer, The Wall Street Journal confirmed in an exclusive interview.

Sarah Bils is a 37-year-old woman in Oak Harbor, Washington, who served at the US Naval Air Station on Whidbey Island until November of 2022, online Navy records show. Bils' identity was first uncovered by users on Twitter and Reddit, and first reported by an advocacy site mainly posting about the war known as Malcontent News.

Online, however, Bils goes by the name Donbass Devushka, and her account sometimes posts graphic images of the fighting, praises the brutal wing of the Russian military known as the Wagner group, and sometimes celebrates the death of Ukrainian fighters.

Bils told the Journal that 15 other people help her run the account.

The persona has a YouTube channel, a Twitter, and a Spotify podcast with tens of thousands of followers. On the podcast, Bils, who in previous posts claimed to be from Eastern Europe, appears to put on a phony accent.

On the bio of her Telegram  from which she posts dozens of times a day  Bils says the account is "Russian-style information warfare" that's "Bringing the multipolar world together." The account, ironically, once posted a screenshot of the popular meme reading "I'll serve crack before I serve this country"  meant to signify that someone would never join the US military.

The Telegram account was also recently associated with helping to spread four images of the dozens of leaked US intelligence documents that appeared on a Discord server called Thug Shaker Central. Many of these documents contained information on US intelligence gathering on the war in Ukraine. Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old junior-ranking US National Guard airman, was arrested on Thursday and charged on Friday with possessing classified documents pertaining to national security, and possessing national defense materials.

Story continues

Bils, who had secret security clearances while serving, told the Journal she did not help to leak the documents. The Journal also noted that the documents posted on her channel were altered versions of the Discord documents, but Bils denied that her team had altered them.

"I obviously know the gravity of top-secret classified materials," she told the publication.

The documents are no longer on the account, but the Donbass Devushka Telegram channel shared a theory on April 13 that the leaks were actually an intentional effort from US intelligence officials and that Teixeira unknowingly carried out their plan.

Insider reached out to emails associated with Donbass Devushka and Bils but did not immediately receive a response.

The US Navy did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Correction: April 17, 2023  An earlier version of this story mischaracterized Bils' position in the Navy. She was a noncommissioned officer, not a commissioned officer.



Read the original article on Business Insider
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - One soldier has been arrested in connection with last week's firing incident at a military base in the Indian border state of Punjab, police officials said on Monday.

Four soldiers were shot to death in their sleep in the barracks at the Bathinda military base last week.

(Reporting by YP Rajesh, writing by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)
 Flash

Twelve people died on Sunday morning when the bus they were traveling in crashed just outside Chivhu town, about 140 km south of Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, police said.

"The Zimbabwe Republic Police reports a fatal road traffic accident in which a Harare-bound Timboom bus which had 40 passengers crashed at the 5 km peg along Chivhu-Murambinda Road on April 16, 2023, at 6:30 a.m.

"Twelve people, including the driver, died. Police details are still attending to the accident. More details will be released in due course," the police said on their Twitter handle.

Zimbabwe has been experiencing many fatal road traffic accidents of late, with at least 30 people having died during the just-ended Easter holiday.
Hi there OnPolitics readers. Congress is back in session after a two-week recess and the House hit the ground running.

The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee held a contentious hearing today in New York to highlight what they claim is rampant crime in New York City.

However, Democrats have pushed back on that categorization, saying that the hearings real aim is to interfere with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg after he indicted former President Donald Trump.

"We're here today in Lower Manhattan for one reason and one reason only: The chairman is doing the bidding for Donald Trump," said Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., whose district includes Manhattan.

Heres what you need to know:

GOP sets sights on Bragg: House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, called on Bragg to testify before the committee, but Bragg declined.

Bragg has also filed a lawsuit against Jordan, calling the Ohio lawmakers inquiry into the Trump case an unprecedentedly brazen and unconstitutional attack on a local criminal case.

Jordan countersues: Jordan filed his response Monday to Braggs lawsuit, which aimed to block a subpoena to one of his former prosecutors, calling the strategy extraordinary and unconstitutional.

The House Judiciary Committee is investigating Bragg because he vowed to investigate Trump as part of his 2021 campaign for Manhattan district attorney, Jordan said in his court filing.

Democrats slam hearing: Nadler said the hearing was an effort to intimidate and deter Bragg from his work, calling it an outrageous abuse of power and weaponization of the committee amid outbursts from the audience.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., also accused Republican lawmakers of using the hearing to disrupt and interfere with the prosecution of Trump.

 Keep reading: GOP holds hearing on NYC crime. Democrats say it's to do the bidding for Donald Trump.

 In case you missed it: House GOP to clash with Bragg in NY hearing on crime, Biden on debt ceiling as Congress returns

 Get newsletter in your inbox: Don't miss our politics coverage. Sign up for OnPolitics.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: OnPolitics: House Judiciary hearing and crime, Bragg and Trump
As a former teacher, I have seen the power of technology to enhance and transform the way educators teach and learn. From interactive whiteboards to educational apps, technology has the potential to revolutionize education and better prepare students for the future. Thats why the decision by some school districts to ban ChatGPT  which generates human-like responses to complex questions using artificial intelligence  is deeply concerning. It risks widening the gap between those who can harness the power of this technology and those who cannot, ultimately harming students education and career prospects.

In a recent essay titled The Age of AI Has Begun, Bill Gates identified the technology behind ChatGPT as one of the two most groundbreaking he has witnessed in his lifetime. Gates believes it will fundamentally reorient entire industries. Researchers at Open AI, the company that created ChatGPT, estimate the technology has the potential to disrupt 19% of U.S. jobs and that four-fifths of American workers could see their jobs affected by chatbots in some way. Among the most vulnerable: translators, writers, public relations representatives, accountants, mathematicians, blockchain engineers and journalists.

Already, effective use of ChatGPT is becoming a highly valued skill, impacting workforce demands. A San Francisco-based company is offering salaries of up to $335,000 for engineers skilled in writing prompts  the questions that generate complex responses using this technology. A Japanese company is testing new hires on their ChatGPT proficiency and requiring them to apply it in their work. McKinsey & Company has estimated that between 400 million and 800 million jobs could be lost to automated technology by 2030  and that was in 2017, before ChatGPT came on the scene.

Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter

Employees are perceiving a significant shift in their workplaces, and many want training on how to effectively use AI tools such as ChatGPT to perform their jobs. This growing demand for these skills underscores the need for schools to prepare students  especially those in high school  to meet these evolving demands.

Story continues

Related Schools Must Embrace the Looming Disruption of ChatGPT

Thats why banning ChatGPT is a mistake. It would be like prohibiting students from learning how to use laptops and calculators. To fully utilize ChatGPTs capabilities, users must create thoughtful prompts, review the output, refine their requests, provide feedback to the chatbot and then have it integrate their ideas to produce the desired insight or product. Students must employ essential skills such as reason, logic, writing, reading comprehension, critical thinking, creativity and subject knowledge across various topics to engage a generative AI technology effectively. They must also learn to recognize its limitations and propensities for error.

Banning ChatGPT in classrooms risks creating a division between students who learn how to utilize its capabilities and those who are left behind.

Preparing students for the demands of the 21st century will take a comprehensive approach. To achieve this, the federal government can require high schools to assess AI proficiency within their existing English Language Arts and math exams. This approach can motivate states to redesign their K-12 curricular standards, which influence what students learn daily. State agencies must lead the way in integrating generative AI technologies into their K-12 standards, investing in educator training and developing effective curriculum materials. Washington should incentivize and fund these efforts.

Businesses must recognize the importance of preparing their future workforce and encourage state education officials to incorporate technologies like ChatGPT into learning standards. Philanthropic organizations can partner with school districts to create pilot programs demonstrating successful AI tool integration, inspiring state agencies to prioritize and fund this work.

Related ChatGPT Could Be an Effective and Affordable Tutor

Advocacy is also crucial to the success of these efforts. Parents must urge their childrens schools to teach AI technology, and teachers should insist on adequate training to become proficient in them. Collaboration among educators and families is essential for students to acquire the necessary tools and skills to thrive in an AI-driven world.

Whether schools embrace it or not, generative AI technology will transform how students access information and learn. Other countries are paying attention. Singapore is already introducing AI-driven support systems for students and teachers. The United Arab Emirates aims to provide AI training to one-third of its annual STEM graduates, and the United Kingdom  in its effort to become a leading global AI superpower  has set a goal of producing 1,000 AI-focused Ph.D.s over five years.

In this new, AI-driven world, success will belong to those who possess the skills to navigate it effectively. To equip students for an ever-changing technological landscape, K-12 and higher education must adopt generative AI technologies like ChatGPT. In doing so, they can foster a well-educated and skilled workforce, encourage innovation and build a brighter future for everyone.
During a congressional hearing to question TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew, lawmakers noted that concerns over the Chinese-owned app are a rare bipartisan issue  reflecting consensus that China is a threat. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

The far-right website the Daily Caller recently smeared Asian American business leaders in L.A. as stooges of the Peoples Republic of China. This portrayal  based on prejudice, not evidence  points to a trend were likely to only see expand. Amid widening U.S.-China tensions, American extremists and officials alike are stoking fears that will start another surge of racism toward Chinese people and others of Asian descent.

U.S. government leaders have been clear in their messaging: China, and anyone associated with it, may be a security threat. Lawmakers excoriated Shou Zi Chew, the Singaporean chief executive of the Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok, during last months congressional hearings, at times treating him and the app as a proxy for the Chinese government. During a university talk this month, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray again declared China the greatest long-term threat to the United States. The current Chinese regime will stop at nothing to steal what they cant create and silence the messages they dont want to hear, Wray claimed, all in an effort to surpass us as a global superpower. Others in the Biden administration, such as Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III, have repeated this message.

Public officials have the right to  and should  critique other nations policies. Wray also did well to qualify his statement by saying: To be clear, that threat stems from the Chinese government, not the Chinese people themselves. But examples from the past and present tell us that this pattern of widely invoking the China threat has dangerous consequences for Americans of Asian descent, perpetuating long-standing stereotypes of Chinese and other Asian communities as foreign, dangerous and unscrupulous  an existential threat to the United States.

This message is coming after a couple of years of racist scapegoating of Asian Americans for COVID-19, and at a time when Americans view of China is the lowest its been in at least a decade. In 2022, 8 in 10 Americans polled by the Pew Research Center held an unfavorable opinion of China. That opinion can translate into more suspicion of Chinese individuals. A recent study by Princeton University researchers found that Americans who perceived China as a threat were also more likely to stereotype Chinese people as untrustworthy and immoral. Further, it found that those in Republican counties are more likely to homogenize East Asians as one group and extend these negative traits to other Asians in the U.S. as well. A 2021 survey estimated that nearly 1 in 5 Asian Americans  almost 5 million people  experienced a racist incident in the last year.

Story continues

Yet despite these consequences, U.S. officials have long stoked xenophobia to serve a political agenda. In the 19th century, politicians blamed the American recession on Chinese migrants, who they charged stole white workers jobs and brought diseases to the West. By claiming that Chinese immigrants simply could not assimilate, the Workingmens Party riled up a voter base and swept into office.

Lawmakers then passed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and renewed it in 1892, institutionalizing discrimination against Chinese and other Asian immigrants by categorizing them as aliens ineligible for citizenship and sanctioning violence to expel them. In 1885 and 1886, mobs employed force to displace en masse 168 Chinese communities along the West Coast.

The animus against Chinese people is repeating in proposed policies today. Prompted by a Chinese developers proposed land purchase for a wind farm in Texas, the state banned infrastructure projects from entities with direct ties to China, and Gov. Greg Abbott endorsed expanding the ban to outlaw any property ownership by Chinese residents who arent U.S. citizens. (State lawmakers softened the bill, which would also apply to those from North Korea, Iran and Russia.) As of February, at least 11 state legislatures were considering legislation to limit Chinese landownership. In the broader push to ban books by minority authors nationwide, policymakers have sought to ban titles by Chinese American authors Kelly Yang, Malinda Lo and Laurence Yep (including "Dragonwings," Yeps Newbery honoree novel for children).

Ultimately, such hysteria is a measure of the American psyche. Todays version of it speaks to Americans fears over our economic, moral and political standing in the world. Blaming other nations  and our own minority communities  for American woes is easier than reforming our faltering political and other systems.

If we truly believe in democratic ideals and values, lets honor them. Rather than attacking groups to rile up voting blocs and stir up culture wars, we should safeguard our civil liberties and promote racial unity. Asian Americans, like everyone in the U.S., should be considered innocent until proved guilty, not assumed to be seditious or targeted as the result of others anxieties. The irony is that such fears stem from concerns about American weakness  but the resulting racism weakens our democracy.

Russell Jeung is a professor of Asian American studies at San Francisco State University. He is writing a book on anti-Asian racism and the Asian American movement for racial justice.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Opposing SB272 protects the rights of everyone in the family

April 12  To the Editor:

Senate Bill 272 has been mislabeled as New Hampshires parental bill of rights because it forces teachers, counselors, and other school officials to interfere in the family dynamic by outing transgender or gender nonconforming students who want to use a different name or pronouns with their peers or teachers. School officials have many procedures in place to inform parents of student actions that could potentially harm themselves or others.

Statistically, trans and gender nonconforming kids are often abused or kicked out for being who they are. If SB 272 is enacted into law, teachers and other school officials would be unable to protect them from harm from other kids or from themselves. These kids already disproportionally account for many of New Hampshires runaway and homeless teen population; that problem is likely to get much worse under SB 272.

SB 272 oversteps basic safety concerns and specifically targets trans and gender nonconforming students. Young people know their family dynamics better than any school staff member. If a student is having a problem discussing a personal topic or issue with a parent, the answer isnt to use the government to force teachers and counselors to squeal on that student to that parent. The answer is to have mechanisms of support in place to enable better judgment-free communication between the student and the parent.

When parents behave like they dont trust their children, they shouldnt be surprised when their children feel the same way about them. SB 272 only extends that distrust to teachers and other school staff. Whatever problem a parent thinks will be solved by getting the government involved will only be compounded later on by further distrust and depression.

During my over 30 years of medical practice, I saw the benefits of having safe places within the community where teens and adolescents could turn for answers and support to personal questions they felt too afraid or too embarrassed to talk about with their parents. Similarly, teachers can and should do no harm, and not be compelled to insert themselves in complex family dynamics.

Story continues

B272 and its house version House Bill 10, which was rightfully tabled, are bad ideas that will make it more difficult for teachers, parents, and students to trust each other and further divide our already beleaguered communities. Please urge your local representative to oppose this bill to preserve the rights of all parents and their children.

James Fieseher MD

Dover

Advocates for transgender youth rally outside the New Hampshire Statehouse, in Concord, N.H., Tuesday, March 7, 2023. House and Senate committees are holding public hearings on four bills opponents say would harm the health the health and safety of transgender youth.

Fight to protect trans students and oppose SB 272

April 12  To the Editor:

Im writing in opposition to Senate Bill 272, the so-called parental bill of rights, which will have a public hearing in Concord this Tuesday at 10 a.m. The bill is redundant, repeating rights parents already have, to mask the requirement for educators to monitor and report students who express themselves as transgender or gender nonconforming. The reporting requirements directly targets trans students, increasing their risk of harm from being forcibly outed without regard for their safety, well-being, or consent. I listened to testimony against a similar bill, House Bill 10, where the child advocate of New Hampshire stated some students will be abused if this kind of bill passes. I am not trans, but it worries me that this bill will single out my classmates who havent felt safe coming out to their parents. Theres no reason for the government to require teachers to police students based on their gender identity and expression or lose their jobs.

My teachers work hard to provide a learning environment that supports all students. How are trans and gender nonconforming students supposed to learn if they feel unsupported being themselves at school, where many feel safe trying out new pronouns or a new name?

I encourage parents to educate themselves on what it means to be transgender and strive to build trust with their child to foster a safe supportive environment. Asking their childs teacher to out them is far from a right worth fighting for. Fight to protect trans students and oppose SB 272.

Holly Fermon

Newmarket

The root cause of gun violence is not guns

April 12  To the Editor:

I do not know of a single individual who is not moved by and abhorred by the level of gun or any other violence in this country. The current environment and most letters to the editor add to the divisive debate and do not, in my opinion, discuss the root cause. Most assuredly, there are a few things upon which we can agree. First, and foremost, is that it is not the gun that murders. The person pulling the trigger is the murderer. The murderer in all documented cases has acted out of hatred, vengeance, bigotry, or mental illness. The killings in Nashville were committed by an individual whose manifesto has not been released to the public. The killing at the bank in Louisville were committed by a person who had been fired. As the sheriff in Florida stated, no gun law would have prevented the killing of three teenagers as the guns were stolen. The murderers were gang related. Criminals will always find a way to obtain guns. In cities like Chicago with the most restrictive gun laws in the country, gun violence is on the rise.

Dr. Korn may be a good intentioned man, but stating the Republican Party is the party with the scarlet R and responsible for gun violence outrageously fuels our hateful and divisive environment. He does not place any blame upon the murderer or the murderers motivation for such heinous acts. At the risk of fueling more hate and division, I will state that the Democrats are the party that ignores mental illness, adds to the divisive hatred of individuals with teaching CRT, shutting down schools while ignoring science, falsely accusing conservatives of racism, creates a false hatred of transgenderism, exhibits a double standard of justice, censors free speech, and characterizes mass murders as purely a gun control issue while not enforcing gun control laws already on the books. If the Republicans have earned the scarlet R, most assuredly the Democrats have earned the scarlet D."

The solution to murders is not a single-pronged approach. It is far more difficult to put politics aside and find solutions to prevent an individual from taking up a gun and committing murder. We must continue offering thoughts and prayers. However, thoughts and prayers must extend to real action. It is complicated and difficult to address our societal ills of mental illness, isolation, hatred, prejudice, political propaganda, biased media, and the influence of social media technology. We have become a country of isolated individuals, broken families, political division, propaganda, rising crime, hateful behaviors, and lack of law enforcement. Our country was founded upon Christian values which are currently under attack by the Democrats as evidenced by the FBI sending undercover agents to church services and arresting prolife supporters. When Cain killed Abel, God did not blame the rock. He blamed Cain.

Cheryl Russell

Dover

Running red lights and stop signs becoming an epidemic

April 15 To the Editor:

There is an epidemic at the Seacoast and it is not COVID. When driving anywhere you must be mindful of the red light and stop sign runners. When teaching a young person to drive they must learn to look both ways  twice before entering an intersection due to the ignorance and lack of self-awareness and courtesy of some drivers.

More often than not when my light is green a driver crossing the intersection runs their red light. If I enter the intersection as I have the right-of-way I would be hurt; my vehicle would be totaled.

The solution that first comes to mind is more law enforcement, whether local, county, or state. It's the law and it must be obeyed. It is not enough to have hefty penalties for using a phone while driving. We need more police, and the existing police need to be present in the community at intersections. More than running radar.

Furious in Greenland.

Matthew Ince

Greenland

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Opposing SB272 in NH protects the rights of everyone in the family
The 25-year treason sentence imposed on prominent Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza on Monday was a particularly severe show of Russian authorities intensifying intolerance for criticism of the war in Ukraine and other dissenting opinions.

Under President Vladimir Putin, Russia for years has been closing in on those who challenge the Kremlin, arresting countless protesters, cracking down on independent news media and adding inconvenient organizations to its register of foreign agents.

The hostility to opposition increased within days of Russias February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, when it adopted a law criminalizing the spreading of false information about its military.

The charges against Kara-Murza, who has been behind bars since his arrest a year ago, stem from his March 2022 speech to the Arizona House of Representatives in which he denounced Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Here is a look at other notable cases of imprisoned opposition figures:

ALEXEI NAVALNY

The most persistent and inventive critic of Vladimir Putins Kremlin, Navalny has been in prison for more than two years but gained new visibility this spring when a documentary about him won an Academy Award.

A lawyer by training, he first came to note by publishing investigations of Russian companies corruption, and the work expanded into a broad opposition portfolio. He repeatedly served jail terms for organizing protest demonstrations that reached scores of cities across the country. He also was twice convicted of embezzlement, but those sentences were suspended.

In 2020, Navalny became severely ill and fell into a coma while visiting a Siberian city. He was airlifted to Germany in critical condition and found to have been poisoned with a nerve agent. During his months of recovery, he released the recording of a call he said he made to an alleged member of a group of officers of the Federal Security Service who purportedly carried out the poisoning

Story continues

After that, authorities said his recuperation in Germany violated the terms of his suspended sentence. Nonetheless, Navalny returned to Moscow in January 2021, where he was arrested at the airport. He was sentenced to 2 years in prison, and last year was convicted of other charges and given another nine-year term.

Last week, a U.S.-based spokeswoman for his anticorruption foundation said Navalny is seriously ill in prison and that poisoning is suspected.

ILYA YASHIN

One of the few well-known Kremlin critics to have stayed in Russia after the start of the Ukraine war, Yashin was arrested in June while walking in a Moscow park and was sentenced to 8 years in prison on a conviction of spreading false information about Russian soldiers.

The charge stemmed from a livestream on YouTube in which he talked about civilians killed in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha. After Russian forces withdrew from the area in March 2022, hundreds of corpses were found in the town, including some with their hands bound behind their backs and apparently executed.

ALEXEI MOSKALYOV

Moskalyov was not a well-known figure, just a 54-year-old single father of a 13-year-old daughter in a provincial town. But after his daughter refused to participate in a patriotic class at school and made a drawing reading Glory to Ukraine, Moskalyov was investigated by police and found to have made social media posts critical of the war.

He was sentenced to two years in prison, but fled house arrest hours before the sentence was handed down. He was arrested in neighboring Belarus and extradited to Russia.

ALEXEI GORINOV

Gorinov, a member of a Moscow municipal council, was the first person to be sentenced to prison under the law penalizing the spread of false information about Russian troops. He was arrested a year ago after criticizing Russias military actions in Ukraine at a municipal council meeting.

A video available on YouTube shows him voicing skepticism about holding a planned childrens art competition in his constituency while every day children are dying in Ukraine.

He was sentenced to seven years.

ANDREI PIVOVAROV

Just days after the Open Russia opposition group that he headed disbanded in 2021 when authorities declared it an undesirable organization, Pivovarov was pulled off a Warsaw-bound airliner that was about to leave St. Petersburg. He was convicted last year of sponsoring a local candidate on behalf of an undesirable organization and sentenced to four years.
As every Central Florida school district grapples with teacher shortages, some districts are setting their sights on Puerto Rico to help cover the gaps.

Osceola County School Board Member District 2 Julius Melendez says, You know the city of Kissimmee has over 40 percent of its population of not just Hispanic origin but Puerto Rican origin.

>>> STREAM CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS LIVE <<<

A six-person team from Osceola County schools spent three days in Mayaguez and San Juan, Puerto Rico, earlier this month.

The group interviewed and screened about 200 candidates for open teacher roles.

Right now, we are about three or 400 teachers short, said Melendez.

Read: Osceola County schools sending team to recruit teachers from Puerto Rico

Osceola County school board member Julius Melendez is one of six that traveled to the island.

He says it was a strategic move for the county, where more than half the population is Hispanic and speaks a language other than English at home.

The advantage districts see with hiring from Puerto Rico; there are no visa requirements which allows the candidate and the district to hire a lot faster because their certifications are acknowledged here.

Read: Osceola County rejects rural rezoning as more roadway projects in the work

The other advantage Melendez believes helps is with the student population, Its nice for students to have somebody that they could have role models, said Melendez.

Orange County says they heavily recruited from Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.

Read: Osceola Countys rapid growth is hindering students education, school board member says

Florida Education Association President Andrew Spar says Volusia County has done this since the 1990s.

What districts have found over the years is very often, if someones coming from Puerto Rico, it works much better if they already have family in the area. Theyre more likely to stay, said Spar.

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.
Philip Mehrtens was taken hostage by Papuan rebels in February

At least one Indonesian soldier has been killed in a rebel attack while searching for a kidnapped New Zealand pilot in the Papua region, officials say.

Rebels later claimed nine soldiers were shot dead in the clash, while the Associated Press cited military sources that put the death toll at six.

The troops were part of a detachment sent to locate Phillip Mehrtens, who was taken hostage in February.

Papua rebels have been seeking independence from Jakarta for decades.

The Indonesian troops were attacked on Sunday while searching for Mr Mehrtens near a separatist stronghold in the mountainous Nduga district, the military said.

Gunmen shot a soldier who fell into a 15m-deep ravine, then launched a second attack while troops were recovering the body, First Admiral Julius Widjojono told reporters.

"The condition of the other soldiers who are spread in several locations is still unknown," he added.

The West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) claimed responsibility for the attack, which it said was launched to deter military efforts to rescue Mr Mehrtens.

"The United Nations and the New Zealand government have an obligation to push Indonesia to stop the military operation," rebel spokesman Sebby Sambom said in a statement.

The 37-year-old pilot was captured shortly after landing his single-engine plane in Nduga to drop off passengers.

A video of Mr Mehrtens surrounded by heavily armed men was later released by rebels, who have said they will release him if Papua is granted independence.

A TPNPB spokesman previously told the BBC Mr Mehrtens was being held in a remote rebel stronghold, and would be used as "leverage" in negotiations.

The group said he was targeted because of New Zealand's military co-operation with Indonesia.

Independence-seeking rebels have previously issued threats and attacked aircraft which they believe are carrying personnel and supplies for Jakarta.

The region is divided into two provinces, Papua and West Papua. It is separate from independent Papua New Guinea.

Story continues

Previously a Dutch colony, West Papua declared independence in 1961. However Indonesia took over two years later and was formally given control in a UN-supervised vote in 1969.

The UN vote is widely considered illegitimate as only about 1,000 Papuans took part in it. A pro-independence movement began shortly afterwards, which continues to this day.

Conflicts between indigenous Papuans and the Indonesian authorities are common, with separatist fighters increasing their attacks since 2018.
The parents of Colorado 22-year-old Christian Glass, who was fatally shot in his car by police last June after calling 911 for help, on Monday demanded not only justice for their son but an end to the pervasive gun violence that has left Americans  and visitors to the country  scared.

Its known throughout the world; we know people that don't even want to visit us in America because they're too scared, said Sally Glass, originally from England, as she stood next to her husband, New Zealand native Simon. Our daughter is at college ... We just moved her to the third storey. She's scared ... people are scared.

The Glasses were speaking after the Monday court appearance of former Clear Creek County Sheriffs Deputies Andrew Buen and Kyle Gould, who are charged in the 11 June 2022 death of their son. Mr Buen, who allegedly shot and killed Christian, is charged with second-degree murder, reckless endangerment and official misconduct. Mr Gould, his former supervisor, was watching and giving instructions remotely on the tragic night; he is charged with criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment.

Simon and Sally Glass have been present at every court hearing in Georgetown, Colorado for the officers charged with murder in the death of their son, Christian, 22 (Sheila Flynn)

Lawyers for both defendants had argued against the charges but a judge ruled earlier this month that there was sufficient evidence to allow the case to continue. Fifth Judicial District Judge Catherine Cheroutes wrote that evidence supported probable cause that Mr Buen intentionally and maliciously caused harm to Christian by shooting and killing him.

The malicious intent can be inferred from the aggressive demeanor and the ultimate action of the Defendant shooting Mr Glass as seen in the body cam footage, she wrote.

The prosecution has filed a petition for the pair to be tried together, and on Monday the judge set a June court date, by which time both legal teams will have submitted responses to the motion and other matters will be addressed.

The Glasses have repeatedly pushed for charges brought against other officers, as well. After Christian called 911 last June, seven officers from multiple agencies were involved in the response. They spoke with Christian  who appeared to be suffering from some sort of nonviolent mental episode but repeatedly offered to throw anything that could be considered a weapon out of the car  for more than an hour. When he refused orders to exit his vehicle, Christian was hit with a stun gun, appeared to grab a tiny knife while thrashing around in the drivers seat, and was then quickly shot dead.

Story continues

Officers had been laughing and joking while cajoling Christian just minutes before he was killed.

Christian Glass smiles with his parents, Sally and Simon Glass, from England and New Zealand, respectively (The Glass Family)

Ms Glass said on Monday that continued reports of new fatal police shootings in the months since their sons death have left them trying not to watch the news too much ... because we find it so triggering.

Honestly, were doing a bit of self preservation at the moment, she said. Its not because we dont care deeply, its just that [theres] just so much a human being can handle.

Going further than addressing just police shootings, however, Mrs Glass insisted that America has got to ban assault rifles to curb gun deaths and further mass tragedies.

In January, Mr Glass lamented the death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of police following another court hearing for the ex-deputies charged with killing his son.

I saw Tyres parents interview, part of the interview that they did, and really see the same thing we were going through  just disbelief, he said. I think he said something like, Im just trying to make it home or something like that.

What are they doing? What are they doing? he said of police departments and violent altercations.

Watching former deputies Buen and Gould in court, the Glasses said on Monday, was incredibly hard ... its awful and we have nightmares about it  but they continue to attend all court hearings for our son.

Our son lost his life, Mrs Glass said, through tears. The least we can do, as parents, is come up and support him, because I believe, somehow, hes still around.

Mr Buen and Mr Gould are scheduled to next appear in court on 21 June.
The fast-approaching summer offers a precious opportunity for parents of students suffering severe learning loss from the coronavirus pandemic.

Schools and policymakers have been scrambling since the 2022 Nations Report Card last fall showed that students lost decades of progress in reading and math when they missed out on in-person classes. Now, students are set to leave the classroom again for three months.

Summer learning loss is not a new concept in education, but the focus on how to keep students academically and socially engaged for the vacation has new urgency as parents look for ways to ensure their children dont fall further behind.

I would say this is absolutely even more of a concern because so many of our kids, you know, really lost time learning time, said Jodi Grant, the executive director of Afterschool Alliance.

Some of the more common tips parents have seen for years regarding summer learning are making sure their children play outside, read, write in a journal and do fun activities that involve math.

Since the pandemic, however, increasing emphasis is being placed is on students social-emotional learning.

Chase Nordengren, principal research lead for effective instructional strategies at NWEA, a nonprofit education research organization, said he has heard from teachers that students have less practice with the skills of school going.

They lost practice with being around other groups of students, working with them, compromising, resolving conflicts, a lot of the social skills that help students be really effective in a school environment, Nordengren said.

If anything has changed, I think its the importance of finding ways to reemphasize that, you know  making sure that students arent spending all summer sitting by themselves in a room, but are still getting accustomed to being around other kids and learning how to get along with those kids, he added.

The National Center for Education Statistics found that 80 percent of public schools believe socio-emotional development was stunted in students in the 2021-2022 school year, and educators this school year have continued to sound the alarm on behavioral issues in the classroom.

Story continues

One of the best ways to ensure a student keep up their academic and social education is through summer learning programs, which have received boosts in funding during the pandemic.

Many of our districts have applied that funding to provide resources, whether its through tutoring or after-school programs. We are working right now with summer learning programs, Parent-Teacher Association President Anna King said.

In order for summer learning to be effective, experts say, students have to want to go and it has to be made exciting for them.

Summer school has all these bad connotations. But you can have summer learning that feels like camp, where kids can go to a place and the learning is built into the curriculum based on students passions and interests, but it doesnt feel like school, Grant said.

Last year, first lady Jill Biden and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona traveled to Connecticut, Michigan and Georgia to tout the money given towards these programs from the American Rescue Plan: $122 billion to all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

The money came with the condition that local educational agencies put 1 percent towards evidence-based summer enrichment programs and 5 percent towards evidence-based programs aimed at addressing learning loss, such as summer and afterschool programs.

Summer learning and enrichment programming is among the top strategies school districts are using to address missed instruction  and the American Rescue Plan is funding it, the White House said, highlighting the programs would be providing more opportunities for students  especially those disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.

But Grant, of the Afterschool Alliance, says not all of the funding is being used properly.

Far too many school districts are not using the money for what we would call summer learning, which is really, you know, partnerships between schools and organizations in the community  Were seeing far too many school districts just doing summer school or keeping it within the school as opposed to bringing in other resources in the community to help the kids, she said.

While summer programs are a great option for students, there are areas where none are available or parents cant afford the money or time to send their children to one.

When preparing for summer learning at home, it is important to connect with the students teachers to see what they have been learning and what resources the school might have for over the summer.

I would say probably the first piece of advice would be to go to their childs teacher and to think if theres anything specific that they can give. Maybe even thinking about any goals that the students have set like throughout the year, and being able to expand on those over the summer, Lauren Wells, manager for professional learning strategic accounts at NWEA, said.

While summer learning is important, King emphasized it is imperative that children do not feel punished over their long break.

The learning loss is concerning, but no one will be able to make it up in just three months.

Enjoy the summer. Enjoy the summer together. Do anything and everything that you can with each moment with your children, or into them and just love on them. Love on yourself. We need our parents  our parents are so worried about getting their kids caught up that they forget that they need time for themselves, she said. Pour into yourself while you pour into your kids.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat announced Monday that several of the Fulton County jails executive staff have resigned after lawyers claimed a mentally ill inmate died after a bedbug infestation.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

According to a release, Labat asked for the resignations of the chief jailer, assistant chief jailer and members of the criminal investigative division.

Its clear to me that its time, past time, to clean house, Labat said in a news release.

TRENDING STORIES:

A spokesperson for Labat said that the executive team, which has more than 65 years of jail administration and experience.

When leveraged at its very best, that experience can be invaluable, Labat said. However, it can also lend itself to complacency, stagnation & settling for the status quo.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

The sheriffs office is also reviewing all legal options to change medical vendors and enter into a new contract with a provider that can effectively, consistently and compassionately deliver the best standard of care.

Last week the family of 35-year-old Lashawn Thompson, along with their lawyers, demanded a criminal investigation into his death in September after a three-month stay at the jail. They also demanded that the county build a new jail.

Thompson was being held on misdemeanor battery charges that he had yet to be tried for.

Photos provided by the familys lawyer show a jail cell in deplorable condition and pictures of Thompsons body  of his face and torso covered with bugs.

Attorney Michael Harper said Thompson was diagnosed with schizophrenia but was physically healthy when booked into jail.

There is no excuse for a mentally ill inmate to be left alone in a jail, abandoned to die, Harper said.

Story continues

The medical examiner reported Thompsons cause of death as undetermined.

They did nothing to help him. Nothing. They found him dead in his cell, lying there infested with bed bugs and lice. And thats what killed him, Harper said.

Thompsons brother, Brad McCrae, said the family was horrified to see the photos.

It was heartbreaking because nobody should be seen like that. Nobody should see that, McCrae said.

Investigators are still working to learn what led to Thompsons death. After the investigation is complete, the case will be handed over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Most importantly, we want to, once again, extend our sincere condolences to the family of Mr. LaShawn Thompson, said Sheriff Patrick Pat Labat. The final investigative report will not ease the familys grief or bring their loved one back, but it is my hope and expectation that it provides a full, accurate and transparent account of the facts surrounding Mr. Thompsons death so that it provides all of the answers they are seeking and deserve.
 Flash

Iraq's Interior Ministry announced on Sunday that its intelligence agency had arrested four militants affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) in the northern province of Nineveh, including a "dangerous leader."

The militants were found to have engaged in terrorist operations against security forces, according to a statement by the ministry.

No further details were provided regarding the timing of the arrests or the names of the militants. However, one of the arrested individuals was identified as a leader of IS who had been active in Diyala, Kirkuk, and Nineveh provinces, the statement added.

In recent months, Iraqi security forces have been conducting operations against extremist militants to counter their intensified activities. Despite the defeat of IS in 2017, remnants of the group continue to pose a threat, carrying out guerilla attacks in urban centers, deserts, and rugged areas, targeting security forces and civilians.
Some patients at a Jensen Beach outpatient surgery center got saline during their surgeries instead of the pain-killing fentanyl thats part of normal surgical anesthesia, a Port St. Lucie nurse admitted.

Registered nurse Catherine Dunton also admitted stealing the fentanyl, filling the vials with saline and shooting the fentanyl into her bloodstream while working at the Surgery Center at Jensen Beach.

Thats all in Duntons Fort Pierce federal court guilty plea to tampering with a consumer product. She is scheduled to be sentenced June 27 by U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon.

Along with her freedom, Dunton is likely to lose her registered nurse license. The Florida Department of Health started the discipline process with an administrative complaint that posted Sept. 8.

Dunton is already under an Aug. 23 emergency restriction order (ERO) that operates like a suspension. The order says Dunton cant practice nursing until an evaluator from the Intervention Project for Nurses (IPN) tells the Florida Department of Health that Duntons not a danger to patients.

This isnt Duntons first ERO  or, state documents say, her first incident stealing fentanyl or other drugs for personal use.

READ MORE: Three patients accuse an Orlando psychiatrist of molesting them

Fentanyl and Duntons damage done

Duntons Florida Department of Health online license profile says she has been licensed as a registered nurse since July 7, 1993. Discipline documents from 2012 say she was fined $200 and put under IPN monitoring after a positive test for fentanyl in March 2012 while working at Port St. Lucies Lawnwood Regional Medical Center. She completed that monitoring in 2017.

But the most recent ERO says Dunton admitted to IPN evaluator Dr. Lawrence Wilson that she began stealing Demerol, morphine, Percocet and fentanyl from Lawnwood for personal use in 2008. She entered a monitoring contract with IPN.

While under IPN monitoring in 2009, Dunton told Wilson, she drank a bottle of wine or four to five vodka drinks per day during the first three years of her IPN contract. IPN monitoring didnt prevent her from stealing and shooting up, she said, 50 to 1,000 micrograms of Lawnwoods fentanyl at least three days a week.

Story continues

Dunton resumed drinking at her previous rate by March 2021, this time accompanied by blackouts. She still managed to be hired at the Surgery Center at Jensen Beach Sept. 20, 2021.

She couldnt handle it.

READ MORE: Potential life-threatening problem with a Miami companys kids supplement

Dunton at the Surgery Center

As a circulating nurse, her guilty plea says, an occasional part of her job was getting controlled substances during surgeries.

She would then deliver the controlled substance to another staff member or administer the controlled substance directly to the patient under the doctors supervision, Duntons guilty plea says. The Center required staff to document the removal and use of any controlled substance on the controlled substance inventory log kept by the controlled substance cabinet.

The emergency restriction order said Dunton admitted she knew there were occasions when the patients would receive only saline.

An April 18, 2022, inventory of controlled substances revealed a 25-vial box of fentanyl was missing. Another employee noticed numerous tampered vials and several fentanyl boxes that initially appeared sealed, but the rear plastic had actually been cut open. These boxes appeared to have been accessed from the back or rear to remove vials.

Dunton told investigators shed take off a vials cap, removing the entire dose of fentanyl, and replacing the contents with saline...After removing the vials cap, the defendant explained that she used a tool to recap the top of the vial. She then returned that tampered vial to the controlled substance cabinet in exchange for a new vial, repeating the process.

She admitted shooting up at work and at home.

She admitted to using saline and needles from the Center as part of the tampering process and self-administering the fentanyl. She self-administered fentanyl at work and at her home in St. Lucie County.

She advised that she was aware that her actions caused patients to not receive their prescribed dose of fentanyl due her replacing the contents of the vials, Duntons guilty plea said. [Dunton] denied hearing any negative reporting or patients reporting higher levels of pain than expected at the facility.

Duntons admission of facts says Maryland anesthesiologist Dr. Arthur Simone was prepared to testify that, as fentanyl is part of the overall anesthesia function during surgery, a patient might move when they shouldnt during surgery. Also, theres an elevated risk of clinically significant increases in heart attack or stroke.
Washington  Family members of Paul Whelan, the U.S. businessman serving a 16-year prison sentence in Russia, said they are concerned that the White House and State Department are diverting resources away from his case and that he could be left behind again as the U.S. seeks the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, another American who has been wrongfully detained.

"His resilience is shaken," Whelan's brother, David, wrote in an email update on Monday. "Paul seems rattled like never before, understandably apprehensive that the U.S. government will choose not to bring him home again, now that there is another American wrongfully detained by the Kremlin."

Whelan was sentenced to 16 years behind bars in 2020 after being arrested on espionage charges at a Moscow hotel in December 2018.

The U.S. has made two prisoner swaps for the release of professional basketball star Brittney Griner and former Marine Trevor Reed, who were both wrongfully detained in Russia after Whelan's arrest. The Biden administration has blamed Russia for treating Whelan's case differently.

"On Friday, Paul told our parents he feels as though the U.S. government has abandoned him," David Whelan wrote.

Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine who was arrested for alleged spying, listens to the verdict in a courtroom at the Moscow City Court in Moscow, Russia, June 15, 2020. / Credit: Sofia Sandurskaya / AP

The update comes as the Biden administration is under pressure to secure the release of Gershkovich, who is also accused of espionage. The State Department formally declared that the journalist was wrongfully detained within days of his arrest, while it took years for Whelan to receive the designation.

The handling of Griner and Gershkovich's cases has also prompted criticism that detainees in prominent positions are given higher priority by the U.S. government. Ambassador Roger Carstens, the U.S. special envoy for hostage affairs, has denied that anyone receives preferential treatment.

"The White House and State Department have repeatedly said that Paul's case is the highest priority," David Whelan said. "But choices  to give concessions in one case and not in another  suggest that there is some prioritization going on. Some families get phone calls from the President. Some detainees are rapidly considered for wrongful detention.

Story continues

"It is the U.S. government's duty to bring Paul home," he continued. "If the U.S. government is pulling its punches at the expense of some of its citizens, it should stop doing so."

Underscoring their frustration with the U.S. government, David Whelan said their sister, Elizabeth, would be pausing her interactions with the State Department and the National Security Council "until they stop wasting her time and come up with something more than thoughts and prayers."

In a video last week, Elizabeth Whelan said their family has been told over the years that "several offers" have been made for Whelan's release.

"Perhaps the White House does know what it might take to the get the job done but they are reluctant to cross what they see as some red line," she said.

Nikki Haley campaign falls short on funds as GOP barrels toward primary season

Congress back in session as new poll shows support for raising debt ceiling, Trump investigation

Fox News defamation trial delayed until Tuesday
Prosecutors have charged a Peculiar, Missouri, man with murder in the fatal shooting of 50-year-old Alyssa Jordan Sunday in rural Cass County, a spokesman for the Cass County Sheriffs Office said.

The Cass County prosecutor charged 49-year-old Christopher M. Marshall with one count of second-degree murder, one count of armed criminal action and four counts of unlawful possession of a firearm, said Lt. Jess Claibourn, a spokesman for the Cass County sheriff.

Sheriff deputies responded to a shooting about 1:10 a.m. Sunday at a home in the 23700 block of Missouri Route C near Peculiar. Arriving deputies discovered Jordan deceased inside the home, Claibourn said.

Deputies arrested Marshall and took him to the sheriffs office for further questioning.

Marshall was being held in the Cass County jail Monday on 500,000 cash only bond, according to jail records.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at an event on Capitol Hill on March 22, 2023. Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Protect Our Care

An Illinois man sued Nancy Pelosi's campaign for more than $31,500 over unwanted fundraising texts.

The campaign appears to have settled with the man out of court, paying him $7,500.

The man accused the former speaker of the House's campaign of violating anti-robocalling laws.

An Illinois man is now $7,500 richer after accusing Nancy Pelosi of violating federal robocalling laws.

In October 2022, a Bolingbrook, Illinois resident named Jorge Rojas filed a 13-page lawsuit in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois that accused the former speaker of the House and her campaign of violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991.

That law, which has been found to apply to text messages in addition to calls, applies restrictions to robocalling and requires telemarketers not to contact individuals who've placed themselves on the Do Not Call Registry.

"As the Supreme Court has explained, Americans passionately disagree about many things," reads the introduction of Rojas's complaint. "But they are largely united in their disdain for robocalls."

According to the suit, Rojas received 21 texts from Pelosi's campaign from November 2021 to July 2022 despite previously placing himself on the registry in 2008 to "obtain solitude from invasive and harassing telemarketing calls."

He went on to argue that he "experienced frustration, annoyance, irritation, and a sense that his privacy has been invaded" by the texts.

Arguing that the texts constituted "malicious, intentional, willful, reckless, wanton and negligent disregard" for his rights, Rojas sought at least $31,500 in damages from Pelosi's campaign, including $1,500 for each text received.

But months later, on February 22, Rojas moved to dismiss the suit against Pelosi.

And according to federal campaign finance disclosures made public on Friday, the dismissal came after Rojas received a $7,500 payment marked "Settlement" from Pelosi's congressional campaign.

Rojas and Pelosi's campaign did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Story continues

The Pelosi campaign's settlement payment to Rojas, disclosed in April's quarterly filing. Screenshot/Federal Election Commission

Fundraising texts sent in Pelosi's name have achieved a certain level of notoriety  and infamy  in recent years.

"Why won't Nancy Pelosi stop emailing me?" read the headline of a recent Los Angeles Times column in which the author expressed annoyance at the increasingly hyperbolic tone of campaign solicitations in general.

crazy ass moments in american politics (@ampol_moment) June 24, 2022

Rojas, in his lawsuit, went as far as to print out verbatim some of the fundraising texts he received, including one capitalizing on the retirement of a slew of Republicans, including Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, and Richard Shelby of Alabama.

A fundraising text that Rojas received from Pelosi, according to the lawsuit. Screenshot/Rojas v. Nancy Pelosi for Congress et al

A full copy of the lawsuit can be found below:

Read the original article on Business Insider
A mental health counselor has filed paperwork announcing plans to sue the Pensacola Police Department after he claims an officer pulled him over at gunpoint because he is Black and was driving an older model car.

Taran Black, 31, has submitted a formal notice of intent to sue the PPD over the traffic stop Jan. 27. He is claiming damages of $200,000 for emotional distress and severe physical, mental and emotional harm.

Police body camera footage from the incident shows an officer detaining Black at gunpoint after he failed to immediately pull over his older model Chevrolet Caprice when the officer initiated a traffic stop.

The officer says in the video that he initiated the stop because Black was not wearing a seat belt. Black disputes that and said he was wearing a seat belt at the time.

The video shows Black continue to drive for about a minute after the officer turns on his sirens before pulling over. The officer then exists his patrol vehicle, draws his gun and yells "Get out of the vehicle now." Black opens the car door and steps out with both hands in the air. The officer then orders him to get on his knees and put his hands on his head, before placing him in handcuffs.

Black's attorney, Alistair McKenzie, said the video shows there is no way police could have been able to see whether his client did or did not have on a seat belt. He claims Black was treated unjustly because of his race and the older car he was driving.

"What this video shows, which is a public record, it shows that the only two things he can see when he has made that decision to pull that vehicle over are the kind of car my client is driving and the fact that my client is Black. Thats it," McKenzie said. "Thats all you can tell. There is no way that you can tell if he did or did not have a seat belt on."

Taran Black, and his attorney, Alistair McKenzie, have submitted a formal notice of intent to sue the Pensacola Police Department over a January traffic stop. Black claims police pulled him over because he is a Black man who was driving an older model car.

PPD spokesman Mike Wood said the police department had no comment, citing the pending litigation.

McKenzie sent a letter to the Florida Department of Financial Services in Tallahassee and a duplicate copy to the PPD on May 12 that signaled his clients intent to file a lawsuit. McKenzie said the law requires a six-month waiting period between the time such letters of intent are received and when the lawsuit can be filed.

Story continues

The letter stated the officer, Noah Dufour, "committed an egregious act of racist and classist policing" during the traffic stop when he pulled over Black "for no reason other than his color and perceived economic status by the car he was driving."

"Dufour then assaulted Mr. Black by drawing his weapon and placing Mr. Black in fear of his life," the letter continues. "This was all caught on video which we have carefully reviewed multiple times. As the video makes clear Officer DuFours stated reason for the stop, that Mr. Black did not have his seat belt on, is a lie.

More court news

 Supreme Court discrimination ruling addresses issue Florida leaders ignored

 Gov. DeSantis appoints Escambia County judge to fill vacancy on First Circuit Court

 Health care providers seek legal protections from lawsuits stemming from delivery of care during pandemic

Black, a mental health counselor at Baptist Health Care's Lakeview Center, said he was on his way to visit a client at home when he was pulled over. He said as he turned toward his client's neighborhood near Attucks Court, he saw a police patrol vehicle pull behind him and turn on its lights. He said he continued driving so he could find a place to stop where his client wouldn't see him getting pulled over.

"Its not good for anyone to see their counselor get pulled over by the police, Black said.

He also said he was following all laws.

"I was abiding by traffic laws," he said. "I had a seat belt on."

Taran Black, and his attorney, Alistair McKenzie, have submitted a formal notice of intent to sue the Pensacola Police Department over a January traffic stop. Black claims police pulled him over because he is a Black man who was driving an older model car.

The incident ended with Black receiving a citation for not wearing a seat belt.

In addition to monetary compensation, Black said he also wants the PPD to institute internal policy changes. He expects to outline the specifics of those changes when a lawsuit is officially filed in court.

Black is scheduled to appear in traffic court Oct. 16 and said he plans to fight his ticket for not wearing a seat belt.

His attorney said the outcome of that hearing will not directly affect plans for the civil lawsuit.

Colin Warren-Hicks can be reached at colinwarrenhicks@pnj.com or 850-435-8680.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Taran Black lawsuit: PPD sued over 'racist and classist' traffic stop
An image has been shared on Twitter with claims that it shows Nigerias president-elect Bola Tinubu and outgoing leader Muhammadu Buhari in Saudi Arabia on April 12, 2023. But while both men announced separately they were indeed heading to Saudi Arabia this month, the claim is nonetheless false: the picture was taken in 2019 in Nigerias capital Abuja when Buhari met Tinubu to break the fast during Ramadan.

ASIWAJU TINUBU. PRESIDENT ELECT AND PRESIDENT BUHARI AT MECCA, SAUDI ARABIA TODAY, APRIL 12, 2023(sic), reads a tweet published on April 12, 2023.

The tweet was quoted more than 700 times before it was deleted.

It was published by Nigerian columnist, Sam Omatseye, who regularly publishes posts in support of Tinubu.

A screenshot showing the false tweet before it was deleted, taken on Aril 12, 2023

The same photo was also shared elsewhere on Twitter with claims that this was the first time both an incumbent president and president-elect will observe Hajj together in Mecca.

Nigerias electoral commission declared Tinubu the winner of the presidential poll held on February 25, 2023.

The main opposition candidates, Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, argued that widespread irregularities and rigging marred the election.

Both men have petitioned the election tribunal, with each claiming to have won.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has denied any illegal activity, although it acknowledged technical problems with the voting machines.

Old picture

Tinubu announced on March 22, 2023, that he was travelling abroad to "take a rest and perform lesser hajj" in Saudi Arabia. Nigerian media reported that Buhari also headed to Saudi Arabia for the pilgrimage. His spokesman Garba Shehu shared an image of the outgoing leader saying it showed him in Medinah.

PRESIDENT BUHARI IN MADINAH, PRAYS AT PROPHETS MOSQUE pic.twitter.com/MkmY3Tw5RR  Garba Shehu (@GarShehu) April 12, 2023

But the claim posted by Omatseye is false.

Story continues

Using a reverse image search, AFP Fact Check found that the photo has been online since 2019.

The picture (archived here), published by major Nigerian media outlets, was taken by Buharis personal photographerSunday Aghaeze. It shows Buhari hosting Tinubu during the breaking of fast at the presidential villa in Abuja on May 10, 2019.

Fikayo OWOEYE

At the time, Tinubu was one of the leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress party.

The event was widely reported, including here(archived here.)

Buhari has regularly hosted political leaders (archived here) and traditional leaders (archived here) to the breaking of the fast at his Abuja residence.
A German photographer has turned down a prestigious prize after revealing that his winning photograph was created using artificial intelligence.

Boris Eldagsen was named the winner in the creative open category at the Sony World Photography Awards, with his black and white photograph Pseudomnesia / The Electrician. The image shows a young woman standing in front of the camera while an older woman stands behind her.

However, one week after he won the prize, Eldagsen shared a statement on his website announcing that he would not accept the awards.

I applied as a cheeky monkey, to find out, if the competitions are prepared for AI images to enter. They are not, he wrote.

We, the photo world, need an open discussion. A discussion about what we want to consider photography and what not. Is the umbrella of photography large enough to invite AI images to enter  or would this be a mistake?

Eldagsen, who specialises in photo and visual art, said that he hoped to speed up this debate by refusing the award.

He suggested that if you dont know what to do with the prize, please donate it to the fotofestival in Odesa, Ukraine.

A spokesperson for the World Photography Organisation said that Eldagsen told them he had co-created the image using AI before he was announced as the winner.

As per the rules of the competition, the photographers provide the warranties of their entry, they told The Guardian.

The creative category of the open competition welcomes various experimental approaches to image making from cyanotypes and rayographs to cutting-edge digital practices. As such, following our correspondence with Boris and the warranties he provided, we felt that his entry fulfilled the criteria for this category, and we were supportive of his participation.

The WPO added that they had additionally welcomed Boriss wish for dialogue, but had suspended working with him after he declined the award.

Given his actions and subsequent statement noting his deliberate attempts at misleading us, and therefore invalidating the warranties he provided, we no longer feel we are able to engage in a meaningful and constructive dialogue with him, they said.
A Pittsburgh man is facing charges for allegedly assaulting a priest at a South Side monastery over the weekend.

Police were called to St. Paul of the Cross Monastery at around 11 a.m. Saturday for a report of a suspicious person making threats inside the church.

Officers said that as they were pulling up, a shirtless man, later identified as Timothy Tomasic, 46, walked out with a priest and threw him to the ground, according to the complaint. Police said Tomasic stood over the priest and it looked as if he were going to start punching him, so an officer pulled out his Taser and yelled for Tomasic to get on the ground.

Tomasic was taken into custody. Police said he appeared to be under the influence of drugs.

The priest refused medical treatment, according to the complaint.

Tomasic is charged with aggravated assault and simple assault. He was arraigned and placed in the Allegheny County Jail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for later this month.

Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW

TRENDING NOW:

Border officers intercept 10 live roosters at US-Mexico border Duquesne University Police Department going on strike after nearly 8 months of negotiations Butler County runner wins womens division in 10-mile race at Walt Disney World resort VIDEO: New charges filed against Butler County mechanic, 3 new victims come forward DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts
A pizza delivery man in Pennsylvania delivered more than just a pie on Sunday afternoon after he was caught on video tripping a suspect being chased by police outside a home.

Tyler Morrell, a delivery driver for Coccos Pizza Aston, notched the law enforcement assist around 3 p.m. while he was bringing a pizza order to a home in Brookhaven.

"Thank you sir for the assist!!!" the Brookhaven Police Department said in a post sharing video of the encounter. "If youre interested in a job we are always looking for good people."

The homeowner shared video from a Ring doorbell camera capturing Morrell's heroic moment.

VIDEO SHOWS GOOD SAMARITAN HELPING NYPD TAKE DOWN ARMED SUSPECT

Tyler Morrell, a delivery driver for Coccos Pizza Aston, tripped the fleeing suspect and allowed police to quickly apprehend him on Sunday afternoon in Brookhaven, Pennsylvania.

Morrell is about to drop the delivery off to the homeowner when he spots police cars chasing a dark-colored vehicle that is driving on a lawn across the street, according to the video.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Tyler Morrell was delivering a pizza to a homeowner when he spotted a car driving across a front lawn while fleeing police.

As Morrell walks toward the sidewalk to get a better look, the suspect can be seen jumping out of the vehicle and running across the street toward Morrell.

The pizza delivery man takes a few steps back toward the home before lunging forward and sticking his foot out to trip the fleeing suspect, all while holding the pizza order, the video shows.

The suspect is seen falling to the ground and is quickly nabbed by police.

Police took the suspect into custody without further incident. No details about the suspect were immediately provided.

Morrell told FOX29 Philadelphia that he did not have time to think and just acted on his instincts.

TEXAS GOOD SAMARITAN ON PINNING DOWN DRUNK DRIVER WHO KILLED POLICE OFFICER: I WANTED HIM DONE WITH

"Honestly, I didnt really think about doing anything but stepping in. I was raised to step in if you see something thats not right. So, I just wanted to do my part," Morrell said, joking that he tried his best to "prevent the cheese from sliding" on the pizza as he assisted police.

Morrell joked that the pizza "was completely unharmed and enjoyed" by the homeowner.

Coccos also wrote on Facebook that after his heroics, Morrell "still delivered the food unharmed."

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Police did not immediately release any information about the suspect or why officers were chasing him.
Would religious charter schools be constitutional? More advocates are pushing to find out. FatCamera/E+ via Getty Images

U.S. courts have long wrestled with the extent to which government funding can be used at private religious schools. School-choice advocates have won key cases at the Supreme Court in recent years, opening up more ways for public dollars to support faith-based education. But Oklahoma pushed the debate into unchartered territory this spring with a proposal for a school that would have been the first of its kind: a Catholic charter, primarily paid for by taxpayers.

On April 11, 2023, the five-person board responsible for approving Oklahoma charters unanimously voted to reject the proposal, due to concerns about its governance structure and plans for special education students, among other issues. However, it gave organizers 30 days to revise the proposal and try again.

Charter schools, which are publicly funded but generally run by independent organizations, have attracted ardent fans and foes since they started in the early 1990s. Yet the key question in this case is not whether a charter would help or harm local education, but whether explicitly religious instruction at charter schools is constitutional, given the First Amendments protections against government establishment of religion.

In late 2022, the then-attorney general of Oklahoma argued that a state law barring faith-based charter schools was actually unconstitutional. The new attorney general who took office in January 2023 soon rescinded the opinion, leaving the charter school proposal in legal limbo  and making it even more likely to wind up at the Supreme Court if the school board eventually approves the charter.

Recent trend

Advocates of expanding public funding to faith-based schools were encouraged by three recent Supreme Court cases that upheld greater aid to their students. All three of these cases relied on a legal idea I have written about called the child benefit test. Essentially, according to this concept, it is constitutional under some circumstances to provide public funds to students who attend faith-based private schools, or their parents  but not directly to the schools.

Story continues

The first of these decisions, 2017s Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer, dealt with a private Christian preschool that was denied public grants to update its playground. School administrators sued, arguing that to deny generally available funding constituted religious discrimination, in violation of the First Amendments protections for freedom of religion. The high court agreed.

Faith & Freedom Coalition Chairman Ralph Reed speaks in front of the Supreme Court before arguments in Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer. Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Three years later, Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue further opened up government aid to private religious school pupils, relying on the Trinity Lutheran decision. A 5-4 majority ruled that Montanas tax credit program for parents sending their children to independent schools must apply even if those schools are faith-based.

In 2022, the Court extended this perspective in a case from Maine, Carson v. Makin. Maine, with its low population density, pays parents in areas lacking their own public schools to either transport their children to nearby public schools or a secular private school. The Supreme Court found that this program should apply to parents without a local public school who wish to send their child to a religious school, as well.

Rethinking church and state?

By expanding the boundaries of permissible aid, these three cases have boosted proponents hopes for even greater public funding for private faith-based schools  and now, with the charter proposal, hopes that there might be a path ahead for public religious schools, entirely paid for with taxpayer money. Yet, it is important to keep in mind what likely prompted these changes in the first place: new faces on the Supreme Court. A majority of todays justices tend to favor an accommodationists interpretation of the First Amendment, meaning they largely reject the idea that it demands a wall of separation between church and state, so long as the government is not privileging one faith over another.

Nevertheless, the parameters of the child benefit test often used to justify greater public funding has been evolving for years. The concept  which is one that legal scholars use to describe the Supreme Courts arguments, not a term the court has used itself  first emerged in a 1947 dispute from New Jersey, Everson v. Board of Education. In that case, the court upheld a state statute that allowed local school boards to transport students to faith-based schools  mostly Roman Catholic ones  reasoning that the students, not the schools themselves, were the primary beneficiaries of state aid.

In another illustrative case, 2002s Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, the Supreme Court allowed parents whose children attended Clevelands public school system, which was then failing state standards, to use public vouchers to attend faith-based schools. A majority of justices upheld the programs constitutionality because, again, students were the primary beneficiaries, not the religious schools themselves. Moreover, students attended these schools as a result of their parents free choices, not because doing so was required by the state.

A changing court means changing interpretations. Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

Eyes on Oklahoma

Now, in what may be the largest expansion of the child benefit test, legislators in various states are considering laws to expand how parents can participate in public education fund programs even if their children attend private religious schools, such as by broadening voucher or tax-credit programs. The Oklahoma proposal, however, had been the first to consider establishing a charter school with religious instruction and standards.

Charters, which trace their origins to Minnesota in 1991, are publicly funded and part of local school districts, yet free from many regulations, such as standards about curricular content and teacher qualifications. The idea of faith-based charters has attracted proponents for more than 20 years, but they have had little success. If the proponents of the Catholic proposal in Oklahoma reapply to the school board and eventually succeed, it would likely encourage similar approaches elsewhere.

If states authorize faith-based charters, the new schools will likely be a boon to their religious groups and facilitate more students ability to attend. Proponents of charters, whether traditional or faith-based, support them as part of the larger school choice movement that seeks to give parents in failing districts opportunities to move their children into better schools without paying private school tuition.

Nevertheless, faith-based charters are likely to raise new headaches for their supporters, too. Charters are largely exempt from some state standards, but not all, and faith-based schools that converted into charters could be subject to greater government oversight about issues such as policies on LGBTQ+ students and staff  a longtime sticking point  or having to accept students with disabilities, just as all public schools do.

While this legal battle is just heating up, it has the potential to reshape public education as we have known it.

This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. The Conversation is trustworthy news from experts, from an independent nonprofit. Try our free newsletters.

It was written by: Charles J. Russo, University of Dayton.

Read more:



Charles J. Russo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
 Flash

Hungary has joined Poland in banning the import of grain and other food products from Ukraine, in an effort to protect its domestic farming industry, according to official sources.

The ban, which was announced by the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture late Saturday night, is temporary and will last until June 30. Ukrainian grain exports have been forced to take alternate routes through the European Union (EU) since Russia blocked access to the Black Sea.

Minister of Agriculture Istvan Nagy took to Facebook to announce the ban, saying that the Hungarian government is committed to representing the interests of its farming community.

The ministry's statement said that in the absence of meaningful EU measures, Hungary is temporarily prohibiting the importation of grain, oilseeds, and several other agricultural products from Ukraine, similar to Poland.

Poland announced its own temporary ban on several Ukrainian foodstuffs on Saturday, following protests by Polish farmers.

The Hungarian ministry explained that the continuation of the current domestic market processes would cause serious damage to Hungarian agriculture, so "extraordinary measures must be put in place to hinder them."

The statement also cited cheap production practices not allowed in the EU, as well as duty-free and free trade opportunities, which have allowed large quantities of Ukrainian poultry, eggs, and honey to enter the European market, making it difficult for domestic and Central European farmers to compete.
Members of the Pittsburgh Stadium Independent Employees Union who work for PNC Park are going on strike.

According to the PSICEU, the members of the union voted on the most recent contract offer from the Pirates on Sunday and rejected it.

The strike was voted on and was accepted.

Ticket takers, sellers and ushers will be members of the strike.

The Pittsburgh Pirates released a statement on the strike Sunday night.

We are disappointed that PSIEU did not ratify the proposed agreement today. We have bargained in good faith under the guidance of a federal mediator for several months. After offering unprecedented wage increases and other economic benefits, we were twice told by union leadership that they would take the proposed agreement back to its membership with their full support. It would be extremely disappointing if members of the union would choose to strike under these circumstances. We are hopeful that they will be able to ratify an agreement soon, said a spokesperson from the Pirates.

Workers will meet across the street from PNC Park at 4 p.m. on Thursday. The Pirates are scheduled to play Cincinnati at 6:35 p.m.

Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW

TRENDING NOW:

Wildlife photographer captures shot of Croczilla in Everglades Local police searching for pair of suspects with active warrants Person reportedly shot in Pittsburghs Uptown neighborhood VIDEO: New charges filed against Butler County mechanic, 3 new victims come forward DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts
Police arrested five men last Thursday following an investigation into an illegal gambling parlor set up on downtown Seattles sidewalks.

Last week, an agent with the Washington State Liquor Control Board gave a Seattle Police Department officer information about the illegal sale of cigarettes in the citys downtown corridor.

When the officer later contacted the individual involved in the sale, he observed several men sitting at a makeshift gambling table on the sidewalk, using money and gambling chips.

No arrests were made at that time.

Then, around 3 p.m. Thursday, the officer observed the same group of five men setting up the makeshift gambling table in the 2000 block of 3rd Avenue.

The same man identified by the Liquor Control Board agent was also there, openly selling cigarettes from a suitcase without proper licensing.

According to the SPD, the officer watched from a distance as the group played a game of cards using money. He also spotted a pushcart next to the group, which had multiple bottles of liquor and other items on the ground for sale.

Police then contacted the group and took each of them into custody.

During the search incident to arrest, officers seized the following:

A Smith & Wesson .389 pistol, loaded with a round in the chamber

16.6 grams of hydrocodone

1.1 grams of crack cocaine

6.7 grams of cannabis

Narcotics packaging

Five bottles of liquor

$605.20 in U.S. currency

Gambling chips

A 63-year-old man, a convicted felon, was booked into the King County Jail for unlawful possession of a firearm. A 64-year-old man was also booked into the King County Jail for felony narcotics and illegal cigarette sales.

The three other men arrested  ages 51, 52 and 53  were identified and released, with charges requested for gambling offenses.
A police chase ended in a violent crash Sunday evening on Lookout Mountain.

On Sunday, April 16, 2023 at about 8 p.m. deputies with the sheriffs office in Dade County, Georgia were notified that deputies from Grundy County, Tennessee were in pursuit of a U-Haul van on Highway 136 coming up Lookout Mountain from Walker County, Georgia.

Dade County deputies responded to Lookout Mountain to join the pursuit and officers with the Trenton Police Department set up spike strips at the base of Lookout Mountain on Highway 136.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

At the top of the mountain, the driver continued straight in a hard right turn, struck concrete barriers, and flipped the van over into the trees.

Deputies were able to remove the trapped driver from the heavily damaged van and turned him over to EMS.

The driver, Barry May of Waukegan, Illinois, was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

May had an active warrant out of Illinois and charges related to this chase are pending.

May was the only person injured in the chase and the U-Haul van was the only vehicle damaged during the pursuit.

TRENDING STORIES:

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

IN OTHER NEWS:
Sergeant David Stansbury accused of attacking woman on duty

A police sergeant has been charged with three counts of rape while on duty.

Sgt David Stansbury, 42, will appear before Plymouth Magistrates' Court on Wednesday accused of raping a woman aged 16 years or over.

Devon and Cornwall Police said the charges related to alleged incidents in Plymouth in 2009 while he was on duty.

The force said the allegations have been under investigation since being reported to them in September 2020.

Sgt Stansbury, from Ilminster, Somerset, was an officer in Devon and Cornwall between 2009 and 2011. He now works for Hertfordshire Police but was suspended from duty in October 2021.

Sgt Stansbury joined the police in 2005 and spent the first two years of his career as a response officer with Borehamwood Intervention Team.

He transferred to Devon and Cornwall Police in 2009 before moving back to Hertfordshire two years later.

He was promoted to sergeant the following year and led an intervention team in Hemel Hempstead for three years before working for a Safer Neighbourhood Team with Welwyn Hatfield South.

Speaking following his move to the neighbourhood team he said: "This is my first time in a Safer Neighbourhood role and I am really enjoying it. I love the way it enables me to get to know the local area I serve really well and you can see when you are making a tangible difference.

Its good to be building relationships within the community of Welwyn Hatfield South. There are many things I would like to achieve, but one of the main things is to make our officers as visible to the public as possible to provide a reassuring presence to the community.

A Devon and Cornwall Police spokesman said: "If you have any information that you feel may assist this investigation, please contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously by calling freephone 0800 555 111."
The ATM at Truity is covered after being broken into early Monday morning.

Bartlesville Police are searching for two suspects that broke into an ATM early Monday morning and got away with "a large amount of cash."

At 1:56 a.m. Monday, BPD received a call that two African American males wearing hoodies and face masks were forcing open an ATM at the Truity Credit Union on Washington Boulevard, according to a police statement. The suspects fled before police arrived.

After reviewing the video, police determined the suspects used pry bars and hooked the ATM to a truck to force it open. They then abandoned the truck and got into dark-colored Camaro and headed south on Highway 75.

If anyone has information, contact the police department at (918) 338-4001.

Photo of a one of the two suspects describe by BPD as African American males wearing hoodies and face masks.

Photo of a dark colored Camaro the two suspects fled in released by Police.

Truity Credit Union, located on Washington Blvd

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Police search for ATM heist suspects
Police are asking for the publics help after a teenage girl went missing Monday morning.

14-year-old Janell Escalona was last seen in the area of 111 Atlantic Avenue between 6:30 a.m. and 7 a.m. when she went to walk her dog, according to Boston Police. The dog is shown in the picture above.

Escalona is described as a Hispanic female with a small build wearing a red jacket, black pants, and glasses.

Anyone with information about her whereabouts is asked to call police.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Sen. Mitt Romney speaks to reporters following an event at the Larry H. Miller Company in Sandy on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023. How do Utah voters feel about Romneys performance as senator. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News

A majority of Utah voters approve of Sen. Mitt Romneys performance, with 52% saying they approve compared to 44% who say they disapprove. And among voters who describe themselves as conservative, 55% say they approve of Romneys performance.

But as Romney weighs whether to run for a second term in the U.S. Senate, the latest Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll shows Romney continues to struggle with the most conservative members in his own party, which could make him vulnerable in the Republican primary.

Utah Republicans, for example, are less likely to approve of the job Romney is doing than Democrats, with 47% of Republicans saying they approve or strongly approve of his performance compared to 73% of Democrats. And only 23% of voters who consider themselves very conservative approve of Romneys performance compared with 60% of very liberal Utah voters. Majorities of moderate voters, at 69%, and somewhat liberal voters, at 65%, also approved of Romneys performance.

One prominent Republican has already declared an interest in Romneys seat. Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson, R-Kaysville, said he has formed an exploratory committee as he eyes making a run for the Senate in 2024.

There are rumors that other Republicans are considering a run, including Rep. Chris Stewart, who represents Utahs 3rd Congressional District, and former national security adviser Robert OBrien, who recently said hes moving his permanent residence to Utah.

Related

But in February, Romney told reporters at the Utah state Capitol hes focused on getting things done in Washington and will make a decision on whether to run in the spring or summer.

Im confident that I would win if I decide to run, he said. Ill have the resources, and I believe the people of Utah would be with me.

When he first ran for office in 2018, Romney faced a more conservative challenger in the state Republican primary, and he won that election with over 70% of the vote.

Recently, Romney filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission that will allow him to begin raising and spending money on a reelection campaign. The statement of candidacy names Romneys chief fundraising committee as Romney for Utah.

Dan Jones & Associates conducted the poll of 801 registered Utah voters March 14-22. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.46 percentage points.
A popular California-based fast-food chain known for its burgers and tacos is coming to Lexington.

Jack in the Box is expected to open its first Kentucky locations in Lexington and Louisville.

Van Ingram, Jack in the Box vice president for franchise development, lived in Lexington for more than 20 years and his two kids graduated from the University of Kentucky, so he said that coming back to the Bluegrass is a big goal.

Its a priority market for me, Ingram said. We think its an ideal opportunity. The burger competition is strong.

Ingram said that six new restaurant locations in Louisville already are in the works.

We hope to have a couple of the Louisville locations open by the end of the calendar year and the rest by 2024, Ingram said. So well have a presence there in Kentucky very soon.

Whataburger, In-N-Out Burger & more. Fast-food chains Lexington needs, odds of coming

Jack in the Box is expanding into Kentucky, with new locations planned for Lexington and Louisville. Provided

How many Jack in the Box locations are coming to Lexington?

At the moment, Ingram said, they are looking for a franchisee to partner with in Lexington with the goal of building four or five new restaurant locations inside New Circle Road, plus 10 to 15 more outside, including in ring cities like Richmond, Winchester, Georgetown, London, Frankfort and Morehead.

He said they hope to build 15 to 20 in the Central Kentucky market plus more in Louisville.

Jack in the Box is coming to Lexington, and these menu oddities are its claim to fame

Possible Jack in the Box Lexington locations

Jack in the Box is looking at putting locations along the Nicholasville Road corridor, near Hamburg, near the UK campus, on Tates Creek near Man o War, and on New Circle in the Bryan Station/Russell Cave area, he said.

The Double Jack at Jack in the Box will be coming to a menu near you in Lexington and Louisville. The burger chain is expanding into Kentucky. Provided

The West Coast chain recently began expanding, announcing plans for Arkansas and Florida. Now, the company wants to add spots in Kentucky.

Lexingtons demographics and growth make it just an ideal market, Ingram said. Its ripe for Jack in the Boxs unique menu.

Story continues

Whats on the Jack in the Box menu?

Jack in the Box is known for a wide-ranging menu that includes sirloin beef burgers, sandwiches such as the Chick-N-Tater Melt, popcorn chicken, all-day breakfast, tacos (including tiny ones), curly fries, egg rolls, shakes and other desserts.

The Loaded Tiny Tacos from the Jack in the Box menu. Provided

The Sourdough Jack is considered one of the top items on the Jack in the Box menu. Provided

The menu hits five separate dining opportunities: Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack and late night.

The late night menu is popular, especially with the college crowd, and is one of our core strengths, Ingram said.
On Monday, the outdoor fitness retailer REI announced it will close its only remaining store in Portland in February 2024.

The company emailed REI members to explain that the location could no longer guarantee the safety of employees and patrons, the local NBC outlet reported. Other major-chain stores throughout the U.S. have also closed, citing security issues, including a Whole Foods in downtown San Francisco last week and various Starbucks locations last year, including two in Portland.

The safety of our employees, members and customers is always our number one priority. In recent years, Portland has been dealing with increased crime in our neighborhood and beyond. Last year, REI Portland had its highest number of break-ins and thefts in two decades, despite actions to provide extra security, REI said in its email.

REI explained that it has now outgrown the Portland Pearl District store. Shoppers will now need to go to the suburbs for their outdoor sporting needs, with locations in Tualatin, Hillsboro, and Clackamas.

Last year on Black Friday, the store was subject to a jaw-dropping theft in which a car was used to break the stores doors. The local NBC outlet reported that the perpetrator stole clothing before fleeing the scene. In the first ten months of 2022, the number of thefts in the Pearl District totaled 933, up from the 791 reports in the first ten months of 2019. The number of car thefts during those ten months rose from 35 in 2019 to 119 in 2022. Assaults went up from 126 to 197.

While REI will evaluate opportunities for new locations, it does not believe a new site in downtown Portland is likely in the future.

Walmart also abandoned downtown Portland last month, though the company did not cite security issues as the determining factor. It instead pointed to the two Portland locations not meeting financial expectations. One week ago, Walmart announced it would close four stores in Chicago, again citing profitability issues.

More from National Review
United States Supreme Court

U.S. Supreme Court. Credit - Getty Images

Gerald Groff, a Christian former postal worker living in rural southeast Pennsylvania, says he was not allowed to observe Sabbath on Sundays and was punished when he did not work those days.

His fight with the post officewhich argued that Groffs requests to take all Sundays off led to unreasonable burdens on his coworkershas made it up to the Supreme Court, and the outcome could affect far more than one religious postal workers schedule. The case, Groff v. DeJoy, will be argued on Tuesday and is set to become the latest major argument before a court that has proven to be sympathetic to religious freedom claims.

The stakes are much bigger than Sabbath observance, says Elizabeth Sepper, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin and expert on religious liberty. The cases far reaching implications in workplaces could affect the ability for Muslim women to wear a hijab, Jews to wear a yarmulke, or Rastafarians to wear their hair in dreadlocks. It could affect religious employees ability to attend scheduled prayer services such as Jummah or Sunday church. It could even affect employees who refuse vaccines or dont want to have contact with patients who need abortion care.

Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act requires employers to show that an employees request for religious accommodations would create an undue hardship in order to deny it. The Supreme Court undercut this provision in 1997 when it ruled in Trans World Airlines v. Hardison that the undue hardship term means that employers only need to prove they face more than a de minimis (very minimal) cost to deny a religious accommodation.

Experts expect this Supreme Court will affirm that in order to deny religious accommodation requests, employers need to abide by a higher standardone more reflective of the undue hardship enshrined in federal law. In ordinary usage, most people understand the word undue hardship to mean something more than just a minimal cost or inconvenience, says Joshua McDaniel, director of Harvard Universitys Religious Freedom Clinic, who submitted an amicus brief on behalf of the Muslim Public Affairs Council in support of Groffs position.

Story continues

In the Groff case, the United States Postal Service (USPS) had initially allowed him to avoid Sunday shifts. But after the post office where Groff worked joined other nationwide carriers in delivering Amazon packages in 2015, the company eventually said his services were needed on Sunday, too. As Amazon deliveries soared, swapping shifts with coworkers was no longer working out; the local postmaster had to deliver mail himself given the lack of staff, and he argued that finding someone to cover the Sunday shift was time consuming and an added burden for him. Other workers complained that Groffs accommodations meant they had to take on more weekend shifts. Groff refused to work half days on Sunday after attending worship services, saying, I told my supervisor, its the Lords day. Its not the Lords morning.

Groff claims that by 2019 he faced an ultimatum: practice his faith or lose his job. He resigned in January 2019 and sued USPS; he lost in federal district court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit in Philadelphia. The courts relied on the Hardison standard, which required showing just a minimal cost to employers in order to lawfully deny Groffs request.

Read More: Louis DeJoys Surprising Second Act

Groff argues the 1977 Supreme Court rulings liberal interpretation of undue hardship is erroneous and harmful to employees. That sort of interpretation cant really be squared with the plain language of Title VII, says Stephanie Barclay, associate professor of law at the University of Notre Dame Law School and director of the law schools Religious Liberty Initiative. (The universitys religious liberty clinic filed an amicus brief in the case supporting Groff.)

Groff is not asking for blanket acceptance of religious accommodations but rather more intentional scrutiny about what constitutes an undue hardship. That could mean requiring the employer to show evidence of difficulty in light of their financial resources, number of workers, and the nature of its operation before excusing an employee from accommodations, Barclay says. She points out that employers accommodate people for lots of reasons all the time, including pregnancy and disability; we view that as a good thing in our pluralist American society.

The local post office in Groffs area didnt have many employees, so co-workers had to pick up the slack from Groffs Sundays offwhich some experts say could constitute an undue burden even in a stricter standard than Hardisons. Burdens on co-workers need to be counted as a hardship, Sepper says.

The Postal Services argument relies on the idea that Hardison is precedent and as such, it should not be easily overturned. They argue that Congress has the ability to revise its own statute in response to a Supreme Court ruling Congress has had some time to amend the statute to nullify the Hardison ruling if it had wanted to, but it hasnt yet done so, McDaniel says.

The low standard established in Hardison means employers have often scored legal victories in federal court after denying employees religious accommodations on issues ranging from physical appearance and dress to Ramadan fastingand on other requests concerning the Sabbath. A court ruled in a 1992 case that a Seventh-day Adventist working at the Chrysler Corporation could not have his schedule accommodated to observe the Sabbath because it would have cost the company about $1,500 a year. A court upheld denying Sabbath accommodations for Orthodox Jews in a 2006 case involving Quest Diagnostics because it could negatively affect [the] morale of employees without the same religious needs. In 2018, a court upheld Walgreens decision to fire a Black Seventh Day Adventist employee who worked at a call center and refused to work on Sabbath.

Legal experts have pointed out that employers denials of religious accommodations have a disproportionate effect on workers from minority religious groups and low-income earners, who make up an outsized number of religious accommodation claims. Muslims, for example, make up less than 1% of the U.S. population but account for more than 18% of such claims, according to the amicus brief filed by the Muslim Public Affairs Council. Working class employees are often the ones asking for religious accommodations; almost three-quarters of claims involve those in non-professional positions, such as truck drivers, security guards and factory workers, per the brief. Workers from minority religious groups, or low income earners dont have the bargaining power or the cultural cachet to easily convince their employer to make changes or accommodation to allow their non-threatening religious practices, McDaniel says.

Still, there have been exceptions of employees winning in court. The Supreme Court sided with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against Abercrombie and Fitch in a case in 2015 in which the apparel company refused to hire a 17-year-old Muslim woman who wore a hijab because it violated the stores look policy. And this Supreme Court, made up of six conservative justices and three liberals, has been generally open to claims of religious discrimination by Christians. The courts verdict in the Groff case could clarify the standard employers need to meet to deny religious accommodations throughout the country, altering and potentially strengthening protections for all religious workers going forward.
 Flash

This aerial photo taken on April 12, 2023 shows a view of the Isar nuclear power plant in Bavaria, Germany. [Photo/Xinhua]

Germany has officially left the nuclear age after turning off its last three atomic energy facilities on Sunday, a decision that has drawn a mixed response across the country.

Ever since the height of the Cold War in the 1980s, Germany has had a strong anti-nuclear movement, and the decision to end its use of atomic energy was taken in 2011 by then-chancellor Angela Merkel, a physicist by training, in the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster in Japan.

This marked a policy U-turn after her government had previously approved the extension of the operational life of Germany's nuclear facilities.

The turning off of the Isar 2 complex in Bavaria, and other facilities in Emsland in Lower Saxony, and Neckarwestheim in the southwestern region of Baden-Wurttemberg, was supposed to happen at the end of 2022, but was put back because of the turmoil caused to international energy supplies by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

"The risks of nuclear power are ultimately unmanageable," said Environment Minister Steffi Lemke, a member of the Green Party, which is part of Germany's ruling coalition government.

Last year, the three remaining nuclear plants supplied just 6 percent of Germany's energy, compared to 30.8 percent of power having been atomic in 1997.

But despite the move having generally been welcomed, with a target of 80 percent of energy coming from renewable sources by 2030, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz wanting "four to five wind turbines a day" to be installed, environmentally the picture is not entirely straight forward.

Germany is the largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the European Union, and has resorted to reviving some of its coal-fired power plants to make up any potential shortfall in gas supply, a decision branded as a mistake by environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg.

Markus Soeder, conservative state premier of Bavaria, called on states to be given the option to take responsibility for their own decisions, rather than being subject to one national policy.

"Until the crisis is over, and the transition to renewables succeeds, we must use every form of energy by the end of the decade," his ministerial office was quoted as saying in the Bild am Sonntag newspaper. "Bavaria is ready to take on this responsibility.

"While many countries in the world are even expanding nuclear power, Germany is doing the opposite. We need every possible form of energy. Otherwise, we risk higher electricity prices and businesses moving away."

There has also been opposition from within Scholz's own government, with Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the liberal FDP party calling for the three plants to stay active in reserve.

This would be technically and practically implausible, but with opinion polls showing that the issue of the nuclear turn-off is politically divisive, there is mileage to be gained in terms of public support by being seen to oppose the policy.
The Missouri Senates first order of business on Monday was a moment of silence for Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old who was shot and wounded last week after knocking on the wrong door in a Northland neighborhood.

State Sen. Lauren Arthur, a Kansas City Democrat, called for a point of personal privilege at the start of Mondays floor action, asking the chamber to pray for Yarl and his family.

We dont know everything about the situation, but we do know this should have never happened, Arthur said on the floor. We pray for Ralph and his family. We pray for answers and we pray for justice.

Senators inside the chamber bowed their heads in silence over the shooting, which has sparked national outrage and brought new scrutiny to Missouris gun laws.

Yarl, who is Black, was shot after knocking on the door in a neighborhood where he had been sent to pick up his younger brothers. Many have questioned why the shooter, a white man in his 80s who has not been officially identified, was only briefly held and released by police, with no charges filed.
Authorities in Northern California served 20 search warrants and arrested 17 people on felony charges in the culmination of a two-year investigation that ramped up last month after a shooting at a large celebration at a Sikh house of worship in Sacramento County.

Two men were critically wounded in the March 26 shooting at the Gurdwara Sacramento Sikh Society in the 7600 block of Bradshaw Road in Sacramento Countys Vineyard area. Thousands had gathered there for the temples first Nagar Kirtan, a traditional neighborhood celebration and parade.

The investigation, known as Operation Broken Sword, focused on two warring factions of a criminal syndicate involved in a range of illicit activities from firearms dealing to violent crimes. Authorities found and confiscated 41 illegally possessed guns as investigators served the search warrants on Sunday in the coordinated takedown.

At a Monday news conference, Sutter County District Attorney Jennifer Dupre announced the arrests that included men suspected in crimes that occurred in Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo, Solano, San Joaquin and Merced counties.

She said the investigation was ramped up at last months parade in Vineyard, where investigators intercepted two vehicles near the parade route. The prosecutor said authorities arrested seven people found with four handguns and two assault weapons with high-capacity ammunition magazines in those vehicles near the parade route, and the suspects intent was to take up position along the parade route and shoot at rivals.

Dupre said investigators were at last months Sacramento County parade with the goal of keeping the event violence-free, and shes convinced law enforcement prevented what couldve been a mass casualty incident.

If those weapons had gotten into the parade it could have been a blood bath, Dupre said.

A man is escorted to a sheriffs vehicle after a shooting at the Sacramento Sikh Society Temple in Sacramento County on March 26, during the societys first Nagar Kirtan Parade.

Fistfight leads to shooting

But violence did happen after those suspects were arrested. The Vineyard shooting occurred about 2:30 p.m. after a fight broke out among a group of men, all in their 20s, who were not part of the parade but knew each other.

Story continues

Two men were involved in the fistfight, the pair exchanging punches. A friend of one of the men shot a friend of the other combatant, according to the Sacramento County Sheriffs Office. Two of the men have been arrested for their suspected involvement in the shooting.

In connection with the guns found in the vehicles near the parade in Sacramento County, eight men were arrested on suspicion of criminal conspiracy to commit attempted murder, including Armandeep Singh; Gurvinder Singh; Nitish Kaushal; Harmandeep Singh; Gurminder Singh Kang; Devender Singh; Gursharn Singh; and Grucharan Singh, according to the Sutter County District Attorneys Office.

Dupre said members of two criminal syndicates responsible for the escalating violence, known as Minta and the AK-47 Group, were initially part of one group before their splintered in rival factions. The district attorney said the motivation behind the violence is still a little murky, but that they basically show up to places and try to shoot each other.

The violence started as fistfights and sword fights at a 2018 Sikh parade in Yuba City where one suspects attack with a sword was violent that the sword broke, Dupre said. Thats where the name of the operation originated for law enforcement.

The violence escalated to a shooting at a September 2021 wedding celebration in which a man was shot in the head but survived. Dupre said two people have been arrested on attempted murder charges in connection with the wedding shooting.

Sutter County District Attorney Jennifer Dupre goes through the details of Operation Broken Sword during a news conference at the Yuba City Police Department on Monday.

Gun violence from Stockton to Sacramento

Since the wedding shooting, there have been 10 additional shootings committed by these warring factions; and total of 11 men have been shot. Dupre said the men wounded in these shootings have been members of the rival groups, including five people shot in August 2022 outside a Sikh temple in Stockton and the two men wounded in the shooting last month in Sacramento County.

Five people were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and conspiracy charges in connection with a December 2022 shooting in Woodland, Dupre said.

Five men were arrested in connection with the Woodland shooting Sahajpreet Singh, Harkirat Singh, Tirath Ram, Pavittar Singh and Husandeep Singh. Dupre said Pavittar Singh and Husandeep Singh were fugitives wanted for murder charges in India.

Dupre said two other men were arrested on their way to Manteca, where investigators believe they were planning to commit a homicide. Investigators seized three guns during those arrests.

Sacramento County Assistant Sheriff LeeAnneDra Marchese said seven out of the 11 shootings occurred over the past year in Sacramento County. She said the Sheriffs Office investigation would continue as it focuses on three other possibly related shootings that occurred in 2019 and 2020.

This operation disrupted these violent criminal organizations and we intend to curb future violence in the county and throughout the Sacramento region, Marchese said.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announces felony arrests on Monday in a months-long investigation of violent shootings in several Sacramento-region counties.

500 investigators in Operation Broken Sword

About 500 law enforcement officials have participated in Operation Broken Sword, which included state and federal agencies. The operation resulted in the seizure of 41 firearms when the search warrants were served on Sunday. Dupre said the confiscated guns included AR-15 and Ak-47 assault weapons, at least one machine gun and handguns.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who attended Mondays news conference, said no family should ever have to worry about drive-by shootings or other forms of gun violence in the neighborhoods where their children live and play. He thanked the law enforcement agencies involved in this operation which took guns off the street and put suspected gang members and their associates behind bars.

This is outstanding law enforcement work, Bonta said. It is an example of what we can accomplish when we work together to solve crimes and to prevent crimes.

Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho said the investigation and the charges filed in connection with the violence do not in any way reflect or represent the vibrant Sikh community in the region. He said leaders of the Sikh community in Northern California have condemned this violence again and again.

Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho addresses the media during a press conference at the Yuba City Police Department on Monday, April 17, 2023.

We have been able to avert disaster and death, especially in the Sikh shooting that happened in Sacramento County, Ho told reporters. Law enforcement has put words into action in this particular case to curb gun violence, gun running and the illegal possession and use of guns.

The investigation was initiated by Yuba-Sutter Narcotics and Gang Enforcement Task Force. Yuba City Police Chief Brian Baker, speaking on behalf of the task force, said the investigators were intent on ensuring the safety of one of the largest Sikh celebrations hosted every November in Sutter County.

That draws about a hundred thousand people to our community, Baker said during the news conference. And our goal is to make sure that all those folks visiting from across the globe are safe when they come to Sutter County to enjoy their religious freedom.
Sanger Unifieds school board plans to hire Dennis Wiechmann, the districts assistant superintendent of human resources, as its next superintendent.

Wiechmanns knowledge and listening ability will move the school district forward, Board President Ismael Mike Hernandez said in a Monday statement released by the superintendents office.

Dr. Wiechmann is a strong, collaborative and proven leader who values all stakeholders, Hernandez said.

Wiechmann has been with Sanger Unified for 24 years and is excited to lead the district into the future, he said.

Wiechmanns hire as superintendent is pending board approval at the April 25 regularly scheduled meeting.

If approved, he will replace Adela Jones, who is retiring in June after 36 years of service to the district.

In Mondays statement, Wiechmann said he was humbled to have a chance to lead the district and its 13,000 students.

I am excited to support our students, employees, families and community as we continue our mission of making Sanger Unified the best district in the nation, Wiechmann said. Together we will increase student achievement and ensure all students are successful.

Wiechmann not the teachers unions top choice

Not everyone was pleased with the selection.

They did not listen, parent Carol Jones said on Facebook on Monday morning after the district announced Wiechmann as their finalist.

Before going into closed session Friday, eight staff and community members advocated for the board to pick another candidate who applied for the districts top spot.

She and others asked the board to choose a candidate who wasnt a part of the current district leadership team and who could collaborate with employees.

Both the Sanger Unified Teachers Association and the California School Employees Association said they did their own surveys about four candidates. The union identified the four finalists as Fairmont Elementary Principal Jared Savage, Area Administrator Jamie Nino, Wiechmann, and Deputy Superintendent Eduardo Martinez.

Story continues

Leadership Associates, the firm that facilitated the search, confirmed that four people applied but couldnt confirm their identities. All the applicants work for the school district because the board determined that it would pick its next leader from internal candidates.

On the teacher association survey, 223 educators responded, with the following results:

48.4% supporting Savage

30% backing Nino

18.8% for Wiechmann

2.8% supporting Martinez

Because of the results, the teachers group recommended Savage.

Jared Savage has the qualities SUTA members are looking for when it comes to someone who we want representing our district, association president Stephanie Alvarado said during Fridays public comments.

In the survey of classified employees under the California School Employee Association, 97% backed Savage, according to the groups president Rene Martinez.

You have both unions  doing surveys, speaking to our members  telling us to tell you: this is who we want; this is who we need, Martinez said.

The teachers union couldnt immediately be reached for comment Monday, but CSEA expressed its disappointment in the boards decision.

Were not too happy with it, Martinez said. Now that Dennis is the superintendent, whats going to change?

While everyone will have an opinion, district spokesperson Cary Catalano discussed Monday, it is ultimately the boards decision.

But because the board hires the superintendent, it may be time to change board members, Martinez said.

What do we do? Weve voiced our opinion, he said. If they dont want to bring change, we need to replace them.

Board sought a leader with varied experience

The board interviewed the four candidates during Fridays closed session, Leadership Associates partner Juan Garza said in a Monday afternoon interview with The Bees Education Lab.

But community members shaped those initial interview questions.

Leadership Associates gathered community input that helped develop the interview questions and form the job description.

The search firm asked the school board and community members about the qualities they wanted to see in the next superintendent and the districts strengths and challenges. Over 1,700 people responded to an online survey, and more than 40 stakeholder groups participated in online forums with Leadership Associates, Garza said.

In the first round of interviews, the board asked the candidates the same questions. The board then narrowed it down to two finalists who were asked questions geared toward that persons experience and plans for the district.

Overall, the board wanted the next superintendent to be a good listener and have experience in different areas, Garza said about the qualities board members sought.

The boards decision to select Wiechmann, according to Garza, varied among board members.

Each one of them was looking at it from a different perspective, he said.

As the boards finalist, Wiechmann will be able to read the thousands of comments submitted by community members in the online forums and survey, including 800 student comments.

I think the board valued the input of all the different stakeholders, Garza said, from students to parents to business people and the different groups of employees that were identified.
Over the past several years, dozens of counties in the U.S. have elected prosecutors who campaigned on criminal justice reform. These so-called progressive prosecutors argued that pursuing the maximum punishment was not always the most just response to a crime.

As progressive prosecutors have gained traction in elections, Republicans have worked to overrule the will of voters and strip these prosecutors of their power  or even remove them from office. Now the progressive prosecutor movement faces an unexpected challenge: Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D), a former co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus who calls himself the Peoples Lawyer and said in a 2021 interview that the lock em up ...  system had its chance and has turned out to be not very effective.

Earlier this month, Ellison took over a case from Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty because of her decision to offer the two teenage brothers accused of killing a 23-year-old woman plea deals that would keep them in the juvenile system rather than prosecuting the boys as adults. It was a stunning move by Ellison, who had endorsed Moriarty when she ran for county attorney last year  and criticized his Republican opponent during his reelection campaign for threatening to sidestep her. In taking over the prosecution of the case, Ellison is taking a rare step for a Democrat  following in the footsteps of Republicans around the U.S. who have limited the power of democratically elected prosecutors for being insufficiently punitive.

Ellison said in a statement that the governors power to assign cases to the attorney general should be used very sparingly and that he did not expect to make a request like it again. His office declined to provide additional comment.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison took a case from Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, a progressive prosecutor he previously endorsed.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison took a case from Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, a progressive prosecutor he previously endorsed.

Moriarty, a former Hennepin County chief public defender who ran on a platform of police accountability and restorative justice, won the election for the countys top prosecutor on Nov. 8, 2022. Earlier that day, 23-year-old Zaria McKeever was fatally shot in her home in Brooklyn Park, a city northwest of Minneapolis.

Story continues

In the weeks leading up to McKeevers death, she had been threatened and harassed by Erick Haynes, her ex-boyfriend and the father of her young child, prosecutors said. According to prosecutors, Haynes provided the brothers, ages 15 and 17, with a gun to scare McKeevers new boyfriend at her apartment. But once inside, the boys encountered McKeever, who held a knife, one of the boys said. The younger boy shot McKeever multiple times, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors charged Haynes and the two teens, whom HuffPost is not naming because they are under 18, with second-degree murder. Moriartys predecessor, Mike Freeman, moved to certify the two teens as adults so they could be tried in the adult system and receive a lengthy prison sentence if convicted. But after Moriarty entered office in January, she offered the boys a plea deal in juvenile court in exchange for testifying against Haynes. The deal offered a hybrid sentence: two years in juvenile prison with a period of extended probation until they turned 21. If they violated probation, they would be subject to an adult prison sentence.

The plea was a fulfillment of one of Moriartys promises to reduce how often the prosecutors office sought to transfer kids into the adult system. That promise is backed by science, which shows brain development continues into the mid-20s. As a result, adolescents are more impulsive, susceptible to peer pressure and less capable of weighing long-term consequences. In the past 20 years, the Supreme Court has banned the most severe punishment for juveniles, citing neurological research and childrens capacity for growth and change.

We are following the science, Moriarty told the local NBC affiliate in March. As I said in the campaign, we need to treat kids like kids. Kids arent simply small adults. Their brains arent as developed. Theyre subject to peer pressure, risky behavior, manipulation by adults  is what happened here.

And they can be rehabilitated because their brains arent fully developed. And we also know when we send kids to prison, they are going to come out at a fairly young age, theyre going to be traumatized and they will be at a greater risk to public safety, she continued.

McKeevers parents opposed the plea offer, which they described as a painful betrayal. She was very special and her life was just beginning, Paul Greer, McKeevers stepfather, told the Star Tribune. We do believe that there are some [teens] that can be rehabilitated, but they didnt just carjack. They stole a life  and were paying the sentence for it for the rest of our lives.

Ellison appeared alongside McKeevers family at a temple in Minneapolis on April 5 and said that Moriartys offer was inappropriate. The next day, Ellison asked Gov. Tim Walz (D) to assign the prosecution of anyone involved in McKeevers death to his office, citing opposition to Moriartys decision from McKeevers family and the police union. In his letter, Ellison acknowledged that prosecutors are elected by constituents to make difficult decisions, but said that in this case, Moriarty is wrong.

Ellison also acknowledged that the 17-year-old had already entered a guilty plea and it is probably too late to change that. But the 15-year-olds plea hearing was scheduled to take place the next day. After the governor turned over the case to Ellison, the 15-year-olds case was delayed.

Ellisons move was unprecedented in Minnesota, Moriarty said in a statement, noting that there was precedent in the state for prosecuting a juvenile for homicide without seeking adult certification. Ellisons decision threatens the very core of a local prosecutors well-settled discretion and role as an elected official accountable to the people to prosecute crime in the county, she added.

We have approached this case trying to balance the need for justice, the need for accountability, and the fact that we have a 10th grader who can either be kept in the juvenile system or locked up with people three times his size and are three times his age, Moriarty said. Our decisions were not easy but we stand by them.

Ellison is currently promoting his book, marketed as a powerful and intimate trial diary about his prosecution of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, whose 2020 killing of George Floyd sparked nationwide protests against police brutality. In the book, Ellison examines the roles of prosecutors, defendants, heads of police unions, judges, activists, legislators, politicians, and media figures, each in his attempt to end this chain of violence and replace it with empathy and shared insight, according to the book description.
Jailed Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza. NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP via Getty Images

A Russian court on Monday sentenced one of the Kremlin's most prominent critics, Vladimir Kara-Murza, to 25 years in prison, after what was widely seen as a show trial. This marks the longest prison sentence ever handed down against an opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Kara-Murza, 41, was charged with treason and spreading false information after he repeatedly criticized Russia's war in Ukraine. He has maintained his innocence from the start, and denied any wrongdoing.

In a statement prior to his sentencing, printed in The Washington Post, Kara-Murza said, "I do not repent any of this, I am proud of it." He added, "I know that the day will come when the darkness engulfing our country will clear. Our society will open its eyes and shudder when it realizes what crimes were committed in its name."

He is slated to serve his sentence in a "strict regime correctional colony" and will be fined $4,900.

Kara-Murza, a dual British-Russian citizen, works as a pro-democracy journalist and is also a contributing writer for the Post. Prior to his arrest in April 2022, he survived poisonings in 2015 and 2017 that he attributed to the Kremlin.

The sentence was decried by Western nations. The U.S. State Department released a statement calling Kara-Murza "yet another target of the Russian government's escalating campaign of repression" and urged for him to be released. The U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it "considers Kara-Murza's conviction to be contrary to Russia's international obligations on human rights, including the right to a fair trial."

Putin is known for having his critics imprisoned, and is suspected of having gone much further  Insider compiled a list of 13 dissidents who are thought to have been assassinated by Putin's regime.

You may also like

5 unethically funny cartoons about Clarence Thomas

Leaked U.S. files jumped from online spats to global breach through pro-Russia account run by U.S. Navy vet

Codeword: April 15, 2023
Like Ralph Yarls parents, Patience Gaye moved to the United States from Liberia to escape violence before starting a family.

That was years ago. But on Sunday, she marched alongside at least 200 people in Kansas Citys Northland at a peaceful protest in support of Yarl, a 16-year-old who was shot and critically wounded Thursday after he went to the wrong house to pick up his younger twin brothers, according to family.

Yarl is a junior at Staley High School. Friends said hes talked of going to Stanford after he graduates.

Gaye, 33, a long-time family friend to Yarls parents, is pregnant with her first child, and filled with a new fear as she watches Yarls struggle to recover from his injuries.

How do you protect a Black kid? she asked. ... What are we supposed to do now? We left our countries because we dont want to be killed. Thats why we left. They came to America for a better life. How is this a better life?

Police Chief Stacey Graves said Sunday the police department is working to make sure the investigation moves as quickly as it can so the case can be presented to the Clay County prosecutor.

Police have not identified the person who shot Yarl.

Rally participants stopped in front of a house in the Northland where 16-year-old Ralph Yarl was shot Thursday.

A stellar human-being

Meara Mitchell, a teacher of Yarls for several years, called his shooting incomprehensible.

She described him Sunday as a stellar human-being with a quiet fortitude.

Of her many students, Yarls work ethic and love and kindness for others makes him stand out. Hes dutiful to his family, she said, and he impressed her every day in his academics and his interactions with his peers.

He is the utmost example of how you want a young man to carry himself in this world, she added.

Nicole Bryan, 17, one of Yarls classmates and friends, said she met Yarl in seventh grade. Theyre both in the band where he plays bass clarinet and she plays bassoon.

Ralph Yarl

When they first met, he corrected her on her instrument, and helped her become better. He still pushes her to achieve her best, Nicole said.

Story continues

She said Yarl has talked about studying chemical engineering in college. Hes a whiz at science and math, but his passion is music, Nicole said. Hes won numerous awards for his academics and his musicianship, she said.

Hes brilliant, she said.

Justice is the key

Paul Yarl, Ralph Yarls father, is quiet like his son. He stood near the back of the long line of people chanting about love and justice as they stood in the street in front of the yard of the man who allegedly shot Ralph.

Im just here to show my gratitude for all the love and support, said Paul Yarl, who traveled to Kansas City from Indianapolis after the shooting.

So many people showed up Sunday because, Yarl said, what happened was obviously wrong.

Ralph Yarl was asked by a parent to pick up his brothers from an address on 115th Terrace, according to the family and a statement from the Kansas City Police Department. Instead he went to a residence in the 1100 block of 115th Street.

Family said a man at the house opened the door, saw Yarl and shot him in the head. When Yarl fell to the ground, family said the man shot him again.

Yarl got up and ran from the property, but he had to ask at three different homes before someone helped him, family added. Kansas City police officers said they responded to the area around 10 p.m.

Graves said Sunday that the homeowner who allegedly shot Yarl after the teen arrived at the wrong house was taken into custody Thursday and placed on a 24-hour hold.

In order to arrest someone, Graves said law enforcement needs a formal victim statement, forensic evidence and other information for a case file to be completed. Because of the teens injuries, Graves said police havent been able to get a victim statement yet.

Ralph Yarl

Yarl said he hasnt had the chance to talk to the prosecutors office, but he is hoping for answers soon.

Justice is the key. I guess the same reason why most people are here. Justice. Peace. Im with them. I dont want anything special. I just want justice, Yarl said.

In the meantime, the family remains focused on Yarls healing.

Yarls aunt, Faith Spoonmore, started a GoFundMe on Sunday to raise money for Yarls medical bills and other expenses.

Even though he is doing well physically, he has a long road ahead mentally and emotionally, she wrote on the online fundraiser before joining Sundays protest.

The family will be represented by Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney who represented families in several high-profile cases including Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, as well as Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.

They also will be represented by Lee Merritt, a Texas-based civil rights attorney who has previously represented the family of Cameron Lamb, who was fatally shot by KCPD detective Eric DeValkenaere in 2019.

Stay off my yard

As protesters chanted and prayed in front of the home where Yarl was shot, some neighbors joined in the demonstration while others watched from their porches or lawn chairs.

Get out of the yard, someone shouted as the crowd swelled on the street in front of the home where the shooting happened. The road is public property; lawns are not.

That over there is a lot of hate, Spoonmore told Sundays crowd in response to the comment, before looking over those encircling her and saying: This is a lot of love.

Yarl was shot in the Northland, a name for the Kansas City neighborhoods north of the Missouri River whose voters tend to be more conservative than in other parts of the city limits.

Police have not identified the shooter or his race. They said they are still investigating whether the shooting was racially motivated.

Ralph Yarl

Councilman Kevin ONeill, District 1 at-large, joined the crowd at the protest Sunday. He was among many Northlanders there.

He said while he doesnt yet know all the facts, the whole situation is still sad and seems like poor judgment.

I hate that the Northland always seems to get labeled and this isnt who the Northland is, and its very disappointing, he said of the shooting.

He said the Northland is often seen as a bastion of white. But he said Sundays turnout, which included people from all ages, races and backgrounds, truly represents the increasing diversity of the Northland.

He said its filled with many cultures and religions.

People look at things and just make their visions what they want to, but thats not what it is. Weve got some great people in the Northland.

He noted that there appear to be cameras on the outside of the property, so hes hoping there will eventually be definitive proof of what happened.

And hopefully that comes back and there is justice for the family, he said.

Robyn Tuwei, who uses the pronouns they/them, has lived just down the block from the shooting for a decade.

Up until recently, they felt it was a very safe neighborhood for their family to call home. But there have been changes. Theyve noticed the sound of more loud gunshots and firecrackers.

Tuweis spouse is Black and their children are mixed race. Recently, theyve had M-80 fireworks thrown at their house, they said. They reported the incidents to police but they still dont know who is throwing them or why.

Lately, its not felt super welcoming, so I cant say that I was surprised, but it is dishearhertening, said Tuwei, who is a teacher in the local school district, as well as an equity advocate.

Since the unfathomable shooting, Tuwei and their spouse have already talked of changing the ways their children spend time outdoors. They often take walks as a family, but they will no longer be walking past the home where Yarl was shot. When their 13-year-old son wants to visit a friend on that street, they will be driving him, even though its only a brief walk.

Its not considered safe anymore for us, Tuwei said. Not until (the shooter is) in jail, behind bars.
As Republican Representative Jim Jordan attempted to hold a House Judiciary Committee hearing in New York attacking Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, protesters could be heard shouting and chanting outside.

Let the public in, a group of protesters shouted from the hallway located directly outside of the room where Mr Jordan and the House Judiciary Committee held their meeting on Monday,

Outside of the Jacob Javits Federal Building in downtown Manhattan, another group of protesters chanted, Hey hey, ho, ho, Jim Jordans got to go.

Videos and photos showed people with signs calling Mr Jordan a traitor, a sleazy liar, an insurrectionist, and more.

Protestors are trying to disrupt the @JudiciaryGOPs hearing with signs calling to indict Jordan and calling him a traitor. Theres a lot of shouting now that can be heard from the hearing room. pic.twitter.com/xMivau7WQk  Mica Soellner (@MicaSoellnerDC) April 17, 2023

The backlash is in response to Mr Jordans continuous attempts to attack Mr Bragg after he successfully pursued charges against Donald Trump. Mondays field hearing was just the latest in a contentious back-and-forth with the Manhattan DA.

Mr Jordan sent letters to Mr Bragg demanding he provide evidence about his investigation into Mr Trump as the investigation was ongoing. Then after Mr Bragg unveiled the charges, Mr Jordan attempted to subpoena a former employee of the Manhattan DA.

Last week, Mr Bragg filed a lawsuit against Mr Jordan for what he called an "unprecedentedly brazen and unconstitutional attack by members of Congress."

The committee, led by Mr Jordan, is examining how Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Braggs pro-crime, anti-victim policies have led to an increase in violent crime and a dangerous community for New York City residents according to the House Judiciary Committee.

Story continues

Jim Jordan has got to go protesters outside the federal building in New York Jim Jordan is in town git a sham hearing to tamper with the jury pool in Braggs indictment of Donald Trump. Then cry trump cant get a fair trial in New York. pic.twitter.com/ut15YxzhdE  Sandi Bachom (@sandibachom) April 17, 2023

However, New York City leadership disputes their allegations.

In a press conference, Mayor Eric Adams said, Im a little disappointed that theyre coming here complaining about crime here when per capita, their crime is through the roof.

He continued, This is just an extension of Donald Trump campaigning, and it really makes no sense. We havent been communicating to participate and I dont even know what theyre doing.

Mr Braggs office released a statement saying, Dont be fooled, the House GOP is coming to the safest big city in America for a political stunt. This hearing wont engage in actual efforts to increase public safety, such as supporting national gun legislation and shutting down the iron pipeline.

They also released a series of graphics that show crime data from the New York Police Department demonstrating that homicides, shootings, robberies, burglaries, and transit crimes are all down in Manhattan.

Mr Jordan has responded by issuing a series of tweets with anecdotal stories about crime in New York.

He also wrote, 170,000 felony crimes were reported in New York City last year  the most since 2006. Major crimes are up 23%. But Democrats say NYC is Americas safest big city. Give me a break.
The public is invited to meet the five finalists for Tumwater City Administrator at a reception Tuesday evening.

The reception be from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 18, at Tumwater City Hall, 555 Israel Road SW. All five finalists, as well as Mayor Debbie Sullivan and the city council, will attend.

John Doan is retiring as City Administrator after 13 years. Sullivan and a consultant chose the five finalists to take over Doans role. Two of the finalists hold government leadership positions in Thurston County now.

Here are the finalists:

Amy Cleveland

Amy Cleveland is the executive director of administration for Pierce Transit in Lakewood. She has more than 20 years of work experience in both public and nonprofit sectors, according to the city of Tumwaters news release. She graduated from Saint Martins University with a bachelors degree in psychology.

Lisa Parks





Lisa Parks currently serves as the Executive Services Director for the Port of Olympia. She has a bachelors degree in urban and regional planning from Eastern Washington University, and she has more than 30 years of experience working with local governments.

Paul Simmons

Paul Simmons is the Parks, Arts and Recreation director for the City of Olympia, where hes served for nearly 20 years. He has a bachelors degree from Central Washington University, as well as a Master of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix.

Stacey Leon Smalls

Stacey Leon Smalls is the Public Works Director for the City of Charlottesville, Virginia. He has more than 30 years of experience in public, private and military sectors, both locally and internationally, according to the news release from the city of Tumwater. He holds an Executive Master of Public Administration degree from Arizona State University.

Jennifer Pearson Stapleton

Jennifer Pearson Stapleton is the City Administrator for the City of Sandpoint, Idaho. She has worked in both public and nonprofit sectors for nearly 30 years, according to the city of Tumwater. She has a bachelors degree in political science from Gonzaga University, and a masters degree in public administration from Eastern Washington University.
(Bloomberg) -- President Vladimir Putin praised ties between the Russian and Chinese militaries, underscoring Moscow and Beijings strategic relationship as he met with Chinas defense minister on Sunday.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Putin highlighted the exchange of intelligence and joint maneuvers in the Far East and Europe during talks with Li Shangfu, the Interfax news service reported.

Li told Putin that China was willing to further strengthen strategic communication between the two militaries and boost multilateral coordination and cooperation, state broadcaster China Central Television reported.

Beijing has become Russias biggest supporter since the invasion of Ukraine last year, and the visit is the first by a Chinese defense minister since the war began.

Lis visit follows Chinese President Xi Jinpings trip to Moscow in March. Putin said at the time that Russia was ready to discuss Beijings blueprint for ending the fighting in Ukraine, though no progress has been made.

Li is also due to meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu and will visit Russian military institutions as part of the trip, China Central Television reported Friday.

The US has warned China against providing lethal aid to Moscow. Beijing probably approved of its firms providing Russia non-lethal, dual-use support for the war, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in February. Beijing later said it never sells arms to parties involved in a conflict.

--With assistance from Phila Siu.

(Updates with Li remarks as reported by CCTV.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
The Queen of Denmark smiled with all eight of her grandchildren for the first time since stripping Prince Joachim's four kids of their prince/princess titles

MADS CLAUS RASMUSSEN/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty

Queen Margrethe of Denmark rang in her birthday surrounded by family.

The monarch of Denmark turned 83 on Sunday, appearing on the balcony of Amalienborg Castle in Copenhagen to mark the milestone. Queen Margrethe stepped out her sons Crown Prince Frederik and Prince Joachim, her daughters-in-law Crown Princess Mary and Princess Marie and all eight of her grandchildren for the first time since she stripped Prince Joachim and Princess Marie's four children of their royal titles.

Queen Margrethe (who recently had back surgery) was first seen solo on the middle of three balconies at Amalienborg Castle to greet the cheering crowds gathered below, as the Royal Life Guards Band played a birthday tune. Crown Prince Frederik, 54, and Crown Princess Mary, 51, then appeared on an adjacent terrace with their four children: Prince Christian, 17, Princess Isabella, 15, and 12-year-old twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine.

At the same time, Prince Joachim, 53, and Princess Marie, 47, came out with Count Nikolai, 23, Count Felix, 20, Count Henrik, 13 and Countess Athena, 11, on the third balcony. Prince Joachim shares his two eldest sons with his first wife, Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg. He married Princess Marie in 2008, and they later welcomed Henrik and Athena.

Related:Queen Margrethe II of Denmark Carries Walking Stick in First Appearance Since Back Surgery

MADS CLAUS RASMUSSEN/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty

All eight of the Queen's grandchildren then joined her on the center balcony, smiling as they waved to well-wishers below. The moment marked the first time Queen Margrethe gathered with her grandchildren in public since she announced that she was stripping Joachim's kids of their prince or princess titles and "His/Her Highness" styling, which they inherited at birth. At the start of 2023, Nikolai, Felix, Henrik and Athena instead became known by His Excellency Count of Monpezat or Her Excellency Countess of Monpezat.

Story continues

The announcement created strain within the family. Prince Joachim told the press he felt blindsided by the news and claimed he was only given five days' notice before the public announcement. Queen Margrethe, however, maintained that the plans had been in motion for a while and said the decision was made in the best interests of her grandchildren.

Shortly after the announcement was made, the monarch issued an apology saying she "underestimated" how greatly the shock of the news would affect the family dynamic and calling the change "necessary future-proofing of the monarchy."

MADS CLAUS RASMUSSEN/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Queen Margrethe

The shakeup did not affect the four children of Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary. Unlike their first cousins, Prince Christian, Princess Isabella, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine retain their titles and remain in the royal house for the foreseeable future as the children of the Crown Prince Couple. The eldest son of Queen Margrethe and the late Prince Henrik, Frederik, is first in line to the Danish throne.

Related:Queen Margrethe of Denmark Is Now Europe's Only Ruling Female Monarch After Queen Elizabeth's Death

In March, the Danish Royal House announced that Prince Joachim and Princess Marie are moving to Washington, D.C. this summer. Prince Joachim is set to start a new job at the Danish Embassy under the Ministry of Defense on September 1, helping strengthen the defense industrial cooperation with the United States and Canada in the coming years. As the palace said the prince and his "family" will make the move, Count Henrik and Countess Athena are expected to join their parents. It remains unclear whether Nikolai and Felix will join their father in America full-time.

MADS CLAUS RASMUSSEN/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images Prince Joachim with his wife, Princess Marie, and four children

Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!

The Danish Royal House added that Prince Joachim and Princess Marie have been living in France (Marie's home country) for the last four years for Joachim's job.

"The reason was that Prince Joachim initiated France's highest-ranking military training course as a supplement to the Prince's long-term commitment to the Defense," the palace said of the couple's initial move from Denmark. "After completing the education, both the Prince and Princess were associated with the Danish Embassy in Paris as the Defence Attache and Special Cultural Representative, respectively."

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
The entrance to Auschwitz concentration camp in Oswiecim, Poland.

On a cellar wall in Cologne, Germany where Jewish people hid from Nazis the following poem was found:

I believe in the sun even when it is not shining.I believe in love even when feeling it not.I believe in God even when he is silent.

Silence.

Is God ever really silent? And if so, how do we interpret his silence? Eli Weisel was possible the first to capture in his writing the unavoidable inner tension one feels when dealing with the Holocaust: namely, that it is an event in human history so profoundly unbelievable, so distant and yet so personable that we are numbed into silence and yet uncontrollably compelled to speak.

We talk about it and write about it so that we may remember and also grieve. Certainly history teaches us that hatred and prejudice if unopposed, leads only to pain, social calamity and spiritual darkness.

Anyone who views the Holocaust as a Jewish problem is clearly living an illusion, for the way in which a society reacts to its cultural diversity, the way it treats its minorities is an unmistakable barometer of its mental health. Six million Jewish people and millions of others! All those individual hopes and dreams that could have so profoundly influenced the course of mankind; found a cure for cancer, written a symphony or found the right words to appease an angry society. Six million Jewish souls and millions of others - Jews, Christians, Gypsies deprived of the right to experience life, to enjoy a sunset or derive joy from children. To destroy all those hopes is to wage war with God!

More: Plagued by gun violence, Louisvillians say mass shooting was only a matter of time

How do we deal with grief related to the Holocaust?

Frist of all let us never forget what happened, but never become cynical about life. People have demonstrated an unlimited capacity for good.

In order to enter the main sanctuary of the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, one must first pass through the Corridor of the Righteous Gentile. It is a very moving experience. This area depicts and describes hundreds of individual acts of heroism; of Catholics and Protestants concealing and helping Jewish people, often at the cost of their lives. Not only individuals but countries as well are deserving of praise. Norway, Denmark, Greece, Bulgaria where demonstrations, church involvement and military resistance finally succeeded in driving out the Germans in September of 1944.

Story continues

Finally we should never forget the Americans who lost their lives liberating the camps. I hope and pray that Jewish people never lose sight of the significant contributions made by other faiths. We must find a way to internalize and personalize the Holocaust, both individually and nationally.

We recently experienced another blatant attack and aggression of human rights in Kuwait, but through standing strong together using unity, military strength, and the grace of God, human dignity prevailed.

Editorial: Louisville mourns mass shooting and legislative stubbornness.

Perhaps nothing more fully captures the purity and worth of the human soul than an excerpt from a poem written by an unknown child from within a concentration camp.

Try to open your heart to beauty,Go to the woods someday and weave a wrath of memory there.Then, if the tears obscure your wayYoull know how wonderful it is to be alive.

In 1980 United States Congress passed a resolution designating a week each year as Days of Remembrance of Victims for the Holocaust. This year Sunday, April 16th thru Sunday, April 23 has been designated as Days of Remembrance.

Rabbi Hillel Smulowitz

Rabbi Hillel Smulowitz is the former Principal-Director of the Louisville Jewish Day School and a Retired Army Chaplain.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Holocaust Remembrance Day: Was God silent during the tragedy?
The father of a 16-year-old Kansas City student who was shot Thursday in the Northland said his son, Ralph Yarl, is home from the hospital.

Paul Yarl on Monday morning told The Star that Yarl, a junior at Staley High School, was released from the hospital on Sunday.

He is now back home with his mother, a nurse, who is taking off time from work to care for her son, Yarl said.

He continues to improve. Hes responsive and hes making good progress, Yarl said.

Yarl spent three nights in the hospital after he was shot after going to the wrong home to pick up his younger brothers, who are twins, family said.

Kansas City police said the homeowner who allegedly shot Yarl was taken into custody Thursday, placed on a 24-hour hold and then released, Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said Sunday.

How do you protect a Black kid? Protesters demand justice in shooting of Ralph Yarl, 16

Yarls aunt, Faith Spoonmore, started a GoFundMe on Sunday to raise money for Ralphs medical bills and other expenses. As of Monday, more than $1.2 million had been raised.

Even though he is doing well physically, he has a long road ahead mentally and emotionally, she wrote on the online fundraiser before joining Sundays protest.

Yarl was asked by a parent to pick up his brothers from an address on 115th Terrace, according to the family and a statement from the Kansas City Police Department. Instead he went to a residence in the 1100 block of 115th Street.

Family said a man at the house opened the door, saw Yarl and shot him in the head. When Yarl fell to the ground, family said the man shot him again.

Yarl got up and ran from the property, but he had to ask at three different homes before someone helped him, family added. Kansas City police officers said they responded to the area around 10 p.m.

The homeowner who allegedly shot Yarl was brought in for questioning and then released, Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said Sunday. Missouri law allows a person to be held up to 24 hours for a felony investigation. At that point, the person must be released or arrested and formally charged, the chief said.

Story continues

An investigation into the shooting is ongoing as authorities gather other information, including a formal victim statement and forensic evidence, Graves said.

The Clay County prosecutor on Monday morning said he is awaiting a criminal referral from the police department before deciding whether or not to charge the homeowner.

The family is being represented by civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Lee Merritt.

There can be no excuse for the release of this armed and dangerous suspect after admitting to shooting an unarmed, non-threatening and defenseless teenager that rang his doorbell!



Our offices have been retained to seek justice for Ralph Yarl. We demand immediate action. pic.twitter.com/ILGLDQxl8y  Lee Merritt (@MerrittForTexas) April 16, 2023

Who is Ralph Yarl?

Meara Mitchell, a long-time teacher of Yarls described him as a stellar human-being with a quiet fortitude.

Of her many students, Yarls work ethic and love and kindness for others makes him stand out. Hes dutiful to his family, she said, and he impressed her every day in his academics and his interactions with his peers.

He is the utmost example of how you want a young man to carry himself in this world, she told The Star.

Nicole Bryan, 17, one of Yarls classmates and friends, said Yarl has talked about studying chemical engineering in college. Hes a whiz at science and math, but his passion is music, she said.

Those close to Yarl say hes won numerous awards for his academics and his musical abilities, including recognition by Missouris All-State Band.

Band members headed to Columbia, Mo., today to audition for the Missouri All-State Band. Senior Kiyoko Nakano made All-State Band as piccolo first chair. Junior Ralph Yarl won second chair, honorable mention for bass clarinet. @SHSFalcons @StaleyBandFam https://t.co/4WC19BFhgE  Staley News (@StaleyNews) December 4, 2022

Dan Clemens, superintendent for North Kansas City Schools, said the district was devastated to learn what happened to Yarl.

Yarl is an excellent student and talented musician. He maintains a stellar GPA while taking mostly college level courses, Clemens wrote in a statement Monday. While he loves science and hopes to pursue that career path, his passion is music. Thankfully, we know he is now recovering alongside family.

Clemens said additional resources are available for students who need it at Staley High School this week.

Students are also organizing a unity walk Tuesday at the high school, where the Falcon Brigade band plans to play as students lock arms and walk around the school in a circle, the district said. Students can wear blue in Yarls honor.

They are also working to make 1,000 cards for Yarl showing their compassion during his recovery, the district said.

I know that many of you share the same anger, frustration, shock and disbelief that I am experiencing now, the superintendent said. We must allow time for the investigation to be completed. In the meantime, as educators, our focus is on supporting Yarl, his family, our students and staff.
Scripps students Reema Iqbal, Hena Ahmed, a Harvey Mudd student Leila Bensaid, Fares Marzouk and other Pomona College students partake in a specially prepared halal meal for Muslims at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont after breaking their Ramadan fast on April 6. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

As a sophomore at Pomona College, Aysha Gsibat remembers rushing to get into the dining hall to grab food to break her fast during the holy month of Ramadan, which involves abstaining from food and water from sunrise until sunset.

She read prayers while waiting for the sun to go down. Alone in her dorm room, Gsibat had iftar, the sunset meal usually eaten with friends and family, as a party of one.

Freshman Ismail Kavuran hasnt seen his family in Turkey in eight months, and it will be another eight before he sees them again. As an international student at Harvey Mudd College, the 18-year-old worried he would spend Ramadan eating by himself.

Dualeh Dualeh, 19, attended a boarding school before coming to Pomona College. Without a microwave in his dorm, he would pick up boxes of food to eat in the evening for iftar and morning for suhoor, the pre-dawn meal. He expected he would have to do the same as a college student.

But this year is different for all three. On a recent Thursday, the students and other Muslims celebrating Ramadan at the Claremont Colleges have come together just about every weeknight for iftar, breaking their fasts in community.

Ramadan started in late March and ends this week, marking the holy month for Muslims, who believe the first verses of the Quran were revealed during this period to the prophet Muhammad more than 1,400 years ago. It represents the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, and the dates vary each year. Ramadan this year has fallen fully into the academic year for many students.

Muslim Student Assn. Co-President Ibrahim Khan, front, leads Maghrib, or evening prayers, after having a specially prepared halal meal for Muslim students fasting in the month of Ramadan at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

At the Claremont Colleges, Muslim students hail from different backgrounds and regions  Indonesia, Syria, Turkey, the Palestinian territories, Somalia. Shia and Sunni Muslims, groups that have historically had a tense relationship, have spent the holy month sharing meals and prayers in campus dining halls, those covering their heads with hijabs alongside those without.

Other colleges in recent years have also expanded their services to accommodate Muslim students. UC Berkeley announced in January that it will provide expanded dining options for students fasting during Ramadan, including carry-out meals. At UCLA, the Muslim Student Assn., which was founded in 1964, has been organizing iftar prayers and dinners and fundraising to cover the costs since early March. Last year, USC began offering students to-go meals for suhoor because dining halls did not open before dawn.

Story continues

The dining staff at the Claremont Colleges has stepped up to provide authentic meals, laying out elaborate banquets for students during a trying time when they are studying for rigorous exams and fasting.

Ramadan is not just about staying hungry and breaking your fast, but its also about being together with your community, Kavuran said as he sat at a table in the Harvey Mudd dining hall on a recent Thursday during iftar. Before coming to the United States, I was concerned about how I was going to celebrate because I [moved here] alone."

But here, he said, "I can eat food from my country, I can have drinks from my country, from my kitchen. And if you look at the people, they're just like family. I can sit with anybody and they're just embracing me like I'm one of them.

The Claremont Colleges are a consortium of five undergraduate schools and two graduate schools: Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Pitzer, Pomona and Scripps; Claremont Graduate University and Keck Graduate Institute. This year, the campus dining halls have expanded meal options and hours to host iftar dinners every weekday at a different undergraduate college dining hall to serve the Muslim community.

Last year, when students were back on campus amid the COVID-19 pandemic, many tried to put together iftar meals on their own. But this year, Shaila Andrabi, the coordinator of Muslim life, said she spoke to each colleges dining services team to see if they could extend their hours to accommodate students who are fasting during Ramadan.

This is the first time that this has ever happened, that all the colleges have acknowledged Ramadan, and they are learning, Andrabi said. On the weekends, she orders catered food and prepares fruit salads at her home, with the help of students.

Shaila Andrabi, second from left, the coordinator of Muslim life, and Muslim students from various Claremont Colleges break their Ramadan fast with dates together at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

At USC, about 150 to 200 students have shown up to iftar meals put together by the MSA chapter this year, according to Varun Soni, dean of religious life. While the university provides some funding support, Soni said the iftar meals, which take place at the University Religious Center, are driven by students, who organize and fundraise.

On a recent Thursday evening, the Hoch-Shanahan Dining Commons at Harvey Mudd was humming as students arrived for dinner. In the main dining hall, students were queueing up to grab Mexican food prepared by the staff. As the hour grew closer to 7 p.m., the usual closing time, and the sun began to fade, the hall was still crowded, as staff began to lay out plates, desserts and drinks for iftar.

Each dining hall stays open past the regular closing time one day a week during Ramadan. On this night, it was Harvey Mudd's turn.

In the kitchen, as one cook flipped dozens of quesadillas on a grill, chefs Michael Montoya and Ruben Vega moved efficiently side-by-side over another grill, roasting bell peppers and halal chicken kebabs for the iftar feast.

I definitely feel like its getting better, Montoya said as he flipped huge peppers on the grill. We want them to come here and feel like they have everything they need.

After Andrabi spoke to them, the team members at Harvey Mudd volunteered to host the first campus iftar dinner, said Miguel Ruvalcaba, the senior director for dining services at Harvey Mudd.

At left, lead chef Michael Montoya and executive chef Ruben Vega prepare halal chicken kababs in shawarma seasoning to be served at iftar to Muslim students. At right, vegetables sizzle on the grill for meals for Muslim students who come from various Claremont Colleges to break their Ramadan fast together on the campus. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

The dining staff researched the meal's components  dates, halal meat, spices and customary drinks and desserts. They went to stores that sold halal food and asked restaurant owners about what they used to make their meals, Ruvalcaba said.

"We took it as a challenge, like, 'Let's see what we can do with this,'" Ruvalcaba said. "We might not know the foods, we might not know everything about it."

But he wanted to try.

Before this year, Ruvalcaba said, his staff worked individually with a few of Harvey Mudd's Muslim students to provide them with iftar meals to take back to their dorms. But this year, they're feeding as many as 60 people each Thursday night, which can extend dining hall operations for another hour.

As 7:15 p.m. hit  the time the sun set on this Thursday  other students had mostly left, while those observing Ramadan piled their plates with food from an extravagant display. They ate grape leaf dolmas, samosas, Israeli and Balela Middle Eastern salads, grilled harissa chicken  a first for Ruvalcabas dining hall  and beef kofta. They picked up bowls of tomato lentil and lamb stew. And crispy, sweet baklava for dessert.

Kavuran, in a blue hoodie, exclaimed excitedly over the dolmas, which reminded him of home. After he set down his plate, he ran back out to Ruvalcaba, who was portioning out soups, to tell him the jallab, a grape molasses-based drink with rose water, was just like his iftar meal at home.

Thank you so much, he told Ruvalcaba as they fist-bumped.

Miguel Ruvalcaba, director for dining services, puts the finishing touch to a Middle Eastern pudding specially prepared for Muslim students' iftar meal. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

An informal poll by The Times asked Muslim students to rank the various dining halls on their iftar offerings. Although students from all the colleges were surveyed, the findings may have been influenced by the setting  Harvey Mudd.

Because the clear winner was ... Harvey Mudd, which they say set a high bar from the outset. The staff reserved a room for the students to eat their meals in. After the dining hall closed, they had space to pray as well.

Of course, Harvey Mudd College, said Kavuran, the Harvey Mudd freshman. His friend, Arsum Nadeem Chaudhary of Pomona College, pretended to think about the question. Are you serious? Kavuran said accusingly.

I agree, I agree, Chaudhary relented.

Thank you very much, Kavuran said, satisfied.

Harvey Mudd has been the clear winner, Gsibat of Pomona College said. From the food, the service to the people, the private room, like, they just excel  to the desserts. ... You can tell they put so much work and research into trying to emulate our traditional home dishes. And they do it amazingly.

Students credit Andrabi for much of the success in getting the schools to celebrate iftar.

Andrabi said she and her husband were the first Muslims in the Claremont Colleges community when they arrived in 1988. Since then, she said, the Muslim community has grown. Many students came to know her as Shaila Auntie, as she served in an unofficial capacity as their confidante and advocate.

This work was not a burden for me, Andrabi said, and students welcomed the support. I wasnt a professor so I wasn't grading them, and I wasn't their mom or dad. I wasn't judging them.

The Claremont Colleges already had Jewish, Catholic and Protestant chaplains on campus. Last January, the college named her the interim coordinator for Muslim life, a position that became permanent and allowed her to take on an official role. She began gathering contact information for Muslim undergraduate and graduate students and realized there were many more than she had initially thought.

Her list of emails grew to 200, with students from at least 20 different nations, she said. When it came to organizing iftar meals this year, she was able to get meals covered by the colleges for students who did not have meal plans and wanted to attend.

Andrabi said she is proud of the "beautiful communal meals" they have brought to the campus and breaking down the walls within the Muslim community.

"This kind of coming together is very, very unusual," she said. "I am just so excited.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
If you watched the 1997 classic Anastasia as a kid, were willing to bet the villain Rasputin  who sells his soul to kill the Romanov family in the movie  showed up in your nightmares.

Or maybe you know Rasputin from the 1978 hit Rasputin which called him lover of the Russian queen.

Whether youre a history buff and know the facts about Rasputins relationship with the royal Romanov family or a novice looking to uncover the truth, heres a quick retelling of his life and death.

Rhys Ifans (center) plays a fictionalized version of Rasputin in "The King's Man" (2021), which is set during World War I.

Who was Rasputin?

Grigori Rasputin was a self-proclaimed holy man who was thought to have closely influenced the Romanov family, the last imperial dynasty to rule Russia.

Rasputin was born Grigori Yefimovich Novykh, a Siberian peasant who would later acquire the surname Rasputin because of his sexual promiscuity and heavy drinking. In Russian, Rasputin translates to debauched one. Some historians believe his religious practice was rooted in immersion in sin, meaning he felt he would be closer to God through sinful acts, TIME reports.

When he was 18, Rasputin underwent a religious conversion at a monastery and then returned to his hometown where he married and had children.

Rasputin left family life and made his way through Greece and Jerusalem where he gained a reputation for healing powers and an ability to predict the future. His travels took him to St. Petersburg in 1903, and two years later he was introduced to the royal family. Czar Nicholas and his wife Alexandra called upon Rasputin to heal their son Alexei, who suffered from hemophilia, a disorder where blood is unable to properly clot. Rasputin was supposedly able to stop Alexeis bleeding and he quickly became a close advisor to the family per Alexandras request.

While much is debated about Rasputins mystic powers, historians speculate that Alexeis bleeding actually stopped because Rasputin had the child stop taking aspirin, a known blood thinner.

According to Britannica, Rasputins licentious ways concerned people around the royal family but Nicholas refused to believe the whispers and removed influential figures from power if they spoke out against Rasputin.

Story continues

Rasputin was rumored to have had an affair with Alexandra  although there is no historical evidence to support this.

Czar Nicholas took control of his military forces in 1915 during World War I and left the countrys affairs to Alexandra. As Alexandras advisor, Rasputin had more power than ever and even appointed his own ministers and public officials. This power, plus growing resentment toward Rasputin, inspired a group of Russian nobles to plot his murder.

Who was Winston Churchill?: All about the WWII leader and Prime Minister

'The Romanoffs': Show chronicles of people who believe they're royal descendants

How did Rasputin die?

Rasputin was killed by a group of Russian nobles, including Prince Felix Youssupov (Czar Nicholas nieces husband) and Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich (Nicholas cousin) in December 1916.

The story goes that the nobles lured Rasputin to the Youssupov Palace and fed him food and wine laced with cyanide, which had no impact on him. They tried to finish the job by shooting him at close range, but he remained alive and attempted to escape. Finally, they shot him again, beat him, bound him and tossed him in the river. Only upon being thrown in the river did Rasputin die, or so the legend says.

But autopsy reports showed no poison in Rasputins system, only a single bullet to the head.

Rasputins death, as well as the mass murder of the entire Romanov family, has been heavily mythologized over the years. The Romanov family was executed by the Bolsheviks after the onset of the Russian Revolution led by Vladimir Lenin, which established the worlds first communist state. On the night of July 16, 1918, the royal couple and their five children hurried to dress and head to the cellar. With four of their servants, they were lined up under the pretense of taking a photograph to quiet rumors that the family had escaped. Gunmen burst into the room and killed the entire family, stabbing those who survived the initial shooting.

The familys remains were found in a forest and identified in 1991, but two bodies were missing  Alexei and one of the daughters. Out of this came the story that Princess Anastasia had escaped and was still living. The two bodies were later found in a nearby grave and tested in 2007, confirming the bodies of the remaining Romanov children.

Just Curious?: We're answering life's everyday questions

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who was Rasputin? A look into his death, relationship with Romanovs.
By Blake Brittain

(Reuters) - Gene-sequencing giant Illumina Inc has settled a patent lawsuit brought by Maryland biotech company Ravgen Inc, which accused Illumina's genetic tests of infringing its patents.

The companies told a Delaware federal court Friday that they settled the case. Ravgen attorney John Desmarais on Monday called it "a mutually satisfactory settlement between the two parties" but did not disclose terms of the deal, which are confidential.

San Diego-based Illumina declined to comment on Monday.

Ravgen has filed a series of lawsuits against companies including Illumina, Natera and Roche's Ariosa Diagnostics over DNA-testing technology. It won a $272 million jury verdict against Labcorp in Texas last September and settled a lawsuit against Quest Diagnostics shortly before a trial was set to begin in October.

Ravgen alleged in its 2020 complaint that Illumina's Verifi and VeriSeq tests for fetal chromosome abnormalities and TruSight test for cancer markers infringe its patents. Ravgen's patents relate to less invasive diagnostic tests that analyze free-floating DNA from a patient's bloodstream, technology the Columbia, Maryland-based company said it pioneered.

Illumina denied the allegations and argued the patents were invalid.

A jury trial was scheduled to begin next October.

The case is Ravgen Inc v. Illumina Inc, U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, No. 1:20-cv-01644.

(Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington)
Gov. Ron DeSantis said there is legislation coming that will revoke a development agreement passed by the Reedy Creek board before the state took it over.

Last month, it was revealed that Disney quietly stripped the new Central Florida Tourism Oversight District of its development power before handing over control of the Reedy Creek Improvement District.

Thats not going to work, DeSantis said. Thats not going to fly.

DeSantis said in a news conference in Lake Buena Vista on Monday that a bill is being introduced in the legislature to revoke the agreement. He said lawmakers will vote on the bill next week.

Read: Reedy Creek board members attempt to seize control back from Disney as power struggle intensifies

He said once that happens, Disney will have to live under the same laws as everybody else.

DeSantis that includes the state board being able to decide what to do with undeveloped land within the former Reedy Creek Improvement District, whether that be a state park or a state prison.

Read: Power play: Disney handicapped new Reedy Creek board before handing over control

While toll roads and hotel taxes appear to be off the table, the state is now interested in banning mask mandates in the district, reassessing all property values, and selling off Reedy Creeks utilities in an effort to pay down the districts debt and abolish it in the future.

If the bill is passed, Florida lawmakers will also give the Department of Agriculture the ability to inspect Disneys Monorail and rides but will not expand that power to other big parks like SeaWorld and Universal.

But Agriculture Commissioner said Wilton Simpson said, Where a person is injured should not determine how the state responds, everyone should have to play by the same rules.

Read: Reedy Creek board poised to claim superior authority over land planning around Disney

While DeSantis said he believes the moves he is making are all legal, attorneys arent as sure.

Story continues

Its not really about targeting specific contracts. But they can certainly try, itll just be difficult to do it without violating the Disneys rights by targeting them under the Constitution, attorney Jacob Schumer said.

Schumer said Florida law allows the government to make changes that affect large groups of companies, but the closer DeSantis and his allies get to targeting only Disney, the worse off theyll be in court as they spend taxpayer money.

Read: DeSantis calls for investigation into former Reedy Creek board

Theres an argument to be had by both sides. But itll be hard to tell until we actually see the law, Schumer said.

Stay tuned to Channel 9 Eyewitness News for updates.

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.
Defense Department scientists have identified the remains of a 30-year-old Army sergeant who died as a prisoner of war during the Korean War.

In 1950, Sgt. 1st Class Ellis Coon, Mount Herman, Louisiana, served as a member of C Battery, 503rd Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, according to an April 5 release from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.

Following the Battle of Chongchon, officials reported Coon missing on Dec. 1, 1950. After the war, researchers discovered that Coon had died of malnutrition and a lack of medical care likely on Feb. 14, 1951, in POW Camp #5, according to the release.

The Army declared a presumptive finding of death in March 1954 and declared the sergeant non-recoverable in January 1956.

Nearly four decades later, on Dec. 21, 1993, North Korean officials transferred 34 boxes of remains believed to be of U.S. troops who had died during the war.

Personnel had recovered some of those transferred remains at the POW Camp #5. Using anthropological analysis, other evidence multiple types of DNA testing, scientists identified Coons remains.

The sergeants name is etched into the Courts of the Missing at the National Cemetery of the Pacific, along with others still missing from the Korean War, according to the release. A rosette indicating that his remains have been identified will be placed next to his name on the memorial.

The date and location of Coons burial have not yet been determined.

For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.

To see the most up-to-date statistics on DPAA recovery efforts for those unaccounted for from the Korean War, go to the Korean War Accounting page on the DPAA website at: https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaFamWebKorean.

For additional information on the Defense Departments mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or https://www.linkedin.com/company/defense-pow-mia-accounting-agency.
Rep. George Santos wants voters in Queens and Long Island to give him two more years in Congress.

Rep. George Santos wants voters in Queens and Long Island to give him two more years in Congress.

Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) confirmed thats he running for another term despite facing multiple investigations and losing the support of Republicans in his district after it was revealed he lied extensively about his background.

I am proudly announcing my bid for re-election for NY-03, Santos said Monday in a statement after filing the paperwork to seek another two-year term in 2024.

Since the Left is pushing radical agendas, the economy is struggling, and Washington is incapable of solving anything, we need a fighter who knows the district and can serve the people fearlessly, and independent of local or national party influence, Santos said.

Santos, who made up multiple aspects of his career history and background, is trying to keep his seat amid local, federal and international investigations into what he misrepresented or invented. Members of both parties have called on Santos to resign.

It will be far from a coronation for the GOP nomination. Santos lost the support of Republicans in Queens and Long Island after it came out that he lied during his 2020 campaign. Santos, who is also under investigation for alleged campaign finance violations, will face significant fundraising hurdles, too, in what will unquestionably be a competitive race.

The Democrat who previously held Santos seat, Tom Suozzi, is eying a potential comeback. But following congressional redistricting, Suozzis old seat no longer exists. Santos flipped a newly drawn seat that had been reapportioned to be friendlier to Republicans, meaning there will be an intense scramble on the right for the nomination. Earlier this month, Kellen Curry, a veteran and banker, became the first Republican to launch a campaign challenging Santos.

Santos was initially lauded for being the first openly gay Republican elected to the U.S. House. Before he had even been sworn in, however, a bombshell report called into question most of how Santos presented himself to voters, including claims about working for Goldman Sachs, his family being Holocaust survivors, his star role on a college volleyball team and being a Broadway producer.

Story continues

Santos voluntarily relinquished his committee assignments while he is under investigation.

Related...
The Trump-appointed judge who ruled last week that the Food and Drug Administrations approval of an abortion pill drug was unconstitutional reportedly concealed a transphobic and anti-abortion article from the Senate that he helped produce, The Washington Post reported.

District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryks ruling against mifepristone  the abortion pill the FDA approved in 2000 that is used in roughly 60% of all abortions in the country  relied heavily on anti-choice rhetoric and baseless claims. Kacsmaryk, 46, was appointed as a lifetime federal judge by the Senate in 2019 by a vote of 52-46 after being nominated by then-President Donald Trump, but critics have vocalized their concerns about his anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-reproductive rights stances since before his appointment.

The 13-page article that had Kacsmaryks byline during the drafting process was featured in the 21st volume of the Texas Review of Law & Politics in 2017 and is titled The Jurisprudence of the Body: Conscience Rights in the Use of the Sword, Scalpel, and Syringe.

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) called for Kacsmaryks resignation in multiple tweets over the weekend.

Why did Judge Kacsmaryk mislead the American people during his confirmation hearing about his abortion views? Because he knew he wouldnt be confirmed if people found out he was a religious zealot, he wrote in a Saturday tweet.

He added: Judge Kacsmaryk made a mockery of the confirmation process and must resign.

According to the article, the United States Department of Health and Human Services rule barring discrimination against patients seeking gender-affirming care or abortions did not provide a safe harbor for physicians of various religions who cannot use their scalpels to make female what God created male, cannot use their syringes to feminize biological males or masculinize biological females, and cannot use their pens to prescribe or dispense abortifacient drugs designed to kill unborn children.

Story continues

In this image from video from the Senate Judiciary Committee, Matthew Kacsmaryk listens during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in December 2017. Kacsmaryk is a former attorney for a religious liberty legal group with a long history pushing conservative causes.

In this image from video from the Senate Judiciary Committee, Matthew Kacsmaryk listens during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in December 2017. Kacsmaryk is a former attorney for a religious liberty legal group with a long history pushing conservative causes.

But Kacsmaryk was removed as the author and his name was replaced with the names of two others  Justin E. Butterfield and Stephanie N. Taub  after he sent an email to the then-editor of the journal asking for the switch before it was published, according to The Post. In the email, Kacsmaryk cited reasons I may discuss at a later date.

As part of the appointment process, nominees are required to submit their written and edited work to the Senate Judiciary Committee. But Kacsmaryk failed to include the 2017 piece, The Post claims, prompting ethical concerns and questions about his ability to be impartial as a judge.

Hiram Sasser, a spokesperson for First Liberty Institute, a Christian nonprofit legal organization that Kacsmaryk, Butterfield, and Taub were part of, told The Post that Kacsmaryks name on the article was used as a placeholder and that he did not provide a substantive contribution to the piece.

Sasser told HuffPost that Kacsmaryk was intending to write an article and he just didnt have the time to get to it. So someone else wrote it and the correct peoples names appeared on the article.

Sasser continued: Im fairly certain that he provided some kind of edits.

But the Senate Judiciary Committee even requests pieces that were edited by the nominees.

When asked by HuffPost why Kacsmaryk didnt even discuss his editing role, Sasser added: I think its probably because the only edits that he provided were maybe some grammar edits or something. I dont know. Maybe he didnt, didnt edit it at all. I have no idea. I have no evidence at all. (An email shared with The Post confirms that Kacsmaryk did provide at least one minor edit.)

Sasser also claimed the article wasnt published until after the names were swapped.

Still, an anonymous source said the placeholder action was not specified beforehand and that the author swap had never happened while they were an editor at the journal.

The Senate Judiciary Committee did not respond to a HuffPost request for information on whether it plans to take action, and Kacsmaryk also did not respond to HuffPosts request for comment.

Trump nominated over 200 conservatives like Kacsmaryk to lifetime judgeships, making a substantial impact on the federal judiciary. With the wave of anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-abortion legislation stemming from the right, community members and advocates of the LGBTQ+ community have voiced concern for the countrys progress and freedom.

What we have in Texas is a judge who is not guided by science, but is part of an extreme Republican concerted effort to ban abortion nationwide, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) said about Kacsmaryk to NBC News Meet the Press on Sunday.

And we do not need judges, politicians or government telling women about what sort of health care they can have, she added.

Related...
By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Republican U.S. congressman Jim Jordan on Monday asked a judge to let a House of Representatives panel's investigation into the criminal prosecution of former President Donald Trump proceed, saying a subpoena of a former Manhattan prosecutor was needed by lawmakers as they consider possible legislation.

Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and an ally of fellow Republican Trump, made the request to U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil two days before she is due to hold a hearing in the case in federal court in Manhattan.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought 34 felony counts of falsifying business records against Trump, last week sued Jordan to stop what Bragg called a "campaign of intimidation" against the prosecution of the former president. The suit sought to block the committee's subpoena seeking testimony from Mark Pomerantz, who once led the Manhattan district attorney's office Trump investigation but resigned in early 2022.

In a separate filing, Pomerantz urged Vyskocil to block the subpoena and said he played no role in Bragg's decision to charge Trump.

Trump, the first former U.S. president charged with a crime, pleaded not guilty on April 4 after being indicted in connection to a hush money payment made before the 2016 U.S. presidential election to porn star Stormy Daniels to prevent her from discussing a sexual encounter she has said she had with him.

Trump, who is seeking the Republican nomination for the presidency in 2024, has denied the liaison took place.

Bragg has accused Jordan of impeding New York's "sovereign authority" and interfering in an ongoing criminal case.

In his response to Bragg's lawsuit on Monday, Jordan said his subpoena of Pomerantz was covered by protection under the U.S. Constitution for "speech or debate" in Congress. Jordan said his committee was considering legislation to allow presidents to move state criminal actions against them to federal court.

"Such legislation could help protect current and former presidents from potentially politically motivated prosecutions," Jordan's lawyers wrote in court papers.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Will Dunham and John Stonestreet)
(Bloomberg) -- As US lawmakers continue to seek answers about how the Covid-19 pandemic first began, former Republican staffers are releasing details from their own investigations, putting pressure on the Biden administration to declassify sensitive intelligence.

Most Read from Bloomberg

President Joe Biden signed a law in late March that requires the declassification of intelligence on the origins of Covid, but that intelligence has yet to be made public. The push for greater transparency around US findings related to the initial outbreak in Wuhan, China, comes as scientists and security experts have released conflicting reports based on publicly-available information and the White House separately grapples with one of the most damaging intelligence leaks in a decade.

Bloomberg News reviewed a new report of more than 300 pages, prepared at the request of former Republican Senator Richard Burr, which demands additional investigation into Covids origins and is likely to fuel interest in currently-classified intelligence. A team of Republican staffers on a health committee Burr previously served on spent 18 months investigating Covids origins and released an executive summary of their findings in November. However, their complete, 300-plus page report was never released before Burr left office.

The debate over whether Covid came from an infected animal or leaked from a lab in China has been around for the entirety of the pandemic. This week, a House subcommittee tasked with investigating the origins of Covid-19  unrelated to Burrs group  will convene a hearing. Details so far are scant, but lawmakers plan to discuss the available intelligence.

Story continues

The new, full report says that much of the information thats already publicly available supports the theory that Covid could have come from an unintentional lab accident in China during vaccine research efforts. The report suggests that researchers in the Peoples Liberation Army were potentially developing SARS-related coronavirus vaccines in 2019 with the Wuhan Institute of Virology, known as the WIV. The report also outlined safety issues in the WIV that the scientific institute was addressing both before and during the pandemic.

The preponderance of information supports the plausibility of an unintentional research-related incident that likely resulted from failures of biosafety containment during SARS-CoV-2 vaccine-related research, the authors wrote.

The report notes that the evidence is circumstantial and requires further investigation from the US government. Burr said in a statement that the report is credible and worthy of inclusion in the international effort to determine how the pandemic started so that steps can be taken to prevent, or mitigate against, future pandemics.

The Chinese foreign ministry has pushed back against Congressional reports supporting the lab leak theory, describing it as a politically motivated lie.

Read More: Where Are We in Hunting for the Origin of Covid-19?

Covids origins have been hotly debated since the virus emerged in China at the end of 2019. The idea that Covid began with a lab leak in Wuhan was contested early on by the international scientific community, but quickly found support from Republican lawmakers.

Burr, while in office, tasked Robert Kadlec, the former US Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response under the Trump administration, with scouring open-source documents and conducting interviews to better understand two conflicting theories: that the pandemic spilled from animals into humans or that it resulted from a lab accident.

The US intelligence community remains split in its findings over how the pandemic started. Christopher Wray, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, said in February that his department believes a potential lab incident in Wuhan is the most likely explanation. The Energy Department swung this year from undecided to the FBIs view, while the Central Intelligence Agency remains undecided. Other agencies say that natural transmission was most likely.

During the House subcommittees first hearing on the pandemic last month, both Democrats and Republicans underscored that there isnt a smoking gun to settle the origins debate, and bemoaned the politicization of the investigative process.

See Also: Covid Lab-Leak Fight Masks Global Rise of High-Security Biolabs

Many scientists still argue the pandemic began naturally when SARS-CoV-2 jumped from animals to humans at the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, China. In March, a group of scientists who had previously written papers supporting the market hypothesis reanalyzed data collected by Chinese researchers in early 2020 and found evidence that there were animals that were highly susceptible to Covid-19 at the market. They say that strongly supports the spillover theory. The Chinese researchers who conducted the report disagreed.

(Updates throughout starting in the second paragraph)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
WASHINGTON  House Republicans have been coalescing around the idea of trying to make President Joe Biden accept stricter work requirements for federal programs that help people pay for groceries and health care.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) highlighted the idea during a speech at the New York Stock Exchange on Monday.

McCarthy said a forthcoming Republican spending plan will restore work requirements that ensure able-bodied adults without dependents earn a paycheck and learn new skills.

McCarthy noted that there are more job openings than people counted as unemployed.

You know why? Its in part because the Biden administration weakened work requirements, McCarthy said. Incentives matter. And the incentives today are out of whack. Its time to get Americans back to work.

McCarthys remarks followed recommendations from both moderate and hard-right factions within the House Republican conference for McCarthy to demand work requirements as part of a debt ceiling standoff with Biden.

Sometime this year, Congress will need to pass a law allowing the Treasury Department to continue paying federal debts or else the government will default, which could create financial chaos and maybe even crash the economy.

McCarthy has said Republicans wont approve a debt limit change unless Biden agrees to spending cuts, but Republicans have been slow to offer specifics. McCarthy did not identify which federal programs need stricter rules, but in recent weeks House Republicans have pointed to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

The details of work requirements can be complicated but the political message can be simple and powerful, said Vanessa Williamson, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and an expert on the politics of taxes and spending.

Americans in general see work as evidence of being an upstanding, deserving citizen, so politicians often find it can be rhetorically successful to link benefits to work, Williamson said in an email.

Story continues

At the same time, Williamson said, Rhetorical appeals about non-working people living on government benefits tap into racialized stereotypes about the poor.

Every month more than 22 million households receive federal nutrition assistance benefits, which can be redeemed for food products at grocery stores. Most SNAP households have members who are young, old or disabled, but roughly 13% include able-bodied adults without dependents  the population Republicans are targeting.

For most of its history, Medicaid hasnt had work requirements, and attempts to impose them during the Donald Trump administration met resistance from federal courts.

On the other hand, federal food assistance already has work requirements for able-bodied adults, but states have been able to waive the rules during the pandemic and whenever local unemployment is higher than average.

At the Capitol on Monday, McCarthy ignored a question from HuffPost about whether his proposal would affect both Medicaid and SNAP.

The existing SNAP work requirement is essentially a restriction on benefits for the unemployed; people who cant document 20 hours per week of employment or work activities  which can include training or job search  can have only three months of benefits.

Earlier this year, Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) introduced the America Works Act, a bill that would make it harder for states to waive the work rules and also expand the definition of an able-bodied adult without a dependent. Currently the rule applies to childless adults aged 18-49; the Johnson proposal would apply the rule to adults as old as 64 and parents whose children are older than 6.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a progressive think tank, said Johnsons bill would affect a quarter of SNAP participants, or roughly 10 million people. The total includes 6 million adults and 4 million children in households that could lose benefits if their parents failed to meet the requirements.

Some people would be able to meet the requirement, the Center on Budget said. But a very significant number would likely lose benefits because they are out of work or working insufficient hours, the state failed to screen them for an exemption they should have qualified for, or they were unable to navigate the verification system to prove they are working, the CBPPs Ed Bolen, Dottie Rosenbaum and Catlin Nchako wrote in a report last month.

McCarthy sought to downplay the possible impact of the proposed cut.

Dont believe anyone who says our plan would hurt Americas social safety net. Were a very generous nation. And when people fall on tough times, well help them. That will not change, McCarthy said. But this is important. Assistance programs are supposed to be temporary, not permanent. Hand up, not a handout. A bridge to independence, not a barrier.

The problem for McCarthy is that even if he can corral unanimous support from House Republicans for a debt ceiling bill that cuts spending and beefs up work requirements, such a measure would likely lack enough support to make it through the Democratic-controlled Senate. The budget standoff will become a stalemate.

Today House Republicans have made their priorities crystal clear: keep Wall Street happy and take away health care and food assistance from working Americans, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said in a statement. The only thing that so-called work requirements accomplish is burying people with paperwork in order to deny them necessities like food and healthcare.

McCarthy traveled to New York on Monday to talk up the emerging Republican plan, but more importantly, to blame Biden for the possibility of a federal debt default.

The longer President Biden waits to be sensible to find an agreement, the more likely it becomes this administration will bumble into the first default in our nations history, McCarthy said.

Related...
The Tip Line, by Vanessa Cuti (Crooked Lane)

Virginia Careys two best friends were married and pregnant, but at age 30, she was single, drinking wine every night, she says, while I swiped my way through online dating sites.

I just wanted to get married. Start my life like anyone else, she declares in the opening paragraph of Vanessa Cutis debut novel, The Tip Line.

So Virginia takes a job at the local police department, the perfect place, her mother says, to find a nice man.

Virginias job: answer the departments tip line telephone, make nice with the crackpots, and pass along anything promising to the detective division.

Before long, she is smitten with Detective Charlie Ford. Hes drawn to her, too, but before he even takes her out, she decides she is in love and concocts an elaborate fantasy about the life they will have together.

That comes to an abrupt end when the police chief, Declan Brady, expressed interest in her. Without missing a beat, she drops Charlie and transfers her fantasy to Declan.

Most of the tips Virginia receives are worthless, but then a woman named Verona calls to report that the body of a woman has been dumped at a nearby beach.

After the body is recovered, Verona calls back repeatedly, each time offering more details. Verona, who works for an escort service, claims that several more of her fellow workers have gone missing and fears they have been murdered. When police find more bodies on the beach, they realize they are dealing with a serial killer.

The plot takes a turn when Verona calls again, this time reporting that members of the police department take part in depraved sex parties with sex workers  and that one of the officers, who she does not name, is the killer.

Virginia cant bring herself to believe it. No way the nice policemen she has met  and certainly not Charlie or Declan  are depraved killers. For the rest of the novel, she struggles with her denial and her desire for Declan as the body count rises.

The novel was inspired by Long Islands Gilgo Beach serial killer case, which remains unsolved. The publisher is promoting the book as a thriller, but it is far from a traditional one. Rather, it is a superbly well-written literary novel told from the point of view of a woman with a runaway fantasy life and an obsession with finding a husband no matter the cost. ___

Bruce DeSilva, winner of the Mystery Writers of Americas Edgar Award, is the author of the Mulligan crime novels including The Dread Line.
Oleksii Reznikov

I sincerely apologize to anyone in Ukraine or Turkiye who was offended by my comments in an interview with the Spanish newspaper La Razon, he wrote on Twitter on April 17.

Ukrainians sympathize with the Turkish people. We understand what its like to bury thousands of innocent people  friends and neighbors.

Read also: Ukrainian rescuers and paramedics arrive in Turkey to assist with aftermath of devastating earthquake

Reznikov said in an interview with La Razon on April 16 that Ukraines military losses are far lower than the Russian ones.

Read also: Five Ukrainians confirmed killed in Turkey quake

Of course, we have losses as we are at war, he said.

But they are crucially lower than the Russian ones. I cant give you a figure, but I can assure you that the total number is less than the death toll from the [February] earthquake in Turkey.

Over 50,000 people in Turkiye and Syria are believed to have died because of the earthquake.

Russia is believed to have lost 182,600 soldiers as of April 17 in its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ukraines General Staff reported.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
A Richland restaurant is organizing a march to the Richland City Council meeting this week after many citizens were angered by the councils lack of support of businesses with long-standing all-ages drag shows.

Supporters of the Emerald of Siam plan to gather at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the restaurant at 1314 Jadwin Ave., then peacefully march a half mile to Richland City Hall to show support for businesses hosting the events and the LGBTQIA+ community.

A Richland council meeting begins at 6 p.m. at 625 Swift Blvd.

We appreciate your continued support during this time, the 40-year-old business posted on its Facebook page to its supporters.

Tensions have been high in recent weeks, with critics pressuring two Tri-Cities businesses to cancel the events and claiming the shows are grooming children for sexual deviancy.

The restaurant was the subject of a written death threat last week and was harassed for hosting an all-ages Easter Drag Brunch event.

Richland Mayor Pro Tem Theresa Richardson said she has also received similar vile, profane threats for telling citizens to write to the Emerald of Siam with their concerns about the event, although management has suggested her comments fanned the flames of harassment.

Family-friendly drag shows promoted for all ages do not include any explicit content, stripping, swearing or provocative dancing, say organizers.

Some in the community have called for the city to ban all-age shows, despite Tri-City businesses hosting them for many years.

Early Sunday, prior to the Easter event, vandals plastered signs on the windows of the Emerald of Siam.

Another all-age show held just days prior at the Out and About gay club in Pasco attracted the attention of dozens of picketers and opponents of the shows.
Ralph Yarl was shot twice when he got the wrong house while trying to pick his younger brothers up (Ben Crump Law via AP)

Ralph Yarl found himself lying in a hospital bed with gunshot wounds to the head and body.

Harrowing photos showed the Black teenager with tubes coming out of him and his head and right arm wrapped up in bandages.

He is alive but his family says he has a long road to recovery ahead  a recovery that threatens to derail his dreams of going off to college to pursue a career in engineering.

So how did he end up here?

He went to pick up his younger brothers from a friends house, accidentally rang the doorbell at the wrong address and was shot twice by a white homeowner.

Now, that homeowner is walking free after Kansas City police released him without charge.

Its a horror case that has led protesters to take to the streets, civil rights attorneys to rally behind the 16-year-olds family, and Hollywood celebrities use their platform to amplify the case  all demanding justice for the Black teenager and for the white homeowner to be arrested on criminal charges.

Heres what we know so far about the case:

The shooting

The 16-year-old high school junior had gone to collect his siblings from a friends house on 115th Terrace in Kansas City, Missouri, on the evening of 13 April, according to Kansas City Police.

Police said that the teenager got muddled up with the address and went to a home on 115th Street by mistake.

There, Ralph allegedly rang the doorbell and the homeowner  an unidentified white man  opened fire on him.

He didnt have his phone. He mistakenly went to the wrong house, one block away from the house where his siblings were. He pulled into the driveway and rang the doorbell, the family said on a GoFundMe page.

The man in the home opened the door, looked my nephew in the eye, and shot him in the head. My nephew fell to the ground, and the man shot him again.

The 16-year-old high school junior had gone to collect his siblings from a friends house on 13 April when he got the wrong home and was shot (Ben Crump Law via AP)

Ben Crump and Lee Merritt, the prominent civil rights attorneys now representing the victim and his family, said that the aspiring Texas A&M University student was shot twice  once in the head and once in the arm.

Story continues

Following the shooting, Ralph managed to stumble away to some other homes in the neighbourhood to get help, according to his family.

Unfortunately, he had to run to 3 different homes before someone finally agreed to help him after he was told to lie on the ground with his hands up, the family said.

Kansas City Police were called to reports of a shooting and arrived to find the teenager outside with gunshot wounds.

He was rushed to hospital where the family said he was listed in critical condition.

By Monday (17 April), he had been released from the hospital and returned home to recover there.

The homeowner

The identity of the shooter has not been publicly released but he has only been described as an unidentified white male assailant by attorneys for Ralphs family.

The suspect, who has not been named by authorities but is said to be in his 80s, was initially taken into custody on Thursday and placed on a 24-hour hold.

However, under Missouri state law, a person can only be held for 24 hours on suspicion of a felony before officials must either charge or release them.

The suspect was released pending further investigation with Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves saying at a press conference on Sunday that  due to Ralphs injuries  police had been unable to get a formal statement from him.

Mr Crump and Mr Merritt  who have previously represented the families of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd  condemned the release of the armed and dangerous suspect in a joint statement after taking the case.

There is no excuse for the release of this armed and dangerous suspect after admitting to shooting an unarmed, non-threatening, and defenseless teenager that rang his doorbell, the attorneys said.

We demand swift action from Clay County prosecutors and law enforcement to identify, arrest, and prosecute to the full extent of the law the man responsible for this horrendous and unjustifiable shooting.

In an appearance on CNN, Mr Crump described the shooting as an attempted murder.

The motive

As well as the lack of information about the shooter, no motive has been given for the gunman opening fire on the teen.

However, the police chief said that there was no evidence to date to indicate that the shooting was racially motivated.

The information that we have now, it does not say that that is racially motivated. Thats still an active investigation. But as a chief of police, I do recognise the racial components of this case, she said.

Ringing a doorbell is not a crime

The shooting  which marks the latest in a constantly-growing number of shootings of Black people in America  has sparked protests in the city demanding justice for Ralph and calling for the shooter to face charges.

Hundreds of residents took to the streets of Kansas City on Sunday to march through the Northlands area where the teenager was shot.

Many carried placards reading Black Lives Matter, Ringing a doorbell is not a crime and Justice for Ralph, reported KSHB.

A pregnant family friend of Ralph Yarls parents told The Kansas City Star that she fears for her unborn child.

A massive crowd has amassed in front of the white man's home who attempted to murder 16 year old Black boy Ralph Yarl in Kansas City Missouri pic.twitter.com/f100JlEihV  The Kansas City Defender (@KCDefender) April 16, 2023

How do you protect a Black kid? said Patience Gaye.

What are we supposed to do now? We left our countries because we dont want to be killed. Thats why we left. They came to America for a better life. How is this a better life?

GoFundMe donations

A GoFundMe launched to support the Black teenager has soared past $1m in donations.

Donations have been flooding in on a GoFundMe campaign, set up to help pay for the boys recovery.

As of around midday ET on Monday  less than 24 hours after its launch  a staggering $1.2m had been raised.

On the fundraising page, Ralphs aunt described the teenager as a fantastic kid who had dreams of doing to Texas A&M University to major in chemical Engineering.

At school, he is a member of the Technology Student Association and Science Olympia Team. Jazz and competition band. He is a section leader in the marching band; a scholar and one of the top base clarinet players in Missouri. He recently earned Missouri All-State Band recognition with an honorable mention. He plays multiple instruments in the metropolitan youth orchestra. He is a 2022 Missouri scholar academy alumni. Ralph can often be found with a musical instrument. He loves them all, the page reads.

Last summer, Ralph attended Missouri Scholars Academy, where he got a full college life experience. His goal is to attend Texas A&M to major in chemical Engineering.

Ralph Yarl GoFundMe soars past $1m mark (GoFundMe)

When asked how he plans to get into this university, he said, Well, if they have a scholarship for music or academics, I know I can get it. Ralphs teacher and friends describe him as  a kind soul, quiet, friendly, well-mannered, always willing to help, super smart, and a musical genius. Ralph was looking forward to graduating high school and finally getting the opportunity to visit West Africa before starting college.

Life looks a lot different right now. Even though he is doing well physically, he has a long road ahead mentally and emotionally. The trauma that he has to endure and survive is unimaginable. He is our miracle. We have heard these types of stories many times, and unfortunately, most black boys are not alive to get another chance.

Ralph deserves to have the future that he has dreams about. He deserves to be the light that shows the world that LOVE wins and that humanity is still Good. However, he will need a lot of help to get there. Funds from this account will be used for his medical bills and therapy. Any additional funds will be use for college expenses at Texas A&M, a trip to West Africa, and other expenses.

Celebrities share outrage

Several celebrities have also spoken out to condemn the shooting, with actor Halle Berry urging her Twitter followers to contact the local prosecutor to bring charges against the homeowner.

His name is #RalphYarl and Im sick and tired of this feelingmy heart completely broke when I learned this precious 16-year-old, who accidentally rang the door of the wrong address in an attempt to pick up his siblings, was shot in the head by a man who didnt want him on his property. This innocent child is now fighting for his life, she wrote.

His name is #RalphYarl and Im sick and tired of this feelingmy heart completely broke when I learned this precious 16-year-old, who accidentally rang the door of the wrong address in an attempt to pick up his siblings, was shot in the head (1/3) pic.twitter.com/4VaZo7EFVE  Halle Berry (@halleberry) April 17, 2023

This could be your child. This should NOT happen. Please do something today! Join me and please contact Prosecutor Zachary Thompson and demand an immediate arrest and bring the appropriate charges: Building: James S. Rooney Justice Center Address: 11 South Water Street, Liberty, Missouri 64068 Phone: 816-736-8300 Fax: 816-736- 8301 Email: prosecutor@claycopa.com

Fellow Black actor Viola Davis also took to Instagram to demand action.

ALL HANDS ON DECK!! she wrote, directing people to the posts of civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Lee Merritt.

Supermodel Naomi Campbell and model and TV personality Chrissy Teigen also shared Instagram posts about the case as they all rallied behind the family of the 16-year-old boy now fighting his injuries in hospital.

Prosecutors charge white homeowner Andrew D Lester

On 17 April prosecutors announced that they had filed charges against an 85-year-old white man named Andrew D Lester for the shooting of Ralph Yarl.

Clay County prosecutor Zachary Thompson confirmed in a press conference just now that there was a racial component to the case but would not give details on what had caused him to come to that conclusion.

Prosecutors charged Andrew Lester with assault in the first degree, which carries a punishment of 10 to 30 years to life imprisonment. He has also been charged with armed criminal action, which carries a punishment of 3 to 15 years.

Mr Thompson said that a bond has been set of $200,000 but that the suspect is not yet in custody. He told reporters at a press conference that the suspect shot a .32 pistol through a glass door at the victim.
What's happening? Rishi Sunak is being investigated by the Parliamentary ethics watchdog over allegations he failed to declare his wife's shares in a childcare business that potentially stood to benefit from a pilot scheme linked to last month's budget.

Billionaire heiress Akshata Murty, who married Sunak in 2009, holds a minority stake in childcare agency Koru Kids. The investigation relates to a verbal exchange on 28 March when Sunak was asked by a committee of MPs if he had any interest to declare on childcare.

Sunak said he did not. However, subsequent reports claimed the business Murty has shares in could benefit from a new childcare policy - prompting calls for the matter to be investigated.

The prime minister is reported to have sent a follow-up letter to the chair of the committee saying: I would like to clarify for the Parliamentary record that this interest has rightly been declared to the Cabinet Office."

Yahoo News UK explains why the prime minister is under scrutiny and what the outcome could be...

Why is Sunak being investigated?

The ethics committee is looking into Sunak's wife's financial interests in Koru Kids, which is set to benefit from new government childcare policies introduced in the spring budget last month.

The watchdog is likely to focus the investigation on whether Sunak's follow-up declaration of interest to the Cabinet Office was sufficient, or whether he should have directly told MPs on the Commons liaison committee in March about his wife's shares in the company when directly asked if there was any potential conflict.

Sunak was quizzed by the committee over the government's childcare changes, including one pilot policy that sees a 600 incentive for new childcare workers double to 1,200 if those workers join via an agency. Koru Kids was one of six agencies involved in the scheme.

Asked by Labour MP Catherine McKinnell if he had any interests to declare, Sunak replied: All my disclosures are declared in the normal way.

Story continues

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he had correctly declared his interests. (AFP via Getty Images)

Where do the claims originate from?

The potentially conflicting links between Sunak's wife and Koru Kids were originally reported in the i newspaper.

A spokesperson for the prime minister said Number 10 had been made aware of Sunak's interests, while insisting the interests were declared properly when they were registered with the Cabinet Office. However, it is unclear why the prime minister did not also make the declaration again when he was asked about it during the committee meeting.

He has followed the process in terms of declaring his interests as set out in the ministerial code, the spokesperson said at the time.

Since the announcement of the investigation, Number 10 has issued a statement clarifying "We are happy to assist the commissioner to clarify how this has been transparently declared as a ministerial interest.

Murty's links to the company are expected to be included in the next list of ministerial interests, which has not been updated since May 2022.

Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty, who has shares in a company that is set to benefit from childcare changes announced by the government. (Getty Images)

What is the possible punishment?

According to the website of the commissioner for standards, the investigation into Sunak falls under paragraph 6 of the MP's code of conduct, which reads: "Members must always be open and frank in declaring any relevant interest in any proceeding of the House or its committees, and in any communications with ministers, members, public officials or public office holders."

In the most serious cases where MPs are found to have fallen foul of the rules, a parliamentary suspension is possible - however, there is a long road to get to that point.

Should Sunak be found to have broken the rules, the ethics watchdog would refer the case to the Committee on Standards, which would be tasked with deciding on how best to tackle the matter.

The punishment could include anything from an apology all the way up to a Parliamentary suspension.

Rishi Sunak is now the subject of a probe by the Commons ethics watchdog over whether he should have declared an interest during questions over childcare. Getty Images)

Who is Akshata Murty?

The 43-year old daughter of Indian tech billionaire Narayana Murthy met husband Sunak at Stanford University in the US, where she was studying for an MBA. They have two children together.

Murty owns shares in her father's company which are worth around 615 million, as well as in Koru Kids, Jamie Oliver's restaurant businesses, and Wendy's. She also heads up Indian venture capital fund Catamaran Ventures.

According to a Bloomberg report in 2022, Murty had a total net worth of 1.06bn. However, the Sunday Times Rich List 2022 places her and Sunak's combined net worth at 730m.

Murty made headlines last year after it emerged she had registered as a non-domicile for taxation purposes. Following a huge backlash, Murty said she would be changing her tax status.
Despite strong opposition, Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcrofts new rule governing libraries will go into effect later this spring, threatening public libraries state funding over providing minors with books deemed pornographic or obscene.

Ashcroft, a Republican who recently launched a campaign for governor, last fall proposed the rule, barring public library employees from granting minors access to materials without first receiving parental permission. His office received 20,000 public comments on the proposal, including criticism from librarians across the state who argue it amounts to an attack on intellectual freedom and will lead to book banning and political censorship.

The MO govt decided to ignore its citizens protest in order to pass rules to censor what libraries buy and share, the Missouri Library Association said in a tweet. The goal was never to protect kids bc libraries ALREADY DO THAT. Its more an attempt to get notice before election season ...

Ashcrofts office has pushed back, stating in the Missouri Register on Monday: The proposed rule is not a book ban. ... Put simply, refusing to subsidize a particular activity with public monies does not violate the First Amendment.

Under the rule, which will go into effect May 30, libraries are prohibited from using state funds to purchase materials for minors that could be considered pornography or obscene under state law. A previous version of the rule stated funds could not be used to purchase materials that appeal to the prurient interest of a minor, but Ashcrofts office revised the language after receiving criticism that it was too vague.

Its already illegal by state law to provide those kinds of materials to minors, and no library is making those materials available to their communities, Cody Croan, chair of the Missouri Library Association Legislative Committee, said in an email. So this revision leaves one to wonder what the point of the rule is in the first place since its already prohibited by state law elsewhere that providing such materials is illegal.

Story continues

Conservative parents and lawmakers have attempted to remove several school library books they call pornographic, ranging from classics such as Kurt Vonneguts Slaughterhouse-Five and Margaret Atwoods bestselling The Handmaids Tale, to books with LGBTQ themes, including Flamer by Mike Curato and All Boys Arent Blue by George M. Johnson.

The rule requires libraries to adopt written collection development policies addressing the age appropriateness of materials. And libraries must allow parents to limit their childrens access to materials.

Parents are emboldened to challenge materials, displays or events if they think theyre not age appropriate. And the result of any challenge must be displayed on the librarys website.

The rule was approved as Missouri lawmakers have advanced a budget that would eliminate state funding for libraries. Missouri House Republicans last month agreed to cut the entire $4.5 million in state aid that public libraries were slated to get next year, in retaliation for Missouri librarians suing over a new state law banning sexually explicit materials from schools.

The states spending plan will still need to be approved by the Missouri Senate before it heads to Gov. Mike Parsons desk. The state Senate is poised to restore the state funding for libraries.

Libraries risk losing state funding by violating Ashcrofts rule.

After receiving criticism that a previous version of the rule would have allowed anyone to restrict childrens access to library materials, Ashcrofts office revised it so that only a parent of a minor can limit access.

Glad to see our efforts to protect children from obscene materials move forward, Ashcroft said in a tweet. We are not defunding libraries and we are not banning books, contrary to what the left and MSM say. We are merely asking our libraries to shield our kids from inappropriate content.

Croan argued the rule creates confusion and concern around how it will be enforced and that the rule could be enforced differently from one administration to the next.

Kansas City area libraries already have policies for determining what materials go into their childrens sections. And they have processes for allowing residents to challenge materials. Kansas City Public Library, for example, has those policies already available on its website.

Librarians say they vet books based on content, publisher guidelines, maturity levels and a code of ethics, to ensure materials are age appropriate. Many say they fear prosecution and harassment in response to the rule.

Telling libraries to choose books carefully is like telling a grocery store to sell fruit. They already do that. You dont get to act like you won the War on Nutrition by ordering people to do what they are already doing, the Missouri Library Association tweeted.

The association said the new rule will especially overburden small, rural libraries that do not have the funds or staff to maintain separate profiles on every child or websites to post policies.

No library can monitor the guidelines for hundreds of individual students, the Missouri Library Association said in a tweet. Clearly the goal is to get us to remove any objected-to titles from the start. But thats not how responsibility works. If YOU want to monitor what YOUR kid reads, then YOU need to monitor it. Not us.

JoDonn Chaney, a spokesman for Ashcroft, previously told The Star that those state dollars are generally a small portion of a librarys budget. Librarians argue the cost to comply with the rule would be greater than the state funding received.

We still are left in the dark on how to determine that a material is approved or not approved by the minors parent/guardian, Croan said. Either there are major costs and barriers to access involved in implementing a system for every single parent/guardian in our communities or we continue with what MO libraries have always said, that its the parents/guardians right and choice to be involved in what their child checks out but not that of another parents/guardians child.

Ashcroft has promoted the new rule as GOP lawmakers push a deluge of legislation curbing LGBTQ rights, curriculum on race and diversity and equity initiatives. And it comes as conservative groups and lawmakers attempt to ban childrens books, mostly featuring LGBTQ characters or themes about race, across the state and country.

Several Kansas City area schools this fall pulled books off of library shelves, in response to a new Missouri law banning sexually explicit material from schools. Librarians or other school employees who violate the law could be charged with a misdemeanor, risking up to a year in jail or a $2,000 fine.

Missouri librarians are suing over the law, leading House Republicans to push for eliminating their entire state aid.

Locally, the Lees Summit school district has spent nearly $19,000 reviewing the first half of the 90 books challenged this year by a small group looking to ban library materials. The district has decided to retain all 52 books reviewed so far.

And the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri has sued the Independence school district over its book removal policy, after the school board banned the childrens book Cats vs. Robots #1: This Is War from elementary school libraries because it features a nonbinary character.

The Stars Kacen Bayless contributed reporting.
Russia again blocks ship inspections in the Bosphorus

Since April 10, the Russian side in the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) in Istanbul has unilaterally stopped registering vessels that Ukrainian ports submit to form an inspection plan. Meanwhile, the Russians are forming their own inspection plan by choosing the vessels from the waiting line at their discretion, which completely contradicts the terms of the initiative and is unacceptable to Ukraine.

Read also: Traffic suspended as Ukrainian grain cargo ship runs aground in Bosphorus Strait

As a result, an inspection plan has not been drawn up and not a single vessel has been inspected for the second time in the nine months of operation of the grain initiative. This, according to the agency, threatens the functioning of the grain initiative.

The ministry emphasizes that since November 2022, the Russians have been sabotaging and delaying inspections under various pretexts, which has already reduced the volume of exports of Ukrainian agricultural products onto world markets by 15-18 million tonnes.

Read also: Black Sea grain deal set to expire soon, Ukraine warns

According to the Ministry for Restoration, since April 2023, Russian representatives of the JCC have been trying to interfere in the activities of Ukrainian seaports and exporters by imposing their own criteria for determining specific vessels that will participate in the initiative.

For example, since April 14, Russians have refused to register three vessels (two of them heading to China) without any explanation, which are already waiting for cargo in the Pivdennyi seaport.

Read also: Ukraine to deliver 25,000 tons of grain to Nigeria

Thus, the Russian side is trying to establish control over the number of loaded fleets and the directions of its work, violating international norms and grain initiative provisions, the report says.

This is Russias another attempt to dictate its policies to the world, endanger food security, and use food as a weapon.

The agency added that Ukraine categorically rejects Russias latest demands and opposes its interference in the operation of Ukrainian seaports.

Story continues

On March 18, the Deputy Prime Minister for the Reconstruction and Development of Ukraine, Oleksandr Kubrakov, announced the extension of the agreement for another 120 days.

Earlier Russia stated that the extension of the grain agreement is possible only for 60 days, and the further position will be determined depending on progress in the normalization of Russian agricultural exports.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Russia launched attacks across Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson, and Donetsk oblasts over the past 24 hours, causing widespread property damage and injuring at least three people.

Settlements in the Kharkiv, Kupinask, Chuhuiv, and Izium districts of Kharkiv Oblast were targeted by Russian attacks over the past 24 hours, Governor Oleh Syniehubov wrote.

At least 11 buildings were damaged and fires had to be put out, according to Syniehubov. In the village of Kurylivka, located in the Kupiansk district, a private home was damaged as a result of Russian mortar attacks.

A private home in the village of Pershotravneve, located in the Izium district, was destroyed. However, there were no reported casualties.

Russia launched 56 attacks against 16 settlements in Zaporizhzhia Oblast over the past 24 hours, Governor Yurii Malashko reported.

This includes 46 artillery strikes, four air strikes, four drone attacks, and two attacks with multiple launch rocket systems.

According to Malashko, there are at least 52 reported cases of damage to infrastructure, including apartments, private houses, and cars.

A 61-year-old man was hospitalized for his injuries.

There were ten recorded strikes after Russian forces used rocket launchers to attack the Bilopollia community in Sumy Oblast overnight on April 17. There were no casualties, the Sumy Oblast military administration wrote.

Russian forces also shelled the border of Chernihiv Oblast. Six explosions were recorded between 06:45 a.m. and 07:15 a.m. near the village of Karpovychi, Operational Command North reported. Russian forces likely fired 120mm mortar rounds.

From 06:50 a.m. to 06:52 a.m. two explosions, also likely to be from 120mm mortar rounds, were recorded near the village of Leonivk. No casualties were reported.

Russian forces shelled Kherson Oblast 46 times on April 16, firing 170 shells from heavy artillery, drones, and aviation. Residential areas in Kherson were targeted three times, the Kherson Oblast military administration wrote. No casualties were reported.

Story continues

Nikopol and a nearby settlement of the Chervonohryhorivka in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast were attacked with barrel artillery on April 16, Yevhen Yevtushenko, head of Nikopol's military administration, wrote.

Two people were injured as a result of the attack. One man received outpatient care and one woman was hospitalized for her injuries, but she is in stable condition, according to Yevtushenko.

A church, five residential buildings, two cars, several power lines, and four buildings were also damaged. One was also destroyed.

Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast was hit by two missiles, Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko wrote. According to the governor, Russian forces were targeting the territory of an enterprise. Three buildings and a car were damaged.

Russian forces shelled multiple other settlements across the oblast but no casualties were reported beyond the rising death toll from the April 14 missile strike on Sloviansk, which killed 15 people, including a two-year-old boy.
Opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza has been sentenced to 25 years in prison by a Russian court over charges linked to his criticism of Moscows invasion of Ukraine, sparking outrage from the UK  which has called for his immediate release  and other Western leaders.

Mr Kara-Murza, 41, a father of three who holds Russian and British passports, has spent years speaking out against President Vladimir Putin and lobbied Western governments to impose sanctions on Russia for purported human rights violations.

It is one of the longest sentences handed to a political opponent of Mr Putin, and is one of a number of recent high-profile cases as the Kremlin seeks to crack down on dissent. The judgment, handed down in a behind-closed-doors trial, is the maximum possible for a person without previous convictions under Russian law.

Follow the latest in our live blog here

After his sentencing, Mr Kara-Murza said Russia will be free, a slogan used by the political opposition to Mr Putin. He also smiled and  according to one of his lawyers, Maria Eismont  said he regarded the harsh sentence as recognition of his effective work as an opposition politician.

When he heard hed got 25 years he said: My self-esteem has gone up, I understand that I did everything right. Its the highest score I could have got for what I did, for what I believed in as a citizen and a patriot, she said.

Born in Moscow, Mr Kara-Murza moved to Britain with his mother when he was 15 and studied history at Cambridge University. The foreign secretary, James Cleverly, said of the sentence: Russias lack of commitment to protecting fundamental human rights, including freedom of expression, is alarming. He added that Britain would continue to call for his immediate release. The UK government has also summoned the Russian ambassador to make clear its condemnation of what it described as the politically motivated conviction and sentencing. The government had previously, in 2020, imposed sanctions on the judge presiding over the case for alleged human rights violations.

Story continues

Outside the court in Moscow, the British ambassador to Russia, Deborah Bronnert, said that Mr Kara-Murza had been punished for bravely speaking out against Russias war in Ukraine and demanded he be immediately released. The US ambassador, Lynne Tracy, speaking alongside Ms Bronnert, said Mr Kara-Murzas conviction was an attempt to silence dissent. Criminalisation of criticism of government action is a sign of weakness, not strength, she said.

The charges against Mr Kara-Murza stem from his March 2022 speech to the Arizona House of Representatives in which he denounced Russias military action in Ukraine. Investigators added the treason charges while he was in custody. In a CNN interview broadcast hours before he was arrested, Mr Kara-Murza had alleged that Russia was being run by a regime of murderers. At the time of his arrest, Mr Kara-Murza was among the few prominent critics of the Kremlin based in Russia. He had used a number of speeches in the United States and across Europe to accuse Moscow of bombing civilian targets in Ukraine.

State prosecutors, who had requested the court jail him for 25 years, had accused him of treason and of discrediting the Russian military after he criticised what Moscow calls its special military operation in Ukraine.

The US, France and Norway were among the other nations to hit out at the verdict. The US State Department hailed Mr Kara-Murza along with jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and many others who serve their country and their fellow citizens at great personal cost by boldly standing up for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It renewed its call for the release of Mr Kara-Murza and more than 400 other political prisoners in Russia.

The EUs foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said of the verdict: [This] outrageously harsh court decision clearly demonstrates yet again the political misuse of judiciary in order to pressure activists, human rights defenders and any voices opposing Russias illegitimate war of aggression against Ukraine. The UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Turk, also called on Moscow to free Mr Kara-Murza. No one should be deprived of their liberty for exercising their human rights, and I call on the Russian authorities to release him without delay, he said, adding that the sentence is another blow to the rule of law and civic space in the Russian Federation.

Mr Kara-Murzas wife, Evgenia, who lives in Washington with the couples three children  aged 1, 11 and 14  has called the case political vengence, saying that her husband has not been allowed to call his children. I understand that this sentence is the high recognition of the effectiveness of Vladimirs work, she said in the wake of the sentencing. He has proven time and again that he would not back down, that he would not abandon his fight, that he would not betray his country and betray his ideals, that he would keep on fighting.

Mr Kara-Murza had previously worked to get American political approval for the Magnitsky Act of 2012, which allows the US to impose sanctions on Russian officials it believes are involved in human rights abuses.

In his final speech to the court last week, Mr Kara-Murza had compared his own trial to Josef Stalin's show trials in the 1930s and had declined to ask the court to acquit him, saying he stood by and was proud of everything he had said.

"Criminals are supposed to repent of what they have done. I, on the other hand, am in prison for my political views. I also know that the day will come when the darkness over our country will dissipate, he said. He has described the case against him as being based on political vengeance.

Shortly after sending tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February last year, Russia introduced sweeping wartime censorship laws which have been used to silence dissenting voices and independent media across the country. Discrediting the army can currently be punished by up to five years in prison, while spreading deliberately false information about it can bring a sentence of 15 years in jail. The Kremlin has denied targeting civilians during its invasion, but has been repeatedly accused of doing so by Ukraine and its Western allies.

Mr Kara-Murza was a close associate of Boris Nemtsov, a leading figure of the political opposition who was assassinated near the Kremlin in 2015, and continued to speak out against Mr Putin despite the mounting risks.

Twice, in 2015 and 2017, Mr Kara-Murza faced apparent attempted poisonings. He fell suddenly ill, falling into a coma on both occasions before eventually recovering. He alleged these were perpetrated by the Russian security services (Russian authorities denied involvement). Mr Kara-Murzas lawyers say that as a result of the incidents, he suffers from a nerve disorder called polyneuropathy, which Russian authorities have refused to acknowledge.

Another prominent opposition figure, Ilya Yashin, was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison on charges of discrediting the military late last year.

Last month, a Russian court convicted a father over social media posts critical of the war and sentenced him to two years in prison. His 13-year-old daughter, who drew an anti-war sketch at school, was sent to an orphanage. Days later, Russias security service arrested Evan Gershkovich, an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal, on espionage charges.

It is the first time since 1986 that an American reporter has been held for alleged espionage in Russia. His newspaper has rejected the charge, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. The White House has called it ridiculous, and President Joe Biden has said Mr Gershkovichs detention is totally illegal.

Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report
(Reuters) - Russia on Monday brushed off Japanese criticism of naval exercises by its Pacific Fleet, saying it needed to be on guard against a variety of regional threats while focusing on Ukraine.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said earlier on Monday that Tokyo had lodged a protest with Moscow over its military exercises around disputed islands near Japan's main northern island of Hokkaido.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded by saying the drills were taking place "in strict accordance with international law".

"Our environment is very turbulent on many fronts. It's fraught with conflict situations, regional conflicts," Peskov told reporters. "We are all well aware of the geography of these regional conflicts."

Japan has a territorial dispute with Moscow over islands in the north Pacific that dates back to the end of World War Two. As a member of the Group of Seven rich democracies, Japan has joined Western sanctions against Russia.

Russia is keen to show that it can still project force in the Pacific despite the fact that its army is being stretched and depleted by the grinding war in Ukraine, now in its 14th month. The surprise inspection of its Pacific Fleet, including missile launches and torpedo tests, was announced last Friday.

State television on Monday showed footage of President Vladimir Putin receiving a report on the exercises from Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Shoigu said they had included "imitation strikes on enemy navy groups". Putin responded that the snap checks had shown the Pacific Fleet was at a high level of readiness, and that Russia's priority was Ukraine.

Last month two Russian strategic bomber planes, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, flew over the Sea of Japan for more than seven hours as Japan's prime minister was beginning a visit to Ukraine.

Russia's latest naval drills have coincided with a visit to Moscow by Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu, who met Putin on Sunday.

China and Russia last year declared a "no limits" partnership and have forged closer trade, political and military ties since the start of the war in Ukraine, culminating in a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Moscow last month.

(Reporting by Reuters, writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Gareth Jones)
Consequences of airdropping of Russian winged air bombs in the front-line zone

Russia is reviving old projects, like plans to produce X-50 missiles, as well as increasing the production of UAVs for use in reconnaissance and attacks.

Read also: Air Force reveals Russias new tactics in missile, drone attacks against Ukraine

Previously, the X-50 project was impractical for Russia because they had a better missile  the X-101, Ihnat said.

They urgently need to replenish the supply of long-range high-precision weapons, and the X-50 is a missile like the X-101 or the Kalibr that can fly far and reach any point in Ukraine, he said.

Read also: Ukrainian military expert explains threat from gliding air bombs, and how to counter it

Russians actively discuss on social media the production of cruise missiles that will have greater range of destruction, Ihnat said.

As for how effective this will be, well see, he added.

Ihnat reported on April 4 that Russia drops up to 20 planning bombs daily along the front line, using Su-35 and Su-34 planes that are beyond the range of Ukrainian air defense systems. Guided bombs, he said, can hit targets at distances of up to 70 km.

Ukraine cannot effectively counter these bombs, which require Patriot systems and Western fighters to counter.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
A Russian court sentenced prominent opposition figure and journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza to 25 years in a high-security prison Monday on charges of treason. His crime was criticizing Russia's war in Ukraine. The verdict was the latest in the Kremlin's increasing crackdown on dissent, and the harshest sentence ever handed to a war critic in the country to date.

Kara-Murza has consistently denied any wrongdoing and denounced the case against him as politically motivated, citing his longstanding opposition to President Vladimir Putin and his criticism of Russia's flawed elections and the Kremlin's increasingly draconian policies on free speech and the press.

"I'm in jail for my political views. For speaking out against the war in Ukraine. For many years of fighting against Putin's dictatorship," Kara-Murza said during a hearing last week. "Not only do I not repent of any of this, I am proud of it."

A screen set up at a hall of the Moscow City Court shows a live feed of the verdict in the case against Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza, who is accused of treason and spreading

"For a person who has not committed any crimes, acquittal would be the only fair verdict," he added. "But I do not ask this court for anything. I know the verdict."

The trial, held behind closed doors, and the unprecedently harsh verdict were both indicative of Moscow's increasingly intolerant stance on internal dissent. Jailing a Russian journalist for such a long period just for voicing opposition to the war clearly highlighted the Putin government's rejection of Western condemnation of the war and alleged human rights abuses in Ukraine.

Kara-Murza's sentencing came as U.S. officials were finally granted access to an American Wall Street Journal reporter who was arrested in Russia at the end of March and accused of spying for the U.S. government. A week ago, the Biden administration declared reporter Evan Gershkovich "wrongfully detained" by Russia, and the Journal and Gershkovich's family, friends and colleagues have all vehemently denied the claim that he was working as anything other than a journalist.

The U.S. had pushed for access to Gershkovich since his arrest, and U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy finally visited the reporter in Moscow's Lefortovo prison on Monday.

Story continues

"This is the first time we've had consular access to Evan since his wrongful detention over two weeks ago," Tracy said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app. "He feels well and is holding up. We reiterate our call for Evan's immediate release."

Earlier, Ambassador Tracy also called for Kara-Murza's immediate release, saying in a statement that his sentence was "another terrible sign of the repression that has taken hold in Russia."

"The right to have political opinions, or to disagree with the decisions of one's own government, are fundamental freedoms enshrined in both the Russian constitution and international treaties to which Russia is a party," she said. "This ruling is an attempt to silence dissent in this country and to make an example of those with the courage to offer an alternative to the policies of the Russian government."

"Criminalizing criticism of government action is a sign of fear, not strength," added the ambassador.

Russian journalist and activist Vladimir Kara-Murza attends a conference of Russia's leading rights group Memorial in Moscow on October 27, 2021. / Credit: ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/Getty

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to comment on the harsh verdict, telling reporters on Monday that the government never comments "on court decisions, and we will not do so this time, either."

"Twenty-five [year sentence] for words. They don't even sentence you to that long for murder," said Ivan Pavlov, one of Russia's best-known human rights lawyers. "The temperature is rising, the sentences are growing longer. This is indicative of a war."

Kara-Murza was arrested in April 2022 after making remarks condemning the war in Ukraine abroad in an address to lawmakers from Arizona. Russian prosecutors later alleged that his comments constituted spreading "false information" about the Russian Armed Forces, a violation of a law ushered in just last year by the Kremlin.

He was also accused last summer of cooperating with the Free Russia Foundation, an international organization based in Washington D.C. that's among many which have been labeled "undesirable" in Russia.

"A quarter of a century is an 'A+' for your courage, consistency and honesty in your years-long work," the journalist's wife Evgenia Kara-Murza said in a tweet after the verdict was announced. "I am infinitely proud of you, my love, and I'm always by your side."

Kara-Murza was a target of two poisoning attacks in Russia between 2015 and 2017, both of which Russia's government denied any role in.

Vladimir Kara-Murza recovers in a hospital after a suspected 2017 poisoning attack in Moscow, Russia.

He has lost 48 pounds since he was arrested last April, according to his legal team, and his health has deteriorated swiftly, causing concern that he may not survive a long prison sentence.

Group of golden retrievers honors Boston Marathon dog Spencer

Grandpa overcome with emotion over new granddaughter's name

2023 Boston Marathon kicks off 10 years after bombing: "There's no closure for me"
By Andrew Osborn

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza was jailed for 25 years by a Moscow court on Monday, the harshest sentence of its kind since Russia invaded Ukraine, after being convicted of treason and other offences in a trial he said was politically-motivated.

Kara-Murza, 41, a father of three and an opposition politician who holds Russian and British passports, spoke out against President Vladimir Putin for years and successfully lobbied Western governments to impose sanctions on Russia and individual Russians for purported human rights violations.

State prosecutors, who had requested a 25-year term, had accused him of treason, among other offences, and of discrediting the Russian military after spreading "knowingly false information" about its conduct in what Moscow calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine.

His sentence was the harshest handed down to a Kremlin critic since Putin came to power in 1999.

In a CNN interview broadcast hours before his arrest, Kara-Murza, whose family home is in Washington and who had returned to Moscow to campaign against the war, alleged that Russia was run by a "regime of murderers".

He had also used speeches in the United States and Europe to accuse Russia of bombing civilians in Ukraine, a charge Moscow has rejected.

After hearing he'd been ordered to spend the next quarter of a century in a maximum-security penal colony, Kara-Murza, who had calmly listened to proceedings inside a glass courtroom cage, declared "Russia will be free", an opposition slogan.

He also smiled and - according to one of his lawyers, Maria Eismont - said he regarded the harsh sentence as recognition of his work.

"When he heard he'd got 25 years he said: 'My self-esteem has gone up, I understand that I did everything right. It's the highest score I could have got for what I did, for what I believed in as a citizen and a patriot,'" she said.

Story continues

His wife, Evgenia, echoed that sentiment on Twitter, likening his lengthy jail term to an A+ for courage, consistency and honesty. "I am infinitely proud of you, my love, and Im always by your side," she wrote.

Separately, she told a Washington Post event that the sentence showed how much the Russian authorities feared her husband.

In his final speech in court last week, Kara-Murza compared his trial, held behind closed doors, to Josef Stalin's show trials in the 1930s. He declined to ask the court to acquit him, saying he was proud of everything he had said and done.

Eismont, who said her client had not been allowed to speak to his children by phone for nearly a year, said Kara-Murza's team would appeal against Monday's verdict, which she said had been marred by legal violations.

The Kremlin, when asked about the verdict, said it did not comment on court decisions. A prominent state TV host said Kara-Murza had got what he deserved.

ENVOY SUMMONED

In London, Britain - which in 2020 imposed sanctions on the judge presiding over the case for alleged human rights violations -- said it had summoned the Russian ambassador to protest over what it said was a "politically-motivated" conviction.

Outside the Moscow court, British Ambassador Deborah Bronnert told reporters that Kara-Murza had been punished for bravely speaking out against Russia's war in Ukraine and demanded his release.

U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy, speaking alongside her, said Kara-Murza's conviction was an attempt to silence dissent.

"Criminalisation of criticism of government action is a sign of weakness, not strength," said Tracy.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticised the Western diplomats' intervention, suggesting they might be called in to be reminded of what "diplomats should and shouldn't do."

Shortly after sending tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February last year, Russia introduced sweeping wartime censorship laws which have been used to silence dissenting voices.

"Discrediting" the army can currently be punished by up to five years in prison, while spreading deliberately false information about it can attract a 15-year jail sentence.

Casting the conflict in Ukraine as an existential struggle with the West, Russian pro-government politicians say unity across society is vital. They have described Russian citizens who question Moscow's actions in Ukraine as part of a pro-Western fifth column trying to undermine the military campaign.

Twice, in 2015 and 2017, Kara-Murza fell suddenly ill in what he said were poisonings by the Russian security services, on both occasions falling into a coma before eventually recovering.

Russian authorities denied involvement in those incidents. Kara-Murza's lawyers say that as a result, he suffers from a serious nerve disorder called polyneuropathy.

Eismont, his lawyer, said his legal team was concerned about his health after an examination by a civilian hospital at the end of March found his condition was worsening.

Jailed opposition politician Alexei Navalny, whose own health is under pressure, told a legal hearing that Kara's Murza's conviction was illegal and looked like punishment for him not dying after being poisoned.

Tatiana Stanovaya, founder of the R.Politik analysis firm, said Kara-Murza's lobbying for sanctions on Russia had long irritated the Kremlin and that his conviction - which leaned on a newly-expanded definition of treason - was a warning.

"This is a verdict aimed at sending a signal and probably not the last of its kind," she wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

"In future, the security services can be much less choosy and seize anyone if they are on Russian territory and a critic of the Putin regime. This is a warning to all anti-Putin activists - don't come back or we'll put you in jail, de facto for life."

(Additional reporting by Mark Trevelyan Editing by Guy Faulconbridge, Gareth Jones, John Stonestreet, William Maclean)
Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, asserted that Russia is "interested in ending the war in Ukraine as fast as possible".

Source: Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti with reference to Lavrovs statement after his meeting with Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, Mauro Vieira.

Quote: "It goes without saying that we are interested in ending the Ukrainian conflict as fast as possible. We have repeatedly explained the reasons for events unfolding, [and  ed.] the goals we aim at in regards to this."

Details: Russian media report that Lavrov and Vieira discussed "the context which should be taken into account in order to tackle such problems in a way that is based on long-term agreements rather than short-term solutions."

Background:

The Ukrainian government has repeatedly emphasised that negotiations could begin only on the condition of Russia withdrawing its forces behind Ukrainian borders as established in 1991.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation has stated that Russia "does not accept preconditions regarding Ukraine", particularly the requirement to withdraw the Russian troops.

In December 2022, Lavrov stated that Russia allegedly never asked for negotiations with Ukraine, but at the same time is open to let the other side be heard.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!










(Bloomberg) -- Russias crude oil exports bounced back, with the previous weeks sharp decline proving short-lived.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Flows from Russian ports rose by 540,000 barrels a day, recovering a little less than half of the previous weeks loss and climbing back above 3 million barrels a day, according to tanker-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. The less volatile four-week average also edged higher.

Moscows energy ministry said output was cut by 700,000 barrels a day in March and the previous weeks shipments were consistent with a lower production level. But the increase in flows last week casts doubt on the size of any output reduction, particularly as the increase came from ports in the west of the country, where the burden of cuts is expected to be felt. The only region where flows fell was the Pacific, from where voyages to Russias remaining customers are shortest and export prices are highest.

The diversion of crude previously delivered to Poland and Germany through the Druzhba pipeline has boosted seaborne flows during the early part of this year to an average of 3.32 million barrels a day, compared with 2.94 million barrels a day during the equivalent period at the end of 2022. Flows to Germany halted at the end of 2022 and deliveries to Poland were stopped in late February. Polands state-controlled oil refiner PKN Orlen SA has terminated its last contract with a Russian supplier in response to the halt in oil shipments via Druzhba.

Russias Lifelines

The combined volume of crude on vessels heading to China and India plus smaller flows to Turkey and quantities on ships that havent yet shown a final destination rebounded to 3.31 million barrels a day in the latest four-week period.

Story continues

As the ultimate destinations of cargoes loading in late January became apparent, flows to China rose to new post-invasion highs, and remained close to those levels in February. Historical patterns suggest that most of the vessels currently identified as Unknown Asia destinations and heading for the Suez Canal will end up in India, while those loaded onto very large crude carriers off the north coast of Morocco or, more recently, in the Atlantic Ocean, will head to China.

Ship-to-ship transfers of cargoes in the Mediterranean continue apace. This has been most visible off the Spanish north African city of Ceuta and off the Greek coast near Kalamata. At least 60 cargoes have been transferred between ships in those two locations since the start of the year.

Russia has also resumed cargo transfer operations in the Atlantic Ocean, with the Aframax tanker Volans moving its cargo into the VLCC Scorpius north of the Cape Verde islands over the weekend.

Crude Flows by Destination

Crude flows in the week to April 14 rose by 540,000 barrels a day from the previous week, to 3.43 million barrels a day. On a four-week average basis, overall seaborne exports increased by 50,000 barrels a day to 3.39 million barrels a day.

Volatile weekly data are affected by the scheduling of tankers and loading delays caused by bad weather. Port maintenance can also disrupt exports for several days at a time.

All figures exclude cargoes identified as Kazakhstans KEBCO grade. Those are shipments made by KazTransoil JSC that transit Russia for export through the Baltic ports of Ust-Luga and Novorossiysk.

The Kazakh barrels are blended with crude of Russian origin to create a uniform export grade. Since Russias invasion of Ukraine, Kazakhstan has rebranded its cargoes to distinguish them from those shipped by Russian companies. Transit crude is specifically exempted from European Union sanctions.

Four-week average shipments to Russias Asian customers, plus those on vessels showing no final destination, edged higher, rising to within 40,000 barrels a day of the all-time high set in the period to March 31. Shipments rose to 3.15 million barrels a day in the period to April 14, compared with 3.1 million barrels a day previously.

While the volumes heading to China and India appear to have declined, history shows that most of the cargoes on ships without an initial destination eventually end up in one or other of those countries.

The equivalent of 726,000 barrels a day was on vessels showing destinations as either Port Said or Suez in Egypt, or which already have been or are expected to be transferred from one ship to another off the South Korean port of Yeosu. Those voyages typically end at ports in India or China and show up in the chart below as Unknown Asia until a final destination becomes apparent.

The Other Unknown volumes, running at 396,000 barrels a day in the four weeks to April 14, are those on tankers showing a destination of Ceuta, Kalamata or no destination at all. Most of those cargoes go on to transit the Suez Canal, but some could end up in Turkey. An increasing number are being transferred from one vessel to another in the Mediterranean for onward journeys to Asia.

Russias seaborne crude exports to European countries were stable at 83,000 barrels a day in the 28 days to April 14, with Bulgaria the sole destination. These figures do not include shipments to Turkey.

A market that consumed more than 1.5 million barrels a day of short-haul crude, coming from export terminals in the Baltic, Black Sea and Arctic has been lost almost completely, to be replaced by long-haul destinations in Asia that are much more costly and time-consuming to serve.

No Russian crude was shipped to northern European countries in the four weeks to April 14.

Exports to Turkey, Russias only remaining Mediterranean customer, were unchanged at 162,000 barrels a day in the four weeks to April 14.

Flows to Bulgaria, now Russias only Black Sea market for crude, remained stable at 83,000 barrels a day.

Flows by Export Location

Aggregate flows of Russian crude rebounded from an eight-week low in the seven days to April 14, rising back above 3 million barrels a day. Lower shipments from the Pacific were more than offset by increases from all other regions.

Figures exclude volumes from Ust-Luga and Novorossiysk identified as Kazakhstans KEBCO grade.

Export Revenue

Inflows to the Kremlin's war chest from its crude-export duty rose by $7 million to $47 million in the seven days to April 14, while four-week average income edged higher to $46 million.

President Vladimir Putin has signed into law amendments to the way Russias oil price is assessed for tax purposes. From April, rates of mineral extraction tax and profit-based tax on oil companies are calculated using a decreasing discount to prevailing Brent prices, rather than assessments of Urals crude. Export duty, which will be phased out at the end of 2023, is not affected by the change.

The duty rate for April was set at $1.95 a barrel, little changed from March, based on a Urals price of $50.80 a barrel during the assessment period that ran from Feb. 15 to March 14. The rate for May will be $1.96 a barrel, based on a Urals price of $51.15 a barrel between March 15 and April 14.

Origin-to-Location Flows

The following charts show the number of ships leaving each export terminal and the destinations of crude cargoes from the four export regions.

A total of 31 tankers loaded 24 million barrels of Russian crude in the week to April 14, vessel-tracking data and port agent reports show. Thats up by 3.8 million barrels, or 19%, reversing less than half of the previous weeks slump. Destinations are based on where vessels signal they are heading at the time of writing, and some will almost certainly change as voyages progress. All figures exclude cargoes identified as Kazakhstans KEBCO grade.

The total volume on ships loading Russian crude from Baltic terminals recovered to 1.56 million barrels a day.

Shipments from Novorossiysk in the Black Sea rose to a three-week high, with flows reaching 667,000 barrels a day.

Arctic shipments rebounded from the previous weeks slump, with two Suezmax and one Aframax tanker loading in the week to April 14.

Flows from the Pacific fell for a second week, with eight tankers loading at the regions three export terminals in the week to April 14, down from 10 the previous week.

Three cargoes of ESPO crude out of just five loaded during the week are on vessels heading to China. One vessel is heading to India and the other is showing its destination as Singapore. Previous vessels heading there from Kozmino have eventually gone on to India.

The remaining volumes heading to unknown destinations are Sokol cargoes that recently have been transferred to other vessels at Yeosu, or are currently being shuttled to an area off the South Korean port from the loading terminal at De Kastri. Most of these are also ending up in India.

Note: This story forms part of a regular weekly series tracking shipments of crude from Russian export terminals and the export duty revenues earned from them by the Russian government.

Note: All figures exclude cargoes owned by Kazakhstans KazTransOil JSC, which transit Russia and are shipped from Novorossiysk and Ust-Luga as KEBCO grade crude.

--With assistance from Sherry Su.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Vladimir Kara-Murza

Kara-Murza faced three charges: 1) spreading fakes about the Russian army; 2) working for an undesirable organization, due to his cooperation with the Open Russia Foundation; and 3) treason. The prosecution requested a 25-year sentence.

Kara-Murza pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Read also: Russia wants to use Belarusian prisoners as builders in occupied Mariupol, mayor advisor says

Speaking before the verdict, he said, The day will come when the darkness over our country will dissipate. When black will be called black and white will be called white; when at an official level it will be acknowledged that two plus two equals four; when war will be called war, and usurpers will be called usurpers; and when those who incited and unleashed this war will be recognized as the criminals, not those who tried to stop it.

Read also: Man detained in Kyiv for setting up fireworks during war-time, he faces up to five years in prison

His words were heard only by judges and the prosecutor, as his trial was closed to the public and journalists.

Kara-Murzas health significantly deteriorated during the year he spent in custody, he lost 22 kilograms in pretrial detention, say his lawyers.

Kara-Murza woke from a coma that he believes was poison-induced on Feb. 8.

In 2017, he was diagnosed with acute poisoning by an unknown substance, and he was twice hospitalized in critical condition in the following years with suspected poisoning.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Russian journalist and opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for condemning Russia's all-out war in Ukraine, the BBC reported on April 17.

The judge presiding over the trial said that Kara-Murza will be sent to a "strict regime correctional colony" to serve his jail sentence and fined 400,000 roubles ($5,000), the BBC wrote.

Kara-Murza was arrested in Russia on April 11, 2022, and charged with "treason," "spreading false information" on the Russian military, and belonging to an "undesirable" foreign organization.

Todays outrageously harsh court decision clearly demonstrates yet again the political misuse of judiciary in order to pressure activists, human rights defenders and any voices opposing Russias illegitimate war of aggression against Ukraine, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement.

Where is Russias anti-war opposition? For many Ukrainians, watching queues of conscription-age Russians fleeing the specter of mobilization has proven bittersweet. Each body that crosses the border into Kazakhstan, Armenia, or Georgia is one less soldier to occupy Ukrainian soil. But why have the same crowds failed to appear at anti-wa Kyiv IndependentKatie Marie Davies

Latvian Foreign Affairs Minister Edgars Rinkevics condemned the "harsh and unjust sentence" against Kara-Murza and announced that he had imposed sanctions against 10 Russian individuals "complicit in this sham case," calling on the European Union to impose additional sanctions.

Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch, called the April 17 verdict a "travesty of justice," adding that "Russian authorities should immediately vacate the verdict and unconditionally free him."

Human Rights Watch also said the charges against Kara-Murza were "unfounded and constitute blatant persecution for his entirely peaceful exercise of freedom of expression."

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk called Kara-Murza's 25-year sentence a "blow to the rule of law and civic space," adding that "No one should be deprived of their liberty for exercising their human rights. I call on authorities to release him without delay."

Story continues

Evgenia Kara-Murza, the wife of the Russian opposition leader, wrote, "A quarter of a century is an 'A+' for your courage, consistency, and honesty in your years-long work. I am infinitely proud of you, my love, and Im always by your side."

In a statement to the court last week, Kara-Murza said, "Not only do I not repent of any of this, I'm proud of it. I'm proud of the fact that Boris Nemtsov brought me into politics and I hope he isn't ashamed of me. I stand by every word I've ever uttered and by every word this court accuses me of saying," as quoted by the Dutch-owned independent Russian media outlet the Moscow Times.

Boris Nemtsov, Kara-Murza's former colleague, was an opposition politician shot dead by the Kremlin in 2015.

Kara-Murza, who is also a British citizen, went on to liken his trial to that of the show trials in the 1930s during the Stalinist purges and that he only regretted the failure on his part of convincing people of the threat Russian President Vladimir Putin posed.

In 2015 and 2017, Kara-Murza claimed that he was poisoned by Russian authorities in retaliation for his efforts to persuade Western nations to impose more economic sanctions on Russia.

Kara-Murza penned an op-ed for the Washington Post in 2021, recounting his experience of confronting the Russian intelligence officers allegedly involved in the poisoning, after an investigation conducted by Bellingcat, the Insider, and Der Spiegel had identified them.

According to Kara-Murza, doctors informed his wife both times that he had a five percent chance to survive the poisonings. The journalistic investigation found that Russian intelligence officers had been following Kara-Murza before the alleged poisonings took place.

None of the intelligence officers would speak to Kara-Murza, but thanks to the investigation, he knew their faces and names.

"They have ordinary faces, the same kind that I see every day on the streets of Moscow. What do these men discuss at the family dinner table? How many people theyve poisoned today?" Kara-Murza wrote.
A phone with the Tinder dating app. NurPhoto/Getty Images

Russian spies are using Tinder to pursue intelligence about the Ukraine war, Germany warned.

Spies are targeting German soldiers and politicians, the country's counterintelligence service said.

Intelligence services like Russia's appear to be using the dating app to seek intel and recruits.

Russian spies are using Tinder to target German politicians and soldiers in order to get intelligence related to the war in Ukraine, according to German counterintelligence.

German newspaper Welt am Sonntag reported that Russian agents are specifically looking on the dating app for politicians and members of the Bundeswehr, Germany's armed forces, to try to "recruit them as sources of information."

This is according to Germany's Military Counterintelligence Service, known by the acronym MAD.

MAD confirmed to Welt am Sonntag that "members of other intelligence services (e.g. Russia) use social media to specifically establish contacts with members of the Bundeswehr" to try to get information and maybe even recruit them.

It also confirmed that Tinder is one of the social media platforms used.

The information was shared at a meeting of NATO representatives in Germany, Welt am Sonntag reported.

Germany has been one of Ukraine's biggest allies since Russia invaded in February 2022, and thousands of Ukrainian troops have been trained in the country.

Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution said Russian spy levels in Germany are now at the same level as they were during the Cold War, Welt am Sonntag reported.

Other governments have previously warned that spies and foreign intelligence bodies could be using dating apps like Tinder to find sources and gather information.

The head of Australia's national security agency warned in February 2022 that foreign spies seemed to be using dating apps, including Tinder, to try to get information from citizens who have access to sensitive intelligence.

He did not name any specific countries involved.

Story continues

And an official at the US Department of Justice warned in 2020 that data people put on their dating apps could be used by foreign intelligence services.

Russia already uses Tinder to collect data about its own citizens. In 2019, Russia ordered Tinder to hand over users' data to the country's intelligence service.

But the dating app has also been used by others in relation to the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Tinder users can pay for a feature that allows them to talk to people in other countries. Some have used it to try to show people in Russia what the invasion has been like, in the face of tightly controlled Russian state media.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Confucius Classroom in Congo hosts open house to celebrate Chinese language and culture

Xinhua) 09:05, April 17, 2023

A Chinese doctor demonstrates Chinese massage therapy at an open house hosted by the Confucius Classroom in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of the Congo, on April 15, 2023. (Photo by Guy-Gervais Kitina/Xinhua)

The Confucius Classroom in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo, has held an open house ahead of the UN Chinese Language Day for locals to enjoy the Chinese language and culture.

BRAZZAVILLE, April 16 (Xinhua) -- The Confucius Classroom in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo, held an open house Saturday ahead of the UN Chinese Language Day on April 20, to celebrate the Chinese language and Chinese culture.

The event was set to popularize and promote traditional Chinese medicine, including acupuncture, cupping therapy and Chinese massage. Five doctors of the 29th Chinese medical mission working at the Sino-Congolese Friendship Hospital in Brazzaville were invited for volunteer medical consultations.

"It's the first time I've undergone an acupuncture session and I found it very interesting. I had pain in my joints and after this session, I feel very relieved," said Elo Gertrude, a patient who promised to encourage her relatives to use traditional Chinese medicine.

Zhang Dejie, a member of the Chinese medical mission, said he was happy to see Congolese people, especially young people, taking an interest in Chinese medicine. "This is the first time that we are organizing such sessions and hope that more sessions could be held in other cities."

A man receives acupuncture treatment at an open house hosted by the Confucius Classroom in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of the Congo, on April 15, 2023. (Photo by Guy-Gervais Kitina/Xinhua)

The event also featured games and presentations of Chinese martial art, culinary culture, and Chinese characters. Wang Yulan, the director of the Confucius Classroom, was delighted with the success of this event which, according to her, is certainly not the last.

"As more and more Congolese friends are getting to understand the Chinese language and culture, we, the Chinese and Congolese are also getting closer to knowing each other. That is the charm of language and culture," she said.

Confucius Classrooms are an extension of the Confucius Institute program. Whereas Confucius Institutes are university-based, Confucius Classrooms are partnerships with local schools and education centers with the goal of strengthening the Chinese language and culture programs at the school and in the local area.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Russian forces have intensified the use of heavy artillery and air strikes on the Bakhmut front in Donetsk Oblast.

Source: Hanna Maliar, Deputy Minister of Defence, on Telegram

Quote: "The use of heavy artillery and air strikes has intensified on the Bakhmut front. The enemy simply razes Bakhmuts buildings and infrastructure to the ground."

Details: Unsuccessful Russian offensive actions are taking place on the Lyman, Avdiivka, Marinka and Kupiansk fronts.

The cities of Bakmut and Marinka remain the epicentre of combat.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!






Russia's foreign minister met in Brazil on Monday with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, as Washington criticized the South American leader's recent remarks on US defense support for Ukraine.

Lula is fresh off a trip to China and the United Arab Emirates, during which he raised eyebrows in the West by accusing the United States of "encouraging the war" in Ukraine.

He also said the United States and Europe "need to start talking about peace," and that Kyiv shares the blame for the conflict.

Sergei Lavrov, Russia's top diplomat, thanked Lula on Monday for his offer to mediate peace talks on the 14-month war.

But the visit, and Lula's recent remarks, sparked criticism from the White House, which has led support for Ukraine.

"In this case, Brazil is parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda without at all looking at the facts," US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, who met with Lavrov earlier in the day, shot back later, saying: "I don't know how or why he reached that conclusion but I do not agree at all."

Lula's visit to China and the UAE, postponed by a bout of pneumonia, came after a meeting with US President Joe Biden in February.

Brazil has not joined Western nations in imposing sanctions on Russia for its invasion, and has refused requests to supply ammunition to Ukraine.

Before the trip, Lula had proposed creating a group of countries to mediate in the war, and said he would discuss this in Beijing.

After meeting with his Brazilian counterpart on Monday, Lavrov said: "We are grateful to our Brazilian friends for their clear understanding of the genesis of the situation (in Ukraine). We are grateful for their desire to contribute to finding ways of settling this situation."

"We are interested in resolving the conflict as soon as possible," Lavrov said.

But he added that any solution would have to be based on "multipolarity," accusing the West of "trying to dominate the international arena."

Story continues

Lavrov's trip to Brazil comes after Lula's top foreign policy adviser, Celso Amorim, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in March to discuss opening peace talks.

Brazil is Lavrov's first stop on a weeklong Latin American tour that will also include Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba -- countries whose leftist governments have hostile relations with the United States.

Lavrov and Vieira said their talks had also focused on energy and trade.

About a quarter of agricultural powerhouse Brazil's fertilizer imports come from Russia, while the two countries engaged in a record $9.8 billion in bilateral trade last year.

rsr-jhb/nro/dw/jh/des
By Lisandra Paraguassu and Anthony Boadle

BRASILIA (Reuters) -Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva drew criticism from the United States on Monday for his recent comments suggesting the West had been "encouraging" war by arming Ukraine, while he was praised by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for his proposal for peace talks.

Lavrov, on a visit to Brasilia, met with Lula and thanked Brazil for its efforts to resolve the conflict. But a White House spokesman accused Lula of "parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda without looking at the facts."

Lula has pitched himself as a broker for peace talks to end the Ukraine conflict, which began when Russia invaded the neighboring country in February 2022. That proposal was based on Brazil's tradition of non-intervention and open diplomacy.

But Lula has angered many in the West with comments over the weekend, when he called for Western powers to stop providing arms for the war. The comments came shortly after he returned from China, where he discussed the matter with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

"The United States needs to stop encouraging war and start talking about peace," Lula said on Saturday in remarks to journalists.

He also called for a group of countries not involved in the war to engage Russia and Ukraine in peace talks.

"But we also have to talk to the United States and European Union. We have to convince people that peace is the way," he said.

Lavrov told journalists in Brasilia on Monday that Moscow was "grateful to our Brazilian friends for their clear understanding of the genesis of the situation."

"We are grateful for their desire to contribute to finding ways to settle this situation," he said.

John Kirby, the White House national security spokesperson, said on Monday that Lula's comments were "simply misguided" and missed the mark by "suggesting the United States and Europe are somehow not interested in peace, or that we share responsibility for the war."

Story continues

So far among Western nations, only French President Emmanuel Macron has welcomed Lula's peace initiative. The Brazilian leader's call to halt arms supplies to Ukraine has not gone down well among most diplomats.

"It raises alarms bells," said a European ambassador in Brasilia, adding that ending weapon supplies for Ukraine was tantamount to taking sides with Russia.

"It is a war of aggression and defense. If they have no arms, the Ukrainians lose the right to self-defense," the diplomat said, requesting anonymity.

Kyiv, Washington and other allies say a ceasefire now would leave Russia in control of territory it seized by force, and Ukraine has a right to seek Western arms to drive the invaders out.

The European Union also rejected Lula's suggestion that both Ukraine and Russia are to blame for the war. EU foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano said all aid was aimed at Ukraine's "legitimate defense."

Earlier this year, Lula refused to supply ammunition to Ukraine, as reportedly requested by Germany.

(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu and Anthony Boadle, Additional reporting by Steve Holland and Patricia Zengerle in WashingtonEditing by Brad Haynes, Peter Graff and Rosalba O'Brien)
BRASILIA, Brazil (AP)  Russias Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday expressed gratitude to Brazil for its approach in pushing for an end to hostilities in Ukraine  an effort that has irked both Kyiv and the West, and by afternoon prompted an unusually sharp rebuke from the White House.

Brazils President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has refused to provide weapons to Ukraine while proposing a club of nations including Brazil and China to mediate peace.

On Sunday, Lula told reporters in Abu Dhabi that two nations  both Russia and Ukraine  had decided to go to war, and a day earlier in Beijing said the U.S. must stop stimulating the continued fighting and start discussing peace. Earlier this month, he suggested Ukraine could cede Crimea to end the war, which the spokesperson for Ukraines foreign ministry, Oleg Nikolenko, and others rejected.

After meeting Brazils foreign minister on Monday, Lavrov told reporters in a short press conference that the West has engaged in a rather tough struggle to maintain its dominance in world affairs, including economics and geopolitics.

As for the process in Ukraine, we are grateful to our Brazilian friends for their excellent understanding of this situations genesis. We are grateful (to them) for striving to contribute to finding ways to settle it," Lavrov said, sitting alongside his Brazilian counterpart, Mauro Vieira.

Lula's recent comments, particularly ascribing any blame to Ukraine for Russia's invasion in Feb. 2022, run counter to the position held by the European Union, the U.S. and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. And any talk of a ceasefire is viewed as an opportunity for Russia to regroup its forces for a new offensive. Zelenskyy told The Associated Press last month that a loss anywhere at this stage in the war could put Ukraines hard-fought momentum at risk.

Vieira, for his part, told reporters that Brazil sees sanctions against Russia as causing negative impacts for the global economy, particularly developing nations, and that Brazil supports an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.

Story continues

Following the meeting, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby blasted Brazils approach to the war and for its officials having met Lavrov and Russia's Vladimir Putin in person, while thus far only speaking to Ukrainian officials by phone.

Brazil has substantively and rhetorically approached this issue by suggesting that the United States and Europe are somehow not interested in peace or that we share responsibility for the war, Kirby told reporters in Washington. In this case, Brazil is parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda without at all looking at the facts.

Kirby said the Biden administration hoped Lula and others will urge the Russians to cease the bombing of Ukrainian cities, hospitals and schools, halt the war crimes and the atrocities and, quite frankly, to pull back Russian forces from Ukraine.

Both foreign ministers were meeting with Lula in the afternoon.

As part of his effort to end the war, Lula also has withheld munitions to Ukraine, despite a request from Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Lula has said that sending supplies would mean Brazil entering the war, which he seeks to end.

His administration is seeking to simultaneously develop ties with China, Europe and the U.S. while keeping an open door to Russia. However, his recent remarks may have undermined his effort to secure these competing objectives, said Christopher Garman, managing director for the Americas at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group.

Its not a good look, when you have the Russian chancellor side by side, and its the Russian position, Garman said by phone. The optics do diminish Brazils credibility as an independent arbiter, but I think that the import is larger precisely because of the current storms that Lula stoked with his comments in China and the UAE.

There were already indications that Moscow had appreciated Lula's stance. One of roughly 50 leaked classified documents on the platform Discord that have been viewed by the AP said that, as of late February, Russias foreign affairs ministry supported Lulas plan to establish a club of supposedly impartial mediators, as it would reject the Wests aggressor-victim paradigm. The item cited electronic surveillance as the source.

Critics have argued that Brazil's position aims to avoid confronting a key supplier of fertilizer for its soybean plantations, exports from which are largely destined for China. Both Russia and China hold permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council, and Brazil for decades has sought to join them. Lavrov told reporters on Monday that Russia is backing Brazil's bid.

Vinicius Vieira, an international relations professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a university and think tank, said Lulas comments on Ukraine have been badly calibrated and that saying Kyiv should cede Crimea would appear to favor Russia.

The issue of fertilizers is fundamental, but that would be well resolved with Brazil staying neutral, calling all sides to speak, but without saying Ukraine owes something to Russia, Vieira said.

After his stay in Brazil, Lavrov will travel to Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.

In an article published on the website of Russias Foreign Ministry, as well as in Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo, Lavrov appeared to cast the Latin American countries trade relationship  notably that between Russia and Brazil, especially concerning fertilizers  as a backdrop and source of leverage for possible discussions regarding Brazil's continued refusal to provide weapons to Ukraine, which Moscow would like to ensure.

Brazils foreign minister told reporters that Russia accounts for one-quarter of the South American nations fertilizer imports, and that he and Lavrov discussed measures to guarantee its influx.

___

Madhani reported from Washington. AP videojournalist Kostya Manenkov contributed from Tallinn, Estonia, and journalist Elise Morton contributed from London.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Monday reported to President Vladimir Putin about drills conducted by the Pacific Fleet.

In footage broadcast on state television, Shoigu was shown saying that the drills included "imitation strikes on enemy navy groups" in the Pacific.

Putin responded by saying that snap checks had shown the Pacific Fleet, which is based in Far Eastern Russia, was at a high level of readiness, and that Russia's priority was Ukraine.

The drills are occurring while Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu is visiting Moscow. On Sunday, he held a meeting with Putin.

(Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
Kyrylo Budanov, Head of the Chief Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, has said that another attempted Russian offensive failed on 31 March of this year.

Source: Kyrylo Budanov in an interview with NV.UA



Quote: "On 31 March 2023, another attempt at a Russian offensive, the so-called winter-spring offensive, failed. I am officially telling you this.

On 31 March, they were supposed to reach the administrative borders of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. Again, this is not even the fifth attempt that has failed.

Russia does not have the offensive potential to conduct a strategic offensive operation, and will not have it in the near future.

Russia has switched to a strategic defensive operation. Their task is to hold our captured territories, disrupting our offensive operation to liberate them."



Details: Budanov states that two areas are exceptional: an attempt to capture Bakhmut and an attempt to encircle Avdiivka from the north; otherwise, "the [front] line is standing still".

Kyrylo Budanov also said that Russia's attempt to seize Bakhmut has been going on since June 2022, almost a year since they allegedly "captured" it, but the city is still standing despite the difficult situation there.

As for Ukraine's counteroffensive, Budanov advised "not to listen to all the noise on the Internet" that it "will start now" or that "it has been cancelled".

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
A Sacramento firefighter in 2020 posted to Facebook that he has killed people by refusing to lift them when they are overweight. He remains a firefighter for the Sacramento Fire Department.

The Facebook post by Timothy John Keyes resulted in a five-shift unpaid suspension, according to a disciplinary letter The Sacramento Bee obtained from a California Public Records Act request. His annual compensation is $125,684.

I have killed more people in this way than in any other: Presented with a person far too heavy to lift safely, a person dying of any overworked heart (congestive heart failure) and KNOWING better, I will opt to NOT have my crew lift him, Keyes wrote on Facebook, according to the March 10, 2021, disciplinary letter.

Keyess post also said lifting heavy individuals risks minor or significant injury to a paramedic, so Keyes has the person suffering a medical event walk a short distance, possibly down stairs, to the gurney.

He acknowledged that having the person walk rather than be carried can prove fatal.

The heart, already overtaxed while sitting, leading to the 911 call du jour, cannot support these steps, he wrote.

Keyes wrote he has been disappointed in medics he has trained who fail to understand why he tells his crew not to lift the patient when the patient died trying to walk.

I am not willing to give our health for him. He has asked for this, DEMANDED it for decades! Why should we ruin a loved ones back for him to keep him alive a bit longer? He will still die, sooner or later. Why give me or my Brothers back for him when he never bothered to care for himself? I prefer to let him die today if necessary.

When investigators asked Keyes about the post, he confirmed he had written it, the letter states.

The complete text of the Facebook post by Timothy John Keyes that resulted in a five-shift unpaid suspension, according to a disciplinary letter The Sacramento Bee obtained from a California Public Records Act request.

Keyes did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment, but he did talk to investigators about his post.

I said something I shouldnt have said, and I wish I hadnt. I tried to take it back. It was too late, Keyes told investigators, the letter states. I had already said it ... I messed up.

Story continues

The city disciplined Keyes with a 240-hour suspension, but allowed him to use vacation time to cover half of it. He was suspended for five shifts, totaling 120 hours, in March and April 2021.

Keyes violated the citys Equal Employment Opportunity Policy when he engaged in inappropriate conduct based on gender/sex and medical condition, the letter states.

The citys Equal Employment Opportunity Policy is in place to ensure that employees work environments are free from harassment and discrimination. The policy outlines various classifications that are protected, such as disability, gender, sex and medical condition.

When asked about this disciplinary issue, city spokesman Tim Swanson said, The City of Sacramento does not comment on individual personnel matters, but its worth noting that the City and the Sacramento County Emergency Medical Services Agency (SCEMSA) require Firefighters/Paramedics or EMTs to treat all patients with the required standard of care, regardless of gender, weight, or any other distinguishing characteristic.

Sexual post also on Facebook

Investigators also found another offensive post on Keyes Facebook  a photo depicting a female providing first aid to a male, the letter states. It read, CPR INSTRUCTIONS: CHECK TO SEE IF NIPPLES ARE HARD if not rub forehead until proper nipple tension is achieved; KISS SENSUALLY the victim is unconscious. Nows your chance!

The post, included in the reason for the suspension, was another violation of the citys EEO policy, the letter states. When investigators asked Keyes why he posted that photo, he said because it was ridiculous, the letter states.

During the interviews in September 2020, Keyes acknowledged his Facebook identified him as a fire department employee, and included photos posted in his uniform. He said he could have more than 100 Facebook friends who also work for the city.

These posts reflect negatively on the Fire Department and the city, the letter states. Your position as a firefighter/paramedic places you in a position of public trust and you are held to a higher standard than most other public employees. Publicly acknowledging that you have killed and will not treat fat people and that you view females as sexual objects violates that public trust and brings discredit to the city.

Keyes had previously received a written reprimand in July 2020 for allowing his advanced cardiac life support certification to lapse, the letter states.

The city has given unpaid suspensions to other firefighters in recent years. In July 2019 a group of Sacramento firefighters spray painted the inside of a city water tank, causing floating debris and damage that cost taxpayers over $65,000. As punishment, two of them received a two-day unpaid suspension. Last year, firefighter Rocco Davalos was given an unpaid two-day suspension in August after he used a racial slur during a dinner at a fire station, a disciplinary letter states.
A Salisbury man was indicted by a grand jury on multiple charges of rape, assault and sex offense in early April.

Ricky Nelson Jr., 37, was indicted by a Wicomico County grand jury on April 3 on charges of second-degree rape, third-degree sex offense, first- and second-degree assault and sex offense fourth degree assault. On April 6, Nelson was served with the arrest warrant and later released on his own recognizance.

On Feb. 26, the Wicomico County Sheriff's Office responded to TidalHealth Peninsula Regional in reference to a victim who had been transported by EMS to the hospital.

Detectives discovered that the adult male victim had been sexually assaulted by a subject identified as Nelson Jr. while the victim was unconscious. It was also learned that Nelson had physically assaulted an additional male victim in July 2018. Both assaults occurred at the suspect's residence in Salisbury.

Detectives believe that there may be additional victims. The Sheriffs Office asks that anyone with information regarding this investigation should contact the Criminal Investigation Division at 410-548-4898.

More: Teenager dead, man injured in Sunday morning shooting in Salisbury: Police

More: Laurel High School basketball star fatally shot in Laurel apartment complex on Friday

This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Salisbury man indicted on rape and assault charges
A San Diego County supervisor and Marine combat veteran has drawn criticism from some veterans for announcing he had post-traumatic stress just days before accusations emerged that he sexually assaulted and harassed a government employee.

Nathan Fletchers progressive positions and telegenic presence made him a solid favorite to succeed another prominent California politician, Toni Atkins, in the state Senate. But he announced March 26 that he was dropping his bid after less than two months to seek treatment for alcohol abuse and devastating post traumatic stress associated with combat piled on top of intense childhood trauma.

Days later, Fletcher resigned as chair of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System after a government staffer alleged sexual harassment and assault in a lawsuit that included screenshots of lurid messages from Fletcher.

Hours after that, Fletcher said he would resign from the county board of supervisors, calling the pressure on his family over the last week immense and unbearable.

A combination of my personal mistakes plus false accusations has created a burden that my family shouldnt have to bear, he said.

He has said he plans to leave office May 15, though other city politicians have pushed him to resign immediately.

Some veterans are outraged at what they see as wielding claims of post-traumatic stress for political purposes, as local ABC affiliate KGTV first reported.

Retired Marine Maj. Phil Kendro, who has led multiple veterans organizations in San Diego, told Marine Corps Times on Thursday that he is upset that Fletcher is playing the veteran card in a city with a high veteran population, which he cited as 13%.

That is a stereotype that we have to face every day, that people think by hiring a veteran or working with veterans  that theyre gonna have PTS, he said. And so now all of a sudden we get him claiming this, and that hurts all veterans.

For Fletcher to blame personal misconduct on post-traumatic stress, an issue that many local veterans are living with, is such a horrible stunt, Kendro added.

Story continues

I was shocked, once the allegations came out, that he used PTSD as a cover for his sexual harassment charges, another county supervisor, Navy veteran Jim Desmond, told Marine Corps Times on Thursday. And Ive talked to many other veterans, in the Marine Corps as well, saying that they were not happy with the fact that he used PTSD as an excuse for his sexual transgressions.

It was very disappointing to hear that link and to have people think that PTSD is a root cause for sexual harassment  which its not, added Desmond, who noted that he is not an expert on the condition.

The board of supervisors held an emergency meeting April 11 to pass a resolution of no confidence and call for his immediate resignation.

A spokesman for Fletcher said the supervisor could not respond to a Marine Corps Times request for comment because he is in treatment.

Fletcher served in the Marine Corps from 1997 to 2007, according to Corps spokeswoman Yvonne Carlock. A counterintelligence Marine, he deployed to Iraq in 2004 and Djibouti in 2006.

Other new outlets reported in previous years that Fletcher saw combat while deployed to Iraqs Sunni Triangle.

Military Times Special Report: The Iraq War, 20 years later

He departed the Corps as a staff sergeant, according to Carlock. His awards include the Combat Action Ribbon, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Selected Marine Corps Reserve Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon two times, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.

Fletcher, 46, was the face of the San Diego regions muscular response to COVID-19 at daily news conferences. He became half of San Diegos most powerful political couple after his 2017 marriage to Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, a well-known liberal Democratic state assemblywoman who became a top California labor leader last year.

Back in November 2022, Fletcher, who defected from the Republican Party in 2012, was elected to a second term on the county board of supervisors with 65% of the vote.

Allegations of misconduct

In a lawsuit filed March 28 in San Diego Superior Court, a government staffer says she began exchanging messages with Fletcher in 2021 when he started visiting her social media accounts. He once wrote, Home alone  no wife and kids. He urged her to delete his texts and be discreet.

The staffer says Fletcher kissed her in the stairway of a hotel where he was staying in May 2022. Weeks later, he allegedly texted her during a meeting that he had for five minutes and asked her to go to an adjoining conference room, where he kissed and grabbed her.

The worker was fired Feb. 6 after she attempted to engage in meaningful, pre-litigation discussions with Fletcher to resolve her claims quietly and amicably, her lawsuit says.

Just before Fletcher ended his Senate run, Fletchers attorney threatened to sue the worker for extortion, she said.

Fletcher acknowledged consensual interactions with someone outside his marriage.

I havent done the things that are alleged but I did violate the basic trust of my marriage and set a terrible example for our children, he said in a statement.

San Diego County Democratic Party Chair Becca Taylor said on March 30, echoing other political leaders, that Fletchers decision to resign was appropriate.

Gonzalez Fletcher, executive secretary-treasurer of the California Labor Federation, said that she loves her husband and believes his name will be cleared but that she urged him to resign.
Sarah Nicole Landry posted an important reminder about body acceptance. (Photo via Instagram/ @thebirdspayaya)

Sarah Nicole Landry is "reversing" negative thought patterns about her body.

On Sunday, the Canadian body positivity advocate, 38, took to Instagram to share a slow-motion video of herself walking in a teal, high-waisted bikini from Canadian brand Knix, paired with a powerful message about self-acceptance.

The Instagram Reel included an audio clip by "Stranger Than Fiction" actress Emma Thompson, speaking on "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" about why there's "no point" in judging her own body image.

"What would you say to that 14-year-old who started to hate their thighs?" Colbert asked Thompson, to which she replied, "Don't waste your time."

"Don't waste your life's purpose worrying about your body. This is your vessel  it's your house, it's where you live," she continued. "There's no point in judging it. Absolutely no point."

Landry, who is also known as The Birds Papaya, admitted in the caption that while she hasn't entirely stopped judging her body, she is actively working to diminish her negative thoughts and "it's working."

"Ill be honest, I am still 'wasting time' on these thoughts," she penned. "But my goodness, am I working to reverse out of them, or age out of them  or level up to Emma Thompson out of them, and its working."

In the comments, fans praised the mom-of-four for her inspiring post.

"Such an important message. This is our vessel, our protective cover, and damn are we lucky to have it," an Instagram user wrote, while another added, "Im working hard too. And you inspire me every day to keep going!"

Another fan shared: "Ive been having anxiety thinking about my thighs. Thank you I really needed this thank you."

"I love this. Thank you for showing up for women and girls every f-ing time," someone else wrote.

Story continues

"Thank you for posting this! No matter how hard I work, I hate my fat arms and legs. I admire your confidence and bravery," commented another.

Last week, Landry dubbed herself a "stretch-marked bikini model," in another body-positive video modelling Knix swimwear.

"Thirty-eight, mom-of-four, cellulite, stretch-marked bikini freaking model," she penned for her more than 2.2 million followers. "I arrived here on a plane, but I got here by removing the limiting beliefs I had about who qualified for that title."

"Grateful for swimwear that makes you feel your best, supported and styled."

Let us know what you think by commenting below and tweeting @YahooStyleCA! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.
Millions of dollars could be spent on a new detention center to house South Carolina juveniles charged with crimes, as well as renovations to current facilities for the agency that oversees those children, under a state Senate budget proposal.

As a part of a $13 billion Senate budget plan to be debated this week starting Tuesday, senators are considering giving the state Department of Juvenile Justice $71 million for security and safety upgrades, a master plan and facility assessment, renovations and a new detention center.

The amount includes $28.5 million to build a new detention center and $33.5 million for upgrades, improvements and renovations of current facilities.

By contrast, the state Houses proposed budget includes only $25 million for maintenance and security upgrades at DJJ.

The juvenile justice agency has 250 acres available at the Broad River Road campus in Columbia and land available off of Shivers Road in order to grow. It also wants to put together a master plan to determine what location would be the best for a new juvenile detention center as well as how to best use it current facilities in the future.

DJJs current facilities are old and have mold on the ceilings, roofing issues and plumbing issues.

Because of overcrowding, the agency has youth sleeping on plastic cots on the floor at the Juvenile Detention Center.

Some youths are house at the detention center for as long as two or three years due to the dual effects of COVID and legislation that raised the age threshold at which offenders are considered adults to 18 years old for most crimes.

Once we have kids there a long time, the lack of staffing, the condition of it is completely deteriorated, said DJJ Director Eden Hendrick in an interview with The State this month.

In 2018, the agency requested $22.6 million to address the effects of raising the age threshold of youthful offenders, but lawmakers did not give the agency any additional money to accommodate the new law, Hendrick said.

Story continues

The juvenile detention center was designed to hold juveniles for a short period of time. The cafeteria and visitation rooms are small, classrooms are small, and it doesnt have a game room or gym.

The states juvenile detention center has enough space for 72 children but has had an average daily population of more than 100 every month since August. The overcrowding has been exasperated by the temporary closure of the Greenville Countys juvenile detention center, which could reopen in July after dealing with staffing shortages.

The youth dont have personal space. In recent weeks when the population doubled the intended facility capacity, DJJ moved some youngsters to an additional facility that was built in the 1970s.

We are going back in time, Hendrick said.

Poor working conditions for staff combined with low pay in previous years has led to low employee morale at the agency. At one point in 2021, employees, under previous leadership, staged a walk-out to protest their conditions.

Since then, DJJ employees have received raises, but Hendrick is now focusing on improving working conditions.

If were going to encourage people to get their family members and friends to come work, we need a better place for them to work. And I think that would help the attitude of the youth that we put in these facilities, said state Sen. Katrina Shealy, R-Lexington. We dont want to incarcerate everybody, but we would like to have a facility thats clean and well kept for our youth.

Upgrades to the facilities werent being pushed for by the previous leadership, said Shealy, an advocate for improvements at DJJ and a vocal critic of the previous leadership.

These are things that should have been done in the past that werent done because they werent asked for, Shealy said.

While building a new facility could take three to four years, Hendrick also wants to make sure whats currently being used is up to snuff.

As part of the Senate spending plan, budget writers propose $33.5 million for upgrades, improvements and renovations on the current DJJ facilities. The Broad River Road complex has some buildings built in the 1950s.

In the meantime, we have to fix the buildings were in. I cant let these buildings be in this shape for four more years while were building another one, Hendrick said. I have to do the best I can to make the buildings we have safe. Its hard to invest money we know you dont want to use, but I have to do it. I have to fix whats in front of us.
A Lowcountry Democrat and former challenger to U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace is starting what she says is a first of its kind organization that advocates for kids while seeking to elect leaders and lawmakers to do the same.

Annie Andrews  a pediatrician who unsuccessfully challenged Mace for South Carolinas 1st Congressional District in 2022  on Wednesday announced the launch of Their Future. Our Vote., a new nonprofit organization thatll also serve as a political action committee, advocating solely for kids.

Instead of playing politics with our kids, its time to get political for our kids, Andrews said in a YouTube video launching the PAC, adding that Washington, D.C., is the only place where children lack a voice.

The organization, partly devoted to advocating issues most impactful to children, will also function as a PAC, seeking to back candidates that vow to consider kids first in their policymaking.

Our planet is warming, voting rights are under attack and our kids cant even go to school without fear of being shot, because they dont have lawyers or lobbyists or million-dollar super PACS until now, Andrews said in the video.

Andrews unsuccessfully challenged Republican Mace in the 2022 general election.

Being in Congress was never, you know, my aspiration, Andrews told The State newspaper Monday. My aspiration is to bring childrens voices to Washington, D.C., and, at the time, it seemed like running for Congress was the most effective way to do that.

It was during her campaign that Andrews said she discovered an alarming gap in the political landscape involving child advocacy.

There are no organizations that are in D.C. both advocating for the policies that benefit our children and families, and also showing up in D.C. with the resources to support candidates who are willing to be champions for children, Andrews said. So, if we dont put money behind this agenda (for kids) in the form of, you know, supporting candidates and elected officials, then its going to be really difficult to move the needle on the conversation in Washington, D.C.

Story continues

Andrews said part of her motivation for creating the organization stemmed from her experience in treating children. A pediatrician for nearly 15 years, Andrews says shes witnessed a myriad of struggles among vulnerable kids and families that she hopes to remedy with Their Future. Our Vote.

I have so many examples of conversations of times when Im in a patients room, talking to parents about their childs diagnosis and their treatment plan and the parent has to stop me and say, Well, how much will that insulin cost? or How much is this new inhaler for my childs asthma?, Andrews said.

The organizations first test will be in 2024 during the congressional race for the House, where Andrews said the focus will be finding and supporting candidates who mirror the groups agenda on gun control, education and health care issues.

While Andrews says that her first priority is helping to give kids a voice in Washington, D.C., through her organization, she hasnt ruled out a future congressional run after the 2024 cycle.

I am 100% focused on Their future. Our Vote. right now, and I do believe that this is potentially could have a much greater impact than, you know, just one vote in Congress, Andrews said. So, Im looking forward to creating real positive change for children through this organization.
President Trumans envoy to the Vatican, Myron C. Taylor, left, has an audience with Pope Pius XII

President Trumans envoy to the Vatican, Myron C. Taylor, left, has an audience with Pope Pius XII at Castelgandolfo near Rome, on Aug. 26, 1947. Credit - Luigi FeliciAP

Recently unsealed documents from Vatican City archives in Rome shed new light on the Catholic Churchs actionand inactionduring the Holocaust. While researchers say its still too early to make any firm conclusions, they have made some surprising discoveries.

This was one of the great mysteries, one of the last few critically important Holocaust related collections in the world that was not yet open, Suzanne Brown-Fleming, who leads the Vatican Archives Initiative at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, tells TIME ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day on April 18.

As part of the effort to survey the approximately 16 million never-before-seen files, unveiled in March 2020, researchers hope to find out more about what happened inside concentration camps and how the Holocaust was carried out, sifting through cables to find out what the church knew and when. Scholars have long known what decisions the church made, including taking a position of neutrality and impartiality as 6 million Jews and millions of others were killed, but hope recently unsealed archives will show why those decisions were made. The documents reveal a complicated mix of actions and views among European Catholics and church leadership; there was both silence and aid, support for Jews and their Nazi tormenters, antisemitism and empathy.

More from TIME

The church is not afraid of history, Pope Francis said in March 2019, when he announced that he was making accessible the records produced under Pope Pius XII, the Pope during the Holocaust. He acknowledged that Pope Pius XIIs legacy includes moments of grave difficulties, tormented decisions of human and Christian prudence, that to some could appear as reticence.

An attendant opens the section of the archive dedicated to Pope Pius XII in the Vatican Apostolic Archives on Feb. 27, 2020. Eric VandevilleAbaca Press/Reuters

David Kertzers 2022 book The Pope at War explores this policy of neutrality and impartiality and the consequence of Pope Pius XIIs public silence on the mass killings of Jews. Kertzers review of newly unsealed files revealed that Pope Pius XII worked hard not to offend Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini and feared that publicly opposing Hitler would turn off German Catholics. Kertzer told the New York Times that he was flabbergasted to discover a German Nazi prince who acted as a go-between with Hitler and the Pope and that a top Vatican advisor wrote a letter to the Pope urging him not to protest an order to roundup Italys Jews and send them to concentration camps.

Story continues

But while the Catholic Churchs top leadership shied away from publicly condemning the atrocities in Germany, the documents also provide information on the Catholics who hid thousands of Jews across Europe. Over 6,000 Jews were hidden in Rome and on Vatican property. There are hundreds of thousands of letters to the Pope from Jewish families begging for help. The Vatican dealt mainly with distribution of economic relief and by helping [mostly baptized Jews] emigrate to North or South America, according to Giovanni Coco, Staff Archivist in the Vatican Apostolic Archives.

In some ways, researchers have found more contradictions than clear answers. At the same time Catholic rescuers were helping Jews, some of those same people were also helping Nazis. The Catholic Church worked to win clemency for convicted Nazi war criminals after the war. The justification given for aid to Nazi war criminals was Christian love and mercy, says Brown-Fleming, whose research focuses on this effort. Im finding that the Holy See wanted to show gratitude for the protection of the city of Rome during the occupation of Rome under the Nazis in 1943. Some German generals later convicted in the Nuremberg Trials had helped to defend property and valuable art and tried to avoid damaging Vatican property and cultural treasures in Rome.

Some of the documents also reveal widespread anti-semitism within the church. In 1944, Catholic leadership halted an attempt to host a dialogue between Christians and Jewish rabbis organized by a priest known as Father Marie-Benoit, who risked his life and saved hundreds of Jews. After the war, in the late 1940s, there were fears at the highest levels of church leadership that Jewish leaders did not have Catholic interests in mind and held huge sway in American military policy. That was shocking to me, says Brown-Fleming. Six million Jews are murdered; theyre certainly not in a position to be taking over the American military presence in occupied Germany. Overall, Brown-Fleming sees a lot of fear in the papers shes read so far, fears of a mythical threat that Jews and Judaism pose. Its really strong and real.

Whether the Catholic Church could have done more to prevent the atrocities of the Holocaust is not a question likely to be answered definitively from files. Hitler, as Brown Fleming puts it, wasnt going to be controlled by anything a Pope said or did. He was going to go forward with his genocidal program. As Coco puts it: We ask ourselves the question and it is not simple to answer. To do more is always possible, but in general we often realize it later. The new documents are helping us to find a way among the fog of our false myths or preconceptions.

Scholars working with these recently unsealed files are expected to gather in Rome in October 2023 to discuss their findings together for the first time. But the effort has only just begun, and it could be another decade before the 16 million files are studied in their entirety. We have all these contradictions, and its going to take a long time to work through them, says Brown-Fleming. Were not going to find easy answers. I think we may come out of this [research] even more confused.
Coordinator of Agriculture Dave Hruska takes Tom and Sid out for some exercise as he goes about his daily duties at Old Sturbridge Village in a file photo.

WORCESTER  Worcester Public Schools district administrators will have to get to work on finding alternative destinations for field trips, ensuring that district money is diverted away from Old Sturbridge Village, following a vote by the School Committee.

On Thursday, the request was sent to administrators after committee members voted unanimously on the agenda item submitted by member Tracy OConnell Novick.

We as an organization with a substantial budget do have a responsibility to ensure that those resources are being used in means that are ethical and to support activities and activities that are ethical, OConnell Novick said. This is not in any way intended as retribution.

Tracy O'Connell Novick

OConnell Novick submitted the agenda item due to concerns about the museums use of state education funds being used to cover operating costs through its ties with Old Sturbridge Academy and the incoming Worcester Cultural Academy Public Charter School.

Sent to state agencies

She said that, given the committee sent a request for the state auditor, the inspector general, the state Ethics Commission and the attorney general to investigate the museum and its financial ties with the charter schools, it would not make sense for the district to allocate money to the institution through things like field trips.

The Educational Association of Worcester and the Massachusetts Teachers Associations  the local and state educators unions  both previously called for a boycott of the museum pending an investigation into its financial agreement with the two charter schools.

It seems to me that if there was any place in Massachusetts that should take them up on that boycott, it should be the Worcester Public Schools, OConnell Novick said in a previous interview with the T&G.

District spokesman Dan OBrien said that, between funds from the Worcester Educational Development Foundation and money from fundraising, the district has spent about $20,000 per year the last few years sending students to OSV.

Story continues

In a previous statement, he said that district administrators had already planned not to send students to OSV next year due to the many issues raised in recent months regarding Worcester Cultural Academy, which include conflict-of-interest concerns.

OConnell Novick said that while there have been some concerns raised about not sending students to the museum, particularly third graders who visit annually as part of the Culture Learning through Education & Partnerships trip, where they learn about Massachusetts state history, there are other places they can send students throughout the state.

O'Connell Novick: There are options

Theres no lack of options in terms of field trips, she said. We could send kids in almost any direction and have a wealth of opportunities for Massachusetts history.

But while the district looks into alternative destinations for field trips in the future, state Sen. Ryan Fattman, R-Sutton and Hampden County, which includes Sturbridge, said he would work to ensure students and their families would be able to go to the museum for free if they wish to do so following the committees vote.

Families across Worcester County, particularly those families of Worcester third grade children, should know that OSV wants and welcomes you, Fattman said. I will ensure your complimentary admission to the village for you and your child, whether that be through the state budget process or the wonderful philanthropic efforts of the people in our area.

Fattman could not be reached for clarification on what he meant by the state budget process.

OSV boss: 'It's a shame'

Jim Donahue, the president and CEO of OSV, also responded to the committees vote with a statement, saying that Worcester students will be on the ones to bear the brunt of the boycott.

It is a shame that students would miss out on learning about local history and culture in the name of politics and students being used as political pawns, Donahue said. "We very much hope to continue to host Worcester students for years to come.

Pamela Boisvert, board chair of Worcester Cultural Academy, said that board takes its duty to responsibly steward public funds very seriously.

OSV will serve as the education management organization for Worcester Cultural Academy, as it currently does for Old Sturbridge Academy.

Deputy Superintendent Brian Allen previously raised concerns about the museum serving as the EMO for the charter schools, as there is no independence from the company or members of the board, he said,

They have an apparent conflict between the financial health of Old Sturbridge Village and the appropriate management fee charged to Worcester Cultural Academy.

But, Boisvert said, the board will continue to exercise careful oversight to ensure our budgetary model centers student needs first and foremost.

This relationship saves both schools significant financial resources, because they would otherwise have to hire separate staffs for the duplicative services, Boisvert said. That is the sole reason for this relationship.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester School Committe backs Old Sturbridge Village field trip ban
Two years ago, the U.S. Department of Education released the bulk of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds to state education agencies. It was the largest-ever one-time investment in the nations schools, and 1% of it was set aside for summer learning programs.

Research shows summer matters for kids. Studies by Rand and the Annenberg Institute found that high-quality summer learning programs can result in meaningful academic benefits, particularly in math, and can help students better connect with their schools and peers. In the face of historic declines in math scores and declines in reading, children need this summertime boost now more than ever.

With ESSER funds available this summer and next before they expire, state and district education leaders should seize this opportunity to collect data on existing summer offerings, make improvements and build evidence-based programs in jurisdictions where they do not exist.

A research brief from the EdResearch for Recovery Project can provide a roadmap, highlighting eight design principles  including program duration, attendance, use of time and quality of instruction  that matter most in creating effective programs that deliver strong academic benefits for students.

How well do these function in practice?

Related 50 Extra School Days: This District Uplifts English Learners With COVID Aid

EdResearch for Recovery has spent the last year working with a network of school districts in Rhode Island and two in Tennessee to test whether and how evidence-based principles translate into action. This work and a deeper examination of initiatives in Woonsocket, Rhode Island show three promising steps districts can take to balance research recommendations with local needs and values.

Establish values and goals for summer learning programs. Clear values can guide decisions about research-based recommendations, and by setting and measuring progress toward goals, leaders can see how those decisions are affecting desired outcomes.

Story continues

Woonsocket used three values  site-based leadership, qualified program personnel and student personalization  to guide its decisions as it evaluated evidence on what works in summer learning. It also established three goals: increase academic learning, improve connection and engagement with school, and strengthen social and emotional skills.

Know and use the evidence. Research shows students benefit when summer programs hire certified teachers with content knowledge and grade-level experience and specialized support personnel. Woonsocket made it a priority to do this and used money from ESSER to provide extra pay and flexible schedules to summer staff. As a result, while many summer programs across the country struggled to hire adequate staff, Woonsocket had more than enough teachers applying to work. These initiatives also paid dividends in teacher satisfaction. In a survey at the end of the summer, 100% of educators agreed they had enjoyed teaching in the summer program.

Similarly, following the evidence, Woonsocket invested financial resources to keep teacher-student ratios low. Families saw the benefit of small classes, with 98% agreeing that the program helped children build positive relationships with peers and 95% agreeing that it helped build positive relationships with adults. Teachers also saw the benefits. One noted, The ability to work with students in small groups without distractions had a powerful effect on student learning.

When innovating, also evaluate. School districts can have unique circumstances that affect their use of evidence in program design. For example, limited ability for planning, personnel shortages and families demands for summer flexibility can conflict with calls for greater academic rigor or more weeks of programming. Districts must evaluate the outcomes of their decisions and quickly pivot if innovations are not working.

For example, district leaders in Woonsocket worried that asking students to commit to a program with at least 20 days of instruction, as evidence suggests is needed for academic gains, would discourage enrollment. Instead, they offered three two-week sessions. This flexible registration schedule led to high enrollment and low attrition across the three sessions. Ultimately, 40% of students enrolled in enough sessions to hit the 20-day benchmark.

Related: New Data: Was 2022s Summer Learning Explosion Enough To Reverse COVID Losses?

Woonsocket also made innovations in program administration and curriculum development. Insteading of following evidence showing benefits in centralized decision making, Woonsocket opted to prioritize empowering site-based leaders and teachers. This led to some communication challenges across the district, specifically with families receiving conflicting or confusing information about how to register students for summer programming. But the autonomy and flexibility energized Woonsockets teachers. In a survey, one educator noted, I had so much fun having more freedom. At the same time, 95% of families agreed that their child was better prepared for the next school year after attending the summer program.

No summer program will be perfect. But taking these three steps, drawn from real-world examples, can help district leaders navigate balancing research recommendations and local needs. And like Woonsocket, districts should commit to collecting and examining data to understand whether their programs are making a difference for their students.
Paris Green is being held at the womens unit at HMP Edinburgh

A transgender murderer being held at a womens jail unit in Scotland wants to become the first prisoner in Britain to have gender reassignment surgery on the NHS.

Paris Green, who was born Peter Laing, claimed having the major operation would help them feel comfortable in the shower and become fully the person I should have been.

The convict is being held at the womens unit at HMP Edinburgh, where the 30-year-old is serving a life sentence for the murder of Robert Shankland, 45, in 2013.

Green and two others were each handed a minimum term of 18 years before they could be considered for release, after they tortured and beat their victim with ligatures and a rolling pin at Greens Fife flat.

However, speaking to the Daily Record from jail, Green expressed regret for the inexcusable crime and insisted the gender surgery would help with rehabilitation.

The anger caused by being trans had contributed to the murder, it was claimed.

'Having male genitalia feels wrong'

It wont be straightforward and I know a lot of people will say I dont deserve it, but nothing is more important to me than becoming fully the person I should have been, said Green.

I want to feel comfortable in the shower rather than feeling repulsed. Having male genitalia feels wrong.

Its a major operation. It takes you a long time to be prepared for it and a long time to recover. Ill have a better chance of making a good recovery if I have it in my 30s rather than my 40s.

Id be able to come out of prison with my past completely behind me, which gives the best chance of succeeding outside.

Green had previously been in line for gender reassignment surgery, following approval from the Scottish Prison Service (SPS). However, a surgeon expressed security concerns and the plans were shelved due to the pandemic.

The murderer claimed it had been devastating to see the plans halted, claiming to have been certain at age 15 that I should have been a woman.

Story continues

'Utterly depraved'

Green is being held in the same jail as Isla Bryson, the double rapist who was initially sent to Cornton Vale womens prison.

However, Bryson - whose case caused an overhaul of how new trans prisoners are treated in Scotland - is being held in a male part of the jail, while Green, who began taking hormones in 2011, has been allowed to remain in the female wing.

A judge described Greens crime as utterly depraved and added: It beggars belief that you could act towards another human being in this way.

Green said that most jail staff were respectful and hoped that as there were now more places offering the surgery, it could get the go-ahead.

'I'm no danger to anyone'

There are no facilities in Scotland that perform full gender reassignment surgery, so Green would have to be sent to England.

Green said: I realise its not just as simple as me wanting the operation and everyone having to help make it happen and I understand the security concerns because I was convicted of an awful crime, but thats past and Im no danger to anyone.

Addressing the brutal murder of Mr Shankland, Green added: It was inexcusable - all I can say is I had a really awful childhood and was totally messed up.

I was carrying a lot of anger inside me even before I realised I should have been a woman and that made me more angry.

I wondered if Id have been a different person if Id been a woman. Im not going to make excuses because there are none. I regret what I did and Im sorry for it every day of my life.

Even five minutes before it started, if someone had asked me if I was capable of murder, Id have said no way.

I know what I did. But I can't change it and I can't bring him back.

But I cant help anyone by sitting quietly, doing my time and not trying to complete my transition, so this is the best road for me.

Dr Kate Coleman, of the Keep Prisons Single Sex campaign group, said no prisoner should be able to access such risky surgery and that Green would have been in a male jail had rules in England applied north of the border.

She added: Green, who is serving a sentence for torture and murder, would, under the new Ministry of Justice policy, be held in the male estate.

We hope the SPS will similarly place the safety of women at the centre of their revised policy when the policy is finally released.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Bittrex and former CEO William Shihara with operating an unregistered securities exchange. In a complaint filed on Monday , the SEC alleges the crypto exchange, once one of the largest in the US, earned at least $1.3 billion in revenue between 2017 and 2022 while offering the services of a broker, exchange and clearing agency. It did so without registering with the Commission, in violation of federal law, the SEC alleges.

Additionally, the SEC claims Bittrex coordinated with crypto issuers to delete problematic statements Shihara believed would prompt a regulator like the SEC to investigate the exchange. In one instance, the Commission states Shihara instructed a potential issuer to erase comments that referenced price predictions and expectation of profit.

Todays action, yet again, makes plain that the crypto markets suffer from a lack of regulatory compliance, not a lack of regulatory clarity, said SEC Chair Gary Gensler. As alleged in our complaint, Bittrex and issuers that it worked with knew the rules that applied to them but went to great lengths to evade them by directing issuer-applicants to scrub offering materials of information indicating that certain crypto assets were securities.
Codex Sassoon, a rare 1,100-year-old Hebrew Bible, will be displayed April 18-20 at SMUs Bridwell Library. It will be auctioned at Sothebys in New York this May for an estimated $30 to $50 million.

This will be the first public appearance of the Bible in the United States. Its named after its 1929 purchaser, David Solomon Sassoon, who assembled the most significant private collection of Judaica and Hebraica manuscripts in the world.

The reach, impact and transformative value of the Codex Sassoon makes it one of the most influential artifacts in world history to emerge over the last 1,000 years, said Anthony Elia, director of SMUs Bridwell Library and associate dean for special collections and academic publishing, in a press release. As the only university to exhibit the Codex on its tour, SMU and Bridwell Library are honored to share this treasure with the public.

Codex Sassoon, nearly 800 pages of Hebrew on parchment, was penned in the late ninth or early 10th century by a Masorite scribe who copied it from another text over one to two years. When the Bible reached a synagogue in Makisin, Syria, a second scholar added notes before the 13th century. After the synagogue was destroyed, it was given to a member of the Jewish congregation for safekeeping until the synagogue was rebuilt. But the synagogue was never rebuilt and the Codex Sassoon disappeared for 600 years until it appeared in 1929 and was purchased by David Sassoon.

The Codex Sassoon now stands as the earliest, most complete Hebrew Bible extant. It provides the basis of Biblical translations used today by Jews and Christians. The Bible is missing approximately eight parchment leaves of Biblical text. By comparison, the Aleppo Codex, the only other Hebrew Bible dating around the 10th century, is missing more than two-fifths of its pages, making the Codex Sassoon much more complete.

It includes 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, divided into the Torah, the Neviim and the Ketuvim. Its different from previous forms of the Hebrew Bible because of its inclusion of critical and explanatory notes on the text. The Hebrew Bible is the basis for what Christians call the Old Testament.

Story continues

To unveil Codex Sassoon for the first time in America in North Texas is a tremendous privilege that speaks to the areas incredibly rich cultural history and interfaith tradition, said Charlie Adamski Caulkins, Sothebys head of office for Dallas, in the news release. With its extensive theological holdings, SMUs Bridwell Library is the ideal partner for presenting this important manuscript.

The bible will be exhibited from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 18 and from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, April 19, and Thursday, April 20. Bridwell Library, SMUs theology and religious studies library, is located at 6005 Bishop Blvd. on the SMU campus.

Admission to the exhibition is free, but registration is required. Visit info.smu.edu/codex-sassoon/ to get your free tickets.
Members of the community have begun reacting to the news that a special grand jury has decided eight police officers involved in the killing of Jayland Walker last summer will not be charged.

Eight Akron officers fatally shot Jayland Walker 46 times on June 27 after he led officers on a crosstown car chase, during which police say the 25-year-old Black man fired a single shot from his vehicle. Walker was unarmed and running in a ski mask when he was shot after a short foot chase near Wilbeth Road and South Main Street. A handgun was found in his vehicle, police said.

A person leaves the funeral of Jayland Walker at the Akron Civic Theatre on July 13.

The incident has become the subject of protests, the creation of a new civilian-led police review board, plans for new cruiser dashcams and strained relations between Akrons police and citizens.

Grand jury decision: No criminal charges for 8 Akron officers who shot Jayland Walker

More on the case: What does a 'no bill' mean from grand jury in Jayland Walker case?

Here are reactions from Akron leaders and community members:

U.S. Rep. Emilia Strong Sykes, D-Akron

In an email statement, U.S. Rep. Emilia Strong Sykes said she would be formally requesting the Department of Justice to begin an investigation into the patterns and practices of the Akron Police Department.

Weve seen it too many times. A routine traffic stop ends in death, and a family and community mourn the loss of a son. A brother. A friend. A neighbor. As this country and community reckons with another tragic death, we find ourselves yearning for a justice system that protects us all.

U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes, D-Akron

The safety and security of our neighborhoods requires trust between the community and the law enforcement officers who have taken an oath to protect and serve, but this trust has been violated and must be rebuilt. As such, I will formally request the Department of Justice to begin an investigation into the patterns and practices of the Akron Police Department to start the process of understanding how the department operates and look to create solutions for more community-focused policing that serves the needs of every segment of our community.

Story continues

Finally, as people begin to express their anger, grief, and concern through their Constitutional right to protest, I ask that you remember the words of Jaylands family and honor his memory by protesting without violence. After the TV crews leave and the nation is no longer watching, it will only be us left to pick up the pieces. Our community deserves the chance to heal and move forward which we will do, must do  together, Sykes said.

More: Akron mayoral candidates call for change after grand jury decision in Jayland Walker case

Akron Bail Fund

Akron Bail Fund, a local activist group, reacted with anger to the news, stating #Justice4Jayland forever and we wont stop til we get it, on Twitter.

ACLU of Ohio

Jayland Walker should still be alive today. 



We stand with Jaylands friends and family and the entire community of Akron on this very difficult day.



To everyone taking to the streets to protest, know your rights.  pic.twitter.com/E2MeAqA9vb  ACLU of Ohio (@acluohio) April 17, 2023

Demetrius Travis Sr., cousin of Jayland Walker

Demetrius Travis Sr., cousin of Jayland Walker, said in a text message: "Disappointment cannot began to express how I feel about this decision, Even though I expected this decision, based off many actions by the city of Akron, to protect their buildings and block off streets, Whatever happens because of this decision is not on the Walker family, it is due to a continuing disregard for the lives of black and brown people in the United States of America, as we watched it being displayed in Attorney General Yost live press conference, to justify killing an unarmed citizen, they decided to assassinate Jayland's character! My heart breaks yet again for his mother Pam, my cousin Jada, I hope we get laws changed for the next family to get justice, because ours did not!"

Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro

Akron chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America

In a statement posted online, the Akron chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) denounced the grand jury's decision.

"We furthermore denounce the current state of affairs, in Akron and across the entire United States, where police continue to have the power to murder peopleespecially Black and working-class peoplewith near-impunity; where police continue to assume the role of judge, jury, and executioner in peoples streets, communities, and homes; and where our current institutions continue to be unable to defend us against police violence," the group said.

"While police claim that they found a firearm in Walkers car, Walker was unarmed as he fled from and was killed by police. Despite this evidence, and despite the egregious nature in which Walkers life was taken by the police, the grand jury found it appropriate to not indict the officers who killed Walker."

Calling Walker's death a "grave injustice," the group also said it was evidence of a larger societal problem of people killed by police and a systemic problem within the criminal legal system.

NAACP Akron President Judi Hill

Judi Hill, president of the Akron NAACP, pictured at her office.

Judi Hill, president of NAACP Akron, said she's not surprised by the grand jury's decision during a press conference St. Ashworth Temple Church of God In Christ.

"As I said before, I am not surprised," Hill said. "I had hoped that we would be the change that is needed, not just in Akron but across this country. I thought the nature of this crime in itself would help us make some changes. But the city needs to be on notice. This is just the beginning. We still have to make systemic changes. We have to make changes in the way that they do policing and Akron to chase somebody about a taillight that cost their life. That's crazy."

NAACP

We shared this message two years ago today. It's heartbreaking to see that this sadly still needs to be said. #JaylandWalker #JusticeforRalphYarl pic.twitter.com/tsuDsuGyvF  NAACP (@NAACP) April 17, 2023

The Freedom BLOC Executive Director Ray Greene

Ray Greene, executive director of The Freedom BLOC, said he disagreed with the grand jury's decision during a press conference St. Ashworth Temple Church of God In Christ.

"A Black man can continue to be lynched in America with no repercussions. We all see the evidence. We all seen what happened. We all seen the gun land on the seat  to come up with anything other than what the people of Akron have seen is a disgrace and a travesty. And justice is not being served again. Again, a Black man is able to be brutally murdered by the police department and no one has been held accountable in court," Greene said.

The Freedom BLOC also tweeted a statement:

Today, we pray, grieve and give support to the Walker family.



Tomorrow, we march. No one rests until the lives of Black people are valued, liberated and free. #justiceforjaylandwalker #blacklivesmatter pic.twitter.com/cdyUoaFhqL  The Freedom BLOC (@thefreedomBLOC) April 17, 2023

Love and Justice Coalition

The Love and Justice Coalition, which formed after tensions in the wake of the Walker case, expressed outrage and disappointment in the decision in a press release.

"To conclude that there was not one wrongdoing after shooting an unarmed black man over 40 times is proof that our judicial systems are steeped in institutional racism and needs to be changed," the release said.

The statement also mentioned that this event has "shaken Akron, Ohio and the world to its core."

"The lack of indictment is a clear statement to both, Jayland Walkers mother, Pamela Walker, and Akron as a grieving community that the collective trauma brought by this public execution has gone unnoticed. This poor decision will further allow the marginalized black community to understand that responsibility will still elude thecaught and accused, in the case of black life," the press release said.

Ohio Rep. Tavia Galonski, D-Akron

Tavia Galonski

State Rep. Tavia Galonski, D-Akron, issued a statement following the announcement of the grand jury's no-bill.

I am the mother of a Black man. I cannot imagine the anguish the Walker family must be feeling as they continue to mourn and heal from the loss of their loved one, and I extend to them my deepest condolences, said Galonski. As many of us continue to grieve and make sense of Jaylands death, I ask for everyone to be peaceful and calm. Once the findings from the Bureau of Criminal Investigation are made public, then we will all have a better understanding of this tragedy and how we can work together as a community to make sure that it never happens again.

United Way of Summit & Medina

pic.twitter.com/AKJcAOwA8n  United Way of Summit & Medina (@uwsummitmedina) April 17, 2023

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, left, speaks about the Norfolk Southern train derailment during a press conference, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, in East Palestine, Ohio.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, called on the Department of Justice to continue to investigate the incident over Twitter.

"The Walker family has lived one of Black parents worst nightmares over the last year, and todays verdict only adds fresh pain. I call on the Department of Justice to continue to investigate to provide closure for this family and this community," the first of three tweets in his thread said.

President and CEO of East Akron Neighborhood Development Corp. Cheryl Stephens

Cheryl Stephens, president and CEO of East Akron Neighborhood Development Corp., said she was disappointed in the grand jury decision.

"I am concerned that given what we know as the public, that there were no indictments  surprised and concerned," she said. "... I know some younger people that are looking for a place to protest now."

Stephens said the decision was especially difficult for Walker's family.

"I did talk to someone in the extended family and they said the family is devastated," Stephens said.

Stephens called on the attorney general's office to be open with the public about how the grand jury decision was made.

"We hope the state and the grand jury will be very transparent in how they handle things so we in the public can understand," Stephens said. "What was the guidance given to them?"

Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters

Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters released a statement following the grand jury's decision.

Our hearts go out to Jayland Walkers family and loved ones today. No one should ever have to endure the pain of losing someone they love in such tragic circumstances. As many Ohioans gather to protest todays decision, we urge them to take every precaution possible to keep themselves and the broader community safe and to heed the calls of Mr. Walkers family to remain peaceful. Ohio Democrats will continue our work to create fairer, safer and more just communities for all Ohioans who call our state home,said Walters in the statement.

The Nightlight cinema

Serve the People Akron

Serve the People Akron told the Akron Beacon Journal over Instagram that the grand jury's decision did not come as a shock.

"We are hurt but not surprised by the decision. Grand Juries rarely ever indict killer cops because it is not in the interest of the state and the city to hold their foot soldiers accountable. We will not stop until there is justice and peace for Jayland Walker, Mohammad Isaifan, and every other life lost at the hands of the Akron Police Department. That will mean nothing less than the total abolition of the APD, which is a task we are fully committed to accomplishing in our lifetimes," their Instagram message said.

Beacon Journal reporters George Thomas and Alan Ashworth contributed to this article.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Jayland Walker case: Community reacts to grand jury's no-bill decision
In November, Rep. Sharice Davids, a Kansas Democrat, celebrated as she coasted to a 12-percentage point victory over Republican challenger Amanda Adkins. Less than a year later, shes one of the most vulnerable Democratic members of Congress, according to her own political party.

People need to realize that at every point in time politics are changing, voter coalitions are changing, said Patrick Miller, a political science professor at the University of Kansas. Certain communities are changing while others are not.

A Democratic analysis of the district obtained by The Star found that Davids margin of victory was misleading. While she outperformed President Joe Bidens 2020 margin in the district, she underperformed in areas where the old district and new district overlapped.

Democratic concerns may be strategic messaging to maintain a sense of urgency with Davids base. In 2022, when New York Times polling showed Davids up by double digits, the Davids campaign and the party were quick to dismiss it as inaccurate. She went on to win by about the margin the poll had predicted.

But according to the memo, Democrats are worried that in 2024 the electorate is likely to be less Democratic, creating a challenge for Davids to hold on to her seat.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee last month put Davids on their list of 29 members who are most at risk of losing their seats in 2024, a way of raising money for the members who are in the most competitive districts in the country.

Days later, the National Republican Congressional Committee listed Davids as one of their top targets in 2024.

The attacks followed. As House Republicans push through bills that touch on the cultural issues of the day but have little chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate  like a bill blocking the federal government from banning gas stoves  they began criticizing Davids as too liberal, an attempt to undercut her moderate image back home.

Story continues

Sharice Davids has always been a liberal at heart but in the last several months she has veered to the extreme: backing lower penalties for violent crime, supporting a ban on gas stoves and voting against unleashing American energy production, said Delanie Bomar, a spokeswoman for the NRCC. In 2024 voters will be evaluating these hard-left votes for the first time and they will hold her accountable.

Republicans largely hold out hope for the district because of numbers. There are more registered Republicans than registered Democrats in the district  though party registration does not always align with how people vote. Under the current boundaries, the district went for Republican Mitt Romney in 2012 and Republican Donald Trump in 2016 before flipping to Biden in 2020. And Sen. Jerry Moran, a Republican who handily won reelection last year, won the district.

No Republican candidate has filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission to challenge Davids as of mid-April. Still, Davids campaign announced this week that she raised more than $500,000, matching a similar haul from the final stretch of the 2022 campaign, in which she raised a total of around $7.9 million.

My job is to represent this community, and now more than ever, our district needs someone in Congress who is going to stand up for what we believe in, Davids said. Whether thats bringing good-paying jobs back home to Kansas or protecting our rights, Im proud to have the trust and support of so many in the Kansas Third District.

This isnt the first time Davids has been a target. There was a wave of concern among some Democrats in 2022 after the Republican-controlled Legislature redrew the congressional boundaries, turning her district from the most racially diverse in the state to the least. The new district lost Democratic-leaning voters in Wyandotte County and added Republican-leaning voters in Miami, Anderson and Franklin counties.

The changes made the politics of Johnson County the most important for determining which political party wins the congressional seat. That means it handed over power to white suburban voters.

Really, if you want to talk about this district intelligently, we need to talk beyond is it a good year for Democrats or not, Miller said. We need to talk about what is the data, what is the trend of the white suburban voter.

Across the country, white suburban voters are increasingly voting for Democrats. Many suburban voters rejected Trump in 2020, a trend that was accelerated by the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning the constitutional right to an abortion. The shift comes at a time when rural voters are increasingly voting for Republican candidates, fundamentally changing the two political partys coalitions.

Suburban America  really for 20 plus years, but especially since 2016  has been getting bluer, Miller said. Its a trend were in the middle of. And we dont know from one election to the next whether that trend is going to continue, or how much bluer.

Some of that trend depends on candidates. Twice, Republicans nominated Amanda Adkins, who managed Sam Brownbacks 2004 Senate campaign and chaired the state party when he was elected governor in 2010, to go up against Davids.

Both cycles, Democrats were able to easily tie Adkins, a former Cerner executive, to the widely unpopular Brownback. Last year, they tied her to conservative abortion policies in an election year when abortion rights were one of the top issues for Democratic voters. And in a relatively moderate district, Adkins campaigned with conservatives like Sen. Ted Cruz, who objected to the certification of the 2020 presidential election.

State Rep. Stephanie Clayton, a Johnson County Democrat, called Adkins too Brownback-y for the district.

I wouldnt say that its because of the district, Clayton said, of Davids victory. I would say it was probably because of the opponent and the solid campaign.

Clayton, a former moderate Republican who switched over to the Democratic Party, said she believes Republicans have a messaging problem in the district.

The conservative wing of the Republican Party has emphasized cultural issues, like opposition to transgender rights, to spur their base voters. Clayton said the use of the word woke and the focus on cultural issues alienates the type of moderate voter who sways elections in Johnson County.

If they can just act like someone that we would feel comfortable inviting to the dinner table, someone who wouldnt put their elbows on it, or their feet, someone who would chew with their mouths closed instead of yelling, Clayton said.
Philip Mehrtens paraded by members of the West Papua National Liberation Army - Reuters

At least six Indonesian troops are dead and 30 are missing after separatist gunmen attacked a unit searching for a kidnapped New Zealand pilot in a restive Papua province.

Phillip Mehrtens was taken hostage in February, when rebels stormed his single-engine plane shortly after he had landed in the remote, mountainous province of Nduga.

Two months later, a rescue attempt from the Indonesian army turned deadly over the weekend, when rebels attacked troops searching for the 37-year-old Susi Air pilot near a separatist stronghold.

The Indonesian military said that gunmen shot a soldier, who fell into a 15m-deep ravine. While the unit was recovering the body, separatists launched a second attack.

Heavy rain hampers search

While officials have confirmed only one fatality so far, army documents seen by the Associated Press put the toll at six - while rebels have claimed nine troops died during the clash. Around 30 others are missing, and many have reportedly fled into the jungle.

Its still unknown exactly how many Indonesian army troops died and were injured, Col Herman Taryaman, a military spokesman, said. We are still searching, but heavy rain, foggy weather and a lack of communication have hampered our search and evacuation efforts.

Philip Mehrtens held hostage by Papua rebels - AP

In a statement, the West Papua National Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack. They added that the ambush was an attempt to deter military efforts to recover Mr Mehrtens, and also revenge for the deaths of two rebels during a shootout with Indonesias military last month.

The group has been pushing for independence from Jakarta for decades, and said it targeted the pilot because of New Zealands cooperation with Indonesia. The rebels have insisted they will only release Mr Mehrtens when Papua gains self-rule.

Indonesias government must stop its security operation in Papua and be willing to negotiate with our leaders under the mediation of a neutral third party from a United Nations agency, Sebby Sambom, a rebel spokesman, said in a statement.

Story continues

He added that his group had offered to negotiate with both Indonesia and New Zealand, but had not yet received a response from either government.

The message was similar to the ones presented in video footage of Mr Mehrtens sent to the BBC shortly after he was captured. In it, the pilot was wearing dark shorts, a denim jacket and a black T-shirt, and was surrounded by rebels armed with guns and bows and arrows.

He appeared to read a statement from the rebels repeating their demands, in a dispute dating back to Indonesia seizing control of the region in the Sixties.

The resource-rich region had been a Dutch colony until 1961, but was incorporated into Indonesia after a widely criticised UN-sponsored referendum in 1969 - only around 1,000 Papuans took part in the vote.

An independence movement has been simmering ever since, but pro-independence fights have launched deadlier and more frequent attacks since 2018.

In September 2019, the region was gripped by riots fuelled by renewed calls for self-rule and by anger over reports of racist slurs and tear gas used against Papuan students in the Indonesian city of Surabaya. At least 59 people, more than half of them under-25, were reportedly killed in the unrest.

The separatists have previously insisted that they would treat Mr Mehrtens humanely, and he would be kept alive.

If New Zealand and the Australian government dont want to respond to our demands, we will not release him, Mr Sambom said in February. But he will stay with us and we will ask him for training for our young people training for flying.
(Reuters) - Slovakia's government banned the import of grains and other farm products from Ukraine on Monday, but will keep borders open for transit to third markets, Agriculture Minister Samuel Vlcan said on Monday.

Vlcan told a televised news conference restrictive measures to ban grain imports imposed by Poland at the weekend had led to the Slovak ban.

"Poland has adopted very strict bans and we thus had to react to protect the Slovak market in those farm products and foods where we have self-sufficiency," he said.

"It is a measure for the protection of the Slovak agro-food sector and mainly the health of consumer," he said.

Slovakia banned the distribution of a batch of Ukrainian grain last week after it detected higher-than-allowed levels of pesticides in the shipment.

Vlcan did not present the full list of farm products and food, but a proposal for Monday's cabinet meeting included wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn, sugar beet and sugar, wine, fruits and vegetables, sunflower seeds, rapeseed, honey, and others.

The government said it would continue to allow transit of Ukrainian grains and other products under an EU initiative to help Ukraine export its production despite the Russian invasion, he said.

Vlcan said Slovakia was pushing for the creation of a European mechanism to buy Ukrainian products in Ukraine and ship them outside the European Union.

(Reporting by Jan Lopatka and Jason Hovet in Prague; editing by Barbara Lewis)
Sufficient power reserve is kept in the power system

This is possible again as Ukraine has generated enough power to meet consumer demand while maintaining a sufficient reserve capacity for its power grid.

Ukraine currently exports 200 MW per hour to Slovakia. Ukraine imports a small amount  2-4 MW, depending on the hour.

Read also: Ukrenergo completes restoration of energy facilities after Russias March 9 mass missile attack

Slovakia becomes the third country to resume electricity imports from Ukraine, after Poland (75 MW per hour) and Moldova (99-134 MW, depending on the hour).

Ukraine is currently encountering flooding, with water levels significantly higher than in previous years.

Read also: Power deficit grows due to drop in generation, says Ukrenergo

Hydroelectric power stations are operating around the clock and conducting controlled water discharges to minimize the effects of flooding, which reduces the level of the Kyiv and Kaniv reservoirs.

The complex situation with energy supply remains along the front line.

Due to network damage from Russian shelling, Kherson and part of the oblast were temporarily de-energized on April 15. Energy workers were quickly able to restore the power supply.

Read also: Russia falls short of its main goals in latest missile strike, says Ukrenergo

Power grids are still being restored after massive attacks by Russia, with priority given to the greater reliability of the power supply. Repair teams are currently working on high-voltage network facilities that were targeted by Russian missiles and attack drones.

Ukraine exported electricity to Moldova and EU countries from June to Oct. 11 last year, the day after Russia began mounting massive missile attacks across Ukraine, including targeting its energy infrastructure.

Over the following months, Ukraine experienced over 10 waves of massive Russian shelling, with the enemy using dozens of missiles of different types and ranges. Due to the power shortage, the Ministry of Energy had to resort to rolling power outages, but the enemy was unable to achieve its goal of creating a complete blackout in Ukraine.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP)  Slovakia has delivered the remaining nine of the 13 Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets that it promised to Ukraine, the Slovak Defense Ministry said on Monday.

The ministry said the warplanes were transported overland for security reasons in a complicated logistics operation. The first four were flown from Slovakia to Ukraine by Ukrainian pilots on March 23.

"We are doing the right thing," Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad said in a statement

On March 17, the Slovak government approved a plan to give Ukraine its entire fleet of Soviet-era MiG-29 planes, becoming the second NATO member to answer Ukraine's plea for warplanes to help defend against Russias invasion.

Slovakia grounded its MiGs in the summer due to a lack of spare parts and maintenance expertise. Neighboring Poland and the Czech Republic, both NATO members, stepped in to monitor Slovak air space.

Replacements for the MiG-29s are unlikely to arrive for another year. Slovakia previously signed a deal to buy 14 U.S. F-16 Block 70/72 fighter jets, but delivery was pushed back two years with the first aircraft to arrive in early 2024.

The United States has offered Slovakia 12 new military helicopters as compensation for the fighter jets given to Ukraine. Under the offer, Slovakia would pay $340 million for the Bell AH-1Z attack choppers in a deal worth about $1 billion. U.S. foreign military financing would cover the other $660 million,

___

Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine-war
MiG-29

Slovakia became the first NATO country to deliver warplanes when it sent its first four MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine on March 23.

This transfer was carried out by land route under maximum security. Once again, a huge thanks to all the forces involved since its a really important and complex logistical operation, he said.

Read also: Is it even possible to equip MiG fighter jets with Western missiles?  Air Force answers

Deputy Speaker of the Ukrainian parliament Olena Kondratiuk said on March 29 that the aircraft were already protecting the skies over the city of Kharkiv.

The MiG-29 fighters will be a major help but are unlikely to be a game-changer at the front, said Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat.

Ukraine needs modern multipurpose aircraft to gain air superiority and strike ground targets, he added.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
A worker loads grain at a terminal in Odesa Oblast, June 23, 2022

Heger said that an ad hoc group would convene to discuss the issue and report their findings at a later date.

Poland banned grain imports from Ukraine on April 15, but expressed a willingness to resolve the issue through an intergovernmental agreement. Ukraine expressed regret over the decision, citing prior agreements between the two nations.

Read also: Russia supports extending Ukraine grain deal for 60 days

The following day, Hungary also announced a temporary ban on the import of grain and oilseeds, along with other agricultural products from Ukraine.

The European Commission denounced the bans as unacceptable, and, according to Reuters, representatives from EU member states will convene later this week to discuss the matter.

The Ministers of Agriculture of Ukraine and Poland, Mykola Solskyi and Robert Telus, are set to sign an agreement in Warsaw on April 17 on the transit of Ukrainian grain through Poland to third countries.

Read also: Grain deal extended for another 120 days, Ukraine to continue exporting crops

Hungary, in turn, announced that transit shipments via its territory would continue.

After a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia blocked ports and sea routes that Ukraine used to export grain to Africa and the Middle East. In response, the EU canceled duties on grain from Ukraine to facilitate its supply to global markets.

However, much of the grain has remained in Poland, resulting in a drop in prices and significant financial hardship for Polish farmers, who have protested against the situation.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Small acts of kindness benefit the giver and the receiver. Heres how. | Adobe Stock

When Americans think of kindness, they likely think about Mister Rogers.

Fred Rogers, an American television host and ordained Presbyterian minister, said, Imagine what our neighborhoods would be like if each of us offered, as a matter of course, just one kind word to another person.

Rogers understood the power and impact of kindness  being kind may be more important than you think it is.

Humans have a tendency to discount or underestimate the power of what we do for each other, including acts of kindness. Vox said small deeds, like getting someone a hot chocolate or writing a note, can have a bigger impact than we think.

Even though we may have a tendency to not see the importance of small acts of kindness, they can brighten someones day and make us happier in the process.

What is kindness?

Kindness generally means to be compassionate and considerate toward another person, animal or thing. Some think theres a difference between kindness and niceness.

There can be a lack of sincerity in just being nice; there is often a perception of doing the minimum, Inspire Kindness said. Whereas, being kind is doing intentional, voluntary acts of kindness. Not only when its easy to be kind, but when its hard to be.

Kindness is often seen as way of living rather than a single act. People who are kind make giving a part of their everyday lives, like Rogers did and encouraged others to do.

Related

Impact of showing kindness

Kindness has a positive impact on the person who gives it and the person who receives it.

It has the ability to improve your mood and decrease stress. According to the Mayo Clinic, kindness can lower your cortisol and decrease your blood pressure. It also contributes to better relationships, which in turn contributes to a person living longer.

Another way that kindness can positively impact you is through the release of serotonin and dopamine in your brain. These neurotransmitters, per the Mayo Clinic, can increase positive feelings and well-being. Theyre released when youre being kind.

Story continues

As the old saying goes, kindness is also contagious.

If youre kind to a person, they become more likely to be kind to someone else too. The Mental Health Foundation said acts of kindness may also encourage others to repeat the good deeds theyve experienced themselves  contributing to a more positive community.

Utah State University professors said individuals who report putting more effort into kindness also report higher levels of happiness in their lives. Part of this seems due to the impact kindness has on interpersonal relationships. When a person is kind to those who are in their social circle or who they have close relationships with, those relationships are strengthened and trust is increased. That has a positive impact on both people in the relationship.

Kindness often means more to the person who received it than the person who gave it. Writing for the Deseret News, Jay Evensen discussed research on this phenomenon and said, Generally, the people receiving these kindnesses thought they were a bigger deal than those performing them. This was because recipients tended to focus on the warmth they felt  a warmth that givers often overlook.

This warmth, Evensen said, inspired people who had received kindness to give more kindness as a result of the feeling they experienced.

Related

What are random acts of kindness?

Random acts of kindness are small acts of kindness that a person does without arranging to do them in advance.

The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation gave a list of random acts of kindness that people can do in their everyday lives. The foundation gave suggestions like celebrate important days with those you love or create positive bookmarks and hide them at your local library.

Even if you find it difficult to cultivate kindness, its a skill you can develop over time. In the Deseret News, Gitanjali Poonia said experts have compared developing kindness to developing strength through exercise. Random acts of kindness are like a muscle  the more you do them, the more part of your everyday life they become.

Ways to show kindness

There are simple ways you can show kindness to others today. If you arent sure where to start, here are some ideas.

Buy your friend lunch. Make cookies for your neighbor. Help clean a friends house. Write notes for your friends and family. Send a friend you havent talked to in a while a text message expressing your love for them. Volunteer at your local soup kitchen. Donate books to your local library or school. Hold the door open for strangers. Bring treats into the office to share with your co-workers. Leave a decent tip for your waiter the next time you eat out.

When is Random Acts of Kindness Day 2024?

Random Acts of Kindness Day 2023 is on Feb. 17, 2024. On this day, individuals are encouraged to show each other random acts of kindness as a way to celebrate the day. Both individuals and organizations are invited to participate in this day.
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP)  The corruption trial of former South African President Jacob Zuma was postponed again Monday as he seeks to have the lead prosecutor removed from the case by claiming he is biased.

Zuma has already succeeded in getting a new judge to oversee his trial.

Zuma, who turned 81 last week, has argued that prosecutor Billy Downer is biased against him and compromises the former leader's right to a fair trial. Zuma is involved in a separate legal case against Downer and a journalist over the leaking of the ex-president's medical records by state prosecutors.

Zuma is facing multiple counts of corruption, as well as racketeering, fraud, tax evasion and money laundering, with some of the charges relating to bribes he is alleged to have taken from French arms manufacturing company Thales to provide political protection for an arms deal worth more than $1 billion signed by the South African government in 1999.

Thales, which was then known as Thomson-CSF, is a co-defendant in the corruption trial.

The charges relate to a time when Zuma was a politician on the rise and later a deputy president of South Africa, but before he became president in 2009. He was forced to resign as president in 2018 because of corruption allegations.

Some of the alleged wrongdoing dates back as far as the mid-1990s, yet Zuma only went on trial two years ago after the charges were dropped and reinstated multiple times amid political interference.

Despite the trial officially starting in May 2021, no testimony has yet been heard because of a series of applications made by Zuma to get the initial judge to recuse himself and to remove Downer.

Judge Nkosinathi Chili, the new judge, said Monday that the case would resume on Aug. 15 and 16, when Zuma's lawyers and prosecutors will present their arguments over whether Downer should remain on the case.

Zuma faces a minimum of 15 years in prison if he is convicted of involvement in major corruption. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Story continues

The case is highly politically sensitive in South Africa given the support Zuma still holds in parts of the country and the influence he has retained within the ruling African National Congress party.

Deadly rioting and looting broke out and more than 300 people were killed in a week of unrest when Zuma was sentenced to a 15-month prison term in 2021 for contempt of court in relation to another corruption inquiry. Zuma was released early from that jail sentence on medical parole.

The riots were the worst civil unrest in South Africa since the end of the apartheid system of white minority rule in 1994.

___

More AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
JOINT BASE McGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST  A federal prison here is introducing a new tactic in its fight against smuggled cellphones.

FCI Fort Dix has announced plans for a contraband interdiction system intended to identify and disable illegal phones at the lock-up for almost 3,900 low- and minimum-security inmates.

Smuggled phones have been a longtime concern at the prison, where inmates used them to coordinate deliveries of contraband  including more cellphones  via late-night drone flights between October 2018 and June 2019.

More: Court fight in Cumberland County South Jersey prison guard suing Murphy over COVID vaccine rules. What the lawsuit claims

In addition, the FBI accused five inmates in 2017 and three more in 2018 with allegedly using illegal phones to access child pornography in the prison.

Cellphone seizures on the rise at FCI Fort Dix

An affidavit filed with a criminal complaint in that case noted 1,522 phones were confiscated at FCI Fort Dix in 2016, up from 652 a year earlier and 217 in 2014.

An inmate cooperating with investigators said phones were hidden "in light fixtures, jacket liners, closets and under lockers, according to the affidavit.

FCI Fort Dix disclosed its interdiction strategy in a legally required public notice of just two sentences.

Those in the surrounding community should be aware there is potential for accidental call blocking during deployment, the notice said.

A representative of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons offered no additional information,

For safety and security reasons, the Bureau of Prisons does not discuss specific internal security practices at any institution, said agency spokesman Donald Murphy.

FCC allows contraband interdiction systems

The Federal Communications Commission announced rules for prison interdiction systems that took effect in May 2022.

For decades, wireless devices, including cell phones, have been smuggled into correctional facilities nationwide, it said in announcing a framework for the rules in July 2021.

Story continues

The FCC said inmates used the devices for criminal activities posing serious threats to officials and incarcerated people within the facility and innocent members of the public.

It said interdiction systems have one or more stations designed exclusively to prevent transmissions to or from contraband wireless devices within (a prison) and/or to obtain identifying information from such  devices.

Cellphone service providers are required to disable the phones at both the subscription and device level within two business days of receiving a report from a prison, the FCC noted.

The providers must also take all reasonable and practical steps to prevent (a contraband phone) from accessing other wireless provider networks, it added.

Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Federal prison FCI Fort Dix aims technology at contraband cellphones
SEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) - South Korea and Japan's finance ministers will hold a bilateral meeting early next month for the first time in seven years, heralding closer cooperation in economic policy that has been hampered by diplomatic conflict.

South Korean Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho told reporters during a visit to the United States that he has agreed to meet Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki, according to a media pool report.

They will meet on the sidelines of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) annual meetings, due to be held in Incheon, South Korea May 2-5, although other details have yet to be decided, Choo said.

"It is significant in that it will be the first step toward reviving regular bilateral meetings," Choo said, without elaborating.

Regular annual meetings between the two countries' finance ministers have been suspended since 2016 due to disputes over wartime history.

But last month at a summit between South Korea's Yoon Suk Yeol and Japan's Fumio Kishida, the two neighbours promised to put aside their difficult shared history and said they would work together to counter regional security challenges.

Financial markets will likely pay close attention to whether the finance ministers will discuss resuming a bilateral currency swap arrangement - one that had served as backstop against any potential currency crisis but which expired in February 2015.

(Reporting by Choonsik Yoo in Seoul, Tetsushi Kajimoto and Yoshifumi Takemoto and in Tokyo; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
SpaceX on Monday postponed the first test flight of Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, designed to send astronauts to the Moon and Mars and beyond.

Liftoff of the gigantic rocket was called off just minutes ahead of the scheduled launch time because of a pressurization issue in the booster stage, SpaceX said.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk said a pressure valve appeared to be frozen, forcing a postponement of the launch which had been planned for 8:20 am Central Time (1320 GMT) from Starbase, the SpaceX spaceport in Boca Chica, Texas.

"Learned a lot today, now offloading propellant, retrying in a few day," Musk tweeted.

SpaceX said the launch will be delayed for at least 48 hours.

The US space agency NASA has picked the Starship spacecraft to ferry astronauts to the Moon in late 2025 -- a mission known as Artemis III -- for the first time since the Apollo program ended in 1972.

Starship consists of a 164-foot (50-meter) tall spacecraft designed to carry crew and cargo that sits atop a 230-foot tall first-stage Super Heavy booster rocket.

SpaceX conducted a successful test-firing of the 33 Raptor engines on the first-stage booster in February but the Starship spacecraft and the Super Heavy rocket have never flown together.

The test flight is intended to test their performance in combination.

Musk had warned ahead of the test that a delay was likely.

"It's a very risky flight," he said. "It's the first launch of a very complicated, gigantic rocket.

"There's a million ways this rocket could fail," Musk said. "We're going to be very careful and if we see anything that gives us concern, we'll postpone."

- 'Multi-planet species' -

NASA will take astronauts to lunar orbit itself in November 2024 using its own heavy rocket called the Space Launch System (SLS), which has been in development for more than a decade.

Starship is both bigger and more powerful than SLS.

It generates 17 million pounds of thrust, more than twice that of the Saturn V rockets used to send Apollo astronauts to the Moon.

Story continues

SpaceX foresees eventually putting a Starship into orbit, and then refueling it with another Starship so it can continue on a journey to Mars or beyond.

Musk said the goal is to make Starship reusable and bring down the price to a few million dollars per flight.

"In the long run -- long run meaning, I don't know, two or three years -- we should achieve full and rapid reusability," he said.

The eventual objective is to establish bases on the Moon and Mars and put humans on the "path to being a multi-planet civilization," Musk said.

"We are at this brief moment in civilization where it is possible to become a multi-planet species," he said. "That's our goal. I think we've got a chance."

la-cl/bgs
Onlookers watch as SpaceXs Starship, the worlds biggest and most powerful rocket, stands ready for launch in Boca Chica, Texas, Sunday, April 16, 2023. | Eric Gay, Associated Press

Following years of development and just days after securing long sought-after FAA approval, Elon Musks SpaceX was poised for the first test launch of its massive Starship rocket from the companys Starbase spaceport in southern Texas on Monday morning.

Originally scheduled for 8 a.m. CDT, Musk tweeted just after 7 a.m. that a frozen pressure valve could delay or scrub the launch and a short time later, launch officials called off the attempt. During a live broadcast of the event, commentators said the next attempt would happen no sooner than Wednesday.

A pressurant valve appears to be frozen, so unless it starts operating soon, no launch today  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 17, 2023

SpaceXs 400-foot tall rocket is powered by 33 individual Raptor engines that, in unison, create nearly 17 million pounds of thrust. The methane-powered system dwarfs the current record held by NASAs Space Launch System, which flew a successful test flight last November and can achieve almost 9 million pounds of thrust.

Related

While technical issues kept Starship on its launchpad Monday, SpaceX shared an optimistic tweet following the decision to scrub the mission and try again later this week.

With a test such as this, success is measured by how much we learn, which will inform and improve the probability of success in the future as SpaceX rapidly advances development of Starship, the tweet read.

With a test such as this, success is measured by how much we can learn, which will inform and improve the probability of success in the future as SpaceX rapidly advances development of Starship pic.twitter.com/2tf4jx3qRL  SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 17, 2023

SpaceX describes Starship as a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, help humanity return to the Moon, and travel to Mars and beyond. While Mondays unmanned test flight was not going to include landing the components back on Earth, as SpaceX does with its workhorse Falcon 9 rockets, the Starship system is designed for return and reuse capabilities.

Starship is capable of lifting as much as 250 tons into space and could accommodate 100 people on a potential trip to Mars, according to The Associated Press.

SpaceX has its own plans for putting the Starship to work once it becomes operational, ferrying satellites to low Earth orbit and potentially carrying paying passengers to space. But NASA is also vested in successful development of the giant rocket system, having struck a $2.9 billion contract with SpaceX in hopes of making Starship part of the Artemis moon mission. Starships upper stage spacecraft would be used to carry astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface of the Moon but the NASA contract stipulates that SpaceX must first prove its abilities by performing a successful unmanned lunar landing.
SpaceX (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Elon Musks SpaceX is about to launch its most daring rocket ever.

Starship is the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built. Eventually, SpaceX hopes it can carry people to the Moon and Mars.

But first it must conduct the short orbital test  which Mr Musk says it is as likely to fail as it is to succeed.

SpaceX is targeting Monday morning local time. It will set off at 9am eastern, or 2pm in the UK.

It will be the first launch with Starship's two sections together. Early versions of the sci-fi-looking upper stage rocketed several miles into the stratosphere a few years back, crashing four times before finally landing upright in 2021. The towering first-stage rocket booster, dubbed Super Heavy, will soar for the first time.

For this demo, SpaceX wont attempt any landings of the rocket or the spacecraft. Everything will fall into the sea.

Im not saying it will get to orbit, but I am guaranteeing excitement. It wont be boring, Musk promised at a Morgan Stanley conference last month. I think its got, I dont know, hopefully about a 50% chance of reaching orbit.

Heres the rundown on Starships debut:

Supersize rocket

The stainless steel Starship has 33 main engines and 16.7 million pounds of thrust. All but two of the methane-fueled, first-stage engines ignited during a launch pad test in January  good enough to reach orbit, Musk noted. Given its muscle, Starship could lift as much as 250 tons and accommodate 100 people on a trip to Mars. The six-engine spacecraft accounts for 164 feet (50 meters) of its height. Musk anticipates using Starship to launch satellites into low-Earth orbit, including his own Starlinks for internet service, before strapping anyone in. Starship easily eclipses NASAs moon rockets  the Saturn V from the bygone Apollo era and the Space Launch System from the Artemis program that logged its first lunar trip late last year. It also outflanks the former Soviet Unions N1 moon rocket, which never made it past a minute into flight, exploding with no one aboard.

Story continues

Game plan

The test flight will last 1 1/2 hours, and fall short of a full orbit of Earth. If Starship reaches the three-minute mark after launch, the booster will be commanded to separate and fall into the Gulf of Mexico. The spacecraft would continue eastward, passing over the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans before ditching near Hawaii. Starship is designed to be fully reusable but nothing will be saved from the test flight. Harvard astrophysicist and spacecraft tracker Jonathan McDowell will be more excited whenever Starship actually lands and returns intact from orbit. It will be "a profound development in spaceflight if and when Starship is debugged and operational, he said.

Launch pad

Starship will take off from a remote site on the southernmost tip of Texas near Boca Chica Beach. It's just below South Padre Island, and about 20 miles from Brownsville. Down the road from the launch pad is the complex where SpaceX has been developing and building Starship prototypes for the past several years. The complex, called Starbase, has more than 1,800 employees, who live in Brownsville or elsewhere in the Rio Grande Valley. The Texas launch pad is equipped with giant robotic arms  called chopsticks  to eventually grab a returning booster as it lands. SpaceX is retooling one of its two Florida launch pads to accommodate Starships down the road. Florida is where SpaceX's Falcon rockets blast off with crew, space station cargo and satellites for NASA and other customers.

The odds

As usual, Musk is remarkably blunt about his chances, giving even odds, at best, that Starship will reach orbit on its first flight. But with a fleet of Starships under construction at Starbase, he estimates an 80% chance that one of them will attain orbit by years end. He expects it will take a couple years to achieve full and rapid reusability.

Customers

With Starship, the California-based SpaceX is focusing on the moon for now, with a $3 billion NASA contract to land astronauts on the lunar surface as early as 2025, using the upper stage spacecraft. It will be the first moon landing by astronauts in more than 50 years. The moonwalkers will leave Earth via NASAs Orion capsule and Space Launch System rocket, and then transfer to Starship in lunar orbit for the descent to the surface, and then back to Orion. To reach the moon and beyond, Starship will first need to refuel in low-Earth orbit. SpaceX envisions an orbiting depot with window-less Starships as tankers. But Starship isn't just for NASA. A private crew will be the first to fly Starship, orbiting Earth. Two private flights to the moon would follow  no landings, just flyarounds.

Other players

There are other new rockets on the horizon. Jeff Bezos Blue Origin is readying the New Glenn rocket for its orbital debut from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in the next year or so. Named after the first American to orbit the world, John Glenn, the rocket towers over the companys current New Shepard rocket, named for Mercury astronaut Alan Shepards 1961 suborbital hop. NASA will use New Glenn to send a pair of spacecraft to Mars in 2024. United Launch Alliance expects its new Vulcan rocket to make its inaugural launch later this year, hoisting a private lunar lander to the moon at NASAs behest. Europes Arianespace is close to launching its new, upgraded Ariane 6 rocket from French Guiana in South America. And NASAs Space Launch System moon rocket that will carry astronauts will morph into ever bigger versions.

Additional reporting by Associated Press
BOCA CHICA, Texas  SpaceXs Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket, the worlds most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, was expected to lift off from a Texas facility on Monday, but due to a frozen pressure valve, the attempt was scrubbed and instead moved to a wet dress rehearsal.

The decision to stop the launch attempt Monday morning was announced by Elon Musk.

"A pressurant valve appears to be frozen, so unless it starts operating soon, no launch today," he said in a tweet.

Teams are working towards Thursday, April 20, for the new first flight test time of the fully integrated Starship and Super Heavy rocket, SpaceX announced Monday evening .

HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHER

People photograph the SpaceX Starship as it stands on the launch pad ahead of a flight test from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on Sunday, April 16, 2023. SpaceX is counting down to the first test flight of Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, designed to send astronauts to the moon and Mars and beyond.

The massive spacecraft stands nearly 400 feet tall, with the Super Heavy rocket standing at 226 feet and the Starship and second stage of the spacecraft standing at 164 feet.

The Raptor engines, which are just over 4 feet tall, power the Starship spacecraft and have twice the thrust of the Falcon 9 Merlin engines.

NASA'S FIRST CREWED MISSION OF 2023 SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES FROM KENNEDY SPACE CENTER

SpaceX says Starship is powered by six engines  three Raptor engines and three Raptor Vacuum (RVac) engines, which are designed to be used in the vacuum of space. Super Heavy is powered by 33 Raptor engines, with 13 in the center and 20 engines around the perimeter of the bottom of the powerful booster.

According to SpaceX, the Starship spacecraft was designed as a fully reusable transportation system that can carry crew and cargo into Earths orbit, the moon and Mars.

Starship will also be able to carry up to 150 metric tons fully reusable and 250 metric tons that will be expendable. SpaceX adds that Starship is also capable of point-to-point transport on Earth, allowing travel to anywhere in the world in one hour or less.

2 0 YEARS AFTER COLUMBIA NASA REMEMBERS ASTRONAUTS LOST, VOWS NOT TO REPEAT PAST MISTAKES

When the launch does occur, the Super Heavy booster rocket is expected to splash down over the Gulf of Mexico, and the Starship spacecraft will circle the globe and land in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii.

Story continues

The space company anticipates the rocket will take about 90 minutes to reach its orbit and splashdown in the Pacific.

NASA UNVEILS ARTEMIS II ASTRONAUTS WHO WILL EMBARK ON HISTORIC MISSION AROUND THE MOON

Minutes after the Federal Aviation Administration awarded SpaceX a launch license for its massive Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket from the Texas launch facility, the space company announced its plans to launch the powerful rocket Monday morning.

SpaceX had sought clearance for the rocket launch for nearly two years, but an extensive review and changes to the original application slowed down the federal approval process.

SpaceX's Starship spacecraft could pave the way for the company to eventually replace the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets with the Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket.
The orbital class Starship prototype stands fully stacked against the sunrise on Boca Chica Beach

The orbital class Starship prototype stands fully stacked against the sunrise on Boca Chica Beach, Texas, on Jan. 23, 2023. Credit - Reginald MathaloneNurPhoto/Reuters

Time was, nobody gave much thought to the town of Boca Chica, a little community at the toe of Texas, hard up against the Gulf of Mexico. Distinguished mostly by its proximity to the city of Brownsville, the county seat of Cameron County, Boca Chica was the site of the Civil War battle of Palmito Hill, is home to a state park, a public beach, and a nearby ship channel and, well, thats about it. Or that was about ituntil nine years ago.

Today, Boca Chica is where the future of human space flight is being shaped. And as early as Wednesday, April 19, the town will have distinguished itself as the place from which the tallest, most powerful rocket ever designed, SpaceXs Starship, will blast off. (The original launch date of Monday, April 17, announced in a tweet from SpaceX, was postponed due to unspecified technical problems in the first stage of the rocket.) On April 14, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) gave its long-awaited clearance for the launch, saying in a statement, After a comprehensive license evaluation process, the FAA determined SpaceX met all safety, environmental, policy, payload, airspace integration, and financial responsibility requirements. The license is valid for five years.

The launch will be a signal achievement for SpaceX, which broke ground in 2014 on the rocket construction and launch facility, grandlybut not entirely unjustifiablydubbed Starbase by company founder and boss Elon Musk. Its Boca Chicas proximity to the Gulf that makes it a prime site for a space base, because when youre building the worlds biggest rocket, you want to launch it over water, in case something goes wrong. And when it comes to space launches, something can always go wrong.

Pretty scary, Musk admitted back in late 2021, when TIME spent a day touring Starbase. Excitement guaranteed on launch day. Im not saying its gonna be successful, but excitement guaranteed.

Story continues

Indeed it is. There was all manner of hoopla last November, when NASA finally launched its Space Launch System (SLS) moon rocket, not least because its 4 million kg (8.8 million lbs) of thrust made it the most powerful rocket ever built, comfortably beating out the old record holder: the Apollo eras Saturn V, which flew in the 1960s and 1970s, with its 3.4 million kg (7.5 million lbs) of thrust.

But the SLS is set to be dwarfed when Musk launches his Brobdingnagian Starship, which has been in development since 2012 and will, by any measure, redefine the rocketry industry. It is a machine that will have its hand in the space tourism industry, NASAs Artemis programwhich looks to have astronauts back on the lunar surface aboard the Artemis 3 mission, as early as 2026and even, to hear Musk tell it, in the eventual human settlement of Mars.

Everything about Starship says big. The rocket is actually a two-part machine. The first stage, known as the Super Heavy, stands 70 meters (230 ft.) tall and is powered by 33 enginesthats compared to the SLSs six and the Saturn Vs fiveproducing more than 7.6 million kg (16.7 million lbs) of thrust, or nearly twice the SLSs muscle. Its upper stage, built to carry cargo and crew, and also named Starship, stands 50 m (164 ft.) tall and is itself equipped with another six of the same 33 engines that power the first stage. Together, the overall stack, made entirely of stainless steel, stands a sleek and silvery 40 stories tall.

For so mammoth a machine, the upcoming mission will be a comparatively modest one, with the Starship upper stage not even making a single orbit of Earth, before splashing down northwest of the Hawaiian Islands. The Super Heavy first stage will similarly splash down in the Gulf of Mexico. But after that, big things will come.

TIME graphic by Lon Tweeten

The date of the first crewed launch of Starship has not been firmly set, but it will be an Earth-orbital mission commanded by billionaire and veteran space traveler Jared Isaacman. (Isaacman commanded the Inspiration4 mission, aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, in 2021.) Yusaka Maezawa, a Japanese fashion magnate, has also bought nine seats aboard a Starship rocket for his dearMoon mission, a circumlunar journey that was originally planned for the end of this year and now will take place sometime after Isaacmans flight.

Much more important, though, is Starships role in NASAs Artemis program. In April 2021, NASA selected the Starship upper stage as the vehicle that will serve as the programs Human Landing System (HLS)the 21st century version of the Apollo eras lunar module. The company was awarded an exclusive contract to build the HLS, beating out two competitors for the coveted deal: Houston-based Dynetics and Amazon founder Jeff Bezoss Kent, Washington-based Blue Origin.

The decision raised some eyebrows. The other two companies publicly griped that NASA should have selected at least two providers to build the HLS, as it did in 2014 when it awarded contracts to both Boeing and SpaceX to build vehicles to fly crew to the International Space Station (ISS). Other space watchers questioned the choice too. Dynetics and Blue Origins proposed landers are low-slung, four-legged machines like the old lunar module, with an equally low center of gravity, increasing the stability of the machine if it lands on uneven lunar terrain. The silo-like, 164-ft. Starship is a different matter, potentially prone to tipping if its own four legs dont set down on a flat surface.

When you look at that huge thing on an unprepared terrain like it will be on the surface of the moon, its a little bit scary, says Pablo de Leon, the chair of the department of space studies at the University of North Dakota. You dont have that low center of gravity.

But NASA has faith in SpaceXand not without justification: the company has made seven crewed flights to the ISS aboard its Crew Dragon spacecraft since 2020, and 27 uncrewed cargo runs to the station since 2012. Whats more, SpaceX has consistently served the private and public sectors, with 216 launches of its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket since 2010, including 61 in 2022 alone.

NASA has been able to get a lot of bang for its buck using SpaceX as a commercial provider, says de Leon. Were seeing up to a couple of launches per week from SpaceX. Thats not a small accomplishment.

These guys are the real deal, adds Scott Pace, a professor at George Washington Universitys Space Policy Institute.

But not everyone is as positive about Starship in particular and SpaceX in general. A 33-engine machine is, as de Leon puts it, a nightmare for the plumbers, one that calls to mind the old Soviet Unions 30-engine N-1 moon rocket, which never successfully flew and, in one test in 1969, blew up just after liftoff, causing the largest explosion in space history.

Whats more, 16.7 million pounds of thrust, while impressive, is far more than is needed to carry a payload to low-Earth orbit (LEO)which is the destination of the vast majority of space launches. Its like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, says Said Mosteshar, director of the London Institute of Space Policy and Law. We certainly dont need anything that powerful.

Musk does not disagree and has long said that Starship would be used not for LEO taxi runs, but principally for missions that require much greater propulsive power: both to the moon and Marswith Martian colonization in his long-term sights, given that the upper Starship stage could be configured to carry up to 100 passengers.

Others worry that Musk has taken advantage of NASAs repeated and generous contracts to make himself too central to the space agencys operationsa single provider serving as principal carrier of crew and cargo to the ISS as well as crew to the moon.

It certainly is a problem, says Mosteshar, with the space agency facing the risk of being effectively paralyzed if technical problems or a launch disaster caused SpaceX to go offline even for a while, the way the U.S. was grounded after both the Challenger and Columbia shuttle disasters. It increases the risk, having just one entity, Mosteshar adds.

I dont have a big concern about whether Starship will succeed or not, says Pace. My question is, does the business plan work?

That concern is a greater one for NASA than for SpaceX. Musk, clearly, has worked out his business planbestriding both the private and public sectorswith his biggest launch of his biggest rocket yet to come. Whether Starship and SpaceX themselves are too big is a question that has yet to be answered.

Starship Rising

Starships development has not always been a pretty thing to watch. From 2020 to 2021, five upper stage Starship rockets were launched on short test flightsto a maximum altitude of 10 km (6.2 mi.)four of which ended in explosions or crashes before a fifth finally succeeded, and even that one included a small fire at the base of the rocket after landing. But flying fast, failing fast, and trying again have always been part of the SpaceX R&D model.

Its like a spiral design, where they build, test, fly, learn from that and then cycle through again, says Lisa Watson-Morgan, NASAs program manager for the Artemis Human Landing System. And so what we see is a lot of activity and a lot of testing right now.

Starship 25 stands on a suborbital pad at SpaceX's south Texas facility near Brownsville, Texas, on Jan. 24, 2023. Reginald MathaloneNurPhoto/Reuters

Lately, that testing has included multiple static firings of the Starship engineswith the rocket anchored to the pad so it goes nowhere while the engines burn. The engines, a new design dubbed Raptor, burn liquid methane and liquid oxygen, rather than the mix of a kerosene-like fuel and liquid oxygen used by SpaceXs Falcon rockets, giving Starship higher performance and allowing the weight of the engineand the overall rocketto be reduced. And while methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, it burns cleaner than kerosene and more efficiently than the liquid oxygen and hydrogen that powered the second stage of the Saturn V. Most recently, on Feb. 9, the company static-fired 31 of the 33 main stage engines, proving the mettle of the overall system.

Team turned off 1 engine just before start & 1 stopped itself, so 31 engines fired overall. But still enough engines to reach orbit! Musk said via Twitter at the time.

Once Starship does launch, Musk envisions moving ahead at head-snapping speed. His goal, as he tweeted last June, is to Build 1000+ Starships to transport life to Mars. Basically, (very) modern Noahs Arks.

Other interested parties are less hyperbolic, but no less optimistic. As soon as that thing launches the first time, theyre going to learn so much and theyre going to be at warp speed, says Isaacman. I have no doubt there will be a lot of hardware and engines just ready to go.

To the Moon

Despite Musks private sector customers and his long-term dreams of Mars colonization, it is Starships role in the Artemis lunar program that is its showpiece functionand there is a lot of planning ahead before the ship will be ready to make that trip. Landing on the moon with Starship will be nowhere near as straightforward as it was in the Apollo days. Back then, a single Saturn V rocket launched both the lunar lander and the orbiting mothership in one go, and both spacecraft flew out to the moon linked together. The Artemis program will be a multi-step affair involving two rocketsthe SLS and the Starshipoperating in tandem.

Starship will launch first. Once its upper stage gets part way to Earth orbit, the Superheavy booster will separate and land back on Earth. The upper stage will then use its own array of six engines to power its way into orbit. Doing this will exhaust most of its fuel supplybut its gas tank wont remain empty for long. Ready and waiting for it will be a fuel depotlaunched into orbit by SpaceXwhere Starship will rendezvous to refill itself sufficiently to power its way out of Earth orbit, to the moon, and then down to the lunar surface and back up.

The only thing missing, of course, are the astronauts. Once Starship has entered lunar orbit it will, as Watson-Morgan puts it, loiter there. A crew of four astronauts will then ride the Orion spacecraft, launched atop the SLS, out to the moon and dock with the waiting Starship. Two of the crew members will then transfer to Starship and descend to the surface.

Watson-Morgan is sanguine about the Starships ability to stick the lunar landing despite any ruggedness of the terrain, because of a feature SpaceX is designing into the spacecrafts four landing legs. Each leg has active and independent control authority, she says. So if one lands higher up on a rock or a ledge or something, it can level itself with the others.

Assuming that system works and all goes well, the two lunar explorers will spend just under a week on the surface before lifting back off and re-docking with the Orion. All four astronauts will then fly home aboard the Orion, while the Starship remains in the lunar vicinity as a very pricey piece of space junk.

Other Partners

All of these moving parts are being developed in the service of a larger vision for lunar exploration. NASA intends to eventually launch a mini-lunar space station known as Gateway to act as a sort of way station for the future Orions and Starships. A central travel hub like that will serve the multiple landings NASA envisions for Artemis 4, 5, 6, and beyond. The first Gateway module will be launched aboard yet another SpaceX rocketthe 27-engine Falcon Heavyas early as November of 2024.

Once Gateway is in operation, NASA intends to move away from exclusive reliance on Starship for its human landing system. The space agency is now opening the door for other bidders to build a second lander to provide services along with Starshipwith Blue Origin and Dynetics the two contenders. In a statement at the time of the announcement in March 2022, Watson-Morgan said this would help the Artemis program advance as flights to the moon become more frequent and complex, providing flexibility and redundancy. Adds Pace, straightforwardly: If one goes down, Ive got another. Multiple landers will also help with NASAs ultimate goal: establishing a permanent base on the lunar surface.

It is that kind of multiplicity of options that gives other space experts, unlike Mosteshar, confidence that NASA has not allowed Musk and SpaceX to become too central to its operations. Weve never had so many missions as we have today, says astrophysicist Pascal Ehrenfreund, a professor at the George Washington University Space Policy Institute. Thats because theres cooperation between NASA and SpaceX and other companies and entrepreneurs. It makes the entire exploration era versatile and dynamic.

De Leon agrees that the faster other companies come online and get their hardware flying, the better off NASA will be. Its smart for NASA to keep its options open, he says. You dont want to put your eggs in one basket.

Of course, the basket that is Starship has itself yet to fly, and until it does, NASAs Artemis plans and Musks Mars dreams are all just thatplans and dreams. De Leon, while not predicting if the first flight will be a success, does believe Starship has the engineering cred to work as planned. Elon Musk has shown that he is a careful designer and his team is certainly capable, he says. I dont think they would be doing this design if they didnt go through the necessary process to prove that it is feasible now.

Every Mars [mission] plan youve ever looked at says that you need to build the biggest rocket you possibly can, says Pace. Musk has done just that. Before long, the giant machine will prove if it is up to the jobs that have been assigned to it.
Spain has vowed to block a regional plan to legalise farming near one of Europe's largest and fauna-rich wetlands, where water supplies have plunged due to climate change and agriculture.

The proposal to rezone lands near the huge Donana National Park in the southern Andalusia region comes amid a prolonged drought and it has drawn the ire of Brussels.

The area is home to many rare species such as the Iberian lynx and on the route of millions of migratory birds, including flamingos, spoonbills and ibis.

"Donana will not be touched, Donana is the heritage of Andalusians, of all Spaniards," Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez warned.

Andalusia's parliament voted Wednesday to consider the plan proposed by the region's conservative Popular Party (PP) government.

If it becomes law, roughly 2,000 hectares (3,700 acres) near the park and its endangered wetlands will be declared irrigable.

This would grant an amnesty to many unauthorised farms, mainly growing strawberries, that have sprouted here.

A final vote on the proposal -- which is also backed by far-right party Vox -- is due soon. It is expected to pass as the PP and Vox have a majority in the regional parliament.

Sanchez's government has said it will challenge the proposal in court if approved.

Sitting on an estuary where the Guadalquivir River meets the Atlantic Ocean, the park streetches across 100,000 hectares of forests, lagoons, marshes and dunes.

- Not enough water -

A study by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) published last week said 59 percent of the park's largest lagoons have not been filled "since at least 2013".

It blamed changes in temperature and precipation in the area, as well as the "increase in the amount of cultivated land".

Defenders of the proposal argue it will help farmers who missed out during a previous regularisation of farms in the area in 2014 under a Socialist government.

The PP says the plan will not hurt the wetlands since the newly regularised farms will only use surface water.

Story continues

But environmentalists and the central government disagree, saying it will increase the strain on the park's stressed aquifer.

"The Andalusia government knows perfectly well that there will never be enough surface water because it is already exhausted," Spain's Ecological Transition Minister Teresa Ribera told the El Pais newspaper on Sunday.

"We can't complain that there is no water, about the drought, and at the same time promise water that doesn't exist."

She accused Andalusia's government of trying to woo farmers ahead of regional and local elections on May 28 and a year-end general election.

- 'Put order to chaos' -

The head of the regional government, Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla, accuses Sanchez of hypocrisy, saying the Socialists did not reverse the decline of Donana when they governed Andalusia for 36 years until 2019.

"It is very frivolous Donana will be defended by those who allowed aquifers to be violated for years," he said, adding that his government's plan will "put order to chaos".

Spain's central government has warned the country risks being slapped with fines by the European Union if the plan goes ahead.

The European Court of Justice condemned Spain in 2021 for failing to protect the natural reserve and threatened Madrid with fines if the situation did not improve.

"It's an issue which we're following closely. We're in touch with the Spanish authorities on that," European Commission spokesman Tim McPhie said.

Huelva, the drought-prone province where the park is located, produces 300,000 tonnes of strawberries a year, 90 percent of Spain's output.

Known locally as "red gold", strawberry farming employs up to 100,000 people and accounts for nearly eight percent of Andalusia's economic output.

bur-al/ds/mg/ach
An extreme athlete emerged on Friday from a cave 230 feet underground where she spent 500 days isolated from the outside world in what could be a new world record.

Beatriz Flamini, 50, left the cave in southern Spain where she had been since 21 November, 2021  and immediately went for a shower.

The elite sportswoman, mountaineer and climber, had been monitored by scientists in an project called Timewave to learn more about the capacities of the human mind and circadian rhythms.

She was 48 when she went into the cave, and celebrated two birthdays alone underground.

Blinking and smiling as she embraced well-wishers, her first words included asking who would be paying for a celebratory round of beers.

She described the experience of being cut off from the world as excellent, unbeatable.

Ive been silent for a year and a half, not talking to anyone but myself, she said.

Beatriz Flamini did exercises to keep fit in the cave in Motril (Reuters)

Ms Flamini spent her time underground doing exercises to keep fit, painting and drawing and knitting woolly hats. She took two GoPro cameras to document her time, and got through 60 books and 1,000 litres of water, according to her support team.

Caves are quite secure places, but very hostile to the human being and the brain because you dont see the light of day, you dont know how time is passing, you dont have neurological stimulation, she said.

Its not that the time passes more quickly or more slowly, simply that it doesnt pass, because its always four in the morning.

Her experience was being used by scientists at the universities of Granada and Almeria and a Madrid-based sleep clinic studying the impact of social isolation and extreme temporary disorientation on perception of time and the impact on sleep.

Ms Flamini was monitored by a group of psychologists, researchers, speleologists  specialists in the study of caves  and physical trainers who watched her every move and monitored her physical and mental wellbeing, though they never made contact.

Story continues

Spanish state news agency Efe said Ms Flamini was obliged to temporarily halt the challenge after about 300 days and spend eight days in a tent because of a technical problem, but had no contact with anyone before going back down.

The Guinness Book of Records website awards the longest time survived trapped underground to the 33 Chilean and Bolivian miners who spent 69 days stuck 2,257 ft underground after the collapse of the San Jose copper-gold mine in Chile in 2010.

Beatriz Flamini hugs teammates as she is helped out of the cave (Reuters)

A spokesperson was not able to immediately confirm whether there was a separate record for voluntary time living in a cave and whether Flamini had broken it.

In 1987, Italian Maurizio Montalbini set a world record by spending 210 days in a cave. It has been reported that a Serb spent more than 460 days underground in 2016.

At a press conference later, Ms Flamini said she felt she was still living in the day she went down in 2021 and had no idea what had gone on in the world since, including Russias war in Ukraine and the Queens death.

With no sense of time, she said she stopped trying to count days and at no point tried to give up, even during an invasion of flies that she described as the source of her worst memories.

She apologised for stumbling over her answers to questions. Ive been a year and a half without talking and I find it difficult, she said.

Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report
WASHINGTON (AP)  House Speaker Kevin McCarthy pledged Monday to pass legislation to raise the nation's debt ceiling  but only on condition of capping future federal spending increases at 1%  as he lashed out at President Joe Biden for refusing to engage in budget-cutting negotiations to prevent a debt crisis.

In a high-profile speech at the New York Stock Exchange, McCarthy, the Republican leader who was marking his 100th day as speaker, said the nations debt load is a ticking time bomb and Biden is missing in action as the deadline nears to raise the debt limit. But McCarthy's own ability to bring his plan to passage as promised is highly uncertain.

Late Monday, House Republicans rallied around the speaker as he returned to Capitol Hill, with preparations underway for a vote on the package as soon as next week  a rapid turnaround. McCarthy is expected to brief House Republicans privately early Tuesday morning on the details. Even though the Republican plan's chances in the Democratic-controlled Senate are dismal, House approval could serve as a calling card pressuring Biden to negotiate.

Since the president continues to hide, House Republicans will take action," McCarthy vowed.

The White House hit back quickly, accusing McCarthy of dangerous economic hostage taking." And administration officials reupped Biden's pressure on the Republican leader to approve a debt ceiling increase with no strings attached.

McCarthy's Wall Street address came with Washington heading toward a potential fiscal crisis over the need to raise the nation's debt limit, now at $31 trillion, and avert a federal default. The Treasury Department has said it is taking extraordinary measures to continue paying its bills, but money will run short this summer.

While vowing that defaulting on our debt is not an option, McCarthy faces his own challenges pushing a legislative fix to passage.

With his slim majority and less-than-strong grip on power, he has been unable to rally his Republican troops around a budget-cutting proposal that he could offer the White House as a starting point in negotiations.

Story continues

Instead, McCarthy is seeking to shift blame for the standoff and draw the White House back into talks. The longer President Biden waits to be sensible to find an agreement, the more likely it becomes that this administration will bumble into the first default in our nations history, he said.

White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates called McCarthys conditions a MAGA wish list that will increase costs for hard-working families, a reference to former President Donald Trumps Make America Great Again slogan.

A speech isnt a plan, but it did showcase House Republicans priorities, said Bates.

The White House has said the ball is in McCarthys court, saying he has promised to produced a budget plan but has thus far failed to deliver. Senior Biden advisers doubt McCarthys ability to hold his Republican majority together to pass anything, and see little need to even express openness to concessions to a leader they doubt can deliver.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said its McCarthy who continues to bumble our country toward a catastrophic default.

President Biden and I are happy to meet with the speaker when he has something to talk about, Schumer said.

Nevertheless, McCarthy was both upbeat and defiant as he vowed to pass a bill through the House in coming weeks. Lawmakers were briefed on a weekend conference call, and said they expected a vote by the end of April.

The plan he outlined would raise the nation's debt limit into next year  putting the issue squarely in the 2024 presidential election  coupling it with a plan to roll back federal spending to fiscal 2022 levels, recoup unspent COVID-19 funds and cap future spending at no more than 1% a year over the next decade.

Republicans, he said, also want to attach policy priorities, including imposing work requirements to recipients of government aid that would result in cuts to benefit programs in the federal safety net for poorer Americans.

And McCarthy said the House Republicans also want to tack on H.R. 1, an expansive energy bill that would favor oil, gas and coal production  and ease permitting regulations  undoing many of Biden's climate change-fighting initiatives.

Without commenting on the House plans, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said the president can't simply put his fingers in his ears. The White House needs to stop wasting time and start negotiating with the speaker, he said.

Many economists have suggested that it may take a stock market selloff to force an agreement, showing the risks of a possible default. But McCarthy said after his speech during a question period that he wasnt gauging market reaction for guidance on the debt limit.

The markets go up and down, he said.

Once a routine matter, the need for Congress to pass legislation raising the nation's debt limit to continue paying already accrued bills has increasingly become a political weapon wielded particularly by Republicans as leverage for their policy priorities.

McCarthy is working furiously to unite the five families  the various caucuses including the Freedom Caucus, Republican Study Committee and others within the House Republican majority  around a plan that could be presented to Biden to kickstart negotiations.

Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., the chairman of the Freedom Caucus, called the plan a step in the right direction, but said he still needed to see the details.

Federal spending skyrocketed during the COVID-19 crisis, rising to $7.4 trillion in 2021, before sliding back to $6.2 trillion in fiscal 2022, according to Treasury Department data. The nations debt load has also climbed steadily, doubling during the George W. Bush administration with the 9/11-era wars overseas and spiking again during the Obama administration as spending rose and tax revenue plummeted during the Great Recession.

The nation runs more than $1 trillion in annual deficits, and the last time the federal budget balanced was 2001.

McCarthy noted that President Ronald Reagan similarly warned of government spending. The cuts the House Republicans want to make are not draconian, McCarthy said.

He pledged not to touch the Medicare and Social Security programs important to older Americans that other Republicans want to cut.

Once, his speech was interrupted by applause from the executives and others at the stock exchange.

The White House and Democrats in Congress have been unwilling to engage in talks with the Republicans, saying Congress must simply raise the debt limit without conditions.

Biden in particular, has been here before as vice president during the 2011 fiscal standoff that sent jitters through the economy as the Republicans demanded steep spending cuts.

The sweeping proposal from McCarthy will likely be too expansive for the White House to consider, but serves as a political lever to push Biden back to the negotiating table.

The split screen on display in New York, though, showed the challenges ahead for McCarthy in focusing on budget matters.

As the speaker delivered his speech, his hard-charging Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan was convening a New York City field hearing focused partly on District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who indicted Trump on campaign finance and other charges related to alleged hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels and a Playboy model who contend he had sexual relations with them.

___

Associated Press White House Correspondent Zeke Miller and AP writers Josh Boak, Kevin Freking and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.
PureWow

Every year, the Met Gala is filled to the brim with A-list celebrities, including Hollywood stars, Grammy-winning artists and successful entrepreneurs. In 2022, Janelle Monae, Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds and Lin-Manuel Miranda were just of few of many celebs who dressed to the nines for the special occasion. And something tells us that this year will be no different. Still, we want to know: Who gets invited to the Met Gala? Keep scrolling for details on the guest list, how to score an invitation
Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands) slammed Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) for hypocrisy on Sundays broadcast of MSNBCs Ayman.

Plaskett highlighted how Jordan as chair of the House Judiciary Committee was accusing Democrats of weaponizing the government (via the weaponization subcommittee) while at the same time relentlessly attacking Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for charging former President Donald Trump in the Stormy Daniels hush-money payment case.

Host Ayman Mohyeldin called the committee the mother of all ironies for targeting a local prosecutor for an investigation they dont like and bringing the full force of their congressional powers in the House against Alvin Bragg to try and stop him from doing his job.

They continually engage in projection, replied Plaskett, who has a history of fiery exchanges with the Trump-loving Jordan.

Most of the discussions they have against other individuals are really looking at the mirror at themselves, she added.

Plaskett noted how Trump when president attempted to weaponize the FBI and Department of Justice against his opponents and critics.

Its the same projection, she added.

Watch the interview here:

"They engage in projection. Most of the discussions they have against other individuals are really looking in the mirror at themselves." @StaceyPlaskett calls out Jim Jordan for accusing Dems of weaponizing the govt. while trying to interfere in Bragg's Trump probe pic.twitter.com/p8txLKwdEz  AYMAN (@AymanMSNBC) April 17, 2023

Related...
A static fire test of Starship on 9 February 2023 (left). On the right, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, is pictured on 1 December 2020 in Berlin, Germany. SpaceX; Britta Pedersen-Pool/Getty Images

SpaceX launched Starship, the world's most powerful rocket, today. It exploded before reaching space.

Elon Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 with the goal of planting a permanent human settlement on Mars.

Starship is the mega-rocket SpaceX has been developing for the last decade to realize this dream.

Elon Musk is known for his boundless ambition, which seems to defy every limit put in front of him  even exploding rockets.

The billionaire has set his space sights high: he wants to launch the world's biggest, most powerful rocket  Starship  and then use it to take humans to the moon and Mars.

After over 10 years of development, SpaceX attempted to launch the behemoth Starship, atop its Super Heavy booster, into space on Thursday morning. The liftoff went according to plan, but nearly three minutes into flight the booster failed to separate from Starship, and the rocket tumbled through the air before bursting into a fireball.

Musk has said that SpaceX plans to try again, and that there was only about a 50% chance of success on this flight.

"If Starship is successful, I have little doubt that it's going to be the workhorse that will bring humans back to the moon and Mars" Olivier de Weck, professor of aeronautics, astronautics, and engineering at MIT, told Insider.

"It's not just a cool rocket project, but literally it has the potential to change the fate of humanity," he said.

Here are 14 facts you should know in light of Starship's explosive first orbital launch attempt.

At the height of about 390ft, Starship dwarfs other rockets.

Engineers assemble the top and bottom parts of the rocket. Starship is around 394ft tall and 30ft wide. SpaceX

At about 400 feet, the rocket is taller than any other operational heavy-lift launchers.

It's about 30 feet taller than the SLS mega-rocket, which NASA launched around the moon on its Artemis I mission.

Designing a rocket of this size is quite a feat of engineering, de Weck said.

"A rocket that's twice as big is about eight times as challenging to build and test and fly than rocket half its size," he said.

Story continues

It's not only the tallest rocket ever created, but also the most powerful.

Starship and Super Heavy are shown stacked on top of each other. SpaceX

SpaceX wants Starship to be the most powerful rocket ever made.

Technically speaking, Starship is the name of the spacecraft, which sits on the top of the rocket.

The bottom part of the rocket is a booster, called "Super Heavy," which packs a real punch.

Thanks to this booster, the rocket generates about 17 million pounds of thrust. That's twice as powerful as NASA's SLS mega-rocket booster, which has 8.8 million pounds of thrust.

The rocket should be able to lift up to 250 metric tonnes of payload into orbit, 150 if the rocket is used in its reusable form, per the SpaceX website.

Starship is designed to be reusable.

Starship's first test vehicle is shown here. SpaceX

Musk believes that reusable rockets are the future of space travel, allowing companies to cut down on costs and time with every launch.

But Starship is designed to be the world's first fully reusable rocket, meaning both the booster and the spaceship should eventually be able to come back to Earth intact, ready to be used again.

In 2021, SpaceX landed a reusable prototype of Starship successfully.

From left to right: The SN8, SN9, and SN10 explosions in 2021. Gene Blevins/Reuters; SPadre.com

SpaceX had a breakthrough in 2021 when it managed to land its fifth Starship prototype, called SN15, successfully.

One of the previous prototypes had landed in one piece, but blew up dramatically just 10 minutes later.

The Starship that launched and exploded on Thursday was the first to travel on top of its booster, Super Heavy.

The booster is also designed to return to Earth.

A SpaceX booster landing after the SpaceX transporter-6 mission. SpaceX

SpaceX also aims for the Super Heavy booster to land safely on Earth and be used again.

That should be less of an engineering challenge. SpaceX has launched many partially reusable rockets. It can recover the boosters from Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, for instance.

The rocket's incredible thrust is due to its trademark Raptor engines.

Starship testing its Raptor engine. SpaceX

Starship's mammoth thrust comes down to SpaceX's Raptor engine.

Every one of the 10-foot-tall engines generates about 500,000 pounds of thrust.

These engines use a fuel called methalox, a combination of methane and oxygen, to push themselves forward.

This is a very different type of fuel from SpaceX's other rockets, which use a combination of kerosene and oxygen, or NASA's SLS rocket, which is fueled by oxygen and hydrogen.

"That is not a combination of propellants that we have a lot of experience with," said de Weck.

The advantage of using this fuel is two-fold, he added.

Methane, as a molecule, contains a lot less carbon than kerosene  one carbon atom for methane versus 10 to 16 for kerosene.

Practically, that means that burning methane makes a lot less soot than kerosene, which is useful for an engine you want to reuse.

The other advantage is that it's easy to imagine how you could make methane on Mars to refuel the rocket.

"You need CO2, which is available from the atmosphere of Mars. You need water, which exists on Mars in the form of subsurface ice deposits. And you need energy. So of course you need a chemical plant," said de Weck.

Starship makes clever use of stainless steel, a metal long considered to be too heavy.

A picture of Starship on the launch pad. SpaceX

Unlike other rockets, usually made of aluminum, Starship's body is mostly made of stainless steel.

Using stainless steel can sound counterintuitive  after all, it's a heavy metal, about three times as dense as aluminum.

But there are a few reasons why steel was the right choice.

One was the price  wholesale steel is a lot cheaper than aluminum.

The second is strength. "Steel is much, much stronger than aluminum," said de Weck, so you can make the parts a lot thinner than with aluminum. In the end, the parts turn out lighter.

The third is corrosion. Because these rockets are made to be reusable, they need to stand the test of time. Steel is much better at doing that.

The Super Heavy booster contains 33 Raptor engines.

Each booster contains 33 Raptor engines, so a lot can go wrong when you try to fire them.

"That's the big challenge is getting all these 33 engines to light simultaneously."

"Even if each engine has a 99% probability of working properly, the probability that all 33 will fire at the right time and it is not that high," said De Weck.

In fact, during the Thursday flight, SpaceX operators said four of the engines were not firing.

SpaceX successfully tested a booster in February.

SpaceX tested the 33 engines on the Super Heavy booster on February 10. SpaceX

Elon Musk conducted a static fire test of the Super Heavy booster in February.

A total of 31 of the 33 raptor engines fired for the few-second-long test, which Musk hailed as a success.

"Team turned off 1 engine just before start & 1 stopped itself, so 31 engines fired overall. But still enough engines to reach orbit!" he said in a tweet.

NASA has teamed up with SpaceX to use Starship in future crewed missions.

An illustration of SpaceX's planned Starship rocket landing near a moon base. SpaceX/Twitter

NASA awarded SpaceX a multi-billion dollar contract in 2021 to develop a commercial launcher that could carry humans into space.

That means that while a NASA-built SLS rocket will bring the astronauts to the moon orbit, the agency plans for a SpaceX-built Starship to be the rocket that will carry them down to the moon surface for the first time since 1972.

NASA expects the launcher to be used on two upcoming Artemis missions to the moon, Artemis III and Artemis IV.

A Japanese billionaire has booked out the rocket's first flight around the moon.

Japanese space tourist Yusaku Maezawa. Roscosmos Space Agency/AP

SpaceX has also scheduled civilian-crewed missions on Starship. It is due to carry Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa and a team of eight people of his choice.

Maesawa recently announced the composition of his crew. It includes artists, content creators, athletes, a K-pop star, and a DJ.

The mission, dubbed "dearMoon" by Maesawa, will take Maezawa and his crew to within 200 kilometers of the moon's surface.

In 2020, a year before he launched an open competition for the moon mission, Maezawa said he was looking for a romantic "female partner" to go with him to the moon. He later called off the search.

The rocket could one day be used to cross the world in 30 minutes.

Members of SpaceX's inspiration4 crew are seen training for zero gravity on a parabolic flight ahead of the first civilian crewed flight. Inspiration4/John Kraus

Musk also plans for Starship to be used for Earth-to-Earth transport.

"With Starship and Super Heavy, most international long-distance trips would be completed in 30 minutes or less," says the SpaceX website.

De Weck said it sounds "probably doable, but maybe not so good for the environment."

De Weck wrote a paper last year about the growing risk of the space industry releasing more greenhouse gas emissions.

Starship's fuel is made up of methane  which is a potent greenhouse gas, much more potent than CO2 if it's not burned up before it's released into the atmosphere.

Musk wants Starship to take the first colonists to Mars.

An artist's rendering of what Starship might look like on Mars. SpaceX

The moon isn't the only thing on our solar system Musk wants to visit.

SpaceX aims to carry humans all the way to Mars on this launcher.

Musk predicted this could happen within the next five years in a tweet in February.

"I must admit to being congenitally optimistic (SpaceX & Tesla wouldn't exist otherwise), but I think 5 years is possible and 10 years is highly likely," he said.

Musk gave the first orbital launch a 50% chance of success.

SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, is building and launching Starship prototypes in Boca Chica, Texas. SpaceX; Mark Brake/Getty Images; Business Insider

Musk had previously hinted that Starship's launch could end in some fireworks.

"I'm not saying it will get to orbit, but I am guaranteeing excitement," he said in an interview at the Morgan Stanley Conference on March 7, adding: "Won't be boring!"

"I think it's got, I don't know, hopefully about a 50% chance of reaching orbit," Musk said.

There's a lot that could go wrong, Musk told his Twitter followers ahead of the launch.

"There's a good chance that it gets postponed since we're going to be pretty careful about this launch," he said, per The New York Times. "If it does go wrong, there's a lot to go wrong."

Still, de Weck called for people not to jump to conclusions too quickly.

"If this launch goes badly if there's an explosion or the booster doesn't return and is not recovered, let's all have patience. Let's keep in mind that this is just one test out of hundreds. And if anything, SpaceX has shown us that they learn a lot from failures," he said.

Musk said in March that there are several other Starships waiting in the ring should this one fail, upping his probability that one of these would reach orbit this year to 80%.

A key goal for him would be to see the rocket clear SpaceX's launchpad, Musk said on Twitter Sunday.

"Just don't blow up the launchpad," he said.

Correction: February 14, 2023  An earlier version of this story misstated the Raptor's thrust. It generates 500,000 pounds of thrust, rather than 500 pounds of thrust.

This post has been updated. It was originally published on February 13, 2023.

Read the original article on Business Insider
SpaceXs first orbital Starship stacked atop its massive Super Heavy Booster at the companys Starbase facility near Boca Chica Village in South Texas (SpaceX)

SpaceXs Starship is finally launching the Mars-bound craft into orbit.

The company and its boss Elon Musk are targeting a launch at 9am eastern time, or 2pm in the UK. It has some time either side to launch  and if it misses that will be forced to wait until later in the week.

Eventually, SpaceX hopes to use the spacecraft to explore the Moon and Mars. But for now it will complete a short orbital flight, lifting up into space and then falling back down.

The test launch had been held up waiting for approvals from the US Federal Aviation Administration, which requires that it meets all necessary safety and regulatory requirements. That appears to have come more quickly than expected, with Mr Musk previously suggesting on Twitter that the launch could be delayed until later in the month.

You can follow all the latest news and updates right here as SpaceX attempts to launch the largest rocket the world has ever seen.

Key points

How big is Starship?

What will Starship do?

Starship gets launch time

08:23 , Andrew Griffin

The time is set: SpaceX says it is targeting a launch around 8am central time, 9am eastern time, or 1pm in the UK. It has some time either side to use, if anything goes wrong.

Starship launch: How previous tests have gone

Thursday 13 April 2023 17:36 , Anthony Cuthbertson

This may be the first ever orbital flight test of Starship, but SpaceX has already performed numerous high-altitude flights with previous prototypes of the rocket.

All but one of them ended in a fiery explosion, just like this one:

The one that made it was Starship SN15, which managed to land back on its pad at SpaceXs Starbase facility in southern Texas in May 2021.

Fast forward nearly two years and SpaceX boss Elon Musk says theres no guarantee that the latest Starship wont end in failure.

I am not saying it will get to orbit but I am guaranteeing excitement, he said last month. It wont be boring.

Starship launch: SpaceXs timeline for the flight test

Thursday 13 April 2023 10:25 , Anthony Cuthbertson

Story continues

The first ever orbital flight test of a Starship rocket will take just an hour and a half, according to SpaceXs launch timeline.

It will see Starship and its booster rocket lift off from the Starbase facility in Texas, before the two separate over the Gulf of Mexico. As the booster comes down to land on a drone ship, the main Starship rocket will continue around the planet to splash down just off the coast of Hawaii.

(SpaceX)

If all goes to plan, this is what should happen after lift-off:

55 seconds - Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket)

2 minutes 49 seconds - Booster main engine cutoff

2 minutes 52 seconds - Stage separation

2 minutes 57 seconds - Starship ignition

3 minutes 11 seconds - Booster boostback burn startup

4 minutes 6 seconds - Booster boostback burn shutdown

7 minutes 32 seconds - Booster is transonic

7 minutes 40 seconds - Booster landing burn startup

8 minutes 3 seconds - Booster landing burn shutdown

9 minutes 20 seconds - Starship engine cutoff

77 minutes and 21 seconds - Starship entry

88 minutes 43 seconds - Starship is transonic

90 minutes - Starship splashdown

Starship launch: What will SpaceXs next-gen rocket actually be used for?

Thursday 13 April 2023 09:53 , Anthony Cuthbertson

Elon Musk has big plans for Starship, having pinned his hopes for colonising Mars on the next-generation rocket.

The ultimate goal is to establish a permanent human presence on the red planet by 2050, but before that a base on the Moon will neet to be set up in order to serve as a launch pad for missions deeper into the solar system.

SpaceX has already secured a multi-billion dollar deal with Nasa to develop a Starship moon lander as part of the US space agencys Artemis mission.

An illustration of a SpaceX Starship human lander design that will carry the first Nasa astronauts to the Moon (SpaceX)

A crewed flight of Starship HLS (Human Landing System) will not take place earlier than December 2025, according to Nasa, but should occur before 2030.

If successful, it will be a modified version of this rocket that will then take humans to Mars.

A SpaceX mockup of Elon Musks plan to use Starship rockets set up a colony on Mars in order to ensure humanitys long-term survival (SpaceX)

First though, SpaceX needs to complete the orbital flight test.

Starship launch: Latest SpaceX photos show true scale of rocket

Wednesday 12 April 2023 18:26 , Anthony Cuthbertson

SpaceX has shared new images of its fully stacked Starship sitting on its launchpad at the Starbase facility in southern Texas.

In one image, you can see workers in a crane at the base of the booster, showing off the true scale of the Mars-bound rocket.

Weather looks good, once regulatory approval is granted that will be the final hurdle before an orbital launch attempt can be made.

Starship launch: SpaceX working on Elon time?

Wednesday 12 April 2023 15:01 , Anthony Cuthbertson

The current status of Starship is ready for launch; awaiting regulatory approval, according to SpaceX boss Elon Musk.

Starship is ready for launch 



Awaiting regulatory approval  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 9, 2023

The only problem is, pending only regulatory approval is what he said nearly two years ago. When one of his followers asked if this was Elon Time, or real time, he replied, real time.

(Twitter/ screenshot)

Things at SpaceXs Starbase facility seem far more progressed this time, so his conviction carries far more weight. The FAA also appears close to approving, with only one stumbling block potentially standing in the way of a Starship launch next week.

Starship launch: Watch SpaceXs latest mission to Mars demo

Wednesday 12 April 2023 11:33 , Anthony Cuthbertson

SpaceX has updated its Starship Mission to Mars demo, showing a computer generated vision of what it will look like for the rocket to launch into space.

It features an animation of the Starship stage separation, as well as the booster landing back at the launch site for refuelling.

The Starship rocket meanwhile continues its journey to Mars, landing alongside other Starship rockets at an already inhabited colony.

An early version of the video was originally used at a SpaceX event in 2016. You can watch the latest version here:

Starship launch: SpaceX says no rehearsal this week

Wednesday 12 April 2023 08:24 , Anthony Cuthbertson

SpaceX says it will not do a launch rehearsal this week, but is still aiming for the orbital flight test as early as next week. Its not clear if a rehearsal will take place at all, having already completed a static fire test of both the Starship rocket and the Super Heavy booster.

The only thing currently standing in Starships way is regulatory approval from the Federal Aviation Administration, who will hopefully have a decision on the environmental compliance review soon. There has never been a launch like this, which could account for the approval delays.

Teams are focused on launch readiness ahead of Starships first integrated flight test as soon as next week, pending regulatory approval  no launch rehearsal this week https://t.co/SpsRVRsvz1 pic.twitter.com/ovYUQgAjAc  SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 11, 2023

Starship launch: What date will the SpaceX rocket lift off?

Tuesday 11 April 2023 19:13 , Anthony Cuthbertson

Starship is ready for launch, Elon Musk has said, only regulatory approval is standing in the way.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has given a number of updates in recent days, with the latest report suggesting the date will be on or soon after 17 April.

This is the latest statement we have from the FAA:

The FAA has not made a license determination for the SpaceX Starship Super Heavy operation, and the FAAs Command Center planning notice should not be interpreted as an indicator that a determination to issue a licence has been made or is forthcoming

FAA

Starship launch: How big is the SpaceX rocket?

Tuesday 11 April 2023 17:55 , Anthony Cuthbertson

Starship and its Super Heavy Booster will produce nearly twice the thrust of Nasas Space Launch System (SLS), which is currently the most powerful rocket ever made.

SpaceX is building such a massive rocket in order to meet Musks goal of transporting people and cargo across the Solar System. In order to reach the Moon and Mars with significant payloads, Starship has been equipped with six engines, while the Super Heavy has a further 33  producing a projected 7.25 million kg of thrust.

Heres how its actual size compares to other huge rockets throughout history:

Hello and welcome...

Tuesday 11 April 2023 17:12 , Anthony Cuthbertson

to The Independents live coverage of SpaceXs preparations to launch its Starship rocket into orbit.

The biggest spacecraft ever built is ready for lift-off, according to chief exec Elon Musk, though regulators are still performing the final approval checks. A report from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has marked 17 April as a primary launch date, with 18-22 April listed as backup dates.

Well be bringing you all the latest news and updates of the next-generation rocket, which Musk hopes to one day use to colonise Mars.
A judge handling Dominion's defamation case against Fox News expressed dismay at how Fox News attorneys defined Murdoch's role at the network. The Fox Corp. chairman is shown in 2015. (Amanda Edwards / WireImage)

The start of the much-anticipated trial over Dominion Voting Systems' $1.6-billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News is being pushed until Tuesday, an indication that the two sides may be at work on an out-of-court settlement.

But Judge Eric Davis, who is presiding over the trial in Delaware Superior Court, offered no reason Monday for the new start time. Appearing briefly in court, he said delays are common in trials that are expected to last longer than two weeks.

The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday, citing unnamed sources, that attorneys for Fox News were making a late push to settle the high-profile case that has been a major embarrassment for the conservative channel.

The Wall Street Journal is owned by News Corp., which is also controlled by Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch.

But representatives for both sides had no information on settlement talks and said they expected the trial to begin on Tuesday.

A last-minute settlement would not be shocking to 1st Amendment lawyers who have been following the case and were somewhat astonished that one had not yet been reached.

Fox News may be highly motivated to settle, as Davis has sanctioned the defendants for failing to include evidence that should have been entered in the discovery process.

Davis also expressed dismay at how Fox News attorneys defined t Murdochs role at the network.

Fox News lawyers had said Murdoch did not have an officer title at the network, which is not true  he is executive chairman. Fox News formally apologized to the judge Sunday.

Dominion is accusing Fox News of amplifying false charges made by Trump's attorneys Sidney Powell and Rudolph Giuliani in the weeks following the 2020 election that the company's machines manipulated votes to help elect Joe Biden as president.

There was no evidence of widespread voter fraud or any wrongful actions by Dominion. Claims to the contrary were fact-checked by some Fox News journalists and the network's own research department.

Dominion said Fox News acted out of fear that the "Make America Great Again" faithful would tune out and move to upstart conservative network Newsmax, which was gaining viewership at the time.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Students and staff at Union County Public Schools are mourning the loss of a third grade teacher.

A spokesperson for the district told Channel 9 that Ashley Streitman, a teacher at Shiloh Valley Elementary School, had been with the district since 2019.

Additional counselors were at the school Monday to provide support for students and staff.

ALSO READ: Myers Park High School student dies, officials say

Several people who knew Streitman took to Facebook to speak about who she was.

I am still in shock one of the sweetest caring teachers my child has had, one commenter said. She loved her so much. Treated each child as her own. Praying for the family and also all the students.

According to her syllabus on the school website, Streitman grew up in Union County and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She was engaged to her fiance, who she met in high school, the syllabus says.

(WATCH BELOW: Union County plan to limit classroom decorations causes divide)
Smoke rises from the tarmac at Khartoum International Airport, which is close to the city centre

Residents in Sudan's capital Khartoum have found themselves trapped in a war zone. Fighter jets and attack helicopters have been flying low overhead, as gun battles and bombings shake the city's streets.

We have combed through dozens of pieces of video footage from the city and spoken to residents to find out what life has been like as the fighting - between Sudan's army and the paramilitary group the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) - has intensified.

The threat to civilians is magnified by the particular geography of Khartoum. Key strategic sites which are being targeted, such as military buildings, are close to residential areas.

Footage broadcast live on a Riyad-based news channel this morning - and verified by the BBC - captured one strike in part of the city where the Sudanese military is based.

The site of this big explosion - which we located by matching the bridge seen in the video to Google maps - is about 300 metres from the Sudanese Air Force headquarters, and about 500m from the General Command of the Sudanese Armed Forces.

Both are close to the airport and a residential area, with several schools and hospitals nearby.

One woman we spoke to who lives near the airport said: "While we are ok, the situation is not so good for my aunts and uncles who live in a different part of the neighbourhood... they see planes bombing in front of their house. One of their cars was burnt to a crisp."

Map of Khartoum

Another video, sent to the BBC this morning by a doctor, shows a hospital caught up in the conflict.

It claims to show RSF forces occupying part of the Al Saha hospital in Khartoum.

One image shows a patterned floor and brown marble which we were able to match with an existing image from the inside of this hospital. The uniforms match those worn by the RSF.

Video shows troops gathering inside the hospital

We spoke to an eyewitness who says he was at the hospital when RSF troops took it over at approximately 11:00 local time (12:00 BST) on Monday.

He says he was in the intensive care unit looking after his father when there were loud explosions which shook the hospital building.

Story continues

"They (the RSF) forced all the patients out. Floors were filled up with RSF fighters and their cars were outside the hospital doors which made the ambulances very afraid to come near."

Another residential neighbourhood which has come under heavy fire is Kafouri, to the north of Khartoum International Airport.

Some of Khartoum's wealthiest residents live there, including the family of Sudan's ex-president Omar al-Bashir. It is also the site of several security compounds.

"It sounded like there was a thunderstorm," said one woman as she posted a video from her balcony near the airport in Khartoum at the weekend. The noise came from military helicopters flying low over residential tower blocks.

"We woke up and went outside - there were fighter jets. It just sounded like gunshots. There's just a lot of chaos going on. There was smoke everywhere."

Khartoum airport is sandwiched between dense residential areas.

"I can see from my residence smoke coming out from some buildings," one man who lives close by told us. "I can hear blasts, bombs, I can see military planes."

He said a house near where he is staying was hit on Monday morning.

"It's now just rubble."

Satellite imagery from 16 April over Khartoum shows smoke rising from the airport and from some planes on fire on the runway.

Another satellite image taken the next day shows more of them destroyed on the runway.

Satellite image of airport damage

We've counted 19 planes and one helicopter damaged or destroyed at Khartoum airport, as well as another six planes elsewhere in the country.

Key infrastructure has also been hit, including Kobar Bridge, which is close to the airport and connects south and north Khartoum.

Satellite image of bridge and hopsital

One eyewitness told us that this had cut off access to the Universal Hospital Sudan on the north side of the bridge.

The man, who visited the hospital at the weekend, told us: "They asked the sick and injured to leave the hospital at 10pm on Sunday, and the situation was difficult outside.

"They tried a lot to bring in other doctors from other hospitals but nobody can reach Universal Hospital. Ambulances are refusing to transport the injured and dead bodies."

There have been reports that several other hospitals in the capital have either been damaged or evacuated.

Additional reporting by Daniele Palumbo, Joshua Cheetham, Tom Edgington, Richard Irvine-Brown and Mohanad Hashim

Graphics by Erwan Rivault and Kate Gaynor

We are continuing to investigate video out of Khartoum.
Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commander, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagolo "Hemedti" Photo by Ashraf Shazly/AFP via Getty Images

Dozens have been killed in armed clashes in the Sudanese capital Khartoum following months of tension between the military and the powerful paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Behind the tensions is a disagreement over the integration of the paramilitary group into the armed forces  a key condition of a transition agreement thats never been signed but has been adhered to by both sides since 2021.

General Mohamed Hamdan Dagolo, better known as Hemedti, is the leader of the RSF. He is a key mover in the fast-escalating civil war, as he has been in other key moments in Sudans recent history.

Hemedtis Rapid Support Forces is led by Darfurian Arabs known as Janjaweed. The term refers to the armed groups of Arabs from Darfur and Kordofan in western Sudan. Drawn from the far west of the countrys periphery, they have  in a mere decade  become the dominant power in Khartoum. And Hemedti has become the face of Sudans violent, political marketplace.

I have been a scholar of Sudan for decades. During 2005-06, I was seconded to the African Union mediation team for Darfur and from 2009-11 served as senior adviser to the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel for Sudan, in the lead-up to the independence of South Sudan. My most recent book, co-authored with Justin Lynch, examines Sudans unfinished democracy.

Hemedtis career is an object lesson in political entrepreneurship by a specialist in violence. His conduct and (as of now) impunity are the surest indicator that politics of the mercenary kind that have long defined the Sudanese periphery, have been brought home to the capital city.

Coming in from the periphery

Hemedti is from Sudans furthest peripheries, an outsider to the Khartoum political establishment. His grandfather, Dagolo, was leader of a subclan that roamed across the pastures of Chad and Darfur. Young men from these camel-herding, landless and marginalised group became a core element of the Arab militia that led Khartoums counterinsurgency in Darfur from 2003.

Story continues

A school dropout turned trader, Hemedti has no formal education. The title General was awarded on account of his proficiency as a commander in the Janjaweed brigade in Southern Darfur at the height of the 2003-05 war. A few years later, he joined a mutiny against the government, negotiated an alliance with the Darfurian rebels, and threatened to storm the the government-held city of Nyala.

Soon Hemedti cut a deal with the government. Khartoum would settle his troops unpaid salaries and compensation for the wounded and killed. He got promotion to general and a handsome cash payment.

After returning to the Khartoum payroll, Hemedti proved his loyalty. President Omar al-Bashir who ruled Sudan from 1993 to April 2019 when he was deposed became fond of him, sometimes appearing to treat him like the son he had never had.

But, in the days after Bashir was overthrown, some of the young democracy protesters camped in the streets around the Ministry of Defence embraced him as the armys new look.

A country in his pocket

Back in the fold, Hemedti ably used his commercial acumen and military prowess to build his militia into a force more powerful than the waning Sudanese state.

Al-Bashir constituted the Rapid Support Forces as a separate unit in 2013, initially to fight the rebels of the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army-North in the Nuba Mountains. The new force came off second best. But, with a fleet of new pickup trucks with heavy machine guns, it soon became a force to be reckoned with, fighting a key battle against Darfurian rebels in April 2015.

Following the March 2015 Saudi-Emirati military intervention in Yemen, Sudan cut a deal with Riyadh to deploy Sudanese troops in Yemen. One of the commanders of the operation was General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan who has chaired the Transitional Military Council since 2019. But most of the fighters were Hemedtis RSF. This brought hard cash direct into Hemedtis pocket.

And in November 2017, Hemedtis forces took control of the artisanal gold mines in Jebel Amer in Darfur  Sudans single largest source of export revenues. This followed the defeat and capture of his arch-rival Musa Hilal, who rebelled against Al-Bashir.

Suddenly, Hemedti had his hands on the countrys two most lucrative sources of hard currency.

Hemedti is adopting a model of state mercenarism familiar to those who follow the politics of the Sahara. The late President Idriss Deby of Chad rented out his special forces for counter-insurgencies on the French or U.S. payroll in much the same manner. One can expect to see RSF troops deployed to Libya some day.

On the other hand, with the routine deployment of paramilitaries to do the actual fighting in Sudans wars at home and abroad, the Sudanese army has become akin to a vanity project. It is the proud owner of extravagant real estate in Khartoum, with impressive tanks, artillery and aircraft. But it has few battle-hardened infantry units. Other forces have stepped into this security arena, including the operational units of the National Intelligence and Security Services, and paramilitaries such as special police units  and the RSF.

Reaping the whirlwind

But theres also a twist to the story. Every ruler in Sudan, with one notable exception, has hailed from the the heartlands of Khartoum and the neighboring towns on the Nile. The exception is the Khalifa Abdullahi al-Taaishi who was a Darfurian Arab. His armies provided the majority of the force that conquered Khartoum in 1885. The riverian elites remember the Khalifas rule (1885-98) as a tyranny. They are terrified it may return.

Hemedti is the face of that nightmare, the first non-establishment ruler in Sudan for 120 years. Despite the grievances against Hemedtis paramilitaries, he is still recognised as a Darfurian and an outsider to the Sudanese establishment.

When the Sudanese regime sowed the wind of the Janjaweed in Darfur in 2003, they least expected to reap the whirlwind in their own capital city. In fact the seeds had been sown much earlier. Previous governments adopted the war strategy in southern Sudan and southern Kordofan of setting local people against one another. This was preferred to sending units of the regular army - manned by the sons of the riverain establishment  into peril.

Hemedti is that whirlwind. But his ascendancy is also, indirectly, the revenge of the historically marginalised. The tragedy of the Sudanese marginalised is that the man who is posing as their champion is the ruthless leader of a band of vagabonds, who has been supremely skillful in playing the transnational military marketplace.

A version of this article was first published by the World Peace Foundation.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. If you found it interesting, you could subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

It was written by: Alex De Waal, Tufts University.

Read more:



Alex de Waal is affiliated with the World Peace Foundation.
Map of Sudan

Sudan's history goes back to the pharaonic period. It was the largest and one of the most geographically diverse states in Africa, until its split into two countries in 2011 after southern Sudan voted for independence.

This followed decades of struggle by the mainly Christian and Animist south against rule by the Arab Muslim north.

Modern Sudan has long been beset by conflict and instability since independence, with two lengthy north-south civil wars and a protracted war in the western region of Darfur.

2023 saw fighting break out in the capital, Khartoum, as a result of a vicious power struggle within the country's military leadership.

Read more country profiles - Profiles by BBC Monitoring

REPUBLIC OF THE SUDAN: FACTS

Capital: Khartoum

Area: 1,886,068 sq km

Population: 47.9 million

Languages: Arabic, English

Life expectancy: 63 years (men) 68 years (women)

LEADER

Head of State: Lt-Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan

Sudanese military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan

Lieutenant-General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan is the current military leader of Sudan. He took power after a military coup in April 2019 following months of protests against Omar al-Bashir's government and his months authoritarian rule.

A military and civilian Sovereign Council was established to jointly rule Sudan and prepare the country for a return to civilian rule and national elections.

The military dismissed the civilian ministers in a coup in October 2021, but restored Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok following a month of protests. Most civilian parties refused to support the new power-sharing deal.

Country-wide protests against Hamdok's cooperation with the military led Hamdok to step down permanently in 2022. Al-Burhan has since pledged to establish a technocratic government and dismissed the five civilian members of council.

Lt-Gen Burhan has been accused of involvement in atrocities during military operations against non-Arab civilians in Darfur in 2003, when he was chief of ground forces.

MEDIA

Newspaper vendor in Sudan

Sudanese broadcasting is highly restricted and state TV and radio reflect government policy.

Story continues

The private press carries opposition views, but the state uses its powers to influence what is published.

TIMELINE

Much of Sudan is arid

Some key dates in Sudan's history:

2500-1500BC - Kerma kingdom, based in the southern part of Nubia, present-day northern and central Sudan. It is finally absorbed into the New Kingdom of Egypt.

1550-1069BC - Much of Sudan is part of the New Kingdom of Egypt.

1070BC - 350AD - Following the late Bronze Age collapse of civilisations across the eastern Mediterranean, the Kingdom of Kush emerges as a Nubian state centred on the confluences of the Blue Nile and White Nile rivers.

350-1500 - Area sees sequence of medieval Christian kingdoms; Nobatia, Makuria, Alodia, and Daju.

639-641 - Muslim Arabs conquer Byzantine Egypt and then attempt to invade Nubia but are defeated.

14th and 15th Centuries - Bedouin tribes overrun most of Sudan.

1504-1821 - Sultanate of Sennar or Blue Sultanate, based in Sudan, north-western Eritrea and western Ethiopia.

1821 - Ottoman ruler of Egypt, Muhammad Ali of Egypt, conquers northern Sudan. Although technically under the Ottoman Empire, Muhammad Ali styles himself as Khedive of a virtually independent Egypt.

1881- Muhammad Ahmad, the Mahdi or Guided One, leads a successful war against Ottoman-Egyptian military rule in Sudan.

1884-85 - Siege of Khartoum. The British-appointed governor, General Gordon is killed when the city falls to Mahdist forces.

1885 - Muhammad Ahmad dies.

1890s - Britain seeks to re-establish their control over Sudan, nominally in the name of the Egyptian Khedive, but in reality as a British colony. Britain fears other colonial powers would take advantage of Sudan's instability to acquire territory previously annexed to Egypt.

1896-98 - General Kitchener leads military campaigns, culminating in a decisive victory at the Battle of Omdurman in September 1898.

1899-1955 - Sudan is under joint British-Egyptian rule. In reality, Sudan is effectively administered as a British colony.

1952 - Egyptian revolution triggers a move towards Sudanese independence. Egypt and Britain allow both Sudanese regions, north and south, to vote on independence.

1956 - Sudan becomes independent.

1955-1972 - First Sudanese Civil War, between north and south over demands for more regional autonomy by southern Sudan region. Some 500,000 are estimated to have been killed. A 1972 peace agreement fails to satisfactorily dispel tensions.

1969 - Colonel Gaafar Nimeiry carries out a coup. Parliament and political parties are abolished.

1977 - Limited political pluralism introduced

1983 - Numeiry introduces Sharia Islamic law.

1983-2005 - Second Sudanese Civil War. Between the central Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army. Largely a continuation of the first civil war. The war resulted in the independence of South Sudan in 2011. Some two million people died as a result of war, famine and disease caused by the conflict.

1989 - Colonel Omar al-Bashir carries out a military coup. Al-Bashir appoints himself president in 1993

2003-2020 - War in Darfur between the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel groups against the government, which they say is oppressing Darfur's non-Arab population. The government responds with a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Darfur's non-Arabs. The UN estimates up to 300,000 are killed in the fighting.

2009 - International Criminal Court issues an arrest warrant for President Bashir on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity relating to the conflict in Darfur.

2011 - South Sudan gains independence following years of war with the central government in Khartoum.

2019 - Army ousts President Bashir after months of protests against his rule.

2020 - Sudan signs peace deal with the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF), a coalition of rebel groups from the western region of Darfur and the southern states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile, to end the fighting in Dafur.

2023 - Power struggle within the military government sees fighting break out between the regular army and members of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (L) and Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (R) both lead powerful forces

A soundtrack of explosions, a skyline dominated by bitter, black smoke, a daily existence of fear and uncertainty as bullets, rockets and rumours fly.

Life in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, and in many other parts of the country, has taken a sudden, very dramatic turn for the worse.

At the heart of it are two generals: Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the leader of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti, the head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The two worked together, and carried out a coup together - now their battle for supremacy is tearing Sudan apart.

The relationship between the two goes back a long way.

Both played key roles in the counter-insurgency against Darfuri rebels, in the civil war in Sudan's western region that began in 2003.

Gen Burhan rose to control the Sudanese army in Darfur.

Hemedti was the commander of one of the many Arab militias, collectively known as the Janjaweed, which the government employed to brutally put down the largely non-Arab Darfuri rebel groups.

Majak D'Agoot was the deputy director of the National Intelligence and Security Services at the time - before becoming deputy defence minister in South Sudan when it seceded in 2011.

He met Gen Burhan and Hemedti in Darfur, and said they worked well together. But he told the BBC he saw little sign that either would rise to the top of the state.

Hemedti was simply a militia leader "playing a counter-insurgency role, helping the military", while Gen Burhan was a career soldier, though "with all the ambitions of the Sudanese officer corps, anything was possible".

The military has been running Sudan for most of its post-independence history.

The government's tactics in Darfur, once described by Sudan expert Alex de Waal as "counter-insurgency on the cheap", used regular troops, ethnic militias and air power to fight off the rebels - with little to no regard for civilian casualties.

Story continues

Darfur has been described as the first genocide of the 21st Century, with the Janjaweed accused of ethnic cleansing and using mass rape as a weapon of war.

Hemedti eventually became the commander of what could be described as an offshoot of the Janjaweed, his RSF.

The Janjaweed militia were accused of ethnic cleansing and mass rape during the Darfur conflict

Hemedti's power grew massively once he began supplying troops to fight for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.

Sudan's then-military ruler, Omar al-Bashir, came to rely on Hemedti and the RSF as a counterweight to the regular armed forces, in the hope that it would be too difficult for any single armed group to depose him.

In the end - after months of popular protests - the generals clubbed together to overthrow Bashir, in April 2019.

Later that year, they signed an agreement with the protesters to form a civilian-led government overseen by the Sovereign Council, a joint civilian-military body, with Gen Burhan at its head, and Hemedti as his deputy.

It lasted two years - until October 2021 - when the military struck, taking power for themselves, with Gen Burhan again at the head of the state and Hemedti again his deputy.

Siddig Tower Kafi was a civilian member of the Sovereign Council, and so regularly met the two generals.

He said he saw no sign of any disagreements until after the 2021 coup.

Then "Gen Burhan started to restore the Islamists and the former regime members to their old positions", he told the BBC.

"It was becoming clear that the plan of Gen Burhan was to restore the old regime of Omar al-Bashir to power."

Mr Siddig says that this is when Hemedti began to have doubts, as he felt Bashir's cronies had never fully trusted him.

Sudanese politics has always been dominated by an elite largely drawn from the ethnic groups based around Khartoum and the River Nile.

Hemedti comes from Darfur, and the Sudanese elite often talk about him and his soldiers in pejorative terms, as "country bumpkins" unfit to rule the state.

Over the last two or three years, he has tried to position himself as a national figure, and even as a representative of the marginalised peripheries - trying to forge alliances with rebel groups in Darfur and South Kordofan that he had previously been tasked with destroying.

He has also spoken regularly of a need for democracy despite his forces having brutally put down civilian protests in the past.

Tensions between the army and the RSF grew as a deadline for forming a civilian government approached, focused on the thorny issue of how the RSF should be re-integrated into the regular armed forces.

Flames and smoke can be seen in Khartoum as the forces controlled by the two generals clash

And then the fighting began, pitting the RSF against the SAF, Hemedti against Gen Burhan, for control of the Sudanese state.

In one way, at least, Hemedti has followed in the footsteps of the SAF top brass, who he is now fighting - over the last few years, he has built a vast business empire, including interests in gold mines and many other sectors.

Gen Burhan and Hemedti have both faced calls from civilian leaders and victims of the conflict in Darfur and elsewhere to face trial for alleged abuses.

The stakes are extremely high, and there are plenty of reasons for these former-allies-turned-bitter-enemies to not back down.
Smoke billows above residential buildings in Khartoum on April 16, 2023

Patients in Sudan are trapped in hospitals without electricity and water, the BBC has been told, while others needing medical care are being evacuated, as fighting continues for a third day.

"I thought we were going to die on the street," exclaims Faheem after being evacuated from a hospital with his 14-year-old daughter, Amal.

"Amal had to undergo a critical operation for a tumour in her head, following complications from previous surgeries. But we had to keep moving rooms because of the shelling. We eventually reached the ground floor. But then we were told to leave and search for a safe area."

Almost 100 people have died since the violence broke out on Saturday.

It follows a rift between two men, vying for control: the head of the army and in effect the country's president and his deputy, the leader of the formidable paramilitary group the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

"I carried Amal as buildings around us were being bombarded. She was feeling very unwell and was being sick," Faheem explains.

The father and daughter managed to safely flee the area. Faheem told the BBC that she is doing well and they hope to return to see a doctor in a couple of weeks for a follow up visit, if possible.

While some people are being evacuated, others have been trapped in hospitals around the country for days on end.

A satellite image from 16 April reveal fires burning near a hospital in Khartoum, Sudan

Workers and volunteers have told the BBC they have endured days living under "immense psychological strain due to shortages of food and drink", as well as dealing with the fear of the ongoing indiscriminate shelling in the surrounding areas.

"We heard the sounds of bombardments and gunshots," Ashraf, who is accompanying his injured relative to a Sudanese hospital tells the BBC.

"The hospital is facing a critical issue, with no water and electricity, which puts the patients' lives at risk," Ashraf warns.

A doctor we spoke to, who has been stuck at the same hospital for three days, confirmed the worsening conditions.

Story continues

"The hospital is confronted with a pressing challenge: the disruption of water and electricity supply, which is putting the remaining patients in a precarious position."

He says even though the hospital has received food aid he is worried about what will happen if the building is hit.

"They are trying to evacuate the hospital at the moment, in coordination with the concerned authorities but there is an absence of a proper evacuation plan, which is causing further concerns, as the hospital is situated in a high-risk area, vulnerable to potential attacks," he told the BBC.

Many hospitals in close proximity to the army headquarters in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, have been the hardest hit.

Bombings have resulted in severe damage to some places such as the Al-Shaab Hospital, where an ambulance driver and three others were injured.

Four other hospitals were also affected, with some being rendered completely out of service, while one police hospital has been entirely emptied out and reportedly taken over by the RSF.

Across social media, videos verified by the BBC show people evacuating one hospital, as gunshots ring out in the background. At another, a health worker can be seen trying to reassure patients about oxygen supplies running low, as a woman can be heard shouting for assistance in the background.

In another video sent directly to the BBC women can be seen sheltering in the basement of a hospital in darkness, while they prepare the evening meal to break the fast.

The Sudan doctors' union issued an urgent statement calling for the protection of health facilities as well as allowing safe passage for ambulances.

It described bombings as a clear violation of international humanitarian law and called on the international community to help.

*The names of the interviewees have been changed to protect their safety.
Sudan's army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who became the face of endless military rule in Sudan with his 2021 coup, is now locked in battle with his second-in-command.

To seize power in Sudan's most recent coup, Burhan joined forces with Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, commander of the large and heavily armed paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

They have now turned on each other.

At the time, the coup had derailed a fragile transition to civilian rule after the 2019 ouster of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir, and stifled pro-democracy hopes of breaking the cycle of successive coups that has defined Sudan's modern history.

- 'A veteran soldier' -

Born in 1960 in a village north of Khartoum, the moustached Burhan -- known for his signature green beret and military uniform -- remained relatively unknown for most of his career.

"He's never been in the limelight," an army officer, who did not want to be named, told AFP in 2019, as Burhan rose to prominence.

"He's a high-ranking officer within the armed forces, but basically he's a veteran soldier."

Burhan commanded the country's ground forces before Bashir made him inspector general of the army in February 2019, two months before the military removed Bashir from power.

In 2015, he coordinated the deployment of Sudanese troops in Yemen as part of a Saudi-led coalition against the Iran-backed Huthi rebels.

The general worked closely with the heavily armed RSF for operations in Yemen, inadvertently boosting both his and future coup partner Daglo's profile internationally.

It was then with Daglo's support that Burhan got the top job in 2019.

Following Bashir's overthrow, Burhan was sworn in as Sudan's interim leader on April 11, 2019.

In August that year, he was tasked with chairing the ruling Sovereign Council of military and civilian figures, steering the transition to a fully-fledged democracy.

As Sovereign Council chairman -- where he began to switch out military regalia for pinstriped suits -- Burhan cemented Sudan's ties with global powers and regional players, including the United States and Israel.

Story continues

In February 2020, he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Uganda, breaking with longtime convention and to start a process of normalisation of ties.

He also maintained close relationships with influential northern neighbour Egypt.

Though the general has also made several trips to rich Gulf countries -- on whose largesse impoverished Sudan has often depended -- experts note that his deputy-turned-rival Daglo often beat him to each visit.

- Political crisis -

By October 25, 2021, all pretence of post-Bashir civilian transition was abandoned when Burhan took to national TV in the middle of the night.

In one fell swoop, he dissolved the transitional government, arrested civilian leaders and installed himself in power, with Daglo as his right-hand man.

Spiralling political and economic turmoil proved unsustainable for Burhan, who in July of last year made a surprise vow "to make room for political and revolutionary forces and other national factions" to form a civilian government.

The apparent concession from the coup leader -- met with scepticism from pro-democracy activists -- launched a shaky-footed political process that culminated in a framework agreement, signed in December.

With experts pointing to internal pressures on Burhan to nip Daglo's ambitions in the bud, the army chief sought to use the political process to curtail the RSF's autonomy.

It proved too little too late, however, when the two generals turned on each other, with an all-out conflict erupting on Saturday.

bur/pjm/dv
TOKYO (Reuters) - Support for the government of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida jumped in a survey taken at the weekend, but voters remained dubious about its proposals, including new childcare plans aimed at reversing the declining birthrate.

On Saturday, Kishida was evacuated unhurt after a suspect threw what appeared to be a smoke bomb at an outdoor speech in western Japan, an incident echoing the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at an election campaign even in July.

A survey conducted by ANN television on Saturday and Sunday found 45.3% of respondents supported Kishida's government, up 10.2 points from the previous month.

But roughly 80% did not think the government's childcare plans would do much to solve the low birthrate problem and some 60% disagreed with funding those plans by increasing the burden on taxpayers.

A leading ruling party lawmaker told Reuters on April 13 that Japan should spend around 5 trillion yen on the new plan, noting that extra debt issuance won't be ruled out.

Though Kishida struggled with sliding support late in 2022, more recent polls have showed a slight uptick in his ratings. A survey by the Mainichi daily also conducted at the weekend found support for Kishida at 36%, up from 33% in March.

(Reporting by Elaine Lies)
As Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is under heightened scrutiny for accepting lavish trips from a GOP billionaire megadonor, he also has been disclosing income from a now-defunct real estate company, The Washington Post reported.

Over the past two decades, Thomas has been reporting on required financial disclosures rental income from a family real estate company  but the company ceased operations in 2006.

By itself, the disclosure could be chalked up as an inadvertent error. The original company, named Ginger, Ltd., Partnership, was taken over by a similarly named company, Ginger Holdings, LLC.

Here's what you need to know.

Stay in the conversation on politics: Sign up for the OnPolitics newsletter

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has been under scrutiny for accepting lavish trips and other gifts from a Republican megadonor.

Clarence Thomas reported $270,000 to $750,000 from now-defunct company

The original company, a Nebraska real estate firm named Ginger, Ltd., Partnership, was created in the 1980s and shut down in 2006. In its place, a new company, Ginger Holdings, LLC, was created and assumed control of the previous company, according to The Post.

On Thomas' recent annual disclosure forms, the Supreme Court justice reported income of between $50,000 and $100,000 from Ginger, Ltd., Partnership, the older, now-defunct company, The Post reported. The forms make no mention of the newer company, Ginger Holdings, LLC.

Since 2006, according to The Post, Thomas reported receiving $270,000 to $750,000 from the older company, where it was described on his forms as "rent."

Related: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas says he wasn't required to report trips with GOP donor

Associate Justice Clarence Thomas has been reporting rental income from a family real estate company that ceased operations more than 15 years ago, The Washington Post reported.

Thomas under scrutiny over relationship with GOP megadonor

Thomas' financial disclosures entered the national spotlight again this month after ProPublica reported that he accepted multiple luxury vacations from Harlan Crow, a billionaire real estate magnate and GOP megadonor.

Along with his wife, Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, the two went on multiple vacations funded by Crow over the past two decades, including trips on his superyacht and stays at his private resort. Thomas did not mention the travel on his disclosure forms.

Story continues

Thomas' financial relationship with Crow went further. ProPublica also reported that Crow purchased three Georgia properties from the Supreme Court justice  transactions Thomas failed to note on his financial disclosure forms.

The ethics controversy extends to his wife,conservative advocate Ginni Thomas, who has been under scrutiny for reports about efforts to help former President Donald Trump overturn the 2020 election. Ginni Thomas led a conservative group that received almost $600,000 in anonymous donations, The Washington Post reported.

In a statement this month, Thomas acknowledged that he and his wife joined Crow on a number of "family trips" during the more than a quarter century they have known them. He described the couple as "among our dearest friends."

"Early in my tenure at the court, I sought guidance from my colleagues and others in the judiciary, and was advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the court, was not reportable," Thomas said.

He has not responded to requests about the subsequent revelations.

Contributing: John Fritze

Abortion pill: Biden will ask Supreme Court to intervene after appeals court limits access to mifepristone

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife, Ginni, leave funeral services for the late Justice Antonin Scalia in Washington in 2016.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Clarence Thomas claimed income from defunct company: report
United States Postal Service logo Kevin Dietsch / Staff/ Getty Images

A former mail carrier is bringing his fight with U.S. Postal Service to the Supreme Court after he was penalized for refusing to work on Sundays due to his beliefs as an evangelical Christian. His case "gives the Supreme Court another chance to widen religious rights," Reuters says, "but also has led to a debate over whether religious people are more legally deserving than others to weekend days off from work."

The Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday in an appeal by former mail carrier Gerald Groff of a lower court's ruling that rejected "his claim of religious discrimination against the Postal Service for refusing to exempt him from working on Sundays when he observes the Christian Sabbath," The New York Times explains. Groff sued his former employers after he was disciplined for repeatedly failing to show up for Sunday shifts.

Sunday shifts were not initially required in Groff's role, "but then the USPS signed a deal to carry Amazon parcels," The Wall Street Journal reports. Initially, Groff said he was given an exemption "so long as he covered other shifts throughout the week," per court records. Eventually, he was disciplined for missing 24 Sunday shifts, leading him to resign. The court will hear arguments on whether USPS violated Groff's right to reasonable accommodation for his religious practice under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The Supreme Court, with its 6-3 conservative majority, has "lately been exceptionally receptive to claims of religious discrimination, largely from Christians," signaling that "Groff's prospects are good," says the Times. If the court rules in his favor, the ruling would "extend a remarkable run of decisions chipping away at the wall between church and state and expanding the role of religion in public life, sometimes at the expense of other values, like gay rights and access to contraception," the Times adds.

You may also like

5 unethically funny cartoons about Clarence Thomas

Leaked U.S. files jumped from online spats to global breach through pro-Russia account run by U.S. Navy vet

Codeword: April 15, 2023
The U.S. Supreme Court will not take on a dismissed racketeering case General Motors brought against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, now known as Stellantis.

The denial was included in a daily order list from the court on Monday.

The decision by the nation's highest court would appear to signal the end for a federal lawsuit originally filed in November 2019 that was tied to the long-running corruption scandal involving former UAW leaders and automotive executives. The federal lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice at the U.S. District Court level. GM sought Supreme Court review after the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal.

GM claimed FCA and its legendary late boss Sergio Marchionne corrupted the contract bargaining process to hurt GM by saddling it with unnecessary extra labor costs in an attempt to force a merger between the automakers. That merger never happened, but GM said the damage was done.

More: General Motors takes its racketeering case against Stellantis to Supreme Court

"If the court does not grant certiorari  its term for accepting the case appeal  it is the end of the line. The district court decision that was upheld by the circuit court of appeals stands, and GM is out of luck," Erik Gordon, a professor at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, said earlier in response to questions about GM's request to the Supreme Court. "A tiny proportion of applications for certiorari are granted by the Court  at most 1%, but the statistic is misleading in that many applications are frivolous. Even non-frivolous applications face a difficult hurdle because the court does not like to substitute its judgment for the judgment of lower courts."

Despite the decision by the Supreme Court, GM still appears intent on pursuing its claims against FCA.

"We are continuing to press our case against Stellantis and the other defendants in Michigan state court, where GMs claims are different and much broader than those brought under the federal racketeering statute. Todays decision has no impact on that case and our efforts to hold defendants accountable for the harm they inflicted on GM as a result of their admitted corruption," according to a statement from GM spokeswoman Maria Raynal.

Story continues

The state court case is currently active in Wayne County Circuit Court. It was dismissed in 2021 but later revived. That case named Alphons Iacobelli and Jerome Durden as defendants in addition to FCA. Iacobelli was the onetime lead labor negotiator for FCA later hired by GM, and Durden was an FCA financial analyst, both of whom were convicted in the corruption scandal

Stellantis has consistently called GM's claims meritless, which it reiterated on Monday.

"We are pleased that the U.S. Supreme Court has denied GMs latest attempt to resuscitate the baseless claims that GM has sought to bring in various forms in multiple jurisdictions. Todays decision upholding the district courts dismissal of GMs lawsuit is another reaffirmation that its claims are meritless. We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously against these allegations and we will not be distracted from our focus on competing and winning in the marketplace," according to a statement provided by Stellantis spokeswoman Shawn Morgan.

More: UAW to bring militant negotiations like Detroit Three haven't seen in years, experts say

GMs lawsuit had heavy echoes of the federal government's corruption case that sent former United Auto Workers and FCA officials, including two ex-union presidents, to prison, but GM also brought new allegations to its racketeering suit, claiming offshore bank accounts were used to fuel a bribery scheme and that former GM board member and UAW Vice President Joe Ashton was actually a paid mole for FCA. Ashton was among those convicted in the corruption probe. FCA, the U.S. operating arm for Stellantis, pleaded guilty in 2021 to a conspiracy charge connected to the probe and agreed to pay $30 million.

The UAW was not a defendant in the GM suit.

Free Press staff writer Todd Spangler contributed to this report.

Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Become a subscriber.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Supreme Court won't take on GM racketeering case against Stellantis
An Oregon police officer was fatally shot in the line of duty over the weekend, according to a news release from the Malheur County District Attorney, and an arrest was made Monday morning.

Nyssa Police Department Reserve Officer Joseph Johnson, 43, died Saturday night while investigating a call regarding a violent individual damaging property and threatening others near a residence in Nyssa, Oregon, which is on the Idaho-Oregon state line just south of Fruitland and Ontario.

The Oregon State Police SWAT team, along with members of the FBI, Ontario Police Department, Malheur County Sheriffs Office and other agencies, arrested Rene Castro, 36, at approximately 7:40 a.m. Monday at a residence in Ontario. No one was injured during the arrest.

At approximately 8:20 p.m. Saturday, Johnson began a vehicle pursuit of Castro through Nyssa after receiving a call regarding violent behavior, the release said. The suspect stopped at a residence at the corner of Locust and 3rd Street North, and Johnson pulled off the road. The suspect, identified by police as Castro, immediately began shooting at Johnson.

There was no time to return fire before Officer Johnson was fatally hit, according to the Malheur County district attorney. Castro fled the scene immediately. EMTs were on the scene in record time, with Malheur County Sheriffs Department right behind, but Officer Johnson was already deceased.

An Oregon State Trooper arrived soon after and assisted the sheriffs deputy in setting up a perimeter and questioning possible witnesses, according to the release. The investigation is being led by Oregon State Police, with help from the Malheur County Sheriffs Office, Ontario police, and various agencies from Southwest Idaho all the way to La Grande, Oregon, including federal authorities.

We want to thank the team of investigators who have been working tirelessly for the past 36 hours to locate and arrest Castro, the news release said. While the arrest has been made, the investigators are still processing evidence and continuing their work.

The Oregon Fallen Badge Foundation is accepting donations on behalf of Johnsons family.
STUTTGART, Germany  Sweden has become the third nation to order new armored personnel carriers under a joint European research-and-development effort, following Finland and Latvia, and soon to be followed by Germany.

The nations Defense Materiel Administration (FMV) ordered 20 6x6 vehicles on April 17, after joining the multinational Common Armored Vehicle Systems (CAVS) program last year, according to Finnish manufacturer Patria.

Deliveries of the Pansarterrangbil 300  as the vehicles will be called in Sweden  will begin within 2023. Designed for troop transportation of up to 12 personnel, the vehicle will be modular and can also be configured for other purposes, such as command and control, or ambulance duties.

Stockholm plans to ultimately buy several hundred 6x6 vehicles under the CAVS program at a unit price of 11 million kronor (U.S. $1.06 million), according to reporting by Swedish publication SVT . The order was hailed by Patria and Swedish officials as a demonstration of Finnish-Swedish cooperation, as the engine and armor are developed by Swedish suppliers including Scania AB.

Meanwhile, Germany also took a new step into the effort by officially signing the technical arrangement for CAVS on April 17, making it a formal member of the project that currently includes Finland, Latvia, and Sweden, said Patria. The company is majority owned by the state of Finland, with Norwegian arms company Kongsberg also an owner.

Latvia and Finland first signed a mutual research-and-development agreement in 2020, then signed the CAVS framework agreement the following year. Since 2021, Riga has begun receiving what will eventually be a 200-strong fleet of 6x6 armored personnel carriers, with deliveries to continue through 2029. Meanwhile, Helsinki began receiving its pre-series testing vehicles last summer and is expecting to order 160 in total, per Patria.
A 16-year-old boy, who has been identified as Ralph Yarl, was shot after approaching the wrong Kansas City home to pick up his younger brothers on Thursday.

Instead of being greeted by a family friend when he rang the doorbell, Yarl was allegedly shot by the homeowner and later hospitalized. Investigators involved with the case are now considering whether the suspect who shot Yarl is protected by any self-defense laws.

Officials have not confirmed how many times Ralph was shot, but his family and legal team say he was shot multiple times once in the head and again after he fell to the ground.

The shooting has sparked a local and national outcry and many demanding justice for Yarl, who is Black.

The homeowner is a white man in his 80s, according to property records and law enforcement records. The Star is not naming the man because he has not been charged. The suspect in the case was placed on a 24-hour hold but later released, according to Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves.

Graves told reporters that Missouri law allows a person to be held up to 24 hours for a felony investigation. At that point, the person must be released or arrested and formally charged.

It is appalling and flat-out unacceptable that the shooter remains free. It is extremely difficult to understand why a statement from the victim is required to detain the assailant, Gwen Grant, president/CEO of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City told The Star.

Graves confirmed that investigators will be reviewing the case to see whether the suspect is protected by the states stand your ground laws. Heres a look at Missouris stand your ground laws:

What does the law say?

Missouris 2016 law states:

A person may, subject to the provisions of subsection 2 of this section, use physical force upon another person when and to the extent he or she reasonably believes such force to be necessary to defend himself or herself or a third person from what he or she reasonably believes to be the use or imminent use of unlawful force by such other person.

Story continues

The law also says:

A person does not have a duty to retreat ... From a dwelling, residence, or vehicle where the person is not unlawfully entering or unlawfully remaining

To read the full law visit here.

What does stand your ground have to do with the case?

These kinds of stand your ground laws are controversial and have gathered national attention for helping to acquit people like George Zimmerman who killed Trayvon Martin in Florida in 2012 after claiming he felt he was in fear of his life. More recently, Wisconsins stand your ground law was the basis for acquitting Kyle Rittenhouse after he opened fire on protesters in 2020 and killed two men and injured another.

Missouris stand your ground law has received overwhelming support from Republican lawmakers, while state Democrats were largely against the law.

The 2016 law expanded the states self-defense laws to eliminate the requirement that someone first try to retreat before using force when theyre lawfully allowed to be at a location. A previous law had already eliminated the duty to retreat inside a home or vehicle where youre lawfully present, such as your home.

A 2022 study conducted by researchers at Oxford University, the University of Pennsylvania and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, found that Missouris gun homicide rate increased significantly after the states stand your ground law was enacted.

States with stand your ground laws like Missouri, Alabama, Florida and Georgia, saw increases in homicide rates range from 16.2 to 33.5%, according to the study.

What is the castle doctrine?

The Missouri law that governs this case is also known as the castle doctrine. The castle doctrine is a set of self-defense laws that include the stand your ground law.

The laws give people the right to defend themselves from people who they feel are threatening them. It protects people who feel threatened at their home, in their vehicle, on private property or any other location such person has the right to be.

If a person believes there is a risk of death or serious physical injury, and they are legally allowed to be in the place they are, that person can use deadly force to defend themselves or others without breaking the law. They do not have a legal duty to retreat from an altercation, according to Missouri law.

They do have to prove that they were acting in self-defense.

You cant just shoot people who come to your door, Missouri criminal defense attorney Kevin Jamison told the Star on Monday.

How can someone prove they were acting in self-defense?

When deciding if its legal for a person to use deadly force to protect themselves from harm against another person, there are three main elements that must be involved, Jamison told The Star in October after Missouris stand your ground law protected a woman who shot an off-duty firefighter.

I call it the J.A.M. elements, said Jamison, who also teaches courses on gun laws and safety at Great Guns gun shop in Liberty.

J.A.M. roughly translates to jeopardy, ability and means.

First, is the person being placed in jeopardy? Does the person making the threats have the ability to carry out the threat? And third, does he have the means to carry out the threat? he said.

What are the exceptions?

There are a few exceptions. For starters, if it is known that a person initiated a fight or altercation, that person cannot claim self-defense, Jamison said.

Other instances where the self-defense law wouldnt apply include if the person defending themselves chooses to withdraw from the situation and then return with deadly force.

A person also committing a crime or escaping the scene of a crime, specifically a felony offense that involves force, cannot claim self-defense. A person also cannot claim self-defense if they were unlawfully in a space or dwelling.

Some cases arent that simple

Jamison noted that every case is different, and sometimes proving that someone is lawfully acting in self-defense is not as simple as his J.A.M. acronym might make it out to be.

He said all elements of the case need to be thoroughly reviewed in order to make a final assessment on whether or not someone broke the law.

He added that the states definition of unlawful force can also complicate a case.

We dont know what unlawful force means, Jamison told The Star on Monday. The Eastern District Court of Appeals said that a man who was being slapped across the body and kneed in the groin was being attacked with unlawful force. Thats a low level of force.

Thats the only enlightenment we have on that statute, Jamison said.

Jamison said he doesnt know enough details about Yarls case to comment on whether or not the shooter would be protected by the states self-defense laws.

The Stars Andrea Klick, Jonathan Shorman, Glenn Rice and Anna Spoerre contributed reporting.
Elections administrator Heider Garcia has resigned from his position, according to a letter obtained by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

In the letter, dated April 16 and addressed to County Judge Tim OHare and County Administrator G.K. Maenius, Garcia cites a meeting with OHare and different ideas for running transparent elections as the reason for his departure.

In the section of the letter addressed to OHare, Garcia wrote that his formula to administer a quality transparent election stands on respect and zero politics and that compromising on those values wasnt an option for him.

You made it clear in our last meeting that your formula is different, thus, my decision to leave, Garcia wrote. I wish you the best; Tarrant County deserves that you find success.

Its unclear what meeting Garcia was referring to in his resignation letter. At a True Texas Project meeting April 10, OHare told the crowd during a question and answer segment that he planned on having a closed door executive session discussion about the election administrators performance after May 6 municipal elections.

During that same True Texas Project meeting, some crowd members took the microphone to critique Garcias performance as elections administrator, eliciting cheers. An emcee had to remind crowd members the meeting segment was for asking questions.

Garcia wrote that his last day will be June 23 to allow his staff to complete duties surrounding upcoming municipal elections and potential runoffs. He has been with the county since 2018.

OHare campaigned for county judge on creating an election integrity officer position that would look into best elections practices and be a watchdog for voter fraud. That plan went on the wayside when newly elected District Attorney Phil Sorrells and Sheriff Bill Waybourn created an election integrity unit with a goal of looking into voter fraud cases.

No members of the Tarrant County Commissioners Court were told about the units creation ahead of its announcement, and the plan was met with contention from Democratic commissioners. Commissioner Alisa Simmons wrote in a statement at the time that the unit had nothing to do with fair and legal elections and everything to do with appeasing ultra-partisan election deniers within their party.

Story continues

Commissioner Roy Charles Brooks said the way the three GOP leaders went about creating the unit was not the way business was usually done in Tarrant County.

For these three to set themselves up to be in a position to challenge the results of any election with which they disagree with the results is to enshrine in Tarrant County policy a mechanism for election deniers to try to overturn any election that did not go their way, Brooks said at the time, adding that there were already mechanisms in place to investigate voter fraud.

Throughout Garcias time in Tarrant County, his office had undergone multiple measures to ensure election transparency, like inviting members of the public to the elections office to participate in a mock election while workers tested machines.

Tarrant County was one of four Texas counties that participated in an elections audit by the secretary of state at the request of former president Donald Trump. That audit came back with few issues.

Election administrators have been attacked nationwide following the 2020 election that spurred disproven claims of a stolen election. Garcia, too, has received death threats for his work in Tarrant County.

Garcia thanked Maenius in his letter for his leadership, support and guidance during his time as elections administrator.

You believed in me and provided me all the tools I needed to do my job, Garcia wrote. I say to you what I said to Judge Glen Whitley when we canvassed the November 2022 election: Thank you for your leadership, and for just letting elections officials do their job and stay out of politics. That means the world to us.

Garcia continued, When leadership respects the teams values and shows trust, members of the team become the best version of themselves. You knew this, Judge Whitley knew it, and because of that, I leave Tarrant County a better man and a better professional.

Garcia, Maenius and OHare could not immediately be reached for comment.

What does this mean for Tarrant County?

Jim Riddlesperger, a political science professor at TCU, said time would tell what effect Garcias resignation would have on Tarrant County elections moving forward.

He said might have a chilling effect on anyone becoming the new elections administrator. We live in a country now where theres disagreement between Democrats and Republicans about accepting election results, Riddlesperger said.

To the degree that we are raising that conflict, you know, its going to make it, I think, even more difficult moving forward  it could make it more difficult moving forward  to kind of have consensus about who wins elections, Riddlesperger said.

Tarrant County is widely regarded as the last large Republican county in the state and likely the nation, Riddlesperger said. Republican leaders have come in with election initiatives that call into question their transparency while the Secretary of State says the elections are clean.

That disagreement is what Riddlesperger calls a microcosim of whats happening nationally.

The question of how thats going to play out moving forward is something that I think is both interesting to potentially devastating, Riddlesperger said. Because if we cant even agree that elections are fair, then obviously its really difficult to govern.

In regard to that disconnect over party lines, Tarrant GOP chair Rick Barnes, who has his hat in the ring for in the 2024 commissioners race, said that hes always said when people have questions about elections, they should receive answers and believe their vote counts no matter the party affiliation.

He believes that when new party leadership comes in, its fair to ask questions about why they do things the way they do them, and if the answer is thats how its always been done, its not a fair answer.

Commissioner Roy Brooks said Garcia was one of the best elections administrators in the state of Texas.

He said Garcia had routinely received praise for how he ran elections from both Republicans and Democrats.

He runs good elections, Brooks said. He has been transparent as the elections administrator with both the commissioners court, the party chair and individual voters, even inviting them to come out and participate in mock elections using real voting machines so that people can get a feel for how the system works and they can follow the ballot they pass through the entire elections process.

Brooks said he hoped OHares hand-picked successor would rise to the same performance levels Garcia had set in Tarrant County. Brooks also said he did not think Garcias resignation said more about OHare than it did Tarrant County elections.

Commissioner Gary Fickes told the Star-Telegram he thought Garcia did a good job, but was surprised Garcia stayed on as long as he did because things got pretty rough on him.

Fickes said there was a third group of people who thought Tarrant Countys elections werent being run properly before mentioning the Secretary of States office audit that came back clean.

You got to give a lot of credit to the people who are running it, and that would be Heider, but he still was being attacked and that we, you know, we had something going on in our elections, Fickes said. There was something wrong with Tarrant County elections. I never could get anybody to show me what was wrong.
An inmate at the Tarrant County Jail is being charged with murder after she was accused of assaulting a pregnant staff member at JPS Hospital, causing the death of the fetus, according to a news release from the Tarrant County Sheriffs Office.

Cheri Akil, 39, is facing a murder charge and is being held in a secure area of John Peter Smith Hospital, according to the release.

Authorities allege that Akil punched the pregnant staff member in the stomach as she was standing next to Akils hospital bed. The staff member was taken to the JPS trauma unit, where doctors using an ultrasound discovered that the fetus no longer had a heartbeat, according to the sheriffs office.

In Texas, an assault or homicide of a pregnant woman resulting in the death of a fetus is classified as murder. According to Texas law, if someone intentionally or knowingly causes the death of a living person younger than 10 years old they have committed capital murder. That includes an unborn child at every stage of gestation from fertilization until birth.

In 2022, a man was convicted of capital murder and automatically sentenced to life in prison for killing his unborn child while abusing his wife. The fetus was 5 weeks old.
Lawyers for the widow of Robert Miller, a Tarrant County jail inmate who died after being pepper sprayed multiple times, filed a petition with a federal appeals court seeking to keep her wrongful death lawsuit alive.

Shanelle Jenkins filed her suit against Tarrant County, the Sheriffs Office and Texas Rangers Division before the deadline of two years after a death. But her suit lacked information to justify her claims of wrongful death, because the county and state blocked the release of public records until after the deadline.

After Jenkins did obtain the records, including a Texas Rangers investigative report, a judge denied her motion to amend her lawsuit with the new information.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on April 4 upheld the judges earlier ruling. This new petition seeks a review of that opinion, alleging the court refused to review the new evidence.

Miller was pepper sprayed at least three times at close range during his intake at the Tarrant County Jail in August 2019. He was not given medical attention when he told a nurse he could not breathe and died the next morning at JPS Hospital.

Millers death was ruled natural as a result of a sickle cell crisis by a Tarrant County pathologist. Experts and members of Millers family who spoke with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for an investigation into Millers death say he never had the disease.

After the Star-Telegrams investigation into Millers death, the county commissioners in December contracted with an Illinois-based medical examiner, J. Scott Denton, for a third-party autopsy review. The contract expired Feb. 28, and county leaders have said nothing about it since.

The Star-Telegram requested public records about Dentons work. County leaders have asked the Texas Attorney Generals office for an opinion on whether records could be withheld from the public. County officials then told the Star-Telegram through the District Attorneys Office that no records existed. The county has since pulled its request for an attorney general opinion.

County commissioners are expected to discuss the case during a closed session Tuesday.

Sebastian Van Coevorden, one of Jenkins attorneys, said Monday he believed the petition spoke for itself and that Jenkins legal team wanted to continue to advocate for justice.
Footage shows desks pushed aside as students aged 12-13 fight each other - NBCDWF

A substitute teacher in Texas has been sacked after she allegedly encouraged her students to fight in classroom bouts.

Natally Garcia, who had been employed since early March in a substitute role, was dismissed from Kimbrough Middle School in Mesquite on Thursday, after a school parent shared classroom footage filmed by her daughter of the teacher presiding over the violence between 12 and 13-year-old pupils.

The local independent school district has described the teachers actions as appalling" and "intolerable, following an investigation into the incident.

Video footage, seemingly filmed in secret under a desk, showed students fighting one-on-one in the middle of the classroom as the substitute teacher looked on. Other students can be heard laughing as they watch the bouts, which took place in the centre of the room with desks which appear to have been pushed to the side.

Natally Garcia 'encouraged' her charges to fight against each other at Kimbrough Middle School, in Mesquite, Texas - NBCDWF

Ten seconds, go, the young female teacher says, as two students stand facing each other in the middle of the room. In the clip, the pair career into desks as they repeatedly hit each other and are hurled across the room during the altercation.

At one stage, Ms Garcia asks a member of the class to stand by the door and hold it in case somebody comes in. She also appears to order students not to have their phones out. I mean it, if I see your phone up I will put it to the office (sic), she said.

Kimbrough Middle School, in Mesquite, Texas - Google

Mesquite Independent School District said in a statement: "Our investigation revealed that this substitute teacher encouraged students to fight each other during class, outlined rules for the students to follow and even instructed a student to monitor the classroom door while the fights took place.

Evidence presented by mother Beatriz Martinez indicated that the fighting was sufficiently violent as to leave some students bleeding, according to NBC Dallas-Fort Worth. "I couldnt watch the full video," Ms Martinez told the station. "I had to stop it multiple times because I didnt think it was real."

Ms Martinez said that her daughter, who has remained anonymous out of fear of retaliation, has been threatened by other students after she recorded the incident.
Pupils at the 20,000-a-year school said not everyone in the class identified as female - PA

A teacher claims she was left humiliated after being made to apologise to pupils at a private girls' school for calling them girls.

Pupils at the 20,000-a-year school complained and said not everyone in the class identified as female, with one pupil challenging the woman to acknowledge their pronouns.

The philosophy and religious education teacher was forced to say sorry after saying "good afternoon, girls" at the start of the lesson.

Students wrote all their names and pronouns on the board the following day, with one of the children using the pronouns they/them.

They also held a lunchtime protest after she refused to acknowledge their request on usage and said she would need to involve parents if a pupil's preferred pronouns differed from their biological sex, The Mail on Sunday reported.

In an ongoing review into child and adolescent gender dysphoria care last week, the teacher said the problems began in May 2021 after some Year 7 students complained.

It came less than a week after the sixth form's "diversity and inclusion" prefects did an assembly on gender and pronouns.

Students were allegedly shown a video discussing gender identities and sex being assigned at birth.

"I was told that they made placards with slogans such as 'Trans lives matter'," the teacher said.

"Before the end of the week, I was in some sort of disciplinary process and the head of year was telling me I had to apologise to the girls."

The teacher, who asked to remain anonymous to protect the pupils, said she was made to stand to one side as the head of year addressed the pupils saying "no one here would want to hurt you".

Addressing the children on her behalf, the head of year said "I am sorry you're upset", explaining "no one here would want to hurt you" and "you're all really loved by us".

The teacher feels she was then "managed out" by senior staff who refused to extend her one-term contract at the school, which is part of the independent Girls' Day School Trust.

The Telegraph has contacted the trust, which declined to comment to the Mail on Sunday.
A teenager has been charged after officials say he posted a bomb threat on social media against a synagogue.

On March 21 at 4:45 p.m., deputies received reports of a bomb threat made at 8:30 a.m. on Twitter that said a pipe bomb had been placed at a local Jewish Synagogue, according to court documents obtained by Channel 2 Action News,

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Authorities determined that the synagogue the post was referencing was the Congregation Beth Israel Synagogue on Brannon Road because it was the only Jewish synagogue in the county.

When deputies arrived with the Explosive K9 Detection unit, they met with the Rabbi to determine if there was a threat.

TRENDING STORIES:

Officials said Federal Bureau of Investigation Joint Task Force officers also went to the home of 18-year-old Cooper Wells Hansen, who was identified as the suspect.

Deputies confirmed that no explosives were found on the property.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

We believe that this threat was made with a bias against Judaism, deputies wrote in the report.

Hansen was charged with terroristic threats and acts.

The investigation remains ongoing.

IN OTHER NEWS:
A 17-year-old boy died after falling off of a 25-foot cliff while hiking in Maine's Acadia National Park on Friday, authorities said.

The teenager was identified as Bryce Basso, a junior at Maine's Brewer High School, according to a letter provided to TODAY.com from the school's principal and superintendent.

"Please keep Bryce and his family in your thoughts and prayers as we support and take care of one another in this time of loss," Principal Brent Slowikowski and Superintendent Gregg Palmer wrote in the letter.

National park rangers and Bar Harbor police responded to the scene near the Otter Cliff area of the park around 12 p.m. on April 14 and first responders performed CPR, the National Park Service said in a statement.

"The individual was hiking with friends when he fell," the statement read. "(Mount Desert Island) Search and Rescue assisted with the technical recovery of the deceased."

The park service said it reported the incident to the Maine Office of Chief Medical Examiner. The medical examiners office said the teenagers cause of death is pending, NBC affiliate WMTV reported.

A representative for Bar Harbor Police Department told TODAY.com to refer all questions to the Bar Harbor Fire Department, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP)  The investigation into the shooting by a homeowner of Ralph Yarl, a Black teenager who went to the wrong house to pick up his younger brothers, includes questions about whether it was racially motivated, authorities in Kansas City, Missouri, said.

Clay County Prosecutor Zachary Thompson said Monday that his office is working with police to quickly review the case and determine if the homeowner should be charged.

We understand how frustrating this has been, but we can assure the public that the system is working, Thompson said in a news release. As with any serious case submitted to our office, we will approach this case in an objective and impartial manner.

At a news conference on Sunday, Police Chief Stacey Graves acknowledged the outpouring of anger over the shooting.

I want everyone to know that I am listening, and I understand the concern we are receiving from the community, Graves said.

A massive crowd has amassed in front of the white man's home who attempted to murder 16 year old Black boy Ralph Yarl in Kansas City Missouri pic.twitter.com/f100JlEihV  The Kansas City Defender (@KCDefender) April 16, 2023

Yarl, 16, was identified online by relatives. He was shot Thursday night when he drove to a home a few blocks away from his own to pick up his twin younger brothers. He didnt have a phone with him and went to the wrong block, his aunt, Faith Spoonmore, wrote on a GoFundMe page set up to help pay medical bills. By Monday morning, more than $1.1 million had been raised from 29,000 donations.

Spoonmore wrote that Yarl pulled into the driveway and rang the doorbell.

The man in the home opened the door, looked my nephew in the eye, and shot him in the head, Spoonmore wrote. When Yarl fell to the ground, the man shot him again.

Despite being shot twice, the teen was able to run to neighbors to seek help.

Story continues

Unfortunately, he had to run to 3 different homes before someone finally agreed to help him after he was told to lie on the ground with his hands up, Spoonmore wrote.

Yarl is a gifted musician, a bass clarinetist who earned Missouri All-State Band honorable mention and who plays several instruments in the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of Kansas City, Spoonmore wrote. Hes also a member of his schools Technology Student Association and Science Olympia Team. He hopes to attend Texas A&M to study chemical engineering.

Spoonmore said Yarl is doing well physically but has a lot of trauma to overcome emotionally.

He is our miracle, she said. We have heard these types of stories many times, and unfortunately, most Black boys are not alive to get another chance.

Ralph Yarl

Ralph Yarl

Police have not identified the shooter or his race, though civil rights attorney Ben Crump told The Kansas City Star the shooter appears to be white. Information that officials have now does not point to the shooting being racially motivated, but Graves said that aspect also remains under investigation.

Graves said investigators also will consider whether the suspect was protected by Stand Your Ground laws, which allow for the use of deadly force in self-defense. Missouri is among around 30 states with such laws.

State Rep. Marlene Terry, a St. Louis Democrat who chairs the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus, said the shooting underscores the danger of the laws.

These laws breed a society of violence and fear while providing cover for those who harm, maim and kill others, state Rep. Marlene Terry, a St. Louis Democrat who chairs the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus, said in a statement.

Missouri Republicans extreme gun laws have established a culture of fear, Democratic House Minority Leader Crystal Quade said in a statement. She said the us-versus-them mentality makes Missourians less safe and less free, and too often, Black lives suffer the most from this fear-driven, shoot-first culture.

A message seeking comment from Republican Gov. Mike Parson, a staunch gun rights supporters, wasnt immediately returned.

Graves said Sunday that the homeowner was taken into custody Thursday and placed on a 24-hour hold. While searching the scene for evidence, detectives found the firearm used. Law enforcement released the suspect pending further investigation after consulting with the Clay County prosecutors office.

Missouri law allows a person to be held up to 24 hours for a felony investigation. At that point, the person must be released or arrested and formally charged. In order to arrest someone, law enforcement needs a formal victim statement, forensic evidence and other information for a case file to be completed, Graves said.

Because of the teens injuries, Graves said, police havent been able to get a victim statement.

Mayor Quinton Lucas, who attended the news conference, said police understand the communitys concern that the shooting could be racially motivated.

This is not something that has been dismissed, marginalized or diminished in any way. This is something that is getting the full attention of the Kansas City Police Department, Lucas said.

Crump told The Star on Sunday that the family has retained his Florida-based law firm.

You cant just shoot people without having justification when somebody comes knocking on your door and knocking on your door is not justification, Crump said. This guy should be charged.

Crump has represented families in several high-profile cases, including those of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, as well as Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.

Crump said that judging by what he was told by the teens family, the shooter is white.

It is inescapable not to acknowledge the racial dynamics at play, he said.
Answering the call of the Rev. William Barber II, hundreds of Tennessee clergy and their congregants marched to the steps of Tennessees Capitol to protest gun violence and injustice in the state legislature.

Forty-six of them carried six caskets. Others marched in lines of four, carrying signs saying, Every day, 120 people in America are killed with guns and Faith without action is dead.

The rally featured local clergy marching side-by-side with nationally prominent faith leaders, some of whom are regularly involved with Barbers Moral Monday movement and the Poors People Campaign, following tragedy and political unrest in Tennessee.

There were six victims in The Covenant School shooting on March 27: 9-year-olds Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney and staff members Katherine Koonce, Cynthia Peak and Mike Hill.

Covenant and its faith story: Founded among differences, Covenant Presbyterian and its school now a focus of unity

Other Covenant response & faith leaders: SBC public policy president, a Covenant parent, backs Lee's gun law proposal

Have these deaths scared us to life yet? Barber, a nationally prominent faith leader from North Carolina, asked the audience at McKendree United Methodist Church in downtown Nashville, where there was a pre-march rally.

Barber enthused the crowd, which then read through a covenant of nonviolence, or terms of nonviolent demonstration. Then, people processed out of the pews and the main hallway of McKendree UMC, leading to Church Street.

The Moral Monday movement is organized by Repairers of the Breach, a nonprofit focused on building a moral fusion coalition. Its events typically focus on a variety of issues at once, or what Barber called on Monday the politics of death. In addition to gun violence, speakers addressed issues of affordable healthcare and housing, and voting rights.

The rally followed the fight over the Tennessee Three, when the Tennessee House of Representatives expelled two of three Democrats who broke House rules and led gun reform protests from the chamber's floor following the mass shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville.

Story continues

Republicans in the state House expelled Democratic Reps. Justin Pearson of Memphis and Justine Jones of Nashville over charges they broke rules for speaking without being recognized and disrupting legislative business, which Republicans called "disorderly behavior." Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, survived expulsion by just one vote.

Both Pearson and Jones returned to the House last week after interim appointments by the Shelby County Commission and Nashville's Metro Council.

During the April 6 debate in the House over whether to expel Jones and Pearson, both freshman lawmakers invoked scripture and cited their Christian faith when they spoke before their colleagues who were trying to oust them. Jones, who joined part of Mondays events, has studied at Vanderbilt University Divinity School.

The demonstrators on Monday placed the caskets on the steps of the state Capitol, where some led the audience in song with a chorus of "we got to set it right again."

Then, audience members heard from Angela Ferrell-Zabala, senior vice president for movement building at Everytown and Moms Demand Action, Vanderbilt University students who volunteer with Students Demand Action and The Equity Alliance, and Sarah Neumann, a Covenant School mom.

"We had everything, we had the security, we had locked doors, we had intense active shooter training," Neumann said to marchers, many of whom were in tears. "We had everything. Our cops were heroes. They didn't hesitate a second. It was not enough."

Local clergy and denomination leaders also called for gun reform, including the Rev. Stephen Handy, pastor of McKendree UMC, Rabbi Shana Mackler with The Temple, a Reform Jewish congregation in Nashville, and Rabbi Lindsey Danziger with the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism, who lives in Nashville.

We can no longer wait to buy another casket or bury another loved one. We can no longer wait on our children screaming, why not help us now? Handy said. We can no longer wait to hear the deaf cries from the graves and the ground beneath us throughout the state of Tennessee.

The clergy remarks Monday mirror that of many Tennessee faith leaders who have been calling for gun reform in sermons, according to a project by The Tennessean looking at recent services at faith communities.

More: Cries for Covenant: Tennessee faith communities struggle to make sense of tragedy during Holy Week

Mackler called out an idolatry of the Second Amendment. She said, As a nation, we have been sacrificing to this idol, offering our loved ones up in schools and synagogues and churches and on street corners and in malls and in movie theaters.

The demonstration ended inside the state Capitol, where many waited for hours to protest proposed legislation in the House that would arm teachers. However, House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, successfully motioned to table the discussion on HB 1202 until Wednesday to the dismay of the protesters.

Liam Adams covers religion for The Tennessean. Reach him at ladams@tennessean.com or on Twitter @liamsadams.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee clergy march on state Capitol to protest gun violence
The U.S flag and the Texas State flag fly over the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas, U.S., March 14, 2017.

In 2021, the Texas legislature prohibited any cities or towns in the state from using banks that limit financing for the oil, gas, or gun industries. As a result, five major municipal bond underwriters, representing more than a quarter of all competitive-bid municipal bond offers in Texas, withdrew from the state.



That meant municipalities issuing bonds were more likely to engage in negotiated borrowing rather than holding a bid auctionwhich also meant they got more expensive financing. For municipalities that had relied on the underwriters that left the state, borrowing costs went up by an average of 0.41 percentage points, researchers have found (pdf).

Read more

According to Daniel Garrett at the University of Pennsylvanias Wharton School and Ivan Ivanov of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Texas municipalities will be paying $300 million to $500 million in additional interest because of the tougher loan terms. And thats just on the $31.8 billion borrowed in the first eight months after the anti-ESG law went into affect.

The calculations, published by the Brookings Institution, rest on three factors:

 A negotiated sale of a bond costs slightly more than a competitive sale of a bond on average

 The bonds will be sold to investors through a larger number of small trades, which means there will be more intermediaries taking a cut of each transaction

 With fewer underwriters in the market, the remaining underwriters can create monopoly power and raise the cost of financing

Most banks are not abandoning their ESG goals

It wasnt obvious that banks would retreat from Texas after the anti-ESG law, Garret told Quartz. Indeed, some of the banks that Texas had targeted came back into the market in May 2022, at least in a limited way, for reasons that arent entirely clear to the researchers.

Story continues

The state might be changing how its implementing the rule, Garret said. [Or] the banks may actually be changing their behavior in some cases, to be in compliance. A third thing that could be happening is that the banks left because they were uncertain about how the rule would be enforced and then enforcement became clear.

Either way, the researchers concluded that the banks value their ESG goals more than public finance deals.

Thus, even in states with historically competitive public finance markets, the loss of competition from anti-ESG laws and the resulting adverse effect on borrowing costs may be significant, the researchers wrote.



More from Quartz

Sign up for Quartz's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.
For generations, the women of rural Laos have told the stories of their lives through weaving, threading symbols like flowers, rainstorms and mythical serpents into everyday clothes and fabrics.

Fifty years ago, these symbols took a thematic swerve to portray a new, violent reality: missiles, grenades and attack planes.

They were the images of Americas secret war in Laos, a relentless bombing campaign during the Vietnam War.

For a generation of Lao women, who grew up with looms and thread from childhood, weaving became one way to make sense of the conflict that transformed their lives and nation forever.

The war is quickly fading from memory, in both America and Laos. But half a century later, the weavings offer a haunting glimpse of how it affected women.

Monday marks 50 years since the U.S. ended its nine-year bombing of Laos (1964-73). The scale of the operations was concealed from the American public until 1970, as Laos was technically neutral in the Vietnam conflict. But Vietnamese communist forces and the CIA were waging a shadow war in Laos.

To tip the scales, the Defense Department began an air campaign of gigantic scale: the equivalent of a planeload of bombs dropped every eight minutes for nine years.

For scores of Lao villagers, almost all of them farmers with no knowledge of the outside world, life changed forever.

American planes roaring overhead, releasing bombs, rockets and defoliants like Agent Orange, became part of their everyday existence.

Meo children drag an ammunition box filled with personal belongings up a hill in Laos (Horst Faas / AP file)

The shock and trauma are evident in what women wove.

Women were then, and remain today, the backbone of Lao society, said Linda McIntosh, a textile researcher in Luang Prabang, Laos.

Women not only were in charge of managing the household and raising children; they were responsible for making all the familys clothes.

Weaving was more than a chore. It was a form of expression.

Weaving gave women an outlet to express what they were thinking, about this life and the next.

Traditional textiles blend symbols of the everyday, like rainstorms, birds and beetles, with those linked to the afterlife, like mangoes, elephants and ancestor deities.

Story continues

This is their vocabulary, said Julia Brennan, who has visited Laos multiple times and whose company, Caring for Textiles, consults on preservation efforts around the world. Theyre not writing poetry or books or taking photographs. In the 1960s, the only channel they had was to weave stories into their own textiles.

A traditional Lao skirt, or sinh, made by the Tai Lue in the 1970s intersperses helicopters alongside the nok, a mythical bird. (Julia Brennan)

It was probably near the end of the war, McIntosh and Brennan said, that women began to incorporate martial themes: missiles, helicopters, tanks and fighter jets.

The women probably would have understood them not as state-of-the-art military technology but as powerful beings with immense power to kill and destroy, they said.

Weaving their likenesses into fabric, as with other spiritual entities, may have been an effort to ward off harm.

Its not just about pretty things, McIntosh said. Textiles are powerful. You put deities, you put gods, because they protect you.

In this Hmong story cloth, a plane douses villages with chemical agents as some villagers cross the Mekong River to become refugees in Thailand. (Linda McIntosh)

Weaving also had therapeutic value.

As the war concluded, thousands of Hmong families found themselves in refugee camps in neighboring Thailand.

It was there that Hmong women developed a tradition of story cloths: grand embroidered scenes of everyday life and the war that shattered it.

There are many studies on textile-making and its benefits to mental health, Pachia Lucy Vang, a Hmong American designer, said by email. These forms of expression helped people deal with what was on their mind. The longing and loss for homeland.

Tounekham Koulabdara, who fled southern Laos as a young woman and later settled in the U.S., said weaving was partly an act of Buddhist temperance: an effort to carry on despite the daily chaos of war.

A traditional red skirt, or sinh, that her mother made in the late 1960s  with the red meant to symbolize bloodshed and splitting of families  remains a treasured family heirloom.

Sera Koulabdara, center, at a Legacies of War event in California. (Legacies of War)

Many weavers, like my mother, wove what she saw or felt during that time, said Koulabdara, as translated by her daughter Sera. Like other artisans, the weaver is allowed to transfer her feelings, lived experience and memories into each thread. I think its a way to stitch their stories for the next generation.

In todays Laos, weaving is big business. Growing domestic demand for high-grade textiles has drawn women from around the country to weaving workshops.

Todays chic sinhs, worn for work and weddings, have returned to classic themes of flowers, rivers and elephants.

Its one reflection of how the Secret War is receding from memory: The war generation is approaching their 70s and 80s, while about half of Laos population is under 24.

For me the war is over, said a textile merchant in Vientiane. We should have a more positive view.

But for some women, weaving remains a quiet, private way to process the past.

Although its culturally frowned upon in Laos to speak too pointedly about the war, McIntosh thinks it exerts an invisible effect on survivors and even their descendants.

It did for McIntosh, a Lao American who didnt understand until later in life why her mother couldnt bear to speak Lao but was always weaving.

In a way the seriousness, the gravity, of the war is still expressed in the textile traditions of Laos, McIntosh said. This trauma has passed on, but its hidden. Its subliminal. Its not blatant, but its there in Lao society.

CORRECTION (April 17, 2023, 11:55 a.m. ET): An earlier version of this article misstated a photo credit. The image of one textile is courtesy of Linda McIntosh, not Legacies of War.

CORRECTION (April 18, 2023,, 10:12 a.m. ET): An earlier version of this article misstated that McIntosh's mother was a refugee. She was an immigrant to the U.S., not a refugee.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
The Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have posted a selection of photos of the effective work of their snipers in the city of Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast.

Source: press service of the Special Operations Forces

Quote: "Sniper groups of Special Operations Forces kill enemies mainly at night. Under the fire of Special Operations Forces soldiers are mainly Russian attack aircraft.

At the same time, snipers of the Special Operations Forces of Ukraine make it impossible for the enemy to gain a foothold in the occupied areas and equip positions with accurate fire."

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
Bed Bath & Beyond is reportedly seeing an exodus of engaged couples choosing the company for their registries. Ted Shaffrey/AP

Engaged couples on wedding services platform Zola are abandoning Bed Bath & Beyond for their registries.

Several thousand users have removed items from their wishlists since January, Bloomberg reported.

Formerly the market leader for wedding registries, the housewares giant has fallen behind its rivals.

Once the go-to retailer for wedding gift wishlists, Bed Bath & Beyond is reportedly seeing an exodus of engaged couples choosing the company for their registries.

Over the past few months, several thousand users on the wedding services platform Zola have removed Bed Bath & Beyond products from their registries, according to Bloomberg.

The number of Zola registries with Bed Bath & Beyond items is down by more than half compared to last year, per Bloomberg.

A Bed Bath & Beyond spokesperson did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment but said in a statement to Bloomberg, "Many customers are supporting us, and we value each and every customer who chooses Bed Bath and Beyond."

The spokesperson also highlighted the company's $120 million program to boost inventory amid challenges with key suppliers.

A store manager for one of the closing locations in New Jersey told Insider that at the peak, approximately 10-12 couples would set up their wedding registries in his store per week, with a total spend of $5,000 to $10,000 each.

Amazon overtook Bed Bath & Beyond in the wedding registry market in 2021, claiming nearly half of the share of registries, according to analysis from investment bank Baird that used data from the Knot.

In the full-year earnings call last year, then-CEO Mark Tritton said the company was "seeing an uptick" in wedding registries following COVID-19. Still, he added, "We just need to get our inventory into stock to be able to facilitate that."

Preliminary fourth-quarter figures show that sales are down by nearly 50%, the company said in a press release. Full financial results are expected before the end of April.

Story continues

Without a successful reverse stock split and a large and swift infusion of fresh cash, Bed Bath & Beyond has previously acknowledged in filings with the US Securities Exchange Commission that there is a distinct possibility that it will not survive through this year's wedding season.

If you are a current or former employee of Bed Bath & Beyond or Harmon who would like to share your story, please get in touch with Dominick via email. Responses will be kept confidential, and Insider strongly recommends using personal email addresses and non-work devices when reaching out.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Over 6,000 people have signed a petition for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to require airline accommodations for plus-size travelers, such as extra free seats and priority boarding.

The petition demands that the FAA require all airlines to implement a clear customer-of-size policy, grant extra free seats, provide priority boarding, and offer seatbelt extenders for plus-size passengers. The petition further demands sensitivity training for TSA employees and accessible screening equipment to treat plus-size travelers with respect and dignity. The Department of Transportation issued the Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights in 2022, listing the first as The Right to Be Treated with Dignity and Respect.

Being forced to occupy only one seat can result in pain and vulnerability to poor treatment from fellow passengers, including hateful comments, disapproving looks, and even refusal to sit next to them, the petition states.

Jaelynn Chaney, a self-described fat woman of color and travel blogger with over 275,000 followers across social-media platforms, started the Change.org petition two weeks ago. Chaney, 26, began blogging about plus-size travel in 2021 with the TikTok video Flying while fat. In a video series, Chaney describes plus-size travel struggles, which include not knowing if the locals are rude to fat people and struggling to find plus size friendly rental cars.

Plus-size travelers are not asking for special treatment, we are simply asking for equal treatment. We deserve to travel without fear of discrimination, humiliation, or being forced to pay for an extra seat, Chaney tweeted. Chaney has been featured in USA Today, Insider, and BuzzFeed.

The petition also demands that the FAA mandate all airplanes have at least one wheelchair-accessible bathroom. The Air Carrier Access Act, enforced by the Department of Transportation, prohibits discrimination during air travel on the basis of disability and requires that airlines provide some accommodations, such as boarding and deplaning assistance.

Story continues

U.S law requires that twin-aisle aircraft (also called wide-body aircraft) have a wheelchair-accessible bathroom. In 2022, the Department of Transportation proposed amending regulations to require that new single-aisle airplanes with more than 125 passenger seats have a wheelchair-accessible bathroom. The proposed rule would apply only to new aircraft ordered 18 years or delivered 20 years after the effective date of the final rule. The agency reasons that, if the rule is adopted, all qualifying aircraft will have the accessibility feature in 45 years.

More from National Review
Dozens of fourth-grade students from across the Mid-Columbia region gather along the Columbia River to release juvenile Chinook salmon raised in their classrooms as part of the Benton County Conservation Districts Salmon in the Classroom.

About 3,300 students from Kennewick, Richland, Finley, Kiona-Benton. and Prosser attend the 25th annual two-day program.

The field trip also includes 60 learning stations by a variety of organizations and other fun activities.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., vowed that he would not allow the country to default on its debt Monday, announcing the House will soon vote on a bill to raise the debt ceiling through 2023 as negotiations with the White House have stalled.

In remarks at the New York Stock Exchange, McCarthy said House Republicans will move to stave off a national debt in the coming weeks as the country rapidly approaches its debt ceiling deadline. Though McCarthy didnt offer any specifics, he said the bill would raise the limit, curb inflation and cut spending without touching Social Security and Medicare.

McCarthy also went after President Joe Biden, casting blame onto the president for the stalled negotiations and criticizing the administration on spending.

Without exaggeration, American debt is a ticking time bomb that will detonate unless we take serious, responsible action. Yet, how has President Biden reacted to this issue? He has done nothing, McCarthy said.

Stay in the conversation on politics: Sign up for the OnPolitics newsletter

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy speaks during an event at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, April 17, 2023.

What did the White House say?

The White House accused McCarthy of breaking with the bipartisan position he held under former President Donald Trump by engaging in dangerous economic hostage taking that threatens hard-working Americans jobs and retirement savings, said Andrew Bates, deputy White House press secretary, in a statement after McCarthys remarks.

Bates also noted that in 2019, Trump said I cant imagine anybody ever even thinking of using the debt ceiling as a negotiation wedge before accusing McCarthy of doing so.

More: House GOP to clash with Bragg in NY hearing on crime, Biden on debt ceiling as Congress returns

This morning, Speaker McCarthy did just that. Meanwhile, he again failed to clearly outline what House Republicans are proposing and will vote on, Bates said. A speech isnt a plan, but it did showcase House Republicans priorities.

Biden had no public events scheduled to address McCarthys remarks after traveling to Ireland and the United Kingdom last week.

Story continues

Debt ceiling negotiations stalled

The speaker had asked the president to restart negotiations on raising the countrys borrowing limit in a letter March 28 letter, noting he was incredibly concerned that Biden was putting an already fragile economy in jeopardy.

Biden responded that same day, telling McCarthy he was looking forward to meeting on the nations economic and fiscal future with the speaker but urged House Republicans to first release their proposed budget.

More: Biden slams conservative Republicans spending demands amid debt ceiling debate

The White House has stressed it will not negotiate the debt ceiling until the GOP releases its counterproposal to the administrations budget plan, which was released in March.

Its time for Republicans to stop playing games, agree to a pass a clean debt ceiling bill, and quit threatening to wreak havoc on our economy. And if they want to have a conversation about our nations economic and fiscal future, its time for them to put out a Budget  as the President has done with his detailed plan to grow the economy, lower costs, and reduce the deficit by nearly $3 trillion," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

Republicans have yet to release their federal budget proposal and have not indicated when it could be made public.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: McCarthy vows nation will not default, slams Biden over debt limit
Olga Slyshyk began to fear the worst in January this year when her husband, Mykhailo, a military engineer serving on the front line in eastern Ukraine, didn't contact her on her birthday.

It wasn't unusual for the 40-year-old trained lawyer to be offline for days at a time, but Slyshyk knew he would reach out -- one way or another -- on January 14 if he was alive and well.

"I was sure he would call or find some way to congratulate me. But I had had a very bad dream and I already knew something was wrong," she told AFP in Kyiv wearing black and holding her two-year-old son Viktor.

"On January 15, I found out he had died."

More than one year after Moscow invaded, Slyshyk is among a growing number of women widowed by Russian forces and left to count the cost of Ukraine's determination to hold out and push Moscow's invasion back.

Neither side has disclosed the exact figures of troops killed, though recently leaked US intelligence documents suggest as many as 17,500 Ukrainian servicemen have been lost.

Slyshyk said a social media group for war widows she joined had more than 300 members after her husband was killed defending Soledar in the eastern Donetsk region, but it had doubled in size since.

- 'You learn to live with it' -

President Volodymyr Zelensky last August hosted widows and their children at an honours ceremony to reassure next of kin their loved ones' sacrifice had not been in vain.

"They will remain forever at battle. But they live on in the memory of their relatives," he said, greeting mourning women and their children one by one.

Thirty-year-old Slyshyk, who was born in Mariupol -- a port city besieged and captured by Russian forces last spring -- said she often evokes the memory of her killed husband.

"All the time. Both in my head and aloud. I'll be unable to open a tin can, weeping from frustration, and I cry out: 'Misha, I'm not even able to do this' and then suddenly, it opens."

Daria Mazur, 41, said she learned of her husband's death in 2014 from graphic pictures of his bloodied corpse published on Russian media after fierce fighting with Kremlin-backed separatists.

Story continues

He was killed while withdrawing from Ilovaisk, an infamous and costly chapter of the conflict for Ukraine that saw hundreds killed that August as Kyiv troops pulled back in the face of advancing pro-Russian forces.

"Time does not heal. You just get used to it. You accept it. You learn to live with it. And that pain just becomes a part of you," she told AFP in her kitchen in Kyiv, next to pictures showing her husband smiling with their child in his arms.

They met on a beach in2006, fell in love and married in 2010 in the southern region of Kherson, where Mazur fled from when Russia invaded last February. Her home town is currently occupied by Russian forces.

She said her final conversations with her husband, Pavlo, who was 30 when he was killed, betrayed a sense of foreboding. He knew the situation was precarious.

"He told me: 'please promise me that no matter what happens to me, you will be happy,'" she recounted to AFP.

- 'I need you by my side' -

"These guys are giving their lives so we can live on," she added, referring to Ukrainian servicemen fighting now.

It was precisely this need to go on that pushed Oksana Borkun, who also lost her husband to the Russian invasion, to create "We Have to Live," an organisation that supports widows -- the same group that Slyshyk joined.

Borkun said that while the government offers financial and psychological support, she wanted to go a step further.

"The girls face a huge amount of pain. You can say it's possible to go crazy from it. Life is going on around you, and you want to talk to those who understand."

The organisation gathers money for widows, offers logistical and moral support, too, but chiefly it provides a platform -- mainly online -- for already nearly one thousand widows country-wide to share.

For Slyshyk, her husband's family has proven a stronger pillar of support than her own.

Her mother, who is also a widow of two years, lives in Donetsk, a pro-Russian stronghold city captured by separatists in 2014 and does not support Ukraine in the war.

The fact they have both lost their husbands has not brought them together, she said.

Months after Mykhailo's death, Slyshyk is torn when weighing whether his sacrifice was worth it.

"He said he was going there for me and Viktor," she recounted, explaining her husband believed Ukraine had no choice but to fight back and win.

"But if you want me to be safe, to be ok, I need you by my side, not somewhere else," she added, swallowing back tears.

"For now, I'm emotionally conflicted".

bur-jbr/am/yad
The city of Boise is working on a tiny home pilot project to study its potential impact on housing affordability.

The program aims to assist selected residents in placing six movable tiny homes on land across various neighborhoods within city limits for a temporary period of time. City code currently does not allow for movable tiny homes.

The pilot project will allow approved applicants to be the first to test the concept.

The idea was that we need more housing thats affordable to folks on a Boise budget, Kyle Patterson, director of innovation and performance at the city, told the Idaho Statesman by phone. Meanwhile, things like tiny homes and small-footprint living are in high demand these days, but not something thats allowed within city limits.

Developer Hannah Ball opens the back door of a tiny home she had on display in Garden City in 2021.

About a year and a half ago, the city participated in an innovation program through Bloomberg Philanthropies and Harvard University where staff members were tasked with identifying new solutions for housing relief. The group of about 10 city employees took what they learned and interviewed dozens of Boise residents, from developers to homeowners to people experiencing homelessness, to try to understand the issue of housing affordability from their perspectives.

The city also held sessions where residents were invited to brainstorm creative solutions to address the rising cost of housing in the area. Hundreds of ideas were shared.

The plan was to test out some of the most promising proposals.

There were a few ideas that rose to the top from that work, Patterson said. One of them was around tiny homes. The thought was, could we try this on a small scale for a few tiny homes, and then evaluate that pilot to see if its something we might consider allowing permanently throughout the city?

Housing advocates see tiny homes as among a variety of housing types that could help address affordability.

In Boise State Universitys 2022 survey on growth, when asked which type of building Idaho needs to meet the demand for more housing, 17.9% of respondents said new, alternative types of housing like tiny homes were needed. Seventy percent of those surveyed said they favor their local government changing zoning laws to allow them.

Story continues

The survey was conducted Nov. 13-21, 2021, of 1,000 adults living in Idaho.

In Boise States 2023 survey, 68.8% of respondents said if they had to move out of their home for whatever reason, it would be very unlikely theyd be able to purchase or rent a similar home for the same amount.

What is a tiny home?

Tiny homes are small houses on wheels, and are usually 200-400 square feet. Theyre much smaller than a typical single-family American home, which is around 2,500 square feet on average, but have most of the essential amenities such as a bed, kitchen and bathroom  albeit on a much smaller scale.

The hope is that because these are very small homes, they might be more affordable, Patterson said. Through the pilot, were hoping to test whether thats actually true.

Many people who choose to live in tiny homes are single, according to Patterson. Some are retired, some live only with a dog and oftentimes they dont need a lot of space.

Developer Hannah Ball had this tiny home on display in Garden City in 2021.

Homeowners who are willing to place a tiny home in their backyard have to pay to install a gravel pad and to extend hookups to electricity, water and sewer services. Plus, theres the cost of the tiny home itself. Tumbleweed Tiny House Co., one of the largest manufacturers of tiny homes in the U.S., sells the made-to-order homes for around $90,000.

Still, its considerably less than the median price of a newly built, single-family home in Ada County, which was $507,500 in March.

The city is working with LEAP Housing, a local nonprofit, to administer and manage the tiny home pilot program. Zeb Moers, director of development for LEAP Housing, told the Statesman by phone that the project has to get unanimous neighborhood approval from each homeowner who shares a property boundary with the tiny home applicants, at least for the pilot program.

Thats a requirement that could change if the pilot program is successful and the city decides to permanently change its zoning laws to allow them.

For now, it means that even if 10 neighbors say yes, but one says no, the application cant go forward.

The city already had screened who it thought were the top candidates, but after finishing site plans and a few other processes, one neighbor voiced concerns about two tiny home projects planned nearby.

We just had to move on to the next person on the application list, Moers said. Right now, the city and LEAP Housing are working on filling all the slots.

The hope is to try out the tiny homes in a mix of contexts to see what works best. For example, Patterson said one site could have a community scenario with a few tiny homes in the same area, another could involve someone renting a tiny home from someone who already owns one on their property and a third scenario could include someone moving their tiny home onto anothers property.

But the city planners and organizers from LEAP Housing want to make sure the tiny homes for the pilot are generally spread out among a few different neighborhoods in Boise to see what works best.

The program is planned to last 12-18 months.

The folks that were going to work with for the pilot, were going to make sure that theyre renting to folks for whom this wont make them more unstable, Patterson said. I think theres a lot of folks who are happy to have a place to stay for the next 12-18 months. You think of like a traveling medical worker or a child who just graduated from college but cant afford the cost of living here.

Idahos getting younger. Heres how many from each generation are moving to the Gem State

Boise, Kuna opposed proposals for this 3,000-home community. Ada County just approved it

Idahoans could save up to $1,500 this year due to property tax relief. Heres how to apply

Affordable housing. A 3,000-home development. Storefronts at an Idaho ski resort. Coming near you
Rep. Kevin Kiley got a national stage in New York City Monday to paint California as a crime-infested state where liberal politicians and prosecutors are helping make life unsafe.

In recent years we have seen a movement to fundamentally change Americas approach to law and order by defunding police departments and by putting so-called progressive prosecutors in district attorneys offices, the Rocklin Republican said.

Kiley noted how California has been losing population, and noted how the verdict is very clear, that these policies have led to crime skyrocketing,to people fleeing, and theyre being rejected by voters.

The states population was 39.5 million in 2020. It slipped to 39.1 million in 2021 and 39.03 million last year, according to the Census Bureau.

Studies and analysts have cited a host of reasons people leave the state, notably high living costs and taxes. Most people who move across state lines cite employment, housing, or family as the primary reason, said a Public Policy Institute of California analysis in March.

Kiley is a freshman congressman from the states new 3rd Congressional District, which runs about 450 miles from Plumas County, through the Sacramento suburbs and parts of El Dorado County, south to Inyo County.

Hes a member of the House Judiciary Committee, which Monday held a controversial hearing in New York City aimed at calling attention to the crime policies of Alvin Bragg, Manhattans district attorney.

Republicans have been hammering Bragg, who led the investigation that resulted in the indictment of former President Donald Trump on 34 felony counts.

Shortly after the indictment, Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, announced the Monday hearing to examine how Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Braggs pro-crime, anti-victim policies have led to an increase in violent crime and a dangerous community for New York City residents.

Committee Republicans have launched an investigation of Braggs prosecution of Trump, while Bragg has taken the unusual step of suing Jordan, saying the chairman is trying to intimidate and attack him..

Story continues

Kiley and crime

Witnesses at the Monday hearing included Madeline Brame, mother of a homicide victim, and Jennifer Harrison. Both are prominent victims rights advocates.

Also appearing were New York City Councilman Robert Holden, a Democrat, and Paul DiGiacomo, the president of the New York Citys Detectives Endowment Association.

Democrats insisted they too care deeply about crime victims and are eager to stop crime. And, said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, the federal government does not get involved in the policies of state and local prosecutors such as Bragg.

But if there is to be a hearing, she said, why not go to Bakersfield, in the heart of Speaker Kevin McCarthys district, which saw an increase in crime in 2021?

Kiley asked questions at the end of the hearing  as a freshman, he has to wait awhile for his turn  and asked DiGiacomo if he saw a connection between defunding the police, progressive prosecutors and crime.

Theyre following the progressive line and not backing the police, not caring about the victims and putting the criminal element back out onto the street to victimize people.of this city and state and country, DiGiacomo said.

Thats right, Kiley concurred. Both seek to eliminate or neutralize the capability of law enforcement, correct?

DiGiacomo agreed.

Thats right, thereby removing or reducing the consequences of criminal activity, correct?

Correct, DiGiacomo said.

Kiley then explained how progressive policies have gained a major foothold in several cities, and quoted crime rates in New York City, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Major crime in San Francisco overall dropped 10% in the first three and a half months of this year, according to city police statistics. The number of homicides is the same, robbery and assault are up while rape, burglary and larcenies dropped.

The number of major crimes in New York City in March were roughly the same as the same period a year ago, according to city data. The number of murders dropped slightly, while assaults and auto thefts were and rape, robberies and burglaries were down.

He then turned to how people are responding to what he called questionable policies towards crime. People are leaving California, Kiley said, citing U-Haul statistics that for three years have shown the state leads the nation in one-way rentals out of the state.

He proceeded to blast Democrats.

All day, Kiley said, theyve stood by progressive policies, and for folks who are watching, and for that matter the victims and families that are here today, It must be disheartening.

He did see some hope. He noted that last month, Congress on a bipartisan vote rejected a plan to overhaul the Washington, D.C. criminal code and lessen some criminal penalties.

I would say theres a lot more consensus in this country right now than todays hearing makes out. And that the pendulum is swinging toward supporting victims, supporting law enforcement and supporting law and order, Kiley said.
(Bloomberg) -- Top Senate Republicans said they wont vote in favor of replacing absent Senator Dianne Feinstein with another Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, signaling a continued halt on most of President Joe Bidens judicial nominees.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer intends to offer a resolution this week to temporarily swap in another senator to replace the 89-year-old Feinstein, who has been at home in California fighting shingles for nearly two months, but GOP Senator John Cornyn of Texas said Schumer shouldnt expect a single Republican vote in favor.

I dont think hes going to get help from Republicans in the Senate, Cornyn told Bloomberg. Three other Republicans on the Judiciary Committee  Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee  all tweeted that they would oppose the move.

I deeply respect Senator Feinstein, but this is an unprecedented request solely intended to appease those pushing for radical, activist judges, said Tillis, who sometimes works with Democrats.

The Republicans stand could increase pressure on the ailing Feinstein to resign her seat entirely, a move she has rejected despite calls for her to retire before the end of her term amid questions about her health and cognitive function.

Feinstein said in a statement last week that she requested the swap to allow work to continue on the committee, which in her absence is split evenly between the two parties and cant approve Bidens judicial picks who lack bipartisan support.

Any such move must be approved in the full Senate, and Schumer would need 60 votes to overcome any filibuster. Democrats hold only a 51-49 majority in the chamber.

Story continues

Schumer said earlier Monday that hes hopeful some Republicans will go along, since they could need the same help if they have an absent and ailing senator.

I hope the Republicans will join us in making sure this happens, he said. Its the only right and fair thing to do.

Feinstein was already under pressure to return to Washington or resign. Last week, Representative Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, called on the senator to step down, saying it is obvious she can no longer fulfill her duties. Another Democratic representative, Dean Phillips of Minnesota, also called on her to give up her seat.

While some other Democrats defended Feinstein and said she needs time to recover, a lengthy absence could pose other challenges for Schumer in managing the Senate. Feinsteins vote could be needed to confirm Julie Su, Bidens pick to replace Marty Walsh as Labor Secretary, as well as to help raise the nations debt ceiling in coming months.

A spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell didnt respond to repeated requests for comment about whether the Kentucky Republican would oppose replacing Feinstein. McConnell is a lead architect of the judiciarys move to the right, spearheading efforts to install Donald Trumps picks for federal judgeships when he was president.

Joni Ernst of Iowa and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, junior members of McConnells leadership team, also said they wouldnt support the move as they entered his office for a meeting Monday. Two other Republicans, Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Susan Collins of Maine, said they see the effort as part of a disrespectful campaign to ease out an aging senator, and they also oppose it.

But Senator Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, said hes open to considering a negotiation about the terms of replacing her on the committee, adding that my inclination is to try to help.

Feinstein is now the Senates longest-serving Democrat and its oldest member. In January, she passed on a chance to serve this session of Congress as the Senates president pro tempore, a job that typically goes to the majority partys most senior member. Instead, Senator Patty Murray of Washington rose to the post, which is third in line for the presidency.

(Adds Grassley, Collins and Cramer positions in paragraphs 13 and 14.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Terrell Traylor speaks about the killing of his nephew, Christopher Deandre Mitchell, outside the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles. (James Queally / Los Angeles Times )

Two Torrance police officers will face manslaughter charges in a 2018 shooting, after Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascon decided to reopen a case his predecessor declined to prosecute, according to an indictment unsealed Monday.

A grand jury indicted Matthew Concannon and Anthony Chavez on one count each of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Christopher Deandre Mitchell, who was sitting in a suspected stolen car with an air rifle between his knees when the officer opened fire, court records show.

The indictment was returned March 24. Each officer faces a maximum of 11 years in prison if convicted.

The officers pleaded not guilty during a brief arraignment in downtown L.A. Monday morning. The courtroom was lined with many of Mitchell's loved ones, including his mother, and several organizers with Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, which has vociferously protested the shooting for years.

Former Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey decided not to prosecute Concannon and Chavez in 2019, but the case was one of four Gascon hired a special prosecutor to reopen when he was elected in 2020.

Its been a long time coming. Its been a rough journey. My heart, my soul, is deeply hurting. So bad. I miss my son  so much. My sons life was stolen by Matthew Concannon and Anthony Chavez," Mitchell's mother, Sherilyn Haines said during a Monday news conference. "He didnt get a chance to live his best life.

In December 2018, Concannon and Chavez were responding to reports of a man driving a stolen vehicle and came upon Mitchell in a Ralphs parking lot in Torrance, according to an earlier district attorneys office memo clearing the officers of wrongdoing.

The officers parked behind Mitchell, exited their vehicle and yelled, Police! Mitchell initially placed his hands on the steering wheel, according to the memo.

The officers repeatedly ordered Mitchell to get out of the car, but he did not comply, according to the report. When they approached him, the officers noticed Mitchells hands move toward his lap, where Concannon saw what he believed to be a firearm. Both officers then shot Mitchell at close range, killing him.

Story continues

The officers described the weapon, later determined to be a break barrel air rifle, as pinched between Mitchells legs, though neither alleged he grabbed it or pointed it at them before they shot him.

"Based on Mitchells failure to follow the officers directions, his continued efforts to conceal the object in his lap, the physical appearance of the object, and the movement of his hands toward the object, it was reasonable for the officers to believe that the object was a firearm and to respond with deadly force," prosecutors wrote in 2019.

Mitchell's supporters have pushed back on some of the details in the 2019 memo, insisting he obeyed commands and was asleep when officers first approached him. Sheila Bates, a Black Lives Matter organizer, said Monday the officers unnecessarily escalated the situation despite Mitchell not making any threatening actions, and opened fire within seconds of approaching him.

The reasoning behind the new charges was not immediately clear. Special prosecutor Lawrence Middleton has declined to discuss the case publicly, and transcripts of the grand jury hearing that led to indictment will remain under seal for at least 10 days. During a brief Monday news conference, Gascon referred nearly every question asked of him to Middleton, though he did say he had questions about "whether the officers were able to see the gun before the shooting.

The officers' attorneys dismissed the filing as political in nature, noting Gascon announced he would reopen the case during his 2020 election bid.

"There must be new evidence, but Mr. Gascon, through the special prosecutor, has repeatedly refused to provide it to us. Unless he can provide something new, this would appear to be a politically motivated and financially incentivized rank abuse of prosecutorial power," said Concannon's attorney, Lisa Houle, in a statement.

Since taking office, Gascon has filed charges against police officers in seven cases in which a person either died in police custody or was shot by an on-duty law enforcement officer, something that happened just twice in the past two decades. But questions linger about his ability to win convictions in such cases and his management of the unit that prosecutes police officers.

Chavez's attorney, Tom Yu, said he plans to file a motion to dismiss the case due to insufficient evidence and procedural violations committed by Middleton. Middleton is required by law to present a grand jury with exculpatory evidence provided by defense attorneys, and Yu claimed transcripts show the special prosecutor did not present everything the defense team provided.

Concannon and Chavez have both been linked to a racist texting scandal inside the Torrance Police Department, after an investigation revealed roughly 15 officers sent approximately 390 racist, sexist and homophobic messages from 2018 to 2020.

The messages included jokes about setting up Black men to be killed, with one officer suggesting he wanted to shoot and hang several Black suspects, and a picture of a teddy bear being lynched inside the police departments headquarters, according to documents previously reviewed by The Times.

While The Times never found evidence that Concannon or Chavez sent any of the messages, they were both under investigation as part of the scandal, according to documents previously reviewed by the newspaper and sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Messages sent by unidentified officers used the N-word to describe Mitchell's loved ones and celebrated other officers' decision to use force against protesters who supported Mitchell's family during a demonstration in front of the Torrance City Council. Several of the officers who used racist language in the messages were also later accused of using excessive force against protesters in civil lawsuits.

This case is clearly a murder case, and the text messaging scandal which included messages about Christopher and his family speak volumes about the racist nature of the Torrance Police Department," said Bates, who was arrested and injured during the City Council protest.

Yu declined to comment on Chavez's involvement in the scandal. Houle said her client only replied "Lmao" to one text in the thread and otherwise did not send any racist messages. Although the texts were uncovered in the years between Mitchell's death and Monday's court hearing, Houle said they were "irrelevant" to the manslaughter case.

Chavez is no longer a Torrance police officer, records show. Concannon was placed on administrative leave after news of the indictment broke last week, according to Houle.

Gascon's decision to pursue a case that his predecessor declined to file is a legal rarity, but experts said it's unclear how much Lacey's past decision-making would weigh on a new criminal case.

Im not sure how easily the defense will get that in front of a jury  I dont know that it would be admissible. I dont know that its relevant," said Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor and professor at Loyola Law School.

"Im not sure how that goes in front of a jury, and it might come down to in cross-examining individual witnesses that there were problems before in evaluating some of the cases," she said. "But I dont think the defense will be able to say, 'Didnt your office reject this before?' "

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Viktor Medvedchuk, the former Ukrainian MP suspected of high treason who was exchanged for Ukrainian prisoners, has written a pseudo-historical article accusing the Ukrainian authorities of Nazism and described the idea of creating a tribunal for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, not Vladimir Putin, the godfather to his daughter.

Source: Medvedchyk's artlicle in Russian newspaper Argumenty i Fakty [Arguments and Facts - ed.]

Details: In his article, he conducts a pseudo-historical tour, according to which, after the collapse of the USSR, the West allegedly began to revive Nazism in Ukraine and promote its ideas "through the introduction of nationalist ideology into the public consciousness of Ukrainians" so that a "Nazified Ukraine" became a "tool" against Russia.

He also repeats Russian propaganda statements that in 2014, "Western politicians and special services, with the help of the Ukrainian comprador elite, carried out an anti-constitutional pro-Nazi coup detat in Ukraine", referring to the Revolution of Dignity, when people took to the Maidan to protest against Viktor Yanukovych's reversal of his pro-European course, after which the ex-president fled to Russia.

In the article, Medvedchuk cites the judgement of the Nuremberg Tribunal several times, trying to find some parallels between Nazi criminals and the Ukrainian authorities.

He also claims that it was during the presidency of Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Ukraine allegedly "went from a nationalist state to a Nazi dictatorship."

"Today, the whole world sees Ukraine from Zelenskyy's dream, littered with the ruins of cities and cemeteries," Medvedchuk wrote, forgetting to mention that it was Russia that invaded a foreign country, destroying cities and killing civilians.

He justifies this by the fact that "by 2022, Zelenskyy's regime has created all the conditions for the escalation of aggression against the residents of Donbas and the involvement of Russia in an armed conflict, as in Hitler's Third Reich on the eve of 1941."

Story continues

"After 80 years, it is necessary to create a new international tribunal to investigate the Nazi conspiracy to seize power in Ukraine, war crimes, crimes against peace and humanity committed by the authorities of Ukraine and their Western accomplices. States that do not want a repetition of the last century's tragedy of Germany and today's Ukraine on their land should join forces and conduct a trial following the example of the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal, providing a legal assessment of the actions of Zelenskyy's Nazi regime, his predecessors, and patrons," Medvedchuk writes.

Note: In January 2023, Viktor Medvedchuk wrote an article about the war in Ukraine, in which he blamed the collective West for everything that has happened and called for Russias interests to be taken into account. Later, he admitted that he currently lives in Moscow after the exchange.

Background:

Ukraine has long called for the creation of a Special Tribunal for prosecuting the military and political administrations of the Russian Federation for crimes committed in Ukraine, and international lawyers have submitted a declaration for creating a special tribunal for the punishment of the crime of aggression against Ukraine.

On 11 April 2023, Anton Korynevych, Ambassador-at-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reported that a decision on what a tribunal for the Russian crime of aggression would look like is yet to be made, while three different options continue to be considered.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
A Kennewick man was sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison for videoing a naked child and now faces separate charges of child molestation.

James Patrick Wertman, 53, gained the trust of a young girl and then repeatedly set up a phone to photograph and video her in the bathtub and shower, including his molestation of her, according to federal court documents.

The childs parents and grandmother were left devastated that they failed to see that she was being preyed upon, and the child has been struggling in therapy with the affects of being molested, according to a court document filed by the Eastern Washington District U.S. Attorneys Office.

U.S. Judge Stanley Bastian sentenced Wertman in the Richland U.S. Courthouse to prison and then federal supervision for the rest of his life. Wertman also must pay victim restitution of about $19,000.

Bastian said that his sentence was intended to reflect the seriousness of Wertmans crime, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alison Gregoire asked for a 23-year sentence and Wertmans attorney, Colin Prince of Spokane asked for 17 years.

Mr. Wertman understands that his offense is egregious and that he cannot do anything to lessen the pain or anger he caused, Prince said in a court document.

His client did not distribute or share the recordings he made, Prince said in his request to limit the sentence to 17 years. A longer sentence could mean he spends the rest of his life in prison, he said.

But prosecutors argued that Wertman photographed and recorded the child for three years and only stopped when the childs mother discovered what he was doing.

The woman discovered about 200 photos of nude children on an iPad, including about 20 photos of her child, according to court documents.

She contacted police, who found the videos.

The gravity of Wertmans crimes is not easily overstated, said Gregoire in the federal governments sentencing request.

Childs family devastated

Please dont give him the chance to do this to anyone else, the girls mother told the judge in court documents.

Story continues

The childs counselor said the girl may need access to therapy for many years.

And her mother was left believing she is incompetent and incapable of protecting her own child, after she thought she was doing everything right to protect her, according to Gregoire.

She now lives in a state of constant fear and worry, said Gregoire.

The childs father said that Wertman had been grooming or psychologically manipulating the girl as the abuse escalated.

She will feel shame. She will feel pain. She will feel betrayal. .... She will feel alone, he wrote in a letter to the judge.

The childs grandmother said it will be a lifetime before we will know the damage ... caused to her and how it will affect her in years to come, according to a court document.

Child abuse devastates entire families and the community, said U.S. Attorney Vanessa Waldref after the sentencing last week.

Both Waldref and Robert Hammer, who oversees Homeland Security Investigations in the Pacific Northwest, said child exploitation cases are a priority for their offices.

Washington court case

Wertman next faces two counts of first-degree child molestation with aggravating circumstances in Benton County Superior Court. He agreed in 2022 to plead guilty, according to federal prosecutors.

Benton County prosecutors previously agreed to recommend a prison term of not more than 22 1/2 years to be served at the same time as the federal sentence.

The federal case was investigated by the Southeast Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which includes detectives from the Kennewick and Richland police departments and the Benton County Sheriffs Office.

The case was pursued as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, and was prosecuted by Laurel Holland, deputy prosecuting attorney for Benton County, as well as Gregoire.
By Steve Scherer

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Public broadcaster Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's (CBC) Twitter account was on Monday labeled as "69% Government-funded Media" by the social media website.

The Twitter label on the CBC site previously showed "70% Government-funded Media", but Twitter owner Elon Musk said the "Canadian Broadcasting Corp said they're "less than 70% government-funded", so we corrected the label".

CBC has said it will pause its Twitter activities over the labeling, a spat that has also drawn in Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Conservative rival Pierre Poilievre.

The Canadian public broadcaster's Twitter handle "@CBC" was labeled as "69% Government-funded Media", CBC's twitter account showed.

Twitter's help center page does not yet explain what this new label means. CBC did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

On Sunday, some CBC Twitter feeds started carrying the label "government-funded Media". CBC replied that it is not government funded, but is "publicly funded through a parliamentary appropriation that is voted upon by all Members of Parliament."

"Our journalism is impartial and independent. To suggest otherwise is untrue. That is why we are pausing our activities on @Twitter," the CBC said on Monday.

The broadcaster also said advertising helps cover its costs across all platforms.

Earlier on Monday Trudeau accused Poilievre of enlisting U.S. billionaires to attack Canada's public broadcaster, after Poilievre prodded Musk to label the CBC "government-funded."

Poilievre said on Twitter last week that he had written to Musk to request that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation be labeled "accurately".

Poilievre, who took over the party last year and is campaigning to defund the CBC, celebrated the decision, saying on Twitter that "now people know that it is Trudeau propaganda, not news".

Story continues

Speaking to reporters, Trudeau said: "Attacking this Canadian institution, attacking the culture and local content that is so important to so many Canadians, really indicates the values and the approach that Mr. Poilievre is putting forward.

"In order to attack this institution that is important for many, many Canadians, he runs to American billionaires, the tech giants that they continue to defend."

Trudeau's minority government is supported by the left-leaning New Democrats and an election is not officially due until 2025.

Last week, U.S. broadcaster National Public Radio said it will no longer post content to its 52 official Twitter feeds in protest against a label by the social media platform that implies government involvement in its content.

(Reporting by Steve Scherer in Ottawa, Nia Williams in British Columbia and Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Graff, Sandra Maler and Michael Perry)
Truist Financial Corp. is cutting 80 employees in its Atlanta and Memphis, Tennessee, offices following plans to exit certain segments of business, sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

ALSO READ: Truist, Wells Fargo rank low for retail banking customer satisfaction in Southeast

The Charlotte-based bank plans to exit sales and trading of mortgage-backed securities, Small Business Administration and government agency bonds, and supported services, Brian Boudreaux, a Truist spokesperson, confirmed to CBJ. Truist did not comment on the headcount reduction.

Truist Securities regularly assesses opportunities for our organization and makes adjustments to our business to invest in areas for growth, the bank said in a statement by email. We made the decision to exit certain aspects of our fixed income sales, research, and trading business by January 2024, and will work closely with our clients to support them during this transition.

Read more here.

VIDEO: Davids Bridal files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after layoff announcement




(Bloomberg) -- A New York judge brushed off Donald Trumps concern that the media frenzy over his recent criminal indictment over business records will make it too difficult to find fair jurors for his separate civil sexual-assault trial set to start next week.

Most Read from Bloomberg

US District Judge Lewis Kaplan on Monday denied Trumps request to delay by four weeks the trial of claims brought by New York author E. Jean Carroll, who alleges the former president raped her in a dressing room the 1990s. The trial will start as planned on April 25 in Manhattan, the judge ruled.

Trump had argued a cooling off period was needed for the Carroll case after the former president was indicted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for allegedly falsifying business records to hide a hush money payment to a porn star to influence the 2016 election.

But Kaplan didnt buy it. The two cases are entirely unrelated, the judge said.

The suggestion that the recent media coverage of the New York indictment  coverage significantly (though certainly not entirely) invited or provoked by Mr. Trumps own actions  would preclude selection of a fair and impartial jury on April 25 is pure speculation, Kaplan wrote.

Trumps lawyer Joe Tacopina declined to comment. Trump has denied assaulting Carroll and claims her lawsuit  as well as Braggs criminal case  are part of a broader witch hunt against him.

Read More: Trump Protests Democratic Donor Backing Rape-Accusers Suit

The former president had argued that because sexual misconduct was at the heart of both cases, potential jurors in the Carroll trial may be affected by the coverage of Braggs indictment. But Kaplan ruled that alleged rape was at the center of one case, while alleged falsification of business records was at the heart of the other.

Story continues

To be sure, at a certain level of generality, both cases do indeed have something to do with sex, Kaplan said. But the something that each has to do with it is dramatically different.

Also on Monday, Tacopina asked the judge to allow him to be involved in every step of the jury selection process, notwithstanding Kaplans earlier decision to use an anonymous jury and prevent the legal teams or their clients from knowing the identities of the potential jurors. The lawyer said it wasnt clear if the attorneys would be permitted to ask questions of prospective jurors, and argued his involvement is needed due to the potential for political bias.

Given the parties involved in this case, the attendant publicity surrounding it, the sensitivity of the issues involved, as well as the possibility of political bias, we believe that a robust jury selection process  one in which counsel is involved at each step  is necessary in the interests of justice, Tacopina said.

Carroll, a former advice columnist with Elle magazine, went public in 2019 with her claim that Trump raped her in a dressing room in the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan more than two decades ago. The suit going to trial was filed last year under a new New York law that temporarily lifts the statute of limitations for sexual assault claims even if theyre decades old.

The case is Carroll v. Trump, 22-cv-10016, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

(Updates with filing by Trump attorney.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Former president Donald Trump said that if he returns to the White House in 2025, he will mandate that federal employes take a civil service test and workers who do not pass would be fired.

The former president made the remarks in a video released on Friday.

I will require every federal employee to pass a new civil service test, demonstrating an understanding our constutitional limited government, he said.

Mr Trump said that the test would include command of due proceess rights, equal protection, free speech, religious liberty and Fourth Amendment to the Constitutions protection against unreasonable search and seizure, which led him to mention the FBI searching his Mar-a-Lago estate in August for classified documents.

We will put unelected bureaucrats back in their place, librate the US economy and attract millions of jobs and trillions of dollars to our shores, he said.

Mr Trump has previously called on putting in new requirements for federal employees. In March of last year, he called on passing laws that would make every employee who works under the executive branch fireable by the president.

We will pass critical reforms making every executive branch employee fireable by the president of the United States, he said at the time. The deep state must and will be brought to heel. Its already happening.

Throughout his presidency, Mr Trump regularly went after various executive branch officials, such as when he fired FBI director James Comey and when he regularly attacked his attorney general Jeff Sessions.

Mr Trump was recently indicted and arraigned in Manhattan on 34 charges related to alleged hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. He also faces a federal investigation led by Special Counsel Jack Smith, whom Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed, to investigate both his keeping of classified documents and his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, including his actions on January 6.
TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisian police on Monday detained Ennahda party leader Rached Ghannouchi, the most prominent critic of president Kais Saied, his party said, a move marking an escalation of a campaign of arrests that has targeted many high-profile opponents of Saied.

Hours after Ghannouchi's arrest, police raided the party  headquarters and evacuated all present to start a search that will take days, after showing a judicial warrant, party officials told Reuters.

Police raided Ghannouchi's house on Monday evening, searching it before taking him to what the Islamist Ennahda called an "unknown destination".

"It is an attempt to hit Ennahda and opposition parties. We have a fear that it will be a prelude to a freeze on the party," Riadh Chaibi, a senior party official told Reuters.

Police have this year detained leading political figures who accuse Saied of a coup for his moves to close the elected parliament in 2021 and move to rule by decree before rewriting the constitution.

The earlier arrests, that have led to charges of conspiring against state security, have drawn statements of concern from the U.S. and rights groups.

An interior ministry official said Ghannouchi had been brought in for questioning and his house searched on the orders of the public prosecutor investigating "inciting statements".

Ghannouchi said in an opposition meeting on Saturday, "Tunisia without Ennahda, without political Islam, without the left, or any other component, is a project for civil war."

The 81-year-old, who was in exile in the 1990s and returned during Tunisia's 2011 revolution that brought democracy, said those who "celebrated the coup are extremists and terrorists".

Ghannouchi has faced repeated rounds of judicial questioning over the past year on charges relating to Ennahda's finances and to allegations it helped Islamists travel to Syria for jihad, charges he and the party both deny.

Since Saied's seizure of broad powers, which the president says was needed to save Tunisia from years of crisis, Ghannouchi has been the biggest political party leader to oppose him.

(Reporting by Tarek Amara, Writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Alison Williams and Sonali Paul)
Trenton Lehrkamp Courtesy Lehrkamp family

Two adults and three teenagers are facing charges after 19-year-old Trenton Lehrkamp was left at a Georgia hospital barely breathing and covered in urine and spray paint last month in a case that sparked outrage in the local community.

On Monday morning, the adults, James C. Strother, 46, and Lauren C. Strother, 57, surrendered and were booked at the Glynn County Detention Center on misdemeanor charges of maintaining a disorderly house and contributing to the delinquency or dependency of a minor, Glynn County interim Police Chief ONeal Jackson said. Edward Rooker Hobby, 17, who is considered an adult under Georgia law, was booked on a misdemeanor battery charge, but Jackson said his arrest stemmed from a separate incident involving a different victim that was associated with the investigation into what happened to Lehrkamp.

Prosecutors have also filed misdemeanor charges against two juveniles. One juvenile was charged with simple battery and criminal trespass, and the other was charged with possession and use of drug-related objects. Keith Higgins, district attorney for the Brunswick Judicial Circuit, said the juvenile who is facing the battery charge "committed certain acts" after Lehrkamp had become intoxicated after voluntarily drinking alcohol. The drug charge against the other juvenile came about as the result of evidence that was discovered while investigators were serving a search warrant at the Strothers' residence in St. Simons Island.

The officials said they could not release the names of the juveniles due to state law and that the teens cannot be tried as adults for the crimes they're accused of.

"This is an incident that could have been avoided if parents are a little bit more attentive to what's going on in their house, being mindful that teens can get their hands on alcohol and some folks do use illegal narcotics," Jackson said during a news conference. "I'm glad for the communitys sake that we were able to make an arrest in this case."

Story continues

Edward Rooker Hobby, 17, James C. Strother, 46, and Lauren C. Strother, 57 Glynn County Detention Center

Jackson declined to provide any details about the incident for which Hobby is facing charges. Hobby and the Strothers were released from custody on Monday after posting bond, according to the detention center. The Strothers could not be immediately reached. Hobby's mother did not respond to BuzzFeed News' request for comment.

All three face a maximum sentence of 12 months in prison and a $1,000 fine, Higgins said. He declined to comment on the possible punishment for the juveniles if they are convicted, saying that was up to the juvenile court.

The charges come nearly a month after three teens dropped Lehrkamp off at the emergency room at the Southeast Georgia Health System in Brunswick. At the time, Lehrkamp was breathing just six times per minute, according to a police report about the March 21 incident, and his blood alcohol level was 0.464. After providing their names and phone numbers to the hospital, the teens left as Lehrkamp was rushed to the ICU and placed on a ventilator.

Soon after, disturbing images allegedly showing teens abusing Lehrkamp at the Strothers' house in St. Simons began circulating on social media, causing anger in the community and the proliferation of rumors about what had happened. But for weeks, no one was arrested, raising suspicions among some people in the community that the teens involved were getting special treatment. Community members pointed to a list of names allegedly linked to the incident, which included the son of the Strothers (the family owns and operates a longtime hardware store and lumber yard on the island). But on Monday, officials said much of the outrage was based on misinformation that in part hampered investigators' ability to get to the bottom of the case.

"To get to the truth, an investigation must be thorough and leave no stone left unturned," Higgins said. "The length of time that the investigation has taken has been in large part due to all of the misinformation that has been put out on social media in particular and the need to address it."

Higgins again dispelled several rumors that police already refuted, including that Lehramp was autistic and that he had been defecated on. He also corrected several assumptions about a photo showing four boys standing over Lehrkamp  who was passed out in a chair with his face covered, an orange substance on his clothes, and a sluglike object on his lap  and a video of a boy spraying a water hose at his head.

Higgins said the object seen on Lehrkamp's lap in the photo was actually a plastic dinosaur toy that was discovered while officials later carried out a search warrant at the house. He also said Lehrkamp "consented to be washed off" with the water hose after engaging in "an egg fight" with a group of high school students at the same house in St. Simons on March 17.

"He was not tortured," Higgins said.

The night that Lehrkamp ended up at the hospital, he had "voluntarily drank alcohol until he blacked out," the district attorney said.

"No one poured alcohol down his throat or forced him to drink," Higgins said. "No one pushed a funnel down his throat. No one urinated on him."

He added that water had been dumped on the 19-year-old before he arrived at the emergency room on March 21, noting that "the physiological response of a human being who has drank alcohol to the point that it is a toxin in their system will either sweat profusely, vomit, and urinate."

"No one poured acid down his throat, no one beat him, no one choked him, no one tortured him," Higgins said.

But while Lehrkamp was intoxicated, the juvenile facing the simple battery charge "committed certain acts," the district attorney said.

He went on to say that it was Hobby, the 17-year-old who is facing a misdemeanor battery charge in connection with a separate incident, who ultimately drove Lehrkamp to the hospital, saying that he and the two juveniles who went with him probably saved Lehrkamp's life.

Jackson said officials are continuing to investigate, though he did not say whether additional arrests were possible at this point. When asked by reporters about the impact of the misinformation in this case on others who were alleged to be involved, Jackson said it's been "quite damaging" to the families' reputations, noting that at one point the child of a Glenn County police officer was wrongly linked to the case.

"It's heartbreaking that stuff like that happens, but with the instantaneous use of social media  it's hard to pull it back once it's out there," Jackson said. "The public believes what they're going to believe, and it hurt. It hurts a lot."

More on this
Search and rescue teams are looking for two Indiana University students who went missing while swimming at Monroe Lake Saturday afternoon.

>> TRENDING: 3-year-old girl suffering serious injuries after car hits her in Miami Township

Indiana Conservation Officers resumed their search Sunday morning after two Indiana University students went missing while inside the water at Monroe Lake, a spokesperson for the Department of Natural Resources said.

Siddhant Shah, 19, and Aryan Vaidya, 20, were identified as the missing students.

They were reportedly boating on a pontoon with friends when the group anchored to swim, the spokesperson informed. When both men did not resurface, friends tried to help, but were unsuccessful.

Search and rescue units were called out to assist, utilizing side scan sonar and scuba divers. They, however, suspended operations at night due to the darkness. The team resumed their search and continued through the beginning of the week.

Indiana University Student Services transported the remaining group back to campus and provided counselling services.

The Monroe County Sheriffs Office, Bloomington Police Department, Indiana University Police Department, Monroe County Dive Team, Indiana University Dean of Students Office, Monroe Fire Protection District, and Indiana University Health EMS worked together during the search.
NEW YORK  Brooklyn federal prosecutors Monday arrested and charged two men with operating an undeclared overseas police station in lower Manhattan on behalf of the Chinese government.

Prosecutors charged the men, Lu Jianwang and Chen Jinping, with conspiring to act as agents of China as well as obstructing justice by deleting their communications with an official for Chinas Ministry of Public Security.

Last year, the human rights group Safeguard Defenders accused China of operating more than 100 overseas police outposts in numerous foreign countries. The stations ostensibly provide diplomatic services to Chinese citizens abroad but also covertly harass Chinese dissidents, the group said.

The station identified Monday occupied an entire floor of an office building in Manhattans Chinatown before closing in 2022, according to prosecutors. During its operation, it was tasked with helping locate a person of interest to the Chinese government, prosecutors said.

The defendants were set to appear in court Monday afternoon.

Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said the case reveals the Chinese governments flagrant violation of our nations sovereignty.

Such a police station has no place here in New York City  or any American community, Peace said in a statement Monday.

Brooklyn federal prosecutors also unsealed two other related cases Monday: one charging 34 officers of Chinas national police with harassing Chinese nationals in New York and elsewhere in the U.S., and another charging eight Chinese government officials with directing an employee of a U.S. telecommunications company to remove Chinese dissidents from its platform.

Prosecutors described the 34 officers as having created a troll farm consisting of thousands of fake online personas on social media sites, including Twitter, to target Chinese nationals living in the U.S. who held political views in opposition to those of the Peoples Republic of China or who promoted democracy in China.
Over 400 million euros worth of cocaine has been found floating off Sicily in packages likely left by a cargo ship for traffickers to bring ashore, Italian police said Monday.

In "one of the largest" drug hauls ever made in Italy, police intercepted 70 packages, which were tied together and contained around two tonnes (2,000 kilogrammes) of cocaine, off Sicily's eastern coast.

The packages, made up of around 1,600 bricks of drugs, and sporting a tracking device, were spotted by a navy surveillance plane, police said.

They were "probably left at sea by one of the cargo ships frequenting that stretch of coastline, to be subsequently recovered and transported to the mainland," it said in a statement.

The cargo had a street value of over 400 million euros ($440 million), it said.

Although Sicily is home to the Cosa Nostra mafia immortalised in the Godfather films, the country's leading organised crime group is the wealthy and powerful 'Ndrangheta.

The 'Ndrangheta is based in the Calabria region across the Strait of Messina from Sicily, and is heavily involved in drug trafficking, controlling the bulk of cocaine flowing into Europe.

ide/ar/yad
The U.S. ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracy, made her first visit to Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on Monday, more than two weeks after Russia detained him on espionage charges.

He is in good health and remains strong," Tracy tweeted from the U.S. Embassy account. "We reiterate our call for his immediate release."

Russia had denied the embassy's requests for access to Gershkovich, who is being held at Moscow's Lefortovo Prison. Gershkovich was detained March 30 on suspicion of espionage in the interests of the American government, Russias Federal Security Service said in a statement, which was reported by Russian state media. Russian authorities have not provided evidence to support the charges.

The Wall Street Journal and the Biden administration have repeatedly denied that Gershkovich was affiliated with the U.S. government.

The Lefortovo Court in Moscow ordered Gershkovich to be detained initially until May 29, according to the official Telegram channel of the capitals courts. Gershkovich denied the charges, according to the Tass state news agency. If he is convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison.

On Tuesday, the court will hear a complaint Gershkovich filed against the decision to detain him ahead of a possible trial, Reuters reported, citing a court document.

Last week, Secretary of State Antony Blinked formally declared that Russia had wrongfully detained Gershkovich. President Joe Biden, who called Gershkovich's family last Tuesday, told reporters that his detention is "totally illegal."

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Monday that she was "absolutely delighted" that Tracy was allowed to see Gershkovich. "But we still call for his unconditional release," she said. "He is being held unfairly and unjustly, and the Russians need to allow him to return to his family."

"We protest Russian efforts to limit and intimidate the media," Thomas-Greenfield continued. "Free, independent and pluralistic media play an indispensable role in informing people around the world.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
(Reuters) -U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy on Monday said she had made her first visit to jailed Wall Street reporter Evan Gershkovich, who Moscow arrested two weeks ago on charges of spying.

"He feels well and is holding up. We reiterate our call for Evan's immediate release," Tracy said in a statement in Russian on Telegram.

Gershkovich, who was hired by the Wall Street Journal shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine last year, was arrested last month in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg. It is the first time since 1986 that an American reporter has been held for alleged espionage in Russia.

His newspaper has rejected the charge, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. The White House has called it "ridiculous", and President Joe Biden has said Gershkovich's detention is "totally illegal".

Tracy did not say how long she had spent with the reporter in Moscow's Lefortovo pre-trial detention centre. The visit took place on the eve of a court hearing that is due to consider Gershkovich's appeal against his detention.

In Washington, the White House said it hopes to get regular consular access to Gershkovich. "It was good to get to see him today and again we want to make sure we can continue to do that," White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said.

The FSB security service has accused Gershkovich of collecting state secrets about Russia's military-industrial complex. The Kremlin says he was "caught red-handed" but has not published any evidence to support that claim.

The United States last week designated Gershkovich as "wrongfully detained", in effect saying that the spy charges were bogus and the case was political.

The top U.S. hostage envoy has pledged to do "whatever it takes" to bring home Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, an American ex-Marine who was convicted of espionage in 2020 and has also been designated by Washington as wrongfully detained.

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Lisa Shumaker)
By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. federal agents arrested two New York residents for allegedly operating a Chinese "secret police station" in the Chinatown district of Manhattan on Monday in what prosecutors said was part of a crackdown on Beijing's alleged targeting of dissidents.

Lu Jianwang, 61, and Chen Jinping, 59, face charges of conspiring to act as agents of China's government without informing U.S. authorities and obstruction of justice. They were released on bond following an initial appearance in Brooklyn federal court.

A 2022 investigation published by Spain-based advocacy group Safeguard Defenders reported that China had set up overseas "service stations," including in New York, that illegally worked with Chinese police to pressure fugitives to return to China.

The Chinese government has said there are centers outside China run by local volunteers, not Chinese police officers, that aim to help Chinese citizens renew documents and offer other services.

The Department of Justice has been ramping up probes into what it calls "transnational repression" by U.S. adversaries such as China and Iran to intimidate political opponents living in the United States.

"We cannot and will not tolerate the Chinese government's persecution of pro-democracy activists who have sought refuge in this country," Breon Peace, the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, told reporters.

Prosecutors on Monday unveiled charges against 34 Chinese officials for allegedly operating a "troll farm" and harassing dissidents online, including by disrupting their meetings on U.S. technology platforms.

They also added eight Chinese government officials as defendants in a case announced in 2020 charging a former China-based executive of Zoom Video Communications Inc with disrupting video meetings commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.

The officials charged are all at large.

"By initiating prosecution against Chinese citizens under the pretext of 'transnational repression', the U.S. side is exercising long-arm jurisdiction based on fabricated charges. This is sheer political manipulation, and the purpose is to smear Chinas image," said Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in the U.S.

Story continues

HELPING LOCATE 'FUGITIVES'

Lu and Chen are both U.S. citizens who lead a nonprofit organization that lists its mission as providing a social gathering place for people from China's Fujian province, prosecutors said.

Before it closed in the fall of 2022, the men's New York operation occupied a full floor in a nondescript building in Chinatown near the Manhattan Bridge.

Peace said the site was being used "at the very least" for government services like helping some Chinese citizens renew their drivers licenses' - activity that should have been disclosed to U.S. authorities. But he said it was also used for more "sinister" activities.

In 2022, Lu helped open the so-called police station and was asked by China's government to locate an individual living in California who was considered a pro-democracy activist, they added. In 2018, Lu had sought to persuade an individual considered a fugitive by China to return home, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Lu and Chen admitted to the FBI that they deleted their communications with a Chinese government official.

FBI Director Christopher Wray told a U.S. Senate committee in November that he was "very concerned" about the presence of such stations in U.S. cities.

Prosecutors previously charged more than a dozen Chinese nationals and others with waging surveillance and harassment campaigns against dissidents living in the United States, including by trying to forcibly repatriate people whom China considered fugitives.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York and Susan Heavey in Washington; Additional reporting by Michael Martina in Washington and Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Editing by Bill Berkrot, Rosalba O'Brien, Don Durfee and Lincoln Feast.)
U.S. investigators have examined whether the man charged with leaking a trove of classified documents interacted with anyone from a foreign country or government before posting it online, according to three people familiar with the probe.

There is no clear public evidence that Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, held such connections or was a part of an organized foreign operation, as some U.S. and Ukrainian officials have suggested.

But the Biden administration and law enforcement agencies have looked for any contact he had with foreigners as part of a wider investigation into the motivations and intent behind his alleged leaking of the classified information, the people said. They, like others in this story, were granted anonymity to speak freely about an ongoing investigation.

We still dont know who this guy was talking to outside of the Discord server and if he had any other intention for leaking the documents beyond wanting to impress friends, said a fourth person  a former U.S. intelligence official.



Its standard practice for investigators to examine a suspects potential ties to foreign governments and entities, especially in leak cases, said Mick Mulroy, a former top Pentagon official and retired CIA officer. Defense Department and CIA employees are required to disclose any close and continuous contact with foreigners, he noted.

If they find any foreign links it would mean the leak is likely even more damaging than believed. It could signify that it was orchestrated by a foreign government, or that materials were available to foreign officials well before they became public knowledge.

A foreign connection could also open Teixeira up to more charges.

So far, Teixeira has been charged with "unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information" and "unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material. Each charge carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

Story continues

According to court documents, Teixeira violated two sections of the Espionage Act. If the government were to establish probable cause, it could add another charge for Teixeira under a separate section of the act that deals with gathering or delivering defense information to aid a foreign government.

The former U.S. intelligence official said that is unlikely to happen at this stage.

The Justice Department is leading the investigation into Teixeira. The Pentagon and the intelligence agencies are also looking into the breach.

The Defense Department closely monitors any employees activity on the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communication System, the secure intranet system that houses top secret and sensitive information, including what information is accessed, downloaded and printed.

The Pentagon is also reviewing Teixeiras records, including his security clearance as part of the investigation, according to one of the people familiar with the probe. DoD hopes that the review will help it decide if changes to procedures regarding access to classified documents need to be made, the person said.

Teixeira is an IT specialist assigned to the 102nd Intelligence Wing, giving him access to the computers of analysts tasked with packaging intelligence for senior military commanders, said a fifth person, a Defense Department official.



The FBI and Justice Department declined to comment. The CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not respond to a request for comment.

Some press reporting in recent days has suggested that people from other countries were members of the original server where Teixeira allegedly posted the documents. Others, however, have rejected that assertion. In an interview with The Washington Post, one of Teixeiras friends said any suggestion that the servers members were Russian or Ukrainian was pure fabrication.

According to another report by The Washington Post, users who interacted with Teixeira on Discord, the social media platform where the documents appeared, thought he posted the materials partly to educate them on how the U.S. government operates in the world and partly to show off his access.

Understanding Teixeiras motivation is also important for the government in determining how to prevent such leaks in the future.

The leak allegedly carried out by Teixeira is different from past breaches of intelligence, including those perpetrated by Edward Snowden and WikiLeaks. Teixeira is accused of disseminating the documents on social media, instead of packaging and filtering them through the press, and did not appear to publish the intelligence as a result of a specific ideology.

Teixeira allegedly posted the documents to a Discord server last year. In recent weeks, a member of that server posted them to a second Discord group before they began to circulate more widely on other social media sites, including Telegram and Twitter.



The leaked documents include extraordinary detail on troop and battlefield movements by both Kyiv and Moscow in Ukraine as well as other global issues such as Irans development of its nuclear program, protests in Israel and Chinas relationship with Russia. They also expose the extent to which the U.S. spies on its adversaries and allies.

While POLITICO and many other media outlets have obtained and reviewed more than 50 of the classified documents, there appear to be perhaps dozens of other documents that have not been posted publicly on social media. The Washington Post and The New York Times have exposed several of those documents in recent days.

At least one of the documents posted on Telegram appears to have been altered to include higher Ukrainian and lower Russian death tolls, according to a document reviewed by POLITICO. Its unclear who altered the documents.

A woman who recently ended her enlisted service in the U.S. Navy told The Wall Street Journal that she oversaw the Telegram channel where the altered documents were posted. That woman, 37-year-old Sarah Bils, has previously posted pro-Russian content on social media but denied having altered the classified document. She also told the Journal she deleted the documents from the channel as soon as she noticed they had been posted.

In an email to POLITICO, Bils said: I didn't leak the documents and had no part in that. You're asking the wrong entity. [The documents] were never in my possession at all.

While Bils link to the spread of the classified documents on other social media sites raises questions about her potential involvement in their alteration, there is no apparent connection between the former sailor and Teixeira.
By Guy Faulconbridge and Andrew Osborn

MOSCOW (Reuters) -A Moscow court on Tuesday rejected an appeal from U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich to be freed from pre-trial detention, meaning he will stay in a former KGB prison until at least May 29 while a spying case against him is investigated.

Gershkovich, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, denies the espionage charges. He looked calm and smiled as he stood in a glass and metal cage before the ruling, wearing a checked shirt, with his arms folded.

His legal team had asked that he be freed on bail of 50 million roubles ($614,000) supplied by his publisher Dow Jones or placed under house arrest, his lawyer Tatiana Nozhkina said.

"He's in a combative mood," Nozhkina told reporters outside the court. "He is ready to defend himself and to show that he is innocent."

Before the hearing got under way, Gershkovich turned around when one of the Russian reporters in the courtroom told him to "Stay strong!" and relayed to him that everyone said "Hi".

A masked man with "FSB" written on his black uniform stood beside the cage as the judge rejected the appeal. U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy stood just metres away, watching the proceedings with a handful of foreign and Russian reporters who were admitted to the courtroom.

When asked by the judge if he needed translation, Gershkovich said in Russian that he understood everything. His lawyers said they would appeal the decision.

The Journal said it had expected the appeal to be turned down but was nonetheless disappointed.

"Evan is wrongfully detained and the charges of espionage against him are false," Almar Latour, CEO of Dow Jones, and Emma Tucker, editor in chief of the Journal, said in a statement.

"We demand his immediate release and are doing everything in our power to secure it."

STATE SECRETS

Russia's FSB security service arrested Gershkovich on March 29 in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg on espionage charges that carry a possible 20-year prison sentence, for collecting what it said were state secrets about the military industrial complex.

Story continues

The Kremlin has said Gershkovich, the first U.S. journalist detained in Russia on espionage charges since the end of the Cold War, was caught "red-handed".

The United States has deemed him "wrongfully detained," his employer and colleagues have said he is innocent, and President Joe Biden has called his detention illegal.

"He is reading a lot in prison - Russian literature in the original Russian," Nozhkina told Reuters, adding that he was reading Leo Tolstoy's masterpiece "War and Peace" about the French invasion of Russia in 1812.

Asked about the prison food, Nozhkina said Gershkovich was being given porridge in the mornings and that the food was normal.

Tuesday's hearing did not address the substance of the charges as the investigation is still in progress.

Gershkovich, a son of Soviet emigres, is being held at Lefortovo prison, which in Soviet times was run by the KGB but is now operated by the Federal Penitentiary Service.

Traditionally it has been used to hold those suspected of spying and other grave crimes.

Yaroslav Shirshikov, a political expert in Yekaterinburg whom Gershkovich interviewed in mid-March and had been due to meet again, was reported on Tuesday to have been charged with inciting terrorism.

The news outlet Yekaterinburg Online quoted Shirshikov's lawyer Fyodor Akchermyshev as saying he had been charged over publicly expressed views on the killing of the pro-war military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky in St Petersburg this month.

Shirshikov acknowledged publishing the statements in question but denied ever justifying or supporting terrorism, the lawyer said. ($1 = 81.3420 roubles)

(Editing by Peter Graff, Gareth Jones, Angus MacSwan and Deepa Babington)
By John Kruzel

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal from a Texas inmate convicted of robbery who argues that the 27 years he was forced by prison officials to spend in solitary confinement violated the constitutional bar against "cruel and unusual" punishment.

The justices turned away Dennis Hope's appeal of a lower court's ruling that he had failed to show that his prolonged solitary confinement violated the U.S. Constitution Eighth Amendment prohibition on excessive punishment.

Easha Anand, an attorney for Hope, expressed disappointment with the court's decision, noting that hundreds of inmates in Texas alone have spent 10 or more years in solitary confinement.

"The idea of putting prisoners in solitary confinement for decades on end would have been anathema to the Founders, and we believe that the Supreme Court must someday take up a case to make that clear," said Anand, a lawyer with the civil rights law firm MacArthur Justice Center, referring to the 18th century founders of the United States.

Hope, who is still in prison but as of last year no longer in solitary confinement, filed a civil rights lawsuit against prison officials in 2018.

He was convicted in 1990 of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. Following a 1994 prison escape, Hope was placed by prison officials in solitary confinement. In court papers, Hope described spending between 22 and 24 hours a day in a cell 9 feet long and 6 feet wide (2.7 meters by 1.8 meters) - "no larger than a parking space." Hope said he continued to be held in solitary confinement despite being deemed by Texas security officials in 2005 to no longer pose an escape risk.

He was deprived of nearly all human contact aside from interactions with prison staff, and said he suffered bouts of anxiety, depression, hallucinations and thoughts of suicide while being denied treatment, according to his lawsuit.

Story continues

The Eighth Amendment states: "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."

A federal judge in Texas in 2020 dismissed Hope's lawsuit, finding that his allegations failed to "rise to the level of a violation of the Eighth Amendment," and the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2021 agreed.

The 5th Circuit decided that "long-term solitary confinement is not per se cruel and unusual," citing Supreme Court precedent stating that "the length of isolation sentences was not considered in a vacuum."

Hope filed an appeal to the Supreme Court in 2022, asking the justices to resolve a split among federal appeals courts over whether solitary confinement could constitute cruel and unusual punishment.

About a week after Hope's filing, Texas officials initiated a process that culminated with Hope's transfer out of solitary confinement into the prison general population. Hope and Texas officials then sought to negotiate a settlement but failed to reach an agreement, prompting the parties in March to ask the Supreme Court to resume consideration of Hope's appeal.

Texas asked the justices to consider the case moot since Hope is no longer held in solitary confinement, a request contested by Hope's lawyers.

Hope also had federal convictions for carjacking, robbery, using a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence, and illegally possessing a firearm, according to court records.

Texas officials did not respond to a request for comment after the Supreme Court's action.

Hope's lawyer Anand said she was grateful that Texas officials moved her client out of solitary confinement after all those years.

"As a result," Anand said, "he has gotten to shake another human being's hand and to feel grass under his feet for the first time in more than half his lifetime."

(Reporting by John Kruzel; Editing by Will Dunham)
Antonio Diaz Mendez, who was already deep in debt and largely on his own when he arrived in the U.S. from Guatemala at age 14, in Homestead, Fla., April 13, 2023. (Kirsten Luce/The New York Times)

In the spring of 2021, Linda Brandmiller was working at an arena in San Antonio that had been converted into an emergency shelter for migrant children. Thousands of boys were sleeping on cots as the Biden administration grappled with a record number of minors crossing into the United States without their parents.

Brandmillers job was to help vet sponsors, and she had been trained to look for possible trafficking. In her first week, two cases jumped out: One man told her he was sponsoring three boys to employ them at his construction company. Another, who lived in Florida, was trying to sponsor two children who would have to work off the cost of bringing them north.

She immediately contacted supervisors working with the Department of Health and Human Services, the federal agency responsible for these children. This is urgent, she wrote in an email reviewed by The New York Times.

Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times

But within days, she noticed that one of the children was set to be released to the man in Florida. She wrote another email, this time asking for a supervisors immediate attention and adding that the government had already sent a 14-year-old boy to the same sponsor.

Brandmiller also emailed the shelters manager. A few days later, her building access was revoked during her lunch break. She said she was never told why she had been fired.

Over the past two years, more than 250,000 migrant children have come alone to the United States. Thousands of children have ended up in punishing jobs across the country  working overnight in slaughterhouses, replacing roofs, operating machinery in factories  all in violation of child labor laws, a recent Times investigation showed. After the articles publication in February, the White House announced policy changes and a crackdown on companies that hire children.

But all along, there were signs of the explosive growth of this labor force and warnings that the Biden administration ignored or missed, the Times has found.

Story continues

Again and again, veteran government staffers and outside contractors told the Health and Human Services Department, including in reports that reached Secretary Xavier Becerra, that children appeared to be at risk. The Labor Department put out news releases noting an increase in child labor. Senior White House aides were shown evidence of exploitation, such as clusters of migrant children who had been found working with industrial equipment or caustic chemicals.

As the administration scrambled to clear shelters that were strained beyond capacity, children were released with little support to sponsors who expected them to take on grueling, dangerous jobs.

In interviews with the Times, officials expressed concern for migrant children but shifted blame for failing to protect them.

HHS officials said the department vetted sponsors sufficiently but could not control what happened to children after they were released. Monitoring workplaces, they said, was the job of the Department of Labor.

Officials at the Labor Department said inspectors had increased their focus on child labor and shared details about workers with HHS, but said it was not a welfare agency.

And White House officials said that while the two departments had passed along information about migrant child labor, the reports were not flagged as urgent and did not make clear the scope of the problem. Robyn M. Patterson, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement that the administration was now increasing scrutiny of employers and reviewing its vetting of sponsors.

Its unacceptable that companies are using child labor, and this administration will continue working to strengthen the system to investigate these violations and hold violators accountable, the statement read.

But the White House declined to comment on why the administration did not previously react to repeated signs that migrant children were being widely exploited.

If I saw it, they could have put it together, said Brandmiller, who is also an immigration lawyer. There were so many opportunities to connect those dots that no one ever did. An HHS spokesperson said the agency had no record of Brandmillers concerns. The company that ran the emergency shelter declined to comment.

Brandmiller said she still worried about the 14-year-old boy, Antonio Diaz Mendez.

Antonio is living in Florida City, Florida, far from his family in Guatemala. In an interview last summer, he sat on the mildewed porch of a house crowded with other migrant children. He said he was working long shifts in a refrigerated warehouse, packing vegetables for distribution around the country, and had not seen his sponsor in months.

He missed his grandmother and sometimes went days without talking to anyone. He wanted to go to school, but felt trapped because he needed to earn money to repay his debts, support himself and help his siblings.

No one, he said, had ever come to check on him.

This Is BS

Soon after President Joe Biden took office, the growing numbers of migrant children touched off tension between the new administration and longtime government staff members.

The president had promised to abide by a 2008 anti-trafficking law that requires the federal government to accept children traveling alone from most countries and allows them to stay in the United States during the yearslong process of applying for legal status.

But the law did not anticipate that a pandemic would ravage the economies of Central American countries. Parents in deepening poverty began sending their children to the United States to earn money  part of a phenomenon some immigration advocates call voluntary family separation.

In 2021, as images of children sleeping under foil blankets in overflow centers dominated the news, Susan E. Rice, the White Houses head of domestic policy, told staff members she was frustrated with the situation, according to five people who worked with her. Rice vented in a note she scribbled on a memo detailing the position of advocates, who believed a pandemic-era border closure was compelling parents to send up unaccompanied children, sometimes called UCs.

This is BS, Rice wrote, according to a copy of the memo reviewed by the Times. What is leading to voluntary separation is our generosity to UCs!

In a statement, Patterson, the White House spokesperson, said that any suggestion that Rice felt constrained by the demands of the law was false and that she was proud to be doing the right thing and treating children with dignity and respect.

Under the law, the Department of Health and Human Services is responsible for vetting sponsors to ensure they will provide for childrens well-being and protect them from trafficking or exploitation. But as shelters filled with children, the department began loosening some vetting restrictions and urging case managers to speed the process along.

Longtime HHS staff members complained that the changes endangered children. White House aides and administration officials grew exasperated, believing that these workers were clinging to protocols that kept children in shelters when it was better for them to be in a home with an adult.

It was maddening, said Vivian Graubard, a White House adviser who worked with Rice on migrant child issues.

At least five HHS staff members filed complaints and said they were pushed out after raising concerns about child safety.

Jallyn Sualog was the most senior career member of the HHS division responsible for unaccompanied migrant children when Biden took office. She had helped build the program after the passage of the 2008 law and, as a lifelong Democrat, had celebrated Bidens win.

But soon, she said, she began to hear reports that children were being released to adults who had lied about their identities, or who planned to exploit them.

She warned her bosses in a 2021 email, If nothing continues to be done, there will be a catastrophic event. She continued to email about situations she described as critical and putting children at risk.

Concerned that no one was listening, Sualog filed a complaint in the fall of 2021 with the HHS Office of Inspector General, the agencys internal watchdog, and requested whistleblower protection. She also took the unusual step of speaking with congressional staffers about her worries.

I feel like short of protesting in the streets, I did everything I could to warn them, Sualog said of the administration. They just didnt want to hear it.

In late 2021, she was moved out of her position. She filed a complaint with the federal office responsible for enforcing whistleblower protection rules, arguing that she had been illegally retaliated against.

Last fall, the Office of the Inspector General released a report that discussed Sualogs case and several demotions and dismissals at the agency that may have risen to the level of whistleblower chilling.

Sualog settled with the agency, which agreed to pay her legal fees, and resigned last month.

An HHS spokesperson declined to comment on Sualogs complaint but said the agency does not retaliate against whistleblowers. While some staffers disagreed with the administrations approach, the spokesperson said, significant changes were needed to address the increase in unaccompanied migrant children.

Even as veteran employees left, others kept sounding alarms. In January, shortly before the Times investigation was published, a group of workers sent another memo to their HHS bosses saying the system had resulted in unsafe discharges. We are pulling humanity out of Health and Human Services, they wrote.

Troubling Trends

Some of the most persistent warnings that children were being funneled into dangerous jobs came from outside the government. HHS releases most children to sponsors without follow-up care, but it hires organizations to provide thousands of the most high-risk children with several months of support services.

Last spring, Matt Haygood, senior director of childrens services at the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, one of the largest of these organizations, sent an email with the subject line Trafficking Concerns to several HHS officials.

We have identified some troubling trends in the Chicago metro area, he wrote, including vans picking up children at odd hours, suggesting that they were being driven to factory jobs. Haygood asked if HHS would consider adding the neighborhood to a watchlist, so that prospective sponsors there would be more closely vetted.

An HHS staff member replied that more than 200 children, most of them Guatemalan, had recently been released to the neighborhood and confirmed that many of those cases had been marked as suspicious: Adults were sponsoring multiple children, and minors were working instead of attending school.

There are certainly plenty of other concerning trafficking red flags, the staff member wrote. Haygood expected the agency to add more safeguards for children released to the area, Little Village. Instead, HHS decided they were not needed.

In response to the Times, an HHS spokesperson said the department had already put protections in place for children being released to a few streets in the city and at the time saw expanding those measures as overreach.

At a small fast-food restaurant in Little Village one recent afternoon, Guatemalan teenagers played video games on their phones and flirted in Indigenous languages. Several said they worked full time overnight in factories, in violation of child labor laws. Few had enrolled in school.

One, Marvin Che, said he came to the United States last year, when he was 16, and had been working 12-hour overnight shifts alongside other migrant children packing products at the manufacturer Pactiv Evergreen, including Hefty plastic party cups. We came alone, so we have to work hard, Marvin said.

A spokesperson for Pactiv Evergreen said its company policy prohibited minors from working at manufacturing sites and it would make sure its staffing agencies were complying. A representative for Reynolds Consumer Products, which owns the Hefty brand, said Pactiv Evergreen no longer made its party cups.

Other social service organizations said they, too, had flagged clusters of suspicious cases, including in Nashville, Tennessee, and Dallas.

Were waiting for the congressional hearing thats like, How did this happen to all these kids? Haygood said. In the past two months, congressional leaders from both parties have questioned why so many migrant children ended up in exploitative jobs, and two oversight hearings are planned in the House on Tuesday.

An HHS spokesperson said the department was aware that some migrant children worked long hours because they are under intense pressure to earn money, but the agencys legal responsibility for children ends once they are released. Still, the department is working to provide a few months of case management to all unaccompanied migrant children, she said.

For now, most children released to sponsors have little support aside from an HHS hotline. According to internal documents obtained by the Times, reports of trafficking to that hotline increased by about 1,300% over the past five years.

In one call last year, a child living in Charlotte, North Carolina, said his sponsor had found him a job in a restaurant and told him he needs to work to eat. In another, a child said his sponsor had never enrolled him in school after he was released from an El Paso, Texas, shelter, and was forcing him to pay for rent and food.

The HHS spokesperson said the agency asks local law enforcement to check on children who might be in danger.

A Hard Life in Florida

Antonio arrived at the border shortly after turning 14, and spent several weeks at a shelter before moving to Florida. A former neighbor had agreed to be his sponsor, but Antonio, who had never spent a night away from his town, had not understood how isolated he would be in the United States.

He took jobs with employers willing to hire a child without a work permit  sometimes in landscaping and sometimes in housecleaning. He also enrolled in eighth grade and discovered that he loved biology.

He scraped by until the end of the school year, but he needed to earn more money. Instead of continuing to ninth grade, he found the job packing vegetables. He worked numbing shifts that left him chilled each night even though he worked in the heaviest jacket he could afford. A spokesperson for the company, Jalaram Produce, said it does not hire minors.

Antonio had not told anyone back home how much he was struggling. I dont want them to worry about me, he said. His father became more absent during the pandemic, and he knew his grandmother had no other way to feed his young sisters. He said he might feel less lonely after he turned 16 and qualified to enroll in night school.

This was a common hope among migrant children in his neighborhood. A few blocks away, a boy working construction said he felt ashamed about not knowing how to read. He, too, was released in 2021  at age 12  and was immediately put to work by a man who had sponsored at least five children. At a day-labor pickup site, a 13-year-old released last year to a man he had never met said he wished he could enroll in middle school and start learning English.

People dont know, Antonio said, but there are a lot of kids here living the same life.

Warning Signs

Inside the White House, Rice was at the center of the migrant children crisis. As she pressed to move children out of shelters more quickly, clues began to emerge about what was happening to them once they left.

In the summer of 2021, near the height of the crush at the border, HHS managers wrote a memo detailing their worry about increasing reports that children were working alongside their sponsors, a sign of possible labor trafficking. That memo reached Rice and her team.

Around the same time, the team was told about concerns over a large group of children who had been released to one city in Alabama, according to six current and former staff members. The situation was the subject of frequent updates as HHS sent case managers to the city to check on children, and coordinated with the Labor Department and Homeland Security Investigations to look into whether they working in poultry plants.

One former top White House adviser remembered thinking at the time that the development was worrisome and that it suggested other cases could be going overlooked.

A White House spokesperson denied that senior officials were told about the situation.

A few months later, Rices staff learned that HHS could not reach a growing number of migrant children just a month after their release, according to a former senior White House official.

But the White House largely treated these as discrete events, not as signs of a mounting problem.

Tyler Moran, Bidens senior adviser for migration at the time, said she relied on HHS to tell her how to weigh information, such as the memo from the departments worried managers and the calls to children that were going unanswered. Staff members, she said, had not pointed to a broader child labor crisis. The White House deferred to the agencies to let us know when things were really a problem, Moran said.

The Department of Labor was sending up signals of its own. In 2022, investigators began uncovering signs of migrant child labor inside industrial workplaces, including several auto part factories in the South. The department put out news releases warning of a rise in child labor violations.

Last summer, labor investigators began a major operation at a sanitation company that eventually found that more than 100 mostly Spanish-speaking children were working the overnight shift scouring meatpacking plants around the country. Many of the children had come through the migrant shelter system and been released to sponsors.

As investigators found more and more migrant children working for the cleaning company around the country, HHS briefed Rices team about the situation regularly over a period of months, according to two people familiar with the conversations.

The Labor Department also included details about the sanitation company and auto parts operations in weekly Cabinet-level reports. It was like, We have problems here, said Martin J. Walsh, the secretary of labor until last month. We sent reports to the White House, so they knew we were working on this stuff.

When the Labor Department updated its public dashboard in December, it showed a 69% increase in child labor violations since 2018.

A spokesperson for the Labor Department said that the White House had been aware of the rise in child labor because it was widely public. But Andrew J. Bates, White House deputy press secretary, said officials there had not known of the increase in child labor until the Times February report.

At Least Im Helping

Even after Brandmillers warnings, the man who had sponsored Antonio, Juan Rivera, was allowed to receive another boy: He said had he sponsored a 15-year-old and set him up with a job on a palm tree plantation.

Rivera said in an interview that he had done Antonio a favor by helping him come to the United States. He kept records of his expenses, including the cost of picking up Antonio after he left the shelter, food and clothes when he first arrived, and a twin-size mattress for his shared room. The debt had taken Antonio about a year to pay off.

He said he occasionally saw Antonio in the area and assumed that he was working hard and sending money home. American kids just study, but our kids are poor and have to work, he said. One has to suffer to earn a little money here.

This spring, Antonios landlord decided the house had become overcrowded. Antonio found a new home, but the rent was twice as high. He changed jobs again, picking up better-paying day labor shifts, and said he no longer hoped to attend night school. Instead, he is trying to save several thousand dollars to hire a lawyer who might help him secure a permit to work legally, in a less grueling job.

I need to earn lot of money now, Antonio said. Its gotten hard, but at least Im helping.

On Sundays, he attends a Spanish-language church with a vibrant youth group. The pastor, Abel Gomez, said Antonio sometimes sits with him after the service and cries about the pressure he feels.

What I want most for Antonio is for him to be able to go back to school, Gomez said. But I know its complicated for him because theres no one to support him.

Gomez said he would like to help young congregants like Antonio more  even take them in. But it would be impossible. There are too many in the same situation, and more seem to arrive each week.

c.2023 The New York Times Company
LONDON (Reuters) - The British government on Monday summoned the Russian ambassador to make clear its condemnation of what it described as the "politically motivated" conviction and sentencing of outspoken Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza, a British dual national.

Kara-Murza has spent years speaking out against President Vladimir Putin and lobbied Western governments to impose sanctions on Russia and individual Russians for purported human rights violations.

He was jailed for 25 years by a Moscow court on Monday after it found him guilty of treason and other offences he denied.

"Russias lack of commitment to protecting fundamental human rights, including freedom of expression, is alarming," British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a statement.

"We continue to urge Russia to adhere to its international obligations including Vladimir Kara-Murzas entitlement to proper healthcare."

Britain has already sanctioned the judge that presided over the trial for previous involvement in human rights violations, and said it would consider further measures to hold to account those involved in Kara-Murza's "detention and mistreatment".

(Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; editing by William James)
The TUC claims AI-powered technologies are making 'high-risk, life changing' decisions about workers lives. Photo: Eric Gaillard/Reuters

The government is failing to protect workers from being exploited by new AI technologies, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has said.

The union claimed AI-powered technologies are making high-risk, life changing decisions about workers lives. These decisions include line-managing, hiring and firing staff.

Left unchecked, the TUC warns that AI could lead to greater discrimination at work across the economy.

TUC assistant general secretary Kate Bell said: AI is going to transform the way millions work in this country and is already being used across the economy to line-manage, and hire and fire staff.

Without fair rules, this could lead to widespread discrimination and unfair treatment at work.

Read more: OpenAI's GPT-4 is here  how much better is it than ChatGPT?

But the government is refusing to put in place the necessary guardrails to stop people from being exploited."

The TUC is calling on employers to disclose to workers how AI is being used in the workplace to make decisions about them.

And it said that every worker should be entitled to a human review of decisions made by AI systems so they can challenge decisions that are unfair and discriminatory.

Bell added: Instead of clear and enforceable protections, ministers have issued a series of vague and flimsy commitments that are not worth the paper they are written on. And they have failed to provide regulators with the resources they need to do their jobs properly.

Its essential that employment law keeps pace with the AI revolution. But last months dismal AI white paper spectacularly failed to do that.

A poll conducted by the union last year revealed that a majority want stronger regulation of new technology at work.

Read more: Microsoft's ChatGPT investment could create 'game-changer' AI search engine

Seven in 10 (72%) workers fear that without careful regulation, using technology to make decisions about workers could increase unfair treatment, compared to 61% in 2020.

Story continues

Eight in 10 (77%) support no monitoring outside working hours, suggesting strong support for a right to disconnect.

Robin Allen, AI and employment rights lawyer, said: More money, more expertise, more cross-regulatory working, more urgent interventions, more control of AI: without these it will not be just a race to the bottom for workers rights, the whole idea of any rights at work will become illusory.

Watch: Elon Musk reportedly working on an AI product to compete with OpenAIs ChatGPT

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.
The UK has condemned the politically motivated conviction and sentence handed down today in a Moscow court to British dual-national Vladimir Kara-Murza, a human rights activist and critic of the Kremlin.

Source: UK Foreign Office

The Foreign Office said it had summoned the Russian ambassador to make clear its condemnation of the conviction after the Kremlin critic was sentenced to 25 years in a Russian prison.

"Vladimir Kara-Murza bravely denounced Russias invasion of Ukraine for what it was  a blatant violation of international law and the UN Charter," said James Cleverly, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the United Kingdom.

"Russia's lack of commitment to protecting fundamental human rights, including freedom of expression, is alarming. We continue to urge Russia to adhere to its international obligations including Vladimir Kara-Murza's entitlement to proper healthcare," he stressed.

Cleverly said that the UK will continue to support relatives of the opposition leader and will call for the immediate release of Kara-Murza.

Background: In early March, the United States imposed sanctions against a number of Russian individuals involved in the arbitrary detention of Vladimir Kara-Murza.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
By Kylie MacLellan and Alistair Smout

LONDON (Reuters) -British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is being investigated by parliament's standards watchdog over whether he properly declared his wife's shareholding in a childcare company which stands to benefit from new government policy.

Parliament's Commissioner for Standards began the investigation over a "declaration of interest" on April 13, according to a list of open inquiries on its website on Monday.

Opposition parties had raised questions over media reports that Sunak's wife Akshata Murthy was a shareholder in a company set to benefit from support for the childcare sector announced in March's budget.

"We are happy to assist the commissioner to clarify how this has been transparently declared as a ministerial interest," Sunak's spokesperson said, confirming the investigation was linked to the childcare firm.

The investigation is an embarrassment for Sunak, who came into office in October promising to lead a government with integrity "at every level" as he sought to revive his party's fortunes ahead of a national election expected next year.

Sunak and Murthy are the richest ever occupants of 10 Downing Street. Murthy is the daughter of one of the founders of Indian IT giant Infosys and owns about 0.9% of the company, worth nearly $600 million based on Monday's share price.

The couple faced criticism and public anger while Sunak was finance minister over Murthy's "non-domiciled" tax status which meant she did not pay tax in Britain on her earnings abroad. She subsequently gave up the status and said she would pay British tax on her global income.

The commissioner, who gave no details of the investigation, is responsible for the House of Commons code of conduct and investigates any alleged breaches.

Under the code of conduct, members of parliament have to provide information about financial interests which might reasonably be thought to influence their work in parliament.

Story continues

If the investigation finds a breach, the Commissioner can require Sunak to apologise and set out steps to avoid any future errors, or refer him to a committee which has the power to suspend or expel him from parliament.

Opposition Labour Party deputy leader Angela Rayner said Sunak should publish an updated register of ministerial interests before municipal elections next month, saying the failure to do so had left "a transparency black hole which is enabling the prime minister and those he has appointed to dodge proper scrutiny of their affairs".

(Reporting by Kylie MacLellan and Alistair Smout; Additional reporting by Muvija M and Sachin Ravikumar; Editing by William James and Alison Williams)
Japan hosts G7 foreign ministers' meeting amid protests

Xinhua) 09:07, April 17, 2023

KARUIZAWA, Japan, April 16 (Xinhua) -- The Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers gathered Sunday in the central Japanese resort town of Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, as people took part in demonstrations to protest against the bloc.

The top diplomats, including Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, are expected to discuss issues such as the Ukraine crisis and nuclear disarmament over the next two days.

On Sunday, Hayashi and his G7 counterparts took the one-hour shinkansen train ride from Tokyo to Karuizawa, whose arrival was accompanied by protests in the train station area, with people holding banners like "Objection to G7," calling the role of the club of the rich countries into question.

The talks in Karuizawa, which run until Tuesday, are meant to prepare for setting the agenda for the G7 leaders' summit to be held in Hiroshima in May.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy greeted Ukrainians on Easter Sunday, April 16, in a video address recorded near the main church of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, one of the holiest sites in Eastern Orthodox Christianity  the Assumption Cathedral.

On April 16, Ukraine marks the Orthodox Christian holiday of Easter, celebrating the Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and, for Ukrainians, represents the triumph of life over death and the renewal of the spirit.

An Easter prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia resulted in the return of 130 Ukrainian defenders, the head of the Ukrainian Presidents Office, Andriy Yermak, reported on Telegram on April 16.

Russian occupation authorities are spreading rumors about forced evacuations in schools and kindergartens in the occupied town of Enerhodar, home to the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Ukrainian nuclear operator Energoatom reported on April 16.

Hungary has temporarily banned the import of grains, oilseeds, and some other agricultural products from Ukraine, Hungarian news outlet 24.hu reported on April 15, citing Hungarian agricultural minister Istvan Nagy.

The Russian government has been using the Russian Orthodox Church for intelligence and subversive activities in other countries for decades, according to retired General Victor Yahun, a former officer of Ukraines SBU security service, in an interview with Radio NV on April 16.

Long before the full-scale war, Ukrainian cities were occupied by Belarusian heavy equipment. No, we are not talking about tanks and armored personnel carriers, but about Belarusian-made public transport vehicles operated by municipalities across the country. Of course, they will need to be replaced, but who is set to benefit from it?

Story continues

With Russias annual Victory Day celebrations less than one month away, the Kremlin has taken the highly unusual step of canceling a number of military parades in regional capitals. Scheduled parades to mark the World War II Soviet victory over Nazi Germany have been called off in Kursk and Belgorod Oblasts, which both border Ukraine. Victory Day celebrations in Russian-occupied Crimea have also reportedly been scrapped.  Dickinson

Vladimir Putin expected to use gas exports this winter to blackmail Europe and weaken Western support for Ukraine. Instead, this tactic appears to have backfired disastrously and critically undermined Russias position on European energy markets.  Sabadus

Moscow should end the war against Ukraine and focus on consolidating the territorial gains it still holds on to, the owner of Russian private military company Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said on April 14.

At least 70% of Ukrainians would support a complete ban of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) in the country, according to a survey conducted by Ukrainian polling company Gradus Research on April 13-14.

Ukraines Ambassador to the Vatican, Andrii Yurash, spoke to Radio NV about how Pope Francis receives information about Russia's war against Ukraine.

Russian authorities are planning to develop a new strategy to fight Ukrainian guerrillas in the temporarily occupied territories because the current measures are not producing the desired results, the Sprotyv National Resistance Centre reported on 15 April.

The West doesn't provide Ukraine with all of the supplies it needs because it has long been guided by a rule to avoid provoking Russia, Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in an interview with Spanish outlet La Razon on April 16.

Over the past week, Russian forces have increased the number of airstrikes in frontline areas, psychological confrontation heats up between Russia, Ukraine, and the West, and a low-intensity guerrilla war is brewing in Russia.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine's Defence Minister, believes that Ukraine became a de facto member of NATO with the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion, and only a political decision remains to be made for its de jure entry.

Source: Reznikov in an interview with Spanish publication La Razon.

"After this war, the only thing left is the political decision to become a de jure member. Russia is the biggest threat to NATO for the next ten years, as determined at the Madrid summit, and no one has such direct experience of fighting it and defeating it, like us. What could be a better reason than that? They need us," Reznikov said.

He said that Ukraine now uses NATO standards and weapons. There is also cooperation in intelligence, training, use of its arsenal, and military medicine.

The head of the Defence Ministry also refuted the claim that NATO is helping Ukraine in its confrontation with the Russian Federation, but was not providing opportunities for victory.

"We can see that the original expectations have been exceeded, and they believe in us. All the weapons they have supplied us have been used in great victories, and the stakes have risen accordingly. When I asked Washington for the Stingers before it all started, they told me that it was impossible Two months later, the first shipment from Lithuania arrived with the approval of the White House. And that's how it happens with everything. Nothing is impossible for me," Reznikov emphasised.

Background:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that Ukraine would not agree to alternative proposals that could replace NATO membership.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said that Ukraine will not be satisfied with any other decision of the NATO summit in Vilnius in July other than real steps towards its membership of the Alliance.

Read more: Ukraine's NATO Membership Needs no Action Plan, We Have to Leave 2008 Mistakes Behind.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
ERBIL (Reuters) - Ukraine's foreign minister visited Iraq on Monday for the first time since Russia's invasion, seeking diplomatic support from the Middle East where Moscow has been cultivating friends.

"We definitely see Iraq as a country that is capable of building bridges," Dmitro Kuleba said at a press conference alongside Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein.

"We welcome every effort to restore peace in Ukraine. There is one key cornerstone that must be laid down at the very foundation of every effort: and that cornerstone is the restoration of Ukraine's territorial integrity."

Hussein called for a ceasefire in Ukraine, saying this was the same message given to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov who visited Iraq in February.

"We always strive to be a part of the solution. Wars end with negotiation and dialogue; thats why we believe in the language of dialogue," Hussein said.

"Thats why when we negotiate or discuss with officials in Moscow, and Minister Lavrov was here in the same hall, we mentioned the same principles, and we told them that we support a cease-fire and the start of negotiations."

There are no peace talks in the Russia-Ukraine war. Moscow says Kyiv must first accept its annexation of Ukrainian territory; Ukraine says Russia must pull out its troops.

(Reporting by Amina Ismail; Editing by Peter Graff)
(Bloomberg) -- Some 130 Ukrainian POWs were returned by Russia over the Orthodox Easter weekend. Russia said Saturday that mercenaries in the Wagner group captured two districts of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, where battles have raged for months.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Chinas new defense minister, Li Shangfu, heads to Russia on Sunday in his first official foreign trip since being appointed in March. Li is expected to hold talks on global and regional security with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu during the visit.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba plans to visit Baghdad on Monday for talks with Iraqi leaders, a week after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke by phone with Iraqs prime minister. Sergey Lavrov, Russian foreign minister, will travel to Latin America in the coming week.

Key Developments

EU Says Poland, Hungary Halts on Ukraine Grain Unacceptable

Airman Charged Over Leak as Biden Clamps Down on Secrets

India Could Buy Russian Crude Past Cap if OPEC+ Cuts Boost Costs

Putin Paves Way for New Call-Up as Ukraine Invasion Drags On

Summers Warns US Getting Lonely as Other Powers Band Together

(All times CET)

Ukrainian-Iraqi Talks Planned in Baghdad (10:13 p.m.)

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will visit Baghdad on Monday for talks with Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani and other senior Iraqi officials, according to a Ukrainian cabinet statement. The goal is to increase political dialogue, trade and communication in international forums, according to the statement.

Baghdad is exploring a potential role as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine in the almost 14-month-old war, Iraqs Shafaq news agency reported earlier Sunday, citing a person close to the government it didnt identify. Zelenskiy and Al-Sudani had a phone call on April 10 to discuss cooperation.

Story continues

Russias Lavrov Heading for Latin America (4 p.m.)

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will visit several Latin American countries starting Monday, Russias foreign ministry said on Sunday.

The top Russian diplomat is expected to visit Brazil, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba for talks with the leaders of those countries and his peers.

A stop in Brazil would come days after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visited Beijing, where he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and said the US needs to stop encouraging war.

Russias Deputy PM to Lead Business Group to India (4:40 p.m.)

Russian deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov will lead a delegation to India made up of more than two dozen deputy ministers and chief executives of private firms, Indias Economic Times reported.

Among Manturovs meetings over two days will be ones with Indias external affairs minister, national security advisor and commerce minister. He may also meet with Nirmala Sitharaman, Indias finance minister, the newspaper reported.

Economic ties between Moscow and New Delhi are on the rise. Above all, India has emerged as one of the key buyers of Russian crude following, and India has stood out among major democracies for its reluctance to criticize President Vladimir Putin for his invasion of Ukraine.

Read more: Why India Walks a Tightrope Between US and Russia

EU Assails Poland, Hungary Halts on Ukraine Grain (4 p.m.)

The European Union slammed moves over the weekend by Poland and Hungary to ban imports of grain from Ukraine, saying unilateral actions were unacceptable and a potential breach of the blocs trade policy.

Ukraines neighbors said Saturday they would halt the imports of grain and certain other foods because the ample supplies had depressed domestic prices and is threating the livelihood of local farmers.

India Could Buy Russian Crude Past Cap if OPEC+ Cuts Boost Costs (11:30 a.m.)

India will explore buying Russian crude oil near or past the price cap imposed by the G-7, said finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

We have a large population and we also therefore have to look at prices which are going to be affordable for us, Sitharaman said in an interview Saturday in Washington, where she attended the IMF/World Bank spring meetings.

The South Asian nation needs to constantly look for the best deal since it imports almost 80% of its crude oil requirements, Sitharaman said. India, along with China, has emerged as one of the key buyers of Russian crude.

130 Ukrainian Prisoners Returned in Easter Exchange, Zelenskiy Aide Says (10 a.m.)

Among those returned in a Easter POW swap were members of the military, border guards, national guardsmen and sailors, including personnel captured in Bakhmut, Soledar, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, said Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Ukraines president.

The quintessence of Easter holiday is hope. This is exactly what the relatives of the prisoners felt. They had been waiting for them for so long, Yermak said. There was no immediate word from Russia on the latest exchange.

The previous big swap came on April 10, when 106 Russians and 100 Ukrainians were freed. Many of the Ukrainians were reported to have serious injuries or illnesses.

Chinese Defense Minister Heads to Russia (8:30 a.m.)

Chinas new defense minister, General Li Shangfu, travels to Russia on Sunday on his first official foreign trip since he was appointed in March. Hell meet there with Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu in the latest signs of close ties between Moscow and Beijing.

Announcing the visit on Friday, Russias defense ministry said the pair would discuss the status and prospects of bilateral cooperation in the defense sphere as well as topical global and regional security issues. The statement made no mention of the war in Ukraine.

Read more: China Sends Defense Minister to Russia for First Time Since War

Teenagers Killed in Missile Attack in Mykolayiv Region (8 a.m.)

Two teenagers were killed in a Russian S-300 missile attack on Snihurivka in the Mykolayiv region of southeastern Ukraine, the local governor said in Telegram.

Missile strikes were also launched on Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions, with at least four injuries reported. The focus of hostilities remains the Donetsk towns of Bakhmut and Mariyinka.

Russias Teplinsky Making a Comeback, UK Says (7 a.m.)

General Colonel Mikhail Teplinsky, commander of Russias corps of airborne troops, or the VDV, has highly likely returned to a major role in Ukraine after being removed from action in January, the UK defense ministry said.

Teplinsky is likely one of the few senior Russian generals widely respected by the rank-and-file, the ministry said in a Twitter thread. His recent turbulent career suggests intense tensions between factions within the Russian General Staff about Russias military approach in Ukraine.

The VDC have resumed a key mission in the battle for Bakhmut in Ukraines east in recent days, the UK said.

Hungary, Poland Block Ukrainian Farm Imports as Accord Falters (11:32 p.m.)

Hungary joined Poland in announcing a halt in Ukrainian agricultural imports, saying that duty-free imports from its neighbor in the face of Russias invasion are putting Hungarian farmers at risk.

The suspension will be in effect until June 30 in the absence of substantive EU measures, the Agriculture Ministry in Budapest said in a statement. Poland halted imports of grain and some other food products from Ukraine to avert a crisis of agriculture, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the governing Law and Justice party, said earlier Saturday.

Read more: Hungary, Poland Block Ukrainian Farm Imports as Accord Falters

Prigozhin Says Russia Should Declare It Has Met Its Goals (5:19 p.m.)

Wagner mercenary group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said Russia could simply declare victory if it ended its more than year-old invasion of Ukraine today, reasoning that its forces have seized a fat chunk of territory.

The ideal scenario is to declare an end to the special military operation, and tell everyone that Russia has achieved the results it planned to, he said in an article published by his press service and on Telegram. The thing to do now, he wrote, is to firmly hold onto the territories that we already gained.

Prigozhin, an ally of President Vladimir Putin, later clarified his remarks. He said the main point was to underline his support for an honest fight and no back deals and alert to the risk of the what he called the deep state hindering that fight.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
(Bloomberg) -- The US ambassador to Russia visited detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in a Russian prison, more than 2 1/2 weeks since his arrest on spying charges, the US Embassy in Moscow said.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Vladimir Putin praised ties between the Russian and Chinese armed forces, while Chinese defense minister Li Shangfu told the Kremlin leader that Beijing is willing to further strengthen strategic communication between the two militaries.

Group of Seven foreign ministers meeting in Japan s vowed to support Ukraine for as long as it takes in its fight against Russian forces.

Key Developments

G-7 to Back Ukraine Indefinitely, Seeks Stability With China

Brazils Foreign Minister Criticizes Russia Sanctions

Ukraine Grain Snarled Again With Blockages Now on Two Fronts

Lula, Russias Lavrov to Discuss Ukraine in Visit to Brazil

China Tensions High on Agenda as G-7 Diplomats Meet in Japan

Russian Oil Gets Switched at Sea Between Tankers Near Cape Verde

(All times CET)

G-7 Pledges to Support Ukraine Indefinitely (5:50 a.m.)

In a communique released Tuesday after top G-7 diplomats met in Japan, the bloc condemned Russias war against Ukraine in the strongest possible terms. The nations reiterated support for Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiys peace plan, while assailing Russias irresponsible nuclear rhetoric.

We recommit today to supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes and to providing sustained security, economic, and institutional support to help Ukraine defend itself, secure its free and democratic future, and deter future Russian aggression, the ministers said.

Story continues

Brazils Foreign Minister Complains About Sanctions (1:32 a.m.)

Economic sanctions placed on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine are taking an unnecessary toll on nations that arent involved in the conflict, Brazil Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said after meeting his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, on Monday.

Aside from not having the approval of the United Nations Security Council, [sanctions] have a negative impact on economies around the world, Vieira said in a statement to the press after he and Lavrov met in Brasilia.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will meet with Lavrov later Monday afternoon, as he presses on with an elusive strategy to have Brazil and other emerging-market nations involved in a plan to stop the war in Ukraine. Brazil is among the nations that have not participated in sanctions imposed on Russia since its February 2022 invasion, when Lulas predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, also opposed them.

US Commits a Prosecutor to Pursuit of War Crime Evidence (7:06 p.m)

US Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department will detail an experienced prosecutor to work in the Hague with a seven-nation Ukraine Joint Investigative Team thats investigating core international crimes committed in Ukraine.

Garland spoke at the Justice Department in Washington alongside visiting Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin. Garland said their offices were working together to investigate specific crimes committed by Russian forces, including unlawful attacks directed at civilians.

Zelenskiy Urges Solid Decisions on Weapons From Allies (6:13 p.m.)

Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he expects a meeting this week of allied defense secretaries to produce solid decisions on his countrys rather ambitious battlefield plans.

Zelenskiy said in his regular evening address that hes already had initial talks ahead of the meeting of Ukraines allies at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

US Ambassador Visits WSJ Reporter Gershkovich in Russian Prison (4:20 p.m.)

Lynne Tracy, the US ambassador to Russia, visited Gershkovich more than 2 1/2 weeks after his arrest, the US Embassy in Moscow said. The Biden administration had complained that Russia was violating diplomatic norms by refusing to provide Gershkovich with consular access.

Gershkovich, 31, was detained in Yekaterinburg, about 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) east of Moscow, by Federal Security Service agents. Charged with spying, which carries a 20-year penalty, hes now being held in Moscows Lefortovo prison. The Kremlin says he was caught red handed, but has provided no evidence. The Wall Street Journal denies the allegations.

Russia Seeks to Limit Ruble Hit Amid Exodus of Foreign Firms (1:50 p.m.)

Russia is seeking a way to curb the impact of a foreign investor exodus on the ruble, which has fallen to a one-year low. A series of asset sales by firms from countries opposed to Russias invasion of Ukraine have helped weaken the ruble by 9% against the dollar this year.

In reaction, the Bank of Russia and the government are developing a mechanism to set a limit for hard-currency purchases by foreign companies exiting Russia, the Finance Ministry said. The cap can be floating and depend on the situation on the market, the ministrys press service said in its response to questions from Bloomberg News.

Ukraine Says Russia Blocked Grain Ship Inspections Today (1:45 p.m.)

For the second time in the nine months that the Ukraine grain initiative has been in effect, not a single vessel has been inspected, according to a Ukrainian government statement. Since April 10, Russia, as a part of the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul, has unilaterally stopped registering vessels that Ukrainian ports submit to form an inspection plan.

Meanwhile, the Russians form their own inspection plan by choosing the vessels from the queue at their discretion, which completely contradicts the terms of the initiative and is unacceptable for Ukraine, the government said. Ukraine has called on the UN and Turkey to ensure that all parties in the JCC comply with the procedures that have worked for 9 months.

G-7 Nuclear Powers Aim to Remove Russia From Uranium Market (1:20 p.m.)

Nuclear powers within the G-7 pledged to end Russias dominance over global atomic-fuel markets, potentially cutting off a critical source of geopolitical currency for Putin more than a year after his invasion of Ukraine.

Canada, France, Japan, the UK and US committed on Sunday to jointly dislodge Russia from global nuclear supply chains. Even amid Western sanctions over the war, the Kremlins state-owned nuclear giant, Rosatom Corp., has remained the worlds biggest exporter of reactors and fuel.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
China's agreement to supply weapons to Russia became known from the leak of secret documents

If it appeared here, you remember when the Iranian drones appeared, we immediately made a statement about it. We dismantled them thoroughly, as they say, bone by bone, and even obtained data on the countries whose components were used, Danilov said on national television on April 16.

We will officially address them [China] with a question of why it happened and that it must be stopped. As of now, we do not see any Chinese weaponry on our front.

While Beijing may remain reluctant to send heavy weapons to Moscow, more and more Chinese-made electronic components are being found in Russian weapons captured and destroyed in Ukraine, presidential advisor Vladyslav Vlasiuk told Reuters on April 14.

Should it be confirmed that the Russian invaders are using Chinese weaponry, the authorities will inform both the society and the world about it, said Danilov.

However, based on Chinas global concerns, we do not see why they would supply weapons to Russia at this time, explained Danilov.

Chinas position is neutral  they do not support either side. For the first time, Chinese diplomacy has come out into the public space with a proposal of 12 questions regarding the end of the war, but they call it something slightly different.

This is the first question, why we cannot accept it definitively. There are things that we can accept when it comes to territorial integrity, the United Nations. This is certainly useful for us. But there are points that are quite doubtful. Therefore, we are working, observing, and collecting a large volume of information specifically on this issue, Danilov said.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on March 6 that Chinese President Xi Jinping is willing to speak with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenksyy about a peace settlement at an appropriate time, though no such talks have yet been organized.

Earlier, media reported with reference to leaked secret documents from the United States that China had approved the provision of lethal military aid to Russia at the beginning of 2023.

Story continues

According to U.S. news website Politico, Chinese companies sent 1,000 assault rifles, body armor, and drone parts to Russia in 2022.

The United States and its allies have repeatedly said that China is considering the possibility of supplying weapons to Russia, including drones, ammunition, and artillery. Beijing denies this, and Kyiv has not yet seen any signs to confirm.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  A top Ukrainian official said Monday that Ukraine will launch its counteroffensive against Russian troops when its ready, adding that its only a matter of time before the country achieves the necessary level of military preparedness to do so.

Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraines National Security and Defense Council, told The Associated Press in an interview in Kyiv that Ukraines allies are helping the government to achieve the level of technical equipment necessary to launch the attack, delivering heavy armored vehicles and ammunition.

But he also expressed frustration that sometimes officials from allied countries promise one thing and do a completely different one. He didn't elaborate.

If we arent ready, then nobody will start unprepared, he said.

Speaking about a major U.S. intelligence leak, Danilov echoed other Ukrainian leaders who say they dont see it as gravely damaging future offensives, stressing that Ukraine doesnt share highly sensitive information with anyone.

If someone thinks that we report to someone, then he is deeply mistaken, he said. Such sensitive security matters are decided in closed meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and only there will it be decided when, in what direction, at what pace we will liberate our territory, he added.

The documents include previously unreported sensitive disclosures about Ukraine, including just how close Ukraines vital air defense systems are to running out of missiles, with stocks expected to be exhausted as soon as late this month or May. That would open Ukraines skies to more of the Russian air and artillery strikes that already have devastated cities and infrastructure.

Danilov refused to comment on Ukraines current stockpiles of weapons, saying only that it will be enough to curb Russia.

Still, he said that Ukraine was working round the clock to prepare for a possible offensive, including Saturday and Sunday. There is no vacation in war.

Story continues

Its only a matter of time. This time comes with a very high price for us.

Danilov stopped short of confirming that the Patriot air defense system promised by the U.S. has arrived in Ukraine, but strongly hinted that they have. Asked to comment on statements by Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat last week in which he said that the Patriots was expected in Ukraine sometime after Easter, he said: Well, Easter has passed already.

The answer to your question is simple: everything is good, he added.

Russias war in Ukraine has turned into a stalemate amid heavy fighting in the countrys east, particularly around the town of Bakhmut which for eight and a half months has been the stage for the wars longest and bloodiest fight.

Bakhmut lies in Donetsk province, one of four provinces Russia illegally annexed last fall. Moscow controls about half of the province. Bakhmut is a stepping stone to seizing the remaining half.

Ukrainian officials have said theyre buying time by depleting Russian forces in the battle while Kyiv prepares a counteroffensive. Zelenskyy argues that if Russia wins the Bakhmut battle, Russian President Vladimir Putin might be able to begin building international support for a deal that would require Ukraine to make unacceptable compromises to end the war.

Danilov is confident that it not only turned the tiny settlement into the place the whole world speaks about, but proves its extremely hard to conquer Ukraine by military means for Russia.

He also remains confident in Ukraines efforts to return to its occupied territories.

We will defeat Russia, he said. If you have a strong inner spirit, you will definitely win. And we always had it strong. This is something that always annoyed the Russians.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Satellite image of the fortifications of the Russian occupiers in Crimea

Budanov discussed his previous prediction that the Ukrainian Armed Forces would enter Crimea in the spring, stating, I still have some time.

He emphasized the accuracy of his previous predictions and stated that everything is going according to plan.

Read also: Kyiv and Washington united ahead of Ukraines anticipated counteroffensive, says PM Shmyhal

Budanov said that the end of the war would mark the restoration of Ukraines borders and mark the beginning of rebuilding post-war Ukraine.

Read also: Document leaks will not affect planned counteroffensive, Ukraine says

Budanov predicted on Sept. 30, 2022, that the Ukrainian Armed Forces would enter Crimea by the end of Spring 2023.

In a Jan. 31 interview with The Washington Post, he expressed the need to bring Crimea back to Ukraine by summer.

In a February interview with Le Monde, he predicted Russia would withdraw its troops from Ukrainian territory as Ukraine approaches the end of the war.

In early March, he predicted a decisive battle between Ukraine and Russia this spring.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Another 130 Ukrainian defenders returned home

Ukraine returned home another 130 defenders within an Easter prisoner exchange with Russia on April 16.

According to the coordination headquarters overseeing prisoners of war, 92 Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen, 20 territorial defense fighters, 11 National Guard soldiers, three border guards, and two representatives each from the Naval Forces and the State Special Transport Service returned home on Easter.

Read also: Kremlin refused Muslim POW exchange on Ramadan, Ukraine says

"The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War in cooperation with the Presidential Office has returned 2,235 people to Ukraine since the full-scale invasion began," Malyar wrote.

The exchange and treatment of prisoners of war is further proof of Ukraine's commitment to humanity even in the face of such a devastating war, she said.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Vladimir Putin has once again turned to the Wagner Group of mercenaries amid the failure of the conventional Russian military to capture Luhansk and Donetsk by an April deadline, experts said.

Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin is seemingly regaining some favour with Russian president Vladimir Putin, likely as a result of the Russian conventional militarys inability to accomplish the tasks Putin had set for it during the winter offensive in Donbas, the Institute for the Study of War said in its latest intelligence assessment of the Russian offensive in Ukraine.

It added that the Wagner forces are likely receiving reinforcements, ammunition, and political recognition  which is a stark deviation from the Kremlins previous efforts to expend Wagner forces and Prigozhin in Bakhmut since at least January 2023.

This comes as Wagner claimed to have made fresh gains in Bakhmut, but Ukraines forces are reported to still be holding on in the frontline Donetsk city.

Key Points

Wagner takes two new districts in Bakhmut' after Kyiv warns of unprecedented battles

British-Russian sentenced to 25 years in jail for criticising Putins war

Ukraine says it is finding more Chinese components in Russian weapons

Putin meets with Chinas defence minister in Moscow

Ukraines foreign minister to visit Iraq for first time since Russias invasion

Putin 'turning back to Wagner' amid Russian military failures in Ukraine

04:51 , Arpan Rai

Vladimir Putin is again helping the Wagner Group of mercenaries by providing arms and ammunition along with political recognition after the conventional Russian military forces failed to meet a 1 April deadline to capture Luhansk and Donetsk, experts monitoring the war said.

Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin is seemingly regaining some favour with Russian president Vladimir Putin, likely as a result of the Russian conventional militarys inability to accomplish the tasks Putin had set for it during the winter offensive in Donbas, the Institute for the Study of War said in its latest assessment of the Russian offensive in Ukraine.

Story continues

It added that the Wagner forces are likely receiving reinforcements, ammunition, and political recognition  which is a stark deviation from the Kremlins previous efforts to expend Wagner forces and Prigozhin in Bakhmut since at least January 2023.

On the battle field, Wagner has been asked to train mobilised personnel to reinforce Wagners positions in Bakhmut.

Prigozhin also confirmed that Russian airborne forces (VDV) are operating alongside Wagner and indicated that Wagner is actively receiving artillery shells. Prigozhin advocated for Wagner to receive more artillery shells, which indicates that Prigozhin has reestablished his supply of ammunition from the Russian ministry of defence, the US-based think-tank said.

The extent of Putins trust and favour for Prigozhin is unclear at this time, but it is likely that Putin halted the Russian MoDs efforts to avenge Wagner by denying Wagner reinforcements and ammunition, the ISW said.

US ambassador to Russia makes first visit to jailed WSJ reporter

05:14 , Andy Gregory

Washingtons ambassador to Russia has made her first visit in jail to Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter accused by Moscow of spying.

"This is the first time we've had consular access to Evan since his wrongful detention over two weeks ago, said Lynne Tracy in a short statement in Russian on Telegram.

He feels well and is holding up. We reiterate our call for Evan's immediate release.

(The Wall Street Journal via AP)

Ukraine gearing up for next Ramstein meeting, says Zelensky

04:20 , Arpan Rai

Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine is readying for a second Ramstein meeting of what he referred to as an anti-war coalition.

The first round of Ramstein discussions happened in January this year, which saw defence leaders from across the world gathering at Ramstein Air Base in Germany as they hammered out future military aid to Ukraine.

By the way, we are already preparing for another Ramstein meeting. I held preparatory meetings. And we expect solidly grounded decisions that will meet the prospects on the battlefield. Quite ambitious prospects, which we are approaching with all our might.

Moreover, we are approaching them not only for ourselves, not only for Ukraine but also for our entire anti-war coalition, Mr Zelensky said.

He added: The aggressor must lose. And this is our joint responsibility with our partners  to gain more time for peace, that is, to be as active as possible now in providing weapons and ammunition to speed up our joint victory.

RAF Typhoons intercept Russian fighter jets and spy plane near Nato airspace

04:13 , Andy Gregory

Russia blocking 50 ships of Ukrainian grain in Black Sea, says EU chief

04:01 , Arpan Rai

Russia is once again holding up Ukrainian grain in the Black Sea and blocking the grains onboard at least 50 ships, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.

The European Union will continue facilitating exports through the EU solidarity lanes on Ukraine-EU land borders, the top official said, adding that the route has brought 25 billion tons of grain to the world.

This is the second time Russia has been accused of blocking grain shipment from Ukraine after invading the country in February last year.

In May last year, satellite images showed two Russian carrier ships loading up mounds of grain in Ukraine even as the global food supplies remained threatened by Moscows invasion.

Moldova warns Russia not to meddle in its internal affairs ahead of election

03:02 , Reuters

Moldova has warned Russian politicians not to meddle in its internal affairs, after barring a Russian delegation from entering the country ahead of a regional election.

The delegation led by Rustam Minnikhanov, governor of Russias Tatarstan region, had been due to attend a forum in semi-autonomous Gagauzia region, which holds elections on 30 April to name the head of its government.

Moldova, which applied to join the European Union last year alongside its neighbour Ukraine, has repeatedly accused Russia of trying to destabilise the country, something Moscow denies.

Mr Minnikhanov arrived in an official Tatarstan government plane but was not allowed off the aircraft. Police said in a statement his trip aimed to bolster support for a pro-Russian candidate standing at the elections.

Supporting a candidate at local elections in Moldova is not a valid reason and the authorities ask Russian bureaucrats to refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of our country, the border guard service said.

Russia has interest in Ukraine war ending as soon as possible, says Lavrov

01:53 , Andy Gregory

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has claimed during a visit to Brazil that Moscow wants its war in Ukraine to end as soon as possible.

At a news conference with his Brazilian counterpart Mauro Vieira, Mr Lavrov thanked Brazil for its understanding of the genesis of the situation in Ukraine and said Russia had an interest in the conflict ending as soon as possible.

Russia has repeatedly said that any settlement of the conflict must acknowledge the realities of its unilateral annexation of four Ukrainian regions, which its armed forces partly control.

(AP)

British nationals not safe in Russia, warns senior MP

Tuesday 18 April 2023 00:41 , PA

British nationals are not safe in Russia, a senior MP has warned, after a British-Russian opposition leader was jailed for 25 years by a Moscow court.

Conservative MP Alicia Kearns, who chairs the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, urged the government to call any British nationals living in Russia home.

She described the sentencing of outspoken Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza as a farce and said ministers should be working to get him out.

Video report: Vladimir Kara-Murza: Putin critic found guilty of treason

Monday 17 April 2023 23:33 , Andy Gregory

New Zealand PM to attend Nato summit as Albanese mulls joining him

Monday 17 April 2023 22:42 , Andy Gregory

New Zealand premier Chris Hipkins has announced he will attend the upcoming Nato summit in July, while Australias leader said he was still considering whether to travel.

Both countries have a decades-long relationship with the military alliance which has taken on greater importance following Russias invasion of Ukraine, with both attending last years summit in Madrid as non-member participants.

Mr Hipkins said he would seek to advance a trade agreement with the European Union while at the July summit in Vilnius.

Local media previously reported that Australias Anthony Albanese would not travel to the summit, but he told ABC on Monday that no decision had been made, adding: I havent had a chance yet to talk to the Nato secretary general ... I will give it consideration.

I attended last year in Madrid and subject to logistical arrangements, then I would be very pleased to accept the invitation.

Chris Hipkins met Anthony Albanese in Canberra in February (AP)

Russias Lavrov thanks Brazils Lula for his words on Ukraine war

Monday 17 April 2023 21:51 , Andy Gregory

Russias foreign minster has thanked Brazil for its efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine ahead of a visit with president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whose remarks on Vladimir Putins war have unnerved Washington.

Sergei Lavrov and Brazils foreign relations minister Mauro Vieira addressed journalists after a meeting in Brasilia, discussing plans to boost meat exports to Russia and secure fertiliser imports for Brazilian farmers.

Mr Lavrov will meet later on Monday with Lula, who has proposed forming a group of nations not involved in the Russia-Ukraine war to broker peace and discussed the matter in China with counterpart Xi Jinping last weekend.

The United States needs to stop encouraging war and start talking about peace, Lula said upon his return. We are trying to build a group of countries without any involvement in the war, that dont want the war and defend world peace to have a discussion with both Russia and Ukraine, he said in separate remarks to journalists.

But we also have to talk to the United States and European Union. That is, we have to convince people that peace is the way.

(AP)

US cannot take dollars dominance for granted, warns ECB president

Monday 17 April 2023 21:04 , Andy Gregory

Though it remains unchallenged for now, the United States cannot take the US dollars continued role as the go-to currency for world trade for granted, the president of the European Central Bank has warned.

Speaking to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, Christine Lagarde warned that a more splintered and less efficient world economy will make it harder for central banks to contain inflation.

Her speech comes as China, Russia and other countries seek to wean themselves off dependence on the US, which has sought to use its dominance to impose sanctions, most notably on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine last year.

Lagarde: US-China split may weaken growth and fuel inflation

Jailed British-Russian dissidents wife baffled by lack of UK sanctions against jailers

Monday 17 April 2023 20:14 , Andy Gregory

The wife of a British-Russian opposition leader jailed for 25 years has said she is baffled that those involved in his trial have not yet been sanctioned by the UK.

Vladimir Kara-Murza was sentenced to prison by a court in Moscow after he was convicted of treason and denigrating the Russian military in proceedings the Kremlin critic called a show trial.

The dissidents wife, Evgenia Kara-Murza, said that while she was grateful for the support of the Foreign Office, which has condemned the decision, she feels the UK should do more.

I would very much like to see the British Government actually doing something in Vladimirs case, Ms Kara-Murza said. I would like to see the British Government introduce sanctions against the violators of my husbands rights. Canada has already introduced sanctions even though he is not a Canadian citizen, as have the US and Latvia.

She added: I know that the UK authorities have had a list of the violators for months, so I am honestly baffled that these sanctions have not been introduced.

(AP)

Ukraine infrastructure minister to visit Turkey to discuss deal

Monday 17 April 2023 19:33 , Andy Gregory

Ukrainian infrastructure minister Oleksandr Kubrakov will visit Turkey on Tuesday to discuss the status of a deal that allows the safe wartime export of grain from several Ukrainian Black Sea ports, the Turkish defence ministry said on Monday.

Kubrakov will meet Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar in the central Turkish city of Kayseri, a ministry statement said.

The UN-brokered Black Sea grain export deal was renewed for 60 days last month, but Russia has been signalling it may not agree to extend it further unless the West removes obstacles to the export of Russian grain and fertiliser.

Ukraine said on Monday the grain accord was in danger of shutdown after Russia blocked inspections of participating ships in Turkish waters.

Ukrainian Black Sea ports were blockaded after Russias invasion last year, but access to three of them was cleared last July under a deal engineered by the United Nations and Turkey.

Kubrakov will visit at the invitation of Akar, the ministry statement said, adding that ministers will discuss several bilateral issues including the Black Sea grain initiative.

Guterres and Ukrainian infrastructure minister Oleksandr Kubrakov by the sea port in Odesa as exports restarted in summer (Reuters)

Russia claims two new districts in Bakhmut after Kyiv warns of unprecedented battles

Monday 17 April 2023 18:47 , Andy Gregory

The Wagner mercenary group has captured two districts in the centre and northwest of Bakhmut, Russia's Defence Ministry claimed today.

Bloody battles unprecedented in recent decades are taking place in the middle of the citys urban area, Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesperson for Ukraines eastern military command said on Saturday.

Our soldiers are doing everything in bloody and fierce battles to grind down [the enemys] combat capability and break its morale. Every day, in every corner of this city, they are successfully doing so, he told the 1+1 television channel.

Volodymyr Zelenskys forces have clung on in the frontline city in a seemingly successful bid to inflict heavy losses on Vladimir Putins armies, but Britains Ministry of Defence warned on Friday that Ukraine had been forced to concede some ground after being bombarded with particularly intense artillery fire last week.

Russias attack on the Donetsk city has been re-energised, amid greater cooperation between troops with Moscows defence ministry and the Wagner mercenary group, the ministry said, citing UK intelligence.

Ukrainian forces face significant resupply issues but have made orderly withdrawals from the positions they have been forced to concede, it added.

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich to appeal against arrest

Monday 17 April 2023 18:00 , William Mata

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich will appeal on Tuesday against his arrest and detention in Moscows most notorious former KGB prison on charges of espionage, according to court documents - Reuters has said.

Russias Federal Security Service (FSB) said on March 30 it had detained Gershkovich in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg and had opened an espionage case against him for collecting what it said were state secrets about the military industrial complex.

Gershkovich, the first American journalist detained in Russia on espionage charges since the end of the Cold War, and the Journal have denied he was involved in espionage, as has the United States.

According to a public Russian judicial document, Lefortovo District Court will hear on Tuesday a complaint filed by Gershkovich against the decision to keep him in custody in Lefortovo prison while the case is being investigated.

Kyiv aims for first step of Poland transit for grain

Monday 17 April 2023 17:30 , William Mata

Kyiv aims to re-open food and grain transit via Poland as a first step to ending import bans at talks in Warsaw on Monday as countries halted grain from Ukraine to protect their local agriculture markets from an influx of supply.

Poland and Hungary announced bans on some imports from Ukraine on Saturday. Slovakia said on Monday it would do the same and other countries in central and eastern Europe said they were also considering action.

Some Black Sea ports were blocked after Russias invasion of Ukraine began in February last year and logistical bottlenecks trapped large quantities of Ukrainian grain - cheaper than that produced in the European Union - in Central European countries.

Reuters reports.

The Black Sea (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Wife of jailed Putin critic says 25-year sentence is 'recognition' of his work

Monday 17 April 2023 16:58 , William Mata

The wife of Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza said on Monday that the 25-year prison sentence a Russian court handed him was recognition of the effectiveness of his work and showed that authorities fear him.

Evgenia Kara-Murza spoke at a Washington Post event about the sentence on charges of treason and other offences Kara-Murza denies committing.

State prosecutors also accused him of discrediting the Russian military after spreading "knowingly false information" about its conduct in what Moscow calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine.

"I understand that this sentence is the high recognition of the effectiveness of Vladimirs work," she said at the event that was streamed online, alongside an attorney for her husband.

"He has proven time and again that he would not back down, that he would not abandon his fight, that he would not betray his country and betray his ideals, that he would keep on fighting."

Opposition reporter Vladimir Kara-Murza (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Foreign office minister says further sanctions could follow after Vladimir Kara-Murza news

Monday 17 April 2023 16:52 , William Mata

Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell said officials are investigating the possibility of sanctioning everyone involved in the trial of British-Russian opposition leader Vladimir Kara-Murza.

He said the Government agrees with pretty much everything that (Tory MP Alician Kearns) has said, reiterating the Russian ambassador has been summoned and is expected to arrive shortly.

He said the UK is seeking to ensure consular access, and said: Her Majestys Government condemn the politically motivated sentencing of Mr Kara-Murza and of all those who speak out against Russias invasion of Ukraine.

He called for his release, and said politically the UK has been at the forefront of efforts to pressure Russian to release Mr Kara-Murza.

MP Andrew Mitchell (PA)

Czech Agriculture Ministry will not ban Ukrainian grain imports

Monday 17 April 2023 16:30 , William Mata

The market impact of Ukrainian grain imports to neighbouring countries needs a European Union-wide solution and not individual bans on imports like those taken in Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, the Czech Agriculture Ministry said on Monday.

The Czech Republic is for now not planning to ban imports of Ukrainian grain and other agricultural commodities from Ukraine, the ministry said in a statement.

Reporting by Reuters.

Pictures from Ukraine: Monday, April 17

Monday 17 April 2023 16:00 , William Mata

A woman collects Orthodox icons at a site of a church destroyed by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the village of Komyshuvakha, Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine (REUTERS)

Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) are seen during a swap, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, at an unknown location, Ukraine (via REUTERS)

Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) are seen after swap, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, at an unknown location (via REUTERS)

Russias foreign minister arrives in Brazil for Ukraine peace talks

Monday 17 April 2023 15:58 , William Mata

Russias Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived to the Brazilian capital on Monday as Brazils President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silvas pushes a diplomatic approach for peace in Ukraine that has irked both Kyiv and the West.

The meeting between Lavrov and his Brazilian counterpart Mauro Vieira was set in March, when they held a bilateral at the summit of the Group of 20 leading economies in New Dehli. They met Monday morning and, according to the foreign ministrys website, both will meet with Lula in the afternoon.

Lula has refused to provide weapons to Ukraine while proposing a club of nations including Brazil and China to mediate peace. On Sunday, he told reporters in Abu Dhabi that two nations - both Russia and Ukraine - had decided to go to war, and a day earlier in Beijing said the U.S. must stop stimulating the continued fighting and start discussing peace.

Earlier this month, he suggested Ukraine could cede Crimea to end the war, which the spokesperson for Ukraines foreign ministry, Oleg Nikolenko, rejected.

Sergey Lavrov arrives in Brazil (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Jailed journalist in good spirits after spying accusation

Monday 17 April 2023 15:35 , William Mata

Lynne Tracy, US ambassador to Russia, said on Monday she had made a first visit in jail to Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter accused by Moscow of spying, and had found him in good spirits.

This is the first time weve had consular access to Evan since his wrongful detention over two weeks ago. He feels well and is holding up. We reiterate our call for Evans immediate release, Tracy said in a short statement in Russian on Telegram - according to Reuters.

Gershkovich was arrested last month in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg. His newspaper and Washington have rejected the charge of espionage, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

Evan Gershkovich faces a maximum sentence of 20 years (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Temporary protection status to migrants drops

Monday 17 April 2023 15:30 , William Mata

The number of temporary protection status permits issued to Ukrainians in the European Union dropped in most member states in February, the bloc's statistics institute Eurostat said on Monday.

EU countries had issued over the course of 2022 more than 4 million permits to Ukrainian nationals, Eurostat data shows.

However, the influx seems to be gradually decreasing.

"The number of decisions granting temporary protection to Ukrainians in February fell in 19 of the 26 EU members with available data," Eurostat said.

Poland and Germany, each counting a total of about one million asylum seekers coming from Ukraine, saw in February a monthly drop of 3,540 and 3,080 permits to 24,905 and 25,125 respectively, the agency said.

Of them, more than 6,000 were under the age of 18 in Poland, and almost 8,000 in Germany.

Ukraine migrants (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Visit shows strengthening ties between Beijing and Moscow

Monday 17 April 2023 15:00 , William Mata

Chinas defense minister on Monday toured the top Russian military academy on a visit to the Russian capital that underscored the increasingly close ties between Moscow and Beijing amid the fighting in Ukraine.

Russian president Vladimir Putin hosted Gen. Li Shangfu in the Kremlin on Sunday, noting that his trip follows a very productive three-day state visit to Moscow by Chinese leader Xi Jinping last month.

Putin emphasized that defense cooperation, including joint military drills, has helped strengthen the trust-based strategic relationship between the two countries.

Russian president Vladimir Putin, Chinas defence minister Li Shangfu and Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu attend a meeting in Moscow, Russia, 16 April 2023 (EPA)

International condemnation for Russia over imprisonment of journalist

Monday 17 April 2023 14:15 , William Mata

French and Norweigan governments have also both condemned Russia over the sentencing of Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza to 25 years in prison for treason.

According to Reuters, France said the Russian justice system had become a tool for oppression, adding that the sentencing was another illustration of the Russian authorities' campaign of repression against all voices critical of the Russian leadership and its war of aggression against Ukraine.

Norwegian foreign minister Anniken Huitfeldt said in a statement: "This is a deeply alarming and harsh sentence for exercising the right to freedom of expression.

Vladimir Kara-Murza (The Moscow City Court)

Call for WSJ reporter to be released

Monday 17 April 2023 14:07 , William Mata

The United States and more than 40 other countries said in a joint statement on Monday that they are deeply concerned over Russias detainment of a Wall Street Journal reporter and protested Moscows efforts to limit and intimidate the media.

They also said in the statement due to be read at the United Nations later on Monday by US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield: We urge Russian Federation authorities to release those they hold on political grounds, and to end the draconian crackdown on freedom of expression, including against members of the media.

It is thought the statement relates to US reporter Evan Gershkovich (AP)

EU condemns sentencing of Vladimir Kara-Murza

Monday 17 April 2023 13:45 , William Mata

The European Union on Monday condemned the sentencing of Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza to 25 years in prison, describing the Russian court ruling as outrageous and politically motivated.

Todays outrageously harsh court decision clearly demonstrates yet again the political misuse of judiciary in order to pressure activists, human rights defenders and any voices opposing Russias illegitimate war of aggression against Ukraine, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement.

We call on Russia to immediately and unconditionally release all those imprisoned for politically motivated charges.

Josep Borrell with US secretary of state Anthony Blinken (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Ukraine rejects Iraq offer to mediate

Monday 17 April 2023 13:15 , William Mata

Ukraine foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba (AFP/Getty)

Iraq on Monday offered to mediate between Ukraine and Russia to try to find an end to the war in Europe, but Ukraine's top diplomat rejected the offer.

During a rare visit to Baghdad, foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba reiterated his country's position that it will not engage in any peace talks unless Russia withdraws from all Ukrainian territory.

The Kremlin wants Kyiv to acknowledge Russia's sovereignty over Crimea, which Moscow took over in 2014, and also to recognise September's annexation of the Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia.

Ukraine has rejected those demands and insists it will not hold talks with Russia until Moscow's troops pull back from all occupied territories.

Update: UK demands release of Kremlin critic

Monday 17 April 2023 12:16 , William Mata

I am appalled by the politically motivated conviction of Vladimir Kara-Murza, who has been detained for the last year for criticising Russias invasion of Ukraine, I reiterate my call for his release. https://t.co/sk0PLOVdwH  Leo Docherty MP (@LeoDochertyUK) April 17, 2023

The UK has demanded the release of a British-Russian opposition leader after he was sentenced to 25 years in prison by a court in Moscow.

Foreign secretary James Cleverly paid tribute to Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr for "bravely" denouncing Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

The Kremlin critic, who has twice survived poisonings, was convicted on charges of treason and denigrating the Russian military in what he denounced as a show trial.

Russian ambassador to the UK Andrei Kelin was summoned to the foreign office for a dressing down over Russia's human rights obligations, including the right to a fair trial.

In a statement, Mr Cleverly said: Vladimir Kara-Murza bravely denounced Russia's invasion of Ukraine for what it was - a blatant violation of international law and the UN Charter.

Russia's lack of commitment to protecting fundamental human rights, including freedom of expression, is alarming.

We continue to urge Russia to adhere to its international obligations, including Vladimir Kara-Murza's entitlement to proper healthcare.

I pay tribute to Mr Kara-Murza and his family, including his wife Evgenia and her unwavering commitment to raising her husband's cause on the international stage. The UK will continue to support them and to call for Mr Kara-Murza's immediate release.

Video explainer: Vladimir Kara-Murza: Putin critic found guilty of treason

Monday 17 April 2023 11:56 , William Mata

UN human rights boss: Release Kara-Murza

Monday 17 April 2023 11:51 , William Mata

Volker Turk, the United Nations human rights head, has called on Vladimir Putin to release his namesake and critic Vladimir Kara-Murza who has been jailed for 25 years.

The Guardian reported Turk as saying: No one should be deprived of their liberty for exercising their human rights, and I call on the Russian authorities to release him without delay.

The statement reportedly added that the sentence was another blow to the rule of law and civic space in Russia.

Vladimir Kara-Murza (getty)

Events so far: Midday on Monday

Monday 17 April 2023 11:30 , William Mata

Here are some of the events and key points that have happened so far on Monday:

- Russia will be free: Defiant Kremlin critic jailed for 25 years after denouncing Ukraine invasion

Opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza has sentenced to 25 years in prison by a Russian court over charges linked to his criticism of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

- Slovakia gives Ukraine remaining 9 of 13 promised warplanes,

Slovakia has delivered the remaining nine of the 13 Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets that it promised to Ukraine, the Slovak Defense Ministry said on Monday.

- Putin hails Russian navy's performance in Pacific drills,

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday hailed the military's performance during massive naval drills that have involved the entire Russian Pacific Fleet  a show of force amid the tensions with the West over the fighting in Ukraine.

Moscow: We face threats other than Ukraine'

Monday 17 April 2023 11:10 , William Mata

The Kremlin, asked about Japan's condemnation of exercises by Russia's Pacific Fleet, said that Moscow faces threats other than Ukraine, and that the drills were being held in accordance with international law.

Japan's chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Monday that Tokyo had lodged a protest with Russia over its military exercises around disputed islands near Japan's Hokkaido.

Mr Matsuno had raised his displeasure with the Russian troops performing drills at the disputed location.

Japans chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno (AP)

Full story: Russia will be free: Defiant Kremlin critic jailed for 25 years after denouncing Ukraine invasion

Monday 17 April 2023 10:55 , William Mata

Opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza has sentenced to 25 years in prison by a Russian court over charges linked to his criticism of Moscows invasion of Ukraine.

Read Chris Stevensons full story here.

Slovakia follows Poland and Hungary in halting grain import

Monday 17 April 2023 10:49 , William Mata

Slovakia will temporarily halt imports of grains and other selected products from Ukraine, a government spokesman said on Monday - Reuters has reported.

The decision, to be discussed in an expert meeting later on Monday, follows similar steps by Poland and Hungary.

Hungary could extend its import ban on Ukrainian grains beyond the current June 30 deadline if the EU does not take sufficient action to protect Hungarian farmers, Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture state secretary Sandor Farkas said on Monday.

Poland and Hungary announced bans on grain and other food imports from Ukraine on Saturday to protect their local agricultural sectors, drawing a warning from the EU's executive.

Who is Vladimir Kara-Murza and what did he do?

Monday 17 April 2023 10:37 , William Mata

Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza was convicted of treason by a Moscow court on Monday and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Who is he?

Mr Kara-Murza, 41, is a historian, journalist and opposition politician who holds Russian and British passports and studied in England at Cambridge University. He was a close associate of Boris Nemtsov, a leading opposition figure who was assassinated near the Kremlin in 2015, and continued to speak out against president Vladimir Putin despite the mounting risks.

What is he accused of?

Mr Kara-Murza was arrested in April 2022, hours after CNN broadcast an interview in which he said Russia was being run by a regime of murderers.

He was declared a foreign agent and accused of spreading false information about the actions of the Russian military in Ukraine in connection with a speech he had given the previous month in the Arizona House of Representatives, where he said Putin was dropping cluster bombs on residential areas, mothers homes, hospitals, and schools.

Prosecutors requested a 25-year jail term.

How did he respond to the charges?

The trial was held behind closed doors but Mr Kara-Murzas wife and lawyer released a copy of a speech he delivered to the court. He said he had done nothing wrong and compared the proceedings to Josef Stalins show trials of the 1930s.

Vladimir Kara-Murza (getty)

British government condemns politically motivated conviction of Vladimir Kara-Murza

Monday 17 April 2023 10:33 , William Mata

The British government on Monday summoned the Russian ambassador to make clear its condemnation of what it described as the politically motivated conviction and sentencing of outspoken Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza, a British dual national.

Mr Kara-Murza has spent years speaking out against President Vladimir Putin and lobbied Western governments to impose sanctions on Russia and individual Russians for purported human rights violations.

He was jailed for 25 years by a Moscow court on Monday after it found him guilty of treason and other offences he denied.

Russias lack of commitment to protecting fundamental human rights, including freedom of expression, is alarming, British foreign secretary James Cleverly said in a statement.

We continue to urge Russia to adhere to its international obligations including Vladimir Kara-Murzas entitlement to proper healthcare.

Britain has already sanctioned the judge that presided over the trial for previous involvement in human rights violations, and said it would consider further measures to hold to account those involved in Mr Kara-Murzas detention and mistreatment.

Foreign secretary James Cleverly (PA Wire)

Critic sentenced to 25 years in prison

Monday 17 April 2023 09:53 , William Mata

A Russian court on Monday sentenced Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza to 25 years in prison for treason, among other charges.

The journalist has previously been aligned to the opposition People's Freedom Party and has written books and produced films.

He was a close ally of John McCain and informed the United States senator on movements of Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Mr Kara-Murza was chosen to be a pallbearer for Mr McCains funeral in what was seen as a dig at Mr Putin and then US president Donald Trump, who had been criticised for his relationship with the Kremlin.

Reuters shared the announcement of his sentence on Monday.

Vladimir Kara-Murza will now spend 25 years behind bars (AFP)

Gazprombank expands in India while Japan complains of Russians training

Monday 17 April 2023 09:52 , William Mata

Gazprombank, one of Russias largest banks, has expanded its links in India - Reuters has reported.

Trade has surged between India and Russia since western sanctions began to be imposed in response to the Kremlins invasion of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, in Japan, chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said it had lodged a complaint with Russia about its troops completing military exercises around dispited islands.

The Guardian wrote that the training was being completed near the Hokkaido region.

Gazprombank is not subject to sanctions by the EU, and operating in Switzerland is facilitating rouble payments to Russia for gas for EU countries (REUTERS)

G7 leaders pledge tough stance on Russia

Monday 17 April 2023 09:22 , William Mata

Leaders are gathering in Japan (AP)

Top diplomats from the Group of Seven wealthy democracies (G7) are pledging a tough stance over Chinas increasing threats to Taiwan and North Koreas unchecked tests of long-range missiles, while building momentum on ways to boost support for Ukraine and punish Russia for its invasion.

Russias war in Ukraine will consume much of the agenda on Monday as the envoys gather in the Japanese hot spring resort town of Karuizawa for the second day of talks meant to pave the way for action by G7 leaders when they meet in Hiroshima next month.

According to a Japanese summary, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told his colleagues the world is at a turning point on the fighting in Ukraine and must firmly reject unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force, and Russias aggression against Ukraine and its threats of the use of nuclear weapons.

For the American delegation, the meeting comes at a crucial moment in the worlds response to Russias invasion of Ukraine and efforts to deal with China, two issues that G7 ministers from Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Italy and the European Union regard as potent challenges to the post-Second World War rules-based international order.

Russia completed imitation strikes on enemy

Monday 17 April 2023 08:52 , William Mata

Russian president Vladimir Putin, Chinas defence minister Li Shangfu and Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu attend a meeting in Moscow (EPA)

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Monday informed president Vladimir Putin about drills conducted by the Pacific Fleet, Reuters has reported.

In footage broadcast on state television, Shoigu was shown saying that the drills included "imitation strikes on enemy navy groups" in the Pacific.

Putin responded by saying that snap checks had shown the Pacific Fleet, which is based in Far Eastern Russia, was at a high level of readiness, and that Russia's priority was Ukraine.

The drills are occurring while Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu is visiting Moscow. On Sunday, he held a meeting with Putin.

Ukraine seeks re-opening of food transit via Poland at talks

Monday 17 April 2023 08:22 , William Mata

Grain transit on the Polish-Ukraine border (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Kyiv will aim to secure the re-opening of food and grain transit via Poland as a "first step" at talks in Warsaw on Monday, Ukraine's agriculture minister said, after Poland and Hungary announced bans on some imports from Ukraine.

Some Black Sea ports were blocked after Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year and large quantities of Ukrainian grain - which is cheaper than that produced in the European Union - ended up staying in Central European countries because of logistical bottlenecks. This hit prices and sales for local farmers.

Ukraine usually exports most of its agricultural goods, especially grain, via its Black Sea ports which were unblocked last July in line with an agreement between Ukraine, Turkey, Russia and the United Nations.

Risk of civilian mine incidents 'to increase'

Monday 17 April 2023 07:30 , Katy Clifton

The risk of civilian mine incidents is set to rise during spring, the Ministry of Defence has warned.

In its daily intelligence update on Monday, the MoD said that the incidents will rise as when more people get involved in agricultural activities.

It added: "Over 750 mine related casualties among civilians have been reported since the start of the invasion - one in eight has involved a child. It will likely take at least a decade to clear Ukraine of mines."

G7 diplomats reject Chinese, North Korean and Russian aggression

Monday 17 April 2023 07:00 , Namita Singh

Top diplomats from the Group of Seven wealthy democracies are vowing a tough stance on Chinas increasing threats to Taiwan and on North Koreas unchecked tests of long-range missiles, while building momentum on ways to boost support for Ukraine and punish Russia for its invasion.

Russias war in Ukraine will consume much of the agenda today as the envoys gather in the Japanese hot spring resort town of Karuizawa for a second day of talks meant to pave the way for action by G7 leaders when they meet next month in Hiroshima.

The world is at turning point on the fighting in Ukraine and must firmly reject unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force, and Russias aggression against Ukraine and its threats of the use of nuclear weapons, Japans foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told his colleagues, according to a Japanese summary.

More in this report:

G-7 envoys urge tough stance on Chinese, N Korean aggression

Putin praises relationship with China as he meets defence minister

Monday 17 April 2023 06:30 , Namita Singh

Russian president Vladimir Putin met with Chinas defence minister on Sunday, underscoring Beijings strengthening engagement with Moscow, with which it has largely aligned its foreign policy in an attempt to diminish the influence of the United States and other Western democracies.

Mr Putin and Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu met with general Li Shangfu less than a month after Chinese leader Xi Jinping held a three-day state visit to Moscow.

China has refused to criticise Russias military actions in Ukraine and blames the United States and Nato for provoking Moscow.

But Chinas foreign minister said last week that China would not be helping Russia with weapons, as the US and other Western allies have feared.

Russian president Vladimir Putin, Chinas defence minister Li Shangfu and Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu attend a meeting in Moscow, Russia, 16 April 2023 (EPA)

Officially, China remains neutral in the Ukraine conflict.

However, Mr Xis trip emphasised how China is increasingly becoming the senior partner in the relationship as it provides Russia with political cover and an economic lifeline during the Ukraine conflict.

In comments opening the meeting in Moscow, Mr Putin praised the general development of Russia-China relations.

We are also working actively through the military departments, regularly exchanging information that is useful to us, co-operating in the field of military-technical co-operation, conducting joint exercises, moreover, in different theatres: in the Far East region, and in Europe, and at sea, and on land and in the air, he said, according to the Kremlin.

Mr Li said that the countries relations outperform the military-political unions of the Cold War era. They rest on the principles of non-alignment, and are very stable.

EU leaders beat a path to Xi's door seeking China's help

Monday 17 April 2023 06:00 , Eleanor Noyce

In the weeks since Chinese leader Xi Jinping won a third five-year term as president, setting him on course to remain in power for life, leaders and diplomats from around the world have beaten a path to his door. None more so than those from Europe.

French President Emmanuel Macron made a high-profile state visit to Beijing last week accompanied by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, just days after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock arrived in the northeast port city of Tianjin on Thursday, following a visit by Chancellor Olaf Scholz in November. The European Unions foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, would have been in China this week, too, but he tested positive for COVID-19.

For the 27-nation trading bloc, the reasons to head to China are clear.

As an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Xi could play a pivotal role in helping to end the war in Ukraine. The conflict has dragged on for over a year, driven up energy prices and inflicted more damage on economies struggling to rebound from the coronavirus pandemic.

Lorne Cook reports:

EU leaders beat a path to Xi's door seeking China's help

Ukraine names Chinese manufacturers supplying components to Russia

Monday 17 April 2023 05:30 , Namita Singh

Ukraine was able to identify some manufacturers or suppliers and share that information with Western allies, said a senior adviser in president Volodymyr Zelenskys office.

Vladyslav Vlasiuk, who advises the presidents chief of staff on sanctions policy, named China North Industries Group (Norinco), a Chinese weapons maker, as one supplier and military supplier Xinxing Guangzhou Import & Export Co as another, without saying what they had supplied.

A member of staff at Norinco, who declined to give their name, said the company was not providing military equipment components to Russia.

Xinxing Guangzhou Import & Export Co did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This aerial view shows rescuers on top of a partially destroyed residential building, after a shelling in Sloviansk, on 14 April 2023, amid Russias military invasion on Ukraine (AFP via Getty Images)

Russias foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The top US diplomat Antony Blinken last month said China had not crossed that line yet of supplying Russia with lethal aid.

However, US officials are watching developments closely and are concerned, in particular, by so-called dual-use products, such as electronics that can be used in, say, a microwave or a missile.

We and our partner governments are relentlessly focused on restricting Russias access to key technologies that fuel its brutality in Ukraine, said a senior State Department official. We will continue to take action to degrade Putins war machine.

China enjoys normal trade cooperation with all countries, says Beijing

Monday 17 April 2023 05:00 , Namita Singh

China has responded to claims from Ukraine that more Chinese components are appearing in Russian weapons, without categorically denying the accusation.

Asked whether Chinese companies had provided parts for Russian military hardware, Chinas foreign ministry spokespersons office told Reuters: Throughout history, China has launched normal trade cooperation with all countries, including Russia, on the basis of equality and mutual benefit.

As for military item exports, China has throughout adopted a prudent and responsible attitude. Chinas position and actions have always been this way.

Ukraine says it is finding more Chinese components in Russian weapons

Monday 17 April 2023 04:35 , Namita Singh

Ukrainian forces are finding a growing number of components from China in Russian weapons used in Ukraine, a senior adviser in president Volodymyr Zelenskys office told Reuters, as Western supplies are squeezed by sanctions.

In the weapons recovered from the battlefield we continue to find different electronics, said Vladyslav Vlasiuk, who advises the presidents chief of staff on sanctions policy.

The trend is now that there is less Western-made components but more  not hard (to) guess which country  made components. Of course, China, he said.

Ukrainian BMP infantry fighting vehicles ride along a street in the town of Chasiv Yar, Donetsk region, on 16 April 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine (AFP via Getty Images)

China has repeatedly denied sending military equipment to Russia since Moscows all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The assault triggered Western sanctions, including on sending military and dual-use technology such as microchips that could be used in either ordinary appliances or weapons.

Intelligence gathered by Ukrainian experts from the battlefield and shared with Reuters stated that Chinese-made components were found in a navigation system in Orlan aerial drones that had previously used a Swiss system.

The experts also reported finding Chinese parts in the fire control system in Russian tanks that had earlier used French-made parts.

Reuters could not independently verify the intelligence, including whether the components mentioned may have been intended for non-military use or whether they were moved to Russia by a third party.

Were picking (up) a lot of different stuff, China made, Mr Vlasiuk said.

Putin meets with Chinas defense minister in Moscow

Monday 17 April 2023 04:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Chinas defense minister on Sunday, underscoring Beijings strengthening engagement with Moscow, with which it has largely aligned its foreign policy in an attempt to diminish the influence of the United States and other Western democracies.

Putin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu met with Gen. Li Shangfu less than a month after Chinese leader Xi Jinping held a three-day state visit to Moscow.

China has refused to criticize Russias military actions in Ukraine and blames the United States and NATO for provoking Moscow. But Chinas foreign minister said last week that China wouldnt be helping Russia with weapons, as the U.S. and other Western allies have feared.

Officially, China remains neutral in the Ukraine conflict. However, Xis trip emphasized how China is increasingly becoming the senior partner in the relationship as it provides Russia with political cover and an economic lifeline during the Ukraine conflict.

In comments opening the meeting, Putin praised the general development of Russia-China relations.

Read more:

Putin meets with China's defense minister in Moscow

Evan Gershkovich pens letter home from Russian prison: I am not losing hope

Monday 17 April 2023 02:00 , Eleanor Noyce

In case you missed it...

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has sent his first letter home after being detained and imprisoned by Russian intelligence forces.

Mr Gershkovich, 31, has been accused Russian officials of engaging in espionage. The reporter has categorically denied the allegations.

In his letter home, Mr Gershkovich said he was optimistic, looked forward to seeing his family, and poked fun at Russian prison food, according to the Wall Street Journal.

I want to say that I am not losing hope, he wrote. I read. I exercise. And I am trying to write. Maybe, finally, I am going to write something good.

The letter was addressed to his family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and dated 5 April. His mother told the paper that he tried to comfort them by adding humour to the note, joking about her cooking.

Read more:

Evan Gershkovich pens letter home from Russian prison: I am not losing hope

Ukraines foreign minister to visit Iraq for first time since Russias invasion

Monday 17 April 2023 01:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Ukraines foreign minister is to visit Iraq for the first time since Russias invasion in February 2022.

Dmytro Kuleba will land in Baghdad on Monday, AFP reports. Here, he is expected to hold talks with Iraqs foreign minister alongside Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani.

Last week, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky held a telephone call with Mr Sudani.

Notably, Iraq has adopted a neutral stance since Russias invasion of Ukraine, maintaining economic ties with both nations.

Russia attempting to deport Ukrainian children in occupied zone, Ukrainian official claims

Sunday 16 April 2023 23:49 , Eleanor Noyce

Russia is attempting to deport children in the occupied city of Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine, a Ukrainian military spokesperson has said.

According to CNN, Oleksii Dmytrashkivskyi made the claim on Ukrainian national TV. Some children were reportedly taken from their families and transported to Crimea in buses, Sky News reports.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin last month, citing an alleged scheme to deport Ukrainian children to Russia.

14-year-old girl rescued from rubble following Russian rocket attack

Sunday 16 April 2023 19:57 , Eleanor Noyce

A 14-year-old girl has been rescued from the rubble following a Russian rocket attack in eastern Ukraine, Sky News reports.

Russian forces destroyed a five-storey building in Slovyansk, Donetsk on Friday. The bodies of two men were also retrieved from the ruins on Sunday afternoon, bringing the death toll up to 15.

A further 24 people have been injured, with the strike further hitting flats, cars and houses across the city.

Putin hails military cooperation in meeting with Chinese defence minister - Reuters

Sunday 16 April 2023 19:15 , Eleanor Noyce

On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu in Moscow, notably hailing the military cooperation between the two nations.

Footage of the meeting posted by the Kremlin showed Putin shaking hands with Li. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu was also present.

Development of relations between our two nations is going well in all areas -- in the economy, social, cultural and educational sectors, and in military departments, Putin said in opening remarks.

Beijing had previously announced Lis visit to Moscow last week, but made no mention of a meeting with Mr Putin.

Americas latest intel leak is more Jim Carrey than James Bond', writes Borzou Daragahi

Sunday 16 April 2023 18:46 , Eleanor Noyce

Its like the plot of a John le Carre novel, if spymaster George Smileys people were a clique of confused, pimple-faced gamers. Or James Bond, if 007 were a peach-fuzz-faced lad asked by the bartender for proof of age every time he ordered his vesper martini.

Shaken, not stirred.

Er, how about an apple juice instead, son?

This week came the revelation that Americas latest intelligence breach was not the work of a crafty Russian mole seeking to undermine the US, nor even a wannabe do-gooder hoping to strike a blow against the abuses of Americas deep state. He was Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guard IT specialist who leaked documents to impress his buddies  a couple of dozen young video game and gun aficionados on an online message board.

Perhaps the key to uncovering Americas most precious secrets is not to graduate with a journalism degree, but to join a group of teenagers on a messaging board trading tips about guns and video games, writes Borzou Daragahi:

Americas latest intel leak is more Jim Carrey than James Bond | Borzou Daragahi

Easter: church head laments conflict in 'historical' Russia

Sunday 16 April 2023 18:15 , Martha Mchardy

Worshipers including President Vladimir Putin crowded into Moscows vast Christ the Savior Cathedral for Easter services led by Russian Orthodox Church head Patriarch Kirill, a supporter of Russias military actions in Ukraine.

The services began late Saturday and were to extend long into Sunday as phalanxes of white-robed clerics circulated through the cathedral swinging smoking censers and a choir sang and chanted.

Most Western churches observed Easter on April 9, but the Russian Orthodox Church follows a different calendar.

Father Sergiy blesses traditional Easter cakes and painted eggs in preparation for an Easter celebration service during the Great Holy Saturday at the Church of the Annunciation of the Holy Virgin in Sokolniki in Moscow, Russia (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Parishioners wait for communion after the religion service in preparation for an Easter celebration service during the Great Holy Saturday at the Church of the Annunciation of the Holy Virgin in Sokolniki in Moscow, Russia (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

In a video message broadcast on state televison before the start of the service, Kirill lamented the grave events taking place on our Russian historical land,  echoing the claim of Putin and other Russian officials that an independent Ukraine is essentially a fiction.

Kirill called for prayers so that peace and a common good life, fraternal relations again unite our peoples, who were once the one people of united Russia.

Putin was shown among the standing worshipers, holding a thin red candle.

EU says unilateral action on trade unacceptable after grain import bans

Sunday 16 April 2023 17:45 , Martha Mchardy

Unilateral action on trade by European Union member states is unacceptable, a European Commission spokesperson said on Sunday, after Poland and Hungary announced bans on grain and other food imports from Ukraine to protect the local agricultural sector.

After Russias invasion blocked some Black Sea ports, large quantities of Ukrainian grain, which is cheaper than that produced in the European Union, ended up staying in Central European states due to logistical bottlenecks, hitting prices and sales for local farmers.

The issue has created a political problem for Polands ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party in an election year as it has angered people in rural areas where support for PiS is usually high.

We are aware of Poland and Hungarys announcements regarding the ban on imports of grain and other agricultural products from Ukraine, the spokesperson said in an emailed statement. In this context, it is important to underline that trade policy is of EU exclusive competence and, therefore, unilateral actions are not acceptable.

In such challenging times, it is crucial to coordinate and align all decisions within the EU, the statement added.

The Polish ban, which came into effect on Saturday evening, will also apply to the transit of these products through the country, the development and technology minister said on Sunday.

The ban is full, including the ban on transit through Poland, Waldemar Buda wrote on Twitter, adding that talks would be held with the Ukrainian side to create a system that ensures goods only pass through Poland and do not end up on the local market.

Ukraines ministry of agrarian policy and food said on Saturday that the Polish ban contradicted existing bilateral agreements on exports, and called for talks to settle the issue.

Ukraines state-run Ukrinform news agency said Ukrainian and Polish ministers are due to meet on Monday in Poland and the transit arrangement would be focused on in the talks.

Polands Agriculture Minister Robert Telus was quoted as saying on Sunday that the ban was necessary to open the eyes of the EU to the fact that further decisions are needed that will allow products from Ukraine to go deep into Europe, and not stay in Poland.

Ukraine exports most of its agricultural goods, especially grain, via its Black Sea ports, unblocked in July in line with an agreement between Ukraine, Turkey, Russia and the United Nations.

Around 3 million tonnes of grain left Ukraine every month via the Black Sea grain corridor while only up to 200,000 tonnes are moving to European ports through Polish territory, according to the Ukrainian ministry.

Ukraines farm minister Mykola Solsky said at the weekend that 500,000 to 700,000 tonnes of various agricultural products cross the Polish border every month, including grain, vegetable oil, sugar, eggs, meat and other products.

Dozens of POWs freed as Ukraine marks Orthodox Easter

Sunday 16 April 2023 17:15 , Martha Mchardy

More than 100 Ukrainian prisoners of war have been released as part of a major Easter exchange with Russia, a top official said Sunday, as Orthodox Ukrainians marked the holiday for a second time since Moscow unleashed its brutal full-scale war last February.

While celebrations were subdued due to security risks, with a curfew barring the faithful from customary all-night services, Ukrainian authorities and ordinary people shared messages of hope, linking the story of Jesus resurrection to their longing for peace and a Ukrainian victory.

Dozens of families had special reasons to rejoice, as presidential adviser Andriy Yermak announced that 130 soldiers, sailors, border guards and others captured by Moscow were on their way back home following a big Easter prisoner exchange.

Yermak said in a Telegram post Sunday that those released included troops who fought near Bakhmut, the eastern mining city which has for months been the focus of Russias grinding offensive.

The lives of our people are the highest value for us, Yermak said, adding that Kyivs goal was to bring back all remaining POWs.

There was no immediate information on how many Russian prisoners were released, but the press service of the founder of the Wagner Group, the Kremlin-affiliated paramilitary force whose fighters are prominent in eastern Ukraine, also released a video Sunday showing Ukrainian prisoners of war being readied for an exchange.

The video, published on the Telegram messaging service, features Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin instructing a soldier to prepare the Ukrainian captives to leave Russian-controlled territory by lunchtime on Sunday. The POWs are then shown boarding trucks and walking along a road.

Hanna Arhirova reports:

Dozens of POWs freed as Ukraine marks Orthodox Easter

Brazil's Lula calls for 'peace group' to broker Ukraine-Russia deal

Sunday 16 April 2023 16:44 , Martha Mchardy

Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Sunday again proposed establishing a group of countries not involved with the Russia-Ukraine war to broker peace, saying he had discussed the matter with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping earlier this week.

I think we need to sit on a table and say, thats enough, lets start talking because war never brought and will never bring any benefit to humanity, said president Lula, who has been critical of the United States and the European Union for their role in the conflict.

The Brazilian president told reporters in Abu Dhabi, where he finished a trip to Asia, that he was trying to gather a group of leaders that prefer to talk about peace rather than war.

Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (AP)

He cited Xi and the president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, both of whom he met this week.

President Lula had previously said the group should gather countries not encouraging war, adding that nations that are supplying weapons should be convinced to stop doing so.

The United States and the European Union have been providing Ukraine with weapons and other support since Russia invaded the neighbouring country more than a year ago. Germany earlier this year reportedly asked Brazil to supply arms as well, but president Lula refused.

The Brazilian president repeated that the decision to start war was made by two countries, appearing to also place some blame on Ukraine, and added that ending it will be harder as more nations would need to be persuaded.

We are trying to form a group of countries that have no kind of involvement with the war to talk to Russia and Ukraine, but also the U.S. and EU, to convince people that peace is the best way to establish a process of conversation, president Lula said.

Mr Lula had a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy earlier this year. On Monday, his administration will host Russias Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Brasilia.

Putin admits he is facing serious challenges

Sunday 16 April 2023 15:40 , Tara Cobham

Russian President Vladimir Putin has admitted he is facing serious challenges as he celebrates the second Orthodox Easter of his war with Ukraine.

The wonderful, beloved Easter holiday gives believers hope, inspires good thoughts and deeds, and serves to affirm high moral ideals and values in society, said Putin, who is waging a war on Ukraine that is feared to have already killed more than 200,000 people.

The Church has always been together with the people, sharing joys and hardships with them. And today, in the face of serious challenges, it is actively involved in the affairs of mercy and charity, helping people find a strong spiritual support.

Putin attended an Easter service conducted by the Russian Orthodox Church, which has strongly backed the Kremlin leaders decision to invade Ukraine, on Sunday.

Putin, dressed in a dark suit, white shirt and dark purple tie, stood to one side in Moscows Christ the Saviour Cathedral, holding a lit red candle, live images of the midnight service showed. He also attended last year.

The Russian leader crossed himself several times during the ceremony, known as the Divine Liturgy. When Patriarch Kirill announced Christ has risen, Putin joined the other members of the congregation with the reply Truly he is risen. He otherwise did not speak.

Kirills statements backing Russias invasion, which Kyiv and Western nations condemn as an act of aggression, have splintered the worldwide Orthodox Church.

In January, Putin praised the church for supporting Moscows forces fighting in Ukraine in an Orthodox Christmas message designed to rally people behind his vision of modern Russia.

The Russian leader crossed himself several times during the Easter ceremony (AFP)

Polish ban on Ukrainian grain imports to apply to transit

Sunday 16 April 2023 12:28 , Tara Cobham

A Polish ban on imports of Ukrainian grain and other food will also apply to the transit of these products through the country, the development and technology minister said on Sunday.

Poland and Hungary said on Saturday that they had decided to ban imports from neighbouring Ukraine to protect the local agricultural sector after a flood of supply depressed prices across the region. The Polish ban came into effect on Saturday evening.

"The ban is full, including the ban on transit through Poland," Waldemar Buda wrote on Twitter, adding that talks would be held with the Ukrainian side to create a system that ensures goods only pass through Poland and do not end up on the local market.

Ukraine's ministry of agrarian policy and food said on Saturday that the Polish ban contradicted existing bilateral agreements on exports, and called for talks to settle the issue.

After Russia's invasion blocked some Black Sea ports, large quantities of Ukrainian grain, which is cheaper than that produced in the European Union, ended up staying in Central European states due to logistical bottlenecks, hitting prices and sales for local farmers.

The issue has created a political problem for Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party in an election year as it has angered people in rural areas where support for the party is usually high.

Wagner releases 100 Ukrainian prisoners of war for Easter

Sunday 16 April 2023 10:48 , Tara Cobham

Wagner, Russias most powerful mercenary group, sent at least 100 Ukrainian prisoners of war back to Ukrainian forces to mark Orthodox Easter, according to a video posted by the group's founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, on Sunday.

"Prepare all of them, feed and water them, check the wounded," Prigozhin was shown saying in a video posted on Telegram by his press service.

A group of Ukrainian prisoners was then shown being told that they would be passed back to Ukrainian forces to mark Orthodox Easter.

"I hope you don't fall back into our hands," an armed Wagner soldier was told telling the men before they were ordered into a truck, some loading packs of water bottles.

More than 100 men, some limping and some being carried on stretchers by their comrades, were shown making their way in line along a muddy road as a man standing on a tank held a white flag.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said 130 Ukrainian prisoners of war have been released and returned home in a "great Easter exchange". It was not clear how many Russians were sent back the other way.

Russia's Wagner Group has been gradually pushing out Ukrainian forces from Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. Wagner now claims control of most of the city, though Ukraine has repeatedly disputed claims its forces have almost been pushed out.

Prigozhin was shown greeting refugees in the city, including a boy named Vladimir, before they were evacuated. The people appeared to be sleeping in a cramped underground cellar of some kind. Prigozhin handed out chocolate bars to the children.

Wagner Group owner Yevgeny Prigozhin (left, with Russian President Vladimir Putin) made the announcement in a video released on Sunday (AP)

YouTube hosting videos glorifying and fundraising for Wagner'

Sunday 16 April 2023 08:42 , Tara Cobham

YouTube is hosting videos glamorising and raising funds for the Wagner Group, it has been reported, leading to claims the platform could have breached sanctions law.

Multiple propaganda clips feature on the video and social media platform glorifying the Russian private military company accused of war crimes, reported The Sunday Times. The videos also raise money for ammunition for the mercenaries, who have been accused of rape, torture and murder in Ukraine and elsewhere. The clips, which include rap songs, even encourage viewers to join the paramilitary organisation, which include tens of thousands of convicts from jails in Russia and Africa.

The group, which is leading the bloodiest battle of the war in Bakhmut, eastern Ukraine, has been sanctioned by many western governments, with the US designating it a transnational criminal organisation and the UK sanctioning its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Experts said YouTube, which is owned by Google, could be breaching sanctions law. Jonathan Winer, a former deputy assistant US secretary of state for international law enforcement, told The Sunday Times: Tech platforms like YouTube do not get a free pass in providing services to sanctioned entities like the Wagner Group.

The algorithm of YouTube, which is owned by Google, also appears to be fuelling pro-Russian disinformation, evidenced by the platform directing viewers to more violent Wagner videos after the previous one ends.

The clips also seem to break the platforms community guidelines, which ban content praising or justifying violent acts carried out by violent extremist, criminal, or terrorist organisations.

One recruitment promotional video is of dancing balaclava-clad mercenaries chanting the lyrics: War is our element / Come on, Russia, get up / Come on Russia / Come on, Wagner play / Its the breath of Armageddon / This is the birth of a new country / Russia, rise under the holy banners / Holy banners of holy war.

A YouTube spokeswoman told The Sunday Times: Content intended to praise, promote, or aid violent extremist or criminal organisations is not allowed on YouTube. Google is committed to compliance with US sanctions laws and enforces related policies unader its terms of service.

Unprecedented bloody battles in Bakhmut, says Ukraine

Sunday 16 April 2023 07:27 , Tara Cobham

Bloody battles unprecedented in recent decades are taking place between Ukrainian and Russian armed forces in the eastern city of Bakhmut, but pro-Kyiv forces are still holding on, Ukraines military reported on Saturday.

Fighters of Russias Wagner mercenary group also captured two more areas of Bakhmut, Russias Defence Ministry said earlier on Saturday, but the report could not be independently confirmed.

Serhiy Cherevatyi, a spokesperson for Ukraines eastern military command, told the 1+1 television channel: Bloody battles unprecedented in recent decades are taking place in the middle of the citys urban area.

Our soldiers are doing everything in bloody and fierce battles to grind down [the enemys] combat capability and break its morale. Every day, in every corner of this city, they are successfully doing so.

As Russia launched a renewed assault in Bakhmut, Ukrainian troops had been forced to cede some territory there, the UK said in an intelligence update on Friday.

The extraordinarily bloody fighting comes as the death toll from a Russian attack on residential buildings in nearby Sloviansk rose to 11. Russian missiles hit residential buildings in the eastern Ukrainian on Friday, killing 11 people, wounding 21 and reducing parts of apartment blocks to a tangled mess of metal and concrete.

Russia should pay for damage caused in Ukraine, US treasury secretary says

Sunday 16 April 2023 06:40 , Vishwam Sankaran

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says Russia should pay for the damage caused in Ukraine during Moscows invasion.

Ms Yellen said talks are ongoing on the potential mechanisms to make that happen.

Thats a responsibility that I think the global community expects Russia to bear. This is something were discussing with our partners, but there are legal constraints on what we can do with frozen Russian assets, she said in an interview with CNNs Fareed Zakaria.

Finland unveils first section of fence under construction along border with Russia

Sunday 16 April 2023 06:20 , Vishwam Sankaran

Finland has unveiled the first section of its barbed-wired fence under construction along its long border with Russia, mainly meant to curb illegal migration.

The Finnish Border Guard showcased the building of the initial 3km (1.8 mile) stretch of the fence on Friday less than two weeks after the Nordic country joined NATO as the 31st member of the military alliance.

The borders construction was approved last year amid wide political support mainly to prevent illegal immigration from Russia.

In 2015-2016, as a show of its strength Moscow organise large numbers of asylum-seekers, mostly from Afghanistan, Iraq, and other Middle Eastern countries, to northern Finnish crossing points.

Putin signs bill allowing electronic conscription notices

Sunday 16 April 2023 06:00 , Eleanor Noyce

In case you missed it...

Russian President Putin has signed a bill allowing authorities to issue electronic notices to draftees and reservists amid the fighting in Ukraine. The bill signed into law by Putin was published Friday on the official register of government documents.

Russias military service rules previously required the in-person delivery of notices to conscripts and reservists who are called up for duty. Under the new law, the notices issued by local military conscription offices will continue to be sent by mail but they would be considered valid from the moment they are put on a state portal for electronic services.

In the past, many Russians avoided the draft by staying away from their address of record. The new law closes that loophole in an apparent effort to create a tool for quickly beefing up the military ahead of a widely anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive in the coming weeks.

Recipients who fail to show up for service would be prohibited from leaving Russia, would have their drivers licenses suspended and would be barred from selling their apartments and other assets.

Read more:

Putin signs bill allowing electronic conscription notices

Brazil's president says US should stop 'encouraging war'

Sunday 16 April 2023 05:40 , Vishwam Sankaran

After his China visit and meeting his counterpart in Beijing, Brazils president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the US should stop encouraging war in Ukraine.

The US needs to stop encouraging war and start talking about peace. The European Union needs to start talking about peace, Mr Lula said, according to AFP.

With that, he said, the international community could convince the Russian and Ukrainian presidents that peace is in the interest of the whole world.

Zelensky discusses China over phone call with Macron

Sunday 16 April 2023 05:20 , Vishwam Sankaran

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said he had an hour and a half phone call yesterday with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, discussing the latters recent visit to China.

Mr Macron made a three-day visit to China earlier this month along with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hoping to talk the Chinese president out of supporting Russia in its invasion of Ukraine.

The time is not for negotiations, even if we prepare them, we have to set milestones, the French president said after his China visit.

Over the phone call, Mr Zelensky said he also discussed the need for Ukraine to obtain effective security guarantees even before our country joins (NATO) with Mr Macron.

From Putins health to spying on allies: Five key takeaways from leaked Pentagon documents

Sunday 16 April 2023 05:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Highly classified military documents shedding light on American intelligence gathered about other countries were released online this week, sending the Pentagon into full-speed damage control to assure allies and assess the scope of the leak.

On Thursday, armed FBI officers arrested a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard. Authorities raided the home of 21-year-old Jack Teixeira  who worked in cyber security for the Guard  and took him into custody.

The information has apparently highlighted potential vulnerabilities in Ukraines air defence capabilities and exposed private assessments by allies on an array of intelligence matters, raising questions about whether the leak will erode allies trust in sharing information with the US or affect Ukraines strategic combat plans.

My colleague Tara Cobham reports:

What was in the Pentagon leak?

Ukraine pushes back on Poland's food grain import ban

Sunday 16 April 2023 04:40 , Vishwam Sankaran

Following Polands move to temporarily ban grain and other food imports from Ukraine to soothe its own farmers, Ukrainian agriculture minister has said the decision violates an agreement reached earlier this month.

The Ukrainian minister Mykola Solskyi said during a briefing that he hopes the issue would be resolved in a week.

We understand this tough competition, which resulted from the blockade of Ukrainian ports. But, it is obvious  for the whole world and for any person in this world  that the Ukrainian farmer is in the most difficult situation. And we ask the Polish side to take this into account, Mr Solskyi said, according to local news.

Considering our strong firm and ongoing cooperation with the Polish side...I hope that we will reach an agreement early next week, he added.

Russia trained Belarusian pilots in nuclear weapons use

Sunday 16 April 2023 04:00 , Martha Mchardy

Belarusian air force crews have completed their training for using tactical nuclear weapons as part of Russias plan to deploy the weapons to its ally Belarus amid the fighting in neighboring Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said Friday.

The ministry released a video in which a Belarusian pilot said that the training course in Russia had given the crews of the Belarusian air forces Su-25 ground attack jets the necessary skills for using the weapons.

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared last month that Moscow planned to put some of its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. It was another attempt by the Kremlin leader to dangle the nuclear threat to discourage the West from supporting Ukraine.

Read the full story:

Russia trained Belarusian pilots in nuclear weapons use

Hungary temporarily bans food imports from Ukraine

Sunday 16 April 2023 03:38 , Vishwam Sankaran

Following Poland, Hungary has also banned the import of food grains and agricultural products from Ukraine to soothe its own farmers.

The government is committed to representing the interests of the Hungarian farming community, which is why, in the absence of meaningful European Union measures, it is temporarily prohibiting the import of grain and oilseeds originating from or coming from Ukraine, Hungarian Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy said.

Since the beginning of Russias invasion of Ukraine, cheap Ukrainian grain has been flooding the market in Europe, helped by the EU waiving customs duties and import quotas to help keep Ukraines agricultural sector running.

The import restrictions are to last until 30 June, which the minister said should be enough time for the EU to introduce measures.

Poland prohibits food imports from Ukraine to soothe farmers

Sunday 16 April 2023 03:00 , Martha Mchardy

Polands government said Saturday that it has decided to temporarily prohibit grain and other food imports from Ukraine as it seeks to soothe the rising anger of Polish farmers, who say they are losing huge amounts of money to a glut of Ukrainian grain on the market.

Ruling party leader JarosAaw KaczyAski said at a party convention in eastern Poland that the Polish countryside is facing a moment of crisis, and that while Poland supports Ukraine, it was forced to act to protect its farmers.

Today, the government has decided on a regulation that prohibits the importation of grain, but also dozens of other types of food, to Poland, KaczyAski said.

Read the full story:

Poland prohibits food imports from Ukraine to soothe farmers

Watch: Clean-up efforts underway after volcanic eruption buries Russian villages in ash - ICYMI

Sunday 16 April 2023 02:00 , Martha Mchardy

James Cleverly to discuss support for Ukraine at G7 ministers' meeting

Sunday 16 April 2023 01:30 , Eleanor Noyce

James Cleverly will use a trip to the G7 foreign ministers meeting in Japan, and then to the Pacific Islands and New Zealand, to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific.

The Foreign Secretary and his counterparts from the Group of Seven of the worlds advanced economies begin their three-day gathering in Karuizawa on Sunday, ahead of the G7 leaders summit in Hiroshima in May.

Discussions are expected to focus on support for Ukraine in its fight against Russias invasion, and closer security and defence ties in the face of Chinas growing assertiveness in the Pacific.

Ahead of his travels, Mr Cleverly said: With increasing competition in the region, it is more important than ever that we promote a free and open Indo-Pacific.

It is critical to the UK, to our economy, our security and our values.

Throughout my visit, I will build on commitments to our friends across the Pacific nations in their bid to promote peace and prosperity in the region.

In pictures: Eleven killed in Russian rocket attack in eastern Ukraine - ICYMI

Sunday 16 April 2023 01:00 , Martha Mchardy

A rescuer searches for survivors in a partially destroyed residential building, after a shelling in Sloviansk, on April 14, 2023 (AFP via Getty Images)

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire as they look for potential victims after today Russian rocket attack in Sloviansk, Donetsk region, Ukraine (AP)

A local resident looks at his home, damaged in today Russian rocket attack in Sloviansk, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Friday (AP)

Putin signs bill allowing electronic conscription notices

Sunday 16 April 2023 00:00 , Martha Mchardy

Russian President Putin has signed a bill allowing authorities to issue electronic notices to draftees and reservists amid the fighting in Ukraine. The bill signed into law by Putin was published Friday on the official register of government documents.

Russias military service rules previously required the in-person delivery of notices to conscripts and reservists who are called up for duty. Under the new law, the notices issued by local military conscription offices will continue to be sent by mail but they would be considered valid from the moment they are put on a state portal for electronic services.

In the past, many Russians avoided the draft by staying away from their address of record. The new law closes that loophole in an apparent effort to create a tool for quickly beefing up the military ahead of a widely anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive in the coming weeks.

Read the full story:

Putin signs bill allowing electronic conscription notices

NATO member Finland breaks ground on Russia border fence

Saturday 15 April 2023 23:00 , Martha Mchardy

The construction of barbed-wired fence along Finlands long border with Russia - primarily meant to curb illegal migration - has broken ground near the southeastern town of Imatra less than two weeks after the Nordic country joined NATO as the 31st member of the military alliance.

The Finnish Border Guard on Friday showcased the building of the initial three kilometer (1.8 mile) stretch of the fence to be erected in Pelkola near a crossing point off Imatra, a quiet lakeside town of some 25,000 people.

Finlands 1,340 kilometer (832 mile) border with Russia is the longest of any European Union member.

Read the full story:

NATO member Finland breaks ground on Russia border fence

Spring call-up is running as planned, Russia confirms

Saturday 15 April 2023 22:45 , Eleanor Noyce

Russias regular spring military draft campaign is going ahead as scheduled, with no new plans to send out mass electronic notices under a system recently signed into law by President Vladimir Putin.

The announcement was made by Colonel Andrei Biryukov, an official in an armed forces department responsible for the draft. The statement appeared to be aimed at quelling speculation that Russia may quickly use the new system to launch another mass call-up for the war in Ukraine.

Russia is currently in the process of calling up 147,000 men aged 18 to 27 between 1 April and 15 July to perform compulsory military service as part of its longstanding twice-yearly conscription cycle.

Biryukov said the first conscripts would be dispatched to permanent deployment points on the territory of the Russian Federation from 20 April.

He emphasised that some people were still entitled to defer their military service, and said there would be no mass mailings of new electronic summonses to people of conscript age.

Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal discusses countrys future in Washington DC

Saturday 15 April 2023 02:30 , Sam Rkaina

Ukraines prime minister Denys Shmyhal made an address in Washington DC today (14 April), ahead of the countrys risky decision to launch a counteroffensive in the ongoing war with Russia.

The timing also closely aligns with a classified documents leak, sharing the plans for both Ukraine and Russia as the invasion moves forward.

Yesterday (13 April), Shmyhal welcomed the continuous, ironclad and unprecedented support of the United States, insisting that Ukraine had accounted for every dollar it had received in help.

The prime minister now plans to focus on Ukraines reconstruction, and restoring it to its pre-war state.

Energy, humanitarian demining, housing, critical and social infrastructure, and private sector development were all seated firmly at the top of his list of priorities.

Five people and 17 wounded in Russian missile strike on Sloviansk

Friday 14 April 2023 18:42 , Sam Rkaina

A Russian missile has struck the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk, killing at least five people and wounding 17, officials said.

Ukraines National Police, in a post on Telegram, put the death toll at five after S-300 missiles damaged 10 apartment buildings and other sites.

A senior official in President Volodymyr Zelenskys office, Daria Zarivna, said a child pulled alive from the site of the attack had died on the way to a hospital.

Donetsk Region Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said seven people were believed to have been trapped under rubble.

The evil state once again demonstrates its essence, Zelenskiy wrote in a separate post accompanied by footage of a damaged building. Just killing people in broad daylight. Ruining, destroying all life.

The police said the two top floors of a five-storey building had collapsed after the strike and a fire had broken out opposite the site.

Rescue teams were combing through the affected area. Sloviansk is one of two eastern cities coveted by Russian forces, currently bogged down in nearby Bakhmut, as they push ahead with their invasion of Ukraine.
By Pavel Polityuk

KYIV (Reuters) -Kyiv said on Monday a U.N.-brokered initiative allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain was in danger of "shutdown" after Russia blocked inspections of participating ships in Turkish waters.

Ukrainian Black Sea ports were blockaded after Russia's invasion last year, but access to three of them was cleared last July under a deal between Moscow and Kyiv that was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey.

The agreement - intended to help ease a global food crisis - was extended last month, but Ukraine said the number of cargo ships passing through the Bosporus carrying Ukrainian agricultural products was critically low.

"For the second time in 9 months of operation of the Grain Initiative, an inspection plan (for participating vessels) has not been drawn up, and not a single vessel has been inspected," Ukraine's restoration ministry said on Facebook under the headline "Grain initiative under threat of shutdown."

Highlighting the bottleneck in the Bosporus, Bridget Brink, the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, said on Twitter over 50 ships were awaiting approval to go to Ukrainian ports "to load grain that will feed those who need it."

Russia did not respond to Brink's or the ministry's comments, but the Kremlin said prospects for a renewal of the grain deal were "not so bright".

Moscow says a separate deal, under which the U.N. agreed to help Russia with its food and fertilizer exports, is not working.

Ukraine's restoration ministry said Russian representatives in a Joint Coordination Center were operating an "unacceptable" plan for inspecting vessels which contradicted the terms of the initiative.

In the last three days, Russian inspectors had refused to register three vessels without any explanation, it said.

"Ukraine categorically rejects Russia's latest demands and opposes its interference in the operation of Ukrainian ports," the ministry said.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with China's President Xi Jinping at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on March 21, 2023. Sergei Karpukhin/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images

A growing number of Chinese parts have been found in Russian weapons, Ukraine told Reuters.

Chinese-made parts have been found in Russian aerial drones and tanks, the outlet reported.

China has repeatedly denied sending military equipment to Russia.

Ukraine said it has found Chinese parts in captured Russian weapons, a senior advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Reuters on Monday.

Vladyslav Vlasiuk, who is also a sanctions expert, told the outlet that Ukraine "continues to find different electronics" in Russian weapons that have been used in Ukraine.

"We're picking [up] a lot of different stuff, China-made," Vlasiuk said. "The trend is now that there is less Western-made components but more  not hard [to] guess which country-made components. Of course, China."

Chinese-made parts have been found in a navigation system in Orlan aerial drones and in the fire control system in Russian tanks, Reuters reported, citing intelligence gathered by Ukrainian military experts.

The drones had previously used a Swiss navigation system while the Russian tanks once had parts made in France, the outlet reported. It is unclear whether the components were originally intended for non-military use or whether they were moved to Russia by a third party.

Vlasiuk's comments come after The Washington Post reported last week that said China approved the "provision of lethal aid" to Russia but wanted to keep it a secret.

Citing leaked Pentagon documents dated February 23, The Post reported that China planned to disguise military equipment as civilian items.

"We have not seen evidence that China has transferred weapons or provided lethal assistance to Russia. But we remain concerned and are continuing to monitor closely," a senior US administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Post.

China has repeatedly denied sending military equipment to Russia since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year.

Story continues

"Regarding the export of military items, China adopts a prudent and responsible attitude," the country's foreign minister, Qin Gang, said last week, according to PBS. "China will not provide weapons to relevant parties of the conflict, and manage and control the exports of dual-use items in accordance with laws and regulations."

China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

While the West has imposed sanctions and cut its connections with Russia entirely, China has become an increasingly important trading partner for Russia.

Last year, China's overall trade with the country hit a record high level of $190bn  a 30% increase on the year before, the BBC reported.

Read the original article on Business Insider
By Pavel Polityuk, Pawel Florkiewicz and Andriy Perun

KYIV/RAVA-RUSKA, Ukraine (Reuters) - Slovakia on Monday joined Poland and Hungary in banning grain imports from Ukraine as even Kyiv's staunchest allies come under domestic pressure to shield their agriculture markets.

The heat is mounting on Brussels to work out a European Union wide solution after Warsaw and Budapest announced bans on some imports from Ukraine at the weekend, with other countries in eastern Europe saying they are also considering action.

Farmers say imports from Ukraine have lowered prices and reduced their sales. In Poland, the issue has created a problem in an election year for the ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party that relies on rural areas for much of its support.

"Ukraine needs help, but the costs of this help should be spread over all European countries, not just the frontline countries, especially Poland. We do not agree to this, because it harms our farmers," Polish agriculture minister Robert Telus said after talks that began in Warsaw on Monday.

Kyiv said it aims to re-open food and grain transit via Poland as "a first step" to ending import bans, but Telus said that no solution had so far been found to guarantee that the grain in transit would not end up on the local market.

Some Black Sea ports were blocked after Russia's invasion of Ukraine began last year and logistical bottlenecks trapped large quantities of Ukrainian grain, which is cheaper than that produced in the EU, in Central European countries.

The Polish, Hungarian and Slovakian export and transit bans come as a deal to allow the export of millions of tonnes of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea, despite the Ukraine war, nears its May 18 expiry. Meanwhile, Russian demands have left the prospect of an extension of this deal uncertain.

The combined impact of the bans and failure to agree an extension would strand millions of tonnes of grain inside Ukraine, a major agricultural producer that makes a substantial part of its gross domestic product from food sales.

Story continues

"The first step ... should be the opening of transit, because it is quite important and it is the thing that should be done unconditionally and after that we will talk about other things," Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Mykola Solsky said before the talks in Warsaw.

To prevent any grain entering its market, Poland's ban also covered transit through the country, which imported 2.45 million tonnes of grain, or three quarters of total imports, from Ukraine in 2022, Polish Agriculture Ministry data showed.

The bans have left truck drivers stranded for several days in long traffic jams on the border baffled.

"We can't go in either direction. Yes, the Poles reached out to us, I'm very thankful to them. I'm immensely grateful, the whole of Ukraine is, the whole world even. But now, Poland doesn't let (us) in for some reason," Mykola Bervin, a driver from Zhytomyr in Ukraine, told Reuters.

Bervin said he had been stuck for three days and the tailback was more than 25 kilometres long.

EU ACTION 'INEVITABLE'

Slovakia approved halting imports indefinitely following Poland's move, although it maintained transit, while the BTA news agency reported that Bulgaria's agriculture minister also said the country could limit imports.

Istvan Nagy, Hungary's farm minister, said a solution was needed beyond the national level, calling eventual EU measures inevitable. The Czech Republic also urged an EU-wide solution while saying it would not introduce a ban itself for now.

Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia raised the issue with the European Commission last month, saying tariffs on Ukrainian imports should be considered, while states have also pushed for an EU purchase mechanism to buy up cheap grain.

Telus said that six countries would like to meet with the EU commissioner responsible for trade to find a solution.

A senior EU official said EU envoys would discuss Poland and Hungary's bans on Wednesday - after the bloc's executive said on Sunday that unilateral action was unacceptable.

The official said low global prices and demand meant grain was staying in the bloc rather than being sold on.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk in Kyiv, Andriy Perun in Rava-Ruska and Pawel Florkiewicz and Anna Koper in Warsaw, Gabriela Baczynska in Brussels, Boldizsar Gyori in Budapest, and Jan Lopatka in Prague; Writing by Tom Balmforth, Jason Hovet and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; Editing by Timothy Heritage, Barbara Lewis and Alexander Smith)
A Ukrainian Grad launcher fires a missile

Ten days after leaked Pentagon documents burst into public view, what have we learned about the war in Ukraine?

The documents, mostly dating from February and March, offer tantalising insights into the state of the conflict. There's a wealth of detail, much of it highly complex.

But reading between the lines, you get a real sense of the Pentagon doing its utmost to understand the course of the conflict, sometimes with difficulty.

The "fog of war" is definitely on display.

Take the critical question of how many men and pieces of equipment each side is losing. The raw data tells a story (as many as 223,000 Russian killed or wounded soldiers, versus as many as 131,000 Ukrainians), until you read that the Pentagon has "low confidence" in the numbers.

This is due to several factors, including operational secrecy, deliberate distortions and what is described as "potential bias in Ukrainian information sharing".

In other words, the US may be Ukraine's most important ally, but Washington doesn't always trust what it's being told.

A similar lack of certainty is visible in a summary of the battle for the Donbas, dated 22 February.

It says the Pentagon has "moderate confidence" that the battle is "likely heading for a stalemate throughout 2023."

But it goes on to say that it would have higher confidence in this assessment "if we could accurately estimate the endurance of Ukraine's operations," adding that it cannot fully account for the toll Ukraine's counter-offenses in late 2022 took on Russian morale and equipment.

These are just a few examples of the questions swirling around the minds of Pentagon planners on a daily basis. There are a host of others.

What might cause Israel to get more involved? Can South Korea be prevailed upon to set aside its reservations and supply Kyiv with badly needed artillery shells? What if Vladimir Putin dies?

The leaks suggested that some members of the Russian elite had plotted to undermine Vladimir Putin's war.

Given the high levels of uncertainty, it's hardly surprising that Washington should revert to covert means to improve its understanding of what's going on.

Story continues

Even if that means spying on the very country it says it's committed to helping.

And so we hear of intercepted conversations in which Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and his top officials discuss the pros and cons of hitting Russian targets in Belarus or Russia itself.

There are rumours too.

On 17 February, President Zelensky's Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak learned of an alleged Russian plot to sabotage Vladimir Putin's "special military operation", involving the Russian Chief of the General Staff, Valeriy Gerasimov, and the head of National Security Council, Nikolay Patrushev.

The plot, allegedly timed to coincide with a day when Vladimir Putin was scheduled to begin a round of chemotherapy, never materialised.

But for the Pentagon, anxious to detect signs of division and weakness in Moscow, one can imagine that the report must, for a day or so, have seemed intriguing.

Military conflicts are large, complex events, always shifting according to a wide range of military and political factors.

Which means that circumstances are likely to have changed in subtle ways in the weeks since the documents were drawn up.

The much reported case of Ukraine's air defences is a good example.

At least two documents from late February describe a situation in which key elements of Ukraine's defences - Soviet-era SA-11 and SA-10 surface-to-air missiles - are expected to run out by March 31st and May 2nd respectively.

Given that the two systems combined account for 89% of Ukraine's medium to high range protection, according to the document, these sound like dire predictions.

The projections are based on what is described as "current interceptor consumption", with the conclusion that Ukraine can only withstand 2-3 more waves of Russian attacks on its civilian infrastructure.

In fact, there have been no further mass attacks on Ukraine's infrastructure, meaning that Ukraine will have been able to eke out some of its precious stocks a little longer.

Nor is there any reference in the documents to the arrival of 13 MiG-29 jets from Slovakia, only approved by the government in Bratislava in mid-March.

MiG-29s, like the ones donated by Slovakia, have long been the backbone of Ukraine's air force.

Inevitably, the overwhelming tone of these documents is more sober, even pessimistic, than most public American pronouncements about the war.

There are no predictions here of sweeping Ukrainian successes when its much anticipated counter-offensive begins, possibly in the coming weeks.

Instead, the talk is of "modest territorial gains."

It's likely that some of Ukraine's reported weaknesses will have informed joint US-Ukrainian planning long before they came to public attention.

What we don't know, because these snapshots, although recent, are mere glimpses of a constantly evolving situation, is how successfully any of those weaknesses have been addressed.
Key developments on April 17:

Slovakia completes transferring 13 MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine

Official: Ukraine hasn't found Chinese weapons on the battlefield

Ombudsman's office receives 'dozens' of videos with alleged executions of Ukrainian POWs

Two former Wagner Group mercenaries admit killing civilians, POWs

Slovakia transferred all 13 pledged MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, the Slovak Defense Ministry said on April 17.

"The transfer was conducted by land to ensure the utmost security," Slovak Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad said.

It was "the right thing" to provide Ukraine with Soviet-era fighter jets to use on the battlefield, he added.

Slovakia joined Poland as the only countries that provided Ukraine with Soviet-made fighter jets. Earlier, Poland pledged 14 MiG-29s to Ukraine.

Poland has already delivered eight of them, with others delivered gradually as Warsaw awaits for their air fleet to be replenished by modern aircraft, Poland's President Andrzej Duda said on April 14.

Moreover, Germany reportedly approved Poland's request to export MiG-29s from East German stocks to Ukraine.

Poland, one of Ukraine's top allies in terms of military aid, has about a dozen MiG-29s bought from Berlin in 2002.

Ukraine's Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said the MiG-29 transfer is a major help but "unlikely to be a game-changer at the front."

Ukraine has been campaigning to receive modern fighter jets from its Western allies, arguing that air supremacy is necessary to aid its soldiers on the battlefield. They are needed to support offensive operations and defend against Russian missile and guided bomb attacks.

Critics claim that allies' reluctance to supply Western-made F-16, Typhoon, and Dassault fighter jets and long-range ATACMS missiles will prevent Ukrainian forces from launching a counteroffensive and liberating the rest of Ukraine's territory.

So far, no country has agreed to provide Ukraine with modern fighter jets, yet several countries haven't ruled out the move.

Story continues

No Chinese weapons found on the battlefield

National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov said in an interview on April 16 that Ukraine hasn't found any Chinese weapons used by Russian forces on the battlefield.

"In the event that this changes, we will promptly notify both (Ukrainian) society and the world. However, considering China's involvement in world affairs, it is unclear why they would choose to supply weapons to the Russian Federation at this time," Danilov said.

Danilov said Ukraine "immediately" confirmed Russia had started using Iranian-made Shahed kamikaze drones and appealed to the countries whose components had been used to produce these drones.

On April 14, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said that his country wouldn't sell weapons to either side of the war.

China has been positioning itself as a potential mediator between Kyiv and Moscow and proposed a widely criticized 12-point "peace plan" that does not explicitly include the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine.

However, Li Shangfu, China's newly appointed defense minister, made his first foreign visit to Russia on April 16 to meet Russia's President Vladimir Putin.

Li Shangfu said that he had "specifically chosen Russia" in order to "emphasize the special nature and strategic importance" of bilateral relations between China and Russia.

They crawl forward 24/7: On the zero line with Ukrainian infantry north of Bakhmut Climbing to a firing position through trenches dug into black Ukrainian soil, the relative quiet in the air is only reassuring to an extent. At the most forward point, a Soviet-era recoilless rifle stands watch, dug into a shallow depression in the ground. Bohdan, a company comman Kyiv IndependentFrancis Farrell

Reportedly more videos with alleged executions of Ukrainian POWs

Ukraine's Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said his office has received "several dozens" of videos allegedly showing Russian troops executing Ukrainian prisoners of war.

"This is cutting off the head, the genitals, the ears, nose, limbs, phalanges on the hands," Lubinets told Ukrainska Pravda on April 17, adding some Russian soldiers "were verified."

One alleged Russian perpetrator was killed in action during a clash with Ukrainian troops, he said.

Russia distributes such videos online to "maintain the degree of anti-Ukrainian hysteria" within Russian society, persuade its troops not to surrender, and intimidate Ukrainian soldiers preparing for a counteroffensive, according to the ombudsman.

Earlier, Lubinets said the alleged executions of captive Ukrainian soldiers that had appeared in viral videos would not affect Ukraine's treatment of Russian POWs.

A graphic video showing Russian troops decapitating a Ukrainian POW with a knife was published online late on April 11.

Ukraine's Security Service launched an investigation into violations of the laws and customs of war. President Volodymyr Zelensky called on international leaders to react to the execution.

On April 17, two former Wagner Group mercenaries told Russian opposition media outlet Gulagu.net they had killed dozens of Ukrainian civilians, including children, as well as prisoners of war when fighting in Donetsk Oblast.

Ex-prisoners Azamat Uldarov and Alexey Savichev were recruited by Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin to take part in Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to the publication.

"We came with 150 Wagner fighters killing everyone (on our way)  women, men, elderly, and children, including small, five-year-olds," Uldarov said in a video interview with Gulagu.net.

According to Uldarov, Prigozhin personally gave the order to do it, which the ex-mercenary called "cleaning up," as well as ordered not to take anyone alive, "but only to kill."

Uldarov admitted he gave a command to kill "300-400" civilians sheltering in a basement of an apartment building, among whom were 40 children.

Following the interviews, the Prosecutor General's Office reported it had started investigating the alleged war crimes committed by the two ex-soldiers.

President's Office Head Andrii Yermak said, "confession is not enough."

"There must be a punishment. Tough and fair. There definitely will be. We will find out all the facts of the crimes and find everyone who committed them," added Yermak.
Ukraine's Defence Forces repelled 50 Russian attacks on five fronts on 17 April. The fiercest battles continued for Bakhmut and Marinka.

Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, information as of 18:00 on 17 April

Quote: "Over the day, the enemy launched 34 air strikes, carried out 31 attacks using multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS), injuring civilians.

The Russian aggressor continues to use terror tactics, the level of missile threat across Ukraine remains high."

Details: The General Staff noted that Russian forces are suffering considerable losses and are concentrating their main efforts on conducting offensive actions on the Kupiansk, Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Marinka fronts.

During the day, Ukrainian defenders repelled more than 50 Russian attacks on the specified areas of the front. The fiercest battles continued for Bakhmut and Marinka.

Over the course of the day, the Ukrainian Air Force carried out 12 strikes on clusters of Russian personnel. Also, Ukrainian defenders shot down reconnaissance UAV Merlin.

Ukraine's Rocket Forces and Artillery struck two clusters of manpower, as well as a Russian electronic warfare station.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!






Kyrylo Budanov, Chief of the Ukrainian Defence Intelligence, does not believe that Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, and Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the Russian Security Council, tried to stop Russia's war against Ukraine at the beginning.

Source: Kyrylo Budanov in an interview with NV.UA

Details: Budanov has said that the leak of the Pentagon documents is a special information operation that traditionally combines truth and falsehood  modified or artificially created "facts". He is convinced that the purpose of this was to sow distrust and compromise Ukraine's relations with the United States and other countries.

The Defence Intelligence Chief has denied Tagesspiegel's information that Valery Gerasimov and Nikolai Patrushev supposedly tried to sabotage the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the beginning of the full-scale war so that it would end on 5 March 2022. The German outlet cited a leaked secret document from the US military, which quoted an anonymous Ukrainian source who relied on information from a Russian source.

Quote from Budanov: "This is a lie, a pure lie. Gerasimov was one of the few people who, in principle, advocated for a military operation. Patrushev took a more neutral position, he never shouted let's kill them and never shouted don't do it  he went with everyone else on this issue, to not be the one blamed for everything [in the end  ed.].

I don't like him [Patrushev  ed.] much for obvious reasons, but he's not a fool."

Details: Budanov has also said that the conflict between the Russian Ministry of Defence and the Russian Federal Security Service is "not significant"  "it cannot even be called a conflict".

Budanov does not believe in a rebellion in Russia either.

Quote: "A rebellion in Russia? Look back in history, what events have caused riots in the last 400 years? Well, definitely not a situation like this."

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!






Public criticism by the Ukrainian authorities against the International Committee of the Red Cross has not eliminated problems in the work of this organisation to resolve problems caused by Russia's military aggression against Ukraine.

Source: Dmytro Lubinets, Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) Commissioner for Human Rights, in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda

Quote: "I began to criticise them [ICRC  ed.] even more. In general, everything is difficult and complicated with our system of international organisations. And the issue is that they must understand this is a difficult time, not only for Ukraine and for Ukrainians.

I do not see any changes in approaches, changes in directions, changes in communication movements with the Russian Federation. I do not see specific mechanisms, how they, fulfilling their mandate, protect the rights of Ukrainian citizens. They don't do that."

Details: The Ukrainian ombudsman said that the war between the Russian Federation and Ukraine has shown that the system of international protection of human rights "is a fiction that exists only on paper."

Background: On 9 November 2022, the Office of the President of Ukraine announced the creation of a human rights information staff because of the inaction of the ICRC.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
Mariia Kabatsii, staff writer at Ukrainska Pravda.Kultura, 17 April 2023

Ukrainian illustrator Serhii Maidukov, who collaborates with such publications as The New Yorker, The Guardian and Die Zeit and who recently created an updated logo for Ukrainian Pravda, refused to personally receive the Erich Maria Remarque Peace Prize for 2023 due to the fact that it was also decided to award it to Russian writer Lyudmila Ulitskaya.

Source: Maidukov in a letter to the prize committee, as reported by Chytomo

Quote: "It was a surprise to me that I was chosen; I received a letter about a month ago. At first, I said that I would come another time, but in further correspondence I wrote that I would not come at all. I want to put most of the money in Monobank [Ukrainian online bank  ed.], where I am saving up for a vehicle for the Armed Forces of Ukraine," the artist said.

Serhii Maidukov refused the prize that was to be presented to him together with a Russian writer.

Photo: Serhii Sarakhanov

Ukrainian Maidukov was supposed to receive the Remarque Peace Prize, which is a special prize awarded by the German city of Osnabruck. Ulitskaya was recognised as the winner of the prize in 2023, and is due to receive the award on 22 June, on the day of the 125th anniversary of the birth of one of Germanys most famous writers.

Susanne Menzel-Riedl, the head of the jury for the prize, said that this year's prize should be interpreted as a sign of hope for reconciliation: "The language of humanity, which also unites the people of warring states, should have the last word. The violence of war must not silence the language of literature and art."

"That is why we were hoping to invite a writer from Russia and an artist from Ukraine to Osnabruck to honour them with the Remarque Peace Prize and the special prize," added Katharina Potter, vice chair of the jury.

Serhii Maidukov's work

Photo: Serhii Maidukov / Facebook

Serhii Maidukov's work

Photo: Serhii Maidukov / Facebook

Story continues

Serhii Maidukov's work

Photo: Serhii Maidukov / Facebook

The Erich Maria Remarque Peace Prize is awarded by the German city of Osnabruck, where the famous writer was born. The prize has been presented every two years since 1991. In 2023, the prize will be awarded for the sixteenth time. Previous winners of the Remarque Prize have included Svetlana Alexievich, Ali Ahmad Said Esber, Lev Kopelev and others. In 2005, Yurii Andrukhovych received the special prize.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
There has been no personal communication between Dmytro Lubinets, ombudsman for human rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and his Russian counterpart Tatiana Moskalkova, for several months now.

Source: Lubinets in an interview for Ukrainska Pravda

Quote: "The last time when I personally talked to her was a few months ago. But we exchange official correspondence daily. We have special assistants for this: one from my side, one from hers.

They do communicate with each other. So far, I do not see the need (for personal communication with Moskalkova  ed.).

If there is no result, why meet? We can exchange letters and suggestions all we want. We are doing this but this does not require personal interaction."

Background: On 11 April Russia, represented by Tatiana Moskalkova, the Russian ombudswoman for human rights, was excluded from the European Network for National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI) because she conducted her activities in a manner contrary to the purpose defined by the alliance's charter.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
A Ukrainian serviceman fires a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) from a launcher during a training exercise in the Donetsk region on April 7, 2023. Photo by GENYA SAVILOV/AFP via Getty Images

Ukrainian soldiers have received billions of dollars in Western security assistance to fight Russia.

Sometimes, the weapons they've been given don't come with instructions, or have other issues

Kyiv's troops say they've FaceTimes with Western military officers for help, a new War on the Rocks report says.

Ukrainian soldiers fighting off invading Russian forces have enjoyed the delivery of loads of security assistance from NATO partners, but when this weaponry arrives in Ukraine, things aren't always the way troops need them to be.

In some cases, the military aid comes in without instructions, so Western military officers have been hopping on FaceTime with Ukrainian troops to teach them how to use the weapons, according to a new report published Monday in War on the Rocks, a platform that covers national security.

Front-line units facing these issues have also been able to communicate with Western forces and NATO personnel through channels like secure messaging apps, the report's authors said.

The authors wrote that Ukrainian soldiers told them that in one case, Western military officers used FaceTime to teach Kyiv's troops how to use operate a rocket-propelled grenade that was delivered without instructions, and in another situation, soldiers had problems with aiming sights on guns.

"Most Ukrainian troops appreciate these informal solutions, but the United States and Europe could do a better job of ensuring future war materiel deliveries actually make sense for the Ukrainian military," the authors said in the report.

It was not clear when these interactions took place, but Ukrainian troops finding issues in their weapons and needing a bit of customer service and tech support from partners is nothing new  they have previously been forced to reach out to Western partners over the phone and through video chats, sometimes even during active combat with the Russians.

A Ukrainian serviceman prepares to fire a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) from a launcher during a training exercise in the Donetsk region on April 7, 2023 Photo by GENYA SAVILOV/AFP via Getty Images

Since NATO doesn't have troops fighting alongside the Ukrainians, a maintenance team has worked remotely to provide telephone support to Kyiv's troops as they deal with damaged artillery pieces, among the many other problems that have emerged in the intense fighting in eastern Ukraine.

Story continues

The US has sent over $35.1 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022. According to a Defense Department fact sheet from this month, the long list of weaponry includes rockets, missiles, artillery pieces, infantry fighting vehicles, tanks, small arms, ammunition, and so much more.

"The United States will continue to work with its Allies and partners to provide Ukraine with capabilities to meet its immediate battlefield needs and longer-term security assistance requirements," the Pentagon said in an April statement announcing a recent round of military hardware worth around $2.6 billion for Ukraine.

As Russia's full-scale assault on Ukraine nears the 14-month-mark and the two countries continue to fight a grinding and brutal war of attrition along a relatively static front line, there are growing concerns about if Western countries will continue to maintain their military support for Ukraine, especially as continuous deliveries strain some partner arsenals and defense production.

Russia's devastating war in Ukraine has so far taken a heavy toll, and both sides may have suffered upwards of 350,000 casualties, recently leaked Pentagon documents revealed, with the Russian death toll more than double the Ukrainian figures.

Read the original article on Business Insider
The Big 12s bottom three teams, Texas Tech, Kansas and Iowa State were able to take a game from the teams that are two through four in the standings: Oklahoma State, Texas and Baylor.

Though each of the favorites earned series wins, it was surprising to see Iowa State take a game from Oklahoma State in extra innings and Kansas beat Texas by six runs.

Oklahoma States extra-inning loss to Iowa State prevented the Cowgirls from keeping pace with the Sooners and holding a four-game lead on the Texas Longhorns. Instead, the loss set up an opportunity for the Longhorns to catch the Cowgirls this weekend in their three-game series in Austin.

With less than a month to go in the regular season, heres a look at the Big 12 standings ahead of some big-time matchups in conference play.

Oklahoma Sooners

Record: 39-1

Big 12: 9-0

vs. top 25: 13-0

Streak: W31

Last week

The Oklahoma Sooners picked up another top 25 win, this time in a 3-0 shutout of LSU in Baton Rouge. They followed that up with a pair of run-rule wins over Louisville and Miami (Oh.) over the weekend to move their record to 39-1, matching their record through the first 40 games a year ago.

Up Next

Oklahoma travels to Waco for a three-game set against the only team to hand the Sooners a loss this season.

Oklahoma State Cowgirls

For the first time this weekend, the Cowgirls strike first. Kiley Naomi scores Rachel Becker with an RBI base knock. Go. Pokes. B1 | ISU 0  OSU 1#AllOne | #GoPokes |  ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/m5F2hPlmtL  OSU Cowgirl Softball (@cowgirlsb) April 16, 2023

Record: 39-4

Big 12: 8-1

vs. top 25: 10-2

Streak: L1

Last week

Oklahoma State dropped its series finale to last-place Iowa State in extra innings on Sunday, 3-2. They outscored the Cyclones by only three runs on the weekend.

Story continues

Up Next

The Cowgirls have the difficult task of going to Austin to take on the Texas Longhorns for what will be a top 10 matchup.

Texas Longhorns

Record: 36-9-1

Big 12: 8-4

vs. top 25: 2-5-1

Streak: W2

Last Week

The Texas Longhorns went 3-1 last week with a win over Texas State and a series win over Kansas. They dropped the opener to the Jayhawks, 9-3, and had to scratch out a 3-2 win in the series finale.

Up Next

Texas has a chance to make a move up the standings or at least get closer to Oklahoma State as it hosts the Cowgirls for a three-game series starting Thursday evening.

Baylor Bears

SERIES DUB  Dari gets the game-winning strikeout and BU takes the series! #SicEm  pic.twitter.com/P0sDTB5NIH  Baylor Softball (@BaylorSoftball) April 16, 2023

Record: 34-10

Big 12: 4-5

vs. top 25: 4-4

Streak: W2

Last week

The Bears bats came to life last week, winning three of four games and scoring 47 runs in the process. They took two of three from Texas Tech to remain in fourth place in the Big 12. Ace Doriana Orme was roughed up for 11 earned runs in nine innings pitched.

Up Next

Baylor is the lone team to beat the Sooners in 2023 and has a chance to further build its resume when it hosts the No. 1 team in the nation in Waco this weekend for a three-game series.

Texas Tech Red Raiders

And still counting  pic.twitter.com/RtZKPPnosc  Texas Tech Softball (@TexasTechSB) April 17, 2023

Record: 29-17

Big 12: 3-9

vs. top 25: 2-9

Streak: L2

Last week

The Red Raiders offense exploded for eight earned runs on 12 hits against Baylor ace Doriana Orme for a 10-8 win in the opener against the Bears. Baylor gained the last laugh, winning the final two games to take the series.

It was a high-scoring affair, but Tech lost the run differential battle, 32-26.

Up Next

Texas Tech has a chance to get back on track this week, but it will not be easy. Kansas battled Texas in their three-game set and came up with a win.

Kansas Jayhawks

CORRECTION: First top-10 win on the road versus a conference opponent since 2002.  Kansas Softball (@KUSoftball) April 15, 2023

Record: 20-19

Big 12: 2-7

vs. top 25: 2-10

Streak: L2

Last week

After getting swept by Oklahoma State, Kansas came out firing in their series opener against Texas, picking up the 9-3 win over the No. 8 team in the nation. They were shutout in run-rule fashion on Saturday and then fought to a 3-2 loss on Sunday, nearly picking up the unlikely series win.

Up Next

The Jayhawks will play at Missouri on Wednesday before hosting the Texas Tech Red Raiders for three games in Lawrence.

Iowa State Cyclones

Ladies and Gentlemen, WE HAVE THE LEAD!!!! @milaysiacorrynn delivers a go-ahead single in the 11th inning to give us a one-run lead!! Gotta Keep Going!!  pic.twitter.com/F99q1C5teY  Iowa State Softball (@CycloneSB) April 16, 2023

Record: 14-25

Big 12: 2-10

vs. top 25: 1-7

Streak: W1

Last week

Iowa State split a Tuesday doubleheader with South Dakota State, but that wasnt the highlight of their weekend.

The Cyclones went into Stillwater and played the Cowgirls incredibly tough all weekend, culminating in their 3-2 win in 11 innings on Sunday.

The Cyclones are still a work in progress, but getting a win like this can do wonders for a teams confidence and its future. They were only outscored by three runs in the three-game set.

Up Next

Theyll play a Tuesday doubleheader against Southeast Missouri State before hosting Colorado State for a pair of doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday during their Big 12 bye week.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=683578888]

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on Twitter @john9williams.

Story originally appeared on Sooners Wire
On Monday, 17 April, United States Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the appointment of a prosecutor to the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine and of a legal advisor to the US Embassy in Kyiv to provide aid to the Ukrainian government.

Source: Garland stated this during a meeting with Ukraines Prosecutor General Andrii Kostyn, reports European Pravda

Garland recalled that he announced the involvement of the United States in the joint investigation team (JIT) which investigates Russian crimes committed in Ukraine during his visit to Lviv in March.

"As we discussed today, to further strengthen this partnership, the Justice Department will detail an experienced prosecutor to the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression Against Ukraine," said the US Prosecutor General.

According to Garland, the American prosecutor will be stationed in The Hague at the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice (Eurojust) and "will provide access to the significant Departmental resources that we have deployed in response to this crisis".

In addition, the Prosecutor General announced an appointment of a Resident Legal Advisor to the United States Embassy in Ukraine, which will work with Ukrainian partners "on a variety of complex justice sector issues."

A joint investigation team for collecting evidence and investigation of main international crimes, committed in Ukraine, was created with the support of Eurojust. Among the members of the team are the International Criminal Court, Ukraine, as well as Lithuania, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia, Romania and Estonia.

In addition, The International Centre for the Investigation of Crimes of Russian Aggression against Ukraine should start working in The Hague in late spring.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
SEOUL, South Korea  The United States, South Korea and Japan conducted a joint missile defense exercise on Monday aimed at countering North Koreas growing nuclear arsenal, as a top North Korean army official warned the U.S. that it risks a clearer security crisis and insurmountable threats.

Last week, North Korea conducted one of its most provocative weapons demonstrations in years by flight-testing for the first time an intercontinental ballistic missile powered by solid fuel. It is considered a more mobile, harder-to-detect weapon and could directly target the continental United States.

South Koreas navy said Mondays three-way drills took place in international waters off the countrys eastern coast and focused on mastering procedures for detecting, tracking and sharing information on incoming North Korean ballistic missiles. The one-day naval exercise involved an Aegis destroyer from each country.

FILE - In this photo provided by South Korea Defense Ministry, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's destroyer Atago, left, U.S. Navy's Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Barry, center, and South Korean Navy's Aegis destroyer King Sejong the Great, right, sail during a joint missile defense drill among South Korea, the United States and Japan in the international waters of the east coast of Korean peninsula, on Feb. 22, 2023. (South Korea Defense Ministry via AP, File)

The drills goal is to improve our response capabilities against ballistic missiles and strengthen our ability to conduct joint operations as North Koreas nuclear and missile threats continue to escalate, Jang Do-young, a spokesperson for South Koreas navy, said at a news briefing.

The United States and South Korea also launched separate bilateral drills on Monday involving some 110 warplanes, including advanced F-35 fighter jets, that will continue through April 28.

The two sets of exercises could trigger a belligerent response from North Korea, which views the United States military drills with its Asian allies as invasion rehearsals. North Korea has used such drills as a pretext to accelerate its own weapons development, creating a tit-for-tat cycle that has raised tensions in recent months.

Later Monday, Ri Pyong Chol, a North Korean army marshal and close associate of leader Kim Jong Un, warned that the United States should stop at once its political and military provocations getting on the nerves of (North Korea).

Story continues

If the U.S. persists in the acts of endangering the security environment on the Korean Peninsula in disregard of the repeated warnings by (North Korea), the latter will take necessary actions to expose the former to a clearer security crisis and insurmountable threats, Ri said in a statement carried by state media.

Without mentioning the drills that began Monday, Ri accused the U.S. and South Korea of having staged a series of large-scale joint military exercises simulating a preemptive nuclear strike and all-out war against North Korea. He also criticized the U.S. for calling for a meeting of the U.N. Security Council to discuss North Koreas solid-fuel ICBM launch, saying his country was exercising its right to self-defense.

Security Council resolutions ban North Korea from engaging in any ballistic activities. But the council has failed to impose new sanctions on North Korea despite its series of ballistic missile tests since early last year because of the opposition of China and Russia, which are both veto-wielding members.

North Koreas unprecedented run of weapons tests has so far involved more than 100 missiles of various ranges fired into the sea since the start of 2022 as it attempts to build a nuclear arsenal that could threaten its rival neighbors and the United States.

Experts say Kim wants to pressure the United States into accepting North Korea as a legitimate nuclear power and hopes to negotiate an easing of sanctions from a position of strength.

The United States and South Korea conducted their biggest field exercises in years in March and have also held separate naval and aerial drills involving a U.S. aircraft carrier battle group and nuclear-capable B-52 bombers.

North Koreas growing nuclear threat has also led South Korea and Japan to increase their security cooperation and mend ties that were strained by history and trade disputes. On Monday, South Korea and Japan held their first security meeting of senior diplomats and defense officials following a five-year hiatus. During the meeting, Seoul and Tokyo discussed North Koreas nuclear program and trilateral cooperation with the United States, according to Seouls Defense Ministry.

Japans Joint Staff in a statement stressed the need to strengthen trilateral cooperation as the security environment surrounding Japan increasingly becomes severe because of North Koreas missile activities.

For the 11th straight day on Monday, North Korea did not respond to South Korean checkup calls on a set of cross-border inter-Korean hotlines, South Korean officials said, raising concerns about potential incidents. Communications on those channels are meant to prevent accidental clashes along the rivals sea borders or to arrange talks.

On Saturday, a South Korean naval vessel fired warning shots to repel a North Korean patrol vessel that temporarily crossed the countries disputed western sea boundary while chasing a Chinese fishing boat.

There are signs that the costs of Kims campaign are piling up as North Korea apparently grapples with food insecurity and other domestic problems worsened by pandemic-related border restrictions that disrupted trade with China, its main ally and economic lifeline. Desperate for tangible economic achievements, Kims government has prioritized construction and agricultural projects, which are less dependent on external trade while industrial production remains decimated by international sanctions and coronavirus-linked border shutdowns.

The Norths official Korean Central News Agency said Monday that Kim attended an event over the weekend celebrating the building of 10,000 new homes in a district of Pyongyang. The project is part of broader plans to supply 50,000 new homes in the capital under a five-year national development plan that runs through 2025.

During Sundays event, Kim called the housing project a long-cherished plan aimed at providing his people with more stable and civilized living conditions, KCNA said.

North Korea has a severe shortage of quality housing that deepened over decades of economic decay. But living conditions are much better in Pyongyang, where Kim has pushed huge development projects that upgraded housing for elites.

Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
Lynne Tracy, US Ambassador to Russia, has visited a Wall Street Journal reporter, Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested on charges of espionage, in the Lefortovo pre-trial detention centre for the first time.

Source: US Embassy Russia on Twitter

Quote: "I visited WSJ's reporter Evan Gershkovich today at Lefortovo Prison  the first time we've been permitted access to him since his wrongful detention more than two weeks ago. He is in good health and remains strong.

We reiterate our call for his immediate release."

Previously: On 15 April, reporter Evan Gershkovich wrote his first letter to his relatives from the Lefortovo pre-trial detention centre.

Background:

On 29 March, the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) detained Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, in Yekaterinburg, and a criminal case had been opened against him for espionage.

The Moscow court ordered to detain Evan Gershkovich until 29 May.

The US Department of State designated Gershkovich "wrongfully detained".

According to the media, Russian President Vladimir Putin personally approved the arrest of US reporter Evan Gershkovich whom Russia accuses of espionage.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
The United States ambassador to Russia has visited detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, the diplomat announced Monday, the first time a U.S. official has been able to access him since his arrest last month.

He is in good health and remains strong. We reiterate our call for his immediate release, Ambassador Lynne Tracy said, according to a tweet shared by the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.

Tracy said she was permitted access to the journalist at Moscows Lefortovo Prison on Monday.

Biden calls Russia detention of journalist Evan Gershkovich totally illegal

The White House said when Gershkovich was arrested that it is focused on gaining access to him and getting more information about his arrest.

Gershkovich was arrested by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), the main successor agency to the Soviet-era KGB, in Yekaterinburg on March 30 on charges of espionage. The Journal and the White House have rejected allegations that Gershkovich was engaged in espionage.

A top Russian diplomat on Thursday said they may be willing to discuss a prisoner swap for Gershkovich, but only after a Russian court issues a verdict on the allegation that he was working as a spy.

The State Department has officially designated him as wrongfully detained by Russia. The designation, made by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, follows a process conducted within the State Department and officially transfers responsibility of the case to the departments Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs.

Putin personally approved of Evan Gershkovichs arrest in Russia: report

Blinken spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov after Gershkovich was taken into custody and called on Moscow to immediately release him.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
US authorities arrested two men Monday for allegedly setting up a Chinese "police station" in New York and charged dozens of Chinese security officials over a campaign to monitor and harass US-based dissidents.

The arrests of Harry Lu Jianwang, 61, and Chen Jinping, 59, are the first anywhere over a suspected campaign by China to establish surreptitious police posts in countries around the world, said Breon Peace, the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn.

The two men set up the office in Manhattan's Chinatown last year at the behest of the Fuzhou branch of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), China's national police force, ostensibly to offer services like Chinese driver's license renewal, according to Peace.

But in fact their main job was to help track down and harass fugitive dissidents from the People's Republic of China (PRC), US officials said.

"The MPS established a concrete outpost, an off-the-books police station right here in New York City, to monitor and intimidate dissidents and other critics of the PRC within one of the United States' most vibrant diaspora communities," said David Newman, the Justice Department's principal deputy assistant attorney general for national security.

- Harassing dissidents -

Canada and several European governments have cracked down on similar "police stations."

Last year the Spain-based human rights group Safeguard Defenders first revealed the existence of such outposts around the world.

They often operate with little or no indication they are there -- though US officials said the Manhattan office had been visited by officials from the Chinese consulate in New York.

According to Safeguard Defenders, the "police stations" have been involved in pressuring Chinese nationals to return home to face criminal charges.

Canada has identified and closed several unofficial outposts in Montreal and elsewhere.

In October, Dutch authorities said they were investigating reports of two Chinese police operations in Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

Story continues

Lu and Chen were charged with acting as unregistered agents of a foreign government and obstruction for destroying evidence of their communications with Chinese officials.

- Anti-dissident task force -

In a related case, the Justice Department announced charges against 34 members of China's MPS who were allegedly involved in harassing dissidents overseas, including the US-based Falun Gong religious movement.

The indictees are allegedly members of the "912 Special Project Working Group," which the Justice Department described as an MPS task force set up "to target Chinese dissidents located throughout the world, including in the United States."

The task force created thousands of fake social media accounts, according to the US charges, to target Chinese dissidents "through online harassment and threats."

They also sometimes pose as people from the United States or other countries, the charges said, to push Beijing's official view or interpretation of global issues, from Democracy to the Ukraine war to American racial tensions.

"This task force isn't a normal police force," said Peace.

"It doesn't protect people or combat crimes. It commits crimes targeting Chinese democracy activists and dissidents located outside of the PRC, including right here in New York City."

- Interrupting Zoom meetings -

Another six MPS officials and two members of China's Cyberspace Administration were charged with conspiracy in an updated 2020 case of a China-based employee of Zoom acting to disrupt online meetings and discussions by anti-Beijing activists.

The new indictment says the employee, Julien Jin, "worked directly with and took orders from" the MPS and Cyberspace Administration.

In one case, in May and June 2020, Jin used his access to Zoom company systems to disrupt online meetings by activists to discuss the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen anti-democracy crackdown and massacre in Beijing.

"It shows the PRC efforts to globalize the oppressive tactics used domestically in China to silence dissent," said Newman.

"The efforts of the government of the PRC to export authoritarian methods to stifle free expression in the United States is a threat to American democracy that we will not abide."

pmh/des
Image: Gary Cameron (Reuters)

The US became Indias largest trading partner in the fiscal year 2022-23 as bilateral trade rose by almost 8% to $128.55 billion.

datawrapper-chart-OfC6i

Indias exports to the US grew 2.81% to $78.31 billion in this period as against $76.18 billion in 2021-22, the Indian commerce ministrys data show. Its imports from that country increased 16% to $50.24 billion.



Read more

Indias major exports to the US include polished diamonds, pharmaceutical products, jewellery, light oil and petroleum, frozen shrimp, and cosmetics, among other items. Its imports include oil, liquefied natural gas, coal, recycled products, and almonds.

The rise in Indo-US trade is in contrast to the 1.5% fall in India-China trade to $113.83 billion in the same fiscal year.

Interestingly, though, Indias exports to China fell 28% to $15.32 billion in this period, while its imports grew 4.16% to $98.51 billion. China is Indias second-largest trade partner.

Indo-US trade rose nearly 800% between 1999 and 2019

Over the years, Indias trade ties with the US have strengthened steadily. In the 20 years between 1999 and 2019, bilateral trade grew 787% from $16 billion to $142 billion. This is despite sundry disputes.

For instance, during the Donald Trump presidency, the two nations clashed over tariffs. The bilateral relationship came under further duress when, in 2019, the US ended Indias special trade treatment that had facilitated $5.6 billion in Indian duty-free exports.

Similarly, the US government has long sought lower Indian duties on the iconic Harley-Davidson bikes, while India has had its concerns over visa processing delays.

However, both India and the US have consistently worked on stronger economic ties. The latest data show that things are going in the right direction.

More from Quartz

Story continues

Sign up for Quartz's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.
The leaders who brokered peace in Northern Ireland urged on Monday today's main pro-UK party to forge compromise anew and unlock power-sharing, 25 years on from their historic deal.

The UK's former prime minister Tony Blair and his Irish counterpart at the time, Bertie Ahern, pressed the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to emulate the vision of the territory's feuding leaders in 1998.

"The only thing I would say to today's leaders is I think when you stand back and you reflect, you know in your heart of hearts what the right thing to do is, and you should just get on and do it," Blair said.

Ahern added: "I just really plead and deeply hope that the Democratic Unionist Party will pay the reward (of peace) back to us all, to stay the road with us.

"Because the people of Northern Ireland need them, and I think the people on this island need them. We all want to work together," the former Taoiseach (prime minister) said.

"The alternatives are not good. Don't even think about them."

Blair and Ahern were addressing a 25th anniversary conference at Queen's University Belfast joined by former US president Bill Clinton, Clinton's peace envoy George Mitchell and other leaders from 1998.

The pro-UK DUP has for more than a year been boycotting the power-sharing government at Stormont in Belfast, in protest at post-Brexit trading arrangements agreed by London and the European Union.

After meeting Clinton at the conference, DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson said he had "underscored our commitment to restoring the NI Assembly on a basis that unionists as well as nationalists can support".

"Quick fixes without solid foundations will do a disservice to those trying to make the institutions work," Donaldson said.

But Gerry Adams, whose Sinn Fein party was once the political wing of the Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland, said at the conference that the DUP had to recognise new realities.

"I think that unionism needs to give itself a shake, generally speaking," he said.

Story continues

"Get into the institutions and then argue it out, revise, review, whatever you want, but in the first place go to where you were sent by the electorate."

- Reunification? -

Twenty-five years on, calls have been growing from moderates in Northern Ireland for an overhaul of the Good Friday peace agreement so that neither the DUP nor Sinn Fein can exercise a veto over the devolved government at Stormont.

Meanwhile, after winning local elections for the first time last year, Sinn Fein is stepping up demands for preparations to start on both sides of the border for a referendum aimed at the reunification of Ireland.

"We will undoubtedly have a referendum," Adams said. "I think we're into a phase, given all we've been through, of gentle persuasion."

For now, though, the DUP needs strong persuasion that a recent overhaul of the Brexit deal works for Northern Ireland, after accusing London of betraying the interests of unionists.

The three-day anniversary conference ends Wednesday with speeches from UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Clinton, and EU leaders Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen.

Blair and Ahern reminisced about the agonising process leading up to the final agreement adopted at Easter 1998, aimed at ending three decades of "The Troubles", a bloody sectarian conflict against UK rule.

Mitchell reflected on the insults hurled across the negotiating room and frequent walkouts before the deal was clinched after all-night sessions in the final week, helped by Clinton manning the phones from Washington.

"When you approved the agreement, you were also talking to Israelis and Palestinians, to Colombians, to Africans, to Asians, to Americans," Mitchell told the audience.

"In fact, you were talking to the world. This is an agreement for peace and for the future, not just here, but everywhere," he said.

"We need people who believe, who know, that the possible does exist within the impossible. Don't let it slip away."

jit/phz/kjm
A US helicopter raid on Monday killed a senior Islamic State group leader in Syria suspected of plotting attacks in Europe and the Middle East, US Central Command said.

"Early this morning, April 17, US Central Command forces killed Abd-al Hadi Mahmud al-Haji Ali, a senior ISIS Syria leader," Centcom said in a statement, using another acronym for IS.

It said he was an "operational planner responsible for planning terror attacks in the Middle East and Europe".

The operation was launched "after intelligence revealed an ISIS plot to kidnap officials abroad to use as leverage", the statement said.

An earlier Centcom statement said the raid in northern Syria had "resulted in the probable death of the targeted individual", without naming him.

"Two other ISIS operatives were killed in the raid," both statements said, without identifying them either.

No civilians or US troops were hurt, the first statement said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strike targeted a building in Al-Suwaydah village about 25 kilometres (15 miles) west of the town of Jarabulus on Syria's northern border with Turkey.

The Britain-based war monitor, which relies on sources on the ground, said the strike killed the main target and two other fighters.

The IS member had previously been imprisoned in Kurdish-held Manbij, south of Jarabulus, the Observatory said.

He had taken refuge in the Al-Suwaydah area around six months earlier under the protection of a pro-Turkish group, it added.

Local residents told AFP the man was killed as he was trying to flee and that his body was handed over to one of his brothers.

- 'Desire to strike' -

A Turkish-backed rebel group deployed in the Al-Suwaydah area said in a statement that two of its fighters were killed after they went to the site of the raid.

Many former IS militants joined pro-Turkish groups after the jihadists lost their last scraps of territory in Syria in March 2019, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.

Story continues

Earlier this month, the US military said it had launched a strike in Syria killing senior IS leader Khalid Aydd Ahmad al-Jabouri, who Centcom said was responsible for planning attacks in Turkey and Europe.

In October 2019, Washington announced it had killed IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in an operation in northwestern Syria.

His two successors have also been killed: the first in a US operation in northwestern Syria and the second in an operation by former Syrian rebels in the country's south.

About 900 US troops remain in Syria, most in the Kurdish-administered northeast, as part of a US-led coalition battling remnants of IS, which remains active in both Syria and neighbouring Iraq, operating out of hideouts in desert and mountain areas.

IS "remains able to conduct operations within the region with a desire to strike beyond the Middle East", Centcom chief General Michael Kurilla was quoted as saying in Monday's first statement.

In separate attacks on Sunday, suspected IS fighters killed at least 36 truffle hunters and five shepherds in Syria, the Observatory reported, with 17 pro-regime fighters among the dead.

str-jos/lg/srm/it
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.

0108263 License for publishing multimedia online



Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349
A US warship sailed through the waters separating Taiwan and mainland China, the US Navy said, days after Beijing staged war games around the self-ruled island.

Led by the United States, multiple Western navies regularly conduct "freedom of navigation operations" to assert the international status of regional waterways such as the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.

The USS Milius guided-missile destroyer "conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit April 16 (local time) through waters where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law", the US Navy said in a statement.

"The ship transited through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal State."

This was the first such US operation through the waterway since January.

The US 7th Fleet shared images Monday on Twitter of crew looking out into the strait, one of the most crucial waterways in the world for international shipping.

China said on Monday it had tracked a US warship through the Taiwan Strait, adding that the United States had "hyped up" the transit.

Colonel Shi Yi, a Chinese military spokesman, said troops in the area "remain on a high level of alert at all times and will resolutely defend national sovereignty and security as well as regional peace and stability".

China claims Taiwan as its territory and has vowed to bring the island under its control one day. It also claims the entire Taiwan Strait as its territorial waters.

Taiwan's defence ministry said on Monday that during the vessel's transit, its military had "closely monitored the dynamics in our surrounding sea and airspace, and the situation was normal".

- War games -

China launched three days of military exercises around Taiwan on April 8, simulating targeted strikes and a blockade of the island.

The drills were in response to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen's recent visit to the United States, where she met with Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy.

Story continues

Beijing bristles at any official contact between Taipei and foreign governments.

On the final day of last week's drills, Taiwan's defence ministry said 54 Chinese planes crossed into Taiwan's southwestern and southeastern air defence identification zone (ADIZ) -- the highest recorded in a single day since October 2021.

That same day, the USS Milius sailed through waters claimed by Beijing in the South China Sea.

That deployment triggered condemnation from China, which said the vessel had "illegally intruded" into its territorial waters.

On the night of April 9 to 10, a French surveillance frigate also sailed through the Taiwan Strait on its way from Vietnam to South Korea, "in international waters, in accordance with freedom of navigation", the French military said.

That journey came two days after France's President Emmanuel Macron left China following a state visit.

A French military official said the passage was part of a long-planned mission.

Since the war games ended, Chinese warships and aircraft have continued to circle Taiwan.

On Monday, Taipei's defence ministry said it had detected four warships and 18 aircraft, four of which had crossed its southwestern ADIZ.

The guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon sailed through the Taiwan Strait on January 5, months after McCarthy's predecessor Nancy Pelosi visited the island.

Pelosi's trip sparked China's largest-ever war games around Taiwan.

aw-ssy-qan-ah/leg
By Blake Brittain

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp's bid to revive a key patent on its blockbuster multiple sclerosis drug Gilenya that was invalidated amid a legal dispute with China's HEC Pharm Co Ltd.

The justices turned away an appeal by Novartis of a lower court's decision to cancel the patent, a ruling that paved the way for some generic versions of Gilenya.

Novartis sold $1.1 billion worth of Gilenya in the U.S. last year, a 19% drop from 2021 that was caused in part by generic competition, according to a company report.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2010 approved Gilenya to treat relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis, a chronic disease that affects the central nervous system.

Novartis sued HEC and more than a dozen other generic drugmakers for patent infringement in Delaware federal court after they applied for FDA approval of Gilenya generics. Novartis settled with some of the drugmakers, allowing for some Gilenya generics before a key patent's 2027 expiration.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit determined last year that the patent was invalid, in a 2-1 reversal of its own previous split decision to uphold the patent.

The Supreme Court in October rejected a Novartis emergency bid to pause the decision. Novartis argued that the ruling would greenlight at least a dozen generics and harm it in ways that could be "impossible to calculate at an after-the-fact damages trial."

Novartis later told the Supreme Court that the patent was valid and that the Federal Circuit's initial decision should have been reviewed by the full appeals court, not another three-judge panel with two of the same judges.

HEC responded that the Federal Circuit "followed its own rules," and that "no Federal Circuit judge - including the dissenter - suggested any procedural concern" with the decision.

Novartis said in a statement on Monday that it acknowledges the decision by the Supreme Court not to hear the appeal and remains "deeply committed to the MS community." Representatives for HEC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Blake Brittain; Editing by Will Dunham)
By John Kruzel

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a bid by Sanofi SA to revive its antitrust lawsuit accusing rival pharmaceutical company Viatris Inc of illegally monopolizing the market with its EpiPen auto-injector, a device used to treat severe allergic reactions.

The justices turned away Sanofi's appeal of a lower court's ruling rejecting the French company's claim that Canonsburg, Pennsylvania-based Viatris had effectively cornered the market through exclusive deals with prescription drug intermediaries.

Sanofi in 2009 acquired the rights to Auvi-Q, an epinephrine auto-injector intended to compete with EpiPen. The company sold the device from 2013 to 2015, when it was recalled over concerns that it failed to deliver its dose of epinephrine. Sanofi terminated its rights to Auvi-Q the next year. Injection of epinephrine is used to treat serious and sometimes life-threatening allergic reactions to foods, medications, bee stings and other causes.

Viatris was formed in 2020 through the merger of Mylan N.V. and Pfizer Inc's Upjohn business. Sanofi sued Mylan in 2017, alleging that it violated antitrust law by giving rebates to pharmacy benefit managers - intermediary companies that maintain the formularies, or lists of covered drugs, used by health plans - in exchange for exclusivity.

Sanofi said in the lawsuit that it lost hundreds of millions of dollars in sales in the $1 billion-plus U.S. epinephrine auto-injector market due to Mylan's conduct and is seeking monetary damages.

A federal judge in Kansas City, Kansas ruled in 2020 in favor of Mylan, finding that Sanofi failed to show how Mylan's negotiating tactics were illegal or harmed consumers. The Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last July agreed, noting that the exclusive contracts in question were "a normal competitive tool within the epinephrine auto-injector industry."

The 10th Circuit added that Sanofi could have competed on those terms, but instead chose initially to market Auvi-Q as a more expensive, premium product. When Sanofi changed course in 2014, one pharmacy benefit manager, CVS Caremark, did switch to Auvi-Q as its only auto-injector on some of its formularies, the panel noted.

Story continues

The EpiPen has attracted scrutiny for a series of steep price hikes, with the cost of a pair of the devices increasing from $100 in 2008 to $600 in 2016. The price is now nearly $700.

Viatris in February 2022 agreed to pay $264 million to settle a class action lawsuit brought on behalf of consumers and third-party payers like insurers accusing the company of keeping generic competition off the market through an illegal patent settlement.

(Reporting by John Kruzel; Editing by Will Dunham)
TAIPEI/BEIJING (Reuters) -The U.S. warship USS Milius sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, in what the U.S. Navy described on Monday as a "routine" transit, just days after China ended its latest war games around the island.

China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, officially ended its three days of exercises around Taiwan last Monday where it practiced precision strikes and blockading the island.

It staged the drills to express anger at Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen's meeting with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, viewing it as an interference in China's internal affairs and U.S. support for Taiwan's separate identity from China.

The U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet said the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius conducted a "routine Taiwan Strait transit" through waters "where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law".

The ship's transit demonstrates the United States' commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, it added.

Chinese military's Eastern Theatre Command said in a social media post on Monday it organised troops to follow and monitor the U.S. destroyer throughout its operation.

Taiwan's defence ministry said the ship sailed in a northerly direction through the strait and that during its transit the situation in the strait was "as normal".

The U.S. Navy sails warships through the strait around once a month, and also regularly conducts similar freedom of navigation missions in the disputed South China Sea.

Last week, the USS Milius sailed near one of the most important man-made and Chinese controlled islands in the South China Sea, Mischief Reef. Beijing denounced it as illegal.

China has continued its military activities around Taiwan since the drills ended, though on a reduced scale.

On Monday morning, Taiwan's defence ministry said it had spotted 18 Chinese military aircraft and four naval vessels operating around Taiwan in the previous 24 hour period.

Story continues

China has never renounced the use of force to bring democratically governed Taiwan under its control.

Taiwan's government rejects China's territorial claims, and says only the island's people can decide their future.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Beijing newsroom and Liz Lee; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Lincoln Feast.)
A statue of Mary, mother of Jesus, survived natural disaster after the deadly 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Turkey in February, devastating that country and taking thousands of lives.

Fr. Antuan Ilgit, a Jesuit priest, turned to Facebook after the image of Mary stood strong as the Cathedral of the Annunciation in Iskenderun was destroyed.

"I brought the image of the Virgin Mary from the Cathedral, this image will be our strength and with her we will face everything," Fr. Ilgit posted on Feb. 6, the same day the quake hit.

ON GOOD FRIDAY YEARS AGO, NYC SKYSCRAPERS LIT UP WITH CROSSES AND SHOWED A NATION THAT EMBRACED FAITH

"Let us continue to trust in God and His Holy Providence," he also wrote. "It's raining, it's cold and the shakes are so strong. We feel your closeness and we care."

People died across both Turkey and Syria as a result of the Feb. 6 quake.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

A 6.4 magnitude quake hit Turkey again on Feb. 20, as Fox News Digital reported.

"We also carry our beloved Syria in our hearts," Fr. Ilgit added in his post, which has been translated from Italian to English.

NEW JERSEY SHORE TOWN OFFERS BOARDWALK IN SHAPE OF CROSS DESPITE CRITICISM: CANT HIDE OUR FAITH'

"May the Lord keep us in His love and be favorable to us! A big hug to everyone."

Above left, the Roman Catholic Church of Annunciation (Cathedral of the Annunciation) located in Iskenderun, Turkey, where an earthquake demolished the building. Surviving the quake was a Virgin Mary statue (not pictured). The actual statue is still standing despite the devastation.

Facebook users commented on the post  offering love and prayers to Fr. Ilgit, his congregation, the Lord and to Mother Mary.

Fox News Digital reached out to Fr. Ilgit for comment.

The alter inside the Roman Catholic Church of Annunciation (Cathedral of the Annunciation) located in Iskenderun, Turkey, appeared to have survived the quake as well.

Fr. Jeffrey Kirby, pastor of Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church in Indian Land, South Carolina, told Fox News Digital that the preservation of the statue of Mary is not the only "miracle" that came from the earthquake in Turkey.

CRUCIFIX FOUND IN DEBRIS AFTER WWI BATTLE IN FRANCE IS BEING RETURNED TO CHURCH OVER 100 YEARS LATER

He said it has given hope to those who are suffering as a result.

Many religious artifacts and personal items of people withstood the earthquake. An icon is seen among the remains of the destroyed Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church aftermath of the deadly earthquake in Tokacli Village of Altinozu in Hatay province, Turkey.

"The protection of the statue of Mary is a spiritual testimony to the shared affection of Christians and Muslims for the Blessed Virgin Mary," said Fr. Kirby.

Story continues

WHAT ARE 'ANGEL NUMBERS' AND WHY DO PEOPLE KEEP SEEING THEM?

"There are very few religious symbols that are common to Christians and Muslims, but Mary is one of them," he said.

People are seen collecting copies of the Koran and Gospels from the rubble in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Many religious congregations collapsed, though religious text and symbols survived the disaster.

Fr. Kirby continued, "She is revered in both traditions and the presence of her statue serves as an inspiring symbol of hope to all Christian and Muslim believers."

A doll lies on the ground on Feb. 7, 2023, near the site of a collapsed mosque following an earthquake in Hatay, Turkey.

"In the Christian tradition, the Blessed Virgin Mary is the mother of hope," Kirby added.

"The survival of her statue, drawn from the chaos of the earthquake, is a call to faith and confidence in Gods presence and the rebuilding of life after loss and destruction."

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER

On March 21, Fr. Ilgit spoke with The Society of Jesus, headquartered in Rome.

A statue symbolizing Mary, mother of Jesus, was virtually left untouched after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Turkey on Feb. 6. The Roman Catholic Church of Annunciation (Cathedral of the Annunciation) located in Iskenderun, Turkey (pictured here), has collapsed around the statue. Fr. Antuan Ilgit revealed a photo of the statue on Facebook.

He revealed how he leaned on communion and prayers in the earthquake  and "never felt alone."

In the interview, he also said Turkey is staying united and helping to heal wounds.

On April 10, Fr. Ilgit announced he was involved in Easter Mass and a vigil at Saint Pierre Church (Sen Piyer Kilisesi) in Istanbul, according to his Facebook page.
Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was on Monday jailed for 25 years over criticism of the Ukraine offensive, is the latest in a long line of Kremlin critics slapped with heavy jail terms.

Others have been killed, narrowly escaped death or been exiled. Here are President Vladimir Putin's best-known critics and where they are now:

- Dead -

Boris Nemtsov, a Kremlin critic and a former deputy prime minister, was shot dead in 2015 as he walked home across a Moscow bridge near the Kremlin.

Five Chechen men were convicted of killing Nemtsov but the mastermind of the murder was never found.

Nemtsov's allies have pointed the finger at the Kremlin and at Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who has denied the accusation.

Nemtsov, a charismatic speaker, had criticised Putin's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and regularly taken part in opposition protests. He was 55 at the time of his death.

Nearly a decade earlier, in 2006, the killing of journalist Anna Politkovskaya outside her Moscow home shocked the world.

Politkovskaya, a reporter at Novaya Gazeta, Russia's top independent newspaper, was a fierce critic of Kremlin's tactics in Chechnya.

The newspaper's editor, Dmitry Muratov, dedicated his 2021 Nobel Peace Prize to Politkovskaya and other Russian journalists killed for their work.

- Jailed -

Russia's main opposition politician, Alexei Navalny, was poisoned with Novichok, a Soviet-made nerve agent, on a trip to Siberia in 2020.

He underwent treatment in Germany and returned to Russia in January 2021, where he was arrested on landing at a Moscow airport.

The 46-year-old is serving a nine-year sentence on embezzlement charges that his supporters call punishment for challenging the Kremlin.

From prison, Navalny has denounced Putin's Ukraine offensive, calling it a "tragedy" and a "crime against my country."

Vladimir Kara-Murza, an opposition politician, was given the harshest sentence so far over comments critical of the Kremlin and the offensive.

Story continues

The 41-year-old was handed 25 years in jail on charges of treason, spreading "false" information about the Russian army and being affiliated with an "undesirable organisation".

He suffers from serious health problems which his lawyers say was due to two poisoning attempts in 2015 and 2017.

In December 2022, opposition politician Ilya Yashin was jailed for eight and a half years for spreading "false" information about the Russian army, under legislation criminalising criticism of the Ukraine offensive.

In August last year, Yevgeny Roizman, the former mayor of the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, was detained for his criticism of Russia's assault on Ukraine.

After his arrest sparked protests, the 60-year-old opposition politician was released from custody to await trial on charges of "discrediting" the Russian army.

- Exiled -

Some of Putin's high-profile critics have been abroad for years.

They include former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who spent a decade in prison after challenging the Russian leader early in his rule.

Khodorkovsky lives in London and has financed media projects critical of the Kremlin.

Many of Navalny's prominent allies fled Russia after his organisations were banned as "extremist".

But the decision in February last year to send troops into Ukraine, which ushered in an unprecedented crackdown at home, proved to be a final nail in the coffin for Russia's opposition movement.

Russians opposed to Moscow's attack on Ukraine are now scattered around the world. Many have fled to Europe and Israel.

TV presenter and entertainer Maxim Galkin, the husband of Russian pop icon Alla Pugacheva, has become an unlikely leading voice against the Ukraine offensive on social media.

Based in Israel, the 46-year-old show star regularly uses Instagram to denounce the Russian army's offensive.

- 'Foreign agents' -

Despite a rare intervention by Pugacheva -- who is widely considered untouchable -- Galkin has been branded a "foreign agent".

The epithet, which has Stalinist-era overtones, has been used by authorities to mount administrative pressure on critics.

Putin recently toughened the draconian 2012 "foreign agent" law.

Many journalists and Russia's main independent media outlets have been branded "foreign agents", making it much harder to operate.

All main independent media organisations in Russia have been shut down or suspended operations.

Other popular figures who have spoken out against Moscow's Ukraine offensive -- such as the hugely popular rappers Oxxxymiron and Noize MC, and exiled science fiction writer Dmitry Glukhovsky -- have also been labelled "foreign agents".

bur/yad
An illustrated collage of the state of Texas, Bitcoins, and power grid imagery Illustrated/Getty Images

Texas has declared itself open for Bitcoin mining, an energy-intensive endeavor that involves warehouses of powerful computers trying to solve complex mathematical problems to unlock valuable cryptocurrency tokens. Texas also has an increasingly strained power grid that serves only Texas and keeps failing or threatening to overload during winter storms and summer heatwaves.

This combination of Bitcoin miners' voracious appetite for energy and the finite and capricious quantity of power produced in Texas has led to massive cryptocurrency mines earning money for agreeing to shut down in emergencies, raking in more money for shutting down for brief periods, and leaving Texas residents to foot the bill, The New York Times reports. Here's what you need to know about how Bitcoin mining is hurting  or helping  Texas energy customers.

How much energy do Bitcoin mines use?

A lot. The biggest Bitcoin mine in the U.S.  operated by Riot Platforms in an abandoned Alcoa aluminum smelting plant in Rockdale, Texas, about an hour outside of Austin  uses the same amount of electricity as the nearest 300,000 homes, the Times reports. Add in the Bitdeer mine about a mile away, and Rockdale's Bitcoin mines use more power than all the houses in a 40-mile radius.

A 1 megawatt mine consumes more energy per day than a typical U.S. home does in two years. Lee Bratcher, president of Bitcoin lobbying group the Texas Blockchain Council, estimates that Bitcoin miners use about 2,100 MW of power in Texas each day, while the Texas state comptroller's office said cryptocurrency mining operations consume 3,000 MW.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which manages the Texas grid, "projects that mining operations could rise by 6,000 MW in the next couple years and potentially increase to 17,000 MW by 2030," or nearly what Houston  America's fourth-largest city  uses during peak demand, the comptroller's office said in an August 2022 report.

Story continues

On top of that, "prospective crypto mining businesses have requested to put approximately 33,000 more megawatts in the ERCOT interconnection queue over the next few years (enough to power the whole state of Florida)," The Texas Observer reports, though nobody expects all of those requests to come to fruition.

Worldwide, in July 2022 Bitcoin mining used the annualized equivalent of 132 terawatt-hours of electricity, "comparable to the power consumption of Argentina," the Texas comptroller's office said. "A single bitcoin transaction used nearly 1,452 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity, equal to the power consumption of an average U.S. household for nearly 50 days."

How have Bitcoin mines turned that into cold hard cash?

"Their massive energy consumption combined with their ability to shut off almost instantly allows some companies to save money and make money by deftly pulling the levers of U.S. power markets," the Times reports. A significant portion of the revenue large Texas crypto mines rake in comes from their participation in ERCOT's Responsive Reserve Service program, designed to protect the power grid during periods of heavy use.

The program pays them for their participation and their promise to power down if the grid approaches blackout levels. "In practice, they rarely are asked to shut down," the Times reports. "Several of the companies are being paid through these agreements a majority of the time they operate. Most years, they are asked to turn off for only a few hours, at which point they are paid even more."

Bitcoin miners can also avoid fees Texas charges to maintain and bolster the power grid by strategically powering down during peak demand, when those fees are assessed. And when power prices are high, the miners can also shut down and resell their allotted electricity  which they prepurchase at low rates  for hefty profits.

The Times gave two examples of how this works. During 2021's Winter Storm Uri, during which about 40 Texans froze to death during extended blackouts, ERCOT paid Bitdeer's Bitcoin mine in Rockdale an average of $175,000 an hour for not operating, earning the company more than $18 million over four days  "from fees ultimately paid by Texans who had endured the storm," the Times adds. Another Bitcoin company made tens of millions reselling electricity during Uri.

During one day of a June 2022 heatwave, when Riot was earning $342,000 a day mining Bitcoin at its Rockdale facility, it also earned $42,000 from midnight to 4 a.m. for participating in the Responsive Reserve Service program and saved $5.5 million in fees by shutting down from about 4 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. In July 2022, The Texas Observer adds, the same Riot Bitcoin facility earned more from curtailing energy use, $9.5 million, than the $5.6 million in profit it earned mining Bitcoin.

For all of 2022, the Times reports, Riot made $9.3 million from participating in the blackout-prevention service (despite being asked to reduce power for only about 3.5 hours), saved about $27 million in potential fees, and earned roughly $18 million from reselling electricity to other customers. Riot earned $156.9 million from Bitcoin mining last year.

Is this how the Texas grid is supposed to work?

ERCOT told the Times it "does not discriminate based on the type or activity" of the companies that sign up for its Responsive Reserve Service program. "We want to be able to serve any business that wants to do business in Texas," Pablo Vegas, ERCOT's new CEO, said in November. "And that includes crypto miners."

"There's a set of rules that exist," Carey King, assistant director of the Energy Institute at The University of Texas at Austin, told the Observer. And the crypto miners do "fit the definition of being able to provide ... emergency response services."

"I think they're exploiting the system," Severin Bornstein, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, told the Times. "But they will say, 'You know, the system was already there,' and I'm sympathetic to that in some ways."

How does this make energy more expensive for regular Texans?

The cost of Bitcoin miners reselling electricity during peak demand falls on consumers, University of Houston energy economist Ed Hirs tells the Times. "Ironically, when people are paying the most for their power, or losing it altogether, the miners are making money selling energy back to Texans at rates 100 times what they paid."

There's also a cost from the miners' enormous power consumption. Bitcoin miners say they set up camp in areas where they can use otherwise unusable renewable energy, but their energy needs are so great they actually get 85 percent of their energy from coal and natural gas plants, causing "as much carbon pollution as adding 3.5 million gas-powered cars to America's roads," the Times reports, citing an analysis by tech nonprofit WattTime.

The 1,800 MW used by the 10 Bitcoin mines connected to the Texas grid require more expensive power generators to come online, and this "increased demand has caused electric bills for power customers to rise nearly 5 percent, or $1.8 billion per year," the Times reports, citing a simulation performed by energy research and consulting firm Wood Mackenzie. "In West Texas, where several Bitcoin mines have settled, bills have increased by nearly 9 percent."

A group of seven federal lawmakers, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), asked ERCOT about the state's cryptocurrency boom and power consumption last fall. "Given the impacts of crypto-mining on the climate, the grid, and to ratepayers, ERCOT's support for this industry is irresponsible and highly concerning," they wrote.

"It's a massive financial burden to Texans," Wood Mackenzie's Ben Hertz-Shargel told the Times. And because of how the Texas market operates, the increases are steepest for residential customers. Riot, for example, told investors that due to its various strategies, it paid 2.96 cents per kilowatt-hour last year. "By comparison, the average price for other industrial businesses in Texas was 7.2 cents," the Times reports. "For residents, it was 13.5 cents."

What do Bitcoin proponents say?

Bitcoin miners and their supporters highlight the benefits they bring to rural communities and argue that their sizable energy usage will encourage the construction of more power plants, especially wind and solar generation that isn't yet able to circulate on the grid due to a lack of transmission lines. The Bitcoin companies also say the criticism of them is unjust.

The analysis cited by the Times "could be used to attack any industry that consumes power," said David Fogel, the chief executive of Coinmint. "I think the entire notion of singling out specific industries like this is unfair."

"The thing about crypto is that they're really not doing anything that is useful," counters Molly White, a software engineer and cryptocurrency researcher. "It is primarily used for speculation. I think that's important to realize. And that is somehow worth the electricity usage of small countries? That blows my mind."

Is Texas doing anything to addresses Bitcoin mining's power consumption?

Yes. The Texas Senate unanimously passed legislation in April that would cap Bitcoin miners' participation in ERCOT's demand response program at 10 percent, require them to shut down during peak demand anyway, and eliminate tax incentives  and the Bitcoin lobby is working hard to make sure it fails in the House. Bitcoin boosters are pushing a "Don't Mess With Texas Innovation" campaign aimed at stopping this "anticompetitive" bill, SB 1751.

The Texas Senate also sent the House a bill that aims to stabilize the power grid by building natural gaspowered power plants that could generate up to 10 gigawatts of electricity in emergency situations. The Senate touted estimates that it would cost $10.8 billion to build the plants, but an estimate by the quasi-government Lower Colorado River Authority said it could cost $18 million. It isn't clear if the state would pay for the backup power generators with reserve funds or have ERCOT pass the costs onto energy customers.

The proposal, a priority for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) "has many opponents," KUT Austin reports. "Environmental groups are concerned with the amount of extra carbon dioxide-emitting fossil fuel generation it would lock into the state's energy mix. Existing power plant companies say it would destroy the Texas competitive energy market. Meanwhile, consumer advocates point out it would greatly increase already-rising Texas electricity bills."

How did Texas end up with all these Bitcoin mines in the first place?

Basically, Texas invited Bitcoin miners in, and they accepted, drawn in by cheap energy and comparatively few regulations. They need to go somewhere. Bitcoin mines used to be centered in China, but due in part to the industry's massive energy consumption, Beijing declared crypto mining "undesirable" and banned it in 2021. Many miners moved to Iran and Kazakhstan, which also cracked down. Texas rolled out the red carpet.

"Texas will be the crypto leader," tweeted Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who also hosted the Texas Blockchain Council at the governor's mansion. ERCOT's former chief declared himself "pro-Bitcoin." For the Bitcoin miners, "the main attraction is cheap wholesale electricity prices," said UT's King.

"Cryptocurrency mining can operate from anywhere in the world," the Texas comptroller report noted. "It is not bound by transportation networks or access to raw materials or a specialized workforce. What its data centers do require is a massive amount of electricity to cool and operate the mining machinery, and Texas provides an attractive draw for such needs." And if that ever changes, they can move on to somewhere else, leaving Texas with a whole lot more power.

You may also like

5 unethically funny cartoons about Clarence Thomas

Leaked U.S. files jumped from online spats to global breach through pro-Russia account run by U.S. Navy vet

Codeword: April 15, 2023
Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday became the highest-ranking official so far to react to the shooting of Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old Black Kansas City student, saying every child deserves to be safe.

Doug and I are praying for Ralph Yarl and his family as he fights for his life, Harris tweeted, referring to her husband, second gentlemen Doug Emhoff. Lets be clear: No child should ever live in fear of being shot for ringing the wrong doorbell.

Doug and I are praying for Ralph Yarl and his family as he fights for his life.



Let's be clear: No child should ever live in fear of being shot for ringing the wrong doorbell.



Every child deserves to be safe. Thats the America we are fighting for.  Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) April 17, 2023

Outrage has been building in Kansas City after Yarls family and attorneys for the family say the teen was shot Thursday night in north Kansas City by a white homeowner. According to his family, Yarl was shot twice after ringing the doorbell of a house that he mistakenly went to while trying to pick up his younger brothers.

Kansas City police are investigating the shooting and Chiefs Stacey Graves said Sunday the department needed a formal victim statement from Yarl. His father told The Star on Monday that he has been released from the hospital.

Harris tweet appeared to mark the Biden administrations first direct comment on the shooting. No one has been charged in the shooting, leading to protests Sunday.

Every child deserves to be safe. Thats the America we are fighting for, said Harris, the first Black vice president.

President Joe Biden didnt explicitly refer to Yarl on Monday, but tweeted that guns are the leading killer of children in the United States and called for action.

What has our nation come to when children cannot attend a birthday party without fear? When parents have to worry every time their kids walk out the door to school, the movie theater, or to the park? Biden tweeted.

U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Democrat who was Kansas Citys first Black mayor, said earlier Monday that he could think of no justification for shooting a child multiple times for ringing the wrong doorbell.

The Stars Daniel Desrochers contributed reporting
Cadets of a military academy attend the funeral of Dmitry Menshikov, a mercenary for the private Russian military company Wagner Group, killed in Ukraine, Saint Petersburg, Russia, December 24, 2022 REUTERS/Igor Russak

The Wagner Group is trying to recruit from Russia's military, the Institute for the Study of War said.

It's "increasingly desperate for manpower" after heavy losses in Ukraine, the think tank said.

The group has feuded with the military, but now seems desperate for its troops, per the ISW.

Russia's pro-Kremlin paramilitary Wagner Group is trying to poach soldiers from the country's traditional armed forces, with it increasingly "desperate for manpower" after heavy losses in Ukraine, according to experts.

Washington DC-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War said in an update on Sunday that the "Wagner Group may be attempting to force mobilized Russian personnel to sign contracts with Wagner, possibly in an effort to offset Wagner's losses in Ukraine."

This comes after Wagner's leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, publicly feuded with Russia's traditional military leadership, and with the group suffering heavy losses in battles in eastern Ukraine.

The Institute for the Study of War said that this latest recruitment drive, which would involve seeking soldiers who have often only received the poor training that the Russian army is giving its newest soldiers, suggests that "Wagner is increasingly desperate for manpower as it continues to conduct highly attritional offensive operations in and around Bakhmut."

Earlier this year the group lost its ability to recruit directly from Russian prisons, leaving it short of means to replace battlefield losses.

Wagner had previously offered pardons in exchange for six months of service in Ukraine, although many men didn't make it back alive.

The Wagner group, which has thousands of mercenaries and recruited prisoners fighting in Ukraine, has, in recent months, been leading Russia's assault on the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

That battle is considered the longest-running and bloodiest so far in the invasion of Ukraine, with Western officials estimating that, as of early last month, between 20,000 and 30,000 Russian troops have been killed or injured in the city.

Story continues

US Gen. Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said last month that the battle had turned into a "slaughter-fest" for Russian forces.

The Institute for the Study of War noted that Wagner and regular Russian military forces have recently started working more closely together in their bid to take Bakhmut.

The country's Ministry of Defense does allow mobilized soldiers to fight with Wagner, but it's unclear what happens to those who have done so, the think tank said.

It also listed evidence for Wagner trying to recruit regular soldiers, including a public complaint that the group was alleged to have forced 170 mobilized personnel to sign contracts with it, with geolocated footage from earlier this month showing it detaining personnel and taking them to an "unspecified training ground."

Independent Russia media outlet Astra also reported last week that dozens of Russians draftees claimed to have been locked in a factory and forced at gunpoint to sign contracts with the Wagner Group.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Two former mercenaries of Russia's state-backed Wagner Group told Russian opposition media outlet Gulagu.net how they had allegedly killed dozens of Ukrainian civilians, including children, as well as prisoners of war when fighting in Donetsk Oblast.

Ex-prisoners Azamat Uldarov and Alexey Savichev were recruited by Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin to take part in Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to the publication.

They were "personally pardoned" by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2022.

"We were ordered to clean up and destroy everyone (in Soledar and Bakhmut). We came with 150 Wagner fighters killing everyone (on our way) - women, men, elderly, and children, including small, five-year-olds," Uldarov said in a video interview with Gulagu.net published on April 17.

According to Uldarov, Prigozhin personally gave the order to do it, which the ex-mercenary called "cleaning up," as well as ordered not to take anyone prisoner or negotiate, "but only to kill."

Uldarov admitted he gave a command to kill "300-400" civilians sheltering in a basement of an apartment building, among whom were 40 children.

Viral videos show pattern of Russian atrocities throughout the war Warning: This story contains graphic descriptions of violence. At least several Ukrainian servicemen have been beheaded by Russian troops, as alleged by two videos shared online this week. The revelation comes as yet another instance of exceptional brutality demonstrated  and filmed  by Russian f Kyiv IndependentAlexander Khrebet

Another ex-mercenary Savichev said he had blown up a pit with 50-60 wounded Ukrainian POWs and deserted Wagner soldiers in Bakhmut this January.

"I did what they ordered About 30 grenades. I would rather have fulfilled the order and go warm up because it was very cold," Savichev added.

Following the interviews, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office reported it had started investigating the alleged war crimes committed by the two ex-commanders.

Story continues

Ukraine's Presidential Office Head Andrii Yermak also commented on the matter, saying that "confession is not enough."

"There must be a punishment. Tough and fair. And there will definitely be. We will find all the facts of the crimes and find everyone who committed them," Yermak added.

The Kremlin-controlled Wagner mercenary group has been assisting Russia's military in trying to capture Ukraine's eastern city of Bakhmut for the past nine months as Moscow tries to consolidate its grip over the entirety of Donetsk Oblast.

There is speculation that Wagner mercenaries might be linked to the videos of Ukrainian soldiers getting beheaded that have surfaced online.
Yevgeny Prigozhin against the background of the graves of the Russian occupiers

At least 22,000 people had disappeared from Russian prisons between October and November 2022, Mediazona reported in November.

Russias Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) stopped publishing data on prisoners in January 2023, though some regional offices continue to release statistics.

Read also: Dykyi explains why Prigozhin decided to return Wagner PMC to Africa

Comparing data on the number of convicts in 35 Russian regions as of early 2022, the publication notes that the number of people has decreased by 17,000 people.

The largest number of prisoners disappeared in Samara Oblast, where 10,200 people were held in prisons in early 2022, with just 7,500 people incarcerated in early 2023.

There were also more than a thousand fewer people in prison colonies in Chelyabinsk (1,574) and Kirov (1,153) oblasts, as well as in the Republic of Tatarstan (1,040).

Mediazona noted that official data in some regions may differ from the real situation.

For example, the number of convicts in Yaroslavl Oblast and Krasnoyarsk Krai has almost not changed, though these regions saw active recruitment of prisoners for use in Russias war against Ukraine.

Read also: Assaulting Bakhmut will exhaust Wagner Group PMC in two months, officer says

Wagner PMC announced in February that they would stop recruiting mercenaries from Russian prisons. After that, media reported that the prisoners were being recruited directly by Russias Ministry of Defense.

Prigozhin said on April 14 that Moscow should end the war against Ukraine and focus on consolidating the territorial gains it still holds on to.

Prigozhins press service posted a message via Telegram, where he argues that the Russian government and society now needs a firm end to the war, with his ideal option centered around announcing the conclusion of the Special Military Operation, in which Russia has achieved the results it wanted.

On April 17, former Wagner PMC commanders confessed to committing massive war crimes against Ukrainians, including the execution of over 20 children and the detonation of a pit containing more than 50 wounded POWs.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
The Prosecutor General's Office is investigating information about crimes committed by members of the Wagner Private Military Company (PMC), who confessed to shooting Ukrainian children on video.

Source: Press service of the Prosecutor General's Office

Quote: "One of the Telegram channels posted an interview with members of the so-called Wagner PMC, during which they reported the killing of civilians, including children, as well as prisoners of war [that were soldiers  ed.] of Ukraines Armed Forces.

The Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations registered the facts under Art. 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine  violation of the laws and customs of war. The circumstances mentioned in the interview will be checked as part of the investigation of criminal proceedings, and they will be given an appropriate legal assessment."

Details: The Prosecutor General's Office also reported that they are investigating the actions of Wagner Group members who are participating in hostilities on the side of the Russian Federation. They are being investigated for involvement in the conduct of aggressive war, encroachment on the territorial integrity of Ukraine, and war crimes in the occupied territory of Ukraine: murder, ill-treatment of prisoners of war and civilians, and robberies.

Notices of suspicion of waging an aggressive war and encroachment on the territorial integrity of Ukraine (Art. 437, Art. 110 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) were served on the head of the Wagner PMC and the head of one of its units; as well as on individual members, on the facts of murder and cruel treatment of civilians (Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

The Prosecutor General's Office emphasised that law enforcement agencies of foreign countries are involved in the investigations.

Background:

On 17 April, a Russian project posted a video of prisoners from Wagner Group confessing to murders of Ukrainian children in Bakhmut and Soledar. According to one of the killers, 15-year-old unarmed Ukrainians "can hardly be called civilians".

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
A Northeast Florida man was arrested Friday after he reportedly set off an explosive device in a street in Palm Coast, deputies say.

According to the Flagler County Sheriffs Office, deputies responded to the area around 1:30 p.m. after a reported explosion occurred in the a rainwater drain at an intersection. No injuries were reported.

Deputies were able to locate a suspicious device after a sweep of the area, and the St. Johns County Sheriffs Office Bomb Squad was called in to assist.

The initiator appeared to be a radio transmitted, remote controlled electric match used in commercial fireworks displays, according to the complaint. It was believed to be paired with a remote switch would allow the device to be set off from afar.

The reporting party told deputies a man of average height with dark hair was seen leaving the scene of the detonation in a white box truck with a roof rack.

Detectives canvassed the area, following security camera footage that pointed them to a suspect named Michael Blum, 45.

A few miles north, Blums white truck, a 2017 Chevy van matching the witness description, was found in an apartment complex where the suspects sister lives. This is where the defendant attempted to hide the car, according to the police report.

Detectives conducted a search of the vehicle and obtained additional evidence linking Blum to the explosive device.

The suspect was arrested and was charged with discharging a destructive device, resisting an officer without violence and violation of probation for carrying a concealed weapon. He is being held at the Flagler County jail on no bond.

Based on the evidence and his actions this guy is a wannabe bomber, Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said. I commend our team on [apprehending] this guy before he could hurt someone.
Thatched roofed houses in a traditional village, Kyoto Prefecture, Miyama, Japan on August 9, 2018 in Miyama, Japan. Eric Lafforgue/Getty Images

Japan has a glut of abandoned homes in rural areas and small towns.

Government officials are auctioning them off for as little as $500.

Americans are getting in on the deal.

With home prices and rents increasingly unaffordable in the US, some Americans are looking for their dream homes abroad. In Japan, a growing portion of the country's housing stock is unoccupied and increasingly attracting American buyers.

Japan has a glut of older, abandoned homes in rural areas, as Insider has previously reported. With the country's population in decline, there simply aren't enough people willing to purchase these houses.

The country has at least 8.5 million such "akiya," the Japanese word for unoccupied home, according to government data from 2018. Some experts believe there are as many as 11 million empty houses. When owners of these traditional homes die, those who inherit the properties often don't want them or are unable to maintain them. In Japan, land remains valuable, while houses lose value over time and are often torn down and rebuilt.

Government officials are concerned that growing numbers of akiyas are hurting their efforts to revitalize rural parts of the country. So they're subsidizing renovations and selling homes often for around $25,000, and sometimes for as little as $500.

Americans are getting in on the deal. They're increasingly buying up these houses and restoring them, the New York Times reported.

Matthew Ketchum, a Pittsburgh native who lives in Tokyo, is taking advantage of the akiya market in a different way. In 2020, he co-founded a real estate consultancy, called Akiya & Inaka, that markets and sells akiya and other traditional homes, the Times reported. Ketchum said he's seen a strong growth in interest from American buyers.

"At first, we were getting most of our inquiries from Japan residents, Australians and Singaporeans," Ketchum told the Times. "That has changed now, with the vast majority of our international clients being based in the U.S."

Story continues

Jaya and Chihiro Thursfield, whose experience Insider reported on in 2021, moved to Japan from London in 2017 and bought an abandoned akiya less than an hour outside Tokyo for $30,000, or three million Japanese yen, in 2019. They spent about $150,000 and two years renovating the home, where they've lived with their twin sons and cats since December 2020.

The Thursfields, who were also profiled by the Times, have documented their renovations on Youtube, where viewers can see how they transformed a home largely in disrepair into a beautiful, minimalist property.

"This was truly an abandoned house in terms of the declined inheritance and everything left behind by the previous owners," Jaya, who's Australian, told Insider.

Read the original article on Business Insider
GUR has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement in the explosion in Belgorod

Yusov didn't comment on whether Ukraine was involved or not in the drone attack on Belgorod's power substation the previous night.

Read also: Russian authorities report downing two missiles over Belgorod

He did, however, note that the city was without power for some time.

Read also: Russian media report drone attack on Belgorod airport

"It is obvious that for people who believe in miracles, live and do good, the fire of grace descends on them. For those who do evil, the fire of God for Easter is different, he said.

The war has already come to every Russians' home, as well as to homes of (Russian dictator Vladimir) Putin's supporters" he said about the explosion, adding that there are no safe places left in Russia.

The attack comes days after Russian authorities cancelled parades for International Workers Day on May 1 and Victory Day on May 9, citing a high terror attack threat.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
For six weeks, while Sen. John Fetterman received treatment for clinical depression at Walter Reed Medical Center, handwritten cards poured into his Washington office. His staff fielded phone calls from constituents passing along well wishes. Others called simply to thank him for being upfront about his condition.

When one of Fettermans senior aides checked into a hotel in Pittsburgh recently, a middle-aged woman saw their Senate ID and asked for whom they worked. When the aide told her, the woman responded: Hes so brave.

The reaction has been, overall, a shocking and pleasant surprise to Fettermans team, which worried about their boss and felt anxious about how the public would respond to revelations that he has depression.

What they and others have discovered is that the country is increasingly open about it. And that the politics are changing around it.

Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) penned a personal essay about Fetterman and how the news of his depression dredged up old feelings about her own fight with the disease in her teens, and again as a young mom. Republican Sen. Katie Britts team sent cookies and brownies to Fettermans office almost once a week, the senior Fetterman aide told POLITICO. And before President Joe Biden kicked off his budget speech in Philadelphia last month, he spoke directly to the senator: John, if you can hear this at all, were with you, pal. Were with you, he said, drawing cheers from the crowd.

It was like, damn, this is cool. You never know how its going to go, you know? Theres no playbook for what John did, said the Fetterman aide. But if you can learn anything from John Fetterman, its that its OK. Things can get better. It is OK to get help. Thats what he wants people to take away from this.

Fettermans return to the Hill on Monday will provide the most visible example of the nations capital  a city where public figures often fight to keep personal battles shrouded in secrecy  slowly embracing an issue that affects 1 in 5 Americans in a given year. From Congress to the White House, policymakers have begun leaning into mental health as a key policy priority.



Story continues

In the 50s and 60s, nobody said the word cancer. We talk about cancer now. We need to get to that point where we talk about depression. We talk about bipolar disorder. We talk about PTSD. We talk about schizophrenia, and acknowledge that these are illnesses for which there is treatment, and people can have satisfying, fulfilling lives, said Lynn Bufka, associate chief of practice transformation at the American Psychological Association and a licensed psychologist in Maryland.

So anytime we have more visible figures talking about the reality, it helps people to see Oh, that person is a lot like me.

Not only are politicians opening up about their private struggles and decisions to seek treatment but they are doing it while staying in office, said Jason Kander, the former secretary of state of Missouri. Kander, a rising star in the Democratic party, ran for Kansas City mayor in the 2019 election. He dropped out after revealing he had post-traumatic stress disorder and depression after his service in Afghanistan.

I announced that I was leaving public life for a while to go get help  now Im a public person again, and Im trying to be that role model as best I can. But theres a difference between that next level of what John Fetterman is doing, Kander said in an interview. Im aware of the social media comments that are like, Oh, whatever happened to that guy after he made that announcement? And thats fine, but its really great that in the case of John Fetterman, or Ruben Gallego, people see, Oh, they made this announcement, and their pursuit continued.



The shift in Washington can be attributed to a number of factors, Bufka said. After decades of advocacy work from the APA and other organizations focused on mental health education, the media now talks about mental health more. The Covid pandemic also greatly exacerbated the crisis, forcing politicians to face the issue head on as one impacting their constituents  and their own lives.

Biden followed a similar path. He had spoken in the past about mental health and worked on the issue as vice president, announcing Obama White House efforts to increase access to mental health services. But during the 2020 campaign, the issue became personalized as he faced questions about his son Hunters struggles with mental health and addiction.

The idea that we treat mental health and physical health as though somehow theyre distinct  its health, Biden said during the interview with CNN. ... Im confident, confident, hes going to make it.

The focus continued into his presidency. During his first State of the Union address, Biden talked about how the pandemic impacted kids, increasing social isolation, anxiety and learning loss. As part of his unity agenda, he outlined the White Houses strategy for combating the mental health crisis: creating healthy learning environments, strengthening system capacity and connecting more Americans to care.

The American Rescue Plan included funding to expand Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics, invest in the 988 suicide prevention hotline and launch projects to tackle the impacts of social media and kids. Bidens latest budget requests $139 million for research and another $16.6 billion to increase mental health care programs in the Veterans Affairs Medical Care program.



Having the White House be public about this is is meaningful. And I suspect  I would never deign to speak for the president  but I suspect that the contemporary veterans in his family have helped him understand this, said Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), who has spoken about his PTSD after serving in the military.

There has been no shortage of administration officials talking about the growing crisis, including Domestic Policy Council Adviser Susan Rice, and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, who has said in interviews that he accepted Bidens offer to serve a second term because of the dire state of the countrys emotional health.

During White House events, Murthy has talked about about his own struggles with mental health as a young boy and about his uncle, who died by suicide after a silent battle with depression.

Still, the steps forward dont negate the reality that a stigma still exists, Smith said. She suspected that if one were to do the math, there were likely dozens of members of Congress choosing to not talk about their mental health, fearful of what it could mean for their political careers.

Even as Fettermans openness has been met with a positive response, stories like the one of Tom Eagleton, the Democratic running mate for presidential nominee George McGovern who withdrew from the ticket after acknowledging was treated for clinical depression and received electroshock therapy, still haunt politicians.

Then there was former Rep. Patrick Kennedy who left politics to focus on his addiction and bipolar disorder. He entered a rehabilitation center after crashing his car into a barricade on Capitol Hill in 2006. In a 2016 interview, Kennedy noted that there were moments he knew he needed help, well before that breaking point. But back then, politicians didnt talk about these things.

It is getting better, but individuals still take risks when they speak out  people are still willing to jump to the conclusion that because you have a mental health issue, that means are you really capable of serving? Can you really do what you need to do? Smith said.

But to me, its worth it. The positive side of it is the people out there, especially the young people, who see folks like me  who by all appearances have my act together  being open about it. That creates a door for them to walk through.
Communication issues and a failure to maintain proper watch on the bridge led to a near-collision between the guided-missile destroyer Momsen and the dock landing ship Harpers Ferry last year, according to a preliminary investigation obtained by Navy Times.

In November 2022, the Momsen and Harpers Ferry were transiting in opposite directions in close vicinity to one another in San Diego Bay, U.S. 3rd Fleet spokesman Lt. Samuel Boyle previously told Navy Times. The incident, which was captured on video and posted to the @SanDiegoWebCam Twitter account, did not involve any injuries to sailors, nor any damage to either ship.

Preliminary Inquiry into the Near-Miss Between Harpers Ferry and Momsen

Warship Chicken in San Diego Bay USS Momsen (DDG-92) & USS Harpers Ferry (LSD-49) pic.twitter.com/476AajfjNE  San Diego Web Cam (@SanDiegoWebCam) November 29, 2022

The report determined several factors contributed to the near collision, including:

Failure from the Momsen to follow procedures maintaining a proper watch on bridge-to-bridge as it related to the tactical communicator position

Failure from the Momsen to maintain proper watch on bridge-to-bridge

Failure from the Harpers Ferry to adhere to Bridge Resource Management

Failure from both ships to communicate using secondary communication channels

Failure from both ships Combat Information Centers to provide forceful backup to the pilothouse

Several other factors, which were redacted, were also included in the report.

Two Navy ships just got too close for comfort in San Diego Bay

Ultimately, the investigation concluded that the episode did not result in a collision due to decisive actions from the Momsens commanding officer to maneuver to port, and the officer of the deck from the Harpers Ferry choosing to maneuver to port when he felt the point of extremis was reached.

Story continues

Additionally, the report concluded that the Momsen commanding officer and the Harpers Ferry officer of the deck deciding to shift rudders at approximately the same time to complete a successful maneuver to safe waters prevented a collision from occurring.

Naval Surface Forces spokesman Cmdr. Arlo Abrahamson told Navy Times in an email that the command did not administer any adverse or punitive actions against anyone affiliated with the incident.

Instead, we focused on assessing processes and implementing lessons learned to ensure this type of incident does not occur again, Abrahamson said.
Workers pull a 930 year old canoe from Lake Waccamaw in North Carolina on April 12, 2023. North Carolina American Indian Heritage Commission

A 930-year-old canoe discovered by a group of teens was pulled from a North Carolina lake.

The canoe is 28 feet long and "carried many a brave," according to Waccamaw Siouan Chief Michael Jacobs.

Jacobs said the canoe give people a unique opportunity to learn about Native American culture.

A nearly 1,000-year-old canoe discovered by a group of 13-year-old boys was pulled from its watery grave last week in North Carolina, officials announced.

The group of teen boys stumbled upon the canoe in summer of 2021 but thought it was an ordinary log, according to The News Reporter in North Carolina. The outlet reported that state officials later examined the canoe at the time and subsequently moved it underneath a dock to protect it until they could fully excavate it.

Last week, on April 12, workers finally pulled the canoe, which is approximately 930 years old, from Lake Waccamaw in Columbus County, North Carolina, according to a statement from the heritage commission. The North Carolina American Indian Heritage Commission and the Waccamaw Sijouan Tribe worked together to pull the canoe from the water.

The North Carolina American Indian Heritage Commission did not immediately return Insider's request for comment on Monday, but an incredible video posted on April 12 to the commission's Facebook page shows the canoe being lifted from the water.

Columbus County Clerk of Court Jess Hill said his children were playing near the pier at their house on Canal Cove Road when they found the canoe buried six inches underneath the sand, the Columbus County News reported.

Hill's son, Eli Hill, said he initially thought the canoe was a log when he stepped on it under the water, according to KTTC.

"I tried to pick it up and it never came up. So, we kept digging at it and it just kept going," Hill said according to KTTC.

According to KTTC, Waccamaw Siouan Chief Michael Jacobs said that the canoe gives people a rare opportunity to learn about Native American culture. The canoe will be taken to a lab in the state to be studied, the outlet reported.

"That canoe at 28 feet long would have carried many a brave," Jacobs said, according to the outlet. "We feel like in our heart, it's a history that we're still exploring and understanding because this is the first time we've had access."

Read the original article on Insider
The water vole is one of the UK's fastest declining mammals

A new project to recover water vole populations in London is calling on members of the public to help with conservation efforts.

Londoners are being asked to explore local waterways and report any sightings or evidence of the animals.

Water vole numbers have plummeted over the past 30 years and there is limited data on how many remain in the capital.

The project, led by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), will use the data to identify key population areas.

The Wellcome Sanger Institute estimates that in 1990, there were around 7.3 million water voles in the UK, with populations widespread across Greater London.

But since then, habitat loss, water pollution and predation from the American mink have caused the number of water voles to fall by an estimated 93%. They are now an endangered species.

Supported by the Mayor of London's Rewild London Fund, the project hopes to increase the number of water voles across London's waterways.

To better understand where they are, the public are being urged to keep an eye out, and log any sightings on the Water Vole Recovery Project recording form.

Water voles live along rivers, streams, lakes, ponds and areas of wet moorland

Water voles can be quite difficult to spot, but they are most likely to be seen from April to October close to bodies of water.

At the project's launch earlier, members of the public were taught how to confidently identify water voles, and spot evidence of life.

A recording of the event can be found on the ZSL Science & Conservation YouTube page.

Water voles don't travel far from their burrows, which makes migrating to new habitat difficult

Sam Facey, ZSL's estuaries and wetland's project officer, explains: "We know there are some populations still present within London, but we still don't have a clear picture across most of the city.

"We need the help of the public to look for water voles and provide the essential data that will allow us to pinpoint where we need to place our conservation efforts to help restore their populations."

Follow BBC London on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hellobbclondon@bbc.co.uk
Strong storms rolled back into Broward on Monday afternoon, shutting down the airport once again and flooding roads that already are saturated with water. The weather, paired with lightning, set off another series of advisories and alerts.

At around 4:15 p.m. Monday, the ground stop at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport was lifted after almost three hours. Last week, the airport was closed from Wednesday to Friday due to unprecedented flooding that ravaged South Florida.

The city of Fort Lauderdale announced Monday afternoon that City Hall is closed until further notice while crews continue cleanup and repairs due to storm damage. Tuesdays Commission meetings will be held virtually.

The city of Fort Lauderdale announced Monday afternoon that City Hall is closed while crews continue cleanup and repairs due to storm damage. Tuesdays Commission meeting will be held virtually. To sign up or to join the meeting, visit https://t.co/GLgRtnSyXh. @MiamiHerald  Omar Rodriguez Ortiz (@Omar_fromPR) April 17, 2023

And to make matters potentially worse, king tides may cause additional flooding in low-lying areas starting Tuesday morning, the city alerted.

READ MORE: King tides might cause more flooding in Fort Lauderdale. Heres what you need to know

On Monday, residents of the flood-ravaged Edgewood neighborhood of Broward, near the airport, continued to recover what they could from their homes following last weeks historic rainfall.

Shilo Carney, 35, left, and his wife Tara Hardy, 34, spent the day cleaning their home. The pair take a break from their clean-out after discarding the majority of their belongings. On Monday, April 17, 2023, less than a week after unrelenting rainfall flooded the streets of the Edgewood neighborhood in Fort Lauderdale, residents continued to clean out their soaked homes. Carl Juste/cjuste@miamiherald.com

Just two days after the flood tide ebbed on the streets, the skies opened up, unleashing storm band after storm band, pooling water back up on the roads and instilling fear that all the dank misery was starting again.

READ MORE: Its all gone. How families are coping in a Broward community that went underwater

Story continues

Exactly what we need. More rain, Tara Hardy said as she peeked out from the awning of her home on Southwest 29th Street.

Hardy, 34, and husband Shilo Carney, 35, bailed out more than a foot of water from their house last week. The telltale waterline remains on their bare walls. Destroyed furniture and a lifetime of possessions are piled in their yard.

They lost mostly everything they own.

Everything was a complete loss other than a big box of belongings that we have in the middle of the living room, she said. But our whole house is out here on the front lawn.

Neighbors discard damaged items in a pile on the street. A tow-truck operator gives a thumbs up as one of many damaged cars is towed away on Monday, April 17, 2023. Carl Juste/cjuste@miamiherald.com

READ MORE: Shelter, food, showers and more. Heres how Fort Lauderdale flood victims can get help

Their two children, ages 6 and 9, and their pets, are staying with Hardys parents in Pembroke Pines.

Like many  if not most  neighborhood residents, their landlord never saw the need for flood insurance. The area has never seen that much flooding, even during hurricanes.

The couple doesnt have renter insurance either.

Just whats on our backs, Carney said while sitting on a bucket and smoking a cigarillo. We all just chip in and hope for the best with lots of prayers, he said.

They hope to be able to stay and have started disinfecting the house with bleach. But they worry about their childrens mental health. The kids are having fun with their grandparents.

However, reality is setting in.

Now, its kind of hitting them that they dont have a home to come back to, Hardy said.

A small reminder of the importance of home is displayed between two bedrooms. Carl Juste/cjuste@miamiherald.com

READ MORE: Barely made it out. Heres how to help victims of South Floridas severe flooding

Down the street, two men rushed to pry a manhole cover off to drain flood water steadily creeping up both ends of 29th Street.

Paul Guerrero pauses to assess the damage while a restoration company surveys his home. Carl Juste/cjuste@miamiherald.com

Paul Guerrero stood under the carport of his driveway, keeping an eye on the renewed flooding. He had just returned home after staying with friends in Davie.

Its been too flooded, said Guerrero, 58. We couldnt make it back out here till today.

As the water rose last week, volunteers in boats rescued Guerrero and the three other adults who live in his home. He has flood insurance and is ready to face the struggle of repairing his home of 27 years.

We had 2 1/2 to 3 feet of water in here, he said.

As the rain returns, resident Paul Guerrero continues the clean-out process at his home as discarded water-damaged items pile up on the neighborhoods street on Monday, April 17, 2023. Carl Juste/cjuste@miamiherald.com

READ MORE: Whats going on with gas in South Florida? Whats happening with prices? What to know

Matt Newton, who was raised in Edgewood, was frustrated as he stood in the knee-deep water in the middle of the street. The 34-year-old is concerned the new flooding might negate all the cleanup he and his neighbors did over the past few days.

All the garbage on the road and all the [expletive]holes driving up and down here throwing wakes, Newton said. This place is going to be trashed again.

Oscar Valdes of Maso Restoration takes pictures and notes Monday as he assesses the damage to Paul Guerreros home due to last weeks heavy rain. Carl Juste/cjuste@miamiherald.com

Miami Herald staff writer Omar Rodriguez Ortiz contributed to this report.
The Louisville police officer who was injured in the April 10 mass shooting at Old National Bank in downtown Louisville remains in critical but stable condition, according to the Louisville Metro Police Department.

Officer Nickolas Wilt was shot in the head by an armed gunman who killed five people at the bank on E. Main Street in downtown Louisville last week, police said. He was rushed to a hospital for emergency surgery, where he has remained since the shooting happened. Wilt was one of nine people taken to the hospital after the shooting. One of those hospitalized has since died.

Wilt is the only patient still hospitalized from the shooting, according to UofL Health. The other seven patients were previously treated and discharged from the hospital.

He remains in critical, but stable condition, LMPD said in a tweet Monday. The family sees and feels the love.

Doctors have had trouble balancing Wilts body temperature and managing cranium pressure, the Louisville Metro Police Foundation said in a Facebook post Saturday morning. But he was stabilizing, the foundation said in the post.

Please continue to pray, the Louisville Metro Police Foundation said in the Facebook post.

Wilt had graduated from the police academy March 31, and was only on his fourth shift when the shooting happened, officials said during a news conference previously.

Wilt previously served as a firefighter and a dispatcher, according to the foundation. His brother, Zack, is also in the LMPD academy.

The foundation is accepting donations to support Wilt and his family. Donations can be made on the Facebook post directly, through Venmo, or on the foundations website at saferlouisville.org.

All money raised will go directly to the family, according to the foundation.
Jeremy Strong has defended his use of the term dramaturgically after the Succession star became a meme.

In a featurette airing after the historic third episode of Successions fourth and final season, Kendall Roy actor Strong said that he hadnt been terribly surprised by the episodes events.

I thought it made sense dramaturgically. And then when I read the script, I found it shocking and emotionally devastating, Strong said.

The clip quickly went viral online, with many social media users questioning whether dramaturgically was even a real word.

In response, the Merriam-Webster dictionary tweeted the words definition, describing it as relating to the art or technique of dramatic composition and theatrical representation.

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, however, Strong has now doubled down on his use of the term.

When the interviewer told Strong he had had to Google its meaning, Strong responded: Well, its a real word.

Im a theatre nerd and its a theatre nerd word, so I stand by it, he said.

Strong raised eyebrows with his choice of word (Getty Images)

Strong is known for his method acting style and taking his work incredibly seriously  something his co-star Brian Cox has often dismissed.

However, their co-star Alan Ruck last month defended Strong, saying: Every actor is different Thats fine. Let him do it.

I think Jeremy is very hard on himself. And my personal feeling is that he doesnt fully trust his talent. I think it could be an easier path for him. But he doesnt believe it.

Following last weeks shocking episode, the writers of Succession shared the sneaky code they used to keep the shows biggest twist yet under wraps.

Fans, meanwhile, realised a clue about the events of season three had been hinted at in the poster for the last run of episodes.

You can read The Independents review of Successions  equally surprising  episode four here.

Succession airs Sundays on HBO Max in the US and on Mondays on Sky Atlantic and Now in the UK.
The Western Idaho Fair has unveiled its grandstand concert lineup  and given price-conscious Boise music fans an extra reason to get excited.

Five shows will highlight the annual event, which takes place Aug. 18-27 at Expo Idaho. But you wont need tickets to see the live music. Grandstand concerts are free with paid fair admission.

The fair is offering a one-day flash sale on Monday, April 17. Ten admission tickets can be purchased for $75  or $7.50 per ticket  at idahofair.com. The normal advance ticket price is $10 for an adult.

As always, the grandstand lineup in 2023 will include a variety of entertainers with wide appeal. Attendees can expect an unforgettable experience, the fair promised in a media release.

 T.I.  Monday, Aug. 21: The rapper has won three Grammy Awards and is known for hits such as Whatever You Like and Live Your Life.

 Smash Mouth and Spin Doctors: Tuesday, Aug. 22: This co-headlining show will feature two familiar rock bands. Smash Mouths biggest song is 1999s All Star. Spin Doctors are remembered for the singles Little Miss Cant Be Wrong in 1992 and Two Princes the following year.

 Jimmie Allen  Wednesday, Aug. 23: After landing radio hits in 2018 (Best Shot) and 2019 (Make Me Want To), Allen was the Country Music Associations New Artist of the Year in 2021.

 Bush  Thursday, Aug. 24: The British alternative-rock band will crank up guitar-heavy favorites from the 1990s such as Glycerine, Machinehead and Everything Zen.

 Justin Moore  Friday, Aug. 25: No stranger to Idaho, Moore performed at the Albertsons Boise Open in 2019. Hes known for No. 1 country songs such as Til My Last Day and If Heaven Wasnt So Far Away.

Grandstand gates will open at 6 p.m. for all concerts, which begin at 7:30 p.m. All shows are first-come, first-served. If a concert reaches capacity, fans will be allowed inside when others exit.

Expo Idaho is located at 5610 N. Glenwood St. Advance tickets to the fair cost the same price as last year: $10 adult, $9 senior 62 and older, $8 child ages 6 to 11. Children 5 and younger get in free.

Carnival wristbands are $32 in advance  up two bucks from last year. However, wristbands now include access to the Skyride, which traverses the fair. That wasnt the case last year.
A stretch of unsettled weather across the Northwestern states will keep residents reaching for jackets and umbrellas as temperatures rival levels more typical of the middle of winter this week, AccuWeather forecasters say.

The first half of April has been both wetter and cooler than the historical averages along the Interstate 5 corridor from Seattle to Portland and Eugene, Oregon. As of April 18, Seattle has received 140% of its month-to-date historical average rainfall of 2.07 inches. The surplus in precipitation has come with more clouds and subsequently lower temperatures than what the Emerald City is accustomed to at this point in the year.

AccuWeather meteorologists say the damp, cool weather pattern will continue during the first half of this week, resulting in persistent showery weather and an even chillier burst of air that may rival record-low temperatures.

AccuWeather's Enhanced RealVue Satellite showed a swirl of clouds off the Pacific Northwest coast on Monday morning, April 17, 2023. This swirl of clouds is indicative of a storm that will move into the region with showers and a burst of cold air. (AccuWeather)

"A multiday stretch of wet and chilly conditions is in store for places like Seattle and Portland through the first half of this week," AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham said.

High temperatures will may be no better than the low 50s F in Seattle and Portland through Wednesday, approximately 10 degrees below the historical averages for each city. Tuesday's high in Seattle was 47 F, while the high reached 52 in Portland.

A handful of locations closer to the coast in Washington, Oregon and northwestern California could even rival record-low daytime temperatures. These locations include Olympia, Washington; Astoria, Oregon; and Crescent City, California.

Waves of moisture will accompany the cold air, resulting in snow for the mountains.

"Snow levels will dip below pass level, impacting travel along I-90's Snoqualmie Pass through Wednesday night. Other major passes such as Stevens Pass and Stampede Pass can also face tricky travel conditions through midweek as rounds of snow pass through the mountains," Buckingham said.

Story continues

GET THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP

Rounds of moisture will move east of the Cascades and bring accumulating snow to the Blue Mountains in northeastern Oregon and the northern Rockies through Wednesday. Snow will has begun to clip northern portions of the Sierras, a trend that continued through the day Tuesday. Soda Springs, California picked up 8.3 inches of snow on Tuesday, while Palisades Tahoe, California accumulated 6 inches.

Across the lower elevations, umbrellas will be needed on occasion as on-and-off rain showers dampen the region amid the cool, unsettled pattern. A few rumbles of thunder can even occur.

"Moisture will struggle to extend into Central and Southern California, the Great Basin and the Southwest this week. The main highlight from the train of storms off to the north will be rounds of strong, gusty winds through Wednesday," Buckingham said.

Buckingham noted that temperatures will begin to moderate toward the end of the week and the upcoming weekend as an area of high pressure builds along the West Coast.

While this high-pressure system may help to limit the coverage of precipitation for a time in the Northwest, AccuWeather meteorologists say rounds of unsettled conditions could persist right into the last week of April across the region.

Want next-level safety, ad-free? Unlock advanced, hyperlocal severe weather alerts when you subscribe to Premium+ on the AccuWeather app. AccuWeather Alerts are prompted by our expert meteorologists who monitor and analyze dangerous weather risks 24/7 to keep you and your family safer.
A vehicle passes large potholes in a road in South Buckinghamshire. (Alamy)

Some councils in England are taking as long as 18 months to repair potholes, data has revealed.

Figures obtained from councils across the country by the Liberal Democrats showed there is a "postcode lottery" when it comes to fixing potholes.

Repairs of potholes took up to 567 days in Stoke-on-Trent and up to 556 days in the Westminster City Council area, according to figures obtained by the party through freedom of information (FOI) requests.

Last month, prime minister Rishi Sunak promised to clamp down on the UK's potholes, pledging 200m to tackle the problem in the recent budget.

Read more: Pothole repair budgets reach 'record high' in England and Wales

Prime minister Rishi Sunak, second from right, inspects a pothole in Firth Moor, Darlington, Durham. (PA)

According to the Lib Dems' figures, 556,658 potholes were reported in the financial year 2021/22 across 81 councils, up from 519,968 in 2017/18.

Roads in Derbyshire County Council were the hardest hit with 90,596 potholes, followed by Lancashire County Council with 67,439 and Northumberland County Council with 51,703, the party said.

Watch: Councils filling potholes every 19 seconds'

It said the government had created a pothole postcode lottery by cutting local authorities highways maintenance budgets by 500m since 2020-21 and announcing only a 200m top-up to the national potholes fund in the budget.

What is a pothole and how do they form?

A pothole is a depression in a road surface caused by wear or sinking.

They start out as tiny cracks in the surface but can grow if not fixed.

A pothole filled with water in a road in London in June 2022. (Getty Images)

The friction of vehicles' tyres on a road heats up the surface and causes it to expand.

Over a period of time, this expansion leads to cracks in the surface. Water can then seep into these cracks. Potholes are formed when the water in those cracks freezes and thaws.

Why does the UK have so many potholes?

The UK is more susceptible to potholes because of its climate.

Cold and wet weather, particularly during the winter months, means water can get into those cracks in the road and then freeze, eventually leading to potholes.

Story continues

The heavy road use and traffic on the UK's roads is also a factor.

Councils also have tight budgets to fix potholes.

How to report potholes?

Anyone who wishes to report a pothole can go to the government's dedicated website for the problem.

From there, they will be directed to their local council's pothole reporting service, where they can fill in an online form.

To report the pothole, they need the location of the pothole and details of its size. They must also upload any pictures of the pothole.

The government has vowed to clamp down on the UK's potholes. (PA)

Councils vow to inspect the area identified within about three to five working days.

If the pothole is on a motorway or an A road then reports should be directed to Highways England.

In Wales, roads are managed by Traffic Wales, while potholes in Scotland can be reported at My Gov Scotland.

In Northern Ireland, potholes can be reported through the NI Direct website.

How to claim for pothole damage?

The government says motorists may be able to claim compensation if their vehicle is damaged by a road.

They should contact the organisation responsible to tell them about the damage, why they think they are responsible and details of where and when the damage was caused.

According to the AA, motorists should start by reporting the pothole to their local authority.

After having their car repaired, they may be able to claim compensation from the council.

Motorists should inform the council of the location of the pothole and include details of quotes, invoices and receipts for their repairs.

If the claim is rejected, motorists can appeal.

Watch: Rod Stewart hits the road to fix Essex's potholes
A white homeowner has walked free from police custody after shooting a Black teenager in the head when the boy went to the wrong house to pick up his younger twin brothers.

Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old high school junior, had gone to collect his siblings from a friends house on 115th Terrace in Kansas City, Missouri, on the evening of 13 April, according to Kansas City Police.

Police said that the teenager got muddled up with the address and accidentally went to a home on 115th Street by mistake.

There, Ralph allegedly rang the doorbell and the homeowner  an unidentified white man  opened fire on him.

The man in the home opened the door, looked my nephew in the eye, and shot him in the head. My nephew fell to the ground, and the man shot him again, the family said on a GoFundMe page.

Ben Crump and Lee Merritt, the prominent civil rights attorneys now representing the victim and his family, said that the aspiring Texas A&M University student was shot twice  once in the head and once in the arm.

Following the shooting, Ralph managed to stumble away to some other homes in the neighbourhood to get help, according to his family.

Unfortunately, he had to run to 3 different homes before someone finally agreed to help him after he was told to lie on the ground with his hands up, the family said.

Kansas City Police were called to reports of a shooting and arrived to find the teenager outside with gunshot wounds.

He was rushed to hospital where he was in a stable condition as of Sunday night, police said.

The suspect, who has not been named by authorities, was initially taken into custody on Thursday and placed on a 24-hour hold.

However, under Missouri state law, a person can only be held for 24 hours on suspicion of a felony before officials must either charge or release them. The suspect was released pending further investigation.

Ralph Yarl was shot in the head on Thursday (GoFundMe)

Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said at a press conference on Sunday that  due to Ralphs injuries  police had been unable to get a formal statement from the victim.

Story continues

However, the police chief said that there was no evidence to date to indicate that the shooting was racially motivated.

The information that we have now, it does not say that that is racially motivated. Thats still an active investigation. But as a chief of police, I do recognise the racial components of this case, she said.

But, the local community may not be so convinced.

The shooting  which marks the latest in a growing number of shootings of Black people in America  has been branded a hate crime by the victims family and has sparked protests in the city demanding justice.

Hundreds of residents took to the streets of Kansas City on Sunday to march through the Northlands area where the teenager was shot.

Many carried placards reading Black Lives Matter, Ringing a doorbell is not a crime and Justice for Ralph, reported KSHB.

A pregnant family friend of Ralph Yarls parents told The Kansas City Star that she fears for her unborn child.

How do you protect a Black kid? said Patience Gaye.

What are we supposed to do now? We left our countries because we dont want to be killed. Thats why we left. They came to America for a better life. How is this a better life?

Mr Crump and Mr Merritt  who have previously represented the families of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd  condemned the release of the armed and dangerous suspect in a joint statement after taking the case.

In a joint statement, the attorneys said: There can be no excuse for the release of this armed and dangerous suspect after admitting to shooting an unarmed, non-threatening and defenseless teenager that rang his doorbell.

We demand swift action from Clay County prosecutors and law enforcement to identify, arrest and prosecute to the full extent of the law the man responsible for this horrendous and unjustifiable shooting.

Several celebrities have also spoken out to condemn the shooting, with actor Halle Berry urging her Twitter followers to contact the local prosecutor to bring charges against the homeowner.

His name is #RalphYarl and Im sick and tired of this feelingmy heart completely broke when I learned this precious 16-year-old, who accidentally rang the door of the wrong address in an attempt to pick up his siblings, was shot in the head by a man who didnt want him on his property. This innocent child is now fighting for his life, she wrote.

This could be your child. This should NOT happen. Please do something today! Join me and please contact Prosecutor Zachary Thompson and demand an immediate arrest and bring the appropriate charges: Building: James S. Rooney Justice Center Address: 11 South Water Street, Liberty, Missouri 64068 Phone: 816-736-8300 Fax: 816-736- 8301 Email: prosecutor@claycopa.com

A GoFundMe to help pay for the boys medical bills, launched by a woman who identified herself as Ralphs aunt, describes 16-year-old Ralph as a fantastic kid.

At school, he is a member of the Technology Student Association and Science Olympia Team. Jazz and competition band. He is a section leader in the marching band; a scholar and one of the top base clarinet players in Missouri. He recently earned Missouri All-State Band recognition with an honorable mention. He plays multiple instruments in the metropolitan youth orchestra. He is a 2022 Missouri scholar academy alumni. Ralph can often be found with a musical instrument. He loves them all, it reads.

Last summer, Ralph attended Missouri Scholars Academy, where he got a full college life experience. His goal is to attend Texas A&M to major in chemical Engineering.

When asked how he plans to get into this university, he said, Well, if they have a scholarship for music or academics, I know I can get it. Ralphs teacher and friends describe him as  a kind soul, quiet, friendly, well-mannered, always willing to help, super smart, and a musical genius. Ralph was looking forward to graduating high school and finally getting the opportunity to visit West Africa before starting college. Life looks a lot different right now.

The GoFundMe had topped $750,000 by Monday morning.
RHJ - Getty Images

China is reportedly moving toward banning rare earth metal exports to keep high-tech advantages within the country.

By limiting supplies of high-performance componentssuch as magnetsto the rest of the world, China could take a swing at the economies of the United States and Japan, among others.

Plans to implement the export ban could be finalized in 2023.

In a high-tech and high-stakes game of you-cant-have-what-I-have, China is quickly moving toward a ban on certain rare earth metal exports. The policy change could create a disruption in non-Chinese economies unable to source enough rare earth metals needed for high-tech products and high-performance magnets.

In a report from Nikkei out of Beijing, Chinas move will likely come soon in 2023, as the amendment to the countrys technology export restriction list has already passed several hurdles. This update to the list of banned export materials is likely to cause significant issues for both the United States and Japan.

This all comes as a response to the U.S. and others limiting their own exportation of high-tech microchips, leaving China on the outside looking in. The Asia News Network says Xi Jinping, Chinas president, has focused on magnets as an economic growth point and a national security benefit.

These rare earth metals are key to the production of a variety of high-tech products and rare earth magnets found in electric motors (including electric vehicles), robots, airplanes (military and otherwise), and commonly used goods like mobile phones.

According to the Asia News Network, China has an 84 percent share of the global market in neodymium magnets and over 90 percent interest in samarium cobalt magnets. Japan holds most of the remaining share. If China does cease all exportation of these materials, much of Europe and the U.S. will become wholly dependent on China to produce componentsand likely productsfrom the materials, taking away key production strongholds for other countries.

Story continues

Nikkei says that the majority of rare earth metalswhether mined in China or nothead to the country for refining, but the U.S. is still a leader in producing products using rare earth magnets. Theyre likely going to use rare earths as a bargaining chip since rare earths are a weak point for Japan and the U.S,, a source told Nikkei.

The U.S. Geological Survey says China produces just over two-thirds of all rare earth metals, with double the amount of mine reserves as the next closest nation. Asia Financial says that processing rare earth is toxic, leading some countries to delay or limit their entry into the market. China, which has a more lenient stance on environmental and health concerns, has not held back.

In 2021, the U.S. Department of Defense awarded Australian-based Lynas Corporation a $120 million contract to construct a rare earths processing facility in Texas, which could open in 2025.

This isnt the first time China has used exports of rare earth metals as a control lever. The country wouldnt export the materials to Japan for two yearsstarting in 2010over a Senaku Islands dispute. Since that time, Japan has focused on growing its magnet production. This latest threat, which began in December with the amendment proposal, has countries like the U.S. and Canada looking to speed up plans for an alternative supply chain for rare earth metals.

You Might Also Like
Amid all the attention on this months elections in Wisconsin and Illinois, one outcome with major implications for 2024 flew under the national radar: School board candidates who ran culture-war campaigns flamed out.

Democrats and teachers unions boasted candidates they backed in Midwestern suburbs trounced their opponents in the once-sleepy races. The winning record, they said, was particularly noticeable in elections where conservative candidates emphasized agendas packed with race, gender identity and parental involvement in classrooms.

While there's no official overall tally of school board results in states that held an array of elections on April 4, two conservative national education groups did not dispute that their candidates posted a losing record. Liberals are now making the case that their winning bids for school board seats in Illinois and Wisconsin show they can beat back Republican attacks on divisive education issues.

The results could also serve as a renewed warning to Republican presidential hopefuls like Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis: General election voters are less interested in crusades against critical race theory and transgender students than they are in funding schools and ensuring they are safe.

Where culture war issues were being waged by some school board candidates, those issues fell flat with voters, said Kim Anderson, executive director of the National Education Association labor union. The takeaway for us is that parents and community members and voters want candidates who are focused on strengthening our public schools, not abandoning them.



The results from the Milwaukee and Chicago areas are hardly the last word on the matter. Thousands more local school elections are set for later this year in some two dozen states. They are often low turnout, low profile, and officially nonpartisan affairs, and conservatives say they are competing aggressively.

We lost more than we won earlier this month, said Ryan Girdusky, founder of the conservative 1776 Project political action committee, which has ties to GOP megadonor and billionaire Richard Uihlein and endorsed an array of school board candidates this spring and during the 2022 midterms.

Story continues

But we didnt lose everything. We didnt get obliterated, Girdusky told POLITICO of his groups performance. We still pulled our weight through, and we just have to keep on pushing forward on this.

Labor groups and Democratic operatives are nevertheless flexing over the defeat of candidates they opposed during races that took place near Chicago, which received hundreds of thousands of dollars in support from state Democrats and the attention of Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker, and in Wisconsin. Conservative board hopefuls also saw mixed results in Missouri and Oklahoma.

Democrats hope the spring school election season validates their playbook: Coordinate with local party officials, educator unions and allied community members to identify and support candidates who wield an affirming pro-public education message  and depict competitors as hard-right extremists.

Yet despite victories in one reliably blue state and one notorious battleground, liberals are still confronting Republican momentum this year that could resemble Novembers stalemated midterm results for schools and keep the state of education divided along partisan lines.

Conservative states are already carrying out sharp restrictions on classroom lessons, LGBTQ students, and library books. And they are beginning to refine their message to appeal to moderates.

Trump, DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and other Republican presidential hopefuls are leaning on school-based wedge issues to court primary voters in a crowded White House campaign.

That rhetoric, combined with Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkins ability to harness voter frustration with education as part of his upset victory in 2021, has inspired a wave of conservative challengers to run for school board seats.



Once the domain for everyday academic concerns, mild-mannered bureaucracy, and the occasional controversy, school boards became a lightning rod for the right during pandemic lockdowns plus a national reckoning with gender identity and race.

Critical race theory was an obscure academic legal framework used to examine racism in American institutions. But it has been reframed by conservative activists to encompass broad complaints about issues related to diversity.

Conservatives have also seized on transgender students to rejuvenate a social agenda that includes a push to restrict transgender athletes in sports, gender-affirming medical care and access to LGBTQ-affirming library materials.

What I was most surprised by was just the sheer prevalence of these Republican candidates, said Ben Hardin, executive director of the Democratic Party of Illinois, after his party made an unprecedented decision to endorse dozens of local school and library board candidates and funnel nearly $300,000 into those elections.

Obviously this is not a new phenomenon, Hardin said in an interview. But to see it so widespread here in Illinois, across the state in regions that are across the partisanship spectrum, was what was most interesting to me.

In Oswego, Ill., a small community in Chicagos far southwestern suburbs, the 1776 Project supported four candidates running as part of a We The Parents slate on a platform aligned with the conservative parental rights movement. Each of those candidates lost, including to one candidate endorsed by a local Illinois Federation of Teachers affiliate.

The race, like many others across the region, featured core concerns that are often splitting school communities today.

The Chicago Tribune reported Oswegos We The Parents slate received support from the local Stamp Act political action committee, which proclaims it will fight to preserve our cultural and religious heritage and resist attempts by the Left to transform and reshape American society.

The conservative Awake Illinois group, which has opposed critical race theory and gender-affirming medical care for children, weighed in too.

A group of conservative candidates in the wealthy Chicago suburb of Barrington who were backed by the 1776 PAC, Moms For America Action and Awake Illinois also lost their school board bids.

"Fortunately, the voters saw through the hidden extremists who were running for school board  across the [Chicago] suburbs especially," Pritzker told reporters after last weeks election. Im glad that those folks were shown up and, frankly, tossed out.

Overall, the 1776 Project PAC endorsed 14 candidates but won six races in Illinois. Other conservatives also notched wins in Illinois, including two candidates who claimed seats in a suburban high school district in Lockport Township, Ill. over two union-endorsed aspirants.

The Democratic Party of Illinois said 84 of 117 candidates the party recommended won their April 4 races. The Illinois Education Association, the state affiliate of the National Education Association, said it won nearly 90 percent of the races where it endorsed candidates.

Part of the reason we did so well is because of how we are organized, said Kathi Griffin, president of the Illinois Education Association. The state organization does not tell the local affiliates who to support. It is the local affiliates that do the interviewing of candidates, have relationships with the community and with the parents. They are the ones that make the decision, then they reach out to us to ask for support.

Teacher unions are also celebrating a school board victory in a bellwether community in suburban Milwaukee.

Brian Schimming, chair of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, described the Wauwatosa School Board election last month as an important race for the whole state.

Schimming promoted candidates known as the Three Tosa Dads who emphasized a platform centered on school safety and academic performance after the Republican National Committee last year encouraged candidates to broaden their message beyond culture wars and court independent voters with a more nuanced message focused on parental involvement and student educational development.

Wauwatosas GOP-backed aspirants still lost by wide margins to teacher union-supported candidates. The 1776 Project won slightly less than half of the nearly 50 Wisconsin races it endorsed candidates in.

Other efforts led by Wisconsin Republicans were more successful.



In Waukesha County, where voters heavily favored Trump in the 2020 election, the local party successfully endorsed dozens of area school board candidates as part of a WisRed Initiative to dominate local government races.

But Moms For Liberty, a newly prominent conservative group that helps train and endorse school board candidates, said just eight of its candidates won races in Wisconsin last week. The group had endorsed candidates in another 20 elections, its founders said.

We are hopeful that as more people learn about Moms For Liberty and contribute to our PAC, we will be able to win more races, organization co-founders Tiffany Justice and Tina Descovich said in a statement. The majority of those [endorsements] were first time candidates who did not win, and that just gives us a great bench of folks to have trained and ready to run again to fight for parental rights in future elections.

The results offer lessons to both parties as they eye even more board elections this year.

Education was central to Youngkins win, though his political advisers have stressed the campaigns success was based on building custom messaging models targeted at different groups of voters instead of relying on a single message.

Conservative school campaigns should heed similar advice, Girdusky argued.

Dont assume that a blanket message on critical race theory or transgender issues is going to claim every district  its very personalized, he said. If its happening in that district, speak to it in volumes. But dont tell parents something is happening if its not happening, because then it doesnt look like youre running a serious operation.
In assuring the public Sunday that Kansas City police were working hard to investigate the shooting of Ralph Yarl, Chief Stacey Graves said detectives needed a statement from the victim to seek charges against the shooter.

She also said investigators would consider whether the shooter was protected by Missouris so-called Stand Your Ground law.

Graves comments came at a weekend news conference organized as outrage grew over the case of Yarl, a 16-year-old who was shot and wounded Thursday after knocking on the wrong door in a Northland neighborhood where he had been sent to pick up his younger twin brothers, according to his family.

While protesters gathered in the neighborhood, many questioned why the shooter, who has not been officially identified, was only briefly held and released by police, with no charges filed.

On Monday, defense attorneys in Kansas City questioned Graves explanations, with several casting doubt on the idea that the Stand Your Ground law could protect the shooter. And some argued that it was simply not true that police must have a formal statement from a victim of a crime to send a case to prosecutors for charging, as Graves had said.

Thats a slap in the face (to the victim), said Phillip A. Brooks, a Kansas City area defense attorney.

The victim doesnt have to say anything, Brooks said. On physical evidence alone, they (prosecutors) can charge (the suspect).

Brooks gave the example of domestic violence cases where police officers arrive at a home and see the victim with physical injuries. Police would immediately arrest the suspect without the cooperation of the victim, he said.

Hundreds attended a Sunday rally and march near the scene of the Ralph Yarl shooting in a Northland neighborhood. Outrage grew over the weekend after no charges were filed.

On Monday, Clay County prosecutors released a statement saying they were waiting on Kansas City police to bring them a case.

We understand how frustrating this has been, but we can assure the public that the system is working, Prosecutor Zachary Thompson said in a written statement.

Kansas City police spokesman Capt. Corey Carlisle said Monday that detectives were still working as quickly as possible to send the case to the prosecutors office.

Story continues

As soon as we get the case file submitted we will send out an update without delay.

Shot after ringing doorbell

About 10 p.m. Thursday, Yarl, a junior at Staley High School in the Northland, intended to go to the house of a friend of his brothers on 115th Terrace. He mistakenly ended up ringing the doorbell at a home on 115th Street instead.

The homeowner allegedly saw Yarl and shot him in the head. Relatives said when Yarl fell to the ground, the man allegedly shot him again. The teen got up and raced from the property, but he had to ask at three different homes before someone helped him, family members said.

The homeowner is a white man in his 80s, according to property records and law enforcement records. The Star is not naming the man because he has not been charged.

The person who shot Yarl was taken into custody by police and released without charges being filed, Graves said Sunday.

Graves said the person was kept on a 24-hour hold, which is the longest a person can be detained without charges being filed under Missouri law.

According to a database of custody status records, the homeowner was booked after 12:30 a.m. Friday and appears to have been released before 2 a.m.

Citing two KCPD detention unit employees, CNN also reported that the man had been released less than two hours after he was taken into custody.

Police Chief Stacey Graves and Mayor Quinton Lucas, left, at a news conference Sunday afternoon.

Graves said police needed a formal victim statement, forensic evidence and other information for a case file to be completed. Because of the teens injuries, Graves said police havent been able to get a victim statement yet.

She also said that investigators and prosecutors would consider whether the homeowner was protected within the states Stand Your Ground laws.

The Missouri law gives people the right to defend and even use deadly force to protect themselves and other people if they believe that their own or another persons life or limb is in danger.

KC defense attorneys raise questions

Several defense attorneys in Kansas City, including one gun rights advocate, cast doubt on whether Stand Your Ground would apply in this case. But some also suggested reasons why prosecutors might take time to file charges.

This young man, right, has a reasonable expectation of being able to walk up and knock on the front door, even in a house where hes at the wrong house, said Craig Devine, a criminal defense attorney.

The question becomes, did he do something more than that, where the homeowner believed that they were needing to defend themselves?

According to the law, the use of force must be proportionate to the level of threat. The law allows a homeowner to defend themselves and their property if they are approached by someone with a deadly weapon such as a knife.

If you come at me with a knife, I can shoot you. Thats not a disproportionate use of force. But if I have nothing in my hands, right, Im totally unarmed. Then shooting me is going to be a disproportionate use of force, Devine said.

Advances in doorbell technology now allows a homeowner to see who is at their door before deciding whether to answer it.

With a video doorbell, you can see whats going on your porch. You can contact them through the doorbell or just not answer the door, he said.

You can walk up to somebodys front door, knock and wait to see if they answer and then thats not trespassing.

Ralph Yarl

Kevin Jamison, a defense attorney and gun rights advocate, said he has not reviewed the evidence or what the homeowner told investigators but he has concerns.

How the homeowner felt threatened, I have no idea, Jamison said. The Stand Your Ground or the Castle Doctrine doesnt come into play unless the other guy threatens you in some way.

Another defense attorney said there are a number of factors that prosecutors have to consider before deciding whether to file criminal charges.

Depending upon what the shooter told them, there may not be enough evidence to charge him, said John Picerno, a former Jackson County assistant prosecutor who is now a defense attorney. Likely the only other witness is the victim.

Defense attorney Dan Ross said prosecutors may consider whether Missouris Castle Doctrine, would be used as an appropriate defense for the homeowner.

Each case is different and we rely on the integrity of the investigators and prosecutors to be fair. Depending on the evidence, it may be appropriate to charge the suspect immediately, Ross said. Other times it may be appropriate to wait, for example awaiting forensic test results to be returned. Hopefully in this case there is an appropriate reason for the delay.

Whether Missouris Castle doctrine applies to this matter depends on the evidence which is not public at this time. At its essence that law focuses on the reasonableness of the subjects actions in responding to what they perceive as an unlawful act.

Yarl was released from the hospital Sunday and was recovering at home, his father Paul Yarl told The Star Monday morning.

Family members started a GoFundMe Sunday to help pay for hospital bills, therapy and future expenses like college after someone inside the home allegedly shot and injured the teen.

Ralph Yarl

What does the law say?

Missouris 2016 law states:

A person may, subject to the provisions of subsection 2 of this section, use physical force upon another person when and to the extent he or she reasonably believes such force to be necessary to defend himself or herself or a third person from what he or she reasonably believes to be the use or imminent use of unlawful force by such other person.

What does it mean to Stand Your Ground?

The Missouri law that governs this case is also known as the castle doctrine or the stand your ground law.

It can be applied to instances that occur in both residential and public spaces.

If a person believes there is a risk of death or serious physical injury, and they are legally allowed to be in the place they are, that person can use deadly force to defend themselves or others without breaking the law. They do not have a legal duty to retreat from an altercation, according to Missouri law.

The Stars Kynala Phillips and Luke Nozicka contributed.
An abandoned cow seen in the middle of the road, causing trouble to the motorists on a busy road in India. Shankar Narayan/Hindustan Times/Getty Images

About 5 million stray cattle roam India, eating garbage, causing car accidents, attacking people, and spreading disease.

Farmers are turning to artificial insemination to control numbers, and the government opened housing sheds across the country.

But critics are skeptical that artificial insemination and housing sheds will solve the problem.

There are more than 5 million stray cattle roaming the streets of India.

The cow is a holy animal in the Hindu religion, but stray cattle  mostly abandoned males  have been causing chaos in India. There are frequent reports of cattle attacking people, causing car accidents, and spreading disease.

The increasing number of strays is due to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tightening slaughter restrictions over the last decade. New technology also allowed farmers to need fewer cattle and often let their unnecessary cattle go.

India has a whole lot of cattle  it is the second-largest producer of beef in the world and the largest producer of milk in the world.

Here's why there are so many strays.

There are 1.3 billion people in India and about 1 billion of them are Hindu. Hinduism is a decentralized religion, but its mythology often refers to cows and their nourishing, sacred role in society.

Devotees worship a cow during the Gopashtami festival dedicated to Hindu deity Krishna and cows. Narinder Nanu/Getty Images

Sources: Washington Post, Bloomberg

Although it's nothing new to see stray cattle wandering through towns or down highways in India, in recent years, things have been getting out of control.

A stray cow walks on a busy road in India in 2014. Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP

Source: BBC

Cattle have been gathering at garbage dumps.

Cows graze in a dump in India in 2022. Vishal Bhatnagar/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Or taking a dip in the River Ganges.

A stray cow stands next to the River Ganges during the Ganga Dussehra festival in 2020. Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP

Over the last decade, the situation appears to have gotten worse. There are now about 5 million stray cattle across India. They are mostly males and often in bad condition  either starving or injured after getting hit by cars.

A stray cow walks among Hindu devotees in 2013. Manish Swarup/AP

Sources: Washington Post, Bloomberg, The Economist

Until fairly recently, most Indian farmers slaughtered unnecessary cattle. Muslims, of which there are 200 million in India, also openly consumed beef since it was a fairly cheap source of protein.

Story continues

A group of Indian men wrapped in woolen clothes are joined by stray cows as they try to warm themselves around a bonfire. Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP

Sources: BBC, The Economist

But over the last few decades that's begun to change as Hindu nationalists campaigned aggressively for the government to do more to protect cows.

Villagers sit along a road with stray cows after a flood in India in 2020. David Talukdar/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Source: HRW

The issue was taken up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was elected in 2014. Since it is mostly Muslims and minority groups that slaughter cattle and eat beef, the issue appealed to his right-wing Hindu party.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets his cabinet colleagues as he arrives on the opening day of the winter session of the Parliament, in New Delhi, India, on December 7, 2022. AP Photo/Manish Swarup

During his presidential campaign, Modi called the slaughtering of cattle and the exporting of beef a "pink revolution." Since becoming prime minister, he has tightened laws across the 18 states to stop the slaughter of cattle.

The Economist said Modi had "a fixation with cows." It said his political party used the cow as a symbol in its efforts to convert India into a Hindu state.

In 2017, the situation got even worse when the Indian government ordered beef slaughterhouses to close across the country.

India is the second largest producer of beef in the world, and it is the largest milk producer in the world. So a ban on slaughtering cattle had massive repercussions.

Sources: BBC, Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, HRW, The Economist, The Baffler

Most dairy cows live up for up to 15 years, but they usually stop producing milk after seven years. Every year in India, around 3 million cows in India stop producing milk.

A woman milking a cow in a Village of Delhi, India, in July 2018. Nasir Kachroo/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Cows that can no longer calve or provide milk are seen as a burden by farmers. Before Modi tightened restrictions, these cattle were often sold to Muslim traders and smuggled overseas for their meat and leather.

Sources: Al Jazeera, Bloomberg

But now, since they can't slaughter cattle they don't need, farmers are simply releasing male calves and unproductive older females.

wo women walk with a cow in India in 2019. Tauseef Mustafa/AFP/Getty Images

"People quietly abandon their unproductive cows in the night," one farmer said.

Sources: National Geographic, Bloomberg

New technology has also played a part in the country's boom in stray cattle. Only decades ago, male cattle were vital on a farm  they plowed fields and provided manure.

A farmer plows his field using cows in India in 2020. This is no longer the norm. Anuwar Hazarika/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Source: National Geographic

But with the development of tractors and chemical fertilizers, they are now largely unnecessary.

A farmer plows his field with a tractor in India in 2021. Manjunath Kiran/AFP/Getty Images

Source: National Geographic

Stray cattle might not sound  or look  too alarming, but when the number gets into the millions, it creates problems.

A group of children playing with a stray cow in India in 2015. Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP

Source: National Geographic

They often don't get fed enough and become aggressive. There are regular local news stories about people being mauled by bulls on the street  some have been killed and some have been severely injured.

A cow walks through a town in India. Veronique Durruty/ Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images

Source: BBC

Stray cattle also cause car crashes. Between 2018 and 2022, in the Indian state of Haryana, more than 900 deaths were caused by cattle on roads.

Stray cows roam on a busy road in India in 2014. Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP

Source: National Geographic

Stray cattle can carry diseases. Farmers have been known to release diseased cattle since they can't cull them, which can lead to outbreaks.

Workers remove dead cows after lumpy skin disease outbreak in cattle at a farm in India in 2022. Vishal Bhatnagar/NurPhoto/Getty Images

This is likely what happened in 2022 when lumpy skin disease impacted more than two million cattle.

Source: National Geographic

Stray cattle also raid crops. About 85% of farmers in India own no more than two hectares of land, meaning any damage to their crops has long-term impacts.

Farmers stand on a farm protected by fencing in 2019. Money Sharma/AFP/Getty Images

Some farmers built fences or paid guards to protect their land, but this is unaffordable for most.

Anjani Dixit, the head of a farming association in Uttar Pradesh, told National Geographic that "a herd can destroy the whole crop in just an hour."

Sources: Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, National Geographic

Instead, many farmers must guard their farms overnight to ensure cattle don't eat anything.

Indian cattle caretakers stand beside stray cattle in 2019. Money Sharma/AFP/Getty Images

One farmer named Ashok Kumar, who had to escort a stray herd off his farm, told Bloomberg the government had made his life "miserable."

"If we beat cows for destroying crops, we might go to jail and won't get bail for months," he said. "It's the people abandoning the cows who should be behind bars."

Source: BBC

Many people are afraid to take things into their own hands. Aside from the government's ban, cow vigilante groups enforce the ban by killing people who violate it, according to Bloomberg.

A volunteer for a cow vigilante group that enforced a ban on beef slaughtering explains the ban to a driver in India in 2015. Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images

Between 2015 and late 2018, 44 people were killed by vigilantes and another 280 people were injured.

Sources: Bloomberg, Bloomberg, HRW

What makes the situation even worse is that in the majority of these cases, local police failed to follow up. At times, they have even been accused of being complicit in the crimes, according to Human Rights Watch.

Volunteers for a vigilante group that enforced a ban on beef slaughtering inspect a truck in India in 2015. Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images

Modi himself did not come out and condemn the attacks until August 2018.

"I want to make it clear that mob lynching is a crime, no matter the motive," he said.

Sources: Bloomberg, HRW

In Uttar Pradesh, locals are required to report any dead cows to the local authorities. Any deaths that raise suspicion require a post-mortem.

Cows beside the River Ganges in Uttar Pradesh in 2020. Subhendu Sarkar/LightRocket/Getty Images

Sources: Independent, Bloomberg

Between 2014 and 2016, Modi's government also spent about $41 million building cow sheds called gaushalas to hold stray cattle. There are now more than 5,000 gaushalas across India. But, according to the BBC, it's not enough.

Cows in bad condition are crowded together at the Hingonai Cow Rehabilitation Center in 2016. Vishal Bhatnagar/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Meanwhile, in Uttar Pradesh, the government is planning on creating a cow sanctuary covering 130 acres.

Some farmers have also started artificially inseminating cows to almost guarantee the sex of their calves  meaning they would stop having as many male calves, but it's an expensive solution.

Sources: National Geographic, BBC, Bloomberg, Washington Post

There's a push to start turning cow urine and dung into medicinal remedies, which, although not new in India, is not backed by science.

A woman sits behind medicine made from cow urine that is believed to treat cancer and kidney problems. Cow urine has not been scientifically proven as a medicine. Sam Panthaky/AFP/Getty Images

Source: National Geographic

Vallabh Kathiria, the former chairman of India's agency to protect and promote cows, told National Geographic the plan was to make stray cows into a symbol of something good.

Stray cows were seen on a highway during the pandemic in 2020. Sanjeev Verma/Hindustan Times/Getty Images

He wanted people to "feel like they've found a gold ornament" when they see one, he said. But it's hard to believe perception alone will be enough to solve this widespread issue.

Source: National Geographic

Read the original article on Business Insider
King Charles III plates for sale ahead of his Coronation on April 9, 2023 in London.

King Charles III plates for sale ahead of his Coronation on April 9, 2023 in London. Credit - Hollie AdamsGetty Images

As British news channels begin to reveal their royal programming for King Charles IIIs May 6 Coronation, Channel 4 is taking an entirely different approachand pulling no punches.

The broadcaster has announced a series of programs that will place the monarchy under a microscope and question its future as much of the British public ponders the same. In a statement Monday, Channel 4 said it will provide an escape from the pomp and ceremony elsewhere.

Among its less reverential programs will be a show called Farewell to Monarchy, fronted by comedian Frankie Boyle, which will examine if the royal family has a place in todays world.

It will also air Andrew  The Problem Prince, a two-part program on the Princes infamous Newsnight interview about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Additional comedy content will include The Windsors Coronation Special, a satirical sitcom billed as more deluded and more dysfunctional than ever before!, and an equally biting re-run of Prince Andrew: The Musical.

Meanwhile, the anti-monarchy Republic pressure group wrote an open letter on Monday accusing the BBC of having made no attempt to be impartial or balanced in its royal programming.

The result of the BBCs failures is that the coverage serves the interests of a shrinking minority who could reasonably be called royalists. In doing so, they do a disservice to the whole nation, the open letter read. The BBC, however, told HuffPost UK its reporting is fair and duly impartial.

Read More: Heres Everyone Who Willand WontGo to King Charles IIIs Coronation

Regardless, Channel 4s alternative coronation coverage is likely to resonate with millions of Brits who dont seem excited about the upcoming event. A YouGov poll from earlier this month found that 69% of those surveyed either dont care very much or not at all about the coronation, while only 9% said they care a great deal and 24% cared a fair amount.

Story continues

Another poll carried out by YouGov in May 2021 showed a growing number of Brits shunning the monarchy, with a plurality of 18-24 year olds preferring an elected head of state rather than a monarch.

Polling shows that people that are not interested in the [coronation] and the people that are opposed to the monarchy may be in the minority, but that minority is going up, Graham Smith, CEO of Republic, tells TIME.

The organizations website notes that hereditary public office means there is no way to hold the family to account at the ballot box or prevent misuse of public funds. In early April, a bombshell investigation by The Guardian called Cost of the crown found that the royals use a number of legal and financial loopholes to avoid public scrutiny.

What we want is for abolition and a parliamentary republic similar to many European republics like Ireland, Germany, and Finland, Smith says. Republic has organized a coronation protest with 1,200 people expected to greet the Kings procession at Trafalgar Square as the royals make their way to and from Westminster Abbey.

Itll be the first time that a major royal event has been confronted directly with a protest so [we hope] it will raise a lot of questions and get people thinking about it critically, Smith says.

Judging by Channel 4s royals coverage plan, its a protest they seem poised to cover.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., takes her seat during the House Oversight and Accountability Committees hearing about Congressional oversight of Washington, D.C., Wednesday, March 29, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Greene is defending the Pentagon leak suspect on Twitter. | Cliff Owen, Associated Press

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene came to the defense of alleged Pentagon documents leaker Jack Teixeira, which has sparked controversy over the situation.

Teixeira, 21, is accused of leaking classified information to a group on the Discord social media site and was taken into FBI custody last week, according to the Deseret News.

Greene took to social media Thursday to defend Teixeira.

Related

Why did Greene defend Teixeira?

The BBC reported that one of the documents released by Teixeira was dated March 23 and referred to the presence of a small number of Western special forces operating inside Ukraine.

We have now found out from a supposed 21-year-old National Guardsman that there are American military troops on the ground in Ukraine. Is this another Stu Scheller who revealed the truth about the Biden Afghanistan withdrawal? Greene wrote in a Twitter post.

When it comes to Ukraine, the Biden Administration has lied to us from the very beginning. Joe Biden said the US would not get involved in the war in Ukraine because Ukraine is not a NATO member nation, Greene continued in her Twitter post. Yet over a year later, weve sent hundreds of billions of dollars, military equipment, and so much ammunition that we have to borrow from foreign countries like South Korea to replenish our stockpile.

Related

Lindsey Grahams reaction to Greenes defense of Teixeira

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called Greene irresponsible and said that there was no justification for a person to leak classified documents no matter what they contained, saying, For any member of Congress to suggest its OK to leak classified information because you agree with the cause is terrible irresponsible and puts America in serious danger.

On ABC News This Week, Graham continued, If youre a member of the military intelligence community and you disagree with American policy and you think youre going to be OK when it comes to leaking classified information, youre going to go to jail.

NBC News reported that other lawmakers had concerns over the leaking of the documents.

The Intelligence Committee is also going to have a thorough investigation. We focused intensely on how we keep our secrets safe, Sen. Kirsten Gilligbrand, D-N.Y., told CNNs State of the Union. And I have a lot of questions about, why were these documents lying around. Why did this particular person have access to them? Where was the custody of the documents and who were they for?
Anxiety over academics. Post-lockdown malaise. Social media angst.

Study after study says American youth are in crisis, facing unprecedented mental health challenges that are burdening teen girls in particular. Among the most glaring data: A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report showed almost 60% of U.S. girls reported persistent sadness and hopelessness. Rates are up in boys, too, but about half as many are affected.

Adults have theories about what is going on, but what do teens themselves say? Is social media the root of their woes? Are their male peers somehow immune, or part of the problem?

The Associated Press interviewed five girls in four states and agreed to publish only their first names because of the sensitive nature of the topics they discussed. The teens offered sobering  and sometimes surprising  insight.

We are so strong and we go through so, so much," said Amelia, a 16-year-old Illinois girl who loves to sing and wants to be a surgeon.

She also has depression and anxiety. Like 13% of U.S. high school girls surveyed in the government report, she is a suicide attempt survivor. Hospitalization after the 2020 attempt and therapy helped. But Amelia has also faced bullying, toxic friendships, and menacing threats from a boy at school who said she deserved to be raped."

More than 1 in 10 girls said theyd been forced to have sex, according to the CDC report, the first increase noted in the governments periodic survey. Sexual threats are just one of the burdens teen girls say they face.

We are trying to survive in a world that is out to get us," Amelia said.

Emma, an 18-year-old aspiring artist in Georgia with attention deficit disorder and occasional depression, says worries about academics and college are a huge source of stress.

Lately in myself and my friends, I realize how exhausted everyone is with the pressures of the world and the social issues and where theyre going to go in the future," Emma added. All of these things pile up and crash down."

Story continues

Zoey, 15, was raised in Mississippi by a strict but loving single mother who pressures her to be a success in school and life. She echoes those feelings.

School can be nerve racking and impact your mental health so much that you dont even ... recognize it, until youre in this space where you dont know what to do," Zoey said. Shes also had friendship struggles that ended in deep depression and felt the discomfort of being the only Black kid in class.

Several girls said they face added pressure from societys standards that put too much focus on how they look.

A lot of people view womens bodies and girls bodies as sexual," Emma said. Its overwhelming to have all these things pushed on us."

The #MeToo movement began when these girls were quite young, but it intensified during the pandemic and theyre hyperaware of uninvited sexual advances.

Boys are less aware, they suggest. The girls cite crass jokes, inappropriate touching, sexual threats or actual violence. Girls say the unwanted attention can feel overwhelming.

We deserve to not be sexualized or catcalled, because we are kids," Amelia said.

Siya, an 18-year-old in New Jersey, said almost every girl she knows has dealt with sexual harassment. Thats just been the normal for me, she said.

When youre walking alone as girl, youre automatically put in this vulnerable situation," Siya said. I think thats so sad. I dont know what it feels like to not have that fear.

Makena, a high school senior in Mississippi, said she and her friends sometimes wear baggy clothes to hide their shapes but boys comment, no matter what."

She has had depression and therapy, and said she has grown up in a community where mental health is still sometimes stigmatized.

Often in the Black community we arent as encouraged to express emotion" because of what previous generations endured, said Makena, who works with a teen health advocacy group. Were expected to have hearts of steel," she said. But sometimes its OK to not be OK."

Social media platforms contribute, with their focus on superficial appearances and making perfectionism seem attainable. Girls say theyre just part of the problem.

Social media has completely shifted the way we think and feel about ourselves" in good and bad ways, Makena said.

Shes felt pressure to be perfect when comparing herself with others online. But she also follows social media influencers who talk about their own mental health challenges and who make it seem OK for me to feel sad and vulnerable," she said.

Girls have historically been disproportionately affected by depression and anxiety. But those statistics at least partly reflect the fact that girls are often more likely than boys to talk about feelings and emotions, said Dr. Hina Talib, an adolescent medicine specialist and spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Zoey, the Mississippi 15-year-old, says boys have to keep up a macho facade" and are less likely to admit their angst.

I feel like they might feel that way, we just dont see it," she said.

A study published in March in The Journal of the American Medical Association found that in 2019, before the pandemic, about 60% of children hospitalized for mental health reasons were girls. A decade earlier, the difference was only slight.

COVID-19 lockdowns added another dimension, thrusting academic and social lives online, Talib said. Some kids entered the pandemic as youngsters and emerged with more mature bodies, socially awkward, uncertain how to navigate friendships and relationships. They live in a world beset with school shootings, a rapidly changing climate, social and political unrest, and restrictions on reproductive care and transgender rights.

The CDC report released in February included teens queried in fall 2021, when U.S. COVID-19 cases and deaths were still high. Other data and anecdotal reports suggest many teens continue to struggle.

The pandemic as a percentage of their lives is huge," said Talib.

Expecting kids to be unscathed may be unrealistic.

Its going to change a generation," she said.

___

Follow AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner at @LindseyTanner.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The wife of Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza said on Monday that the 25-year prison sentence a Russian court handed him was recognition of the effectiveness of his work and showed that authorities fear him.

Evgenia Kara-Murza spoke at a Washington Post event about the sentence on charges of treason and other offenses Kara-Murza denies committing. State prosecutors also accused him of discrediting the Russian military after spreading "knowingly false information" about its conduct in what Moscow calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine.

"I understand that this sentence is the high recognition of the effectiveness of Vladimirs work," she said at the event that was streamed online, alongside an attorney for her husband. "He has proven time and again that he would not back down, that he would not abandon his fight, that he would not betray his country and betray his ideals, that he would keep on fighting."

Vladimir Kara-Murza, 41, a father of three and an opposition politician who holds Russian and British passports, spent years speaking out against President Vladimir Putin and lobbied Western governments to impose sanctions on Russia and individual Russians for purported human rights violations.

"This sentence shows that theyre so afraid of him and they hate him so much for his consistency, for his courage, for his amazing bravery," she added.

(Reporting by Simon Lewis; editing by Grant McCool)
Update: William Jenkins was convicted in the 2019 murder of Yolanda Moffitt-Santiago after a two-day trial, the Marion County Prosecutor's Office announced March 9, 2023. Jenkins was sentenced to 60 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections, the prosecutor's office announced April 17, 2023.

Original article: Investigators are still looking for a murder suspect described as an abusive man who killed his ex-girlfriend last month after learning about her pregnancy in her new relationship.

The victim  34-year-old Yolanda Kay Moffitt-Santiago  had lived with the man's hitting and harassment before, according to police and court records. Moffitt-Santiago, who had a 10-year-old son, had tried repeatedly to leave behind the abuse,family and witnesses said. Her ex-boyfriend, though, continued stalking and harassing her through messages, phone calls and Facebook.

That man, identified by police as 28-year-old William Jenkins, is even recorded in a jail call as wanting to "kick her a--" after his release, according to court records.

Moffitt-Santiago's death on July 2 is among at least nine homicides that were connected to domestic violence in Indianapolis this year, according to local police data.

The problem's scope in Marion County is even larger. Data collected by the Domestic Violence Network showed that there were an estimated 10,797 unique victims of domestic violence in 2016, the most recent year available.

Yolanda Kay Moffitt-Santiago

Many of them were victims in multiple incidents. For Moffitt-Santiago, her homicide came after at least two other times where she was hit by the murder suspect, investigators say in police and court records.

On the morning of the homicide, Jenkins was seen arguing with Moffitt-Santiago just minutes before her death. Some friends wanted to intervene in the argument, according to court records, but they backed away temporarily because Jenkins carried a gun.

Returning about 15 minutes later, they were greeted by police lights and crime scene tape. The friends initially thought Indianapolis Metropolitan Police officers were there to break up the argument.

Story continues

They soon learned, though, that Moffitt-Santiago had been shot.

Police: 2 women gruesomely killed in Indianapolis by partners with violent histories

What happened that morning

Ryan Clark, a homicide detective for IMPD, described the morning of Moffitt-Santiago's death in a probable cause affidavit filed in Marion Superior Court.

It was around 4:30 a.m. on July 2 when she went to the Mapleton-Fall Creek home of a friend who had asked her to bring over a bottle of liquor, court records say.

A few minutes later, a gold Chevy Impala pulled up and Jenkins jumped out of the passenger side, walking to Moffitt-Santiago's car. Police do not say in the affidavit who the driver was.

When Jenkins did not see Moffitt-Santiago at her car, Jenkins approached the home and, according to at least four witnesses, began "barging" inside unannounced.

Jenkins found her in the back of the home and started yelling at her, according to witness statements.

William Jenkins

One person told them to take the argument out of the home, court records say. Then Jenkins pulled out a gun and pulled Moffitt-Santiago outside.

Witnesses told police that Jenkins wanted Moffitt-Santiago to leave with him. The people at the home urged her to stay, but she eventually walked away with Jenkins a short distance.

Indianapolis is enduring years of violence. The Toll newsletter explores why

Investigators said several of the witnesses followed in a car to the area of E. 37th Street and Central Avenue. They asked if she was OK, and she replied: "No, he just pulled my hair!"

One witness told police that Jenkins had said: "This is my b----" before demanding the witnesses to mind their business.

Jenkins would not let go of her arm, witnesses said.

Moffitt-Santiago pleaded for her friends to stay, telling them: "He's gonna kill me."

The friends were afraid to confront Jenkins because he was armed. Eventually they believed that Jenkins had cooled down, though, and decided to leave. Based on the court records, it does not appear they called police.

When the friends came back a few minutes later  sometime after 5:19 a.m.  police officers were already at the scene, having responded to a call of a woman down.

The officers found Moffitt-Santiago on the sidewalk in the 3700 block of Central Avenue. She was unconscious but still breathing.

Medics took her to IU Health Methodist Hospital, where a doctor pronounced her dead just before 11 a.m.

An autopsy revealed that she had been shot a single time in the back of her head.

Police don't know how a man escaped federal custody: But they say he soon killed a DJ

Abuse and harassment

The fatal shooting came just weeks before Moffitt-Santiago's birthday. She would have been 35.

In addition to leaving behind her 10-year-old son, investigators said, Moffitt-Santiago appeared to be in the early stages of pregnancy.

In June, court records say, Moffitt-Santiago told Jenkins about the pregnancy, which began after she started dating someone else.

Jenkins told her to get an abortion, according to court records.

That conversation happened in the days following Jenkins' release from Marion County Jail on June 19, 2019.

He had started harassing her, witnesses told police, continuing a practice that had been happening for months.

Yolanda Kay Moffitt-Santiago

Records show IMPD officers handled a domestic violence call involving the two on March 15. In court records, investigators noted Moffitt-Santiago said she wanted to leave Jenkins and then he hit her. It was the second time he hit her that week, police noted.

Moffitt-Santiago ended up not following through on criminal charges, court records say. But a family member informed Jenkins' parole officer. That upset Jenkins, investigators say, and he started harassing Moffitt-Santiago and a family member.

By early July  after the release from jail, the pregnancy conversation and learning about the new relationship  Jenkins repeatedly tried to reach Moffitt-Santiago, court records say.

In the 24 hours prior to Moffitt-Santiago's death, according to court records, Jenkins sent her more than 350 messages and tried to call her at least 80 times.

She responded over and over again by telling Jenkins to leave her alone.

Jenkins last tried to contact her at 3:49 a.m., police say  about an hour before Jenkins drove to the friend's house where Moffitt-Santiago had visited that morning.

Facebook: criminal justice reporter Ryan Martin

Other criminal evidence

In addition to the witness statements, IMPD detectives reviewed surveillance cameras that were near the crime scene.

One camera captured audio of the shooting around 5:10 a.m., court records say. Cell phone records, meanwhile, show Jenkins used his phone in the area starting at 5:14 a.m.

This month the Marion County prosecutor's office charged Jenkins with murder and unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, a Level 4 felony.

Jenkins has not yet been arrested. Those with information about Jenkins or the homicide should contact IMPD homicide detectives at 317-327-3475 or Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-8477.

After fatal IMPD shooting: Gun's location raises questions Chief Roach can't answer

Resources

Help is available for people in an abusive relationship.

The Julian Center, available at 317-920-9320, is one resource urged by IMPD. Beacon of Hope, available at 317-731-6140, is another place that can help.

And if someone is experiencing abuse but it is not an emergency, IMPD's non-emergency phone number is 317-327-3811.

This year IndyStar is deeply examining the level of violence in Indianapolis: why it is occurring, what is being done about it and what may inspire solutions. The project, called The Toll, also includes a weekly email newsletter. Subscribe for free at indystar.com/thetoll.

Contact IndyStar reporter Ryan Martin at 317-444-6294 or ryan.martin@indystar.com. Follow him on Facebook or Twitter: @ryanmartin

Support our journalism

Please support the work of IndyStar reporters and visual journalists by becoming a subscriber today. Get unlimited digital access here!

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indianapolis mother killed after weeks of harassment, abuse, police say
Baird Center will be the new name for downtown Milwaukee's convention center.

MILWAUKEE  The planned removal of a literary exhibit at the Wisconsin Center has been put on hold after a group of aldermen urged a review of the decision.

The aldermen urged the review after a group  led by Indigenous writers whose work was among those featured in the exhibit  had complained that the decision to remove the exhibit was done without them being notified and without oversight.

The exhibit, Portals and Writings Celebrating Wisconsin Authors, was installed at the Milwaukee convention center, now known as the Wisconsin Center, in 1998. It features the works of 48 Wisconsin writers through four centuries, including many prominent Indigenous artists and people of color. Their words are worked into sculptural archways and on the walls of the center.

The Wisconsin Center is operated by the Wisconsin Center District, which is a semi-autonomous municipality with board members who are appointed by elected officials.

Sign up for the First Nations Wisconsin newsletter Click here to get all of our Indigenous news coverage right in your inbox

Wisconsin Center District CEO Marty Brooks sent a letter to the Wisconsin Center District board members April 13 explaining his decision to remove the exhibit as part of expansion work at the facility and why hes pausing that move after complaints.

He wrote that letters were sent to the artists in January whose works were to be decommissioned as part of the renovations and that some had chosen to reclaim their works while others said they would not and asked for the pieces to be removed.

Kimberly Blaeser (Ojibwe), a former Wisconsin poet laureate and a founding director of Indigenous Nations Poets, whose work is among those featured in the exhibit, said neither she nor any of the other individual authors were contacted by Brooks.

If they notified the artists, I was not among them, she said. In fact, none of the people whose literary works are on the wall were notified.

Blaeser, whos also a professor emerita at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, said Brooks may have only notified organizers at Milwaukees Woodland Pattern Book Center, which helped lead the effort to install the exhibit 25 years ago.

Story continues

Indeed, Woodland Pattern actually contacted me as director of Indigenous Nations Poets, also in a letter dated March 27, to see if I could offer any information about heirs or someone handling the estate or rights of several Indigenous authors whose works were included, she said.

In his letter, Brooks wrote that he discussed the removal with Woodland Pattern and agreed that the Wisconsin Center District would contribute $20,000 toward a project to publish a book of photographs of the exhibit.

Woodland Pattern expects the costs to produce the book to be between $50,000 and $80,000.

Brooks wrote to the board that Wisconsin Center District has received many responses from the public demanding the exhibit be left alone, but he argued renovation work must be done.

Art is subjective and personal, yet status quo for the south building is unacceptable, he wrote.

Brooks wrote that the construction team will continue work, but pause decommissioning of the exhibit to allow him more time to reflect and respond to the complaints.

As one of Woodland Patterns board members said to me today, there is no fast answer, he wrote.

Read more:

Frank Vaisvilas is a Report for America corps member who covers Native American issues in Wisconsin based at the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact him at fvaisvilas@gannett.com or 815-260-2262. Follow him on Twitter at @vaisvilas_frank.You can directly support his work with a tax-deductible donation online at GreenBayPressGazette.com/RFA or by check made out to The GroundTruth Project with subject line Report for America Green Bay Press Gazette Campaign. Address: The GroundTruth Project, Lockbox Services, 9450 SW Gemini Drive, PMB 46837, Beaverton, Oregon 97008-7105.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Wisconsin Center literary exhibit removal put on hold after outcry
Former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick, seen here in a 2013 Associated Press photo, has been charged in Wisconsin with sexual assault. McCarrick was defrocked in 2019 after Vatican officials found him guilty of soliciting sex while hearing Confession.

Prosecutors in Walworth County have charged the defrocked former cardinal Theodore McCarrick with sexual assault in a 1977 incident.

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul announced Monday that the state Department of Justice and Walworth County had charged McCarrick, 92, with one count of fourth-degree sexual assault.

McCarrick never lived or worked in Wisconsin but apparently made visits to the state.

Prosecutors say that McCarrick "engaged in repeated sexual abuse of the victim over time," according to a DOJ news release.

In the incident for which he is charged, prosecutors said McCarrick in April 1977 groped the 18-year-old victim while they were both staying as guests at a residence on Geneva Lake.

According to a criminal complaint, the victim was in the lake off a dock when McCarrick and another adult man entered the water as well. Both groped him and discussed his genitals, the complaint said the victim reported.

The victim tried to get away from the men and splashed and made noise, he said, according to the complaint. He got out of the lake with one leg in his swim trunks and ran to the house. He got dressed and asked for a ride to the train station, according to the complaint.

The victim said McCarrick began sexually assaulting him at age 11. According to the complaint, the victim reported several incidents in which McCarrick inappropriately touched or assaulted him before he was 18 years old.

McCarrick took the teen to lavish parties and events, the complaint said. The victim also reported that McCarrick had taken him to an event where several adult men assaulted him. The victim also said McCarrick had sex with him the day before the incident on Geneva Lake.

In 1977, McCarrick would have been 46 years old. He was a priest in the Archdiocese of New York and was working as the private secretary to Cardinal Terence Cooke. The alleged incident occurred a month before McCarrick was named auxiliary bishop of New York. He would go on to become the bishop of Metuchen, New Jersey, then the archbishop of Newark and the archbishop of Washington. He was named cardinal in 2001.

Story continues

The Walworth County charge is the latest development in a years-long fall from grace for the once-powerful cardinal.

McCarrick is also charged in a Massachusetts case that alleges he assaulted a teenage boy at a wedding in 1974. He pleaded not guilty in 2021. In February, his attorneys sought to have the case dismissed, saying McCarrick, who lives at a residence for troubled priests in Missouri, has dementia and is not competent to stand trial.

McCarrick is the only U.S. Catholic cardinal, current or former, ever to be criminally charged with child sex crimes.

More: A timeline of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick's rise and fall

According to the Associated Press, McCarrick's fall began in 2017 when a former altar boy came forward to report the priest had groped him when he was a teenager in New York. The next year, the Archdiocese of New York announced that McCarrick had been removed from ministry after finding the allegation to be "credible and substantiated," and two New Jersey dioceses revealed they had settled claims of sexual misconduct against him in the past involving adults.

Pope Francis defrocked McCarrick in 2019 after a Vatican investigation determined he sexually abused minors, as well as adults.

The two-year internal investigation into McCarrick found that three decades of bishops, cardinals and popes downplayed or dismissed reports of sexual misconduct. Correspondence showed they repeatedly rejected the information outright as rumor and excused it as an "imprudence."

The investigative findings released in 2020 pinned much of the blame on Pope John Paul II, who appointed McCarrick archbishop of Washington, D.C., despite having commissioned an inquiry that confirmed McCarrick slept with seminarians.

Prosecutors in Wisconsin charged McCarrick after someone reported the abuse to the state Department of Justice's ongoing clergy abuse investigation.

Since launching the investigation in 2021, Kaul's office has forwarded two other cases to local law enforcement for charges: 33-year-old Remington Jon Nystrom in Waushara County for an incident that occurred in 2019 and 61-year-old Jeffrey Anthony Charles in Douglas County for incidents that occurred between 2005 and 2010.

The Wisconsin charge against McCarrick, fourth-degree sexual assault, is a misdemeanor. If convicted, he would face up to nine months in prison and a $10,000 fine.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Defrocked cardinal Theodore McCarrick charged in Wisconsin sex assault
A woman was taken to the hospital after falling 30 feet down a steep slope in Habersham County.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Just before 6 p.m. on Saturday, a bystander called Habersham County Emergency Services about a woman being injured on Panther Creek Trail.

The trail is located at Panther Creek Park on Old Historic Highway 441 between Turnerville and Shirley Grove.

The bystander told emergency responders that the woman had fallen down a 30-foot slope near trail marker 19, which is about a half mile from the falls.

TRENDING STORIES:

Habersham emergency crews along with surrounding fire and emergency officials responded a little after 6 p.m.

About 25 minutes later, rescue crews were able to locate the woman, who was reportedly alert and conscious.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources was unable to airlift the victim due to her location.

Just before 7:30 p.m., crews used harnesses and ropes to get the woman back to the trail.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

The woman was taken to Northeast Georgia Medical Center. Officials have not released the womans identity or current condition.

Habersham officials said the new trail markers were just installed last month, which helped led rescuers right to where the victim was located.

IN OTHER NEWS:




A woman spent hours clinging to a tree, waiting for help after the boat she was in capsized along a river, Texas authorities said.

Its not clear how it happened, but the boat overturned on the Neches River, near Slocum, on the evening of Saturday, April 15, the Slocum Volunteer Fire Department said in a news release. She spent the rest of the night stranded in the dark, holding on to a tree.

When the sun finally came up, her husband made his way to a nearby highway, got the attention of a passing driver and contacted 911, the release said.

Crews headed to the scene at 7:32 a.m. on April 16, officials said. Rescuers went up river on a swiftwater rescue boat and found the woman, who is in her mid-60s, still clinging to the tree.

She was brought back to safety and taken to a hospital for further evaluation, the release said.

Slocum, a small community in Anderson County, is roughly 130 miles southeast of Dallas-Fort Worth.

2 missing college students went swimming in lake and didnt resurface, IN officials say

Teen dies in 25-foot fall while hiking national park with friends, Maine rangers say

High winds send 30-foot sailboat crashing into Florida bridge, where it sinks

18-year-old loses footing and falls off cliff, Minnesota cops say. Hes still missing
A woman lived a life of luxury in Florida by stealing the life savings of a man who survived the Holocaust, federal prosecutors said.

Peaches Stergo, 36, of Champions Gate, a community about 25 miles southwest of Orlando, conned the 87-year-old man into paying her over $2.8 million after meeting him on a dating site, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York.

The man looking for companionship lost his apartment as a result while Stergo spent his money to buy a home in the resort-style, gated neighborhood of Champions Gate, a condo, a boat, cars including a Corvette, vacation stays at hotels including the Ritz-Carlton and more, prosecutors said.

Stergo pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in connection with her romance scam on April 14, the attorneys office announced in a news release.

This conduct is sick  and sad, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.

Stergos attorney Ann Fitz declined a request for comment from McClatchy News on April 17.

How the woman carried out the romance scam

Stergo met the man, who was living in Manhattan, New York, at the time, on an unspecified dating website roughly six or seven years ago, prosecutors said.

She introduced herself as Alice and asked him if she could borrow money beginning in 2017, according to an indictment.

Stergo lied and said she needed money because her lawyer wouldnt give her what she was owed in a purported lawsuit settlement after she claimed to have been injured in a car accident, the indictment says.

As a result, the man gave her a check of $25,000, according to the indictment.

Stergo told him the settlement money was eventually deposited into her bank account  but bank records didnt reflect this, prosecutors said.

She continued to lie to him for the next four and a half years, causing him to write her 62 checks in total, according to prosecutors.

Stergo told the man if he didnt hand over money, her bank accounts would freeze and hed never get his money back, officials said.

Story continues

To support the scam, Stergo created a fake email address and wrote fake letters and invoices while posing as a TD Bank employee, according to prosecutors.

In October 2021, the man stopped sending Stergo money when his son told him that he was getting scammed, the indictment says.

The woman goes on a spending spree

With the mans money, Stergo bought a four bedroom, 2,334-square-foot home along Trappers Trail Loop in Champions Gate, the indictment says.

The home is worth an estimated $455,800 on Zillow.

The home Stergo bought in Champions Gate, according to prosecutors.

She also bought pricey meals; gold coins and bars; jewelry; Rolex watches; clothes from Tiffany, Ralph Lauren, Hermes, Louis Vuitton and Neiman Marcus; and designer purses, according to prosecutors.

Stergo has agreed to pay $2,830,775 in restitution, will forfeit that same amount and will forfeit over 100 luxury items she bought with the mans money, prosecutors said.

She is facing up to 20 years in prison, according to the release.

Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 27, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors didnt provide further details on the background of the man who survived the Holocaust, which was the genocide of 6 million European Jews carried out by Nazi Germany during World War II.

Man steals $84,000 from ill mother-in-law and spends nearly half on guns, feds say

Woman stole her in-laws life savings for down payment on a home in Montana, feds say

TSA officer stole thousands in unemployment while working at Florida airport, feds say
BAGHDAD, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid said Monday that Iraq is ready to help the conflicting Sudanese parties to hold a dialogue for a ceasefire.

"I assure our brothers in Sudan of Iraq's readiness to make efforts and help in securing opportunities for constructive dialogue in a way that contributes to giving priority to peace and strengthening the democratic approach," Rashid said in a statement.

He said that Iraq is closely watching the unfortunate developments in Sudan, which claimed the lives of civilians, damaged institutions, and disrupted opportunities to continue building and progress in the democratic and peaceful path in Sudan, according to the statement.

Rashid expressed hope that the conflicting Sudanese parties will "abandon the use of arms and violence and rely on the principles of democracy to enhance the opportunities for dialogue in a way that preserves life, peace, and justice."

Clashes erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the capital Khartoum and adjoining cities Saturday morning, after days of tension over the RSF's integration into the army. 
A Worcester man was arrested Sunday following an alleged road rage incident in which a man was struck with a machete, according to the Worcester police.

At about 2:10 p.m. Sunday, officers responded to a report of a road rage incident. Witnesses reported that a white Toyota had been following a blue Honda. Witnesses told police the operator of the Honda got out to ask why he was being followed.

The operator of the Toyota is reported to have struck the Honda driver with a machete in the head and the back. Officers who responded called for an ambulance to assist the victim, but he drove himself to the hospital and had what police described as non-life-threatening injuries.

Police said they located the Toyota at a red light on McKeon Road. Ezekial Santiago, 40, was arrested following a brief search of the vehicle, which the police said turned up a machete.

Santiago will be arraigned on a charge of armed assault to murder and three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. He will be arraigned in court.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester driver struck by machete in road rage incident, police say
The Isar 2 nuclear power plant in Munich, which was disconnected from the grid over the weekend.

Some of the worlds largest most influential nations have formed an alliance to create new supply chains for nuclear energythe same weekend that another country announced it had completely weaned itself off the energy source.

At the meeting of the G7 this weekend, leaders of nuclear trade associations from the U.S., UK, Canada, Japan, and France announced they will work together to create supply chains for nuclear fuels that do not rely on Russia.

Read more

When it comes to nuclear fuel, Russias supply chains are some of the most important in the world. While the country only provides 6% of the worlds mined uranium, raw uranium has to go through several steps to become nuclear fuel, including being converted to a more useful form and then enriched. Russia controls around 40% of the worlds conversion capacities, as well as 46% of the worlds enrichment capacities. The country is also a huge exporter of nuclear technology itself: of the 439 reactors online in the world in 2021, 38 are in Russia, 42 in other countries were made with Russian technology, and 15 under construction worldwide also use Russian technology.

Russias unprovoked and unjustifiable war against Ukraine and the increasing impacts of climate change have fundamentally altered the global energy landscape and accelerated the need for collaboration between like-minded allies, the U.S. Department of Energy said in a statement on the alliance. ...This strategic collaboration aims to increase the depth and resilience of our nuclear fuel supply-chains, while supporting the wider geostrategic objectives of further reducing reliance on Russia in the nuclear fuel supply chain for the long term and increasing the availability of commercial free-market alternatives in the supply of civil nuclear technologies to third countries.

Story continues

There is likely infrastructure in place to make this shift happen. According to a whitepaper authored by the Columbia Center for Global Energy Policy last year, many non-Russian powers, including the U.S., are not using the full capacity of their enrichment and conversion capabilities thanks to low prices. However, a market or policy signal could encourage other non-Russian producers to ramp up their outputs.

If there is a policy in place to reduce or eliminate Russian involvement in Western nuclear fuel markets, this would almost certainly lead to a realignment in the supply chain, the paper states.

But this new agreement doesnt mean that everyone in Europe is committed to ramping up nuclear production. A day before the agreement was announced, Germany said that it had officially weaned off of nuclear energy, shuttering its last three power plants on Saturday.

It is a great achievement for millions of people who have been protesting nuclear in Germany and worldwide for decades, Greenpeace spokesperson Paul-Marie Maniere told CNN.



While nuclear energy comes with a host of complications, including waste disposal and safety concerns, it is carbon-free and a valuable source of baseload electricity for more intermittent energy sources like solar and wind energy. The EU has debated for years on whether or not to define nuclear energy as a green energy source, thanks in part to a well of long-standing opposition in Europe to nuclear energy that has joined forces with traditional environmental and green groups like Greenpeace. In a vote last summer, the EU Parliament ruled to define nuclear and natural gas as green energy and eligible for subsidies, in a move that concerned some climate advocates who support the adoption of nuclear energy to help with climate concerns.

Germanys move to close its nuclear plants while attempting to wean off fossil fuels, which has been in motion for decades, has been fraught. A German anti-nuclear movement that began in the 1970s helped form the foundation of the countrys Green Party, a major political power in the government. In 2009, Germany paused its nuclear transition but ramped it back up again after the Fukushima disaster in 2011. This represented a huge shift in the countrys energy mix: at the start of the last decade, there were 17 reactors in Germany, producing a quarter of its electricity.

Following the invasion of Ukraine last year, the government said it would delay the remaining three plants retirement thanks to a squeeze in natural gas supplies, but that delay only ended up lasting a few months. Research has found that coal-fired power, rather than renewables, has largely replaced German nuclear power.

Regardless of Germanys direction, the rest of the world has made signals in recent months that it is reconsidering nuclears role in the energy transition, from keeping older plants open past their former end dates to announcing new plans for different types of nuclear reactors. It remains to be seen how geopolitical concerns, like the role of Russia and this new alliance, will help or hurt these developmentsand whether or not Germany may regret shutting the lights on its reactors.

More from Gizmodo

Sign up for Gizmodo's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.
Headquarters of the WGA, West in Los Angeles. (Los Angeles Times)

Leaders of the Writers Guild of America secured a strong showing of support from members on Monday, moving the union closer to a possible work stoppage that would disrupt Hollywood production and ripple across Southern California's economy.

WGA members voted by a historic margin  98% to 2%  (among 9,218 ballots cast) in favor of a strike authorization, which allows union leaders to call a walkout if they are unable to negotiate a new film and TV contract.

"You have expressed your collective strength, solidarity, and the demand for meaningful change in overwhelming numbers," the WGA said in a statement to members. "Armed with this demonstration of unity and resolve, we will continue to work at the negotiating table to achieve a fair contract for all writers."

The current three-year contract, which covers about 11,500 members, expires May 1.

The vote  held April 11 to 17  adds pressure to already high-stakes negotiations between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the Writers Guild of America over pay and conditions.

The strong endorsement is likely to strengthen the leverage union leaders have in contract negotiations that have so far failed to yield much progress.

The radical transformation of the TV business caused by the rise of streaming platforms has fueled much of the labor conflict.

Writers are seeking a package of compensation increases valued at nearly $600 million. That includes increases in minimum pay and higher residual payments from streaming, along with increased contributions to the union's health and pension plans.

Writers argue that despite the streaming boom, their median pay has fallen in the last decade, citing a WGA report.

Complicating matters is that major studios such as Walt Disney Co., Warner Bros. Discovery and Netflix are facing their own economic pressures to slash costs in the face of rising debt levels, a reassessment of the streaming business and a possible recession.

Story continues

In a statement, the producers alliance said the ratification vote was not a surprise.

"Our goal is, and continues to be, to reach a fair and reasonable agreement," spokesman Scott Rowe said. "An agreement is only possible if the Guild is committed to turning its focus to serious bargaining by engaging in full discussions of the issues with the companies and searching for reasonable compromises."

Representatives of the producers alliance and the WGA returned to the table for talks April 14.

If they are unable to come to terms, WGA leaders could authorize a walkout as early as May 2 at 12:01 a.m. Pacific time, according to the WGA.

"We sense a very high likelihood of a strike beginning in early May 2023," said Rich Greenfield, a co-founder of LightShed Partners, a technology and media research firm in New York. "The television business has shifted dramatically and resetting economics between the WGA/AMPTP is no easy task."

This is the first time since 2017 that the guild has voted on a strike authorization, although that year the two sides were able to reach a deal that averted a work stoppage.

The WGA previously went on strike in 2007 in a walkout that lasted 100 days and halted much of Hollywood production. At the time, members approved a strike authorization by 90%.

Writers are seeking to address a number of practices that they say have steadily chipped away at their ability to earn a living in the streaming era.

One area is the use of mini-rooms, which employ small groups of writers who take on the burden of fleshing out episodes of a new TV show before it is greenlighted by a studio. These have led to the erosion of pay, the union says.

Los Angeles-based Brigitte Munoz-Liebowitz, 38, showrunner of HBO Maxs comedy series Gordita Chronicles, said it was an easy decision to vote "yes" in favor of a possible strike.

As a showrunner who ran a pre-greenlight mini-room, I have seen writer pay decline right before my eyes," Munoz-Liebowitz said. "People that have been working for a very long time are working for so much less than they ever have before.

She hopes the vote will telegraph to the studios the writers resolve to strike to protect the viability of the profession.

Sometimes a labor action like that is the only option we have if the studios aren't willing to give us a deal that will fix the problems that we've identified, Munoz-Liebowitz said. Nobody wants to go on strike, it's a last resort.

A strike would no doubt mean financial hardship for writers as well as cast and crew affected by production shutdowns.

L.A.-based TV and film writer Zoe Marshall, 30, has been writing since 2018 on various shows including the CW's "Charmed." The WGA board member said she is still paying off nearly $250,000 in student loans from film school.

Marshall, who supports many family members, recently married a TV show composer, but the couple have put off taking a honeymoon in case of a work stoppage.

Still, Marshall said she strongly supported the strike authorization.

The cost of living in Los Angeles is the highest it's ever been, the cost of an education is the highest it's ever been, and the nature of this business and how we're compensated requires me to ration out my checks over these extended periods of time, Marshall said. The studios are making these record profits, and they're spending more than they ever have to produce this product that we practically kill ourselves to write. It's categorically unfair, and it's just wrong.





This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The former schoolteacher, who's become New York's "rat czar," may face an uphill battle to succeed.

An urban-rat expert said Kathleen Corradi must realize rats are not the "enemy."

"The 'real city rats' are the men and women of bureaucracy," Michael Parsons told Insider.

Kathleen Corradi's dedication to public service started when she was just 10.

After seeing a dead rat on Long Island, she started a petition in her neighborhood, her mother told The New York Times.

Corradi, a former elementary-school teacher and city education-department official, was appointed Wednesday as New York's first director of rodent mitigation, with Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City, describing her as a "maestro."

"When I first saw this job posting, I wasn't sure if it was real. 'Bloodthirsty' is not a word you usually see in a job description and it's certainly not a word I usually describe myself," Corradi said during a news conference.

Corradi will oversee the city's existing rat-mitigation effort, including the rodent biologist Robert Corrigan at the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the Office of Pest Control, and a citywide rodent task force, The New York Times reported.

"Rat mitigation is more than a quality-of-life issue  rats are the symptom of systemic issues, including sanitation, health, housing, and economic justice," she added. "You can't just deal with one part of the problem and call it day."

Corradi, who is being paid $155,000 a year for the position, outlined her plans before vowing: "You'll be seeing a lot of me, and a lot less rats."

Michael Parsons, an urban-rat expert and a visiting research scholar at Fordham University, told Insider that Corradi will only succeed in reducing the city's rodent population if she realizes exactly who the actual "enemies" are.

The 'real rats' of New York City

Corradi's task comes after residents reported almost 3.2 million rat sightings last year to the city's 311 service-request line.

Story continues

Parsons said that the rat czar may face an uphill battle not because of the rodents, "but instead due to the 'real city rats'  the men and women of bureaucracy and their two-and-a-half centuries of bad practice."

According to the mayoral website, New York produces more than 14 million tons of trash every year, which usually goes into landfills or incinerators, but can also pollute streets and waterways.

"Ms. Corradi needs to change to science-supported steps rather than unproven, 'gimmicky' approaches," Parsons said.

To succeed, Parsons said he believes that Corradi would need to:

Helping the city better understand rodent biology: such as by avoiding collecting as much trash at night, when rats are most active.

Studying which approaches work best: "There must be data."

Avoid spending money on unproven techniques, including composting. "In fact, data suggests composting could increase rat populations," Parsons said.

However, the most important thing is to no longer think of rats as the "enemy," because the creatures will only eat what they are can find. "Understand that rat control begins by changing people's habits, hygiene, and expectations," he said.

He said Corradi should "direct the city as to how to control rats, and not give in to non-rodent specialists such as her bosses, who prefer non-proven, non-scientific approaches."

The mayor's office and Corradi didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider.

Here's how to stop rodents from living under your car's hood and avoid big repair bills.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Two Black women in Florida have called out the state for denying them medical care in the wake of Gov. Ron DeSantissigning a six-week abortion ban into law on Thursday.

MSNBCs Katie Phang spoke with Floridians Anya Cook and Shanae Smith-Cunningham on Saturday, the former of whom described feeling like she was going to die while pregnant last year.

The six-week ban could go into effect if the states current 15-week ban on abortions is upheld in a legal challenge in the Florida Supreme Court.

Youre killing us, Cook said in a message to Florida lawmakers.

"It's unbelievable." Shanae Smith-Cunningham tells @KatiePhang about her experience being denied medical care in Florida due to the harsh abortion restrictions #KatiePhangShowpic.twitter.com/1WHiRctFPG  The Katie Phang Show (@katiephangshow) April 15, 2023

Cook and Smith-Cunningham, who are friends and were both pregnant in December, described their heartbreaking stories of suffering miscarriages in The Washington Post last week.

Cook and Smith-Cunningham were denied care in December due to Floridas 15-week abortion ban when they were 16 and 19 weeks pregnant, respectively.

Cook experienced hemorrhaging and lost half of her bodys blood in an operating room following the miscarriage. The two experienced a condition known as preterm pre-labor rupture of the membranes (PPROM), or when a pregnant persons water breaks prior to viability.

The 15-week ban, which went into effect last year, has an exception for fatal fetal anomaly although this doesnt apply to those with PPROM, the Post noted.

The stricter ban does not appear to include an exception for those experiencing PPROM either.

Story continues

Cook recalled to Phang the moment a doctor told her they couldnt do anything for her after her water broke and she stayed in a hospitals waiting room for an hour.

So basically I have to go home and wait it out, wait it out, and hes like unfortunately dear I am so sorry. Youre sorry for what? That Im now going to have to deliver my daughter who will not be alive when shes born, said Cook.

She later reflected on having the baby at a hair salon.

I ended up going there because I said if I was going to die, my mother wouldnt have to do my hair, she said.

. @MrsAnyaCook shares her emotional, first-hand experience of being denied care under Florida's restrictive abortion ban #KatiePhangShowpic.twitter.com/i93soKdLeA  The Katie Phang Show (@katiephangshow) April 15, 2023

Florida state Sen. Shevrin Jones (D), who also joined Phangs program on Saturday, issued a frightening warning that Floridas government is overreaching.

When you look at what just happened with Anya and Shanae, what were noticing is that thats the reality: Black women are going to die, Jones said. The U.S. is the only developed country with a rising maternal mortality rate, and Black women are three to four times more likely to die than white ones.

H/T Mediaite

Related...
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting of the Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief on Monday, 17 April. The main topic on the agenda was the supply of Ukraine-produced armaments and ammunition to Ukraine's defence forces.

Source: Report from the Office of the President of Ukraine

Quote: "The participants heard information about the operational situation on the front. The commanders of the operational and strategic groupings of forces Khortytsia, Tarviia, Odesa and Pivnich (North  ed.) reported on the combat action in their areas of responsibility

Members of the Staff discussed the issue of providing the defence forces of Ukraine with armaments and ammunition, particularly ones manufactured in Ukraine. The status of contracts with Ukrainian manufacturers and the prospects for increasing the scale of domestic manufacture of all types of missiles and projectiles were discussed.

In addition to this, staffing and equipment of recently formed brigades were also discussed."

Background:

The Ukrainian Defence Ministry occasionally publishes photos of ammunition produced by the state-owned company Ukroboronprom.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Participants discussed the current situation on the front line, with commanders of the operational groups in Hortytsia, Tavria, Odesa, and North reporting on the progress of combat operations in their respective areas, and intelligence providing information on potential upcoming actions by Russia.

Read also: EU to approve joint purchase of ammunition for Ukraine next week, Bloomberg reports

The Military Council also addressed the supply of Ukrainian military equipment and ammunition, including the prospects for increasing Ukraines own production of missiles and ammunition.

Read also: Ukraine should get fighter jets, but its a long-term prospect, says Czech president

Participants analyzed the status of contracts with Ukrainian producers and prospects for increasing production capacity.

Ukraines Ukroboronprom has already started producing three types of ammunition in collaboration with NATO countries, including 122mm artillery shells, 120mm mortar shells, and 125mm tank shells.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Hyderabadi biryani is among some of the foods available on the service

"A man's desperation for biryani knows no bounds."

That's what drove Anirudh Suresan, a resident of the Indian capital, Delhi, to order the dish from thousands of miles away in Hyderabad, the southern city famous for its biryani, a fragrant dish of rice layered with meat or vegetables.

For good measure, he also ordered tunday kebabs - the skewered lamb patties from Lucknow - and Bengali sweets from Kolkata (formerly Calcutta).

His experience, however, turned out to be far from ideal.

"The biryanis were abysmal, they were devoid of everything that makes biryani a biryani," he told the BBC. "No amount of heating on stove could resuscitate the tundays and any local sweetshop in Delhi could outshine the Kolkata sweets."

Mr Suresan is among thousands of Indians who are betting on food delivery app Zomato's Intercity Legends and going the extra mile - literally - to satisfy their insatiable need for biryanis, rasgullas (balls of cottage cheese dipped into hot sugary syrup) and kachoris (stuffed pies). The firm has partnered with some 120 renowned restaurants from 10 cities that deliver some of India's most iconic dishes within 24 hours through flight.

"The idea was to put India on a platter for the breadth and length of the country," says Kamayani Sadhwani, who is heading the service at the company.

India is famous for its deep fried patties and pastries - popularly known as samosas and kachoris

Zomato first began the service in August as an experiment, opening up to residents in south Delhi and parts of Gurugram (Gurgaon), an upscale suburb of the capital. It has since expanded operations to over six cities, including Mumbai and Bengaluru. The company now aims to make the service available across the country as demand grows.

Ms Sadhwani says the offering is centred around "nostalgia" and "exploration".

"Our aim was to cater to the needs of our customers in two ways - by helping them reconnect with their roots through the taste of their hometown cuisine and by offering them an opportunity to discover the vast array of culinary delights our country has to offer," she adds.

Story continues

The BBC spoke to at least nine other customers who, like Mr Suresan, found the scheme "tepid at best".

But Ms Sadhwani said the customer response "has surpassed our wildest expectations", though she declined to specify the scale of the operations.

"When we started, we thought it would be expensive and a luxury offering. However, our cost projections over time have led us to believe that it is not a luxury," Siddharth Jhawar, vice president of Zomato Global Growth, had told Business Standard last year.

From cutting delivery prices and wait times to dishing out discounts and promising grocery deliveries in minutes - Zomato is not new to experiments. Since its launch in 2008, the company has constantly pushed the boundaries of logistics to achieve profits in India's crowded food market.

Experts say its model also benefitted from the pandemic when restaurants were forced to go online, relying heavily on apps like Zomato to outsource delivery.

"Food delivery became the most relevant during the months of lockdown as fine dine restaurants that otherwise didn't get into food delivery, learnt how to package their food and send it out," says Sonal Ved, Mumbai-based digital editor and author of food books: Tiffin and Whose Samosa Is It Anyway?

"Zomato Intercity is probably an extension of that," she adds.

But transporting biryani thousands of miles away is no joke and Zomato claims it takes utmost care to keep the food safe along the journey.

It says it uses tamper-proof boxes and "state-of-the-art mobile refrigeration" to preserve the food without the need to freeze it or add any kind of preservatives.

Besides, a lot of restaurants on the platform already have intercity delivery through tie-ups with courier companies, which have helped make the scheme a success.

"Zomato Intercity created a buzz and made our products famous, which is why orders have been flowing in from across India." says Sudip Mullick, director of iconic Kolkata sweetshop Balaram Mullick and Radharaman Mullick Sweets.

On the platform, Mr Mullick mainly sells their specialities - baked rasgullas and sandesh, a tender fudge-like confection made with cottage cheese and sugar - which are packed in special boxes so that they travel well.

During winters, which is festival season in India, growth in orders was exponential, Mr Mullick says. "At one point we weren't able to keep up and had to stop delivery at our counters to make the intercity deliveries."

Balaram Mullick and Radharaman Mullick sells a variety of sandesh

Other restaurants also say they've been getting positive feedback from their customers.

"It's been great," says Shoaib Mohammad, managing director of Pista House in Hyderabad which is famous for its biriyanis and haleem, a rich, spicy paste of lamb and wheat.

They now average over 100 deliveries a day on weekends with most coming in from Delhi and Mumbai. "Recently, we delivered 800 boxes in one day," he says.

Pista House made news in September when a disappointed customer in Gurugram tweeted he had received just a small box of salan or curry in place of his biriyani order. Mr Mohammad said Zomato resolved the complaint by tracking down the lost order and adding on a free biriyani.

"It ended up becoming good advertisement for the platform and the restaurant," he added.

But experts remain sceptical about the scheme's long-term viability, citing the difficulty in standardising and executing the service across the country.

"The idea is great on paper given Indians' love of nostalgia, but the long transits and our already overburdened cold chain infrastructure make it a highly cost-intensive exercise for Zomato," journalist Sohini Mitter says.

More than anything, customers wonder whether the experience of eating at iconic haunts - hidden inside noisy markets and labyrinthine backstreets - could truly be recreated at home?

"I don't think that magic can be replicated inside cold-chained plastic containers. Even though the food remains edible, all the taste and texture has gone out of the window," Ms Mitter says.

Mr Suresan agrees. "There's a certain charm in strolling up to a place like Hotel Shadab in Hyderabad, where the smell of spices and meat hits you from a hundred paces away," he says.

"You're seated amidst bustling crowds and piping hot biryani is brought to you on a plate, and every bite is packed with flavour, and there's a waiter who hands you as many little bowls of salan and raita as you may need."

Ms Ved says personally she too would prefer to eat a biryani in an iconic location "but if AI and logistics are able to offer solutions for those who'd rather eat in their home, it's good for business".

BBC News India is now on YouTube. Click to subscribe and watch our documentaries, explainers and features.

Read more India stories from the BBC:
Gunmen seemingly posing as journalists shot dead a former Indian member of parliament and his brother live on TV as they were being taken in handcuffs to hospital by police, authorities said. Atiq Ahmed, 61, who had been jailed since 2019 and was convicted of kidnapping, was answering reporters questions late Saturday when he and his brother Ashraf were shot at close range, the television images showed. According to preliminary information, three persons posing as journalists approached them and opened fire The attackers have been held and are being questioned, police official Prashant Kumar said. The TV clip in the northern city of Prayagraj shows the assailants shouting Hindu slogans after the brazen attack. The two victims were from Indias Muslim minority but police did not say whether they were investigating a possible sectarian motive in the killings. The brothers were deeply involved in Indias criminal underworld  the ex-MP was reportedly facing more than 100 different cases  and press reports said the attackers were petty criminals. The pair were being taken to hospital for medical examinations and were surrounded by police officers at the time. Local media reports said one of the gunmen was even carrying a television camera and another a microphone with the logo of a television channel. Several days earlier police in the same state of Uttar Pradesh said they had shot dead Ahmeds 19-year-old son and his accomplice in a shootout. Both were wanted in a case of murder. Scores of people facing charges have been killed in the state in recent years in similar so-called police encounters, which rights groups say are often extra-judicial executions. Ahmed, who had been facing charges of murder and assault, last month had claimed in a petition to Indias top court that his life was under threat from the police. Following his shooting, gatherings of more than four people were banned Sunday across the crime-rife northern state of 200 million people that is ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. The shooting sparked outrage among opposition parties accusing the BJP of ruling by fear. Hundreds of politicians belonging to all parties across India have criminal cases pending against them, with poor Uttar Pradesh a particular hotspot. These include nearly half of government ministers in the state including the state premier, according to independent monitoring group the Association for Democratic Reforms. VANGUARD

NEWS SECTIONS
SIOUX CITY  Dozens of Sioux City residents attended a protest earlier this month at the Sioux City Public Museum that was meant to bring attention to recent pushes in the Iowa legislature to challenge the way public libraries and schools handle books for students.

The event featured five speakers, "Banned Book Bingo" and a "Take a book, leave a book" banned book swap where attendees could pick up titles such as "All Boys Aren't Blue" (a memoir about queer Black adolescence) or "Stamped" (a work concerned with anti-racism) and leave literature like "1984" or "To Kill a Mockingbird." All those titles have, at various times, appeared on the American Library Association's "Most-Challenged Books" list.

Rally against book banning A table full of banned books for people to take home is on display at a rally against banning books at the Sioux City Public Museum in Sioux C

Rachel Cole, a mom with a student at Mater Dei in Sioux City, said she came up with the book swap portion of the proceedings as a way to raise awareness about the variety of literature that has been removed from library shelves.

"Books considered classics, or that you've loved, or your children have loved, have all been banned or challenged at one time or another," Cole said.

As passed out of an Iowa legislature subcommittee, Senate File 496 increases scrutiny of Iowa public schools on matters of gender identity, sexual orientation and library catalogs while also requiring districts to give parents course materials and an option to opt out of coursework. Any literature detailing or depicting sex acts would be barred from school libraries and schools would need to list books in the district's library online and give parents a way to challenge curriculum.

Lobbyist declarations in favor of the legislation have come from organizations such as The Family Leader and Homeschool Iowa while those in opposition include the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa and the Iowa Psychological Association.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has herself proposed the removal of books from school libraries in all of the state's 327 districts if they're successfully challenged in any one of them. Cole said she fears the potential for "blanket challenges."

"There's a different type of book banning happening now," she said. "In the past, there have been people who would challenge a single book but now right wing organizations are now putting out lists of books they consider dangerous and people are challenging whole slates of books. And if we have laws that trigger the removal of those books, without any process, then that's a lot of books that indiscriminately removed that people can't access."

One of the event's speakers, Liz Mikitarian, the Florida-based founder of the group STOP Moms for Liberty, which touts 1,000 members in Iowa, said she believes legislative attempts to limit who can see what books are part of a larger effort to gut the public education system.

"Book banning is a structured and effective path theyve taken. Its fear inducing," Mikitarian said of groups such as Moms for Liberty. The nationwide conservative activist group has told state lawmakers in Iowa there should be more restrictions for written materials they believe to be obscene or divisive.

Other speakers at the event included Trisha Etringer, Siouxland Project Director for the Great Plains Action Society; Karen Mackey, who serves as the executive director of the Sioux City Human Rights Commission; Dr. Jeffrey Stellish, a historian and Cherokee County native; and Jim Tillman, a documentarian of local Black history.

The event was hosted by Siouxland Progressive Women, in partnership with Annie's Foundation (which advocates for greater reading access), the Great Plains Action Society, the NAACP, the National Organization, the Siouxland Pride Alliance and STOP Moms for Liberty.
GUANGZHOU, April 17 (Xinhua) -- A cargo ship loaded with more than 4,000 tonnes of durians from Thailand arrived at the Nansha Port in south China's Guangdong Province on Saturday.

This year, over 160,000 tonnes of durians are expected to enter the Chinese market through the Nansha Port, according to the Guangzhou Port Group.

It took only four days to transport these durians from Thailand to Nansha Port, according to China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited, the ship operator.

After being unloaded, the durians will be sent to the Guangzhou Jiangnan fruit and vegetable wholesale market, which serves as the largest agricultural product distribution center in south China, within just two hours. Through this market, durians are then distributed to supermarkets and fruit markets across China.

In recent years, the demand for durian among Chinese consumers has been rising. Nansha customs has taken a series of measures to improve the efficiency of customs clearance for durians. An international cold-chain logistics project has been established to improve the inspection capacity of imported cold-chain goods. 
The Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area was recognized as a 2023 Great American Defense Community.

The Association of Defense Communities recognized the greater Omaha metro area alongside four others for supporting military installations and for their exceptional commitment to improving quality of life for military service members.

In recognizing greater Omaha, the association noted that the surrounding community has shared a heartbeat" with Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue, Nebraska, and it works hard "to make service members and military families feel welcome." This is the first time the Omaha metro was selected for this recognition.

Bellevue Chamber of Commerce and Offutt Advisory Council's efforts for Operation Giving Thanks was highlighted, along with military-community partnerships that allowed Offutt to recover from historic flooding in 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic and the replacement of the installation's runway.

The association observed that "stakeholders agree these challenges brought this defense community closer together, moving forward into a brighter, more resilient future."

Offutt's 55th Wing announced the recognition earlier this month.

For those of us lucky enough to call Offutt our home, we already know about the incredible commitment our local community has to our Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Guardians and their families, said Col. Kristen Thompson, 55th Wing commander. Theres truly nowhere like it across the Department of Defense.

The other communities selected were El Paso, Texas; Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska; Fort George G. Meade Region, Maryland; and Montgomery-River Region, Alabama. They were chosen alongside Omaha through a competitive nomination process based on community building efforts as well as support and collaboration with neighboring military installations.

We are incredibly excited to honor Greater Omaha as a 2023 Great American Defense Community, said Karen Holt, president of the Association of Defense Communities. Greater Omaha is a great example of how communities are working tirelessly to ensure Americas military can be proud of where they call home."
We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription.
Morocco has called on the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces to cease all hostilities against each other and to open dialogue to preserve the unity and sovereignty of their country.

The call was made Sunday by Moroccos Ambassador to the African Union Mohamed Arrouchi during an emergency meeting held by the Peace and Security Council on the Sudan situation.

The diplomat also said Morocco is deeply concerned over the ongoing fighting in Sudan, affirming that violence is not the solution to any conflict, and that dialogue is the only way to establish lasting peace.

He also urged all parties to the conflict to exercise restraint and work together to find a peaceful solution to this crisis, noting that Morocco is ready to provide all necessary support to help Sudan overcome this difficult period and build a future of peace, stability and prosperity.

We hope that all parties to this conflict will react positively to this call and take immediate measures to end hostilities, he said, calling on the international community to support the peace and stability process in this brotherly country.

Intense and bloody fighting has gripped Sudan since Saturday, as a violent tussle for power left close to 100 people dead, hundreds more injured, and sparked warnings about a humanitarian crisis that has drained hospitals of blood supplies and life-saving equipment.

Clashes first erupted Saturday between the countrys military and the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, who told CNN on Sunday the army had broken a UN-brokered temporary humanitarian ceasefire.

Hemedti said Monday his group will pursue the leader of Sudans Armed Forces Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and bring him to justice, while Sudans army called on paramilitary fighters to defect and join the armed forces.

Following the bloody incidents in Sudan, Moroccos embassy in Khartoum set up a crisis cell and urged Moroccan nationals to be vigilant and abide by instructions issued by the Sudanese authorities.

Moroccan expatriates are advised not to leave home and avoid places where armed confrontation is happening, said the embassy in a statement.

Moroccans in Sudan can reach the embassy at phone number 00249123613284 if they need any assistance.

The embassy also called on Moroccans willing to travel to Sudan to postpone their plans for now.
Saudi Arabia has not invited Algeria, which holds the rotating presidency of the Arab League, to a meeting bringing together nine Arab states to discuss Syrias return to the league.

The Algerian regime mouthpiece said Algeria does not understand Saudi Arabias decision, adding that leaving Algeria uninvited was a double slap.

The Algerian military junta, an ally of Bashar Al Assad, failed in the November summit to bring Syria over due to Arab opposition back then.

Now Saudi Arabia, emboldened with a recent rapprochement with Iran, is taking the lead to facilitate the return of Syria holding a meeting to which GCC countries together with Egypt, Jordan and Iraq were invited.

At the end of the consultative meeting held in Jeddah, Saudi Foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan spoke over the phone with his Moroccan peer Nasser Bourita to inform him about the outcome of the meeting, ignoring Algeria.

Algeria and Lebanon, staunch Bashar allies and defenders, are sidelined probably as Saudi Arabia wants to project an image that the return is about Syria as a country that is struggling with civil war and earth quake debris.

The Algerian presidency continues to stand as one of the least attended summits that failed to have a follow up. Saudi Arabia and other major Arab countries have dwarfed Algeria in takin the lead to allow Syria back into the Arab League.

Even the Palestinian ceremonial reconciliation or photo session which Algeria depicted as a historic mediation between Palestinian factions had no impact. Now Saudi Arabia is reaching out to Hamas paving the way for a credible mediation.

Algerias diplomatic fanfare, whether at the Arab League or the African Union, is more self-regarding directed towards a domestic audience.

The next Arab Summit in Saudi Arabia, due to be held in May, will once again show how miserable Algerias summit was. Algerias presidency will also go down in history is the most short-lived with only six months, no major decisions and a large boycott of Arab leaders.
The final planning meeting of the exercise African Lion 2023 was held at the level of the South Zone Staff in Agadir from this April 12 to 16.

During the meeting, held at the instructions of the King, Supreme Commander and Chief of General Staff of the Royal Armed Forces (FAR), representatives of the FAR and the Armed Forces of the United States focused on finalizing the modalities of execution of the various activities planned as part of the 19th edition of the African Lion exercise, said a statement by FAR General Staff.

The 19th edition of this major event will bring together nearly 6,000 soldiers from twenty African and international countries, including Morocco and the United States, and 27 observer countries, said the statement.

The joint operations and maneuvers, conducted jointly by FAR and partner countries, in various operational, land, airborne, air, sea domains and in terms of CBRN (Chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear) decontamination, are primarily aimed at developing interoperability and strengthening the capacity to intervene in a multinational framework, explained the statement.

Scheduled from May 22 to June 16, 2023 in the regions of Agadir, Tan-Tan, Mehbes, Tiznit, Kenitra, Benguerir and Tifnit, the African Lion 2023 exercise remains a key event that contributes to consolidate Moroccan-American military cooperation and strengthen the exchange between the armed forces of the different participating countries to promote security and stability in the region.
Photo: Jean Catuffe/GC Images

This article was featured in One Great Story, New Yorks reading recommendation newsletter. Sign up here to get it nightly.

As a rule, it is generally not a great idea for lawyers to antagonize the presiding judge in the days leading up to a major trial. So Fox News lawyers could not have been feeling particularly good last week when, during the homestretch of pretrial hearings in the defamation case brought by Dominion Voting Systems, Delaware judge Eric M. Davis told them that they had a credibility problem. This is how a judge tells lawyers that he does not trust them, and for a party to high-profile litigation, the credibility of the lawyers in the courtroom is an essential asset  hard to acquire, closely guarded, and easily lost  that can subtly but crucially affect the proceedings.

This was an undoubtedly dramatic last-minute turn of events, but Fox has been on the ropes for weeks now in the run-up to the Tuesday start of the trial, which finds the network in a conspicuously weak position as it begins its defense against Dominion in what is expected to be a roughly six-week-long proceeding. The trial was supposed to begin Monday, but on Sunday evening the judge delayed the start of the case amid reports of a last minute push by Fox to settle. The election-technology company is looking for $1.6 billion in damages as a result of 20 episodes of alleged defamation that largely occurred during a monthlong period from mid-November to mid-December 2020 during segments in which crank lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell claimed that Dominion was part of an elaborate  and entirely fictional  conspiracy to steal the 2020 presidential election from Donald Trump. The segments mostly aired on shows hosted by Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo, and Jeanine Pirro, on both Fox News and Fox Business.

Of course, no one knows how the case is going to turn out, but watching it with a lawyers eye means being aware of the key signals that have already been sent  what do the judges comments and pretrial rulings suggest?  as well as which courtroom dynamics to study closely as the case progresses. Here are the most important things to know and watch as the Fox-Dominion trial unfolds:

1.

The trial begins Tuesday, but after two years of litigation, Fox News lawyers had revealed for the first time in the case that Rupert Murdoch, the chair of parent company Fox Corporation, also officially holds a position at Fox News as executive chair. This may seem like a small and perhaps inconsequential point  Fox News lawyers called the title an honorific  but it is not. The reason is that Foxs lawyers have fought hard throughout the litigation to insist there is a clear distinction  both legally and factually in their day-to-day operations  between Fox News and Fox Corporation. Both are defendants in the case, but Fox Corporation has deeper pockets and a large portfolio of media properties in addition to the network. As it happens, though, Murdoch himself provides an even more direct and formal link between the governance of the parent and the subsidiary than we all previously knew.

Judge Davis, a former corporate litigator himself, was understandably angry with Foxs lawyers, who, like their adversaries working on behalf of Dominion, will be spending the weeks ahead in trial asking the judge to make countless evidentiary and procedural rulings in their favor  about what evidence the jurors should be allowed to hear, what sorts of arguments the lawyers can make in front of them, and what legal instructions will guide their final decision. My problem, Davis reportedly said after learning about Murdochs dual role, is that it has been represented to me more than once that he is not an officer at Fox News. Things managed to get worse the next day, when Davis announced that he would appoint an outside lawyer to determine whether Fox had tried to mislead Dominion and the court; he left open the possibility that he would tell the jury that Fox had tried to withhold unhelpful information during the case. I need people to tell me the truth, he told Foxs lawyers, which is not exactly an encouraging sign of things to come when the case is nominally about whether the media outlet is populated and run by a bunch of liars.

2.

In recent months, the lawsuit generated an avalanche of news coverage after the parties filed lengthy motions for summary judgment, in which they each asked Davis to rule in their favor based on what they claimed were undisputed facts gathered in the course of discovery. Dominions papers included a trove of internal communications that seemed to show many Fox executives and on-air personalities casting doubt on the false claims about Dominion in real time, but many of those communications also raised eyebrows among media and political observers thanks to a bunch of juicy tidbits that had less to do with Dominions actual case than the apparent internal dysfunction and more broadly endemic dishonesty among major figures at the network.

Davis ruled on the competing motions a couple weeks ago, and the result for Fox was truly abysmal. Dominion largely ran the table  at least as much as reasonably could have been expected under the circumstances  and the ruling substantially narrowed the scope of the trial and, more to the point, what Dominion needs to establish in the coming weeks in order to prevail.

Davis concluded, for instance, that all of the statements at issue about Dominion  the suggestions that the company had an algorithm that allowed it to change votes, for instance, or that it had been founded in Venezuela to rig elections for Hugo Chavez  were, in fact, indisputably false. In yet another ominous sign, he underscored the point in italicized, all-caps, and bold text: The evidence developed in this civil proceeding, he wrote, demonstrates that [it] is CRYSTAL clear that none of the Statements [at issue] relating to Dominion about the 2020 election are true.

The judge also ruled that Fox News in particular had published the statements through its broadcasts, but at the time he did not know about Murdochs formal role at the network. He concluded that the jury would need to resolve whether Fox Corporation itself had played a role in broadcasting the statements, particularly given evidence presented by Dominion indicating that Murdoch and his son Lachlan, who is the CEO of Fox Corporation, had weighed in on the networks editorial direction during the relevant period.

Fox Corporations exposure on this point remains outstanding for trial, but Davis implied last week that he might have ruled differently in the course of the case if he had known that Murdoch also held a title as an officer of Fox News in addition to Fox Corporation.

3.

Most notably, the judge blew right through a series of claims by Fox that its broadcasts might be protected by an assortment of legal privileges that have been recognized to varying degrees in prior defamation cases  privileges that were widely seen as among Foxs best lines of legal defense. Davis rejected the availability of a neutral report privilege, which permits media organizations to report on newsworthy allegations even if they are false, by concluding that Fox News had failed to conduct good-faith, disinterested reporting on the false claims. He precluded a defense under the fair report privilege, which allows media outlets to report on claims made by third parties in the course of official legal proceedings, because none of the statements at issue actually concerned a pending legal case. (Most of the statements had in fact been made before any of the many failed lawsuits filed on behalf of Trump.) And he held that Fox was not entitled to protection from a privilege for opinion since all of the allegedly defamatory statements were statements of fact, either in part or in whole.

4.

That leaves just two discrete  but difficult  elements of the case for Dominion to establish in the weeks ahead.

First, did either or both companies act with actual malice? This will require Dominion to show by clear and convincing evidence that the people responsible for broadcasting the statements either knew that they were false or acted with reckless disregard as to the falsity of the claims.

In approaching this question to date, Dominion has tended toward a scattershot approach. It has lumped together corporate officers and editorial employees with varying levels of authority and control across Fox News and Fox Corporation, often treating their roles and responsibilities interchangeably. It has excerpted snippets of deposition testimony and documents that sound bad in isolation while presenting little if any surrounding context  a necessary accommodation, perhaps, to the constraints of legal writing but one that will be unavailable at trial. And it has generally elided exactly who knew what and when in relation to the exact timing of the relevant broadcasts and their specific substance.

Under Supreme Court precedent, however, actual malice must be brought home to the people with responsibility for the allegedly defamatory publication. In other words, the plaintiff needs to identify the specific people responsible for publication of the relevant statements and establish that one or more of those people acted with actual malice. As a result, it is safe to assume that Foxs lawyers will try to hold Dominions lawyers to a much more rigorous analytic framework  with a more precise focus on exactly who was doing what at specific points of time in relation to the relevant broadcasts, their specific content, and the nature of the relevant employees and officers editorial roles. Whether the jury will care remains to be seen, but this will also be about building a potential record for appeal in the event that Fox suffers a significant loss at trial.

5.

The second major outstanding question at this trial is whether Dominion is entitled to some meaningful amount of financial damages  both in the way of compensatory damages for economic harm that the company suffered as well as potential punitive damages. Dominion is seeking nearly $1 billion for the ultimate destruction of its enterprise value, but the public information provided by Dominion in support of its extraordinary damages claim has been modest, and as Davis noted in his ruling, the issue is both hotly disputed and intensely factual. Fox has argued, for instance, that it is simply unrealistic that a company that was generating as little as $10.6 million in annual EBITDA before the 2020 election could have skyrocketed to $1 billion in enterprise value in the few short years that followed.

On this point in particular, we can expect a so-called battle of the experts, in which each side offers very different versions of what actually happened to Dominions financial condition as a result of Foxs broadcasts. Both Dominion and Fox have prepared experts on damages and the related question of causation  whether and to what extent any economic harm to Dominion can be traced to Foxs alleged misconduct (as opposed to other factors like, say, Trumps crazy tweets). It is not clear whether all of the designated experts would testify at trial, but whoever takes the stand will be among the most important witnesses in the case, even though they will not have the boldface names that have attracted media attention in recent months. The lawyers will have invested considerable time both to preparing their own experts and to constructing lines of cross-examination for the other sides experts on the most minute points with literally hundreds of millions of dollars at stake.

6.

There are several important courtroom dynamics worth keeping an eye on in the days and weeks ahead that will give the smart observer a sense of where things are headed. The most obvious is what the parties choose to highlight and develop in their opening statements. Now that the case has been considerably narrowed, the lawyers should be able to provide tighter and clearer road maps to the evidence that they now believe is most pertinent to what is left of the case. It will be the first time we see the lawyers engage at length on the newly refashioned legal terrain for the case.

The idea of a trial theme may seem hazy, but lawyers devote immense effort to constructing master narratives in the hopes that they will guide the jury through the ins and outs of the case. Dominion has had a clear through-line throughout the proceeding: that many of Foxs executives, on-air personalities, and editorial staff defamed Dominion in order to indulge their right-wing audience and boost their bottom line and that they did so to the considerable detriment of the countrys democratic process.

Until recently, Fox had leaned heavily on the idea that it was simply engaged in a form of traditional (and protected) news-gathering in the course of a complex and high-profile national issue. But now that the judge has gutted much of that defense, it will be interesting to see what, if anything, Foxs lawyers come up with to replace it. The opening statement should be a good early answer to this key question: Have Foxs lawyers developed a competing theme in the networks defense?

Foxs lawyers also have to be worried about the judges frustration with them in recent weeks, and it is far from clear that the pain is over. If more new evidence emerges at trial that Fox should have disclosed, the judge is not likely to go easy on them.

And, of course, the results of the inquiry into the belated disclosure of Murdochs dual status at Fox News and Fox Corporation remain outstanding with the possibility that more problematic revelations could surface that may both further anger the judge and lead him to tell the jury about it. That alone could be very bad for Fox: The underlying issue concerns the most prominent and important person in the corporate hierarchy, it reeks of the sort of legal gamesmanship that jurors can easily understand, and it also happens to be entirely consistent with Dominions theory of its case  that the network and its executives think they can do whatever they want with little to no regard for relevant legal and ethical constraints or, for that matter, the well-being of our country.

A trial will test both the accuracy and the limits of that broader proposition in a setting that Foxs executives, hosts, and staff do not control. It is no doubt a deeply uncomfortable position for a media outlet that is used to telling other people what to believe. This time, a jury would get the last word.
UNITED NATIONS, April 16 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres remains deeply concerned about the continued clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan, his spokesman said Sunday.

Guterres strongly condemned the clashes that caused deaths and injuries of civilians, including the death of three staff members of the World Food Programme, with two others seriously injured. Those responsible should be brought to justice without delay, said Stephane Dujarric in a statement.

The United Nations and other humanitarian premises have also been hit by projectiles and looted in several locations in the western Sudanese region of Darfur. The secretary-general reminded the parties of the need to respect international law, including the obligation to ensure the safety and security of all UN and associated personnel, their premises and their assets, the statement said.

Guterres reiterated his call for an immediate halt to the fighting and a return to dialogue, saying he will continue to engage with regional leaders and Sudanese stakeholders to find a way out of this crisis, it said. 
Electric vehicle (EV) sales have grown rapidly over the past few years, but have they managed to make a dent in the global market?

To find out, Visual Capitalist's Marcus Lu visualized data from BloombergNEF that breaks down annual vehicle sales by three categories:

Internal combustion (including traditional hybrids)

Plug-in hybrids

Battery electric

From this, we can see that EVs are definitely building up market share. In fact, combustion vehicle sales appear to have peaked in 2017.

Growth in EV Market Share

The following table lists global EV sales, as well as their relative market share.

Year EV Sales EV Market Share (%) 2013 206,000 0.2 2014 320,000 0.4 2015 543,000 0.6 2016 791,000 0.9 2017 1,262,000 1.3 2018 2,082,000 2.2 2019 2,276,000 2.5 2020 3,244,000 4.2 2021 6,768,000 8.3 2022 10,522,000 13.0

*Includes plug-in hybrids. Source: EV Volumes

We can see that EV sales really picked up steam around 2019. This is likely due to various government subsidies and a growing list of models to choose from.

EV ranges, once a major limiting factor, are also becoming less of a concern as battery technology improves and more charging stations become available.

Will Combustion Vehicle Sales Stage a Comeback?

It seems unlikely that combustion vehicles will be able to reclaim much of their lost market share.

China, the worlds largest car market, is leading the world in terms of EV adoption. As of 2022, one in four new cars sold in the country is electric. The U.S. and EU are transitioning slower, but should catch up thanks to government subsidies and a planned phase-out of fossil fuel vehicles.

In the EU, the sale of new internal combustion vehicles will be banned by 2035. However, an exemption was recently made on behalf of Germany to allow the sale of cars that run on synthetic fuels.

In the U.S., the 13 states that adhere to Californias Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) Program are aiming for 100% of cars sold in 2035 to be ZEVs. These states include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

ADVERTISEMENT

By Zerohedge.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Oman is of vital strategic importance to the U.S.-Europe-Japan axis and the China-Russia axis because of its uniquely advantageous geographical position, which makes it one of key oil and gas hubs in the world. The Sultanate has long coastlines along the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea offering unfettered access to the markets of the West and the East equally. As such, Oman and its key ports and storage facilities offer the only true alternative in the Middle East to the Strait of Hormuz, controlled by Iran, through which passes at least one third of the worlds crude oil supplies. Vital to Omans ability to choose how to position itself geopolitically in the Middle East is the state of its own finances and a crucial development in this context  the finalisation of the flagship multi-element Duqm Refinery Project (DRP)  is entering its final phase right now.

With only around five billion barrels of estimated proved oil reserves, barely the 22nd largest in the world, Oman has long been looking to create added value from these resources by using them as a feedstock to build out its own world-class petrochemicals sector. However, the problem for Oman in choosing this approach is that building up a major petrochemicals presence requires a lot of upfront spending before any significant revenues start to be generated. The financial strain on Oman as it sought to bring its petrochemicals ambitions to fruition was dramatically increased when Saudi Arabia began the Second Oil Price War of 2014-2016, analysed in depth in my latest book on the global oil markets. This War devastated the economies of all OPEC countries, but had a disproportionately greater effect on Oman, as although its oil and gas reserves are relatively small they still comprise over 80 percent of its government revenues. Moreover, the cost of the DRP has spiralled from US$6 billion to around US$18 billion.

Related: OLeary Looks For A U.S. State To Host His $14 Billion Refinery

This added financial pressure left Oman particularly vulnerable to the chequebook-centric wooing of China. Already accounting for around 90 percent of Omans oil exports and most of its existing petrochemicals exports, China was quick to leverage this to sign a US$10 billion investment in the Duqm oil refinery in 2016. The focus of this was initially on completing the Duqm Refinery, but also included a product export terminal in Duqm Port and the Duqm Refinery-dedicated crude storage tanks of the Ras Markaz Oil Storage Park. Chinese money was also funnelled towards the construction and building out of an 11.72 square kilometre industrial park in Duqm in three areas - heavy industrial, light industrial, and mixed-use.

China ultimately wants to secure sufficient control over the Sultanate to control all the major crude oil shipping route chokepoints from the Middle East into Europe that avoid the more expensive and more nautically-challenging Cape of Good Hope route and the more politically-sensitive Strait of Hormuz route. This is entirely aligned with Beijings broad strategic goal encapsulated in its One Belt, One Road multi-generational power-grab project. China already has effective control over the Strait of Hormuz through its all-encompassing 25-year deal with Iran, first reported exclusively by me back in September 2019. The same deal also gives China a hold over the Bab al-Mandab Strait, through which crude oil is shipped upwards through the Red Sea towards the Suez Canal before moving into the Mediterranean and then westwards. This has been achieved as it lies between Yemen (which is being disrupted by Iran-backed Houthis, just as China wants) and Djibouti, over which China has also established a stranglehold.

China has another use for Oman, which is to enable its core Middle Eastern partner, Iran, to finally build out its liquefied natural gas (LNG) business. The plan is for Iran to utilise at least 25 percent of Omans total 1.5 million tons per year LNG production capacity at the Qalhat plant. This was part of the broader co-operation deal made between Oman and Iran in 2013, extended in scope in 2014, and fully ratified in August 2015 that was centred on Omans importing at least 10 billion cubic metres of natural gas per year (bcm/y) from Iran for 25 years through an underwater pipeline. The deal was to have begun in 2017, with the amount equating to just less than 1 billion cubic feet per day and worth around US$60 billion at the time. The target was then changed to 43 bcm/y to be imported for 15 years, and then finally altered to at least 28 bcm/y for a minimum period of 15 years. Specifically, the land pipeline of the project that would move gas from Irans supergiant South Pars and North Pars fields in the first instance would comprise around 200 kilometres of 56-inch pipeline to run from Rudan to Mobarak Mount in the southern Hormozgan province. The sea section would include a 192-kilometre section of 36-inch pipeline along the bed of the Oman Sea at depths of up to 1,340 metres, from Iran to Sohar Port in Oman.

This deal was intended to allow for the completely free movement of Iranian gas (and later oil) via Oman through the Gulf of Oman and out into the world hydrocarbons markets. The route was designed to allow Iran the same sanctions-free flows that it was operating via Iraq, as also analysed in depth in my latest book on the global oil markets. Given the potentially sanctions-busting nature of the project, though, the U.S. included the prevention of this Iran-Oman LNG project in its efforts to stop Iran from expanding its hydrocarbons export routes into the booming market of Asia. Before the Saudi Arabia-led blockade of Qatar erupted in 2017, the U.S.s main alternative for Oman was that it increased its uptake of gas from Qatar, via the Dolphin Pipeline running from Qatar to Oman through the UAE, or in LNG form, but Oman refused. Omans desire to re-energise the plans for the Iran-Oman gas pipeline was also fanned by the UAEs demands for an increasingly large fee for allowing the transit of gas from Iran through its waters, again part of the U.S. strategy to persuade Oman to take its gas from Qatar.

However, as it now stands, with some help from both China and the U.S., the Duqm Refinery and Petrochemical Industries Company, announced the start of the trial operation for the crude oil distillation unit at the Duqm Refinery. The refinery has a capacity of 230,000 barrels per day and will function alongside the US$4.6 billion Liwa Plastics Project (LPP) industrial complex, also near the Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Companys Sohar refinery in the Special Economic Zone at Duqm. The final part of Omans vision of building an Omani integrated refining and petrochemical business, is the 290-kilometer-long Muscat Sohar Product Pipeline for transporting refined products. The US$336 million pipeline connects the refineries of Mina Al Fahal and Sohar to an intermediate distribution and storage facility at Al Jifnain. Split into three sections - 45 kilometres between the Mina Al Fahal and Al Jifnain Terminal, 220 kilometres between the Sohar and Jifnain Terminal, and 25 kilometres between the Al Jifnain Terminal and Muscat International Airport  the project is integral to the delivery of more than 50% of Omans fuel via the state-of-the-art storage facility in Al Jifnain.

By Simon Watkins for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Given its geographical positioning, with Saudi Arabia on one side of it and Iran on the other, Qatar has long played a delicate diplomatic balancing act between the two great Middle Eastern powers and their principal superpower sponsors. In Saudi Arabias case, its key superpower backer for decades was the U.S., and in Irans case over the same period it was Russia and then China more latterly as well. Recently, Saudi Arabia also appears to have shifted further into this China-Russia axis, for several reasons analysed in my previous OilPrice.com articles. Despite this, though, Qatar appears to be sticking largely to the informal understanding reached with the U.S. after Russias invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which was to provide the West with vital new supplies of gas to substitute those lost from Russia. This is evidenced again in the very recent split of shares in Qatars cornerstone North Field East (NFE) expansion project.

More specifically, last week saw the China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) sign an agreement with QatarEnergy to acquire a 1.25 percent stake in the NFE expansion project. This project is key to Qatars plans to raise its liquefied natural gas export (LNG) capacity to 110 million metric tonnes per year (mtpy) by 2026 from 77 million mtpy currently. The 1.25 percent stake in the NFE expansion project derives from a 5 percent interest in one of the LNG trains (liquefaction and purification facilities), each of which will have a capacity of 8 million mtpy.

A deal of some size in Qatars NFE was always likely for a major Chinese company, given the significant ratcheting up of gas deals between the two countries in the lead up to, and in the early stages of, Russias invasion of Ukraine last year. In fact, from just over one year before the invasion, China had been engaged in a flurry of activity to expand its sources and methods of gas supply. This began in earnest with a series of major deals with Qatar, the worlds top LNG supplier, starting with a 10-year purchase and sales agreement by Sinopec and Qatar Petroleum for 2 million mtpy of LNG. December 2021 saw a contract between QatarEnergy and Guangdong Energy Group Natural Gas Co for 1 million mtpy of LNG supplies, starting in 2024 and ending in 2034, although it could be extended. Related: OLeary Looks For A U.S. State To Host His $14 Billion Refinery

November 2022 saw the biggest LNG deal to date between the two countries, a US$60 billion+ agreement, again between Sinopec and QatarEnergy. The deal involves 4 million mtpy of LNG being supplied to China for 27 years, starting in 2026. It is Chinas longest LNG supply contract and one of its largest in terms of volume. Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, president and chief executive officer of QatarEnergy, and the Emirates Energy Minister said of the agreement at that time: We are very happy about this deal with Sinopec because we have had a long-term relationship in the past and this takes our relationship to new heights, as we have a sales and purchase agreement that will last into the 2050s.

This said, the specific NFE stake just awarded to Sinopec is small compared to the stakes already given to Western companies. The U.S.s ExxonMobil, and ConocoPhillips, Frances TotalEnergies, Italys Eni, and the United Kingdoms Shell were all awarded 6.25 percent stakes in the NFE expansion project last year, which would see them own a collective 25 percent stake of the project. The remainder was to have been held by QatarEnergy. At the time, TotalEnergies chief executive officer, Patrick Pouyanne, highlighted that the companys 25 percent stake would be for one 8 million mtpy capacity train of the project. Al-Kaabi confirmed that, as Qatar has a unified approach in which all four trains are considered to be one unit, TotalEnergies 25 percent stake in one virtual train would give it around a 6.25% holding in the whole four trains. The same applied to the stakes of the other Western companies. The same mix of companies is expected in the North Field South (NFS) expansion project, with the latter part of 2022 seeing three Western companies awarded major stakes. In September 2022, TotalEnergies was selected as the first international partner, awarded a 9.375 percent stake in the NFS project out of a total 25 percent interest made available for international partners. Shell (9.375 percent stake) and ConocoPhillips (6.25 percent stake) joined the project as the second and third international partners in October 2022. This apparent re-weighting of Qatars major North Field awards towards companies from the West  and companies at the vanguard of the efforts of the U.S. and its allies to secure new gas supplies following sanctions on Russian supplies  comes after a major shift in the Emirates energy policies as Russias advance in Ukraine stalled.

In the early aftermath of the Russian invasion, plans were quickly put into place by the U.S. to secure substitute sources of gas and oil for Europe as quickly as possible. The overriding objective of this strategy was to ensure that Europe  led by Germany  did not backslide in its support for sanctions against Russia being championed by the U.S, and the U.K. Germany had for decades been a major buyer of plentiful, cheap, Russian gas, which had powered its economic growth. The extreme reliance of Germany on these Russian energy supplies had translated into continental Europes Macbeth Response (a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing) to Russias previous invasion of Ukraine in 2014 and its subsequent annexation of Crimea.

U.S. pressure not only put a halt to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia directly into Germany but was also instrumental in obtaining new substitute gas supplies for Germany from Qatar. May 2022, then, saw Qatar sign a declaration of intent on energy cooperation with Germany, aimed at becoming its key supplier of LNG. The new supplies of LNG from Qatar would come into Germany through existing importation routes augmented by new infrastructure approved by the German Bundestag on 19 May. This would include the deployment of four floating LNG import facilities on its northern coast, and two permanent onshore terminals, which were under development.

The plans would run in parallel with, but were likely to be finished significantly sooner than, the plans for Qatar to also make available to Germany sizeable supplies of LNG from the Golden Pass terminal on the Gulf Coast of Texas. QatarEnergy holds a 70 percent stake in the project, with the U.S.s ExxonMobil holding the remainder. The Golden Pass terminals estimated send-out capacity is projected to be around 18 million mtpa of LNG and the facility is expected to be operational in 2024. Around one month after this declaration of intent on energy cooperation with Germany was signed by Qatar, the Emirate signed new the NFE expansion project deals with Frances TotalEnergies and Italys Eni.

Following these deals, another two sales and purchase agreements were signed between the U.S.s ConocoPhillips and QatarEnergy to export LNG to Germany for at least 15 years from 2026. The gas would come from Ras Laffan in Qatar to Germanys northern LNG terminal of Brunsbuettel, according to Saad al-Kaabi. He said at the time: [The two sales and repurchase agreements] mark the first ever long-term LNG supply agreements to Germany, with a supply period that extends for at least 15 years, thus contributing to Germanys long-term energy security. The U.S.s ConocoPhilips is involved in this Qatar-Germany deal, as one of its subsidiaries will be the entity that purchases the LNG from Qatar that will then be delivered to Brunsbuettel, which is currently still under development.

By Simon Watkins for Oilprice.com

ADVERTISEMENT

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The biggest nuclear reactor in Europe by capacity, Olkiluoto 3 in Finland, started regular electricity production on Sunday, entering into service 14 years later than initially planned.

Olkiluoto 3, which had completed test production and is now regularly producing electricity, is expected to account for 30% of Finlands power generation, the operator of the plant, TVO, said in a statement.

The reactor with around 1,600 megawatts (MW) of capacity has been plagued by operational issues for years and is the first one to start production in more than four decades. It is expected to produce electricity for the next 60 years and is a significant addition to clean domestic production, TVO said.

When the project was launched, nuclear power was supported by about 60 percent of Finns. At present, the popularity of nuclear power is on record level with 83 percent in favour, the operator of Europes largest nuclear reactor noted.

Many countries have moved to support nuclear power generation and construction since the Russian invasion of Ukraine after the war sparked concerns about energy security, with one notable exceptionGermany.

The start of commercial operations at Olkiluoto 3 coincided with the end of the nuclear energy era in Germany. Germany took its last three nuclear power plants offline on Saturday, ending more than six decades of commercial nuclear energy use.

Germany ended the nuclear power era despite continued concerns about energy security and energy supply after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the end of pipeline natural gas deliveries from Russia, which was the largest gas supplier to Europes biggest economy before the war.

The end of nuclear energy in Germany wasnt without controversy. Last year, politicians reopened the debate about the nuclear phase-out  decided after the 2011 Fukushima disaster  while recent polls found that the majority of Germans opposed the imminent closure of all remaining nuclear power plants amid concerns about rising energy bills.

ADVERTISEMENT

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The leaders of the worlds top seven rich countries have agreed to speed up the energy transition by setting more ambitious targets for wind and solar power.

The G7 leaders also agreed to accelerate the phaseout of fossil fuels although they stopped short of setting a deadline for the phaseout of coal, Reuters reported.

"In the midst of an unprecedented energy crisis, it's important to come up with measures to tackle climate change and promote energy security at the same time," Japans minister of industry said, as quoted by Reuters.

The United States and all the developed world has the responsibility to help the developing world through this crisis, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry told the AP.

Those countries will really determine what happens. If they will reduce, if they will take the lead, if they will start deploying the new technologies, if they will stop using unabated fossil fuels, well up the chance of winning this battle.

The main commitments of the G7 were a boost of offshore wind energy generation capacity by 150 gigawatts and a similar boost to solar capacity, to over 1 terawatt.

While all G7 members were firm on the issue of a coal phaseout, they appeared unable to agree on a single deadline for that. Canada and several other G7 members committed to a coal phaseout by 2030 but others refrained from making such a commitment.

"Others are still trying to figure out how they could get there within their relevant timeframe," Canadian resource minister Jonathan Wilkinson said.

ADVERTISEMENT

Opinions differ on other fossil fuels as well. Japan, for one, is almost entirely dependent on fossil fuel imports to satisfy its energy needs and fossil fuels. Because of that, the country has insisted that LNG is accepted as a transition fuel for at least 10 or 15 years.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Trade between India and Russia has experienced a significant boost since the West imposed sanctions on Russia last year for its invasion of Ukraine. This has led to a change in the flow of oil and other goods, making Russia the largest supplier of crude to India this year.

The growing relationship has been expedited with Russia's Gazprombank playing a pivotal role by expanding their links with banks in India to facilitate trade between the two countries in national currencies. Gazprombank is Russia's third-largest lender and is an important conduit for the Russian energy trade.

Elena Borisenko, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Management of Gazprombank, told Reuters that they have "worked hard to establish our level of partnership with Indian banks." Describing the hard work put into the venture, she noted that "our representatives here worked hard," adding that they now have "infrastructure and payments from banks  it is much better than it was three months ago."

The growing trade relationship between India and Russia is leading to an increasing tilt of the trade balance in Russia's favor. One potential solution to turning this around would be for Russian companies to invest in infrastructure projects in India.

Borisenko noted that she is "hoping that it (trade) will be better, it will be improving, and  payments between Russia and India will be more and more in national currencies."

This partnership has also been helped by India's introduction of a framework to facilitate overseas trade in rupees last year, allowing many foreign banks to open vostro accounts with Indian banks.

This has allowed Gazprombank and other Russian institutions to open such accounts to help improve the trade relationship.

This news highlights the growing importance of national currencies in international trade. The ability to trade in national currencies is essential to trade between nations. It is a trend that is growing in popularity as nations attempt to bypass the U.S. dollar as the dominant currency for international trade. This shift could dramatically alter the global financial system in the years to come.

ADVERTISEMENT

By Michael Kern for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Crude oil exports from the Kurdistan region in Iraq are expected to resume soon, an Iraqi member of parliament told local news agency Rudaw.

The comments come amid continuing negotiations between the Kurdish government and the central Iraqi government regarding the terms of oil exports after these got suspended almost a month ago.

The suspension followed a court ruling that found Turkey in violation of agreements concerning the export of crude oil from Kurdistan, which stipulated the express agreement of the government in Baghdad.

In addition to Baghdad seeking compensation from Ankara for the violation, exports of Kurdish oil were suspended until further notice.

The governments in Erbil and Baghdad meanwhile reached an agreement about the resumption of exports but details remained to be hammered out, keeping the oil from flowing.

The sticking point, as always, was who gets more control over the oil revenues. Kurdistan has had to make some concessions in this respect to Baghdad in order to restart oil exports.

He [Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani] said that they are trying to complete the administrative and technical procedures so that the oil can flow in the next one or two days, deputy speaker of the Iraqi parliament Shakhawan Abdullah told Rudaw.

The suspension of exports via the pipeline from Kurdistan to Turkey led to the shutdown of oil fields in the northern Iraqi region for lack of storage capacity and pushed global oil prices higher.

Kurdistan exports some 450,000 barrels of crude to Turkey on a daily basis. It is the biggest source of revenue for the semi-autonomous region and any disruption of oil flows effectively disrupts Kurdistans economy.

According to Abdullah, the Iraqi government is now waiting for Turkeys final say in the negotiations before exports of crude from Kurdistan are restarted.

ADVERTISEMENT

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Landlocked South Sudans oil could be at risk as clashes between the army and a paramilitary group in Sudan continued for a third day Monday, with the risk growing that this could turn into a full-blown civil war.

Sudan exclusively exports crude oil produced by landlocked South Sudan.

No indications have yet emerged that oil exports have been affected; however, previous uprisings in Sudan have taken barrels off the market.The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group, took up arms against the Sudanese army in the capital Khartoum over the weekend, according to Al Jazeera. In a Facebook post on Monday morning, the army said that one group of RSF fighters had surrendered to the countrys armed forces. At least 97 civilians have been killed in three days of clashes, according to the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors, cited by Bloomberg.

For oil markets, the concern is that civil war could disrupt oil exports from South Sudan, which relies on Sudan proper to get its crude to the market via an oil terminal on the Red Sea.

In 2021, tribal protests in eastern Sudan disrupted exports from South Sudan.

Now, oil markets are closely watching the power struggle between military and paramilitary forces for signs that South Sudans crude could be disrupted once again. This is a power sharing struggle between two powerful groups, both seeking control of strategic infrastructure, including the international airport and the public broadcaster. Because the Red Sea port, which handles South Sudans crude oil, is a strategic infrastructure asset, oil market observers are keeping a cautious eye on developments. South Sudan has an estimated 3.5 billion barrels in oil deposits. South Sudan and Sudan export primarily Nile and Dar blends to markets in Asia from Port Sudan via the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. While most of the oil belongs to South Sudan, the two countries together exported some 132,000 bpd of crude oil in 2021.

By Michael Kern for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Elite paratroopers descend to drop zone

China Military Online) 09:14, April 17, 2023

Paratroopers assigned to an airborne brigade with the air force board a transport aircraft in order prior to a parachute training exercise in early April, 2023. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Yang Jielin)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
MADRID, April 17 (Xinhua) -- FC Barcelona President Joan Laporta held a press conference on Monday to explain the ongoing scandal around the payments of over seven million euros that the club made to the former vice-president of the Spanish Referee's Federation Enriquez Negreira.

The implication is that Barcelona used the payments to try and ensure favorable refereeing decisions over an 18-year period.

Now, the club faces legal proceedings in Spain and an investigation from UEFA into the affair.

Speaking at the Camp Nou Stadium, Laporta said the money was paid for reports on match officials.

"We received 629 reports from Negreira along with 43 CDs, along with other briefings," said Laporta in his briefing, insisting there was no attempt to influence referees.

"I have documentation that show that there have never been any payments that directly attempt to sway results in sporting competitions," he commented, saying the reports were "basically technical things" such as "the profile of the referee, what games the ref in question had overseen; their manner of officiating. Very detailed briefings with CD's adding more details. Very detailed information," he said.

Laporta also said all the payments were made with "detailed invoices" and declared to the tax authorities.

He said Negreira had also provided "profiles on other clubs," when there was not such a "high level of data available on players."

"Barca has never paid money in order to gain a sporting advantage," said the Barca president. 
2023 Remodeled Home Tour

Professional Remodeling Organization of Nebraska-Iowa 2023 Remodeled Home Tour

Kickoff Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Cabinet Design Studio, 14637 Industrial Road. Maps of tour projects are available at this location or at each in-person project.

Tours Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.

All 12 projects will be available virtually at the 2023 PRO of NE-IA Remodeled Home Tour, with seven of the 12 projects available for in-person touring.

The event is free, and a food/toiletry/clothing drive will take place to benefit Open Door Mission with donation items to be dropped off at CDS from 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.

In-person tours

7509 Keystone Dr., CDS and Gitt Construction: Keystone family home brought into the 21st century.

5603 S. 170th St., Dave Sorys Construction: Main level remodel.

12110 N. 161st St., Forsman's Finest Deck: Enhanced with new covered composite deck.

7963 Hickory St., HC Remodel & Design: Westside traditional ranch opened up between dining and living spaces.

1204 N. 127th Ave., Iconic Styling and Cabinet Design Studio: Refreshed with midcentury modern design.

906 S. 131st St., Gitt Construction & The Modern Hive Interior Design: Main level opened up to double the size of the kitchen and storage space.

12716 Morrison Dr., Tributary Design and Construction: 1960's-style first floor was transformed with an open floor plan and enlarged kitchen.

Virtual-only remodeled home tours will be available to see via proremodelingomaha.org/2023-tour. Businesses include Artistico, Hubby Home Improvement, Jenkins Remodeling, HC Remodel & Design and Forsmans Finest Decks.
Two people went to an Omaha hospital early Monday for treatment of gunshot wounds.

Officers were called to the Nebraska Medical Center about 1:30 a.m. They located two men, a 21- and a 22-year-old, who were being treated for gunshot wounds.

The men "offered little information," a spokesman for the Omaha Police Department said, including the location where they had been when shot. Their injuries were not life-threatening, he said.
WINNEBAGO, Neb.  Many in Winnebago consider the new St. Augustine Indian Mission School a blessing for students, teachers and the community.

But you cant go wrong with a few extra blessings.

The school wont be open for classes until August, but Catholic and tribal leaders will be there Tuesday to bestow their blessings upon a building that answers a lot of prayers. Some might say the project has been a miracle.

When fundraising kicked off in 2019 to replace the current aging school building, the Rev. Mark Beran, St. Augustine Indian Mission director and pastor of St. Augustine Church in Winnebago, said he was told theyd be lucky to raise around $8 million, well short of the $13 million construction estimate.

Beran said he prayed to St. Katharine Drexel, who was known as Mother Katherine when she and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament in 1909 established the school in Winnebago to provide a Catholic education to children from the Winnebago and Omaha tribes.

She built 60 schools, Beran said. I figured she could build one more.

Berans prayers were answered.

The building eventually would come in under estimates at $10.5 million, and more than $10 million was raised from donors across Nebraska and Iowa, particularly Omaha and Sioux City.

We had some people step forward that wed never heard of before, Beran said. Weve done the project debt free, which is something I didnt expect.

It will replace a building constructed in 1967 that was not meant to be a school. Six years ago, engineers said it could be used safely for about seven to 10 more years. The roof leaks. There are large cracks inside and outside. Tiles on the gym floor are coming loose. The air system is noisy, making it hard for students and teachers to hear one another at times. The building isnt handicapped-accessible, either.

Its no surprise theyre happy with the decision to build the 45,000-square-foot school, which has an enrollment of nearly 100 students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Many will get a long-awaited look inside Tuesday when a ribbon-cutting will be celebrated. Omaha Archbishop George Lucas will preside over Mass at St. Augustine Church, then bless the school. Tribal elders will conduct a cedar blessing to be followed by a drum ceremony.Thats actually what Im looking forward to most is seeing them enter for the first time, Beran said.

Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of April 2023
LINCOLN  Its been over a year since former State Sen. Mike Groene resigned amid allegations of workplace misconduct, and the Nebraska Legislature hasnt adopted many changes aimed at heading off future scandals.

Some changes may be on the way, as the states Executive Board prepares to vote on a list of recommendations made months ago by an interim ethics committee. But lawmakers are split in their views on whether these suggestions are sufficient.

North Platte senator Mike Groene resigned from the Legislature in February 2022 after news broke that he took photos of a former female staff member without her knowledge. A later investigation into the allegations found that Groenes conduct was boorish, brainless and bizarre, though not unlawful.

The scandal was significant enough to spur the creation of the interim ethics committee, which was tasked with considering ways to prevent such misconduct in the future. However, Sen. Wendy DeBoer of Bennington, vice chair of the committee, said the Groene incident was only the catalyst for the review.

Well before the allegations against Groene went public, DeBoer said shed heard similar concerns from several other staffers and her fellow senators. The news about Groene, she said, just raised the level of awareness for the rest of the body about issues that already existed.

Sen. Jen Day of Omaha said that before she took office in 2021, she had been warned about a culture of misogyny in the Legislature and said shes seen signs of that. Even after Groene resigned, she said, she hasnt seen a change in those behaviors.

At some point, its going to have to be dealt with, Day said.

Other lawmakers have different takes. Sen. Tom Briese of Albion said he hasnt heard any complaints about possible violations to the Legislatures existing conduct policy. DeBoer said she isnt sure whether there have been any changes in the past year.

The interim ethics committee was comprised of six lawmakers, chaired by then-Speaker of the Legislature Mike Hilgers, who is now Nebraskas attorney general. Hilgers said the committee met half a dozen times during 2022, along with two meetings with an ad hoc committee of legislative staffers.

The committee developed a list of potential recommendations to present during a Legislative Council meeting in November. Hilgers said he didnt get much feedback from lawmakers at the meeting, but the committee subsequently approved 11 official recommendations to the Executive Board.

Briese said he expects the board will vote on them before the end of the session in June.

One of the 11 recommendations has been implemented so far. A discussion about workplace boundaries was added to the orientation for incoming lawmakers, led by Hilgers, who was still speaker. Hilgers said the discussion lasted about 10 minutes, and he and attending lawmakers had varying takes on the engagement of those in attendance.

Id like to think I had their attention, Hilgers said.

Some of the remaining recommendations include a list of proposed policy changes, additional harassment training for all staff, a formal code of conduct, a social media policy and an independent general counsel to work with the Legislature in the event of conduct or ethics complaints.

Some of those recommendations may not be adopted. Briese said the Executive Board will probably only adopt the recommendations that were unanimously approved by the interim ethics committee.

Proposals with unanimous support included the additional harassment training and several policy changes. One policy change would require censure or expulsion motions be made by the Speaker or Executive Board chair, rather than any lawmaker. Another would add guidelines on decorum for committees.

Recommendations that did not have unanimous consent were the code of conduct, social media policy and independent general counsel. Several lawmakers shared concerns that a code of conduct and social media policy could infringe on a lawmakers free speech rights, or could be used for political retaliation.

Hilgers and Briese said the primary concern with a general counsel was cost. Day said shes disappointed that it hasnt been implemented, because an independent official would address concerns that complaints would be made for political purposes.

I feel like its a no-brainer, Day said.

Other lawmakers, however, seem to agree that the proposed changes are a step in the right direction, even if more needs to be done in the future.

DeBoer said Groenes actions and his resignation already have brought some change, prompting lawmakers and staffers to talk about workplace misconduct. More changes may be happening organically, she said, as a large class of new lawmakers began their terms this year and there have been high levels of staff turnover due to retirements.

But she also said a significant cultural shift takes more than a year.

I dont think Rome was built in a day, DeBoer said.

Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of April 2023
A 74-year-old Verdigre, Nebraska, man convicted of killing his wife died Saturday at the state prison in Tecumseh.

Phillip Privett was serving a sentence of 40 to 60 years for second-degree murder and use of a firearm to commit a felony. A spokeswoman for the Nebraska Department of Corrections said Sunday that the cause of death has not been determined, but Privett was being treated for a medical condition.

Prosecutors said Privett fatally shot his wife, 66-year-old Linda Privett, at their home in northeast Nebraska on Oct. 20, 2014. A Knox County Sheriff's Office deputy said he responded to a report of shooting and the woman dead on the back porch of the couple's Verdigre home.

Privett, who was arrested without incident, would have been eligible for parole in 2037. Whenever an inmate dies in custody, a grand jury conducts an investigation.
A body found near the Missouri River in Iowa has been identified as that of a 30-year-old Missouri man last seen more than a year ago.

The Fremont County Sheriffs Office said Monday that the human remains located at a remote location in rural Hamburg, Iowa, were those of Agustin Fonseca, 30, of Springfield, Missouri. No foul play is suspected in the death.

Deputies were called to the area March 20 by an employee of a real estate company who was scouting the property for deer when he happened upon human remains. Investigators located and seized several items from the scene including human skeletal remains, car keys and a gym pass.

The keys were to a 2015 Chevrolet Spark belonging to Fonseca that was recovered near Interstate 29. The last known sighting of Fonseca was Feb. 28, 2022, in Springfield.

Investigators said it appears Fonseca stopped his vehicle and walked west to the Missouri River.
JERUSALEM  Tova Gutstein was born in Warsaw the year Adolf Hitler took power in Germany. She was 10 years old when the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto launched the first act of collective defiance against the Nazis in Europe.

Now 90, she is among the few remaining witnesses of the ghetto uprising  and a vanishing generation of Holocaust survivors  as Israel marks the 80th anniversary of a revolt that shaped its national consciousness.

On Monday night, Gutstein will be one of six Holocaust survivors honored by Israel as torch-lighters in its annual ceremony at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem.

She said the horrors are still seared in her mind.

Over 80 years have passed, and I cant forget it, Gutstein told The Associated Press at her home in central Israel.

Israels Holocaust Memorial Day, marked with solemn ceremonies in schools and workplaces nationwide, begins at sundown on Monday. Theaters, concerts, cafes and restaurants close and television and radio broadcasts break into Holocaust commemorations.

A two-minute siren brings the country to a standstill to commemorate the 6 million Jews killed by Nazi Germany and its allies.

A year after occupying Poland in 1939, Nazi Germany confined hundreds of thousands of Jews  30% of Warsaws population  into just 2.4% of the citys area in what became known as the Warsaw Ghetto.

At the height of the ghettos horrors in 1941, one Jew died on average every nine minutes from infectious diseases, starvation or Nazi violence, said David Silberklang, a senior historian at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center.

Gutstein grew up in the ghetto. Her father was forced into a labor camp by the Nazis and never seen again. Fenced in by electrified barbed wire, she and other Jewish children would crawl through the sewers to scavenge for food. Some children fell into the sewage and were swept away to their deaths, she recalled.

We only thought about bread, food, how to obtain food, she said.

Around two-thirds of the Warsaw Ghetto, some 265,000 people, were deported to the Majdanek and Treblinka death camps in the summer of 1942. The following spring, the Nazis began preparing to deport the ghettos remaining 60,000 Jews to their deaths.

The Nazis stationed an army around the ghetto on April 18, 1943. The following day, on the eve of the Jewish Passover holiday, the German forces moved in.

Jewish resistance groups fought back.

Gutstein was outside the ghetto when the uprising began.

German planes and tanks were bombing the ghetto. I was terribly afraid, she said. The skies were red with fire. I saw buildings suddenly collapsing.

Returning to the ghetto through the sewers, she discovered her house was destroyed.

I wandered about and looked for my mother and my siblings but couldnt find anyone, Gutstein said.

The Warsaw Ghetto fighters fought for their lives in bunkers they made inside the ghettos buildings. Many were killed in the streets or deported to the death camps. After a month of fighting, the Germans destroyed the Great Synagogue.

The goal of the uprising was not rescue, Silberklang said. The aim was to go down fighting and influence when and how they die  and hopefully somebody will survive.

Gutstein fled from the ghetto and reached a forest far outside the Polish capital where she met up with a group of partisans. She hid with them until the end of the war two years later. Gutstein reunited with her mother and siblings in 1946, before immigrating to the nascent state of Israel in 1948.

Now a mother of three, grandmother of eight and great-grandmother of 13, she remains haunted by the memory of a man shot in the head outside her house in the ghetto.

I go to sleep with this image, and I wake up with it, she said.

The ghetto uprising remains a potent national symbol for Israel.

At last years Holocaust remembrance ceremony, then-Prime Minister Naftali Bennett described the uprising as the pinnacle of Jewish heroism.

The number of those who saw it firsthand continues to dwindle.Israel, established as a refuge for Jews after the Holocaust, is home to about 150,600 survivors, according to government figures, a drop of over 15,000 from last year. Many of those still alive now were young children during the war.

Many survivors continue to struggle. Between a quarter and a third live in poverty, survivor advocacy groups report.

I receive (financial) support from the government, but very little, said Gutstein, who worked as a nurse in Israeli hospitals for over five decades until she retired at age 77.

Silberklang said Yad Vashem and similar institutions are planning for when there are no Holocaust survivors left, documenting and promoting awareness of their stories.

One group created a Holocaust survivor artificial intelligence chat bot. A new project called Life, Story connects survivors with volunteers who help relay their stories to future generations.
JERUSALEM, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Israel said on Monday it was "following with concern" the fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan.

"Israel wants stability and security for Sudan," the Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lior Haiat wrote on Twitter.

"Israel calls on all parties to refrain from violence and to return to the path of internal reconciliation, in order to conclude the process of governmental transition with a large consensus," the spokesman wrote.

The armed clashes that erupted in Khartoum on Saturday left at least 97 people dead and hundreds of others injured.

The conflict is expected to postpone the signing of a deal to normalize ties between Israel and Sudan, which is expected to take place after the transfer of power in Sudan to a civilian government, according to commentators on state-owned Kan TV news.

Sudan first agreed to normalize ties with Israel in 2020. After paying a visit to Sudanese capital of Khartoum in February, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said the final normalization deal is expected to be signed by the end of 2023. 
Spread the love

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has distanced itself from the recent declaration of a Biafran Government in Exile by leader of breakaway IPOB-Auto-Pilot group, Simon Ekpa, saying the government in exile does not have the blessings of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

IPOB in a statement issued by its spokesman, Emma Powerful, on Sunday night, said it was appalled with the declaration by Ekpa who had since been expelled from the group.

The group said the online inauguration of an autopilot group called Biafra Government in Exile and their Liberation Army was the handiwork of double agents sponsored by the Nigerian government to ridicule IPOB, which has failed on arrival.

Powerful stated that though IPOB has consistently dissociated from the autopilot groups, the agent provocateurs keep associating their criminal activities and actions to IPOB, Eastern Security Network (ESN) and Nnamdi Kanu, because they were sent to distract and deter our movement. But we have defeated them and will always defeat them, as well as their sponsors.

READ ALSO: Man arrested by the police and DSS for threatening to invite IPOB to Lagos

We are alerting the international community, the Nigerian media and the general public to note that IPOB and Kanu are not part of these antics and games coming from Federal Government with the so-called Biafra Government in Exile and their Liberation Army.

At no time in this struggle has Kanu of IPOBs leadership declared armed struggle or formed a Biafra army. What IPOB formed and inaugurated was armed vigilantes called ESN.

Autopilot has no business with ESN, though they have been using ESNs name to defraud people.

Therefore, autopilot and its so-called Biafra Government in Exile with their Liberation Army are not part of IPOB or ESN, nor do they have any link or association with our leader Kanu.

We are making this public statement so that the United Nations (UN) and other interested groups will take note so as not to link IPOB with autopilot and their foolishness. IPOB is wiser than they think.

IPOB is a peaceful and legally registered organisation in many countries of the world seeking independence from the Nigerian state.

Advertisement



On the other hand, the so-called Biafra Government in Exile is a factional member of autopilot. None of them is an IPOB member, the statement reads.
BAGHDAD, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani emphasized on Monday his country's openness to expanding cooperation with Ukraine, calling for settling international disputes by rejecting wars and adopting dialogue.

Al-Sudani made the remarks during a meeting with visiting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, according to a statement released by the media office of the Iraqi Prime Minister.

The two sides discussed ways to enhance trade and economic exchange between Iraq and Ukraine, said the statement, adding that al-Sudani reiterated Iraq's stance in resolving international and regional problems and disputes by rejecting wars and adopting dialogue.

For his part, Kuleba stressed his country's willingness to cooperate with Iraq and expressed the Ukrainian government's appreciation of Iraq's "pivotal role in supporting international stability efforts and peace initiatives."

Earlier on Monday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein called for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine during a press conference with Kuleba, noting that "Iraq seeks to be part of the solution" regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the state-run Iraqi News Agency reported. 
An ex parte application by the Labour Partys governorship candidate, Mr Gbadegbo Rhodes-Vivour, for substituted service on the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has been granted by the Lagos State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, The PUNCH reports.

Rhodes-Vivour and the Labour Party, through their counsel, Mr Olagbade Benson, had informed the tribunal that Sanwo-Olu evaded service of the petition on him by the courts bailiff.

They alleged that Sanwo-Olu refused to collect the document from the bailiff when the court official got to his office to serve him.

In the petition number EPT/LAG/GOV/04/2023, they are praying the court to grant them leave to serve the petition and other processes on the governor and his deputy through substituted means, by posting same via DHL courier services or any other recognised courier service company, to the respondents official residence at Lagos House, Marina, Lagos.

On April 11, the Peoples Democratic Party Candidate, Mr Abdul-Azeez Adediran known as Jandor, and the Labour Party Candidate, Rhodes-Vivour, separately asked the tribunal to nullify Sanwo-Olus re-election and declare them the winners.

The petitioners had challenged the outcome of the March 18 governorship election in Lagos State which the Independent National Electoral Commission declared Sanwo-Olu the winner.

The Lagos State Election Petition Tribunal has received a total of 48 petitions in respect of the 2023 elections held on February 25 and March 11.

The petitions are pasted on the wall of the Rosaline Omotosho Courthouse, Ikeja, the venue of the tribunal sitting.
LUSAKA, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema on Monday signed into law a bill that will allow workers to partially withdraw their pensions even before they reach retirement age.

Hichilema said with the signing of the National Pension Scheme Authority Bill 2023 into law, citizens will have the opportunity to reinvest the funds in various ventures and assets of their choice.

He said the signing of the bill is also in line with the government's promise to the people on allowing for the partial withdrawals of pensions. "As a result, more jobs will be created, contributing to our economic development agenda," he said in a post on his Facebook page.

Stakeholders have since welcomed the decision, saying it will enable employees to invest in businesses.

Joy Beene, secretary general of the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions, an umbrella body of trade unions, said the development will also spur economic development, reduce the high poverty levels as well as address the continued borrowing from banks among workers, local media quoted him as saying. 
GIBSON CITY  The Ford County Health Department will host a Prescription Medication Take Back Opportunity on Friday, April 21.

The event will take place from noon to 3 p.m. at the Moyer District Library, 618 S. Sangamon Ave., Gibson City.

National Drug Take Back Day is April 22.

The health department will accept unused and expired medications, including pills, tablets or capsules. It will not accept hydrogen peroxide, inhalers, aerosol cans, lotions, liquids, ointments or sharp needles at this time.

Narcan kits will also be available.

Call 217-379-9281 for more information.
IMPORTANT DD214 INFORMATION

The DD214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, is proof of military service. It stands for Department of Defense and provides an accurate and complete summary of a veterans active military service. It lists dates of service, military occupation specialty, commendations and medals received, the reason for separation, the character of the discharge and home of record at entry and separation from service. The DD214 may be the most important document you ever received as it serves as the key to unlocking benefits of all kinds. The DD214 generally is needed for the following: home loans, civilian employment, veteran service organization membership, Social Security, burial/flag and funeral honors, education benefits, VA health care and sometimes deals and discounts for veterans. All of this information about you is a prime target for fraudsters to be able to steal your identity! Keep this document in a secure place! When you separated from the military you were told to have your DD214, recorded at the county recorders office in the county in which you intend to live. After recording, you will have access to your DD214 at any time of need. Additionally, many veterans who served during wartime may be eligible for a veterans payment of thanks from the county to which you locate after service.

FRAUDSTERS HAVE NEW TECHNOLOGY TO STEAL IDENTITY

Fraudsters seem to be able to overcome identity theft prevention technology nearly as fast as prevention technology is developed. The summer increases in travel on public transportation will explode as vacations, conventions and other activities are announced. Fraud attacks can occur as you travel, if you use public Wi-Fi in airports, train stations, bus terminals, etc. However, fraudsters have discovered a new way to steal your identity even if you avoid free public Wi-Fi. If you use a free charging station (probably through a USB port) at an airport or other public transportation location to charge your laptop computer, tablet or even your smartphone, fraudsters have figured out a way to invade your electronic devices through the charging ports. The safest way to not be an identity theft victim is do not use such public Wi-Fi or charging stations. Portable charger power banks are small, inexpensive and extend the battery in your computer or smartphone until you can use your regular AC battery charger, which should be secure.

Q: I am a Vietnam Era veteran. I am in my 70s and it looks like I will need at least assisted living care and maybe if not now, in the future will need full nursing home care. Is there a veteran-related nursing home in Illinois and what are the eligibility requirements to gain admission?

A: The Illinois Department of Veteran Affairs operates several veteran nursing homes. Eligibility requires an honorable discharge and the veteran must have served in the U.S. Armed Forces at least one day during a recognized war period; or served in a hostile fire environment and was awarded a campaign or expeditionary medal; or was retired for a service-connected disability or injury; or has served on active duty in the Armed Forces for 24 months of continuous service and enlisted after Sept. 7, 1980; or entered the service as a resident of Illinois or been a resident of Illinois for one year immediately preceding the date of application; and is disabled by disease, wounds or otherwise, and because of disability is incapable of earning a living. The maximum cost of care at the nursing homes is much lower than civilian nursing home care. For current cost of care, contact the adjutants office at any of the veterans homes for current costs. Visit veterans.illinoisgov/services-benefits/homes/quincy.html for more information.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"What is objectionable, what is dangerous, about extremists is not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents."  Robert F. Kennedy
Illinois lawmakers are moving ahead with legislation that would require public elementary and high schools to include Native American history in their social studies curriculum.

The measure, introduced by Rep. Maurice West-II, D-Rockford, passed the house on a vote of 75-32, with one voting present. It has been picked up by Senate sponsors Suzy Glowiak Hilton, Cristina H. Pacione-Zayas, Mike Simmons and Robert F. Martwick. It is set to be heard by the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday.

It's important for our students to understand the true history of our state, said West. But I also want to stress that this also is going to make sure we talk about the great things Native American people have done that we just don't know about.

West took up the measure after being approached by representatives from the Native American community during his involvement with legislation related to school mascots.

The measure follows up legislation passed last session that created a 22-member board dedicated to ensuring that school curriculum in the state is inclusive of all history. But the commission had a glaring exemption: It did not have any indigenous representation.

It's interesting when you read the bill that passed it includes almost every other ethnic group, nationality, social groups, religious groups, and that but no Native American representation and it passed with flying colors, (and) nobody raised the the topic and the omission of Natives, Andrew Johnson, a member of the Native American Chamber of Commerce and the Chicago American Indian Community Collaborative, told Lee Enterprises.

The way the law was written prevented a representative from the Native community from service on the commission, Johnson said. Without Native representation, the board can not ensure inclusive history.

"We just have to be honest with ourselves, with what occurred, how we grew, how we got to where we are today and, you know, to hide that history hurts all of us," Johnson said. "The more we know, the more we understand.

Illinois does not have any federally recognized tribes but has the third-largest urban indigenous population in the United States. More than 65,000 indigenous people live in the Chicago metropolitan area, with more than 150 tribal nations represented.

Emily Johnson, press secretary for the Illinois State Board of Education, wrote in a statement to Lee Enterprises that the measure would create a new unit of study, beginning with the 2024-25 school year for Native American history. It would also adjust existing mandated units of study to include Native Americans in the instruction of genocides across the globe and the role and contributions of Native Americans in the teaching of history of the United States.

ISBE will be preparing resource materials in consultation with stakeholders and post them on its website no later than January 1, 2025, Emily Johnson wrote. As a reminder, school districts have local control over curriculum. Districts use mandated units of study and resources like the ones ISBE will develop as guides to make curricular and instructional decisions locally.

Opponents of the bill argue that schools should be focusing on base curriculum such as literacy and math.

This is all about just providing accountability and trying to get rid of excessive mandates on our schools, said state Rep. Blaine Wilhour, R-Beecher City. The education system in Illinois is already doing a very poor job of teaching kids how to read and do math.

The measure is seen by some as part of a larger cultural discussion.

You know, so much of our education, curriculum and just you know, in general seems to be tilted towards more of the leftist philosophy, Wilhour said. So it's important that we provide accountability on that stuff, to make sure it's being done right.

Alex Gough, a spokesman for Gov. J.B. Pritzker, told Lee Enterprises that the governor is in support of including Native American history in school curriculum because it will help build empathy while maintaining a standard for what it means to reckon with our history.

Ongoing conversation

The measure comes as Illinois lawmakers have sought to broaden curricula and progressive policies in schools, even as some states have moved aggressively in the opposite direction.

Another recently proposed piece of legislation backed by Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias would end funding to libraries that ban books. Last session, efforts of the General Assembly included comprehensive sex education and the creation of an inclusive history board.

By contrast, lawmakers in other states, particularly those with Republican majorities, have sought legislation that would restrict how teachers are allowed to address topics such as race, gender identity and sexual orientation.

Florida's so-called Dont Say Gay legislation bars school instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade. A number of state legislatures are considering several measures; the Human Rights Campaign advocacy group said it is tracking more than 80 pieces of legislation described as curriculum censorship bills.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said earlier this year that he would bar public schools from participating in a pilot of the College Boards new AP course on African American Studies, denouncing the curriculum as an exercise in indoctrination.

Governor DeSantis also signed House Bill 7, which includes provisions to prevent discriminatory instruction in K-20 public schools, ensures Floridas students are not subject to Critical Race Theory indoctrination, and defines individual freedoms based on the fundamental truth that all individuals are equal before the law and have inalienable rights, said Jeremy Redfern, a spokesman for DeSantis.

So, I think what we've done in Florida has been very, very positive. Youll note that they've been able to empower parents to be more engaged in the curriculum that's being used, more engaged in identifying things that are not consistent with state standards, and then just to have more of an impact overall, DeSantis said in a press conference about recent Florida legislation.

Pritzker has taken shots at Florida for its restrictive measures and expressed support for more inclusive school instruction.

"The extremists are coming after your literature. They're coming after your libraries, they are coming after your books under the guise of, 'We're protecting somebody,'" Pritzker, a Democrat, said earlier this month. "The reality is more information is better. Obviously we all believe in age-appropriate materials, but the reality is our libraries have been able to manage this for years and years and years."

Gough, the spokesman, told Lee Enterprises that Pritzker "believes that history should be taught in a way that conveys the story of our country and state as it actually happened."

"Hes taken action to ensure history curriculums in Illinois are inclusive, comprehensive, and accurate by requiring the teaching of LGBTQ, Asian-American, and expanded African-American history," he said.

Indigenous history in Illinois

Supporters of the Native American curriculum legislation argue that current instruction on Native history is incomplete and does not address contemporary issues, or lesser-known topics such as residential schools for Native children.

The U.S. Interior Department released a first-of-its-kind report last year that named the 408 schools the federal government supported to strip Native Americans of their cultures and identities from the late 18th century to the late 1960s. Hundreds of children died while at residential schools and many of those who survived never returned home.

Illinois was home to two residential schools: one was located at Jubilee College in Brimfield and the other was St. Marys Training School for Boys located in Des Plaines.

Current school curriculum also does not address the "Voluntary Relocation Program" initiated by the federal government in the 1950s after residential schools closed.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs created a program to encourage indigenous people to relocate to urban areas in an effort to assimilate them and to dissolve their ties to their mineral-rich land.

In 1953, Congress implemented a new "termination" policy that eliminated most government support for tribes and ended the protected trust status of all Indian-owned land, according to the National Archives. Participants in the program were promised help with housing and employment if they made the move, but most were left in new metropolitan areas without help.

Before the program was implemented, only around 8% of indigenous people lived in metropolitan areas, but by the 2000 census around 64% resided in cities. Chicago was one of the primary cities for relocation efforts and still has a large population of indigenous people.

Chicago was quite a destination because of Route 66, Andrew Johnson said. And so many people came in with promises of jobs and training, education, housing, all sorts of things. And then once they got here, and got off the bus, none of those promises were kept.

Supporters of the measure also want the sovereignty and self-determination of Native tribes to be taught.

(Tribes are) classified differently, because we have the treaties, he said. We have an established relationship with the federal government and that is an understood and protective relationship there that does put us in a bit of a different category.

Johnson said he also wants the curriculum to highlight the diversity of tribal nations that ranges from languages, religions and dress.

He also said that the new curriculum would help students not just look at (indigenous culture) in the lens of what happened in the 1800s, but bring it all the way up here to the 21st century.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to include additional Senate sponsors who were not originally listed.

Today in history: April 17 1960: The Apartment 1961: Bay of Pigs 1964: Ford Mustang 1969: Sen. Robert F. Kennedy 1972: Boston Marathon 1973: Federal Express 1986: Heathrow Airport 1993: Turgut Ozal 2013: West, Texas 2018: Barbara Bush
The pandemic ushered in many changes to American life, to the degree that the tax changes it brought were not initially at the forefront of taxpayers minds. But with remote work seemingly here to stay, taxpayers are now having to grapple with the fact that while remote work offers new opportunities and detaches workers from having to live in areas just because of job opportunities, it also means changes to tax obligations.

Unfortunately, theyre finding that not all states tax codes avoid creating unnecessary complications. Illinois is well-positioned to attract remote workers in the new economy, but with small policy changes, Illinois could be the No. 1 state in the country for remote workers.

Remote workers already find Illinois hospitable for many reasons  first and foremost, the states gold-standard withholding threshold of greater than 30 days. Withholding thresholds represent the number of days a taxpayer can work or amount of income a taxpayer can earn in-state before an employer is required to withhold income taxes on their behalf.

For businesses with mobile employees spending a short amount of time in many states, low withholding thresholds can result in tax compliance obligations piling up. Illinois high threshold ensures that out-of-state businesses dont need to tell their employees to avoid spending a short time working in Illinois to avoid tax compliance burdens from piling up.

Illinois also does moderately well with its number of reciprocity agreements. Reciprocity agreements are agreements between states to require taxpayers who commute across state lines to pay only taxes to their state of residence. These agreements protect taxpayers from being caught in a tax tug-of-war between their state of residence and the state they commute into and facing the consequential potential for double taxation.

The Prairie State has reciprocity agreements with Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan and Wisconsin. However, combined, these agreements exempt a little more than a third of all incoming commuters. Illinois should seek out more impactful reciprocity agreements with high-traffic neighbors like Ohio and Indiana.

In fact, even better than a push focused on these two states would be an effort to enshrine into law a unilateral offer of reciprocity to any state that returns the same treatment to Illinois taxpayers. Not only would this make the state more attractive to other states remote and mobile workers, but it would also encourage other states to limit tax compliance burdens on Illinois taxpayers. Its worth noting that nearby states like Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin already do this.

The biggest area of improvement available to Illinois is on filing thresholds. Filing thresholds are similar to withholding thresholds, representing the number of days a taxpayer can work or amount of income a taxpayer can earn in-state before being required to file an individual income tax return. Note that earning income in-state can represent anything from being a contractor who does a job in a state to a remote worker working from a family members house while visiting.

Illinois has a wage-based threshold, but it is prorated based on income earned anywhere. Functionally, this means that any taxpayer who earns any income in Illinois is technically obligated to file on day one of working in Illinois. This burdensome and counterintuitive rule makes Illinois a state to avoid spending a short time working in at all costs. The state would be far better off simply using the same threshold it uses for withholding for filing as well.

In the Remote Obligations and Mobility (ROAM) Index, which ranks states on how their tax codes affect remote and mobile workers, Illinois comes in with the third-highest score of any state that levies an individual income tax. With minor reforms, Illinois can further improve on how it treats remote workers.
Answer: Nope. Back in 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant  the former Civil War general raised in Illinois and whose museum and home is in Galena  was famous for fast driving his two-horse carriage through the streets of Washington, D.C. After several warnings from police, Grant was pulled over again one night and, according to the Wall Street Journal, was told, Your fast-driving, sir, is endangering the lives of the people who have to cross the street, and he was arrested. He apologized, rode with the officer to the police station and paid a $20 fine. By the way: Although not known if he was speeding around B-N, a few years after his arrest, on this very night 143 years ago (April 17, 1880), Grant was in Bloomington, staying at the home at 407 E. Grove, while attending a soldiers reunion here.
VALLETTA, April 17 (Xinhua) -- The Maltese government on Monday launched a one-million-euro (1.09 million U.S. dollars) subsidy scheme to encourage households to ditch single-use plastics and instead install a water purification system.

Environment Minister Miriam Dalli said the scheme, named "Be Water Smart," is aimed at reducing the amount of plastic bottles used, which stands at around 500 per household per year.

Launching the scheme, Dalli said the initiative is expected to reduce plastic bottle usage by around 3 million per year. It is part of the country's consumption reduction strategy for single-use plastics in line with the waste management plan and waste reduction efforts.

The scheme offers three types of grants: "Water Guard," which offers a subsidy of 40 percent of the purchase price and installation cost of water filtration systems with no wastewater, capped at 100 euros; "RO Wave," which covers reverse osmosis systems without wastewater return, offering a 15.25 percent grant rate with a cap of 100 euros; and "RO Recycle," which is for reverse osmosis systems that return wastewater to residential water storage, with a grant rate of 40 percent and capped at 300 euros.

These grants replace an older scheme that provided a 15.25 percent rebate on the purchase price and installation, capped at 70 euros. (1 euro = 1.09 U.S. dollar) 
On April 14, 2023, at the Kempinski Gold Coast Hotel in Accra, was an exhilarating experience as the KGL Foundation held its first ever annual fundraiser and gala. The event was graced by esteemed guests, prominent was Her Excellency Madam Rebecca Akuffo Addo, the First Lady of the Republic of Ghana, who served as the special guest of honor and delivered a stirring speech.



The chairperson of the event was none other than His Royal Majesty Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akuffo III, the Okuapemhene, who radiated regal elegance as he addressed the audience. Nana Bafffour Owusu Bediako, Asante Akyem Domeabramanhene, represented the revered Asantehene Otumfour Osei Tutu II and captivated the audience with his inspiring words.



The CEO of KGL Foundation, Mr. Elliot Dadey, welcomed the guests with an insightful address that set the tone for the evening. He spoke passionately about the foundation's mission to make a positive impact on the lives of the underprivileged in Ghana and beyond, and expressed his gratitude to all the attendees for their unwavering support.



Adding to the sense of occasion, the Group Chairman of the KGL Group, Mr. Alex Dadey, took the stage and delivered a warm speech. He spoke about the importance of corporate social responsibility and how the KGL Group is committed to giving back to the community through KGL Foundation's initiatives. His words resonated with the audience, igniting a sense of purpose and determination to contribute to the foundation's cause.



The event was attended by esteemed members of the Diplomatic Corps, Diasporans, and representatives from corporate Ghana. They demonstrated their solidarity with the foundation's noble mission. The presence of the current winner of Miss Ghana UK and the organizers of the pageant added a touch of glamour to the evening, throwing spotlight on the foundation's commitment to empowering women and promoting inclusivity.



The highlight of the night was undoubtedly the speech delivered by our special guest of honor, the First Lady of the republic of Ghana. Her Excellency Madam Rebecca Akuffo Addo inspired the audience with her unwavering dedication to humanitarian causes and her call to action for all stakeholders to join hands in creating a better future for the less fortunate. The Okuapemhene, His Royal Majesty Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akuffo III, delivered a moving speech, underscoring the importance of unity and collaboration in driving positive change in society. Nana Bafffour Owusu Bediako, representing the Asantehene Otumfour Osei Tutu II, conveyed the revered king's blessings and support for the KGL Foundation's philanthropic efforts.



The evening was not just about speeches, but also featured captivating performances, exquisite dining, and an auction of carefully curated items to raise funds for the foundation's initiatives. The event was a resounding success, with generous donations pouring in from individuals and corporate entities alike, demonstrating the collective commitment to making a difference in the lives of the underprivileged.



As the night came to a close, the air was filled with a palpable sense of hope and determination. The KGL Foundation's inaugural fundraiser and gala had not only raised funds to support its noble cause but had also ignited a spark of inspiration and motivation among all attendees to do their part in creating a more equitable and compassionate world.



In conclusion, the KGL Foundation's first annual fundraiser and gala was a unique and powerful event that brought together influential personalities, philanthropists, and changemakers to rally behind a common cause.

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.

Featured Video
Melbourne has overtaken Sydney as Australia's most populous city for the first time since the 19th Century gold rush, following a boundary change.



Sydney has proudly held the title for more than 100 years.



But with populations rapidly growing on Melbourne's fringe, the city limits have been expanded to include the area of Melton.



The latest government figures, from June 2021, put Melbourne's population at 4,875,400 - 18,700 more than Sydney.



The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) defines a city's "significant urban area", by including all connecting suburbs with more than 10,000 people.



"With the amalgamation of Melton into Melbourne in the latest... classification, Melbourne has more people than Sydney - and has had since 2018, " the ABS's Andrew Howe told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper - which described the redrawn boundary as "a technicality".



Proud Sydneysiders will point to the ABS's conclusion that when looking at the greater Sydney and Melbourne regions, Sydney remained bigger in June 2021.



Greater regions of a city take into account its "functional area", the ABS says, and include populations who frequent or work within the city, but may live in small towns and rural areas surrounding it.



However the federal government predicts Greater Melbourne will overtake Greater Sydney in 2031-32.



Melbourne's rapid growth is largely thanks to international migration, Australian National University demographer Liz Allen told the BBC.



Dr Allen noted that unlike Sydney, which has a "historical hangover" of a time when "it didn't want to be seen as anything other than white", Melbourne has a reputation for celebrating diversity.



It is also an attractive migration destination as it has employment and education opportunities comparable to Sydney, but has historically been more affordable than the harbour-side city.



It's not the first time Melbourne has held the title of Australia's biggest city.



As a result of the gold rush in the late 19th Century, which saw migrants flock to the state of the Victoria, Melbourne grew rapidly and outnumbered Sydney until 1905.

Source: BBC









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Doha-based international news channel, Al Jazeera have revealed that president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo responded to their request for information in respect of an allegation made against him by a notorious gold smuggler.



The self-acclaimed smuggler Canadian Alistair Mathias is on record as saying Akufo-Addo was his friend and lawyer whiles speaking to undercover agents in a four-part documentary on Zimbabwe known as Gold Mafia.



At the tail end of the fourth episode of Gold Mafia titled Have the King With You, a number of the accused persons including Alistair denied all the things they had said on tape and which had been recorded by undercover agents.



The part specific to Ghana read: Mr Mathias denied ever being awarded any tender by the Ghanaian government or entering any government contracts in any African country.



President Akufo-Addo of Ghana told us that he had no recollection of acting as a lawyer for Alistair Mathias or his company, a text-on-screen by Al Jazeera read.



'Akufo-Addo has not been in private practice since 2000' - Lawyer dispels links to notorious gold smuggler



Kow Essuman, lawyer to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has revealed that the president hasn't been in private practice in the past 23 years.



Essuman was responding to allegations by Alistair Mathias, a Canadian gold smuggler, that the president is his friend and lawyer.



In a tweet shared on Sunday, April 16, 2023, Kow Essuman affirmed that the president's law firm has also not in any way represented Alistair Mathias as he claimed in the Al Jazeera investigative film.



The President has not been in private practice since 2000, neither has the President nor his law firm, Akufo-Addo, Prempeh and Co, acted as a lawyer for this Alistair Mathias or Guldrest.



The President does not know this Mathias or Guldrest. Ignore the spurious allegations, the tweet he shared read.



What Alistair Mathias said about Akufo-Addo:



Alistair Mathias, who smuggles $40 million worth of gold from Ghana every month, disclosed the kind of close relationship he has with Ghanas president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.



Alistair Mathias, who is a gold trader with expertise in designing money laundering schemes for Africans, said that his work has given him access to every president or head of state on the continent.



Speaking in the final episode of the undercover investigations of gold smuggling in Africa by the Investigative Unit of Al Jazeera, Alistair Mathis, who is one of the main characters in the video, boasted about his relationship with the Ghanaian president.



He (described as a financial architect) told the undercover reporters, who had posed as Chinese criminals seeking to launder dirty money from Africa, that his relationship with Akufo-Addo is a close one.



He also claims that the Ghanaian president is his lawyer.



Theres no head of state or president that either of us cant get to on this continent. Next door in Swaziland, the king is a close friend of mine. Zambias president is a close friend of my friend. DRC Congo, the president has invited me several times to come and build a refinery.



Ghanas president is a good friend of mine. In fact, he was my lawyer. Cyril Ramaphosa here; I know him. I know his kids, he bragged.





The President has not been in private practice since 2000, neither has the President nor his law firm, Akufo-Addo, Prempeh and Co, acted as lawyer for this Alistair Mathias or Guldrest. The President does not know this Mathias or Guldrest. Ignore the spurious allegations.  Kow Essuman (@kaessuman) April 16, 2023









Source: ghanaweb.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza has been sentenced to 25 years in jail in Russia for charges linked to his criticism of the war in Ukraine.



He was found guilty of treason, spreading "false" information about the Russian army and being affiliated with an "undesirable organisation".



The Russian-British former journalist and politician is the latest of several Putin opponents to have been arrested or forced to flee Russia.



He has denied all of the charges.



Mr Kara-Murza, 41, has spent years speaking out against Russian President Vladimir Putin and, alongside the war in Ukraine, has also been critical of the government's crackdown on dissent.

Last week, he said in a statement that he stood by "every word that I have said... Not only do I not repent any of this, I am proud of it."



"I know that the day will come when the darkness engulfing our country will clear," he added in remarks posted online. "Our society will open its eyes and shudder when it realises what crimes were committed in its name."



Mr Kara-Murza's 25-year sentence, which has been widely condemned, was the maximum sought by prosecutors and is the longest sentence an opposition figure has received since the war in Ukraine began.



Read Full Story .... HERE >>> :









Source: BBC









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The police service has met with the largest political parties, the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) over issues much concerned about the police service.



The Inspector-General of Police (IGP) George Akuffo-Dampare who seems not happy about political interference in his led administration asked the political parties to cease meddling during the crunch meeting.



A statement from the police service said they will welcome criticisms from the political parties but an attempt to instruct them on what to do will not be tolerated.



At the meeting, both parties were also urged that with these policing interventions in place, they should do their politics and allow the Police to do policing. We, therefore, called on them to support us including by criticizing us constructively to do a professional job in line with our constitutional mandate, a portion of the statement reads



Read below the full seventeen points statement



1. The Police this afternoon met with the leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) at the National Police Headquarters in Accra.



2. The meeting which was called at the instance of the Inspector-General of Police was necessitated by press statements issued by the parties and subsequently followed by petitions to the Police Service with each party calling on the Police to arrest certain individuals of the other side for some alleged offences.



3. At the meeting, both parties were given the opportunity to air their grievances. The main issue raised by them was with respect to comments by some political actors from both sides of the divide considered to be inflammatory.



4. The Police also briefed them on two strategic interventions introduced by the Police Administration to handle the election and politically related incidents as part of the police transformation agenda.



5. The Police used the opportunity to provide an update on the status of political violence and related incidents recorded during the recent internal elections of both parties including;



6. The arrest and prosecution of some 14 members of the NPP for disturbances during their constituency election at Enchi and the arrest of 9 out of the 16 wanted individuals for disturbances at the national youth and women organizer polls of the NDC at Cape Coast.



7. An update was also provided on the status of the 2020 General Election-related cases including Techiman South and Odododiodio constituencies and the public will be duly updated on these cases in the course of the week.



8. The first strategic intervention shared with them is the establishment of the Police Election Security Secretariat to work with all political parties and other stakeholders to enhance the management of security for all elections in the country.



9. This is a complete departure from the old order where an election security task force was put together just some months before the general elections.



10. Since its creation over a year ago, the Police Election Security Secretariat has worked with the various political parties in their respective internal elections from the polling station, through the constituency to the national executive elections.



11. The Secretariat is currently working with both parties on their parliamentary and presidential primaries.



12. The second intervention is the setting up of a dedicated legal team to subject all politically related incidents to legal scrutiny to establish whether there are elements of a crime or otherwise before any Police action is taken. The Police will therefore not intervene in any situation where there is no criminality involved.



13. This is a paradigm shift from the practice in the past where people were arrested in the heat of the moment for politically related incidents as a result of attempts by politicians on either side to whip up public sentiments against the police thereby creating the impression that the Police supports one side against the other. In such instances when no concrete charges can be levelled against such people they are eventually released thereby creating the impression in the public domain as though the police were manipulated in effecting their arrests.



14. This initiative has been used to analyze all recent cases such as comments made by the Hon. Minister of Food and Agriculture and the Constituency Youth Organiser for the NDC at Suame, among others.



15. At the meeting both parties were also urged that with these policing interventions in place, they should do their politics and allow the Police to do policing. We, therefore, called on them to support us including by criticizing us constructively to do a professional job in line with our constitutional mandate.



16. As we commend the leadership of the two political parties for availing themselves and contributing to the success of the meeting, we would like to call on Ghanaians to help us in our effort to build an independent Police service which will serve the greater good of the Ghanaian people and not the interest of any individual or group of people.



17. Once again, we wish to assure the public that we remain committed to ensuring peace, security, law and order in the country at all times including before, during and after all elections in the country.

Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/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
A Spanish athlete has emerged from an underground cave after 500 days of isolation.



Beatriz Flamini, 50, of Madrid, entered the cave in southern Spain on Saturday, Nov. 20, 2021, according to Reuters.



She finally exited the cave which was about 70 meters (230 feet) underground around 9 a.m. local time on Friday, April 14, the AP reported.



Flamini said she passed the time by exercising, reading books, drawing, painting, and knitting, according to the reports.



"In fact, I didn't want to come out," she said.



Flamini was 48 years old when she first entered the cave in Granada.



During the experiment, Flamini was monitored by psychologists, researchers and speleologists, who study caves, though they never made contact with her.



lamini said she lost track of time after about two months, according to the Associated Press. However, the mountaineer thought she had only been underground for about 160 or 170 days.



"When they came in to get me, I was asleep. I thought something had happened," Flamini told reporters. "I said Already? Surely not.' I hadn't finished my book."



Flamini's 500-day adventure was part of a project called Timecave. The goal was to assess how a human would handle living underground for a long stretch of time.



As part of the experiment, experts examined the impacts of social isolation and extreme temporary disorientation on the human body.



"I'm still stuck on November 21, 2021," Flamini told reporters on Friday April 14. "I don't know anything about the world."

Flamini may have set a world record, too. Her team believes she holds the record for surviving the longest time while underground, though the Guinness Book of Records has yet to confirm.



Flamini said she never considered pressing the panic button she was given. She even survived a fly invasion, which left her covered in bugs.



The athlete also experienced "auditory hallucinations" while in the cave. She needed assistance standing up while speaking with reporters because of balance issues.



Still, Flamini was thrilled by the experience, which she called "excellent" and unbeatable.



"You have to remain conscious of your feelings," Flamini said.



"If you're afraid, that's something natural but never let panic in or you get paralyzed."





 500 dias bajo tierra en una cueva. Sin contacto con el exterior. Sin luz solar. Sin saber que estaba pasando fuera. Hasta hoy. Beatriz Flamini lo cuenta todo sobre su hazana... y ano y medio da para mucho pic.twitter.com/DPI96E9mTc  MARCA (@marca) April 14, 2023















Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
A new report has revealed the horrific sexual abuse that has allegedly taken place inside UK hospitals over the last three years.



According to new figures from the Womens Rights Network (WRN), more than 6,000 sexual attacks were reported including gang rapes and assaults on children.

The figures were gotten by freedom of information requests to police forces in England and Wales according to the Mirror UK.



At least 2,088 rapes and 4,451 sexual assaults were reported between January 2019 and October 2022 at a rate of 33 a week- a shocking one in seven took place on hospital wards.





And just 4.1 per cent of the crimes resulted in the suspect facing a charge or summons.

Founder of WRN Heather Binning said the figures were just the tip of the iceberg and that it shows hospitals are just not safe spaces



She said: They are almost a market for sexual offenders. Its absolutely terrifying.



She said: The police are not doing enough in terms of recording the crimes properly and pursuing them  these are places with CCTV and restricted access. Why is the charge rate so low?



Ms Binning said: These statistics are jaw-dropping. We began this investigation because of concerns about the safety of women and children on NHS wards, but we are horrified at what we have uncovered.









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 Director General of the National Lottery Authority of Ghana, Sammi Awuku, has praised vice President Mahamudu Bawumia by emphatically stating that through him, Ghanaians got to understand the electoral process.



and it was through Dr. Bawumia that we got to understand the electoral process. Because with many Ghanaians, they were only casting their vote without understanding the process, he said as he serialized the contributions of vice President Bawumia to our national elections.



Mr. Awukus assertions were based on the outcome of the 2012 election petition where Dr. Bawumia mounted the witness box for 8 months to testify on behalf of the New Patriotic Party.



Speaking to Gordon Asare Bediako on Movement TVs B3 Kyere Mu show, Mr. Awuku stated that vice President deserves his flowers for withstanding the artillery fire of the NDC when they threw seasoned lawyers like Tsatsu Tsikata and Tony Lithur at him in court during the cross-examination process.



He continued that the whole essence of cross examination is to establish the honesty of the witness and vice President Bawumia according to Mr. Awuku, proved his credibility as witness during the exercise.



For the vice President to be subjected to 8 months of grilling of NDCs artillery fire- the combined effect of Tsatsu Tsikata, Tony Lithur with lawyer Bashit Bamba. To be a star witness for 8 months being on the screens every day, being consistent, not losing your cool because your patience would be tested, your resilience would be tested, your intelligence would be tested and your composure would be tested, he said.



In his view, the contribution of the vice President to Ghanas electoral process cant be discounted because of the major role he has played.



Every generation is credited with a certain responsibility; it took a very good generation of our forefathers to fight for independence. It took another good generation of our uncles and others to also fight for multi-party democracy. It took another great generation of our fathers and our senior colleagues to fight for election 2000 and it had to take another golden generation to win 2016, he said.



Touching on the NPPs flagbearership contest, Mr. Awuku stated that Bawumia is in with very solid competitors but encouraged him to go through that grilling because he is in a leadership contest.



He is in contest with very solid competitors- Boakye Agyarko, a very solid brain and an achiever, Hon Alan is a distinguished personality, take a look at Kwabena Agyei Agyapong he understands the party. Kennedy Ohene Agyapong is also a great person, Joe Ghartey is a distinguished personality and the others, he said.









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Member of Parliament for Builsa South, Clement Apaak, has stated that the seat of Ghana's presidency will revert to its original name of Flagstaff House from the current Jubilee House.



President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo changed the name to Jubilee House in 2018, two years after assuming office.



Apaak said in a tweet sighted by GhanaWeb and dated April 16, that Mahama will seek to reinstate history by reversing the name change come 2025 when he assumes office.



"JM will govern Ghana from Flagstaff House not Jubilee House! The true history of Ghana will be reinstated under JM, be rest assured," his tweet read.



It was in reference to a GhanaWeb story about how Mahama in an address to party faithful in Nsawam last week had opted to refer to the presidency as Flagstaff House instead of Jubilee House.



Mahama signalling the Jubilee House will revert to Flagstaff House?



The former president in an address to party faithful in Nsawam last week had cause to speak extensively about the office of the president.



Among others, Mahama who is campaigning for the presidential flagbearership of National Democratic Congress (NDC) boasted of knowing the place well having been the first occupant of the edifice as a president.



In his address, he referred to the place currently known as Jubilee House by its old name Flagstaff House.



7th January 2017, I showed Akufo-Addo around the Flagstaff House, where he will sit, his vice president, cabinet office, his meeting and conference rooms, I am the one who showed him around.



So, I was asking a question, on 7th January 2025, who will show John Mahama around the Flagstaff House? he asked party faithful at the St. Martins Secondary School in Nsawam.



I opened Flagstaff House and I am the first president to have worked from there, it is true it was built by president Kufuor but I was the first president to stay at Flagstaff House.



So, after my inauguration, I will drive straight to Flagstaff House and start work, he said to cheers from the supporters.



About the Jubilee House



Jubilee House, is the presidential palace in Accra that serves as a residence and office to the President of Ghana.



Jubilee House is built on the site of a building that was constructed and used for administrative purposes by the British Gold Coast Government. The previous seat of government of Ghana is Osu Castle.



It was renamed Golden Jubilee House by President Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo Addo on 29th March 2018. It has previously been known as The Flagstaff House.

















Source: ghanaweb.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
An aspiring presidential candidate for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Kwabena Duffuor has condemned the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) for neglecting major roads in the North East Region.



Duffuor said the NPP government has borrowed extensively but failed to meet the needs of Ghanaians including roads and other pressing issues in the country.



He was addressing delegates of the party in Bunkpurugu. He stated that the people in the area are treated like they are not Ghanaians under the NPP government.



He said, now, we all know that the economy is in a big mess. There are no jobs, but they have taken so many loans. So today, when we were coming on this road, I was asking myself, what else have they used the money for? Are we [residents of the area] not part of Ghana?



How come the roads are so bad yet you owe To be able to manage the economy well, you need a strong party; a party that is sincere for the people. That party is the NDC.



Duffuor stated that the NDC is a human-centered party that cares for the poor and the vulnerable. He urged the residents to rally behind the party to reclaim power in 2024.



He said, the NDC thinks about people. It is a human-centered party that thinks about the poor people.



Call for unity

Duffuor urged the delegates in Walewale to stay united and desist from using intemperate language that will bring division in the party.



His two-day visit to the region, which began on 13 April, was received with a rousing welcome from delegates as he toured five of the six constituencies in the region.



The campaign tour began from Walewale, through Nalerigu, Chereponi, Bunkpurugu and ended in Yunyoo.



Duffuor will visit the Yagaba-Kubori constituency on his next visit to the region before the primaries on 13 May.







Source: asaaseradio.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
(CNN)  "Phantom of the Opera" isn't just a Broadway icon  it's a cultural behemoth.

There's Andrew Lloyd Webber's organ-heavy score, sumptuous sets and elaborate costumes. There's a melodramatic love triangle between the beautiful soprano, her hunky beau and a misunderstood sewer dweller, composer and voice teacher. Then there's the chandelier, of course. There are few moments in musical theater more thrilling than the one before the massive light fixture roars back to life.

After 35 years and nearly 14,000 performances, "Phantom of the Opera" takes its final bow Sunday on Broadway. Soon, posters advertising the show with nothing but the iconic Phantom mask and a single rose will be scrubbed from Times Square, and the Majestic Theater will sit empty for the first time since "Phantom" opened in 1988.

News of its closure stunned musical theater fans -- the longest-running show on Broadway always seemed like a stable presence on West 44th Street. But it's an expensive venture -- after the show returned from its pandemic-induced closure, its weekly running costs approached $1 million, and it often wouldn't gross enough to offset those costs. It became impossible for such a lavish production to maintain its place on Broadway without losing money.

No one took the news harder than "Phantom's" most devoted fans -- or "phans," rather. Many of them have seen the show dozens or even hundreds of times. They've followed the show around the country and world, and some have even scored tickets to "Phantom's" final performance on Sunday night. They've taken solace in its fantasy, identified with the antihero at its center and formed lasting bonds with their fellow theatergoers throughout its run.

Many phans have been enamored with the musical, like Christine under the spell of the title character, for so long they can no longer pinpoint just what makes it so bewitching -- it's been a constant in their lives.

"I can say that I love the music, the scenery, and the fact that the Phantom sacrifices his own happiness for Christine's at the end," said Katie Yelinek, a librarian in Pennsylvania who first fell in love with "Phantom" in 1993. "They create magic and a sense of awe. But listing those things individually doesn't explain the ineffable sum of their parts that makes 'Phantom' like no other musical."

Charlie Peterson, a phan since eighth grade, said they used to spend the months after their mother's death listening to the soundtrack with their childhood best friend. Though they now live across the country from that friend, the two still get together to catch a performance of the musical that buoyed them in their youth.

"It was a place to go when I felt like I needed it," Peterson told CNN. Losing "Phantom" on Broadway now "feels like another friend is moving away."

'Phantom' phans are prodigiously devoted to the musical

Sierra Boggess, one of the most beloved portrayers of heroine Christine among the "phan"-base, told CNN that the show's devotees are "incredibly special" even among the most enthusiastic musical theater fans.

Take Dick Moore: The Denver native has seen the show more than 200 times, and his home is decked out in "Phantom" memorabilia from his "35 years chasing the Phantom," he told CNN.

"Every time I see the show, it's like seeing it for the first time," he told the Denver Center for the Performing Arts Center in 2019, in honor of viewing his 198th performance. "I never get tired of it."

Following "Phantom" is a lifestyle for some phans -- many of them made regular journeys to the Majestic throughout their lives to catch new interpretations of Christine and the masked maestro. And when news of the show's closure struck, fans clamored to buy tickets to the rest of its run -- the closing date was even pushed several weeks to meet fan demand. About a week after its ending was announced, its weekly gross rose from $964,000 to $1.2 million. Last week, it grossed $3.6 million -- tickets to see the show's final performances weren't cheap.

Phans told CNN in the days leading up to "Phantom's" final production that they were preparing to say their final goodbyes with a heavy heart. Wallace Phillips, a filmmaker and animator in New York, has seen the show 140 times in the last 13 years. While speaking with CNN prior to the show's closure, he said he hoped to squeeze in a few more performances before Sunday.

Ian Petriello Eisenberg learned of the closing while working in Hawaii. "Phantom" was the show that inspired him to study theater at the University of Texas at Austin, and years later, he won a chance to join the Broadway ensemble for one night and shadowed Broadway veteran James Barbour, who played the Phantom in 2015.

Eager to relive what he called one of the best nights of his life, he quickly booked a flight to New York to catch a performance earlier this month.

"I'm devastated that this icon of Broadway is leaving forever," Eisenberg said. "And even if it does come back, it will never be the same."

Several phans share Eisenberg's sorrows: "Phantom" returned to London's West End with a halved orchestra in 2021 after the pandemic halted all performances. Many feared that its score would lost its impact with fewer musicians. And many now fear that, if the show does eventually return to Broadway, it will have lost much of the magic of the original staging.

It's become an icon beyond theater

The pandemic, for some, made them appreciate "Phantom" all the more. Andrew Defrin, a Fordham University student studying theater directing, has been "completely enraptured" with the Phantom since he first saw the show at age 6. He'd sing along with the soundtrack on sets he made out of cardboard, proudly wearing his very own Phantom mask. But he didn't see the show again until it returned from its Covid-induced closure in 2021.

He said he would attend his 20th performance of "Phantom" on Saturday. He planned to bring tissues.

"It's the end of an era, truly," Defrin told CNN. "I've never seen any other marquees at the Majestic Theater. To not see that mask there is going to be devastating."

"Phantom" is the most enduring relic of the '80s era of musicals built on spectacle: "Les Miserables" had a massive cast and an even bigger barricade. "Miss Saigon" had its jaw-dropping helicopter and "Cats" its junkyard set. (All four mega-musicals, not so coincidentally, share producer Cameron Mackintosh.) But those shows have all closed, been revived and closed again since "Phantom" first hit the scene.

The musical reintroduced the novel of the same name by Gaston Leroux to fans who couldn't get enough of the Phantom. While adaptations of the source material existed prior to Webber's musical, adaptations and parodies specifically referencing the show's interpretation of "Phantom" can be seen throughout pop culture  including films and even children's television.

Defrin acknowledged that Webber's musical has its fair share of detractors who aren't wowed by its melodramatic script and score. But it's hard to deny the cultural "phenomenon" it's become, he said -- its iconography is so recognizable that its marquee doesn't even list the musical's title.

"Of course there'll be a hole in my heart," Defrin said of its closure.

Phans say goodbye to 'Phantom' on Sunday

Some phans, like Phillips, are taking the show's ending in stride, even if it pains them, too.

"Part of me sees it as a new beginning," he said. "I'd love to keep the show's legacy alive in the best way that I can."

Phillips said he dreams of adapting the musical as an animated film one day -- yet another way "Phantom" can live on after Broadway.

Boggess, meanwhile, has just come to terms with the gravity of "Phantom's" role in her life. She has played Christine across the pond -- not just on Broadway -- and in the sequel musical, "Love Never Dies."

From rehearsing for the Las Vegas production with the original director, the late Hal Prince, to hitting the high E in the musical's title song, the highest note Christine sings in the show, she told CNN she held her memories of performing in "Phantom" as some of the dearest of her career.

"To sing (Webber's) music is one of the greatest gifts of my life," she said.

While Defrin eagerly studied "Phantom" as an aspiring director, he'll miss sharing the show with friends the most. He's brought more than 20 people with him to the show, and watching someone else's jaw drop when the chandelier rises and the iconic organ starts playing has been a unique thrill.

"There's no reaction like it," he said of sharing the "gift of 'Phantom'" with loved ones.

"Phantom" won't go totally missing from the theatrical landscape -- it will likely continue to tour, and the licensing rights are available for amateur theater companies. But when the Majestic's marquee dims on Sunday night, and the Phantom finally abandons the theater he's haunted for 35 years, Broadway will feel a bit less fantastical without it.
Eastern Regional Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Dr. Mark Oliver Kevor says they know locations of properties of persons threatening violence in 2024 election warning that their investments stand to suffer the consequences most if they dare try to hold on to power at all costs.



Dr. Mark Oliver Kevor said this Thursday when addressing NDC delegates from Mpreaso and Abetifi constituencies as part of last day of John Mahamas visit to Eastern region.



We know the locations of properties of those threatening never to hand over power. They know that when there is electoral violence their properties will be affected. So their threats are empty. They dont mean it. NPP is afraid of John Dramani Mahama, he said.



The comment by Dr. Mark Oliver Kevor appears to be subtle response to the recent controversial threat by Bryan Acheampong, Minister of Food and Agriculture that the NPP will never hand over power to NDC, and that, will demonstrate that they have the men to clash the NDC if they attempt to cause confusion.



Dr. Mark Oliver Kevor assured the branch and constituency executives not to be intimidated that, the party will support them to secure maximum votes for the NDC in 2024.



He further charged members of the party not to be deceived by what they(NPP) are saying that if we bring a new presiditial candidate they will vote for NDC .We dont know any other person apart from John Mahama.



In his address, former President John Dramani said he is saddened that Akufo-Addo led government has abandoned a world class hospital project he initiated at Abetifi before leaving office in January 2017.



John Mahama assured the next NDC government will ensure all abandoned projects are completed before any new project begins.



He made special promise to the people of Ketepa, a farming and fishing community that their deplorable road will be constructed to Begoro to link Kwahu East to Fanteakwa North District to improve agriculture.



Mr. Mahama stated he will initiate annual meeting with party executives across the country when he becomes president.



This he said, will afford him assess happenings on the ground.



Executives of the NDC at Mpraeso and Abetifi pledged 100% votes for him in the presidential primaries.













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 First Deputy Speaker of Ghanas Parliament and Member of Parliament for Bekwai, Joseph Osei-Owusu, has openly declared support for Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia to lead the New Patriotic Party (NPP) into the 2024 elections.



In the view of the deputy speaker, Dr. Bawumia stands for the future of the NPP and Ghana and must be allowed to govern the country from 2025.



The Bekwai MP explained that the reason over 100 NPP MPs have equally thrown their weights behind the vice president is because Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has distinguished himself.



Most of the NPP MPs at the last count were about 118 MPs and I am one of them. I speak for myself and my support for Bawumia, and I know over 100 NPP MPs also support Bawumia, he told the morning show host of Kumasi-based Oyerepa TV, Kwesi Parker-Wilson.



Joewise, as the Bekwai MP is casually known as, also outlined the reasons he believes the vice president is the man to lead the party.



He argued that Bawumia stands for the future because of the impact he has had on digitalizing the Ghanaian economy.



He added that digitization has taken over the world, and soon, Ghanaian youth may want to travel to Europe for greener pastures, but with this intervention by the vice president, they can simply sit here in Ghana, work for European companies, and get paid.



This is where Dr. Bawumia is leading the country to. Again, since I became an MP, Dr. Bawumia has kept faith with the constituency by honouring every single invitation to come and assist with programs and activities within my constituency. He was practically aligning with party activities. So, its my contention that when given the opportunity, Dr. Bawumia will connect well with the grassroots.



I am a moderate person, and I see Dr. Bawumia to also be a moderate person in his views and he is also more focused and result oriented. He doesnt like too much talk but gets the job done, he stated.



















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 says he will establish a Governance Advisory Council as part of his vision to improve political governance, help curb corruption, and ensure respect for human rights in the country.



Addressing National Democratic Congress (NDC) executives and supporters as part of his campaign to lead his party to the 2024 elections, Mr. Mahama said membership of the proposed Governance Advisory Council would include representatives of Civil Society Organisations, religious leaders, traditional leaders, and ordinary Ghanaians.



According to Mr. Mahama, who is promising to wage a sustained war against corruption and poor governance when elected in 2024, the functions of the Council will include the annual release of a State of Governance in Ghana report.



Every year, the Council will release a report on the state of human rights, corruption, and a report on our governance, which will serve as a guide for government to know whether we are on the right track with regards to issues of governance, corruption, human rights, media, and other freedoms including torture and crime, President Mahama said.



The establishment of the Governance Advisory Council, as promised by President Mahama, will be yet another significant step in his quest to promote better governance and fight corruption.



In his first term as President, Mr. Mahama introduced a Code of Ethics for Ministers of State and Government Appointees.



The code of ethics reflected his governments vision to maintain a clean government imbued with systems, clear procedures and guidelines for performance and delivery.



He reminded ministers of state that while there are issues that would be accepted in the traditional and cultural context, they are unacceptable under governance ethics and legal conduct.



One of the strongest ways to prevent unacceptable conduct and abuse of office by public officials is to demarcate the ethical boundaries within which actions and inactions could be deemed to be acceptable or unacceptable, he noted.













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
As part of effort to strengthen the support base of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Volta Region, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Marrer Ghana Limited and Susagtad Boat Building, Mr. Novihoho Afaglo has visited the camp of Member of Parliament for Ketu South Constituency, Mrs. Dzifa Abla Gomashie.



The visit was to touch-base with the grassroots and also support the campaign of the MP to cheer party supporters up for the preparation towards the upcoming party primaries.



Mr. Afaglo charged the teaming supporters of the MP to embrace themselves up and work heard to retain the seat for the party.



He advised the parliamentary candidate to be optimistic, resolute and above all also exhibit clean campaign as they prepare for the upcoming primaries.



He charged the candidates and the other contestants to display unity, love and togetherness during and after this internal contest.



Mr. Afaglo called on the contestants to do a descent campaign and appealed to the supporters of all sides to exercise moderation in utterances to curb disunity.



I want to use this medium to remind delegates to vote for Mrs Abla Gomashie to continue her good work in the Ketu South constituency, he stated.

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.

Featured Video
Veteran Ghanaian highlife musician, Gyedu Blay Ambolley has described popular broadcaster and CEO of Nineteen57 fashion brand, Kofi Okyere Darko (KOD) as shallow-minded and a child not worth his attention.



Speaking on DayBreak Hitz with Andy Dosty recently, the Adwoa Amissah hitmaker said he has a lot going on for him as a highlife musician and so people should not pour scorn on his efforts.

I see Okyere Darko as a child. He is shallow-minded, the reason why he said those things.



He said, I am going on an European tour in May next year. My music, Gyedu Blay Ambollleys music and in June, I will be back on tour. So when he sits and talks, can he take his clothes on tour as a designer like the way Im going on tour with my music?



Ambolley added: Can he take his DJ-ing on tour like the way I am going on tour with my music? If these people talk, you know they are shallow minds.



In an interview with Graphic Showbiz last month, Ambolley noted that VGMA had not promoted the interest of highlife music by awarding topmost awards to musicians pursuing other genres.



He also raised concerns about the quality of artistes nominated in the Best Highlife Artiste of the Year category of the awards.



It is unfortunate that people think when you sing in twi or fante over a dancehall or reggae beat it automatically makes it highlife music. That is not true but it has become the norm over the years because these are the kinds of music VGMA rewards, he said during the interview.



An obviously disappointed KOD who did not take lightly Ambolleys comments responded in social media post.



Such nonsense! Which awards scheme has projected our music industry like VGMA since independence? How many have projected our musicians beyond GH. How many have consistently done more than 10 years?



He added, Some of our musicians have failed to evolve and are quick to blame others for their personal mishaps. When was the last time he released an album? He should be blaming some of the radio stations who dont even play our music.



KOD said, When was the last time or how often do you hear highlife on radio? VGMA cause am? People should look at evolving and projecting themselves instead of pointing accusing fingers.



Ambulley should be bigger than this petty comment and should check how he discredits his fellow industry colleagues too. Youre a true celebrity. Dont go this path, sir.



As one of our last of our greats left, this is below him, he added.

Source: asaaseradio.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
A Colombian mayor is receiving heat after a wild video emerged of him dancing almost naked in a nightclub.



The now-viral footage shows Martin Alfonso Mejia, of the municipality of Calima, whipping off his shirt before gyrating his hips in front of stunned party-goers.



The politician can also be seen standing on a bench and pulling his trousers down to show off his bare backside in front of a group of young women.



The video ends with what appears to be another man attempting to hide Mejia's modesty.



His antics, which occurred during Holy Week in what is a largely Catholic nation, didnt go down well with many.

Duvalier Sanchez Arango, a member of Colombias House of Representatives commented: "The responsibility that politicians have obliged us to show exemplary behaviour in public.



"Concerning the inappropriate acts of Mayor Martin Mejia of Calima in Valle, we are calling for a disciplinary investigation by the Attorney Generals Office and the Green Party."



Mejia has since blamed his actions on being drugged at the nightclub, something the venue's boss has vehemently shut down.



It's not the first time Mejia's partying has been the subject of controversy.



Six months ago he appeared to be intoxicated at a festival, where he took to the stage to inform revellers that he was corrupt.





















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 earliest biblical descriptions, the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke, written between A.D. 80 and 100, offer details of Jesus' birth, including that he was born in Bethlehem during the reign of King Herod.

The Gospel of Luke says that when the shepherds went to Bethlehem, they "found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger." Matthew tells the story of the three wise men, or Magi, who "fell down" in worship and offered gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Advertisement

But as my research on the relationship between the New Testament and the development of popular Christian traditions shows, the earliest biblical descriptions do not mention the presence of any animals. Animals first start to appear in religious texts around the seventh century.

A series of early Christian stories that informed popular religious devotion, including what's known as the Infancy Gospel of Matthew, attempted to fill in the gap between Christ's infancy and the beginning of his public ministry. This text was the first to mention the presence of animals at Jesus' birth. It described how the "most blessed Mary went forth out of the cave and entering a stable, placed the child in the stall, and the ox and the ass adored Him."

This description, subsequently cited in several medieval Christian texts, created the Christmas story popular today.
Let's set the scene. In the Old Testament, when Moses died, the Lord chose Joshua as the new leader of the Israelites, who were commanded to take possession of the promised land of Canaan. Before marching across the Jordan River, Joshua sent two spies ahead to check out the situation in Jericho, the largest Canaanite city.

The Book of Joshua in the Old Testament says that the Israelite spies lodged in the home of Rahab, who in the original Hebrew text is identified as a zonah or prostitute. There is some speculation that she might have been an innkeeper instead because the consonants are the same for both occupations: "znh." However, "zonah" is the same Hebrew word used by Israelite prophets like Hosiah and Ezekial to admonish the people for "prostituting" themselves to other gods.

Advertisement

Rahab recognized the foreign spies immediately, but instead of turning them over to the authorities, she hid them on her roof underneath sheaves of flax. When the king of Jericho asked Rahab about the spies, she told him they had already left, but that the king's men could catch them outside the city if they hurried.

Rahab not only saved the lives of the Israelite spies, but she professed her faith in their God, which went against everything that the Old Testament typically warned about the dangers of foreign women.

"Foreign women are the ones who sexually tempt you and lure you to give up your own god," says Hanna Tervanotko, a religion professor at McMaster University. "Rahab is quite remarkable."

The Book of Joshua says that Rahab "lived in the wall" of the city and she lowered the spies down from her window with a rope. In return, the spies kept their promise, and told Joshua to spare Rahab and her family from the terrible destruction of Jericho, in which every living inhabitant  "both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys"  were put to the sword. Rahab and her family were spared and she went on to live in Israel "to this day."
" " Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the nation in a fiery speech Feb. 21, 2022, in which he delegitimized the sovereignty of Ukraine and recognized of independence of Donetsk and Lugansk. Alexei Nikolsky\TASS via Getty Images

On Feb. 21, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave an hourlong speech where he not only recognized the independence of two Russia-backed territories  Donetsk and Luhansk  in eastern Ukraine, but also delegitimized the sovereignty of Ukraine itself, a nation of 44 million people. Putin expanded the idea that Ukraine's borders were drawn up by the Soviet Union's founder, Vladimir Lenin, and still exist only because of the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

"Ukraine is not just a neighboring country for us. It is an inalienable part of our own history, culture and spiritual space," Putin elaborated. "These are our comrades, those dearest to us  not only colleagues, friends and people who once served together, but also relatives, people bound by blood, by family ties." After the speech, Putin ordered troops into Donetsk and Luhansk under the guise of them being "peacemakers."

Advertisement

Many experts in global geopolitics were concerned  if not horrified  by the speech and invasion, suggesting it was Putin's way of rewriting history, as well as of providing a reason to launch what could become the largest battle in Europe since the end of World War II.

The speech came after Putin has spent months building up Russian military forces surrounding Ukraine  as many as 150,000 troops are now situated near Ukraine's borders. He also has demanded Ukraine not be allowed to join NATO, the defensive alliance that currently includes 30 countries.

So how is the world responding? The NATO-Ukraine Commission met in Brussels Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, to address the situation. NATO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg said it stands by Ukrainian sovereignty and that NATO has "over 100 jets at high alert and there are more than 120 Allied ships at sea, from the High North to the Mediterranean," but hoped Russia would still choose diplomacy. "[This] is the most dangerous moment in European security for a generation," Stoltenberg said.

So aside from a full-on war, what else are world leaders doing to deter Putin from invading Ukraine? Imposing sanctions. But you might be wondering what sanctions are and how they imposed? But also what are sanctions supposed to accomplish and do they even work?
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

As far back as 45,000 years ago, groups of hunter-gatherers lived in what is now called El Miron Cave near the northern coast of Spain. First discovered for science in 1903 by local archaeologists and surveyed by University of New Mexico Professor of Anthropology Lawrence Straus in 1973, systematic excavation of the cave began in 1996 when Straus and Manuel Gonzalez Morales of the University of Cantabria began their major ongoing research in the cave, leading to the discovery of prehistoric remains ranging from the time of the last Neanderthals through the Bronze Age.

In an article titled "Structuring domestic space in the Lower Magdalenian: an analysis of the fauna from Level 115 of El Miron Cave, Cantabria" in Antiquity, lead author and UNM Archaeology Associate Professor Emily Lena Jones tests Straus's hypothesis that prehistoric people who lived in the cave 20,000 years ago created a partition or workbench where they crafted their bone tools, a rarity among examples of Paleolithic hunter-gatherer structures in caves.

"El Miron is a huge cave that people lived in over a long period of time, in several parts of the cave. But in Paleolithic cave sites like this, people didn't necessarily live there all the time," Jones explained. "They were hunter-gatherers, who are generally more mobile than people who rely on agriculture. When people weren't in the cave, other critters were in residence. Those other critters, as well as other non-human-related activities like rockfall, influence what we find in cave sites."

That, along with the fact that hunter-gatherers don't construct sites in the same way that non-hunter-gatherers do, can make it difficult to definitively demonstrate how Paleolithic people constructed homes within caves. At El Miron, hearths, pits, and small structures provide some evidence of Paleolithic home-making.

In addition to these features, the rear of El Miron Cave contains a linear alignment of rocks that is possibly a wall or a bench. Since the cave doesn't contain other similar areas of large, seemingly aligned fallen rock, it seems likely that this feature was at least used, and possibly modified or even constructed by the people who lived there, perhaps in relationship to the working of animal bones and stones to make tools. The idea of a wall was first set forth in an article by Straus and Gonzalez Morales in 2018.

In this research, Jones and colleague Ana B. Marin-Arroyo used the bone material that was discarded around the rock feature to test Straus's and Gonzalez Morales's idea.

"Our hypothesis was that if this feature was used by the inhabitants, the discard around it should show clear patterning. Our analysis showed that this was the case. The stone alignment does seem to have been used in some way, and probably not just to isolate a trash heap," said Jones. "It seems more likely that it is associated with a bone-working area. While probably most of the bones were from animals that initially did provide food for people, by the time the bone fragments were discarded in Level 115 of the cave, they'd also have been broken in ways that suggest people were making tools out of them."

This discovery adds to the small list of known examples of Paleolithic hunter-gatherer structures in caves in that many cave structures seem to be associated with religious or ceremonial activities, but the area in El Miron looks like it demarcates a working area.

Jones carried out the identification of the fauna from El Miron's Level 115 as part of a Fulbright Scholar Award in 2017. She worked with Marin-Arroyo, associate professor of Prehistory and leader of the Human Evolution Group (EvoAdapta) at the University of Cantabria in Spain, who conducts much of the analysis of El Miron fauna. Jones also conducted the statistical analysis. Straus, Leslie Spier Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the UNM Department of Anthropology, and Gonzalez Morales, Professor Emeritus at the University of Cantabria, directed the project and also completed the analysis of the stone tool materials.

Straus and Gonzalez Morales are known for the 2010 discovery of the Red Lady of El Miron, who died around 18,800 years ago. The skeleton is estimated to be that of someone between 35 and 40 years of age, and her bones were coated with ochre, a red iron-based pigment, hence, her name.

"I am so honored to have had this opportunity to work with Ana, Manolo, and Lawrence, and also to work with material from the legendary site of El Miron," Jones said. "It was a truly amazing experience and would have been so regardless of what we found. The fact that we were able to find evidence supporting this kind of domestic structure was the cherry on top."

More information: Emily Lena Jones et al, Structuring domestic space in the Lower Magdalenian: an analysis of the fauna from Level 115 of El Miron Cave, Cantabria, Antiquity (2023). DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2023.9 Journal information: Antiquity
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 16)  There are still missing illegal drugs from the shabu haul worth 6.7 billion seized from an arrested police sergeant last October, the Philippine National Police (PNP) admitted.

990 (kilograms), plus 42 (kgs seized afterwards), plus (the missing drugs), yun ang X, PNP-Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management (PNP-DIDM) Director PMGen. Eliseo Cruz told the media during a press conference on Sunday.

Last Oct. 8, 2022, the PNP Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG) led an anti-illegal drug operation on a lending office owned by Police Master Sergeant Rodolfo Mayo in Tondo, Manila. This led to the seizure of 990 kgs of shabu valued at 6.7 billion and Mayos arrest.

A week later on Oct. 15, 2022, another 42 kgs of shabu from the Tondo haul valued at 285,600,000 was recovered from two police officers who supposedly kept it from the first operation.

According to Cruz, the shabu haul that has been accounted for weighs about 1,032 kgs - just over one metric ton (1,000 kgs) - and could be close to 7 billion in value.

When asked for an estimate on the amount of missing shabu, Cruz said, I cannot comment on that if we are just depending on the movement in the CCTV video on how many loading and the size of what was loaded. But we are sure that there are still missing illegal drugs.

CCTV footage from the Oct. 8 raid showed PDEG personnel loading several bags into a sedan owned by a police officer. It also showed Mayos arrest, and how he was handcuffed and uncuffed several times throughout the video.

Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos said that the footage contradicted the scenarios described in the PNPs reports.

He claimed that 11 ranking police officials and three personnel had made a massive attempt to cover up the arrest of Mayo and called on those involved to file for leave.

Meanwhile, the PNP is set to file criminal and administrative charges against 49 police officers linked to the shabu haul and the alleged cover-up.

READ: PNP to file administrative, criminal raps vs. 49 PDEG officials
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Elizabeth Tomasino, an associate professor of enology, and Cole Cerrato, a postdoctoral student in her lab, study the impact of smoke exposure on grapes at Oregon State University's Woodhall Vineyard. Credit: Sean Nealon, Oregon State University

Oregon State University researchers have discovered a new class of compounds that contributes to the ashy or smoky flavors in wine made with grapes exposed to wildfire smoke.

This development is significant for winemakers who have struggled to combat the impact of smoke on grapes at a time when climate change is leading to an increase in the number and severity of wildfires, the researchers said.

"These findings provide new avenues for research to understand and prevent smoke taint in grapes," said Elizabeth Tomasino, an associate professor of enology at Oregon State. "They also will help provide tools for the grape and wine industries to quickly make decisions about whether to harvest grapes or make wine following a smoke event."

The findings, made in conjunction with researchers at Washington State University, were just published in the journal Food Chemistry Advances. Tomasino had also discussed the findings in June at the American Society for Enology and Viticulture national conference in San Diego.

Wildfires are a significant threat to wineries because persistent exposure to smoke compromises the quality and value of wine grapes and adversely affects wines. That threat is particularly pronounced on the West Coast of the United States, where California, Oregon and Washington are three of the nation's top four wine-producing states.

Pinot noir grapes at Oregon State University's Woodhall Vineyard undergoing smoke experiments. Credit: Sean Nealon, Oregon State University

Using smoke-tainted grapes to make wine can affect the aroma and flavor of the wine. The changes in flavor and aroma have traditionally been attributed to a class of compounds known as volatile phenols. However, volatile phenols weren't considered good predictors of smoke taint issues, Tomasino said. For example, wines with high levels of these compounds often didn't taste smoke-tainted, and wines with low levels could taste smoke-tainted, she said.

This led Tomasino and her team to search for other compounds that could be causing smoke taint in wine.

Last year, Tomasino and Jenna Fryer, a doctoral student in Tomasino's lab, published a paper that outlined a new standard for tasting the smoky/ashy component of smoke taint in wine. As part of that work, they discovered the new class of sulfur-containing compounds, thiophenols. Thiophenols are not normally found in wines and alcoholic beverages. They are found in meat and fish, and past sensory research has used the terms meaty and burnt to describe them.

To better understand what impact thiophenols might have on wine, Cole Cerrato, an Oregon State researcher who works closely with Tomasino, set up an experiment at the university's vineyard. Cerrato and others in the lab built a greenhouse-like structure, placed it over a row of grapes and exposed the grapes to smoke. They harvested those grapes and made wine with them.

The wines the researchers made were sent to Tom Collins, an assistant professor at Washington State's Wine Science Center. He confirmed that thiophenols were found in the wines that had been exposed to smoke in Oregon State's vineyard, and that the thiophenols were not found in control samples that had no smoke exposure.

Pinot noir grapes at Oregon State University's Woodhall Vineyard. Credit: Sean Nealon, Oregon State University

During sensory analysis in Tomasino's lab, the wines exposed to smoke in Oregon State's vineyardwhich has both thiophenols and volatile phenols in themwere described as ashy and smoky.

"To date, volatile phenol concentrations and frequent tasting of potentially impacted wines are the only predictors winemakers can use to determine the level of smoke they might have in their wines," Tomasino said. "The discovery of thiophenols provides a new chemical marker for smoke taint that could provide a reliable way to identify smoke taint and ways to potentially eliminate it during the winemaking process."

Co-authors of the paper also include Lindsay Garcia of Oregon State, and Mackenzie Aragon and Layton Ashmore of Washington State.

More information: E. Tomasino et al, A combination of thiophenols and volatile phenols cause the ashy flavor of smoke taint in wine, Food Chemistry Advances (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.focha.2023.100256 , doi.org/10.1016/j.focha.2023.100256
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Measurements reveal more than 400 different chemicals in water from a single Danish waterwork. Several of the compounds can have adverse health effects. According to the University of Copenhagen analytical chemists behind the study, monitoring needs to be broader and not solely focused on PFAS and pesticides. The techniques to do so already exist.

Despite a massive focus on PFAS substances and pesticide residues in Danish drinking water, little attention is paid to the hundreds of other chemical compounds in our groundwater.

Analytical chemists at the University of Copenhagen, in collaboration with Danish water and wastewater company Novafos, have taken broad measurements of substances in drinking water from three waterworks.

The researchers detected more than 400 different chemical compounds in water from a single waterworks. More than 100 compounds were found in water from each of the other two. But how many of these compounds are naturally occurring versus man-made remains unknown. At least nine of them are of particular concern to the researchers. Among other things, they can be harmful to organs and be carcinogenic and endocrine disrupting.

"Among the compounds we found were TCP, a toxic chlorinated substance used as an insecticide that can be carcinogenic, and melamine, which is used in the plastics industry and can damage the bladder and kidneys. Other compounds that can be harmful to health when in high-enough concentrations were also detected. We also measured many other chemicals that no one knows the toxicity of," says analytical chemist Selina Tisler, an assistant professor at the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences and first author of the study, published in the journal Environmental Pollution.

As far as is known, five of the compounds detected have never before been reported in groundwater anywhere in the world. These include benzothiazole, a compound used in car tires and on artificial turf pitches, that has shown high toxicity in cell tests. The researchers report that an additional five compounds have never been found in Danish groundwater. These include the above-mentioned TCP (2,4,6-trichlorophenol) and TFMS (trifluoromethane sulfonic acid), which are used in firefighting foams and belong to the large group of PFAS substances. A recent study shows that these cause physiological changes and disturbances in the gut bacteria of mammals.

The researchers strongly emphasize that, as for now, they only have indications of how large the concentrations of individual chemical compounds are. Therefore, no health risk can yet be established with regards to tap water consumption. According to Novafos, water from each of the three waterworks complies with all applicable regulations.

Monitoring needs to be broader

The researchers used liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry to detect a large portion of the various chemical compounds in each water sample. This technology allowed them to detect compounds that standard techniques currently used for screening groundwater are unable to detect.

According to the researchers, the major weakness in screening today is that public agencies only require monitoring for a limited number of predetermined substances.

"Taking action against PFAS substances and pesticides is definitely important. But one should also be after a broader overview of the chemicals in our environment that eventually will end up in our bodies. And, we have the techniques to help water utilities and agencies accomplish this task," says Jan H. Christensen, a professor at the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences and the study's lead author.

Some compounds can be treated away, but...

In many countries, groundwater destined for consumption goes through a treatment process. In Denmark, groundwater is usually just oxygenated and filtered before being pumped out to people's taps.

To study the effect of treatment, water from the three waterworks was treated using UV light (known as AOP purification), a commonly used purification technique in other countries.

The study demonstrates that treatment can make a big difference. On average, this method resulted in the removal of 70% of the chemical compounds. But at the same time, many new substances, so-called transformation products, were also formed as a result of UV light treatment. In fact, nearly as many compounds were created as the cleaning removed.

After treatment, the water from one waterworks was filtered through biological activated carbon (BAC) filters in four stages. Here, the vast majority of compounds were capturedbut not all of them:

"While thorough filtration collects both the majority of newly formed compounds and some of those that were in the water from the beginning, a range of problematic compounds still slip through. These include fluorinated compounds like PFAS and PFAS-related compounds," says Selina Tisler.

Nevertheless, the two chemists believe that drinking water should be treated in Denmark. Selina Tisler points out:

"Our study demonstrates the complexity of treatment. For example, we can see that this treatment technique was effective in removing some of the pesticides, but didn't work on PFAS compounds. So it's important to make use of different treatment techniques depending on which substances are being prioritized for removal. Indeed, there is not necessarily one treatment process that works on all chemical compounds."

Stop using the most toxic compounds

According to Jan H. Christensen, waterworks company Novafos' monitoring initiative is commendable:

"Initiatives like this are needed to more thoroughly measure whatever is hidden in our groundwater and learn how to best reduce the load of contaminants. It's good to see the water utility sector being proactive and taking responsibility for ensuring clean drinking water for consumers," says Jan H. Christensen.

But he highlights that we cannot simply rely on cleansing the problem away:

"Once you have an overview of which substances are out there and in what concentrations, it can help to prioritize which wells should remain open and which should be shut, as well as which treatment technologies would be most effective. But beyond that, we need to attack the root of the problem. We need to stop using the most toxic and difficult-to-degrade compounds and thereby eliminate the source itself. And then we should not use, as often happens, alternative compounds that turn out to be just as harmfuland sometimes even more so," says Jan H. Christensen, who concludes:

"Because there are some extremely tenacious chemical compounds that are very difficult to remove from our drinking water once they get there, regardless of how and to what extent the water is treated."

More information: Selina Tisler et al, Non-target screening of micropollutants and transformation products for assessing AOP-BAC treatment in groundwater, Environmental Pollution (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119758 Journal information: Environmental Pollution
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Examples of floating plastics collected in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre during The Ocean Cleanup's 2018 expedition. Credit: The Ocean Cleanup

The high seas have been colonized by a surprising number of coastal marine invertebrate species, which can now survive and reproduce in the open ocean, contributing strongly to the floating community composition. This finding was published today in Nature Ecology and Evolution by a team of researchers led by the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) and the University of Hawai'i (UH) at Manoa.

The researchers found coastal species, representing diverse taxonomic groups and life history traits, in the eastern North Pacific Subtropical Gyre on over 70% of the plastic debris they examined. Furthermore, the debris carried more coastal species than open ocean species.

"This discovery suggests that past biogeographical boundaries among marine ecosystemsestablished for millions of yearsare rapidly changing due to floating plastic pollution accumulating in the subtropical gyres," said lead author Linsey Haram, research associate at SERC.

These researchers only recently discovered the existence of these "neopelagic communities," or floating communities in deep ocean waters. To understand the ecological and physical processes that govern communities on floating marine debris, SERC and UH Manoa formed a multi-disciplinary Floating Ocean Ecosystem (FloatEco) team. UH Manoa led the assessment of physical oceanography and SERC evaluated biological and ecological dimensions of the study.

For this study, the FloatEco team analyzed 105 plastic samples collected by The Ocean Cleanup during their 2018 and 2019 expeditions in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, which occupies most of the northern Pacific Ocean. The field work relied on participation of both individual volunteers and non-governmental organizations.

Coastal podded hydroid Aglaophenia pluma and open-ocean gooseneck barnacles Lepas living on floating plastic collected in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Credit: The Ocean Cleanup, in coordination with Smithsonian Institution

"We were extremely surprised to find 37 different invertebrate species that normally live in coastal waters, over triple the number of species we found that live in open waters, not only surviving on the plastic but also reproducing," said Haram. "We were also impressed by how easily coastal species colonized new floating items, including our own instrumentsan observation we're looking into further."

"Our results suggest coastal organisms now are able to reproduce, grow, and persist in the open oceancreating a novel community that did not previously exist, being sustained by the vast and expanding sea of plastic debris," said co-author Gregory Ruiz, senior scientist at SERC. "This is a paradigm shift in what we consider to be barriers to the distribution and dispersal of coastal invertebrates."

While scientists already had already known that organismsincluding some coastal speciescolonized marine plastic debris, they were unaware until now that established coastal communities could persist in the open ocean. These findings identify a new human-caused impact on the ocean, documenting the scale and potential consequences that were not previously understood.

"The Hawaiian Islands are neighbored in the northeast by the North Pacific garbage patch," said Nikolai Maximenko, co-author and senior researcher at the UH Manoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology. "Debris that breaks off from this patch constitutes the majority of debris arriving on Hawaiian beaches and reefs. In the past, the fragile marine ecosystems of the islands were protected by the very long distances from coastal communities of Asia and North America. The presence of coastal species persisting in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre near Hawai'i is a game changer that indicates that the islands are at an increased risk of colonization by invasive species."

"Our study underscores the large knowledge gap and still limited understanding of rapidly changing open ocean ecosystems," said Ruiz. "This highlights the need for dramatic enhancement of the high-seas observing systems, including biological, physical and marine debris measurements."

More information: Linsey E. Haram et al, Extent and reproduction of coastal species on plastic debris in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, Nature Ecology & Evolution (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-01997-y Journal information: Nature Ecology & Evolution
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Joseph Lycett, Aborigines using fire to hunt kangaroo (c.1817). Credit: National Library of Australia

Indigenous Australians have conducted cultural burning for at least ten millennia and the practice helped reduce bushfire risk in the past, our new research shows.

The study, published in the journal Fire, provides more evidence of the very long history of cultural burning in southeast Australia. While the burning was probably not specifically used to manage bushfires, our data suggest it nonetheless reduced fire extremes.

Indigenous cultural burning involves applying frequent, small and low-intensity or "cool" fires to clean out grasses and undergrowth. But the scientific evidence for when in history Indigenous Australians used cultural burning, and what they were seeking to achieve, is unclear.

Our findings suggest Indigenous cultural burning in the past may have helped reduce the intensity of bushfires. These findings are important because evidence suggests cultural burning can assist modern land management as climate change worsens.

When did cultural burning start in Australia?

Some experts suggest cultural burning was adopted in the Pleistocene period, about 50,000 to 10,000 years ago.

Increases in charcoal in sediments have been linked to the arrival of humans, and subsequent vegetation change, on the Atherton Tablelands in northeast Queensland from about 45,000 years ago.

However, similar changes occurred on some Pacific Islands at times when humans were not present. This has cast doubt on whether past fires in Australia were the result of human activity.

Another point of view suggests cultural burning was adopted only in the last few thousand years.

Some current cultural burning programs in Australia were only established or re-established in the second half of the 20th Century. But they mostly take place in arid and tropical environments, and it's not certain whether they can be readily applied to temperate regions.

Our research sought to shed light on when cultural burning in southeast Australia began, and what effect it had. We focused on a site in the Illawarra region of New South Wales. In particular, we examined sediments from the bed of Lake Courijdah in the Thirlmere Lakes National Park, which holds a unique record into the past.

A spotlight on charcoal

Sediments in Lake Courijdah cover two time periods: one before Aboriginal people are thought to have arrived in Australia, and one after.

The older sediments, from about 135,000 to 105,000 years ago, included a period known as the Last Interglacial. This climatic period was very similar to today's and would have produced similar environmental conditions. Importantly, humans were not present at this time.

Cultural burning can assist modern land management. Pictured: an Indigenous man conducts cultural burning at Cape York. Credit: Alan Williams

Above this layer were deposits dating to the last 18,000 years, extending from the end of a cool and probably arid period known as the Last Glacial Maximum up to about 500 years ago.

It's well-documented that in this time period, Indigenous people were living across the Sydney Basin, including the Illawarra region.

From these sediments, we examined the accumulation of charcoala common method used to determine the frequency and relative size of bushfires. We also used a new method known as "Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy." It determines bushfire severity based on the chemical composition of the charcoal produced.

Using this new method is important. Recent research by our UNSW lab showed how traditional charcoal techniques may mask evidence of human fire use (in the form of cool fires).

Our results

So what did we find? During both periods, climatic change was the main driver of fire activity. This suggests human-caused climate change will continue to influence overall fire conditions in future.

But we found a marked difference between the two time periods when looking at the severity of fire. Despite significant climatic change over the last 18,000 years, fire severity remained lower, when compared to the earlier period without humans.

As such, we conclude that Indigenous cultural burning practices undertaken around Thirlmere Lakes from about 10,000 years ago may have suppressed extreme wildfires.

Cultural burning in the region may have begun earlier than this. However, data from before 10,000 years ago is variableprobably as a result of sea-level changeso we can't say for sure.

Indigenous people using cultural burning were probably not focused on wildfire suppression. Early explorer records, and even more recent work, suggests burning improved hunting prospects and the diversity of resources. However, cultural burning nonetheless appears to have reduced wildfires in this case.

Looking ahead

El Nino conditions are predicted to return to Australia this year. Inevitably, thoughts return to the massive Black Summer bushfire season of 20192020 and how to prevent such disasters in future.

Our findings suggest when it comes to future fire management in eastern Australia, traditional practices by Indigenous people should be taken into account in policy and decision-making.

Adopting cultural burning as part of our toolkit is likely to minimize wildfires and help keep people safe.

More information: Mark Constantine et al, Exploration of the Burning Question: A Long History of Fire in Eastern Australia with and without People, Fire (2023). DOI: 10.3390/fire6040152

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Samples from the bottom of the Atacama trench were taken with this "multiple core sampler", which is shown here on its way up with samples. Credit: Anni Glud/SDU

PCB has been banned in most countries since the 1970s, but that doesn't mean it no longer exists. Now, deep-sea researchers report that they have found PCB at the bottom of the Atacama Trench in the Pacific Ocean.

During their expedition to the deep-sea trench, the research team retrieved sediment cores and analyzed them for PCB occurrences at five different locations in the trench. All the samples of surface sediment analyzed contained PCB.

The study, led by Professor Anna Sobek from the Department of Environmental Science at Stockholm University and Professor Ronnie N. Glud, director of the Danish Center for Hadal Research at the University of Southern Denmark, has been published in the journal Nature Communications.

PCB is short for Poly-Chlorinated Biphenyls, which covers 209 different substances. They were introduced in the 1930s and have been used primarily in building materials and technical components, but are now banned in most countries and classified as a highly persistent environmental toxin. PCB can be carcinogenic and cause reproductive harm.

Although the world's production of PCBs dropped significantly in the 1970s, the substances still pose an environmental threat. In 2018 researchers reported, for example, that half of the world's killer whale populations were weakened by PCB.

A sediment core has just been retrieved from the Atacama trench during an expedition with the research vessel R/V Sonne. Credit: Anni Glud/SDU.

Another study has found that scavenging amphipods in the deep sea contained large amounts of PCBs.

"It is thought-provoking that we find traces of human activity at the bottom of a deep-sea trench; a place that most people probably perceive as distant and isolated from our society," says Professor Ronnie N. Glud, who has participated in more than 10 expeditions to deep-sea trenches around the world.

These expeditions have helped to dispel the myth that deep-sea trenches are unaffected by what happens on the surface and have provided insight into the surprisingly rich, active, and varied life at the greatest depths of the ocean. The studies have also shown that deep-sea trenches accumulate large amounts of organic material, contributing to the oceans' ability to absorb carbon released into the atmosphere through fossil fuel burning.

However, not only organic material accumulates in deep-sea trenches, which are also called hadal trenches. For example, the Danish Center for Hadal Research reported in 2021 that mercury also accumulates in the trenches' sediments, and in 2022, a similar announcement was made about black carbon, which is particles that are mainly formed by the combustion of fossil fuels.

Sediment core from the Atacama trench. Credit: Anni Glud/SDU

The concentration of PCBs in samples from the Atacama Trench is not alarmingly high, according to Ronnie N. Glud. He points out that much higher concentrations have been found in places like the Baltic Sea, North Sea, and Tokyo Bay. Concentrations 3001500 times higher have been measured in the Baltic Sea.

"These are places with a lot of human activity, so one would expect that. The Atacama samples do not show very high concentrations but considering that they were retrieved from the bottom of a deep-sea trench, they are relatively high. A priori no one would expect to find pollutants in such a place," says Ronnie N. Glud.

PCBs are hydrophobic, meaning they are not very soluble in water. Instead, they bind to organic material that sinks to the bottom.

"The Atacama trench is located in an area with relatively high production of plankton in surface waters. When the plankton dies, it sinks to the bottom of the ocean," explains Anna Sobek.

A sediment core from the Atacama trench is being cut open for further analysis. Credit: Anni Glud/SDU

In addition, large amounts of material are transported down the steep slopes and deposit in the deepest areas.

Some of the organic material that reaches the bottom of the Atacama trench is eventually decomposed by microorganisms, and as a result, PCBs accumulate in sediment.

PCBs are persistent compounds that are slowly redeposited over time, which is why increasing concentrations can be found in inaccessible areas such as the hadal trenches, even though they were largely banned worldwide in the 1970s.

"Unlike coastal areas where PCB concentrations are typically higher in deeper sediment layers deposited 50 years ago, PCB concentrations in hadal sediments are highest in the upper sediment layers, indicating that PCBs have only recently reached the deeper trenches and that concentrations have not yet peaked: We may see higher concentrations in a few years," says Ronnie N. Glud.

The deep-sea trenches are home to many different microorganisms and animals that have adapted to the extreme living conditions. Perhaps they are also home to organisms that can metabolize the pollutants that are deposited there.

That is one of the focus points of Danish Center for Hadal Research and for this research, the center holds a solid stock of frozen sediment samples collected from expeditions to different deep-sea trenches in 2021 and 2022.

"We are interested in finding out if PCBs are also present in other deep-sea trenches or if they are unique to the Atacama trench. We also want to investigate the bacteria that live down there and learn more about their function," says Ronnie N. Glud.

The deep-sea trenches are located in the hadal zone of the ocean, which lies at depths of 6-11 km. There are about 27 deep-sea trenches, also called hadal trenches, named after the Greek god Hades, who ruled the underworld.

More information: Anna Sobek et al, Organic matter degradation causes enrichment of organic pollutants in hadal sediments, Nature Communications (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-37718-z Journal information: Nature Communications
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Jitter plot showing the distribution of mated females (jittered around 1) and unmated females (jittered around 0) by monthly percentage of collected males and study location. Lines indicate fitted logistic regression curve by location. Credit: Ecology and Evolution (2023). DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9956

Female monarch butterflies have no trouble finding a mateeven when a parasite kills most of the males, new research shows.

Some females carry a parasite called Spiroplasma that kills all their male offspring, meaning highly infected populations have very few males.

But the new studyby the universities of Exeter, Rwandaand Edinburgh, and the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fundfound females mated about 1.5 times on average, regardless of how many males were around.

The male proportion dropped below 10% in some cases, but it appears the remaining hard-working males managed to breed with most of the available females.

10-20% of females remained unmated, only slightly higher than the expected average in a population with plenty of males (5-10%).

"It was an inspiring and powerful experience working along with an international team of experts and advancing our knowledge of monarchs, which will shape my future career path towards research-based conservation," said first author Vincent Rutagarama, a student at the University of Rwanda.

Professor Richard ffrench-Constant, from the Centre for Ecology and Conservation on Exeter's Penryn Campus in Cornwall, said, "It seems that monarch butterflies are very good at finding each other and mating. The proportion of males in butterfly populations fluctuates through the year, but we found consistent evidence of female breeding success all year round."

Dr. Ian Gordon, of the University of Rwanda, said this breeding success might explain how the male-killing parasite can be successfully transmitted in a population where males are rare.

"The irony is that if the entire population was infected, monarch butterfliesalso known as African queenswould produce no more princes, and the parasite would die out along with the butterflies," Dr. Gordon said.

"Further research is now needed, to find out why some monarch butterflies remain uninfected, and therefore able to produce healthy male offspring."

"Future research could also explain why the male-killing parasite is currently confined to a sub-section of the East African 'contact zone' (where prevailing winds converge, bringing flying insects together)."

Professor ffrench-Constant said other butterfly species have evolved resistance to parasites like Spiroplasma, so monarchswhich are very numerous and widespreadare unlikely to be at risk.

However, several years of severe drought in East Africa have caused a food crisis for humans and damaged biodiversity and ecosystems.

"We hope the monarch butterfly could become a symbol of conservation across Africa," Professor ffrench-Constant said.

"Monarchs live in savanna habitats. When there is rain, they thrive. When there is no rain, there are no butterflies, no cattle and no food for humans.

"The future of the monarch butterfly is tied to that of the continent, and humanity must tackle the climate and environment crisis to secure that future."

In butterflies and moths, successful breeding involves the transfer of a "spermatophore" from the male to the female. Spermatophores remain detectable after breeding.

In this study, carried out at one site in Rwanda and another in Kenya, male-female ratios were regularly counted and 10 randomly selected females were dissected each month to count spermatophores.

The paper was published in the journal Ecology and Evolution.

More information: Vincent P. Rutagarama et al, African Queens find mates when males are rare, Ecology and Evolution (2023). DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9956 Journal information: Ecology and Evolution
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Antikythera mechanism in National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Greece. Credit: Viacheslav Lopatin/Shutterstock

The coastal town of Exmouth in Western Australia is due to experience one of the most spectacular astronomical phenomena on April 20 2023a total solar eclipse.

Eclipses have entranced us for millennia. But it turns out calculating exactly when and where we can watch an eclipse in its full glory can be surprisingly hard.

Watching the sun and the moon

Being so dominant in the sky, the sun and the moon were the most captivating celestial bodies for ancient cultures to observe. Naturally, they also tried to anticipate and predict their motions.

While the sun's movement is quite simple, the moon moves across the sky with much more complexity. For one thing, it has phases; it also grows and shrinks in apparent size as it travels on an elliptical orbit around Earth.

On top of this, the moon appears to rock and wobble quite haphazardly on its journey across the sky, making it extremely challenging to accurately describe its orbit. In fact, explaining the moon's motion was the only problem that made Isaac Newton's head hurt.

Since eclipses are so startling to witness, many ancient peoples both noted their occurrence in writing and art, and discovered the repeating characteristics of such events.

During a lunar eclipse, where Earth blocks sunlight that would otherwise illuminate a full moon, the dimmed moon takes on a bloody hue. Many cultures attached foreboding to such events (like the partial lunar eclipse seen during the Fall of Constantinople in 1453) and quite reasonably wondered when the next such event might occur.

The Saros period (marked with a red rectangle) is visible on a fragment of the user manual of the Antikythera mechanism. Credit: Xmoussas/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

The not-so-mythical Saros cycle

Various cultures around the world have independently discovered eclipses seem to occur on an 18-year cycle. It was mentioned in written records by the Babylonians and Assyrians (of ancient Mesopotamia and modern Iraq), and oral tradition suggests the cycle was used for ceremonial purposes by Torres Strait Islanders in what is now Australia.

This 18-year cycle, which can persist as a sequence for over a thousand years, is now known as a Saros cycle. The word "Saros" was referenced in the 10th-century Byzantine Suda encyclopedia, and possibly has a Greek origin ("saro" meaning "sweep", perhaps relating to how eclipses sweep across the sky).

The Saros cycle represents how long it takes for the sun-Earth-moon system to return to almost exactly the same triangular configuration. So, if you see a lunar eclipse, you can expect another one 18 years later, visible from most places on Earth.

If you were an ancient culture that happened to observe a total solar eclipse, you would have been very lucky indeed (they occur roughly every 375 years at a given region on Earth). But would you have seen a similar event 18 years later? Alas, no. While there probably was another total solar eclipse 18 years later, it would have been over a completely different part of the planet.

After 54 yearsthree Saros cyclesthe eclipse region should have returned to roughly the same position on Earth. But only very roughly, as it could be thousands of kilometers away from the previous observation spot.

Worldwide, there is a total solar eclipse visible somewhere roughly every 18 months during one of two possible "eclipse seasons" per year. This is much more frequent than an 18-year Saros cycle, and is possible because multiple repeating Saros sequences overlap at once (roughly a dozen), each offset by at least six months. For example, the 2028 total solar eclipse that will be visible in Sydney is part of an entirely different Saros sequence than this year's eclipse.

After about a thousand years, when one long-term Saros sequence ends, another will begin with slightly different timing.

The path of the eclipse as described by Halley in 1715. Credit: University of Cambridge, Institute of Astronomy Library

From antiquity to modern day

So could our ancient ancestors actually predict eclipses? Yes, if we are talking about lunar eclipses, and perhaps even partial solar eclipses.

A famous predictive example is the Eclipse of Thales in 585 BCE, although the fact that a total solar eclipse happened over Greece was almost certainly more luck than science. That is, they wouldn't have predicted that 18 years later (567 BCE) a total solar eclipse was visible in what is now the United States.

It is likely the famed Greek Antikythera Mechanism, an astoundingly complicated 2,000-year-old mechanical device that was used to predict the night sky, could calculate the 18-year Saros accurately. But significantly, it could not predict total solar eclipses at a precise place on Earthjust their timing.

In summary, it is clear ancient people could predict timings for lunar eclipses and partial solar eclipses, but there is no convincing evidence of people predicting the times and locations of total solar eclipses.

Entering the modern era of science, the first true prediction of a total solar eclipse (both in time and location) occurred in 1715. Edmond Halley (of comet fame) correctly predicted, to within four minutes and 20 miles, a total solar eclipse that rather conveniently passed over his own house in London. He did this by making full use of Isaac Newton's new theories of gravity and orbital mechanics: the Principia.

Today, we don't rely on calculating the orbits of the whole solar system to predict eclipses. For example, NASA uses a highly advanced form of an ancient techniquepattern recognition. Using some 38,000 repeating mathematical terms, NASA can predict both solar and lunar eclipses for 1,000 years into the future. Beyond that, the moon's wobble and Earth's changing rotation make eclipse prediction less accurate.

So for those of you lucky enough to witness a total solar eclipse this month, take a moment to think about what this shared experience has meant to humans around the world for thousands of years.

Trying to predict and explain this phenomenon has directly driven advancements in mathematics and orbital mechanics, and with its beauty we have been forced to embrace the limits of our scientific knowledge.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Artist depiction of future lunar astronauts. Credit: NASA

When astronauts return to the moon in the next few years, the plan is to have them stay for good while establishing a permanent outpost on Earth's nearest celestial neighbor. Like all space missions, a lunar outpost will require fuel for long-term sustainability, but would it be better to mine fuel on the moon or get fuel resupply from the Earth? This is what a team of researchers led by Bocconi University in Italy hope to address as they addressed the best option in terms of deriving fuel from either the Earth or the moon.

Mattia Pianorsi, who is a junior researcher of the Space Economy Laboratory at the SDA Boccini School of Management and a Ph.D. Candidate at the University of St. Gallen, recently told Universe Today the main objective of the study was to ascertain the economic and technical feasibility of mining fuel from the moon's water ice deposits or from the Earth.

Both options would use an orbiting depot (OD) which Pianorsi says would be used "as a distribution channel for satellites as well as rockets in space." The OD, which is separate from NASA's proposed Lunar Gateway and is also not mentioned in the study, would possess a maximum fuel capacity of 25 tons and be located at the Earth-moon Lagrange Point L1 which is approximately three-quarters the distance between the Earth and the moon.

For the study, the researchers conducted a Monte Carlo analysis to evaluate the risks associated with both options. For their scenario, the researchers used hypothetical variables such as a lunar mining company, a transporter/distributor company, and end-users.

The hypothetical lunar mining company charges fuel at $500 per kilogram while for the Earth refueling option a transporter purchases the fuel from the Earth at a negligible cost. Both options considered fixed costs, including Design, Development, Testing, and Evaluation (DDT&E), Manufacturing, and Transportation, while the recurring costs included Refueling and Operations.

The researchers determined the Earth refueling option would involve approximately 1.5 launches of a Falcon Heavy (FH) Expendable plus propellant tank with a spacecraft refueling payload of 17.5 tons. While the OD has a capacity of 25 tons, the FH would need to bring a combined total of 26.69 tons as the remaining 1.69 tons of fuel would be used to "transfer the refilling tank with its subsystems," according to the study.

As stated, the fuel costs are negligible, but the launch costs are estimated to be $150 million per launch, putting a total refueling price tag at $227.9 million, which includes launch plus fuel costs. The estimated launch costs also totaled $6511.4 per kilogram with a total operation cost of $42.38 million per year.

For the moon refueling option, the researchers used a hypothetical moon shuttle built by the Cislunar Space Development Company (CSDC) with a payload of 25 tons that launches from the moon, docks and refuels the OD to its maximum capacity of 25 tons , then returns to the lunar surface, with the assumption that zero fuel is lost during the entire process.

As stated, the hypothetical lunar mining company put the fuel costs at $500 per kilogram, and the study put the total refueling price tag at $37.51 million dollars, which includes launch plus fuel costs, giving a total operation cost of $35 million per year.

Based on these results, the researchers concluded that refueling the OD is more affordable from the moon than from the Earth.

"So, if you want to put this project into real substance, it should be able to understand and to analyze data from a project financing point of view," Pianorsi recently told Universe Today.

"So it's the same logic under which you finance the infrastructure here on Earth, you have to understand how to incentivize your investors to jump in on the basis of the mitigation of the risk that you that you put in place, for instance, through contracts. So, this is a very important thing to do if you want to develop infrastructure, involving not only the public money, and maybe the money of the corporates, but even the money of financial investors. And I don't speak about venture capital or private equity, I speak about institutional investors," Pianorsi tells Universe Today that he believes these factors should be the next steps in terms of research.

As for the upcoming Artemis missions, Pianorsi emphasized to Universe Today the importance of "creating an economic cycle between the Earth and the moon" but also emphasized the importance of not just having space agencies and space companies conducting lunar and Mars activities, but non-space companies, as well.

"The companies need to understand that economic sustainability is the new prerogative of the new space economy," Pianorsi tells Universe Today. "It's not anymore cost-plus contracts of NASA. Right now, the times are changing and even space agencies, especially in times of budget constraints, need to rely on private companies to make innovation and to improve efficiency. And this implies not only from a cost perspective, but even from a market perspective."

The research is published in the journal Acta Astronautica.

More information: Andrea Sommariva et al, Preliminary analyses on technical and economic viability of moon-mined propellant for on-orbit refueling, Acta Astronautica (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.actaastro.2023.01.004 Journal information: Acta Astronautica
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Adjusted predictions of time around first birth for male-breadwinner, equal-earner and female-breadwinner households, with controls. Notes: HILDA Survey, 20012019. Credit: Australian Journal of Social Issues (2023). DOI: 10.1002/ajs4.264

A University of Queensland study has shown having a baby negatively affects a mother's employment earnings for up to 10 years.

Researchers from UQ's Life Course Center used data from the Household Income and Labor Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey to investigate the impact of parenthood on earnings across a period spanning 10 years prior to and 10 years after the birth of a child. The results are published in the Australian Journal of Social Issues.

Lead author and Master of Philosophy student Ruth Steinbring said that while previous research found an immediate "motherhood penalty" on women's earnings, this study was one of the first to examine the long-term trajectory of household earnings through the transition into parenthood.

"We know that parenthood is a key contributor to loss of earnings for women, but we did not know whether or at what point women started to regain their lost earnings," Ms. Steinbring said.

"While there is an expectation over the long term that couples will gradually return to pre-parenthood earnings arrangements, our study results do not support this.

"Parenthood affects men and women differently and the gender gap in earnings is still evident up to 10 years after the first birth."

The study shows the share of households with male breadwinners rises sharply post-parenthood and has still not returned to pre-parenthood levels 10 years on.

It also shows a large decrease in the number of equal-earner households. However there is less fluctuation in the number of female-breadwinner households from pre- to post-parenthood.

Ms. Steinbring said it made economic sense for the person who earned more to continue working.

"Our study confirms that parenthood entrenches the male-breadwinner model, but it also shows that there are some couples who make it work with a female breadwinner and we can learn from those households," Ms. Steinbring said.

"Current policy mainly focuses on supporting women after the birth of a child, but our research suggests that improving women's earnings prior to giving birth can also help improve equality."

Co-author and Life Course Center Director Professor Janeen Baxter said the study provides valuable new insights into the role of parenthood in gender inequality over a lifetime.

Professor Baxter said the findings suggest structural, economic and cultural pressures to conform to a male-breadwinner model, and unequal sharing of household and childcaring responsibilities, continued to be a strong influence on post-parenthood earnings.

"This study highlights the need for policymakers to also consider the years prior to parenthood as a key period where targeted supports can foster greater long-term gender equality," Professor Baxter said.

More information: Ruth Steinbring et al, Taking the long view: Longterm couple earnings arrangements across the transition to parenthood, Australian Journal of Social Issues (2023). DOI: 10.1002/ajs4.264
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

A new rapid test for the early diagnosis of preeclampsia, a potentially life-threatening complication of pregnancy, has been developed by a team of researchers at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). The test is significantly faster and more accurate than current methods.

Preeclampsia is a condition that affects around 4%8% of all pregnancies and is characterized by high blood pressure, protein in the urine and damage to organs such as the kidney and liver in the second half of pregnancy. It can lead to serious complications, or loss of life, for both mother and baby if left untreated.

Currently, the diagnosis of preeclampsia involves measuring blood pressure and testing for protein in the urine, along with other clinical signs and symptoms. Adding to the complexity is the fact that preeclampsia is a multifactorial disease with varying symptoms and features, so the diagnosis can be missed or delayed, particularly for those living in rural and remote areas.

The new strip-based lateral flow assay uses innovative nanoparticle-based technology to detect the concentration of specific biomarkers present in the blood plasma of women with preeclampsia. The novel protein biomarkers, called FKBPL and CD44, were discovered by Associate Professor Lana McClements.

The development of the nanophotonic platform used in the rapid test was led by Distinguished Professor Dayong Jin, director of the UTS Institute for Biomedical Materials and Devices.

Associate Professor McClements said the new test can produce results within 15 minutes and is highly sensitive and specific. "We believe this test has the potential to revolutionize the way preeclampsia is diagnosed and managed," she said.

The research team conducted a study using clinical samples in collaboration with the Mercy Hospital for Women in Melbourne to validate the effectiveness of the test. They found that the test showed significantly improved sensitivity (90.5% vs. 73.7%) and specificity (100% vs. 92.3%) compared to the most up-to-date method currently available.

The study, "Quantitative Point of Care Tests for Timely Diagnosis of Early-onset Preeclampsia with High Sensitivity and Specificity," has just been published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition. First authors, UTS Ph.D. candidate Sahar Ghorbanpour and Dr. Shihui Wen, performed the experiments and developed the prototype.

The new test can be performed at the point-of-care, such as a pre-natal clinic or doctor's office. "This essentially gives clinicians the ability to make immediate and life-saving informed decisions, and not wait 24 hours for the results to come back," Associate Professor McClements said.

At present, the only known cure for preeclampsia is delivery of the baby, however premature delivery can lead to complications and hospitalization.

"In addition to the new test, the novel biomarkers also show potential as drug and cell therapy targets of emerging treatments for preeclampsia. This offers hope not only for earlier diagnosis, but also for a future cure to this terrible disorder," Associate Professor McClements said.

The research team is now working to commercialize the test in collaboration with industry partners and hopes to eventually make it widely available to healthcare providers around the world.

"This is a major advance over current methods of diagnosis, which can be unreliable and time-consuming," said Associate Professor McClements. "Our test has the potential to make a real difference for both mothers and babies."

More information: Sahar Masoumeh Ghorbanpour et al, Quantitative Point of Care Tests for Timely Diagnosis of EarlyOnset Preeclampsia with High Sensitivity and Specificity, Angewandte Chemie International Edition (2023). DOI: 10.1002/anie.202301193 Journal information: Angewandte Chemie International Edition
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 16)  Instead of relying on "lamppost CCTVs" to piece together a drug bust, police officers should be required to wear body cameras that would record the whole operation on video, according to House Deputy Speaker Ralph Recto.

Police officers who participate in drug busts must be made to wear body cameras, so that a video recording of the operation will aid in prosecuting suspects, commend deserving officers, and deter those caught, and their coddlers, from bribing their way to freedom, Recto said in a statement on Sunday.

The lawmaker made the statement amid the investigation into the alleged involvement of high-ranking Philippine National Police (PNP) officials in a massive shabu haul and an ensuing cover-up in October last year.

Among the evidence provided by authorities against the PNP officials were CCTV footage.

Recto stressed that the police should stop relying on CCTV footage and instead use body cameras during operations to preserve hard to refute documentation.

Whether the narcotics seized weigh one kilo or one ton, a video recording is the best receipt there is, Recto said.

He further questioned that if it is now SOP (standard operating procedure) for police officers and police units to blanket their activities with social media reportage, then why is such an important operation be spared of such coverage?
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

The New Horizons instrument payload that is currently doing planetary science, heliospheric measurements, and astrophysical observations. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

The New Horizons mission currently flying through the Kuiper Belt could be facing an unexpected change of plans. NASA's Science Mission Directorate is soliciting input on turning the spacecraft into a heliospheric science probe. The agency wants to do it much sooner than mission planners intended. If that happens, it will stop further planned planetary exploration of objects in that distant regime of the solar system.

The changes NASA proposes come as a surprise since the spacecraft continues to perform Kuiper Belt object observations. And, it has received a very good recent senior science review. That report stated, "This is likely the only spacecraft humans will send through the outer solar system for at least 2030 years. The investigations proposed are strengthened by the unique position of this asset."

More Kuiper Belt studies

To date, the mission continues to accomplish its planned science goals in planetary exploration. "We're doing a variety of Kuiper Belt scienceincluding tracing the dust distribution from colliding KBOs out much farther than ever before," said Principal Investigator Alan Stern. "We're studying new, more distant KBOs from angles and closer ranges that you can't get from Earth to determine their surface properties, their satellite counts, and shapes, things that cannot be done well except by a spacecraft in the Kuiper Belt. And of course, we're on the prowl for a new flyby target if one can be found."

Stern points out that the mission has, through 2022, observed and characterized 36 Kuiper Belt objects. In addition, it has studied several dwarf planets from its unique vantage point in the Belt. Data from those observations help calculate the shapes, orbits, and surface textures of these very distant bodies.

What the science teams have found so far will help place some important constraints on KBO formation mechanisms. Future observations should also help the teams understand the processes driving the surface evolution and compositional differences between various KBOs.

Building on New Horizons observations of Pluto and Arrokoth

Science also continues to flow from the mission's earlier discoveries, as reported at the March Lunar and Planetary Science conference. For example, the team may have figured out how the primitive Kuiper Belt object Arrokoth formed by gentle accretion. They've also been tracking the phenomenon of polar wander on Pluto. It turns out that the surface feature Sputnik Planitia may play a role.

The spacecraft is well placed to "look back" and capture views of Uranus and Neptune. Those observations will be done in tandem with the Hubble Space Telescope. In addition, New Horizons will continue its planned studies of the heliosphere. Finally, it will continue to map the cosmic background in optical and ultraviolet light. In other words, there's plenty for the spacecraft to do in astrophysics, cosmology, and solar system sciences.

Searching for the next target

Since the Arrokoth encounter, the team's been hunting for another flyby target. According to Stern, it's been an intense search. "We're twice as far out from Earth as when we found Arrokoth, which makes the targets we search for sixteen times farther. So, the search is much harder," he said. "This is the only chance we've got to do Kuiper Belt science for decades and we need time to find the next target."

That hunt uses enhanced equipment on ground-based telescopes and also takes advantage of machine-learning AI software. The Subaru Telescope in Hawai'i has a new high-throughput filter on its giant Hyper Suprime-Cam digital camera. The New Horizons team specifically purchased that filter to use in the KBO search. The Dark Energy Camera instrument at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile is another tool in the hunt. Those facilities should be able to find what amounts to a needle in the Kuiper Belt haystack. If the team finds an object along the New Horizons trajectory, they'll spool up planning for its observations.

Proposed changes from NASA

So given the current successes, why is NASA looking to discontinue planetary science using New Horizons? The first hints about this proposed change came when the agency sent word that the current extended mission will end on October 1, 2024. Originally, the team asked for funding to continue Kuiper Belt science through 2025. However, in May 2022, NASA informed the team of the cutback to only two years of further exploration. The team is working to get the third year back. This is important since the mission will be traversing the Kuiper Belt until at least 20272028. That gives plenty of time to do more planetary science.

Other hints of possible changes came in another NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) suggestion. This one is to move the mission from the Planetary Science section to the agency's Heliophysics division. SMD also issued a request for Information (RFI) on March 15, 2023. It states, "SMD is exploring whether interested science teams have a set of science objectives to propose to NASA for use of the mission beyond FY24. The purpose of this RFI is to gauge the level of interest of the wider science community in pursuing the next phase of science leadership for the mission, and to estimate appropriate annual costs."

The SMD request for input from the larger science community seems focused on what to do with the mission (and its team) now that the Pluto and Arrokoth flybys are over. It doesn't acknowledge that New Horizons hasn't finished its survey of the Kuiper Belt. Plus, it's still actively doing planetary science there.

Presenting the changes

At an SMD question-and-answer session on April 6th, Planetary Science Division director Lori Glaze acknowledged the mission extension proposal for operations past Fiscal Year 2024. She also noted that it received a good senior review as a multi-disciplinary approach for planetary science, astrophysics, and heliophysics.

Glaze stated, "[The review] says that the probability of additional science return for planetary science with New Horizons spacecraft is quickly diminishing and that there's very little additional planetary science that we can gain from the spacecraft." Glaze also pointed out that the astrophysics and heliophysics divisions evaluated the same review. "They did identify significant heliophysics science that could be done from this unique location in the solar system," she said.

The actual review she refers to says something slightly different. It states that proposed KBO studies are unlikely to dramatically improve the state of knowledge. This is a statement some planetary scientists have characterized as a naive assumption. But, it does not say specifically that there's very little planetary science to be gained. It also goes on to point out that an extended mission would support all the planetary science, plus astrophysical and heliophysics objectives outlined in the 2003 Decadal Survey.

Truncating valuable planetary science?

Despite the favorable reviews and mission accomplishments, the proposed plan to abruptly stop doing planetary science with New Horizons and turn it into a heliospheric mission will be devastating. According to Stern, if a further extension is not granted, it amounts to a truncation of New Horizons Kuiper Belt planetary science years too early.

"New Horizons is a national treasure," he said. "We'll never get another Kuiper Belt extension if it goes to Heliophysics Division. Right now, we need to exploit this mission for every bit of planetary and particularly Kuiper Belt science we can get while we're still in the Kuiper Belt."

Historically, the exploration of this regime of the solar system came from a prime recommendation of the 2003 Planetary Decadal Survey. It recommended a Pluto-Kuiper Belt explorer mission as a way to study solar system history, volatiles, and organics in the solar system. The survey report specifically stated that "KBP's value increases as it observes more KBOs and investigates the diversity of properties."

It further points out that "The SSE Survey anticipates that the information returned from this mission might lead to a new paradigm for the origin and evolution of these objects and their significance in the evolution of objects in other parts of the solar system."

That survey led to the creation of the New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt. Its prime aims were to do as much planetary science in the Belt as possible. It also included robust heliophysics and astrophysical components from the beginning. So far, it has accomplished all those types of observations and more.

What's lost if New Horizons KBO Mission gets shortened?

According to Mark Sykes, a planetary scientist and CEO and Director of the Planetary Science Institute, the potential loss of planetary science from New Horizons is a big deal. "It has a collection of instruments and a team that's operating now that knows best how they operate, their sensitivities, and so on," he said. "New Horizons is the one opportunity we have to study these objects in their primordial state in the region where they have resided frozen for the age of the solar system."

"Four years ago New Horizons flew by the first such object ever seen, Arrokoth," he said. "The most important thing NASA can do now is to make every effort to find a second target for New Horizons to fly by. It is the only way we could get any clue about the physical diversity of these objects, which would greatly impact our understanding of the formation and evolution of the solar system."

Sykes points out that the search for a flyby target is high risk. "There might not be a target close enough to New Horizons' flight path. But, the very high payback and the marginal cost of the effort is tiny compared to the billion dollars already invested by taxpayers in this mission," he said. "While they hunt, there are a lot of unique planetary, astrophysical, and heliophysical observations that can be made. To not make these observations, to not make an effort in planetary, as well as astrophysics, and heliophysics with everything this spacecraft can do, to me, is a crime."

Sykes also pointed out that the spacecraft's position in the Kuiper Belt provides the most unique look at dust distribution there. That's because it's taking in situ measurements. "The dust tells you something about the collisional environment there, and provides a really important constraint in terms of what's going on," he said.

What's next?

For now, New Horizons has not yet been moved out of the planetary science portfolio. NASA is still soliciting input from the broader science community over the proposed move. The RFI ends on April 17th.

The New Horizons team is working to get the planetary component extended. They also want to keep experienced mission scientists in place. Although the RFI doesn't state it directly, the wording seems to suggest that the Science Mission Directorate is looking to replace the current science team with new groups of scientists who will propose heliophysics science for the spacecraft moving forward. These researchers would not be as familiar with the mission instruments.

Something like this has never been done to any spacecraft team before, said Stern. He fears that if new people are brought in to run the mission, the current team will be sent packing, unfunded and unaffiliated with the spacecraft they worked to build, launch, and operate. And, the loss to science is incalculable.

"If they shut it down as a planetary mission, it will be the end of Kuiper Belt exploration for several decades," he said. "Cutting us off prematurely is exactly counter to what the Decadal Survey recommended."

Planetary mission challenges

This challenge to New Horizons and its science team plays out against a backdrop of big budget issues at NASA. Just as one example, the agency is grappling with delays to the flagship Mars Science Return mission. There is talk about descoping it to save money. The Veritas mission just got delayed by three years. That's largely due to technical issues, as well as funding requirements for other missions.

Budgetary constraints shouldn't be part of the New Horizons situation, according to Stern. "Our budget request for another mission extension is around $10 million," he said. That's an amount the team requested to restore the fiscal year 2025 funding that NASA took away. He compared that to NASA's overall science budget of just under $8 billion. "It's a drop in the bucket for the amazing science return we still hope to get."
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Crowding animals together make diseases more likely to develop and spread. Credit: Dusan Petkovic/Shutterstock

Scientists recently created a meatball with the flesh of the long-extinct wooly mammoth. The meatball was the product of one of this century's most promising technological advancementscellular agriculture.

Sometimes called "lab-grown meat," the process involves growing animal products from animal cells in a controlled laboratory environment. The process eliminates many of the environmental, animal welfare and human health concerns that are associated with industrial livestock systems today.

But laboratory-grown animal products are yet to really take off. Singapore and the US are so far the only two countries in which lab-grown food products can be sold legally to consumers. The European Food Safety Authority is still assessing the potential risks associated with cultured animal products.

And on March 28, Italy's minister of agriculture, Francesco Lollobrigida, announced that the country would become the first to ban lab-grown foods. The reason for the proposed ban is mainly to protect Italian farmers. But the government has also voiced concerns about the quality of synthetic foods and their threat to Italy's proud culinary heritage.

However, lab-grown meat has the potential to offer a much more sustainable food source than traditional animal farming that could also help reduce the spread of disease.

How are meat products grown?

Scientists can grow muscle tissue synthetically by reproducing the process of cellular regeneration that occurs naturally in an animal's muscles. This task is carried out by stem cells, which are specialized in cellular division. Stem cells are collected by obtaining a tissue sample from a living animal before being isolated and cultivated in conditions that resemble the animal's body.

It currently takes around four weeks to produce a burger. A range of other animal products can be cultivated in a lab, including seafood and milk.

Fewer resources

There are growing concerns around the climate impact of meat production.

At present, livestock production alone consumes 70% of the world's arable land and uses vast amounts of water. This may increase further in the future. Meat consumption is expected to double by 2050 as the middle class grows in China, Brazil, India and across Africa.

But, if scaled up, lab-grown meat would use substantially less land and water. Research finds that around 99% less land is required to produce 1kg of lab-grown meat than would have to be used by European farms to produce the same amount.

Producing 1kg of meat in a laboratory would also use between 82% and 96% less water than a traditional livestock farm, depending on which product is compared.

Lower health risk

Cultivating meat from cells can also reduce the risk of disease development and prevent unnecessary animal suffering.

There are obvious welfare issues associated with crowding animals together on farms. But these cramped conditions also make diseases like avian flu, mad cow disease and the African swine fever virus more likely to develop and spread.

In the year 20182019, around 225 million pigs in China either died or were culled due to the outbreak of African swine fever. This is equivalent to around one quarter of the global pig population.

Animal farmers use antibiotics to prevent the spread of disease. But their overuse is contributing to a rise of antibiotic resistance. The United Nations estimates that, by 2050, antibiotic resistance will lead to more deaths than cancer worldwide.

Lab-grown meat is also safer to eat when it comes to bacteria. The cells used in cultivated meat production are carefully screened to make sure they are not contaminated with infectious pathogens.

Meat products that are grown from cells are also free from contamination by fecal bacteria like E. coli, Salmonella and Listeria. These bacteria live inside an animals' gut and can contaminate the meat when the animal is slaughtered.

An environmentally friendly alternative?

Industrial livestock systemsparticularly cattle farmsare responsible for the emission of huge quantities of greenhouse gases like CO and methane. But growing meat from cells can have a similarand sometimes even worseenvironmental footprint.

Cellular food technologies generate more CO (up to 22.1kg of CO per kg of meat) than conventional cattle farms at present (which produce up to 5.4kg CO). This is largely because maintaining the right conditions for cell growth in a laboratory consumes a lot of energy.

Lab-grown meat does, however, produce substantially less methane than conventional cattle farming. This will vary depending on the method of culturing and farming used, but on average, 1kg of meat grown in a lab produces up to 0.082kg of methane. In comparison, a kilogram of meat produced on a conventional farm can generate up to 1.2kg of methane.

Methane has a 25-times greater global warming potential than CO. But it remains in the atmosphere for much less timearound 20 years compared with centuries for CO. This means that the CO that accumulates in the environment will fuel global warming for a long time after its emission. So upscaling cellular food technology to a mass-market production system before energy systems are decarbonized is risky.

Lab-grown meat has the potential to make our food system more sustainable. As energy systems are decarbonised, this new form of food will only become more attractive.

But upscaling the technology will require a lot of political will. And, as shown by Italy's prospective ban, political will is in short supply.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

A simple and portable Au-on-Au tip sensor was constructed to achieve specific, sensitive, and colorimetric detection of Salmonella typhimurium using an RNase H2-specific nucleic acid molecule derived from a random-sequence synthetic nucleic acid pool by in vitro selection. Credit: Angewandte Chemie International Edition (2023). DOI: 10.1002/anie.202300828

McMaster University researchers have developed a rapid and inexpensive test for Salmonella contamination in chicken and other foodone that's easier to use than a home COVID test.

The test, described in a new paper in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition, could improve food safety, reduce the cost of processing fresh poultry and other foods, and help to limit broad recalls to batches that have specifically been identified as contaminated.

The researchers have shown that the test provides accurate results in an hour or less without the need for accessories or a power source, compared to today's monitoring through lab cultures, which require at least a full day to produce results.

Once scaled up and made available commercially, the new test could be a significant boon to poultry processors, for whom Salmonella is among the most significant contamination risks. The test would also be beneficial for ensuring the safe processing of other foods that are particularly vulnerable to Salmonella, such as eggs, dairy products and ground beef.

A single major poultry processor performs tens of thousands of Salmonella lab tests each year. Reducing or even eliminating the need for overnight lab cultures would represent significant savings and make it easier to identify contamination earlier in the process. McMaster University researchers demonstrate and explain their new lab-free test for Salmonella contamination. Credit: McMaster University

"Anyone can use it right in the setting where food is being prepared, processed or sold," says co-author Yingfu Li, a professor of Biochemistry and Chemical Biology who leads McMaster's Functional Nucleic Acids Research Group. "There's a balance between cost, convenience and need. If it's cheap, reliable and easy, why not use it?"

Protecting the public from Salmonella is a high priority for food producers, retailers and regulators alike, since Salmonella is one of the most common and serious forms of food-borne infection, causing 155,000 deaths globally every year.

What makes the test work is a new synthetic nucleic acid molecule, developed at McMaster. For the test, the molecule is sandwiched between microscopic particles such as gold.

The test platform lines the inside of the tip of a pipette and begins to work when a liquefied sample of the food being tested is drawn inside the tube.

If Salmonella bacteria are present, they cut through the particles, allowing the molecule to escape.

McMaster University's new Salmonella test indicates the presence of Salmonella by producing a red dot on test paper. Credit: Matthew Clarke, McMaster University

When the solution is dropped onto a paper test strip, the presence of Salmonella shows as a visible shade of red, thanks to a new form of biosensor, also created by the McMaster team. The greater the concentration of Salmonella, the brighter the color appears.

"Using these tests is easier than using a COVID test, which so many people are already doing," says co-author Carlos Filipe, chair of McMaster's Department of Chemical Engineering. "For this to be as effective and useful as possible, it has to be easy to use."

The new technology has been developed with support from the non-profit research organization Mitacs, and Toyota Tsusho Canada Inc., an indirect subsidiary of Toyota Tsusho Corporation in Japan, which plans to develop the innovation for commercial use.

The research is part of an ongoing, broader effort to establish McMaster and its Global Nexus for Pandemics and Biological Threats as a center for the development of real-time sensors, pathogen-repellent materials and other products that improve food safety.

"This is very important to us in the development of our food-testing program," says co-author Tohid Didar, an associate professor of Mechanical Engineering and Canada Research Chair in Nano-biomaterials. "Being able to create a test that is both easy to use and which produces a readily visible color within an hour is significant."

Li, Didar and Filipe authored the paper with postdoctoral research fellow Jiuxing Li, Ph.D. student and Vanier Scholar Shadman Khan, and research associate Jimmy Gu.

Reducing illness and food waste aligns with Toyota Tsusho Canada's values, explained Toyota Tsusho Canada Inc. President Grant Town.

"Our goal is to help bring proven research from the lab to the marketplace, where it can benefit society," Town says. "Reducing the risk of illness while also cutting food waste will benefit everyone, and Toyota Tsusho Canada sees this as a great opportunity."

More information: Jiuxing Li et al, A Simple Colorimetric AuonAu Tip Sensor with a New Functional Nucleic Acid Probe for Foodborne Pathogen Salmonella typhimurium, Angewandte Chemie International Edition (2023). DOI: 10.1002/anie.202300828 Journal information: Angewandte Chemie International Edition
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Researchers at QUT have developed a new tool to measure customer aggression within the retail and services sectors.

Published in Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, the study, was the first of its kind to clearly identify the types of aggressive behaviors that employees face, and how these behaviors lead to employees' emotional exhaustion, job stress and intention to leave.

The research involved five studies, including surveys of 211 undergraduate students who worked in frontline retail and service roles and surveys of over 1,000 Australian frontline retail and service employees.

Lead author Professor Gary Mortimer said while incidents such as a customer violently throwing a product at an employee or yelling to attain a discount are clearly visible, aggression could also be subtle or implied.

"Participants in the study indicated aggressive behavior with examples of being stood over, stared at, being ignored or having fake poor reviews and negative comments posted on social media," he said.

The study's findings identified a four-factor customer aggression scale that listed 19 items for managers to use to survey staff.

Outcomes of customer aggression. Credit: Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2023.103348

"It's an easy-to-administer measurement tool to assess the extent and type of aggression their employees face," Professor Mortimer said.

"Once employees are surveyed and the data analyzed, managers identify what types of aggression are more prevalent in their businesses, the staff who are more exposed to these hostile behaviors, and where these behaviors are more likely to occur."

"As an outcome, managers may implement mitigation strategies, like increasing the number of supervisors at checkout areas or install video surveillance at refund or return counters."

"It is also important for companies to manage these types of risks to employees' safety under work, health and safety laws."

The study was co-authored by QUT's Dr. Shasha Wang and Mexico-based Professor Maria Lucila Osorio Andrade from EGADE Business School Technologico de Monterrey.

"Businesses that introduce targeted mitigation strategies to reduce the harm on employees eventually improve employee well-being," Dr. Wang said.

The study indicated that increasing abusive behavior was the result of 'displaced aggression' toward retail and service employees.

"The saying that the 'customer is always right' is known as 'customer sovereignty' and sovereignty relates to perceived relational 'superiority'. It has been theorized that customer aggression results when 'customer enchantment' turns to 'disillusionment'," Professor Mortimer said.

The research also coincided with recent calls from Australia's peak retail body, the Australian Retailers Association, and the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association for state and territory governments to implement tougher penalties for people who assault retail workers.

South Australia toughened its laws to a maximum penalty of five years' prison for people convicted of basic assault against a retail worker while a New South Wales Labor election promise included harsher penalties.

More information: Gary Mortimer et al, Measuring customer aggression: Scale development and validation, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2023.103348
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Extreme cold is merciless on machinery. Fluids thicken to useless goo. Rubber seals stiffen and crack.

The problems pile up as the temperature falls. Metal becomes brittle, and wires contract. Batteries stop working, adhesives stop sticking and LCD screens go black as their liquid crystal freezes solid.

And that's just here on Earth.

When NASA's new lunar rover lands on the moon's south pole next year, it will encounter a whole new kind of cold.

Temperatures there hover around minus 280 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 173 degrees Celsius). In the permanent shadows of polar craters, it can fall to minus 388 F (minus 233 C).

For context, Antarctica's Vostok Station holds the record for the lowest temperature ever recorded on this planet: minus 128.6 F (minus 89.2 C), recorded July 21, 1983. A typical day on the moon is about 150 degrees colder than the coldest it has ever been on Earth.

Previous rovers for the moon and Marswhich is also cold, averaging minus 80 Fhave been equipped with built-in heaters that switch on at the start of the lunar or Martian day and take several hours to warm enough for the machines to begin their daily tasks.

That comes at a cost of time and energy, two precious commodities on any space mission. But what if you could build a rover that didn't need warm-up time?

"If you're able to work longer hours in one day, you'd be able to get more information," said Lacie Fradet, a project engineer at Motiv Space Systems in Pasadena, which is working with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to make this possible. If they succeed in building an arm that can operate in extremely cold regions, "we will be able to go places we haven't gone before."

The first step toward that vision is materializing in Motiv's climate-controlled clean room: a sleek robotic arm whose angles resemble those of a praying mantis.

This is the Cold Operable Lunar Deployable Arm, a robotic arm capable of operating in the cold of the lunar poles. Motiv is building it using parts supplied by JPL in La Canada Flintridge. If COLDArm passes all testing here on Earth, the next goal for the project is to secure a place on NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services, a program that allows U.S. companies to send technology to the moon's surface for testing or to conduct scientific experiments.

The 6.5-foot (2-meter) arm is only one piece of a future lunar rover, but it's a crucial one. The arm is the primary tool for scooping up samples from the moon's surface. If it fails, so does the mission.

Motiv previously built the robotic arm on Perseverance, the rover currently exploring Mars' Jezero crater . The 7-foot-long arm holds such crucial instruments as SHERLOC, which searches for evidence of past microbial life, and the X-ray spectrometer known as PIXL.

If COLDArm proves successful, it could supercharge the amount of experimentation that can be conducted in the chillier regions of our solar system.

JPL has experience building machines that can function in Martian temperatures as cold as minus 202 F (minus 130 Celsius), said Ryan McCormick, the principal investigator for COLDArm.

"But getting even colder," he said, "is a big challenge."

Many lubricants and adhesives that function on Mars will degrade in the cold of a lunar night. Certain electronics that worked fine for the Mars roverswhich can take advantage of the heat trapped by the thin Martian atmospherewon't work on the moon either.

COLDArm is made of bulk metallic glass, a class of metals whose atomic arrangements more closely resembles that of glass, making them stronger and more durable than steel or ceramic.

Bulk metallic glass doesn't require a wet lubricant at its joints. That's crucial, because wet lubricants freeze solid at minus 94 F (minus 70 C)a practically tropical temperature compared with the chill of the lunar poles. Previous rover arms have had to be built with tiny heaters at each joint to keep the lubricant at a pliable temperature. Bulk metallic glass makes that unnecessary, Fradet said.

In addition, COLDArm's motor controllers have been fitted with an updated voltage converter that can function in extremely cold environments without the added bulk of cables or insulation, McCormick said.

In March, the Motiv team disassembled the arm and tested its various components in a thermal vacuum set below 100 Kelvin, or roughly minus 175 C. (Extreme cold has its own temperature units, with zero Kelvin representing the point at which molecules stop moving.)

All of the parts functioned in both the extreme cold and in vibration testing designed to simulate launch conditions, McCormick said. The next step is to reassemble the arm and ensure that it works as a whole in those conditions.

Adding to the complexity is the fact that temperature functions in a completely different way on the moon than it does on Earth, said JPL planetary scientist Laura Kerber. The moon has no air to redistribute heat, so when light hits the moon's surface, it gets super hotup to 250 F at the equator. Without that light, it's super cold.

Given the moon's position relative to the sun, the interiors of craters at its south pole remain in constant shadow. That makes them about as cold and dark as anything in the solar system.

"In those permanently shadowed regions, all they see is the cold of space," Kerber said. "Engineering-wise, it's so hard to make something that can survive inside those really, really cold, permanently shadowed craters."

That's a major issue for NASA's Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, better known as VIPER, which is scheduled to land at the moon's south pole in late 2024 to search for water ice.

The strongest hints of water on the moon are in the deepest-shadowed areas. Those places are too cold for VIPER, but it will skirt around them and collect samples from the surrounding area, where the suggestions of water are weaker but still significant.

Navigating the moon's temperature extremes has been a challenge since the earliest lunar missions. That's a big part of the reason Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin flew 240,000 miles for a relatively short wander around their spacecraft: It was simply too hot at Apollo 11's landing site in the Sea of Tranquility to go any farther.

"We were operating in a near-perfect vacuum, with the temperature well above 200 degrees Fahrenheit," Neil Armstrong told NPR in 2010. "NASA officials limited our surface working time to 2 3/4 hours on that first surface exploration to assure that we would not expire of hyperthermia."

2023 Los Angeles Times.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Space travel has brought us to our next-door neighbor, the moon, and to the depths of our larger solar community inhabited by giants such as Saturn and Jupiter.

In 1982, Voyager 2 whisked past Uranus closer than any other spacecraft has since, and now is sailing46 years after its launchthrough interstellar space, some 133 AU (approximately 19.9 billion km) from Earth.

But there have been few comparable satellite missions in recent years. Cost is the main obstacle, but time frame is also a factor. The design for such long journeys takes years to calculate, and planning and construction of a space vehicle would take about a decade. Factoring in the time a satellite would require to reach distant targets means our next peek into the stars will likely not come any time soon.

A team of scientists led by Slava Turyshev of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, which launched the Voyager satellites back in 1977, is anxious to get space exploration back on track. The team proposes a novel means of travel that could get us to the stars faster and cheaper.

In a paper released on the arXiv preprint server, Turyshev and more than two dozen fellow researchers from the United States and Europe proposed merging miniature satellite units with a solar energy process that would create a fast, inexpensive, lightweight mode of travel.

Solar sailing is a process by which the pressure generated by the sun's radiation is harnessed for propulsion. Recent innovations in this technology were demonstrated in a successful crowdfunded 2019 mission undertaken by the Planetary Society's LightSail-2 project.

The researchers explain, "Solar sails obtain thrust by using highly reflective, lightweight materials that reflect sunlight to propel a spacecraft while in space. The continuous photon pressure from the sun provides thrust, eliminating the need for heavy, expendable propellants employed by conventional on-board chemical and electric propulsion systems, which limit mission lifetime and observation locations."

They say that sails are far less expensive than heavy equipment currently used for propulsion, and that the ever-present continuous solar photon pressure from the sun makes thrust available for a broad range of vehicular maneuvers, such as hovering or rapid orbital plane changes.

Solar sails and miniaturization "have advanced in the past decade to the point where they may enable inspiring and affordable missions to reach farther and faster, deep into the outer regions of our solar system," the report says.

The researchers refer to the merging of these two technologies as the Sundiver Concept.

"Fast, cost-effective and maneuverable sailcraft that may travel outside the ecliptic plane open new opportunities for affordable solar system exploration," the report states, "with great promise for heliophysics, planetary science, and astrophysics."

With enhanced maneuverability, the spacecraft can easily deliver small payloads to multiple destinations if required, and can dock with related modular craft. The reliance on the sun and the miniaturization of the carrier, which requires no dedicated launch site, will prove to be significant cost savers, the researchers add: "A substantial reason for the high costs is our [current] reliance on slow and expensive chemical propulsion, operating at the limits of its capabilities, effectively rendering the current solar system exploration paradigm unsustainable. A new approach is needed."

The Universe Today web site observed this week that with the project gaining support from NASA, in a few years we may "begin to see a fleet of ultra-fast solar sailing probes zipping throughout the solar system. That would be quite a sight."

More information: Slava G. Turyshev et al, Science opportunities with solar sailing smallsats, arXiv (2023). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2303.14917 Journal information: arXiv

 2023 Science X Network
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Donana National Park is home to one of Europe's largest wetlands.

Spain has vowed to block a regional plan to legalize farming near one of Europe's largest and fauna-rich wetlands, where water supplies have plunged due to climate change and agriculture.

The proposal to rezone lands near the huge Donana National Park in the southern Andalusia region comes amid a prolonged drought and it has drawn the ire of Brussels.

The area is home to many rare species such as the Iberian lynx and on the route of millions of migratory birds, including flamingos, spoonbills and ibis.

"Donana will not be touched, Donana is the heritage of Andalusians, of all Spaniards," Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez warned.

Andalusia's parliament voted Wednesday to consider the plan proposed by the region's conservative Popular Party (PP) government.

If it becomes law, roughly 2,000 hectares (3,700 acres) near the park and its endangered wetlands will be declared irrigable.

This would grant an amnesty to many unauthorized farms, mainly growing strawberries, that have sprouted here.

A final vote on the proposalwhich is also backed by far-right party Voxis due soon. It is expected to pass as the PP and Vox have a majority in the regional parliament.

Sanchez's government has said it will challenge the proposal in court if approved.

Sitting on an estuary where the Guadalquivir River meets the Atlantic Ocean, the park streetches across 100,000 hectares of forests, lagoons, marshes and dunes.

A waterhole at Spain's Donana Natural Park which is feeling the effects of a prolonged drought.

Not enough water

A study by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) published last week said 59 percent of the park's largest lagoons have not been filled "since at least 2013".

It blamed changes in temperature and precipation in the area, as well as the "increase in the amount of cultivated land".

Defenders of the proposal argue it will help farmers who missed out during a previous regularization of farms in the area in 2014 under a Socialist government.

The PP says the plan will not hurt the wetlands since the newly regularized farms will only use surface water.

But environmentalists and the central government disagree, saying it will increase the strain on the park's stressed aquifer.

"The Andalusia government knows perfectly well that there will never be enough surface water because it is already exhausted," Spain's Ecological Transition Minister Teresa Ribera told the El Pais newspaper on Sunday.

"We can't complain that there is no water, about the drought, and at the same time promise water that doesn't exist."

She accused Andalusia's government of trying to woo farmers ahead of regional and local elections on May 28 and a year-end general election.

The park is on the migratory route of millions of birds.

'Put order to chaos'

The head of the regional government, Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla, accuses Sanchez of hypocrisy, saying the Socialists did not reverse the decline of Donana when they governed Andalusia for 36 years until 2019.

"It is very frivolous Donana will be defended by those who allowed aquifers to be violated for years," he said, adding that his government's plan will "put order to chaos".

Spain's central government has warned the country risks being slapped with fines by the European Union if the plan goes ahead.

The European Court of Justice condemned Spain in 2021 for failing to protect the natural reserve and threatened Madrid with fines if the situation did not improve.

"It's an issue which we're following closely. We're in touch with the Spanish authorities on that," European Commission spokesman Tim McPhie said.

Huelva, the drought-prone province where the park is located, produces 300,000 tons of strawberries a year, 90 percent of Spain's output.

Known locally as "red gold", strawberry farming employs up to 100,000 people and accounts for nearly eight percent of Andalusia's economic output.

 2023 AFP
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Discovered in the 1950s and first described in a paper in 1966, the Tully monster, with its stalked eyes and long proboscis, is difficult to compare to all other known animal groups. Unique to Illinois in the U.S., it became its state fossil in 1989. Credit: Takahiro Sakono, 2022.

For more than half a century, the Tully monster (Tullimonstrum gregarium), an enigmatic animal that lived about 300 million years ago, has confounded paleontologists, with its strange anatomy making it difficult to classify. Recently, a group of researchers proposed a hypothesis that Tullimonstrum was a vertebrate similar to cyclostomes (jawless fish like lamprey and hagfish). If it was, then the Tully monster would potentially fill a gap in the evolutionary history of early vertebrates. Studies so far have both supported and rejected this hypothesis.

Now, using 3D imaging technology, a team in Japan believes it has found the answer after uncovering detailed characteristics of the Tully monster that strongly suggest that it was not a vertebrate. However, its exact classification and what type of invertebrate it was is still to be decided.

In the 1950s, Francis Tully was enjoying his hobby fossil hunting in a site known as Mazon Creek Lagerstatte in the state of Illinois, when he discovered what would later become known as the Tully monster. This 15-centimeter (on average), 300-million-year-old marine "monster" turned out to be an enigma, as ever since its discovery researchers have debated where it fits in the classification of living things (its taxonomic position).

Unlike dinosaur bones and hard-shelled creatures that are often found as fossils, the Tully monster was soft-bodied. The Mazon Creek Lagerstatte is one of the few places in the world where the conditions were just right for imprints of these marine animals to be captured in detail in the underwater mud, before they could decay. In 2016, a group of scientists in the U.S. proposed a hypothesis that the Tully monster was a vertebrate. If this was the case, then it could be a missing piece of the puzzle on how vertebrates evolved.

Despite considerable effort, studies both supporting and rejecting this hypothesis have been published in recent years, and so a consensus had not been reached. However, new research by a team from the University of Tokyo and Nagoya University may have finally brought an end to the debate.

"We believe that the mystery of it being an invertebrate or vertebrate has been solved," said Tomoyuki Mikami, a doctoral student in the Graduate School of Science at the University of Tokyo at the time of the study and currently a researcher at the National Museum of Nature and Science. "Based on multiple lines of evidence, the vertebrate hypothesis of the Tully monster is untenable. The most important point is that the Tully monster had segmentation in its head region that extended from its body. This characteristic is not known in any vertebrate lineage, suggesting a nonvertebrate affinity."

Often used to study dinosaur footprints, these color-coded depth maps enabled the researchers to thoroughly investigate the structure of the Tully monster and other fossils from Mazon Creek. Credit: Mikami, 2022.

The team studied more than 150 fossilized Tully monsters and more than 70 other varied animal fossils from Mazon Creek. With the aid of a 3D laser scanner, they created color-coded, three-dimensional maps of the fossils that showed the tiny irregularities which existed on their surface through color variation. X-ray micro-computed tomography (which uses X-rays to create cross sections of an object so that a 3D model can be created), was also used to look at its proboscis (an elongated organ located in the head). This 3D data showed that features previously used to identify the Tully monster as a vertebrate were not actually consistent with those of vertebrates.

Although the researchers are confident from this study that the Tully monster was not a vertebrate, the next step of the investigation will be to answer what group of organisms it does belong to, possibly a nonvertebrate chordate (like a fishlike animal known as a lancelet) or some sort of protostome (a diverse group of animals containing, for example, insects, roundworms, earthworms and snails) with radically modified morphology.

Problematic fossils like the Tully monster highlight the challenge of piecing together the dynamic history of Earth and the diverse organisms that have inhabited it. "There were many interesting animals that were never preserved as fossils," Mikami said. "In this sense, research on the fossils from Mazon Creek is important because it provides paleontological evidence that cannot be obtained from other sites. More and more research is needed to extract important clues from Mazon Creek fossils to understand the evolutionary history of life."

The findings are published in the journal Palaeontology.

More information: Tomoyuki Mikami et al, Threedimensional anatomy of the Tully monster casts doubt on its presumed vertebrate affinities, Palaeontology (2023). DOI: 10.1111/pala.12646 Journal information: Palaeontology
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

A bathing site in the Tjuvholmen neighbourhood of Oslo, Norway. A. Credit: Aleksandravicius/Shutterstock

Almost all of the UK's waterways are polluted. In 2022, a House of Commons Committee report on the state of UK rivers concluded that no river in England was free from chemical contamination. Only 14% of UK rivers had a "good" ecological status.

Both agricultural runoff and the release of untreated sewage are leading causes of river pollution in the UK. In 2021, water companies discharged untreated sewage into English waterways for a combined total of more than 2.5 million hours.

The discharge of sewage has happened for several different reasons.

A lack of investment in dated infrastructure means the capacity of many sewage pipes is regularly exceeded. So, to avoid sewage backing up and flooding public spaces and people's homes, water companies often release sewage elsewhere through the combined sewer overflow network.

The situation has not been helped by disruption to wastewater treatment chemical supplies following Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic. The Environment Agency responded to these shortages by introducing temporary waivers in 2021, allowing water companies to temporarily release not-fully-treated effluents into the environment.

Raw sewage can affect human health and is a threat to wildlife. Not only does it contain harmful bacteria and viruses, sewage discharge floods rivers with nutrients that aid the development of algal blooms. These blooms prevent light from reaching deeper layers of water, so do not allow some plants to photosynthesize. They can even reduce the oxygen content of water, which worsens habitat quality.

Within Europe, the UK's polluted waterways are largely an anomaly. Many other countries have reported significant improvements in bathing water quality in recent decadesindeed, bathing is now possible in some capital cities including Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen and Vienna.

Between 1991 and 2019, the percentage of Europe's bathing waters with "excellent" water quality increased from 53% to 85%. In several countries, including Austria, Greece and Malta, more than 95% of bathing sites are now classified as excellent.

So, what lessons can the UK learn from European countries that have cleaned up their act?

1. Croatia

In 2009, only 44% of Croatians had access to wastewater collection systems, and less than 25% to any form of wastewater treatment. The practice of discharging untreated sewage into the Adriatic Sea reduced the quality of Croatia's coastal waters.

But between 2009 and 2015, a World Bank loan worth US$87.5 million (70m) funded a project to improve sanitation in Croatia. This included the construction of 14 new wastewater treatment plants and the installation of 162km of sewerage networks.

By 2016, the percentage of Croatia's population with access to wastewater services had increased to 72%. And the quality of Croatia's coastal waters continues to improve. In 2021, 95.7% of its bathing water sites had excellent water quality.

People swimming at a beach in the Croatian city of Baska. Credit: Luboslav Tiles/Shutterstock

2. Germany

The Ruhr river in western Germany flows through the country's major industrial Ruhr region. In 1971, bathing in the river was banned due to heavy pollution, both from sewage and chemical effluent from the local steel and mining industries.

Between 2010 and 2015, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research funded a research project called "Safe Ruhr", which targeted the return of bathing sites to the river. The project combined extensive wastewater treatment with monitoring water quality, modeling routes by which bacteria and viruses enter the river, and developing an early warning system for short-term water pollution.

The project succeeded in reopening the popular bathing site at Lake Baldeney, to the south of city of Essen, in 2017.

3. Albania

In 2015, 40% of Albania's bathing waters were classified as poor. This was largely the consequence of the country's underdeveloped water supply and sewerage network.

But in recent years, bathing water quality in coastal areas of Albania has improved significantly. Over two-thirds of the country's bathing sites are now of excellent quality, including some of the country's biggest tourist destinations, such as Durres in western Albania.

With the help of funding from the World Bank, local sewerage networks have been improved. Five new wastewater treatment plants have been installed along the coastline of Durres, with capacity to serve half a million residents.

This investment quickly improved bathing water quality. By 2019, just 5.9% of Albania's bathing sites were of poor status.

4. Italy

The water quality in Lake Varese, a small lake in the north of Italy, had deteriorated over a long period since the 1960s. This was the result of extensive algal blooms that were likely caused by nutrient enrichment from industrial effluent.

Since the 1990s, however, a research program supported by the European Commission and the Italian Ministry of the Environment has restored the lake's water quality. In 2000 and 2001, nutrients were removed directly from the lake through methods including nutrient inactivation and dredging. Two of the lake's three bathing sites are now of excellent quality.

A major political issue

Water quality is now a major political issue in the UK. The leader of the Labor Party, Keir Starmer, recently accused the government of "turning Britain's waterways into an open sewer."

Scrutiny such as this has prompted the UK government to confirm its plans to raise the cap on fines for water companies that are found to be polluting the environment. Already last year, new requirements had been imposed on these companies to invest 56 billion in water infrastructure by 2050, in order to reduce sewage discharges.

But it remains to be seen if such mounting pressure will result in the UK's rivers, lakes and coastlines becoming safer for bathing. Looking to Europe for inspiration, it should invest heavily in wastewater and sewerage infrastructure and on water monitoring, so that many more of us can enjoy swimming in our natural surroundings.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 16)  Senator Risa Hontiveros on Sunday said Beijing should recall Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian following his "disgraceful statements" on the fate of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Taiwan amid the heightened military ties between the Philippines and the United States.

Our OFWs in Taiwan will continue to work where they work. End of story. Filipinos will thrive and make a living according to our wishes. We will never let Beijing decide on the future of Filipino families. Their destiny is not in Chinas hands, Hontiveros said in a Facebook post.

The Palace should tell Beijing to recall their representative in Manila as soon as possible. He has no business being a diplomat if he is unable to engage with us in a respectful and dignified manner, she said. He, along with his countrys ships and artificial islands in the West Philippine Sea, should pack up and leave.

The senators statement came after Huang urged the Philippines to oppose Taiwan's independence rather than "stoking the fire" by giving the US access to military bases under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), if it cares genuinely about the 150,000 OFWs in Taiwan.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila also released the original text of the ambassador's speech during the 8th Manila Forum over the weekend to set the record straight as it claimed that some reports have misquoted or misinterpreted his statements.

"Some tried to find excuse for the new EDCA sites by citing the safety of the 150,000 OFWs in Taiwan, while China is the last country that wishes to see conflict over the Strait because people on both sides are Chinese. But we will not renounce the use of force, and we reserve the option of taking all necessary measures. This is to guard against external interference and all separatist activities, Huang said.

The Philippines is advised to unequivocally oppose 'Taiwan independence' rather than stoking the fire by offering the US access to the military bases near the Taiwan Strait if you care genuinely about the 150,000 OFWs, he added.

Huang was adamant that the US would use the four new EDCA sites in Cagayan, Isabela, and Palawan to help Taiwan's independence movement.

He also said that China commends the Philippines adherence to the one-China principle, stressing that Manila will never allow any third party to meddle with resolving internal issues, as is Beijing.

The Taiwan question is entirely Chinas internal affair, as is the Mindanao issue to the Philippines. You will never allow any third party to meddle with resolving rebel issues in Mindanao. Likewise, it should not be hard to understand why the announcement of the four additional EDCA sites has caused widespread and grave concern among Chinese people, he said.

In her post, Hontiveros also stressed that the Philippines will never interfere with the issue of Taiwanese independence and that China is the one making all this mess.

If China has issues with the US, she shouldnt drag our country into their fight. It is China who has been stoking tensions in the region, claiming territories that arent hers. It is China who continues to bully, harass, and intimidate other smaller nations in the region. It is China who is making all this mess, she said.
HEBRON  The Washington County Sheriffs Office has charged a Hebron man with murdering a 20-year-old woman who was in a vehicle that had mistakenly pulled into the mans driveway.

In a news release issued Monday afternoon, the office said it has arrested Kevin D. Monahan, 65, of Patterson Hill Road, in connection with the Saturday night shooting death of Kaylin A. Gillis, of Schuylerville.

Monahan is being charged with felony second-degree murder.

She was an innocent young girl out with friends looking for another friends house. I know for a fact that she comes from a good family and know her personally. Shes a young girl that was taken way too young, Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy said at a press conference on Monday.

On Saturday at 9:53 p.m., a 911 call was received for a woman who had been shot in the area of Cemetery Road in the town of Salem, according to the news release. Subsequent calls came in reporting shots fired from a house on Patterson Hill Road.

Patrols arrived on scene to Cemetery Road in the Town of Hebron and began CPR, Murphy said. We then began getting calls of shots being fired on Patterson Hill Road in the Town of Salem approximately 5 miles away.

Deputies discovered that Gillis had been shot while in the vehicle. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

The sheriffs offices preliminary investigation concludes that Gillis was in a vehicle that had mistakenly pulled into the driveway where Monahan, the homeowner, was inside. He fired at least two shots from his porch, with one striking Gillis in the vehicle. The people in the vehicle drove away from that residence until they got to the Cemetery Road area where they could make a 911 call.

Theyre young adults, they were in the area looking for a friends house. Its a very rural area with dirt roads and its easy to get lost. They drove up this driveway for a very short time, realized their mistake, and Mr. Monahan came out and fired two shots, the sheriff said.

Authorities were not able to immediately speak with Monahan, the sheriffs office said.

Monahan was uncooperative with the investigation and refused to exit his residence to speak with police, the news release. He was later taken into custody with the assistance of the New York State Police Special Operation Response Team after several hours.

When asked about the weapon used, authorities declined to comment.

We dont want to talk about the weapon today, Murphy said during the press conference.

Murphy said Monahan was transferred to Warren County Jail as an administrative decision.

A GoFundMe fundraiser was created by Beth Palleschi and Nikki Thomas for funeral and other expenses for Gillis family. The goal was first set to $30,000 but then raised to $35,000 on Monday afternoon. By early Monday evening, more than $27,000 from almost 300 donors was pledged.

As many of you know, Kaylin Gillis was taken from us far too soon tragically and devastatingly at the age of 20. We have set this up to raise money for an Angel and Andys family, to help with funeral and other expenses, the description of the fundraiser said, referring to Kaylin Gillis parents.

To make a donation, visit https://gofund.me/45873974.

The Washington County Sheriffs Office said the following agencies provided assistance with the response and investigation:

Granville Police Department, New York State Police, Cambridge/Greenwich Police, Salem EMS and Fire Department, Hebron Fire Department, Washington County Department of Public Safety, Cambridge EMS, Warren County Sheriffs Office, Washington County District Attorneys Office and the Washington County Department of Public Works.
Its not just the wealthy and political action committees boosting the campaign coffers of U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville.

Randall Cheney, a retired Salmon, Idaho resident, contributed 87 cents on Jan. 10 to Stefaniks reelection campaign.

He made separate contributions of $2 and $28, his largest in the new campaign cycle so far, on Jan. 24, and contributions of $1.70, $1.98, and $2 on Jan. 7.

By the end of the first quarter, Cheney, who apparently is not related to former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming, had contributed a total of $270.16, according to a new quarterly campaign finance report Stefaniks campaign filed Saturday with the Federal Election Commission, showing that her campaign raised nearly $1.12 million in the first quarter.

Cheney is an example of a demographic that now accounts for a significant share of Stefaniks donor base: small-dollar donors, many retired, who donate on a consistent basis.

Stefanik announces campaign for sixth term in Congress U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, announced Tuesday that she will run for re-election to a sixth term in 2024, and has launched a new

Stefaniks campaign reported $282,563 in un-itemized contributions in which donors had contributed less than $200 in total during the campaign cycle, more than double the campaigns political action committee contributions of $144,000.

Many other small-dollar contributors crossed the $200 threshold to be identified as individual donors.

Its a national grassroots donor base that has been pollinated by Stefaniks regular appearances on conservative television, internet and radio programs in her role as conference chair, the third ranking House Republican Conference leadership position, and fertilized with frequent telemarketing calls and internet fund-raising requests.

In the first quarter, Stefanik, who represents New Yorks 21st District, received identified contributions from 44 states and the District of Columbia.

Stefaniks campaign contributions of $1.117 million in the first quarter were slightly more than the $1.112 million her campaign received in the first quarter of 2021, to start the most recent previous election cycle.

The five-term incumbents campaign spent $713,612 in the 1st quarter, and had $1.3 million on hand, as of March 31.

Congressional candidates file regular campaign reports four times a year, and more frequently in the weeks directly before and after an election. The reports are required by federal law, and are intended to provide transparency about who is supporting, and potentially influencing, candidates. The reports also provide an indication of how competitive a race might be.

A Democratic challenger to Stefanik in 2024 has not yet been announced.

Saratoga County woman mounting primary challenge to Stefanik Jill Lochner wants to bring a moderate Republican voice back to the forefront in the North Country, and shes running for Congress to do it.

Jill Lochner of Greenfield Center announced in March her candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 21st District, setting up a potential primary with Stefanik.

Lochner reported $1,931 in contributions in the first quarter, and personally loaned her campaign $5,000.

John Davidson, of Queensbury, a construction materials and development executive who is co-owner of Davidson Brothers Brewery in Glens Falls and is a frequent Republican donor, contributed $500.

Lochners campaign spent $844 in the first quarter, including $423 for campaign apparel.

Her campaign had $6,094 on hand, as of March 31.
HEBRON  The Washington County Sheriffs Office is investigating the shooting death of a 20-year-old female, according to a press release Sunday.

According to the release, the shooting occurred in the Town of Hebron on Saturday night. A 911 call was received at 9:58 p.m. reporting that a woman had been shot.

One subject has been charged in connection with the shooting death. The sheriffs office said there was no immediate threat to the public.

No further details were available at press time. A press conference is scheduled for Monday at 1 p.m. at the Washington County Law Enforcement Center.
ALBANY  Gov. Kathy Hochuls nominee to be New Yorks chief judge appears all but certain to be approved, a development that may swing the states highest court leftward.

The Democratic-controlled State Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday overwhelmingly voted to forward Rowan Wilsons nomination to the full Senate floor. The full Senate confirmation vote is set to occur Tuesday, the final step in the process.

Wilson, who testified for three hours before the committee, has served as an associate judge of the Court of Appeals since 2017. If confirmed by the full Democratic-controlled Senate, Wilson would make history as the first Black chief judge.

Wilson has been considered one of the high courts liberal members during his years there, including concerning the rights of criminal defendants. On a court that veered more conservative under the prior chief judge, Janet DiFiore, Wilson has been known for writing frequent dissents to majority opinions, and for his talent in writing those dissents.

State Senate Democrats, who killed the nomination of Hochuls first pick for chief judge this year, have argued that the court includes too many former prosecutors and in recent years has disfavored criminal defendants. DiFiore was a former prosecutor, as was Hochuls first, rejected nominee this year, Hector LaSalle.

Wilsons controversial decision in a recent criminal justice case was the focus of questions on Monday, many from Republicans, but some also from Democrats. One group generally aligned with Democrats, the National Organization for Women NYC, recently came out in opposition to Wilsons candidacy because of a majority opinion Wilson authored last month.

That ruling freed a convicted rapist four years before his sentence was to end. In People v. Regan, Wilsons majority opinion vacated a jurys guilty verdict because, he argued, police and prosecutors for years dragged their feet before pursuing the case. The constitutional right to prompt prosecution, embodied in the due process clause of our state constitution, was violated, he wrote.

The victim had repeatedly asked the New York State Police and Lawrence County District Attorneys Offices to take the case seriously; after four years, an indictment was finally filed. Wilson wrote that while the constitution allows lengthy justifiable delays, it does not allow for lengthy unexplained or, as here, inexplicable delays caused by lethargy or ignorance of basic prosecutorial procedures.

In a dissenting opinion, Justice Madeline Singas, a former district attorney, wrote that the majority has only reaffirmed rape cultures pernicious grasp on our criminal justice system.

Its opinion will not deter this type of behavior by law enforcement, but instead be weaponized against victims and used in hindsight to rationalize closing long-running rape investigations and dismissing prosecutions, she wrote.

Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee sharply questioned the ruling, and several ended up voting against Wilson.

What I find deeply concerning about this case, from my own standpoint, is that the statute of limitations hadnt run, said Republican State Sen. Steven Rhoads. If the victim had reported the crime four years later, and prosecution had a timely prosecution, that person would still be in jail. But because the prosecution delayed  causing no prejudice to the criminal defendant  the criminal defendant was freed, and the victim is further victimized.

Wilson testified that sometimes, to vindicate those rights to all of us, you have to do damage to an individual case. He added that because of his opinion, prosecutors may be more motivated to speedily pursue cases and avoid embarrassment..

Think about the contrary, which is to say, You dont have to take rape seriously if youre prosecutor. You can do nothing. You can come into court and say, We cant even tell you why we did nothing,  Wilson testified. Either validate that, or not.

Wilson said he would change how the court operated. He noted that the court had heard substantially fewer cases under DiFiore and that its very difficult to be a nationally preeminent court of any kind if youre deciding fewer and fewer and fewer cases.

Asked about how he would generate consensus, given his history of writing dissents, Wilson said he wants to hold lengthier conferences among the justices so that they would more likely compromise. Wilson testified that he did not consider himself either an activist judge or strict constructionist, but rather a pragmatist.

Vincent Bonventre, a professor at Albany Law School, said in a recent interview with WCNY public radio that, whether or not Republicans agree with his voting record, Wilson is absolutely brilliant. His resume could not possibly be stronger.

By the time cases get to the Court of Appeals, there are good precedents on both sides. Theres textual interpretations on both sides. The lawyers have good cases on both sides. So the court legitimately could go either way, Bonventre said. Wilson has typically tilted on the side of the liberal. That is, rights of the accused, and the rights of workers. But its not as though hes making these things up.

Before serving on the Court of Appeals, Wilson was for decades in private practice as a commercial attorney at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, where he became the first Black partner.

In addition, he was trustee for the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and for the National Center for Law and Economic Justice, and chairman of the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, which provides public defense services.

Earlier this year, State Senate Democrats voted down Hochuls first pick to be chief judge, a historic rebuke delivered by members of Hochuls own party.

In casting LaSalle as too conservative, Senate Democrats focused on decisions LaSalle had made as a state appellate court justice related to abortion, organized labor and criminal justice. Senate Democrats and liberal allies were seeking a chief judge who would swing what they viewed as a conservative, 4-3 majority on the court, led by DiFiore.

This time, Hochul picked a judge with a decidedly liberal record and consulted Senate Democrats in advance. And from the outset, Senate Democrats have been friendlier to Hochul, including rubber stamping a novel approach towards picking Court of Appeals judges. Senate Democrats introduced the bill Hochul sought and it was signed into law on April 10.

Under the state constitution, when there is a vacancy in the court, a 12-person panel is charged with vetting applicants, then submitting a list to Hochul from which she nominates.

But in late March, Hochul put forward a bill that would allow her to nominate one of the courts current associate justices for the chief judge, then avoid a drawn-out process to replace that person. Instead of the 12-person commission having to again vet applicants, Hochuls bill allows her to use the existing, seven-person list from which shed picked the chief judge.

On April 10, Hochul nominated Wilson to be her chief judge. And in that same press release, Hochul announced that she planned to appoint attorney Caitlin Halligan as Wilsons replacement as an associate judge on the Court of Appeals.

On Tuesday, Senate Democrats are holding a hearing to consider Halligan. That same day, the full Senate is likely to vote on Wilsons nomination, creating a vacancy on the Court of Appeals. The Senate is then likely to vote on Halligans candidacy on Wednesday.

Senate Republicans are considering filing a lawsuit arguing that the law bypassing the 12-person commission is illegal.
GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP  A Jewish farming colony hidden away in the Pine Barrens and obscured by time has been brought to light on the silver screen.

The premier screening of the documentary film Alliance: A Story of Bravery, Immigration, Resilience, and Family was held Sunday at Stockton University. The film focuses on the Alliance Colony, a settlement of Jewish farmers in Salem County that was founded in the late 19th century. More than 200 people gathered to explore the parts of their family legacy rooted in the Jewish farming community explored in the film, gather with kin and celebrate their heritage.

Susan Donnelly, director and executive producer of Alliance, said she felt the film would be important to those who descended from the families that settled the colony. She said she was humbled by the turnout and found that people were eager to see their family histories preserved. Although she has been working in film since she was a teenager, "Alliance" is Donnelly's first feature film.

"Theres a community there that really wants to hear the stories," said Donnelly, who lives in Maryland. "And so, it just seemed like there was this need, this desire, to have something that could tell about Alliance and its history and could live on.

A thriving community

The movie narrates the history of Alliance and the effect it had on the settlers and the wider South Jersey community. Alliance was founded in 1882 by Jewish migrants fleeing persecution in a czarist Russia increasingly engulfed in pogroms and antisemitism. There were about 43 families at the start of the Alliance Colony, although experts in the film stressed the families came in separate groups at different times and the exact population of the colony in its early years is unknown.

The migrants were aided by a variety of Jewish refugee organizations, including HIAS and the Alliance Israelite Universelle, which was the namesake of the colony. With diverse political, ideological and spiritual motivations, the migrants decided to form a communal farm colony in Salem County, about 5 miles outside Vineland. While they were mostly new to farming and struggled with the largely arid soil of the Pine Barrens, the Alliance settlers banded together to create a thriving community, growing to a population of more than 1,000 by 1908.

The film is supported by several charitable, private and public arts organizations, including the Maryland State Arts Council, the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture, Women in Film & Video, and the New Jersey Council for the Humanities.

South Jersey chicken farming ushered in a new life for some Holocaust survivors Southern New Jersey played a role in helping some Holocaust survivors start a new life by wo

A Q&A session was held after the screening featuring Donnelly, associate producer and photography director Ted Salins, professor Thomas Kinsella, the director of the Alliance Heritage Center at Stockton, and Nachum Helig, a Jewish man who owned and farmed land in the area of the former Alliance Colony until he sold his farm several years ago. During the documentary, Helig offers several powerful interviews illustrative of the colonys historical and emotional importance.

The Alliance Heritage Center helped organize the screening event. Stockton geology adjunct professor Mark Demitroff featured prominently in the film, and Heather Perez, the special collections librarian at the Stockton Richard E. Bjork Library, helped curate materials for the documentary, according to Kinsella.

Eric Doroshow, 63, of Wilmington, Delaware, said his great-great-grandparents lived in Norma, an unincorporated town within the former Alliance Colony. He said he was excited to learn more about his history and thanked Stockton for its work to organize the screening and the filmmakers for their efforts to take history and bring it to life. At one point in the movie, Doroshow is featured showing his grandchildren the old home of their ancestors.

Its studying our genealogy, and its part of my history, said David Harrison, 92, of Philadelphia. He said both his paternal and maternal families came from the Alliance colony.

Elizabeth Rothman-Zucker came to the screening from Dallas. She said her grandfather was born in the colony and lived there until he went to Temple University in Philadelphia and resettled in Pennsylvania.

"I've always heard about this wonderful experience and experiment, but it was great to actually see it documented on film," Rothman-Zucker said. "I want to learn more about my roots."

Donnelly has a personal connection to the colony as well. Her great-great-grandparents were among the original colonists who settled Alliance, and her grandparents are buried at the site. Donnelly said she attended an intergenerational reunion at Alliance about five years ago, where the idea for the documentary was planted.

"I went up and I started realizing this was more of a story than I had known before and there was a lot of interest from descendants," Donnelly said. And to see all these people coming with such great interest in the story and excited about seeing other descendants and family and just having something that memorializes this history, its fantastic. Im in awe this many people are here.

Stockton University receives grant to preserve Jewish history The New Jersey Historical Commission recently awarded a $24,500 grant to the Alliance Herita

'Oh my God, was that good'

The documentary includes a trove of recovered photographs from Alliance, intermingled with interviews with academics, experts and the colonys descendants.

Howard Jaffe, 67, of Pittsgrove Township, Salem County, volunteers to guide tours for local students and other interested people at the cemetery and synagogue at the site of the colony. He said he had a grandfather who was among the original colonists at the site and wanted to share what he knew about the area with others. During the documentary, Jaffe discusses the history of Alliance and its origins.

Its fantastic, Jaffe said.

The film is scored with traditional music from the Odessa Klezmer Band. The band came to Stockton for the screening and performed at the Campus Center after the Q&A.

Oh my God, was that good. It was our music, man, Odessa Klezmer member Ed Goldberg, of Columbus, Burlington County, said of the film.

Band member Robert Mehlman added he was proud to add his music to what he felt was a movie that told a fundamental human story.

The story is a universal story, said Mehlman, of Princeton. Its a people running for their lives, trying to make a go of it in the new land.

The Alliance Colony began to change in the early 20th century. As more immigrants came to the settlement, it pivoted toward manufacturing. The second and third generations of the colony, meanwhile, went to high school in nearby Vineland and often left to pursue careers in larger metropolitan areas, leaving the colony somewhat depleted by the interwar period in the 1920s. Although there was a resurgence as Jews fled Europe during World War II, the farmland settlement continued to diminish in population and faded in the postwar period.

There are efforts today to rejuvenate Jewish farming settlements. The Alliance Community Reboot, or ACRe, is looking to seed new farming efforts in the area to reconnect with their heritage.

Leonard Moss, 87, of Cherry Hill, said his grandparents began farming at Norma in the late 19th century, toward the start of the colony. He was born in the settlement and felt the film inscribed the legacy of his family for his posterity.

I was born in Norma, and I plan on dying in Norma, Moss said. Its a connection to the past, and presumably the future will remember us. So we shall see.
CAMDEN  One of three brothers who joined a conspiracy that defrauded state health benefits programs by getting payments from prescription compound medications was sentenced Monday to 37 months in prison.

John Sher, 40, of Margate, must also undergo two years of supervised release, pay $2.77 million in restitution and forfeit $327,987 for his role in deceiving state health benefit carriers to get kickbacks from unnecessarily prescribed compound medications, the U.S. Attorneys Office said in a news release.

Sher, one of three brothers and former Margate firefighters charged in the scheme, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Robert B. Kugler to conspiracy to commit health care fraud in July 2022.

Sher admitted to joining the scheme, spearheaded by William Hickman, a pharmaceutical salesman from Northfield and former Merck employee, who also pleaded guilty to charges in June 2020.

Through the scam, recruiters and sub-recruiters would deceitfully approach state benefit holders, using them as a way to have the compound medications, which included vitamins and libido creams, earn them money. Those funds, federal prosecutors say, were generated from reimbursements distributed by Central Rexall Drugs, a compound drug pharmacy in Hammond, Louisiana.

The federal government has said the scheme cost New Jersey health care benefits programs and other insurers more than $50 million.

Sher directly received $327,897 from the scheme.

The U.S. Attorneys Office said Sher faced a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from his actions.

Shers brother Michael, who was brought into the conspiracy by Hickman, pleaded guilty in 2018 to his role in the scheme. He is scheduled for sentencing in October, according to U.S. District Court records.

Another brother, Thomas Sher, fought the charges in a nearly two-week trial last year before Kugler but was found guilty. He is scheduled to be sentenced July 6, court records show.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 17)  Suspended Negros Oriental Rep. Arnie Teves, who is linked to the murder of Governor Roel Degamo, may be tagged as a terrorist, a Cabinet official said on Monday.

"We are looking at prescribing him as terrorist  to have him prescribed by the Court of Appeals and designated by the Anti-Terror Council because of the acts that happened," Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla said during a Senate committee hearing on the assassination of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo.

Remulla said the terrorist tag was an offshoot of Teves' refusal to come home and physically attend the Senate hearings.

READ: Dela Rosa: Senate panel rejects Rep. Teves' remote attendance at Degamo slay hearing

READ: Rep. Teves will return to PH once security concerns are addressed legal counsel

"We found it [anti-terrorism law] to be the most applicable. If a person will not surrender, then we will have to make the world smaller for him," he said.

The Anti-Terrorism Council may designate a person as "terrorist" if it finds probable cause that the person violated the law.

Remulla said the anti-terrorism law covered activities that led to the killing of Degamo on March 4, including recruitment, financing, and purchase and distribution of firearms.

But the secretary said cases were filed belatedly because "a lot of legal theories" has to be considered to build an anti-terrorism case.

"We are afraid right now that if we file a terrorism case based on the crimes that transpired, it may prejudice other convictions that can be secured easily with the same punishment for multiple murders," Remulla said.

Meanwhile, Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa said Teves will not be arrested if he returns to the country.

"We have no reason for you to be arrested when you come home. Hindi ka pala puwede arestuhin dahil wala ka pang warrant of arrest [Translation: You can't be arrested because you don't have an arrest warrant yet]," he said during the hearing.

Dela Rosa said the Senate committee will wait for Teves to come home and attend the hearing until Monday evening.
PLEASE BE ADVISED: Soon we will no longer integrate with Facebook for story comments. The commenting option is not going away, however, readers will need to register for a FREE site account to continue sharing their thoughts and feedback on stories. If you already have an account (i.e. current subscribers, posting in obituary guestbooks, for submitting community events), you may use that login, otherwise, you will be prompted to create a new account.
A judge sentenced a Millville man to 22 years in prison for fatally shooting an Egg Harbor City teenager in 2018, the state Attorney Generals Office said Monday.

Terrell Savage, 37, pleaded guilty in February to manslaughter in the death of 18-year-old Maurice Reese Lewis. He originally was charged with murder and two counts of attempted murder.

By securing a plea deal, prosecutors agreed to dismiss the remaining charges against him, the Attorney Generals Office said in a news release.

Lewis died at Cooper University Medical Center in Camden after what investigators determined was an attack on a car he and two other people were riding in.

Police were called to the scene near Dock and Broad streets in Millville at 11:11 p.m. May 18, 2018, finding Lewis shot in the head in the drivers seat of a Chevrolet Suburban. He was alive when he was taken to Cooper but died two days later.

Authorities arrested Savage two days after Lewis died.

Millville man indicted in 2018 murder A Millville man was indicted Friday for allegedly firing a handgun at a vehicle occupied by 

Investigators found Savage was walking on Dock Street at 11:05 p.m. the night of the shooting when Lewis stopped his SUV at Broad Street, the Attorney Generals Office said.

While Lewis began proceeding through the intersection, Savage, who was beside the cars drivers side armed with a 9mm pistol fitted with a 14-round magazine, allegedly fired 10 shots at the car. Eight bullets struck the vehicle, including one that hit the back of Lewis head. None of the passengers was hit by bullets.

Savage is already an inmate at South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton, serving a sentence for possession of a controlled dangerous substance and unlawful possession of a handgun, according to the New Jersey Department of Corrections.

Savages then-girlfriend, Tashannah Wilkins, 32, of Millville, was also charged with conspiracy and hindering in the fatal shooting. Investigators say she allegedly drove Savage from the shooting scene to another part of town, later bringing him back so he could retrieve the gun.

He had tried hiding the gun after shooting at Lewis vehicle, the Attorney Generals Office said.

The status of charges against Wilkins was unclear Monday.
An Atlantic County judge chose to forgo prison time for a woman who threatened several people with a gun during an Atlantic City fight last spring, and the state is appealing that decision.

Superior Court Judge Bernard DeLury on Monday sentenced Shania Simon, 23, of Philadelphia, to three years of probation, the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office said.

The state is appealing the judge's order, urging that a three-year prison term agreed to in a plea deal be carried out, the Prosecutor's Office said in a news release.

Simon also received a 270-day Atlantic County jail sentence, where she can serve it in the day reporting program as a condition of the three-year probationary term. She is to report to the Atlantic County jail at 8 a.m. on May 5, the Prosecutor's Office said.

Simon was charged after being caught on video brandishing a gun during a fight that involved a large group of people on Tennessee Avenue on May 30, 2022.

After being called to the fight, police apprehended Simon, who was carrying a Glock 42 automatic handgun loaded with six hollow-point bullets in her purse. Witness statements about her role in the fight were corroborated by video, which showed that after the fight ended, Simon pulled out a gun, pointing it at multiple people.

Simon had a valid permit to carry a gun in Pennsylvania but not in New Jersey.

She pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a handgun Sept. 1, 2022.

The state on Monday argued against probation, asking that the court order a stay on the sentence, the Prosecutor's Office said.
ATLANTIC CITY  The saga surrounding a single blighted building that has played out at city meetings since last year shows how difficult it can be to address a problem property, even when residents and government officials are working together.

Resident Andra Williams first brought the structure at 226 N. New Jersey Ave. to the attention of city department heads at the second CitiStat meeting on Nov. 30, saying drug users had broken in and were living there, threatening public safety and breaking into her church nearby.

CitiStat is a system implemented by the local government and the state to address residents complaints. Meetings are held every two weeks and include equal parts resident complaints and city responses, including, the longer the group meets, updates on progress.

The thieves had come out of a second floor window of the vacant building, walked across a one-story roof of a store, and broke into Community Baptist Churchs second-floor windows. They stole thousands of dollars worth of computers, musical equipment, and more, Williams said.

She asked the city to secure the building and look into demolishing it.

At the Jan. 25 meeting Williams was back asking for action.

About Director Finch, I did not hear his report on the issue of the abandoned home on New Jersey Avenue, Williams said of Director of Licensing and Inspections Dale Finch. He said (at a previous meeting) the house would be demolished in 60 days.

I reported two to four weeks ago it is on our demolition list. The process we have to follow is notification, a public hearing, follow up then bid and demolition, Finch said in response.

Its around 60 days. We have to give owners the chance to make improvements or do the demolition themselves, Finch said. I agree its a horrible property and needs to come down as soon as possible. It is on the list and will come down.

At the March 22 meeting the process was still continuing, with the city waiting for the results of an asbestos inspection, and Williams was understanding.

I do see progress little bits at a time, Williams said of conditions around the city as a result of CitiStat. I appreciate you continue to have this.

By the April 7 meeting Finch said the city has now gotten an asbestos inspection done on the property, something the state requires before any demolition, and can now take bids to determine who will demolish it.

It will be coming down in the next 30 days or so, Finch said then.

But on Thursday city spokesman Andrew Kramer said the city cannot yet give a date for when the bid will go out.

No date or timetable can really be given right now as there are still issues we are coming across, for example, we recently determined an electrical circuit needs to be rerouted because of poor installation, Kramer wrote in an email response to questions.

It cant come quickly enough for Williams and Community Baptists Rev. Elias Thomas Jr., whose day job is with the Atlantic City Municipal Utilities Authority.

Give it to us or tear it down, Thomas said Wednesday as he led a tour of the area around the church. Well still take the property to do something with it.

Thomas said he tried to purchase the property for the church soon after becoming pastor there in 2006, but the owner never responded.

There is always someone up there, Thomas said, pointing to an open window. Its an eyesore and a haven for people who are using drugs, and some are mentally ill.

The people there need help, but it doesnt help them to let them continue using drugs and stealing, he said.

It also cant happen fast enough for Nammour Mousa, owner of Mousas Market, which sits in between the church and the vacant property. A steady stream of customers came in for cheesesteaks, shrimp and grits and more Wednesday.

For me personally, it is 100% best to try to demolish the building, Mousa said. Every night I cant sleep, Im afraid of another break-in.

He said the store has been broken into many times, including four times in just two weeks a while ago. Each time he has to replace his back door it costs him $1,500, he said.

There was a smell last summer, coming into the store, Mousa said. We checked the sewer line, and with the water company. It turned out to be coming from (the vacant house) next door.

Mousa provided photos of all the trash and human waste in the home.

Mice were also becoming a problem, he said, attracted by the conditions next door.

One time the police had to block the whole street for four hours, Mousa said. Someone (living in the abandoned house) was having a mental crisis.

Williams said the property has been vacant since being purchased for $60,000 from the Special Improvement District of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority in 1993.

In 2018 the city placed a lien against it for nonpayment of taxes, she said, but took no more action until she brought it to their attention in the CitiStat meeting.

Our concern is, this is here and vacant so any years, why has it taken until (now) ... for the city to act, Williams said.

She credits the CitiStat process for finally getting it addressed, and she has hope it will soon be demolished. But the building could have been repurposed had the city acted earlier, she said.

The Casino Reinvestment Development Authority has funded the citys demolition program since 2010. So far $7 million has been spent to demolish 73 properties in the city, according to Lance Landgraf, the director of planning and development for the CRDA.

At its October meeting, the CRDA board approved up to $500,000 to continue the demolition of derelict buildings in Atlantic City, and for CRDA executive director Sean Pattwell to negotiate a contract with the city for the work.

City Council approved accepting the new CRDA grant in February.
In an incident of theft in a private bus, two men allegedly stole gold worth 10 tolas from the luggage of women while she was on the way to Pune from Latur.

The accused Shiva Raju Shinde (Age 30) and K. Teja K Sagar alias Gopi alias Surya Shinde (Age 20) both residents of Gangakhed have been arrested by the police acting on a complaint filed by a 29-year-old woman

As per the police the complainant had visited her native place Latur on Gudi Padwa and was return to Pune in a private travels bus. The accused had kept an eye on the womens luggage and reportedly stole 10 tole gold ornaments from the bag. The grew suspicious as the bag was partially open and after checking it came to light that the gold ornaments were stolen.

The victim immediately filed a complaint at the Wanowrie police station. Senior police inspector directed the investigation and the suspects were spotted in the CCTV footages.

It was discovered throughout the investigation that both were in Gangakhed. As a result, the crew travelled to Gangakhed and nabbed the pair. They admitted to the theft when questioned and were arrested. Additionally taken from them were six mobile phones and four lakhs worth of jewellery. The police are further investigating the case.
"The police had to use the taser on Mitchell three times," Quinn said. The two have been in jail ever since.

Quinn and others say Mitchell, at least, never should be free again. Given how fixed he was on getting the video evidence, he surely did not intend to leave behind an eye witness.

"People like this have proven they cannot be in society safely," Quinn said. "Why was he?"

Mitchell was on parole at the time of the attack and had been out of prison just a few months on other felony convictions. This time, friends of the victim say, he should be shown the same mercy he extended to the innocent winery worker.

"He held her against her will and beat the hell out of her," Quinn said. "He was here when the police got here. This is not a whodunnit."

The victim is ready to testify, she said. She got through her deposition with her attacker sitting across the table, and she'll get through the trial  just as she got through April 28, 2022.

"She still has some little issues with her mouth from the facial injuries, and she's getting care in Iowa City for the eye injuries," Quinn said. "She's back, though. There's triumph in that. It didn't stop her life; it just delayed her a couple of months."

Quinn will be in the courtroom too, along with members of her family and the work family that has grown out of Wide River. Other merchants in the Village have been enormously supportive, customers continue to reach out and Davenport police still stop in to check on the victim, she said.

A group of co-workers sought out group counseling after the attack, Quinn said, and some learned they are holding on to more anger than they realized. It sneaks back sometimes, she said, along with other strong emotions.

"With all the shootings, I keep thinking: Thank God he didn't have a gun," she said. "The anniversary brings the details back. We may host another event like we did after this happened  invite other businesses and the police again.

"I was touched by all the people who came and all the hugs. Her strength and her bravery got her through it. We're still getting through it."
UPDATE (4/17/23 at 10 a.m.): Winchester has been found alive near Bridgeport, Nebraska, by the Nebraska State Patrol.

Law enforcement agencies are searching for missing and endangered 78-year-old Leland Winchester.

Winchester suffers from dementia and was last seen around the noon hour Sunday. He left his residence on Morse Place in Rapid City to go to the Millstone Restaurant on West Main Street.

Winchester did not return home and neither family nor law enforcement have been able to find him.

Winchester is described as a Caucasian male, 5 foot 10 inches, 165 pounds, blue eyes with gray hair and a gray mustache. He was last seen wearing a black shirt, gray hoody and possibly a red hat. He was alone driving the pictured red 2015 Ford F150. He has no mobile phone.

Winchester suffers from dementia and may become disoriented.

Agencies involved in the search include the Pennington County Sheriffs Office and the Meade County Sheriffs Office.

If the public has any information on Winchesters whereabouts, please call the Pennington County Sheriffs Office Dispatch at (605) 394-2151.
Cody-born artist Jeffrey B. Rudolphs artistic journey began in his fathers carpentry shop when he was a child carving on scraps of wood.

At the next Local Lore with Bob Richard program, he shares that journey  from how he got his start through struggles and successes to today. The free, illustrated talk takes place at noon Thursday, April 20, in the Buffalo Bill Center of the Wests Coe Auditorium in Cody, Wyoming.

Although he started college as a music major, Rudolph shifted his focus to sculpture and earned his bachelor-of-arts degree from Brigham Young University in 1981. He works in a variety of media, including bronze, stone, wood and terracotta.

Rudolph is an annual participant in the Buffalo Bill Art Show & Sale, and frequently teaches sculpting classes for youth at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. He also spends a week most summers as Artist-in-Residence in the Centers Whitney Western Art Museum. Find out more about Rudolph and his work at http://www.rudolphsculpture.com.

At the end of the talk, Rudolph and Richard will also discuss a few other local artists who worked in various media. Among these are photographers Charles Belden and Jack Richard; taxidermists Will Richard and Ned Frost; and some artists who spent time in the Cody area, including W.R. Leigh and Edward T. Grigware.

The Local Lore series is hosted and coordinated by the Centers McCracken Research Library. The next talk in the series, on June 8, features the history of ranching on Rattlesnake Creek.
Eggs Up Grill, a popular breakfast, brunch and lunch spot, will open a new location in Midlothian at 12050 Southshore Pointe Drive in the Southshore Shops off Hull Street Road.

This will be the third Eggs Up Grill in the Richmond area. The others are at 2003 Huguenot Road in North Chesterfield and at 2238 John Rolfe Parkway in Henrico County.

All three Eggs Up Grill are franchised by Richmond couple Rob and Karla Thompson. Thompson is a retired naval intelligence officer. He also served four years as the Matoaca District representative for the Chesterfield County School Board.

Along with record growth in Chesterfield County comes lots of hungry neighbors who have been craving another Eggs Up Grill location for the best breakfast, brunch and lunch in town, Thompson said in a news release. Karla and I cannot wait to open this spring, and we thank everyone for your continued support.

The opening date is set for early May.

Eggs Up Grill serves breakfast dishes such as loaded home fries, a Texas farmhouse omelet, and red, white and bacon pancakes with strawberries and powdered sugar. The 3,420-square-foot restaurant will serve guests seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Founded in Pawleys Island, South Carolina, Eggs Up Grill now has 62 locations open, mostly on the East Coast in the Carolinas, Georgia, Virginia and Florida.

The Midlothian location will hire up to 20 team members and will begin interviewing candidates this month. Those interested can apply online at eggsupgrill.com.

Richmond-area business expansions, openings and closings Popshelf P.T. Hastings Seafood Killa Dillas Genovas Pizza Station & Take Out Kitchen The Veil Brewing Co.'s new taproom Luxe New American Bar & Grill Wok This Way Eggs Up Grill Mayu Sushi & Thai Maxs on Broad RICH Nail Lounge Sycamore Jewelers, Midlothian Mi Casita Restaurant Ironclad Coffee Grit Coffee Rockler Woodworking and Hardware Boiling Crab Richmond Blue Cow Ice Cream Co. Suzy Sno Diablo Doughnuts RVA The Brass Tap Graybo's Sports Cards Blue Ridge Cyclery BigWife's Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams CarLotz Acacia Midtown Zoom Room Richmond Torchy's Tacos Planet Fitness Raising Canes Chicken Fingers Three Notch'd Brewing Retail or Resell Marshalls Raising Cane's My Favorite Muffin Mattress King Anthony's on the Hill The Mill on MacArthur
As the last whistle blew, signaling another end of a workday, the sidewalks of Hull Street began to fill and spill over into the street.

Bands erupted into renditions of Bonnie Blue Flag, and red streaming lights flittered up as Roman candles exploded above a setting sky.

Pamphlets passed from hand to hand telling of the future and the promise of lower taxes, better infrastructure and free passage into Virginias capital city.

The only opposition reined in by the growing acknowledgment of defeat stood projected on the side of a building. The crowd passing by read its message: Save Manchester, Dont Mind the Bad before heading into the packed Leader Hall.

Those residents, living just a little south of the James River, had been summoned to determine the fate of old Dogtown. Soon, after all of their ballots were cast, they would know whether the once-great city and county seat of Chesterfield County would remain independent or join ranks with Richmond.

On April 14, 1910, 10 days after the city held its special election, the final votes were tallied and the announcement was made: The city of Manchester would be annexed and consolidated into Richmond, effectively erasing its name from the map.

The question will be settled, perhaps for all time, but the feeling engendered by the fight will probably last for years, one Richmond Times-Dispatch reporter wrote in coverage of the event.

Manchesters reign

Along the James River, directly south from the state capital seat, sits Manchester. The once-thriving port city is now merely a district of Richmond.

While its courthouse remains along Hull Street, the regions former equivalent to the citys Broad Street, very few vestiges of its illustrious past remain.

The first recorded history of the former city began 20 years after the settlement of Jamestown in 1697, when a group of white men traveled up the river and claimed the territory. Soon after, Richmond followed.

In its infancy, the city grew alongside Richmond. The city quickly grew in economic prowess as its access to the James River resulted in mass exports of tobacco and other crops. Prior to the Civil War, railways hauled coal from the Chesterfield mines to the citys docks.

Likewise, it served as one of the main ports for slave ships carrying enslaved people, which made Richmond the largest source of enslaved Africans on the East Coast for 30 years.

The impacts of this are still visible today along the Richmond Slave Trail that begins at the Manchester Docks. There, concrete blocks line the rivers edge where the enslaved were chained before being transported into Richmonds slave markets.

After the Civil War, Chesterfield County moved its county seat to Manchester. There it stood until its consolidation.

Manchesters decline

While Richmond managed to recover from the Civil War, the smaller city of Manchester struggled. Its main source of revenue made from its imports declined rapidly.

As the country and, subsequently, its cities moved into the Industrial Revolution, Manchester could no longer keep stride with its north of the river counterpart.

With Richmonds growing business district expanding and new factories popping up rapidly along the river, many Manchester residents found themselves traveling across Richmonds toll bridges to find work.

Likewise, from its sewer systems to its infrastructure, Manchester was in desperate need of replacements and new equipment  an undertaking the city could not manage with its economy.

Contrast the present condition of Richmond, look carefully around and consider all points of municipal growth and facilities, a member of the Consolidation Association wrote in a letter to an editor in the April 3, 1910, edition of The Times-Dispatch. One the type of progress, the other plodding wearily along miles and miles behind.

For nearly 35 years, the former city and its residents presented the idea of annexation. But plans truly began to take hold with the former citys imminent financial decline.

From two to one

Overall, the idea of consolidation came easy for many Richmond and Manchester residents alike. Coined by one reporter as the spirit and life of the age and what has made America the foremost power on the face of the Earth, the idea of consolidation became the topic of most passing conversations.

The Times-Dispatchs editorial pages filled with voices highlighting its significance. While Richmonders wrote of how great the city would be in helping out its sister city, Manchester residents wrote of how much it would help the city.

One column printed in the April 4, 1910, edition of the paper outlines over a dozen arguments in favor of the annexation, including free toll bridges, paved streets, better sewer systems, water quality, better schools, electric lights, parks and, most notably, lower tax rates.

According to the Consolidation Association, Manchesters property tax rate was $1.50 per $100 whereas Richmonds totaled $1.40 per $100. The lower tax rate would create a lesser burden for the taxpayers.

At no time, perhaps, since you have had the right of suffrage, have you cast a vote when there was as great need for mature and honest judgment as there is now, the association stated.

While there was wide support, the decision did face opposition. Mainly, those against the annexation argued that it would result in higher taxes, inferior services and a loss of identity as the city was a more complex area than Richmond could handle.

Despite this, the final decision was made and the keys to Manchester city were ceremoniously given to Richmond Mayor David Crockett Richardson.

What remains

While the former city settled into the city rather quietly in the years that followed, it still remains an integral part of the city.

In the late 1990s, Richmond focused on revitalizing the now district. The Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority along with the Better Housing Coalition began its effort to redevelop the area.

In a span of three years, over 400 public housing units, along with dilapidated structures, were torn down or refurbished. Following the completion of the floodwall, access to Manchesters riverfront grew and an eventual riverfront development plan was established.

The Virginia Department of Historic Resources recognized the Manchester-Commercial Historic District, and historic tax credits for rehabilitation were offered. In 2006, the neighborhood entered into the National Register of Historic Places.

The former still holds on to some of its illustrious past. Its main streets held on to their namesakes, most of them named after naval commanders of the Barbary Wars off the coasts of North Africa in the War of 1812, including commodores Stephen Decatur, William Bainbridge and Isaac Hull.

Almost all of the roads leading into Richmond from the south pass through Manchester, including Interstate 95 and highway routes 1, 60, 90, 301 and 360.

In a letter to the editor in the April 16, 1910, edition of The Times-Dispatch, one author wrote: Manchester is Manchester no longer. The ancient city closed its eyes last night as of yore, but slept, and will sleep forever as a ward of Richmond.

From the Archives: The James River James River James River James River James River James River James River James River James River
Shenzhou XV mission crew members set China record

09:23, April 17, 2023 By ZHAO LEI ( Chinadaily.com.cn

The Shenzhou XV taikonauts on board the orbiting Chinese Tiangong space station carry out their fourth spacewalk on April 15, 2023. [Photo/cmse.gov.cn]

The Shenzhou XV mission crew members carried out their fourth spacewalk on Saturday, topping previous crews, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

The agency said in a news release on Sunday afternoon that mission commander Major General Fei Junlong and Senior Colonel Zhang Lu completed the spacewalk and then returned to the Wentian science module. The third crew member, Senior Colonel Deng Qingming, stayed inside the Tiangong space station to provide support, it said.

The agency did not give information about when the spacewalk took place or for how long, nor did it discuss the specific tasks performed by the crew.

During their previous spacewalks, the Shenzhou XV team mounted equipment needed by extravehicular scientific experiments and technological demonstrations.

Agency officials have said that spacewalks have become a routine task for Chinese astronauts and that it will be conducted on a regular basis in accordance with mission needs.

Fei's team arrived at the station on Nov 30. The astronauts are expected to remain until May, when the Shenzhou XVI crew is scheduled to take over.

As of Sunday afternoon, the three astronauts had lived inside the space station for 137 days.

In another development, the Long March 7 carrier rocket tasked with lifting the Tianzhou 6 cargo spaceship has arrived at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province on Thursday.

The rocket and the cargo ship will undergo final checks at the center, the agency said.

The Tianzhou 6 is scheduled to be sent to dock with Tiangong in May.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
(CNN)  A trial in a defamation suit brought against Fox News by Dominion Voting Systems is set to begin this week. It could have significant ramifications for the right-wing cable channel.

Dominion is an election technology company. After former president Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden, Dominion alleged Fox pushed various pro-Trump conspiracy theories, including false and potentially damaging information about the company's voting technology, because "the lies were good for Fox's business." Fox is arguing that it was merely reporting the claims made by the Trump administration and Donald Trump's associates.

It filed a defamation lawsuit in 2021. The trial is set to begin Monday in Delaware.

Here are 5 things to know ahead of the trial.

Fox anchors and executives could take the stand

Dominion wants the network's star hosts and top executives to appear on the witness stand during trial, it said in a court filing in March.

Here's who could appear as witnesses, if Dominion gets its way:

 Suzanne Scott, Fox News CEO

 Jay Wallace, Fox News president

 Hosts Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Maria Bartiromo, Laura Ingraham and Bret Baier

 Abby Grossberg, a former Fox News producer who alleged that the network's lawyers coerced her into providing misleading testimony in a lawsuit filed March

 In April, Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis said Dominion could compel Fox Corporation Chairman Rupert Murdoch and his son, CEO Lachlan Murdoch, to testify, in a big blow to Fox.

"Both parties have made these witnesses very relevant," Davis said, regarding the Murdochs. Fox was trying to block Dominion from having the Murdochs on the witness stand.

There's a lot of money involved

Dominion is asking for $1.6 billion in damages and additional punitive damages.

That could be a major financial hit to Fox. Fox Corporation, the right-wing news outlet's owner, has an estimated $4 billion in cash on hand, according to its latest earnings statement. It's also unclear how much insurance the company has, or what any insurance policy would cover.

Punitive damages are, however, uncapped in Delaware, with no legal maximum limit.

The network claims that number is a wildly overblown amount designed to grab attention in headlines.

First amendment implications

Fox argued in a statement the case is about protecting "the rights of the free press" and a verdict in favor of Dominion would have "grave consequences" for the fourth estate.

"Dominion's lawsuit is a political crusade in search of a financial windfall, but the real cost would be cherished First Amendment rights," a Fox spokesperson said in a statement.

Defamation cases are hard to win in the United States, because of the Supreme Court's ruling in New York Times v. Sullivan in 1964. Defamation has to meet a high standard. An entity can't have just lied, it must have known (or at least strongly suspected) it was lying at the time, and it has to have been done with "actual malice." The court has already ruled on the first two, saying that Fox aired lies and knew they were lies, so instead of a question of truth, it's about whether Fox did so maliciously.

Though major figures at Fox privately acknowledged reality -- that former President Donald Trump had lost to President Joe Biden in 2020 -- Fox continued to air conspiracies and lies in order to keep its large audience engaged.

A cache of private messages, emails and depositions revealed that Fox may not have upheld the journalistic responsibility to report the truth to audiences. The judge has rejected several of Fox's First Amendment defenses and in pretrial rulings barred the network from arguing its guests' alleged defamatory statements were "newsworthy" and deserving of coverage.

Private messages made public

Legal filings made public a trove of private text messages, emails and deposition transcripts, revealing how Fox hosts, producers, and executives really felt about Trump.

The damning behind-the-scenes communications were included in roughly 10,000 pages of court documents that have been made public as part of the lawsuit, many of which are likely to be shown in the trial.

For example, host Tucker Carlson said in one text message he "passionately" hates Trump. In one November 2020 exchange, Tucker Carlson said Trump's decision to snub Joe Biden's inauguration was "so destructive," adding that Trump's post-election behavior was "disgusting" and that he was "trying to look away."

Murdoch emailed New York Post's Col Allan, describing Trump's election lies as "bulls**t and "damaging."

Murdoch's private messages revealed how his own thoughts contradicted what Fox espoused. "Maybe Sean [Hannity] and Laura [Ingraham] went too far," Murdoch wrote in an email Fox News chief executive Suzanne Scott, apparently referencing election denialism after Trump's loss to President Joe Biden.

What's next

The trial will begin Monday in Delaware at 9 am ET, with expected opening statements at some point during the day. Jury selection is also expected to wrap up Monday morning, ending with a panel of 12 jurors and 12 alternates. It's anticipated that opening statements will begin immediately after the jury is seated. The trial is expected to last five to six weeks.

Dominion will need to convince the jury that Fox acted with "actual malice"  showing the right-wing network's hosts and executives knew what was being said on-air was false but broadcast it anyway, or acted with such a reckless disregard for the truth that they should be held liable.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "What to know ahead of the Fox News and Dominion trial."
Bill Lohmann Follow Bill Lohmann 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

The 9-year-old child from Jamaica, born with spina bifida, came to the United States last fall for surgery to repair the feet and ankles left misshapen by years of crawling. She had never walked.

It has been a slow, arduous process, but the operation worked: Gabby is on her feet, with the help of leg braces and a walker, and she has an entirely new outlook on life.

Her mother, Novie McKenzie, said in an interview from her familys rural area of Jamaica that Gabby has smiled more and been more talkative since returning home in February. Her personality has brightened from the shy child who had to sit and watch the world go by with no way to keep up.

Yes, shes happy, McKenzie said in a WhatsApp video call earlier this month while chickens squawked in the background. She can move around ... and do things for herself.

Though Gabby is a long way from running and playing or even walking without the aid of braces or a walker, it has been a remarkable transformation for a young girl growing up in poverty who couldnt even attend school for the longest time.

The series of events that led to this dramatic shift in her life were set in motion by sheer happenstance. Sue Miles, a retired school counselor from Buckingham County who splits her time between Virginia and Jamaica, was on the Caribbean island in January 2020, walking to volunteer at a high school, when she stopped to say Good morning! to a woman selling candy, cookies and soft drinks on the side of the road.

As she walked over, Miles noticed a little girl dressed in denim overalls sitting in a wooden chair behind the woman. Gabby had big eyes, Miles recalls, but was quiet and subdued. Miles asked why the girl wasnt in school, and the woman  the childs grandmother  explained she was not allowed to attend school because of her physical disability.

From that moment, Miles, described as tenacious by more than one friend, was on the case.

***

I wrote about Miles and Gabby in December 2021, a story that outlined how Miles, a former Peace Corps volunteer in Jamaica who came to love the place, had made it her mission to find a way for Gabby to attend school, which she did with the help of an aide. Miles raised money and made friends, securing a wheelchair for Gabby, leg braces and therapy. She advocated for Gabby with physicians, driving her hours to Kingston for appointments, and learned the only way she would ever walk would be to undergo surgery unavailable to her in Jamaica.

So, Miles started working on that.

There was an incredible tangle of bureaucratic red tape and paperwork Miles had to persevere through, but she did and this is the result: Miles flew with Gabby to the United States in October, making a brief stopover in Buckingham and then driving her to South Carolina, where she would undergo surgery at Shriners Childrens Greenville, a hospital that provides specialty medical care to children, regardless of their ability to pay, which Gabby couldnt.

The logistics of the trip were made possible by Childspring International, an Atlanta-based nonprofit whose mission is to make life-changing surgeries available for children from developing countries. Childspring International took care of Gabbys medical visa, covered her airfare and arranged for her to stay with a family near Greenville for several months, before and after surgery.

The Baxley family, which includes a daughter Gabbys age, was amazing, Miles said.

When I walked into the Baxleys home with Gabby on my hip, I almost started crying, Miles said. I knew as soon as I walked in that Gabby was in the most wonderful place. Its hard to explain ... but it was a warm, inviting, loving home, and I knew Gabby was going to be OK.

And she was.

Besides getting Gabby to all of her therapy sessions (and even dental visits) and welcoming her into their family celebrations of Thanksgiving and Christmas, the Baxleys arranged tutoring for Gabby, introduced her to Mister Rogers Neighborhood and the world of Barbies, and kept in touch with Gabbys mother back in Jamaica, calling her almost every day to let her know how Gabby was doing.

They take the best care of her, McKenzie said, in appreciation, and they love her.

Miles, too, is grateful for the Baxleys and for all who have helped Gabby: the Shriners, Childspring International, her friends and family in Buckingham who were the first to donate money to assist Gabby, the stranger who contacted her after reading the earlier story and gave her a check that led to the construction of a 250-foot-long cement walkway to Gabbys home on a steep, rocky hillside. Gabby cannot walk much of it on her own yet  her current braces lock at the knee, to give her stability, and shes still learning the mechanics of walking  but maybe one day.

Gabby must still wear leg braces and use a walker to get around. Limited as she might be, she can do so many more things than she could before. She can dress herself, her mother said, and move around their home. She can climb into bed with the help of a wooden bench that allows her to reach the tall bed. Upon her return to school, her classmates gathered and applauded for her as she walked past them  they had never seen her walk  to her class.

Little steps. Big strides.

***

Gabby will outgrow the leg braces she now uses, but when she needs new ones, the Shriners will provide them at no charge until she is 18, flying Gabby and her mother to the United States and arranging lodging for as long as needed for fittings and everything else.

Relatedly, Childspring International is now trying to build a partnership in Jamaica to provide medical services to children there rather than bring them to the United States. It would be more efficient and more children could be helped, said Katherine Mallory, the organizations program director.

Jamaica has such a dearth of pediatric services, she said. There is only one public hospital ... and theres a years-long waiting list, so unless you have an urgent, life-threatening (situation), youre going to be waiting a long time.

The development was definitely inspired by working with Gabby, she said, and the fact we have a number of kids from Jamaica consistently coming through our doors and no capacity to treat them locally.

Like a lot of other children who experience life-changing medical care, Gabby says she wants to be a doctor when she grows up. Whatever Gabby winds up doing, Miles said, I feel great for Gabby in her life. I want her to keep going forward.

Gabby has taken those first steps down that path, and now she has something she didnt have a year ago: a chance.

As we talked the other day, I asked Gabby how she felt when she was cheered by her classmates as she walked past them for the first time. She is still a child of few words, particularly around strangers, but one was all she needed.

Happy, she said.

PHOTOS: In the aftermath of life-changing surgery, 9-year-old Gabby is happy and walking
A 22-year-old man and a teenage boy were shot and killed at a party in Rockingham County near James Madison University on Saturday. The victims were not JMU students, but they did have connections to the university, school President Jonathan Alger said in a statement.

The Rockingham Sheriffs Office responded to a call of shots fired at an off-campus party early Saturday morning, Sheriff Bryan Hutcheson said in a statement. The incident occurred at the Redpoint Harrisonburg apartment complex, a mile and a half from campus, JMUs student newspaper reported.

The adult victim was identified as Dangelo Marquise Gracy of Rocky Mount, N.C. The other is an unidentified 17-year-old boy from Harrisonburg. They were declared dead at the scene.

No arrests have been made, Hutcheson said, calling it an isolated shooting stemming from an incident at the party.

Alger said that while neither victim was a student, they have connections with our local community and many across our campus will be impacted.

JMU offered its counseling center to students. The university also provides telehealth that includes individual counseling. Alger asked anyone with information about the event or witnesses to contact the Rockingham Sheriffs Office.

Please continue to support one another during these difficult moments and encourage those in need to utilize resources available, Alger said.
Police charged a Roanoke man with second-degree murder Monday after another man was fatally shot at a store in the Grandin Village neighborhood Sunday evening.

Police said a man was found fatally wounded about 9 p.m. inside a business in the 1400 block of Grandin Road Southwest. The shooting victim was not identified.

Police didnt name the business, but a citizen news alert issued Sunday night said it was the 7-Eleven convenience store on that block. Passers-by also recorded images of the stores parking lot cordoned by police tape.

On Monday afternoon, Roanoke police announced the arrest of 20-year-old Isaiah C. Baldwin.

Police said that Baldwin had been identified as a suspect in the early stages of the investigation and a warrant for his arrest was obtained overnight.

Police say their investigation is continuing, but no further updates were available Monday. Theres been no official description of the shootings circumstances.

The shooting is the fifth to take a life in the city since Jan. 1.

As we have seen over the past few years, no part of our city is immune to gun violence, said Vice Mayor Joe Cobb, who also serves as chair of Roanokes Gun Violence Prevention Commission.

News of the shooting spread quickly through Grandin Village, where a closed temporarily sign was posted on the front door of the 7-Eleven early Monday afternoon while police officers remained on the scene.

Put me down as horrified, Bruce Fickley said as he sipped coffee at an outdoor table of Little Green Hive, next to the convenience store. I was really shocked and dismayed.

Fickley said he has lived in the neighborhood for years, and could not recall a similar incident.

Were all sort of shocked by it, because its way too close to home, said Linda Steadman, owner of the Too Many Books store just down the street.

Chuck Abbott, who lives directly across Grandin Road from the 7-Eleven, said he and his wife, Renee Reed, arrived home shortly before 9 p.m. Sunday and noticed two police cars in the parking lot. Within minutes, he said, the street was awash with flashing red lights.

From where he was standing, a stray bullet could have hit me Abbott said. It was scary.

Reed said violent crime isnt characteristic of the area.

I dont know how many robberies there are, but I believe theres shoplifting in the area. I dont think were immune to that, Reed said, adding that after the onset of COVID-19, she observed fewer police on patrol in the village.

Because of where our windows are, I can see up and down Grandin, and I frequently saw officers in the neighborhood, and parked on the street, and stopping at the 7-Eleven for their own coffee, Reed said. It seems like just in the last two months, Ive noticed more of a presence, which felt good.

At the Little Green Hive coffee shop, which was closed at the time of the shooting, customers and observers had more questions Monday than the staff could answer. Its kind of crazy, barista Jessica Agee said. Its a little overwhelming, because people are coming in here trying to get information that we dont have.

Merchants in the immediate area did not seem concerned about the shootings impact on business.

Its an isolated incident, said Jimmy Muscaro, owner of the Jolly Grape wine shop. It could have happened anywhere.

Reed said she noticed Sunday evening that paramedics went in and left pretty quickly and didnt come out with anybody.

It seemed very contained to me, because I could see them walking back and forth to their cars, she said. Nothing seemed threatening once they were all there.

Its a very busy 7-Eleven. You dont walk in there and find a staff member on their phone. Theyre busy tending to people, Reed said. Everyone in there is very friendly.

We will continue to work on our strategies of prevention, intervention and enforcement/justice. Every incident of gun violence is tragic, and the impacts are far-reaching, Cobb said
Virginia Secretary of Labor Bryan Slater will be the keynote speaker for Ferrum Colleges 107th commencement ceremony on May 6, the college announced.

Slater, a Ferrum alumnus, has served as secretary of labor since 2022 when he was appointed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Before that he served as assistant secretary for administration and management at the U.S. Department of Labor and assistant secretary of administration for the U.S. Department of Transportation under President Donald Trump.

Slater received his associate degree from Ferrum College in 1982. He later earned his bachelors degree in political science from the University of Richmond.

Slater has over 20 years of political experience serving the public, nonprofit and private sectors, the announcement said.

In Virginia, Slater served as secretary of administration for Gov. Jim Gilmore. He was also director of administration for the attorney generals office when Gilmore held that office.

Slater served as the White House liaison to the U.S. Department of Labor under President George W. Bush and a congressional relations officer for the Department of Housing and Urban Development under President George H.W. Bush.

The Ferrum College commencement ceremony honoring the class of 2023 will take place at 10 a.m. May 6 in W.B. Adams Stadium on campus.
Rhodonite is not as valuable today as it once was in Russia, mainly because it's more easily available. "Today, rhodonite can be found in many countries around the world but the more well-known deposits are Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Romania, Sweden, Russia and the United States," Elen explains. In fact, Massachusetts has such productive rhodonite deposits that it was declared the state gem in 1979.

Rhodonite is easily mined today, as well, Elen says, which contributes to its accessibility. Some deposits can still be mined with simple tools and techniques like picks and hammers, but large boulders require advanced mining machinery to be extracted.

Advertisement

Valuable transparent, deep, red-colored crystals can still be found but those are scarce. "Rhodonite is fairly inexpensive, but high-quality crystals of this mineral can be more expensive due to their rarity," says Elen. "These crystals have perfect cleavage in two directions, low hardness [5.5-6.0 on the Mohs hardness scale] and poor toughness, making them difficult gemstones to cut. For this reason, faceted rhodonite is typically sold as a collector's stone rather than for jewelry use."

Today, Russian children still exchange rhodonite eggs at Easter to express friendship and affection. In the jewelry and gem market, the mineral is often found carved into cabochons (polished, rounded stones), carvings, tumbled stones and beads, Elen says. It holds metaphysical significance to crystal experts, healers and enthusiasts.

It's also been nicknamed the "stone of love" because many crystal enthusiasts believe it can stimulate and reactivate one's self-love and reduce anxiety, so it's also associated with the heart chakra.

People usually buy and sell rhodonite aggregate necklaces, bracelets, figurines, and stones for their aesthetic and healing value. It's widey available in shops online; prices range from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars depending on size, color and setting.

Though its value as a rare stone has changed since the 18th century, it's still an important mineral worldwide. Whether you're buying it because it matches your favorite pair of shoes or you want to invite more self-love and confidence into your life, know that this rose-colored stone is full of history, beauty and mystical properties. However, we don't recommend putting stones in your baby's crib  perhaps next to it.

" " This 19th century Russian cup was designed by The Yekaterinburg Imperial Lapidary Works and is currently part of the extensive rhodonite collection at the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. The State Hermitage Museum

Now That's Interesting In 2007, Nikolai Zavadsky, a 54-year-old history teacher, plead guilty of stealing more than 200 items from the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. Among the items stolen were a silver gilded frame with rhodonite gem pieces. Zavadsky's late wife, Larisa, who was a long-serving curator at the museum, pawned many of the items off. Larisa died of a heart attack during an audit of the collection.
" " The image above was taken from a NASA Earth Observatory post and shows several Carolina Bays near Bladen Lakes State Forest in North Carolina. Many here are still ponds, though some are dried up and used for agriculture. S.C. Department of Natural Resources

When the Wright Brothers gave us the engine-powered airplane in the early 20th century, they didn't just give us a new way to get around. Flight also gave us an entirely different perspective on the things around us (or the things below us). From above, people became tiny specs and fields looked like brown and green squares tilled together like a quilt. And before long, on the East Coast of the U.S., pilots began noticing something even more interesting.

What we once thought were just simple isolated ponds and wetlands along the Atlantic coast, began to be seen as a pattern of thousands of egg-shaped depressions that were oriented exactly the same way. From above, it almost looks like a giant from outer space sneezed all the way from Florida to New Jersey leaving shallow depressions in his wake.

Advertisement

The origins of these depressions is still a scientific mystery today, but these ponds are as important to the landscape now as they were millions of years ago.

The native Algonquins called these shallow depressions pocosins, but they are more commonly referred to as Carolina Bays because of the large number of these water pockets along the coast of North and South Carolina.

"Carolina Bay is the name given to most any wetland along the eastern Coastal Plain that has an elliptical shape and is often isolated from other bodies of water, such as small streams or rivers," says Kyle Barrett, associate professor of wildlife conservation at Clemson University in South Carolina. "Carolina Bays occur in low spots in the landscape, and because they typically only fill up from precipitation, they may dry out during the hot and dry portions of the year."

" " Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge is located in North Carolina's Inner Banks and is named for the pocosin peat wetlands that make up the majority of the protected habitat. It's home to animals like the black bear, alligator, two species of fox, bobcat, raccoon, coyote, opossum, beaver, river otter, mink and red wolf. Wikimedia/(CC BY-SA 3.0)
Initially, Pull to Refresh focused upon the idea of growing kelp in the Pacific. "So that was kind of our initial prototyping and development that we did," explains Laurel Tincher, another of the organization's leaders. But the focus recently has shifted from kelp to Caribbean sargassum, in part because it provids an opportunity to have an impact not just on climate change, but upon another environmental problem as well.

"We also came across this really massive issue of invasive sargassum in the Caribbean," Tincher says. "Really, in the past 10 years it has become a huge problem. And we thought, well, there's already all of this seaweed out there, this is already carbon that's been captured. Let's do something with this. And so we kind of pivoted to create this stepping stone where we have a vessel that can drive around and gather up that sargassum and sink that. So that can really help us to prove out a lot of different aspects of our technology that will ultimately be used in both systems but can also help solve this forgotten problem."

Advertisement

If the sargassum is allowed to wash up on beaches, it not only is an eyesore, but the carbon in the sargassum eventually can be released in the form of methane, a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Instead, by lowering the sargassum into the water, the algae eventually becomes compressed and loses its buoyancy, so that it can sink to the bottom, according to Crumley.

To actually make a serious dent in the Earth's atmospheric carbon, Pull to Refresh would have to put a lot of robotic vessels out in the world's oceans  perhaps as many as a billion. "I understand that's a crazy number," Crumley says. But he also notes that it's the equivalent of a decade's worth of production in the global automobile industry. With a sufficiently broad base of support, "it's doable," he insists.

But before Pull to Refresh can attract funders to scale up to that size, it has to prove that its technology works and that it can reduce atmospheric carbon. In the meantime, the organization is operating on a shoestring, dependent upon pro bono labor and donations from its members. Pull to Refresh recently rented a house on the water in Panama, where it plans to conduct research on prototypes.

"We're crowdsourcing to a group of over 50 volunteers and growing," notes Crumley, who also says that a major industrial design software firm has helped out by providing "seats," i.e., user access, to some of its products. Eventually, Pull to Refresh hopes to attract backing from companies who want to offset their own carbon output, as well as individual contributors.

Crumley says that Pull to Refresh is aware of potential downsides to sequestering carbon on the ocean floor, such as possibly changing the content of the "Marine snow" that life in the oceans depends upon for nutrients. For that reason, Pull to Refresh would "follow it down and carefully monitor it," and look for ways to mitigate any negative effects.

In the meantime, as Pull to Refresh develops its technology, it's also working to find creative ways to get the word out about its alternative method for reducing atmospheric carbon.

"There's such a big storytelling element to what we're trying to do, because it's such a large scale that we need to get to, and we really need to get everybody on board and people don't even really know about carbon removal that much yet," Tincher says. "So we're trying to figure out ways of how do we show, how do we tell the story in a visual way, or what audio are we using? How do we simplify it down, so that people really get it?"

Now That's Interesting Others have proposed massive geoengineering projects for fighting climate change, such as using aircraft disperse reflective particles into the atmosphere to block a portion of the sun's radiation. That would simulate the effect of a major volcanic eruption such as Mount Pinatubo in 1991, or Krakatau in 1883, as this article from the U.S. Geological Survey notes.
MARION, S.C.  Organizer Rev. Marvin Hemingway is the bringing the 12th annual Denim Day Marion County event to Mullins for the first time on Wednesday at Smith Haven Park at 12 p.m.

The program spreading awareness and promoting prevention against sexual assault and abuse will include a free lunch, door prizes and vendors along with guest speakers including Interim Marion County Administrator Chavis Watford and SLED special agent Tempestt Hough.

Hemingway said Denim Day is an observance dedicated to raising awareness about sexual assault and sexual violence.

Hough served as the keynote speaker last year. The Winthrop University graduate has been with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division since 2016, transitioning to special agent of community relations.

Hough said Demin Day recognizes the fight, strength and courage of victims across the world.

As one speaking from being a survivor, as victims our lives change in many different ways, Hough said. We seek to be understood and we even seek to be loved. But even in the mist of what we have encountered, today we can say that we stand strong and come together as one.
HARTSVILLE, S.C.  Grayson Stewart was the part-owner of a trucking company in Charlotte, N.C. when he realized he needed a change.

The trucking industry, it wasnt really for me, Stewart said. Honestly, I like working with my hands, and I like working outside.

He switched careers to become an electrical lineworker and a training program at the Horry-Georgetown Technical College helped him get a job doing what he enjoys, he said.

It definitely gives you a huge head start, Stewart said. Just getting familiarized with how many different tools there are and what the different things are called and how to run machines and things like that.

Stewart now works for Duke Energy in Hartsville and is an apprentice lineworker. During the day, he may be fixing or replacing electrical poles, making new lines, working with underground lines, or even adding new smart technology to poles.

You never really know what youre going to get day to day or whats going to happen, he said. Its always a challenge, just trying to figure out how to fix something.

Despite the unpredictability, Stewart said he likes what he does.

Robbie Vermeland, one of the two professors in the Horry-Georgetown Technical College electrical line worker program, said the semester-long course teaches students everything they need to get their foot in the door of an electrical company.

Students learn how to climb poles safely, the different objects on a pole like transformers and conductors, construction and underground lines, Vermeland said.

We just kind of hit the basics. We cant really give anybody any kind of lineman certification. Thats not up to us, thats up to the company that these guys go to work for, he said.

Duke Energy, which employs Stewart, prefers new lineworkers who have gone through similar programs, said Logan Kureczka, lead communications manager at Duke Energy.

People that graduate from lineworker training programs at local community colleges, for us, become ideal candidates for line worker roles, Kurczka said. Thats not the only place well hire them from but we tend to hire them from there just because we know they meet the qualifications.

Duke Energy sponsors the program at Horry-Georgetown Technical College, Vermeland said. For program graduates, that means they easily get an interview, according to Kurczka.

As long as they meet our requirements, theyre going to get a job with us because lineworker roles, not just for us but for utilities across the nation, theyre a huge need, she said.

The program at Horry-Georgetown Technical College brings in students from across the eastern United States, according to Vermeland.

Were starting to get students from Maine, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, all around the northeast, he said. Words getting out. Those guys are coming from all over.
(CNN)  About half an hour before opening for business, employees at the Old National Bank branch near the Ohio River in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, gathered for a morning board meeting.

There was Thomas Elliott, the bank's 63-year-old senior vice president; Deana Eckert, a 57-year-old executive administrative assistant; and Juliana Farmer, 45, who moved to Louisville two weeks ago to take a job as a loan officer and help her daughter, a single mom with four children.

There was Joshua Barrick, 40, a senior vice president of commercial real estate banking. And James Tutt, a 64-year-old commercial real estate market executive and a big-time booster of the revitalization of the old urban neighborhood where they worked.

Within a minute, the five bank employees would become casualties of a distinctly American phenomenon the mass shooting.

The Monday morning rampage by a member of their own work family was particularly personal for Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg: He not only lost a close friend in Elliott but had himself survived a workplace shooting last year at his campaign headquarters.

"It is painful," Greenberg said, "for all of the families I know."

The chilling soundtrack of a gun scourge

It is a pain that extends far beyond the city bordering Indiana best known for hosting the renowned Kentucky Derby and manufacturing the iconic Louisville Slugger bat that's part of the history of the national pastime.

Another familiar part of Americana plays out, this time in one of the oldest cities west of the Appalachian Mountains. An attacker unleashes his fury on unsuspecting victims. Law enforcement takes down the shooter. The families of the slain learn loved ones will not be coming home. Then authorities show graphic police body-camera video and release frantic 911 calls of witnesses whose plaintive cries for help have become a chilling soundtrack of the daily scourge of gun violence across America.

2023 is just 106 days old. And at least 162 mass shootings have been already reported in the US, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive, which, like CNN, defines a mass shooting as one in which at least four people are shot, excluding the shooter.

The mother of the gunman, 25-year-old Old National Bank employee Connor Sturgeon, was among the 911 callers on Monday.

Her son, she told the dispatcher, was heading to the Old National Bank branch on East Main Street. He had a gun and apparently left a note found by a roommate, she said.

"I'm so sorry. I'm getting details secondhand. I'm learning about it now. Oh my Lord," Sturgeon's mother said in a 911 call released by police Wednesday.

"I need your help. He's never hurt anyone. He's a really good kid," the mother insisted.

"We don't even own guns. I don't know where he would have gotten a gun."

The call was made at 8:41 a.m. Monday.

"He's never hurt anyone," the mother said. "Please don't punish him."

It was too late. The first 911 call about the bank shooting had come in three minutes earlier. The gunman was already inside.

"You've had calls from other people? So he's already there?"

"Yes," the dispatcher said.

Should she go to the bank, the mother asked. Stay away, the dispatcher advised.

Sturgeon was killed by police shortly after he fatally shot the five bank employees and then fired at police, wounding Officer Nickolas Wilt. The 26-year-old rookie cop was shot in the head 10 days after graduating from the police academy, leaving him in critical condition. Seven others were injured.

"I just swore him in and his family was there to witness his journey to become a police officer," Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel, the interim police chief, said of Wilt.

Horror livestreamed on Instragram

As is the case in many mass shootings, Sturgeon legally purchased his AR-15-style rifle before the attack, police said. The semiautomatic rifle is the weapon of choice for many US mass shooters and the most popular sporting rifle in the country.

The motive for the rampage is unclear.

The shooting was livestreamed on Instagram, compounding the horror.

The gunman fired the weapon inside the bank for about a minute and then appeared to wait a minute and a half before police arrived, according to a city official.

The livestream opened with the clearly visible AR-15-style weapon.

"Good morning," a bank worker said to the gunman.

"You need to get out of here," the shooter told the woman on the livestream, which was eventually taken down by Instagram's parent company Meta.

The gunman then tried to shoot her in the back but the safety appeared to be on and the weapon needed to be loaded, the official said.

Once the shooter loaded the weapon properly and took the safety off, he shot the worker, the official said. She was hit in the back of the shoulder and survived.

'I know who it is. He works with us.'

The first 911 call came from a woman who worked at a different branch of Old National Bank. She witnessed the shooting on video.

"How do you know you have an active shooter on site?" the dispatcher asked.

"I just watched it. I just watched it on a Teams meeting. We were having a board meeting," she said. "I saw somebody on the floor. We heard multiple shots and people started saying, 'Oh my God,' and then he came into the board room."

The caller was in distress. She yelled and cried as she described what she saw.

Rebecca Buchheit-Sims, a manager with Old National Bank, later told CNN she virtually witnessed the shooting on her computer during the Microsoft Teams meeting.

"I witnessed people being murdered," she said. "I don't know how else to say that."

Another 911 caller whispered. She said she worked at the bank. She was hiding in a closet. Gunshots echo in the background.

"I know who it is," she said. "He works with us."

Someone else called 911. They were on the fourth floor of the downtown building, hiding under a desk.

"We are trying to get the status of what's going on," the caller said.

Another caller to police demanded, "Get here now! We need somebody now!"

Caleb Goodlett got a call from his wife about 8:30 a.m. She works at Old National Bank, he told CNN affiiliate WLKY. She had locked herself in a bank vault and called him using a phone in there.

Goodlett also dialed 911. He works downtown and headed to the bank as the first officers were arriving.

'Suspect down. Get the officer!'

On the morning of his 10th day on the job, Wilt and his training officer, Cory "CJ" Galloway, drove to the riverside Preston Pointe building -- which houses the bank on the first floor.

It was 8:41 a.m. when their squad car pulled up outside Old National Bank -- on the other side of the street from Louisville Slugger Field, home of the minor-league Louisville Bats. The officers had been dispatched three minutes earlier to a report of shots fired.

Gunshots exploded inside the building.

"Back up, back up, back up," one officer shouted.

The squad car backed up slightly, according to their body camera video, which was released Tuesday. Some parts of the footage were blurred out.

Galloway got a rifle from the trunk.

"Cover for me," he told his partner.

The gunman waited in the bank lobby. Officers could not see through the building's dark glass panes.

In a photo taken from surveillance video, the shooter -- wearing a blue shirt, jeans and sneakers -- is holding a rifle. The floor is strewn with broken glass.

Gunshots thundered in the background, according to the video. Wilt was shot in the head as he ran toward the shots, police said. Wilt was seen following Galloway up the outside steps to the bank. He held his service pistol with two hands. The video cut off before he was hit.

Galloway, who was also shot, is seen taking fire. He fell, got back up and retreated to a safe position down the steps behind a planter. Officers talk about how they can't see the gunman and that he's shooting through the bank windows.

"The shooter has an angle on that officer. We need to get up there. I don't know where he's at. The glass is blocking him," Galloway said.

Sirens wailed in the background.

Galloway took cover and waited for backup. At times, he moved from one side of the concrete planter to another, aiming his rifle at the elevated lobby and trying to get a shot.

"He's shooting straight through these windows right towards the officer," said Galloway as reinforcements arrived.

At 8:44 a.m. Galloway unleashed a hail of bullets into the lobby. The broken windows, shot out by the gunman, enabled him to pinpoint the shooter.

"I think he's down!" Galloway shouted. "Suspect down. Get the officer!"

Galloway stepped slowly into the building, through the shattered lobby windows. He aimed his rifle as broken glass crunched under his feet. Galloway then approached the shooter, who was down on the glass-strewn floor next to his rifle. It was 8:45 a.m. Monday -- four minutes after the officer responded to another mass shooting in America.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "I witnessed people being murdered. How the Louisville bank shooting unfolded."
 Preparing for some criminal action as SCOTUS heads into homestretch for OT22 | Main | US Sentencing Commission releases FY 2023 first quarter sentencing data 

April 17, 2023

Supreme Court grants cert on due process requirements in civil asset forfeiture case

There was a lone cert grant in the US Supreme Court's order list this morning, and this Bloomberg news piece highlights why the case might be of interest to crimina justice fans. Here is how the press account starts:

The US Supreme Court agreed to hear a case that asks whether people are owed an immediate hearing to recover property that was seized by the government in a crime they didnt commit. At the center of the case granted Monday are two Alabama residents whose cars were impounded when someone else was arrested while driving them. Lena Sutton lost her car after her roommate was pulled over for speeding and arrested for possessing large amounts of methamphetamine. Halima Culley lost her vehicle when her son was pulled over and arrested for illegally possessing drugs and a firearm.

The grant carries the case name Culley v. Marshall, and here is how the cert petition in this matter presents the question:

In determining whether the Due Process Clause requires a state or local government to provide a post-seizure probable cause hearing prior to a statutory judicial forfeiture proceeding and, if so, when such a hearing must take place, should district courts apply the speedy trial test employed in United States v. $8,850, 461 U.S. 555 (1983) and Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514 (1972), as held by the Eleventh Circuit or the three-part due process analysis as set forth by Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U.S. 319 (1976) as held by at least the Second, Fifth, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits .

April 17, 2023 at 12:46 PM | Permalink

Comments

My quick read (and I am sure that the briefs will make things clearer) is that the plaintiffs (suing over the wrongful loss of the use of their property while the forfeiture cases were pending) believe that they should have some right to some type of post-seizure "preliminary hearing" at which a court could determine whether there is a valid basis for the depriving them of their property while the case is pending (and implicitly dismiss cases in which the government can't overcome an innocent owner defense).

Aside from the circuit split noted in the question presented, how many states have that type of hearing? And how many states are like Alabama and merely require a "speedy" disposition of the forfeiture case? (And how many require disposition of the criminal case before anything can be done by either side in the forfeiture case?)

Posted by: tmm | Apr 17, 2023 12:56:43 PM

Thomas is corrupt. Brings the whole Court into further disrepute. He should resign the way Fortas did years ago.

Posted by: anon | Apr 17, 2023 2:49:38 PM

anon, I agree with you that Justice Thomas has seriously stained the Court and should resign, but there is nothing we can do about it, so let's stick to the subject of the postings.

Posted by: Dave from Texas | Apr 17, 2023 2:55:38 PM

Dave from Texas, sorry but hard to ignore the corruption allegations surrounding Justice Thomas because they are starting to smell.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/04/18/clarence-thomas-scandal-corruption-00092335

Posted by: Mary quite Contrary | Apr 18, 2023 9:25:03 AM

If the reports are accurate [about Thomas receiving gifts from Harlan Crow], it stinks, Romney said. When pressed to elaborate, he added, I dont have to explain more than that.

Democrats have vowed to respond to the Thomas revelations, but their power, in this case, is limited. The Supreme Court polices itself. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), a vocal critic of dark money and GOP efforts to install conservative judges on the judiciary, on Monday laughed off Republican attempts to wave away the Thomas controversy.

They know hes a billionaire, right? Whitehouse said of Crow. They know hes politically active. They know hes filed briefs in the Supreme Court. This is a guy whos interested in the court, and not as a casual observer. So I think that puts the extraordinarily Rococo extravagance of these gifts into a very different category than just wildly generous personal hospitality.

Posted by: anon | Apr 18, 2023 10:33:01 AM

Off topic entirely, but cannot resist chiming in. As a conservative, I am distressed at the increasing lost of trust in the integrity of the Supreme Court. Not good for any of us. See

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/18/briefing/clarence-thomas-gifts.html

Posted by: anon3 | Apr 18, 2023 2:08:01 PM

The accusations against Thomas are as weak as wet tissue paper.

Posted by: TarlsQtr | Apr 21, 2023 12:00:42 AM

Post a comment
MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich.  You may have already seen them in restaurants: waist-high machines that can greet guests, lead them to their tables, deliver food and drinks and ferry dirty dishes to the kitchen. Some have cat-like faces and even purr when you scratch their heads.

But are robot waiters the future? Its a question the restaurant industry is increasingly trying to answer.

Many think robot waiters are the solution to the industrys labor shortages. Sales of them have been growing rapidly in recent years, with tens of thousands now gliding through dining rooms worldwide.

Theres no doubt in my mind that this is where the world is going, said Dennis Reynolds, dean of the Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership at the University of Houston. The schools restaurant began using a robot in December, and Reynolds says it has eased the workload for human staff and made service more efficient.

But others say robot waiters arent much more than a gimmick that have a long way to go before they can replace humans. They cant take orders, and many restaurants have steps, outdoor patios and other physical challenges they cant adapt to.

Restaurants are pretty chaotic places, so its very hard to insert automation in a way that is really productive, said Craig Le Clair, a vice president with the consulting company Forrester who studies automation.

Still, the robots are proliferating. Redwood City, California-based Bear Robotics introduced its Servi robot in 2021 and expects to have 10,000 deployed by the end of this year in 44 U.S. states and overseas. Shenzen, China-based Pudu Robotics, which was founded in 2016, has deployed more than 56,000 robots worldwide.

Every restaurant chain is looking toward as much automation as possible, said Phil Zheng of Richtech Robotics, an Austin-based maker of robot servers. People are going to see these everywhere in the next year or two.

Li Zhai was having trouble finding staff for Noodle Topia, his Madison Heights, Michigan, restaurant, in the summer of 2021, so he bought a BellaBot from Pudu Robotics. The robot was so successful he added two more; now, one robot leads diners to their seats while another delivers bowls of steaming noodles to tables. Employees pile dirty dishes onto a third robot to shuttle back to the kitchen.

Now, Zhai needs only three people to do the same volume of business that five or six people used to handle. And they save him money. A robot costs around $15,000, he said, but a person costs $5,000 to $6,000 per month.

Zhai said the robots give human servers more time to mingle with customers, which increases tips. And customers often post videos of the robots on social media that entice others to visit.

Besides saving labor, the robots generate business, he said.

Interactions with human servers can vary. Betzy Giron Reynosa, who works with a BellaBot at The Sushi Factory in West Melbourne, Florida, said the robot can be a pain.

You cant really tell it to move or anything, she said. She has also had customers who dont want to interact with it.

But overall the robot is a plus, she said. It saves her trips back and forth to the kitchen and gives her more time with customers.

Labor shortages accelerated the adoption of robots globally, Le Clair said. In the U.S., the restaurant industry employed 15 million people at the end of last year, but that was still 400,000 fewer than before the pandemic, according to the National Restaurant Association. In a recent survey, 62% of restaurant operators told the association they dont have enough employees to meet customer demand.

Pandemic-era concerns about hygiene and adoption of new technology like QR code menus also laid the ground for robots, said Karthik Namasivayam, director of The School of Hospitality Business at Michigan State Universitys Broad College of Business.

Once an operator begins to understand and work with one technology, other technologies become less daunting and will be much more readily accepted as we go forward, he said.

Namasivayam notes that public acceptance of robot servers is already high in Asia. Pizza Hut has robot servers in 1,000 restaurants in China, for example.

The U.S. was slower to adopt robots, but some chains are now testing them. Chick-fil-A is trying them at multiple U.S. locations, and says its found that the robots give human employees more time to refresh drinks, clear tables and greet guests.

Marcus Merritt was surprised to see a robot server at a Chick-fil-A in Atlanta recently. The robot didnt seem to be replacing staff, he said; he counted 13 employees in the store, and workers told him the robot helps service move a little faster.

But not all chains have had success with robots.

Chilis introduced a robot server named Rita in 2020 and expanded the test to 61 U.S. restaurants before abruptly halting it last August. The chain found that Rita moved too slowly and got in the way of human servers. And 58% of guests surveyed said Rita didnt improve their overall experience.

Haidilao, a hot pot chain in China, began using robots a year ago to deliver food to diners tables. But managers at several outlets said the robots havent proved as reliable or cost-effective as human servers.

Wang Long, the manager of a Beijing outlet, said his two robots have broken down.

We only used them now and then, Wang said. It is a sort of concept thing and the machine can never replace humans.

Photos: CES goes to the dogs
In November 2021, doctors at Midwest Gastrointestinal Associates in Omaha got what might be considered a new assistant.

Called GI Genius, the new computer-aided system was designed to help doctors performing colonoscopies identify  in real time  suspicious tissue that might be a polyp, or precancerous lesion in the colon.

The Medtronic device puts a little green box on any spot it thinks might be a polyp, using the same display screen a doctor is watching while navigating the colons twists and turns and searching for suspicious spots.

Finding and removing the lesions is important because it decreases a patients risk of developing colon cancer, said Dr. Jason Cisler, a gastroenterologist and the practices quality chairman. Studies have shown that doctors find more polyps if they have two people looking at the screen.

After adopting the system, the groups already good adenoma detection rate  the rate at which doctors find and remove polyps during screening colonoscopies  went up 10% across the board, putting the practice at more than double the national standard. Every 1% increase in the detection rate, according to one study, decreases patients risk of colon cancer by 3%.

It makes it a more sensitive screening tool, Cisler said. And what were doing is screening. If were able to prevent more colon cancer, thats the rationale where were at today.

The device, approved by the Food and Drug Administration in early 2021, uses a type of artificial intelligence. And its just one of a number of technologies incorporating various forms of artificial intelligence that are already working behind the scenes in Nebraska hospitals and clinics. And with research and development underway around the world, there will be more.

Some are focused on flagging doctors about needed health screenings and identifying hospitalized patients at higher risk of being readmitted to the hospital or developing potentially life-threatening infections. Others monitor patients at risk of falling and analyze the impact of blockages in heart arteries on blood flow.

AI also is being used to take some mundane tasks off the plates of both clerical staff and health care providers, freeing them to do higher-level work.

Some Nebraska Medicine doctors are using a product called Dragon Ambient eXperience, or DAX, from a company called Nuance, to capture conversations between themselves and patients and create notes in patients charts, said Scott Raymond, the health systems chief information and innovation officer. The physician then reviews and accepts the notes. Some physicians notes now are proving accurate with no need for further human intervention between 80% and 90% of the time.

Its a great use of the technology, he said. Its taking away physician burnout, the burden of documentation ... where (they) feel theyre practicing medicine and not being documentation specialists.

Lincolns Bryan Health plans to go live with the system in early May. We think that will (be) a tremendous win for both our patients and our physicians, said Bridgett Ojeda, that systems chief information officer.

Raymond said Microsoft plans to put the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT behind the next version of the program. ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, has been making headlines around the world in recent months. Users would have to decide whether to adopt it.

Such technologies are making it a fun time to be in health care information technology, Ojeda said. Technologists have spent the last two decades getting information out of paper files and into electronic systems. Now AI and large language models like ChatGPT are allowing them to begin using that data to benefit patients.

Indeed, the authors of a 2022 report from the National Academy of Medicine on AI in health care said their hope is that AI will be the payback for investments in electronic systems.

They caution, however, that such systems could introduce bias if not carefully trained and create concerns about privacy and security.

Raymond acknowledged that standards and guardrails need to be put around the technology, particularly when it comes to the chatbots.

Ojeda noted that other challenges lie in having enough health care data and engineering experts to put the technology to work in ways that help rather than disrupt. With interest and investment in the sector high, they have to focus on selecting tools that will be sustainable and ultimately benefit patients.

But Dr. Steven Leitch, vice president of clinical informatics with CHI Health, stressed that humans, not machines, still are making the decisions.

What would make it scary is if we dont make the human in charge, he said. And thats not what health care is about. Doctors and nurses make decisions in health care. Its between people. These tools are amendments; theyre only going to be assisting where we allow them to assist.

Raymond, who previously practiced as a pediatric intensive care nurse, said Nebraska Medicine and the University of Nebraska Medical Center are forming a committee to consider how the health system will use chatbot technology in research, education and clinical care.

Its happening in medicine, he said. Its happening slowly and carefully with a lot of thought behind it. I think it will change how we deliver care and it will improve care. Our responsibility is to make sure we use the technology in the right way.

The term artificial intelligence, however, implies that machines are reasoning the way humans do, he said. Theyre not, although theyre good at gathering data, learning from it and starting to glean insights.

In actuality, Leitch said, what most people think of as artificial intelligence really is a broader category that includes a lot of different tools, including machine learning, robotic process automation and the chatbots natural language processing. Even chatbots, however, arent having independent thoughts but rather are running very complex sets of rules.

Cisler said the GI Genius system, also in place at Methodist Endoscopy Center, which is owned by Midwest and Methodist, has been trained on millions of images from colonoscopies and is constantly updated.

But the final word on whether what the system flags actually is a polyp  rather than a bubble or fold in the colon  lies with the doctor, he said.

Such systems, however, also can help sort patients in other ways, and in doing so, make it more likely they get the care they need.

Hastings Family Care in Hastings, Nebraska, part of Mary Lanning Healthcare, recently began using Eyenuks EyeArt technology, a special camera connected to a computer backed by machine learning that allows providers to screen patients with diabetes for diabetic retinopathy, without dilating their eyes.

People who have diabetes are advised to have their eyes checked once a year for the condition, which can cause vision loss and blindness. Early treatment can stop progression.

But Jessica Sutton, clinic manager, said a lot of diabetics dont get the annual exams, often due to a lack of vision insurance, transportation or time to get to an eye doctor. The clinic saw 980 patients with diabetes last year, 45% of whom had not had the exam. Funding for the equipment came through a local donor and a grant UNMC received to improve diabetic care in rural areas.

Dr. Zachary Frey, director of primary care, said he saw three such patients Wednesday morning. One didnt have insurance. The other two hadnt had an eye exam in a while. Having the device allows the clinic staff to catch such patients when theyre already in the office.

Frey said the system essentially provides three results, each of which triggers next steps. If no problem is detected, the patient is cleared until the next year. If the scan shows changes suggesting retinopathy, the patient is referred to an eye doctor for further investigation. If it detects vision-threatening retinopathy, the patient is sent to a retina specialist.

The systems also can be used to keep patients from falling through the cracks in other ways.

Methodist, for instance, has several systems aimed at helping put additional eyes on lung scans.

One searches radiology reports from scans of, say, the abdomen, that incidentally catch part of the lung for key words like nodule. Those get sent to a team that determines whether there might be a problem, and if so, contacts the patients doctor, even those in other health systems, said Dr. Adam Wells, a pulmonologist with Methodist Physicians Clinic and Methodist Hospital.

That incidental nodule program flagged more than 13,000 scans last year, which triggered nearly 1,000 communications with a physician and ongoing follow-up with more than 700 patient scans, he said. Those identified nearly 30 cancers.

The health system also screens patients with a known risk for lung cancer using low-dose CT scans, Wells said. While radiologists read the scans, an AI program reads behind and categorizes any spots it sees. Nearly 20 cancers were identified last year out of more than 2,300 scheduled screening scans.

Cancer is a common focus. Locally, the Omaha-based MRI medical device company Bot Image, founded by entrepreneur Randall Jones, last year received FDA clearance for an AI-driven software system called ProstatID for detection and diagnosis of prostate cancer.

But there are others. Leitch said CHI uses robotic process automation, or bots, which use sets of rules to identify patients with upcoming visits and check if theyre due for a test, such as a lung cancer screening.

If so, it places a pending order in the patients electronic medical record. If the doctor and patient decide its not the right time for the test, the provider can remove it. But it takes the burden off the doctor to remember every test a patient might need, particularly on busy days with lots of distractions.

Other systems can be used to help monitor hospitalized patients. Bryan for several years has used a fall-prevention system developed by Lincoln-based Ocuvera, Ojeda said. It uses 3-D cameras and an algorithm to predict patient movement and alert nurses before a fall can occur.

Epic Systems, she said, has developed five different predictive models that monitor hospitalized patients for other risks, including sepsis and hospital readmission, and alert clinicians so they can respond quickly.

Health systems that use Epics health records, including Bryan, CHI and Nebraska Medicine, can then adopt them and build them out for their patient populations, she said.

One of the latest, which CHI has adopted and Bryan is developing, is a model that helps predict when patients will be no-shows for clinic appointments.

If providers can head off missed appointments by, say, Leitch said, providing transportation, they can keep patients healthier.

If we do what the evidence shows us, as we learn more and more, its going to make it easier for us to deliver the care the right way every time, Leitch said.

Counties with the highest diabetes rate in Nebraska Counties with the highest diabetes rate in Nebraska #25. Platte County #24. Douglas County #23. Red Willow County #22. Lincoln County #21. Johnson County #20. Adams County #19. Sheridan County #18. Box Butte County #17. Dodge County #16. Morrill County #15. Brown County #14. Pawnee County #13. Furnas County #12. Scotts Bluff County #11. Kimball County #8. Arthur County #8. Hayes County #8. Wheeler County #7. Hall County #6. Dawson County #5. Dundy County #4. Saline County
SIOUX CITY -- The U.S. Marshals Service Northern Iowa Task Force is seeking the public's assistance in locating the following person:

* Scott Slauter, 48. He is 6 feet tall, weighs 230 pounds, and has a tattoo of a bull skull on his left arm, a lady coming out of his skin on his right calf and a dolphin on his right thigh.

Slauter is wanted by the U.S. Marshals Service for escape. His original charge was felon in possession of a firearm.

On April 11, Slauter fled Dismas Charities in Sioux City. He was placed there as part of his federal sentence. A standing offer not to exceed $200 may be rewarded for the capture, assistance in, or furnishing information that will lead in his capture.

Anyone with information can call 712-252-0211 or email siouxlands.mostwanted@usdoj.gov.
WAYNE, Neb.  A former Winside Public Schools art teacher was sentenced Monday to 180 days in jail for having sexual contact with a student.

Judge Ross Stoffer also placed Rachel McPhillips, 29, of Norfolk, Nebraska, on two years' probation.

McPhillips had pleaded no contest in February in Wayne County Court to amended charges of disturbing the peace and attempted child abuse. She had initially been charged with third-degree sexual assault and child abuse.

McPhillips was arrested a year ago for having sexual contact from September 2021 through April 2022 with a male student who was then age 15 and turned 16 during that time period.

McPhillips was the first of two Winside teachers accused of having inappropriate contact with a student in the past year.

Cali Heikes, 26, of Winside, was arrested in January and faces charges of first-degree sexual abuse by a school employee and two counts of second-degree sexual abuse by a school employee. A high school and junior high family and consumer sciences teacher, Heikes is accused of having sexual contact with a 16-year-old male student.

Heikes resigned after her arrest and is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on April 24.
PRIMGHAR, Iowa  A Rock Rapids, Iowa, man has pleaded not guilty of fatally shooting his mother.

Nathaniel Kassel entered his written plea Friday in O'Brien County District Court to first-degree murder. His trial was scheduled for June 20. He remains in custody on a $1 million bond.

Kassel, 41, is accused of shooting Jody Duskin in the head on March 22 in her Sheldon, Iowa, home. He was arrested two days later in South Dakota in possession of her car. A complaint filed in the case said Kassel was living with Duskin, but listed a Rock Rapids home for his address.

According to court documents, Kassel sent a message to family members the day before her body was found, telling them, "I'm killing Jody." Hours later, he was overheard having a phone conversation in which he said he "made a mistake and hurt someone."

On March 23, Kassel informed others Duskin, 62, was sick and could not make it to work. Another family member found Duskin's body that afternoon. Police found a .45-caliber shell casing and bullet at the scene.

If found guilty of first-degree murder, Kassel would face a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.
Members of the Nebraska State Board of Education apologized to the state's teacher of the year for what she called "false statements" leveled at her by their colleague Kirk Penner.

Renee Jones, a Lincoln High School English teacher, told the board Friday that her tenure as the 2023 Nebraska Teacher of the Year has not been without "obstacles," referring indirectly to tweets from Penner critical of Jones.

"But I'm really excited to be here today to talk about all of the great and wonderful things I've gotten to do in spite of a lot of really mean and false statements," Jones told the board during its Friday meeting at the Graduate hotel.

Penner, the board's vice president, has gone after Jones for attending a drag queen story hour session in March 2022 at SXSW EDU, an international education conference, and promising to buy "inclusive children's books." Jones later clarified that she bought the books for her own children.

"I will not apologize for seeking to understand experiences outside of my own. @KirkPenner," Jones tweeted this year on March 24. "My job as a public educator is to serve, understand and support all kids. That is what I will proudly keep doing as an educator."

Jones later tweeted that someone asked her if her family was safe, adding that Penner "is teaching Nebraskans that is it okay to bully, harass and spread lies about people who do not share the same opinion as you."

After Jones gave her quarterly report Friday, board members Patsy Koch-Johns and Deborah Neary both stood up for Jones, offering apologies without directly naming Penner.

"I would like to tell you that, 'Once a Link, always a Link,' and my heart is with you and I am sorry that you have had to face so many obstacles along the way," said Koch-Johns, a former Lincoln High teacher who was also a Nebraska teacher of the year.

Neary said Jones is an "amazing representative" of the state and "a voice for all teachers" in Nebraska.

"You mentioned obstacles and I just want to be on the record stating that I am very sorry that your reputation was attacked repeatedly, that your personal safety is a concern for you and your family and that your family members are hurt because of the attacks on you," Neary told Jones, who was joined by her husband at Friday's meeting.

Penner did not engage with Jones after her report, later telling the Journal Star during a brief recess that "I've said what I've said.

"She said her piece and I don't really have any reaction," he said. "That's kind of where it stands. Besides that, I'm moving forward."

Jones told the Journal Star she was grateful for the opportunity to use her voice to highlight positive things she's done as the state's teacher of the year and not "hyperbolic, false" statements.

"It's really nice to just hear (Neary's and Koch-John's) support," she said. "It's very humbling to have people that do so much work for their kids in Nebraska to cheer me on and just say like, 'Keep doing the work that you're doing.'"

Jones said her students have seen what's circulating on social media, although she said they "weren't shaken by the messages because they are the ones in my classroom, they know the books on my shelves and see my character in our interactions."

Jones added that she "didnt engage in conversations with my students about the situation, but just told them that I wont discuss specifics with them."

Penner first criticized Jones for wanting to buy inclusive children's books on Oct. 20, the day Nebraska Department of Education officials surprised Jones by naming her the teacher of the year. A day later, he quoted another Twitter post of a video of drag queens at the SXSW conference.

"What in the world is going on! There is NO REASON this should be part of any education conference and should NEVER be hyped by the 'teacher of the year'!" he posted.

Penner referred to the conference again in a post in January, criticizing the use of "taxpayer money 2 attend professional development encouraging childrens (sic) books of men dressed as women."

Jones later said in a tweet that she attended the conference on her own time and money.

Then on March 24, Penner posted a screenshot on Twitter showing that Jones had liked tweets from Jane Kleeb, Nebraska Democratic Party chairwoman who'd tweeted that she'd trust "a drag queen" with her kids over Penner.

Penner tweeted that "we are battling for our kids and this crap needs to stop."

Jones responded by saying Penner was spreading an "inaccurate and harmful" narrative.

"You have this amazing platform where you could be focusing on teacher retention and compensation, yet this is what you spend your energy on?"

State board bylaw states that members "have the responsibility to make it clear when they are speaking or writing on their own behalf that they are not representing the board," but doesn't mention social media posts.

Board President Patti Gubbels previously told the Omaha World-Herald that Penner's tweets don't represent the State Board of Education.

Top Journal Star photos for April 2023
KANSAS CITY, Mo.  Like Ralph Yarls parents, Patience Gaye moved to the United States from Liberia to escape violence before starting a family.

That was years ago. But on Sunday, she marched alongside at least 200 people in Kansas Citys Northland at a peaceful protest in support of Ralph, a 16-year-old who was shot and critically wounded Thursday after he went to the wrong house to pick up his younger twin brothers, according to family.

Ralph is a junior at Staley High School. Friends said hes talked of going to Stanford after he graduates.

Gaye, 33, a long-time family friend to Ralphs parents, is pregnant with her first child, and filled with a new fear as she watches Ralphs struggle to recover from his injuries.

How do you protect a Black kid? she asked. ... What are we supposed to do now? We left our countries because we dont want to be killed. Thats why we left. They came to America for a better life. How is this a better life?

Police Chief Stacey Graves said Sunday the police department is working to make sure the investigation moves as quickly as it can so the case can be presented to the Clay County prosecutor.

Police have not identified the person who shot Ralph.

A stellar human-being

Meara Mitchell, a teacher of Ralphs for several years, called his shooting incomprehensible.

She described him Sunday as a stellar human-being with a quiet fortitude.

Of her many students, Ralphs work ethic and love and kindness for others makes him stand out. Hes dutiful to his family, she said, and he impressed her every day in his academics and his interactions with his peers.

He is the utmost example of how you want a young man to carry himself in this world, she added.

Nicole Bryan, 17, one of Ralphs classmates and friends, said she met Ralph in seventh grade. Theyre both in the band where he plays bass clarinet and she plays bassoon.

When they first met, he corrected her on her instrument, and helped her become better. He still pushes her to achieve her best, Nicole said.

She said Ralph has talked about studying chemical engineering in college. Hes a whiz at science and math, but his passion is music, Nicole said. Hes won numerous awards for his academics and his musicianship, she said.

Hes brilliant, she said.

Justice is the key

Paul Yarl, Ralphs father, is quiet like his son. He stood near the back of the long line of people chanting about love and justice as they stood in the street in front of the yard of the man who allegedly shot Ralph.

Im just here to show my gratitude for all the love and support, said Yarl, who traveled to Kansas City from Indianapolis after the shooting.

So many people showed up Sunday because, Yarl said, what happened was obviously wrong.

Ralph was asked by a parent to pick up his brothers from an address on 115th Terrace, according to the family and a statement from the Kansas City Police Department. Instead he went to a residence in the 1100 block of 115th Street.

Family said a man at the house opened the door, saw Ralph and shot him in the head. When Ralph fell to the ground, family said the man shot him again.

Ralph got up and ran from the property, but he had to ask at three different homes before someone helped him, family added. Kansas City police officers said they responded to the area around 10 p.m.

Graves said Sunday that the homeowner who allegedly shot Ralph after the teen arrived at the wrong house was taken into custody Thursday and placed on a 24-hour hold.

In order to arrest someone, Graves said law enforcement needs a formal victim statement, forensic evidence and other information for a case file to be completed. Because of the teens injuries, Graves said police havent been able to get a victim statement yet.

Yarl said he hasnt had the chance to talk to the prosecutors office, but he is hoping for answers soon.

Justice is the key. I guess the same reason why most people are here. Justice. Peace. Im with them. I dont want anything special. I just want justice, Yarl said.

In the meantime, the family remains focused on Ralphs healing.

Ralphs aunt, Faith Spoonmore, started a GoFundMe on Sunday to raise money for Ralphs medical bills and other expenses.

Even though he is doing well physically, he has a long road ahead mentally and emotionally, she wrote on the online fundraiser before joining Sundays protest.

The family will be represented by Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney who represented families in several high-profile cases including Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, as well as Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.

They also will be represented by Lee Merritt, a Texas-based civil rights attorney who has previously represented the family of Cameron Lamb, who was fatally shot by KCPD detective Eric DeValkenaere in 2019.

Stay off my yard

As protesters chanted and prayed in front of the home where Ralph was shot, some neighbors joined in the demonstration while others watched from their porches or lawn chairs.

Get out of the yard, someone shouted as the crowd swelled on the street in front of the home where the shooting happened. The road is public property; lawns are not.

That over there is a lot of hate, Spoonmore told Sundays crowd in response to the comment, before looking over those encircling her and saying: This is a lot of love.

Ralph was shot in the Northland, a name for the Kansas City neighborhoods north of the Missouri River whose voters tend to be more conservative than in other parts of the city limits.

Police have not identified the shooter or his race. They said they are still investigating whether the shooting was racially motivated.

Councilman Kevin ONeill, District 1 at-large, joined the crowd at the protest Sunday. He was among many Northlanders there.

He said while he doesnt yet know all the facts, the whole situation is still sad and seems like poor judgment.

I hate that the Northland always seems to get labeled and this isnt who the Northland is, and its very disappointing, he said of the shooting.

He said the Northland is often seen as a bastion of white. But he said Sundays turnout, which included people from all ages, races and backgrounds, truly represents the increasing diversity of the Northland.

He said its filled with many cultures and religions.

People look at things and just make their visions what they want to, but thats not what it is. Weve got some great people in the Northland.

He noted that there appear to be cameras on the outside of the property, so hes hoping there will eventually be definitive proof of what happened.

And hopefully that comes back and there is justice for the family, he said.

Robyn Tuwei, who uses the pronouns they/them, has lived just down the block from the shooting for a decade.

Up until recently, they felt it was a very safe neighborhood for their family to call home. But there have been changes. Theyve noticed the sound of more loud gunshots and firecrackers.

Tuweis spouse is Black and their children are mixed race. Recently, theyve had M-80 fireworks thrown at their house, they said. They reported the incidents to police but they still dont know who is throwing them or why.

Lately, its not felt super welcoming, so I cant say that I was surprised, but it is disheartening, said Tuwei, who is a teacher in the local school district, as well as an equity advocate.

Since the unfathomable shooting, Tuwei and their spouse have already talked of changing the ways their children spend time outdoors. They often take walks as a family, but they will no longer be walking past the home where Ralph was shot. When their 13-year-old son wants to visit a friend on that street, they will be driving him, even though its only a brief walk.

Its not considered safe anymore for us, Tuwei said. Not until (the shooter is) in jail, behind bars.

___

Interactive: Find out more about mass killings in the U.S. Interactive: Number of mass killings by year Interactive: Mass killings by location scaled by number of victims Interactive: Search mass killing incidents Interactive: Timeline of mass killings scaled by number of victims killed Interactive: Number of mass killings and victims killed this year compared with previous years Interactive map: People killed by shootings, per 100,000 residents
The 155th Air Refueling Wing of the Air National Guard has been selected to house a training flight simulator at the Guard base in Lincoln.

The USAF KC-135 Operational Flight Training device will provide significant training opportunities, Col. John Williams said.

"The full motion KC-135 simulator provides incredibly realistic training experiences to pilots in nearly every imaginable condition," said Williams, commander of the 155th Air Refueling Wing.

The simulator is capable of recreating realistic missions while providing training for any emergency situation pilots may face while in an aircraft. Electrical problems, engine failure and loss of pressurization are just a few.

The last time Williams used it, the technician running the simulator asked where he wanted to fly, and he chose Lincoln.

"The visuals were fantastic, all the buildings you see on our base were represented," Williams said. "It felt like I was back in Lincoln."

Convenience is another benefit of the new simulator.

Currently, there are four of these devices, spread among 18 wings. If Williams wanted to use one of these simulators today, he would have to fly to Milwaukee.

Williams said he makes the trip twice a year, traveling two days and using the simulator for two days each time. With a simulator in Lincoln, the opportunities seem endless.

"Having it here, I will be able to get in that device every day that I want to," Williams said.

Plus, his newest aviators can jump in "The Box," as they call it, whenever they're having trouble.

"They can do that 365 days instead of waiting for those one or two opportunities a year."

One of the strong selling points for a simulator coming to Lincoln was centrality. Two other bases, the 185th Air Refueling Wing in Sioux City, Iowa, and the 190th Air Refueling Wing in Topeka, Kansas, will both be within a three-hour drive of the simulator.

The simulator is ready, but a final decision on what building it will reside hasn't been made. Williams said the Air Guard could use a reconditioned building that was formerly considered for a simulator in the past.

Since the simulator is also considered a new mission, they could use military construction money to build a new facility for it as well.

The simulator will also create up to eight jobs locally, with government contractors needed to run the simulator and perform maintenance.

"We have an outstanding campus here. This is really going to make our outstanding facilities that much better," he said.

Photos: Offutt runway opens after 18-month reconstruction 100122-owh-new-offuttjets-pic-cm004.jpg offuttjets-pic-cm006.jpg Offutt runway reopens after 18-month runway reconstruction. 100122-owh-new-offuttjets-pic-cm007.jpg 100122-owh-new-offuttjets-pic-cm005.jpg offuttjets-pic-cm003.jpg 100122-owh-new-offuttjets-pic-cm002.jpg 100122-owh-new-offuttjets-pic-cm001.jpg offuttjets-pic-cm008.jpg offuttjets-pic-cm009.jpg offuttjets-pic-cm010.jpg
The United States Department of Labor has sued the owner of a Lincoln roofing company over his alleged refusal to cooperate with an investigation into a report of a man falling from a roof in Lincoln.

Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su on Wednesday brought a petition asking a judge to compel Christopher Arps of Capital City Roofing and Construction to comply and bring relevant documents to the area director of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration office in Omaha.

In the petition, attorney Katharine Sangha of the Department of Labor said that on Feb. 14, OSHA received a report that six days earlier someone performing residential roofing work for Capital City Roofing had fallen off the roof of a duplex in the Capitol Beach area and went into cardiac arrest.

The worker allegedly had been on a roof greater than 6 feet tall without fall protection, she said.

An OSHA compliance safety and health officer called Arps to investigate the report. But, Sangha said, Arps was "extremely belligerent" and said nothing happened.

The investigator then obtained reports related to the incident from the Lincoln Police.

Sangha said Arps has refused to provide OSHA any information about his business or the workers, including their employment status, even after they served him with a subpoena March 1, which Arps ripped up in front of the process server.

Despite reminders sent by USPS certified mail and by email, multiple deadlines passed without Arps producing any documents to OSHA, she said.

Magistrate Judge Michael D. Nelson set a hearing on the matter next month in U.S. District Court in Omaha.
(CNN)  Intense fighting in Sudan is continuing for a third day, sparking growing alarm among foreign governments and international organizations as the death toll ticks higher.

Clashes first erupted Saturday between the country's military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

Much of the conflict is concentrated in the capital Khartoum, where the army headquarters and presidential palace are located.

Eyewitnesses there told CNN they heard mortars and artillery in the early hours of Monday morning, with the fighting intensifying after dawn prayers.

There were increased airstrikes around Khartoum Airport and Sudanese Army garrison sites, eyewitnesses said. Verified video footage shows military jets and helicopters hitting the airport; other clips show the charred remains of the army's General Command building nearby after it was engulfed in fire on Sunday.

There were also reports of battles hundreds of miles away in the eastern city of Port Sudan and the western Darfur region over the weekend.

As of Monday, at least 97 people have been killed, according to the Preliminary Committee of Sudanese Doctors trade union. Earlier on Sunday, the World Health Organization estimated more than 1,126 were injured.

Local resistance committees have warned civilians to stay indoors, with one local resident tweeting that they were "trapped inside our own homes with little to no protection at all."

"All we can hear is continuous blast after blast. What exactly is happening and where we don't know, but it feels like it's directly over our heads," they wrote.

Access to information is also limited, with the government-owned national TV channel now off the air. Television employees told CNN that it is in the hands of the RSF.

The conflict has put other countries and organizations on high alert, with the United Nations' World Food Program temporarily halting all operations in Sudan after three employees were killed in clashes on Saturday.

UN and other humanitarian facilities in Darfur have been looted, while a WFP-managed aircraft was seriously damaged by gunfire in Khartoum, impeding the WFP's ability to transport aid and workers within the country, the international aid agency said in a statement Sunday.

The Khartoum International Airport was one of the scenes of fighting this weekend, with several aircraft photographed damaged and on fire. On Sunday, Dagalo told CNN the RSF was in control of the airport, as well as several other government buildings in the capital.

Qatar Airways announced Sunday it was temporarily suspending flights to and from Khartoum due to the closure of its airport and airspace.

Meanwhile, Mexico is working to evacuate its citizens from Sudan, with the country's foreign minister saying Sunday it is looking to "expedite" their exit.

The United States embassy in Sudan said Sunday there were no plans for a government-coordinated evacuation yet for Americans in the country, citing the closure of the Khartoum airport. It advised US citizens to stay indoors and shelter in place, adding that it would make an announcement "if evacuation of private US citizens becomes necessary."

Power struggle

At the heart of the clashes are Dagalo and his rival, Sudan's military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

The pair had worked together to topple ousted Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in 2019, and played a pivotal role in the military coup in 2021, which ended a power-sharing agreement between the military and civilian groups.

The military has been in charge of Sudan since then, with Burhan and Dagalo at the helm.

But recent talks led to cracks in the alliance between the two military leaders. The negotiations have sought to integrate the RSF into the country's military, as part of the effort to transition to civilian rule.

Sources in Sudan's civilian movement and Sudanese military sources told CNN the main points of contention included the timeline for the merger of the forces, the status given to RSF officers in the future hierarchy, and whether RSF forces should be under the command of the army chief, rather than Sudan's commander-in-chief, who is currently Burhan.

The fresh clashes have prompted widespread calls for peace and negotiations, with Sudan's former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok warning on Sunday that the country could enter a civil war. African leaders held emergency meetings on Sunday, with Sudan's neighbors Egypt and South Sudan offering to mediate.

The UN's political mission in Sudan has said the country's two warring factions have agreed to a "proposal" although it is not yet clear what that entails.
Des Moines Register. April 14, 2023.

Editorial: Editorial: Iowans on public assistance need our help. Instead, lawmakers raise hurdles.

Imagine if the 219 full-time state workers this bill sees investigating Iowans instead worked to address underuse of benefits. Or into the child welfare system. Or something else that helps people.

Who would benefit from the public assistance eligibility verification bill Iowa legislators sent to Gov. Kim Reynolds desk on Thursday?

If things play out the way the bills supporters predict, the state and federal governments will spend a few million dollars less. Speculatively, maybe thatll lead to a tax cut of a few dollars down the line. The state will add over 200 jobs, mostly to dig into the lives of applicants for food and medical assistance, so thats good news for those who get hired.

Who would suffer under the bill?

The consequences range from irritation to catastrophe for the hundreds of thousands of Iowans who participate in Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and state childrens health insurance and family investment programs. The best case for these lowa children and low-income adults is dealing with regular paperwork hassles for investigations of their assets, identity and eligibility. The worst case is being booted off the safety net because of a mistake  an honest mistake by the family, or a mix-up on the states end as it looks for reasons to disenroll families.

Little evidence of big problems with fraud in Iowa

The rationale given by Republican legislators for approving Senate File 494 is to ensure public assistance money is reserved for people who need it most and not wasted on people capable of subsisting independently. They seem confident that investing in computer systems and databases and investigators will turn up unequivocal cases of people gaming the system (or discourage them from trying to game the system).

In more concrete evidence, publicly available reports about SNAP and other benefits show fraud is not commonly seen under current law. State investigators saved $8.4 million in the year that ended in June 2022. In the year ending in June 2020, fewer than 900 investigations of SNAP recipients in Iowa resulted in referrals for disqualification or prosecution.

Regardless, wrongly kicking people off benefits is unacceptable

Even if fraud were rampant and costing taxpayers far more money, a proper remedy would go to greater lengths than this bill does to ensure Iowans dont lose benefits they use to survive day to day and week to week.

Senators who debated the bill in March focused on a provision giving people 10 days to respond to a written notice about a discrepancy. It takes little imagination to see how a discrepancy  quite possibly an explainable discrepancy  will become denial of food and health care. The mail could run slow. A recipient might not receive mail consistently, or might not read English well. Maybe parents or guardians experience an emergency that robs their attention.

On the whole, the bill treats low-income Iowans with contempt

Even in cases where the rules are administered accurately, testing assets is a counterproductive and demeaning approach. It discourages saving. It ignores nuance that might explain why a particular family needs, for instance, more than one reliable vehicle.

Advocates for the bill who framed it as a way to encourage people to get jobs either dont realize or ignore that many recipients of public assistance are already working, in many cases for wages that dont allow them to fully provide for a family. Citing survey data, the Kaiser Family Foundation said that 63% of younger adults who were not disabled were working at least part time in 2019. Many recipients who do not work cannot for various reasons, such as providing unpaid direct care for a relative.

Backers have not convincingly demonstrated that Iowa has a big problem with people using the safety net as a hammock, as some lawmakers have put it. But once again, even if it were true, this stick approach would be a poor fix. As with reductions in unemployment benefits, the focus seems to be on how the state can spend less, not on how it can really provide its residents with assistance that helps them eventually be able to get by on their own. (Another version of this bill would have barred SNAP users from buying fresh meat and other items, another indication of misplaced priorities.)

And about those savings: According to projections (which are modeled on kicking 1% of people off their benefits), in four years Iowa can expect to roughly break even under this bill, with about $8 million of annual savings thereafter. A paltry prize for such a steep cost.

What should happen instead of this bill in Iowa

There is merit in making the systems that are used for eligibility faster and more accurate. But the starting point for that project should be connecting those who are eligible with their deserved benefits. According to federal data, from fiscal year 2017 to fiscal year 2022, the proportion of eligible Iowans participating in SNAP dropped from 54% to 43%. Thats a problem state leaders should be taking on.

Imagine investing the 219 full-time state workers required under this bill into addressing underuse of benefits. Or into the child welfare system. Or into programs in the judicial and corrections systems that divert people away from jail and prison.

Nobody expects Reynolds to veto this measure. Federal regulators could deny Iowa permission to make some of the proposed changes. Whether they do or not, lawmakers should revisit this law during its long implementation period with a fresh focus on providing help, not rescinding it.

END
Several years of below-average precipitation and an increased demand for irrigation to maintain crop yields have reduced groundwater levels across most of Nebraska, according to a recent report by University of Nebraska-Lincoln researchers.

About three-fourths of the states 4,787 observation wells experienced a decline in groundwater levels from spring 2021 to spring 2022, according to the report from the UNL School of Natural Resources Conservation and Survey Division.

Aaron Young, a survey geologist with the natural resources school, said groundwater levels can fluctuate fairly significantly depending on precipitation amounts and how much pumping irrigators have to do.

The less precipitation we get, the less water is available to recharge the aquifer (and) the more water we need to pull out to irrigate crops, he said.

In a really wet year like 2019, by contrast, groundwater levels typically rebound, he said.

Precipitation has been short in the state for the past two reporting periods. Some 96% of weather reporting stations in Nebraska had below-average precipitation during the 2020-21 reporting period and 68% reported levels below the 30-year average during the 2021-22 time frame.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture last week designated 55 of the states 93 counties as primary natural disaster areas because of the ongoing drought, making farmers and ranchers eligible for federal assistance, the Lincoln Journal Star reported. An additional 27 counties were designated because of their proximity to the original 55 counties.

Drought conditions have eased somewhat in Nebraska since the start of the year, but 98% of the state remains in some level of drought, with more than three-fourths in severe drought or worse. Nearly one-third are in extreme drought or worse.

Young said the groundwater declines could cause problems for agricultural producers in the short-term. The combination of below-average precipitation and the need for increased pumping resulted in some significant declines in groundwater levels last year  more than 10 feet in some areas.

He noted, however, that the universitys annual groundwater reports dont paint a full picture of groundwater supplies in Nebraska.

In the long-term, Young said hes not overly concerned about recent declines because Nebraska has a lot of groundwater.

Nebraska is one of eight states that share the High Plains Aquifer, covering about one-third of it. But that one-third accounts for about 70% of the aquifers water volume. The state has a lot more water to draw from than areas like western Kansas and northern Texas, where depletion has been severe.

Many western Kansas farmers, according to a High Plains Public Radio report, have voluntarily cut back on how much they irrigate their crops. Others have been forced to adapt as their wells have run dry.

In Nebraska, changes in groundwater levels since irrigation began have varied greatly, ranging from increases of more than 120 feet to declines of about 130 feet. For most of the state, the net change in groundwater levels since before development began has been less than 20 feet.

Parts of Chase, Perkins, Dundy and Box Butte counties in southwest Nebraska have experienced significant and sustained declines in groundwater levels, according to the report. Irrigation wells are particularly dense in those counties, annual precipitation is low and there is little or no surface water to recharge groundwater.

But the recent declines could have an impact on irrigators in the near-term. Most natural resources districts have management systems in place that trigger lower pumping allocations if declines reach pre-determined levels, Young said. The NRDs will be making those decisions in the coming weeks.

The hope is that more rain in the coming weeks and months, combined with some of this winters snow, will prevent some of those allocation triggers from going into effect, he said.

But the researchers are seeing additional declines in groundwater levels in eastern Nebraska this spring as they gather data for next years report.

If we have another year of drought, this could be a significant issue come this time next year, he said.

Managers of the Lower Big Blue NRD in southeast Nebraska will watch groundwater levels particularly closely this spring. The NRDs board in December placed a 180-day moratorium on drilling new high-capacity wells, the type typically used for irrigation.

Tyler Weishahn, the NRDs assistant manager, said officials sought to use a stay during the off-season to limit development. The NRD issued a similar stay and revised its rules, including its well-permitting process, in 2013 after the drought year of 2012.

While the NRD has just under 2,500 active irrigation wells, on the low-end of the scale, it also has a spottier aquifer. Managers are in the process of taking spring readings from monitoring wells. The board will review them and determine next steps. The moratorium otherwise runs out June 6.

Photos: Platte River mostly dry near Columbus, Nebraska drought-cm001 drought-cm002 The Platte River is mostly dry upstream of Columbus, Nebraska (copy) drought-cm003 drought-cm004 073022-owh-new-drought-pic-cm005.jpg 073022-owh-new-drought-pic-cm006.jpg 073022-owh-new-drought-pic-cm007.jpg 073022-owh-new-drought-pic-cm008.jpg 073022-owh-new-drought-pic-cm009.jpg 073022-owh-new-drought-pic-cm011.jpg 073022-owh-new-drought-pic-cm012.jpg 073022-owh-new-drought-pic-cm013.jpg 073022-owh-new-drought-pic-cm014.jpg 073022-owh-new-drought-pic-cm010.jpg
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP)  An 84-year-old white man in Kansas City, Missouri, was charged Monday with first-degree assault for shooting a Black teen who mistakenly went to the man's home to pick up his younger brothers.

Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson said at a news conference that there was a racial component Thursday night when Andrew Lester twice shot 16-year-old Ralph Yarl, who is recovering at home after being released from the hospital. But nothing in the charging documents says the shooting was racially motivated, Thompson clarified.

We understand how frustrating this has been but I can assure you the criminal justice system is working and will continue to work, Thompson said.

The shooting outraged many in Kansas City and across the country. Civic and political leaders  including President Joe Biden  demanded justice. Some, including lawyers for Yarl, pressed the racial dimension of the case.

Yarl, an honor student and all-state band member, was supposed to pick up his two younger brothers when he approached the wrong house at roughly 10 p.m. Lester came to the door and shot Yarl in the forehead  then shot him again, in the right forearm.

No words were exchanged before the shooting, the probable cause statement said. But afterward, as Yarl got up to run, he heard Lester yell, Dont come around here, the statement said.

Yarl ran to multiple homes asking for help before finding someone who would call the police, the statement said.

Rev. Vernon Howard, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Kansas City, called the shooting a heinous and hate-filled crime. Vice President Kamala Harris wrote on Twitter that "No child should ever live in fear of being shot for ringing the wrong doorbell. The Missouri Senate held a moment of silence for Yarl on Monday.

The civil rights attorneys for Yarls family, Ben Crump and Lee Merritt, said in a statement that Biden called Yarls family and offered prayers for Ralphs health and for justice.

Gun violence against unarmed Black individuals must stop, the lawyers statement read. Our children should feel safe, not as though they are being hunted.

Yarls supporters plan to hold a rally Tuesday evening in Kansas City.

The assault charge carries a penalty of up to life in prison. Lester also was charged with armed criminal action, which has a penalty range of three to 15 years in prison. Lester was not charged with a hate crime. Thompson said Missouris statute is considered a lesser felony than first-degree assault, and carries a less severe penalty.

Missouri is among roughly 30 states with Stand Your Ground laws, which allow for the use of deadly force in self-defense, but the prosecutor determined the shooting was not in self defense.

An arrest warrant was issued but Lester was not yet in custody, Thompson said.

Lester told police that he lives alone and had just gone to bed when he heard his doorbell, according to the probable cause statement. He said he picked up his gun and went to the door, where he saw a Black male pulling on the exterior storm door handle and thought someone was breaking in.

A number for Lester was not in service on Monday evening and it was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney to speak on his behalf.

The shooting happened in a middle class neighborhood in north Kansas City. Yarl didn't have a phone with him and went to the wrong block, his aunt, Faith Spoonmore, wrote on a GoFundMe page set up to help pay medical bills. By Monday afternoon, $1.4 million had been raised.

Police Chief Stacey Graves said that Yarl's parents asked him to pick up his brothers at a home on 115th Terrace, but he mistakenly went to 115th Street, the Kansas City Star reported.

Yarl is a bass clarinetist who earned Missouri All-State Band honorable mention and who plays several instruments in the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of Kansas City, Spoonmore wrote. A statement from the North Kansas City School District described Yarl as an excellent student and talented musician.

Spoonmore said Yarl is doing well physically but has a lot of trauma to overcome emotionally.

By Monday afternoon, the home where the shooting happened had been vandalized. Black spray-paint on the side of the house showed a heart with 16 in the middle. Eggs splattered the front windows and the door.

A message seeking comment from Republican Gov. Mike Parson, a staunch gun rights supporter, wasnt immediately returned.

Crump, who has represented families in several high-profile cases of Black people being shot, including those of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, questioned why the shooter wasn't arrested and charged immediately.

We all believe that if the roles were reversed and this was a Black citizen who shot a 16-year-old for merely ringing his doorbell, they would have arrested him, and he wouldnt have slept in his bed that night, Crump said.

Two days after Yarl was shot, a 20-year-old woman was killed by a homeowner in Upstate New York Saturday after the car she was in drove to the wrong address. Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy said Kaylin Gillis was in a car with three others looking for a friends house.

As the car was turning around, Kevin Monahan came out and fired two shots, one of which struck Gillis. Monahan was charged with second-degree murder.
Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading.

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy
EGU2023 - Upcoming presentations in Vienna

Posted on 17 April 2023 by BaerbelW, John Mason

This year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) will take place as a fully hybrid conference in both Vienna and online from April 24 to 28.

Skeptical Science team members Barbel Winkler and John Mason have presentations in several of the scientific sessions and this blog post provides an overview of their contributions below. You can jump directly to the sections via these anchor links:

EOS1.1 - TM14 - EOS1.3 - EOS2.3

The EGU meeting will be a fully hybrid event where authors can present their work either on-premise in Vienna (Barbel) or virtually (John). To get an idea of how this will shape up, please check out EGU's page about the meeting format where the setup is explained for all session types. As the submitted contributions ended up in all three of the basic formats (oral, PICO and posters) and as Barbel is also co-convener for both an oral session and a Town Hall meeting, we'll get some first-hand insights how this worked out during the conference week!

Tuesday, April 25 - EOS1.1

Science and Society: Science Communication Practice, Research, and Reflection

Convener: Solmaz Mohadjer - Co-conveners: Francesco Avanzi, Roberta Bellini, Roberta Wilkinson, Usha Harris

From the abstract:

Science communication includes the efforts of natural, physical and social scientists, communications professionals, and teams that communicate the process and values of science and scientific findings to non-specialist audiences outside of formal educational settings. The goals of science communication can include enhanced dialogue, understanding, awareness, enthusiasm, improving decision making, or influencing behaviors. Channels can include in-person interaction, online, social media, mass media, or other methods.

This is a session divided into orals and posters and will be an almost all-day event with presentations starting at 8:30 CEST in the morning and going well into the afternoon. This session seemed to be a very good fit to talk about our recently launched Rebuttal Update Project as good science communication was one of the driving factors for us to add the "At a Glance" sections to some of our basic rebuttals. Barbel and John prepared a short presentation for the oral part of the session which is scheduled for 14:15 CEST and will be presented by Barbel. Once in its final version, the presentation will be made available here.

Winkler, B. and Mason, J. S.: Adding plain language summaries to rebuttals on Skeptical Science, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 2428 Apr 2023, EGU23-1667, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-1667, 2023.

Tuesday, April 25 - TM14

Climate change communication: What policy, education, research, geoethics and action are realistic?

Convener: David Crookall - Co-convener: Barbel Winkler

From the abstract:

The state of the planet, especially climate and ocean, is moving towards catastrophe almost by the day. Just two, from among many 2022 quotes illustrate the enormity of the problem. "Our world is suffering from the impact of unprecedented emergencies caused by the climate crisis, pollution, desertification and biodiversity loss." UN Secr-General, Guterres.

"Multiple climate tipping points could be triggered if global temperature rises beyond 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. This will be disastrous for people across the world." futureearth.org & Rockstrom. This town hall meeting provides a panel for speakers and participants to discuss these quotes. The aim will be to move forward in our climate change and ocean realism, even if it is tentative. The aim is to develop some kind of consensus on the idea; still expressed by some, that it is still possible  realistically  to move the needle back. If not, then what?

This is scheduled to happen between 19:00 and 20:00 CEST and the list of speakers is still somewhat in flux as it's for example not yet clear if Ukranian scientists will be able to participate. They would for sure have a lot to say about this particular topic!

Wednesday, April 26 - EOS1.3

Games for Geosciences

Convener: Christopher Skinner - Co-conveners: Rolf Hut, Elizabeth Lewis, Lisa Gallagher, Maria Elena Orduna Alegria

This annually offered session is one of the highlights of an EGU-meeting as it shows how scientific knowledge can be creatively packaged into games for a wide range of topics. This session is presented in the PICO format where the first part is called "2-minute madness" for a reason: each author has exactly two minutes for an elevator-pitch type presentation which can resemble a somewhat mad scramble as these pitches happen in short succession one after the other. During the 2nd part, each author is available for questions next to a large "self-service" screen where attendees can scroll through the long-format presentation on their own.

From the abstract:

Games have the power to ignite imaginations and place you in someone elses shoes or situation, often forcing you into making decisions from perspectives other than your own. This makes them powerful tools for communication, through use in outreach, disseminating research, in education and teaching at all levels, and as a method to train the public, practitioners and decision makers in order to build environmental resilience.



Games can also inspire innovative and fun approaches to learning. Gamification and game-based approaches add an extra spark of engagement and interaction with a topic. Gaming technology (e.g. virtual reality) can transport and immerse people into new worlds providing fascinating and otherwise impossible experiences for learners.

Barbel will present an updated version of her oral contribution from last year about the Cranky Uncle game adapted for the PICO-format. You can already scroll through the presentation here.

Winkler, B. and Cook, J.: Cranky Uncle - a critical thinking game to build resilience against climate misinformation in multiple languages, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 2428 Apr 2023, EGU23-9138, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-9138, 2023.

Wednesday, April 26 - EOS2.3

Climate and ocean education: Geoethics, emergency, fossil fuels, war and more

Convener: David Crookall - Co-conveners: Giuseppe Di Capua, Svitlana Krakovska, Barbel Winkler, Dean Page

From the abstract:

The state of the planet, especially climate and ocean (C&O), has become even more dire than just a year ago. [...] System-wide C&O education, with a good dose of geoethics, is a crucial key to reducing the impending tragedy. Thus C&O educators carry a great geoethical responsibility for the health of the Earth and the life that it carries, including humans. This also is a well-supported idea:

Climate literacy is the key to a greener future.

Understanding human behavior and the social drivers of climate change are essential for the public to fully appreciate the climate system.

Improved science and climate literacy are needed for planetary citizens to better understand the implications of global change.

Creating a climate-literate population is key to driving green jobs  and ambitious climate action.

It is about empowering people with tools, to better use that ocean knowledge to become more responsible and able to take decisions that involve ocean resources.

This far-ranging session is divided into an oral and poster part with both on-premise and virtual contributions. John Mason will present two posters virtually, both related to his book "The making of Ynyslas" published in 2019. The virtual posters will be presented via the website gather.town which EGU had already used in previous years to accomodate networking opportunities when the general assembly was held online only. Barbel will be the convener - that is moderator - for this virtual poster session.

The first poster titled "The Making of Ynyslas: weaving hard scientific evidence into an understandable narrative" explains where and what Ynyslas is, gives visitor numbers and explains in brief how climate change created it. The narrative of its origin can therefore be used to explain a lot of the principles of climate science, in particular sea level change, without explicitly being a climate science book. It ends with the point that since the post-glacial drowning was eustatic in nature, many similar places must be scattered around the world, hinting that there are plenty more such books just waiting to be written!

Mason, J. S.: The Making of Ynyslas: weaving hard scientific evidence into an understandable narrative, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 2428 Apr 2023, EGU23-2367, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-2367, 2023.

Ynyslas' Submerged Forest provides some of the starkest possible visual impressions of change that can be experienced in person, anywhere in Europe. The poster provides a more detailed account of the forest and points out that other similar but older peatlands are known from some of the many offshore boreholes out in Cardigan Bay. Again the aim is to encourage others to examine their own coastlines and available offshore late Quaternary-Holocene geological data in more detail and write accounts of their features. Narrative is proving to be a useful tool in climate science communication and as such, it deserves more attention by academic would-be authors.

Mason, J. S.: The Making of Ynyslas: communicating change through the visual impact of a drowned landscape, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 2428 Apr 2023, EGU23-3261, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-3261, 2023.

Image: Ynyslas Submerged forest (author: John Mason)

The sessions described in this blog post are obviuosly just a very small part of the overall conference. While in Vienna, Barbel will participate in many other sessions and plans to put together another EGU-diary comparable to the one from last year. So, be on the lookout for that next week!

And last but not least, a call for papers for a special issue of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) journal 'Geoscience Communication' on the theme of climate and ocean education (literacy), a topic related to several of the sessions mentioned above. The central goal and scope for this special issue is to show how climate and ocean education may effectively communicate with and raise awareness in everyone, from ordinary citizens, through educators to high-level decision makers. Please check out the call for papers and find more information on submitting in the author guide.
On this day in 1961, the American CIA funded an invasion of Cuba by exiles wishing to overthrow the revolution led by Fidel Castro. A massive failure, the Bay of Pigs invasion was defeated within days when international outrage led US President Kennedy to withhold planned air support. While relations were already tense after Castros government nationalized large amounts of property from wealthy Americans, the invasion attempt partially explains why the two countries remain so hostile towards one another over 60 years later.

You may use this page to discuss the demise of the Beatles and other famous breakups, or explore your own areas of freewheeling, off-topic discourse. Find previous discussions in the Open Thread archive. Excepting the entreaty that you remain on topic, all of Slates usual commenting policies apply.

If you depend on this community and Slates journalism, please consider joining Slate Plus. We appreciate your support.
In late March, the Judicial Committee for the Nebraska Legislature heard public testimony over LB 371, a bill that would criminalize drag shows where minors are present. Opponents vastly outnumbered supporters, with a line extending beyond the committee room and snaking along the hall. The group of supporters was smaller, but their claims were bold. Queer theory is a nationwide playbook trying to indoctrinate our children! one supporter exclaimed. Another called Drag Story Hour sexually manipulative sleaze. Stop twerking our kids! one testifier defiantly yelled to end her speech.

Advertisement

Nebraskas bill is but one example of the dozens of others that are currently circulating across the country, including in Tennessee, where a drag ban was scheduled to go into effect on April 1 until a judge tapped the brakes over First Amendment concerns. While on the surface these laws may deal with cabaret licensing and zoning issues, their driving impulse is clear: They represent yet another legal attack on transgender people (whom many of the bills sweep up with drag performers through intentionally vague language about gendered clothing) in a year of record-setting legislation restricting their rights and autonomy. But even with that in mind, compared to the myriad social problems facing America, focusing so much energy on drag seems absurd, at least if youre on the left. Irreparable harm results when preschoolers see  drag queens wearing princess dresses and reading Hop on Pop at the local library? Really? It all feels like a stretch, even for religious conservatives.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

So why do these bills garner such emphatic support among those on the Christian right? As sociologists who study conservative Protestants discussions of faith, gender, and sexuality, we believe the answer lies not so much in claims about drag performers and trans people (distinct but sometimes overlapping groups) as it does in conservative Protestants own sense of themselves.

In a 10-year ethnographic study of the religious experiences of LGBTQ and allied conservative Protestants conducted with Theresa Tobin, Dawne Moon has noticed a number of seeming paradoxes: The all-powerful, all-loving creator of the universe is threatened by trans and intersex peoples existence, even though Jesus had no problem with eunuchs. Pastors at a megachurch turned a blind eye to a married straight man hitting on women at church, but confronted a gay man, whom they required to be celibate, because someone had reported seeing him on a date (meaning eating at a restaurant with a friend who was a man). And Lisa, a 29-year-old lesbian from Texas, told us that growing up, she learned that being gay was the one thing that you never, ever wanted to be as a Christian. To me, I felt like the church thought it was the worst sin ever. Higher than murder or something. Lisa and many others we spoke with learned from church that murderers can be forgiven, but being LGBTQ is uniquely unforgivable.

Advertisement

Advertisement

All of these paradoxes make more sense when you realize that for a lot of conservative Protestants, rigid gender roles are not just the traditional default, but a commandment upon which all of creation restsmore important, in practice if not on paper, than the Ten Commandments, including loving God and neighbor. Southern Baptist Theological Seminary professor James M. Hamilton Jr. has said that complementaritythe belief that God assigns different, complementary roles to men and women through biologyis like gravity in a story about a plane crash: the force that makes everything possible and gives life meaning. In the same book, STBS President Albert Mohler calls gender complementarity the Bibles most fundamental revelation about what it means to be human.

Advertisement

Advertisement

In a 2022 national survey conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute, 75 percent of white evangelicals reported that they felt strongly that there are only two genders, man or woman, compared to only 44 percent of adult Americans overall. Only 4 percent of white evangelicals felt strongly that there is a range of many possible gender identities. This helps explain why this group, compared to all other religious and nonreligious Americans, are the most supportive of laws restricting transgender equality.

Advertisement

Advertisement

But what about drag? The conservative Protestant worldview insists that differences between men and women are dictated by God and embedded in biology, and generally speaking, drag challenges this assumption, highlighting how masculine and feminine qualities can overlap, being more like a spectrum than a stark opposition. Drag reveals, in the words of social theorist Judith Butler (whom conservatives namecheck disparagingly more often than you might think), that gender is a copy of a copy, for which there is no original. For centuries in Western culture, drag has played with gendered ideals, showing that some men can do the same things women do to look feminineput on makeup, wigs, high heels, and push-up bras and shapewear, and walk and talk in feminine waysand often approximate the feminine ideal more closely than many women. Drag plays with gender, revealing the invisible work that makes masculine and feminine seem like natural opposites. For conservative Protestants especially, this kind of fun, performative play highlights contradictions in their beliefs about gender. Take, for instance, this troublesome puzzle: Men are supposed to be the rational ones, but they are also supposedly naturally sexually aggressiveso much so that they cant be expected to control their sexual urges.

Women are supposed to be passive and submissive, and yet they must curb mens sexual aggressionand look pretty while doing it.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Evangelicals may respond to these seeming contradictions by acknowledging that of course gender roles can bend, even as they hold firmly to their belief in the immutability of gender identity. Kelsy Burke has written about the thousands of evangelical users of Christian sex advice websites who troubleshoot their sexual problems with online communities of fellow believers. One of the most surprising findings from this research is that some evangelical men use these sites to ask questions aboutand gain validation fortheir interest in gender-subversive sex acts, including pegging and wearing womens underwear.

The logic these website users presented was that if a mans wife knew about and supported his interest (thus affirming his identity as a heterosexual man, not some secret closet-case) and if that man had prayerfully contemplated his sexual desires, then other evangelicals using these websites would not condemn such an interest. As one website user who was interested in pegging described on a message board forum, I was talking to God about it AGAIN, and I really felt the Lord say to me I love what you and [your] wife have together. 

Advertisement

A Bible verse that the people in Burkes study constantly referenced was Hebrews 13:4: Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled. In the words of Kevin Leman, author of a popular Christian sex advice book, The Bible is amazingly free in what it allows and even encourages a married couple to do in bed. In other words, for some evangelicals at least, gender play is possiblein privateso long as the wife affirms that the husband is a real man, and man and woman unite in monogamous, heterosexual matrimony. What a married Christian couple does in their bedroom is nobody elses business, because God says so.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Given these findings, it makes sense that conservative lawmakers see drag as inevitably sexualizing, even when their performances involve merely reading Green Eggs and Ham to a room full of children. The problem with drag shows for conservative evangelicals is that they are public displays of gendersexual ones, eventhat challenge immutable gender difference rather than affirming it. For people who think gender is something that God sends people to hell over, its not something to play with at allat least, not outside of the marital bedroom. And thats a big part of the supposed threat of Drag Story Hour events, that kids will learn that gender isnt inherently sexual, that they can play with it too. Of course, anti-drag bills arent protecting kids from anything other than the freedom to be themselves without having to constantly try to perform gendered ideals. And whatever God ultimately thinks about playing dress-up, here on earth, trying to control who does it where says a lot more about the people seeking the control than the ones having all the fun.
NEW DELHIOn a hot March afternoon, Anita Devi sits with hundreds of fellow workers at New Delhis Jantar Mantar. The astrological observatory, built in the 1700s, now serves as a popular demonstration site, and workers have been there since Feb. 16, camping out from morning to dusk. Demonstrators around Devi, most of them women, hold placards that call for the rollback of a mobile app that is used to mark their attendance in a government work program.

Devi is one of more than 141 million active workers in Indias flagship employment guarantee program, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. The program is an important safety net for the millions who live below the poverty line in India, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic forced a pan-India lockdown and left people jobless. The MGNREGA, launched in 2006, guarantees at least 100 days of work per year to rural households. The program also prioritizes womenfor the past five years, women have made up more than half of the participants. The workers, who earn a paltry 200 rupees a day (about U.S.$2.40), have been instrumental in building rural infrastructure in India, including roads, irrigation channels, and wells.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

But these daily wage workers complain that a newly mandated app-based attendance system marks them absent even when they work all day. They say the mobile app, called National Mobile Monitoring Software, is glitchy and causes them to lose hard-earned money. It is like working free for the government, Devi told me.

Devi was offered work under the MGNREGA in January, and she worked for six days constructing a road near her village in the Indian state of Jharkhand. When payday came, she was paid for only four of those days, she said. For the rest of the two days, the app showed I had not turned up for work, Devi told me.

Long before the app, work attendance for the MGNREGA was marked on a physical list generated by the programs administration and filled in by a site supervisor. Since the beginning of this year, supervisors are now also tasked with tracking attendance on the app, where they have to upload photos of the workers. Devi told me she was shown present for all six days on the physical list, but the NMMS app showed she had worked for only four days. The government relied on the app record and slashed her wages.

Advertisement

Advertisement

The government, for its part, says the app brings more transparency and citizen oversight to the program. Many activists agree that mismanagement has been a real problem in the work programbut an error-prone, inaccessible app, they say, is not the right solution. Devi, for example, says her photos were uploaded twice every day, yet the app still marked her absent. Shes not alone. Thousands of workers across India have complained that the app malfunctions or does not work in regions with unreliable internet connectivity.

Supervisors are required to download the app on their smartphones, where they can then access the details of the MGNREGA workers in their cluster of villages or blocks. To mark attendance, they download the list of the workers every day and mark them present. To authenticate their presence on the worksite, the supervisors then take and upload geotagged photos of the workers through the app-enabled camera. Inexplicably, though, there is no system to match photos with names, leaving lots of room for error and little accountabilitythe supervisors can effectively upload photos of anyone. In addition to names and photos, the app also holds personal data from workers including their addresses and identity numbers.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

The first round of attendance takes place between 6 and 7 a.m., and the second happens later in the afternoon. There are lots of glitches. Sometimes the photos are not uploaded; sometimes the network is weak and the attendance is not submitted. Sometimes it just shows an error and there is no way to fix that, said Tripa Khakha, a site supervisor for MGNREGA in Jharkhand.

Khakha said the app tends to be glitchier during the second attendance round, and there is no redress for errors. The government trusts the app more than the workers and their hard work, Khakha told me.

All these errors put a serious dent in the governments argument that the app brings transparency to the program, said Nikhil Dey, a member of NREGA Sangharsh Morcha, a national platform of workers collectives. According to Dey, who was one of the architects of the MGNREGA, its often hard to identify who is in the photos taken by supervisorsfor example, sometimes womens faces are covered.

Advertisement

Some of these errors could be attributable to a lackluster pilot of the app. Before its countrywide launch, the app was piloted in 2021 in the Alwar district of Rajasthana small region that couldnt have provided enough data to greenlight a national rollout, said Apurva Gupta, a researcher and member of NREGA Sangharsh Morcha.

Advertisement

Many supervisors who previously marked attendance manually say they cannot afford the smartphones required to use the NMMS app. A majority of the women in rural India do not own such a phone. Gupta said shes heard stories of people taking out loans or borrowing money to buy a smartphone so they could use the app.

If they can get a phone, the next hurdle for workers is connectivity. According to a report from Oxfam, only 31 percent of Indias rural population uses the internet, and mobile internet connectivity in India is slowing down compared with previous years, the BBC reported in January. For the past five years, India has been leading the list of countries with the most internet shutdowns. In 2022 the Indian government shut down the internet 84 times in different regions. And those issues, Gupta said, also affect attendance apps like NMMS.

Advertisement

Advertisement

The app is part of a larger push over the past decade from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi toward digitizing governance, a move he claims will weed out corruption and bureaucratic hassles. The flagship program for these efforts, touted as Digital India, aims to make every aspect of governance, policing, and financial transactions digital. To do so, the government has encouraged the use of digital banking and introduced smart policing through advanced technology and surveillance. In many Indian cities, the government forces sanitation workers to wear GPS-enabled smartwatches to keep track of their movements in real time, raising serious privacy concerns. Similarly, theres no legal oversight in place for the millions of photos of MGNREGA workers uploaded on the app every day.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Some workers rights activists say the app is actually part of a politically motivated attempt by Modi to scrap the MGNREGA, which hes called a living monument to the failures of the United Progressive Alliance. The UPA is a coalition of several national political parties, led by the Indian National Congress party (the rival of Modis party), which held power from 2004 to 2014. The Modi governments aversion to MGNREGA is also reflected in this years budget, in which the government slashed the programs funding, despite considerable demand for work. Around 41 percent of village councils reported no NMMS device usage, according to reporting by the Hindu, which noted that activists say the government hopes to use a slowdown in app use to prove a slowdown in interest in the program.

Advertisement

But the growing demand for work under MGNREGA paints a different picture. The program continues to be a safety net for millions in India. Government data shows that 75 million households worked during fiscal year 202021, up from 54.8 million in fiscal year 201920.

At Jantar Mantar, the MGNREGA workers, mostly women, still stand strong a month into the protest. Theyve witnessed the biting cold change into a warm and bright summer. They have stood their ground during strong winds and downpours. Theyve been braving it alljust to get their meager wages on time and with dignity.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
Everyone who sets foot in New York City seems to have a rat story. Rats have become so synonymous with the metropolis that a friend, visiting for the first time from Romania, was thrilled to see a New York subway rat. All part of the tourist experience. Lately though, it seems the rats have gone beyond creating atmosphere. From establishing new homes early in the COVID pandemic, rats have come surging back, enjoying the emphasis on outdoor dining.

NYC is not proud of this, and now has hired a new rat czar to take care of the problem. The fight began even before Kathleen Corradi was introduced as the new general in the rodent war, as New Yorkers received flyers informing them that soft trash bags couldnt go out until 8 p.m., the idea being that if trash went out later, rats would have less time to chow down. Now, the new czar will work with rodent experts, pest control, and the department of sanitation to send rats packing.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

In my reporting for my book Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villains, I learned a lot about rats. My research suggests that Corradi faces an uphill battle. Its not due to a lack of traps or poison. The anti-rat efforts are receiving an infusion of $3.5 million to pay for supplies like bait, traps, Rat Ice (basically a fancy name for dry ice), and fumigation machines, as well as waste-handling tools like tilt trucks. In the search for the rat czar, the job listing noted that the successful candidate must have a killer instinct. But for a rat czar to be successful, they cannot just kill rats, or even make some light adjustments around trash management. They need to change people.

Advertisement

A lot of people think rats are disgusting. Maybe its the scuttling paws. The yellow teeth (reinforced with iron, which is why rats can chew through concrete given enough incentive). The hairless tails. But what really causes disgust is the idea of disease.

Rats can, of course, get us sick. Most peoples minds might immediately go to bubonic plague, the iconic disease that wreaked havoc on the 14th century (and a fair number of other centuries both before and after). But plague isnt coming into the Lower East Side. No one in the city has had plague since 2002, when two people brought it from New Mexico when they came to the city on vacation. In the United States, if you want to avoid plague, the animals you should avoid arent New York City rats. Prairie dogs, ground squirrels, and other more cuddly wildlife are the main spreaders of the disease.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Rats can also be carriers other diseases, such as leptospirosis. This is a bacterial disease spread through rodent urine. NYC has had a recent uptick. Between 2006 and 2020, humans got only an average of three cases per year of leptospirosis, but in 2021, the city saw 15 cases. Severe illness from leptospirosis in humans is rare. On an average day, most people are far, far more likely to get COVID (or a cold, the flu, or anything else) from their co-workers than they are to get leptospirosis from the rats. Leptospirosis can also be a danger to dogswho are generally much more enthusiastic about rat urine than humans. Luckily, dogs can be vaccinated against leptospirosis (if you have a dog, please do that!).

Advertisement

Advertisement

So, rat disease is just not all that much of an issue. Rats have another burden, though. With disgust comes fear and shame. Rats arent just rats. They are signs of chaos, disorder. Signs of a city that is gross and dirty. Because we think rats are so disgusting and scary, living with them has a psychological burden.

And the weight of living with rats falls only lightly on people sharing their rat stories with the New York Times. It falls more heavily on people living in truly rat-ridden housingor on people with no housing at all. In public housing in places like the Bronx, rats got so bad they bit childrenin 2018. In 2015, reports showed New York City homeless shelters overrun with rats. For my book, I spoke with people who were living unhoused. They told me stories of defending themselves against rats in the night with a BB gun. Live and dead rats peppered their encampmentseven though they worked to keep the areas clean.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

In studies of people living closely with rats in places like the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, the sound of rats robs them of sleep. Fear of contact with rats and the diseases they can spread is constant. So is frustration. People living in poor housingor no housingknow they will be the last to feel the effects of any new rat initiative, if those initiatives make much of a difference at all.

Waiting to put trash bags out until 8 p.m., as New Yorkers have been doing since April 1, is sadly not going to make a difference. Rats are nocturnal and have no problem dining late. Other rat-focused efforts are likely to broadly fail as well. Traps and poison may work for small areas like a home. But deployed over a city, rats get wise to physical traps. They can also develop resistance to poisons. Scientists have developed stronger poisons, but all of them run the risk of poisoning other animalslike the red-tailed hawks dining on the rat buffet. Some burrows can be treated with dry ice to suffocate the rodents, and volunteers can bring their rat-hunting dogs out to follow their instinctsbut people and dogs can only kill the rats they can find. Cats? Hah. Good luck.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Rats are a community problem, and one that requires a community solution. As urban rodentologist Michael Parsons notes, rats need three thingsfood, water, and shelter. Get rid of what rats need, and the population is going to go down.

Water is, honestly, beyond anyones control. It runs beneath the city, through sewers and pools and storm drains. Food and shelter, however, can be tackled, if the city has the will. Cutting back leafy undergrowthwhere rats like to hide their burrowscan cut down on rat real estate in some areas. In buildings, traps and poison arent enoughholes need to be sealed.

But the biggest change needs to be in the garbage. For a rodent who can chew through concrete, the plastic of a trash bag on the sidewalk is just an appetizer. Hard-sided trash cans with tight-fitting lids go much further toward deterring rats (though if a rat sets its mind to the task, it can chew through most anything, short of metal, eventually). Better yet, the city could invest in a method known as containerizationlarge, metal containers that take up a parking space. People store trash in those containers until they can be picked up. In fact, the city tried a pilot of this method in Hells Kitchen. Photos show a sidewalk blissfully clear of trash. Residents said the rats disappeared.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

But the city declared it a failure. Some bins can be emptied by automatic arms on garbage trucks; these had to be emptied by hand. Bags ended up outside the bins. That could be because residents didnt use them properly, but it could also be that they werent emptied often enough. This is a problem thats solvable with more labor and education. Department of Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch offered the comment that showed what was really at stake: If containerization were increased, she asked, where would people park?

Advertisement

There is no way to get rid of the rats without inconveniencing people. And maybe containerization is too much to ask. But at the very least, the city could avoid leaving bags of trash out all night to supply the rat buffetpeople could at least put the trash out in the morning.

Advertisement

Yes, its a significant change to routine. But its a change everyone deserves, especially the most vulnerable residents of the city. Every New Yorker deserves to live in a place where the trash compactors work, where trash is collected frequently and sealed away from rats, and where walls arent full of rat-made holes.

Obviously these are changes people might not like. No one likes getting up early to take out the trash. No one likes less parking. People might not like higher taxes for new garbage trucks, and more sanitation workers to help empty cumbersome containers.

But its that or the rats.
(CNN)  A court in Tehran convicted as many as 10 Iranian military personnel on Sunday for their involvement in the shooting down of Ukrainian Airlines Flight 752 in 2020, according to Iran's semi-official Mehr News.

But the sentence was dismissed as a "sham ruling" by victims' families who say Iranian authorities have failed to prosecute those ultimately responsible for the disaster.

The main defendant in the trial was the unnamed commander of the Tor M1 surface-to-air missile defense system that shot down the plane, killing all 176 people on board. The commander was sentenced to 13 years in prison, according to Mehr.

The Boeing 737 flight departed from Imam Khomeini Airport in Tehran on January 8, 2020, and was headed to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv when it was hit by anti-aircraft missiles shortly after takeoff.

Days after the downing, Iranian authorities admitted that its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force shot the plane down by mistake after it was misidentified as a cruise missile by an air defense operator.

In the Tehran court's final verdict on Sunday, it said the passenger plane was shot down by "human error." The commander fired missiles at the civilian aircraft twice, "contrary to the order of the command post and other instructions," the court said, according to Mehr.

The other defendants found guilty were personnel of the air defense post, Mehr reported.

The Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims, an international group seeking justice for those killed, released a statement on Sunday saying the victims' families "never recognized the Islamic Regime's court as a legitimate tribunal."

It claimed the tribunal had failed to prosecute the "main perpetrators" of the incident, instead prosecuting "ten low-ranking officers with total obscurity of their backgrounds and identities."

The association condemned the trial as a "sham ruling," after court sessions were held in private, with victims' families not present for hearings. More than 70 complainants from the families of victims had withdrawn their complaints before the sentencing was handed down and rejected the competence of the court, it said.

The group considers the case still open, and is demanding the dispute be considered by the International Court of Justice.

The passenger jet downing happened at a time of heightened tensions with the United States, hours after Iran launched ballistic missile strikes on a US base in Iraq  an act of retaliation for the US drone killing of Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani.

At the time thousands of anti-government protesters in Tehran took to the streets to denounce the crash, with some calling for the removal of Iran's supreme leader and for the prosecution of those responsible.

Of those killed in the crash, 138 were traveling to Canada, according to the CBC. Among the victims were 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, four Afghans, three Germans and three Britons.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Iranian commander sentenced to 13 years for shooting down Ukrainian passenger plane."
Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza was sentenced to 25 years in prison for treason and criticism of Russia over the war in Ukraine. He is a former Russian-British journalist and politician.

Vladimir Kara-Murza PHOTO: Profimedia

A former Russian-British journalist and opposition politician was sentenced in Moscow to 25 years in prison for treason and other crimes, including criticism of Russia for the war in Ukraine Vladimir KaraMurze.

During the trial, Kara-Murzej resolutely rejected the charges at the time several times, and he held the same opinion after the conviction. He does not regret his condemnations of Russia. I sign every word I have spoken, he said in court last week, then added that he was proud of his words.

In addition to criticizing the special military operation, as Russia calls the war launched in Ukraine, Kara-Murza also openly scolded the Russian president Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, the 41-year-old convict was also one of the key voices urging the West to adopt sanctions against Russia.
In small business, we are always told to think big. But how do you really do that inside your company when you have to deal with small tactical issues every single day.

On the Small Business Radio Show this week, I discussed this with Aaron Bare who is a leading strategic facilitator, futurist, storyteller, and author of a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and #1 Amazon Bestselling book, Exponential Theory, the Power of Thinking Big. He is a results-focused conscious leader that understands how to create a high-performing organization, deliver a message to the masses, and cultivate trust to solve any issue, in any room, anywhere, anytime. Now, Aaron has distilled his learnings from Exponential Theory and career as a facilitator into his online learning community for exponential leaders, the XMBA.

Here is what Aaron and I talked about in this interview:

How Exponential Theory means that when leaders think bigger, they become more conscious of what results they actually want. The XMBA, which stands for eXponential Mindset, Beliefs, and Attitudes is a course and community helping leaders reach their full potential based off the seven universal truths in X-Theory. The Rhodium Rule, coined in Exponential Theory, is an expansion of the Golden Rule and the Platinum Rule that leaders must consider the entire ecosystem when making a decision that inevitably affects others. Mars Shots, coined in Exponential Theory, is an expansion on Moon Shots which encourages leaders to think bigger on another worldly-level. Thrivability, coined in Exponential Theory, is an idyllic state of being where leaders dont focus on survivability, maintainability, or even sustainability, and how they can instead, always thrive.

Listen to Aarons entire interview on The Small Business Radio Show.

Get the latest headlines from Small Business Trends. Follow us on Google News.
A lesbian couple gets married after knowing each other for nine days, Mo'Nique comes out during a Netflix special, and Yale honors Pauli Murray with a mural.

90 Day Fiance Features Lesbian Couple

Lesbian couple Jeymi Noguera and Kris Foster, who some call "U-Haul Lesbians," got married after knowing each other for only nine days.

"So many people told us were crazy, were rushing, we shouldnt be doing this. But when you have something wonderful, hold on to it. Thats what Im doing," said Foster.

On April 2, the couple was wed on an episode of "90 Day Fiance: The Other Way."

"I can only tell you that its not going to be easy, and each day, well have to make our best effort. But theres nothing I want more than to make such an effort for you," said Noguera.

The couple was supported by Nogueras friends in person and Fosters family via Zoom during the ceremony.

MoNique Comes Out In New Netflix Special

Photo via Instagram.

Actress and comedian MoNique launched her Netflix-original special "My Name is MoNique" on April 4 and left fans "shook" after coming out as bisexual.

MoNique shared anecdotes with the audience ranging from being raised in Baltimore by "junkies, gamblers, alcoholics" to her interest in intimacy with other women despite being married to Sidney Hicks.

MoNique said to her husband, "Daddy, I wanna be with another woman sexually." In which he responded, "B**ch, me too!"

Its been revealed in the past that the couple had an open marriage, but have grown out of the arrangement.

MoNique said shes "misunderstood," but hopes the special will help fans "understand why I swing like I swing."

Yale Honors Pauli Murray with Mural

Dining hall of Pauli Murray College. Photo via yale.edu by Allie Barton.

Pauli Murray, the same-gender loving civil rights attorney and Episcopal Priest, was honored with a mural at Yale University. The mural was designed by queer visual artist Mickalene Thomas and unveiled on March 27.

Murray was the first African American woman to earn a doctorate in law and was a powerful figure in the civil rights movement.

The mural covers an entire portion of the universitys dining hall and is dominated by thousands of enamel tiles with a youthful Murray at the end of the mural.

"Pauli was a trailblazer for civil rights and gender equity and I am so grateful to have had the privilege to depict her at the college named in her honor," said Thomas.


New visualisation of highly anticipated Bratislava project, lookout tower above Levoca, and dance events for the rest of the week.

Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled

Good evening. Here is the Wednesday, April 12 edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes.

Development projects in Bratislava

Big real estate projects will change the face of Bratislava. (Source: SME - Marko Erd)

A new visualisation video has been released showing how one of the most anticipated development projects in Bratislava, the Vydrica complex, will look when finished. You can see for yourself at this link.

Former Penta partner Jozef Oravkin has bought lucrative land in the centre of the capital, which his firm, Alto Real Estate, plans to use for the development of a new modern district in the city.

MORE STORIES FROM THE SLOVAK SPECTATOR WEBSITE

OPINION : Fico and Orban riding the same wave, says Hungarian analyst. The EU should have acted earlier.

: Fico and Orban riding the same wave, says Hungarian analyst. The EU should have acted earlier. TRAVEL : Interest in riding historical trains in the Banska Bystrica Region is growing every year. The region has new attractions each year.

: Interest in riding historical trains in the Banska Bystrica Region is growing every year. The region has new attractions each year. HIKE : A new lookout tower above Levoca, a town in eastern Slovakia which boasts spectacular mediaeval architecture, should open in the next few weeks.

: A new lookout tower above Levoca, a town in eastern Slovakia which boasts spectacular mediaeval architecture, should open in the next few weeks. SCHOOLS: Can I go and play now?' A question that needs to be answered with a 'yes'. The most important thing to remember about play: learning can be fun.

FEATURE STORY FOR WEDNESDAY

Losing our religion

In Slovakia, the number of church-goers has been declining in recent years. (Source: TASR)

The number of people who do not subscribe to any religious belief doubled between 2011 and 2021 in Slovakia as the country succumbs to the trend of secularisation across the Western world.

There are more people who do not profess any faith in Bratislava than Roman Catholics, Evangelicals and Greek Catholics combined.

EVENT FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS

See the modern Slovak dance scene

video //www.youtube.com/embed/94oN1QcOemg

The 18th NuDanceFest modern dance festival will be held in Bratislava from Wednesday to Sunday, highlighting the work of local choreographers and directors, and works created either in Slovakia or in international cooperation.

Find out more about the festival, including the programme, ticket prices and more in English at this link.

In other news

Two tunnels in Slovakia will be closed at the end of the week for maintenance. The Sitina Tunnel in Bratislava will be closed for two consecutive nights from Friday to Saturday and Saturday to Sunday, from 22:00 PM to 10:00 AM. The left tube of the Sibenik Tunnel will be closed from Friday 22:00 PM to Sunday 9:00 AM, while its right tube will be closed from Friday 23:00 PM to Sunday 10:00 AM.

The Sitina Tunnel in Bratislava will be closed for two consecutive nights from Friday to Saturday and Saturday to Sunday, from 22:00 PM to 10:00 AM. The left tube of the Sibenik Tunnel will be closed from Friday 22:00 PM to Sunday 9:00 AM, while its right tube will be closed from Friday 23:00 PM to Sunday 10:00 AM. From May 1, Slovakia will have three new protected areas : The Homola nature reserve in the Brezno District with an extensive cave system which is home to rare species of bats; the Tisovsky kras protected area in east Slovakia; and the Pramenna oblast Rimavy protected area in south Slovakia.

: The Homola nature reserve in the Brezno District with an extensive cave system which is home to rare species of bats; the Tisovsky kras protected area in east Slovakia; and the Pramenna oblast Rimavy protected area in south Slovakia. The Slovak and Austrian governments approved a framework agreement will be able to cooperate with each other.

will be able to cooperate with each other. Slovak authorities have found out that wheat imported from Ukraine contained elevated levels of pesticide residues. Analysis results determining possible impacts on human health should be announced by the end of this week.

Bratislava zoo has been home to 11-year-old lion Samba for over a month now. The animal came from the zoo in the Czech town of Hodonin. (Source: TASR)

WEATHER FOR THURSDAY:

Level 1 warning for ground frost is in place for several districts in the south and east of Slovakia during the night and early morning.

Occasional fog in the morning. In general Thursday will be cloudy, in the west of Slovakia rain is expected. Daily temperatures will be around 9 C in the west, reaching up to 17C in the east. (SHMU)

Thank you for subscribing and reading. It means a lot to us.

P.S. If you have suggestions on how our news overview can be improved, you can reach us at editorial@spectator.sk.

Follow The Slovak Spectator on Facebook, Instagram (@slovakspectator) and Twitter (@slovakspectator).
Biedronka's expansion to Slovakia, a major business bluff, and rain weather warnings issued for the Bratislava area.

Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled

Good evening. Here is the Thursday, April 13 edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes.

Ex-Smer minister guilty in bribery case

Peter Kazimir serves as Slovakia's central bank governor today. (Source: SME - Gabriel Kuchta)

Slovakia's central bank governor Peter Kazimir, a former finance minister under the Smer governments, has been found guilty of corruption.

The penal order was issued by a judge in early April, but the Kazimir case will be taken to court after all. The Special Prosecutor's Office disagrees with the judge's decision and demands a more severe sentence for the governor.

While the governor is visiting the USA, many politicians - except Robert Fico - called on Kazimir to leave the post. He cannot be sacked as the decision is not valid.

More stories from The Slovak Spectator website

If you like what we are doing and want to support good journalism, buy our online subscription with no ads and a print copy of The Slovak Spectator sent to your home in Slovakia. Thank you.

FEATURE STORY FOR THURSDAY

Hyperloop in Slovakia a bluff

A hyperloop test line. (Source: Hyperloop Transportation Technologies )

In March 2016 Slovakia learnt that it was supposed to be the first country where the ultramodern hyperloop transport system would be constructed. It was just a big business bubble.

FREE EVENTS

3 things to enjoy in Bratislava

Jazz concert Osztriga (Source: rakuskekulturneforum.sk)

On Friday, a jazz concert is taking place at the Austrian Cultural Centre near the Presidential Palace. During the weekend, set out on a walk.

In other news

Acting Agriculture Minister Samuel Vlcan has confirmed that some 1,500 tonnes

of Ukrainian wheat that entered Slovakia contained an increased amount of a pesticide banned in the EU. The contaminated wheat will be destroyed.

of Ukrainian wheat that entered Slovakia contained an The contaminated wheat will be destroyed. Ukrainian refugees in Slovakia will have the opportunity to meet at special events dedicated to their traditions and cultural heritage. This project, developed by the Institute of Ethnology and Social Anthropology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in cooperation with the Culture Ministry, has been supported with 100,000 from UNESCO.

and cultural heritage. This project, developed by the Institute of Ethnology and Social Anthropology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in cooperation with the Culture Ministry, has been supported with 100,000 from UNESCO. The Health Ministry does not have a minister, nor two state secretaries. One of the two state secretaries, Lenka Dunajova Druzskovska, has resigned. (Dennik N)

The Museum of Croatian Culture in Slovakia in Bratislava. (Source: TASR - Jan Novak)

WEATHER FOR FRIDAY: Cloudy skies, rain, showers, and occasional thunders. The daytime temperature will range from 9C to 21C on Friday. First-level rain warnings are in place in the Bratislava Region and parts of the Trnava Region until Friday evening. (SHMU)

Thank you for subscribing and reading. It means a lot to us.

P.S. If you have suggestions on how our news overview can be improved, you can reach us at editorial@spectator.sk.

Follow The Slovak Spectator on Facebook, Instagram (@slovakspectator) and Twitter (@slovakspectator).
But surprise, surprise: hes not going anywhere.

Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled

Welcome to your weekly commentary and overview of news from Slovakia. The national bank governor is handed a guilty verdict, which he is appealing. Slovakia is set to lose millions it deposited in a sanctioned bank, and a former minister says he will definitely not run in the election.

Central bank governor found guilty of corruption

Peter Kazimir, a former finance minister and the current head of Slovakias national bank, last week became the first high-ranking former Smer politician to receive a criminal conviction. Unlike his one-time cabinet colleagues, who all found themselves in opposition after the 2020 election, Kazimir, who served as finance minister in two of Robert Ficos governments, landed a lucrative non-political job just before Smer was turfed out, and has since been serving as governor of the National Bank of Slovakia.

This is why the court verdict  although still technically subject to appeal  that found him guilty of bribery, reflects poorly not just on Kazimir and his former party, but on the whole country. In the European context, his case  of a central bank governor being not just charged with, but convicted, of corruption  is extremely rare.

How it happened
Blue and yellow are to many what red is to a bull, says director Michal Blasko.

Film producer Jakub Viktorin (left) and film director Michal Blasko (right) after receiving the best picture award for movie Obet. (Source: TASR)

Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled

During the Slnko V Sieti national film award ceremony on April 15, the movie Piargy (The Ballad of Piargy) was mentioned a lot. It received awards in categories such as best actor and actress, best supporting actress, screenplay, cinematography, editing, even the People's Favourite.

Slnko V Sieti 2023 Best Picture: Obet Best Director: Michal Blasko (Obet) Best Actress in a Leading Role: Judit Pechacek Bardos (Piargy) Best Actor in a Leading Role: Attila Mokos (Piargy) Best Supporting Actress: Jana Kvantikova (Piargy) Best Supporting Actor: Attila Mokos (Cierne na bielom koni) Best Screenplay: Jana Skorepova, Ivo Trajkov (Piargy) Best Cinematography: Peter Bencsik (Piargy) Best Film Editing: Michal Reich (Piargy) Best Music: Svetlonoc (Pjoni, Rob) Best Sound: Juraj Balaz, Ivo Heger (Piargy) Best Costume Design: Anita Hrossova (Piargy) Best Visual Effects: Jaromir Pesr, Michal Plicka (Piargy) Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Anita Hrossova (Piargy) Best Animated Feature: Tvojazem (rezia: Peter Budinsky) Best Television Film: Jozef Mak (director Peter Bebjak) Best Documentary: Dezo Hoffmann  fotograf Beatles ( rezia: Patrik Lancaric) People's Favourite: Piargy (rezia: Ivo Trajkov)

Yet it did not win best picture.

That award - as well as for best director - went to Obet (Victim), which tells the story of Ukrainians and the Roma, two of the most negatively viewed minorities in the Czech Republic.

"Blue and yellow are to many what red is to a bull," said director Michal Blasko to the daily SME, in reaction to many Slovaks complaining that everything is about the war in Ukraine.

However, the movie started filming long before Russia invaded its neighbour.

According to the director, there was a poll in the public broadcaster Czech Television in 2018 that showed Ukrainians were the most badly viewed minority, surpassing the Roma. The reason was that they took away jobs from Czech people.

That is why in the movie the two minorities confront each other, with the Czech majority having to decide whose side to be on.

Piargy shows the distorted morals of society. It tells a story of a young woman who marries the son of the richest landowner in a village, but does not resist her father-in-laws violent seduction.

Since its release last September, the film has won 56 awards and impressed juries at festivals in Brussels, Paris, London, Rome, New York, Milan, Hollywood, Amsterdam, Florence, and beyond.

video //www.youtube.com/embed/VhMANSJw6Z0

Even though both movies dominated the categories, the reality of the outside world tells a different story, alluded to in the thank-you speech of director Peter Bebjak, who received an award in the new category dedicated to television.

According to him, he loves waking up and going to work. But he fears the first morning after the coming elections as Slovakia may become illiberal. The state of society, including its view of LGBT+ people, makes him anxious.

"No one has the right to take someone's life just because they are different. If we do not understand how people can be different, we should not judge," Bebjak said, calling on people not to vote for those who sow hate, symbolise corruption and spread misinformation.
Poprad resident said someone else posted hateful comments.

Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled

Not even an anonymous account, dozens of e-mail addresses, or the excuse that he was not the person who wrote hateful comments worked.

Last week, the Specialised Criminal Court sentenced 41-year-old Jan L. from Poprad, eastern Slovakia, who had been writing hateful comments full of threats and profanity for months. In the comment section of the daily Sme he used the handle "Incinerator of Jews - SJWSs - Liberals".

Related article

Related article Extremist MP Mizik acquitted by court in defamatory status case Read more

'Infantile' excuses

The comments started appearing only a few weeks after the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova.

The man was sentenced to five years of probation. This is the longest possible sentence the court can apply. If the convicted man violates the conditions, he would be sent behind bars for two years.

"This is the last warning for the defendant, so that his behaviour during the probationary period gives no reason to change the sentence," declared judge Jan Buvala.

Jan L. tried to excuse himself by saying that someone else sat down in front of his computer. However, an expert opinion proved that all the comments were created on the man's computer, tablet and mobile phone.

"That would have to be a long party so that a different person had access to these devices for four months," the judge said, noting that the defendant did not provide any other alternative explanation, calling the excuse uncreative and even infantile.

When reading the verdict, he added that in 40 years of practice, he had never experienced anything reaching this level of aggressiveness or vulgarity.

Related article

Related article RTVS presenter threatened with death, rape Read more

Nothing would stop him

The man also made dangerous threats, most targeting daily Sme editor-in-chief Beata Balogova, though some mentioned other journalists. His hatred also targeted entire editorial offices.

Even though comment section admins repeatedly deleted his comments and blocked his accounts, Jan L. was not deterred. He would create a new account with the same nickname, to which he just added a different number.

In total, he used 150 different e-mail addresses, which he set up with a foreign e-mail service provider. Almost all these addresses started with the term "smeckaripatriadopece", which means "Sme reporters belong in the incinerator".
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230416/ukraine-to-start-talks-with-poland-on-export-of-products-on-monday-1109581945.html

Ukraine to Start Talks With Poland on Export of Products on Monday

Ukraine to Start Talks With Poland on Export of Products on Monday

Ukraine and Poland will negotiate on the issue of product exports on Monday, said Mykola Solskyi, Ukrainian Minister of Agrarian Policy and food said.

2023-04-16T22:27+0000

2023-04-16T22:27+0000

2023-04-16T22:27+0000

world

poland

ukraine

grain exports

imports

europe

/html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/04/02/1109047617_0:159:3079:1890_1920x0_80_0_0_1723e4cb76d92b5511b320b87b8665db.jpg

On Saturday, Poland and Hungary said they were banning imports of Ukrainian agricultural products until June 30, citing the need to protect domestic farmers from the uncontrolled influx of cheap grain from Ukraine. Bulgaria is also mulling such plans, the country's agriculture minister Yavor Gechev said. The minister added that separate rounds of negotiations with Romania and Slovakia are set to be held on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. Earlier on Sunday, Ukraine's agriculture ministry said that Solskyi held an online meeting with his Hungarian counterpart, Istvan Nagy, to discuss the export of Ukrainian agricultural products to the country. Nagy, in turn, gave his assurances that Hungary will continue transiting agricultural products coming from Ukraine. In late March, prime ministers of Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia published a joint open letter to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, calling for measures to counteract the negative effects of the increased Ukrainian grain imports. Since early February, several Polish farmer organizations have been campaigning against the imported Ukrainian grain, primarily of poor quality, which was flooding the Polish market and damaging local production.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230416/bulgaria-eyeing-temporary-ban-on-ukrainian-grain-imports-1109579457.html

poland

ukraine

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2023

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Sputnik International

poland bans ukraine imports, negotiations on food exports ukraine, duty free ukraine exports
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230417/biden-says-congress-should-pass-stricter-gun-control-1109582486.html

Biden Says Congress Should Pass Stricter Gun Control

Biden Says Congress Should Pass Stricter Gun Control

US President Joe Biden has called on Congress to pass stricter gun laws. Two high profile mass shootings have increased calls for action from Congress

2023-04-17T01:21+0000

2023-04-17T01:21+0000

2023-04-17T01:21+0000

americas

joe biden

gun control

national rifle association (nra)

/html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/04/05/1109146388_0:0:3072:1728_1920x0_80_0_0_cebaa46db11e0a9abde9f2eb1c8ce824.jpg

Biden said on Sunday that at least four people were killed at a teenagers birthday party in Dadeville, Alabama on Saturday night. In a separate shooting incident, two people were killed at a public park in Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday. Biden criticized Republicans for attending the Friday convention of the National Rifle Association (NRA) amid the surge in gun violence. The convention in Indianapolis was attended by Former US President Donald Trump. Last summer Biden signed a bipartisan gun control bill that expands background checks for potential buyers under the age of 21, strengthens laws against arms trafficking and the practice of purchasing a gun for someone prohibited from buying a firearm, and expands funding for the US mental health system. Congress broke a stalemate on gun control efforts following the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 children and two teachers dead. Earlier this month, five people were confirmed dead after a shooting incident at a bank in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. The shooter was an employee of the bank. On March 27, a 28-year-old female shooter, a former student, opened fire at The Covenant School in the Bible-Belt state of Tennessee. The shooter fatally wounded three 9-year-olds and three staff, including the head teacher, before being killed by police.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230411/whats-known-so-far-about-the-louisville-bank-shooting-1109336737.html

americas

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2023

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Sputnik International

mass shooting, assault weapons, joe biden, covenant school shooting, louisville bank shooting
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230417/colorado-holds-largest-gathering-ever-to-celebrate-first-human-space-flight-1109584987.html

Colorado Holds Largest Gathering Ever to Celebrate First Human Space Flight

Colorado Holds Largest Gathering Ever to Celebrate First Human Space Flight

Colorado celebrates Yuri`s Night - the commemoration of first human in space, Yuri Gagarin. This time the festivities brought the largest number of guests.

2023-04-17T06:48+0000

2023-04-17T06:48+0000

2023-04-17T06:48+0000

world

yuri gagarin

space exploration

vostok-1

/html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/103786/34/1037863400_0:232:1601:1132_1920x0_80_0_0_37563662421adeb99edb5241c1c54322.jpg

When asked about the significance of Gagarins flight, Cooper stressed, "It all starts with him." The Space Foundations Yuris Night is part of the global celebration during the month of April recognizing the first manned spaceflight and the first space shuttle flight. The guests took part in Sphero Painting and silent auction. Eight astronauts were taking pictures with attendees and signing their photos. There were some drone races, exhibits, presentations, as well as interactive space activities. Moreover, The events participants were also enjoying company of the characters of the Star War movies as well as taking pictures of the bronze bust of Yuri Gagarin presented by the Russian government to the Space Foundation in 2017 and were exploring the exhibition with space food from different countries, including Russia, Japan and the United States. And all the participants were treated to some food and specialty cocktails. Cooper explained that the annual Yuri's night program, held at the Space Foundation Discovery Center, is used to promote what they do at the Space Foundation and in the community, including working in science education, helping teachers to get the tools and skills and curricula they need, as well as help people see that they can have a place with space too. Cooper observed that the event's attendees comprised numerous space enthusiasts, a significant number of people aged 35 and below, and several community members such as local teachers. Yuris Night was held on the eve of the Space Symposium that every year brings together the world's space, military, civil, government research industry leaders together. He also emphasized that Yuri's Night serves as a platform to promote science education, teacher development, family engagement, and personal exploration of space-related interests. Space Foundation Discovery Center Director Rachel English told Sputnik that Yuri's Night serves as a fundraiser to support the museum and the foundation's educational initiatives. She highlighted some of the unique artifacts on display at the museum,. Moreover, English added the museum has a robotic arm that flew on the space shuttle. On April 12, 1961, became the first person to travel to space aboard the Vostok spacecraft, orbiting Earth once before landing in what was then the Soviet Union. In recognition of Gagarin's historic achievement, the UN General Assembly proclaimed April 12 as the International Day of Human Space Flight on April 7, 2011, with support from over 60 UN member states.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20210415/hey-there-spaceman-remembering-yuri-gagarin-the-first-man-in-space-1082627473.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20140913/Vostok-1-Rocket-Fragment-With-Gagarins-Signature-Sold-in-Berlin-192921089.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20160412/gagarin-conversation-1037899659.html

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2023

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Sputnik International

yuri gagarin, yuri`s night, space exploration, first human in space, vostok-1
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230417/former-indian-mp--his-brother-shot-dead-live-on-tv-1109583310.html

Former Indian MP & His Brother Shot Dead Live on TV

Former Indian MP & His Brother Shot Dead Live on TV

Former Indian MP Atiq Ahmad, convicted of kidnapping, was shot dead along with his brother in an attack that was televised live in North India. The attackers fired about 30 shots.

2023-04-17T04:15+0000

2023-04-17T04:15+0000

2023-04-17T08:31+0000

asia

india

murder

uttar pradesh

/html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/04/11/1109583143_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_3a5b43efc88cf01de06e3ee452513e74.jpg

The incident took place in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were on their way to a medical examination under escort. Police spokesman Ramit Sharma said the three assailants arrived on motorcycles and got close to the former politician by posing as journalists.According to the video footage, the brothers, under police escort, got out of the car and were giving an interview to a TV station on their way to the hospital. The video shows one of the attackers holding a gun to Atik Ahmad's head. As he fell, the other bandits shot his brother. According to police, the attackers fired about 30 shots. After the shooting, they surrendered to police.The assailants were named as Lavlesh Tiwari, 22, Mohit Puraney, 23, and Arun Kumar Maurya, 18, reports British media.Atiq Ahmed was an ex-member of parliament from the Phulpur constituency in Uttar Pradesh. He faced more than 90 criminal charges, including murder, kidnapping and extortion. He was also accused of assaulting an Allahabad University professor in 2018.In 2019, Atik Ahmad, 60, was found guilty of kidnapping lawyer Umesh Pal, who had testified against him as a witness in the 2005 deputy's murder case.After the attack, authorities imposed a statewide ban on gatherings of more than four people, and also cut off Internet access on cell phones in the town of Prayagraj. The government has ordered a judicial investigation.

uttar pradesh

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2023

Egor Shapovalov

Egor Shapovalov

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Egor Shapovalov

atiq ahmad ashraf ahmad, indian mp death on air, india death live, prayagraj uttar pradesh murder on camera, who killed atiq ahmad
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230417/hungarian-grain-producer-incomes-down-about-30-due-to-cheap-ukrainian-imports-1109595509.html

Hungarian Grain Producer Incomes Down About 30% Due to Cheap Ukrainian Imports

Hungarian Grain Producer Incomes Down About 30% Due to Cheap Ukrainian Imports

According to Hungarian agriculture minister, national companies lost from 23% to 37% of income due to Ukrainian dumping prices

2023-04-17T14:34+0000

2023-04-17T14:34+0000

2023-04-17T16:02+0000

economy

ukrainian crisis

grain

hungary

ukraine

/html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e5/0a/07/1089742425_0:0:3173:1785_1920x0_80_0_0_b5c41b97ae17ca6be77ff4af97db0963.jpg

According to him, the greater part of food products imported from Ukraine for EU transit has remained in Hungary. In addition to grain, Ukraine has used its temporary duty-free arrangement with the EU to export honey, poultry and eggs, displacing Hungarian products from its regular markets, the minister said. The low price of Ukrainian grain is the result of crop growing methods uncommon in the European Union, Nagy added. The Hungarian national food chain safety office discovered cases of Ukrainian grain being infected with mycotoxins, and several samples tested positive for genetically modified organisms. On Saturday, Poland and Hungary said they were banning imports of Ukrainian agricultural products until June 30, citing the need to protect domestic farmers from the uncontrolled influx of cheap grain from Ukraine. On Monday, Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger said that Slovakia would join these countries in suspending grain imports from Ukraine. Bulgaria is also mulling a similar ban, according to the country's agriculture minister, Yavor Gechev. Sandor Farkas, state secretary at the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture, warned the European Commission on Monday that his country could extend the ban on Ukrainian grain imports beyond the June 30 deadline if the EUs executive did not stand by Hungarian farmers.in late March, prime ministers of Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia published a joint open letter to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, calling for measures to counteract the negative effects of the increased Ukrainian grain imports. Since early February, several Polish farmer organizations have been protesting the uncontrolled import of cheap Ukrainian grain.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230402/influx-of-ukraines-cheap-grain-to-europe-fuels-anger-erodes-support-for-kiev-regime-1109048118.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230412/high-levels-of-pesticides-found-in-ukrainian-grain---slovak-agriculture-minister-1109394117.html

hungary

ukraine

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2023

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Sputnik International

dumping, ukrainian crisis, grain ukrain, grain crisis in europe
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230417/missouri-outrage-spikes-as-suspect-who-shot-teen-for-ringing-his-doorbell-released-1109605553.html

Missouri Prosecutors File Charges Against Suspect Who Shot Teen That Rang Wrong Doorbell

Missouri Prosecutors File Charges Against Suspect Who Shot Teen That Rang Wrong Doorbell

The 80 year old man who allegedly shot a teen for ringing the wrong doorbell was released 24 hours later, angering the community and the family's lawyers

2023-04-17T22:14+0000

2023-04-17T22:14+0000

2023-04-17T22:41+0000

americas

kansas city

missouri

shooting

/html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/04/11/1109605146_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_9bd5be7685227a70652ed8b81714efff.jpg

Missouri's Clay County Prosecutor's Office announced on Monday that two charges were filed against a suspect over the April 13 shooting of Ralph Yarl, who was shot after he mistakenly rang the wrong doorbell.Filed charges - both felonies - include assault in the first degree and armed criminal action. The suspect was identified as Andrew Lester.The 80-year-old white man who allegedly shot the 16-year-old teen who rang his doorbell after mistaking his residence for a different house a block away was earlier released on Friday, 24 hours after the shooting, leading to social media outrage and a weekend protest in front of the house where the teen was shot.Yarl, whose teacher said he plans to study chemical engineering in college, is a high school junior. He was also a band section leader, played multiple instruments for the youth orchestra and was an honorable mention in Missouris All-State Band for the brass clarinet. His goal is to attend Texas A&M where he hopes to be accepted through either an academic or musical scholarship.While the race, name and age of the alleged shooter have not been released, US media reported that property records, police statements and detention records identified him as an 80-year-old white man. The outlet at the time withheld his name and complete address because he had not yet been charged with a crime.Prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump and Lee Merritt announced in a joint statement they will be representing Yarls family and criticized the quick release of the suspect. Police Chief Stacey Graves says the suspect was released because 24 hours was the longest amount of time they can hold a felony suspect without charges. Graves says her department is gathering evidence as expeditiously and as thoroughly as we can, and will present the case to Clay County prosecutors for review as soon as possible. A gun was confiscated at the scene and is being held as evidence.Media reports suggest Yarl was released from the hospital on Sunday after spending three days in the hospital. He is being cared for by his mother who works as a nurse.Graves says that at present there is no evidence that the shooting was racially motivated but that she understands the communitys concerns. [T]he information that we have now, it does not say that that is racially motivated. Thats still an active investigation. But as a chief of police, I do recognize the racial components of this case, she said.Crump said the case would be perceived differently if the races of the two individuals were reversed. In a tweet on Sunday, Crump claimed Yarl rang the doorbell of the wrong house, which would not likely be considered an attempt to unlawfully enter a residence but the case may depend on what happened after Yarl rang the doorbell and he was shot. Yarls testimony will be critical in the investigation.A GoFundMe drive has been set up to help Yarls family with medical expenses, at press time it has exceeded $1.6 million.

americas

kansas city

missouri

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2023

Ian DeMartino

Ian DeMartino

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Ian DeMartino

teen shot for ringing wrong doorbell, ralph paul yarl, ralph yarl, kansas city teen shot
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230417/musk-success-not-expected-during-starship-launch-1109582808.html

Musk: Success 'Not Expected' During Starship Launch

Musk: Success 'Not Expected' During Starship Launch

Elon Musk said that he expects the Monday launch of the SpaceX Starship to end in failure. The billionaire pointed to the failed Soviet N1 rocket as proof of how difficult the task is.

2023-04-17T02:18+0000

2023-04-17T02:18+0000

2023-04-17T02:18+0000

science & tech

elon musk

spacex

starship

texas

/html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/04/0c/1109375196_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_af8506b3c7e71e815539013eaf0e9619.jpg

According to Elon Musk, "scrub" or postponement of the Starship launch will probably happen on Monday. The entrepreneur said that he was not sure what exactly could go wrong or else the support team would have tackled it. This is especially relevant if what is meant by success is reaching the orbit, Musk added. But what matters here is that SpaceX is building rockets rapidly, he said. The Soviet N series rocket was meant to bring Soviet cosmonauts to the Moon and Mars, and to launch huge space stations into orbit. However, the end result was four launch failures and the project's cancellation. One of Musk's biggest wishes is that his rocket does not blow up the launch pad - this would take several months to rebuild. Musk also mentioned that the most challenging part was probably the engines - if one fails, there will be a domino effect, and it can also happen on the launch pad. SpaceX is planning to launch the Starship rocket from its Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, on Monday at 8 a.m. EDT (12:00 GMT) . This will be the first test flight of Starship and and Super Heavy rocket. The main goal of SpaceX is to have a fully reusable launch system for long-distance missions to the Moon and Mars. NASA plans to use Starship for its Artemis 3 mission to the moon in 2025 - the first manned crew landing on the moon since 1972.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230317/spacex-launch-saw-successful-delivery-of-unique-laser-energy-experiment-to-iss-1108488189.html

texas

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2023

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Sputnik International

elon musk, spacex, starship launch, texas
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230417/north-korea-blasts-unsc-meeting-on-latest-missile-launch-1109599917.html

North Korea Blasts UNSC Meeting on Latest Missile Launch

North Korea Blasts UNSC Meeting on Latest Missile Launch

North Korea has slammed the meeting of the UN Security Council convened to discuss its latest intercontinental ballistic missile launch. Pyongyang says the US is seeking to exert pressure on the UNSC.

2023-04-17T16:24+0000

2023-04-17T16:24+0000

2023-04-17T16:25+0000

military

missile

north korea

us-north korean tensions

us

unsc

un security council (unsc)

/html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/04/0e/1109506276_0:103:3277:1946_1920x0_80_0_0_1908dee78d1d69d5579139bf267b0745.jpg

North Korea's development of new strategic weapons is a legitimate measure aimed at building up the country's self-defense capability in the face of the "ever-increasing military threat by the U.S. and long-term security concerns in the region," the statement added. From April 13-14, the US and South Korea carried out a joint air drill with the involvement of nuclear-capable strategic bombers, the statement said, adding that "it is a clear proof that nuclear threat and blackmail against the DPRK have reached a level that can never be overlooked." On April 13, North Korea test-launched Hwasong-18, its new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un personally supervised the test launch. The missile flew approximately 1,000 kilometers (621 miles), reaching an altitude of up to 3,000 kilometers. On April 15, the US, Albania, France, Japan, Malta and the United Kingdom called for a meeting of the UNSC on Monday, April 17, to deal with the issue of North Korea's latest intercontinental ballistic missile launch.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230417/russia-china-believe-us-allies-responsible-for-escalation-on-korean-peninsula-1109593810.html

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2023

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Sputnik International

north korea missile launch, unsc meeting on north korean missile launch, dprk missile launch, north korea slams unsc meeting on missile launch
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230417/putin-and-shoigu-hold-unscheduled-meeting-as-russian-navy-shows-its-power-in-pacific-1109585353.html

Putin, Shoigu Hold Unscheduled Meeting as Russian Navy Demonstrates Pacific Power

Putin, Shoigu Hold Unscheduled Meeting as Russian Navy Demonstrates Pacific Power

The defense chief said that the final stage of a sudden inspection of the Russian Pacific Fleet, during which the navy will hone missile strikes from ships using electronic launches, would begin on April 18.

2023-04-17T07:15+0000

2023-04-17T07:15+0000

2023-04-17T08:39+0000

russia

russia

ukraine

vladimir putin

sergei shoigu

special operation

/html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/04/11/1109585778_0:151:3103:1896_1920x0_80_0_0_5b0668551b841988e3661463faef191b.jpg

Russias Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has briefed the countrys President Vladimir Putin on the progress of a surprise inspection of the Russian Navys Pacific Fleet, saying that the troops participating in the event are on full combat readiness. The forces and troops participating in the inspection have been put on "full combat readiness," the minister said, adding that with the established restrictions, they began to carry out combat training tasks, control firing and tactical exercises.Shoigu added that the sudden inspections final stage would start on April 18, when warships will work out missile strikes with electronic launches.Putin, for his part, noted that the first stage of a surprise inspection of Russia's Pacific Fleet was held with flying colors.The president also asked the defense chief to carry out these surprise inspections in the Russian Navys other fleets. Putin stressed that Russia has explicit priorities for the use of its armed forces, primarily, in Ukraine, where Moscows special military operation is underway.The Russian president noted that nobody has shelved the objective of building up the fleet."Separate elements of the fleets forces, of course, can be used in conflicts in any direction. So I ask you to keep that in mind as well," Putin added.Last week, ships and submarines of Russia's Pacific Fleet were sent to sea as part of a surprise check of the fleet's combat readiness, according to a video released by the Russian Defense Ministry. Earlier, the top military brass said in a statement that the fleet had been put on the highest level of alert for the combat readiness inspection. "The Pacific Fleets warships, boats and support vessels left their permanent deployment points and embarked on transition and operational deployment in the designated areas of the Sea of Japan, the Sea of Okhotsk and the Bering Sea to carry out tasks as part of strike, anti-submarine and mine-sweeping groups, as well as landing detachments ships as part of a sudden check of combat readiness," the statement pointed out.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230414/video-russian-waships-perform-tasks-during-inspection-of-pacific-fleet-1109530297.html

russia

ukraine

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2023

Oleg Burunov https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/09/0b/1080424846_0:0:2048:2048_100x100_80_0_0_3d7b461f8a98586fa3fe739930816aea.jpg

Oleg Burunov https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/09/0b/1080424846_0:0:2048:2048_100x100_80_0_0_3d7b461f8a98586fa3fe739930816aea.jpg

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Oleg Burunov https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/09/0b/1080424846_0:0:2048:2048_100x100_80_0_0_3d7b461f8a98586fa3fe739930816aea.jpg

sudden check of russian navy's pacific fleet, russian president vladimir putin's meeting with defense minister sergey shoigu, russian special military operation in ukraine
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230417/rachmaninoffs-music-remains-powerful-unifying-force-1109599044.html

Rachmaninoff's Music Remains Powerful Unifying Force

Rachmaninoff's Music Remains Powerful Unifying Force

Professor emerita of Russian Studies at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, Valeria Nollan, believes that Sergei Rachmaninoff's music shows the great unifying potential of culture and its ability to dismantle stereotypes.

2023-04-17T16:14+0000

2023-04-17T16:14+0000

2023-04-17T16:14+0000

world

russia

sergei rachmaninoff

music

/html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/16035/48/160354885_0:0:2156:1213_1920x0_80_0_0_1334177e3f9e70a3f8fc78fe9976eb76.jpg

The distinguished composer, pianist and conductor Rachmaninoff was born in Russia on April 1 (March 20 in the old style), 1873. He left his homeland forever after the Bolshevik revolution in 1917 and settled in the US, where he spent most of the rest of his life. 2023 marks the 150th anniversary of the Russian composer's birth and 80th anniversary of his death. Culture and beauty bring people together, destroying stereotypes, she continued. "Values, faith traditions, and governments of countries may differ, but music is a powerful unifying force," Nollan added. "It is easier for a country to generate hatred for an unknown enemy, but far more difficult to hate a given people if they have read Dostoevskys Brothers Karamazov or Tolstoys Anna Karenina, have attended an Orthodox Christian liturgy, have watched one of Tchaikovsky's ballets, or have listened to Rachmaninoffs Symphony No. 2 or Concerto No. 2," she said. A German-born Russian emigree who spent her adult life in the US, Nollan noted that Rachmaninoff had enormous popularity among Americans, but some experts especially during the 1920s and 1930s criticized him for not being a modernist. "American orchestras and music ensembles regularly program his music, because of its beauty and high compositional merits. Anecdotally, his Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor is one of the most-performed works in the US," she said. His other masterpieces are also performed very often, she added. Nollan, who recently published the composer's biography Sergei Rachmaninoff: Cross Rhythms of the Soul (Lexington Books / Rowman & Littlefield, 2022), expressed her deep admiration for his music and fascination with his life. "I grew up in Russian emigration and understood the tragic situation of emigres who loved their native countries and cultures, but were separated from them geographically. I realized that outside of Russia, Rachmaninoff was not presented in the fullness of his Russian and Russian Orthodox identity, an identity that he himself stated was fundamental to understanding his music, and for this reason set about to rectify this inaccurate presentation of who he was," she said. When asked to explain why Rachmaninoff became practically the only Russian emigree to achieve the same level of success abroad as he had had at home, Nollan noted that after leaving Russia in December 1917, it actually took him over a decade before he could find himself financially and emotionally stable enough to resume composing music. At the same time, she added, many Russian musicians, such as Alexander Siloti, who was Rachmaninoffs cousin, and Vladimir Horowitz, developed their musical creativity in different ways after they left Russia. Though Rachmaninoff belongs to the whole world, Nollan continued, he described himself as a Russian composer who created Russian music and who was inspired by Russian cultural sources. "He longed to return to Russia, but he also appreciated American life. He loved jazz and considered this art form to be the future of American music," she said. 2023 was declared as the Year of Rachmaninoff in Russia.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230302/painting-by-russias-kandinsky-snapped-up-for-45-million-at-sothebys-auction-1107940755.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20221222/russias-rich--inspiring-cultural-legacy-can-never-be-cancelled---russian-culture-foundation-1105692449.html

russia

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2023

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Sputnik International

sergei rachmaninoff, sergei rachmaninoff's music, who is sergei rachmaninoff
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230417/russian-brazilian-foreign-ministers-discuss-bilateral-ties-mull-trade-talks-1109600931.html

Russian, Brazilian Foreign Ministers Discuss Bilateral Ties, Mull Trade Talks

Russian, Brazilian Foreign Ministers Discuss Bilateral Ties, Mull Trade Talks

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Brazilian counterpart Mauro Vieira discussed on Monday bilateral relations and negotiated dates for meetings of intergovernmental commissions, including the commission on trade.

2023-04-17T17:03+0000

2023-04-17T17:03+0000

2023-04-17T17:59+0000

americas

brazil

russia

sergey lavrov

lula da silva

vladimir putin

/html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/04/11/1109601292_0:0:3072:1728_1920x0_80_0_0_1453e748e676398b710f93518682e174.jpg

The Russian minister also noted that Moscow highly values its relations with Brazil, since both countries share a mutual desire to maintain their economic, humanitarian and educational dialogue, as well as technological, military and technical cooperation. Additionally, Vieira mentioned that this year marks the 195th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and Brazil. Vieira also noted that the Russian foreign minister extended President Vladimir Putin's invitation to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to visit Russia.The Russian minister, in turn, invited Vieira to visit Moscow."The talks were very useful, they confirmed the mutual intention to further strengthen our strategic partnership. I invited the minister to visit the Russian Federation at a time convenient for him. All of our employees will remain in close contact over the relevant areas of our relations," Lavrov said.Furthermore, the Russian foreign minister expressed Moscow's gratitute for Brazil's balanced stance on the conflict in Ukraine and its willingness to contribute to the peace process.Lavrov said Russia was interested in ending the conflict in Ukraine as quickly as possible and had more than once explained the goals it was pursuing in conducting its special military operation.Russia's top diplomat reiterated that such issues as the Ukrainian conflict needed to be addressed multilaterally, with an eye on a long-term solution rather than a quick fix, while considering national security interests of all stakeholders without exception.Lavrov is paying an official visit to Brazil. The Russian foreign minister is also scheduled to visit Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba, as part of his tour of Latin America on April 17-21.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230417/lavrov-arrives-in-brazil-for-high-level-talks-on-economy-multipolarity-1109590477.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230417/valuable-vector-of-russias-foreign-policy-lavrov-starts-latin-american-tour-1109575815.html

americas

brazil

russia

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2023

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Sputnik International

russian foreign minister sergey lavrov, brazilian foreign minister mauro vieira, lavrov's tour of latin america, lavrov in brazil
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230417/russo-chinese-military-cooperation-to-ensure-world-peace-1109597106.html

Russo-Chinese Military Cooperation to Ensure World Peace

Russo-Chinese Military Cooperation to Ensure World Peace

China's Minister of Defense Li Shangfu highlighted that Russo-Chinese relationship goes beyond the Cold War-era military and political alliances during his meeting with President Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu.

2023-04-17T16:15+0000

2023-04-17T16:15+0000

2023-04-17T16:23+0000

military

opinion

us

central asia

pivot to asia

asia-pacific region

europe

nato

vladimir putin

ukraine

/html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/102156/66/1021566611_0:156:4000:2406_1920x0_80_0_0_09923a85a06a0c5c777bcee3864ef488.jpg

"Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu's visit to Russia is an important event following President Xi Jinping's visit to Russia, and one of the biggest events in diplomatic relations between China and Russia this year," Zhou Rong, a senior analyst at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, told Sputnik. "With US-led NATO under heavy pressure on Russia in Europe and on China in Asia, Moscow and Beijing need mutual support and a high degree of trust in military cooperation. Russian-Chinese cooperation will help prevent regional wars and conflicts."It is hardly a coincidence that Li Shangfu went to Russia on the heels of a state visit by Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping, who spent three days in Moscow in his first international trip since his re-election in the 2023 National People's Congress, according to Sergey Sanakoev, president of the Asia-Pacific Research Center and RIAC member.Likewise, it is no accident that on the eve of Li's arrival in Moscow, the Russian Pacific Fleet was placed on high alert for snap drills involving 25,000 troops, 167 warships and support vessels, including 12 submarines, as well as aircraft and helicopters, Sanakoev continued, stressing that the events are clearly related to each other.Having assumed the position of China's minister of national defense, Li Shangfu made his first trip to Russia, where he met with President Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu. Li specified that he chose Russia "to emphasize the special nature and strategic significance of our bilateral relations." The Chinese minister stressed that relations between Moscow and Beijing are based on the principles of non-alignment, non-confrontation, and are not aimed at third parties, thus standing in contrast with NATO and other Western-led military blocs and political alliances. As per Li, Russo-Chinese relations "have already entered a new era."Two Phases of Russo-Chinese Military CooperationThe first phase of Russo-Chinese military-technical cooperation goes back to 1949, when the USSR and the People's Republic of China (PRC) established official military ties.During the first phase of the Sino-Soviet military-technical cooperation, Moscow dispatched 5,250 military advisers and specialists to the PRC, while 1,578 Chinese military personnel were trained in universities supervised by the Soviet Ministry of Defense.However, this cooperation was virtually suspended in 1969 due to ideological and political differences between the two Communist countries. After a 20-year pause, a second phase of the military-technical technical collaboration between Moscow and Beijing started in 1990. Based on the provisions of the intergovernmental agreement on military-technical cooperation (signed on November 24, 1992) and the memorandum of understanding between the governments of Russia and China (inked on December 18, 1992), Russian weapons sales to China burgeoned through the early 2000s.According to some estimates, China purchased more than 83% of its arms imports from Russia between 1990 and 2005. Those arms included, in particular, Russia's Sukhoi Su-27 and Su-30 fighters, Kilo-class diesel-powered submarines ,and Sovremenny-class (Type 956) destroyers.In addition, China acquired short and medium-range air defense systems, including the Tor, Buk, and Tunguska. Furthermore, in 2010, Russia completed a contract to supply China with 15 battalions of S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems.Even though the Chinese have themselves mastered jet production, they nonetheless turned to Russia in 2013-2015 to buy 24 Sukhoi Su-35 fighters. China became the first foreign buyer of the state-of-the-art jets.To cap it off, Russia also supplied two S-400 Triumph air defense regimental sets consisting of two divisions of launch devices, radiolocation stations, energy and service equipment, spare parts, and instruments to the People's Republic by January 2020.Joint Drills, Patrols, and CompetitionsRussia-China military cooperation has not been limited to the procurement of weapons: it has also seen army and naval drills as well as joint patrols, which have grown in frequency over time.Regular Russo-Chinese bilateral and multilateral military exercises started in 2003. On August 6-12, 2003, the armed forces of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan staged a joint anti-terror exercise codenamed Coalition-2003 in Kazakhstan's border city of Ucharal and Ili, China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.In 2005, Moscow and Beijing held their first bilateral anti-terror exercise, dubbed "Peace Mission" 2005, which took place in Russia's far eastern city of Vladivostok, and later moved to Chinas Shandong Peninsula. The drills involved a staggering 8,000 Chinese troops and 2,000 Russian soldiers, who conducted both land and amphibious maneuvers.In subsequent years, the geography of Russo-Chinese drills has considerably expanded, going beyond the Asia-Pacific region: on September 18, 2009, a China-Russia naval drills were held in the western waters of the Gulf of Aden, a deepwater gulf in the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channel, Socotra, and Somalia to the south. Over the past several years, the two countries have conducted exercises near the South African coast as well as in the Mediterranean Sea. In July 2017, the Russian and Chinese navies carried out drills in the Baltic Sea, which included joint anti-submarine, anti-aircraft, and anti-ship defense.In 2022, both were seen jointly patrolling the Pacific Ocean, while most recently, in March 2023, the Russian, Chinese, and Iranian navies conducted exercises in the Gulf of Oman in the northwest of the Arabian Sea within the framework of the Marine Security Belt-2023. All in all, China and Russia have held roughly 80 joint military drills over the past 20 years.Russo-China Rapprochement Has Accelerated Since 2014According to international observers, the increase in the number of joint military drills largely came after 2014, which saw an illegitimate coup in Kiev, backed by the US. Approximately at the same time, the Barack Obama administration started to implement its "Pivot to Asia" aimed at regional isolation and containment of the People's Republic of China.In addition, the Russian scholar referred to the "special relations" between Moscow and Beijing, which started to emerge after Xi came to power as the chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) in 2012."As you know, exactly 10 years ago, Xi's first visit was to Russia, after he was elected as the chairman," Sanakoev noted. "And in fact, at that time, a very warm friendship began between him and President Putin, because both are also supreme commanders. Therefore, the [military-technical] cooperation increased; there were more and more joint exercises. However, this strategic partnership was by no means directed against any country or even against any military bloc, such as NATO."The Russian scholar underscored that Moscow and Beijing's relations have "outgrown" the very concept of a "military bloc." He quoted Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu's notion that the Russo-Chinese relationship goes beyond the Cold War-era military and political alliances."[Russo-Chinese] relations are much more effective in terms of military-technical cooperation," Sanakoev pointed out. "Since 2018, when Chinese leader Xi Jinping noted on the eve of the G20 summit in Hangzhou that Russia and China stand back to back, protecting the sovereign interests of our states, we have been formulating that we are closely cooperating in order to come to each other's rescue if someone from the outside pursues an aggressive policy in our direction, or if there is some kind of armed attack on our territories."The close Russo-Chinese cooperation has taken on a new significance as the US is fanning the flames of the Ukraine conflict, expanding NATO in Europe and AUKUS in the Asia-Pacific, as per the scholar. The assertiveness of the US and NATO is facilitating the Russo-Chinese rapprochement, Sanakoev stressed.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230416/putin-holds-working-meeting-with-chinese-defense-minister-1109579595.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230127/time--and-combat-tested-why-china-holds-russias-sukhoi-su-35-fighters-in-high-regard-1106760824.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230330/russia-china-iran-naval-drills-make-positive-contribution-to-maritime-security-beijing-says-1108945961.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230223/south-africas-military-drills-with-russia-china-crucial-in-face-of-foreign-pressure-expert-says-1107672035.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230222/how-russo-chinese-strategic-cooperation-may-bring-us-forever-wars-to-end-1107713826.html

central asia

ukraine

russia

china

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2023

Ekaterina Blinova

Ekaterina Blinova

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Ekaterina Blinova

russia-china cooperation, russia-china military-technical cooperation, russian arms sales to china, russia-china joint drills, russia-china joint patrols, xi jinping's visit to russia, chinese defense minister li shangfu, li shangfu visit to russia, li shangfu meeting with vladimir putin and sergey shoigu, us proxy war in ukraine, nato expansion
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230417/s-korea-us-japan-hold-missile-defense-drills-after-pyongyangs-missile-launch-1109590338.html

S. Korea, US, Japan Hold Missile Defense Drills After Pyongyang's Missile Launch

S. Korea, US, Japan Hold Missile Defense Drills After Pyongyang's Missile Launch

Washington, Tokyo and Seoul carried out missile defense drills after another missile launch by North Korea.

2023-04-17T11:41+0000

2023-04-17T11:41+0000

2023-04-17T11:41+0000

military

asian version of nato

south korea

us

japan

/html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/105670/21/1056702186_0:38:1427:841_1920x0_80_0_0_04b3c22d0092d6ec1ad2f4c81d7ee84d.jpg

Each participating country sent a destroyer equipped with Aegis system to the drills focused on detecting and tracking a computer-simulated ballistic missile target and sharing related information, the local news agency said. Earlier in the day, South Korea and the US also conducted large-scale air drills involving over 100 aircraft, media added. On Saturday, South Korean, US and Japanese security officials stated in a joint statement that they had discussed the regularization of joint military drills in order to deter and respond to Pyongyang's nuclear and missile threats. The statement has been made after the North Korean state-run news agency reported that the new-type Hwansong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile was tested under supervision of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The missile was launched toward the Sea of Japan, flying about 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) and landing outside Japan's exclusive economic zone last Thursday. The launch prompted the Japanese authorities to issue an evacuation order for the residents of the northernmost island of Hokkaido, which reportedly led to the temporary suspension of high-speed trains and road transport in the north of the country. The latest launch came amid a halt in cross-border communication between the two Koreas since on April 7. It was the ninth launch of a North Korean missile this year. In 2022, Pyongyang launched 37 ballistic missiles.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230220/skorean-ruling-party-head-calls-for-development-of-national-nuclear-arms-media-reports-1107615010.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230414/north-korea-tests-first-ever-solid-fuel-hwasong-18-icbm-1109503831.html

south korea

japan

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2023

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Sputnik International

asian version of nato, deterrence, us, japan, south korea
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230417/size-does-matter-melbourne-overtakes-sydney-as-australias-most-populous-city-1109585508.html

Size Does Matter: Melbourne Overtakes Sydney as Australia's Most Populous City

Size Does Matter: Melbourne Overtakes Sydney as Australia's Most Populous City

Melbourne has become the most populous city of Australia, surpassing Sydney after latest census. The reason is boundary change.

2023-04-17T09:04+0000

2023-04-17T09:04+0000

2023-04-17T09:04+0000

world

australia

melbourne

sydney

demographics

/html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/107824/37/1078243738_1:0:1366:768_1920x0_80_0_0_dc148112eca9a1455709109f8147155b.jpg

Melbourne became Australia's most populous city, surpassing Sydney, which had held the title for over a century. According to official statistics, there are now almost 19,000 more citizens in Melbourne than in Sydney.It all boils down to a boundary change, since the Melton suburbs were included into the city.The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) includes any connecting suburbs with more than 10,000 people as part of a citys significant urban area. It should be noted that Melbourne used to be Australias most populous city for a solid period, thanks to the late 19th century gold rush that sparked an influx of migrants. However, in 1905, Sydney took over the mantle of the continent's most populous city and has held this title until 2023.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20221228/face-of-us-changing-as-migration-becomes-major-driver-of-population-growth-1105859788.html

australia

melbourne

sydney

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2023

Sergey Lebedev

Sergey Lebedev

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Sergey Lebedev

australia, melbourne, sydney, census, gold rush
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230417/tony-blair-wrongly-told-mps-uk-had-proper-legal-authority-for-1998-iraq-airstrikes-1109600075.html

Tony Blair Wrongly Told MPs UK Had 'Proper Legal Authority' for 1998 Iraq Airstrikes

Tony Blair Wrongly Told MPs UK Had 'Proper Legal Authority' for 1998 Iraq Airstrikes

Recently declassified files from the British government dating to 1998 show Prime Minister Tony Blair lied to Parliament when he claimed his government had the proper legal authority to order airstrikes against Iraq.

2023-04-17T16:49+0000

2023-04-17T16:49+0000

2023-04-17T16:49+0000

iraq

tony blair

uk

bombing

declassified documents

military

us

2003 invasion of iraq

invasion of iraq

/html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/107922/53/1079225399_0:0:3078:1731_1920x0_80_0_0_ab0052ca85d0dbef2de6f64572de8ae6.jpg

When Blair announced the strikes to Parliament on December 17, 1998, he told MPs, I have no doubt that we have the proper legal authority, as it is contained in successive [UN] Security Council resolution documents. In fact, no such authorization for use of force was contained in any UNSC resolution, as Blairs government well knew.Dubbed Operation Desert Fox by the US and UK militaries, the four-day air blitz against Iraq in December 1998 ostensibly targeted facilities used by Husseins government to manufacture weapons of mass destruction. The UN had called on Hussein to eliminate all his chemical and biological weapons and to end his nuclear weapons program, all of which featured heavily in the 1980-88 war with Iran. Large numbers were destroyed following the 1990-91 conflict over Kuwait, in which the US led a coalition of nations in a military campaign to reverse Husseins annexation of the Gulf emirate, but by 1997, Western frustration with his governments refusal to cooperate with UN weapons inspectors in some areas and defiance of the US-imposed No-Fly Zone had begun to boil over.That autumn, the US and UK began a buildup of more than 35,000 troops in the region, including strategic bombers and aircraft carriers, and Hussein relented, allowing UN weapons inspectors to return - a decision he reversed a few months later.One file dating to November 12, 1997, shows Blairs private secretary, John Holmes, informing his boss that then-Foreign Secretary Robin Cook and British legal officials are convinced we have a serious problem about using force unless the Security Council declares that Iraq is in material breach of previous resolutions. That may be unattainable.Holmes then cautioned the prime minister that it is probably sensible to prepare to deploy British forces but noted that we will need a careful press line.Two days later, Holmes also told the prime minister that we can regard these legal arguments as misplaced but they cannot be ignored. The resignation of a Law Officer, if it came to that, would be pretty bad. They therefore need to be kept on board.Holmes analysis was buttressed that same day by another communique from Attorney General John Morris, who told Blair that a statement from the UN Security Council was an essential precondition to using force against Iraq, although he noted that exceptional circumstances could arise in which the international community might agree that Baghdad had in effect repudiated the ceasefire and that a resort to force  was the only way to ensure compliance with the ceasefire conditions.As military planning to strike Iraq continued into 1998, ministers considered the legality of allowing US aircraft to bomb the country using the British-occupied island of Diego Garcia, a military base in the Indian Ocean.Pakenham advised Blair to speak with the Law Officers, a collective term for the UKs attorney general, solicitor general and advocate general, but Blair wrote in a personal note to Holmes afterward that I still find the law officers advice unconvincing.These debates continued through 1998 until that November, when the US came within a hairs breadth of launching airstrikes until Hussein again agreed to allow in UN inspectors.By then, Blairs government had jettisoned any pretense of concern for legality, saying that force was justified not because he [Hussein] was in technical breach of UN Resolutions but because he posed a real and imminent threat to peace and security in the region.Days later, a Cabinet Office note included in the declassified files said that At present, the legal basis for military action in the event of further non-cooperation would rest on the Security Councils flagrant violation language in UNSCR 1205, a resolution adopted weeks earlier amid the standoff that condemned Iraqs failure to follow previous UNSC resolutions, but did not authorize use of force against the Mesopotamian country.Those strikes began on December 16, 1998 and lasted until the 19th and saw nearly 100 sites bombed by US and UK bomber aircraft, as well as cruise missiles launched from US Navy warships. As many as 1,400 Iraqis were killed in the strikes, with no losses on the US-UK side.The strikes were highly criticized around the world, with US Arab allies refusing to cooperate with the operations. Many claimed the strikes had various other goals, including distracting the public from the ongoing impeachment proceedings against Clinton. William Arkin, a former US Army intelligence analyst, wrote in the Washington Post the following month that the strikes had been intended to wreck chaos in Iraq and further destabilize the government, which the US had begun actively seeking to overthrow by backing opposition groups.Husseins government stood, however, and the crisis continued until a joint US-UK invasion in March 2003 overthrew his government completely, leading to a brutal eight-year-long occupation war that killed more than 1 million people in the country.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230321/top-iraqi-military-official-tells-sputnik-of-american-crimes-during-2003-invasion-of-iraq-1108638138.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20220719/tony-blair-lobbied-kuwait-to-buy-british-guns-as-quid-pro-quo-for-gulf-war-1097580840.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230417/uk-may-deploy-warship-to-indo-pacific-on-permanent-basis-1109587570.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230321/us-invasion-of-iraq-helped-bolster-chinese-iranian-influence-in-middle-east-experts-say-1108629155.html

iraq

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2023

Fantine Gardinier

Fantine Gardinier

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Fantine Gardinier

1998 iraq airstrikes; tony blair orders iraq airstrikes; iraq bombing, tony blair lied to uk parliament over iraq airstrikes
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230417/uk-german-air-force-escort-3-russian-military-planes-over-baltic-sea-1109602461.html

UK, German Air Force Escort 3 Russian Military Planes Over Baltic Sea

UK, German Air Force Escort 3 Russian Military Planes Over Baltic Sea

The air forces of the United Kingdom and Germany have escorted three Russian military planes transiting over the Baltic Sea, the UK air force said on Monday.

2023-04-17T18:03+0000

2023-04-17T18:03+0000

2023-04-17T18:03+0000

military

uk

germany

russia

su-27

il-20

typhoon

typhoon aircraft

/html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/01/10/1106406098_0:160:3073:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_a931137cb5e88710fdef49a4fc27ee41.jpg

One of the Russian aircraft was identified to be an IL-20 (Coot-A) intelligence aircraft transiting from mainland Russia to the Kaliningrad enclave, which was later met by two Kaliningrad-based SU-27 (Flanker-B) fighter jets to escort the intelligence plane south through the north-west area of the Estonian flight information region. The IL-20 intelligence aircraft "was flying in a safe and professional manner," the UK air force said, adding that the UK and German air forces escorted the Russian aircraft "through the Estonian flight information region before handing over to Saab Gripen fighters of the Swedish Air Force." In March, German and UK air forces were reported to jointly patrol the airspace over their NATO allies Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. On March 17, one Typhoon fighter from the British air force and one from the German air force intercepted a Russian military Tu-134 passenger jet (Crusty), escorted by two Sukhoi Su-27 (Flanker) fighter jets, and an An-12 (Cub) military transport aircraft. The interception took place close to the Estonian airspace and was a part of Joint NATO Air Policing of the British and German air force.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230410/british-surveillance-aircraft-nearly-shot-down-by-russia-last-year---reports-1109304955.html

germany

russia

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2023

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Sputnik International

russian military aircraft, escort russian military planes, baltic sea, uk air force, german air force
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230417/uk-may-deploy-warship-to-indo-pacific-on-permanent-basis-1109587570.html

UK May Deploy Warship to Indo-Pacific on Permanent Basis

UK May Deploy Warship to Indo-Pacific on Permanent Basis

Accordong to British news outlet, the UK governments in pondering the idea to deploy warship in Indo-Pacific

2023-04-17T09:09+0000

2023-04-17T09:09+0000

2023-04-17T09:09+0000

military

asian version of nato

indo-pacific

uk

/html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/107678/49/1076784960_0:0:3640:2048_1920x0_80_0_0_712a84aadb9bebf9e928638577b4c0e2.jpg

The UK plans to deploy at least one Type-31 frigate, which will become a tipping point after five decades of UK military power's decline east of Suez, the newspaper added. Earlier, Japan has welcomed NATO's increasing involvement in Indo-Pacific affairs, although Japanese leaders and prime ministers have not participated in NATO summits and ministerial meetings until last year. In April 2023, the Japanese foreign minister attended a NATO ministerial meeting and the country set up its permanent diplomatic mission to the bloc.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230313/uk-believes-possible-conflict-in-indo-pacific-could-be-worse-than-situation-in-ukraine-1108355760.html

indo-pacific

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2023

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Sputnik International

asian version of nato, indo-pacific, indo-pacific region, nato in asia
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230417/uk-parliament-to-probe-rishi-sunak-over-possible-failure-to-declare-interest-1109590819.html

Rishi Sunak Probed Over Possible Failure to Declare Wife's Stake in Childcare Firm

Rishi Sunak Probed Over Possible Failure to Declare Wife's Stake in Childcare Firm

The UK parliament has launched an investigation into Prime Minister Rishi Sunak over possible failure to declare his wife's interest in a childcare firm.

2023-04-17T11:57+0000

2023-04-17T11:57+0000

2023-04-17T12:33+0000

world

uk

rishi sunak

investigation

investment

probe

uk parliament

akshata murty

/html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/04/11/1109591164_0:0:3072:1728_1920x0_80_0_0_81ac78d05f404da3777056387763fbed.jpg

The UK Parliament has launched an investigation into Prime Minister Rishi Sunak over possible failure to declare an interest.It is understood that the Commons standards watchdog will be probing the prime minister over his failure to declare his wife Akshata Murty's interest in a childcare business. Sunak was criticized last month for not mentioning his spouse's stake in a childcare company while discussing a 4billion childcare boost in the Budget. No 10, however, strongly denied he had broken any rules at the time.Murty, who is an Indian heiress, businesswoman, fashion designer, and venture capitalist, is listed as a shareholder in Koru Kids in Companies House documents as of March 6, 2023.Sunak's failure to notify MPs of his wife's investment when he was grilled about his 4billion boost for the childcare sector at this month's Budget has led to calls for the prime minister's ethics adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, to open an investigation.According to the Code of Conduct, "Members must always be open and frank in declaring any relevant interest in any proceeding of the House or its Committees, and in any communications with Ministers, Members, public officials or public office holders."This isn't the first time that Sunak's multi-millionaire wife's business has landed him into trouble; last year, he came under fire over the fact that Murty avoided up to 20 million in UK tax on dividends collected from her familys IT business empire worth approximately 690 million due to her non-domicile status.Murty is the daughter of the billionaire founder of the Indian-headquartered company Infosys, in which she holds a 0.9% stake. Murty had amassed an estimated 5.4bn Indian rupees (54.5m) in dividends from the tech company over the past seven and a half years, according to public data cited in April 2020. In 2021, her dividends were worth 11.6m. Such dividend payouts would require UK resident taxpayers to fork out a 38.1% tax (rising to 39.35% from April 6).If not for her non-dom status, first introduced under King George III in 1799, over the entire period in question, she would have had to pay about 20 million in UK taxes. She was accused of benefiting from a scheme that has tended to help the wealthiest in the UK dodge national levies, with a spokesperson for Murty confirming at the time that she paid an annual 30,000 levy to keep the status.Eventually, Murty released a statement saying she would pay UK tax on her worldwide income because she did not want the issue to become a "distraction" for her husband.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20220409/rishi-sunak-was-reportedly-listed-in-tax-haven-as-trust-beneficiary-relating-to-wifes-finances--1094608855.html

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2023

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Sputnik International

rishi sunak investigated, rishi sunak probe, probe into rishi sunak, rishi sunak's wife, akshata murty, sunak failed to declare his wife's interest in a childcare firm
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230417/un-to-evacuate-staff-from-sudan-as-eu-ambassador-assaulted-in-home-1109604972.html

UN to Evacuate Staff From Sudan as EU Ambassador Assaulted in Home

UN to Evacuate Staff From Sudan as EU Ambassador Assaulted in Home

Amid the ongoing violence in Sudan as rival military factions vie for power, the UN said it will evacuate some of its staff. Much of the international community has called for a ceasefire.

2023-04-17T21:22+0000

2023-04-17T21:22+0000

2023-04-17T21:19+0000

africa

sudan

rapid support forces (rsf)

civil war

/html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/04/0f/1109561263_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_0aea1ba99dabb7d7b150e09a751fb9b4.jpg

"We will have to evacuate some of our staff, non-essential staff [and] relatives" from Sudan, UN Special Representative Volker Perthes, who also heads the UN mission in Sudan, told journalists on Monday.That violence hasnt been restricted to Sudanese locals, either: on Monday, the European Unions foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, revealed the EU ambassador to Sudan had been assaulted in his home.Violence has long characterized Sudanese politics, which has faced an ongoing political crisis since longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir was forced from power in early 2019. While powerful grassroots groups demanded a civilian government replace Bashirs, military figures succeeded at forcing shared power in an interim government, which it eventually overthrew completely in October 2021 at the direction of military chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.Their power grab provoked a new wave of massive civilian resistance that finally yielded a new power-sharing agreement last December. It was scheduled to be signed on April 6, but that was postponed amid disagreements between Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the RSF militia, over the timeline for the RSFs integration into the Sudanese Armed Forces.On Saturday, Hemetti claimed to have seized multiple Sudanese military and political sites, although that was disputed and by Monday, the Sudanese military had claimed to have seized the RSF headquarters in Omdurman, across the Nile from the capital city of Khartoum. Burhan subsequently issued a decree abolishing the RSF, which served as the governments primary force for repressing the civilian revolutionary movement. Previously, the forces comprising the RSF were from the Janjaweed militia, which was judged responsible for the genocide in Darfur in 2003 and later served as mercenary units in the employ of the Saudi-led coalition force in Yemen."We call for an immediate ceasefire without conditions between the Sudanese armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces," White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230415/unrest-in-sudan-timeline-of-situation-in-khartoum-1109555158.html

africa

sudan

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2023

Fantine Gardinier

Fantine Gardinier

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Fantine Gardinier

sudan; un; military; violence; coup
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230417/unilateral-actions-unacceptable-eu-slams-poland-hungary-for-ban-on-ukraine-grain-imports-1109584200.html

'Unilateral Actions Unacceptable': EU Slams Poland, Hungary for Ban on Ukraine Grain Imports

'Unilateral Actions Unacceptable': EU Slams Poland, Hungary for Ban on Ukraine Grain Imports

The Hungarian Agriculture Ministry said late last week that the absence of meaningful EU measures to protect the countrys farmers prompted Budapest to join Warsaws decision.

2023-04-17T08:09+0000

2023-04-17T08:09+0000

2023-04-17T08:09+0000

world

russia

ukraine

poland

hungary

european commission

european union (eu)

agreement

/html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/09/0a/1100633252_0:159:3079:1890_1920x0_80_0_0_11386d122fe289762ca9385125b724d8.jpg

The European Commission has lashed out at bans introduced by Poland and Hungary on imports of Ukrainian grain and other foods over the weekend.A spokesperson for the European Commission said in a statement on Sunday that such a trade policy was a matter of EU exclusive competence, making it clear that only the bloc could adopt legally binding decisions.This came after Hungarys agriculture ministry said on Saturday that "in the absence of meaningful EU measures," the country would follow Poland in restricting Ukrainian grain imports until the end of June.Earlier that day, Polands Minister of Economic Development and Technology Waldemar Buda announced that Warsaw had banned imports of Ukrainian agricultural products of both plant and animal origin until June 30. The official specified that the ban covers grains, sugar, fruits and vegetables, wine, many types of meat, milk and dairy products, among other items.Bulgarian Agriculture Minister Yavor Gechev has, meanwhile, said that his country is mulling the possibility of introducing a temporary ban on grain imports from Ukraine, following the lead of Poland and Hungary.In late March, the prime ministers of Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia published a joint open letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, calling for measures to counteract the negative effects of the increased Ukrainian grain imports. Since early February, several Polish farmers' organizations have been campaigning against the imported Ukrainian grain, primarily of poor quality, which was flooding the Polish market and damaging local production. This followed the EU lifting tariffs on Ukrainian grain last year to help transport it to the rest of the world, but the exports have led to an abundance of produce in Europe. As a result, farmers in Poland, Hungary and other EU countries have seen their incomes plummet.The package agreement also includes a memorandum of understanding between Moscow and the UN to unblock Russian grain and fertilizer exports via the Black Sea. In March, Russia extended the deal for 60 out of a possible 120 days.The Kremlin has repeatedly criticized the grain deal for failing to ensure unimpeded exports of Russian grain and fertilizer amid the US-led Western sanctions slapped on Moscow over its ongoing special military operation in Ukraine.Putin has more than once castigated the implementation of the deal, noting that most of grain goes to Europe rather than the Global South. "Almost 45% [of grain] have been delivered to well-fed European countries, despite the fact that this deal stipulated that we need to ensure the interests of African countries," the Russian president told a parliamentary conference last month.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230314/russia-negatively-assesses-kievs-proposal-to-expand-grain-deal-1108396208.html

russia

ukraine

poland

hungary

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2023

Oleg Burunov https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/09/0b/1080424846_0:0:2048:2048_100x100_80_0_0_3d7b461f8a98586fa3fe739930816aea.jpg

Oleg Burunov https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/09/0b/1080424846_0:0:2048:2048_100x100_80_0_0_3d7b461f8a98586fa3fe739930816aea.jpg

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Oleg Burunov https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/09/0b/1080424846_0:0:2048:2048_100x100_80_0_0_3d7b461f8a98586fa3fe739930816aea.jpg

hungary, poland ban on ukraine grain imports, european commission's criticism of hungary, poland ban on ukraine grain imports, black sea grain initiative
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230417/us-officials-headed-to-europe-kazakhstan-kyrgyzstan-to-discuss-sanctions-compliance-1109583474.html

US Officials Headed to Europe, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan to Discuss Sanctions Compliance

US Officials Headed to Europe, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan to Discuss Sanctions Compliance

US Officials will travel to Europe and Central Asia over the next two weeks to counter sanction evasion.

2023-04-17T03:56+0000

2023-04-17T03:56+0000

2023-04-17T03:56+0000

world

us sanctions

europe

central asia

kazakhstan

kyrgyzstan

russia

russian economy under sanctions

/html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/0c/0d/1105417605_0:0:3072:1728_1920x0_80_0_0_3579edff06f8bdb825f2ceca071e1bcd.jpg

"Under Secretary [of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian] Nelson and Assistant Secretary [for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes Elizabeth] Rosenberg will use these trips to seek ways to collaborate more closely, share information, and discuss trade trends and enforcement priorities at all levels of the supply chain," the Treasury said in a statement. Nelson will travel to Switzerland, Italy, Austria and Germany from April 16-April 22. Rosenberg will travel to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan from April 23-April 28. The department added that, in Central Asia, Rosenberg, together with counterparts from the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the US Department of Commerce, will meet with government officials and private businesses "to help enhance compliance and counter evasion in trade and associated financial payments." After the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the West, including the EU, rolled out a massive sanctions campaign against Moscow. To date, the bloc has already adopted 10 sanctions packages.

central asia

kazakhstan

kyrgyzstan

russia

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2023

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Sputnik International

sanctions, russia, kazakhstan, kyrgyzstan, are countries enforcing sanctions on russia
As spring sets in, a new boom of babies are hitting the ground and Prince Edward Island Standardbred breeders are optimistic about what's to come.

CBC News has reported that P.E.I. breeding numbers are up on the heels of another record-breaking Atlantic Classic Yearling Sale last October that saw sales top $1.8 million.

"In 2022, we had 204 foals born here on the Island, and that was an increase of 38 from 2021," Julie Jamieson, Executive Director of the P.E.I. Harness Racing Industry Association (PEIHRIA), told CBC News. "We also see an increase in the number of breeders. We currently have 220 breeders here on the Island, and we're also seeing steady numbers in our stallions. For such a small province, we have 21 stallions."

Bruce Wood, owner of Woodmere Standardbreds breeding farm in Marshfield, P.E.I. and the newly appointed Standardbred Canada Atlantic Breeder Director, noted the broodmare and foal incentives offered over the past few years in P.E.I. and have helped boost the breeding business and quality of horses being bred in the provincial program, with many going on to compete in the top jurisdictions in the sport.

These incentives include the PEIHRIA Foal Incentive to assist owners with the cost of registering their foals with Standardbred Canada and the Broodmare Purchase Assistance Program, which launched in 2021, to assist P.E.I. residents with the purchase of eligible broodmares.

"It's like everything else in the spring: It's a time for lots of optimism, and it's a lot of work," said Wood. "It's always nice to see the babies being born, and hopefully developing our next champion."

To read the CBC News article in its entirety, click here.
Trot Insider has learned that trainer/driver Kelly Hoerdt will be sidelined for the time being after being injured in Friday night's accident at Fraser Downs.

The Beaumont, Alta. horseman went down in an accident that occurred at the top of the stretch in the final B.C. Bred Stakes on the card.

Hoerdt told Trot Insider on Sunday morning that he is recovering in B.C. after dislocating his right shoulder in the spill. He is scheduled to start physiotherapy next week and is hopeful to be back in the bike within four to six weeks.

Hoerdt also reported that Came A Cavalier, his trainee that he drove in the race, is fine.

The two-time O'Brien Award-winning horseman is one of the leading trainers at Fraser Downs in 2023, currently tied with Jim Marino atop the standings with 36 wins. He ranks second in the driver standings having steered 35 winners in Surrey, B.C. this year.

Hoerdt, who is coming off his third million-dollar season in the sulky, has driven 2,817 winners lifetime.

Please join Standardbred Canada in wishing Kelly Hoerdt a full and speedy recovery.
Woodbine Mohawk Park would like to inform all horsepeople of an update to the training schedule.

With the track lighting upgrade project nearly complete, training will now be available each Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday morning from 7 a.m. to Noon. The lone exception is training will only be available tomorrow (Tuesday, April 18) from 10:30 a.m. to Noon due to continued track lighting work.

Qualifiers will continue to be offered each Friday morning at 10 a.m.

(Woodbine)
United Way of Western Nebraska and Riverstone Bank kicked off registration for the sixth annual United Way Color Dash with a color toss on Monday afternoon.

The Color Dash presented by Riverstone Bank is a colorful 5K for runners of all levels and abilities set for Saturday, June 3 in Gering, in which an anticipated 1,000 runners will be completely transformed by vibrant color.

During the race, participants run through color stations where volunteers throw handfuls of colored cornstarch-based paint as they pass by. The runners enjoy pit stops throughout the race where local businesses and sponsors pass out goodies, and then enjoy a color dance party featuring a live DJ after crossing the finish line.

This is one of our signature events, United Way of Western Nebraska executive director Karen Benzel said. Its our kickoff at the beginning of June for our special events season. Special events raise about a quarter of our resources that were able to distribute back to the community, so its a huge part of what United Way does.

Benzel assured prospective participants that the paint is non-toxic and biodegradable, and should wash out of their clothes. She also stressed the fun-run nature of the event and encouraged people of all ages and ability levels to get involved and enjoy the unique experience of getting coated in color.

It is cornstarch-based, so it does come off, but its great fun, she said. Its just really a fun event that we promote for people of all ages, from infants all the way to seniors and all abilities are welcome. Its a fun run, or walk if you so choose, so its open to anyone who wants to have a fun event in the beginning of June.

Riverstone Bank has partnered with United Way to put on the Color Dash for many years. Marketing director Becca Pierce said that giving back to the community is important to Riverstone, and that supporting United Way is an efficient way for businesses and individuals to do the same.

We are a community bank, and the importance of a community bank is to give back to the community, she said. What better way to do that than with United Way? I personally say theyre a one-stop-shop for your charitable giving, and as a business we believe that as well.

Piece said that the Color Dash is always a good time for everyone involved, and that it is especially fun for families and groups who participate together.

Its fun to see families come out and embrace it and see the kids throwing their color at each other. Its family fun and just enjoyment, and we are so pleased we again get to be a part of it.

On June 3, the 5K run/walk will begin at 8 a.m at Five Rocks Amphitheater.

Registration for the Color Dash is now open. Early registration prices are available through May 24.Only 1,000 entrants will be accepted, so United Way encourages everyone to register early to ensure a spot in the event.

Register online at uwwn.org/colordash or call United Way at 308-635-2522 for more information.
LINCOLN, Neb.  A bill that would channel public money to scholarships for private school tuition in Nebraska is headed to a final step needed for passage this year.

The bill, introduced by Omaha Sen. Lou Ann Linehan, does not appropriate taxpayer dollars directly toward private school vouchers. Instead, it would allow businesses, individuals, estates and trusts to donate a portion of owed state income tax to be used for scholarships covering private school tuition.

Businesses and individuals could donate up to $100,000 per year; estates and trusts could offer up to $1 million a year. The bill would allocate $25 million a year over the next two years and up to $100 million annually thereafter to cover such donations  money that otherwise would have gone into the states general revenue fund.

The money would be overseen and allocated by nonprofit groups. On Thursday, lawmakers voted to include an amendment that would cap the amount those groups could take from donations for administrative costs at no more than 10%. The amendment also included reporting requirements to track the scholarship allocations.

The bill includes a tier system for scholarships that prioritizes low-income students and those being bullied in their current school.

Public school advocates have blasted the measure as a school voucher scheme that will hurt the states K-12 public school system.

Proponents game plan to force passage of their private school tax scheme is to threaten to hold hostage state funding of public schools - public schools that educate 90% of all the kids in Nebraska, Nebraska State Education Association President Jenni Benson said in a statement. If lawmakers cut promised state funding for public schools, it puts more pressure on our already-high property taxes.

A group representing Roman Catholic-run schools in the state  which would be the recipients of the most of the scholarship funds  celebrated the bills advancement, echoing Linehans stance that the move is geared to help families in need.

But the Nebraska Catholic Conference did not address opponents concerns that its schools might discriminate against students and families  particularly those within the LGBTQ+ community  on the basis of religious tenets.

Omaha Sen. Megan Hunt, who opposes the bill, introduced an amendment earlier in the session that would have banned private schools benefiting from the vouchers from discriminating against families  including those within the LGBTQ+ community. It failed on a largely party-line vote.

If passed, Nebraska would become one of the last states to offer some form of public money for private school tuition.
We would love to hear your thoughts...

1. How did you come up with the idea for your startup?

2. What was the hardest part in the early stages of the startups growth?

3. What are the services/solutions/products that the startup offers? Who are the targeted audiences?

4. What are your strengths and advantages over your competitors?

5. At the moment, how do you measure success? What are your metrics?

6. Is the company bootstrapped or funded? What milestones will the financing get you to?

7. What is the road map ahead? How are you planning to achieve it?

Key Management :

Founding Year :

Milestones :

Awards/Recognition :

Clients :
Editor's Note To see more photos from the training burn please see page A3 or online at www.statesville.com and on Facebook.

Training is an essential part of being a firefighter and on Saturday, a group of personnel from three local departments got hands-on training with a live burn.

Cool Springs Fire Department, under the direction of Chief Andy Webster, hosted the live burn at a house on Brookview Road. West Iredell Fire-Rescue and Scotch-Irish Fire Department firefighters also took part in the training.

The structure was donated to the department for training purposes.

Firefighters trained on many different scenarios until the structure was unstable and then it was totally burned. These trainings are semi controlled and allow firefighters to sharpen their skills in the closest environment to a real fire as possible to better serve their communities.
Boy Scout Troop 609 spent a weekend in March touring historic sites in Charleston, South Carolina.

The troop spent a Saturday morning at Corps Day at The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina. Corps Day celebrates the birthday of The Citadels corps of cadets. Scouts toured the barracks as well as observing the Summerall Guards and a full dress parade.

The troop then toured the USS Yorktown and USS Laffey at Patriots Point. Scouts were able to view historic aircraft on both the hangar deck and flight deck in addition to the numerous living spaces on board the retired aircraft carrier USS Yorktown. On board the USS Laffey, Scouts toured an interactive exhibit in one of the retired destroyers gun mounts. The troop also visited various sights in historic downtown Charleston before heading to Camp Moultrie to camp on the banks of Lake Moultrie.

On Sunday, the troop toured Fort Moultire on Sullivans Island. There, Scouts were able to learn about the historic forts participation in the Revolutionary War, Civil War and World War II.

Life Scout Evan Shelton said his favorite part of the trip was camping on Lake Mountie. The sunset over the lake was awesome said Shelton. Tenderfoot Scout Sam Ruftys favorite thing was visiting the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown. Rufty said he enjoyed the historical significance of the ship and the learning of the carriers role as the recovery ship for the Apollo 8 was really interesting.

Troop 609 meets on Monday nights at 7 p.m. at the troops Scout hut located 2019 Davie Ave. in Statesville.

Boys age 12-17 are welcome to visit the troops meetings. The troop will be attending summer camp at Camp Bud Schiele from June 25 through July 1.

For more information about Troop 609, contact nctroop609@yahoo.com or call 704-929-5050.
James Terry Moran of Copper Hill pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual battery of a girl under the age of 13 in 2019 and faces sentencing on Aug. 8.

Moran was originally charged with object sexual penetration, but a plea deal changed the charge to sexual battery, which is also a felony that carries prison time and a lifetime listing in the Virginia Registry of Sexual Offenders.

In the plea deal, Judge Mike Fleenor asked Moran if he was guilty of sexually molesting the underage minor and he said yes.

He will have to register with the state as a violent sexual offender, Commonwealths Attorney Eric Branscom said.

Branscom, in a report to the court, said the underage victim told the Floyd County Sheriffs Office school resource officer at her school about the situation, and the office opened an investigation.

This is not the first time that a student told a school resource officer about sexual molestation by an adult.

These officers are in the schools every day, Branscom said after Tuesdays hearing. The kids know the officers and learn to trust them.

Branscom said Moran admitted touching the student in private places when a deputy interviewed him before charges were filed.

A pre-sentencing report will be prepared for use in the sentencing of Moran on Aug. 8. Brancom told Judge Fleenor that victim impact statements will be presented to the court for the sentencing.

Judge Fleenor told Moran to not have any contact with the girl and follow the guidelines set by pre-trial services before the sentencing.

In another case Tuesday, Judy Harmon Franklin of Bassett pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, and the judge sent her to prison for a year with four more years suspended.

Branscom told the court that Franklin was driving her car with others at a Green Box site when deputies approached and asked if they were residents of the county. When they said they were not, a search found pipes, other drug paraphernalia and five grams of meth.

In other hearings before the Court on April 11:

Robert Wayne Jones of Willis pleaded to felony possession of ammunition by a convicted felon and two drug charges and was given a three two-year suspended sentence on each.

Torrey Era Clark of Floyd entered pleas for probation violation on three charges: One on an identity theft charge, a second for possession of a controlled substance and one for felony property damage. Clark was sentenced to a combined suspended sentence of 11 years and 17 months.

William Lester Nixon of Pulaskis plea on a probation violation on a drug possession conviction resulted in a one month and 16-day jail sentence and two years suspended.

Robert Lee Carter entered a plea on probation violations for drug and drug precursor convictions and was given a seven-year suspended sentence.
The Committee emphasized that any settlement initiative for Syria should enable political transition and justice, according to Baladi News.

On Saturday, the Syrian Negotiation Committee issued a statement calling on all countries to fully implement Resolution 2254 in any settlement initiative for Syria. The Committee emphasized that any such initiative must include the complete implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2254, which enables political transition and justice, the release of detainees, the fate of forcibly disappeared individuals, the voluntary return of displaced persons and refugees, and the holding of fair elections.

Moreover, the Committee expressed concern that some friendly countries have adopted an unclear policy and strategy toward the Syrian issue, which could result in the issue being closed without addressing its underlying causes.

The statement emphasized that the outbreak of the Ukrainian war has worsened the ambiguity and turmoil surrounding the Syrian issue. This is due to the lack of clarity in the policies of friendly countries and the absence of any effective strategy towards it. This allows some to present visions that aim to close the Syrian issue while leaving its root causes and explosive factors unresolved.

The Committee stated that any solution without the full implementation of international resolutions will only prolong the conflict, increase the spread of terrorism and drugs, and destabilize the region. The Syrian people will not allow their cause to be liquidated, and their demands will not be ignored.

There is currently an acceleration of Arab normalization with the Syrian regime, especially by Saudi Arabia, which is leading efforts to fully restore the Syrian regime to the League under the umbrella of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
It is in the best interest of the Arab world as a whole to allow Syria to rejoin the Arab League, Athr Press says.

The Jeddah consultative meeting, which took place on Saturday between the foreign ministers of the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, as well as Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan, ended without making a definitive decision on whether to restore Syrias seat in the Arab League.

According to a report published on Saturday by the British newspaper Financial Times, there is a significant disagreement among Arab nations regarding Saudi Arabias recent efforts to reconcile with Syria. The details of these efforts became apparent after the meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Jeddah to discuss the possibility of Syria returning to the Arab League.

It is evident that Qatar was one of the most resolute countries in its objection to Damascus re-entry into its Arab surroundings, despite the fact that Syria has made significant strides in strengthening its bilateral relations with several Arab countries, including its recent rapprochement with Saudi Arabia. This rapprochement was marked by the visit of Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad to Jeddah, at the invitation of his Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan.

In a statement issued by the Qatari Foreign Ministry, they expressed that consultations and opinions were exchanged regarding efforts to achieve a political resolution to the Syrian crisis that puts an end to the suffering of the Syrian people, resolves all its repercussions, and maintains the unity of Syrian territory.

Dr. Ismail Sabri Makled, a professor of political science and international relations in Cairo, criticized Qatars strong opposition to Syrias readmission to the Arab League. He noted that Qatar had played the most significant role in suspending Syrias membership since 2011, according to the online newspaper Rai Al-Youm.

Makled added that it was expected that Qatar would change its stance at the conference held in Jeddah to discuss the issue, and that it would follow the majoritys decision and align with the general Arab trend in support of Syrias return to the League. After years of boycott and exclusion, the current Arab situation is unbearable, and it is necessary to restore Syrias membership in the League.

The political science professor pointed out that the Prime Minister of Qatar defended his countrys decision to oppose Syrias readmission to the Arab League, citing the continued validity of the reasons that led to Syrias suspension in the first place. He noted that the Prime Minister was likely referring to Syrias position on the political opposition, which necessitated the suspension.

The professor further noted that Qatars position on Syrias return to the Arab League is in line with that of the United States, and that Qatar provides political cover for this position from a Gulf Arab state, even though it differs from the positions of other Gulf and Arab nations.

He questioned Qatars motives for opposing Syrias readmission to the Arab League, asking whether the country is more concerned about the rights and freedoms of the Syrian people than the Syrians themselves. He wondered why Qatar would be against Syrias return to its Arab roots, which could offer hope to the people of Syria after years of devastation and exclusion from their Arab neighbours.

Makled argued that it is neither reasonable nor fair for one Arab country like Qatar to block Syrias return to the Arab League, especially when the move could help to unite the Arab world and bring an end to a tragic chapter in Arab politics characterized by planners, instigators, supporters, implementers, and collaborators.

He emphasized that it is in the best interest of the Arab world as a whole to allow Syria to rejoin the Arab League. He noted that Qatar has the right to decide whether or not to establish full diplomatic relations with Syria based on its own convictions, and no one can force it to do so. This is a sovereign right that belongs to Qatar alone, and no one can take that away from them. Thus, Qatar can balance supporting Syrias return to the Arab League and determining its official position on the current situation in Syria.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
A joint statement issued by Syria and Tunisia last Wednesday announced the reopening of embassies, according to al-Watan.

The Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is celebrating the visit of Dr. Faisal al-Mekdad, the Syrian Foreign Minister, who will commence his visit on Monday following an invitation by his Tunisian counterpart, Nabil Ammar.

In a statement released on Facebook, the Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed that the visit signifies the deep-rooted brotherly relations between the two countries and their eagerness to normalize bilateral ties. The recent appointment of an ambassador from the Republic of Tunisia to the Syrian Arab Republic, as well as the decision of Syrian authorities to reopen the Syrian embassy in Tunisia and appoint an ambassador at its head, is a positive step towards the mutual benefit of both nations.

It is worth noting that the joint statement issued by Syria and Tunisia last Wednesday announced the reopening of their embassies and the appointment of ambassadors.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
Mevlut Cavusoglu rejected any "preconditions" in the ongoing process of "dialogue-building" with the Syrian regime, according to Syria TV.

The spokesman for the Turkish presidency, Ibrahim Kalin, has outlined three priorities and principles for his country concerning Syria, as the focus shifts toward the next stage of the dialogue building process with the Syrian regime. In an interview published by the media on Saturday, Kalin stated that Ankaras primary objective is to ensure border security and combat terrorism, regardless of its name, be it the PKK, PYD or the Peoples Protection Units.He went on to say that the second priority is the safe and voluntary return of refugees. Kalin emphasized that these individuals are human beings who fled the war and cannot stay in Turkey indefinitely.

These refugees came to our country to escape conflict, but they cannot remain here forever, he added.

The third priority, according to the presidential spokesperson, is the implementation of the political process for resolving the Syrian conflict. He stated that when conditions are established for human and economic security, and a secure environment is created on the Syrian side, the refugees will be able to return.In early May, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu is scheduled to meet with regime Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad in Moscow, alongside representatives from Russia and Iran. This meeting is part of the ongoing dialogue-building process between Ankara and the regime, the details of which are still uncertain due to the Syrian regimes insistence on the withdrawal of Turkish forces from Syria as a prerequisite for any progress.

In an interview on Haberturk TV, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu rejected any preconditions in the ongoing process of dialogue-building with the Syrian regime, emphasizing that the regime does not have full control over its territory.Cavusoglu stated, Since the beginning of the conflict, the Syrian regime has demanded that Turkey leave Syria, but in reality, it does not have full authority over its own land.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
iin exchange for dealing with Assad, the Americans want him to deal realistically with the Kurdish matter, al-Modon reports.

What is being said in political circles about the way the head of the Syrian regime, Bashar al-Assad, is negotiating with international powers goes beyond surrealism. His performance shows him as a world champion. He is the one who can boast of announcing his victory over a universal conspiracy, and over the fact that the international, regional, and Arab forces that once took part in the attempt to overthrow him are now negotiating with him. He is basing his negotiations position on his strength point that he was not defeated in the war, but rather, he defeated everyone.

Chinas Breakthrough

The past few months have not only witnessed Turkish, Saudi, and Egyptian security or political negotiations with the Syrian regime but American negotiations also. These negotiations went as far as holding high-level direct meetings between U.S. officials and officials of the Syrian regime in the Sultanate of Oman. But before going through the details of these meetings and the basis of their discussions, here are some points and notes.

A reading of the international scene shows a recent Chinese breakthrough on the global and Middle Eastern stage, which Beijing highlighted in its sponsorship of the Saudi-Iranian agreement, and, subsequently, in its initiative to stop the Russian war on Ukraine. That was followed by French President Emmanuel Macrons visit to Beijing, where he met with President Xi Jinping. After that, Macron declared that Europe should not remain dependent on the United States of America, which suggests disputes and differences within the same alliance, i.e., America and Europe, in addition to the European-European differences over many files.

Assad and Imposing Terms

Likewise, in light of the Saudi-Iranian rapprochement under Chinese auspices, an American-Saudi dispute and an American-Israeli dispute have emerged, which led to the recent leaks that are said to affect American national security and expose American relations with its allies. All of that leads to a state of weakness in that axis. In Israel, there are internal problems that could explode at any moment. And in the Arab world, there are also disputes among several countries regarding Syrias return to the Arab League. It is said that five countries oppose this matter. That prompts Assad to say that he does not want to confuse anyone by returning to the Arab League but, rather, he is focused and keen on developing bilateral relations.

Despite the ongoing Arab negotiations with Assad to discuss restoring relations with him or bringing him back to the Arab League, there is also a divergence of views between countries. For example, in the meeting between their foreign ministers, Egypt stressed the need to implement Resolution 2254, which talks about a political transfer of power. That resolution was absent from the Saudi-Syrian statement, which talked about a political solution without mentioning any international resolutions. That makes Assad more complacent with everything that is going on around him and with the differences of opinions between the countries. Right before that, and during his visit to Moscow to discuss normalizing relations with Turkey, Bashar al-Assad imposed difficult terms like refusing to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan before the elections and setting a basic condition regarding setting a timetable for the Turkish withdrawal from Syria.

Oman Meetings

Bashar al-Assad is repeating the same conditions to the Americans as well. According to sources, several direct meetings were held between delegations from the Syrian regime and the Americans in the Sultanate of Oman. Preparations were made through several indirect meetings between the two parties that discussed several points, the most important of which was the release of 7 American hostages in Syria, especially Austin Tice. Later, a comprehensive political paper was set, which necessitated going to a direct dialogue. Based on that, the pace of negotiations between Arab countries and the Syrian regime accelerated.

Here, a question can be raised whether the Saudi path of opening up to Damascus is similar to the same path of opening up to Tehran. Meaning, Saudi Arabia was aware of the ongoing U.S.-Iranian and U.S.-Syrian negotiations and wanted to get in front of that by pursuing its own path away from the Americans.

Drugs and Hostages

The political paper being negotiated between the Syrian regime and the Americans includes several points in which the priorities differ for each party. The Americans set conditions that start with releasing the hostages and, afterward, discussing the political field. Assad, on the other hand, stipulates the political discussion as well as the American withdrawal from the east of the Euphrates because he wants to control the oil-rich areas, in addition to reaching an understanding on the Kurdish matter. The release of the hostages will subsequently be the result of these negotiations.

Assad deals with the situation as ongoing and lasting. He is back to using an old-new game based on blackmailing the countries of the world. So, he blackmails one of the parties with the drug smuggling issue and blackmails the Americans with the hostages card.

Accordingly, Assad uses the time investment game, which the Syrian regime established by Hafez al-Assad is most proficient. Perhaps the mechanisms of this investment have developed based on baptizing the relationship with Iran with blood.

According to information, the American-Syrian negotiations focus on Syrian internal affairs. And while Assad proposes finding a solution to the issue of the Kurds and stopping American support for them, others consider that, in exchange for dealing with Assad, the Americans want him to deal realistically with the Kurdish matter, in addition to other files related to the situation in southern Syria, especially the Golan file.

It is still too early to speculate on all these paths and their results. Estimates and positions differ between those who believe that Assad will remain in power and that everyone will eventually deal with him and those who believe that this can never happen without a real political solution that leads to a change in the political foundations or the nature of Syria as an entity.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
Your daily brief of the English-speaking press on Syria.

After meeting in Saudi Arabia to discuss Syrias political fate, a group of regional leaders promised Saturday to continue talks to reach a political solution to the Syrian conflict but stopped short of endorsing its return to the Arab League, The New York Times reported.

The meeting, which included top diplomats from the Arab Gulf countries as well as Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq, was convened days after Syrias foreign minister visited Saudi Arabia for the first time since the kingdom cut off diplomatic relations with Syria in 2012.

Syria and Saudi Arabia said Thursday they were moving toward reopening embassies and resuming flights between the two countries for the first time in more than a decade.

Syria was widely shunned by Arab governments over Syrian President Bashar Assads brutal crackdown on protesters in a 2011 uprising that descended into civil war. The breakdown in relations culminated with Syria being ousted from the Arab League.

However, in recent years, as Assad consolidated control over most of the country, Syrias neighbours have begun to take steps toward rapprochement. The overtures picked up pace since the massive February 6 earthquake in Turkey and Syria, and the Chinese-brokered reestablishment of ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which had backed opposing sides in the Syrian conflict.

Saudi Arabia is hosting the next Arab League summit in May when Syrias membership is widely expected to be on the table. Some members, mainly Qatar, have opposed Damascuss return to the organization.

Qatar did not appear to have changed its stance after the meetings convened in Jeddah late Friday.

A statement issued by the Saudi Foreign Ministry Saturday said the ministers had stressed that a political solution is the only solution to the Syrian crisis and the importance of having an Arab leadership role in efforts to end the crisis. They agreed to set up the necessary mechanisms to do so and hold intensifying consultations among Arab countries to ensure the success of these efforts.

The ministers also condemned recent Israeli police raids at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalems Old City and emphasized the centrality and priority of the Palestinian cause, and condemned illegal Israeli practices that undermine the two-state solution with an independent and sovereign Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem based on pre-1967 borders, the statement said.

In general, there is little consensus among them about how they should deal with Syria and what concessions they might demand in return for rebuilding relations, but the direction is clear. The Middle East has gone through a geopolitical reordering. A series of Iran-backed attacks on Saudi Arabia and the UAE, combined with a perception that the US was either incapable of or uninterested in protecting its Gulf partners from Iran, pushed both countries to deal with Iran more directly.

The change in tone is also seen as a political boon for Mr. al-Assad, triggering fears from his opponents that it could be the start of his reintegration into the international community with virtually no consequences for abuses during the war. A devastating earthquake that hit northwestern Syria in February resulted in Arab officials meeting with al-Assad and sending planeloads of aid. The United States also eased banking restrictions for six months to allow relief to flow freely to Syria.

Syrians Protest normalization with Assad

After the meeting, protests took place across parts of northwestern Syria on Friday, rejecting Saudi-led normalisation efforts between the Assad regime and a number of Arab countries.

According to the New Arab, demonstrations took place in the cities of Idlib, Azaz and Afrin, where protesters rejected calls by some Arab nations for reconciliation with Damascus.

Demonstrations also took place in the village of Al-Jalama in Jindires in Aleppo governorate, and Tal Abyad, Raqqa.

One participant, Zakaria Suno, told The New Arabs Arabic-language site, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, that demonstrators want to convey that the peoples revolution is continuing.

The Syrian people, who have been abandoned and tasted scourge, will never be satisfied with returning to Assads rule, even if all countries normalize relations with him, he further added.

Another participant, activist Radwan al-Abrash, said that the Arab countries normalization with the regime came with the international communitys laxity in implementing UN resolutions and achieving a political transition in Syria.

Protesters also condemned steps towards normalization between Saudi Arabia and Syria, following Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdads visit to Riyadh earlier this week.

Syrias FM to Algeria, Tunisia to revive diplomatic ties

Syrias chief diplomat has started a visit to Algeria and Tunisia as part of efforts to revive diplomatic relationships in the Arab world, more than a decade after his country was globally isolated amid President Bashar Assads brutal crackdown on mass protests against his rule, AP reported.

Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad was welcomed on Saturday in the lounge of Algiers airport by his Algerian counterpart Ahmed Attaf.

In remarks broadcast by Algerian public television. Mekdad insisted that relations between the two brotherly countries exist and will continue to exist  beyond the vicissitudes of the situation.

My visit will be an opportunity for discussions between the two countries on the latest developments in the region. We need to strengthen this bilateral relationship, he added.

Algeria is one of the few Arab countries that did not cut off relations with Syria during the civil war that followed the 2011 uprising.

Tunisia

Mekdad is scheduled to head to Tunisia on Monday, where he is to reopen Syrias embassy.

Tunisian President Kais Saied announced earlier this month that he had directed the countrys foreign ministry to appoint a new ambassador to Syria. His move was reciprocated by the Syrian government, according to Syrian state news agency SANA.

Opposition party vows refugee-free Turkey, better ties with Syria

Good Party (IYI), a member of the Nation Alliance of the opposition, unveiled its election manifesto Sunday. Party chair Meral Aksener announced the manifesto at an event in the capital Ankara, according to The Daily Sabah.

IYI says refugees (namely, those from Syria) would not be given citizenship and all privileges they were entitled to would be rendered invalid. All irregular migrants will be rounded up immediately for deportation, it also pledged.

The main source of refugees is Turkeys neighbour Syria and IYI pledges to maintain good ties with Syria, by signing a good neighbourhood and friendship agreement and updating the 1998 Adana Agreement. The said agreement was signed with the primary goal of the expulsion of members of the terrorist group PKK from Syria.

Syria scrapped the deal after the civil war erupted over Turkeys support for the opposition forces. Turkey recently resumed talks for normalization with the Assad regime though no concrete deal is expected before the elections.

Third UAE aid ship arrives at Lattakia Port

In line with the directives of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a third UAE aid ship, carrying over 2,000 tonnes, arrived at the Port of Lattakia as part of the UAEs post-quake recovery plan in Syria under Operation Gallant Knight / 2.

WAM (Emirates News Agency) reported that the Ministry of Defences Joint Operations Command announced the largest aid ship of its kind, which ran by the Emirates Red Crescent (ERC), carried more than 2,215 tonnes including 1,392.5 tonnes of food supplies, 822.5 tonnes of relief and medical assistance and 685 tonnes of building materials.

Hammoud Abdullah Al Junaibi, Acting Secretary-General of ERC, said that this aid comes within the framework of the UAEs role to mitigate the repercussions of the earthquake that hit Syria last February, highlighting the leaderships keenness to provide the best humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people in order to help them overcome their current circumstances.

The ERC will continue to scale up its humanitarian response for the best interest of the quake-affected people in Syria as part of Operation Gallant Knight / 2. We are acting and moving in different directions to relieve the suffering caused by the disaster, he added.

For his part, Amer Ismail Hilal, Governor of Lattakia, lauded the UAEs efforts aimed at alleviating the suffering of the quake-affected people in Syria and its solidarity with the Syrian people since the early phases of the disaster.

The UAE launched Operation Gallant Knight / 2 to provide assistance for the peoples of Syria and Turkey following the devastating quakes that struck the two countries in February.

U.S. citizen sues Syria over torture amid regional embrace of Assad

Obada Mzaik, a Syrian-American man, has filed a lawsuit against the Syrian government for allegedly torturing him while he was detained in the country for three weeks in 2012.

Mzaik is seeking to hold the government accountable under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which allows lawsuits against designated state sponsors of terrorism for the torture of U.S. nationals.

The lawsuit alleges that Mzaik was beaten, whipped, and threatened with electrocution while he was detained at the Air Force Intelligence Directorates central branch at the Mezzeh Military Airport in Damascus.

The Syrian government has been served with the complaint and is not expected to respond. Many Syrians remain detained by the regime, and avenues for justice are limited as Syria is not a member state of the International Criminal Court.
Sources say some Arab countries condition the return of Syria to the Arab League to the resolution of the refugee problem, according to Athr Press.

At a time when the Syrian political arena is witnessing a notable Arab movement and calls to return Damascus to its Arab surroundings, there are some obstacles and problems caused by some Arab countries that still declare their rejection of Syrias return to its seat in the Arab League. In light of this, Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad is conducting a tour of Arab capitals, starting from Saudi Arabia and continuing on to Algeria and Tunisia, with reports indicating that he may later head to Iraq.

On Monday, Minister Mekdad begins a visit to Tunisia at the invitation of his Tunisian counterpart, Nabil Ammar, to discuss various issues. The Tunisian Foreign Ministry confirmed in a statement issued on Sunday that this visit comes as a consecration of the longstanding brotherly ties between the two countries and within the framework of keenness to restore bilateral relations to their normal track. This follows the appointment of an ambassador of the Republic of Tunisia in the Syrian Arab Republic and the decision of the Syrian authorities to reopen the Syrian embassy in Tunisia, with the appointment of an ambassador at its head. This is for the good and interest of the two brotherly peoples.

According to Tunisian media, this visit is seen as reflecting the regional geopolitical balances in the Arab region, including the push for Syrias return to the Arab League.

Sources knowledgeable about the ongoing Arab consultations regarding Syria confirm that there are disagreements on certain points and agreements on others among the Gulf countries involved. The newspaper Al-Arab quoted informed sources stating that an implicit agreement overshadowed the atmosphere of the Gulf Cooperation Council meeting, with the belief that the re-establishment of relations between Arab capitals and Damascus is a sovereign matter for each of them. This is beneficial for humanitarian and political reasons as it opens doors for Damascus to readapt to the environment of Arab relations, and provides avenues for a political settlement of the crisis.

With regards to Damascus potential return to the Arab League, the sources have reported that side dialogues held by some ministers suggested that it may be unreasonable for Damascus to rejoin the Arab League before millions of Syrian refugees have returned to their country so that the countries hosting them do not continue to bear the burden. The sources added that on this basis, the consultative meeting concluded with a stance that indicates there is no immediate return of Damascus to the Arab League, but that does not preclude the resumption of bilateral relations with Syria at the same time.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
Mekdad made this comment during an official visit to Algeria where he met with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Syria TV says.

On Sunday, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad stated that restoring the regimes membership in the Arab League is highly unlikely until bilateral relations are rectified. Mekdad made this comment during an official visit to Algeria where he met with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. He added that the recent visits by Syrian officials to some Arab countries were aimed at turning a new leaf in their relations with the Arab world.

In an interview with Algerie International TV, Mekdad responded to a question about the Syrian regimes return to the Arab League, stating that it is almost impossible before the correction of bilateral relations, according to Reuters.

The pro-regime Al-Watan newspaper reported that Mekdad will hold official talks with Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf before heading to Tunisia, where he has been invited by his Tunisian counterpart, Nabil Ammar.

On April 15th, a consultative meeting of Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Jordan, Egypt, and Iraq on Syria took place in the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The meetings final statement emphasized the significance of a political solution as the sole resolution to the Syrian crisis, highlighting the need for Arab leadership in endeavours to resolve the crisis. Notably, the statement did not address the decision regarding the Syrian regimes return to the Arab League. The United Arab Emirates did not participate in the meeting.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
Qatar, Kuwait, Yemen, Libya, as well as Morocco, expressed their objections to reintegrating the regime into the Arab world, according to Orient Net.

After the Saudi Foreign Minister met with his counterpart in the Assad government, it was believed that Bashars attendance at the next Arab League summit was a settled decision. However, the surprise came when five countries, including two represented in the ministerial consultative meeting, refused to accept the step.

Qatar and Kuwait, along with the legitimate governments in Yemen and Libya, as well as Morocco, expressed their objections to reintegrating the regime into the Arab world. Western newspapers also reported that Egypt is hesitant. These countries demand that the regime takes serious measures towards a political solution in line with UN Resolution 2254, along with other parameters that have become known.

Why did the project to return to Syria fail? There are three possibilities.

First: Saudi-Qatari coordination

The prevailing belief among a significant portion of respondents is that Saudi Arabia orchestrated the recent events to prevent Iran from gaining too much power too quickly. According to a source within the opposition negotiating body, there has been effective coordination between Qatar and Saudi Arabia regarding the Syrian conflict, which has not been seen in at least 8 years.

The source stated that Saudi Arabia recognizes the need for Qatari involvement in any plans it wishes to execute, while Qatar acknowledges the weight of Saudi Arabias influence in the region. As a result, Qatar believes that change is on the horizon, even if it occurs gradually or partially, and has chosen to align itself with Saudi Arabia. This move strengthens Qatars position in its alliance with Turkey and enhances its efficacy in addressing the Syrian conflict, as well as other regional issues.

Arab dissatisfaction with the regimes interaction

Another possibility that has been suggested by analysts is that Arab officials who have recently met with representatives of the Assad regime have been left with a negative impression. This is particularly true for Egypt.

In a previous interview with Orient Net, former Syrian diplomat Bassam Barbandi highlighted an important point regarding the statements made after the meeting between Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad. Shoukry emphasized the importance of a political solution, the implementation of international resolutions, and rebuilding Syria. In contrast, Mekdad focused on the need to defeat conspiracy and terrorism and revive Arab solidarity, using wooden and outdated rhetoric.

Even though Egypt has recently normalized its relations with the Assad regime and is a strong ally of Saudi Arabia, it refuses to support Assads return to the Arab League until a political solution is found that involves all Syrian voices in deciding the countrys future.

Additionally, several experts have noted that Arab officials are displeased with the regimes return to using a tone of strength and victory, which has caused occasional crises in the past with other Arab countries, even before the revolution in 2011. For the Arab world, the regimes commitment to the principle of step-by-step progress and the implementation of Resolution 2254 is crucial, and this tone risks harming its standing in the international community.

U.S. intervention

Political experts suggest that a third possibility that may have slowed down the Arab normalization train with the Assad regime is the U.S.s more serious intervention.

Although the White House spokesperson had calmly emphasized the need for significant political change before normalization during the consultative meeting with Arab ministers, the visit of Republican Senator Lindsey Graham to Saudi Arabia on Thursday was a clear indication of a shift in the USs stance. Graham, who is known for his hawkish attitude towards the Assad regime, likely discussed the Syrian conflict, the issue of regime change, and the Caesar Act and sanctions with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. These discussions involved multiple interconnected issues that have significant impacts on each other.

It is worth noting that after the Jeddah consultative meeting, U.S. statements criticizing Arab normalization with the Assad regime escalated, with a particular focus on the regimes involvement in the drug industry and trade, which threaten global security and stability.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
If Bashar al-Assad intends to curb drug smuggling to the Gulf states, he would be targeting Maher al-Assad's interest, Iyad al-Jaafary writes in Syria TV.

The recent escalation on the outskirts of the occupied Golan Heights at the beginning of the week reveals deep contradictions, divisions, and overlapping within leadership and decision-making systems at various levels within this regime as Arab normalization with the Assad regime accelerates.

It is unclear whether it is just a mere coincidence that Israels shift in dealing with the head of the regimes brother and indirect discrimination between him and his brother regarding the threat to Israeli security coincides with the airing of the series Smile, Mr. General, which delves into a dramatic vision of a power struggle between two brothers and their conflicting alliances with external parties to strengthen their opposing cards.

If we want to start with the problem that we referred to in the leadership and decision-making systems, the recent escalation shows that it starts from within the marginal militias affiliated with the regime. The  Al-Quds Brigade  militia, which an Iranian channel reported its responsibility for firing rockets at the occupied territories in the Golan, while a Russian agency  Sputnik  reported its denial of that responsibility, is a stark example of the contradictions and overlaps in the leadership and decision-making systems within the regime. This culminated in the dismissal of its deputy commander, on charges of corruption, only days after the Al-Quds Brigade leaders supported the adoption of rockets fire on the occupied Golan, through mass media.

The goal does not exceed proving Tehrans ability to ignite all fronts if Israel decides to target the nuclear project in a decisive manner.

The militia that began as Iranian before becoming somewhat Russian has not been cleansed of Iranian infiltration. The recent escalation that occurred from within Syrian territory towards the occupied plateau, for the first time since 2018, coincided with a limited field impact missile escalation whose high political value comes from the fact that it started from Lebanon and Gaza Strip simultaneously. This confirms that the message is Iranian, and that the goal does not exceed proving Tehrans ability to ignite all fronts if Israel decides to target the nuclear project in a decisive manner.

If the victory, represented in the dismissal of one of its prominent leaders, and denying responsibility for launching missiles, is for the Russians, at the end of a limited period of uncertainty about the affiliation of the Al-Quds Brigade, that does not deny the extent of Iranian infiltration and stability within this militia affiliated with the Assad regime for example. It is a contradiction that can be noticed at various levels within the systems apparatus, up to the higher levels of leadership and decision-making within the regime; specifically, in the relationship between the two brothers who are going more and more towards strengthening the connection of each of them, with discordant external alliances and agendas.

It is noteworthy that the Israeli media indirectly exonerated Bashar al-Assad from the responsibility for targeting Israeli security. They blamed his brother, indicating that Bashar prevented Iranians from launching drones into occupied territories without his previous knowledge, which his brother violated before the recent escalation, according to Israeli sources.

This is Israels first involvement in the relationship between the two brothers, and it sheds light on what is believed to be contradictions between the two bothers alliances; a closer alliance linking Tehran to Maher on one side, and a closer one linking Moscow and Arab countries to Bashar on the other side. Thus, the Syrian regime appears with two heads, Bashar and his brother, and with two arms, Russia and Iran. This raises doubts about the ability of this regime to integrate completely in a specific direction due to differences in agendas between decision-makers within the regime.

If it is an exaggeration  at this stage  to describe this difference in agendas as a conflict; it is also an extreme simplification to describe it as a coordinated performance between the two brothers to delude the outside observer into the existence of a conflict, and to benefit from this illusion. The closest characterization available in political science to the situation within the Syrian regime is that of competitive cooperation. This applies to the relationship between the Russians and the Iranians in Syria, since 2018 and still is. It also applies to the relationship between the two brothers, which does not rise to the level of conflict, for fear of cracking the entire system, and does not fall to the level of illusion that a conflict exists. Given that, the existence of a conflict contradicts the feature most applicable to the relations between siblings and heirs in the ruling family systems.

At this qualitative juncture, Israel intervenes on the line of the relationship between the two brothers, to target Maher, and warns, through its media, of a major shift in the nature of its chronic targeting of the Syrian depth. Israel will target Maher, and the drug industry and smuggling network, which constitutes an icon of his strength and richness. This coincides with promises reported by the Saudi media, and by regime representatives, that Bashar al-Assad intends to curb drug smuggling to the Gulf states. This means if the intention to implement the promise was sincere, it targets Maher al-Assads interests. This enhances the possibility of a competitive dimension at the expense of a cooperative dimension in the relationship between the two brothers. Perhaps, in the medium term, it will reach a state of open struggle over power.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
Your daily brief of the English-speaking press on Syria.

Upset with the results of the Jeddah meeting, the Syrian foreign minister said in comments about the possibility of preparing for the Arab League that Syrias return will be almost impossible before correcting bilateral relations, Reuters reported.

Faisal al-Mekdad told Algeria International TV that recent visits to Arab countries aim to open a new page.

Syria was suspended from the Arab League in 2011 to protest how the government of President Bashar al-Assad treated demonstrators.

Mekdad held a session of talks with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Algerian National Community Abroad, Ahmed Ataf, during which they discussed means to activate and strengthen bilateral cooperation mechanisms.

According to SANA, the pair discussed various aspects of bilateral relations, and activating the work of the joint higher committee between the two countries, based on its importance in strengthening fraternal relations and coordination on various Arab and international issues of common interest.

Minister Mekdad gave an overview of the latest developments in the Syrian arena in the light of his recent consultations with officials of numerous capitals of Arab and friendly countries, expressing the Syrian vision for ways to develop inter-Arab relations, and the importance of activating bilateral Arab relations and their role in reviving joint Arab action.

Both ministers also discussed the developments on the Arab, regional and international arena and the reality of bilateral relations from various aspects, where it was agreed to find joint mechanisms to advance the pace of bilateral action at all diplomatic and political levels.

At the end of the talks session, the two sides affirmed the continuation of coordination and dialogue between the two countries at various levels, in a way that serves various Arab issues, foremost of which is the basic Arab cause; the Palestinian cause.

U.S. helicopter raid targets senior ISIS leader in Syria

A U.S. helicopter raid in northeast Syria targeted a senior ISIS leader and planner early Monday morning, according to a spokesman for U.S. Central Command.

We believe the raid killed a senior ISIS Syria leader and operational planner responsible for planning terror attacks in the Middle East and Europe, said Col. Joe Buccino. The identity of the target was not immediately available.

Two other armed individuals were also killed in the raid, Buccino said.

No US forces were wounded in the raid and no helicopters were shot down, Buccino added.

No civilians were killed or injured, according to a statement from CENTCOM.

Though degraded, ISIS remains able to conduct operations within the region with a desire to strike beyond the Middle East, Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla said in a statement. We will continue the relentless campaign against ISIS.

Syrian exports start to gradually recover  official

Head of the Import and Export Committee in the Syrian Chamber of Commerce, Fahad Darwish, said on Monday that Syrian exports are gradually recovering.

Darwish stated to the pro-government al-Watan newspaper that the value of Syrian exports during the first quarter of 2023 reached approximately $ 250 million.

He added that natural resources exported by the General Establishment of Geology and Mineral Resources held the first rank. Vegetables came second in terms of the volume of export value, and fruits came in third place.

Darwish noted that world-renowned food products such as cheese, dairy, various canned products, and others came in fourth place, and then spices such as coriander, anise, cumin, and others came fifth.

Jaafari, Bogdanov discuss developments in Syria and the region

Russian Special Presidential Representative for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov , discussed with the Syrian Ambassador in Moscow, Dr. Bashar al-Jaafari, developments in and around Syria ,focusing on resolving the crisis there, SANA reported.

 Moscow is ready to continue making the necessary efforts to advance constructive dialogue between Damascus and its regional environment based on the principles of unconditional respect for Syrias sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, the Russian Foreign Ministry quoted Bogdanov as saying Monday during his meeting with al-Jaafari .

The ministry pointed out that the meeting also dealt with some practical issues of bilateral cooperation, including the schedule of future contacts, adding that Bogdanov congratulated Ambassador al-Jaafari on the Independence Day on its 77th anniversary.

President Assad receives cables of congratulations from Arab and foreign leaders on 77th anniversary of Independence Day

On the occasion of the 77th anniversary of Independence Day, President Bashar al-Assad received congratulatory cables from the leaders of Arab and foreign states, during which the leaders extended their warmest congratulations and wishes to the Syrians for further stability and progress, affirming their support for the Syrian governments efforts to defend the states sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, and their keenness to continue work in order to strengthen and develop existing bilateral cooperation ties.

Assad, according to SANA, received cables from each of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President of the UAE, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President of the United Arab Emirates, and from the President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, and President Mohamed Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.

President al-Assad also received cables of congratulations from President Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, President Xi Jinping, President of the Peoples Republic of China, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, President Joko Widodo, President of the Republic of Indonesia, President Alexander Lukashenko, President of the Republic of Belarus, Kim Jong Un, Head of State Affairs of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, and His Holiness Pope Francis, Pope of the Vatican, and Min Aung Haling, Chairman of the State Council of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.
A Georgia man who stole more than 50,000 Bitcoin from the Silk Road drug-trafficking site before his cache hit $3.35 billion in value was ordered to serve a year and a day in prison.

James Zhong, 32, was sentenced Friday in New York federal court, where he pleaded guilty to wire fraud last year. At the time of the heist in 2012, the Bitcoin was worth $620,000. When authorities seized devices holding the stolen Bitcoin in November 2021, its value had exploded, making it the second-largest financial seizure in US history.

Before he was caught, Zhong spent $16 million of the proceeds on real estate investments, luxury hotels, nightclubs and Lamborghinis, prosecutors said. The value of the Bitcoin seized is now about $1.56 billion.

US District Judge Paul Gardephe cited the highly sophisticated nature of the crime and Zhong's active concealment of the stolen Bitcoin for nine years until agents raided his house. Zhong faced between 27 and 33 months in prison under advisory guidelines, but Gardephe said he was granting leniency because of the truly unique circumstances in the case. Still, the judge said he also wanted to deter other criminals.

While the victim in this case happened to be a criminal enterprise, the victim tomorrow could be a legitimate business, Gardephe said.

Prosecutors told the judge that Zhong should get prison because he covered up his theft for nearly a decade, moving the Bitcoin through so-called mixers that make it harder to trace transactions by jumbling tokens together. But they also said he should get less than two years in prison, citing his youth, his autism and his help in recovering the stolen crypto.

Solace in Computer

Zhong's lawyers asked the judge to spare him a prison term, saying he came from a dysfunctional family and received no love from his divorced parents, who were Chinese immigrants. He was severely bullied and victimized by his peers because he was different  he was extremely shy, overweight, and most significantly, suffered from undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder, Zhong's lawyers said in court papers. Having no friends or family he could turn to, Jimmy found solace and friendship in the world of his computer.

In court, Zhong expressed shame and remorse, and told the judge, I always knew what I did was wrong.

He said he hid his crimes as Bitcoin soared in value.

I think I buried my head in the sand, Zhong said. It made me feel important and worth something.

Zhong said that while some college friends have stuck by him, the one who's been most supportive is his dog Chad, who is old and sick.

In their sentencing memo, Zhong's lawyers argued that while he had no right to the stolen Bitcoin, neither did Silk Road. They said the marketplace isn't a victim in the true sense of the word under the law, noting that Silk Road's imprisoned founder, Ross Ulbricht, contacted Zhong and asked him how he took the cryptocurrency. But he never asked for it back  and sent more.

After pleading guilty, Zhong agreed to forfeit $42.7 million as well as additional Bitcoin and property.

The heist began after Zhong had stored some Bitcoin on Silk Road, the online black market. When he double-clicked the withdrawal button by mistake, he got back twice as much as he put in. Over several days, he deposited more tokens and quickly withdrew them, double-clicking each time. Exploiting that glitch led him to more than 50,000 Bitcoin, each worth about $12 at the time.

Federal agents seized 50,491 Bitcoin from Zhong's lakefront home in Gainesville, Georgia, along with $661,900 in cash and gold and silver bars. Zhong stored the crypto on devices in a safe under floorboards and on a single-board computer stowed in a Cheetos popcorn tin in a closet. He later surrendered more than 1,000 additional Bitcoin.

Zhong attended the University of Georgia from 2008 to 2014, earning a bachelor's degree in computer science and mining Bitcoin. He also drank excessively and used cocaine, according to a psychiatric examination report in his court file.

He converted some Bitcoin to $700,000 in cash, so he would have a case full of money like in the movies, the report said. He hoped the visual appeal of the cash would impress a female into having sexual relations with him, the report said. He stated his plan did not work.

In 2019, Zhong reported a burglary at his home his Athens, Georgia, saying someone had stolen a silver brief case with $400,000 in cash.
In the current times of digital age, everyone is connected virtually more than ever. Not only individuals, but brands are exploring new ways on the internet to be seen by prospective customers and engage them completely to turn them into invaluable consumers. The increased penetration of affordable internet across India has further fueled the adoption of social media by the growing community of internet subscribers. This has led companies to market to the ever-growing community in the short-timed content environment given the maximized reach that the environment provides them with.In this immersive environment, a beneficial business avenue for growing brands to explore has been the influencer marketing route. What is influencer marketing? In a nutshell, influencers are people who help brands grow at scale by providing them with access to a targeted consumer base which they have built over time through constant engagement while trying to understand them and their needs better.Reportedly, a McKinsey study notes that a trusted sources recommendation is highly likely to lead a prospective consumer to convert into a customer. Another research predicts that 70% of teenagers depend on the influencers opinions more than traditional celebrities.For businesses, be it small-scale or of any nature, influencer marketing can help uplift a brand on the back of its application to former hurdles that suppressed the brands visibility. The direct human touch that a prospective user has with the influencer goes leaps and bounds beyond the intangible other means of marketing that a brand might otherwise engage in. This helps create a positive rapport between the brand and the prospective customers through the influencers.Lets dive deeper into understanding how influencer marketing helps marketing companies to maximize their revenue.As brands, we all strive to witness maximum impressions or visitor count to the marketing material that we disseminate be it physically or digitally. With the help of influencer marketing, one can easily increase their brands reach by informing a large number of viewers, i.e. influencers followers and others on social media, etc., about the product/ services that you offer. Apt content promoted through the right influencer will certainly echo the brands awareness across the wide social media using community. A wider reach translates to a higher number of prospects getting converted into customers and hence increased cash inflow.Reducing costs of sourcing data, cleaning it, forming personas, targeting them with different approaches to convert them, etc., Influencer marketing helps brands to reach their targeted audience directly. Organic in its approach, influencer marketing informs and engages the audience with exactly what the brand offers and hence its a win-win situation for both, the customers to buy genuine, promising products and for the brands to receive honest customers. With that being said, people will be informed about your brand and gradually move the information to more people in the know who might be interested in your products/ services. This translates to increased channels for revenue generation.Given a large number of followers, influencers have a strong rapport with them all. Given the established trust and credibility that they garner over time, the followers believe in the products and the brands that they promote. The fans respect their content and recommendations, hence making the case highly likely to convert most of the users to buy your products. As such, the fans respect their thoughts and recommendations. Influencers endorse the products application by using it themselves and hence people are more likely to listen to their views about the product as an honest review. This approach helps build trust for the brand by the targeted audience.We now know that influencers engage their followers with content on your products which ultimately persuades them to visit your branded websites and product pages. Given the human touch to the application and understanding the pros and cons of your products through a person is what brings natural reception to the viewers who then plan on visiting your brand page to learn more about your product and if they want to place the order from there. In a nutshell, influencers increase the click-through rate by pooling in more like-minded people to visit your branded pages whom you can convert with your efforts further. CTR is a common characteristic to understand the success rate of any marketing effort in the digital medium space. In the case of influencers, you can garner CTR as expected or beyond expectations basis the content and the influencer that you chose to engage your target audience with.With the right influencer engagement, an increased click-through rate (CTR) on your branded landing page will prompt the search engine like Google about the significant traffic that your page is garnering, hence making it elevate your pages appearance in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) for relevant keyword searches by the audience at large. With known and celebrated influencers endorsing your products, your products and brands' credibility are bound to soar high as they are a symbol of upholding the best interest of their followers and fans. To sum it up, influencer marketing will help increase your visibility in the vast online space to be found by your prospective customers which will gradually lead to better engagement and increased sales and hence rising revenue.Influencer Marketing, according to use cases by several brands, brings about 650x ROI or more if invested correctly in the right influencer with the right content strategy. Given the wide reach of the influencers, the number of visits to your website and your posts are bound to increase given your collaboration with them. According to a joint study conducted by Twitter and Annalect, 40% of participants agreed to take their purchase decision basis review by an influencer. As compared to other digital marketing efforts, influencer marketing is deemed to be providing brands with an ROI as high as 11x.To maximize the revenue, as a brand you must identify your marketing goals and accordingly select the suited influencer to amplify your reach with measurable results as you build your community of loyal customers. While one-off campaigns can be attractive, we must not forget that a business only stays afloat as far as it is visible to the users. Prolonged engagement with the audience through the influencers brings in benefits that can be measured over time. If done optimally, not only can influencer marketing be cost-effective but also increase revenues at scale.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Guided by a human prompt, an AI algorithm produced this digital painting of Jumbo the elephant in the style of Leonardo da Vinci. The generator seemed unsure how to handle Mona Jumbo's long trunk, botching the anatomy somewhat. Credit: Midjourney

"In recent years, the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) has revolutionized various industries, including the world of art. With AI-powered algorithms and machine learning, artists are now exploring new frontiers in the realm of visual art."

That was how ChatGPT, an AI chatbot, suggested we start this story. We asked it for an introduction to an article in which four artists and professors of the practice at SMFA at Tufts sat down to weigh the pros and cons of AI art generators.

The artists' verdict? Contrary to ChatGPT's rosy view, they say it's early to call AI art a revolution, and they question just how meaningful those "new frontiers" will be.

How it works: The algorithms in generators like Dall-E 2, Midjourney, and DreamStudio analyze billions of existing artworks found on the internet and use that information to create original pieces, based on parameters you provide. You can even ask them to copy the style of a particular artist, as in "A portrait of Jumbo the elephant, in the style of Leonardo da Vinci."

To give AI a fighting chance in this roundtable, we spoke to artists with a history of embracing technology. Virtual reality, 3D, and custom software are familiar tools to Cristobal Cea S, Elisa Giardina Papa, and Kurt Ralske, who all teach digital media at SMFA at Tufts, as does Nate Harrison, who has also written extensively about intellectual property and creative processes.

Tufts Now spoke with them about AI's impact on the livelihoods of commercial artists, whether AI art is a continuation of postmodernism, and what outsourcing art to AI means for human creativity.

Tufts Now: Have you seen any AI-generated art that you've found interesting?

Elisa Giardina Papa: Last semester, I taught a class that was called Art/Gender/Technology, and several students used AI tools to generate part of their artwork. Some students tried to embrace AI image generation in terms of creating something from the point of view of fluid subjectivity. It was connected to queer theory and the idea that a subject can mutate and flow and change. They were interested in potential of unfixed subjectivity on the part of the AI. I thought it was a really interesting way to look at it.

Kurt Ralske: Good artists will be able to figure out ways to use these tools to make interesting statements. But that's because they were good artists to begin with.

Cristobal Cea S: I like Elisa's art very much. [Giardina Papa spent months working for an AI company helping it train machines to recognize human emotions; she turned what she learned about the human labor behind AI into an art installation.] I like Ian Cheng's work. [Cheng created an AI-generated creature that changes and grows as viewers interact with it in a gallery.] I also like Juan Covelli, a Colombian artist who has used AI to recreate Mesoamerican artifacts, allowing him, in a sense, to repatriate them to the counties they were taken from.

Those are uses of AI that are witty. And I think wit is a current throughout art history. To do stuff in a way that is unpredictable. AI is good at making predictions, but creativity is very related to finding improbable stuff or improbable outcomes.

Jumbo the elephant in the style of Andy Warhol. Credit: Midjourney

Ralske: I'll make a very minor challenge to that. It is possible for these algorithms to generate stuff that you totally didn't expect. Sometimes if you give it a very vague prompt, it will come out with extraordinary things. Because the data set is so large, the possibility of unpredictability is there. You could argue that it's a limited kind of unpredictability, but I definitely have been shocked a few times playing with these tools.

Cea: It has that humorous stuff, right? It's like Google search poetry.

Do you consider AI generators as tools for artists?

Cea: It's a tool you think with and not an end in itself.

Nate Harrison: I think AI is a tool. It's maybe more than that. Maybe it's a tool in the becoming or a meta tool.

Cea: When cinema appeared, the content of cinema was theater. The first films were just basically the theater recorded. In time, the language of cinema appeared. AI's language is yet to arrive, which is exciting.

Harrison: Did a similar thing happen with the invention of photography? The camera was a scientific tool at that point but over time it did acquire its own language.

Giardina Papa: There is a lot of hype for these new tools. But I feel it's marketing rhetoric. I don't see enthusiasm from artists. When the film camera came outI'm thinking about Walter Benjamin and the optical unconscious or Jean Epstein or Dziga Vertov and the Soviet cinemathey saw this as a tool that could allow us to see things that we didn't see with the naked eye. There was a lot of excitement about the new possibility of vision and of understanding nature and the human in a different way.

Now AI is just reflecting back what we already produce. It's not really giving new vision.

Ralske: I do think this is postmodernism. If you think of art historically, there was a moment, maybe around 1970, where the subjectivity of the artist became less important than the images, text, or meanings that were in circulation in culture, and that the artist's job under postmodernism was to do something interesting with this stuff that already existed.

I would say that artistic approach is maybe made a little bit obsolete by these tools, because this is exactly what the tool is doing. It's learning what images are in existence and regurgitating them and reconfiguring them in an uncritical way. But I think it has an affinity to what postmodern artists did.

Jumbo the elephant in the style of Frida Kahlo. Credit: Midjourney

What will this mean for the livelihoods of artists?

Ralske: I am quite disturbed that there are many creative people who make their living doing commercial artwork who are going to be out of work. I think this is serious and it's difficult to discuss these tools in an ivory-tower way when that is the reality.

Harrison: Yes, where this is going to be a punch in the gut is in the commercial arena. If you're an illustrator who is not invested in concept and is building a reputation through a very specific styleperhaps you're really good at drawing, for examplethat's where there's going to be a huge impact.

Giardina Papa: To me a question of these art generators is where these images are sourced from and the problems of copyright.

Harrison: As far as I understand how it works with the scraping of these data sets, it's not really copying. It's as if you could go to a museum and study every painting in that museum really thoroughly for 40 years. And then you paint a painting based on all that knowledge.

This is all to say that I've read the various lawsuits going on right now. As an artist, I definitely empathize with the plaintiffs, and at the same time, at least under United States law, you can't copyright a style.

It breaks my heart to say this, but if you look at case precedent, it's not on the side of the artist.

What about the artists who say they did not give the AI companies permission to use their works to train the AI programs?

Harrison: This exact same thing happened to Google books a few years ago when Google's algorithms trained its computers to read and scan millions and millions of books without the authors' permission. The courts ruled that that was a fair use, that Google was taking the books and transforming them into an entirely different use as a search tool.

With AI-generated art, you don't see any part of the original images in the new image. It's an amalgam, and it's oftentimes a train wreck, but the AI companies will argue that it's transformative use. The artists will argue that they didn't give their permission to use these materials, but there's long established court precedence that says that doesn't matter. Is it ethically fair? I don't know. The answer to that question gets a little darker.

Cea: It basically industrializes creative labor.

Is that something that's worth fighting against?

Ralske: Where do I sign up to fight?

Giardina Papa: When Nate was talking about style, it made me think, can you just reproduce a style? And decontextualize it from the historical period, the community, the geographical area, the body of the person who did it? Dada came out of the First World War, and there is no way that those images can have the same meaning when they are repurposed in AI one century later.

Jumbo the elephant in the style of Johannes Vermeer. Points to the AI for mimicking the artists use of muted tones and natural light, but note the misplaced tusk. Credit: Midjourney

Harrison: I'm personally not too worried about some AI bot taking my style or Elisa's or Kurt's or Cristobal's. There's just too much involved in the concepts of these works to copy it.

Ralske: That's what's missing from the algorithms. AI is categorizing the qualities and relation of pixels within an image. There is also some kind of semantic tagging going on where images have been tagged by people. What's missing is whatever concept was involved in the creation of the work.

Cea: I tried to have Dall-E make its version of my own work. And it was really hard to describe, and I have to say, I like mine better.

What about the kind of work involved in creating AI images? No drawing, no paintingjust typing in some words? Does that decrease its value as art?

Ralske: I like the definition of art that came from the critic Arthur Danto when he was writing about Warhol. He said art is that which is presented as a candidate for consideration as a meaningful work of art. Art doesn't necessarily require an individual sweating in a studio somewhere; the work of art comes into existence only because somebody said, "Hey, I demand that this be considered as a work of art."

Maybe it doesn't matter if this thing was generated by an algorithm if it's placed in a context where we can receive meaning from it. Then it is art. Maybe.

How do you think AI will change art for the future?

Giardina Papa: It seems like we're stuck in this loop in which the only way to imagine the future is to imagine it brought by computers and artificial intelligence. Can we think about the future in a different way?

Cea: I spend a lot of time thinking about what is human. One human thing is desire. I find myself wondering what is AI's desire? We humans make art because we're sad. We make art because we're hangry. We don't make art because we have a ton of art books.

Ralske: One of the best outcomes of the popularization of AI tools is that it forces us to think harder about what it is that we can do that the machines can't do. Maybe this means a return to materiality of objects, or increased interest in virtuosity, or a focus on our creatureliness. Whatever it is we do that is impossible for the machine to reproducethat becomes where the action is.

I'm reminded of a quote by the free jazz musician and theorist Sun Ra, the father of Afrofuturism. In the 1970s, he had advice for drummers, something to the effect of "the drum machines are coming, so you better start playing some different beats."

Machines can be perfect and predictable. But humans can do what machines can never replicate, which is to do with conviction something that is a manifestation of organic imperfection.

I just hope that one of the side effects of AI is that creative people feel emboldened to become even more creative.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Pexels

Discord, a chat platform originally built for online gaming, is now subject of intense scrutiny after intelligence documents were leakedallegedly by a member of the military.

James Ivory, a Virginia Tech professor who researches social media and video game use related to military simulations and links to political extremism and intelligence risks, said Discord has become a very mainstream platform for individual and community messaging.

"The fact that Discord is primarily used for privacy groups and community conversations rather than public posts introduces security concerns because the privacy of its groups may give the false illusion that material shared in closed forums will stay in those closed forums," Ivory said.

Ivory said this underscores a virtually impossible task of monitoring the online activities through spaces like this. "As we have seen in this case, what starts private may not stay private, but it may certainly be easy for people in closed online groups on Discord to have the false belief that what they share, will stay there."

For the intelligence community, online gaming platforms have been identified as a security concern for more than a decade, so U.S. intelligence as well as other entities have long been active in these communities. "That intelligence activity, by actors with both good and bad intent regarding global safety and security, will no doubt continue and intensify in the private groups of Discord as well as other online communities," Ivory said.

When asked about gaming communities becoming a place for young, disaffected military members to gather, Ivory agreed that there is certainly evidence that gaming communities focused around military simulation games are often also environments where political extremism flourishes.

"There are a lot of online gaming communities with a heavy focus on military technology and procedures, and privileged information will gain a lot of attention and credibility in such communities," Ivory explained. "As long as we have young people working in defense with access to classified intelligence information who are involved in these small online communities and private discussion groups, the temptation will be there to share information to gain clouteven though the consequences for both them and the people affected by the leaks are extremely serious."

New details surrounding the leak are still coming out, but Ivory's research in this field indicates there are a lot of young mencivilians and active dutyinterested in military culture who are very active in gaming and in online communities where extreme views are shared.

"This leak is much broader in scope, but we certainly have a precedent of online groups related to military simulation being places where extreme views and sensitive documents are sharedand they spread from there," said Ivory.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Slayer with a touch of Ed Sheeran and lashings of Drake, you say? Miriam Doerr Martin Frommherz/Shutterstock

Universal Music Group has been asking music streaming services like Spotify to stop developers from scraping its material to train AI bots to make new songs. The label, which controls about a third of the recorded music industry, has also been issuing substantial numbers of takedown requests in relation to AI uploads appearing online.

It is the latest move in the music industry's growing battle to prevent AIs from using its songs without licensing them. Behind these efforts to enforce copyright, the big worry is about how governments will balance the rights of AIs against human creativity.

In particular, the UK government is threatening to water down copyright laws to benefit tech companies at the expense of not only the music industry but also creative businesses like literature, films and photography. So what's going on?

AI music and copyright

On a "royalty free music generator" like Mubert, it's already possible to type in a prompt and the program will use AI to search a catalog of music for patterns. Tell it to play a "fast voodoo rhythm in the style of a nursery rhyme with some pretty electronics", and it will copy parts of songs that correspond and generate music to match. You can also generate music that sounds like a particular artist, and whatever tracks you create are downloadable.

Mubert claims to be "on a global mission to empower creators". It is unclear how that squares with not paying human creators royalties for the use of their music. Mubert even emphasizes that its audio material is made "from real musicians and producers", recognizing that the value in the music is coming from human creators.

Music is protected by copyright law, which means that anyone wanting to use a song has to pay a license. This ensures that rightsholders and creators are paid properly for their creativity. For example, Spotify pays a license to record labels and artists to put music on its platform. The same is true of everyone from bars, cafes and pubs playing records for their customers to artists sampling someone else's song in their new track.

If AI programs are using labels' music catalogs without permission, they could be seen to have infringed music rights in at least two ways: by using the music to train the AIs, and in copying parts of the music that the AI produces from the training data.

If the streaming platforms were seen to have facilitated such illegal activity, they could be found guilty of secondary copyright infringement, comparable to an illegal downloading platform like The Pirate Bay.

Unfortunately for the music industry, the UK government has been muddying the waters with proposals to change the copyright rules to benefit tech companies. A few months ago, it floated the idea of making an exception for the first type of infringement: using music catalogs as training data. This would also apply to other artistic works like videos and photographs.

There are already copyright exceptions in the UK where permission for reuse is unnecessary, such as "criticism, review or quotation", though there are limitations to make sure this is done fairly.

When governments want to create a new exception, they must follow three requirements set out in the Berne convention. It must be for very specific special circumstances, must not interfere with the normal exploitation of the work and must not unreasonably prejudice the rightsholder. In my view, the UK proposal doesn't meet any of these steps and would be contrary to international law.

The battle for the UK

The proposed exception met with widespread objections, with only 13 out of 88 responses to the consultation in favor. The House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee said the proposal is "misguided" and should be scrapped. The government did then appear to backtrack in February, with science minister George Freeman saying it would not take the exception forward.

In March, however, it published a white paper, A Pro-Innovation Approach to AI Regulation, which raised the prospect that it might be reviving its previous approach. The white paper wants to prioritize making the UK a tech-friendly environment, emphasizing "the role of regulation in creating the environment for AI to flourish". It mentions risks to things like mental health, privacy rights and human rights, but not any threats to intellectual property (IP).

This comes at a time when governments around the world and international organizations such as the World Intellectual Property Organization are considering how laws need to adapt to AI. Japan and Singapore are already introducing copyright exceptions along similar lines to those being discussed in the UK. This is also a major concern for the creative industries, but not to the same extent as the UK, which tends to be particularly influential in IP law around the world.

There are no proposals for copyright exceptions in the US or the EU. Indeed the US IP laws are currently being tested by photographic giant Getty Images against an AI operator called Stability Diffusion, which has been scraping its images to generate new ones. US copyright has a "fair use" exception which could potentially be a defense for these operators, so Getty wants confirmation that is not the case. It has also filed a case along the same lines in the UK, which is at an earlier stage.

This all boils down to whether we still believe human creativity deserves greater protection than machine creativity. Appealing to tech might seem like a good strategy for the UK, but the creative industries contribute hugely to the economy109 billion in 2021, or nearly 6% of total GDP.

The value of music also goes beyond raw economics, offering emotional comfort, health benefits and even inspiring social, political and economic change. The creators should arguably be rewarded for this too, whether they are responsible for composing music directly or providing the material that AI repurposes.

Copyright law is supposed to ensure that creators are fairly remunerated for their work. When it brings such value to the world, it seems like a strong argument for protecting it.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
The recent kidnapping of four and murder of two U.S. citizens in the border city of Matamoros is just one of the latest grisly reminders to Americans of Mexicos inability to provide basic safety, whether for its beleaguered citizens or visitors from across the border.

U.S. legislators such as Sen. Lindsey Graham have said that its time to get tough and prepare to send in U.S. troops. Former President Donald Trump has reportedly been asking advisers for battle plans along those lines to implement if he is re-elected.

These misguided calls are mirrored on the other side of the border by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obradors militarization of the fight against Mexicos cartels. Never mind the absurdity and illegality of the idea of U.S. sending troops across the border. The militaristic turn of policymakers in both governments wont make either nation more secure. Mexico is not fighting terrorists or insurgents but criminals. It needs functioning civilian police forces and court systems, not missile strikes and boots on the ground.

Murders now consistently top 30,000 a year. The disappeared number a hundred thousand more. Extortion is hitting small and medium-sized businesses, restaurants, shops, and offices the hardest, and spreading from border towns and industrial areas to tony neighborhoods in Mexicos biggest cities.

In addition to those Americans caught up in cartel crossfires, tens of thousands of Americans die every year from Mexican-made fentanyl and other imported illegal drugs.

The violence is also sundering cross-border connections and commerce. On a recent trip to the Texan border city of Laredo, professors at the local university let me know they were no longer permitted to go into Nuevo Laredo or to drive to Monterrey just a few hours away to engage with their counterparts. A commercial real estate executive developing projects along the border told me that worries over violence have made it harder to secure funding for new industrial parks despite high demand from companies decamping from China.

To be sure, international companies such as Tesla are moving to or expanding in Mexico. But what should be an investment tsunami so far is more of a stream, limited by the costs of trying to protect operations and employees against assaults. Without facilities based in Mexico, U.S.-based companies and their workers wont benefit as much as they could from decoupling from China.

Policymakers on both sides of the border are taking a harder line against criminals. Lopez Obradors hugs not bullets rhetoric aside, his administration has turned Mexican security over to the military. The civilian National Guard is now under the armys jurisdiction. The governments point person for public security is a general. The military has taken over ports, airports, and customs, and seen its budget expand by double digits over the last five years.

If the goal truly is to make Mexico safer, its turn to the military is a mistake. While more trusted than many institutions, Mexicos military has faced credible accusations of unnecessary use of force, corruption, and criminal ties. Hacked military documents released by Guacamaya, Latin Americas version of Wikileaks, reveal officers illegally spied on journalists, sold weapons to cartels, and siphoned millions from government contracts. And the case of former defense chief Salvador Cienfuegos, whom a federal grand jury in New York indicted for conspiring with cartels and who was subsequently released without charges by Mexico, is just one of many that has alleged military links to criminal groups.

Even if Mexico could root out the bad apples, militaries arent equipped to combat domestic crime. They are taught to kill, not arrest. They lack skills and often legal authorities to investigate and build cases. And they remain outside domestic legal institutions without the ties to or oversight from civilian prosecutors, judges and other law enforcement officials that can bring transparency, accountability and bolster the rule of law.

U.S. military strikes in Mexico similarly wont do much to stop the movement of illegal drugs or destroy the violent gangs that sell them, even as they ignite bilateral fury over impinging on Mexicos sovereignty. A legal escalation designating Mexicos cartels terrorist organizations wont provide meaningful new means to combat them. Between the Treasurys Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and Office of Foreign Asset Control, the U.S. has strong tools to go after transnational criminal organizations, investigating money trails and seizing assets.

The Justice Department, too, can already prosecute those who support transnational criminal organizations, such as accountants, bankers, and lawyers. It should step up such efforts.

Moreover, where places have successfully taken on organized crime networks, militaries werent part of it. Fearless police, prosecutors and judges dismantled swathes of Italys Cosa Nostra. The U.S. took down its own violent mafias and crime syndicates through coordinated police work and legal victories. And in the 1990s community policing was pivotal in reducing violence in cities including Boston, New Haven and San Diego.

Mexico also has its own success stories. Ciudad Juarez lost its title as the worlds most dangerous city when it brought together federal and local police, prosecutors, business leaders and civil society organizations in the fight against crime. The industrial hub of Monterrey blunted rising crime rates through a similar joint effort to professionalize local police and law enforcement.

These policymakers and societies built up functioning civilian police forces, court systems, and penal institutions to prosecute and convict the guilty and free the innocent. They created effective whistleblower and witness protection programs. They utilized legal tools and intelligence to go after financial and personal networks. And they engaged private sector and civil society organizations to combat those tearing apart the local social and economic fabric.

Using the military, even as a stopgap, just delays the painstaking process of building the civilian law enforcement and justice institutions necessary to bring safety back to the streets by creating a more sustainable rule of law.

If the Mexican government decides to invest the money, time and effort in a civilian-based solution, the U.S. can help. As each side has ratcheted up get tough approaches, cross-border security cooperation has all but collapsed. The Mexican administration has gutted joint law enforcement training and vetting programs. Intelligence-sharing too has dried up.

And in the wake of the Cienfuegos affair, Lopez Obrador curtailed the ability of the Drug Enforcement Agency and other U.S. law enforcement officers to work in Mexico. He has responded to U.S. pleas to attack the fentanyl problem by claiming that no fentanyl is produced in Mexico.

The recently signed Bicentennial Framework for Security, Public Health, and Safe Communities between Mexico and the U.S. could reboot bilateral security cooperation. At least on paper, it provides a starting point to revive bilateral initiatives that made past progress.

If permitted, the U.S. can again support police academies, judge and lawyer exchanges, and civil society organizations focused on justice and safety. It can share intelligence and work with vetted counterparts to dismantle illicit financial networks.

Meanwhile, the U.S. can strive to lower demand for drugs that fill criminal coffers, curb the weapons traffic that fuels the violence, root out the corruption in its own ranks that has aided the cartels, and as economically painful and disruptive as it may be, step up inspections at the border.

But if Mexico doesnt tack away from its martial bent and recognize the nature of the threat it faces, then insecurity will fundamentally not abate. Safety will remain elusive, justice even more so. Migration north, already on the upswing, will continue to rise. And fewer of todays promising economic possibilities will materialize, with more companies bypassing North America to relocate to Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, and other regions. Mexico will suffer. So, too, will the U.S.
Hong Kong: Tse Chin-wan begins Beijing visit

Secretary for Environment & Ecology Tse Chin-wan today started his tour of Beijing by visiting the National Energy Administration (NEA) to exchange views on issues such as the promotion of energy co-operation.



During the meeting, Mr Tse said that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government would proactively integrate into the countrys overall development and strengthen regional co-operation in clean energy, so as to lead Hong Kong towards the goal of carbon neutrality and tie in with the countrys planning and development of energy and decarbonisation.



Noting that the NEA expressed its support in ensuring Hong Kong's electricity supply and in the promotion of clean energy and green and low-carbon transition, he said the Hong Kong SAR Government is grateful for their support.



He then visited the State Grid Corporation of China to learn about its history and development, as well as its contributions to areas including energy security, green development and supporting peoples livelihood. He also met some of its representatives and conducted exchanges.



Additionally, Mr Tse stopped by the General Administration of Customs to exchange views on issues concerning the facilitation arrangement for exporting food made in Hong Kong to the Mainland markets, as well as the construction and commissioning of the electronic data transmission system for food supply for Hong Kong.



The Environment & Ecology Bureau and the General Administration of Customs also signed the Co-operation Arrangement for Regulation of Safety of Raw Milk supplied from the Mainland to Hong Kong.



Mr Tse pointed out that the arrangement can further strengthen the co-operation of both parties in the field of food safety and increase clearance efficiency.



Apart from expressing gratitude for the national support effort in securing a supply of food to Hong Kong, he stressed that the Hong Kong SAR Government will continue to maintain close liaison with the Mainland authorities to ensure an adequate, stable and safe food supply to Hong Kong.

This story has been published on: 2023-04-17. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
China, Brazil agree to deepen strategic ties

09:27, April 17, 2023 By MO JINGXI ( China Daily

Two sides to boost cooperation in poverty alleviation, social development, innovation

China and Brazil agreed to deepen their comprehensive strategic partnership  featuring openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation  during Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's state visit to China, which concluded on Saturday.

The two countries are expected to forge a new future in their relationship, which will bring greater benefits to the two peoples and play an important and positive role for peace, stability and prosperity in their regions and around the world, experts said.

When leaving China on Saturday morning, Lula said he was satisfied with the trip and was pleased that the strategic relationship between Brazil and China is improving.

The two nations issued a 49-point joint statement on deepening ties. They agreed to deepen cooperation in areas such as poverty alleviation, social development and scientific and technological innovation. They also issued a separate joint statement on combating climate change.

On the Ukraine crisis, both sides agreed that dialogue and negotiation are the only feasible ways to solve the issue, and they called on more countries to play a constructive role in promoting a political settlement of the conflict.

President Xi Jinping, who gave Lula a grand welcoming ceremony, said during their talks that the overarching, strategic and global influence of China-Brazil relations continues to grow. China sees the relationship as a high priority on its diplomatic agenda, he added.

Xi said China welcomes more high-quality products from Brazil into its market and will actively explore greater synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative and Brazil's re-industrialization strategy. He called on the two countries to capitalize on the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations next year to carry out more people-to-people exchanges.

Xi pledged China's firm support for Latin American and Caribbean countries to cement the momentum of peace, stability, independence, solidarity and development, advance regional integration and play a greater role in international affairs.

Lula said Brazil's legislature and society share a strong desire for strengthening relations with China on all fronts.

Noting that both Brazil and China uphold multilateralism and international fairness and justice, Lula said Brazil is ready to work with China to make contributions to developing countries' efforts to shake off unfair rules and realize more equitable and balanced development.

The four-day visit was Lula's first trip outside the Americas since he took office for a third term in January. Besides Beijing, he also traveled to Shanghai, where he participated in former Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff's inauguration as head of BRICS' New Development Bank, visited Huawei and met with Chinese business representatives.

Song Junying, head of the China Institute of International Studies' Latin American and Caribbean Studies Department, said Lula's visit demonstrated both sides' strong desire for developing bilateral ties and enhancing cooperation, given that his original March visit was rescheduled so soon, after Lula postponed it due to illness.

China-Brazil cooperation, which now involves more and diversified areas, will provide a big boost for the two countries' economic and social development and also bring more benefits to their peoples, Song said in a recent interview.

China has been Brazil's largest trade partner for 14 consecutive years. According to the General Administration of Customs, bilateral trade reached $171.49 billion in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 4.9 percent.

Earlier this year, the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Central Bank of Brazil to establish renminbi clearing arrangements in Brazil, a move that will bolster bilateral trade and investment facilitation.

"As two representative countries in BRICS cooperation, the fact that China and Brazil promote trade and investment facilitation in bilateral relations, oppose protectionism and exclusionism of developed countries in the international trade arena, and adhere to multilateral cooperation in global governance, has a positive impact and significant implications for current international relations and global trade," said Zhou Zhiwei, a senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Latin American Studies.

Wang Lei, an associate professor at Beijing Normal University's School of Government and director of the BRICS Cooperation Center, said the positive sign of willingness for cooperation between China and Brazil will help consolidate financial cooperation among BRICS countries  Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. It will also push BRICS cooperation that is mutually beneficial and seeks common development.

Under the increasingly complex international situation, BRICS countries are able to unite and address major global challenges of various kinds, promote regional stability and contribute to a more fair and just world order, he said.

Lula's visit to China highlighted the two nations' people-centered policies and common approaches to multilateralism in global affairs, said Alessandro Golombiewski Teixeira, a former Brazilian tourism minister.

"That's very important," he said, "So I think (this) makes a lot of difference (to the world)."

As strong voices for developing countries, China and Brazil are also helping other countries on a multilateral level by enhancing their bilateral ties, he added.

Xu Weiwei in Hong Kong contributed to this story.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Copper Mountain Mining Co. (OTCMKTS:CPPMF  Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,804,900 shares, a decrease of 29.6% from the March 15th total of 2,565,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 207,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 8.7 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. National Bank Financial downgraded Copper Mountain Mining to an outperform rating in a research report on Friday. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Copper Mountain Mining from C$3.00 to C$2.75 in a research report on Tuesday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Copper Mountain Mining from C$2.20 to C$2.60 in a research report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded Copper Mountain Mining from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $2.85.

Get Copper Mountain Mining alerts:

Copper Mountain Mining Price Performance

Shares of OTCMKTS:CPPMF traded down $0.06 on Friday, reaching $1.94. 127,156 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 229,679. The companys 50 day moving average is $1.54 and its 200-day moving average is $1.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $414.85 million, a PE ratio of 17.64 and a beta of 1.99. Copper Mountain Mining has a fifty-two week low of $0.92 and a fifty-two week high of $3.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

About Copper Mountain Mining

Copper Mountain Mining ( OTCMKTS:CPPMF Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 27th. The company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $66.50 million during the quarter. Copper Mountain Mining had a net margin of 9.14% and a negative return on equity of 10.38%.

(Get Rating)

Copper Mountain Mining Corp. engages in the exploration, development and operation of mineral deposits. It holds interest in Copper Mountain Mine, Eva Copper, New Ingerbelle, and Cameron Copper Projects. The company was founded on April 20, 2006 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Copper Mountain Mining Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Copper Mountain Mining and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Iluka Resources Limited (OTCMKTS:ILKAF  Get Rating) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,933,200 shares, an increase of 231.1% from the March 15th total of 583,900 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 9,666.0 days.

Iluka Resources Stock Performance

Shares of ILKAF stock remained flat at $7.71 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.74. Iluka Resources has a 52-week low of $5.56 and a 52-week high of $9.49.

Get Iluka Resources alerts:

Iluka Resources Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Featured Stories

Iluka Resources Ltd. engages in the exploration, development, mining, processing, marketing, and rehabilitation of mineral sands products. It operates through the following segments: Jacinth-Ambrosia (JA), Cataby (C), Sierra Rutile (SRL), Mining Area C (MAC), and United States (US). The AUS segment comprises the mining operations at Jacinth-Ambrosia located in South Australia, and associated processing operations at the Narngulu mineral separation plant in mid-west Western Australia.

Receive News & Ratings for Iluka Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Iluka Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Infosys (NYSE:INFY  Get Rating) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Macquarie from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued on Sunday, The Fly reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Wedbush lowered their price target on shares of Infosys from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 13th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Infosys from $21.00 to $18.00 in a report on Friday. Nomura downgraded shares of Infosys from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup downgraded shares of Infosys from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Infosys from a neutral rating to an underweight rating in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Infosys currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $19.33.

Get Infosys alerts:

Infosys Price Performance

INFY stock traded down $0.22 on Friday, reaching $15.18. 26,028,627 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,900,082. Infosys has a 12 month low of $15.06 and a 12 month high of $20.93. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $17.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.54 billion, a PE ratio of 21.38, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Infosys ( NYSE:INFY Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 13th. The technology company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Infosys had a net margin of 16.37% and a return on equity of 31.61%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.18 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Infosys will post 0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Infosys by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 16,668 shares of the technology companys stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Infosys by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 19,246 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the period. Destiny Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Infosys by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Destiny Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,922 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares during the period. Glassman Wealth Services lifted its position in Infosys by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. Glassman Wealth Services now owns 2,800 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares during the period. Finally, Schubert & Co lifted its position in Infosys by 73.8% during the 4th quarter. Schubert & Co now owns 1,557 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 12.68% of the companys stock.

About Infosys

(Get Rating)

Infosys Ltd. is a digital services and consulting company, which engages in the provision of end-to-end business solutions. It operates through the following segments: Financial Services, Retail, Communication, Energy, Utilities, Resources, and Services, Manufacturing, Hi-Tech, Life Sciences, and All Other.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Infosys Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Infosys and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Chicago Rivet & Machine Co. (NYSEAMERICAN:CVR  Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,200 shares, a growth of 71.4% from the March 15th total of 700 shares. Currently, 0.1% of the companys shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 4,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.3 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Chicago Rivet & Machine by 0.8% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 68,710 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,771,000 after purchasing an additional 576 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Chicago Rivet & Machine by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 49,210 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,402,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Chicago Rivet & Machine by 91.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,479 shares of the companys stock worth $746,000 after buying an additional 13,626 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Chicago Rivet & Machine by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,696 shares of the companys stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 1,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisor Group Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in Chicago Rivet & Machine during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. 22.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Get Chicago Rivet & Machine alerts:

Chicago Rivet & Machine Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSEAMERICAN:CVR traded down $0.62 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $29.37. 3,213 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,153. The company has a market cap of $28.49 million and a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.10. Chicago Rivet & Machine has a one year low of $25.03 and a one year high of $32.94.

Chicago Rivet & Machine Dividend Announcement

Chicago Rivet & Machine Company Profile

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 3rd were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 2nd. Chicago Rivet & Machines dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.63%.

(Get Rating)

Chicago Rivet & Machine Co engages in the manufacturing and sale of rivets and specialty cold formed parts, as well as automatic rivet setting equipment and automated assembly systems. It operates through the following segments: Fasteners and Assembly Equipment. The Fasteners segment includes rivets, cold-formed fasteners, and parts and screw machine products.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Chicago Rivet & Machine Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Chicago Rivet & Machine and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Pan Pacific International Holdings Co. (OTCMKTS:DQJCY  Get Rating) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 14,000 shares, an increase of 204.3% from the March 15th total of 4,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 25,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.6 days.

Pan Pacific International Price Performance

OTCMKTS DQJCY traded down $0.11 on Friday, reaching $19.14. The company had a trading volume of 8,732 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,120. The companys fifty day moving average is $18.75 and its 200-day moving average is $17.90. Pan Pacific International has a 1-year low of $13.13 and a 1-year high of $19.77.

Get Pan Pacific International alerts:

Pan Pacific International Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Further Reading

Pan Pacific International Holdings Corp. engages in the retail of home electrical appliances, miscellaneous household goods, food, watches, and fashion-related merchandises. It operates through the following segments: Retail Business, Tenant Leasing and Other Business. The Retail Business segment sells electrical appliances, daily commodities, foods, watches, fashion merchandise, sporting goods, leisure equipment, DIY products, and others.

Receive News & Ratings for Pan Pacific International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Pan Pacific International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp. (OTCMKTS:TCYMF  Get Rating) was the target of a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,122,000 shares, a drop of 26.9% from the March 15th total of 5,640,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 0 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently  days.

Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Stock Performance

Shares of Tingyi (Cayman Islands) stock remained flat at $1.74 during mid-day trading on Friday. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $1.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.69. Tingyi has a 1 year low of $1.39 and a 1 year high of $1.74.

Get Tingyi (Cayman Islands) alerts:

Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Recommended Stories

Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp., an investment holding company, manufactures and sells instant noodles, beverages, and instant food products in the People's Republic of China. The company operates through Instant Noodles, Beverages, and Others segments. It offers ready-to-drink teas, juices, milk tea, bottled water, and carbonated soft drinks, as well as coffee drinks/functional drinks/probiotics.

Receive News & Ratings for Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Tingyi (Cayman Islands) and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in iShares MSCI Intl Value Factor ETF (NYSEARCA:IVLU  Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 18,702 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $433,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of iShares MSCI Intl Value Factor ETF by 818.9% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,654 shares of the companys stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,474 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of iShares MSCI Intl Value Factor ETF by 77.6% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 31,768 shares of the companys stock valued at $736,000 after buying an additional 13,878 shares in the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management increased its position in shares of iShares MSCI Intl Value Factor ETF by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 54,374 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,259,000 after buying an additional 2,547 shares in the last quarter. RCS Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of iShares MSCI Intl Value Factor ETF in the 4th quarter valued at $201,000. Finally, Vance Wealth Inc. increased its position in shares of iShares MSCI Intl Value Factor ETF by 72.5% in the 4th quarter. Vance Wealth Inc. now owns 112,102 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,597,000 after buying an additional 47,119 shares in the last quarter.

Get iShares MSCI Intl Value Factor ETF alerts:

iShares MSCI Intl Value Factor ETF Stock Down 0.3 %

IVLU opened at $25.44 on Monday. iShares MSCI Intl Value Factor ETF has a 12 month low of $19.53 and a 12 month high of $25.66. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.40. The stock has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.24 and a beta of 0.82.

iShares MSCI Intl Value Factor ETF Profile

The iShares Edge MSCI Intl Value Factor ETF (IVLU) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI World ex USA Enhanced Value index. The fund tracks an index of large- and mid-cap developed ex-US equities, selected using fundamental metrics, and weighted by these metrics and market-cap. IVLU was launched on Jun 16, 2015 and is managed by BlackRock.

Featured Articles

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding IVLU? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares MSCI Intl Value Factor ETF (NYSEARCA:IVLU  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI Intl Value Factor ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI Intl Value Factor ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI  Get Rating)s stock had its outperform rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $25.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canadas target price suggests a potential upside of 20.83% from the companys current price.

ACI has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Albertsons Companies from $30.00 to $22.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, January 12th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a market perform rating and issued a $27.25 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Wednesday, April 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $26.43.

Get Albertsons Companies alerts:

Albertsons Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ACI remained flat at $20.69 during trading on Thursday. 656,772 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,006,685. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.53, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.57. Albertsons Companies has a 12-month low of $19.14 and a 12-month high of $34.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.86. The companys 50 day moving average price is $20.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.33.

Insider Activity

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

In other news, EVP Omer Gajial sold 36,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.05, for a total transaction of $757,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,140 shares of the companys stock, valued at $529,197. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website . In other Albertsons Companies news, CAO Robert Bruce Larson sold 30,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.01, for a total transaction of $630,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 50,241 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,055,563.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink . Also, EVP Omer Gajial sold 36,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.05, for a total transaction of $757,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,140 shares in the company, valued at $529,197. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Insiders own 1.10% of the companys stock.

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Credit Suisse AG boosted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 1.6% in the third quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 554,255 shares of the companys stock valued at $13,778,000 after acquiring an additional 8,949 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $240,634,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 228,897 shares of the companys stock worth $5,690,000 after buying an additional 25,120 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Albertsons Companies in the third quarter valued at $186,000. Finally, Islay Capital Management LLC increased its position in Albertsons Companies by 79.4% in the 4th quarter. Islay Capital Management LLC now owns 47,245 shares of the companys stock valued at $980,000 after acquiring an additional 20,905 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.58% of the companys stock.

Albertsons Companies Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Albertsons Companies, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of food and drug stores in the United States. The company's food and drug retail stores offer grocery products, general merchandise, health and beauty care products, pharmacy, fuel, and other items and services. It also manufactures and processes food products for sale in stores.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Albertsons Companies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Albertsons Companies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM  Get Rating) in a report published on Thursday, The Fly reports. The firm issued an outperform rating on the stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com began coverage on Archer-Daniels-Midland in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a buy rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $114.00 to $116.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $102.25.

Get Archer-Daniels-Midland alerts:

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland stock opened at $81.79 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.69 billion, a PE ratio of 10.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.80. Archer-Daniels-Midland has a 1-year low of $70.02 and a 1-year high of $98.88. The business has a 50-day moving average of $79.74 and a 200-day moving average of $86.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

Archer-Daniels-Midland ( NYSE:ADM Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.29. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a return on equity of 18.32% and a net margin of 4.26%. The business had revenue of $26.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.50 earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Archer-Daniels-Midland will post 6.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 9th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This is a boost from Archer-Daniels-Midlands previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 8th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Archer-Daniels-Midlands dividend payout ratio is currently 23.35%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Archer-Daniels-Midland

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ADM. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 71.9% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,699 shares of the companys stock worth $1,688,000 after acquiring an additional 7,821 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 1st quarter valued at about $277,000. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 1st quarter valued at about $226,000. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. boosted its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 22.0% in the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 31,004 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,798,000 after purchasing an additional 5,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 2.1% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 459,907 shares of the companys stock valued at $41,512,000 after purchasing an additional 9,327 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.23% of the companys stock.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Archer-Daniels-Midland Co engages in the production of oilseeds, corn, wheat, cocoa, and other agricultural commodities. It operates through the following segments: Ag Services and Oilseeds, Carbohydrate Solutions, Nutrition, and Other. The Ag Services and Oilseeds segment includes activities related to the origination, merchandising, transportation, and storage of agricultural raw materials, and the crushing and further processing of oilseeds such as soybeans and soft seeds cottonseed, sunflower seed, canola, rapeseed, and flaxseed into vegetable oils and protein meals.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Archer-Daniels-Midland Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Archer-Daniels-Midland and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Argent Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSEARCA:IWM  Get Rating) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 42,415 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 284 shares during the quarter. iShares Russell 2000 ETF makes up approximately 3.8% of Argent Advisors Inc.s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Argent Advisors Inc.s holdings in iShares Russell 2000 ETF were worth $7,396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 113.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,660,221 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $603,643,000 after purchasing an additional 31,422,045 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 12,616.2% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 7,756,010 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $1,279,086,000 after purchasing an additional 7,695,017 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 32,819.0% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,119,653 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $369,583,000 after buying an additional 2,113,214 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 14,581,100 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $2,404,715,000 after buying an additional 1,192,100 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 69.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,445,383 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $238,373,000 after buying an additional 591,463 shares during the period.

Get iShares Russell 2000 ETF alerts:

iShares Russell 2000 ETF Stock Performance

IWM stock traded up $1.52 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $178.03. 7,280,089 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 28,087,494. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $182.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.45. iShares Russell 2000 ETF has a 1-year low of $162.50 and a 1-year high of $204.80.

About iShares Russell 2000 ETF

iShares Russell 2000 ETF (the Fund) is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Russell 2000 Index (the Index). The Index is a float-adjusted capitalization weighted index that measures the performance of the small-capitalization sector of the United States equity market and includes securities issued by the approximately 2,000 smallest issuers in the Russell 3000 Index.

Featured Articles

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding IWM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSEARCA:IWM  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for iShares Russell 2000 ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares Russell 2000 ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Argo Group International (NYSE:ARGO  Get Rating) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Compass Point cut shares of Argo Group International from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, March 13th. Raymond James cut shares of Argo Group International from a market perform rating to an underperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 28th.

Get Argo Group International alerts:

Argo Group International Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE ARGO opened at $29.54 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.56 and a beta of 1.03. Argo Group International has a 52-week low of $19.00 and a 52-week high of $45.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $29.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Institutional Trading of Argo Group International

Argo Group International ( NYSE:ARGO Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The company reported ($2.69) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.62) by ($1.07). Argo Group International had a positive return on equity of 0.06% and a negative net margin of 9.98%. The firm had revenue of $379.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $504.90 million. Equities research analysts expect that Argo Group International will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ARGO. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Argo Group International by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 391,648 shares of the companys stock valued at $10,124,000 after purchasing an additional 88,016 shares during the last quarter. Man Group plc purchased a new stake in Argo Group International during the 4th quarter worth $879,000. Mariner LLC purchased a new stake in Argo Group International during the 4th quarter worth $236,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Argo Group International in the 4th quarter worth about $7,687,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in shares of Argo Group International in the 4th quarter valued at about $402,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.92% of the companys stock.

Argo Group International Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Argo Group International Holdings Ltd. engages in the provision of underwriting property and casualty insurance and reinsurance products. It operates through the following segments: U.S. Operations, International Operations, and Run-off Lines. The U.S. Operations segment include distribution through retail, wholesale, and managing general brokers/agents in the specialty insurance market.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Argo Group International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Argo Group International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Armstrong World Industries, Inc. (NYSE:AWI  Get Rating) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,413,488 shares of the construction companys stock after purchasing an additional 29,899 shares during the quarter. Armstrong World Industries comprises approximately 1.3% of River Road Asset Management LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. River Road Asset Management LLC owned about 3.10% of Armstrong World Industries worth $96,951,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Armstrong World Industries by 28.9% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,825 shares of the construction companys stock worth $794,000 after buying an additional 1,980 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Armstrong World Industries by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 13,988 shares of the construction companys stock worth $1,262,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in Armstrong World Industries by 7.5% in the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,949 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of Armstrong World Industries by 32.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 29,164 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $2,723,000 after purchasing an additional 7,064 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Armstrong World Industries during the 1st quarter worth $178,000.

Get Armstrong World Industries alerts:

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Armstrong World Industries news, SVP Mark A. Hershey sold 6,835 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.14, for a total value of $547,756.90. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,218 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,062,790.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Armstrong World Industries Stock Up 0.3 %

Armstrong World Industries stock opened at $70.11 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Armstrong World Industries, Inc. has a twelve month low of $66.06 and a twelve month high of $95.69. The stocks fifty day simple moving average is $73.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.81.

Armstrong World Industries (NYSE:AWI  Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The construction company reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $304.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $298.81 million. Armstrong World Industries had a return on equity of 41.59% and a net margin of 16.45%. Armstrong World Industriess revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Armstrong World Industries, Inc. will post 4.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Armstrong World Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 2nd were issued a $0.254 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 1st. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. Armstrong World Industriess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on AWI shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Armstrong World Industries from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. Loop Capital lowered shares of Armstrong World Industries from a buy rating to a hold rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $98.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, January 5th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Armstrong World Industries from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Armstrong World Industries from a buy rating to a hold rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $91.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 21st. Finally, Credit Suisse Group reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Armstrong World Industries in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $83.00.

About Armstrong World Industries

(Get Rating)

Armstrong World Industries, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and trade of commercial and residential ceiling, wall, and suspension system solutions. It operates through the following segments: Mineral Fiber, Architectural Specialties, and Unallocated Corporate. The Mineral Fiber segment produces suspended mineral fiber and soft fiber ceiling systems for use in commercial and residential settings.

Featured Articles

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AWI? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Armstrong World Industries, Inc. (NYSE:AWI  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for Armstrong World Industries Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Armstrong World Industries and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Bank of Montreal Can cut its holdings in Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (NYSE:CP  Get Rating) (TSE:CP) by 19.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 19,216,092 shares of the transportation companys stock after selling 4,513,521 shares during the period. Canadian Pacific Railway comprises approximately 0.6% of Bank of Montreal Cans holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Bank of Montreal Cans holdings in Canadian Pacific Railway were worth $1,437,712,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Canadian Pacific Railway by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 16,828 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $1,389,000 after acquiring an additional 559 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Canadian Pacific Railway by 69.1% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,539 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $457,000 after buying an additional 2,263 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Canadian Pacific Railway by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,249,662 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $2,496,807,000 after buying an additional 695,215 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Canadian Pacific Railway by 5.1% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 49,524 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $4,087,000 after acquiring an additional 2,417 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Canadian Pacific Railway by 116.4% during the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 14,274 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $1,178,000 after acquiring an additional 7,678 shares in the last quarter. 72.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Get Canadian Pacific Railway alerts:

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Canadian Pacific Railway in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. CIBC dropped their price objective on Canadian Pacific Railway from C$128.00 to C$125.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Atb Cap Markets reiterated an outperform rating on shares of Canadian Pacific Railway in a report on Tuesday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Canadian Pacific Railway from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Canadian Pacific Railway from a sector perform rating to a sector outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, March 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $89.93.

Canadian Pacific Railway Stock Performance

Shares of CP stock traded up $0.55 during trading on Monday, reaching $78.70. 286,760 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,949,966. Canadian Pacific Railway Limited has a 1 year low of $65.17 and a 1 year high of $82.96. The company has a market capitalization of $73.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.14, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firms 50-day moving average is $76.81 and its 200 day moving average is $76.17.

Canadian Pacific Railway (NYSE:CP  Get Rating) (TSE:CP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 31st. The transportation company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.02. Canadian Pacific Railway had a return on equity of 9.29% and a net margin of 39.70%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Canadian Pacific Railway Limited will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Pacific Railway Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.1424 per share. This represents a $0.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 30th. This is a positive change from Canadian Pacific Railways previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. Canadian Pacific Railways dividend payout ratio is 19.44%.

About Canadian Pacific Railway

(Get Rating)

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. operates as a holding company, which engages in the provision of rail services. It offers a suite of freight transportation services, logistics solutions and supply chain expertise. The company was founded in 1881 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

Featured Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CP? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (NYSE:CP  Get Rating) (TSE:CP).

Receive News & Ratings for Canadian Pacific Railway Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Canadian Pacific Railway and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB  Get Rating) had its target price upped by Barclays from $126.00 to $131.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, The Fly reports.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on KMB. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a sell rating to a hold rating and increased their price target for the company from $122.00 to $123.00 in a research report on Monday, March 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a buy rating to a hold rating and increased their price target for the company from $137.00 to $139.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $129.70.

Get Kimberly-Clark alerts:

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

NYSE KMB opened at $137.33 on Friday. Kimberly-Clark has a 1 year low of $108.74 and a 1 year high of $144.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.83, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market cap of $46.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.01, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $129.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $128.99.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

Kimberly-Clark ( NYSE:KMB Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.03. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 9.59% and a return on equity of 264.67%. The firm had revenue of $4.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.30 EPS. The businesss revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark will post 5.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 10th were issued a $1.18 dividend. This represents a $4.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clarks previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 9th. Kimberly-Clarks dividend payout ratio is presently 82.52%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 97.1% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 3,707 shares of the companys stock worth $417,000 after buying an additional 1,826 shares in the last quarter. CBOE Vest Financial LLC raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 0.6% in the third quarter. CBOE Vest Financial LLC now owns 68,578 shares of the companys stock valued at $7,718,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 7.3% in the third quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 10,019 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 685 shares in the last quarter. Toroso Investments LLC raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 9.7% in the third quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 9,127 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,027,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 15.5% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 47,651 shares of the companys stock valued at $5,363,000 after purchasing an additional 6,412 shares in the last quarter. 74.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Kimberly-Clark

(Get Rating)

Kimberly-Clark Corp. engages in the manufacture and marketing of products made from natural or synthetic fibers. It operates through the following segments: Personal Care, Consumer Tissue, and K-C Professional. The Personal Care segment offers disposable diapers, training and youth pants, swim pants, baby wipes, feminine and incontinence care products, and other related products.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Kimberly-Clark Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Kimberly-Clark and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW  Get Rating) had its price target lowered by Barclays from $61.00 to $56.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, The Fly reports.

SCHW has been the subject of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Friday, March 10th. They set a buy rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $109.00 to $83.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 14th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $75.00 to $65.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 29th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $74.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Monday, March 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $76.21.

Get Charles Schwab alerts:

Charles Schwab Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of SCHW stock opened at $50.77 on Friday. Charles Schwab has a 52-week low of $45.00 and a 52-week high of $86.63. The stock has a market cap of $90.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $65.59 and a 200-day moving average of $73.88.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

Charles Schwab ( NYSE:SCHW Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.10 by ($0.03). Charles Schwab had a net margin of 34.60% and a return on equity of 24.94%. The business had revenue of $5.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. The companys quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Charles Schwab will post 3.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 9th. This is a positive change from Charles Schwabs previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Charles Schwabs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.57%.

Insider Activity

In other Charles Schwab news, Director Marianne Catherine Brown bought 5,000 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $53.47 per share, with a total value of $267,350.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 9,984 shares of the companys stock, valued at $533,844.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Marianne Catherine Brown acquired 5,000 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 28th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $53.47 per share, with a total value of $267,350.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 9,984 shares of the companys stock, valued at $533,844.48. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Charles A. Ruffel sold 5,176 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.88, for a total transaction of $418,634.88. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $976,464.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have acquired 81,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,706,960 and have sold 728,106 shares valued at $58,067,403. Insiders own 6.60% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SCHW. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in Charles Schwab by 32,224.4% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 225,994,826 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $18,816,289,000 after acquiring an additional 225,295,680 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,325,555,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,109,194,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 107.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 16,784,516 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,399,817,000 after buying an additional 8,680,289 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 62.5% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,255,649 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,853,005,000 after buying an additional 8,563,389 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.49% of the companys stock.

Charles Schwab Company Profile

(Get Rating)

The Charles Schwab Corp. is a savings and loan holding company, which engages in the provision of wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services. It operates through the Investor Services and Advisor Services segments. The Investor Services segment includes retail brokerage and banking services to individual investors, and retirement plan services, as well as other corporate brokerage services, to businesses and their employees.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Charles Schwab Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Charles Schwab and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Barnwell Industries (NYSEAMERICAN:BRN  Get Rating) in a research report report published on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the energy companys stock.

Separately, TheStreet upgraded Barnwell Industries from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 7th.

Get Barnwell Industries alerts:

Barnwell Industries Stock Down 2.8 %

NYSEAMERICAN:BRN opened at $2.75 on Thursday. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $2.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2.77. The stock has a market cap of $27.38 million, a PE ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.52. Barnwell Industries has a 52 week low of $1.89 and a 52 week high of $3.40.

Barnwell Industries Dividend Announcement

Barnwell Industries ( NYSEAMERICAN:BRN Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 10th. The energy company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $7.51 million for the quarter. Barnwell Industries had a return on equity of 53.58% and a net margin of 29.07%.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.015 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 22nd. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. Barnwell Industriess payout ratio is 8.22%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Ned L. Sherwood purchased 201,505 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $2.73 per share, for a total transaction of $550,108.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,918,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,237,944.53. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 12.90% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRN. Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new position in Barnwell Industries in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP purchased a new position in Barnwell Industries in the first quarter worth about $78,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Barnwell Industries by 145.1% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 40,745 shares of the energy companys stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 24,118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Barnwell Industries by 15.0% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 637,622 shares of the energy companys stock worth $1,639,000 after purchasing an additional 83,286 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.38% of the companys stock.

Barnwell Industries Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Barnwell Industries, Inc engages in the oil and natural gas exploration, land investment, and contract drilling services. It operates through the following segments: Oil & Natural Gas, Land Investment, and Contract Drilling. The Oil & Natural Gas segment engages in the exploration, development, production and sale of oil and natural gas in Canada.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Barnwell Industries Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Barnwell Industries and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
BlackRock (NYSE:BLK  Get Rating) had its price target upped by equities researchers at Credit Suisse Group from $662.00 to $673.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the asset managers stock. Credit Suisse Groups price target suggests a potential downside of 3.52% from the stocks previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $763.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Monday. Bank of America upped their target price on BlackRock from $868.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on BlackRock from $829.00 to $861.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on BlackRock from $741.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on BlackRock from $800.00 to $779.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $756.45.

Get BlackRock alerts:

BlackRock Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE BLK traded up $6.22 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $697.55. The stock had a trading volume of 212,450 shares, compared to its average volume of 704,009. The company has a market capitalization of $104.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.27. The firms 50-day moving average price is $677.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $684.00. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $503.12 and a 52 week high of $785.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.99 and a current ratio of 2.99.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

BlackRock ( NYSE:BLK Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $7.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.71 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.24 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 28.97% and a return on equity of 14.38%. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $9.52 EPS. Analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 34.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

In other BlackRock news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 1,149 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.46, for a total value of $865,725.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,135 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,115,557.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 1,149 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.46, for a total value of $865,725.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,115,557.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 575 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $689.06, for a total transaction of $396,209.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,670 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,217,910.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,839 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,947. Corporate insiders own 1.06% of the companys stock.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 753.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,723,157 shares of the asset managers stock worth $948,219,000 after purchasing an additional 1,521,293 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $1,037,009,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 104,159.9% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 697,499 shares of the asset managers stock worth $494,269,000 after buying an additional 696,830 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,492,083 shares of the asset managers stock worth $7,424,424,000 after buying an additional 444,552 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,335,602 shares of the asset managers stock worth $2,363,708,000 after buying an additional 430,524 shares during the period. 77.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About BlackRock

(Get Rating)

BlackRock, Inc engages in providing investment management, risk management, and advisory services for institutional and retail clients worldwide. Its products include single and multi-asset class portfolios investing in equities, fixed income, alternatives, and money market instruments. The company was founded by Susan L.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for BlackRock Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BlackRock and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
NexPoint Residential Trust, Inc. (NYSE:NXRT  Get Rating) has been given a consensus recommendation of Hold by the ten brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $60.20.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NXRT. TheStreet downgraded NexPoint Residential Trust from a c rating to a d+ rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 21st. Credit Suisse Group cut NexPoint Residential Trust from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and set a $47.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, January 9th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of NexPoint Residential Trust from $46.00 to $49.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of NexPoint Residential Trust from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Saturday, April 1st.

Get NexPoint Residential Trust alerts:

Institutional Trading of NexPoint Residential Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NexPoint Residential Trust by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 4,617 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new position in NexPoint Residential Trust during the first quarter worth about $542,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of NexPoint Residential Trust during the 1st quarter worth about $117,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of NexPoint Residential Trust by 51.7% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 11,855 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,071,000 after acquiring an additional 4,041 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of NexPoint Residential Trust in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $335,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.28% of the companys stock.

NexPoint Residential Trust Stock Performance

NexPoint Residential Trust Dividend Announcement

NYSE NXRT opened at $42.99 on Monday. NexPoint Residential Trust has a 1-year low of $38.67 and a 1-year high of $95.04. The company has a 50 day moving average of $45.63 and a 200-day moving average of $45.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 15th were issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.91%. NexPoint Residential Trusts dividend payout ratio is currently -479.99%.

About NexPoint Residential Trust

(Get Rating)

NexPoint Residential Trust, Inc engages in the acquisition, management, and disposition of multifamily assets. It also focuses on providing lifestyle amenities and upgraded living spaces to low and moderate income renters in the Southeastern United States and Texas. The company was founded on September 19, 2014 and is headquartered in Dallas, TX.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for NexPoint Residential Trust Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for NexPoint Residential Trust and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Shares of WNS (Holdings) Limited (NYSE:WNS  Get Rating) have received an average rating of Moderate Buy from the nine analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $100.63.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on WNS from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, January 20th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on WNS from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 8th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on WNS in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Finally, TD Securities lifted their target price on WNS from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, March 27th.

Get WNS alerts:

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Henry James International Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of WNS by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Henry James International Management Inc. now owns 8,320 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $666,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of WNS by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,523 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $534,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in shares of WNS by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 5,100 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of WNS by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 45,121 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $3,610,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of WNS by 307.1% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 342 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. 97.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WNS Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of WNS opened at $90.11 on Monday. WNS has a 52-week low of $67.07 and a 52-week high of $94.96. The businesss fifty day moving average is $89.36 and its 200-day moving average is $85.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market cap of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.65, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.18.

WNS (NYSE:WNS  Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 19th. The business services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.03. WNS had a return on equity of 21.54% and a net margin of 11.58%. The company had revenue of $292.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $290.95 million. Equities analysts anticipate that WNS will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WNS Company Profile

(Get Rating)

WNS (Holdings) Ltd. engages in the provision of business process management solutions. Its services include industry-specific offerings, customer interaction, finance and accounting, human resources, procurement, and research and analytics. It operates through the WNS Global BPM and WNS Auto Claims BPM segments.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for WNS Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for WNS and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Callon Petroleum (NYSE:CPE  Get Rating) had its price target cut by Stifel Nicolaus from $68.00 to $56.00 in a research note published on Friday, The Fly reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on CPE. StockNews.com started coverage on Callon Petroleum in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Callon Petroleum from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Callon Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Callon Petroleum from $53.00 to $45.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 27th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on Callon Petroleum from $65.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, March 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $58.00.

Get Callon Petroleum alerts:

Callon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of Callon Petroleum stock opened at $38.06 on Friday. Callon Petroleum has a 52 week low of $28.91 and a 52 week high of $65.41. The businesss fifty day simple moving average is $36.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.09. The firm has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a PE ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 2.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Callon Petroleum ( NYSE:CPE Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.44 by ($0.08). Callon Petroleum had a net margin of 37.44% and a return on equity of 35.68%. The business had revenue of $704.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $617.42 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.66 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Callon Petroleum will post 10.6 earnings per share for the current year.

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CPE. Raymond James & Associates purchased a new position in shares of Callon Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,020,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Callon Petroleum by 25.2% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,296 shares of the oil and natural gas companys stock valued at $135,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Callon Petroleum by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC now owns 7,775 shares of the oil and natural gas companys stock valued at $459,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Callon Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at about $842,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Callon Petroleum by 55.4% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 25,397 shares of the oil and natural gas companys stock valued at $1,500,000 after acquiring an additional 9,056 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.60% of the companys stock.

About Callon Petroleum

(Get Rating)

Callon Petroleum Co engages in the exploration, development, acquisition, and production of oil and natural gas properties in the United States. It focuses on unconventional oil and natural gas reserves in the Permian Basin. The company was founded by Sim C. Callon and John S. Callon in 1950 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for Callon Petroleum Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Callon Petroleum and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Shares of Canada Carbon Inc. (CVE:CCB  Get Rating) rose 10% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as C$0.06 and last traded at C$0.06. Approximately 300,700 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 86% from the average daily volume of 161,501 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$0.05.

Canada Carbon Stock Performance

The companys 50 day moving average price is C$0.05 and its 200 day moving average price is C$0.06. The company has a market cap of C$8.68 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.00 and a beta of 0.60.

Canada Carbon Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Canada Carbon Inc engages in the acquisition, exploration, and evaluation of natural resource properties in Canada. The company primarily explores for graphite. It holds interests in the Miller property that covers an area of approximately 100 square kilometers located to the west of Montreal in the Grenville Township; and the Asbury Graphite property, which includes 22 claims covering an area of approximately 1,205.9 hectares located in the Laurentides region of southern Quebec.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Canada Carbon Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Canada Carbon and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Carrier Global (NYSE:CARR  Get Rating) had its price objective cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $47.00 to $46.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on CARR. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Carrier Global from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 5th. Stephens reiterated an overweight rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Carrier Global in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Carrier Global from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, December 15th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Carrier Global from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, February 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer started coverage on Carrier Global in a report on Monday, March 27th. They issued an outperform rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Carrier Global currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $49.20.

Get Carrier Global alerts:

Carrier Global Stock Performance

CARR traded up $0.60 during trading on Thursday, reaching $44.90. 2,112,074 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,527,226. The stock has a market cap of $37.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.88, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $44.80 and a 200 day moving average of $42.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. Carrier Global has a 52 week low of $33.10 and a 52 week high of $49.17.

Insider Activity at Carrier Global

Carrier Global ( NYSE:CARR Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts consensus estimates of $0.40. Carrier Global had a return on equity of 26.86% and a net margin of 17.31%. The firm had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.44 EPS. The firms revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Carrier Global will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

In other Carrier Global news, VP Nadia Villeneuve sold 20,538 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.45, for a total value of $933,452.10. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 48,900 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,222,505. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, VP Nadia Villeneuve sold 20,538 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.45, for a total transaction of $933,452.10. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 48,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,222,505. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Kyle Crockett sold 10,433 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.85, for a total value of $478,353.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.38% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Carrier Global

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Carrier Global by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 98,272 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,496,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Carrier Global by 23.9% in the 1st quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,220 shares of the companys stock valued at $559,000 after buying an additional 2,360 shares during the period. Naples Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Carrier Global in the 1st quarter valued at $226,000. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI increased its stake in shares of Carrier Global by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 75,118 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,437,000 after buying an additional 692 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Carrier Global by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,633,155 shares of the companys stock valued at $74,717,000 after buying an additional 56,590 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.21% of the companys stock.

Carrier Global Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Carrier Global Corporation provides heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC), refrigeration, fire, security, and building automation technologies worldwide. It operates through three segments: HVAC, Refrigeration, and Fire & Security. The HVAC segment provides products, controls, services, and solutions to meet the heating, cooling, and ventilation needs of residential and commercial customers.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Carrier Global Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Carrier Global and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Viking Fund Management LLC grew its position in Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB  Get Rating) (TSE:ENB) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 291,000 shares of the pipeline companys stock after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares during the quarter. Enbridge comprises approximately 2.3% of Viking Fund Management LLCs portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Viking Fund Management LLCs holdings in Enbridge were worth $11,378,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Enbridge by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 49,136 shares of the pipeline companys stock worth $2,262,000 after buying an additional 3,178 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Enbridge by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,585,598 shares of the pipeline companys stock valued at $73,081,000 after purchasing an additional 510,865 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Enbridge by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,647,982 shares of the pipeline companys stock valued at $75,955,000 after acquiring an additional 112,553 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its stake in Enbridge by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 149,644 shares of the pipeline companys stock valued at $6,897,000 after acquiring an additional 4,883 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Enbridge by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 316,801 shares of the pipeline companys stock worth $14,600,000 after buying an additional 968 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.25% of the companys stock.

Get Enbridge alerts:

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Enbridge in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating for the company. Credit Suisse Group raised Enbridge from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 29th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Enbridge from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report on Tuesday, January 24th. Finally, National Bank Financial boosted their price target on Enbridge from C$54.00 to C$56.00 in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $59.00.

Enbridge Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of ENB stock traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $39.96. The stock had a trading volume of 920,427 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,505,198. Enbridge Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.02 and a 52-week high of $47.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $38.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.92 billion, a PE ratio of 39.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.83.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB  Get Rating) (TSE:ENB) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.10). Enbridge had a return on equity of 10.30% and a net margin of 5.67%. The firm had revenue of $9.89 billion during the quarter. Equities analysts expect that Enbridge Inc. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Enbridge

(Get Rating)

Enbridge, Inc engages in the provision of gas and oil. It operates through the following segments: Liquid Pipelines, Gas Distribution and Storage, Gas Transmission and Midstream, Renewable Power Generation, and Energy Services. The Liquids Pipelines segment consists of common carrier and contract crude oil, natural gas liquids and refined products pipelines and terminals in Canada and the U.S., including Canadian Mainline, Regional Oil Sands System, Southern Lights Pipeline, Spearhead Pipeline, Seaway Crude Pipeline interest, and other feeder pipelines.

Featured Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ENB? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB  Get Rating) (TSE:ENB).

Receive News & Ratings for Enbridge Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Enbridge and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Gatos Silver (NYSE:GATO  Get Rating) and NovaGold Resources (NYSE:NG  Get Rating) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, risk, dividends and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Gatos Silver and NovaGold Resources net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Get Gatos Silver alerts:

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Gatos Silver N/A -5.99% -5.76% NovaGold Resources N/A -146.22% -32.95%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Gatos Silver and NovaGold Resources, as provided by MarketBeat.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Gatos Silver 0 2 0 0 2.00 NovaGold Resources 0 0 0 0 N/A

Institutional and Insider Ownership

Gatos Silver presently has a consensus price target of $4.38, suggesting a potential downside of 39.07%. Given Gatos Silvers higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Gatos Silver is more favorable than NovaGold Resources.

49.1% of Gatos Silver shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 53.9% of NovaGold Resources shares are held by institutional investors. 5.8% of Gatos Silver shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.3% of NovaGold Resources shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Gatos Silver has a beta of 2.41, meaning that its share price is 141% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NovaGold Resources has a beta of 0.85, meaning that its share price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Gatos Silver and NovaGold Resources top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Gatos Silver N/A N/A -$43.44 million ($0.37) -19.41 NovaGold Resources N/A N/A -$53.34 million ($0.16) -38.88

NovaGold Resources is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Gatos Silver, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Gatos Silver beats NovaGold Resources on 7 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Gatos Silver

(Get Rating)

Gatos Silver, Inc. engages in the exploration, development, and production of precious metals. It primarily explores for silver ores. The company also explores for zinc, lead, copper, and gold ores. Its flagship asset is the Cerro Los Gatos mine located at the Los Gatos District in Chihuahua state, Mexico. The company was formerly known as Sunshine Silver Mining & Refining Corporation and changed its name to Gatos Silver, Inc. in October 2020. Gatos Silver, Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is based in Greenwood Village, Colorado.

About NovaGold Resources

(Get Rating)

NovaGold Resources, Inc. is a mineral exploration company, which engages in the development of the Donlin Gold project in Alaska. The company was founded by Gregory Shawn Johnson, John W. Chisholm, Macisaac G. Angus, Rick van Nieuwenhuyse, and Gerald James McConnell on December 5, 1984 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, UT.

Receive News & Ratings for Gatos Silver Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Gatos Silver and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
HighMark Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 11.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,092 shares of the financial services providers stock after buying an additional 6,225 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company accounts for 1.9% of HighMark Wealth Management LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. HighMark Wealth Management LLCs holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $2,522,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 66.6% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 688 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Orion Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 125.0% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC now owns 900 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Lam Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Worth Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Wells Fargo & Company in the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. 72.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Get Wells Fargo & Company alerts:

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 2.0 %

NYSE:WFC traded up $0.78 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $40.42. The companys stock had a trading volume of 8,612,799 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,173,996. The firm has a market capitalization of $152.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.36, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.12. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1 year low of $35.25 and a 1 year high of $49.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.50.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

Wells Fargo & Company ( NYSE:WFC Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $20.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.06 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.91% and a return on equity of 9.28%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. Research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 2nd. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. Wells Fargo & Companys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.38%.

Insider Activity at Wells Fargo & Company

In other Wells Fargo & Company news, EVP Kleber Santos sold 34,698 shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.27, for a total value of $1,605,476.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,590 shares of the companys stock, valued at $906,429.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $52.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday. Cfra upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company to a buy rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 24th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a buy rating to a hold rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $58.00 to $47.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $49.77.

Wells Fargo & Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Wells Fargo & Co is a diversified, community-based financial services company. It is engaged in the provision of banking, insurance, investments, mortgage products and services, and consumer and commercial finance. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth & Investment Management.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WFC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for Wells Fargo & Company Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Wells Fargo & Company and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC grew its stake in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH  Get Rating) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 42,942 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 383 shares during the period. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLCs holdings in Cardinal Health were worth $3,301,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 25.9% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 28,680,859 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,912,437,000 after purchasing an additional 5,896,875 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 2.1% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,802,799 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,246,751,000 after acquiring an additional 457,777 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 9.0% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,186,052 shares of the companys stock valued at $350,748,000 after acquiring an additional 511,826 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 2.7% in the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,807,641 shares of the companys stock valued at $187,215,000 after acquiring an additional 73,877 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 13,599.0% in the third quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 2,719,672 shares of the companys stock valued at $181,445,000 after acquiring an additional 2,699,819 shares in the last quarter. 88.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Get Cardinal Health alerts:

Cardinal Health Stock Down 0.6 %

Cardinal Health stock traded down $0.51 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $80.12. 675,983 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,511,378. The firms fifty day simple moving average is $75.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.79, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.74. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.70 and a 12 month high of $81.57.

Cardinal Health Dividend Announcement

Cardinal Health ( NYSE:CAH Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $51.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.03 billion. Cardinal Health had a negative net margin of 0.66% and a negative return on equity of 101.28%. Cardinal Healths revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.27 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 3rd were given a $0.4957 dividend. This represents a $1.98 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 31st. Cardinal Healths payout ratio is currently 36.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAH has been the topic of several research reports. Credit Suisse Group upped their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $89.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Cardinal Health from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $87.00 to $94.00 in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Cardinal Health in a research note on Friday, March 31st. They set a neutral rating and a $77.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $82.00 to $77.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Cardinal Health in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a strong-buy rating on the stock. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, Cardinal Health presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $80.08.

Cardinal Health Profile

(Get Rating)

Cardinal Health, Inc is a healthcare services and products company, which engages in the provision of customized solutions for hospitals, healthcare systems, pharmacies, ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laboratories, and physician offices. It also provides medical products and pharmaceuticals and cost-effective solutions that enhance supply chain efficiency.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CAH? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for Cardinal Health Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Cardinal Health and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Kuehne + Nagel International AG (OTCMKTS:KHNGY  Get Rating) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $60.31 and last traded at $60.05, with a volume of 5416 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $58.46.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on KHNGY. BNP Paribas cut Kuehne + Nagel International from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, January 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Kuehne + Nagel International from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, February 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Kuehne + Nagel International from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. Stifel Nicolaus cut Kuehne + Nagel International from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group cut Kuehne + Nagel International from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $280.00.

Get Kuehne + Nagel International alerts:

Kuehne + Nagel International Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $54.81 and a 200-day moving average of $48.99. The stock has a market cap of $36.26 billion, a PE ratio of 12.63 and a beta of 0.91.

About Kuehne + Nagel International

Kuhne + Nagel International AG engages in the provision of logistic services. It operates through the following segments: Sea Logistics, Air Logistics, Road Logistics, and Contract Logistics. The company was founded by August Kuehne and Friedrich Nagel in 1890 and is headquartered in Schindellegi, Switzerland.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Kuehne + Nagel International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Kuehne + Nagel International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Lumen Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:LUMN  Get Rating)s share price reached a new 52-week low on Monday . The company traded as low as $2.24 and last traded at $2.28, with a volume of 1833351 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $2.27.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on LUMN shares. Citigroup lowered shares of Lumen Technologies from a neutral rating to a sell rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $6.25 to $3.50 in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. TheStreet lowered shares of Lumen Technologies from a c rating to a d rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Lumen Technologies from $6.00 to $4.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Lumen Technologies from $6.00 to $2.50 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lumen Technologies has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $5.50.

Get Lumen Technologies alerts:

Lumen Technologies Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The businesss 50-day moving average is $3.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.95.

Institutional Trading of Lumen Technologies

Lumen Technologies ( NYSE:LUMN Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 7th. The technology company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.31. Lumen Technologies had a negative net margin of 8.86% and a positive return on equity of 13.17%. The company had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.79 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. The firms revenue was down 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Lumen Technologies, Inc. will post 0.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUMN. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Lumen Technologies by 7.6% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 106,727 shares of the technology companys stock worth $1,203,000 after buying an additional 7,501 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in shares of Lumen Technologies by 11.2% in the first quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 18,167 shares of the technology companys stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 1,837 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Lumen Technologies in the first quarter worth about $1,037,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Lumen Technologies by 24.1% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 252,689 shares of the technology companys stock worth $2,848,000 after purchasing an additional 49,091 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Lumen Technologies by 2.9% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,567,942 shares of the technology companys stock worth $17,671,000 after purchasing an additional 44,169 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the companys stock.

About Lumen Technologies

(Get Rating)

Lumen Technologies, Inc is an investment holding company, which engages in the provision of integrated communications to residential and business customers. It operates through the following segments: Business and Mass Markets. Business segment provides products and services under four sales channels to enterprise and commercial customers.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for Lumen Technologies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Lumen Technologies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA  Get Rating) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,047 shares of the credit services providers stock after purchasing an additional 781 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises about 1.1% of Ironwood Investment Counsel LLCs holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLCs holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,537,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Mastercard by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,259,535 shares of the credit services providers stock worth $21,967,977,000 after acquiring an additional 568,155 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Mastercard by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,865,057 shares of the credit services providers stock worth $9,629,190,000 after acquiring an additional 138,753 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,874,093 shares of the credit services providers stock worth $2,238,920,000 after acquiring an additional 121,731 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Mastercard by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,337,588 shares of the credit services providers stock worth $1,550,168,000 after acquiring an additional 71,113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Mastercard by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,540,192 shares of the credit services providers stock worth $1,006,618,000 after acquiring an additional 128,200 shares in the last quarter. 74.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get Mastercard alerts:

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, insider Hai Ling sold 8,220 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.31, for a total value of $2,928,868.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 26,496 shares in the company, valued at $9,440,789.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 172,548 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.62, for a total value of $63,086,999.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 100,908,187 shares of the companys stock, valued at $36,894,051,330.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Hai Ling sold 8,220 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.31, for a total transaction of $2,928,868.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,440,789.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 649,189 shares of company stock worth $240,317,705. Insiders own 0.29% of the companys stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Mastercard Trading Down 0.6 %

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MA. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Mastercard from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Mastercard from $427.00 to $414.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on Mastercard from $395.00 to $415.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 5th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Mastercard from $380.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Mastercard from $395.00 to $452.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $413.41.

NYSE:MA traded down $2.38 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $370.05. 467,969 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,791,503. The stock has a market capitalization of $352.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $276.87 and a one year high of $390.00. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $359.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $346.83.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA  Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 26th. The credit services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.09. Mastercard had a return on equity of 158.38% and a net margin of 44.65%. The firm had revenue of $5.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.79 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.35 EPS. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 12.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 5th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. Mastercards dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.31%.

Mastercard Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Mastercard, Inc is a technology company, which engages in the payments industry that connects consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments, and business. It offers payment solutions for the development and implementation of credit, debit, prepaid, commercial, and payment programs. The company was founded in November 1966 and is headquartered in Purchase, NY.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Mastercard Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Mastercard and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
StockNews.com upgraded shares of NewMarket (NYSE:NEU  Get Rating) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning.

NewMarket Stock Performance

NewMarket stock opened at $367.74 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a market cap of $3.56 billion, a PE ratio of 13.19 and a beta of 0.37. The companys 50-day moving average is $352.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $329.23. NewMarket has a 1 year low of $280.28 and a 1 year high of $370.80.

Get NewMarket alerts:

NewMarket (NYSE:NEU  Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $9.26 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $682.56 million during the quarter. NewMarket had a return on equity of 39.23% and a net margin of 10.11%.

NewMarket Announces Dividend

Insider Activity

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th were paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. NewMarkets dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.14%.

In other news, Director James E. Rogers sold 393 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.24, for a total value of $141,574.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,205 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,154,569.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 20.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of NewMarket

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in NewMarket by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 1,813 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $564,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of NewMarket by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 2,120 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $660,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of NewMarket by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 724 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of NewMarket by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,670 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $1,405,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of NewMarket by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 160 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 58.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NewMarket Company Profile

(Get Rating)

NewMarket Corp. operates as a holding company. The firms segment include petroleum additives. Petroleum additives are used in lubricating oils and fuels to enhance their performance in machinery, vehicles, and other equipment. It manages properties owned in Virginia and provides various administrative services.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for NewMarket Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for NewMarket and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC lessened its holdings in OGE Energy Corp. (NYSE:OGE  Get Rating) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 101,296 shares of the utilities providers stock after selling 1,293 shares during the quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLCs holdings in OGE Energy were worth $4,006,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in OGE Energy by 1.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,674,150 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $753,780,000 after buying an additional 294,759 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in OGE Energy by 1.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,122,492 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $259,686,000 after buying an additional 103,185 shares during the last quarter. CI Investments Inc. boosted its position in OGE Energy by 22.2% in the third quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 2,245,626 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $81,876,000 after buying an additional 408,058 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in OGE Energy by 17.1% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,995,669 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $81,384,000 after buying an additional 292,109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Reaves W H & Co. Inc. boosted its position in OGE Energy by 141.6% in the 3rd quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 1,992,844 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $72,659,000 after purchasing an additional 1,167,861 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.78% of the companys stock.

Get OGE Energy alerts:

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OGE has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group lowered OGE Energy from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $41.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 28th. Guggenheim lowered OGE Energy from a buy rating to a neutral rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $39.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Monday, January 23rd. Mizuho lowered their price objective on OGE Energy from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 23rd. Bank of America lowered OGE Energy from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $41.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, February 24th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on OGE Energy in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $39.00.

OGE Energy Price Performance

NYSE OGE traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $38.01. The stock had a trading volume of 264,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,145,696. The firms 50 day moving average is $37.00 and its 200 day moving average is $37.85. OGE Energy Corp. has a twelve month low of $33.28 and a twelve month high of $42.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.46, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.73.

OGE Energy (NYSE:OGE  Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.30. The company had revenue of $711.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.06 billion. OGE Energy had a return on equity of 15.33% and a net margin of 19.72%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.27 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that OGE Energy Corp. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

OGE Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.4141 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 6th. This is a boost from OGE Energys previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.36%. OGE Energys dividend payout ratio is currently 50.15%.

Insider Transactions at OGE Energy

In other OGE Energy news, Director David L. Hauser purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $35.09 per share, for a total transaction of $35,090.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $105,270. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director David E. Rainbolt purchased 5,000 shares of OGE Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, February 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $36.65 per share, with a total value of $183,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,000 shares of the companys stock, valued at $549,750. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David L. Hauser bought 1,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $35.09 per share, for a total transaction of $35,090.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $105,270. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 6,100 shares of company stock worth $221,925. 12.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About OGE Energy

(Get Rating)

OGE Energy Corp. is a holding company with investments in energy and energy service providers, offering physical delivery and related services for electricity in Oklahoma and western Arkansas and natural gas, crude oil and NGLs across the U.S. OGE Energy conducts these activities through two business segments: Electric Utility and Natural Gas Midstream Operations.

Featured Articles

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding OGE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for OGE Energy Corp. (NYSE:OGE  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for OGE Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for OGE Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN  Get Rating) and Spruce Power (NYSE:SPRU  Get Rating) are both auto/tires/trucks companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, profitability, risk and institutional ownership.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

99.9% of Allison Transmission shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 17.3% of Spruce Power shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Allison Transmission shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 15.3% of Spruce Power shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Get Allison Transmission alerts:

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Allison Transmission and Spruce Power, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Allison Transmission 3 3 0 0 1.50 Spruce Power 0 0 0 0 N/A

Profitability

Allison Transmission currently has a consensus target price of $45.00, indicating a potential downside of 2.70%. Given Allison Transmissions higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Allison Transmission is more favorable than Spruce Power.

This table compares Allison Transmission and Spruce Powers net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Allison Transmission 19.18% 69.32% 11.59% Spruce Power -274.28% -14.41% -7.59%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Allison Transmission and Spruce Powers revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Allison Transmission $2.77 billion 1.54 $531.00 million $5.53 8.36 Spruce Power $23.19 million 6.11 -$93.93 million ($0.65) -1.47

Allison Transmission has higher revenue and earnings than Spruce Power. Spruce Power is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Allison Transmission, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Allison Transmission has a beta of 0.98, suggesting that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Spruce Power has a beta of 1.22, suggesting that its share price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Allison Transmission beats Spruce Power on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Allison Transmission

(Get Rating)

Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. engages in the design and manufacture of vehicle propulsion solutions for commercial and defense vehicles. The company also manufactures medium and heavy duty fully automatic transmissions and electrified propulsion systems. Its products are used in a variety of applications, including on-highway trucks, buses, motorhomes, off-highway vehicles and equipment, and defense vehicles. The firm also sells branded replacement parts, support equipment, aluminum die cast components, and other products necessary to service the installed base of vehicles utilizing its solutions. The company was founded in 1915 and is headquartered in Indianapolis, IN.

About Spruce Power

(Get Rating)

XL Fleet Corp. provides fleet electrification solutions for commercial vehicles in North America. Its products include hybrid electric drive systems are comprised of an electric motor that is mounted onto the vehicle's drive shaft, an inverter motor controller, and a lithium-ion battery pack to store energy to be used for propulsion; plug-in hybrid electric drive system, which are fitted to vehicles. In addition, the company offers vehicle electrification and infrastructure solutions, and charging stations. It serves end-use customer base comprising Fortune 500 corporate enterprises, public utilities, and various municipalities. The company was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

Receive News & Ratings for Allison Transmission Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Allison Transmission and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Virgin Money UK PLC (OTCMKTS:CBBYF  Get Rating) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,680,100 shares, a growth of 67.3% from the March 15th total of 2,797,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 46,801.0 days.

Virgin Money UK Price Performance

Shares of Virgin Money UK stock remained flat at $2.40 on Monday. The stocks 50-day moving average is $2.40 and its 200 day moving average is $2.40. Virgin Money UK has a 12 month low of $2.40 and a 12 month high of $2.40.

Get Virgin Money UK alerts:

About Virgin Money UK

(Get Rating)

Featured Articles

Virgin Money UK PLC provides banking products and services for consumers, and small and medium sized businesses under the Clydesdale Bank, Yorkshire Bank, and Virgin Money brands in the United Kingdom. The company offers savings and current accounts, mortgages, credit cards, and home loans; business loans, overdraft facilities, treasury solutions, and corporate and structured finance; asset and invoice finance services; risk management; international trade services; and home, car, and life and critical illness insurance products.

Receive News & Ratings for Virgin Money UK Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Virgin Money UK and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE:SWK  Get Rating) had its target price cut by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $105.00 to $85.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the industrial products companys stock. Wells Fargo & Companys price objective points to a potential upside of 7.27% from the companys previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on SWK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Stanley Black & Decker from $99.00 to $83.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 12th. Credit Suisse Group lifted their price target on shares of Stanley Black & Decker from $79.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, February 6th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Stanley Black & Decker from a sell rating to a neutral rating and upped their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Stanley Black & Decker from $78.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Longbow Research lowered Stanley Black & Decker from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Stanley Black & Decker has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $95.75.

Get Stanley Black & Decker alerts:

Stanley Black & Decker Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of SWK stock traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $79.24. 517,685 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,845,359. The businesss fifty day moving average is $82.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.75, a P/E/G ratio of 11.54 and a beta of 1.30. Stanley Black & Decker has a 12-month low of $70.24 and a 12-month high of $147.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

Stanley Black & Decker ( NYSE:SWK Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The industrial products company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of ($0.33) by $0.23. Stanley Black & Decker had a net margin of 6.24% and a return on equity of 8.08%. The business had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.88 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.14 EPS. The companys revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Stanley Black & Decker will post 0.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

In other news, SVP Janet Link sold 2,581 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.73, for a total transaction of $221,269.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 36,352 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,116,456.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SWK. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Stanley Black & Decker by 3.5% in the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,838 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $397,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC grew its position in Stanley Black & Decker by 2.3% in the first quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC now owns 4,361 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $610,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Stanley Black & Decker by 15.4% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 765 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Stanley Black & Decker by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,636 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $123,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Stanley Black & Decker by 4.5% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 2,614 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $365,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.01% of the companys stock.

Stanley Black & Decker Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Stanley Black & Decker, Inc engages in the provision of power and hand tools, and related accessories, products, services and equipment for oil and gas, infrastructure applications, commercial electronic security and monitoring systems, healthcare solutions, and mechanical access solutions. It operates through the Tools and Storage segment, and Industrial segment.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Stanley Black & Decker Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Stanley Black & Decker and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
StockNews.com downgraded shares of Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras S.A.  Eletrobras (NYSE:EBR  Get Rating) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Friday morning.

Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras S.A.  Eletrobras Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:EBR opened at $7.12 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.88 and a quick ratio of 1.83. The businesss 50-day moving average is $6.59 and its 200-day moving average is $7.76. Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras S.A.  Eletrobras has a 1 year low of $5.67 and a 1 year high of $10.39.

Get Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras S.A. - Eletrobras alerts:

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EBR. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras S.A.  Eletrobras by 13.9% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,966 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 1,699 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras S.A.  Eletrobras by 49.0% during the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 4,898 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 1,611 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras S.A.  Eletrobras by 127.8% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 58,698 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $464,000 after buying an additional 32,935 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras S.A.  Eletrobras by 27.7% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 70,541 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $541,000 after buying an additional 15,296 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras S.A.  Eletrobras during the first quarter valued at about $84,000. 2.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras S.A.  Eletrobras Company Profile

Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA engages in the production and dissemination of electricity. It operates through the Generation and Transmission segments. The Generation segment refers to the electric power generation including hydroelectric, thermal, and nuclear power plants. The Transmission segment focuses on the transmission of electric power in Brazil.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras S.A. - Eletrobras Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras S.A. - Eletrobras and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Trane Technologies (NYSE:TT  Get Rating) had its price objective cut by equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group from $203.00 to $178.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a neutral rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Groups target price would suggest a potential upside of 1.54% from the companys current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on TT. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Trane Technologies from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Trane Technologies from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Trane Technologies from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Trane Technologies from $184.00 to $183.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 12th. Finally, Argus lifted their target price on shares of Trane Technologies from $185.00 to $200.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $181.61.

Get Trane Technologies alerts:

Trane Technologies Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of TT traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $175.30. 2,080,254 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,533,234. The business has a 50 day moving average of $182.19 and a 200 day moving average of $173.01. The company has a market capitalization of $40.16 billion, a PE ratio of 23.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Trane Technologies has a 1-year low of $120.64 and a 1-year high of $196.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

Trane Technologies ( NYSE:TT Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $3.94 billion. Trane Technologies had a net margin of 10.98% and a return on equity of 29.14%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Trane Technologies will post 8.23 EPS for the current year.

In other news, EVP Paul A. Camuti sold 690 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.64, for a total transaction of $124,641.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 87,865 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $15,871,933.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Trane Technologies news, EVP Paul A. Camuti sold 690 shares of Trane Technologies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.64, for a total value of $124,641.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,865 shares in the company, valued at $15,871,933.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Evan M. Turtz sold 2,095 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.83, for a total value of $399,788.85. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,740,458.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 15,967 shares of company stock worth $3,007,750. Corporate insiders own 0.74% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Trane Technologies

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TT. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Trane Technologies by 26.4% in the first quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,964 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,673,000 after buying an additional 4,174 shares in the last quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. boosted its position in shares of Trane Technologies by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 4,692 shares of the companys stock worth $863,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Trane Technologies by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,012 shares of the companys stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Walter Public Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Trane Technologies by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. now owns 69,566 shares of the companys stock valued at $12,799,000 after purchasing an additional 27,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lion Street Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Trane Technologies in the first quarter valued at about $788,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.47% of the companys stock.

About Trane Technologies

(Get Rating)

Trane Technologies Plc engages in providing solutions to buildings, homes, and transportation. It operates through the following business segments: Americas, EMEA, and Asia Pacific. The Americas segment encompasses commercial heating and cooling systems, building controls, and energy services and solutions, residential heating and cooling, and transport refrigeration systems, and solutions in North America and Latin America regions.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Trane Technologies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Trane Technologies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Waverton Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Get Rating) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 406,874 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after purchasing an additional 27,990 shares during the quarter. Bristol-Myers Squibb accounts for 1.1% of Waverton Investment Management Ltds holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Waverton Investment Management Ltds holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $29,275,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,886,585 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $14,209,937,000 after purchasing an additional 3,058,491 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 174,002,852 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $12,369,862,000 after buying an additional 3,357,590 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,659,982 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $1,042,264,000 after buying an additional 155,845 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 11,442,639 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $813,457,000 after buying an additional 59,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,005,473 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $803,730,000 after acquiring an additional 197,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.51% of the companys stock.

Get Bristol-Myers Squibb alerts:

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BMY traded up $0.08 during trading on Monday, reaching $70.53. The company had a trading volume of 2,056,683 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,927,951. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.35 billion, a PE ratio of 23.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.45. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a twelve month low of $65.28 and a twelve month high of $81.43. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $69.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.78.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

Bristol-Myers Squibb ( NYSE:BMY Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.11. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a net margin of 13.71% and a return on equity of 51.60%. The firm had revenue of $11.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. The firms revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 7.98 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 10th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 6th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. Bristol-Myers Squibbs payout ratio is currently 77.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In other news, EVP Ann Powell sold 11,183 shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock in a transaction on Monday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total value of $835,258.27. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,043 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,721,081.67. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Bristol-Myers Squibb news, EVP Ann Powell sold 11,183 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total transaction of $835,258.27. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,043 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,721,081.67. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Giovanni Caforio sold 240,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.65, for a total value of $17,916,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 236,104 shares of the companys stock, valued at $17,625,163.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Atlantic Securities boosted their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Monday, March 6th. They set a hold rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Tuesday, January 17th. They set an overweight rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bristol-Myers Squibb presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $79.69.

About Bristol-Myers Squibb

(Get Rating)

Bristol Myers Squibb Co engages in the discovery, development, licensing, manufacture, marketing, distribution, and sale of biopharmaceutical products. It offers chemically-synthesized drugs or small molecules and products produced from biological processes called biologics. The company was founded in August 1933 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

Read More

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BMY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for Bristol-Myers Squibb Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bristol-Myers Squibb and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Whitecap Resources (TSE:WCP  Get Rating) had its price objective reduced by stock analysts at ATB Capital from C$16.00 to C$15.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, BayStreet.CA reports. ATB Capitals price target would suggest a potential upside of 36.12% from the companys previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Whitecap Resources from C$13.50 to C$14.00 in a research note on Friday, February 24th. Barclays set a C$14.00 price objective on shares of Whitecap Resources and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 18th. TD Securities upped their price target on shares of Whitecap Resources from C$16.50 to C$17.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 21st. National Bankshares upped their price target on shares of Whitecap Resources from C$15.00 to C$15.50 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 23rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on shares of Whitecap Resources from C$15.00 to C$14.50 in a research report on Wednesday, March 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of C$14.82.

Get Whitecap Resources alerts:

Whitecap Resources Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Whitecap Resources stock traded down C$0.01 during trading on Monday, hitting C$11.02. The companys stock had a trading volume of 914,187 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,411,507. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 37.10, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.67. Whitecap Resources has a 52 week low of C$7.70 and a 52 week high of C$12.71. The stock has a market cap of C$6.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -0.33 and a beta of 2.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of C$10.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$10.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

About Whitecap Resources

In other news, Director Grant Bradley Fagerheim acquired 10,000 shares of Whitecap Resources stock in a transaction on Monday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$10.14 per share, with a total value of C$101,400.00. Insiders have acquired 17,660 shares of company stock worth $178,651 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.74% of the companys stock.

(Get Rating)

Whitecap Resources Inc, oil and gas company, acquires and develops petroleum and natural gas properties in Canada. Its principal properties are located in West Central Alberta, British Columbia, Southeast Saskatchewan, West Central Saskatchewan, and Southwest Saskatchewan. As of February 14, 2022, it had a total proved plus probable reserves of 701,829 thousand barrels of oil equivalent.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for Whitecap Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Whitecap Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Country

United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe
Grand Island has been selected as a member of the International City/County Management Association's Economic Mobility and Opportunity Cohort.

The International City/County Management Association is a professional local government organization that provides leadership, innovation, ethics and management practices to local government professionals across the globe.

"As a member of the ICMA EMO Cohort, Grand Island will receive a $30,000 grant to advance local activities designed to boost upward mobility for our residents," says a news release.

Support for ICMA comes from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Economic Mobility and Opportunity program.

"Together with our local partners, Grand Island Public Schools and Central Community College, our efforts over the next several months will focus on linkages between jobs, education and technical training opportunities in Grand Island," says the news release.

The project will be called JETT + GI - Connecting Grand Island to Jobs, Education, Technical Training.

"We will engage a consultant to assess transportation barriers faced by those seeking additional training or employment, and to develop a strategy for improving residents' connectivity to workforce development opportunities and major areas of employment within the city," says the news release. "Our goal is a viable service delivery plan to connect secondary and post-secondary school students with workforce educational opportunities, technical training and major employers within the City of Grand Island."

The local cohort team consists of Marcie Kemnitz of Central Community College, Robin Dexter of Grand Island Public Schools and Laura McAloon, Grand Island's interim city administrator.

That team "will have opportunities to meet with our peers from other local governments working on similar issues, and with technical experts in this field," says the news release. "Through participation in the EMO Cohort, we look forward to learning more about drivers of mobility and opportunity and what is working in terms to move the needle for the security, health and welfare of vulnerable residents in communities across the country, but especially right here in Grand Island."

Mayor Roger Steele said, "It is a great honor for Grand Island to be selected as a member of this national cohort and we appreciate ICMA and the Gates Foundation's Economic Mobility and Opportunity program for making it possible. Our shared goal of developing easily accessible transportation options to connect Grand Island residents with the educational and workforce training opportunities of our partners at Central Community College and Grand Island Public Schools will create economic growth for the entire region.

"We will share more about ways for community members to engage with this effort as the work unfolds," Steele added. "For now, please join us in celebrating Grand Island, Central Community College and Grand Island Public Schools on taking this important step towards increased economic mobility for our residents, together with our national EMO Cohort partners throughout the United States."

Grand Island is one of 10 communities that were selected to be members of the EMO Cohort.

The others were Beloit, Wisconsin; Chesterfield County, Virginia; Dubuque, Iowa; El Paso County, Texas; Gresham, Oregon; Meadville, Pennsylvania; Morgan Hill, California; San Juan County, Utah, and Tarboro, North Carolina. Cohort participants were selected through an application process that gauged readiness to implement EMO-centered strategies through policies, practices, processes and programs.
MARION  On Monday at approximately 12:59 a.m., an officer with the Marion Police Department conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle that was observed exceeding the posted speed limit in a construction zone on I-57, southbound, just north of Marion. The vehicle in question exited the interstate at Marion and finally stopped at the W. Main Street-Comfort Drive intersection.

During conversation with the driver, officers noticed a large plastic bag in the rear of the vehicle that appeared to be cannabis. Upon further investigation, officers located three large bags containing 82.9 pounds of cannabis, 30 bottles of THC syrup, and 40 vape pens.

The driver of the vehicle, William A. Davis 44, of Lexington, Mississippi was arrested for:

Manufacture/delivery of cannabis under 5,000 grams, cannabis trafficking under 5,000 grams, driving with a revoked or suspended license, and speeding in a construction zone. Williams was transported to the Williamson County Jail pending a court appearance.

Following the traffic stop, the Marion police posted a photo of the impounded contraband with the following caption: "If you were curious how much cannabis you can transport in your car, the amount is NOT 82 pounds."

The Marion police is also reminding the public that in order to legally transport cannabis in Illinois, the following applies:

If you are a citizen of Illinois, you are allowed to possess the following amounts of marijuana as long as you are over 21 years of age:

 Five grams of cannabis concentrate

 As many as 500 milligrams of products infused with THC

 30 grams of cannabis flower

Product must be in a sealed, odor proof, child proof, authorized dispensary container.

If you are not a resident of Illinois, you are allowed to hold half of those amounts in the state.
MUSC Health-Orangeburg has engaged a nonprofit to meet patient needs for blood products following a decline in blood donations over the past few years.

Longtime blood donors encourage others to continue supporting the critical effort.

MUSC Health-Orangeburg began using The Blood Connection, or TBC, to meet patient needs for blood products on April 1. The Blood Connection is an independent, non-profit community blood center that has collected and supplied blood products in South Carolina for more than 60 years.

The hospital, formerly known as The Regional Medical Center of Orangeburg and Calhoun Counties, had previously run its own Blood Assurance Program that included the Blood Donor Center and the RMC Bloodmobile. It was one of only two independent, community-based donor programs in South Carolina.

Heather Woolwine, MUSC director of public affairs, media relations and presidential communications, said blood donations had substantially increased over the past three years.

We were having to rely more on the American Red Cross for blood products. We needed to align with a partner such as The Blood Connection to create a sustainable model for blood availability that includes local community blood drives, Woolwine said.

This partnership uses The Blood Connection as our preferred provider for blood products to allow for improved availability at a lower cost, decreased waste and to add whole blood to our inventory, she said.

Woolwine said two hospital employees worked in the RMC blood bank.

They will continue to work within the blood bank and phlebotomy areas, she said.

Woolwine said the hospital will no longer have a donor center to obtain blood donations, but encouraged the community to donate blood through local Blood Connection drives, or any of their office locations.

The hospital will continue to offer therapeutic phlebotomies and to be fully stocked on the blood products we need for our patients, she said.

Longtime blood donors and Orangeburg residents Curt Campbell and Paula Bailey encouraged others in the community to become donors.

I plan on continual support because the blood is used here in Orangeburg and surrounding areas. So its still a great cause to roll up your sleeves and give a pint, said Campbell, who has donated blood to the hospital since 1975.

I plan to keep on going. It was a little bit of uncertainty during COVID, but now that its just about hopefully over with, everything can get back to normal and people can start coming to donate once again, he said.

Bailey said she had to stop donating when she got cancer back in 2005, but she still considers it a worthwhile effort.

I had to quit, but I think Id probably given about 18 gallons before then. Its very necessary and saves lives, she said.

As a person living with cancer, she never knows when she may need blood herself.

That is very true, said Bailey, who had previously served as a nurse in the former RMC blood bank.

I used to take the mobile unit out to the different plants and not only that, but I was an O-negative donor. So I got called very frequently, she said.

Woolwine said individuals can still bank blood for themselves and their family.

Yes, The Blood Connection allows for donations on behalf of and offers credits back for the cost of the units, she said.

MUSC has said that TBC adheres to the same high-quality standards as MUSC Health and is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration and American Association of Blood Banks.

Founded in 1962, the nonprofit provides blood products and services for more than 120 hospitals across South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia.

TBC operates 14 physical donation centers, with nine across South Carolina. The closest centers are located in Lexington, North Charleston and Augusta, Georgia. TBC also operates a fleet of bloodmobiles, which will travel across the region, allowing for even more collection drives at convenient locations in Orangeburg, Calhoun, Bamberg and Barnwell counties.

For more information, visit thebloodconnection.org. Individuals may also call the Donor Response Center at 864-751-1154 or 1-800-392-6551 with general questions.
(TBTCO) - Tham gia bao hiem e nhan uoc su bao ve tai chinh truoc cac rui ro trong cuoc song la nhu cau chinh ang cua nhieu nguoi, nhung do nhieu nguyen nhan, viec khong duy tri ong phi bao hiem ung han, ac biet la trong nhung nam au tien de dan en tinh trang hop ong bao hiem mat hieu luc, khach hang vi the khong nhan uoc su bao ve tai chinh nhu mong muon.
You have reached a premium content area of Transitions. To read this entire article please login if you are already a Transitions subscriber.



Not a subscriber?



Subscribe today for access to:

Full access to the website, including premium articles videos, country reports and searchable archives (containing over 25,000 articles).


Why do young unmarried couples who want to live together risk becoming homeless in Azerbaijan? From Meydan TV.

Asli and Nurlan Gahramanli got married a year ago. They have a six-month-old son and a cat. The couple lives in a rented two-room apartment in Baku, and, like most young parents, they seem happy.

The couple admits, however, that they just wanted to live together at first without getting married, but in Azerbaijan that turned out to be not so simple.

We really didnt want to get married at first, says Asli, but in practice it turned out that without a marriage certificate no one would rent us an apartment.

Nurlan says that they decided to live together partly to save money.

Even before we got married, we already spent most of our time together. But we were spending more on rent since we lived separately. So, we decided to move in together. Thats when we encountered this problem, he explained.

Decent People Dont Live Like That

Ten years ago, it would have been unthinkable in Azerbaijani society for a young unmarried couple to live together. Now more and more such couples want to move in together, but they have trouble finding a place to rent. In Azerbaijan, its standard practice to require a marriage certificate when leasing an apartment, something that nearly every couple that wants to move in together has encountered.

Youve probably seen apartment rental ads that say theyll only be leased to married couples, says Mardan Tukanov, a real estate agent, adding that personally, he understands the landlords. Not a single decent Azerbaijani family would allow their son or daughter  especially their daughter  to live with someone without a marriage certificate. And generally speaking, decent people wouldnt live that way and rent an apartment for it. Theyre usually from bad families.

Nurlan considers official marriage an empty formality, but landlords think that by interfering in his private life, theyre defending public decency.

The Azerbaijani mentality categorically prohibits pre-marital sexual relations. Thats why people dont understand how an unmarried couple could live together. And real estate agents and landlords wont rent apartments to such couples, complains Nurlan. And even if I rent an apartment in my name but the owner somehow finds a girl there, then theres a scandal. That already happened to me once. Asli came over one afternoon. We were sitting, drinking tea. We werent doing anything like that, or even thinking about it (laughs). Suddenly the landlady showed up with her husband and they started causing a commotion. They said, Were a decent family and here you brought a girl home, what the hell is this? I said, Wait a minute, what exactly is the matter?! Were drinking tea, but even if we were doing something else, what business is it of yours? The apartments paid for. We had an argument and I moved out. I lost the deposit.

No Certificate? Show Us Wedding Photos

If young couples dont have a civil marriage certificate, landlords might ask them to produce a certificate for a nikah  a traditional Muslim wedding ceremony. A nikah is performed by a mullah, but a nikah certificate has no legal force in Azerbaijan. To prevent polygamy, which is illegal in Azerbaijan, mullahs are advised to perform a nikah only if the couple can produce a civil marriage certificate. But since this is only a recommendation for which there is no punishment for ignoring, practically anyone who wants a nikah certificate can get one.

In addition, Mardan Tukanov told Meydan TV that, in the absence of civil marriage or nikah certificates, wedding photos can help. Landlords want to be sure that the public believes the couple to be married. The only way to do that is to have a wedding.

A few times in my experience clients showed us photos from their wedding ceremony, says Mardan Tukanov. But we needed the parents of the bride or the groom to confirm the wedding for us, and only after that did we lease them the apartment. Sometimes they delayed getting a civil marriage certificate for some reason and they promised us that they would make their marriage official within a couple of months, but we still needed confirmation from the parents.

Forced Into a Paradigm

We thought, if theres no other option, lets get married. If it doesnt work out, well get a divorce, says Asli, describing the story of her marriage. But, as you know, marriages are registered a month after you apply. In that time, our parents managed to find out about our application and even threw a wedding for us, which we werent even contemplating. After that we showed the landlords our wedding photos and swore that we would have the marriage certificate within a month. Only then did they agree to rent us the apartment.

In 2019, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Justice registered 62,484 marriages and 14,857 divorces. Of the 26,312 marriages registered in JanuarySeptember 2020, more than 11,000 ended. According to Asli, divorces usually happen because the couples didnt have the opportunity to live together and get to know each other better before the wedding.

Even if a couple has been dating or engaged for a long time, once they start to live under the same roof there might very well be some unpleasant surprises in store. For example, a person who is always very neat in public might turn out to be a slob at home. Or something else along those lines. But here  not just in provincial areas, but in big cities, too  young people very often marry people that their parents have chosen for them. They get married, and then they get divorced. And its all because the people didnt know each other. It would be better if they lived together first, and then got married.

Asli also believes that the requirement of a marriage certificate when leasing an apartment forces them into a paradigm that they dont want to live in.

We got married. We decided, its all right, well get to know each other better, and we can always get a divorce. But it doesnt work that way. This certificate is a strange thing. Its as if it imposes certain responsibilities on you after marriage. You already feel responsible for your husband or wife. Now, after marriage, people start to interfere more in your relationship. They ask when youre planning to have kids, she says.

No Hotel Stay Without a Marriage Certificate

Renting an apartment isnt the only problem encountered by unmarried couples in Azerbaijan. They arent allowed to stay in hotels, either. Inara Jamal and her husband once found themselves in just such a situation:

We were already married. Sure, we hadnt had a wedding, but wed already officially registered our marriage. And one time we wanted to spend the night in a hotel in Baku, but at the reception desk they demanded to see our marriage certificate. We were shocked  its not like an ID that you carry around all the time. The receptionist said that theyre required to demand a marriage certificate from couples who come to the hotel, especially if theyre young and they dont have any children with them. Well, we had a photo of the certificate on our phones, so we ended up showing that.

Inara Jamal is a lawyer who helps people resolve problems in the legislative arena. But she says that this problem, which she encountered herself, is one of social norms.

I cant find any other explanation. But I dont think its right. In Europe and even in Turkey I never encountered this. I think its absurd, because there is no legislative basis for it. Its just an order given to hotels by who knows who. But I dont think that theres any public disapproval. Moreover, a large part of the public approves of and supports it. An acquaintance of mine (he and his family are conservative) heard about it and was sincerely surprised that I disagreed. Whats the matter? Thats how it should be,  he said.

I asked why he thinks that, and he answered, And why should people who arent officially married stay in a hotel together?! Lets say theyre just on vacation. I dont see any problem in that and I think its totally fine. But for some reason the public views it negatively, and until people change the way they feel about it, this unwritten law wont change, either.

In August 2020, Laman Mammadova and Elchin Hamidli were planning a vacation in the village of Gunashli in the Lerik region, and they booked a place to stay online in advance. But their vacation was ruined because they didnt have a marriage certificate.

We wanted to take a vacation somewhere in the mountains but we knew that hotels wont take unmarried couples, says Laman. So we decided to read reviews online and try to find out what private homes [foreign] tourists usually stayed in. In theory, the owners of those homes ought to be more modern and shouldnt ask for a marriage certificate. We found a nice house and read all the information about it. There was nothing there about a marriage certificate, but when we arrived the owner wouldnt take us because we werent married. He didnt refund our money, either. He said that he didnt want people in an illicit relationship staying in his home. He certainly wouldnt have said anything like that to [foreign] tourists, but when its locals, Azerbaijanis immediately want to interfere.

A Girl Should Think About Her Reputation

Meydan TV contacted the owner of that house in the village of Gunashli, and he confirmed that he doesnt demand a marriage certificate from foreign tourists, but he doesnt want to rent out his home to unmarried couples from Baku. And the reason he gave was Azerbaijani traditions.

Sometimes a couple comes and says that theyre engaged. I say if thats the case, then wait for your wedding, and then no one will bother you. Everything in its own time. A girl should think about her reputation. And if she doesnt care about it, then I have to. I cant allow that kind of obscenity in my home. Let [foreign] tourists do what they want, but we Muslims must protect our honor, he explained.

Nurlan thinks that if two people love each other and are happy together, they shouldnt have to inform the public or the state, or get some kind of document, saying, When two people are in love  and not necessarily a guy and a girl, it could be an LGBT couple  if living together makes them happy, why should they feel required to get a piece of paper from the government? Its absurd and illogical.

This article was originally published on Meydan TV, and produced with the support of the Russian Language News Exchange. Reprinted with permission.
Yellowstone National Park bison advocates are at odds over whether the killing of more than 1,100 of the animals by tribal members this winter is a hunt, a harvest or a slaughter.

How in the world is this buffalo population supposed to survive all these people coming to kill them? questioned Jaedin Medicine Elk, a Northern Cheyenne tribal member and cofounder of Roam Free Nation.

The killing of bison was extensive this winter because deep snow and extended cold weather forced as many as 1,600 bison to migrate outside the park in search of food. Hundreds moved into the Gardiner Basin, past the parks North Entrance, stepping into a firing line of mostly tribal hunters waiting near Beattie Gulch and Eagle Creek.

Boundaries

The removal of so many bison from the nations only wild, free-roaming herd  last estimated at 6,000 animals  has once again drawn national and international criticism to the region. Last year the killing of 24 park wolves that wandered outside Yellowstones boundaries brought condemnation.

The bison brouhaha comes as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considers a request to list the animals as an endangered or threatened species. In addition, the National Park Service is working to update its bison management plan, which was written in 2000 with fellow Inter-Agency Bison Management Plan members.

Word choice

The bison advocacy group Roam Free Nation and the Alliance for the Wild Rockies paid for billboards in seven Montana cities decrying the tribal bison killing as a slaughter. That prompted the Buffalo Field Campaign to issue a press release denouncing the use of the term.

Slaughter is a word more appropriate to what Euro-Americans did, Buffalo Field Campaign argued, when millions of bison were killed only for their hides and the species was nearly exterminated.

It is perfectly fine to point out that the harvest this season is not a sustainable harvest, and many Tribal members would agree with you on this point, BFC wrote. To call it a slaughter, however, is to minimize what happened in the 19th century and is incredibly disrespectful  if not actually racist  of the situation the Tribes have been placed in by the state of Montanas heavy hand on the scales of bison management.

BFC went on to argue use of the word hunting when applied to tribal bison killing is a mismatch of terminology based in a European tradition that includes trophy hunting. Instead, the group sees tribal bison killing as an honorable harvest that goes beyond the act of taking the bisons life, calling it a relational process that scorns the glorification indulged in by hunters who pose for photographs with their kill.

So please, out of respect for our elders, lets stop conflating hunting with harvest, or trying to impose colonial ideas like fair chase on honorable harvest, BFC wrote.

The Nez Perce Tribe alone accounted for more than 400 recorded bison kills, the most of any of the eight tribes involved. A rough estimate of the amount of boned-out meat from that many bison totaled more than 61,000 pounds, or about 17 pounds of meat for each of the 3,500 enrolled members of the tribe. For comparison, an average deer may yield around 50 pounds of boned meat.

Calls and emails to the Nez Perce for this story were not returned.

The Northern Arapaho and Blackfeet said their bison hunting season will last until April 30, according to a Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks spokesman, and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes have a year-round season.

Montana-licensed hunters killed 75 bison. Another 100 bison deaths are classified as unknown for not being formally reported by a tribe. Together with trapping conducted by the Park Service to enlist disease-free bison in its live transfer program to tribes, more than 1,500 bison have been removed from the population.

The Park Service consigned 88 bison to slaughter, a practice it is attempting to move away from with its quarantine and live transfer program. Its unknown what the bison death toll may be from winterkill.

Another 800 are being held in Park Service corrals for release as soon as conditions are favorable, a park spokesperson said. Snow still encases Yellowstone, despite the calendar saying it is spring, making it difficult for bison that choose to migrate back into the park to find nourishment.

Appropriate use

Stephany Seay, a former Buffalo Field Campaign member who has helped organize Roam Free Nation, said use of the word slaughter is completely appropriate in the wake of so many park bison being killed, mostly by tribal members.

In general I think their (BFCs) language is completely human-centric and offers no consideration for the buffalo, she said. I think BFC has lost sight of what is actually happening to the buffalo and focusing way too much on human interests.

Thats a line of thinking echoed by conservationist George Wuerthner. In a posting on The Wildlife News website, he argued the tribal killing of bison is having significant ecological impacts.

The tribal hunters removal of biomass (bison) is essentially strip mining food that would feed native species, from scavengers like ravens and coyotes to predators like grizzlies to wolves, Wuerthner wrote.

He and Seay both argue that the removal of bison could also affect the animals social behavior, everything from breeding and fidelity to a loss of learned knowledge about the best places to graze or when to migrate.

Legal argument

Wuerthner is also arguing the hunts are not even legal and is chastising other conservation organizations for not speaking out against the liberal killing of bison. He wrote that although courts have ruled in favor of tribal rights to hunt on ceded lands, none of the tribes occupied and used lands near Gardiner over an extended period of time.

That viewpoint contradicts Yellowstone National Parks stance, which acknowledges the region was utilized from around 1400 to 1700 by the ancestors of many contemporary tribes. The Park Service recognizes 26 tribes associated with Yellowstone.

University of Montana associate professor of law Kekek Stark pointed to several court rulings acknowledging tribal rights.

When a Tribe contends that it used and occupied an area since time immemorial, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that this contention is sufficient proof of Indian title or the right of occupancy because an accepted principle of federal Indian law is that Indian Nations held aboriginal title to the territories, Stark wrote in an email.

Tom Woodbury, of Buffalo Field Campaign, cited a different argument in upholding tribal hunting rights to Yellowstone bison.

The U.S. may not claim that off-reservation treaty rights no longer apply to areas where their own policy extirpated the subject of the treaties; i.e., bison, he wrote in an email.

He went on to argue, As a matter of law and basic human rights, the Tribes have inherent jurisdiction over their aboriginal food source. It is ethnic genocide to deprive them of that most sacred relationship.

Agreement

One thing all of the disputing parties agree on is that Montanas current management of Yellowstone bison is broken. The animals are the only wildlife in the state regulated by the Montana Department of Livestock.

Thats because the animals may carry brucellosis, which can cause pregnant cattle to abort. Elk also carry brucellosis but are allowed to roam freely. Their management is overseen by the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks which tries to keep elk and cattle separated, especially in the spring when its believed transmission of the disease is most likely to occur.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks game wardens have cited people for shooting into elk herds, but people are shooting into bison herds as soon as they set one foot into Montana in the narrow Beattie Gulch hunting trap with no consequences, said Mike Garrity, executive director of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies. The state of Montana needs to let bison roam throughout the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and let Fish, Wildlife & Parks manage them to have a sustainable population, just like they do with elk.

Buffalo Field Campaign agreed.

The problem is the restrictions placed on natural migration of buffalo in the Yellowstone ecosystem, and the artificially low population of Yellowstone bison that has resulted from decades of shipping them to slaughter and sacrificing our national mammal and keystone species on the altar of Montanas livestock industry, BFC wrote.

Wuerthner goes even further, saying tribal members are essentially doing the bidding of the Montana livestock industry, which seeks to bottle up Yellowstone bison in the park based on the exaggerated threat of brucellosis transmission to cattle.

In the end, though, Seay said, It doesnt matter who is doing the killing or why, a dead buffalo is a dead buffalo.
Seniors will be tutoring seniors on April 25, as Natrona County High School students plan to guide older residents on using their cell phones and other mobile devices.

Senior Tech High is a collaboration between SkillsUSA, AARP Wyoming and the Casper Senior Center  where the event will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The one-on-one tutoring is free and comes with lunch, AARP Wyoming said in a statement. There is no requirement to be a member or over the age of 50 in order to take part in the event.

At each event, a group of local high school students helps citizens with questions such as finding old emails, sending photos to loved ones and adding apps to smartphones, the statement said.

It helps address issues with social isolation by helping older people better engage in an online-centric world.

According to studies, social isolation has the same health impact as smoking 15 cigarettes per day, AARP Wyoming said in the statement.

AARP Wyoming has been sponsoring Senior High Tech events since 2018, with the first series happening thanks to a collaboration between the Goshen County Community Group, the Goshen County Senior Friendship Center as well as students from Lingle-Fort Laramie High School and Future Business Leaders of America groups.

Senior centers or service organizations interested in holding a Senior High Tech in their community can contact Avery Yak at ayack@aarp.org. Registration for the Natrona County program is encouraged and can be done online.
A pair of 52-million-year-old bat skeletons found in a southwestern Wyoming quarry ago are believed to be the oldest such remains ever discovered  and have been identified as members of a previously unknown species.

A study published Wednesday in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE, authored by a team of U.S. and Dutch researchers, used a number of physical characteristics to distinguish the new species, Icaronycteris gunnelli, from the two other ancient bat species that have already been documented near Kemmerer.

Bat fossils are rare, even in Wyomings fossil-rich Green River Formation, where warm, swampy conditions during the Eocene epoch proved ideal for creating fossils. Skeletal fish, though, are found there hundreds  if not thousands  of times more frequently than any mammal.

Bat skeletons are small, light and fragile, making them unlikely candidates for preservation, Tim Rietbergen, a paleontologist at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in the Netherlands and the studys lead author, told Smithsonian Magazine.

Over the past five decades, the study said, the region has produced less than 30 bat fossils. As fossilized bats go, though, thats still a lot for a single formation.

The oldest articulated bats in the fossil record are from here, Arvid Aase, museum curator at Fossil Butte National Monument and another author of the study, told the Star-Tribune last summer. (Articulated refers to fossils that are found with their bones still connected.)

One member of the new species was buried deeper in the sedimentary rock  meaning it was deposited earlier  than other Green River Formation bat fossils. And as a pair, the bats represent an increase of 50% in the known bat diversity from the Green River Formation, the study noted.

Both specimens came from the quarry known as American Fossil, which welcomes researchers and chisel-wielding tourists alike during its dig season in the late spring and summer. The quarry typically hosts dozens of amateur fossil hunters each day. Several visitors finds have given rise to past studies or wound up in museums.

People are paying to have this experience, Patrick Hogle, American Fossils founder, previously told the Star-Tribune. But theyre also contributing to the scientific knowledge by just opening up rock.

PHOTOS: Visits to Kemmerer Kemmerer Kemmerer Kemmerer Kemmerer Fossils Kemmerer Fossils Kemmerer Fossils Kemmerer Kemmerer Kemmerer Kemmerer Kemmerer Kemmerer Fossils Kemmerer Fossils Kemmerer Fossils Kemmerer Kemmerer Kemmerer Kemmerer Kemmerer Fossils Kemmerer Fossils Kemmerer Fossils Kemmerer
LANDER  Heavy Equipment Maintenance Shop Foreman Devin Crayton and a slew of students were at work removing the hood of a bucket loader, intent on tracing a leak in the fuel line of the giant piece of equipment. The bucket loader is among the 28 pieces of heavy equipment that students learn to operate in one of the over 16 career tracks offered, and in Craytons shop, they learn how to maintain and repair them all, too.

In the building, construction and technology shop, Job Corps students learn skills ranging from plumbing to carpentry, electrical to how to install solar panels. Basically, anything that breaks in your house, we can fix, explained student Faith Watts. If your furnace breaks, weve got you.

The students themselves were the leaders of a recent open house at the center, which serves up to 300 campus-based and non-residential students who typically come to Wind River Job Corps from Rocky Mountain states.

Job Corps students have up to two years at the center, where they can earn their high school diploma or GED while pursuing certificates and other job tracks like their commercial drivers licenses, welding certification, or a medical office support or phlebotomy career through a partnership with Central Wyoming College.

The Wind River location is the newest of the 124 Job Corps centers in the U.S., offering modern amenities that draw students from around the country for a program that  students agreed  is life-changing.

Job Corps is a program administered by the U.S. Department of Labor. It assists income-eligible youth aged 16-24 with learning specific trade skills and gaining employment.

The students live in dorms, typically four per room, and have a variety of recreational opportunities alongside their studies. The center includes health care services, with scheduled doctor and dentist visits twice a week, and on-call nurses and counselors available 24 hours a day. From movie nights to trips to Yellowstone, students have everything they need to make their career dreams a reality and have fun along the way.

Visitors on Thursday were greeted by students, who led tours across the expansive campus.

In the summer, a little stream runs through the center of the complex of buildings, and a stage provides a spot for recreating.

The campus is absolutely beautiful in the summertime, said Dylan Trowbridge, originally of Denver, Colorado.

Logan Smith, originally of Grand Junction, Colo., explained why he chose the Job Corps.

A better future. Ill be able to learn two trades, get my high school diploma, and be able to do what I want to do, which is join the Marine Corps, he said.

During the first four weeks at Job Corps, students immerse themselves in whats called the career prep program; its when they explore exactly what theyd like to learn through Job Corps and what theyd like to get out of their time at the center.

In my opinion, the first four weeks are the hardest, when you figure out what you want to do while youre here, explained Trowbridge.

That time is well spent because once the students begin pursuing their career tracks, theyve got a good handle on the path before them.

For Josie Trosper, a non-residential student who lives in Fort Washakie, that path includes taking CWC classes for medical office support and phlebotomy.

She chose Job Corps after seeing the success her brother had earning his CDL there and because of her desire to give back to the Eastern Shoshone Tribe through a medical career.

I saw the opportunity the center gave him, she explained. Its a super beneficial program to be in, and its completely free.  If youre willing to do it and put in the work, its an opportunity of a lifetime you will not regret.

Aaron Chavez, who lives on campus and is originally from Las Vegas, Nev., found himself not on track in high school back home and decided he needed to focus on the future.

A friend who had gone through the Job Corps program has a great job, a house, and is engaged, so Chavez knew that the program was one he could take advantage of, too. Hes set to graduate soon, along with a Class A CDL, and join the Local 800 union to learn even more skills for the next three years.

[Campus] life is not half bad, he added. Its actually pretty nice.

Chavez likes his roommates, and its really pretty much like living in a college dorm.

And the food is decent, he said. Its no Gordon Ramsey, but its good food.

Thank God I had this opportunity, Chavez continued The point of this place is to get a better life  Im right on track.

To learn more about Wind River Job Corps, visit https://windriver.jobcorps.gov/.

Photos: Tribal members and sponsors visit bison herd on the Wind River Reservation Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo
More than a month after signing a confidentiality agreement with the Bolivarian Republic, Trinidad and Tobago is no where closer to bringing much needed natural gas from Venezuela to these shores.

Sources in a position to know tell Express Business that the negotiations are at a standstill because the T&T government is awaiting to see what happens in Venezuela with respect to the present crackdown on corruption before it tries to engage the south American neighbour.
Port of Spain Mayor Joel Martinez intends to ask for an investigation as to why it is with t
SYMPOSIUM STARTS TODAY: Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley welcomes Caricom Secretary General Carla Natalie Barnett at yesterdays opening of the Desperadoes Pan Theatre at George Street, Port of Spain. Barnett is in T&T for the two-day crime symposium that starts today at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad. See Pages 4 and 5. Photo: JERMAINE CRUICKSHANK
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.
It was Woodrow Wilson who insisted there is a need for transparency in government. He pointed out the people have a right to know what the true state of affairs is, and what their representatives were doing on their behalf. He said, Government ought to be all outside and no inside... Everybody knows that corruption thrives in secret places, and avoids public places, and we believe it a fair presumption that secrecy means impropriety.
Members of Tucsons religious communities are coming together with a trio of Tucson-tied musicians and a prolific local composer on Tuesday, April 25, to celebrate Israels 75th birthday.

A Celebration of Israel at 75, coordinated by composer and University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music professor Daniel Asia, will celebrate Yom HaZikaron and Yom Haatzmaut  Israels Day of Remembrance and Day of Independence. The concert of Asias Jewish compositions will feature violinist Steven Moeckel, Welsh baritone Jeremy Huw Williams and pianist Daniel Linder, a UA colleague of Asias.

The event is sponsored by the UA Center for Judaic Studies, UA Hillel Foundation and the nonprofit Center for American Culture and Ideas. Representatives from Tucsons Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities, as well as political and civic leaders, will offer brief comments on the meaning of Israel, Asia said.

Asia said the concert will feature several of his works including his powerful and melancholic Why (?) Jacob, which he wrote in 1979 in memory of a childhood friend killed in the 1973 Israel Yom Kippur War.

Asia, who in addition to teaching at the UA also serves as president of the Center for American Culture and Ideas, has had his works performed by a number of orchestras including the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and The Phoenix Symphony.

Moeckel, who teaches violin at Northern Arizona University, was concertmaster of both of those orchestras. He also has recorded several albums and is a regular guest soloist with a number of American orchestras.

Williams, who has been a regular guest artist at the UA for a dozen years or so, has a critically-acclaimed career as a soloist. For the past decade, his go-to accompanist was Paula Fan, whom he met at one of his early UA visits. Fan was touring with Williams in Australia in late February when she died of a heart attack at the age of 71.

Linder, a New York native who teaches piano at the UA, has a vibrant career as a chamber musician and accompanist, including a duo piano recital in 2021 with his UA colleague Fanya Lin at the London Festival of American Music.
The face of homelessness has changed, said Allison Lenocker, executive director of The Coalition for Compassion and Justice, a nonprofit organization in Prescott.

According to the Arizona Department of Economic Security, 13,553 Arizonans experienced homelessness in 2022. This number has increased by 25% since 2020. The number of unhoused people in Tucson and Pima County was 2,227, about 16% of the state average and about a 68% increase since 2020.

A lack of affordable housing is contributing to the increase, according to the report. Lenocker says shes observed this herself.

Were talking to families and older folks who are like, I can afford to live I just cant afford to pay rent thats astronomical, Lenocker said.

The average residential sales price in Tucson increased by approximately 49% between January 2020 and 2023, compared to an approximate 19% increase between January 2017 and 2019. Lenocker says the Coalition for Compassion and Justice (CCJ) saw individuals and families in their community with fixed incomes fall into homelessness with no housing options for them. It was then, she explained, that the CCJ decided to shift its focus from social services to finding permanent solutions to homelessness.

However, the cost of getting the effort off the ground was a challenge as the organization doesnt accept government funding, relying instead on grants, foundations and private donors.

The CCJ bought four acres of land to build a housing project, a 25-unit manufactured home park in Chino Valley but didnt have the money to break ground.

Lenocker said the organization wasnt sure how to continue the project until they were connected to the Arizona Housing Fund, a philanthropic fund providing grants to nonprofit agencies working to create affordable housing.

After applying to the fund in 2022, the CCJ received a $200,000 grant, allowing it to start digging a well and complete on- and off-site improvements.

The grant helped us get off the ground, Lenocker said. Without that, I dont think wed be able to move at a pace that weve been able to.

Howard Epstein, the founder of the Arizona Housing Fund and Bank of America executive, has been working to fight homelessness for almost 30 years. He started his work through Central Arizona Shelter Services as Bank of Americas representative on the CASSs board, serving there for 20 years. For the past 15 years, Epstein has been serving on Arizona Housing, Inc.s board, where he observed the effect of creating affordable housing options.

When a nonprofit brings 80 units online that werent there yesterday, you can see people coming out of the shelters, coming out of places unsheltered like their car, Epstein said.

When people move into the units, it creates more space in shelters, Epstein explained. He created the Arizona Housing Fund in 2019 to combat costs with a creative donation program intended to increase the sustainability of the fund.

In addition to direct donations, the Arizona Housing Fund uses the Escrow Donation Program to collect money. Approved by the Arizona Association of Realtors, this program allows property buyers and sellers to voluntarily donate $25 to the Arizona Housing Fund out of their escrow settlement. This tax-deductible donation is presented to buyers and sellers through participating realtors, brokers, developers, title companies and home builders.

Epstein said anecdotally that of the 4,300 individual donations the fund received, 80% came from the escrow program. When asked why the requested amount is $25, Epstein said its nonoffensive, but when $25 is multiplied by thousands, the number becomes significant.

When youre buying or selling a house, its a good thing in your life, Epstein said. So, people feel like OK, theres a small way to give back.

Epstein said this fund is a statewide grassroots effort and as such, allows their partners and donors to be a part of the solution.

The Arizona Housing Fund gave four grants last year but hasnt received applications from organizations in Southern Arizona. Epstein said the fund hopes to extend its reach and become a part of the Tucson/Pima County ecosystem.

Tucsons got a housing and homelessness issue, too, and we think we can be a part of that solution, Epstein said.

Ted Taylor, CEO of Family Promise of Greater Phoenix, another Arizona Housing Fund grant recipient, used the money to build a micro affordable housing development.

Family Promise is a nonprofit organization providing shelter and social services for families experiencing homelessness in Maricopa County. The organization partnered with a congregation in Glendale, using their extra land for the project. This village, containing six quality container homes, was funded by four foundations, including the Arizona Housing Fund and the projects initial funder, the BHHS Legacy Foundation, a grant-providing organization in northern Arizona.

Taylor said this project will address an additional challenge when creating affordable housing: location.

The further we push the poor in our community to the peripheral, the less involved those parents can be in their childrens lives, Taylor said. And to us, thats a tragedy.

Taylor explained that by building the micro-housing project inside the city, families will be able to engage with their children and the community, making their affordable housing more sustainable.

Epstein said there is a tremendous need for housing and that seeing tent after tent while driving is heartbreaking.

Theres a lot of problems in our society and in our country where solutions are not easy, right? Whether its drug addiction, domestic violence, mental illness, Epstein said. The housing problem is really simple; we need more of it.

For more information about the Arizona Housing Fund, visit arizonahousingfund.org.
Is Central Bank Digital Currency unconstitutional? By Robert E. Wright

web posted April 17, 2023 The latest fad in monetary policy circles worldwide is CBDC or Central Bank Digital Currency, a government-created cryptocurrency exchanged on a blockchain. Many fear that it would give governments complete control over individuals by allowing them to track, and even block, individual transactions and to impose taxes at will. In the United States, though, "money" has a constitutional basis so firm that, despite its name, a US government CBDC would not be "money" or even "currency." It could exist as one payment system among many, but without violating the US Constitution it could not be forced on Americans as the sole final means of payment Article I, Section 8 gives Congress the power "to borrow Money on the credit of the United States" and "to coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin." It also gives Congress the power "to provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and CURRENT Coin of the United States" and "to raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years." Article I, Section 9 stipulates that "No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Laws; a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time." Article I, Section 10 says that "no state shall... coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts." The reasons for those policies are well understood and uncontroversial. Americans wanted their new nation to be a common currency area, so only the national government could have any monetary policy discretion. The stickier question was always the extent of that discretion, particularly the federal government's ability to issue bills of credit. I believe, after much study, that the Founders and Framers would have tolerated temporary periods of fiat money issuance during wartime or other major emergencies, but that they would not consider a permanent fiat system constitutional. That position is obviously not the prevailing one, but it is also not necessary to establish the fact that a CBDC is not an electronic form of fiat money or any other type of "currency" under the Constitution. As shown above, all three types of money specified in the Constitution  bills of credit, foreign gold and silver coins, and domestic gold and silver coins  were (and remain) physical bearer instruments. In other words, they are "current" in the sense used in Section 8 above, meaning that mere possession provides sufficient proof of their ownership. To tender current money is to turn over physical possession to another party in order to consummate a trade or pay a debt. Due to its physical nature and bearer-legal status, "money," as used in the Constitution, can be used anonymously as a means of final payment. In America's constitutional context, a CBDC is a payment system, a means of exchanging money over physical distance. The Framers were aware of the payment systems provided by eighteenth century banks and merchants, but wisely made them no part of the Constitution. They did not conflate checks, bills of exchange, or other orders for the payment of money with money itself, and never made deposits or even banknotes a legal tender. Can the Treasury or Federal Reserve proclaim that a CBDC is a new payment system that people may use instead of existing payment services? Yes, though it is not clear that a government CBDC will lower transaction costs enough to induce many to switch voluntarily. Can the government say that CBDC is now money and confiscate Federal Reserve Notes and bank deposits like it confiscated gold during the New Deal? No, not lawfully. Robert E. Wright is a Senior Research Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research. He is the (co)author or (co)editor of over two dozen major books, book series, and edited collections, including AIERs The Best of Thomas Paine (2021) and Financial Exclusion (2019). Home
PHOENIX  Arizona lawmakers are moving to put a kibosh on one electronic method of stealing gasoline.

Legislation awaiting House action would make it a Class 3 felony to use whats known as a pulsar manipulation device to trick gas pumps by making it seem just a little bit of fuel is being dispensed, when hundreds of gallons could actually be going through the nozzle. Violations would carry a presumed penalty of 3 years in state prison.

But not everyone is convinced Senate Bill 1177 is needed, given that the theft of gasoline itself already is a crime.

Gas pumps monitor the flow of fuel electronically rather than mechanically. It is that monitoring by the internal pulsar that shows up on the pump and on screens in the store.

Thieves who can break into a pump can use the device to interfere with that signal, said Mike Williams, lobbyist for the Arizona Petroleum Marketers Association. Put simply, when that device is used, what is being pumped is far more than the pump indicates.

Chris Olson, who owns 13 SuperPumper stations in the Phoenix area, said its happened to him seven times and hes lost almost 2,000 gallons of fuel. He told lawmakers an associate with Circle K told him that company lost hundreds of thousands of gallons nationwide through the scam, figures confirmed by Williams, who also lobbies for Circle K.

It does require at least a bit of work to install the device, as thieves need to open the pump up and install it. But Olson said that isnt as difficult as it sounds.

The thieves can get into the pump in about 30 seconds if they have the right equipment or the right tools to open the side of the pump, he said.

That can happen even if the station is staffed, Olson said. They pull up, they block themselves with the door of the vehicle. They then do what they have to do. They put this device on. And they start pumping the gas out.

Williams said they are able to steal that much gasoline at a time by using a truck with a large tank or bladder that can store 300 to 400 gallons.

A need for the law

Current law make theft of something worth between $1,000 and $2,000 a Class 6 felony, a lesser crime than the proposed Class 3 designation. Violating the current law carries a presumptive term of a year in prison but can be handled by the courts as a misdemeanor.

The value of 400 gallons of gasoline, at $4.50 a gallon, is $1,800.

But Williams insisted there is a need for the proposed law.

Gas is not covered by insurance, he told the House Judiciary Committee during a hearing on the measure. A theft of this magnitude could actually put a mom and pop (operation) out of business.

That assumes not only that the perpetrators could be caught, but that they would be prosecuted.

Olson said he has video of thieves. We took them to the Phoenix Police Department, he said. They basically told me theres nothing they can do about it.

Part of the problem, Olson said, is the vehicle had no license plate.

It was doing it in the middle of the night, he said, and at a time when the station was closed because he doesnt have the staff to operate 24/7.

It took them about 50 minutes to pump about 350 gallons of diesel, Olson said. They did that five times, five separate incidents. One of the incidents they actually did it twice in one night so they took almost 700 gallons in that one evening.

Impacts all of us via gas prices

That led Rep. Melody Hernandez, D-Phoenix, to question how a new law would help if the police didnt have enough evidence to pursue the thieves under existing laws.

I believe any law that we could pass will help on this specific issue, Olson responded. If these devices continue to be used, more businesses will suffer losses and it will in fact impact all of us in the price we have to pay for fuel.

Olson told lawmakers that service station operators are doing what they can outside the realm of criminal law. For example, he said, there are devices available that can be installed over the internal pulsar device to protect against such manipulation.

Theyre quite pricey, he said. But weve done that with some of our pumps.

And Olson said some manufacturers are making such protections part of new pumps.

But any deterrent we could use and give stiff penalties to people that engage in this activity would be very beneficial, he said.

Sounds like a case of over legislation

The proposal is opposed by the Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice Reform, lawyers who represent criminal defendants.

This is a special interest bill, their lobbyist Charity Clark testified. Its for a very, very specific group. Opening this up just creates the opportunity for other special interests to come in and flood our Legislature with bills that only represent their interests.

Clark said if the Class 6 felony provides insufficient punishment for gasoline theft, there are other applicable laws dealing with fraudulent schemes that have even stiffer penalties.

She also said creating two laws for the same conduct could lead to prosecutors over-charging defendants with both violations, allowing them to try to demand consecutive sentences.

Hernandez agreed. This sounds like a case of over legislation, she said.

Before giving their approval to SB 1177 last month, the House Judiciary Committee stripped language that would have made it a crime to even possess a pulsar manipulator amid questions of whether there are legal uses for such a device.
WASHINGTON  When Rep. Kevin McCarthy emerged from a messy 15-ballot election and ascended to House speaker, he was emboldened rather than chastened by the fight, declaring that his father taught him early on in life: "It's not how you start; it's how you finish."

But as the embattled Republican leader from California rounds the first 100 days at the helm of a slim House Republican majority, it is proving hard to shake off the spectacle of the unsteady launch that has become a defining backbeat to McCarthy's speakership.

So far, McCarthy has logged surprise successes in the new Congress: The Republican House has passed dozens of bills, many of them bipartisan, including politically potent efforts targeting crime and the COVID-19 pandemic that left President Joe Biden almost no choice but to sign the bills into law.

McCarthy has opened the Capitol more fully to visitors, relishing the onlookers who stop to snap selfies during his impromptu hallway news conferences. He hosted his first foreign leader, President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan, with a diplomatic flourish, leading a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers standing up to China.

On Monday, McCarthy was expected to give a speech at the New York Stock Exchange, another sign of his rising influence.

And yet.

It's 100 days into the new Congress, and McCarthy's speakership is what one senior congressional Democratic aide compared to the spotlight on the theater stage, with the audience waiting for the play to begin and then suddenly, the realization there is no script.

McCarthy is performing the role as speaker  second in line to the presidency  but the Republican leader allied with Donald Trump remains stubbornly limited in action because of his uneasy grip on the gavel. Any single lawmaker is able to call for a vote to oust the speaker from office.

As such, McCarthy has been unable to steer House Republicans to start delivering on broader pursuits  the GOP promises for border security or budget cuts to prevent a debt ceiling crisis, for starters. How he handles them will be the defining challenge that makes or breaks his next 100 days.

"This is where McCarthy finds himself," said Jeffery A. Jenkins, a professor of public policy at the University of Southern California who has written about House speakers.

"The power of any single speakership is endogenous," he said. "This Congress, McCarthy will always have little wiggle room. He will have to walk a tightrope."

In many ways, it was inevitable that whoever followed the last House Speaker, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., would operate differently because of the oversize role she played as one of the most powerful congressional leaders in modern times. She often quips it has become a shrinking speakership under the Republican.

But McCarthy is remaking the speaker's office in his image, including reclaiming a private room just steps from the House floor for meetings. The silver-haired father shuns many of the formal trappings of Congress  he may never return to the televised briefing room at the Capitol for formal news conferences  as he begins to tap into the enormous powers at his disposal.

He often suggests he's being underestimated. House Republicans stunned Washington with some unexpected early victories when they took control in January for the first time in four years.

Republicans all but forced Biden into signing early bills into law, including one to roll back the District of Columbia's criminal code. Democrats were furious when the White House abandoned efforts to veto the measure and played into the GOP's tough-on-crime rhetoric.

On other measures, McCarthy found Democrats willing to cross party lines  to create a select committee focused on U.S. competition with China, to require the administration to declassify as much intelligence as possible about the origins of COVID-19 and to require an abrupt end to the national pandemic emergency.

Hard-right critics who withheld their support of McCarthy during the excruciating 15 ballots it took to become speaker until he agreed to their demands seem relatively satisfied at the outcome.

"He's performed better than I thought he would," said Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., the past chairman of the Freedom Caucus, in an interview. "I can't complain."

To establishment conservative observers, the House under McCarthy is a welcome contrast to the past two years of Democratic party rule in Washington.

"Now there's actually a check and balance," said Eric Cantor, a former GOP leader. "He is delivering that every day and very effective, obviously, at holding his troops together."

But the struggle to become speaker is never far behind, thanks to a Trump-aligned power center in Congress that propped McCarthy up and could just as easily tear him back down.

Trump's support ensured McCarthy won his race to become speaker, both men have said, but the former president's backing can easily be lost.

As McCarthy balances his own Reagan-styled optimism against the more extremist Trump-aligned populists in his conference, he has kept close to Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a top Trump ally. She has been leading efforts to ease detention conditions for defendants facing some of the most severe charges stemming from the Capitol insurrection.

In another gesture toward his right flank, McCarthy released thousands of hours of the riot video footage about the riot to Fox News' Tucker Carlson, who has fanned false conspiracy theories of the attack. McCarthy was among those members of Congress who voted on Jan. 6, 2021, against certifying Biden's 2020 election victory over Trump.

The House Democrats' campaign arm issued a recent memo saying the new House GOP majority is "too extreme to lead."

Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., and a longtime leader of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, said in an interview that the drawn-out election to make McCarthy speaker "was the most embarrassing week of all in the history of Congress  and I don't think things have gotten much better."

Even the House investigations into Biden and his family that were supposed to be a capstone of the new Republican majority have spun into a free-for-all with several committees examining all aspects of the federal government.

"Tough job," said GOP Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, told The Associated Press about the speaker. "But he's doing great."
Austin American-Statesman. April 16, 2023.

Editorial: Lawmakers must defeat clean energy attacks, protect Texans

Its no wonder so many Texas lawmakers back the polluting oil and gas industry  its geysers of cash bankroll political campaigns and a state budget that relies on fossil fuels. Its harder to understand why legislators who pledge their allegiance to free market principles are trying to cripple a thriving Texas clean energy industry that creates jobs, reduces electricity bills, slashes climate-warming emissions and props up our states shaky electrical grid.

Yet, here we are. Bills moving through the 88th Texas Legislature contain staggeringly expensive natural gas industry giveaways that could cost Texans billions of dollars while undermining our states surging wind and solar industries. Legislators offering to subsidize a wealthy natural gas industry seem to be forgetting that their constituents  ordinary Texans  would be forced to pick up the tab. Lawmakers should scale these bills back or defeat them outright, and Texans should urge them to do so.

Clean energy helps keep the lights on in Texas

In an economy as big as Texas, there is plenty of room  and indeed, a need for  multiple sources of energy. Texas leads the nation in oil and gas production, but it also boasts the top spot in clean energy generation, ranking first among states in wind production and second in solar output. At the same time, soaring population growth and increasingly extreme hot and cold weather are placing unprecedented strain on our states power grid. This demands a savvy mix of energy sources, including oil and gas, wind and solar, nuclear power and additional transmission capacity to deliver electricity to far-flung parts of the state. Instead, the GOP-controlled Texas Senate led by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has prioritized bills that prop up a Texas fossil fuel industry spewing more climate-warming carbon dioxide  by far  than any other state in the nation, while decimating clean energy production that helps stabilize the states power grid when fossil fuel generators fail to keep up with demand. So much for letting the free market pick winners and losers.

At Patricks urging, the Texas Senate on April 5 overwhelmingly approved Senate Bill 6, which would build 10 new natural gas plants across the state at a public cost of as much as $18 billion. The bills backers say the plants would be used only when the grid nears failure during times of peak energy demand, but environmental advocates worry the gas would be fired up more frequently, undercutting the need for clean energy alternatives and the industry itself.

Other legislative proposals aiming to cut clean energy production in Texas include a cap on renewable energy production, new transmission fees, requiring renewable energy companies to subsidize construction of new fossil fuel plants and the elimination of remaining state tax credits for wind, solar and other clean energy sources.

Texas House should amend or defeat deeply flawed Senate bills

It would be a shame if these legislative attacks on clean energy, the climate and the free market in Texas make it to the desk of Gov. Greg Abbott, a staunch fossil fuel industry ally who would almost certainly sign them into law. With the crucial debate over the future of Texas energy policy now shifting from the conservative Senate to the more moderate Texas House, we urge a better reasoned approach that considers not just the demands of oil and gas industry lobbyists but also the potential damage to household budgets of Texans, the environment and the future of Texas energy in an age of declining oil and gas production. Rep. Todd Hunter, the Republican chairman of the House State Affairs Committee, set the right tone at an initial hearing on Texas energy market reform bills in late March.

The one name I never hear is the word consumer or public or the taxpayer or the ratepayer, Hunter said of efforts to restructure Texas energy markets and stabilize the states power grid. Look at the impact on the public, the consumer, the ratepayer and the taxpayer.

Texas can improve grid reliability without attacking wind and solar energy sources that are boosting our rural economies and without piling more costs onto electricity consumers and taxpayers with billions of dollars worth of new natural gas plants. Attacking a clean energy industry that has already created nearly a quarter-million jobs in Texas and counting is short-sighted, counterproductive and egregiously irresponsible considering threats to the planet from climate change. Texans must demand better, and lawmakers owe it to them to deliver.

Dallas Morning News. April 15, 2023.

Editorial: Texas top judge is right: Politics has no place in courtrooms

Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht delivers sobering warning in biennial address

When an elected official has served in office as long and with as much distinction as Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht, the public ought to listen to what he has to say.

Kudos to Hecht, who first became a judge 42 years ago, for delivering a sobering but important message earlier this month in his biennial State of the Judiciary address before members of all three branches of state government.

Partisan politics, he lamented, has worked its way into the judiciary in alarming ways, and threatens to undermine the sanctity of judicial independence.

After speaking for more than 30 minutes about the effects of COVID-19 and other matters facing Texas courts, Hecht paused and sighed before ending his remarks.

And I must add this, he said. I grow concerned that political divisions among us threaten the judicial independence essential to the rule of law.

Lawmakers and other elected officials of both parties put pressure on judges to take sides beyond the fair interpretation of the law. Some unfortunately do. The election of an openly partisan Democratic candidate to the Wisconsin Supreme Court the night before his address highlighted his concern, Hecht said.

The election of the judge is hailed or decried as a political event, not a judicial one, he said. It will not be a one-off. It will be on both sides.

The truth is that it already is.

Hecht, a Republican first appointed to the judiciary in 1981 by Gov. Bill Clements, stopped short of naming any specific Texas judge who had crossed the line into partisanship.

But there can be little doubt that in todays high-voltage political climate some have let their personal views contaminate rulings.

Just two days after Hecht delivered his remarks in Austin, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee in Amarillo, suspended the Food and Drug Administrations initial authorization back in 2000 of the widely used abortion drug mifepristone.

Minutes later, U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice, an Obama appointee in Washington state, issued a conflicting ruling barring the FDA from altering the status quo of the drug. Late Wednesday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals partially granted and rejected the federal governments emergency request to put on hold Kacsmaryks ruling.

When judicial accountability is measured by whether a judge decides cases the way people like, the way some people like, and what they like is different from what the law is, the pressure is on the judge to surrender independence, and the law to popular will, Hecht said. We should oppose it in every form at all costs.

We agree and urge lawmakers to take notice of Hechts concerns. Too often legislators, especially in Congress, shirk their responsibility to enact clear legislation or face difficult social questions, leaving the courts to establish law instead of interpreting it.

All judges in courts both low and high should be free from and reject the ugly partisan politics that have sadly sown such public distrust. We thank Hecht for the reminder.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram. April 14, 2023.

Editorial: Gov. Abbotts rush to promise a pardon for Austin killer looks bad because it is bad

Texas lawmakers spend a lot of time talking about maintaining law and order, objectively and fairly, across the whole state. That includes Gov. Greg Abbott. But apparently, law and order can be more subjective, even cherry-picked, depending on whether your case catches the attention of the highest office in the state.

On April 7, a Travis County jury convicted Daniel Perry, an Army sergeant, of murder. Perry shot and killed Garrett Foster, a Black Lives Matter protester, at a rally in Austin in the summer of 2020. Abbott tweeted Saturday that he was working as swiftly as Texas law allows regarding the pardon of Sgt. Perry citing Texas Stand Your Ground self-defense law. He added: I look forward to approving the Boards pardon recommendation as soon as it hits my desk.

Abbott also asked the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to expedite his requested review of Perrys conviction, because Texas law wont allow him to approve a pardon without a recommendation from the board.

Its worth noting that Abbott tweeted this just one day after Fox News host Tucker Carlson called on Abbott to pardon Perry, saying on his show Friday night that the verdict means that in the state of Texas, if you have the wrong politics, youre not allowed to defend yourself.

Plain and simple, Abbotts pardon call looks bad because it is bad: What happened to law and order? Abbott has made his career on it, but now hes using his platform and power to subvert the law and undermine justice  particularly for the victim and his family  to offer a preemptive pardon?

To make matters worse, theres been a new development: Attorneys for Perry have filed a motion asking for a new trial, alleging misconduct by one of the alternate jurors and contending that Judge Clifford Brown excluded pertinent evidence to the case that might actually exonerate Perry.

Brown still has to sentence Perry, but could also grant a new trial. But it makes Abbotts leap look worse: Unless he somehow knew the defense was going to request this, he was already waving around a pardon. In other words, before it even became known that Perrys defense thinks he had an unfair trial, Abbott didnt care. He wanted to pardon Perry regardless.

Abbotts right on one thing: Texas does have robust Stand your ground laws that favor citizens who protect themselves in the face of imminent lethal danger. But according to a jury of Perrys peers in Travis County  at least so far  Perry killed Foster in cold blood.

According to evidence presented at trial, Perry first encountered Foster at a July 25, 2020, Black Lives Matter protest in Austin. Both men are white and were carrying firearms. Perry was working as an Uber driver downtown and turned onto a street filled with protesters. As Foster approached, Perry got spooked and shot Foster five times. Perry contends that Foster raised his long rifle and pointed it at Perry first, which prosecutors say never happened.

Self-defense scenarios are tricky. What one person perceives as a lethal threat may be a lesser danger to others. The specifics aside, the jury has made a decision. This isnt a case of some progressive judge implementing his will upon the people; its been decided by a jury, and yet Abbott has signaled he has no problem using his position in power to subvert both the jury and justice.

That fateful night was already a travesty for everyone involved. The jurys decision at least provides the victims family with some measure of relief. An immediate promise of a pardon seems like a slap in the face to a three-year long journey pitting citizen against citizen, order against chaos, and now law against lawlessness.

With or without a mistrial, the fact that Abbott jumped so quickly demonstrates that, at least in this instance, he and the GOP are not interested in advocating for law and order. Subverting justice even once is a miscarriage of justice as a whole.

Houston Chronicle. April 10, 2023.

Editorial: Tennessee expels lawmakers. Will Texas follow?

Before last week, the most famous Tennessee lawmaker ever to be expelled from office ended up in Texas. Unlike what happened in Tennessee last week, it was voters, not fellow lawmakers, who decided they didnt want David Crockett representing them in Congress anymore. His response is legendary: You may all go to hell, and I will go to Texas.

Crockett had plans. In a letter to his daughter Margaret, he described Texas as a paradise. I am in hopes of making a fortune yet for myself and family, bad as my prospects have been, he wrote. Of course, fate had other plans for the king of the wild frontier.

State Reps. Justin Jones from Nashville and Justin Pearson from Memphis, the two Democratic lawmakers expelled from the Tennessee House by their Republican counterparts, could, like Crockett, decamp to Texas if they so desired  Tennessee-Texas ties have traditionally run deep  but theyd be moving to a state just as robustly red as the one theyd be leaving. Regardless, the two lawmakers have vowed to stay and fight. Nashvilles Metro Council voted Monday late afternoon in a 36-0 vote to return Jones to his seat. Pearsons vacant seat will be considered during a special meeting of the Shelby County Board of Commissioners in Memphis on Wednesday.

Jones, Pearson and a third Democrat, Gloria Johnson, faced expulsion, ostensibly for violating rules of decorum. They participated in a boisterous March 30 demonstration led by thousands of school children, teachers and parents demanding action from lawmakers in the wake of the deadly school shooting in Nashville two weeks ago. Johnson avoided expulsion by one vote.

Since House Speaker Cameron Sexton had the option of reprimanding, censuring or removing the three lawmakers from their respective legislative committees, something else must explain his intemperate response. We think we know what it is: GOP lawmakers in Tennessee have something against the name Justin (from the Latin derivative for just, virtuous.) Of the three lawmakers targeted, after all, it was the two Justins who were shown the door, while Gloria gets to stay.

Surely, its the name  too yuppy? too faddish?  although Johnson suggested that maybe, just maybe, its something else.

I think its pretty clear, the former Knoxville school teacher said shortly after the votes on expulsion. Im a 60-year-old White woman, and they are two young Black men. In listening to the questions and the way they were questioned and the way they were talked to, I was talked down to as a woman, mansplained to, but it was completely different from the questioning that they got.

One possible factor in her being spared is that Johnson did not use a megaphone in the assembly as Jones and Pearson did. That the two participated in anything like an insurrection as some Republicans have claimed, however, is ridiculous. They broke rules, not windows.

Its hard not to see the expulsion of Jones and Pearson through the lens of the states difficult history. Johnson reminded reporters that just a few days earlier, during a discussion about bringing back firing squads as a crime-fighting tactic, a Republican legislator suggested bringing back lynching trees, as well. As now-former Rep. Pearson put it, shortly before the vote against him, They didnt like hearing from an uppity Negro. (Pearson and Jones are both in their 20s.)

Tennessee lawmakers can be just as obtuse as they want to be  or as long as voters allow them to be  but what must concern the rest of us is their potential for contagion. In Wisconsin, Montana, Idaho, North Carolina and other states where super-majorities enjoy super control in their legislatures, Lord Actons venerable dictum about the corruptive nature of absolute power holds. Thats why in Tennessee these days lawmakers are confident they can get away with smothering dissent and ignoring thousands of constituents concerned about gun violence. Thats why other state legislatures, taking advantage of extreme gerrymandering, have pushed for the most extreme anti-abortion measures, despite the will of the majority in most states.

Expulsion as a tool for wielding power could happen in Texas, where one party has enjoyed almost absolute control for nearly three decades. Fortunately, neither House Speaker Dade Phelan nor Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, both Republicans, command the super-majorities required to expel a member. (Phelan has always seemed like a reasonable fellow, but arm the lieutenant governor with a super-majority, and he might be tempted.) In 2013, when state Sen. Wendy Davis ran out the clock on anti-abortion legislation, some legislators may have encouraged the hollering from the gallery that disrupted proceedings but no one took over the lectern or was censured.

David Crockett, one of Patricks heroes, consigned his critics to hell. Raise it, we would suggest. Those teachers, students and parents marching on the Tennessee Capitol have the right idea. So do the Uvalde parents and students who have made their anguished voices heard in Austin. Theyre reminding the power-hungry that their appetite has limits. To paraphrase Ol Davy, theyre making sure theyre right, and then theyre going ahead.

San Antonio Express-News. April 11, 2023.

Editorial: Gov. Greg Abbotts call for pardon is an injustice

For eight days, a jury of Daniel Perrys peers, all Travis County residents doing their civic duty, listened and evaluated evidence as Perry stood trial for the 2020 killing of Black Lives Matter protester Garrett Foster, an Air Force veteran.

They then deliberated for 17 hours before reaching the unanimous decision that Perry, a U.S. Army sergeant, was guilty of murder.

Less than 24 hours later, Gov. Greg Abbott, in a deeply troubling move, called for the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to expedite its review of the case so he can pardon Perry. The board has begun to do so, even before a sentencing date has been set by the judge and before his attorneys have done any appeal work or submitted a pardon application. This is justice?

Its not unusual for a jury to render a verdict that seems unfair, nor is it unheard of for a compassionate governor, moved by the obvious injustice of a verdict, to announce a possible pardon.

But this isnt one of those verdicts, and Abbott isnt one of those governors. Abbotts shameless and opportunistic request not only reeks of political calculation and cavalier disregard for democratic norms, but it demonstrates a clear disrespect for the legal process. This is what appeals are for, right?

On the night of July 25, 2020, Perry was moonlighting as an Uber driver in Austin when he ran a red light and drove toward a Black Lives Matter march before stopping. A group of protesters, including Foster, who was legally carrying an AK-47, approached Perry who rolled down his window and shot Foster five times with his legally owned.357 revolver. Perry drove away and called 911.

Perrys attorneys claim their client shot Foster in self-defense after Foster raised his rifle at him. In calling for Perrys pardon, Abbott referenced Texas Stand Your Ground law, which allows people to avoid criminal prosecution if they respond to threats when they are in a place where they have a right to be. But that doesnt apply if a person provokes a threat.

Prosecutors said Perry provoked the violence by driving his car toward the marchers and that Foster was defending himself when he approached Perry. Witnesses said that Foster wasnt aiming his gun at Perry, a point Perry appeared to support.

In a videotaped interview with police, Perry said, I didnt want to give him a chance to aim at me, you know?

Prosecutors also introduced texts and social media post by Perry expressing a desire to shoot protesters. To one friend he wrote, I might go to Dallas to shoot looters.

In a Facebook Messenger chat with another friend, Perry wrote that shooting protesters was legal if it was in self-defense.

Never has Abbott expressed, so quickly, his desire to pardon someone and never for a convicted murderer. But in a case in which a legally armed veteran is killed while protesting by a legally armed active member of the military who had made statements about killing protesters, Abbott has decided that the injustice was done to the convicted murderer.

What happened to being tough on crime, governor?

Abbott talks tough when threatening local district attorneys who decline to prosecute certain nonviolent cases, but when the Travis County district attorney successfully prosecutes a murder case, Abbott sees this as a bridge too far?

If this tragedy had been reversed and Foster killed Perry and then been convicted, would Abbott be calling for the pardon of Black Lives Matter protester?

Its a dangerous precedent to signal that should someone be convicted of a crime, including murder, and if the governor agrees with your politics, a pardon is possible.

Nowhere in Abbotts tweet about pardoning Perry did he mention Foster. Nowhere are there condolences for parents who lost a son, or to Fosters grieving fiancee.

In not acknowledging Garrett Fosters humanity, Abbott revealed the absence of his own. In seeking an expedited pardon for Perry, Abbott undermines the rule of law he claims to support.

END
The Food Bank of Eastern Oklahomas new signature event, The Dinner Party, has star power behind it.

The star power is being provided by Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated actress Alfre Woodard of Tulsa, who, for the fundraiser, is donating a future evening with her in a local private home with her jazz band. Woodard recorded a video message on behalf of the event.

The Dinner Party (formerly known as Empty Bowls) is scheduled 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday, April 20, at Cox Business Convention Center. Though Woodard is backing the venture, she is not scheduled to be at the fundraiser. In addition to Woodard donating a future evening with her (the winner will be determined by live auction), donations include guitars autographed by Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift.

Proceeds from the event go directly to providing food to families in eastern Oklahoma. The Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma serves more than 400 partners and pantries in a 24-county area. Tickets are available at okfoodbank.org (click on The Dinner Party at the top of the page after navigating to the online site). The event will feature a nine-piece band and a three-course meal.
Broken Arrow police on Sunday night were investigating after one person was killed and two people were injured in a shooting in a neighborhood just east of U.S. 169.

Police in a social media post said the shooting occurred about 4 p.m. and the victims were two females and one male.

We can confirm the male victim from this shooting is deceased, BA police said in an updated social media post Sunday night.

The shooting occurred in a neighborhood southeast of 61st (Albany) St. and Garnett Road.

KOTV reported one victim was treated at the scene and two others were hospitalized.

We are following up on leads at this time, BAPD said in a social media post.
The Cherokee Nation provided $3.04 billion in economic impact in fiscal 2021 and over $2 billion in COVID-21 relief impact to the region, according to a report released Monday.

The economic importance of the Cherokee Nation to northeast Oklahoma continues to grow with the expanding economic footprint of Cherokee operations, according to the report, produced by Russell Evans, principal of the Economic Impact Group and executive director of Economic Research and Policy Institute at Oklahoma City University.

The report is another in a series of biennial studies commissioned by the Cherokee Nation regarding its economic impact on the area.

The last report, produced for fiscal year 2018, estimated the Cherokee Nations annual economic impact at $2.16 billion. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed the most recent report.

Evans told a group of about 200 people assembled at University of Tulsas Great Hall in the Allen Chapman Student Union to hear the report that the study likely under-represents the true level of support the tribe provides regionally.

When we talk about the $3 billion economic impact, I just cant emphasize enough that we know that number understates the true influence of the Cherokee Nation in the 14 counties, Evans said.

This is the first report the tribe has released since the U.S. Supreme Court and state criminal appellate court both have acknowledged for criminal jurisdiction purposes the continued existence of reservations for six Oklahoma tribes, including the Cherokee Nations 14-county reservation.

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said the results of the study are validating, point to a strong future for the tribe and reflect history repeating itself.

Because history shows that when the Cherokee people are allowed to exercise the rights endowed by their creator to govern themselves to self-identify, to chart their own course, great things happen, Hoskin said.

The study found that the production of $3 billion in local goods and services supported 18,942 jobs and regional wage and benefits totaling $975 million in fiscal year 2021.

In 2018, the Cherokee Nation provided $836.8 million in wage and benefit support.

Hoskin said it can be difficult to wrap ones head around a figure as big as $3 billion.

But what really matters about that number is what it means for people, what it means in our communities, what it means for men and women who get to earn a living working for the Cherokee nation or working in one of those jobs created by our impact, and what it means for our elders who get to live better lives because of these investments that we can make, Hoskin said.

The nation employs 11,358 directly, of which 3,000 were added in the past decade, according to Hoskin.

Regarding the nations $2 billion COVID-19 response, the study found that over $1 billion were payments made to individuals, including $826.9 million in direct support to citizens and $220.8 million in paycheck support to tribal workers.

The study also found that the nation had built or repaired nearly 91 miles of roads in the region and installed 17.1 miles of water lines.

What this means is safer transportation in some of these rural communities so the school bus can get from school to home, Hoskin said, referring to the improved roads.

Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell, who attended the presentation, thanked the tribe for all the work it does in the region.

I just want to say thank you on behalf of the state of Oklahoma for what you do for the state, for who you are, and again, as far as my lieutenant governor office in our executive branch, I assure you that will continue to be a working relationship from county to county and from sovereign to state, Pinnell said.

The report also found the nation:

Paid $27.3 million in state compacting fees.

Provided $7.4 million in Cherokee Nation vehicle tag fees to public schools in the reservation.

Spent $30 million on repairs to tribal members homes.

Hoskin said not all spending had an immediate, measurable impact, such as the $16 million the nation has invested in preserving its Cherokee language.

That means something you cant ever see reflected on a spreadsheet, but it also means jobs for more of our affluent speakers, it also means more opportunities to learn the language and use the language, Hoskin said.

The study found the highest economic impact output among the 14 counties was in Rogers County.

Much of the increase in Rogers County is attributed to the growth in Cherokee Nation Businesses federal contracting sector, the report found.

The study found that Rogers County output impact, the total impact to local demand for goods and services produced within the county, to be $1.1 billion, ranking it No. 1 among the 14 counties in that category.

Tulsa County came in No. 2 in impact output with $887 million.

Cherokee County, where the nations headquarters is located, ranked No. 3 in total economic impact output at $337 million. Cherokee County ranked No. 1 in employment with 8,168 employees living there, according to the report.

When you see this historic growth in the impact numberswhat it really should signal to you is the connections between the Cherokee Nation and the economies of northeast Oklahoma gets deeper and deeper every year, Evans said.

The trend is positive during a time of revolving economic instability and uncertainty, Evans said.

When I look at the Cherokee Nation economic impact, and I look at it through the lens of an economist, what I see are deeper connections between the tribe and the northeastern Oklahoma economy and a stabilizing force in unstable times, Evans said.

<&rule>
Stamped in metal next to his name, home address and ID number, the solitary H is easy to miss.

But had Philip Sureck been captured by the Germans, it likely wouldve been spotted immediately.

And as a dead giveaway, it might well have cost the young Oklahoman his life.

Many Jewish American soldiers chose not to include the H (for Hebrew) for that reason, said Janet Dundee of the letter, which on a soldiers military ID tag indicated that he was Jewish.

They felt if they were caught, they would be executed.

Ahead of this weeks 25th annual Interfaith Yom HaShoah/Holocaust Commemoration  which will honor Sureck and five other late Jewish Oklahomans  Dundee was surprised when Surecks dog tag, as the IDs are often called, recently turned up for sale on an antiques and collectibles website.

How it ended up there she has no idea. But Dundee, who is co-chairing the event, was able to buy the tag for Surecks family and will help make sure its in a place of permanent safe-keeping.

Once there, it will be able to serve a larger purpose  helping ensure that the late Sureck, along with other Army-trained Ritchie Boys who helped defeat the Nazis, will not be forgotten.

Moral Courage: The Story of the World War II Ritchie Boys is the theme of this years commemoration, an annual program of the Tulsa Council for Holocaust Education with support from several partners.

Set for 7 p.m. Thursday at Temple Israel, 2004 E. 22nd Place, the event is free and recommended for ages 12 and older.

The Ritchie Boys, who got their name from Camp Ritchie in Maryland, where they were trained in secret, were an elite Army counterintelligence unit that proved pivotal in the defeat of Germany. They included a number of Jewish German-speaking immigrants, many whose families had fled the Nazis.

Landon Grove, director of the Ritchie History Museum in Smithsburg, Maryland, will be the featured speaker Thursday. During his visit, he will accept Surecks dog tag, which is being donated to the museum at the request of the family.

Along with Sureck, who was from Oklahoma City, Ritchie Boys to be honored at the event include three from Stillwater  cousins Jack Katz and Walter Katz, along with Jacks nephew Theodore Goldenberg  and Joseph Kantor and Ken Renberg, both from Tulsa. Survivors of the six will participate in a candlelighting ceremony.

For years, the story of the Ritchie Boys went largely untold. But thanks to a documentary film, a 60 Minutes segment and other efforts, awareness has been growing.

The Tulsa event will help, organizers said.

As far as the Ritchie Museum is aware, Tulsa is the first midwestern city to host a program about the Ritchie Boys, who primarily have been acknowledged on the coasts.

Moral courage

Thom Shanker had always felt a strong connection to his uncle, Philip Sureck.

From the time he was little, Uncle Phil had been a big part of his life. They even shared a birthday, Nov. 7.

But later as a New York Times war correspondent, when Shanker learned that hed been randomly assigned to his uncles old unit, the connection felt almost spiritual.

I thought, OK, this is meant to be, he said of his time in Iraq, where he was embedded with 1st Infantry Division troops.

A Washington, D.C., resident who started his news career with The Oklahoman, Shanker is dedicated to preserving his late uncles legacy.

He previously donated medals and other items of Surecks to the Ritchie Museum. He said hes glad the Ritchie Boys story is getting more exposure now.

Of the nearly 20,000 troops considered to be Ritchie Boys, about 2,000 were Jewish immigrants who spoke German.

Because of their knowledge of the language and culture, they were used for interrogation of prisoners and counterintelligence work, reporting on German war plans and tactics.

By the time he reported to Camp Ritchie in 1943, Sureck, a graduate of the University of Oklahoma law school, had been a practicing attorney for several years.

Along with his roots  his parents had immigrated from Eastern Europe  his legal background would serve him well in the war effort.

Sureck joined the 1st Infantry Divisions intelligence section in Sicily and later became acting staff judge advocate general for the entire division. He earned a Bronze Star in Sicily for prompt and efficient investigation of subversive elements in occupied areas.

From there, Sureck, who achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel, entered France with invasion forces on D-Day, June 6, 1944, advancing with frontline troops.

Shanker, who sat glued to his seat whenever his uncle talked about the war, said Sureck reminded him of the comic book character Judge Dredd.

Everywhere he went, he was the arresting officer, he was the attorney, he was the judge and decider, he said.

That included deciding the fate of captured Nazi officers, as well as choosing which German bureaucrats and businessmen were key to rebuilding and which should be imprisoned.

After the war, Sureck returned to Oklahoma City. He went on to work for the Veterans Administration and Social Security Administration and was vice president of Union Oil Company of Oklahoma. He died in 2005 at 94.

Sureck, who never had children of his own, left his military items to Shanker.

However, Shanker had never seen the dog tag before, he said.

Along with it, the tag of Philips brother Maj. Jacob Sureck (who served but was not a Ritchie Boy) was also found for sale online. Dundee was able to procure both for the family.

Im very thankful they were found and saved, Shanker said.

The H designation on Surecks tag doesnt surprise him, he added.

I dont think he ever would have thought not to have it, Shanker said. Being Jewish was just who he was.

Dundee, whose husband, Jeff Darby, is co-chairing the commemoration with her, said she cant get over the serendipity of finding Surecks dog tag.

To be able to present it to the museum on behalf of the family is an honor, she added.

My father was an immigrant from Latvia and a World War II veteran. Im a first-generation American like Philip was, Dundee said.

Dundee hopes fellow Tulsans will enjoy learning about the Ritchie Boys as much as she has.

Organizers searched for months to come up with the six names. Around 300 of the Ritchie Boys were from Oklahoma, but the focus for the Holocaust commemoration was on the ones who were Jewish.

This has proven to be an amazing journey of learning about these special people, Dundee said.

Every soldier has courage. But for these men whose families came here  to be here and be safe and then choose to go back, it takes a special courage. Thats why we chose moral courage as the title.

25th annual Interfaith Holocaust Commemoration What: "Moral Courage: The Story of the World War II Ritchie Boys," featuring Landon Grove, director of Maryland's Ritchie History Museum When: 7 p.m. Thursday, April 20 Where: Temple Israel, 2004 E. 22nd Place Admission: Free. Recommended for ages 12 and up. Other features: Live music; exhibit of student entries from the 2023 Yom HaShoah Art Contest; a candle-lighting ceremony in honor of six Oklahoma Jewish Ritchie Boys. The Tulsa City-County Library will also have available for checkout many Holocaust books and media. In addition, Circle Cinema will host screenings of a "Ritchie Boys" documentary daily through Wednesday.

<&rule>
A west Tulsa woman will face trial after testimony from her ex-boyfriend painted her as principal to a murder that prosecutors say she encouraged him to commit, a judge decided.

Special Judge Loretta Radford on Thursday bound over Brinlee Denison on a first-degree murder charge in the January 2022 death of Sarah Maguire, a 29-year-old woman who allowed Denison and Nicholas Johnson to stay in a shed behind her west Tulsa home.

Denison, 26, was also bound over on a charge of larceny of an automobile stemming from her alleged theft of Maguires vehicle, which she and Johnson allegedly took on a road trip funded by Maguires credit cards after her death.

Johnson pleaded guilty to the same charges and apologized to Maguires family in July. Hes currently serving a life sentence with a chance at judicial review in five years.

Shackled and clad in prison clothes, Johnson described he and Denisons relationship as on again, off again and said he went to Maguires home near 41st Street and Route 66 the night of the murder primarily to collect his things but also to convince Denison to get back with him. When he came across intimate photos of Denison and Maguire, he became enraged with jealousy.

Then I talked about killing Sarah, he testified. (Denison) said thats probably not a great idea but she had my back no matter what I did.

Denisons purported supportive phrase was enough to make her principal to Maguires murder despite not wielding the weapon used, Radford said, for encouragement carries liability.

Her finding brought tears to many in Maguires family after defense attorney Marny Hill argued an accessory charge would be more appropriate for her client.

Painting Denison as a scared woman, Hill said Denison insisted on using Maguires stolen vehicle and credit cards to help police track the pair despite Johnsons wish to get rid of them.

Fayetteville, Arkansas, police caught the pair sleeping in the vehicle at a fast food stop on their way to a state park Denison wanted to go to, Johnson said.

Tulsa Police Det. Linda Hanna said Denison, in her interview with investigators, admitted to seeing the murder, helping destroy evidence and traveling willingly to Arkansas.

Beyond acknowledging that Denison cried a little bit and said she blamed herself for Maguires death, Hanna rejected Hills suggestion that Denison could have been in shock after the killing.

I think she knew what she was doing, Hanna said.

Denison and Johnson had a conversation while smoking a cigarette prior to the killing about murdering Sarah, stealing her stuff, fleeing somewhere and changing their identities, Hanna said.

Johnson testified that Denison helped him wash his murder weapon and later initiated sex with him in an adjoining room as he could hear Maguire struggling to breathe. However, he confirmed to Hill that detectives did once accuse him of raping Denison and, while talking about their pairs road trip afterward, said he wouldnt be surprised if Denison was afraid of him and wanted away from him.

Denisons district court arraignment is April 24.
A long-running dispute between McCurtain County officials and a father-and-son reporting team exploded far beyond the states southeast corner over the weekend after the publication of a story and the release of audio recordings in which a county commissioner, the sheriff and two sheriffs office employees allegedly discuss lynching Black people, compare a woman burned to death in a house fire to barbecue, and mention two big, deep holes for disposing of the troublesome reporters.

The Oklahoma Attorney Generals Office confirmed it is investigating the matter. The FBI would not confirm an investigation.

I am both appalled and disheartened to hear of the horrid comments made by officials in McCurtain County, Gov. Kevin Stitt said Sunday night in a written statement. There is simply no place for such hateful rhetoric in the state of Oklahoma, especially by those that serve to represent the community through their respective office. I will not stand idly by while this takes place.

In light of these events, I am calling for the immediate resignation of McCurtain County Sheriff Kevin Clardy, District 2 Commissioner Mark Jennings, Investigator Alicia Manning, and Jail Administrator Larry Hendrix.

Stitts office said he would ask the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to investigate, although no such request had been made as of Monday evening.

Second District Congressman Josh Brecheen also issued a strongly worded statement.

These vile comments reflect the heart condition of a few and do not reflect the values of McCurtain County and Oklahoma, he tweeted. Those involved must be held accountable so the people of McCurtain County can have faith in their government.

In a story published over the weekend, the McCurtain Gazette-News said it had recorded a conversation among the four following a March 6 McCurtain County Commission meeting. Editor Bruce Willingham told KWTV Channel 9 in Oklahoma City hed left a recorder behind hoping to get evidence of Open Meetings Act violations.

He did, Willingham said, but along with that he picked up a long conversation that included discussions of possible ways to kill Willinghams son, reporter Chris Willingham, who according to court records had filed a federal lawsuit against Clardy, Manning and the McCurtain County Commission the same day. Chris Willingtons wife, Angie, is also mentioned in passing by someone the newspaper identifies as Manning.

Willinghams petition says the newspaper published a series of stories in 2021 and 2022 detailing accusations of mismanagement and favoritism within the sheriffs office and alleging Clardy, the sheriff, and Manning, his chief investigator, had a sexual relationship. It also notes that Clardy appointed Mannings brother undersheriff.

According to the lawsuit, Manning retaliated by telling people that Chris Willingham was part of a child pornography ring. That accusation is the basis of much of Willinghams suit, which claims slander and other damages.

The recordings made available by the Gazette-News match its reporting but the identities of the people speaking could not be independently verified.

A woman, identified as Manning, says she might not be able to restrain herself if she encounters Chris Willingham on the street. A man, identified as Jennings, the county commissioner, said he has two pre-dug holes if Manning ever needs them, and says he knows two or three hit men in Louisiana.

The conversation also included complaints about District Attorney Mark Matloff, district judges and Black people. One of those present, identified as Jennings, says he longed for the day when law officers could knock Blacks around, throw them in jail and take them down to Mud Creek and hang them up with a rope.

Notably, Jennings office is located on Martin Luther King Boulevard in Idabel, according to the McCurtain County web site.

On the recording, someone identified as Clardy talks about removing the remains of the woman burned in the fire and says county personnel joked about eating barbeque afterward.

According to Chris Willinghams lawsuit, Clardy and the McCurtain County Sheriffs Office have been at odds since at least 2021, when he began an eight-part series on MCSO. Tensions heightened in spring 2022 after a burglary suspect hog tied by citizens at Eagletown died after a McCurtain County deputy tazed him and a national organization sued on the Gazette-News behalf to get access to MCSO records on the incident.

According to KWTV, neither Clardy nor Jennings attended Monday mornings county commission meeting. About 100 protested outside the commission offices, and McCurtain Memorial Hospital closed all entrances except the emergency room, apparently from fear of rioting, but the town remained quiet.

The McCurtain News-Gazette does not have an online presence but has made the audio available online. It says it has sent copies to the FBI and the Oklahoma attorney general.

<&rule>
The Oklahoma Senates and House of Representatives differing views of public education spending entered the formal negotiations stage on Monday with the Houses rejection of Senate amendments to House Bills 2775 and 1935.

The procedural move, which was expected, moves discussions to a conference committee of House and Senate members looking for a way to reconcile what seem to be considerable differences between the two chambers.

The House is prepared to assign conferees and get to work immediately as we strive to provide the citizens of Oklahoma with an education plan that works for every student, every parent, every teacher and every school in the state, Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, said in a written statement Monday afternoon.

A spokesman for Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, said there are active discussions and directed reporters to Treats comments at a Thursday press conference.

I dont like to put odds on these things, Treat said then. I dont feel real hopeful this week based on progress, but were in April.  Well have a breakthrough, hopefully, if all parties want to get to the goals they say they do.

I know were committed to giving parents more choice and to infusing a large amount of money into the public school system. Were operating in good faith and we hope the others are as well.

The House and Senate agree that common education should get a boost in appropriations of around $600 million this year, of which a large share would go for tax credits to help parents pay for private schools or homeschooling.

The House wants the tax credits available to everyone, while the Senate wants them limited to households with annual income of less than $200,000.

Another major disagreement is over the distribution of funds to school districts. The Senate wants to send all new money through the existing state aid formula, while the House wants a disproportionate share to go to smaller districts.

There are also disagreements over allocating raises for teachers and support personnel.

Lawmakers have a little over a month to work out a compromise ahead of the constitutionally mandated final adjournment on the last Friday of May.

<&rule>
How will Israel confront the Iranian regimes multi-front assault? By Yoni Ben Menachem

web posted April 17, 2023 Escalating terrorist attacks against Israelis and attacking Israel with rockets during Passover from Gaza, southern Lebanon, and Syria are only the first stages in the war of attrition by the Axis of Resistance led by Iran. The war plans use the strategy of uniting the fronts devised by General Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force in Irans Revolutionary Guards, who was assassinated by the United States in Iraq in January 2020. Irans Revolutionary Guards planned the attacks on Israel for a long time in cooperation with its affiliates. The current round of fighting is only the first stage in Irans phased plan to destroy Israel, and the next stages will follow. The Axis of Resistance led by Iran estimates that the wave of Israeli protests against judicial reform and recent crises with the United States have weakened Israel. They believe the IDF cannot fight simultaneously on several fronts and deal with attacks of tens of thousands of rockets, precision missiles, and drones launched from across several borders, accompanied by a wave of terror from the West Bank. Regarding Iran and Hizbullah, the strategic situation at the time of the 2006 Second Lebanon War has wholly changed. Hizbullahs power has grown exponentially; today, it has an arsenal of 150,000 rockets and precision missiles. Moreover, Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah claims he is not afraid of a military confrontation with Israel (while continuing to operate from a bunker deep under Beirut to avoid an Israeli attempt on his life). Following the pummeling of Hamas in the 2021 Gaza war, Iran, Hizbullah, and Hamas established Hamas bases in Lebanon, recruiting fighters from refugee camps north of Israel. The IED bomb explosion at Israels Megiddo Junction in the north on March 13, 2023, was believed to have been rigged by a Hamas-Lebanon operative who crossed from Lebanon.

Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah (in brown cloak) met Hamas leaders Ismael Haniyeh (on the right of Nasrallah) and Saleh al-Arouri,

(Haniyehs deputy in Lebanon next to Haniyeh) on April 8, 2023. (Hizbullah Media Office, BNN Network) Recent disturbances inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount were planned and provoked by Hamas. As expected, Israeli police dispersed rioters by force, and the stark images of the clashes were quickly distributed on Hamas social media and beyond. The social media posts triggered outrage and a call for revenge across the Muslim world. The Temple Mount violence also sought to ignite Israels Arab sector to riot as it did in May 2021 during the Guardians of the Walls military operation against Hamas in Gaza. The overall goal of the Iran-led axis of resistance is to gradually weaken the IDF, tarnish Israels image as a democracy, erase the IDFs reputation as the strongest army in the Middle East, and erode the morale of the Israeli public. Irans strategic vision is to trigger a significant conflict liberating all of Palestine from Israel  from the river to the sea  which the regime sees as possible. Iran is in no hurry; it believes the battle is long. The first stage in the disintegration of Israel has already begun, the Zionist project has started to collapse, and the pressure on Israel should be increased gradually. ======================================================================== Iran Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei: Israel Wont Survive Another 25 Years We have said that [Israel] will not see the next 25 years, but it seems that they are in a hurry and want to leave quickly, Khamenei said on April 4, 2023, commenting on the internal political crisis. This entity [Israel], since its inception, has never faced such terrible problems as it has today, and it is now suffering from political instability, and within four years, it has changed four prime ministers, and party alliances are disintegrating before they are formed, he added. ======================================================================== Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah has scheduled a speech ahead of the World Jerusalem Day commemoration, where he will address the recent events on the Temple Mount, Gaza, and the Lebanese border. His deputy, Sheikh Naim Qassem, foreshadowed the message on his Twitter account on April 7: Zionist leaders arrogance was threatening; deterrence is active. The Palestinian Jihad fighters are in the field, and the entire axis of resistance is vigilant. The defeats of the Zionist enemy are accumulating, and victory will come. Iran estimates that Israel is at one of its lowest points since its establishment while Iran grows stronger. Iran is close to obtaining nuclear weapons. It has joined the Russian-Chinese axis while the United States is being pushed out of the Middle East. Iran has improved its relations with Saudi Arabia and will soon draw closer to more countries in the Gulf. In Irans estimation, the balance of power in the Middle East has tilted in its favor. Israels military attacks on Iran and Hizbullah in Syria cannot defeat them. The Palestinians, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, and Lebanon have a common interest in uniting with Iran against Israel. The Israeli Response Senior political officials in Jerusalem say that the Israeli military response to the rocket attacks from Gaza and southern Lebanon was careful and measured in a way that would not lead to an all-out war on several fronts. Israel does not seek such a war at the current time. The Resistance Axis unification of fronts implemented by Iran is dangerous for Israel, and it needs to find the right way and timing to deal with it. In the most recent fighting, Israel lost the initiative and the ability to surprise. It had to respond to the enemies aggression in a way that would not lead to further escalation. The primary consideration of the political echelon was to quietly pass the current period until after Passover, the month of Ramadan, and Israel Independence Day celebrations without unnecessary escalation. Israels leaders will avoid being dragged by the provocations of Hamas and Hizbullah. A senior security official says that the Axis of Resistance led by Iran is utterly wrong in its assessment of the situation regarding Israels national strength. The state of Lebanon is in danger of disintegration and not Israel. Despite Hizbullahs large arsenal of weapons, a strong military strike by Israel on Hizbullah and Lebanons civilian infrastructure will lead to its collapse. Israel is now preparing for a military attack on Irans nuclear facilities and will not allow it to obtain nuclear weapons. Israel has the power to achieve this goal. The last word has not yet been said, and Israel is now reorganizing to thwart Irans phased plan. Yoni Ben Menachem, a veteran Arab affairs and diplomatic commentator for Israel Radio and Television, is a senior Middle East analyst for the Jerusalem Center. He served as Director General and Chief Editor of the Israel Broadcasting Authority. Home
Keith C. Elder, who has led the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra for the past four years, has resigned his position as the orchestras executive director and CEO.

The resignation is effective immediately. Ron Predl, who served as executive director prior to Elders tenure, will serve as interim executive director while the orchestras board of directors begins a national search.

Elder is leaving the Tulsa Symphony for a similar position with another orchestra.

Some of the details are still being hammered out, but I think well be able to say which orchestra by May 2, Elder said in an interview with the Tulsa World.

In a statement, Tulsa Symphony board president Kyden Creekpaum said: We are grateful for Keiths dedication, passion, and vision during his tenure as Executive Director. We are particularly grateful for Keiths innovative leadership during the difficult days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when TSO garnered national attention for finding creative ways to continue to provide live music experiences for the community.

Elder took over as the Tulsa Symphonys executive director and CEO in August 2019; within seven months, the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered all public performances out of concerns for audience members and performers.

Under Elders leadership, the Tulsa Symphony became the first major orchestra in the country to perform in front of a live audience, when it presented a concert featuring pianist Yefim Bronfman at ONEOK Field on Sept. 5, 2020.

Elder said how the orchestra managed through the COVID-19 pandemic is something of which he is most pleased. The orchestra also performed special radio concerts that were broadcast on Public Radio Tulsa, and created a holiday TV special that aired on KOTV Channel 6, and featured opera star Sarah Coburn.

Being able to be part of the Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial, and having Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra here to perform his All Rise symphony, which was just spectacular, was one of the major highlights of my time here in Tulsa, Elder said.

Events such as these helped to move the Tulsa Symphony into the national spotlight, and was one reason why Elder was chosen as one of the 2020 Tulsans of the Year for Tulsa World Magazine.

But Elder said perhaps the most lasting accomplishment during his tenure with the orchestra was the drafting of a new mission statement, which emphasizes that it is a vital community service organization that entertains, educates, heals, and inspires through musical excellence, innovation, and collaboration.

I was especially proud that Simon Woods, who is the president of the League of American Orchestras, praised the Tulsa Symphonys mission statement in an essay last year as an example of the way all orchestras should operate, Elder said. And Im very pleased at how the Tulsa Symphony has served this community, and I know it will continue to do so in the future.
OKLAHOMA CITY  Tulsan Karry Ward, one of about 490,000 family caregivers in Oklahoma, is part of a silent army.

And a bill making its way through the Oklahoma Legislature would provide a small tax credit to those who take care of a loved one.

Ward is a physical therapist assistant with LIFE Senior Services in Tulsa. She is a caregiver to her grandparents and also took care of her mother, brother and father before he died.

Home care improves a persons quality of life and reduces stress on loved ones, she said.

House Bill 1368, by Rep. Tammy West, R-Oklahoma City, would provide a $2,000 tax credit for the care and support of an eligible family member. The credit would rise to $3,000 if the person is a veteran or has dementia.

Ward acknowledged that caregivers save the state money by taking care of loved ones at home rather than enlisting the help of a nursing home.

This is a good bill, West said. This is a bill that is needed. It is economically good for the state, but, more importantly, this is good for people and their families.

West also carried the measure last year, but it did not secure approval.

It has been approved by the House this year and is now headed to the Senate floor.

I wish it would have happened long ago, Ward said. It is just such an important need.

The measure is dubbed the Caring for Caregivers Act.

The tax credits would cover alterations to a residence, the purchase or lease of equipment such as durable medical equipment, hiring a home care aide, adult day care, health care equipment and technology, among other things.

The person being cared for must be 62 or older. The caregiver must have a federal adjusted gross income of less than $50,000 for an individual and less than $100,000 for a couple filing jointly.

Ward said the tax credit just barely touches what is necessary.

In 2021, about 38 million family caregivers in the United States provided an estimated 36 billion hours of care to an adult with limitations in daily activities, according to an AARP report. The estimated economic value of their unpaid contributions was approximately $600 billion.

Eileen Bradshaw is president and CEO of LIFE Senior Services, a Tulsa-based nonprofit that provides comprehensive services for seniors and their caregivers.

I dont know that the state of Oklahoma could afford to offer a tax credit that is equal to what your typical caregiver expends, Bradshaw said. But I think this is a great starting point.

If the bill is passed and signed into law, the law could be amended later to increase the amount of the tax credit.

AARP Oklahoma has launched a media campaign in an effort to secure passage of the caregiver tax credit.

We are excited it made it this far, said Sean Voskuhl, state director for AARP Oklahoma.

The tax credit is not the only one proposed this legislative session. With billions of dollars in the states savings, Oklahoma lawmakers are also pondering offering tax credits for those who send their children to private schools or home school them, cutting taxes, and offering millions of dollars in incentives to attract industries to the state.

Senate Republicans amended a House bill that would now provide $7,500 in tax credits for private schools for parents earning up to $250,000. The measure sets the amount at $1,000 for parents who home school.
OKLAHOMA CITY  Although Gov. Kevin Stitt was reelected mere months ago, potential frontrunners in the next governors race are already beginning to emerge.

Local political observers say theyre seeing early signs of some of the states top elected officials positioning themselves to run for higher office in 2026.

Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell, Attorney General Gentner Drummond, State Superintendent Ryan Walters, House Speaker Charles McCall and Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat are all possible contenders for the GOP nomination for governor in 2026, said two local political science experts.

None of these elected officials have declared their intent to run. But sometimes actions speak louder than words.

Drummond, Walters and Treat all told the Tulsa World they have no plans to mount gubernatorial campaigns. McCall and Pinnell have not ruled out the possibility.

A longer list of potential gubernatorial candidates could also include anyone who unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate last year after Sen. Jim Inhofe announced his intent to retire, said Michael Crespin, director of the University of Oklahomas Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center.

Stitt wont be eligible to run again because of term limits.

If youre thinking of running, as soon as the guy in front of you is termed out, then you have to start plotting, Crespin said.

Theres the quiet side of beginning to campaign, which largely revolves around getting the backing of key donors. Then theres the more overt side of testing the waters for a campaign, which involves a candidates trying to raise their statewide profile, Crespin said.

Potential candidates wont be blatant in their actions, but they will try to frame issues in a way that they think will be most attractive to voters, said James Davenport, an associate dean at Rose State College who specializes in political science.

Political posturing could be playing a role in the dispute between McCall and Treat on school choice and teacher pay raise bills, Davenport said.

Anybody whos serious about running in 2026 is already starting to think about what they need to be ready for that, Davenport said. That includes what kind of policies to pursue and what kind of approaches their offices should take. Thats already beginning.

Walters is a likely contender for higher office even though hes a controversial figure who has faced opposition from within his own party, Davenport said.

Walters won the state superintendents race after centering his campaign on culture-war rhetoric.

Some GOP lawmakers have criticized him for continuing his campaign rhetoric even after taking office.

Walters campaign manager, Matt Langston, continues to serve as the superintendents right-hand man, now as a top adviser at the State Department of Education.

Local political observers have their eyes on Drummond as a potential candidate because he has made a splash in state government since taking office, Crespin said. Hes also more of a centrist Republican when compared to Stitt and some other leading GOP politicos, he said.

Drummond is constantly in the news, and he is finding bipartisan public support for his attempts to investigate public corruption and bring greater transparency to state government, said Andy Moore, founder of grassroots advocacy group Lets Fix This.

Moore compared Oklahomas next gubernatorial race to the 2024 presidential race. Gubernatorial candidates will line up more speaking gigs and ramp up their social media presence in the same way presidential contenders will start visiting Iowa, which hosts the first presidential nominating contest, he said.

My view is that the next gubernatorial election starts June 1 of this year, or the day after sine die, Moore said in reference to when the Oklahoma Legislature adjourns in May.

Donelle Harder, who managed Stitts reelection campaign, said the GOP political environment is ripe for a government outsider to jump into the next governors race and find success as a dark horse candidate. Harder also played a key role in Stitts first gubernatorial campaign, when the businessman and political newcomer won despite unlikely odds.

I think there is a trend in Republican-dominated states where they do elect back-to-back outsiders, she said. I think thats a real possibility for Oklahoma.

Harder said its too soon for the general public to begin thinking about the next governors race.

But donors are paying attention. Anyone who is beginning to posture for a gubernatorial bid is doing so to signal to Oklahomas wealthiest donors their interest in running for the states highest office, she said.
Masan High-Tech Materials Corporation (MHT) has announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with EQ Resources Limited (EQR) and its existing joint venture partner Cronimet Australia Pty Ltd (Cronimet) related to the Mt Carbine Tungsten Project in Far North Queensland, Australia. The MoU will establish a working relationship based on reciprocity and mutual benefit, exchanging knowledge and experience around tungsten exploration, mining, and processing, while potentially assessing new project opportunities and new product applications, MHT and EQR said in a press release on April 12. EQ Resources Limited is the 100-percent owner of the Mt Carbine Tungsten Mine near Cairns, Australias only primary tungsten producer. The MoU is augmented by an existing long-term offtake agreement that Cronimet Group has signed with MHT, a subsidiary of Vietnams Masan Group, which will see approximately 70 percent of Mt Carbine's production for the next four years allocated to MHT. The proposed strategic partnership between EQR, Cronimet, and MHT aims to continue Mt Carbines growth into a world-class sustainable tungsten operation. The signing of the memorandum was witnessed by Dr. Franziska Brantner, German Parliamentary State Secretary of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, and Dr. Markus Ederer, German Ambassador to Australia. Hon Madeleine King (L), Minister for Resources and Minister for Northern Australia, and Dr. Franziska Brantner, German Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Dr. Franziska Brantner visited Australia between April 3 and 7, together with a high-profile German industry delegation, to meet with Australian government representatives, various industry groups and to establish business-to-business relations in the fields of critical minerals and hydrogen. Servicing the world, Masan High-Tech Materials is the global leader in providing advanced tungsten materials used in key industries such as electronics, chemical, automotive, aviation and aerospace, energy and pharmaceuticals with production facilities in Vietnam, Germany, Canada, and China. As the largest manufacturer of mid-stream tungsten products outside of China, the company has two research and development centers in Germany and Vietnam. It is currently operating the Nui Phao polymetallic mine and a state-of-the art processing plant in Thai Nguyen Province, northern Vietnam. Masan High-Tech Materials is also a globally significant producer of fluorspar and bismuth. EQ Resources Limited is an ASX-listed company transforming its world-class tungsten assets at Mt Carbine in North Queensland, leveraging advanced technology, historical stockpiles, and unexploited resources with the aim of being the pre-eminent tungsten producer in Australia. The company also holds gold exploration licenses in New South Wales. It aims to create shareholder value through the exploration and development of its current portfolio, whilst continuing to evaluate corporate and exploration opportunities within the new economy and critical minerals sector.

Masan High-Tech Materials Corporation (MHT) has announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with EQ Resources Limited (EQR) and its existing joint venture partner Cronimet Australia Pty Ltd (Cronimet) related to the Mt Carbine Tungsten Project in Far North Queensland, Australia.

The MoU will establish a working relationship based on reciprocity and mutual benefit, exchanging knowledge and experience around tungsten exploration, mining, and processing, while potentially assessing new project opportunities and new product applications, MHT and EQR said in a press release on April 12.

EQ Resources Limited is the 100-percent owner of the Mt Carbine Tungsten Mine near Cairns, Australias only primary tungsten producer.

The MoU is augmented by an existing long-term offtake agreement that Cronimet Group has signed with MHT, a subsidiary of Vietnams Masan Group, which will see approximately 70 percent of Mt Carbine's production for the next four years allocated to MHT.

The proposed strategic partnership between EQR, Cronimet, and MHT aims to continue Mt Carbines growth into a world-class sustainable tungsten operation.

The signing of the memorandum was witnessed by Dr. Franziska Brantner, German Parliamentary State Secretary of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, and Dr. Markus Ederer, German Ambassador to Australia.

Hon Madeleine King (L), Minister for Resources and Minister for Northern Australia, and Dr. Franziska Brantner, German Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action

Dr. Franziska Brantner visited Australia between April 3 and 7, together with a high-profile German industry delegation, to meet with Australian government representatives, various industry groups and to establish business-to-business relations in the fields of critical minerals and hydrogen.

Servicing the world, Masan High-Tech Materials is the global leader in providing advanced tungsten materials used in key industries such as electronics, chemical, automotive, aviation and aerospace, energy and pharmaceuticals with production facilities in Vietnam, Germany, Canada, and China.

As the largest manufacturer of mid-stream tungsten products outside of China, the company has two research and development centers in Germany and Vietnam.

It is currently operating the Nui Phao polymetallic mine and a state-of-the art processing plant in Thai Nguyen Province, northern Vietnam.

Masan High-Tech Materials is also a globally significant producer of fluorspar and bismuth.

EQ Resources Limited is an ASX-listed company transforming its world-class tungsten assets at Mt Carbine in North Queensland, leveraging advanced technology, historical stockpiles, and unexploited resources with the aim of being the pre-eminent tungsten producer in Australia.

The company also holds gold exploration licenses in New South Wales.

It aims to create shareholder value through the exploration and development of its current portfolio, whilst continuing to evaluate corporate and exploration opportunities within the new economy and critical minerals sector.
Prof. Morten Meldal, the winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, gave a lecture to students and scientists of the University of Science under the Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City on Monday morning. Meldal, who was recognized for the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry with scientists Carolyn Bertozzi and Barry Sharpless, delivered a speech on the topic during his visit to the University of Science. The Danish winner described click chemistry as a way to build complex structures and link them as if they were pieces of Lego, the plastic construction toy. The field of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry has been harnessed to improve the targeting of cancer pharmaceuticals now being tested in clinical trials, along with a host of health, agricultural, and industrial applications, according to Reuters. Meldal also highlighted the importance of encouraging curiosity and creating conditions for the young generation to have early access to chemistry in order to have breakthrough discoveries in the future. The scientist, who is a professor of chemistry at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, is slated to attend the opening ceremony of the National Chemistry Olympiad for students, which is set to be hosted by the University of Science from Tuesday to Sunday. He will also give a lecture to students and scientists of the Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City at the competition. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

Prof. Morten Meldal, the winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, gave a lecture to students and scientists of the University of Science under the Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City on Monday morning.

Meldal, who was recognized for the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry with scientists Carolyn Bertozzi and Barry Sharpless, delivered a speech on the topic during his visit to the University of Science.

The Danish winner described click chemistry as a way to build complex structures and link them as if they were pieces of Lego, the plastic construction toy.

The field of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry has been harnessed to improve the targeting of cancer pharmaceuticals now being tested in clinical trials, along with a host of health, agricultural, and industrial applications, according to Reuters.

Meldal also highlighted the importance of encouraging curiosity and creating conditions for the young generation to have early access to chemistry in order to have breakthrough discoveries in the future.

The scientist, who is a professor of chemistry at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, is slated to attend the opening ceremony of the National Chemistry Olympiad for students, which is set to be hosted by the University of Science from Tuesday to Sunday.

He will also give a lecture to students and scientists of the Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City at the competition.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
North Korea held a ceremony on Sunday to celebrate the completion of 10,000 new modern homes in the newly built Hwasong District in Pyongyang, state media KCNA reported. Leader Kim Jong Un took part in the ceremony, the report said, as well as a number of senior government officials including Kim Tok Hun, premier of the cabinet. The milestone comes two months after Kim broke ground in February on another housing project that has been described as "another luxurious street of socialism full of the people's happiness" by KCNA. A North Korean flag flutters on top of the 160-metre tall tower at North Korea's propaganda village of Gijungdong, in this picture taken from Tae Sung freedom village near the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), inside the demilitarised zone separating the two Koreas, in Paju, South Korea, September 30, 2019. Photo: Reuters In 2021, North Korea announced plans to build 50,000 new apartments in the capital over the course of five years. Since then, North Korea said it has moved forward with a series of construction projects, some of which are still ongoing amid foreign suspicion of food shortages. Kim said the housing project is a long-cherished plan being pushed forward as a "top priority" by the Workers' Party of Korea and the state and he reaffirmed his idea to make Pyongyang a "world-famous" city, according to KCNA.

North Korea held a ceremony on Sunday to celebrate the completion of 10,000 new modern homes in the newly built Hwasong District in Pyongyang, state media KCNA reported.

Leader Kim Jong Un took part in the ceremony, the report said, as well as a number of senior government officials including Kim Tok Hun, premier of the cabinet.

The milestone comes two months after Kim broke ground in February on another housing project that has been described as "another luxurious street of socialism full of the people's happiness" by KCNA.

A North Korean flag flutters on top of the 160-metre tall tower at North Korea's propaganda village of Gijungdong, in this picture taken from Tae Sung freedom village near the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), inside the demilitarised zone separating the two Koreas, in Paju, South Korea, September 30, 2019. Photo: Reuters

In 2021, North Korea announced plans to build 50,000 new apartments in the capital over the course of five years.

Since then, North Korea said it has moved forward with a series of construction projects, some of which are still ongoing amid foreign suspicion of food shortages.

Kim said the housing project is a long-cherished plan being pushed forward as a "top priority" by the Workers' Party of Korea and the state and he reaffirmed his idea to make Pyongyang a "world-famous" city, according to KCNA.
A man entered a bank on National Highway 13 in Binh Duong Province, southern Vietnam on Monday morning and demanded money, but he was overpowered by security guards. The bank robbery occurred at a Sacombank branch in Lai Uyen Town in Bau Bang District at 11:00 am on the day. He reportedly used an object which looked like a gun to threaten the bank employees. When the security guards of the bank closed the door, the man put up a fight and attempted to run away, to little avail. After being informed of the heist, police officers in Bau Bang District quickly rushed to the scene to investigate the case and arrest the robber, who suffered mild injuries. The bank was still cordoned off for the investigation at 2:30 pm. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

A man entered a bank on National Highway 13 in Binh Duong Province, southern Vietnam on Monday morning and demanded money, but he was overpowered by security guards.

The bank robbery occurred at a Sacombank branch in Lai Uyen Town in Bau Bang District at 11:00 am on the day.

He reportedly used an object which looked like a gun to threaten the bank employees.

When the security guards of the bank closed the door, the man put up a fight and attempted to run away, to little avail.

After being informed of the heist, police officers in Bau Bang District quickly rushed to the scene to investigate the case and arrest the robber, who suffered mild injuries.

The bank was still cordoned off for the investigation at 2:30 pm.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Read what is in the news in Vietnam today: Society -- Rescuers saved two miners on Sunday afternoon after they had been trapped in a coal mine in northern Quang Ninh Province for 12 hours. -- A residential area in Binh Chanh District, Ho Chi Minh City was still inundated with rainwater on Sunday following a heavy downpour 13 hours earlier. -- A heavy rain shower with strong winds on Saturday evening blew off the roofs of 67 houses and felled hundreds of fruit trees in southern Tien Giang Province, causing damage of nearly VND2.6 billion (US$110,885), a local official said on Sunday. -- Authorities in Hue, the capital city of central Thua Thien-Hue Province, announced on Sunday an online map providing tourists with the locations of nearly 350 free public toilets at local businesses and households. -- Police in north-central Ha Tinh Province said on Sunday that they had arrested a Hanoi man for illegally entering Vietnam from Laos through a small trail in the border area on Friday. -- Authorities in south-central Khanh Hoa Province said on Sunday that a female tourist fell off the stairs at Tram Huong Tower, an attraction in Nha Trang City, to her death right on the spot while taking pictures there on Saturday afternoon. -- A seven-year-old girl drowned after a pedal boat carrying her and her mother overturned in northern Hai Duong Province on Sunday. Education -- Prof. Morten Peter Meldal, the winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, is slated to give a lecture to students and scientists of the University of Science under the Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City on Monday morning. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

Read what is in the news in Vietnam today:

Society

-- Rescuers saved two miners on Sunday afternoon after they had been trapped in a coal mine in northern Quang Ninh Province for 12 hours.

-- A residential area in Binh Chanh District, Ho Chi Minh City was still inundated with rainwater on Sunday following a heavy downpour 13 hours earlier.

-- A heavy rain shower with strong winds on Saturday evening blew off the roofs of 67 houses and felled hundreds of fruit trees in southern Tien Giang Province, causing damage of nearly VND2.6 billion (US$110,885), a local official said on Sunday.

-- Authorities in Hue, the capital city of central Thua Thien-Hue Province, announced on Sunday an online map providing tourists with the locations of nearly 350 free public toilets at local businesses and households.

-- Police in north-central Ha Tinh Province said on Sunday that they had arrested a Hanoi man for illegally entering Vietnam from Laos through a small trail in the border area on Friday.

-- Authorities in south-central Khanh Hoa Province said on Sunday that a female tourist fell off the stairs at Tram Huong Tower, an attraction in Nha Trang City, to her death right on the spot while taking pictures there on Saturday afternoon.

-- A seven-year-old girl drowned after a pedal boat carrying her and her mother overturned in northern Hai Duong Province on Sunday.

Education

-- Prof. Morten Peter Meldal, the winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, is slated to give a lecture to students and scientists of the University of Science under the Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City on Monday morning.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Two children died after a fire swept through a local house in Thanh Hoa Province, north-central Vietnam on Sunday morning. The deadly fire took place at 4:20 am on Nguyen Van Huyen Street, Ba Dinh Ward, Thanh Hoa City. At the time of the incident, five family members were trapped inside the three-story house, with three of them stuck on the second floor and two kids in the attic. Rescuers sawed through an iron window frame on the second floor to take the three people out and send them to a local hospital for emergency treatment. When firefighters approached the attic floor and brought down the two occupants, both of them were found dead. The two kids, the house owners children, were identified as N.N.A., four, and N.T.N.D, eight. The cause of the fatal fire remains under investigation. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

Two children died after a fire swept through a local house in Thanh Hoa Province, north-central Vietnam on Sunday morning.

The deadly fire took place at 4:20 am on Nguyen Van Huyen Street, Ba Dinh Ward, Thanh Hoa City.

At the time of the incident, five family members were trapped inside the three-story house, with three of them stuck on the second floor and two kids in the attic.

Rescuers sawed through an iron window frame on the second floor to take the three people out and send them to a local hospital for emergency treatment.

When firefighters approached the attic floor and brought down the two occupants, both of them were found dead.

The two kids, the house owners children, were identified as N.N.A., four, and N.T.N.D, eight.

The cause of the fatal fire remains under investigation.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Road systems in An Phu - An Khanh and An Phu urban areas, with nearly 18,000 residents in total, in Thu Duc City under Ho Chi Minh City remain undeveloped after more than two decades. Housing Development and Trading JSC (HDTC) and Thu Thiem Investment Development Co. Ltd. (Thu Thiem IDC), the investors of the An Phu - An Khanh and An Phu urban areas, are responsible for developing infrastructure; however, they have blamed each other. Part of Vu Tong Phan Street, the key street to the two urban areas, is blocked. Meanwhile, the 1.2-kilometer Nguyen Hoang Street, connecting Hanoi Highway and Luong Dinh Cua Street, snaking between the two urban areas, has deteriorated for many years. The street was designed to be 37.5 meters wide. HDTC was responsible for upgrading a 17.5-meter-wide part of the street, and Thu Thiem IDC must construct the remaining 20 meters. However, both of them have yet to fulfill their commitments. The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport has repeatedly asked the Thu Duc City authorities to urge the investors to complete the infrastructural development for the past two years. The department also held meetings on May 17 last year and March 23 this year with the municipal Departments of Construction and Natural Resources and Environment, the Thu Duc City authorities, the two investors, and other relevant units over the projects. However, HDTC representatives did not attend the two meetings. Thu Duc City also issued multiple documents asking the investors of the two urban areas to repair Nguyen Hoang Street, but HDTC has failed to comply with the requirements. The 131-hectare An Phu - An Khanh Urban Area now accommodates over 32,000 residents. It has been in development since 1998. The urban area has five blocks: A, B, C, D, and E. After 25 years, only block B is basically connected to road systems. Blocks A and C are around 80 percent complete, while only half of blocks D and E are ready. Many items of the project along Vu Tong Phan and Luong Dinh Cua Streets and infrastructure facilities in the project have yet to be developed. Enterprises erect fences, hindering the connection of Vu Tong Phan Street with other roads in the An Phu - An Khanh and An Phu urban areas in Thu Duc City under Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Le Phan / Tuoi Tre In particular, Tran Luu Street remains incomplete, while some internal roads are paved. Many land lots measuring thousands of square meters in area are left empty on Tran Luu Street. Some locations in the urban areas have become landfills. Additionally, some streets have broken lights or no lights at all. Meanwhile, the 87-hectare An Phu Urban Area currently houses 31,000 people and was started in 2001. Thu Thiem IDC and 12 other investors of the components in the project have yet to complete traffic infrastructure facilities for it. The two urban areas remain incomplete, so traffic infrastructure facilities have yet to be handed over to the state for management, Pham Thanh Phuong, chairman of the Peoples Committee of An Phu Ward, where the two urban areas are located, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper. Nguyen Hoang Street is in dire need of an upgrade, while Vu Tong Phan Street should be connected with Nguyen Hoang Street. However, local authorities and the investors have not reached a consensus, Phuong said. Thu Duc City has received many locals complaints about the infrastructure at the two projects, said chairman of the Peoples Committee of Thu Duc City Hoang Tung. He added that the city has helped cleared the investors difficulties and asked them to quickly develop Vu Tong Phan and Nguyen Hoang Streets. The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport also said that it would propose the municipal Peoples Committee ask Thu Duc authorities to work with Thu Thiem IDC on speeding up the site clearance for the upgrade of Nguyen Hoang Street. Thu Thiem IDC and other investors in the An Phu Urban Area project should complete the technical infrastructure development plan of the project and submit it to the municipal Department of Construction this month. Meanwhile, HDTC must report the investment process of the An Phu - An Khanh Urban Area project and its plan to hand over infrastructure to state agencies. It should also repair and maintain Nguyen Hoang Street and internal roads, while shouldering responsibility for any delay in line with the law. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

Road systems in An Phu - An Khanh and An Phu urban areas, with nearly 18,000 residents in total, in Thu Duc City under Ho Chi Minh City remain undeveloped after more than two decades.

Housing Development and Trading JSC (HDTC) and Thu Thiem Investment Development Co. Ltd. (Thu Thiem IDC), the investors of the An Phu - An Khanh and An Phu urban areas, are responsible for developing infrastructure; however, they have blamed each other.

Part of Vu Tong Phan Street, the key street to the two urban areas, is blocked.

Meanwhile, the 1.2-kilometer Nguyen Hoang Street, connecting Hanoi Highway and Luong Dinh Cua Street, snaking between the two urban areas, has deteriorated for many years.

The street was designed to be 37.5 meters wide. HDTC was responsible for upgrading a 17.5-meter-wide part of the street, and Thu Thiem IDC must construct the remaining 20 meters.

However, both of them have yet to fulfill their commitments.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport has repeatedly asked the Thu Duc City authorities to urge the investors to complete the infrastructural development for the past two years.

The department also held meetings on May 17 last year and March 23 this year with the municipal Departments of Construction and Natural Resources and Environment, the Thu Duc City authorities, the two investors, and other relevant units over the projects.

However, HDTC representatives did not attend the two meetings.

Thu Duc City also issued multiple documents asking the investors of the two urban areas to repair Nguyen Hoang Street, but HDTC has failed to comply with the requirements.

The 131-hectare An Phu - An Khanh Urban Area now accommodates over 32,000 residents. It has been in development since 1998.

The urban area has five blocks: A, B, C, D, and E. After 25 years, only block B is basically connected to road systems.

Blocks A and C are around 80 percent complete, while only half of blocks D and E are ready.

Many items of the project along Vu Tong Phan and Luong Dinh Cua Streets and infrastructure facilities in the project have yet to be developed.

Enterprises erect fences, hindering the connection of Vu Tong Phan Street with other roads in the An Phu - An Khanh and An Phu urban areas in Thu Duc City under Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Le Phan / Tuoi Tre

In particular, Tran Luu Street remains incomplete, while some internal roads are paved. Many land lots measuring thousands of square meters in area are left empty on Tran Luu Street.

Some locations in the urban areas have become landfills. Additionally, some streets have broken lights or no lights at all.

Meanwhile, the 87-hectare An Phu Urban Area currently houses 31,000 people and was started in 2001.

Thu Thiem IDC and 12 other investors of the components in the project have yet to complete traffic infrastructure facilities for it.

The two urban areas remain incomplete, so traffic infrastructure facilities have yet to be handed over to the state for management, Pham Thanh Phuong, chairman of the Peoples Committee of An Phu Ward, where the two urban areas are located, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

Nguyen Hoang Street is in dire need of an upgrade, while Vu Tong Phan Street should be connected with Nguyen Hoang Street.

However, local authorities and the investors have not reached a consensus, Phuong said.

Thu Duc City has received many locals complaints about the infrastructure at the two projects, said chairman of the Peoples Committee of Thu Duc City Hoang Tung.

He added that the city has helped cleared the investors difficulties and asked them to quickly develop Vu Tong Phan and Nguyen Hoang Streets.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport also said that it would propose the municipal Peoples Committee ask Thu Duc authorities to work with Thu Thiem IDC on speeding up the site clearance for the upgrade of Nguyen Hoang Street.

Thu Thiem IDC and other investors in the An Phu Urban Area project should complete the technical infrastructure development plan of the project and submit it to the municipal Department of Construction this month.

Meanwhile, HDTC must report the investment process of the An Phu - An Khanh Urban Area project and its plan to hand over infrastructure to state agencies.

It should also repair and maintain Nguyen Hoang Street and internal roads, while shouldering responsibility for any delay in line with the law.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
What you can do to help the people of Ukraine By David Huntwork

web posted April 17, 2023 Currently, millions of Ukrainian citizens are under siege or bombardment, internally displaced by the Russian invasion, or have fled to neighboring countries to flee the fighting. Millions more are living without heat, running water, or electricity as the Russian forces target civilian infrastructure seeking to plunge the country into darkness, cold, and despair. The largest European humanitarian crisis since World War II is all too real and continues to unfold on a massive scale. Our hearts and prayers go out to the incredibly tenacious and brave people of Ukraine who have both recently and historically suffered so horribly from the claws and predations of the Russian bear. The people of Ukraine have endured over a year of indiscriminate bombardment, targeting of hospitals and schools, systemic looting and rape, mass forced deportations, abductions, torture centers, civilian massacres, the filling of mass graves, and the wholesale destruction of entire cities. The following organizations are rushing humanitarian aid to the region to help feed, clothe, and shelter the vast numbers of desperate men, women, and children who have been forced to abandon their homes and earthly possessions in their rush to safety. - Samaritans Purse - https://www.samaritanspurse.org/ is accepting donations to support food distribution and local rebuilding projects in Ukraine as well as its emergency field hospital providing life-saving treatment to those injured by the conflict. - Slavic Gospel Association https://www.sga.org/ This organization works closely with local churches to provide and distribute blankets, food, water, wood, and coal to those in desperate need of these supplies to survive the winter. Pick a gift from their catalogue to directly help those in need in Ukraine. - Catholic Relief Services - https://www.crs.org/ Providing shelter, hot meals, hygiene supplies, blankets, and transportation to safe areas. A more detailed outline of the extensive response by CRS to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine can be viewed at https://www.crs.org/media-center/current-issues/ukraine-conflict-facts-and-how-help?fbclid=IwAR3vPFRnKB4ZrSCcyG0G_18NYCWLG5MS9GfElV_K0CRdiYx_uLBnbguRRkk - Send Relief - https://www.sendrelief.org/projects/ukraine/ A joint project of the Southern Baptist Conventions International Mission Board and North American Mission board, Send Relief is working through local churches in Poland and Ukraine to provide food, shelter, and other humanitarian assistance. Your gifts provide for the greatest needs of families fleeing the country: emergency food supplies, shelter, transportation, medical care, hygiene kits and, most importantly, gospel hope! - Direct Relief - https://www.directrelief.org/ Direct Relief is a recognized international partner of Ukraines Ministry of Health and supports several groups in Ukraine and regionally with requested medical aidincluding trauma kits, cancer drugs, insulin, antidotes used in chemical attacks, and more. In addition to medical aid, Direct Relief has provided more than $20 million in financial assistance, including direct cash aid to support local healthcare organizations to help Ukrainian refugees obtain needed medications at no cost. How to donate directly to the defenders of Ukraine: https://war.ukraine.ua/donate/ The Ukrainian people will never forget the generosity and support of the international community at our time of greatest need. Every single donation  no matter how small  helps us to defend ourselves and to protect our cherished freedom. Making a secure donation is easy to do using your existing bank card or through Google Pay. All proceeds received go directly to supporting the front-line defense of Ukraine. I encourage the patriots of the United States and all free people the world over to dig deep and bless the brave citizens and patriots of Ukraine with our caring and generosity. Freedom is not free and the inherent right to self-determination does not just stop at our own borders. Self-determination and freedom from the rule of despots and authoritarians is not just something meant for Americans. Instead, it is an inherent right of all people around the globe. David Huntwork is a conservative grassroots organizer, activist, and columnist as well as the proud father of three daughters. The son, grandson, and great-grandson of Ministers of the Gospel he brings a unique blended background of theology and ideology to the great debates of the day. He believes that Faith, Family, and Freedom is the formula for success and the key to a good life and a healthy nation. Home
The administration of Lam Dong Province plans to auction some plots of land in prime locations in Da Lat City, its capital, to raise funds for developing expressway projects running through this Central Highlands locality. Lam Dong is expected to earn more than VND3.1 trillion (US$132 million) from the land auction, the provincial Peoples Committee said on Monday. The proceeds of the land auction will be used to finance the development of the Tan Phu-Bao Loc and Bao Loc-Lien Khuong expressway projects in the 2021-25 period, according to the provincial Department of Finance. Specifically, the Vietnamese province is set to auction land lots A2 and A3 which span over 7,000 square meters at Lam Vien Square and earn an estimated VND342 billion ($14 million) in revenue. Zone A and zone B covering 26,700 square meters at Tran Quoc Toan Park could also go for around VND1.55 trillion ($66 million). A 150ha parcel of land in Tuyen Lam Lake could sell for VND983 billion ($41 million). The expressway projects will link Ho Chi Minh City with Da Lat City in Vietnams Central Highlands province of Lam Dong. Photo: M.V. / Tuoi Tre Another plot of land located at No. 7 on Phu Dong Thien Vuong Street is expected to fetch VND70.8 billion ($3 million) at auction. In addition, the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment is seeking a property valuation company to determine the land price of a residential area and looks to earn nearly VND165 billion ($7 million). The development of the Tan Phu-Bao Loc expressway project, which will link Lam Dongs Bao Loc City with neighboring Dong Nai Provinces Tan Phu District, will cost an estimated VND17.2 trillion ($734 million). Lam Dong will contribute VND4.5 trillion ($192 million). The 74km Bao Loc-Lien Khuong expressway project, which will connect with the above-mentioned route, is slated for completion in 2026 and needs over VND19.5 trillion ($833 million) in investment. Of this, the state budget will account for over VND7.7 trillion ($331 million). Authorities in Lam Dong worked out financial plans to develop these major projects. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

The administration of Lam Dong Province plans to auction some plots of land in prime locations in Da Lat City, its capital, to raise funds for developing expressway projects running through this Central Highlands locality.

Lam Dong is expected to earn more than VND3.1 trillion (US$132 million) from the land auction, the provincial Peoples Committee said on Monday.

The proceeds of the land auction will be used to finance the development of the Tan Phu-Bao Loc and Bao Loc-Lien Khuong expressway projects in the 2021-25 period, according to the provincial Department of Finance.

Specifically, the Vietnamese province is set to auction land lots A2 and A3 which span over 7,000 square meters at Lam Vien Square and earn an estimated VND342 billion ($14 million) in revenue.

Zone A and zone B covering 26,700 square meters at Tran Quoc Toan Park could also go for around VND1.55 trillion ($66 million).

A 150ha parcel of land in Tuyen Lam Lake could sell for VND983 billion ($41 million).

The expressway projects will link Ho Chi Minh City with Da Lat City in Vietnams Central Highlands province of Lam Dong. Photo: M.V. / Tuoi Tre

Another plot of land located at No. 7 on Phu Dong Thien Vuong Street is expected to fetch VND70.8 billion ($3 million) at auction.

In addition, the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment is seeking a property valuation company to determine the land price of a residential area and looks to earn nearly VND165 billion ($7 million).

The development of the Tan Phu-Bao Loc expressway project, which will link Lam Dongs Bao Loc City with neighboring Dong Nai Provinces Tan Phu District, will cost an estimated VND17.2 trillion ($734 million). Lam Dong will contribute VND4.5 trillion ($192 million).

The 74km Bao Loc-Lien Khuong expressway project, which will connect with the above-mentioned route, is slated for completion in 2026 and needs over VND19.5 trillion ($833 million) in investment. Of this, the state budget will account for over VND7.7 trillion ($331 million).

Authorities in Lam Dong worked out financial plans to develop these major projects.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
This week on Foreign Correspondent the ABCs Washington bureau chief Jade Macmillan travels to Florida where Governor Ron DeSantis anti-woke blueprint is taking hold.

The US state of Florida has become the epicentre of a nation-wide culture war and a model for the countrys right wing conservative movement. Led by Governor Ron DeSantis, the only serious Republican rival to Donald Trumps presidential bid, the state has become the place where woke goes to die.

The battlegrounds are schools and universities where new laws on the teaching of issues like race and gender are bitterly dividing communities. While other US States are watching closely, and some even following suit, all eyes are now on Ron DeSantis who is expected to announce a run for the Republican presidential nomination. The question is, will the Governors anti-woke blueprint take him all the way to the White House?

8pm Thursday on ABC.
Paramount+ has unveiled a trailer for UK drama series No Escape, shot late last year in Thailand.

The series adapted from Lucy Clarkes best-selling novel of the same name, includes Jay Ryan, Sean Keenan, Susie Porter & Josh McConville.

Lucy Clarke said: Its been the most incredible experience to see my novel reimagined for screen. Ive loved every moment of the journey from reading early scripts to visiting the set in Thailand. The series is breathtaking: transportive, gripping, and thrilling from beginning to end. I cant wait for viewers to fall in love with it, too!

Aussie Kris Mrksa (White House Farm), is lead writer with Hans Herbots (The Serpent, Cobra) as lead director. Executive Producers for New Pictures are Elaine Pyke and Willow Grylls with Kris Mrksa.

An airdate is yet to be announced.

No Escape stars BAFTA Scotland Award winner Abigail Lawrie (Tin Star) and Rhianne Barreto (The Outlaws) as best friends Lana and Kitty, who are on the run from their lives in the UK. Together they find refuge on a romantic yacht, The Blue, crewed by a group of enigmatic people sailing through South-East Asia. But The Blue harbours dark secrets and the paradise the girls thought they had found turns into a nightmare.

No Escape also stars Jay Ryan (It Chapter Two), Sean Keenan (The Power of the Dog), Colette Dalal Tchantcho (Domina), Elmo Anton Stratz (Westwall) and Narayan David Hecter (Riviera) as the crew onboard The Blue. Susie Porter (Wentworth) and Josh McConville (Fantasy Island) are the Australian detectives investigating the mystery of The Blue, whilst Jake Macapagal (Metro Manila) is Captain Reyes from the local Filipino Police force, determined to discover what really happened onboard The Blue.

No Escape is one of the first original dramas commissioned in the UK that will debut across Paramount+ internationally.
10 News First presenter Sandra Sully will be a Master of Ceremonies for the upcoming Women in Media National Conference 2023.

The event takes place in Sydney in September, spanning all areas of the media industry including journalism, communications, production, public relations, publishing and digital media.

I have supported Women in Media since its inception and am honoured and excited to be part of this years National Conference, said Sully. As a long-time advocate for gender equality in the media industry, I am passionate about supporting and empowering women in their professional journeys.

Recently released data by Women in Media shows weve still got a long way to go to reach equality  and I think we all acknowledge that. This years event will be bigger than ever and that reflects the need that women working in media have to connect and support each other, building valuable networks. Men have been master networkers and we are now catching up.

We are thrilled to have Sandra Sully as our MC for the Women in Media National Conference, said Victoria Laurie, Co-Chair, Women in Media. Sandras extensive experience, professionalism, and passion for empowering women in media make her the perfect fit for our event. We are confident that her presence will enhance the conference and inspire our attendees.

Women in Media National Conference 2023 is held 8-9 September at Sofitel Sydney Wentworth.
Tweakers maakt gebruik van cookies

Tweakers plaatst functionele en analytische cookies voor het functioneren van de website en het verbeteren van de website-ervaring. Deze cookies zijn noodzakelijk. Om op Tweakers relevantere advertenties te tonen en om ingesloten content van derden te tonen (bijvoorbeeld video's), vragen we je toestemming. Via ingesloten content kunnen derde partijen diensten leveren en verbeteren, bezoekersstatistieken bijhouden, gepersonaliseerde content tonen, gerichte advertenties tonen en gebruikersprofielen opbouwen. Hiervoor worden apparaatgegevens, IP-adres, geolocatie en surfgedrag vastgelegd.

Meer informatie vind je in ons cookiebeleid.
Warning: this story contains graphic descriptions of violence. Pseudonyms are used to protect the interviewees identities.

Angela had already been in the UK as an asylum seeker for nine years and four months when we interviewed her. She was still in a state of limbo, unsure whether asylum would be granted, and her story was disturbing to hear.

Angela told us she had left Nigeria after an appalling terrorist attack. Her father was a high-ranking regional politician, a Christian in a mainly Muslim area. Following a political dispute, the family compound was attacked by members of the militant Islamist Boko Haram organisation. Angela told us that her father, her husband and others were killed  and that she was shot at, raped, beaten and left for dead:

I was raped not one, not two, not three  I cant remember how many times. The shocking thing is the person  I remember his face  who chopped my husbands legs is still very much alive. He comes on social media almost every day.

Angela is one of 12 asylum seekers and refugees from Africa and the Middle East we interviewed for a study published in 2020. We wanted to examine not only the experiences that drove them to the UK, but also the psychological effects of their subsequent experiences in the UKs asylum system.

These accounts bear revisiting amid current widespread concerns about the record numbers, welfare and experiences of asylum seekers detained in the UK immigration system.

This article is part of Conversation Insights

The Insights team generates long-form journalism derived from interdisciplinary research. The team is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects aimed at tackling societal and scientific challenges.

Like all the women and men we spoke to, Angela now lives in West Yorkshire. A decade after the attack on her home in Nigeria, she told us she was still having regular flashbacks and experiencing severe trauma. She probably wouldnt have survived the attack without the help of an elderly couple from a nearby village, who initially cared for her. But incredibly, this wasnt the end of her ordeal.

Story continues

The couple contacted their daughter in Lagos and arranged for Angela to travel there, where they thought it would be safer. But when she had medical treatment in the city, members of a Boko Haram cell became aware of her presence and attacked the hospital. She escaped unharmed  but when the elderly couples daughter collected her, the car was shot at and their daughter was killed. Angela told us:

I had to pretend I was dead as well because there was blood all over the car. I think thats when they stopped shooting, because they thought I was dead.

As she talked, Angela pointed to a scar on her calf caused by one of the bullets. It was one of many scars all over her body that offered graphic evidence of her traumatic experiences in Nigeria. Despite this, when a friend of her fathers arranged a UK visa for her, she was only thinking in terms of a temporary stay:

I didnt seek asylum at first because it didnt even cross my head. I never thought Id end up living in the UK.

Taken into detention

Once she reached the UK, Angela hoped her suffering would be over. For the next ten years, she lived in a variety of detention centres, hostels and shared houses in different towns and cities around the UK. For most of this time, she survived on food vouchers and the help of charities and refugee support organisations.

Asylum seekers currently receive a maximum allowance of 45 per week, compared with 77 for those on unemployment benefit. If asylum seekers live in accommodation that provides food (such as a hotel), this drops to to 8.24 per week to cover clothes, non-prescription medication and travel.

Angela was sometimes unable to find a solicitor, so had to represent herself at court hearings and appeals. But since her cousin in Nigeria was a barrister and her mother had a law degree, she adapted to this role quickly  describing how her encounters in court brought out the boldness, the lioness in me. She recalled telling one judge:

I had a beautiful life in Nigeria and its not something I would ever [give up] in my wildest dreams  For the Home Office representative to grate me down to rock bottom  I will not take it  I wont come here and start fabricating lies because I want to stay in the United Kingdom.

A few months before we spoke, after almost a decade in the asylum system, Angela was served with a deportation notice and redetained. She told us:

That was worse than the first time because there was a very hopeless situation. I had no case anymore. All my appeals, everything, court hearing, everything, had been dismissed, refused.

Angela was desperate, aware of the danger she would face on her return to Nigeria. A friend advised her to contact Medical Justice, a charity that supports victims of torture in immigration detention. It found her a lawyer who made a last-minute legal intervention  and she was reprieved:

My ticket was supposed to be for the 25th of May, and it was cancelled on the 24th  ten oclock in the night  I just ran to the room and rolled on the floor like I was going crazy. It was such a shock.

Victims of torture

We didnt seek out traumatised individuals for our research, nor people who had been subject to torture. Yet all 12 who we interviewed described highly traumatic experiences before coming to the UK, including several accounts of torture. Given the sensitivity of their cases, our interviews were all conducted under the condition of strict anonymity.

Gloria had been living in the UK for three years  the shortest time of all our studys participants  having arrived from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a country in the grip of civil war and conflict for decades. Gloria described how her home was attacked by an armed group who abducted both her and her brother. He was killed; she was raped and tortured.

Gloria was vague about how she had arrived in the UK, telling us: I was brought here by someone  I had tortures and then someone helped me to flee and come to here.

She hoped she had reached a safe haven but was put straight into detention, despite her traumatised state. Like Angela, the multiple scars on her body bore witness to the torture she had experienced. Yet she told us in her halting English:

Detention is not just detention  it is prison  Its like youre a criminal, but I am not a criminal. I am in trouble. I am sick but I go in the prison  In the detention, I never ate. I was just crying [and I thought:] Its better maybe they kill me even here.

Glorias account came soon after a report by Freedom From Torture found that the Home Office would sometimes reject the evidence of scars from torture on the grounds that these might be self-inflicted wounds. This changed in 2019 when the UK Supreme Court declared that self-inflicted torture was inherently unlikely.

A supportive solicitor fought for Glorias release from detention, and she was moved to a hostel in Leeds, then one in Wakefield. Her solicitor organised an appeal for asylum, but it was rejected after a few months.

Gloria told us she was then coerced into signing a form agreeing to her deportation after being denied an interpreter  despite immigration rules stating that interpreters are available to all asylum seekers, free of charge, whenever necessary. Her claim of coercion is in line with historical allegations made of some Home Office officials. Refugee organisations also highlighted to us other cases of asylum seekers reporting that they had been tricked or forced into signing voluntary return forms.

Gloria told us:

I was not able to understand or to speak English well. I told them there [should] be an interpreter because Im not going to understand. They said: No, its not the big interview  Then they give me the papers to sign. They just said: We need to put your status, that you are Congolese, in your documents.

When Gloria was finally allowed to read the text translated into French, she realised it related to travelling documents to take me back and deport me. But they didnt tell me that. They told me it was for my nationality.

After this Gloria was taken into detention again, until her solicitor managed to free her and put her in contact with Freedom From Torture, a charity supporting torture survivors in the UK. It arranged a medical examination including photographs of her scars, which enabled her to make another appeal for asylum which, at the time we spoke, was still ongoing.

Gloria told us she had made a mistake coming to the UK, due to the hostility she encountered from the Home Office and the constant uncertainty, anxiety and stress she experienced in the asylum system. She said she had frequently contemplated suicide, even while out of detention and living in a hostel. Despite the horrors she had suffered in DRC, she told us:

I thought I come here to find refuge but  Ive come to find worse problems for me.

After their suffering, further trauma

Having come to the UK to escape appalling suffering, all of our interviewees described experiencing further trauma while in the asylum system.

Between them, they highlighted a number of factors, including the protracted nature of the process, the perceived hostility of the Home Office, the traumatic effects of detention, a lack of control over their own lives, and the humiliation and frustration of being unable to work or contribute to UK society while seeking asylum here. (Asylum seekers cannot do paid work while their claims are being considered. They can do voluntary work as long as it does not interfere with their appointments and hearings.)

Woman waving in the window of a detention centre

One of the most protracted cases was Joys, an asylum seeker from Zimbabwe who had been trapped in the UK system for 14 years when we met her. She was a political activist who came to the UK to escape persecution after fellow activists in Zimbabwe had been arrested, abducted and tortured. She explained:

Im one of the people at the forefront of campaigning against the human rights abuse that are happening in Zimbabwe  We have activists on the ground [there] who have suffered. Theyve been tortured, theyve been beaten, theyve been arrested. They are being abducted for voicing [against] what the government is doing.

Joy had left two young children in the care of her parents in Zimbabwe, hoping to return when it was safe. After her initial asylum claim was rejected, the Home Office ended Joys financial support and ordered her to move out of her accommodation. Her solicitor appealed the decision while she survived on weekly food parcels from the Red Cross.

In all, she had made four applications for asylum when we met her, all of which were beset by very long delays. In the most recent case, she told us:

The judge at the judicial review ruled the Home Office had made an error, and that they should go back and have a look at the case again  [But] the Home Office  just sort of copied-and-pasted the same refusal letter again  although this time they said I could appeal to the tribunal.

When we spoke, Joy was still hoping to return to Zimbabwe and see her children again, but knew the situation was too dangerous. After 14 years, she accepted the uncertainty of her life:

Ive come to a point where I  dont want to keep on thinking of what if, what if, what if, what if? I will just take it as it comes. And then I will make a decision from there.

The Home Office says it aims to process initial claims within six months, but in practice it takes much longer. For example, in November 2022, the Home Affairs Select Committee revealed that, of all people who arrived in the UK by boat to claim asylum in 2021, only 4% had had their claims processed.

Protesters outside a hotel

Sleeping with fear

For all our interviewees, the protracted UK asylum process brought a constant sense of uncertainty, and the continual fear of sudden deportation.

Farah, from Iran, described awaiting a decision from the Home Office as living fear for four years. Fleeing persecution from the Islamic regime, she had paid for a smuggler to bring her into the UK by plane, along with her 11-year-old daughter.

In the UK, they lived in shared houses and hostels with other asylum seekers and refugees from a variety of countries. Farah said that every so often, Home Office officials would arrive to deport residents. She was constantly afraid that they would be next:

I couldnt get out of the depression it made for me  I used to open my window to hear if [the immigration authorities] were coming  Imagine every single night, you are sleeping with fear. I was scared to open the door to people. I didnt have confidence to go out.

But Farah was one of the lucky ones. After four years, her asylum appeal was accepted. In the seven years since then, her daughter has completed a university degree, while she has worked as a teaching assistant and in a variety of voluntary roles  most recently, as an interpreter at her local GP surgery.

Most of our participants expressed a strong desire to contribute to UK society while stuck within the asylum system. They found it intensely frustrating that they were unable to do so, since they werent allowed to work. Some are highly educated and professionally successful in their original countries, and were desperate to use their knowledge and expertise. As Farah put it:

You need to contribute something  Im not a parasite person. You know, I wanted to do something.

According to Anne Burghgraef of Solace, a Leeds-based organisation that offers mental health support for refugees and asylum seekers:

People who come with great knowledge and expertise are forced into years of passivity. There are so many highly skilled people who just need to learn the language properly and adapt to the UK system.

Nevertheless, most of our participants strived to be of service to others within the limited environment of the refugee and asylum seeker community  for example, by volunteering as interpreters or organising social activities. In fact, our research highlighted this as an important coping strategy for our interviewees, to mitigate their ongoing anxiety and trauma.

A hostile environment

It is hard to imagine how any of the asylum seekers and refugees we spoke to would have coped  and in some cases, even survived  without the support of national and local organisations such as Solace.

In every case, our interviewees initial applications for asylum had been rejected. They quickly learned  either from fellow asylum seekers or legal advisers  that this was common practice, a ploy of deterring even the most valid claims. As another asylum seeker from Nigeria, Ebele, said of her initial rejection:

Its part of the process  its like they want to stress people  They want [you] to think  that you can go back [home].

Leon had paid for a trafficker to take him to the UK from Guinea. From an affluent family, he was making a comfortable living as a businessman and owned several shops. However his father, a high-ranking soldier, had a dispute with government officials. Leon described government-sponsored thugs ransacking his shops, stealing his goods, then burning the shops to the ground.

On arrival in the UK, he was taken to a detention centre where he stayed for three months and 11 days. And it was really bad for me, because Id never been to jail in my life.

Aerial view of Manston migrant processing centre in Kent

After a lawyer helped Leon apply for asylum, he moved to temporary accommodation in Huddersfield and then Leeds. His initial application was processed within six months, and refused. He was instructed to leave his accommodation immediately, but had no money and no other options:

In the winter, the Home Office told me to leave the house. I didnt have anywhere to go. It was snowing everywhere. I had to go to stay in the park.

Shortly afterwards, Leon was beaten up and had his bag stolen:

[I lost] all my clothes. I didnt have anything. The same clothes I was wearing. I didnt have anywhere  I was crying.

Leon sought help from Pafras, a Leeds-based asylum seekers charity which assigned him a case worker, gave him clothes, and found him temporary accommodation. He told us the Home Office officials that he dealt with had no concept of what life was like in Guinea or any other troubled African country, and couldnt comprehend the terror he had experienced or would encounter if he returned:

They think we are fine  that everythings fine in my country. Anything you tell them, they always say its a lie  And you cant force them to believe you.

Having been a successful businessman in Guinea, Leon  like many of our interviewees  told us he found it humiliating to live on food vouchers, food parcels, clothes donations, and other forms of charity.

The only thing I hate all my life is begging  to beg for something. I work. I always worked  So [if] I stay with you and youre helping me for some time, Im having difficulty  because its like Im begging you, or Im telling you my problem [so you will] help me.

Digging my grave

Imani is one of our three interviewees who were eventually granted refugee status  in her case, after six years as an asylum seeker. She had come to the UK from Guinea aged only 13.

After the death of her mother, she said she was treated as a slave by her stepmother and suffered genital mutilation. Her family arranged for her to marry an elderly man, but an old friend of her mothers helped her to escape and paid for her to be trafficked to the UK.

Placard lit by candle during night-time protest.

During the six years of her asylum process and despite her young age, Imani said she was faced with constant disbelief and hostility by officials who regularly threatened her with deportation. The Home Office questioned her stated age, and didnt believe that my parents can give me to marriage at the age of 13 years to someone who has another wife.

In her words, the Home Office were digging my grave without even killing me. It was so difficult.

The Home Office notes that cases involving age disputes can be extremely challenging, and that the safety and welfare of children in its care is paramount. In Imanis case, there was a positive resolution.

Having finally attained refugee status, she was able to secure a paid job as a mental health support worker. She also campaigns against female genital mutilation, organising conferences and speaking in the media. She told us:

I share my story, to let them know Im a survivor.

On suicide watch

Previous studies have shown that asylum seekers and refugees generally are around ten times more likely to experience psychiatric disorders than the general population. They have been found to experience high levels of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and suicidal ideation.

This was true of all of our participants. Several reported seriously contemplating suicide. Some, including George, an African asylum seeker who had spent 11 years in the UK system when we met him, had attempted to take their life. He told us:

Ive thought of committing suicide. I was on suicide watch for some time. Twice now, Ive tried to take my own life.

George, who is bisexual, described in graphic detail how, as a teenager, he had been designated a witch and subjected to severe physical and sexual abuse during rituals. He showed us multiple scars and injuries all over his body, including marks where his fingertips had been cut to draw blood.

After 11 years in the UK, George told us that his case was still ongoing, and ongoing and ongoing:

Its hard to be living this life of uncertainty. You dont know what is going to happen. You could just be in the house tonight and theyll come with their squad, break down your door and get you out. Just like that. You just take the life hour by hour.

Like Gloria, George told us he was experiencing constant flashbacks to his earlier violent trauma:

When I try to sleep, I see faces. Sometimes I hear the voice of my mother  shes crying sometimes  And I hear the man that abused me  you know, what he was saying to me. And there was this sperm that he rubbed, you know, he put on my face when he was abusing me. That smell never leaves my nostrils.

More detention and trauma

Under the governments controversial illegal migration bill, introduced on March 7 2023, none of the individuals weve heard from would have been admitted to the UK. The bill effectively denies asylum to anybody who is not part of an agreed scheme, no matter how compelling or urgent their case.

If the bill is passed by parliament, anyone who seeks asylum in the UK without being a part of an agreed scheme will either be returned to their home country or shipped to a third-party country, such as Rwanda, without recourse to any form of legal appeal.

Read more: 'A toxic policy with little returns'  lessons for the UK-Rwanda deal from Australia and the US

In reality, however, it is doubtful that more than a tiny number of asylum seekers will be shipped anywhere. If enacted, the governments bill is predicted to lead to more long-term detention. As Peter William Walsh from the Migration Observatory has pointed out:

One strange quirk of the new bill is that it appears to make it harder, not easier, for the government to remove people who are not considered refugees.

Asylum seekers can only be sent back to their home countries if they are deemed safe  but since the new bill doesnt allow claims to be assessed, there is no way of determining this. This suggests that they would have to be sent to a third-party country.

So far, though, only Rwanda has agreed to serve this role, and is presently only capable of taking 200 people. No one has actually been sent there yet, and it is possible that, due to legal challenges, no one will be. The implication is that most new asylum seekers will be detained indefinitely in the UK, no matter how valid their claims.

According to the most recent statistics, the Home Office has a backlog of 166,100 asylum cases, including 101,400 cases awaiting an initial decision, 4,900 awaiting the outcome of an appeal, and around 38,900 cases subject to removal action.

The Home Office acknowledges the asylum system has been under mounting pressure for several years. It states that it is recruiting more decision-makers to help clear the backlog of cases, with a target of employing 2,500 by September 2023.

However, research by the Refugee Council suggests the governments new illegal migration bill could mean that, over the next three years, 190,000 more people are locked up or forced into destitution. This figure  which the Home Office has disputed  includes 45,000 children and even factors in the possibility that 30,000 asylum seekers could be sent to Rwanda. The cost to the British taxpayer is estimated at around 9 billion by the Refugee Council study.

In practice, the governments new bill may achieve little beyond, in the words of Solaces Burghgraef: Exerting unbearable pressure on thousands of already traumatised and extremely stressed sanctuary seekers, putting them at risk of long term entrenched mental health difficulties.

When some of the issues raised by this article were put to the Home Office, a spokesperson commmented:

We have not been able to investigate the individual [anonymised] accusations as we have not received their details. But we recognise many asylum seekers have experienced challenging circumstances when making their way here, which is why we ensure our staff are robustly trained to identify vulnerabilities throughout the process.

The spokesperson added:

The UK has a proud record of providing protection to individuals fleeing persecution, underpinned by a robust framework of safeguards and quality checks to ensure protection is granted to those who genuinely need it.

Tired of everything

In The House of the Dead, the Russian novelist Dostoevsky wrote that the degree of civilisation in a society can be judged by entering its prisons. In a similar way, we can judge how civilised a society is by the way it treats asylum seekers and refugees. By this criterion, we are clearly failing.

Our interviews offer a reminder that every asylum seeker or refugee is not a political statistic but an individual with a complex personal history. At a time when some MPs and commentators are attempting to delegitimise the whole concept of seeking asylum  claiming that most asylum seekers are either criminals or economic migrants  the stories illustrate that a great many are, in fact, deeply traumatised individuals with extremely poor mental health.

Mariama, from Sierra Leone, was one of the lucky ones whose claim for asylum had been approved when we interviewed her. She had previously struggled to survive in the UK for nine years, spending most of the time squatting on the floors and sofas of acquaintances or strangers  who, she told us, often exploited her by requiring her to work for them:

You have to work in houses, cook for them, do everything for them  and during those times you dont even have your freedom. Youre not free because you are in somebody [else]s house.

Now that she had refugee status, however, Mariama said she felt relieved and grateful to still be alive  like a survivor at the end of a long war. But she was also quick to point out that many others in the UKs asylum system are not so fortunate:

Ive heard of asylum seekers who committed suicide  left a note [saying] they shouldnt blame anybody. [Theyre] just tired of everything  So I feel grateful Im still alive. And I feel grateful that there are still good people out there, who can come to your aid when you need them.

If youre struggling with suicidal thoughts, the following services can provide you with support. In the UK and Ireland  call Samaritans UK at 116 123. In the US  call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or IMAlive at 1-800-784-2433. In Australia  call Lifeline Australia at 13 11 14. In other countries  visit IASP or Suicide.org to find a helpline in your country.

For you: more from our Insights series:

To hear about new Insights articles, join the hundreds of thousands of people who value The Conversations evidence-based news. Subscribe to our newsletter.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The Conversation

Steve Taylor does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. He is the author of DisConnected: The Roots of Human Cruelty and How Connection Can Heal the World (Iff Books).
Amazon Studios

Neighbours has shared first-look photos from the set of the hotly-anticipated revival, as a number of classic characters officially return to Ramsay Street.

Channel 5 originally axed the soap last year, before the series was saved by Amazon Freevee following a relentless fan campaign.

Amazon Studios

On Twitter, the official page for Neighbours has shared two photos showing some of the revival's core cast members, writing: "Lights, camera, action, let's go! Brand new Neighbours is officially in production!"



Related: Neighbours' Mackenzie and Hendrix wedding to be celebrated at Melbourne Museum

The tweets, published today (April 17), officially confirmed that filming has begun.

Alan Fletcher (who plays Karl Kennedy), Rebekah Elmaloglou (Terese Willis), Annie Jones (Jane Harris), Lucinda Cowden (Melanie Pearson) and Stefan Dennis (Paul Robinson) can be seen posing with a "day one" clapperboard.



Lights, camera, action, let's go!  Brand new Neighbours is officially in production! pic.twitter.com/31u3sO0zTj  Neighbours (@NeighboursTV) April 17, 2023

Related: Neighbours confirms details of next classic episodes drop on Amazon Freevee

Cowden is one of the most recent additions to the new Neighbours cast, having only been confirmed to appear in the last couple of days.



"We're so excited to announce that Lucinda Cowden will be reprising her role as Melanie Pearson in new episodes of Neighbours later this year," read a post on the soap's official Twitter account.

"We can't wait to welcome her back (and maybe her pig collection too). Even Madame Zolga couldn't have predicted this one!"

Story continues

Cowden is set to feature alongside Ryan Moloney as Toadie Rebecchi, as the actors' two characters walked down the aisle in the emotional finale aired last summer.

Moloney had recently called for Cowden's return  and also shared his hopes that another character with links to Toadie might make a comeback.

Jackie Woodburne, Georgie Stone and Tim Kano are also expected to return as part of the regular cast, reprising the roles of Susan Kennedy, Mackenzie Hargreaves and Leo Tanaka respectively.

When Neighbours returns later this year, you can also expect to see guest appearances from Ian Smith as Harold Bishop, April Rose Pengilly as Chloe Brennan, and Melissa Bell as Lucy Robinson.

Neighbours returns in the second half of 2023 with new episodes streaming free on Amazon Freevee in the UK and US. Network 10 will retain first-run rights in Australia for the new series.

Read more Neighbours coverage on our dedicated homepage

You Might Also Like
George Mitchell vowed that part of his heart will always be in Northern Ireland as a new bust of the peace mediator was unveiled in Belfast.

The former US senator  who helped broker the 1998 Good Friday Agreement  has been immortalised in bronze at Queens University, an institution where he once served as chancellor.

The sculpture, which was created by acclaimed Northern Ireland artist Colin Davidson, was unveiled by current chancellor Hillary Clinton and Mr Mitchells wife Heather on the first day of a major conference commemorating the 25th anniversary of the accord.

It stands in front of the universitys Whitla Hall and is intended to act as an inspiration to students emerging from the building after their graduation ceremonies.

Former senator George Mitchell, former US president Bill Clinton, former taoiseach Bertie Ahern and former prime minister Sir Tony Blair at the unveiling of the bust (Liam McBurney/PA)

Former US president Bill Clinton, who appointed Mr Mitchell to chair the Good Friday talks, ex-UK prime minister Sir Tony Blair and former taoiseach Bertie Ahern also attended the ceremony, as did Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton Harris and Irish government minister Eamon Ryan.

Well, my first reaction is that when youre looking at a statue of yourself, you know the end is near, Mr Mitchell joked at the ceremony.

So Im going to enjoy it in what time is left. My heart is filled with gratitude to so many people.

The veteran diplomat spoke of his and his wifes deep affection for Northern Ireland.

A very large part of our hearts and of our emotions will forever be here in Northern Ireland, he said.

He added: This is a good place. You are good people. You deserve a life of peace, opportunity and prosperity. Please, I ask you, I beseech you, continue your efforts. Life has changed, circumstances will arise in the future that cannot now be anticipated. But opportunity, prosperity and peace is a right of the people of Northern Ireland.

To have been able to participate in some way in furthering their rights, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Mr Clinton described Mr Mitchell as a brilliant mediator.

Story continues

Today means a lot to me, because Im the guy that talked George Mitchell into taking that easy little part-time job I discussed, he joked.

If you ever wonder how important Ireland was to George Mitchell and the Northern Irish peace process, just remember this  I tried to get him to go on the Supreme Court and he said no.

And I said well, how about this (Northern Ireland talks process), this wont take long.

And for 25-plus years now, hes been reminding me of how misleading I was about that little part-time job I asked him to take. But he was brilliant at it. And he loved what he was doing. And he fell in love with all the details and the warts and all. He stayed at it.

The new bust of George Mitchell sits in front of the Whitla Hall at @QUBelfast  placed there to serve as inspiration to students emerging after their graduations. pic.twitter.com/TQ85VhkFMo  David Young (@DavidYoungPA) April 17, 2023

Mr Clinton told the ceremony the Good Friday deal had created a thing of beauty.

As long as I have known George Mitchell he has always tried to do what was best for everybody, he said.

He has an innate sense of fairness and a genius about how to achieve it. He gets you to change your mind and you could swear you didnt change anything  thats what you thought all along.

His genius was a great gift to the people of Northern Ireland and to people who love peace everywhere and Im glad it will be commemorated in this beautiful, beautiful sculpture.

Ms Clinton said there could be no more fitting tribute than the statue.

Former PM Sir Tony conveyed the significance of the role Mr Mitchell played in the talks.

In the frenzy of Northern Ireland politics, George was this soothing balm of wisdom and calmness and tranquillity, he created just the right atmosphere for people to talk to each other, he said.

He was also, of course, instrumental in drafting the framework for the Good Friday Agreement. So he was not just a great guy, he was a great lawyer, which we needed too in order to put all the different strands together.

Mr Ahern said it as an absolute honour to attend the event as he praised Mr Mitchells courtesy, dignity and respect for all of us.
Digital commerce brings new opportunities to Chinas rural revitalization

People's Daily Online) 09:47, April 17, 2023

China has continuously carried out a campaign to facilitate the development of agriculture by promoting digital commerce in rural areas.

In October 2021, the Ministry of Commerce, the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, and the National Development and Reform Commission jointly released a plan for e-commerce development during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), which pointed out that the country would implement the campaign.

Lyu Xin (left) and Gong Haiyan, members of the She ethnic group in Zhongshe village, Linan district, Hangzhou city, east Chinas Zhejiang Province, advertise local specialties during a live-streaming session, Oct. 25, 2022. (Xinhua/Xu Yu)

The document Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Comprehensively Promoting the Key Work of Rural Revitalization in 2023 proposed further implementing the campaign and an important project involving the internet-plus and the supply of agricultural products to cities.

As a result, rural areas across the country are embracing new opportunities for development.

Thanks to the implementation of the campaign, an increasing number of young people have moved to the countryside to contribute to rural revitalization.

Liu Yuanjie, born after 1995 in east Chinas Jiangsu Province, is a live streamer who has become popular on Chinese internet in Yuli county, Bayingolin Mongolian autonomous prefecture, northwest Chinas Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

When Liu traveled to Xinjiang, he found that the quality of local honey was of high quality, but the product didnt sell well. He wanted to try to increase the sales of local agricultural and sideline products neglected by the market through live streaming.

Liu Yuanjie (right) and his colleague advertise honey during a live-streaming session. (Beijing News/courtesy of the interviewee)

For over a year, Liu has promoted honey via live-streaming sessions on short video platforms, garnering many followers and winning the trust of local beekeepers.

Methods including live-streaming e-commerce quickly expanded the sales channels for honey, Liu said, adding that he helped local farmers and herdsmen sell agricultural and sideline products worth over 20 million yuan ($2.9 million) via live-streaming e-commerce in 2022. He aims to sell 100 million yuan of products this year.

Liu is most concerned about how to attract and retain more young people to help rural residents become better off.

He has established a team of 30 members, most of whom were born in the 1990s and 2000s. We offer skills training sessions on new-media operations and e-commerce marketing at a live-streaming center in the county, Liu said, noting that he will build brands of agricultural and sideline products to help more farmers increase their income and secure employment.

More and more regions across China have begun to attach importance to nurturing e-commerce talent to advance rural revitalization across the board. They have provided policy support, adopted non-profit and market-oriented training methods, and improved the abilities of rural e-commerce talent.

Zhaodong city in northeast Chinas Heilongjiang Province, for instance, has offered free training to eligible college students, young entrepreneurs, rural residents and ex-servicemen to cultivate e-commerce talent by leveraging platforms such as an e-commerce public service center, an e-commerce industrial park, and a live-streaming center.

Chinas campaign to facilitate the development of agriculture by promoting digital commerce in rural areas has also boosted the construction of new infrastructure in rural areas and made the delivery, sorting, and processing of agricultural products smarter and more digitalized.

China has significantly improved logistics services in rural areas. According to data from the State Post Bureau, as of the end of 2022, the country had set up 990 county-level delivery centers and 278,000 village-level courier stations, and 95 percent of all administrative villages across the country had been connected to express delivery services.

A courier sorts parcels at the Xuanen branch of China Post in Xuanen county, central Chinas Hubei Province, Feb. 22, 2023. The county has enhanced the building of a rural delivery logistics system, covering all its 140 administrative villages with delivery services. (Xinhua/Wu Zhizun)

Ouyang Rihui, assistant dean of the China Center for Internet Economy Research at the Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing, said the campaign can enhance the connection between the production and marketing of agricultural products. The campaign, together with the project to bring express services to villages and the project involving the internet-plus and the supply of agricultural products to cities, will increase the penetration of e-commerce in rural areas.

Ouyang added that the campaign will accelerate the construction of new infrastructure in rural areas and improve rural e-commerce infrastructure, and the three-tier delivery system covering counties, townships and villages. It can facilitate the integrated development of e-commerce with the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries in rural areas, promote the digital transformation of industrial and supply chains in agriculture, and help upgrade agriculture and advance rural revitalization.

The campaign has also brought together enterprises, universities, and research institutes, thus boosting the commercialization of agricultural technologies and benefiting farmers.

Liu Dacheng, deputy director of the Institute of Internet Industry at Tsinghua University, said advancing rural revitalization through digital and platform technologies will be an inevitable trend. The campaign can facilitate logistics channels for agricultural products, advance the construction of e-commerce bases, spread science and technology in rural areas while improving varieties of agricultural and sideline products, and offer new impetus for further boosting rural revitalization.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
Smart dinosaurs resembling birds shared communal homes with others

It presents novel research on the egg-laying patterns of dinosaurs resembling birds

This discovery reveals a new aspect of these extinct animals.

Remarkable is the discovery of smart bird-like dinosaurs that had communal nests with multiple eggs.

Several clutches of eggs were laid in a single nest, which dinosaurs took turns maintaining.

Smart Bird-Like Dinosaurs Defy Previous Discoveries

Approximately 74 million years ago, dinosaurs deposited 20 eggs in the same nest. According to Live Science, this habitat would be buried in the ground to serve the same purpose as crocodiles and other cold-blooded reptiles.

Troodon is a small carnivore that lived between 74 and 65 million years ago and was similar to modern birds. Scientists know that theropods, such as T. rex and Velociraptor, incubated in their nests.

According to Discover, fossilized eggshells of Troodons indicate they were endothermic, or warm-blooded, and maintained a stable internal temperature.

Co-author Darla Zelenitsky said the study indicates that the Troodon has a body temperature comparable to that of birds to incubate its embryos, as the University of Calgary reported.

They are warm-blooded and can induce the cold-blooded torpor observed in heterothermic modern birds. The same as Troodon, which utilized this strategy to survive during difficult times.

Read Also: Dinosaurs Were at Their Peak When the Asteroid Struck, Causing Extinction Level Event

Communal Nests of Ancient Reptiles

The journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences described how Troodon formosus eggshells were mineralized based on observed patterns. There was a comparison between modern animals and reptiles.

Examining the eggshells' calcite to determine the conditions that led to their formation.

Mattia Tagliavento, the lead author from Goethe University in Frankfurt (paleontology), made a statement regarding the topic. As dinosaurs are the ancestors of birds and reptiles, one would expect them to share characteristics with their ancestors.

During their evolution, avians lost one of their ovaries to enable flight. Eggs are a compensatory mechanism for having only one ovary, and the calcite in eggshells forms rapidly. It enables the replacement of a single ovary.

Reptiles have two ovaries to produce a small number of embryos at a delayed rate of calcite mineralization.

In the case of T. formosus, eggshell formation is delayed, but heterothermy is a factor. Troodon lay ova more slowly than other species, even more slowly than modern birds. It was distinct from bulk layers of eggs.

The scientists examined the weight of Troodon with calcite to determine the number of embryos it laid. Each brood contains four to six eggs, not the total number of eggs in the nest. About 20 embryos are sufficient for a respectable survival rate.

It depicts multiple female Troodons sharing a nest and taking shifts providing for its young. A determinant of the transition from cold-bloodedness to endothermy in dinosaurs. Disclosing how changes occurred in dinosaurs.

After devising strategies to ensure the survival of their offspring, intelligent dinosaurs resembling birds did share a communal nest.

Related Article: Modern Bird Skulls Spark New Questions, Further Studies About Avian Evolution

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
COEUR DALENE, Idaho, April 06, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Continuous Composites Inc., a leading innovator in composite 3D printing technology, announced that the United States District Court for the District of Delaware issued a favorable ruling siding with Continuous Composites that creates a clear path for a trial by jury.

A pretrial Markman hearing (also known as "Claim Construction Hearing") was held on March 8th, 2023, in which the judge heard arguments and ruled on the meanings of six terms found in the asserted patent claims. The judge sided with Continuous Composites on five of the six claim terms. This paves the way for a focused jury trial in December against Markforged (NYSE: MKFG). The case will now be proceeding based upon the claims in Continuous Composites patent number 11,173,660.

"The patent claims remaining in the case were not only construed in Continuous Composites favor, but they easily overcame Markforgeds earlier attempt to invalidate them at the United States Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Continuous Composites looks forward to presenting these claims to a Delaware jury in eight months" says William B. Dyer III, lead counsel, Lee & Hayes.

With respect to the asserted claims of the 660 patent, Markforged previously alleged they were invalid, but lost on all of these arguments at the Patent Trial and Appeals Board (PTAB) of the USPTO. The jury will now hear the case and decide whether Markforgeds printers infringe the asserted claims.

"We are encouraged that we have gotten through claim construction and there is now a clear path to victory" says Tyler Alvarado, President and CEO of Continuous Composites. "We are extremely confident Markforged is infringing our granted patent claims and were excited to present the facts to the jury in December."

About Continuous Composites Inc.

Continuous Composites Inc., headquartered in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, is disrupting manufacturing with its patented composites printing technology (Continuous Fiber 3D Printing - CF3D). Founded in 2012, the company leads the 3D printing industry with the earliest and most comprehensive patent portfolio owning 100 U.S. Patents and 41 international patents. The CF3D technology leverages advantages of continuous fiber composite materials and the 3D printing process to fabricate high-strength, light-weight parts on demand. CF3D significantly reduces cost, lead times, labor, and other traditional constraints found in manufacturing while enabling design freedom.

Story continues

To learn more, visit www.continuouscomposites.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230406005252/en/

Contacts

Legal Inquiries:

William B. Dyer III

Lee & Hayes

Partner / Patent Attorney

bill.dyer@leehayes.com

Business Inquiries:

Tyler Alvarado

Continuous Composites

CEO

tyler@continuouscomposites.com
SWNS

A family-run restaurant has pleaded for a group of diners to come back and settle their 60 bill after they allegedly did a runner while staff were distracted. The crafty family-of-four can be seen on CCTV footage apparently sneaking out of an Italian restaurant as staff prepared their deserts on Saturday night. The unknown man and woman were first seen by checking for filming equipment before chowing down on a 60 dinner with their two kids. But a CCTV camera caught them later making their escape from Vitos in Sheffield, South Yorks., after they ordered deserts to distract the unsuspecting staff. Chef Vito Ciaraolo, 59, who has owned the classic Italian restaurant for 32 years, said it was frustrating that theyd pulled off the nasty trick at his neighbourhood eatery. And he said the couple had set a particularly bad example to the children, who had fled with the woman moments before the man headed out the door behind them. He said: Its very frustrating. You can imagine what I would do if I would have caught them. But there was nothing I could do. The waitress made an order in the kitchen. She said they'd ordered three deserts but the kids and the woman had left, and it was just the man in the restaurant. I said to the waitress 'Go upstairs. I think they are going to do a runner.' "I realised they were up to something. But by the time she went upstairs, one minute later, they had left. The family arrived at Vitos restaurant at 6pm on Sunday (April 23) and ordered olives. They then ordered three pizzas and an aubergine dish as main courses, a fruit juice and three soft drinks, racking up a bill of 60.95. But when they finished their mains, CCTV footage shows the woman - dressed in black - standing up from her seat and leading the children from the table. The man, in a blue t shirt, then orders deserts before making a dash while the waitress is distracted. Vito said the staff didn't know the family, who had chosen to sit at a table close to the door before they began to make their orders. He said: They just walked in. They were new to us, and the staff said they had never seen them before. "They were looking around to see if there were any cameras. But they didnt see one of the cameras, which is very high up. They started with some appetizers, some olives, and then they had three pizzas and a Melanzane Parmigiana, they also had some soft drinks. Vito said he was shocked when he found out that the couple had legged it from his premises on foot without settling their bill. But he now believes from the way they acted that they may have tried the same trick at other restaurants before. He added: I think theyve gone out to have food before and have done the exact same thing which they have done to me. "Thats the impression I have got. I think they do this all the time. If someone comes to the restaurant and says they havent got any money, I can give you something to eat. Its not a problem. "Thats the kind of person I am. I try to help everybody. Vito said he's since had an outpouring of support from his regulars, adding if the family coughed up the money for their bill he would donate it to a good cause. He said: Everybody is disappointed about what happened. But they are very supportive. I have a lot of lovely customers. I have been here for 32 years and this is only the second time its happened. But If that guy gives it back, I will give that money to charity. Vito has not yet reported the matter to the police.
By Elvira Pollina

MILAN (Reuters) -Italy's data protection agency set out a list of demands on Wednesday which it said OpenAI must meet by April 30 to address the agency's concerns over the ChatGPT chatbot and allow the artificial intelligence service to resume in the country.

Almost two weeks ago Microsoft Corp-backed OpenAI took ChatGPT offline in Italy after the authority, known as Garante, temporarily restricted its personal data processing and began a probe into a suspected breach of privacy rules.

In a statement on Wednesday Garante laid out a set of "concrete" demands to be met by the end of this month

"Only in this case.. the authority will suspend the provisional restrictions on the use of the data of Italian users ... and ChatGPT will once again become accessible in Italy," it said.

OpenAI on Thursday welcomed the agency's move.

"We are happy that the Italian Garante is reconsidering their decision and we look forward to working with them to make ChatGPT available to our customers in Italy again soon," a spokesperson told Reuters.

Italy was the first western European country to curb ChatGPT, but its rapid development has attracted attention from lawmakers and regulators in several countries.

Many experts say new regulations are needed to govern artificial intelligence (AI) because of its potential impact on national security, jobs and education.

The authority said OpenAI is required to inform users in Italy of "the methods and logic" behind the processing of data necessary for ChatGPT to operate.

The watchdog also asked OpenAI to provide tools to enable people whose data is involved, including non-users, to request the correction of personal data inaccurately generated by the service or its deletion, if a correction is not possible.

OpenAI should also allow non-users to oppose "in a simple and accessible manner" the processing of their personal data to run its algorithms, Garante said.

Story continues

It also asked the company to introduce by the end of September an age verification system capable of excluding access to users under 13.

Garante said it would continue investigating potential breaches of data protection rules by OpenAI, reserving the right to impose any other measures needed at the end of its ongoing probe.

The Italian move on ChatGPT has piqued the interest of other privacy watchdogs in Europe which are studying whether harsher measures are needed for chatbots and whether to coordinate.

Spain's data protection agency has asked the European Union's privacy watchdog to evaluate privacy concerns surrounding ChatGPT.

In February, the Italian regulator banned AI chatbot company Replika from using the personal data of users in Italy, citing risks to minors and emotionally fragile people.

(Reporting by Elvira Pollina; Editing by Gavin Jones and Alexander Smith)
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen is a film with a reputation it doesnt entirely deserve. It never got the same level of bad publicity as Heavens Gate or Ishtar, but it has long been grouped in with those films as a classic example of a directors hubris leading to an out-of-control, over-budget production. Setting aside the revisionist defenses of those famous flops I mentioned, the Munchausen situation seems different. Its more like an early case of director Terry Gilliam getting hamstrung by bad luck and bad taste in business partners, a theme which would resurface again and again for him throughout the 21st Century.

After all, its hard to deny that all the money is on the screen. Like Jabberwocky and Time Bandits, Munchausen is a meticulously designed fantasy that takes as much care with the filth as the filigree. The unnamed 18th Century European city that serves as the films main setting is under constant bombardment, which Gilliam stages like a grand, explosion-filled battle epic where no one appears to be winning and the common folk are definitely losing. When the film departs the real world, our hero ventures up onto the moon and down into the belly of a great monster-fish. The eye-grabbing blend of practical design, practical effects, and optical-based VFX puts most modern $200+ million blockbusters to shame. If Columbia Pictures had bothered to give it a decent theatrical release, it might not have gone down as a financial disaster.

Stage and TV veteran John Neville stars as the legendary Baron, an adventurer, and spinner of yarns popularized in the stories of Rudolph Erich Raspe and the illustrations of Gustave Dore. At the start of the film, the Baron interrupts a slightly ramshackle but fairly imaginative theatrical performance of his exploits. He storms the stage, refuting the presentations insinuation that hes nothing but an old liar. He also claims that the Ottoman Empires bombardment of the city is his fault, since the Grand Turk is angry about how the Baron won the Turks entire treasury in a wager.

Gilliam and co-writer Charles McKeown (who also worked on Brazil and, years later, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus) find a clever way to bundle together as many memorable incidents from the Raspe stories by giving the Baron a quest to gather up his own old gang, one by one so that together they can finally defeat the Grand Turk. This allows the Baron and his determined 8-year-old sidekick, Sally Salt (Sarah Polley), to make that aforementioned trip to the moon, where they are bedeviled by the giant King of the Moon (played by a heavily improvising Robin Williams with a detachable head), before finding the fleet-footed Berthold (Monty Python alum Eric Idle). From there, they tumble down into a volcano where the god Vulcan (Oliver Reed) oversees a workforce of cyclopes to make all manner of weapons. The Baron goes for an airborne dance with Vulcans wife Venus (Uma Thurman  va va voom!) and discovers his strongman pal Albrecht (Winston Dennis) before theyre all cast into the sea by a jealous Vulcan. And as promised, a giant sea monster gobbles up the adventurers, only to reveal that more pals, the sharp-eared Gustavus (Jack Purvis) and the sharp-eyed Adolphus (Charles McKeown), plus the Barons horse (!), are already inside.

As the film ramps up to its big final act, in which the reassembled team goes to fight the Grand Turk and his army, it can be tempting to start glancing at ones watch. While each of the films episodes are quite delightful on its own, the way all these sequences stack up is a little lacking in forward momentum. The films 126-minute running time is not too ungainly on paper, but one would be forgiven for quietly siding with the studio philistines who suggested that Gilliam trim a little more.

Aside from the minor editorial flab, however, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen is ultimately winning: full of charming performances, grand spectacle, and some unabashed silliness. John Neville does a phenomenal job as the stately center of this comic hurricane, with manic ringers like Robin Williams and Eric Idle bouncing off of him. Even Oliver Reed couples his signature menace with the kind of unbridled wackiness seldom seen in his other work.

Sarah Polley recently wrote about her experiences making this film, describing the production as unsafe and traumatizing. However, she gave viewers unconditional permission to still love the movie. Some may not care, but Polleys performance as little Sally Salt is so much of the emotional core of this film, that it feels reassuring to be given this blessing.

The film is said to complete an informal trilogy about dreamers at different stages of life, after Time Bandits (the dreamer as child) and Brazil (the dreamer as adult). With its tale of a geriatric dreamer, who gets younger the more he gives over to imagination, Munchausen is possibly the most optimistic film of the three. The specter of Death lurks over the proceedings, but even that beast is bested by the power of dreams. In certain other films, Gilliams idealism ultimately curdles into cynicism; but with Munchausen, the fairy tale ending is the final word.

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen lands on 4K UHD from Criterion, packaged in one of Criterions signature keepcases. The set includes 1 4K UHD disc and 2 Blu-rays; the 4K and Blu #1 (feature and commentary) are housed on overlapping hubs, while Blu #2 (additional bonus features) is stashed on a hub behind the Criterion insert. The fold-out insert includes an essay by the Museum of the Moving Images Michael Koresky. All discs load to a static screen with music.
Vladimir Putin meets with Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu in Moscow

The visit underscores Beijing's continued military cooperation with Moscow

Chinese President Xi Jinping traveled to Russia to meet with Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu in Moscow to underscore the two nations' growing military cooperation amid rising international tensions.

The situation comes as Beijing has been seen to broadly align its foreign policy to Moscow to try and curb the United States' influence and other Western democracies on the global stage. The two officials met personally on Sunday alongside Gen. Li Shangfu.

China-Russia Relations

The trip also comes less than a month after Chinese President Xi Jinping traveled to Moscow to meet with his Russian counterpart to discuss a possible end to the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv.

Beijing has avoided criticizing Russia's invasion of Ukraine and blamed the US and NATO for allegedly provoking Moscow. Furthermore, China's foreign minister last week said that Beijing would not assist Russia with weapons as other Western nations have been concerned about, as per Al Jazeera.

While China has officially maintained a stance of neutrality over the war between Russia and Ukraine, Xi's trip suggested that he has become increasingly positioned to improve his relations with Putin.

On the other hand, the Russian strongman praised the general development of Beijing-Moscow relations. He said they were working actively through military mediums to exchange information that could prove helpful to both parties and were also conducting cooperative actions on the military-technical side.

The two nations have also joined forces to conduct exercises, and noteworthy is that they have done so in different areas, in the Far East region, and in Europe. These were also done both at sea, on land, and in the air.

Read Also: Finland Launches Europe's Largest Nuclear Reactor

China's Growing International Influence

The meeting between Putin and Xi was showcased through video footage that showed them shaking hands and sitting down together at a table. During that meeting, Shoigu was also present, according to Reuters.

The Russian president noted that the joint exercises between Beijing and Moscow were crucial areas that strengthened the already trusting, strategic nature of the two countries relations. The situation comes as Ukrainian forces are discovering more and more Chinese components that Moscow's military uses in the war.

On the other hand, NATO and the US have argued that they have not seen any signs that show Beijing was supplying Russia with weapons. About Xi's trip to Russia, Li said that the cooperation between China and Russia has been "developing very well."

The latest meeting between Chinese and Russian officials comes as Ukrainians are still trying to dig through debris at the site where a rocket struck two days prior in the eastern city of Slovyansk. The attack killed at least 15 people, including a two-year-old boy. They were unable to use heavy machinery because the building was a damaged apartment building, said the Washington Post.

Related Article: North Korean Boat Breaches Sea Border, Prompting South Korean Response

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
HA NOI  Viet Nam's shrimp exports face many challenges, especially in the term of price, said General Secretary of the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) Truong inh Hoe.

In the first quarter of this year, the shrimp export value reduced by 40 per cent on year to $577 million, according to the association.

Shrimp prices in the world market have gradually decreased since the end of 2022. For instance, at the end of February 2023, the price of Indian shrimp was at VN110,000 (US$4.53) per kilo.

The prices will continue falling when the global shrimp supply increases to about 6 million tonnes.

Meanwhile, the price of raw shrimp on the domestic market has increased, making it difficult for export processing activities. The shrimp price in the Mekong Delta was nearly VN170,000 per kilo, Hoe said.

Experts said that the farming cost of shrimp is high because feed price accounts for over 65 per cent of the shrimp farming cost under the industrial model.

In addition, most shrimp seeds have to be imported, so the seed price is high. The producers have also spent more on solving the pollution of water farming shrimps.

According to Hoe, in recent years, shrimp seed production management has been loosened without standards and criteria for quality assessment, while shrimp production is still rampant.

Along with that, there is not enough quality shrimp seed to raise, leading to poor-quality shrimp material.

Those are difficulties of the Vietnamese shrimp industry against its competitors such as Ecuador and India.

Dr Tran Huu Loc, a shrimp expert from the Nong Lam University of HCM City, said that shrimp farmers should change their thinking from agricultural production to an agricultural economy.

Now, agriculture production is to produce goods competing with the same products on the global market. Therefore, the farm produce must have competitive price, high quality and transparent origin, Loc said.

He has proposed that Viet Nam's shrimp industry must choose a production model having production management, operation of the farming system, and treatment of shrimp waste and diseases.

In addition, shrimp farmers should optimise the use of capital, labour, farming area, water source and seed to increase output but reduce production costs and risks.

Managing shrimp seed to ensure quality is an important factor in determining efficiency in the production of the shrimp industry. It is also a solution to reduce the farming cost of Vietnamese shrimp, Loc said.

Le Van Quang, chairman of Minh Phu Group, has proposed to produce high-quality shrimp seeds with disease resistance and environmental adaptation. In addition, the farmers need to manage food for shrimp seeds, have a transparent production process, and develop low-cost shrimp farming processes.

The low-cost shrimp farming process includes planning large concentrated farming areas with separate water supply and drainage channels, completed infrastructure of transport, electricity and water, and digitisation application in shrimp farming to manage traceability and reduce labour costs.

Meanwhile, the businesses need to maintain the traditional market and continue to expand the easy markets, said Tran Cong Khoi, deputy head of the Aquaculture Department under the Directorate of Fisheries.

With the solutions, the shrimp industry is expected to overcome the challenges this year, gaining the target of 750,000 hectares in a farming area, an output of 1.08 million tonnes and an export value of about $4.3 billion.

Vietnamese shrimp has been exported to 100 countries, including major markets in Europe, the US, Japan, China and South Korea.

In the past two decades, the shrimp industry contributed an annual average of about 40-45 per cent of the total seafood export value.

Viet Nam has accounted for 13-14 per cent of the total shrimp export value in the world market.  VNS
HA NOI  The Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment will create all possible conditions for foreign investors, including those from France, to operate effectively and sustainably in Viet Nam, Deputy Minister Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc has affirmed.

Addressing the 12th Viet Nam-France decentralised cooperation conference, which took place in Ha Noi from April 13-16, Ngoc noted that Viet Nam has launched the national strategy on green growth and stepped up economic restructuring in tandem with growth model reform, environmental sustainability and social equality.

As a result, great potential and opportunities remain for Viet Nam and France to boost their cooperation in the future, she said.

Viet Nam also encourages and prioritises quality, focusing on calling for foreign investments, especially in high-tech, innovation, green energy, renewable energy, finance, banking, healthcare, high-quality personnel training, infrastructure, and pharmaceuticals.

They are the areas where France has strengths, and the two economies would be reciprocal, the official added.

Briefing the participants on Viet Nams socio-economic development, Ngoc said it has been named among the top 20 countries in terms of FDI attraction and the 20 biggest economies worldwide.

Regarding the Viet Nam-France relationship, Ngoc called trade, economic and investment ties as pillars of their strategic partnership and traditional friendship.

France ranks 16 out of the 143 countries and territories investing in Viet Nam with more than US$3.8 billion. Their two-way trade reached $5.33 billion last year, of which Viet Nams export to the European nation was valued at $3.7 billion.

France is also one of Viet Nams first and biggest official development assistance (ODA) suppliers in Europe, she said, stressing that Viet Nam is an active, responsible member of ASEAN and Asia-Pacific, while France is a key member of the European Union, and both are members of the Francophone community and the EU-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

These are important foundations and premises for the two countries to expand cooperation and boost trade and investment ties between the two countries, Ngoc continued.

The official stressed that the 12th Viet Nam-France decentralised cooperation conference has offered effective solutions to raise the role of localities in promoting investment links between the two countries.  VNS
HCM CITY  The northern province of Ninh Binh is the place where travellers can enjoy the most competitive hotel room rates in April, according to travel website Agoda.

Many tourists across Asia and Australia are looking forward to long weekends and holidays in the coming weeks.

In Viet Nam, Ninh Binh is the most affordable tourist destination, with an average hotel room rate of US$47.

The other top five are the imperial capital of Hue at $49; fast growing coastal destination Quy Nhon at $58; mountain retreat a Lat at $62; and the two major cities, HCM City and Ha Noi, each at $67.

Average room rates for April were calculated based on available Agoda data on March 28, 2023.

The destinations with the cheapest average accommodation rates across the APAC region are Khon Kaen in Thailand, Sibu in Malaysia, Surakarta in Indonesia, Puri in India, Bacolod in Philippines, Chiba in Japan, Gwangju in South Korea, and Brisbane in Australia.

With 2023 already well underway and public holidays coming up in numerous regions, many of us are looking for a well-deserved break, said Vu Ngoc Lam, country director for Viet Nam at Agoda.

But at the same time, with cost of living in the daily news across the globe, were all trying to be smart about how to spend our hard-earned cash, he said.

Ninh Binhs magnificence has stunned those who have roamed there for millennia. Located just an hour from the capital Ha Noi, its towering peaks, tranquil waterways, giant temples, and storied pagodas have captivated all who venture there.

Rising to prominence as the setting for the Hollywood blockbuster Kong, the home of Trang An landscape Complex, a UNESCO World Heritage site, Ninh Binh has experienced a resurgence of interest from visitors, paddling through its shimmering rivers, and venturing up the 500 steps carved into the side of a mountain that leads one into Mua Cave.

Its gorgeous scenery changes year-round. And getting there is a breeze, with countless Ha Noi transport companies offering bus and limousine options for the two-hour drive, ensuring that all price-points are covered for visitors looking to take in one of Viet Nams hidden charms.  VNS
HCM CITY  The HCM City will host a book fair with a series of activities to promote reading culture from April 19 to 23 to celebrate Viet Nam Book and Reading Cultural Day (April 21).

The event is organised by the city's Department of Information and Communications in an effort at encouraging and firming up reading habits among the community, especially children and young people.

This years event will attract 30 national leading publishing houses and book distributors such as the Su That (Truth) National Political Publishing House, the HCM City General Publishing House, the Tre (Youth) Publishing House, and Phuong Nam Books.

The companies will cooperate with local authorities to provide around 80 activities to promote books and reading culture.

Lam inh Thang, the departments director, said, This year, the department has appointed ten reading culture ambassadors who have contributed to reading culture development to inspire people, particularly children and young people, to love books, read books and write books.

The ambassadors include Pham Phuong Thao, former chairwoman of the city People's Council; Quach Thu Nguyet, former director and editor-in-chief of the Tre Publishing House; and Bui Luu Bao Khanh, an eighth grader who won the Growing up with Books contest launched by the city's Department of Education and Training.

They will take part in book introductions, signings, talk shows and workshops on reading habit promotion and e-book and audio-book development during the five-day fair.

An exhibition displaying documents and publications to mark the 48th anniversary of South Viet Nam Liberation and Reunification Day (April 30) will be set up at the book fair.

The fair will be held at the HCM City Book Pedestrian Street on Nguyen Van Binh Street and in front of the Central Post Office in District 1.

In addition, the organisers will host a special event to introduce the book Resolutely, persistently fighting corruption and negative phenomena to contribute to building a more transparent and stronger Party and State by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam Nguyen Phu Trong at the Youth Cultural House on April 21.

A series of activities, such as book introductions and discussions, will be held at schools and agencies in 15 districts and Thu uc City to celebrate the book day.

The Viet Nam Book and Reading Cultural Day was first held in 2022 to honour authors working in book publishing and distribution, and those contributing to developing the reading habit among the community.  VNS
Dr Mattias Larsson*

Le and Mai are parents to a 4-year-old boy named An. They were overjoyed when An was born, and they watched with pride as he reached his developmental milestones.

However, as he got older, Le and Mai noticed that their son was not like other children his age. An had trouble making eye contact, rarely spoke, and seemed uninterested in playing with his toys or other children.

Le and Mai initially thought An was just a late bloomer, but as time passed, they became increasingly concerned. They took An to see a paediatrician, and after several tests and assessments, An was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

ASD affects communication and social interaction skills. Children with autism may have difficulty with verbal and nonverbal communication, struggle to make friends, and have restricted interests and repetitive behaviours.

Research among twins and siblings has shown a strong genetic component to autism. It is, however, not just one gene that causes autism, but multiple genes contribute to the overall risk.

Environmental factors also play a role in the development of autism. Exposure to toxins, such as lead and mercury, during pregnancy or early childhood, has been linked to an increased risk of developing autism. Other risk factors include complications during pregnancy or delivery and maternal infections during pregnancy.

While autism is typically diagnosed in early childhood, symptoms may be present from a very young age. Some signs of autism include delayed language development, difficulty making eye contact, and repetitive behaviours, such as hand-flapping or lining up toys.

It is important to note that while autism can be a significant challenge for individuals and their families, some abilities might be enhanced. For example, individuals with autism may have exceptional memory, attention to detail, or visual-spatial skills.

The prevalence of autism in Viet Nam is not well documented, but it is believed to be on the rise. There is also a growing awareness of these conditions among parents and healthcare professionals, which has led to increased diagnosis and treatment.

An's story is not uncommon. Many parents in Viet Nam are discovering that their children have autism and are navigating the challenges of diagnosis and treatment.

While the diagnosis of autism can be overwhelming for parents, resources and support are available to help them navigate this journey. Early intervention and treatment can make a significant difference in the lives of children with autism and their families.

Treatment options for autism vary depending on the individual's needs and symptoms. There is no cure for autism, but early intervention can improve outcomes.

Behavioural and educational interventions, such as Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapy, can help children with autism learn new skills and improve their communication and social interaction.

Medications may also be prescribed to help manage symptoms such as anxiety or aggression. Parent training and education programmes are also beneficial in helping parents understand and manage their child's symptoms.

One of the challenges of diagnosing and treating autism and ADHD in Viet Nam is the lack of resources and trained professionals. While there are some specialised clinics and hospitals that offer services for these conditions, they are often concentrated in major cities and may not be easily accessible to families in rural areas.

Another challenge is the stigma surrounding mental health issues in Vietnamese culture. Parents may be hesitant to seek help for their child because they fear being judged by their community or being seen as a failure as a parent. Public education about autism and ADHD and reducing the stigma surrounding these conditions is essential to ensuring children receive the support and treatment they need.

Le and Mai enrolled An in a specialised school for children with autism and participated in parent training and education programs. Over time, An started to make eye contact, speak more frequently and show an interest in playing with other children. While An still faces challenges related to his autism, Le and Mai feel more confident in their ability to support him and help him reach his full potential.

In conclusion, while there is no cure for autism, early diagnosis, intervention, and treatment can help children with autism learn new skills and improve their quality of life. In Viet Nam, access to specialised services and treatment for autism can be limited, but resources are available. With greater understanding and awareness, we can work to improve the lives of individuals with autism and their families in Viet Nam. Family Medical Practice

*Dr Mattias Larsson is a pediatric doctor at Family Medical Practice and associate professor at Karolinska Institutet and has a long experience in research on infectious diseases, especially antibiotic resistance and hospital-acquired infections as well as HIV, with many articles in peer-reviewed publications and mainstream media appearances. He has worked with the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, USAID, the Clinton Foundation, and the Ministry of Health of Viet Nam. He is fluent in English, Swedish, Vietnamese, German and some Spanish.

Visit Family Medical Practice Hanoi 24/7 at 298 I Kim Ma, Kim Ma Ward, Ba inh Dist.

To book an appointment, please call us at (024).3843.0784 or via Whatsapp, Viber or Zalo on +84.944.43.1919 or email hanoi@vietnammedicalpractice.com.

FMPs downtown Ho Chi Minh City is in Diamond Plaza, 34  Le Duan, Ben Nghe, District 1, and 95  Thao ien, District 2. Tel. (028) 3822 7848 or email hcmc@vietnammedicalpractice.com.
HA NOI  The official visit to Cuba by National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong inh Hue to Cuba carries significant importance as it is expected to enhance the special ties between the two nations in various areas, especially the relationship between respective parliamentary bodies, according to Cuba Ambassador to Viet Nam Orlando Nicolas Hernandez Guillen and Chairman of the NA Committee for External Relations Vu Hai Ha.

The trip from April 18, at the invitation of President of the National Assembly of the Peoples Power of Cuba Esteban Lazo Hernandez, takes place on the threshold of the 50th anniversary of Cuban leader Fidel Castro's visit to the liberated zone in South Viet Nam in Quang Tri Province in September 1973, and 60 years since the establishment of the Cuban Committee for Solidarity with South Viet Nam (September 25, 1963).

Talking to the Vietnam News Agency, Ambassador Hernandez Guillen stressed that Fidel Castro was the first and only foreign leader to do so.

The Cuban leaders presence in Quang Tri Province, located in the frontline between North and South Viet Nam then, just a few months after the Paris Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Viet Nam was signed in January 1973, and his immortal remark For Viet Nam, Cuba is willing to shed its blood became symbols of the close-knit and faithful solidarity and fraternity of the two peoples for the sake of peace, national independence, democracy, and progress in the world.

NA Chairman Hue is scheduled to deliver a speech at the Cuban parliament on April 19, which will coincide with the anniversary of Cubas Giron Victory (April 19, 1961) and the opening of the 10th-tenure Cuban parliaments first session after the parliamentary elections on March 26.

It will be a historical event only occurring because it is the Viet Nam-Cuba relationship, and bilateral ties are extremely special, according to the diplomat.

The two countries boast fraternity, solidarity, and consistent mutual support during the struggle for independence, sovereignty safeguarding, and development, he noted, elaborating that Cuba supported Viet Nams fight for national liberation, and when it is facing difficulties at present, Viet Nam has also assisted to and shown its solidarity with the Cuban people.

Cuba and Viet Nam have many cooperation fields of economic complementarity. The Southeast Asian nation has supplied several essential commodities, especially rice, along with many technological products for Cuba, helping the Latin American country guarantee food security and stabilise equipment supply.

Meanwhile, Cuba also produces many world-famous products, including traditional ones like cigars and rum and products of the genetic, biological, and pharmaceutical technologies, Hernandez Guillen went on.

Talking about parliamentary cooperation, he noted the two legislative bodies boast long-standing and extensive relations, via which Viet Nam can boost sharing development experience with Cuba.

During Chairman Hues visit, the two sides will also discuss many cooperation areas and sign several important agreements, the diplomat added.

Ahead of the trip, Chairman of the NA Committee for External Relations Vu Hai Ha said this reaffirms Viet Nams great attention to reinforcing and promoting the special solidarity and loyal friendship with Cuba and fostering cooperation between the two legislatures as well as the bilateral partnership in all fields.

Cuba was the first Latin American country to set up diplomatic relations with the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam (December 2, 1960) before Cuba's Proclamation of Socialist Character of the Revolution in 1961, which makes Cuba the first in the world to recognise the National Liberation Front of South Viet Nam and to accept the representative delegation from it (July 1962), as well as the first to send its ambassador to the front's Central Committee (March 1969).

In the past 63 years, the traditional relationship, with the foundation set by the late President Ho Chi Minh and Chairman Fidel Castro, has been continually consolidated by generations of leaders and peoples of the two countries.

The relationship between the two Parties, States and peoples, is rare worldwide despite the far geographical distance. Cuba always holds a special place in the hearts and minds of Vietnamese people. Vietnamese people will always remember Cuban leader Fidels saying, For Viet Nam, Cuba is willing to shed blood, demonstrating a selfless sacrifice and brotherly affection, Hai remarked.

Amid the difficulties of the war, Cuba sent thousands of engineers, workers, doctors and experts to Viet Nam while helping train thousands of Vietnamese students, providing Viet Nam with a lot of equipment, materials, machinery, food and foodstuff, along with aids to Viet Nam to build five important socio-economic projects, most of which are still operating.

Over the past 60 years, the two nations have stood by each other during their struggles for independence and liberation as well as national construction and socialism building, the NA official said.

Although the world has seen many ups and downs, the traditional solidarity and special friendship between Viet Nam and Cuba continue to be promoted and strengthened in all channels substantially. In this, the Party-to-Party relations play the orienting role, reinforcing the mutual trust and political foundation for the comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.

The two sides have regularly exchanged delegations and visits in various forms and at all levels, especially the high level. The Viet Nam-Cuba Trade Agreement took effect in April 2020, with many new trade preferential policies, creating favourable conditions for the import-export activities between the two countries.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, in May 2020, the Vietnamese NA presented 30,000 masks to the Cuban NA, along with IT equipment, to enhance the operational efficiency of the Cuban NA. The two NAs have established their Friendship with Parliamentarian Groups with each other.

Regarding the message that NA Chairman Hue will extend in his speech at the Cuban NA, Ha said that the leader would reaffirm the solidarity with the Cuban people and support the economic updating process of Cuba, and share Viet Nams experience during its oi moi (Renewal) cause, affirming that the two countries will stay close to each other for independence, freedom, peace and development in each country.

Ha said that Hues upcoming visit will be the highest-level visit to Cuba and the Latin American region in 2023, aiming to realise the foreign policies announced at the 13th National Party Congress. He will be the first foreign leader to visit Cuba after the country elects the new NA, Ha added.  VNS
Care for the caregivers

Seeing your child suffering in hospital is every parents worst nightmare. To ease the pain a little, students in Ha Noi came up with a great idea to offer care and comfort to mums and dads at the National Childrens Hospital.
HCM CITY  The 20th annual science and technology conference with the theme Connecting with international surgical experts held last weekend by Binh Dan Hospital in HCM City attracted 26 attendees from countries like the US, UK, Germany, Japan, and Korea.

Prof Thomas Ahlering of the US, a top expert on urologic oncology (cancers of the male and female urinary systems and male reproductive organs) from the University of California, performed a prostate surgery using robots.

He is known to have done over 3,000 successful robotic surgeries in several countries.

There were two more demonstrative surgeries by the visiting experts and hospital doctors, including a robotic low anterior resection for rectal cancer and a penile implantation.

This is a great opportunity for Vietnamese healthcare personnel to interact with foreign doctors, director of Binh Dan Hospital, Assoc Prof Dr Tran Vinh Hung, said.

Assoc Prof Dr Tang Chi Thuong, director of the city Department of Health, said Binh Dan is among the central hospitals to successfully use modern technologies in general surgery.

He said other hospitals should organise similar conferences to improve their doctors skills.

Over 250 scientific papers on general surgery, cardiac surgery and oncology were presented at the conference.

It also underlined the growing partnership between hospitals and universities.  VNS
In July, ASEAN chair Indonesia will organise events on boosting the implementation of the agreement (RCEP). At the fourth RCEP Joint Committee, member states will debate how it has and will continue helping member states and the blocs partners to further cement trade and investment ties.

Then in September at the RCEP Summit, a review of implementation will be conducted, with member states set to agree on new measures to boost trade and investment flows.

Amid difficulties caused by geopolitical tensions, ASEAN is considering the RCEP as a major tool to further tighten trade ties.

Inked in November 2020 by the 10 ASEAN member states and five other nations, the RCEP has entered into force for all except Myanmar and Indonesia. The deal is expected to become valid for the latter in June.

The Vietnamese government has tasked authorised agencies to work out action plans to take advantage of the agreements benefits.

Under its rules, member states commit to removing 87.8-98.3 per cent of tariff lines for Vietnam under a roadmap, and ASEAN countries pledge to do that with 85.9-100 per cent of tariff lines. The longest roadmap for tariff elimination is 15-20 years from when the RCEP became valid.

Fitch Solutions noted that for Vietnam, major export categories that are expected to benefit include agriculture, footwear, automobiles, IT, and telecommunications.

As Vietnam moves to become a high-tech manufacturer, the RCEP can help local businesses raise exports and attract high-quality goods. Furthermore, Vietnam is set to benefit from growing demands for its exports like agriculture and fisheries products.

Moreover, the simplification of procedures such as customs and rules of origin (ROO) will help allow more small- and medium-sized enterprises to participate. They account for 98 per cent of all enterprises in Vietnam, contributing to 40 per cent of GDP, and thus the RCEP presents significant opportunities for them to move up the value chain.

For investors operating across ASEAN, China, and other regions, the RCEP offers good news. Streamlined customs procedures, unified ROO, and improved market access will make investing in multiple locations a much more viable and attractive funding strategy and likely bring China+ 1 business models to the fore, said pan-Asia consultancy firm Dezan Shira & Associates in a RCEP report.

The common ROO will lower costs for firms with supply chains that span across Asia and may encourage multinationals to RCEP countries to establish supply chains across the bloc, thus growing the global value chain activity in the region.

While implementing projects in Vietnam, investors need to import products for production and then export abroad, including to RCEP member states.

The RCEP has been designed to reduce costs and time for businesses, and the deal allows them to export goods to each member market without having to meet that markets own requirements, said Nguyen Thi Thu Trang, director of the Centre for WTO and International Trade under the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry. This will help investors increase activity in Vietnam.

For instance, for the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, businesses from Vietnam will find it difficult to take advantage of tariff incentives for their garments and textiles due to tough requirements in ROO applied commonly within the bloc because almost all materials Vietnam need are imported from China, which is not a member, Trang said. However, for the RCEP, to which China is a member, the burden of import costs for input materials will be reduced thanks to tariff incentives.

Figures from the Ministry of Planning and Investment showed that accumulatively as of March 20, registered capital into Vietnam from South Korea sat at $81.52 billion, Singapore $72.5 billion, Japan $69.4 billion, China $23.85 billion, Thailand $13.1 billion, Malaysia $13 billion, and Indonesia $642 million.

Commenting on Vietnam-Malaysia trade and investment ties under positive impacts of free trade agreements, Suhaili Ismail, economic counsellor at the Malaysian Embassy to Vietnam, said, Malaysia is keen to work with Vietnamese companies in sectors such as ICT services, renewable energy, education, the creative industry, financial services, private healthcare services, tourism industry, retail trade, and halal services.

Vietnam is part of wide-ranging trade deals that create the biggest markets and regional supply chains in the world, Ismail added. This demonstrates how Vietnam has evolved into an attractive trade destination.

Denny Abdi, Indonesian Ambassador to Vietnam, also highlighted cooperation fuelled by deals like the RCEP. Indonesia considers Vietnams position as strategic for the enhancement of mutually beneficial economic cooperation. Foreign investments play a significant role in driving economic growth and development. The inflow of capital and expertise leads to jobs creation, stimulating economic activity, and improving the overall business environment. Indonesian investors are keen to seize opportunities in Vietnam, Abdi said.

vir
The complementary nature of the two economies means that strong Vietnam-France economic cooperation would result in a win-win outcome for all parties.

Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc made the remarks at the Vietnam-France Business Forum held today [April 15], which attracted nearly 500 delegates from localities in Vietnam and France.

Speaking at the forum, Ngoc said that despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, Vietnam's economy has made significant progress thanks to effective policies that have been highly appreciated by the international community. "In particular, the potential for cooperation between Vietnam and France remains huge in the near future," Ngoc said.

Vietnam has recently launched a support package worth about 8.3% of its GDP and is implementing a US$16 billion economic stimulus program in 2022 to support production and business, as well as social security and job creation, in order to maintain its economic growth momentum.

France has been a major investor, trader, and development aid partner for Vietnam. With a registered capital of more than $3.8 billion, it ranks 16th among the 143 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc.

Total import-export turnover between Vietnam and France is expected to reach $5.33 billion in 2022, with Vietnam earning $3.7 billion worth of exports from France. France has also been a leading provider of ODA, with steadily increasing committed capital, and is one of the earliest ODA providers in Vietnam.

The Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment said that Vietnam and France have favorable conditions to expand their investment cooperation. As an active and responsible member of ASEAN, Vietnam has committed to and effectively implemented the National Strategy for Green Growth, promoting environmentally sustainable development and social justice. Meanwhile, France is a key member of the European Union and a leading participant in the Francophone community. Both countries are also part of the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

She noted that the two economies are complementary and have a lot of potentials to promote cooperation.

Nicolas Warnery, Ambassador of France to Vietnam, echoed the same sentiments, saying that the two countries have a strong relationship and a long history, and are determined to deepen their ties in all fields, especially the economy. In 2023, France hopes to strengthen cooperation with Vietnam in tourism, culture, arts, science, and all possible fields, especially the economy, the ambassador said.

Warnery added that during the 12th Vietnam-France Decentralized Cooperation Conference, various activities were held to strengthen ties between Vietnam and France.

These activities include the "Walking around France" program and discussion sessions to find solutions for smart cities, cultural heritage, and tourism. The business forum held today is an important highlight of the conference and is expected to contribute to cultural, political, and economic ties between the two countries, the ambassador said.

French Ambassador to Vietnam Nicolas Warnery.

Hanoi bolsters economic partnership with French localities

At the forum, Nguyen Manh Quyen, Deputy Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee, reported that Hanoi has attracted about $494.4 million in FDI from France since 1989. In 2022, the figure was about $7.8 million and an additional $0.92 million in the first three months of 2023.

Quyen noted that since the establishment of a partnership between Hanoi and the Ile-de-France region in 1989, cooperation between localities in Vietnam and France has been continuously consolidated and developed.

"This form of cooperation has become a model of friendship, tradition, and cooperation between the two countries' localities," he said.

The Vietnam-France Business Forum, part of the 12th Vietnam-France Decentralized Cooperation Conference, is an opportunity to connect city governments and investors as well as businesses from the two countries, Quyen said.

Vice Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee Nguyen Manh Quyen.

On this occasion, Quyen gave an overview of Hanoi's socio-economic situation in the first quarter of 2023. He informed that the city's gross regional domestic product (GRDP) growth increased by 5.8%, which is 1.7 times the national average. All sectors, including services, industry and agriculture, showed growth, while the consumer price index (CPI) remained under control.

Hanoi attracted foreign investment capital of US$1.678 billion in the first quarter, an increase of 283% over the same period last year. In addition, 7,500 new enterprises were established with registered capital of over VND73 trillion ($3.11 billion).

The total retail sales of consumer goods and services increased by 12.6%, higher than the same period last year (9.1%). In addition, the number of tourists visiting Hanoi (with accommodation) exceeded one million, which is 2.2 times higher than in the same period last year. Among them, 712 thousand were international visitors, an increase of 15 times compared to the same period last year.

Hanoi Times
Pope Francis defends St. John Paul against "baseless" allegations

Roman mobster accused John Paul of abusing a teen girl

Pope Francis made his remarks while greeting pilgrims at St. Peter's Square

Pope Francis publicly defended St. John Paul II on Sunday, calling recent allegations about the late pontiff "offensive and baseless."

In remarks to pilgrims and visitors in St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis said he hoped to convey the sentiments of the faithful across the globe by expressing gratitude for the memory of the Polish pontiff.

Papal Official Rejects 'Vatican Girl' Abduction Claims

The Vatican's media apparatus had previously labeled as "slanderous" an audiotape from a claimed Roman mobster in which he implied that John Paul would go hunting for teenage girls to molest.

Pietro Orlandi, the brother of Emanuela Orlandi, a young daughter of a Vatican official who lived in the Vatican, aired the tape on an Italian TV program. As per NY Post, the 15-year-old's disappearance in 1983 remains a mystery, producing countless ideas and, thus far, futile investigations in the decades afterward.

Pope Francis stated that among the gathering in the Square on Sunday were pilgrims and other faithful who had come to pray at a sanctuary for divine compassion, a trait John Paul frequently emphasized during his pontificate, which lasted from 1978 to 2005.

Pietro Orlandi met for hours last week with Vatican prosecutors who restarted the inquiry into his sister's abduction earlier this year. The Italian Parliament has also established an inquest commission to investigate the affair. On June 22, 1983, Emanuela vanished after leaving her family's Vatican City residence to attend a piano lesson in Rome. Her father worked for the Holy See as a lay employee.

Among the ideas regarding what happened to her are those tying her disappearance to the aftermath of John Paul's failed assassination attempt in St. Peter's Square in 1981 or to the international financial crisis involving the Vatican bank. Other interpretations see the criminal underworld of Rome playing a part.

The recent four-part Netflix documentary 'Vatican Girl' investigated such possibilities and included new evidence from a friend who said Emanuela informed her a week before she vanished that a high-ranking Vatican clergyman had made sexual attempts toward her.

Read Also: Germany Allows Poland to Send MiG-29 Jets to Ukraine

Brother of Missing 'Vatican Girl' Speaks Out

"They say Wojtyla [Karol Jozef Wojtya, John Paul II's birth name] used to go out in the evenings with two Polish monsignors. It was certainly not to bless houses," Orlandi remarked on the show, according to Reuters.

The outcry over Orlandi's remarks finally reached Pope Francis, who denounced the idea that John Paul committed any sexual offenses on Sunday. The comments were also slammed by John Paul's lifelong secretary, Polish Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, who described them as "unreal, false, and laughable if they weren't tragic and even criminal," according to the Associated Press.

Orlandi defended his remarks, claiming that he did not make the claims. Instead, he told Reuters that he only " reiterated what others had said." I did not witness it."

The suspicion surrounding Emanuela Orlandi's disappearance sprang from reports that the Vatican frequently held sex slaves (young women and nuns) whom clerics exploited. The late Father Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican's former head exorcist, confirmed the long-held notion, claiming in 2012 that her disappearance was "a case of sexual exploitation resulting in murder."

Pietro Orlandi has asked the court to explore every lead, including the 2019 excavation of a re-sealed tomb where he believes his sister may have been buried, based on an anonymous tip. The Vatican stated at the time that Emanuela Orlandi's body was not discovered in the tomb, which was vacant, despite describing its tenant as a German noblewoman.

Related Article: Pope Francis Calls for Unity

@YouTube

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A booth showcasing products of Ninh Thuan Province at the event.  VNA/VNS Photo Phan Sau

The attendees were representatives from local state management agencies, suppliers and sales enterprises.

Six localities were Binh Dinh, Binh Thuan, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Phu Yen va Quang Ngai.

Chairman of Khanh Hoa People's Committee Nguyen Tan Tuan described HCM City as a place with large-scale goods manufacturers and distributors. The city was also the largest commodity consumption market in the country and an important gateway connecting trade with the region and the world.

In recent years, trade connection and promotion activities among HCM City and six provinces in the south-central coastal region have contributed to stabilising consumption of several products in the city market and in southern provinces and cities. That has helped promote consumption and stimulate consumer demand, accelerate the flow of goods and raise the value of typical products of localities.

At the same time, some large corporations in the city have opened branches in the provinces, creating a driving force for the development of local commercial infrastructure, Tuan said.

Khanh Hoa would always accompany and create the most favourable conditions for businesses in HCM City and other provinces to operate effectively in the locality, contributing to speeding up its socio-economic development, the chairman noted.

During the event, Vice Chairman of the HCM City People's Committee Vo Van Hoan said if the city wanted to develop, it had to connect with other localities.

HCM City last year recorded impressive positive growth thanks to its policy of expanding trade connections, Hoan said.

Currently, the commodity economy has no limits. Thus, enterprises needed to try their bests to improve product quality and bring good quality products to consumers.

At the same time, distributors should meet with manufacturers to connect and inject investment capital to produce goods to meet the needs of businesses and markets, according to the vice chairman.

At the conference, the participants also gave opinions about the difficulties in connecting and trading goods among these localities. Among them included the region's insufficient transport infrastructure and lack of warehouses to preserve fresh and long-lasting food.

They also made recommendations related to checking the source of goods; prices of products; manufacturer information and support from the State on developing websites and opening more shopping centres.

The event saw 28 contracts and 18 memorandums of understanding inked among HCM City's distributors and supply enterprises in the south-central coastal region.

Central Retail Vietnam said it struck deals with three suppliers in the region including FMCG which provides Phan Thiet fish sauce in Binh Thuan Province and two others which offer durian and VietGap vegetables in Khanh Hoa Province.

Chief Executive Officer of Central Retail Vietnam Olivier Langlet said his company has three investment projects in the south-central coastal region, consisting of three existing shopping centres in Khanh Hoa, Binh Dinh, and Quang Ngai.

"The company's plan for the development of the region is to conduct further research and surveys to expand our distribution system. Our focus will be on expanding our presence in provinces such as Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa, and Binh Thuan, and developing a general supermarket chain store network at the district level throughout the region. To achieve this, we hope to receive more support from the local government," he said.

"Furthermore, we would like to collaborate with local authorities to facilitate business connections with new suppliers, particularly for fresh goods that meet the criteria and specifications required to enter our distribution system.

"The local government could support in offering favourable policies to boost investment development and logistics efficiency and play a role as an effective bridge for distributors and local businesses to achieve practical results and contribute to the overall development of the region," he noted.

Bizhub
Starting this year, the European Union has begun to apply a series of regulations that may affect non-EU items imported into the market.

In January, the EU required all foreign business partners that import their goods into its territories to pay wider attention to issues such as labour and the environment. The EU also plans to apply new regulations on fighting against deforestation and achieving low carbon emissions in production activities.

These regulations will directly affect Vietnams export items such as coffee, furniture, steel, fertiliser, and chemicals.

The EU will also imminently apply a new regulation on environmental protection with a focus laid on reducing emissions from products in the garment and textile, footwear, and electronics sectors.

At the beginning of the year, the European Commission released regulations on the temporary increase in official controls and emergency measures governing the entry into the EU of certain goods from certain third countries. Under this new regulation, some Vietnamese products will be affected, including chilli and okra, which a quality examination frequency rate of 50 per cent.

Various supply chain due diligence schemes already govern the placing of goods on the EU market, and new EU regulations are about to enter into force, like the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, Alexander Koch, chairman of the Dutch Business Association in Vietnam, told VIR.

All of these schemes require exporters to be able to present documentary evidence upon request to demonstrate their compliance to sustainable environmental, social, and governance criteria. Investing in related reporting is essential for companies exporting from Vietnam to the EU or being in the supply chain of an EU company in order to enjoy low tariffs and easy access to EU markets, Koch added.

Strict rules of origin

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, one of the greatest challenges for Vietnam to benefit from the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) tariff advantages is how to ensure factories perform under strict environmental standards, and ensure rules of origin (ROO) of products that are required under the deal.

Specifically, products will benefit from the tariff preferences under the EVFTAs ROO provided that they can prove that they are wholly obtained in Vietnam, or produced in Vietnam incorporating materials which have not been wholly obtained there, provided that such materials have undergone sufficient working or processing within Vietnam.

However, while raw materials from Vietnam and goods produced here using domestic inputs easily fall into the wholly obtained category, many goods contain materials or components imported from countries not party to a trade agreement.

These goods must prove that the inputs that have been inputted have undergone specific levels of alteration within Vietnamese borders to tap into the benefits of the EVFTA. Many goods have set procedures that must be completed within Vietnam for the items in question to be considered as originating from there.

Vietnam exports its goods to the EU in many sectors. For example, the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) said the sector is not worried about quality or standards, but about ROO difficulties surrounding the EVFTA.

Opportunities to increase garment and textile exports to the EU to benefit from the EVFTA are there, but it will be difficult for the sector to meet ROO requirements because Vietnams clothing materials are largely imported from non-EU sources such as China, India, and South Asia, said Truong Van Cam, vice chairman of the VITAS.

Meanwhile, the EVFTA only offers preferences to Vietnamese garments and textiles which are produced domestically or imported from the economies that have an FTA with the EU such as South Korea, Singapore, Canada, or Japan.

Vietnams garment and textile exports last year hit $44 billion, including about $4 billion from the EU. Total material imports in 2022 reached about $6.5 billion, up 8.5 per cent on-year. About 80 per cent of clothing materials were imported from foreign markets  in which half was from China, 15 per cent from Taiwan, and 18 per cent from South Korea.

Under the EVFTA commitments, all Vietnamese garments and textiles will enjoy a zero import tax rate seven years after the deals entry into force. Specifically, the EU will remove import tariffs for 77.3 per cent of Vietnams garments and textiles after five years, and the remaining 22.7 per cent will follow suit after the next two years.

On the rise

The EVFTA took effect in August 2020, and two-way trade turnover hit $54.9 billion in the first year of implementation  up 12.1 per cent on-year, and reaching $61.4 billion in the second year of implementation, up 11.9 per cent on-year.

The figure touched $62.4 billion in 2022, up from $56.8 billion in 2021  with a significant rise in export turnover of many items such as garments and textiles (24 per cent), footwear (19 per cent), and aquatic products (41 per cent).

In the first three months of this year, the two-way trade value sat at $13.7 billion, down from $15.2 billion in the same period last year. However, this figure is expected to bounce back thanks to rising EU demand.

According to the Vietnamese Trade Office in Belgium, it is forecast that the EU-Vietnam two-way trade turnover will increase by about 24 per cent on-year in 2023.

Giorgio Aliberti, head of the European Union Delegation to Vietnam, told VIR that the EVFTA is serving as a major driver of trade.

I firmly believe that the EVFTA has contributed significantly to this success and the figures speak for themselves. The latest available data sourced from Eurostat indicates a robust growth of the bilateral import-export relations in January-December 2022, Aliberti said.

The exports of commodities by the EU to Vietnam soared up by 18 per cent on-year to 12.01 billion ($13 billion) while Vietnams exports rose significantly by more than 33 per cent on-year to 50.32 billion ($54.84 billion). Vietnam has well maintained its leading position as the biggest exporter of commodities among ASEAN countries to the EU market, Aliberti added.

He explained that the prospects of deeper bilateral trade between Vietnam and the EU remain bright.

Two-way trade after two years of the EVFTA grew to $83.4 billion, representing 24 per cent higher than the average annual bilateral trade value during 2016-2019, before the deal came into play. The utilisation rate of the EVFTA by Vietnamese exporters continues to increase as well, Aliberti said.

This utilisation rate was initially 14.8 per cent in 2020 and increased to 20 per cent in 2021 and to 24.5 per cent in the first six months of 2022, according to a survey of 500 Vietnamese companies by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Many independent analysts hold the view that current global challenges could have wielded far worse impacts on the economy if important deals like the EVFTA had not been in place. It has acted as a cushion to support the economy of Vietnam in times of global turbulence, Aliberti noted.

vir
The dynamism and experience of a producing country will be advantages for Vietnamese businesses when joining the global halal market, to which Singapore is the nearest gateway, said Vietnamese Trade Counsellor to the city state Cao Xuan Thang.

Talking to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) on April 14, Thang cited experts as predicting that Singapores halal food market will sustain growth of 7 - 10% in the coming years.

The Muslim community, which accounts for 13.3% of Singapore's population, has high income and purchasing power. The country, which also attracts a large number of Muslim tourists, owns a widespread distribution system for halal products, he noted.

Pointing out certain challenges for Vietnamese firms, he said halal standards vary among countries, so halal food producers will face difficulties in maintaining different production methods for different markets. Besides, the high costs and long time for verifying each halal product may also be non-tariff barriers to Vietnamese businesses.

Suggesting ways to boost halal product exports to Singapore, the counsellor said businesses of Vietnam should quickly and proactively change their production methods and management to meet common hahal standards as well as specific rules in different countries.

He also described halal product and brand marketing as difficult, noting that it is even harder to maintain their presence in Singapore after entering this market. Therefore, businesses need to ensure product quality consistency and satisfaction of standards.

In the time ahead, the Trade Office of Vietnam will continue assisting Vietnamese enterprises to advertise their products and brands, seek partners in Singapore, and meet the countrys authorities in charge of halal standards to update information about the field, Thang added./.

Source: VietnamPlus
At a seminar on April 15, representatives from the Government Office, departments of Natural Resources and Environment, and the business community discussed cremation amid limited land funds and sustainable development.

Nguyen Van Thanh, director general of Hop Luc JSC said, This is really a convenient and civilised form of burial for both the deceased and their relatives. Although it is a sensitive issue, it shows good social effects after many years of implementation, changing people's perception and ideology. This is a civilised service, contributing to protecting the living environment, saving land, and improving cultural life.

Representatives from state agencies and business discuss cremation in Vietnam

Representatives of the departments of natural resources and environment in the provinces of Ha Nam, Hai Duong, Quang Binh, and Quang Ninh also shared about the performance of cremation. They have plans to replicate it in the future.

To tap into this trend, Multinational Corporation Paul & Jack, the producer of the Sweden TABO crematorium with Swedish technology, is expanding its presence in Vietnam and other countries. The TABO crematorium with Swedish technology is now considered the most advanced technology in this field.

Hop Luc has been cooperating with many localities to replicate cremation using high technology.

In recent years, along with socioeconomic development, people's awareness of cremation has significantly increased. Along with that, the pressure on limited land funds, the environment, and the high cost of burial made many cities and provinces encourage investment in cremation facilities.

Up to now, the National Assembly, the government and ministries and agencies have issued many laws, decrees, circulars, and policies to encourage cremation. For example, the Prime Minister's Decision No. 2282/QD-TTg dated November 2013 on encouraging the use of cremation.

Between 2010 and 2019, use of cremation increased remarkably. By the end of 2022, the rate of using cremation in localities has gradually increased, of which Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are the two localities with the highest rate of using cremation, with over 70 per cent. Some provinces nearby Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City also have a high cremation rate, such as Bac Ninh, Vinh Phuc, Ha Nam, Hung Yen, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, and Vung Tau.

More and more cemeteries are applying modern cremation technologies to optimise energy and save the environment. They include the Phuc Lac Vien incinceration station in Quang Thanh Ward of the central province of Thanh Hoa, which opened in 2014.

Dying has become a luxury in crisis-ridden Argentina No one can escape Argentina's biggest economic crisis in almost two decades - not even the dead.

Mass burials to begin as Indonesia quake-tsunami toll tops 800 The death toll from Indonesia's quake and tsunami disaster nearly doubled to 832 on Sunday (Sep 30) and was expected to rise further, prompting authorities to announce mass burials in a desperate attempt to stave off disease.
Every year, the Global Aesthetic Center of AkzoNobel invites international design experts from various disciplines to predict what colours will play a key role in the next year. In 2023, Dulux marks an important milestone  the 20th anniversary of the Dulux Colour of the Year campaign.

To celebrate this journey, AkzoNobel collaborated with Elle Decoration to carry out the Elle Decoration Pop-Up Concept - a space for art, design, culture, and lifestyle. This initiative showcases the transformative power of colour and how it provides amazing experiences.

Thuy Duong, managing editor of Elle Decoration Vietnam said, In this meaningful series of commemorative activities, Elle Decoration appreciates being associated with AkzoNobel  one of the leading brands in colour trend forecasting. Colour has the power to change the perception of space, and it is an essential element of design."

"It can make a room feel more spacious, cozy, or lively, depending on the hues and tones chosen. We are thrilled to partner with Dulux and AkzoNobel to showcase the transformative power of colour and how it can provide wonderful experiences in living and working spaces.

Nguyen Phi Anh Dao, head of Marketing of the Decorative Paints of AkzoNobel Vietnam said, Trend research is an essential part of determining the Colour of the Year and helping AkzoNobel understand the needs of its customers and create the right paint. Each of the Colours of the Year over the past two decades tells the story of a moment. Dulux wants to partner with Elle Decoration to showcase how colour inspires and elevates living and working spaces.

Dulux's Colour of the Year campaign has been a significant driver of inspiration for the real estate, hospitality and architecture industry, and it has helped to create a positive impact on the environment.

The company's partnership with Elle Decoration and its participation in the Meet The Experts conference are clear examples of its commitment to inspiring green living spaces and promoting sustainable development.

As AkzoNobel continues to invest in global colour research and development, it will undoubtedly continue to inspire the creation of living spaces for consumers for many years to come.

Dulux and Maxilite to give customers valuable rewards in the year-end season Dulux and Maxilite from AkzoNobel has just announced their biggest promotion programme of the year, known as Change the colour  Get the good luck, from November 15, 2021 to January 15, 2022.

Dulux Professional from AkzoNobel accompanying PropertyGuru Vietnam Property Awards This is the sixth year that Dulux Professional from AkzoNobel, a leading global paints and coatings company, has supported Vietnamese real estate businesses as the Silver Sponsor of PropertyGuru Vietnam Property Awards 2022, contributing to the development of this prestigious real estate playground.
EVS is also set to promote Siemens electric vehicle (EV) charging hardware, software, and services in line with Siemens global portfolio offerings.

Siemens, a focused technology company and a global power house, provides a strong portfolio for e-Mobility globally, spanning from EV charging hardware and software for charging and energy management systems, to services and consulting. These solutions and services are widely accepted in many global markets across Europe, the Americas, and Asia Pacific.

The Vietnamese market promises a bright future for e-Mobility. As part of the privately-held Tram Anh Group, EVS is perfectly positioned to spearhead e-Mobility within the group and to customers across various verticals.

The cooperation with Siemens will enable EVS to further enhance Vietnams EV charging infrastructure offering.

Siemens will offer Vietnamese customers a range of chargers which are smart and flexible.

These solutions are deployable in a wide spectrum of use cases for EV charging, such as residential, workplaces, commercial malls, industrial fleets, gas stations, and highway stopovers.

In addition to being Siemens e-Mobilitys solution partner, EVS has also been appointed as a charging station provider to EV ONE, a charge point operator in Vietnam, as a key supplier.

EVS will be installing Siemens DC fast charger SiCharge D at EV Ones first public charging station in Vietnam this year.

Vietnam is a fast-growing vibrant economy. Nevertheless, the challenges of climate change and acute air pollution persist, especially in metropolitan cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, said Arjun Raju, head of e-Mobility for Siemens in Asia Pacific, at the signing ceremony.

The transition from fossil fuel to zero emissions EV is a critical step towards tackling these problems. Through this partnership, Siemens will introduce its state-of-the art e-mobility solutions supporting the roll-out of more EV charging infrastructure in Vietnam, which is essential for the adoption of zero emission EVs across in the country.

Huynh Tien Dat, CEO of EVS, said that the partnership would help Vietnam to meet the infrastructure needs of its growing EV market, and have a positive impact on the development of electric cars in Vietnam.

TMT Motors partners with world leading joint venture to bring mini EVs to Vietnam TMT Automobile Joint Stock Company (TMT Motors) on February 18 announced that it has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the joint venture of General Motors (GM) and SAIC - WULING on the manufacturing, assembling and exclusively distributing of electric vehicles of GM and SAIC - WULING in Vietnam.

FPT Telecom offers new SD-WAN edge solution using AWS FPT Cloud Connect Edge, a service from the FPT Cloud Hub ecosystem, improves end-user experiences and reduces business costs by up to 35 per cent with faster application connectivity and lower data transfer costs.
Can you tell us about ACBs current digital transformation plan?

ACB chairman Tran Hung Huy (left) and CEO Tu Tien Phat

Phat: ACB is currently implementing its 2019-2024 strategy, while also setting a three-year vision. The bank aims to continue developing a selective new customer base and identify appropriate market segments. In terms of digital transformation, we are focusing on several areas: specialised digital banking, digitising all business processes, providing products for customers, applying AI, and using data collection and analysis more extensively.

At the same time, ACB is optimising its resources and transitioning its business operations to suit the macroeconomic environment. We plan to announce specific distribution channels in the near future. Digital bank ACB One is growing at 80 per cent per year, with 95 per cent of customers shifting to digital channels.

ACB is developing a specialised business model for digital banking and partnering with fintech companies, while continuing to negotiate with other partners to accelerate customer growth.

Regarding the business sector, the banks personal loan growth was over 20 per cent in previous years, but is expected to be only 12-13 per cent this year. Among its personal loan portfolio, 40 per cent are for business operations. In addition, we remain committed to aiding loans for small- and medium-sized enterprises.

Are there any plans for ACB to purchase another bank or open foreign branches?

Huy: When initiating mergers and acquisitions, we must consider the value it will bring to the organisation and whether the operation is aligned with its strategic direction. ACB has evaluated potential acquisitions recently, but has not identified a suitable candidate. The bank will continue to assess the market and evaluate any potential opportunities that may arise.

Domestic development remains our top priority, and there are currently no plans to establish foreign branches.

Before the pandemic, we had a potential suitor that showed their interest in acquiring a stake in our securities arm ACBS, but the agreement fell through. Currently, we will continue to seek for collaborations to bolster our further expansion.

ACB has announced its plan to expand its business segment by introducing commodity derivatives and custodian banking services. What is the strategy for this?

Phat: This strategic move is to raise the proportion of the fee and service segment, reduce the reliance on interest, and promote toll collection.

Although the commodity derivatives business is not new to ACB and the bank has performed several transactions in compliance with the regulations of the State Bank of Vietnam, it is still considered a specialised activity related to trading foreign goods.

Furthermore, while supervisory banking is a common practice in the international market, only a few banks in Vietnam are qualified to offer this. In addition to the proposed commodity derivatives service, ACB has signed an exclusive insurance contract with Sun Life Vietnam as part of its plan to offer custodial banking.

In 2023, the bank set a target of pre-tax profit of $853 million, up 17.2 per cent on-year, while the bad debt ratio is expected at below 2 per cent.

ACB is also one of the few commercial banks that has such a conservative bond portfolio, consisting of around 85 per cent of government bonds, other credit institution bonds, and no corporate bonds. ACB also completed stringent risk management requirements in line with Basel III and ILAAP standards in 2022.

How do you assess the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) trend in the banking sector?

Huy: We have formulated several initiatives in response to current market conditions. Our indices for safety are high, despite lower credit growth compared to last year. For example, we target to foster our card business segment, which generates stable revenue. In Q1/2023, ACBs growth rate of international cards was 78 per cent compared to 34 per cent of the whole industry, accounting for 8.1 per cent of the international card market share. This is expected to be a major source of revenue in 2023.

Furthermore, sustainability has become a topic of crucial importance for every industry, including the financial market. This year, we will ramp up our efforts to embed sustainability, ESG criteria into our core business and operation, and apply such requirements for loans.

We are committed to fully complying with ESG. We are striving to create an integrated strategy and design specific ESG initiatives for our business, and for our clients. This could contribute to Vietnams ambitious target of achieving net-zero emission by 2050.

B2B digital payment accelerates In Vietnam, business-to-business (B2B)-focused fintech presents new revenue and growth streams for enterprises of all sizes, experts said.

Supporting businesses to build a digital transformation roadmap The Ministry of Planning and Investment with United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has been deploying activities to support businesses in building a digital transformation roadmap.
Japanese Ambassador to ASEAN Kiya Masahiko (Photo: VNA)

Jakarta  Japanese Ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Kiya Masahiko has described ASEAN as an important partner of Japan and Tokyo is committed to enhancing cooperation with the bloc.

In an interview granted to Indonesia's official news agency Antara, Ambassador Kiya said geopolitically, ASEAN is strategically positioned between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. In addition, ASEAN's population is 670 million people and its economy continues to grow. These are reasons that encourage Japan to maintain relations with ASEAN.

According to him, Japan was the first dialogue partner of ASEAN and held the first informal dialogue in 1973 before the formal dialogue in March 1977. This year marks their 50th anniversary of friendship and cooperation with a commemorative summit scheduled for December in Tokyo.

Kiya said Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has pledged to contribute to and cooperate with ASEAN in several important areas such as maritime affairs, connectivity, infrastructure quality improvement, climate change response, disaster management, and cooperation in economic agenda such as supply chain recovery, digital technology, and food security.



Talking with Vietnam News Agency in Jakarta in early March, Ambassador Kiya said the values shared by ASEAN and Japan over the past five decades have been peace, trust, and mutual respect. This vision was demonstrated over 40 years ago when then-Prime Minister of Japan Fukuda Takeo visited ASEAN countries and gave an important foreign policy speech, now known as the "Fukuda Doctrine."

The doctrine emphasised that Japan would never become a military power threatening the region, would build "heart-to-heart" relationships with Southeast Asian countries, and actively cooperate with ASEAN and support its efforts as an equal partner. According to the diplomat, these are the basic practical values that have driven the Japan-ASEAN cooperative relationship over the past five decades.

Japanese investors highly appreciate Vietnamese property market Representatives from around 180 Japanese businesses and investors on April 1 attended a Tokyo workshop on Vietnamese real estate, during which many of them highly appreciated the potential of Vietnams property market.

Japanese financial behemoths extend SE Asia reach Three Japanese megabanks are doubling down on their emphasis on Vietnams finance and banking sector to experience rapid economic growth and leverage their investment portfolios across wider Southeast Asia.
Over more than six decades, Nam Ha Pharmaceutical has produced more than 200 modern and traditional medicinal products. Many brands have become popular among many generations of Vietnamese people, such as Bo Pho Nam Ha, Coldi-B Nasal Spray, Skinbibi Children's Cream, all recognized as 'Vietnam National Brands' in 2022.

Nam Ha's leaders insist the company conducts comprehensive research on its ingredients used in the production process for its flagship products and its new brands, such as Naphar Fresh and Cot Vi Vuong Nam Ha.

With a mission stating 'Green Medicine for a Healthy Life', Nam Ha has developed clean growing areas to help proactively source raw materials for production, ensuring competitiveness in the market. The Cat Canh growing area meets the World Health Organization's (WHO) Guidelines on Good Agricultural and Collection Practices for Medicinal Plants (GACP) in Bat Xat and Bac Ha districts, Lao Cai province.

Medicinal growing areas meet international standards

Most recently, the company formed a strategic cooperation with Bac Ha district in Lao Cai province, for the development of medicinal plant areas that meet GACP standards. Commenting on this partnership, the secretary of Bac Ha district said, "Medicinal herbs are one of the key crops in line with the district's development orientation. This partnership will contribute to the restructuring of crops and increase income for local people of Bac Ha."

The district is committed to creating better conditions for Nam Ha Pharmaceutical to invest in the development of medicinal herbs.

Beyond investing in growing areas, the preliminary processing and preparation of medicinal herbs are also standardised by Nam Ha. The company has invested in a system of warehouses across three regions in compliance with strict operation regulations. The company also adopts technology in line with the motto: Clean - Safety - Convenience.

Currently, Nam Ha Pharmaceutical has been proactive in sourcing clean medicinal herbs for a production system that meets the WHO's Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards, overseen by the world's most advanced quality management system.However, there is a long way to go for Nam Ha to achieve its lofty goals. From 2022 to 2025, the company will develop national medicinal plant growing areas in some northern provinces and the Central Highlands for domestic production and export.

The company will actually finance the planning of medicinal plant growing areas in some provinces while offering support to cultivate and harvest medicinal plants in accordance with the natural conditions, soil, and farming practices of each region, in accordance with GACP standards. This will help ensure quality standards for local production and exports while creating stable jobs for farmers, members of cooperatives, and ethnic minority farmer groups, thereby contributing to economic development.

These are all strategic foundations to enhance the company's competitive advantage, control the quality of input materials, improve product quality, and achieve sustainable development goals in the future.

In its long-term vision, Nam Ha Pharmaceutical will invest in building a factory that meets FDA standards. Another key focus area of the company is training pharmacists to develop products to international standards. The company aims to produce high-quality pharmaceutical products for consumers, contributing to the development of Vietnam's pharmaceutical industry on the global market.

Proud of being a Vietnamese brand

Pharmaceuticals are a special field that affects human health and life. Therefore, the company ensures that the production process is monitored to comply with international standards. Recently, Nam Ha invested in six factories producing traditional medicines, modern medicines, and health foods with cutting-edge production lines meeting GMP and GLP standards.

Nam Ha Pharmaceutical also optimises consumer costs to match the income of the majority of Vietnamese people. The company offers reasonable selling prices and a distribution network of pharmacies across 63 localities.

Its products are very successful in the domestic market and Nam Ha is one of the few Vietnamese enterprises to market its pharmaceutical products overseas, bringing pride to Vietnam. The firm has exported its products to countries such as Russia, Cambodia, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and several African nations.

With these achievements, Nam Ha has become one of the major pharmaceutical companies in Vietnam. The company has received many prestigious titles and awards, including the National Quality Gold Award, and being recognised as one of the Top 5 prestigious Vietnamese traditional medicine companies and being among the Top 500 Large Enterprises. The company has also been honoured with the noble award of the Second-Class Labour Medal by the President.

Nam Ha Pharmaceutical has been voted Vietnamese High Quality Goods for 23 consecutive

In 2022, Nam Ha Pharmaceutical was named 'Vietnam National Brand'. The company recently scooped up the 2023 Vietnam High-Quality Goods Certificate.The certificate reflects that Nam Ha Pharmaceutical's products are always trusted and appreciated by consumers nationwide.

These awards serve as pride and motivation for the company to constantly improve product quality, to be worthy of the 'Vietnam National Brand' and the trust of consumers. Moving forward, the company aims to extend its reach to the international market in the near future.

Innovating Vietnam's pharmaceutical sector Traphaco JSC not only posted positive business results in 2021 but also registered an impressive momentum in the first quarter with an expected after-tax profit of $3.6 million, an increase of 50 per cent compared to the previous year. The pharmaceutical firm also makes shareholders and investors highly appreciate its progress in innovation and creativity, especially its corporate restructuring strategy.

Domestic pharmaceutical firms encouraged to produce rare medicines: official The Ministry of Health (MoH) will propose to the Government to issue policies aimed at encouraging domestic pharmaceutical enterprises to produce rare medicines in order to ensure domestic supply, said Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Lien Huong said at the Governments regular press conference on October 29.
"Removing bottlenecks - promoting the growth of the real estate market" is set to be held on April 19

The real estate market is facing great challenges, especially difficulties in capital flow and legal bottlenecks that reduce customer confidence and threat the sustainable operation of real estate businesses.

Being an essential infrastructure for many key economic sectors such as industry, tourism, and services, the downturn of the real estate market is a key reason for the overall economic slowdown.

Vietnams GDP growth in the first quarter of 2023 only reached 3.32 per cent, the second lowest in 10 years, largely influenced by the downturn of the real estate market.

In the first quarter of 2023, many localities received a significant decrease in state budget revenues gained from land and houses, such as Lam Dong, Long An, and Ho Chi Minh City.

Notably, the leading economic hub of the country, Ho Chi Minh City recorded a growth rate of only 0.7 per cent in the first quarter, falling to the lowest group in the country, largely due to the frozen real estate market.

Determining the importance of dismantling obstacles, and opening capital flows to revive the market, the government and ministries and branches have implemented many resolutions, revising legal documents and plans to make the real estate market more sustainable.

At the roundtable, experts, lawyers, and business representatives will discuss the impact of changes in the legal system, how businesses react to these changes, and when the market will bounce back.

Leaders from the Ministry of Construction, the State Bank, the National Assembly Economic Committee, the National Assembly Budget Committee, the Vietnam Real Estate Association, and economic experts, lawyers, and representatives from real estate businesses will attend the seminar.

Roundtable: Removing bottlenecks - promoting the growth of the real estate market

Time: 8:30am  11:30am

Location: Vietnam Investment Review, 47 Quan Thanh street, Ba Dinh district, Hanoi

Please contact Lan Nhung at lannhung@vir.com.vn to participate in this event

Big appetite still apparent in real estate The Vietnamese real estate market is proving attractive to foreign investors and funds despite the turmoil that domestic real estate investors are grappling with over projects lacking legitimacy, capital, and liquidity.

Bond pressure retained in real estate If a draft decree amendment on bonds is soon passed, real estate businesses will likely be given a helping hand in the form of time to restructure their cash flows.

Real estate market wont recover until late 2024: Experts Despite the Governments efforts to remove challenges facing the real estate market, it wont prosper until the end of next year, experts have warned.

Steel fortunes limited by real estate uncertainties Increasing numbers of steel mills seek income flow through property investment, but executing this approach on a significant scale remains tricky.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy faces skepticism among the GOP over his proposed SNAP cuts

Republican lawmakers were not optimistic that the proposals would be able to push through the Senate

McCarthy's proposals will expand the age bracket for people who would have to meet work requirements to be eligible

Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is facing skepticism from his party over his proposed SNAP cuts that are set to be unveiled on Monday morning.

The proposals are expected to include broad moves to reduce food assistance for millions of low-income American residents. This has not stirred well among Republican lawmakers in the Senate, who were not optimistic that the proposals would push through.

McCarthy's SNAP Proposals Draw Skepticism From GOP

One of McCarthy's proposed plans is to expand the age bracket for individuals mandated to meet work requirements to be eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Food Assistance Program (SNAP).

It would also end what the Republican lawmaker said were "loopholes" in current conditions. As per Politico, the information was revealed by two anonymous sources who discussed the internal conversations.

Republicans have long sought to cut spending on federal food assistance programs. House conservatives look forward to making it a part of any agreement to increase the debt ceiling. That is something that the United States government is supposed to do later this year to prevent a default crisis.

However, Senate Democrats have argued that McCarthy's proposals will die on arrival in the upper chamber. Key Senate Republicans back them and have already bested a series of similar House GOP attempts in the last few years.

These include one in 2018 where McCarthy and his current top debt limit ally, Rep. Garret Graves, pushed similar proposals. This time, Senate Republicans have responded much faster and suggest that the plans would be met with a much crueler fate this year.

Read Also: Clarence Thomas Allegedly Receives Annual Income From Closed Real Estate Firm

Attempt To Reduce Federal Spending

The situation comes as GOP lawmakers have recently turned their focus on two anti-poverty programs, Medicaid and food stamps. According to the Washington Post, the former enrolls the country's poorest families in health insurance while the latter gives people in need grocery benefits.

McCarthy and other lawmakers have long endorsed the public measures requiring some enrollees to get a job or work longer hours to be eligible for the benefits. They would only gain government aid if they met the criteria.

The proposals are seen as an attempt to fight over the federal budget with the Joe Biden administration. Many GOP lawmakers argued that federal aid programs were one-way policymakers could take advantage of to boost workforce participation while reducing spending.

SNAP is currently known to be assisting roughly 41 million Americans, including families who have children, to be able to put food on the table. Yahoo Finance says the program provides low-income households an average of $230 in federal money given every month to buy groceries.

Related Article: Key Trump Lawyer Steps Away From Classified Documents Investigation

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Starting this year, the European Union has begun to apply a series of regulations that may affect non-EU items imported into the market.

Some products must be proven to be wholly obtained here for them to benefit from tariff preferences, photo Le Toan

In January, the EU required all foreign business partners that import their goods into its territories to pay wider attention to issues such as labour and the environment. The EU also plans to apply new regulations on fighting against deforestation and achieving low carbon emissions in production activities.

These regulations will directly affect Vietnams export items such as coffee, furniture, steel, fertiliser, and chemicals.

The EU will also imminently apply a new regulation on environmental protection with a focus laid on reducing emissions from products in the garment and textile, footwear, and electronics sectors.

At the beginning of the year, the European Commission released regulations on the temporary increase in official controls and emergency measures governing the entry into the EU of certain goods from certain third countries. Under this new regulation, some Vietnamese products will be affected, including chilli and okra, which a quality examination frequency rate of 50 per cent.

Various supply chain due diligence schemes already govern the placing of goods on the EU market, and new EU regulations are about to enter into force, like the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, Alexander Koch, chairman of the Dutch Business Association in Vietnam, told VIR.

All of these schemes require exporters to be able to present documentary evidence upon request to demonstrate their compliance to sustainable environmental, social, and governance criteria. Investing in related reporting is essential for companies exporting from Vietnam to the EU or being in the supply chain of an EU company in order to enjoy low tariffs and easy access to EU markets, Koch added.

Strict rules of origin

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, one of the greatest challenges for Vietnam to benefit from the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) tariff advantages is how to ensure factories perform under strict environmental standards, and ensure rules of origin (ROO) of products that are required under the deal.

Specifically, products will benefit from the tariff preferences under the EVFTAs ROO provided that they can prove that they are wholly obtained in Vietnam, or produced in Vietnam incorporating materials which have not been wholly obtained there, provided that such materials have undergone sufficient working or processing within Vietnam.

However, while raw materials from Vietnam and goods produced here using domestic inputs easily fall into the wholly obtained category, many goods contain materials or components imported from countries not party to a trade agreement.

These goods must prove that the inputs that have been inputted have undergone specific levels of alteration within Vietnamese borders to tap into the benefits of the EVFTA. Many goods have set procedures that must be completed within Vietnam for the items in question to be considered as originating from there.

Vietnam exports its goods to the EU in many sectors. For example, the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) said the sector is not worried about quality or standards, but about ROO difficulties surrounding the EVFTA.

Opportunities to increase garment and textile exports to the EU to benefit from the EVFTA are there, but it will be difficult for the sector to meet ROO requirements because Vietnams clothing materials are largely imported from non-EU sources such as China, India, and South Asia, said Truong Van Cam, vice chairman of the VITAS.

Meanwhile, the EVFTA only offers preferences to Vietnamese garments and textiles which are produced domestically or imported from the economies that have an FTA with the EU such as South Korea, Singapore, Canada, or Japan.

Vietnams garment and textile exports last year hit $44 billion, including about $4 billion from the EU. Total material imports in 2022 reached about $6.5 billion, up 8.5 per cent on-year. About 80 per cent of clothing materials were imported from foreign markets  in which half was from China, 15 per cent from Taiwan, and 18 per cent from South Korea.

Under the EVFTA commitments, all Vietnamese garments and textiles will enjoy a zero import tax rate seven years after the deals entry into force. Specifically, the EU will remove import tariffs for 77.3 per cent of Vietnams garments and textiles after five years, and the remaining 22.7 per cent will follow suit after the next two years.

On the rise

The EVFTA took effect in August 2020, and two-way trade turnover hit $54.9 billion in the first year of implementation  up 12.1 per cent on-year, and reaching $61.4 billion in the second year of implementation, up 11.9 per cent on-year.

The figure touched $62.4 billion in 2022, up from $56.8 billion in 2021  with a significant rise in export turnover of many items such as garments and textiles (24 per cent), footwear (19 per cent), and aquatic products (41 per cent).

In the first three months of this year, the two-way trade value sat at $13.7 billion, down from $15.2 billion in the same period last year. However, this figure is expected to bounce back thanks to rising EU demand.

According to the Vietnamese Trade Office in Belgium, it is forecast that the EU-Vietnam two-way trade turnover will increase by about 24 per cent on-year in 2023.

Giorgio Aliberti, head of the European Union Delegation to Vietnam, told VIR that the EVFTA is serving as a major driver of trade.

I firmly believe that the EVFTA has contributed significantly to this success and the figures speak for themselves. The latest available data sourced from Eurostat indicates a robust growth of the bilateral import-export relations in January-December 2022, Aliberti said.

The exports of commodities by the EU to Vietnam soared up by 18 per cent on-year to 12.01 billion ($13 billion) while Vietnams exports rose significantly by more than 33 per cent on-year to 50.32 billion ($54.84 billion). Vietnam has well maintained its leading position as the biggest exporter of commodities among ASEAN countries to the EU market, Aliberti added.

He explained that the prospects of deeper bilateral trade between Vietnam and the EU remain bright.

Two-way trade after two years of the EVFTA grew to $83.4 billion, representing 24 per cent higher than the average annual bilateral trade value during 2016-2019, before the deal came into play. The utilisation rate of the EVFTA by Vietnamese exporters continues to increase as well, Aliberti said.

This utilisation rate was initially 14.8 per cent in 2020 and increased to 20 per cent in 2021 and to 24.5 per cent in the first six months of 2022, according to a survey of 500 Vietnamese companies by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Many independent analysts hold the view that current global challenges could have wielded far worse impacts on the economy if important deals like the EVFTA had not been in place. It has acted as a cushion to support the economy of Vietnam in times of global turbulence, Aliberti noted.

Revamping preservation technologies for Vietnamese fruit exports to EU market On March 17, the inauguration of the smart cold cabin demo was held in Tra Vinh province, extending the prospects for Vietnam's agricultural exports to the EU market.

Exports to EU set new record In the first five months of this year, Vietnams exports to the EU have continued to flourish reaching $13.4 billion in export surplus and showing a 47 per cent jump on-year by efficiently leveraging the advantages of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).
Self-care is a trend that has been creating a positive impact around the world. According to a report by the Global Self-Care Federation in 2022, self-care activities generated $119 billion in monetary and healthcare workforce savings globally and relieved the burden on healthcare providers, saving 1.8 billion hours of physicians time.

In the US, for every $1 spent on the over-the-counter drug system, the US healthcare system saves $7. In Europe, when they switch from investments in prescription drugs to those for over-the-counter medicines, with a transfer rate of 5 per cent, their health system saves up to 16 billion each year.

A step forward in promoting the importance of self-care

In Vietnam, self-care is no longer an unfamiliar concept. According to the report The Power of Self-Care in Achieving Health for All by KPMG and Sanofi, it is estimated that from $2.5-4.2 billion of annual savings could be unlocked if policies driving self-care implementation are applied.

Julie Van Ongevalle, executive vice president, head of consumer healthcare (CHC) at Sanofi

People are taking more accountability for their health and wellbeing because of the lessons learned from the pandemic. Simultaneously, this positive behaviour shift enables the consumer healthcare product market to grow.

For instance, the ageing population, the expanding middle class, and the growth of drug store chains have all contributed to the enormous development of the over-the-counter industry in Vietnam.

Consumers not only set higher quality standards, but also continuously look for a convenient, consumer-relevant, and emotionally connected approach to healthcare products and services. Therefore, the healthcare industry must also be fast-moving to meet their ever-changing needs.

Thus, FMCH is being promoted as the intersection between the dynamism of fast-moving consumer goods culture and the stability and quality-assurance of the healthcare industry.

Thanks to the innovative approach and rapid growth of FMCH, people can access a wide range of healthcare products from personal care and bone health supplements to multivitamins and probiotics conveniently at supermarkets, drug store chains, and on e-commerce platforms.

Julie Van Ongevalle, executive vice president, head of consumer healthcare (CHC) at Sanofi said, "The junction between self-care and the FMCH industry is two-way. At Sanofi, we champion better self-care to educate, support, and empower people to care for themselves, their community, and our planet. This also means that we work to make self-care as simple as possible every day, and to be seen as a trusted partner by all of our stakeholders, driving our vision to become the best FMCH company in and for the world."

Health In Your Hands  the shared responsibility to create a healthier society and planet for all

In that context, encouraging and facilitating better self-care for all people has become the top priority for leading global healthcare companies like Sanofi.

With more than 9,000 employees, Sanofi CHC empowers hundreds of millions of people to take control of their health by giving them 24/7 access to more than 100 brands in over 100 countries, making a difference to consumers where it counts and driving leadership in our key categories of allergies, digestive wellness, pain relief, physical and mental wellness, coughs, colds and flu, and personal care.

With the goal of helping people become more informed about their health, a series of entertaining communication campaigns have been launched in response to WHO-related awareness days such as International Self-Care Day, World Health Day, and World Pharmacist Day.

In the 4.0 era, digital transformation is the dominant force for consumer engagement, and it is unlocking the potential of digital social media platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, as well as that of Key Opinion Leaders. Sanofi has delivered many edutainment activities, merging educational information with a fascinating format to reach out and engage with people more efficiently.

With QR codes and e-labelling, consumers can quickly obtain reliable and accurate product information. Sanofi is speeding up its digitalisation with investments in data science, digital technologies, AI, big data, and novel clinical trials. Continuous investment is also required in integrated industrialisation, networked teams, operations, intelligent quality management, real-time supply chains, and completely digital modules.

This push does not just meet consumer needs, but also those of healthcare professionals. Sanofi continuously updates its medical information and advice on the right medical conditions and medicines via interactive activities, such as the online Sanofi CHC academy.

For vulnerable and disadvantaged communities, Sanofi dedicates one day each year  called Purpose Day  for all employees to participate in local voluntary activities. Several corporate social responsibility activities have been held to address the root causes of key issues.

For example, Sanofi CHC sponsored the Hygiene in Schools project by the Hope Foundation to provide hygiene and handwashing education, safe water access, and standard toilets for 20 primary and secondary schools in Son La province. This purposeful activity has contributed to solving the lack of clean water and poor living standards, which are the main causes of digestive health problems among children.

Finally, Sanofi is dedicated to sustainable development and has put in place a number of programmes to lessen its impact on the environment. Via the Planet Care initiative, Sanofi has built a path towards carbon neutrality by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2045.

In Vietnam, the manufacturing site aims for carbon neutrality by 2025, 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2025, and to continually reduce waste from its products and value chain. Sanofi Vietnam is implementing the Rice is the New Green project, where rice husk biomass is used to replace fossil fuels  expected to reduce 2.3 kilotons of CO 2 emissions per year.

Sanofi and GSK to seek regulatory authorisation for COVID-19 vaccine Sanofi and GSK on February 23 announced that they intend to submit data from both their booster and Phase 3 efficacy trials as the basis for regulatory applications for a COVID-19 vaccines.

Sanofi unveils new corporate brand and logo Sanofi unveiled a new bold and unifying corporate brand that supports the modernisation and transformation the company launched in December 2019.

Sanofi-Aventis Vietnam joins efforts to reduce plastic waste Sanofi-Aventis Vietnam on June 17 entered a cooperation agreement with FPT Long Chau to implement the Insulin Pen Sustainability Pilot Project, aiming at reducing plastic waste and creating a solution to properly dispose of used insulin pens in Vietnam.

Sanofi's leader sees Vietnam as a promising market for healthcare Vietnam is emerging as a promising market for healthcare development in the region, according to Marc-Antoine Lucchini, Head of Foundation, General Medicines at Sanofi, who has recently paid a business trip to several Asian countries.
Do Quang Hien, chairman of SHB

Last year, international and domestic financial and securities markets experienced a bumpy road, resulting in a negative impact on the overall valuation of listed companies, particularly banks.

Do Quang Hien, chairman of SHB's Board of Directors, revealed that the bank is presently engaged in negotiations with several international partners. He indicated that SHB's strategy for attracting strategic foreign investors is to seek long-term partners who are willing to get involved in strategic management and share technology and other resources.

However, as most foreign investors tend to limit their involvement to strictly financial investment, SHB must alter its strategy to pursue the right kind of capital from major overseas institutions.

"SHB is currently attracting a lot of interest from foreign suitors. However, being selected as an appropriate investor requires strong financial capability and a willingness to engage in long-term investment. The Board of Directors is approaching some investors with a 3-5-year strategy," said Hien, "By the end of this year or early next year, SHB expects to have an eligible partner."

In late 2021, SHB entered a strategic agreement to sell its consumer finance arm, SHB Finance, to Ayudhya Bank (Krungsri) of Thailand, a member of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) from Japan.

As a result, SHB transferred half of SHB Finance's charter capital to Krungsri. The remaining half will be transferred to the Thai bank after three years.

Banks continue with consolidation game Activities pertaining to mergers and acquisitions across Vietnams banking system are expected to be robust in the foreseeable future as foreign strategic partners remain eager to broaden their influence.
A police officer is seen in front of a temple in Khok Pho, Pattani province, Thailand, on April 15, 2023. (Photo source: AFP/VNA)

Bangkok  Authorities in Thailands Songkhla province on April 15 tightened security in Hat Yai and Sadao districts following a series of bomb and shooting attacks along rail routes in the three southernmost provinces.

The attacks occurred almost simultaneously at six locations in three provinces of Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat at around 8pm on April 14 - the final day of the holy month of Ramadan. No casualties were reported in any of the incidents.

Col Thanitpon Hongvilai, commander of the 5th infantry regiment and its Thep Satri special task force, inspected the border near Malaysia while army and border police forces responsible for the Thai-Malaysia border area have also been deployed to suppress any illegal entry via natural channels.



Police and officials will also patrol along rail routes from Hat Yai to Padang Besar, a border town in the Sadao district of Songkhla, to ensure safety before resuming train operations.

Severe air pollution hits Thailands Chiang Mai city The historical city of Chiang Mai has been under thick smog as a result of hazardous pollution levels in northern Thailand, triggering concerns about the impact on locals health and tourism, a key sector of the economy.

Thailand discovers new rare plant species A new species of flowering plant has been discovered by a group of researchers at Thailand's Chiang Mai University's Faculty of Science.
Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung (R) and Australian Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi-The third Vietnam-Australia Economic Partnership Meeting was held in Hanoi on April 17 under the co-chair of Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung and Australian Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell.

Addressing the event, Dung said that the Vietnam-Australia economic cooperation has seen strong growth over the years. Since the two sides lifted up their ties to a strategic partnership in 2018, they have become partners in many areas from trade, investment, development investment, agriculture, education and training.



Australia is one of the largest providers of non-refundable official development assistance (ODA) for Vietnam, he said, citing statistics announced by the Australian Embassy that in the 2022-2023 period, Australia has increase ODA to Vietnam by 18 per cent from 78.9 million AUD (52.98 million USD) to 92.8 million AUD (62.32 million USD), focusing on areas of renovation, skilled worker training, women empowerment, COVID-19 response, and encouraging the private sectors engagement in socio-economic development.



As of March this year, Australia had 593 valid projects in Vietnam worth 1.99 billion USD, ranking 20th out of 143 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.



Last year, two-way trade rose 26.9 per cent to 15.7 billion USD, including Vietnams exports of 5.6 billion USD, making Australia the seventh biggest trade partner of Vietnam.



Vietnam currently ranks fifth among countries sending students to Australia with more than 22,000 students as of December 2022.



According to Dung, the meeting will consider working groups in various areas to discuss multilateral economic cooperation, contributing to promoting the sustainable development of bilateral partnership.



He called for more investment from Australia and suggested that the Australian side coordinate with Vietnam to develop the bilateral relations in a more balance manner, and support Vietnam in trade promotion activities and introducing more products, especially agro-fisheries products in Australia.



The two sides should work closer in new cooperation areas such as innovation, green and renewable energy, circular and high-tech agriculture as well as culture and tourism, he said.

Australian Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell addresses the meeting (Photo: VNA)

For his part, Farrell affirmed that cooperation between Australia and Vietnam has been fruitful in all fields, especially trade, investment, education and training. He said he believes that the meeting will open up new development orientations for the Vietnam-Australia partnership.

At the meeting, the two sides discussed measures to further foster the Vietnam-Australia economic ties, evaluate the implementation of the Vietnam-Australia Enhanced Economic Engagement Strategy and the outcomes of working groups on ODA, foreign investment and trade, and listen to recommendations from businesses of both sides on measures to improve the business environment quality.



Participants also discussed cooperation between the two countries at multilateral and regional forums such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), World Trade Organisation (WTO), Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA), and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).



The meeting took place in the context that the two countries are celebrating the 50th founding anniversary of the bilateral diplomatic relations (1973 - 2023). During the visit to Vietnam by Governor-General of Australia David Hurley in April, the two sides agreed to discuss upgrading the relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership at an appropriate time.



Participants agreed to organise the fourth Vietnam-Australia Economic Partnership Meeting in Australia in a convenient time.

Australian funds taking deeper interest in Vietnam This year, Vietnam and Australia will celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations. VIRs Kim Oanh talked to Phan Huu Thang, director of the International Institute for Investment Research, about the achievements so far between the two countries.

Western Australia launches its first representative office in Vietnam On March 8, Deputy Premier of Western Australia, Roger Hugh Cook, arrived on an official visit to Vietnam and announced the launch of a new Western Australian Investment and Trade Representative Office in Ho Chi Minh City.
Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc (Photo: MPI)

Hanoi  The Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment will create all possible conditions for foreign investors, including those from France, to operate effectively and sustainably in Vietnam, Deputy Minister Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc has affirmed.

Addressing the 12th Vietnam-France decentralised cooperation conference, which took place in Hanoi from April 13-16, Ngoc noted that Vietnam has launched the national strategy on green growth and stepped up economic restructuring in tandem with growth model reform, environmental sustainability and social equality.As a result, great potential and opportunities remain for Vietnam and France to boost their cooperation in the time ahead, she said.Vietnam also encourages and prioritises quality, focused foreign investments, especially in high-tech, innovation, green energy, renewable energy, finance, banking, health care, high-quality personnel training, infrastructure, health care and pharmaceuticals.They are the areas where France has strengths, and the two economies would be reciprocal, the official added.

Briefing the participants on Vietnams socio-economic development, Ngoc said it has been named among the top 20 countries in terms of FDI attraction and the 20 biggest economies worldwide.

Regarding the Vietnam-France relationship, Ngoc called trade, economic and investment ties as pillars of their strategic partnership and traditional friendship.



France ranks 16 out of the 143 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with more than 3.8 billion USD. Their two-way trade reached 5.33 billion USD last year, of which Vietnams export to the European nation was valued at 3.7 billion USD.



France is also one of Vietnams first and biggest official development assistance (ODA) suppliers in Europe, she said, stressing that Vietnam is an active, responsible member of ASEAN and Asia-Pacific, while France is a key member of the European Union, and both are members of the Francophone community and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).



These are important foundations and premises for the two countries to expand cooperation and boost trade and investment ties between the two countries, Ngoc continued.



The official stressed that the 12th Vietnam-France decentralised cooperation conference has offered effective solutions to raise the role of localities in promoting investment links between the two countries.

Vietnam-France enjoy growing partnership After five years of establishing their strategic partnership, Vietnam and France are eying abundant opportunities to lift up their ties to a new height to suit the positions and potential of both countries. The two sides have established cooperation in diverse fields.
The event hosted was part of activities to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties, and the 10th year of the Vietnam-France strategic partnership.

The Vietnam-France Business Forum on April 15

It was hosted by Hanoi People's Committee from April 13-16, with support from Vietnams Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Frances Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, embassies from both countries, and the Association of French Localities.

Themed "The driving force for sustainable and comprehensive recovery and development after the COVID-19 pandemic, the event attracted 50 localities in Vietnam and 12 localities of France, as well as many state and private organisations.

Vice Chairman of the Hanoi Peoples Committee Nguyen Manh Quyen said the forum was an opportunity to connect the authorities of the cities, investors and businesses of Vietnam and France to discuss implementing investment and business activities in Vietnam.

The forum also creates an opportunity for parties to exchange ideas, initiatives, and solutions to improve mutual understanding, cooperation, investment, and contribute to traditional friendship; strengthening existing relationships, and at the same time, expanding exchanges and cooperation between new Vietnamese and French local partners, he added.

Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc said, Vietnam is an active and responsible member of ASEAN, the Asia-Pacific region (APAC). France is a key member of the European Union. Vietnam and France are both members of the Francophone community as well as participating in the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement. These are important legal foundations and frameworks for the two sides to expand cooperation.

Vietnam prioritises attracting quality FDI in association policies to support investment in science and technology, and improve production capacity to meet and participate in the global supply chain, especially in high technology, innovation, green energy, and renewable energy, she said.

At the forum, participants focused discussion on sustainable cities; environment, water and water treatment; culture, heritage, tourism, smart cities, and digitisation.

Vietnamese provinces like Lam Dong, Thai Nguyen, Binh Dinh, and Quang Ngai held meetings with French localities and businesses to discuss cooperation opportunities in waste water treatment, agriculture, and tourism.

Hanoi and Toulouse signed a cooperation agreement

In particular, Hanoi and Toulouse signed a cooperation agreement at the event. At the closing ceremony of the conference, representatives of the Hanoi People's Committee and the Councillor of the Nouvel Anquitaine Region announced a joint statement.

The Vietnam-France cooperation conference is the only regular exchange between Vietnamese localities and other countries, taking place every three years. It is an opportunity for localities of the two countries to meet, exchange on the topics of mutual interest, and promote cooperation in economy, culture, education, urban and environment.

The conference has been held every two or three years since 1996, with Vietnamese and French localities taking turns to host the event. It is a chance for both sides to discuss difficulties, evaluate the results in bilateral relations, and deliver feasible solutions to foster their partnerships, thus strengthening diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Businesses and authorities of the two sides at the forum

According to Vietnams Ministry of Planning and Investment, French investors came to Vietnam very early on with projects like the Metropole Hotel, the France Telecom telecommunications project and later the Vietnam-France Friendship Hospital.

France's total registered investment capital in Vietnam has reached over $3.8 billion, ranking 16th out of 143 countries and territories investing in Vietnam. French enterprises have been present in 36 localities in Vietnam such as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and Ba Ria Vung Tau. Meanwhile, Vietnam invested in France with the total capital of over $73 million.

Bilateral trade in 2022 reached $5.33 billion, of which, the export turnover of Vietnam to France will reach $3.7 billion and the import turnover of Vietnam from France reached $1.63 billion.

50 years of French relations In 2023, France and Vietnam will celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations and 10 years of strategic partnership. This is a good opportunity to look back and assess what our two countries have accomplished in trade and investment and reflect on ways to further develop our economic exchanges.

French groups keen to back green schemes Sustainable green development and expanding investment links between France and Vietnam are being highlighted as the two countries celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations and 10 years of strategic partnership this year.

France trailblazing in sustainable development The Indo-Pacific region, particularly nations like India and Vietnam, is becoming an engine for French economic growth in terms of green, sustainable, smart cities and semiconductor development.

French influence increases as Vietnam calls for EVIPA payoff Vietnam is working with France on new plans to expand bilateral investment cooperation, with the latter to soon adopt the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement, which will help facilitate investment flows.
An emaciated alligator that was found in a New York City lake and sent to the Bronx Zoo for recovery has died. Zoo officials described her dea
JACKSON, Miss. (AP)  Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed legislation Friday requiring localities to base water bills on personal consumption, blocking a proposed reform by the federally appointed manager of the troubled water system in the state's capital city.

The Republican governor signed House Bill 698 months after Ted Henifin, who was appointed in November by a federal court to help improve Jackson's water infrastructure, released a proposal calling for billing water based on property values rather than personal use.

Henifin said the new billing model would be a more equitable method of pricing water in a city where roughly 25% of residents live in poverty.

It would be unfair to charge people for water based on factors unrelated to how much they consume, Reeves said in a statement on Friday.

Water bills based on property values squeeze the middle class, Reeves said. They cant afford to pay more for the home they already own. Water bills will continue to be based off of personal consumption  just like what is being done throughout the rest of the country.

Rep. Shanda Yates, an independent from Jackson, introduced the legislation, which passed with bipartisan support. Several Jackson-area lawmakers opposed the bill.

Repeated breakdowns in Jackson have caused many in the majority-Black city of about 150,000 residents to go days and weeks at a time without safe running water. Last August, people waited in lines for water to drink, bathe, cook and flush toilets. Henifin was appointed after the U.S. Justice Department won a federal judges approval for a rare intervention to fix the citys water system.

In January, Henifin released a proposal calling for a monthly cap on water fees for homes and commercial properties. The proposed solution was a response to the loss of revenue Jackson has experienced as its tax base eroded over the past few decades. It also would reduce the systems dependence on city water meters, which have been mired in problems, Henifin said.

We are fundamentally flawed in the United States in that we price water only to burden that lower end of the economic spectrum, and we dont even attempt to get more revenue from the upper end, Henifin said in a December interview with The Associated Press. If you look at property values as a surrogate for income, we could generate more than enough revenue to actually own and operate and maintain the system.

The new law takes effect July 1.

An earlier version of the report incorrectly said support for legislation dealing with water billing came almost entirely from Republican lawmakers who do not live in Jackson. The legislation passed with bipartisan support.

Michael Goldberg is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/mikergoldberg.
The Waco Tribune-Herald won Newsroom of the Year in the Texas Managing Editors annual contest covering the calendar year 2022. The awards were presented at the organizations annual conference over the weekend in Galveston.

The Waco Tribune-Herald presented a consistent, solid, local report and its staff produced regular additional elements  nice graphics, good photos, and digital extras, the judges wrote.

The Newsroom of the Year award is judged on print editions, online sites and cumulative points in the contest overall. The McAllen Monitor was second, the Laredo Morning Times third, and the Corpus Christi Caller-Times fourth.

We really appreciate the judges using the term consistent, Tribune-Herald Editor Steve Boggs said. This staff works hard every day, sometimes under difficult conditions, to present local news to our print and online readers. To be rewarded for that grind is gratifying.

The Trib won seven awards, including first place in Feature Writing. Former Trib reporter Rhiannon Saegert took first place for her extensive reporting on Lake Waco and its low water levels. Saegert traced the lakes main tributary, the Middle Bosque River, to its source near Stephenville during the height of the 2022 drought.

Veteran Trib reporter Mike Copeland won third place in Feature Writing for his feature on the Evangelia Settlement in Waco, one of hundreds of settlement houses organized nationwide in the 1920s and later, founded by women concerned about the physical condition and spiritual health of children. Evangelia Settlement received a state historical marker last year.

Hoover won third place in Comment and Criticism, while Sports Editor Brice Cherry took third in Sports Columns and honorable mention in Headline Writing.

Texas Managing Editors was formerly known as Texas Associated Press Managing Editors and now includes non-AP members, including online news outlets. The Trib last won top honors in the contest in 2019.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham warns of potential national abortion ban

The Democratic lawmaker said that a national ban is almost guaranteed when officials use federal courts to restrict access to the procedure

Grisham previously signed into law two bills protecting abortion providers as well as guaranteeing reproductive and gender-affirming care

On Sunday, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham expressed her worries that the United States would later enforce a national ban on abortion access as state legislatures and courts continue to restrict the procedure across the nation.

The Democratic lawmaker said that a national ban could be on the table when officials use federal courts to bar and ban access in various areas. The New Mexico governor recently signed two bills into law that sought to protect abortion providers and guarantee citizens access to reproductive and gender-affirming care.

Potential National Abortion Ban

The passing of the two bills comes as a Texas judge ordered the suspension of the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval of mifepristone, an abortion pill. It is one of only two approved drugs that are used to cause a termination of pregnancy, as per Politico.

Several states that support abortion access have already begun to stockpile mifepristone as the drug is now in the hands of the courts. However, Grisham said that authorities need to do more than build up a storage of the abortion pill.

The New Mexico governor said that we need to ensure we continue to have access to such medications moving forward. Grisham's comments came during an interview with Margaret Brennan. She noted that if officials only stockpile mifepristone, they minimize the work they need to do to maintain access to abortion.

Grisham's legislation did not restrict when during a woman's pregnancy she could get an abortion. The New Mexico governor added that the new conditions were "horrific." He argued that her position was that no one should interfere with a woman's right over her medical situation and her decision regarding potential life-threatening circumstances.

Texas Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk's decision to suspend the FDA approval of mifepristone came after the drug has been approved for the last two decades as a safe and effective abortion pill. After an appeal court ruling, the drug was allowed to be used under certain restrictions, which include not being sent through the mail, according to The Hill.

Read Also: Bud Light Ends Social Media Silence Amid Backlash

Providing Gender-Affirming Care

It was seen as one of the latest developments in restricting access to abortion following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, essentially removing the Constitutional right to abortion.

In a news release, Grisham said that every person in New Mexico deserved to be protected for their bodily autonomy and right to health care. The governor's HB7, or the Reproductive and Gender-Affirming Health Care Freedom Act, prohibits any public body from imposing laws, ordinances, policies, or regulations that would curb patients' access to reproductive or gender-affirming care.

Violating the newly-signed laws could result in fines of $5,000 or damages if the amount is greater than that threshold. It follows previously-passed ordinances that several state municipalities have implemented related to abortion care access, said CNN.

Related Article: Montana's Republican Legislature Approves Statewide Ban on TikTok

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
KARUIZAWA, Japan  Top diplomats from Europe and North America arrived Sunday in this hot spring resort town to discuss the worlds most intractable crises, including ways to end Russias war in Ukraine, confront Chinas aggression toward Taiwan and lure North Korea back to nuclear disarmament talks.

They were scheduled to dive right in, with a private working dinner Sunday spotlighting China and North Korea. But even before the Group of Seven foreign ministers talks began, outside events threatened to overshadow the diplomacy, including questions about U.S. intelligence leaks that cast doubt over crucial alliances, and security worries after someone threw an explosive device at the Japanese leader during a campaign event.

Japan is eager to use a smoothly run G-7, which includes a host of gatherings on climate, finance and other issues ahead of a leaders summit next month in Hiroshima, to pursue a stronger unified front against what Tokyo and other democracies see as Russian, Chinese and North Korean aggression.

Amid widespread skepticism that the United Nations, which is often paralyzed by the oversized power on the Security Council of Russia and China, can do anything about these issues, many will be watching to see what, if anything, G-7 ministers from Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Italy and the European Union might do.

Security is tight in Karuizawa, but Japan has been forced to address safety concerns after a young man threw an explosive device toward Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the eve of the diplomats arrivals. Kishida was uninjured Saturday and continued campaigning, but the attack was an unwanted development for Tokyo amid a lingering security debate over the assassination nine months ago of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Starting with the summit, we have to make every effort to ensure security and safety ... (as) dignitaries from all over the world gather, Kishida told reporters Sunday.

The three-day talks will also see the first real test of the Biden administrations assertion that there has been minimal damage from the disclosure of highly classified documents related to the war in Ukraine and U.S. views of its allies and partners.

Before traveling to Japan, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday from Hanoi that he had heard no concerns from allies, but the revelations will loom over the G-7 meeting, the first major international diplomatic conference since the documents were discovered online and made public.

On the diplomatic front, the talks, which end Tuesday, will be dominated by worries over the Russian leaders threats to use tactical nuclear weapons as his forces struggle in Ukraine, Chinas increasing belligerence toward Taiwan, the self-governing island Beijing claims as its own, and North Koreas record-setting run of illicit weapons tests.

Some observers expect that Japan and other nations might use the G-7 to announce an increase in aid to Ukraine.

As Russias invasion of Ukraine has been shaking the foundation of the international order, the international community is now at a historic turning point, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said ahead of the meeting. I will lead discussions as chair of the meeting and show the G-7s strong determination to absolutely reject attempts to change the status quo by force, and Russias threat of nuclear weapons or their use, while defending the rules-based international order.

Though diplomats from Beijing wont be present in Japan, Chinas rapid military rise will also play a large part in discussions.

China recently sent planes and ships to conduct a simulated encirclement of Taiwan, and has seen in recent years a rapid jump in its nuclear warheads, a tougher line on its claim to the South China Sea and increased comments from its leader, Xi Jinping, painting a scenario of impending confrontation.

Japan, in response partly to Chinas rise, has made a major break from its self-defense-only post-World War II principles, as it works to acquire preemptive strike capabilities and cruise missiles to counter growing threats.

Diplomats will also be looking to find ways to restart diplomacy aimed at pressuring a hostile North Korea to return to disarmament negotiations. Since last year, North Korea has test-fired around 100 missiles, including intercontinental ballistic missiles that showed the potential of reaching the U.S. mainland and a variety of other shorter-range weapons that threaten South Korea and Japan.
Steve Miller Band will return to Pinewood Bowl Aug. 5.

Miller last played the Pioneers Park amphitheater in 2018, drawing a crowd of 4,700 for a show with Peter Frampton that paired two of the top guitarists and rock hitmakers of the 70s.

Miller, who at 79 is the only original member of the band that carries his name, grew up in Dallas, where he began playing guitar. He formed his first band at the University of Wisconsin in the early 60s before, first, moving to Denmark to go to school, then coming home to Chicago, where he immersed himself in the blues scene.

Relocating to San Francisco, he formed the Steve Miller Band in 1966 and released a debut album, with Boz Scaggs in the group, two years later. After a run of well-received psychedelic blues albums, Miller made a musical shift with 1973s The Joker, then came 1976s Fly Like an Eagle which generated hits Take the Money and Run, the title cut, and the chart-topper Rock n Me selling more than 4 million copies.

Millers released 10 albums since  including the platinum Book of Dreams and Abracadabra.

Touring consistently through the decades, Miller has made a number of Lincoln appearances. But he hadnt played the Capital City in more than a decade before his 2018 show.

Tickets for the show start at $40 and go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday at ticketmaster.com and on the Ticketmaster app. Tickets also can be purchased at the Pinnacle Bank Arena ticket office on Tuesdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Millers show is the 11th show announced for Pinewood Bowl this summer. The other shows are: Chicago, May 12; Tracy Lawrence and Gary Allan, May 18; Tedeschi Trucks Band, July 25; Train, Aug. 4; Trombone Shorty and Ziggy Marley, Aug. 11; Blues Traveler and Big Head Todd & The Monsters, Aug. 14; The Head and the Heart and Father John Misty, Aug. 18; The Doobie Brothers, Aug. 20; Lindsey Stirling, Aug. 21 and The Black Keys, Aug. 27.

For more information, go to www.pinewoodbowltheater.com.

PhotoFiles: Concerts in Lincoln in the '70s Cricket
Google will likely introduce a new artificial intelligence (AI) powered search engine that keeps up with the popularity of Microsoft's Bing and OpenAI's ChatGPT.

The renowned tech giant is reportedly working on an AI project focusing on a new feature for its search engine, Project Magi.

Google's AI-Powered Search Engine

According to The New York Times, Google is now elaborately developing an "all-new" search engine powered by the craze of AI. Amid the efforts of OpenAI and Microsoft to offer AI-powered tools, the search giant is now reportedly in the early stages of stepping up its game in the rodeo of this emerging technology.

The New York-based publication reports that the tech behemoth is "racing" to debut the new search engine. More than a hundred employees are now busy developing the new AI-powered search engine, among other upcoming features. The Times, citing a source close to the matter, disclosed that 160 folks are now tasked to focus on a project called 'Magi.'

And as of last week, the report says that some Google employees have started trying out Magi. It hints that it might see the light of day anytime soon. 9to5 Google revealed that its public launch is likely next month or anytime in May. Given that, it could get the spotlight shimmer at the I/O 2023 event.

After all, the upcoming event is expected to give us a glimpse into the AI plans of the search giant.

But here is the catch, the AI-powered search engine will reportedly debut exclusively in the United States. If you are in the US, you could be one of its first users. The limitations do not end there. According to Engadget, it might only accommodate up to one million people. Later on, by the end of the year, it will expand to 30 million.

Read Also: Google Engineer Claims AI Chatbot Is 'Sentient,' Compares It to a 'Precocious Child'

What to Expect from 'Magi?'

Sure, an AI-powered search engine from Google sounds intriguing. The question is: what can we specifically expect from the project "Magi?"

The New York Times notes that Project Magi seeks to introduce various AI features to the existing search engine of Google. While it is still in the early stages, users should anticipate "a far more personalized experience" once it is running.

Besides improved personalization, Magi will also make "Search" more competent, letting it "answer questions about software coding." Plus, users may also ask it to write code.

Generally, Google reportedly gears up to make it "a bit like chatting with a helpful person." It would still give recommendations based on the user's behavior. But it would be more "conversational" than the current non-AI-powered offering.

Related Article: ChatGPT AI Writes University Student's Essay, Giving Him His Highest Grade Ever

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Given the recent headlines, I want to say a few words about the safety of your money in the bank  and all the end of the world financial stories, memes and social media posts that have started to circulate  again.

This is not the first time Americans have worried about the fate of the U.S. dollar and Americas central place in the global economy.

Those who studied history will know that 90 years ago, the nation was gripped in such a pervasive Depression that was both financial and psychological. President Franklin D. Roosevelt is famously remembered for saying: The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

Those words apply today. So if you get one of those frightening emails telling you where to stash your cash, take a look at who is about to make money off this dire warning. Likely, the alarmist writing that newsletter or urging the purchase of precious metals or crypto will benefit far more than you.

Those scary Facebook posts are typically from people who are financially illiterate or greedy fearmongers. Perhaps even worse, some are deliberately designed to spew panic about our financial system and the strength of our democracy.

Dont fall for it!

Sure, our economy and our banking system have problems. But weve been through frightening financial times before. In 1973, Americans were lining up at gas stations  a shocking recognition of our national vulnerability. We responded eventually by becoming the worlds largest energy exporter.

Have you forgotten the atmosphere of fear as we approached Y2K? In retrospect, it seems almost quaint to fear technology. Similarly, the bursting of the dot-com bubble a year later made many think internet shopping was over! Hah.

More seriously, the financial crisis of 2008, triggered by unsound mortgages, threatened to destroy the bedrock of the American dream  homeownership. Thousands of people walked away from their mortgages after realizing they owed more on their mortgage than the home was currently worth. And lenders even had some homes razed. If only they had stuck it out instead of reacting in fear. The homes soared in value just a few years later and could have been refinanced with 3% mortgages.

Lessons of history

Yes, hindsight is perfect. But it gives us lessons for facing future challenges. And the biggest lesson of all is to avoid actions taken out of panic.

In 1973, the Dow fell below 600. In 2001, it dipped to 7,500. In the 2008 financial crisis, it dropped from over 14,000 in fall 2007 to bottom at just over 6,500 in March 2009.

Three years ago, in the pandemic panic, the Dow fell to a low of 18,591. Yet here we are today, with the Dow over 32,000. Panic is always a losing strategy over the long run.

Be sensible about safety

That doesnt mean you shouldnt be aware of risks and how they impact your personal finances.

Thats why, long ago, I created the term chicken money  money you cannot afford to lose. The amount of your assets in these safe investments depends on your personal situation. But everyone sleeps better with a portion of chicken money on the sidelines, safely invested in insured bank deposits, government-only money market funds or U.S. Treasury bills.

And today is no exception. But recent events have been a reminder of the limits of FDIC insurance, at least for ordinary depositors. Suddenly, the coverage questions and searches are making headlines. Basic $250,000 coverage can be extended through joint accounts or trust accounts and even some retirement accounts. The rules are complex and can be found at FDIC.gov.

But why get caught up in this coverage game, and why keep potentially excessive assets in any one insured financial institution? What is your bank giving you in return lately? Yes, banking is built on relationships. But it should be a two-way street.

If youre near or potentially over the insurance limit, just open an account at TreasuryDirect.gov and buy three- or six-month Treasury bills auctioned every Monday. (See link at TerrySavage.com for a complete explanation.) T-bills are the ultimate safety, without limitation. And thats The Savage Truth.

-

Terry Savage is a registered investment adviser and the author of four best-selling books, including "The Savage Truth on Money." Email her at terry@terrysavage.com.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  Indiana lawmakers gave a key sign of support Monday for the governors proposal that would broadly expand the states support for county-level public health programs toward improving the state's poor national rankings in areas such as smoking, obesity and life expectancy.

Indiana House members voted 78-21 in favor of the bill, with opposition coming from among the most conservative Republican members. Those votes against the proposal came despite changes to specify that elected county officials can opt out of the state program at any time since the Republican-dominated Senate endorsed the bill in February.

House Public Health Committee Chairman Brad Barrett urged support for the proposal, saying that county health programs are strapped for resources and those troubles were magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic.

It only brought to light the fact that this was uncoordinated and poorly funded, said Barrett, a Republican from Richmond.

The bill lays out core public health services for which county health departments would be directed to provide with acceptance of more state funding. Those would include access to required childhood vaccinations, emergency preparedness, restaurant and sewage system inspections, communicable disease prevention and smoking cessation programs.

House and Senate negotiators face a deadline by the end of next week to reach agreement on a final version of the plan. They also face determining how much state money to direct toward the funding boost from the current $7 million a year that go toward county health departments, which are primarily funded by local taxes.

Lawmakers have whittled down Republican Gov. Eric Holcombs request for nearly $350 million over the next two years for county health funding and other initiatives such as improving the states trauma care network. House and Senate budget proposals have reduced the state funding to at most $225 million.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ryan Mishler said last week that several Republican senators have had concerns about state officials possibly taking more control over local health departments.

While county officials would have the option of accepting the money and expanding services, some opponents with complaints over government-ordered COVID-19 precautions said during legislative committee hearings that they feared creeping state authority over local health agencies. Plan opponents focused on issues such as complaints over federal approval of COVID-19 vaccines and Holcombs executive orders early in the pandemic for business closures and a face mask mandate.

Republican former state Sen. Luke Kenley, who was co-chairman of a Holcomb-appointed commission on public health, said Indiana needed to improve county public health department funding from its 45th-place national ranking even in the face of vociferous opponents.

Theyre still fighting the wars of the pandemic about vaccinations and mask and mandates and somebodys telling us what to do, Kenley said.

Similar grievances were aired to Indiana lawmakers as they debated a proposal last year that failed to win passage aiming to severely limit the COVID-19 vaccine requirements that businesses could impose on employees.

Holcomb has made the public health proposal one of his top priorities for the new two-year state budget. Pointing to Indianas rankings near the bottom nationally in areas including obesity, smoking and life expectancy as a pattern we need to reverse, Holcomb has said We need to get healthier as a state, theres just no two ways about it.
Kim (aka @colorful_kimmes) is a Netherlands-based entrepreneur who turned her enthusiasm for maximalist interiors into a content-creator career. Her posts, focusing on bright and playful rooms in her retro maximalist home, aim to, inspire people to add more color to their life. A few minutes spent browsing her whimsical Instagram is sure to motivate you to add a few bold shades to your own house.
Historian to speak at meeting

WATERLOO  Kenneth Lyftogt, a retired lecturer from the University of Northern Iowa department of history will be guest speaker at the April 25 Cedar Valley Historical Society meeting.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at the Snowden House, 306 Washington St.

He will discuss his book, Iowa and the Civil War, Vol. III: The Longest Year, 1864-1865, the latest in his three-volume series, published in 2022. Volumes I and II were finalists for the B. F. Shambaugh Award, the highest award presented by the State Historical Society. The first volume received the A. M. Pate Award presented by the Civil War Round Table of Fort Worth, Texas.

At $40 per copy, all three volumes can be purchased at the meeting.

All programs are open to the public. Admission is $3 for adults; $2 for children. Refreshments will be served after the meeting.

New members are welcome. Annual membership dues are $7 for a single; $12 for family. Contact Craig Bravender at (319) 296-3019.

Balance class offered in May

WATERLOO  Northeast Iowa Area Agency on Aging is offering A Matter of Balance: Managing Concerns About Falls, an award-winning workshop designed to increase the activity levels of older adults with concerns about falling.

Classes will take place from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. each Monday and Thursday from May 1 through May 25 at the Waterloo Public Library, 415 Commercial St

Preregistration is required by contacting Elise Bovy at 319-231-6798 or email ebovy@nei3a.org or Colleen Lawler at 563-380-3239 or email clawler@nei3a.org by April 26. Space is limited. Each participant will receive a detailed training manual. There is a suggested contribution of $20 to cover the cost of materials fees for each participant.

Planetarium to hold May shows

WATERLOO  Cinco de Mayo planetarium shows will be shown at 6, 7 and 8 p.m. May 5 in the Norris Corson Family Planetarium at the Grout Museum District, 503 South St.

In the 30-minute show, the public can learn about the penumbral lunar eclipse happening that evening along with Aztec and lunar mythology, and hear how ancient Aztecs looked to the sky for guidance.

This program is $15 for members and $20 for non-members. Pre-registration is required at gmdistrict.org/cinco. Admission includes a planetarium show, photo booth opportunity, white sangria and snacks. The show is intended for adult audiences.

for more details, go online to gmdistrict.org or call 319.234.6357.

1956 West High reunion planned

WATERLOO  The West High class of 1956 is hosting its 67th class reunion on Sept. 8 and 9.

The reunion will take place at Landmark Commons located at 1400 Maxhelen Blvd. There will be a lunch buffet at 11:30 a.m. on Sept. 8 and a catered meal at 1 p.m. on Sept. 9. For more information and to register, call Larry Baker at (319) 296-7221.
DES MOINES  Two Cedar Valley organizations are among 21 recipients of grants awarded by Iowa Workforce Development to fund health care apprenticeships.

Western Home Communities in Cedar Falls received a $1.34 million grant that will allow the nonprofit senior living provider to educate up to 135 new certified nurse aides and licensed practical nurses over three years.

North Star Community Services in Waterloo received a $102,870 grant for nine apprentices who will be trained as direct support professionals for people with disabilities, the population the agency serves.

The project lays the foundation for establishing a new registered apprenticeship program to begin to address the lack of professionals in this field, according to a news release from Iowa Workforce Development. Partnering with the Waterloo Career Center, this project will allow apprentices to obtain competency-based training, earn credentials and begin a career path.

This is the second round of Iowa Health Careers Registered Apprenticeship grants, designed to help train and expand the health care workforce. The initial awards were made in June 2022.

Western Home Communities received the third-largest award in the state for the current round.

Were already seeing this large population of baby boomers coming to us for housing and services, and weve got to have more trained employees to meet the demand, Kris Hansen, Western Homes chief executive officer, explained in a new release. This grant is really a win-win for us and people who want to start their nursing careers.

The state awarded the projects statewide a total of $13.5 million to create nearly 1,500 apprenticeships. Recipients include public school districts, community colleges, universities, hospitals and senior living providers. Awardees are required to provide an industry-recognized credential that can also be stackable and used by apprentices to advance a career in health care.

Its going to take all of us being innovative and working together to develop the health care workforce Iowa needs, so state funding is important, Hansen says. We view it as a way to further our efforts to be an educational partner in the community.

Western Home Communities has worked with Cedar Falls High School and its Center for Advanced Professional Studies for several years to train CNAs and is already planning a partnership with the Waterloo Career Center. Through the apprenticeship program, more high schools will be able to offer their students similar opportunities.

For CNAs who want to become a nurse, the apprenticeship program will create a new learn and earn option for becoming an LPN.

Chief Clinical Officer Wendy Ager knows that many CNAs want to pursue further education but cant afford to stop working. The apprenticeships will remove that financial barrier.

This is exciting because providing the best care to residents is integral to how we operate as an organization, she said. Thats why weve been training CNAs in-house for several years now, and this grant lets us expand that to the next level.

Practical, hands-on lab training and on-the-job experience will be offered on-site at Western Home Communities, while AxisU will develop an online learning curriculum component.

Now that the grant has been awarded, Western Home Communities will finalize the program components and hopes to start awarding apprenticeships later this year.

PHOTOS: Cedar Falls, East, West, Waverly-Shell Rock boys soccer 041323-spt-cf-wsr-5 041323-spt-cf-wsr-6 041323-spt-cf-wsr-2 041323-spt-cf-wsr-3 041323-spt-cf-wsr-4 041323-spt-cf-wsr-1 041323-spt-east-west-5 041323-spt-east-west-1 041323-spt-east-west-3 041323-spt-east-west-4 041323-east-west-2.1
WATERLOO -- Kenneth Lyftogt, a retired lecturer from the University of Northern Iowa department of history will be guest speaker at the April 25 Cedar Valley Historical Society meeting.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at the Snowden House, 306 Washington St.

He will discuss his book, "Iowa and the Civil War, Vol. III: The Longest Year, 1864-1865," the latest in his three-volume series, published in 2022. Volumes I and II were finalists for the B. F. Shambaugh Award, the highest award presented by the State Historical Society. The first volume received the A. M. Pate Award presented by the Civil War Round Table of Fort Worth, Texas.

At $40 per copy, all three volumes can be purchased at the meeting.

All programs are open to the public. Admission is $3 for adults; $2 for children. Refreshments will be served after the meeting.

New members are welcome. Annual membership dues are $7 for a single; $12 for family. Contact Craig Bravender at (319) 296-3019.

Who actually invented the lightbulband the illuminating history of modern lighting Who actually invented the lightbulband the illuminating history of modern lighting 1830s: Inventors create early, short-lived incandescent bulbs 1850s: Arc lights capitalize on advances in electricity 1880s: First incandescent lightbulbs made commercially 1900s: Peter Cooper Hewitt creates early fluorescent lamp 1960s: Nick Holonyak Jr. invents first LED light 2014: Three scientists receive Nobel Prize in physics for inventing "efficient blue light-emitting diodes"
WATERLOO -- As the nation celebrates National Volunteer Week, MercyOne is proud to celebrate the many volunteers who help our hospitals operate.

Volunteer opportunities vary at each hospital and include greeting and escorting patients and visitors at entrances, driving patients to and from appointments, being a mail/medical runner and assisting with projects and clerical duties.

The following positions are needed at MercyOne Northeast Iowa:

Greeters/ambassadors  welcome and assist visitors with where they need to go, make deliveries.

Gift shop  ring up sales, provide customer service.

Patient advocate - visit with patients on the floors.

Spiritual care - Communion, night chaplain, pastoral visitors.

Volunteers must be at least 16 years old. For more information about how to become a volunteer and to apply, visit MercyOne.org/volunteer.

Photos: House Fire, Cedar Falls, April 12, 2023 041223jr-fire-cf-1 041223jr-fire-cf-2 041223jr-fire-cf-3 edit IMG_9321.jpg 041223jr-fire-cf-5 041223jr-fire-cf-6 041223jr-fire-cf-7 041223jr-fire-cf-8 041223jr-fire-cf-9
 Top News Today

 Vladimir Putin held a meeting with the member of the State Council and the Minister of Defence of the Peoples Republic of China Li Shangfu in the Kremlin. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu also attended the meeting.

The snap combat readiness inspection of the Pacific Fleet. The Pacific Fleets Air Defence entered the combat duty in new position areas. Aerospace Forces crews flew to operational airfields. Pacific Fleet counter-sabotage forces detachment practice. The amphibious assault landing operation was carried out at a training ground in Primorye.

In Kupyansk direction, the attacks, launched the artillery of the Zapad Group of Forces, have resulted in the neutralisation of the AFU units.

Operational-Tactical Aviation, Missile Troops and Artillery strikes of the Yug Group of Forces have hit AFU units of the 77th Airmobile Brigade attempting to counterattack Russian positions in the direction of Maloilyinovka and the 54th Mechanised Brigade.

 Press centre chiefs of Zapad, Vostok, Tsentr, and Yug groups of forces make statements on current situation in the areas of responsibility.

 Russian Defence Ministry shows BM-21 Grad within the special military operation.

Airborne Assault units training in the rear area of the special military operation.

The soldiers of Russian Group of Forces in Syria took part in Resurrection Sunday celebration.

#MoD #TopNews

 @mod_russia_en

WtR
Commentary of the Russian Embassy in the USA

On March 30 , The Washington Post published an article on the subject of United States Bioscience Abroad. For their part, they turned to the newspaper with a refutation . Alas, publish our remarks in pristine condition independent media refused . After censorship, all the important and, obviously, hitting the sick passages were emasculated. In this regard, we publish the full version of the comment , which did not reach the American reader.

 Letter from the Press Secretary of the Russian Embassy in the USA I.V. Girenko to the editors of The Washington Post

Dear Ms. Busby,

I drew attention to the publication in your newspaper of March 30 on the topic of military biological activities of the United States.

It is sad that such a respected publication is spreading outright disinformation, discrediting our countrys efforts to expose Washingtons illegal activities in violation of the BTWC. Your journalists claim that the laboratories modernized with US funds are engaged in healthcare and the fight against pandemics. However, this thesis is contrary to common sense.

Think about why such research is supervised not by civilian authorities, primarily the Ministry of Health, but by the Pentagon? How does the accumulation and manipulation of highly pathogenic and contagious viruses contribute to public health? Why is emphasis placed on the study of natural focal infections, which are considered by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as potential agents of biological weapons? Official Washington has not yet given a clear answer to these questions.

Look at the geography of the location of laboratories controlled by the military department. Their network is scattered thousands of kilometers (!) from the North American continent. The lions share is along the perimeter of Russian and Chinese borders. It turns out that in order to implement the biological agenda for the benefit of all mankind, America has chosen the territory bordering with strat rivals.

In addition, if the facilities you mentioned are engaged in exclusively peaceful projects, what made the United States, after the start of the NWO, transfer Ukrainian bioprograms to the states of Central Asia and Eastern Europe? And in parallel, hastily shifting the functions of the customer to civilian structures  the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Energy, the Agency for International Development. We see here one and only goal  to cover up the traces and take the Pentagon out of the attack.

You dont need to go far to understand that the administration is not saying something. Even American lawmakers are demanding answers to questions about the origin of the coronavirus. An investigation into the governments involvement in the pandemic is underway at the Capitol. Congress has repeatedly charged the US government with obstructing the clarification of the circumstances of the outbreak of the epidemic crisis.

Ms Bazby, I would be grateful if my appeal could be published. I hope that the above will provide food for thought for you, your correspondents and the audience. To delve into the essence of the matter, I also recommend that you carefully read the Final Report of our Parliamentary Commission to Investigate the Circumstances Related to the Establishment of Biological Laboratories by American Specialists on the Territory of Ukraine. As well as briefings of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation , replete with detailed reference materials.

***

WtR
Americas reputation is and actually for the most part has been trashed to a point of no return. Its the worlds most psychopathic country, a serial killer that has to continue murdering victims like an addiction so it never looks at the horror it is actually causing to the world. Even domestically it does the same with the gun violence and mass shootings. The main thing is to keep killing

What a sad sick country

WtR

Alabama just had a shoot them up at a Sweet 16 party
Is Netflix down? As the 'Love is Blind' reunion episode was about to live stream, users started reporting what turned out to be a widespread outage affecting the giant streamer from various parts of the world.

Netflix viewers from various platforms, including the web and its app, pointed out that the streaming service is grappling with issues. It prevented them from watching movies and shows, more importantly, the highly-anticipated 'Love is Blind: The Live Reunion' live stream.

Netflix Outage

While these users were complaining that the streamer became janky, the #LoveisBlindLIVE was trending on Twitter, according to Bloomberg. After all, fans of the hit series were expecting to watch a live stream of its cast's reunion, aptly titled 'Love is Blind: The Live Reunion.' But it did not go as planned.

Bloomberg notes, citing the Downdetector, a website that monitors outages across various platforms, that roughly more than 12,000 users have reported the Netflix outage. On top of that, the site says that the problem persists on the app and website of the giant streamer.

As per The US Sun, the widespread outage inevitably delayed the highly-anticipated live reunion of the 'Love is Blind' cast. Fans of the hit dating reality series have stormed the streamer as they anticipate catching the live stream. But they ended up waiting for a while due to technical issues.

The official Twitter account Netflix tweeted amid the delay, saying, "Love is ... late." But it notes that the live stream will proceed in 15 minutes. However, The Verge reports that after fans waited for several minutes, the reunion episode has yet to stream. The problem prevailed for more than an hour, leaving some subscribers frustrated.

The giant streamer tried to downplay the mess, which brought us hits like Stranger Things and Squid Game. It told fans of the reality dating show that it would be "worth the wait."

Read Also: Jamie Foxx Health Update: Actor Still Hospitalized, But Daughter Says He's Recovering

Netflix Cancels 'Love is Blind: The Live Reunion'

One and a half hours after, Netflix gave up on live streaming the 'Live is Blind' reunion episode. Instead, the streamer announced that it would upload a filmed version "as soon as humanly possible."

Netflix took to Twitter to apologize to the fans of the hit reality show. "We are incredibly sorry that the "Love is Blind Live Reunion" did not turn out as we had planned."

To everyone who stayed up late, woke up early, gave up their Sunday afternoon we are incredibly sorry that the Love is Blind Live Reunion did not turn out as we had planned. We're filming it now and we'll have it on Netflix as soon as humanly possible. Again, thank you and  Netflix (@netflix) April 17, 2023

Tech Crunch notes that this is not the first instance that the giant streamer dabbled in live streaming. The first event that streamed live on the service was the comedy special of Chris Rock, 'Selective Outrage.'

Moving forward, Netflix plans to continue its live streams. The giant platform will start streaming the Screen Actor Guild Awards next year.

Related Article: Millie Bobby Brown Got Engaged to Her Boyfriend, Jake Bongiovi

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Weather Alert

.Near record high temperatures Thursday through Sunday will bring significant streamflow rises, especially for snow covered terrain below about 8000 feet. Rises will likely increase daily through the weekend following a diurnal melt cycle with the highest flows often in the evenings and overnight. ...FLOOD WATCH FOR SNOWMELT REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM THURSDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH MONDAY MORNING... * WHAT...Flooding caused by snowmelt continues to be possible. * WHERE...Portions of California and western Nevada, including the following areas, in California, Greater Lake Tahoe Area, Lassen-Eastern Plumas-Eastern Sierra Counties, Mono County and Surprise Valley California. In western Nevada, Greater Lake Tahoe Area, Greater Reno-Carson City-Minden Area and Mineral and Southern Lyon Counties. * WHEN...From Thursday afternoon through Monday morning. * IMPACTS...Creeks and streams will be running high and fast. Low-water crossings may be flooded. Minor mainstem flooding is currently forecast along the Forks of the Carson River beginning late Friday. The Susan and Walker Rivers will also need to be closely monitored as flooding cannot be ruled out. Anyone participating in outdoor recreation this weekend should use caution as water will be running high, fast, and potentially out of banks for some creeks and streams. The water will be extremely cold as well, quickly causing shock. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS... - http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... You should monitor later forecasts and be alert for possible Flood Warnings. Those living in areas prone to flooding should be prepared to take action should flooding develop. &&
A Houston-area couple received a call last month from their adult son  or at least they thought it was him: The voice sounded exactly like him. He said hed been in a car accident where he hit a woman who was six-months pregnant, had just been released from the hospital, and now was in the county jail about to be charged with DWI, according to a KHOU 11 News report. He needed $5,000 to get himself out of this mess.

Absolutely convinced that the caller was their child, they handed over the cash to an intermediary who came to their home pick it up.

Watchdog Alerts

Sign up for biweekly updates on the latest scams. Get Alerts

Howd the scammers pull it off? Most likely by using artificial intelligence (AI) to clone the sons voice, says Alex Hamerstone, a cyber analyst at TrustedSec, an information security consulting company. He points to the case in Houston as one vivid example of how the latest generative AI technology, including voice-mimicking software, deepfake videos, and chatbots like ChatGPT can be used by bad actors.

They have the potential to level up criminals ability to impersonate anyone  your grandchild, a police officer, even your spouse  Hamerstone notes.

VIDEO: Grandparent Scams

There are a lot of scams out there that are pretty worrisome, and I always try to kind of temper that a little bit, he says, but this one really does scare me.

Other experts are also concerned about AIs potential for harm. Last month, a group of tech leaders, including Elon Musk and Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak, posted an open letter online warning that AI systems with human-competitive intelligence can pose profound risks to society and humanity, and calling for a six month pause in the training of AI systems, so experts can take time to develop and implement a set of shared safety protocols.

A game-changer for impostor scams

The scheme described above  a version of the grandparent scam, where grandparents are targeted by criminals pretending to be grandchildren in crisis  is common, but before [the use of this software] the voice could have been a giveaway, says Steve Weisman, a professor of white-collar crime at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts, and an expert in scams, identity theft and cybersecurity.

With voice-cloning tech, he adds, scammers need to capture only a few seconds of the child's audio, which they can get from a TikTok video or an Instagram video or anything like that, to offer a convincing impersonation.

In another widely reported incident this month, an Arizona woman named Jennifer DeStefano said she received a call from what sounded like her 15-year-old daughter, Briana, who was on a ski trip, crying and claiming that she was being held by kidnappers demanding ransom money. DeStefano confirmed that her daughter was safe, but was shaken that the voice sounded exactly like Brianas. She attributed the uncanny likeness to AI.

And anyone can use this technology:

Its just like downloading any other app, Hamerstone says. If you were recording this conversation, you could feed it into the software and type out whatever you want me to say, and it would play my voice saying that.
A toddler in Virginia was found unresponsive. To revive the child, the first responders had to use Narcan, a medication used to treat opioid overdoses, the police in Manassas Park say.

The Manassas Park Police Department confirmed that it arrested two women for their involvement in overdosing of a two-year-old child. The two were in the house where the little one was found unresponsive.

Virginia Toddler Revived by Narcan

As per a report by ABC News, Narcan is a medication containing an active ingredient known as naloxone, which restores the breathing of a person under opioid overdose right away. The United States Food and Drug Administration or the US FDA recently gave the medication a go signal for over-the-counter use last March.

The approval of Narcan for non-prescription use seeks to help save the lives of opioid users. This time, the medication successfully revived a toddler in Virginia after being found unresponsive.

NBC Washington reports that the police officers found a toddler unresponsive inside a home in Manassas Park at around 8:30 am, according to a Facebook post by the local police. Later on, first responders arrived at the scene to revive the young boy. Besides other life-saving measures, they try to bring back the toddler's consciousness using Narcan medication.

Thankfully, the medication by the responders successfully revived the young boy. The child was brought to the hospital for further observations and medical assistance. WUSA9 says the first responders initially brought the two-year-old boy to the Prince William Hospital. But after which the unresponsive child was taken to Innova Fairfox for further advanced medical care.

Read Also: Virginia: Mother of 6-Year-old Who Shot Teacher Arrested for Child Neglect, Firearm Risk

Police Charged Two Women

While the first responders focused on reviving the child, the police arrested two women found in the home of the overdosing incident.

The Manassas Park Police Department confirmed that they charged Ashleyy Polzer and Savannah Jones. The latter, a 26-year woman from Manassas Park, reportedly had an outstanding warrant from Prince William County for a "Grand and petty Larceny" charge.

On the other hand, Jones, 33, has an outstanding warrant out of Warren County for Failure to Appear for "Driving Revoked," "Provide False ID to Law Enforcement," and "False ID to Law Enforcement" charges.

The Manassas Park Police arrested Jones and Polzer for the "False ID to Law Enforcement" charge. The police also charged the latter, the 33-year-old woman, with "Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

The police say that the investigation of the overdosing incident is still ongoing. For now, the two women who were present in the home where the unresponsive child revived by Narcan was found have been arrested by law enforcement.

Meanwhile, the Manassas Police Department Captain, Carl Dorr, told ABC News that the young child is now stable. The toddler is currently staying in a hospital.

Related Article: Virginia Rep. Jennifer Wexton Keeps 'Positive Attitude' After Parkinson's Disease Diagnosis

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.


Moblan Boosted by Significant Increase in Lithium Resource

Brisbane, April 17, 2023 AEST (ABN Newswire) - North American lithium producer Sayona Mining Limited ( ASX:SYA ) ( DML:FRA ) ( SYAXF:OTCMKTS ) has significantly expanded its Canadian lithium resource base, with an initial JORC Mineral Resource estimate for its Moblan Lithium Project (SYA 60%; SOQUEM Inc 40%), including maiden resources for the South dyke discovery, highlighting the potential for its northern lithium hub in Quebec's highly prospective Eeyou Istchee James Bay region.



Since acquiring Moblan in October 2021 in partnership with SOQUEM (a wholly owned subsidiary of Investissement Quebec), approximately 37,700 metres of diamond core drilling has been conducted at the project. Sayona has now estimated a total JORC Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource of 70.9 million tonnes @ 1.15% Li2O (0.25% Li2O cut-off grade) which represents one of North America's single largest lithium resources.



This includes higher grade tonnage opportunities with Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resource of 51.4 million tonnes @ 1.31% Li2O (0.55% Li2O cut-off grade in the sensitivity analysis). Sayona aims to further enhance the size and grade of this resource through additional drilling, with 60,000m of extra drilling planned at Moblan.



Opportunities exist to expand and build the Mineral Resources proximal to the known Moblan and Moleon deposits, where exploration has indicated that lithium mineralisation may extend to the north, northeast and at depth. Additional diamond drilling could potentially upgrade some of the Inferred mineral resources to the Indicated category and identify additional mineral resources down-plunge and in the vicinity of the currently identified mineralisation, including extra drilling between the Main/Inter and Moleon dyke groups.



Sayona's acquisition of lithium claims from Troilus Gold Corp. ( TSE:TLG ) (refer ASX release dated 17 November 2022), located adjacent to Moblan, offers further potential for eastwards extensions of the Moblan mineralisation, as well as regional targets in the emerging lithium district. The Moblan properties remain largely unexplored outside known mineralised zones.



Meanwhile, Sayona is also advancing required characterisation works and studies including geomechanical characterisation (rock mechanics for pit design), geotechnical studies (soils), mine design, optimisation and scheduling, metallurgical testing, studies and design, environmental characterisation, infrastructure and power requirements, as it progresses Moblan's upcoming feasibility study. This includes the necessary permitting and environmental studies, which are progressing in line with regulatory requirements.



Sayona is committed to engaging local communities as the project progresses, including First Nations and other local community members, consistent with its proactive stakeholder engagement approach.



Sayona's Managing Director, Brett Lynch, welcomed the latest expansion of the Company's North American lithium resource base.



"Speed and tonnes are crucial and with our North American Lithium operation in production, we are now bringing significant added resources to the market. Moblan now represents one of the single largest lithium resources in North America, justifying our move to fast-track a major drilling program that has delivered a resource within just a year of acquisition," Mr Lynch said.



"Sayona already has the leading advanced lithium resource base in North America and this latest expansion further entrenches our competitive advantage, particularly given our projects' favourable access to infrastructure, market proximity and availability of low-cost, sustainable hydropower.



"Together with our established Abitibi lithium hub in the south, Sayona has quickly developed two emerging centres of lithium production amid surging demand from North America's EV and battery revolution. As we progress these projects from spodumene concentrate production towards downstream processing, the significance of these assets will only increase as the market scrambles for supply."



Moblan's mineral resource covers an area of 2,500m strike length and 900m width, extending to a depth of 350m below surface. The mineralisation model consists of 21 lithium pegmatite dykes modelled as the Main dykes, 20 as the South dykes, 17 as the Inter domain and 17 as the Moleon dykes, for a total of 75 lithium pegmatite dykes in the project's mineralisation model (Figure 1*). The 2023 Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) is based on diamond drill holes (DDHs) drilled between 2002 and 2022 and trenches sampled between 2004 and 2009. The database includes assay data from 366 surface drill holes and 10 surface trenches (Figure 2*).



*To view tables and figures, please visit:

https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/7K84489R





About Sayona Mining Limited





Sayona Mining Limited (ASX:SYA) (OTCMKTS:SYAXF) is an Australian, ASX-listed (SYA) company focused on sourcing and developing the raw materials required to construct lithium-ion batteries for use in the rapidly growing new and green technology sectors. The Company has lithium projects in Quebec, Canada and in Western Australia.

Please visit us as at www.sayonamining.com.au


Placement

Perth, April 17, 2023 AEST (ABN Newswire) - BPH Energy Limited ( ASX:BPH ) is pleased to announce that it has received binding commitments to raise $1 million (before costs) (Placement). The Placement will comprise the issue of 52,631,578 new fully paid ordinary shares (Placement Shares) in the Company at an issue price of $0.019 per share.



The Placement will be undertaken pursuant to the Company's existing placement capacity under ASX Listing Rule 7.1 and subsequent to the issue of a Prospectus in compliance with the Corporations Act.



Placement participants will receive one (1) free Attaching Option for every two (2) New Shares subscribed for under the Placement, exercisable at $0.03 each with an expiry date of 30 September 2024 (Attaching Options). The Attaching Options will be quoted under ASX ticker code BPHOB.



Everblu Capital Corporate Pty Ltd (Everblu) will act as Lead Manager for the Placement, with 62 Capital Pty Ltd (62 Capital) acting as Co-Lead. Everblu and 62 Capital will be paid a cash fee of 6% on funds raised under the Placement and 1 Broker Option ( ASX:BPHOB ) per 2 Placement Option issued exercisable at $0.03 per share, expiring 30 September 2024.



Commenting on the capital raising, Executive Director Mr David Breeze said:



"We have received strong interest in the placement and will see the introduction of several new sophisticated investors, including high net worth, family office and resource funds to our register.



The funding allows BPH to accelerate the exploration programs to unlock the potential on both our hydrogen and gas projects especially following the recent gas crisis and focus on hydrogen.



We welcome the new shareholders and look forward to eligible shareholders supporting BPH as we continue our activities."



USE OF FUNDS



The proceeds raised under the Placement provide BPH with a strong cash position to fund its hydrocarbon projects.



The intended use of funds will be for:



- $0.2 million - Further Investment in Clean Hydrogen Technology



- $0.7million - Funding for exploration and development of oil and gas investments



- $0.1 million - For working capital including costs of the offer



PLACEMENT DETAILS



The Placement offer price of $0.019 per share represents a 13.6% discount to BPH's closing price on Wednesday, 12 April 2023 of $0.022 per share, a 6.5 % discount to the 5-day VWAP of $0.0203 per share, and a 20.8% discount to the 14-day VWAP of $0.024 per share.



Settlement of the Placement is expected to be completed on 20 April 2023.





About BPH Energy Limited





BPH Energy Limited (ASX:BPH) is an Australian Securities Exchange listed company developing biomedical research and technologies within Australian Universities and Hospital Institutes.

The company provides early stage funding, project management and commercialisation strategies for a direct collaboration, a spin out company or to secure a license.

BPH provides funding for commercial strategies for proof of concept, research and product development, whilst the institutional partner provides infrastructure and the core scientific expertise.

BPH currently partners with several academic institutions including The Harry Perkins Institute for Medical Research and Swinburne University of Technology (SUT).
Argentina lithium development project successfully produces 2,500kg of lithium carbonate with minimal environmental impact; unlocks commercial development



Announce Achievement of Major Milestone for Project Kachi

Brisbane, April 17, 2023 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Clean lithium developer Lake Resources NL ( ASX:LKE ) ( LK1:FRA ) ( LLKKF:OTCMKTS ) and its direct lithium extraction technology partner, Lilac Solutions ("Lilac"), today announced the production of 2,500kg of lithium carbonate equivalents (LCE) at Project Kachi, a world-class lithium pilot plant located in Argentina. Based on this successful result, Lilac has increased its ownership of the Kachi Project from 10% to 20%. The project is now on track to move from its pilot phase into commercial-scale development, which will make it the first lithium brine project in South America to produce lithium at commercial scale without the use of evaporation ponds for lithium concentration.



The achievement at the Kachi Project represents a historic advancement in lithium production technology. This is the first successful implementation of ion exchange for lithium production in South America, home to most of the world's lithium brine resources.



The 2,500 kg of LCEs was extracted at Kachi with 80% lithium recovery, 90% plant uptime, 1,000x less land compared with evaporation ponds, and 10x less water compared with conventional aluminum-based absorbents. The results speak for themselves:



- Speed to Production: Lake and Lilac commissioned the plant on-site in under a month, more than 10x faster than conventional processes, and immediately began continuous production of lithium chloride;



- High Lithium Recoveries: Lake and Lilac are achieving 80% lithium recovery from a brine with 200-300 mg/L of lithium, roughly double the lithium recoveries of most brine production despite having a lithium grade 2x-7x lower;



- High Water Efficiency: This technology is extremely water efficient, enabling production of lithium chloride with 10x less water compared to conventional aluminum-based absorbents;



- Product Purity: The lithium chloride being produced is low in impurities, enabling efficient production of high-purity lithium carbonate for battery manufacturers. Rejection of boron, a troublesome impurity for brine projects, is greater than 99.9%;



- Continuous Operations: The plant has been operating 24/7, with 90% uptime; this is a reliable automated plant designed for scalable manufacturing and operations;



- No Evaporation Ponds: Lilac's ion exchange technology does not require evaporation ponds for brine concentration, unlike other so-called "direct extraction" technologies which rely on evaporation ponds to concentrate the lithium;



- Validated Performance: An independent engineer has visited the plant and analyzed more than one hundred samples from across the plant to validate performance and confirm consistency with engineering work.



When fully developed by Lake and Lilac, the Kachi project is expected to produce 50,000 tonnes per annum of battery-grade lithium products.



In a joint statement from Lilac and Lake, the company CEOs commented: "Today's announcement marks a new era in scalable lithium production. Lithium is a cornerstone of the energy transition - but limitations in production technology have led to increased costs, scarcity, and extreme price volatility. Today, we've proven that it is possible to produce high-purity lithium faster and without evaporation ponds - all while protecting surrounding communities and ecosystems. We are grateful for the strong partnership between our companies in developing this project, and we look forward to our continued success as we chart a new path in lithium production."



About Lilac Solutions:



Lilac Solutions is a lithium extraction technology company based in Oakland, California. In the coming years, the electric vehicle industry will require a 20-fold increase in lithium supply. To meet this demand, Lilac has developed a patented ion exchange technology that facilitates production of lithium from brine resources with high efficiency, minimal cost, and ultra-low environmental footprint.





About Lake Resources NL





Lake Resources NL (ASX:LKE) (OTCMKTS:LLKKF) is a clean lithium developer utilising clean, direct extraction technology for the development of sustainable, high purity lithium from its flagship Kachi Project, as well as three other lithium brine projects in Argentina. The projects are in a prime location within the Lithium Triangle, where 40% of the world's lithium is produced at the lowest cost.



This method will enable Lake Resources to be an efficient, responsibly-sourced, environmentally friendly and cost competitive supplier of high-purity lithium, which is readily scalable, and in demand from Tier 1 electric vehicle makers and battery makers.
loading.........

Malibu, CA, April 17, 2023 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Join Ellis Martin for a discussion with Jonathan Wiesblatt, the CEO of Rockridge Resources ( CVE:ROCK ) ( RRRLF:OTCMKTS ). The company is embarking on a drill program at its high-grade Raney Gold Project Southwest of Timmins, Ontario, Canada after completing a non-brokered flow-through financing.



To Listen to the Interview, please visit:

https://www.abnnewswire.net/lnk/S656FI11





About Rockridge Resources Ltd





Rockridge Resources (CVE:ROCK) is a publicly traded mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral resource properties in Canada and other mining-friendly jurisdictions. The Company's Raney Gold Project is a high-grade gold exploration project located in the same greenstone belt that hosts the world-class Timmins and Kirkland Lake lode gold mining camps. The Company's Knife Lake Project is in Saskatchewan, which is ranked as the #3 mining jurisdiction in the world by the Fraser Institute. The project hosts the Knife Lake deposit, which is a VMS, near-surface copper-cobalt-gold-silver-zinc deposit open along strike and at depth. Rockridge's goal is to maximize shareholder value through new mineral discoveries, committed long-term partnerships, and the advancement of exploration projects in geopolitically favourable jurisdictions.

About The Ellis Martin Report

The Ellis Martin Report (TEMR) is an internet based radio program showcasing potentially undervalued companies to an audience of potential retail investors and fund managers that comprise our listening audience. TEMR is broadcasted on the VoiceAmerica Business Channel and The Opportunity Radio Network. CEO and company interviews are paid for by those represented on the program.
Politicians created nations gun mess

THE REALITY is politicians, those who have kissed up to the NRA/gun lobby for decades anyway, have created problems for us so bad we will be stuck with shootings, mass or otherwise, (to) plague us nearly every day for the rest of our lives. Now we truly are going to have to have armed, trained people almost everywhere to protect innocent people.

That said, we should still enact restrictions so things dont get even worse. And going forward in this mess, we should sue the unethical makers of semi-auto assault weapons, extended-magazines and bump-stocks whenever possible. And above all, vote those politicians out.

George H. Dabling, Rio Rancho

Address the why, not how, to stop killings

LETS EXAMINE two recent mass killings, defined as three or more victims, of elementary children and staff. One happened April 5, in which a man burst into a day care and killed four children (with a hatchet) and (injured five) more. Another March 28 killed (three) children and (three) staff member(s) of an elementary school. Using the scientific model, lets examine the similarities of these two crimes so we may address how to go about reducing the possibility of them happening again.

The first glaring fact about these two, and many other mass killings, is they occurred at a school. Here the victims are young, small, weak and vulnerable  no threat. Secondly, these locations have been legislated gun-free zones, guaranteeing the criminals have very little, if any, threat of being harmed themselves. Another prevalent fact about all of these school massacres is the killer at one time attended the targeted campus  but nowhere in the national dialog are psychologists addressing this last commonality. 

Here comes the insanity, doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result. Instead of addressing the similarities of these crimes in an analytical fashion, some people think if we eliminate the weapons, hatchet in the first case, rifle in the second, our mentally ill citizens will stop committing these heinous crimes. Really? Here is my last question: Why do we not as a society want to address what is causing all these people to kill?

Ron Smith, Albuquerque

Time to update the Second Amendment

I HOLD two images in my mind: a shattered glass school door in Nashville and a glass case in the U.S. Archives which contains the musty, faded and crumbling parchments of the first 10 amendments. The door was shattered by gunfire and lives were lost, and the glass case is bullet-proof and the Second Amendment seemingly impervious to change. We have that backward.

The Second Amendment was written to make a more perfect union but also to empower state militias in order to win votes to ratify the Constitution. It is now allowing events like that blown-out door to happen. What kind of a union permits that? On Jan. 6 we saw militias participate in an attack on that Constitution. Guns are no longer muskets (or) militias about freedom. Unlimited keeping and bearing of arms is destroying life and liberty. And now there are attacks on gun laws based on public safety. What constitution sanctions this madness?

There is nothing sacred about the Constitution. The sacred stuff is in the Declaration of Independence. The Constitution is an operating manual for government. Our government is failing to deal with an epidemic of gun violence and failing to listen to its citizens.  It is time to break that glass case, pull out Amendment Two, and after shall not be infringed add the phrase from the Third Amendment, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Rock Tope, Albuquerque

Bans will simply increase smuggling

YET AGAIN (March 31 Journal letters section), there are calls for a ban on assault weapons. Yet, how can we  if we consider the interconnectedness of things  even remotely believe we have the ability, anymore, to enforce such laws?

In the 1930s, my grandfather, a new car dealer in Colorado, ran a side business during Prohibition. As cars, shipped from Detroit, were collected at train depots in Denver or Albuquerque, somewhere along the line moonshine was placed in each trunk and smuggled, without incident, into Durango. Grandpa later told me he was sad when Prohibition ended, drying up a profitable and exciting side business. 

No matter the law, including bans or regulations on weapons like alcohol during Prohibition they will still be sold by someone. Whatever bans merely guarantee more cross-border smuggling and a thriving black market, with the only screening process being the ability to meet the asking price. As we demand another quick and likely ineffectual solution, the cartels are watching, eager to make up for any resulting gun shortages.

Meanwhile, I wait, as outraged as anyone but wondering when were going to demand as loudly the rebuilding of Americas failed mental health care system and avenues that recognize when people need to be put into it, willing or not.

Kathleene Parker, White Rock

Mental health should be our real target

BOTH APS plans (to) increase officer presence and implement a zero tolerance policy ignore two important statistical realities.

First is that school shooters have detailed, long-planned knowledge of their targets. Only massive and constant spending could overcome that issue while simultaneously turning our schools into prisons. We all know how safe prisons are and how well they rehabilitate, let alone educate, dont we?

Second is there are no rational gun-control regulations; legal and illegal guns are ubiquitous and cheap. 

Lets assume society, businesses and gun owners are responsible and keep weapons out of the hands of those most likely to commit murders with them.

What about the recent and astute observations from Bernalillo County Commissioner Steven Michael Quezada that utterly dismantled the premise upon which gun rights advocates have built their deadly freedom edifice? Quezada remarked, lets assume youre doing the right thing and trained your family members how to handle and secure guns, great. Are you also going to teach them how to handle a break up, a mental breakdown?

In other words, all the gun responsibility and training in the world isnt going to prevent anyone in great distress from killing themselves or others.  Quezadas comments  implied a much more serious delinquency of a society that has all but given up on mental health and responsible parenting, harder than all the gun regulations or freedoms in the world.

Christopher Koller, Albuquerque

Inaction shows we dont value children

APPARENTLY OUR children are expendable but our guns are not. Lawmakers are happy to push their pro-life agenda and pledge their love of the unborn. Yet they show a complete disregard for our children once theyre born. They can be hungry. The can be abused. They can be uneducated. And they can be gunned down in our streets and our schools.

According to the Washington Post, over 348,000 children have been killed or experienced gun violence since Columbine. The fact no explanation of Columbine shows the social impact that tragedy has made. It should have been the turning point. Sandy Hook should have been a turning point. Instead, we continue to repeat the hollow mantra of love and prayers to the victims families.

In 2022, over 6,000 children in the U.S. were killed by guns. Were not even four months into 2023, and weve already had over 130 mass shootings. Tragically, its becoming increasingly common for our kids to personally experience multiple mass shootings, sometimes just months apart. How does a child process that and not be scarred forever? How is a parent not filled with fear and dread every time their kids head off to school?

Yet the majority of Congress is unwilling to pass any laws that would affect real change.  If they really valued the life of a child, theyd use the same commitment and zeal theyve shown in undermining womens reproductive rights and change our gun laws that are allowing our children to be slaughtered.

Marti Lelko, Albuquerque
Support ABQ youth programs, cut crime

THE (MARCH 29) editorial about a litany of brutal youth crimes is a stark reminder about Albuquerques out-of-control crime and lost teens.

Regarding the point on parenting, single moms now outnumber married. Many have multiple jobs to support their families. Many live in extreme poverty. Ample data reveals how this creates ripe conditions for lost and violent youth. Albuquerque has a number of highly successful programs and facilities for kids that compete for very limited city resources.

One is Warehouse505. They do amazing work giving kids structure with creative outlets in a safe, drug-free environment. Originally known as Warehouse508, Warehouse505 now occupies prime urban renewal space in Downtown Albuquerque.

Warehouse505 provides teens with hands-on job training and gives kids a creative outlet. Art being cut? Warehouse505 provides after school mural classes. Music? Warehouse505s music program teaches all aspects of producing music from using a sound board, DJing to stage management  even a stage, and the kids can put on concerts.

Warehouse505 is not only helping kids graduate but giving them valuable life and business skills to be successful.

This program deserves to grow with more robust and enduring support from the city and should be studied and replicated around the state by government in Santa Fe. Lets support our support programs. Everyone wants more services and less crime. Lets put our money where our mouth is.

Susan Fisher, Albuquerque

Funding will keep ABQ Museum great

WHAT DO I miss most about Albuquerque? My friends, green chile, the sky and the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History. It troubles me  the City Council is planning to cut nearly 80% of the museums capital project funding. You dont have to go to Santa Fe to see great art. Check out the Common Ground collection. I moved east 10 years ago, but every time I visit New Mexico I find new exhibits highlighting its fascinating history. 

After teaching in the public schools I was briefly a museum docent, one of the best experiences of my 40 years in New Mexico, guiding visitors and school children to know the beauty of this part of the world. Please fund the museum fully. Neglecting to keep up the properties and landscaping at the current world-class level would be a real shame.

Susan Leonard, Guilford, CT
EU executive slams Hungary and Poland over a decision to ban Ukrainian grain imports to protect local farmers

The decision comes after Russia's war on Ukraine disrupted Black Sea ports

Large quantities of Ukrainian grain, which is cheaper than EU products, are stuck in Central European states

On Sunday, the European Union executive expressed alarm over Hungary's and Poland's decision to ban Ukrainian grain imports to protect local farms.

The moves after Russia's war on Ukraine resulted in the blockage of some Black Sea ports, which caused large quantities of Ukrainian grain, which costs less than products produced in the European Union, to be stuck in Central European states because of logistical bottlenecks. This has harmed the prices and sales of products made by local farmers.

Ban on Ukrainian Grain Imports

The situation has become a dilemma for Poland's nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party during an election year. It comes as the party has caused people in rural areas to become angry as support across these areas is usually high, as per Inquirer.

In an emailed statement, a European Commission spokesperson said that they were aware of the announcement by Hungary and Poland regarding a grain import ban and other agricultural products from Ukraine.

They added that in such difficult times, it was essential to coordinate and align all decisions within the EU. Piotr Muller, the spokesman for the Polish government, has been in constant communication with the European Commission regarding the issue, arguing that the ban was possible because of a security clause.

The two EU member states have been in long-running conflicts with Brussels regarding judicial independence, media freedoms, and LGBT rights. The two countries have also had funds withheld because of concerns regarding the rule of law.

The governing party's leader in Poland, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, said on the day of the announcement that authorities decided on a regulation to ban the entry and imports of grain into the country and dozens of other kinds of food, according to Euractiv.

Read Also: Vladimir Putin Signs New Restrictive Military Draft System

Protecting Local Farmers

He argued that if left alone, the situation would have led to a far-reaching crisis in Poland's farming sector, defending the decision as protecting the country's agriculture industry. Kaczynski also stressed that the nation supported Ukraine despite the grain ban.

Hungarian Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy made a similar announcement in a Facebook message, noting that his country was also banning agricultural products from Ukraine.

Nagi argued that the absence of meaningful EU measures resulted in Hungary following Poland's ban on Ukrainian grain imports that would be in effect until the end of June. The announcement also comes after Warsaw and Kyiv agreed on Friday to work on limited and temporarily halting Ukrainian grain deliveries to Poland.

The economic development and technology minister of Poland, Walderman Buda, posted on Twitter on Sunday that the latest measure would curb the transit of Ukrainian products through the country, said the New York Times.

Related Article: North Korean Boat Breaches Sea Border, Prompting South Korean Response

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Michele Ostraat came back to Albuquerque, a city where she grew up and graduated high school from, to help Pajarito Powder in its expansion.

A former chief operating officer with the National Energy Technology Laboratory, Ostraat is Pajarito Powders new chief scientist  a job that entails developing new catalyst materials for the companys role in hydrogen fuel cell production.

Ostraat, who has a doctorate in chemical engineering, joined the company this year with the help of a state incentive program that has helped pay for part of her salary.

The Job Training Incentive Program, known by its acronym JTIP, is administered by the states Economic Development Department. It incentivizes businesses to make new hires by paying a portion of the cost in wages for on-site or classroom training.

But the programs goal is simple: to expand the states workforce in areas crucial to further economic development.

A program like JTIP is going to, of course, provide economic value for the state, Ostraat said. Its going to increase and diversify manufacturing capabilities. At the same time, it provides a company like Pajarito Powder to use its limited resources as efficiently as possible.

A brief rundown

JTIP got its start more than 50 years ago in 1972 when it was created by the New Mexico Legislature. The program was originally known as the Industrial Development Training Program, its initial focus on in-plant training across New Mexicos manufacturing scene.

JTIP reimburses roughly 50% to 75% of employee wages through the program for up to six months of training, Roper said. The program targets new hires with economic-based businesses operating in the state, particularly manufacturing businesses or non-retail service businesses that have more than 50% of their revenue coming from outside the borders of New Mexico.

The program reimburses these types of businesses to train new hires, either through on-the-job training or through custom training at public educational institutions in the state. New hires funded by JTIP need to have lived in New Mexico for at least a year at some point; an exception to that rule is if the job in question is high-paying by EDDs scale  $40,000 in a rural location or $60,000 in an urban location, Roper said.

Once approved for job training incentives, businesses have about six months to find those new hires and up to six months to train them before receiving their full award.

Many companies over the years have used the program to grow or expand their operations. Since January, the program has awarded nearly $5 million to two dozen companies in the state.

Its one of the  in fact, it is  the greatest incentive that we have in New Mexico, EDD Division Director Mark Roper said. Its unusual and unique in the fact that we reimburse for wages.

Businesses JTIP has helped

Pajarito Powder has, to date, trained five employees through the program, claiming about $67,560 in funds to pay for portions of their salaries, according to EDD. The company of roughly 20 employees is rapidly expanding in the hydrogen adjacent arena, and is planning a move to a new facility at 5555 McLeod NE this year.

Ostraat is not the only recent hire supported by JTIP in the companys expansion. Two recent graduates from the University of New Mexico, Ashley Healey and Natalie Patton, are also key hires that were made through JTIP. They joined Pajarito Powder last year.

Patton, a catalyst engineer, said her job at Pajarito Powder  and the training she received early on through JTIPs contribution  opened up a whole new world of learning.

(Working here) I have been able to get a wider variety of experience than I would have somewhere else, Patton said.

Healey, a quality control engineer with Pajarito Powder, agrees.

Were so grateful for the JTIP program because it allowed us to have this opportunity of working at a smaller company, but at competitive salaries, Healey said. (Weve) talked to our classmates who are working at Intel and are having a drastically different experience  not as much hands-on experience as us. So I think thats one really valuable aspect of the program that we got to benefit from.

More success stories

KiloNewton, based in Albuquerques Downtown, had a handful of employees when it first started in 2017. The company, which has a focus on utility solar consulting and financial risk assessment, was founded by John Williamson, the companys chief executive officer.

Most of Williamsons staff, which stands at about a dozen, have gone through JTIP. Since JTIP allows for on-site training, Williamson and his partner created and submitted to the state a training program for new hires specific to the company  one they still use and will continue to use so long as the company utilizes JTIP funds.

And the company, since first submitting an application for JTIP incentives in April 2019, has trained 11 people through the program  with claimed training funds standing at more than $158,000, according to EDD.

Kind of my long-term goal for the company is to eventually have probably at least 20 to 30 employees, Williamson said. As long as we can, I think we will continue (using JTIP).

Albuquerque-based 3D Glass Solutions, a company that produces advanced semiconducting chips, has also utilized JTIP funds over the past few years. According to the state, 3D Glass Solutions has trained 62 employees through JTIP, with total claimed funds for those hires standing at $896,162.

At 3D Glass Solutions, training varies depending upon the position, said Phil Ferguson, the business services manager for the company. All trainees do, however, get a basic overview of what the company does and how it operates.

The training consists of a myriad of items, because it does depend on what position a person is being hired into, Ferguson said. An accounting clerk would not go through (training) a semiconductor technician would go through, or neither one of them would go through what an engineer would go through.

He added: (JTIP) has been an immense help in not just finding people, but its been a huge help in recruiting.

Usage declined

A November 2022 Legislative Finance Committee report said JTIP and LEDA sometimes create fewer quality jobs than projected.

Roper said since COVID hit in 2020, JTIP has seen its usage rate reduce pretty dramatically, but added the state is working to help businesses find and retain talent so that they can receive money for training through the program.

Some of the issues in finding and retaining talent are not unique to JTIP funded businesses either. New Mexico has faced a stubbornly low labor force participation rate, which measures the number of working-age adults or those currently looking for work. In February, the labor force participation rate stood at 56.5%  one of the lowest in the country.

Data going back to fiscal year 2012 has shown a usage rate of roughly 58% in the program. That percentage measures the number of jobs that companies were able to fill and claim reimbursement for.

About 7,777 jobs were funded through JTIP over that period.

In FY 2021 and FY 2022, the program has disbursed about $11.8 million to businesses in the state for employee training. Its a trend that will likely continue as more businesses continue to apply for  and receive  JTIP funds, Roper said.

Its been consistently supported, regardless of the administrations and legislatures (over the years), Roper said. Its a quality program nationally recognized and I expect it to continue.
One person was killed in a crash in on Coors NW early Sunday morning, according to Albuquerque police.

Office Chase Jewell, a police spokesman, said officers were called to the crash at 6:30 a.m. near Coors and Hanover NW.

Police didnt release details about the crash, but said one person had died at the scene before officers arrived.
GIMMEE THE SPEED LIMIT, NOT ETA TO ZUZAX: Steve Maize has suggestions for the missives on the electronic message boards along our highways and interstates. Instead of the N.M. Department of Transportation telling us on the overhead electronic signage there are three more minutes to Zuzax, Steve says, why not broadcast No. 1: Speed Limit and No. 2: Signal lane changes? As Im sure youre aware, speed and reckless driving are a big problem in Albuquerque traffic control.

Indeed they are, though you could ask if another sign would change that behavior.

And it turns out you cant put posted/regulatory speed limits and ongoing construction alerts on those kind of signs.

Charles Remkes, manager of NMDOTs Intelligent Transportation Systems, explains there are some basic ground rules when it comes to the message boards. First, speed limit displays are considered to be static, regulatory signing. The display of static messages on dynamic message signs is prohibited. Variable speed limits are allowed  according to the Federal Highway Administration, variable speed limits are displayed on changeable message signs at locations where roadway conditions regularly require speeds to reduce more than 10 mph below the posted speed limit. These instances typically occur due to weather conditions, congestion, traffic incidents, and/or work zones. Remkes says in New Mexico, our roadway speed limits are established by warrants and traffic studies  to that end, we have no VSLs here. Granted, in some areas of the state, i.e., along I-10 between our state border shared with Arizona and Lordsburg where we experience dust storms, we do have variable speed advisory (VSA) signs, but as youll notice in the picture, their display is on yellow  a warning or advisory, not on white  regulatory.

As for lane changes, construction alerts have to be up without interruption, Remkes says, and the message boards change with conditions, delays, etc. When we do have a closure of a lane (as when there is) a crash, we do use the DMSs to advise motorists of the appropriate action, i.e., merge right or left as appropriate, he says. If the lane closure is due to construction or roadwork activities, we can use our DMSs as a supplement to the traffic control signage with some limitations. The key word here is supplemental in that traffic control plans for construction are a legal document and must be in place during construction activities. Deviations to that approved traffic control plan are not allowed unless approved by our professional engineering staff, which cannot be done on the fly or instantly to accommodate changing road or traffic conditions in real time. Our messaging does have priorities, and construction messaging on our DMSs could be usurped should an event of higher priority occur. Its because of this that we cant use our permanent DMSs as primary construction signage.

But improvements are on the table. Remkes says as it relates to advising the motorist of necessary or recommended lane changes associated with changing traffic conditions, the Albuquerque Metropolitan Planning Area (AMPA) ITS architecture has identified managed lanes as a service for the region. Its prioritized as a mid-term need  i.e. between 5-10 years  and would include something akin to the displays as pictured.

ITS MY JOB TO REPORT LIGHT OUTAGES? After the March 13 column had PNM encouraging residents to report street light outages, a reader emailed every year this comes up, and the answer remains the same, As youre driving, make a note of the exact location of the streetlight outage and then go home, log on to the right website to report it.

Ive done this in the past, and its quite an undertaking. This would probably be the correct answer if the issue wasnt so widespread. It is a huge issue that should be addressed by each agency that is responsible for the lights. It would take one eight-hour shift once a month for someone from each agency to get a second person with a map of all the lights  youd think they would have something like that  and drive around and note what lights are out. Shame on the city and county (and electric utility?) for not having a plan in place to address this problem without having to rely on the public to do it for them.

Editorial page editor DVal Westphal tackles commuter issues for the metro area on Mondays. Reach her at 823-3858; dwestphal@abqjournal.com; or 7777 Jefferson NE, Albuquerque, NM, 87109.
Jury selection is expected to begin Monday for a man accused of fatally shooting Jacqueline Vigil in the driveway of her West Side home in 2019 as she was leaving to go to the gym.

Prosecutors allege Luis Talamantes-Romero, 35, and another man had been prowling Vigils neighborhood before dawn in November 2019, looking for vehicles to burglarize, and spotted Vigil as a victim.

The mother of two New Mexico State Police officers, Vigil was shot in the head through the drivers side window in a crime officials described as senseless. Vigil tried to back her Cadillac out of her driveway, but was blocked by a Jeep Cherokee allegedly driven by Talamantes-Romero.

The case gained national attention and took on political overtones when Jacqueline Vigils husband, Sam Vigil, and sons attended a news conference at the White House, where then-President Donald Trump announced the case would be included in the federal crime fighting initiative, Operation Legend.

Talamantes-Romero was charged in November 2020 by then-2nd Judicial District Attorney Raul Torrez with first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated burglary and other charges. Talamantes-Romero has pleaded innocent in Vigils killing.

But months before he was charged here, Talamantes-Romeros name had surfaced as Vigils alleged killer in an FBI affidavit filed in a Texas immigration case.

A Mexican national, Talamantes-Romero allegedly fled New Mexico shortly after the killing to stay with relatives in San Antonio, Texas. He was arrested weeks later for illegally entering the United States.

Assistant Attorney General John Duran, a prosecutor in the case, has said in court he plans to show that Talamantes-Romero was engaged in a crime spree that ended with Vigils shooting death.

To that end, prosecutors plan to call as witnesses other West Side residents who were allegedly victims of burglaries or who confronted Talamantes-Romero before Vigil was killed.

A dispute has emerged between defense and prosecution attorneys about the testimony of an Albuquerque Police Department investigator involved in the case.

Kathleen Rhinehart, Talamantes-Romeros attorney, has asked the judge to allow APD Detective Jessie Carter to testify. Rhinehart contends that Carter reviewed the case and found evidence of APD misconduct during the investigation.

Prosecutors call Carters testimony a red herring and irrelevant and asked the judge to deny the request.

Carter filed a whistleblower lawsuit against APD last year alleging that three APD detectives who interviewed Talamantes-Romero in San Antonio in August 2020 violated his constitutional rights, ignoring his repeated requests for an attorney.

Detective Carter had a very, very peripheral and minimal role in this investigation, Assistant Attorney General John Duran told 2nd Judicial District Judge Britt Baca-Miller at a hearing earlier this month. Im not sure how any pending lawsuit he may be involved in has anything to do with this case, except to confuse the jury.

Baca-Miller reserved ruling on the issue and said she will call Carter as a witness without the jury present before deciding whether to allow his testimony.

Rhinehart responded that Carters testimony is vital for showing APDs behavior in the case. The APD detectives withheld information about the interview in their report to the District Attorneys Office, she said.

And so I guess my question is, what else did they not disclose? she said. What else did they bury?

The shooting

Vigils husband, Sam Vigil, called police at 5:02 a.m. Nov. 19, 2019, and said he had found his wife slumped over the wheel of her car in the driveway of their home on Corte De Loma NW, near Unser and Ladera. He also said he saw a brown Jeep fleeing the cul-de-sac.

About a week later, Elizabeth Talamantes, the sister of Talamantes-Romero, told detectives she owned the Jeep, which officers found next to her apartment in Barelas. Police found a shell casing in the dirt beside the Jeep that matched one from a shooting a month earlier involving a man nicknamed Pelon.

A second break came in January 2020 when a woman told police Talamantes-Romero, whom she knew as Pelon, came to her apartment the night of the shooting and said he had shot a woman in the head, according to an arrest affidavit filed in Metropolitan Court.

The woman also said Talamantes-Romeros sister and another woman had driven him to San Antonio, Texas. Less than two weeks later, Talamantes-Romero was arrested there on immigration violations.

The case nearly went sideways in 2020 when APD detectives obtained a false confession from a man who claimed he was with Talamantes-Romero at the time of the shooting. Police later learned that the man was at home at the time of Vigils killing and didnt know Talamantes-Romero.

Investigators focused on a second man seen with Talamantes-Romero in the hours before the shooting. Phone records and social media messages led investigators to Isaac Ramirez-Soto, who prosecutors say accompanied Talamantes-Romero at the time of Vigils killing.

Court records list Ramirez-Soto as a prosecution witness in the trial.

Ramirez-Soto told investigators he and Talamantes-Romero were driving around and breaking into cars the morning of the killing. He was drinking alcohol and Talamantes-Romero was using cocaine, he said.

When the pair saw a garage door opening, Talamantes-Romero blocked the driveway and walked up to the drivers side window. About 40 seconds later, Ramirez-Soto heard the victims car horn go off and almost instantly heard a single gunshot, a special agent wrote in the arrest affidavit.

The pair then drove off toward the West Mesa, the affidavit said.

Talamantes-Romero fled to San Antonio later that day, it said.
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP)  As explosions and gunfire thundered outside, Sudanese in the capital Khartoum and other cities huddled in their homes for a third day Monday, while the army and a powerful rival force battled in the streets for control of the country.

At least 185 people have been killed and over 1,800 wounded since the fighting erupted, U.N. envoy Volker Perthes told reporters. The two sides are using tanks, artillery and other heavy weapons in densely populated areas. Fighter jets swooped overhead and anti-aircraft fire lit up the skies as darkness fell.

The toll could be much higher because there are many bodies in the streets around central Khartoum that no one can reach because of the clashes. There has been no official word on how many civilians or combatants have been killed. A doctors group earlier put the number of civilian deaths at 97.

The sudden outbreak of violence over the weekend between the nations two top generals, each backed by tens of thousands of heavily armed fighters, trapped millions of people in their homes or wherever they could find shelter, with supplies running low and several hospitals forced to shut down.

Top diplomats on four continents scrambled to broker a truce, and the U.N. Security Council was set to discuss the crisis.

Gunfire and shelling are everywhere, Awadeya Mahmoud Koko, head of a union for thousands of tea vendors and other food workers, said from her home in a southern district of Khartoum.

She said a shell stuck a neighbors house Sunday, killing at least three people. We couldnt take them to a hospital or bury them.

In central Khartoum, sustained gunfire erupted and white smoke rose near the main military headquarters, a major battlefront. Nearby, at least 88 students and staffers have been trapped in the engineering college library at Khartoum University since the start of fighting, one of the students said in a video posted online Monday. One student was killed during clashes outside and another wounded, he said. They do not have food or water, he said, showing a room full of people sleeping on the floor.

Even in a country with a long history of military coups, the scenes of fighting in the capital and its adjoining city Omdurman across the Nile River were unprecedented. The turmoil comes just days before Sudanese were to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting.

The power struggle pits Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the commander of the armed forces, against Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The former allies jointly orchestrated an October 2021 military coup. The violence has raised the specter of civil war just as Sudanese were trying to revive the drive for a democratic, civilian government after decades of military rule.

Under international pressure, Burhan and Dagalo had recently agreed to a framework agreement with political parties and pro-democracy groups, but the signing was repeatedly delayed as tensions rose over the integration of the RSF into the armed forces and the future chain of command.

The U.S., the U.N. and others have called for a truce. Egypt, which backs Sudans military, and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates  which forged close ties to the RSF as it sent thousands of fighters to support their war in Yemen  have also called for both sides to stand down.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is attending a Group of Seven meeting in Japan, spoke by phone with Burhan and Dagalo separately and underscored the urgency of reaching a cease-fire, according to the State Departments principal deputy spokesperson, Vedant Patel.

On Tuesday, Blinken told reporters in Japan that indiscriminate military operations are recklessly endangering civilians, diplomats, including U.S. personnel, and humanitarian personnel.

Blinken said a convoy of clearly marked U.S. Embassy vehicles came under fire Monday, and that preliminary reports indicate the attackers were linked to the RSF. He said everyone in the convoy is safe and at home.

Blinken called for an immediate 24-hour ceasefire as a step toward a longer truce.

In a joint statement Tuesday, the G-7 foreign ministers condemned the fighting. We urge the parties to end hostilities immediately without pre-conditions, it said, calling for them to return to negotiations and reduce tensions.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said late Monday that Cairo was in constant contact with both the army and the RSF, urging them to halt the fighting and return to negotiations.

But both generals have thus far dug in, demanding the others surrender.

The European Unions foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell tweeted that the EU ambassador to Sudan was assaulted in his own residency, without providing further details. EU officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Dagalo, whose forces grew out of the notorious Janjaweed militias in Sudans Darfur region, has portrayed himself as a defender of democracy and branded Burhan as the aggressor and a radical Islamist. Both generals have a long history of human rights abuses and their forces have cracked down on pro-democracy activists.

Heavy gunbattles raged in multiple parts of the capital and Omdurman, where the two sides have brought in tens of thousands of troops, positioning them in nearly every neighborhood.

Twelve hospitals in the capital area have been forcefully evacuated and are out of service because of attacks or power outages, the Sudan Doctors Syndicate said, out of a total of around 20. Four hospitals outside the capital have also shut down, it added in a statement late Monday.

Hadia Saeed said she and her three children were sheltering in one room on the ground floor of their home for fear of the shelling as gunfire rattled across their Bahri district in north Khartoum. They have food for a few more days, but after that we dont know what to do, she said.

Residents said fierce fighting with artillery and other heavy weapons raged Monday afternoon in the Gabra neighborhood southwest of Khartoum. People were trapped and screaming inside their homes, said Asmaa al-Toum, a physician living in the area.

Fighting has been particularly fierce around each sides main bases and at strategic government buildings  all of which are in residential areas.

The military on Monday claimed to have secured the main television building in Omdurman, fending off the RSF after days of fighting. State-run Sudan TV resumed broadcasting.

On Sunday, the RSF said it abandoned its main barracks and base, in Omdurman, which the armed forces had pounded with airstrikes. Online videos Monday purported to show the bodies of dozens of men said to be RSF fighters at the base, strewn over beds, the floor of a clinic and outside in a yard. The authenticity of the videos could not be confirmed independently.

The military and RSF were also fighting in most major centers around the country, including in the western Darfur region and parts of the north and the east, by the borders with Egypt and Ethiopia. Battles raged Monday around a strategic airbase in Merowe, some 350 kilometers (215 miles) northwest of the capital, with both sides claiming control of the facility.

Only four years ago, Sudan inspired hope after a popular uprising helped depose long-time autocratic leader Omar al-Bashir.

But the turmoil since, especially the 2021 coup, has frustrated the democracy drive and wrecked the economy. A third of the population  around 16 million people  now depends on humanitarian assistance in the resource-rich nation, Africas third largest.

Save the Children, an international charity, said it has temporarily suspended most of its operations across Sudan. It said looters raided its offices in Darfur, stealing medical supplies, laptops, vehicles and a refrigerator. The World Food Program suspended operations over the weekend after three employees were killed in Darfur, and the International Rescue Committee has also halted most operations.

With the U.S., European Union, African and Arab nations all calling for an end to fighting, the U.N. Security Council was to discuss the developments. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was consulting with the Arab League, African Union and leaders in the region, urging anyone with influence to press for peace.

___ Magdy reported from Cairo.
Income tax returns are due tomorrow for the 2022 tax year, three days later than the usual return date.

The New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department said it has received more than 700,000 returns so far, and the department has processed roughly 94% of them.

Processing refunds for tax returns typically takes about 12 weeks, NMTRD said, though that timeline could be shorter for those who file online. Mailed-in returns take longer to process. A taxpayer can also ask for an extension by submitting Form 4868 to the IRS electronically or by mail. The extension gives filers until October to complete their returns.

There are two new exemptions for the tax year for those on Social Security retirement benefits and military pension income, NMTRD said in a news release.

The exemption for Social Security is available to taxpayers who have adjusted gross incomes of under $100,000 for single filers; $150,000 for married couples filing jointly, as heads of household or as surviving spouses; and under $75,000 for married couples filing separately.

There is also a one-time, refundable tax credit of $1,000 for full-time hospital nurses, NMTRD said. Nurses eligible for the credit must complete a PIT-NC form and include it with their returns.

Additionally, the IRS released guidance in February stating that rebates issued last year in New Mexico would not have to be reported on taxpayers 2022 tax returns  something that kept early filers from completing their returns.

Starting in June, an estimated 875,000 New Mexico tax filers will begin automatically receiving $500 rebate checks that were part of a tax bill Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed this month. The rebates are for New Mexico residents who filed their 2021 tax returns.
Columbus Mayor Esequiel Salas at town hall in February. (Algernon DAmmassa/Deming Headlight)

When Columbus Mayor Esequiel Salas walked through the port of entry from Puerto Palomas, Mexico sometime after 4 p.m. last Wednesday, he was evidently surprised by the attention he received  and none too pleased.

Returning late from a week of vacation in Mexico, the mayor of the small village on the border had been reported missing, with local law enforcement and federal agencies watching for him after his van was found parked by the port of entry. It had sat there since the 70-year-old mayor departed, along with village staffer Jose Luis Montejano, on April 4 for a previously announced trip to southern Mexico and San Antonio, Texas.

A report filed with the Luna County Sheriffs Office Tuesday night alleges that shortly after his return, Salas issued two verbal threats while venting anger at an elected trustee in front of village staff.

Salas denied the incident occurred. He declined an interview but told the Deming Headlight in a series of text messages he had missed a flight during his trip.

Salas had been expected back at work April 10. The following day, when he still hadnt appeared and was not answering emails, phone calls or text messages, the local emergency department conducted a wellness check at his residence. He was then reported to Luna County Sheriffs Deputies as missing.

Federal authorities notified the sheriffs office and local officials after the mayor and Montejano returned through the port of entry Tuesday afternoon.

Salas then reportedly entered town hall where staff were working and Trustee Nicole Steffen was present.

What happened next is in dispute. Luna County Sheriff Mike Eby confirmed that Steffen filed a report alleging Salas threatened her twice in the presence of three staff members.

According to her report, Salas entered town hall and announced, Im angry and proceeded to raise his voice to her and municipal clerk Omar Carreon. Steffen reported that he turned to her and said, Youre going to get it, in anger. After leaving the room, Steffen reported Salas returned while speaking to someone on his mobile phone and saying, She doesnt care about me, she wants to look good. Shes going to get it, before looking directly at her and leaving the building.

Carreon told the Deming Headlight he was in an adjacent room and had not heard what Salas said to Steffen.

Eby said deputies were gathering more information about the complaint.

In response, Salas first stated that he had no contact with any trustee until Wednesday morning. He said he saw Steffen and fellow trustee Rocio Sierra from afar without speaking to them, and then followed up to say that he and Steffen had spoken but that he had simply walked away.

Sierra told the Deming Headlight she had left town hall before Salas entered the building. He saw me as I walked to my car, she said.

Steffen told the Deming Headlight she made the report in order to document the incident in case it escalated. Since then, however, she said she had not had contact with the mayor, while she continued to work at town hall.

State auditor asks for corrective action plan

These events occur in the midst of a severe financial crisis at the village and intense pressure on Salas, who is the villages de facto town manager. Trustees have complained in open sessions for months that they were not receiving financial reports. The state Department of Finance and Administration recently alerted Salas that the municipality was nearly out of operating funds. Before leaving on vacation, Salas had ordered restrictions on spending, laid off a few employees and cut some staff hours and expenses, including his own monthly stipend.

The villages annual audit, publicly released in March, detailed 28 findings related to the villages accounts, internal controls and issues involving payroll and personnel records.

On Friday, New Mexico State Auditor Joseph Maestas issued a four-page letter of concern to Salas and all four trustees requesting the village provide, within 30 days, a corrective action plan and evidence of the work it had done so far to resolve all of the findings.

Meanwhile, Steffen  a former mayor herself  has recently taken a lead role in securing financial records trustees say have been withheld from them for months. The board has called several special meetings to comb through the current budget, line by line in open session, to identify why the village was running out of money and to steer a course through the fiscal year ending June 30.

Steffen has also been digging into bank accounts and contracts established without the governing boards approval and questioning Salas about financial transactions at town hall.

Salas, a former trustee, was elected mayor in 2018. From the beginning of his administration, he has butted heads with the village council over communications, high staff turnover and his hiring and firing of employees without consulting the board. He has not announced whether he will seek a second term this year.

Algernon DAmmassa can be reached at algernon@demingheadlight.com.
Pools, flood control, animal shelter rehab, a new homeless shelter, museums and more.

After hours of painstaking negotiation, tweaks and parliamentary procedural debate, the Albuquerque City Council on Monday unanimously approved a $200 million infrastructure package outlining how it would spend the $200 million in bond money it is asking voters to OK this fall.

The nights biggest winners included the Gibson Health Hub and the Albuquerque Museums planned education center  projects Mayor Tim Keller had included in the infrastructure budget he sent to the council but which the council initially erased from the list during its rewrite last month.

The council on Monday restored $5 million for Gibson  home to the future Gateway Center homeless shelter, one of Kellers signature initiatives  and put back $2.5 million of the $3.25 million the mayor had sought for the Albuquerque Museum education center. Several museum advocates spoke during Mondays public comment period, specifically urging the council to fund the facility due to its cultural importance and reach.

If anything, the museum could use more money, not less money, to provide more tours, more exhibit enhancement, more free days, said Kathleen Economy, a museum docent who leads tours for the school groups that visit.  When we ask them how many have been to the museum, the kids (from) the less affluent areas of the city dont raise their hands. We are providing them insight, a curiosity to the world around them.

But Monday was a give and take, as the council also shifted money away from other priorities.

That includes some of what was proposed for Albuquerque Police Department facility upgrades and for Albuquerque Fire Rescue vehicles, though Chief Administrative Officer Lawrence Rael told the council that a recent surge of state public safety appropriations cushioned those losses. And even as councilors chiseled away some of the APD and AFR allocations, the council still maintained over $21 million for public safety projects.

The council also deleted all $1.7 million it planned to allocate for new city buses  noting the Transit Department has millions of dollars already in hand for such purchases  and reduced the amount of set-aside money each councilor gets for the smaller projects that emerge in their individual districts. Keller had proposed $1 million each, which the council initially doubled to $2 million apiece. But on Monday the legislators reduced their individual shares to about $1.3 million.

Thank you all for trying to work through this, Councilor Brook Bassan, the budget chairwoman, said before the vote. I know its not a perfect scenario, but I do think compromises were made on everyones account, and I think thats what were here to do.

Not everyone was on board with all of Mondays changes. Council President Pat Davis questioned Keller administration officials about the Gibson Health Hub, which is now a $73 million project inside the old Lovelace hospital. Davis wanted to put the $5 million in Gibson money toward boosting the infrastructure packages $7.5 million affordable housing allocation, which he said was important so people have an exit path out of the homeless shelter and services hub.

We dont have housing (for them). Were not doing those on parallel tracks, and I think thats my concern, Davis said, though he made little headway with his argument and ended up voting to restore the $5 million for Gibson.

The largest share of the package the council approved  $43.9 million  is going to roadway upgrades. Some of the specific projects are:

 $7 million total for a series of West Side roadways: Paseo del Norte, Unser and McMahon

 $2 million for the University/Lomas intersection

 $2 million for citywide Americans With Disabilities Act sidewalk improvements

 $2 million for citywide street lighting projects

 $1 million for Alameda/Barstow

Aside from roads, the bills other large allocations include:

 $5 million for a series of flood control projects in Southeast Albuquerque

 $5 million for the North Domingo Baca pool planned for the Northeast Heights

 $4.9 million for Little League field rehabilitation

 $4 million to move the Unser Museum  currently a nonprofit in Los Ranchos  into the city

 $4 million for the Westgate Community Center

 $3.2 million for library materials

 $3 million for the Cibola Loop Multigenerational Center in Northwest Albuquerque

 $2.5 million to renovate the citys animal shelters

 $2 million for the Rail Yards redevelopment
The Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office on Monday identified the man who was shot and killed by at least one deputy on Sunday as Jared Romero, 35.

The shooting happened when deputies were doing a welfare check on Romero, BCSO spokeswoman Jayme Fuller Gonzales previously said.

At around 9:50 a.m. on Sunday, deputies were called to the 2300 block of Griffin SW. The sheriffs office said that Romero was suicidal and had a knife.

Fuller Gonzales said a confrontation happened and at least one deputy shot Romero, who died at the scene.

Court records indicate Romero didnt have a criminal history in New Mexico.

The sheriffs office hasnt released the name of the deputies who were involved in the shooting, or provided any additional information about the mans death.

The shooting is being investigated by a task force comprised of officials from the BCSO, Albuquerque Police Department, New Mexico State Police and the 2nd Judicial District Attorneys Office.
The National Weather Service on Monday warned residents that the next three days throughout New Mexico will be windy and dry  conditions in which fire can spread fast and far.

A three day stretch of widespread critical fire weather conditions begins Tuesday, and peaks in intensity Wednesday. Rapid fire spread will be possible from any new spark, the NWS station in Albuquerque cautions in a tweet.

In Albuquerque on Tuesday, the weather will be mostly sunny with a predicted high temperature of 78 degrees Fahrenheit. Winds will be around 18 miles per hour with gusts to 29 mph. Wednesdays high drops to 75, but winds increase to around 26 mph with gusts to 44 mph. The high on Thursday is 70 with winds around 22 mph and gusts to 33 mph. The relative humidity will be in the single digits for four to six hours a day each day  or in laymans terms, itll be dry as a bone.

Though the NWS stations in Albuquerque and El Paso are warning of critical fire danger throughout New Mexico these next three days, the windiest and driest conditions will be in the eastern part of the state on Wednesday.

Heres a look at the graphics NWS Albuquerque issued on Monday:

The weather service also issued advice on not allowing the spark that leads to a devastating fire.

Know what you can do to prevent a spark! Critical fire weather is forecast over the next 3 days and rapid fire spread will be possible from any spark. #NMwx #NMFire #OneLessSpark pic.twitter.com/L2wcAIUL58  NWS Albuquerque (@NWSAlbuquerque) April 17, 2023

And heres one more reminder about the dangers of sparking a fire in New Mexico: A look back at the one-year anniversary of the largest wildfire in New Mexicos history.
Washington passes a new transgender intervention bill amid rising tensions

The new bill, Senate Bill 5599, will provide host homes for runaway youth to go to without parental permission

The host homes will not be required to notify parents about their kids; whereabouts or whether or not they are getting medical interventions

Washington passed a transgender intervention bill in the House on Wednesday, which would prevent parents from intervening with their children's medical care under certain circumstances.

The bill's passing clears its path to be signed by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee argued that the proposal, Senate Bill 5599, was related to supporting the country's youth. He added that it allows runaway youth to go to host homes without getting permission from their parents.

Washington Passes Transgender Intervention Bill

Additionally, the bill says that the host homes would not be required to notify the parents of the children regarding their kids' whereabouts or whether or not they are getting medical interventions. This is true if there is a significantly compelling reason not to, Inslee said, which would include kids seeking protective health services, as per Fox News.

The bill noted that "protected health care services" would include "gender-affirming care." For minors, this arbitrarily includes anything a doctor prescribes to treat dysphoria. It added that gender-affirming treatment could be prescribed to individuals considered two-spirit, transgender, nonbinary, or fall under other gender diversity.

It also states that instead of contacting parents, host homes can call the Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF). Another reason that the bill used to defend not notifying parents about their kids staying in a host home was that the children could be subject to abuse or neglect.

However, opposition lawmakers argued that the bill was considered "child abuse." They said that a parent's job is to protect their child and claim that Senate Bill 5599 strips parents of that right and responsibility.

Read Also: New Mexico Governor Warns of Potential National Abortion Ban

Providing Gender-Affirming Care

The president of the American Principles Project, Terry Schilling, said they knew they needed to find an issue that the candidates would be comfortable discussing. The issue over transgender rights has mobilized social conservatives more than same-sex marriage, according to the New York Times.

Since former United States President Donald Trump left the White House, at least 20 states, which are all led by Republican lawmakers, have implemented laws that reach beyond their initial arguments over access to bathrooms and have included medical treatments, sports, and education.

On the other hand, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced new restrictions on gender-affirming care for adults on top of minors. It was a move that is expected to be the first in the country and has prompted advocacy groups to prepare lawsuits.

The plans to restrict health care for transgender individuals were announced several weeks ago after protesters gathered outside the Capitol. They urged authorities to pass a law banning puberty blockers, hormones, and surgeries for children.

But despite those particular discussions centered around children, a spokeswoman for Bailey's office said that adults would be included in the solution, said the Associated Press.

Related Article: Kevin McCarthy Faces Skepticism Among GOP Over Proposed SNAP Cuts

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Instagram Celebrity

The 'Love and Hip-Hop: Atlanta' star, who finalized their divorce in March 2022, gets things off her chest after knowing that her ex-husband bought luxurious gifts for someone's children instead of theirs.

Apr 17, 2023

AceShowbiz - Erica Mena wasn't happy to learn that Safaree Samuels gave luxurious birthday gifts to Amara La Negra's children. After the rapper hand out two boxes of Rolex for Amara's twins, Erica called him out in an Instagram comment.

"Awe so cute. It's just very interesting how my kids have NEVER received gifts like this by this waste man," the 35-year-old wrote underneath The Shade Room's post. "My daughter just turned 3. All she got was a birthday cake and a few balloons in his living room."

"And please don't get me started on how he didn't do anything for my sons 1st birthday until two weeks after the fact," she added. "And again, that was just ballons in his living room. But Happy every enjoyed this circus them birthday party with a deadbeat clown as the special guest."

In another comment, the "Love & Hip-Hop: Atlanta" star penned, "Before I go someone @ him - He blocked me since I won't take his crying begging a** back (hints why his now desperately shooting in miami now)." She further noted, "Let him know he has medical bills that's only 8k from last year he owes along with..........never mind just tell him he got it. Pay it."

Erica and Safaree tied the knot in New Jersey in October 2019. At that time, they were already expecting their first child together, daughter Safire Majesty Samuels, whom they welcomed in February 2020. They then welcomed a son named Legend on June 28 in 2021.

Erica then filed for divorce from Safaree in May 2021 when she was pregnant with their second child. In the paperwork, she insisted that she had "no hope of reconciliation" with the "Liar" spitter because their marriage was "irretrievably broken."

Erica and Safaree finalized their divorce in March 2022. At that time, Erica celebrated her freedom by partying in a nightclub. "I'm officially divorced," she told the crowd. "We celebrated new life, we celebrated freedom and we celebrated that we're bad b***h and we run this mother f**ka world."

You can share this post!
Cover Images/Dutch Press Photo Celebrity

The 75-year-old royal, who will be known as the Queen after she is crowned alongside her husband King Charles, was also branded 'dangerous' in the book released in January.

Apr 17, 2023

AceShowbiz - Queen Consort Camilla is said to have been "hurt" by being labelled a "villain" by Prince Harry in his memoir "Spare". One of her closest friends has now revealed she was bothered after the Duke of Sussex also branded the 75-year-old royal, who will be known as the Queen after she is crowned alongside her husband King Charles at his 6 May coronation at Westminster Abbey, "dangerous" in the book released in January.

Fiona, Marchioness of Lansdowne, 68, who was recently chosen to be one of Camilla's official companions, told the Sunday Times, "Of course it bothers her, of course it hurts. But she doesn't let it get to her."

However, the aide revealed how Camilla brushed it off by sticking to the royals' famous motto of "Never complain, never explain." The aide continued, "Her philosophy is always, 'Don't make a thing of it and it will settle down - least said, soonest mended.' "

Harry said in "Spare" Camilla who was so desperate to improve her public image that she left "bodies in the street". He also called her a "wicked stepmother", and wrote about how he and his brother Prince William, 40, pleaded with Charles not to marry her. Harry also accused her of "sacrificing him" to bolster her reputation, and claimed the press had been briefed about his wife Meghan Markle, 41, by palace insiders.

He wrote, "I have complex feelings about gaining a step-parent who I thought had recently sacrificed me on her personal PR altar". Harry is set to see Camilla for the first time since the book's release at his dad's coronation, though Meghan is staying at their mansion in Montecito, California, with their children Archie and 22-month-old Lilibet, apparently because the day falls on their son's fourth birthday.

You can share this post!
Cover Images/BauerGriffin Celebrity

Sharing photos taken during his return to Renown Regional Medical Center, the 'Avengers' actor calls medical staff 'the amazing group of people who saved my life.'

Apr 17, 2023

AceShowbiz - Jeremy Renner was keeping true to his words. Just days after declaring his intention to return to the hospital where he was treated following a near fatal accident, the actor playing Hawkeye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe visited Renown Regional Medical Center and expressed his gratitude to the medical staff who saved his life.

On Friday, April 14, the 52-year-old made use of Instagram Story to share photos from his visit to the hospital in Reno, Nevada. One photo in particular captured him posing with medical staff in front of a TV screen that displayed "Welcome back!" on it. Over the snap, he noted, "I got to revisit the amazing group of people who saved my life."

Another photo shared saw the "Rennervations" star standing next to two of the medical staff. Letting out a big smile for the camera, he continued expressing his gratitude by simply writing, "Thank you [folded hands emoji]," over the picture.

Jeremy Renner took some photos with the medical staff who saved his life.

Just days before, Jeremy revealed his plan to return to the hospital. "I'm going back to this hospital this week to apologize to every one of those nurses. I'm going to apologize," he spilled in the Monday, April 10 episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!".

On the reason why, Jeremy explained to host Jimmy Kimmel as saying, "I kept trying to get out of the hospital as soon as I was in it. I'm like, 'I'm out of here.' I hate what I was wearing, gross. It was terrible. They weren't done with the ICU area when I got there, so they put me like, in a janitor's closet, like it was a VIP thing."

"It had no bathroom in it. The lights are flickering, everyone here is moaning, like they're dying in the ICU. I'm like, 'This is like a haunted house and it's called ICU,' like, 'I seeee youuuu,' which is creepy. I'm like, 'I want out of this place! I'm not going to get better here,' " he continued dishing.

Jeremy previously opened up about his "number one" inspiration in his road to recovery. "My daughter, for sure, number one. And then my family, and then my will. It's like, well, if I was going to go, I guess, it's one or the other," he revealed in the April 11 interview with E! News.

"There's no alternative to like, 'Alright, I'm going to be living so, let's go really live and get it done.' So there's no alternative. I have to kind of do something," he went on to share.

You can share this post!
Instagram Music

The band's bassist Nikki Sixx confirms in a social media post that the group has been busy putting together some new songs and they are planning to head back into the studio soon, but they let 'the songs guide' them.

Apr 17, 2023

AceShowbiz - Motley Crue is working on new music. The band's bassist Nikki Sixx confirmed the news in a post on social media telling fans the group has been busy putting together some new songs and they are planning to head back into the studio this week to start recording. However, the rocker insisted they don't "have a definite plan" and are just being guided by the music.

In a post on Twitter, Nikki wrote, "We are writing.The creative process of songwriting has always been the heartbeat of our band. We're gonna go in the big studio next week and record a few off the floor and see where it goes. We don't have a definitive plan at this point.Just letting the songs guide us."

Nikki Sixx confirmed Motley Crue is working on new music.

Over the weekend, April 16, Nikki added another post in which he stated, "Creative juices flowing on a weekend." The band won't have much time to get their new tracks recorded as they are just days away from heading to Europe to continue their joint tour with Def Leppard. The dates kick off in Sheffield, UK on May 22 before heading to countries including Germany, Poland, Italy and Norway.

The bassist gushed over their overflowing creativity.

News of the band's return to the studio comes amid a legal battle with guitarist Mick Mars who has accused them of trying to force him out after he had to step back from touring due to health issues. He filed as lawsuit at Los Angeles Countys Superior Court in early April in which he claimed his bandmates had been "gaslighting" him and belittling his musicianship.

Motley Crue's attorney Sasha Frid later told Variety that Mick filed the suit to "badmouth the band", saying, "After the last tour, Mick publicly resigned from Motley Crue. Despite the fact that the band did not owe Mick anything - and with Mick owing the band millions in advances that he did not pay back - the band offered Mick a generous compensation package to honour his career with the band. Manipulated by his manager and lawyer, Mick refused and chose to file this ugly public lawsuit."

You can share this post!
Instagram Celebrity

While there's an alleged rift between the couple and the British royal family, it's said that the Duchess of Sussex doesn't want it to affect her children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

Apr 17, 2023

AceShowbiz - Meghan Markle is allegedly eager for her and Prince Harry's kids to have a relationship with their grandfather, King Charles. While there's an alleged rift between the couple and the British royal family, it's said that the Duchess of Sussex doesn't want it to affect her children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

"Meghan doesn't want any more rifts," a source familiar with the Sussexes told Page Six. "She wants her children to know their grandfather, Charles, particularly when they are not going to know their other grandfather [Meghan's long-estranged father, Thomas Markle]."

Of the former "Suits" actress, the insider added, "She does hope they will meet and hopes her decision will be seen as an unselfish one, as it was best to keep the attention on His Majesty."

The source went on to say that Meghan decided to skip King Charles' coronation on May 6 because she doesn't want to stir up more drama. "She just really doesn't want a song and dance and everything being lived out in the public eye," the source said.

Instead of joining Harry at the historic event, Meghan will be celebrating Archie's 4th birthday in California as the big day also happens to fall on May 6. It's said that the celebration will be attended by Meghan's mom Doria Ragland, Archie's school chums and some mommy friends. Some familiar faces may also be at the party as the source noted that they "do have celebrities in their life."

Harry, meanwhile, was reported to plan to race home hours after attending his father's coronation at Westminster Abbey in London. He allegedly may take a flight back to California right after the ceremony, meaning he could arrive home in the early evening, thanks to the eight-hour time difference.

"Harry's going to make every effort to get back in time for Archie's birthday," said the source. "It's going to be an intimate party, it's not going to be like 'My Super Sweet 16' or Portia de Rossi's 50th!"

You can share this post!
The auditions for Indias MTV Roadies  Karm Ya Kaand in Delhi turned out to be a huge success with a massive turnout of aspiring contestants, standing as a testament to the shows unceasing popularity! The auditions of the much-anticipated season 19, that took place on 15th April 2023 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Complex, Pragati Vihar, New Delhi, attracted youth from all over the city and its neighbouring areas.

With host Sonu Sood, and the gang leaders Prince Narula, Rhea Chakraborty, and Gautam Gulati, the vibe was electrifying and full of energy. The gang leaders interacted with the contestants and encouraged them to bring out their best! The contestants went through rounds of group discussions, showcasing their strength, stamina, and mental fortitude, and now the shortlisted Roadies will advance to the Personal Interview round!

Gang Leader, Gautam Gulati said Some time back I was amongst the audience as a hopeful Roadies aspirant, and life has come a full circle where now Im a Gang Leader, with Prince and Rhea in MTV Roadies - Karm Ya Kaand. The energy at the Delhi auditions was insane. Im sure some fabulous candidates will join us for the journey ahead from here.

Gang Leader Rhea Chakraborty said The enthusiasm of contestants at the Delhi auditions for MTV Roadies - Karm ya Kaand was incredible. The love I've received from all girls and boys who showed up today has me overwhelmed. It feels so good to be back.

The auditions in Delhi are just the beginning of what promises to be an exciting season of Indias biggest adventure reality television show, MTV Roadies Karm Ya Kaand. The show has always been known for its high-octane challenges and gruelling tasks, and the contestants selected from the Delhi auditions are sure to bring their A-game to the competition.
South Asias biggest advertising festival, Goafest is all set to return for its 16th edition with power-packed sessions, and workshops led by internationally acclaimed speakers and industry stalwarts. As the industry gears up to celebrate excellence and discuss the future of creativity, Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and The Advertising Club today announce the Governing Council and Committee Members for Goafest 2023.

Following is the complete list of Governing Council for Goafest 2023:

 Mr. Prasanth Kumar, President, Advertising Agencies Association of India and CEO, South Asia, GroupM

 Partha Sinha, President, Times of India Group and President of The Advertising Club

 Mr. Jaideep Gandhi, Chairman, Goafest 2023; Founder, Another Idea

 Mr. Mohit Joshi, Co-chair, Goafest 2023; CEO, Havas Media

 Rana Barua, Group CEO, Havas Group India & Chairman, The ABBYs Award Governing Council

 Ajay Kakar, Managing Committee Member, The Advertising Club & Co-chair, The ABBYs Award Governing Council

 Ms. Anupriya Acharya, CEO South Asia, Publicis Groupe

 Mr. Sam Balsara, Chairman, Madison

 Mr. Rohit Ohri, Group Chairman & CEO, FCB Group India

 Shashi Sinha, CEO-India, IPG Mediabrands

 Ajay Chandwani, Managing Committee Member, The Advertising Club

 Malcolm Raphael, Senior Vice-President, The Times of India Group

The sub-committee members for Goafest 2023 from Advertising Agencies Association of India are:

 Content Committee Chairman: Mr. Vikram Sakhuja, Group CEO, Media & OOH, Madison Communications

 Delegates Committee Chairman: Mr. Sam Balsara, Chairman, Madison

 Creative Committee Chairman: Mr. Rohit Ohri, Group Chairman & CEO, FCB Group India

Creative Committee Joint Chairman: Ms. Anusha Shetty, Chairman & Group CEO, Grey Worldwide India

 Client Associations Chairman: Mr. Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG Media Brands

 Client Associations Joint Chairman: Mr. Prasanth Kumar, CEO South Asia, Group M

 Advertising Associations Committee Chairman: Mr. Srinivasan K Swamy, Chairman & Managing Director, R K Swamy

 Events Committee Chairman: Mr. Ashish Bhasin, Co-Founder & Chairman, RD&X Network

We are blessed to have great leadership working together to make Goafest23 a remarkable event. This year sees greater support and collaboration across the industry coming together. As always Goafest is a passion center and while we discuss greater opportunities across the industry and celebrate our great work am sure will push the boundaries as a collective team and achieve greater progress. said Prasanth Kumar, President, Advertising Agencies Association of India and CEO, South Asia, GroupM.

On opening up delegate registrations for Goafest 2023, Sam Balsara, Chairman, Madison said, "Goafest has earned its position as a destination that celebrates creative excellence in most disciplines in Communication in South Asia. We look forward to welcoming teams from across India, South Asia and indeed the globe to come and participate in Goafest as we exchange thoughts and discuss the future of Communication and increasing its Role and Accountability to the Marketer, further making way for growth of the Industry."

Presented by The Advertising Agencies Association of India and The Advertising Club, Goafest 2023 is scheduled to take place on 24th, 25th and 26th May, 2023 at Grand Hyatt, Bambolim, Goa. Delegate registrations are now open on https://www.tecogis.com/goafest/client/Login.aspx

With each edition of Goafest, Indias position in the global creative industry is only strengthened. Given the format and scale of Goafest, the festival has firmly positioned itself as the most sought-after creative festival in South Asia. With day-long sessions and masterclasses led by the brightest minds in the industry to evenings that honor and celebrate work that has set new benchmarks and trends, Goafest is the only festival of its kind in India and Asia that drives value, encourages creative excellence and discusses pertinent topics, aiding our industrys growth. We look forward to hosting our industry colleagues and partners once again at Goafest added Partha Sinha, President, Times of India Group and President of The Advertising Club.

Pushing the envelope further this year, the theme for the 16th edition of Goafest is THE FUTURE OF CREATIVITY IS HERE!. With advancements in technology, including machine learning, deep learning, and natural language processing, the boundaries of creativity are being pushed further than ever before. There is a rise in innovative tools and technologies that enable new forms of creativity; for example, virtual and augmented reality (VR & AR) technologies are already opening up new avenues for artistic expression, allowing creators to build immersive, interactive experiences that blur the line between the physical and digital worlds.

Unveiling the theme, Rohit Ohri, Group Chairman & CEO, FCB Group India said, Generative AI is pushing the boundaries of what is possible and opening new doors to creativity and innovation. This technology will allow our industry to explore newer ideas at a much faster pace and is likely to play a significant role in shaping the future of creativity. Inspired by this game-changing development, we have used Generative AI in the design process of our three-day festival. With sessions and masterclasses that deep-dive into the creative technology landscape, we are sure to re-envision how we collaborate with machines to bring transformative ideas to life. THE FUTURE OF CREATIVITY IS HERE and Goafest 2023 is celebrating it. Will you be there?

Changemaking technologies and the changemakers behind them are reshaping the world while creating a positive real-world impact on communities, societies, and countries. While some may worry that AI will replace human creativity, it is certain that it will instead be used to enhance and augment human creativity, leading to even more groundbreaking and innovative creations.
ReBid, the leading Madtech Intelligence platform, announces the launch of a new GPT-based AI assistant capable of analyzing past campaign data from over 20 ad tech platforms. Like having a personal AI media analyst, the assistant provides deep insights across multiple metrics and dimensions with just a few prompts.



This new AI assistant empowers advertisers to make data-driven decisions with ease, optimizing campaigns, and improving ROAS across platforms such as Google, Meta, Twitter, LinkedIn, DV360 ads, and other programmatic platforms. Built on the latest GPT technology, the AI assistant can understand natural language and provide highly accurate insights based on past campaign data.



According to Rajiv Dingra, Founder & CEO of ReBid, "This new AI assistant will revolutionize the way advertisers analyze and optimize their ad campaigns. With just a few prompts, advertisers can access deep insights that would have previously taken days or even weeks to uncover.



ReBids new AI assistant will provide advertisers with a competitive edge, allowing them to stay ahead of the curve in the ever-evolving ad tech landscape. With its ability to analyze historical data across multiple platforms and provide real-time insights, ReBids AI assistant is a powerful tool that will drive success for our customers.



Adding further on the launch of AI Assistant, Rajiv said, "At ReBid, we are committed to providing our customers with the best advertising solutions and helping them achieve their business objectives through effective advertising strategies. Our new AI assistant is a testament to this commitment and we are confident that it will deliver significant value to our customers."



"As the ad tech industry continues to grow and evolve, it's becoming increasingly important for advertisers to have access to innovative tools that help them stay ahead of the curve," said Ashish Bhasin, Chairman and Co-founder ReBid. "ReBid's new GPT-based AI assistant is a game-changer, providing advertisers with unprecedented insights and analytics that will help them optimize their campaigns and drive better results."



The new AI assistant is now available to ReBid customers, who can start using it immediately to analyze their campaign data and optimize their advertising strategies. With its powerful capabilities, the AI assistant is poised to transform the advertising industry and help ReBid customers achieve their business goals.
Tamilians are proud of their rich culture that has many claims to fame; that of a rich literary legacy, iconic architecture, of Tamil being the longest surviving language, vibrant cinematic culture and most importantly their contributions across all spheres such as art, science, and corporate world. The driving principle of all such achievements of both individuals and a collective has been the principles of great discipline and deep respect for tried and tested processes.

This Tamil New Year, Tata Tea Chakra Gold is back with a refreshed communication celebrating the Tamizh way of life based on this insight. Driven by a quest for perfection, Tamilians take great pride in their methodical approach to all things in life and an eye for detail. The new Chakra Gold campaign for Tamil Nadu is a celebration of this very uniquely Tamilian code of life that is evident even in day-to-day situations.

Conceptualized by Mullen Lintas and directed by V. K. Prakash, one of the most celebrated South Indian directors, the TVC depicts everyday scenarios of a Tamilians life. In the TVC, we see a girl, late for her college, rushing downstairs to leave home but cannot step out of home until her mother finishes drawing the kolam (traditional rangoli) in front of the door. Once her mother completes the Kolam, only then does the daughter get a green signal to step out. The film captures more such beautiful scenarios including the practice involving the thoran, a welcoming garland made out of Mango leaves that is hung at house entrance, that needs to be made the right way. In the scene, the Grandfather makes it incorrectly, and unaware of his error, proudly displays his art to the Pati (grandmother) who teaches him the right way to do it. The film features multiple other Murais followed like ensuring the Pandhakal stands straight during auspicious occasions, ladies of the house being fully ready only when jasmine flowers adorn her hair, the right way of closing a banana leaf during a meal that shows satisfaction & delight at having the meal - all of which demonstrate the importance of discipline, culture, and processes in Tamilian life. Towards the end of the TVC, we see the protagonists choose Tata Tea Chakra Gold, made with the best of processes.

Talking about the launch, Puneet Das, President  Packaged Beverages (India and South Asia), Tata Consumer Products said, Tata Tea Chakra Gold is a blend specially crafted for Tamilians and celebrates the Tamil way of life. Its refreshed campaign continues to evoke regional pride of Tamil Nadu that is rooted in understanding the importance of discipline and processes in the life of a Tamilian. By delving deeper into the vibrant culture of Tamil Nadu, we have unearthed newer situations that are celebrated in our new TVC that showcase this penchant for following processes. Similarly, Tata Tea Chakra Gold, also is crafted using rigorous process to deliver a blend that enables consumers to enjoy their cup of tea. We also felt that the Tamil New Year was the best time to launch the new campaign that celebrates the unique Tamil Way of Life.

Sharing his thoughts on the uniqueness of the campaign, Hari Krishnan, CEO, Mullen Lintas said Tata Tea Chakra Gold is not just any tea  it embodies the very essence of Tamilian culture. Just like the many traditional rituals that define the Tamil way of life. This marriage between the product and insight was what led us to craft a campaign that celebrates not these rituals but also the immense pride that Tamilians take in following them. Tata Tea Chakra Gold is already synonymous with excellence and authenticity. And were sure that the people of Tamil Nadu will resonate with this campaign.
Full resumption of offline exhibitions signals resilient economic momentum

Xinhua) 10:01, April 17, 2023

People visit the 133rd session of the China Import and Export Fair, also known as Canton Fair, in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong province, April 15, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]

GUANGZHOU -- Facing the challenges of a post-pandemic global landscape, a burgeoning number of offline exhibitions in China are expected to play a vital role in driving the revitalization and growth of both the domestic and global economies.

With the full resumption of on-site activities, the 133rd China Import and Export Fair has kicked off in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong province, following the third China International Consumer Products Expo in the southern island province of Hainan.

The long-standing event, also dubbed the Canton Fair, will run until May 5 and welcome purchasers from over 220 countries and regions, covering markets in Europe, the United States, and emerging markets along the Belt and Road.

Launched in 1957 and held twice yearly, the fair is considered a major gauge of China's foreign trade.

Reconnecting friends with new attractions

The Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce, a regular attendee of the Canton Fair, has brought over 200 participants to this year's event in the hope of seeking more opportunities for cooperation.

"In the eyes of Malaysian entrepreneurs, the Canton Fair represents a gathering of China's finest businesses and highest-quality products, offering unparalleled resources and commercial opportunities that cannot be matched by other exhibitions," said Loo Kok Seong, head of the chamber.

This year's offline exhibition venues, spanning 1.5 million square meters, will host close to 70,000 booths for about 35,000 exhibitors.

The export section will accommodate around 5,700 firms with leading brands or technologies, and the import section will present 508 companies from 40 countries and regions, such as the United States, Canada, Italy, Germany, and Spain, said Vice-Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen at a press conference.

The event provides opportunities for companies worldwide to create secure, reliable and efficient supply chains with Chinese partners, Wang said.

Taurus Group, a Spanish manufacturer of small appliances for the kitchen, home and personal care, has attended the Canton Fair over the past 20 years.

"The physical fair is still the one that we prefer because we can have direct communication with Chinese companies, see and touch the products, and make the right purchase with higher efficiency and gain better effects," said Joan Basagana, president of the company.

While expanding its exhibition space, this year's Canton Fair has also added new sections on smart manufacturing, new-energy and intelligent connected vehicles, maternal and infant products, and the "silver-haired" economy. These additions attracted 9,000 first-time attendees, featuring a number of leading players in the manufacturing sector.

This photo taken on April 15, 2023 shows trade booths at the Electronics &Household Electrical Appliances exhibition section of the 133rd session of China Import and Export Fair, also known as Canton Fair, in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong province. [Photo/Xinhua]

Resilient recovery

"We are excited to showcase our latest customizable robot, capable of lifting nearly 100 tonnes of cargo, at the Canton Fair," said You Jianwen, marketing director of a robotics and automation company in Guangdong.

You added that the company is accelerating its overseas expansion, including setting up a new factory in Detroit and launching new products at the world's leading industrial trade fair Hannover Messe in Germany. The company's total revenue is projected to exceed 600 million yuan ($87.5 million) this year.

Li Xinhua, vice-chairman of Guangdong Triangle Electrical Appliances Holdings Ltd., said the factories are working at full steam to meet the varied demand of global markets, especially in Southeast Asian countries and countries along the Belt and Road.

The resilience, vitality, and transformation of foreign trade rely on thriving industrial economies, said Bai Ming, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce.

The innovative upgrades in the industry can also be seen in the exhibited companies, changes in exhibits, and new product releases at the Canton Fair, Bai added.

According to official data released on Thursday, China's total goods imports and exports expanded 4.8 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023, reversing a decline of 0.8 percent in the first two months of the year.

"The steady growth laid a foundation for promoting stability and improving the quality of foreign trade throughout the year," said Lyu Daliang, an official with the General Administration of Customs.

China will follow the trend of consumption upgrading and actively expand imports, boost industrial transformation and upgrading, promote the coordinated development of trade in goods and services, support innovation in the business patterns of foreign trade, and amplify the interplay between domestic and international markets and resources, said Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng while addressing the opening ceremony of the Canton Fair.

Buyers learn about China's new energy vehicle products at the New Energy and Intelligent Connected Vehicles exhibition section of the 133rd session of the China Import and Export Fair, also known as Canton Fair, in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong province, April 15, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has apologized to the victims of the new sexual consent law, popularly known as "only yes means yes." The legislation seeks to increase the penalties for sexual crimes in European countries.

While it was supposed to toughen the punishment for sexual offenders, it also opened a door in favor of some convicts due to a loophole. The new sexual consent law enabled some of them to reduce their sentences alarmingly, letting some end their imprisonment earlier.

Spanish PM Apologizes to Victims of New Sexual Consent Law

According to Reuters, the new groundbreaking law, which sought to punish sexual abusers and other offenders severely, had a loophole. And this favors some convicted sexual criminals. Roughly 978 were allowed to reduce their sentences, whereas 104 more convicts had already received their early release grant.

The new "only yes means yes" legislation began to take effect late last year, or in October 2022, to be precise, as per The Guardian. The new sexual consent law significantly revised the criminal code to categorize all non-consensual sexual activities as rape.

Due to the loophole, the Spanish Prime Minister asked for the forgiveness of the victims of the new government-sponsored law. Sanchez apologized to the casualties of the legislation, saying, "I apologize to the victims, and we will find a solution to these unintended effects because it is the best way to defend the law itself."

The Spanish leader notes that "any MP, including those who voted against the law, is OK with lowering the sentences of sexual aggressors." He issued his apology amid Spain's upcoming regional elections, which take place next month or on May 28, to be exact.

Read Also: Cumbre Vieja Volcano Continues To Erupt Violently

'Only Yes Means Yes' Law Reform

Due to its loophole, ABC News reports that the new "only yes means yes" law is set to be revised, which should then address the issue of favoring convicted criminals. Legislators are set to kick off the reform of the new sexual consent rule next week.

The American news outlet notes that the new "only yes means yes" law has been the center of debate among two left-wing coalitions, the Socialist Party and the Unidas Podemos. The latter is a junior socialist party that sponsored the sexual consent legislation.

According to The Guardian, a horrendous 2016 gang rape triggered legislators to create new legislation to protect women from sexual crimes. The "wolf pack" rape incident centers on five men who raped an 18-year-old woman. Although the perpetrators raped the victim, they were only found guilty of sexual abuse. It happened as the court found out that the men did not assault the sufferer.

Now, the new law includes sexual consent in determining assault cases. But then again, it has a loophole enabling convicted criminals to shorten their sentences.

Related Article: Real Madrid Asserts Dominance Over Chelsea with 2-0 Lead in Champions League

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Uber celebrated World Art Day by taking the joy of painting to its much-loved and made for India product, Uber Auto. Autos across the country symbolise resilient aspirers, and keeping with that spirit, Uber partnered with Aravani Art Project to paint autos around that theme at the popular Carter Road amphitheatre.

Uber invited artists from the Aravani Art Project, a transgender-led art collective, to paint three whitewashed Uber Autos with inspirational stories in the city, and invited Mumbaikars to join in the fun by trying their hand at painting autos themselves.

The initiative was organized as the second phase of Uber's Resilient Aspirers campaign, which was launched in March 2023. The first leg of this campaign saw Uber partner with stand-up comedians such as Aakash Gupta, Prashasti Singh, and Aashish Solanki, to display some meme-worthy jokes and punchy one-liners on the autos. The Resilient Aspirers campaign aims to support and inspire the resilient spirit of people in India. Uber's auto-rickshaws are a symbol of resilience for many drivers in India, who are able to earn their livelihoods safely and conveniently through this service.

Ameya Velankar, Head of Marketing, Uber India and South Asia, expressed his excitement about the event, saying, "We are thrilled to partner with the Aravani Art Project to celebrate World Art Day and showcase the spirit of resilience through inspiring stories on our Uber Autos. We hope that these stories will not only bring joy to our riders but also inspire them to pursue their dreams and aspirations.

The Aravani Art Project is a transgender-led art collective that aims to create a space for transgender individuals to express themselves through art. The project has been involved in various social initiatives, including creating murals in public spaces to spread awareness about social issues. Here is what they said: "As an art collective for transgender people, being able to collaborate with a brand like Uber is very instrumental to us. An auto runs in every part of our country and a chance to paint on it gives us an opportunity to spread our art, message and reach the masses, while we change their perspectives about us."

The campaign has been conceptualised by Ubers digital agency, Dentsu Webchutney. Commenting on the campaign and the idea behind it, Akshit Salian and Ankit Mathur, Creative Director, from Dentsu Creative said, Every time someone expresses themselves in any art form, the world becomes more interesting and more inspired. And thats the journey Uber Auto is kicking off today

This event was yet another example of Uber's commitment to supporting local communities and initiatives that promote inclusivity, diversity, and sustainability.
WCIW is a weeklong celebration from April 15-21 that ignites an international community dedicated to encouraging and empowering everyday creativity in companies, homes, schools as well as communities. WCIW exists to inspire and enable everyone to live more creative lives.



Since 2001, World Creativity & Innovation Week/Day has worked to inspire every man, woman, and child to use creativity to make their world and the world around them better.



Laeeq Ali, India Ambassador for WCIW/D 2023 says, INSPIRE will be at the forefront of everything we do this year. We want each one to inspire the other to do bigger and better things. If we cant change the world at once, let each one of us be the change agents who are taking this on to ourselves, inspiring the other and driving the change. The need of the hour for humanity today, is to create more critical thinkers who can be inspiration points. I encourage each one of you to join hands with WCIW and be the change that you want to see.



WCIW GOALS:

INSPIRE PEOPLE - People drive change. People are the beginning of creativity & innovation. It starts with you, in your mind, your imagination. INSPIRE the creatives in your town to imagine a bold new future and build momentum.



Invite - others to work with you, Interact - with your community, get involved

& Promote - share the news and spread the word

INSPIRE CONNECTION - Connection means collaboration. It means conversations. It means empathy. INSPIRE people to listen to each other, to understand concerns, to work together developing and reinforcing relationships.

Communicate - prioritize creativity & innovation in your every day, Empathize - listen to the people around you, understand their reality & Collaborate - work with others to impact your community

INSPIRE ACTION - Action means Innovation. INSPIRE imagination, creation, ideation, and innovation to improve your world.

Think  stretch, and come up with lots of ideas, Make  build, prototype, iterate to make new things happen, Improve - question processes, systems, and issues to better our world

How to Celebrate World Creativity & Innovation Week

1) Do something that showcases your creative & innovative thinking or Do something that showcases your critical thinking in advancing the 17 SDGs.

2) Celebrate with anyone: family, friends, classmates, co-workers, or even solo.

3) Your celebration can be almost anything. Creativity has no limits.



4) Celebrate your creativity & innovation with the world by sharing and submitting your celebration to www.wciw.org

Some example celebrations would be:

Hold a workshop applying creativity & innovation to your work Interview a mentor on innovation in their industry

Have an artist hold a premier for their latest work

Cook a dish you've never made before and share with friends Invite a group of friends together to play a new game

Write an article on creativity

Integrate creativity & innovation in your classroom

Film a video on your creativity thinking process

Create your own or contact us for more celebration ideas!

Host an innovation challenge in solving one of the SDGs Play a game that involves picking up trash in your local park

Hold a forum on ways to improve education in your community Write an article on advancements in gender equality

Hold a webinar for your community on ways to decrease food insecurity

Create artwork displaying one of the SDGs

Vlog a day of practicing good health and well-being Create a project for ocean conservation

Make a useful craft out of recycled materials



Create your own or contact WCIW at www.wciw.org for more celebration ideas!



WCIW has partnered with social impact organizations like CII Young Indians, Cultinno.in  an innovation platform, Bangalore Creative Circus, media firms and many more.


Satya Pal Malik, the former governor of Kashmir, gave an explosive interview to a news channel and exposed the central government about the Pulwama attack, in which 40 Indian soldiers were killed in February 2019. This attack was the BJPs political agenda. Modi asked for votes in the name of martyred jawans, but sadly, he let them become casualties. This made headlines, though the mainstream media was quiet, but the social media and other parallel media houses made a lot of noise.

Indian-educated people could not digest the injustice done to Indian soldiers. The nation was stunned, and everyone was talking about the Pulwama attack. Mallik also mentioned how the Central Reserve Police Force asked for the jet to transport its workforces, but the home minister deprived them of basic facilities.

Besides Modi, Indian national security adviser Ajit Doval also told Malik not to speak, which forced him to understand that the intent was to put the blame on Pakistan for political gains. This is what Mallik told Karan Thapar.

The next day, we forgot this news because the mainstream media gave us big breaking news on gangster Atiq Ahmed and his brothers live killing. The same media that was muted on Pulwama has a series of prime-time debates on Atiq Ahmeds killing with all sorts of justification. In the presence of huge media and police personnel, Atiq was shot at least nine times in his shocking murder on camera outside a hospital in Uttar Pradesh. There was no counterfire from police; the shooters were silently waiting to be caught by UP police. There was big drama; on social media, some people were celebrating the killings, making Yogi a hero.

Five bullets were reportedly recovered from the body of Ashraf Ahmed, who was also shot dead outside the hospital in Prayagraj. The autopsy found that Atiq Ahmed was shot once in the head and eight times on the chest and back. The headshot was captured on live TV by three shooters, all of whom are now arrested. Atiq Ahmed, a former MLA and MP, faced at least 100 criminal cases. He had been in the headlines since February, when Umesh Pal, a lawyer and a witness in the 2005 murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal, was gunned down outside his home in Prayagraj.

Atiq Ahmed, the prime accused in the BSP MLAs murder, was also named a suspect in Umesh Pals murder. In 2019, Atiq Ahmed was at a Gujarat prison, where he had been transferred after his alleged role in a businessmans kidnapping. The past couple of months saw Atiq Ahmed being brought to Prayagraj for court hearings and then taken back to Gujarat, closely chased by mediapersons.

The gangsters 19-year-old son Asad, also an accused in the Umesh Pal murder case, was shot dead in an encounter by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force before Atiq gets killed. The MLA had repeatedly alleged that the Uttar Pradesh police planned to gun him down in a staged encounter. After a court date recently, he told the media, Its because of you that I am safe. Fatefully, the gangster was talking to the press when his killers, also camouflaged as journalists, opened fire. It was a message to the gangsters and media people that no one can save anyones life if someone decides to eliminate them.

The Uttar Pradesh government came under strong criticism over glaring lapses in the prisoners security and the way police responded to the shooting. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered a high-level probe into the incident. The UP police have formed a three-member Special Investigation Team to probe the killings, but what is the point when three key members of one family get killed in one go? Do we really need law, order, and the judiciary? If someone is declared a gangster by the cops, its easy to gun them down in broad daylight.

And look at the mainstream media: they have no remorse for the Pulwama attack and the Jawans killing, but they are more interested in local gangsters killing. It looks like the notorious gangster Atiq and his brother are more important and newsworthy for this section of the media than the lives of our 40 brave soldiers who lost their lives in Pulwama allegedly due to negligence by the government. Why is there no media discussion of the revelation made by former Kashmir governor and BJP leader Sathyapal Malik on the Pulwama attack, and why is there no media asking why the government is silent on his revelation? Why did no media dare speak to Mallik and dig for the truth? Why did the media give the Pulwama attack the cold shoulder?

Atiq and Ashraf were handcuffed, presumably with due permission from the court and following standard operating procedures as laid out in the DK Basu vs. West Bengal case. In both the cases, be it the shootout of gangsters or the negligence of the government in the Pulwama attack, the state and central governments should be held accountable.
A Biloxi police officer and four others were wounded by gunfire during a shooting along Biloxi beach during the final day of Black Spring Break Sunday.

Biloxi police said multiple shots were fired in the 2400 block of Beach Boulevard, near the Surf Style retail store, just after 5:30 p.m. Sunday.

Officers who were already nearby patrolling Spring Break activities responded to the area of the shooting, with one officer struck in the arm as he was searching for the shooter(s).

A reporter for television station WLOX was on the scene reporting on Black Spring Break when the shots were fired, saying at least 10 shots were heard as people scrambled for cover.

The officer was treated on the scene and transported to a local hospital for further treatment.

As other officers searched the scene, they found four other victims, each of whom were also treated at the scene and then taken to the hospital. Biloxi police chief John Miller said later Sunday night all five victims were in stable condition, although two were in serious, but stable condition.

Hes doing pretty good, Miller said of his officer. The names of the officer and other victims have not been released.

In speaking with media at the scene, Miller said this years Black Spring Break has been rife with incidents in comparison with previous years.

Weve dealt with a lot of incidents this week that we usually dont have to deal with during spring break, he said, and it culminated with a shooting here where several people were injured, including a police officer.

Sundays shooting marked the second in as many days in the same area. Saturday night, a 25-year-old man was shot and killed on Briarfield Avenue, just north of Surf Style.

James Tarvis McMorris Jr. of Louisiana has been arrested and charged with manslaughter. Its unknown of the two incidents are related.

In addition, there were reports of gunfire at Edgewater Mall in Biloxi Saturday afternoon, prompting the mall to close for the remainder of the day. Police later said they found no evidence of gunfire or a weapon at the mall.

In the wake of Sundays shooting, a massive law enforcement turnout arrived at the scene, with units from across the coast responding.

Anytime theres a massive shooting like this, with several people injured, you can expect that, Miller said. Thats how coast law enforcement works together. We always have. You can expect a lot of officers to respond -- especially if theres a police officer shot.

Beach Boulevard (U.S. 90) from Beauvior Road to Edgewater Mall was closed for hours after the shooting. In addition, northbound traffic on Interstate 110 was restricted to one lane as police reportedly searched for a suspect vehicle.

Miller said -- and a Monday press release confirmed -- there have been no arrests and Miller declined to say whether there were any suspects.
Experts say theres no easy solution to help children cope with traumatic events.

But there are several things parents and loved ones can do for children after something scary happens. Taking some steps together can help minimize longterm stress, whether a family is dealing with a car accident, natural disaster or gun violence.

Four people, including two high school students, died on April 15 in a mass shooting in Dadeville, Alabama. While mass shootings are relatively rare, they are increasing. And firearms are the leading cause of death for children and teens in Alabama and in the U.S.

AL.com spoke with several experts about ways to help children and young adults.

Why does this matter? What are warning signs of distress?

Children and teenagers may have increased feelings of anxiety, fear and safety concerns after traumatic events, and may also display changes in appetite, sleep, and other behaviors. Parents and caregivers can monitor those reactions, validate a childs feelings and offer positive outlets for stress and anxiety.

Experts say its important to prioritize physical health and wellbeing.

Drink water, get enough sleep, eat regularly, and try to get outside as much as you can. Take time to rest, and avoid making any major life decisions during this time.

Talking about what happened with a trusted adult, friend or community member can also make the healing process easier.

According to The National Child Traumatic Stress Network, there are several things that parents can do after a tragic incident to minimize additional harm, including sticking to normal routines, limiting media exposure and creating a safe space to talk about the event.

If anxiety persists, or if a child or a teenager has continued difficulty a few months after an attack, experts recommend seeking professional help.

As appropriate, experts also recommend giving children a way to participate in community change or to take action. Depending on a childs age and the event, that might look like writing a letter to a hurt friend, attending a vigil or helping them organize a protest.

Many of us are feeling helpless, scared, and worn down by the sheer number of tragedies and mass shootings we have experienced, said Dr. Jennifer Langhinrichsen-Rohling, a professor of psychology at University of North Carolina at Charlotte. We need to marshall these feelings to have those difficult conversations with our children, to help them cope with their/our fear, and we need to change policy  work with our legislature. Suicide rates go down when we restrict access to lethal means; the same is true for homocide.

How do I talk to my child about violence?

These resources from NCTSN and the National Association of School Psychologists walk parents, caregivers and teachers through conversations with children and teens about violence.

Before having the conversation, its important for adults to acknowledge their own feelings and try to keep a warm and open presence. Always start by reassuring children that theyre safe, and let your childs questions guide the conversation.

Its common for some children and teens to display significant changes in behavior after a tragic event, ranging from hyperactivity to feelings of depression or isolation. \

Where can I find resources, help for my child after a traumatic event?

For many young people, school is a primary avenue to access mental health resources or further help. Make sure your school is aware of any ongoing needs and ask about counseling and mental health resources.

The National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has a list of suggested actions parents can take in response to various behavior changes, depending on your childs age group.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration also has a free app that offers additional resources for first responders, teachers, parents and caregivers after a traumatic event.

And the Child Mind Institute also has resource guides with age-appropriate tips and advice for children and young adults.

If your child needs long-term mental health support, use this Ed Lab guide to assess some options in Alabama.

Crisis Hotlines

For immediate help, below is a list of crisis hotlines available 24/7:
For nearly five decades, visitors to the Birmingham Zoo have enjoyed watching California sea lions splashing in their pool at the Sea Lion Habitat.

Sea lions Farley and Gio have been zoo favorites, entertaining families with their acrobatic antics.

The Birmingham Zoo announced today that the California sea lions, Farley and Giovanni (Gio), will be moved to the New England Aquarium in Boston later this spring. That will mark the permanent closure of the Zoos Sea Lion Habitat, which is in need of serious repairs and is no longer in compliance with best practices for sea lion care.

The zoo is working on a sea lion send-off that will be announced in the coming weeks, to give visitors a chance to say goodbye.

The Birmingham Zoo does not have any current plans to build a new sea lion habitat.

The Sea Lions are being moved in cooperation with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the California Sea Lion Species Survival Plan.

Farley and Gio were born in 2008, and were rescued in 2009 by the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, California.

The Birmingham Zoo joins other zoos and aquariums around the world in participating in species survival plans that manage animal populations in zoos and related facilities, including providing standards for care, health and well-being.

While we are very sad to see them go, we are excited about this great opportunity for them, said Birmingham Zoo General Curator Mollye Nardi.

Built in 1974 through generous donations from Parisian Stores and the Alabama Zoological Society, the California sea lion habitat is now out of date.

Renovations to this habitat are not feasible and the only option would be to build a new facility which cannot happen soon enough to address the current issues, said Birmingham Zoo Deputy Director Hollie Colahan.

Our amazing staff cares deeply for these animals and has been dedicated to providing them with excellent care despite the many challenges posed by their outdated habitat, said Scott Kayser, Zoological Manager of Predators.

Sea lions are social animals and live in colonies in the wild.

The New England Aquarium has a larger habitat and their own resident sea lions.

When we reached out to the California Sea Lion SSP to place Gio and Farley, we hoped that they could stay together and go to a top-quality facility, Colahan said. We are thrilled that both of these requests were met, and they will be housed with other sea lions and cared for by an experienced team at another AZA-accredited facility.

A sea lion leaps from the water at the Birmingham Zoo. (Courtesy of the Birmingham Zoo)

Colahan said sea lions are a favorite of not just guests but staff. Sending them away is a difficult decision for us but we believe that every animal in the zoo deserves the best life possible, even when that life is somewhere else.

Farley and Gio will be joining three female California sea lions at the New England Aquarium: 12-year-olds Sierra and Zoey and 10-year-old Tipper, all rescued animals who could not be released and were given a forever home in the New Balance Foundation Marine Mammal Center.

We are very excited for the addition of a male sea lion and an additional female sea lion, said Kristen Van Oss, Curator of Pinnipeds and Penguins at the New England Aquarium. Farley and Gio are at the perfect age to socialize with our resident sea lions, and we feel that this will not only be very enriching for all five of the animals but also align with our goal of providing the highest level of animal welfare for the animals in our care.

Birmingham Zoo Staff are working very closely with the New England Aquarium to ensure a smooth and successful transition for Gio and Farley.

It has been a pleasure collaborating with the team at the Birmingham Zoo and utilizing our experiences to set up for a safe transition and acclimation of the animals from their facility to ours, Van Oss said.

See also: Female lion at Birmingham Zoo dies after attack by new male lion
Google warns all Chrome users, urging billions of folks to update their web browsers as quickly as possible due to the first-ever zero-day security vulnerability for 2023. The latest version addresses the issue altogether, the search behemoth says.

The renowned tech giant is now recommending Chrome users keep their browsers up to date to ensure they remain safe while browsing the internet.

Google Urges Chrome Users to Update ASAP

As per a report by Forbes, Google recently revealed that it had discovered a new zero-day security issue beneath its famous web browser, which rivals Microsoft's Edge and Apple's Safari. And as such, roughly three billion Chrome users from various parts of the world now have to update their browsers to ensure their safety.

The tech behemoth says that the zero-day vulnerability affects browser users on various platforms, specifically desktop or laptop users. The security flaw exists on the Windows and Mac versions of Chrome and Linux.

Google has already released a new version of Chrome to fix the nasty security flaw for its desktop and laptop users. The tech giant is now urging users of its flagship browser to get their hands on the 112.0.5615.121 update. It should patch the CVE-2023-2033 zero-day vulnerability.

Bleeping Computer reports that Google announced the first-ever zero-day exploit in one of its security blog posts. The tech giant confirmed that it is "aware that an exploit for CVE-2022-2023 exists in the wild." This means that cyber attackers have already exploited the flaw.

The cybersecurity-focused news outlet says that Google has yet to disclose the details of the first zero-day flaw in 2023. However, according to The Register, the vulnerability affects the V8 JavaScript engine of the browser.

From time to time, Google releases critical Chrome updates to address security issues and fix bugs to improve the overall experience of its users. The tech giant consistently smashes these vulnerabilities now and then. Other software makers like Apple and Microsoft also patch similar flaws to ensure the safety of their users across the globe. Like Google, these tech behemoths issue Windows and macOS or iOS updates to address zero-day flaws.

Read Also: Google AI Search Engine Reportedly in the Works: Here's What to Expect from 'Magi'

How to Update Google Chrome?

Although Chrome updates install automatically, it sometimes takes quite a while before it successfully rolls out. So in instances wherein security is at stake, manually doing so is the best route to ensure safety. Here's how to update your Chrome browser.

Open the Google Chrome app.

Then, select the menu bar found in the upper right corner.

From there, go to the "Help" option.

And after which, click "About Google Chrome." Upon doing so, the new update should start downloading. It should be installed afterward.

Related Article: Google Pay Accidentally Sent Free Money to Users Up to $1000: Can They Keep it?

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The family of a 26-year-old Dacula, Georgia man who died from a bleeding intestinal ulcer in the Gwinnett County Jail two years ago is suing the lockups health care contractor for medical malpractice.

Filed in Gwinnett State Court Friday, the 12-page lawsuit accuses Birmingham-based NaphCare and some physicians and nurses of failing to provide adequate and timely care to Deion Strayhon. His cause of death in April 2021 was hemorrhage of an ulcer in his small intestine, according to a Gwinnett County Medical Examiner report.

Strayhon, who died about five weeks before his daughter was born, was being held without bond on charges including aggravated assault and gun and drug counts, jail records show.

I want justice for my son and for my granddaughter, said his mother, Sherry Strayhon. And I am hoping by this going forth that it will prevent it from happening in the future.

NaphCare and the Gwinnett Sheriffs Office did not respond to requests for comment Monday.

Strayhon started designing clothing before his death, according to his mother, who described him as entrepreneurial, happy and encouraging.

He was among 34 people who died after being held in Gwinnetts jail between 2009 and October of 2022, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation. Two men held there in 2021 and 2022 died after the jail sent them to the hospital. One of them was granted bond while hospitalized. The other was granted bond the day he hanged himself in the jail and was taken to the hospital, where he died two days later.

In response to questions last year about those deaths, the Gwinnett Sheriffs Office said it prioritizes the safety and security of inmates and employees. The agency utilizes structured policies, procedures, and protocols to safeguard all inmates while they are in our custody.

2023 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Visit at ajc.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency gave an update at 5 p.m. Sunday on the investigation into a shooting at a teen birthday party in Dadeville that resulted in at least four deaths and multiple injuries.

You can watch the press conference live here:

ALEA Senior Trooper Jeremy Burkett told news media gathered at the Tallapoosa County Courthouse that 28 people had been injured in the shooting, with a wide variety of injuries ranging from superficial to critical.

This is a very fluid situation, Burkett said. We are still trying to confirm everyone who was at the scene.

Here is full coverage of the Dadeville shooting investigation

The shooting happened at Mahoganys Masterpiece dance studio on North Broadnax Street in downtown Dadeville, one block from the courthouse.

Police have roped off the approximately one-block area at the site of the shooting. ALEA has not released any information about suspects, motives, or whether anyone is in custody. ALEA has asked for anyone with information to call 800-392-8011 or email sbi.investigations@alea.gov.

CrimeStoppers is also offering a $5,000 cash reward for information that leads to the identification and arrest of the suspect(s) involved in the Dadeville fatal mass shooting. Call (334) 215-STOP if you have information.

Those with information may also contact the 5th Circuit District Attorneys Office concerning the incident or to provide information to the individuals or families concerning victim services at www.5thcircuitda.org/dadeville.

ALEA Secretary Hal Taylor said his agency, along with the assistance of both local and federal partners, are working diligently to conduct a thorough and methodical investigation, to bring justice to bear to the victims and their loved ones.

Today, our hearts are heavy as we stand alongside our fellow officers with the Dadeville Police Department, the Tallapoosa County Sheriffs Office and the rest of the Dadeville community as they grieve the loss of four young individuals in a senseless tragedy, Taylor said. We ask that you please lift up this community in your thoughts and prayers in the coming days as they continue to cope with the loss and tragedy they have experienced.

Read more: Dadeville mass shooting something no community should have to endure, police chief says

Everybody loved Phil: Star senior athlete killed in Dadeville shooting left legacy

Dadeville football player bound for Jacksonville State killed at sisters birthday party, pastor says

Dadeville shooting: Local students involved, unreal tragedy principal says
Friends are rallying around two longtime friends, both cheerleaders, who suffered critical injuries in the weekend shooting at a Sweet 16 birthday party in Dadeville.

Cara Johns and Trinity Richards are among 28 people wounded when gunfire erupted inside the private event venue Mahoganys Masterpiece.

Four others were killed: Corbin Dahmontrey Holston, Marsiah Emmanuel Siah Collins, 19, Philstavious Dowdell, 18, and Shaunkivia Nicole Keke Smith, 17.

Smith and Dowdell were both seniors at Dadeville High School. The party was in honor of Dowdells younger sister.

The investigation into the deadly shooting is ongoing, led by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.

Authorities have remained tight-lipped about the probe and have not released any updates since Sunday nor said whether any suspects have been identified or are in custody.

Richards, a Pike Road High School student, remains hospitalized in Birmingham.

Johns, a former Pike Road cheerleader who recently moved to Tallassee High School, is being treated in Columbus.

33 Dadeville birthday party shooting

Saturday night Cara was shot three times in the ruthless events that took place in Dadeville at the Sweet 16 birthday party, Hannah Hussey posted on Facebook.

She is in critical condition, but she is stable, Hussey said. She did have brain surgery as well as surgery to address her chest and abdominal gunshot wounds.

The doctors feel confident that they have repaired her chest and abdominal wounds completely, she said. We are now in the waiting period of reducing the swelling of her brain.

God has heard our prayers, Hussey said. Please continue to lift all of these children and their families affected by this up to Jesus.

Pike Road Schools posted released this statement:

Many of our students know the victims of this tragedy. We can confirm one of our students was present and was impacted. We continue to pray for healing and comfort for all the students, families and communities suffering in the wake of this tragic and sad event. Counselors will be available at Pike Road High School this week. Local clergy will also be available for those who want to speak with one of them.

Amy Traff, whose daughters have cheered with both girls at Pike Road, said theres been an outpouring of support for the girls and their families.

People are praying, Traff said. Theyre on their knees praying for a miracle that we know can happen.

Traff is spearheading an effort to deliver care packages to the families of both girls. More than $3,000 has already been raised as well.

Donations are still being accepted by Splurge Boutique owner Alexia Henig at the store in Halcyon Park in Montgomery.

These girls are like family to all of us, she said. Were put on earth to serve others and the least we can do is help the families.

Traff said the shooting has been a shock to those who know the girls and other victims.

They realize it could have been any of them, she said, and they realize how scary things are in the world now.

Surviving victims from the shooting are spread out at hospitals throughout Alabama and Georgia.

Heidi Smith, of Ivy Creek Healthcare, spoke Monday from Lake Martin Community Hospital, where 15 teens were brought in Saturday night with gunshot wounds.

Its very traumatic in a health care setting when you have one gunshot wound come through, Smith said. But when you have 15 and theyre all teenagersour staff has been through a lot.

And they stood up like troopers, Smith said. They did a fantastic job. They are heroes. The rural hospitals are heroes in these situations and will continue to be.

Of the 15 patients taken to Lake Martin Community Hospital, six were treated and released. Nine others were transferred to other hospitals  five of those in critical condition and four in stable condition.

At least two victims were taken to Childrens of Alabama in Birmingham. UAB Hospital confirms it has three victims from the Dadeville shooting.

Smith said it was organized chaos but something for which they have trained. We activated our emergency crisis team and had 20 to 25 people working, she said.

We have mass shooting practices, she said, but I dont think its ever anything you really can prepare for.
Three Alabama legislators gathered outside a Hueytown funeral home owned by the grandfather of one of the four victims of Saturdays Dadeville shooting and issued a call for immediate action to curb gun violence.

State Sen. Merika Coleman said she organized the impromptu gathering in front of Integrity Funeral Home in Hueytown because the owner, Clifford Toney, is the grandfather of Shaunkivia Nicole Keke Smith, one of four people killed in the Saturday night shooting at a Sweet 16 birthday party at Mahoganys Masterpiece dance studio in Dadeville.

Toney said he drove to Dadeville when he heard about the shooting.

When I got there, I discovered it was my granddaughter, that she had been shot, Toney said. They stressed to me that my granddaughter didnt make it. So, I was there to comfort my daughter.

Smith, 17, a Dadeville High School senior, was planning to graduate this spring and attend UAB to study nursing, he said.

Read more: Who are the four people killed in Dadeville shooting?

Its not OK that gun violence is now the leading cause of death for young people in America, said Sen. Coleman, who previously introduced Senate Bill 123, the Gun Violence Protective Order Act, similar to red flag laws in other states that authorize courts to issue protective orders requiring dangerous individuals to surrender all firearms in their possession to law enforcement. We must take action and take action now, she said.

Its time to enact common sense gun legislation that ensures responsible gun ownership and keeps guns out of the hands of those who should never, ever have them, said State Sen. Rodger Smitherman.

We have a gun problem, Alabama, Smitherman said. No child in Alabama should be afraid of getting shot and killed at a Sweet Sixteen birthday party. No child should have to worry about gun violence in their schools or fear one of their classmates bringing their parents gun on campus. No teenager in Alabama should be able to purchase an assault rifle off the street that is designed solely to kill as many people possible, as quickly as possible.

State Rep. Juandalynn Givan said she will introduce a bill this week to ban the sale of assault weapons to those under age 21.

I will never be silent until Republicans recognize that the Second Amendment comes with responsibilities and limitations, Givan said. Until they do, the blood of these murdered children is on their hands.

Read more on the Dadeville shooting:
A 23-year-old man killed in the shooting at a Sweet 16 birthday party in Alabama over the weekend did not attend the party but only went there to check on a younger family member who was concerned there might be trouble.

Corbin Dahmontrey Holston was one of four people fatally shot Saturday night when gunfire erupted inside the private event venue Mahoganys Masterpiece, also injuring 28 others.

Also killed were Philstavious Dowdell, 18, Shaunkivia Nicole Keke Smith, 17, both seniors at Dadeville High School and Marsiah Emmanuel Siah Collins, 19.

The party was for Dowdells sister.

Out of concern for other family members, Corbin responded to the party to ensure their safety but unfortunately encountered the suspects, his mother, Janett Heard, told AL.com.

Corbin was selfless when it came to his family and friends and always tried to be a protector, Heard said. Thats just the type of person he was.

At least one younger relative of Holston was at the party and called him because there was a serious concern, said another family member who did not want to be identified.

Shortly after Holston arrived, the shooting started. If not for the concern of the family member, he would not have been there, the family member said.

Holston was able to pull his younger relative to safety before Holston was killed.

Holstons family said they received a call that he had been shot and to get to the hospital immediately. It was then they learned he did not survive.

Holston graduated from Dadeville High School in 2018. Those who knew him described him as loving and caring.

He was not perfect by any means, but he was caring and considerate, Heard said. He loved his family and this community.

I want people to remember he was selfless, said the other family member. He had more concern for family and friends than himself. If anybody needed him, he wouldnt hesitate to respond.

Holstons family addressed graphic photos and videos of the shootings aftermath that have been shared on some social media sites.

We are devastated by this loss, Heard said, and we would ask that people be considerate and not share pictures, videos and misleading assumptions during this time while all families grieve and process the loss of their beloved family members.
Seven people were killed and an eighth was wounded when a group of gunmen attacked a resort in central Mexico.

The attackers stormed La Plaza resort in the city of Cortazar in Guanajuato state on Saturday afternoon.

A 7-year-old child, three men and three women were killed in the brazen attack, according to police in Cortazar. The person who was seriously wounded was not identified.

The suspects were not immediately apprehended. Police in Guanajuato said they were using a helicopter to speed up the search for the attackers.

Social media videos showed stunned vacationers in tears and hysterics after the assault.

Heavily armed sicarios arrived and this is what happened, one man said over a video that showed dead bodies by a swimming pool.

After the massacre, the gunmen shot up a spa shop and took the security cameras before fleeing.

Guanajuato is a popular tourist destination, but it is also known as Mexicos most violent state. Between January and September 2022, more than 2,400 people were murdered and another 3,000 disappeared in the state.

Violence is less common at Mexicos many tourist resorts, but the ever-simmering cartel wars occasionally reach vacation destinations. Earlier this month, four people were found dead outside a beachside resort in Cancun.

During a two-week stretch in 2021, two people were killed in a cartel shootout in Tulum, and another two people were killed in a shootout at a different resort in Cancun.

With News Wire Services

2023 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Two people pulled over by police took concealed carry to a new level, Mississippi authorities said.

Officers found a handgun hidden inside a folded quesadilla from Taco Bell, police said.

A man in the passengers seat shoved the gun inside the quesadilla soon before its discovery during the traffic stop the afternoon of April 14 in Picayune, according to the Picayune Police Department.

In addition to the gun, officers found methamphetamine, liquid heroin and drug paraphernalia as they searched the car, police said in an April 15 news release shared to Facebook.

The man was arrested on charges including possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute while in possession of a firearm, possession of a controlled substance, tampering with physical evidence, possession of a weapon by a felon and possession of paraphernalia, according to authorities.

#Tacoaboutnotcool, police wrote in the Facebook post.

The woman driving the car was cited for disregarding a traffic device and was released, police said.

Picayune is about 50 miles northeast of New Orleans, Louisiana.

2023 The Charlotte Observer. Visit charlotteobserver.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Attorneys for Alabama Death Row inmate Toforest Johnson are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review his case, arguing the key witness was secretly paid a reward for her testimony.

Johnsons attorneys said in their filing Monday to the nations highest court that the $5,000 payment was disclosed two decades later after years of the official denials that the witness was ever paid. According to State officials, who continue to pursue Johnsons execution, it had been misfiled all those years.

The public cannot possibly have confidence in the system if the state of Alabama is permitted to execute Johnson when it paid its key witness $5,000 in secret and both the District Attorney and the trial prosecutor support a new trial.

Johnson, 50, was convicted of the 1995 shooting of Jefferson County Deputy Sheriff William Hardy. Johnson is currently incarcerated at William C. Holman correctional facility in Atmore.

The U.S. Supreme Court justices have reviewed the case before. In 2017, the court ruled in favor of Johnson, sending the case back to the state.

The appeal wound its way through the state court system for years, with the Alabama Supreme Court declining to review the case in December.

If there were nothing problematic about the States $5,000 payment to (the witness), there would have been no reason for the state to conceal the payment for 18 years, wrote Johnsons attorneys in the filing.

If not for a retired state employee informing Johnsons counsel in 2018 that the State maintained a confidential reward file, Johnson never would have obtained the documents about the payment.

According to the Monday petition, the former lead trial prosecutor said the states entire case against Johnson was based on that witness. He later testified, according to the filing, I dont think the States case was very strong, because it depended on the testimony of Violet Ellison in my opinion.

Ellison told police she heard a man who identified himself as Toforest confess to the shooting. She didnt know Johnson, and said she overheard the remark when she picked up the phone during a call her daughter made to a friend who was in jail. Her story contradicted the physical evidence in the case, said Mondays filing.

Following his 1998 conviction, Johnsons lawyers argued that prosecutors suppressed evidence that Ellison knew about the reward money being offered in the case, and that she was hoping to get the cash. That argument was litigated throughout the court system from 2003 until 2018.

In 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court reviewed Johnsons case and sent the case back to state court. There was a hearing in Jefferson County, where Johnson was convicted, and it wasnt until 2018 that the copy of the check that was paid to Ellison surfaced.

Johnsons lawyers werent told about the payment, and didnt conclusively know about it until seeing that check.

That hearing also led to a file that contained a letter from the then-district attorney to the governor, asking for the money. That letter said Ellison gave information on Johnson pursuant to the public offer of a reward.

The county circuit court judge ruled in favor of the state, and the case again was appealed to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. That court also ruled that Johnsons team couldnt show Ellison knew about the reward money when she talked to police.

Then, in December, the states highest court declined to look at the case.

In 2020, Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr voiced concerns about Johnsons case and asked for a new trial. He wrote in a court filing, It is the District Attorneys position that in the interest of justice, Mr. Johnson who has spent more than two decades on Death Row, be granted a new trial.

The original prosecutor also supports Carrs motion.

The requests of the District Attorney and the trial prosecutor are particularly striking given the nature of  claims, wrote Johnsons lawyers in the Monday filing. Johnson has been seeking a new trial for nearly two decades. One might expect a defensive reaction from the office and the individual accused of violating a capital defendants constitutional rights. Yet here, both have requested that Johnsons conviction be vacated based on a litany of problems

Former Alabama Chief Justice Drayton Nabers and former Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley are among numerous lawyers, former judges and prosecutors who have voiced support a new trial for Johnson. Other supporters include former U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance, former magistrate Judge John Carroll, and three former jurors on the case.

Mondays petition to the court comes after a Sunday night event in Birmingham to raise awareness about the case. According to Johnsons lawyers, more than 400 people attended the , Greater Birmingham Ministries event.

The state has yet to set an execution date for Johnson.
Florence police say one person was wounded in a shooting Sunday night at a Walmart.

The incident happened just before 7 p.m. at the store on Hough Road, according to Lt. Jason Fort of Florence police.

Officers responded to a report of shots fired to find one person wounded, who was treated at the scene by first responders.

No bystanders were injured, and police say there is no additional threat to the community.

Detectives are speaking to everyone who is believed to be involved in the incident, Fort said in a statement.
The family of an Alabama man who died in police custody nearly two years ago have been kept in the dark about the circumstances of his death, their attorneys said Monday in calling a news conference with a list of questions that have gone unanswered.

Travis Banks, 28, died July 31, 2021 at Marshall Medical Center North, where he was transferred after becoming unresponsive at the Guntersville City Jail. His family said Banks, who was diagnosed with an unspecified psychotic disorder in 2018, was put in a restraint chair after eating paint chips and banging his head on the walls of his cell. While in the chair, the family claims, Banks was tased by officers.

The Banks family requested body cam footage and jail video shortly after his death but have been rebuffed by the Marshall County District Attorneys office. Meanwhile, the familys civil case has not been able to obtain a subpoena for Alabama Law Enforcement Agency/State Bureau of Investigation records on the incident because the judge in the case asserts the agencies have qualified immunity, according to attorney Richard Rice.

Rice and fellow Banks family attorney Johnathan Austin called a Tuesday news conference about lingering questions about the incident, including why was Banks put in the chair, how long was he eating paint chips, how long was he unresponsive and why did officers withhold water from Banks.

No family should be kept in the dark about the specific circumstances that led to the death of their loved one while in the citys custody, the attorneys said in an email Monday to AL.com.

They also said the city magistrate does not have any arrest reports or warrants for Banks prior to his death.

Just a few months shy of the two year mark following Traviss untimely death, the family still does not know specifically what happened to Travis other than he died in the city jail over 48 hours after being taken into custody following a mental health crisis, the attorneys said.
Iran sentenced military officials involved in shooting down a Ukrainian passenger plane in 2020

Authorities claim that the jet was shot down by mistake

The commander allegedly violated the order

A court in Tehran sentenced up to ten Iranian military members on Sunday for their role in the shooting down of Ukrainian Airlines Flight 752 in 2020.

However, the sentencing has been branded a "sham ruling" by victims' relatives, who claim Iranian authorities have neglected to pursue those ultimately guilty of the catastrophe.

Iran Sentenced Officials Responsible for Downing Ukrainian Plane

CNN reports that the unidentified commander of the Tor M1 surface-to-air missile defense system that shot down the jet, killing all 176 persons on board, was the primary defendant in the trial. According to Mehr, the commander was sentenced to 13 years in jail.

On January 8, 2020, a Boeing 737 flight from Imam Khomeini Airport in Tehran was on its way to Kyiv when it was struck by anti-aircraft missiles shortly after takeoff.

Days later, Iranian authorities confirmed that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force shot the jet down by mistake when an air defense operator mistook it as a cruise missile.

According to the final decision issued by the Tehran court on Sunday, the passenger airliner was shot down due to "human error." The commander launched missiles at the civilian aircraft twice, "contrary to the order of the command post and other instructions," according to the court.

In addition, two people controlling the missile system were sentenced to one year in prison, while additional officials in Tehran's air defense command and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) aerospace section were sentenced to one to three years in prison.

Read Also: Pope Francis Slams 'Baseless' John Paul II Insinuations in 'Vatican Girl' Case

Military Court to Continue Probe

Al Jazeera reported that the accused will also allegedly face further sanctions that have yet to be determined by the court. All sentences were preliminary and can be appealed after 20 court sessions. A military court has also been instructed to continue its probe into additional possible suspects.

According to the court, there were 117 plaintiffs in the case, 55 of whom testified in court and were represented by 20 attorneys. Per ABC News, the Iranian government intends to compensate $150,000 to each victim's family. It did not specify how the funds would be distributed to the families.

Since they began in 2021, the hearings have drawn international attention. At the time, a group of victims' relatives criticized the hearing and questioned the court's validity.

The organization also claimed that none of the defendants attended the sessions. Pour-Aghakhan, the head of Iran's Armed Forces Judiciary, stated that the judges and jurors "voted with the utmost justice and neutrality."

In retaliation for the US drone attack that murdered top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad only hours before the downing in January 2020, Iran fired ballistic missiles toward American positions in Iraq.

Related Article: Russian Volcano Eruption Prompts Flight Cancellation in Alaska

@YouTube

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Madison County authorities said an inmate in the county jail died this afternoon.

Sheriff Kevin Turner said William Carlos Colbert, 53, was found unresponsive in his cell at about 11:22 a.m. following a sudden medical emergency witnessed by other inmates.

Medical staff and detention officers rendered medical aid, Turner said, until Colbert was transported to Huntsville Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Colbert had been in the jail since March 26, when he was taken into custody on probation violation charges.

Turner said in a statement that a preliminary death investigation has determined there was no indication of foul play or other suspicious circumstances.

The Alabama State Forensics Lab will perform an autopsy to verify the cause of death.

An investigation is continuing.
Ed Nichols is superintendent of one of the fastest growing school districts in the state.

Madison City Schools has more than 12,500 students, with an increase of more than 200 since the start of the school year. The district, which is celebrating 25 years of existence, is also one of the top performing districts in the state.

Madison City Schools is currently made up of two high schools, two middle schools, seven elementary schools and a stand-alone PreK Center.

A third middle school, Journey Middle, will open this coming fall. Journey Middle was built with the capacity for 1,200 students but wont start with that many because its school zone will pull from two existing middle schools, Discovery Middle and Liberty Middle.

Nichols is completing his third year as superintendent. He previously served 28 years with Decatur City Schools, serving as a teacher, principal, assistant superintendent and superintendent from 2012-16, before retiring.
A 19-year-old Decatur man is being held on $30,000 bond today after his arrest Sunday morning for assault.

Decatur police said the Morgan County 911 Center received a call at about 4:33 a.m. Sunday of a disturbance in the 300 block of Albert Street S.W.

According to police, the caller reported in Spanish that a man had stabbed his brother and was trying to get inside the residence.

Officers arriving found a man inside the residence with multiple stab wounds to the face.

The victim was taken to Huntsville Hospital, where he was treated for his injuries.

A roommate, identified as Jossel Franco, 19, of Decatur, has been charged with second degree assault and booked into the Morgan County Jail.
The second trial of capital murder suspect Mason Sisk began today with an unusual twist - a potential juror was taken out of the courtroom in handcuffs.

WAAY is reporting the trial began with jury selection this morning.

Sisk, 17, has been charged with killing five family members while they slept when he was 14 years old on Sept. 2, 2019. The shootings occurred in Elkmont, a small town near the Tennessee state line.

Limestone County Circuit Judge Chad Wise ordered a mistrial last year after a large amount of information from the cellphone of Mary Sisk became available to both parties during the trial.

Mary Sisk was Mason Sisks adoptive mother and one of the five people he is accused of killing.

Mason Sisk is also accused of fatally shooting his father John Sisk, and siblings Kane, Rorrie and Colson.

According to the station, Wise this morning polled the jury pool on whether any member had any mental disability that would prevent them from serving on a jury.

A man approaching the bench said something to Wise that prompted the judge to summon deputies.

The man was given five days in jail for contempt of court, according to the station.
This Saturday is Earth Day, and there are plenty of ways to celebrate the environment down here in coastal Alabama this week. A couple are listed below.

But earlier in the week, the Mobile Public Library is hosting a talk with Alabama historian Jim Phillips and the Mobile Museum of Art is hosting a Women in Art panel discussionat the same time. Ill let you decide which of those to attend.

AARP Tax-Aide: April 17, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Ben May Main Library, Mobile, AL

If you need any last-minute tax advice, the AARP Foundation provides free tax preparation services for individuals, regardless of age or income. No appointment is required, but you should bring along your current ID and any necessary paperwork, such as W-2s or past tax returns. For more information, call (678) 749-0310.

Genealogy Class: April 20, 1:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m., Daphne Public Library North Porch, Daphne, AL
A 14-year-old was killed in a rollover crash in Lee County.

The wreck happened at 2:45 a.m. Sunday on Lee County Road 179, about 15 miles east of Opelika.

Alabama State Trooper Cpl. Reginal King said the teen was a passenger in a 2019 GMC Arcadia that left the road, struck several trees and overturned.

King said the teen was not using a seat belt at the time of the crash. The teen was taken to a hospital and later pronounced dead.

The driver and another passenger, both 15 years old, were injured.

Troopers do not release names of juvenile victims.
Elon Musk believes the world needs to prepare for artificial intelligence (AI). On Sunday, the Tesla CEO agreed that AI would hit people "like an asteroid,"

Musk revealed that he used his only one-on-one meeting with former US President Barack Obama to push for AI regulation, as per Fortune.

AI Regulations

Mckay Wrigley, a software developer, tweeted, "It blows my mind that people can't apply exponential growth to the capabilities of AI. You would've been called a *lunatic* a year ago if you said we'd have GPT-4 level AI right now. Now think another year. 5yrs? 10yrs? It's going to hit them like an asteroid."

It blows my mind that people cant apply exponential growth to the capabilities of AI.



You wouldve been called a *lunatic* a year ago if you said wed have GPT-4 level AI right now.



Now think another year. 5yrs? 10yrs?



Its going to hit them like an asteroid.  Mckay Wrigley (@mckaywrigley) April 15, 2023

Musk responded to the tweet by saying that he had tried to warn the public for years. He said he used his one-on-one meeting with Obama instead of promoting Tesla or SpaceX. According to Reuters, there is also news about Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer laying the groundwork for Congress to regulate AI.

On the other hand, Musk is working on plans to launch an AI startup, dubbed X.AI, that will compete against OpenAI. The startup will make generative AI tools.

There are also reports that Musk is working on an AI project at Twitter. It can be recalled that the SpaceX CEO paused the development of AI tools more advanced than GPT-4 for six months.

Read Also: Elon Musk Drops Truth Bomb on Twitter: It 'Has Interfered in Elections'

(Photo : by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 24: Tesla CEO Elon Musk leaves the Phillip Burton Federal Building on January 24, 2023 in San Francisco, California. Musk testified at a trial regarding a lawsuit that has investors suing Tesla and Musk over his August 2018 tweets saying he was taking Tesla private with funding that he had secured.

AI Development

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly advancing and is becoming an essential part of our daily lives. AI technology can potentially transform industries and improve our quality of life. However, it also presents significant risks and challenges that must be addressed.

One of the main concerns with AI is its potential impact on jobs. Many jobs that humans currently perform may be automated by AI in the future. This could lead to significant job losses and economic disruption. Additionally, AI has the potential to perpetuate biases and discrimination if it is not designed and implemented ethically and responsibly.

Another concern with AI is its potential impact on privacy and security. AI technology can be used to collect and analyze vast amounts of data, which can be used for targeted advertising or other purposes. This raises significant privacy concerns, as individuals may need to be made aware of how their data is being used.

There is a growing need for AI regulations to address these concerns. Regulations can ensure that AI is developed and used ethically and responsibly. They can also help protect individuals' privacy and security while promoting innovation and economic growth.

The European Union has taken a proactive approach to AI regulations by introducing the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which provides guidelines for collecting, processing, and storing personal data. Other countries, including the United States and China, are also exploring the need for AI regulations.

AI has the potential to transform our world in many positive ways. However, it also presents significant risks and challenges that must be addressed. AI regulations can help ensure that AI is developed and used ethically and responsibly while protecting individuals' privacy and security.

As AI continues to advance, regulations must keep pace to ensure that its benefits are realized without causing harm.

Related article: Elon Musk Is No Longer the Richest Man in the World: Who Is Bernard Arnault and How Did He Beat the Tesla CEO?

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Pretty much everybody knows the old expression that says a prosecutor can even persuade a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich because the defendant hasn't been allowed his day in court and the testimony presented is all one-sided. Ironically, it was none other than former New York state chief judge Sol Wachtler who famously uttered those words in a 1985 interview with the New York Daily News, long before Donald Trump became an unstoppable force in American politics.

For the first time in history, a state prosecutor has filed criminal charges against a former U.S. president. Alvin Bragg has charged former president Donald Trump with 34 counts of the same crime: falsifying business records  which is normally a misdemeanor. To be clear, Bragg has seriously overstepped his authority by having a grand jury indict Donald Trump for what can be tried as a federal crime in a courtroom only under the jurisdiction of the Federal Elections Commission, which has already declined to pursue the case.

Let's get one thing straight: Donald Trump is the quintessential ham sandwich. He's a ham. He's hilarious and quick-witted. He's obscenely rich, famous for both his philanthropy and his lavish lifestyle. He's bombastic. His ego is so big that he's even named buildings after himself. Years before Trump became a politician, artist Berkeley Breathed was poking fun at him in Bloom County comic strips that claimed that Trump had been seriously injured in an accident and his brain had been transplanted into Bill the Cat. In fact, Trump proved so influential that he was credited with ending Breathed's 25-year hiatus from writing Bloom County strips.

Trump is Hollywood perfectly blended with Wall Street. In fact, Hollywood once invited Trump to appear in cameo roles in movies set in New York. He's a stereotypical New Yorker. Donald Trump has made comments that no other politician on Earth could have made and survived. Against all odds, he ran against and defeated the Clinton political machine. He survived a conspiracy far worse than Watergate that attempted a coup d'etat of his fairly elected administration that essentially continued for his entire term in office.

Only the most avid Donald Trumphaters hold any real hope for a conviction produced by the efforts of Alvin Bragg. A rumor briefly circulated on Twitter claiming that one of the counts mentioned in the indictment was a charge of conspiracy, but then the real details emerged, much to the disappointment of the NeverTrump crowd.

Here's what we do know now: Donald Trump is being charged for a crime that was not nearly as bad as what Bill Clinton did while serving in the White House. Trump's alleged affair with porn star Stormy Daniels has been publicly denied by both Trump and Daniels. Daniels later claimed to have signed the letter officially denying that she had any sort of sexual relationship with Trump due to pressure coming from her own representatives. So the question becomes, is she lying about the affair or lying about denying the affair? Either way, Stormy Daniels is a liar. One could argue that her story keeps changing as she tries to remain relevant to the conversation.

There is another paragon of virtue involved in the Stormy Daniels affair. That would be notorious liar and disgraced lawyer Michael Cohen. He claims to have paid Daniels out of his own pocket and to have never been reimbursed by Trump for that payment. I'm not a legal expert (nor do I play one on television), but it seems to me that any case requiring testimony from two acknowledged liars (both of whom previously have gone on record to claim that Trump was not involved with any payments to Stormy Daniels) is extraordinarily weak and should not even make it to trial.

The question is not whether you can indict a ham sandwich. Can you convict a ham sandwich?

Normally, I would say not if there is any real justice left in this world, but Peter Strzok and Andrew McCabe are on television instead of in a prison cell, so the idea of real justice is debatable. These are not normal times. Joe and Hunter Biden's corruption is obvious and plain to see, but Trump is the one being charged with ridiculous crimes.

Bragg's witch-hunt prosecution isn't Trump's only legal problem. There is another pending legal case in Georgia to consider, and finally potential charges coming from the work of Special Counsel Jack Smith. The case in Georgia revolves around a couple of recorded phone calls between Trump and Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger in which President Trump allegedly pressures Raffensperger to find additional votes that would overturn the state's total vote results. (Democrat) Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis has publicly proclaimed herself a fan of bringing RICO charges in certain situations, and going after Trump even for frivolous reasons would appear to be a golden opportunity for a political prosecution.

However, Willis has at least three problems to overcome  four if you count a certain video. First, there is the problem that Bragg has gone first, and bringing a very weak case against Trump will hurt perceptions for future legal action in other jurisdictions.

Second, the phone calls with Raffensperger do not contain any sort of "smoking gun" evidence and are subject to interpretation. A die-hard Democrat will probably listen to those calls and discern a sinister message hidden in Trump's words, but most other people would only hear a president feeling as though he's been cheated out of a normal election, because he was cheated. If not for COVID-19, if not for changing the rules to allow massive mail-in ballots, Donald Trump would have been re-elected in a landslide.

The third problem for Willis is that the foreperson of her grand jury out to indict Trump is an attention hound and absolute nutcase named Emily Kohrs, who has given interviews to the Associated Press, The New York Times, NBC News, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and CNN, potentially contaminating the jury pool in the process.

The fourth and final problem for Willis is video clearly showing Republican watchers being sent home on Election Night because counting had allegedly stopped. But then bins of votes were shown being pulled out from under tables and counted in the dead of night after the Republican observers had been sent home. Raffensperger can claim in his book that there is a legitimate reason for keeping ballots hidden under tables until after everyone else had gone home, but I'd personally like to hear him try to defend that claim in court.

As for Jack Smith and his investigation following the infamous FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago, his Achilles heel is none other Joe Biden himself. How can Smith charge Trump, a former president with the authority to declassify documents, with improperly taking home classified documents after Biden has now been found with classified documents dating back to his time as senator and vice president, without being accused of having an egregious double-standard?

Democrats don't care about having double-standards and could be accused of having no standards at all without them, but courts generally do care about fair and impartial treatment under the law for anyone accused of a crime, even if his name is Donald J. Trump.

John Leonard is a freelance writer. His seventh book, The God Conclusion, is available on Amazon and now audiobook. His other books can be found at LeonardBooks.net.

Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
The District Attorneys of Tulare County and Riverside County, Tim Ward and Mike Hestrin, respectively, and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and Riverside City PD Chief Larry Gonzalez, held a joint press conference on April 12, 2023 (See Video). These DAs are not radical Left Soros-supported prosecutors. Instead, they are at wit's end regarding the unintended consequences of Assembly Bill 109, the California Public Safety Realignment Act, for serial low-level felony offenders.

Facebook video screengrab

In my experience, 8% to 10% of offenders commit most crimes, including violent ones. The others re-offend at a much lower rate. From a resource allocation perspective, it would be more practical for the criminal justice system to focus on the 8% to 10% population and divert the others. I would include in the serial offender definition, retail theft gangs who plague many commercial businesses across jurisdictional boundaries. These serial theft gangs seldom are caught and prosecuted because of the decriminalization of shoplifting. Every day, serial offenders are in custody. They aren't committing new crimes.

AB109 released low-level felons from state prison back to their home counties for incarceration and supervision (AB109 local state prison). Riverside County DA Hestrin expressed his frustration Frankly, all of us up here on stage have had enough. We cannot protect our public; we are getting no help from Sacramento, the laws dont back us up.

Chief Gonzalez said, There was a time when theft, specifically repeated theft, was met with a consequence . These days, they have been legislated away and our community is suffering. Sheriff Bianco added. They [legislators] dont care what we think, they care what voters think. Until we can get the voters fed up and the voters start calling them, it is not going to change.

Tulare Co DA Ward said they were calling

on state legislatures to amend AB 109, which has tied their hands when it comes to prosecuting habitual criminal like Timothy Bethell, a poster child for catch-release-and repeat criminal.

Ward said,

Everyone in the state of California is living under the tyranny of crime or the fear of crime because of things coming out of Sacramento like ab 109.

Timothy Bethell is a serial offender convicted of 14 felony counts of burglary in Tulare Co. in 2021. Bethell received a four-year sentence in state prison, suspended to grant him two years of local probation. However, Bethell violated his probation by committing another burglary. Instead of violating him and sending him to state prison to serve his four-year term, the court sentenced him to one year with one year of mandatory supervision. Bethell was released in May of 2022 and returned to his home county of Riverside at his request.

In the summer of 2022, in Riverside County, Bethell racked up another five business burglaries. Bethell was sentenced to three years in local state prison but was released three days later because of jail overcrowding. Bethell failed to report to probation. He returned to Tulare Co. and was arrested again. Bethell was sentenced to five years and four months in local state prison after pleading guilty to 20 counts: 17 felonies of theft, burglary, attempted burglary, and vandalism [and three misdemeanors].

Riverside DA Hestrin shares the concerns of his law enforcement colleagues:

AB109 and Prop 47 have had a disastrous impact on our communities. These laws have significantly diminished the ability of local prosecutors to hold repeat offenders accountable for their criminal behavior. Unfortunately, the Bethell case is not an exception or an outlier but all too common. The justice system has become a revolving door for thieves . . . They can count on being releas[ed] early from their . . . sentences if there is any punishment at all. This is untenable situation has left us unable to deter this rampant criminality and lawlessness. We are doing everything we can to protect property in this county. But we can't do it. The state won't protect it. We need help. To our governor, I'd say, stop the dog-and-pony show in other states and come back and deal with this [My emphasis].

Riverside County, CA's chief law enforcement officers are not pleased with the unintended consequences of AB109's results and subsequent actions of the progressive-dominated California State Legislature (here) and Governor Gavin Newsom. However, social justice reform advocates quickly point out that in prison populations, minorities are disproportionally represented and assume this is from racial discrimination and deserve early release (a debate for a later time).

Because of prison overcrowding and court rulings, AB109 sought to reduce the state prison population by sending nonviolent felony offenders back to their home counties for incarceration and supervision (in local state prison). Local county jails are squeezed between AB109 mandates and federal court orders on the local jail population. Hence, inmates receive early release. Local jails are not intended for long-term inmates but hold pretrial offenders and those serving less than one-year sentences. Increased caseloads slam local county probation offices. AB109 failed to address serial offenders like Bethell, who are released early or not detained at all. Once released, they wreak havoc in the communities. There must be provisions to up the ante so serial offenders like Bethell are deterred or incarcerated. These serial offenders will quickly commit multiple crimes before being caught again and successfully prosecuted.

Governor Gavin Newsom is traveling the country touting his successes (the California way). Newsom's successes and sweeping reforms, others say, "are not what Californians identify as the most pressing problems . . . Newsoms soft-on-crime policies and George Soros-funded district attorneys aren't doing well. Tucker Carlson has this to say about Newsom and his policies. Tucker quoted Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco who is not pleased either:

In the last 10 years, criminals have become increasingly more violent and brazen. What we are seeing in response to these very lax laws on crime, the push to decriminalize everything, the push to lessen the penalty for something or even take away the penalty for crime is basically emboldening criminals to do more. It's really horrifying for law enforcement and it is horrifying for the public that has to deal with it.

Under the cloak of social justice reform, the radical Left decriminalized many crimes by selective prosecution and no cash bail releases before trial without considering victims and public safety in many states nationwide. There is a hidden political agenda of the radical Left with decriminalizing and no cash bail  to sow havoc and chaos to destabilize our local communities:

NGOs funded by George Soros and others dropped millions of dollars into local district attorney races to elect far-left prosecutors (as many as 70). Under the veil of social justice reform, these prosecutors implemented policies including no cash bail, which released violent serial offenders without regard for public safety. The released, ruthless, violent criminals commit new murders, rape, robberies, and mayhem before trial. Again, to wreak havoc and chaos within our communities, who then, in fear for their safety, will willingly relinquish their civil rights in exchange for totalitarian controls.

Correction: An earlier version of this essay misidentified the county of which Chad Bianco is Sheriff. We've corrected the error.

Ron Wright is a retired detective, having served thirty-five years with Riverside PD, CA. Ron earned a BA in political science from Cal State University, Fullerton, and a Master of Administration from the University of California, Riverside. Facebook at Ron T. Cop.
Long before the Department of Homeland Security attempted to justify the formal recognition of a "Disinformation Czar" to monitor Americans' speech or news broke that the State Department had been using a foreign organization called the Global Disinformation Index to censor conservative voices here at home, it was clear that the war for free speech had begun. For years, conservative websites struggled to survive financially as shadowbans and stealth blacklisting eliminated advertising revenues and throttled user engagement. Online trolls infiltrated comment sections posting inflammatory content that could be used as false flag justifications to legally threaten or otherwise punish conservative forums. Conservative content creators and their readers strenuously objected to the organized censorship war being waged against them, but few politicians, reporters, or pundits cared.

Now the cat is out of the bag, and neither government agencies nor their corporate co-conspirators are hiding their embrace of viewpoint discrimination. The FBI continues to flag more language  including words as innocuous as "red pill," "based," and "Chad"  as extremist rhetoric. Google blocked Right Side Broadcasting Network from covering President Trump's Democrat-engineered Manhattan arraignment on YouTube, claiming that the censorship was necessary to combat "elections misinformation." A revolving door now exists to fill social media companies with employees from the ranks of the FBI, CIA, and Homeland Security. Meanwhile, Klaus Schwab's World Economic Forum has announced the hiring of millions of "information warriors" tasked with the mission to "seize control of the Internet" and serve as "digital first-responders" combating "misinformation." Already in France, one woman faces a $13,000 fine for calling King Macron "filth" on Facebook.

As the American Uniparty's collaboration with Schwab's Marxist globalists continues to grow, expect these serious violations of the First Amendment's protections for free speech to proliferate. After all, in a remarkable display of political and bureaucratic goose-stepping, the District of Corruption's occupying workforce has been nearly unanimous in its enthusiastic support for and adoration of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and his "new Western democracy." No matter how many jackboots Zelensky sends to shut down churches, crush opposing political parties, or silence dissenting citizens, the bombastic Washington despots who endlessly chirp about "Western virtues" are the same ones proclaiming their full-throated support for the worst kinds of tyranny. Welcome to the "new America," where ruling-class contempt for freedom is no longer disguised.

Right now State-aligned corporate news firms are breathlessly reporting about Pentagon leaks that might have come from a twenty-one-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guardsman. While the revelations contained in those documents demonstrate that the Department of Defense has perpetuated outright lies regarding Ukraine's likelihood of success against Russia, State-aligned propagandists posing as journalists have used the leaks not to hold government actors accountable, but rather to justify the expansion of government powers. Almost gleefully supporting the Uniparty's calls for the urgent passage of The Restrict Act  legislation ostensibly drafted to combat China's TikTok but in actuality a statutory vehicle designed to provide the federal government with broad authority to confront internet "danger"  the American press play along while the Legislative and Executive Branches use this present "crisis" as an excuse to swing the sledgehammer down on Americans' free speech. As those with eyes to see and sufficient backbone to speak uncomfortable truths have noted, The Restrict Act is an "online PATRIOT Act" meant not to protect, but rather to silence Americans.

Make no bones about it: the federal government's number-one worry is you.

As part of my routine when conducting research and taking notes, I pay attention not only to what kinds of information appear online, but also what kinds of information get quickly covered up. You can learn a great deal about what matters most to "the powers that be" by regularly returning to sources, chat forums, and search results and scrutinizing how information has been marginalized or deleted. The steady encroachment of outright censorship has turned into a "tell" for discerning what facts or opinions government-aligned agents seek to hide.

This distasteful "scrubbing" operation has been an unfortunate reality for many years, but it became obvious to a lot more people during the Orwellian overreach of COVID-1984. By now, people are generally aware that government-aligned tech companies censored accurate information regarding the virus's origins, its relative lethality, and available over-the-counter treatments. The government labeled as harmful "disinformation" accurate reports concerning everything from the efficacy of masks, social distancing, and mRNA "vaccines" to the harmful side-effects and deaths those experimental "vaccines" caused. Going from COVID to the 2020 presidential election, those same censors scrubbed allegations of election fraud as "misinformation," and after January 6, such views were scrutinized as "extremist" examples of potential "domestic terrorism." This trend has not stopped, and more varied subject matters have turned into targets for censorship in the government's ever-growing yet amorphous efforts to "protect" Americans from "threats of harm." It's all atrocious.

Particularly revealing of the government's insidious determination to protect its absolute power over what may be considered true by controlling what speech Americans may see and hear is the regular disappearance of political memes and other humorous content from chat rooms and search results. In one example that I have kept an eye on, the following anonymous message never lasts long:

They fear you.

They fear you being Awake.

They fear you Waking Up Others.

They fear you being Armed.

They fear you Speaking Up.

They fear you Speaking Out.

They fear you Standing Up.

They fear you Resisting.

They fear you Rebelling.

They fear you Revolting.

They fear you Not Complying.

They fear you Banding Together.

They fear you Standing Together.

They fear you Coordinating.

They fear you learning YOU are the Majority.

They fear you realizing your Power.

They fear you using your Power.

They fear YOU.

This message shows up in online communities written in a way reminiscent of Red Dawn's teenage insurgents scrawling "Wolverines!" on graffitied walls in "occupied America." Invariably, it quickly disappears. If the government and its Big Tech co-conspirators are responsible for the censorship, then their actions prove the truth of the message. They fear you so much that they are afraid for you to read that they do.

Think about that fact. It puts things in glaring perspective, does it not? Joe Biden likes to threaten nuclear strikes on Americans who accurately understand the Second Amendment as a bulwark against government tyranny. The political Uniparty and permanent Deep State are obsessed with labeling political dissent as "disinformation" and punishing Americans for their beliefs. At the end of the day, though, all of their huffing and puffing reveals one unassailable truth: they fear you.

The truth contained in this disappearing internet meme echoes something mathematician and philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote in a book, entitled Why Men Fight, after the devastation of WWI:

Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth  more than ruin, more even than death. Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible; thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habits; thought is anarchic and lawless, indifferent to authority, careless of the well-tried wisdom of the ages. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraidThought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man.

Why has the American government gone down this un-American path of censorship and political persecution? Because men fear thought. Because thought is revolutionary. Because thought is unafraid. Because thought is great and free.

Your capacity to think and speak freely gives you more power than any government. So use that power. Have no fear. They may threaten and harass and legalize their abuse, but enemies of free speech make clear that they are the ones afraid.

Image via Max Pixel.
Mississippi police arrested a man after hiding a gun folded in a Taco Bell quesadilla amid a traffic stop. Picayune Police Department Neighborhood Enhancement Team officers discovered that the Mexican dish from the giant fast-food chain had a surprising filling upon searching the vehicle.

It turned out that the passenger used the Taco Bell quesadilla to hide his spicy belonging.

Mississippi Police Find a Gun Folded in a Taco Bell Quesadilla

According to The New York Post, the Mississippi officers flagged a vehicle after the woman behind the wheel, Olivia Neff, violated a traffic rule. The cops searched the stopped car after reportedly seeing its passenger, Devin P. Mitchell, stuff a handgun into a Taco Bell bag.

Fox 8 News reports that the Picayune Police Department Neighborhood Enhancement Team noted that they had probable cause to search. With that, the police were prompted to search the vehicle, asking the driver and the passenger to leave their car.

Upon searching, they found a spicy surprise. The quesadilla inside the Taco Bell bag of the passenger had a strange filling, a gun, apart from the usual tasty stuffings.

The Picayune Police Department posted about their strange encounter on Facebook, using the hashtag "tacoaboutnotcool." But besides the gun-filled quesadilla, the cops found other seriously alarming items.

Read Also: Virginia Toddler Revived with Narcan After Being Found Unresponsive, Police Confirm

Vehicle Search Also Discovered Illegal Drugs

When the police searched the vehicle, they also discovered a stash of liquid heroin, drug paraphernalia, and methamphetamine, according to the local cops. Because of this, the authorities charged the passenger for hiding a gun in a Taco Bell meal and possessing illegal drugs.

The Mississippi man is now facing multiple charges. As per The New York Daily News, the police slapped the passenger with a "possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute while in possession of a firearm" charge."

On top of that, he was also charged with "possession of paraphernalia," "possession of a weapon by a felon," and "possession of a controlled substance." He also faces a "tampering with physical evidence" charge for hiding the gun in the Mexican meal. Mitchell is now in the custody of the police, contrary to the driver of a vehicle that caused the traffic stop.

On the other hand, the driver of the pulled-over vehicle, Neff, received a "disregarding traffic device" charge for her violation. But unlike her passenger, the cops did not take her into custody.

What started as a traffic violation ended with a surprising discovery of illegal drugs, paraphernalia, and a gun hidden in a Taco Bell meal. What a spicy surprise, indeed.

Related Article: Washington's New Transgender Intervention Bill Circumvents Parental Consent Amid Tensions

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
If you have failed to realize we are living through the most significant social, economic, and political revolution in history, it can only be by a herculean effort in self-deception. So powerful is mans ability to thrust aside what they do not desire, is it any wonder history is replete with catastrophes born of those who would substitute hope for reason?

On the Ides of March, Caesar, by ignoring the soothsayers pleas, brought about his death, decades of civil war, and the fall of the Roman Republic. Constantine XI thought the walls of Constantinople were impregnable against the sword of Allah, but on the morning of March 29th, 1453, Christendom in the East came to a bloody and unspeakably brutal end. And after meeting with a genocidal madman, Chamberlain proclaimed peace in our time with an appeasement that would leave 85 million dead and end the British Empire.

In the latter case, mercifully, a country with immense resources, shared values, and the unwavering moral courage needed to save the world from a tyranny hellbent on racially purifying and enslaving the globe was still standing. That nation exists today, but only in name. As Thucydides warned, it is men who make the city and not walls nor ships without men. Indeed, it was the men of the Greatest Generation that manned the ships that saved the world, and they too are gone, and worse, forgotten.

What makes todays revolution different is the unholy coalescence of inconceivable powerful, yet wholly corrupt institutions; unimaginable technological capability; and the systematic indoctrination of the most depraved ideology the world has ever known.

Image: LeMay, Patton, and Trump, by Andrea Widburg

That our institutions are corrupt and untrustworthy is beyond doubt. The CDC brazenly lied about natural immunity, masks, gain-of-function research, vaccine effectiveness, and safety; the same DOJ that eviscerated immigration law, repeatedly manufactured false allegations against a sitting president and raided his home. A New York City attorney general has indicted a former president, all while actual criminals, both on the streets and in the White House, pillage with impunity. And SCOTUS, our erstwhile constitutional protector, is denounced even by one of its own justices for reducing constitutional law to policy-driven value judgments until the last shreds of its legitimacy disappear.

Never before has resistance been so futile. Protestors, without trial, are simply swept away into the D.C. Gulag Archipelago. Bank accounts are summarily closed. Wrong speech, if not censored, will cost you your job, or buy you an armed pre-dawn raid to help get your thinking right. With a $175 billion annual budget, the Department of Homeland Security has established the greatest surveillance state ever to have existed outside of the telescreen in Orwells dystopian novel 1984.

With dissent silenced, the unchallenged Uniparty message has infested every crevice of society, including, most ominously, the very soul of the nation.

If this werent enough, Uniparty functionaries have embedded their pernicious and radical ideology in every classroom, every boardroom, and every newsroom with the express purpose of creating a new generation of subjects stripped of any sense of justice, any knowledge of history, and, most appallingly, any ability to reason. Thoughtful discourse has given way to temper tantrums, reasoned arguments to obscene shouting, and civility to mob violence.

The new ideologys revisionism is a direct assault on American exceptionalism. After millennia of human slavery affecting all races, the men who built a country on the principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, who did more to advance freedom than any who had come before, and who sacrificed their sons and treasure to end slavery forever, are now poisoned by the original sin of having been born into a world that doesnt meet the approval of its ungrateful 21st-century descendants, who have no conception that their own freedom was purchased with the blood of those they condemn.

Denounced as heresy are these same constitutional freedoms that have unleashed the immense power of capitalism which, in turn, exponentially improved the quality of life worldwide. No longer would life be, as Hobbs described, solitary, poor, brutish, nasty, and short; instead, men could expect the future to be better for their children than it was for them, and still better for their childrens children. Who can think this today?

Public schools have stopped teaching. Instead, children are denigrated for their skin color. They are terrorized by predictions of an imminent climate apocalypse taught as science by a death cult. Their innocence is stolen by debauched drag shows where every conceivable sexual act is simulated. And their heads are filled with the tribal nonsense of multiculturalism, diversity and, now, transgenderism. The absurd notion that you can change your gender, which would be laughable if not for the monstrous surgical mutilations that, reportedly, have Josef Mengele blushing in Hell.

Every second, every day, every year, it only grows worse. The tentacles of the Deep State and its depraved ideology sink deeper and deeper into the roots of society, and, unlike WWII, there is no champion of liberty somewhere across the globe that will be coming to our rescue. In fact, there is the exact opposite. Across the globe waits a sadistic, fascist regime that, like all rising powers, is determined to destroy and enslave the country it perceives as its former oppressor.

The window is closing on saving America, if its not closed already. The conservative movementa shrinking coalition of those who still understand the invaluable worth of a traditionally liberal society and institutions that ensure freedom of speech, freedom of religion and association, advancement on merit, and race and class-blind justiceis, by its nature, ill-equipped for the contest. You cannot fight barbarians by Marquess of Queensberry rules. As with all decent men, to both their credit and their demise, they are unable to bring themselves to fight any other way.

But we have experience fighting barbarians. With nearly a half million American casualties in the Pacific, Curtis Lemay was given command.

He was extraordinarily belligerent, many thought brutal. He got the report. He issued an order. He said, I will be in the lead plane on every mission. Any plane that takes off will go over the target, or the crew will be court-martialed.

Lemays campaign of firebombing Japanese cities would burn to death nearly a million people. In the firebombing over Tokyo, 100,000 were incinerated in a single night. Years later, one B29 pilot confessed he could never forget the smell of burning human flesh as he dropped his incendiary bombs from 9,000 feet. Lemay himself said, if we had lost the war, he would have been prosecuted as a war criminal.

Relieved from command for famously slapping two shell-shocked soldiers, Patton was the scourge of the high-brow and cultured allied command:

I am personally going to shoot that paper-hanging son-of-a-bitch Hitler. Were not just going to shoot the bastards, were going to rip out their living goddamned guts and use them to grease the treads of our tanks. Were going to murder those lousy Hun cocksuckers by the bushel-fucking-basket.

But with the war in Europe going badly, Patton was given command of the Third Army and, in less than a year, had killed, wounded or captured nearly 2 million Germans assuring victory in Europe.

Such are the men who win victories.

Today, barbarians are not just at the gate, they have breached the barricades. They are coming for your children, your religion, your guns, and especially your soul. It is no longer enough merely to comply; you must repent, you must believe, and you must swear your allegiance.

Who is to save us? Who is our LeMay, our Patton? A man so coarse and vulgar no civilized man would dare associate with himif not for desperationbut who knows how to rip the goddamn living guts out of the woke ideologues and dismantle the Deep State? Forget whatever you may have thought before, because today, Trump is our Patton and our last chance. If it is still possible to save the country from the fate of Constantinople or Rome, its not going to be by some upstanding gentleman from Queensbury but from an insolent pugilist from Queens.

Huck Davenport is a pseudonym.
A few hours ago, Kansas City police chief Stacey Graves revealed that the Kansas City police department is working on an investigation of the shooting of a teenager.



Clearly nervous, Chief Graves and Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas held a press conference.

"I want everyone to know that I am listening," Graves said at a news conference at Kansas City police headquarters downtown, "and I understand the concern we are receiving from the community" (4-minute video clip).

So what happened?

On Thursday, April 13, just before 10 P.M., law enforcement was called to a home near N.E. Cookingham Drive and N. Tracy Avenue in Kansas City, where the teen had been shot by the homeowner.

The police found the injured teenager suffering from life-threatening injuries for which he was transported to a local hospital.

The officers took the homeowner, who is the alleged shooter, into custody. The department said he's been released after consulting with the Clay County prosecutor's office. This is standard procedure while the investigation continues.

The police have pledged a swift and thorough investigation in order that the case can be presented to the Clay County prosecutor.

Police said the teenager was picking up his siblings at a house on N.E. 115th Terrace but mistakenly went to a house on N.E. 115th Street.

The shooting was officially listed as a case of mistaken identity.

Graves said that forensic evidence and a victim statement would be needed before the case is complete.

Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas has also assured Kansas Citians that the case has law enforcement's full attention.

"There is a thorough investigation underway now," Lucas said. "There will be a thorough review in the prosecutor's office."

These are the only facts available.

In response, protesters took to the streets of the Northland Sunday in a sign of support for a 16-year-old shot on Thursday night.

We are here because an injustice has happened.



Hundreds of protestors walked to the house where 16-year-old Ralph Yarl was shot.



Yarl meant to go to a house on NE 115th Terrace to pick up a sibling, but went to 115th Street instead. The resident shot him in the head. @kmbc pic.twitter.com/WhRKgPokPu  Peyton Headlee KMBC (@PeytonKMBC) April 16, 2023

"He was one block away from where he was supposed to be, so ringing that doorbell innocently ... no one should shoot through a door," said protester Dee Porter.

A massive crowd gathered in front of the alleged shooter's home:

A massive crowd has amassed in front of the white man's home who attempted to murder 16 year old Black boy Ralph Yarl in Kansas City Missouri pic.twitter.com/f100JlEihV  The Kansas City Defender (@KCDefender) April 16, 2023

The case is receiving nationwide attention, with the likes of Halle Berry, Naomi Campbell, Bernice King, etc. tweeting about it with the hashtag #RalphYarl:

His name is #RalphYarl and Im sick and tired of this feelingmy heart completely broke when I learned this precious 16-year-old, who accidentally rang the door of the wrong address in an attempt to pick up his siblings, was shot in the head (1/3) pic.twitter.com/4VaZo7EFVE  Halle Berry (@halleberry) April 17, 2023

So why is this particular incident getting attention over the at least 160 mass shootings across the U.S. so far this year?

Because the victim happens to be black, and the alleged shooter happens to be white. I use the phrase "happens to be" because the investigation so far hasn't claimed that race was the motivation behind the crime.

It is essential that the investigation occur objectively and meticulously. It is essential that everyone be patient and wait 'til the investigation is complete and the findings are revealed. But that is seeming increasingly unlikely, as chaos has already begun.

Yarl's aunt, Dr. Faith Spoonmore, claimed the following about the shooting incident:

The man in the home opened the door, looked my nephew in the eye, and shot him in the head. My nephew fell to the ground, and the man shot him again.

Spoonmore claims that, still conscious, Yarl "had to run to 3 different homes" before someone came to his aid, and then only after ordering the 16-year-old to lie on the ground with his hands up. He was hospitalized, and he "has a long road ahead mentally and emotionally," the fundraiser page reads.

Spoonmore is also calling it a race-based hate crime.

This was not an "error"; this was a hate crime. You don't shoot a child in the head because he rang your doorbell. The fact that the police said it was an 'error' is why America is the way it is.

She took to Instagram, where she wrote the following:

This man intended to kill an innocent child simply because he rang the doorbell of the wrong house. He looked him in the face and shot him... and the individual is free to go about his day as if he did a great deed. While my nephew Ralph Yarl is a great kid, an intelligent kid, a black boy is left with so many broken pieces.

Spoonmore has also set up GoFundMe to handle Yarl's medical expenses where she made similar claims about the shooting, in addition to the following about the victim.

Ralph Pual Yarl is a fantastic kid, and I am not just saying this because he is my nephew. He truly is. At school, he is a member of the Technology Student Association and Science Olympia Team. Jazz and competition band. He is a section leader in the marching band; a scholar and one of the top base [sic] clarinet players in Missouri. He recently earned Missouri All-State Band recognition with an honorable mention. He plays multiple instruments in the metropolitan youth orchestra. He is a 2022 Missouri scholar academy alumni. [sic] Ralph can often be found with a musical instrument. He loves them all. Last summer, Ralph attended Missouri Scholar's Academy, where he got a full college life experience. His goal is to attend Texas A&M to major in chemical Engineering. When asked how he plans to get into this university, he said, "Well, if they have a scholarship for music or academics, I know I can get it.

One does hope the funds raised are spent exclusively on Yarl's recovery.

Lee Merritt, the civil rights lawyer, has taken up the case, which means they are treating it as a race hate crime.

The likes of Halle Berry have revealed the name, office address, phone number, and email address of the prosecutor.

In the coming days, expect loud protests, which could turn violent, not just before the office of the prosecutor, but also before his home. There are myriad other ways the prosecutor can be targeted.

Most humans, no matter how brave they are or how committed they are to the course of justice, will be intimidated.

This is an act of interference with the course of justice.

The prosecutor may be tempted to charge the shooter with premeditated murder and a hate crime just to stop the threats to his family.

In the coming days, expect all the usual race-hustlers from Reverend Al Sharpton to BLM founders to inflame the situation because it presents them with an opportunity to raise funds.

In the coming days, expect Democrat politicians to play the race card and engage in overstatements. You can be sure that Kamala Harris will spew venom.

The alleged shooter will be, even if he is a Bernie Sanderssupporter, linked to Trump and the GOP.

We know that the mainstream media don't allow fact to interfere in their premeditated narrative. Make no mistake: the well-being of Ralph Yarl or his family is the least of their concerns.

They are in it for fame, power, publicity, and pecuniary gains.

These are worse than vultures.

Photo credit: YouTube screen grab.
Just as the Biden administration abandons the Monroe Doctrine, China's stepping up to scarf up allies in Latin America -- and so is Russia.

You know, the supposed pariah state that invades other countries, practicing the ultimate in imperialismo? With Latin America under the control almost entirely of far-left leaders, surprise, surprise, Russia has easy pickings for gaining a slew of new anti-American friends, and they're doing it.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry's website:

On April 17-21, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will travel to a number of Latin American countries, including Brazil, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba. The Foreign Minister will have a busy programme, including meetings with the leadership of these countries and talks with their foreign ministers. Sergey Lavrov is flying to the region with a specific agenda aimed at strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation of our countries in politics, trade, economy, education, humanitarian sphere, culture and other fields. The talks will focus on strengthening international legal foundations of the modern world, with the UN Charter as its supporting structure. For us, Latin America is a friendly region, one of the centres of a multipolar world with which Russia intends to maintain a dynamic dialogue and develop constructive cooperation free from outside interference.

A few Russian missile bases here, a few spy installations directed at gringo there, a few arms sales to wannabe dictators, a little money for some votes in the United Nations, and they're off to the races.

Which pretty well shows us how badly Joe Biden has messed up foreign policy in those quarters, too.

Now, granted, these nations to be visited are the low-hanging fruit for the Russians, as relations have always been pretty nice with these places over the years. But in the past, Russia would typically send over an oligarch under the radar to do their business. Now they're sending longtime foreign minister Sergey Lavrov to ensure that the international cameras are on them so that everyone else knows about the lovefest, too. Lavrov is an experienced and exceptionally able diplomat -- I used to know him when I was a correspondent at the United Nations -- and he's very nice in person, which will work well in Latin America.

And Biden? He can't even get his vice president to visit the border. Virtually no attention has been paid to this region which has slid into a dangerous leftist vortex not seen since the days of Hugo Chavez.

All that sucking up to Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro to get him to pump oil for us -- lifting sanctions, dumping recognition of top opposition leader Juan Guaido, letting Chevron in there to drill, putting "the three stooges" in charge of managing U.S.-Venezuela relations -- and Nicolas Maduro goes off to the Russians. With Venezuela just 1,000 or so miles off the coast of Florida, there should be some mighty good opportunities for spying on the gringos, or buying arms on credit with which to threaten the neighbors, or getting hold of some radar-evading equipment the better to ship cocaine to the states. The possibilities are endless. Biden just had the rug pulled out from under him.

The situation is similar with the post-Castro oligarchy in Cuba, except that they are only 90 miles from the U.S. coast, and ties with them date back to the Soviet Union. Biden's bid to de-sanction the Castro oligarchy and warm up ties with that hellish regime has once again, been met with a scurry to the Russians. Nice game there, Joe.

Nicaragua is a recent slide downhill into socialism, with "little dictator" Danny Ortega abandoning all pretense of being a democracy. Russia sees its opportunities there and has taken them. Nicaragua, recall, was once a friendly country and still has a free trade pact with the U.S. Biden has employed no carrot or stick with that trade pact to keep them in line, the way President Trump frequently did with Mexico. Coast clear then, for Ortega to dance around for the cameras with Lavrov.

Brazil is another of these nations that Biden has spent a lot of time courting, loudly congratulating Brazil's newly "elected" president Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva as a fellow leftist leader, the odor of election fraud reeking over both states creating a potential honor among thieves situation. Did Lula repay that legitimacy extended? Not in the least. He's fresh from a trip to China to suck up to that superpower, and now is welcoming Lavrov into the presidential palace in Brasilia. He's very significantly refusing to sell arms to Ukraine, which makes Russia happy. Biden blew that one, too, unable to even leverage the leftwing solidarity.

For most of these places, Biden may be leftwing, but it's just too much fun to stick it to the gringo. So now that Russia has come calling, they are there and ready, with their hands out, pay no attention to that issue over in Ukraine.

The scary part is that Latin America is loaded with newly elected leftist leaders, nearly all of whom are going to be likely recruits for Russia's new Latin American offensive beyond these four stalwarts -- to strike out at the U.S. from its underbelly, in an act of reciprocation for what they see is U.S. meddling in Russia's "near abroad" which is Ukraine. There's been a lot of talk about this over the past two decades, but now it appears that things are really happening.

Who are some other likelies to join hands with the Russians? Four candidates come to mind -- Mexico, Colombia, Honduras, and Chile, all of whom have leftist leaders just as far-left as at least Brazil.

What's the story with Mexico and Russia? Well, Lavrov has already met with Mexico's hostile, anti-American foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, this past September. It has resisted selling arms to Ukraine, which makes Russia happy, and refused to sanction Russia, not particularly concerned what Joe Biden might think about it, as this article explains. The U.S. is Mexico's largest trade partner, and has virtually zero trade with Russia. Not a problem for the Mexican government there as they know that Joe will always bend over. The analysts describe what's going on this way for Scripps News:

"The president is not very fond of the United States to start with, but also when President Lopez Obrador contracted COVID-19, President Putin offered to send his medical team to Mexico City to attend to the president, so there's a degree of gratitude there," said Pamela Starr, director of the U.S.-Mexico network at the University of Southern California. A month after Russian troops invaded Ukraine, lawmakers from Mexico's leftist ruling party created a Mexico-Russia friendship committee and invited the Russian ambassador to the event. "They're very anti-American, and as such, they believe that the enemy of my enemy is my friend," said Mariana Campero, host of Mexico Matters podcast from the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

And yes, that is a problem for the U.S., and we're not just talking about Joe Biden's broken treaties with Mexico on immigration coupled with Joe's open border. Scripps News continues:

The U.S. also suspects that Mexico harbors a large number of Russian spies, a point recently made by a top U.S. military official. "The largest portion of GRU members in the world is in Mexico right now," said General Glen VanHerck, commander of the U.S. Northern Command. "Those are Russian intelligence personnel." The statement is an apparent reference to Russia's huge embassy in Mexico City. "Mexico has very little economic ties with Russia, very little political interaction, so to have an embassy in Mexico that's about 30% larger than their embassy in Brazil is suggestive," Starr said.

Russia and Mexico seem very squared away -- right under Joe Biden's nose.

There's also Honduras which fairly recently elected a far-left leader who was a "first" -- the first leftist woman president, so the inauguration was attended by Biden's "border czar" Kamala Harris, who came and went and was never heard from since.

What's the situation there? Here's a headline from TASS, the Russian state news agency, dated April 5:

Russia to develop relations with Honduras  Putin

Seems Kamala's charms and all those "firsts" didn't do much. The Bidenites couldn't even figure out how to use leverage on open borders to keep Honduras in the U.S. camp, let alone free trade, of which Honduras also has a pact. We will stay tuned for further developments there.

And let's look at Colombia, the U.S.'s historically oldest and finest ally on the South American continent. They elected probably the worst leftist of any of them, the Bill Ayers of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, a former M-19 communist narcoguerilla who was one of the late, unlamented Hugo Chavez's best buddies because his guerrilla group once burned down the Colombian supreme court with all the justices in it. This guy is repulsive. Petro has repackaged himself as "green" but is still the same anti-American narcoguerrilla he always was. His greenie stances sound pretty on paper to lefties here, but his big project is similar to Joe Biden's -- to shut down Colombia's oil production in favor of green energy, which is a disaster in the making. He's particularly vulnerable to money and economy problems which Russia might just be able to solve for him -- at a price.

The Sept. 21, 2022 MercoPress headline reads:

Putin finds Colombia's Petro a promising partner

The article says that Russia is looking to make Colombia "an ally," which would be quite a thing, given that Colombia is a major U.S. treaty ally. Biden doesn't have a clue what could come down with that one, and doesn't seem to be trying.

Only Chile, which is also headed by a godawful leftist, Gabriel Boric, seems to be resisting the bounce to Russia, possibly because of its rivalry with Brazil (and Argentina, which it goes without saying is pro-Russia) as the most successful Latin American economy, possibly because of domestic problems -- Boric is very unpopular and inundated with angry protests from conservatives and moderates, or possibly because Chile's nickname is "finis terrae," which means the end of the earth. They are really far away from everything and focused domestically. It's not known how long that will last, but thus far, the center is holding over there.

Not so elsewhere, where we see Russia racking up the diplomatic victories in Latin America, welcomed with red carpets and dominos falling, right in the U.S.'s sphere of influence, it's own "near abroad." It's not that these places are staying neutral or out of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. It's that they are now openly siding with Russia and working to undercut U.S. interests to extend Russia's.

Chalk that up to another Biden failure, an important one, even if nobody's reporting it in the news. It's worse than it looks.

Image: Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, per terms of service.
Joe Biden has been unbelievably wrong-headed and disastrous in his Middle East policy, so that the U.S. has now been excluded from the new hegemony, the Chinese-Russian-Saudi-Iranian "anti-Abraham Accords." For the first time in a century, the U.S. and Europe are on the outs, and Russia and China are the new arbiters of the Middle East. That is why Macron of France has now kowtowed in public to Xi Jinping.

Israel is staring down the nuclear barrel from Iran, backed by the nuclear dominance of China and Russia. But China and Russia don't want the dangerous mullahs on their doorstep, ready to start a suicidal war that could trigger a nuclear exchange between Iran and Israel, only to spread to Russia and the rest of the world.

This new arrangement will tend to force Israel into the Russo-Chinese camp, the only Axis with the power to keep the Iranians in line. Egypt has already signaled its interest in joining for the same reasons. How long the U.S. will still be the guarantor of free shipping through the strait of Hormuz is anybody's guess.

Under Biden's suicidal policy, the U.S. has given up its domestic oil weapon, and Biden (like Carter before him) looks like a surrender monkey. This is not an accident, but deliberate policy.

Trump has a genius for spotting negotiable holes in enemy arrangements, but even if he is elected again, the anti-Abraham Accords will pose a formidable obstacle.

The chess board has flipped, and we are losing. Blame the hateDonald Trump campaign driven by the Democrats and the D.C. swamp. Domestic near-war has consequences.

Photo credit: Fox News video screen grab.
In the wake of the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe less than a year ago, another wannabe assassin was thwarted by a quick-acting bodyguard protecting the current prime minister, Fumio Kishida. Ryan Saavedra of the Daily Wire has the story.

[A] quick thinking bodyguard for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida saved the political leader from harm after a man threw a explosive device at him during a campaign event. Kishida, who was campaigning in western Japan, was not injured in the attack, but a police officer did receive treatment for some minor injuries. Police immediately detained a young man  tackling him to the ground  after "the suspicious object" was thrown at Kishida.

You can see in the blurry Twitter video below that the guard saw the white object approaching and brought down his briefcase to intercept it:

Then he used the briefcase to sweep it away:

A bodyguard blocks an explosive, kicks it away, and quickly unfolds a shield while evacuating the Japanese Prime Minister. pic.twitter.com/NIQWKqshNj  KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) April 16, 2023

The explosive [sic] happened several seconds after the prime minister's team whisked him away. After the bang, people scream and run away while white smoke can be seen rising from where the explosion went off.

Video appeared to show bystanders grabbing the suspect, who is a 24-year-old named Kimura.

Evidently, it was not a huge explosion, probably from a homemade device. But recalling that the accused successful assassin of former P.M. Abe used a crude homemade gun, the lethality of such amateur tools of destruction cannot be dismissed.

There is no information yet on the attempted assassin's motives.

Japan has an unhappy past when it comes to political assassinations, despite being a country with a very low rate of personal violent crime. Although likely unrelated to the earlier murder of Mr. Abe, this attempt has got to have a lot of police and politicians very anxious.
Last Night, 60 Minutes had an engaging segment about artificial intelligence, its development, and its uses, explaining out how it works and what it might mean for ordinary people.

According to CNBC:

Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said "every product of every company" will be impacted by the quick development of AI, warning that society needs to prepare for technologies like the ones it's already launched. In an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes" aired on Sunday that struck a concerned tone, interviewer Scott Pelley tried several of Google's AI projects and said he was "speechless" and felt it was "unsettling," referring to the human-like capabilities of products like Google's chatbot Bard. "We need to adapt as a society for it," Pichai told Pelley, adding that jobs that would be disrupted by AI would include "knowledge workers," including writers, accountants, architects and, ironically, even software engineers. "This is going to impact every product across every company," Pichai said. "For example, you could be a radiologist, if you think about five to ten years from now, you're going to have an AI collaborator with you. You come in the morning, let's say you have a hundred things to go through, it may say, 'these are the most serious cases you need to look at first.'"

They presented some of the top pooh-bahs of Google, with some great footage of the Googleplex in Mountain View, Calif., and a big computer center Google runs in Kansas, and carefully curated personnel who went on camera by what appeared to be rigid affirmative action considerations  one Indian, one black person, one Asian woman, one white woman. None of those pasty-faced white-male software nerds who are said to be omniscient in the tech world made the cut, until they moved to a brief segment about robots at a distant subsidiary in London.

As the fingerprints of public relations were all over this, none of the segment featured tough 60 Minutesstyle questions to Google  whether it was losing its edge in tech, which is what tech people talk about, or whether it was being evil in its leftist manipulation of search results amid all the Twitter revelations, which half the country talks about  let alone any of that obvious affirmative-action staging for the cameras. There were big, big statements from Scott Pelley such as "propelling humanity into the future," whatever that means. There were zero tough questions as to why Google was rolling this out in layers, even as Pichai did offer hints about why that was happening  that its A.I. project was making mistakes  papered over with the broader claim that society wouldn't be able to handle all of its power and awesomeness at once.

There were lots of oohs and ahhs.

The Google people featured were all brilliant, showing what appeared to be cutting-edge chops for the emerging field of A.I. This being a P.R. show, all the Google rivals in this field were dismissed as "startups you've never heard of."

How convenient for Google.

Much as I found the segment fascinating, though, leaning in, not letting anyone flip the channel, paying attention to every word, and yes, being impressed at the brilliance, one statement at the end by Google CEO Sundar Pichai totally took the shine off, exposing the Wizard of Oz as the man behind the curtain:

Google has launched a document outlining "recommendations for regulating AI," but Pichai said society must quickly adapt with regulation, laws to punish abuse and treaties among nations to make AI safe for the world as well as rules that "Align with human values including morality." "It's not for a company to decide," Pichai said. "This is why I think the development of this needs to include not just engineers but social scientists, ethicists, philosophers, and so on."

Social scientists? Ethicists? Philosophers? After developing all that impressive technology by their own labor, Pichai wants to hand it over to gut-major wokesters who couldn't write a line of code if they tried, to lord it over and regulate Google? Because the market cannot do it itself? And that what Google needs are more government bureaucrats to write rules and regulations for the company's products to keep it on the straight and narrow? And that government bureaucrats are always benevolent in intention? And that United Nations sanctions (or stern warnings) in this era of China's threats to Taiwan and Russia's actual invasion of Ukraine are bound to scare every A.I. miscreant straight?

What a worldview that is. That's not how tech guys used to talk 20 or 30 years ago, back when Google was a startup. Has Google gone flabby? What planet does Pichai live on?

If anything, it suggests that Pichai is just a little out of touch, living in a bubble. If only Google had more regulation from those glorious Washington swamp things, A.I. would not be a problem.

Maybe those claims I keep hearing from the software developer crowd about Google losing its edge are true. Despite creating an interesting piece about A.I., 60 Minutes missed the story.

Image: Screen shot from 60 Minutes Overtime video via YouTube.
On Saturday, in Dadeville, Alabama, a Sweet Sixteen party turned into a bloodbath when one of the guests shot 32 people, leaving four dead and 28 injured. This was the kind of mass shooting that ought to have been the topic of news stories for days, even weeks. Except, it wasnt. Sure, the media covered it, but it was maybe a four out of ten on the outrage scale. Theres a reason for that: The shooting seems to have occurred within the black community in a red state, and theres no political hay to be made from that fact.

Initially, the race of the shooter and victims wasnt immediately clear, so you could feel the media getting ready to spring. Then, it became apparent that the shooter and victims involved in the mass shooting in this small southern town were black. The first hint was the medias disinterest.

For the facts, you really had to wade through the stories to discover the racial identities of the young people murdered. (See here, here, and here, with that last linked item showing a bloody handprint horribly reminiscent of what happened in Benghazi on Hillarys watch.) The shooters identity is still under wraps but, if he or she were white, wed know.

The main point is that, for the media and the Democrat party (but I repeat myself), this was a completely useless story because it wouldnt move any needles. Therefore, they confined themselves to reporting it as straight news of limited interest.

Image: Mourners in Dadeville. YouTube screen grab.

What Democrats (and the media) need is narrative.

Narrative is when a white man shoots black people in a Buffalo grocery store or a Charleston church.

Narrative is when a police officer (preferably a white one, although a black or Hispanic one will do) shoots a black person, whether or not that person is engaged in criminal activity (e.g., George Floyd or Jacob Blake.)

Narrative is when a so-called transgender person murders six people at a Christian school, including three children, and conservatives have the temerity to question whether so-called transgenderism is, in fact, a mental illness and an ideology steeped in increasingly hate-filled radicalism.

And now, narrative is occurring in Kansas City, where a white person shot a black man.

In the above situations, the narrative is that whites are racist, blacks are victims of racism, police are evil, and so-called transgender people are under attack. And, of course, the ultimate criminal is the gun because it enables all those evil-doers to do evil.

This narrative helps keep blacks allied to the Democrat party, an important thing because Trumps ability to raise blacks economic standing threatened the Democrat partys hold on them. Even more importantly, the narrative helps keep the pressure on those white women who are all-important now to the Democrats.

These are the women whom the left captured in college (and now theyre already getting them in high school). Theyve accepted the narrative that they are both perpetrators, because theyre white, and victims, because theyre women. This cognitive dissonance keeps them unstable and angry.

Dont forget that, during the George Floyd/BLM riots, these white women were at the forefront of the protests, and they were mad, really, really mad. (See here, here, and here for examples.) These same women and their media handlers are nowhere to be seen when theres a black-on-black mass shooting in a small town in a red state.

Likewise, theyve been quiet about all the other black-on-black killings that have risen in number across America since these women were able to advance their Defund the Police policy. Next to abortion, black-on-black crime is the greatest cause of violent death in Americas black communities, and neither the media nor those maddened leftist white women care.

For now, telegenic mass murders that fit the leftist narrative are the medias bread and butter. And the deaths of four young black people, while 28 others were victimized, as well, is irrelevant. Well, not quite. Such events help swell the number of deaths that leftists can attribute to the evil gun; they just dont want anyone to look too closely at whats happening: Generation after generation of young black people who have deliberately been raised in a moral vacuum to be cannon fodder to advance leftist ideas.
Art must imitate life. Norman Rockwell's paintings are now offensive and "unsafe" because the images they portray are deemed to be undeserving, ill-gotten gains at best and evil exclusionary rituals at worst. These images painted by Norman Rockwell and once lived by us are now the visual equivalent of so-called hate speech. In alignment with this new fact, the Rockwell paintings of the "old" way of life are destined for trash bags at the civic center on shredding day. Perhaps acceptable replacements will soon follow.

Picture a modern series of Norman Rockwell Paintings called The New Norman. The series would start off with a painting called Spitting on Police. In this work, we see hundreds of people, all hands waving, leaning forward as they purse their lips in preparation for spitting on the police officer in front of them. Next in the series is The Punch of Morning. Here we see a pregnant woman walking up Lexington Avenue, stopping at the light. The early sun shines on a homeless woman's fist hitting the pretty barrette in the pregnant woman's hair. Last in the series is Subway Commute. In this work, a man is on the subway floor by a pole, bleeding, and the crowd around him is running to the next subway car.

The second series is The Border. The first painting of this series is Coming to See My President. In this painting, a crowd of illegal aliens, young and old, wearing dirty, torn clothes, stand still as two border patrol agents hold a tent open. One man, in front of the tent, wipes his dirty hair out of his eyes, faces a reporter and her camera. Next is Almost, where a young girl lies motionless next to a border tree with her face covered by a Barbie tee shirt.

The most talked about series would be Street-Sweets. First in this series, Body of Choices, shows a main street gathering of an old man drinking from a glass whiskey bottle as he leans against the shoulders of a girl next to him. The girl is hunched over, about to fall as a needle hangs from her arm and a belt is tied tightly just above it. Underneath her is a young girl inhaling from a pipe as her boyfriend holds it. Next is Legal, where we see two police officers walking past a restaurant as a group of kitchen workers stand in a circle, with one smoking a marijuana joint.

Norman Rockwell painted patriotism on canvas. Small business and family had a visual cheerleader. Paintings of diners, barbers, girls primping in mirrors, doctor visits are visual high fives for the kind of peaceful purity achieved only through freedom. Family and small business breed freedom-loving people. Freedom is contagious, easily spread through casual contact. The seemingly mundane routines of grocery errands, chatting with neighbors after talking out the trash, and making small talk while waiting in line are now enemy acts and on par with a parent taking the podium at the PTA meeting. Enemy acts lead to thoughtcrime.

Until the sixties, patriotic cheers were uncontroversial and as nonpartisan as saying the sky is blue. According to the current style of thinking, being anti-American indicates cultural enlightenment, while pro-American beliefs are naive and ignorant.

For those of us feeling cold, iron bars every time we run laundry, drive a car, sign an office lease, and gaze at the street cameras while drinking coffee, our distant memories of freedom create deep pangs of loss and anger. While thinking, voting, and meeting our individual commitments offer some solace, we may decide to cut off all memories of what American life once was. We can begin by putting Norman Rockwell in the shredder.

Image: Middleground1.
Once upon a time, we used to call shoplifting stealing. But recently, shoplifting has been the latest episode of "no justice, no peace." In other words, there are many blue-city district attorneys who don't think shoplifting is worth arresting you. Let them steal, and let the corporate cats eat their losses.

Well, it turns out that the corporate cats have limits and can't just sit back and let their stores get sacked. This is the story:

Major retailers in the US have been forced to shut down stores due to millions of dollars in losses as rampant theft plagues big box stores across the country. This week, Walmart announced it will shut down four of its stores in Chicago just weeks after America's biggest employer shuttered its only stores in Portland. It comes as shoplifting reaches alarming levels and other large retailers, including Target, Macy's and Best Buy, are now making good on threats to shutter outlets if petty crime was not lowered. In 2021 retailers lost a combined $94.5billion to shrink, a term used to describe theft and other types of inventory loss. And organized retail crime incidents soared by 26.5 per cent in the same year, according to the 2022 National Retail Security Survey. Along with brazen daylight thefts, self-checkouts have also made it easier for people to walk out without paying for items. Progressive district attorneys in cities like Chicago, New York, Portland and California have also been blamed for effectively legalizing shoplifting with either not prosecuting thefts under $950, or letting criminals off with a slap on the wrist.

Who knew that uncontrolled shoplifting and allowing criminals to run out of stores with jewelry and whiskey bottles would eventually translate into stores closing their doors for good? Where did we hear that before?

Of course, it's more than closing stores to shoppers. A retail store hires people and pays taxes. In many locations, it may be the only drugstore around.

There are broad consequences to shoplifting. As stores close in our cities, local governments will lose the tax base that pays for a lot of social services. The bottom line is that the community will lose. Are you listening, Democrats?

PS: Check out my blog for posts, podcasts, and videos.

Image: Mack Male.
In June 1801, Samuel Terry stepped off Earl Cornwallis in chains. He had come to Sydney to serve out his sentence at the convicts colony. The previous year, the 24-year-old labourer was convicted of stealing 400 pairs of stockings by a judge in Lancashire and sentenced to seven years transportation. Despite his unfavorable circumstances, Terry's resourcefulness and business acumen enabled him to turn his luck around. Through shrewd investments and an advantageous marriage, he amassed a vast fortune, becoming the wealthiest man in Australia within three decades of his arrival. At the time of his death, his wealth accounted for 3.39% of the entire colony's gross domestic product, which would have placed him among richer men in England.

Little is known of Terrys early life except that he was a labourer in Manchester when he was transported to Australia. His time as a convict included working in a stonemasons gang on the Parramatta female factory and gaol, and he helped to cut stones for the church. Records state that he was flogged for neglect of duty, and yet rewarded for his industry.

Even before his sentence expired, Terry set up his own business as a stonemason in Parramatta and by 1809 owned a farm in the Hawkesbury district. In 1810, Terry married an innkeeper named Rosetta Madden, thus acquiring her property as he did her children.

The Terrys prospered rapidly, first through their inn and store but soon by speculation in city and pastoral properties. By 1815 Terry had established a farm on the Nepean River and also had properties in Illawarra. In 1817 Governor Lachlan Macquarie, who granted him city allotments, described him as a 'wealthy trader'. Terry was also an important supplier of flour and fresh meat to the government. Between 1817 and 1820 he held more than a fifth of the total value of mortgages registered in the colony, a higher proportion than that of the Bank of New South Wales, of which he was one of the largest shareholders. Commissioner John Thomas Bigge reported that in 1820 he had 1450 cattle, 3800 sheep, and 19,000 acres, almost exactly half of the land held by former convicts.

As Terry prospered, the public began to gossip how he managed to acquire so much wealth. A rumor that went around was that Terry invited officers and small landholders to his public house and got them drunk, and then forced them to sign away rights to their possessions as security for debts. These rumors were never substantiated and Governor Macquarie continued to regard him highly. Although his misdeeds had been exaggerated, Terry was a ruthless businessman and relentless in his dealings. It has been reported that by 1821, Terry had brought twenty-eight litigations against other businesses and persons in the Supreme Court.

Throughout the 1820s, Terrys wealth continued to grow. He established a bloodstock stud on Illawarra land granted him by Macquarie, built the vast Terry's Buildings opposite his residence in Pitt Street, established a country seat, Box Hill, and developed his farming properties at Liverpool, on the Nepean, and later at Yass and Bathurst, as well as flour-mills and breweries. Terry became a prominent public figure, and certainly the most spectacularly successful of all emancipists. During his later years he was noted for his philanthropy, especially to Wesleyan causes and became a prominent Freemason.

Terry died in 1838, three years after leading a miserable life as a paralytic following a seizure. He left a personal estate of 250,000, and an annual income of over 10,000 from Sydney rentals alone. Terrys vast wealth earned him the nickname of the Botany Bay Rothschild, after the worlds richest banker of his time.

References:

# Terry, Samuel (17761838), Australian Dictionary of Biography
Astronomers have spotted two dwarf galaxy black holes on separate collision courses, serving as the first observational evidence of a cosmic clash.

A Bigger Galaxy

The two black holes are heading for a collision and merger, leaving a bigger black hole behind. The dwarf galaxies they sit on will also merge and form a bigger galaxy.

The findings may have important implications for understanding how cosmic titans and the galaxies they inhabit grew in the early universe.

The scientists examine the black holes with the help of NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, as reported by Space. They found that the dwarf galaxies are racing toward each other and pulling in gas that is feeding their inhabitant black holes, causing them to grow even before the merger.

A team of astronomers will continue to observe these collisions to see how they proceed and offed the draw galaxies.

Also read: Biggest Black Holes Formed From Cold Gas Left by Unimaginably Immense Galactic Space Gobblers

Spotting Black Holes in Merging Dwarf Galaxies

Black holes are some of the most mysterious and fascinating objects in the universe. They are incredibly dense regions of space where the gravitational pull is so strong that not even light can escape.

Astronomers have long suspected that black holes exist in dwarf galaxies, but until now, they have been challenging to detect. Dwarf galaxies are small and have fewer stars than larger galaxies, making it difficult to observe the gravitational effects of black holes.

The discovery of black holes in merging dwarf galaxies has significant implications for our understanding of the universe. It suggests that black holes may be more common in dwarf galaxies than previously thought, and it raises questions about how black holes form and evolve in these galaxies.

Additionally, the detection of black holes in merging dwarf galaxies is important for the study of gravitational waves.

Gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of space-time that are generated by the acceleration of massive objects, such as black holes. The collision of black holes in merging dwarf galaxies is expected to produce gravitational waves that can be detected by instruments such as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO).

The discovery of black holes in merging dwarf galaxies is also significant because it provides insight into the formation and evolution of galaxies. Dwarf galaxies are thought to be the building blocks of larger galaxies, and the merging of dwarf galaxies is believed to play a crucial role in the formation of galaxies.

Black holes in merging dwarf galaxies is an exciting development in the field of astronomy. It provides insight into the formation and evolution of galaxies and raises questions about how black holes form and evolve in these galaxies.

The detection of black holes in merging dwarf galaxies has significant implications for the study of gravitational waves. As we continue to explore the universe, discoveries like this one will help us better understand the cosmos' mysteries.

Related article: Scientists Discover 2 Supermassive Black Holes on Collision Course To Merge Together in a Few Hundred Million Years

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The billionaire Elon Musk has founded a new AI company called X.AI, The Verge (via the WSJ) reports.

Musk is already the CEO of SpaceX, Tesla, and Twitter, but his new company will be dedicated to AI development. The X.AI is registered in Nevada on March 9th, 2023. It sees Musk as its director and Jared Birchall, the director of Musks family office, as its secretary. Musks latest company has also authorized the sale of 100 million shares.

According to the filing details, X.AI is a subsidiary of X Holdings Corp, owned by Elon Musk. It seems the billionaire is creating a portfolio of X-named companies as he recently changed the Twitter name to X Corp. He also proposed a vision for an everything app called X.

Elon Musk might challenge OpenAI with X.AI

X.AI is not Musks first foray into the world of AI. He is also the co-founder of OpenAI, a research organization dedicated to advancing AI technology, and the parent company of ChatGPT. Musk has long been a vocal advocate for the development of AI. He has also warned about the potential risks of the technology. Elon Musk was one of the signatories of the recent warning letter about artificial intelligence, which called for a six-month suspension of all AI experiments.

Advertisement

Musk left OpenAI in 2018 after disagreements with chief executive Sam Altman. As per WSJ report, Elon Musk believed ChatGPT is politically biased, and he wants to create safer AI models. OpenAI is now mostly controlled by Microsoft, but Musks recent moves suggest a stubborn rival is on the way.

The billionaire has yet to stay tight-lipped about the X.AI goals and whether it will launch a rival for ChatGPT. Meanwhile, Musk has recruited several AI researchers in the past few months. This includes Igor Babuschkin, a former staff research engineer at DeepMind AI lab. The people familiar with the case also say Musk is trying to hire some OpenAI employees.

The launch of X.AI coincides with a report from Business Insider that revealed Musk had purchased thousands of GPUs for a generative AI product. In response to the news, Musk just said, it seems like everyone and their dog is buying GPUs at this point.
Samsung is reportedly considering making Microsofts Bing the default search engine app on its Galaxy devices, switching from Google Search. Unsurprisingly, this has put Google into panic mode. The search giant is now scrambling to improve its service as the threat of Bing looms large.

For years, Google has hardly had any competition in the search business, which was worth $162 billion last year. It is the default search engine on Samsungs Galaxy devices and Apples iPhones. The Google app also comes pre-installed on the vast majority of Android devices sold globally. Most people live with what they already have and dont bother switching to alternatives like Bing or DuckDuckGo. This gave little opportunity for these firms to grow and fight Google.

However, things have taken an unexpected turn in recent months. Microsoft integrated the AI chatbot sensation ChatGPT into Bing in February this year and people immediately started thronging it. In just over a month, Bing saw a 16 percent growth in page visits. Google, on the other hand, declined by one percent during the same period. This must have been a worrying sign for Google but the worst is yet to come.

Samsung is considering switching to Bing, putting Google in panic mode

According to The New York Times, Google recently learned that Samsung is considering ditching it in favor of Bing. The Korean firm has kept Google as the default search engine on Galaxy devices for the past 12 years. The growing popularity of the new AI-powered Bing is seen as the reason behind Samsung considering a change. The decision shocked Google employees with some calling it a wild move by the worlds biggest smartphone company.

Advertisement

But for Google, this would mean a potential loss of an estimated $3 billion in annual revenue. The company is now hurrying to bring its AI chatbot Bard, which launched publicly less than a month ago, to its search engine. It is also reportedly racing to build an all-new search engine to thwart the competition from Microsoft Bing and other rivals. These search engine improvements are in development under a new project titled Magi.

Google has put several designers, engineers, and executives in so-called sprint rooms where they tweak and test the latest versions of its new search engine. The company plans to offer a far more personalized experience than its current service. The idea is to anticipate users needs and give them a better search experience than before. Not every brainstorm deck or product idea leads to a launch, but as weve said before, were excited about bringing new AI-powered features to search and will share more details soon, the report cites Google spokeswoman Lara Levin as saying.

Google is also readying a fresh pitch to Samsung for its new search engine. It remains to be seen whether the Korean firm likes the idea or it sides with Microsoft, which has been bringing Bing AI to pretty much all of its mobile products, including the SwiftKey keyboard app. Googles search engine contract with Apple, which is valued at about $20 billion in annual revenue, is also up for renewal this year. Time will tell if it manages to thwart Bings threat and renew the contracts with both Samsung and Apple.
After multiple reports of TikTok mishandling user data and alleged spying on US journalists over the past few years, Montana has made history by becoming the first state legislature to pass the bill to ban the app on all devices. The bill, awaiting approval by Republican Governor Greg Gianforte, who previously banned the app from state-owned devices, would require app stores to remove the app by 2024, with penalties of up to $10,000 per day for non-compliance.

While several lawmakers and experts supported the bill citing national security concerns, opponents of the ban, such as the ACLU, say it would violate the First Amendment and be disastrous for freedom of expression and that there is still no concrete evidence that the Chinese government uses TikTok to spy on US nationals. Additionally, the bill is also expected to be challenged by courts, and there are concerns that its approval may prompt other Republican lawmakers across the country to push for copycat bills.

Montanans deserve better than to have their representatives violate their free speech rights by cutting them off from a unique platform that allows them to speak their minds, exchange information, and learn new things, says Jenna Leventoff, ACLU senior policy counsel.

TikToks response

TikTok responded to the ban by calling it egregious government overreach and plans to fight it. The company argues that its platform provides a space for individuals to express themselves and connect with others worldwide, and many businesses rely on it for marketing and outreach.

Advertisement

We will continue to fight for TikTok users and creators in Montana, says TikTok.

Furthermore, in response to national security concerns, TikTok stated that their Project Texas would protect US user data by routing it through domestic Oracle servers and allowing third-party oversight of the apps algorithms. However, recent reports of an employee claiming that the Chinese government could still access US user data through TikTok have caused further concern.
The Xiaomi 13 Ultra will become a new display brightness king, the company has just confirmed. Xiaomi went to Weibo to confirm that the max display brightness of the Xiaomi 13 Ultra will be 2,600 nits.

The Xiaomi 13 Ultra is set to become the new display brightness king

As a reminder, the current champion in that regard is the OPPO Find X6 Pro. OPPOs flagship offers a screen brightness of 2,500 nits. It uses the Samsung E6 display, by the way. It is followed by the iPhone 14 Pro (2,000 nits), Xiaomi 13 Pro (1,900 nits), and the Vivo X90 Pro+/HONOR Magic5 Pro (1,800 nits).

Xiaomis upcoming flagship wont use Samsungs display, however. Xiaomi has developed this display in collaboration with China Star. Were looking at the C7 screen, which is Chinas first ultra-clear LTPO screen.

Ice Universe, a well-known tipster, claims that this display leads the worlds top products in power consumption, peak brightness, viewing angle, luminous efficiency, eye protection and other fields.

Advertisement

Its battery will last for additional 60 minutes after it hits 1% charge

Another interesting XIaomi 13 Ultra tidbit got confirmed. The phone will be able to last for 60 minutes with 1% of battery charge left. Xiaomi says that this feature comes thanks to the Surge P2 chip and the Surge G1 chip.

The Xiaomi 13 Ultra will become official tomorrow. The company will not only launch it in China, but globally as well. It will share some specs with its Pro sibling, but it will also surpass it in some ways.

The phones cameras sensors already got confirmed, along with some additional details

The Xiaomi 13 Ultra is confirmed to offer four cameras on the back. It will utilize a 1-inch main camera (Sonys IMX989 sensor), along with three Sony IMX858 camera sensors. Those three cameras will be ultrawide, telephoto, and periscope telephoto units. Leica lenses will be applied to all of them.

Xiaomi is also adding variable aperture on the main camera here. Thats also a major improvement compared to the Xiaomi 13 Pro. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 will fuel the device, while youll get both LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 flash storage. Vegan leather will be included on the back of the phone, making it less slippery.

Advertisement

The same 6.73-inch QHD+ AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate will be used here. It will be curved. A 4,900mAh battery is tipped here, while the phone will offer 90W wired, and 50W wireless charging.
Sen. Lindsey Graham slammed Marjorie Taylor Greene for supporting a Pentagon leaker

Graham questioned Jack Teixeira's access to Pentagon classified documents

Teixeira faces 15 years of imprisonment

After Sen. Lindsey Graham criticized Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene for defending the Air National Guardsman apprehended by the FBI for purportedly leaking national security documents, she retaliated.

Greene defended Jack Teixeira, whom she mistakenly referred to as Jake, a US Air National Guard member who allegedly leaked classified documents to members of his private Discord server.

Marjorie Taylor Greene Defends Jack Teixeira

Teixeira was apprehended by federal law enforcement on Thursday and arraigned on Friday concerning the disclosure. Graham indirectly criticized Greene without identifying her during a Sunday interview with ABC News journalist Jon Karl.

Jake Teixeira is white, male, christian, and antiwar.



That makes him an enemy to the Biden regime.



And he told the truth about troops being on the ground in Ukraine and a lot more.



Ask yourself who is the real enemy?



A young low level national guardsmen?



Or the  Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (@RepMTG) April 13, 2023

"It is irresponsible for any member of Congress to suggest that it is okay to leak classified information because they support the cause," he said. Teixeira was officially accused of disclosing classified documents on Friday, as per The Independent. In response to Graham's criticism of her remark, Greene altered an image of Graham with CNN anchor Dana Bash and posted it on Twitter.

Greene has repeatedly opposed US involvement in the Ukrainian conflict. Teixeira appeared in court in Boston, Massachusetts, to face two accusations of disclosing classified information at the time of her remarks.

Longtime South Carolina Republican senator and former National Guardsman Lindsey Graham are perplexed about how Teixeira gained access to such sensitive information. Former CIA Director John Brennan also criticized Greene's remarks, claiming that her defense indicates she is unsuited to hold elected office.

Brennan stated, "From my perspective, I think Marjorie Taylor Greene has demonstrated time and time again that she's not fit to hold public office with some of her commentary that she has made, even previously."

Per USA Today, Brennan added that Greene, a House Committee on Homeland Security member, should not have access to classified information in light of her statements.

Read Also: Fake Joe Biden Video Snubbing Rishi Sunak Goes Viral: It's Edited!

Jack Teixeira Case

President Joe Biden stated on Friday that he had directed investigators to determine why the alleged leaker had access to the classified information, which included records purportedly disclosing details of Ukrainian military vulnerabilities and embarrassed Washington by exposing its spying on allies.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a member of the Senate intelligence committee, stated that the committee intends to conduct a comprehensive investigation. She also stated that senators would receive a briefing on the disclosure upon their return to Washington, DC, this week following Spring break.

Two federal complaints were filed against Teixeira under the Espionage Act for his alleged role in the Pentagon disclosure. According to Daily Mail, if convicted of unlawfully obtaining and disclosing classified information and military secrets, he faces 15 years in prison. However, it is still being determined how Teixeira, who resided with his mother in North Dighton, Massachusetts, obtained access to confidential documents.

As a member of the National Guard in 2021, Teixeira received a high-security clearance, according to the indictment. He worked as an entry-level cyber security specialist for the intelligence branch at the Otis Air National Guard Base in western Cape Cod.

Before the breach was discovered, he posted the treasure trove of top-secret files under the online alias 'Jack the Dripper' for months. The next hearing for Teixeira has been scheduled for April 19.

Related Article: Pentagon Leak Suspect Arrested After Joe Biden Declaration

@YouTube

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Calls for Nicola Sturgeon to be suspended by the SNP after a leaked video surfaced have been rejected by a key ally as the party announced she would be staying away from Holyrood this week.

Published by the Sunday Mail, the video appears to show the then first minister addressing a meeting of the partys ruling national executive committee (NEC).

She told the NEC the party had never been in a stronger financial position than it is now, adding: Im not going to get into the details  but just be very careful about suggestions that there are problems with the partys finances because we depend on donors to donate  there are no reasons for people to be concerned about the partys finances and all of us need to be careful about suggesting that there is.

After the video surfaced, the Scottish Tories led calls for the former first minister to be suspended from the party, a suggestion that was rejected by the SNPs former Westminster leader Ian Blackford  a key Sturgeon ally.

The former first minister will stay away from Holyrood this week as her successor lays out his priorities (Jane Barlow/PA)

Goodness gracious, absolutely not, theres no reason for that at all, Mr Blackford told BBC Radio Scotland on Monday when asked if the former first minister should be sanctioned by the SNP.

I think thats some of our opponents politicking, really, in this context.

In the video, Mr Blackford said, there was nothing which was in any way untoward, adding: What the (former) first minister was reflecting on was the ability of the SNP to conduct itself as an organisation, having the financial resources in order to fight elections and to support its members.

The video was reportedly from a meeting of the ruling body in March 2021, days before a complaint was made to police about the use of 600,000 of donations earmarked for an independence referendum campaign, which would result in a police investigation and the subsequent arrest of her husband and former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell.

Mr Murrell was released without charge pending further investigation.

The release of the video compounds the torrid start to First Minister Humza Yousafs tenure as SNP leader.

He is due to this week set out his priorities for his premiership, with Ms Sturgeon reportedly having planned to stay away from Holyrood.

A spokeswoman for Ms Sturgeon said on Monday: In order to ensure the focus of this week is on the new First Minister setting out his priorities for the people of Scotland, Ms Sturgeon has always intended to participate remotely and intends to return to Holyrood in the near future.

Ian Blackford said Nicola Sturgeon should not be suspended from the party (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Speaking to LBC on Monday, Mr Blackford said the past few weeks, which include: the end of a bruising leadership contest; the resignation of Mr Murrell after the media was misled over membership numbers; his subsequent arrest and the search of the home he shares with Ms Sturgeon and the partys Edinburgh headquarters; had been a challenging period for the SNP.

Yes, its been a long journey, he said.

And of course, its not been pleasant, going through all the things that weve gone through over the course of the last few weeks.

But lets not forget the responsibilities that we have to those whove gone before us, Those who have elected us those who support us to show the appropriate level of leadership and I know that under Humza Yousaf thats exactly what will happen.

A report in the Daily Telegraph suggesting Ms Sturgeon would step down as an MSP was dismissed by the former Westminster leader as idle speculation.

Mr Blackford also hit out at suggestions the party is in financial trouble, saying reports of quotes from treasurer and MSP Colin Beattie  which claimed it would be difficult to balance the partys books  had been the result of selective reporting.

The MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber also admitted he had been told of the resignation of the partys auditors near the end of last year, a fact that was only made public earlier this month.

What happened was that Johnston Carmichael stood down as the auditors of the SNP and, as a consequence of that, as the auditors for the Westminster group, Mr Blackford said.

I was told in a timely manner that had happened  that was towards the tail end of last year after Johnston Carmichael had submitted their resignation.

Mr Blackford stressed that organisations regularly review their arrangements as it relates to auditors.

He went on to say categorically that the SNPs Westminster group will submit its accounts to the Electoral Commission by the May 31 deadline.
George Mitchell vowed that part of his heart will always be in Northern Ireland as a new bust of the peace mediator was unveiled in Belfast.

The former US senator  who helped broker the 1998 Good Friday Agreement  has been immortalised in bronze at Queens University, an institution where he once served as chancellor.

The sculpture, which was created by acclaimed Northern Ireland artist Colin Davidson, was unveiled by current chancellor Hillary Clinton and Mr Mitchells wife Heather on the first day of a major conference commemorating the 25th anniversary of the accord.

It stands in front of the universitys Whitla Hall and is intended to act as an inspiration to students emerging from the building after their graduation ceremonies.

Former senator George Mitchell, former US president Bill Clinton, former taoiseach Bertie Ahern and former prime minister Sir Tony Blair at the unveiling of the bust (Liam McBurney/PA)

Former US president Bill Clinton, who appointed Mr Mitchell to chair the Good Friday talks, ex-UK prime minister Sir Tony Blair and former taoiseach Bertie Ahern also attended the ceremony, as did Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton Harris and Irish government minister Eamon Ryan.

Well, my first reaction is that when youre looking at a statue of yourself, you know the end is near, Mr Mitchell joked at the ceremony.

So Im going to enjoy it in what time is left. My heart is filled with gratitude to so many people.

The veteran diplomat spoke of his and his wifes deep affection for Northern Ireland.

A very large part of our hearts and of our emotions will forever be here in Northern Ireland, he said.

He added: This is a good place. You are good people. You deserve a life of peace, opportunity and prosperity. Please, I ask you, I beseech you, continue your efforts. Life has changed, circumstances will arise in the future that cannot now be anticipated. But opportunity, prosperity and peace is a right of the people of Northern Ireland.

To have been able to participate in some way in furthering their rights, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Mr Clinton described Mr Mitchell as a brilliant mediator.

Today means a lot to me, because Im the guy that talked George Mitchell into taking that easy little part-time job I discussed, he joked.

If you ever wonder how important Ireland was to George Mitchell and the Northern Irish peace process, just remember this  I tried to get him to go on the Supreme Court and he said no.

And I said well, how about this (Northern Ireland talks process), this wont take long.

And for 25-plus years now, hes been reminding me of how misleading I was about that little part-time job I asked him to take. But he was brilliant at it. And he loved what he was doing. And he fell in love with all the details and the warts and all. He stayed at it.

The new bust of George Mitchell sits in front of the Whitla Hall at @QUBelfast  placed there to serve as inspiration to students emerging after their graduations. pic.twitter.com/TQ85VhkFMo  David Young (@DavidYoungPA) April 17, 2023

Mr Clinton told the ceremony the Good Friday deal had created a thing of beauty.

As long as I have known George Mitchell he has always tried to do what was best for everybody, he said.

He has an innate sense of fairness and a genius about how to achieve it. He gets you to change your mind and you could swear you didnt change anything  thats what you thought all along.

His genius was a great gift to the people of Northern Ireland and to people who love peace everywhere and Im glad it will be commemorated in this beautiful, beautiful sculpture.

Ms Clinton said there could be no more fitting tribute than the statue.

Former PM Sir Tony conveyed the significance of the role Mr Mitchell played in the talks.

In the frenzy of Northern Ireland politics, George was this soothing balm of wisdom and calmness and tranquillity, he created just the right atmosphere for people to talk to each other, he said.

He was also, of course, instrumental in drafting the framework for the Good Friday Agreement. So he was not just a great guy, he was a great lawyer, which we needed too in order to put all the different strands together.

Mr Ahern said it as an absolute honour to attend the event as he praised Mr Mitchells courtesy, dignity and respect for all of us.
A report from a global human rights organisation said the administration of the Windrush compensation scandal should be stripped from the Home Office and given to an independent body.

The report from Human Rights Watch revealed victims are still being subjected to long waits and their claims are underpaid.

The Home Office told the BBC it was committed to righting the wrongs of Windrush.

It said it had paid or offered more than 68 million in compensation and it was committed to making sure something like Windrush will never be repeated.

The HMT Empire Windrush first docked in England 75 years ago, bringing legal immigrant workers from the Caribbean to help fill post-war labour shortages.

Five years ago it was revealed thousands of immigrants had been incorrectly classed as illegal.

People affected by the scandal arrived to the UK between 1948 and 1971, when immigration laws changed in the UK.

Those who were incorrectly classed as illegal immigrants, who were also from countries outside the Caribbean, struggled to find work, housing, access healthcare and in some cases people who had lived their whole lives in the UK were deported.

Human Rights Watch said victims should be granted legal aid for compensation applications and that there was an unreasonable burden of truth placed on the victims.

The Black Equity Organisation echoed calls from Human Rights Watch, with chief executive Dr Wanda Wyporska saying the Home Office must be stripped of the administration of the compensation scheme.

Dr Wyporska said: The report confirms the worst fears of the Windrush victims and survivors, that the institutional prejudice, ignorance, carelessness and inhumanity that drove the scandal, would resurface if the Home Office were allowed to manage the compensation scheme, and sadly, that has proven to be the case.

The Department has created a process that is so bureaucratic and complicated, that some Windrush victims have died before they could successfully complete it.

"Windrush survivors have been through enough, and this latest twist in a shameful story adds insult to injury. Black Equity Organisation CEO @WandaWyporska BEO launches legal action against Home Office. Read the full statement:https://t.co/GeYTVvcRTX @ppvernon @38degrees  BlackEquityOrg (@BlackEquityOrg) April 6, 2023

The report also said victims do not feel they would get a fair hearing at the Home Office as it is the agency responsible for the scandal.

To add insult to unimaginable injury, surviving claimants have been prevented from getting the legal aid they urgently need to help complete the process and begin to rebuild their lives, Dr Wyporska added.

We are calling for an independent body focussed on the needs of victims to be appointed and Windrush survivors must be able to access legal aid.

It is unforgiveable that the horrific damage done to the Windrush generation is being compounded by the gross mismanagement of the scheme created to help them.
There are signs that more children are gaining places at their first choice of primary school in a number of areas in England, a survey suggests.

Hundreds of thousands of families across England are finding out which primary school their child will be joining this September, on what is commonly known as National Offer Day.

Early findings from a PA news agency survey of local authorities shows a youngsters chances of winning a place at their preferred school varies significantly depending on where they live in the country.

The survey, sent to councils across England, excluding London, shows a number of local authorities have seen a rise in the proportion of children receiving their first choice compared with last year.

As of midday on Monday, 20 of 35 councils, which provided comparable data, saw a rise in the proportion of children securing their preferred school compared to 2022.

Meanwhile, 14 councils have seen a decline in the proportion of families securing their top choice, and one council reported no change.

Among the areas where high proportions of pupils have obtained their first preference are Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham where 98.3% got their top choice, and Calderdale in West Yorkshire where 97.9% were offered their first pick.

In comparison, in Wokingham in Berkshire, 88.8% of children got their first preference, while in Sefton in Merseyside 89% got their top choice.

Englands school system has been put under pressure in recent years as a population bulge has been moving into secondary schools.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders union NAHT, which represents the majority of primary school leaders, said: This can be an anxious time for families. Choosing the right school and securing a place there is a huge moment in a childs life.

Yet it can be an uphill struggle for parents, and not all will get the place they wanted for their child.

Local authorities are responsible for ensuring there are sufficient school places, but they no longer have the powers and resources necessary to do so.

The result is a messy, fragmented system, in which new schools and new school places are not always being commissioned where they are most needed. This leaves families at the mercy of a postcode lottery when it comes to getting their first choice of school place.

We urge the government to fix this broken system and create a national strategy to guarantee there are enough school places for every child in England and take away the worry and stress for parents.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: Overall, the number of children of primary school age is in decline, so the big challenge for many schools is how to adjust to lower numbers.

However, some schools will continue to be oversubscribed and families will miss out on places.

This generally happens because schools are in relatively affluent areas and have Ofsted ratings of good or outstanding, while other schools in other areas may be stigmatised by negative ratings.

Official data shows that last year 92.2% of pupils were offered their first choice of primary school  which was up on 91.8 % in 2021.

A Department for Education (DfE) spokeswoman said: Today thousands of families across England will find out which school their child will join in September, and the majority will have received their first choice of primary school.

She added: We have created almost 1.2 million places since 2010, the largest increase in school capacity in at least two generations, and work closely with local authorities to make sure they offer a school place to every child in the country and support the long-term viability of their schools.
The City minister has stressed the Government will not rest on our laurels in transforming financial services in the UK as he unveiled a new census aiming to reach all of the nations fintech firms.

Andrew Griffith, speaking at the Innovate Finance Global Summit event in London, told businesses that 2023 will be the year of delivering the next generation of open banking.

It comes as regulators simultaneously announced a new vision for open banking, which can help people and businesses get control of their money by seeing all their financial information in one place.

Let me be clear because I know some folk have been worried: this will be the year of delivery on the next generation of open banking, he told the audience.

Our plan is ambitious but achievable.

Mr Griffith said the annual census, launched on Monday in collaboration with the City of London and Innovate Finance, would run for five weeks and aim to reach all 2,500 fintech firms in the UK.

It would be asking for feedback about the main challenges firms face, the support they would like to see and what international markets they would like to break into.

Businesses at the event indicated it will be important to see the feedback reflected in Government policy down the line.

Mr Griffith also mentioned the collapse of the USs Silicon Valley Bank last month, with its UK arm bought by banking giant HSBC for 1.

He said: I know many of you in this room were directly affected by the potential collapse of SVB UK and Im glad we were able to act decisively to secure an outcome where we able to protect your capital and ensure continuity of banking services.

Government isnt perfect but I hope that when the chips were down, we demonstrated the benefits of being a sovereign nation with the ability and the agility to make its own decisions fast.

The rescue deal followed an intense weekend of talks during which other financial firms, such as UK lender Oaknorth Bank, put forward offers.
Tory former Cabinet minister Sir Alok Sharma has denied allegations that he bullied civil servants.

Sir Alok, who was president of the Cop26 climate summit, said he had never been made aware of any complaints against him.

He was alleged to have been difficult to work with, insulting staffs work and using expletives, Bloomberg reported, citing four senior officials.

He was also said to have bullied junior civil servants by calling them out of the blue to disparage their work during the pandemic, with the allegations spanning his time as business secretary and his climate change presidency between 2020 and 2022.

It was reported that concerns about Sir Aloks behaviour were raised with Civil Service bosses at least four times in 2020, though they were not official complaints.

It comes as Rishi Sunaks deputy Dominic Raab is under investigation over eight formal complaints about his behaviour.

The Prime Minister, who pledged to uphold integrity, professionalism and accountability in government, is bracing for the probe led by senior lawyer Adam Tolley KC into Mr Raabs conduct during stints in three departments to conclude.

Mr Raab, who is also Justice Secretary, has insisted he is not a bully.

Dominic Raab and Rishi Sunak (House of Commons/PA)

In response to the allegations against Sir Alok, a Government spokesperson said: We have no records of any complaints.

Sir Alok, now a Tory backbencher, said: I have never been made aware of any informal complaints or otherwise from staff. The Cabinet Office has confirmed that there are no records of any informal or formal complaints across government about me. I refute strongly these allegations.

I have worked with hundreds of officials as a government minister and always felt I maintained a good relationship with them, exemplified by seven of my BEIS Private Office team, those officials working most closely with me, choosing to join my Cop Private Office alongside those I had worked with in previous ministerial roles.

The PA news agency understands that the calls made by Sir Alok to staff were during work hours, with the allegation regarded as weak among some in Whitehall where he is said to enjoy a good reputation.

Sir Alok lost his seat around the Cabinet table in Mr Sunaks reshuffle upon entering No 10 in October.

The Reading West MP is expected to be on Boris Johnsons resignation honours list.
Tesla is currently facing a backlash from employees at their Gigafactory in Shanghai, according to Electrek. The complaints are about performance bonuses that were cut due to an accidental death at the factory early this year.

Tesla workers have been expressing their concerns on Chinese social media, while some took to Twitter.

According to the workers, they were told that their performance bonuses would be cut because of the safety accidents at the factory that took place in the first quarter of 2023. It is linked to the death of a worker at the factory's wielding workshop on Feb. 4.

The government tagged it as the responsibility of the deceased worker. However, Tesla's safety management indirectly contributes to the accident.

Not Uncommon

It's not new for workers in China to have their compensation reduced due to a safety incident. However, it shouldn't be linked to a performance bonus.

Also read: Tesla Union Workers Stage Walkout On Nevada Site Amid Labor Dispute

Tesla's Gigafactory in Shanghai

Tesla's Gigafactory in Shanghai is a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility that produces electric vehicles for the Chinese market. The factory is the first wholly foreign-owned car plant in China and is a key part of Tesla's strategy to expand its presence in the world's largest auto market.

The Gigafactory in Shanghai began production in late 2019 and has quickly become a major player in the Chinese electric vehicle market. The factory has a production capacity of up to 450,000 vehicles per year and currently produces the Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.

One of the key advantages of the Gigafactory in Shanghai is its location. The factory is located in the Lingang area of Shanghai, which is a free trade zone that allows for easy import and export of goods. This makes it easier for Tesla to import parts and materials for production and export finished vehicles to other markets.

The Gigafactory also benefits from China's push for electric vehicles. The Chinese government has implemented policies to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles, including subsidies and incentives for buyers. This has led to a growing demand for electric vehicles in China, which Tesla is well-positioned to take advantage of with its high-quality, high-performance vehicles.

In addition to producing electric vehicles, the Gigafactory in Shanghai also has a research and development center. The center is focused on developing new technologies for electric vehicles and is staffed by a team of engineers and scientists from around the world.

The Gigafactory in Shanghai is also notable for its sustainable design and construction. The factory was built using sustainable materials and features a large solar array on the roof to provide renewable energy for the facility. Tesla has also implemented a number of other sustainability initiatives at the factory, including water conservation and waste reduction programs.

Related article: Tesla's New Megafactory in Shanghai China Plans to Produce 10,000 Batteries Yearly

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Former US president Bill Clinton will join other political leaders from Northern Irelands peace process era at a major conference commemorating the Good Friday Agreement.

Ex-prime minister Sir Tony Blair and former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will also participate in the three-day event at Queens University in Belfast 25 years on from the landmark accord.

Senator George Mitchell, who chaired the peace negotiations in 1998, will take part as well.

Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton is hosting the conference as part of her role as chancellor at Queens.

Hillary Clinton is the chancellor at Queens University (Brian Lawless/PA)

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar are due to attend later in the week.

It is being hosted to mark the 25th anniversary of the agreement that largely ended Northern Irelands 30-year sectarian conflict.

The world-renowned settlement created powersharing institutions at Stormont that involved nationalists and unionists governing Northern Ireland together in a mandatory coalition arrangement.

While the pact largely ended the Troubles, which had claimed more than 3,600 lives since the late 1960s, it has failed to bring long-term political stability in the region and devolution has collapsed several times in the last two decades.

The anniversary comes amid another period of collapse, as the DUP is blocking powersharing in protest at post-Brexit trading arrangements that have created economic barriers between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

Sir Tony and Cherie Blair arrive at a gala dinner to recognise Mo Mowlams contribution to the peace process (Niall Carson/PA)

The barriers were first introduced under the Withdrawal Agreements contentious Northern Ireland Protocol.

The UK and EU recently agreed the Windsor Framework as a way to cut the red tape created by the protocol.

While the DUP says the framework has gone some way to address its concerns about the protocol, it says significant problems remain.

The party has opposed the framework at Westminster and has made clear its boycott of Stormont will continue until it secures further assurances from the UK government over its concerns around sovereignty and the application of EU law in Northern Ireland.

Several events took place over the weekend ahead of the start of the conference.

On Sunday evening, a special dinner was held at Hillsborough Castle to mark the contribution to the peace process by the late Mo Mowlam, who was Northern Ireland Secretary in 1998.
The Government has suffered a defeat at Westminster as peers narrowly backed a ban on the opening of new coal mines.

The House of Lords supported the Liberal Democrat-led move by 197 votes to 194, majority three.

The enforced change to the Energy Bill comes after Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove approved in December what is set to be the first new coal mine in the UK in 30 years, leading to accusations of environmental vandalism.

The facility on the edge of Whitehaven in Cumbria is expected to extract nearly 2.8 million tonnes of coal per year for use in steel making, rather than power generation, and supporters of the scheme have said it will create 500 jobs.

But critics warn it will create more greenhouse gas emissions as the Government seeks to meet its net zero target and argue it is hypocritical in the wake of UK efforts on the international stage to show climate leadership and urge the world to give up on coal.

They want to see investment in green jobs.

Experts have also questioned the investment in an 1850s technology to supply coal for steel manufacture as the industry looks to shift to cleaner production methods.

Liberal Democrat Lord Teverson said: I am very proud of Britains reputation in terms of climate change. That is why it is absolutely wrong that we should trash that reputation by one decision, which is to open a new UK coal mine. And who knows if that happens once it can happen again.

Tory former Cabinet minister Lord Deben, who is chairman of the Climate Change Committee which advises the Government, branded the new Cumbrian mine totally unacceptable.

He said: You cant ask the Indians and the Chinese to move away from coal if you are providing the means of an extension for coal.

A concrete cap on one of the shafts at a closed colliery (Martin Rickett/PA)

Lord Deben added: Theres no doubt whatsoever that allowing this coal mine undermines our international ability to lead the world to a solution, which alone will stop this existential threat of climate change.

He told energy minister Lord Callanan: This is the most serious issue that he will have to look at, because in it is held the Governments credibility.

If it wants to uphold that it cannot allow any new coal mines and it must find a way to stop mining, which will increase the emissions from the most damaging means of generation.

This is an emergency and when you deal with the emergency you dont light an ancillary fire, you dont do something which manifestly runs wholly against everything else you have said.

Labour frontbencher Baroness Blake of Leeds said: I am really concerned about the message this sends out. It undermines totally our claim to be an international leader on climate.

Responding, Lord Callanan told peers: We are committed to phasing out coal from our electricity production by 2024. In 2021, coal formed less that 2% of our electricity generation.

He pointed out Germany last year generated 31% of its electricity from coal last year, compared to 1.8% in the UK, and the country was in the process of opening up new mines.

The Tory frontbencher said in approving the mine in Cumbria, the Secretary of State had carefully considered the different factors including the demand for coal, climate change and the impact on the local economy.

The Government also suffered a series of other defeats over the Bill, including peers demanding steps to increase the energy efficiency of housing and business premises in a drive to curb household bills and meet climate targets

In addition, the upper chamber backed measures aimed at supporting the growth of community and small-scale energy schemes and to force the energy regulator Ofgem to have regard to meeting the UKs net zero emissions target.

Once the Bill has cleared the Lords it will go to the Commons where MPs will consider the changes made by the unelected chamber.
China poses an epoch-defining challenge to the West, the head of the National Cyber Security Centre is reportedly set to warn.

Director Lindy Cameron, who heads up the GCHQ arm, will use a speech in Belfast this week to warn the UK and allies of the dramatic rise of China as a technology superpower.

The remarks, set to be delivered this week at the CyberUK annual conference, were reported by the Times newspaper. They come as the the US, the UK and Western nations attempt to navigate the growing economic and political reach of China amid concerns about the threat the country poses to security.

Concerns about China have already seen UK Government ban ministers from using video-sharing app TikTok on their work phones following a security review.

The House of Commons and the Lords also cited security concerns as they decided to ban the app  owned by Chinese internet company ByteDance  across the Palace of Westminster.

President Xi Jinping of China (Leon Neal/PA)

We cannot secure future technology without addressing the epoch-defining challenge that we are facing: the dramatic rise of China as a technology superpower, Ms Cameron will reportedly say.

China has identified several existing and emerging technologies as being vital to its future national security. And it has an aspiration to become a world leader in setting technological standards, she will tell the conference.

So we need to be clear: China is not only pushing for parity with western countries, it is aiming for technical supremacy. It will use its tech strength as a lever to achieve a dominant role in global affairs. What does this mean for cybersecurity? Bluntly we cannot afford not to keep pace otherwise we risk China becoming the predominant power in cyberspace.

Some may dismiss this as far-fetched or scaremongering, but it is a risk I would urge you to take seriously. This is simply not something about which any of us can be complacent.

The Governments updated blueprint for UK foreign and defence policy  the refreshed integrated review published last month  described China under Communist Party rule represents an epoch-defining and systemic challenge to almost every aspect of government policy and the everyday lives of British people.

But Prime Minister Rishi Sunak remains under pressure from some MPs within his own party to take a tougher stance against Beijing.
The Education Secretary has backed Ofsteds one-word assessments despite calls from teachers for the system to be abolished.

Gillian Keegan said the ratings, which range from outstanding to inadequate, are clear and easy for parents to navigate.

Pressure on the schools watchdog in England continues to mount as unions demand an immediate freeze of inspections to allow for full mental health assessments to be carried out on teachers.

It comes after Ruth Perry, headteacher at Caversham Primary School in Reading, Berkshire, killed herself in January while awaiting an Ofsted report which downgraded her school from the highest rating to the lowest.

Touring broadcast studios on Monday, Ms Keegan described Ms Perrys death as tragic and said His Majestys Chief Inspector is looking at whether the way the regulator works with schools can be improved.

But she insisted undermining Ofsted is not the right approach, describing the role it plays in upholding standards and safeguarding as crucial.

I know His Majestys Chief Inspector is looking at this following the tragic case of Ruth Perry, which is tragic and our thoughts do go out to her family and friends and her school community, she said.

Asked if she supports Ofsteds single-word assessments, Ms Keegan said: Yeah. Theyre clear. Theyre simple to understand.

She added: Theres quite a broad framework thats assessed as part of Ofsted and theyve actually looked to broaden that framework even more.

Of course, if there are areas that needed to develop further then that is where the right conversation to have is.

Critics argue single-word ratings fail to reflect the complexity of a school and the quality of its teaching.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders union NAHT, said: One-word Ofsted grades have clearly now had their day. While they may appear simple to understand, they are not reliable and at worse can give an incomplete and inaccurate picture of a schools performance.

It is impossible to accurately describe something as complex as a school in just a single word, and its worrying that ministers think this can be done.

There is also growing evidence that parents no longer value these overly simplistic judgments and would value a more balanced, descriptive approach. It is time to move on from this outdated and unreliable system.

It comes a week after a motion calling for Ofsted to be abolished was approved at the NASUWTs annual conference in Glasgow.

The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) has also indicated it could take legal action against the watchdog after it did not suspend inspections following Ms Perrys death.

The motion carried by the NASUWT union acknowledged the perceived demands of Ofsted are the major contributor to the excessive workload and bureaucracy that blights the lives of teachers.

A photograph of Ruth Perry attached to the fence outside John Rankin Schools in Newbury, Berkshire, where headteacher Flora Cooper planned to refuse entry to Ofsted inspectors in March. She later reversed her decision (PA)

An Ofsted spokesman declined to comment on the NASUWTs proposals but said: Inspections are first and foremost for children and their parents  looking in depth at the quality of education, behaviour and how well, and safely, schools are run.

Our inspectors are all former or current school leaders who fully understand the pressures of the role. We always want inspections to be constructive and collaborative, and in the vast majority of cases school leaders agree that they are.
The family of a British-Israeli woman murdered with her daughters in the West Bank have thanked the Government as they returned to the UK.

Lucy Dee, 48, died three days after her daughters, Rina, 15, and Maia, 20, were shot and killed on April 7.

The family of seven, who moved to Israel from the UK in 2014, had been travelling in separate cars en route to a Passover holiday.

Mrs Dees husband Leo Dee is a rabbi, and they have a son and two other daughters.

Richard Shaw, Mrs Dees father, and her brothers and sisters, all from the London area, have now returned to the UK to continue observing the Jewish mourning period of Shiva.

In a statement from Mrs Dees brother, Benjamin Shaw, made on behalf of both the Dee and Shaw family, he said: We are devastated by the brutal murder of our dear Lucy, Maia, and Rina.

Their absence leaves a void in our hearts that can never be filled.

We are deeply touched by the words of the Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, who has shown great compassion in acknowledging our loss.

Rina, 15, Maia, 20, and Lucy Dee, 48, who were murdered in the West Bank (Handout/PA)

His firm stance against terrorism sets a new standard for nations and media in addressing acts of terror.

We see this as the Cleverly Declaration, akin to the Balfour Declaration, establishing that terrorism can never be justified.

Mr Cleverly had written to Rabbi Dee, offering the family the assistance of the British Government, with his letter stating: There can be no justification for such senseless and abhorrent violence, and I unequivocally condemn this act of terrorism.

Rabbi Leo Dee, paying tribute to his wife after her death, described her as an exceptional human being who had saved five lives and helped two other people to see by donating her organs.

Mr Dee was formerly the senior rabbi at Radlett United Synagogue in Hertfordshire and assistant rabbi in Hendon, north London.

The family lived in the Efrat settlement, near the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, according to the settlements mayor, Oded Revivi.

Mr Dee said he does not hold any hatred towards the Palestinian terrorists believed to be responsible for the attack.

He said: I dont hold any hate towards them. The Israeli security forces will do what they usually do which is track them down and bring them to justice, which I think is right because it prevents the next attack that they might do.
Gerry The Monk Hutch has been found not guilty by a non-jury court of the high-profile murder of David Byrne at a Dublin hotel seven years ago.

Mr Byrne, 33, died after being shot six times at a crowded boxing weigh-in event at Dublins Regency Hotel on February 5 2016 in one of the first deadly attacks of the Hutch-Kinahan gangland feud.

The judgment was handed down by the three-judge panel, and read out by Ms Justice Tara Burns.

She described the Regency attack as a meticulously planned high-velocity assassination event carried out by a six-man hit team which left one man dead and two others injured.

She said the attack sparked mayhem on the streets of Dublin and resulted in a series of callous murders.

Responding to the prosecutions argument that Hutch was one of the six men that carried out the Regency attack, Ms Justice Burns said that key audio evidence does not include an admission by Hutch that he was present.

Gerry The Monk Hutch (left) outside the Special Criminal Court, Dublin, after he was found not guilty of the murder of David Byrne at a hotel in Dublin in 2016 (Sam Boal/PA)

She said that the fast movements of the shooters at the Regency hotel, as seen on the CCTV footage shown in court, did not seem to be those of a man aged in his 50s.

She said that there was a reasonable possibility that the Regency murder was planned by Mr Hutchs brother Patsy, and that Gerard Hutch had stepped in as the head of the family in the aftermath, particularly as his own life was at risk.

The 60-year-old, from The Paddocks, Clontarf, appeared to be listening intently using a hearing-aid headset as the judgment was read out in court.

Dressed in a white shirt, navy suit jacket with tan-coloured trousers, and with long hair and a long grey beard, he was seen leaving the Criminal Courts of Justices front entrance shortly after the judgment.

He was met with a huge crowd of media before leaving in a taxi.

Gerry The Monk Hutch leaves the Special Criminal Court, Dublin (Sam Boal/PA)

On the evidence given by key State witness Jonathan Dowdall, the court concluded that it was extremely concerned with his evidence and his relationship with the truth.

Ms Justice Burns dismissed the former Sinn Fein councillors claims that he had offered to testify because he had found God, and instead said he he was acting out of his own self-interest.

A conversation between Hutch and Dowdall as they travelled to Northern Ireland in March 2016, which was secretly taped by Gardai, and a Garda interview conducted with Dowdall in May 2016 were among the key parts of evidence shown during the lengthy murder trial.

Ms Justice Burns said that the audio recordings of the taped conversation with Hutch does not provide independent evidence to back up his assertions against Gerard Hutch.

She said that video recordings of Gardai interviewing Dowdall, conducted after the Regency murder, make for very uncomfortable viewing.

She said that the manner in which he told convincing lies to gardai was extremely concerning for this court.

A real question which this court must ask itself is who is the court dealing with? A significant question mark hangs over Jonathan Dowdalls character and reliability, she said.

She added that because of his pattern of lying and alternate character modes displayed by Dowdall, the court must approach his truthfulness about Gerard Hutch with scepticism and extreme care.

Earlier on Monday, two men were found guilty of charges on facilitating the murder of Mr Byrne.

Paul Murphy, 62, of Cherry Avenue, Swords, was found guilty of a lesser charge relating to the murder of Mr Byrne.

Murphy was charged with providing a motor vehicle to a criminal organisation, with the knowledge of or having been reckless as to whether those actions could facilitate a serious offence, namely, the murder of David Byrne.

Ms Justice Burns said the court is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Murphys Toyota Avensis took one of the hitmen from the grounds of St Vincents GAA club following the Regency attack.

She said that Murphy had access to a key card to allow entry into Buckingham Village, an apartment complex which Ms Justice Burns described as the centre of operations for the attack.

She dismissed the rehearsed story that the key card had been left in the taxi by a fare three days earlier.

She said the key card was clearly one of several missing from a pack, another of which was found in a wallet also containing Patsy Hutchs drivers licence during a search.

On the subject of a number of taxi receipts from the day, she said on their face it suggested Murphy was working as a taxi driver during the acts set out by the prosecution.

However, she said the court was satisfied the receipts were not accurate, pointing to fares of very short distances which took a long time and fares which coincided with times Murphy said he was parked to buy and eat a sandwich.

Jason Bonney, 52, of Drumnigh Wood in Portmarnock, was also found guilty of a similar charge relating to Mr Byrnes murder.

Bonney was charged with providing a motor vehicle to a criminal organisation, with knowledge of or having been reckless as to whether those actions could facilitate a serious offence.

Ms Justice Burns said the court was satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Bonney was the sole driver of a distinctive black BMW X5 seen in CCTV footage shown in court.

Ms Justice Burns said the court was satisfied Bonney was present at the centre of the operations of the attack.

Ms Justice Burns said that evidence given to the court by a witness that appeared to support Mr Bonneys defence should be viewed with scepticism.

She also said that it was a bizarre situation if the witness had vital exonerating information about Mr Bonney and did not act on it until approached by a solicitor in relation to the trial.

She said that she was satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr Bonneys father William, who died in 2019, had not left his house on the afternoon of the Regency murder, and had not driven the black BMW jeep used to facilitate the Regency Hotel murder on that day.

She said that the court has been lied to in the most malevolent manner and that it was quite frankly amazing that it could have been believed that these lies would be accepted by the court.

A dead father has been implicated in the Regency by his sons witnesses, she said.

She said that Mr Bonney knowingly provided access to his vehicle at St Vincents GAA club, where nearby CCTV footage showed the six-man hit team walking shortly after the murder.

Both men have now been taken into custody ahead of a sentence hearing on May 8.

The family members of Mr Byrne were present in the court as the judgment was read out by Ms Justice Burns, sitting alongside judges Sarah Berkeley and Grainne Malone.

The high-profile trial in the non-jury Special Criminal Court in Dublin concluded in January after hearing 52 days of evidence.

The defendant has been held at Dublins Wheatfield Prison on remand having been extradited back to Ireland from Spain in September 2021.

There was a police presence outside the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin on Monday morning, and a long queue to get access to the courtroom to hear proceedings.
The people of Northern Ireland and their political leaders changed history 25 years ago when the Good Friday Agreement was signed, a major conference in Belfast has been told.

Former US senator George Mitchell, who chaired the negotiations in 1998, also said the deal set an example for peace around the world, and urged people in the region not to let it slip away.

Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who is hosting the Agreement 25 conference as part of her role as chancellor at Queens University in Belfast, urged current politicians to move forward with the same spirit of unstoppable grit and resolve as their predecessors had done.

Ex-US president Bill Clinton, Sir Tony Blair and former taoiseach Bertie Ahern are also scheduled to participate in the three-day event, 25 years on from the landmark accord.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar are due to attend later in the week.

The agreement largely ended Northern Irelands 30-year sectarian conflict.

Making the keynote address at the opening of the conference, Mr Mitchell said: Twenty-five years ago the people of Northern Ireland and their leaders changed the course of history.

It was a day when history opened itself to hope.

Sir Tony Blair is among the architects of the Good Friday Agreement taking part in a conference in Belfast (Niall Carson/PA)

The people of Northern Ireland supported, worked for and established a democratic, peaceful process as their preferred form of governance.

They overwhelmingly rejected political violence as a way to resolve their differences.

If history teaches us anything, it is that history itself is never finished.

On the evening the agreement was reached, I commended the men and women who wrote and signed it, but I also said it would take other leaders in the future to safeguard and extend their work.

And so it has.

I am here, with many others, to sound that bell one more time.

Mr Mitchell said the peace deal was not perfect, but called on the current and future leaders of Northern Ireland to act with courage and vision.

He said: To find workable answers to the daily problems of the present, to preserve peace.

To leave to the next generation peace, freedom, opportunity and the hope of a better future for their children.

At the end of his address, Mr Mitchell said the referendum which approved the Good Friday Agreement had shown people around the world the possibility of hope.

He said: When you approved the agreement you were also talking to Israelis and Palestinians, to Colombians, to Africans, Asians, to Americans  in fact you were talking to the world.

This is an agreement for peace and for the future, not just here, but everywhere.

George Mitchell said the Good Friday Agreement was for the world (Niall Carson/PA)

He added: We need people who believe, who know that the possible does exist within the impossible  dont let it slip away.

The Good Friday Agreement created powersharing institutions at Stormont that involved nationalists and unionists governing Northern Ireland together in a mandatory coalition arrangement.

While the pact largely ended the Troubles, which had claimed more than 3,600 lives since the late 1960s, it has failed to bring long-term political stability in the region and devolution has collapsed several times in the last two decades.

The anniversary comes amid another period of collapse, with the DUP blocking powersharing in protest at post-Brexit trading arrangements that have created economic barriers between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

The barriers were first introduced under the Withdrawal Agreements contentious Northern Ireland Protocol.

The UK and EU recently agreed the Windsor Framework as a way to cut the red tape created by the protocol.

While the DUP says the framework has gone some way to address its concerns about the protocol, it says significant problems remain.

Hillary Clinton speaking during the three-day international conference at Queens University Belfast (Niall Carson/PA)

The party has opposed the framework at Westminster and has made clear its boycott of Stormont will continue until it secures further assurances from the UK Government over its concerns around sovereignty and the application of EU law in Northern Ireland.

Mrs Clinton said the Windsor Framework on post-Brexit trade provided Northern Ireland with an opportunity to become an economic hub for global trade and investment.

While the Good Friday Agreement is an enormous achievement, we know that peace, prosperity and progress that so many have worked tirelessly to achieve remains incomplete, she said.

The work of integration and housing and schools is far from finished, neighbourhoods remain divided, poverty and unemployment persist, the difficulties of the past continue to threaten the present.

You know, we are at a standstill with the Northern Ireland Assembly no longer functioning. But the Windsor agreement provides a path forward not just for convening but for positioning Northern Ireland as an economic hub for global trade and investment through privileged access to the UK and all of its trading partners, as well as the EU.

She added: There have been many moments in Northern Irelands peace journey where progress seemed difficult, when every route forward looked blocked, there seemed nowhere to go.

But you have always found a way through and I believe you will again, because the stakes for the people of Northern Ireland are so high.

You stand as an example to the world of how even the staunchest adversaries can overcome differences to work together for the common and greater good.

So, I encourage everyone now to move forward with the same spirit of unstoppable grit and resolve that brought the peace 25 years ago. Your friends in the United States will be behind you all the way as you work toward peace, prosperity and stability that lasts.
The institutions of the Good Friday Agreement need to be continually worked to secure them for the future, Sir Tony Blair said.

The former prime minister is joining other political leaders from Northern Irelands peace process era at a major conference commemorating the Good Friday Agreement.

Ex-US president Bill Clinton and former taoiseach Bertie Ahern will also participate in the three-day event, at Queens University in Belfast, 25 years on from the landmark accord.

Senator George Mitchell, who chaired the peace negotiations in 1998, will take part as well.

Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton is hosting the conference as part of her role as chancellor at Queens.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar are due to attend later in the week.

The agreement largely ended Northern Irelands 30-year sectarian conflict.

Sir Tony told the BBC there are people alive today because of the peace deal.

He said: But I am the first to say it takes a long time for the mistrust to disappear, for the institutional arrangements to make full sense to people, and youve got to work at it the whole time.

He added: When you look back over this 25 years, from time to time we have had that same energy, from time to time we havent.

But youve got to keep it and youve got to work at it all the time if you want it to be secure for the future.

Sir Tony remembered being criticised when he first met with former Sinn Fein leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness and with loyalist leaders.

He said: But the reality is  and this is what is so important about politics for the future  if everyone had just stuck in their positions and said, As a result of doing things which are unjustified in the past, we are not prepared to talk, we would never have had the Good Friday Agreement. We would never have made progress.

So the important lesson is: progress only comes when people in positions of power are prepared to take decisions that are difficult, that are going to be controversial, that are going to be highly criticised, but where in the end you believe there is a better and higher purpose that can be achieved by this engagement.

Hillary Clinton is the chancellor at Queens University (Brian Lawless/PA)

The settlement created powersharing institutions at Stormont that involved nationalists and unionists governing Northern Ireland together in a mandatory coalition arrangement.

While the pact largely ended the Troubles, which had claimed more than 3,600 lives since the late 1960s, it has failed to bring long-term political stability in the region and devolution has collapsed several times in the last two decades.

The anniversary comes amid another period of collapse, with the DUP blocking powersharing in protest at post-Brexit trading arrangements that have created economic barriers between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

Sir Tony and Cherie Blair arrive at a gala dinner to recognise Mo Mowlams contribution to the peace process (Niall Carson/PA)

The barriers were first introduced under the Withdrawal Agreements contentious Northern Ireland Protocol.

The UK and EU recently agreed the Windsor Framework as a way to cut the red tape created by the protocol.

While the DUP says the framework has gone some way to address its concerns about the protocol, it says significant problems remain.

The party has opposed the framework at Westminster and has made clear its boycott of Stormont will continue until it secures further assurances from the UK government over its concerns around sovereignty and the application of EU law in Northern Ireland.

Mr Ahern said barriers were broken down to secure the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern is welcomed by Laura McCorry of Hillsborough Castle and Ryan Feeney, right, of Queens University at a Gala dinner to recognise Mo Mowlams contribution to the peace process and mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement (Niall Carson/PA)

He told the BBC: We had the right mix of people and because we were at it night and day for eight or nine months, if not for a number of years before that.

We knew this wasnt going to be perfect, but there was a feeling with the help of the European Union, with the help of Bill Clinton and the Americans, the fact that all the parties were getting on reasonably well, we had broken down the barriers.

The former Irish premier said it is disappointing US President Joe Biden was unable to address the Stormont Assembly during his visit to Northern Ireland last week.

He said: Yeah, no doubt about it, that would have been a great thing around the world.

That would have been a really, really powerful shot and position and speech from Stormont and unfortunately that didnt happen.

Anyone who comes in and says they dont regret that isnt telling the truth.

Several events took place over the weekend ahead of the conferences start.

On Sunday evening, a special dinner was held at Hillsborough Castle to mark the contribution to the peace process by the late Mo Mowlam, who was Northern Ireland Secretary in 1998.
Justice Minister Simon Harris said that he will continue to support the efforts of An Garda Siochana to tackle gangland crime.

The statement was released following the acquittal of Gerry The Monk Hutch for the murder of David Byrne after he was shot at a crowded boxing weigh-in event at the Regency Hotel on February 5 2016.

Two men were found guilty of lesser charges on facilitating the murder of Mr Byrne through providing cars that formed part of the six-man attack teams convoy on the day in question.

Paul Murphy, 62, of Cherry Avenue, Swords, and Jason Bonney, 52, of Drumnigh Wood in Portmarnock, were found guilty of providing two separate motor vehicles, which they were knowing or reckless as to whether those actions could facilitate a serious offence by a criminal organisation, namely the murder of Mr Byrne.

In a statement following the verdicts, the minister said he notes the judgments of the Special Criminal Court and the independence of the courts in exercising their functions.

The Minister also notes An Garda Siochanas investigation into the murder and events at the Regency Hotel on February 5 2016 remains live and is continuing, he said.

An Garda Siichana has made significant progress in tackling gangland crime in recent years, and the minister and Government will continue to support them in their efforts.

Sinn Fein Party leader Mary Lou McDonald speaking to the media (Brian Lawless/PA)

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said the murder of Mr Byrne was a brutal and callous crime and commended the Gardai and the courts for their work.

She also once again rejected allegations heard in court during the high-profile murder trial that she had used the Hutch family for money and votes, and distanced herself from a key State witness in the trial.

The murder of David Byrne in 2016 was a brutal and callous crime which brought the full extent of the threat posed by organised crime networks in this country into sharp focus, she said.

Today, there were two successful convictions in relation to the shocking attack at the Regency Hotel.

I commend the Gardai and the courts for their work, and I know that the Gardai will not cease in their efforts until those responsible for the murder are brought to justice.

I also know that the Gardai will continue to investigate and confront organised crime within the community and they have my and my partys full and wholehearted support in this endeavour.

The Gardai and the criminal justice system must continue to effectively and relentlessly target the organised crime bosses, their operations and their assets and be given all the resources and powers they need.

We need targeted and substantial investment in community development, education and employment, particularly in those areas of our cities where organised crime gangs are recruiting members and where their malign influence has had a devastating effect on social cohesion.

Ms McDonald added: In relation to false and deeply offensive comments made about me during the course of this trial, I want to set out the facts.

I have never met Gerard Hutch. I have never received money or electoral support from Gerard Hutch.

The record shows, that I have stood resolutely on the side of the community in the fight against criminal gangs, drug dealers and anti-social elements, and I will continue to do so.

Jonathan Dowdall should never have been a member of Sinn Fein.

Had I known what he would become involved in he would not have been a party member for one minute, never mind running for public office  I would not tolerate that.

The State had pursued the case against Hutch for the murder of Byrne in the 52-day trial.

Evidence from a key State witness, former Sinn Fein councillor Jonathan Dowdall, was dismissed as largely unreliable without corroboration in the form of other evidence before the court.

The judge questioned Mr Dowdalls relationship with the truth and said he had told lie after lie during an interview with Gardai in May 2016.
The Liberal Democrats have called for an investigation after accusing the Prime Minister of flouting purdah rules by making a policy announcement in the run-up to local elections.

Christine Jardine MP said she is deeply concerned that the move breaches the Governments own guidance on the pre-election period of sensitivity.

Purdah rules restrict what communications activity can take place in the weeks before polling day.

Government resources cannot be used for party political campaigning and particular care is meant to be taken in the run-up to an election to ensure the impartiality of the civil service.

In a letter addressed to Cabinet Secretary Simon Case on Monday, Ms Jardine called for an investigation to be opened immediately into the Governments maths to 18 announcement.

The plans, outlined in a speech by Rishi Sunak at a north London college, would see all pupils studying the subject in some form up to the age of 18.

I am highly concerned that this announcement is breaching purdah rules. As you will be aware, we are now in the pre-election purdah period, which began on Thursday 13 April in relation to local elections in England, the Lib Dems Cabinet Office spokesperson wrote.

Todays announcement on mathematics has been fully supported by Government resources, including a Downing Street press release. Education is also clearly an area of relevant importance to local authorities and, accordingly, a local election campaign.

I am therefore very concerned that the purdah rules have been breached by the Government in regards to this announcement.

I therefore urge you to open an investigation as to whether this announcement breached purdah rules. If concerns were expressed by officials, were they ignored by Conservative ministers?

This Govt completely ignores all the purdah rules https://t.co/A9cclWPJyC  Angela Eagle DBE (@angelaeagle) April 17, 2023

Labour MP Angela Eagle also hit out in a tweet: This (Government) completely ignores all the purdah rules.

Purdah rules apply to new policy announcements but the Lib Dems had issued a statement hours earlier describing Mondays pledge as a rehashed plan.

Other critics including Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, accused Mr Sunak of reannouncing a vague and poorly thought-out policy first set out in January.

The Prime Ministers official spokesman told reporters the Government ensured that announcements were within the rules.

We are aware of the rules that guide local election purdah and abide by them, the spokesman said.
Renault's CEO, Fabrice Cambolive, has cautioned other electric vehicle manufacturers to take heed of the latest Tesla price cuts.

Despite Renault's sales rising by 9% in the first quarter of the year, following a restructuring that prioritizes its most profitable models, Cambolive stated that the company would scrutinize its pricing policies worldwide in response to Tesla's actions.

He told reporters that Renault would analyze country by country, market by market, to determine what degree of performance Renault needs to have to remain in the competition, Reuters reported.

Fabrice Cambolive said that despite a very restricted pricing strategy, sales of the Megane electric vehicle, one of its most popular models, had increased significantly in March, per The Economic Times.

Tesla price cuts started on Friday, continuing a worldwide discount campaign in China in January, after lowering costs many times in the US, including in France, where Renault is headquartered. Tesla also cut prices in Israel and Singapore.

Read Also: Endometriosis Linked to How Immune System Works

Renault Sales Impacted By COVID-19, Russia-Ukraine War

Cambolive said that Renault's recovery continued into April but added that Tesla price cuts served as a wake-up call for rivals.

In the first three months of the year, 354,545 automobiles were sold under the Renault brand worldwide.

Renault's group-wide sales fell by 5.9% in 2022, primarily due to the loss of the Russian market following the conflict in Ukraine.

Sales for Renault, which represent two-thirds of the total, dropped by 9.4% last year, marking their fourth consecutive year of decline. Renault is banking on higher-margin cars to boost profits and plans to spin off and list its electric vehicle unit on the market this year, according to a report published by the Financial Post.

The COVID-19 pandemic and a global chip shortage hit Renault harder than its competitors. The company also manufactures Dacia and Alpine vehicles and is set to release group-wide sales data on Thursday.

Related Article: Tesla Sparks Outrage Among Giga Shanghai Workers

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A man accused of murdering a nine-year-old girl has been declared unfit to stand trial.

Deividas Skebas allegedly stabbed Lilia Valutyte in Fountain Lane, Boston, Lincolnshire, at about 6.20pm last July 28.

At a hearing at Lincoln Crown Court, Judge Simon Hirst said the 23-year-old is not fit to enter a plea or stand trial.

Lilias loved ones said they had four corners and now one is gone after the schoolgirl died (Lincolnshire Police/PA)

Instead, a trial of the facts, to be heard at the same court, has been scheduled for July 10.

Skebas, of Thorold Street, Boston, was not at Monday mornings hearing.

A trial of the facts is where the prosecution sets out the case in front of a jury but the defendant does not have to play a part in proceedings or be present in court.

The jury then decides if the defendant committed the alleged offence, though their conclusion cannot result in a criminal conviction.
Political parties in Northern Ireland should reach for compromise to resolve the current Stormont impasse, the man who chaired the Good Friday Agreement negotiations has said.

Former US senator George Mitchell urged leaders to act with the courage and wisdom that their predecessors had done 25 years ago.

Mr Mitchell was delivering the keynote speech on the first morning of the Agreement 25 conference at Queens University in Belfast, marking the anniversary of the deal which largely ended the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

The audience gives a standing ovation to Hillary Clinton and George Mitchell as they arrive on stage at Queens University (Niall Carson/PA)

He said: Today, a quarter century after the agreement, the people of Northern Ireland continue to wrestle with their doubts, their differences, their disagreements.

They will continue to do so no matter how successful their political leaders are.

The answer is not perfection or permanence, it is now, as it was then, for the current and future leaders of Northern Ireland to act with courage and vision as their predecessors did 25 years ago.

To find workable answers to the daily problems of the present, to preserve peace.

To leave to the next generation peace, freedom, opportunity and the hope of a better future for their children.

The Stormont powersharing institutions, the main element of the 1998 deal, are currently not operating due to disagreements over post-Brexit trading arrangements.

Mr Mitchell said: I know that each of your parties  like all political parties in the world  have some of what I call the 100 percenters, they want everything their way all the time  to them, any compromise is a sign of weakness, he said.

I say to you that reasoned, principled compromise is essential, especially in divided societies. It reflects a belief in democratic values that we all are in this together.

There is great depth in recognising that the only way to help us emerge from the rubble of conflict is that we must learn to understand one another. We dont need to love one another.

We dont even need to like one another, although we hope we could. But we must learn to understand one another and to be able to say yes to one another, especially when the quicker and easier answer is no.

Because, like it or not, we are all in this together, facing the reality of the future, rather than clinging to the myths of the past, takes strength and courage, and vision.

Those we honour today showed those qualities a quarter of a century ago, they will be forever remembered.

Hillary Clinton and George Mitchell on stage during the conference at Queens University Belfast to mark the 25th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement (Niall Carson/PA)

Mr Mitchell said it was unmistakably clear that the people of Northern Ireland did not want violence to return.

During his speech, he asked the audience to observe a moment of silence in tribute to the victims of the Troubles.

He also ask them to applaud for the politicians who struck the agreement 25 years ago.

I say now to the current and future leaders of Northern Ireland, there is much in your history and in your politics that divide you, but there also is much that can bring you together, that can inspire you to continue what your predecessors began a quarter century ago, he said.

It is not a sign of weakness to resolve your differences by democratic and peaceful means. To the contrary, it is a sign of strength and of wisdom, and it clearly reflects the will of the overwhelming majority of the people of Northern Ireland.

Yes, they often disagree, sometimes very strongly.

Yes, they may take offence quickly. But it is unmistakably clear that the people of Northern Ireland do not want to return to violence, not now and not ever.
Energy suppliers have reportedly agreed to a ban on forcibly installing prepayment meters (PPMs) in the homes of people over 85.

The PA news agency understands that on Tuesday at 7am, energy regulator Ofgem will announce that all suppliers in England, Scotland and Wales have signed up to a code of practice setting out clear procedures which must be followed to protect vulnerable customers.

PPMs have been in the spotlight after some energy suppliers were caught breaking into the homes of people struggling to pay their bills to forcibly install them.

The new rules mean tougher oversight of PPMs which are enforced under warrant installations or remotely switched without consent.

Under the rules suppliers will now have to make at least 10 attempts to contact a customer  and conduct a site welfare visit before a PPM is installed, The Guardian has reported.

Suppliers will reportedly make representatives fitting them wear body cameras or audio equipment, and they will not be allowed to fit meters for customers over 85 or anyone with a terminal illness.

The newspaper reported that those forced on to a prepay meter  either by warrant or remotely  will be given 30 of credit initially to reduce the risk of them losing supply.

It is reported that suppliers have also been told to identify where meters were wrongfully installed and to return the customer to their previous tariff and offer compensation.

Forced installations will also be considered a last resort, the code is expected to set out.

The Guardian said Ofgem chief executive Jonathan Brearley will expect suppliers to treat their most vulnerable customers as they would want their own loved ones to be treated.

An investigation by The Times revealed how vulnerable customers  including disabled and mentally ill people  were being forced by British Gas on to the pay-as-you-go meters or having their gas switched off.

Firms were temporarily banned from installing prepayment energy meters under warrant.
A not-for-profit lettings agency will be rolled out as part of an initiative to help tackle affordable homes shortages.

Lloyds Banking Group and homelessness charity Crisis have joined forces in a new two-year partnership.

Lloyds said fundraising will support Crisis to develop and launch a new not-for-profit lettings agency.

To do this, Crisis will partner with and draw on the successes of Scotland-based social enterprise lettings agency Homes for Good, to help make renting easier and more affordable.

Homes For Good was founded in 2013 to improve conditions in the private rented sector for tenants and landlords and to support people on low incomes to access quality homes in the private rental sector.

The new agency will aim to match and support both tenants and landlords and avoid poor and exclusionary practices.

For example, people who are homeless will not be asked to provide rent in advance, will not need to meet strict reference requirements, and will not need to provide guarantors. Profits from the agency will be reinvested into supporting people experiencing homelessness to find good quality, affordable homes.

The lettings agency will start operating in London later this year with the ambition to roll it out across Britain, Lloyds said.

As part of the new two-year partnership, Lloyds and Crisis are also calling for one million new social homes to be built in the next decade.

Lloyds Banking Group said it has provided nearly 15 billion in financing to the social housing sector since 2018, supporting more than 200 housing associations across the UK.

Charlie Nunn, chief executive at Lloyds Banking Group, said: A good home is a fundamental human need, and yet the reality is a chronic lack of affordable housing in the UK.

This means there are too many people trapped in a cycle of temporary accommodation, or living in poor, sometimes dangerous conditions. This cannot be right and is why today we are announcing our new partnership with Crisis  calling for one million new social homes to be built by 2033, with the clear focus on helping people who are most at risk of homelessness.

Matt Downie, chief executive at Crisis, said: Our new partnership with Lloyds Banking Group will ensure we can take the bold action that is desperately needed to begin tackling the biggest issue facing the people we support  the chronic shortage of good quality, affordable housing.

Our new lettings agency will mean we can help people experiencing homelessness directly into a safe, settled homes, the essential foundation they need to rebuild their lives.
The NHS is spending more than 1 million a week hiring private ambulances to attend emergency calls, according to research by a trade union.

Unison said its figures were based on responses from two thirds of ambulance trusts in England that pay commercial companies to provide cover for critically ill patients.

More than a dozen private companies are being commissioned by ambulance trusts across England to fill widening gaps in services and to meet response times amid overwhelming demand, the union claimed.

Trusts are booking private emergency vehicles and crews up to a year in advance to be available to respond to emergency incidents such as road traffic accidents and stroke patients, said Unison.

It warned that spending tens of millions on private 999 cover is a short-term fix, not a long-term solution to the crisis in ambulance services.

Speaking ahead of the unions annual health conference in Bournemouth, Unisons head of health Sara Gorton said: This spend on private 999 services shows a lack of long-term planning and is a shocking waste of money.

Its nothing more than a sticking-plaster solution.

Sara Gorton is Unisons head of health (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

Ambulance services are in a desperate state because the Government has failed to invest long term.

Patients are waiting ages for help to arrive or worse still dying before crews can reach them.

Others are stuck in emergency vehicles outside hospitals for hours and hours on end waiting for a bed.

This is a crisis of the Governments own making that can only be resolved with a long-term plan.

Ministers must step up and come up with proper funding to tackle increasing demand and pay staff properly.
Northern Irelands political leaders know the right thing to do to solve the Stormont stalemate  and need to get on and do it, former prime minister Sir Tony Blair has said.

Sir Tony was appearing alongside ex-US president Bill Clinton and former taoiseach Bertie Ahern at a major conference marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

Mr Ahern said he deeply hoped that the DUP would allow the powersharing institutions to return, while Mr Clinton spoke about how politicians winged it to help secure the historic peace deal in 1998.

Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who is hosting the Agreement 25 conference as part of her role as chancellor at Queens University in Belfast, chaired the panel discussion between the three former leaders.

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (left) and former US President Bill Clinton attend a banquet at Belfast City Hall, as part of the events of a three-day international conference at Queens University Belfast to mark the 25th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. (Niall Carson/PA)

Mr and Mrs Clinton were among political and civic leaders from across the UK and Ireland  including Senator George Mitchell, Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris, Catholic primate Eamon Martin and former Irish presidents Mary McAleese and Mary Robinson  who attended a banquet at Belfast City Hall as part of the events on Monday evening.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar are due to attend the conference later in the week.

The Good Friday Agreement largely ended Northern Irelands 30-year sectarian conflict.

Sir Tony Blair on stage at the conference (Niall Carson/PA)

Sir Tony said: We know the peace isnt perfect. We know the institutions have often been rocky and unstable as they are today.

We know theres still a lot of distrust and mistrust between the communities.

But we also know that Northern Ireland is a much better place than it was before the Good Friday Agreement.

And the only thing I would say to todays leaders is I think when you stand back and you reflect, you know in your heart of hearts, what the right thing to do is, and you should just get on and do it.

Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern listening to the speakers (Niall Carson/PA)

Mr Ahern said the alternatives to the Good Friday Agreement are not good.

He added: So, lets hope they (the DUP) listen to what George Mitchell said today, and listen to what were saying, that we all just get back on the track.

Theres too many big things to be dealing with than to be arguing about some detail that was caused over something or another, which Im not sure what it is even.

He added: So just lets move forward and try and make this work.

Former US president Bill Clinton is attending the conference to mark the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement (Liam McBurney/PA)

Mr Clinton told the conference that the 1998 peace deal came about because political leaders decided the time was right to do the right thing.

He said: It just happens, nobodys perfect, you cant foresee all this, and the fact that we trusted each other and we trusted (George) Mitchell, I think we earned the trust of the parties in Northern Ireland that we were dealing with across the board, because they thought we would be straight with them, and thats how it happened.

There were days I felt like I was taking Seamus Heaneys advice to take a flying leap and walk on air against your better judgment.

Thats how it started. We all just decided that the time was right to do the right thing.

Mr Clinton said people thought they were crazy to believe they could get the paramilitary groups to decommission their arms.

Wed like to tell you that we had it all thought through but the truth is we made up a lot of it as we went along, we had to wing it, he said.

A number of former political leaders are taking part in the event at Queens University in Belfast (Niall Carson/PA)

The Good Friday Agreement created powersharing institutions at Stormont that involved nationalists and unionists governing Northern Ireland together in a mandatory coalition arrangement.

While the pact largely ended the Troubles, which had claimed more than 3,600 lives since the late 1960s, it has failed to bring long-term political stability in the region and devolution has collapsed several times in the last two decades.

The anniversary comes amid another period of collapse, with the DUP blocking powersharing in protest at post-Brexit trading arrangements that have created economic barriers between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

The barriers were first introduced under the Withdrawal Agreements contentious Northern Ireland Protocol.

The UK and EU recently agreed the Windsor Framework as a way to cut the red tape created by the protocol.

While the DUP says the framework has gone some way to address its concerns about the protocol, it says significant problems remain.

The party has opposed the framework at Westminster and has made clear its boycott of Stormont will continue until it secures further assurances from the UK Government over its concerns around sovereignty and the application of EU law in Northern Ireland.

George Mitchell made the keynote address on the first day of the conference (Niall Carson/PA)

Making the keynote address earlier in the day, former US senator George Mitchell, who chaired the 1998 negotiations, said the people of Northern Ireland and their political leaders changed history 25 years ago.

He said: When you approved the agreement you were also talking to Israelis and Palestinians, to Colombians, to Africans, Asians, to Americans  in fact you were talking to the world.

This is an agreement for peace and for the future, not just here, but everywhere.

He added: We need people who believe, who know that the possible does exist within the impossible  dont let it slip away.

A bust in honour of Mr Mitchell was later unveiled in the grounds of the Belfast campus.

Hillary Clinton said the Windsor Framework provided opportunities for Northern Ireland (Niall Carson/PA)

Mrs Clinton said the Windsor Framework on post-Brexit trade provided Northern Ireland with an opportunity to become an economic hub for global trade and investment.

While the Good Friday Agreement is an enormous achievement, we know that peace, prosperity and progress that so many have worked tirelessly to achieve remains incomplete, she said.

The work of integration and housing and schools is far from finished, neighbourhoods remain divided, poverty and unemployment persist, the difficulties of the past continue to threaten the present.

You know, we are at a standstill with the Northern Ireland Assembly no longer functioning. But the Windsor agreement provides a path forward not just for convening but for positioning Northern Ireland as an economic hub for global trade and investment through privileged access to the UK and all of its trading partners, as well as the EU.

She added: There have been many moments in Northern Irelands peace journey where progress seemed difficult, when every route forward looked blocked, there seemed nowhere to go.

But you have always found a way through and I believe you will again, because the stakes for the people of Northern Ireland are so high.

You stand as an example to the world of how even the staunchest adversaries can overcome differences to work together for the common and greater good.

So, I encourage everyone now to move forward with the same spirit of unstoppable grit and resolve that brought the peace 25 years ago. Your friends in the United States will be behind you all the way as you work toward peace, prosperity and stability that lasts.
A nurse accused of multiple murders of babies wept in the dock as photographs of her bedroom were shown in court.

Lucy Letby, 33, cried as the images were displayed during her trial at Manchester Crown Court.

She was first arrested in July 2018 on suspicion of attacking infants in her care  two years after she worked her last shift at the Countess of Chester Hospitals neonatal unit.

Letby was moved by health chiefs to the hospitals risk and patient safety office after consultants raised concerns about her common link to numerous collapses of patients at the unit.

Lucy Letbys murder trial is taking place at Manchester Crown Court (Steve Allen/PA)

She denies murdering seven babies and attempting to murder 10 others between June 2015 and June 2016.

On Monday, jurors were told the defendant was first arrested at her three-bedroom property in Westbourne Road, Chester, at 6am on July 3 2018.

A distressed Letby wiped away tears as photographs of her bedroom  taken by a crime scene investigator  appeared on screen in court.

On the bedroom walls there were two framed pictures containing the slogans Shine Like A Diamond and Leave Sparkles Wherever You Go.

Two teddy bears were positioned on an unmade double bed while among items on the floor were a red suitcase, a large burgundy handbag and a small black handbag, the court heard.

Prosecutor Philip Astbury said three handwritten notes were recovered by police from one of the handbags.

The notes contained closely written words which filled the pages and included declarations of love for a doctor colleague, who cannot be identified for legal reasons.

Next to his name was I loved you and my best friend.

Also contained in the notes were the words Help Me, I Cant Do This Any More and How Can Life Be This Way.

Jurors were told that a 2016 diary was recovered from a chest of drawers.

A reference to twins was recorded for April 8, the date of birth for two twin boys the Crown say Letby attempted to murder, the court heard.

On April 9 a note stating twin resus was made.

Further entries on June 23, 24 and 25 included initial letters which the Crown say related to three other babies, including two triplet boys, that Letby allegedly attacked on those dates following her return from a holiday to Ibiza.

Mr Astbury said a green Post-it note, shown to jurors at the start of Letbys trial, was found inside the diary.

Part of the note read I dont deserve to live. I killed them on purpose because Im not good enough to care for them, I am a horrible evil person and in capital letters I am evil I did this.

An A4-size piece of paper containing similarly jumbled handwritten notes was also found in the diary, the court heard.

One sentence read: I killed them. I dont know if I killed them. Maybe I did. Maybe this is down to me.

The words kill me written in bold and circled could also be seen.

Other words appearing on the A4 paper were foreign objects, slander, tired, crime number, diagnosis compromised, risk factors and, repeatedly, help me.

A note found in a police search of the home of Lucy Letby, which read: I am evil I did this in capital letters (Crown Prosecution Service/PA)

In his opening speech, Ben Myers KC, defending, told jurors the Post-it note was the anguished outpouring of a young woman.

He added Letby was at the time in fear and despair when she realises the enormity of whats being said about her, in the moment, to herself.

Underneath her bed an Ibiza bag for life was found which contained four shift handover sheets for the dates of June 23, June 24, June 25 and June 28 2016, the court heard.

Also in the bag was her NHS registered childrens nurse work badge, jurors heard.

A Morrisons shopping bag recovered from the bedroom contained 31 handover sheets, a blood gas reading for a child she allegedly attacked and a paper towel containing handwritten resuscitation notes.

Searches also took place on July 3 2018 at Letbys parents home in Hereford and at the defendants workplace at the hospitals risk and patient safety office.

An annual leave request form from Letby  covered with untidily written jumbled words  was found in a blue folder of papers during the office search, the court heard.

Hearts were doodled on the form along with random words Tigger, Smudge, Bergerac and Help Me.

Sentences scrawled across the form included I trusted you with everything and loved you, I really cant do this any more, I just want life to be as it was, I want to be happy in the job that I loved,. really dont belong anywhere, Im a problem to those who do know me and it would be much easier for everyone if I just went away.

Letby was re-arrested at her parents home on June 10 2019 and November 11 2020, the court heard.

A search of the garage at the Westbourne Road property on June 10 revealed another handwritten note found in a black bin bag.

Phrases on that note included killing me softly, broken hearted and no-one will ever know what happened or why.

Six pages of medical notes of children unrelated to the trial were found at her parents home on the same date.

A total of 257 handover sheets were recovered during searches in the investigation, of which 21 included the names of babies she is alleged to have harmed.

Letby denies all the allegations.
One in 25 older people living alone in some areas of England and Wales have no central heating, new analysis suggests.

Barrow-in-Furness, Portsmouth and Pendle are among the local authorities with at least 4% of one-person households aged 65 and over in this position, as well as several boroughs in London.

Overall, more than 66,000 over-65s across the two nations are likely to be living alone without central heating, according to analysis of census 2021 data by the PA news agency.

Age UK described the findings as being of tremendous concern and warned of potentially serious consequences for older peoples health and wellbeing.

Some 11 local authority areas recorded at least 4% of people aged 65 and over living alone with no central heating.

(PA Graphics)

Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria had the highest proportion at 5.4% (262 people), followed by Gwynedd in north-west Wales (4.6% or 401 people), Portsmouth (4.5% or 498), and Pendle in Lancashire (4.4% or 237).

London boroughs Waltham Forest, Lambeth and Westminster were also among the highest areas, with 4.3% (371 people), 4.1% (425) and 4.0% (407) respectively.

Having no central heating is one of the household characteristics used as an indicator of deprivation.

There were 3.1 million one-person households aged 65 and over in England and Wales on March 21 2021, the day of the census, and of those 2.1%  66,027  had no central heating.

The PA analysis also found that more than 100 local authority areas had at least two-fifths of older people living alone who are disabled  another indicator of deprivation.

The definition of disabled used by the census is people who have assessed their day-to-day activities as limited by long-term physical or mental health conditions or illnesses.

While Blaenau Gwent had the highest proportion of disabled older people living alone  50.7% or 2,288 people  it was among the areas with the lowest proportion of older people living alone without central heating, at 0.8% or 36 people.

County Durham, North East Derbyshire and Hart in Hampshire all had the lowest proportion of lone older people without central heating, at 0.7%.

After Blaenau Gwent, the areas with the highest percentage of disabled older people living alone were Knowsley (49.7% or 4,269 people) and Liverpool (49.1% or 13,256 people).

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at older peoples charity Age UK told PA: Having limited money in later life really impacts day-to-day living, exacerbating feelings of loneliness and disconnection from society.

These figures are of tremendous concern, as older people lacking central heating often find it very difficult to stay warm during the winter months with potentially serious consequences for their health and wellbeing.

Living alone can make this situation worse as it means that one persons income has to stretch further to cover the fixed costs of heating a home, and it can, in some cases, lead to social isolation, which can have additional negative consequences.

Ms Abrahams called on the Government to make sure that it is prepared for next winter.

She added: Expanding central heating access and providing suitable alternatives to keep older people warm will be absolutely key.

(PA Graphics)

When looking at the proportion of older people living alone in one-bedroom accommodation, the local authorities with the highest figures are all in London, with Westminster top of the list (52.4% or 5,272 people), followed by Camden (48.7%) and Hackney (46.9%).

Southampton (34.6%), Brighton & Hove (33.7%) and Portsmouth (30.7%) have the highest proportion for areas outside London.

Age UK said anyone who is struggling, or their concerned families and friends, can contact its free Age UK advice line on 0800 169 65 65 which is open every day from 8am until 7pm.

Labours shadow climate change secretary Ed Miliband said: These figures are deeply concerning. No person in Britain should have to live in a cold home, and it is a disgrace that this is happening under Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives.

Labour would launch a national Warm Homes Plan to upgrade every home that needs it, so that every family can have the warmth they need and cheaper energy bills.

And with our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower, we will cut bills for good.
The SNP is so divided and distracted by internal difficulties that it is no longer governing in the interests of Scotland, Labours Anas Sarwar said as he called for an early Holyrood election.

Amid speculation that former first minister Nicola Sturgeon may be about to quit as an MSP, prompting a by-election in Glasgow Southside, Mr Sarwar said a wider election across all of Scotland was needed.

The Scottish Labour leader said: If Nicola Sturgeon is going to resign and, of course, that is a matter for Nicola Sturgeon, its a matter for the SNP, not a matter for me, but I am more interested in us having a wider election, not just an election in one constituency.

He challenged SNP leader Humza Yousaf to call an early Holyrood vote, with Mr Sarwar saying: We need a government that is on the side of people across this country, so lets call an election and lets let the people decide what the priorities are and elect a functioning government in Scotland.

With the SNP having suffered a bruising leadership contest, followed by scenes of police searching the home Ms Sturgeon shares with former chief executive Peter Murrell amid an investigation into the partys finances, Mr Sarwar said the SNP was now so divided, it is so distracted, that it is not governing in the interests of Scotland.

His comments came after a speech in the Pollok Community Centre, in Mr Yousafs own constituency, where Mr Sarwar said the SNP was now irretrievably divided.

The Scottish Labour leader said: As they turn inwards and fight among themselves, the SNP have completely forgotten what matters.

When you have a party that cares only about dividing the country, its no wonder that the party itself is now irretrievably divided.

Leader of @ScottishLabour @AnasSarwar setting out Labours vision for Scotland. We are ready for the election and to fight for every vote. pic.twitter.com/ts0ilNDxXs  Jackie Baillie (@jackiebmsp) April 17, 2023

He claimed Ms Sturgeon and Mr Murrell had together covered up the truth about their own party, with Mr Sarwar saying the pair tried to cover up their failings in office.

With Mr Yousaf having replaced Ms Sturgeon as SNP leader and Scottish First Minister after a divisive leadership contest, the Labour MSP said that festering wounds in the SNP have opened, replacing cover-up and secrecy with incompetence and delusion.

Speaking about Mr Yousafs party, he added: This distracted and divided government is disastrous for Scotland.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar makes a keynote speech at Pollok Community Centre in Glasgow (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Mr Sarwar said: In every community across Scotland, people deserve better. They have been let down for far too long.

Right now, we have two failing Governments. A morally bankrupt Tory Party. A Scottish National Party trying not to go bankrupt.

And both bankrupt when it comes to the ideas and vision that our country needs.

Mr Sarwar repeated the challenge he has made to the First Minister, saying: Lets give the people a choice and have an early Scottish election.

With the next Holyrood elections not due to be held until May 2026, Mr Sarwar said: We cannot allow the next three years to be a lost three years.

We cant allow this NHS crisis, the cost-of-living crisis, our education crisis, the crisis in almost every institution in our country, to run for three years as we come to the end of an SNP Government.

And while he said Labour had once feared elections in Scotland, Mr Sarwar said his party was now excited to make its case to voters.

He insisted: Were focused on the future and were coming for the SNP, were coming for the Tories. Because this country needs change and we are going to deliver it.

Weve got our energy back, got our mojo back, were excited about elections. There was a time Labour feared elections. I cant wait for the elections.

I cant wait for 2024, I cant wait for 2026, because change is coming and were going to deliver that change.
A high-ranking ISIS officer and operational planner were presumably killed on Monday during an American helicopter attack in northern Syria, according to a statement from the US Central Command (CENTCOM).

According to the CENTCOM statement, the commander organized terrorist acts in Europe and the Middle East. The raid also claimed the lives of two more "armed individuals."

General Michael "Erik" Kurilla, commander of CENTCOM, said that ISIS is weakening but still capable of launching operations in the region and beyond, but the US military's "relentless campaign against ISIS" will continue, according to Fox News.

CENTCOM spokesperson Joe Buccino noted that the operation is a testament to CENTCOM's unwavering dedication to the region and the "enduring defeat of ISIS."

Read Also: 4 Dead, 20 Wounded in Alabama Mass Shooting

A Well-Executed Attack Against ISIS

According to CENTCOM, the action was well planned, and neither civilians nor American soldiers were injured during the US helicopter attack against ISIS.

A US Central Command helicopter raid in northern Syria targeted a Senior ISIS Leader. pic.twitter.com/BoenvFfbmS  U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) April 17, 2023

Additional information will be released shortly, according to a Central Command official.

The White Helmets of Syria, a civil defense organization that works in opposition-held parts of northern Syria, claimed to have taken two victims injured in the raid to a nearby hospital. Later, local officials said that the wounded had passed away, according to DW.

White Helmets reported that a third individual perished as US soldiers landed for the helicopter attack.

According to the Syrian Democratic Forces, which partners with the US in anti-IS operations in northeast Syria, the US helicopter attack targeted a military station belonging to a Turkish-backed armed opposition organization near the Turkish border and was launched from a base in Kobani.

There are around 900 American soldiers and an unspecified number of contractors present in Syria.

Despite the defeat of the Islamic State group in Syria in 2019, sleeper cells continue to operate in the region and have been known to launch attacks on both military and civilian targets, according to Military.com.

IS gained significant ground in Iraq and Syria in 2014.

Related Article: US Asserts Freedom of Navigation in Indo-Pacific

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has said he is confident enough people will sign the petition needed to spark a by-election if former SNP MP Margaret Ferrier is suspended from the Commons for 10 days or more.

Mr Sarwar spoke of the potential for a by-election to be held in the Rutherglen and Hamilton West seat Ms Ferrier currently holds.

She was elected as an SNP MP in 2019, but was suspended by the party the following year after breaching Covid rules  which saw her speak in the House of Commons and take the train between Scotland and England while positive for the virus.

Ms Ferrier has already been ordered to complete a 270-hour community payback order by a court after admitting culpably and recklessly exposing the public to the risk of infection, illness and death as a result of her behaviour.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar was in Pollok to make a keynote speech (Andrew Milligan/PA)

The Commons Standards Committee has recommended that Ms Ferrier, who currently sits as an independent MP, should be suspended for 30 days  with a sanction of 10 days or more potentially enough to prompt a by-election to try to remove her.

But to do that, 10% of constituents in her Rutherglen and Hamilton West seat would need to sign a recall petition.

There has never been a by-election in Scotland after a recall petition, but Mr Sarwar said that despite her breach of Covid rules occurring in 2020, there was still plenty of anger in the local community.

Speaking to journalists, the Scottish Labour leader said that quite clearly there is the potential for a recall petition (and) a realistic hope of there being a by-election.

He added: Labour is determined to give that local community an MP that is on their side.

Mr Sarwar continued: Theres plenty of anger and frustration, and people realising they have a local MP who broke the law and hasnt been there fighting their corner.

Were confident we can get the numbers, but were not complacent about that, we have got to do the hard work.

He added: I imagine it will be only us doing the hard work, other political parties I imagine might want to sit out the process.

My challenge to them would be put your money where your mouth is, get out there, get the signatures in and lets elect a local champion that is on the side of local people in Rutherglen and Hamilton West.

SNP leader Humza Yousaf has already said he would welcome a by-election in the constituency  though he has conceded it will take hard work for his party to retain the seat.

Previously, the SNP leader said: Weve said from day one that Margaret Ferrier should have stepped down because of her reckless action.

I look forward to fighting that by-election on our strong track record.

Weve got strong support in Rutherglen and right across that region. But it will take hard work.

Ms Ferrier has appealed against the proposed 30-day sanction recommended by the Standards Committee, with the matter now going to the independent expert panel  which is entirely independent and has no MPs sitting on it.

The panel, as part of its remit, considers appeals against decisions by the Committee on Standards from MPs who have been found to have breached the code of conduct.
Jeremy Corbyn has said that Sir Keir Starmers insistence that the pair were never friends is primary school stuff.

The former Labour leader, who has been blocked from running as the partys candidate in Islington North at the next general election, said that he had always seen Sir Keir as a colleague when the pair worked together.

The veteran left-winger, who sits in the Commons as an independent, also hit out at Labours recent controversial social media campaign attacking the Prime Minister.

It comes after Sir Keir denied he was ever a friend of his former leader.

It makes me sad, actually. I dont know why he says that.

I mean, I worked with Starmer. He was in the shadow cabinet. I went to Brussels with him. Yeah, I worked with him, I worked with lots of people, Mr Corbyn told LBC.

Asked if he regarded Sir Keir as a friend, he said: I regarded him as a colleague. I never regarded him as a friend. I didnt spend time hanging out with him.

Then Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn (right) alongside then shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer (Jonathan Brady/PA)

A friend is somebody you go out for a meal with, have a chat, call their house.

So, why he suddenly announced to the world that I was a friend and then a short time later, now I was not a friend. This is primary school stuff.

He also labelled the attack ads as bad news all around.

I think the idea that you say something unbelievably awful about an opponent as a kind of gesture towards them is not very good or very sensible.

I do not believe in that sort of thing.

The National Executive Committee last month backed a proposal from Sir Keir not to endorse Mr Corbyn in contesting his north London seat for Labour at the next election.

Mr Corbyn has criticised the move at the time as a shameful attack on party democracy
Rishi Sunak has admitted there are not enough teachers to fulfil existing requirements as he failed to say when he will deliver his vision to get everyone studying maths until adulthood.

In the second speech to announce his maths to 18 policy for England, the Prime Minister on Monday could not commit to begin rolling out the plans this year.

Mr Sunak, who was an investment banker before entering politics, insisted he does not want everyone to study maths at A-Level but wants to boost the nations poor levels of numeracy.

But he conceded he would not be able to achieve it overnight as he faced questions over childrens education being damaged by a failure to end the teachers strikes.

Critics argue that the Government has cut its recruitment target for maths teachers by 39% since 2020, and has failed to even achieve that.

Discussing the policy at a north London college, the Prime Minister admitted that even despite progress the UK is one of the least numerate countries in the developed world.

He denied this was a failure of just previous Conservative governments as he conceded more than one million adults have numeracy skills below those expected of nine-year-olds and a third do not pass maths GCSE.

Right now, just half of all 16 to 19-year-olds study any maths at all. In a world where data is everywhere, our childrens jobs will require more analytical skills than ever before. Find out more: https://t.co/aLwJye1ru5 pic.twitter.com/WcWTm0Tid5  UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) January 5, 2023

But Mr Sunak accepted there are not enough maths teachers to even meet existing requirements, let alone fulfil his vision, which he hopes will boost the economy.

On teachers, yes we need already, and we will need more maths teachers, and we know that, he said at the London Screen Academy, in Islington.

Mr Sunak said teenagers will be made to study maths in some form until 18 and said it must be additional to other subjects, not instead of them.

Let me be absolutely clear: I am not saying that the answer is A-Level maths for everyone, but we do need to work out the maths our young people should study, he said.

When I first announced this in January, I saw some of the reaction to it and I thought that actually spoke to this anti-maths mindset that weve got to challenge a little bit.

Around a third of young people fail to pass GCSE maths (James Manning/PA)

Mr Sunak said the big long term reform is not going to happen overnight.

An expert group he was appointing to a sense of the curriculum required to meet his vision will unveil their proposals in around July.

Once we have that you could expect us later in the year to be able to then come back and say this is how we will implement it over what timescale, he added.

You cant rush something like this, its a big reform and its important we get it right.

But Mr Sunak was warned that the pending teaching strikes are the most imminent issue he must tackle to improve education with walkouts set for later this month.

He insisted he has worked really hard to give a reasonable and fair settlement, which he said represents an 8% increase for most teachers.

We joke about not being able to do maths, but wed never make a joke about not being able to read. Our plans today bring us one step closer to changing our anti-maths mindset and ensuring every young person has the skills needed for a successful future. pic.twitter.com/5kT2hftrC3  Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) April 17, 2023

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, urged him to resolve the dispute instead of re-announcing a vague and poorly thought-out policy, which he first set out in January.

It seems like an attempt to divert attention away from the most pressing matter in education in England which is the industrial dispute triggered by the erosion of teacher pay and conditions and resulting crisis in recruiting and retaining enough staff, he said.

These severe shortages directly undermine the Prime Ministers ambition because it means there are not enough maths teachers to deliver even the existing requirements let alone extend maths to every pupil to the age of 18.

Labour criticised the empty pledge, with shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson saying: Once again, the Prime Minister needs to show his working: he cannot deliver this reheated, empty pledge without more maths teachers.

Instead of re-announcing a vague and poorly thought-out policy it would be more helpful if he instead focused on resolving the industrial dispute. Our full comment on the Prime Minister's reaffirmation of #MathsTo18: https://t.co/U0qtPffGoF pic.twitter.com/FS8MuvKi1r  ASCL (@ASCL_UK) April 17, 2023

But after 13 years of failing our children, the Tory Government repeatedly misses their target for new maths teachers, with maths attainment gaps widening and existing teachers leaving in their droves.

Sam Sims, chief executive of the charity National Numeracy, said: Addressing poor numeracy needs to start much earlier than 16. We need a cradle to career vision for numeracy in the UK.

Schools minister Nick Gibb admitted that there were challenges, but said it was right to be ambitious.

There are challenges in recruiting graduates into teaching. The graduate market is very competitive.

Its why we are giving 27,000 tax-free bursaries to people to come in to train to be math teachers. So we know theres a challenge but that doesnt mean to say you shouldnt have an ambition to make sure that more of our young people are equipped for the modern economy, he told BBC Radio 4s PM programme.

The National Education Unions joint general secretary Mary Bousted said: Lets not forget that this is a Government that has cut its recruitment target for maths teachers by 39% since 2020.

Parents and school staff will be left scratching their heads at this latest announcement from the Prime Minister. Taken as a whole, the Governments policies on education simply dont add up.
The UK must end its anti-maths mindset to help grow the economy, Rishi Sunak will say.

The Prime Minister will announce an expert-led review into how to carry out his plan to ensure all pupils in England study some form of maths up to the age of 18, without making maths A-Level compulsory.

In a speech in north London on Monday, he will criticise a cultural sense that its OK to be bad at maths which is putting children at a disadvantage by failing to equip them with the analytical skills needed for the modern workplace.

The UK remains one of the only countries in the world that does not require children to study maths in some form up to the age of 18, making it one of the least numerate among the 38 OECD advanced economies.

Around a third of pupils fail to pass GCSE maths, and more than eight million adults have numeracy skills below those expected of a nine-year-old, according to Downing Street.

Mr Sunak is expected to tell an audience of students, teachers, education experts and business leaders: Weve got to change this anti-maths mindset. Weve got to start prizing numeracy for what it is  a key skill every bit as essential as reading.

I wont sit back and allow this cultural sense that its OK to be bad at maths to put our children at a disadvantage.

My campaign to transform our national approach to maths is not some nice-to-have. Its about changing how we value maths in this country.

Right now, just half of all 16 to 19-year-olds study any maths at all. In a world where data is everywhere, our childrens jobs will require more analytical skills than ever before. Find out more: https://t.co/aLwJye1ru5 pic.twitter.com/WcWTm0Tid5  UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) January 5, 2023

The Prime Minister first made his maths-to-18 pledge in January, stressing the importance of numeracy in jobs increasingly underpinned by data and statistics. He said it may not be achieved in this Parliament.

But critics accused Mr Sunak of rehashing his ambition to distract from an ongoing pay dispute which will see teachers walk out again later this month.

Former chancellor Mr Sunak will argue that maths attainment will help young people in their careers and grow the economy.

We simply cannot allow poor numeracy to cost our economy tens of billions a year or to leave people twice as likely to be unemployed as those with competent numeracy.

We have to fundamentally change our education system so it gives our young people the knowledge and skills they need  and that our businesses need  to compete with the best in the world.

Around a third of young people fail to pass GCSE maths (James Manning/PA)

Teachers and education experts have warned the policy does not address major problems in the wider education system, including the already severe shortage of maths teachers.

Mr Sunak will say the change will not happen overnight, with an advisory group including mathematicians, education leaders and business representatives to be formed to advise the Government.

The review will look at what core maths content students will be required to study, and whether a new maths qualification will be needed.

Mr Sunak will say: Well need to recruit and train the maths teachers. Well need to work out how to harness technology to support them.

And well need to make sure this maths is additional to other subjects  not instead of them. But we are taking the first step today by identifying the maths content that will give our 16 to 18-year-olds the skills they need to get on in life.

The Prime Minister will also commit to expanding maths hubs, where schools and colleges team up to support teaching of the subject, and introduce a new voluntary and fully funded professional qualification for primary school maths teachers.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said that instead of re-announcing a vague and poorly thought-out policy, Mr Sunak should focus on resolving the pay dispute which has triggered industrial action.

It is hard to understand why the Prime Minister is rehashing his ambition of maths to 18 having only announced this policy in January and with no further detail of what it will entail or how it will be delivered.

It seems like an attempt to divert attention away from the most pressing matter in education in England which is the industrial dispute triggered by the erosion of teacher pay and conditions and resulting crisis in recruiting and retaining enough staff.

These severe shortages directly undermine the Prime Ministers ambition because it means there are not enough maths teachers to deliver even the existing requirements let alone extend maths to every pupil to the age of 18.

Labour criticised the empty pledge, with shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson saying: Once again, the Prime Minister needs to show his working: he cannot deliver this reheated, empty pledge without more maths teachers.

But after 13 years of failing our children, the Tory government repeatedly misses their target for new maths teachers, with maths attainment gaps widening and existing teachers leaving in their droves.

Labour does not need a new advisory group to make the right choices for our children. We will drive up standards in every corner of our country by investing in thousands more teachers, including maths teachers, by ending tax breaks for private schools.

Royal Society president, Sir Adrian Smith, said it was reassuring to see the PMs commitment as more still needs to be done to make courses such as core maths and mathematics skills, in general, widely available and appealing to students.

Sam Sims, chief executive of the charity National Numeracy, said: Addressing poor numeracy needs to start much earlier than 16. We need a cradle to career vision for numeracy in the UK.
Rishi Sunak is under investigation after facing allegations of a possible failure to declare the shares his wife holds in a childcare agency that was boosted by the Budget.

Parliaments standards watchdog opened the inquiry into the Prime Minister under rules demanding MPs are open and frank when declaring their interests.

The investigation relates to the shares Akshata Murty holds in Koru Kids, a Downing Street source told the PA news agency on Monday.

No 10 said the Prime Minister will clarify how it was declared as a ministerial interest, rather than to the Commons.

As MPs returned from their Easter break, an update from Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Daniel Greenberg showed he had opened the investigation under the Commons code of conduct on Thursday.

Members must always be open and frank in declaring any relevant interest in any proceeding of the House or its committees, and in any communications with ministers, members, public officials or public office holders, the relevant section reads.

Downing Street declined to set out when Mr Sunak registered the interest, but a No 10 spokeswoman said: We are happy to assist the commissioner to clarify how this has been transparently declared as a ministerial interest.

Mr Sunak faced demands to come clean about his family shares last month after being questioned by MPs over why the childcare policy favoured private firms.

Appearing before the Liaison Committee, he did not mention Ms Murtys shares in the firm, in which she has been listed as a shareholder on Companies House.

Rishi Sunak alongside his wife Akshata Murty (PA)

A fortnight earlier, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced a pilot of incentive payments of 600 for childminders joining the profession.

Questioning why the sum doubles to 1,200 if workers sign up through an agency, Labour MP Catherine McKinnell asked if Mr Sunak had any interests to declare.

No, all my disclosures are declared in the normal way, Mr Sunak said.

Koru Kids, which is one of six childminder agencies listed on the Governments website, welcomed the new incentives in the Budget as great.

At the time the possible conflict of interest emerged, Mr Sunaks press secretary said the interest would be included in the updated statement of ministers interests, due out in May.

But it seems Mr Greenbergs investigation appears to centre on whether the Prime Minister should have declared the interest to MPs.

Mr Sunak wrote to the Liaison Committee earlier this month to say he would like to clarify for the Parliamentary record that this interest has rightly been declared to the Cabinet Office.

He said the new list of ministerial interests, which has not been updated for nearly a year, would be published shortly.

Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner said delay has left a transparency black hole which is enabling the Prime Minister and those he has appointed to dodge proper scrutiny of their affairs.

If Rishi Sunak has got nothing to hide, he should commit to publishing the register before Mays elections so the public can see for themselves, she added.

It was last compiled by Lord Geidt, who resigned as Boris Johnsons ethics adviser after a tumultuous period under the then-prime minister.

Mr Sunak did not appoint a successor as ministerial interests adviser until December, when Sir Laurie Magnus took on the role.

The Prime Minister entered No 10 in October promising integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level.

He has since been fined by police for not wearing a seatbelt, adding to the fixed-penalty notice he was handed for a lockdown breach alongside Mr Johnson.

Liberal Democrat chief whip Wendy Chamberlain said: Another day and another accusation of a Conservative Prime Minister bending the rules.

After months of Conservative sleaze and scandal, the public just want a government which is focused on the country, rather than saving their own skin.
A teenager who threw lit fireworks at police officers during a protest outside a hotel used to house asylum seekers has been sentenced to three years detention.

Jared Skeete, 19, snorted ketamine in front of the line of riot police as he shouted abuse at them during disorder outside the Suites Hotel in Knowsley on February 10, Liverpool Crown Court heard on Monday.

Body-worn video footage taken from behind the officers riot shields showed numerous fireworks being lit and thrown by Skeete, who stood near a burnt-out police van at the front of around 100 protesters.

The violence, which happened during a protest over alleged incidents related to residents, was condemned by politicians at the time.

Sentencing Skeete, who pleaded guilty to violent disorder last month, Judge David Swinnerton said: The scenes overall were appalling and shameful.

Your role in it, there at the forefront, very close to the police line, throwing fireworks to them, hurling abuse at them, seeking to remove a shield from an officer therefore exposing him to violence and injury, wrestling with him for his riot shield, all of that is despicable behaviour.

Those scenes of what you did bring shame on you. They were shameful for the city.

That is not who we are.

You goaded the police, you sniffed from your bag of ketamine deliberately in front of them and you were, throughout, shouting abuse at them.

Martyn Walsh, prosecuting, said Skeete, of Irwell Close in Aigburth, Liverpool, shouted to police: Why are you protecting the scumbags, you big gang of dickheads?

Skeete was also reported to have said to an officer: What are you going to do you silly little sausage? Go and do something better lad, go and arrest them nonces.

When arrested and interviewed Skeete denied being the person shown in the footage but then asked if he could have a copy of it for himself, describing it as like a movie and brutal, the court heard.

In a statement, Pc John Thompson, who was hit on his arm and foot by objects, said he had suffered bruising and swelling and the incident had caused stress to him and his family.

Inspector Ian Murphy had suffered post concussion syndrome following the disorder, the court heard.

Mr Walsh said 83,684 worth of damage was caused to five police vehicles, including the van which was burnt-out.

Peter White, defending, said Skeete had been socialising with friends on February 10 when he been made aware of social media rumours which incorrectly accused a resident of the hotel of a serious offence.

He said: He is a young man aged 19 who allowed himself to be caught up in mob mentality and used this as an opportunity to act in a thoroughly unacceptable manner.

He said Skeete was not part of any right-wing organisation and was not involved in planning the disorder.

He added: He was only there for the anarchy that resulted.

Mr White said: He genuinely wishes to apologise for his actions.

The prosecution did not continue with a charge of assaulting an emergency worker because it was incorporated into the violent disorder charge, the court was told.
Powerful regulators operating largely unchecked are holding back the UK economy, a group of Tory MPs has said.

Members of the backbench Regulatory Reform Group (RRG) have called for more parliamentary oversight of the UKs regulators to ensure they are working effectively for consumers and contributing to the Governments priorities.

Hitchin and Harpenden MP Bim Afolami, who founded the group in November 2022, said: Unaccountable regulators are directly hindering the UKs growth prospects.

Regulators have the potential to be key drivers of the Governments long-term ambitions for the UK, not to mention enablers of economic growth, but without adequate oversight from Parliament, this potential has been lost.

In a report published on Tuesday, the nine-strong group said regulators now wielded huge power and influence over the UKs economy and society, but faced little democratic scrutiny of their decisions.

Lord Tyrie, the former chair of the Competition and Markets Authority, said: Too many decisions  taken by powerful, anonymous quangos, and affecting millions of people  go scarcely scrutinised and inadequately explained.

The group said regulators suffered from a culture of fear, making them too risk averse when they should be enabling innovation, and lacked strategic direction, making them underprepared for fast-moving and profound mega-trends such as an ageing population, climate change, or technological breakthroughs.

The RRG report also found regulatory objectives often differed from the Governments aims, giving the example of the planning system working against levelling up priorities and the aim of building 300,000 homes a year.

The group was keen to stress that it was not arguing for deregulation for the sake of deregulation, but for a smarter, more accountable regulatory system.

Sir Robert Buckland, the former justice secretary and a member of the RRG, said: It is important to note that this project is by no means an ideological race to the bottom in terms of regulation. All we are seeking is a more transparent and proportionate approach to regulation where, crucially, regulators are held accountable against the objectives they are mandated to deliver.

As well as a joint committee of MPs and peers to oversee regulators, the RRG called for more dialogue between the Government and regulators, and accountability framework to measure regulators performance and an outcomes-based approach to future regulation, allowing further innovation while protecting the rights of consumers.

They also said regulators needed to be properly staffed and resourced, but acknowledged this was difficult given restraints on pay.

City minister Andrew Griffith welcomed the report, saying: This is a timely report which clearly sets out the opportunities from getting regulatory systems right.

In financial services, the Government is  via the Financial Services & Markets Bill  already taking steps to align regulators objectives, improve their accountability and to focus more on outcomes.

The authors rightly remind us that for the economy to succeed, wider culture needs to acknowledge that risk has to be sensibly managed rather than avoided.
Two men have been found guilty of charges on facilitating the high-profile murder of David Byrne at a Dublin hotel seven years ago at a non-jury court.

Mr Byrne, 33, died after being shot six times at a crowded boxing weigh-in event at Dublins Regency Hotel on February 5 2016 in one of the first deadly attacks of the Hutch-Kinahan gangland feud in Ireland.

The case against the two men comprises circumstantial evidence including CCTV evidence of vehicles driven by them along with their statements to An Garda Siochana.

The cars were involved in a convoy for hitmen involved in the attack.

On Monday, the three-judge Special Criminal Court found Paul Murphy, 62, of Cherry Avenue, Swords, guilty of a lesser charge relating to the murder of Mr Byrne.

Murphy was charged with providing a motor vehicle to a criminal organisation, with knowledge of or having been reckless as to whether those actions could facilitate a serious offence.

The colour of Murphys Toyota Avensis was registered as green in the vehicle registration certificate and was described as goldy green in statements by the accused to gardai, while the prosecution said it was light coloured.

The court reviewed the CCTV footage carefully on very many occasions and found the Toyota Avensis appeared as silver in the footage.

However, the judge said it had been established beyond reasonable doubt that it was Murphys Toyota Avensis taxi depicted in CCTV footage relating to the case.

Armed police on duty outside the Special Criminal Court in Dublin at a previous hearing (Niall Carson/PA)

She said the court is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Murphys Toyota Avensis took one of the hitmen from the grounds of St Vincents GAA club.

The court discounted the possibility the taxi was a cloned car.

Reading out the judgment, Ms Justice Tara Burns said Murphy was aware of the existence of the Hutch gang and had taken loans from members of the family.

Murphy had access to a key card to allow entry into Buckingham Village, an apartment complex which Ms Justice Burns described as the centre of operations for the attack.

She dismissed the rehearsed story that the key card had been left in the taxi by a fare three days earlier.

She said the key card was clearly one of several missing from a pack, another of which was found in a wallet also containing Patsy Hutchs drivers licence during a search.

On the subject of a number of taxi receipts from the day, she said on their face it suggested Murphy was engaged as a taxi driver during the acts set out by the prosecution.

However, she said the court was satisfied the receipts were not accurate, pointing to fares of very short distances which took a long time and fares which coincided with times Murphy said he was parked to buy and eat a sandwich.

Jason Bonney, 52, of Drumnigh Wood in Portmarnock, was also found guilty to a similar charge relating to Mr Byrnes murder.

Bonney was charged with providing a motor vehicle to a criminal organisation, with knowledge of or having been reckless as to whether those actions could facilitate a serious offence.

Armed police on duty outside the Special Criminal Court in Dublin during the Gerry Hutch trial (Damien Storan/PA)

Ms Justice Tara Burns said the court was satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Bonney was the sole driver of a distinctive black BMW X5 seen in CCTV footage shown in court.

Ms Justice Burns said the court was satisfied Bonney was present at the centre of the operations of the attack.

Ms Justice Burns said that evidence given to the court by a witness that appeared to support Mr Bonneys defence should be viewed with scepticism.

She also said that it was a bizarre situation if the witness had vital exonerating information about Mr Bonney and did not act on it until approached by a solicitor in relation to the trial.

She said that she was satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr Bonneys father William, who died in 2019, had not left his house on the afternoon of the Regency murder, and had not driven the black BMW jeep used to facilitate the Regency Hotel murder on that day.

She said that the court has been lied to in the most malevolent manner and that it was quite frankly amazing that it could have been believed that these lies would be accepted by the court.

She said that Mr Bonney knowingly provided access to his vehicle at St Vincents GAA club, where nearby CCTV footage showed the six-man hit team walking shortly after the murder, before delivering the guilty verdict on Monday afternoon.

Both men have now been taken into custody.

A judgment in relation to the charge of murder against Gerry The Monk Hutch is due to be given in the afternoon. The 60-year-old, from the Paddocks, Clontarf, has denied the charge of murder.

Mr Hutch appeared in court wearing a white shirt and suit jacket, with long hair and a long grey beard. He was seen using a hearing aid head set to listen to proceedings.

Family members of Mr Byrne were also present in the court as the judgment was read out by Ms Justice Burns, sitting alongside judges Sarah Berkeley and Grainne Malone.

The high-profile trial in the non-jury Special Criminal Court in Dublin concluded in January after hearing 52 days of evidence.

Former Sinn Fein councillor Jonathan Dowdall gave evidence as a prosecution witness.

Former Sinn Fein councillor Jonathan Dowdall was cross examined during the trial (Elizabeth Cook/PA)

Dowdall, who was to stand trial for murder, is now serving a four-year prison sentence after he pleaded guilty to facilitating the murder of Mr Byrne.

Hutchs defence team dismissed Dowdalls evidence as unreliable and flawed.

The defendant has been held at Dublins Wheatfield Prison on remand having been extradited back to Ireland from Spain in September 2021.

There was a police presence outside the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin on Monday morning, and a long queue to get access to the courtroom to hear proceedings.
The Northern Ireland Secretary is set to urge unionists to put the union first and restore the devolved institutions.

During a speech at the Queens University Belfast, Chris Heaton-Harris is also set to warn those intent on violence, they will not drag the region back to its troubled past.

Mr Heaton-Harris will be speaking at a major conference to mark the 25th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement at a time when the Stormont Assembly remains effectively collapsed.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson (Brian Lawless/PA)

The DUP has said it will not participate in the Assembly until its concerns around the Northern Ireland Protocol are addressed.

The party has expressed concerns over the Windsor Framework, which the UK agreed with the EU earlier this year in an attempt to persuade the DUP to call off its Assembly boycott.

In his speech later, Mr Heaton-Harris will say those that want Northern Ireland to remain an integral part of the UK should put the Union first, restore the devolved institutions and get on with the job of delivering for the people of Northern Ireland.

He is set to outline the damage being done to Northern Ireland in the absence of a sitting Executive.

He is also set to sound a warning that the continued stalemate at Stormont poses the single biggest threat to Northern Irelands place in the Union.

The event at the Queens University Belfast has seen the participation of major political figures including former US president Bill Clinton, former prime minister Tony Blair and former taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

On Tuesday the Agreement25 Conference will also see participation in a panel event by European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic, an address by the Tanaiste Micheal Martin and a panel event with Northern Ireland political leaders, including DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson and Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald.

Meanwhile Mr Clinton is set to give a speech at the Guildhall in Londonderry.

(left to right) Sir Tony Blair, former US president Bill Clinton and former taoiseach Bertie Ahern on stage during the three-day international conference at Queens University Belfast to mark the 25th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. (Niall Carson/PA)

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is set to make a closing address to the conference on Wednesday ahead of a dinner event which former prime ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss are expected to attend

Addressing day two of the conference, Mr Heaton-Harris will praise the vision, bravery, leadership and imagination of the signatories and supporters.

He is set to say the agreement is crucial to Northern Irelands status today as a thriving centre of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship, and is to reiterate that the Government remains wholly committed to protecting and upholding the agreement.

Speaking weeks after the assessed threat from terrorists in Northern Ireland was raised to severe, Mr Heaton-Harris will warn the small minority who seek to drag Northern Ireland back to its darkest days.

He will emphasise that they will never succeed as the people of Northern Ireland reject violence which has no place in the society so many have fought so hard to create.
Detectives investigating the murder of a 20-year-old man above shops in south London are appealing for the publics help to trace a man who is believed to have run away from the scene.

Filipe Oliveira was stabbed to death above shops in Norwood Road in Tulse Hill on Saturday.

Police were called at around 5.55pm on that day and believe he was stabbed in the doorway between the street and steps leading to a communal area above the shops.

Despite the efforts of paramedics, the victim died at the scene.

Detectives are looking to speak to anyone who may have seen a man police say ran away from the scene.

Detective Chief Inspector Kate Blackburn of the Metropolitan Police said: Our investigation is making significant progress, but I am continuing to appeal for any witnesses or anyone with information to come forward.

I also want to hear from anyone who may have footage that will assist the investigation.

We are also keen to speak to a man described as black, of short build, who was wearing a blue hooded top and a blue Covid mask.

He ran away from the scene along Christchurch Road.

I particularly want to hear from anyone who may have seen this man, or who has footage of him.

Of course, he may have discarded the mask shortly after the incident.

No arrests have been made but cordons in the area have been removed.

Specialist officers are supporting the victims family and a post-mortem examination will take place in due course.

Anyone with information, video or images that could help police should call 101 ref CAD 5605/15 Apr or to remain anonymous contact independent charity Crimestoppers.
China's position paper conducive to peace and development in Afghanistan, experts say

Xinhua) 10:47, April 17, 2023

BEIJING, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Being in line with the interests of the Afghan people and the expectations of the international community, China's position paper on the Afghan issue will help Afghanistan achieve peace and development at an early date, as well as play a positive and constructive role in maintaining regional prosperity and stability, said experts.

In the position paper released on Wednesday, China expressed support for prudent governance and reconstruction of Afghanistan and its counter-terrorism efforts. It also urged the United States to live up to its commitments to and responsibilities for Afghanistan and called for international and regional coordination on the Afghan issue.

Afghan Taliban appreciates and welcomes China's release of the position paper on Afghanistan, and respects China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, said Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, acting foreign minister of the Afghan interim government, who thanked China for its long-term political support to Afghanistan.

Afghanistan understands China's security concerns, will never allow any forces to use the Afghan territory to harm China's national interests, and will spare no efforts to protect the safety of Chinese institutions and citizens in Afghanistan, Muttaqi said on Thursday during a meeting with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

He also expressed the hope to actively participate in the Belt and Road Initiative and to strengthen bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

The paper provides a comprehensive explanation of China's policy on the Afghan issue and will play a positive role in achieving peace and stability for Afghanistan and its neighboring countries, said Najibullah Jami, a professor and political analyst at the Kabul University.

In the position paper, China welcomes Afghanistan's participation in Belt and Road cooperation and supports Afghanistan's integration into regional economic cooperation and connectivity that will transform Afghanistan from a "land-locked country" into a "land-linked country," Jami said.

"The position paper has drawn a blueprint for the future development of Afghanistan," he said. "It is not only a new beginning for Afghanistan ... but also a new opportunity for the further development of bilateral relations."

Zahir Behzad, an economics researcher from the Technical Vocational Education and Training Authority of Afghanistan, said that China will play a vital role in helping Afghanistan to achieve peaceful reconstruction and stable development.

"Afghanistan, located in the heart of Eurasia, was once an important stop along the Silk Road, and we expect that China's initiative can help Afghanistan become a land of prosperity again," Behzad said.

There is no doubt that the United States bears primary responsibility for today's situation in Afghanistan. It should play a more active role in areas such as humanitarian aid to Afghanistan and post-war reconstruction there, said Oleg Timofeyev, an associate professor at the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia.

China emphasizes in the paper that under the new circumstances, Afghanistan should become a platform for cooperation among all parties, rather than a venue for geopolitical games. "This is an admirable position. China is working hard to expand international consensus on the Afghan issue, and the results are promising," he said.

China attaches importance to dialogue and development but sticks to its fundamental principle of non-interference, said Shakeel Ahmad Ramay, chief executive officer of the Asian Institute of Eco-civilization Research and Development.

"So China lets Afghan people decide about that governance system and support them with economic and development opportunities. I think it will bring sustainable peace to Afghanistan, which will be beneficial for that region and the world," he said.

Chairman of the Association of Political Scientists of Tajikistan Saifullo Safarov considers China as a guarantor of security and stability in the region which has been proved by the position paper, bringing hope to all who are concerned about the future of Afghanistan and the Central Asian region.

"This paper, one of the most constructive documents on a global scale, can play a crucial role in establishing order and stability in Afghanistan and in maintaining peace in the region. We look forward to relevant parties responding to China's constructive proposal," he said.

The position paper shows that China is looking for a peaceful and stable Afghanistan and is ready to help Afghan people to develop their own country, which is beneficial to the whole region and China itself, said Mohammad Reza Manafi, editor-in-chief for the Asia-Pacific news desk of Iran's official news agency IRNA.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
An Ohio school district's new policy permits teachers and employees to carry firearms due to active shooter fears.

The River Valley Local School District in rural Marion County has joined the state's 22 other school districts that allow authorized staff members to carry guns on campus, as reported by Fox News.

Superintendent Adam Wickham said the new policy prevents schools from falling victim to active shooter incidents. He emphasized that most such incidents occur in places with either few or no guns or safety precautions.

The official noted having armed personnel on campus might help schools respond to the danger more quickly and perhaps save lives since responding to an incident in their remote neighborhood can take minutes.

Wickham also cited previous US school shootings, such as those in Nashville, Uvalde, and Parkland, to highlight how crucial it is to act quickly in these circumstances.

The school district's four facilities, including a high school, a middle school, and two elementary schools, would each have an armed staff member in addition to the school resource officer from the Marion County Sheriff's Office stationed on campus, the superintendent said.

He noted that not everyone supports the program but highlighted that River Valley's safety measures, including armed employees, are in place to protect pupils and staff so they can come home safe to their families every day.

On June 13, 2022, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed House Bill 99, authorizing school districts throughout the state to permit teachers, administrators, and other employees to bring weapons into classrooms after 24 hours of training.

Democrats Push Other Means To Stop US School Shootings

US legislators view such measures as a means to increase school safety. However, other experts contend that teacher safety education is more cost-efficient and effective than new technology.

To solve the problem of US school shootings, Democratic state legislators have called for stricter gun legislation. However, a lot of people are now supporting the Republican-led emergency measures for schools, as per VOA News.

Read Also: Senior ISIS Leader Killed in US Military Helicopter Raid in Syria

Democrats are in charge of Oregon's legislature, which is located in the northwest. There is a law that would mandate schools to notify parents through electronic means as quickly as feasible after a safety hazard. With the backing of all legislators, it was approved by the state House of Representatives. Another measure requiring panic alert devices in public schools is authored by two Democrats.

If the panic alert measure is approved, Oregon will become the fourth state to enact the rule. Florida, New Jersey, and New York approved it. Similar legislation is being considered in several other US states.

Gun Injuries: The Leading Cause of Fatalities Among US Youngsters

Gun injuries kill and injure tens of thousands of Americans annually.

The independent organization Gun Violence Archive, there have been 163 mass shootings in the US so far this year, the Evening Standard reported.

Guns overtook all other factors as the main killer of children and teens in the US in 2020. In that year, injuries from firearms resulted in the deaths of more than 4,300 kids and teens. This was contrasted with automobile accidents, which were the second-leading cause of mortality and claimed the lives of around 3,900 young people.

Visit https://t.co/GKwiFAZQKg for up-to-date statistics and information pic.twitter.com/m5p46vSXI6  The Gun Violence Archive (@GunDeaths) April 17, 2023

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more individuals died from gun-related injuries in the US in 2020 than in any previous year. Homicides accounted for around 43% of these fatalities.

Related Article: Lyft Driver Assaulted and Carjacked in Baltimore

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Humza Yousaf has been urged to be bold on taxation by a group including anti-poverty campaigners ahead of a key statement to Parliament.

The First Minister will lay out his priorities on Tuesday in an address to Holyrood which is expected to set the tone for his premiership.

In his bid for the leadership, Mr Yousaf said he would consider the creation of another tax bracket for those earning more than 43,662.

The IPPR think tank, which is among those calling on Mr Yousaf to announce tax reforms on Tuesday, has said the change could raise as much as 257 million and would be enough to increase the Scottish Child Payment to 40 per week.

Jamie Livingstone, the head of Oxfam Scotland, said: The First Minister has been strident about his desire to tackle poverty and climate change but if hes to achieve those ambitions then he must now back up his commitments and consider bold changes to tax.

There is no shortage of money in Scotland. The First Minister now must prove that there is also no shortage of the political courage needed to take the urgent action required to build a fairer, more sustainable future.

Failure to do so would short-change us all  Scotland simply cant afford to be timid on tax any longer.

Ruth Boyle, the policy and campaigns manager at the Poverty Alliance, said the tax system in Scotland simply hasnt kept pace with Scotlands growing inequality of wealth and income.

Its time for the Scottish Government to use our tax powers in a progressive way, to raise the investment we need for the just and compassionate society that people believe in, she added.

Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) director John Dickie added: With families across the country struggling to put food on the table and pay the bills and one in four of our children still living in poverty, this is absolutely the time for the new First Minister to be bold in his use of Scotlands tax and benefit powers.

Harnessing Scotlands undoubted income and wealth and investing in tackling poverty through, for example, the Scottish Child Payment, are vital to ensuring every family has the resources they need to give their children a decent start in life.

A Scottish Government spokesman said the First Minister had already indicated his commitment to progressive taxation ahead of his statement to MSPs on Tuesday.

Changes to income tax in Scotland came into force earlier this month and are estimated to raise more than half a billion pounds of additional revenue this financial year to support vital public services, the spokesman said.

In addition, the Scottish Government has launched a consultation on giving new powers to local authorities, which would allow them to increase council tax on second homes and empty homes.
The Armie Hammer sexual assault case has been handed over to DA's office. (Photo: Invision/AP)

The Los Angeles District Attorney's Office is reviewing sexual assault claims against actor Armie Hammer. It's unclear if these stem from the 2021 investigation or are based on new allegations.

"I can confirm that the LAPD has presented a case regarding Armie Hammer to the L.A. D.A. The matter is currently under review," the office's communications director Tiffiny Blacknell told CNN.

Yahoo reached out to Hammer's lawyer for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.

Hammer was investigated by the LAPD for sexual assault two years ago after his former partner accused him of violently raping her in 2017. The woman also accused him of mental, emotional and sexual abuse. No charges were ever brought against the actor and he's denied wrongdoing.

In January 2021, Hammer found himself embroiled in a sex scandal as private messages were leaked that purportedly showed the Social Network star expressing interest in cannibalism and rape fantasies. Hammer broke his silence about the controversy in February and revealed his interest in BDSM was due to sexual abuse he experienced as a child.

"What that did for me was it introduced sexuality into my life in a way that it was completely out of my control," he told Air Mail. "I was powerless in the situation. I had no agency in the situation. My interests then went to: I want to have control in the situation, sexually."

Hammer said a BDSM encounter he had with his rape accuser was consensual and "her idea."

"She planned all of the details out, all the way down to what Starbucks I would see her at, how I would follow her home, how her front door would be open and unlocked and I would come in, and we would engage in what is called a 'consensual non-consent scene,' CNC," Hammer explained, adding that they "only had one scheduled CNC event."

Hammer admitted his behavior towards his partners could be considered emotionally abusive.

"I'm here to own my mistakes, take accountability for the fact that I was an a*****, that I was selfish, that I used people to make me feel better, and when I was done, moved on," the Call Me By Your Name star explained. "And treated people more poorly than they should have been treated."
Kelly Ripa kicked off a new chapter of Live on Monday with her husband, Mark Consuelos, as her fourth co-host. (Photo: Live With Kelly and Mark via Instagram)

The new chapter of Live has begun.

Live With Kelly and Mark, featuring Kelly Ripa and her husband Mark Consuelos as co-hosts, premiered on Monday. It's a new beginning for the long-running morning talk show, just days after Ryan Seacrest said goodbye.

The pair walked out to the newly redecorated set  featuring Live with Kelly and Mark signs and coffee mugs  holding hands. She made the new co-hosting situation official, starting the show by saying, "It's Monday, April 17, 2023. Joining me today  and permanently, until one of us dies  is Mark Consuelos."

In the audience for her parents' first show as co-hosts was the couple's 21-year-old child, Lola Consuelos, who recently moved back in with her mom and dad. Other guests included the couple's longtime friends, MLB star Willie Randolph and his wife Gretchen.

Needless to say, husband and wife, both 52, quickly fell back into their on-screen routine. After all, they did play a couple on All My Children in the 1990s before becoming a pair in real life. Consuelos acknowledged the fandom around their characters, saying "Hayley and Mateo forever," while Ripa said fans constantly still address them by their characters' names, even all these years later.

Consuelos has also long been a Live fixture. He was first a guest on the show 27 years ago, sans Ripa, as viewers were reminded of on Monday with a clip of him being interviewed by Regis Philbin and Kathie Lee. The Riverdale actor has also filled in as guest co-host many times through the years when Ripa's co-hosts, also including Michael Strahan, were out.

"It's as if you've always been here," Ripa remarked after a montage of past "Mark moments" on the show played.

They also showed a billboard of the new co-hosts outside the NYC studio, as well as their images on the marquee above the Good Morning America studio in Times Square.

"This is all feeling very permanent," Consuelos said, with Ripa shooting back, "Oh honey, as you know  nothing here is permanent  except for me, evidentially." She added that he "can't back out now! You're in."

Guests for the first show included TLC's Chili (real name: Rozonda Thomas) as well as the psychic Char Margolis, who famously helped Ripa land her Live job in 2000. Back then, Ripa, who was auditioning for the permanent host spot, was about five weeks pregnant with Lola, which nobody but she and Consuelos knew, when Margolis rightly predicted she was pregnant, live on air. Philbin looked stunned and Ripa landed the co-host job soon after.

"I'm convinced she's the reason I have my job here," Ripa said of Margolis, calling it a "full-circle moment" to have Lola in the audience as Margolis returned. However, she joked, "If she predicts I'm pregnant today, there's also going to be a funeral." Lucky for Ripa, there was no such prediction. When she did a reading for Ripa, she told her, "You're not pregnant," to which Ripa replied, "That would be a real miracle, Char."

Margolis did predict longevity for Ripa and Consuelos hosting the show together, saying Live will be "better than ever," despite many viewers being sad over Seacrest's exit. She predicted both Ripa and Consuleos acting again, which Ripa's done little of since Hope & Faith ended in 2006. ("Oh, god," Ripa replied.) She also predicted the pair will buy real estate in Palm Springs, which they said they had been looking at, and that their marriage will remain strong.

The show also featured old footage of the couple's kids on the show, including Lola's first appearance as a baby after Margolis's prediction turned out to be accurate. The psychic also offered to do Lola's reading, which presumably took place backstage after the show. (Ripa and Consuelos are also parents to Michael, 25, and Joaquin, 20.)

Live With Kelly and Mark premiered on Monday. Their daughter, Lola Consuelos, was in the audience and guests on the show included the psychic who predicted on-air that Kelly was pregnant with Lola in 2000. (Photo: Live With Kelly and Mark via Instagram)

Ripa and Consuelos ended the show together arm in arm.

"Thanks for today," she told him. "You did a great job."
FILE In this image taken from video, former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin addresses the court at the Hennepin County Courthouse on June 25, 2021, in Minneapolis. The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday, April 17, 2023 upheld his second-degree murder conviction for the killing of George Floyd. (Court TV via AP, Pool, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday upheld former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin's second-degree murder conviction in the killing of George Floyd, and let his 22 1/2-year sentence remain in place.

Chauvin's attorney had asked the appeals court to throw out the ex-officers convictions for a long list of reasons, including the massive pretrial publicity. He also argued that legal and procedural errors deprived Chauvin of a fair trial. But the three-judge panel sided with prosecutors who said Chauvin got a fair trial and just sentence.

Floyd died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, used his knee to pin the Black mans neck to the ground for 9 1/2 minutes. A bystander video captured Floyds fading cries of I cant breathe. Floyds death touched off protests around the world, some of which turned violent, and forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism.

Police officers undoubtedly have a challenging, difficult, and sometimes dangerous job. However, no one is above the law," Appeals Judge Peter Reyes wrote for the panel. "When they commit a crime, they must be held accountable just as those individuals that they lawfully apprehend. The law only permits police officers to use reasonable force when effecting a lawful arrest. Chauvin crossed that line here when he used unreasonable force on Floyd.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who assembled the prosecution team, said in a statement that he was grateful we have a system where everyone, no matter how egregious their offense, is entitled to due process and fair treatment."

The Courts decision today shows once again no one is above the law  and no one is beneath it, Ellison said.

A voicemail and emails were sent to Chauvins attorney, William Mohrman. He argued on appeal that the trial judge should have moved the case out of Minneapolis because of extensive pretrial publicity and unprecedented security precautions due to fears of violence.

The primary issue on this appeal is whether a criminal defendant can get a fair trial consistent with constitutional requirements in a courthouse surrounded by concrete block, barbed wire, two armored personnel carriers, and a squad of National Guard troops, all of which or whom are there for one purpose: in the event that the jury acquits the defendant, Mohrman said in oral arguments in January.

But Neal Katyal, a special attorney for the state, argued that Chauvin got one of the most transparent and thorough trials in our nations history."

Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill sentenced Chauvin to 22 1/2 years after jurors found him guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Chauvin later pleaded guilty to a separate federal civil rights charge and was sentenced to 21 years in federal prison, which he is now serving in Arizona concurrent with his state sentence.

Judge Cahill managed this trial with enormous care, and even if Chauvin could identify some minor fault, any error is harmless, Katyal said. The evidence of Chauvins guilt was captured on video for the world to see.

Mohrman argued that the pretrial publicity was the most extensive of any trial in Minnesota history, and that the judge should have moved the trial and sequestered the jury. He said the publicity and the riots, the citys $27 million settlement with Floyds family announced during jury selection, the unrest over a police killing of a Black man in a Minneapolis suburb during jury selection, and the sealing off of the courthouse, were just some of the factors prejudicing Chauvins chance of a fair trial.

His appeal also focused on one juror who participated in a civil rights event commemorating the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.s March on Washington, a few months after Floyds death. Only after the trial did the juror reveal that he had been there.

But the appeals court ruled that Cahill did not abuse his discretion in deciding those issues.

Local defense attorney Mike Brandt, who has followed the case closely, said he was not surprised that the appeals court affirmed Chauvins conviction and found no errors that would have changed the outcome. Appellate courts give judges wide discretion and are loath to micromanage how they run trials, he said. He added that Cahill created a solid record to justify the decisions he made in a high-pressure case where literally the eyes of the world were on him.

The appeals court declined to address whether it was legally permissible to convict Chauvin of third-degree murder. The defense said a 2021 Minnesota Supreme Court decision in a different police killing case that clarified the definition of that crime meant the law no longer fit the facts of Floyd's killing. But the appeals court noted that the trial judge never formally adjudicated that conviction nor did he sentence Chauvin on that count.
By Katharine Jackson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A fundraising group supporting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's potential run for U.S. president on Sunday launched its first attacks on leading rival Donald Trump, questioning the former president's allegiance to his fellow Republicans.

"Trump should fight Democrats, not lie about Governor DeSantis," the ad stated. "What happened to Donald Trump?"

Former president Trump launched a bid for the 2024 Republican nomination in November and polls show he is leading the field of declared and as-yet undeclared candidates. DeSantis, who is expected to launch a run, is in second position in polls.

Never Back Down, the Super PAC backing DeSantis, released the ad titled "Fight Democrats, not Republicans" online and on "Fox News Sunday."

The ad begins with a reference to Trump's legal troubles in New York.

"Donald Trump has been attacked by a Democrat prosecutor in New York. So why is he spending millions attacking the Republican governor of Florida?"

Trump pleaded not guilty in Manhattan on April 4 to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a hush-money payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels. He was questioned on Thursday in a separate $250 million business fraud lawsuit brought by the state's attorney general.

Make American Great Again, the major Super PAC aligned with Trump, has already attacked DeSantis in ads.

Its latest release on Friday referenced a Daily Beast report that DeSantis ate chocolate pudding with his fingers while on a flight from Tallahassee to Washington in 2019.

"DeSantis has his dirty fingers all over senior entitlements, like cutting Medicare, slashing Social Security, even raising our retirement age," the ad said. "Tell Ron DeSantis to keep his pudding fingers off our money."

A Reuters/Ipsos poll in early April showed 48% of Republicans saying they want Trump to be their party's presidential nominee in 2024, with 19% supporting DeSantis. (This story has been refiled to correct a typographical error in paragraph 1)

(Reporting by Katharine Jackson; Editing by Scott Malone and Chizu Nomiyama)
A view outside Fox News studios in New York City. (Ed Shaffrey/AP)

The highly anticipated trial in the defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News, which was set to begin Monday morning, has been delayed. Its now scheduled to start on Tuesday.

In a statement issued by the court late Sunday, Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis announced the decision to push back the start of the trial, including jury selection, until Tuesday, April 18, 2023 at 9:00 a.m.

Davis addressed the decision in court Monday morning but offered no additional insight, saying only that such delays are not unusual.

This is not a press conference, he said.

While Davis indicated that the trial would continue as planned on Tuesday morning, some reports suggest that Fox may be making a last-ditch effort to settle the matter out of court.

Yahoo News will bring you live updates from the trial. In the meantime, heres what you need to know about the case.

What is this case about?

Attorney Sidney Powell, with Rudy Giuliani, speaks on Nov. 19, 2020, about lawsuits contesting the results of the presidential election. (Sarah Silbiger for the Washington Post via Getty Images)

The case centers on a number of false claims and baseless conspiracy theories that Fox News hosts and guests made on air in the wake of the 2020 presidential election, which alleged that Dominion Voting Systems, an election technology company, had somehow rigged voting machines to help Joe Biden steal the election from then-President Donald Trump.

Dominion has accused the conservative cable news giant of repeatedly broadcasting those claims, which it knew were false, as part of a cynical strategy to recover viewers loyal to Trump, who had abandoned the network for other conservative outlets like Newsmax after Fox reported, accurately, that Biden had won Arizona.

Dominion is seeking $1.6 billion in damages plus additional punitive damages, which are uncapped in Delaware, for the harm that it says Foxs defamatory broadcasts caused its business.

What evidence does Dominion have?

Fox News host Tucker Carlson at Fox Nation's Patriot Awards in November 2022. (Jason Koerner/Getty Images)

A lot, it seems. Emails, text messages and other testimony in a 192-page court filing submitted by Dominion in February revealed that Fox News figures were aware that the 2020 election conspiracy theories touted by Trump were bogus, even as they repeatedly broadcast the false claims.

The communications showed that on-air personalities, including primetime hosts Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity, privately cast doubt on Trumps claims that Dominion's voting machines were rigged in Bidens favor.

The messages included in the filing also revealed panic among the hosts because the network was the first to project that Biden would win Arizona, which angered Trump.

He could easily destroy us if we play it wrong, Carlson wrote in a text message to his producer two days after the election.

A few weeks later, though, Carlson sounded eager to move on from covering Trumps falsehoods. We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights, he texted a colleague on Jan. 4, 2021. I truly cant wait.

He added: I hate him passionately.

What does Fox say?

Anti-Fox News protesters outside the News Corp. building in New York City on March 21. (RW/MediaPunch /IPX via AP)

Fox News argues that it was simply reporting on the newsworthy allegations of voter fraud that Trump and his allies were promoting in the wake of the election and that the broadcasts in question should be protected under the First Amendment.

In its own pretrial filings, Fox accused Dominion of cherry-picking soundbites, omitting key context, and mischaracterizing the record.

Who is expected to testify?

Sean Hannity hosts his primetime Fox News show. (Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)

In a March court filing, Dominion indicated that it wants several of Fox News star hosts and top executives to testify during the trial. Among those who could take the witness stand are Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott and Fox News president Jay Wallace, as well as hosts Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity, Maria Bartiromo and Bret Baier.

The jury could also hear from Abby Grossberg, a former Fox News producer who, in a separate lawsuit filed in March, accused the network of pressuring her into giving misleading testimony during an earlier deposition in the Dominion case.

Earlier this month, the judge said Dominion could even force Fox Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch and his son CEO Lachlan Murdoch to testify, concluding that the Murdochs are relevant to the case.

Why is this case such a big deal?

Defamation cases rarely go before a jury, and if opening statements in the Dominion case are delivered Tuesday as planned, it could be the start of what the New York Times has called the trial of the century.

In the landmark 1964 ruling New York Times v. Sullivan, the Supreme Court set a particularly high bar for public figures who seek to bring libel cases against media organizations, requiring them to prove that defamatory statements were made with actual malice or that the defendant knew they were false at the time or acted with reckless disregard for the truth.

This standard, which is extremely difficult to meet, is meant to give media outlets freedom to make mistakes while reporting on newsworthy events, as long as they dont do so deliberately. Fox has argued that its coverage of Trumps voter fraud allegations should be covered by the First Amendment, accusing Dominion in a statement of taking an extreme view of defamation law that would stop the media in its tracks.

However, many legal scholars and ethics experts have said that Dominion appears to have an unusually large volume of evidence that Fox hosts and executives knew the vote rigging claims were false at the time they were aired and broadcast them anyway.

What has the judge said so far?

An artist's sketch of Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)

Davis has already dealt a significant blow to Foxs defense in a pretrial ruling last month, in which he concluded that Dominion had successfully proved that the statements in question were false, meaning a jury will have to decide only whether Fox should be liable for broadcasting them.

In the same ruling, Davis poked holes in Foxs argument that it was simply reporting on newsworthy statements from a sitting president and his allies by noting that the network failed to balance those claims with statements provided by Dominion and various government officials disproving the fraud allegations.

Ahead of the trial, Davis also sanctioned Fox for withholding relevant evidence from Dominion and the court, including regarding Rupert Murdochs role at Fox News. The networks attorneys had repeatedly maintained that Murdoch, the founder and chairman of Fox Corporation, Fox News parent company, had no official role at the cable news network. A week ago, however, the attorneys revealed that Murdoch is also officially the executive chairman of Fox News, prompting condemnation from the judge, who promised to launch an investigation.

I need people to tell me the truth, Davis said at a hearing earlier this month. By the way, an omission is a lie.

How long is the trial supposed to last?

About six weeks, according to the Associated Press.

Will it be televised?

Cameras will not be allowed in the courtroom. A live audio feed will be available through a special phone line set up by the court, but Davis has banned any recording or rebroadcasting of the proceedings. Several media outlets objected to the ban, asking the judge to allow them to record and use excerpts of the audio. Davis has yet to rule on that request.

What has Trump said about the case?

Donald Trump speaks during the National Rifle Association Convention in Indianapolis on April 14. (Darron Cummings/AP)

The former president has multiple legal battles of his own to worry about, but that doesnt mean he doesnt have strong opinions about the case, as evidenced by the all-caps missives posted to Truth Social, his social media platform, on Monday morning.

IF FOX WOULD FINALLY ADMIT THAT THERE WAS LARGE SCALE CHEATING & IRREGULARITIES IN THE 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, WHICH WOULD BE A GOOD THING FOR THEM, & FOR AMERICA, THE CASE AGAINST THEM, WHICH SHOULD NOT HAVE EXISTED AT ALL, WOULD BE GREATLY WEAKENED. BACK UP THOSE PATRIOTS AT FOX INSTEAD OF THROWING THEM UNDER THE BUS - & THEY ARE RIGHT! THERE IS SOOO MUCH PROOF, LIKE MASS BALLOT STUFFING CAUGHT ON GOVERNMENT CAMERAS, FBI COLLUDING WITH TWITTER & FACEBOOK, STATE LEGISLATURES NOT USED, etc., read Trumps message.
The shooting of a Black teenager who rang the wrong doorbell after mistaking the residence for one a block over has sparked outrage on social media, a weekend protest and calls for the shooters arrest.

Nationally prominent civil rights attorneys Lee Merritt and Ben Crump announced Sunday that they were taking the case and promptly criticized authorities in Kansas City, Missouri, for releasing the gunman, who they said is a white man.

The 16-year-old, identified by the attorneys as Ralph Paul Yarl, was said to be stable at a hospital after he was shot just before 10 p.m. Thursday, according to police and the lawyers.

Yarl, a high school junior, was shot twice, struck in the head and arm, Merritt and Crump said in a joint statement.

"There can be no excuse for the release of this armed and dangerous suspect," the lawyers said.

Ralph Yarl. (via GoFundMe)

Kansas City police said the child mistook a residence in the 1100 block of Northeast 115th Street for the location of his siblings, who were at a home in the 1100 block of Northeast 115th Terrace, according to NBC affiliate KSHB of Kansas City.

Demonstrators targeted the location Sunday as word of the shooting started to reach a national audience through social media.

Protesters marched toward the residence where the shooting took place, chanting What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!

Yarls aunt, Faith Spoonmore, said Sunday at the protest: My nephew is alive and he is healing. It is not the story that that individual intended for us to tell. We are telling a story that is different from the stories that you normally hear, KSHB reported.

Missouri's stand-your-ground law says a would-be shooter defending life or property does not have to retreat before taking violent action.

Police Chief Stacey Graves explained why the shooter was released and vowed to investigate thoroughly.

The resident, whose name has not been released, was taken into custody and held for 24 hours, the maximum for a suspect in a felony until charges are filed.

A firearm was taken as evidence, Graves said.

She said that a vast majority of felony suspects are released after 24 hours but that many are re-arrested once enough evidence is gathered to trigger charges.

In this case, Graves said, detectives, working "as expeditiously and as thoroughly as we can," will work to build a solid foundation for prosecution.

"As soon as the case is complete, it will be presented to the Clay County prosecutor for their review," she said.

I want everyone to know that I am listening and I understand the concern we are receiving from the community.Police Chief Stacey Graves

I want everyone to know that I am listening and I understand the concern we are receiving from the community, she added.

She also said she has been in touch with the teen's family and is listening to the concerns of the Black community.

Mayor Quinton Lucas, who attended the news conference, said there's a "thorough" investigation underway now.

"We will make sure we do all we can to be fair, to make sure we're as expeditious as possible and more than anything to make sure that everyone, no matter their background, knows that justice can be obtained here in Kansas City," he said.

Lucas also said he's been in touch with the victim's family.

"My heart goes out to the victim of this shooting, the victim's family, my heart goes out to everyone impacted," he said.
A resident walks past a mural depicting armed members of the Ulster Volunteer Force, a paramilitary group, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. (Charles McQuillan / Getty Images)

By now, these walls were meant to have fallen.

Just as they did at the height of the Troubles  three blood-soaked decades of sectarian and political violence that shook Northern Ireland and transfixed a watching world  separation barriers still snake their way between neighborhoods of low-slung red-brick row houses, keeping mainly Roman Catholic Irish nationalists and Protestants loyal to the British crown physically separated from one another.

Nearly 50 feet tall in some spots, daubed with slogans and topped by metal spikes, the dividing lines are known, with scarcely a trace of irony, as peace walls. In the quarter-century since the Good Friday agreement, the landmark deal that largely ended the conflict, successive target dates for dismantling the barriers have slipped past, one after another.

Ah no, love  they wont come down in my lifetime, I dont think, said Kathleen Smyth, 63, walking with her daughter and granddaughter on Falls Road, the main thoroughfare in west Belfast, where the tricolor of the neighboring Irish Republic flutters from flagpoles.

A gate in the "peace wall" dividing Protestant and Catholic neighborhoods in west Belfast. At night and on weekends, it is shut, closing off passage to pedestrians and vehicles. (Laura King / Los Angeles Times)

Across the divide on Shankill Road, where many tattered storefronts display the Union Jack, 35-year-old maintenance worker William Harveson angled his chin in the direction of a sturdy gate that would seal off foot and car traffic through the barrier in a few hours, at sunset.

Its still needed, he said. Just in case.

Cautionary notes like these have been a recurring theme amid commemorations of the anniversary of the agreement, signed on April 10, Good Friday, of 1998.

With some 3,600 people killed and many more maimed in the 30 years leading up to the accord, it is hailed as a vital lifesaving intervention. The pact, meant to keep balance between unionists who want to stay in the United Kingdom and nationalists who want to be part of the Republic, is also seen as a singular success story in U.S.-brokered conflict resolution.

Northern Ireland is a small place  fewer than 2 million people  but over the course of the Troubles, the sheer numbers of deaths and disappearances, imprisonment and injuries, left few families across the six counties untouched.

Scaled up, its like your Civil War, said Peter McLoughlin, a politics lecturer at Queens University Belfast.

The milestone anniversary, though, has called attention to ongoing rancor that caused the power-sharing government  the deals centerpiece  to founder more than a year ago.

Commemoration organizers had hoped a political rapprochement would have happened by now, rather than casting a pall over ongoing anniversary events. This week, many of the agreement's architects, former President Clinton among them, are gathering in Belfast, along with leaders and dignitaries including Britains King Charles III.

President Biden joins others for a group selfie after a speech at Ulster University's campus in Belfast, Northern Ireland. (Patrick Semansky / Associated Press)

President Biden, in a speech in Belfast last week, hailed the accords achievements, but warned that hard work lay ahead to prevent a relapse into violence.

Northern Ireland will not go back, he declared, dangling the prospect of greater economic incentives if rival politicians can once again join together in a functioning government.

With the Troubles on the cusp of living memory and beginning a passage into history, some observers point to a fundamental disconnect: the starkly different stories that people tell themselves and each other about the years of violence.

Masked youths throw gasoline bombs at a police Land Rover as Republican protesters opposed to the Good Friday agreement hold a parade in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, last week. (Peter Morrison / Associated Press)

Theres no consensus, really, on what took place and what it all meant, said Sandra Peake, who heads Northern Irelands largest support network for Troubles victims and survivors. So it can be hard to see a common way forward.

::

'Paying the price for everyone's peace'

More than anything, Fiona Kelly fears coming face to face with her fathers convicted killer, who lives in her same small town. Under a prisoner release mandated by the Good Friday accord, he was freed after two years.

Its been 30 years since Gerry Dalrymple was gunned down, but Kelly, 50, said she thinks every day of Daddy, a carpenter with a quiet sense of humor and a wide circle of friends among Protestants and fellow Catholics. He had no affiliation with any armed group.

Johnnie Proctor also lives in the same community as a man imprisoned for killing his father, a reservist in what was then the overwhelmingly Protestant police force, in 1981. He was 1 day old when his 25-year-old father, also named John, was shot dead as he left the hospital after visiting his wife and newborn son.

The assailant, eventually sentenced to a life term, served less than three years.

Ive probably seen him and spoken to him without even knowing, said Proctor, now 41, who sells and services farm machinery. But I put it aside  I dont want to be thinking of who looks like him, who could be him.

Besides the loss of their fathers, Kelly and Proctor share another bond: Both sat for large-scale portraits by the internationally acclaimed painter Colin Davidson of people who suffered grievous loss  bereavement, injury, disappearance of a loved one  in the Troubles.

The 18 works, collectively titled Silent Testimony, are on display this month at Stormont, the seat of the now-suspended Northern Ireland Assembly. Monumental yet intimate, each portrait measures about 4 feet by 4 feet, and is tightly focused on the subjects face. Viewers tend to linger long before them.

Davidson, whose subjects have included musicians, actors and the late Queen Elizabeth II, and who once gave painting lessons to Brad Pitt, said the Good Friday agreement left him with the piercing sense that those who had suffered the most had somehow been left behind.

I realized that this massive section of the community was paying the price of everyone elses peace, said the 54-year-old artist, who lives outside Belfast.

Davidsons subjects sat for their portraits nearly a decade ago and met one another when the exhibition, which has toured extensively, originally opened in Belfast.

Four of the sitters have since died, but the survivors are friendly with one another; some have become extremely close. They reunited this monthfor the opening at Stormont.

Throughout the conflict, acts of violence were committed by all sides  nationalists, loyalists and state forces. But Davidson made the deliberate decision not to refer to the religion or political affiliation of anyone involved, whether victim or perpetrator, in short texts accompanying the portraits.

Instead, seeking to impart a common humanity, he recounted the circumstances of loss in the simplest terms: names, places, dates, a detail or two. He insists the paintings always be displayed together.

Davidson found his subjects by working with a trauma center called WAVE, which has provided material and mental-health support to thousands of people coping with the Troubles aftermath. He and its specialists found subjects of different faiths and from different walks of life, from inside and outside Northern Ireland.

Each portrait is emotionally wrenching, each in its own way. Paul Reilly, whose 20-year-old daughter Joanne was killed in a 1989 bombing, asked to sit for Davidsons sketch in her bedroom, which he had preserved exactly as it was when she died, with a clock whose hands he set to the moment of her death.

Margaret Yeaman, whose facial injuries from a 1982 bombing left her blind, always wore dark glasses, but removed them for her sitting so Davidson could depict her eyes, which critics consider one of the most striking aspects of his portraiture. She, of course, was never able to see the haunting likeness that resulted.

Kelly said thinking of her childrens future helped her arrive at the conviction that the Good Friday agreement, for all its sorrowful legacy, is for the good of the country. She doesnt flinch from painful memories of her fathers killing, though, because forgetting would be a kind of death.

Proctor said he carries the enduring lesson that religion and political backgrounds shrink into insignificance in the face of grief.

One side or the other, none of that matters, he said. We all understand each other.

::

'It all seemed normal. But of course it wasn't'

Martin Mulholland well remembers the surreal sight: He was looking, impossibly, from his hotel concierge desk straight onto the main stage of Belfasts Opera House.

It was May 1993, and a thunderous blast set off by the Provisional Irish Republican Army had knocked a gaping hole in the masonry dividing the opulent music venue from the hotel where he's worked for four decades. A Belfast landmark, the Europa Hotel claims the dubious distinction of being hit 33 times by bombs  including one that struck even before its doors opened in 1971.

British troops stand guard as bomb experts search through the wreckage after a terrorist blast hit the ground floor of the Europa Hotel in Northern Ireland's capital in 1975. (Associated Press)

In the well-practiced sotto voce of a veteran concierge, Mulholland offered an addendum: Only five of the explosions that damaged the building, he said, were from incendiary devices planted inside the hotel itself.

Miraculously, none of the attacks on the hotel resulted in fatalities. It was probably such a high-profile target, Mulholland said, because it was a symbol of investment, English-owned, and was home away from home to dozens of international journalists, so any strike in the vicinity was guaranteed to garner attention.

Somehow you got used to it  it all seemed normal, said Mulholland, whose 58 years have been bisected by the Troubles and the post-Good Friday era. But of course it wasnt, not in any way.

::

'Its like theyre talking about World War I'

In Belfasts central core, the rattle of gunfire and the heavy tread of British military vehicles has long been replaced by coffeehouse chatter, art-house buzz and the din of construction.

Where customers were once searched when entering the tiniest of shops, now teens, pensioners and young parents pushing strollers freely wander the walkways of a huge semi-enclosed shopping mall. The urban perimeter of Belfasts downtown  a forbidding network of barbed wire, concrete and 12-foot fences  has long since vanished.

The bustling exterior, however, belies a society still profoundly wounded, said Siobhan ONeill, a professor of mental health sciences at Ulster University.

Compared with the rest of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland suffers from significantly higher rates of suicide, post-traumatic stress disorder and addiction  which ONeill and other researchers consider a legacy of years of strife, reverberating a generation later.

For many people the conflict is still very real, part of their everyday lives, said ONeill, who studies trans-generational trauma. Those who suffered continue to do so.

Lars Jackson, 15, of Belfast, was born 10 years after the Good Friday agreement. Lars identifies as neither Protestant nor Catholic. (Laura King / Los Angeles Times)

The countrys young, especially those from the most economically deprived areas, remain vulnerable to the long-term effects of the violence, at home and in the society at large, experts say. But they also have a greater tendency than their elders to look to the future rather than the past.

Lars Jackson, a 15-year-old with a shock of acid-green-dyed hair, a leopard-print jacket and multiple piercings, does not identify as either Protestant or Catholic. Most of Lars' friends don't either, the teen said.

Thats not like something we even talk about, Lars said.

The Good Friday agreement, signed a decade before Lars' birth, seems like ancient history  and all that preceded it even more so.

I heard family stories, yeah  my grandparents house was bombed, Lars said. But really, if people talk about the Troubles and that, to me, its like theyre talking about World War I.

::

The future, and the Brexit wild card

If the past is prologue, what does the future look like?

The uneasy sense of unfinished business stemming from the Good Friday agreement extends far beyond the current parliamentary deadlock, a recent flare-up of political violence, or complications surrounding Brexit, the U.K.s exit from the European Union.

Northern Ireland was created as a Protestant-majority enclave, but that power dynamic is undergoing a dramatic shift.

In the latest census, Catholics for the first time outnumbered Protestants, becoming a plurality but not a majority. And in elections last year, Sinn Fein became the first nationalist party to win the most seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

"Demographics will certainly continue to trend in a way that the nationalist population grows more than that of the unionists, said Robert Savage, an author and history professor at Boston College. "Unification is a subject that will come up," he said, but most analysts do not foresee a referendum any time soon on whether the six counties stay in the U.K. or join with the Republic of Ireland.

A couple walk along a so-called peace wall this month in Belfast, Northern Ireland. (Charles McQuillan / Getty Images)

Under the Good Friday agreement, Northern Ireland's secretary of state would be required to call a "border poll" if it appeared likely that a majority would vote to leave the U.K.

Not in the next five years, I think, McLoughlin, the Queens University lecturer, said of referendum prospects. But tensions involving Brexit could prove a wild card, he said.

For all its import, the Good Friday agreement may prove only one plot turn in a long narrative arc. History as drama is playing out, literally, in a production this month at Belfasts historic Lyric Theater based on the final high-wire negotiations.

The Owen McCafferty play, titled Agreement, has been playing to a sold-out house. In a rave review, the Irish Times lauded it as a compelling political thriller with echoes of Greek drama.

Its a pleasant surprise, really, said the theaters artistic director, Jimmy Fay. Works related to the Troubles, he said ruefully, arent always good box-office.

Meanwhile, Northern Ireland may at last be decoupling itself, at least in the eyes of the outside world, from its long association with seemingly ceaseless conflict.

At the tourism office across from Belfasts ornate City Hall, a couple from Australia debated how to pass the afternoon: one of the popular Troubles-themed taxi tours of murals and peace walls? Or the Titanic Experience, a sprawling interactive exhibit on the doomed ocean liner that famously set sail from the Belfast shipyards?

The Titanic, they finally decided. Its a story with an ending everyone knows.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Democratic Senators Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin dismissed calls for 89-year-old Senator Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) to resign amid her recent health issues that have left her absent from the Senate for weeks.

Both lawmakers suggested it is Feinsteins right to decide when to retire, even as she has missed several weeks of work after being diagnosed with shingles. Representative Ro Khanna (D., Calif.) has urged Feinstein to step down, saying she can no longer fulfill her duties.

Shes a team player, and shes an extraordinary member of the Senate, Gillibrand said during an appearance on CNNs State of the Union on Sunday. Its her right. Shes been voted by her state to be senator for six years. She has the right, in my opinion, to decide when she steps down.

Her legacy and her depth of experience is valuable. And we have had so many senators who have had illnesses, whether its [Senate Minority Leader] Mitch McConnells illnesses, or senators who have had strokes. These are issues that  were human, the New York Democrat said.

We believe that a senator should be able to make their own judgments about when theyre retiring and when theyre not. And they all deserve a chance to get better and come back to work. Dianne will get better. She will come back to work, Gillibrand added.

Meanwhile, Baldwin said its up to Feinstein and her family to make the decision. The Wisconsin Democrat said she was pleased that Feinstein asked Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer to ask the Senate to allow another Democratic senator to temporarily fill her role as Judiciary Committee chair. Feinsteins absence has paralyzed the committee, leaving Democrats unable to advance judicial nominees to a vote by the full chamber without her vote. It is unclear if the Senate will name a temporary replacement for Feinstein, as doing so would require support from Republicans.

I think that is really an important, a responsible thing to do during her absence, because we have President Bidens nominees waiting for hearings and votes and we want to keep that moving. But I wish her well and hope she returns to the Senate very soon, Baldwin said during an appearance on Meet the Press.

Meanwhile, Khanna on Sunday doubled down on his calls for Feinstein to resign and suggested California governor Gavin Newsom should appoint a caretaker replacement for Feinstein. The 89-year-old senator said earlier this year that she would not seek reelection in 2024 after serving more than 30 years in the Senate, setting off a race for her seat.

Governor Newsom can appoint a caretaker, he doesnt have to appoint someone in the current race, Khanna said on Fox News Sunday. I would support the governor doing that. This has nothing to do with the current race, because a caretaker would solve that.

This has to do with someone whos just not showing up, Khanna said. I said out loud what people have been saying in private.

More from National Review
WASHINGTON (AP)  Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell will be back at work in the U.S. Capitol on Monday, almost six weeks after a fall at a Washington-area hotel and extended treatment for a concussion.

The longtime Kentucky senator, 81, has been recovering at home since he was released from a rehabilitation facility March 25. He fell after attending an event earlier that month, injuring his head and fracturing a rib.

He visited his office Friday, the first time since his injury, and is expected to be working a full schedule in the Senate this week.

I am looking forward to returning to the Senate on Monday, McConnell tweeted on Thursday. Weve got important business to tackle and big fights to win for Kentuckians and the American people.

McConnell returns to the Senate ahead of a busy stretch in which Congress will have to find a way to raise the nations debt ceiling and negotiate additional aid for the Ukraine war, among other policy matters. And he comes back as several other senators have been out for medical reasons, raising questions about how much the Senate will be able to achieve in the coming months with a 51-49 split between the parties.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Already, the GOP leader's absence, along with those of Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein and John Fetterman, among others, have added to the Senate's lethargic pace in the first few months of the year. Unlike the last two years, in which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was able to push through key elements of President Joe Biden's agenda with the help of a Democratic-led House, the Senate has been significantly slowed with Republicans now in charge in the House. And absences have made even simple votes like nominations more difficult.

One immediate question for McConnell upon his return is whether to help Democrats temporarily replace Feinstein on the Senate Judiciary Committee as she continues to recover in California from a case of the shingles. Democrats have become increasingly frustrated as the Democrat's more than six-week absence on the panel has stalled confirmation of some of Bidens nominees, and Feinstein has asked for a short-term substitute on the committee.

Democrats cant do that, though, without help from Republicans, since approval of the process would take 60 votes on the Senate floor. Republicans have so far been quiet about whether they will object.

It is unclear when Feinstein, 89, will return to Washington. Her office has so far declined to say.

Sen. John Fetterman. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Also returning to the Senate on Monday is Fetterman, who was hospitalized for clinical depression in February. He was treated for six weeks at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and his doctors say his depression is now in remission.

Fettermans announcement that he was checking himself into the hospital earlier this year came after he suffered a stroke last year and has struggled with auditory processing disorder, which can render someone unable to speak fluidly and quickly process spoken conversation into meaning. The Pennsylvania Democrat, 53, now uses devices in conversations, meetings and congressional hearings that transcribe spoken words in real time.

In a statement when he was released from Walter Reed late last month, Fetterman said the care he received there changed my life."

Im excited to be the father and husband I want to be, and the senator Pennsylvania deserves, said Fetterman, who won praise for his decision to seek treatment.

When McConnell visited his Capitol office on Friday, video captured by NBC News showed him walking into the building without assistance as aides kept close by.

This was the second major injury for McConnell in recent years. Four years ago he tripped and fell at his home in Kentucky, causing a shoulder fracture that required surgery. The Senate had just started a summer recess, and he worked from home for some weeks as he recovered.

McConnell had polio in his early childhood and he has long acknowledged some difficulty as an adult in climbing stairs.
Google is not done with the AI competition just yet. Reports say that the tech giant, along with adding new AI features to its existing engine, is also developing a new one. It will be in response to OpenAI and Microsoft's latest features.

Google Expanding Its AI Services

The company is adding new features to its existing search engine with the project being called "Magi." Reports say that the search engine will be more intuitive when it comes to the users' needs, providing a more personalized search experience.

As for the new search engine, Google has no definite timetable for the project, but it may be a while before we see a fully-developed outcome especially since they are also working on new AI features that are set to be announced next month, according to Engadget.

With that release estimate, the search engine giant may unveil it at the I/O 2023. Google will first release Magi's new features to a million users in the US. It will then expand to around 30 million users before the year ends.

A Google spokesperson said that they have been bringing AI to Google Search for years to improve the quality of results, as well as introduce new ways to search such as Lens and multi-search. They added that the company will be sharing more details soon.

Google could possibly be scrambling for innovative ideas after the news hit about smartphone giant Samsung switching to Microsoft's Bing for its default search engine. If that does come through, Google will lose an estimated $3 billion in revenue annually.

The competition has been tense since Microsoft was rumored to be releasing an AI-powered Bing, and Google immediately responded with Bard. The new Bing has become a threat to Google after 25 years of being on top.

Read Also: Canva Unveils New AI-Powered Tools To Compete With Microsoft, Google

What Can You Expect?

Google continues to research AI in its DeepMind lab in London, which has contributed to technology such as self-driving cars and "large language models" used to develop chatbots that have caught the eyes of big tech companies.

While it was quick to release Bard to even the playing field with Bing's ChaGPT integration, the AI-powered chatbot was not very well received. Starting fresh, the new AI-powered search engine is capable of learning what users want to know based on their search history.

According to The New York Times, the experience would be more conversational, just as you would with a chatbot. It will offer "preselected options" for items you would buy, as well as information to research more on a subject.

Before that is released, people will soon get a glimpse of Google's other project, Magi. Internal documents state that the new features are already being worked on by 160 people, full-time. One of the things that Google won't change will be the presence of ads.

Magi's features have already been tested by Google employees, wherein they would ask follow-up questions to see if the search engine is capable of holding a conversation. Upon release of the initially added features, Google plans to add more in the fall.

Related: Google Announced that AI Features Will Be Added to Workspace Apps
Authorities work at a crime scene where gunmen killed several people including a minor after storming a water park, in Cortazar, Guanajuato state, Mexico April 15, 2023.REUTERS/Sergio Maldonado

MEXICO CITY (AP)  A band of gunmen invaded a resort where dozens of vacationers were spending the weekend in central Mexico and opened fire, killing six adults and a 7-year-old, authorities said.

Officials in the Cortazar municipality in Guanajuato state said in a statement that an eighth person was seriously wounded in the midafternoon attack at the La Palma resort. The statement did not speculate on a possible motive.

After the shooting, the attackers destroyed the spa shop and took the security cameras before fleeing, officials said. Three women, three men and the child died.

A video posted on social media shows several people in swimsuits running about crying, screaming and hugging their children.

Mexican soldiers and police aided by a helicopter were searching for the attackers.

Guanajuato, an agricultural and industrial hub, has been Mexicos most violent state for years. The Jalisco New Generation drug cartel has been fighting with local criminal groups, including the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel, which is apparently backed by the Sinaloa cartel.
Janet Jackson kicked off her Together Again tour this weekend in Florida. (Richard Shotwell / Invision/AP)

Janet Jackson kicked off her highly anticipated Together Again tour this weekend in Florida with an epic, 40-plus-song set list and a guest appearance from "Today" co-host Sheinelle Jones.

The revered performer opened her tour Friday at the Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Fla., where she sang a number of classic hits including "Control," "Nasty," "All for You," "Scream" and "Rhythm Nation," according to NME.

She also performed a few songs  such as "Damita Jo," "Enjoy," "Girlfriend/Boyfriend," "Like You Dont Love Me" and "Do It 2 Me"  live for the first time, NME reported. The show, which features music from her 1993 "Janet" and 1997 "Velvet Rope" albums as well as several other songs from her back catalog, consists of six acts.

Here's the full set list, per USA Today:

1. "Damita Jo"



2. "Together Again" (DJ Premier Remix)



3. "Feedback"



4. "So Much Betta"



5. "If"



6. "No Sleeep" / "Got 'Til It's Gone" / "That's the Way Love Goes" / "Enjoy"



7. "What Have You Done For Me Lately" / "Nasty"



8. "The Pleasure Principle"



9. "Because of Love"



10. "When I Think of You" / "Diamonds"



11. "The Best Things in Life Are Free"



12. "Control"



13. "When We Oooo" (intermission interlude)



14. "Together Again" (Deeper Remix)



15. "Come Back to Me" / "Let's Wait Awhile"



16. "Lonely" / "Funny How Time Flies (When You're Having Fun)" (Remix)



17. "Again"



18. "Any Time, Any Place"



19. "I Get Lonely" (TNT Remix)



20. "The Body That Loves You" (interlude) (contains elements of "Runaway," "You Want This" and "Spending Time With You")



21. "Doesn't Really Matter"



22. "All for You"



23. "Come On Get Up"



24. "Free Xone" / "Throb"



25. "Girlfriend/Boyfriend" / "Like You Don't Love Me" / "Do It 2 Me"



26. "So Excited"



27. "New Agenda" / "The Knowledge"



28. "Miss You Much"



29. "Love Will Never Do (Without You)"



30. "Alright" / "Escapade"



31. "Scream"



32. "Black Cat"



33. "Rhythm Nation"



34. "Together Again" (encore)

During Jackson's encore performance of "Together Again,"Jones joined her onstage. The "That's the Way Love Goes" artist extended an invitation for the broadcast journalist to be one of her backup dancers for the day after Jones channeled Jackson for the 2019 Halloween episode of NBC's "Today" show.

"I would love for you to join me," Jackson told Jones a few months ago while promoting her tour on the morning program. "You should."

Fast-forward to this weekend, when Jackson gave Jones a backstage tour and a rare interview reflecting on her life, career and upcoming documentary, which will include footage from the Together Again tour.

"Maybe it's because I'm not as shy as I used to be," Jackson said of her decision to document this phase of her journey. "I'm a little bit more open to sharing more in my life than I ever did before."

After practicing for hours with Jackson's backup dancers and alone in her hotel room, Jones performed a short routine to the tune of "Together Again" alongside her idol at the Hard Rock Live.

"Last night I kept trying to find the place between being out of my body and trying to stay in my body and actually get on that stage," Jones said Monday on "Today."

"When I was in high school, I had pictures of news anchors on one wall, and then I had pictures of Janet Jackson on another ... and when I was in seventh grade, I would make up dances to Janet. And so to be on that stage last night, it was ... surreal."

Jackson's Together Again tour encompasses more than 30 cities across the United States and Canada, including five stops in California. The veteran musician is scheduled to come to Irvine, Los Angeles, San Diego, Highland and Mountain View in June.

On June 10, Jackson will headline opening night of the Hollywood Bowl's 2023 season with support from Ludacris and members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's youth orchestra.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The Museum of Aviation is hosting an event called Operation Homecoming on April 21 from 13:30 p.m. in Warner Robins that will feature former prisoners of war and their homecoming stories.

Four American panelists will speak about their experiences as POWs in North Vietnam and answer questions from the audience. Speakers include Brig. Gen. James Sehorn, Col. Leon Ellis, Capt. William Arcuri and Capt. Will Robinson. Assistant professor of history at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Douglas Kennedy will be moderating.

The panel will be held in the Museum of Aviations (1942 Heritage Blvd.) Century of Flight Hangar in Warner Robins and is open to the public with limited seating. To reserve your seat for free, visit the foundations website.

This is the first event in the museums Heritage Series and will commemorate the 50th anniversary of Operation Homecoming.

When a ceasefire with North Vietnam was agreed to in 1973 and American forces withdrew from South Vietnam, a deal was made to free American soldiers who were being held captive. The deal was called Operation Homecoming. Though it did not bring home all Americans POWs, for many it was a ticket back to freedom.

Who are the speakers?

The four panelists speaking at Operation Homecoming have all spent time in North Vietnamese prison camps  and most of them were stuck for years before making it home.

Sehorn is originally from Middle Georgia and was held as a POW in North Vietnam for 1,917 days. As a lieutenant, he flew combat missions with the 469th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Korat Royal Thai AFB, Thailand. His F-105 was shot down in November of 1967, forcing him to evacuate, and he was taken prisoner in North Vietnam as a result.

Ellis was held as a POW in North Vietnam for over five years after his plane was shot down and captured in November, 1967. After obtaining his pilot wings in 1966 at Moody AFB, GA, Ellis was assigned to Danang Air Base, Republic of Vietnam, in 1967. There he piloted 68 combat missions, 53 of which were over North Vietnam, before being captured.

Arcuri was a B-52 copilot with the 744th Bomb Squadron of the 456th Bomb Wing at Beale AFB, California. After he was forced to eject from his plane in December of 1972, he was taken prisoner in North Vietnam and held for 55 days. On Feb. 12, 1973, during Operation Homecoming, he was released and able to return home.

Airman First Class Robinson had been working as a crew chief on a U.S. Air Force Rescue helicopter when he was shot down over North Vietnam and captured.

He was taken prisoner on Sept. 20, 1965, and was held captive briefly in the Hanoi Hilton before facing 2,703 days in multiple North Vietnamese prison camps. One of these camps was Briarpatch, known for its harsh conditions.
Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) has introduced a bill to repeal California's travel ban to states with laws discriminatory to LGBTQ people. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

In 2016, in a burst of anger over anti-LGBTQ legislation approved in North Carolina, Tennessee and elsewhere, the California Legislature approved a ban on taxpayer-funded travel to states with laws discriminating against people based on gender identity or sexual orientation.

Democrats for the most part were enthusiastic. Stick it to the bad guys! Send a message that California wont do business with bigots! Refuse to tolerate intolerance!

In fact, though, the travel ban has been something of a bust. It hasnt done much if anything to achieve its goal, assuming its goal was to pressure other states to protect and expand LGBTQ rights. Instead, during the intervening years, the number of states being boycotted, which began with Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee, has grown to 23.

Now, seven years after the ban went into effect, theres a movement underway to repeal it. And it's long past time.

For the most part, the arguments being put forward for repeal are sensible, practical ones that justify the decision to backtrack.

The ban hasnt appeared to change peoples attitudes in the banned states, nor has it changed their laws.

And it's got lots of loopholes. Travel to banned states is allowed if the trip is deemed "required." Even if it's not, legislators may travel to those states as long as they pay with their campaign funds, rather than state tax dollars. Trips by athletes from California's public universities are permissible too if they're funded by corporate sponsors or private boosters. Meanwhile, the travel ban has obstructed legitimate academic research and travel to conferences by UC and Cal State scholars and students.

But while the arguments for repeal are all legitimate, they miss what to me is the single biggest problem with the ban: Imposing a boycott on nearly half the states in the union further divides us as a country. It exacerbates political polarization and creates obstacles to communication with the very people we need to be persuading.

That point that was made last month by Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego), who introduced the repeal legislation and is leading the fight for its passage.

Although she initially voted for the ban back in 2016, Atkins now believes its time for a pivot, as she put it, because "polarization is not working." She hopes to repeal the boycott and replace it with a California-sponsored publicity campaign in red states to encourage LGBTQ acceptance and discourage discrimination. Her bill is scheduled for its first committee hearing on Monday.

Atkins has some perspective on the subject, having grown up lesbian in the South.

I know from personal experience growing up in a rural community, where it is more conservative, that the way to change peoples minds is to have impact and direct contact and to open hearts and minds, Atkins said recently.

Atkins comments go to the heart of an ongoing debate among moderate Democrats, liberals and progressives. Should we engage our political adversaries and seek to persuade them  or should we throw up our hands and deem them unreachable and unreasonable? Is it more effective to work within the democratic system with those we disagree with, or to accept that theres an unbridgeable chasm between us and settle in for battle?

Like Atkins, I'm in the engagement camp (though sometimes my commitment is sorely tested). Deep as our differences are in the United States and offensive as anti-gay and anti-transgender laws are, initiating state-against-state boycotts rather than opening avenues of dialogue strikes me as counterproductive if we still have any hope of making American democracy work.

I called Atkins last week to talk about her belief that California needs to adjust its strategy.

I think everyday people are tired of polarization, she told me. Were so focused on what we believe, and if you dont agree with me Im not going to deal with you. It separates us and thats a really bad thing.

Atkins said that as a legislator who has to work with others to make law, she believes in civility and diplomacy even with those whose positions are opposed to her own.

I know many progressive people who believe that we're past the point of cooperation, that compromise with Republicans is a fools errand and that theres little to be gained from discussions with conservatives, evangelicals or bigots who simply cant be reasoned with.

But I cling to the idea of engagement because Im not sure what the alternative is.

Besides, attitudes can and do change. Sometimes it happens slowly, but it can happen. And gay rights is actually a great example of that.

As recently as 2004, Americans opposed same-sex marriage by 60% to 31%, according to the Pew Research Center. By 2019, 15 years later, those numbers were reversed  with 61% supporting gay marriage and 31% opposed. Republican support for gay marriage climbed from 19% to 44% in that period.

Now Im not saying 44% support from Republicans is so great. Marriage equality should be considered a basic human right, yet not even half of all Republicans support it.

But 44% is a lot higher than 19%.

And I believe that number is more likely to keep rising if there is communication. Opponents of gay rights famously change their attitudes when they meet people who are gay, work with people who are gay, have conversations with people who are gay or realize that members of their own families  people they love  are gay.

Not because they're threatened with travel bans, trade wars or the wrath of California Democrats.

@nick_goldberg

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Scripps students Reema Iqbal, Hena Ahmed, a Harvey Mudd student Leila Bensaid, Fares Marzouk and other Pomona College students partake in a specially prepared halal meal for Muslims at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont after breaking their Ramadan fast on April 6. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

As a sophomore at Pomona College, Aysha Gsibat remembers rushing to get into the dining hall to grab food to break her fast during the holy month of Ramadan, which involves abstaining from food and water from sunrise until sunset.

She read prayers while waiting for the sun to go down. Alone in her dorm room, Gsibat had iftar, the sunset meal usually eaten with friends and family, as a party of one.

Freshman Ismail Kavuran hasnt seen his family in Turkey in eight months, and it will be another eight before he sees them again. As an international student at Harvey Mudd College, the 18-year-old worried he would spend Ramadan eating by himself.

Dualeh Dualeh, 19, attended a boarding school before coming to Pomona College. Without a microwave in his dorm, he would pick up boxes of food to eat in the evening for iftar and morning for suhoor, the pre-dawn meal. He expected he would have to do the same as a college student.

But this year is different for all three. On a recent Thursday, the students and other Muslims celebrating Ramadan at the Claremont Colleges have come together just about every weeknight for iftar, breaking their fasts in community.

Ramadan started in late March and ends this week, marking the holy month for Muslims, who believe the first verses of the Quran were revealed during this period to the prophet Muhammad more than 1,400 years ago. It represents the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, and the dates vary each year. Ramadan this year has fallen fully into the academic year for many students.

Muslim Student Assn. Co-President Ibrahim Khan, front, leads Maghrib, or evening prayers, after having a specially prepared halal meal for Muslim students fasting in the month of Ramadan at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

At the Claremont Colleges, Muslim students hail from different backgrounds and regions  Indonesia, Syria, Turkey, the Palestinian territories, Somalia. Shia and Sunni Muslims, groups that have historically had a tense relationship, have spent the holy month sharing meals and prayers in campus dining halls, those covering their heads with hijabs alongside those without.

Other colleges in recent years have also expanded their services to accommodate Muslim students. UC Berkeley announced in January that it will provide expanded dining options for students fasting during Ramadan, including carry-out meals. At UCLA, the Muslim Student Assn., which was founded in 1964, has been organizing iftar prayers and dinners and fundraising to cover the costs since early March. Last year, USC began offering students to-go meals for suhoor because dining halls did not open before dawn.

The dining staff at the Claremont Colleges has stepped up to provide authentic meals, laying out elaborate banquets for students during a trying time when they are studying for rigorous exams and fasting.

Ramadan is not just about staying hungry and breaking your fast, but its also about being together with your community, Kavuran said as he sat at a table in the Harvey Mudd dining hall on a recent Thursday during iftar. Before coming to the United States, I was concerned about how I was going to celebrate because I [moved here] alone."

But here, he said, "I can eat food from my country, I can have drinks from my country, from my kitchen. And if you look at the people, they're just like family. I can sit with anybody and they're just embracing me like I'm one of them.

The Claremont Colleges are a consortium of five undergraduate schools and two graduate schools: Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Pitzer, Pomona and Scripps; Claremont Graduate University and Keck Graduate Institute. This year, the campus dining halls have expanded meal options and hours to host iftar dinners every weekday at a different undergraduate college dining hall to serve the Muslim community.

Last year, when students were back on campus amid the COVID-19 pandemic, many tried to put together iftar meals on their own. But this year, Shaila Andrabi, the coordinator of Muslim life, said she spoke to each colleges dining services team to see if they could extend their hours to accommodate students who are fasting during Ramadan.

This is the first time that this has ever happened, that all the colleges have acknowledged Ramadan, and they are learning, Andrabi said. On the weekends, she orders catered food and prepares fruit salads at her home, with the help of students.

Shaila Andrabi, second from left, the coordinator of Muslim life, and Muslim students from various Claremont Colleges break their Ramadan fast with dates together at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

At USC, about 150 to 200 students have shown up to iftar meals put together by the MSA chapter this year, according to Varun Soni, dean of religious life. While the university provides some funding support, Soni said the iftar meals, which take place at the University Religious Center, are driven by students, who organize and fundraise.

On a recent Thursday evening, the Hoch-Shanahan Dining Commons at Harvey Mudd was humming as students arrived for dinner. In the main dining hall, students were queueing up to grab Mexican food prepared by the staff. As the hour grew closer to 7 p.m., the usual closing time, and the sun began to fade, the hall was still crowded, as staff began to lay out plates, desserts and drinks for iftar.

Each dining hall stays open past the regular closing time one day a week during Ramadan. On this night, it was Harvey Mudd's turn.

In the kitchen, as one cook flipped dozens of quesadillas on a grill, chefs Michael Montoya and Ruben Vega moved efficiently side-by-side over another grill, roasting bell peppers and halal chicken kebabs for the iftar feast.

I definitely feel like its getting better, Montoya said as he flipped huge peppers on the grill. We want them to come here and feel like they have everything they need.

After Andrabi spoke to them, the team members at Harvey Mudd volunteered to host the first campus iftar dinner, said Miguel Ruvalcaba, the senior director for dining services at Harvey Mudd.

At left, lead chef Michael Montoya and executive chef Ruben Vega prepare halal chicken kababs in shawarma seasoning to be served at iftar to Muslim students. At right, vegetables sizzle on the grill for meals for Muslim students who come from various Claremont Colleges to break their Ramadan fast together on the campus. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

The dining staff researched the meal's components  dates, halal meat, spices and customary drinks and desserts. They went to stores that sold halal food and asked restaurant owners about what they used to make their meals, Ruvalcaba said.

"We took it as a challenge, like, 'Let's see what we can do with this,'" Ruvalcaba said. "We might not know the foods, we might not know everything about it."

But he wanted to try.

Before this year, Ruvalcaba said, his staff worked individually with a few of Harvey Mudd's Muslim students to provide them with iftar meals to take back to their dorms. But this year, they're feeding as many as 60 people each Thursday night, which can extend dining hall operations for another hour.

As 7:15 p.m. hit  the time the sun set on this Thursday  other students had mostly left, while those observing Ramadan piled their plates with food from an extravagant display. They ate grape leaf dolmas, samosas, Israeli and Balela Middle Eastern salads, grilled harissa chicken  a first for Ruvalcabas dining hall  and beef kofta. They picked up bowls of tomato lentil and lamb stew. And crispy, sweet baklava for dessert.

Kavuran, in a blue hoodie, exclaimed excitedly over the dolmas, which reminded him of home. After he set down his plate, he ran back out to Ruvalcaba, who was portioning out soups, to tell him the jallab, a grape molasses-based drink with rose water, was just like his iftar meal at home.

Thank you so much, he told Ruvalcaba as they fist-bumped.

Miguel Ruvalcaba, director for dining services, puts the finishing touch to a Middle Eastern pudding specially prepared for Muslim students' iftar meal. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

An informal poll by The Times asked Muslim students to rank the various dining halls on their iftar offerings. Although students from all the colleges were surveyed, the findings may have been influenced by the setting  Harvey Mudd.

Because the clear winner was ... Harvey Mudd, which they say set a high bar from the outset. The staff reserved a room for the students to eat their meals in. After the dining hall closed, they had space to pray as well.

Of course, Harvey Mudd College, said Kavuran, the Harvey Mudd freshman. His friend, Arsum Nadeem Chaudhary of Pomona College, pretended to think about the question. Are you serious? Kavuran said accusingly.

I agree, I agree, Chaudhary relented.

Thank you very much, Kavuran said, satisfied.

Harvey Mudd has been the clear winner, Gsibat of Pomona College said. From the food, the service to the people, the private room, like, they just excel  to the desserts. ... You can tell they put so much work and research into trying to emulate our traditional home dishes. And they do it amazingly.

Students credit Andrabi for much of the success in getting the schools to celebrate iftar.

Andrabi said she and her husband were the first Muslims in the Claremont Colleges community when they arrived in 1988. Since then, she said, the Muslim community has grown. Many students came to know her as Shaila Auntie, as she served in an unofficial capacity as their confidante and advocate.

This work was not a burden for me, Andrabi said, and students welcomed the support. I wasnt a professor so I wasn't grading them, and I wasn't their mom or dad. I wasn't judging them.

The Claremont Colleges already had Jewish, Catholic and Protestant chaplains on campus. Last January, the college named her the interim coordinator for Muslim life, a position that became permanent and allowed her to take on an official role. She began gathering contact information for Muslim undergraduate and graduate students and realized there were many more than she had initially thought.

Her list of emails grew to 200, with students from at least 20 different nations, she said. When it came to organizing iftar meals this year, she was able to get meals covered by the colleges for students who did not have meal plans and wanted to attend.

Andrabi said she is proud of the "beautiful communal meals" they have brought to the campus and breaking down the walls within the Muslim community.

"This kind of coming together is very, very unusual," she said. "I am just so excited.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Outspoken Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza was jailed for 25 years by a Moscow court on Monday, the harshest sentence of its kind since Russia invaded Ukraine, after being found guilty of treason and other offences he denied committing.

Kara-Murza, 41, a father of three and an opposition politician who holds Russian and British passports, spent years speaking out against President Vladimir Putin and lobbied Western governments to impose sanctions on Russia and individual Russians for purported human rights violations.

State prosecutors, who had requested a 25-year term, had accused him of treason, among other offences, and of discrediting the Russian military after spreading "knowingly false information" about its conduct in what Moscow calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine.

In a CNN interview broadcast hours before his arrest, Kara-Murza, whose family home is in Washington, alleged that Russia was run by a "regime of murderers". He had also used speeches in the United States and Europe to accuse Russia of bombing civilians in Ukraine, a charge Moscow has rejected.

After hearing he'd been ordered to spend the next 25 years in a maximum-security penal colony, Kara-Murza, who had calmly listened to proceedings inside a glass courtroom cage, said "Russia will be free", a well-known opposition slogan.

He also smiled and - according to one of his lawyers, Maria Eismont - said he regarded the harsh sentence as recognition of his effective work as an opposition politician.

Vladimir Kara-Murza fell suddenly ill, in 2015 and 2017, in what he said were poisonings by the Russian security services. (Reuters)

"When he heard he'd got 25 years he said: 'My self-esteem has gone up, I understand that I did everything right. It's the highest score I could have got for what I did, for what I believed in as a citizen and a patriot,'" she said.

In his final speech to the court last week, Kara-Murza compared his trial, which was held behind closed doors, to Josef Stalin's show trials in the 1930s. He declined to ask the court to acquit him, saying he was proud of everything he had said.

Eismont said Kara-Murza's team would appeal Monday's verdict, which she said had been marred by legal violations.

The Kremlin, when asked about the verdict, said it did not comment on court decisions.

In London, Britain - which in 2020 imposed sanctions on the judge presiding over the case for alleged human rights violations, said it had summoned the Russian ambassador to protest over what it said was a "politically-motivated" conviction.

Outside the court in Moscow, British Ambassador Deborah Bronnert told reporters that Kara-Murza had been punished for bravely speaking out against Russia's war in Ukraine and demanded he be immediately released.

Criminalisation of criticism of government action is a sign of weakness, not strength.U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy outside the Moscow court

U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy, speaking alongside her, said Kara-Murza's conviction was an attempt to silence dissent.

"Criminalisation of criticism of government action is a sign of weakness, not strength," said Tracy.

Shortly after sending tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February last year, Russia introduced sweeping wartime censorship laws which have been used to silence dissenting voices.

"Discrediting" the army can currently be punished by up to five years in prison, while spreading deliberately false information about it can attract a 15-year jail sentence.

Casting the conflict in Ukraine as an existential struggle with the West, Russian pro-government politicians say unity across society is vital. They have described Russian citizens who question Moscow's actions in Ukraine as part of a pro-Western fifth column trying to undermine the military campaign.

Fell into a coma on both occasions

Twice, in 2015 and 2017, Kara-Murza fell suddenly ill in what he said were poisonings by the Russian security services, on both occasions falling into a coma before eventually recovering.

Russian authorities denied involvement in those incidents. Kara-Murza's lawyers say that as a result, he suffers from a serious nerve disorder called polyneuropathy.

Eismont, his lawyer, said his legal team was concerned about his health after an examination by a civilian hospital at the end of March found his condition was worsening.

Tatiana Stanovaya, founder of the R.Politik analysis firm, said Kara-Murza's lobbying for sanctions on Russia had long irritated the Kremlin and that his conviction was a warning.

"This is verdict aimed at sending a signal and probably not the last of its kind," she wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

"In future, the security services can be much less choosy and seize anyone if they are on Russian territory and a critic of the Putin regime. This is a warning to all anti-Putin activists - don't come back or we'll put you in jail, de facto for life."
The United Nations' World Food Program ceased operations in Sudan this weekend after three aid workers were killed during violent clashes between the country's army and a powerful paramilitary group.

Volker Perthes, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sudan, reiterated on Sunday that international aid workers are "not a target," condemning the slaying of three World Food Program employees in Kabkabiya, North Darfur. Two other staff workers were seriously injured.

"I also am extremely appalled by reports of projectiles hitting UN and other humanitarian premises, as well as reports of looting of UN and other humanitarian premises in several locations in Darfur," Perthes said. "These recurring acts of violence disrupt the delivery of life-saving assistance and must end."

Fighting broke out across Sudan on Saturday after months of rising tensions between the Sudanese armed forces, led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group led by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo. The two leaders are former allies who orchestrated a military coup in 2021 that removed a Western-backed administration.

At least 61 civilians have been killed and hundreds of others wounded over the past 48 hours, according to the Sudan Doctors Syndicate.

TUNISIA SAYS MORE THAN 2 DOZEN MIGRANTS DIED OFF COAST WHILE HEADING TO ITALY

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

The U.S. Embassy in Sudan sent out a shelter-in-place notice on Saturday for staff in the capital of Khartoum, which is home to over five million people. Other American citizens are also encouraged to seek shelter.

"I just arrived late last night in Khartoum and woke up to the deeply disturbing sounds of gunfire and fighting. I am currently sheltering in place with the Embassy team, as Sudanese throughout Khartoum and elsewhere are doing," U.S. Ambassador to Sudan John Godfrey said on Saturday.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, two regional powers located just across the Red Sea in the Middle East.

"We agreed it was essential for the parties to immediately end hostilities without pre-condition," Blinken said in a statement.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
MOSCOW (AP)  The U.S. ambassador to Russia said Monday that she was able to visit the Wall Street Journal reporter who was detained more than two weeks ago on charges of espionage.

Ambassador Lynne Tracy said that she visited Evan Gershkovich in Moscow's Lefortovo Prison, notorious for harsh conditions, and he is in good health and remains strong."

It was the first time weve been permitted access to him since his wrongful detention more than two weeks ago, she said on Twitter. We reiterate our call for his immediate release.

Gershkovich, 31, his employer and the U.S. government all deny he was involved in spying.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said last week that a possible prisoner exchange for Gershkovich could take place, but only after his trial is completed. No date has been set for that.

Its not clear how long the investigation could last, but other espionage cases have lasted for a year or more.

In December, American basketball star Brittney Griner was exchanged for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout following her trial and conviction on drug possession charges. She had been sentenced to nine years in prison and ended up spending 10 months behind bars.

Another American, Michigan corporate security executive Paul Whelan, has been imprisoned in Russia since December 2018 on espionage charges that his family and the U.S. government have called baseless.

Gershkovich could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Russias Federal Security Service arrested Gershkovich in Yekaterinburg, Russias fourth-largest city, on March 29. He is the first U.S. correspondent since the Cold War to be detained in Russia for alleged spying.

The service accuses Gershkovich of trying to obtain classified information about a Russian arms factory.
The Pentagon building.

BEIRUT (AP)  A helicopter raid by U.S. forces in northern Syria early on Monday resulted in the probable death of a senior leader of the militant Islamic State group, the U.S. military said.

The U.S. Central Command said in a statement that the IS leader, who was not named, was responsible for planning terror attacks in the Middle East and Europe. Two other armed individuals were killed along with the target of the raid, CENTCOM said. The statement said no civilians or U.S. troops were hurt in the operation.

Syria's White Helmets, a civil defense group operating in opposition-held areas of northern Syria, said it transported two people wounded during the raid to a local hospital, which later said they had died. A third person was killed when the U.S. forces landed for the raid, the White Helmets said.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which partners with the U.S. in anti-IS operations in northeast Syria, said that the operation was launched from a base near the town of Kobani and targeted a military site belonging to a Turkish-backed armed opposition group, Suqour al-Shamal, in the village of village of Suwayda in the region of Jarablus, near the Turkish border.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, reported that the raid had resulted in the arrest of a senior IS leader and killed three people. The U.S. military made no mention of any arrests.

The Observatory said violent clashes took place after the helicopter landed, the first such landing this year.

At least 900 U.S. troops are deployed in Syria, along with an undisclosed number of contractors.

The Islamic State group, which swept through Iraq and Syria in 2014, taking control of large swaths of territory, was defeated in Syria in 2019, but sleeper cells maintain a presence and periodically stage attacks on military and civilian targets.


remaining of

Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading.
Apple has always been proud of its ability to protect users from threat actors, thanks to its strong security system. Malware is rarely an issue, yet security researchers have found reason to believe that the LockBit ransomware gang may be targeting Apple computers.

LockBit Going After Apple Computers

LockBit is among the biggest ransomware gangs, which has already demanded at least $100 million worth of ransom. MalwareHunterTeam, a group of security researchers, found a ransomware build with the purpose of compromising Mac devices.

If this is true, then it marks the first time that a ransomware gang has targeted Apple computers. According to Engadget, the LockBit ransomware gang may have even been developing this since last fall and it was only found now.

The LockBit ransomware gang has always been targeting other systems like Windows, Linux, and virtual host machines. Although, they are more of a "ransomware-as-a-service" or RaaS type of operation, wherein they simply build the malware that's used against systems.

Even the US Department of Justice called the LockBit ransomware group one of the most active and destructive ransomware variants in the world. In the US alone, the hacker group has already had around 1,000 victims.

While Apple's security is arguably top-of-the-line, malware that is specifically developed to get through the tech giant's protection might just be enough. With this news, Apple might release a macOS update that will help users avoid suffering a breach from the specific malware.

Read Also: Authorities Arrest Possible LockBit Ransomware Gang Member in Canada

How Worried Should Mac Users Be?

Although Apple can be trusted to create measures to prevent this, especially since the company prides itself on its security systems, LockBit is also capable of a great deal. It has been linked to many high-profile ransomware incidents in the past.

Being the most notorious RaaS, they are reportedly responsible for approximately 40% of ransomware incidents globally. One of the variants is known as LockBit 3.0, wherein a user's wallpaper would state that their files have been encrypted.

The message will also include instructions on a .txt file on how to proceed with the hack. The victim will then have to contact the threat actor and they will have to negotiate the ransom payment to get their files back.

While the ransomware group doesn't usually target company giants and mainly focuses on small to medium-sized businesses, there have been instances when they targeted bigger organizations, as mentioned in TripWire.

Some of the high-profile victims they've been linked to so far are Accenture, Foxconn, and automobile company Continental. UK Royal Mail's overseas operations have also been affected by what is suspected to be a LockBit cyebr attack.

It would be hard to take the criminal operation down because of the way it operates. They simply develop the malware, and a different threat actor will release and infect other systems and the RaaS group will get a share of the ransom.

The way you can minimize the damage is by creating an offline backup of important files, so having your data encrypted will not affect you greatly. It's also advised that you encrypt important data, use unique passwords, and update your security systems regularly.

Related: LockBit Ransomware Group Takes Responsibility Of Recent Royal Mail Attack
YEREVAN, APRIL 17, ARMENPRESS. As heavy fighting between the Sudanese army and a powerful rival force for control of the country is raging for already three days, the local Armenian community has warned of the risk of damage posed to the only Armenian church in Khartoum due to the proximity of the hostilities.

Representatives of the small Armenian community told Arevelk newspaper that thus far the church hasnt been damaged despite the fighting taking place all around it.

The Armenian community in Sudan is the smallest Armenian Diaspora community, comprising only 15 people as of the latest data.

Heavy fighting between the Sudanese army and a powerful rival force for control of the country is raging for already three days, as the weekends civilian death toll rose to 97, the Associated Press reports.

Airstrikes and shelling intensified in parts of Khartoum and the adjoining city of Omdurman.

The clashes are part of a power struggle between Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the commander of the armed forces, and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group. The two generals are former allies who jointly orchestrated an October 2021 military coup.

Both men have dug in, saying they would not negotiate a truce, instead engaging in verbal attacks and demanding the others surrender.

Since fighting erupted on Saturday, 97 civilians have been killed and hundreds have been wounded, said the Sudan Doctors Syndicate, a pro-democracy group monitoring casualties.

Top diplomats urged the sides to stop fighting, including the U.S. secretary of state, the U.N. secretary-general, the EU foreign policy chief, the head of the Arab League and the head of the African Union Commission. The U.N. Security Council was to discuss the developments in Sudan later on Monday.

There has been no official word on the number of fighters killed.

In recent months, negotiations had been under way to get back on a path to democracy. Under international pressure, Burhan and Dagalo agreed to a framework agreement with political parties and pro-democracy groups.

However, the deal was vague on key points of dispute, including how the RSF would be integrated into the armed force and who would have final control. The signing of the deal was put off repeatedly, amid rising tensions between Burhan and Dagalo.
Rinus Van de Velde's "Unfortunately I did not come to other scenes" (2022) / Courtesy of Art Busan



By Park Han-sol



Art Busan 2023, one of Korea's leading art fairs based in the southeastern port city, is set to return with its largest edition yet at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center (BEXCO) early next month.



Starting with a VIP preview on May 4, the four-day event will bring together 146 galleries hailing from 22 countries, including Thaddaeus Ropac, Tang Contemporary Art, Whitestone Gallery, Peres Projects and the newly joined Lazy Mike Gallery.



The established European gallery Thaddaeus Ropac will present the latest work of American painter David Salle, "Tree of Life, Cowboy's Lament," while Tang Contemporary Art plans to showcase Seoul-based rising artist Woo Kuk-won's "Village."



Major local player Kukje Gallery is set to highlight two creators at the fair: renowned London-based sculptor Anish Kapoor and Australian artist Daniel Boyd. Boyd has risen to stardom in the art world as he draws on his Aboriginal and Vanuatan heritage to reinterpret images conventionally associated with Eurocentric and imperialist ideals. The results are distinct pointillist paintings featuring a myriad of transparent glue droplets.



In addition to gallery booths, the 12th edition of Art Busan will host 12 special exhibitions under the program "Connect."



A number of heavyweights and up-and-coming creators will come under the spotlight in this section  such as Japanese installation artist Tatsuo Miyajima, whose LED-based pieces investigate the eternal cycle of life and death (Gallery Baton); American artist Robert Therrien, who is best known for recreating mundane objects as towering sculptures (Gana Art); and British Neo-pop surrealist Philip Colbert, whose signature lobster persona will take over the port city's Haeundae Beach (The Page Gallery).



The Art Accent 2023, established with an aim to promote young promising Korean artists, calls attention to five photographers and painters  Hwang Won-hae, Park Han-saem, Seo In-hye, Jang Geon-yul and Kwon Ha-hyung  who each put forward their own versions of city portraits under the theme of "Nostalgic Mansion."





Gerhard Richter's "Grun-Blau-Rot" (1993) / Courtesy of Art Busan
Prof. Gopals thesis is that he sees a Hindu Rashtra coming to fruition by 2047 in two steps

There are two directions in which our present enthusiasm for majoritarian politics can go. I have long thought that there is only one place we can land up in, and we will come to that briefly at the end, but there is another view that we should consider. It was put forward a few weeks ago through a speech on the judiciary by Prof. Mohan Gopal, a former head of the National Law School.

His speech was reported by Live Law under the headline Theocratic Judges Who Find Source of Law In Religion Than Constitution Increased. His basis for saying this was an examination of the record of all judges appointed to the Supreme Court from 2004 to the present time (the speech was made on February 21, 2023). Of the 111 judges appointed, 56 came in the UPAs decade and 55 under the present BJP government, so the number is even. Next, he looked at the impact that the judges made, and whether the judges were biased. Not biased in their outlook, which Prof. Gopal accepts can only be determined through subjective interpretation, and therefore difficult if not impossible to arrive at. But looking at bias only through their judgments. His finding was that during the UPA period there were six judges who were constitutionalist, meaning that they believed in the primacy of the Constitution alone and no other source of law. This number had gone up to nine under the NDA.

Next, again going only by their judgments, he identified those individuals who looked beyond the Constitution to find sources of law in Hindu religious texts. He could find none from the UPA period, and nine from those appointed by the NDA government, of whom five were still on the bench. These individuals have sent down judgments that have found sources of law outside the Constitution of India and in religion. The Ayodhya judgment went much beyond the law to adjudicate the case, and the Supreme Courts hijab judgment also finds authority in religious texts.

Prof. Gopals thesis is that he sees a Hindu Rashtra coming to fruition by 2047 in two steps. The first phase is by appointing judges who are open to looking at religious sources beyond the Constitution. The second phase is by appointing judges who will identify the sources of religious law. Thus, Hindu Rashtra will come not by overthrowing the Constitution but by the reinterpretation of the Constitution as a Hindu document. The hijab judgment, Prof. Gopal says, was one such instance. That judgment says that dharma applies to the Constitution because the Hindi phrase used for secularism in the Preamble is not dharma nirpeksh but panth nirpeksh, referring to sect. The Constitution was thus not dharma nirpeksh but dharma itself, meaning Sanatan Dharma.

The judgment says: The use of word panth nirpeksh in the Constitution brings out the difference in the terms dharma nirpeksh and panth nirpeksh. Panth, or sect, symbolises devotion towards any specific belief, way of worship or form of God, but dharma symbolises absolute and eternal values, which can never change, like the laws of nature. Dharma is what upholds, sustains and results in the well-being and upliftment of the praja (citizens) and society as a whole.

Constitutional law is thus dharma. In Karnataka schools, homa is allowed but hijab is not, and the reason is that hijab is religion but homa is dharma, for the benefit of all mankind. Prof. Gopal explains the rise in the number of judges who are constitutionalists under the NDA by saying that the Supreme Courts collegium is not blind to the direction that the BJP is taking the country. That resistance is playing out in the present tussle between the collegium and the government in the appointment of judges. Two other important points he makes can be taken up briefly. First, that the oligarchy that rules India finds opposition in the Constitution, which stresses values like equality, secularism, dignity, and so on. Unlike Pakistan, where the oligarchy and the constitution are aligned, the primary resistance to the capture of the State by Indias oligarchy comes from the Constitution. And so, the energy of the BJP is primarily focused there.

Lastly, that the judiciary has become amenable to capture because it is itself lacking in diversity whether of religion, caste, gender or region. Being composed essentially of upper caste Hindu males, it has in some ways helped to further the project.

That said, Prof. Gopal believes that the immediate goal should be to protect the Collegium from any kind of governmental interference in judicial appointments.

My view of what the end-state of the present majoritarianism focus of India is I have written about here and in my books. It is that Hindutva is minority-focused and plays itself out in persecution alone rather than internal reform. Both judgments Prof. Gopal has used to illustrate his case  Ayodhya and hijab  also go after minority rights. It will be interesting to see if, assuming that he is correct, the Hindu Rashtra produced through judicial reinterpretation also addresses things like caste and chaturvarna, which will result in a seismic shift in Hindu society.

To be clear, Prof. Gopal does not exclude minority persecution from his thesis. He adds a second element which I had not considered. His speech is clear, precise and direct, and is available on YouTube. It requires being listened to, understood and debated.

The writer is the chair of Amnesty International India. Twitter: @aakar__patel
Iraq is a country facing the most and acting the least, says one expert. Over the next decade, up to 90 per cent of archaeological sites in southern Iraq are at risk from dry winters and hotter summers. Salt left from enhanced evaporation creates a crust that devours everything. Increasingly, farmers and herders are moving to the cities.

Baghdad (AsiaNews)  Iraqs ancient archaeological sites are threatened by climate change, including increasingly intense sandstorms and salinisation, this in a country facing the most and acting the least, says Iraqi archaeologist Aqeel Mansarawi.

Over the next decade, he warns sand could cover 80 to 90 per cent of the archaeological sites. One of them is Umm al-Aqarib, an important Sumerian town in southern Mesopotamia that dates back more than four thousand years, and covers an area of five square kilometres.

The city reached its peak in 2350 BC but now the site is threatened and could disappear. Not only has it suffered from the looting of antiquities in the past because of poor monitoring, but now climate change could bury it under sand.

More than 10 sandstorms have hit the country last year, with visible effects at the site. Before excavating can start, now Archaeological missions will have to put more effort, Mansarawi explained.

Extending across what was once called in antiquity the Fertile Crescent, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates, Iraq is rich in resources, but now symbolises the environmental crisis that is facing the planet.

Sandstorms, rising temperatures and declining water resources, are having an impact not only on human health but also on the countrys cultural heritage.

This worries the local Church. Card Louis Raphael Sako, patriarch of the Chaldean Church, had already raised the issue when he was archbishop of Kirkuk. For the cardinal, Iraqs cultural heritage is a "universal" good that is worth "more than oil".

Speaking in 2016 at the "International Conference for the Safeguarding of Cultural Heritage in Conflict Areas" in Dubai (UAE), he said that protecting such heritage was everyones responsibility. On that occasion, heads of state and government, scholars, Islamic and Christian religious leaders, historians, archaeologists and cultural activists came together to discuss ways to preserve the cultural legacy of the past.

For now, the winds are "more loaded with dust" and "carry fragments of the soil, especially sand and silt, which produce erosion and the crumbling of ancient buildings," lamented Jaafar al-Jotheri, professor of archaeology at Iraq's Al-Qadisiyah University.

The cause, ins view, is drier winters and longer, hotter summers with temperature that exceed 50 degrees and "weaken the soil[s] and fragment them because of the lack of vegetation".

Mark Altaweel, professor of Near Eastern archaeology at University College London, blames another factor, salinisation, due to the very dry" environment. When water evaporates very quickly, only the salt residues remain, which form a crust that devours everything.

Iraq is one of the five countries most affected by the main factors climate change, the first of which are long periods of drought, according to UN reports.

Although the emergency is largely due to the lack of rain, Iraqi authorities are especially critical of Turkey and Iran for building dams upriver, which they view as the main factor in limiting the flow of water.

Still, Jotheri notes that Iraq has the "worst hydraulic management. Even today, farmers resort to flood irrigation, a technique widely considered a huge waste.

What is more, with water shortages gradually driving farmers and herders to cities, land is abandoned, and the soil becomes even more vulnerable to winds, Jotheri adds.

Already in 2021, then Iraqi President Barham Salih raised the alarm, noting that desertification affects 39 per cent of Iraqi land, a percentage expected to increase.
Originally from Kerala, an Indian catholic man was hit by a stray bullet that came through a window of his flat. More than 4,000 Indians currently live in the African country plunged into chaos following the outbreak of violence between the countrys military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

New Delhi (AsiaNews/Agencies)  An Indian national is among the people killed after violence broke out two days ago in Sudan pitting the countrys military against the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary force.

The Indian embassy in Khartoum said the victim's name was Albert Augustine, 48, from Nellippara, a village in Kannur district, Kerala.

According to the Indian Express, the dead man was a retired Indian army officer who in 2022 became the head of security for the DAL Group, a Sudanese industrial conglomerate with interests in agriculture, food, energy, and education.

Augustine was on the phone with his son when he was hit by a stray bullet that went through an open window in his flat. Just a few days earlier, his family had joined him in Sudan for a short Easter vacation.

"His wife and children were with him when he was hit - his sister, Sr Remya Thomas, tells AsiaNews -. They saw him die before their eyes. He was hit by accident, it is a tragedy. The Indian authorities have mobilised to provide assistance and facilitate the return of the body. Many people have shown their closeness to our family".

Since last Saturday, when fighting broke out, the Sudanese capital has been the scene of shelling and explosions.

Both sides are claiming control of key sites, like the presidential palace and the airport, with the latter closed for a second consecutive day.

Medical sources report more than 50 dead and more than 600 wounded.

In New Delhi, Indian authorities are closely monitoring the situation in Sudan given that at least 4,000 Indian nationals are in the country, 1,200 who have been in Khartoum for decades.

On Saturday, the Indian embassy released a statement inviting all Indians not to leave their homes and to take immediately all necessary precautions.
by Hal Swindall

An enquiry by the New Straits Times newspaper disputes the government's optimistic figures: there are said to be one million drug addicts with an explosion in consumption among teenagers. Liquids for electronic cigarettes, sold at ever lower prices, are also among the spreading forms.

Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews) - The phenomenon of drug addiction is becoming increasingly serious in Malaysia. This is revealed in a series of articles by the Malaysian daily New Straits Times, which highlights the poor results of local policies in tackling the phenomenon, which have stopped at the announcement of the Malaysian government's intention - expressed in 2019 - to follow the path of decriminalisation. In the meantime, however, the situation is getting worse, especially among young people.

Theoretically, the official data from the Department of Statistics Malaysia (Dosm), which are stuck at 2021, would show a decline in the problem. According to this picture, the typical Malaysian drug addict would be a Bumiputera male over the age of 40, with a high school education who holds full-time employment and prefers methamphetamines.

But the picture emerging from other observers describes, on the contrary, an increase in the phenomenon that actually involves the very young. The New Straits Times states that drug addicts in Malaysia would be almost one million, far more than the 137,176 officially registered with the National Anti-Drug Agency (Nada).

After all, even the Nada statistics show an 11% increase in drug addicts since 2022. And the director of this agency himself, Sutekno Ahman Belon, attributes the drop in numbers recorded by the Department of Statistics to the restricted movement of people in Malaysia due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which simply prevented many drug addicts from registering.

Many Malaysian teenagers fall into the web of drug addiction. The New Straits Times interviewed teenagers who told of being pushed by peers to use methamphetamine recreationally, which eventually led to addiction. Under the control of their dealers, they find that they need higher and higher doses of the drug to achieve the same high and start stealing to pay for their habit. These teenagers also claim that smoking, drinking and sniffing glue are common among their peers.

The newspaper even reported the case of a seven-year-old boy addicted to 'syabu', as methamphetamine is called in East Asia. Worse still, many female drug addicts who become pregnant pass their addiction on to their children through breast milk. In an editorial, the New Straits Times laments how the government's efforts to combat drugs are 'largely after-the-fact' and fail to address the root causes of the problem, estimating that 5% of young Malaysians are actually drug addicts.

The investigation also mentions liquids for electronic cigarettes with hallucinogenic substances being sold for as little as 100 Ringgit (about EUR 20) per bottle, so that teenagers can scrape together the money to buy them. Some dealers would even sell 5-10 drops of this liquid for as little as 10 Ringgit (just EUR 2).

Meanwhile, Amnesty Malaysia has called for clemency for Hoo Yew Wah, a young Malaysian man convicted of methamphetamine possession: he was abused in police custody and has been waiting on death row since 2011. Just a few days ago, Malaysia took a first step towards the abolition of the death penalty.
Airstrikes have become a daily occurrence for the people of Myanmar with Russia and China as the juntas main weapons suppliers even after the coup of February 2021. Local armed groups have responded by weaponising drones.

Yangon (AsiaNews) - The death toll from last weeks airstrike by the Myanmar military in Pa Zi Gyi, a village in Sagaing, has risen to at least 170 people, including scores of civilians, adults and children.

This was one of the deadliest incidents since the outbreak of civil war, but not unusual since airstrikes have become a daily occurrence over the past year thanks to weapons supplied by Russia and China in violation of international law.

Following the military coup on 1 February 2021 when the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi was overthrown, Myanmar has become a battleground in the ongoing piecemeal Third World War that Pope Francis has mentioned several times.

The same types of weapons that are killing Ukrainians are killing people in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, special human rights rapporteur for Myanmar

Since the coup two years, China, Russia and Serbia (a Russian ally) have continued to send weapons that the junta is using against the civilian population, this according to Enabling Atrocities: UN Member States' Arms Transfers to the Myanmar Military", a report Andrews issued last year on the shipment of weapons by UN member states to Myanmars junta starting in 2018.

The study found that in September 2021 Myanmars Air Force had at least seven JF-17 aircraft manufactured and supplied with missiles from China, and in December of the same year, the junta commissioned four Chinese fighter jets and four transport aircraft.

The value of shipments from China to Myanmar in 2022 has almost doubled over 2021, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reported. The latter uses its own standards to measure and assess the transfer of arms from one country to another.

While Chinas military exports to Myanmar are substantial, they are still far below those of the Russian Federation.

Russia, has been Myanmars ally for historical and economic reasons and its main weapons supplier. Russian exports to Myanmar in 2022 was more than double that of China, SIPRI data show.

Myanmar Witness, an NGO reporting on human rights in Myanmar, looked at junta airstrikes in the last six months of 2022, noting that most aircraft were Russian-made Mi-35 attack helicopters.

On several occasions, Russian officials have stressed the importance of boosting military ties with Myanmar, while reassuring the countrys military that it would fulfil orders placed before February 2021.

In June 2021, a Myanmar delegation travelled to Russia to look at the manufacturing process of the Panstir S-1 missile defence system. Two months later, in August, a Russian official announced that Myanmar, along with other countries, was part of a  2 billion (US$ 2.2 billion) arms transfer deals, while in December the export of six more Yak-130 jets was authorised.

Satellite images show that transfers continued in 2022, according to the aforementioned report.

Most of the airstrikes are in areas under the control of armed ethnic groups that emerged at the time of the country's independence in 1948 and which have continued to fight the central government.

After the outbreak of the civil war two years ago, they joined resistance movements against Myanmars military regime, which includes the People's Defence Forces (PDF), the armed wing of the National Unity Government (NUG) set up in exile, composed mostly of former lawmakers from Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy.

Unlike the military, the resistance relies on homemade weapons, including commercial drones, which are ordered on the Internet or manufactured with 3D printers and then weaponised.

Resistance drone attacks are still sporadic, but in some cases they have managed to provide important support to resistance ground forces.

In at least one place, junta soldiers were forced to run into the forest to avoid resistance drone attacks.
by Sumon Corraya

In 2022, more than 15,000 Bangladeshi migrants arrived in Italy, twice as many as the year before, many travelling via Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt. Many of the bereaved families who lost loved ones on the dangerous trek paid huge amounts for the journey.

Dhaka (AsiaNews)  More than 15,000 migrants arrived in Italy from Bangladesh via Libya in 2022, twice as many as in 2021 (7,838), just over 14 per cent of all arrivals, joining the third-largest immigrant community in the country.

Among Bangladeshi migrants, travelling from home to Libya via a third country is now a well-established practice. Many make the journey to seek a better future, but the crossing often turns into a nightmare.

In the first three months of 2023, more than 20,000 migrants reached Italian shores with almost 500 losing their life or going missing, many from Bangladesh.

In one of the latest tragedies at sea, out of a boatload of 47, 17 people were rescued and brought to Pozzallo, a town on the coast of southern Sicily; the other 30 are missing, with at least 12 from Faridpur, a city in Dhaka Division.

For a better life, I sent my son to Italy. But all the dreams have been ruined. I want my son back, said Torap Molla, 30, speaking to AsiaNews. His son, Shafiqual Islam Russell, is missing. To get him to Italy, he paid 800,000 taka (US$ 7,500) to a trafficker called Murad Faki.

Shafiqual left Bangladesh at the start of the year, arriving in Libya on 12 January via Dubai. After staying in the North African country for two months, he climbed on the boat that was supposed to take him to Italy, which sank on 12 March.

"Murad Faki told us that many people had gone to Italy thanks to him, and we trusted him. By trusting him we lost my son," the father added.

Mahfuz Molla, 22, was another of the 12 Bangladeshis lost at sea in the Mediterranean, the son of a farmer. In his case, the family spent 750,000 taka (US$ 7,000) for the trip.

I sent my brother abroad to turn the wheel of fortune. But I never dreamt that the wheel would turn like this, said his younger brother Tanveer. We borrowed money from various organisations. We hoped to see some prosperity after living in a world of privation, but all our dreams drowned at sea."

Although the Eastern Mediterranean route continues to be the deadliest in the world, according to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Italy has become a favourite destination for migrants from Bangladesh thanks to the possibility of regular transit to Libya.

The latest IOM data indicate that 21,653 Bangladeshis lived in Libya in 2022, mostly (74 per cent) in the west of the country, after arriving through regular channels from Turkey (36 per cent), the United Arab Emirates (38 per cent), and Egypt (13 per cent). About 93 per cent said they arrived by plane.

"In 2000, when I was only 20 years old, I went to Libya through a broker. I started working in a Korean company for a few years there, said Haroon Ur Rashid, a Bangladeshi who left Bangladesh over 20 years ago and was back on a holiday.

The salary was low, he explained. The money I borrowed when I came to Libya became difficult to repay, so in 2007, I thought of going to Italy.

At that point Haroon contacted a broker, who promised to take him to Europe by sea at the price of 200,000 taka (US$ 1,825). A group of about fifty people was put together, and some migrants were trained by the smugglers to use a compass to find their way at sea to Sicily.

The journey to Italy started from the Libyan coast at Zouara and Tajura. After the start of the journey, only the trainees are put in charge of the boat. Brokers don't stay; they leave the boat, and take no responsibility.

For Haroon, Even after a few days of training, it becomes difficult to accurately determine direction at sea.

If they reach Italy, migrants ask for political asylum. Italian police and various human rights organisations allow people rescued from the sea to seek political asylum. If it is approved, the immigrants start living in Italy. If no approval is obtained, the police give the person six days to leave Italy and go to their home country.

A Bangladeshi government official who asked that his name not be used, told AsiaNews that that about 150,000 Bangladeshi migrants live in Italy, employed in a variety of sectors, including agriculture, shipbuilding and street trading.
The owners association for Centennial Condominiums, shown here on Teal Court, are seeking a court ruling that would either lift or modify their units deed restrictions to better position them financially to pay for repairs and improvements.
Kathy Potter speaks to a large crowd during the memorial service for her son, Jack Raife, at Aspen Glen on Saturday. After his suicide, Potter said she's going to dedicate her life to helping LGBTQ children in crisis.
Mick Ireland has had two or three jobs in most of the past 45 years since he arrived. Email him at mick@sopris.net.
The headquarters of the Financial Services Commission (FSC) in central Seoul / Courtesy of FSC



Active M&A and 'glocalization' strategies advised for overseas business



By Anna J. Park



Financial authorities will seek to ease regulations imposed on overseas subsidiaries of local financial companies, in a move to strengthen local investment firms' global competitiveness and outbound business growth.



Korea's top financial regulator also plans to introduce a cornerstone investor system into the country's public offering process, which allows investors to be brought into a forthcoming IPO before a formal book-building process starts.



During Monday's seminar hosted by the Korea Financial Investment Association (KOFIA) and the Korea Capital Market Institute (KCMI) on the theme of strengthening the global competitiveness of local investment firms, Rhee Yun-su, director general of the capital market bureau at the Financial Services Commission (FSC), said the top financial regulator aims to reflect requests of local financial firms to aid their advancement into overseas markets.





Mirae Asset Securities President Kim Mi-seob speaks during a seminar co-hosted by the Korea Financial Investment Association (KOFIA) and the Korea Capital Market Institute (KCMI) held at the Korea Exchange (KRX), Monday. Korea Times photo by Anna J. Park



"The FSC will apply eased rules of net capital ratio (NCR)  a percentage of net operating capital to gross risks  on local investment firms' corporate credit offering for their overseas subsidiaries," Rhee said during the seminar, adding that the current rules of NCR calculation tend to limit local investment firms' global business activities.



The official also said the FSC will prepare for revising legislation to introduce the cornerstone investor system into the country's capital market, in order to secure the local IPO market's stability, as urged by private equity firms.



FSC's director general of the capital market bureau also highlighted that the financial authorities will continue to take proactive measures to facilitate global investors' access to local markets as well as local financial firms' forays into overseas markets.





Sohn Byung-doo, Korea Exchange (KRX) CEO, speaks during an investment information session held in New York, U.S., on April 13. Courtesy of KRX
Sydney Reviews

A Streetcar Named Desire | Genesian Theatre

Three quarters of a century on, Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire lives through the kindness of stagers. Two separate productions are scheduled for Sydney this year, the first of which is now presenting at the Genesian Theatre Company in their gorgeous Kent Street space.

Desire, delusion, and dipsomania are at the core of this iconic play, with delusion being both carriage and destination.

Georgia Britt embodies Blanche de Bois, a nervously boastful faded beauty living in a leisured past, her defence against actuality a sort of aristocratic amnesia. Haunted by the suicide of her gay, young husband, decades ago, Blanche is vain, self-deceiving and filled with an undisguised disdain for her brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski, whom she variously compares to an ape and swine, regarding herself, and her sister, Stella, to be the pearls strewn before him.

So steeped in self-delusion that when she urges Stella to pull yourself together and face facts she is arrogantly unaware of the switchback irony when later she utters I don't want realism. I want magic! Yes, yes, magic! I try to give that to people. I misrepresent things to them. I don't tell the truth, I tell what ought to be the truth. And if that's sinful, then let me be damned for it!

Riley McNamara is a sulky Stanley, sneering and self serving, a gossip monger determined to sabotage sisterly bonds, a needy man baby rather than a baleful brute. Ali Bendall plays Stella, sexually enslaved to Stanley, not as an indentured sex doll but happy play mate, maternal instincts aroused on all fronts.

Matthew Doherty exerts an earnest pathos as Mitch, Stanleys work colleague who is snatched from the precipice of proposing to Blanche by the pernicious, prevalent patriarchal moral judgement.

The final lines of Blanche  I have always depended on the kindness of strangers  is oft quoted, and become synonymous in cloying cliche, but it is her speech to Mitch after his swelter of accusation carries the coruscating sting:

Yes, I had many intimacies with strangers ... intimacies with strangers was all I seemed able to fill my empty heart with ... I think it was panic, just panic, that drove me from one to another, hunting for some protection ... here and there, in the most unlikely places even, at last, in a seventeen-year-old boy ... somebody wrote the superintendent about it  "This woman is morally unfit for her position!" My youth was suddenly gone up the water-spout, and I met you. You said you needed somebody. Well, I needed somebody, too. I thanked God for you, because you seemed to be gentle, a cleft in the rock of the world that I could hide in! But I guess I was asking, hoping too much!

Directed by Tom Massey, (who makes a surprise, understated cameo), this production of A Streetcar Named Desire boasts a terrific set designed by Soham Apte, with evocative Costume Design by Susan Carveth, while polka and pistol, the haunting refrain that plays inside Blanches brain on the page is given audible substance from Sound Designer, Michael Schell.

Event details Genesian Theatre presents

A Streetcar Named Desire

by Tennessee Williams

Director Tom Massey Venue: Genesian Theatre Company | 420 Kent Street, Sydney NSW

Dates: 15 Apr  7 May 2023

Bookings: www.genesiantheatre.com.au
SUV

ADC

AMG

In 2022, Honda dropped the ball in the front yard of its US competitors with stuff like the all-new, larger HR-V (now dubbed as the ZR-V on international markets so as not to be confused with the regular HR-V). They continued, with the sixth generation of their best-selling CR-V, but also with the 2023 Civic Type R Hot Hatch to signal that passenger cars are not a dying breed, as far as they are concerned.And they also gave larger households new reasons to root for their local Honda dealership, as the latter started taking first deliveries of the eleventh generation Accord mid-size sedan and the three-row Honda Pilot. The fourth generation of the family-oriented crossoverwas also derived in a more adventurous trim  aka TrailSport. But the Toyota foes counteracted almost immediately with stuff like the 2023 Corolla Cross Hybrid or 2023 Prius 'Hybrid Reborn,' including in Prime plug-in hybrid form.And that was not all, as the 362-hp Hybrid Max 2024 Grand Highlander response to the V6 Pilot is also on the horizon, along with popular mid-size models like the 2024 Tacoma pickup truck and maybe even its 2025 Toyota 4Runner off-road SUV sibling, plus their Trailblazer versions. So, it is safe to assume that Honda might need to counterattack with something fresh to recapture the hype spotlight.For example, IndyCar fans were acquainted with the Honda CR-V Hybrid Racer in February, ahead of the prototype's public debut at the NTT IndyCar Series season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Florida. And it sure was a sight to behold, complete with HPD (Honda Performance Development), NAAD (North America Auto Design Division),(Honda Automotive Development Center), and HART (Honda of America Racing Team) strands of crazy DNA that can quickly reach a boiling point of 800-plus-horsepower in the electrified machine.But here's the thing. The prototype will never race on public streets and will not be available for sale, either. Instead, maybe Honda could do well to morph the CR-V Hybrid Racer into something more traditional, like a CR-V Type R, to make it the most powerful and fastest compact crossover SUV. Sure, that may never happen in the real world, but that is never a problem for the imaginative realm of digital car content creators, of course.So, the good folks over at the AutoYa info channel on YouTube have a satellite venue dubbed AutoYa Interior , and that is where all the (CGI) CR-V Type R action occurs after they initially showcased the sixth iteration in colorful attire, albeit only from outside. Now, motivated by the Hybrid Racer, they again muse about the potential arrival of a CR-V Si or Type R, complete with sporty colors  both inside and out.Remember, though, that these are just speculations and should always be treated as lightly as possible and with a healthy dose of salt  at least until there's any official word from Honda. At least the CR-V Type R isn't without proper logic, as it could give a big mass-market slap in the face both to Toyota's popular RAV4 but also feisty premium SUVs like the Audi SQ5, BMW X3 M, or Mercedes-GLC.
SUV

Toyota has lots of novelties for the immediate future. Some of them  like the 2023 Prius Prime plug-in hybrid and 2023 Corolla Cross Hybrid electrified crossover, have already reached the company's online sales portal in the United States, complete with exact pricing details and features. Others are still patiently waiting for their window of opportunity to make a splash on the market, like the family-oriented 2024 Grand Highlander, complete with its 362-horsepower Hybrid Max powertrain that will surely put to shame the fourth-gen 2023 Honda Pilot and its regular 3.5-liter V6 with "just" 285 ponies on tap.But we are not here to discuss the hyped crossovers. We are not even aiming for the famous 2024 Tacoma mid-size pickup truck, which is playing teaser hide-and-seek with everyone at the request of Toyota's marketing division. Hopefully, they will soon tire of throwing so many teasers out into the open and finally allow us to see what lies beyond the Tundra-inspired design, the i-Force Max hybrid powertrain, and the new Trailhunter adventure trim. Most likely, another best-seller, despite the opposing D41 Nissan Frontier, all-new Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon, plus the upcoming Ford Ranger (Raptor) opposing forces.Anyway, some people have already started looking beyond the horizon of the 2024 Tacoma into the potential sunrise of the 2025 Toyota 4Runner SUV sibling. And they also decided to take matters into their hands. Or, rather, at the tip of their CGI brushes, as is the case with the imaginative realm of digital car content creators. As such, here are the good folks over at the AutoYa info channel on YouTube who have imagined the unofficial looks of the upcoming 2025 4Runner, both inside and out, plus complete with (many) hypothetical TRD Pro goodies.As always, do take everything with a healthy dose of sand, at least until we have official confirmation from the Japanese carmaker. But here is the thing. Their resident pixel master has been doing sixth-gen Toyota 4Runner illustrations for quite a while, as anyone can see in the CGI presentation video we have embedded below  and the virtual off-road SUVs are looking better and better with each new impression. Plus, now they have a lot more to base their ideas on, thanks to the incessant stream of 2024 Tacoma teasers and the possible DNA connections to the 2023 Tundra and Sequoia.Oh, and let us remember the abundance of POVs along with the now-traditional expose of unofficial colors and trim features, as well as the quick look inside the cockpit. So, what do you say  is this 2025 4Runner worthy of our CGI hall pass, or does it need to go back to digital class and study some more?
AMG

kW

Dubbed the BMW M3 CS Touring, in all likelihood, it will follow in the footsteps of the M3 CS , in turn, a more practical version of the M4 CSL. The upcoming Audi RS 4 Avant and Mercedes-C 63 Estate rival from the Munich auto marque was recently taken to the Nurburgring for some hot laps, and our spy photographers were there to immortalize it.The only similarity with the M3 CS Sedan is the front lip with side blades wrapped in camouflage. However, look for a new grille, too, yellow DRLs in the headlamps, fatter side skirts, a tweaked diffuser, and maybe a spoiler on the tailgate, right below the rear windscreen. The M Division's anniversary logo decorates the prototype at both ends, and the wheels appear identical to those on the regular M3 Touring.Besides the visual upgrades, the M3 CS Touring will use extra carbon fiber to help it lose weight. Look for a retuned chassis, too, with an emphasis on improving the cornering performance and some upgrades on the inside. More power will also be on the agenda, with the output being lifted from 503 to 543 hp (510-550 ps/375-405). The M3 Touring needs 3.6 seconds to hit 62 mph (100 kph) from a rest, and chances are the M3 CS Touring will be one or two-tenths quicker. Flat-out, it will probably still do 174 mph or 280 kph.In theory, the even hotter version of BMW's fast wagon should be a great daily driver, unafraid of the occasional thrashing at the local racetrack. In practice, the weight-saving measures, improved aero, tweaked chassis, and interior enhancements will make it more expensive than the M3 Touring. Some enthusiasts will likely not be willing to spend more money on it, and they'd rather stick to the M3 Touring instead. As a result, we wouldn't be surprised if the production of this car will be limited. Then again, that's our two cents on the matter and should be taken with a raised eyebrow until the company details it.Considering that the real-world testing phase of the M3 CS Touring has just commenced, we wouldn't expect it to premiere any sooner than the end of the year. Realistically speaking, it might be due in the first half of 2024, with deliveries kicking off shortly after the grand unveiling. If you must know, the BMW M3 CS Touring will likely not be granted a US visa, considering that the standard M3 Touring is not available here either, and that's sad, as it would've been a breath of fresh air.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

NHTSA

Another feature unique to Tesla cars might get scrutiny from theafter a recent defect petition. Costas Lakafossis thinks many sudden unintended acceleration (SUA) events are caused by the lack of an "interlock that requires a brake application by the driver in order to shift from DRIVE to REVERSE." The Greek engineer wants the US agency to recall more than 1.6 million Teslas built after 2013.Lakafossis thinks that a software design error, combined with the Autopilot, can increase the likelihood of driver errors. Specifically, the ability to stop and shift into Reverse when the driver is ready to park, all without touching the brake pedal, increases the chance that the driver applies the foot on the wrong pedal. Tesla drivers may press the accelerator instead of the brake pedal "because the vehicle and automatic braking encourage drivers to remove their feet from the pedals and enjoy a technologically advanced self-braking car."Lakafossis has watched videos of Tesla vehicles accelerating out of control. In all these cases, drivers claimed that they pressed the brakes, but the car would not stop. Investigations later revealed that they were pushing the accelerator, causing the cars to speed and crash. We've recently seen such cases, including two viral videos from China The Greek investigator thinks there is no practical benefit in the ability to shift the car in Reverse without pressing the brake pedal. He points out that, since the 1980s, cars have been fitted with a brake transmission shift interlock that requires drivers to apply brakes before they can shift into Reverse. This reduces the chance of sudden unintended acceleration in vehicles with automatic transmissions. The feature has become mandatory in new cars since 2010, and it's intriguing that Tesla does not comply.In Lakafossis's opinion, removing both feet from the pedals significantly contributes to the increased risk of pedal misapplication errors. The Greek engineer points to a series of crashes in the petition submitted to the. He recommends disallowing the current feature and forcing Tesla to do an over-the-air software update to address the issue.The NHTSA will evaluate the petition, and if it finds it appropriate, it might open a defect investigation. This can be a lengthy process, and it's not guaranteed to result in a recall. The NHTSA has investigated more than 200 SUA events in the past and concluded that the incidents were caused by pedal misapplication. Still, there was no evidence of a design factor contributing to increased likelihood of pedal misapplication in Tesla vehicles.
Photo: Bad Land

New Night Trains are impossible, thus, to come by these days, and you'll have to be pretty lucky to stumble upon one that's still in stock form and for sale at the same time. Customs based on it, on the other hand, are aplenty, and you'll only need to know where to look to find the one that suits your taste best.For some, the perfect custom Night Train might be the one we have here. Sure, it only moves and stops for the unknown person who had it made and now owns it, but that doesn't mean we can't give it a good look now that we've stumbled upon it.Let loose on the world's roads by Harley itself in 2007, the motorcycle somehow ended up over in Japan, where at one point in its life it crossed paths with a local custom garage we know as Bad Land. As usual, this crew got to work to create something unique, despite the finished project sharing a lot of similarities with Night Train builds we've seen before on several continents.Starting from the ground up, we see the bike is propped on Rick's Motorcycles wheels, sized 21 inches at the front and 18 inches at the rear. Both are of the Super Steve variety, but the one at the back catches the eye the most, thanks to the drive-side braking system and wide tire kit (300 mm) it comes with.Both wheels are partially shielded from the elements by means of custom fenders specifically made for this project. Like them, the fuel tank, headlight, and handlebar are unique. On the other hand, a shop called Performance Machine supplied the foot and front controls and the front brake caliper.Back in its day, the Night Train came with a 96ci twin-cam engine in its frame, and the same seems to be happening now, with no actual changes made to the powerplant's displacement and power levels. It does breathe and growl better, though, thanks to the fitting of a Bad Land in-house-made exhaust system.The bike is called post-conversion Gilda, and the choice of name for it has yet to be explained. We also don't know how much the bike cost to be transformed this way , but to give you an idea of where such a project starts, keep in mind a used Night Train, most likely modified one way or the other, is presently going for around $10,000.
The hunt is on!

Photo: Ministry of Diecast

Patience is a virtue

Photo: Ministry of Diecast

SUV

You have to catch them all

Photo: Ministry of Diecast

No man is happy or safe without a hobby

Photo: Ministry of Diecast

And today, we'll give you a glimpse of case K, which happens to be the 10th one for the ongoing "Diecast Hunting" season. It may take a while until it arrives in a store near you, but there's always the option of ordering one online if you have a good source for that thing. As we've done with previous mainline-related stories, we'll look at the two most special items inside first.The Treasure Hunt series could have been better this year, with six fantasy items and two motorcycles out of nine releases. Once the '95 Jeep Cherokee TH showed up, newfound hope awaited. And it looks like Case K will arrive with a similar release in the form of a Toyota Land Cruiser pickup truck.Ryu Asada and Manson Cheung designed this casting for its release in 2021. While most people would choose the 2022 Mud Runners color scheme instead, the new color combo isn't all that bad, either. You at least have to appreciate that the chassis now sits on a set of Baja5 wheels instead of the old BLOR ones.But let's move on to the star of the show: the new Super Treasure Hunt collectible. We have been expecting the '69 Shelby GT-500 for some time now, and it has had some serious competition so far this year. But people collecting Hot Wheels cars for decades will prefer the purple Shelby over the Spectraflame Red Toyota Supra.The last time Mattel produced a convertible STH was back in 2021; that was a tiny Shelby too. This new Spectraflame Purple appearance is the ninth iteration of a casting that first appeared in 2011. If you need help figuring out why there aren't more variations of this around, the diecast manufacturer put the project on standby for almost a decade before bringing it back in 2020.We all know that Super Treasure Hunt collectibles are challenging to find in the wild, but buying one from eBay is always possible. It might cost you $100 if you want a mint, carded version of the Shelby. But you can save up to 80% of that amount if you choose a loose GT-500 instead.And now, let's look at some of the other highlights that case K has to offer. Mattel has delivered four variations of the Toon'd '83 Chevy Silverado in less than two years. You'll either love it or hate it. It's also starting to grow on me, and so are the two Fast & Furious replicas. But collecting vehicles like the '62 Corvette Gasser feels considerably more enjoyable.We're keen to see if and when Mattel will release a premium variation of this casting. We expected this avalanche of Corvette models as the nameplate celebrates its 70th anniversary this year. And the appearance of the C7 Z06 further strengthens that belief. We haven't seen one since 2020, and you can almost hear that V8 roaring to life if you focus hard enough.Most car enthusiasts have seen or heard about the Subaru Forrester STI. But how many of you were aware of Mitsubishi's sporty-alternative? We do not doubt that the new Pajero Evolution casting will be one of the most desired models inside case K, with its red Ralliart livery and Aerodisc wheels. And it goes along perfectly with the Lancer Evolution VI casting that came out in 2021.Drift enthusiasts will be happy to see the return of the Nissan Maxima station wagon, this time featuring a Light Blue color scheme for its third release. Speaking of fast family haulers, the '17 Audi RS6 is just as jaw-dropping as ever, and it's no wonder some people have built entire collections around this casting. The original Dodge Viper RT/10 casting came out some 30 years ago, so meeting someone with a complete collection of this model will be challenging.The new purple variation is slightly better than the previous yellow one, but that is also a matter of personal preference. For those who have yet to find the Metalflake Blue Stingray Convertible, a new variation of the '72 Corvette comes with case J. The tiny convertible is equally impressive in Metalflake Gray. The pop-up headlights are the "piece de resistance" here.But we were blown away by the '84 Mustang SVO, a casting that usually feels outdated in more ways than one. With the new livery and Aerodisc wheels, that is no longer the case. And you can almost imagine blasting synthwave music inside while driving down the boulevard on a hot summer night. We've noticed mixed reactions inside collector groups regarding the new Custom Civic color scheme.The First Edition model was so much better in Sky Blue. Still, this casting would be going nowhere fast without some color variations. Look past the Batman-inspired collectibles and the fantasy cars. You'll find that the '82 Toyota Supra doesn't even need Real Riders wheels to stand out of the crowd. It might not garner as much attention as an MKIV model, but it brings fresh air to the Hot Wheels JDM scene worldwide.The last time we saw the '87 Dodge D100, it was high on a pedestal as it had reached Treasure Hunt status. With no special designation this time other than being part of the Baja Blazers series, the MOPAR-powered truck sits on muddy tires to describe its favorite pastime activity. Race boat fans will fall in love with the Mad Splash casting if they can look past the wheel setup and focus on the yellow hull of the ship instead.The new Mad Splash is the 11th variation of the model in over ten years. But let's take a second and appreciate the release of the Limited Grip fantasy-casting. This machine reminds us of Nigel Petrie's drift-spec Toyota Hilux: a tubular spaceframe chassis that stormed the Internet several years ago. But even this cool little drift truck will not be able to spark as much interest as the Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7.The First Edition model appeared a few months ago. Still, it is no surprise that Mattel plans to release multiple variations of it over the next few years. Most Hot Wheels collectors will buy at least two or three of these for safekeeping, so expect to have a tough time finding one in stores. And the same goes for the 911 GT3 in Guards Red, which we hope we'll see more of in the Premium series soon.Sure, Hot Wheels used it in the Car Culture: Speed Machines line-up, but only some people are fans of the Co-Molded wheel design used there. You would think Case J should have run out of surprises by now, but you would be wrong. The '83 Chevy Silverado looks great in Slammed form, and it has been many years since this vehicle has had a decent color scheme to show off.And there's still some juice left in this case, in the form of a red Mazda 787B , the Lucid Air, and a new variation of the BMW 507. But the Barbie-themed Corvette is considerably more appealing to collect, especially if you're a big fan of Chevrolet's old-school design language.This year's tenth Mainline case is good, considering all the castings mentioned above. We have already seen the following two Super Treasure Hunt collectibles. However, three more remain unknown before we move on to the 2024 collection. We'll keep you updated as more of these tiny cars arrive in a nearby store.
gettyimagesbank



By Anna J. Park



The Financial Services Commission (FSC), the country's top financial regulator, has set guidelines to facilitate financial firms' operation of AI-based models in a transparent and fair manner. The move comes as more financial companies in Korea adopt artificial intelligence (AI) technology.



The measures follow the regulator's new policy direction announced last August, aiming to activate financial firms' usage of AI technology while gaining consumer trust in the process.



First off, the FSC plans to check whether the AI-based credit rating models are safe and appropriate for assessing the credit standings of individuals. The financial authority plans to begin by the end of this year the verification of credit reporting companies that utilize AI-based models.



"Many credit bureaus use credit assessment models based on AI technologies; these AI-based models have strength in that they can assess far more databases and variables about an individual's credit evaluation, compared to traditional credit assessment models. However, as they use complicated algorithms which impair intuitive interpretation of assessment results, the FSC has come up with objective verification systems on these models in order to secure market trusts and consumer protection," the FSC said.



The top financial regulator also announced on Monday financial security guidelines for AI use. Aiming to prevent leaks of personal information and data fabrications, the guidelines prescribe procedural steps to abide by when a financial company develops AI-based models.



The FSC explains that concerns are growing over the increased potential threats to personal security, as AI-based financial service models are widely utilized by financial firms. For instance, AI chatbot services could provide incorrect or deceitful information to consumers, if the chatbot operator fails to guard itself against security threats.



"In times of hyper-connected and hyper-convergence, AI is a core technology of innovative service development. In particular, the potential of AI utilization is greater for the financial industry. That's why the FSC will be carrying out tasks to secure the safe utilization of AI technologies and to win market trust," the FSC stressed.


kWh

EV

ICE

The modern-day one was introduced in 2000, and the second gen came out in 2006. Seven years later, MINI put the third and latest generation Cooper into production at the Oxford plant in the United Kingdom. And it was this one that recently celebrated a milestone at the facility, with car #1,000,000 rolling off the line.Finished in the iconic British Racing Green paint, the milestone MINI 3-door is in the Electric configuration and will head to Canada to meet its owner. The MINI Electric kicks off at CA$48,190 (equal to US$36,056) north of the US border, and it is nicely equipped with standard LED headlights and fog lamps, 16-inch alloys, heated front seats, reversing camera, and a whole bunch of safety systems.It can travel up to 183 km (114 miles) on a single charge, and the 32battery pack, which juices up the 181-hp electric motor, takes 35 minutes to charge to 80% at a DC connection. MINI claims the naught to sixty sprint is dealt with in 3.9 seconds, although that's not miles an hour but kilometers per hour, which translates to 37 mph. For extra peace of mind, the battery pack of the MINI Electric is accompanied by an 8-year/160,000 km (99,419 miles) warranty.On a related note, the British auto marque that operates under the BMW Group's roof is readying the next generation model . It will be offered as an electric vehicle, with the Cooper nameplate attached to it, and will be sold alongside the gasoline-powered versions. Nevertheless, theand thevariants of the car are expected to be built on different platforms, and the all-quiet one is understood to be just as punchy as its predecessor. Still, a JCW (John Cooper Works) hot hatch derivative could be on the cards. The car's autonomy is believed to significantly increase to a minimum of 240 miles or 386 km on a full charge.Visually, the new one will look like an evolution of the outgoing vehicle, featuring oval-shaped headlamps of rather significant proportions, a familiar grille design, and a larger overall footprint with wider tracks and more inches between the axles. This means more space on the inside for occupants, and likely a bigger trunk. The new MINI 3-door will still be a subcompact model, continuing the tradition of its predecessors. No one can tell you when it will premiere yet unless they're directly involved in its development. However, it has been reported that it is due sometime next year. It will be either a 2024 or 2025 model stateside, depending on when it will launch here.
Photo: NASA

America sent them all to Mars, and by all I mean the Sojourner, Spirit and Opportunity, Curiosity, and Perseverance. Only the last two, Curiosity and Perseverance , still roam the reddish Martian plains, with the latter being the youngest, thanks to its landing in the Jezero crater in 2021.Being so new means the Perseverance is also the most advanced rover ever sent there, and the one most in the news these days. But the older Curiosity (it landed on Mars in 2012), still has some kick left in it, a potential NASA doesn't want to see going to waste.So last week the American space agency let us know the Curiosity is now operating brand new software, thanks to an update sent wirelessly through the vacuum of space, to a point over 140 million miles (225 million km) away.The update was sent over at the beginning of the month, but we're only now learning about it. It targeted several of Curiositys capabilities (in all, some 180 changes to how the rover operates have been made), but most importantly the way it moves on the Martian surface.You see, unlike Perseverance, which moves about in one continuous drive (this is possible thanks to a dedicated computer processing the images of the terrain ahead, so the rover doesn't get into trouble), Curiosity drives in segments. It moves, snaps pictures of the terrain ahead, stops for a minute to look at them, and only then it moves on, only to repeat the process many times over.The huge software update, the first since 2016, will allow Curiosity to process the images faster, thus reducing the stop time for each segment from a minute to just a moment or two (it's unclear what that means). The reduced stop times will allow the rover to cover the distance between two points faster.Separately, NASA also tweaked how the rover steers while driving in an arc. By improving traction and allowing it to reduce the amount of steering needed to reach its destination, scientists hope to add an extra layer of protection for the rover's wheels, which have been known ever since 2013 to be affected by the sharp Martian rocks.The procedure was performed in the first decade of April and required the Curiosity to stop science and imaging operations for five days. It now seems all the bits of the software are working as they should, with the people behind the update relieved things are in order.Initially, Curiosity was supposed to be operational for just two years, but its mission has been extended indefinitely. Or, at least until it breaks.
Photo: ESA

Most of the ways we presently satisfy those needs have to do with burning harmful stuff. We know this too, and over the past few decades a lot of us down here, individuals and organizations, have begun looking for cleaner ways to generate power.One of the most widespread such ways is now the use of solar farms , large fields of solar panels that can capture the energy the Sun sends our way and turn it into something useful. For all their merits, though, solar panels have a lot of shortcomings, the biggest of which being the fact they're utterly useless in cloudy weather and during nighttime.Sci-fi writers have long toyed with the idea of deploying solar panels in orbit to avoid all that. After all, they are already used to power our spacecraft , and they could most definitely be used to power things here on Earth. If only someone found a proper way to capture solar power and beam it down.To our knowledge, and despite the many space exploration programs now being cooked up all over the world, few are really working on something like this. This week, that small list grew a little bigger, after we learned of the European Space Agency (ESA) embarking not on one, but on two distinct such projects.The effort is part of something called Solaris. That would be a larger project approved last year and meant to prepare the ground for a possible decision in 2025 on a full development programme by establishing the technical, political and programmatic viability of Space-Based Solar Power for terrestrial clean energy needs.As part of Solaris the space agency announced this week two concept studies for these orbital solar farms are to be conducted, one by consulting firm Arthur D Little and the other by Italian space company Thales Alenia. Both are to submit their ideas and vision of space-based solar power plants by the end of the year.One crucial aspect of these concepts will be of course the way in which collected solar power will be sent to Earth. It's unclear at this point which method will be used but at the time of writing several of them are on the table, including radio frequency transmission, lasers, and even simple reflection.Europe is not the only party interested in coming up with way of harnessing the Sun's power in space, around the clock, for use here on Earth. Earlier in January, American Caltech launched the Space Solar Power Demonstrator satellite, while Japan and China plan to follow suit in 2025 and 2028, respectively.The Europeans seem to be the most determined to make this work, though, and they've set the pace and milestones of the Solaris project as if it were a flight program. That's because, ESA says, results will dictate the follow-on studies planned for a sub-scale demonstrator mission as well as research projects into specific key technologies that SOLARIS will support.
The Sotk mine employing more than 700 people is located right on the volatile border with Azerbaijan.

The mines operations were halted on Saturday morning and have still not been relaunched due to periodical gunfire, said Ruzanna Grigorian, a spokeswoman for the Russian-owned company GeoProMining Gold developing the massive gold deposit.

Grigorian said that 300 workers making up the companys day shift were evacuated on Monday morning after again coming under fire.

As soon as the day shift tried to get to work this morning, yesterday morning and Saturday morning gunshots resumed and we had to evacuate the workers for security considerations, she told RFE/RLs Armenian Service.

We gathered to go to work today but they didnt let us, said one of the workers. As soon as there is movement at the mine and its about to work they open fire.

The Armenian Defense Ministry accused Azerbaijani forces of opening fire late on Sunday at its troops deployed near the Sotk mine. None of them was hurt, it said, adding that the situation there was relatively stable the following morning.

The Azerbaijani military denied violating the ceasefire in the area.

Mining operations at Sotk were brought to a halt three days after at least three Azerbaijani and four Armenian soldiers were killed in fighting at another section of the heavily militarized border. No further major skirmishes have been reported from that section since then.
17 April 2023 20:00 (UTC+04:00)

Sabina Mammadli Read more

Armenia can not seem to seize fabricating fake news or provocations: one day it is cries about the "blockade" and "humanitarian crisis" on the Lachin-Khankandi road, another - reports about the shelling of Armenian positions by the Azerbaijani army. All of this leads back to deep-rooted Azerbaijanophobia, which is constantly demonstrated in every aspect of Armenian society and government despite its tireless attempt to come out as a victim.

Just this morning, Azerbaijani Defense Ministry flatly denied the reports of the Armenian Defense Ministry about the alleged firing in the direction of Zod of Basarkechar region. Similarly, just a few days ago, on April 11, Armenian armed forces stationed in the direction of the Digh settlement of the Gorus region shelled positions of the Azerbaijani army in the Lachin District, which they, again, expectedly blamed on the Azerbaijani side.

However, Armenian MP Armen Khachatryan did admit that the incident of April 11 at the border was the fault of the Armenian side.

"Azerbaijanis demanded to stop engineering work, we gave a worthy answer, and military actions arose from this answer," Khachatryan said, Armenian media reported.

All of this indicates that Armenia carries out deliberate provocations. Yerevan seems to not be able to accept new realities in the region and perhaps prepares for another war. Although, its resources have had long been exhausted.

In a comment for Azernews, Azerbaijani military expert Alparslan Imamqulu talked about Armenian provocations and what they could mean.

The expert underlined that the provocation carried out against the Azerbaijani national flag once again serves to prove that the Armenian public hasnt given up on revanchism.

"Armenia's political will and the army are performing aggressive actions against Azerbaijan. And today, serious measures are being taken in Armenia to develop the army, " the expert stated.

However, he pointed out that this shouldnt worry Azerbaijan in any way as Azerbaijani servicemen are permanently on duty and working with a principle of one step forward.

"If Armenia is expecting a major war, our participation in anti-terrorist operations is inevitable," the expert stressed.

---

Sabina Mammadli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SabinaMmdl

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
17 April 2023 12:47 (UTC+04:00)

By News Centre

Azerbaijan is uniquely equipped to successfully develop a green hydrogen industry and may soon supply the EU with the climate-friendly fuel.

The prolific Caspian fuel exporter is expected to soon export green hydrogen gas to the EU, according to Vladimir Rogov, a Managing Director and Partner at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) based in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan has a unique combination of all components needed for the development of the hydrogen sector, said Rogov. There are natural resources, infrastructure, and the end-consumer all in a compact geography. The potential of Azerbaijans renewable energy resources is extremely high, ensuring a strong competitive advantage, namely, the low cost of green hydrogen production.

Green hydrogen is a type of hydrogen gas that is produced through the process of electrolysis, using renewable energy sources like wind or solar power to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. This process produces hydrogen gas without emitting any greenhouse gases or pollutants, making it a clean and sustainable form of energy.

This is opposed to grey hydrogen and blue hydrogen. Grey hydrogen is the most common way to produce hydrogen today and involves using natural gas as a feedstock and emitting carbon dioxide as a byproduct. Blue hydrogen captures and stores the carbon dioxide emissions from the production process, preventing them from entering the atmosphere. While blue hydrogen is still produced from natural gas like grey hydrogen, the captured carbon dioxide can be stored or used in other industrial processes, reducing its environmental impact.

In terms of profits, the country could earn from $230500 million per year, given the expected hydrogen price decrease in Europe nearly twice, from current around $11 to $5.8/kg. Thus, the full cost of the green hydrogen delivered through the pipe can be very competitive and can allow for substantial margins, said Rogov.

In addition, the major advantage for the Azeri hydrogen industry is the pipeline infrastructure that currently already carries natural gas to Europe. The Southern Gas Corridor, operational since 2020, is a vast series of pipelines that carry 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year through Turkey, Greece, and Albania to a gas terminal on the Adriatic coast of Southern Italy. This route is far more efficient than transporting hydrogen gas overseas, in which case it must be liquefied for storage to later be regasified.

For Europe to meet the goals of Paris 2050, the continent will have to spend trillions in boosting renewable energy, and broader decarbonization efforts. According to McKinsey & Company analysis, reaching net neutral status by 2050 would cost the continent roughly 28 trillion over the course of the next 30 years.

To reach net zero by 2050, low-carbon hydrogen is a novel option to decarbonize industries with hard-to-abate emissions, such as basic chemicals, aviation, steel production, freight and road transportation, and shipping, said Rogov. Governments and companies will have to invest approximately $6 trillion to $12 trillion between 2025 and 2050 to produce and transport enough low-carbon hydrogen to meet demand, according to BCGs calculations.

Some activists in Europe fought against their government buying Azeri gas because of the Azerbaijani governments history of repressive and authoritarian behavior. For example, activists and journalists are regularly prosecuted and imprisoned on false charges. A 2017 joint investigation by more than a dozen media outlets uncovered a complex money laundering scheme dubbed the Azerbaijani Laundromat, which sought to launder around $2.9 billion in order to pay European politicians to whitewash Azerbaijan's international reputation.

Boston Consulting Group previously collaborated in the worlds largest green hydrogen initiative, a 1.3 gigawatt electrolysis facility in Denmark, to be funded by Danish renewable energy firm Orsted and supported by several other industry leaders.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
17 April 2023 13:15 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijan and China have signed a contract to enable cargos going through Azerbaijani territory.

The contract between the Baku and the Chinese port of Qingdao is expected to attract cargo from China, South Korea and other countries of the East to the territory of Azerbaijan with further transportation to Europe, Azernews reports, citing Director General of the Baku Port Taleh Ziyadov telling at an event dedicated to the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Baku Port and the Chinese port of Qingdao.

In the port of Qingdao, almost all operational work is carried out automatically, using green and clean technologies. I believe that our cooperation will also allow attracting new technologies to the Baku port, Ziyadov said.

The General Director emphasized that over the past ten years, Azerbaijan has achieved great success in transshipment of goods from East to West and vice versa.

The location of our port is of great strategic importance. So, for example, within a radius of 1,000 kilometers, this is a population coverage of 140 million people. From a logistical point of view, we expect that in the future most of these cargoes will be delivered to the Baku port, the CEO said.

Ziyadov noted that Azerbaijan has opened new regional opportunities for its development, in particular, the creation of the Zangazur corridor.

China and Chinese companies are actively taking advantage of this, and we are confident that in the future the flow of goods will only grow, both from East to West and in the opposite direction, he added.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
17 April 2023 10:19 (UTC+04:00)

Sabina Mammadli Read more

The Azerbaijani Armys Operations Commando units are conducting tactical-special drills in line with the approved annual combat training plan for 2023, Azernews reports, citing the Defense Ministry.

According to the plan, targets located at different distances from the sniper rifles were detected and destroyed by accurate fire.

The commandos also successfully accomplished the tasks on overcoming the obstacle course.

The main purpose of conducting tactical-special exercises is to improve the tactical skills of servicemen, as well as further increase the combat capability of the Operations Commando units.

The activities to further increase the combat training of the commandos are being continued in a planned manner.

Azerbaijan periodically holds drills to improve the combat readiness of the military personnel.

The drills also aim to improve interaction and combat coordination between the servicemen during operations, as well as to develop commanders' military decision-making and unit management skills.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
gettyimagesbank



By Jung Min-ho



Nearly nine out of 10 Koreans think that the United States is their most important partner nation, a recent poll showed.



According to a survey released on Sunday by the Federation of Korean Industries(FKI), a business lobby group, a whopping 89 percent picked the U.S. as Korea's No. 1 partner country.



The respondents said the alliance, which marks its 70th anniversary this year, has benefited their country in many ways, including economic growth and scientific development.



Asked whether it would have been possible for Korea to grow into the economic powerhouse that it is today without its alliance with the U.S., 64.6 percent said it would have been impossible. Among them, 52.3 percent said Washington's security support was necessary for Korea's development, with others saying its cooperation in the economy and American companies' partnerships were also helpful.



Slightly more than half of them said they were in favor of strengthening relations, while 44 percent said they were satisfied with the status quo. Asked about the reasons for supporting a stronger relationship, 34.2 percent picked defense, followed by geopolitical security in the region (33 percent).



When asked about Korea's No. 2 partner country, 35.2 percent chose China over Japan (23.4 percent) and the European Union (17.5 percent).



"Most Korean people recognize the importance of the U.S.' various roles in their country's development," said Kim Bong-man, head of the organization's international affairs division. "The Korea-U.S. relationship is expected to enter a new phase through more cooperation."




17 April 2023 12:00 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijani Defense Ministry has flatly denied an Armenian report about the alleged shelling of its positions by the national army, Azernews reports, citing the Defense Ministry.

"The information spread by the Armenian Ministry of Defense that Azerbaijani army units allegedly opened fire in the Zod direction of the Basarkechar region is not true," the defense ministry said.

Armenia shells Azerbaijani military positions along the state border on a regular basis. Since early September, Azerbaijani positions have been repeatedly targeted by the Armenian forces.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
17 April 2023 13:56 (UTC+04:00)

Qabil Ashirov Read more

The delegation headed by Anar Alakbarov, the assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, is paying an official visit to the Peoples Republic of China. Within the framework, Anar Alakbarov has had a multifaceted meeting with various officials.

At a meeting with Lin Songtian, the chairman of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), the chairman said that Azerbaijan-China relations are rapidly developing under the leadership of the two presidents Xi Jinping and Ilham Aliyev. He noted that the political trust between the heads of state gave a great impetus to successful cooperation in various fields.

The Chairman emphasized the role of prominent political figure Heydar Aliyev in establishing relations between China and Azerbaijan and noted that these services of the National Leader will always be remembered. He said that the regular meetings of the heads of state play an important role in deepening the cooperation between the two countries.

Touching on the that the memorandum signed in 2017 between the Association led by the chairman of CPAFFC and the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Lin Songtian said that the MoU gave impetus to the deepening of cooperation in the humanitarian and cultural fields, and emphasized the possibility of cooperation in other fields in the future, including economic, tourism, youth, sports, and media.

The Aid to the Azerbaijani President said that the cooperation between the Foundation and the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries has greatly contributed to the further strengthening of close friendly relations between the two nations. The importance of mutual participation in international events held in the territory of both countries was emphasized in the future.

Emphasizing that Azerbaijan is one of the first supporters of China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative, Anar Alakbarov recalled the participation of President Ilham Aliyev in the second "One Belt, One Road" international forum in Beijing. He said that Azerbaijan has made great contributions to the implementation of these projects with its economic power and energy-logistics potential.

Also, the meeting discussed the future cooperation issues of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the CPAFFC.

Another meeting was held between the Azerbaijani delegation and the Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Zhang Ming in Beijing.

Emphasizing the active role of Azerbaijan as a dialogue partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, General Secretary Zhang Ming appreciated the active participation of Azerbaijan in the events held within the framework of the organization in recent times. Especially emphasizing the participation of President Ilham Aliyev at the SCO Summit held in Samarkand in September last year, Zhang Ming spoke about the effective cooperation between the organization and Azerbaijan. The Secretary-General said that the Haydar Aliyev Foundation's close participation in the SCO events strengthened Azerbaijan-SCO cooperation, and said that the cultural and humanitarian potential of Azerbaijan has demonstrated thanks to a number of important events held at the SCO Secretariat at the initiative of Azerbaijan.

Anar Alakbarov emphasized that Azerbaijan attaches great importance to relations with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and spoke about the prospects for the development of cooperation in various fields. He said that after Azerbaijan received the status of a dialogue partner of the SCO, the Haydar Aliyev Foundation, in close cooperation with the secretariat of the organization, organized several events, including the Day of Azerbaijan Culture in 2018, within the framework of the "Year of Nizami Ganjavi" and "Nizami Ganjavi - all "Poet of Humanity" held an event. He said that the bust of the genius poet, a gift of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, is constantly displayed in the building of the secretariat of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which has a great symbolic character for Azerbaijan.

The aid to the Azerbaijani President said that the participation of President Ilham Aliyev in the Samarkand Summit as a guest of honor shows that Azerbaijan is interested in raising cooperation with the SCO to a higher level. He recalled that a relevant request regarding raising the status of Azerbaijan from the level of dialogue partner to the observer level at the organization was addressed, and expressed his belief that Azerbaijan will be able to make a greater contribution to the activity of the said organization by obtaining observer status at the SCO.

At the meeting heard that 2023 has been declared the "Year of Heydar Aliyev" in Azerbaijan, and various events related to the 100th anniversary of the National Leader's birth will be held in Azerbaijan and abroad during the year.

Stating that Azerbaijan's request for observer status is currently being considered by the member states, Shanghai Cooperation Organization Secretary General Zhang Ming expressed hope that the request will have a positive outcome. He gave information about the history and activities of the organization he represents.

At the meeting, views were exchanged on the development of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the SCO in various fields.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
17 April 2023 17:30 (UTC+04:00)

Rena Murshud Read more

Recently, rising provocations of Armenia against Azerbaijan have created a number of concerns about stability and security in the region. A few days ago, the missing Azerbaijani servicemen in the territory of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic along the border with Armenia, who lost their direction due to limited visibility in adverse weather conditions, and the brutal beating of one of them by Armenian policemen after being captured, clearly shows once again that Armenia is a dangerous neighbor.

In addition, the video footage of the beating of an Azerbaijani soldier by Armenian hooligans on social networks, followed by the visit of an "Armenian human rights activist" in captivity, created a ridiculous and paradoxical scene.

Firstly, violence inflicted by Armenia against captives is a gross violation of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), and other international obligations arising from international humanitarian law and international human rights law. So, the so called Human Rights activist or defender of Armenia Ms. Anahit Manasyan should have reviewed the abovementioned law before she visited the servicemen of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces who are detained in Armenia .

The Armenian sources say the "activist" has got acquainted with the conditions of their detention, and the issues related to the guaranteeing of their rights, including their right to health. However, during the private interviews, complaints about torture, and other forms of ill-treatment, including psychological pressure, committed by state bodies and officials, were not received.

However, Armenia's illegal actions do not end there. Violating international laws, Yerevan unjustly opened a criminal case against Azerbaijani soldiers. According to the Armenian media, our servicemen Aghsin G. Babirov and Hussein A. Akhundov, are charged with conspiracy to illegally cross the state border of Armenia and conspiracy to smuggle firearms and ammunition.

The so called Criminal Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan approved the National Security Service investigators motion on jailing the two Azerbaijani nationals pending trial.

In an interview with Azernews, political analyst Samir Humbatov said that, at first, the torture of our soldiers in Armenia is actually considered one of the most serious violations of international law for Armenia and the forces that support it.

"Armenia is trying to hide this issue, but such torture in non-combat conditions is contrary to the International Human Rights Law. Armenia does not apply the related provisions and declares that it continues to take a hostile stance."

The expert also related the arrest of Azerbaijani army servicemen with Armenia's intention to swap their alleged prisoners of war with Azerbaijan.

"The desire of the Armenians to replace our soldiers with Armenian ones may be connected with the incident. However, there is a nuance that their soldiers have been arrested in the situation of the war, and our soldiers went astray and went over to the side of the enemy due to foggy weather conditions.

As for Azerbaijan, our country will definitely express its position. They will demand the speedy return of our servicemen to Azerbaijan. I also think that if Armenia does not take serious steps, provided for by the International Human Rights Law, this can lead to greater tension," he added.

---

Follow Rena Murshud on Twitter: @RenaTagiyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
17 April 2023 16:58 (UTC+04:00)

Today, the Aide to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Khalid Ahadov, introduced the newly appointed head of the State Service for Mobilization and Conscription, Mursal Ibrahimov, to the staff.

Khalid Ahadov conveyed the tasks and recommendations of the President of Azerbaijan to the team and wished success to the head of the service and the employees in their future activities.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
17 April 2023 17:56 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijani Pardon Issues Commission to hold the next session on April 19, Azernews reports.

As of today, more than 1,500 appeals for pardon have been reviewed.

To recap, a total of 213 inmates were pardoned by the president on May 27, 2022.

As many as 168 people were released after serving a specified period of time, while the unserved part of the punishment for 36 people was reduced by half. Three people sentenced to conditional imprisonment were released from punishment, whereas six people sentenced to restriction of freedom  from the unserved part of the sentence.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
17 April 2023 22:49 (UTC+04:00)

Qatar Airways announced the suspension of its flights to Sudan due to the closure of Khartoum International Airport, Qatar News Agency said on Sunday.

Fighting erupted on Saturday between army units loyal to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of Sudan's transitional governing Sovereign Council, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, who is deputy head of the council.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
17 April 2023 23:17 (UTC+04:00)

France expressed dismay on Sunday over the killing of several UN workers in Sudan as violence spirals, claiming dozens of lives including civilians.

(Paris) reiterates its call to make every effort to stop the fighting and prevent any escalation, France's foreign ministry said in a statement, calling for the protection and respect of humanitarian personnel.

The UN's food agency on Sunday said it was suspending work in Sudan after three staff were killed in the restive Darfur region.

Fighting in Sudan raged for a second day Sunday in battles between rival generals who seized power in a 2021 coup.

At least 56 civilians, including the UN staff, have been killed and there have been tens of deaths among security forces, according to the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors.

I am appalled and heartbroken by the tragic deaths of three WFP employees on Saturday 15 April in violence in Kabkabiya, North Darfur while carrying out their life saving duties on the front lines of the global hunger crisis, Cindy McCain, executive director of the World Food Program, said in a statement.

While we review the evolving security situation, we are forced to temporarily halt all operations in Sudan, she said.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Seo Min-jung, second from left, director-general for Asia and Pacific affairs at the foreign ministry, and Woo Kyoung-suk, third from left, deputy director-general for international policy at the defense ministry, hold talks with their Japanese counterparts  Takehiro Funakoshi, second from right, director-general of Asian and Oceanian affairs, and Atsushi Ando, third from right, deputy director-general of the Defense Policy Bureau  at the foreign ministry in Seoul, April 17. Newsis



South Korea and Japan held a joint meeting of senior diplomats and defense officials here on Monday, the first such talks since March 2018, Seoul's foreign ministry said, amid signs of a slow thaw in bilateral ties.



The director-general-level policy consultation meeting came after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed last month to mend ties soured by historical disputes and step up security cooperation in the wake of North Korea's escalating provocations.



The so-called two-plus-two meeting brought together Seo Min-jung, director-general for Asia and Pacific affairs at the foreign ministry, and Woo Kyoung-suk, deputy director-general for international policy at the defense ministry, as well as their Japanese counterparts  Takehiro Funakoshi, director-general of Asian and Oceanian affairs, and Atsushi Ando, deputy director-general of the Defense Policy Bureau.



During the session, the two sides shared their assessment of the security situation surrounding the Korean Peninsula and their respective defense and security policies, including on North Korea's nuclear threats.






Thank you for reading!

Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.
You can reach Ishani Desai at 661-395-7417. You can also follow her at @_ishanidesai on Twitter.
ST. LOUIS, MO Beer scientists at Budweiser headquarters are reportedly hard at work researching how many cans of Bud Light it would take for Dylan Mulvaney to pass as a woman.According to sources, Mulvaney, who recently became a spokesman for the alcoholic beverage, was personally recruited by CEO Phillip Bud while he was inebriated - now human resources need to know how this could have happened.One. No. Two. No, Dr. Pedro Morganstein noted in the test log. Three? Ugh, no.Dr. Morganstein reportedly passed out twenty beers later, still believing Dylan Mulvaney was a man. However, he did note that his female colleagues were at least three points more attractive.Alcoholic intake studies are nothing new for the Budweiser corporation, but experiments typically measure the rate of cognitive decline. Determining how many drinks it takes for a man to look like a woman is new territory for the team.At publishing time, scientists had determined it takes the equivalent of 37 Bud Lights to make Dylan Mulvaney passable as a woman, or just 3 Ballast Point Sculpins.
HUNTSVILLE, AL A local man left no room for debate among onlookers today, as his drinking Bud Light and listening to country music made it abundantly obvious to everyone who saw him that he was, in fact, gay. Though he was apparently unaware of it himself, he was assured by people nearby that it was official.said one witness who saw the man sitting in a pile of hay listening to Kelsea Ballerini'sand enjoying an ice-cold Bud Light.In years gone by, men who were clearly gay could be identified as such by wearing feather boas, sporting eyeliner, and listening to Lady Gaga, but times have changed. With country music celebrating LGBTQ lifestyles and Bud Light hiring Dylan Mulvaney as a spokesperson, millions of previously manly, heterosexual men are now readily identifiable as totally, totally gay.said Brad Anderson.Despite his employment as a construction worker and his love for watching NASCAR races, Anderson was notified that his homosexuality was now undeniable.At publishing time, Anderson was debating with himself internally whether to find a new beer and change his musical tastes, or instead resign himself to his new status as a very obviously, absolutely gay man.
East Carolina University dental students Oscar Jaimes, left, and Yifei Wu provide care to a patient during the school's third annual Sonrie Clinic held on March 25 in Ross Hall. (ECU photos by Cliff Hollis)

This post appears here courtesy of ECU News Services . The author of this post is Spaine Stephens Ross Hall, home of the East Carolina University School of Dental Medicine, stands on the edge of the Health Sciences Campus as a tangible reminder of the school's promise to serve the people of the community, region and state.On March 25 the building buzzed with more than 100 faculty, staff, students and residents who volunteered for the school's third annual Sonrie Clinic that provides oral health care for migrant farmworkers. Sponsored by the school's chapter of the Hispanic Student Dental Association (HSDA), the event is a link between health care resources and members of one of eastern North Carolina's most vulnerable populations.Twenty-four patients received treatment through almost 185 procedures including fillings, cleanings, extractions, a root canal and other services, totaling nearly $8,600 in care.The event was co-sponsored by the North Carolina Dental Society Foundation, the Association of Mexicans in North Carolina, Inc. (AMEXCAN) and other community partners.said Acela Martinez Luna, the dental school's division director of clinical implantology, clinical associate professor and one of the event's faculty organizers.Patients were talked through the procedures, with students and faculty explaining each step in the process.Martinez Luna said,Reaching those in needAlex Betancourt, dental student and member of the HSDA executive board, said the event was an opportunity to reach those in need of dental care - and to help them build bridges toward resources in the community, including primary health care.he said.Betancourt met a patient who had not had his oral health care needs met because of high blood pressure, which he had not known he had. The patient was referred to a primary care physician for cardiovascular evaluation.Betancourt said,The Sonrie Clinic made strides in addressing those obstacles.said second-year dental student Oscar Jaimes.Jaimes said the clinic is also an opportunity for education.he said.Student leadersThird-year dental student Dalia Nashed has participated in all three of the school's Sonrie Clinics over the years. The first two years, she assisted upperclassmen who were providing care.she said.Third-year dental student and HSDA volunteer coordinator Stephanie Camacho headed up the student leadership efforts during the event, ensuring that student volunteers assisted where they were needed most.she said.Camacho said the experience leaves an impression that she will carry as a future dentist.she said.Betancourt echoed that one of the School of Dental Medicine's strongest new traditions is a springboard for making a difference across communities, the state and beyond.he said.
Beaufort County Republican Party Applies Choke Hold

By the Observer Editorial Team

Changes in the rules of operation of the Beaufort County Republican Party enacted by the Republican County Convention on March 25, 2023 may violate the free speech laws of the Constitution of the United States. In their zeal to control conservative Republicans these neophyte, un-elected to public office, woke and liberal, politicians have gone too far. They made major changes in the rules. The State Republican Party requires that all County plans must be in conformity with the State Plan of Organization. This is much like county and city governments cannot pass laws that conflict with State Laws. There is serious conflict. The question is: Will the State Republican party go along with this or will they require a change?

The rules on disloyalty, before March 25, 2023, said: The State Executive Committee may declare a Republican found to have engaged in Party disloyalty as ineligible to serve in any office under the Plan of Organization for some time between six months and five years.

The new plan says: Any registered Republican attempting to influence or influencing the outcome of any election against a Republican candidate, other than supporting an opposing Republican Candidate in a Republican primary, shall be declared ineligible to hold office under the Plan of Organization at the County, District, State and Precinct level for Party Disloyalty by two-thirds (2/3) vote of the County Executive Committee. The members of the County Executive Committee may declare a Republican found to have engaged in Party disloyalty as ineligible to serve in any office under the Plan of Organization for some time between six (6) months and five (5) years. This wording is so broad anyone could be guilty of simply stating an opinion.

One big change is the new rule allows the County Executive Committee to assume the duties and powers of the State Republican Party. There are many reasons this authority was delegated to the State Executive Committee and not the District or County. Some of these are to control pettiness, stop witch hunts, stop power mongers from becoming dictators, and respect for free speech, fairnessetc.

Some of the same people who voted to pass this dictatorial rule, at the convention, are the same people who are grossly guilty of Party disloyalty. Some sit on the newly elected Beaufort County Executive Committee. One of them is Frankie Waters, who attended the Democrat fund raiser for Corey Rogerson, a Democrat candidate for Sheriff, and gave him money. Others who posted on the electronic media supporting Rogerson are John Rebholz, and Kelly Cox. All were allowed to attend and be delegates and officers at the Beaufort County Republican Convention this year. The main reason they get this privilege is that they support Carolyn Garris, their Queen, for County Chairman. Tandy Dunn was denied being precinct a Precinct Chairman on orders from Queen Garris.

These changes bring Trump law to Beaufort County. That is, one set of rules for the liberals and another set for the conservatives. Queen Garris took it on herself to apply the rules of disloyalty without bringing them to the Executive Committee as is required by the rules. Those sitting on the Executive Committee who were disloyal to Republican candidates but were loyal to her have supposedly been forgiven. She violated the rules of the Plan of Organization.

Queen Garris took it on herself to file charges of disloyalty at the State level without the approval of the Executive Committee. Carolyn Garris then made statements that Tandy Dunn could have no one to support him during the arbitration proceedings. She then, conveniently, had two witnesses with her during the arbitration. The Sheriffs candidate, Corey Rogerson, is the nephew of Tandy Dunns wife. Tandy Dunn single handedly won his arbitration. Again, Queen Garris did not know what she was doing.

The RINOs under the leadership of Queen Garris are trying to eliminate conservative Republicans from the Republican Party. This is a futile exercise and will result in chaos first, and then the division of the Party. Our Southern culture is important to all of us. To that end we rarely hear of Jesse Helms and Ronald Reagan anymore.

There are those who say there is not a dimes worth of difference between the Republican Party and the Democrat Party. We believe the ethics and character of the leadership of both parties is essentially composed of the same evil talent. However, we believe the basic beliefs and ethics of almost all United States citizens is close to the same feeling or right and wrong based on Christian ethics. Leadership is our problem at all levels of government and within political parties. Inferior people have seized control.

Some argue that the issue of political parties is not relevant to the big political picture. We do not disagree. However, at the County level, there is one thing of great importance. When vacancy occurs in an elective office, it is the party that elected that position that makes the appointment.

We saw that when Queen Garris deliberately misinformed the Executive Committee about the vacancy in the Register of Deeds Office, failed to call a timely Executive Committee meeting, and kept this 69,000 dollar a year job for herself while remaining Chairman of the Beaufort County Executive Committee. Is she continuing to look for a better paying job?

We saw it again when Gary Brinn passed away, and John Rebholz was appointed to fill his seat. The County Party then gave favored treatment to Rebholz over conservative candidate Tandy Dunn. Rebholz has voted with the Democrats and Fake Frankie Waters on the Board of Commissioners more times than not. We have five elected Republicans, but two Democrats are in control. They may be called Republicans, but they vote like Democrats.

The swing to liberal politics is happening, not just on a county level, but on the State and Federal levels. A lot of liberal legislation is being passed in Raleigh, NC and Washington, DC. These trends will continue if actions such as described above continue.
This photo provided by the Air Force shows a South Korean KF-16 pilot gives a thumbs-up aboard a fighter jet at the Gwangju Air Base in Gwangju, 267 kilometers south of Seoul, April 14. Yonhap



South Korea and the United States kicked off large-scale combined air drills on Monday, the South's Air Force said, amid joint efforts to sharpen deterrence against Pyongyang's military threats.



About 110 aircraft and more than 1,400 troops were mobilized for this year's Korea Flying Training (KFT), which got under way earlier in the day for a 12-day run at Gwangju Air Base in Gwangju, 267 kilometers south of Seoul, according to the armed service.



More than 60 South Korean warplanes, including F-35A, F-15K and KF-16 fighters, will join the drills, while the U.S. will deploy some 40 aircraft, such as its Air Force's F-16 fighters, A-10 attack aircraft and the Marine Corps' F-35B and FA-18 jets.






John Tankard Jones

Mr. John Tankard Jones, age 78, a resident of the Yeatesville community, Bath, passed away Thursday, March 23, 2023, at ECU Health Beaufort Hospital in Washington.



Private services were held.



Mr. Jones was born in Beaufort County on September 27, 1944. He was the son of the late Enever Jones and Ruth Tankard Jones. Mr. Jones was a retired farmer.



On December 15, 1972, he married the former Mary Etta Smith, who survives.



Surviving with his wife is a sister-in-law, Liz Simpson.



In addition to his parents, Mr. Jones was preceded in death by a sister, Ann and more recently his mother-in-law, Etta Smith.



Online condolences may be offered to the family by visiting www.paulfuneralhome.com



Paul Funeral Home & Crematory of Washington was honored to serve the Jones family.


Interview with Donna Jackson In this episode of The John Woodard Show, John Woodard Interviews Donna Jackson. Donna Jackson, a Project 21 member who serves as the program's director of membership development, is a seasoned accountant with public and private sector experience as well as previous forays into politics and... By: John Woodard

Search Terms: realamericannews ran johnwoodard donnajackson project21 Search Terms: thejohnwoodardshow
Whitny Howeth has been working with national parks since she graduated from high school.

While attending a job fair at her high school in Del Rio, Howeth found an internship opportunity at the Student Conservation Association. Through her internship, she worked at Amistad National Recreation Area where she discovered her love for working in the parks.

Howeth went to Sul Ross State University to pursue a dual major in natural resource management and wildlife biology.

Now, she works as the chief of resource management at the Big Thick National Preserve, coming to Southeast Texas by way of the Great Smokey Mountains National Park, Zion National Park and Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

The Enterprise spoke with Howeth about her experience working at the Big Thicket National Preserve and Earth Day and National Park Week coming up.

Q: What exactly did you experience during your internship that made you want to pursue this as a career?

A: I spent a lot of time outside as a child, running around, playing, it's what kids do. But for me, the epiphany moment was, with being so young when I took that internship, seeing the outdoors in a very different way, the beauty of it, the complexity of it and that people actually could get paid to study it, understand it, protect it. That really connected with me.

It was just kind of an epiphany moment. Not many people are lucky enough to find what they want to do with their lives at 18 years old. I feel very, very lucky to have had that opportunity and it just sort of fell in my lap, and I'm very glad that it did because it has sort of set me on a course for the rest of my life.

Q: How would you describe what chief of resource management does?

A: Questions like this are always hard because when you're in the park service, you certainly know what it is. I guess to describe it to someone who wouldn't know, it's basically just the person that oversees all the different components within the national park that have to do with the natural and cultural resources, and that can run the gamut depending on the type of resources that park has.

Q: What does a day in your life look like?

A: We're very lucky. In the resources program, we have a pretty dynamic program that is very multifaceted. We have everything from natural resources to cultural resources and various projects underneath that umbrella. We get to work with researchers and universities and other parks. We also have an oil and gas program within my program. That always adds an interesting dynamic.

We do a lot of active restoration, habitat restoration. We've got different components. I would say a normal day for me is being flexible and adaptive, trying to make sure that we meet all of our obligations and keep going -- all the various balls in the air that we have for the different projects and everything, calls and emails, meetings. I also try to take moments to make sure that I engage with my fellow co-workers and get out in the field when I can, things like that. Every day is very different for me, but I would say that the constant is just making sure that I stay engaged, informed and responsive to everyone in regards to all the different things we have going on.

Q: What is your favorite part about working at the Big Thicket?

A: It's hard to pick one thing. I just love the diversity of all the things that we get to do. I also really enjoy the fact that in many ways the preserve is a hidden gem that a lot of people don't really know about or know how special it is. I really enjoy those opportunities of getting to do something that shows people, especially in East Texas, that light bulb moment of "Wow, this place is pretty cool. I didn't know you guys had that" or "I didn't know that this was here" or "I didn't know it was a national park."

Q: What is one thing that you think everyone in East Texas should know about the Big Thicket?

A: One thing that everyone should know is how special it is, in the sense that the name Big Thicket itself represents a type of ecosystem and habitat that used to expand much broader than it does now. The preserve is an example of that environment in as pristine of a condition as it can be with everything going on.

It's an opportunity to come here and see an ecosystem and a habitat that they can't see anywhere else. It's extremely unique. It has a lot of diversity, biodiversity. There are plants and animals that can be found here that can't be found anywhere else. I think oftentimes when people think of East Texas, they just think of oil and gas, boom town, industry, that sort of thing. But the preserve sort of represents the other side of it, the more natural side of it and what made this area special and unique in the first place.

Q: With Earth Day and Natural Park Week coming up, why should people care about in visiting the Big Thicket?

A: I think it's important for people to come to the preserve because national parks were created for the people, they belong to everybody. Those of us who work there, it's our jobs to preserve and protect and take care of it, but it's really important for people to be engaged because it's theirs. And I think it's important for them to understand the work that's going on there and appreciate the beauty of it. During National Park Week, we have different events and it allows us as park employees to answer questions and inform the public and get them excited about their park.

Q: What would you tell someone who was interested in working in a national park or with the National Park Services?

A: There's so many organizations out there that the national park service partners with that bring interns in to national parks. The Student Conservation Association is just one of many and that's the one that that I worked with, but there are tons of them out there. Many of these internships have scholarships that come along with it. So, it really can give someone an opportunity, especially if funding college seems daunting to someone, internships oftentimes can can take that burden away because it gives you the opportunity to get your foot in the door with (experience) but also a scholarship to help you get started with your school.

School is important to work for the National Park Service, it's important to have at least a bachelor's degree. So, I encourage folks to do internships, to go to school and to volunteer at local national parks so they can start building their knowledge and getting to meet folks that do work in the park. We all kind of started in different ways and no one has the same career path. So, young people volunteering in the parks or doing internships, they can meet a lot of different people from different places that have different stories and that can help them find their own way into the park service.
The water on the lagoon is still most nights, clear and deep under the stars until the sound of a single dinghy makes its way through the dark. Dressed to the nines  or dressed down  guests at the Rosewood Mayakoba wait hopefully on the dock, ready to make this watery journey only once the sun has set, eager to imbibe in an entirely unknown location.

Even for Rosewood, a brand notorious for over-the-top luxury, a hidden speakeasy thats only reachable by boat is pretty special, and its not difficult to parse what La Isla Secreta is all about, whether or not you understand Spanish. This secret bar tucked away on a private island is the hotels newest opening, and though the journey requires clambering in and out of a truly tiny boat with wooden seats, the short trip is more than worth it.

The interior of La Isla Secreta by day Rosewood Hotels

Candlelit steps lead up from the dock to the bar, where a cozy, open-air structure with a thatched roof, thick rugs, and scattered chairs, tables and cushions make up the speakeasy space. With woven, Tulum-inspired lamps, calligraphed scroll menus rolled up in glass bottles, and an overall air of casual elegance, the lakefront bar is perfect for a nightcap, an evening out with friends, or a romantic moment for two. Once youre inside the bar, servers will present you with a series of classic cocktails that have been pre-batched and sent over to the bar in bottles, Prohibition-era style. It specializes in small-batch agave spirits and local gin, whiskey, rum and charanda, along with Mexican wines and beers.

In some ways, La Isla Secreta is exactly what post-pandemic hospitality should look like  an ultra-private (and ultra-casual hang) that still manages to feel cooler and more inviting than your living room. Its also, in the eyes of the Rosewood Mayakobas beverage director, Joshua Monaghan, a natural extension of what the property already does well, as their lagoon system is a huge part of the propertys look and feel. Its worth noting the lagoons are also a replication of the Riviera Mayas natural ecosystem and part of Mayakobas sustainability efforts to preserve the wildlife habitat along the coast. In this case, however, they serve the purpose of instilling a real sense of place in visitors.

The lagoons are one of the resorts distinctive features, and guests love to travel from the lobby to their suites by boat upon arrival, Monaghan told InsideHook. This sparked the idea  where else can we go by boat within the resort, and where can we create something new and exciting? In the cocktail world, speakeasies exist as incredible destinations that offer classic cocktail experiences in hidden places, usually behind closed doors. In that spirit, La Isla offers a sense of adventure and discovery in a way that few destinations can.

Some pre-batched cocktails at La Isla Secreta Rosewood Hotels

Over the last few decades, as high-end cocktail culture makes its way across the entire globe, visitors from major cities dont have to sacrifice their appreciation for a craft drink just because theyre somewhere more remote. Though plenty of people associate Mexico with a simple margarita or a pack of cervezas, the Rosewood in Mayakoba has made an effort to provide multiple spaces for guests to experience fine wine and spirits. Monaghan himself has been recognized as one of Mexicos Best Bartenders by the Bartenders Awards, won several cocktail competitions, and most recently worked at Fifty Mils, a renowned cocktail bar at the Four Seasons in Mexico City that has been repeatedly tapped as one of the best bars in the country.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Joshua Monaghan (@_joshua_monaghan_) Joshua Monaghans other bar on the Rosewood property, Zapote Bar, has racked up plenty of awards

Now that hes taken the helm at the Rosewood, the propertys more traditional bar, a mezcal-focused space near the lobby called Zapote Bar, has become a go-to for all the guests visiting Mayakoba, even those staying at other resorts. Recently celebrating its second anniversary, Monaghan explains that Zapote is affectionately called Zapote Journey Bar because there are many ways to experience it. You can stop for a cocktail before or after dinner, learn more about mezcal or join a party like Martes de Locales, he continued. The intention behind Zapote Bar was to create a special space. Before its inception, there was a lobby bar in place, but Zapote Bar has become a destination.

Designed in a modern hacienda style, the bar serves up distinctive craft cocktails, many of which are bottled up nightly and shipped over to the speakeasy for guests who are craving a quieter time. But even in their newest opening, Monaghan and his crew chose to honor the spirits that come from Mexicos vibrant spirits heritage. Because there is a discovery element to La Isla, it made sense to create Prohibition-era cocktails in a speakeasy-style, he said. With that in mind, we chose to focus on Mexican distillates to pay homage to our home.

In the same way, the speakeasy builds on a long history of hidden-away bars and secret watering holes, and a sense of magic is part of what makes the private island a truly exclusive experience. When you arrive at the dock at La Isla you are transported to another environment entirely, which feels very remote, Monaghan said. There is something really magical about gliding through the lagoons under the stars. The secretive and discovery elements definitely point to the speakeasy tradition. The bar is hidden among the mangroves, and only those in the know are able to access it.

Reservations at La Isla Secreta may be made Thursday through Sunday 811 PM with guests personal butlers. Book a stay at Rosewood Mayakoba here.

The Secret to Great Cocktails? Find Out in The Spill.

The post You Can Only Reach This Speakeasy by Boat appeared first on InsideHook.
Inside Hook

The next big step in space exploration could be taking place as soon as Monday morning. Thats because the F.A.A. has approved SpaceXs plans to launch an uncrewed flight of its Starship  a vessel thats considered an essential part of the spaceflight companys vision of traveling to Mars.



As the Los Angeles Times reports, SpaceX required approval from the F.A.A. in order to launch Starship from its Texas facility, Starbase. SpaceX will have a 150-minute window for the test flight, with the F.A.A. taking steps to make sure that the airspace around the facility is free from other aircraft.



Once launched, Starship will venture into orbit, where it will stay temporarily before returning to the planet somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. The booster used to get it there, meanwhile, is intended to fall into the Gulf of Mexico once its work is done.
The wind whips through my hair, warm and ferocious, as our small boat, or lancha, zips along the water toward the island of Tierra Bomba. Just a half-hours journey from dock to dock, travelers can find themselves transported from Old Town Cartagena to what feels like distant shores in a shorter amount of time than it takes to get from Brooklyn to Manhattan in a taxi cab.

Pulling up to the dock, turquoise waves swish and sway around rocks and towards the sandy beach of Blue Apple, one of Tierra Bombas main attractions and a key piece of its recent revival. The eco-centric resort is owned by British-Trinidadian Portia Hart, a hospitality entrepreneur and philanthropist who had no idea she would one day lead the regeneration of a Colombian island community.

Portia Hart surrounded by the flora of Blue Apple Blue Apple Beach

Stepping Up to the Plate

I worked in an office in London for about five minutes before landing a job in Monaco at a superyacht company, Hart says. I wasnt directly involved in hospitality there, but of course our business was centered around people enjoying quality time on their yachts, so it was a part of everyday business. I cant imagine doing what I do in Monaco now, partly because for me the thing I love is to see social, economic, class and cultural barriers dissipate and humans connect. Magic.

Hart didnt just snap her fingers to enact lasting change, though. When she first visited Tierra Bomba, she remembers being fascinated by the fact that there was such a large island so close to the city that seemingly nobody was visiting  travelers often scoot right past it on their way to the more popular Rosario Islands. Her own expedition to Tierra Bomba resulted in frustrating experiences, like overpaying for poor quality food and chaotic service, making her think, theres a real opportunity here.

Luckily, Hart was already living in Cartagena, enticed by a business opportunity from a friend and their Colombian partner. Hart quickly fell in love with the pulsing energy of the city, its rich culture and its vibrant colors.

I dont know how many energy lines are running underneath Cartagena, but this city has a weird magic about it, she says. You can feel the centuries of history, the glorious and the ugly, and you can breathe it, feel it, hear it in the chaos of everyday life here. The fact that its an Afro-Colombian city makes it unique in Colombia, and as a person of Afro-Caribbean descent, it feels like home. Theres a saying here that everything is possible, but nothing is certain. It sums up Cartagena and its people perfectly. Every day is a thousand possible adventures.

As things sometimes go, her friend ended up not enjoying Colombia and moved back home to London, leaving Hart in a unique place, both mentally and physically  which forced her to consider her options and take a wild chance. What resulted was Blue Apple Beach, a venture that the new entrepreneur bootstrapped with her own savings, alongside two business partners from New York, and no knowledge of running a hotel.

My goal was so simple: serve rose and good food with some great background music, but we now laugh at the fact that in order to do that, first we had to fix the world, Hart says. We had to address environmental issues, social inequality, lack of basic services, horrible supply chains and a global economic system that is fundamentally rigged to cause harm. We are still doing all of that every day. The surprise for me is thats the part that has become the most important and no, we arent done yet.

The Pina Cabana Blue Apple Beach

Crushing It

Strolling up to Corozo (each free-standing villa is named after a different tropical fruit), Im greeted by the sound of a chirping yellow bird sitting on a lush tree that shades my private pool. The villa itself combines a rustic thatched roof with modern, taupe cement. Embedded into the boundary walls and outdoor shower, the ends of bright blue bottles provide pops of color and remind visitors of the structures origins.

Since 2017, Blue Apple has been crushing glass on property. Despite accounting for a massive percentage of waste for the hospitality industry, Hart realized that Cartagena has no infrastructure in place to recycle glass. Green Apple Foundation was born as the companys non-profit organization, turning glass bottles into restaurant glassware and grinding down the remaining glass to create mortar that was then turned into walls.

When other companies started to ask for help doing the same, we decided to make it an independent non-profit so it was clear we werent profiting from its activity and encourage others in the industry to join in, rather than seeing it as part of a competitors economic activity, Hart says. Whats special about Green Apple is that it has created specialists who are now leaders in the entire city when it comes to what they do.

A New Standard for Sustainable Luxury Hotels Has Arrived The hotel industry is rife with "greenwashing." Beyond Green wants to change that.

One year later, her team was tasked by the United Nations to conduct prior consent, a global system designed to stop businesses from potentially exploiting indigenous and vulnerable communities. Hart and her team used the opportunity to dig into the history of Tierra Bomba, learning about its unfortunate cultural erosion and the fact that virtually nobody who was able to explain was left in the islands main village. In response, an internal committee was created within Blue Apple to work alongside the community. Its goal is to see if indigenous cultural practices can eventually be brought back to the village itself.

The resort and its team play an increasingly important role now, as new beach clubs continue to emerge and the islands tourism industry becomes more developed. Hart tells InsideHook that about 20 additional beach clubs have opened since their launch. So theres a real blossoming beach club economy now, she says. All I ask is that the municipality and the local community join forces to make sure all this fast development is a force for good  socially and environmentally, as well as economically.

Today, Green Apple Foundation does more than just create beautiful and useful items from discarded material  it also provides locals with high paying and meaningful jobs. During the process of becoming B-Corp Certified, Blue Apple instituted a company-wide minimum wage that is 15% higher than the Colombian minimum wage. Blue Apple Beach is the first island resort to attain B-Corp Certification, more than 70% of employees are from the local village and more than 75% of their waste is diverted from landfills.

See It, Be It

Now, one focus of Harts is accessibility and diversity. Women, like any other underserved element of human society, make up a large amount of the population, she says. Same as members of the LGBTQ community, people of color, people of different abilities and so on. If you have businesses run by us, they will be better able to cater to us. Even for the most cynical, you cant deny thats just good business sense.

Both at Blue Apple and her hotel in Cartagena City, Townhouse, Portia has implemented small changes that not only encourage a diverse patronage, but bring in more business. One example was ditching the his and hers bathrobes and slippers. Youll save time and stop excluding same sex couples, she says.

These shifts will likely be implemented at Harts next hospitality venture, too: a nature-focused tented camp in the Los Llanos region of Colombia, which is the countrys savannah. Looking at a 2025 opening date for the project, the entrepreneur says shes most excited about incorporating conservation into her social and environmental hospitality ethos there.

Back in Monaco I was told bluntly that women of color do not make it to the top of the superyacht industry, Hart says. On my first day as a business owner here in Cartagena, people started to call me patrona (the feminine word for boss in Spanish). I have the privilege of being foreign, which certainly helps, but I would say that the strong community of girl-bosses here in Cartagena speak to what kind of a place it is to be a woman in leadership. I have no complaints at all.

This article was featured in the InsideHook newsletter. Sign up now.

The post How One Woman Resuscitated Colombias Forgotten Island of Tierra Bomba appeared first on InsideHook.
Alexander, Ark.-based physician Joe David May, MD, has pleaded guilty to 102 months in prison for his role in a $12 million scheme to defraud Tricare, the Justice Department said April 13.

Dr. May played a role in a fake prescription-drug assembly line. He rubber stamped 226 prescriptions, costing Tricare more than $4.63 million, for people he did not know nor treat.

Dr. Davis was also ordered to pay more than $4.63 million in restitution. He was charged with 22 counts, including conspiracy, wire fraud, mail fraud, violating the anti-kickback statute, lying to the FBI, falsifying records and aggravated identity theft.
Visalia, Calif.-based Kaweah Health is a busy hospital with a robust emergency room seeing more than 81,000 patients per year. The hospital is among Healthgrades' top 250 hospitals in the nation and had a financially strong position pre-pandemic with an A3 Moody's Investors Service rating.

Then the pandemic hit.

Since March of 2020 the 613-bed hospital and health system sustained a $127 million operating loss, including $29 million lost in the first quarter of the year, and cash reserves dropped from 130 to 84 days cash on hand, according to a letter penned by Gary Herbst, CEO of Kaweah. The open letter, published in Visalia Times Delta, implores Mr. Newsom to provide funding for district hospitals and reform Medi-Cal reimbursement to keep the system from closing beds and services.

"The COVID-19 pandemic, and its aftermath, have brought District hospitals to the brink of financial collapse," Mr. Herbst wrote. "Without your help, it will soon be virtually impossible for Medi-Cal patients to receive anything but emergency medical care in the State of California."

Mr. Herbst also said the hospital will soon default on over $200 million in revenue bond debt and doesn't have the funds to build the $730 million patient tower needed to ensure more than 200 of its beds are compliant with state regulations.
As more elective procedures move out of hospitals and into surgery centers, more healthcare organizations are aiming to reap the benefits of ASCs.

Among these organizations is Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Health.

When asked about the health system's biggest opportunities for growth in the next three years, Janie Wade, CFO of Intermountain, told Becker's, "There's also tuck-in growth opportunities including ASCs, imaging centers and physician practice acquisitions. We don't have any large merger and acquisition targets on the horizon. It's primarily growth in our existing markets in the communities we already serve and bringing our quality of care, affordability and innovation into those communities with new providers and services."

Intermountain currently has five surgery centers across Utah and is planning to open more over the course of the next year, according to their website. All Intermountain ASCs are a joint venture between the health system and community surgeons.

"In some cases, it makes sense for ASCs to be wholly owned and in others it makes sense to partner with physicians in a joint venture," Ms. Wade told Becker's. "Sometimes we're not the experts at managing something, and we want a partner that can help us manage operations and deliver the best care and service to our patients. It depends on the market and on where the expertise is."

Other health systems are also looking to partner with ASCs or even partner with other facilities or companies to create them.

On March 22, Duluth, Minn.-based St. Luke's opened Northern Lakes Surgery Center in Moose Lake, Minn., through a partnership with Moose Lake-based Gateway Family Health Clinic. It is the only freestanding surgery center in the Moose Lake area.

In February, United Surgical Partners International expanded its partnership with Renton, Wash.-based Providence to develop additional ASCs. USPI and Providence first partnered in 2004 on five joint-venture ASCs and built two more in 2022. They plan to develop additional joint venture ASCs in the Western U.S.

So what does this mean for ASCs? Some ASCs may view these partnerships as a viable option to stay afloat during times of economic uncertainty. However, if more ASCs decide to take hospitals up on their offers to partner up, it could result in fewer independent ASCs.
Canton, Ohio-based Cleveland Clinic Mercy Hospital has donated a 5,800-square-foot medical office building to Beacon Charitable Pharmacy, a group providing low-cost prescription medication to the community.

The one-story building has been out of use for several years, and Beacon plans to put $1 million into its renovation, according to an April 17 news release.

In 2022, Beacon served more than 2,300 uninsured and underinsured residents in surrounding counties, providing more than $4 million in medications.
South Korea, the United States and Japan conduct a trilateral missile defense exercise in the international waters of the East Sea, Monday. Courtesy of Republic of Korea Navy



By Lee Hyo-jin



South Korea, the United States and Japan staged a trilateral missile defense exercise, Monday, in a major demonstration of strengthened security cooperation against North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile threats.



The navies of South Korea and the U.S., as well as Japan's maritime self-defense forces, conducted the combined exercise in international waters between the South and Japan, mobilizing three Aegis-equipped destroyers  South Korea's Yulgok Yi I, USS Benfold of the U.S. and Japan's JS Atago  according to the South Korean Navy.



After setting a virtual target during a hypothetical scenario of a North Korean ballistic missile launch, the drill focused on detecting and tracking the target as well as information sharing between the three warships.



"This is an opportunity for our navy to solidify its response capacity over ballistic missiles while strengthening Korea-U.S.-Japan security cooperation against North Korea's escalating nuclear and missile threats," Navy Capt. Kim Ki-Yeong, the commander of the destroyer, said in a statement.



Monday's naval exercise, which followed a trilateral missile defense drill on Feb. 22, signaled the three nations' combined efforts in deterring North Korea's increasing provocations.









During their senior-level defense dialogue, called the Defense Trilateral Talks, last week, the three countries agreed to hold missile defense and anti-submarine exercises regularly to counter the North's threats.



Pyongyang has fired a series of ballistic missiles in recent months, highlighting a shared security challenge between Seoul, Washington and Japan. On April 13, the totalitarian regime fired what appeared to be a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into the East Sea, prompting Japan to issue an evacuation order for residents on the northern island of Hokkaido.



Some experts anticipate that the North may further escalate tensions by firing an ICBM at a normal trajectory into the Pacific Ocean to display its nuclear weapon's capability of reaching the U.S. mainland.



On the same day, the South Korean and U.S. air forces launched large-scale combined drills called Korea Flying Training (KFT) at Gwangju Air Base in the southeastern city of Gwangju.





A U.S. F-16 fighter jet participates in a joint air drill with the South Korean Air Force at Gwangju Air Base, Monday. Yonhap
Here are four hospitals and health systems that have opened or have plans to open ASCs that Becker's has reported on since March 20:

1. Broomfield, Colo.-based SCL Health, an affiliate of Intermountain Health, broke ground on an 80,000-square-foot medical office building with an ASC in Aurora, Colo.

2. Duluth, Minn.-based St. Luke's partnered with Moose Lake, Minn.-based Gateway Family Health Clinic to open Northern Lakes Surgery Center in Moose Lake.

3. New York City-based NYU Langone Health is spending millions on vacant retail spaces in the area, including a former Sears, a Burlington, a Lord & Taylor and a shopping center, with plans to build 700,000 square feet of ASCs.

4. Fort Worth, Texas-based JPS Health Network was approved for an $800 million bond from the county hospital district in 2018, and now it plans to use the first part of the bond for a renovation and expansion project that will include a new ASC.
A Connecticut man was recently arrested for allegedly performing dental procedures without a license, WFSB reported April 17.

Police arrested Hugo Moraes-DeLima after receiving reports of dental work being performed inside of a hotel room. Police told the news station they found an impromptu operating setup, medication and equipment such as dental drills, suction machines and a portable X-ray machine in the hotel room.

While speaking with Mr. Moraes-DeLima in the hotel room, police said a man with gauze in his mouth walked out of the bathroom and told police he had just gotten a dental procedure done.

Mr. Moraes-DeLima was charged with practicing dentistry without a license and illegal sale of prescription drugs. He is being held on a $350,000 bond.
HCA Florida Mercy Hospital in Miami opened a 10,000-square-foot freestanding emergency room April 17.

The facility will be open 24/7 and offers a full range of medical services for children and adults. HCA Florida Dadeland Emergency is roughly 10 miles south of Mercy Hospital and includes nine private treatment rooms, CT capabilities, digital ultrasound and an on-site laboratory, according to a news release sent to Becker's.

The facility will expand access to emergency care to residents further south who would normally travel to Mercy Hospital.

"Patients visiting HCA Florida Dadeland Emergency can expect the same level of care as a hospital-based emergency department," the health system said.
McCurtain Memorial Hospital in Idabel, Okla., was placed on lockdown starting at 7 a.m. April 17 at the direction of its CEO, Brian Whitfield, according to a news release on the hospital's Facebook page.

The lockdown comes after media coverage about recordings obtained by a McCurtain County reporter, Chris Willingham, that allegedly capture county leaders discussing killing Mr. Willingham and making racist statements, The Oklahoman reported.

"We, like many of you, became aware of local media coverage that made public comments that were allegedly made by members of our county government," Mr. Whitfield said in the release. "We have been advised that locals and persons from outside the area intend to hold a peaceful protest in response.

"I have spoken to Idabel Mayor Craig Young. Mayor Young has assured me that he has faith in Idabel residents that they will be calm and still have their voices heard."

The protests took place during an emergency meeting among officials at the McCurtain County Commissioners Office in Idabel, NBC affiliate KFOR reported April 17.

The accusations against leaders, including the sheriff of McCurtain County, one of his investigators and a county commissioner, were published in the McCurtain Gazette-News. According to The Oklahoman, the McCurtain Gazette-News reported it has a recording of a discussion that included Sheriff Kevin Clardy, investigator Alicia Manning and District 2 Commissioner Mark Jennings. The discussion reportedly took place March 6 after a meeting of the county board of commissioners.

The Oklahoman could not identify the speakers in the recordings, and none of the allegedly recorded individuals could immediately be reached by the newspaper for comment. On the day of the alleged discussion, Mr. Willingham, a reporter for the McCurtain Gazette-News, had filed a defamation lawsuit against county leaders, the McCurtain Gazette-News reported, according to The Oklahoman. Mr. Willingham declined to comment to The Oklahoman, citing ongoing litigation between himself and the sheriff's office. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt has spoken out against the alleged recordings and said his office will be calling on the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations to initiate an investigation, according to KFOR.

Mr. Whitfield, with McCurtain Memorial, said he is ordering the lockdown "to ensure that we are able to respond, if needed, to the medical needs of our patients and the community."

The lockdown closes all hospital entrances except the emergency room public entrance, according to the hospital. Only individuals seeking medical treatment will be allowed to enter. Children younger than 18 may enter with one guardian, the hospital said. McCurtain Memorial has canceled outpatient services for April 17.

"We are committed to meeting the healthcare needs of our community and sufficient staff will be on duty as well as additional staff available. We will stay in communication with our city officials, including the mayor's office." Mr. Whitfield said in the release.

The hospital said more information will be released as needed and once the lockdown lifts.

Note: This story was updated at 12:45 p.m. CDT April 17.
Amazon subsidiary One Medical has partnered with Hartford (Conn.) HealthCare to open five clinics in Connecticut  with more on the way, Hartford Business Journal reported April 17.

It marks a growing number of collaborations between health systems and One Medical, which Amazon bought in February for $3.9 billion and offers subscription-based in-office and virtual primary care to employers and consumers. One Medical then refers patients who need special care to its health system partners.

"Through this partnership, we're going to further clinically and digitally coordinate care for communities and patients, leveraging the most well-known healthcare system in the state with a modern upstart, and blending the two to create more access and more coordination," Amir Dan Rubin, president and CEO of One Medical, told the Business Journal.

The EHRs of One Medical and Hartford HealthCare will be integrated to make for more seamless referrals and care, according to the report.

"The essence of the partnership with One Medical is about expanding access to care," Jeffrey Flaks, president and CEO of Hartford HealthCare, told the news outlet. "And it's about innovating new models of care that can allow us to ultimately drive more affordability."

Work is underway on the first two facilities, in Darien and New Canaan, with clinics in Stamford, Westport and Fairfield to follow and others to be announced soon, according to the story.

One Medical now has 220-plus clinics in more than 20 markets. Financial terms of the partnership weren't disclosed, but the news outlet cited an Axios report that health systems pay One Medical a fixed sum for the exclusive referrals.
Epic is partnering with Microsoft to develop and integrate generative AI into its EHR software, with health systems beginning to pilot the new integrations.

Under the partnership, the companies will combine Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Service with Epic's EHR software, according to an April 17 press release from Microsoft. The aim of the partnership is to use generative AI to help healthcare organizations increase productivity and enhance patient care.

UC San Diego Health, Madison Wis.-based UW Health, and Palo Alto, Calif.-based Stanford Health Care are already starting to use the new integration to automatically draft message responses.

In addition, both companies are using natural language queries and interactive data analysis in SlicerDicer, Epic's self-service reporting tool. This integration will help clinicians use data in a more conversational manner, according to the companies.

"Our exploration of OpenAI's GPT-4 has shown the potential to increase the power and accessibility of self-service reporting through SlicerDicer, making it easier for healthcare organizations to identify operational improvements, including ways to reduce costs and to find answers to questions locally and in a broader context," said Seth Hain, senior vice president of research and development at Epic.
Malone, N.Y.-based Alice Hyde Medical Center is applying to become a critical access hospital, a move that if approved will require decertifying 45 hospital beds.

Hospital officials said Alice Hyde Medical would receive between $3 million and $4.5 million more annually in reimbursements if the designation is approved. Over the past year, the hospital has cared for an average of 17 inpatients per day, according to an April 12 Alice Hyde news release.

The news comes after the hospital closed its inpatient birthing unit in March. The hospital is part of the Burlington-based University of Vermont Health network.

"Critical access hospital status will directly support Alice Hyde's mission of caring for our community," Michelle LeBeau, RN, president of Alice Hyde Medical Center, said in the release. "Our ability to invest in our people, our facilities and our campus is critical as we continue to change to meet the needs of our community. CAH status will support those needs through improved reimbursement from government payers and advance the already high-quality care we provide."
Charleston, S.C.-based MUSC Health is seeking a new CEO for its Orangeburg (S.C.) hospital, the Longview News-Journal reported April 15.

MUSC Health-Orangeburg used to be called Regional Medical Center but changed its name when it joined the health system March 1. David Southerland, president and CEO of the former Regional hospital, did not make the transition to MUSC when the entities synced.

Neither did Dennis Pettigrew, who was serving as the hospital's interim CFO. His contract ended with the transition to MUSC.

Kellie Suggs, CFO of MUSC Health, is currently serving as the Orangeburg hospital's CFO. David Zaas, MD, current CEO of MUSC Health's Charleston division  of which the Orangeburg hospital is a part  is serving as its interim CEO.

The hospital's search for a CEO has attracted 15 applicants so far, according to Dr. Zaas.

"I will hire a local CEO who is here five days a week, who is part of the community, who really can help us drive the safety, the quality, the service excellence, all of those things," Dr. Zaas said. "The search process is underway and hopefully will be named in a few weeks. It is going really well."
Members of United Public Workers have ended their nearly two-month strike at Maui Health hospitals by approving a new contract.

The union represents about 500 healthcare workers at Maui Health's Maui Memorial Medical Center, Kula Hospital and Lanai Community Hospital, according to an April 14 union news release. Wailuku, Hawaii-based Maui Health is affiliated with Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente.

Union members, who include nurses aides, respiratory therapists, housekeepers, cooks and other workers, began their strike Feb. 22 following months of negotiations. The strike ended after 87 percent of voting union members decided in favor of the new three-year agreement, according to the union release.

"The new contract represents months of hard work and determination and is reflective of the sacrifices our members have made during the strike," United Public Workers AFSCME, Local 646, AFL-CIO State Director Kalani Werner said in the release. "Our members labored through the pandemic and have had to continue to endure staffing shortages, so while this is a step in the right direction, there is still work to be done. We will do everything we can to ensure future contracts provide adequate pay increases, fair working conditions, and demonstrate the importance of our members."

The union said the new contract includes pay-scale adjustments, at least a 10.5 percent wage increase for workers, and a lump sum payment for workers, among other benefits.

"Nothing makes us happier than to have our team back together and whole again," Maui Health Interim CEO Kerry Watson said in a statement shared with The Maui News. "We are sincerely grateful to both bargaining committees, our own team and the UPW team, for working countless hours over the last ten months to achieve a fair and equitable agreement for our employees.

"There are really no words to express our gratitude for our team of employees and providers. Despite the mountain of challenges they've faced through COVID and the past almost eight weeks of the strike, they worked tirelessly to ensure our patients receive safe, quality and compassionate care."
In the evolving American workforce, flexibility is king, and parental leave is expanding across the country  to workplaces' dismay, The Wall Street Journal reported April 8.

Births have increased the past two years, and workplace policies are shifting to accommodate parents' needs. In seven states and Washington, D.C., paid parental leave is now required. Eleven states will require it by 2026, and private employers are expanding such benefits nationwide. On ZipRecruiter, jobs that actively advertise paid parental leave have increased fivefold since before the pandemic.

More parents are taking advantage of parental leave: especially fathers, according data from the U.S Census Bureau. In 2023, parental leave work absences for men are up 183 percent from 2018. For women, they're up 13 percent. On average, 335,700 women and 76,500 men are on parental leave in any given month.

Length of leave is also increasing. The average mother takes 120 days of leave, compared to 110 in 2019; and fathers are taking 60, up from 45, according to leave-management platform Sparrow.

Infants reap many benefits from having their parents home, including lower mortality rates, better child test scores and higher adult earnings. These perks are an investment in the economic future, Emily Oster, PhD, an economics professor at Providence, R.I.-based Brown University, told the Journal.

But at least for the short-term, lengthening parental leave can cost workplaces. Someone has to do the work left behind by new parents and national companies have to handle state-by-state laws on parental leave.

Employers aren't the only ones who feel the crunch.

Falling behind is still "a big problem for parents," Shawna Freeman Lane, EdD, a business professor at Highline College in Washington state, told the Journal. "You are likely to lose footing on projects and work that you helped lead or build because someone else will be forced to take it over."
Indian investigating agency to question Delhi chief minister in liquor policy case

Xinhua) 10:51, April 17, 2023

NEW DELHI, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Saturday that he would present himself before India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which has summoned him in the liquor policy case.

"I have received summon from the CBI. I will certainly honor it," Kejriwal told a press conference, saying that he would go to the premier investigating agency on Sunday.

Kejriwal, also leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), said investigating agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the CBI "lied" on oath and affidavit, and presented "false" evidence in court about the alleged scam.

"They are saying a bribe of 1 billion rupees was taken. But they have not found a single rupee. Then they said it was used in Goa elections, they did raids and did not find anything," he said. "Where is the proof of this? All our payments were made with cheques. Show me a single rupee of the 1 billion rupees you claim we got."

The CBI has filed a case and is investigating the Delhi Excise Policy launched in November 2021, under which liquor shop licenses were handed over to private players.

Kejriwal said the same liquor policy was implemented in Punjab by the AAP and there the revenue increased by 50 percent.

"The same policy, which they call corrupt, was introduced in Punjab and has resulted in a 50-percent increase in revenue. It was a game-changing and transparent policy," he said.

Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, two AAP senior leaders, are presently in jail. Sisodia was arrested in February this year on corruption charges in the liquor policy case, and Jain was arrested in May 2022 over money laundering.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
This undated file photo provided by the defense ministry shows a suspected wreckage of a U.S. military aircraft in the border county of Yanggu, 113 kilometers northeast of Seoul, discovered in Sept. 2022. Yonhap



Korea and the United States began a joint excavation project Monday to recover the remains of U.S. soldiers who perished during the 1950-53 Korean War, Seoul's defense ministry said.



The project between the ministry's excavation team and the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) is set to take place across the country, including the central city of Sangju, 157 kilometers south of Seoul, through April 29, according to the ministry.



The two sides have made joint efforts every year to find the remains of U.S. soldiers killed during the conflict after signing an agreement to conduct such excavations in 2011.



This year, the DPAA has dispatched 11 of its personnel and the joint team will investigate an area in the border county of Yanggu, 113 km northeast of Seoul, where the ministry's officials discovered a suspected U.S. military aircraft wreckage last September.



They will also visit former battle sites in Boryeong, 140 km south of the capital, where a U.S. paratrooper unit conducted operations.



Meanwhile, the two sides also plan to conduct an underwater search near beaches in the coastal cities of Busan and Gangneung in September to find the remains of U.S. pilots whose aircraft crashed in the waters.



The latest excavation project comes as the two nations mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of their alliance this year. (Yonhap)


A Florida nurse has pleaded guilty to replacing fentanyl with saline in nearly 450 vials.

Catherine Dunton, 54, was a nurse at an outpatient surgical center in Jensen Beach, Fla., according to an April 13 Department of Justice release.

Between February 28 and April 18, 2022, Ms. Dunton took self-administered injections of fentanyl and replaced the missing medication with saline. Nearly 450 vials were tampered with, according to the report, and returned to the center for use during outpatient surgical procedures.

Ms. Dunton faces up to 19 years in prison, followed by up to three years in supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. She will be sentenced June 27.
Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., is suing Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey over his demand for records and testimony on gender-affirming care, The Kansas City Star reported.

The lawsuit, filed April 14 in Jackson County, asks a judge to deny Mr. Bailey's investigative demands, saying the requests are a "burdensome overreach" despite "no allegations of wrongdoing," according to the newspaper.

Mr. Bailey's office made the demand for records and testimony in a letter sent in late March. In February, his office had already confirmed an investigation by Missouri agencies into whistleblower allegations against the Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children's Hospital. The whistleblower raised allegations that individuals at the transgender center had harmed hundreds of children each year, including by using experimental drugs on them.

Now, Mr. Bailey's office is also looking at Children's Mercy and made more than 50 requests for documents and information in his office's March 24 investigative demand letter to the hospital. Requests include all instances when child abuse was reported to law enforcement and questions of whether Children's Mercy prescribes hormone blockers for, or performs surgery on, transgender individuals, according to The Kansas City Star.

Madeline Sieren, a spokesperson for Mr. Bailey's office, said in a statement shared with the newspaper that Children's Mercy "is refusing to provide even a single document to explain its practices."

"That is very concerning," she said, adding that Mr. Bailey's office looks forward to "prevailing in this request for information and learning what is truly going on."

Children's Mercy argues that Mr. Bailey is not authorized to investigate and enforce medical standards under the state's merchandising practices act, and that complying with his requests would require the hospital to violate state and federal laws, including HIPAA, according to NBC affiliate KSHB. The system also said in its suit that it has no connection to the Washington University center under investigation. Children's Mercy is not mentioned in the allegations against Washington University Transgender Center, according to KSHB.

The lawsuit filed April 14 comes after Mr. Bailey announced emergency rules targeting gender transition procedures for minors, which take effect April 27. The emergency regulations include prohibiting gender-affirming care unless patients have at least 15 sessions with a mental health provider and have experienced at least three consecutive years of a "medically documented, long-lasting, persistent and intense pattern of gender dysphoria."






A former employee of Adena Health System in Chillicothe, Ohio, pleaded guilty to telecommunications harassment in a case centered on comments made online calling for the murder of the system's CEO and wife.

Hoyle "Beau" Bowman was charged with telecommunications harassment and menacing after writing online in February that someone should kill Adena Health System President and CEO Jeff Graham and his wife. The comments, posted in a community news forum, contained the location of Mr. Graham's home and suggested he and his wife be shot, according to NBC4.

In March, Mr. Bowman initially pleaded not guilty to the charges. In April, he accepted a plea deal in which the menacing charge was dropped in exchange for a guilty plea to harassment. He faces a $200 fine, two years probation and 200 hours of community service, according to the Scioto Valley Guardian.

Mr. Bowman served as executive director of the Adena Health Foundation for three years before his termination in December 2022.
The Supreme Court will decide if pharmacies knowingly overcharged Medicare and Medicaid, in a case that could weaken the False Claims Act, NPR reported April 17.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case April 18, and a ruling is expected this summer.

Here are five things to know about the case:
After months and years of healthcare leaders toiling to recruit and retain nurses, and not exceed budget limits, some are pushing for laws and tweaks to nursing curriculums to offset the workforce's issues.

Multiple states have forwarded staff ratio bills, and in late March, lawmakers reintroduced a federal aim at hospital staffing ratio legislation. Critics say staffing ratios, or setting a legal limit to how many patients a nurse can attend to, does not work during a nurse shortage and can jeopardize patient care because of the lack of flexibility.

As 800,000 nurses plan to depart their positions by 2027, though, it seems something needs to budge. And after a difficult financial year, not all hospitals and health systems might be able to afford a $100,000 registered nurse incentive program to recruit and retain staff.

In Michigan, 4 in 10 nurses said they expect to leave soon, 3 in 10 said they plan to reduce their clinical hours, and nearly 2 in 10 said they wanted to pursue travel nursing, according to a study conducted in March 2022. Eighty-four percent of the 9,150 state-licensed nurses part of the study met the threshold for being "emotionally exhausted," the research found.

Besides ratio laws wending through the legislation process, the other leading proposed solution for the already stretched workforce is education changes, according to an April 16 report from Michigan Advance.

In Colorado, one hour of simulation time  in which students work in labs and other facilities simulating nursing care  equals two hours of traditional clinical time. If this allowance was picked up by the Michigan Board of Nursing, nursing programs could accept more students without the burden of having to find more clinical sites for training, and thus train more for the profession, according to Michigan State University College of Nursing Dean Leigh Small, PhD, RN.

A push to expand training to rural areas can also reduce nursing shortages in underserved communities. "If you can train people who come from those communities or train them in those communities, they fall in love with those places and want to stay there," Norman Beauchamp Jr., MD, executive vice president for health sciences at the university, told the outlet.

Younger nurses made up nearly a fourth of the hundreds of thousands of nurses planning to leave by 2027, Maryann Alexander, PhD, RN, chief officer of nursing regulation at National Council of State Boards of Nursing, told Becker's. This is a departure from what past research of the workforce has shown, and Dr. Alexander said the "healthcare ecosystem is at an urgent crossroads."
Health officials are still searching for the source of a rare fungal infection at a Michigan paper mill that has infected nearly 100 people and caused one death.

The death occurred in a contractor who worked at the Escanaba Billerud Paper Mill in the state's Upper Peninsula. As of April 15, local health officials have identified 21 confirmed cases and 76 probable cases of blastomycosis among workers, contractors or visitors to the plant, according to The New York Times. Of the 97 people with symptoms, 12 have required hospitalization.

The rare fungal infection is caused by Blastomyces dermatitidis, a fungus found in soil and decaying wood. People contract the infection by breathing on spores from the air.

The paper mill, which employs 830 people, temporarily closed April 13. The plant's owner, Sweden-based paper company Billerud, said it will keep the facility closed for three weeks to conduct a deep cleaning, inspect ventilation systems and test raw materials coming to the mill, according to the Times.



Local health officials are working with the paper mill, HHS, CDC and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to investigate the outbreak, according to an April 14 news release.
As the omicron subvariant XBB.1.16 takes off in the U.S., questions have emerged around whether current at-home COVID-19 tests accurately detect the strain.

CDC estimates indicate the strain accounts for 7.2 percent of U.S. cases, and experts anticipate it will become dominant in the coming weeks. Anecdotally, the strain appears to be causing conjunctivitis among children in India, where it is causing a surge. The potential shift in symptom set raises the question about whether the tests can accurately detect the evolved virus.

As the prevalence of XBB.1.16 grows, experts don't anticipate the accuracy of at-home tests to be affected, since most are designed to recognize the virus' nucleocapsid protein, not the spike protein. Health officials have said XBB.1.16 has a very similar profile to XBB.1.15  the dominant strain in the U.S.  with one additional mutation in the spike protein that has shown increased infectivity and a potential increase in pathogenicity in lab studies.

"The majority of SARS-CoV-2 variant mutations occur in that spike protein and so thus far, the ability of at-home [tests] to detect the virus has not been affected, through many interactions of changing variants, because the nucleocapsid protein has not changed much as the virus has evolved," Amy Karger, MD, PhD, clinical pathologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis, told Becker's.

At-home COVID-19 antigen tests are expected to be around 80 percent accurate at detecting a COVID-19 infection, according to the FDA. They are less sensitive than polymerase chain reaction tests  the gold standard  and should thus be repeated after a negative result regardless of symptoms.
Here are six updates in sacroiliac joint technology since the beginning of 2023:

1. Croom Medical developed a customized 3D-printed sacroiliac joint fixation device.

2. The FDA on Jan. 31 gave Alevio Spine additional 510(k) clearance for the devicemaker's SI-Cure sacroiliac joint fusion system.

3. Hakeem Shakir, MD, of OU Health in Oklahoma City, completed the state's first robotic-assisted sacroiliac fusion.

4. Inspired Spine's Trident sacroiliac joint fusion was debuted outside the U.S. in Oman.

5. CoreLink's Siber Ti sacroiliac joint fusion system received FDA 510(k) clearance.

6. Aurora Spine's SiLO TFX minimally invasive sacroiliac joint fixation system debuted.
A former DUP councillor has appeared in court today to face charges of attempted sexual communication with children.

William Walker attended the hearing at Downpatrick Crown Court, sitting in Belfast, via a video-link.

Formerly from Killyleagh and with a current address at Palatine Road in Blackpool, the 60-year-old was charged with two separate offences of attempted communication with a child for the purposes of sexual gratification.

Walker pleaded guilty to a charge of attempting to sexually communicate with a child called Sammy Jo on dates between February 10 and 15, 2022.

When a second similar charge of attempting to sexually communicate with a child called Daisy May on dates between February 10 and 23, 2022 was put to Walker, he replied not guilty.

Although no details regarding the charges emerged today, it is understood they arise from information supplied to the police by a paedophile hunter group.

As a result of his admission to the first charge, Walker was placed on the Sex Offenders Register  and the length of time he will spend on the Register will be determined at a later date.

Judge Geoffrey Miller KC said he would review the case again on May 3 and the former Mourne and Down District councillor was granted continuing bail.
The 34-year-old defendant appeared at court by videolink.   Liam McBurney

A man currently in Egypt is to stand trial in Belfast on multiple charges of rape, a judge ordered today.

The 34-year-old defendant is also accused of subjecting a woman to a series of physical attacks.

He cannot be named to protect the identity of the complainant.

The man appeared at Belfast Magistrates Court today via video link from a location in Egypt for a preliminary enquiry into the allegations against him.

He is charged with six counts of rape, three assaults occasioning actual bodily harm, and three common assaults.

All of the alleged offences were committed against the same woman on various dates between January 2015 and August 2020.

During the brief hearing the accused confirmed that he understood the charges, but declined to call any witnesses or give evidence at this stage.

A defence lawyer did not contest prosecution submissions that his client has a prima facie case to answer.

Granting the Crown's application, District Judge Steven Keown returned the man for trial at Belfast Crown Court on a date to be fixed.

Mr Keown confirmed that he remains on bail, with a prohibition on any contact with the complainant.
An photo of an American man arrested for secretly painting graffiti on Korean trains in September 2022, Jan. 20. Yonhap



Prosecutors on Monday demanded the imprisonment for 1 1/2 years of an American man arrested for secretly painting graffiti on Korean trains last year.



Prosecutors made the request at the Incheon District Court in the trial of the man who was indicted on six charges, including property damage, after allegedly breaking into nine subway train garages across the country last September and spray-painting graffiti on trains, together with a 28-year-old Italian accomplice.



"The defendant has not reached a compensation agreement with some of the victim companies, though the entire damage is estimated at 43 million won ($33,000)," the prosecution said in the trial.



"The fact that he fled to a foreign country after committing the offense while clearly recognizing its illegality was also taken into consideration."



The defense lawyer said the 27-year-old American now repents for his wrongdoings and will try to reach compensation agreements with the two remaining victims after he raises money by donating his talent or selling works.



The American offered an apology to the victim companies and the Korean people.



The man was apprehended in Romania last November and brought back to Korea in January, but the Italian accomplice still remains at large. (Yonhap)


A man found murdered in a Co Antrim flat was the victim of an unmerciful, prolonged and sustained attack, a court heard today.

Samuel Atcheson (36), of Crebilly Road and Steven Arthur Hunter (32), of Lanntara, both Ballymena, previously pleaded guilty to the murder of Donald Harold Fraser-Rennie.

Mr Fraser-Rennie was found dead in a pool of blood in an upstairs room at Atcheson's flat on Crebilly Road after police were alerted.

Belfast Crown Court was played a brief 58 second video which recorded part of the attack during which Hunter threatened to stab Mr Fraser-Rennie in the trunk.

Senior prosecutor Ciaran Murphy KC said the 33-year-old victim, who was originally from England, died as a result of a beating and had been subjected to gratuitous violence on the afternoon of Tuesday, October 29, 2020.

A 999 call was received in the early hours of the following morning, October 30, from Atcheson who told a call handler: We need your assistance at 5D Crebilly Road as soon as possible. A male has been beat up. Believed to be dead.

It is quite a gory scene. We have literally just arrived on the scene. At the moment all we have is Donald.

Said Mr Murphy: Atcheson knew what he was ringing about, what had been done and who had done it. The video was recorded at 3.14pm and the defendants left his flat just after 4pm on October 29.

Madam Justice McBride heard two police officers arrived at the scene and the deceased was lying on his back with no pulse, was cold and his face was indented.

When police asked Atcheson what happened, he replied: It was Steven Hunter. He is away to his girlfriend's flat. Hunter put a screwdriver into Donald's face.

The officer noted there was dried blood on the toes of Atcheson's white trainers.

Mr Murphy added that CCTV footage had captured the three men earlier in the day going into a Tesco's store with Mr Fraser-Rennie dressed in an orange jacket and seen carrying out a crate of cider.

He said the clothes Atcheson was wearing at the murder scene were different from those he was wearing at the Tesco store apart from his trainers.

Both defendants were arrested and the court heard that when Hunter was put in handcuffs officers noted blood staining around his fingernails.

Photographs from the scene show the deceased lying with a pool of blood around his head and extensive blood distribution and staining in the living room, bedroom and bathroom, said Mr Murphy.

An autopsy recorded death was due to blunt force trauma of the head and chest, with compressions to the neck and acute alcohol intoxication. There were multiple blows to the head consistent with him being the victim of a sustained physical assault with punches, kicks, stamps and blows with a weapon. He had nine fractured ribs and there was bleeding on the brain.

Mr Murphy said there were several calls between Atcheson and his then partner which mentioned an ongoing dispute between him and the deceased, claiming the deceased had stolen money and prescription tablets from Atcheson's flat.

She told police that Atcheson called her by mobile video call, and during this was shown the victim lying on the floor lifeless. They were laughing at Donald and Hunter scored a screwdriver down Donald's face. She saw Samuel kicking Donald's head and face and suggests this went into double figure.

CCTV footage later captured Atcheson wearing Mr Fraser-Rennie's orange coat. Mr Murphy said they disposed of items in a hedgerow and burned their clothes at Hunter's home.

During police interviews, both defendants blamed each other for the attack on Mr Fraser-Rennie.

Atcheson told detectives: I swear on my mother's grave I didn't touch Donald. He was a good friend. Hunter beat him to death.

Whatever the reasons, Mr Fraser-Rennie was subjected to an unmerciful attack in Atcheson's flat, said Mr Murphy.

This was a prolonged attack involving multiple blows and assaults to multiple sites and the movement of the deceased around the flat which is evidenced by the blood distribution.

We have the revolting video of the attack whilst Mr Fraser-Rennie was still alive, close to the end as Atcheson stood as a willing participant.

It was a horrific end to Mr Fraser-Rennie's life at the hands of these defendants. They were both part and parcel of a joint enterprise attack as they both punched, stamped and kicked him to death without justification or excuse.

We say that Hunter has a leading role which is based on the video evidence the court has seen in how he is dealing with a man in the last throes of life and afterwards they go to his flat to dispose of evidence.

Defence counsel Charles MacCreanor KC for Atcheson said: He is horrified and ashamed about what he has been involved in. He has prepared a letter for the family which expresses his heartfelt and genuine sorrow, regret and remorse for what he did.

He feels like a 'real scumbag' for what happened to his good friend.

Counsel for Hunter, John Kearney KC, said: He knows what he did was terribly wrong. He is devastated by what he knows he did. We are instructed to offer an apology for what is worth.

As the defendants are already serving a life sentence, Madam Justice McBride said she would give her tariff ruling next month on how long they will serve before applying to the Parole Commissioners for release.
A retired NHS administrator died from an asbestos-related lung cancer which she believed was caused in her childhood by her dad's work at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, an inquest heard.

Anne Webb (75) recalled her carpenter father coming home to the family's small, terraced house in Belfast with asbestos dust on his overalls and shaking it off at the back door, the inquest in Gloucester was told.

She died in August last year from mesothelioma  a lung cancer for which the only known cause is asbestos exposure.

In a statement made after she was diagnosed with the terminal condition in July 2021, Mrs Webb said she was shocked by the news because she had been fit and well, enjoying retirement, doing voluntary work and regularly going to the gym.

Mrs Webb, of Innsworth Lane, Gloucester, had given up smoking 23 years earlier.

She died on August 15, last year.

Assistant Gloucestershire Coroner Roland Wooderson said: "She said she had thought long and hard about where she could have come into contact with asbestos.

She said: The only place I can think of is our small terraced house while growing up in Belfast, a couple of miles from the shipyard.

My father worked for Harland and Wolff. He came home with asbestos dust on his clothing. He was made redundant in 1968 and my brother and I then moved to Leeds.

My brother Bill has also had an asbestos related disease and was diagnosed with pleural thickening.

Our late father died from lung cancer.

His death certificate confirmed he had asbestosis. This is not surprising given the amount of asbestos at work.

So essentially three members of the family have had asbestos diseases. The shipyard was the only place we know where asbestos was regularly used.

We all lived together in a small, terraced house. Dad would stand at the back door shaking off his overalls and dust would come into the kitchen. Dust brought into the home would stay there.

She stated it was her 'firm belief' that dust brought home by her dad in his clothes was the source of her cancer.

I used to do the sweeping up from quite a young age, she added.

The coroner recorded a narrative conclusion saying She believed that her late father brought asbestos into the family home on his work overalls and she was thus exposed. The medical evidence is that this exposure would have been enough to cause the development of mesothelioma, or to contribute to the risk that she would get it.
Numbers are important, but they dont add up to a career for everybody.

There will be young people who have a natural gift, for whom two plus two will always equal four. There will be others who find the answer harder to come by.

A plan by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to rid schools in the UK from an anti-maths mindset is a noble ambition.

While the Prime Minister says there is an unwritten belief that its okay to be bad at maths, the problem is that there are people who will always be just that. Bad at maths. Not everyone has a numerical mind. Their skills lie elsewhere.

Mr Sunak has announced an expert-led review into how to carry out his plan to ensure all pupils in England study some form of maths up to the age of 18, without making maths A-level compulsory.

At the moment, that applies to England only, but it opens a wider debate.

An ambition of ensuring maths continues to 18 equals more pressure on teachers, and likely at the expense of something else.

There is a line which needs to be carefully guarded. Push young people over that line against their will and the only result will be more turning away from what the Prime Minister is so keen to achieve.

Like the over-eager parent pushing their child to achieve, the effects can often be counter-productive. Encourage those with the talent and ambition, yes, but help those who choose other paths to become equally successful.

There is so much going wrong in education but while it is a laudable ambition to try to build a lavish tower, perhaps the foundations should be the first thing that need addressed.

The Prime Minister first made his maths-to-18 pledge in January, stressing the importance of numeracy in jobs increasingly underpinned by data and statistics.

Since then we have seen teachers take a half day of strike action due to an ongoing dispute over pay and conditions. And a full day of strike action is to continue that dispute later this month.

Add to that the budget crisis, which has already seen schemes like Healthy Happy Minds and Holiday Hunger fall by the wayside, some of the most basic needs of young people, even primary school pupils, no longer on the agenda.

Dr William Kitchen from Stranmillis University said the role of mathematics should not be underplayed.

Dr Kitchen said: In terms of the nuts and bolts of what the idea seems to be here, its a pretty uncontroversial idea.

If we take a look at most of the developed countries across the world some element of mathematics is carried into the later stages of study.

Very often in university programmes there are huge numbers that make some sort of mathematical component compulsory. These things are not necessarily new ideas.

Not a new idea, maybe, but he did warn the details need to be very carefully thought through.

Professor Mauro Paternostro, head of the School of Mathematics and Physics at Queens University, has said Mr Sunak was right in his plan.

In a world that is dominated by technology and information, mathematics is at the foundation of most of our daily activities, he said.

It underpins most things we do and hobbies or tasks that we are interested in  this is true not just for specialists or scientists.

But Northern Ireland continues to overachieve. There is, perhaps, not quite the sense of urgency in needing to address maths in schools.

What Northern Ireland needs, first and foremost, is a plan to make sure our children get the rounded education afforded to their parents. That is the most pressing issue.

"On teachers, yes we need already, and we will need more maths teachers, and we know that," Mr Sunak said at the London Screen Academy, in Islington on Monday.

What he wont say is how those teachers are going to be attracted to a profession which is being deserted by more and more. And how is this new technology going to be paid for. In Northern Ireland, teachers are already dipping into their own pockets to provide the basic essentials.

And if the Northern Ireland economy continues to fall behind the rest of the world, how about addressing that and giving young people the incentive to aspire to. If they start to believe the prospects of careers are available, then perhaps the willingness to continue with maths at school will be more forthcoming.

Yes, lets produce more mathematicians. But lets make sure we can get the sums that are detracting from the overall education of children right first. That would be a decent example to set.
The SDLP representative posted a picture of carpet stains at the airport on Monday.

Travellers arriving at Belfast International Airport are met with a view that belongs to a bygone age, a Belfast City councillor has said.

SDLP councillor Gary McKeown posted a photograph on Monday of a stained carpet that welcomes visitors to the airport, and suggested the arrivals corridor was Soviet-style.

The Botanic representative said he was embarrassed that this was the sight with which travellers to the airport were greeted.

"Every time I come through Belfast International Airport, I'm embarrassed at the fact that this is the first thing people experience when they arrive here, he told the Belfast Telegraph.

"Travellers are greeted with a building that is clearly a throwback to a bygone age, with a view out the window of air vents and a patched up flat roof.

We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content

"To make things worse, the walkway carpet has so many stains that it's starting to resemble a Jackson Pollock painting. And that's before you even consider the major security vibe in both departures and arrivals.

"At a time when we want to be encouraging tourism and investment, is this the message we want to send out? Compared with other airports in these islands or abroad, it's shocking that this passes as acceptable.

"First impressions count, but the only thing many people will be counting is the number of stains they can spot on the floor as they make their way to the security queue.

Belfast International Airport said the carpet would soon be replaced.

The carpets are due to be replaced shortly as the Airport will soon be undertaking a 20m upgrade of key facilities, said a spokesperson.

It comes after the airport this week introduced a 3 charge to apply at its drop-off zone.

The airport last week used social media to say it would like to make passengers aware of changes affecting those dropping off and collecting passengers from Monday April 17.

"We will continue to offer 15 minutes free of charge in the long stay car park. Blue Badge holders can use the short stay car park free of charge for 30 minutes at Belfast International Airport for getting dropped off or collected.

The drop off zone will increase to 3 for up to 10 minutes.
Irish women Jane Deasy and Aisling Butler also died in 2009 disaster which claimed 228 lives

Workers unload debris belonging to the crashed Air France flight AF447 from the Brazilian navys Constitution Frigate in the port of Recife, north-east of Brazil on June 14 2009 (Eraldo Peres/AP)

Families reacted with anger after the airline and manufacturer involved in a 2009 plane crash that killed 228 people  among them Co Down doctor Eithne Walls  were cleared of involuntary manslaughter.

Air France and Airbus had denied the charge relating to the June 2009 flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, during which an Airbus A330 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean during a thunderstorm, killing people from 33 different countries.

A French court delivered the ruling on Monday following a two-month trial.

Daniele Lamy, the president of the association which represents the victims, said the families were "disgusted" that their long fight for justice had come to nothing.

"All that remains of these 14 years of waiting is despair, dismay and anger," she said

Investigators had originally argued for dropping the case, but unusually, judges overruled them and sent the case to court.

During the trial, even state prosecutors argued for acquittal, saying that the proceedings did not produce enough proof of criminal wrongdoing by the companies.

Among the dead was Dr Walls (28) from Ballygowan, who had been travelling on the flight with fellow doctors Jane Deasy (27) from Rathgar, Dublin and Aisling Butler (26) from Roscrea, Co Tipperary.

Eithne and Aislings remains were never recovered.

The close friends had studied medicine together in Trinity College and remained friends after graduating in 2007 and were returning from a holiday when the plane came down.

Their flight had disappeared from radars over the Atlantic Ocean between Brazil and Senegal with 216 passengers and 12 crew members aboard, with the first debris only spotted at sea five days later.

It was not until 2011 that the plane - and its black box recorders - were located on the ocean floor, in an unprecedented search effort at depths of more than 13,000ft.

France's air accident investigation agency BEA found that the accident involved a cascading series of events, with no single cause.

As a storm buffeted the plane, ice crystals present at high altitudes disabled the pitot tubes, blocking speed and altitude information. The autopilot disconnected.

The crew resumed manual piloting, but with erroneous navigation data. The plane went into an aerodynamic stall, its nose pitched upward, and then it plunged.

Prosecutors laid the responsibility primarily with the pilots, who died in the crash. Airbus lawyers also blamed pilot error, and Air France said the full reasons for the crash will never be known.

Airbus and Air France had faced potential fines of up to 225,000 euros (199,000) each if convicted.

An Associated Press investigation at the time found that Airbus had known since at least 2002 about problems with the type of pitot tubes used on the jet that crashed, but failed to replace them until after the crash.

Air France was accused of not having implemented training in the event of icing of the pitot probes despite the risks. Airbus was accused of not doing enough to urgently inform airlines and their crews about faults with the pitots or to ensure training to mitigate the risk.

The crash had lasting impacts on the industry, leading to changes in regulations for airspeed sensors and in how pilots are trained. Air France has also compensated the families of those killed in the crash.
Senator George J. Mitchell, former US Special Envoy to Northern Ireland and Chair of the NI All Party Talks (Pic: Press Eye)   Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye

Former US senator George Mitchell has urged the 100 percenters within Northern Irelands political parties to approach compromise in the future.

Speaking at Queen's University Belfast  of which he is a former chancellor  Mr Mitchell reflected on the talks and negotiations in the lead-up to the Good Friday Agreement.

It is the first event he has publicly spoken at since being diagnosed with cancer three years ago.

"Each of your parties have the 100 percenters. They want it their way all the time. Compromise is seen as a sign of weakness, he said.

Reasoned principled compromise is essential, especially in divided society. There is great depth in recognising that the only way to help up emerge from the rubble of conflict is that we must learn to understand one another.

"We don't need to love one another, we dont even need to like one other, but we must learn to understand one another and be able to say yes to one another even when the quickest and easiest answer is no.

Mr Mitchell spent around three years leading peace talks with the warring parties in NI during the 90s.

Former US senator George Mitchell urges NI's political leaders to act with the courage and vision of their predecessors

On Monday, at the QUB event celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Belfast Agreement, he also shared humorous anecdotes about his time here.

Noting one incident, he recalled: David Ervine shouted in a loud voice across the room: Senator, if you are to be of any use to us, there is one thing you must understand. We in Northern Ireland will drive 100 miles out of our way to receive an insult.

Like you, I laughed thinking it was a joke, but as I looked around the room they werent laughing, Mr Mitchell added.

"They were all nodding in agreement. Over the next few years I witnessed first hand the unique skill of Northern Ireland politicians in the art of insulting but a wise person can always be superior to the insults he/she receives.

Read more Bust of former US senator George Mitchell unveiled at Queens University Agreement event

He further called on the people of Northern Ireland not to give up on their belief the future could be better.

He said: "One of the strengths of democracy is the rights of all citizens to publicly disagree with and to criticise their government officials and their policies.

"But all values, when carried to extremes, can become vices.

"So, if there's one bit of unsolicited advice I'd like to give to the people of Northern Ireland, it's this.

"Don't always be so hard on yourselves, at the same time, never, ever, give up on the belief that we all can do better and be better."

The former Senate majority leader then recalled a visit to Northern Ireland six years ago in the aftermath of Brexit and the election of Donald Trump as US president.

He said he was asked often to comment on how upsetting politics in Northern Ireland was.

He continued: "In reply, I said I can't speak for the UK, but I've just come from the United States and I don't think any American is in a position to lecture others on their disagreements."
Senator George J Mitchells speech in full marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

Mr Mitchell was speaking at Queens University on Monday.

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for being here to witness this historic anniversary.

May it be the first of many. Thank you for your warm reception.

Its an honour and a pleasure to be with you today. I am especially grateful to the Chancellor and the Vice-Chancellor and his staff here at Queens University Belfast. They have worked long and hard to organise this weeks events.

They have welcomed all of us  citizens of Northern Ireland, teachers, schoolchildren, media, politicians  all of us with extraordinary warmth and hospitality.

Thank you, Hillary and Ian, for what you have done in organising this conference.

Twenty-five years ago, the people of Northern Ireland and their leaders changed the course of history. It was a day when history opened itself to hope.

The people of Northern Ireland supported, worked for, and established a democratic, peaceful process as their preferred form of governance.

They overwhelmingly rejected political violence as a way to resolve their differences. If history teaches us anything, it is that history itself is never finished.

On the evening the Agreement was reached I commended the men and women who wrote and signed it.

But I also said that it would take other leaders in the future to safeguard and extend their work. And so it has. I am here, with many others, to sound that bell one more time.

Life is change: For every human being, for every family, for every government, for every society.

Former US senator George Mitchell urges NI's political leaders to act with the courage and vision of their predecessors

All human beings, every single one of us, is fallible, as are all human organisations and institutions.

In human affairs the answer to every problem contains within it the seeds of a new problem.

Today, a quarter century after the agreement, the people of Northern Ireland continue to wrestle with their doubts, their differences, their disagreements.

This of course is only natural. They will continue to do so, no matter how successful their political leaders are.

The answer is not perfection, or permanence. It is now, as it was then, for the current and future leaders of Northern Ireland to act with courage and vision, as their predecessors did 25 years ago.

To find workable answers to the daily problems of the present. To preserve peace.

To leave to the next generation peace, freedom, opportunity, and the hope of a better future for their children.

One of the strengths of democracy is the right of all citizens to publicly disagree with and to criticize their government officials and their policies.

But all values, when carried to extremes, can become vices.

So, if theres one bit of unsolicited advice Id give to the people of Northern Ireland, its this, Dont always be so hard on yourselves.

At the same time, never ever give up on the belief that we all can do better and be better.

The future becomes the present in a heartbeat.

Six years ago, I made one of my many visits to Northern Ireland.

The United Kingdom was wrestling with Brexit and the US we had just elected President Trump.

While I was here, I was asked several times essentially the same question: Can you comment on how terrible and upsetting the politics are here in Northern Ireland, so much anger, so much distrust?

In reply I said: Well, I cant speak for the UK, but Ive just come from the US, and I dont think any American is in a position to lecture others on their disagreements.

I spoke those words six years ago and they are even more relevant today.

I do acknowledge, with a nod to the great sense of humour that often accompanies it, that people in Northern Ireland are quick to take offense.

I was made aware of this, quite dramatically, in June of 1996, on the very first day of the all-party talks.

In a large conference room, filled with delegations from the two governments and ten political parties, David Ervine, in a loud voice, shouted across the room to me: Senator, if you are to be of any use to us there is one thing you must understand.

What is it? I asked.

With a smile on his face, he replied: We in Northern Ireland will drive one hundred miles out of our way to receive an insult.

Like you I laughed, thinking it a joke. But as I looked around the room they werent laughing. They were nodding in agreement.

Over the next few years, I witnessed first-hand the unique skill of Northern Ireland politicians in the art of insulting their opponents.

But a wise person can always be superior to the insults he or she receives.

Wisdom and courage and grace, and even stubborn desire, can help to sow peace and root it down deep in the soil where it can, once again, grow.

So, I say now, to the current and future leaders of Northern Ireland - There is much in your history and in your politics that divides you.

But there also is much that can bring you together, that can inspire you to continue what your predecessors began a quarter century ago.

It is not a sign of weakness to resolve your differences by democratic and peaceful means.

To the contrary, it is a sign of strength, and of wisdom. And it clearly reflects the will of the overwhelming majority of the people of Northern Ireland.

Yes, they often disagree, sometimes very strongly. Yes, they may take offense quickly. But it is unmistakably clear that they do not want to return to violence. Not now. Not ever.

I know that each of your parties, like all political parties in the world, have some of what I call the one hundred percenters.

They want everything their way, all the time. To them, any compromise is a sign of weakness.

But I say to you that reasoned, principled compromise is essential in divided societies, and reflects a belief in democratic values.

That we are all in this together. There is great depth in recognising that the only way to help us emerge from the rubble of conflict is that we must learn to understand one another.

We dont need to love one another. We dont even need to like one another, although we hope we could.

But we must learn to understand one another, and to be able to say yes to one another, especially when the quicker and easier answer is answer no.

Because, like it or not, we are all in this together. Facing the reality of the future, rather than clinging to the myths of the past, takes strength and courage and vision.

Those we honour today showed those qualities a quarter of a century ago.

They will be forever remembered. Others will be remembered as well. One grim but tangible memory is in these statistics.

According to the Northern Ireland Police Service and the Northern Ireland Statistics Agency, from the start of The Troubles until 1998, over three thousand and five hundred people were killed, and an estimated fifty thousand were injured in sectarian violence.

In the twenty-five years since the agreement was reached there have been about one hundred sixty-four security-related deaths.

But dont think of them just as numbers, because they are not.

Think of them as mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, whose lives were cut short, or were permanently impaired.

Still, to this day their lives echo down the years.

And so I ask each and every person in this hall to stand and to honour all these lives with a moment of silence.

There have been many architects in the house of peace. It is impossible to name them all.

They, of course, include President and Secretary Clinton. I am very grateful to President Clinton for appointing me to serve as his representative in Northern Ireland and for his unswerving support for me and the people of Northern Ireland for the long years of failure that followed until we got an agreement.

Prime Minister Blair and Ahern, were absolutely indispensable to the process as were other leaders of the UK and Irish Governments.

Many of their predecessors helped to lay the foundations for peace.

They include Albert Reynolds and John Bruton in Ireland and John Major in the UK.

Major and Bruton made the crucial decisions to establish the all party talks, and to invite the Independent Chairmen to head the process.

I shared that role with two extraordinary men: the late Harry Holkeri, the former prime minister of Finland, and General John de Chastelain, the former head of the Canadian Defence Forces, who is here today.

Each of us was well served by small but very able staffs. For me they included Martha Pope, David Pozorski, and Kelly Currie.

Both governments were represented by a succession of very able ministers and officials.

They included, from the UK, Lord Patrick Mayhew, Sir Michael Ancram, Mo Mowlam, Lord Paul Murphy, Jonathan Powell and Bill Jeffries.

From Ireland, Dick Spring, David Andrews, Sean OHuiginn, Liz O'Donnell, David Cooney, Tim OConnor and David Donohue.

Special recognition must of course go to the leaders of the major Northern Ireland parties.

John Hume led the Social Democratic and Labour Party and David Trimble led the Ulster Unionist Party.

Without John Hume there would not have been a peace process.

Without David Trimble there would not have been a peace agreement.

They were justly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Lord Trimble later served as the First Minister of the Northern Ireland government.

In the UUP he was greatly aided by several key officials, among them Lord Reg Empey, Lord John Taylor, Lord Ken Maginnis and Sir Jeffrey Donaldson.

In the SDLP, John Hume received strong support from several talented leaders, including Seamus Mallon, a brilliant orator and negotiator who later became Deputy First Minister, Mark Durkan, Brid Rogers and Sean Farren.

Gerry Adams and the late Martin McGuinness led Sinn Fein into and through the entire process.

They were assisted by Gerry Kelly, Bairbre de Brun and by Alex Maskey, who is now the speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

They were all and always strong and effective advocates for their cause.

Later, McGuinness served for several years as Deputy First Minister.

Dr Ian Paisley was a long-time and strong leader of the Democratic Unionist Party.

The DUP withdrew from the talks and opposed the agreement, but they later re-entered the process at crucial talks in Saint Andrew's, and thereafter participated actively in governance.

Dr Paisley served for several years as First Minister, where he and Martin McGuiness achieved some celebrity as the "Chuckles Brothers.

Paisley was succeeded as DUP leader and First Minister by Peter Robinson, who had been a very effective negotiator while the DUP was in the talks.

They, Paisley and Robinson, were ably assisted in the talks by Nigel Dodds and Ian Paisley Jr.

The Alliance Party was led by Dr John Alderdice. He and his colleagues were very effective in the talks, and he later served with distinction as the first Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly and his colleague, Eileen Bell, who also later served in the same role.

The Northern Ireland Women's Party, led by Monica McWilliams and Pearl Sager, played a vital role, as indeed did all the women in all the coalitions that stitched the threads of peace together.

The loyalist parties were small in number but they played a large role in the negotiations.

Their leaders were David Ervine and Gary McMichael. Both were outspoken and powerful advocates for peace.

They were assisted by other articulate leaders like Billy Hutchinson and Dawn Purvis.

The Labour Party was effectively led by Malachi Curran. With the perspective of a quarter century, the strength of these leaders, and of the people they represented, has become clear.

Their places in history have been assured. I now know them all as friends.

The only thing that gives me pause in this list of honourees is that, in the dust of memory, I likely have inadvertently left out some who should have been included. If so, I sincerely apologise.

So now I ask you to stand once again, to applaud these courageous women and men with a sound that will ring out for years to come.

The course of every true idea ends up, eventually, in the obvious. Peace is a true idea.

It must belong to us all. It can be, in some ways, more difficult than war. But it must be pursued. It is our task, and the task of our children, and of their children, to ensure this peace, so that history continues to open itself to hope.

Speaking of children, in October of 1997 my wife Heather gave birth to our son Andrew. By then I had been involved in Northern Ireland for nearly three years.

The all party talks had been going on for a year and a half. There had been no meaningful progress. Actually no progress of any kind.

In many respects the talks were about reciting and repeating history, rather than changing it.

The ceasefires were routinely violated. Some parties entered late, some left early.

The anger, the hostility, the obstacles, all seemed endless. Over and over again I was asked: Since you have failed to get an agreement, when are you leaving Northern Ireland to go home?

Earlier that year after an especially difficult period, Heather and I briefly discussed that question. I told her I wanted to stay, and she agreed.

So, I returned and, as I had always done, answered that same questions day after day by saying while it was true we hadnt gotten an agreement, I still felt it worthwhile to try to end the violence.

But then our son Andrew was born. And, as every parent knows, my life and my responsibilities would change, irreversibly.

I flew home for his birth, and I also made plans to travel to Washington to meet with President Clintons national security advisor.

My intention was to tell him that I was for the first time seriously considering leaving Northern Ireland, to ask for his reaction and advice, and to request a meeting with the President to discuss the matter.

I had continued my close relationship with President Clinton, as he and Mrs Clinton maintained a deep concern and an intense personal interest in Northern Ireland.

My wife Heather had to remain in the hospital with Andrew for a few days. So, it was there that we had a long and sombre talk about the future.

I had asked and was told that on the day of Andrews birth, sixty-one children were born in Northern Ireland.

We talked about what his life might be like, and about the lives of the sixty-one children from Northern Ireland.

Then I told her that I was going to Washington, and why. Her reaction was immediate and strong.

She said: You have to go back until it ends, one way or the other. If you leave now and the fighting resumes, and lots of people are die, youll never be able to forgive yourself.

Go back, give it one last try. Ill take good care of Andrew. You think about those sixty-one children.

So, I cancelled the trip to Washington and returned to Northern Ireland. When I got back to Belfast I felt as though I was coming home.

But coming home doesnt always mean returning to safety.

Unfortunately, the situation continued to deteriorate.

Just before Christmas of 1997 I met with the party leaders, to try to get them to agree on a statement of the major issues to be resolved.

Mind you, this was not trying to get agreement on answers to the questions.

It was, after a year and a half of discussion, just to get them to agree on the wording of the issues that were later to be resolved.

At first the meeting was amicable and positive. Then, suddenly, the mood turned intensely negative.

The old resentments returned, the insults resumed, and the meeting broke up in anger and acrimony. For the first time I felt a sense of defeat.

Then, it quickly got even worse.

A few days later, just after Christmas, a prominent loyalist paramilitary leader, was killed while in prison.

That touched off a round of retaliatory violence that threatened to end the talks and to plunge Northern Ireland back into The Troubles.

The next series of meetings, some in London in January and in Dublin in February, were not in any sense negotiations.

To the contrary, they became outlets for anger, hostility, and the desire for revenge, as each side blamed the other for the escalating violence.

Two parties were suspended from the talks.

As we left Dublin, the mood was negative and the outlook bleak. So much effort seemed to be going down the drain of history.

On the flight back to the US, my sense of defeat and despair deepened.

Then I recalled Heathers words: One last try.

I took out a pad of paper and wrote down the draft of a plan for a final intensive effort, with an early, unbreakable deadline.

I talked with my two colleagues Prime Minister Holkeri and General de Chastelain.

They were in full agreement.

When we returned to Belfast in March, we entered into discussions with the two governments and the eight political parties still in the talks, to get an agreement on an early, unbreakable deadline for an end to the talks, one way or the other.

That discussion was long and difficult.

Finally, in late March, we got agreement on two weeks of final negotiations and, crucially, an unbreakable deadline.

My sense of despair gave way to a sense of hope, for one important reason.

We, the independent chairmen, had no authority to impose a deadline. We could propose it, as we had, but it required the approval of both governments and of each party.

The fact that every party still in the talks agreed to the deadline meant, to me, that they were sincere in wanting an end to the conflict, despite their deep differences and the nearly two years of unproductive haggling theyd just been through.

They still faced very difficult issues, on which they had strongly conflicting views.

But they did not want to return to the violence of the past. And the only way to do that was to reach agreement.

There was another reason for my hopes, personal to me and much less serious. Id been involved in Northern Ireland for more than three years, but I still had a hard time understanding some of what was being said in the negotiations.

Id spent fifteen years in the United States Senate, the last six as the Senates leader.

The debates were vigorous but orderly: One speaker at a time.

Here, especially in the early years, there was disorder.

Delegates from ten political parties hurled insults back and forth, shouted at and insulted each other, and some regularly and loudly stormed out in protest.

I learned that the dramatic walk out is a major feature of political life in Northern Ireland.

The only thing that reminded me of the Senate was that some people spoke often and at great length.

It took a long time to establish an orderly process.

Along the way, I made many mistakes. One of them was at the beginning of the talks, was in a naive and misguided effort on my part to be helpful.

As a politician myself I knew that all of them politicians liked to talk, and none liked to listen.

So, I foolishly said to them, If no one else will listen to you, I will be here. You will be heard.

How I regretted that, over the next few years, it wasnt weeks, it wasnt months, it was years that I listened to the same people saying the same things, over and over and over again.

Many of them talked very fast, some in accents I wasnt familiar with.

To improve my understanding, I held many, many informal meetings, in my office and theirs, where I said little and listened as much as possible.

Listening, really listening to someone else is hard, especially when it goes on for years. But its also a sign of respect.

And I respected them for what they were trying to do.

By a fortunate coincidence, this effort began to pay off in the lengthy discussions to establish a deadline.

So, as we began the last two intensive weeks, I was encouraged by the fact that, finally I could understand everything that was being said.

More importantly, the long period of listening greatly helped me in the search for common ground.

We set a deadline of midnight, Thursday, April 9.

We didnt meet that deadline, and we also failed to meet the targets we had set for each of the fourteen days of the final effort.

My memory of those two weeks is a blur of constant activity, as two governments, eight political parties, and the independent chairmen sought a written agreement on which all could agree on three complex and related relationships: within Northern Ireland; between Northern Ireland and Ireland; and between Ireland and the United Kingdom.

My admiration grew for the men and women who struggled to find common ground, against a history of distrust, disagreement, and violence, to the limits of their physical capacity, and under enormous political pressure.

On the last week, Prime Ministers Blair and Ahern came to Belfast and assumed active and highly effective leadership in the talks.

On the last night President Clinton stayed up all night in the White House, talking to the Prime Ministers, to the party leaders.

By the morning of Friday, April 10, we had assembled the product of all these efforts into a single document.

Two years earlier, at the beginning of the talks, I had told the delegates that if there was ever to be an agreement it had to be theirs.

No acceptable agreement could be imposed from above or from outside.

As we distributed the final document to them that morning, I reminded them of that statement, orally and in writing.

I said: Virtually every word in this document has been spoken or written by someone from Northern Ireland.

This is your agreement. It is of necessity a compromise. It does not resolve every issue.

There is much in it you will not like. There is much in it you will like.

This is the end. Now you must decide. Please say yes.

Each of the parties went into caucus. Through the day they debated the future of their homeland, of their constituents, of their families.

Their questions and concerns were many and varied.

The prime ministers tried to answer their questions, to reassure them, to encourage their approval.

By the afternoon the final calls started coming in, at first a trickle, then in a rush.

Then there was a lull as I waited for the last call.

Shortly before five, David Trimble called me. I will never forget his words: Were ready to do the business.

The party leaders and the government officials gathered in the large conference room, already crowded with reporters, television crews, staff, and many others.

I had suggested an immediate vote, to be followed by a discussion.

Nobody objected or disagreed, but in the excitement of the moment they just started talking, and they went on until everyone had their say.

I realised that my suggestion was wishful thinking, and the discussion continued until they were ready to vote.

That was fitting because it was their agreement. It still is. And always will be. Theirs, and yours. So that history continues to open itself to hope.

In the future, the politicians will tell it one way, the poets will tell it another, and the history books yet another.

But its likely that none of us will say it in precisely the way our grandchildren and their children will eventually understand it.

Read more Bust of former US senator George Mitchell unveiled at Queens University Agreement event

What has led us here has not been perfect. What surrounds us now is not guaranteed. And what will lead us on is the ability to recognise the faults of the past and the dreams of the future.

The Agreement reached in 1998 did not resolve all of the outstanding issues. It was a political compromise, the best that could be achieved at that time.

In the years since the Agreement there have been many chronicles describing those momentous events.

Many individuals have been lauded for their efforts. I believe it clear that the greatest heroes were the people of Northern Ireland and their political leaders.

In the most difficult and dangerous of circumstances those leaders acted with courage, vision and determination. At one time or another all were criticised or rebuked. Some lost their public offices. Some of their political parties suffered huge declines.

But most remarkable feats often suffer setbacks. I believe the verdict of history will be favourable to the people of Ireland, north and south, and their leaders.

Peace may come dropping slowly, but when it settles it confirms the humanity in all of us.

Triggered by this anniversary, there has been much discussion recently about the agreement.

Of course, everyone is entitled and indeed encouraged to express their views. Some, in and out of Northern Ireland, have criticised the agreement because it did not solve every problem and because there continues to be in Northern Ireland some failure, disappointment, dispute, disagreement.

I respectfully disagree with these critics. I believe the statistics on deaths and injuries I cited earlier are by themselves a powerful response to such comments.

Those who advocate such views are in effect holding Northern Ireland to an impossibly high standard that no society could meet or does meet.

What society doesnt have some violence? What society doesnt have some criminals, including some masquerading as patriots? What society doesnt have disagreement, dispute, some disarray?

I say, as a visitor and a friend, that Northern Ireland is a good place and its people are good people: energetic, hard-working, hospitable, they are trying to do whats right even as they disagree on its definition.

They want peace. Going forward lets accentuate the positive in Northern Ireland.

We need not eliminate the negative. Lets just keep it in perspective.

My final words today are intensely personal. As many of you know, three years ago I was hospitalised with acute leukaemia.

To this day I continue to receive treatment.

As a result, my ability to function has been severely diminished.

This is the first time in three years that I have attended and talked at a major public event.

Heather and I came here today because we want to say, personally and directly, to you and to all of the people of Northern Ireland: From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for your warmth, your hospitality, your generosity.

We love Northern Ireland, the people and the place. A very large part of our hearts and of our emotions will forever be with you.

In approving the Agreement, by overwhelming majorities in a free and democratic election, the people of Northern Ireland and of Ireland showed others the possibility of hope.

Within the word impossible is embedded the positive word possible.

When you approved the agreement, you also were talking to Israelis and Palestinians, to Colombians, to Africans, to Asians, to Americans.

In fact, you were talking to the world. This is an agreement for peace and for the future, not just here, but everywhere.

We are living in fractured times. We need you. We need your ongoing patience, stamina, and perseverance.

We need people who believe, who know, that the possible exists within the impossible. Dont let it slip away.

May God grant you opportunity, prosperity, and everlasting peace you deserve.

Thank you, Northern Ireland, from the bottom of my heart. Thank you, Northern Ireland.
Hillary Clinton speaking during the three-day international conference at Queens University Belfast to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement (Niall Carson/PA)   Niall Carson

Hillary Clinton has urged politicians in Northern Ireland to move forwards with the same spirit of unstoppable grit and resolve that resulted in the Good Friday Agreement 25 years ago.

The former US secretary of state, who is hosting a conference at Queens University in Belfast as part of her role as the institutions chancellor, said peace, prosperity and progress remains incomplete.

She said on Monday the work of integrating housing and schools is far from finished, adding that neighbourhoods remain divided and poverty and unemployment persist.

Hillary Clinton speaking during the three-day international conference at Queens University Belfast (Niall Carson/PA)   Niall Carson

Mrs Clinton, who is in Belfast with her husband, the former US president Bill Clinton, made the remarks at the beginning of the three-day conference marking the 25th anniversary of the peace deal.

Speaking in the universitys Whitla Hall, Mrs Clinton said: There have been many moments in Northern Irelands peace journey where progress seemed difficult, when every route forward looked blocked, there seemed nowhere to go, she said.

But you have always found a way through and I believe you will again, because the stakes for the people of Northern Ireland are so high.

Mrs Clinton said Northern Ireland is an example to the world of how even the staunchest adversaries can overcome differences to work together for the common and greater good.

She said: So I encourage everyone now to move forward with the same spirit of unstoppable grit and resolve that brought the peace 25 years ago.

Hillary Clinton, watched by former US senator George Mitchell (Niall Carson/PA)   Niall Carson

Your friends in the United States will be behind you all the way as you work towards peace, prosperity and stability that lasts.

Mrs Clinton told the crowd: Because while the Good Friday Agreement is an enormous achievement, we know that peace, prosperity and progress  that so many have worked tirelessly to achieve  remains incomplete.

The work of integration in housing and schools is far from finished. Neighbourhoods remain divided.

Poverty and unemployment persist. The difficulties of the past continue to threaten the present.

You know we are at a standstill with the Northern Ireland Assembly no longer functioning, but the Windsor Agreement provides a path forward, not just for convening but for positioning Northern Ireland as an economic hub for global trade and investment through privileged access to the UK and all of its trading partners, as well as the EU.

Mrs Clinton said the ongoing exodus of Northern Irelands young people to study and work elsewhere demonstrates the need to restore powersharing.

One of the driving reasons to resume the government, to get about the business of governing, is that right now 33% of school leavers in Northern Ireland leave to seek their futures elsewhere, taking with them their skills, their education, their ambitions, their dreams, she said.

The ongoing struggle to finish the Good Friday Agreement and claim its full promise is a reminder of one of the things I try to remember in my life when Ive been really high or really low  there are no final victories or defeats in life.

The most important thing is to fight the right fight and to keep doing it the best you can for as long as you can.
The incident took place in the early hours of Monday morning.

Police at the scene of an RTC at the McKinstry Road Roundabout on April 17th 2023 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)   Kevin Scott

A man in his 30s has been arrested after a car hit the barrier at a west Belfast roundabout in the early hours of Monday morning.

Officers received a report that a Volkswagen Passat car had crashed into a barrier at the roundabout on McKinstry Road at around 1.30am on Monday morning, said a PSNI spokesperson.

"The male driver and a male passenger were reported to have made off but acting upon information received, the suspected driver of the car, a man aged 31, was arrested a short time later, on suspicion of a number of offences including driving with excess alcohol, and taken into custody where he remains this morning.

"At around 3.00am, whilst conducting traffic management at the scene of the collision, officers detected and arrested a 62 year old man on suspicion of driving with excess alcohol. He also remains in custody at this time.
A call for Stormont officials to begin work on a strategy to help the hundreds of thousands of unpaid carers has been made by Northern Ireland MLAs.

A letter signed by health spokespeople from the largest parties in the Northern Ireland Assembly has been sent to Peter May, the Department of Healths permanent secretary.

It comes as an increasing number of carers across Northern Ireland fall into debt and are finding it more difficult to get help from statutory organisations amid the cost-of-living crisis and spiralling hospital waiting lists.

At the same time, the Department of Health is facing significant budgetary uncertainty due to the ongoing political stalemate at Stormont.

The letter to Mr May states: Our last carers strategy was published in 2006  nearly two decades ago  and does not reflect the lives, challenges or priorities of the over 220,000 people providing unpaid care to sick or disabled family members or friends in Northern Ireland today.

Together, these carers save the public purse billions of pounds in care costs every year, keeping the health and social care system, already under so much pressure, from certain collapse.

They make an immense contribution to society, but in too many cases, what they get in return is a life defined by ill-health, extreme pressure, hardship and lost opportunities.

Read more Union calls on Acas conciliation service to help end doctor strike

It continues: Unpaid carers in Northern Ireland desperately need a new strategic policy direction.

This should be led by the Department of Health, but with a cross-departmental scope, addressing the challenges carers face in the spheres of health and social care, welfare, housing, employment and beyond.

The Department set a clear precedent for beginning the development of new policy strategies without a Minister in place in 2019, when the new 10-year Cancer Strategy was commissioned.

We believe the same approach could be taken with a new carers strategy, allowing critical policy development work to begin right away and ensuring the strategy could be actioned as quickly as possible when the Executive returns.

Northern Irelands unpaid carer populations deserve nothing less. They have spent too long being told how valued they are by government while consistently finding themselves at the back of the queue when policy priorities are being set or funding decisions made.

According to the 2021 Census, there are over 220,000 people providing unpaid care for a sick or disabled family member or friend in Northern Ireland.

Craig Harrison, policy and public affairs manager for Carers NI, said by setting in motion work to develop a new carers strategy, Stormont would send a clear signal that addressing the challenges carers face is a priority.

Read more Co Antrim care home issued with health regulator notice after failing to meet standards

Our unpaid carers are saving the health system from collapse every day  being pushed to breaking point by unrelenting caring duties, inadequate support from statutory services and severely limited chances for a break, he said.

That takes its toll on their wellbeing and quality of life, and theyre crying out for a new government strategy to deliver the help and support they need.

The Department of Health said it is committed to supporting carers, and to finding additional ways to provide support where possible.

"Unfortunately, the Health and Social Care system continues to face unprecedented pressures, both financially and in terms of access to services, and the availability of additional investment to support carers will be considered in this context, it added.

"The department appreciates that many carers continue to experience significant challenges following on from the pandemic, and it is important that we continue to work together to strengthen the supports available. As outlined by Carers NI, the issues affecting carers cuts across a number of government departments and it would be for those departments to consider as appropriate.

"The department would be supportive of cross-departmental work being taken forward in this area and would contribute to it, subject to the availability of funding and agreement from the Northern Ireland Executive when it is re-established.
Bae Seung-joon, left, older brother of late Seung-ah, 9, speaks during a press conference at the National Assembly, Sunday, urging lawmakers to pass a proposal to be made by Rep. Ha Tae-kyeung, right, that will make public the identities of drunk drivers in cases where their crimes result in the death of another person. Yonhap



By Ko Dong-hwan



Lawmakers are moving to make public the identities of intoxicated drivers whose illegal driving results in death of another person. Under current laws, the identity of such criminals remains confidential.



The move comes as Bae Seung-ah, a nine-year-old elementary school student, was killed in Daejeon by a drunk driver identified by the surname Bang, 66, while walking with her friends. Three other children aged 9 to 11 were also injured. A recording from a safety camera near the scene was released to the public through news reports and online, raising public ire.



Rep. Ha Tae-keung of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) on Sunday held a press conference at the National Assembly and said he will propose a new law making the perpetrators' identities open to the public. A revision to the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes proposes that those who cause the death of another person while drunk driving or who are found driving under the influence of alcohol twice in 10 years will be identified to the public.



Noting that the nation already releases the identities of sex offenders and perpetrators of other serious crimes, Ha said the recent accident regarding Bae should raise awareness of the dangers of drunk driving and also serve as a warning on the criminality and repercussions of such actions.



Bae's older brother, Seung-joon, was present at the press conference, urging the National Assembly to pass the proposal.



Rep. Ha said the proposal will be jointly submitted by one of the lawmakers from the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea.



Another similar proposal is expected to be made within this month, according to Rep. Yun Chang-hyun of the PPP, Sunday. He said he will propose a revision to the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Specific Violent Crimes, which forces the release of identities of drunk drivers whose actions result in the death of child pedestrians in school zones to be made public.



The Daejeon Dunsan Police Station on Monday sent Bang, who was being held in police custody, to the city's district prosecutor's office. He was arrested at the scene after locals reported the crime to the police.


The incident was reported to police around 7.20am on Monday

Police shared an image of the car following the collision in north Belfast this morning

Two men have been arrested after a number of parked cars were damaged during a hit-and-run incident in north Belfast on Monday morning.

"At around 7.20 am this morning, officers responded to a report of a hit and run collision in the area of Torrens Avenue, said a PSNI spokesperson.

Substantial damage was caused to a number of parked cars - two males were seen making off on foot from a black BMW car.

Working with the information provided to us by the local community, we have arrested two males for various offences and they are now in custody.

Our enquiries continue. Thank you to those who assisted us at the scene.
The TUV leader has hit out at unrestrained propaganda around the visits of US leaders.

The USA exists because it rejected colonial rule yet wishes to impose it on Northern Ireland, TUV leader Jim Allister has said.

The North Antrim MLA also said there had been unrestrained propaganda around the visits of US dignitaries to Northern Ireland as part of events marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

"As a week of unrestrained propaganda begins with Hillary Clinton urging Unionists to become Union-dismantling Protocol implementers by rejoining Stormont, I must point out that not a single American politician would for one minute contemplate submitting any part of their country to foreign laws and jurisdiction, and, yet, this is what they demand for Northern Ireland, said Mr Allister.

Read more Bust of former US senator George Mitchell unveiled at Queens University Agreement event

"The USA would not even exist but for the determination of its founders to deliver themselves from colonial rule. Yet, this is precisely what they demand Unionists should submit to, including taxation without representation!

The hypocrisy of our US visitors of this week and last is galling. It is telling, but not surprising, how support for the Belfast Agreement has gelled with support for the Windsor Whitewash, with the same cheerleaders for both.

"Each are designed to detach NI from the UK, with Windsor actually delivering what the Belfast Agreement could only aspire to, namely, GB now treated as a foreign country and NI tied into the same single market and customs territory as the Republic.

Herein is the essence of why awake unionists now repudiate both.

It comes as the Agreement 25 conference gets underway at Queens University this week, with former US president Bill Clinton, ex-UK prime minister Tony Blair and former Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern joining NI political leaders in marking a quarter century since the signing of the peace deal.

The three-day event was addressed on Monday morning by Senator George Mitchell, who chaired the peace negotiations in 1998, while a bust of the former American envoy will be unveiled later this afternoon.

Current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar are due to attend later in the week.
DUP has made complete mess of unionism, says former UUP MLA Norman Hillis

Former MLA who refused to join Donaldsons walkout over Good Friday Agreement also feels the death of David Ervine was huge blow to hopes of reconciliation

Veteran: Retiring Ulster Unionist councillor Norman Hillis

Liam Tunney Belfast Telegraph Mon 17 Apr 2023 at 07:00
Aontu leader Peadar Toibin said the incident was shocking

The initials 'UDA' were also daubed onto the property in Newry

Sectarian graffiti has been sprayed onto walls at the home of an Aontu candidate for the upcoming local government election in Newry, Mourne and Down.

Sharon Loughran, who has also been campaigning for the retention of services at Daisy Hill Hospital, said the words Aontu IRA out had been spray painted onto the wall of her home in Newry, with UDA also written on two further walls.

"This has come as a massive shock to me. It is an attack on my home and it is a violation. As a result it as created significant stress. I have reported this shocking incident to the police and I am meeting them today, she said.

"It makes no sense what so ever. I am an paediatric A&E nurse in Daisy Hill Hospital and I decided to run for council to campaign to save key surgery services at the hospital.

"I work for everyone in the community. Our campaign to save surgery services is of benefit to everyone living in Newry and beyond.

This attack on my home is also incredibly wrong as it tries to link Aontu with a prescribed organisation. Aontu is 4 years old. We didnt exist during the troubles.

"We are a grass roots political organisation with no links to any outside organization at all. Indeed many of our members are former SDLP , Fianna Fail and even Labour Party members.

"Most of our members were never members of any other political party and are new to political activism. Indeed since our formation we have reached out and met with many within the Protestant and unionist community.

That this type of intimidation is happening in 2023 is incredible. That we have a never ending political vacuum at Stormont is in no doubt not helping the development of good community relationships.

"Newry is a great town and the vast majority of people no matter what their background is would have no tolerance for this type of sectarian intimidation. I will not be intimidated, I will not be moved in my fight for Daisy Hill Hospital. I genuinely want to work for everyone in in this great town.

Aontu leader Peadar Toibin said the incident was mind boggling.

This is a shocking effort to intimidate a community activist out of running for council. Its an attack on the democratic process, he said.

"Its especially mind boggling given that Sharons work has always been to help both communities. Indeed Aontus vision of Ireland is that of Wolfe Tone.

"We want to create an Ireland where Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter can be who they are without fear or favour. Aontu will not deviate from this key core objective.

The PSNI has been approached for comment.

It comes in a week where candidates in both east and west Belfast have suffered threats and intimidation.

Alliance councillor Michael Long was subjected to abuse and an assault by two men who approached him while out canvassing for the party in the Carncaver Road area of Belfast on Saturday.

He said the men shouted I know who you are at him before proceeding to accuse him of being republican scum who was not wanted in loyalist areas and blocking his path.

Mr Long said he had been thankful for the support shown to him after the incident.

"Its been very encouraging to have lots of different people from every party contact me in the last few hours as its become more public, he said.

The support has been across the board from all parties, and people have been so supportive, I really want to thank them for that."

The PSNI has since said it is treating the incident as a hate crime.

People Before Profit have also said their candidate for the Court DEA  Cailin McCaffrey  was approached by masked men as her and fellow members erected posters on Friday.

Election posters and ladders were snatched during the incident, with verbal and physical threats made.

"This was a deplorable attack, carried out by a minority of sectarian thugs, said Ms McCaffrey.

"Those responsible do not represent the people of the Shankill or any other pat of our city.
The Government has suffered a defeat at Westminster as peers narrowly backed a ban on the opening of new coal mines.

The House of Lords supported the Liberal Democrat-led move by 197 votes to 194, majority three.

The enforced change to the Energy Bill comes after Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove approved in December what is set to be the first new coal mine in the UK in 30 years, leading to accusations of environmental vandalism.

The facility on the edge of Whitehaven in Cumbria is expected to extract nearly 2.8 million tonnes of coal per year for use in steel making, rather than power generation, and supporters of the scheme have said it will create 500 jobs.

But critics warn it will create more greenhouse gas emissions as the Government seeks to meet its net zero target and argue it is hypocritical in the wake of UK efforts on the international stage to show climate leadership and urge the world to give up on coal.

They want to see investment in green jobs.

Experts have also questioned the investment in an 1850s technology to supply coal for steel manufacture as the industry looks to shift to cleaner production methods.

Liberal Democrat Lord Teverson said: I am very proud of Britains reputation in terms of climate change. That is why it is absolutely wrong that we should trash that reputation by one decision, which is to open a new UK coal mine. And who knows if that happens once it can happen again.

Tory former Cabinet minister Lord Deben, who is chairman of the Climate Change Committee which advises the Government, branded the new Cumbrian mine totally unacceptable.

He said: You cant ask the Indians and the Chinese to move away from coal if you are providing the means of an extension for coal.

A concrete cap on one of the shafts at a closed colliery (Martin Rickett/PA)   Martin Rickett

Lord Deben added: Theres no doubt whatsoever that allowing this coal mine undermines our international ability to lead the world to a solution, which alone will stop this existential threat of climate change.

He told energy minister Lord Callanan: This is the most serious issue that he will have to look at, because in it is held the Governments credibility.

If it wants to uphold that it cannot allow any new coal mines and it must find a way to stop mining, which will increase the emissions from the most damaging means of generation.

This is an emergency and when you deal with the emergency you dont light an ancillary fire, you dont do something which manifestly runs wholly against everything else you have said.

Labour frontbencher Baroness Blake of Leeds said: I am really concerned about the message this sends out. It undermines totally our claim to be an international leader on climate.

Responding, Lord Callanan told peers: We are committed to phasing out coal from our electricity production by 2024. In 2021, coal formed less that 2% of our electricity generation.

He pointed out Germany last year generated 31% of its electricity from coal last year, compared to 1.8% in the UK, and the country was in the process of opening up new mines.

The Tory frontbencher said in approving the mine in Cumbria, the Secretary of State had carefully considered the different factors including the demand for coal, climate change and the impact on the local economy.

The Government also suffered a series of other defeats over the Bill, including peers demanding steps to increase the energy efficiency of housing and business premises in a drive to curb household bills and meet climate targets

In addition, the upper chamber backed measures aimed at supporting the growth of community and small-scale energy schemes and to force the energy regulator Ofgem to have regard to meeting the UKs net zero emissions target.

Once the Bill has cleared the Lords it will go to the Commons where MPs will consider the changes made by the unelected chamber.
The husband of a British-Israeli woman murdered with her daughters in the West Bank has said he is still 100% glad his family moved to the country.

Lucy Dee, 48, died three days after her daughters, Rina, 15, and Maia, 20, were shot and killed on April 7.

The family of seven, who moved to Israel from the UK in 2014, had been travelling in separate cars en route to a Passover holiday.

Mrs Dees husband Leo Dee is a rabbi, and they have a son and two other daughters.

(Family handout/PA)   Family handout

Mr Dee told LBCs Tonight with Andrew Marr: We moved to Israel because we thought it was the right place to educate our children, bring them up with the values we respect and wanted them to have.

I believe we brought up our children with those values, with the support of the community and Im still 100% glad that we came here.

What happened to us was one in 10 million and sadly car crashes happen all around the world, and these things happen and really there was no way of preventing it.

It was just completely extraordinary fate.

Mr Dee was formerly the senior rabbi at Radlett United Synagogue in Hertfordshire and assistant rabbi in Hendon, north London.

The family lived in the Efrat settlement, near the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, according to the settlements mayor, Oded Revivi.

Mr Dee said he does not hold any hatred towards the Palestinian terrorists believed to be responsible for the attack.

He said: I dont hold any hate towards them. The Israeli security forces will do what they usually do which is track them down and bring them to justice, which I think is right because it prevents the next attack that they might do.

In a statement from Mrs Dees brother, Benjamin Shaw  made on behalf of both the Dee and Shaw family, he said: We are devastated by the brutal murder of our dear Lucy, Maia, and Rina.

Their absence leaves a void in our hearts that can never be filled.

We are deeply touched by the words of the Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, who has shown great compassion in acknowledging our loss.

His firm stance against terrorism sets a new standard for nations and media in addressing acts of terror.

We see this as the Cleverly Declaration, akin to the Balfour Declaration, establishing that terrorism can never be justified.

Mr Cleverly had written to Rabbi Dee, offering the family the assistance of the British Government, with his letter stating: There can be no justification for such senseless and abhorrent violence, and I unequivocally condemn this act of terrorism.
The incoming mobile emergency alerts system could eventually be used to sound the alarm for terror attacks or dangerous criminals on the loose, the Government said (PA)   Jonathan Brady

The incoming mobile emergency alerts system could eventually be used to sound the alarm for terror attacks, nuclear threats and dangerous criminals on the loose, the Government has said.

It will initially be used to warn people about severe weather situations including floods and wildfires in their local area, but the alerts, which operate through smartphones, could later be used for other forms of emergencies.

Millions of mobile phones across the UK will emit a loud alarm and vibrate at 3pm on Sunday as a test run of the process.

The alerts will initially be used to warn people about red-alert environmental conditions (Jacob King/PA).   Jacob King

During a press conference on Monday, a Whitehall official said: At the moment our plans for this first pilot phase relate to severe weather and flooding, but we do expect the use of the system to broaden out.

This is about threats to life and limb and situations where specific advice can be issued.

Therefore, you can conceive that we could use this in an abduction situation, or where there was a dangerous criminal on the loose, or where we require the public to look for something for that reason.

Were going to be led by discussions with the police and other emergency services on this.

If we were to move to the use of the system for this reason, we do so quite cautiously.

Officials also noted car bombs and civil nuclear incidents as examples of crises which could trigger the alerts in future.

They added that while it would not be used for a marauding terror attack because it is difficult to give useful advice in such a situation, there are other types of terrorist incidents where it might be relevant.

The alerts could later be used to warn communities about terror threats (Yui Mok/PA)   Yui Mok

Several tests have already been run in communities of around 20,000 people in East Suffolk and Reading, Berkshire.

Some 5% of people tested in Reading opted out of the system after being part of the pilot, and there is an active community of opposition to it online, but overall the level of public support for this is incredibly high, according to Whitehall.

Officials added that the risk of scammers taking advantage of the system with spoof versions of the messages is minimal, because the alerts use a unique form of technology rather than text messages.

To avoid falling victim to a scam, they recommended treating any messages you might get that no-one else receives with suspicion, and checking the Government website to ascertain whether the message is genuine.

The Government has also been working with charities, including those for domestic abuse victims, to try to ensure that vulnerable people will not be adversely affected by the test alert.
(left to right) Former senator George Mitchell and his wife Heather MacLachlan, former US president Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary, former prime minister Tony Blair, Professor Ian Greer President and Vice-Chancellor of Queens University Belfast (QUB) and Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris, at the unveiling of a bust for the former senator, during the three-day international conference at Queens University Belfast to mark the 25th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. Picture date: Monday April 17, 2023.   Liam McBurney

George Mitchell vowed that part of his heart will always be in Northern Ireland as a new bust of the peace mediator was unveiled in Belfast.

The former US senator  who helped broker the 1998 Good Friday Agreement  has been immortalised in bronze at Queens University, an institution where he once served as chancellor.

The sculpture, which was created by acclaimed Northern Ireland artist Colin Davidson, was unveiled by current chancellor Hillary Clinton and Mr Mitchells wife Heather on the first day of a major conference commemorating the 25th anniversary of the accord.

It stands in front of the universitys Whitla Hall and is intended to act as an inspiration to students emerging from the building after their graduation ceremonies.

Former senator George Mitchell, former US president Bill Clinton, former taoiseach Bertie Ahern and former prime minister Sir Tony Blair at the unveiling of the bust (Liam McBurney/PA)   Liam McBurney

Former US president Bill Clinton, who appointed Mr Mitchell to chair the Good Friday talks, ex-UK prime minister Sir Tony Blair and former taoiseach Bertie Ahern also attended the ceremony, as did Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton Harris and Irish government minister Eamon Ryan.

Well, my first reaction is that when youre looking at a statue of yourself, you know the end is near, Mr Mitchell joked at the ceremony.

So Im going to enjoy it in what time is left. My heart is filled with gratitude to so many people.

The veteran diplomat spoke of his and his wifes deep affection for Northern Ireland.

A very large part of our hearts and of our emotions will forever be here in Northern Ireland, he said.

He added: This is a good place. You are good people. You deserve a life of peace, opportunity and prosperity. Please, I ask you, I beseech you, continue your efforts. Life has changed, circumstances will arise in the future that cannot now be anticipated. But opportunity, prosperity and peace is a right of the people of Northern Ireland.

To have been able to participate in some way in furthering their rights, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Mr Clinton described Mr Mitchell as a brilliant mediator.

Today means a lot to me, because Im the guy that talked George Mitchell into taking that easy little part-time job I discussed, he joked.

If you ever wonder how important Ireland was to George Mitchell and the Northern Irish peace process, just remember this  I tried to get him to go on the Supreme Court and he said no.

And I said well, how about this (Northern Ireland talks process), this wont take long.

And for 25-plus years now, hes been reminding me of how misleading I was about that little part-time job I asked him to take. But he was brilliant at it. And he loved what he was doing. And he fell in love with all the details and the warts and all. He stayed at it.

We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content

Mr Clinton told the ceremony the Good Friday deal had created a thing of beauty.

As long as I have known George Mitchell he has always tried to do what was best for everybody, he said.

He has an innate sense of fairness and a genius about how to achieve it. He gets you to change your mind and you could swear you didnt change anything  thats what you thought all along.

His genius was a great gift to the people of Northern Ireland and to people who love peace everywhere and Im glad it will be commemorated in this beautiful, beautiful sculpture.

Ms Clinton said there could be no more fitting tribute than the statue.

Former PM Sir Tony conveyed the significance of the role Mr Mitchell played in the talks.

In the frenzy of Northern Ireland politics, George was this soothing balm of wisdom and calmness and tranquillity, he created just the right atmosphere for people to talk to each other, he said.

He was also, of course, instrumental in drafting the framework for the Good Friday Agreement. So he was not just a great guy, he was a great lawyer, which we needed too in order to put all the different strands together.

Mr Ahern said it as an absolute honour to attend the event as he praised Mr Mitchells courtesy, dignity and respect for all of us.
Northern Irelands political leaders know the right thing to do to solve the Stormont stalemate  and need to get on and do it, former prime minister Sir Tony Blair has said.

Sir Tony was appearing alongside ex-US president Bill Clinton and former taoiseach Bertie Ahern at a major conference marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

Mr Ahern said he deeply hoped that the DUP would allow the powersharing institutions to return, while Mr Clinton spoke about how politicians winged it to help secure the historic peace deal in 1998.

Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who is hosting the Agreement 25 conference as part of her role as chancellor at Queens University in Belfast, chaired the panel discussion between the three former leaders.

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (left) and former US President Bill Clinton attend a banquet at Belfast City Hall, as part of the events of a three-day international conference at Queens University Belfast to mark the 25th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. (Niall Carson/PA)   Niall Carson

Mr and Mrs Clinton were among political and civic leaders from across the UK and Ireland  including Senator George Mitchell, Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris, Catholic primate Eamon Martin and former Irish presidents Mary McAleese and Mary Robinson  who attended a banquet at Belfast City Hall as part of the events on Monday evening.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar are due to attend the conference later in the week.

The Good Friday Agreement largely ended Northern Irelands 30-year sectarian conflict.

Sir Tony Blair on stage at the conference (Niall Carson/PA)   Niall Carson

Sir Tony said: We know the peace isnt perfect. We know the institutions have often been rocky and unstable as they are today.

We know theres still a lot of distrust and mistrust between the communities.

But we also know that Northern Ireland is a much better place than it was before the Good Friday Agreement.

And the only thing I would say to todays leaders is I think when you stand back and you reflect, you know in your heart of hearts, what the right thing to do is, and you should just get on and do it.

Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern listening to the speakers (Niall Carson/PA)   Niall Carson

Mr Ahern said the alternatives to the Good Friday Agreement are not good.

He added: So, lets hope they (the DUP) listen to what George Mitchell said today, and listen to what were saying, that we all just get back on the track.

Theres too many big things to be dealing with than to be arguing about some detail that was caused over something or another, which Im not sure what it is even.

He added: So just lets move forward and try and make this work.

Former US president Bill Clinton is attending the conference to mark the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement (Liam McBurney/PA)   Liam McBurney

Mr Clinton told the conference that the 1998 peace deal came about because political leaders decided the time was right to do the right thing.

He said: It just happens, nobodys perfect, you cant foresee all this, and the fact that we trusted each other and we trusted (George) Mitchell, I think we earned the trust of the parties in Northern Ireland that we were dealing with across the board, because they thought we would be straight with them, and thats how it happened.

There were days I felt like I was taking Seamus Heaneys advice to take a flying leap and walk on air against your better judgment.

Thats how it started. We all just decided that the time was right to do the right thing.

Mr Clinton said people thought they were crazy to believe they could get the paramilitary groups to decommission their arms.

Wed like to tell you that we had it all thought through but the truth is we made up a lot of it as we went along, we had to wing it, he said.

A number of former political leaders are taking part in the event at Queens University in Belfast (Niall Carson/PA)   Liam McBurney

The Good Friday Agreement created powersharing institutions at Stormont that involved nationalists and unionists governing Northern Ireland together in a mandatory coalition arrangement.

While the pact largely ended the Troubles, which had claimed more than 3,600 lives since the late 1960s, it has failed to bring long-term political stability in the region and devolution has collapsed several times in the last two decades.

The anniversary comes amid another period of collapse, with the DUP blocking powersharing in protest at post-Brexit trading arrangements that have created economic barriers between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

The barriers were first introduced under the Withdrawal Agreements contentious Northern Ireland Protocol.

The UK and EU recently agreed the Windsor Framework as a way to cut the red tape created by the protocol.

While the DUP says the framework has gone some way to address its concerns about the protocol, it says significant problems remain.

The party has opposed the framework at Westminster and has made clear its boycott of Stormont will continue until it secures further assurances from the UK Government over its concerns around sovereignty and the application of EU law in Northern Ireland.

George Mitchell made the keynote address on the first day of the conference (Niall Carson/PA)   Niall Carson

Making the keynote address earlier in the day, former US senator George Mitchell, who chaired the 1998 negotiations, said the people of Northern Ireland and their political leaders changed history 25 years ago.

He said: When you approved the agreement you were also talking to Israelis and Palestinians, to Colombians, to Africans, Asians, to Americans  in fact you were talking to the world.

This is an agreement for peace and for the future, not just here, but everywhere.

He added: We need people who believe, who know that the possible does exist within the impossible  dont let it slip away.

A bust in honour of Mr Mitchell was later unveiled in the grounds of the Belfast campus.

Hillary Clinton said the Windsor Framework provided opportunities for Northern Ireland (Niall Carson/PA)   Niall Carson

Mrs Clinton said the Windsor Framework on post-Brexit trade provided Northern Ireland with an opportunity to become an economic hub for global trade and investment.

While the Good Friday Agreement is an enormous achievement, we know that peace, prosperity and progress that so many have worked tirelessly to achieve remains incomplete, she said.

The work of integration and housing and schools is far from finished, neighbourhoods remain divided, poverty and unemployment persist, the difficulties of the past continue to threaten the present.

You know, we are at a standstill with the Northern Ireland Assembly no longer functioning. But the Windsor agreement provides a path forward not just for convening but for positioning Northern Ireland as an economic hub for global trade and investment through privileged access to the UK and all of its trading partners, as well as the EU.

She added: There have been many moments in Northern Irelands peace journey where progress seemed difficult, when every route forward looked blocked, there seemed nowhere to go.

But you have always found a way through and I believe you will again, because the stakes for the people of Northern Ireland are so high.

You stand as an example to the world of how even the staunchest adversaries can overcome differences to work together for the common and greater good.

So, I encourage everyone now to move forward with the same spirit of unstoppable grit and resolve that brought the peace 25 years ago. Your friends in the United States will be behind you all the way as you work toward peace, prosperity and stability that lasts.
Members of the ships company march past HMS Montrose during its decommissioning ceremony at His Majestys Naval Base in Portsmouth, concluding over 30 years of operations and deployments across the globe. Picture date: Monday April 17, 2023.   Andrew Matthews

A stalwart warship of the Royal Navy which has seized millions of pounds of drugs as well as cruise missile parts has been decommissioned from the fleet at the end of its nearly 30-year career.

Former crew, family members and representatives from across the navy attended a ceremony at Portsmouth Naval Base to say farewell to the Type 23 frigate HMS Montrose.

Members of the ships company fold the White ensign (Andrew Matthews/PA)   Andrew Matthews

The 200 members of the ships company turned to face the vessel during the service during which the White Ensign was lowered on the flight deck of the ship which joined the navy in 1994.

Second Sea Lord Vice Admiral Martin Connell was guest of honour at the service led by Royal Navy chaplain Tudor Thomas-Botwood.

Commander Claire Thompson, Montroses 20th and final commanding officer, said: Its been a truly special occasion officially decommissioning this fine ship after 30 years service to both her monarchs and her country.

As the final ships company it is with immense pride that we lowered the Ensign today and we did it on behalf of the thousands of men and women who have had the privilege of calling HMS Montrose home.

Leading engineering technician Anthony Ball, who is Montroses final sailor of the year, said: Its a shame to see such a good ship come to the end of its Service but Im proud to have served in her and Ive had a great time with my shipmates in these three years.

Based in Plymouth for the vast majority of its career, Montrose was the seventh ship in the class of 16 Duke-class frigates to be laid down in 1989 and the eighth to be commissioned in 1994.

Montrose was sponsored by the late Lady Rifkind, whose husband was defence secretary in the early 1990s, and previous commanding officers have included Vice Admirals Sir Timothy Laurence, the Princess Royals husband, and Tony Johnstone-Burt who is Master of the Household for the Royal Households.

A navy spokesman said: There are few parts of the world the frigate has not seen in her 29-year active life as she clocked up more than 400,000 miles on duties at home and overseas.

Most recently she has spent four years constantly deployed on operations, almost exclusively in the Gulf and Indian Ocean.

During that time, Montrose made 10 drug busts seizing 16 tonnes of illegal narcotics, seized illegal shipments of missiles and cruise missile engines, and helped safely guide some 130 merchant vessels through potentially dangerous maritime choke points.

The spokesman said that the future for the vessel had not yet been decided and added: As a general-duty frigate she will be replaced by one of the five Type 31 Inspiration-class frigates under construction in Rosyth. The first, HMS Venturer, is due in the water later this year.
This image shows confiscated drugged beverages used in a drug scam targeting students, April 17. Yonhap



Police investigating a drug scam targeting students have concluded that each beverage given to teenagers contained three times as much methamphetamine as a usual dose, an amount that could result in serious bodily damage, officials said Monday.



The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) recently requested Interpol red notices to repatriate two main suspects from China for investigation on charges connected to the distribution of drug-laced beverages to teenage students in Seoul's southern Gangnam Ward on April 3.



The beverages were attached with false labels claiming they were intended to enhance memory and concentration.



The parents of at least seven students who received the drinks were later blackmailed with demands for money with threats to report their children to the police for drug charges.



The SMPA concluded one of the suspects, a 25-year-old Korean national surnamed Lee, organized the scam via a friend in Korea, known by his surname Gil.



Upon an order from Lee, Gil procured 10 grams of methamphetamine in Incheon, west of Seoul, in late March, bought Chinese milk and produced about 100 bottles of drug-laced beverages at his home in Wonju, 87 kilometers southeast of Seoul.






Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for treason and denigrating the Russian military (AP)   Uncredited

A Russian court has convicted a top opposition figure of treason for publicly denouncing Moscows war in Ukraine and sentenced the dual Russian-British citizen to 25 years in prison as part of the Kremlins relentless crackdown on critics of the invasion.

Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr, a political activist and journalist who twice survived poisonings he blamed on Russian authorities, has rejected the charges against him as punishment for standing up to President Vladimir Putin and likened the proceedings to the show trials under Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.

Human rights organisations and western governments denounced the verdict and demanded his release.

Amnesty International declared the 41-year-old to be a prisoner of conscience.

Vladimir Kara-Murza said he is proud of standing up to Russian President Vladimir Putins dictatorship and his decision to send troops into Ukraine (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)   Manuel Balce Ceneta

The charges against Kara-Murza, who has been behind bars since his arrest a year ago, stem from a March 2022 speech to the Arizona House of Representatives in which he denounced Russias invasion of Ukraine, along with other speeches abroad.

Days after the invasion, Russia adopted a law criminalising spreading false information about its military.

Authorities have used the law to stifle criticism of what the Kremlin calls its special military operation.

The sweeping campaign of repression is unprecedented since the Soviet era, effectively criminalising independent reporting on the conflict and any public criticism of the war.

Last month, a Russian court convicted a father over social media posts critical of the war and sentenced him to two years in prison.

His 13-year-old daughter, who drew an anti-war sketch at school, was sent to an orphanage.

Days later, Russias security service arrested Evan Gershkovich, an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal, on espionage charges.

In a statement at the end of his trial, Kara-Murza said he was jailed for many years of struggle against Putins dictatorship, his criticism of the war in Ukraine and his long efforts to champion western sanctions against Russian officials involved in human rights abuses.

I know that the day will come when the darkness engulfing our country will dissipate, the father of three told the court in remarks that were posted on his Twitter account.

This day will come as inevitably as spring comes to replace even the frostiest winter.

Kara-Murza reacted calmly as the judge read the verdict and sentence in a quick monotone.

His lawyer, Maria Eismont, later quoted him as telling her: My self-esteem has risen: I realised that I have done everything right. Twenty-five years is the highest appraisal that I could get for doing what I did and what I believed in, as a citizen, a patriot and a politician.

A quarter of a century is an A+ for your courage, consistency and honesty in your years-long work. I am infinitely proud of you, my love, and Im always by your side, Kara-Murzas wife, Evgenia, who lives in the US with their children, tweeted after the verdict.

Kara-Murza was an associate of Russian opposition leader and fierce Putin critic Boris Nemtsov, who was assassinated near the Kremlin in 2015.

In 2011-12, Kara-Murza and Mr Nemtsov lobbied for passage of the Magnitsky Act in the US.

The law, enacted by Congress in 2012, was in response to the death in prison of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who had exposed a tax fraud scheme.

The law has allowed Washington to impose sanctions on Russians deemed to be human rights violators.

The judge in Kara-Murzas trial, Sergei Podoprigorov, was among those sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act after ordering Mr Magnitskys arrest in 2008.

Mr Podoprigorov had petitioned US authorities in 2018 to lift the sanctions against him, according to Kara-Murzas lawyer, Vadim Prokhorov.

During Kara-Murzas trial, Mr Prokhorov twice asked Mr Podoprigorov to recuse himself, to no avail, Russian media reported.

Kara-Murza survived poisonings in 2015 and 2017 that he blamed on the Kremlin.

Russian officials have denied responsibility.

We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content

Another prominent opposition figure, Ilya Yashin, was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison late last year on charges of discrediting the military.

Amnesty International denounced Kara-Murzas sentence as yet another chilling example of the systematic repression of civil society, which has broadened and accelerated under the Kremlin since Russias invasion of Ukraine last year.

The so-called crimes Vladimir Kara-Murza was tried for  speaking out against the invasion and advocacy on behalf of victims of human rights violations  are in fact acts of outstanding bravery, Amnestys Russia director Natalia Zviagina said in a statement.

This verdict wrongly conflates human rights activism with high treason and is reminiscent of Stalin-era repression.

The group declared Kara-Murza a prisoner of conscience, convicted solely for his political beliefs, and demanded his immediate and unconditional release.

Memorial, one of Russias oldest and most prominent human rights organisations that was named a co-winner of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize along with human rights defenders from Ukraine and Belarus, has also named Kara-Murza as a political prisoner.

Memorials head Yan Rachinsky described the sentence as monstrous, adding that it reflected the authorities fear of criticism and marked a difference between todays Russia and civilised countries.

The British, American, German and other western governments strongly condemned the conviction.

We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content

Vladimir Kara-Murza bravely denounced Russias invasion of Ukraine for what it was  a blatant violation of international law and the UN Charter, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a statement.

The Foreign Office said it summoned Russian ambassador Andrey Kelin over the conviction.

The British Government previously sanctioned the judge presiding at the trial for human rights violations in another case and said it would consider taking further action to hold people accountable in Kara-Murzas case.

The US State Department hailed Kara-Murza along with jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Yashin and many others who serve their country and their fellow citizens at great personal cost by boldly standing up for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

It renewed its call for the release of Kara-Murza and more than 400 other political prisoners in Russia.

UN human rights chief Volker Turk called the sentence another blow to the rule of law and civic space in the Russian Federation.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to comment.

Kara-Murzas health has deteriorated in custody, leading to the development of polyneuropathy  disease of or damage to nerves  in both his feet, according to his lawyers.
A dachshund keeps his cool buried in the sand and sporting sunglasses   Getty Images/iStockphoto

Temperatures across Northern Ireland may reach highs close to 20C next week as high pressure is set to dominate, the Met Office has forecast.

Parts of the country are expected to be warmer than France, with highs of 18C in some areas.

Next week France is expected to see highs of 17C with lows of only 5C.

Met Office meteorologist Dan Stroud explained we are going to have a lucky week in Northern Ireland, in terms of the weather.

In Northern Ireland this week it will be dry and increasingly sunny, particularly away from east coast, he said.

Mr Stroud said we should expect increasingly sunnier weather before the breeze picks up later in the week.

This week is going to be dry, as high pressure dominates, there will be a fair amount of cloud but overall it will definitely be a brighter week in Northern Ireland this week, he said.

The forecaster said today will be largely dry, including into the afternoon, but will become slightly more cloudy along the east coast with some showers approaching later.

It will also become warmer into the afternoon with sunny spells and the odd shower.

Monday will see a maximum temperature of around 17C with lows of 8C, the Met Office have also warned there will be high levels of pollen.

Our current information suggests it will be a pleasant and warm day, I would expect to see highs of 17, possibly even 18, it will be very nice indeed, Mr Stroud said.

Coming into Tuesday, high pressure remains.

Tuesday is another good day, high amount of sun, but also some light winds to make it a but breezer, just an overall pleasant day, he added.

Wednesday is expected to be a cooler day, with a chilly start and an increase in clouds across the country.

However, Wednesday is still expected to remain bright.

"Wednesday will see more variable cloud throughout the day with a chance of the odd shower.

The temperature will drop a little on Wednesday, but it shouldnt be too noticeable, I would expect to see highs of around 15 or 16C, Mr Stroud said.

"It will begin turning a little less mild, and breezier as an easterly wind develops. Those similar conditions will persist into Thursday morning but the skies will clear up a bit moving into the afternoon.

Despite the windier conditions, the meteorologist expects the good weather to continue towards the end of the week.

As you approach the end of the week and the weekend temperatures should remain high, he added.

Overall, this week we will see sunny showers with light winds, keeping the weather pleasant.

The hot weather Northern Ireland will see this coming week is also expected in the Republic of Ireland, with Met Eireann saying parts of the country experiencing highs of 18C for the early part of the week.

By the middle of the week temperatures in the Republic will range from a mild 15C to 18C across Atlantic counties and the midlands, but will be somewhat cooler elsewhere as a result of the onshore winds.
Lightstock

Jesus death on the cross and resurrection are the most important events since the worlds creation. Through His death, God took those estranged from Him by sin and reconciled them by Christs earthly body through death to present them as holy in His eyes, free from accusation. Through Christs resurrection, God gave us new life and new hope. As with most things, the Bible doesnt say how old Jesus was at His crucifixion, but we can figure it out with context clues.

The Bible story of Jesus crucifixion.

Jesus crucifixion is recorded in the Gospels, the New Testament books of Mark, Matthew, Luke and John. The Bible story is the main summary of saving Jesus gospel. In Matthew, Jesus prophesied his death, telling His disciples that He was going to Jerusalem to struggle at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and law teachers. He also told them that He would be killed but would be raised to life on the third day. Jesus knew that His life was a sacrifice for mans sins.

Many Jews saw Jesus as the Son of God and the Messiah at the height of his ministry and miracles. Jewish leaders were afraid of Jesus because of his growing followers. With help from Judas Iscariot, Jesus was arrested and put on trial by Roman soldiers for claiming Himself as the king of the Jews. According to Roman law, the punishment for rebelling against the king was death by crucifixion.

Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, was hesitant about Jesus punishment. He found no wrong in Jesus but wanted to satisfy the people. Pilate washed his hands before the crowd to show that he wasnt taking responsibility for Jesus bloodshed and handed Him over to be lashed and beaten. They gave Jesus vinegar to drink, but He refused. Jesus had a thorn crown put on His head and had to carry his cross down the path to the hill where He would be crucified. The location of Jesus crucifixion is known as Calvary, meaning a place of the skull. Jesus was nailed to the cross, and His arms were stretched wide. His hands and feet were nailed to the cross; the nails were so strong that Jesus hung there until His death and gave up the ghost.

Jesus was on the cross for close to six hours. The chief priests and elders mocked Jesus, asking why He couldnt save himself if He could save others, detailed explicitly in Matthew 27:41-43. Crucifixion was the Roman Empires way of carrying out the death penalty for those guilty of a serious offense. It was typically reserved for foreigners, enslaved people, those guilty of vile crimes, and insurrectionists.

Crucifixion was designed to kill and dissuade others from criminal actions. Crucifixion victims were humiliated and often left to hang naked. The cross held a stigma, and according to Galatians 3:13, Jewish law said it brought a curse. The word excruciating means out of crucifying, so crucifixion was an agonizing way to die because it was a painful and prolonged means to death. Depending on the circumstance, some people could live for days after being nailed to a cross.

The events leading up to Jesus crucifixion.

Jesus was being prepared for burial even before His betrayal. Matthew 26 tells us that a woman with an alabaster box poured a very precious ointment on Jesus head. The people with Him asked why she did it, seeing it as a waste. However, Jesus told them not to trouble her because she did it for His burial. Judas Iscariot went to one of the chief priests and asked about the reward for turning over Jesus. When the chief priest said it was 30 pieces of silver, Judas sought to betray Jesus.

Jesus told His disciples that one of them would betray Him during the Last Supper. The disciples asked who it would be. When Judas asked, Lord, is it I? Jesus said, Thou hast said. Jesus also told them it was best if the betrayer was never born. In Matthew 27, we find out that Judas hung himself after betraying Jesus. The Bible says that all His disciples eventually forsook Him and left, but some said they wouldnt. Peter denied Jesus when asked about His association with Him.

How old was Jesus when He was crucified?

The Bible doesnt explicitly say how old Jesus was when He was crucified and died. Furthermore, the Bible doesnt provide Jesus birth or death date, making determining His age when He died challenging to figure out. Using the history recorded in the New Testament, specifically in Luke, and comparing it with Roman history, we know that Jesus was born between 6 and 4 B.C., close to when King Herod died.

Luke 3:1 says John the Baptist started preaching in the fifteenth year of Tiberius reign, around A.D. 28 or 29. This means that Jesus was baptized and began His ministry around A.D. 29 when he was about 33 years old. Based on the Passover feasts Jesus observed during His ministry, we can determine that He ministered for three and a half years, putting the end of His ministry in A.D. 33.

So we can assume that Jesus was crucified in A.D. 33., meaning that Jesus was about 33 to 39 years old when He was crucified. Remarkable events marked Jesus death. The sky went completely dark for three hours while Jesus hung on the cross. When He took His last breath, the temple curtain split, the earth shook, and the saints tombs opened, with their bodies rising from the dead.

Why was Jesus crucified?

Jesus was sent to earth by God to be the middleman for humanity. His job was to come to earth, preach His gospel, and face crucifixion, a challenging task even for Jesus. He spent so much time in prayer, seeking Gods will about His crucifixion. He knew that one of His disciples would betray Him. When Jesus was being arrested and betrayed, He stressed that He was laying down His life. Jesus crucifixion was part of Gods plan from when Jesus was born. Humanitys sin required a sacrifice, so Jesus sinless life was lived and given up so we could have eternal life in heaven and salvation.
Shutterstock.com

If Jesus died and laid in the tomb on Friday night, Saturday and rose Sunday morning before anyone arrived, why do believers say He was in the grave for three days and three nights? Answering this question is a good lesson on why we shouldnt listen to Western assumptions about the Bible. Theres a gem buried in this element of Holy Week: a call to rest, not from something but in someone.

Our culture has forgotten how to rest. Social media gives us FOMO and the political environment is a wreck. Spending even the Lords day worked up over something in our newsfeed is tempting. These ideas somehow make our culture similar to the first Holy Week. Imagine how the people of Jerusalem eagerly welcomed Jesus as King but demanded His crucifixion days later.

Impatient for a revolution, Peter cut off a servants ear in Gethsemane. Pilate caved to a mob crying for the blood of an innocent man in all of this restlessness. The disciples still asked when Jesus would return to Israel, even after Jesus resurrection. Between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, Jesus prompted them and us to rest.

From Friday night to Sunday morning.

The Gospels describe this time in various ways. One description says, Jesus was three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Matthew, Mark, John and Luke say that Jesus resurrection happened on the first day of the week, which would be Sunday for the Jews. Though theres some dispute, most scholars believe that Jesus died on Friday, meaning He wasnt in the grave for 72 hours, no matter how you look at it. The only full day Jesus spent in the tomb was the Sabbath, Saturday, which is also the day God commanded the Israeli people to rest. God also rested after the worlds creation in Genesis 2.

In those times, days werent divided at midnight like in modern times, but at sundown. In the first-century Jewish mind, part of a day counted as an entire day. Because Jesus was buried Friday evening and rose again on Sunday morning, He was in the grave for three days and three nights by Jewish standards. However, in modern times, He was in the tomb for one full day, the Sabbath or Saturday.

All four Gospels agree that Jesus was crucified on the Day of Preparation. John, Luke, and Mark say the next day was the Sabbath. So if Jesus was killed on the Day of Preparation, why did He already observe Passover with His disciples? Preparations had to be made for the Sabbath every week. Food had to be made beforehand, leading to the Day of Preparation becoming the standard term for Friday.

The Mosaic Law specified the day the Passover lamb was eaten, which was Nissan 14. We should assume that Jesus kept the law and observed Passover at the proper time. After Passover, which was Thursday, came Friday, the Day of Preparation, when Jesus was killed. Saturday, the Sabbath, followed, then came the first day of the week, Sunday, the day Jesus rose from the dead and the third day after His crucifixion.

The significance of Jesus being dead for three days.

There are numerous reasons why its significant that Jesus was dead for three days prior to His resurrection. Resurrecting after three days proved to Jesus rivals that He rose from the dead. According to Jewish tradition, a persons spirit stays with their dead body for three days. After that time, the soul departed. If Jesus resurrection happened the same day or the following day, it wouldve been easier for His rivals to say He wasnt truly dead. Jesus also waited days after Lazarus died before He resurrected him so people couldnt deny the miracle, as detailed in John 11:38-44.

Another reason why Jesus needed to be dead for three days was to satisfy a biblical prophecy. In Matthew 12:40, Jesus claimed He would be dead in three days. Hosea 6:1-3 also speaks to a prediction of the Messiahs resurrection after three days. The three days were influential in other ways. Jesus died on a Friday, Nisan 14, when the Passover lamb was sacrificed. Jesus death symbolized the death of an unblemished, perfect sacrifice for His believers. His resurrection on the third day happened on the first day of the week, providing a new life and beginning to all who believe and trust Him.

So why is it essential for Jesus to be dead three days before the resurrection? So the nonbelievers couldnt deny that He was dead and because three days were what Jesus prophesized. Other than those reasons, the Bible doesnt give a reason for the necessity of three days between His death and resurrection.

Why is Jesus resurrection important?

Jesus resurrection is vital for numerous reasons. The resurrection is a witness to Gods immense power. If you believe in the resurrection, you believe in God. If He exists, created the universe and reigns over it, then He can raise people from the dead. He isnt worthy of our worship and faith if He doesnt have this power. He created life and can resurrect it after death, reversing the dreadfulness of death, and only He can take away the sting of death, gaining victory over the grave. God reminds us of His sovereignty over life and death by resurrecting Jesus from the grave.

The resurrection of Jesus is also vital because it confirms who Jesus said he was, the Messiah and the Son of God. According to Jesus, His resurrection was a sign from heaven that verified His ministry. His resurrection, seen by hundreds of witnesses, proves Hes the worlds Savior. Another reason why Jesus resurrection is essential is that it confirms Jesus divine nature and sinless character. The Bible said Gods Holy One wouldnt see corruption, and Jesus never did, even after His death.

Based on Jesus resurrection, Paul preached that everyone who believes in Jesus is set free from their sins. Through Jesus, our sins are forgiven. Because of Jesus sacrifice, we live to praise Him another day. We may not be perfect, but His sacrifice gives us a second chance.
Lightstock

Jesus lived in several places. Before His time on earth, Jesus was with His Father in heaven. In John 17:5, right before His crucifixion, Jesus prays for God to glorify Him in His presence with the glory He had with Him before the world started.

Jesus birth.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem when he came to earth, as told in Luke 2. Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth but had to travel to Bethlehem for a census. They had no immediate family in Bethlehem, so they had nowhere to stay. Its unknown how long the family remained in Bethlehem, but we do know that the three wise men visited them there.

However, by the time of their visit, the family was living in a house, not the stable where Jesus was born. When King Herod heard of the wise mens visit, he tried to kill Jesus as a potential rival. Based on the time the wise men gave Herod regarding the star, he ordered the death of all boys in the vicinity of Bethlehem, two years old and under.

Due to Herods plot, an angel warned Joseph in a dream to move the family to Egypt, so they stayed in Egypt until Herod died. However, we still dont know how long that lasted. Secular history sources say that Herod died in 4 BC, meaning that shortly after Jesus birth, Herod died, and the family could safely return to Israel. When they returned to Israel, Joseph moved his family back to Nazareth, where he and Mary started. Bethlehem was in Judea, but Nazareth was 90 miles north of Galilee. Jesus was often called Jesus of Nazareth because Nazareth was His hometown, where He grew up.

Jesus time in Galilee.

After starting His public ministry, Jesus moved to Capernaum, also in Galilee, on the Sea of Galilees shores. He wasnt far from His hometown of Nazareth, as it was about a days walk away from Capernaum. From Capernaum, Jesus made several trips to Jerusalem. Many occurrences reported in the gospels happened in Jerusalem. His first miracle, turning water into wine at the Cana wedding, happened in Galilee. Jesus called His first disciples to become fishers of men from the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Andrew, James, Peter, and John were working as fishermen on the Sea of Galilee when Jesus called them to be His disciples.

Luke 9:57-58 gives us a slight hint of Jesus specific living quarters. In this verse, a man told Jesus he would follow Him wherever He went. Jesus told the man that birds have nests and foxes have dens, but the Son of Man doesnt have a place to lay His head. This verse indicates that Jesus didnt own a home and had no property of His own. Theres no doubt that Jesus stayed with friends as a guest occasionally, as he did with Martha, Mary and Lazarus in Bethany outside of Jerusalem.

Jesus and His disciples might have camped wherever they were as He carried on His ministry. The biblical evidence doesnt support claims that Jesus was rich and that He also wants His believers to be wealthy. Seven hundred years before Jesus walked in Galilee, the prophet Isaiah saw the region as the gateway of peace and salvation for the nations through Jesus preaching. Isaiah 9:1 says those in distress will no longer be in the gloom. It also says in the past, Jesus humbled Naphtali and Zebulun, but He will honor Galilee of the nations in the future by way of the sea past the Jordan.

We can assume that the person discussed here refers to Jesus because this passage is mentioned in Matthew 4:13-15, applying to Jesus. Zebulun and Naphtali were devastated by the Assyrian army but were honored in the Messiahs presence and loving ministry, bringing joy, light, and salvation to the worlds people.

Did Jesus have a home?

Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Then His parents moved to Nazareth in lower Galilee, but Jesus didnt have a home that was ever identified, even saying that the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. It should also be noted that Jesus often spent the night at Mount Olivet, as detailed in Luke 21:37. The next verse says that people came to Jesus at the temple early in the morning to hear Him.

If Jesus had a home, why would He sleep outside so often? Was it because people were afraid to invite Him into their homes for fear of being put out of the temple? Or was it because Jesus spent most of His nights praying, so He didnt want to wake those sleeping in their house? Luke 6:12 tells us that these days, Jesus went to the mountain to pray and continued praying to God all night. By Luke saying in these days in chapter six, we can understand that its early in Jesus ministry. In Luke 21, it was later in His ministry, and He was sleeping outside at both times, so we can assume it was His habit.

We can understand that Jesus slept and prayed outside numerous nights, so its no wonder He said He didnt have anywhere to lay His head; it was the truth. There arent many passages that say Jesus slept in someones house. There might be one or two occurrences, but thats it.

His heavenly ascension.

After Jesus resurrection, He ascended to heaven, where He sat beside His Father. Jesus natural home was in heaven with the Father, and your home could be with Jesus. Wherever God is, thats where heaven truly is. If you trust in His name, Jesus is preparing a place for you, as He told the disciples. He also told them, Where I am at, you may also be.

If you believe in God, you will have an eternal home with Him. However, there wont be any sleeping. You will be doing Gods work in the kingdom without needing sleep. Youll never be tired, and it will be unlike anything youve ever experienced. Jesus temporarily made the earth his home to secure a place for us in His Fathers home. One day, those who believe in Him will bask in living in His presence.
Korea Times file



Police on Monday launched an investigation into a suicide of a teenage student in Seoul that was purportedly streamed live on Instagram.



According to police, the female student, whose identity has been withheld, committed suicide at around 2:30 p.m. by falling from the top of a 19-story building in Gangnam Ward in southern Seoul.



The incident, streamed live on Instagram, was viewed by dozens of people and was reported to the police. The student had already fallen when police officials and firefighters arrived at the top of the building.



According to officials, an unidentified man allegedly discussed the suicide with the deceased student before her death. An online community post claimed the man was purportedly with the student right until her death.



Police have obtained CCTV footage of the purported man having been with the girl at an internet cafe in Seoul for about an hour. Officials are trying to locate the man while tracking the girl's whereabouts before the incident. (Yonhap)


Rep. Lee Jae-myung, center, chairman of the DPK, bows his head in apology during a party meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, Monday, April 17. Yonhap



The leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) apologized Monday over snowballing allegations that cash envelopes were distributed to lawmakers and party members as bribes ahead of a 2021 national convention held to elect a new party leader.



Prosecutors are investigating suspicions that envelopes containing cash totaling 94 million won ($71,700) were handed out to members of the then ruling DPK to help then lawmaker Song Yong-gil be elected as the party chair ahead of the party convention in May 2021.



Song eventually won the election.



"As party leader, I deeply apologize for causing people concern over this issue," Rep. Lee Jae-myung, chairman of the DPK, said during a party meeting at the National Assembly.



Prosecutors have raided the homes and offices of Reps. Youn Kwan-suk and Lee Sung-man for their alleged involvement in distributing the money collected from regional businesspeople. Youn and Lee served in Song's campaign ahead of the national convention.



Both have denied the allegations, accusing the prosecution of a politically motivated investigation.



Song, who has been staying in France since last year, has also rejected the suspicions.



Lee said the party has asked Song to return home early to address the allegations.



"The entire picture of this case has not been determined yet, but I believe our party needs to clarify our position," Lee said. "The Democratic Party of Korea takes this case seriously."



Lee said the party will strive to determine the truth.



"As everyone knows, there is a limit in our party uncovering the truth. So we request a swift and fair investigation that takes no political considerations into account," he said.



Prosecutors have not disclosed the names of the allegedly bribed party members, but between 10-20 DPK lawmakers are suspected to have received the illicit money.



The case grew out of a separate investigation into suspicions that Lee Jung-geun, a former deputy secretary general of the DPK, received illegal political funds. Lee is suspected of involvement in distributing money to party members.



The ruling People Power Party (PPP), meanwhile, stepped up criticism of the DPK, requesting an emergency judiciary committee meeting on the case and even suggesting setting up a whistleblowing center within the party to receive tip-offs from DPK members.



"Chairman Lee should urge related people to thoroughly cooperate with the investigation," PPP leader Kim Gi-hyeon said in a party meeting. "Otherwise, it would be amounting to confessing that rumors are true that cash envelopes were also exchanged at the national convention where Lee was elected presidential candidate." (Yonhap)


Indonesias military on Monday rejected as fake news claims by Papuan separatist rebels that they had killed at least nine government soldiers who were taking part in an operation to free a New Zealand pilot held hostage by the insurgents.

Meanwhile the militarys top brass, including Armed Forces Chief Adm. Yudo Margono, flew to the Papua region on Monday in the wake of a rebel ambush that left at least one Indonesian soldier dead in Nduga regency on Saturday.

The West Papua National Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement, claimed it carried out the attack and said it had killed at least nine members of the Indonesian security forces.

Very wrong, misleading. The names of the troops who have regrouped at the nearest posts proved that the information was fake news, Rear Adm. Julius Widjojono, the spokesman for the armed forces (TNI), told BenarNews when asked about the rebels claim.

The developments are very positive. The troops have started to regroup, he said but declined to give more details.

Julius said the soldier was killed when rebels ambushed troops who were conducting a raid on a suspected rebel hideout in Nduga, where the pilot, Philip Mehrtens, was abducted on Feb. 7.

Adm. Yudo, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Dudung Abdurachman, and Lt. Gen. Maruli Simanjuntak, the chief of the Army Strategic Forces Command, traveled to Papua on Monday to evaluate the operation, Julius said.

On Sunday, Liberation Army spokesman Sebby Sambom warned that armed attacks would continue if Indonesia refused to hold peace talks with the separatists involving the United Nations.

The group also said it was willing to negotiate with both the Indonesian and New Zealand governments for the release of Mehrtens, but had not received a response.

The U.N. and New Zealand must pressure Indonesia to stop military operations and negotiate under the mediation of a neutral third party, Sambom said.

Papua, Indonesias easternmost region, is home to a decades-old insurgency that has heated up in recent years.

Indonesia annexed the former Dutch colony in 1969 after a U.N.-sponsored referendum that was seen as rigged.

Human rights groups have accused Indonesian security forces of committing abuses against civilians in Papua, while the government has restricted access to foreign journalists and activists.

In addition, armed separatist Papuan rebels have been accused of committing atrocities against civilians.

During the last month, including the ambush on Saturday, five Indonesian soldiers have been killed in clashes with Papuan rebels.

Gen. Dudung has ordered a comprehensive evaluation of the training system for personnel who will be deployed in military operations, Army spokesman Brig. Gen. Hamim Tohari said.

The Army chief of staff instructed all units of the Army to prepare troops to support any kind of operation as directed by the commander of the armed forces, Hamim said in a statement Monday.

The evaluation would cover all aspects of training for soldiers and units that would be assigned to carry out military operations, he said, adding that the army would take strategic steps as needed.

Arie Firdaus in Jakarta contributed to this report.
Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian (second from right) and Department of Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco (center) greet visitors from China as they arrive at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Paranaque, Metro Manila, Jan. 24, 2023.

The Philippine government and opposition have slammed the Chinese envoy for his statements on Manilas policy on Taiwan and its workers on the neighboring island, saying they will not brook any attempts at intimidation by Beijing.

Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian last week criticized the Philippines granting the United States greater access to military bases fronting Taiwan, advising Manila to unequivocally oppose the islands independence if it cared about the 150,000 Filipinos working there.

Opposition Philippine Sen. Risa Hontiveros asked President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to call on Beijing to immediately recall its envoy for his disgraceful statements, which she called a threat to Filipinos working in Taiwan.

How dare he threaten us. The [Presidential] Palace should tell Beijing to recall their representative in Manila as soon as possible, Hontiveros said in a statement on Sunday.

He has no business being a diplomat if he is unable to engage with us in a respectful and dignified manner. He, along with his countrys ships and artificial islands in the West Philippine Sea, should pack up and leave, she said, referring to the disputed South China Sea territory within Manilas exclusive economic zone.

Akbayan, a local political party which counts Hontiveros as a member, said Huangs remark was a statement of a hostage taker not an ambassador.

We call on the Marcos administration to immediately declare the Chinese ambassador persona non grata and expel him from our country, Akbayan said in a statement on Monday.

The Philippines is an independent and sovereign country with the freedom to form alliances and partnerships with other nations, Akbayan added.

Speaking on Friday at a forum hosted by a pro-Beijing local group, Huang said the Philippines may be stoking the fire by offering the U.S. access to military bases near the Taiwan Strait.

Huang said China would not abandon the use of force against Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province.

DND takes exception

The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs on Monday said it was committed to the security of all Filipinos overseas.

We assure the public that contingency plans are in place in all places where there are high numbers of OFWs, it said in a statement using an acronym for Overseas Foreign Workers.

The Department of National Defense issued a similar statement on Saturday where it criticized Huang for fueling alarm.

The DND takes exception to the statement of Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian that the Philippines is meddling in the internal affairs of China concerning Taiwan, spokesman Arsenio Andolong said in a statement.

We observe the One China Policy and subscribe to the ASEAN principle of non-interference in approaching regional issues. Our primordial concern in Taiwan is the safety and well-being of the more than 150,000 Filipinos living and working on the island and we take grave exception to any effort by guests in our country to use this to fear-monger and intimidate us.

Andolong also said Huang was wrong to liken the Taiwan situation to the one in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, where the government had for years faced an insurgency.

We wish to emphasize that the issues are different from each other, he said.

The whole context and rich experience of our peace process in Mindanao, which allowed the participation of the international community  is aligned with the Philippines position of resolving disputes peacefully, Andolong said.

On Sunday, the Chinese Embassy in Manila said Huangs remarks were reported incorrectly despite the media citing quotes from a copy of the speech provided by the embassy.

Unfortunately some misquoted or misinterpreted Ambassador Huangs remarks or simply took part of the ambassadors words out of context, the embassy said in a statement on its Facebook page on Sunday.

Marcos has yet to weigh in on Huangs speech.
Protesters rally to commemorate the 49th anniversary of the New Peoples Army, the armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines, in Manila, March 21, 2018.

A suspected high-ranking insurgent and member of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines was sent back to the country on Monday after Malaysian authorities arrested him in early April, Filipino officials said.

The suspect, Eric Jun Casilao, is believed to be the secretary of the Southern Mindanao Regional Committee (SMRC) of the CPP in Davao de Oro, a province in the southern Philippines, according to sources with the police and military intelligence.

He escaped during a gunbattle last year and managed to elude authorities until intelligence operatives tracked him down in the neighboring Southeast Asian country, the sources said. One of Casilaos communist comrades, Menandro Villanueva (also known as Bok), a member of the CPPs politburo who was also a senior commander of its armed wing, the New Peoples Army (NPA), was killed in that January 2022 clash in Mabini, a town in Davao de Oro.

Casilaos arrest was only made public upon his return to the Philippines on Monday.

He was flown to Manila under a heavy escort en route to the southern city of Davao, according to police and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). The NTF-ELCAC is primarily a military-led agency set up in 2018 supposedly to convince communist insurgents to leave the movement and instead help address poverty.

His arrest in Malaysia, beyond doubt, proves that no criminal or terrorist can escape the long arms of our sovereign laws, Ernesto Torres Jr., the task forces executive director, said in a statement. Mr. Casilao will now have his day in court and will be accorded due process based on our democratic justice system that he and his cohorts long wished to destroy.

Casilao, who had a bounty of 5.4 million Philippine pesos (U.S. $96,500) on his head, faces at least two counts of murder, kidnapping and serious illegal detention, the police said.

Casilao has been accused of killing a fellow guerrilla, who could no longer keep up as they were fleeing troops, the military last year said, citing information from an informant. The victim, identified as Crispin Rollon, was choked to death and buried in a mountainous village near the town of New Bataan in the south. His body was recovered last year.

CPP-NPA spokesmen could not be immediately reached for comment.

Maj. Gen. Benjamin Acorda, chief of the national polices Directorate for Intelligence, said Malaysian authorities had flagged Casilao at the Langkawi immigration counter while he was on his way to Thailand via a ferry boat on April 1.

Casilao was detained for violating Malaysian immigration laws until he was sent back to Manila to face charges, Acorda said.

An immigration official in Malaysia, who could not give his name because he was not authorized to speak to reporters, confirmed Casilaos arrest and deportation, saying he was detained upon a request from Philippine authorities.

In Manila, the alleged rebel leaders brother, Ariel Casilao, who is a former Philippine congressman, confirmed the arrest.

I now fear for his life and safety, while he is in the custody of Philippine officials as they have refused to give his legal representatives relevant information regarding his current status, Ariel Casilao said in a statement.

I believe that Eric has the right to have access to his lawyers, at every stage of his being in the custody of authorities, and especially in the duration of his deportation and travel from Malaysia to the Philippines, I am very worried for his safety, he said.

The NPA insurgency, which dates back to 1969, today is estimated to number a little more than 2,000 fighters nationwide, down from its peak of at least 20,000 at its peak in the 80s. In 2020, the Philippine government officially placed the CPP and the NPA on its list of terrorist organizations.

The United States, the European Union, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom have long designated the CPP-NPA as a foreign terrorist organization. The Philippine military said that the rebel movement was in its last throes after CPP founder Jose Maria Sison died in December last year while in exile in the Netherlands.

Nisha David contributed to this report from Kuala Lumpur.
A Vietnamese blogger who is believed to have been abducted from Thailand by secret agents last week has turned up in police custody in his native country.

Police in Vietnams northern province of Ha Tinh announced Sunday that they found a person without identification illegally entering the country through trails on its border with Laos. They were able to confirm that the person was named Duong Van Thai, born in 1982.

Duong Van Thai, also known as Thai Van Duong, is a blogger who in 2018 fled to Thailand fearing political persecution for his many posts and videos that criticized the Vietnamese government and leaders of the Communist Party on Facebook and YouTube.

Duong had been in Thailand, applying for refugee status with the United Nations refugee agencys office in Bangkok.

He went missing on the morning of April 13 after he left his rental home in Bangkok to pick up a friend at the airport. Calls to his mobile phone that afternoon went unanswered, several of his friends said.

According to one of his acquaintances, who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons, Duong had just finished a virtual immigration interview with the UNHCR several hours before going missing.

Duongs friends began to claim publicly that he was likely kidnapped by Vietnamese security forces and brought back to Vietnam after no one answered the door at his house on the evening of April 14.

Similar case

They said his case was similar to that of blogger and Radio Free Asia contributor Truong Duy Nhat, who was kidnapped by Vietnams security forces when he was applying for refugee status in Thailand in 2019.

Two months later, Nhat surfaced in Vietnam and he was sentenced to 10 years in prison in March 2020 for abusing his position and authority, charges the U.S. State Department said were vague.

In 2019, human rights activist Bach Hong Quyen told RFA that he and his family narrowly escaped a similar fate. While in an immigration detention center in Bangkok, the Vietnamese Embassy requested their extradition, but with the U.N. lobbying hard for his case, they were allowed to travel to Canada.

RFA contacted Vietnams Ministry of Public Security and the Vietnamese Embassy in Bangkok to inquire about Duongs case, but received no responses.

Also on Friday, Vietnam sentenced dissident blogger and RFA contributor Nguyen Lan Thang to six years in prison for spreading anti-state propaganda.

The sentence came just hours before U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Hanoi for an official visit.

The U.S. State Department condemned the sentence and urged the Vietnamese government to immediately release and drop all charges against Nguyen Lan Thang and other individuals who remain in detention for peacefully exercising and promoting human rights."

Bill Hayton from the British think-tank Chatham House said that Duongs abduction was clearly a message from the Ministry of Public Security, demonstrating its power in the face of the United States.

This story was produced by Radio Free Asia, a news service affiliated with BenarNews.
It was almost midnight, and the full moon appeared an eerie burnt orange above the streetlights that were clouded by the smog hanging in the air.

Our nose burns, our throats get stuck and our eyes turn teary. It has been this way since February, said Phattanik Masa, a resident of Mae Sai, in northern Thailand, who was wearing two face masks as she stood in line with others to offer alms to monks.

This Buddhist ceremony is a significant event. We do it for good luck, she said. Thats why we are all here despite the horrible air.

For the past two months, residents across northern Thailand and Laos as well as Shan state in Myanmar have been suffering from the worst smog in years.

Thousands have gone to hospitals with respiratory problems and workers in Chiang Mai, Thailand  ranked among the most polluted cities in the world in recent weeks  have been told to stay indoors and work from home.

The two main culprits behind the hazardous pollution  16 times worse than healthy levels in some areas  are out-of-control wildfires and the burning of ever-wider fields of corn stubble after the February harvest to clear land for planting season in May.

The wildfires are fanned by drier-than-usual weather. Many are in hilly, inaccessible areas and Thailands fire-fighting efforts are under-funded.

Farmers, meanwhile, have carved growing swathes of farmland from the forest to raise corn, grown mostly for animal feed. Demand for meat is increasing, which means greater demand for corn  and higher prices, which drives the farmers to plant, grow and burn more.

The situation is the culmination of many years of bad agricultural practice, said Rattanasiri Kittikongnapang, a Greenpeace food and ecology campaigner. This is the worst haze in more than 10 years.

Unenforced zero-burn policy

Corn fields are spreading all over the region. Between 2015 and 2019, 1.7 million hectares of land was converted from forest to maize cultivation, she said.

The Thai government announced a zero-burn policy in March, but it has not been enforced. Authorities in Bangkok are hoping it will all go away by itself since they are getting ready for an election, Rattanasiri said.

A maize field that was burned after the harvest is seen in Doi Sa-Ngo village in Chiang Rai province in northern Thailand, April 5, 2023. [Subel Rai Bhandari for RFA]

Achoo, a Thai farmer with corn fields in Doi Sa-Ngo village in Chiang Rai province, sees no problem with burning.

Its natural. After you collect the harvest, you burn the rest, she said. Everyone does this, and we have been doing this for years.

But there are economic forces at work here, too.

Previously, villagers grew mostly vegetables, cassava, pineapple and edible flowering plants. In recent years, they have switched to maize, especially after one of the farmers became a middleman to transport it to animal feed companies.

We dont have to do anything. We get seeds and fertilizers from this person, even if we dont have any money, Achoo said. After the harvest, he collects it from us and takes it to the city.

The growing number of so-called hot spots  areas where fires burn or are likely to burn  are linked to deforestation and growing more corn for animal feed. And the increasing demand for corn can be linked directly to the expansion of the meat industry, said Alliya Moun-Ob, an air pollution campaigner for Greenpeace Thailand.

Thailand needs at least 8 million tons of maize for animal feed but produces about 5 million tons. It means the rest has to be imported, according to government figures.

Corporate demand

Two decades ago, Thailand set up cross-border contract farming programs with farms in Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia under which it imports corn at zero tariffs. Since then, the region has spiked in open burning, Alliya said.

Alliya and other activists say much of the demand for corn is driven by Thailands Charoen Pokphand Group, or CP Group, the worlds largest animal feed producer, with an annual production of 27,650 metric tons.

Haze obscures the mountains as seen from Doi Sa-Ngo village in Chiang Rai province in northern Thailand, April 5, 2023. [Subel Rai Bhandari for RFA] The Thai government supports one particular company  CP  which is responsible for contract farming maize in the north and neighboring countries, Rattanasiri said.

To convince rice farmers to switch to corn, CP said it would provide interest-free financial support, if needed, and promised it would buy the product at a guaranteed price in a pilot program announced in December by the Royal Initiative Discovery Institute, a palace project promoting sustainable agriculture in the countryside.

Many farmers who dont have any resources or capacity, also dont have a choice but to do contract maize farming, Alliya said.

What is missing in legal and policy-making mechanisms is the liability of industrial sectors linked to environmental impacts while gaining benefits from maize, Alliya said.

CP said it is implementing a program to trace and verify if its source of maize for feed production is cultivated in a sustainable manner, including from areas that were not deforested and farms that do not resort to burning the stubble.

Paisarn Kruawongvanich, a company executive, said the group has always prioritized building a sustainable food production chain while also mitigating transboundary haze pollution.

CP did not respond to a Radio Free Asia question about what it would do if farmers failed to follow their advice to stop burning stubble.

The increasing demand for livestock feed has been lifting corn prices. In February, local corn prices were 26% higher than a year ago, according to the U.S. Department of Agricultures Foreign Agricultural Service grain and feed report, due to insufficient locally produced corn and uncertainty in the global corn trade.

Wildfires

Apart from that, wildfires are burning out of control in many parts of the region this year, experts said, because of the start of the dry season after the end of La Nina, in which low sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean results in cooler and wetter conditions in parts of Asia.

In Laos, air quality has remained unhealthy to hazardous for more than four weeks. IQAir said the PM2.5 concentration in the capital Vientiane on Friday was 150, more than 11 times the WHO guideline.

Residents told RFAs Laos Service that the smoke was coming from all directions, as experts blamed open burning and weather changes for this years fire problem.

The visibility is low. We have to wear masks when going outside. My kids are getting sick and have itchy noses and eyes. Its like having a cold or flu, a resident of the capital Vientiane said earlier this month.

A doctor at a Vientiane hospital said they were receiving a lot of patients with respiratory problems.

In Myanmars Shan state, residents in Tachileik, which borders Mae Sai, told RFAs Myanmar Service they had been badly affected by smog since Mar. 24, forcing flights to be canceled.

Local residents said that in the past, the haze lingered for a couple of days, but this time it has been longer and denser.

In Southeast Asia, El Nino  warmer ocean surface temperatures  brings drier, warmer weather and increases the risk of forest fires and smoke haze, according to the ASEAN Specialized Meteorological Center, or ASMC.

There was also likely no controlled burning management to maintain the forests health. If you dont manage it properly, a small fire could easily be huge and uncontrolled, said Prof. Ekbordin Winijkul, head of the energy, environment, and climate change department at the Asian Institute of Technology,

A wildfire destroyed this roadside forest on the way to Doi Chang mountain in Lamphun province, Thailand, April 4, 2023. [Subel Rai Bhandari for RFA] Thai authorities would not say the suspected causes for wildfires, though many people have been arrested for suspicion of starting the fires.

Activists told RFA that the reasons could be to clear forests to create new farmland or for mushroom-hunting. The destruction caused by the fire creates a nutrient-rich environment conducive for fungi to grow almost immediately afterward, which farmers hunt to collect and sell in the market.

If nothing is done about addressing the smog, more people will die, experts said.

Air pollution was among the top 10 risk factors for death in all Southeast Asian countries in 2019, with about half a million premature deaths attributed to exposure to air pollution, said Mushtaq Memon, UNEP coordinator of chemicals and pollution action for Asia and the Pacific.

Immediate challenges on addressing the open burning of crop residues include providing timely and sufficient resources to farmers, he said.

Ekbordin said transboundary haze is not one country or one company problem.

We must address it collectively. If we do not take concrete actions soon, then the situation will worsen, he said. And it will happen every year.

This story was produced by Radio Free Asia, a news service affiliated with BenarNews.
Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Lee Jae-myung, center, bows during a party meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, Monday, as he apologizes in response to allegations of bribery during the party's 2021 national convention. Yonhap



DPK engulfed in bribery scandal, PPP suffers from infighting



By Nam Hyun-woo



The popularity of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the ruling People Power Party (PPP) have both entered a downward spiral as infighting continues and a bribery scandal draws the public's ire.



The DPK is now struggling with fresh allegations that political funds were inappropriately dished out to members during the party's national convention in 2021, forcing Chairman Lee Jae-myung to make a public apology.



On the other hand, the PPP faces criticism over infighting between its leadership and a party heavyweight over the handling of a right-wing pastor's attempt to peddle influence. The ruling party is also being denounced for the Yoon Suk Yeol administration's "low-key" stance on reports that the U.S. spied on Korean government officials.



During a party meeting, Monday, the DPK chairman apologized for causing public concern over growing suspicions that envelopes containing cash were delivered to DPK lawmakers and party members as bribes ahead of the 2021 national convention, where it elected then-Chairman Song Young-gil.



"The entire picture of this case remains undetermined, but I believe the party needs to clarify our position," Lee said. "The DPK will spare no efforts to find the truth and address the aftermath and we have requested Song, who is now staying in Paris, to return home."



Prosecutors are investigating suspicions that a total of 94 million won ($71,700) was dished out to DPK members to help Song win the chairmanship. Prosecutors and investigators have raided the homes and offices of Reps. Youn Kwan-suk and Lee Sung-man, who worked in Song's election camp, for their alleged involvement in distributing the money collected from regional businesspeople.



The allegations have triggered criticism in and outside of the party.



DPK Rep. Lee Sang-min said in a radio interview with broadcaster SBS, "This rotten and hideous scandal has left me speechless," while DPK Rep. Lee Won-wook said in a separate interview with broadcaster BBS, "The DPK should understand that this issue is serious enough to disband the party."



The ruling PPP echoed the allegations that the DPK now faces a "twin risk" due to its current and former chairmen's actions.



"During the convention, Song was supported by lawmakers close to current Chairman Lee, and the chairman succeeded Song's constituency after being defeated in the presidential election last year," PPP Rep. Cho Su-jin said. "This is nothing more than a twin risk involving the current and former chairmen."





Ruling People Power Party Chairman Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon speaks during a party meeting at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, Monday. Yonhap
Bennington, VT (05201)

Today

Partly cloudy early followed by increasing clouds with showers developing later in the day. High 59F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

A steady rain in the evening. Showers continuing late. Low 41F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Authorities say a 20-year-old woman on her way to a friends house in upstate New York was driven to the wrong address and quickly shot to death by the homeowner
You have permission to edit this article.

Edit Close
Community News Editor / Librarian

Jeannie Maschino is community news editor and librarian for The Berkshire Eagle. She has worked for the newspaper in various capacities since 1982 and joined the newsroom in 1989.
For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Stockbridge was able to hold its services for Divin


Massive overhaul needed to correct diplomatic debacles



President Yoon Suk Yeol's approval rating has dropped to 27 percent following a series of diplomatic blunders. A Gallup Korea survey, released on Friday, showed Yoon's support rating fell to the 20 percent range in just five months. The president's approval rating had climbed to the 30 percent level in November of last year.



The latest figure is a major setback for Yoon. It is the lowest approval rating seen since September last year when it sank to 24 percent. Now the Yoon administration and the ruling People Power Party (PPP) should seriously and humbly accept the recent result as a stern warning from the people.



The rate of negative assessment stood at 65 percent, amid growing disapproval in almost all age groups. The only age group in which support outnumbered disapproval was among conservative voters in their 70s. Worse still, disapproval outnumbered support in all parts of Korea, including the conservative strongholds of Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province. In these so-called "TK" regions, only 44 percent of voters positively evaluated Yoon's leadership, while 53 percent did not.



Only 18 percent of swing voters supported Yoon, sounding alarm bells for the president and the PPP. Despite the ruling bloc having focused on enticing younger voters in their 20s, 30s and 40s, Yoon got a mere 10 percent range support from them. The low level of popularity among the younger generations seems to have been due to the Yoon administration's unilateral push for the seemingly outdated policy of "69 weekly work hours."



Regarding the reason for the disapproval, the largest portion of 28 percent cited the apparent diplomatic incompetence of the Yoon administration. It has taken flak for failing to properly address alleged wiretapping of the National Security Office by the United States. The leak of national secrets by the U.S. intelligence agency is an infringement of national sovereignty. Yet the Korean government has remained subservient, defending the Korea-U.S. alliance at all costs.



For instance, Kim Tae-hyo, deputy national security director, invited fierce criticism by trying to defend the U.S. "There is no circumstance that the U.S. eavesdropped with malicious intentions," he said. Kim also raised the possibility that the leaked documents were fabricated. Yet his remark proved to be inaccurate as a 21-year old U.S. airman was found to have leaked the classified military documents.



Yoon also cannot deflect criticism for making too many concessions to Japan. His summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida became the target of public outcry with regard to compensation for Japan's wartime forced labor. He also came under criticism for a lukewarm attitude over the possible discharge of irradiated water from Fukushima. The Gallup survey well described the prevailing distrust over the allegedly impotent and slack diplomatic caliber of the Yoon administration.



Against this backdrop, skepticism has been growing over whether Yoon will be able to protect Korea's national interests in the face of increasing global challenges. It is time for the government to conduct a massive overhaul of its foreign affairs and security policies.



Ahead of the first anniversary of its inauguration, the Yoon administration is bracing for huge problems both at home and abroad. Korea's exports continued to skid for the 10th straight month, coupled with declining tax revenues because of policies favoring lowered taxes on real estate and well-to-do people.



Notwithstanding the need to focus on the people's livelihood, the political parties have continued to lock horns. The PPP is most accountable for the absence of political cooperation. Yoon has never met with any opposition leaders for a considerably long time. Most major posts of the PPP are occupied by those loyal to Yoon. The PPP discharged Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo from the party's advisory post, for his tendency to speak candidly about the problems of the ruling camp.



Yoon has vowed to push for his policies only for the people's sake, regardless of approval ratings. Yet such an arrogant attitude will not help solve the diverse problems. Now is the time for the Yoon administration to humbly listen to the voices of the public and strengthen cooperation with the opposition parties.


Interestingly, Jesus chose 12 young men who, at the time, had no real relationship with God. They resided within the fringe of religiosity. They were Jews, yes, but not born-again believers in Jesus Christ. That didnt happen until after Jesus death and resurrection. Until that time, they were disciples (learners) and friends of the man they hoped was the Messiah, the one who would redeem them from Roman rule.

Does that surprise you: that Jesus chose unsaved, Jewish-born men to be his closest followers? That was his intention, honestly. He was sent by God to purposely seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). Seek in Greek (zeteo) means to search for, to crave. Jesus intentionally searched out and craved relationships with those who were unregenerate, with those who were the antithesis of himself: sinless, pure, and holy.

The reason I bring this up is that many believers today have unsaved friends in their circle of relationships, and they may feel guilty (or even ashamed) that they do. After all, some believers think that Christians should keep the unsaved at a distance, citing 1 Corinthians 15:33 as justification. Yet, we, of all people, should, like Jesus, be seeking out the unsaved, craving their friendship (though not their influence), with the intention of being ambassadors for the Almighty, out of obedience to fulfilling the Great Commission of making disciples, and with the hope of bringing these unsaved friends to the Light, to receive the free gift of grace through faith.

I have unsaved friends and acquaintances. And I believe, based on Jesus example with his disciples, that thats a good thing. From my own experience, here are a few ways (which are not exhaustive) to express our love to our unsaved friends. These can also apply to unsaved family members, co-workers, neighborsanyone in your relationship sphere who doesnt know Jesus as Savior and Lord.

1. Value Them

This should go without saying, but in fact, in our culture today, which is so fraught with polarization around issues, sometimes we believers can tend toperhaps unknowingly and unintentionallydevalue those who hold opposite principles than us. We can tend to think less of them, dismiss them, and even pass judgment on them out of self-righteousness and false piety.

But every person, whether we agree with them politically, morally, religiously, or ethically, has value for the simple fact that they are created by God and bear his image. Even in their sinful state, they still carry his imprint. They bear the common-grace markings of him through the expression of emotions, intellect, and creativity.

So, first off, value each unsaved friend as a God-created, God-imprinted person. Look past their opinions, beliefs, and leanings. Look at them through the lens of Creation, based on Genesis 1:27: So God created mankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them (emphasis added).

2. Accept Them

Accept them where theyre at. The unsaved are going to act as, well, unsaved. Their souls, minds, and hearts are unregenerated. They will think, believe, and act out of their sin-nature. They will speak profanely, they will drink (often to excess), they will be promiscuous, and they will slander and hate. They will act foolishly, irrationally, and sinfully.

Given this, were not to condemn them. Frankly, we should expect them act unbecomingly in their depravity. It should not shock us nor surprise us. After all, we once did, too, before we surrendered our lives to Jesus as Savior and to the Holy Spirit as Sanctifier (Titus 3:3).

Therefore, God says we have no business passing judgment on our worldly-minded, worldly-living, unsaved friends, based on 1 Corinthians 5:12: What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?

However, we arent to condone their behavior, either. We graciously accept them as a person without condoning their sinful choices. But when asked, we gently and respectfully tell them we dont agree or approve of their behavior (1 Peter 3:16), and we use the opportunity to share how we are compelled, because of what Jesus did for us, to now live under the guidance of Gods ways.





Photo Credit: GettyImages/PeopleImages

3. Listen to Them

Oftentimes we think the best way to show love is to talkeven if its about Godwhen in actuality, it's to listen. That old idiom, God gave us one mouth and two ears, rings true in this case. When people feel listened toreally listened tothey feel respected, valued, and cared about.

Not to mention that God values a genuinely attentive listener. Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: you must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry (James 1:19).

As people, they also have hopes and dreams, desires and aspirations, and pain and long-buried hurts, some of which may have been caused by the Church or other Christians. Listening to them helps us to build commonality with them, and compassion for them, especially in their suffering.

Listening also breeds understanding. We may not agree with our friends views, but listening allows us to come to an understanding of how and why they think and believe the way they do. Furthermore, people like nothing more than to be understood and appreciated for their opinions, values, and beliefs, even if theyre on the wrong side of the Bible.

Another benefit of listeningwhich was a new thought for meis that it breeds patience in us, the listener. Says Mental Health Training in its podcast, Sitting and listening to someone you disagree with is difficult. You will have to have patience. And if you havent already developed the necessary tolerance for this task, just the practice of hearing others more often will help you to create it. If you find you are struggling with the activity, try to remember you are listening to learn something new. You can also listen with the intent to ask questions, and this will help you focus on the words the other person is saying more carefully.

So, listen to learn and understand. Listen to show respect and value. Listen to cultivate patience and compassion.

Conversely, listening will also earn you the right to be listened to. Tit for tat, so to speak. And then you have the wonderful opportunity to speak the truths of God, and your unsaved friend will likely be more apt to listen.

4. Pray for Them

Prayer is the work, someone once told me. How true that is. Prayer is the behind-the-scenes work in which all believers should be engaged. Prayer is the work of seeking open doors for Gospel witnessing, of building Gods Kingdom. James even tells us that the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective (James 5:16).

With regards to your unsaved friends (or whomever the Lord has burdened your heart with):

5. Show Them Grace

Jesus was Gods grace personified. He came not to condemn but to show grace to those who least deserved it: the sinners. He extended a helping hand to those who were suffering, a kind word to those who were desperate, and, when necessary, he spoke truth in confronting sin, yet with love. Grace upon grace.

We should be Gods grace personified, as well, to our unsaved friends. We may be the only people who show them grace when they fail or sin grievously. Our extending grace to them when all others are judging and dismissing may just be what they need to experience for them to finally see their need for a Savior, to repent, and to receive salvation.

Conclusion

As believers in Christ, yes, were called to remain holy (separate) in our conduct and are not to conform to this world. But that isnt justification to withdraw from the world or from its people. Quite the opposite. Distancing ourselves from the unsaved is not an option, nor is it biblical. Rather, Jesus told his disciples and us to Go into the world (to all nations) and to make disciples. And many times, that happens when we intentionally and prayerfully build genuine friendships with the unsaved.

Photo Credit: GettyImages/Sarah Mason

Denise is a former newspaper reporter and current freelance writer. She has been published in numerous online and print publications. She is also a former Women's Bible Study teacher. Denise's passion is to use her writing to bless, encourage, and inform others. She lives outside of Chicago with her husband and two children (another has grown and flown). You can find Denise at denisekohlmeyer.com.
Businesses in Africa need to balance digital innovation and trust to appeal to the continent's consumers, who are prioritising brands with shared values and digital experiences that make them feel safe and secure.

This is according to a new report from Harvard Business Review Analytic Services in partnership with Mastercard, which explores the continent's current business landscape through the lens of an increasingly young population, and highlights trust as an important lever for customer loyalty, business sustainability and innovation.

Retaining trust

Around 60% of Africas population is younger than 25, and their embrace of a digital world that is purpose-driven and built on connection bodes well for businesses in a region that prioritises innovation. However, with economic activity increasing online, security and privacy are emerging as foundational not just for trust but also for innovation.

The report reveals that over 70% of businesses in Africa recognise that service reliability and availability are paramount. However, less than half (42%) realise the importance of data security and privacy to customers, especially as digital tools and experiences become ubiquitous. To safeguard the trust of consumers and earn a license to innovate in the future, businesses need to recognise that innovation requires flexibility and commitment.

Businesses are faced with the challenge of innovating to satisfy consumer demand for richer, more satisfying experiences while maintaining consumer trust. However, consumers in the region are also quicker than their global peers to punish businesses for adverse events by withdrawing their trust, which raises the stakes for businesses.

The report notes that 80% of African consumers are eager to embrace digital benefits but will not buy from businesses or brands they dont trust. Businesses in the region understand the importance of trust for their own sustainability, with more than three-quarters saying trust improves customer loyalty and more than half saying it provides a competitive advantage.

Africa has seen extraordinary digital transformation over the past decade, and with each new milestone in digital inclusion, Africas young digital natives and early adopters present companies with an opportunity to reconsider their innovation priorities in line with the elements their consumers value.

Trust is essential for innovation  it is the currency that underpins it. When consumers can trust businesses, it gives businesses the space and security to innovate, and that innovation can unlock prosperity across Africa for all Africans, says Amnah Ajmal, executive vice president for market development, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa at Mastercard.

Data security and shared values

African consumers are more sensitive than their global peers to factors that damage trust in brands, and data security is a top concern. Around 60% of consumers in the region said incidents in which consumer data has been mismanaged would damage their trust.

Consumers in Africa have also underlined the importance of strong values, with 80% saying they prioritised buying from businesses that act on causes they care about, a far higher proportion than the global average of 63%. This includes the environment, supporting small businesses, womens economic empowerment, disaster relief and aid.

The report further explores how businesses in the region are digitising their processes and embedding innovation while ensuring that they continue to meet their customers and stakeholders expectations for reliable, secure systems and maintain their trust, through best practices such as:

Build security into products and be transparent when issues arise. Customers expect secure, reliable, appropriate systems they can trust to keep their personal data safe.

Communicate the companys vision and values. Consumers in Africa prioritize buying from brands that support their values.

Make innovation part of the company culture. A considered 360-degree approach to innovation will benefit large companies with legacy infrastructure and set processes.

Partner with like-minded companies to boost innovation. The report lifts out the fintech partnerships of South-African-based Standard Bank and MTNs collaboration to make cross-border transactions a reality.

Access the full report here.
In recent months, Kenyan journalists have been harassed, intimidated and attacked by government officials, politicians and members of the public. George Ogola, a professor of media industries, explains the impact of these attacks on media freedom in Kenya.

What are the major emerging threats against media freedom in Kenya?

Kenyas media face threats from both state and non-state actors as repressive practices of the past reemerge. Government and opposition politicians are actively undermining media freedom in the country. This isnt entirely new. But the threats have taken a new dimension as they are publicly defended  even boldly justified  by some of the perpetrators. These threats are economic, political and physical.

Economic squeeze. In what it claimed was a measure of austerity to curb government spending  but which was interpreted as a deliberate attempt to muzzle media criticism  the previous government established a media buying agency, the Government Advertising Agency. All government advertising is now channelled through this agency.

Critical media were and are now regularly punished through the withdrawal of government advertising. In the run-up to the August 2022 elections, one of President William Rutos senior policy men warned the media that they were best advised to look for advertising elsewhere as it would not be business as usual with state advertising.

Political threats. The emerging systematic media repression has also taken the form of brazen political threats from within the senior ranks of government. In what seemed like a well-calibrated attack by the ruling coalition, several politicians accused the media of being a cartel which needed to be crushed. These alarming sentiments were shared by the ruling partys majority leader in parliament.

More draconian threats have included alleged plans to shut down media houses and the internet. Against the background of opposition protests in the country in March 2023, the Kenya Media Sector Working Group claimed the government had intended to shut down the broadcast media and the internet ahead of a planned demonstration. The president denied such plans. Meanwhile, opposition leader Raila Odinga called on his supporters to boycott the Star newspaper, a local daily, accusing it of bias. Even though he later withdrew the order, the disregard for the principles of media freedom was apparent.

Physical assaults. In what seemed like a return to the repressive 1980s during Kenyas struggle for political pluralism, journalists were physically assaulted by the police and demonstrators in recent mass protests. Incredibly, the inspector general of police described the risk of assault as part of journalisms occupational hazards.

What does the law say about media freedom?

Kenya has a relatively strong legal framework that supports media freedom. This is in addition to instruments like charters, treaties and declarations.

The freedom and independence of all types of media are guaranteed by Article 34 of the constitution. Articles 33 and 35 further guarantee freedom of expression and access to information, respectively.

Additional legislation includes the Media Council of Kenya Act (2013), which established the Media Council of Kenya. The council promotes and protects the freedom and independence of the media.

The Kenya Information and Communication (Amendment) Act (2013) established the Communications Authority of Kenya. It licences and regulates postal, information and communications services. The act gives the authority independence from government, political or commercial interests.

The East African Community treaty (1999), Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the African Unions Declaration of Principles on Human Rights in Africa (2002), all ratified by Kenya, advocate for media freedom.

Other key advocates for media freedom include the Kenya Union of Journalists, the Kenya Editors Guild and the Media Owners Association.

Are media outlets free of blame?

There is a growing public wariness about the performance of the media, which are increasingly being accused of partisanship and poor journalism.

The Kenyan media have always been embedded within the broader contests for political power forced upon them by media ownership structures. Journalists are also wedded to Kenyas polarising, ethnically inflected politics.

A study of the structural conditions of journalism in Kenya describes the media culture as one that fluctuates from critical to concordant, clientelist reporting. Coverage can reflect the ethnic loyalties of the writers or media houses. This has eroded public trust in sections of the media.

Further, the media licensing regime has traditionally been transactional. Political support is rewarded with licences and access to state advertising.

Importantly, too, as economic challenges become existential threats to many media organisations, they have been forced to reduce their workforce, weakening gate-keeping processes.

These organisations also have to contend with the speed of social media as competitors. As the focus shifts to speed, quality is undermined.

The professional precarity of journalists afraid to lose their jobs has also made them susceptible to self-censorship and bribery.

What are the options for the media?

Continued exposure to advertising blackmail from the government weakens the medias ability to operate independently. It is, therefore, critical that Kenyas media find ways of diversifying their revenue streams.

Media organisations must continue to raise awareness about the importance of media freedom. They must push back against attempts to undermine their independence and encroach on their freedoms.

There are also enduring legal threats, such as the misapplication of laws like the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, which criminalises the publication of false information. Such laws are routinely abused and must, therefore, be fought.

Lastly, the media must continue investing in training and capacity building for journalists. The allure of speed in an attempt to compete with social media may be tempting, but it risks undermining ethical reporting, fact-checking and quality journalism.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article https://theconversation.com/from-advertising-blackmail-to-physical-threats-kenyas-journalists-are-under-attack-but-they-must-also-regain-public-trust-203580.
K and K Media has announced the appointment of senior journalists Tabelo Timse as special projects editor, Deshnee Subramany as editor-at-large, as well as Busisiwe Kunene as sales manager of the company's flagship publications Inside Education, Inside Politics and Inside Metros with effect from April.

Tabelo Timse, Deshnee Subramany, and Busisiwe Kunene

Timse is an award-winning investigative journalist at amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism, where she worked on the #Guptaleaks. She also exposed local government corruption and fuel theft syndicates, among other investigations.

She was at amaBhungane for 10 years after covering the SADC region for Agence France-Presse (AFP) for two years.

A Journalism Masters degree graduate from Nelson Mandela University, Timse began her career as a TV reporter and radio current affairs producer at the SABC. She then went on to work at The Herald and Weekend Post newspapers in Port Elizabeth as a general reporter.

In 2018, Timse won the Vodacom Journalist of the Year Politics category, for her work on two whistleblowers who tried to expose corruption linked to the Guptas Estina dairy project in Vrede, Free State.

Also in 2018 she was part of the team that won the Taco Kuiper Investigative Journalism award for their work on the #Guptaleaks.

In 2021, Timse was awarded the French-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law as recognition of her tireless efforts and the work of amaBhungane to advance the cause of the rule of law, social justice, and the strengthening of participatory governance in South Africa. She also conducts media and journalism training programmes at places such as the Thomson Reuters Foundation (London) and The Institute for the Advancement of Journalism (IAJ).

The new editor-at-large, Subramany has been in the media industry for over 15 years, specialising in digital media. She has headed award-winning digital teams throughout her career.

Subramany cut her teeth in the digital space at Primedia Broadcasting's Eyewitness News before she moved on to the Mail & Guardian, working at first as a sub-editor and later as day editor for its digital platform, mg.co.za.

She has joined numerous newsrooms in various companies, such as Business Day at Arena Holdings, HuffPost at Media24 (news editor), and she was digital lead at investigative journalism organisation amaBhungane.

She most recently returned to Eyewitness News as digital editor of the brand, where she was responsible for maintaining the websites strong presence among competitors.

Subramany has also worked in TV, producing and building audiences for The Big Debate on SABC, as well as eNCAs primetime shows.

Kunene has been in the media industry for 16 years having started as a direct sales representative at Media24 for City Press and Rapport. She moved to TNA Media before she joined Mail & Guardian as a sales executive.

An opportunity to spread her wings into the radio space arose and she joined MSG Group Sales as sales executive to be then promoted as a sales manager for Government Portfolio. Before joining K and K Media, she was with Motswako Media Sales where she was sales executive for You FM.

Her experience has led her to manage campaigns mostly in the public sector portfolio handling national, provincial and local government including state owned entities.

Matuma Letsoalo, executive chairperson and founder of K and K Media Group, said: The three new appointees bring a wealth of experience from various journalism disciplines, including multiple digital products. They each have a track record of building strong teams and excellent systems.

We are excited to have Tabelo, Deshnee and Busisiwe as part of the team to help solidify Inside Education [both print and digital], Inside Politics and Inside Metros as premium brands for education, politics, business and local news in the country.

Last month, K and K Media Group announced the appointment of veteran journalist Edwin Naidu as editor-in-chief of Inside Education quarterly print publication that is distributed to over 24,800 schools across the country, all universities and TVET colleges.




A key focus of any HR department is retaining key skills. A big part of this involves building an appealing and enabling company culture that attracts top people and keeps them in the organisation. But while investment into organisational culture undoubtedly helps to build a company's reputation as an employer of choice, and may also help to reduce general employee churn, many of South Africa's key skills are not being lost because of unhappiness with workplace culture, but rather because the employees, managers and executives who possess those skills have simply made the decision to leave the country.

Simonetta Giuricich

This makes it imperative for HR executives to start thinking very differently about the way they are pursuing their retention targets. Of course, thats not to say that building a compelling organisational culture is not a worthwhile undertaking. Considering that it plays a key role in attracting and retaining the vast majority of staff, culture should be a top priority. But when culture is not enough to retain key people with vital skills, alternative methods have to be employed.

And one of those methods, that is rapidly gaining traction with leading organisations across the globe, is partnering with an employer of record. Essentially, an employer of record (EoR) is a third-party organisation that assumes legal responsibility for employing staff on behalf of another company or organisation. That means the EoR acts as the official employer of the individual, while the client company retains management control over that person. This presents numerous advantages for an organisation, not least the ability to retain the skills of its key people, even when they move to another country.

... its unsurprising that EoR partnerships are being leveraged by

growing numbers of forward-thinking organisations that recognise the value

of a well-distributed workplace in multiple countries.

An EoR partnership also delivers many benefits for HR departments, particularly in terms of helping them achieve their talent recruitment and retention KPIs. The steadily increasing skills gaps make it difficult for businesses to attract the talent they need to replace key people who leave the organisation.

HR directors also need to drive business continuity in a way that ensures skills transfer and employment equity. The departure of a key employee poses a direct threat to achieving that objective, because they effectively take their intellectual property, experience, training and capabilities with them. Whats more, if that person is key to a business-critical project or initiative at the time of their departure, the risk to the business can be immense.

Often, finding the ideal candidate to replace a key individual is a lengthy and very expensive process. In most cases, even if an organisation can recruit a person with the right skill set, the fit is seldom perfect, which means the appointed individual needs to undergo extensive training and upskilling, and take time to familiarise themselves with the organisation and their new role. In all likelihood, the recruit will operate at sub-optimal productivity levels throughout this period of acclimatisation, which is a further indirect cost to the company.

A partnership with an EoR is an uncomplicated, time- and cost-effective solution to these challenges, because it effectively means that the businesses dont need to lose the skills of their key people to emigration in the first place.

Given these benefits, its unsurprising that EoR partnerships are being leveraged by growing numbers of forward-thinking organisations that recognise the value of a well-distributed workplace in multiple countries. And South African businesses are quickly following suit.

Of course, an EoR partnership is not just useful for skills retention; its also a highly effective way of expanding business operations into new markets and geographies, without having to go through the process of recruiting talent directly from that location. Instead, an employee with the necessary business knowledge and proven skills can be placed in the target location through the EoR, and immediately get to work expanding operations in that market, potentially while also mentoring and upskilling local talent to eventually take over when they return to South Africa.

Another significant, yet often overlooked, benefit of partnering with an EoR is the message that this sends to staff. Allowing key staff to benefit from an EoR emphasises that you are a genuinely employee-first organisation. One that doesnt just pay lip service to its employees being its biggest asset but is willing to invest in retaining its people. This can add significant reputational value and enhance the organisation's standing within the employee market.

Ultimately, a comprehensive EoR solution, like that offered by Playroll, offers a plethora of advantages for any HR department that is serious about leveraging the full potential of the so-called new ways of working for the benefit of the entire organisation.

For further information visit www.Playroll.com, or follow us on https://www.linkedin.com/company/playroll-hr/.




Before investing significant resources into a new construction venture, it's important to consider some of the common challenges in the industry. According to Roelof van den Berg, CEO of the Gap Infrastructure Corporation, thorough planning can prevent these obstacles from becoming significant barriers on the path to success.

Roelof van den Berg, CEO of the Gap Infrastructure Corporation

These are his top five challenges that small businesses and entrepreneurs in construction should watch out for:

1. Forecasting and budgeting

Calculating total project costs, including labour, materials and equipment, is a monumental task for any construction company, but is especially difficult for novices in the construction industry to perform correctly.

Risk tends to scale up and increase in line with the scope of the project, making it particularly easy to underestimate material quantities during the planning and budgeting phases.

The solution is to appoint a skilled project manager who is adept at calculating and setting up material lists and who strictly regulates store levels throughout, says Van den Berg.

Ultimately, the three most important Ps in the construction industry are planning, planning and planning. Spending time and money on planning is the key to a successful project.

2. Project location

Newer contractors rarely make additional consideration for where a project is located and what issues the site may pose. However, not all projects will be ideally located in or near a city, close to suppliers, subcontractors or the necessary labourers and workforce.

It is therefore important to do research before accepting a contract. Is the worksite easily accessible or will you need to budget for additional transport costs for machinery, material, and workers located far from the site?

This has been the downfall of various projects in South Africa, especially those projects in rural areas which are not close to cities and suppliers. Material prices can easily double in price due to transport costs, he says.

Make sure that suppliers know the exact destination before submitting their quotations.

3. Supply-chain instability

Global events caused serious supply chain disruptions throughout 2022, resulting in higher prices and difficulties in sourcing the right materials and equipment.

The global supply chain should correct itself later in 2023, says Van den Berg. But until then, new contractors should consider how any material shortages will affect their workflow and be ready to seek out alternatives.

There is always an alternative solution in the construction industry. Focus on remaining resilient when facing a supply chain challenge  if you keep searching for a solution, you will find one.

4. Onsite security

Worksites are especially attractive targets for criminals and vandals at night. Construction sites are filled with expensive tools, machinery, and materials, and extra steps should be taken to improve security.

Its therefore crucial to appoint trustworthy security officers or a security company to patrol worksites after hours. Additionally, care should be taken to securely store and lock up expensive equipment that cannot be removed from the site every day.

Even one security incident could be the cause of your entire project failing. Prioritising security and allocating the necessary funding to your security bill will pay off in the long run.

5. Dont quit attitude

More than 90% of new construction companies in South Africa fail within the first 24 months. Most of these have the relevant skills and resources to make it work, but lack resilience and a dont quit attitude, notes Van den Berg.

The construction industry is not a walk in the park. Those who have the resilience to withstand the strong winds are those who succeed, he says.

Always remember that in the construction industry, a better tomorrow is just one certificate away.

As the industry picks up steam again, 2023 will be rich with opportunities for new construction companies. Small businesses are sure to achieve some success provided they take care, performing the necessary risk management in order to overcome any challenges and provide high quality work to clients, says Van den Berg.


By Casey Lartigue Jr.



It is usually a lovely moment when a questioner approaches the microphone and asks, almost apologetically, "How can I help?"



It is a simple but not easy question to answer when the topic is North Korea. In the many North Korea-related events I have moderated, organized and spoken at since September 2011, I don't recall ever witnessing a questioner who was satisfied with the response to the question about how others can help. This year, I expect to participate in at least 70 events with North Korean refugees around the world (Switzerland is the next big event on my schedule) and expect that questioners won't be satisfied with the answer.



I've read articles and studies with detailed suggestions about how others can help, watched speeches, and talked with diplomats, analysts, experts, leaders of NGOs, North Korean refugees, and long-time North Korea watchers (some have watched it for decades and some lived there). They have a range of suggestions and can't even convince each other.



I heard the question so often that my organization held three different English speech contests with more than 20 different North Korean refugees answering the question. I wanted them to think through their answers instead of answering off-the-cuff at the end of an event. I have organized numerous brainstorming sessions with potential volunteers around the world about how they could get involved. We set up a "How to help North Koreans" project with North Korean refugees working with volunteers around the world.



I now see the question of how to help as a meeting of people who have a mission or purpose with uncommitted newcomers looking for a quick answer to a complicated situation.



Lee Eun-koo, co-founder with me of Freedom Speakers International (FSI) says she believed from a young age it was her mission to contribute to Korea's unification. After she earned a master's degree in North Korean studies from Ewha Woman's University, she was hired by an NGO to interview North Korean refugees about human rights violations they had suffered in North Korea or China. On weekends, she visited the Hanawon resettlement center to interview North Korean refugees who had recently escaped to freedom. She became the lead researcher at an NGO writing and editing White Papers about North Korea.



When she realized that she needed English to be a more effective researcher and practitioner of unification, she studied abroad in the UK and eventually earned a master's degree in North Korean studies from Sheffield University. She returned to South Korea to work in policy and research at a huge government agency.



She admits she got a bit bored working as a researcher, she wanted to do something more practical. At that point, she met me and in 2013 we co-founded what has become FSI. Since then, about 500 North Korean refugees have studied English, public speaking and career development with about 1,200 volunteers who joined us from around the world.



She is a practitioner and an academic who has spent almost two decades doing intense study and work about North Korea. She is now getting a Ph.D. in international relations with a focus on North Korea and looks forward to one day setting up a non-profit organization in Pyongyang to aid North Koreans after unification. What kind of simple explanation could she give to people asking for a shortcut answer to the simple yet big "How can I help" question about North Korea?



On the other hand, a very close friend who donated $1,000 to us at a time we were struggling financially bluntly explained that he lacks time to get deeply involved. Others like him who don't receive a simple answer are likely to find a different cause fitting their limited time and short-term commitment. They may care about North Koreans, but not care enough to make a commitment to do anything about them.



Those questioners who do have time are asking others how to help because they haven't found a mission for themselves. People without a mission passing through North Korea discussions can end up frustrated when they hear multi-level answers about a complicated geopolitical situation seven decades long involving a reclusive gangster regime armed with nukes.



Two years ago I wrote a five-step self-help guide so people could find their own way to help. I have since learned five steps was four too many.



From now, when the lovely moment comes with people asking how they can help, I will advise them to focus on step three of my self-help guide: fundraising and donating. It may not feel like a lovely response to the question "How can I help," but for people with no mission, who have limited time, and can't make a commitment, that is the best way to help.





Casey Lartigue Jr. (CJL@alumni.harvard.edu) is co-founder with Lee Eun-koo of Freedom Speakers International (FSI) and co-author with Han Song-mi of the book "Greenlight to Freedom."


A blog in the Scientific American magazine argues that we can learn to be successful by reading about successful people and it also emphasises the role of luck in success:

The assumption is that we can learn from them because their personal characteristics  such as talent, skill, mental toughness, hard work, tenacity, optimism, growth mindset, and emotional intelligence  got them where they are today. This assumption often also determines how resources are distributed in society, from work opportunities to fame and government grants.

Resources are often given to those who have a past history of success, thus assuming that the most successful are also the most competent.

The role that luck, or family inheritance and reputation might have in success is undeniable but we should consider the massive role that good English communication skills can play in success. For example, if you cannot express yourself well, your proposal may not be successful. If your business plan is full of grammar errors, then even if the financials do add up, and you can show a past history of success, you are less likely to be successful in whatever circumstances you find yourself.

Are your language skills holding you back?

Imagine English is not your first language: you were taught English in your mother tongue and never really had to use the language. In the workplace, however, you are expected to be a proficient English speaker: you have to write emails, proposals and reports or do presentations in English. What if your message and tone are misinterpreted, or even called unprofessional, because your English writing and speaking lack the refinement of a first language speaker?

Many South Africans face this reality at work every day. Hard-working and enthusiastic people are often overlooked when it comes to promotion simply because they cannot write a report or structure an effective presentation, or they make some grammar or spelling errors when they write emails. The result is a work environment that destroys employees confidence in expressing their ideas.

There are many daily examples where stronger communication skills could make the difference between success and failure. A lack of clarity in email messages can very effectively be overcome by improving your business communication skills. Effective business emails need to be short and to the point, with very specific detail, especially if a request or instruction is given. The reader cannot be expected to do anything if they dont know what is actually being requested!

Language is more than a soft skill

For years, language skills were considered to be a soft skill in the workplace  useful but not specifically necessary for work. However, more employers and employees are starting to recognise the importance of better English skills in the workplace and realise that relevant training will not only improve their own language skills, but also their self-confidence and potentially increase their promotion opportunities.

The solution does not rely on luck: we all have the innate ability and more options to improve our own communication skills. For those who want to improve their communication skills mindfully, there are short courses that take only a few hours a week for a couple of months that will give them insights into well researched theories and techniques so that they can apply these strategically in their personal and professional lives.

What can you do?

You can learn how to write the best cover letter for your CV; create impressive PowerPoint presentations that will stand out from others; or learn how to structure objective and cohesive reports. Maybe you want to learn some spelling rules or how to use commas and semicolons correctly? Would you like to improve your pronunciation skills and speak with confidence in front of people? Learn how to use words effectively to communicate clear messages at work?

The Wits Plus Language School at Wits University offers various English development and English proficiency courses which are designed for second language speakers. Other courses offered by Wits Plus include an Effective Business Communication short course (online as Business Communication Skills) that aim to equip students to make the most of opportunities.

Studies have shown that the most talented people are not always the most successful in life but that luck and opportunity may play an unseen role in that success. Improving your communication skills can help you to boost your luck and make the most of opportunities!
In an amendment to Schedule 4 of the Customs and Excise Act (1964), published in the Government Gazette on 31 March 2023, it was announced that the annual quota for frozen bone-in cuts of chicken (Gallus Domesticus) originating in or imported from the United States (US) would be increased from 71,290 tonnes to 71,632 tonnes, with retrospective effect from 1 April 2022.

Schedule 4 of the Customs and Excise Act allows US frozen chicken to be sold in South Africa via a specific permit or recommendation of the Director General of the South African Department of Agriculture and Land Reform, subject to conditions set out by the Internal Trade Administration Commission. The US currently exports bone-in chicken meat to South Africa under a Tariff Rate Quota arrangement, which exempts bone-in chicken imports from anti-dumping duties.

Duty-free trade

Trade between the US and South Africa is governed by the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a non-reciprocal trade preference programme that provides eligible sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries with duty-free access for certain exports into the US market. The purpose of AGOA is to expand US trade and investment with SSA, stimulate economic growth, and encourage the continent's economic integration.

During negotiations for the renewal of AGOA's preferential treatment for South Africa in 2015, it was agreed that an annual quota of US bone-in chicken could be imported into South Africa from the US, without US exporters having to pay anti-dumping duties normally applicable on these goods.

The US is one of the leading poultry exporters to South Africa, in addition to Brazil and the European Union. In 2022, the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC) made a determination in the investigation into the alleged dumping of frozen bone-in portions of chicken imported from Brazil, Denmark, Ireland, Poland and Spain. ITAC concluded its investigation and recommended to the South African Minister of Trade & Industry that anti-dumping duties be imposed on these countries.

However, although the Minister accepted ITAC's recommendation, the decision was made to suspend the imposition of anti-dumping duties on these countries for a period of 12 months, as published in the Government Gazette on 1 August 2022. The Minister noted that the decision was based on the current rapid rise in food prices in the South African Customs Union (SACU) market and globally, and the significant impact this has, especially on the poor. Also considered was the impact the imposition of the anti-dumping duties may have on the price of chicken.

Shisa Nyama Index

As the main source of protein for low-income households, it is imperative that South Africans have a range of price options to choose from when purchasing chicken. However, the price of chicken has continued to increase since then. In December 2022, Bloombergs Shisa Nyama Index revealed that 10kg of frozen chicken pieces was the most expensive item on the index. The Index uses data from the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice & Dignity Group and tracks the prices of ingredients used in a traditional South African dish - shisa nyama.

The decision to again increase the quota of frozen chicken that is allowed to be imported into South Africa from the US may be seen by some to be a compromise that must be made for South Africa to continue to benefit from the AGOA programme, however, it will hopefully also assist in bringing the price of chicken down for poverty-stricken households. It is also hoped that the SACU, and South Africa in particular, will soon be able to conclude a reciprocal, mutually beneficial trade agreement with the US that further addresses the challenges around this issue, especially considering that the AGOA programme's preferential stipulations are set to expire again in 2025.
Source Radio Awards https://radioawards.co.za/ Radio Awards The Radio Awards are open. Pictured are winners from the 2022 Radio Awards

There is no entry-fee, and stations may edit their entries right up until the 9 July 2023 entry deadline.

Now in its 13th year, the awards honour and recognise exceptional and innovative excellence in the South African radio industry, setting a benchmark for all radio stations and professionals to strive towards.

The complete list of entry-categories for 2023 can be viewed on The Radio Awards website, where stations are advised to ensure their entry fits the required criteria.

Categories

Categories include:

Show categories



Presenter categories



Producer categories



Online categories



Creative categories

Nominations categories

Station managers choice This year for the first time the Station Managers Choice category is included in the main entry system. Station managers can now submit their nominations for this category as they have done in previous years for the Hall of Fame and Bright Star categories. This category recognises those individuals who have previously not had the opportunity to be acknowledged for their support to the team, and their contributions to radio. This individual works behind the scenes, they go beyond the call of duty, and are the unsung heroes of a radio station. They could be a PA, a member of the finance department, a sales executive, or someone who brings unique energy and positivity to the work environment, in support of the on-air talent and station management.

Bright Star nomination The nominee for this category must be 26 or younger  either on air, or behind the scenes  who is making their mark on the industry. The award is aimed at an individual who has an intrinsic understanding and love for the medium, respects its past, but who also has great ideas about its future. The individual would be someone who is a tireless worker and on whom the radio station has come to rely on. Condolences pour in for late Thobela FM journalist Matome Maupi 17 Apr 2023

Hall of Fame nominationThe nominated individual would need to have been in the industry for over 30 years, who is either still in the business, or has retired.This individual needs to have made an indelible mark on the industry  either on air, or in management and, ideally, who is revered and talked about by the industry. This person would be a strong inspiration and mentor.

My Station

The fan favourite My Station competition that gives radio audiences the opportunity to vote for their favourite station, will take place later in the year, and more information will follow.

Judging panel

Judges for the Radio Awards are selected each year based on their relevant experience and expertise. In a continuous effort to expand diversity and practice fairness in judging all station entries in their different languages, the organisers welcome suggestions for new judges.

Suggestions for the judging panel should be directed to Philantu Nkanunu at NkanunuP@arena.africa.

BBDO South Africa have again been appointed as the auditors of the 2023 Radio Awards programme.
Hosted by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) and organised by Energy Capital & Power (ECP), the African Critical Minerals Summit is scheduled for 6-7 November at the Sandton Conference Centre in Johannesburg.

The conference and exhibition aims to unite African mining and energy policymakers, companies and investors with global counterparts to showcase investment opportunities within South Africa and Africas burgeoning critical minerals industry.

The summit was launched at a high-level breakfast event late last week and was attended by high-level mining and energy delegations from both the private and public sector, including Botlhale Seageng, director of investment promotion at the DMRE; Willem Meintjies, acting executive manager, Integrated Geoscience Development at the Council for Geoscience; and Allan Edwards, chef de bureau at the High Commission of Canada.

The summit will help us define our resources and how to exploit them. Defining what critical minerals are will be essential for Africa to implement a clear roadmap on how to maximise the exploitation and monetisation of these resources for value addition into economies, said Seageng.

Role of research and development

Expanding on the role improved research and development of the industry plays in driving market growth, Meintjies, noted that the optimisation of South Africas critical minerals sector starts with geology.

We have a lot of data and information around South Africas critical minerals reserves with our 120 years of operations. As a country, we are still defining, in the context of the energy transition, what our critical minerals are, he noted, adding that there is a huge demand for battery energy storage across the world.

We are conducting a lot of research to identify the critical role we can play to help meet the growing demand.

Global cooperation needed

Speaking about the need for improved cooperation among global economies and stakeholders, Edwards showcased Canadas openness to partner with South Africa and Africa as a whole in maximising the exploration and exploitation of critical minerals to shape the global transition.

The launch of the summit is key for South Africa and Africa to partner with the world. Canada identified 31 key critical minerals which we will work with the world to monetise and exploit. We hope South Africa can follow that lead. It is very critical that South Africa and Canada, as superpowers in mining of critical minerals, cooperate and with global parties, he said.
In celebration of Earth Day 2023, Starbucks South Africa and Daily Peach are banding together to organise a beach clean-up on 22 April 2023.

Supplied image: View of Muizenberg beach from Starbucks

This initiative is part of Starbucks SA's ongoing journey from waste to wonderful, and members of the public are encouraged to join in the effort to keep our beaches beautiful.

This global event will take place at several locations along the South African coastline, and Starbucks SA and Daily Peach are encouraging everyone to participate in any way they can. Whether you're a business, a student, or just someone who cares about the environment, there is a role for you to play in this vital effort.

Starbucks set a multi-decade commitment to reduce its carbon, water, and waste footprints by 50% by 2030, focusing on five areas of operation. In this issue Starbucks is showing its commitment to sustainability by launching its new recyclable cup made from coffee grounds. This innovative product is the result of years of research and development, and it represents a significant step forward in the fight against waste. Starbucks SA wants to encourage all South Africans to join this mission in using single use/reusable cups and join us on this journey from waste to wonderful.

The new Starbucks Recyclable Cup is just one example of how the iconic coffee brand is working to reduce its environmental impact. Starbucks is committed to sourcing sustainable materials and minimising waste wherever possible.

In addition to the beach clean-up event taking place, Starbucks SA is encouraging everyone to get involved in Earth Day 2023 by joining or starting a clean-up in your area, donating to an environmental programme, or simply carrying a message of action. The official theme of this year's event is "Invest In Our Planet," and the goal is to bring people together to accelerate the transition to an equitable, prosperous green economy for all.

Join Starbucks SA and Daily Peach at Muizenberg beach front on Saturday, 22 April 2023 from 9am and be part of the journey from waste to wonderful. There will be a hamper to the value of R1000 awarded to the person who picks up the most waste.

To learn more about Earth Day 2023, the official theme, and how you can get involved, please visit the official website at https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2023.
As the world prepares to mark the annual celebration of Unesco's annual World Book and Copyright Day on 23 April, South Africa faces a major illiteracy challenge. Over 3.7 million adult South Africans are illiterate, 60% of children have not learned most of the letters of the alphabet by the end of Grade 1 and over 30% still don't know all the letters of the alphabet by the end of Grade 2 - and fewer primary school children can read for meaning now, than before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Photo by Mizuno K via www.pexels.com

These statistics, the former from the Department of Higher Education & Trainings 2020 Report on Adult Illiteracy and the latter from the 2023 Background Report for the 2030 Reading Panel, paint a grim picture of South Africas ability to teach basic literacy and foster a culture of reading.

This is not a uniquely South African problem, though  a Statista report on global adult and child literacy shows that the global literacy rate amongst adults reached 86.8% in 2020  up from 67% in 1976. It details that the reasons for these differences are rooted in economic and cultural differences in countries in Africa and South Asia.

Unesco established World Book and Copyright Day on 23 April 1995 and mark the annual event as a way of promoting the enjoyment of books and reading. Celebrations take place to recognise the scope of books - a link between the past and the future, a bridge between generations and across cultures. 23 April is a symbolic date in world literature  one on which prominent authors including William Shakespeare, Miguel de Cervantes and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, all died.

Several literacy projects run by NGOs and the government are being implemented in South Africa to narrow the literacy gap. MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet is currently providing support to various beneficiaries in the country such as The Link, Ripple Reading, The Bookery, Shine Literacy, Book Dash, and Biblionef South Africa.

Biblionef South Africa operates according to Unescos Book Donation Charter and donates new storybooks in all 11 languages to schools and childrens organisations throughout South Africa for children aged 3 to 18. The organisation supports endeavours to improve literacy levels, establish a reading culture and help create the right circumstances to foster a love of reading.

Book Dash is a not-for-profit, South African social impact publisher of open, African picture books for very young children. The organisation gathers creative professionals who volunteer to create new, African storybooks that anyone can freely translate and distribute. Their unique, 12-hour book-making methodology allows them to create beautiful new books in just one day, which are then shared via their website and in physical format for children to own.

Shine Literacy aims to create a culture of reading by engaging parents, caregivers and the greater community where children live, play, learn and thrive. At the heart of all our programmes are two simple beliefs that every child is unique and has infinite potential and that only by working in partnership with others can they accomplish their vision of a nation of readers.

The Bookery identifies schools that need libraries and partners with them to build vibrant and well-stocked libraries for their learners. They seek funding to help cover the costs of setting up the libraries; stock the libraries with a range of fiction, non-fiction and reference books with help from professional librarians and employ trained library assistants to care for and grow the libraries.

Ripple Reading focuses on literacy and leadership development of children in disadvantaged communities. They are building a model of effective intervention to teach children to read with understanding. Their vision is to assist learners to attain a level of academic performance which will enable them to take control of their futures  academically, emotionally and socially. The programme is based on using all learning modalities with emphasis on visual, auditory and tactile perceptual development.

The Link Literacy Project supports the development of literacy and numeracy in children for whom English is a second language and who attend low income schools in Johannesburg. The organisation is managed and staffed by community volunteers who are committed to making a difference in education and who enjoy working with children. They provide basic training and all the resources required to help train volunteers work with children in Grades 2 & 3 who are identified by valid testing to be at risk of not achieving their potential.

These are a few of the many simple ways you can get involved and show your support for literacy this World Book Day.
Denzel Swarts, who was born into a farm-working family on the Simonsig Wine Estate in Stellenbosch 37 years ago, has been appointed the new sales and brand executive at Zoetendal Vineyards and River Estate.

Denzel Swarts, sales and brand executive at Zoetendal Vineyards and River Estate.

Zoetendal is situated near Elim in the Overberg region of the Western Cape.

Swarts is the third generation of his family to work in the Simonsig vineyards. He started as a part-time general worker at the age of 16, working on weekends and school holidays. When he turned 20, he was offered a full-time job and after 13 years of hard work, he was promoted to the position of regional brand ambassador for the Western and Eastern Cape provinces.

According to Swarts, he was fortunate to have access to career development opportunities at Simonsig, which allowed him to work closely with winemakers Johan and Michael Malan and gain valuable experience.

Swarts has completed various courses with the Cape Wine Academy through Stellenbosch University as part of his ongoing professional development journey over the past 11 years at Simonsig. However, what he found most memorable was his time at the University of Cape Town's Graduate School of Business (GSB), where he successfully finished The Business of Wine course. He has since completed a post-graduate diploma in administration through the GSB.

Swarts is also an executive member of BLACC (the Black Cellar Club), an association for individuals from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, particularly in Southern Africa and beyond, who are interested in advancing their wine knowledge for career benefits.

In 2016, Swarts founded Son of the Soil, a non-profit wine business. The programme is designed for rural youth in the Western Cape and aims to inspire them to become responsible and active citizens of South Africa.

We caught up with Swarts to find out more about his new role.

Can you tell us a little about your background and how you got into the wine industry?

As a young child growing up on a wine farm, where my grandfather and parents were labourers, I was introduced quite early to the beauty of nature and farming. I always wanted to become a viticulturist, but my parents could not afford me to go that route due to funding constraints.

I later, through short courses, built up my skill set and experience in the industry and started cementing my influence and role.

What does your role as sales and brand executive at Zoetendal Vineyards entail?

Its a bit of a broad scope.

1. Sales and marketing of the brand

2. Listing the wines in stores (off consumption) and restaurants (on consumption)

3. Managing client relationships

4. Exports

5. Managing the image of the brand in the public domain.

6. Ensuring that the brand strategically aligns with like-minded establishments

7. Grow sales

8. Managing the vineyards and winemaking

These are some of the roles in need to fulfil.

What do you hope to achieve in your new role? What is first on your agenda?

Establishing the brand as a premium/ luxury wine brand. Understanding the culture of the business and starting to increase the visibility of the brand.

How do you think your background will influence your approach to your new role?

Without my background, I would not have acquired the necessary skill set and experience. The values I hold dear will be a critical part/ tool of obtaining success within my new role.

What have been the highlights of your career so far?

 Changing the narrative of a farm child and the typical stigma that comes with it.

 Obtaining my Business of Wine Certificate at the University of Cape Towns Graduate School of Business and later graduating with a PGDip in Business Administration.

 Receiving an International Scholarship with the Gerrard Basset Foundation.

 Establishment of my leadership foundation - Son of the Soil Leadership Foundation

What would you say have been the challenges?

Having to work 10x harder than your white colleagues to earn the necessary respect for your craft.

What advice would you give to young people who are interested in pursuing a career in the wine industry?

You must love and have a passion for this industry because you not just compete against other brands and the forces of nature but also against the stigma that comes with the industry's history. If you have the above, you make sure that you equip yourself to become the best at your craft, your education can never be taken away.

Lastly, remain humble (remember it's other peoples knowledge that empowers you to obtain more knowledge and therefore calls you to practise the philosophy of Ubuntu).
Fourteen small and growing businesses (SGBs) in KwaZulu-Natal have graduated from Fortress Real Estate Investments and Growthpoint Properties' enterprise development programme Property Point.

Image supplied

Despite the challenges faced in 2020 and 2021, the programmes have recorded a combined revenue of over R163m in two years, generating around 150 full-time and part-time jobs and accessing over R34m worth of contracts.

Over the course of the two-year Property Point programme, Fortress had nine graduates that generated a revenue of over R86m. In comparison, Growthpoint had five graduates that generated a revenue of over R77m in two years. Both programmes had an annual average revenue growth rate of 45% in the first year, 23% in the second year, and an overall average of 34% in the total duration of the programme.

Shawn Theunissen, CEO of Property Point, congratulated all participants of the programmes and commended them for their resilience and hard work.

We are getting a step closer to strengthening the impact of local economic development, and through these programmes, we will prove that SMEs have a larger impact on the growth of this countrys economy, striving for success and sustainability against all odds.

In the spirit of hope and innovation, this ceremony and its reports of success represent the resilience and hard work of the SGBs. It is a testimony to the impact of hard work and determination in creating sustainable jobs and revenue streams through entrepreneurship. These sponsorships have contributed to economic growth, job creation, and the overall development of the South African business landscape, said Theunissen.

The 14 graduating businesses included the following:

Growthpoint cohort:

PhePhela Elangen

FS Gonzalves Construction

Imisebe Yethemba

Mad Design Studios

Siyamceba Trading

Fortress cohort:
Social entrepreneurs are vital to a sustainable future for South Africa as a whole - they solve societal and environmental problems, combat challenges in ways that government and traditional charities cannot, and positively impact society and/or the environment.

Pule Monare (left), winner of the Iwisa No.1 Community Champion Competition, celebrating his victory with Julian Singonzo (right) from Premier FMCG.

This is why Premier FMCG, Social Enterprise Connect (SEC), Social Enterprise Academy Africa (SEAA) and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) have come together to launch the Iwisa No.1 Community Champions Competition, which identifies, upskills, and rewards community-based entrepreneurs for doing good while doing well in some of Premiers key regions: Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng and the Western Cape.

We aim to build strong communities by empowering South African citizens who add value to our economy and the societies in which they operate through this competition.

 Sibongile Mooko

The winners were announced at an awards lunch held in each province during March 2023. The Top 10 finalists in each region pitched their businesses to a panel of judges consisting of a Premier FMCG representative, community development stakeholders and successful social entrepreneurs. First place winners were rewarded with R30,000 and all winners also gain additional expert business mentorship through the SEAA as part of their prize.

Taking top honours in the Free State was Pule Monare from PUFTA Pty Ltd, a company that has created employment for over 30 members of the community and sustains itself by selling chicken and crops at the local supermarkets.

Mkhululi Mnukwa (left), winner of the Iwisa No.1 2022 Community Champion Competition, receives his cash prize from Nadia van Rensburg (right), Premier FMCGs Area sales manager for the Eastern Cape.

In the Eastern Cape, Mkhululi Mnukwa from M&M Trading won first place for his company that sells vegetables and provides experiential training to other youth in the community.

Left to right: Winners of the Iwisa No.1 Community Champion Competition, Thozama Sikiti (3rd place), Sizwe Nzima (1st place), Colin Mkosi (2nd place), and Inga Mayile, a Cloudy Deliveries rider, celebrate their victory.

Sizwe Nzima from Iyeza Health took first place in the Western Cape. The company provides logistics business services focusing on increasing access to treatment and healthcare products in the communities. It sustains itself by charging the patients and suppliers a delivery fee.

Left to right: Fortune Hadebe, Julian Singonzo and Mzokhona Maxase celebrate Cubic38 winning the Iwisa No.1 2022 Community Champion Competition.

Fortune Hadebe & Mzokhona Maxase from Cubic38 cleaned up in Gauteng with their innovative business idea that converts waste tyres into shoe polish and other consumables.

Sibongile Mooko, marketing executive at Premier, says that finding and assisting individuals who deserve to be rewarded for the role they play in our socio-economic environment is important to IWISA No.1 as a homegrown brand focused on drawing people and communities together to make peoples everyday lives better.

The mentorship our finalists received included three online sessions that helped them to understand how best to use their financial injection to ensure sustainable and long-term success. Finalists were also assisted in creating business models to plan their social impact and maintain profits. In addition, guidance from the SECs expert mentors allowed our entrepreneurs to undertake mapping exercises within their communities to identify other income-generating ideas that could potentially increase their viability and impact and uplift the communities in which they operate, says Jacqueline Mhlanga, Programmes manager at the SEC.

We aim to build strong communities by empowering South African citizens who add value to our economy and the societies in which they operate through this competition. We congratulate our winners and wish them huge success in the future, concludes Mooko.

For more information on Iwisa No.1, contact Sibongile Mooko, moc.GCMFreimerP@okooM.elignobiS | 079 499 5765.




I must say that, funny as Nando's ads are, they might well have lost their place as South Africa's funniest fast-food brand to Chicken Licken.

Not only that, but it seems  judging from the growth of Chicken Licken outlets and, anecdotally, the traction the brand has on social media  that Chicken Lickens marketing is hitting the spot.

Special offer

Chicken Licken has positioned itself on the wacky end of the humorous marketing spectrum  but at the same time, the companys ads have always adhered to the time-honoured principle of call to action by pushing a special offer at an attractive price.

All those targets are hit spot on in the latest Chicken Licken ad for its Easy bucks popcorn chicken special.

The premise of the creative idea is that such a small amount for such a substantial meal is unbelievablebut its also true.

So, we see two guys struggling along in their overloaded, clapped out bakkie. Sitting between them  believe it or not, hah hah  is a massive brown bear. The driver turns to his companion to ask: Is it just me or is there a bear sitting here holding an EasyBucks popcorn chicken shaker from Chicken Licken for only 30 bucks?

Unbelievable but true

His mate, after glancing at the bear, is more surprised by the price of the popcorn chicken, checking repeatedly that he is hearing correctly.

Then to emphasise the point, the bakkie is blasted skywards, as if by the popping of some subterranean popcorn. The popcorn chicken the bear is holding flies upwards from the shaker in slow-motion.

The punchline is simple: Its unbelievablebut true. The ad clip has been posted on social media with the statement: Heres an ad you probably wont believe. But its true.

Its a great way to grab attention on a platform where many users have a short attention span.

Funny, simple yet effective as a retail ad, too. So, another Orchid to Chicken Licken and to its long-time partner agency, Joe Public.

Shameless plug

Not all marketing is about advertising. Sometimes its about more subtle brand building and brand awareness and thats where a public relations agency comes in. A good agency will help a brand tell its story without having to spend advertising money to do so.

Many PR agencies have cottoned on to the realisation that, in these days of shrinking newsrooms, there is a huge opportunity for getting a client what is called earned media . In other words, the press release or opinion piece is good enough to stand on its own as editorial content, without the media demanding money to run it.

The trick, though, is to write such releases so that they are genuinely news-worthy and are not an obvious plug for the client. This, I will acknowledge, is not always easy to do because PR clients often have outsized egos which, coupled with a lack of insight about how the media actually works, can be a lethal combination.

The best PR people will identify those areas in which the brand genuinely has something of interest to say and will, in the best-case scenario, then go on to position the brand as an expert whose opinion and insight is of value to readers or viewers.

Cardinal Sin Number1 in compiling content like this  especially if it ends up before an old-school cynical news editor  is to try to turn it into an ad or shameless plug for a brand. The brand should merely be the facilitator or provider of facts.

No shame in just buying ad space

Thats because people are not stupid. As a PR friend of mine  who has had good success in placing just such earned media pieces  puts it: Offer assistance and people will love you for it. Be seen to be profiting from it and theyre going to hate you.

That clearly is not something that Tinkwe PR agency in Cape Town is aware of, judging by its recent release for Versofy Solar, which would have been spiked in any newsroom I know.

Why? Well because it started off by saying it would answer the most common questions about solar power  something which is on the minds of many these days  but then degenerated into a shameless ad for the company.

In the 750-word release, the companys name was mentioned eight times, as were details of its offers. If you want an ad, buy it.

Its a lost opportunity which, no doubt, some other solar company might well take up effectively because it  and its PR company  understands that this sort of brand building has to be subtle.

Onions to Versofy Solar and Tinkwe. And, to other PR agencies out there thinking of do something similar: Look and learn.
Genesis BBQ Group Chairman Yoon Hong-geun, right, poses with New Jersey Sen. Gordon Johnson after receiving the certificate of merit, in Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of Genesis BBQ



By Kim Hyun-bin



Genesis BBQ Group Chairman Yoon Hong-geun received a certificate of merit from the U.S. state of New Jersey.



According to Genesis BBQ, Chairman Yoon received the certificate awarded by the state legislature in recognition of his contributions to the state's economic development and job creation from New Jersey Senator Gordon Johnson, who recently visited Korea.



As of the end of last month, BBQ is operating a total of 14 stores in New Jersey, including Westwood and Edison stores. New Jersey is where Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor as well as BBQ's global headquarters in the U.S. are located.



"By 2030, we will develop BBQ as a representative brand of K-food with the goal of opening 50,000 stores around the world," said Chairman Yoon.



Last August, Colorado Governor Gerard Polis said BBQ's opening of stores throughout the state is revitalizing the local economy and suggested it should open additional stores at Denver International Airport. In addition, other governors, including the governor of Maryland, have been inviting Yoon to propose the opening of BBQ stores in their states.



Currently, BBQ operates more than 250 stores in more than 20 states in the U.S.


Were not living the American dream. Were living a financial nightmare. The US government is funding its existence with a credit card.

The governmentand that includes the current administrationis spending money it doesnt have on programs it cant afford, and we the taxpayers are the ones being forced to foot the bill for the governments fiscal insanity.

According to the number crunchers with the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, the government is borrowing roughly $6 billion a day.

As the Editorial Board for the Washington Post warns:

The nation has reached a hazardous moment where what it owes, as a percentage of the total size of the economy, is the highest since World War II. If nothing changes, the United States will soon be in an uncharted scenario that weakens its national security, imperils its ability to invest in the future, unfairly burdens generations to come, and will require cuts to critical programs such as Social Security and Medicare. It is not a future anyone wants.

Lets talk numbers, shall we?

The national debt (the amount the federal government has borrowed over the years and must pay back) is $31 trillion and will grow another $19 trillion by 2033. That translates to roughly $246,000 per taxpayer or $94,000 for every single person in the country.

The bulk of that debt has been amassed over the past two decades, thanks in large part to the fiscal shenanigans of four presidents, 10 sessions of Congress and two wars.

Its estimated that the amount this country owes is now 130% greater than its gross domestic product (all the products and services produced in one year by labor and property supplied by the citizens).

In other words, the government is spending more than it brings in.

The U.S. ranks as the 12th most indebted nation in the world, with much of that debt owed to the Federal Reserve, large investment funds and foreign governments, namely, Japan and China.

Interest payments on the national debt are estimated to top $395 billion this year, which is significantly more than the government spends on veterans benefits and services, and according to Pew Research Center, more than it will spend on elementary and secondary education, disaster relief, agriculture, science and space programs, foreign aid, and natural resources and environmental protection combined.

According to the Committee for a Reasonable Federal Budget, the interest weve paid on this borrowed money is nearly twice what the federal government will spend on transportation infrastructure, over four times as much as it will spend on K-12 education, almost four times what it will spend on housing, and over eight times what it will spend on science, space, and technology.

In ten years, those interest payments will exceed our entire military budget.

This is financial tyranny.

Weve been sold a bill of goods by politicians promising to pay down the national debt, jumpstart the economy, rebuild our infrastructure, secure our borders, ensure our security, and make us all healthy, wealthy and happy.

None of that has come to pass, and yet were still being loaded down with debt not of our own making while the government remains unrepentant, unfazed and undeterred in its wanton spending.

Indeed, the national deficit (the difference between what the government spends and the revenue it takes in) remains at more than $1.5 trillion.

If Americans managed their personal finances the way the government mismanages the nations finances, wed all be in debtors prison by now.

Despite the government propaganda being peddled by the politicians and news media, however, the government isnt spending our tax dollars to make our lives better.

Were being robbed blind so the governmental elite can get richer.

In the eyes of the government, we the people, the voters, the consumers, and the taxpayers are little more than pocketbooks waiting to be picked.

We the people have become the new, permanent underclass in America.

Consider: The government can seize your home and your car (which youve bought and paid for) over nonpayment of taxes. Government agents can freeze and seize your bank accounts and other valuables if they merely suspect wrongdoing. And the IRS insists on getting the first cut of your salary to pay for government programs over which you have no say.

We have no real say in how the government runs, or how our taxpayer funds are used, but were being forced to pay through the nose, anyhow.

We have no real say, but that doesnt prevent the government from fleecing us at every turn and forcing us to pay for endless wars that do more to fund the military industrial complex than protect us, pork barrel projects that produce little to nothing, and a police state that serves only to imprison us within its walls.

If you have no choice, no voice, and no real options when it comes to the governments claims on your property and your money, youre not free.

It wasnt always this way, of course.

Early Americans went to war over the inalienable rights described by philosopher John Locke as the natural rights of life, liberty and property.

It didnt take long, howevera hundred years, in factbefore the American government was laying claim to the citizenrys property by levying taxes to pay for the Civil War. As the New York Times reports, Widespread resistance led to its repeal in 1872.

Determined to claim some of the citizenrys wealth for its own uses, the government reinstituted the income tax in 1894. Charles Pollock challenged the tax as unconstitutional, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in his favor. Pollocks victory was relatively short-lived. Members of Congressunited in their determination to tax the American peoples incomeworked together to adopt a constitutional amendment to overrule the Pollock decision.

On the eve of World War I, in 1913, Congress instituted a permanent income tax by way of the 16th Amendment to the Constitution and the Revenue Act of 1913. Under the Revenue Act, individuals with income exceeding $3,000 could be taxed starting at 1% up to 7% for incomes exceeding $500,000.

Its all gone downhill from there.

Unsurprisingly, the government has used its tax powers to advance its own imperialistic agendas and the courts have repeatedly upheld the governments power to penalize or jail those who refused to pay their taxes.

While were struggling to get by, and making tough decisions about how to spend what little money actually makes it into our pockets after the federal, state and local governments take their share (this doesnt include the stealth taxes imposed through tolls, fines and other fiscal penalties), the government continues to do whatever it likeslevy taxes, rack up debt, spend outrageously and irresponsiblywith little thought for the plight of its citizens.

To top it all off, all of those wars the U.S. is so eager to fight abroad are being waged with borrowed funds. As The Atlantic reports, U.S. leaders are essentially bankrolling the wars with debt, in the form of purchases of U.S. Treasury bonds by U.S.-based entities like pension funds and state and local governments, and by countries like China and Japan.

Of course, were the ones who have to repay that borrowed debt.

For instance, American taxpayers have been forced to shell out more than $5.6 trillion since 9/11 for the military industrial complexs costly, endless so-called war on terrorism. That translates to roughly $23,000 per taxpayer to wage wars abroad, occupy foreign countries, provide financial aid to foreign allies, and fill the pockets of defense contractors and grease the hands of corrupt foreign dignitaries.

Mind you, thats only a portion of what the Pentagon spends on Americas military empire.

The United States also spends more on foreign aid than any other nation, with nearly $300 billion disbursed over a five-year period. More than 150 countries around the world receive U.S. taxpayer-funded assistance, with most of the funds going to the Middle East, Africa and Asia. That price tag keeps growing, too.

As Forbes reports, U.S. foreign aid dwarfs the federal funds spent by 48 out of 50 state governments annually. Only the state governments of California and New York spent more federal funds than what the U.S. sent abroad each year to foreign countries.

Most recently, the U.S. has allocated nearly $115 billion in emergency military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine since the start of the Russia invasion.

As Dwight D. Eisenhower warned in a 1953 speech, this is how the military industrial complex continues to get richer, while the American taxpayer is forced to pay for programs that do little to enhance our lives, ensure our happiness and well-being, or secure our freedoms.

This is no way of life.

Yet its not just the governments endless wars that are bleeding us dry.

Were also being forced to shell out money for surveillance systems to track our movements, money to further militarize our already militarized police, money to allow the government to raid our homes and bank accounts, money to fund schools where our kids learn nothing about freedom and everything about how to comply, and on and on.

There was a time in our history when our forebears said enough is enough and stopped paying their taxes to what they considered an illegitimate government. They stood their ground and refused to support a system that was slowly choking out any attempts at self-governance, and which refused to be held accountable for its crimes against the people. Their resistance sowed the seeds for the revolution that would follow.

Unfortunately, in the 200-plus years since we established our own government, weve let bankers, turncoats and number-crunching bureaucrats muddy the waters and pilfer the accounts to such an extent that were back where we started.

Once again, weve got a despotic regime with an imperial ruler doing as they please.

Once again, weve got a judicial system insisting we have no rights under a government which demands that the people march in lockstep with its dictates.

And once again, weve got to decide whether well keep marching or break stride and make a turn toward freedom.

But what if we didnt just pull out our pocketbooks and pony up to the federal governments outrageous demands for more money?

What if we didnt just dutifully line up to drop our hard-earned dollars into the collection bucket, no questions asked about how it will be spent?

What if, instead of quietly sending in our tax checks, hoping vainly for some meager return, we did a little calculating of our own and started deducting from our taxes those programs that we refuse to support?

As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People and in its fictional counterpart The Erik Blair Diaries, if we dont have the right to decide what happens to our hard-earned cash, then we dont have any rights at all.

Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His book Battlefield America: The War on the American People (SelectBooks, 2015) is available online at www.amazon.com. Whitehead can be contacted at john@rutherford.org
Last months Putin/Xi summit answered many questions concerning where the worlds most populous country stood in Russias war against Ukraine, and the closeness of two of the most prominent authoritarian leaders in the world. But what remains unknown is whether or not China will commit to providing weapons and military support to Russia, as the US is doing with Ukraine. And while we can only speculate on how the war in Ukraine will eventually end, its certain that with Chinas tacit support, Russia will feel emboldened to continue to wage war on its western neighbor indefinitely.

As discussed in the previous installment of this series, China is making moves in the Middle East to cement its status as a peacemaker and economic power-broker, with Iran and Saudi Arabia both seeking to join the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) coalition. Argentina and Egypt are also reportedly planning to join BRICS, whose combined GDP has already outpaced the G7 (US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan) when adjusting for purchasing power parity.

It appears that after their summit, China and Russia are working to rally autocratic and authoritarian-leaning governments under one umbrella. If democracy is to survive in the 21st century, western democracies have to step up in a similar way, both internally and externally.

WESTERN DEMOCRACIES HAVE TO LEAD BY EXAMPLE

Its important to remember that, for average people just trying to live their lives, the most important geopolitical binary isnt West vs. East, or US vs. China, or G7 vs. BRICS, but democracy vs. authoritarianism. The response to rising authoritarianism from established democracies must be both internal and external.

If left to their own devices, authoritarian countries like China and Russia will seek out other like-minded countries with whom to deepen their bonds. Socially conservative theocracies like Iran and Saudi Arabia, military-led governments like Egypt, and fledgling democracies like Brazil (whose current constitution is younger than this 35-year-old author) are all susceptible to autocratic rule. While it may seem tempting on the surface, autocratic rule has never succeeded in creating a pro-worker, anti-capitalist utopia.

Even the anti-capitalist revolutions in early 20th century China and Russia were led by leaders who abhorred the concept of democracy (Lenin and Mao). Today, Russia could be described as a state capitalist oligarchy, in which the highest net worth individuals have deep ties to the regime while average Russian workers struggle to meet basic needs. The poverty rate in Russia, for example, is around 12%, roughly on par with the US 11.6% rate. Chinas poverty rate is lower than both Russia and the US, but the Gini coefficient shows its rate of economic inequality is even higher than in the US. According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Chinese workers are facing the same dire consequences faced by American workers, largely due to globalization and technological advances:

China is, in fact, no longer a low-wage, low-cost manufacturing country. As the economy boomed in the mid-2000s, wages increased, curbing demand for workers in manufacturing. As a result, labor-intensive, low-end manufacturing (e.g., textiles and electronics) has been relocating to Bangladesh, Vietnam, and elsewhere. The construction industry, a reliable driver of employment for decades, has also slowed significantly in recent years. Official Chinese data indicates that employment in the manufacturing sector has been declining since 2013. Finally, increased automation may also be hurting job opportunities for workers in lower-skilled occupations.

If democracy is to endure, its incumbent upon leading democracies around the world to pave the path for other countries watching the US and China. Internally, the US has its own battle for democracy being waged between those who believe in it and those who seek to replace it with authoritarianism, like Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis. Externally, the US needs to build a new partnership with other democracies around the world  particularly in the Pacific Rim  and have that partnership be rooted in environmental sustainability and protection for workers.

BETTING THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY ON GREEN ENERGY

President Biden has established a goal of completely ending US reliance on fossil fuels for electricity by 2035. Fossil fuel interests are complicating that, however, by waging disinformation campaigns in small American towns where much of the development for renewable energy projects  many of which already have federal funding appropriated for their construction  will take place. But its important to couch the messaging in the economic benefits of green energy development, and in the economic costs of failing to meet the moment.

In late March, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius  the goal outlined in the Paris Climate Accords  could be out of reach by the early 2030s. IPCC scientists stressed that should warming exceed that amount, it would be catastrophic for the planets ecosystems, claiming millions of human lives and the extinction of countless species. The Biden administration is also stressing the economic costs of climate catastrophe: By the White Houses calculations, natural disasters resulting from a rapidly changing climate cost the US alone more than $165 billion just last year. The University of South Florida estimated that in 2022, Hurricane Ian  the third costliest hurricane in US history  cost more than $112 billion (full disclosure: this author works seasonally as a flood insurance claims adjuster and was paid to adjust dozens of Hurricane Ian-related claims last year).

The US economy could lead again by going all-in on green energy infrastructure as a strategy for both job creation and climate politics. Ironically, the US could do this by following Chinas example, which, over the last two decades, built an enviable publicly owned high-speed rail network and financed it through debt. The Green New Deal (GND)  a sweeping policy vision to rework US infrastructure from a fossil fuel-based one to one powered by green energy  is a great place to start. In 2019, Scientific American estimated that the GND could create more than 3.4 million new jobs each year between 2040 and 2050.

GIVING THE PACIFIC RIM AN ALTERNATIVE TO CHINA

At the macro level, the US could try again to cement an international partnership between the west and emerging east Asian economies to bolster democracy overseas. In addition to the economic benefits of such a coalition, such a partnership could show an alternative to Chinas brand of highly centralized, hierarchical way of conducting business. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) had to fail due to its failure to provide safeguards for the environment and labor rights, but a new agreement rooted in those principles could be truly transformational.

The TPP was set up to ease trade between the US and smaller Pacific Rim countries, like Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam, as well as larger developed countries like Australia, Japan, and New Zealand, and existing NAFTA countries like the US, Canada, and Mexico. The TPP would have eliminated tariff protections for dairy, beef, and poultry producers in the US, Japan, and Canada, boosting agricultural exports from those countries. Altogether, the TPP would have eliminated approximately 18,000 tariffs placed on US exports to other countries, amounting to hundreds of billions in new economic activity for both the US and its trade partners.

However, where the TPP fell short was in the ease of financial institutions to exploit the agreement, by which a multilateral trade deal would have made it easier for banks to skirt financial regulations imposed by certain jurisdictions. The TPPs additional protections on patents and copyrights would have made it more difficult for cheaper, generic alternatives to prescription drugs to enter the market, needlessly raising the cost of drugs across the board. And the TPP was blasted by environmental and labor activists for being written in favor of international commerce, meaning corporations would have reaped the enormous benefits of easier international trade, as it would outweigh penalties for violating environmental and labor laws.

A new version of the TPP, geared not toward mere commerce but toward international solidarity in the face of the dual threats of both authoritarianism and climate change, could similarly create an alliance between the west and smaller Asian countries that would show a capable alternative to the traditionally authoritarian Asian powers of China, India, and Russia. As the National Resources Defense Council wrote in 2019, the US could make a few shrewd moves aimed at helping emerging economies develop their own green energy infrastructure, modernize their grids, and design new, cutting-edge green energy tools like solar panels, wind turbines, battery storage, energy-efficient appliances, and electric vehicles. In the process, this could help both the US and its trade partners bolster their local economies.

A byproduct of this partnership would be democracies succeeding in both economic output and climate mitigation, proving that a country can succeed without buying into the brand of authoritarianism preferred by China and Russia. Ultimately, this level of collective action will be necessary not just to stop regional atrocities like those happening in the Ukraine war, but global atrocities like the threat climate change poses to the survival of biodiversity and the human species. An authoritarian approach to such a threat can never work  democracies have to lead.

(This is the second half of a two-part series analyzing geopolitical events in the wake of the Xi Jinping/Vladimir Putin summit. Click here to read part one.)

Carl Gibson is an independent journalist and columnist whose work has been published in CNN, The Guardian, The Washington Post, The Houston Chronicle, Barrons, Business Insider, and The Independent, among others. Follow him on Mastodon @crgibs@mastodon.social.
Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, a Stanford-educated ear, nose, and throat doctor, isnt afraid to voice her beliefs. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, she repeatedly used her platform on Twitter and TikTok to question the vaccines, promote ivermectin as a treatment, and call out pharmacists for refusing to dispense it.

But her efforts resulted in significant backlash. On Nov. 7, 2021, Dr. Danielle Jones, an OBGYN who posts under the handle @MamaDoctorJones on YouTube, TikTok, and Twitterand has millions of followersput out a video accusing Bowden of grifting, rejecting science, and profiting from those who questioned the vaccine.

The video received thousands of comments, including from Team Halo members, Dr. Zachary Rubin, a pediatrician, and Christina Kim, an oncology nurse practitioner. Team Halo is a social media influencer campaign formed as part of the United Nations Verified initiative and the Vaccine Confidence Project to increase vaccine uptake.

That doc is problematic, Rubin wrote. Kim followed with, Wow. That doctor should have her license revoked.



The logos of Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat on mobile devices in a combination of 20172022 photos. (AP Photo)

On Nov. 12, 2021, five days after the video, Bowden received a text message from the Houston Chronicle, Hi Dr. Bowden, Im told youve been suspended from Houston Methodist pending further investigation because of your comments on social media. I plan to report that this afternoon but wanted to give you an opportunity to comment. Stunned, Bowden responded that the text was the first she had heard of the suspension.

The suspension turned out to be the tip of the iceberg. Over the following months, Bowdens life was thrown into chaos as multiple social media influencers targeted her. However, the most dogged was a pharmacist named Savannah, who posts under the handle @rxOrcist.

Savannah has over a million followers. She made a video about me because I have been calling out, online, pharmacists that were refusing to dispense ivermectin, Bowden told The Epoch Times. The majority of them happen to be Asian. So, she, therefore, concluded that I was racist against Asians and called me a xenophobic, racist [expletive], among other things.

Because she has so many followers, when she makes a video about you, you get an army of people coming after you. A lot of fake people [writing] reviews. Thats one of the biggest things. You cant get them removed. Ive tried to get them removed, and I can prove that theyre not my patients.

Bowden added that shed been kicked off of TikTok, is on probation on YouTube, had complaints filed against her, and has even had to call security when someone came to her office and threatened her.

In the video, Savannah showed that she reported Bowden to the Texas Medical Board. The board declined to investigate her specific complaints. Still, they are pursuing two other complaintsone filed by Houston Methodist claiming a violation of patient care and one filed by Texas Health Huguley Hospital for prescribing ivermectin.

In the comments of Savannahs video, Tyler Kuhk, a nurse and previous Team Halo member according to web archives, and who posts under @thatsassynp, stated, How these loons still have licenses is beyond me. Why is an ENT even treating COVID?

Savannah is part of a group called Shots Heard, which calls itself a rapid-response digital cavalry dedicated to protecting the online safety of health care providers and practices. Kuhk is also a member. Savannah joined Shots Heard on Aug. 6, 2020, and Kuhk joined on Feb. 13, 2021.

According to its website, Shots Heard is an initiative under The Public Good Projects (PGP), a public health nonprofit specializing in large-scale media monitoring programs, social and behavior change interventions, and cross-sector initiatives.

Another of PGPs initiatives is the Public Health Communications Collaborative (PHCC), which sits within the CDC Foundationa nonprofit arm of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) established by Congress.

The goal of the communications collaborative, according to PGP, is to decrease misinformation and increase vaccine demand worldwide. And its using social media influencers to silence vaccine detractors.

A Tangled Web

PGP is headquartered in New York and was founded in 2013. Its current CEO is Dr. Joe Smyser, who holds a Ph.D. and masters in public health and completed his postdoctoral training at the CDC.

The Tennessee Department of Health states about Smyser and PGP, Dr. Smyser has designed some of the United States most influential and impactful health campaigns to date in partnership with the CDC, FDA, Kaiser Permanente, Rockefeller, and Humana.

According to its website, the CDC Foundation is the sole entity created by Congress to mobilize philanthropic and private-sector resources to support the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions critical health protection work.



The Emergency Operations Center at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Ga., on March 19, 2021. (Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images)

Since its creation, the CDC Foundation has launched over 1,300 health protection programs and raised over $2 billion in support for the CDC.

One of those health protection programs is PGP partner PHCC, which according to its website, was formed in August 2020 to provide unbiased communication about the COVID-19 pandemic. And one of the ways PHCC accomplishes that is by putting out Misinformation Alerts, which are powered by PGP.

For example, on March 23, PHCC posted on its website that a well-known anti-vaccine physician claimed that COVID-19 vaccines caused an increase in miscarriages and stillbirths. It labeled it a high-risk alert and recommended, directly addressing and debunking the misinformation.

That debunking, according to PHCC, includes using a strong, robust social mobilization to amplify messages from the World Health Organization and UNICEF, encouraging social media organizations to flag misinformation, and promoting trusted pro-vaccine voices.

Enter, Shots Heard.

Shots Heard and Team Halo

On its homepage, Shots Heard states, If you stand up for vaccine science, well stand up for you. It includes a link for people to apply to sign up to defend vaccine advocates. It also provides a link to Alert the Shots Heard Cavalry, plus a link to a members-only Facebook group, which currently has 1,176 members.

An insider in the group who requested to remain anonymous for fear of being kicked out supplied The Epoch Times with screenshots and messages of the Shots Heard Facebook group.

In one alert, a Shots Heard member named Bernadine Huff posted, Its important for all of us to stop the insanity and to call out other healthcare workers that dont believe in science. She encouraged Shots Heard members to report a graduate nurse named Megan to the Ohio Nursing Board for providing information on how to get a medical exemption for the COVID-19 vaccine. The replies from numerous Shots Heard members simply state, reported.

In another alert, Shots Heard group administrator Jeff Sykes posts, Hey Shots Heard, its been brought to our attention that Dr. Scott Jensen has been using his online platforms to spread misinformation about COVID-19.  We need your help reporting him.

Shots Heard member Marcia Fiamengo posted this alert, Need help reporting this group, and linked to a group promoting ivermectin. Among the many who replied was New Yorks Suffolk County Department of Health account, which wrote, Reported.

Fiamengo also posted on Dec. 29, 2021, Fantastic news, and attached a screenshot of Dr. Robert Malones suspended Twitter account. Shots Heard member Angie Anderson states in the comments, Ooooh, I just reported a few of his posts yesterday. So satisfying when you see real results.

On March 24, 2022, Fiamengo encouraged Shots Heard members to report Bowden. Again, Suffolk County Health responded, this time with Done. On May 2, 2022, Fiamengo again made a celebratory post. This time for an American Frontline Doctor being stripped of all state licenses after prescribing ivermectin. Wooooo!!!! Another one bites the dust! she said.

Shots Heard doesnt limit itself to reporting single healthcare practitioners. On Sep. 12, 2021, Shots Heard member Liz Ditz reported a preprint by researchers Dr. Tracy Beth Hoeg, Allison Krug, Josh Stevenson, and Dr. John Mandrola, which found vaccine-induced myocarditis might be worse than COVID-induced myocarditis. Shots Heard members were outraged.

The Twitter sign is seen at their headquarters in San Francisco, Calif., on Oct. 28, 2022. (Constanza hevia/AFP via Getty Images)

Moreover, Shots Heard doesnt limit itself to simply reporting. When Bowden posted on Twitter, Are Americans supposed to take this [expletive]? We dont want your shot, and we especially dont want it for our kids, her post was flagged and flooded with Shots Heard member comments.

Such tactics are called gang stalking, Nicole Sirotek, a registered nurse in Nevada and the founder of American Frontline Nurses, told The Epoch Times. [Shots Heard members] make videos about [the offending health care worker] saying they need to be delicensed, then [Shots Heard] followers go and hunt down the nurse and swarm the licensing board.

Sirotek has been the victim of many such attacks from Shots Heard and Team Halothe two groups share many of the same members.

For example, in December 2022, Team Halo member Jess, who posts under the TikTok handle @jesss2019, doxed Sirotek on TikTok by revealing a previously court-sealed name change. Jess is a Featured Influencer for The Health Influencer Council, another PGP project that includes Shots Heard, and This Is Our Shot  a diverse coalition of health heroes who engage on social media to combat misinformation and build vaccine trust, according to its website.

An Inside Look

Tyler Hardy, a previous Team Halo member known as your favorite field epidemiologist until he ignited a social media firestorm for lying about some of his credentials, told The Epoch Times hes seen both sides of the social initiates.

I joined Team Halo at the beginning of 2022, in January. I was invited by nurse Jess [@jesss2019], Hardy said. I wanted to educate, and that was why I thought Team Halo would be good because it would give me the exposure to do that.

As I got behind the scenes of these big creators, right, these people like Dr. Cat and Dr. Jon, Jess, @thatsassynp, I learned that they were, pardon my French, just [expletive]. And they let that stardom of being part of Team Halo get to their head.

During his time at Team Halo, Hardy said Team Halo members communicated over a private WhatsApp chat. Anytime a Team Halo member disagreed with someone online, You just put it in the chat, and then every single person in Team Halo would instantly jump on them. Get them fired, Hardy said.

Continue reading here

*********

(TLB) publised this article as posted by Tyler Durden and written by Katie Spence via The Epoch Times

Header featured image (edited) credit: CDC/org. The Epoch Times article

Emphasis added by (TLB) editors
Lula visit seen as victory for partnership

10:58, April 17, 2023 By SERGIO HELD in Bogota ( China Daily

President Xi Jinping hosts a welcoming ceremony for visiting Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva before their talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Friday. [FENG YONGBIN/CHINA DAILY]

Brazil and China can look forward to closer bilateral relations, experts say

The relationship between Brazil and China has been further cemented following President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's recent four-day visit to China, analysts say.

It was Lula's first foreign trip outside the Americas since he was installed as president for his third term on Jan 1. In a joint statement issued after he met President Xi Jinping, the two leaders agreed to deepen coordination in multinational bodies such as the BRICS and the G20. The BRICS grouping consists of Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa.

Lula's visit is historic because it represents a piece of a more complex puzzle of the world order, said David Castrillon, a research professor at the School of Finance, Government, and International Relations of Externado University of Colombia.

Countries such as Brazil and France have been calling for a multipolar international order in which no one country can impose its voice and its models on the rest of the world, Castrillon said.

Recent visits give support to this argument (of multilateralism) that China has been pushing for decades, Castrillon said, referring to Lula's trip and the recent visit to China of France's President Emmanuel Macron.

The most stable international order is one in which everyone has a voice and in which everyone follows models that correspond with their particularities, he said. "Therein lies the great long-term importance of this visit."

Henrique Reis, international relations manager at the China Trade Center Group in Sao Paulo, said Lula's visit is politically important and shows the world an image of a political partnership between the two countries.

Trade between the two countries is robust and will continue to grow, he said.

China has been Brazil's main trading partner since 2009. Last year China imported more than $89.7 billion of Brazilian products, especially soy and minerals, and exported goods worth almost $60.7 billion to the domestic market.

The value of trade, $150.4 billion, grew 21 times from the time of Lula's first visit to the country, in 2004, the Brazilian government said.

About 20 bilateral agreements were signed during Lula's recent visit, including for the construction of CBERS-6, the sixth in a line of satellites built in partnership between Brazil and China that will help to monitor the Amazon jungle.

"The differential of the new model is a technology that allows the monitoring of biomes such as the Amazon rainforest even when it is cloudy," the Brazilian government said in a statement.

Castrillon said this is just one example of the short-term results of Lula's visit to China, which underscores a comprehensive strategic relationship at the highest level.

Deepened ties

In recent years the relationship has deepened and, with this visit, the two countries have taken an additional step in broadening the foundations of the relationship, which is one of trust and is comprehensive, Castrillon said.

"The two leaders reached agreements in innovative areas, such as 5G, in digital economy issues, in innovation issues, in food security issues, in which tech and innovation are integrated.

"In the short term, this visit takes a step forward in that direction and is a good example of the benefits of this order supported by China and now also by Brazil."

During Lula's visit he stressed that Beijing was essential for the creation of the BRICS, and that the relationship between the two countries has the potential to consolidate a new South-South relationship.

For his part, Xi said this is the first year of comprehensively implementing the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

On this new journey China is striving to enhance high-quality development, accelerate the establishment of a new pattern of development and promote a high level of opening-up to the outside world, which will bring more opportunities to all countries, including Brazil, Xi said.

The writer is a freelance journalist for China Daily.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
This photo, provided by LG Chem, shows the site for the Saemangeum industrial complex in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, about 180 kilometers southwest of Seoul, April 17. Yonhap



LG Chem said Monday it is joining hands with a Chinese mining company to build a battery precursor factory in Korea, as it steps up to bolster the supply chains of secondary battery materials.



LG Chem plans to sign a preliminary agreement Wednesday with Huayou Cobalt, under which they will invest 1.2 trillion won ($913.2 million) in total by 2028 for the precursor manufacturing facility in the country's southwest, the Seoul-based chemical company said in a release.



The factory will be located in a state-funded industrial complex in Saemangeum, a reclaimed area in the southwestern coastal city of Gunsan in North Jeolla Province, about 180 kilometers away from Seoul, LG Chem said.



A precursor is a specific chemical form containing nickel, cobalt, manganese and aluminum before it is turned into cathodes, a key secondary battery material that determines the power and range of electric vehicle batteries. Precursors account for 65-70 percent of the cost of cathodes.



The factory will aim to produce 50,000 tons of precursors a year by 2026 before expanding the annual capacity to as much as 100,000 tons over the following years. The latter amount is enough to produce cathodes for about 1 million electric vehicles, LG Chem said.



LG Chem and Huayou will also work to build a refining facility for metal sulfates, a feedstock for precursor, in the same complex.



The factory, when completed, is expected to help LG Chem boost its manufacturing capacity for secondary battery materials and secure a stable supply of raw materials, the company said.



The Saemangeum Development and Investment Agency, the governments of North Jeolla and Gunsan City, and the Korea Rural Community Corp. will also sign the agreement. (Yonhap)


Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act permits the U.S. government to engage in mass, warrantless surveillance of Americans international communications, including phone calls, texts, emails, social media messages, and web browsing. The government claims to be pursuing vaguely defined foreign intelligence targets, but its targets need not be spies, terrorists, or criminals. They can be virtually any foreigner abroad: journalists, academic researchers, scientists, or businesspeople. And in the course of this surveillance, the government casts a wide net that ensnares the communications of ordinary Americans on a massive scale  in violation of our constitutional rights.

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act allows for blatant abuses of privacy. Tell your representative it must expire.

As Congress debates the reauthorization of Section 702, its vital that we tell our representatives in Congress that we want an end to warrantless mass surveillance. Heres what you need to know to follow the debate and speak up for your right to privacy.

1. The NSA uses Section 702 to conduct at least two large-scale surveillance programs.

The government conducts at least two kinds of surveillance under Section 702: PRISM: The NSA obtains communications  such as international messages, emails, and internet calls  directly from U.S. tech and social media companies like Facebook, Google, Apple, and Microsoft. The government identifies non-U.S. person accounts it wishes to monitor, and then orders the company to disclose all communications and data to and from those accounts, including communications with U.S. persons. Upstream: Working with companies like AT&T and Verizon, the NSA intercepts and copies Americans international internet communications in bulk as they flow into and out of the United States. The NSA then searches for key terms, such as email addresses or phone numbers, that are associated with its hundreds of thousands of foreign targets. Communications determined to be to and from those targets  as well as those that happen to be bundled with them in transit  are retained in NSA databases for further use and analysis. Critically, while Section 702 does not allow the NSA to target Americans at the outset, vast quantities of our communications are still searched and amassed in government databases simply because we are in touch with people abroad. And this is the bait-and-switch: Although the law allows surveillance of foreigners abroad for foreign intelligence purposes, the FBI routinely exploit this rich source of our information by searching those databases to find and examine the communications of individual Americans for use in domestic investigations.

2. Section 702 surveillance is expanding.

The scale of Section 702 has been growing significantly over time, meaning more and more Americans are caught in this net. When the government first began releasing statistics, after the Snowden revelations in 2013, it reported having 89,138 targets. By 2021, the government was targeting the communications of a staggering 232,432 individuals, groups, and organizations. Although the government often seeks to portray the surveillance as targeted and narrow, the reality is that it takes place on a massive scale. Indeed, the government reported that in 2011, Section 702 surveillance resulted in the retention of more than 250 million internet communications (a number that does not reflect the far larger quantity of communications whose contents the NSA searched before discarding them). Given the rate at which the number of Section 702 targets is growing, its likely that the government today collects over a billion communications under Section 702 each year. But these statistics tell only part of the story. The government has never provided data on the number of Americans who are surveilled under PRISM and Upstream, a number that is surely also increasing. That is a glaring gap in its transparency reports.

3. Section 702 has morphed into a domestic surveillance tool.

Although Congress intended Section 702 to be used for counterterrorism purposes, its frequently used today to pursue domestic investigations of all kinds. Both the FBI and CIA have access to some of the raw data produced by this surveillance, and they increasingly use that access to examine the private communications of Americans they are investigating  all without a warrant. FBI agents routinely run searches looking for information about Americans as part of criminal investigations, including those that have nothing to do with national security. Based on the most recent reporting, agents conduct millions of these U.S. person queries  also known as backdoor searches  each year. The only limitation on backdoor searches is that they must be reasonably likely to retrieve foreign intelligence or evidence of a crime. The standard for conducting backdoor searches is so low that, without any showing of suspicion, an FBI agent can type in an Americans name, email address, or phone number, and pull up whatever communications the FBIs Section 702 collection has vacuumed into its databases over the past five years. These searches are a free pass for accessing constitutionally protected communications that would otherwise be off-limits to the FBI, unless it got a warrant. Evidence that agents have refused to comply with this low bar for conducting searches has piled up. Agents have violated the FBIs own rules over and over, accessing Americans private communications without any legitimate purpose. They have dipped into Section 702 data for information about relatives, potential witnesses and informants, journalists, political commentators, and government officials, including a member of Congress.

4. Section 702 violates our constitutional rights, but the courts have failed to intervene.

The Fourth Amendment guarantees the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. Government agents are required to obtain a warrant to access our emails, online messages, and chats. Large-scale, warrantless surveillance of Americans private communications is at odds with this basic constitutional principle. Section 702 also violates the Constitution by inhibiting freedom of speech and association. The reasonable fear that the U.S. government is spying on communications may deter journalists, lawyers, activists, and others from communicating freely on the Internet. We all have a right to exchange messages with our friends, family, colleagues, and clients abroad without worrying that the government is reading over our shoulder. Because Section 702 is unconstitutional, the ACLU and others have attempted to challenge it in court. But the courts have failed to protect our constitutional rights. Instead, courts have repeatedly dismissed civil cases challenging Section 702  citing government claims of secrecy  and have declined to rule on claims in criminal cases that the governments backdoor searches violate the Fourth Amendment. This year, we brought one of these cases to the Supreme Court, but it refused to consider it.

5. Congress has the power to stop Section 702 surveillance.
45 days after 9/11, the United States government passed the PATRIOT Act  a chilling law that used the guise of national security to greatly expand the federal governments secret surveillance powers.

Almost 23 years later, another far-reaching bill, the Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology Act, better known by its acronym, the RESTRICT Act, is using the same national security talking point to justify further federal government encroachment on Americans rights.

Although the bill doesnt mention TikTok, its authors, Democratic Senator Mark Warner and Republican Senator John Thune, have framed it as the best way to counter the TikTok threat.

However, the impact of the bill extends far beyond TikTok and gives the US government sweeping powers to ban a wide range of apps and services.

The bill authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to review and prohibit current, past, or potential future transactions involving technology products or services with more than one million US-based annual active users that:

Are deemed to pose an undue or unacceptable risk in various areas (such as national security and election interference)

Involve anyone determined to be owned, directed, or controlled by a foreign adversary (a term that can currently be applied to China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela but can be extended to other nations by the Secretary)

The Secretary of Commerce can also refer these tech products and services to the President who can take action to compel divestment of, or otherwise mitigate the risk associated with them.

Caitlin Vogus, the deputy director of rights group the Center for Democracy & Technologys Free Expression Project, warned that these powers target the free speech rights of Americans. In a statement to Motherboard, she said:

The RESTRICT Act could lead to apps and other ICT [information communication technology] services with connections to certain foreign countries being banned in the United States. Any bill that would allow the US government to ban an online service that facilitates Americans speech raises serious First Amendment concerns.

Rights groups have also sounded the alarm about the RESTRICT Acts threats to fine or imprison those who attempt to evade the provisions of the bill  a threat that they fear could be aimed at US citizens who attempt to access banned apps or services.

The RESTRICT Act states: No person may engage in any transaction or take any other action with intent to evade the provisions of this Act.

The bill even makes it unlawful to approve of any act that tries to evade the provisions of the bill.

People that violate these rules can be fined up to $1 million and imprisoned for up to 20 years.

Senator Warner has insisted that these penalties wont be used to target individual users.

However, digital rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), has noted that the bill doesnt actually prevent individual users from being targeted. In an article about the RESTRICT Act, the EFF warned:

Due to undefined mitigation measures coupled with a vague enforcement provision, the bill could also criminalize common practices like using a VPN or side-loading to install a prohibited app.

Another concerning aspect of the RESTRICT Act is that it allows the Secretary of Commerce to form technical advisory committees without them being subject to Chapter 10 of part 1 of title 5 of the United States Code.

This section of the law aims to reduce the undue influence of special interests and lobbyists. It allows Congress to review the proposed activities of advisory committees before theyre formed and ensure that these committees arent being inappropriately influenced by special interests. It also requires advisory committees to report their activities and goals to Congress, make their meetings open to the public, make transcripts available to the public, and file reports with the Library of Congress.

Excluding RESTRICT Act advisory committees from this section of the law opens the door for lobbyists representing US tech giants to serve on these committees, push for their competitors in other countries to be banned, and further cement their dominance.

And the problems dont end here. The RESTRICT Act also limits judicial, congressional, and public scrutiny of the governments actions.

Actions taken by the Secretary of the Treasury under this act are exempt from sections 551, 553-559, and 701-707 of title 5 of the United States Code  sections that require federal officials and agencies to provide public notice when proposing rule making, allow interested persons to participate in the rule making, and give those who suffer legal wrong as a result of government action the right to judicial review.

The scope of judicial review under the RESTRICT Act is limited to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and the court is prohibited from disturbing any action taken by the Secretary or the President when they review or prohibit transactions or take action against tech products and services, unless a petitioner demonstrates that the action is unconstitutional or violates a statutory command.

Additionally, Americans have no right of access to the information that the government uses when deciding whether to prohibit transactions involving technology products or services under this bill. The Freedom of Information Act also doesnt apply to any information submitted by affected parties or created by the government when reviewing such transactions.

We obtained a copy of the RESTRICT Act for you here.

Despite the glaring problems with the bill, its architects are blaming TikTok for the criticism and claiming that the owners of the app are spreading false claims about the Restrict Act in an effort to continue operating with impunity.

According to Warner, the RESTRICT ACT has more than 20 bipartisan cosponsors.

The bill also has the full support of the Biden White House which has already demonstrated that its no fan of free speech and is currently being sued for alleged First Amendment violations.

If the RESTRICT Act passes, the Biden admin and any future pro-censorship administrations will be handed new powers to continue their crackdowns on online speech.

If you're tired of censorship, cancel culture, and the erosion of civil liberties subscribe to Reclaim The Net.
POSCO Center building in Seoul / Courtesy of POSCO Group



By Park Jae-hyuk



POSCO Group is facing a growing backlash over its recent decision to grant treasury stocks collectively worth nearly 10 billion won ($7.6 million) to Chairman Choi Jeong-woo and 27 other executives, according to industry officials Monday.



Unionized workers at POSCO criticized the top executives for raking in money despite worsening profits at the steelmaker and former executives also condemned the stock grant, urging Choi to step down voluntarily.



According to a regulatory filing by POSCO Holdings, the 28 executives received the treasury stocks of the group's holding company on March 31 in compensation for their performance. This came after POSCO Group's executives received hefty bonuses late last year.



In particular, the chairman was given 1,812 treasury stocks worth over 600 million won. He also made an annual salary of 1 billion won last year, in addition to a 1.9 billion won bonus.





POSCO's unionized workers hold a press conference in front of POSCO Center building in Seoul, April 7. Courtesy of POSCO union


By Park Jae-hyuk



Korean exports to Russia's neighboring countries have grown rapidly since the international community imposed sanctions against Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine in February last year, data showed Monday.



Given that Korea's exports to Russia dropped sharply since the war began, experts assumed that Central Asian and Eastern European nations have been used for Korean exporters to circumvent international sanctions against Russia.



According to data compiled by the Korea International Trade Association, Korea's exports to Russia last year fell 37 percent year-on-year to $6.3 billion.



The downward trend, which started after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, has continued this year, as Korea's exports to Russia during the first three months of this year also declined 20.2 percent year-on-year to $1.7 billion.



In contrast, Korea's exports to Kyrgyzstan in 2022 jumped 231.4 percent year-on-year to $373 million. During the first three months of this year, the figure even showed a 480 percent year-on-year growth. In particular, Korea's exports of smartphones to Kyrgyzstan in February was 294 times larger than that of last year. Exports of consumer goods, such as toothpaste, also showed a sharp increase.



Another Russian neighbor that showed a rapid increase in imports from Korea was Kazakhstan.



Korea's exports to Kazakhstan soared 115 percent year-on-year to $1.66 billion in 2022 and 121 percent year-on-year to $468 million during the first three months of this year. Exports of used cars accounted for the largest proportion of Korea's entire outbound shipments to the Central Asian country.



Russia's other neighbors, such as Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Georgia, also increased their imports from Korea, enabling Korea to reduce the negative impact of its falling gross exports in recent months.



Jeong Min-hyeon, head of the Russia and Eurasia Team at the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP), said that it is difficult to rule out the possibility of Korean products flowing into Russia via its neighboring countries.



"Amid the setback in direct trade with Russia, its neighboring countries can be used as detours," he said. "For each Korean exporter, this can be a strategy to maximize profits, while reducing risks."



The KIEP researcher added that it will not be easy for Korean manufacturers to pull out of Russia, considering fixed costs and sales networks they have built up there.



U.S. and European companies cut their ties with Russia last year. But Korean companies have maintained their operations in Russia. They have also remained cautious about condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine, despite criticism of their failure to denounce Moscow.



"When most global enterprises left Russia at the time of its moratorium in the late 1990s, Korean companies stayed there, expanding their presence," Jeong said.



An executive at a Korean conglomerate with operations in Russia also said that his company is unlikely to leave the country, as it is virtually impossible for foreign companies to return to the Russian market after it pulls out.


British consulting company Intralink Group's CEO Gregory Sutch, right, and Intralink Korea Regional Managing Director Jonathan Cleave, left, cut ribbons with British Ambassador to Korea Colin Crooks, during its opening ceremony after relocation, Seoul, April 17. Intralink is specialized in connecting global IT companies with clients in Korea. Courtesy of Intralink Korea
The Commercial Court has been asked to resolve a dispute over the ownership of Dublin property assets involving the sale of shares in Bad Ass Cafe, the purchase of Delaney's pub in Smithfield and ownership of a property in Gardiner Street/Mabbot Lane.

Businesswoman Marina Valera claims her former business partner Paul Tiernan, is asserting "some form of beneficial interest" over the assets in what she says represents an opportunistic attempt to leverage her and her companies into making a payment to him.

Ms Valera, who also says she was romantically involved with Mr Tiernan between 2008 and 2011, has brought proceedings which she says are to clarify who owns the properties and assets. She says Mr Tiernan enjoys no right, title or interest over the assets.

Her case was admitted to the Commercial Court on Monday by Mr Justice Denis McDonald on consent between the parties. The court heard Mr Tiernan strongly disputes her claims.

Advertisement

The judge also welcomed that the parties are to try to settle the matter by mediation, and he adjourned it to next month.

The case is brought by Ms Valera, of Lower Gardiner Street, Dublin, Laupteen Ltd, Femida Ltd and Blackhill Resources Ltd against Mr Tiernan of Churchfields, K-Club, Straffan, Co Kildare.

Ms Valera said, in an affidavit, that in pre-action correspondence, Mr Tiernan appeared to be claiming a beneficial interest in the Gardiner Street property, which was run as a B&B/hostel. She said it was previously owned by him through the Laupteen company until shares in that firm were transferred to her and a lease was created over the property.

She said that from October 2010, Mr Tiernan enjoyed no economic interest in that B&B business which she said she "worked tirelessly" to develop.

She transferred her shareholding in Laupteen in 2028 to Femida, which she owned outright, and the following year transferred that shareholding to Blackhill which she became 97.5pc shareholder of.

It is proposed that a sale by Blackhill of the shares in Femida will take place within six to eight weeks and will raise more than 6.2 million. She said Mr Tiernan's assertion of a beneficial interest has the potential to derail that share sale.

Ms Valera said she also had a 50pc interest in Benqueues Ltd, which owned and operated the Bad Ass Cafe in Temple Bar. She and her fellow shareholder recently sold their shares in Benqueues for 1.9 million.

Ireland Husband jailed for hiring hitman to kill couple ha... Read More

She said it is difficult to understand how Mr Tiernan can plausibly assert a right or entitlement to a share of those proceeds.She said it is also "difficult to credit" his claim of a beneficial interest in another firm, NCR Investments, whose principal asset is a right under contract to purchase Delaney's of Smithfield.

The vendor has been paid a 73,500 deposit on the 766,000 sale price but has refused to complete and NCR has brought specific performance proceedings over this, she said.

In letters from Mr Tiernan's lawyers, he has asserted that in 2009/10, they (Valera and Tiernan) reached an agreement to hare equally profits from the business of Laupteen. He also claimed that all Ms Valera's shares in the Bad Ass Cafe were held on truest for him.

She said she "utterly rejects" his claim that the two of them are party to some "loose profit share agreement" or that she holds any of her shares on trust for him.
The decision to grant former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams a visa to visit the United States was to get everybody involved, former US president Bill Clinton has said.

There was criticism after Mr Clinton granted the visa in 1994, at a time when the IRA  which Sinn Fein was linked to  had an on-again, off-again ceasefire.

The former president talked about his decision during a panel discussion event as part of a conference to mark the 25th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement at Queens University Belfast.

Mr Clinton said he granted a visa to Mr Adams but said there must be no fundraising during his visit.

Tony Blair and former US president Bill Clinton on stage during the three-day international conference at Queens University Belfast to mark the 25th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. Photo: Niall Carson/PA.

He said: There were seven Irish groups, mostly based in New York City, that wanted him to come, and one of them sponsored a conference, they put together a whole speech deal, and he asked for a visa, and we agreed, so I could make the United States look like an impartial body, that I would grant the visa for two days, but there would be no fundraising.

Advertisement

Everybody knew that a lot of money was going into Ireland from the north-east United States especially  but not on this trip, we were going to send a signal that we wanted to be involved, but we wanted to be positive, and we wanted to be fair to everybody.

Mr Clinton added: At the time it was crazy they thought, but I thought it made all the sense in the world because what we were doing was not working, and it seemed to me just from the talk that the public was maybe way ahead of the politicians in their desire to have some sort of resolution to this.

So I gave Gerry the visa, and he kept his word as he always did in dealing with me and the rest is history.

Meanwhile, former British prime minister Tony Blair recalled his first meeting with Mr Adams, and how he was confronted with a protest of people wearing rubber gloves afterwards.

Left to right, Tony Blair, former US president Bill Clinton and former taoiseach Bertie Ahern during the international conference marking the 25th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. Photo: Niall Carson/PA.

At the time this was very shocking to people, and you had to be prepared to do it, and I remember after I did it, after I met them for the first time I then went to a shopping centre for a visit, when I got to the shopping centre I was saying hello to people and so on, and suddenly this huge wave of people, including people who were wearing washing up gloves  those plastic washing up gloves, the last time I had ever seen anyone wear these was my mum, and I thought whats going on here, what sort of protest is this, Mr Blair said.

Advertisement

It was all to do with the fact I shouldnt have been shaking hands with Gerry Adams because this was a big thing, there was a huge debate  yes you can meet him but you cant shake hands with him, I said were going to meet him and were going to shake hands, lets just do what you would do, one human being to another  we know we disagree about the past but lets see if we can agree about the future.

Ireland New bust of peace process mediator George Mitchell... Read More

He said then-secretary of state Mo Mowlam then visited the loyalist prisoners in the Maze.

All of these things were difficult, I dont think anything could have happened unless we were prepared to sit down and to talk to people, and to understand these conflicts come about because there are two distinct narratives in opposition to each other, and the only way you will ever make peace is if one side understands how the other side feel, Sir Tony said.

They dont have to agree with it, they dont even have to sympathise with it, but at least they have to understand it.
Maeve Lewis, the CEO of One in Four, an organisation that supports abuse survivors, is advising their clients to be cautious of any dodgy emails or texts they receive following the hacking of the company that stores their data.

The company, Evide, which is based in Derry and manages data for around 140 charities and non-profit organisations in Ireland, Northern Ireland and the UK, was targeted by cyber criminals last month, at which time they contacted the PSNI and engaged cybersecurity specialists to help contain the issue and support recovery efforts.

Ms Lewis told RTE radios Morning Ireland that One in Four had been in contact with Evide to ask them to take a legal injunction to stop the sharing of the sensitive information. She pointed out that One in Four had not been directly targeted, so they could not initiate legal proceedings.

Advertisement

It was her understanding that One in Fours clients personal data had been accessed. We were told by the cybersecurity experts that the data is very valuable because it can be sold to people who then go on to try and commit fraud by, for example, getting bank account details or other personal data."

Ms Lewis added that documents that were attached to the data had not been accessed. One in Four believed the data of about 1,000 clients had been hacked, in the past week they had contacted 500 clients and were continuing to get in touch with people.

Unusual emails or texts

But if they've not heard from us, they can access support and information on our website at www.oneinfour.ie. We would also just urge people to be careful of any unusual email or text messages that come through".

Ireland Expert fears it will take another HSE style attack... Read More

The data which was stolen included personal information such as short records of people's engagement with One in Fours services. So we really don't know what the situation is with that data. We do know that any attachments, any letters and any reports, for example, to child protection services, they have not been accessed."

Ms Lewis said that the people they had contacted had been remarkably generous, while, obviously, some people had been quite distressed because we are dealing with some very vulnerable people".

Sadly, in this day and age, people are accustomed to being contacted by dodgy calls, dodgy emails. So people are generally aware of what they should do if they get an email from an unusual source. People have been very generous to us, but we are continuing to offer support. And if anybody out there is concerned this morning, we urge them to look at our website and then find the details of how to contact us.

Ms Lewis went on to say that One in Four had been told that the most valuable information was personal data, which criminals then try to sell on to people who want to try and defraud people by contacting them via email or text message trying to get bank details. Sadly, people being targeted for financial information happened all the time, she said.
A well-known Dublin GP has appeared before a medical inquiry over allegations that he conducted an unauthorised medical assessment of a psychiatric patient while representing himself as acting for the Qatari Embassy.

Dr Bassam Nasr, who operates a family practice in Sutton, is accused of professional misconduct for falsely claiming in a phone call to a social worker on April 30th, 2018 that he was attached to the Qatari Embassy and seeking details of the medical condition of a patient at an HSE-run mental healthcare facility when he was not the individuals GP and had no authority to access such information.

The patient, a Qatari national, had been involuntarily detained at the Drogheda Department of Psychiatry in Drogheda, Co Louth the previous day after suffering a psychotic episode from suspected drug use.

Advertisement

Dr Nasr faces another charge of professional misconduct in relation to claims that he attended the facility on May 20th, 2018 and carried out an unauthorised or inappropriate medical assessment of the patient and sought access to his medical records.

The Irish Medical Council also alleges that Dr Nasr told a clinical nurse manager on the same occasion that he had been appointed by the Qatari Embassy to carry out the assessment when he knew such a claim was untrue and acted in a rude, aggressive and unprofessional manner with staff at the facility.

A sitting of the IMCs fitness-to-practise committee on Monday heard that Dr Nasr denies all the allegations.

Counsel for Dr Nasr, Eileen Barrington SC, told the inquiry that he was contacted by a Qatari national in April 2018 about his son who had been detained under the Mental Health Act.

Ms Barrington said her client had never met the man or his son before and neither of them were his patients.

She said the man claimed he had been referred by the Qatari embassy to Dr Nasr as the father had not received any information about his sons diagnosis from the doctors treating him.

Ms Barrington said Dr Nasr agreed to act as an advocate for the man and to assist with communication as he did not have good English and was concerned his son was not getting proper treatment.

Advertisement

She said the GP offered to help out of goodness and felt that he was professional and courteous at all times to medical staff.

However, Ms Barrington said Dr Nasr acknowledged being frustrated at being unable to ascertain any helpful information for the patients father and apologised if his behaviour was considered aggressive.

Counsel said it was possible that Dr Nasr had told staff that the patients father had been referred to him by the Qatari Embassy.

Counsel for the IMC, Ronan Kennedy SC, said the inquiry arose from a formal complaint made against Dr Nasr by consultant psychiatrist, Jo Rowley, in June 2018.

He told the inquiry that Dr Rowley had described Dr Nasrs version of events as a very sanitised explanation of actual reality.

Mr Kennedy said Dr Rowley believed that the GP realised with hindsight that he had completely overstepped the mark and felt by constantly quoting the Qatari Embassy that staff were going to bow to his pressure and divulge confidential information.

In evidence, Dr Rowley told the hearing that claims that she had refused to meet the patients father were factually incorrect.

The psychiatrist pointed out that staff had called to the patients home where his relatives were staying to discuss his condition but nobody answered the door despite being seen in the property.

Interpreter

Advertisement

Dr Rowley said a junior doctor who spoke Arabic was available to talk to the patient and his family while they had arranged to hold a family meeting which included an interpreter but none of the relatives had shown up.

Under cross-examination by Ms Barrington, she said the patient had not wanted to see Dr Nasr again as he had felt very uncomfortable with the GPs visit.

A clinical nurse manager, Colum Butler, told the inquiry that he was taken back when Dr Nasr asked him on May 20, 2018 for the patients files and explained he had been appointed as a medical representative by the Qatari Embassy.

Mr Butler, who had understood Dr Nasr was just a family friend, said the GP became quite hostile and irritable when informed confidential medical records could not be released and when asked for ID which he could not provide.

He said he was the boss and what he says goes, Mr Butler recalled.

The witness said he asked Dr Nasr to reassess his attitude after he became demanding and inpatient and pointed his finger at him.

Mr Butler said the GP and the patients father were speaking to each other in Arabic and sniggering and laughing.

He said he escorted both men towards the exit and directed security officials not to allow Dr Nasr back to the unit.

Ireland Husband jailed for hiring hitman to kill couple ha... Read More

Mr Butler said he had done this because he had become suspicious about not getting clarity about the purpose of Dr Nasrs visit.

Last year, Dr Nasr was found guilty of professional misconduct over his failure to notify the IMC of a criminal conviction in relation to tax offences.

The GP, who is known as Doctor Sam to his patients, was subsequently censured and fined 5,000 by the regulatory body.

The Palestinian-born married father of seven from Howth Road, Sutton, was sentenced to 16 months in jail in June 2018 for filing incorrect tax returns for 2006 and 2007 which resulted in an underpayment of 100,000 in income tax.
A farmer has won a 72,728 tax battle with the Revenue Commissioners concerning a dispute over a 140,656 Department of Agriculture Single Payment Scheme (SPS) payment.

Revenue issued the farmer with the 72,728 tax demand after finding that it arose as a liability on the 140,656 payment that the farmer did not include in his own annual income tax returns to Revenue.

The farmer contended that the Revenue Commissioners were out of time to issue the amended 72,728 assessment under tax law which provides for a four-year time limit.

The farmer appealed the decision to the Tax Appeals Commission (TAC) and now the TAC has found in his favour.

Appeal Commissioner, Claire Millrine has found that the Revenue Commissioners were incorrect to issue the demand for the 72,728 as it was outside of the time limits contained in the Tax Acts and has directed that the 72,728 assessment be reduced to nil.

Advertisement

Ms Millrine stated that she was satisfied that the appellants income tax return for 2011 was complete, accurate and truthful having regard to the facts of this particular appeal.

In her findings, Ms Millrine found that tax legislation provides that no additional tax shall be payable by a chargeable person after the end of the relevant four-year period.

Ms Millrine states that the section on time limits clearly prohibits the imposition of any additional tax burden outside the four-year period in the case of a person who has made a fully compliant return.

He stated that Tax Appeals Commissioners have no authority or discretion to dis-apply the timelines.

Ms Millrine has found that as Revenue issued the demand out of the time limits laid down, the substantive issue, whether the SPS payment from the Dept of Agriculture is taxable as income in the hands of the farmer or is instead taxable as income received by his farm firm, does not arise.

The farmer had argued that the 140,656 is taxable as income received for the company he formed and owned.

The TAC ruling reveals that the Commission has been requested to state and sign a case for the opinion of the High Court in respect of the determination.

Advertisement

The farmer has a number of land interests and on May 30th, 2011 incorporated his farming business into a company along with all asset transfers and herd number.

In October 2011, the 140,656 SPS payment from the Deptarment of Agriculture was paid to the farmers bank account and then subsequently transferred to the bank account of new company.

The farmer did not include the SPS payment in his income tax return for 2011 but the SPS payment was included in Corporation Tax return for the year ended May 31st, 2012 for new farming enterprise.

Business Corrib gas field operator's revenues soar on recor... Read More

The farmer told the TAC hearing that it was a clerical issue that the payment was made to his account, as opposed to the bank account of his company, which had been provided to the DAFM.

In May 2012, the farmer applied to the Dept to transfer the SPS entitlements to the farm firm as he had missed the previous 'transfer window' prior to the end of May 2011.

A witness for the farmer at the TAC stated that the farmer derived no benefit from the entitlements which were paid directly to the farm firm and utilised by his farm firm.

In 2014, Revenue told the farmer that it was to carry out an audit into his tax affairs and the two sides liaised in relation to the tax treatment of the SPS payment until January 2017 and Revenue issued its  72,728 tax demand in April 2017.
The institutions of the Good Friday Agreement need to be continually worked to secure them for the future, Sir Tony Blair said.

The former UK prime minister is joining other political leaders from Northern Irelands peace process era at a major conference commemorating the Good Friday Agreement.

Ex-US president Bill Clinton and former taoiseach Bertie Ahern will also participate in the three-day event, at Queens University in Belfast, 25 years on from the landmark accord.

Senator George Mitchell, who chaired the peace negotiations in 1998, will take part as well.

Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton is hosting the conference as part of her role as chancellor at Queens.

UK prime minister Rishi Sunak and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar are due to attend later in the week.

The agreement largely ended Northern Irelands 30-year sectarian conflict.

Advertisement

Mr Blair told the BBC there are people alive today because of the peace deal.

He said: But I am the first to say it takes a long time for the mistrust to disappear, for the institutional arrangements to make full sense to people, and youve got to work at it the whole time.

He added: When you look back over this 25 years, from time to time we have had that same energy, from time to time we havent.

But youve got to keep it and youve got to work at it all the time if you want it to be secure for the future.

Mr Blair remembered being criticised when he first met with former Sinn Fein leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness and with loyalist leaders.

He said: But the reality is  and this is what is so important about politics for the future  if everyone had just stuck in their positions and said, As a result of doing things which are unjustified in the past, we are not prepared to talk, we would never have had the Good Friday Agreement. We would never have made progress.

So the important lesson is: progress only comes when people in positions of power are prepared to take decisions that are difficult, that are going to be controversial, that are going to be highly criticised, but where in the end you believe there is a better and higher purpose that can be achieved by this engagement.

Advertisement

Hillary Clinton is the chancellor at Queens University (Brian Lawless/PA)

The settlement created powersharing institutions at Stormont that involved nationalists and unionists governing Northern Ireland together in a mandatory coalition arrangement.

While the pact largely ended the Troubles, which had claimed more than 3,600 lives since the late 1960s, it has failed to bring long-term political stability in the region and devolution has collapsed several times in the last two decades.

The anniversary comes amid another period of collapse, with the DUP blocking powersharing in protest at post-Brexit trading arrangements that have created economic barriers between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

Sir Tony Blair and Cherie Blair arrive at a gala dinner to recognise Mo Mowlams contribution to the peace process (Niall Carson/PA)

The barriers were first introduced under the Withdrawal Agreements contentious Northern Ireland Protocol.

The UK and EU recently agreed the Windsor Framework as a way to cut the red tape created by the protocol.

While the DUP says the framework has gone some way to address its concerns about the protocol, it says significant problems remain.

The party has opposed the framework at Westminster and has made clear its boycott of Stormont will continue until it secures further assurances from the UK government over its concerns around sovereignty and the application of EU law in Northern Ireland.

Mr Ahern said barriers were broken down to secure the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

Advertisement

Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern is welcomed by Laura McCorry of Hillsborough Castle and Ryan Feeney, right, of Queens University at a Gala dinner to recognise Mo Mowlams contribution to the peace process and mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement (Niall Carson/PA)

He told the BBC: We had the right mix of people and because we were at it night and day for eight or nine months, if not for a number of years before that.

We knew this wasnt going to be perfect, but there was a feeling with the help of the European Union, with the help of Bill Clinton and the Americans, the fact that all the parties were getting on reasonably well, we had broken down the barriers.

The former taoiseach said it is disappointing US president Joe Biden was unable to address the Stormont Assembly during his visit to Northern Ireland last week.

He said: Yeah, no doubt about it, that would have been a great thing around the world.

That would have been a really, really powerful shot and position and speech from Stormont and unfortunately that didnt happen.

Ireland Clintons to join Blair and Ahern at Good Friday Ag... Read More

Anyone who comes in and says they dont regret that isnt telling the truth.

Several events took place over the weekend ahead of the conferences start.

On Sunday evening, a special dinner was held at Hillsborough Castle to mark the contribution to the peace process by the late Mo Mowlam, who was Northern Ireland Secretary in 1998.
A husband who hired an "unhinged" hitman in a "grotesque plan" to kill a couple who were having an "online affair" with his wife has been jailed for four and a half years.

Bryan Kennedy (35) was sentenced on Monday at the Central Criminal Court by Ms Justice Caroline Biggs to five years' imprisonment with the final six months suspended.

At Kennedy's first sentence hearing in January, Ms Justice Biggs said she wanted to allow time for the child and family agency Tusla to put in place supports for Kennedy's children, so they would not suffer prejudice due to his prison sentence.

Ms Justice Biggs said that while there would be "emotional consequences" for Kennedy's children due to his incarceration, the supports in place would be a "moveable feast" for the children as they grew older.

Advertisement

The judge said that during the suspended six-month portion of the sentence Kennedy is to engage with all training and educational courses and with emotional and mental support facilities recommended by the Probation Service.

Ms Justice Biggs said that Kennedy had been "very, very co-operative" with agencies regarding his children and had attended all appointments with all groups involved to date.

The court previously heard that Kennedy is the primary carer for his children and that his former wife, who is disabled and uses a wheelchair, is unable to provide the required care the children need.

In sentencing Kennedy last January, Ms Justice Biggs said that Kennedy "hatched the plan" to kill his wife's online friends with a man he knew to be "unhinged" and who had previous convictions.

She said the man he attempted to get to carry out the killings, named 'AL' for legal reasons, warned Kennedy that he was embarking on a "dangerous road" but that Kennedy proceeded nonetheless. "His decision to engage in this grotesque plan is not under duress but was voluntary," Ms Justice Biggs said.

Kennedy paid 8,000 to the would-be assassin by taking loans from family and friends.

Personal details

He engaged, the judge said, in a plan to kill two people as well as a discussion as to whether it would be cheaper to kill just one, before electing to kill the couple.

Advertisement

He provided personal details of the two women and accessed his wife's Facebook page in pursuit of his plan.

Ms Justice Biggs said: "This is not a plan that is spontaneous, it is initiated by him and he takes time to think about it and having done so he decides to pursue it. It is not a spontaneous plan born out of rage or bravado, it is planned and meant to be executed."

She said his later decision to pull out was not because he didn't want to have the two women killed but because he came to have doubts about AL's bona fides and started considering whether he could carry out the plan himself.

The judge said the backfiring of the plan was not a mitigating factor but she noted that Kennedy had been threatened and intimidated by AL.

The evidence of one witness was that Kennedy came to be "terrified" of AL.

Ms Justice Biggs said mitigation from that is limited because Kennedy "must have known that if he engages with someone who agrees to be a conduit to kill two people or to himself kill two people, that person is dangerous and unhinged."

Det Sgt O'Malley told Mr McGinn that Kennedy had been "extremely" co-operative with investigating gardai.

Ireland Man jailed for trying to hire hitman to kill wife'... Read More

Mr McGinn said his client had admitted both his "culpability and criminal intent" in soliciting AL to kill the couple but that there was "no credible threat" in the matter except to Kennedy himself and his family.

He said Kennedy was "forthright" with gardai in his admissions and was "completely out of his depth in circumstances out of his control".

The barrister said Kennedy's way of dealing with the situation was "entirely wrong, and criminally wrong" and that his inability to cope with the situation led to his client "trying to disappear".

The barrister said Kennedy had been "unproblematic" when dealing with the probation services and was "inherently unlikely to be before the court again".
G-7 foreign ministers arrive in the Japanese resort town on Karuizawa for two days of talks, April 16. AFP-Yonhap



The G-7's top diplomats arrived in the Japanese resort town of Karuizawa Sunday for talks set to be dominated by twin crises: China's growing pressure on Taiwan, and Russia's war in Ukraine.



The foreign ministers arrived by special bullet train for discussions that will set the stage for a leaders' summit in Hiroshima next month.



There is no shortage of challenges to discuss, but recent regional events are likely to sharpen the focus on Asia.



The meeting comes days after China concluded major military drills around self-ruled Taiwan, and after North Korea launched what it said was a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile.



Host Japan is keen to ensure regional challenges top the agenda, and will emphasise its belief that Russia's invasion of Ukraine heightens the need for vigilance in Asia.



"Japan's basic position... on Ukraine is that the security of Europe and that of the Indo-Pacific cannot be discussed separately," a Japanese government official said ahead of the talks.



"They are intertwined with each other."



The G-7 has regularly warned China against attempts to seize Taiwan, and individual members have sounded the alarm in recent days.



"A military escalation in the Taiwan Strait... would be a horror scenario for the entire world," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Friday in Beijing.



But there will be renewed focus on the grouping's language after recent comments by French President Emmanuel Macron.



His insistence, after a trip to Beijing, that Europe should avoid "crises that aren't ours" has raised eyebrows and ire among Paris's allies, while delighting Chinese officials.



Paris has worked to temper the reaction, insisting France's views have not changed, and most observers expect the group to reiterate previous positions warning China against "changing the status quo by force".











Foreign ministers from EU, Britain, Japan, U.S., Germany, Canada, France and Italy pose at G-7 Foreign Minister's Meeting in Muenster, Germany, Oct. 3, 2022. AP-Yonhap
An inquest into the Stardust fire which claimed the lives of 48 people at a disco in Artane on the north side of Dublin on February 14th, 1981 is underway.

Family members of those killed in the Stardust fire tragedy 42 years ago, have described today as "momentous" in their fight for justice.

It's taken the families of those that died over 42 years to secure an inquest after numerous calls were rejected by the State

3,000 people were summoned to Croke Park in Dublin for the jury selection process earlier today.It's expected the inquest, which is the largest in the State's history - will last around six months.

Lawyer for the majority of the victim's families, Darragh Macken, says the country is unlikely to ever see an inquest of this scale again,

Ireland Planning board will not contest challenge over app... Read More

"Well this is the largest ever inquest in the history of the state. It's likely that any estimation of this inquest will last at least six months. The reality of it is there hasn't been an investigation bigger than this kind in recent history.

Advertisement

It's difficult to see an inquest of this kind ever happening again. So the reality is, when six months may seem a long time, in comparison it's a really short time given how long these families have waited."

Spokesperson for the Families, Antoinette Keegan, says she never ever thought today would come.

"It's going to be a big day for us. We have waited 42 years for this day to come ao it's a big day for us."
A man who repeatedly raped his younger sister in their family house of horrors, when they were both children, has been jailed for 3 years.

The defendant was 15 when he started raping the victim, who was aged nine.

A number of testimonials supporting the defendant were provided to the court, including from two of his siblings, work colleagues and employers, as well as his former partner and mother to his children.

The testimonials described the defendant as an excellent father,reliable, honest and hardworking.

The offences occurred over an 18-month period between February 2001 and July 2002.

The man, in his late 30s, was found guilty by a jury of six counts of rape, last February.

On Monday he received six concurrent 3-year jail terms.

The Central Criminal Court, sitting in Limerick, heard that the victim, now in her early 30s, wished to waive her right to anonymity, so that the defendant could be legally named, and also to encourage other victims to come forward and report their abusers.

Advertisement

Presiding judge, Mr Justice Michael MacGrath, said he needed more time to consider the victims wishes on anonymity, and he would make a ruling on the issue next Monday, April 24th.

Judge MacGrath said the court was satisfied it had to sentence the man as if he was still a child in the eyes of the court, and not an adult, who is now nearing 40 years old.

The defendant and the victim were both living in a dysfunctional and volatile household where they regularly witnessed domestic violence, the judge said.

The mans trial heard evidence of allegations that he had suffered a traumatic childhood, including evidence which indicated that he had been sexually abused by a relative.

Traumatic childhood

The defendant began raping the victim when their mother left their family home. The sexual assaults continued for a period of 18 months.

The victim raised the alarm shortly afterwards, however the matter was initially investigated by a health board, which the court heard had referred the case to an organisation dealing with victims of child sexual abuse.

The defendant participated in a therapy programme and made certain admissions at the time regarding his younger sister, however it appeared the matter did not go any further, the judge noted.

Advertisement

The man was arrested by gardai in 2019, but he claimed the victim was telling lies. He continues to deny that he raped the victim and does not accept the verdict in the case.

A jury at the Central Criminal Court, held in Cork last February, found the man guilty in relation to six counts of rape. He was acquitted of a further 20 similar counts against the victim.

Judge MacGrath said that although the man had a number of previous convictions, including for, assault causing harm, breach of a safety barring order, and engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour, he had no previous conviction for sexual offences, and was therefore regarded by the court as having led a life free of serious crime up to and after raping his sister.

Judge MacGrath said the victim described in a victim impact statement how she was reared in a house of horrors.

The woman said the family home had been anything but a loving environment.

She grew up in constant fear. Her mother left the home, and she needed the defendant to protect her from horrible things going on in their home.

She was scared, she was timid, and when her mother left she needed her big brother, but he took everything from her, in the violent and disgusting things he did to her, said the judge.

Never-ending nightmare

Advertisement

He took her childhood and innocence; she described how it was wedged into her brain like a never-ending nightmare.

The defendant first raped the victim on Christmas night, 2001.

Judge MacGrath said: Christmas night should have been a magic night for a child, but it was a night that changed (the victims) life forever.

He said the defendant told the victim that she was worthless and no one would believe her, and she believed she had been to blame.

Judge MacGrath said the victim had maintained a silence for the sake of everyone else and had baby-sat for her brothers children.

Ireland Man's rape conviction stands despite Garda failure... Read More

The woman said she wanted to break my silence...so I can finally be free to live my life.

I no longer want to carry this with me, I no longer want to be shackled by the abuse and hurt, and I hope other victims will know there is light at the end of the tunnel  they deserve to be free and be heard.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800 77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/, or visit Rape Crisis Help.

In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.
Northern Irelands political leaders know the right thing to do to solve the Stormont stalemate  and need to get on and do it, former British prime minister Sir Tony Blair has said.

Mr Blair was appearing alongside ex-US president Bill Clinton and former taoiseach Bertie Ahern at a major conference marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

Mr Ahern said he deeply hoped that the DUP would allow the powersharing institutions to return, while Mr Clinton spoke about how politicians winged it to help secure the historic peace deal in 1998.

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is hosting the Agreement 25 conference as part of her role as chancellor at Queens University in Belfast, chaired the panel discussion between the three former leaders.

British prime minister Rishi Sunak and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar are due to attend the conference later in the week.

Advertisement

The Good Friday Agreement largely ended Northern Irelands 30-year sectarian conflict.

Sir Tony Blair on stage at the conference. Photo: Niall Carson/PA.

Sir Tony said: We know the peace isnt perfect. We know the institutions have often been rocky and unstable as they are today.

We know theres still a lot of distrust and mistrust between the communities.

But we also know that Northern Ireland is a much better place than it was before the Good Friday Agreement.

And the only thing I would say to todays leaders is I think when you stand back and you reflect, you know in your heart of hearts, what the right thing to do is, and you should just get on and do it.

Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern listening to the speakers. Photo: Niall Carson/PA.

Mr Ahern said the alternatives to the Good Friday Agreement are not good.

He added: So, lets hope they (the DUP) listen to what George Mitchell said today, and listen to what were saying, that we all just get back on the track.

Theres too many big things to be dealing with than to be arguing about some detail that was caused over something or another, which Im not sure what it is even.

He added: So just lets move forward and try and make this work.

Advertisement

Former US president Bill Clinton is attending the conference to mark the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement (Liam McBurney/PA)

Mr Clinton told the conference that the 1998 peace deal came about because political leaders decided the time was right to do the right thing.

He said: It just happens, nobodys perfect, you cant foresee all this, and the fact that we trusted each other and we trusted (George) Mitchell, I think we earned the trust of the parties in Northern Ireland that we were dealing with across the board, because they thought we would be straight with them, and thats how it happened.

There were days I felt like I was taking Seamus Heaneys advice to take a flying leap and walk on air against your better judgment.

Thats how it started. We all just decided that the time was right to do the right thing.

Mr Clinton said people thought they were crazy to believe they could get the paramilitary groups to decommission their arms.

Wed like to tell you that we had it all thought through but the truth is we made up a lot of it as we went along, we had to wing it, he said.

A number of former political leaders are taking part in the event at Queens University in Belfast. Photo: Niall Carson/PA.

The Good Friday Agreement created powersharing institutions at Stormont that involved nationalists and unionists governing Northern Ireland together in a mandatory coalition arrangement.

Advertisement

While the pact largely ended the Troubles, which had claimed more than 3,600 lives since the late 1960s, it has failed to bring long-term political stability in the region and devolution has collapsed several times in the last two decades.

The anniversary comes amid another period of collapse, with the DUP blocking powersharing in protest at post-Brexit trading arrangements that have created economic barriers between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

The barriers were first introduced under the Withdrawal Agreements contentious Northern Ireland Protocol.

The UK and EU recently agreed the Windsor Framework as a way to cut the red tape created by the protocol.

While the DUP says the framework has gone some way to address its concerns about the protocol, it says significant problems remain.

The party has opposed the framework at Westminster and has made clear its boycott of Stormont will continue until it secures further assurances from the UK Government over its concerns around sovereignty and the application of EU law in Northern Ireland.

George Mitchell made the keynote address on the first day of the conference. Photo: Niall Carson/PA.

Making the keynote address earlier in the day, former US senator George Mitchell, who chaired the 1998 negotiations, said the people of Northern Ireland and their political leaders changed history 25 years ago.

He said: When you approved the agreement you were also talking to Israelis and Palestinians, to Colombians, to Africans, Asians, to Americans  in fact you were talking to the world.

Advertisement

This is an agreement for peace and for the future, not just here, but everywhere.

He added: We need people who believe, who know that the possible does exist within the impossible  dont let it slip away.

A bust in honour of Mr Mitchell was later unveiled in the grounds of the Belfast campus.

Hillary Clinton said the Windsor Framework provided opportunities for Northern Ireland. Photo: Niall Carson/PA.

Mrs Clinton said the Windsor Framework on post-Brexit trade provided Northern Ireland with an opportunity to become an economic hub for global trade and investment.

While the Good Friday Agreement is an enormous achievement, we know that peace, prosperity and progress that so many have worked tirelessly to achieve remains incomplete, she said.

The work of integration and housing and schools is far from finished, neighbourhoods remain divided, poverty and unemployment persist, the difficulties of the past continue to threaten the present.

You know, we are at a standstill with the Northern Ireland Assembly no longer functioning. But the Windsor agreement provides a path forward not just for convening but for positioning Northern Ireland as an economic hub for global trade and investment through privileged access to the UK and all of its trading partners, as well as the EU.

She added: There have been many moments in Northern Irelands peace journey where progress seemed difficult, when every route forward looked blocked, there seemed nowhere to go.

Advertisement

Ireland Unionism needs to give itself a shake over Storm... Read More

But you have always found a way through and I believe you will again, because the stakes for the people of Northern Ireland are so high.

You stand as an example to the world of how even the staunchest adversaries can overcome differences to work together for the common and greater good.

So, I encourage everyone now to move forward with the same spirit of unstoppable grit and resolve that brought the peace 25 years ago. Your friends in the United States will be behind you all the way as you work toward peace, prosperity and stability that lasts.
The number of people who are currently sleeping rough in Dublin is 83, a 9 per cent decrease compared to winter 2022.

The count was arranged by the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) and carried out by the Dublin Simon Community Outreach Team, with support from the Peter McVerry Trust Housing First Intake Team.

The majority were male and 48 per cent of those identified were using tents, 92 per cent were linked with one of the four Dublin local authorities.

Some 18 individuals were found rough sleeping in both the Spring 2023 and Winter 2022 counts. A number of these are being targeted for a Housing First response, which will provide them with permanent housing and visiting supports to help them sustain their home.

Ireland Bereaved family members lay shoes of loved ones in... Read More

Pat Doyle, chief executive of Peter McVerry Trust, said: Its positive to see any decrease in the number of people sleeping rough on our streets.

Advertisement

"Although the decline is in the context of the growing number of people entering homelessness nationally, it is a success to see the most vulnerable in our society  entrenched rough sleepers  moving on into their own home.

"We provide almost 1000 emergency beds nightly across the four Dublin local authority areas  working closely with the DRHE to ensure that those who need a bed can access one. But the key to reducing the number of people sleeping rough is Housing First.

"Our Housing First Intake team provide consistent and effective engagement with rough sleepers across the city  enabling them to move into their own property and out of homelessness for good.
An Bord Pleanala will not be contesting a challenge to permission for a development of 205 build-to-rent apartments in Phibsborough, Dublin, the High Court has been told.

Two residents' groups brought legal actions aimed at overturning the approval in May 2021 for apartment blocks ranging from three to 12 storeys on a site on Phibsborough Road near Cross Guns bridge.

The groups, representing residents of Leinster Street North and Shandon Park, claimed the proposal represents significant over-development of the Old Bakery site.

On Monday, their counsel, Neil Steen SC, instructed by FP Logue solicitor Eoin Brady, told the court An Bord Pleanala had written to say it would not be defending the case. It is understood the concession comes in relation to the proposed builds compliance with daylight and sunlight guidelines for urban buildings and new apartments.

Advertisement

Mr Justice Richard Humphreys, with consent from the board, vacated the May hearing date for this case and another action, brought by Dundalk resident John Conway and Louth Environmental Group, challenging the same development.

Ireland Nature of data stolen during cyberattack remains u... Read More

The parties will return to court next week to provide an update about the proposed final orders.

In their action against An Bord Pleanala, with developer Bindford Ltd a notice party, Leinster Street North Residents Association and Shandon Residents Association said their members would be directly and significantly affected by the proposed strategic housing development.

The groups advanced 11 grounds of challenge including an alleged breach of daylight/sunlight requirements. They claimed the board incorrectly accepted the developers analysis of how the guidelines apply to kitchenettes in the apartments.

The applicants said the higher average daylight factor standard of 2 per cent for kitchens should have been applied rather the 1.5 per cent figure the board accepted in the application.
A retired priest who lost control of his car and struck mourners gathered outside a church leading to the death of one man and serious injury to three others has been given a suspended sentence.

Father Denis Foley (93) arrived to the funeral mass of the son of a parishioner at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Convent Road, Clondalkin in June 2018. A man then noticed the priest struggling to get out of his vehicle and offered to help.

He held the priests walking stick as Fr Foley struggled with his seat belt, but the priests vehicle rolled into the car parked in front before coming back and swinging to the right. The man who had been assisting him jumped out of the way before the vehicle took off at speed.

Advertisement

The court heard that the incident which followed lasted about two minutes with the car speeding through the crowd, hitting off vehicles and ploughing into people before it ultimately crashed into bollards with three people pinned under the vehicle.

Christopher Phillips (78) who was seriously injured in the accident died in Tallaght Hospital the following month. A post-mortem examination concluded that he died of multiple organ failure as a result of being struck by the car.

Guilty plea

Fr Foley pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to driving a vehicle in a manner which was dangerous to the public and thereby causing the death of Christopher Phillips and causing grievous body harm to Jason Kelly, Martin Cawley and Rebecca Meredith on June 25th, 2018.

He had been the parish priest in nearby Walkinstown, but had retired 13 years earlier. He now lives in a nursing home.

The court heard that Fr Foleys vehicle initially struck about ten people, seven of whom were knocked into the air, with the other three people going under the car. Witnesses later described the sound of the car driving over those people.

Eoin Lawlor BL prosecuting said the car essentially ricocheted along before it struck and mounted bollards in the church grounds, pinning three men in the process.

Multiple fractures

Advertisement

The court heard that Ms Meredith had eight fractures to her left foot, severe bruising and tissue damage to her back.

James Kelly had multiple fractures to his legs and knees and required an operation, while Martin Cawley suffered broken ribs which led to his lungs being punctured in a few places. His pelvis was also cracked in two places and he walks now with a walking frame.

The court heard that when the car ultimately came to a stop, a member of the Dublin Fire Brigade who happened to be at the church, approached Fr Foley and found him to be dazed and confused. He had an injury to his nose. The man took the priests foot off the accelerator and put the car into park.

The priest later said he was terribly sorry. He said it is an automatic car. I must have pushed the stick the wrong way, he said.

He later told gardai that the car moved quickly forward and he didnt know what caused it to move so fast.

He said he was not confident in the car. He thought he could find a better parking space and was attempting to move the car, but he told gardai it took off on me. He said he would have to live with the consequences of his actions for the rest of his life and expressed concern for those who had been injured.

Advertisement

A victim impact statement from the Phillips family was read into the record. They spoke of how their father was always one to please others and support others around him. They said he would have wanted his family to get on with their lives.

Victim

They said they understood that nobody set out to hurt anyone that day but spoke of their disappointment that nobody from the church had reached out to them following the death of our wonderful Dad considering the accident had happened on church grounds and the driver was a priest.

The family spoke of how their father was a huge support to their mother who had been living in a nursing home at the time and she never got to see him after the accident.

The death of their father was a true breaking up of our family home they said and they spoke of how he treasured his grandchildrens visits and was always willing to do anything for them.

They said watching their father decline, while hoping he would get better was heart-breaking. Not a day goes by when we dont wish to have him with us, the family continued and said their fathers death has left a hole in their hearts.

Advertisement

The described him as being an active man who had a zest for life.

Other victim impact statements from those injured that day were handed into court but not read out.

Tragic situation

Judge Martin Nolan said it was a terribly tragic situation and Fr Foleys driving caused mayhem and people had to scamper for safety.

He killed a lovely man and caused considerable injury to many others, Judge Nolan said while he offered his condolences to the Phillips family who were in court.

Thank you all for coming. It is obviously a devastating loss and I hope life is going well for you all, he said.

Ireland Garda Sergeant convicted of sexual assault challen... Read More

He noted that it was mainly due to confusion and the priests lack of experience with driving his hybrid car which led to him driving his vehicle in this particular way and losing control of it as a result.

It should not have happened. No doubt if he had been calmer, he could have controlled the situation, but his bad driving led to these devastating consequences, Judge Nolan said before he acknowledged that Fr Foley had not intended to drive in this way.

He said however that Fr Foley did not deserve a custodial sentence. He will not drive again. Whatever time that is left to him he will probably spend in a nursing home, Judge Nolan said before he imposed concurrent sentences of 18 months which he suspended in full.

*This article was amended at 9.15am on Wednesday, April 19th, 2023.
Law student Simeon Burke has been convicted and fined 300 over a "volatile" breach of the peace following a "melee" at his brother Enoch's case in the Four Courts in Dublin.

The younger brother of sacked teacher Enoch Burke had refused to take up bail since his arrest on March 7th.

Burke (24) repeatedly refused to sign a bail bond with a condition stay away from the Four Courts, where his brother was involved in a legal dispute before the Court of Appeal (CoA) over transgenderism and his sacking by Wilson's Hospital School in Co. Westmeath.

Simeon Burke, a Kings Inns barrister-at-law student, remained in prison custody on remand. After failed attempts to halt the prosecution, his trial before Judge John Hughes at Dublin District concluded late Monday evening.

Burke, with an address at Cloonsunna, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, denied the Public Order Act offence of engaging in threatening, insulting and abusive words and behaviour on or about the Four Courts, Inns Quay, on March 7th. The offence carries a possible three-month sentence

Advertisement

The contested hearing featured CCTV evidence from the Four Courts, but not from inside the courtroom where the incident started before spilling out to the yard and him being dragged by gardai to the front of the building and onto Inns Quay and his arrest.

Five gardai gave evidence.

Bridewell Garda Sergeant Brian Griffin said he received a call for assistance and went over to the court at about 3pm. He saw the accused had been brought out onto Inns Quay by gardai with his left wrist handcuffed.

He said gardai were attempting to effect his arrest.

Sergeant Griffin said Mr Burke was "shouting and screaming, largely unintelligible insults in regards to transgenderism, that garda members should be ashamed of it, and there was a comment about going to Tallaght to deal with proper criminals".

Simeon Burke. Photo: Collins

Sergeant Griffin said gardai tried to reason with the accused, and the sergeant said he tried to calm the situation and ensure the arrest was done effectively.

The sergeant said he pointed out to Mr Burke had his glasses in his hand and was squeezing them, and he feared they would break, but "he was not listening to me".

There was a "physical struggle" before he was put in a garda van.

Advertisement

He said it was a "volatile situation", and his attention was drawn to others shouting insults about transgenderism. Sergeant Griffin said he approached and cautioned them under the Public Order Act to leave the vicinity.

Witnesses alleged that Burke gripped and grabbed benches in the courtroom, latched onto the door and put his feet against the wall as he was taken out.

Mr Burke was the sole witness for the defence. He also represented himself, assisted by Ammi Burke, a trained solicitor, acting as a McKenzie Friend.

He frequently referred to himself in the third person as he cross-examined witnesses and accused them of lies.

Court Garda Michael McGrath said the accused shouted and acted aggressively in the CoA, and the judges left the courtroom due to interruptions and objections by the Burke family.

Garda McGrath said Simeon Burke gripped furniture and "pushed his feet into the floor". He disagreed with the accused that the court's business had ended and said it did not get to complete its business.

Garda Thomas Byrne said the accused was determined not to leave the courtroom, and there was high-pitched screaming.

Arresting Garda Conor O'Dwyer said the accused kicked out and commented about transgenderism. He described his behaviour as appalling and rejected Burke's version that he was never told the reason for the arrest.

Advertisement

Garda O'Dwyer told Judge Hughes it was explained to the accused when he was led to a garda van which brought him to the Bridewell Station.

Garda Loughlin McHugh also told the court Burke had been told the grounds for his arrest and that he was handed a charge sheet in the Bridewell station, which the law student disputed.

State solicitor Declan Keating submitted that it was the State's case that there was a melee in the courtroom first.

A school group was visiting the court at the outset of the incident.

In his evidence, Burke insisted he was not lawfully arrested.

He claimed he was left in shock, his shirt was ripped, and he needed medical attention afterwards in custody.

He told the court that he had said there was freedom in Ireland and the country did not have to accept transgenderism. He admitted that he did not comply with gardai and pushed one officer but claimed he had not been told to leave.

He told the court he was in fear for his mother, who was frightened when the judges of the CoA rose, and gardai entered. He alleged that one officer grabbed his sister Ammi. He also said his brother Enoch, who was not present for the hearing on Monday, was injured.

Advertisement

Simeon Burke denied claims he was shouting or screaming.

After delivering the guilty verdict, Judge Hughes reminded him that contesting the case meant the court could not give him the same credit as a defendant who pleaded guilty.

Simeon Burke leaves court with his mother, Martina, and father, Sean. Photo: Collins

He had no criminal conviction and begged the court to be spared a record outlining his accomplishments, including a President's award, a law scholarship, and work with an international organisation helping disabled children.

He also told the court he taught music to young people but could not say how much he earned.

"I am a responsible citizen; I have been brought up to be a dutiful member of society. I beg this court to leave me without a conviction," he implored the court.

Ireland Enoch Burke had tears in his eyes after students... Read More

Judge Hughes noted the time he had spent in custody, having refused to take up bail, and offered him the opportunity of an adjournment to engage with the Probation Service.

At that stage, following a conference with family members, Burke demanded a strike out and claimed prosecution witnesses had committed perjury.

Finalising the case, Judge Hughes remarked that law and order must be maintained in the courts of all places. He said the use of force was an aggravating factor, and he noted how the incident continued into the yard of the Four Courts.

He recorded a conviction, imposed the fine to be paid in six months and set recognisance at 200 in case of an appeal.
Top diplomats from the Group of Seven wealthy democracies are pledging a tough stance over Chinas increasing threats to Taiwan and North Koreas unchecked tests of long-range missiles, while building momentum on ways to boost support for Ukraine and punish Russia for its invasion.

Russias war in Ukraine will consume much of the agenda on Monday as the envoys gather in the Japanese hot spring resort town of Karuizawa for the second day of talks meant to pave the way for action by G7 leaders when they meet in Hiroshima next month.

According to a Japanese summary, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told his colleagues the world is at a turning point on the fighting in Ukraine and must firmly reject unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force, and Russias aggression against Ukraine and its threats of the use of nuclear weapons.

Advertisement



From left, the EUs Enrique Mora, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, Germanys Annalena Baerbock, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Japans Yoshimasa Hayashi, Canadas Melanie Joly, Frances Catherine Colonna and Italys Antonio Tajani (Andrew Harnik/AP/Pool)

For the American delegation, the meeting comes at a crucial moment in the worlds response to Russias invasion of Ukraine and efforts to deal with China, two issues that G7 ministers from Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Italy and the European Union regard as potent challenges to the post-Second World War rules-based international order.

A senior US official traveling with Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters that the Biden administrations goal for the talks is to shore up support for Ukraine, including a major initiative on Ukraines energy infrastructure launched at last years G7 gatherings in Germany, as well as to ensure the continued provision of military assistance to Kyiv.

Ramping up punishment against Russia for the conflict, particularly through economic and financial sanctions that were first threatened by the G7 in December 2021, before the invasion, will also be a priority, the official said.

Ukraine faces an important moment in coming weeks with Russias current offensive largely stalled and Ukraine preparing a counter-offensive.

Advertisement

The US official said there would be discussion about ways to deepen support for Ukraines long-term defence and deterrence capabilities. That might also improve Kyivs position for potential negotiations that could end the conflict on its terms.

The role of Japan  the only Asian member of the G7  as chairman of this years talks provides an opportunity to discuss co-ordinated action on China.



US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, right, at the G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Karuizawa, Japan (Andrew Harnik/AP/Pool)

Leaders and foreign ministers of G7 countries, most recently France and Germany, have recently concluded visits to China, and the diplomats in Karuizawa are expected to discuss their impressions of where the Chinese stand on numerous issues, including the war in Ukraine, North Korea, and Taiwan, which is a particular sore point in US-Chinese relations.

At a private working dinner on Sunday night which was the diplomats first formal meeting, Mr Hayashi urged continued dialogue with China on the many global challenges where participation from Beijing is seen as crucial. Among the Chinese interests that are intertwined with those of wealthy democracies are global trade, finance and climate efforts.

Advertisement

But the diplomats are also seeking to address Chinas more aggressive recent stance in North-east Asia, where it has threatened Taiwan, the self-governing democracy that Beijing claims as its own.

Mr Hayashi told ministers that outside nations must continue building a constructive and stable relationship, while also directly expressing our concerns and calling for China to act as a responsible member of the international community, according to a summary of the closed-door dinner.

China recently sent planes and ships to simulate an encirclement of Taiwan. Beijing has also been rapidly adding nuclear warheads, taking a tougher line on its claim to the South China Sea and painting a scenario of impending confrontation.

The worry in Japan can be seen it its efforts in recent years to make a major break from its self-defence-only post-war principles, working to acquire pre-emptive strike capabilities and cruise missiles to counter growing threats.



US Secretary of State Antony Blinkens trip to Beijing in February was postponed because of a Chinese spy balloon incident (Andrew Harnik/AP/Pool)

Mr Blinken had been due to visit Beijing in February, but the trip was postponed because of a Chinese spy balloon incident over US airspace and has yet to be rescheduled.

Advertisement

He briefly met Chinas top diplomat, Wang Yi, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Forum, but high-level contacts between Washington and Beijing have become rare. Therefore, he will be seeking insight from his French and German counterparts on their interactions with the Chinese, the senior US official said.

Despite indications, notably comments from French President Emmanuel Macron, that the G7 is split over China, the official said there is shared concern among G7 nations over Chinas actions. The official added that the foreign ministers will be discussing how to continue a co-ordinated approach to China.

North Korea is also a key area of worry for Japan and other neighbours in the region.

Since last year, Pyongyang has test-fired around 100 missiles, including intercontinental ballistic missiles which showed the potential of reaching the US mainland and a variety of other shorter-range weapons that threaten South Korea and Japan.

Mr Hayashi expressed grave concern over North Koreas launch of ballistic missiles with an unprecedented frequency and in unprecedented manners, including the launch in the previous week, and the G-7 Foreign Ministers strongly condemned North Koreas repeated launches of ballistic missiles, according to the summary.
A Russian court has convicted a top opposition figure of treason for publicly denouncing Moscows war in Ukraine and sentenced the dual Russian-British citizen to 25 years in prison as part of the Kremlins relentless crackdown on critics of the invasion.

Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr, a political activist and journalist who twice survived poisonings he blamed on Russian authorities, has rejected the charges against him as punishment for standing up to President Vladimir Putin and likened the proceedings to the show trials under Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.

Human rights organisations and western governments denounced the verdict and demanded his release.

Amnesty International declared the 41-year-old to be a prisoner of conscience.



Vladimir Kara-Murza said he is proud of standing up to Russian President Vladimir Putins dictatorship and his decision to send troops into Ukraine (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)

Advertisement

The charges against Kara-Murza, who has been behind bars since his arrest a year ago, stem from a March 2022 speech to the Arizona House of Representatives in which he denounced Russias invasion of Ukraine, along with other speeches abroad.

Days after the invasion, Russia adopted a law criminalising spreading false information about its military.

Authorities have used the law to stifle criticism of what the Kremlin calls its special military operation.

The sweeping campaign of repression is unprecedented since the Soviet era, effectively criminalising independent reporting on the conflict and any public criticism of the war.

Last month, a Russian court convicted a father over social media posts critical of the war and sentenced him to two years in prison.

His 13-year-old daughter, who drew an anti-war sketch at school, was sent to an orphanage.

Days later, Russias security service arrested Evan Gershkovich, an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal, on espionage charges.

In a statement at the end of his trial, Kara-Murza said he was jailed for many years of struggle against Putins dictatorship, his criticism of the war in Ukraine and his long efforts to champion western sanctions against Russian officials involved in human rights abuses.

Advertisement





I know that the day will come when the darkness engulfing our country will dissipate, the father of three told the court in remarks that were posted on his Twitter account.

This day will come as inevitably as spring comes to replace even the frostiest winter.

Kara-Murza reacted calmly as the judge read the verdict and sentence in a quick monotone.

His lawyer, Maria Eismont, later quoted him as telling her: My self-esteem has risen: I realised that I have done everything right. Twenty-five years is the highest appraisal that I could get for doing what I did and what I believed in, as a citizen, a patriot and a politician.

A quarter of a century is an A+ for your courage, consistency and honesty in your years-long work. I am infinitely proud of you, my love, and Im always by your side, Kara-Murzas wife, Evgenia, who lives in the US with their children, tweeted after the verdict.

Kara-Murza was an associate of Russian opposition leader and fierce Putin critic Boris Nemtsov, who was assassinated near the Kremlin in 2015.

In 2011-12, Kara-Murza and Mr Nemtsov lobbied for passage of the Magnitsky Act in the US.

The law, enacted by Congress in 2012, was in response to the death in prison of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who had exposed a tax fraud scheme.

Advertisement

The law has allowed Washington to impose sanctions on Russians deemed to be human rights violators.

The judge in Kara-Murzas trial, Sergei Podoprigorov, was among those sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act after ordering Mr Magnitskys arrest in 2008.

Mr Podoprigorov had petitioned US authorities in 2018 to lift the sanctions against him, according to Kara-Murzas lawyer, Vadim Prokhorov.

During Kara-Murzas trial, Mr Prokhorov twice asked Mr Podoprigorov to recuse himself, to no avail, Russian media reported.

Kara-Murza survived poisonings in 2015 and 2017 that he blamed on the Kremlin.

Russian officials have denied responsibility.





Vladimir Kara-Murza, a political activist and journalist, has been sentenced to 25 years in jail by a Russian court for high treason and other politically motivated charges for speaking out against Russias invasion of Ukraine.

https://t.co/hnipydMI1J  Amnesty International (@amnesty) April 17, 2023

Another prominent opposition figure, Ilya Yashin, was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison late last year on charges of discrediting the military.

Amnesty International denounced Kara-Murzas sentence as yet another chilling example of the systematic repression of civil society, which has broadened and accelerated under the Kremlin since Russias invasion of Ukraine last year.

The so-called crimes Vladimir Kara-Murza was tried for  speaking out against the invasion and advocacy on behalf of victims of human rights violations  are in fact acts of outstanding bravery, Amnestys Russia director Natalia Zviagina said in a statement.

Advertisement

This verdict wrongly conflates human rights activism with high treason and is reminiscent of Stalin-era repression.

The group declared Kara-Murza a prisoner of conscience, convicted solely for his political beliefs, and demanded his immediate and unconditional release.

Memorial, one of Russias oldest and most prominent human rights organisations that was named a co-winner of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize along with human rights defenders from Ukraine and Belarus, has also named Kara-Murza as a political prisoner.

Memorials head Yan Rachinsky described the sentence as monstrous, adding that it reflected the authorities fear of criticism and marked a difference between todays Russia and civilised countries.

The British, American, German and other western governments strongly condemned the conviction.





I am appalled by the politically motivated conviction of Vladimir Kara-Murza, who has been detained for the last year for criticising Russias invasion of Ukraine, I reiterate my call for his release. https://t.co/sk0PLOVdwH  Leo Docherty MP (@LeoDochertyUK) April 17, 2023

Vladimir Kara-Murza bravely denounced Russias invasion of Ukraine for what it was  a blatant violation of international law and the UN Charter, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a statement.

The Foreign Office said it summoned Russian ambassador Andrey Kelin over the conviction.

Advertisement

The British Government previously sanctioned the judge presiding at the trial for human rights violations in another case and said it would consider taking further action to hold people accountable in Kara-Murzas case.

The US State Department hailed Kara-Murza along with jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Yashin and many others who serve their country and their fellow citizens at great personal cost by boldly standing up for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

It renewed its call for the release of Kara-Murza and more than 400 other political prisoners in Russia.

UN human rights chief Volker Turk called the sentence another blow to the rule of law and civic space in the Russian Federation.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to comment.

Kara-Murzas health has deteriorated in custody, leading to the development of polyneuropathy  disease of or damage to nerves  in both his feet, according to his lawyers.
The United States, South Korea and Japan carried out a joint missile defence exercise in waters near the Korean Peninsula on Monday as they expand military training to counter the growing threat from North Koreas nuclear-capable missiles.

Last week, North Korea conducted one of its most provocative weapons demonstrations in years by flight-testing for the first time an intercontinental ballistic missile powered by solid propellants, as it pursues a weapon that is more responsive, harder to detect and could directly target the continental United States.

North Koreas unprecedented run of weapons tests has so far involved more than 100 missiles of various ranges fired into the sea since the start of 2022 as the country attempts to build a viable nuclear arsenal that could threaten its rival neighbours and the US.

Advertisement

The training exercise could trigger a belligerent response from North Korea, which condemns the USs military drills with its Asian allies as invasion rehearsals. The North has used those drills as a pretext to accelerate its own weapons development, creating a cycle of tit-for-tat that has raised tensions in recent months.



(Top to bottom) Japanese destroyer Atago, US guided missile destroyer USS Benfold and South Korean destroyer Yulgok Yi I (South Korea Defence Ministry/AP)

South Koreas navy said Mondays three-way naval drills took place in international waters off the countrys eastern coast and focused on mastering the procedures for detecting, tracking and sharing information on incoming North Korean ballistic missiles.

The one-day exercise involved an Aegis destroyer from each country and came as the US and South Korea also launched separate, five-day aerial drills involving some 110 warplanes, including advanced F-35 fighter jets.

South Korean navy spokesman Jang Do-young said in a news briefing: The (trilateral) drills goal is to improve our response capabilities against ballistic missiles and strengthen our ability to conduct joint operations as North Koreas nuclear and missile threats continue to escalate.

The US-South Korean aerial drills are aimed at sharpening combined operational abilities and demonstrating the countries joint defence postures in the face of North Korean threats, Seouls Defence Ministry said.

Advertisement

Also on Monday, South Korea and Japan resumed a security meeting of senior diplomats and defence officials following a five-year hiatus.

The meeting is one of many recent events which show that ties between Seoul and Tokyo are improving in the face of North Koreas evolving nuclear threats after years of disputes over history and trade.

During Mondays meeting, South Koreas Defence Ministry said Seoul and Tokyo discussed North Koreas nuclear programme and a trilateral co-operation with the United States.

The US and South Korea carried out their biggest filed exercises in years in March and have also held separate naval and aerial drills involving an American aircraft carrier battle group and nuclear-capable B-52 bombers. The North responded by dialling up its own testing activity.



The training exercise could trigger a belligerent response from North Korea (South Korea Defence Ministry/AP)

Monday marks 11 straight days that North Korea has not responded to South Korean check-up calls on a set of cross-border inter-Korean hotlines, South Korean officials say, raising concerns about potential kinetic provocations. Communications on those channels are meant to prevent accidental clashes along the rivals sea borders.

On Saturday, a South Korean naval vessel fired warning shots to repel a North Korean patrol vessel which temporarily crossed the countries disputed western sea boundary while chasing a Chinese fishing boat. There were no exchanges of fire between the North and South Korean vessels.

Advertisement

While the Souths military strengthened monitoring and readiness after the intrusion, it did not immediately detect any unusual activity from the North Korean military, Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Lee Sung Jun said on Monday.

North Koreas aggressive nuclear push under ruler Kim Jong Un is aimed at forcing the United States to accept the idea of the North as a legitimate nuclear power and negotiating economic concessions from a position of strength, many experts say. Nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang have remained derailed since 2019.

However, there are also signs that the costs of Mr Kims campaign are piling up as North Korea apparently grapples with food insecurity and other domestic problems worsened by pandemic-related border restrictions that disrupted trade with China, its main ally and economic lifeline. Chasing tangible economic achievements, the government has prioritised construction and agricultural projects.

The Norths official Korean Central News Agency said on Monday that Mr Kim attended an event over the weekend celebrating the building of 10,000 new homes in a district in Pyongyang. The project is part of broader plans to supply 50,000 new homes in the capital under a five-year national development plan that runs through 2025.

During Sundays event, Mr Kim called the housing project a long-cherished plan aimed at providing his people with more stable and civilised living conditions, KCNA said.

Advertisement

Experts say North Korea has severe shortages in quality housing that deepened over decades of economic decay. But living conditions are much better in Pyongyang, where Mr Kim has in recent years pushed huge development projects which upgraded housing for the elite and changed the citys skyline.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at a news conference at the U.S. Embassy Annex in Hanoi, Vietnam, April 15. AP-Yonhap



While the Biden administration sees minimal damage from the disclosure of highly classified documents related to the war in Ukraine and U.S. views of its allies and partners, that assessment will get its first real test when U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets in Japan with counterparts from six of America's closest foreign friends.



The three days of talks between the Group of Seven foreign ministers, which begin Sunday, may shed light on whether the disclosure has harmed trust between the allies or is only the latest embarrassment for the U.S, which has been grappling with the fallout from leaks of highly sensitive secrets over the past decade.



Blinken said Saturday he had heard no concerns from allies, but the revelations, and the arrest of a relatively low-level suspect in the leaks, will loom over the G-7 meeting, the first major international diplomatic conference since the documents were discovered online and made public.



"We have engaged with our allies and partners since these leaks came out, and we have done so at high levels, and we have made clear our commitment to safeguarding intelligence and our commitment to our security partnerships," Blinken told reporters in Hanoi before leaving for Japan.



"What I've heard so far at least is an appreciation for the steps that we're taking, and it's not affected our cooperation," he said. "I just haven't seen that, I haven't heard that. And, of course, the investigation is taking its course."



That argument may be wishful thinking, especially as the world digests what is being revealed almost daily with new revelations.



Apart from military analyses of Ukraine's capabilities and Russian losses, the leaked documents also reveal assessments of the defense capabilities of Taiwan and internal arguments in Britain, Egypt, Israel, South Korea and Japan.









"There's now, as you know, a suspect in custody, but importantly as well, I know, measures being taken to further safeguard information," Blinken said. "But to date, based on the conversations I've had, I have not heard anything that would affect our cooperation with allies and partners."



Yet the U.S. has had similar problems before, most notably when then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was forced to apologize for numerous embarrassing revelations in leaks of U.S. diplomatic cables by Wikileaks in 2010.



Clinton, in particular, said she had been forced to explain the U.S. position on Argentina, Israel, Italy and other allies in the aftermath of the Wikileaks drop.





This image made from video provided by WCVB-TV, shows Jack Teixeira, in T-shirt and shorts, being taken into custody by armed tactical agents in Dighton, Mass. Teixeira, who is accused in the leak of highly classified military documents. AP-Yonhap
It was like some type of significant crime had been committed and youd just turned up at the police station. Its like, Help, Hermann tells a joint investigation by The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and 60 Minutes.

The stocks still havent been listed eight years later and, when Hermann tried to sell just a small parcel earlier this year, there were no buyers.

Hermann was referring to a global investment scheme, supposedly backed by billions of dollars in assets, that is still in play and that has embroiled potentially thousands of investors, who signed with advisers such as Ridgway, believing they were investing in companies that were about to be listed on an international exchange and make them a fortune.

I and my family have had enough, we are exhausted financially, mentally and physically, he wrote to Shaw on February 21 last year. Maybe Shaw and Partners have the patience required for the promised return on this investment (if it is in fact legitimate) but my family do not.

Jason Hermann had had a gutful. His life was in turmoil after years of lies and excuses. He had a drink, sat down and composed an email that would ricochet inside one of the countrys biggest wealth managers, Shaw and Partners, exposing one of its senior financial advisers, Kris Ridgway, and a global financial scandal.

Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.

Helberg, an auditor of 40 years, who had previously worked in senior roles at Rio Tinto and CIMIC as well as holding partnerships at KordaMentha and Ernst & Young, had been headhunted by two men central to the scheme, England-based Andrew Turner and Australian businessman Sutton.

Stephen Helberg was not surprised. He had come to a similar conclusion about the companies in 2016, shortly after joining Aus Streaming Limited, a mining services company that was part of the empire, as executive chairman.

Ridgway jumped in his car and drove from Brisbane to Sydney, leaving his wife and three children, and stayed with his associate David Sutton for a few weeks, discussing how long it might take for the negative publicity to blow over.

Next to his desk was a filing cabinet that included bank account details, records of commissions, share transfers and other incriminating documents of companies that Shaw had never heard of.

Four days after the email, Ridgway was sacked and reported to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. He had circumvented Shaws compliance systems over eight years and had put up to 100 investors into unauthorised products and had taken secret commissions, which is illegal.

In 2017, he quit and called in the lawyers. The company owed him $250,000 in unpaid salary. Months later it was wound up.

Helberg says as he started to hunt for the assets, he uncovered a web of interconnecting companies, most registered in tax havens, claiming to have a total balance sheet of more than $6 billion.

He contacted the companys external auditors, Nexia, which had audited the accounts and had told him it had relied on independent valuations. It turned out that those valuations were not independent, Helberg says. He says that based on a PwC investigation, the valuation was prepared by a business that operated from the same address as Sutton.

Alarm bells started ringing within months of Helberg joining, when he became suspicious that the purported assets of $138 million on the Aus Streaming balance sheet could not be found.

But nothing prepared him for the elaborate spiderweb of companies he found himself in when he started peeling back the inner workings of Aus Streaming Ltd, which included Sutton as a director of the board.

In 2020, PwCs forensic accountants spent 12 months trying to find the assets in Aus Streaming but failed, partly due to the complexity of the companies.

Kris Ridgway (top) is questioned by his former employer, Shaw and Partners, shortly before his sacking.

Helberg believes more than 2000 investors have been caught in the scheme, which includes ASAF and other companies such as Steppes and Trinus, all linked to Sutton and Turner and all spruiked to investors by Ridgway and other financial advisers.

Until its collapse, Aus Streaming was part of the ASAF Capital Group, a British Columbia company Ridgway and Sutton and other advisers put investors into. Ridgway received secret commissions paid directly into his bank account from McFaddens, a business run by Sutton.

He formed the opinion that it was a global organisation set up to mislead investors. Not only investors, but the external auditors as well.

It found a deliberate opaqueness in the structure, management and business activities of what appears to be a large group of interconnected organisations registered in a number of jurisdictions spanning the globe.

It spent the year trawling through records and visiting offices that had been left vacant, but it couldnt find assets that had any value. Nor could it find the independent valuer of the assets, ECB, noting that correspondence was ignored, the address was unknown and the website address defunct. It said Turner didnt provide contact details. But it said an internet search conducted by PwC linked the companys number to McFaddens & Co Group, an advisory business with a base in Dubai linked to Sutton, which was also located at the same address as a consultancy group run by Turner.

But the report by PwC, commissioned by the courts in 2020 as special purpose liquidators to find the assets on behalf of creditors, lists a series of potential breaches of director duties, conflicts of interest and questionable conduct.

Turner, who says he has worked with Sutton on projects since 2014, disputes the PwC report.

Aus Streaming was going to go public via a reverse merger, which, due to circumstances beyond the companys control, it did not complete, he says.

The report by PwC was arranged by a conflicted party. A separate independent report that was not conflicted came up with a very different conclusion to PwC and did find value in the assets.

He says shares have not been listed because unfortunately, due to Covid and the subsequent financial markets turmoil of the past 18 months, the market for IPOs has dried up with London recording its worst market for IPOs for 14 years.

Loading

Investors, he says, can sell their shares on a secondary placing market.

Sutton says his legal advice is not to comment.

The support group

Helberg wasnt prepared to let it go. He became part of a support group, which included Hermann and another investor, Darren Walker, to share stories and information in the hope of getting to the bottom of what was going on.

From the outside, Sutton and Turner didnt appear to miss a beat. It looked like business as usual.

On April 29, 2022, two months after Ridgway had been sacked and four weeks after this masthead exposed the scandal, investors, including Walker, received an update about one of the companies in which they had invested, Trinus Private Equity, from the McFaddens email address. It said Trinus is now in a position to commence with its public listing on the Euronext Stock Exchange. It said the process would take 90 to 120 days and a further update on the listing would occur in May 2022.

David Sutton near his home in Sydney.

Investors werent buying it. One New Zealand-based investor, who had lost money from a previous investment, wrote, Andy [Turner], what we need to understand is when do we get liquidity (return of cash) and extract ourselves from this perpetual investment web? From where I sit right now, I just want my $400,000 investment funds back as I have advised continuously to David Sutton, over many months.

Then, on June 25, Turner wrote to one of the investors saying: I have been in hospital undergoing a major surgical procedure  I will not be returning to work until the week after next.

The years roll on, the excuses pile up

For years, investors have been given numerous reasons why the shares havent been listed, including delays in auditing, changes in jurisdictions and COVID.

There have been multiple company name changes, restructurings and share transfers between entities, all of which made it difficult for investors like Hermann to understand an already complex structure.

Sutton and Turner also seemed to find new ways to rope in investors.

Andrew Turner at his home in England. Credit:Nine

There have also been various attempts to raise new money. For instance, in 2020, Turner and some financial advisers spruiked McFaddens Australia, a wealth management company for which Sutton is listed as a director, and Trinus Impact Capital as the ultimate holding company.

Exceptional opportunity, one 2020 promotional document to investors says. Currently the very wealthy are taking advantage of the exceptional opportunities that are available because of COVID-19 and they are actively buying at the bottom of the market.

It said shareholders of McFaddens Australia would effectively become members of an exclusive club and would get access to McFaddens Plcs global deal flow and insights, saying these are normally only received by the super wealthy with a minimum net worth of $30 million.

The proposal: investors would lend McFaddens $3 million at 15 per cent, a huge premium to the going rate, which was close to zero. For every $10,000 lent, the investor received thousands of shares in McFaddens, worth $93,390. Immediate return of ten times with potential long term of 50 times for a riskless investment.

It was a brazen call given markets around the world were volatile but, with templates ready to go, brochures promised investors a stock with bullish growth. One graphic showed McFaddens assets under management at $1.8 billion, ballooning to $4.8 billion by 2024.

To sweeten the deal, it said the shares they received free would be listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in the first half of 2021 to provide liquidity for shareholders.

Turner got behind it, writing to investors on June 9, 2020, that the plan was to now list McFaddens on the Swiss Stock Exchange. The closest publicly listed comparison to McFaddens Australia on the ASX is Moelis Australia which listed on the ASX in 2017 and has done very well since listing and now has a market value of over $500 million, Turner writes.

But like the other unlisted companies that investors had put their money in, including Steppes, Trinus and ASAF, McFaddens hasnt been listed either.

Ridgway believes the various investments are 100 per cent a sham.

Despite my best efforts to ask them repetitively for financials and directorships and management, they refuse to give it to me, Ridgway says. And if they refuse to give it to me, I can only accept that they dont have it. They dont know it. It doesnt exist.

The dangling, ever-moving carrot

Kim and Darren Walkers marriage did not survive the financial stress. Credit:Paul Harris

Darren Walkers ex-wife Kim, a psychologist, says she feels the investors have been part of a psychological experiment. The carrot would get dangled and continued being dangled in front of us, she says. These people are seeing how long they can keep us hanging on with the reward at the end being a huge sum of money. But you just have to keep waiting.

It worked for a while, until a certain point, when Ridgway got sacked and Sutton and Turner started to withdraw. Updates became less frequent and documents that were issued had a signature of the company, not a person, which added to the opacity.

The PwC report into Aus Streaming recommended ASIC consider the actions of APC Securities (now called McFaddens Securities), run by Sutton. The areas of concern include whether APC has engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct with regard to the financial information included in the documents produced, the report says.

It established that Turner was central to Aus Streaming and played a key role, and Sutton was a director.

ASIC says it is investigating Sutton and Ridgway. This matter is complex and multi-jurisdictional, involving companies and conduct across multiple countries, it says in a statement. It is important that ASIC undertakes its investigation in a thorough and comprehensive manner.

Disgraced financial adviser Kris Ridgway. Credit:Louise Kennerley

ASIC did take action against Ridgway, banning him for life as an adviser, after he failed to disclose commission payments received from McFaddens Securities. But it came more than a year after this masthead first exposed his misconduct, and it was announced hours after a 60 Minutes promotion of this story aired, featuring Ridgway confessing.

Part of Ridgways confession included admitting to taking secret commissions, which is illegal, admitting he forged his wifes signature more than 100 times, putting her on boards without her knowledge or consent and telling her to lie to the regulator if questioned.

Some of my actions in recent times have been terribly unlawful, he says. I may not be able to be a company director. I may end up being charged with fraud and I may end up going to jail over this. And these are decisions that I made without thinking about consequences for the past couple of years. And this is going to come back to destroy me.

But it is little comfort to investors who struggled for years, unable to access their money.

Says Kim Walker: The stress we were under had a massive impact on our relationship and was one of the major things that led to us being divorced. So in terms of our overall life, it had a massive impact.

Melbourne-based investor Ray Drew lost $150,000 and had to delay his retirement plans. Depending on what age you are, youre given a certain time in life to turn things around. Some have a bit more time up their sleeves than what I have, he says.

Ray Drew had to delay his retirement because of the scheme. Credit:60 Minutes

Another Melbourne-based investor, Ruhan van Zyl, lost $250,000, which also took a toll. The fact that this has been running so long, you just lose all belief in what regulators are meant to do, he says.

Getting ASIC to act

It is an issue retired senator John Williams says he dealt with for years.

If you ask me whats the definition of frustration, I would say ASIC. I had 11 years trying to get them to act, trying to get them to become a fearless cop on the beat and all for nothing, he says.

Williams travelled to Brisbane to meet some investors who had assembled from all over the country, to discuss their plight.

He says when ASIC is slow to act it sends the message of a free-for-all. Have no fear in doing the wrong thing. We can siphon off commissions, break the law, siphon money, have no respect for the person whose money were investing for them because theres no fear of punishment, he says.

Williams says there needs to be some leadership from the treasurer and the assistant treasurer to say to ASIC: You do your job or were going to sack you.

Former senator John Williams is frustrated by ASICs slow action. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Ridgway was sacked, but there are other operators, still flying under the radar, who have put investors into dubious products.

Ridgway recently spoke to Turner about when Trinus might list. Turner told him it was most likely to be in Britain, later this year. But then again, he says, that will depend on the media.

What weve got to consider and what Im considering is any impact on this bad press. Theres no point in engaging people to spend massive amounts of money with lawyers when we know were going to get shit over this press. Its got to die down, Turner told Ridgway.

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the days most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.
As a rule of thumb, the happiness of investors syncs closely with their companys financial performance. A shareholder with a bulging wallet is a happy shareholder.

So, why is Woodside Petroleum, which is drowning in profits, and whose shareholders are wading in dividends facing a growing backlash from investors?

Ian Macfarlane is waiting for the shareholder election. Credit: Ben Rushton

Climate change, or in Woodsides case, the lack of a solid action on how to align with the goals of the Paris Agreement is galvanising shareholders into action.

Other companies, such as AGL, felt a huge shareholder protest against less-than-proactive response to climate challenges last year. But AGL was suffering on two counts  poor financial performance and a black mark on emissions progress.
Call it luck or stellar crisis management. China, one of the worlds most indebted nations, has not experienced a full-blown financial crisis, yet. There were a few close calls. In 2019, the government had to seize a regional bank, for the first time in decades, to prevent a run on deposits.

Last year, a wave of real estate developer defaults ended up with homebuyers threatening mortgage boycotts. Both scares got defused. One may even argue that China is now a safer place for investors after Beijing tightened regulations on unruly local banks and aggressive home builders.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will have to tread carefully. Credit: AP

But there is one more elephant in the room: Borrowings from local government financing vehicles. For years, municipalities have been relying on these off-balance-sheet entities to fund infrastructure and support the local economy. LGFV debt rose to 57 trillion yuan ($12.4 trillion) in 2022, or 48 per cent of Chinas gross domestic product, according to estimates from the International Monetary Fund.

It is fiscal maneuvering on an epic scale. LGFV borrowings are almost the same size as official central and local government debt combined. Bank loans aside, these vehicles routinely raise money from corporate bond issues, accounting for over 40 per cent of the total market. Their outstanding amount reached about 36 trillion yuan last year.
On Monday morning, Love Is Blind fans settled in to watch the series highly anticipated season four reunion live on Netflix. Over 90 minutes after it was scheduled to start they were still waiting, after a technical glitch threw the broadcast into chaos and highlighted challenges for the streamer as it seeks to pivot to more live content.

The reunion episode of the popular dating show was scheduled to be livestreamed on Netflix at 10am AEST, but when viewers attempted to tune into the widely promoted event, an error message appeared: Pardon the interruption. Were having trouble playing Netflix. Please check your internet and try again.

Netflixs Love Is Blind livestream failed to land on time, frustrating fans. Credit: Twitter

Fifteen minutes after the Love Is Blind reunion was scheduled to begin, the streaming service posted an apology on Twitter reading: Love is ... late. #LoveIsBlindLIVE will be on in 15 minutes!

But fans were already turning to social media to vent their frustrations and to criticise Netflix for its technical fumble.
Advertisement

Eating outRegional guides Top regional chefs reveal where they eat, drink and shop locally in Byron Bay, Hunter Valley and beyond Dan Stock April 18, 2023 Save Log in , register or subscribe to save recipes for later. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share

Theyre in charge of some of Australias best kitchens, so who better to ask for local intel on where to eat, drink and stock up on provisions across New South Wales than our top regional chefs? From the best brewery in Bangalow to the coolest cafe on the Coffs Coast, here are the places to seek out in holiday hotspots according to those in the know. Byron Bay and surrounds Ally Waddell Fridas Field, Nashua Glasgow-born and classically trained, Alastair Ally Waddell leads the hatted kitchen at Fridas Field, showcasing Northern Rivers-grown vegetables and beef raised onsite at the restaurants regenerative farm.

Advertisement

Best coffee: The best coffee in the region is to be found in, of all places, the Ballina industrial area at Old Quarter. Its just a minute or twos drive from Ballina Byron Gateway airport  be sure to grab a cup on your way in or out. oldquartercoffee.com.au Bar Heather serves well-executed dishes with natural wine. Jess Kearney Best wine bar: Bar Heather in Byron Bay is a beautiful space with an incredible wine list and amazing dishes from chef Ollie Wong-Hee. Start with a half martini before working your way through a selection of well-executed, delicious dishes, paired perfectly with top natural wines rarely seen by the glass. barheather.com Best casual meal: I always have a great night at Ciao, Mate! in Bangalow. Be greeted by amazing staff, start with a couple of plates of anchovies with your negroni, then follow with fantastic pizza and pasta. Make sure to get a side of ranch dressing to dip your crusts in. Genius. ciaomate.com.au Best food store: Kat Harvey Cheese at the M-Arts Precinct in Murwillumbah has an amazing selection of Australian and international cheeses. Kat will knock up the finest raclette and duck chorizo toastie while you pick out a few things to take home. katharveycheese.com

Advertisement

Best brewery: Some local lads are brewing great beer at Common People in Bangalow. Go for an ice-cold ale and stay for a slice of wood-fired pizza. commonpeoplebrewing.com.au Best local secret: The recently established Livemore Deli in Lennox Head is filling the finest focaccia from Morelli Fresh (also based in Lennox Head) with such daily changing fillings as prosciutto cotto, gruyere, violette moutarde and cornichons, or mortadella, whipped ricotta and Lombardy peppers. Get in early before they sell out. livemoredeli.com.au Best local pub: The Eltham Hotel is the quintessential country pub: Aussie tap beers, great pub dishes coming out of the kitchen and an incredible line-up of live music. Enjoy the chilled atmosphere and sunshine in the outdoor seating area. elthampub.com.au Visiting Byron Bay Farmers Market gives cooks a chance to chat to producers. iStock

Advertisement

Best farmers market: My favourite time of the week is collecting ingredients for Fridas Field from the Byron Farmers Market, which is on every Thursday, 7am-11am. It is very special, as a chef, to have weekly face time with our growers and producers, chatting about what produce is coming up and catching up with other local chefs. Wonderful coffee and breakfast options, too. byronfarmersmarket.com.au Best casual lunch: Majorcan-born Javi Mayrata, at Ambrunah in Byron Bay, is a master of the Spanish tortilla. Four flavours are available as a slice or in a bocadillo (sandwich) with a salsa and maybe a side of perfect tomato gazpacho. Amazing. ambrunah.com.au Wollongong and surrounds Matt Taylor Franco Pizza Bar, Thirroul

Advertisement

Beachside Thirroul welcomed chefs Matt Taylor (formerly of Monopole) and Jo Taylor-Watkins (ex-Glass) to town in 2021, with the opening of Franco Pizza Bar. The husband-and-wife team sling the Coal Coasts best pepperoni slice and plenty of Italian-inspired snacks too. Cassandra and Matthew Bugeja at Aint Nonnas, Wollongong. Supplied Best coffee: Not only is Aint Nonnas in Wollongong a great Italian restaurant but it also opens as a cafe on weekdays and Saturday mornings serving ONA coffee. They offer a mug-size cup for those who enjoy an OG cup of coffee to get them going. aintnonnas.com.au Best breakfast: When I do go out for breakfast Im always attracted to the big breakfast, and the feast at Lower East in Wollongong is ace. They also offer it in a vego format. lowereastcafe.com.au Best wine bar: A great wine bar is pretty much the one thing thats really missing in Wollongong, but Restaurant Santino and Babyface Kitchen are a couple of restaurants that have more interesting wines on their lists. restaurantsantino.com.au; babyfacekitchen.com.au

Advertisement

Best casual meal: Jins Place in Corrimal is a tiny 10-seat restaurant that serves a mix of Korean and Japanese cuisine. When Im too tired to cook, I turn to Jin for his yangnyeom Korean fried chicken. His japchae and other noodle dishes are the best in town. instagram.com/jins_place Best cheap eat: The Pickled Poet in Thirroul is my go-to for a good deli sandwich. Whenever I find a place that makes a good sandwich, Im so happy as its one of my favourite things to eat. pickledpoet.com Best craft brewery: Principle Brewing at Fairy Meadow has such a great selection of craft beers. Theres always something new on tap to try and the venue has a great atmosphere. principlebrewing.com.au Best local secret: The Black Cockatoo in Wollongong is hidden behind a cafe. Find it and be surprised by a fun grungy bar with 80s records spinning all night. instagram.com/blackcockatoobar

Advertisement

Best for the family: Whenever family  who are mostly based interstate or overseas  visit, we always do the drive up to Bald Hill, which gives the best view of the areas coastline, followed by a lunch stop at The Imperial at Clifton, where its dining room has views overlooking the ocean. The DIY guac is always a hit. theimperialclifton.com.au Best casual lunch: Vietnamese restaurant An Chut Chut in Wollongong does a super authentic pho. Youll be hard-pressed to find better. an-chut-chut.business.site Best bakery: I first came across Millers Local Bakehouse in Bulli when a customer brought in one of their birthday cakes  it was so good! But croissants are what they do best, so youll always see a line at their shop or pop-ups. millerslocalbakehouse.com Coffs Coast Ric Divola

Advertisement

Bar Que Sera, Sawtell Before Bee and Ric Divola returned to the region where they grew up, Ric was cooking at two-hatted Cutler & Co in Melbourne. The couple opened Bar Que Sera in 2020 for natural wines and seasonally inspired good times, and sibling venue Mortys Joint more recently launched next door with fried chicken, free pool and plenty of craft beer. 14.5 / 20 Review Bar Que Sera is a city-style wine bar in NSWs best-kept holiday secret Bar Que Sera in Sawtell. Supplied Best coffee: Supplys head roaster, Todd McCarthy, is one of the countrys most experienced and qualified roasters. Great coffee in a relaxed Coffs Harbour setting with amazing service to match. supplycoffee.co

Advertisement

Best breakfast: Youll find a short and simple menu executed really well at The Hilltop Store in Sawtell. Nothing beats their burnt butter hollandaise  add it to everything! thehilltopstore.com.au The Mermaid Beach House in Coffs Harbour. Steven Woodburn Best wine bar: Im loving the new bar addition at The Mermaid Beach House in Coffs Harbour. Theres an extensive wine-by-the-glass list with a focus on Italian varieties. Head in for a vino and snack at the bar, or move over to the deck for the full dining experience. themermaid.com.au Best casual meal: Perfect Pizza serves takeaway-only Australian-style pizza hidden down a laneway in Bellingen. Outstanding dough stretched to order with all the classic toppings plus fun originals using quality ingredients. The cheeseburger pizza is a must-try. perfectpizzas.com.au Best food store: New Life Farm in Sapphire Beach is a regenerative farm with organic practices selling produce through its online store. Its hands down the best produce you can get in the region. newlifefarm.com.au

Advertisement

Best farmers market: Every Wednesday afternoon under the trees in Bellingens Church Street, youll find a variety of niche producers selling hyper-seasonal fruits, vegetables, chicken, beef and smallgoods at the Bellingen Farmers and Producers Market. Best bottle shop: Theres an incredible selection of craft beer, wine and spirits at Libertine Liquor in Bellingen. Good tap selection, too, which can be taken away in growlers. instagram.com/libertineliquor Best local pub: The Pub with No Beer in Taylors Arm is the best pub in the country  fact! They do a great schnitty and other pub staples. Our favourite time to go is Sunday afternoon, when theres live music in the natural amphitheatre. Theres accommodation on-site or free camping over the road if you want to make a day out of it. pubwithnobeer.com.au Best bakery: Find outstanding pastries in a quaint country town at Peaches Patisserie. Worth the drive up the mountain. 53 Hickory Street, Dorrigo Hunter Valley

Advertisement

Troy Rhoades-Brown Muse Restaurant, Pokolbin Two-hatted Muse, a bellwether of fine dining in Newcastle and the Hunter, has been led for the past 10 years by Troy Rhoades-Brown, a chef and restaurateur with endless passion for the regions produce. Troy Rhoades-Brown of Muse Restaurant. Supplied Best coffee: Mr O Wholefoods in Cessnock serves consistently great coffee with friendly trading hours. mrowholefoods.com

Advertisement

Best breakfast: Head to Cafe Enzo in Pokolbin for genuine smiles, good service and breakfast in a top location. Dine inside by the fire in the colder months and book your table outside in the courtyard in the shoulder seasons. enzohuntervalley.com.au/cafe Best wine bar: The Wine House Hunter Valley in Pokolbin isnt exactly a wine bar but if your time in the Hunter Valley is limited and you want to taste a selection of wines and stock up for home, this is the place. A collection of quality independent, family-owned winemakers is here in one place with more than 40 wines available for tasting. winehousehuntervalley.com.au Best casual meal: Some of the Hunter Valleys next-gen restaurateurs, Tom and Eliza Boyd, have found their feet at the relatively new Jimmy Joans at Lovedale. Its casual, share-friendly food with no shortcuts on quality. Grab a rug and park on the grass under a tree if the weathers nice. Small tidy wine list, good beers on tap. Kid- and dog-friendly, the place is humming at weekends. jimmyjoans.com.au Best food store: We are so lucky to have Hungerford Meat Co in the beautiful old township of Branxton. Youll find all the regular butcher shop family favourites or you can level up to a special-occasion barbecue as deep as your wallet goes. They support local farms, promote whole-animal butchery and run an artisan charcuterie, smokehouse and dry-ageing program that challenges any regional butcher shop in Australia. hungerfordmeatco.com.au Country luxe: Mount Pleasants new cellar door. Supplied

Advertisement

Best cellar door: There are so many amazing wineries to tick off in the region, but the new country-luxe Mount Pleasant Cellar Door in Pokolbin should be near the top of the list. mountpleasantwines.com.au/visit Best bakery: At Fawk Foods in Pokolbin, grab a coffee, an egg and bacon roll and a canele for the road, along with a loaf of sourdough and some loaded crumpets for the kitchen bench. fawkfoods.com Best local pub: The Royal Federal Hotel in Branxton is a well-run country pub  downstairs offers a stool at the bar for a beer and yarn, TAB, pool table and wood-fired pizzas, while upstairs is a classic Australian pub bistro with the addition of Texas barbecue. royalfederal.com.au Best farmers market: The Newcastle City Farmers Market, held every Sunday, is the best for sampling produce from the greater Hunter region. newcastlecityfarmersmarket.com.au

Advertisement

Best local secret: The dry-aged cheeseburgers from Burgers by HMC in Branxton are great, but I am super-keen to visit the new Cafe Marjorie at the Laguna Trading Post on the Great North Road. Its a quaint little roadside bush restaurant thats had a gentle facelift, and Joel Humphreys [ex-Rockpool, Bistro Moncur, St. John in London] is now in the kitchen. Win-win. instagram.com/burgersbyhmc; tradingpostlaguna.com/cafe-marjorie Sapphire Coast Huw Jones Banksia, Pambula Huw Jones and his wife Renee are longtime members of the Oyster Coast community. They ran Merimbulas hatted Zanzibar Cafe for five years, and bought Pambulas heritage-listed Old Bank building in 2018 to open their dream restaurant, the charming Banksia.

Advertisement

Best coffee: Wild Ryes roastery in Pambula makes great espresso as well as a variety of single-origin pourovers. You can also grab a fresh croissant or pastry from their bakery. wildryes.com.au Best breakfast: We enjoy walking through the Panboola Wetlands on our way out to Oaklands Barn in Pambula. The cafe there does a great breakfast, but theres also a brewery, a chocolatier and a childrens animal barn. oaklandsbarn.com Best wine bar: Sunnys Kiosk, overlooking the Merimbula Lake, does awesome snacks at sunset and has a great wine list. sunnyskiosk.com.au Best casual meal: Bar Monti in Merimbula has a great buzzy atmosphere. With two young kids, we head in early for antipasti, quality pizza and house-made pasta. barmonti.com

Advertisement

Best food store: Were super lucky to have Pambula Wholefoods right next door to the restaurant. They have a great range of fresh spices, local honeys, organic flours, every imaginable grain, seed and nut, as well as organic fruit and vegetables. 24A Quondola Street, Pambula North of Eden Gin owner Gavin Hughes at his property in Stony Creek. Destination NSW / Alan Benson Best distillery: We love the Oyster Shell Gin from North of Eden at Stony Creek. The distillery door is open at weekends  its pretty tiny, so book in for a tasting of the full range. northofeden.com.au Best farmers market: Candelo Market is held on the first Sunday of the month, and its always an interesting mix of stalls, with local produce, old wares etc. The Candelo General Store does great coffee and brekkie while youre in town. candelomarkets.com Visitors to the Sapphire Coast are spoilt for oyster-tasting options. Destination NSW / Alan Benson

Advertisement

Best bottle shop: Its a hard choice. Sapphire Cellars in Merimbula and Super Cellars in Pambula both have a great range of local products and a terrific selection of everything else. instagram.com/sapphirecellars; supercellars.com.au Best farm gate: We are spoilt for choice for oysters! Broadwater Oysters and Wheelers in Pambula are great to visit. broadwateroysters.com.au; wheelersoysters.com.au Best casual lunch: The Oyster Barn is perched right on the lake at Millingandi and serves a variety of their own oysters as well as crays, prawns and scallops. Best of all, its BYO. instagram.com/the_oyster_barn
The amount of time children spend isolated in Queenslands juvenile detention centres will be reviewed by the youth justice department to ensure records are accurate and courts are not misled.

On Saturday, Brisbane Times reported a 13-year-old boy was held in a youth detention centre for more than a month, where he was regularly kept in solitary confinement, despite informing two courts he wished to plead guilty to his charges.

The court heard on 11 of the 32 days the teenager had been in detention, he had been separated  a policy where a juvenile is secured in their room for protection  for 11 hours and 59 minutes.

Judge Alexander Horneman-Wren said from the information provided to him, if a child was separated for 12 hours the chief executive must be informed and approval given.
High-fee Presbyterian boys school Scotch College says it disagrees with the churchs view that sexually active heterosexual or LGBTIQ+ students should not be school captains.

In a letter to the school community, college council chairman Alex Sloan said the school did not tolerate discrimination towards our staff or students, including on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or relationship status or pregnancy. The school encourages every student to take leadership positions without discrimination, he said.

Scotch College in Hawthorn. Credit: Joe Armao

The federal government is looking at removing anti-discrimination exemptions for religious schools, which allow them to discriminate against staff or students because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or relationship status or pregnancy.

But schools will be able to give preference, in good faith, to people of the same religion when hiring staff whose roles include the teaching of religions, as well as require all staff to respect their religious ethos.
The feud between two of Labors most beloved figures has escalated, with Foreign Minister Penny Wong accusing Paul Keating of diminishing his legacy and the former prime minister attacking Wong for speaking in platitudes and lacking policy ambition.

In an appearance at the National Press Club on Monday, Wong hit out at critics who take self-satisfied potshots at the United States, arguing America continues to play an indispensable role in promoting peace and security in the Asia-Pacific as it jostles with rival superpower China for influence.

At a heated appearance at the press club last month, Keating was particularly personal in his criticisms of Wong, saying: Running around the Pacific Islands with a lei around your neck handing out money, which is what Penny does, is not foreign policy. Its a consular task. Foreign policy is what you do with the great powers: what you do with China, what you do with the United States.

Asked about his comments, Wong said: On Mr Keating, what I would say is this: I think in tone and substance he diminished both his legacy and the subject matter.
This April 10 photo released by U.S. Navy shows the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius (DDG-69) conducting underway operations, at an undisclosed location in South China Sea. Reuters-Yonhap



The U.S. warship USS Milius sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, in what the U.S. Navy described on Monday as a "routine" transit, just days after China ended its latest war games around the island.



China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, officially ended its three days of exercises around Taiwan last Monday where it practiced precision strikes and blockading the island.



It staged the drills to express anger at Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen's meeting with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, viewing it as an interference in China's internal affairs and U.S. support for Taiwan's separate identity from China



The U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet said the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius conducted a "routine Taiwan Strait transit" through waters "where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law".



The ship's transit demonstrates the United States' commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, it added.



The U.S. Navy sails warships through the strait around once a month, and also regularly conducts similar freedom of navigation missions in the disputed South China Sea.



Last week, the USS Milius sailed near one of the most important man-made and Chinese controlled islands in the South China Sea, Mischief Reef. Beijing denounced it as illegal.



China has continued its military activities around Taiwan since the drills ended, though on a reduced scale.



On Monday morning, Taiwan's defence ministry said it had spotted 18 Chinese military aircraft and four naval vessels operating around Taiwan in the previous 24 hour period.



China has never renounced the use of force to bring democratically governed Taiwan under its control.



Taiwan's government rejects China's territorial claims, and says only the island's people can decide their future. (Reuters)


Paul Keating was not the main target of Penny Wongs appearance at the National Press Club yesterday. But she hit him anyway. He left her no choice. After he insulted and ridiculed her in his own appearance at the National Press Club a month ago, Wong had to do three things to establish a footing.

First, Australias most senior female officeholder had to demonstrate that she would not be intimidated by the former prime ministers bullying. Second, the leader of the government in the Senate had to establish that the Albanese administration would be governing for this century, not the last. Third, Australias foreign affairs minister needed to show the world that Australia has a purposeful foreign policy, and that it bears no resemblance to anything Keating said.

In doing so, Wong was as classy as Keating was crass, as clear-eyed as he was wild-eyed, as constructive as he was destructive. She didnt refer to him by name until asked a direct question by a reporter, and even then she called him Mr Keating.

Once asked about him, her only direct comment was to say that in tone and in substance, he diminished both his legacy and the subject matter. In sum, Wongs attitude to Keating was the one she adopts in dealing with foreign countries  respecting but not deferring to others.
The rape investigation into former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann was underpinned from the beginning by tension between ACT Police and the Director of Public Prosecutions, a high-powered inquiry has heard, as it prepares to scrutinise the conduct of the authorities during the abandoned trial.

At an initial public hearing on Monday before witnesses are called next month, counsel assisting the inquiry, Erin Longbottom, KC, said a key point of conflict between the police and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) involved confusion over whether Lehrmann should be charged with the rape of his former colleague Brittany Higgins.

ACT DPP Shane Drumgold (left) will be among the first witness called into an inquiry into the abandoned trial against former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann (right). Credit: Rhett Wyman, Alex Ellinghausen

In efforts to determine whether ACT police breached their duties, Longbottom said the inquiry would hear evidence about the apparent close engagement between the investigating officers and the lawyers for Lehrmann during the trial, which led to some distrust between police and the DPP.

From the outset, engagement between the DPP and ACT police in this matter was beset by tension, Longbottom said.
Two senior Brisbane LNP councillors have announced they wont contest the next election less than one year away, in the latest political shakeup of City Hall.

The latest announcement in particular, from 16-year inner-west representative Peter Matic, has the potential to open the seat up for the Greens taking.

Brisbane LNP councillors David McLachlan (Hamilton, left) and Peter Matic (Paddington, right) have joined announced they will not contest the March 2024 election, pulling the governing party into the recent round of reshuffling from Labor and the Greens.

Both follow recent shuffling of new Labor and Greens councillors into two other wards, under rules allowing replacements by political parties  rather than byelections  within a year of the next election, with more to come.

Matic took to social media on Monday to share the news he would not seek re-election at the March 2024 vote after serving as an inner-west councillor since 2007, saying the time had been an absolute honour.
Tesla chief Elon Musk is not someone who keeps much of his life a mystery. He shares his innermost thoughts with the world on Twitter, which he bought last year. But even the tech billionaire has secrets. And his own car is sharing them with the world.

Some time in 2020, a group of Tesla employees stumbled upon and shared videos of a unique white Lotus Esprit sitting quietly in Musks garage.

Data from your car is valuable as it not only reveals what you and your motor are up to, but it can also be used to build products and services that drivers can be induced to buy. Credit: AP

The footage caused a stir online. The car, which has fins as well as wheels and starred in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, had not been seen in public for nearly a decade.

But it turns out its not only Wet Nellie, as the car-cum-submarine is nicknamed, that Teslas staff were able to see. Musk is one of potentially thousands of Tesla owners who were unwittingly filmed by their cars over a period of years, according to a Reuters investigation, including one man captured in the nude as he went to fetch something from his parked car. As the world wakes up to exactly what a Teslas onboard cameras can capture and beam back to their makers, a wider fear has arisen: is your car spying on you?
Iranian authorities plan to prosecute people who encourage women to remove their headscarves and have installed cameras in public places and on highways to catch violators of the countrys strict dress code, according to local media and a senior judicial official.

As part of the effort to step up enforcement, police sent thousands of messages to businesses and car owners warning them to comply, a spokesman told state media.

A woman walks around a commercial district without wearing her mandatory Islamic headscarf in downtown Tehran. Credit: AP

Irans police chief announced last week that the cameras would be installed, saying women caught without a headscarf  or hijab  would first be warned and then face unspecified charges. Additional cameras, including on roadways, were installed Saturday, local media reported.

The countrys deputy attorney-general also warned on Saturday prosecutors would charge those who urge women to take off the veil, which is compulsory in Iran.
New York: US law enforcement officials arrested two New York residents for allegedly operating a Chinese secret police station in Manhattans Chinatown, part of a crackdown on Beijings alleged targeting of US-based dissidents.

Lu Jianwang, 61, and Chen Jinping, 59, face charges of conspiring to act as agents of Chinas government without informing US authorities and obstruction of justice. They are expected to appear in Brooklyn federal court later on Monday.

The glass facade building, second from left, is believed to be the site of a foreign police outpost for China in New Yorks Chinatown. Credit: AP

The charges come as the Department of Justice ramps up probes into what it calls transnational repression by US adversaries such as China and Iran to intimidate political opponents living in the United States.

We cannot and will not tolerate the Chinese governments persecution of pro-democracy activists who have sought refuge in this country, Breon Peace, the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, told reporters.
Latest News Inflation slows during March quarter But level could still trigger further cash rate hike, economist warns

High-price growth suburbs a dream result for brokers Bryon Bay leads way with decade of growth

A Gold Coast director has been slapped with an ASIC ban for promoting the illegal early release of super to buy a home or pay personal debts.

Darren Thomas Edden-Brown, also known as Darren Brown, Darren Edden Brown, and Darren Thomas Brown, has been banned from providing financial services and engaging in credit activity for eight years as well as from controlling or performing any functions as an officer of an entity that carries a financial services business or engages in credit activities.

ASIC investigation found that Edden-Brown, while operating a business under the brand Enigma, had advertised on its website and social media that consumers who did not meet the conditions for early release of super could access their super early to buy a home or pay personal debts. It was also found that he assisted consumers who did not meet the conditions for early release to access their super early to repay personal debts.

Superannuation can only be accessed before the retirement age if a condition of release is met. Illegal early release schemes expose consumers to significant penalties.

Edden-Brown is the sole director and shareholder of Edden Brown Holdings (EBH), the corporate trustee for the Enigma Corporation Trust and the Equitibanx Australian Trust. He also served as a director and ultimate shareholder of licensees, Consolidated Mercantile Group, Wentworth Financial Services, and Search Finance, from 2019 to 2021.

ASIC found that Mr Edden-Brown was responsible for representations on company websites, including that Enigma Corporation, Equitibanx, and CMG were licenced or authorised to provide certain financial products and services, when they were not, the corporate watchdog said. Although ASIC raised concerns about these statements with Mr Edden-Brown in December 2020, he failed to remove the statements until July 2021.

As a result of this conduct, ASIC found Mr Edden-Brown is not fit and proper, and is not adequately trained or competent, to participate in the financial services and credit industries.

Edden-Brown has the right to seek a review of ASICs decision at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
Latest News Inflation slows during March quarter But level could still trigger further cash rate hike, economist warns

High-price growth suburbs a dream result for brokers Bryon Bay leads way with decade of growth

A former Gold Coast property scheme promoter, Anthony Keith Silver, has been sentenced to eight-and-a-half-years in jail for fraud totalling $1.815 million, following an ASIC investigation.

ASIC said Silver, also known as Tony Silver, was the shadow director of Capital Growth International Club and All About Property Developments (the scheme companies), which raised $9 million from investors between 2008 and 2010.

Silver pleaded guilty to misappropriating $1.815 million from the companies in 2010 by transferring funds to his personal bank account, making payments to employees and paying returns to other investors.

ASIC said that many of the investors caught up in the promotion scheme were pensioners and were approached to invest in the scheme companies by cold-call telemarketing or word of mouth.

Silver, of Hobart in Tasmania, who pleaded guilty to fraud, told investors their funds would be used to develop property in Tasmania or be pooled and invested in bank term deposits.

Investors were also told they would receive returns of 15% to 20% per annum on their investments, which convinced some to borrow against their homes to invest with the scheme companies.

In delivering the sentence with a non-parole period of two-and-a-half years, Judge Vicki Loury KC remarked on the significant impact and financial and psychological cost of the fraud on the victims.

Silvers sentence follows his son Bradley Silver being sentenced to eight years in prison in 2019 for dishonesty offences relating to the scheme companies totalling over $4.7 million.

Former Westpac home finance manager David St Pierre was also sentenced to three years in 2017 after pleading guilty to dishonest use of his position concerning his role in submitting false loan applications to obtain over $2.5 million for Westpac customers to invest in the scheme companies.

In March 2014, ASIC permanently banned St Pierre from engaging credit in activities and providing financial services. In October 2014, Westpac remediated investors in the scheme companies who had contact with St Pierre before investing.


Microsoft Corp.s Bing may replace Alphabet Inc.s Google as the default search service on Samsung Electronics Co. devices, according to a New York Times report Sunday.

By Vlad Savov and Michael Tobin



Samsung shipped 261 million smartphones in 2022, according to IDC data, all running Googles Android software. The Korean company has long-established partnerships with both Microsoft and Google, and its devices come preloaded with a library of apps and services from both, such as OneDrive and Google Maps. Negotiations are still ongoing and Samsung may yet decide to keep Google as its default provider, according to the report. Suwon-based Samsung, the worlds leading smartphone maker, is considering making the switch, putting at risk roughly $3 billion in annual revenue for Google, the report said. Bings threat to Googles search dominance has grown more credible in recent months with the addition of OpenAIs technology to provide ChatGPT-like responses to user queries.



Google is excited about bringing new AI-powered features to search and will share more details soon, Lara Levin, a Google spokeswoman, said in a statement. A Google representative did not comment on the companys negotiations with Samsung. A representative from Samsung declined to comment. Google is working on several projects to update and renew its search services to avoid losing ground. Those include adding artificial intelligence features to its existing offerings, under a project named Magi, which has more than 160 people working on it, the Times reported.

Also Read Bard, Bing and Baidu: How big tech's AI race will transform searches Google improves Gmail search, Chat with search labels, related results Google Chat lets users filter search results with search chips on web India among top 3 markets for AI-powered Bing preview: Microsoft official Microsoft packs Bing engine, Edge browser with AI in challenge to Google Baskin Robbins to add 100 ice cream parlours to expand its network in FY24 Considering production of passenger vehicle tyres in India: Michelin CEO TCS to continue investments in R&D and technology: CFO Samir Seksaria Reliance Industries Limited to announce Q4 results on April 21 Booster dose: Zydus likely to arm India with single-dose malaria drug


The NCLAT is expected to hear the matter this week and has transferred the case to the chairperson's court, said a person familiar with the matter. Google on Monday withdrew an appeal filed in the Supreme Court against the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal's (NCLAT) order that refused to grant it interim relief on the Competition Commission of Indias (CCI) directions relating on its alleged abuse of market dominance with Play Store policies.



In its judgement, CCI marked Google's policies on the mandatory use of Google Play Billing System (GPBS) for paid apps and in-app purchases as an unfair condition on app developers. The CCI held that Google was following discriminatory practices by not using GPBS for its own application  YouTube. The CCI in October 2022 had ordered Google to allow app developers to use third-party billing or payment processing services for app purchases, as well as in-app purchases. The competition regulator also ordered Google to pay Rs 936 crore in penalties.



Google has decided to pursue its appeal against CCIs order in NCLAT. The Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud was expected to hear the matter, but the case has been "dismissed as withdrawn". As per Google, the appeal has become infructuous. Google started acting on the order in January after the Supreme Court refused to grant it interim relief. However, the tech giant also appealed against the directives in NCLAT. The tribunal had, on January 11, denied interim relief to Google in its appeal against the CCIs penalty and also asked the tech giant to deposit 10 per cent of the penalty with the regulator.

Also Read NCLAT declines stay on CCI's Rs 936 cr Google penalty, asks firm to pay 10% Reviewing SC decision, will cooperate with CCI on way forward: Google Google Bard: What we know so far about generative AI chatbot in the works Three questions on EWS quota: Here's what the Supreme Court judges said Why does Google find itself in CCI's crosshairs? Former Softbank India head Manoj Kohli joins Masters' Union as Chairperson Over 76 firms ink non-disclosure agreement with govt to use ULIP data Global non-leather footwear makers put best foot forward in Tamil Nadu Air India revises pilots', cabin crew salaries, announces reward, bonus Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel to power calls of over 1 mn Railway employees

The revised policies of Play Store will allow app developers to offer users choice billing systems to users along with Google Plays billing system within India from April 26, 2023.
Japan's Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, top center, delivers an opening address at the start of the first working session of a G7 Foreign ministers' meeting at a hotel in Karuizawa, Nagano prefecture, Japan Monday, April 17. Clockwise from Hayashi are Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Deputy Secretary-General of the European External Action Service (EEAS) Enrique Mora, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. AP-Yonhap



Top diplomats from the Group of Seven wealthy democracies are vowing a tough stance on China's increasing threats to Taiwan and on North Korea's unchecked tests of long-range missiles, while building momentum on ways to boost support for Ukraine and punish Russia for its invasion.



Russia's war in Ukraine will consume much of the agenda Monday as the envoys gather in this Japanese hot spring resort town for Day Two of talks meant to pave the way for action by G-7 leaders when they meet next month in Hiroshima.



The world is at "turning point" on the fighting in Ukraine and must "firmly reject unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force, and Russia's aggression against Ukraine and its threats of the use of nuclear weapons," Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told his colleagues, according to a Japanese summary.



For the American delegation, the meeting comes at a crucial moment in the world's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and efforts to deal with China, two issues that G-7 ministers from Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Italy and the European Union regard as potent challenges to the post-World War II rules-based international order.



A senior U.S. official traveling with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters that the Biden administration's goal for the talks is to shore up support for Ukraine, including a major initiative on Ukraine's energy infrastructure launched at last year's G-7 gatherings in Germany, as well as to ensure the continued provision of military assistance to Kyiv. Ramping up punishment against Russia for the conflict, particularly through economic and financial sanctions that were first threatened by the G-7 in December 2021, before the invasion, will also be a priority, the official said.



Ukraine faces an important moment in coming weeks with Russia's current offensive largely stalled and Ukraine preparing a counter-offensive. The U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss Blinken's priorities at the closed-door meetings, said there would be discussion about ways to deepen support for Ukraine's long-term defense and deterrence capabilities. That might also improve Kyiv's position for potential negotiations that could end the conflict on its terms.



The role of Japan  the only Asian member of the G-7  as chairman of this year's talks provides an opportunity to discuss coordinated action on China. Leaders and foreign ministers of G-7 countries, most recently France and Germany, have recently concluded visits to China, and the diplomats in Karuizawa are expected to discuss their impressions of where the Chinese stand on numerous issues, including the war in Ukraine, North Korea, and Taiwan, which is a particular sore point in U.S.-Chinese relations.



At a private working dinner on Sunday night that was the diplomats' first formal meeting, Hayashi urged continued dialogue with China on the many global challenges where participation from Beijing is seen as crucial. Among the Chinese interests that are intertwined with those of wealthy democracies are global trade, finance and climate efforts.





A China Coast Guard ship sails towards the zone where China said it would conduct live fire exercises northeast of Pingtan Island, the closest point in China to Taiwan, in China's southeast Fujian province on April 10. AFP-Yonhap



But the diplomats are also looking to address China's more aggressive recent stance in Northeast Asia, where it has threatened Taiwan, the self-governing democracy that Beijing claims as its own.



Hayashi told ministers that outside nations must continue "building a constructive and stable relationship, while also directly expressing our concerns and calling for China to act as a responsible member of the international community," according to a summary of the closed-door dinner.



China recently sent planes and ships to simulate an encirclement of Taiwan . Beijing has also been rapidly adding nuclear warheads, taking a tougher line on its claim to the South China Sea and painting a scenario of impending confrontation.



The worry in Japan can be seen it its efforts in recent years to make a major break from its self-defense-only post-WWII principles, working to acquire preemptive strike capabilities and cruise missiles to counter growing threats.



Blinken, the top U.S. diplomat, had been due to visit Beijing in February, but the trip was postponed because of a Chinese spy balloon incident over U.S. airspace and has yet to be rescheduled.



Blinken met briefly with China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Forum, but high-level contacts between Washington and Beijing have become rare. Thus, Blinken will be seeking insight from his French and German counterparts on their interactions with the Chinese, the senior U.S. official said.



Despite indications, notably comments from French President Emmanuel Macron, that the G-7 is split over China, the official said there is shared worry among G-7 nations over China's actions. The official added that the foreign ministers would be discussing how to continue a coordinated approach to China.





A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on April 14 shows the test firing of a new solid-fuel Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at an undisclosed location in North Korea on April 13. EPA-Yonhap


In a statement, AMIPL said that it looks forward to implementing the recently passed resolution plan in due course. ArcelorMittal India, on Monday, said that the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had approved AM Mining Indias resolution plan for Indian Steel Corporation (ISC), a Gujarat-based downstream unit. AM Mining is a subsidiary of ArcelorMittal India (AMIPL) and part of the ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel joint venture.



According to information available on the ISC website, the admitted claims of secured financial creditors as on November 2022 was around Rs 2709 crore. The NCLT passed the order on April 13. The total amount under the resolution plan is Rs 897 crores, out of which the secured financial creditors would receive Rs 810 crores.



It will also lead to synergies across our downstream operations, he said. Commenting on the NCLT approval, Dilip Oommen, executive vice president. ArcelorMittal, said that the acquisition would enhance downstream capabilities and broaden the product portfolio as the company looks to capitalise on market opportunities presented by the steel industry, especially in high value-added steel production.

Also Read AM/NS bulks up for the future, focuses on acquisitions to secure infra AM/NS India EBITDA drops 62.98% to $204 million in September quarter Odisha bags about Rs 8.9-trillion investment intent in two days Aftermath of Russia-Ukraine war dims the sheen on steel industry Centre likely to amend IBC in winter session to improve efficiency: Report Mahindra Finance to raise upto Rs 8,000 crore through debentures in FY24 Bournvita rejects social media influencer's claims of high sugar content Former Jio-bp executive Kedar Apte to head M&M's global farm business 72% of workers in Apple's India factories are women; Foxconn best performer PLI scheme: India to account for around 7% of iPhones assembled globally



The port-based facility specialises in manufacturing value-added steel products that cater to the automotive, construction, home appliance, and general engineering sectors. ISC is a steel processing company with operations spanning cold-rolled, galvanised, and colour-coated. It has an annual capacity of 600,000 tonnes per annum.



The ISC acquisition comes after the Uttam Galva Steels buy last year under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). Uttam Galva Steels, also a downstream steel manufacturer, has its manufacturing facilities at Khopoli, with an annual capacity of 1.2 million tonnes per annum. With an established OEM customer base, the plant also has a service centre within its premises said, the statement read.


The new factory will be Mitsubishi Electrics first air-conditioner and compressor manufacturing facility in India. The unit will cater to the growing air conditioner demand in the domestic market and is expected to begin operations by October 2025. With an investment of about $222 million, the plant will help Mitsubishi Electric achieve an annual production capability of 300,000 units of room air-conditioners and 650,000 compressors, once fully operational. The plant will be equipped with the latest technology, adhering to the highest quality and safety standards. Mahindra Industrial Park Chennai (MIPCL), a joint venture between Mahindra World City Developers and Sumitomo Corporation of Japan, has signed a lease agreement with Mitsubishi Electric India (Mitsubishi Electric), to set up a plant to manufacture air-conditioners and compressors. The plant will be spread across 52 acres at Origins by Mahindra, in Chennai.



Our strategic location, coupled with our robust infrastructure and commitment to sustainability, positions us as a leading destination for the manufacturing industry. At Origins by Mahindra, we remain dedicated to providing our clients with unparalleled service excellence as we continue to pave the way towards India's 'Make in India' mission by facilitating global standards of manufacturing in the country, Pai added. We have leased out around 65 per cent of the project and are in the process of leasing out balance land in the phase-I. Our sales team and marketing teams are making extensive outreaches to attract both Indian and overseas companies, specially in sectors like auto, auto ancilliaries, electrical and electronics, said Rajaram Pai, Chief Business Officer-Industrial, Mahindra Lifespace Developers. In the industrial space, the company has four parks: Mahindra World City projects in Jaipur and Chennai, and Origins in Chennai and Ahmedabad.



Origins by Mahindra, Chennai is strategically located on NH16 (Part of Golden Quadrilateral) and within the influence zone of Chennai  Bangalore Industrial Corridor (CBIC) and Chennai  Vizag Industrial Corridor (CVIC) near Ponneri. Origins by Mahindra, Chennai has proximity to three major ports of Chennai (Chennai Port, Ennore Port and Kattupalli Port) and boasts an excellent connectivity to the CBD area of Chennai City. Origins by Mahindra, Chennai is also the first industrial cluster in Tamil Nadu to be awarded with the IGBC Green Cities' 'Platinum' rating. The first phase of Origins by Mahindra, Chennai, spread over 307 acres is a preferred industrial destination for several customers, including those from Japan and Taiwan. We grew the air conditioner business by expanding its sales channels and setting up a market position as a premium brand supplying a range of high-quality, high-performance products. The new manufacturing unit is expected to strongly support stable product supply as the Indian market continues to grow due to its increasing population and expanding economy. It also will strengthen development capacities to meet local demands and provide product lifecycle solution incorporating air conditioning and refrigeration equipment, said Kazuhiko Tamura, Managing Director, Mitsubishi Electric India
Unsubscribe to continue

This is a subscriber only feature Subscribe Now to get daily updates on WhatsApp
The court also asked the government to place on record two reports on the use of harmful chemicals and pesticides in the country. The Union government shall place on record the final report of the Dr S K Khurana Sub-Committee (referred to in paragraph 10 of the status report) and the report dated September 6, 2022 of the committee chaired by Dr T P Rajendran (referred to in

The Supreme Court on March 27 asked the central government to explain the reason behind retaining the ban on just three of the originally outlawed 27 pesticides. A Bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud sought the governments response in four weeks.


The FTA talks mark a step-up in economic relations between the two countries despite calls from Western countries for India to gradually distance itself from its dominant weapons supplier, Russia, over its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. India and Russia are discussing a free trade agreement (FTA), the Russian trade minister said on Monday, an announcement that could deepen bilateral commercial ties that have flourished since war broke out in Ukraine.



Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said the Covid pandemic had disrupted discussions on an FTA between India and the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union, and that he hoped our colleagues will pick up on this ... because we do believe it will make a real difference to our trade relationship. Indias imports from Russia more than quadrupled to $46.33 billion over the last fiscal year, mainly through oil. We pay special attention to the issues of mutual access of production to the markets of our countries, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, who is also the trade minister, told an event in New Delhi. Together with the Eurasian Economic Commission, we are looking forward to intensifying negotiations on a free trade agreement with India.



Reuters reported in November that Russia was potentially seeking to import more than 500 products from India for key sectors including cars, aircraft and trains, given that Western sanctions imposed over Russia's military action in Ukraine have undermined its ability to keep core industries operating. Manturov said road construction material and equipment and chemicals and pharmaceutical products were in demand in Russia and I am sure that this will create opportunities for Indian companies to increase their supplies to Russia. The announcement came at a time when New Delhi is engaged in FTA talks with Britain, the European Union, and the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Also Read India-Australia free trade agreement to come into force from Dec 29 Student visas were never part of FTA discussions with UK, says Piyush Goyal India and UK look to fast-track free trade agreement negotiations FTA with India to be expedited in next few months: British envoy India-UK FTA:'Mustn't hurriedly wrap negotiations with artificial deadline' Indian Railways earns record revenue of Rs 2.40 trillion in 2022-23 India, Russia working on investment protection pact: Russian Dy PM RBI accepts Rs 5,500-cr bids at switch and conversion auction of govt bonds Fuel, electronics exports lead India's post-pandemic trade basket rejig Civil society, industry take contrasting positions on pesticide ban order



New Delhi has not explicitly criticised the Russian invasion and has called for a peaceful resolution of the conflict through dialogue. Russian-Indian bilateral trade has jumped as the war has progressed. Russia, traditionally Indias top source of military hardware, displaced Iraq last month to become Indias top supplier of crude oil. Before the war that began in February last year, India bought very little oil from Russia. Manturov also said Russia would consider widening the use of "national currencies and currencies of friendly countries". India has been keen on increasing the use of its rupee currency for trade with Russia. Russia describes its campaign in Ukraine as a special military operation against security threats, while pro-Western Ukraine calls it an unprovoked war of conquest.
India and Russia are working on firming up a bilateral agreement for the promotion and protection of investments and Moscow is looking at expanding trade ties with New Delhi, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said on Monday.

Addressing an event, Manturov also said that Russia, along with the Eurasian Economic Commission, is looking forward to intensifying negotiations on a free trade agreement with India.

Manturov, who is also Russia's minister for trade and industry, is on a two-day visit to India primarily to attend an inter-governmental meeting on trade, culture and science and technology.

In his remarks at the India-Russia Business Dialogue, he also said that Moscow is keen to import manufacturing equipment and products relating to chemical and pharmaceutical industries from India.

"We pay special attention to the issues of mutual access of production to the markets of our countries. Together with the Eurasian Economic Commission, we are looking forward to intensifying negotiations on a free trade agreement with India," he said.

"Additionally, we are working on signing a Russia-India bilateral agreement for the promotion and protection of investments," he added.

Also Read What do unique terms in the data protection bill mean? NSA Doval meets Russian Dy PM Manturov to discuss bilateral issues India, Russia discussing free trade agreement, says Russia's deputy PM India-Aus trade pact 'watershed moment' in bilateral ties, says PM Modi India will work with Russia to resolve trade imbalances: Jaishankar RBI accepts Rs 5,500-cr bids at switch and conversion auction of govt bonds Petroleum, electronics exports lead India's post-pandemic trade rejig Civil society, industry take contrasting positions on pesticide ban order Govt to take up consumer grievances in realty sector at Mumbai roundtable India-Russia relationship among 'steadiest' of major global relations: EAM

The bilateral trade volume between India and Russia witnessed a significant upswing in view of New Delhi's increasing procurement of discounted Russian crude oil.

"To protect the principles of free trade with our partners, we have undertaken a set of effective measures," the Russian deputy prime minister said.

Manturov said the demand in Russia for road construction materials, manufacturing equipment and pharmaceutical products is rising and that Moscow is adopting policies that would benefit its partner countries to make the supplies.

"I am sure this will create opportunities for Indian companies to increase their supplies to Russia," he said.

In an apparent reference to the Rupee-Rouble payment mechanism, he said the resolution of the issue could give another impetus for trade and industrial cooperation.

"Within the framework of the intergovernmental dialogue we propose to consider the possibility of the wide use of national currencies and currencies of friendly countries," he said.

"We also consider the development of transport and logistics infrastructure as one of the most important tasks," he said.

The Rupee-Rouble mechanism for trade between India and Russia was established to settle dues in rupees instead of US Dollars or Euros in view of the imposition of severe economic sanctions against Moscow by the West following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

However, there have been certain issues in the full use of the mechanism, according to experts.

Manturov said India could become one of the key partners within the framework of the development of the International North-South Transport Corridor.

"Also we believe that it is important to expand direct air connectivity. This is a necessary condition for regular exchange of business delegations, an increase of mutual tourist flow," he said.

Manturov said his country has launched a programme for preferential loans and insurance to Russian importers towards procurement of "priority products from foreign countries".
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Monday said that India will work with Russia to resolve trade imbalances.

Addressing the India-Russia business dialogue organised by industry body FICCI, the minister said, "There are understandable concerns about trade imbalance and we need to work with our Russian counterparts to address this imbalance. We should be honest about short and medium-term challenges. There could be over-compliance."

He further said that there is a need to motivate business on both sides.

"You can see that there are big changes going on like 'Make in India'. We are determined to make India a global manufacturing hub. I want to emphasise on the opportunity of 'Make in India'," Jaishankar added.

Denis Manturov, Russian deputy prime minister as well as industry and trade minister was also present on the occasion.

"We are discussing the importance of connectivity and the north-south and maritime corridors have been considered. There is also discussion on payment issues like international trade settlement in the Indian rupee," Jaishankar said further.

Also Read EAM Jaishankar to embark on official visit to Sri Lanka from today Relations with Indian diaspora bolstered due to Sushma Swaraj: Jaishankar EAM Jaishankar to visit Cyprus, Austria from Dec 29 to Jan 3: MEA World sees Pakistan as 'epicentre' of terrorism, says EAM Jaishankar India working to bring Mumbai attack perpetrators to justice: Jaishankar WPI inflation at 29-month low in March, prices of manufactured goods dip March WPI inflation drops to 1.34%; food inflation slows to 2.32% Economy not falling behind, likely to grow at 6.5% in FY24: Sanjeev Sanyal The slippery slope of oil exploration keeps India heavily import-dependent Safe harbour for social media companies likely to become narrower

Manturov on his part said, "Because of a lack of imports from India, it's not enough to use Rupee. We need to boost trade from India. In this case we are looking at balance, like for example, we have with China - we have 200 billion dollars trade with China and it's balanced."

He was commenting on the India-Russia trade and payments issue.

Meanwhile, Jaishankar in his address further said that India and Russia have historic people-to-people ties.

"Our partnership today is a subject of attention and comment, not because it has changed but because it hasn't. We share a commitment to a multipolar world. Russia is looking towards Asia and for India, it could mean broadening of ties. What we make of the current situation depends very much on us," the external affairs minister said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Sunday that the BJP will form government in Karnataka yet again.

Addressing a public meeting in South Goa's Ponda, Shah said that the results of Assembly elections in Northeast has sent a message to the people of the nation that only one party can provide security, peace and development.

"I want to tell Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul 'baba' (Rahul Gandhi) that Karnataka will get a full majority government led by the BJP," he said.

"Rahul baba finished his yatra recently. All Congressmen were seen in a happy mood saying Rahul ji completed the yatra. Later, Assembly elections held in three Northeast states, which were considered strongholds of Congress because of minorities, but the Congress was wiped out in these three states and we won, and also formed the governments," Shah said.

"When, earlier, we won in small states, Kharge had said that they were small states. He should know that though they are small states, they are an important part of India. He should not insult small states. The Centre has responsibility towards these small states," the Union Home Minister asserted.

He said that "only BJP can make the development and progress of the country".

Also Read Rahul Gandhi convicted in Modi surname defamation case: What we know so far Digvijaya offers residence to Rahul after he was asked to vacate bungalow BJP CEC meeting today to finalise candidates for Karnataka Assembly polls 'Only Rahul can challenge Modi..,' says Gehlot as Kharge takes charge Rahul Gandhi to attend Congress Prez-elect Kharge's coronation on Wednesday Denying me ticket will cost 20-25 seats in Karnataka: BJP's Shettar Karnataka polls: CM Basavaraj Bommai files his nomination from Shiggaon Will stand with Left parties in 2024 LS elections, says JD(S) HD Deve Gowda Ahead of Karnataka assembly polls, Sharad Pawar chairs NCP meeting Karnataka election: BJP's first list of 189 candidates include 52 new faces

Further, while appealing people of South Goa to support the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Shah said: "Last time, we could not win from South Goa, but this time we want blessings from people to win this seat."

"We have resolved the mining issue of Goa by discussing it with Prime minister Narendra Modi. It will resume within one year," he said.

Attacking Congress, Shah said that the grand old party used to give mere Rs 432 crore to Goa, but the BJP gave Rs 3000 crore annually to Goa for developmental works.

Union Minister Shripad Naik, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and others were present during the public meeting.

--IANS

sbk/sha
Seventeen is 'more confident than ever' before release of new EP


A five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court will hear various petitions seeking legal recognition of same-sex marriage on April 18. Here is what the Centre's submission to the apex court argues: On Monday, the Centre submitted a fresh application before the Supreme Court on the questions pertaining to the legal recognition of same-sex marriage. In its submission, the Centre raised questions on the maintainability of the petitions as a preliminary issue, saying that the prayers would entail the judicial creation of a new institution.

Legal recognition of same-sex marriage reflects urban elitist views

In its submission to the apex court, the Centre informed Supreme Court that the petitions seeking legal recognition of same-sex marriage merely reflect urban elitist views, which cannot be compared to the appropriate Legislature that represents the views and voices of a far wider spectrum and expands across the country.



Recognition of same-sex marriage can be given only through legislation and not via the judicial route "This would not in fact and cannot, in law, mean a majoritarian approach. This is the only constitutional approach permissible under the Constitution while recognising any socio-legal relationship as an institution with sanction under the law. The competent Legislature is the only constitutional organ which is aware of the above-referred considerations. The petitioners do not represent the view of the entire population of the nation," Centre said.

Also Read Same-sex marriage in India: What did Supreme Court say in the case? Is it time to rethink the collegium system of judicial appointments? Same-sex marriages recognisable under Special Marriage Act: Legal experts SC asks Centre to check practice of forceful religious conversion 15 new judicial and technical members appointed for NCLT benches Kerala to conduct trial run for its first Vande Bharata Express today Amarnath Yatra 2023 registration begins today; Check complete details The Ashok Hotel divestment: 1956-built hotel to undergo a structural audit Former Karnataka CM Jagadish Shettar joins Congress post exit from BJP 8 injured after building collapses due to LPG cylinder blast in Delhi



Centre stressed that the petition seeking legal recognition of the same-sex marriage has far-reaching implications. The Centre informed the Supreme Court that any further creation of rights, recognition of relationships and giving legal sanctity to such relationships could be done only by the competent Legislature and not by judicial adjudication.

Marriage is an exclusively heterogenous institution

The Centre has said that marriage currently exists as a heterogenous institution governed by a legal regime and has sanctity attached to it from every religion and thus affects every citizen in the country. Centre argues that judicial adjudication cannot answer the question of creating a new social institution like that of same-sex marriage.



It added that recognition of same-sex marriage would dimmish the special status enjoyed by heterogeneous institutions of marriage across the country. The Centre further added that any law recognising persons' relationship and conferring legal sanctity to it essentially involves a codification of societal ethos, cherished common values in the concept of family across religions in society and other relevant factors into legal norms.



Judicial review cannot be interpreted to be judicial legislation The Centre also emphasised the personal laws and customs of all religions, castes, and sub-castes recognise only marriage amongst heterosexual persons.



The Legislature needs to debate the social, psychological, and religious impacts Centre submitted that the constitutional provision for the power of judicial review should not become judicial legislation. It added that the personal laws in India essentially represent a social concurrence by which certain norms have been crystallised into law. And judicial intervention to recognise same-sex marriage risks upsetting this balance.



It further informed the court that the issues of same-sex marriage are left to be decided by the competent Legislature, where social, psychological, religious and other impacts on society can be debated. The Centre asserted in its submission that under Article 246, the question as to which social relationships will be recognised is part of the legislative policy and can be decided by the people's representatives.

Marriage is a social concept

The Centre submitted that the institution of marriage is necessarily a social concept based on social acceptance.

It argued that a marriage between a heterosexual couple enjoys sanctity under the respective governing laws and customs as it is given sanctity by law based on social acceptance. And social acceptance and adherence to societal ethos, common values, and shared beliefs across religions, in case of recognition of the "socio-legal institution of marriage", should not be confused with majoritarianism, it further added.







-With agency input


Sixteen days after 27-year-old Delhi youth, Shahrukh Saifi, set ablaze passengers on a train bound for Kannur, on Monday the head of the special investigation team of the Kerala Police said the youth was "a highly radicalised personality".

Speaking to the media on Monday, SIT head M.R. Ajithkumar said that each and every detail of what he did right from the time he boarded the train from Delhi, reached here and till he got arrested from Ratnagiri has been found out.

"We have got all the details of what he did and he has been identified as a person who is highly radicalised. He has been watching such videos. At the moment it's early to say if he has got help from other quarters," said Ajithkumar.

"We have found out that he came with the motive to do what he did. You can also find out for yourself about the area from where he hails. Our probe has been done with the support of other national agencies and other state agencies. UAPA charges have also been levied on the accused," added Ajithkumar.

The probe team has found out that he was travelling alone from Delhi and though he took a ticket to Kozhikode, he got down at Shornur on April 2nd morning.

Then till he boarded the train to Kannur on Sunday late evening. He spent time at Shornur from where he purchased petrol from a fuel filling station, which has also been identified, after the auto driver who took Saifi confirmed this with the probe team.

Also Read Kerala train fire incident: Police nab suspect from Maharashtra's Ratnagiri Number of operational airports in country rises to 140 from 74 in 2014 Noida airport to be sustainable, very innovative: Swiss Ambassador Kerala train blaze: Accused Shahrukh Saifi sent to 11 days police custody Saudi Arabia-bound Air India Express flight makes emergency landing at TVM Annamalai hits back at DMK's Rs 500 crore damages demand, calls it baseless Electric vehicle adoption levels in India to see exponential growth: Report Tamil Nadu inks pact with footwear maker for investment of Rs 2,302 cr Nearly half of Indian workers don't plan to hop jobs as hiring slows SC fines Mumbai Metro but allows to remove 177 trees from Aarey forest

After the train that he boarded from Shornur left Kozhikode, Saifi arrived at the D 1 compartment and doused passengers with petrol and set them on fire.

While three passengers in fright jumped out of the moving train, and were later reported dead on the impact of the fall, nine others also suffered burn injuries.

Saifi then reached Kannur on the same train and after a few hours boarded another train and reached Ratnagiri, from where he was arrested by a team of the Anti-Terror Squad of Maharashtra Police based on a tip off from Central agencies on April 5. The next day he was brought to Kozhikode in kKerala and after a day in the hospital, he has been in the custody of the Kerala Police probe team ever since.

In the remand report, the police have held Saifi responsible for the death of the three including a girl, though he has said that he was not responsible for it.

Now the question is will the NIA which is closely monitoring the ongoing probe take over.

--IANS

sg/dpb


The visit by Cook to open the first official company-owned outlets in Mumbai and New Delhi this week underscores Apple's growing ambitions for India, where despite having just a 3% market share the company has been expanding iPhone assembly via contract manufacturers, and also boosting its exports. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook will meet India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and its deputy IT minister as part of his visit to inaugurate the iPhone maker's first retail store in the country this week, people familiar with the plans said.



One of the sources added the Apple chief would also meet India's deputy IT minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar. Cook will meet Modi on Wednesday in New Delhi, said the two sources, who included an Indian government official.



The sources did not elaborate, but Cook's meetings come amid Apple's growing focus on India, the world's second-largest smartphone market. Modi's office declined to comment, while Apple and the IT ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Also Read CEO Tim Cook may visit India to launch Apple's first store in the country Apple India: Excited to build on our long-standing history, says Tim Cook Apple CEO Cook extends Diwali wishes; gives shoutout to Mumbai photographer Apple cuts CEO Tim Cook's pay by more than 40% to $49 million in 2023 Tim Cook to visit India next week for the country's first Apple store Apple chief executive Tim Cook to meet PM Narendra Modi amid expansion Over 29,000 SIM cards activated using fake documents in Gujarat; 18 held Vaiko urges Stalin to fulfil demands of Tamil Nadu's unorganised workers Crowdfunding misuse case: SC grants bail to TMC spokesperson Saket Gokhale SC asks Varanasi collector to hold meet to provide wazu' at Gyanvapi mosque



On Monday, Apple opened its first store in Mumbai, but only for a private event where bloggers and some tech analysts reviewed the design and store layout. It will open to the public from Tuesday, while a second store will be inaugurated inside a New Delhi mall on Thursday. Around $9 billion worth of smartphones were exported from India between April 2022 and February this year and iPhones accounted for more than 50% of that, data from the India Cellular and Electronics Association shows.

The Mumbai store is in the premier Reliance Jio World Drive mall, home to luxury clothing and jewellery brands like Michael Kors, Kate Spade and Swarovski. It is 20,800 square feet, far bigger than the planned Delhi outlet, local registration documents show. So far, Apple has sold its products in India via resellers or e-commerce websites such as Amazon.

In India, iPhones are assembled by three of Apple's contract manufacturers - Foxconn, Wistron Corp and Pegatron Corp. Apple also plans to assemble iPads and AirPods in India.


India and the UK are "natural partners" in a world that is becoming more "contested and volatile", Britain's Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said on Monday as he began a three-day visit to India.

Admiral Radakin is taking part in a series of high-level meetings in India this week, continuing momentum in building strategic ties between the two countries.

The British CDS began his visit to India by paying homage to the fallen soldiers at the National War Memorial this morning ahead of his first meeting with his Indian counterpart Gen Anil Chauhan.

The two chiefs reviewed progress on various pillars of the UK-India defence partnership and exchanged views to further expand ties in all the domains, a British readout said.

It said the UK and India are natural partners in defence and share a strong and enduring relationship, including collaboration in research, development and training.

Admiral Radakin said his visit to India reflects the UK's belief that our security is indivisible from that of the wider world.

Also Read BJP top brass meets to finalise candidates ahead of Tripura polls Top brass of Defence Forces pay homage at National War Memorial on Navy Day War in space a possibility, relevant developments needed: CDS Chauhan Armed forces veterans, get prime spots at King Charles Coronation CDS General visits pavilions of domestic defence firms at Aero India EC orders transfer of 10 cops for smooth conduct of Karnataka polls Covid-19 raised death risk in people with intellectual disabilities: Study Aaditya Thackeray, Sanjay Raut oppose defamation plea filed by MP in HC Hot weather conditions prevail in Punjab, Bathinda sizzles at 41.6 deg C SP leader Azam Khan admitted to hospital in Delhi, condition stable

"As a global trading nation it matters to the UK that the Indo-Pacific is open and free, which is why the British Armed Forces are establishing the broadest and most integrated presence in the region of any European nation," he said.

"India and the UK are natural partners in a world that is becoming more contested and volatile. We share many of the same democratic instincts and values and are both committed to the rule of law," he was quoted in the readout.

Admiral Radakin said India and the UK can do more in the area of defence cooperation.

"We are respected military powers, both undergoing significant investment and modernisation, and exercising together across, land, sea and air. But we can do more. I value the opportunity to meet with General Anil Chauhan to discuss how we can develop our partnership in a way that benefits our mutual security and prosperity," the British CDS added.

Admiral Radakin held discussions with the Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Hari Kumar, Chief of the Army Staff General Manoj Pande, Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane, and Additional Secretary Defence Production T Natarajan.

The release also quoted British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace as saying that India is a valued defence partner for the UK and the relationship continues to flourish across our research and industrial sectors.

"Both our nations are committed to the stability and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific and we continue to train and operate alongside our Indian partners to promote security in the region," he said.

Over the next two days, Admiral Radakin will be hosted by various establishments of the Indian Armed Forces across the country, in a bid to boost military-to-military engagement and explore opportunities around the co-creation of future technologies.

Following the signing of an updated Memorandum of Understanding in 2019, discussions around industrial collaboration in the aerospace sector have been progressing, with the UK's Minister for Defence Procurement visiting India in February and the First Sea Lord visiting in March.


The store is being launched as the company marks 25 years in the country. Store openings for the iconic brand world over have witnessed fans queuing up to become the first customer, and it remains to be seen how the people of Mumbai welcome the store on a working day. Apple's chief executive Tim Cook is likely to welcome customers to the iPhone maker's first store in India, which is scheduled to open at the BKC business district here on Tuesday, company executives said on Monday.



"India has such a beautiful culture and an incredible energy, and we're excited to build on our long-standing history -- supporting our customers, investing in local communities, and working together to build a better future with innovations that serve humanity," Cook said in a statement. On the eve of opening for customers, a media preview was held at the store which is spread over a 20,000 square feet area. The Mumbai store opening will be followed with the launch of a similar facility in New Delhi's Saket on April 20. According to reports, Cook will also meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.



The company's senior vice president for retail Deirdre O'Brien told reporters that a lot of attention has been given to Apple's key beliefs of sustainability and inclusivity, and pointed out that the 100-strong team which will be on the floor will be speaking 18 Indian languages. In the evening, Cook tweeted a picture of himself with Apple employees at the store, saying, "Hello, Mumbai! We can't wait to welcome our customers to the new Apple BKC tomorrow".

Also Read Apple sets all-time sales record in India, retail store soon: Tim Cook Apple's Tim Cook takes a hefty $35 million pay cut amid rough global market CEO Tim Cook may visit India to launch Apple's first store in the country India is hugely exciting market and major focus for Apple: Tim Cook GST invoices to custom Macs: Apple extends online store benefits to SMEs Pulwama attack: DYFI asks PM to shed silence over Malik's revelations Heat wave to persist, relief likely in northwestern plains soon: IMD BJP, RSS attacking democracy, spreading hatred: Rahul Gandhi in Karnataka Amit Shah has no right to say TMC govt won't survive beyond 2025: Mamata SC seeks Delhi police's reply on Brinda Karat's plea for FIR against Thakur



Nearly half of the staff at the store, including the leadership, are women, she said. The company employs 2,500 people in the country and has indirectly helped create 10 lakh jobs through its app ecosystem, she said.



While a lot of features at the store are the same as other Apple stores across the world, the company seems to have paid attention to 'Indianise' the facility by including local influences, starting with the much talked about 'kaali-peeli' theme on the facade borrowed from the black and yellow taxis on the city roads. The two-storey store occupies prime real estate at the corner of a sprawling mall which also houses brands like Diesel, Michael Kors, Kate Spade and Swarovski.



O'Brien said the store has an 8-metre tall ceiling if one were to include the upper floor, and has a specially made staircase leading to the upper floor that has 14-metre long, single-piece glass walls on either side. The music being played is also an eclectic mix of songs which are rooted in the city, like the Javved Jafferey number "Mumbhai" from the movie Bombay Boys released in late 1990s.



The store has products, merchandise and services like repairing the gadgets available for customers, executives said, adding that the customers will be able to check out the products and can also educate themselves on how to use them optimally. For the walls inside the store, the company has specially procured stone from Rajasthan, and 4.5 lakh pieces of timber adorn the ceiling walls, she said.



Apple's maiden retail store in the country has been a subject of great speculation since at least 2019, when the Indian policymakers warmed up to the idea of welcoming foreign direct investment in single brand retail. The permissions to allow such stores have come with riders like mandates on local sourcing in the final finished goods. Like in any other store, there are long wooden desks on which the products have been kept, which also include specially built sensors that trigger the opening of switches.



The company has taken on lease the space in Jio World Drive mall for 11 years, and has been successful in negotiating for barring 22 competing brands, including Amazon, Facebook, Google LG, Microsoft, Sony and others, from occupying space or advertising in close vicinity. Earlier, the Cupertino, US-based tech major was reportedly looking at a space in central Mumbai before narrowing down on the current location owned by a company led by richest Indian Mukesh Ambani, which has also been a distributor of Apple's products for some time.



The store is inspired by the iconic kaali-peeli taxis which have been a regular feature on the city roads, and will count on luxe brands like Michael Kors, Kate Spade and Swarovski as its neighbours. Launch of the store in the financial capital on Tuesday will be followed with the opening of a similar store in New Delhi's Saket two days later. As per reports, the company will be paying Rs 42 lakh per month as a rental for the store, and will also share a part of the revenues with the space owner.



Last week, the company revealed its facade with the "Hello Mumbai" greeting. At present, Apple has a 3 per cent share in the highly competitive Indian smartphone market which is ruled by Chinese and South Korean brands. Lately, the company has upped its reliance on manufacturing in India, which is increasingly being seen as an alternative for China ever since the supply chain disruptions during the Covid pandemic.
Tim Cook arrives for the the inaugural GQ Global Creativity Awards in New York City, April 6. / Reuters-Yonhap



Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook will meet India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and its deputy IT minister as part of his visit to inaugurate the iPhone maker's first retail store in the country this week, people familiar with the plans said.



The visit by Cook to open the first official company-owned outlets in Mumbai and New Delhi this week underscores Apple's growing ambitions for India, where despite having just a 3% market share the company has been expanding iPhone assembly via contract manufacturers, and also boosting its exports.



Cook will meet Modi on Wednesday in New Delhi, said the two sources, who included an Indian government official.

One of the sources added the Apple chief would also meet India's deputy IT minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar.



Modi's office declined to comment, while Apple and the IT ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.



The sources did not elaborate, but Cook's meetings come amid Apple's growing focus on India, the world's second-largest smartphone market.



Around $9 billion worth of smartphones were exported from India between April 2022 and February this year and iPhones accounted for more than 50% of that, data from the India Cellular and Electronics Association shows.



On Monday, Apple opened its first store in Mumbai, but only for a private event where bloggers and some tech analysts reviewed the design and store layout. It will open to the public from Tuesday, while a second store will be inaugurated inside a New Delhi mall on Thursday.



So far, Apple has sold its products in India via resellers or e-commerce websites such as Amazon.



The Mumbai store is in the premier Reliance Jio World Drive mall, home to luxury clothing and jewellery brands like Michael Kors, Kate Spade and Swarovski. It is 20,800 square feet, far bigger than the planned Delhi outlet, local registration documents show.



In India, iPhones are assembled by three of Apple's contract manufacturers - Foxconn, Wistron Corp and Pegatron Corp. Apple also plans to assemble iPads and AirPods in India. (Reuters)




Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee on Sunday announced the third list of candidates for the Shimla Municipal Corporation elections.

"With the approval of the AICC ln-Charge to Himachal Pradesh the following persons have been selected as Congress Candidates for ensuing elections to the Municipal Corporation Shimla 2023," the press release said.

The names of 10 candidates have been announced in the third list.

"Jitender Chaudhary Bharari ward, Kanta Suyal from Kaithu ward, Anita Sharma from Majhiyat ward, Kiran Sharma from Kachighatti ward, Roop Chand from Phagli ward, Sushma Kuthiala from Rambazar ward, Atul Gautam from Jakhu ward, Mamta Chandel from Sanjauli Chowk ward, Vishakha Modi from Lower Dhali ward and Ram Rattan Verma from Kangana Dhar ward," it mentioned.

A total of 26 candidates have now been announced from a total of 34 wards in Shimla Municipal Corporation, the party said.

The Shimla Municipal Elections are to be held on May 2 and results will be out on May 4. Currently, the number of municipal wards in Shimla stands at 34. While the previous BJP government had delimited Shimla municipal wards and increased the same from 34 to 41. However, after coming into power the present Congress government has reversed the decision and has abolished seven new municipal wards of the city.

Also Read Congress releases second list of four candidates ahead of Nagaland polls Congress Himachal MLAs to meet in Shimla today to decide chief minister MCD regained unified identity in 2022; Delhi to get new mayor in Jan 2023 Shimla municipal wards' delimitation was in public interest: Ex-minister Himachal tourism sector expects over 90% occupancy on Christmas, New Year IMD predicts marginal heat wave conditions for next two days in Delhi-NCR 11 attendees of Maharashtra Bhushan awards die of apparent sunstroke: CM Missionaries take advantage when people lose faith in society: RSS chief L-G flags 'procedural lapses' in summoning of Delhi Assembly, CM hits back BJP to win 350 plus LS seats in 2024 polls as people are with PM: Union Min
Ahead of the opening of Apple's maiden retail store in India, the company's chief executive Tim Cook arrived in the financial capital on Monday.

Cook, who has visited India multiple times in the past, is also likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.

On Day one, Cook visited richest Indian Mukesh Ambani's house Antilla for a business meeting and is said to have met other top industrialists, including Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran.

Company executives, however, dodged queries on Cook's itineraries during his India tour.

On Monday afternoon, Cook himself confirmed his arrival by tweeting a picture with over 100 employees inside the brand's store in BKC business district, which will open for customers on Tuesday.

He also managed time to have vada paav, the much celebrated local snack, with actor Madhuri Dixit at an eatery which is Ambani family's favourite.

Also Read CEO Tim Cook may visit India to launch Apple's first store in the country Apple CEO Cook extends Diwali wishes; gives shoutout to Mumbai photographer Apple cuts CEO Tim Cook's pay by more than 40% to $49 million in 2023 Apple India: Excited to build on our long-standing history, says Tim Cook As Apple India sales near $6 bn, CEO Cook arrives to launch first stores Centre continues to monitor tur, urad dal stocks; team to visit states DGFT lays out procedure for exporters to apply for amnesty scheme 5 killed as iron hoarding collapses on people in Pimpri Chinchwad township India's share in global computer services exports jumps to 11% in FY23 Bank of Maharashtra hikes lending rates by 10 basis points across tenors

Cook thanked Dixit for introducing him to the Wada paav at the multi-cuisine joint, terming the food item as "delicious". This was the second meeting between the actor and Cook during his multiple visits to India.

The Apple's chief executive is all set to continue with the practice of welcoming first of the customers on the inaugural day at an Apple store on Tuesday.

Usually, Apple fans throng the stores much ahead of the launch and there have been instances of staff camping out as well.

It will be interesting to see the reception to the new store by the people of Mumbai as the launch comes on a working day. Some reports are pegging that executives expect a footfall of over 5,000 at the store on the first day.

After the store launch, Cook is expected to fly out to the national capital, where a similar store will be launched on April 20.

He is also widely expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

Apple has been upping its handset and components sourcing from India lately as it seeks to broaden its supply chain, which is at present heavily reliant on China and had been severely impacted during the Covid pandemic because of the longer lockdowns in the neighbouring country.
Former Chief Minister and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy, state Congress president D K Shivakumar and BJP veteran B S Yediyurappa's son B Y Vijayendra were among the prominent leaders who filed their nominations on Monday for the May 10 Assembly polls in Karnataka.

Roadshows, drum beats, sloganeering, waving of party flags, and visits to temples marked the day in most constituencies across the state today, with a large number of candidates and leaders filing their papers.

While Kumaraswamy held a road show ahead of filing nominations in Channapatna, Shivakumar too held a road show and visited a temple of his family deity Kabbalamma, accompanied by his wife, in Kanakapura where the BJP has fielded its Vokkaliga face and Minister R Ashoka against him.

Speaking to reporters after filing his nomination, Shivakumar said that he had nurtured hundreds of leaders in the constituency in the past 35 years and they would fight the election on his behalf, the results of which would be seen on the day of announcement of results.

"I'm not the candidate here. Every household and family in this constituency will do the elections thinking themselves as the candidates, as I have served them for 35 years..." he said.

Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil Kumaraswamy filed his nomination in Ramanagara accompanied by his mother and JD(S) sitting MLA from the segment Anitha Kumaraswamy. Nikhil, an actor-turned-politician, contested the 2019 LokSabha polls from Mandya unsuccessfully.

Also Read Oscar nominations 2023 final list to be out today: Here's how to watch K'taka polls: Denied ticket to contest, BJP MLA M P Kumaraswamy quits party Congress high command will decide on who will be the CM: D K Shivakumar JD(S) to grow beyond old Mysuru, get majority in K'taka polls: Kumaraswamy BJP won't win even if Modi, Shah come to K'taka 100s of times: Kumaraswamy Vande Bharat Express trains running at average speed of 83 kmph: RTI reply Sunstroke deaths: MNS chief slams Maha govt for 'political selfishness' Hathway Cable & Datacom posts Q4 consolidated net loss at Rs 14.61 crore Air India revamps compensation structure for pilots and cabin crew Reliance's Jio Institute partners with US-based Principals' Training Center

Both father and son, who are contesting from neighbouring constituencies of Channapatna and Ramanagara respectively, earlier in the day met party patriarch and former PM H D Deve Gowda (Kumaraswamy's father and Nikhil's grandfather) to collect their 'B form' and took his blessings.

"People of Ramanagara and my family have become integral parts of each other and there is an emotional connection with the people there. Similar is the case with Channapatna," Kumaraswamy said.

Deve Gowda's elder son and former Minister H D Revanna filed his nomination from Holenarsipura in the family's home turf of Hassan district, accompanied by his wife Bhavani Revanna and their son and Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna. The family visited temples before filing the nominations.

In the Shikaripura seat in Shivamogga district, vacated by BJP strongman and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, his son and state BJP vice president B Y Vijayendra filed his nomination today accompanied by family and supporters



Vijayendra held a road show before filing papers. "I have filled my nomination at an auspicious muhurta today. On April 19, I will be filing another set of nominations accompanied by my father Yediyurappa and other leaders," he said.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai accompanied Minister V Somanna who filed his nomination in Varuna, where he is contesting against senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

In Hoskote, both Minister and MLC M T B Nagaraj as well as his bitter opponent Sharath Bachegowda from Congress filed their papers today.

Minister R Ashoka, who is also contesting from Padmanabhanagar along with Kanakapura against Shivakumar, submitted his nomination today at Padmanabhanagar in Bengaluru which he currently represents, accompanied by Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya.

BJP's National general secretary C T Ravi from Chikkamagaluru, Kumar Bangarappa from Soraba, Ministers Ashwath Narayan from Malleshwaram and K Sudhakar from Chikkaballapura, and former KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao from Gandhinagar are among others who filed their nomination on Monday.
Senior BJP leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar on Monday joined the Congress ahead of the May 10 Assembly elections in the state.

He joined the party in the presence of AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge, General Secretaries K C Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala (Karnataka in-charge), KPCC president D K Shivakumar and Legislature Party leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, among others.

Shettar on Sunday had resigned as the Hubli-Dharwad (Central) MLA after the BJP denied him the ticket to contest the Assembly polls.

The 67-year old six-time MLA, Shettar was asked by the BJP top brass to make way for others, but he on his part had asserted he wanted to contest one last time.

After joining the Congress, Shettar alleged that he had been humiliated by the BJP by denying him a ticket and that party is today in the control of "very few people."



"I was forcefully thrown out of the party that I built...I'm joining the Congress by accepting its ideology and principles," he told reporters.

On his arrival in Bengaluru from Hubballi on Sunday night, Shettar had held discussions with Congress leaders Surjewala, Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah, former minister and campaign committee chief M B Patil and veteran party leader Shamanur Shivashankarappa (Shettar's relative).

Also Read Not decided yet, says Ex-Karnataka CM Jagadish Shettar on joining Congress Despite all assurances, Jagdish Shettar chose himself over party: BJP Denying me ticket will cost 20-25 seats in Karnataka: BJP's Shettar Veteran Karnataka BJP leader Eshwarappa 'retires' from electoral politics Ex Karnataka CM Jagadish Shettar announces resignation from BJP, assembly 8 injured after building collapses due to LPG cylinder blast in Delhi 19-year-old Nandini Gupta from Kota, Rajasthan crowned Miss India 2023 State refiners post 8.4% rise in gasoil to 3.45 mn tonnes in April 1st half Sole witness Army jawan detained in Bathinda military station firing case 3-storey building collapses in Delhi's Tagore Garden, no casualties

This decision of Shettar, a prominent Lingayat leader from north Karnataka, may adversely impact the BJP's prospects in a number of segments in the region, according to political observers.

Shettar, a veteran BJP leader whose family has been associated with the party since Jana Sangh days, is an influential leader from its bastion of Kittur Karnataka region. While in the BJP he had served as a Minister, Speaker, Leader of the Opposition and the chief minister.
Union Minister of State for Home Nitayanand Rai on Monday said there has been a drop in incidents of fire in the country in the last few years, which has led to an increase in the pace of development.

Speaking at an event at National Fire Service College (NFSC) in Nagpur, Rai said many countries had approached India to learn about its fire safety measures and mechanisms.

The minister praised students and staff of the NFSC for their readiness and commitment to their duties, even in the face of danger.

Their work is a service to the nation, achieving the mission of 'Rashtra Pratham' through relief work in the event of natural calamities and prevention of financial losses, he said at the ceremony organised to award medals for fire service, civil security, and home guard gallantry.

Rai further said that there has been in drop in the number of fire incidents in the last country over the last few years and this is increased the pace of development.

Director General of Fire Service, Civil Security, and Directorate General of Home Guard Taj Hasan said the success of the college has also drawn attention from neighbouring countries who are interested in sending their fire officers for training at the facility, he said.

Also Read MoS Nityanand Rai's security upgraded to 'Z' category for all India level J&K got Rs 1,547 cr investment in 2022-23, says MoS Home Nityanand Rai Rules of conduct Crackers responsible for 37 of 85 fire incidents in 3 days in Mumbai BSF effectively guarding against infiltration, smuggling: MoS Nityanand Rai Micro irrigation mission gives fresh hope to farmers in Rajasthan Diesel sales rise sharply over 15% as agricultural activity pick-up Caste census will be beneficial for all sections of society: CM Nitish Himachal becomes '1st state' to create DNA database of unidentified bodies Apple chief executive Tim Cook to meet PM Narendra Modi amid expansion

The President's Fire Service Medal 2021 and 2022 was also awarded to deserving officers and employees of the fire department during the event.


Shettar had alleged that several BJP leaders in the state were mishandling the party. After the resignation, Karnataka's chief minister Basavaraj Bommai said that BJP national chief J P Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had promised a "big post" to Shettar. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is facing a crisis as its several leaders have resigned from the party just ahead of the Karnataka Assembly elections in the state. On Monday, former chief minister and a six-time member of the legislative assembly (MLA) Jagadish Shettar joined the Congress. Shettar resigned from the BJP on Sunday.



After joining the Congress, Shettar said that he was humiliated in BJP and he will strengthen the Congress. "Jagadish Shettar has been a senior and an important leader in this region. J P Nadda and the Union Home Minister had promised a big post in Delhi to Shettar. Everything would have been fine if the former CM had continued," Basavaraj Bommai said.



"My family has been associated with Jan Sangh since 1947. My uncle was the first person to get elected as MLA from south India. I was actively involved in ABVP. No one understood the pain. For six months I was humiliated. The state in-charges asked me at the last minute to send a letter agreeing to retire from electoral politics. There was no other way," he added. "After former CM Yediyurappa, I am the most senior in the party. Yediyurappa has retired from electoral politics. In the party system, I was the senior and in terms of community leadership also I came next. The conspiracy was hatched systematically as if I become MLA again, I will compete for the highest post and subsequently I was thrown out," he said.

Also Read Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023: All you need to know about the polls Though not a poor state, Karnataka can ill-afford election freebies Karnataka Assembly elections to be held on May 10, results on May 13 Gujarat Assembly elections to be held in 2 phases, results on Dec 8 CBDT extends last date for filing TDS for non-salaried individuals Karnataka polls: Rahul Gandhi to address rallies in Bhalki, Humnabad today Why is India catching up to Singapore as top business environment G20 meet in Goa to focus on health emergencies, prevention, preparedness Civil society, pesticide industry present contrasting picture on ban order Conduct census 'immediately'; caste census 'essential': Kharge writes to PM



The BJP has announced the names of 212 candidates so far. Since the announcements, several leaders have resigned from the party after being denied tickets. The Karnataka Assembly elections are scheduled to take place on May 10 to elect all 224 members of the Assembly. The results will be declared on May 13.



Jagadish Shettar: Shettar resigned from the state assembly after being denied a ticket by BJP to contest the upcoming Assembly election. He was reportedly hoping to run for the Hubballi-Dharwad central constituency but was turned down by the party. These leaders in Karnataka have resigned from BJP recently:



Laxman Savadi: A former deputy chief minister, Savadi resigned from the party earlier this month. He was hoping to contest from the Athani constituency ticket. Savadi is a loyalist of former CM B S Yediyurappa and one of the most powerful Lingayat leaders in the state, known for his organizational skills. He joined Congress on Monday.



"I have made my decision. I am not the one who goes around with a begging bowl. I am a self-respecting politician. I am not acting under the influence of anyone," said the former deputy chief minister, as reported by ANI. He resigned as the MLC and also quit the party.

Sogadu Shivanna: Following Savadi's exit, several other BJP leaders resigned from the party. Shivanna has been an MLA four times from the Tumkur constituency. He was dropped from the list in 2018 as well as this year.

Doddappagouda Patil Naribol: Naribol announced his exit after losing out on a ticket from the Jewargi constituency. He is expected to join JD(S). : Following Savadi's exit, several other BJP leaders resigned from the party. Shivanna has been an MLA four times from the Tumkur constituency. He was dropped from the list in 2018 as well as this year.

S Angara: Angara is a six-time MLA from the Sullia constituency in Dakshina Kannada district. He has also been Karnataka's Minister for Fisheries.

R Shankar: BJP MLC Shankar resigned from the legislative council a day after BJP announced the list of candidates on April 12. Shankar was one of the 17 opposition MLAs who helped the BJP bring down the Congress-JD(S) coalition government in 2019. : Angara is a six-time MLA from the Sullia constituency in Dakshina Kannada district. He has also been Karnataka's Minister for Fisheries.

MP Kumaraswamy: BJP MLA from Mudigere, Kumaraswamy announced his resignation from BJP and blamed national general secretary CT Ravi for not getting nominated.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday demanded that Amit Shah resign as the Union home minister over his comments at a political rally at Suri in Birbhum district.

Last week, at a rally, Shah had said that if BJP wins in 35 out of 42 seats in the state in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, then the Trinamool Congress government will collapse even before 2025.

"How can he say this as the Union home minister? This means that the home minister is conspiring to bring down an elected state government. As a Union home minister, he has taken the oath to protect the Indian constitution. So, he can never say that if BJP gets 35 seats in Lok Sabha elections, the current state government will collapse before the end of its tenure. So, we are demanding his resignation as the Union home minister," the chief minister said while addressing the media persons here.

Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister also expressed doubts about the "real story" behind the terrorist attack at Pulwama in Jammu & Kashmir in February 2019 in which as many as 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) police personnel were killed. "My question is whether a single central investigation team went to Pulwama after that incident. We also demand a proper inquiry into the matter as well," the chief minister said.

She also alleged the Union government is sending central field inspection teams to West Bengal one after another just to stop the development projects undertaken by the state government. "As it is, the Union government has stopped payment of all dues to the state government under different centrally sponsored schemes. Now they have started adopting the strategy of sending the central inspection teams," the chief minister said.

Speaking on the occasion, she also said that the arrest of Trinamool Congress MLAs in connection with the multi-crore scam in recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff in West Bengal is a ploy to reduce the strength of her party within the Assembly.

Also Read Mamata Banerjee scared of losing popular support: BJP state President Mission Meghalaya: Mamata, Abhishek Banerjee on 3-day tour from today Mamata greets Rahul in morning and attacks him in evening: Sambit Patra Mamata holds meeting of TMC's Birbhum unit, oversees poll preparations All govt scheme grievances to be redressed: TMC MP assures Birbhum locals BJP demands Kejriwal's resignation over 'liquor scam', stages protest Excise policy case: Court extends Sisodia's judicial custody by 2 weeks One should never forget one's mother tongue: Former CJI N V Ramana Vedanta joins 20 Korean display glass firms for manufacturing hub in India SC agrees to hear Centre's plea on legal validation of same-sex marriage

"The central agencies are only targetting our MLAs. They are not targetting any of the BJP legislators. But they will not be successful in this ploy, since our numerical strength in the Assembly is so high," the chief minister said.

Speaking on the occasion, Mamata Banerjee once again gave a call to all non-BJP parties to get united before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. "If the Opposition gets united, BJP will not be able to regain power in general elections," she said.


For farmers, who mainly depend on the monsoon to grow their crops, this mission is giving them fresh hopes. The Rajasthan Micro Irrigation Mission of the Ashok Gehlot government is proving to be a revolutionary step for the water-starved states farmers.



He said that earlier he was farming through traditional methods due to which his agricultural produce depended on the monsoon. Phoolchand Bairwa (38), a farmer from Bobas village in Jaipur district, who has immensely benefitted from this mission, has lauded the state governments move.



He got information about the Rajasthan Micro Irrigation Mission of the state government and applied for it. Earlier, due to the shortage of water, irrigation was not possible on time. As a result, his hard work often went in vain.

Also Read Explained: Why is Sachin Pilot holding a day-long protest in Rajasthan Rajasthan govt to organise job fairs in every district: CM Ashok Gehlot Ashok Leyland appoints Shenu Agarwal as new managing director, CEO 'Gaddar' Sachin Pilot can't be CM, says Gehlot as rift in Raj Cong deepens Rajasthan govt implements new rural tourism scheme, promises jobs Diesel sales rise sharply over 15% as agricultural activity pick-up Caste census will be beneficial for all sections of society: CM Nitish Himachal becomes '1st state' to create DNA database of unidentified bodies Apple chief executive Tim Cook to meet PM Narendra Modi amid expansion Apple chief executive Tim Cook to meet PM Narendra Modi amid expansion



A senior official of the agriculture department said that under the mission, the state government gives a 70 per cent subsidy to farmers on a first-come-first-serve basis. It is to install a drip irrigation system on a maximum of up to 5 hectares of field. After the application, a farm pond was built on 1.5 hectares on his field and drip irrigation was started in his entire field.



The drip irrigation system in Bairwas field was installed at a cost of around Rs 1.8 lakh. The state government paid a 75 per cent subsidy to Bairwa for installing the system. Small and marginal farmers, women farmers and scheduled caste and scheduled tribe farmers get an additional 5 per cent subsidy.



Recently, the state government sanctioned Rs 463 crore to further strengthen the micro irrigation system. This approval has been given under the Rajasthan Micro Irrigation Scheme. He said that water gets saved with the drip irrigation system and his yield as well as income has increased.

Earlier, the target was to help 30,000 farmers benefit by constructing farm ponds in the next two years. However, now the target has been increased to 50,000 farmers.
Global luxury carmakers bet on China's NEV market

Xinhua) 11:14, April 17, 2023

HAIKOU, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Global luxury carmakers attending the third China International Consumer Products Expo have set their sights on the world's largest new energy vehicle (NEV) market.

Volkswagen brought its luxury brands, including Porsche, Bentley, and Lamborghini, to the expo held in Haikou, the capital of south China's Hainan Province, from Monday to Saturday.

Porsche showed its purely electric car model Taycan 4s, and Bentley exhibited a plug-in hybrid. Meanwhile, Britain's Lotus showcased a fully electric SUV.

China's NEV market has seen booming development over the past few years, luring more carmakers to vie for a piece of the market.

China's NEV sales nearly doubled to 6.89 million units last year, accounting for over a quarter of the total automobile sales in the world's largest auto market, said Xu Xingfeng, an official with China's Ministry of Commerce, at the expo.

Young customers particularly love the all-electric models, said Sheng Tantzscher, vice president and chief financial officer of Porsche China.

Over 50 percent of Porsche's new vehicle sales worldwide are expected to be all-electric or plug-in hybrids by 2025, and that figure would reach more than 80 percent by 2030, she said.

More and more Bentley customers are choosing to buy hybrid cars due to the green and low-carbon consumption trend, even as most are not worried about gasoline costs, said an exhibition staff worker with Bentley.

Oliver Blume, chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG, told Xinhua that the German automaker is pushing forward its electrification strategy and has made a good start.

Blume said Volkswagen hopes to leverage its experience to produce more high-quality new energy vehicles and further achieve good sales in the Chinese market.

Mirko Bordiga, managing director of Maserati China, said that Maserati has confidence in the Chinese NEV market and will soon launch new fully electric models in the forthcoming Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition.

By 2025, all Maserati models will have electric versions. By 2030, the entire Maserati range will be electricity-powered only, said Bordiga, adding that Hainan's planned ban on oil-fueled vehicles is a revolutionary response to the burgeoning trend toward electric vehicles.

Hainan has announced a plan to phase out the sales of traditional oil-fueled vehicles throughout the province by 2030.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
A picture grab taken from a handout video made with a smartphone and provided by a witness to Jiji Press shows a cylindrical object flying towards Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, third from right, back to camera, at a fishing port in Wakayama, western Japan, April 15. EPA-Yonhap



An explosive thrown at Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at an election rally on Saturday has raised alarming questions about the state of VIP security, less than a year after a former premier was gunned down and weeks before Japan hosts G-7 leaders.



Kishida was about to speak at a by-election campaign event at a fishing harbor in Wakayama City, western Japan, when a smoking metal cylinder landed within a meter of him.



Kishida was bundled away from the partly enclosed area as police and bystanders subdued a suspect. Seconds later the small device exploded. Media said one or two people were slightly hurt.



The incident exposes vulnerabilities in Japan's security system and a failure to institute changes following the killing of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during an election campaign last year, four experts interviewed by Reuters said.



"There is no doubt that it was a security failure because the prime minister was giving his speech at the worst possible place where he couldn't possibly be protected," said Mitsuru Fukuda, a Nihon University professor specializing in crisis management terrorism.



"In light of (Abe's) shooting, police have said their security plans would be reviewed and revised, but I don't think they are implementing any of these measures," he said.



Abe's killing by a man with a homemade gun sent shockwaves through Japan, where gun crime is exceedingly rare, and prompted a review of security protocols for politicians, who routinely come in close contact with the public.



'Turning point'





Ryuji Kimura, a suspect in Saturday's attack during Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's visit at a port, leaves a police station to be sent to prosecutors in Wakayama, western Japan Monday. AP-Yonhap

No motive is known for the Wakayama explosion but it comes at a critical time for Kishida and Japan, as hosts of Group of Seven ministerial meetings this week and a leaders' summit in the city of Hiroshima, Kishida's home constituency, in May.



Fukuda said for such big, international events, authorities are able to provide solid security by mobilizing a huge police presence. But it is the smaller, less formal events at which vulnerabilities can be exposed.



"We are at a turning point where Japan needs to change its awareness and security system because the possibility of being targeted is increasing," Fakuda said.



The National Police Agency had approved the security plan for the weekend rally in Wakayama, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Monday.



The government has instructed authorities to strengthen security measures and to ensure safety precautions at gatherings of VIPs, he added.



Kishida is among government officials who acknowledged flaws in security when Abe was gunned down last July.



In Saturday's attack, the suspect was about 10 meters from Kishida, according to media reports.



The premier was being served a specialty seafood dish just before the attack, media reported, and news videos showed Kishida looking toward an outdoor parking area, with the crowd behind him in a roofed enclosure.



In one video, a smoking canister lands and rolls toward Kishida as shouts fill the air. A security agent blocks the device with a bulletproof briefcase kicks it away, as he and other security men crowd around Kishida and push him toward a parking area.





Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends an election campaign in support of the Liberal Democratic Party candidate in Urayasu, Chiba prefecture on April 15, 2023. AFP-Yonhap
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat has said missionaries take advantage of the situations wherein people feel the society is not with them, in an apparent reference to religious conversions.

He was addressing an event on Sunday in Madhya Pradesh's Burhanpur district, where he dedicated to the people the samadhi of Govindnath Maharaj.

"We don't see our own people. We don't go to them and ask them. But some missionary from thousands of miles away comes and lives there, eats their food, speaks their language and then converts them," Bhagwat said.

Over the course of 100 years, people came to India to change everything, he said.

They have been working here for centuries, but failed to gain anything as our roots remained strong thanks to the efforts of our ancestors, Bhagwat said.

"Efforts are made to uproot them. So, the society should understand that deceit. We have to strengthen the faith," he said.

Also Read Hindu gurus do more social service in South than missionaries: RSS Chief Hindu spiritual community in South does more than missionaries: Bhagwat Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Death Anniversary 2023: 10 things you must know Make India a country of knowledgeable people: RSS chief Bhagwat on R-Day Kamal Nath challenges BJP, RSS to discuss religion, spirituality with Rahul TMC MLA Jiban Krishna Saha detained by CBI in school jobs for graft scam Karnataka polls 2023: From Shettar to Savadi, bigshots who abandoned BJP Karnataka polls: Rahul Gandhi to address rallies in Bhalki, Humnabad today Why is India catching up to Singapore as top business environment G20 meet in Goa to focus on health emergencies, prevention, preparedness

Deceptive people raise some questions about religion to waver the faith, he said, adding, "Our society never faced such people earlier, so people get sceptical...We have to remove this weakness."



"Even after this, our society doesn't waver. But people change when they lose faith and feel that the society is not with them," Bhagwat said.

The RSS chief said an entire village in Madhya Pradesh became "sanatani" 150 years after locals got converted to Christianity as they got help from Kalyan Ashram (an RSS-backed voluntary organisation).

"We don't need to go abroad to spread our faith as 'sanatan dharma' doesn't believe in such practices. We need to remove the deviation and distortion of the Bharatiya traditions and faith here (in India) and strengthen the roots of our 'dharma'," he said.

Bhagwat also addressed a Dharma Sabha and visited Gurdwara Badi Sangat to pay obeisance.

After visiting the gurdwara, he said Guru Granth Sahib is a source of inspiration for the Hindus.

On Monday, Bhagwat is scheduled to inaugurate the office building of Dr Hedgewar Memorial Committee at Saraswati Nagar and also address the Sangh volunteers in Burhanpur.


In a written response to a question in the Lok Sabha, Rao Inderjit Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge), MoSPI, informed that until March 30, only Rs 2,387 crore had been disbursed (60 per cent). This was lower than the disbursement last fiscal year, when Rs 1,729 crore, of the budgeted Rs 2,633 crore (65 per cent), had been disbursed. Nearly two weeks after the launch of the Sakshi portal for digitising the fund flow architecture in the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS), data provided by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) in Parliament earlier this month shows that more than a third of the Rs 3,965 crore budgeted under MPLADS for 2022-23 (FY23) remain non-disbursed.



With the exception of Union Territory representatives from Puducherry, Ladakh, Delhi, Daman and Jammu & Kashmir, representatives from Andaman & Nicobar, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Lakshadweep did not obtain any funds under the scheme last year. Of the 20 major states, Gujarat (35.7 per cent), Kerala (37.2 per cent), Tamil Nadu (38.9 per cent), Haryana (41.3 per cent), and Himachal Pradesh (48.6 per cent) have disbursed less than half the amount sanctioned to their parliamentarians.



Under the MPLAD scheme, all elected and nominated members of both Houses of Parliament are provided with Rs 5 crore annually to recommend works of developmental nature with emphasis on the creation of durable community assets in their constituencies. The minister also informed that the processing of proposals for the release of funds under the scheme is a continuous process by the district authorities and subject to the fulfilment of fund-related criteria and submission of fund-connected documents by the district authorities in line with the guidelines.

Also Read Revised norms to digitise fund flow architecture in MPLAD scheme Private channels to have 30-min slot for 'public interest' programmes Understand pain of new MPs: PM Modi on Day 1 of Parliament winter session Parliamentary panel recommends setting up regulators for medical devices Parliamentary committee recommends a GST Council-like body for RoDTEP Cook's eclectic itineraries: Vada paav with Madhuri; biz meets with Ambanis Centre continues to monitor tur, urad dal stocks; team to visit states DGFT lays out procedure for exporters to apply for amnesty scheme 5 killed as iron hoarding collapses on people in Pimpri Chinchwad township India's share in global computer services exports jumps to 11% in FY23



Of the sanctioned Rs 50 crore, Rs 43.5 crore was released to the 10 nominated members of the Upper House. Among the better-performing major states, parliamentarians from Assam have been able to get close to 81 per cent amount disbursed, followed by Uttar Pradesh (80.4 per cent), Odisha (75.2 per cent), Telangana (75 per cent), Chhattisgarh (68.1 per cent), and Maharashtra (66.1 per cent).



The move is part of the ministrys efforts to reduce inefficiency in the present-day system. Parliamentarians will now be given the entire corpus of Rs 5 crore in a single tranche at the beginning of the fiscal year, unlike two tranches of Rs 2.5 crore released every six months.



The new guidelines empower representatives for the first time to use up to 10 per cent of the funds allocated each year on the repair and maintenance of any asset built under any government scheme, to bring greater convergence. The new guidelines enable parliamentarians to access the entire corpus of Rs 5 crore in a single tranche at the beginning of the fiscal year and also increases the scope of permissible works and reduces regulations as well. As a result, the (new) guidelines are expected to reduce the time involved in clearing proposals, which will help in the smooth flow of funds and better utilisation of the corpus, said a senior government official.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national chief JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had promised a big post to former CM Jagadish Shettar in Delhi said Karnataka Chief Minister and BJP leader Basavaraj Bommai after Shettar tendered his resignation as MLA on Sunday.

"Jagadish Shettar has been a senior and an important leader in this region. JP Nadda and Union Home Minister had promised a big post in Delhi to Shettar. Everything would have been fine if the former CM had continued," Basavaraj Bommai told media in Hubballi.

Former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar tendered his resignation as an MLA to Karnataka Assembly Speaker, Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, at Sirsi on Sunday.

Shettar, who resigned as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA on Sunday, said he was yet to decide whether he would join the Congress.

On being asked whether he will be joining Congress, the former Karnataka chief minister said, "I have not decided yet."

Earlier, on Sunday, Shettar said some Karnataka BJP leaders were mishandling the party in the State.

Also Read Despite all assurances, Jagdish Shettar chose himself over party: BJP Cong has sent feelers, won't contact PM Modi, Shah: Jagadish Shettar Will tell our stand in meeting with Amit Shah: Bommai on Maha-K'taka border J P Nadda begins whirlwind tour of Himachal for pro-incumbency votes BJP President Nadda to visit Odisha tomorrow, to address 2 public meetings I understand trickery used by PM Modi in his speeches: Ashok Gehlot Congress releases third list of candidates for Shimla Municipal elections IMD predicts marginal heat wave conditions for next two days in Delhi-NCR 11 attendees of Maharashtra Bhushan awards die of apparent sunstroke: CM Missionaries take advantage when people lose faith in society: RSS chief

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and CM Basavraj Bommai met Shettar at his Hubballi residence. They offered him that his family members could contest the election and would be given other important positions, but he refused.

According to BJP sources, after Pradhan and CM's visit, BJP top brass also called Shettar and offered him the post of governor or central minister, but he refused to take the offers.

He said that he only wants to work as MLA for his constituency, and has no desire for any big post. "Now, I have decided to resign from the party. I will not take back my decision even if they decide to give me the ticket", Jagdish was quoted as telling a top BJP source.
The Gujarat police have arrested 18 persons from different parts of the state in the last one week for allegedly activating and selling SIM cards using forged documents and photographs of unsuspecting customers, an official said on Monday.

According to the Gujarat Crime Investigation Department (CID), an investigation by the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) had revealed that more than 29,000 cards had been sold by SIM card sellers or through point of sale (PoS) across the state using fake identity documents and photographs of people and customers who submit their documents to get numbers of their choice, the official said.

In several cases, it was found that shop owners had activated and sold multiple SIM cards using a single photograph, he said.

As it is not possible to detect such fraud by analysing each and every application manually, the DoT had put to use its indigenously developed AI tool, called 'Artificial Intelligence and Facial Recognition Powered Solution for Telecom SIM Subscriber Verification (ASTR)' to detect and weed out forged SIMs, a release issued by the DoT stated.

A detailed probe by the DoT revealed that at least 29,552 SIM cards of various telecom service providers were activated in Gujarat using fake documents by PoS, it said.

Later, senior DoT officials in Gujarat convened a meeting with CID officials and handed over all the relevant details to them.

Also Read PAN-Aadhaar link status: Are your cards already linked? Learn how to check What is credit score? Why is it important? Want to close or cancel your credit card? Here's a step-by-step guide Cybercrime menace: 500,000 Sim cards blocked in Mewat since January 2022 ICAI CA Nov exam 2022 admit cards out; check for direct links to download Vaiko urges Stalin to fulfil demands of Tamil Nadu's unorganised workers Crowdfunding misuse case: SC grants bail to TMC spokesperson Saket Gokhale SC asks Varanasi collector to hold meet to provide wazu' at Gyanvapi mosque Godrej Capital launches digital platform to help MSMEs grow businesses Vietnam Airline to connect Mumbai with Ho Chi Minh City from May 20

Since such fake SIM cards can be used for online frauds, cyber crimes and in other illegal activities such as betting and gambling, the state CID's cyber crime cell and Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) launched a joint operation to nab the culprits.

As many as 486 photographs of common people were misused by fraudsters to activate more than 29,000 SIM cards, a CID release said.

The joint teams of the CID and ATS raided PoS across the state and registered 15 FIRs in Navsari, Surat city, Surat Rural, Bhavnagar, Ahmedabd city and Rajkot Rural, it stated.

At least 18 sellers, who had allegedly activated and sold nearly 7,000 bogus SIM cards, were arrested and the drive to nab more accused is underway, the release said.
Jio Institute has tied up with the US-based Principals' Training Center (PTC) to share its uniquely designed training programmes for educators and school leaders in India.

PTC caters to the unique professional learning needs of practising and aspiring principals, teachers, heads of departments, counsellors, and board members of schools worldwide.

It provides world-class, research-driven, practical training, designed to be put into practice in K-12 schools.

"Collaboration between the Jio Institute and Principals' Training Center is a powerful alliance to bring innovative educational practices and training to our schools that can pave the way for a brighter future for our students," said Dr G Ravichandran, Provost, Jio Institute, in a statement.

"Significant research confirms that school leaders can have a meaningful impact on student learning. The exciting work ahead is to ensure every single school leader acquires the skills to make that impact," added Bambi Betts, Executive Director at Principals' Training Center.

The first PTC course being launched in India -- Creating an Effective School -- offers the knowledge and skills for school leaders to articulate a vision to design and implement a plan for an effective school focused on student learning and improving outcomes.

Also Read Scholarships worth Rs 75 cr misappropriated by institutes in UP: ED A total of 300 principals receive training in UP under 'Mission Niramaya' Amid agitation, Goa minister says IIT project will come up at Sanguem Samsung India to hire 1,000 engineers from top institutes for R&D units IIT Madras to establish Rs 100 cr Innovation & Entrepreneurship fund Amitabh Bachchan returns with new season of 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' Navi Mumbai where 12 people died due to sunstroke has no IMD observatory References to Maulana Azad in class 11 textbook dropped in 2013: NCERT Why was this woman with a face painting denied entry into Golden Temple? PV exports from India rise 15% in FY23; Maruti Suzuki leads segment

It addresses the 'big picture' of what schools are and how leaders can optimise conditions to maximise learning by focusing on results. All PTC courses utilise simulations, case studies and other practical training strategies.

The course content has been tailored to meet the requirements of the Indian context.

The course is open to educators and leaders from across all educational boards and schools -- international schools, CBSE schools, ICSE schools, and schools affiliated to state education boards.

The seven-day residential programme will be offered from May 22 to 28 at the Jio Institute's campus in Ulwe (Navi Mumbai). Scholarships will be provided to select candidates based on merit.

--IANS

rvt/prw
By Nidhi Verma

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Russia's Gazprombank has expanded its links with banks in India to expedite trade between the two countries in national currencies, a key executive told Reuters on Monday, as Russia this year has become the biggest supplier of oil to India.

Trade between India and Russia has surged since the West imposed sanctions against Russia for its invasion last year of Ukraine, which has altered flows of oil and other goods.

"We worked hard to establish our level of partnership with Indian banks and our representatives here worked hard," Elena Borisenko, deputy chairman of the board of management of Gazprombank, told Reuters on the sidelines of an India-Russia business dialogue event in New Delhi on Monday.

"Now we have infrastructure, we have payments from banks ... it is much better than it was three months ago," she added.

Gazprombank is Russia's third-largest lender by assets and a key conduit of the Russian energy trade.

Also Read Russia's Gazprom turns off tap, GAIL's hunt for LNG may continue for a year India's oil deals with Russia dent decades-old dollar dominance GAIL plans to buy up to 26% equity stake in LNG projects in United States Indian refiners wary of buying Russian oil after Dec 5 as EU sanctions loom Interest rates nearly peaked, may go up by another 25 bps: UCO Bank CEO India may buy Russian oil near or past G7 cap if Opec+ cut raises costs: FM Cong eyes Lingayat vote bank in Karnataka with Shettar's switch from BJP Annamalai hits back at DMK's Rs 500 crore damages demand, calls it baseless 'A highly radicalised person', Kerala Police on Train fire accused Shahrukh Electric vehicle adoption levels in India to see exponential growth: Report

Due to higher purchases of oil, the trade balance is tilted increasingly in favour of Russia. That balance could be improved through Russian companies investing in infrastructure projects in India, Borisenko said.

"We are hoping that it (trade) will be better, it will be improving, and ... payments between Russia and Indian will be more and more in national currencies," the executive said.

India last year implemented a broader framework to facilitate overseas trade in rupees and since then many foreign banks, including Gazprombank and other Russian institutions, have opened vostro accounts with Indian banks.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Mark Potter)
The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Delhi police to respond to the plea of CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat challenging the Delhi High Court's order dismissing a petition against the trial court's refusal to order registration of an FIR against Union Minister Anurag Thakur and his BJP MP Pravesh Verma for their alleged hate speeches over anti-CAA protests.

A bench of Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna issued the notice to the city police and sought its response within three weeks.

During the hearing, the bench observed prima facie the magistrate's stand that sanction was required for lodging FIRs against the two BJP leaders was not correct.

On June 13 last year, the Delhi High Court had dismissed the petition filed by CPI(M) leaders Brinda Karat and KM Tiwari against the two BJP MPs for their alleged hate speeches.

The high court had refused to interfere with the trial court's order, saying under the law sanction is required to be obtained from the competent authority for registration of FIR in the present facts.

The petitioners had claimed in their complaint before the trial court that Thakur and Verma had sought to "incite people as a result of which three incidents of firing took place at two different protest sites in Delhi".

Also Read Oppn needs ideological, political struggle to deal with BJP-RSS, says Karat China's Communist Party holds memorial meeting for ex-President Jiang Zemin China's Premier Li Keqiang dropped in leadership shuffle in party Congress China's Communist Party Congress to endorse Xi Jinping for record 3rd time Chinese Prez Xi Jinping creates history, wins record third term in power Heat wave to persist, relief likely in northwestern plains soon: IMD BJP, RSS attacking democracy, spreading hatred: Rahul Gandhi in Karnataka Wheat procurement down by 18% at 41 lakh tonne due to harvest delays Arun Goel as EC: SC bench recuses from hearing plea challenging appointment Mamata demands Shah's resignation over comments in Birbhum rally last week

The petitioners alleged, at a rally in Rithala in the national capital on January 27, 2020, Thakur egged on the crowd to raise an incendiary slogan -- "shoot the traitors"-- after lashing out at anti-CAA protesters of Shaheen Bagh.

They claimed Verma, too, made inflammatory speech against the Shaheen Bagh protesters on January 28, 2020.

The trial court had on August 26, 2021 dismissed the petitioners' complaint on the ground that it was not sustainable as the requisite sanction from the central government, which was the competent authority, had not been obtained.

In their complaint, Karat and Tiwari had sought FIRs against the two BJP leaders under various sections, including 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc.), 153-B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the IPC.

They had also sought action under other sections of the IPC, including 298 (uttering, words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation).

The maximum punishment for the offences is a jail term of seven years.
The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the Calcutta High Court's April 13 order directing the West Bengal police not to lodge any FIR against CBI and Enforcement Directorate officers probing the school jobs-for-bribes scam.

A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwalam, which decided to hear the plea on April 24, also stayed the direction of a single judge bench of the high court that TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee and Kuntal Ghosh, an accused in the case, can be questioned by the ED and the CBI and such "interrogation should be made soon."



"The petition was in the mentioning list. Dr A M Singhvi has adverted to the contents of the order and the directions passed by which the ED and CBI have been directed to file a report with respect to a probe in connection with a public speech by Abhishek Banerjee. List on April 24, 2023. Till the next date of listing, there shall be stay on all action against petitioner in relation to the directions passed in impugned order," the apex court ordered.
The Tamil Nadu government on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding with a well-known footwear maker for an investment of Rs 2,302 crore in the state.

The MoU was signed with High Glory Footwear, a subsidiary of Taiwan-based Pou Chen Corporation, "the world's largest branded footwear manufacturer," in the presence of Chief Minister M K Stalin, a tweet by Guidance Tamil Nadu, said.

It is the state government's nodal agency for investment promotion and single window facilitation,



"Over the next 12 years, this partnership will generate employment opportunities for more than 20,000 people in the non-leather footwear sector, especially for the youth and women in and around the Kallakurichi district," it added.

An official release said the manufacturing unit will come up at SIPCOT, Ulundurpet in Kallakurichi.

The investment has been attracted in the wake of the government releasing a Footwear and Leather Products Policy 2022 in August last, it said.

It was also in lines with the government's policy of ensuring industrial growth in the state's backward districts and would greatly help the newly created Kallakurichi district in employment generation, the release added.

Also Read Non-leather footwear maker Pou Chen to invest Rs 2,302 cr in Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu NEET PG 2022 Counselling Round 2 Allotment List released Tamil Nadu CM Stalin to attend G20 preparatory meet in Delhi on Dec 5 Taiwan votes on lower voting age, mayors, city councils in local elections Tamil Nadu Governor returns bill on prohibition of online gambling Nearly half of Indian workers don't plan to hop jobs as hiring slows SC fines Mumbai Metro but allows to remove 177 trees from Aarey forest Indian Army begins first online entrance exam for Agniveer recruitment AAP to repeat Shelly Oberoi, Mohammad Iqbal for April 26 MCD mayoral polls Here's a first look of the Apple store that opens in Mumbai tomorrow

Industries Minister Thangam Thennarasu and officials from the state government and the company were present.
WWDC 2023: Apple may open up iPhones to sideloading apps with iOS 17

American technology giant Apple is likely to open up iPhones to sideloading with the iOS 17 platform, which would be announced at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2023 on June 5. It essentially means consumers would be able to download and install third-party software to their iPhones without using the Apple App Store.





Cube, Actis, KKR, Sekura in race to buy nine Macquarie road projects The move would be in response to European Union law, called the Digital Markets Act, kicking in from 2024. The law requires technology companies to allow the installation of third-party apps and let users change default settings. Read more...



Cube Highways, Sekura Infrastructure Fund of Edelweiss Group, and private equity firms Actis and KKR have expressed their initial interest in buying the projects, which could cost as much as $1 billion. Read more... A host of private equity and infrastructure investment firms are in the race to buy nine highway projects put on the block by Sydney-based Macquarie Group.

Also Read WWDC 2023: Apple schedules worldwide developers conference for June 5 WWDC 2023: Apple may open up iPhones to sideloading apps with iOS 17 SBI Q2 PAT may rise up to 98% QoQ, asset quality could improve: Analysts SBI loans to get costlier as bank hikes key lending rate; Details here SBI Q3 profit may rise nearly 60% YoY; deposit growth could outrun peers Latest LIVE: S Korea, US, Japan hold missile defence drills in East Sea Plea in SC for independent committee probe into killings of Atiq, Ashraf Nadda, Amit Shah promised big post to Shettar in Delhi: K'taka CM Bommai I understand trickery used by PM Modi in his speeches: Ashok Gehlot Congress releases third list of candidates for Shimla Municipal elections

Awareness drive to immunity booster: India Inc gears up to meet Covid spike

With Kerala contributing to the majority of Covid-19 cases in the country, Kitex Garments at Kizhakkambalam in Eranakulam district has devised a three-pronged defence strategy  modern medicine, homeopathy and ayurveda  to keep the virus at bay.



Safe harbour for social media companies likely to become narrower Kitex is the worlds second largest manufacturer of childrens apparel with 11,000 employees. About 8,000 have been housed in a dormitory within the factory premises. And Sabu M Jacob, promoter and managing director, explains how they are taking cover from Covid. Read more...



Anonymity and non-traceability of users on online platforms will no longer exist after the enactment of the Digital India Bill becomes law and replaces Indias primary digital law, the Information Technology Act of 2000, a senior official said. According to the primary discussions, the government may propose provisions to make social media platforms liable for content posted by non-verified user accounts. Anonymity and non-traceability of users on online platforms will no longer exist after the enactment of the Digital India Bill becomes law and replaces Indias primary digital law, the Information Technology Act of 2000, a senior official said. According to the primary discussions, the government may propose provisions to make social media platforms liable for content posted by non-verified user accounts. Read more... As part of its work on the proposed Digital India Bill, the government is redrawing the contours of the safe harbour provided to internet intermediaries including social media companies to increase their accountability for user-generated unlawful content, sources said.

SBI approaches SC for clarity on personal hearing for defaulters

State Bank of India has filed an application before the Supreme Court seeking clarifications on the apex courts recent directive that banks hear defaulters before they classify a loan account as fraud.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday took a jibe at Bharatiya Janata Party and said that according to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress has done nothing in the state, whether Modi started BHEL and BEL?

Mallikarjun Kharge participated in the "Jai Bharat" Rally in Karnataka and said, "Modi ji said 'Congress has done nothing', whether Modi started BHEL and BEL? There were no buses, no electricity here. Electricity first came to Kolar. It is our government that brought electricity to Kolar."

"We should ask what is the contribution of your double-engine government to Karnataka. He should be made answerable for that," he added.

Highlighting the speciality of the Kolar district, Kharge said, "Kolar district is the land of gold. All three gold mines Kolar, Tumkur, and Raichur belonging to India are in Karnataka. They supply gold for the entire country."

"There is another special thing that needs to be mentioned regarding Kolar. As Kolar was-drought-hit area, when our government came to power, our government and the public representatives of this area unitedly worked to ensure water supply to this area. As a result, today hundreds of lakes are filled with water, facilitating irrigation to thousands and lakhs of acre lands," added Kharge.

Congress President mentioned the initiatives taken by M Krishnappa for animal husbandry. He said that Kolar is known for gold, milk, silk and water."Dairy farming started here because of the initiatives taken by M Krishnappa, an ex-Revenue Minister of Karnataka and Union Minister for Animal husbandry. Later Seri culture industry also started here during this time. Now this land is known for gold, milk, silk, and water and we have started our campaign in this land and we are sure that Congress will certainly win this election," he said.

Also Read Mallikarjun Kharge becomes first non-Gandhi Congress President in 24 years BHEL posts Rs 12.10 cr Q2 net on higher revenues, income up to Rs 5,418 cr Mallikarjun Kharge to take charge of Congress president in Delhi today Rahul Gandhi to attend Congress Prez-elect Kharge's coronation on Wednesday 'Only Rahul can challenge Modi..,' says Gehlot as Kharge takes charge Our Hindutva is about sacrificing life for the country, says Thackeray India punishes those who attempt suicide despite Mental Health Act Toll rises to 22 in hooch tragedy, BJP accuses Nitish govt of 'mass murder' 25 startups keen on signing MoUs with Centres of Excellence: TN govt Congress must aim for at least 150 seats in Karnataka: Rahul Gandhi

Lashing out at the BJP government, Kharge said that people are fed up with the Modi government and have decided to elect Congress."People are fed up with the Modi government. They are enraged and have decided to elect Congress and they are coming voluntarily to support us. Who will tolerate this 40% Sarkara? Modi ji will not utter a word about this instead he repeatedly targets the work of Congress and asks, 'What Congress has done in 70 years'? He has spent nine years asking the same question," said Kharge.

Highlighting the term of Jawahar Lal Nehru in the country, Kharge said, "During the term of Pandit Nehru ji and K C Reddy, the public sector came to Karnataka. What is the contribution of your government?"

"Modi ji promised to provide two crores of jobs in a year. As he assured, in nine years he should have provided a total of 18 crore jobs. Where are the jobs? His government has closed public sector industries and sold that to Adani. He created uncertainty for the youth. But he has the gall to say, what Congress has not achieved in 70 years has been achieved by the Modi government in nine years!" added Kharge.

He said, "BJP MPs started obstructing me when I started to speak in Parliament. But Modi ji did not try to stop them once because he was behind it."

"Rahul Gandhi asked a few questions. He said a businessman had 50,000 crores in 2014, it became 2 lakh crores in 2020, and suddenly it increases to 12 lakh crores in 2023, how it happened? Rahul ji asked Modiji when, where, and why he met Adani. It is asked in the public interest," added Kharge.

Talking about the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as an MP, Kharge said, "A case has been filed against Rahul Gandhi for asking this question. He spoke in Kolar but the FIR has been filed in Gujarat. Within 22 days a judgment came against him and he has been disqualified."

"Within 24 hours, a notice was issued to him to vacate his house. Electricity and water supply have been blocked to his house. Is this the Democracy we cherish? We need to save Democracy," he added.

Kharge said, "We need to save the Democracy of India provided by Ambedkar ji, Nehru ji, Patel ji and Mahatma Gandhiji. For that, we need to work under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi. Democracy won't survive if no one speaks against injustice. Only Congress can do it.""Who becomes the Chief Minister is irrelevant. I want Congress government here. We need to implement the project like distribution of milk and nutritious food to children which was started by Indira Gandhi. CM shall be chosen according to the verdict of the people. We need to join hands for this. Give 150 to 160 seats to us. It is not an impossible task," added Kharge.Hitting out at the BJP government, Khrage said, "It is a corrupt government. We do not need to say this. Former Chief Minister of Karnataka Jagadish Shettar says 'I have never seen corrupt BJP leaders like this'. He only says it. Jammu and Kashmir Former Governor Satyapal Malik says "Modi ji actually has no problem with corruption". People are not listening to your (Modi ji's) lies anymore.""Double-engine government has not introduced any developmental program in our state. You attached an additional engine and showed a green flag to a train that was started during our government. But you claimed that it was started by your government. You have not started a new program, just polished, and painted the old engine and showed a green flag to it," he added.

Further asking for support from the people for Karnataka Assemble Elections, Kharge said, "The people of Karnataka shall give a befitting answer to the Bommai government and remove it. Bengaluru has a special place in the country. But Bengaluru has not seen any growth during the term of BJP. Bengaluru saw development because of the Congress government, it developed during our period. It is time to support Congress."

Karnataka is slated to go to Assembly polls on May 10 and the counting of votes will take place on May 13.
The government has procured 41 lakh tonne wheat at the minimum support price directly from farmers so far in the ongoing 2023-24 marketing year (April-March), down 18 per cent from the year-ago period, a top FCI official said on Monday.

Speaking to PTI, Food Corporation of India (FCI) Chairman and Managing Director Ashok K Meena said the procurement has been less due to delay in harvesting and lower arrivals in mandis especially in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan because of the recent unseasonal rains.

The untimely rains had led to damage to the crop in some parts of the wheat-growing states, thus deteriorating the quality of the grain in few places.

However, the government has eased procurement norms for wheat in five states -- Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan -- in the interest of farmers, he said.

"Wheat procurement has reached 41 lakh tonne till April 16 of the current marketing year, slightly lower than 50 lakh tonne in the year-ago period," Meena said.

The government procurement will pick up in the coming days as wheat arrivals are better now in Punjab and Haryana mandis, he added.

Also Read Will India become a net importer of wheat? Wheat price rise normal; have enough stocks to meet demand: Govt Govt further cuts reserve price of FCI wheat to Rs 2,150 per quintal Wheat crop loss likely to be 1-2 MT due to untimely rains: Govt BPCL's former Chairman Arun Kumar Singh to be the next head of ONGC Arun Goel as EC: SC bench recuses from hearing plea challenging appointment Mamata demands Shah's resignation over comments in Birbhum rally last week BJP demands Kejriwal's resignation over 'liquor scam', stages protest Excise policy case: Court extends Sisodia's judicial custody by 2 weeks One should never forget one's mother tongue: Former CJI N V Ramana

FCI is the national nodal agency that undertakes procurement of wheat at the minimum support price along with state agencies. The procurement is done not only to protect the interest of farmers but also to maintain buffer stock to be used for various welfare schemes.

The government has set a procurement target of 34.2 million tonne for the 2023-24 marketing year, as against the actual procurement of 19 million tonne in 2022-23.

Last year, wheat procurement had declined due to fall in domestic wheat production owing to heatwave.

However, wheat production this year is projected to be at record 112.18 million tonne and the government is confident of achieving this target notwithstanding the impact of recent untimely rains.


We recommend India bring such measures into conformity with its obligations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, the panel ruled. The dispute settlement panel of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Monday ruled that Indias imposition of tariffs on mobile phones and electronic components violates its commitment under the Information Technology (IT) Act under the multilateral trade body.



However, an Indian commerce ministry official said since the appellate body of WTO  its highest adjudicating authority  is dysfunctional due to the absence of judges, the adverse report of the dispute settlement panel will not have any immediate impact. The rulings in three separate but similar disputes raised by the European Union (EU), Chinese Taipei, and Japan will put pressure on India to withdraw the tariffs at a time it is seeking to be a leader in electronics manufacturing through a production-linked incentive scheme.



India, which is signatory to the 1996 Information Technology Agreement (ITA), is required to eliminate tariffs on a range of products, including mobile handsets. However, starting 2007-08 Union Budget, India imposed tariffs on a clutch of electronic items to curb cheap electronic imports from China and promote Indias home-grown manufacturing. India will be appealing against this judgment. Since the appellate body at the WTO is dysfunctional, it will be a void appeal. That is why there will not be any substantial impact on India, said a government official.

Also Read TVS Electronics up 18% on heavy volumes, hits 52-week high in weak market India may allow Chinese JVs with Indian cos for electronics manufacturing Trade dispute: India likely to propose out-of-court settlement to US Data Bill may not lead to India joining e-commerce deal at WTO Digital infrastructure role in e-commerce: India seeks views at WTO Delhi sees 1,017 Covid cases, four deaths; positivity rate soars to 32.25% India to challenge WTO panel ruling on ICT import duties at appellate body J&K govt to launch kisan sampark abhiyan in 3,565 panchayats on April 24 Arjun Munda to launch scheme to promote tribal products from northeast Vande Bharat Metro to hit tracks by December 2023; check features



The WTO dispute settlement panel said although it accepted in good faith Indias argument, the panel found it had failed to demonstrate that this assumption constituted an essential basis of Indias consent to be bound by the certified Schedule. Many countries had complained that the imposition of tariffs on IT products by India was against the principles agreed upon under ITA. However, India argued that at the time of signing the ITA, products such as smartphones did not exist and hence, it was not bound to eliminate tariffs on such items.



Ajay Srivastava, founder of think tank Global Trade Research Initiative, said India can rejoice that its decision to increase import tariffs on mobile phones has paid off handsomely. The panel also found that India was put on notice of the possibility that its WTO tariff commitments in its Harmonized System (HS) 2007 Schedule may have expanded from those outlined in its HS 2002 Schedule, and similarly, that its WTO tariff commitments in its HS 2007 Schedule may have expanded from those outlined in the ITA, it added.



India should apply a zero duty rate on information and communication technology products like mobile phones, according to its WTO commitments. Instead, it has tariffs of up to 20 per cent. That is illegal, a WTO panel has ruled. Respect for the rules-based trading system is vital for a good trade relationship, the international trade department of the EU tweeted. It resulted in significant investments, including those from Apple and Foxconn. Our mobile phone exports will soon cross $10 billion a year. Hypothetically, if India agrees to pay the compensation, it will lose minimal money as its imports from the EU, Japan, and Taiwan are low. Third parties like China, which account for significant imports from India, are not allowed to get any compensation under the WTO mechanism, he added.





CASE FILE MPIA is an alternative system for resolving WTO disputes that are appealed by a member nation in the absence of a functioning WTO appellate body. The EU has also approached India to resolve the matter through a multi-party interim appeal arbitration arrangement (MPIA). However, India is against MPIA as a mechanism and is in favour of the restoration of the WTO appellate body, the official quoted earlier said.
A recent study has found that Artificial Intelligence is better than humans at assessing heart ultrasounds -- which is the main test of overall cardiac health. Speaking of fitness, preventive and supplementary medicines, which come under the broad umbrella of nutraceuticals, are increasingly making inroads in the country. And so are health influencers advising them. But what is the regulatory framework around them?

Business Standard hosted a Tech Talk conference on Friday on the theme of Artificial Intelligence and Business. During the event, Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar -- who was also the chief guest at the event -- spoke in detail about how AI is being used in governance and its future. Later, a panel comprising industry leaders from Dell, IBM, TCS, Salesforce, SAP and Myelin Foundry too shared their thoughts on how AI is being integrated into their products and services. Find out how India is using AI to bridge the gap between the have and have-nots.


Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer (CEO), Google confirmed that there are still elements of how AI systems learn and behave that still surprises the experts: There is an aspect of this which we call  all of us in the field call it as a black box. You dont fully understand. And you cant quite tell why it said this. The CEO said the company has some ideas why this could be the case, but it needs more research to fully comprehend how it works. Concerns about artificial intelligence (AI) developing skills independently of its programmers wishes have long absorbed scientists, ethicists, and science fiction writers. A recent interview with Googles executives may be adding to those worries. In an interview on CBSs 60 Minutes on April 16, James Manyika, Googles senior vice-president of technology and society, discussed how one of the companys AI systems taught itself Bengali, even though it wasnt trained to know the language. We discovered that with very few amounts of prompting in Bengali, it can now translate all of Bengali, he said.



Googles cure to AIs hallucination problem CBSs Scott Pelley then questioned the reasoning for opening to the public a system that its own developers dont fully understand, but Pichai responded: I dont think we fully understand how a human mind works either.



Pichai has long argued for wide-ranging global regulation of AI. Other tech leaders, like Twitter and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, have even called for a pause in the development of more powerful models. Sundar Pichai also said every product of every company will be impacted by the quick development of AI, warning that society needs to prepare for technologies like the ones its already launched. AIs development has also come with glaring flaws that lead to fake news, deepfakes, and weaponisation, sometimes with so much confidence, in what the industry calls hallucinations. Asked if Googles Bard is getting a lot of hallucinations, Pichai responded: Yes, you know, which is expected. No one in the field has yet solved the hallucination problems. All models do have this as an issue.

Also Read Google logs highest selling week ever for Pixel smartphones: Sundar Pichai Google gearing up for another round of layoffs? Here's what CEO Pichai says Cut 20% jobs at Alphabet, key investor Christopher Hohn tells Sundar Pichai Google-parent Alphabet links more of CEO Sundar Pichai's pay to performance Sundar Pichai pushes Googlers to spend more time improving its Bard AI Need for cooperation among G20 nations on space technologies: ISRO chairman Microsoft adds 'Detach from Edge' option for improved multitasking in Edge Samsung launches industry-leading Galaxy M14 5G in India at Rs 14,990 As Apple India sales near $6 bn, CEO Cook arrives to launch first stores Samsung launches Galaxy M14 5G smartphone with 6000 mAh battery: Details





EU lawmakers call for summit on control of very powerful AI

EU lawmakers urged world leaders on Monday to hold a summit to agree guiding principles for the control and deployment of powerful artificial intelligence, saying it was developing faster than many had expected. Asked in the interview about what keeps him up at night with regard to AI, Pichai said the urgency to work and deploy it in a beneficial way, but at the same time it can be very harmful if deployed wrongly.



The statement came less than three weeks after Twitter owner Elon Musk and more than 1,000 technology figures demanded a six-month pause in the development of systems following in the footsteps of Microsoft-backed OpenAIs ChatGPT. The 12 MEPs, all working on upcoming EU legislation on the technology, said US President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen should call the top-level meeting.

That open letter, published in March by the Future of Life Institute, had warned that AI could spread misinformation at an unprecedented rate, and that machines could outnumber, outsmart, obsolete, and replace humans, if left unchecked. (REUTERS)


The UN has said that three workers of the World Food Programme (WFP) were killed during the clashes between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the Darfur region.

"Three employees from the WFP were killed in clashes that erupted in Kabkabiya, North Darfur on April 15 while carrying out their duties," United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) said in a statement on Sunday.

Volker Perthes, the special representative of the Secretary-General for Sudan and Head of the UNITAMS, condemned the attack on UN staff and humanitarian assets in Darfur, Xinhua news agency reported.

"I am extremely appalled by reports of projectiles hitting UN and other humanitarian premises, as well as reports of looting of UN and other humanitarian premises in several locations in Darfur," Perthes said.

The UN envoy added that the recurring acts of violence disrupt the delivery of life-saving assistance and must end, urging all parties to respect their international obligations, including ensuring the safety and security of the UN, and all humanitarian personnel and respecting the integrity of premises and assets.

Violent clashes erupted on Saturday between the Sudanese Army and the RSF in the capital Khartoum and other cities. The two sides have been trading accusations of initiating the conflict.

Also Read India supports peace process and capacity building in South Sudan UN condemns clashes in South Sudan after 27 killed, probe to be launched At least 25 people killed, 183 injured in Sudan clashes, toll may rise Firing heard in Sudan capital amid tensions between military, paramilitary UAE expresses concern over developments in Sudan, calls for calm, restraint G7 vows to phase out fossil fuels, sets no date for ending coal power use Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov to visit Brazil, Cuba from April 17-21 The world is volatile but luxury brands remain in vogue, says report Merck & Co to buy Prometheus Biosciences for nearly $11 billion G7 ministers set ambitious new targets for solar and wind capacity

Tensions between the two military forces have been on the rise since Wednesday in the Merowe region of northern Sudan, following the RSF's alleged movement of military vehicles to a location near a military air base, which the Army has deemed illegal.

Deep differences have emerged between the Sudanese Army and the RSF, particularly regarding the latter's integration into the Army as stipulated in a framework agreement signed between military and civilian leaders on December 5, 2022.

--IANS

int/khz/
Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has successfully launched its second nanosatellite DEWA SAT-2 aboard the Falcon 9 rocket of SpaceX from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, USA. The nanosatellite was designed and developed by Emiratis at DEWAs Research and Development Centre, in collaboration with NanoAvionics in Lithuania. DEWA SAT-2, a 6U nanosatellite, features a high-resolution camera (4.7 metres) that will be used for Earth observation missions. The high-resolution camera provides continuous line-scan imaging in seven spectral bands from an approximately 500km orbit. The new satellite is also equipped with Infrared equipment to measure greenhouse gases.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230415005011/en/

DEWA launches its second nanosatellite DEWA SAT-2 to enhance its operations and improve efficiency (Photo: AETOSWire)

His Excellency Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA, said DEWAs Space-D programme, which was launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in January 2021, aims to improve the operations, maintenance and planning of DEWAs networks through nanosatellites and remote sensing technologies. The programme also seeks to train Emiratis specialised in the use of space technologies in electricity and water networks.

Al Tayer noted that DEWA aims to use nanosatellite technology to support its cloud computing network, thereby enhancing the digitisation of energy and water networks. The objective is to raise the efficiency and effectiveness of planning, operation and preventive maintenance of the production, transmission and distribution divisions, as well as smart grids, power stations, and EV charging stations. This approach is expected to reduce costs and improve the investment of DEWAs assets. Additionally, this will help develop use cases that contribute to upgrading the utility sector worldwide.

The combined use of DEWA SAT-2 images and IoT measurements from DEWA SAT-1 will enable DEWA to improve the operational performance of power generation and water desalination plants by providing accurate estimates of seawater temperature, seawater salinity, detection of red-tide, as well as fog monitoring and forecasting.

DEWA launched DEWA SAT-1 in January 2022, becoming the first utility in the world to use nanosatellites to improve operations, maintenance and planning of electricity and water networks. The nanosatellite was designed and developed at DEWAs Research and Development Centre at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.

*Source: AETOSWire

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230415005011/en/
Mikro Grafeio

News Summary

Mikro Grafeio is a strategic fulfilment partner for global companies looking to enter India via multiple routes. They are bringing a high level business and policy delegation from Karnataka to 5 cities - Princeton, NJ; Boston, MA; Atlanta, GA; Dallas, TX; and Milpitas, CA - from April 23rd to May 2nd. Over 600 companies covering various sectors will get to interact with delegates from Karnataka and get the opportunity to firm up their business plans for India.
Virgin Media O2 has selected Mavenir, the Network Software Provider building the future of networks with cloud-native solutions that run on any cloud, as its Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) vendor. Mavenir will also be the prime integrator, providing its Open virtualised Radio Access Network (Open vRAN) solution for sites on Virgin Media O2s network.

Virgin Media O2 will work with Mavenir to roll out a scalable Open vRAN solution as part of its network evolution plans and adopt a more flexible and cloud-native architecture.

Mavenirs Open vRAN solution is built from the ground up to be cloud-native, with fully containerised microservices allowing it to be deployed easily on any cloud. Mavenirs Open vRAN O-RAN compliant solution works on open interfaces supporting O-RAN Split 7.2x and Split 2.

It further disaggregates into Distributed Unit (DU) and Centralised Unit (CU). These entities work as containerised network functions running on Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) hardware containing Intel processors.

Designed to support multiple Fronthaul splits simultaneously, the vRAN solution provides a vendor-agnostic and future-proof architecture, leveraging Virgin Media O2s network infrastructure assets.

Mavenirs Open RAN system will consist of fully virtualised L1, L2 vRAN SW and will operate on Intel Xeon Scalable Processors, along with Intel vRAN Accelerator ACC100 and Intel 800 series Ethernet adapters. The delivery will also feature Mavenirs OpenBeam Radios including massive MIMO, 3rd party O-RAN based Radio Units (O-RU) for open Fronthaul, network monitoring and optimisation.

Jeanie York, Chief Technology Officer at Virgin Media O2, said: Through digitalising our networks, were seamlessly integrating our infrastructure to get more value from our existing assets. Extending our collaboration with Mavenir to the RAN for the first time will help us establish a future-proof Open vRAN architecture, unlocking the benefits of a multi-vendor open interface while allowing us to rapidly benefit from an end-to-end network solution.

Pardeep Kohli, President and CEO at Mavenir, said: Mavenirs Open vRAN cloud-native approach presents new pathways for automated networks to deliver on the use cases and data demands of today and beyond - driving network elasticity, flexibility and best-in-class automation. The Mavenir OpenBeam radio portfolio fully complements Virgin Media O2s full spectrum requirements and we look forward to playing an active role in unlocking network automation and openness in the RAN.

Cristina Rodriguez, Vice President Network and Edge Group at Intel, said: Open and virtualised RAN represents the future: a flexible and scalable software-defined network. Intel is pleased to collaborate with and be part of the Virgin Media O2 technology journey with Mavenir. Together we are delivering innovation, performance, and we are working towards more sustainable networks.

Notes to Editors

About Virgin Media O2

Virgin Media O2 launched on 1 June 2021, combining the UKs largest and most reliable mobile network with a broadband network offering the fastest widely-available broadband speeds. It is a customer-first organisation that brings a range of connectivity services together in one place with a clear mission: to upgrade the nation. Virgin Media O2 is the corporate brand of the 50:50 joint venture between Liberty Global and Telefonica SA, and one of the UKs largest businesses. The company has 47 million UK connections across broadband, mobile, TV and home phone. Its own fixed network currently passes 16.1 million premises alongside a mobile network that covers 99% of the nations population with 4G, and more than 1,600 towns and cities with 5G services targeting 50% population coverage in 2023.

About Mavenir

Mavenir is building the future of networks and pioneering advanced technology, focusing on the vision of a single, software-based automated network that runs on any cloud. As the industry's only end-to-end, cloud-native network software provider, Mavenir is focused on transforming the way the world connects, accelerating software network transformation for 250+ Communications Service Providers and Enterprises in over 120 countries, which serve more than 50% of the worlds subscribers. www.mavenir.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230316005006/en/
An open clash within the Sudanese counterrevolution has plunged the country into violence, which has already killed around 100 people and wounded hundreds more. This long-anticipated battle to determine which clique of murderous gangsters gets to plunder Sudan is a tragic consequence of the failure of the masses to take power after the 2018-9 revolution.

Fighting erupted on Saturday between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group made up of barbarous Janjaweed militiamen at the command of General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (better known as Hemedti); and the regular Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), under General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the de facto ruler of the country.

These are the two main figureheads of the Sudanese counterrevolution. The RSF have served as the frontline forces of reaction since the revolutionary overthrow of General Omar al-Bashir in 2018, having put down the 2019 mass sit-in in Khartoum in an orgy of bloodshed.

Burhan and Hemedti then cooperated in a coup against the civilian Prime Minister, the liberal Abdalla Hamdok in 2021, pushing aside the puppet transitional government, and effectively restoring military rule. The alliance with the liberals was always nothing but a cover for the rule of the counter-revolutionary generals.

The two generals have been jostling for authority since the coup, leaning on different imperialist powers in an attempt to shore up their positions. Both have participated in negotiations, overseen by the Quad (the United States, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia), to transition to civilian rule.

These talks, which shamefully include the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC)  a coalition of so-called pro-democracy organisations, founded during the revolution  are a total sham. The masses are under no illusions that the generals will give up their power, and any civilian government organised with their blessing would be a fig leaf for military dictatorship.

Tensions have been growing in recent weeks between Burhan and Hemedti, who both have designs on ruling the country, and have continually delayed the signing of an agreed schedule for a new constitution and civilian elections.

The RSF have served as the frontline forces of reaction since the revolutionary overthrow of General Omar al-Bashir in 2018, having put down the 2019 mass sit-in in Khartoum in an orgy of bloodshed / Image: Maram Al Awadi, Twitter

An impending clash was signalled by the SAF redeploying forces and building new high walls around the army headquarters in Khartoum, as well as setting up new security checkpoints in the capital and carrying out inspections of all travellers arriving in the airport.

A war of words also escalated between Burhan and Hemedti, with the latter saying the 2021 coup had failed and (incredibly) denouncing Burhan for opposing the transition to democracy  this from the man who commanded the forces that drowned the 2018-9 revolution in blood! Burhan for his part sought to create a Higher Army Council to remove Hemedti from his post as deputy leader of the ruling Sovereign Council.

In effect, these two gangsters were using the threat of violence to secure a stronger position for their respective cliques within the regime  participating in a charade of negotiations for civilian rule, while hinting at their willingness to drag Sudan into further chaos. As Kholood Khair, a Khartoum-based analyst, explained to Middle East Eye:

They allow their tensions to escalate, to increase their arms and their troops, in order to use the pressure of a possible confrontation to gain concessions from pro-democracy actors, particularly the FFC.

Gangsters at war

Apparently, the concessions wrung out of the FFC quislings were not enough, and an excuse to settle accounts by force was provided by a planned integration of the RSF into the regular armed forces, as part of an agreement to be signed in April.

Things came to a head on Saturday, with the RSF claiming to have seized key locations in Khartoum such as the presidential palace, the army chiefs residence, the state television station, and the airport; as well as other sites in Omdurman, the western region of Darfur, and Merowe Airport in the north.

The SAF responded with ground troops, airstrikes and artillery, blasting RSF bases, many of which are based in and around built-up urban areas. A brief ceasefire agreed on Sunday to evacuate the wounded broke down almost immediately. Burhan has since made multiple, contradictory statements to disband the RSF, while inviting its members to join the regular military.

The so-called Peace and Security Council for the African Union has called for a meeting including South Sudan, Kenya, and Djibouti, but the airport in Khartoum has been a main point of fighting between the RSF and SAF, so it is unclear how delegates expect to enter the country.

At the time of writing, it is very difficult to determine which side controls what territory / Image: , Twitter

The previous spokesman for the RSF has issued a statement to announce that he had lost contact within the unit, and speaks only for himself when he says he is under the orders of the SAF. The SAF has also mentioned that the RSFs Intelligence Command has joined its ranks.

At the time of writing, it is very difficult to determine which side controls what territory. What is clear is that civilians are being caught in the crossfire all around the country.

A warning from the SAF for people to stay indoors has provided scant protection, given the intensity of some of the fighting.

So far, air strikes have been reported in Khartoum, Bahri, Burri, Riyad and Omdurman; and gun battles have broken out in many other locations, including Karari, Port Sudan, and ElObeid. The western regions, where most RSF militiamen are recruited, have also seen significant fighting, particularly in Darfur, Kordofan and the White Nile region.

People are trapped in homes, schools and hospitals, trying to avoid the clashes. There are widespread power and water outages across Khartoum, and many people are without access to food (during Ramadan, when most are already fasting) or medicine. There have also been reports of heavy looting of markets and homes, particularly by the RSF.

To make matters worse, after three World Food Programme (WFP) employees were killed during a battle at a Kabkabiya army base in North Darfur, the WFP suspended all operations in the country, cutting the Sudanese masses off from vital food aid.

Huda, a Khartoum resident interviewed by Reuters, explained the situation on the ground: "We're scared, we haven't slept for 24 hours because of the noise and the house shaking. We're worried about running out of water, food, and medicine for my diabetic father."

Imperialist cynicism

The imperialists have predictably shed crocodile tears at the latest breakdown of Sudans transition to democracy. US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, called for an immediate ceasefire and a return to talks that were very promising in putting Sudan on a path to a full transition to civilian-led government.

People in Sudan want the military back in the barracks, they want democracy, they want a civilian-led government.

Of course, no such thing would ever emerge from backroom haggling with the same murderous army generals who have already slaughtered countless innocent people in their determined onslaught against the Sudanese Revolution in 2019 and since then against any hint of democratic rule.

The same nonsense was repeated by UK foreign secretary, James Cleverly, who said: ultimately the immediate future lies in the hands of the generals who are engaged in this fight. We call on them to put peace first, to bring an end to the fighting, to get back to negotiations [our emphasis].

Placing any hopes in the better nature of Burhan and Hemedti is the height of naivete, and from the mouths of the imperialists, it also reeks of cynicism.

At every turn, the Sudanese Revolution has been betrayed by its leaders, who continually refused to support a final, armed confrontation between the masses and the ruling class / Image: Laura Walubengo, Twitter

Western powers involved in the so-called transition to civilian rule have made no secret of their ulterior motives: maintaining a firm grip on Sudan, containing the revolutionary movement that began in 2018, and pushing back the influence of their geopolitical rivals.

In particular, the west fears Russias influence in the region. Both Hemedti and Burhan have sought closer ties with Putin, who has allegedly received huge sums of Sudanese gold in order to bolster the Russian war effort in Ukraine with funds that circumvent western sanctions.

The Wagner mercenary group are reportedly present in Sudan and have provided training and equipment to the military. Moreover, the Sudanese generals have signalled their willingness to let Russia build a naval base on the Red Sea.

US imperialism is eager to curb these ties between Sudan and the Kremlin, and it has no qualms about working with counterrevolutionary mass murderers in the process. An article in National Interest puts the matter bluntly:

The stakes are indeed high for U.S. interests. As such, the United States must work with the Sudanese leaders who backed the Framework Agreement to create an incentive structure for Sudans elites to implement the agreement and pursue a pro-American course for the country While military actors in Sudan and throughout the region have poor human rights and governance records, it is critical that the United States recognize when these actors align with pro-American policies and that Washington increase cooperation with them when they do.

For their part, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt have also leaned on one murderous clique or another in order to extend their influence and make claims on Sudans resources, especially its agricultural wealth, gold mines and ports.

The El-Sisi regime in Cairo in particular has consistently backed Burhans efforts to crush the Sudanese masses, as it fears that a revolutionary wave in a neighbouring country could revive the struggle of the Egyptian masses against their own military dictator.

In short, Sudan lies at the centre of a thieves kitchen of predatory imperialists, who sing a siren song of civilian rule and democracy, while at the same time negotiating with the counterrevolutionary generals to carve up the country for their own ends.

One thing they all have in common is a shared interest in stability. Of course the stability that they talk of is on the basis of preserving the capitalist system and preventing the revolutionary struggle of the masses which could provoke a wave of insurrection in the region. It is primarily for this reason that they cooperate with gangsters like Burhan and Hemedti.

Betrayals by the leadership

At every turn, the Sudanese Revolution has been betrayed by its leaders, who continually refused to support a final, armed confrontation between the masses and the ruling class. Instead they opted for securing a deal with the capitalist gangsters.

The most treacherous elements, like the FFC, have entered into direct negotiation with the counterrevolution, destroying their credibility in the eyes of the masses and paving the way for a bloody defeat of the movement.

The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), which played a positive role in the early days of the revolution, has also massively degenerated. The body released a statement on 15 April that affirmed support for the framework political agreement to establish civilian rule, stitched up in talks with the generals:

The framework agreement, and the final stage reaching the final agreement and the transitional constitution, are an objective and acceptable basis for the restoration of the democratic transition and civil transformation, and we emphasise in the gathering of Sudanese professionals our commitment to this.

It further called on the leaders of the armed forces, RSF, police and public intelligence to carry out their national duty to protect internal and national security.

To sow illusions in this litany of killers to defend security and the democratic transition is a blatant betrayal of the masses, who have shed their blood for years fighting these monsters.

Meanwhile, the Sudanese Communist Party released a statement that seemingly takes the side of Burhan and the SAF over the RSF! It calls for quickly dissolving all militias, collecting weapons spread throughout the cities and rural areas, and reconstituting the unified national professional army [our emphasis]!

This is an absolutely abhorrent position (shared approvingly by the so-called Communist Party of Britain) that is tantamount to legitimising one wing of the counter-revolution over the other, and consolidating all arms and state power under Burhan and the SAF.

Ironically, these same characters were silent in 2019, when the need of the hour was the arming of the masses and the call for the soldiers to join the revolution against the generals.

The statement further calls for: the unity of our people, all national forces, radical change forces and resistance committees around the goals of the revolution, restoring peace, security and stability.

What national forces are we talking about? Do they include any of the regular army brass? The parasitic Sudanese bourgeois? These forces are directly opposed to the revolution. This is a call for unity (to paraphrase PFLP leader Ghassan Kanafani) between the sword and the neck.

Even the most consistent and courageous elements at the head of the revolution, such as the Neighbourhood Resistance Committees, are repeating all their old errors.

A statement by Resistance Committees Coordination in Khartoum repeatedly emphasised the masses peaceful battle against the generals, asserting: We started with peacefulness and will continue with it to achieve our goals against all parties of the ongoing war in the country's streets.

The statement goes on to say that masses must raise the slogan of No To War and not respond to any calls for arming [the people], as they will lead us to civil war. The only loser from war is the people, so let's unite to overcome it.

The current state of affairs in Sudan could only have been averted through a victory of the Sudanese Revolution / Image: Zagazola, Twitter

Yet again we see the bankrupt pacifism of the Resistance Committees Coordination. The spectre of civil war has been used time and again by leading layers to justify their refusal to arm the masses for a final reckoning with the generals.

As a result, the people have been the victims of a one-sided war at the hands of the counter-revolution, which now risks dragging Sudan into a civil war between competing cliques of butchers, both of which are mortal enemies of the workers and the poor.

Tragedy and the tasks ahead

The current state of affairs in Sudan could only have been averted through a victory of the Sudanese Revolution. In a word, it would have meant prosecuting an unrelenting class war against the counterrevolution.

There were many opportunities to arm and prepare the people for a decisive insurrection against the reactionary generals, and take power into their hands. All were scuppered by the vacillating leadership, which refused to do what was necessary.

Once in control, the people of Sudan would not only have won democratic rule but laid the basis for carrying out sweeping reforms to every area of life: from healthcare, to education, to infrastructure and so on, funded by expropriating the ill-gotten wealth of Sudans rotten elite, and repudiating the countrys imperialist debt.

The path would have been open for the socialist transformation of society, the only road to a decent and dignified existence for the people of the country. Any party, even on a modest scale, with such a programme could have played a decisive role in these events. Sadly, no such party exists.

No matter who emerges on top in this internecine struggle within the counterrevolution, nothing will improve for the Sudanese masses. As one Sudanese woman put it, quoted on social media:

They [RSF & SAF] are struggling over seats. The rest of us are struggling over food and water. Theyre struggling over power, over robbing the people while the rest of the country struggles over food, water, education and healthcare.

And at this moment, the masses are paying a terrible price for the failure of their leaders. But despite immense levels of exhaustion and demoralisation, the people have continued to march and struggle up until this very day.

There can be no trust placed in the international community to resolve this new outbreak of violence, which the imperialists helped bring about. The only way out of this nightmare will come on the basis of a rejuvenation of the Sudanese Revolution, which must learn the lessons of past defeats, defend itself against all the forces of reaction through its own bodies of struggle, and dispense with any elements holding it back.
World Heritage Day, also known as the International Day for Monuments and Sites, is celebrated on April 18. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) first observed the day in 1983. The goal is to raise awareness of the global diversity and cultural heritage. At the 22nd UNESCO General Conference, it was decided to host the day as a global event. The primary objective of World Heritage Day is to raise public awareness of the value of protecting cultural assets, such as old structures, monuments, and historical places.

The purpose of the day is to inspire people to value the diversity of the world's heritage and to get involved in its preservation and conservation. During World Heritage Day, a theme is decided upon each year to highlight a particular facet of cultural heritage. Many events, including exhibitions, cultural gatherings, and narrated tours of historical locations, are frequently part of World Heritage Day celebrations.

These initiatives seek to increase knowledge of cultural heritage, its understanding and appreciation, and the dangers that these sites face from things like climate change, natural disasters, and human activity. World Heritage Day is a significant occasion that encourages the defence and maintenance of cultural heritage all around the world. It serves as a reminder that cultural heritage is something that continues to be important today and will do so in the future.

Theme for World Heritage Day 2023

"Heritage Changes" is the theme of World Heritage Day in 2023. In response to the UN Decade of Action, ICOMOS states that the theme of HERITAGE CHANGES provides the opportunity to address questions about learning about traditional knowledge systems and ways of knowing in relation to climate action, as well as how to use a cultural heritage focus to support equitable protection of vulnerable communities through climate action. Exhibitions, guided tours, talks, seminars, and other cultural events are among these occasions.

History of World Heritage Day

The International Day for Monuments and Sites, also known as World Heritage Day, is observed on April 18 each year to raise awareness of cultural heritage and to advocate the preservation and protection of significant historical sites around the globe. ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) introduced the proposal for World Heritage Day in 1982, and UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) later endorsed it during the 22nd General Conference in 1983. The ICOMOS was created on April 18, 1982, hence that day was chosen as the anniversary date.

The Importance of World Heritage Day

The purpose of World Heritage Day is to spread awareness of the value of protecting cultural heritage and the world's monuments and sites from decay and destruction. World Heritage Day was created in 1983 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to promote awareness of the importance of heritage assets and the need to protect them for future generations.

Also, the day offers a chance to promote global collaboration in cultural heritage preservation and to recognise the diversity of civilizations around the world. On this day, a variety of events and activities are held throughout the world to raise awareness of the value of heritage sites, their contribution to the formation of our history and identity, and the necessity of their preservation.

What is a World Heritage Site?

A World Heritage site is a landmark or area that has been legally designated as such by an international convention maintained by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). UNESCO names places as World Heritage Sites when they are considered to be of significant cultural, historical, scientific, or other value. "Cultural and natural heritage around the world deemed to be of outstanding value to humanity (OUV)" is said to be present at the places. A WHS must be an unusual landmark with outstanding cultural or physical significance, as well as being recognisable geographically and historically.

As an illustration, these might be towns, deserts, woods, islands, lakes, monuments, mountains, or wilderness regions, as well as historical or ancient ruins or other constructions. A World Heritage site could be a place of outstanding natural beauty or it could represent a significant human achievement that serves as proof of our intellectual past on the globe.

There are 1,157 World Heritage Sites as of April 2023, spread among 167 nations (900 cultural, 218 natural, and 39 mixed properties); the nations with the most sites are Italy (58), China (56), Germany (51), France (49), Spain (49), India (40), Mexico (35), the United Kingdom (33) and Russia (30).

India's World Heritage Sites

There are 3691 monuments and sites in India. There are 40 of these, including locations like the Taj Mahal, Ajanta Caves, and Ellora Caves, that have been named UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Natural locations such as Assam's Kaziranga National Park are included on the list of World Heritage Sites.

Kaziranga National Park

There is little human intervention in Kaziranga National Park. Assam is where it is located. The largest population of one-horned rhinoceroses in the world resides there. There are also tigers, bears, elephants, and panthers nearby. In 1985, it was regarded as a UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site in India.

Keoladeo Ghana National Park

In the winter, a variety of aquatic birds, including the rare Siberian crane, can be found in Keoladeo Ghana National Park. There are 364 different bird species there. In 1985, India's Keoladeo Ghana National Park was listed as a UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site.

Manas Wildlife Sanctuary

Tropical woods and alluvial grasslands can be found within the boundaries of the Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, which is situated in the Himalayan foothills. The Indian rhinoceros, Pygmy hog, Tiger, and Indian elephant are just a few of the endangered animals that exist there. In India, it was designated as a UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site in 1985.

Nanda Devi National Park and Valley of Flowers

In the western Himalayas, meadows of indigenous alpine flowers can be found at Nanda Devi National Park and Valley of Flowers. It has rare and threatened creatures like the blue sheep, snow leopard, and Asiatic black bear. In 1988 and 2005, the Valley of Flowers and Nanda Devi National Park, respectively, were designated as UNESCO Natural World Heritage Sites in India.

Sundarbans National Park

The Sunderbans National Park, which spans 10,000 km2 of both land and water, is situated in the Ganges delta. It has the world's largest Mangrove forest ( in terms of area). The aquatic mammals, tigers, reptiles, and birds of the Sundarbans National Park are all endangered species. It was included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India in 1987.

India's UNESCO Cultural World Heritage Sites

The monuments that make up India's UNESCO Cultural World Heritage Sites include architectural feats, inscriptions, and colossal sculptures. Archaeological sites are also part of it. India's UNESCO Cultural World Heritage Sites include the following:

Agra Fort

A notable Mughal structure from the 16th century is the Agra Fort. Because it is constructed of red stones, it is also known as the Laal Qila or the Red Fort of Agra. A 2.5 km-long perimeter wall surrounds the Agra Fort. The fort is home to numerous fairytale palaces (Khas Mahal and Jahangir Palace). The Agra Fort also features two stunning mosques.

The Ajanta Caves

Buddhist cave shrines can be found at Ajanta Caves. These prehistoric rock-cut caverns date to the second and first centuries B.C. These are the caves formed by rock. A large number of additional ornately adorned caves were added to the original category between the fifth and sixth centuries A.D., or the Gupta period. These caves show how Ajanta's sculptures and paintings, as well as other outstanding works of Buddhist holy art, were influenced artistically.

The Ellora Caves

Maharashtra's Ellora caverns stretch for more than two kilometres. From 600 to 1000 A.D., 34 monasteries and temples make up this complex. The Ellora Caves, like the Ajanta Caves, show distinctive artistic achievements with effective use of technology. It had temples dedicated to Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism

Taj Mahal

The enormous Taj Mahal mausoleum in Agra was constructed by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. Between 1631 and 1648, white marble was used to construct it. This immensely admired work of art represents Muslim art in India as a sign of love. In 1983, India's Taj Mahal was listed as a UNESCO Cultural World Heritage Site.

Konarak's Sun Temple

On the Gulf of Bengal's banks sits the Sun Temple. It is thought to have been constructed in the 13th century, at one of India's most well-known Brahman sanctuaries. It is a colossal depiction of the god Surya (Sun god in Hindu mythology). The cart has 24 wheels, each of which is embellished with a meaningful pattern. In 1984 UNESCO designated this location as a Cultural World Heritage Site.

Mahabalipuram Monument Complex

A single rock was cut into a collection of Sanctuaries known as the Group of Monuments near the Coromandel coast. It is renowned for its rathas, mandapas, enormous open-air reliefs, and sculptures that capture Shiva in all his grandeur. In 1986, the complex of monuments in Mahabalipuram, which date from the seventh and eighth centuries, were designated as a World Heritage Site.

Indian Mountain Railways

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, Nilgiri Mountain Railway, and Kalka Shimla Railway are the three sites that make up India's mountain railways. In 1999, 2005, and 2008, respectively, these three Indian Mountain Railroads were designated as UNESCO Cultural World Heritage Sites in India.

The Qutb Minar and its Monuments

Another 13th-century red sandstone structure in Delhi is called Qutb Minar. With a diameter of 14.32 m at the base and 2.75 m at its height, it has a distinctive tapering shape. The two oldest mosques in north India, including Quwwatu'l-Islam, and Alai-Darwaza Gate surround it. It was constructed from leftover materials from 20 Brahmin temples. In 1993, Qutb Minar was recognised as an Indian cultural world heritage site by UNESCO.

Hill Forts of Rajasthan

Six imposing forts-Jaisalmer, Jaipur, Jhalawar, Sawai Madhopur, Kumbhalgarh, and Chittorgarh-combine to form The Hill Forts of Rajasthan. The Rajput royal power that ruled from the eighth to the eighteenth centuries is visible in these forts. These forts show a sophisticated water gathering system that is still functional. In 2013, India's Rajasthan Hill Forts were designated as a UNESCO Cultural World Heritage Site.

The mixed site is significant from a natural and cultural standpoint. In India, there is just one UNESCO Mixed World Heritage Site. It is Khangchendzonga National Park.

Khangchendzonga National Park

Located in Sikkim, Khangchendzonga National Park sits in the heart of the Himalayan range ( North India). Many distinctive glaciers, valleys, lakes, and plains can be found. The National park also has mountains covered with snow. There are ancient forests all throughout these mountains. The third-highest peak in the world, Mount Khangchendzonga, is also located in the Khangchendzonga National Park. Mountains, caves, rivers, and other natural features have cultural value in addition to their natural significance since they are associated with many legendary legends. Residents of Sikkim revere these items because they are connected to several religious myths and rituals (as per the Buddhist beliefs).
Karnataka SSLC 2023:The Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board has announced the Karnataka Secondary School Leaving Certification Examination (SSLC) exam 2023 answer key. Candidates who have appeared for the examination from March 31 to April 15 can visit the official website kseeb.karnataka.gov.in to check their answer key.

The board has announced that Karnataka exam evaluation will start on April 21, 2023. After the evaluation, KSEEB will declare the result date and time of SSLC. Students will be able to check their results online, and they will have to collect their Class 10th scorecards from their schools.



Karnataka SSLC Answer Key: Steps to Check

Candidates can follow the steps given below to check the Karnataka SSLC answer key:

Visit the official website of Karnataka SSLC at kseeb.karnataka.gov.in.

Click on the 'Online Objection Entry' option.

Fill in the registration number.

Click on the relevant exam subject answer keys.

Download and save for future use.

Here's the marking scheme of Karnataka SSLC:

Students can find in the table below the marking and grading scheme for the Class 10 Karnataka exam 2023.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), through its National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), are pleased to launch the National Firefighter Registry for Cancer online enrollment system for firefighters across the nation. The NFR for cancer is the largest effort undertaken by the nation to support and advance understanding of cancer in the fire service. President Biden has shown strong and enduring support for firefighters for decades and this step will help deliver on his commitment to end cancer as we know it as part of the Cancer Moonshot.

Numerous studies show that firefighters exposure on the fireground, where smoke and hazardous chemicals are released from burning materials, may increase the risk of certain types of cancer. President Biden has signed two laws that seek specifically to advance firefighter health, safety, and protection from toxic exposures on the job. The National Firefighter Registry (NFR) for Cancer will contribute to these broader efforts by helping scientists better understand the link between cancer and firefighting to ultimately improve firefighter health. The NFR will capture details about firefighters work and match it with cancer information from state cancer registries.

While participation is voluntary, all U.S. firefighters, with or without cancer, are encouraged to join the NFR for Cancer; these include:

active and retired firefighters

career, paid-on-call, and volunteer firefighters

structural firefighters

wildland firefighters

instructors

fire investigators

other members of the fire service

Visit NFR.CDC.GOV to complete the NFR survey through the secure website. Enrollment takes about 30 minutes to complete. You will:

Create an account with a personal password and secure login

Give informed consent to participate

Create a profile, including contact information and work status

Complete a questionnaire with demographics, your fire service and health history, and lifestyle choices

Visit the NIOSH NFR for Cancer webpage to learn more about:

Why the registry was created

How the registry works

Data collection, privacy, and data security

Available materials you can share with firefighters Watch Join the NFR for Cancer here .

John Howard, M.D., the Director of NIOSH, states that I encourage all firefighters across America to join the NFR for Cancer  the more firefighters who join the NFR, the more researchers can learn about cancer arising from firefighting and how to prevent it. Firefighters are vital to the safety of our communities and their enrollment in the NFR for cancer can help protect them and the next generation of firefighters from cancer.

The NFR Team Lead, Kenny Fent, Ph.D., CIH adds that with more than 1 million career and volunteer firefighters across the U.S., protecting their health and safety is a top priority for NIOSH. We are excited to raise awareness about this groundbreaking effort to better understand and reduce cancer among all types of firefighters, including those who have traditionally been underrepresented in research, such as women, volunteers, and firefighters from racial and ethnic minority groups.

About the National Firefighter Registry for Cancer

The NFR for Cancer is the largest existing effort undertaken to understand and reduce cancer among U.S. firefighters. In 2018, Congress passed the Firefighter Cancer Registry Act. This Act directed NIOSH to develop a voluntary registry of firefighters to better understand the link between firefighting and cancer. NIOSH worked with a national group of experts, in fire and emergency services, public health, epidemiology, and medical fields, to plan and launch the NFR for Cancer.

About NIOSH

NIOSH is the federal institute that conducts research and makes recommendations for preventing work-related injuries, illnesses and deaths. For more information about NIOSH visit www.cdc.gov/niosh.
Surveillance of the Initiation of, Participation in, and Completion of Cardiac Rehabilitation in Minnesota, 20172018

James M. Peacock, PhD, MPH1; Emily Styles, MPH1; Sara Johnson, MS, RD, LD1; Dylan Galos, PhD2; Mateo Frumholtz, MPH3; Shawn Leth, MEd4; Aaron Pergolski, MA/RCEP, CCRP5 (View author affiliations)

Suggested citation for this article: Peacock JM, Styles E, Johnson S, Galos D, Frumholtz M, Leth S, et al. Surveillance of the Initiation of, Participation in, and Completion of Cardiac Rehabilitation in Minnesota, 20172018. Prev Chronic Dis 2023;20:220324. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd20.220324.

PEER REVIEWED

Summary What is already known on this topic? Previously published studies indicate that cardiac rehabilitation is an underused secondary prevention program, even though evidence demonstrates important health benefits after cardiovascular events or procedures. What is added by this report? We used published surveillance methodologies and the Minnesota All Payer Claims Database to describe the eligibility, initiation, participation, and completion of cardiac rehabilitation in Minnesota for a population of publicly and privately insured people. What are the implications for public health practice? This work demonstrated the value of all-payer claims databases to strengthen public health and health system partnerships to expand access to and provision of cardiac rehabilitation.

Abstract

Introduction

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is an evidence-based secondary prevention program designed to improve cardiovascular health after a cardiac event. The objective of our study was to identify gaps in CR use among publicly and privately insured people in Minnesota to assist in developing shared goals among public health, cardiac rehabilitation professionals, and program delivery sites to improve CR delivery.

Methods

We applied a published claims-based surveillance methodology to the Minnesota All Payer Claims Database to assess eligibility for, initiation of, participation in, and completion of CR by patients with qualifying events in 2017. We stratified results by sociodemographic and geographic factors and qualifying condition and used adjusted prevalence ratios to make statistical comparisons.

Results

Less than half (47.6%) of qualifying patients initiated CR within 1 year of their qualifying event; the rate was higher among men (vs women), adults aged 45 to 64 years (vs 65 y), and patients with commercial or Medicaid insurance coverage (vs Medicare). Among those who initiated CR, only 14.0% completed the full series of 36 sessions. Participation in at least 12 sessions and completion of 36 sessions was less likely among adults aged 18 to 64 (vs 6574 y) and among patients covered by Medicaid (vs Medicare). Patterns of CR initiation, participation, and completion also varied geographically.

Conclusion

This analysis expands on previous Medicare fee-for-service population CR surveillance and provides a first detailed look at the CR landscape in Minnesota, renewing attention to CR as a key secondary prevention strategy. Collaboration and sharing with partners has established the Minnesota Department of Health as a valuable partner in driving health system change to improve equitable provision of CR in Minnesota.

Top

Introduction

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the US and a substantial contributor to death among middle-aged and older people. Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is an evidence-based secondary prevention program designed to improve cardiovascular health after a person experiences a myocardial infarction, other selected cardiovascular events, or selected cardiac procedures. In outpatient CR, patients are assigned up to 36 medically supervised sessions customized to address each patients physical fitness, nutrition, and medication use, as well as enhance chronic disease self-management and provide psychosocial support. The few studies assessing overall CR participation have been limited to the US Medicare population (1,2) or assessed a small number of referral and enrollment metrics across multiple payers in a consortium of hospitals and health care providers in Michigan (36).

The primary objective of this study was to apply a standardized, published surveillance methodology for CR use to the Minnesota All Payer Claims Database (MN APCD), which includes both public and private insurers. The analysis aimed to highlight gaps in the initiation of, participation in, and completion of CR among adults in Minnesota by age, sex, geographic location, payer, qualifying condition, and other factors. Our study can inform the development of shared goals to improve access to, initiation of, participation in, and completion of CR in partnership with public health, professional organizations, and health care providers.

Top

Methods

We used data from the MN APCD, a large repository of health insurance claims, enrollment information, and costs for services provided to Minnesota residents (7). Both private and public insurers of Minnesota residents submit information on medical transactions for people with health insurance coverage. The database does not include claims from Tricare, Veterans Affairs, the Indian Health Service, or carriers with less than $3 million in annual medical claims or $300,000 in annual pharmacy claims. Our analysis used the 23rd extract of the MN APCD and covered the years 2017 and 2018. During this period, the MN APCD included claims for more than 95% of Minnesotas Medicaid and Medicare enrollees and approximately 40% of commercially insured people. These deidentified data permit assessments of care delivered to patients over time and across the spectrum of the health care system (including providers, settings, and payers). The MN APCD is updated regularly and currently contains data from 2009 through 2021.

The identification of patients with qualifying conditions eligible for CR, as well as the provision of those services, followed a published surveillance methodology designed by the Million Hearts collaborative and first applied to the Medicare fee-for-service population in 2016 and 2017 (1,8). Eligible patients were identified by the presence of International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) diagnosis or procedure codes or Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes in their medical claims records (8). Primary qualifying events included acute myocardial infarction; coronary artery bypass graft surgery; heart valve repair or replacement; percutaneous coronary intervention, including percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty or coronary stenting; and heart or heartlung transplant. Secondary qualifying conditions included current stable angina pectoris and stable chronic heart failure. We conducted analyses separately for patients with primary and secondary qualifying conditions. Patients were included in this analysis after having a CR-qualifying condition during 2017 and continuous health plan enrollment for 12 months after the qualifying event. Consistent with the Million Hearts CR surveillance methodology, we excluded patients in skilled nursing or hospice care, patients with end-stage renal disease, and patients without 12 months of continuous insurance enrollment after the qualifying event (1,8). Although we were not able to identify patients who died through the claims database, we excluded these patients because they did not have 12 months of continuous enrollment after the qualifying event. We assessed the frequency and timing of CR sessions per patient during the 1-year period after the qualifying event.

We applied the published surveillance methodology to a dataset of privately and publicly insured people in Minnesota, expanding on populations in previously published analyses. The MN APCD includes more than 95% of Medicare beneficiaries (fee-for-service and managed care Medicare), enrollees in Minnesota Health Care Programs (including Medical Assistance [Minnesotas Medicaid program], and MinnesotaCare [Minnesotas Basic Health Program]; referred to collectively as Medicaid hereinafter), and a large proportion (~40%) of the states commercially insured population.

We reported CR surveillance metrics for patients qualifying for CR in 2017 across 3 domains: initiation (percentage of patients who received CR within 1 year of a qualifying event and percentage who initiated CR within 21 days), participation (number of CR sessions within 36 weeks and percentage of patients who attended 12 sessions within 36 weeks); and completion (percentage of patients who attended 36 sessions within 36 weeks). We stratified results by sex, age group, primary payer, presence of comorbidities, 3-digit zip code area, urbanrural status, community demographics, and qualifying event. Estimates were suppressed if the population group consisted of fewer than 30 people in the denominator (eligible patients) or fewer than 11 people in the numerator (patients meeting the CR indicator) of any of the surveillance metrics, following MN APCD suppression guidelines. The MN APCD currently does not include information on race or ethnicity, despite being collected by Medicare, Medicaid, and other payers.

For payer stratifications, patients were attributed to the plan in which they were enrolled during the month of their qualifying event. Patients were not excluded from analysis if they changed payer during the follow-up period (for example, switching from commercial health insurance to Medicare) as long as they were represented in the data set for 12 months continuously. This method contrasts with the methods of national surveillance reports, which include only patients with continuous enrollment in a single health plan (eg, Medicare fee-for-service) for the entire follow-up period.

The presence of comorbid conditions was identified by using the Johns Hopkins ACG System version 12.0. The ACG system is a population health analytics software that includes a tool to create patient markers for selected high-prevalence chronic conditions based on diagnosis and pharmacy information (9). We selected conditions from the ACG system that were largely aligned with conditions described by Ritchey et al (1), including vision problems (macular degeneration and glaucoma), mental illness (bipolar, depression, and schizophrenia), congestive heart failure, endocrine/renal dysfunction (diabetes, hypothyroidism, and chronic renal failure), musculoskeletal and neurologic disorders (osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, Parkinson disease, and seizure disorders), respiratory diseases (persistent asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), and currently receiving cancer treatment.

The MN APCD provides data on patient residence at the 5-digit zip code level. To assess differences by geographic regions of Minnesota, we assigned patients to 15 distinct geographies based on the first 3 digits of their home zip code (2 adjacent regions were combined because of small populations, 556 and 557). We used zip code tabulation areas to approximate the geographic boundaries of these regions (10). We used Esri ArcGIS Desktop/ArcMap version 10.8 to create maps that show the variation in 4 CR outcomes by 3-digit zip code regions and the location of outpatient CR sites. Seventy-nine of 87 counties have at least 1 outpatient CR program (11). We used quartiles to describe the distribution of patients by CR metrics; the first quartile includes the 25% of zip code regions with the lowest values.

We used 2010 ruralurban commuting area (RUCA) codes (12) to stratify zip code data and assess differences among urban and rural communities. In decreasing order of density, these communities were metropolitan (living in or commuting to an urban area of 50,000 population), micropolitan (urban area population of 10,00049,999), small town (urban area population of 2,5009,999), and rural (no urban population). To assess any differences by place-based sociodemographic characteristics, we used the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registrys Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), which classifies census tracts into levels of social vulnerability based on 15 factors related to socioeconomic status, household composition, race, ethnicity, language, and housing/transportation (13). As part of our agencys coordinated COVID-19 response, the Minnesota Department of Health created a zip codebased SVI index to track COVID-19 trends and to inform vaccine prioritization beginning in 2021 (14). SVI scores were crosswalked from census tracts to zip codes by using data sets provided by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (15) and following established methods (16,17).

Finally, we tabulated CR outcomes by primary qualifying conditions, including with and without procedures (for events) and with and without events (for procedures), and by secondary qualifying conditions.

To compare stratified groups, we calculated adjusted prevalence ratios (aPRs), adjusted for age, sex, and payer, as appropriate. Unadjusted prevalence estimates are presented alongside aPRs. We used Proc Genmod (SAS Enterprise Guide version 7.1), a Poisson distribution, and a log link function to conduct analyses.

Top

Results

During 2017, the MN APCD included data on 3,806,842 members, approximately 69% of Minnesotas population, and we identified 19,974 adults with a primary qualifying event for CR. After we applied exclusion criteria, 12,937 members in the MN APCD with a primary qualifying event for CR were eligible for analysis (Table 1); they collectively engaged in 118,475 billable CR sessions within 1 year after their qualifying event. The group had approximately twice as many men (n = 8,740) as women (n = 4,197), and 71.5% (n = 9,246) had Medicare as the primary payer; the remainder were insured by commercial plans, Medicaid, or were dually insured by Medicare and Medicaid. These data underestimate the total eligible population in our state, because we did not have claims from approximately 60% of commercial beneficiaries, patients using other federal health care payment mechanisms, and a small proportion who were uninsured.

Among qualifying patients, 47.6% initiated CR within 1 year after a qualifying event (Table 1). Of participating patients, 69.8% initiated their first session within 21 days of their qualifying event. Participating patients averaged 19.0 sessions; 65.5% completed 12 or more sessions, and 14.0% completed 36 sessions or more within 36 weeks. After adjusting for age and insurance type, we found that women were less likely than men to initiate CR (42.8% vs 49.8%; aPR, 0.90 [95% CI, 0.850.95]). Of the 5 age groups, compared with adults aged 65 to 74 years, adults aged 45 to 64 years were most likely to initiate CR (58.0%; aPR, 1.15 [95% CI, 1.091.23]), while participation rates declined among older adults (41.4% among those aged 7584 years [aPR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.780.89] and 25.6% among those aged 85 years [aPR, 0.52 [95% CI, 0.460.58]).

Medicare beneficiaries represented 71.5% of the primary qualifying population, and 41.7% participated in CR within 1 year after their primary event. After adjusting for age, compared with the Medicare population, both the commercially insured (aPR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.391.61) and Medicaid (aPR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.071.30) populations were more likely to participate, while the dual Medicare and Medicaid (aPR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.520.87) population was less likely. However, after initiation of CR, only the commercially insured population was more likely than the Medicare population (aPR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.081.58) to complete 36 sessions or more within 36 weeks, while the dual Medicare and Medicaid population was less likely (aPR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.410.80). In general, patients with 2 or more comorbid conditions were less likely than patients with 0 or 1 comorbidities to participate and were slower to initiate CR, but we found no differences in completion of sessions. We found no significant differences in CR outcomes when assessing mental illness as a comorbidity.

In our examination of CR outcomes by RUCA codes, the only significant difference was a higher likelihood of patients completing 36 or more CR sessions within 36 weeks in micropolitan and small town communities compared with metropolitan areas (Table 2). As expected, we observed a larger number of CR-qualifying patients in more socially vulnerable communities than in less socially vulnerable communities. By social vulnerability, the only significant difference in CR outcomes was a higher prevalence of patients completing 36 or more CR sessions in the second most vulnerable quartile (quartile 2) compared with the least vulnerable quartile (quartile 4).

Our maps (Figure) show that zip code region 565, in western Minnesota surrounding the city of Moorhead, had lower rates of initiation (A) but performed in the highest quartile for timely initiation (B) and completion of 12 or more and 36 or more sessions (C and D). Region 563, in central Minnesota surrounding St. Cloud, had one of the highest initiation rates but was in the lowest quartile for timely initiation and completion of 36 or more sessions. Region 559, in southeastern Minnesota surrounding Rochester, performed well across all metrics, while regions in north central (564) and northwestern (567) Minnesota had low rates overall.



Figure.

Initiation, participation, and completion of cardiac rehabilitation among adults aged 18 years in Minnesota, by 3-digit zip code regions, 20172018. Hash marks indicate areas not covered by zip codes. [A text version of this figure is available.]

The most common primary qualifying conditions were AMI and percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (Table 3). Although we did not make statistical comparisons, patients with coronary artery bypass graft surgery were the most likely to participate in CR (70.2%) and the most likely to complete 36 or more sessions within 36 weeks (18.4%). Patients with AMI and no procedure were the least likely to participate in CR (16.8%).

Only 3.2% of patients with secondary qualifying conditions initiated CR within 1 year of a qualifying event, ranging from 5.1% of patients with chronic stable angina to 2.9% of patients with heart failure (Table 3). Mean number of CR sessions completed within 1 year and percentages of patients completing 12 or more sessions and 36 or more sessions were lower for patients with secondary qualifying conditions than for those with primary qualifying conditions.

Top

Discussion

This surveillance analysis is the first population-based assessment of the initiation of, participation in, and completion of outpatient CR in Minnesota using administrative claims data. It expands on previous estimates from telephone-based health surveys (18) and estimates from analyses restricted to Medicare fee-for-service data at the national, regional (1), and state level (26). Our analysis was catalyzed by funding from CDCs Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention and the Million Hearts initiative, which have highlighted CR as a key strategy to improve cardiovascular disease outcomes in the US (19). The Minnesota Department of Health is committed to using data to improve the states overall population health and working toward the ambitious Million Hearts goal of 70% participation in CR.

Our study has several limitations. The main limitation is that we were missing a sizable proportion of the commercially insured population. That proportion is missing because of the Gobeille vs Liberty Mutual Insurance Company ruling, which stated that self-insured commercial plans covered by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 cannot be required to follow a state data submission requirement (20). This ruling has resulted in data gaps in APCDs. Adjusting our participation estimates to account for the missing 60% of commercial beneficiaries increased overall participation in CR from 47.6% to 52.0%, with increases across regions ranging from 2.2 to 5.7 percentage points.

Second, because the MN APCD is an administrative claims data set, it limits our ability to analyze data through a health equity lens. While we could stratify data by sex, age, payer, rural residence, and comorbid conditions, we could not stratify data by patients race, ethnicity, preferred language, or other sociodemographic factors because the MN APCD does not collect these data. As an alternative approach, we used the SVI of the patients zip code to approximate their sociodemographic characteristics. Third, the MN APCD includes information only on events and procedures that are reimbursed by insurance through a claim. Information on home-based and hybrid CR programs, while growing in popularity and sophistication, is not captured by the data set. Fourth, the surveillance methodology excluded patients who experienced short gaps in coverage, which may have under- or overestimated actual CR participation. Inconsistent coverage is especially prevalent in the Medicaid population, in which the typical beneficiary is covered for less than 10 months of the year (21). Fifth, although a complete course of CR typically includes 36 sessions, patients who meet their goals may be discharged early, which would not have been captured by our completion metric. Finally, these results describe the provision of CR in Minnesota before the COVID-19 pandemic, which has had major impacts on care patterns, referrals, and attendance at center-based CR programs. Recent analysis of Medicare data nationally showed that CR participation continued to lag prepandemic levels as recently as late 2021 (22).

Despite these limitations, these results have expanded our understanding of the CR landscape in Minnesota and have focused new attention on CR as a key secondary prevention strategy critical to optimal recovery from cardiovascular events and procedures. This work builds on our efforts to demonstrate the value of all-payer claims databases, which currently serve as the primary tool for assessing the frequency and cost of medical services provided to people in Minnesota. It also continues our efforts to use the MN APCD for public health surveillance purposes, following previous reports describing hypertension prevalence and blood pressure medication nonadherence (23,24). The MN APCD allows us to expand surveillance of CR beyond the Medicare fee-for-service population to a broader range of payers, including more than 95% of Medicare and Medicaid enrollees and approximately 40% of those in commercial plans. The proportion of Medicare beneficiaries in Minnesota who are enrolled solely in fee-for-service Medicare is among the lowest in the US, at approximately 50% (25). Because the MN APCD also includes managed-care Medicare plans, this analysis of patients with qualifying events in 2017 identified more than 2.5 times as many CR-eligible Medicare beneficiaries (9,246 vs 3,541), as previously published results among the Medicare fee-for-service population in Minnesota (2). Our analysis showed lower rates of initiation (41.7% vs 51.7%), more timely initiation (67.7% vs 36.4%), and similar rates of completion of 12 or more (74.9% vs 70.1%) or 36 or more sessions (14.9% vs 15.5%) in Minnesotas Medicare population (2).

This work also helps to fill information gaps that exist because health systems typically have access to data only on their own patients use of services in their own system. The MN APCD contains claims for patients across payers and health care systems, allowing us to track service use in a way individual health systems cannot. CR often takes place in a different community or health system than where the qualifying event occurred; thus, patient care is often not limited to 1 health system or 1 location. This complex web of care creates barriers to assessing population-level CR participation. The MN APCD overcomes this challenge by assessing patient experiences across multiple care systems, inside and outside Minnesota.

Although likely to be of high value to our Minnesota partners, this article describes only a portion of the results of our analysis. Our approach could be useful in other states or jurisdictions with sufficient data or an APCD. The Minnesota Department of Health is well positioned to conduct and share this type of population-level surveillance and provide an unbiased view of CR service delivery in our state. Regional surveillance data are integral to informing program planning at state and local levels and engaging CR delivery sites. Identifying regions with higher participation and completion rates could encourage health systems in those areas to share the policies and practices that contribute to the success of their programs with other health systems in the state.

To further that end, results of these analyses are being shared with our partners statewide to encourage growth in CR services, identify gaps in CR provision, and develop goals that are both practical and aspirational. This work highlights key inequities in CR participation, notably by age, payer, geography, and qualifying condition. Addressing these inequities with new and novel solutions requires strong partnerships at multiple levels. The Minnesota Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation, an affiliate of the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation, has become a key partner; preliminary results from 2016 were presented as continuing education for more than 100 attendees at its 2021 state conference. Those results were also shared with one of the largest health systems in Minnesota to inform strategic efforts to address gaps in CR participation. Identifying opportunities for increased CR contributed to policy changes in that health system to cover parking costs for CR patients at key locations, long identified as a cost barrier for patients. In addition, these data have informed new efforts within the Minnesota Department of Health and health systems to use hospital discharge and electronic health record data to identify equity gaps in CR referral, initiation, participation, and completion. Our analysis is a catalyst for future collaboration between CR programs and public health to provide more equitable access to CR throughout Minnesota and further establishes the Minnesota Department of Health as a valuable partner in driving health system change and improved heart health.

Top

Acknowledgments

We thank our colleagues from the Minnesota Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation and the Health Economics Program, Minnesota Department of Health. This publication was supported by grant no. 5 NU58DP006611 from CDC. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of CDC or the US Department of Health and Human Services. The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, or publication of this article. No copyrighted material was adapted or reused. The surveillance methodology used for this investigation, first published in February 2019(8), was revised in early 2023.

Top

Author Information

Corresponding Author: James M. Peacock, PhD, MPH, Minnesota Department of Health, PO Box 64882, St Paul, MN 55164-0882 (james.peacock@state.mn.us).

Author Affiliations: 1Cardiovascular Health Unit, Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Division, Minnesota Department of Health, St Paul, Minnesota. 2Office of Statewide Health Improvement Initiatives, Minnesota Department of Health, St Paul, Minnesota. 3Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Prevention and Control Division, Minnesota Department of Health, St Paul, Minnesota. 4Department of Cardiovascular Diseases, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota. 5M Health Fairview Rehab Services, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Top

References

Ritchey MD, Maresh S, McNeely J, Shaffer T, Jackson SL, Keteyian SJ, et al. Tracking cardiac rehabilitation participation and completion among Medicare beneficiaries to inform the efforts of a national initiative. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes 2020;13(1):e005902. CrossRef PubMed Keteyian SJ, Jackson SL, Chang A, Brawner CA, Wall HK, Forman DE, et al. Tracking cardiac rehabilitation utilization in Medicare beneficiaries: 2017 update. J Cardiopulm Rehabil Prev 2022;42(4):23545. CrossRef PubMed Thompson MP, Yaser JM, Hou H, Syrjamaki JD, DeLucia A 3d, Likosky DS, et al. Determinants of hospital variation in cardiac rehabilitation enrollment during coronary artery disease episodes of care. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes 2021;14(2):e007144. CrossRef PubMed Sukul D, Seth M, Thompson MP, Keteyian SJ, Boyden TF, Syrjamaki JD, et al. Hospital and operator variation in cardiac rehabilitation referral and participation after percutaneous coronary intervention: insights from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Cardiovascular Consortium. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes 2021;14(11):e008242. CrossRef PubMed Guduguntla V, Yaser JM, Keteyian SJ, Pagani FD, Likosky DS, Sukul D, et al. Variation in cardiac rehabilitation participation during aortic valve replacement episodes of care. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes 2022;15(7):e009175. CrossRef PubMed Thompson MP, Yaser JM, Forrest A, Keteyian SJ, Sukul D. Evaluating the feasibility of a statewide collaboration to improve cardiac rehabilitation participation: the Michigan Cardiac Rehab Network. J Cardiopulm Rehabil Prev 2022;42(6):E7581. CrossRef PubMed Minnesota Department of Health. Minnesota all payer claims database. Updated February 9, 2022. Accessed September 13, 2022. https://www.health.state.mn.us/data/apcd/index.html US Department of Health and Human Services. Million Hearts outpatient cardiac rehabilitation use surveillance methodology. Published February 2019. Accessed September 13, 2022. https://millionhearts.hhs.gov/files/Cardiac-Rehab-Use-Surveillance-Guidance.pdf The Johns Hopkins University, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, and Johns Hopkins Health System. Johns Hopkins ACG System. Accessed September 13, 2022. https://www.hopkinsacg.org US Census Bureau. Zip code tabulation areas (ZCTAs). Updated May 16, 2022. Accessed September 13, 2022. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/geography/guidance/geo-areas/zctas.html Wall HK, Stolp H, Wright JS, Ritchey MD, Thomas RJ, Ades PA, et al. The Million Hearts Initiative: catalyzing utilization of cardiac rehabilitation and accelerating implementation of new care models. J Cardiopulm Rehabil Prev 2020;40(5):2903. CrossRef PubMed US Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. 2010 Ruralurban commuting area (RUCA) codes. Updated August 17, 2020. Accessed September 13, 2022. https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/rural-urban-commuting-area-codes/documentation ATSDR Place and Health. CDC/ATSDR Social Vulnerability Index. Updated March 15, 2022. Accessed September 13, 2022. https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/placeandhealth/svi/index.html Minnesota Department of Health. COVID-19 vaccine equity in Minnesota. Updated September 8, 2022. Accessed September 13, 2022. https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/vaccine/mnsvi.html US Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD USPS ZIP code crosswalk files. Accessed September 13, 2022. https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/usps_crosswalk.html#data Wilson R, Din A. Understanding and enhancing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Developments zip code crosswalk files. Cityscape (Wash, DC) 2018;20(2):27794. Din A, Wilson R. Crosswalking zip codes to census geographies: geoprocessing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Developments zip code crosswalk files. Cityscape (Wash, DC) 2020;22(1):293314. Fang J, Ayala C, Luncheon C, Ritchey M, Loustalot F. Use of outpatient cardiac rehabilitation among heart attack survivors  20 states and the District of Columbia, 2013 and four states, 2015. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2017;66(33):86973. CrossRef PubMed Ades PA, Keteyian SJ, Wright JS, Hamm LF, Lui K, Newlin K, et al. Increasing cardiac rehabilitation participation from 20% to 70%: a road map from the Million Hearts Cardiac Rehabilitation Collaborative. Mayo Clin Proc 2017;92(2):23442. CrossRef PubMed Gobeille v Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, 577 US 312, 136 (2016). Sugar S, Peters C, DeLew N, Sommers BD. Medicaid churning and continuity of care: evidence and policy considerations before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Issue brief no. HP-2021-10. Washington, DC: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, US Department of Health and Human Services. April 12, 2021. Varghese MS, Beatty A, Song Y, Xu J, Sperling LS, Fonaro GC, et al. Cardiac rehabilitation and the COVID-19 pandemic: persistent declines in cardiac rehabilitation participation and access among US Medicare beneficiaries. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes 2022. Epub ahead of print. CrossRef Minnesota Department of Health. Geographic variation in hypertension in Minnesota. 2014. Updated November 2019. Accessed September 13, 2022. https://www.health.state.mn.us/data/apcd/docs/hypertensionreport2019.pdf and https://www.health.state.mn.us/data/apcd/docs/hypertensionsupplement2019.pdf Minnesota Department of Health. Blood pressure medication non-adherence in Minnesota. 2015. Updated May 2021. Accessed September 13, 2022. https://www.health.state.mn.us/data/apcd/docs/htnnonadherencebrief.pdf Minnesota Department of Health. Minnesota health care markets chartbook section 5: public health insurance programs. Updated August 2, 2022. Accessed September 20, 2022. https://www.health.state.mn.us/data/economics/chartbook/docs/section5.pdf

Top

Top

Tables

Table 1. Cardiac Rehabilitation Eligibility, Initiation, Participation, and Completion Among Adults Aged 18 Years, Minnesota, 20172018 Characteristic No. of patients qualifying for CRa Patients with any CR within 1 year Patients initiating CR within 21 days No. of CR sessions within 36 weeks, mean (SD) Patients with 12 sessions within 36 weeks Patients with 36 sessions within 36 weeks No. (%) aPRb (95% CI) % aPRb (95% CI) % aPRb (95% CI) % aPRb (95% CI) All 12,937 6,154 (47.6)  69.8  19.0 (13.1) 65.5  14.0  Sex Female 4,197 1,798 (42.8) 0.90 (0.850.95)c 66.4 0.94 (0.881.01) 18.7 (13.4) 63.7 0.96 (0.901.03) 13.2 0.91 (0.781.05) Male 8,740 4,356 (49.8) Reference 71.2 Reference 19.2 (12.9) 66.3 Reference 14.4 Reference Age group, y 1844 382 201 (52.6) 1.05 (0.911.22) 66.7 0.95 (0.801.14) 12.9 (12.3) 44.3 0.61 (0.500.76)c 6.0 0.39 (0.220.69)c 4564 3,341 1,936 (58.0) 1.15 (1.091.23)d 72.3 1.02 (0.951.10) 17.1 (12.9) 58.2 0.81 (0.750.87)c 11.8 0.76 (0.640.89)c 6574 4,576 2,295 (50.2) Reference 70.5 Reference 20.8 (13.2) 71.8 Reference 15.6 Reference 7584 3,387 1,402 (41.4) 0.83 (0.780.89)c 66.6 0.95 (0.871.03) 20.1 (12.3) 69.9 0.98 (0.901.06) 16.3 1.05 (0.891.24) 85 1,251 320 (25.6) 0.52 (0.460.58)c 65.6 0.94 (0.811.08) 17.5 (13.4) 58.8 0.82 (0.710.96)c 11.9 0.77 (0.551.08) Type of health insurance Commercial 2,242 1,545 (68.9) 1.50 (1.391.61)d 77.7 1.15 (1.051.25)d 19.7 (12.9) 68.2 0.97 (0.891.06) 15.7 1.30 (1.081.58)d Dual Medicare and Medicaid 194 59 (30.4) 0.67 (0.520.87)c 64.4 0.95 (0.681.32) 17.5 (12.1) 62.7 0.89 (0.641.24) 6.4e 0.58 (0.410.80)c,e Medicaid 1,246 686 (55.1) 1.18 (1.071.30)d 64.4 0.96 (0.841.08) 11.4 (11.8) 34.3 0.49 (0.420.57)c Medicare 9,246 3,858 (41.7) Reference 67.7 Reference 20.2 (12.9) 70.1 Reference 14.9 Reference No. of comorbiditiesf 0 or 1 6,266 3,338 (53.3) Reference 74.7 Reference 19.0 (12.7) 66.3 Reference 13.9 Reference 2 or 3 5,464 2,377 (43.5) 0.88 (0.840.93)c 65.2 0.89 (0.830.95)c 19.2 (13.3) 65.5 1.00 (0.941.07) 14.1 1.02 (0.881.18) 4 1,207 439 (36.4) 0.78 (0.700.86)c 57.9 0.80 (0.700.91)c 18.8 (14.5) 59.5 0.91 (0.801.03) 14.7 1.08 (0.831.41) Mental illness No 9,510 4,595 (48.3) Reference 71.3 Reference 19.4 (13.0) 67.3 Reference 14.6 Reference Yes 3,427 1,559 (45.5) 0.94 (0.881.00) 65.5 0.93 (0.871.00) 17.9 (13.3) 60.2 0.95 (0.881.02) 12.3 0.94 (0.801.11)

Table 2. Geographic Variation in Cardiac Rehabilitation Eligibility, Initiation, Participation, and Completion Among Adults Aged 18 Years, Minnesota, 20172018 Characteristic No. of patients qualifying for CRa Patients with any CR within 1 year Patients initiating CR within 21 days No. of CR sessions within 36 weeks, mean (SD) Patients with 12 sessions within 36 weeks Patients with 36 sessions within 36 weeks No. (%) aPRb (95% CI) % aPRb (95% CI) % aPRb (95% CI) % aPRb (95% CI) All 12,937 6,154 (47.6)  69.8  19.0 (13.1) 65.5  14.0  Ruralurban commuting area codec Metropolitan 7,841 3,773 (48.1) Reference 71.2 Reference 18.9 (12.6) 65.6 Reference 13.3 Reference Micropolitan 1,962 939 (47.9) 1.06 (0.991.14) 68.2 0.98 (0.891.06) 20.7 (14.6) 69.9 1.07 (0.981.17) 17.3 1.31 (1.091.56)d Small town 1,306 621 (47.6) 1.06 (0.971.15) 64.7 0.93 (0.841.03) 19.2 (12.7) 64.3 0.99 (0.891.10) 16.7 1.29 (1.051.60)d Rural 1,789 803 (44.9) 0.99 (0.921.07) 69.2 0.99 (0.901.09) 17.8 (13.2) 61.3 0.93 (0.851.03) 12.0 0.91 (0.731.13) Social Vulnerability Indexe quartiles Quartile 1 (most vulnerable) 4,354 2,010 (46.2) 0.94 (0.881.02) 68.1 0.95 (0.881.04) 17.9 (12.8) 60.5 0.92 (0.841.00) 14.0 1.21 (1.001.48) Quartile 2 3,205 1,483 (46.3) 0.96 (0.891.03) 69.5 0.97 (0.891.06) 19.9 (13.8) 67.4 1.00 (0.911.09) 16.3 1.35 (1.101.66)d Quartile 3 2,841 1,385 (48.8) 0.99 (0.921.07) 69.5 0.96 (0.881.05) 19.4 (12.9) 67.5 0.98 (0.891.07) 13.2 1.07 (0.861.32) Quartile 4 (least vulnerable) 2,468 1,247 (50.5) Reference 73.1 Reference 19.6 (12.7) 69.6 Reference 12.4 Reference 3-Digit zip code areaf 550 (Twin Cities East) 1,642 819 (49.9) 1.11 (1.001.22) 68.4 0.93 (0.831.05) 20.0 (13.3) 66.9 0.97 (0.871.09) 15.4 1.26 (0.971.48) 551 (St. Paul) 1,657 828 (50.0) 1.10 (1.001.21) 67.8 0.93 (0.831.04) 17.0 (11.7) 61.0 0.91 (0.811.02) 10.5 0.89 (0.671.18) 553 (Twin Cities West) 1,926 938 (48.7) 1.08 (0.981.18) 74.1 1.01 (0.911.12) 18.9 (11.9) 69.1 1.00 (0.891.12) 9.4 0.77 (0.581.02) 554 (Minneapolis) 1,888 853 (45.2) Reference 73.0 Reference 19.2 (12.6) 66.9 Reference 11.8 Reference 556/557 (Hibbing) 658 322 (48.9) 1.15 (1.011.30)d 66.1 0.93 (0.791.08) 20.3 (14.2) 62.4 0.95 (0.801.11) 22.4 1.93 (1.422.61)d 558 (Duluth) 289 134 (46.4) 1.03 (0.861.24) 79.1 1.08 (0.881.33) 21.3 (14.4) 64.9 0.99 (0.791.24) 25.4 2.19 (1.493.23)d 559 (Rochester) 789 391 (49.6) 1.07 (0.951.20) 73.9 1.00 (0.871.14) 22.4 (13.8) 69.3 1.02 (0.891.18) 29.9 2.40 (1.843.14)d 560 (Mankato) 672 316 (47.0) 1.10 (0.971.26) 68.7 0.95 (0.811.11) 21.2 (12.6) 74.4 1.07 (0.921.25) 15.5 1.23 (0.871.74) 561 (Worthington) 360 127 (35.3) 0.83 (0.691.00) 70.1 0.97 (0.781.21) 19.1 (11.9) 66.1 1.00 (0.801.26) 11.8 1.01 (0.591.73) 562 (Willmar) 369 170 (46.1) 1.08 (0.921.27) 70.0 0.97 (0.801.18) 21.7 (13.2) 72.9 1.08 (0.881.31) 21.2 1.73 (1.182.54)d 563 (St. Cloud) 814 404 (49.6) 1.13 (1.001.27) 59.9 0.82 (0.710.95)g 17.3 (12.5) 65.1 0.95 (0.821.10) 7.9 0.65 (0.440.97)g 564 (Brainerd) 586 269 (45.9) 1.07 (0.931.22) 61.0 0.85 (0.711.01) 15.2 (11.5) 52.8 0.79 (0.650.95)g 8.2 0.69 (0.441.10) 565 (Moorhead) 596 277 (46.5) 1.11 (0.971.27) 75.1 1.06 (0.901.24) 22.6 (18.5) 69.3 1.02 (0.861.20) 23.5 1.95 (1.22.67)d 566 (Bemidji) 487 226 (46.4) 1.09 (0.941.26) 73.0 1.03 (0.861.22) 12.6 (10.0) 49.6 0.76 (0.620.93)g 6.7h 0.59 (0.370.96)g,h 567 (Thief River Falls) 189 72 (38.1) 0.90 (0.711.14) 55.6 0.78 (0.561.07) 18.4 (13.6) 61.1 0.93 (0.681.26)

Table 3. Cardiac Rehabilitation Eligibility, Initiation, Participation, and Completion Among Adults Aged 18 Years, by Qualifying Condition or Procedure, Minnesota, 20172018 Condition No. of patients qualifying for CRa No. of patients with any CR within 1 year, no. (%) Patients initiating CR within 21 days, % Mean no. of CR sessions within 1 year Patients with 12 sessions within 36 weeks, % Patients with 25 sessions within 36 weeks, % Patients with 36 sessions within 36 weeks, % Primary qualifying conditions All 12,937 6,154 (47.6) 69.8 19.0 65.5 33.2 14.0 AMI All 5,968 2,510 (42.1) 71.8 18.7 64.7 32.7 13.4 Without procedure 2,162 364 (16.8) 52.7 17.9 59.3 30.2 12.9 With procedure 3,806 2,146 (56.4) 75.0 18.9 65.6 33.1 13.5 Coronary artery bypass graft All 1,393 978 (70.2) 62.5 21.2 73.6 38.7 18.4 Without AMI 813 578 (71.1) 59.0 21.2 71.8 38.4 19.4 With AMI 349 242 (69.3) 67.4 20.5 74.0 35.1 17.8 Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty All 7,837 3,980 (50.8) 73.4 18.4 62.9 31.7 12.9 Without AMI 4,358 2,068 (47.5) 71.2 18.1 61.5 30.6 12.8 With AMI 3,365 1,847 (54.9) 76.2 18.6 64.2 32.5 12.9 Other Valve repair 1,801 998 (55.4) 68.4 20.6 72.4 37.0 15.2 Transplant 33 15 (45.5) b 21.6 b b b Multiple procedures All 289 181 (62.6) 65.2 22.2 79.0 45.3 17.1 Without AMI 220 136 (61.8) 64.0 22.5 78.7 45.6 17.6 With AMI 69 45 (65.2) 68.9 22.0 80.0 44.4 b Secondary qualifying conditions All 16,337 516 (3.2) c 18.1 57.6 28.3 10.7 Angina 2,014 103 (5.1) c 21.3 67.0 32.0 15.5 Heart failure 14,323 413 (2.9) c 17.3 55.2 27.4 9.4

Top
CBB to implement a new AF project at Teno

ICR Newsroom By 17 April 2023

CBB and Ambipar Environments general managers announced the implementation of a project that will enable the cement producer to recover energy from non-recyclable waste at CBBs Teno plant in Curico, Maule Region, Chile.



The Chilean cement producer will be investing US$5m in the two-phase project. The first stage, which represents an investment of US3m will see the construction of a waste reception system, screening, feed belt to the preheater and equipment for dosing the alternative fuel that will be injected into the calciner. In the second stage three warehouses with an automatic feeding system will be built.



The project, which is expected to start in 2024, is in line with the sustainability targets of the CBB Group, explained its Corporate General Manager, Enrique Elsaca Hirmas. We are making an investment of US$5m in this project, which will allow us to value around 36,000t of non-recyclable inorganic waste per year, which will be used as fuel in the cement production process, reducing the consumption of fossil fuels and CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.



Matias Lagos, corporate general manager of circular economy company Ambipar Environment, said: "Our purpose is to be a strategic partner in meeting the sustainability challenges of various industries, including the cement industry. This alliance with Cementos Bio Bio is a tremendous contribution, since it makes it possible to replace fossil fuels and, at the same time, favors the recovery of the non-recyclable fraction of waste, significantly mitigating CO2 emissions in the cement production process.



Benedicto Morales, deputy manager of the CBB cement plant in Teno, highlighted: "With this project we want to reach 30 per cent thermal substitution through the consumption of CDR, while increasing the percentage of liquid alternative fuels (CAL, from the mining and various industries) and pyrolysis (fuel from tyres) to reach 50 per cent use of this type of fuel.



At present, CBB Group, through CBB Cales, uses more than 20,000l of liquid alternative fuel from residual oils from large-scale mining annually at its Antofagasta and Copiapo plants.

Published under
Sinoma signs US$600m industrial agreement with Sino-Ethiopian JV

ICR Newsroom By 17 April 2023

China-based Sinoma International Engineering has signed a cooperation agreement with Sino-Ethiopian joint venture, National West Industrial Holding (NWIH) Building Materials Holding Co, to undertake a US$600m investment in an industrial park development project in eastern Ethiopia.



Sinoma will undertake the engineering, procurement and construction works of the Melka-Jebdu industrial park development project, which includes a 6000tpd cement plant, along with metal and lime production plants, in Dire Dawa, 452km east of Addis Ababa. The industrial park will be located near the ports of Djibouti, which will provide the company with a strategic location to easily access international trade routes and export products.



Once completed, the Melka-Jebdu Industrial Park will be able to produce 6000t of cement and an additional 1000t of lime per day as well as 700,000t of metals per year, said Buzuayehu Tadele, chairman of the NWIH, just before the signing of the agreement.



The construction of the cement plant is an extension of NWIHs investment in cement production in the country. The companys first plan is located in Lemi Town, Semien Shewa (North Choa) area of Amhara region.









Published under
Before retired engineer John McLean died in May 2022 at the age of 88, he allowed his numerous watercolor paintings of bucolic scenes he had done as a hobby in recent decades to be auctioned off. The proceeds had gone to the Centenary youth outreach program at First-Centenary United Methodist Church, where he was a member.

Since his death, his wife, Venita, has decided to allow several of his other paintings stored at their Trenton, Ga., area home to be auctioned off as well. But this time, proceeds will go to support Camp Lookout, a United Methodist-run camp on Lookout Mountain with which First-Centenary has been affiliated and helped support since it opened in 1959.

The silent and online auction will take place from April 23 at 8 a.m. through May 7 at 2 p.m.

Raised in Northern Ireland before moving to the United States in 1962, Mr. McLean was mostly a self-taught artist but studied under Jim and Carolyn Wright in Chattanooga. He was a member of In-Town Gallery for 12 years and was involved in various watercolor societies and exhibited in various juried shows.

Of his art, he once said, In my paintings I want to convey my emotional response (interest, peace and calm) that scenes from Gods beautiful Earth evoke in me.



Auction officials say the art will be displayed in the Cloister of First-Centenary United Methodist Church at 419 McCallie Ave. and shown online at firstcentenary.com/ johnmcleanartshow .



In-person viewing and silent bidding will take place on Sundays, April 23, April 30, and May 7, from noon to 2 p.m.; Mondays, April 24 and May 1, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Wednesdays, April 26 and May 3, from 4 to 7 p.m.; and Saturdays, April 29 and May 6, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.



Prospective buyers can bid in person via the bid sheets or online. The winning bids will be announced on May 8, and payment and pickup will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on May 9 and 10.



Bidders can also buy the paintings outright at the Buy Now Price listed before the auction closes.



Those with questions can call or text (423) 605-5181 or (423) 280-5848. The bid systems number is (865) 299-0007.


Senator Howard Baker, Jr. was one of my favorite politicians to cover while working news at WDOD Radio. Senator Baker served the state of Tennessee in Congress from 1967 to 1985. After being elected as Senate Majority Leader, President Ronald Reagan later chose the Huntsville, Tn. resident as his chief of staff in 1987 and 1988.

The McCallie School graduate never dodged reporters when he was in Chattanooga. He tapped veteran News Free Press political writer Tom Griscom as his press secretary. Mr. Griscom always called the media when the senator was going to be in town.

Many of us got acquainted with Tennessees junior senator in 1972 during the famous Watergate hearings broadcast around the world. In Bakers own words: Ill let the chips fall where they may. One officer at the American Forces Network where I was stationed said, Watch out, Senator Baker is a natural born leader and student of government, hell be around a while. I was very proud of Senator Baker from Tennessee.

I remember a Baker speaking event at a Dayton, Tn. restaurant, maybe to the Chamber of Commerce. A bunch of reporters were there to cover the meeting. Senator Baker walked in and said to Griscom, Those boys look hungry, get them something to eat and then Ill talk with them for as long as they want. The senator handed his personal credit card to Griscom and said go pay the entire bill.

The senator was a generous man and often sent checks to the Chattanooga Police and Fire Departments Forgotten Child Fund and he was a big supporter of our military.

Unannounced, the 1949 University of Tennessee law graduate showed up with his administrative assistant J. Oliver Scroggins at the Armed Forces Day Luncheon at the Read House where Senator Max Cleland was guest speaker. Cleland, a Vietnam War veteran, had lost both his legs in the military. Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Charles Coolidge quickly found a place for the two men at his table. Baker was trained at the Navy facility, University of the South in Sewanee, Tn. and earned the rank of a naval lieutenant in World War II. He deeply appreciated the annual celebrations in Chattanooga. During his talk, Senator Cleland, a Georgia Democrat, thanked Senator Baker, a Tennessee Republican, for coming to hear him speak.

While serving in 1983 as president of the Society of Professional Journalists, Chattanooga Chapter, Mr. Griscom arranged a meeting with journalists in the Provident Dining Room with Senator Baker. He talked about Washington politics and enlightened us on his photography hobby, which he started in 1937. Im proud I can go to any part of my life and recover any period of it from my pictures, Im often seen in undignified poses at solemn occasions, the senator said.

Senator Baker arranged the visit of President Ronald Reagan at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga arena in 1987. The Chattanooga Boys Choir under the direction of Everett ONeal sang before the President spoke to a full audience at the Roundhouse. Hamilton County Republican Charlie Peavyhouse said the highlight of the trip was the President asking the Senator for Krystal hamburgers when they were boarding Air Force One fixing to return to Washington, D.C.

The late Bill Casteel, who covered politics for the Chattanooga Times, told this writer privately, Senator Baker was his favorite Washington figure to cover. Casteel said the lawmaker would always level with reporters and not skirt around issues. Casteel pointed out Baker was also a favorite on the networks Sunday talk shows.

In a radio interview, Griscom said some of his best years were working for Senator Howard Baker both as Senate Majority Leader and White House Chief of Staff. Griscom said Baker was a very good listener and that was one reason he was so popular.

The late Senator Fred Thompson worked closely with Senator Baker during the Watergate era. Senator Thompson said, Senator Baker always put the good of the nation above politics.

Senator Baker passed away in 2014 but left us a lot of positive lessons from his life in public office.

In 1982, I received a special Christmas card with a picture of the senators entire family and I still have it in my scrapbook, It shows Joy and Howard Baker, Cissy Baker, Karen and Darek Baker and young Daniel Dirksen Baker.

Senator Baker and this writer shared the same birthday, Nov. 15, and we exchanged birthday cards several times, something Ill never forget. He even called me once on the air and said: Earl, I want to wish you a happy birthday and Tom does too.
Police responded to a burglar alarm at Stevarinos at 325 Cherokee Blvd. They found the business secure, bur a homeless man was asleep inside the locked patio area of the restaurant. He woke up to speak with police, and provided valid ID information. He said he had not seen or heard anything that would have caused the alarm to go off, and he had not set it off. At the officers instruction, the man gathered all of his belongings and left without issue.

* * *

A man was outside eating at 401 Market St. when he noticed a semi-truck hit a crosswalk sign, knock it over, and continue driving. The man said the cab was red and the trailer was white. Traffic Engineering was notified and was put en route to fix the pole.

* * *

An employee at 531 Signal Mountain Road told police a white male came in the store and was acting strangely. The employee said the man left before police arrived and wanted it documented in case he came back.

* * *

The security guard at Kordsa at 4501 N. Access Road told police he noticed a gray SUV drive around the parking lot and eventually park. After approaching the vehicle, police noticed a man lying down in the back area of the car. He told police he was a new worker at the plant and decided to sleep in the parking lot because he currently does not have a place to stay. He provided his company ID and driver's license. Police explained the situation to the security guard and he said the man was allowed to stay on the property.

* * *

A man on E. 27th Street Court told police his friend took his black Ford Taurus earlier in the day and he hasn't heard from her since. While police were en route to the residence, the friend arrived with the mans car. The man was able to get his car and left without incident.

* * *

A woman with the Chattanooga Sanitation Department told police one of the garbage trucks deployed the pickup arm and struck a Lincoln car in the driver's side taillight on Chamberlain Avenue. It is unknown who the owner is as the tag is out of date.

* * *

A man on Newton Street told police a woman had hacked his Gmail account on an old phone he gave her. He said she has been deleting his contacts and he is unable to change the password or recover his account.

* * *

An employee of United Rentals told police they had delivered a Bobcat skid steer T450 to a customer on E. 43rd St. on July 25, 2022, after an employee ordered it. The man told police they discovered the GPS unit for the Skid Steer was altered/destroyed on July 31, 2022, however, since that date, the customer was paying for the rental. The employee said the customer realized they were paying for the skid steer, however, it was not in their possession. Police spoke to the customer and spoke with an employee, who said they discovered earlier that week they were not in possession of a skid steer being paid. The customer said they believe they didnt order it to begin with. The customer said he had an employee who remembers speaking with someone at United Rentals around the time the skid steer was delivered, requesting one with tires. He said the one delivered to their parking lot was a track loader, that they could not utilize, leading them to believe they did not order it. The customer believes a railroad crew, that was working at the time it was delivered, utilized their address when renting the skid steer, however, such is unknown. The skid steer was left in their parking lot on July 25, 2022, presumably with the key in it, and was stolen at some point. The skid steer was entered into NCIC as stolen.

* * *

A woman on N. Germantown Road told police someone had carved words into the front door of her apartment. An officer saw what she had stated, and recognized that they had not been there the day prior while initially investigating the incident. Video footage regarding this separate yet related incident will have to be viewed at a later date.

* * *

The manager of Zaxbys at 3105 Cummings Hwy. told police a driver in a gold Kia tried to give a fake $100 bill to the cashier. The cashier recognized the money was fake and gave the counterfeit bill back to the driver. The cashier described the two males in the car as black and wearing ski masks.
A home title company in the citys West District reported that a customer had been defrauded out of a half million dollars by scammers who were from outside the United States.

An unknown 9-1-1 call came in from the 4700 block of Pierson Drive. No emergency was located.

An individual in the East District reported damage to the side of their car in the 10200 block of Apison Pike. They were unsure when the damage had occurred.

A resident from the 5600 block of Briar Rose Drive reported that someone had used their identity to open a credit card account in their name.

An alarm was activated in the 8800 block of Don Ray Way. It was an accidental activation.

A resident from the 4300 block of Katie Kim Lane reported that they were receiving harassing spam calls on their phone.

An officer responded to a noise complaint at the Hills Parc apartment complex.

A traffic stop in the 10500 block of Lee Highway resulted in the driver being charged with driving on a revoked license.

A minor two-car car crash was reported at the intersection of Leyland Drive and Ooltewah Ringgold Road.

A traffic stop in the 5900 block of Edgmon Road led to the drivers arrest for DUI, drug possession, possession of drug paraphernalia, and driving on a revoked license.

An officer assisted a broken down motorist near the intersection of Edgmon Road and Sunburst Court.

Another officer assisted the same motorist who had broken down again in the 9500 block of Lee Highway.

An officer took a report from a dementia patient at a local nursing home who believed that an employee was being too rough with them.

A fire alarm was activated at City Hall by a small child attending a birthday party in one of the community rooms.

Red Bank police made contact with a Collegedale fugitive who had bond revocation warrants for drug charges and a failure to appear. They transported the fugitive to the jail.

An unknown 9-1-1 call came in from the Hills Parc apartment complex. There were no emergencies found.

A traffic stop in the 5500 block of Little Debbie Parkway led to the driver being charged with drug possession.

An officer made contact with an individual in the 10500 block of Lee Highway who claimed that they had walked from APD 40 in Cleveland to Collegedale while their ex-partner repeatedly drove by harassing them in a van. The individual requested a ride to the McDonalds on Lee Highway to arrange for a ride to Lafayette, Georgia.

An officer assisted a wrecker company with a tow in the 10300 block of Lee Highway.

A concerned citizen called dispatchers about a vehicle driving erratically in the 5200 block of Little Debbie Parkway. Nothing was located.

An officer responded to an alarm in the 8800 block of Don Ray Way. The homeowner advised that it was an accidental activation.

A traffic stop in the 10100 block of Lee Highway resulted in the drivers arrest for DUI, public intoxication, having an open container of alcohol, and driving without a license. The passenger was also arrested for public intoxication.

An officer responded to the Village at Apison Pike apartment complex for a noise complaint.

An alarm was activated inside Southern Adventist Universitys Wright Hall. School security advised that they checked the building and all doors were locked.

Officers responded to the Hills Parc apartment complex for a noise complaint.

An officer responded to an unknown trouble call in the 5500 block of Barrington Country Circle. Everything checked out ok.

A property damage report was taken for a student on the campus of Southern Adventist University who had noticed damage to their vehicle bumper the day prior.

An unknown 9-1-1 call came in from the 5500 block of Little Debbie Parkway. No emergencies were found.

Officers assisted an individual in the 5800 block of Hefner Way who was having a mental health crisis and requesting transport to a treatment facility. Transport was provided.

An individual attempted to purchase five iPhones from the AT&T store, located in the 9000 block of Old Lee Highway, with a fake identification. The individual fled the scene when the employee became suspicious and called police.

A concerned citizen reported a vehicle parked at the Imagination Station playground that appeared to have two juveniles inside drinking alcohol. The vehicle was located but it was occupied by two adults and there was no alcohol observed.

A medical alarm was activated accidentally at a home in the 9600 block of Collier Place. The resident was found to be ok and at the Cracker Barrel enjoying a meal.

An unknown 9-1-1 call came in from the Hills Parc apartment complex. No emergencies were found.

Collegedale police were requested by Chattanooga police to check the Cambridge Square area for a missing endangered person. The individual was located nearby in good health.

A burglar alarm was activated in the 10000 block of Sunny Lane. Everything checked ok.

An individual complained that three children were riding bikes, scooters, and roller skates around the Imagination Station parking lot and appeared to be unsupervised. Upon their response officers found no unsafe conditions.

A traffic stop in the 5700 block of Sunup Circle resulted in the arrest of two vehicle occupants for felony drug possession and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Officers responded to multiple noise complaints at the Village at Apison Pike apartment complex.




John Lennon and Cynthia Lennon got together when they were teenagers, before John blew up from Beatle fame. Though John had been unfaithful throughout their time together, it was when Cynthia walked in on John and Yoko Ono that put a definitive end to their marriage. Heres what happened that day.

Yoko Ono and John Lennon | Koh Hasebe/Shinko Music/Getty Images

Cynthia found John with Yoko after arriving home from vacation

Cynthia had suspicions about Yoko, but she wasnt sure about them until she walked into her and Johns kitchen after returning home from a vacation to find her sitting with her husband on the floor amidst piles of dirty dishes. It was May 1968.

Cynthia had been on a two-week vacation in Greece with one of Johns friends nicknamed Magic Alex thanks to his electronics wizardry and Jenny Boyd, whose sister Pattie was then married to George Harrison. When the three of them arrived at Cynthia and Johns home at Kenwood, it appeared that no one was home, despite the lights being on and the doors being unlocked. When the three entered, Cynthia didnt see her and Johns five-year-old son Julian, nor could she find their housekeeper Mrs. Jarlett. She began to search the sprawling home when she heard something like a muffled laugh coming from the kitchen.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono remained calm when discovered by Cynthia

John Lennon and Cynthia Lennon | Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix via Getty Images

Sure enough, there was John and Yoko intimately sitting in the kitchen in bath robes (Yoko in Cynthias). When the Beatles first wife walked in the room, John was facing her, Yoko had her back to the door.

Oh, hi, said John, according to The Love You Make by Peter Brown and Steven Gaines. He took a calm sip of tea.

According to Brown and Gaines, John appeared to be very stoned, as if he had been up tripping all night and hadnt been to bed at all.

Finally, after a long pause, Yoko turned to face Cynthia. She also greeted her with an Oh, hi.

At the time, Yoko was 36, eight years older than John and married to Anthony Cox, a film producer and art producer. She had a six-year-old daughter.

Cynthia Lennons response

THE BALLAD OF JOHN AND YOKO.

Its just the story of us getting married, going to Paris, going to Amsterdam, all that. It was very romantic.

Gibraltar was like a little sunny dream. I couldnt find a white suit  I had sort-of off-white corduroy trousers and a white jacket. Yoko pic.twitter.com/q3Em7R1Ffr  John Lennon (@johnlennon) April 14, 2023

It was clear that John expected Cynthia to speak on the situation at hand first. The Beatles first wife was shocked, but shed been in many strange and uncomfortable situations prior to this one, being married to one of the worlds biggest stars. So she did what she normally did in times like these  she acted like it wasnt happening.

We were all thinking of going out for dinner tonight, she said, as reported in TLYM. We had breakfast in Greece and lunch in Rome, and we thought it would be lovely to all have dinner in London. Are you coming?

She regretted the words as she said them and just hoped John wouldnt say something devastating to her, as he often did, in front of Yoko. But he only responded: No thanks.

Cynthia quickly exited the kitchen and broke into tears. In a hurry, she gathered things to pack. That was the end of their marriage. John and Cynthia divorced later that year. In 1969, he married Yoko.
King Charles III Honors Queen Elizabeth and the Sincerity and Wisdom of the Crown With Jewelry Made Especially for Her Coronation

King Charles III will wear millions of dollars in jewels on his coronation. These priceless artifacts have been used during this timeless ceremony for centuries. However, Charles will reportedly honor his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, by wearing pieces specially crafted for her 1953 installation as queen of the United Kingdom.

Queen Elizabeth and King Charles | Paul Edwards  WPA Pool/Getty Images

King Charles will be presented with the crown jewels at his coronation

On the day of his coronation as the king of the United Kingdom, Charles will be presented with the crown jewels. This collection of sacred objects is an integral part of the coronation ceremony.

At the heart of the Crown Jewels is the Coronation Regalia. The collection includes St Edwards Crown, the Imperial State Crown, the Sovereigns Sceptre with Cross, and the Sovereigns Orb.

Also used as part of the coronation regalia is the coronation spoon, which holds the oil that will anoint Charles as king. There are also spurs, a sword of offering, and the Sovereigns ring, reports the royal familys official website.

Another essential piece of jewelry Charles is scheduled to wear honors his mother, Queen Elizabeth. It was made especially for her 1953 installation to replace centuries-old components dating back to 1661.

King Charles will wear jewelry honoring Queen Elizabeth, representing the sincerity and wisdom of the crown

Part of the Crown Jewels, the Coronation Regalia are sacred objects which symbolise the powers and responsibilities of the Monarch.



In keeping with tradition, the Regalia will be used at Westminster Abbey for the #Coronation Service in May:  The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) April 10, 2023

The Royal Collection Trust writes that Charles will wear jewelry that honors the sincerity and wisdom of the crown. His mother, Queen Elizabeth, also wore these pieces when she was coronated in 1953.

These symbolic pieces are called The Armills. They are gold and enamel bracelets that are lined with velvet.

The wording of the coronation ceremony refers to the bracelets of sincerity and wisdom. They are presented to the reigning sovereign and are thought to relate to ancient symbols of knighthood and military leadership. The bracelets also symbolize the bond uniting a ruler and the people of their kingdom.

The original Armills were used at every coronation from 1661 until 1953. However, a new set was made for Queen Elizabeth II to use at her coronation. It is reported that Charles will use those made especially for his mother during his installation as king.

Queen Elizabeth and King Charles wear priceless artifacts at their coronations

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip on the Buckingham Palace balcony after her 1953 coronation ceremony. | The Print Collector/Getty Images

The Armills bracelets Queen Elizabeth wore at her coronation were made especially for the event by the Crown Jewellers in 1953. These replaced the original pair, which was centuries old. It is this set that Charles will likely wear on his coronation day.

Elizabeths bracelets are 22-carat gold. They are engraved inside. The message reads, Presented for the Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by the governments of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, Ceylon, and Southern Rhodesia.

During Elizabeths coronation service on June 2, 1953, the Armills were placed on the queens wrists as part of the ceremony. They were given to her after the presentation of the spurs and the sword and just before the stole and robe and the delivery of the orb.

Per The Court Jeweller, the Archbishop placed the Armills on the Queens wrists, first on the right, then the left. He followed this action with a prayer.

Receive the Bracelets of sincerity and wisdom, both for tokens of the Lords protection embracing you on every side; and also for symbols and pledges of that bond which unites you with your Peoples: to the end that you may be strengthened in all your works and defended against your enemies both bodily and ghostly, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

King Charles IIIs coronation takes place on May 6, 2023. His wife, Camilla Parker Bowles, will be coronated queen consort alongside him.
Second excavation launched in east China's neolithic site

Xinhua) 11:16, April 17, 2023

This photo taken on April 13, 2023 shows the Sanxingcun relic site in Jintan District of Changzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province. A second excavation was launched on Saturday at a neolithic site in east China's Jiangsu Province, three decades after the first one, which unearthed more than 4,000 items. (Xinhua/Zhu Guoliang)

NANJING, April 15 (Xinhua) -- A second excavation was launched on Saturday at a neolithic site in east China's Jiangsu Province, three decades after the first one, which unearthed more than 4,000 items.

The Sanxingcun relic site in the Jintan District of Changzhou City, covering about 350,000 square meters, dates back to between 6,500 and 5,500 years ago, according to Li Moran, deputy researcher with the Institute of Archaeology under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences who is in charge of the excavation at the venue.

He said 800 square meters, including the dwelling areas and burial sites, will be excavated this time. The work is expected to be finished by the end of this year.

The first excavation was conducted between 1993 and 1998, when, in an area of more than 500 square meters, archaeologists unearthed over 1,200 human remains in 1,000-plus tombs, including more than 200 complete skulls. A study by the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences along with the Jintan District about the DNA of the bones is underway.

Archaeologists have also recovered a large number of jade articles, stoneware, pottery, and bone objects, as well as carbonized rice.

Li Moran noted that considering the size of the Sanxingcun relic site, its large population, differences in the number and grade of burial objects, and the layout of the site comprising separate living, handicraft production, and burial areas, society at that time had started to become complex, which may be in a period of transition toward inequality.

"The second excavation could help us learn more about the settlement layout of the site, and we are expected to have a panoramic restoration of the life of people in the period," said Li.

A staff member operates at Sanxingcun relic site in Jintan District of Changzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, on April 13, 2023. A second excavation was launched on Saturday at a neolithic site in east China's Jiangsu Province, three decades after the first one, which unearthed more than 4,000 items. (Xinhua/Zhu Guoliang)

A staff member operates at Sanxingcun relic site in Jintan District of Changzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, on April 13, 2023. A second excavation was launched on Saturday at a neolithic site in east China's Jiangsu Province, three decades after the first one, which unearthed more than 4,000 items. (Xinhua/Zhu Guoliang)

This photo taken on April 14, 2023 shows a stone axe on display at the Jintan museum in Jintan District of Changzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province. It was unearthed during the first excavation at Sanxingcun relic site. A second excavation was launched on Saturday at a neolithic site in east China's Jiangsu Province, three decades after the first one, which unearthed more than 4,000 items. (Xinhua/Zhu Guoliang)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
It was a big week for Sister Wives star, Christine Brown. Kody Browns former third wife started a new life in November 2021 when she left her troubled marriage and moved to Utah. Now, shes ready to take a few more big steps. First, she announced her engagement to her beau of just a few months, David Woolley. Now, it looks like the reality TV star has purchased a home to start her monogamous marriage on the right foot.

Christine Brown has purchased a new house with her future husband

Christine Brown is setting down roots in Utah. After moving back to the state in November 2021, Christine moved into a rental property with her youngest child, Truely Brown. The duo settled into Murray, Utah, rather nicely. Now, they are off on their next big adventure.

Christine Brown, Sister Wives | TLC

Christine and her fiance, David Woolley, purchased the property they will call home. InTouch obtained property records that show David and Christine bought a four-bedroom, four-bathroom new build in Lehi, Utah. The home comes with stunning views of Mount Timpanogos. The soon-to-be-married duo paid $770,000 for the property in March.

Several of Christines children live nearby

Before Christine ultimately decided to leave Kody Brown behind, she floated the idea of the family returning to Utah after polygamy was decriminalized. While Kody initially seemed supportive of the concept, he nixed her plan when Janelle Brown and Robyn Brown both resisted a move back to the state. Janelle has since left Kody but still lives in Flagstaff, Arizona. Robyn is Kodys only remaining bride.

When Christine decided to end her spiritual union, the first thing she did was move back to Utah. The move made logistical sense. Not only did Christine have extended family in the Salt Lake City area, but several of her children had returned to Utah to start their own families.

Mykelti Padron and her husband, Tony Padron, initially settled in Saint George, Utah, before moving to Salt Lake City in 2021. Aspyn Thompson and her husband, Mitch Thompson, reside in Murray, Utah, and Christines son, Paedon Brown, also calls the state home.

Fans were quick to point out that Christine Brown is already living in the home

News of Christines big house purchase just hit the internet. Still, fans wasted no time figuring out how long the mother of six has been in her new abode. Several fans pointed out that recent photos show Christine on a balcony that matches the aesthetic of her new home base. She appears to have moved into the property at least a few weeks ago.

Whether David is also living at the residence remains to be seen, but it seems that way. After all, both of their names are listed as owners, and they are wasting no time moving their romance forward. Christine is already planning for her big day despite just announcing her engagement. She took to Instagram to ask for vendor recommendations for her upcoming nuptials. She has yet to announce a date for the wedding, though.

Robyn, Meri, Kody, Janelle, and Christine Brown, Sister Wives | TLC

Christines former spiritual husband, Kody Brown, has not made a public statement regarding the change to Christines relationship status. Perhaps Sister Wives fans will see the romance unfold during season 18. TLC still needs to provide a premiere date.
When electrons (spheres) in the surface of a topological insulator are accelerated by strong light waves according to their band structure (lowest cone), Floquet-Bloch replicas (higher cones) of the original band structure are formed. Videos of the band structure with sub-cycle time resolution reveal for the first time the formation dynamics (cones in the background).

New material properties, at lightning speed and on demand  this vision moves a step closer thanks to recent findings from a pan-European physics research group. The team uses ultrashort and strong light fields to directly observe how exotic energetic states, known as Floquet bands, emerge in a crystal. The scientists report their findings in the research journal Nature.

"The discovery of new material properties usually depends on our ability to control the chemical composition of the material, says Ulrich Hofer, professor of experimental physics at Philipps-Universitat Marburg and visiting professor at the University of Regensburg. The purely optical manipulation of material properties, on the other hand, could take physics into a new era by enabling new functions on demand.Exciting electrons periodically with strong light leads to exotic quantum effects: The periodic perturbations from the strong light field cause the electrons to have not just one fixed energy state, but many evenly spaced energy states. The original energy state surrounds itself, as it were, with several envelopes of light, explains Rupert Huber, professor at the Institute for Experimental and Applied Physics at the University of Regensburg and joint lead author. Experts refer to this state as a Floquet state. However, the dynamic properties of such states  for example, the question of how long it takes the electrons to clothe themselves with light  have remained unknown until now, Huber elaborates.

The Collaborative Research Centres Structure and Dynamics of Internal Interfaces and Emergent Relativistic Effects in Condensed Matter of the German Research Foundation at the Universities of Marburg and Regensburg offer ideal conditions to close these research gaps. The team chose photoelectron spectroscopy to study the surface of a crystal. "With our measurements, we went beyond the limit of what could be realized with this spectroscopy to date in terms of time resolution in strong light fields," emphasizes Suguru Ito, postdoc at Philipps University Marburg and the papers lead author. As a result, the team made an unforeseen discovery, he says: "Surprisingly, the Floquet bands form after a single optical cycle, a very short time."

The reviewers could hardly believe this at first! adds Hofer. But the clear experimental results are supported by theoretical modelling, carried out by Michael Schuler from the Paul Scherrer Institute in Villigen, Switzerland, and Michael Sentef, then group leader at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter in Hamburg and now Professor of Solid State Physics at the University of Bremen.

The work provides important new information on the evolution of Floquet bands, explains Sentef: The dressing of electrons with light is often particularly difficult in solids because the energy introduced is quickly converted into heat. By demonstrating that such dressing happens after just a single optical cycle, we pave the way for changing solid-state properties very quickly and very strongly with light.

Our experiment opens up the possibility of visualizing a wide range of transient quantum states, adds Huber. This paves the way towards tailored quantum functions and ultrafast electronics.

In addition to the research groups from Marburg and Regensburg, scientists from the MPSD, the Paul Scherrer Institute, and the A. V. Rzhanov Institute in Novosibirsk, Russia, participated in the publication. The cooperation with the Russian colleague took place prior to the Ukraine war. The German Research Foundation funded participating scientists through collaborative research centers in Marburg and Regensburg and through the Emmy Noether program. Several international funding organizations provided further financial support.
The Cherokee Phoenix is currently accepting nominations for the fifth annual Cherokee Phoenix Seven Feathers Awards.
A 25-year-old woman was charged a 3.5 percent service fee for employee health benefits when she went to pay for her meal at a restaurant.

TikToker @killjill___ was on a brunch outing with a group of friends at a restaurant when she noticed a charge for Staff Benefits on her receipt.

Wanting to know what it was all about, she immediately questioned the server.

The server informed her that the reason for the charge was so the restaurant employees could receive healthcare.

The content creator was shocked and believes that this highlights the problems with the healthcare system.

In her video, she launches into a rant about how healthcare costs never end for the average American citizen.

First, money is taken out of your paycheck to cover the cost of insurance. Then, when you go in for a doctors appointment, they charge patients for treatment as well.

Furthermore, you need to scrape up more money to get your medicine from the pharmacy.

And now companies are allowed to just put the burden of paying for their employees healthcare on customers? she demanded.

Sign up for Chip Chicks newsletter and get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox.
Would you ever consider living in a building that used to be a bank? I mean, think about it! Bank buildings are usually beautiful with old-fashioned architecture. Plus, who wouldnt want an actual bank vault to keep all of their prized possessions in?

Well, for the price of $749,000, a gorgeous bank located in Rhode Island could be all yours.

The bank, which was originally named the Providence County Savings Bank in downtown Pawtucket, Rhode Island, was built in 1901. Its a neoclassical building that has been spectacularly maintained and is ready for a fresh start.

Like any other suburban home, the bank is listed for sale on Zillow, where its described as having ornate elements throughout with mason and marble details and an expansive front entrance with storefront display windows.

The building is about 13,000 square feet, with tall ceilings and even a passenger elevator! And, of course, it has a stunning bank vault.

If you look at the pictures in the listing, it is so cool. In addition, there are tons of different rooms on the various floors of the building.

Not only are there the standard banking rooms youd expect to see, but spaces that also function as kitchens and dining rooms.

Nice describes Pawtucket as a great, diverse city with a strong arts culture including local music and arts studios/programs.

Pawtucket also has an interesting historical background, having been an important spot for textile manufacturing.

Sign up for Chip Chicks newsletter and get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox.
Pexels/Oscar Ruiz

Easter Sunday saw an estimated 100,000 people congregate in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City, reducing lineups to the basilica's levels before the pandemic. The Vatican moved to accommodate pilgrims seeking a more profound spiritual experience as tens of thousands of tourists poured into the Eternal City.

An additional "prayer entrance" has been added to St. Peter's Basilica in order to make it easier for Catholics to go to Mass, confession, or adoration. Located to the right of the main entrance and only identified by a little sign,

The New Pilgrim Path in Response to the Growing Tourists

According to the article in Catholic News Agency, a new "pilgrim path" is being implemented to provide a more full and spiritual experience for those attending Mass, confession, or worship as the Vatican observes the return of big crowds to St. Peter's Square. While tourists and tour groups stay in the central area, pilgrims follow a separate path that is marked by red velvet ropes along the basilica's right side wall.

The pilgrim walk leads tourists directly to the chapel with daily eucharistic adoration and the area designated for confessions after passing Michelangelo's famous Pieta and the tomb of St. John Paul II. The Altar of the Chair and the Altar of St. Joseph are two chapels where pilgrims are offered daily public Masses.

After a modest opening of the new entry during Holy Week, the Vatican is still adjusting the prayer path's logistics. Currently, the prayer entry just provides a faster access point to the basilica's sacraments by allowing visitors to skip the line and enter through the front of the security checkpoint. Visitors must let the security guard stationed near the new prayer entrance sign know that they plan to enter the basilica before entering through this entrance.

The newly installed prayer entrance at St. Peter's Basilica has been praised as "long overdue" by Mountain Butorac, founder of The Catholic Traveler. According to National Catholic Register, this company plans visits to Rome for small groups of Catholics. Butorac shared his experiences with wait times during peak tourism seasons when lines to enter the basilica could take up to two hours.

Butorac remembered how, after arriving in Rome, he routinely attended Sunday Mass at St. Peter's. However, spending an hour and a half in line to get into Mass rapidly turned into a turnoff. For visitors like Butorac and his family, the new prayer entrance provides a more practical and effective way to go to confession at the basilica.

Also Read:Youngstown Catholic Church Diocese Priest Elevated to Prestigious Vatican Position

Maximum Accessibility and Easy Access to Religious Services

The move aligns with Pope Francis' desire to restore maximum accessibility to the sanctuary for spiritual, liturgical, and celebratory life. Feast shared that Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, the archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica, has confirmed that the recently introduced prayer entrance was implemented during Holy Week for experiment purposes.

Cardinal Gambetti expressed hope that the new entrance will make it simple for pilgrims, prayer groups, and members of the faithful to engage in worship at St. Peter's without having to wait in long lines. The project intends to enhance the overall experience for guests who want a more reflective and spiritual trip to the famous basilica.

With the introduction of the prayer entrance, Catholic travelers and locals alike can now more easily access religious services at St. Peter's Basilica throughout the day. The Vatican's efforts to improve the visitor experience and cater to the faithful reflect its commitment to promoting spirituality and religious devotion.

Related Article:Vatican Takes a Stand Against Colonialism-Supporting Doctrine
By offering long-term, legislative solutions especially for Dreamers, the U.S. can make strides in moving the country forward on immigration reforms.

Contrary to what we constantly hear from political pundits, solving immigration is complicated and requires more than just addressing the border. Certainly, the United States southern border is under strain, but just as important as restoring order to the border is treating all immigrants as human beings created in the image of God.

As a Christian pastor, I find that last point to be of paramount importance. The disparaging language I hear all too often from my fellow Christians regarding immigrants concerns me deeply.

James 3:8-10 teaches us that the tongue is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. We dare not forget this warning about the potential of our words to do harm.

Christians, like everyone else, can reasonably disagree over how to achieve comprehensive immigration reform, but as followers of Jesus, we are called to be reflections of Jesus in the world. Our faith also compels us to see all people as those created in the image of God, whom we claim to love. Therefore, our deliberations over immigration must be formed and sustained by those two convictions.

Though the matter of immigration is complicated overall, I believe supporting a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers is an obvious Christian position. Dreamers are those who were brought to this country when they were children; while they have no legal immigration status, America is their home. Many of them dont remember life in the country they were born in. They speak English and consider themselves Americans.

There are about 600,000 Dreamers under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and another 1.3 million are eligible for it. However, the program has been in constant jeopardy and is under threat in court.

As a Christian, I can think of no good reason to deny Dreamers legal status as Americans. The Old Testament has much to say about showing hospitality to the foreigner and treating them fairly and justly. Just one example: When immigrants live in your land with you, you must not cheat them. Any immigrant who lives with you must be treated as if they were one of your citizens.

How is it fair to hold Dreamers accountable for their lack of legal status, when they had no control over their entry into the United States? How fair would it be just to send them back to the country of their birth, which is in actuality foreign to them (and where many of them have no familial connections)?

It has been said by some of my sisters and brothers of faith that none of that matters because the law has been broken. The law trumps everything. To those fellow believers, I lovingly respond that this is the same view of the law that Jesus criticized the Pharisees for embracing. Jesus knew well that just because something was perfectly legal did not mean it was necessarily moral.

Jesus himself became a refugee in Egypt, when his parents took him to a place of safety. Dreamers are here because their loved ones brought them to the freedom and safety of the United States. These parents hoped their children would have a better life than they did. On what Christian grounds can we deny what is fair and just for Dreamers?

I was encouraged by the recent introduction of the Dream Act of 2023 in Congress. This bipartisan effort could offer Dreamers protection from deportation and an opportunity to obtain legal status if they meet certain requirements.

Congress must listen to 74% of Americans who want them to compromise. By offering long-term, legislative solutions especially for Dreamers, the U.S. can make strides in moving the country forward on immigration reforms.

Yes, immigration is complicated, but acting on behalf of the Dreamers is not. In fact, I believe its the only Christian thing to do.

The Better Samaritan blog is produced by the Humanitarian Disaster Institute at Wheaton College, which offers a M.A. in Humanitarian & Disaster Leadership and a Trauma Certificate. To learn more and apply, visit our website

Allan R. Bevere is a Professional Fellow in Theology at Ashland Theological Seminary and a retired United Methodist pastor.
Buddhism, which originated 2,500 years ago in ancient India, significantly influences more than a billion people worldwide, most of whom live in Asia. The Eastern religion has increasingly spread to the West with the popularity of meditation and mindfulness as well as the continued growth of the Asian population in places like the United States, Canada, Australia, and some European countries.

Yet American churches still are unprepared to reach out to their Buddhist neighbors. A 2019 Pew study found that 58 percent of Americans said they knew nothing or little about Buddhism, the second least understood religion behind Hinduism.

To help the church better understand this complex religion, CT has launched the Engaging Buddhism series. Every other week, we look at a different aspect of the religion and how Christians can interact with and minister to people who hold a Buddhist worldview. Browse through the stories in the series so far in the right-hand column.
It started with a car crash in 2020. Rachel Kellogg, a video editor for a megachurch in Seattle, was hit in her Volvo by a driver who failed to yield the right of way. With her car totaled and hefty bills from her ER stay, Kellogg found herself saddled with debt. She didnt tithe for most of 2021.

Her supervisors noticed. Im [sic] not sure if you have started giving since our last conversation, but that needs to happen asap, one wrote to her via Slack, a work messaging app.

Then came a written reprimand from another: It is my hope that you will take advantage of this opportunity to correct your behavior so that you may succeed in this position. If her misconduct did not change, the note said, she could face termination.

Many churches see a 10 percent tithe as the scriptural standardand an often-unspoken expectation for church staff. But can it be a condition of employment?

That is the question at the center of a class-action lawsuit Kellogg has filed against her congregation, Churchome, the church led by bespectacled nondenominational pastor Judah Smith. Smith is known for his connections with celebrities including Justin Bieber, Russell Wilson, and Lana Del Ray.

The suit alleges Churchome engaged in a systemic scheme of wage and hour abuse against their employees by requiring them to give back to the church a tenth of what they were paid. Under Washington state law employers cannot rebate their employees wages.

Beyond the legal questions, Kelloggs dispute with Churchome reveals another dimension to the longstanding tension around giving in churches. Some pastors can be nervous to preach on tithing or to ask members to make financial commitments, eager to ensure giving is seen as not an obligation but an opportunity.

Among most church staffs, giving is an understood expectation; however, having an unspoken or unofficial policy can make it difficult to talk about how to hold tithers accountable.

The challenge with the staff case is, its just one part of a bigger conversation about How do we discuss generosity? said Matt Steen, cofounder of Chemistry Staffing, a ministry staffing agency. What are the expectations of members of the church? What are the expectations of deacons or elders or board members when it comes to giving? And then what is the expectation on staff? Not only are we struggling to figure out how to communicate it, but we also struggle with how to hold people accountable.

At Churchome, staff members were told to tithe. You are not as invested as you think you are [in Churchome] if theres not a money trail, Smith remarked to staff at a meeting where he also said tithing was more important than taking Communion, according to the lawsuit.

But the churchs employee handbook is vague on its requirements, noted Lisa Runquist, an attorney and an editorial adviser to CTs Church Law & Tax.

The handbook says employees should be involved in and committed to Churchome but does not specify whether membership and attendancetwo factors frequently listed as essential for working at churchesare required for employment, making the tithing mandate an odd outlier.

It also does not specify whether tithing must be directly to Churchome or can be to another organization. Most concerning, says Runquist, is Churchomes apparent failure to notify Kellogg that tithing would be a requirement for employment during onboarding and orientation.

The lack of written documentation for the tithing requirement, she said, could complicate Churchomes claim that its employment practices are based on deeply held beliefs.

Churchome did not respond to a request for comment from Christianity Today. But in a statement sent by its lawyer to The Seattle Times, the church argued that, under the First Amendment, churches have the right to restrict employment to those employees who choose to abide by church teaching.

Churchome intends to vigorously defend the rights of all religious institutions to live, teach, and model their faith through their employees, the statement said.

There is precedent for a religious institutions ability to require tithing as a condition for employment. In 1987 the Supreme Court ruled that a gym owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints commonly known as the Mormon church, could fire employees who did not meet the criteria of church membership, including tithing.

Kelloggs attorney, Eric Nusser, however, disagrees that this is a case about religious freedom. The way we apply Washington state law to Ms. Kelloggs facts is that regardless of whether Churchome is a church  or any other nonprofit [or] for-profit corporation, Washingtons wage rebate act and the consumer protection act still apply, he said.

Kelloggs suit alleges that Churchome gained an unfair advantage over competitors by effectively getting a 10 percent discount on labor and that it misled aspiring employees by not disclosing in its hiring practices that tithing is a condition for employment.

If successful, the case could require Churchome to repay twice the amount Kellogg tithed to the church since April of 2020. Nusser estimates up to 100 present or former employees could qualify to join the lawsuit. Kellogg now lives across the country in Greenville, South Carolina, but continues to work for Churchome.

About a month before Kelloggs March 21 lawsuit, Smith offered a message on trusting God and his wife and copastor Chelsea Smith began teaching a two-part series on giving. She spoke about the importance of tithing while also emphasizing Gods grace.

If Judah and I are really honest, from a pastoral perspective, we havent talked a lot about tithing publicly, she said. A lot of it has been really wrestling with this dichotomy of we know we have been supernaturally blessed because we tithe, but we know we dont have to and we know we dont do it under a curse.

There have been recent debates among Christians about how much to give and wherewhether to tithe on after-tax or gross income and if its okay to split a tithe among ministries. Theologians have been reconsidering whether the 10 percent figure from the Old Testament applies to believers today.

According to Denver Seminary professor Craig Blomberg, the New Testament doesnt have commandments to tithe.

Instead, the [New Testament] contains repeated commands to give generously, even sacrificially, which for some people who earn very little, may be obeyed with less than a tithe, and for many, in the prosperous West, probably requires more than a tithe, Blomberg said by email.

The New Testament also offers no distinction between lay church members and staff: The same expectation for giving is placed on both. What is explicit, says Blomberg, is that tithing should not be compulsory.

Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, wrote Paul in his second letter to the church in Corinth (9:7), not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Starved to death: Police find 4 dead, rescue 11 after cult leader urges fasting to meet Jesus Authorities make arrest, fear more bodies will be discovered

Kenyan police have arrested the leader of a cult group for the death of four followers who starved to death in a forest after he allegedly instructed them to fast to "meet Jesus."

Eleven other followers have been hospitalized, two of them in critical condition. Police have also found a mass grave in the forest believed to contain the bodies of other victims.

Makenzie Nthenge, who leads the Good News International Church, was arrested last weekend after the bodies of four followers were discovered in the Shakahola forest near Malindi area in southeastern Kenya, local newspaper The Standard reported, adding that the police fear there may be more victims.

Nthenge is due to appear in court Monday.

The 11 other victims, aged between 17 and 49, include seven men and four women. Two of them remained in the hospital as of early Saturday.

Investigators plan to continue their search in the Shakahola forest as they discovered a possible mass grave where other followers might be buried.

"It is further suspected that there are many victims in the forest land believed to belong to the suspect," The Punch quoted the police as saying.

Police from Langobaya police station learned about the starvation death of two children in the custody of their parents last month, and they arrested Nthenge and charged him. But he was released on bail of 100,000 Kenyan shillings ($700).

After his release, Nthenge claimed to have permanently closed his church and ceased involvement in evangelism.

The police then received reports of more "ignorant citizens starving to death under the pretext of meeting Jesus after being brainwashed" by the suspect and raided the forest.

Local human rights activist Victor Kaudo of Malindi Human Rights Centre condemned the incident.

Nthenge, a controversial televangelist, has been under investigation for preaching a doctrine that encourages followers to starve themselves to death to reach Heaven faster.

In a similar incident last July, police in Nigeria rescued at least 77 people, including 23 children, who pastors had asked to stay in a church basement and wait for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Pastors of the Whole Bible Believer Church in Valentino Area of Ondo town in the southwestern state of Ondo encouraged church members "to stay behind" and wait for the rapture or to be taken to Heaven at the Second Coming of Christ.

"Preliminary investigation revealed that Pastor Josiah Peter Asumosa, an assistant pastor in the church, was the one who told the members that Rapture will take place in April, but later said it had been changed to September 2022 and told the young members to obey only their parents in the Lord," BBC quoted police press officer Funmilayo Odunlami as saying at the time.
Americans worry that religious institutions are watering down, abandoning traditional beliefs: survey

While a significant number of American adults say religious faith is important to their everyday lives, many fear that religious institutions are watering down or abandoning traditional beliefs, according to a recent survey.

On Thursday, Rasmussen Reports released a survey of 1,056 American adults, with 75% saying that faith is important to their everyday lives, an increase from 71% in 2018. Another 49% of respondents answered that their faith is very important to their everyday lives.

Regarding the religious denominations of those surveyed, 25% identified as Evangelical Christians, 21% were Catholic and 16% identified as Protestant. Three percent of participants identified as Jewish and 1% identified as Muslim. Another 17% identified as some other religious faith, while another 12% said they were atheists.

The level of importance respondents placed on faith differed across denominations. Sixty-nine percent of Evangelical Christians consider faith to be important to their daily lives, and 60% of Catholics held the same opinion. Forty-five percent of Protestants, 33% of Jews, 37% of Muslims, and 52% of those who identify as some other religion.

Among the groups with concerns that religious institutions are watering down or abandoning their traditional beliefs, 52% of Evangelical Christians strongly believed that this is the case. Thirty percent of Protestants, 41% of Jews, and 34% of Catholics held the same opinion.

In terms of political identities, 35% of participants who are Evangelical Christians and call themselves Republicans and 23% who identify as Democrats agreed, in addition to 19% of adults who are not affiliated with either party. Twenty-three percent of Republicans and Democrats who identify as Catholic also said this is true about present-day religious institutions.

Seventeen percent of respondents that identify as unaffiliated expressed the same opinion, as did 18% of Democrats 14% of Republicans and 16% of the unaffiliated that identify as Protestant.

Women (53%) were more likely than men (44%) to consider their faith to be very important to their daily lives. Men are also more likely (38%) than women to rarely or never attend church, synagogue or mosque. Among racial lines, 39% of whites, 49% of blacks and 48% of other minorities said that they attend religious services at least monthly.

Married adults are more likely (47%) than their unmarried peers (33%) to attend religious services at least monthly.

The adults most likely to strongly agree that religious institutions nowadays are watering down or abandoning their traditional beliefs said that they attend religious services at least weekly.

Sixty-two percent of Catholics responded that they attend services at least monthly, similar to 51% of Evangelical Christians and 40% of Protestants. Regarding weekly service attendance, 31% of Catholics and 28% of Evangelical Christians said they attend weekly services, alongside 23% of Protestants.

Fifty-two percent of Republicans, 44% of Democrats and 34% of the unaffiliated attend religious services at least monthly. Republicans (42%) were more likely than Democrats (31%) or unaffiliated adults (32%) to strongly agree that too many religious institutions nowadays are watering down or abandoning their traditional beliefs.

More Republicans (55%) than Democrats (49%) and unaffiliated adults (44%) consider their religious faith to be very important in their daily lives.

Income played a role in how much emphasis those surveyed placed on faith, and Americans earning less than $100,000 annually were more likely to consider their religious faith to be a very important part of their daily lives. Sixty-four percent of those with annual incomes below $30,000 said the same thing.

The survey was conducted from April 9-11 with the margin of sampling error at +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% confidence level. Fieldwork for the survey was done by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC.

As The Christian Post previously reported, a separate survey released by Rasmussen Reports in October found that one-third of American adults said they attend religious services at least once per month. The survey of 1,155 U.S. adults, conducted from Sept. 20-21, 2022, found that 69% of American adults consider themselves religious, with 24% saying they're very religious.
Biden admin. to review new Catholic military chaplain contract after objections

One of the top military hospitals in the United States will review its decision to abandon a Catholic pastoral care contract in favor of a for-profit secular defense contractor after the Biden administration was blasted for depriving Americas sick and wounded service members of the life-saving care they need.

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, says it will review its decision to end a longstanding relationship with Franciscan friars at Holy Name College in Silver Spring, Maryland.

As the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Military Services explained in an April 7 statement, the community of Franciscan Catholic priests and brothers have provided pastoral care to service members and veterans at Walter Reed for nearly two decades.

The Franciscans contract for Catholic Pastoral Care was terminated on March 31, 2023, and awarded to a secular defense contracting firm that cannot fulfill the statement of work in the contract, the archdiocese added.

The archdiocese learned of the development after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from the hospital.

Archbishop for Military Services Timothy Broglio condemned Walter Reeds move as incomprehensible as the archdiocese emphasized the need for Holy Week and Easter Sunday services.

I fear that giving a contract to the lowest bidder overlooked the fact that the bidder cannot provide the necessary service. I earnestly hope that this disdain for the sick will be remedied at once and their First Amendment rights will be respected, he said.

Walter Reed addressed the backlash in a statement to Catholic News Agency Tuesday, insisting that it is currently reviewing the contract and unable to provide specifics.

The hospital stressed that it is a welcoming and healing environment that honors and supports a full range of religious, spiritual, and cultural needs, adding, We have an ordained Catholic priest on staff and the awarded contract is to provide coverage in case our staff cannot.

For its part, the archdiocese stated that the Catholic military chaplain in question is in the process of separating from the Army and warned that the abandonment of the contract would leave service members without essential pastoral care. Religious advocacy groups expressed alarm over the hospitals decision.

Legal group First Liberty Institute and The Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty laid out their concerns in a letter published Wednesday to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Lieutenant General Telita Crosland, director of the Defense Health Agency.

It is beyond inexcusable for the Biden Administration to deprive Americas sick and wounded service members [of] the life-saving care they need just to save a few dollars. And to make this decision during Holy Week only pours salt into the wound, Michael Berry, director of Military Affairs at First Liberty, asserted in a statement.

For decades, our nation recognized the vital role chaplains play in the military. The Constitution requires the military to ensure that Catholic service members have ready access to sacraments such as communion and confession. Those sacraments can only be administered by clergy within the church, [and] cannot be outsourced to the lowest bidder.

Bishop Derek Jones, executive director for the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, called the hospitals decision just the latest insult to Americas service members and the chaplains who serve alongside them.

The letter sent by Berry and Jones cites the Department of Defenses Religious Identification and Practice Survey, which finds Catholics comprise the single largest religious demographic in the military and that a substantial majority of service members claim that religion is either important or very important in their lives.

Our military faces many challenges on many fronts. As Americans, we are obligated to ensure that our service members are equipped to perform their noble mission. We urge you to take immediate and affirmative steps to remedy this situation, the letter read.

In its statement to Catholic News Agency, the medical center identified Virginia-based Mack Global LLC as the new contractor. The company provides telework consulting services, staffing services, transportation and roadway services and professional development and training. The company also provides janitorial supplies, industrial machinery, tactical and training equipment as well as raw materials.

As far as religious staffing goes, the company provides "chapel support, religious education coordinators, non-personal chapel support, hospice chaplains, and other religious staff is an honor and a privilege that we do not take lightly."

"Our team understands what it takes to work with Senior Chaplains, NCOIC, Chapel Operations, and support the chaplain office as well as other personnel," the Mack Global website states, adding that it employs "ordained ministers and experienced leaders as pastors, priests, musicians, teachers, trainers and volunteers who favorably pass the background check application according to the Department of Defense Instruction."
George Verwer, evangelist and founder of OM International, dies at age 84

George Verwer, an author and evangelist who founded the group OM International and was known for his focus on global missions, has died at the age of 84.

OM International announced Verwers death on Facebook Saturday, explaining that their founder had died on April 14, and asked for prayers for his family.

Through our tears, we give thanks for all George has meant to us and take comfort that he is with Jesus, whom he loved and served faithfully, stated OM International.

From the early days of leading college mission trips to Mexico, to dreaming of a ship to spread the Good News along the worlds coasts; through his passion for books, real relationships and holistic care for the least reached, George challenged and inspired those he met to share Gods love; truly practising what he preached with his own radical life.

Archbishop Joseph DSouza of the Anglican Good Shepherd Church of India gave his condolences in a piece published by The Christian Post on Saturday.

George also always paid attention to where the winds of the spirit were blowing, and as a maturing church emerged in the Global South, he put his efforts into helping the church become sustainable, wrote DSouza.

George was one of the first white missions leaders to fully empower nationals to lead the efforts he initiated in the majority world. George was not only incapable of racism but he never treated anyone less than him.

DSouza went on to state that Verwers mission work in India was more extensive than all the rest of OMs considerable work in the rest of the world combined.

From the very beginning, Georges spirit-led gut instincts led him to construct the Indian work in a different way than what was done in the West, DSouza added.

From the very inception, the leadership was handed over to the Indians, and from the beginning, he gave complete freedom to develop the strategies and missiology at the local level.

A native of New Jersey, Verwer was born in 1938 and became a born-again Christian in his teenage years after attending a rally led by the Rev. Billy Graham in New York City.

Verwer began to focus on international evangelism in 1957 while in college, according to OM Internationals official biography, traveling that year to Mexico to hand out 20,000 Spanish-language Christian tracts, as well as 10,000 Gospel booklets.

In 1960, Verwer married Drena Knecht, who he had met while enrolled at Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, Illinois, with the couple eventually having three children.

While living in Europe, Verwer founded Operation Mobilisation, which later became OM International, which he would lead until 2003, when he stepped down to focus on other projects.

Under Georges exuberant leadership and fuelled by the passion of believers from many nations to reach those who had never heard the Good News, OM expanded in the '60s, '70s and '80s, noted OM Internationals official biography.

His authentic lifestyle and zeal for the spread of the Gospel has motivated countless individuals and churches into more intentional mission involvement.

Verwer also authored multiple books, including Confessions of a Toxic Perfectionist, Messiology, Out of the Comfort Zone and Revolution of Love.
84-year-old man shoots black teen who rang doorbell by mistake sparking outcry

Outrage continued growing across the country Monday over allegations that an 84-year-old man in Kansas City, Missouri, shot a 16-year-old twice, including once in the head, after he mistakenly rang his doorbell at night thinking he was at the correct house to pick up his twin younger brothers.

The Kansas City Police Department is gathering evidence on the shooting, but Faith Spoonmore, the aunt of the shot teenager, identified as Ralph Yarl, revealed in a GoFundMe campaign that has already raised more than $1.2 million toward his medical bills, alleged the homeowner, an elderly white man, shot her nephew, who is black, for no justifiable reason last Thursday.

On Thursday, April 13, 2023, my nephew Ralph Pual Yarl was on his way to pick up his twin younger brothers from their friend's house a few blocks away from his house. He didn't have his phone. He mistakenly went to the wrong house, one block away from the house where his siblings were, she wrote.

He pulled into the driveway and rang the doorbell. The man in the home opened the door, looked my nephew in the eye, and shot him in the head. My nephew fell to the ground, and the man shot him again. Ralph was then able to get up and run to the neighbor's house, looking for help. Unfortunately, he had to run to 3 different homes before someone finally agreed to help him after he was told to lie on the ground with his hands up, Spoonmore added.

The father of Ralph Yarl told The Kansas City Star that his son was released from the hospital on Sunday and is recovering at home. The teen's mother is a nurse and is taking time off to care for him.

Police confirmed with CBS News that the teenager was shot after he went to the wrong home but wouldnt say how many times he was shot or what the extent of his injuries were.

Kansas City Police Department Chief Stacy Graves said at a press conference Sunday that just before 10 p.m. last Thursday, they received a call about the teenagers shooting and he was transported to a local hospital for his injuries.

She said the homeowner was taken into custody and placed on a 24-hour investigative hold.

After detectives processed the scene of the shooting, recovered the gun used in the shooting and consulted with the Clay County Prosecutors Office, the homeowner was released.

Graves said this was due to the need to obtain a formal statement from the victim, forensic evidence, and additional information for the case file.

A formal statement is planned and forthcoming as the teens injuries allow, she said.

The police chief noted that in Missouri, a person can be held up to 24 hours for the investigation of a felony. After that, the law requires that the person be either charged or released. Graves said because more information was required at the time the 24-hour hold on the homeowner had expired, they had to release him by law.

We recognize the frustration this can cause in the entire criminal justice process. The women and men of the Kansas City Police Department are working as expeditiously and as thoroughly as we can to ensure that the criminal justice process continues to advance as quickly as all involved and our community deserves, Graves said. I want everyone to know that Im listening, and I understand the concern that we are receiving from the community.

On Sunday, hundreds of protestors gathered in front of the home where Yarl was shot and demanded justice.

"I was completely shocked ... I wouldnt have wanted to see it. I was in absolute shock when it occurred, longtime neighborhood resident Karen Allman told KSHB. "I realize that justice doesnt come overnight, but that fact that there is a kid in the hospital and everything I read says not even a charge has been done, that concerns me.

Famous personalities such as actress Halle Berry added her voice to the concerned chorus.

His name is #RalphYarl and Im sick and tired of this feelingmy heart completely broke when I learned this precious 16-year-old, who accidentally rang the door of the wrong address in an attempt to pick up his siblings, was shot in the head by a man who didnt want him on his property, she wrote on Twitter. This innocent child is now fighting for his life. This could be your child. This should NOT happen.

Spoonmore described her nephew as a fantastic kid.

And I am not just saying this because he is my nephew. He truly is. At school, he is a member of the Technology Student Association and Science Olympia Team. Jazz and competition band. He is a section leader in the marching band; a scholar and one of the top bass clarinet players in Missouri, she wrote on the GoFundMe campaign.

He recently earned Missouri All-State Band recognition with an honorable mention. He plays multiple instruments in the metropolitan youth orchestra. He is 2022 Missouri scholar academy alumni. Ralph can often be found with a musical instrument. He loves them all.

She further noted that her nephew is now doing well physically but he has a long road ahead mentally and emotionally.

The trauma that he has to endure and survive is unimaginable, she added. He is our miracle. We have heard these types of stories many times, and unfortunately, most black boys are not alive to get another chance.
Man arrested after protesting Virginia megachurch Pastor John Blanchard amid prostitution case

A 43-year-old man was arrested Sunday following months of protesting against Virginia Beach Pastor John Blanchard after the embattled megachurch leader, who faced solicitation of sex with minor charges, brought stalking charges against him.

Jamie Thomas was put in handcuffs directly outside the Rock Church and was taken before a magistrate on misdemeanor charges of stalking and disclosing expunged police records, The Virginian-Pilot reports. He was later released on his own recognizance.

Thomas posted a video on YouTube of himself, his wife and son protesting outside the church. Thomas can be heard talking into a megaphone, saying, "John Blanchard is a pedophile." Minutes later, the video shows three police officers taking Thomas into custody.

In November 2021, Blanchard, who is married with two children, was arrested in an October sting operation aimed at capturing people seeking sexual relations with minors online.

He was among 17 total arrested by authorities at a hotel where he was supposed to meet a detective posing as a 17-year-old girl. He was later charged with felony solicitation of prostitution and using a vehicle to promote prostitution.

"The suspects communicated with people they believed to be underage members of our community and arranged to meet them at a location to have sexual relations. When the suspects came to the location, they were met by police and arrested," explained the authorities at the time.

The Rock Church posted a statement to its website in response to the arrest at the time, stating that Blanchard had "voluntarily stepped back as lead pastor and from all his ministerial duties until this present situation is totally resolved."

After almost a year of legal maneuvering, the charges against Blanchard were withdrawn or nolle prossed in October 2022 after District Attorney Stacey Davenport reached a deal with defense attorney Noel Brooks that "Blanchard would agree to a psychosexual evaluation and sex offender related counseling."

Nolle prossed cases mean that prosecutors could eventually bring the charges again.

The Chesterfield County Police Department stated that Davenport cited a "lack of evidence" in not moving forward with the case against Blanchard, according to a WRIC.

Chesterfield County Police Chief, Col. Jeffrey S. Katz, disagreed with the decision, and spoke publicly after Blanchard's attorney filed a motion to "seal all police or court records, transcripts, and investigative records associated with this case." Katz said that cases with less compelling evidence had led to convictions.

Fifteen of the 17 people charged in the November 2021 sting were fully prosecuted.

"When someone: 1. Rents a car, 2. Texts a phone number posted on a known sex worker website, 3. Solicits a 'qv' ('John' lingo for a 'quick visit'), 4. Makes multiple inquiries if the person he's texting is 'affiliated with law enforcement,' 5. Drives two and a half hours to a hotel and knocks on the hotel room door  as directed by our undercover '17-year-old,' I believe a jury of Chesterfield County residents deserves to weigh in on the matter of criminal culpability," the police chief wrote in a Facebook post.

In February, a special prosecutor was appointed for Blanchard's case after Davenport said she found new evidence in Blanchard's case. A judge recently gave the special prosecutor until June 7 to decide whether to pursue an indictment in Blanchard's case, according to The Virginian-Pilot.

As for Thomas, documents obtained by The Pilot show Blanchard filed criminal charges against Thomas early Sunday morning, claiming that Thomas showed up outside Blanchard's "place of work and worship" at least 15 times and engaged in intimidating and threatening behavior.

"He has stated that he has us under surveillance and is using the 'Starlink' security system and knows everything we do," the complaint claims. "He has stated personal information that is not public and has repeatedly said he is looking forward to a confrontation."
Pastor pleads guilty to stealing $130K from church to pay gambling debts

An executive pastor in New Hampshire pleaded guilty in federal court to using Journey Baptist Churchs debit and credit cards without authorization to pay off his gambling debts, according to U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young.

Gregory Neal, 45, of Rochester, admitted to a "one-count information alleging wire fraud" during his appearance in court, Young said in a statement last week, adding that U.S. District Court Judge Samantha Elliott has scheduled the sentencing for July 19.

Neals role as an executive pastor involved overseeing the daily operations of the church, which included control over its finances.

Between January 2017 and March 2020, Neal made unauthorized withdrawals from the churchs accounts to cover his own gambling debts and used the churchs credit cards for his personal benefit, the attorney said.

The unauthorized transactions totaled roughly $130,000.

The charging statute stipulates a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine not exceeding $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, and restitution.

Sentences are determined by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes governing the decision of a sentence in a criminal case, the attorney explained.

The U.S. Secret Service led the investigation into Neals fraudulent activities, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Gingrande is prosecuting the case, according to the statement.

Last May, Chanell Easton of Oklahoma City, a 36-year-old wife of a former police chief, was charged with wire fraud and aggravated identity theft for stealing more than $360,000 from her church in California while she was an administrator between 2013 and 2018.

During her employment from June 2013 to February 2018, Easton also stole money from the churchs community food pantry and youth ministry.

Last August, four leaders of a California church pled guilty to participating in a labor trafficking scheme that forced homeless people to give up their welfare benefits and panhandle.

Victor Gonzalez, pastor of Imperial Valley Ministries and his wife, Susan Christine Gonzalez, and two other church leaders, Jose Diaz and his wife, Mercedes Gonzales, pleaded guilty in federal court to recruiting homeless people in San Diego and other cities, then forcing them to participate in raising money on behalf of the El Centro-based church, The Times of San Diego reported at the time.
Spanish actress uses dead son's sperm to conceive baby, works around Spain's surrogacy ban

A Spanish actress used her dead sons sperm to conceive a child via surrogacy, sparking a legal and ethical controversy considering the practice is illegal in Spain.

The 68-year-old actress, Ana Obregon, known for her role in the Spanish television series A las once en casa, lost her son Alejandro Alfonso Lequio, or Aless, to cancer in 2020. The mother decided to have a child the day her son died, stating that it was her sons "last wish" to have a kid of his own.

In an interview earlier this month with the magazine Hola!, the actress said that the baby, Ana Sandra Lequio Obregon, was born on March 20 in Miami, Florida. The child was born through a surrogate in the United States, and the television star said that the baby would be registered at the Spanish consulate in Miami before heading home to Spain.

This girl is not my daughter, but my granddaughter, she said, according to a translation from Today. She is the daughter of Aless, and when she grows up, I will tell her that her father was a hero so that she knows who she is and how proud she has to be of him.

What people dont know is that this was Aless last wish: to bring a child into the world, she said, adding that her son told her and his father this a week before he died.

The actress didn't rule out the possibility of having more grandchildren via surrogacy, as her son "wanted five kids."

I failed my son and I could not save him, but this, which I swore to him with my life, I have done, and no one can take that away from me, she said. And I dont think there is anyone in the world when they see this beautiful girl  who was so desired by her father from Heaven and by me on earth and by all those who love me  will not think the same way. It is something that only fathers or mothers who have lost a child will perfectly understand.

Surrogacy is illegal in Spain. However, the actress appears to have taken advantage of a loophole because the country doesn't ban people from traveling abroad and hiring a surrogate in another country, according to Jennifer Lahl, president of the Center of Bioethics and Culture Network.

The actress hired a surrogate who lived in Florida.

Lahl, who directed and produced the 2010 documentary film "Eggsploitation, directed The Christian Post to a blog post she wrote last week about the stars announcement titled The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.

Obregons said that her son froze his sperm before starting chemotherapy treatments. Lahl surmised that due to Obregons age, an anonymous egg donor was likely used.

I do find it odd that payment for eggs is permitted in Spain but not for surrogacy, the documentary filmmaker wrote. But clearly, Spain needs to address their imperfect law to protect women and children.

The bioethicist also cited an April 5 article from The Independent detailing the birth announcement from Olympic gold medalist Tom Daley and his husband Dustin Lance Black, who shared the news about their second childs birth through The Times announcement page earlier this month. The pairs son, Phoenix Rose, was born on March 28 through egg donation and a surrogate mother.

Daley and his partner, who have been married since 2017, also conceived their first son, Robert Ray Black-Daley, via surrogacy. The couple announced on Valentines Day 2018 that they were expecting their first child but did not know who the biological father would be after fertilizing half the eggs each, according to the report.

In these two new stories of the rich and famous getting the babies of their dreams, there is never a mention of the women who were used and perhaps even harmed, in order for them to buy their children, Lahl wrote. And there seems to be no acknowledgment that children need, deserve, and have a right to a relationship with their biological and birth mother.

As CNN reported earlier this month, Obregon said she has documents proving she is the babys legal mother in the United States. Adopting a child abroad is legal in Spain, as the report noted, and its unlikely the celebrity will face legal challenges.

The actress book describing the surrogacy story is scheduled for publication on April 19.

Spains Equality Minister Irene Montero, a member of the left-wing populous Podemos party, told reporters that surrogacy is "legally recognised in our country as a form of violence against women.

Is there a bias towards women in poverty? Definitely, she said, according to The Guardian. We cant forget the reality of these women in precarious situations or who are at risk of, or in, poverty.

In an interview with CP last April about political pundit Dave Rubins announcement that he and his partner fathered children through In Vitro Fertilization and surrogacy, Lahl warned that such practices can lead to exploitation.

She highlighted the case of a surrogate carrying a pregnancy for two dads that had to deliver 11 weeks early via C-section due to health risks. Lahl stated that the unethical contract between the woman and the two dads endangered the womans life.

The other issue with surrogacy contracts, Lahl noted, is that the intended parents reserve the right to make decisions about the pregnancy, and this can lead to situations where the parents pressure the surrogate to have an abortion.
Barry Black: America's first black Senate chaplain says this Bible verse saved him from a life of crime

WASHINGTON  As the first black chaplain of the U.S. Senate, Barry Black can't help but wonder where his life would have ended up if it were not for the saving grace of God rescuing him from a life of violence as a teenager growing up in Baltimore, Maryland.

Black, 74, became the first black man and Seventh-day Adventist to become Senate chaplain in 2003 after he was nominated for the position by then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to be the upper chamber's 62nd chaplain after a long career in the U.S. Navy, where he rose to the rank of Rear Admiral.

I see the hand of God throughout my life. I ended up as a teenager getting involved with a gang that could have caused me a tremendous amount of difficulty. Two of them [gang members] actually ended up getting life in prison for murdering someone, recalled Black in an interview with The Christian Post. He wouldn't be ministering today if God hadn't rescued him from gang violence.

I was in the right place at the right time  not with them. And reflecting on Proverbs 1:10, which was a Bible verse my mother gave me a nickel to memorize that kept me out of some of the troubles. So were it not for the grace of God, I would have probably been an accessory to murder and spent a lifetime, or at least 20 years, in prison.

Proverbs 1:10 reads, "My son, if sinful men entice you, do not give in to them."

As February is Black History Month, Black looks back on what it's been like serving nearly 20 years of his life ministering to staff on Capitol Hill, an outcome that once seemed unlikely for a child growing up in a mostly single-parent home in the 1950s and '60s.

'Never wanted to do anything but ministry'

As a long-distance truck driver, Black's father was absent for much of his upbringing. As a result, his mother was left to raise him and his eldest siblings by herself. However, he was involved in the lives of his three youngest siblings.

His mother became a devout Seventh-day Adventist and raised her children in the faith and regularly took Black and his seven siblings to Berea Temple of Seventh-day Adventist Church on Madison Avenue to attend services and she'd host Bible studies in the home.

His mother also enrolled Black and his siblings in a private Christian school and paid what she could for tuition and received support from a church program to cover educational expenses tuition. "We belonged to a church that emphasized and supported Christian education."

From the earliest days of his childhood that he can remember, Black said he wanted to be an ordained minister. "I've never wanted to do anything but ministry. I think the primary reason is that when my mother was pregnant with me, she was baptized, and she asked, as she was being immersed baptismally, that the Holy Spirit would place a special blessing and anointing upon me as an unborn child."

Black was born about a month after his mother's baptism on Nov. 1, 1948.

I later showed tendencies toward interest in public speaking. I have a very extroverted and outgoing personality, even as a first-grader, second-grader and third-grader," he said. "So I never had an arrival in my vocation of affection. I've always wanted to be a minister, and I think it's because of my mom's prayers.

But when Black entered his teenage years he gravitated toward the streets and found brotherhood and fatherhood in a gang. I think that growing up, when you rarely see your father, its problematic because everyone needs an adult male role model, he said.

Despite falling in with the wrong crowd as a teen, Black stressed that he had several male role models in his life, including teachers, neighbors and members of the church.

"I was very blessed. ... I did a lot of talking to my heavenly Father because my mother had always instilled in me and my siblings' lives morning and evening worship in our home and taught us to talk to God as we would talk to a friend," Black recalled.

I was fortunate because I belonged to a very large church, probably 800 members. There were enough adult male role models who enabled me to make up for the deficit of not having that at home, Black added.

Moreover, the church school that I attended also had a number of male teachers and they served as role models as well.

Breaking the cycle

Children born into poverty can fall into a multi-generational cycle of financial struggles and government dependence. But Black and his siblings were able to break free from poverty and take advantage of opportunities to prosper.

"Whatever the environment is, growing up in poverty taught me a number of things. It taught me, first of all, that there's always something you can be thankful for. And no matter how difficult things have been in my life, since I was in poverty, I look back and I remember how little it really takes to live quite well, Black said. We subsisted on beans and rice most days, except on the weekends. So that lets me know how little someone actually needs.

Secondly, growing up in poverty also has helped me to learn how thankful you are when you finally manage to get out of that cycle of poverty and pathology, and it causes you to appreciate a lot more what you have after you leave that spot on the socioeconomic ladder.

Along with his extensive military training and education, Black is an alumnus of several universities and educational institutions: Oakwood University, North Carolina Central University, Andrews University, Palmer Theological Seminary, Pine Forge Academy, Salve Regina University and Alliant International University.

He received a Ph.D. in psychology, a doctorate in theology, a master's degree in management and a masters of divinity degree. He was commissioned as a U.S. Navy chaplain in 1976. In his 27 years of service, he rose to the rank of Rear Admiral and eventually served as Chief of Navy Chaplains until he became Senate chaplain in 2003.

I have used the training that I received and I put it alongside my experiences in military ministry to help thousands of people in Congress and senators over the years," he said. "I have a pretty solid foundation in academia that has helped me immensely in ministering to a group of people that are characterized by some significant diversity."

Working as Senate chaplain has been a rewarding vocation, he added, because there is a wide variety of people to tend to from varying denominations and religious traditions, including non-Christians to whom he is able to minister.

"You also have that in the military. As a Senate chaplain, you have kind of a chain of command and you have a majority leader. A majority where you're reporting to people to some extent, not quite the same as in the military. But to some extent," Black said. "You have many different Christian denominations worshiping together, studying together in the same way that you do in the military. The primary difference is the military will involve moving. You would go out on a ship for a six-month deployment away from the base. Or in my case, you may have an unaccompanied tour for a year."

Reflecting on his role as a chaplain in the Navy and the Senate, Black said "both vocations are pretty much the same when it comes to the ministry." Except that, in the Navy, chaplains are "sometimes in a combat situation. So, you're away from one base ... or one geographical location."

A day in the life of a Senate chaplain

Black said his everyday workday as Senate chaplain varies, but over the years, it has been rewarding.

"My day-to-day routine is very much the routine of a pastor who is responsible for several thousands of people. I provide for Christians because I'm a Christian. I facilitate for non-Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, people from the Islamic tradition," Black said.

On an average workday, Black will arrange meetings to visit people in the hospital and the workspace.

"I advise lawmakers, particularly regarding military issues. Because I'm a retired two-star admiral with a significant amount of experience and particularly in the sea services: Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Merchant Marines," he said.

"I teach Bible studies. I prepare sermons and preach. I write books and articles. I've written six books. ... I represent many chaplains, the Department of the Senate, in churches around the nation," he continued. "I officiated weddings and funerals. I do marriage preparation and marriage enrichment. So I do the work of a full-time pastor. ... That's one of the things that's exciting about this. Each day is different and rewarding."

Even though Black has to minister to lawmakers and their staff who fall on the polar opposite ends of the political spectrum, he said it's "not that difficult providing ministry to both parties."

"The nature of the Senate legislative process is adversarial," he said. "It's similar in the House, although the House only needs a simple majority. In the Senate, many times we'll need a two-thirds majority. So I don't even have a difficult problem with that because I have an advisory function. And many of the things that I do in order to assist our lawmakers has to do with the theological, rather than the political."

Celebrating black history

As Black continues in his ministry role, he is especially grateful to have been the first black man to become a Senate chaplain and to have been able to impart knowledge that God gave him to thousands of others.

I'm very passionate about my country. I feel that America is very special. I think that God has blessed us with spacious skies and amber waves of grain, purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain, rivers flowing all over for transportation, to huge oceans buffering us from invasions from without, Black said.

Its a very special place and it is like a nation that is built on ideas. And I think in light of a history that included slavery, democracy has self-corrective forces that have enabled me to see what I never expected to see in my lifetime, and that is an African American president, he added.

Its a very special country, with a very special government. And that makes it a very rewarding experience to have had the opportunity to provide ministry at the epicenter of what's going on in government.
Prison officials deny retaliating against woman who complained about male 'satanist' watching her shower We need the Body of Christ to act,' advocate says

Are female inmates in California facing physical and legal repercussions  including having parole dates moved  for complaining about a state law that allows men to be housed with women?

Amie Ichikawa, who served five years in a California state prison and now heads the Woman II Woman prison advocacy group, was a panelist for CPs Unmasking Gender Ideology event in March, where she revealed how a new state law could be placing female inmates at increased risk for sexual assault.

While conceding that prison was not wonderful prior to the 2021 implementation of Californias Senate Bill 132, which allowed trans-identified men to request to be transferred to women's prisons, Ichikawa said since then, conditions at Central California Womens Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla have deteriorated rapidly.

Cathleen Quinn, a female inmate who has been incarcerated for over 20 years, filed a complaint in February 2022 prior to her parole board hearing in which she told commissioners with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) that she feared for her safety following the implementation of SB132.

According to the complaint obtained by The Christian Post, Quinn saw a trans-identified male inmate, who goes by the name Eva Reeves (formerly Michael Contreras) and was convicted of murder in 1982, entering a dayroom restroom area and watching her as she used the facility.

Quinn filed the complaint after seeing Reeves ignore signs that the restroom was being used on two separate occasions, attorneys said.

As one example, Quinn pointed to a situation in which she referred to someones correct pronouns, said Ichikawa, who added that Quinn has been retaliated on ever since.

A separate rules violation report (RVR) filed by another inmate in July 2022 alleged in a second incident that Reeves had walked in on Quinn while she was showering, even though she hung a towel on the outside of the enclosure.

The complaint added, This practice communicates to one's roommates that the shower is being used," which Reeves allegedly "ignored."

The complaint added that the information was provided by an inmate advisory council representative who indicated the roommate in question did not want to be identified for fear [of] reprisal.

"I can't blame that roommate for having that fear."

That complaint also referenced a March 2022 article written by Reeves for an outlet called the San Francisco Bay View National Black Newspaper, in which Reeves  who Ichikawa described as a "self-proclaimed satanist"  acknowledged that consensual sex takes place between trans-identified biologically male inmates and female inmates.

Reeves also said those trans inmates in the women-only prison facility have a penis and get erections.

The article also identified Ichikawa and other activists by name as proponents of so-called hate propaganda.

Haters of [trans-identified men] at the prison complain that some [trans-identified men] there have a penis and get erections, wrote Reeves. Again, the sexualization, the genitalization, the degradation of people into sex organs, is the very same way that these women of hate and evil complain of being regarded as cs.

This is the nature of hate.

Despite the commission initially granting Quinn parole, that decision was subsequently questioned by one of the commissioners, leading to a full board review hearing, according to Ichikawa.

At that hearing, commissioners vacated Quinns parole grant over new findings they cited, including an RVR for false reporting and harassment.

They vacated her parole suitability prior to these write-ups being adjudicated, so she had not yet been heard, explained Ichikawa. There was no guilty or not guilty on anything, and they still vacated her parole suitability.

Quinn was later found not guilty of harassment and the false reporting was dropped, said Ichikawa, who believes Quinns faith was a factor in the charges.

I dont think its any coincidence that shes a Christian conservative either, Ichikawa said. Shes been too committed to standing firm on her values and shes not bending, so I really feel like shes the lynchpin for the whole game plan here.

In response, CDCR spokesperson Terri Hardy told CP the agency is unaware of any incarcerated individuals receiving disciplinary action as a result of misgendering another person.

Hardy cited California Code Title 15, Section 3004, which, said Hardy, outlines the expectation that incarcerated people and parolees are to treat employees and others respectfully, impartially and fairly and will not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, nationality, sex, political belief, age, or physical or mental handicap.

The code does not make reference to gender identity as one of the protected classes.

Ichikawa told CP that she believes CDCRs statement is not very accurate of whats happening inside CCWF, which is said to be the largest womens prison facility in the world.

Does this apply to incarcerated women? Because thats not how I would describe the environment in there, she said.

Even if more inmates were to file complaints, Ichikawa added, the official paperwork wouldnt show any misgendering violation because following the incident at Chowchilla and a handful of others, inmates arent even filing any complaints because theyre so afraid of this retaliatory kind of action."

According to state estimates, there are more than 1,700 inmates in the California state prison system who identified as transgender, non-binary and intersex as of March of this year.

Under SB132, if an inmate who is housed with a trans-identified inmate raises concerns for their health or safety at any time, their housing and placement is to be reassessed, according to CDCR.

While CDCR may deny a housing request based on "management or security concerns," the agency "must give serious consideration to the perceptions of health and safety of the person making the request, and under no circumstances can the denial be based on any discriminatory reason, including anatomy, physical characteristics, and sexual orientation," according to a public records request.

CDCR said as of March 13, there have been six inmates who have "voluntarily transferred back to a male institution" after being transferred to a women's facility under SB132.

Quinns 2022 complaint was later echoed by the Womens Liberation Front (WOLF), which, along with Ichikawa, sued CDCR over allegations from seven different women inside CCWF that at least one woman and possibly more were impregnated after being housed with a male inmate following SB132.

Under the bill  known as the The Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act  male inmates can transfer to womens facilities even if they do not claim to have a female gender identity, meaning those who identify as non-binary or gender-fluid are also eligible.

Inmates who are biologically male and transferred into womens prisons are not required to take hormones or have surgery, according to WOLF.

It appears CDCR was aware of the potential harm that could result from SB132s implementation: the states prison administration began handing out contraceptives to female inmates in July 2021, which WOLF called a tacit admission that California officials understood the threat SB132 posed to women.

While Ichikawa is no longer a party to the WOLF suit, she warned that the ACLU has tried to intervene on behalf of male inmates who want to be housed with women.

This is serious, she said. They have a strong defense, they have very high-powered lawyers and its extremely intimidating, so more than anything, we really need prayer.

She urged Christian congregations to start filing FOIA requests, learn more about the chaplain teams in state prisons, and even work toward sending a team into these facilities to see the plight of these women firsthand.

Since SB132, Ichikawa said she has personally heard from some 200 women who need to talk to someone, so she provided her personal cell phone number for them to contact.

And while she and her formerly incarcerated partners remain dedicated to the cause, shes calling on Christians and non-believers alike to get involved.

This is a huge injustice, because no matter what these women have done, under no circumstances should they be further subjected to this kind of cruel and unusual, very intentional punishment and erasure, she said.

We need the Body of Christ to act as if part of their own body is in prison because it is, and it is being fiercely persecuted.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin donates first quarter salary to Good News prison ministry

A prison ministry that was the recipient of Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin's first-quarter salary praised his action, saying it will help "bring the Gospel to inmates in over 350 jails and prisons worldwide.

While touring Prince William County's Adult Detention Center on March 31, Youngkin announced his decision to donate his first quarter salary to Good News Jail & Prison Ministry, which his office identified as an organization dedicated to supplying faith-based resources for jails and prisons in the Commonwealth of Virginia and worldwide.

Youngkin presented the ministry, based in Henrico, Virginia, with a check for $43,750.

The governor of Virginia receives an annual salary of $175,000, according to the Council of State Governments. I pledged to serve without accepting a salary to support Virginians in every way I can, Youngkin said in a statement.

The Good News Jail & Prison Ministry exemplifies the heart and Spirit of Virginia by providing hope, resources, and transformational opportunities for Virginians, he added. This administration continues to respect the law and those inside the criminal justice system with increased access to mental health services, best practices for trade skill acquisition and by maintaining excellence in the restoration of rights process, among other priorities.

Virginia First Lady Suzanne Youngkin praised the life-changing mission of Good News Jail and Prison Ministry, adding: We firmly believe that every Virginian deserves an opportunity to flourish and we are grateful for this opportunity to support great and Godly works.

Good News Jail & Prison Ministry reacted to finding out that Youngkin planned to donate his first-quarter salary to their organization in a Facebook post shared last week. The organization declared, Thank you, Governor Glenn Youngkin and Suzanne, for your gift to bring the Gospel to inmates in over 350 jails and prisons worldwide.

The ministry said Youngkins donation comes ahead of Second Chance Day, which seeks to raise $150,000 to support chaplains who seek to share the Gospel with thousands of inmates a year and thereby give them a second chance at a new beginning in Christ. As documented on its website, the organization places Christian chaplains in jails and prisons to minister to the spiritual needs of inmates and staff.

Good News efforts to meet the spiritual needs of the imprisoned include the Life Learning Program, a biblically centered program designed to teach inmates how their world and personal view relates to every area of life, including acceptance as a person, getting along with those around us as well as the importance of forgiveness, how to handle going to prison, how to handle getting out in addition to responsibility and accountability to family, job and authority.

Good News President Jon Evans described the Life Learning Program as a structured approach to teaching inmates the truth of Gods Word.

He added, As they grasp what God has done for them in Christ, a flame of hope for their future is ignited, and many begin to believe for the first time that their lives matter.

Good News has also developed a Bible Correspondence Course, which consists of over 400 individual Bible studies that require the inmate to study the selected book of The Bible verse by verse. Each study begins with the Gospel of John and then moves through other books of the Bible and two general discipleship overview courses.

After the inmate completes each lesson a volunteer grader provides feedback to encourage the inmate in their progress. When an inmate completes all the courses offered they are awarded a Study Bible and other resources for their further spiritual growth.

Serving 300,000 inmates across 22 states and 25 countries, Good News also acts as the humanitarian providers for the imprisoned in some cases. It notes that in many foreign prison systems, inmates are not fed, clothed or provided medical care by the government, putting family or others on the outside on the hook for the necessary supplies.

Since taking office in January 2022, Youngkin has donated his quarterly gubernatorial salary to multiple organizations, including the Virginia Law Enforcement Assistance Program, which ministers to law enforcement officials who have experienced traumatic clinical incidents, the Virginia Veterans Services Program, G Community Services, which provides student mentorship to those interest in pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics as well as Pathways, which provides assistance to low-income families.
NYC venue cancels event with a feminist writer who criticized gender reassignment surgeries

A cultural venue in Manhattan, which prides itself on inclusivity, has reportedly canceled an event featuring a feminist writer because of negative comments it received on social media surrounding her criticism of child gender reassignment surgeries.

The Georgia Room backed out of hosting the April 26 U.S. launch of British author Mary Harrington's book, Feminism Against Progress, co-sponsored by the Compact Magazine and First Things journal.

"If you signed up for our April 26 event with Mary Harrington (@moveincircles) in NYC: We've been canceled by the 'inclusive' venue, Georgia Room," Compact's founder and editor Sohrab Ahmari tweeted Friday.

One of Harrington's tweets, which referred to those who perform child gender reassignment surgeries as "butchers," was the immediate cause of the cancelation, the feminist author, who describes herself as "a mildly heretical Anglican," wrote in an op-ed published by Compact.

"My immediate offense was a tweet criticizing child gender-reassignment surgery, an irreversible act that can permanently sterilize the patient," wrote Harrington, a mother who describes herself as a reactionary feminist.

"My criticism was strongly worded, because some things deserve to be strenuously opposed. Children who undergo gender-reassignment surgery are legally unable to consent to sex. They aren't allowed to purchase cigarettes or alcohol. And yet in gender reassignment, their sexual organs are removed and they are prescribed powerful hormones."

However, the venue's objection went beyond a single tweet. Harrington claims the Georgia Room expressed discomfort with her broader views on the physical differences between men and women and their political significance.

Harrington sees this decision as evidence that New York City is losing its intellectual robustness and exchanging free debate for stifling orthodoxy.

The Christian Post contacted the Georgia Room for comment on Harrington's claims. A response is pending.

The cancelation of the event is not an isolated incident, she argues.

"I am far from the first woman to be targeted for saying these things. Many British women have been deplatformed, censored, unfriended, and fired because they spoke out against transgenderism," she wrote. "Americans aren't yet fully acquainted with these tactics, but they soon will be."

Harrington acknowledged the allure of the idea that humans can overcome their physical bodies, particularly in a place like New York City, where such ideas seem to dominate. But she contends that the city's architecture and infrastructure demonstrate the importance of recognizing and respecting the material world, including the reality of sex differences.

The author expressed sympathy for those who believe they are making the world a better place by promoting gender ideology but maintained that sympathy alone does not make a viewpoint true.

"Humans still can't change sex. Even in New York City, embodied sex still matters. Deep down, fast-talking, freewheeling, street-smart, and book-smart New York still knows this. The show will go on. Somehow, somewhere we will hold the book launch. In the face of powerful resistance, we will defend reality," she concluded.
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center: 'What Bible Ban?'

The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center is now changing its tune regarding its controversial Bible ban, denying that it was ever put into action.

The Family Research Council recently contacted the Department of the Navy demanding answers in relation to Walter Reed's Sept. 14 memo. Earlier this month The Christian Post reported that Walter Reed issued a policy memo that restricted the distribution of all religious materials (including Bibles) to patients by their families.

The internal memo stated, "No religious items (including Bibles, reading material, and/or artifacts) are allowed to be given away or used during a visit."

Critics were outraged, and the FRC immediately launched a petition to have the ban overturned.

Although the petition was successful and the ban was removed, the Washington, D.C. medical facility is now suggesting the ban never even existed, according to The Washington Examiner. When asked about the ban on religious items, spokeswoman Sandra Dean insinuated that it had never actually been enforced and brushed off criticisms, saying the policy was simply "written incorrectly.

"Family can and always have been able to bring in any religious materials It should have been more thoroughly reviewed," Dean added.

The FRC has raised a lot of questions regarding the incident, with their president Tony Perkins refusing to ignore the matter.

"We filed a Freedom of Information Act request with Walter Reed Military Medical Center in hope of understanding who authorized the Bible ban and why," Perkins said.

Walter Lee insists it has always welcomed religious items, and that there will not be any restrictions.

"We'll push forward with our investigation to see who or what is driving the religious purging," Perkins added.

The ban was presented before Congress, and ultimately sparked outrage among some members.

This is not the first time that the FRC has accused the US government of religious purging.

On its website FRC lists a series of incidents that allegedly reflect how the government is guilty of religious purging, including an incident involving the Marine Corps and the Camp Pendleton Cross last month.
Revelation 11: The reign of Christ is virtually now settled

Starting with verse 14 of Revelation chapter 11, an announcement is made that the second woe has passed. The first woe of the three to which we were introduced in Revelation 8:13 was the assault of demon scorpion locusts upon humanity. The sting of these creatures was so agonizing the victims wanted to die but couldnt. The second woe took place over several months, including a demonically driven army of 200 million strong, the two witnesses of God, and an earthquake in Jerusalem that killed thousands.

Next to come is the third woe  the last and the worst. It is the same as the blast of the seventh trumpet, which begins the bowl judgments. These judgments are Gods decontamination of the earth from all who resist his rightful sovereignty.

Here are what the Scriptures say:

The second terror is past, but look, the third terror is coming quickly. Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices shouting in heaven: The world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever. The twenty-four elders sitting on their thrones before God fell with their faces to the ground and worshiped him. And they said, we give thanks to you, Lord God, the Almighty, the one who is and who always was, for now you have assumed your great power and have begun to reign. The nations were filled with wrath, but now the time of your wrath has come. It is time to judge the dead and reward your servants the prophets, as well as your holy people, and all who fear your name, from the least to the greatest. It is time to destroy all who have caused destruction on the earth. Then, in heaven, the Temple of God was opened and the Ark of his covenant could be seen inside the Temple. Lightning flashed, thunder crashed and roared, and there was an earthquake and a terrible hailstorm.

Everything in the above passage (Revelation 11:14-19) outlines what will be further explained in the remaining chapters (12-22).

In his Expository Sermons on Revelation, the late Prince of Preachers, as he was often called, W.A. Criswell, summarizes it this way:

The passage [Revelation 11:14-19] embraces everything involved in the completion of the whole mystery of God. It spans everything on this side of the completed redemption. The vintage and harvest of the earth: the pouring out of the seven last bowls of wrath and the judgment of God: the great and final battle of Armageddon; the personal appearing of the Lord Christ and the establishment of his kingdom on earth; the great final White Throne Judgement of the dead; the recreation of heaven and earth and the descent of the new Jerusalem, our final and ultimate home, into this recreated earth: all of these things in their wonders and in their stupendous, miraculous, marvelous proportions, are encompassed in the days of the voice of this seventh and last angel.

Note that when the seventh trumpet sounded, the Scripture says that loud voices shouted in heaven.

Many years ago, I had to take a bus for an appointment scheduled in a neighboring state. At that time, we were a one-car family, and I had to leave the car for my wife and children. During my layover at the Raleigh bus station, a deranged fellow with no provocation attacked a man sitting peacefully beside me. I was horrified to witness the victim being cut and stabbed with the assailants knife repeatedly.

I had a pillow in my lap and lunged at the perpetrator, hoping the cushion might protect me and distract the assailant. It worked, but the man chased me around the station with his blade. Other passengers in the station were screaming in fear. It was chaos and pandemonium.

To their credit, the police rushed in quickly and subdued the would-be murderer. People were relieved as they came running in, and everyone, including me, started exuberantly cheering at their arrival. Everyone knew the struggle was virtually now settled. The attacker was handcuffed and taken away to jail.

Although seriously injured, the victim survived the attack. I was unharmed. A few months later, I testified as a star witness in court against the man who viciously attempted to take another persons life. He was sentenced to thirteen years in prison for his heinous crime.

Its very much the same kind of situation in Revelation 11:14-19. Heavens citizenry cheers and shouts when the seventh trumpet is blown. They praise God with jubilation because they can see from heavens vantage point that evil is as good as already subdued, handcuffed, and taken away for judgment. The matter is virtually now settled.

They joyously say, The world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever. The twenty-four elders sitting on their thrones before God fell with their faces to the ground and worshiped him. And they said, We give thanks to you, Lord God, the Almighty, the one who is and who always was, for now you have assumed your great power and have begun to reign.'

Can you hear Handels Messiah being sung in the background?

There are still other phenomenal things to see in this passage.

What is good news in heaven is dreadful news for the people of Earth who angrily oppose God and his ways. The Bible says,

The nations were filled with wrath, but now the time of your wrath has come. It is time to judge the dead and reward your servants the prophets, as well as your holy people, and all who fear your name, from the least to the greatest.

Most cringe and even detest a preachers sermon about sin and judgment. Judgment is bad news for the dead, the spiritually dead whose lives lack the knowledge and experience of Gods redeeming grace. Everyone who goes through life this way is headed for the Great White Throne Judgment, which we learn more about in Revelation 20:12. This is a judgment where people are tried and punished according to their works.

This particular judgment is when God will destroy all who have caused destruction on the earth.

Jesus said of Satan, The thiefs purpose is to steal, kill, and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life (John 10:10).

The devil is the destroyer, and everyone who believes his lies and follows him is also considered the Earths destroyers. They raze, damage, spoil, and wreck Gods incomparable, beautiful plans and purposes for this planet.

Few people understand the way sin has profoundly corrupted them. They make the critical mistake of thinking if they are good enough, they can earn Gods favor, and the gates of heaven will swing wide open for them. But carefully consider what the prophet Isaiah said when he wrote, We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).

In other words, a Holy God will judge our best efforts as unworthy of eternal life, grossly insufficient, and unacceptably filthy.

The Bible says that God directed the apostle Peter to go to Caesarea and share with a man named Cornelius Gods plan of redemption. Acts 10:2,22 says Cornelius was a devout and just man. He had a splendid reputation. He prayed to God. He gave generously to people in poverty. However, just being an upstanding person couldnt merit his salvation. Peter went to tell him not to trust in his works but in the atoning blood of Christ.

Salvation is not based on what we have done, but on what Christ has done. Salvation is by faith in Christ alone  the finished work of Christs sinless life, death, and resurrection, whereby he fully purchased salvation and grants it as a free gift to anyone who receives him.

The apostle Paul wrote, God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you cant take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are Gods masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago (Ephesians 2:8,9).

Considering how people will be judged and condemned to hell on the last day is disturbing. Floyd M. Barnard, who taught at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary for twenty-five years, once told his class, Ladies and gentlemen, I never joke about hell, for men and women are really going there.

The whole class seemed stunned. There was complete silence. Many were suddenly struck with a new awareness of the countless people on their way to perdition.

Revelation 11:14-19 also says believers will be judged. This judgment, however, is not dreadful news but good news. Why is it different? The former chancellor of Moody Bible Institute, George Sweeting, explains:

The Christian will not be judged to see if he is going to heaven or hell. His place in eternity is already determined. Christ bore his sins and judgment on the cross, and his place in heaven is secure. He has already passed from death to life. He will not come into condemnation.

So, what is this judgment? Scripture references it as the Judgment Seat of Christ. It is when God determines the quality of the Christians service in the Lords name and whether it deserves a reward (2 Corinthians 5:9-11; I Corinthians 3:13-15).

At the Judgment Seat of Christ, our Lord will dole out many wonderful and precious rewards to the prophets of old, Gods holy people, and those who fear his name, from the least to the greatest.

Last, John said he saw the Temple of God in heaven, and the Temple was opened with the Ark of the Covenant inside.

Apparently, the Ark hasnt been crated up and stored away among countless other crates somewhere in a United States government warehouse. Just kidding. Nonetheless, the Steven Spielberg movie, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" does demonstrate considerable speculation about the Arks whereabouts through the centuries.

Recognizing some will disagree, Henry Morris, in The Revelation Record, I believe, addresses this question marvelously. He writes:

There is no mystery as to where it [the Ark] is. God showed John, when he revealed to him the Apocalypse, that it was safely stored in the heavenly Temple. No doubt the two tables of the Ten Commandments are there as well. If God could translate Enoch and Elijah to heaven, and if the resurrected Christ could ascend to heaven, he would be quite able to have an angel remove the Ark from Jerusalem before Nebuchadnezzars armies sacked the Temple, and then have him carry it safely to the true tabernacle in the New Jerusalem under construction in heaven.

Speculation ended.

Still, the most important thing to see here is that John is shown the Ark because it represents Gods presence with his people, that God protects them, and that he shows them his mercy. The Ark was about this when in the Tabernacle and the Temple of Gods elect nation, Israel.

Revelation chapter 11 ends with lightning, noises, thunder, earthquakes, and hailstorms  all pointing to Gods coming wrath.

I cannot press upon the reader enough to be prepared for the return of Christ. The matters previously discussed are not simply hearsay, conjectures, or suppositions; they are the sure Word of God. They are imminent. You will be among those whom Christ comes to reward or those he comes to sweep from the earth.
Charity Commission in contact with Soul Survivor about safeguarding concerns

The Charity Commission has asked the Soul Survivor church for "additional information" about safeguarding concerns.

Premier Christian News reports that the charity watchdog made the request after receiving a safeguarding serious incident report from the Watford-based church.

The church announced earlier this month that an investigation was being conducted by the Church of England into "non-recent safeguarding concerns" relating to its founder, Mike Pilavachi.

Pilavachi has stepped back from all ministry while the investigation is carried out.

A statement from the church trustees, released jointly with the Diocese of St Albans and Church of England National Safeguarding Team, said that it was not a criminal investigation or clergy disciplinary matter, and that Pilavachi has not been suspended.

Acting chair of the trustees, David Mitchell, said in a separate statement that the concerns "currently relate to matters which occurred a considerable time ago".

He has asked for prayers while the investigation is being carried out.

Anyone with safeguarding concerns relating to events in this report can contact Jeremy Hirst at the Diocesan Safeguarding Team at safeguarding@stalbans.anglican.org or Ian Bowles or Anthony Clarke at the National Safeguarding Team at safeguarding@churchofengland.org.
Free Church of England expands mission efforts with northern church planting appointment

The Free Church of England (FCE) is widening its missionary engagement in its Northern Diocese.

It has appointed Rev Matthew Frith to lead church planting across the diocese, which covers the north of England and the Isle of Man.

The FCE said his appointment as diocesan church planter "marks the beginning of a new season of missionary endeavour and adventure for the Northern Diocese as the diocese seeks to play its part in the evangelisation of the north, the revitalisation of the Church, and the transformation of communities".

Rev Frith grew up in West Yorkshire and spent many years church planting in Carlisle as well as leading pioneer ministry networks across northern England.

Prior to joining the FCE, Frith had served in full-time ordained ministry in the Church of England since 2009. He left the Church of England because of its increasingly liberal position on sexuality.

He has been tasked by the FCE with planting and growing a new church in York, in addition to overseeing additional church plants across the north.

"I can't wait to embark on this new missionary adventure with the FCE," he said.

"Of late it has become impossible for me to continue to serve within the CofE due to the unbiblical direction that it has chosen to take.

"I'm therefore relieved, thankful, and delighted to have found a new home and place within the FCE, a faithful Anglican Church which is in communion with 80 per cent of orthodox Anglicans around the globe.

"I'm very much looking forward to planting and growing a new Anglican worshipping community to serve York and the surrounding areas.

"I pray that it will be a home for faithful Anglicans as well as being a dynamic and creative ministry which will reach new generations for Jesus.

"I look forward, too, to encouraging the planting of other new congregations across the north, helping the Northern Diocese to fulfil its vocation of bringing good news to the north."

The Rt Rev John Fenwick, Bishop of the Northern Diocese and Bishop Primus of the Free Church of England, welcomed his appointment.

"Matthew's wealth of experience in mission and church planting will bring great benefits as we seek to fulfil our calling to bring good news to the north. We look forward to working with him and know that he will be welcomed by the whole FCE family," he said.

The Rev Dr Bob Stephen, General Secretary of the FCE, said, "It is really good to welcome the announcement of Matthew as the Diocesan Church Planter for the Northern Diocese.

"He will be part of a growing and exciting team of clergy colleagues as we look to the future and grow our missionary endeavours.

"As a family of churches we are reshaping and reimagining ourselves to be fit for purpose in God's present and future mission to England. This appointment represents our commitment to that mission and calling."
George Verwer's Spirit-led gut instinct leadership

As the founder of the missions organization OM International, George Verwer (July 3, 1938-April 14, 2023) was easily one of the most influential Christian leaders of the last century. He served OM with distinction, and he inspired countless other Christian leaders all over the world.

His leadership was marked by what I only know how to call: a Spirit-led gut instinct. Whatever complex or global issue that confronted him, he always dared to act, and his actions were almost always right.

George also always paid attention to where the winds of the Spirit were blowing, and as a maturing church emerged in the Global South, he put his efforts into helping the church become sustainable. George was one of the first white missions leaders to fully empower nationals to lead the efforts he initiated in the majority world. George was not only incapable of racism but he never treated anyone less than him.

Along the way, he trained, inspired, and knew  from the north, south, east and west  the majority of the most influential Christian leaders reaching the world with the Gospel during the explosion of Christians in the Global South. In many cases, their lifelong ministries were initiated at the personal invitation of George to join him on a short trip to reach some part of the world with the Good News. He personally touched the lives of more than 100,000 mission leaders, impacting countless tens of millions of lives.

OM's work in India would eventually become OM's most significant work globally, both in personnel and scope. The work George initiated in India was more extensive than all the rest of OM's considerable work in the rest of the world combined. From the very beginning, George's Spirit-led gut instincts led him to construct the Indian work in a different way than what was done in the West.

From the very inception, the leadership was handed over to the Indians, and from the beginning, he gave complete freedom to develop the strategies and missiology at the local level.

When the work in India developed into a full-fledged church movement built around a Kingdom of God paradigm, he supported it without reservation. George told me many times that the complete autonomy of the Indian work did not happen the way we would have imagined it. Still, it was only proper for the Indians to forge their future in a complex nation in partnership with OM and non-OM groups.

His humility also displayed his strength. He never hid his flaws. George was fallible, and he made sure everyone knew it. This is why his sermons, books and generous conversations over tea were always seasoned with wisdom and blessed with knowledge.

George was young when he founded his work.

In his 20s, in the late 1950s and 1960s, he responded to cultural upheaval in North America and Europe by offering a radical faith in Jesus Christ to those young people searching desperately for meaning in their lives. His Christian message was filled with grace and full of radical discipleship.

This is why his message resonated with a whole generation of young Christians who followed him in reaching the world for Christ, whatever the risk and whatever the cost. Those disciples also learned to overcome their fears, flaws and failures.

As much as any Christian in history, George Verwer led his generation, and the generations around it, to "reach the world in their own generation."

When the Western Church's enthusiasm for sending out Western missionaries was declining, George pioneered a significant, global short-term missions movement. The older missions organizations were skeptical of George's approach but could not stop the wave of short-term missionaries who answered the Lord's call through his vision. Those short-termers became their recruits.

George also remained the chief patron of the Good Shepherd Church Movement, which today has a global presence. All that mattered to George was that the church was focused on Jesus and that the local community was responsible for it.

Almost as quickly as he learned any lesson, George also wrote a book about it and then sent his books to leaders worldwide. One of those books, written as a young man, was entitled A Revolution of Love and Balance. In it, he crafted early ideas which would prove seminal in the history of the global church across the 20th and 21st centuries. Before OM fully embraced the need for a holistic approach to mission, George wrote that if we did not practice love in action for the poor, we could not claim we loved the world as God loved the world. He taught passionately that our Christian life and testimony would ring hollow without love for one another in the Church.

Those words were prophetic for the context of a bitterly divided Christian world today! The fact that Jesus said the world would know we were His disciples when we loved each other is lost among just too many Christians in this age of hate-filled social media posts.

George supported individual churches developing their particular emphasis on thought and practice. He opposed Christians becoming adamant and dogmatic about their interpretation or practices when it led to divisions and limited the churches' ability to work with other Christians to touch the world.

According to George, many of the world's significant issues could not be addressed by one organization or church. Our world needed the global Church always holding truth in balance to work together.

Issues such as social care, hunger, injustice, discrimination, poverty and sharing the Good News of the Kingdom of God needed the loving and united effort of the global Church in all its diversity. George's ability to relate to leaders across the denominational spectrum was as phenomenal as it was groundbreaking.

In his later years, an older and wiser George Verwer began to speak at every opportunity about how God works in and through a Church filled with human mistakes and sin.

Out of his vast experience with imperfect and broken leaders and their churches, came two books: Messiology and Confessions of a Toxic Perfectionist.

The message of these books is also his legacy in a world where younger and older Christians are confronted by the fall of prominent Christian leaders and the mess it leaves all around. George always saw God's grace and second chances, especially in our biggest messes. He was quick to repent and never without a personal word about his inadequacy.

Losing George is losing my life's mentor and my closest personal friend in the ministry. It is also an inspiration of a life lived well and a legacy now made complete with the words we all long to hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

I can't wait to see him again. In the meantime, with God's help, let's commit to living our lives more like he lived his own.

Archbishop Joseph D'Souza is an internationally renowned human and civil rights activist. He is the founder of Dignity Freedom Network, an organization that advocates for and delivers humanitarian aid to the marginalized and outcastes of South Asia. He is archbishop of the Anglican Good Shepherd Church of India and serves as the president of the All India Christian Council.

First published in The Christian Post.
Orthodox Anglicans meet in Rwanda to discuss their future in the Communion

Tonight, the fourth Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) begins in Kigali, Rwanda.

Around 1,300 bishops, clergy and lay people have travelled from the four corners of the earth to the heart of Africa to celebrate the good news of Jesus Christ, and to consider the future of the Anglican Communion.

While not the largest, this conference has the potential to be the most significant Gafcon* gathering yet. In the past, many members of the Global South Fellowship of Anglicans (GSFA) have not attended, but this time the senior leaders of both organisations will be meeting to take counsel with one another before and during the five-day event. The Archbishop of Canterbury is not invited.

For many years the leaders of Gafcon and GSFA have been very clear that they could not follow the Archbishop of Canterbury's plan to "walk together" with Provinces such as The Episcopal Church USA, Scottish Episcopal Church and New Zealand, who have walked away from the historic, catholic teaching of the church. They have, however, disagreed on strategy.

While not leaving the Anglican Communion, Gafcon has chosen to stay away from the various Primates Meetings and last summer's Lambeth Conference. GSFA chose to attend and explain their concerns, while making it clear that they were not "walking together".

The recent decision of the bishops of the Church of England to commend the blessing of couples in committed, faithful relationships other than heterosexual marriage, is in the words of Archbishop Foley Beach, Chair of the Gafcon Primates Council, "shredding the last remaining fragile fabric of the Anglican Communion."

He also said that the Archbishop of Canterbury had "abrogated his fiduciary responsibility and violated his consecration vows".

In his Holy Week message, Archbishop Justin Badi, the Chair of the GSFA, agreed, saying, "The leadership role played by the Archbishop of Canterbury in the revisionist path adopted by the General Synod renders the GSFA unable to recognise the present incumbent as the 'first among equals' leader of the global Communion."

So, those who remain committed to the historic catholic teachings of the Church, are now united in seeking to reset and reshape the Anglican Communion and providentially GAFCON in Kigali has come at just the right time for serious conversations to begin.

The conference continues until Friday and is being livestreamed here.

*GAFCON is used as the name of the five-yearly conferences. Gafcon is used to refer to the movement of those committed to the 2008 Jerusalem Statement and Declaration.

Susie Leafe is director of Anglican Futures, which supports orthodox Anglicans in the UK.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP)  The Delaware judge overseeing a voting machine companys $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News delayed the opening of the trial Monday, raising the prospect that the two sides might attempt to settle before the eagerly watched case goes before a jury.

Superior Court Judge Eric Davis suggested the sides try to mediate their dispute, according to a person close to Fox who was not authorized to speak publicly about the status of the lawsuit. Attorneys for both sides who appeared in court Monday declined to answer reporters' questions about why it was put off, as did representatives for both companies.

Davis gave no explanation for postponing the trials start until Tuesday, although he did note that delays are common and built into the schedule. Jury selection and opening statements were planned for the first day in a trial that, if it happens, is expected to last six weeks.

This is not a press conference," Davis said during Monday's brief hearing. I dont do that.

A trial would force Fox to answer for its actions in the weeks after the 2020 presidential election and litigate denial about the outcome of the race in general. The case centers on whether Fox defamed Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems by spreading false claims that the company rigged the election against then-President Donald Trump.

A settlement is certainly a possibility in a trial that carries risks for both sides. Fox already has been embarrassed by revelations that some of its executives and on-air personalities did not believe fraud claims that the network spread on the air, and it doesn't want to see 92-year-old founder Rupert Murdoch testify. Dominion could miss a big payday if a jury rules against it.

Not everyone wants the case to go away quietly, however.

PLEASE Dominion  Do not settle with Fox! You're about to prove something very big, tweeted Gretchen Carlson, the former Fox anchor whose accusations of sexual misconduct by former Fox chief Roger Ailes led to his downfall in 2016.

Fox, meanwhile, paid for a full-page advertisement in The New York Times on Monday headlined Trusted Now. More Than Ever."

Dozens of journalists gathered at the courthouse in downtown Wilmington, some before dawn, for a hearing that lasted about five minutes. The courtyard in front of the court building was full of TV crews ready to do live shots.

Besides its implications for Fox, the case is being watched carefully by journalists for what it could mean for libel law. Defamation is generally hard to prove, since it requires a finding that journalists published information they knew to be false, or with a reckless disregard for the truth.

Some First Amendment lawyers say Dominion's lawsuit presents a powerful case, given the doubt expressed within Fox about the fraud allegations. Fox says Dominion can't prove that the people with such doubts were in position to affect what was said on the air about the company.

Even before a jury hears the case, Davis has made some rulings in Dominion's favor, including stating that the allegations of election fraud made against the company were clearly false. That means the issue will not have to be litigated in the trial.

___

Associated Press Writer Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.

___

The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about APs democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
BROOKFIELD, Vt. (AP)  Edward Koren, a longtime cartoonist for The New Yorker magazine, known for his hairy, huminoid creatures, has died. He was 87.

Koren died of lung cancer on Friday in Brookfield, Vermont, according to his wife, Curtis Koren.

He created more than 1,000 cartoons of the long-snouted creatures for The New Yorker, including covers, since the 1960s. He also wrote and illustrated books and served as Vermonts second cartoonist laureate for three years. Koren said he never ran out of material, often writing down what he heard people say as fodder for his art.

What captures my attention is all the human theater around me. I can never quite believe my luck in stumbling upon riveting mini-dramas taking place within earshot (and eyeshot), a comedy of manners that seems inexhaustible, he wrote about his exhibition at Columbia University in 2010.

Koren, who was born in New York City, moved full time to Vermont more than 30 years ago to the tiny village of Brookfield, where he served as a volunteer firefighter.

His most recent book, Koren In the Wild, published in 2018, features cartoons spanning about 40 years, poking fun at country and city dwellers.

I love how he skates right on the edge. He shows us how ridiculous and how precious we can all be without at all offending anybody, Karen Mittelman, then executive director of the Vermont Arts Council, said at the time.

Koren told The Associated Press that he was fond of a quotation by Lily Tomlin that basically says no matter how cynical you get, its impossible to keep up.

And I cant keep up, he said in 2018. Theres always something where your jaw drops.
From casual-fast eateries to fine dining, South Padre Island will fulfill your vacation dreams and your culinary desires. The resort town on the Gulf Coast, located less than 400 miles south of Houston, has a plethora of dining options from succulent steaks to locally caught seafood and everything in between.

After a relaxing day on the beach or enjoying the many things to do on the island, depending on your palate and your budget, you can take your pick of South Padre Island restaurants. Or take advantage of the island's Cook Your Catch program. It's exactly what it sounds like: After enjoying time on the water, you can bring your catch to a participating restaurant on the island and let them fry, grill or blacken your freshly caught fish for you.

If you're planning a trip to South Padre Island, keep reading for the best places to eat and drink.

Cafe on the Beach at Palms Resort

If you're looking for a spot for breakfast, lunch and dinner with full bar options and beachfront views, head to Cafe on the Beach at the Palms Resort. Here, you can order migas in the morning, burgers at lunchtime and blackened skewered shrimp in the evening. The menu has comfort food, high-end items and everything in between, tacos included.

Find it: Cafe on the Beach, 3616 Gulf Blvd., South Padre Island, TX 78597; 956-761-1316

Clayton's Beach Bar and Grill

Looking for a quintessential Texas coast restaurant that also happens to be the largest beach bar on the coast? Clayton's is an icon among the restaurants in South Padre Island. From live music and dancing to fireworks, to their signature turbo pina coladas and specialty drinks like the Tsunami (mango rum, white rum, blue curacao, orange juice and pineapple), this place has your back. Plus, it's pet-friendly and an all-around fun time.

Find it: Clayton's, 6900 Padre Blvd., South Padre Island, TX 78597; 956-761-5900

Foodwanderer A. via Yelp

Dirty Al's

Ask South Padre Island locals about this restaurant that claims to serve the "world's best fried shrimp" and they'll tell you how family-owned Dirty Al's started out as a bait stand. Dirty Al's has been around since 1986 and is open daily. Order your fried seafood, burgers, po'boys and more here. The owners also own six other restaurants on South Padre Island, including Liam's.

Find it: Dirty Al's, 33396 State Park Road, South Padre Island, TX 78597; 956-761-4901

Omar Landeros

F&B SPI

For a fine-dining experience on the island that's casually elegant (read: not stuffy), F&B SPI beautifully crafts fresh and seasonal modern American cuisine, making it one of the best restaurants on South Padre Island. While you can enjoy dinner selections including Spanish octopus and calamari, seafood risotto, smoked duck breast and key lime souffle for dessert, don't overlook their Sunday gourmet brunch to enjoy bottomless peach bellinis and mimosas, and fare including lobster omelets, ceviche of the day and beignets. Note: The restaurant is closed on Mondays.

Find it: F&B SPI, 3109 Padre Blvd., South Padre Island, TX 78597; 956-772-8114

Gabriella's Italian Grill & Pizzeria

Did somebody say brick oven pizza? From the homemade dough that morphs into crispy crust, along with smoked provolone and pepperoni, Gabriella's Italian Grill & Pizzeria's pizza is a beloved staple on South Padre Island. Beyond pizza served on its checkered table cloths, Gabriella's offers salads, calzones and grinders. Note: Pizzeria Express by Gabriella's is a smaller location that's ideal for takeout.

Find it:

Gabriella's Italian Grill & Pizzeria, 700 Padre Blvd., South Padre Island, TX 78597; 956-761-6111

Pizzeria Express by Gabriella's, 2600 Padre Blvd., Suite U, South Padre Island, TX 78597; 956-707-7111

Courtesy of Liams Steak House and Oyster Bar

Liam's Steak House & Oyster Bar

Seafood. Steak. Wine. Repeat. Open daily for dinner and situated on the bay to overlook stunning sunsets, Liam's Steak House & Oyster Bar is an upscale culinary outing. From red snapper ceviche and shrimp, to spinach artichoke crab meat dip, surf and turf, pasta and five types of oysters, there's no shortage of delicious selections at this charming chophouse. Reservations are recommended.

Find it: Liam's Steak House & Oyster Bar, 202 W. Tarpon St., South Padre Island, TX 78957; 956-772-4700

Alina Y. via Yelp

Louie's Backyard

Hand-cut steaks, fresh seafood, homemade desserts (save room for the Death-by-Chocolate cake) and bayside dining with a view of the Gulf of Mexico is Louie's Backyard game. It's all in a day's work here, where every entree includes the all-you-can-eat salad bar. Not to be missed is their all-you-can-eat prime rib and seafood buffet, which includes prime rib, baby back ribs, giant crab legs, shrimp and desserts.

Find it: Louie's Backyard, 2305 Laguna Blvd., South Padre Island, TX 78597; 956-761-6406

Bryan Tumlinson

Padre Island Brewing Company

If you're on the hunt for great local craft beer, look no further than the Padre Island Brewing Company. Although the spot is known for its beer, peruse its extensive food menu when you sit down for a tasting flight. You'll find great pairing options like the Brew Pub burger, spicy bacon-wrapped shrimp, seared ahi tuna, award-winning pizzas and pecan pie with ice cream.

Find it: Padre Island Brewing Company, 3400 Padre Blvd., South Padre Island, TX 78597; 956-761-9585

Sea Ranch Restaurant & Bar

This eatery is known for its locally wild-caught seafood from the Gulf of Mexico, and the selections at Sea Ranch Restaurant change daily to reflect what's fresh. Among South Padre Island seafood restaurants, you can't go wrong with a menu that starts off with "irresistible beginnings," a section that includes unique delicacies like deep fried bacon-wrapped Gulf shrimp that's stuffed with jalapeno and cream cheese. Located on the south part of the island, this upscale restaurant is open daily for dinner. The owners also own four other restaurants on South Padre Island, including the aforementioned F&B SPI.

Find it: Sea Ranch Restaurant & Bar, 1 Padre Blvd., South Padre Island, TX 78597; 956-761-1314

Yummie's Bistro

For a chill place to grab breakfast, lunch or brunch that has both indoor and outdoor seating, Yummie's Bistro really lives up to its name. Standout menu selections include excellent mimosas (try the cotton candy version), French onion soup, chicken salad sandwiches and homemade cheesecake. Coffee lovers take note: Yummie's extensive menu has an entire page devoted to its hot or iced gourmet coffee options.

Find it: Yummie's Bistro, 700 Padre Blvd., Suite J, South Padre Island, TX 78597; 956-761-2526

This story was edited by Hearst Newspapers Managing Editor Kristina Moy; you can contact her at kristina.moy@hearst.com.
Retired engineers Kelly and Derek Barkey assumed they would be approved when they applied for a $50,000 home equity line of credit two years ago to fix up their new house.

The Barkeys, now 56 and 59, had just sold their longtime home in Southern California and paid cash for a house worth about $850,000 near St. Louis, Missouri. They had retirement accounts worth $3 million, $500,000 in a taxable brokerage account and excellent credit scores.

They were surprised when a national bank turned them down. They tried a local credit union, which also rejected them.

We havent been turned down for credit since about 1987, says Kelly Barkey, remembering when the couple applied for a rewards credit card while she was still a college student.

HOME LOANS CAN BE HARDER TO GET IN RETIREMENT

The federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act prohibits lenders from discriminating against applicants based on age, but that doesnt mean getting a home loan in retirement will be easy even for those with good credit, little debt and plenty of savings, financial planners say.

The issue is often proving that you have enough steady income to repay the loan, says Lori Trawinski, director of finance and employment for AARP Public Policy Institute.

Working people can use W-2 forms and pay stubs to prove they have sufficient income . Lenders can verify incomes through IRS transcripts, by calling an employer or using massive paycheck databases such as The Work Number. Lenders typically want to see two years worth of steady income, but working borrowers arent required to prove that their incomes will continue at the same rate.

The rules are more complicated for retirees, Trawinski says. In addition to proving they have enough income to pay the loan, retired people often must prove that the money will continue for at least three years, she says.

HOW MORTGAGE LENDERS VIEW RETIREMENT INCOME The Barkeys say they draw about $35,000 a year from their taxable brokerage account, and Derek Barkey earns another $35,000 by consulting  more than enough to support the payments on a $50,000 home equity line. Yet they were told their applications had been rejected because of inadequate income. Trawinski suspects the Barkeys ran afoul of automated underwriting software that didnt account for their income properly.

Mortgage lenders typically divide retiree income into two categories: income with a potential expiration date and income without. Pension payments and Social Security retirement benefits based on an applicants work record dont have an expiration date because the income continues for life. By contrast, retirement and investment accounts often are viewed as having an expiration date because the accounts can be depleted over time, so borrowers must prove the income will continue for a minimum of three years.

Lenders can use an asset depletion calculation to determine how much income an account can generate. Typically the calculations consider only 70% of the account balance since the underlying investments can lose value. Lenders may divide the result by the number of expected payments, such as 360 in the case of a 30-year loan.

Retirement accounts usually wont be included in these calculations unless the balances can be accessed without restriction. Since the Barkeys were under 59 1/2  the earliest age their retirement accounts could be tapped without penalty  lenders typically would ignore the $3 million in those accounts.

HOW TO GET A HOME LOAN APPROVED IN RETIREMENT

Certified financial planner Kayla Johnson of Wilmington, North Carolina, says helping clients in retirement get mortgages and HELOCs often takes a lot of financial gymnastics. She recommends people apply for home loans while theyre still working, if possible.

Its simplest to secure any loan you may need before retirement, Johnson says.

People who need home loans and are already retired should consider talking to a loan officer about their situations before submitting an application and risking damage to their credit scores, financial planners say. Such a conversation can help potential applicants get a better feel for how the lender will view their application and how many hurdles lie ahead. Not all lenders are equally skilled at dealing with retired clients, so you may need to talk to more than one lender to find the right fit.

And if youre turned down, dont consider that the last word.

After being rejected by the credit union, Kelly Barkey contacted its president by Facebook Messenger to ask why. She says soon afterward, they got a call from the loan department manager admitting the credit union had overlooked some things.

And within a day, we had our HELOC, Kelly Barkey says.

__________________________

This column was provided to The Associated Press by the personal finance site NerdWallet. The content is for educational and informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice. Liz Weston is a columnist at NerdWallet, a certified financial planner and author of Your Credit Score. Email: lweston@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @lizweston.

RELATED LINK:

NerdWallet: Find out what big data says about you  and fix it

https://bit.ly/nerdwallet-finf-out-what-big-data-says-about-you
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Wyllow Elizabeth started making bars of soap when she found that her skin was sensitive to many store-bought ones. She made soaps for her own use, and only ventured into her local farmers' markets, in Nova Scotia, Canada, to sell the extras.

Demand there was so strong, however, that she switched approaches, and now just keeps the extras and undersize bars for herself.

Elizabeth uses oils like olive, coconut, castor and hemp, as well as shea butter. The hemp oil makes a lovely lather, and doesnt build up on hair, she says.

Hers are among many new bars that look, feel and smell different than traditional, mass-produced soaps. In supermarkets, beauty stores or at farmers markets, youll see an array of bar soaps that are, or have the look and feel of, the handmade, with natural and unusual ingredients.

They might be infused with bits of tangy orange. Sea kelp. Lilac. Or even volcanic ash. Everything from carrots to coffee to clay are used to color the bars, and added scents are derived from plants, herbs and essential oils.

Although bar soap lost a lot of shelf space in recent decades to liquid soap, many people are rediscovering its virtues.

For one thing, it doesn't come in a plastic bottle. When a bar of soap is used up, its well and truly GONE. It's often wrapped in paper, and takes less energy to ship than liquids. Compared to its liquid counterpart, it travels through airport security without a fuss.

Fortunately, hotels never fell out of love with the bar soap, says Andrew Goetz, who together with partner Matthew Malin founded the personal-care brand Malin and Goetz in New York. Their soaps can now be found in restaurants, hotels, salons and fitness centers around the world; Goetz says their Dark Rum and Lime bars are especially popular.

John and Linda Meyer, founders of Wary Meyers, are married interior designers in Maine who created their own line of glycerin soaps, candles and modernist jewelry to echo their aesthetic.

We thought the bar of soap was something that could use a refresh  colored stripes, gradients, speckles  so we treated it like a little design object, says Linda Meyer.

One of their playful soaps is the Virgo Cluster.

We were inspired by those clear rubber balls with glitter inside that everybody had as kids. But instead of glitter, we embed the bars with pieces of multicolored striped soap. she says.

If youve ever rubbed the leaf of a tomato plant, youll know how fresh the scent is. That was the inspiration for Wary Meyers Italian Tomato Leaf bar. The red, green and white colors were inspired by Gucci, the Italian flag, and of course tomatoes, Meyer says.

They have a Pink Champagne soap bar made to look like the fizzy drink sitting in a flute, and some combos that sound good enough to eat: cucumber and cilantro, or grapefruit and clementine.

Icelandic company Kalastyles Hallo bars are derived from unusual ingredients like Arctic birch, moss and volcanic ash. The creamy-hued, round bars are smoky and herbaceous.

Popular bars in Wyllow Elizabeth's lineup include Mint Ripple, with cocoa powder and peppermint essential oil.

And when a friend found his grandfathers old shaving cup, Elizabeth started experimenting until she found a formula for a toast-colored shaving bar that smells like bay spice.

She has her trusted playbook of ingredients now, but theres still room for surprises.

For instance, I use yellow dock plants in my Lemongrass Summer soap for their soothing properties. I thought theyd make yellow soap, but they came out rosy pink!," she says. "Another surprise was when I used lemon peel powder in my Under the Sun soap  it starts out bright yellow, but as it cures it becomes a beautiful creamy color.

Along with the pleasure she gets from soap crafting, Elizabeth loves naming the finished products, and engages her customers at markets in the process.

I share the scents and colors, and they enter a contest to name the soap," she says.

My favorite winner was a girl about 9 years old. She named the Lime Squeeze soap, and was so excited to win her very own bar of it; a simple prize.

Lime Squeeze became the signature scent for Elizabeths line of toy surprise soaps. As each bar is used, a small treasure is revealed  a wee farm animal, a marble, a tiny Pegasus.

There's a version for grownups too. Elizabeth's Gems soaps might hold a carnelian, an amethyst or a piece of rose quartz. Good clean fun, in bar form.

-

New York-based writer Kim Cook covers design and decor topics regularly for The AP. Follow her on Instagram at @kimcookhome.

-

For more AP Lifestyles stories, go to https://apnews.com/hub/lifestyle.
Texas A&M International University is hosting a percussion ensemble recital Wednesday, April 19 that is free and open to the public and features guest artist in residence Valerie Naranjo.

The recital will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in TAMIUs Center for the Fine and Performing Arts Recital Hall. TAMIUs percussion ensemble is a small group typically consisting of 12 to 14 percussion majors, and the concert features a variety of music to challenge the students.

Known for her involvement in West African keyboard percussion music, Broadways The Lion King is fittingly featured among the many popular properties to utilize Naranjo as a performer. She also plays percussion for the Saturday Night Live band and has recorded and performed with Tori Amos, David Byrne, Airto Moreira, The Paul Winter Consort, The Philp Glass Ensemble and more.

In an interview with TAMIU, Naranjo said she first discovered the marimba in Northern Mexico when she was six, but it was in college when her love for the instrument truly took off.

As I began to get older and hear groups like Parliament Funkadelic, Earth, Wind & Fire, I also loved that music and I loved the sound of the marimba, she said. I was lucky enough my first year of college to meet a doctoral student at the University of Colorado who would approach a western marimba and play this amazing stuff I had never heard in my life from any other marimba player.

That player introduced her to an instrument called the gyil from Ghana, and it resulted in a series of transcontinental trips for her to develop her skill with the instrument.

I realized at one point I just had to go to the country, so in 1988 I took my first of about 25 journeys to Ghana, Naranjo said. I had heard recordings before, specifically the recordings of a master musician named Kakraba Lobi who was the gyil player for the national dance company of Ghana.

When I first heard that, I said, Parliament Funkadelic, Earth, Wind & Fire, James Brown, they have already met this instrument, because their music comes from the harmonic and rhythmic content that comes out of this instrument.

Originally from southern Colorado, Naranjo said she sees many similarities between her community and Laredo.

Southern Colorado is not that close to Laredo, Texas, but culturally it is very close, she said. I really have to say, when I look at many of you in the faculty and the student body, its like Im looking in the mirror. Whenever youre looking in the mirror at a family gathering or a gathering of people who have grown up in the same manner that you have, its comforting, its unsettling at times, but its always a great learning experience.

As someone who went from Colorado to the great heights she has reached, Naranjo is encouraging TAMIU students to strive for their dreams despite not yet being at the epicenter of the music scene.

There are so many students here who are outstanding, she said. I really hope to impart that just because you are not in the center of Indianapolis or San Francisco or New York City, I believe they will do great things. With good, helpful habits and a regard for other people and how we can be helpful to them, the sky is the limit.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday upheld former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin's second-degree murder conviction in the killing of George Floyd, and let his 22 1/2-year sentence remain in place.

Chauvin's attorney had asked the appeals court to throw out the ex-officers convictions for a long list of reasons, including the massive pretrial publicity. He also argued that legal and procedural errors deprived Chauvin of a fair trial. But the three-judge panel sided with prosecutors who said Chauvin got a fair trial and just sentence.

Floyd died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, used his knee to pin the Black mans neck to the ground for 9 1/2 minutes. A bystander video captured Floyds fading cries of I cant breathe. Floyds death touched off protests around the world, some of which turned violent, and forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism.

Police officers undoubtedly have a challenging, difficult, and sometimes dangerous job. However, no one is above the law," Appeals Judge Peter Reyes wrote for the panel. "When they commit a crime, they must be held accountable just as those individuals that they lawfully apprehend. The law only permits police officers to use reasonable force when effecting a lawful arrest. Chauvin crossed that line here when he used unreasonable force on Floyd.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who assembled the prosecution team, said in a statement that he was grateful we have a system where everyone, no matter how egregious their offense, is entitled to due process and fair treatment."

The Courts decision today shows once again no one is above the law  and no one is beneath it, Ellison said.

A voicemail and emails were sent to Chauvins attorney, William Mohrman. He argued on appeal that the trial judge should have moved the case out of Minneapolis because of extensive pretrial publicity and unprecedented security precautions due to fears of violence.

The primary issue on this appeal is whether a criminal defendant can get a fair trial consistent with constitutional requirements in a courthouse surrounded by concrete block, barbed wire, two armored personnel carriers, and a squad of National Guard troops, all of which or whom are there for one purpose: in the event that the jury acquits the defendant, Mohrman said in oral arguments in January.

But Neal Katyal, a special attorney for the state, argued that Chauvin got one of the most transparent and thorough trials in our nations history."

Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill sentenced Chauvin to 22 1/2 years after jurors found him guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Chauvin later pleaded guilty to a separate federal civil rights charge and was sentenced to 21 years in federal prison, which he is now serving in Arizona concurrent with his state sentence.

Judge Cahill managed this trial with enormous care, and even if Chauvin could identify some minor fault, any error is harmless, Katyal said. The evidence of Chauvins guilt was captured on video for the world to see.

Mohrman argued that the pretrial publicity was the most extensive of any trial in Minnesota history, and that the judge should have moved the trial and sequestered the jury. He said the publicity and the riots, the citys $27 million settlement with Floyds family announced during jury selection, the unrest over a police killing of a Black man in a Minneapolis suburb during jury selection, and the sealing off of the courthouse, were just some of the factors prejudicing Chauvins chance of a fair trial.

His appeal also focused on one juror who participated in a civil rights event commemorating the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.s March on Washington, a few months after Floyds death. Only after the trial did the juror reveal that he had been there.

But the appeals court ruled that Cahill did not abuse his discretion in deciding those issues.

Local defense attorney Mike Brandt, who has followed the case closely, said he was not surprised that the appeals court affirmed Chauvins conviction and found no errors that would have changed the outcome. Appellate courts give judges wide discretion and are loath to micromanage how they run trials, he said. He added that Cahill created a solid record to justify the decisions he made in a high-pressure case where literally the eyes of the world were on him.

The appeals court declined to address whether it was legally permissible to convict Chauvin of third-degree murder. The defense said a 2021 Minnesota Supreme Court decision in a different police killing case that clarified the definition of that crime meant the law no longer fit the facts of Floyd's killing. But the appeals court noted that the trial judge never formally adjudicated that conviction nor did he sentence Chauvin on that count.
NEW HAVEN  What are Yuta Kamori and partner Hiroyuki Fujii supposed to do for an encore after their Hachiroku Shokudo & Sake Bar on Orange Street drew statewide attention, raising the bar for sophisticated yet casual Japanese food in the area?

That's easy: open another restaurant unlike any other around here.

Even before they could celebrate the original Hachiroku's first birthday, which rolls around in May, they have created another innovative restaurant, Hachiroku Handroll Bar & Tapas East Rock. It's at 966 State St., just a few blocks away from the original Hachiroku, and had a soft-opening earlier this year.

But while they share part of the name, they're very different.

At Hachiroku Handroll Bar, it's all about clean lines, good food and subtle simplicity  with an emphasis on sushi and not so much on hot Japanese dishes, although there are some.

The location is sleek with bare, textured walls and a smooth, bare, 14-stool blonde wood sushi bar that's often full-up with hungry patrons. Soft, cool jazz plays in the background. Behind the bar is Executive Chef Gen Hashimoto and his crew, who serve jointly as chefs, culinary consultants and waiters.

The menu, which changes depending on what's available, includes handrolls, or temaki, salads, soups, sashimi and some small-plate, tapas-style specials, along with a couple of sweet desserts.

"This one, we want to showcase sushi," said Kamori during a recent late-afternoon visit. Kamori spends time at both restaurants, but usually is on Orange Street at night and says that Hashimoto is the nerve center on State Street.

Arnold Gold/Hearst Connecticut Media

At the State Street Hachiroku, located in the former home of the Doughlicious New Haven dessert shop, "We're trying to be not too expensive," Kamori said. "But not too cheap."

So far, "It's been busy," he said. "We didn't announce really that we're open here. We just put it on our Instagram."

From the start, "My plan was, we just wanted to have a walk-in restaurant," Kamori said as Hashimoto did prep-work for the evening's dinner, slicing some saba mackeral and then some red snapper paper-thin a few feet away. "It's hard, because we only have 14 seats."

But demand has been strong enough that Hachiroku Handroll Bar now is taking reservations, essentially doing staggered seatings on busy nights. (It's currently open only for dinner, Wednesday through Sunday.)

Kamori said he thought about putting a table or two in the space near the door, "but people want to sit at the bar."

What's on the menu "depends on what we get from Japan and what we get from the fish market," Kamori said.

Arnold Gold/Hearst Connecticut Media

But even if the Orange Street Hachiroku and the State Street Hachiroku are working with the same ingredients, "we don't do the same dishes," Kamori said. Among other reasons, that's because "we have a lot of regulars who come to both," so it's important that "they get something new," he said.

Among the dishes recently on the temaki (hand roll) menu were chopped negitoro bluefin fatty tuna with scallion, soy-cured yellowtail with scallion, hokkaido scallop with salt and lemon, a chopped eel roll with nitusme sauce and sansho pepper and a lobster hand roll with butter, salt, lemon, soy sauce and butterhead lettuce.

On a recent evening, early customers included Yale University undergrads Ishan Patel, Kenny Chirino and Surtaz Khan. Only Patel had been to the Orange Street Hachiroku before; all three were impressed.

"I think, walking in, we were all" thinking "this could be in New York City," Patel said. "I think it feels like New Haven, but kind of NEW Haven."

Chirino, who was just in Japan a few weeks ago over spring break, said Hachiroku Handroll Bar "feels like Japan" and Hachiroku "is up there with the best restaurants I went to in Japan. The rice is really good. It tasted ... very fresh, and the flavor was very good."

Hashimoto said that at Hachiroku Handroll Bar, "We're trying to do something a little different from the regular sushi."
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

The deadly police shooting of Jayland Walker, a 25-year-old Black man, by eight officers last summer sparked protests in his hometown of Akron, Ohio, and led to calls for a federal investigation. Ohio's attorney general announced Monday that a grand jury had declined to indict the officers and said that Walker fired at least one shot at police during a pursuit.

Walker's family called it a brutal and senseless shooting. A police union official said the officers thought there was an immediate threat and that their actions were in line with their training.

WHY DID POLICE CHASE WALKER?

Police said the chase began when they tried to pull Walker over for minor equipment violations on June 27 and he failed to stop. They said he then fired a shot from his car 40 seconds into the pursuit.

The chase began on a city street, continued onto a freeway and ended on a street where police had set up a roadblock.

Akron police initially did not try to stop Walker, but officers decided to follow him after they saw him pass by the same intersection within 10 minutes and became suspicious, the state investigation said.

Less than 24 hours before the pursuit, an officer in a nearby township had tried to stop a car matching Walkers for equipment violations. A police supervisor called off that pursuit when the car crossed the township border into Akron.

HOW DID THE CHASE END?

Police body camera footage released by the city showed Walker wearing a ski mask, jumping out the front passenger door of his still-moving car and then running into a parking lot. A handgun, loaded magazine and wedding ring were found on the drivers seat of the car, police said.

Officers chased Walker for about 10 seconds before they fired from multiple directions in a burst of 94 shots that lasted 6 or 7 seconds. A county medical examiner said Walker was shot at least 40 times.

The blurry footage did not clearly show what authorities said was a threatening gesture before Walker was shot.

WHO WAS JAYLAND WALKER?

Walker was remembered at his funeral last summer by family and friends as a shy, kind, thoughtful man with a quiet sense of humor.

When I think about Jayland, I think about someone who had the biggest heart, said Robin Elerick, a cousin. He was so sweet and so authentically genuine.

Walker grew up in Akron and was on the wrestling team in high school. He had been working as food delivery driver.

A month before he died, his fiancee died in a car crash near Cincinnati.

WHAT'S NEXT

Akron Police Chief Steve Mylett said Monday that the city will begin an internal investigation into the shooting, but he would not release the names of the eight officers because of ongoing threats against them.

The officers, who initially were placed on leave, will remain on administrative duties. None of the eight officers appear to have been disciplined for any previous use of force incidences, according to investigation records released by the state.

There's a possibility that U.S. Department of Justice could open a federal civil rights investigation. The NAACP and an attorney for Walkers family have called for that to happen and the department has said it is monitoring the case.

An attorney for Walker's family said they will file a civil lawsuit within the next few months.
STAMFORD  A 26-year-old city man who is on the states deadly weapons offender registry allegedly was found passed out in a vehicle with an illegal ghost gun under the driver's seat Friday night, according to police.

Stamford Assistant Police Chief Richard Conklin said patrol officers responded to a Houston Terrace home around 3 a.m. Friday morning on reports of a vehicle blocking a driveway.

When officers arrived, they found the cars driver passed out inside, Conklin said.

Conklin said officers determined the driver, 26-year-old Lamont Watts Jr., was intoxicated at the scene and placed him under arrest.

A breathalyzer test registered Watts's blood alcohol level at .12, Conklin said.

While detaining Watts, officers discovered a 9mm ghost gun equipped with an illegal high-capacity magazine beneath the drivers seat, according to Conklin. Officers also recovered a switchblade in the car, he said.

Watts, who was convicted of illegal possession of weapon in a motor vehicle and possession of a pistol without a permit in 2019, is on the states deadly weapons offender registry list and is prohibited from possessing weapons.

The Connecticut Deadly Weapon Offender Registry is a database kept by state law enforcement officials of people who have been convicted of one of the states 42 crimes involving guns or knives. Those convicted of such crimes must enroll in the registry for five years following their release from prison.

Watts was charged with operating under the influence, criminal possession of a firearm, possession of a weapon without a serial number, possession of a pistol without a permit, possession of an illegal high-capacity magazine, illegal possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle and possession of a firearm while under the influence.

Watts posted a $100,000 bond and is scheduled to be arraigned at the state Superior Court on April 25.
MIDDLETOWN  Wesleyan University will be hosting a free celebration of the ocean-human ecosystem Friday night during a fireside ocean jam at the Center for the Arts courtyard.

The event, to be held at 283 Washington Terrace, will run from 8 to 11 p.m. The rain location is the World Music Hall, 40 Wyllys Ave.

Wesleyan Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences Raquel Bryant and Assistant Professor of Theater Katie Pearl will be presenting an informal fireside cabaret. There will be singing, storytelling, and a "deep dive" into a celebration of the ecosystem, according to a press release.

Through her Justice in Geoscience project, Bryant has brought together an interdisciplinary team of artists, scientists, humanists, and social scientists to think about the next 50 years of action, according to Wesleyan Connection.

The urgency of now is very palpable when we start thinking about climate change, Bryant, a micro-paleontologist, paleo-oceanographer and paleo-ecologist, said.

Through art, you can imagine new worlds, right? You can imagine the future  the future can be in your hand when you use art as a medium. You need art along with science to be able to cope with that as a human, Bryant added.

Science isnt the only tool available to combat the climate crisis, the Wesleyan Connection article said. Bryant looks to Black and Indigenous scholars when she is trying to understand how to find joy and create community amid turmoil and chaos.

Just because Im a scientist doesnt mean I cant dance in the street, and doesnt mean I cant protest in the street, Bryant said. Theres different tools and different approaches, and we need all of them.



This event is part of next month's Ocean Filibuster: Art and Action series, a semester of art and activism, science and storytelling. During the event, 10 Wesleyan students will be on stage as a chorus, and performing during the intermission of the show, the university said.

Other students have technical roles stage managing as well as doing dramaturgical work, including research around local environmental issues with the Connecticut River Conservancy and the Connecticut River Coastal Conservation District, and the investigation of different performance artists who are making climate-responsive work to help contextualize Ocean Filibuster.

The performance is part of the Connecticut premiere performance of PearlDamours "Ocean Filibuster" in the CFA Theater May 4 to 6.

After Wesleyan, Ocean Filibuster will head to New Orleans, then to North Carolinas Duke University in the fall, and the Ocean Sciences Meeting in 2024 in collaboration with Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences Raquel Bryant, according to Wesleyan Connection.

For information and related events, visit wesleyan.edu/cfa/ocean.
WOODBURY  Police say they are investigating the theft of a Hyundai Elantra from an apartment complex on Tuttle Road over the weekend.

Authorities said two other Hyundais were also broken into in what appeared to be the latest incident targeting Hyundais. In Connecticut and nationwide, police have warned that certain Hyundai and Kia vehicles are vulnerable to being stolen, in some cases with as little as a USB cable. The technique has gone viral on social media, including in a TikTok challenge, according to officials.

State police said around 10 p.m. on Sunday, troopers and Woodbury police officers were called to the apartment complex for a reported vehicle theft.

The agency said a 2017 silver Hyundai Elantra was taken sometime between 9 and 10 p.m.

"The Hyundai had been locked and the keys were in the owner's possession," state police said in a news release. "It is believed that the vehicle was entered by smashing the passenger side rear window and that its ignition had been 'hot-wired.'"

The stolen car had New Hampshire plates reading 4212433," state police said.

The police investigation also turned up two more Hyundai Elantras in the area that "were discovered to have been entered in a similar manner, in apparent attempts to take the vehicles," state police said.

All three were determined to be Elantra sedans from between 2014 and 2018.

Certain models of Hyundai and Kia vehicles are vulnerable to theft because the car manufacturers didn't include an anti-theft immobilizer, a device that prevents the car from being started if the correct key or key fob is not present.

Earlier this year, the auto-makers rolled out a software update that extends the vehicles' alarm from 30 seconds to a full minute, and requires the key to be in the ignition for the car to start, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Last month, 23 state attorneys general sent a letter to the companies, claiming the move was "not enough." The letter, which was also signed by Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, urged the auto-makers "to do everything in your power to accelerate the implementation of the software upgrade and to provide free alternative protective measures for all those owners whose cars cannot support the software upgrade."

Hyundai owners with vehicles made between 2011 and November 2021 can check online or call 888-498-0390 to see if they're eligible for the free anti-theft software upgrade.

Anyone with information about the Woodbury break-ins can contact Troop L (860)626-7900 or the Woodbury Resident Trooper's Office (203)263-3400.
Texas Republicans are lining up behind a bill that would set up a system for deputizing citizens as immigration officers.

House Bill 20, authored by Rep. Matt Schaefer of District 6 in east Texas, would create a so-called "Border Protection Unit" within Texas' immigration security apparatus.

Under HB 20, the Border Protection Unit's chief would be able to "employ law-abiding citizens without a felony conviction to participate in unit operations and functions," according to the latest available text version of the bill. HB 20 would also allow certain participating citizens who have been "trained and specifically authorized by the governor" to arrest suspected undocumented immigrants.

Schaefer's bill has garnered more than 50 Republican sponsors so far, according to Legiscan.com.

"They could set up outside a church, for example we have a heavy immigrant population in Dallas that attends our Lady of Guadalupe, about 11,000 people every Sunday," Rep. Rafael Anchia of Dallas pointed out during a hearing last week. "They could set up outside the church in Dallasand not even to arrest them, just ask them for immigration status," Anchia added.

Activists also denounced the bill during last week's public testimony session. Roberto Lopez of the Texas Civil Rights Project, warned that the bill could empower and legitimize vigilante groups that are already active on the southern border. "We have already seen paramilitary organizations operating in border communities," Lopez told The Texas Tribune. "Giving them the power to capture and detain people seeking safety and protection at our borders would create chaos that will endanger the safety of all Texans, Lopez continued.

Rep. Schaefer's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
West Texas A&M University faculty leaders have called for a vote of no confidence this week to condemn President Walter Wendler less than a month after he came under fire from students and free speech groups for canceling a campus drag show.

In a resolution obtained by The Texas Tribune, faculty senate leaders accused Wendler of abusing his role as president by running the university based on his own religious ideology. They said he has exhibited a pattern of divisive misogynistic, homophobic and non-inclusive rhetoric that stands in stark contrast with the Core Values of the university.

They also argued that Wendler has presented his personal opinions and religious beliefs in online blog posts as the official position of the university. Faculty leaders said those opinions go against the universitys mission, violate state and federal law, damage the universitys reputation and hurt fundraising efforts.

We do not take this step lightly, Ashley Pinkham, faculty senate president, wrote in a letter to all professors Monday announcing the vote. However, we believe that the mission to provide intellectually challenging, critically reflective, and inclusive academic programs at a well-respected, high-quality institution of higher education is at jeopardy. We believe we must act now to restore the reputation of West Texas A&M University.

The vote started Monday morning and will go through Friday afternoon. A university spokesperson confirmed the vote is in progress but declined to comment. The no-confidence vote is nonbinding and largely symbolic, but faculty hope it will send a message to the Texas A&M System Board of Regents and Chancellor John Sharp.

In a letter to the campus community last month, Wendler canceled a student drag show fundraiser and drew criticism from students when he argued that the performances are derisive, divisive and demoralizing misogyny.

Student leaders in a campus LGBTQ group sued Wendler, the university and the Texas A&M System, alleging he violated their First Amendment rights by canceling the show.

Federal Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk denied the students request to immediately reinstate the student event. The case is still pending. Sharp declined to comment on the resolution, citing pending litigation.

But the no-confidence vote goes beyond the recent fracas over the campus drag show. Faculty who spoke to the Tribune and requested to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation say Wendlers handling of the drag show was the last straw for many of them who feel he has exhibited poor leadership with other issues.

In the resolution, faculty accused Wendler of actively encouraging prospective students to avoid attending a four-year university immediately after high school and encouraging them to attend community college first, which they say has led to enrollment declines.

They point to Wendlers Your Community, Your University tour, in which he visited 66 high schools in the Texas Panhandle, telling students to start at a community college first, rather than borrowing money to attend a four-year university. Faculty leaders say in the resolution that Wendler has continued to encourage prospective students to start at a community college, even as the number of community college transfers to the university has declined.

According to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, enrollment at the public university in Canyon dropped between fall 2019 and 2022 by nearly 700 students to 9,275 at the start of this academic year.

The resolution also pointed to a spring prospective student event where only 32 potential students registered, calling it a significant decrease.

The faculty senate argued Wendlers actions as president are part of a larger pattern, citing issues at his prior position as chancellor at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, where he was removed for a communication breakdown with university leadership.

Wendler was also criticized at the time for pushing back on the SIU Boards decision to extend certain medical benefits to the same-sex partners of employees several years before Illinois legalized gay marriage in 2014. A Southern Illinoisan article quoted Wendler as saying the measure would encourage sinful behavior. In 2018, Wendler told the Tribune the quote was taken out of context.

Disclosure: Texas A&M University and West Texas A&M University have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2023/04/17/west-texas-tamu-walter-wendler-no-confidence/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.
SYDNEY (AP)  Two suspected Chinese spies gave a Sydney businessman envelopes of cash for information about subjects including a government deal with the United States and Britain to build a fleet of Australian nuclear-powered submarines, prosecutors told a court on Monday.

The businessman, Alexander Csergo, was refused bail when he appeared by video link from prison in Sydneys Downing Center Local Court charged with one count of reckless foreign interference.

The charge, included in laws against covert foreign interference and espionage that angered China when they were legislated in 2018, carries a maximum 15-year prison sentence.

He is accused of accepting money from two suspected Chinese spies he knew by the names Ken and Evelyn in exchange for handwritten reports on Australian defense, economic and national security arrangements since 2021 while he worked in Shanghai, where he owns a communications and technology infrastructure consultancy business.

The subjects included the AUKUS partnership among Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States to create an Australian submarine fleet powered by U.S. nuclear technology that was announced in September 2021, prosecutor Connor McCraith said.

U.S. President Joe Biden and the leaders of Australia and Britain announced details of the deal in March, including that Australia would buy secondhand Virginia-class submarines from the United States and build a new AUKUS class of submarines with Britain.

The suspected spies also requested details about Australias partnership with the United States, Japan and India known as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or the Quad, as well as information about lithium and iron ore mining in Australia, the prosecutors alleged.

Csergo has been in custody since Friday, when he was arrested at his home in the Sydney beachside suburb of Bondi. He had been questioned for weeks by police and agents of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, the nations main domestic spy agency.

McCraith said Csergo admitted early in the questioning that he suspected Ken and Evylen were spies soon after meeting them but remained in contact with them for two years.

He clearly has links to the Chinese state and two people he clearly thinks work for the MSS (Ministry of State Security), McCraith told the court. He also traveled back to Australia with a shopping list of requested information, he said.

McCraith said a reasonable person would have alerted Australian authorities immediately after being approached.

Instead, Csergo continued to communicate with the male suspected spy, including inviting him to visit Australia, McCraith said.

Csergos lawyer, Bernard Collaery, said there was nothing sinister about his clients behavior and that he was an experienced, successful businessman who was lauded for developing working relationships in China.

Businesspeople such as our client know all roads lead to the state, whether it be the state economic intelligence agency" or the Ministry of State Security, Collaery said.

Cash payments for consulting reports might have a color to it in Australia but might be the way its done in China -- its not necessarily sinister, Collaery added.

Collaery said the reports were from publicly sourced documents, plus Csergos own creative efforts, and were nothing close to espionage.

Magistrate Michael Barko said Csergo was a very well-educated, sophisticated, worldly businessperson who was entitled to the presumption of innocence.

But Csergo faced a strong case from prosecutors, including several substantial admissions, Barko said.

Csergo told ASIO investigators he met Ken and Evelyn in empty cafes in Shanghai and believed the cafes had been specially cleared for him, according to court documents.

Csergo also believed Ken and Evelyn had been assigned by Chinas spy agency as his handlers, the documents say.

I dont know what they do in China, but in this country, if I were to read those facts to any layperson, they would be highly suspicious of the conduct of the defendant, at the very least, Barko said.

Csergo is due back in court in June.

Collaery told reporters outside the court that the Law Council of Australia, the peak group representing the nations legal profession, had long warned that the scope of the foreign interference laws was too broad.

If you work as a consultant in any foreign country, and you are any person, whether youre a private contractor or a government official, and you undertake consulting work that may relate to Australias foreign influences or national security such as articles on the supply of lithium, iron ore, you, according to this legislation ... can be guilty of foreign influence, Collaery said.

This is an issue of absolute civil liberties, Collaery said. The subset of all of this, is China. These are the drums of foreign antipathy coming down into the state of New South Wales.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

BRUSSELS (AP)  Environmental groups have started legal action against the European Unions executive branch in a bid to block a move to include natural gas and nuclear power generation on a list of sustainable activities.

The list proposed by the European Commission drew fierce criticism and accusations of greenwashing. On Tuesday, Greenpeace said that it was filing a lawsuit at the European Court of Justice, the top EU court, after the commission refused to reconsider its move.

Greenpeace is asking the European Court of Justice to declare the inclusion of fossil gas and nuclear "as invalid."

Separately, ClientEarth, WWFs European Policy Office, Transport & Environment (T&E), and BUND are challenging only the decision to include gas. They say the fossil fuel cant be considered sustainable because of its adverse environmental impact.

The green labeling system from the European Commission defines what qualifies as an investment in sustainable energy. Initially, it didn't initially include gas or nuclear.

Polluters are already using this fake label to syphon green finance away from where its needed, Greenpeace EU sustainable finance campaigner Ariadna Rodrigo said. If you save money with a green pension fund, for example, that fund could now be supporting the expansion of the fossil fuel and nuclear industries. Thats unacceptable, and thats why were in court today.

Amid Russias war in Ukraine, the addition of gas and nuclear has divided the EU's 27 member countries, and even political groupings in the European Parliament. But EU lawmakers last year voted to back the European Commission's proposal and add both to the list.

The four groups opposed only to gas said that classifying it as sustainable risked increasing the blocs gas dependency by boosting demand.

This would expose the EU to more volatility, dependence on producing countries and supply crises in the future  with potentially further devastating impacts on household bills, they said.

The groups also claim that giving gas a sustainable label clashes with other EU laws and doesn't respect the EUs commitments and obligations under the 2015 Paris climate accords target for limiting global warming.

The question of nuclear power has divided environmentalists, energy experts and governments for years. Some argue its an important source of energy, because its produced with almost no carbon emissions and thus clean, while others say the risks of nuclear reactions are too great and infrastructure is slow and costly to build. Liquid natural gas, clearly a fossil fuel, is roundly criticized in environmental circles.

With gas and nuclear energy part of the EU classification system for sustainable activities under certain conditions, it's easier for private investors to inject money into both.

The EU is aiming to reach climate neutrality by 2050 and to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030. The commission says the classification system is crucial to direct investments into sustainable energy. It estimates that about 350 billion euros ($382 billion) of investment per year will be needed to meet the 2030 targets.

___

Follow APs climate coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/climate
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP)  A judge has ended the nearly 50 years of federal oversight of police in Hartford, Connecticut, despite continued concerns the department still has not hired enough minority officers to reflect the city's large Black and Hispanic populations.

U.S. District Judge Kari Dooley in Bridgeport issued a 10-page ruling late Friday saying the plaintiffs failed to prove the police department was violating any part of the original 1973 consent decree agreement or revisions made to it in 2010. Dooley approved the city's request to dissolve the consent decree, which was to have ended four years after the 2010 revisions but was later extended.

The consent decree was one of the longest in the country and resulted from a 1969 civil rights lawsuit against city police by several Hartford residents. The lawsuit accused police of inflicting numerous acts of violence, intimidation and humiliation upon Hartford citizens based on their race and ethnicity.

Sydney Schulman, a Hartford lawyer for the plaintiffs who has been involved in the case since 1969, said Monday that he was reviewing the ruling and would be contacting his clients about a possible appeal or other actions.

I was totally shocked by getting the opinion," Schulman said. I'm extremely concerned. ... Its always been the position of the ... plaintiffs that the city of Hartford should have a police force that reflects the population of the city of Hartford, which is mostly minority."

We need officers in Hartford who understand the culture and the community of color," he said. "We need officers who understand the city, who are living in the city or have lived in the city. We need officers who are out on the street and can work with community residents in order to avoid the violence that weve seen.

Mayor Luke Bronin, a Democrat, said the city's commitment to improving diversity at the police department will not end because the consent decree has been dissolved. He also said in a statement that building trust and partnerships between the police department and city residents remains a priority.

Its important to recognize that the (consent decree) wasnt just about recruitment, it was also about promoting transparency and accountability, increasing civilian oversight, and embracing best practices in policing, he said. "And while that work is never done, the Hartford Police Department has been a leader in those areas here in Connecticut.

A city police spokesperson did not return an email message seeking comment Monday.

Just last month, the city council passed a resolution calling for an indefinite extension of the consent decree until the police department fully complies with it.

In court papers filed in October, the plaintiffs said there has been little change in the racial and ethnic makeup of the department since the late 1960s. They said only about 35% of the 400-plus member force is non-white. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 36% of city residents are Black and 46% are Hispanic or Latino.

Corrie Betts, president of the Greater Hartford NAACP, called the judge's ruling troubling and disappointing. He said he would be talking to national NAACP officials about a response, including possible legal action.

Given the troubling circumstances surrounding the Hartford police department, the decision really makes no sense at all, Betts said.

Besides not hiring enough people of color, the plaintiffs also claim the department has not been complying with the consent decree because it has failed to conduct immediate investigations into some instances of officers discharging their firearms. They also said the force is not always taking sworn statements from citizens when seeking arrest warrants as required.

The judge, however, rejected all their arguments and noted police officials have provided evidence of their efforts to increase the recruitment and promotion of minority officers.

Schulman said that while the department has increased recruiting of minorities, many of them have had trouble passing police academy tests. Betts said the department hasn't done enough to change those tests so more Black and Hispanic officer candidates get hired.

In court papers, police officials say there have been numerous reforms at the department, and the consent decree and federal oversight were no longer warranted.

The conditions present in 1969 that led to the federal jurisdiction are no longer present, city lawyers wrote. Simply put, over 50 years of litigation has exhausted any basis for continuing jurisdiction over this matter.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

A Russian court on Monday convicted top opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr. of treason for publicly denouncing Moscows war in Ukraine and sentenced him to 25 years in prison as part of the Kremlins relentless crackdown on critics of the invasion.

The political activist and journalist, who twice survived poisonings he blamed on Russian authorities, has rejected the charges against him as punishment for standing up to President Vladimir Putin and likened the proceedings to the show trials under Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

Human rights organizations and Western governments denounced the verdict and demanded his release. Amnesty International declared the 41-year-old to be a prisoner of conscience.

Kara-Murza reacted calmly as the judge read the verdict and sentence in a quick monotone. His lawyer, Maria Eismont, later quoted him as telling her: My self-esteem has risen: I realized that I have done everything right. Twenty-five years is the highest appraisal that I could get for doing what I did and what I believed in, as a citizen, a patriot and a politician.

Kara-Murzas wife, Evgenia, who lives in the U.S. with their three children, tweeted after the verdict: A quarter of a century is an A+ for your courage, consistency and honesty in your years-long work. I am infinitely proud of you, my love, and Im always by your side.

The charges against Kara-Murza, a dual Russian-British citizen who has been behind bars since his arrest a year ago, stem from a March 2022 speech to the Arizona House of Representatives in which he denounced Russias invasion of Ukraine, as well as other speeches abroad.

There are millions of people in my country who fundamentally reject and fundamentally disagree with everything that the Putin regime represents and stands for, from the kleptocracy and thievery to the abuses and the repressions and the crimes against humanity that are being committed, Kara-Murza said in his 17-minute speech to lawmakers in Arizona, which he visited at the invitation of the Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations.

It was an absolute honor for me to witness his courage last year when he addressed" the House, said state Rep. Marcelino Quinonez, a Democrat and House Minority Whip. Obviously this sentence is a travesty for justice all around the world.

Days after the invasion, Russia adopted a law criminalizing spreading false information about its military. Authorities have used the law to stifle criticism of what the Kremlin calls its special military operation."

Kara-Murza was initially only charged with spreading false information about the military, but later the authorities added charges of working with an undesirable organization  also a criminal offense  and treason.

The sweeping campaign of repression is unprecedented since the Soviet era, effectively criminalizing independent reporting on the conflict and any public criticism of the war.

Another prominent opposition figure, Ilya Yashin, was sentenced to 8 years in prison last year on charges of spreading false information about the military.

Last month, a Russian court convicted a father over social media posts critical of the war and sentenced him to two years in prison. His 13-year-old daughter, who drew an antiwar sketch at school, was sent to an orphanage. Days later, Russias security service arrested Evan Gershkovich, an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal, on espionage charges.

A recent report by the Russian Supreme Court said that in 2022, courts ordered citizens to pay fines for discrediting the military 4,439 times, for the equivalent of about $1.8 million in total, according to Russia's independent news site Mediazona.

In a statement at the end of his trial, Kara-Murza said he was jailed for "many years of struggle against Putins dictatorship, his criticism of the war in Ukraine and his long efforts to champion Western sanctions against Russian officials involved in human rights abuses.

I know that the day will come when the darkness engulfing our country will dissipate, he told the court in remarks posted on his Twitter account. This day will come as inevitably as spring comes to replace even the frostiest winter."

Kara-Murza was an associate of Russian opposition leader and fierce Putin critic Boris Nemtsov, who was assassinated near the Kremlin in 2015.

In 2011-12, Kara-Murza and Nemtsov lobbied for passage of the Magnitsky Act in the U.S. The law was in response to the death in prison of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who had exposed a tax fraud scheme. The law has enabled Washington to impose sanctions on Russians deemed to be human rights violators.

The judge in Kara-Murzas trial, Sergei Podoprigorov, was among those sanctioned after ordering Magnitskys arrest in 2008. Podoprigorov had petitioned U.S. authorities in 2018 to lift the sanctions against him, according to Kara-Murzas lawyer, Vadim Prokhorov. During Kara-Murza's trial, Prokhorov twice asked Podoprigorov to recuse himself, to no avail, Russian media reported.

Kara-Murza had been a friend of Sen. John McCain and was a pallbearer at his 2018 funeral. McCains choice of the Russian dissident as a pallbearer was widely seen as a slap at then-President Donald Trump, a fellow Republican who was often criticized by the senator for what he saw as having a cozy relationship with Putin. Kara-Murza had worked with McCain on pushing anti-Putin measures through Congress.

The politician and activist survived poisonings in 2015 and 2017 that he blamed on the Kremlin. Russian officials have denied responsibility.

Amnesty International denounced Kara-Murza's sentence as yet another chilling example of the systematic repression of civil society, which has broadened and accelerated under the Kremlin since Russias invasion of Ukraine last year."

The group declared Kara-Murza a prisoner of conscience, convicted for his political beliefs, and demanded his immediate and unconditional release.

Memorial, one of Russias oldest and most prominent human rights organizations that was named a co-winner of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize along with human rights defenders from Ukraine and Belarus, also has named Kara-Murza as a political prisoner.

Memorial's head Yan Rachinsky described the sentence as monstrous, adding that it reflected the authorities' fear of criticism and marked a difference between today's Russia and civilized countries.

British and U.S. ambassadors to Russia called for Kara-Murzas immediate release, speaking to reporters on the steps of the Moscow courthouse. Western governments strongly condemned the conviction.

Vladimir Kara-Murza bravely denounced Russias invasion of Ukraine for what it was  a blatant violation of international law and the U.N. Charter, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a statement.

The Foreign Office said it summoned Russian Ambassador Andrey Kelin over the conviction. The U.K. previously sanctioned the presiding judge for human rights violations in another case and said it would consider taking further action to hold people accountable in Kara-Murza's case.

The U.S. State Department praised Kara-Murza along with jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Yashin and many others who serve their country and their fellow citizens at great personal cost by boldly standing up for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It renewed its call for the release of Kara-Murza and more than 400 other political prisoners in Russia.

The U.N. Human Rights Chief Volker Turk called the sentence another blow to the rule of law and civic space in the Russian Federation."

Former Arizona state Rep. Cesar N. Chavez, a Democrat who was vice chairman of international affairs committee to the legislature when Kara-Murza gave his speech, called the sentence appalling and sad to those of us who live in a free society.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to comment.

Kara-Murza's health has deteriorated in custody, leading to the development of polyneuropathy  disease of or damage to nerves  in both his feet, according to his lawyers.

Lawyer Prokhorov told German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle on Monday that the politician was handed in essence, a death sentence.

___

Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine-war

___

Associated Press writer Anita Snow in Phoenix contributed.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP)  The United States Navy has sailed a warship through the Taiwan Strait in its first known transit since China carried out an encirclement exercise around self-ruled Taiwan.

The U.S. 7th Fleet said the transit through the strait by the USS Milius on Sunday was routine. The cruisers transited through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal State, the statement said.

Last week China concluded large-scale air and sea drills in the strait in retaliation for Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on April 5 in California. China said Wednesday that the exercises simulating an encirclement of Taiwan were intended as a serious warning to pro-independence politicians on the self-governing island and their foreign supporters.

China protested the transit Monday, saying the U.S. transit was a public hype and that the Eastern Theater Command was ready at any time to resolutely safeguard the country's sovereignty, safety, and regional peace and stability," according to a statement from the Eastern Theater Command's spokesperson Shi Yilu.

China has stepped up its military pressure over Taiwan in recent years, sending fighter jets and navy vessels towards the island on a near-daily basis. After former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan last August, China sent more and more military vessels over the midline of the Taiwan Strait, an unofficial boundary that had been accepted for decades. That increasing pressure from China has given greater attention to Taiwan globally.

Visiting French lawmaker Eric Bothorel, who arrived in Taipei on Monday, said that the world is watching.

What we want to say to Taiwan is if something happens to Taiwan, it will change the world," Bothorel told reporters. "That is the reason why we have, for instance, a military ship from France, in the China Sea last week. We consider that we have to preserve the freedom of traveling, of moving in this space.

Taiwan's military confirmed a French navy vessel had transited the middle of the Taiwan Strait last week. However, it did not elicit a public protest by the Chinese military.

China earlier had sanctioned the organizations involved with Tsai's visit in the U.S., including the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, where her meeting with McCarthy and other members of Congress were held. It also sanctioned U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, the Texas Republican who chairs the chamber's Foreign Affairs Committee, for visiting Taiwan.

On Sunday, China launched a rocket carrying a satellite that dropped debris into waters north of the capital Taipei. While the satellite launch had no obvious military purpose, it disrupted travel, delaying flights.

___

AP videojournalist Taijing Wu contributed to this report.

Find more AP coverage of the Asia-Pacific region at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

TOKYO (AP)  Japans military recovered two bodies of the 10 crew members on an army helicopter that sunk to the bottom of the sea after presumably crashing off a southern Japanese island 11 days ago.

On Monday, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force confirmed the deaths of two male crew members recovered by special divers from the 100-meter (330-foot) -deep seabed where they were found with the wreckage and three other crew members. The other five crew members on board at the time of the crash are still missing.

The UH-60JA Black Hawk helicopter disappeared April 6 soon after taking off from an army base on Miyako Island for a reconnaissance mission in Japans southern islands.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday expressed his deepest regret over the deaths Monday and pledged to do the utmost for the recovery of the rest of the crew members so that those who devoted their lives for the defense of the country can go back to their families as soon as possible, while we pursue our effort to find the cause of the accident.

Officials are studying ways to lift the aircraft to find the cause of the crash.

An unused lifeboat, a door, and other fragments believed to be from the helicopter were found but the army has had trouble locating the aircraft in the area's coral-rich deep sea.

Japan is aggressively building up its defense capability in its southwestern islands in response to Chinas increasingly assertive military activity in the region, including near Taiwan.

The helicopter was stationed at a key army base in Kumamoto prefecture on Japans southern main island of Kyushu, according to the Defense Ministry. One of its 10 crew members was Lt. Gen. Yuichi Sakamoto, who was just promoted to division commander at the end of March.

The army said the helicopter had a routine safety inspection in late March. No abnormality was found during its subsequent test flight nor on its trip from its home base of Kumamoto to the Miyako island, about 1,800 kilometers (1,120 miles) southwest of Tokyo.

Japan started deploying the Black Hawk, a twin-engine, four-bladed utility helicopter developed by U.S. manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft and produced by the Mitsubishi Heavy Industry, in 1999 for rapid response, surveillance and disaster relief missions.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

ROME (AP)  Italy's right-wing government pressed ahead with plans to crack down on migrants as they arrived by the hundreds on Monday at a Sicilian port after a coast guard rescue. Dozens more were taken on board a charity boat from an unseaworthy vessel operated by smugglers, while others came ashore unaided.

This week, the Senate is due to take up proposed legislation put forward by the government of far-right Premier Giorgia Meloni that aims to make it harder for migrants to gain temporary permission to stay in Italy.

Coalition ally Matteo Salvini, who leads the anti-migrant League party, wants the country to eliminate a status known as special protection for many of the tens of thousands of migrants who have come ashore in Italy for years now aboard smugglers' boats launched from Libya, Tunisia, Turkey and other places.

That status allows migrants who are unlikely to win refugee status to stay in Italy for two years, pending renewal. During this time, they can work legally and rent housing.

Salvini claims the possibility of special protection acts as a "pull factor,'' in encouraging migrants to leave their homelands in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Many of the migrants are fleeing poverty or a lack of decent jobs in sub-Saharan Africa, northern Africa, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Egypt.

While Meloni has said she'd like to see that status eliminated, lawmakers from another coalition party, Silvio Berlusconi's conservative Forza Italia, have indicated they could push for the time to be slashed from two years to six months.

"It's not so much a question of numbers, but of (sending) a signal of severity that we want to give,'' Maurizio Gasparri, a prominent Forza Italia senator was quoted as saying in Corriere della Sera on Monday.

The number of migrants arriving this spring has risen relentlessly.

A Italian coast guard boat with about 200 migrants aboard pulled into the harbor of Catania, Sicily early Monday. They were among some 600 migrants rescued by the coast guard during the weekend in Malta's search-and-rescue sector of the Mediterranean.

For years, humanitarian groups have lamented that Maltese authorities often ignore distress calls from foundering migrant vessels.

But on Monday, two humanitarian organizations, Alarm Phone, which monitors migrant boats in distress in the Mediterranean, and Emergency, which operates a rescue vessel, tweeted that Malta had instructed cargo ships to come to the aid of a couple of boats, and that the rescued passengers would disembark later in the archipelago nation.

On Sunday, Alarm Phone indicated there were a total of about 60 migrants on the two distressed boats.

The others arrived in Catania late Sunday night aboard a vessel operated by Frontex, the European Union's border protection agency.

Also on Sunday, an Italian naval vessel brought about 300 rescued migrants to another Sicilian port, Augusta, Italian media said.

Stepping ashore on the tiny island of Lampedusa were scores of other migrants who arrived unaided. Among them were several spotted walking on a beach by residents of the tiny tourist and fishing isle.

Separately, Emergency said its rescue ship, Life Support, on Saturday had plucked to safety 55 migrants from a smugglers' boat. It lamented that Italy had assigned a port on Italy's northwestern coast to bring the passengers, lengthening the time until the migrants could step on land as well as the days the charity vessel would need to return to the area of the sea plied by migrant smugglers.

Assigning disembarkation points far away is part of the Meloni government's strategy. Salvini rails that charity boats essentially serve as taxi services for smuggling operations and encourage more people to attempt the dangerous crossing of the central Mediterranean.

By Sunday night, the center which shelters migrants on Lampedusa held nearly 800 people, nearly double its supposed capacity. The migrants are accommodated there before being transferred elsewhere in Italy while their claims for asylum are processed.

Meloni's government last week declared a six-month national state of emergency to help cope with the influx of migrants, mainly by shortening the time need to fund or erect new housing or repatriation centers for those losing asylum bids.

By Monday, roughly 33,000 migrants had arrived in the year to date, compared to about 8,500 the same period in each of the last two years.

On Sunday, a longtime interior ministry official, Valerio Valenti, who heads an immigration office, was tapped to be the commissioner leading the emergency response. The governors of four left-led regions immediately refused to back the appointment, indicating they wouldn't work with whatever his plans would be to open new housing or repatriation centers.

How their pushback would affect Valenti's efficiency wasn't immediately clear.

___

Follow APs coverage of global migration at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

MOSCOW (AP)  Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday hailed the military's performance during massive naval drills that have involved the entire Russian Pacific Fleet  a show of force amid the tensions with the West over the fighting in Ukraine.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to Putin that the exercise that began Friday involves 167 warships, including 12 submarines, 89 aircraft and 25,000 troops.

As part of the drills, Russia's nuclear-capable long-range strategic bombers will fly over the central part of the Pacific Ocean to imitate strikes against groups of enemy ships, Shoigu said.

Speaking during Monday's meeting with Shoigu, Putin praised the navy's high level performance and said that similar drills should be held in other areas.

The Defense Ministry has declared that sectors in the southern part of the Sea of Okhotsk, the Peter the Great Bay of the Sea of Japan and the Avacha Bay on the southeastern coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula would be closed to sea and air traffic for the duration of practice torpedo and missile launches and artillery exercises.

The ministry said that the drills were intended to test the Pacific Fleets readiness to repel aggression. The ministry described the briefing as a show of Russias voluntary transparency.

The Russian military has concentrated the bulk of its forces on the front lines in Ukraine, but has also continued conducting regular drills across Russia to train its forces and demonstrate their readiness.

The Pacific Fleet drills started just before Chinese Defense Minister Gen. Li Shangfu arrived in Russia on Sunday and met with Putin, who hailed close ties between Moscow and Beijing.

Li's talks with Shoigu would focus on prospects of bilateral defense cooperation and acute issues of global and regional security, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

On Friday, Shoigu noted that the scenario for the maneuvers envisages a response to an adversarys attempt to make a landing on Sakhalin Island and the southern Kuril Islands.

Japan asserts territorial rights to the Kuril Islands, which it calls the Northern Territories. The Soviet Union took them in the final days of World War II, and the dispute has kept the countries from signing a peace treaty formally ending their hostilities.

Last year, Russia announced it had suspended peace talks with Japan to protest Tokyos sanctions against Moscow over its action in Ukraine.

Russia has built up its military presence on the islands in recent years, deploying advanced fighter jets, anti-ship missiles and air defense systems there.

___

Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
TUNIS, Tunisia (AP)  Influential Tunisian Islamist leader Rached Ghannouchi was detained Monday after a police search, according to his lawyer, in a move denounced by his supporters as a stepped-up effort by the president to quash Tunisia's opposition.

The move against the 81-year-old former parliament speaker comes amid growing social tensions and deepening economic troubles in Tunisia, the birthplace of the Arab Spring pro-democracy movement more than a decade ago.

Ghannouchi, head of the Ennahdha party, is the most prominent critic of Tunisian President Kais Saied. While he has been detained for questioning in the past and released, his supporters described Monday's action as a more serious step.

Police entered his house for a lengthy search and brought him to the El Aouina jail in the east of the capital, his lawyer Nejib Chebbi told The Associated Press.

Ennahdha called for his release, saying in a statement that it it condemns this very dangerous development."

Tunisias official TAP news agency reported that he was detained on a warrant by counterterrorism prosecutors as part of an investigation into recent provocative comments. It did not elaborate.

Other Tunisian media reported that Ghannouchi was to be questioned over a video circulating online in which he purportedly says that the president's perceived efforts to "eradicate'' Islamist opposition threaten to unleash civil war.

Ghannouchi has been detained before for questioning on suspicion of money laundering and terrorism financing through a charity. He has denied wrongdoing and his party says the accusations are politically driven.

His daughter Yusra said her father had cooperated with police during past detentions, and lamented that the president ordered a raid on his house and his arrest after sundown during the most holy night of Ramadan.

Islamist lawyer Ines Harrath questioned why he wasn't summoned for questioning during normal working hours. We are no longer living in a state of law,'' she said. The current situation cannot last forever."

Saied shut down the Ennahdha-led parliament in 2021 and has since moved to consolidate power amid growing public disillusionment with Tunisias democracy.
We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

Go to form
Chris Richner signed on as CIO of Norco Industries with a clear mission: To guide the US-based manufacturer through wholesale digital transformation.

I was brought on board to be a change agent, says Richner, who is now 18 months into the job. The first order of business was to get my infrastructure shored up, because the end goal in my five-year plan is to bring digitalization to the shop floor.

Norco manufactures a range of recreation vehicle (RV), industrial, and automotive products under seven brands, including Adnik (seating systems), Bal RV (RV components), Norco Professional Lifting Equipment (floor jacks, clutch jacks, transmission jacks), Flo-Dynamics (fluid maintenance equipment), Nortool (machining and tooling equipment), Norcoat (e-coat and powder coat finishing), and Freedom Industrial Hydraulics (industrial lifting equipment).

The manufacturing industry is undergoing seismic change due to increased digitization and other IT advancements, and CIOs are at the center of this, with 86% of manufacturing IT leaders saying their role is becoming more digital and innovation focused, and 84% agreeing that the CIO is becoming a changemaker, according to the 2023 State of the CIO survey.

At Norco, Richner is stepping up with an aggressive plan to transform the companys technology infrastructure within his first five years. But embracing new technology wholesale is a tall order. So Richner hit the ground running with a plan to use robotic process automation (RPA) to free the companys staff from time-consuming, repetitive tasks, giving them the bandwidth to embrace broader change.

RPA uses technology, business logic, and structured inputs to automate business processes. Richner sat down with Norco Industries CEO Michael Tallman to discuss how the company could leverage RPA and to determine possible use cases to prove its utility. Together they decided the finance department was the perfect choice.
Eindhoven-based Copaco is well-known for the cloud services and solutions it offers for managed service providers  including managed security service providers  independent software vendors and systems integrators throughout Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. Delivered from the companys highly advanced data centers, the Copaco Cloud, powered by VMware technologies, provides the core of the companys Infrastructure-as-a-Service Offering (IaaS).

We recently connected with Pascal Saul, Senior Cloud Architect of Copaco, to learn why the company elected to embrace the VMware Zero Carbon Committed initiative. We also took the opportunity to learn how he sees a more sustainable approach to IT benefiting customers and the enterprises they serve.

We offer a variety of cloud services, including those that address productivity, security, backup, disaster recovery, and IaaS-related needs, said Saul. We also offer online self-service portals managed service providers can in turn provide to their customers to perfect the user experience. This includes APIs that make it easy for providers to manage all of their subscriptions online within a Copaco platform that provisions and manages all billing processes with ease. We are essentially enabling providers of bespoke IT services to offer a best-in-class private cloud platform that can also be used for public cloud and multi-cloud deployments  all while relying on VMware technologies beloved by system and network engineers.

Notably, Copaco also provides fast and easy access to hardware, including everything from servers to enterprise-grade mobile devices and professional services. This multi-faceted nature of the companys business is reflected in its approach to sustainability.

As part of our commitment and decision to join the VMware Zero Carbon Committed initiative, we are initially focusing on three key areas: incorporating sustainability into our purchasing policy, reducing energy usage while simultaneously increasing energy efficiency, and reducing the waste associated with packaging materials, adds Saul. Our data centers are powered with renewable energy and with our commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2030, we are likewise committed to ensuring that sustainability is constantly top-of-mind not only among our own employees, but also our existing customers and prospective ones.

Its an endeavor he believes is not only the right thing to do for the planet, but is also good business.

As a cloud services provider, distributor, and partner who manages the logistics required to ensure that enterprises IT needs are met, we believe sustainability and our company goals go hand-in-hand, Saul says. Increasingly your energy efficiency helps you reduce costs and CO2 emissions, and reducing packaging materials, combining orders as efficiently as possible has the same result. Every step forward helps the planet, contributes to our profits, and sends a positive message to our employees, customers, and vendors.

He also notes that efforts to be more environmentally friendly help to attract new, young IT talent to the company. In addition, sustainability is increasingly more important for customers, both as a soft ask and as a formal requirement in requests for proposals.

Awareness is increasing, and customers want the organizations they work with to be transparent about their sustainability policies, carbon emissions, purchasing standards, vendor selection, waste reduction, and management, he adds. There is so much to win, and we have to win.

On this last point, Saul stresses that the outcomes extend far beyond the confines of the business landscape or even the IT ecosystem.

We must all act for environment, for future generations, and for parts of the world that already face the negative efforts of global warming and climate change, he says. We need to raise awareness and fight the human tendency to lose sight of long-term effects, underestimate the scope of big problems, or fail to appreciate the urgency of the situation. That is why it is so important to combine efforts to increase sustainability and profits.

Learn more about Copaco and its partnership with VMware here.
Nightline Association appoints first CEO

Umbrella charity the Nightline Association has recruited a chief executive as part of its new strategy to meet the emerging needs of the students it serves.



Katie Endacott will be their first chief executive, having worked in the charity sector for 15 years.

Prior to joining Nightline, she was head of operations and fundraising at Frank Water. Endacott has also served as chair of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising South West.



Endacott said: I am delighted to be joining the organisation at such a crucial time. The Nightline Associations vision of ensuring every student has access to support offered by nightline services so that ultimately fewer students die by suicide is so close to my heart.



This organisation has many partners in the student mental health space, which is incredible seeing as it has been led by a committed core of volunteers for many years. Now is the time to invest further, to better serve the ever growing need for our listening service.



Michael Sanders also joined Nightline Association as the new chair of trustees in January.

Nightlines exist in over 30 universities across the country, and offer listening support to more than 1,500,000 students.

Victim Support appoints Katie Kempen as CEO

The charity Victim Support has appointed Katie Kempen as its chief executive.

She joins the charity from the Office of the Victims Commissioner, where she is currently chief executive.



Prior to this, Kempen was chief executive of the non-profit Independent Custody Visiting Association (ICVA) and has held several policy roles including at the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey and in local government.

She said: Im thrilled to be joining Victim Support to lead the charitys incredible work, delivering specialist, tailored support to victims, helping them to understand their rights and recover after crime. Years of experience and countless conversations with victims, has taught me just how vital this support is  for many its a lifeline.

Kempen will join Victim Support in June 2023, taking over from Diana Fawcett, who is to retire after leading the charity for five years.

FEAST With Us appoints its first CEO and new chair

Caroline Monkhouse Flower, who served as chair of the FEAST With Us board for six months, has been appointed as the charitys first chief executive.

The CEO role was introduced to support the charity as it expands to include services such as a new healthy-eating education programme.

Previously chief operating officer for nutrition and food technology company Kafoodle, she was appointed following an external recruitment process.

She said: We have ambitious plans to expand our projects and services this year, including new community meal locations, conducting nutritional research, and launching a healthy eating on a budget education programme.

Sadly, theres an increasing need for food poverty support, and we want to lead the way in identifying, delivering and co-ordinating meaningful and sustainable interventions with our partners.

Guys & St Thomas Foundation appoints CIO

Guys & St Thomas Foundation have appointed Emma Davies as chief investment officer to manage a 1bn charitable endowment for health impact.

Davies has private and third sector experience and will be responsible for implementing the investment strategy for the Foundations endowment.

The foundations overarching endowment strategy aims to make investments that deliver long term and sustainable financial returns as well as positive health outcomes.



She has held previous roles at JP Morgan, Perry Capital, the Wellcome Trust, Marylebone Partners and as the founding chief investment officer at Big Society Capital. Most recently she co-led the team at Octopus Ventures.



Davies, said: The foundations mission to build the foundations of a healthier society is vital in solving the collective challenges we all face as people, societies and global community.



The dual mandate the Foundation sets for its endowment to drive financial returns and health impact is ambitious, and exciting. Its leading the way for foundations and mainstream investors in showing how we can all contribute to building a healthier society. I am looking forward to working with the Foundation to realise this shared vision.

Londons Air Ambulance announces director of finance, IT and facilities

Londons Air Ambulance Charity has announced the appointment Anna Bennett as the charitys new director of finance, IT and facilities.

A chartered accountant with over 20 years of experience, Bennett holds a ICAEW Diploma in Charity Accounting.

She has also worked for several national charities, including as finance director for Hospice UK and as director of finance and operations for BBC Children in Need.

Bennett has also been a trustee and audit committee member for a number of charities including NCVO and the Money Advice Trust.

She said: I am delighted to join Londons Air Ambulance Charity at such an important time in its history, working with extraordinary people saving lives every day.

Ive been a supporter of the charity for many years now, even abseiling down the side of the Royal London Hospital back in 2016 to raise funds  although this time around I hope to contribute with my feet firmly on the ground.

Im really looking forward to getting to know the dedicated group of people who help make the charity what it is  whether thats the staff, our life-saving crew or the patients across London who we work for every day.

Social Investment Scotland appoints board members

Social Investment Scotland (SIS), has appointed four new board members. Joining the board are Caroline McLaughlin, Ian Mitchelmore, Samantha Bett and Kathleen McLeay.

McLaughlin founded Heriot Row Advisors to support organisations and philanthropic networks to be catalysts for impact and until recently she was chief partnerships officer at Asian Venture Philanthropy Network.

Mitchelmore has spent his career specialising in SME finance, and Bett is director of treasury for Wheatley Housing Group, one of the largest social landlords in the UK.

McLeay, who has been chief executive of NCM Fund Services since 2006, also acts as compliance officer for the group .

Ken Barclay, SIS chair, said: I would like to welcome the new board members, who together bring a great deal of relevant expertise to our board.

The high calibre of the appointments reflects our leading position as a responsible finance provider in Scotland and beyond. All four new members bring a unique range of skills and experience which will be vital in fuelling SIS vision to build an impact economy.

Cardboard Citizens announces trustees

Cardboard Citizens has appointed four new trustees to their board. The new trustees joining are creative producer and playwright Marcus Bernard, actress, award-winning voice artist and employment law solicitor Ayesha Casely-Hayford, actor and writer Charlie Josephine, and social impact advisor and director of curator community for Sofar Sounds, Ajeet Jugnauth.

Lisa Briscoe, executive director and joint chief executive, said: This injection of fresh perspectives comes at a key moment for Cardboard Citizens. We look forward to sharing what happens next with the support of a superpowered board.

The organisation said these appointments align with the broader mission while strengthening a commitment to greater representation both within the organisation, by giving members a louder voice, and in the wider community.



sign up to receive the Civil Society News daily bulletin here . For more news, interviews, opinion and analysis about charities and the voluntary sector,
Shortly before the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump drew applause at campaign rallies by recounting how an MSNBC reporter, Ali Velshi, had been hit by police with a rubber bullet to the knee while he was covering a protest related to the killing of George Floyd. It was the most beautiful thing, Trump said. Later, Trump referred to Velshi, incorrectly, as that idiot reporter from CNN. The crowd laughed.

What was remarkable about the attack was how unremarkable it had become. Trump targeted the press throughout his tenureand it seemed that the taunting had less to do with disliking a particular story, or disapproving of an outlet (Trump couldnt seem to figure out where Velshi worked), than making an enemy out of the press in general. By the time Trump left office, hed normalized the idea that it was fair game for a president to attack the institution of journalism, and spawned a political movement in America that sees no relation between democracy and the press that covers it.

Years ago, Americans were willing to hold opposing views about the press: though they often expressed annoyance, or worse, about individual reporters or stories, they nevertheless acknowledged the value of a functioning, independent media. Reporting on Watergate and Vietnam, for instance, sparked loud complaints about journalism at the time, but Richard Nixon and Lyndon B. Johnson never went as far as Trump in questioning the fundamental right of a free press to function. If they had, they would have been outliers in mainstream political thought.

Thanks to Trump, the culture has changed. Democracy seems to have hit a breaking point; authoritarianism has crept in. The crisis of American democracy has been facilitated by the crises confronting American journalism, writes Jelani Cobb, the dean of the Columbia Journalism School, in an essay introducing an upcoming conference cosponsored by CJR. Hindered by declining revenues, a diminished public trust, a shrinking labor force, and the emergence of a sophisticated disinformation ecosystem, the press, as the debates over the COVID vaccines and the 2020 election indicate, has had difficulty convincing many Americans of basic facts.

The outliers have become the mainstream. Greg Gianforte, a Republican from Montana who body-slammed a reporter for The Guardian in 2017 while running for Congress, is now governor of the state. (He is my type! Trump said after the attack.) Ron DeSantisthe governor of Florida and Trumps likely opponent in next years Republican primaryhas proposed a series of measures that hobble reporters ability to do their jobs, including one that makes it easier for public figures to sue a media outlet, and another that would ensure comments made by anonymous sources would be presumed false in defamation lawsuits. Despiteor perhaps because ofthat, DeSantis is considered the front-runner among establishment Republicans. Trump, meanwhile, has continued to make anti-press insults a staple of his rallies.

Ours is a dark moment for journalism. According to the most recent Gallup polling, trust in media is near a historic low; another study found that almost two thousand journalists lost their jobs in the past year; social media remains a toxic place for reporters, particularly if theyre women or journalists of color. And, fundamentally, thanks to a political culture that rewards undermining news media, too many people in the United States have decoupled a free press from the functioning of a democratic society.

We know, too, that these problems are not self-contained. Since the early years of Trumps political career, his anti-press rhetoric has crossed borders, adopted by foreign leaders, as part of a global rise in authoritarianism. Journalisma job that has always required confrontation, a willingness to challenge people in powerwas frequently recast as opposition reporting. This new issue of CJR, Breaking Points, observes how that has unfolded everywhere from Myanmar to Pakistan to Ukraine to Brazil, and many countries in between. After Russia banished TV Rain, the last independent TV news network in the country, journalists were forced to flee; the broadcast resumed from Riga, Latvia. But as Annie Hylton writes, in a profile of one of TV Rains rising stars, Valeria Ratnikova, public anger toward the Kremlin formed a perception of Russian reporters resettling abroad, many of whom underestimated the extent to which they would need to articulate their independence from their homeland: In this heightened environment, a source tells Hylton, it was a predictable mutual disaster. In India, the largest democracy in the world, documentary filmmakers are finding it harder than ever to bring their work to lightand preserve a place for criticism in the archives. In CJRs first foray into film, Zainab Sultan hears from documentarians about their predicament; as Nakul Singh Sawhney says, They could just come and arrest you. And you could get beaten up, right? But people are still doing it. Writing from Hong Kong, Hsiuwen Liu describes how members of the citys free press have found openings in a tightly regulated environment. Some have managed to carry on reporting; even so, they wonder: Who knows what will happen tomorrow?

Elsewhere in the issue, Sophie Neiman writes about Ugandas Twitter battleground, where Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the son of the countrys longtime president, posts with impunity, while reporters are subject to harassment, arrest, and physical abuse. Emily Russell examines the media relationship between America and Afghanistan, where US governmentfunded broadcasts have attempted to spread democracy; in an audio piece, she questions how that project has goneand what risk it has posed to local journalists. And Maddy Crowell profiles Runa Sandvik, a New Yorkbased hacker who has made it her lifes work to protect journalists against cyberthreats, and who has found that authoritarian regimes are keeping her in business. Theres much more, and you can find it all here.

With another US presidential election in sight, American journalists are now required to hold two jobs: report on a deeply polarized country and defend the role of their profession in a democracy. It is an outsize task, one that will almost certainly strain tensions within newsrooms. Is the best approach to call out antidemocratic movements directly and activelyto embrace the notion of opposition journalism? Or is a more restrained, objective approach more apt to engender trust? Journalism is split, often along generational lines. To me, the path forward requires journalists to double down on reporting and lean into their role as adversaries. As I wrote in CJR shortly after Trumps election, in 2016, We need to embrace, even relish, our legacy as malcontents and troublemakers, people who are willing to say the thing that makes everyone else uncomfortable.

The moment we are in feels dire. But the need for what reporters doholding the powerful to account, listening to people who are struggling, confronting injusticeis as essential as ever. We have no choice but to engageand make our voices heard.





Kyle Pope is the editor in chief and publisher of the Columbia Journalism Review.
Last fall, when Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, known as Lula, was elected president of Brazil, it was an extraordinary comeback. Lula had previously served two terms, from 2003 to 2010. In 2011, he was diagnosed with throat cancer. In 2018, he was sent to prison on charges of money laundering and corruption, which he denied. The same year, Jair Bolsonaro waged a successful campaign for president, with a brand of politics that bore striking similarities to Donald Trumps vitriol. The two men became friendsand, like Trump, Bolsonaro reserved a particular disdain for the press. Right from the start of his first term, President Bolsonaro adopted an openly aggressive and belligerent posture towards journalists, and repeatedly demonstrated a complete refusal to accept the medias role in a democratic society, Emmanuel Colombie, the director of Reporters Without Borders Latin America bureau, has said. He sees the media as just propaganda tools that are supposed to serve his government. A second term loomed as a fearsome possibility.

At one point, Bolsonaro said he hoped that Lula would rot in prison. But in 2019 Lula was released, after serving a year and a half of a twelve-year sentence. Then Brazils Supreme Court threw out his convictions, ruling that the presiding judge had been biasedand paving the way for his campaign.

Lula claimed victory by a narrow margin. When he won, he vowed to be president of all Braziliansthe words echoed Joe Bidens post-election promise of unity in the United States. But as in the United States, with its screeches of election fraud, Lulas legitimacy was called into question. And just as a mob staged an insurrection at the Capitol in Washington, DC, on January 6, 2021, Brazilians stormed government buildings in their countrys capital, Brasilia, on January 8 of this year. It seemed a devastating reverberation of far-right extremism, if not a copycat event. It was and it wasnt, Lilia Moritz Schwarcza Brazilian historian and anthropologist and the author of Brazilian Authoritarianism: Past and Present (2022)said recently. It was, because they really invaded very symbolic places: buildings, palaces. But it wasntbecause, in the Brazilian case, the army, as we now know, may have taken part in it.

Schwarcz was speaking with Marina Dias, a journalist who for many years wrote for Folha de S.Paulo and is now working for the Washington Post. Dias was in Brasilia on January 8, where she found herself surrounded by bolsonaristas. She was yelled at, chased, pushed to the ground, and kicked repeatedly; the attackers pulled her hair, broke her glasses, and tried to grab her phone. The Committee to Protect Journalists estimates that she was one of at least forty journalists targeted during the riots. I think its important that we talk about it, Dias told me.

Bolsonaro has fled to Florida, where he is reportedly crashing with Jose Aldo, a Brazilian mixed-martial-arts fighter. Lulas administration has since shown sympathy for the press. But Lulas record with journalists is imperfecthe once threatened to revoke the visa of a New York Times correspondentand he has inherited a media terrain in dire need of rehabilitation. To better understand these circumstancesand the broader context of authoritarianism in the countryI turned to Schwarcz and Dias. As it happened, Dias had just been at the National Museum of the Republic, covering an exhibition, Future Brazil: Forms of Democracy, that was curated by Schwarcz. Lula and his wifeRosangela, known as Janjawere there, too. We now get to read a transcript of the conversation between Schwarcz and Dias, which has been edited for length and clarity. Betsy Morais, managing editor

Marina Dias: Its a pleasure to be here with you. I wanted to start by talking about a meeting that we hadeven though you didnt see me. It was February 8, I think, one month after the riots in Brasilia. You were at the National Museum of the Republic introducing President Lula and his wife, Janja, to an exhibition. And I was covering itthe visitas a journalist. It caught my attention how concentrated Lula was. He was picking up his glasses to read all the texts closely, and he was paying so much attention to what you were saying. Did you notice that? What do you think most attracted Lulas attention in that exhibition?

Lilia Schwarcz: Marina, thank you very much for the questionand thats true. I was invited by the Lula government in the moment of transition to have an art exhibition about democracy in Brasilia. The exhibition shows more than two hundred Brazilian artists work, focused on the idea of democracy. At the same time, the main goal of the exhibition was to show that the beauty and the challenge of democracy is that its incompletein a sensebecause you always have to fight for rights.

Lula decided to go to the exhibition together with Janja. And when they decided to come, people said to me, Ah, he is going to be in the exhibition just for twenty minutesbe very short. That was the instruction. And then when Lula arrived, he was so curious, so worried about everything. He wanted to learn everything. At the endI dont know if you rememberhe stayed nearly two hours.

I do remember, because I was there waiting for him to leave and he didnt leave. Yeah, it was more than one hour.

It was like, Oh, President, I think we have to stop now. And he came with this kind of answer: No, I didnt see the whole exhibition.

Brazil had four years of a very, veryits not conservative, we are talking about an extreme-right government. Very, can I say, retrograde. And then we had a kind of backlash. Having a president that loves art, that wants to understand art, that wants to understand what contemporary painterslike Black painters, women, Indigenous painterswhat they have to say about democracy, is very beautiful. You have a president that takes his time to see art and to be in a museum and be completely dedicated to this challenge. Its a challenge to learn with art.

Yes, it is. And like you said, we have to take care of democracy. Because if we dont, it could die. Did you think at some point that Brazilian democracy would die during the Bolsonaro government? How did you feel about democracy during the last four years?

It was a very insecure moment in Brazil. And you are completely right: you have to take care of democracy. We have experienced a momentan international moment, since 2016when we thought that democracy was the last stage of our happiness and experience. It was not right, Marina. Because we learned that its not difficult to have this kind of backlash, this kind of problem. During Jair Bolsonaros governance, we didnt have a government worried about our civil rights or worried about our health, or education.

In my opinion, the fact that Lula da Silva won the election was crucial to our democracy, because Jair Bolsonaro was a president that loved to talk about coup detat. And he loved to talk beautifully about the military dictatorship that ended in Brazil in 85. So he was a president thatI used to say that he was himself a coup detat. In that kind of regime, the beginning is, they win elections. And then slowly by slowly they start to attack democracy as a daily project.

So you said that Bolsonaro is conservative, and more than that. Do you think he is an authoritarian or not? And what about his government? Because there are people who think its too much to say that the Bolsonaro government was an authoritarian government.

In your book you point out that Brazilians like to think they are tolerant. They are welcoming, they are cordial. But in fact they are not. They are a conservative people who have always had authoritarian roots, mainly because of slavery. I think there is also the fact that the Brazilian state is a state that grew out of the Portuguese monarchy.

Im not against conservative people, the conservative party, if they respect the constitution. I think that democracy survives better with differencethis is the rhythm of democracy. You need to have different opinions. You need to have battles. You need to have feuds of narratives. This is not a problem. The problem is when you have not a conservative president, but a very authoritarian one. When I published this book about authoritarianism in Brazil, the book that was launched in Brazil in May 2019, it was considered one of the first books against Bolsonaro. But the thing is, I do not mention Bolsonaro lots of timesjust once.

I think one time.

Yes, just once, when Im talking about patrimonialism. That is the topic of the day now in Brazil. Bolsonaro is suing the press because of thisyou cant talk about it. So why I decided not to write about Bolsonaro is because I wanted to talk about my country.

The book is based on two main ideas. The first one is that our present is full of pasts. Brazil was the last country in the Western Hemisphere to abolish the slave systemafter the United States, after Puerto Rico, and after Cuba. And with a very conservative lawjust one linefrom that day on, Brazil had no slaves in the country. But thats all. There were no programs of inclusion. Brazil had slavesand this is very important to tell to a foreign audiencenot just in the north or the south, but all over the country. And Brazil received more Africans than other countries. Brazil likely received almost 45 percent of the Africans that were kidnapped off of the African continent. Slave systems are very rooted in Brazilbut not just the slave systems. We live in a structurally racist society. Its a kind of language of difference in Brazil, an internal language, an internal secret. So this is not the past, this is our present.

And the second idea was: for those that couldnt believe that Brazil elected such an authoritarian president, I want to say that Brazilians were always authoritarian, because this is a country that tries to naturalize hierarchy, tries to naturalize white people in power, men in powerand not talk about it. We dont talk about it, we just live it. Bolsonaro is very authoritarian because he does not believe in parties, in a constitution. He believes in himself and in receiving lots of money. And he was also a digital-populist president, because he was elected digitally and he talked not to Brazil, but just those who elected him.

I love the Palestinian writer Edward Said. He has a book about beginnings, a beautiful book. And in my opinionbecause Im a historian and an anthropologistbeginnings are very important. You cant not see: Bolsonaro is an authoritarian. His government was completely authoritarian.

Sometimes I find it difficult to define him. I think Bolsonaro is an authoritarian, but his government was, like, wannabe authoritarian. But also I agree with you. There are a lot of points that defined Bolsonaros government as an authoritarian governmenthes always, always harassing and attacking journalists and the press. I was the victim of this a lot of times. Violence and intolerance against minorities, denial of science, hate speech, fake news.

And what about the army? I think the army is more politicized than ever because, during Bolsonaros government, they returned to the middle of the political sceneand this is a problem that has not been solved. How do you think the military can be pacified in the Lula government, and how important is the military in terms of authoritarian influence?

I think its a key question in our fight for democracy. Lots of people said that the story of the Capitol in Washington, DC, after Bidens election was very similar to January 8 in Brazil. It was and it wasnt. It was, because they really invaded very symbolic places: buildings, palaces. But it wasntbecause, in the Brazilian case, the army, as we now know, may have taken part in it.

The army has been influential since the Paraguayan War, which started around the end of the Civil War in the United States. That was the beginning, and that was the moment when a state army created an imagea fake imagethat they will save the country, that they were the saviors of the country. That was the same language and concept used in 1889, when Brazil started to be a republic. That was a kind of civil and military coup detat, but the military made a coup detat over the civilian population. So the beginning of the Brazilian-republic story is a military story. And that happened again in 1930: another coup detat. And that happened again in 1945 and then happened again in 64, when we had a military regime from 64 to 85. Brazil has a beautiful constitution that was enacted in 1988 that we Brazilians call the citizens constitution. Its a very generous constitution, but it didnt touch the military forces.

So what happened? Brazil had a truth commission that could talk about the military that assassinated civilians in Brazil but could not judge them. So this is the pavement, this is the avenue for what happened with Bolsonaro. Because the military had a very fake interpretation of one of the constitutions articles, that they were a kind of independent force, an independent power. But its not like this. In the constitution, the idea is that the army is a neutral power. Its not a political power, but they used an interpretation that is not correct at all, and became very strong during Bolsonaros government.

Lula is now firing or taking out of power a lot of military peopleeven the head of the army. We broke a story in the Washington Post saying that the general was the guy who said to the minister of justice, You are not arresting people here in the military during January Eighth. Lula is making changesdo you think its possible hes going to be successful?

Lula is doing this. His response to the riots of January 8 was very strong. He fired a lot of people and the investigations are still on.

Ill ask you about journalism, my role here. Because I think that the role of journalists is to put light on the facts that we think are relevant or important. I always try to keep reporting, of course, with accurate data, with good analysis. But a lot of times I wait for someone to do something, like the state or the society. And nothing happens, like you said. They dont want to discuss a lot of things, and it is frustrating. What do we journalists need to do? Because sometimes they are beating us on the streets, literally.

On January 8 in Brasilia, I was covering the riots and the attacks, when I was surrounded by more than ten people who knocked me on the ground, kicked me, pulled my hair, broke my glasses. They tried to take my cellphone when they realized that I was a reporter. I was asking questions to a lady that agreed to answer me, but when someone found out that I was a journalist, he started to yell at me. I was surrounded by people, and they literally beat me.

I know that professional journalists have always been annoying to public authorities because we ask questions, we challenge them, we investigate what they are doing. But I dont know, since the end of the military dictatorship in Brazil: Have ever seen as much violence against the press as during the four years of Bolsonaro? Its frustrating sometimes. I think we are fighting, fighting, fighting, and nothing happens on the other side. How do you see this relationship with journalism and our role in this scenario?

Journalists are on the spot at the same time, I think, as professors, academicsall people that deal with good information. This is another example of how the government of Bolsonaro was not middle-authoritarianhe was really authoritarian, because he created this atmosphere, this very violent atmosphere.

To talk about this is to talk about not just Bolsonaro, the ex-president, but to talk about the same things happening in the United States. Its the same in the States. You can talk about Trump, but you can also talk about Trumpists. Im talking about an extreme-right, radical-right movement. This is a violent movement, a very white, very male movement. These people do not like to inform themselves with good journalism. They inform themselves with fake news. So for them, you are very dangerous. I am very dangerous. Because we come up with other truths. We are fighting for truths. Thats the point.

But I think, Marina, I would love to hear you, too, about this subject. I think that civil society can help journalists and can help the universities and can help our children. They have to learn whats happening in Brazil.

Yeah, and I think to overcome this systemof destruction of democracy from the inside, that system that Bolsonaro and other leaders around the world have been usingwe need free elections. Which, of course, we have in Brazil, despite the false allegations of fraud spread by Bolsonaro and his supporters.

Talking about the future, youve said that you are very optimistic. Are you optimistic even after four years of Bolsonaro, even after January 8? How do you feel about Brazilian democracy?

I always say that Im very optimistic thinking about the future, but very pessimistic in the present. And this is a philosophical position, because in the present we must be vigilant. If we are good citizens, we must be vigilant and take care of democracy.

Sometimes I am just exhausted, Lilia, when I am traveling around Brazil reporting. Last year during the elections in Brazil, I did a big project, traveling around the country talking to the five groups that could decide the election: women, people from the northeast, agribusiness people, middle-class people, and evangelical people. And when I approached, people were just like, Get out of here. I hate you. You are a journalistget out of here. And they dont have arguments sometimes, they just have this hate speech. For me it is exhausting.

Sometimes Im tired, but I know that I have to keep working because the good information, the good analysis, as you said, is the way to fight against this. And this is not over, like you said. Trump was defeated by Biden three years ago, and Trump is still in the US. Bolsonaro was defeated in a super, super close election. Lula won just by, like, two million votes, and bolsonarismo is still in Brazil, all over Brazilthis hate speech and these conservative people. Im glad that you are optimistic, because sometimes I think I have no energy anymore. So its good to hear from you and get a little bit of this energy for me, too.

Marina, we need good journalists, because the conservative thinkers, they are all there. As you mentioned, we had very difficult elections in Brazil. We thought it would be easy, but it wasnt. We cant give up.

Before Jair Bolsonaro, I was not on Instagram and social mediaand then I thought, I have to be there. This is my role. I studied all my life in public schools. So I need to give back. To give back what? Good information. I use history. But of course, I also use your work, Marina. I need good information, good journalism.

I didnt give up. Sometimes Im just tired. But I didnt give up. Im working; Im here; count on me.

Thats very important: to recognize that we are tired, but we are not going to give up. Because we have this fight, this fight for good information and good dialogue.

I always say, I dont want to make social media like a demon. Its not a demon. Its sometimes the result of debate. So Im not avoiding the debates, Im just looking for good debates. These right-wing leaders spread, as you mentioned, Marina, hate speech. I try hard to discuss with themgiving numbers, giving facts, quoting journalists, quoting good data. We have to continue, because we have to think not just in the present but the future.

Those attacks I suffered, there are many. And its not about me or my friendsa lot of brilliant journalists have been attacked during these last few years. These are attempts to undermine journalism and to stop critical reporting, which is my job. These attacks are part of leaders efforts to escape accountability and limit the public response to their undemocratic actions.

Its like a circle. You need to work to do journalism, to do the critical reporting to stop them or to make sure they dont escape their accountability. They need to respond to their undemocratic acts. We need to keep doing what we do. Because Bolsonaro may not be in power anymore in Brazil, Bolsonaro may be in Orlandobut his followers are here.

They are here, and I could not agree more with you. We need to be there and we need to talk with people. Thats the pointtry to talk, right? And we know that we are not always right. I can be wrong and I can correct myself. Im not saying Im right, they are wrong. No. But we can start this kind of dialogue, a qualified dialoguethis is importantwith data, with good information.

And get out of the bubble. Thats why I liked that you were going on social media, because we are talking to our friends, but usually they have the same values. We need to go beyond.

Yeah. Its very comfortable. Even in universityBrazil has a very good university; everything I know I learned there. But sometimes its a very protected environment. Thats important, because this protection means we have peace to work and to do our research. This is my job: to develop my research, to find new data, new archives, to question archives. But sometimes you have to go into the public in order to hear, to listen, and in order to speak, to make your voice a little bigger. Not so big, but a little bigger. Even to show what we really do in a university.

I remember the minister of education trying to give not a positive scenario, but a terrible scenario. He said, Can you imagine that you send your son or your daughter to study in very good schools?he said private schools. Then he saidand he is the minister of educationand then your son or daughter decides to go and be an anthropologist?

I would love it.

So then you have to go public and show the kind of things that you do, that you think, that you promotethat you can help to make this a better country, a better world.

Lilia Moritz Schwarcz and Marina Dias are contributors to CJR. Lilia Moritz Schwarcz is a Brazilian historian and anthropologist; she is a professor at the University of Sao Paulo and a visiting professor at Princeton. Marina Dias is a reporter and news researcher with the Washington Post.
Getting hacked is very much like catching a nasty flu. It begins with an infection of malwaremalicious software that spreads across a networkand ends with a feeling of deep enfeeblement. In late 2012, not long after the New York Times reported on a corruption scandal involving Chinas former prime minister, the newsroom got a bad case. AT&T, which maintains the Times servers, notified the company that suspicious activity had been detected on its network. An internal investigation revealed an attack on a dramatic scale: Chinese hackers had broken into email accounts, stolen the passwords of every employee, installed forty-five pieces of customized malware, and begun spying on fifty-three employees, seeking information about anything related to the Chinese prime ministers family. Day after day, using the methods of the Chinese military, the hackers started at 8am and worked sometimes until midnight, deploying remote-access tools, or RATs, that enabled them to steal a tremendous cache of sensitive information and even to activate a computers microphone and Web camera, transforming it into a secret recording device. It was a complicated and devastating infectiona near masterpiece.

It took four months of tracking for the Times to finally expel the hackers from its network. The Chinese government denied any involvement. But the more the newsroom looked into what happened, the more it became clear that the attack was part of a far-reaching spying campaign, according to a Times report, that pried into multiple outlets; the Wall Street Journal soon confirmed that Chinese hackers had broken into its system, and there were attempts made on the Washington Post and Bloomberg. The event ushered in a stunning realization for journalists: that the most powerful asset they hadconfidentiality for their sources via secure channels of communicationcould no longer be guaranteed. Not only were news organizations vulnerable to cyberattacks, they were targets.

Runa Sandvik was living in London when she first heard about the hackand it stunned her. She was twenty-five at the time, a cybersecurity expert working for a grassroots operation aiming to help anonymize the internet. A few years later, she was called into an interview at the Times headquarters for a new role: head of information security. Sandvik was told that the newsroom wanted to hire someone who could ward off the possibility of another major attack and help reporters deal with cybersecurity threats as they arose. Sandvik was the obvious person for the job. Shes been the first in so many instances, Susan McGregor, a researcher at Columbia Universitys Data Science Institute, told me. She appreciates the vagaries of journalism and what it looks like to work through censorship resistance from inside a news organization.

It comes back to being really curious about things and really enjoying the puzzle that goes into figuring out how to secure a system or a person, Sandvik told me recently. Now thirty-six, Sandvik lives in New York with her husband, Michael, who is also in cybersecurity. She departed from the Times a few years ago and has since started her own consulting firm, Granitt, where she advises journalists and other at-risk people (lawyers, activists) on how to keep their data safe from hackersmany of them the hired hands of authoritarian regimes. Sandvik is originally from Oslo; the name of her company is the Norwegian word for granite. I wanted the name to reflect the work I do, she said. Something consistent and stable and solid.

Sandvik speaks with an air of tranquil Scandinavian directness. Petite and sinewy, she often wears tight workout tanks and oversize hoodies, as if she is perpetually about to head to the gym. Extending the length of her right forearm is a veiny black tattoo designed by a French artist she discovered on Instagram. In addition to being one of the worlds top information security experts, Sandvik is something of a professional hobbyist: she has a motorcycle license and a scuba license; she enjoys snorkeling with sharksYou float on the surface like a little snack, she saidand pole dancing. For fun, a few years ago, she and Michael figured out how to hack into a Linux-powered sniper rifle. (When they emailed the vendor to report the safety flaw, the vendor ignored their message and notified clients of a potential security breach, with assurances that the guns were safeif you are confident no hackers are within 100 feet.)

Over the course of our conversations, Sandvik maintained a guarded circumspection that at times verged on paranoia. We communicated exclusively through encrypted channels, even when discussing innocuous things, like making plans to meet up or sharing article links. She expressed a wariness of the internet, of how and where her data was stored. She was, in other words, privacy obsessed. When I asked Sandvik what would be required to make yourself entirely safe from cyber threats, she replied: you wouldnt be online at all, and you would have to live in the forest. I often found her prudence perplexing. I wondered if there were things she was hiding from mean awareness of risks that only someone with her expertise could appreciate. Or if, in her affable bluntness, she simply wanted to convey that most of us are blind to the surveillance dystopia in which we live.

About a decade before the rest of the world started to realize that the internet was not a private place, Sandvik was deeply enmeshed in the small and growing community of computer geeks trying to make it more secure. Sandvik was self-taught: her first contact with a computer came at the age of fifteen, in 2002, when her mother brought home a brand-new HP Compaq Windows Millennium Edition. The computer was boxy and took up a lot of space. Sandvik was eager, as she put it, to understand how to do things I wasnt supposed to do. She quickly figured out how to hack into other computers using something called a Trojanmalware disguised as an image file or a website linkwhich gave her access to a targets entire interface. I didnt feel like I was invading or doing something illegal, she said. She tried it out on friends, many of them fellow members of Oslos burgeoning hacker community. Shed go to Local Area Network (LAN) parties, where teenagers gathered with their laptops, sound systems, strobe lights, and energy drinks for sleepless weekends to play computer games, break into one anothers networks, and chat online. When I asked Sandvik whether she ever just talked with the person sitting next to her at one of these parties, she furrowed her brow and said, Thatd be weird.

Life in Oslo was generally quiet. Sandviks father worked for a big pharmaceutical company; her mother worked at a hospital. I wasnt a superfan of the school I went to; socially I was having a hard time, she said. I was like, Okay, well, its either going to get better, or its going to be the same. So might as well try to make it better. She left home at seventeen. In Trondheim, to the north, she enrolled at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Then she followed a guy to London for a while. She got a job as an ethical hacker at a consulting company, where she was tasked, essentially, with attempting to break into clients networks to reveal security flaws in their systems. The position was a stable nine-to-five, but she was bored.

In 2009, Sandvik started hearing whispers about Tor, open-source software that could guard against surveillance and censorship. When I met up with Sandvik at a coffee shop, she explained how Tor worked by creating a maze of paper cups on the table. When someone is using a virtual private networka VPN, which disguises an internet users identity and locationthat persons connection goes from the browser on her computer to a VPN server in, say, Germany: coffee cup number one. The persons internet service provider sees that she has connected to that server in Germany, but the website shes visitingsay, Google, or coffee cup number twowill see just the server in Germany. VPNs are commonly used in countries with authoritarian governments, or anywhere people face restrictions on internet use. But they dont necessarily provide anonymity, because a VPN provider knows who is browsing where. With Tor, she said, rather than pass through one VPN server, an internet user will pass through randomly selected coffee cups one, two, and threeuntil they are entirely untraceable.

Tor fascinated Sandvik. Growing up in Norway, she said, the rest of the world was always just the rest of the world. The idea that I could in some way be censored or punished for saying something for my writing or expressing something was not even on my radar. Tor made her feel connected to people across the internet, those with fewer rights than she enjoyedand it presented a way for her to help them secure their privacy and freedom. Sandvik went to work at the Tor Project, a nonprofit dedicated to building Tor software. The relationship with the guy in London ended; she met Michael at a hacker conference. After a year of dating, they eloped, and she moved to be with him in Washington, DC.

Sandvik arrived in the United States in 2013, in the wake of the Arab Spring. Activists were using the internet in unprecedented ways. They were also being tracked as never before. I saw how it was harder for people to access social media; governments started looking for ways to block Tor, she said. In her new job, Sandvik worked with activists and journalists, and started asking herself questions: Why is it that people in Ethiopia are having a hard time using the Tor sideboard? Exactly what is going on in Ethiopia? Why isnt this piece of technology working the way that it should? Why is what these people are doingthe activists, the researchers, the journalistssomehow so contentious or problematic in the eyes of the government? These questions led her into a new alcove of the tech industry: working as a privacy and security researcher for a nonprofit called the Freedom of the Press Foundation.

Sandvik had found her niche. She traveled the world, meeting far-flung members of her cohort at conferences and parties. One day in 2012, she and Michael headed for a vacation to Hawaii. Before the trip, Sandvik sent out a tweet advertising Tor swag. She received an email from a guy who introduced himself as Ed. If shirts are available, black is preferable, he wrote. Sandvik replied, saying that shed be happy to supply him Tor attire. Then Ed wrote back, asking if she wanted to cohost a CryptoParty while she was in Honoluluan underground gathering of Evangelists for Digital-Surveillance Wariness. Together, in a designer showroom, they gave presentations to about twenty people on how to encrypt their hard drives and browse the internet anonymously. Ed turned out to be Edward Snowden.

Afterward, they kept in touch. Six months later, Snowdens face was plastered on the front page of every major news outlet in the world. Sandvik was stunned by his decision to leak highly classified material, but she thought it was courageous. There was definitely a Holy shit, this is huge moment in my mind, she said. Shed seen firsthand how authoritarian regimes censored their citizens by controlling the flow of information, though she hadnt suspected that it was happening in the United States. Reading what Snowden exposed was revelatory. That really demonstrated that not only does the government have the tools and the ability, she said, but theyre doing it. She began to see privacy as a cornerstone of a healthy democracy, one that was now under threat. She also viewed privacy as a basic human right. To surveil someones personal online data is not just a violation of their privacy, she told me: What youre taking away from me would be autonomy.

The Snowden revelations coincided with rising awareness among newsrooms that they were likely targets of cybersecurity attacks. At the Times, Sandvik was sent to bureaus in DC, London, Hong Kong, mainland China, Moscow, and Sydney to check out and upgrade their digital security. She was also on call whenever journalists needed advice. It was a dream job. Id walk home from work and know what was going to land on the front page of the New York Times the next morning, she recalled. She developed a protocol for advising reporters in basic digital hygiene: use a password manager that generates unique and complicated passwords, set up two-step verification codes to access accounts, communicate exclusively on encrypted apps such as Signal, be wary of third-party services that produce quick AI-transcribed interviews. However familiar that advice may seem now, it wasnt common practice then. I remember straightaway being impressed by how helpful she was, Malachy Browne, who works on the visual-investigations team at the Times, told me.

Sandvik also dealt with unconventional scenarios, like what to do if Chelsea Manning left you a voicemail, and how to safely send a reporter to North Korea. Browne met with Sandvik while conducting an investigation into a Russian bomb attack on Syria; after working on another sensitive story about Russia, he discovered that someone had created a Facebook account duplicating his own. Soon, the dummy account was shut down and Browne was handed a device called a YubiKey: a physical key that can be used to unlock two-step verification. Sandvik showed me her own YubiKey, a small black USB stick. When I asked what accounts she used the key for, she pursed her lips sternly. No comment.

During Sandviks tenure at the Times, one of the biggest security threats to journalists in the history of digital surveillance was unfolding: an Israeli startup called NSO Group unveiled spyware that provided invisible access to a targets smartphone. Pegasus, as it was called, could turn someones phone into a secret recording device, activate its camera, and extract text messages, contacts, emails, and GPS locations. According to Citizen Lab, a research organization focused on internet security, starting around 2016, Pegasus was deployed by government agencies in at least forty-five countriessome known for authoritarianism, others putatively democraticall willing to pay a hefty baseline installation fee of five hundred thousand dollars and, depending on the scale of the project, to spend as much as ten to two hundred fifty million dollars on a successful hack.

For journalists, Pegasus was a disaster. The first confirmed case at the Times came from Ben Hubbard, who was then a correspondent in the Middle East. One day, Hubbard received an odd link, written in Arabic, inviting him to attend a protest at the Saudi embassy in DC. He knew not to click on the link, but it didnt matter. Only years later did he come to learn that hackers had infiltrated his phone multiple times, using an eerie new zero click technology that was able to access, in real time, Hubbards contacts, photos, messages, possibly even his bank accounts. The hack also involved wiping evidence of its first entry into the device. Its like being robbed by a ghost, Hubbard wrote. Picture a thief breaking back into a jewelry store he had robbed to erase fingerprints.

From a purely technical point of view, Sandvik found Pegasus fascinating. Here was malware that could hack into someones device without their knowledge, finding ways to leverage already installed apps and bugs in the Apple and Android operating systems. Id always thought something like Pegasus was within the realm of possibility, she said. But how NSO Group made it work was like nothing shed ever seen. She created a public database to keep a record of those who had been infected. The list quickly grew to more than six hundredand included many journalists.

Lately, Sandvik has been consulting on a major Pegasus case: reporters at El Faro, a newspaper in El Salvador, were infected last year, and they are now involved in the first lawsuit on US soil against NSO Group. Their lawyer, Carrie DeCell, a senior staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute, hopes to call into question a key element of what makes Pegasus so dangerous: the inability to identify the perpetrator of a hack. (As DeCell told me, We want governments around the world to know that thats not necessarily the case, that they might be uncovered.) As part of her work with DeCell, Sandvik has helped advise the El Faro staff on how to keep their digital communications safe. But Pegasus is so advanced that there is little that sheor anyonecan do to prevent another attack. We were already using Signal, Nelson Rauda, an El Faro journalist whose phone was infected, told me. It doesnt matter. You feel defenseless.

In 2019, Sandvik left the Times. On Twitter, she described having problems with her boss and being called difficult, nasty, fragile, territorial, controlling. According to a Times spokesperson, Runas role at the Times was eliminated in an organizational restructuring of the information security department. Snowden tweeted support for his friend: Theyre so incredibly wrong on this that [it] is mystifying they could arrive at such a decision. This is going to haunt them. Sandvik felt blindsided. She took some time off to heal, adopted a cat, baked a lot of banana bread, and attended a shark-diving and yoga retreat in Florida.

Before long, she started receiving a stream of emails from journalists asking for advice about digital security. She was sought out to advise the Ford Foundation; she became a senior adviser for the Norwegian Armed Forces Cyber Defense Force and a member of the Technical Advisory Council for the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. (She found it strange, at first, to assist the government, but as she told me, Over the years Ive gained recognition that we all need to work together if we are actually going to keep the world safe.) She founded Granitt last June. So far, Sandvik is the firms sole employee. Shes focused specifically on reporter protection, which is something I hadnt heard before thought of as being a distinct subspecialty of security, Scott Klein, an editor shes worked with, said.

Granitts website consists entirely of a simple black-and-white logo. There is no description of the firms services, only links to social media accounts. Sandvik relies on her reputation, and word of mouth, to bring in clients. That has worked out pretty well so far: shes been hired as a consultant to large news organizations, including Reuters and the Associated Press, and shes taken some one-off assignments with independent journalists. Her hourly fee can run up to several hundred dollars, though shell sometimes do pro bono work, too. The threat of foreign interference and stuff like that is real right now, Ankur Ahluwalia, the vice president of technology solutions at the Associated Press, said. Pegasus really came from left field, right? We werent ready for something like that. It was scary. Patrick Boehler, an editor at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, told me that, before he met Sandvik, he assumed that journalists were at the mercy of authoritarian governments. She really taught us how to push back and reclaim some agency, he said.

When I met Sandvik, Id hoped to sit in on a few client sessions. But she immediately objected: Given the nature of her work, my presence would pose obvious privacy problems. When I talk to a client, the conversation is around how I can help them do their work safely, which means that they are being very open and vulnerable with me in terms of what theyre facing or lacking, she said. In some cases, that could mean Hey, I think my phone is compromised or We are filing a lawsuit. She added, It becomes very high stakes and personal. Instead, she suggested that I join her for an alternative form of self-exposure that she seemed comfortable with: pole dancing.

One morning, I tagged along for a class at Body & Pole, a cavernous studio in Midtown Manhattan, where shes been going for the past five years, attending classes five to six times a week. Hoops and ropes dangled from the ceilings of strobe-lit rooms. Sandvik told me that the students included lawyers and engineers and entrepreneurs, as well as sex workers and strippers and a woman who said she was a competitive shooter. When I asked Sandvik why she loved pole dancing so much, she paused, as if shed never considered the question. I guessyou know that feeling when youve had a frustrating day, and you just want to scream out loud? She demonstrated, making a contorted shrieking face. Thats pole dancing for me.

There were four pole-dancing levels at Body & Pole. Sandvik said she was around a 3.5, but she generously offered to take an introductory class with me. We met in the dressing room, where Sandvik introduced me to a few of her friends. Only a few knew she was a cybersecurity expertit wasnt necessarily something she hid, but as she told me, Its not really something that comes up in this space. We entered a heated room, dim in the glow of red lights. Alex, the instructor, who moved jauntily around in bootie shorts, led us, as a warm-up, to whip our necks in circles, hair flying. Move until you feel your bones! Then we took turns mounting the poles.

Sandvik swung herself in circles around a pole like a dexterous double-limbed cat, arching her back and squatting to the ground in rhythm with the music. Alex told us to work our Beyonce arms; I stared at my rigid body in the mirror while Sandvik flexed her wrists, circling around and around, feet and arms flying. It was the first and only time during the course of our encounters in which Id seen her relax and let goas if, in this room, offline, she could cast off the burdens of her mind.

Sandvik was once the victim of a targeted data breach. One day in 2015, she received an email from Twitter with the subject line Important Safety Information. As a precaution, the email read, we are alerting you that your Twitter account is one of a small group of accounts that may have been targeted by state-sponsored actors. She later discovered, through a Times reporter, that the culprit had been an engineer working for Twitter who doubled as an agent for the Saudi government and monitored the accounts of dissidents. Eventually, the employee was charged with espionage. The episode continued to haunt her. I dont know what they accessed or for how long they were there, she said. Maybe they just checked which IP address I was using at that point in time. Or maybe they downloaded all of my direct messages. I dont know. Because Twitter has not told me.

More than most, Sandvik has always been keenly aware of the risks posed by merely existing online, but even with all of her cybersecurity knowledge, she hasnt been able to immunize herself. She maintains that being hacked is not just a possibility but a likelihood; she fears that most people are too naively comfortable when it comes to their digital communications. Governments, institutionsspies in various formsare always lurking. In 2020, after the pandemic hit, she started spending her free time collecting biographies of undercover spies who got jobs working in media, not unlike her hacker. Last year, she created a Substack, Journalist and Spy, to publish her findings. Ive always been very fascinated with stories about cloak-and-dagger espionage and mystery, she told me. I kept finding mentions of spies that used journalism to cover for their work. So I got curious.

Theres always more to worry about. Sandvik told me that another mercenary spyware had entered the arena. It was developed by Candiru, an Israeli company that sells spyware solely to governments. The Candiru spyware, which Microsoft calls DevilsTongue, had already been detected on more than seven hundred and fifty websites; according to CitizenLab, many of the infected domains were impersonating advocacy sites like Amnesty International and Black Lives Matter. There were at least a hundred victims, including journalists, in at least ten countries. Sandvik predicted that it was only the beginning. I think its just this arms race between companies like Apple and companies like NSO, she said. NSO found a way to install Pegasus on a phone that doesnt require the individual to click on the link, and then Apple at that point figures out theres a bug there that needs to be patched, causing NSO to find a new one.

State-sponsored hackers are in constant need of ways to overcome the cybersecurity measures developed by big tech companies, which in turn constantly require new shields. That dynamic depends largely on an assumption that Big Techs code will always have flaws. And Sandviks work depends on the fact that there will alwaysbe an arms racethat authoritarian leaders will continue to pursue sensitive material from journalists. Her business seems safe. For more than a decade, a nonprofit called Freedom House has been indexing global internet freedom; by its estimate, the world is on its twelfth consecutive downturnlike a leaf spinning into a slow-moving waterfall. And in countries such as Russia and China, where the internet is already state-controlled, the advancement of technologyPegasus, Candirus spyware, whatever comes nextwill only play to their advantage.

But for now, at least, the race is still on. You reach a point where hackers need to be very skilled, have a lot of time and patience, and be quite resourceful to get in, Sandvik told me. When the hackers run out of options, thats when the threats shift from digital to physical and legal. As president, Joe Biden blacklisted NSO Group from operating on US soil. Yet the extent of the ban was ambiguous, and, just five days later, the Times reported that the US government struck a secret deal with NSO Group under a fronted company called Cleopatra Holdings. Nor is NSO Group the last name in the cyberattack business. Sandvik speculated that malware may someday be able to install itself silently on a phone, steal all the dataincluding by recording conversations or taking videosand uninstall itself without ever leaving a trace. It was a frightening thought. Spyware targeting activists and journalistsits not going to go away, she said.

One evening in late February, I met Sandvik for pizza. She told me shed spent hours that day creating a database similar to the one shed made for Pegasus, to keep track of whod been infected with Candirus spyware. It was a time-consuming project, combing through news sites and dumping information into Excel. And not only was the work laborious, but it seemed, according to her logic, that by the time she finished one database, she would have to get started on another, and another, as spyware evolved.

She didnt mind. As Sandvik saw it, that was all she could do in the face of an overwhelming digital threat. There is just no guarantee for us that were never going to be hacked, she said. The question is, just how difficult are we going to make it for the attacker? Sometimes, information security comes down to keeping a record of small technical adjustments. Its the right thing to do, she said. She shrugged. Also, no one else is going to do it.

Maddy Crowell is a freelance journalist based in New York.
On March 1, 2022, Valeria Ratnikova appeared on camera for her final broadcast in Moscow. Ratnikova, who was then twenty-two, worked for Russias only surviving independent television news channel, TV Rain, or Dozhd, in Russian. That morning, she awoke at four and dressed in a burgundy blazer. She ordered a taxi, which took her through Moscow in darkness and dropped her off in a vibrant neighborhood with hip cafes, galleries, and shops. She entered a converted glass factory that was home to TV Rains studio. An in-house makeup artist painted her face with a thick layer of foundation and lipstick that matched her outfit. Her blond hair, which fell below her shoulders, was immaculately curled, then tucked behind one ear. Ratnikovas thoughts were fragmented. She felt nervous and unsteady.

Five days earlier, Vladimir Putin, Russias president, had declared war and announced a special military operation in Ukraine. Ratnikova responded with an overwhelming, amorphous grief. You cannot just accept the things that are happening, she said. You cant watch images of bombings going from your country to the neighboring country. Its not normal. She spent most of the following days crying inconsolably and shouting, Its the end! She found solace by drowning herself in work, surrounded by colleagues. They hoped that Putin would allow TV Rain to remain operational; it was their duty to provide the public with the truth about the atrocities he was committing.

TV Rain was known for its unwavering coverage and sharp analysis, an island of reason in a sea of state-controlled media. Founded in 2010 by two women, Natalya Sindeveva and Vera Krichevskaya, the network attracted young reporters and anchors with an inclination toward defiance. TV Rain gathered a lot of different people from different media, Tikhon Dzyadko, who is now the editor in chief, told me. All of them were really interesting people with hopes and ideas of making something fresh, something new. Over the years, they confronted innumerable obstacles, including intimidation from the Kremlin, loss of funding, and eviction. For a time, they broadcast from a one-bedroom apartment in central Moscow. In 2021, the state designated TV Rain a foreign agent. Still, the network persevered. Now the coverage was a frenzy of war reporting; its YouTube channel had hundreds of millions of views.

That March morning, Ratnikova prepared a story on an internal directive shed obtained about how teachers should discuss and justify the invasion with students. On air, as she spoke to the camera, she had a slight smirk. Recalling that segment, she remarked on her insouciance. Maybe it helped me not to get mad, she told me. After roughly twelve hours at the studio, flattened, she headed home.

Then a stream of news alerts appeared on Ratnikovas phone. The Russian prosecutor generals office ordered TV Rains website blocked. Ratnikova promptly turned on the newscast. Dzyadko was on air, reading from the prosecutors letter, which listed the grounds for the blackout: intentional and systematic posting, he began, of content containing false information about the nature of the special military operation in Ukraine. Ratnikova felt anguish overtake her and, in a haze of uncertainty, she fell asleep.

When she awoke, around 2am, dozens of TV Rains staff had gathered on Zoom. The mood was somber and confused; some staffers had children whose fate now seemed perilous. News had spread of the Russian parliaments plan to pass a law imposing a jail term of up to fifteen years for spreading fake news about the military, and employees of TV Rain received credible tips, from disparate sources, that they could be criminally prosecuted. There was a tenor of terrible fear and depression among colleagues, especially young colleagues, Ekaterina Kotrikadze, the news director and anchor of TV Rain, told me. Kotrikadze and Dzyadko, who are married, began packing their bags and preparing their two children. They advised their colleagues to flee.

Ratnikova hesitated. Her close and extended family lived in Moscow. Just a few months earlier, shed moved into an apartment with her boyfriend, building a nest that sequestered her from the near-constant risk of being an independent journalist in Russia. When the Zoom meeting concluded, Ratnikova received a private call from Kotrikadze. Do you think I should really leave Russia? Ratnikova asked. Kotrikadze responded decisively in the affirmative: The government decided to destroy every free voice in Russia, she said. Still, Ratnikova wavered. She consulted with her boyfriend. If its safer for you, you should go, she recalled him telling her.

Panicked, Ratnikova raced around her apartment, tossing clothing from her wardrobe onto the sofa. She felt as if she were watching herself act out a scene from a bad movie. Kotrikadze had advised her to imagine leaving for one week, no more, but Ratnikova understood that shed need to pack outfits for different seasons. Still, her favorite dresses, which she thought might bring her joy in exile, took up too much space in her suitcase. She reasoned that shed need her acne cleanser and tonic, along with her makeup. Her father helped her book and pay for a plane ticket to Istanbul, one of the few places in the region Russians can travel without a visa, and her boyfriend promised to join her in a week or two. Within hours, she was on a flight out of Russia, along with dozens of independent journalists who scattered across Europe, prophesying a similar destiny. This was the most awful day of my life, Ratnikova said.

In ninth grade, Ratnikova envisioned her future. She pictured herself on camera, live from the site of a historic eventlike the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge in central Moscow, where, in 2015, Boris Nemtsov, a fierce Putin critic, was assassinated. Ratnikova grew up in the city; her parents worked in banking. The idea of a journalism career was abstracther mother watched state television and her father consumed digital media. No one knew what risks studying and making journalism would involve, she said. When she entered the journalism program at Moscow State University, in 2016, her classmates turned her on to independent outlets, and she began reading Meduza, which was then perhaps the most respected Russian-language news website.

She soon began following Alexei Navalnya vociferous opposition politicianincluding all his investigations about officials in Russia with their houses and millions of rubles, Ratnikova said. Very quickly, I understood that something was wrong in Russia. After Navalny produced a 2017 expose, Dont Call Him Dimona scathing film alleging that Dmitry Medvedev, who was then the prime minister, embezzled $1.2 billionRatnikova sat her mother and grandfather in front of the television and forced them to watch. I tried to convince them that its a common thing, Ratnikova recalled: oligarchs corrupt get-rich-quick schemes. Yet her mother was forgiving of Medvedev. Perhaps some powerful men could be legitimately wealthy, she suggested. Thats the psychology of some people in Russia, Ratnikova told me.

Around that time, Ratnikovas classmates started attending anti-corruption protests. The demonstrations, led primarily by Navalny, were met with widespread detentions. For a while, Ratnikova was too scared to participate, she said. But in 2019, Ivan Golunov, a prominent investigative reporter with Meduza, was arrested and tortured by Moscow law enforcement for what his colleagues and friends considered trumped-up drug charges. Ratnikova decided then that it was time to get involved.

During her third year of journalism school, Ratnikova crisscrossed the country with a travel show. There were fancy meals and elegant hotels, but she found the work ill-suited to her evolving sense of purpose. I thought, Okay, I want to get into political journalism, she recalled. I should look for some TV channel. And the only independent TV channel in Russia is TV Rainthere is no other alternative. For her nineteenth birthday, Ratnikova asked friends for a subscription to TV Rain, which was then behind a paywall, and she became fascinated by its shows on feminism, propaganda, and politics. Thats the place I should be, she said to herself.

Photo by Janis Pipers

She started as an intern on Fake News, a program dismantling Russian state propaganda, and quickly moved up the ranks, reporting and, eventually, hosting. Her first major story, in 2020, was a thirty-minute piece about people who were swept up in terrorism-related charges for commenting online about a boy who detonated a bomb at an FSB office in Arkhangelsk. When the pandemic hit, Ratnikova traveled the countrys red zones, speaking with scientists and the public about the coronavirus. Once Russias Ministry of Health began conducting clinical trials for its Sputnik V vaccine, Ratnikova was one of the first members of the public to receive it. Shes really a big star, and she is already a personality, Kotrikadze said. This is amazing, how a person now at the age of twenty-three can be such a good and professional reporter, a journalist asking questions, understanding the deep problems, a lot of details about complicated issuesand also, shes a very good host for the news show. She knows how to talk to people, how to be objective, unbiased, how to be emotional when its necessary and how to be calm when its necessary.

As Ratnikovas face became more recognizable, the risks escalated. In the spring of 2021, Russia declared Meduza a foreign agent; TV Rains turn came soon after. Journalists who protested the decision were arrested. By the summer, Ratnikova felt her work becoming an all-consuming identity. She developed close bonds with her colleagues: You are talking with them at work, after work, before work, and just all the time. Often, they spoke about a shared sense of dread. You always feel yourself in danger, she told me. Sometimes, she would wake up at 5am, thinking that security agents were raiding her home. She would search her apartment, but it was always clear. Still, she considered hiding her devices, just in case. Her flat, on the second floor of an apartment building, overlooked the roof of a shop, and she found a crevice there in which to conceal her phone. Because of all the news, I thought about it all the time, Ratnikova said. Now I understand that maybe this life was too much.

Ratnikova landed in Istanbul with two suitcases. She was overwhelmed by the congestion and noise; it seemed to be a city that doesnt accept you if you are not stable, if youre not ready, she said. After a few days, sitting in a cafe, she called her parents to confess that she would not be returning to Russia. Her father quickly understood, but her mother was stricken, and harder to assuage. Ratnikova told them that she planned to travel to Tbilisi, Georgia, where scores of anti-war Russians had fled following the invasion. Some of her colleagues were there, figuring out their next move. It was impossible to see her future, but this way, at least, she could open a bank account, meet up with Russian-speakers, and wait until TV Rain got back on its feet.

She knew Tbilisi was temporary, but Ratnikova did her best to establish a semblance of normal life there. She made friends and traveled across Georgia, which contains the picturesque Caucasus Mountains and Black Sea towns. She imagined reuniting with her boyfriend. She envisioned the war ending. The reality, though, was unrelenting. By April, video footage emerged of the Bucha massacre, a mass murder of Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war by Russian armed forces. Then Ratnikovas boyfriend told her he wasnt going to move to be with her; their relationship was over.

In May, Ratnikova learned that she would be moving again, this time to Riga, Latvia, where TV Rain planned to set up a studio in exile. After Russia invaded Ukraine, Edgars Rinkevics, Latvias minister of foreign affairs, had tweeted his support for Russian journalists. As #Russia closes independent media and introduces complete censorship, I reiterate Latvias readiness to host persecuted Russian journalists and help them in any way we can, hed written. Latvia wasnt offering the right to work, but members of Russias independent media could get temporary humanitarian visas. TV Rain would take that deal. Latvia is Russian-speaking, Kotrikadze said. Latvia is very close mentally to us, and its comfortable.

TV Rain would be able to broadcast on its YouTube channelwhich viewers back home could access by VPNand on Latvian cable. But starting over abroad came with challenges. In 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine, Galina Timchenko, a well-known Russian journalist, launched Meduza from Riga, while its journalists reported from Russia, and pioneered the model of reporting from exile, as Masha Gessen wrote in The New Yorker. In the months following last years invasion, Latvia issued nearly five hundred visas to journalists and their immediate family members, making it perhaps one of the most populous hubs of independent Russian journalists in exileall striving to re-create and concretize Timchenkos approach. It was a trickle, and then it became an exodus, Sanita Jemberga, the executive director and editor of the Baltic Center for Investigative Journalism Re:Baltica, told me.

Latvias history, according to Viktors Makarovs, a senior foreign-ministry official, made that scenario possible. Latvia was occupied by the Soviet Union for about fifty years; early on, tens of thousands of Latvians were deported en masse to remote, inhospitable areas of the USSR; later, there were immigration waves from Russia and Soviet countries into Latvia. Latvias demographics transformed. To Russians, including independent media people, Latvia is a place they know, Makarovs said.

Nearly all of those journalists received assistance from a Latvian woman named Sabine Sile, the former head of the media studies department at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, who set up an emergency support program, Media Hub Riga. Siles team helped exiled reporters with relocation costs, immigration requirements, mental health needs, and legal representation. They never kind of asked, Please help us, because its a tough place to be, Sile said. Thanks to sanctions, even if you have money in Russia, you cannot access it or use it in Europe. When Ratnikova arrivedin July, two days before TV Rain officially launched from RigaMedia Hub Riga had a room waiting for her in a comfortable mid-range hotel in the city center. Ratnikova was fed breakfast and dinner and provided a local SIM card.

Photo by Janis Pipers

Within a week, thanks to Siles team, Ratnikova found an apartment. She began pouring herself into work, as TV Rain tried to build something again. The network went live from the studios of TV3, a station on the outskirts of Riga. As Ratnikova spoke into the camera, she imagined that she and her Russian audience were separated by a large concrete wall; she considered it her job to destroy the barrier so information could seep through. She came to enjoy Riga, with its temperate weather and majestic architecture. It felt miraculous that the powder sand beaches of the Gulf of Riga were accessible by a short train ride. I needed to think about this place as a new home, she said. I needed to pretend.

What Ratnikova didnt know was that, although the Russian press had received a public welcome, Latvians were divided. Some had hostile feelings toward their new neighbors. Looking back, I would say Latvia as a country was not ready for what it was offeringrefugefor these Russian media exiles, Jemberga told me. Since the beginning of the war, the borders of freedom of speech narrowed for everyone, she said. Then TV Rain came and tried to walk an impossible tightrope. Whatever TV Rains expectations had been, Jemberga observed, in this heightened environment, where Latvian public opinion was sharply against the Russian government, it was a predictable mutual disaster.

Walking through quaint streets lined with medieval and Art Nouveau buildings, Ratnikova found herself confronted by ubiquitous reminders of the war: throughout Riga, Ukrainian flags were displayed in the windows of businesses and on the facades of public offices; a special tram decorated in yellow and blue ran through town. Ratnikova felt she was being stared at. On social media, Latvians criticized TV Rains coverage of the war, accusing its journalists of being pro-Russia. Within weeks, the station started racking up warnings and violations from Latvias electronic-media regulator, accruing thousands of euros in fines. Latvian authorities reprimanded TV Rain for failing to follow a law mandating that content be dubbed in Latvian; a presenter displayed a map of the Crimean Peninsula depicting it as Russian territory; and its journalists referred to Russian armed forces as our army.

In August, Kotrikadze interviewed the mayor of Riga about the preservation of Soviet-era monuments to the Second World War. A scandal erupted: locals attacked TV Rains journalists for meddling in internal affairs; a well-known filmmaker called for TV Rains expulsion. As Latvians became louder in their opposition, the staff of TV Rain, new to democracy, interpreted the criticism as legitimate difference of opinionsomething they ought to get used to. We really didnt think this reaction could be something harmful and serious for us, Ratnikova said. In September, TV Rain took a strong stance on the rights of Russian civilians; Kotrikadze was outspoken about her disapproval of Latvia and the other Baltic states closing their borders to Russian tourists. We do not think that in the twenty-first century, Kotrikadze began, you can collectively blame a hundred and forty million people.

That degree of nuance provoked discomfort. Especially if you are so close to the war zone as Latvia, as the Baltics are, there is this very huge demand in society that you take sidesand there are only two sides, Gunta Sloga, a Latvian investigative journalist and the executive director of the Baltic Centre of Media Excellence, told me. For many who endured the hardship of the Soviet era, it was difficult to distinguish Putin from the Russian people; after the invasion, it felt almost taboo to ask critical questions of Ukraine. You see that media are under this pressure, she said. TV Rain was unprepared for that dynamic. We didnt pay enough attention to the consequences of Latvia and its connections with Russia and its history and occupation issuesand a lot of wounds and traumas that Latvia is still fighting, Kotrikadze said. We were concentrated on the war in Ukraine and the relaunch of our television station, and we missed this. She added, There was not enough space in my head.

On December 1, Alexey Korostelev, a TV Rain journalist, hosted a show called Here and Now from Tbilisi and, while filling airtime, said, If you have any tips or witness accounts to share about the draft and the conscripts experience in the armed forces and at the front line, and if youd like to discuss the problems in the Russian military, then contact us. He continued, We hope that weve been able to help many servicemen with their gear, for example, and basic necessities at the front, because the accounts that we have published and that have been shared by their relatives are frankly horrifying.

Ratnikova, who had not watched the broadcast, awoke the next morning to a flood of messages and social media posts calling TV Rain journalists occupiers and Kremlin agents. She and her colleagues gathered on a call, and management announced that Korostelev would be fired. The team discussed the probability that they would be forbidden from operating in Latvia. Ratnikova was crushed, and saddened that her friend was losing his job. I could not even imaginethat a person who left Russia because his views are not acceptable there, and here again, he is an occupier, she said. Within days, the National Electronic Mass Media Council of Latvia revoked TV Rains license, calling its actions a threat to national security. (With the help of local NGOs, TV Rain is challenging the basis of the license revocation in Latvian courts.) Then TV3 asked TV Rain to leave its studios. Everything was so absurd, Ratnikova told me. We didnt understand why it happenedjust in one day, everything you build for months was ruined. More than that, she said, I was ruined.

Journalism in Russia, including independent journalism, has grown out of an environment characterized by challenges and paradoxes. According to Kevin Rothrock, the managing editor at the English-language edition of Meduza, most members of Russias free press have traditionally resisted defining themselves as opposition journalists, preferring instead to call themselves independent.But recently, thats not really how it works, he said. Many sense that there is an inherent bias applied to them: the idea being that youre all compromised somehow. He added, Theres now a greater moral imperative to telegraph positions against the invasion of Ukraine and the Putin regime. Sile told me that, for Russians, just being an independent journalist, you are regarded as an activist and seen as opposition. When I spoke to Ratnikova about how she viewed her work, she replied that objectivity is a reasonable aspiration for a journalist, but she has come to feel that its impossible to pretend to be neutral in a time of war.

On December 7, the day after Latvias regulator stripped TV Rain of its license, Sile received a call from someone at the network asking for help. The message was: People are breaking down. To Sile, the situation seemed to have mushroomed because a large proportion of society in the Baltic states and post-Soviet space and Russia are not media literate and there had been a misplaced expectation from Latvian politicians that the Russian press would end the conflict. There is no room for error, she said, both due to the context of them being from Russia and the context of the ongoing war. When TV Rain challenged Latvias narrative, the media regulator overcorrected, Sile told me; the decision was soon seen as political. TV Rainalong with other exiled Russian journalistswas suddenly faced with a choice: adapt or unravel.

Sile gathered two colleagues, Gita Ozola, who specializes in mental health, and Badri Simoniia, Media Hub Rigas technical director, to visit TV Rain. The network had yet to leave TV3s studios. A staffer stood outside, on her phone, crying; inside, a manager wept. When we walked into the office, you could feel the desperation and stress in the air, Sile said. Members of the staff expressed fear of being deported. Siles team offered them access to fully covered mental and physical health support. Ratnikova listened quietly. Later that day, she sent Sile a message over Signal inquiring about a therapist consultation. I decided to go to a psychotherapist for the first time in my life, Ratnikova told me. I understood that its impossible for me to go through it by myself a second time, she said. It seemed to me that its really the end again. She got an appointment and was prescribed antidepressants. The pills helped, she said. I feel nothing.

A year after the invasion, Ratnikova was among many exiled journalists going through similar challenges. There are more and more cases of people losing the will to live in a very real way, Sile said. The younger media workers are struggling the most. Media Hub Riga had set up a coworking space in an unmarked building, a sort of newsroom-in-exile with desks, private rooms, recording studios, and a kitchen that often contained a spread of local snacks. At one point, the organization hosted a series of intensive rehabilitation programs for about a dozen members of the Ukrainian and Russian press, who were tested for symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. All of them indicated high levels. The rate was the same as veterans of war, Sile told me.

Something that weighed heavily on Ratnikova was that she was receiving attacks from all directions. We can be enemies for each side, she told me. For the Ukrainian side because we are Russians. And we are enemies for the Russian side because we do not want Russia to be successful in that war. The criticism was public and persistent. Before, when I was working as a journalist, I always understood Im on the right side, she said. I understood: Okay, my state is against me, but thats because the authorities are on the bad side of history. Lately, though, the external sources of validation shed come to rely on were scrambled. Not all people on this right side trust me, because they say to me, You are Russian, you cannot be good, you cannot be with us, she said. And thats a new thing. She has become mercurial with herself. Where should you go? Who should you be? Ratnikova wonders. This questionWho am I?its a frequent question that I ask myself.

With Media Hub Rigas support, TV Rain rented an apartment downtown that functioned as a makeshift studio. The former living room held the newsrooms nineteen computers; a bedroom was now a technical room; and a second bedroom served as a small studio. The kitchen became a private meeting space, with people coming and going for coffee and tea.

When I visited, Ratnikova was reporting a story about a skirmish at the Russia-Ukraine border. During a break between calling sources and an editorial meeting, she ate pasta salad, her face still heavily made up from the mornings broadcast. During this year, Ive changed, like, three times, maybe even four, she told me. She recounted the places shed lived since fleeing Russia. In a few weeks, she would relocate to a fourth city, Amsterdam, where Dutch regulators issued TV Rain a broadcasting license. The network was preparing to set up a new headquarters-in-exile. Now I just dont care where I live, she said. I dont see any difference, because I see the best place for me is still at home.

Photos by Janis Pipers

Ratnikova has long days at the studio, sometimes starting before sunrise and ending after sunset. During her off time, she calls friends and family, separated by borders, via Telegram. Will she ever see them in person again? I just try not to think about it too much, because I cannot manage it, she said. Not to be too sad. Recently, she started seeing a fellow journalist who lives in Israel. They had struck up a conversation virtually post-invasion and developed a bond over their months in exile. Everything is very strange, she said. I could never imagine myself in some distant relationship before. Now she felt she had to accept her circumstances. We should just find some things that can give us at least some joy.

Ratnikova regularly goes to a local gym, where she takes yoga and fitness classes, which help normalize the reality when its not normal. She has started going to the cinema to watch Latvian and American films subtitled in Russian. She tries to enjoy nights out as any young person might. She is not supposed to mix alcohol with her pills, though she told me that sometimes I do it, and broke out in a sly chuckle.

As Ratnikovas personal life has drastically shifted, so have her ideas about journalism. When she started at TV Rain several years ago as a budding reporter, Ratnikova felt inspired by the idea that she could help drive people away from state television and participate in a type of deprogramming. Now, however, her distance from Russia and the overwhelming might of Putins propaganda machine have made her pessimistic. Shed hoped that, as a member of the independent press, she could deliver truth to her country. When the war started, we understood we failed this goal, she said. It was not enough.

Annie Hylton is an independent investigative journalist and magazine writer based in Paris. She is an associate professor at Sciences Po.
Arguably the most consequential media scandal in modern American history. The First Amendment fight of the century. The libel law equivalent of the Super Bowl. These are just three representative descriptionsamid innumerable stunning bombshells (some extremely so)that have featured in coverage of Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit against Fox News in recent weeks, crescendoing in recent days as the start of the trial in the case, scheduled for today, has gotten closer. The coverage of the casewhich revolves around bogus claims, on the part of certain Fox hosts and guests, that Dominion conspired to rig the 2020 election against Donald Trumphas also given rise to a series of overlapping debates, from the granular to the lofty. Is Dominions case strong or is it likely to struggle to succeed, or is it both? Would a finding against Fox have broader consequences for defamation law? Would cameras be allowed in the courtroomno, in the endand would their absence be bad for democracy?

In the end, if cameras had been permitted in the courtroom they wouldnt have captured muchwell, not today at any rate. Late last night, the judge in the case said that he was postponing the start of the trial til Tuesday, unleashing a flood of speculation that Fox was seeking a last-minute settlement, and refreshing yet another debate that has driven much coverage of the case: Would Dominion settle, and if so, should they? In recent weeks, some media-watchers and legal experts have maintained that a settlement is the likeliest outcome in the case, but others have argued that it wouldnt be in Dominions interests to accept one at this pointparticularly after a disastrous recent spell of pre-trial action for Fox in which the judge ruled that it aired false statements about Dominion, rebuked the network for the possible withholding of information, and opened the door to testimony from Rupert Murdoch, who owns Fox. Preventing the Murdochs from taking the stand would likely be worth an inflated settlement, Jeff Kosseff, a legal expert, told Brian Stelter, who is covering the trial for Vanity Fair, but there is no advantage for Dominion to settle now.

Like almost every other development in the case, the postponement of the trial was instantly cast in high-stakes terms by members of the media (whose curtain-raiser stories now needed a rewrite) and observers who want to see Fox dragged into court, or at least think that outcome important. PLEASE DominionDo not settle with Fox! tweeted Gretchen Carlson, a former Fox anchor who sued its late head, Roger Ailes, for sexual harassment and received a twenty-million-dollar settlement. Youre about to prove something very big.

For now, the actual significance of the postponement is hard to gauge; when the books and prestige miniseries about this case are written, it could be the denouement or a twenty-four-hour blip. Still, whether Fox settles or the trial begins (only slightly) behind schedule, its worth interrogating the argument that its important for the trial to proceedbecause it illuminates many of the other arguments at issue in the case. The potential for a settlement seems to have invited the question: what would be lost if the trial is averted? Personally, Id turn the question on its head and ask: what have we learned already? And what does it all mean?

A large part of the debate here is about the legal stakes of the case. Some observers have argued that a trial and finding in Dominions favor could undermine the protections on which all journalists relynot least Fox itself, which has dressed its defense in the musty robes of First Amendment jurisprudence, but also some experts and journalists who arent in the networks corner. Many others see something like the opposite as being true: a trial, they say, would test whether US defamation law is adequate to hold accountable the purveyors of malicious lies, which are not in any way the currency of credible journalism. Whatever the outcome, a trial could be seen as a prominent reminder to right-wingers of the costs to their own media ecosystem of weakening libel protections, which some right-wing politicians want to do.

I am not among those who worry that this case might weaken journalists First Amendment protections. The current bar that public figures must clear to prove defamation, while high, does not, and never has, protected reckless lies of the type at issue in the Dominion case. What it judges, essentially, is intent; its theoretically possible that this case could be decided on specific grounds that seem shaky, but for now thats hypotheticaland many legal experts agree, based on Dominions own court filings, that the company seems to have an unusually strong case. Still, I also dont think that the case needs to go to trial to have a clarifying effect. The judge already ruled that Fox aired false claimsa flashing red warning sign to those pushing for a defamation standard rooted only in falsity, or something to that effect. Nor would a last-ditch settlement let Fox off the hook. I agree with the media-watcher Dick Tofel, who wrote recently that any major settlement by Fox should be seen as an admission of guilt by any reasonable observer.

Sign up for CJR 's daily email

A related question here is one of disclosure. A trialas Gabriel Sherman, a longtime Fox-watcher who recently published a major profile of Murdoch for Vanity Fair, told Stelter recentlywould fulfill any self-respecting media reporters dream of having Murdoch and other major players at Fox, on air and off, answer probing questions under oath. True enough; a trial would likely throw up fascinating revelations about behind-the-scenes decision-making at Fox. But the runup to the trial has hardly been short on those; Dominions filings have unearthed compelling evidence that Murdoch and many of his minions knew that Trumps election lies were lies, but broadcast them anyway, not least for fear that pro-Trump viewers might flee to fringey right-wing competitors. (Fox has accused Dominion of taking this evidence out of context.) Its clear, by now, what Fox didindeed, Id argue that it was clear back in 2020, when, as I wrote at the time, network personalities fell far short of the only proper standard for Trumps conspiracies: zero tolerance. Evidence that Murdoch et al knew these were crazy is important. But its also kinda obvious. (Tucker Carlson actually knew all along that the sky wasnt green!)

Of course, the more facts enter the public domain, the better. But we know enough already to state some clear conclusions from this case, whatever happens next. (Indeed, it strikes me that a trial, in addition to throwing up new evidence, could also muddy these conclusions by getting deep into the legal weeds around a handful of specific actionable statements.) Media-watchers have often debated how much influence Fox has over its audiencewhether the likes of Tucker Carlson have radicalized swathes of red America, or whether the network is catering to a market niche. The answer, Ive always thought, is both: Fox programming helps inflame public opinion, but not in any sort of vacuum. The disclosures in the Dominion case have offered valuable evidence for this proposition. Various Murdoch-watchers have argued that he was a victim of his own success: selling viewers on outrage, then having to cater to them or risk them drifting away.

And yet what has struck me most about all the disclosures is how pathetic a picture they paint. Murdoch appears to have feared not only his own viewers, but competition from rival networks that even I, a detached observer, thought at the time simply did not have the juice to mount a serious long-term challenge to Foxs ratings supremacy. Perhaps, as the Murdoch-watchers surmised, he, and Fox, were trapped by their own power. But its also possible, I think, that they underestimated their power: not to convince diehard Trump fans that the election was fair, but at least to deflect, distract, and spin their way out of the news cycle until things quieted down. As I wrote in this newsletter last week, Murdochs combined political and market power is the key reason that he has avoided fatal blows following past scandals, and will likely protect him from the worst again this time. The Dominion disclosures appear to be a case study in the abuse of that power. But they also paint a picture of an emperor unsure, even now, of what to do with it.

In his recent Murdoch profile, Sherman wrote about Successionthe exquisite HBO satire of a Murdochian media dynastyand how it has apparently wormed into Murdochs head even as he has insisted that he doesnt watch it; per Sherman, when Murdoch divorced his most recent wife, Jerry Hall, one of the terms was that she couldnt suggest plot ideas to the shows writers. As the scheduling gods would have it, the final season of Succession is running concurrently to the Dominion trial (and has generated about as much media chatter). More than once, Ive involuntarily imagined how the trial might play out as a Succession plot point.

In the past, some critics have taken Succession to task for the supposed repetitiveness of its plotsa whir of family squabbling over various business deals and legal threats. But the repetitiveness has always struck me as the heart of the satire: the characters run furiously around corporate hamster wheels, treating every development as life-or-death even as the details can seem interchangeable, all the while finding no satisfaction but facing no fatal threats to their privilege either. Something like this logic applies, as I see it, to the Dominion case. In some ways, its a pessimistic takeaway. But it is an enlightening takeaway. Settlement or not.



Some news from the home front: In Fridays edition of this newsletter, Kyle Pope, CJRs editor and publisher, previewed a new issue of CJR, called Breaking Points, focused on the global rise of authoritarianism, and featuring stories from Myanmar, Pakistan, Ukraine, and Brazil, among many other countries. Fundamentally, thanks to a political culture that rewards undermining news media, too many people in the United States have decoupled a free press from the functioning of a democratic society, Pope wrote. We know, too, that these problems are not self-contained. Since the early years of Trumps political career, his anti-press rhetoric has crossed borders, adopted by foreign leaders. The new issue is out in full this morning. You can find all the stories on this landing page.



Other notable stories:

New from CJR: The Authoritarianism Issue

Jon Allsop is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Review of Books, Foreign Policy, and The Nation, among other outlets. He writes CJRs newsletter The Media Today. Find him on Twitter @Jon_Allsop.
Last February, a journalist named Svitlana Oslavska completed a book, Severodonetsk Reports from the Past, featuring ten in-depth stories about the city where she grew up. Days after she submitted the manuscript, Russian artillery began shelling the nearby suburbs. Severodonetsk is in Luhansk Oblast, the easternmost province of Ukraine; the devastation lasted until June. By then, whole swaths of the area were razed. Apartment complexes had become blasted-out husks. An ammonia plant that was synonymous with Severodonetsk, in operation for more than seventy years, was shut down. Almost all of the citys residentsa hundred thousand peoplehad left. At some point you lose the ability to notice where the story is, Oslavskawho is thirty-four, with dark brown hair and wide green eyestold me. You say, Okay, this man was killed here, or This family was deported, or Something really bad happened there. But you dont see this as a story anymore. She stopped writing for a while.

A world away, in Washington, DC, Peter Pomerantseva Ukrainian British researcher who codirects the Arena Initiative, a program at John Hopkins University focused on disinformation and polarizationwas watching the invasion unfold on the news. He felt an urge to do something. He remembered that Janine di Giovanni, a veteran war correspondent, ran a program with the United Nations Democracy Fund to train local journalists in collecting evidence of war crimes in Yemen, Iraq, and Syria. He gave her a call and asked if she would be interested in setting up something similar in Ukraine. She agreed right away. Peter and I are both energetic people, and were both very operational, so we immediately started, di Giovanni said. They found legal help and brought in Nataliya Gumenyuk, a Ukrainian conflict reporter, who began reaching out to journalists across UkraineOslavska among them.

They called their endeavor the Reckoning Project. Enlisted journalists would collect testimonies from eyewitnesses of war crimes with the goal of bringing cases against Russian soldiers, the Kremlin, and Vladimir Putin to Ukrainian courts and The Hague. Stories gathered in the process would become articles, podcasts, and videos published in news outlets such as Time, Vanity Fair, The Guardian, and Foreign Policy. There are people who think that journalists should put out the information then walk away, and if lawyers want the information, theyll just have to get it themselves, Pomerantsev said. We see ourselves as a coordinated effort that includes journalists who can gather evidence and connect that with justice.

Oslavska didnt hesitate to sign up. The Reckoning Project was like a rescue for me, she said. For three days in May, at a hotel in central Kyiv, Oslavska and about twenty other journalist-researchers gathered in a glass-ceilinged conference room for sessions with di Giovanni, Pomeranstev, and the rest of the projects leadership. There was a crash course in international humanitarian law, as well as training in how to collect testimonies that can be used in court. The method would require the team to conduct interviews lasting hours, or days. Were not a news agencywere not the APso we dont need to do it in ten minutes, di Giovanni said. At one point, everyones phone alarms went offthere was an air raid warning. The group carried on with their training in a windowless storage room.

After that, it was up to the journalist-researchers to decide where to go. Oslavska visited several villages, including Yahidne, northeast of Kyiv, which was occupied by Russian forces a week into the invasion. More than three hundred and sixty people were held captive in the basement of a school until the end of March. At least ten people reportedly died from a lack of oxygen and medical attention while in captivity. Its believed that Russian soldiers killed seventeen. Oslavska and a cameraman gathered as many details as they couldabout the size of the captives confines, the feeling of the air, the construction materials of the floor, the furniture in the room, signage and markings on the walls. Describing soldiers could be a difficult part of interviews, she observed. Russians are often in balaclavas, Oslavska said. They dont wear signs on their uniforms. Adhering to the standards of court testimony meant that she had to make sure not to ask interviewees leading questions. We want them to tell the story, di Giovanni explained. We dont want to put words in their mouths.

The journalist-researchers must also be careful not to retraumatize interviewees. If a person who has been victimized seems to have trouble recounting something, Oslavska wont force a line of questioning; traumatized victims statements cannot be used in court. The risk of retraumatizing also applies to the journalists themselves. You have to pay attention when youre tired and overwhelmed with the storiesif you have five interviews one day, four interviews the next, and so on, Oslavska said. You can break down and you can start to behave in a way thats not really good for you or the person in front of you. Its dangerous. She recalled how, in Yahidne, her colleagues didnt always feel the need to stop for meal breaks. Shed have to nudge them to find something to eateven when that just meant coffee and a Snickers bar.

Since Oslavskas first visit to Yahidne, Ukrainian prosecutors have identified some twenty soldiers involved in the occupation. Four of the soldiers were convicted in absentia by a Ukrainian court and received ten- to twelve-year prison sentences. Yet the possibility of those soldiers being brought to Ukraine is remote. And although the International Criminal Court at The Hague has issued arrest warrants for Putin and for Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, Russias childrens rights commissioner, bringing them to trial seems unlikely. Nevertheless, the Reckoning Project remains optimistic: We do believe we will bring war criminals to court, di Giovanni said. We are pursuing many pathways of justice.

Honestly, I try not to think about what is the chance that all this will work, Oslavska said. I concentrate on the work that has to be done and to stay alive to see this go to court. The projects mission gives her a sense of purpose: It was a way to still do journalism but make a different type of change.

Feven Merid is CJRs staff writer and Senior Delacorte Fellow.
For more than a decade, Ahmad Noorani was an investigative journalist in Islamabad, Pakistan, working for the News International, one of the largest English-language newspapers in the country. He covered stories on tax evasion by the family of Imran Khan, Pakistans former prime minister; government agencies involved in fraudulent activities; real estate scandals; and other subjects few reporters would touch. Today, on the surface, his work is much the samein 2020, he launched Fact Focus, a site where he publishes data-driven investigative piecesexcept that he is in exile in the United States after being subjected to repeated attacks, both verbal and physical, from government officials and people he believes were hired on their behalf.

Noorani, who is forty-four and soft-spoken, with a square jaw and a well-groomed mustache, now writes about Pakistan as an outsider. In the years before he left, he received a threatening call from the Inter-Services Intelligence, Pakistans elite spy agency; he was beaten in the street; the government publicly condemned him for being disrespectful; he was fired from his job. Once he resettled abroad, hed hoped to get back to working with media outlets in Pakistan, and perhaps to mentor young journalists there, creating a network for investigative reporters. But he has found himself limited. Most media owners want to shy off from someone who is not liked by the military, he said. Your colleagues might support you, but if your employer feels intimidated, they would not want to work with you.

With Fact Focuswhich he got off the ground through a combination of savings and a GoFundMe, and now survives on subscriptions and donationsNooranis circle is smaller, mostly comprising reporters who are also at odds with authorities, but who remain in Pakistan. When journalists face intimidation or are fired from their work, they reach out to me and we come up with ways in which we can work together on my news platform, he said. Fact Focus has seven contributors; Noorani does what he can to fund their reporting, though there isnt much money to go around. Sometimes, his colleagues volunteer their serviceshelping with research, verifying leaked documents. Stories have reported on the private businesses run by Pakistans army, the cushy retirement plans of military officials, and the unsavory details of politicians tax returns. We are hoping that our good and big stories will convince people to contribute more, he said. There is no trend in Pakistan to finance the news initiatives. So Im not very much clear on how this will go, but I am hopeful.

Still, he said, I dont publish as much as I would love to. Coming to terms with the risks that his work has placed on his familyhis wife and children remain in Pakistanhas meant sacrificing some of his ambition. My drive for things I used to enjoy waned, Noorani said. Hes struggled to adjust to life in the US, which is often lonely, and he has never felt completely safe: You are always watching your back.

Authoritarian leaders routinely test reporters resolve; according to Reporters Without Borders, Pakistan is one of the worlds deadliest countries for journalists. Media outlets operate independently, but rely on state funding, and the material they publish is highly regulated. A vaguely worded Protection of Journalists and Media Professionals Act, enacted in 2021, prescribes reportorial conduct; violators are subject to criminal prosecution. Daniel Bastard, the head of the Asia-Pacific desk at Reporters Without Borders, described constant harassment of media professionals, who frequently resort to self-censorship. When you are prosecuted, abducted, beaten, threatened to death because of a story you published or broadcast, he said, you become terribly aware of the risks you take in covering other sensitive subjects.

Noorani had received warnings for years: bureaucrats would tell him to stop reporting, threatening to harm him and his family; people he believed to be affiliated with the government would knock on the door of his house and pelt his car with stones. It was almost like I was being followed everywhere, he said. At one point, he hired a driver to take him out and follow some leads, and the car was ambushed by a group on motorcycles. Suddenly, I was surrounded by around seven men who were armed. They demanded that he stop writing about the military. They started raining blows on me, he recalled. I fell down. I thought I was going to die. The men struck him with iron rodsin a coordinated manner that suggested army trainingthen sped away. Noorani lost consciousness. To his good fortune, passersby picked him up and took him to a hospital. I had survived, but I was sure they would come for me again, he said.

These days, Noorani worries that his relevance back home has diminished. I try my best to follow stories from here in the US, but it is not the same, he said. As an investigative reporter, it is much easier when you are on the ground and have an easier access to sources who you can observe. Still, he made waves last fall when he published an expose about the wealth accumulated by Qamar Bajwa, Pakistans army chief. The government of Pakistan responded by blocking Fact Focus and filing a case against Noorani for illegally accessing documents. There are people within the tax office who were arrested and wrongfully accused of leaking the data to me, he said. As much as he would love to go home, he added, hes too afraid: If I return to Pakistan, they will not hesitate to lock me inor do something worse.

Mercy Tonnia Orengo is a CJR fellow.
Several cars on a freight train derailed and caught fire early Saturday in rural Maine, officials and the train operator said. Three workers were hurt, but their injuries were said not to be life-threatening.

The Maine Forest Service said in a statement that three locomotive engines and six cars carrying lumber and electrical wiring went off the track at about 8:30 a.m. in Sandwich Academy Grant Township in Somerset County.

They derailed into a wooded area and started a small forest fire, which emergency responders contained and were monitoring, the service said. The three railroad employees were taken to the hospital.

Preliminary assessment pointed to a buildup of melting ice and debris that washed out part of the railroad track as a possible cause of the accident, the Forest Service added.

Some hazardous materials were on board the train, the agency said, but officials on the scene assessed that they were not at risk of leaking or catching fire.

C. Doniele Carlson, the director of communications for Canadian Pacific Kansas City, also confirmed the derailment about 15 miles (24 kilometers) east of Jackman and said the hazardous elements of the trains cargo were not involved in the fire.

Our emergency response teams and hazardous materials experts have responded and continue to conduct a full assessment of the situation, Carlson said in a statement. There are no evacuations and no threat to public safety.

The fire and rescue department in nearby Rockwood posted a photo of the derailment on its Facebook page and advised residents to stay away from the area. The image showed multiple derailed cars and a small fire, with black smoke wafting across snowy forestland.

A merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern was announced Friday. The rail line bills itself as the first and only single-line railway connecting Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.

The derailment is the latest one to hit the rail industry. Federal regulators and members of Congress are urging railroads to do more to prevent derailments after recent fiery wrecks involving hazardous chemicals in Ohio and Minnesota prompted evacuations.

Rockwood, about 90 miles (140 kilometers) northwest of Bangor, is a village in Somerset County with about 300 residents. Located on the western side of Moosehead Lake, one of the states largest freshwater bodies, its a destination for salmon and trout fishing on both the lake and the Moose River.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
RICHMOND, Ind. (AP)  Fire crews working to fully extinguish an Indiana plastics fire have reduced its smoldering areas to a single hot spot, a fire chief said Saturday as officials prepared to decide if a dayslong evacuation order should be lifted.

Richmond Fire Chief Tim Brown said crews will remain at the 14-acre (5-hectare) former factory site through the weekend, watching the sole hot spot remaining from the fire, which was declared under control Thursday night when the last flames were extinguished.

He said fire officials will meet Monday morning to decide what their next steps will be at the site, where tons of recycled plastic stored for resale caught fire Tuesday. The site is in Richmond, about 70 miles (115 kilometers) east of Indianapolis, near the Ohio border.

Other than that one hot spot, I consider this contained, controlled and 99% out,  Brown told The Associated Press on Saturday afternoon.

Christine Stinson, director of the Wayne County health department, said she would meet Saturday evening with environmental experts to receive and discuss the latest air sampling results before making a recommendation to Brown about whether the evacuation order can be lifted.

Until I have those air monitoring samples back were not going to be making any recommendations. Were turning to the experts to help us advise the public, she said. Well be making an announcement, one way or another.

Stinson said that announcement was expected to be posted on a website the city set up to provide residents with updates on the fire.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has said hydrogen cyanide and benzene were detected at the fire site. EPA contractors planned to collect fire debris over the weekend that landed near schools or in parks and private yards. At least one sample has tested positive for asbestos, which can harm lungs.

The fires cause was not known. But it quickly became an inferno, destroying six run-down buildings holding recycled plastic and creating clouds of smoke so high and dark they cast a sprawling shadow over the city of 35,000 people.

The man operating the storage site was under a 2020 court order to clean up the site, which had no utilities and had been declared a serious fire hazard by inspectors. Richmond officials said they had barred him from accepting more plastics while he was working to get rid of the vast holdings.

Top photo: Firefighters spray water on an industrial fire in Richmond, Ind., Thursday, April 13, 2023. Multiple fires that began burning Tuesday afternoon were still burning within about 14 acres of various types of plastics stored inside and outside buildings at the former factory site. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP)  A rapid spring snowmelt after an unusually wet winter is unleashing flooding from the Southwest to the Rockies, causing residents there and in the Upper Midwest to evacuate or stock up on sandbags amid surging creeks and rivers.

In New Mexico, emergency crews rescued people from at least two vehicles from high water Thursday night in Jemez Pueblo north of Albuquerque, the National Weather Service said.

But there were no immediate reports of any deaths of serious injuries. A flood warning was in effect for communities along the Jemez River into next week.

In Flagstaff, Arizona, neighbors on one street have been working side by side since Tuesday with shovels to stave off floodwaters from their homes.

Three creek-retention basins installed last year helped better navigate water that rushed down from burned mountains above the city, officials said. Still, water engulfed the shoulder of a local highway, and several roads and sidewalks were closed this week as the weather warmed and snow melted, making its way into neighborhoods. Sections of urban trails also were submerged.

Officials said it was a scenario that came without a playbook.

It would be nice to have an exact model of what we need to do, but we dont, Flagstaff Vice Mayor Austin Aslan told the Arizona Daily Sun. We dont know what the next fire will look like, or where that scar will be. Theres small differences that will direct water to one neighborhood or another.

Sandoval County in north-central New Mexico issued an emergency disaster declaration in the wake of severe flooding in communities near the Jemez River.

No evacuations had been ordered, but residents in an area between Jemez Pueblo and Jemez Springs that regularly floods in the summer rainy season were collecting sandbags as a precaution. A local police chief estimated a dozen homes and other structures along the river could be at risk of being inundated with water.

Warm temperatures continue to cause rapid melting of snowpack, causing increased river flows, the National Weather Service in Albuquerque said Thursday night.

The deluge also led to spillover from a wastewater treatment plant, which was contributing recycled water into the Jemez River. The U.S. Forest Service advised people not to fish in the river or drink water south of the plant.

In Salt Lake City, Mayor Erin Mendenhall signed an emergency order late Wednesday aimed at helping residents whose homes were threatened by flooding in the southeastern part of the city. Rapidly melting snow in the nearby mountains sent water coursing through a creek in the neighborhood, prompting the voluntary evacuation of about 100 homes.

The water was receding as cooler weather moved into the area. Even so, multiple mudslides were reported on canyon roads, including one that forced the temporary closure of Interstate 80 southeast of the city early Thursday.

On Wednesday, local officials north of Salt Lake City issued evacuation orders for at least 20 homes in Kaysville, where flooding ripped a large gash that damaged a street, sidewalks and driveways in a subdivision that was under construction.

Meanwhile, heavy snowpack and highs expected to reach 60 degrees Thursday were causing flooding in northwest Colorado, where transportation officials closed Highway 40 between Craig and Steamboat Springs, a popular ski area that has received more than 400 inches (1,016 centimeters) of snow this winter.

Flooding in the small mountain town of Hayden forced schools to close. Rain was in the forecast Thursday afternoon, with the expectation of turning to snow overnight.

The Colorado Department of Transportation posted photos online showing Dry Creek spilling over its banks at a bridge there, as well as floodwater threatening several parked recreational vehicles.

The National Weather Service said some roads might become impassable during the weekend and urged motorists not to drive through flooded crossings.

There were no reports of major damage, however, in Utah or Colorado as of Thursday.

In the Northern Plains, a speedy snowmelt and possible April showers stoked fears of heavy flooding. Residents have been assembling thousands  if not hundreds of thousands  of sandbags to hold back water.

The Red River Valley, which includes Fargo in North Dakota and Moorhead in Minnesota, had one of the snowiest winters on record. Heavy rain could cause the river to rise quickly, Moorhead city engineer Bob Zimmerman told Minnesota Public Radio.

Minnesotas Democratic Gov. Tim Walz said Thursday at a news conference that the state is ready to respond with financial help for flooding if needed.

He added that warmer temperatures and rising waters from climate change have factored into the states months-long preparation for the spring flooding season.

Local, state and federal public safety and emergency management partners have ramped up monitoring and preparation efforts, according to the states Department of Public Safety.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has declared a statewide emergency for spring flooding, and he made the National Guard available to help fight floods in the coming weeks, the Bismarck Tribune reported. The city of Bismarck opened sites for residents to fill their own sandbags.

In northern Montana, the Milk River was expected to rise to its highest level in more than a decade and swamp some rural areas.

Emergency officials along the river in Glasgow were patrolling the levee protecting the city of about 3,200 people to make sure it held up, said Valley County Disaster and Emergency Services coordinator Rick Seiler. Shelters were being arranged in case low-lying areas need evacuations.

The flooding was forecast to continue through next week, according to the National Weather Service.

Heavy rain was falling across the region on Thursday while snow continued to pile up at higher elevations, Seiler said.

Associated Press writers Trisha Ahmed in Minneapolis; Matthew Brown in Billings, Montana; Terry Tang in Phoenix; Thomas Peipert in Denver; and Scott Sonner in Reno, Nevada, contributed to this report.

About the photo: Mayor Erin Mendenhall and numerous volunteers pile sandbags along 1700 South in Salt Lake City in an effort to divert the rising flow of Emigration Creek through Wasatch Hollow Park on Wednesday, April 12, 2023. As rapid snowmelt and possible April showers stoke fears of heavy flooding in the Northern Plains, state officials are announcing flood response plans, and residents are assembling thousands  if not hundreds of thousands  of sandbags to combat floods themselves. (Francisco Kjolseth/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP)

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
DIMMITT, Texas (AP)  An explosion at a dairy farm in the Texas Panhandle that critically injured one person and killed an estimated 18,000 head of cattle is the deadliest barn fire recorded since the Animal Welfare Institute began tracking the fires.

Castro County Sheriff Salvador Rivera has said the Monday fire and explosion at Southfork Dairy Farm near Dimmitt was likely caused by overheated equipment and would be investigated by state fire marshals.

This would be the most deadly fire involving cattle in the past decade, since we started tracking that in 2013, institute spokesperson Marjorie Fishman said Thursday.

The institute also tracks barn fires that kill other livestock, including poultry, pigs, goats and sheep.

The deadliest barn fire overall since we began tracking in 2013  was a fire  at Hi-Grade Egg Producers North, Manchester, Indiana, which killed 1 million chickens, according to Fishman.

A 2022 report by the institute noted several instances in which 100,000 to 400, 000 chickens were killed in a single fire.

A phone call to South Fork Dairy rang unanswered on Thursday.

A spokesperson for the state insurance department, which oversees the fire marshals office, said only that the fire is under investigation and referred questions to Rivera, who did not immediately return phone calls for comment Thursday.

Insurance department spokesperson Gardner Selby declined comment on the injured persons condition.

Dimmitt is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Amarillo and 50 miles east of the New Mexico border.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
AKRON, Ohio  A special grand jury has declined to indict the Akron police officers who shot and killed Jayland Walker last summer.

The bullets of eight officers struck Walker 46 times on June 27, 2022. His death pushed Akron into the nations conversation of police accountability and led to months of protests over police brutality, specifically against Black Americans.

UPDATED: Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost says 8 Akron cops justified in shooting at unarmed Jaylan Walker 94 times, hitting him more than 46 times

RELATED: Akron polices chaotic killing of Jayland Walker followed series of tragedies in his life

After the shooting, Akrons police chief, Steve Mylett, asked the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation to complete an independent examination. The eight officers, whom the city has refused to identify, were put on leave following the shooting but were reinstated to desk duty in October.

A special grand jury convened April 10 to hear prosecutors from Ohio Attorney General Dave Yosts office present BCIs findings.

After six days of deliberation, the jury has decided the eight officers who fatally shot Walker will not be indicted, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said in a press conference Monday afternoon.

The decision was met with a quick response.

Weve seen it too many times, U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes of Akron said in a statement. A routine traffic stop ends in death, and a family and community mourn the loss of a son. A brother. A friend. A neighbor. As this country and community reckons with another tragic death, we find ourselves yearning for a justice system that protects us all.

She said she plans to ask the U.S. Justice Department to investigate the departments policies and practices.

29 Jayland Walker grand jury decision press conference and protest

Mylett said last summer that officers were trying to stop Walker, a DoorDash driver with no criminal history, for an unspecified traffic violation on East Tallmadge Avenue.

Police said Walker fired a weapon from his car during a 4 1/2-minute police chase. He slowed his car in a parking lot off Wilbeth Road in the citys Firestone Park neighborhood after midnight.

Police footage from the shooting shows Walker exited his still-moving vehicle, leading officers on a short pursuit on foot. He did not have a weapon with him, as he left a gun in his car. He ran and then turned quickly, and the officers fired.

Police first tried to use a Taser before officers shot Walker. He was then handcuffed on the ground until officials with the office of the Summit County medical examiner arrived to pronounce him dead at about 1 a.m.

The medical examiners office said Walker died from multiple gunshot wounds in the arms, legs, abdomen and face. The manner of death was listed as homicide.

In the days following the shooting, hundreds of protesters walked the citys streets, demanding justice for Jayland. The city implemented a curfew for several nights as the demonstrations intensified. In early July, about 50 people were arrested when police used tear gas to break up some crowds.

Ahead of the grand jurys decision, the city prepared for the outcome. Windows on City Hall were boarded, and a temporary gated perimeter surrounds the Harold K. Stubbs Justice Center and Summit County Courthouse. Downtown businesses also boarded windows. Public access to City Hall and the justice center, which houses Akron police, was suspended.
LAKEWOOD, Ohio -- Warmer weather means homeowners can no longer use cold-weather excuses to get out of taking care of outdoor projects.

With that in mind, LakewoodAlive -- for the last decade -- has been helping residents out with its free educational workshop series Knowing Your Home.

Lakewood has a lot of beautiful, old housing stock, LakewoodAlive Communications & Design Manager Jacqueline Bon said.

There are a lot of projects needed to keep it beautiful for the next century.

Whether its a home DIY project or just wanting to know more about home maintenance and sustainability, this years program includes 13 free workshops, taking place from April through November throughout the community.

For every workshop, there is a breadth of very specialized knowledge you could walk away with at no cost, Bon said.

There are a lot of local experts in the area we partner with. They have a lot of information from their careers to share with the group.

The first three Knowing Your Home workshops are:

 Creating A Sound Investment Thursday (April 20) at Lakewood Public Library

 Solar 101 on April 27 at Lakewood Public Library

 Best Shrub and Tree Pruning Practices on May 13 at a private residence.

Well start to announce additional workshops every few weeks on social media and our website, said Bon, who noted that registration is required for all Knowing Your Home events.

The workshop series is supported by the City of Lakewood, the Cleveland Lumber Company, First Federal Lakewood and the Lakewood Public Library.

Were proud to be celebrating a decade of Knowing Your Home workshops, LakewoodAlives Housing & Internal Operations Director Allison Urbanek said in a press release.

This educational series has grown considerably over the years and transformed to meet the needs and interests of Lakewoods residents. We truly hope this free series provides helpful guidance for taking care of the beautiful old homes we love so dearly.

Read more news from the Sun Post Herald.
COLUMBUS, Ohio  A man who reportedly was trespassing in a home Saturday was shot and killed by the homeowner.

WBNS Channel 10 reports the shooting occurred at about 6 p.m. in the Southern Orchards neighborhood of Columbus. Officers were called to the home for reports of a trespasser.

By the time officers arrived, the homeowner had shot and killed the intruder, police tell WCMH Channel 4. The accused trespasser, whose identity has not been released, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The homeowner has not been charged but the incident will be reviewed by the Franklin County Prosecutors Office, WBNS reports.
AKRON, Ohio  Police are searching for a dark-colored SUV after it reportedly struck and killed a man crossing a street in the Highland Square neighborhood, then left the scene.

Police say the 40-year-old victim was between two buildings on the north side of the 700 block of West Market Street at about 11 p.m. Thursday. The man ran into the street when he was hit by the SUV, police say.

The victim was pronounced dead at Cleveland Clinic Akron General Medical Center. His identity has not been released. Speed does not appear to be a factor, according to police.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland native Molly Kearney has been a solid contributor on their first season of Saturday Night Live. But the first nonbinary cast member in the shows 48-year history had their breakout moment in the most recent episode hosted by Ana de Armas on April 15.

The segment began with Weekend Update co-anchor Michael Che introducing Kearney to comment about the barrage of anti-LGBTQ bills that have been introduced in state legislatures across the country lately. The 30-year-old comedian was literally dropped from the rafters onto the set attached to wires and a harness.

As you know, Ive been wanting to come to Update and talk about trans people. But I have for a much longer time than that wanted to fly down from the ceiling, Kearney explained while noting how uncomfortable their entrance turned out to be.

This harness is pretty tight and my groin area is beefed. I have been hung up on my genitals for far too long, and Im starting to feel like a freaking Republican lawmaker, they joked. Hello!

Pausing for laughter, Che then pointed out that 14 states have now passed legislation restricting health care for transgender kids.

Listen to that, Michael: restricting healthcare for kids, Kearney said, earnestly. For some reason, theres something about the word trans that makes people forget the word, kids. If you dont care about trans kids lives, that means you dont care about freakin kids lives.

The comment received a round of applause from the audience before Kearney switched the topic back to being stuck in the ceiling earlier.

At one point I heard a crew guy say, Is she gonna die up there? And then another crew guy was like, You mean, are they going to die up there? Kearney said. And then they both walked away and didnt help, which feels a lot how trans people are being treated right now.

People need to wake up, they continued. Were making trans kids grow up too fast. We should be keeping them safe, and we need to lift them up, Kearney said as they were lifted back into the air.

What happening, kids, is wrong, and you dont need to be scared, they said. Our job is to protect you and your job is to focus on being a kid. Its kind of like me flying in the SNL sky.

Theres a bunch of dudes asking you about your crotch and controlling when and where youre allowed to pee. But if you just hang on, youll look up and realize youre flying, kid! Kearney concluded.

Heartfelt and hilarious as Kearney used their high-wire act as a metaphor, the sketch became a trending topic on social media with news outlets such as CNN, Rolling Stone, The Advocate and the New York Post writing about it.

Saturday Night Live airs weekly Saturday nights at 11:30 p.m. on NBC.
MENTOR, Ohio  A 70-year-old man was hospitalized Saturday after he lost consciousness while driving and crashed his vehicle into the offices of a church, police say.

The man tells police he was driving south on the 6800 block of Reynolds Road, just south of Lake Catholic High School, at about 5:50 p.m. Saturday when he lost his vision. His car veered left and off the road, first hitting a tree and then hitting the office building for Grace Church of Mentor.

There was no one in the building at the time of the crash, The driver, a Willoughby resident, was taken to a hospital for treatment, police say.

Police have not released additional information.
COLUMBUS, Ohio  Former Vice President Mike Pence, who is weighing whether to run for president in 2024, will speak at an evangelical organizations May 9 fundraiser.

The Center for Christian Virtues 2023 Cincinnati Celebration Gala will be at the Duke Energy Convention Center. Individual tickets are $200. Tables can be sponsored for as much as $25,000.
NEW YORK, N.Y.  House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan took his political road show to New York on Monday to hear testimony from witnesses who claim the prosecutor who charged ex-President Donald Trump with falsifying business records routinely ignores and mishandles street crimes.

Here in Manhattan, the scales of justice are weighed down by politics, the Champaign County Republican declared as he kicked off the hearing. Rather than enforcing the law, the DA is using his office to do the bidding of left-wing campaign funders. Hes taken his soft on crime approach to the real criminals.

Democratic committee members and New York Mayor Eric Adams said Jordan is the one who is playing politics by trying to intimidate District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Trumps behalf. They said if Jordan and other Republicans really wanted to fight crime, they would act on gun safety legislation such as banning assault weapons and cracking down on ghost guns that are made with 3-D printers. Nine out of 10 of the citys illegal guns come from outside the state, they said.

This outrageous abuse of power is, to use Chairman Jordans favorite term, a weaponization of the Judiciary Committee, its top Democrat, Jerrold Nadler of New York proclaimed at a press conference with Adams before the hearing.

As the hearing kicked off, demonstrators outside the room who carried signs that declared Jordan a sleazy liar, traitor and insurrectionist could be heard shouting the hearing is a sham. Pro-Republican spectators in the hearing room cheered loudly for the witnesses several times, even though Jordan asked them to stop and threatened to eject them.

Jordan eventually removed two pro-Republican demonstrators as they interrupted U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California.

This committee has used every means at its disposal to disrupt interrupt and interfere with the prosecution (of Trump) demanding documents it has no right to obtain and no jurisdiction from demand, said Schiff. The GOP leadership in Congress doing what it has done best for the last six years and that is to act as the criminal defense counsel for Donald J Trump.

Pro Republican demonstrators ejected from Judiciary Committee hearing in New York City pic.twitter.com/BCZKGnZ4tX  Sabrina Eaton (@sabrinaeaton) April 17, 2023

Former Manhattan bodega clerk Jose Alba described how a woman and her boyfriend attacked him with a knife after her payment method for potato chips was refused, and he said he was unfairly charged with murder after stabbing the boyfriend in self defense.

The next time an innocent man does nothing but protect their own life in self defense from a violent attack, they should not be made the villain, Alba said in a statement delivered by his attorney.

Madeline Brame, who chairs a group called the Victims Rights Reform Council, said Braggs office downgraded charges against several people who participated in her sons murder and said the low sentences issued to the perpetrators allowed dangerous criminals to walk the street

We were treated like garbage and sat for 4.5 years, she said of her family. Nadler noted that two men are serving life sentences for killing her son.

Robert F. Holden, a Democratic New York City council member said that upon taking office, Bragg issued a memo that decriminalized a broad range of offenses and reduced charges for violent crimes. Braggs action was a signal for every criminal that it was open season.

We are losing people by the tens of thousands to safer cities and states that offer a better quality of life. said Holden, who said prosecutions are down significantly from pre-pandemic levels.

An audience member is expelled by police for interrupting a House Judiciary Committee Field Hearing, Monday, April 17, 2023, in New York. Republicans upset with former President Donald Trump's indictment are escalating their war on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg who charged him, trying to embarrass him on his home turf. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)AP

A Democratic witness at the hearing, Jim Kessler of Policy of Third Way, pointed out that New York citys murder rate is 18% lower than the national average. They said Ohios murder rate is 59% higher than New York citys, Ohios assault rate is 34% higher and its larceny rate is 346% higher.

That prompted Rhode Island Democrat David Cicilline to move that the hearing be located to a truly high crime location: Ohio. Jordan said his motion was out of order.

There are other places around the country in which systematically, district attorneys are not enforcing the laws and leading to the kinds of terrible stories were hearing today, responded California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, a Cleveland native.

Wisconsin Republican Tom Tiffany urged the committee to come to his state to explore its crime problems. He claimed Milwaukees prosecutor is failing and violent crime is going to get worse.

Protestors pack a hallway and demand to be allowed into a House Judiciary Committee Field Hearing, Monday, April 17, 2023, in New York. Republicans upset with Donald Trump's indictment are escalating their war on the prosecutor who charged him, trying to embarrass him on his home turf. The committee is holding a field hearing near the offices of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)AP

Jordan said he might hold hearings on crime in other places, but justice isnt supposed to be political.

Right now, the policies being implemented by this district attorney are going to ruin this great city, Jordan said.

New York Republican Elise Stefanik accused Democrats of politicizing the hearing, saying Republicans focused on the securing testimony from crime victims without mentioning Trump, while Democrats mentioned Trump dozens of times. Texas Republican Chip Roy followed up by asking each crime victim if Trump was the one who murdered their loved ones, or failed to prosecute offenses. Each said no.

Jordan has described Braggs prosecution of Trump for falsifying business records to conceal payments of $130,000 in hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels as an unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority, and previously sent a letter demanding that Bragg give his committee testimony and documents about the probe.

Jordan has also said hes weighing legislation that would protect former and/or current Presidents from politically motivated prosecutions by state and local officials in response to the charges against Trump, although law professors interviewed by The Plain Dealer predicted such legislation wouldnt fly.

Bragg has said House Republicans are trying to undermine an active investigation with an unprecedented campaign of harassment and intimidation. He filed a federal lawsuit last week that aims to keep Jordan from using his committee to interfere in the case against Trump.

Repeated efforts to weaken state and local law enforcement actions are an abuse of power and will not deter us from our duty to uphold the law, Bragg said in a statement posted to Twitter. These elected officials would better serve their constituents and the country, and fulfill their oath of office by doing their jobs in Congress and not intruding on the sovereignty of the state of New York by interfering in an ongoing criminal matter.

Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y. speaks alongside New York Mayor Eric Adams, right, on the sidelines of an upcoming House Judiciary Committee Field Hearing, Monday, April 17, 2023, in New York. Republicans upset with Donald Trump's indictment are escalating their war on the prosecutor who charged him, trying to embarrass him on his home turf. The House Judiciary Committee is holding a field hearing Monday near the offices of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)AP

Sabrina Eaton writes about the federal government and politics in Washington, D.C., for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.
COLUMBUS, Ohio  Ohio lawmakers may strip the Ohio Board of Pharmacy of its regulatory role over medical marijuana dispensaries, instead giving oversight to the Ohio Department of Commerce.

Regulatory responsibilities currently under the Board of Pharmacy that would be transferred to the Department of Commerce include patient and caregiver registration, criminal background checks of dispensary employees, maintenance of a toll-free line for responding to inquires about the medical marijuana program and selecting which businesses receive dispensary licenses.

The move comes at the request of Gov. Mike DeWine, in his budget recommendations for the legislature, which are now under consideration in the Ohio House.

This proposal is a consolidation for efficiency, as a significant portion of staff support and expertise in this field is at the Department of Commerce currently, said Dan Tierney, DeWines spokesman.

Ohios medical cannabis program currently has three regulators: The Department of Commerce, the Board of Pharmacy and the State Medical Board of Ohio.

The Department of Commerce is responsible for the licensing and regulation of marijuana growers, processors  who take the plant and extract its oils and chemicals to create products, such as edibles and tinctures  and testing labs that look for THC levels and pesticides.

The Board of Pharmacy has been responsible for the licensing and regulation of dispensaries since the legislature legalized medical marijuana in 2016, and the first dispensaries opened in January 2019.

DeWines budget proposal does not change the Medical Boards responsibilities in the program, which includes reviewing and sometimes adding new illnesses to the list of approved conditions for which medical marijuana can be prescribed and overseeing the program in which physicians get permission to recommend medical marijuana to patients.

Matt Close, executive director of the Ohio Medical Cannabis Industry Association, said that state marijuana businesses look forward to the change.

We are all for the transfer to the department, he said. Its a pretty convoluted scheme that we have to deal with right now. Were not looking for less regulation. Were looking for streamlined regulation that makes sense.

State Rep. Jay Edwards, a Nelsonville Republican who is the Ohio House Finance Committee chair, said he expects the governors request to end up in the budget that his committee passes. He said he met with a top official from the Board of Pharmacy, who didnt object to the change.

I would expect there would be no change from the governors budget, he said.

A separate proposal before the General Assembly also seeks to change the medical marijuana regulatory scheme. Senate Bill 9 would create a Division of Marijuana Control under the Ohio Department of Commerce and remove the Board of Pharmacys responsibilities over medical marijuana. The division would answer to a 13-member Medical Marijuana Oversight Commission.

That bill is under consideration in a Senate committee.

Laura Hancock covers state government and politics for The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com.
Hainan expo highlights China's commitment to opening-up, contribution to global growth

Xinhua) 11:18, April 17, 2023

BEIJING, April 15 (Xinhua) -- The third China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE), with an increased scale and rising global influence compared to the previous versions, has underscored China's commitment to expanding high-standard opening up as the global economy is struggling to emerge from the shadow of COVID-19 and other uncertainties.

On the theme of "Share Open Opportunities, Co-create a Better Life," the expo covers an area of 120,000 square meters, up 20 percent from last year, with more than 3,300 brands from 65 countries and regions showcased, helping overseas brands tap into the huge Chinese market while providing more exposure for domestic products.

The event epitomizes China's endeavor to promote high-standard opening up, as the country has pledged to leverage the strengths of its enormous market, attract global resources and production factors, and amplify the interplay between domestic and international markets and resources.

Thanks to China's efforts to develop the Hainan Free Trade Port with a portfolio of favorable policies, including zero tariffs and easing market and foreign investment access, dozens of multinational corporate participants in the previous Hainan expos have become investors in the island.

Earlier this year, U.S. beauty titan Estee Lauder inaugurated its China travel retail headquarters in Hainan. The company, with high confidence in the Chinese market and a keen awareness of the importance of Hainan's offshore duty-free market, is looking forward to establishing higher quality cooperation in duty-free shopping, medical care and talent training, and to introducing new and quality products to more consumers, said Fabrizio Freda, CEO of Estee Lauder.

Furthermore, the fair is helping foster an open mindset and promote mutual understanding through dialogue and exchange among global brands. This is of special significance at a time when some countries are turning inward and resorting to protectionism amid economic headwinds.

The expo presents "an amazing opportunity" to "illustrate and tell the story of the amazing beauty of our brands," said Stefania Lazzaroni, general manager of the Italian foundation of luxury brands Altagamma that led 75 high-end brands such as fashion house Gucci and luxury vehicle manufacturer Lamborghini to Hainan.

It is an excellent occasion for Altagamma and its members to strengthen ties with Chinese investors, and showcase their brand image and culture, she told Xinhua.

The expo booths teeming with exhibitors and eager buyers are not simply signs of accelerated economic recovery and growth, but also a testament to the magnet of China's vast market boasting a population of over 1.4 billion and a middle-income group of more than 400 million. This stable demand from the world's largest consumer base serves as a crucial pillar for the global economy.

Between January and February, China's retail sales of consumer goods climbed 3.5 percent year on year, official data showed. Other key indicators also suggested a broad recovery of the economy, including value-added industrial output in the first two months expanding 2.4 percent year on year, and the manufacturing purchasing managers' index jumping to 52.6 in January -- the highest since 2012.

The robust rebound is poised to reinvigorate world economic growth. Both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have projected that China's economy will grow over 5 percent in 2023. In addition, a recent Goldman Sachs report estimated that the full recovery of China's domestic demand could raise global GDP by around 1 percent through the end of 2023.

In the view of World Bank Group President David Malpass, China's economic rebound is an "additive" needed for a year like 2023 when global growth is expected to be weak, and that reflects the "explicit efforts to have a faster opening process for China and to have the supply chains begin to come back together as they feed into global supplies."

China's commitment to further opening up as well as to the sound development of globalization is the clear message the rest of the world gets from the expo, which lights up a beacon of hope for those who believe in the power of free trade, win-win cooperation and multilateralism, thereby injecting fresh momentum and confidence into the recovery and prosperity of the global economy. Enditem

(Zhou Xiaotian, Guo Wendi and Peng Zhuo in Rome, Yang Shilong and Pan Lijun in Washington also contributed to this story.)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
CHICAGO  Walmart closing half its stores in Chicago illustrates that turning to big corporations to solve frustrating problems in cities  food deserts, lack of jobs and poverty  isnt always the solution.

Walmart said last week it will close four of its eight stores in Chicago. The four  a supercenter and three neighborhood market stores  shut their doors over the weekend.

In announcing the closings, Walmart said it had lost tens of millions of dollars a year in its Chicago stores.

Part of the problem is no single entity can solve all the challenges of struggling neighborhoods, Liz Abunaw, who founded Forty Acres Fresh Market startup grocer in response to the lack of fresh food options on Chicagos West Side, told CNN.

Related coverage:

Walmart closing half its stores in 3rd-largest U.S. city, citing huge losses

Walmart tells hundreds of workers they have 90 days to find jobs at other locations; see list of stores closing

Walmart closing stores in this large U.S. city on heels of CEO warning about high theft levels

A 2012 study of Walmarts impact in Chicago found businesses near Walmart were more likely to close than similar businesses farther away  and jobs lost by nearby retail competitors essentially offset the number of jobs created at the new Walmart stores, CNN reported.

The assumption there is a single player in the nation that will work in every market is proving to not be true, Abunaw said. Even in Chicago, the solutions differ by neighborhood.

More holistic solutions are needed, including improving housing, jobs and public transportation, Abunaw told CNN.

The closures reveal the shortcomings of betting that leading chains can provide key public services and fill gaps when local governments have struggled, Bryant Simon, a professor of history at Temple University who studies the role of Corporate America and government, told CNN.

Communities look to Starbucks and McDonalds for public bathrooms. Companies such as CVS and Walgreens are turned to for vaccines and basic health services.

But the public is left vulnerable when these companies business priorities change or they close locations, Simon said.

We have asked business to solve problems that we dont want government to solve anymore, Simon told CNN. Were happy to have them do it and then shocked when they act like a business again.

Walmart has drawn national attention for a series of store closures announced in recent weeks. The company has pledged to help workers at those stores find jobs, but the closures have an impact on the communities.

Reuters suggested that Walmart is a retail bellwether because of its size and that job reductions could signal further turmoil in the U.S. economy.

In December, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon warned on CNBCs Squawk Box that rising theft could force the retailer to either raise prices or close stores.

In March the company closed its last two stores in Portland, Oregons largest city, cutting nearly 600 jobs. Portland has been grappling with retail theft, prompting police to run sweeps through some business districts.

This month Walmart told hundreds of workers at five sites that fulfill e-commerce orders that they have 90 days to find jobs at other company locations.

The decision affects about 200 workers in Pedricktown, New Jersey. Hundreds of others at Fort Worth, Texas; Chino, California; Davenport, Florida; and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, were cut when evening and weekend shifts were reduced, Walmart said.

Across the country, more than 20 stores have been tagged for closure. Heres the full list, according to Business Insider:

Arkansas

3701 SE Dodson Rd., Bentonville (Pick-up only concept)

Georgia

1801 Howell Mill Rd. NW, Atlanta

835 M.L.K. Jr Dr. NW, Atlanta

Florida

6900 U.S. Highway 19 North, Pinellas Park (Neighborhood Market concept)

Hawaii

1032 Fort Street Mall, Honolulu

Illinois

17550 South Halsted St., Homewood

12690 S. Route 59, Plainfield

840 N. McCormick Blvd., Lincolnwood (Pick-up only concept)

1511 Camp Jackson Rd., Cahokia

8431 S. Stewart Ave., Chicago

4720 S. Cottage Grove Ave., Chicago

2844 N. Broadway, Chicago

2551 W. Cermak Rd., Chicago

Indiana

3701 Portage Rd., South Bend

Minnesota

1200 Shingle Creek Parkway, Brooklyn Center

New Mexico

301 San Mateo Blvd. SE, Albuquerque

Oregon

4200 82nd Ave. SE, Portland

1123 N Hayden Meadows Dr., Portland

Texas

24919 Westheimer Parkway, Katy (Neighborhood Market concept)

Washington

11400 Hwy. 99, Everett

Washington, D.C.

99 H St. NW, Washington

Wisconsin

10330 W. Silver Spring Dr., Milwaukee

The retailer also closed Ohio stores in 2022  in Mayfield Heights and Cincinnati.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  A pilot program with the goal of assisting people diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes manage their health is being offered online and in-person through the West Shore Family YMCA.

The program, sponsored by the American Diabetes Association is free and open to the public. A membership to the YMCA is not required to participate.

During the course of the 10-week program, participants will learn about how food and exercise choices will impact their blood sugar.

In-person sessions at the West Shore Family YMCA, 575 Columbia Road in Westlake, begin Monday, April 24 at 9 a.m. Additionally, two online sessions are available, also starting next week - on Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. and Thursdays at 6:30 p.m.

The What Can I eat? program will help patients with diabetes learn how to plan and prepare diabetes-friendly meals that taste good, are budget friendly and can be planned in advance for those short on time.

Gifts such as free groceries to try out recipes at home will be provided to participants throughout the course.

The goal of the classes is to give patients the tools they need to successfully manage their blood sugar regardless of time or budget constraints.

Usually, the cheapest and most readily available, yet less nutritious foods make it hard to manage diabetes and increases the risk of complications, said Charles Henderson, CEO of the ADA in a news release for the program. By providing free nutritious foods and supporting sustainable behavioral changes, What Can I Eat? addresses some of the core issues that the diabetes community faces in their day to day lives.

For more information call 440-574-0580, email healthyliving@clevelandymca.org or register here.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  From scrap yard to deluxe living, a Chicago developer believes its first entry into the Cleveland apartment market will offer something unique.

The TREO Apartments on the 2400 block of West 25th Street on the edge of the Tremont and Ohio City neighborhoods is the first Cleveland endeavor for Chicago-based Mavrek Development.

The land was the former home to a scrap yard owned by Sass Automotive and Wrecking until Mavrek paid $1.2 million for it in 2021.

Construction was completed earlier this month and residents have begun to move in.

TREO has 170 apartments on four residential floors with floor plans offering studios, one-bedroom apartments, two-bedrooms apartments, and two baths. There are also junior size one-bedroom units of up to 612 square feet, or 200 square feet less than the other one-bedroom units.

Rent ranges from $1,223 to $2,160 a month.

Some features include dedicated work areas, motion lights in every closet, in-unit washer and dryers and balconies for all but 10 of the units.

Cleveland native Adam Friedberg of Mavrek said he believes the apartment building offers some new things to the Cleveland market.

We did some custom stuff at TREO that we hadnt seen elsewhere in Cleveland. I think weve done a really good job at that and so far the feedback has been really, really positive, Friedberg said.

A rendering of the TREO Apartments ahead of completion of construction on April 1.Mavrek Development

Friedberg said that Latch, a full-building operating software and security system, will allow residents to use an app to access their apartments and other amenities. Latch also offers residents a package tracking system that gives them codes to pick up packages in a designated place.

Other amenities include a large front courtyard, a sizeable gym, private Zoom-rooms for Zoom meetings on the main floor, a fifth-floor activity room that includes a table beer tap that residents can access with their phones, and a fifth-floor patio with unobstructed views of the downtown Cleveland skyline.

A view from the fifth floor patio at the TREO Apartments.Megan Sims, The Plain Dealer

TREO also has pet washing stations and a fenced-in area for dogs.

There is 2,100 square feet of commercial space on the main floor, which Mavrek hopes will eventually be home to a local coffee shop or another business that would act as an amenity to the building. Space would also be open to the community.

Bobby Krueger, who is also a Cleveland native and the general contractor on the project, said that COVID-19 played a big role in the design.

We were able to kind of take a step back and see how the world would change. So we were able to program the building to meet those needs, Krueger said.

The 190-space, two-story, heated underground parking garage features vibrant murals celebrating Cleveland culture with illustrations of Dorothy Dandridge, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and more.

The underground parking garage at TREO.Megan Sims, The Plain Dealer

A mural of Storm of X-Men, which was portrayed by Cleveland's own Halle Berry.Megan Sims, The Plain Dealer

Friedberg and Krueger hope the apartments will appeal to a variety of people like recent grads, young professionals and others that work a short distance away in downtown Cleveland. Less than one-mile away is the West Side Market, as well as a collection of Ohio City and Tremont bars and restaurants nearby.

When I grew up in Cleveland nobody lived in Ohio City and Tremont. It just wasnt a very cool thing to do, Friedberg said. There werent bars or restaurants. Now you literally can go into the Porco Tiki Lounge and have an amazing cocktail or walk down West 25th. Theres just so much more to do now.

So its really about how do you tap into the people who are going to those places and give them somewhere theyre comfortable?

Megan Sims covers real estate for cleveland.com. See previous work at this link.

Also:

Cuyahoga County home prices continue steady rise in March into spring and summer markets

Tanglewood National Golf Club is on the market for $2.2 million

Sherwin-Williams agrees to $1M settlement to resolve claims in Pennsylvania bridge-painting contractor case
A smokestack stands behind piles of coal at the coal-fired Onyx Kraftwerk Farge power plant on March 10, 2022 near Bremen, Germany.

Environment and energy ministers from G-7 countries wrapped two days of talks in northern Japan on Sunday without acting on Canada's push to set a timeline for phasing out coal-fired power plants.

In their 36-page communique after the meeting in Sapporo, the ministers restated their commitment to reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 at the latest, and promised to work with other countries to end new coal-fired power projects that don't take steps to mitigate emissions.

"We call on and will work with other countries to end new unabated coal-fired power generation projects globally as soon as possible to accelerate the clean energy transition in a just manner," the document says.

Canada's Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault told the Japanese public broadcaster last week that he hoped to see "strong language" in the final statement about the phaseout of coal.

The leaders instead reaffirmed they need to achieve a "predominantly decarbonized power sector" by 2035.

In a statement posted to Twitter Sunday, Guilbeault said he still welcomed the shared commitment between G7 countries to accelerate coal phaseout, but also called for greater urgency.

"For Canada, phasing out coal-fired electricity generation by 2030 has never been so urgent," the statement reads.

"Science is clear, countries, in particular G-7, must do more and on a faster timeline to address climate change and keep the Paris Agreement temperature goal in reach."

In the 2015 Paris accord, 196 countries, including Canada, agreed to set national targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions en route to preventing the planet from warming up more than two degrees Celsius on average compared with pre-industrial levels.

Guilbeault has advocated for consensus on phasing out coal by 2030, as Canada has promised to do, but G7 environment ministers have struggled to find common ground on the issue as countries like Japan continue to rely on coal-powered electricity.

Japan advocated instead for its own natural strategy that includes the use of what the country calls "clean coal," where the emissions are captured.

A report released earlier this month by the Global Energy Monitor  a group that tracks global energy projects  found G-7 countries account for 15% of the world's operating coal capacity.

Last year the global capacity to burn coal for power grew, though that was mainly because so many new plants opened in China that it offset efforts to shut them down in other parts of the world, the report said.

"The truth is, coal is the number one low-hanging fruit that needs to be replaced sooner than later," said Andrew Weaver, a climate-change policy researcher and professor at the University of Victoria.

Weaver, who formerly led British Columbia's Green Party, criticized the G-7 for failing to deliver strict timelines to phase out coal-powered electricity and instead pointed to its 2050 net-zero pledge.

"Not a single person at that table will be able to be held accountable for not making that target, because it's way beyond their political lifetimes, which is why it's utterly meaningless," he said.

While no global deadlines have been set, Debora VanNijnatten, a political scientist at Wilfred Laurier University, said individual countries have committed to their own domestic timelines to phase out coal.

"I think more important is watching what is happening in individual countries as they battle serious constraints, VanNijnatten said Sunday.

The Sapporo talks also yielded pledges to cooperate on wise and equitable environmental energy, water, farm and marine policies.

"I believe that we were able to demonstrate to the international community that our commitment to climate change and environmental issues is unwavering, even in the context of the situation in Ukraine," Akihiro Nishimura, Japan's environment minister, said after the talks ended.

The ministers also committed to ending plastic pollution, aiming to take new plastic pollution to zero by 2040 as part of their priorities ahead of the G-7 leaders' summit in Hiroshima in May.
Stocks tied to the future of mobility have underperformed this year, but Baird thinks there's upside coming for some of the sub-sector's best names. The mobility sub-sector had fallen 2.5% since the start of the year prior to last week, despite the S & P 500 's gain. That's because the market has moved away from companies that haven't made money from their offerings yet due to concerns related to the increased cost of capital and the health of the broader economy, Baird senior research analyst Ben Kallo said. Full tax credits related to electric vehicles may be difficult for automobile original equipment manufacturers in the near term given the lack of production capacity for critical minerals and battery components, Kallo said. But he did note that these companies can use countries in a free trade agreement with the U.S. to reach the needed capacity. Emission requirements related to the Environmental Protection Act should also accelerate electric vehicle adoption, he said. The new rules should help increase market share to 60% by 2030, which is higher than President Joe Biden's target of 50%. "We expect EV adoption to gain steam as the policy backdrop continues to be supportive of electrification," Kallo said in a note to clients last week. With these tail winds in mind, Kallo listed his favorite stocks in the sustainable mobility space heading into earnings. Here are three that made the list: Tesla: The favorite Kallo called electric vehicle maker Tesla his favorite pick in the sector. He said the company has already separated itself from the pack in the space. On top of that, he said Tesla has also reported "rapid growth" in its energy business, which he added can become a larger part of the company as Megapack manufacturing expands to meet the global demand for stationary storage. "TSLA's leadership in scale, technology, manufacturing, cost, and depth of talent continue to differentiate it from competitors," he said. "We believe TSLA is best positioned to weather economic headwinds which appear imminent for 2H23 and believe the long-term setup is strong." Kallo noted the company's price cuts and said the impact on margins has drawn criticism. But he said the company still has room to deepen price cuts, which could further pressure competitors. Any announcements related to next-generation vehicles can be positive catalysts. And he said an announcement of a home heat pump or other residential offerings as part of the energy business could be another differentiator for the company. Within Baird's coverage universe, Tesla has performed the best this year as per the note's release. The stock has surged 50% this year, regaining ground after tumbling 65% in 2022. Kallo has an outperform rating with a price target of $252. If his target is met, that means the stock will rally 36.2% over the next year from Friday's close. TSLA YTD mountain Tesla Rivian: The long-term play Telsa rival Rivian , meanwhile, is a smart, long-term play, Kallo said. The analyst continues to watch the progress of construction of the company's Georgia plant , which has received support from state legislators despite being tied up in legal battles. He said there's still risk related to the plant's construction and ramp-up timeline. But production starting in 2026 would help increase Rivian's market share with its lower-priced offering called R2. "We expect noise in near-term results but think the long-term setup is strong," Kallo said. Rivian is expecting positive gross margins in 2024, which Kallo said could be achieved through improvements at the facility and the increased use of higher-margin configurations. The company delivered more vehicles in the first quarter than expected. Kallo noted some observers believe the company could beat the expected full-year delivery estimate of 50,000 units, though deliveries will likely be choppy throughout the year due to factory downtime and uneven acceptances of vehicles from Amazon. On the other hand, he lowered his price target and estimates for 2024 deliveries to reflect a more conservative ramp-up. Kallo has an outperform rating on the stock but did lower the price target by $8 to $27. Still, his new target implies the stock could rally 101.8% in the next year over Friday's close. That would mark a turnaround from the stock's nosedive, with shares falling 82.2% in 2022 and a further 24.5% year to date. RIVN YTD mountain Rivian Wallbox: The non-vehicle pick Wallbox , which makes charging stations and technology, is another stock Kallo deems worth holding. He said margins should improve throughout the year as production increases and cost-saving measures start having their intended effects. Kallo said the company differentiates itself from competitors by emphasizing home energy-management and bidirectional charging. Kallo has an outperform rating on the stock and a target price of $11. His target reflects the potential for an upside of 240.6% from where the stock finished Friday's session. Like Rivian, Wallbox has been beaten down over the past two years. Shares fell 78.1% in 2022 and have shed 2.5% this year. That $11 price target would still be 32.6% lower than where the stock ended 2021. WBX YTD mountain Wallbox  CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
U.S. regional banks largely sold off after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in March. Regulators seized its deposits, in what is the largest U.S. bank failure since the global financial crisis . Although their shares have regained some ground since, after the government said it was ready to provide further guarantee of deposits , the SPDR Regional Banking ETF (KRE) is still down 26% in the year to date. Should you buy the dip or steer clear of the uncertainty? A bull and a bear on U.S. regional banks faced off on CNBC's " Street Signs Asia " on Thursday and shared their stock picks. 'The worst is behind' Christopher Marinac, director of research at Janney Montgomery Scott, a financial services firm, said banks are profitable, and he estimates that tangible book value per share this quarter will gain 3% on average despite "all of the noise and worries in March." He said the industry still has very good credit quality and reserves are rising. "The [regional] banks are in very good shape  leverages [are] substantially less today than it was in 2007 and 2008 which positions the banks for a lot less losses than the market realize. So the stocks I think have a chance to bounce and I think the worst is behind," Marinac told CNBC. 'Not the environment' for regional banks It's "not the environment" for regional banks right now, said Brian Stutland, portfolio manager at Equity Armor Investments. He said regional banks rely on a few major economic factors. First, they need to be able to borrow commercial paper  near or at the U.S. Federal Reserve funds rate  and at the same time lend out to customers at 150 to 200 basis points higher than where they borrowed against deposits. "That condition is not available," he said. "Also, GDP expansion and increasing new business formations with declining unemployment rates are also necessary and that too is in question at the very least as you can see by a flight to safety into the 10 year note," he said. A rising 10-year note is another condition  and that's not present either, Stutland added. "[The Fed] is expecting a mild recession in the second half of the year. That's gonna put pressure on the 10-year note, U.S. Treasury to be somewhat suppressed to the downside. I don't expect it to get back up to 4% by the end of the year. That's certainly going to hurt regional banks," Stutland told CNBC. Deposits, cash levels and growth The bank crisis in the U.S. has led to only about a 3% decline in deposits in the U.S. system, Marinac said. He said the decline was less than what investors expected it to be, and although there were "clear" deposit outflows at five banks  SVB, Signature, First Republic, PacWest, and Western Alliance  it was far less for the rest of the industry. "U.S. deposits are still net 30% higher today than at year-end 2019, pre-pandemic," he said. Marinac added that banks have "excellent cash flows" to handle any recession. However, Stutland argued that the issue of deposits is "levels of risk" when it comes to the regional banks. "All deposits being protected, I think is a pipe dream," he told CNBC. "Will we insure depositors beyond what people expect if there's some failure?" As for the healthy cash levels that Marinac noted, Stutland asked where growth "is going to come from." "Even if the cash reserves hold in there, I'm still worried about things holding up and where's the growth going to come for these regional banks until the economic macro economic environment improves," he said. Stock picks For investors still keen on regional bank stocks, Marinac said his top two picks are Fifth Third Bancorp and First Citizens . First Citizens announced in late March that it will buy over Silicon Valley Bank's deposits and loans. He highlighted "the fact that [regional bank] stocks are down 40% when you've had earnings down about 5%. Even though earnings estimates will fall again for 2023 and 2024, as we go through earnings season this month, they're not going to come down 40%." "So overall, I think you have very good value," Marinac added. Stutland, for his part, said he would go for bigger banks, preferring JPMorgan to Bank of America . "We want to be in the bigger bank area, because I think this type of economic environment is going to be favorable for those guys," he said. "[I'd] rather own some growth type techie type names as a recovery to this and a push forward in the second half of this year, rather than [own] regional banks and take the risk in that area," Stutland added.
Every weekday the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer holds a "Morning Meeting" livestream at 10:20 a.m. ET. Here's a recap of Monday's key moments. Stocks fall Watch Meta Stick with Wells Fargo 1. Stocks fall Equities edged down slightly Monday morning, as the market continued to move out of overbought territory , according to the S & P 500 Short Range Oscillator . This is a level at which "we don't want to commit new capital yet," Jim Cramer said Monday. His comments come as earnings season kicks into gear this week, with Club holdings Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Morgan Stanley (MS) and Procter & Gamble (PG) all set to report. Meanwhile, shares of Club holding Alphabet (GOOGL) moved lower Monday on a New York Times report that Samsung Electronics (SSNLF) could abandon Google as the default search engine on its phones in favor of Microsoft 's (MSFT) Bing. We're downgrading GOOGL to a 2 rating . 2. Watch Meta New Street downgraded Club holding Meta Platforms (META) from to neutral buy on Sunday, while reiterating a $220-per-share price target. The analysts argued that Meta's "year of efficiency"  which has included cost cuts and layoffs  has now run its course. Any further cost cutting "could help boost [earnings] estimates" but "are unlikely to impact the [price-to-earnings] multiple materially," they wrote in a research note. Meta stock, which has climbed more than 80% year-to-date, was trading down 1.7% Monday, at $217.73 a share. Jim said Monday he continues to believe in Meta and thinks its future is in artificial intelligence. 3. Stick with Wells Fargo Jim on Monday said he was pleased with Wells Fargo 's (WFC) solid first-quarter results from Friday. The bank "had amazing numbers," beating Wall Street estimates and reiterating its full-year guidance. The stock initially fell on the news, creating a buying opportunity. But after investors digested the report, shares jumped more than 2.6% Monday morning, to around $40.70 apiece. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long JNJ, MS, PG, META, WFC. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
Regulators may need to introduce limits on the use of stablecoins in payments to prevent potential threats to financial stability, an official at the Bank of England warned Monday.

"The Bank of England's assessment is that over time, the financial stability risks should be manageable including risks from the impact on the banking system," Jon Cunliffe, deputy governor of the Bank of England, said in a speech at the Innovate Finance Global Summit in London.

"But we cannot know for certain the extent and the speed at which payment stablecoins might be adopted and we may well need limits, at least initially, to ensure we avoid disruptive change that could threaten financial stability."

That would mean significant implications for stablecoins such as Tether's USDT, Circle's USDC and Binance's BUSD.

Stablecoins are cryptocurrency tokens that aim to mirror the value of traditional assets such as fiat currencies. Regulators are concerned about the assets that underpin their value, and the potential risks they may pose to the financial system if they become greater competitors to fiat money.

Volatility in the crypto markets raised questions about just how stable such tokens truly are after TerraUSD, a so-called algorithmic stablecoin, saw its value plummet to nearly zero cents when investors yanked out their funds due to fears over the technical model underpinning the token.

There is currently no framework for consumers to be reimbursed in the event of a stablecoin failure, unlike commercial bank money which is protected by deposit insurance up to 85,000 ($105,100). Cunliffe said this reinforced the need to ensure the assets behind a stablecoin are "at all times of sufficient value to meet redemption requests."

Cunliffe said that "systemic stablecoins," or tokens which pose risks to the financial system, would need to be backed with highly liquid assets to ensure holders can easily withdraw their funds.

Such assets could include deposits at the Bank of England "or very highly liquid securities," he added.

The British government is consulting on new regulation to address the risks posed by digital currencies to consumers, while also seeking to ensure the country is seen as a place for crypto firms to do business.

The Financial Services and Markets Bill, which is currently working its way through the U.K. parliament, already includes some provisions on cryptocurrency. That specific law, which is not yet in force, aims to bring asset-backed stablecoins into the regulatory fold.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is a noted backer of crypto, having set out early last year to make Britain a "crypto hub" in his capacity as finance minister under Boris Johnson.

The U.K. is also exploring the possible issuance of examining a digital version of the British pound. The Bank of England said in February that it was "likely" Britain would need a central bank digital currency if current trends around the decline in cash use continue.

Cunliffe reiterated that aim Monday, saying a CBDC was "likely to be needed if current trends in payments and money ... continue." He cited the risk of cash use declining further and more non-bank players issuing their own digital coins.

The Bank of England, the U.K. Treasury and industry are debating concerns over how such currencies would be implemented, such as the privacy of people transacting with them and implications for financial stability.

WATCH: How stablecoins became the backbone of crypto
A political display is posted on the outside of the Fox News headquarters on 6th Avenue in New York July 21, 2020.

WILMINGTON, Del.  Dominion Voting Systems' $1.6 billion civil defamation lawsuit against Fox News will head to trial Tuesday after being delayed by one day, the judge overseeing the case said Monday.

In a brief hearing in Delaware Superior Court, Judge Eric Davis said Monday he made the decision to delay the jury selection process and the start of opening statements. News of the delay came Sunday night, just hours before the trial was originally set to begin.

The judge offered little explanation for the postponement. "This is not a press conference, I don't do that," Davis told a courtroom that was mostly filled with journalists.

But he assured the court that the scheduling change was "not unusual," noting that he has not presided over a trial longer than two weeks without experiencing a delay.

This trial is expected to last up to six weeks.

Dominion, which sells voting machines and election software, claimed it was defamed by Fox Corp. and its cable TV networks after Fox aired false claims that the company had rigged the 2020 election against former President Donald Trump.

Fox has argued that Dominion has not met the legal standard for defamation, and that the statements made about Dominion on its air were protected by the First Amendment.

The trial delay came as some news outlets have reported Dominion and Fox are meeting to discuss a possible settlement. Spokespeople for Fox and Dominion have not provided statements about the possibility of settlement talks.

Most defamation cases settle out of court. But as recently as Saturday, the possibility of Dominion and Fox avoiding trial seemed as unlikely as ever. "In the coming weeks, we will prove Fox spread lies causing enormous damage to Dominion. We look forward to trial," a Dominion spokesman told CNBC on Saturday morning.

On the eve of the trial  one of the most expensive and closely watched defamation cases in years  Fox and Dominion clashed over just how much money is actually at stake.

Shortly before the hearing Monday morning, Fox announced that Dominion was slashing its damages claim by hundreds of millions of dollars.

Fox in a court filing shared a screenshot of an email sent Friday by Dominion attorney Brian Farnan, stating that Dominion "will not be presenting its claim for lost profits damages to the jury, given that it is duplicative of the lost enterprise value damages."

Dominion's original complaint against Fox had asked the court to award damages of at least $600 million for profits the company allegedly lost as a result of the lies told about it on Fox's air.

Fox said that Farnan's email shows Dominion will instead just be pursuing its billion-dollar claim for "lost enterprise value" damages.

But Dominion quickly pushed back, reaffirming that its $1.6 billion claim for damages was unchanged.

"The damages claim remains," a Dominion spokesperson told CNBC later Monday morning. "As Fox well knows, our damages exceed $1.6 billion."
watch now

Since late June, federal authorities have seized $961 million worth of goods over suspected ties to forced labor, officials told CNBC. In many instances, companies have no idea their supply chain is tainted, officials said. CNBC received exclusive access in February to the Port of New York and New Jersey, the largest port on the East Coast, located a few miles southwest of Manhattan. There, millions of dollars' worth of cargo  from solar panels to bedding to floor tiles  was being held while major companies scrambled to prove their supply chains are clean. "Our goal for the forced labor laws [is] to prevent merchandise from being made with forced labor in the first place, and we will not rest until we achieve that goal," said Customs and Border Protection Executive Assistant Commissioner AnnMarie Highsmith, who oversees the Office of Trade.

Inside these boxes: Approximately $20 million worth of detained solar panels by U.S. Customs & Border Protection over suspected ties to forced labor. CNBC

The enforcement falls under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, or UFLPA, signed into law by President Joe Biden in late 2021. The law prohibits imports of goods produced or sourced in the Xinjiang region of China from entering the U.S. economy. China has come under intense criticism recently for its treatment of the Uyghur minority. Last year, a report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights into the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China concluded that "serious human rights violations" against the Uyghur and "other predominantly Muslim communities" have been committed by the country. Beijing denied the claims, calling it "disinformation" and "lies fabricated by anti-China forces." According to Highsmith, enforcing ULFPA is a top priority for CBP and the department. "This is not just a supply chain security issue for us," Highsmith said. "It is an economic security issue for the country."

This is not just a supply chain security issue ... it is an economic security issue for the country. AnnMarie Highsmith Executive Assistant Commissioner, Office of Trade, U.S. Customs & Border Protection

Highsmith told CNBC that Chinese authorities make doing business in the country even more challenging. "The Chinese government has taken steps to obfuscate those supply chains and prevent businesses from learning [about] the conditions under which the products are manufactured," Highsmith said. "So if you're going into China you have an extra layer of risk to work against." Highsmith's message to American businesses: "know your supply chain." But it isn't that easy. Surprisingly, the most recent CBP data shows that in terms of value, the majority of shipments detained since last summer were not sent from China. Shipments coming directly from China represented about $80 million worth of goods, while Malaysia accounted for $461 million and Vietnam accounted for $370 million. CBP officials told CNBC those shipments were stopped because the goods were believed to have been made with raw materials from the Uyghur region. To date, only about a third of those detained shipments, amounting to 1,090, have been released.

Shipping containers lie stacked on a ship docked at the Port Newark Container Terminal, Newark, New Jersey. Getty Images

Both the Biden and Trump administrations have amped up economic and trade pressure on China. The White House under President Joe Biden is currently reviewing the penalties imposed under former President Donald Trump, who levied a raft of tariffs on Chinese goods in an effort to bolster U.S.-made goods During CNBC's recent visit to the port, 916 40-foot-long shipping containers filled with merchandise worth about $60 million were under investigation, said CBP Assistant Port Director Ed Fox. "UFLPA allows us to presume [goods] were produced with forced labor, and therefore they'd be excluded from the United States," said Fox. "So now, [after receiving a detention notice], the importer has to go back through their entire supply chain, and they have to prove that it was not produced with forced labor." In addition to $20 million worth of solar panels in lockdown, there was also a 40-foot container filled with bags of xanthan gum  a common food additive used in toothpaste and ice cream  and $15 million worth of vinyl floor tiles. Textiles are a big category, too. "The cotton commodity coming out of the Xinjiang region has typically been tied to forced labor," Fox told CNBC.

Top categories detained, since June 2022 Electronics ($841.2 million) Apparel, footwear, textiles ($29.6 million) Industrial and manufacturing materials ($39.1 million) Agricultural products ($12.4 million) Source: CBP data

How Customs tracks merchandise

"It's a combination of intelligence, information that's gathered from a variety of sources, all feeding into our expert cargo targeting systems," said Fox. In some cases, he said goods are sent to a lab for more tests. CNBC followed T-shirts from a well-known designer fashion label that were sent to a lab in Newark, New Jersey, to undergo analysis.

A scientist at a U.S. Customs & Border Protection lab in Newark, New Jersey, cuts a T-shirt from a well-known designer fashion label with scissors for testing. CNBC

First, a scientist cut samples of the shirts. Then, she examined the fibers under a microscope to see if they were made from cotton. Next, the shirts were sent out to a private lab overseas for isotope analysis that can determine whether the cotton was grown in the Xinjiang region. "We really have to drill down into the chemical makeup of cotton," said Stephen Cassata, senior science officer at CBP. "It creates kind of a fingerprint for that particular region." The isotope analysis is so precise that scientists can pinpoint the exact geographic location of where the cotton originated from  from one side of a river to the other side of a river, according to Cassata.

During CNBC's port visit, a 40-foot shipping container full of floor tiles (white boxes) was detained by U.S. Customs & Border Protection over suspected ties to forced labor. CNBC

CBP asked CNBC not to reveal the names of any corporation that had items detained because the information was protected by the Trade Secrets Act, which says disclosing it could impact CBP's ability to enforce the law as well as the company's reputation. Officials sent detention notices to the manufacturers, explaining that merchandise was being held. The companies then had 30 days to come back to CBP and prove that the items were produced without forced labor. While a company works to prove it's not in violation of the new law, it's faced with another cost: storage fees. If the company cannot prove within a 30-day period that its products have no ties to forced labor, then the products are either destroyed or reexported and will incur extra fees.

Uncertainty for companies
Ford Motor will import its next-generation Lincoln Nautilus from China to the U.S., the company said Monday night.

The midsize crossover is currently produced for the U.S. at Ford's Oakville Assembly Plant in Ontario, Canada. The automaker recently announced it would be investing 1.8 billion Canadian dollars (about $1.3 billion) to transition the facility into a new electric vehicle hub.

This marks the first time Lincoln will import a vehicle to the U.S. from China.

Importing a vehicle from China to the U.S. is not unprecedented but can draw public and political criticism or backlash, especially when tensions between the two countries are high.

Most notably, General Motors has been criticized for importing its Buick Envision crossover from China to the U.S. since 2016. The Detroit automaker has sold more than 200,000 of the China-made vehicles, which American union officials have called the "Invasion" and "a slap in the face."

Importing a vehicle from overseas to the U.S. can make good business sense, however, for a company such as Ford.
Gen Zs aren't easing into the travel market  they are exploding into it. Despite their youth and comparatively low income, more than half of American Gen Z adults are frequent travelers, having taken three or more leisure trips in the past year, according to the data research company Morning Consult. That's because traveling is more mainstream now, and Gen Zs are broadly exposed to travel inspiration through social media, said Lindsey Roeschke, travel and hospitality analyst at Morning Consult. "In short, they're being raised in a society where travel is more prioritized than it was for past generations," she told CNBC. Thus, "brands need to pay attention now."

Big plans, little money

Gen Zs  those born between 1997 and 2012  are traveling more than Gen Xers and baby boomers, and are "on par with millennials, who are currently the focus of the industry," said Roeschke.

Survey conducted from December 2022 to February 2023. Source: Morning Consult

Yet unlike past generations, Gen Zs aren't waiting until they have high-paying jobs or a nest egg of savings to travel. Rather, "they are finding ways to fit it into their budgets now," according to Morning Consult's report on Gen Z travel trends. Only 11% Gen Zs who travel frequently come from households earning $100,000 or more annually, according to Morning Consult. Most (61%) say they earn less than $50,000 per year, the data shows.

But that doesn't mean that Gen Zs aren't worried about travel expenses. In a survey of 4,000 full-time students aged 18 to 25, some 76% named financial costs as their greatest travel concern. The survey, published in March by the travel tech company StudentUniverse, showed nearly two in three Gen Zs look for the cheapest options when traveling, and nearly half (46%) said they expect to get financial help from their parents.

watch now

They are also willing to cut other spending to pay for travel, according to a survey published in March by the Gen Z media company Student Beans. In the survey, 83% of young adults said they plan to cut back on non-essential spending. A guide published by Student Beans shows that from 2021 to 2022, Gen Zs' average spending per purchase decreased for fashion (7%), tech (6%) and food (12%), while their travel purchases surged 60%. "Cost-of-living crisis or not, nothing is going to get in the way of Gen Z taking a well-earned break," the report stated.

Why Gen Zs travel

According to Morning Consult's survey, the top three motivators for American Gen Z travelers mirror those of other generations: to relax, escape or get away, and spend time with friends and family. Yet the data shows they're motivated to travel for adventure, mental health and cultural experiences more than older generations.

More than any other age group, Gen Zs are also planning to travel longer, to take more trips abroad and are the least interested in visiting places they've already been to, according to Morning Consult's data.

What Gen Zs care about

Gen Zs increasingly want their travel experiences to be meaningful, according to a survey of 4,000 full-time students by the travel tech company StudentUniverse. Some 68% of respondents, aged 18 to 25, said they were interested in experiencing a new culture, while only 21% were in search of nightlife and clubbing.

Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards

Commenting on the report, Will Jones, the company's brand manager, said, "It wasn't too long ago that the 18-30s travel market was practically synonymous with raucous partying  that's no longer the case." Social issues matter to them too, with some 82% indicating a country's approach to issues like LGBTQ rights would affect their decision to visit, according to StudentUniverse. Gen Zs and millennials also want  and will shell out more for  pools and pet-friendly accommodations, according to Hopper's "2023 Travel Trends Report." And a report from the luxury travel agency Virtuoso states 56% of Gen Zs will pay more for travel companies with environmentally friendly philosophies and practices.

How they plan
After decades of nearly unfettered dominance, Google search is facing growing competition from Microsoft 's (MSFT) new artificial intelligence-powered Bing  an increasingly real threat that has caused us to reevaluate our position in parent company Alphabet (GOOGL). Alphabet stock tumbled nearly 2.7% Monday, to close just under $106 per share, after The New York Times reported that Samsung Electronics (SSNLF) is considering replacing Google with Bing as the default search engine on its devices. This latest piece of potentially bad news for Alphabet prompted us to downgrade the stock to a 2 from our buy-it-here 1 rating, which means we would want to wait for a more significant pullback before considering purchasing any more shares. We would have also sold some shares if not restricted, given Alphabet's outperformance this year. Microsoft, also a Club stock, rose nearly 1%, to close at nearly $289 per share. We also have a 2 rating on Microsoft. Both stocks are up more than 20% year to date. Over the past five years, Microsoft's share price tripled, while Alphabet's doubled. GOOGL MSFT 5Y mountain Alphabet vs. Microsoft over 5 years The idea that Bing could displace Google on Samsung's devices alarmed Google executives, according to the Times, not to mention Samsung is a major device maker using Google's Android mobile operating system. In response, the report noted that Google is working on an entirely new search platform driven by AI, while also updating its current offering with AI features set for release next month. Alphabet pays a hefty price tag every year to be the default search engine for phone manufacturers. That includes an estimated $20 billion annual payment to iPhone maker Apple (AAPL) and about $3 billion to Samsung. This access, however, allows Google to stay ahead of competition like Microsoft, while generating heaps of search traffic that Alphabet then monetizes with advertising. That's where a majority of its revenue comes from. Google currently has more than 90% market share in search while Bing holds about 3%, according to StatCounter , a lopsided dynamic that's been in place for years. While Google remains the clear winner, there's ample opportunity for Bing to incrementally gain market share over time. Even a slim increase could be worth billions of dollars for Microsoft. Alphabet vs. Microsoft Since Bing was first introduced in 2009, Microsoft has been trying to dethrone Google in search. The new Bing  which includes a chatbot powered by Microsoft-backed OpenAI's latest large language model, Chat GPT-4  seems to have the best shot in years to make inroads. About a month after unveiling the new Bing, Microsoft said in a blog post that the search engine topped 100 million daily active users (DAUs). By comparison, Google search gets more than 1 billion DAUs. "That said, it feels good to be at the dance," Microsoft said. ChatGPT became the fastest-growing application when it attracted 100 million users just a couple of months after its launch in November. Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI allows it to explore new AI capabilities to further advance its products. Alphabet has spent years developing AI. But after Microsoft beat it to the punch with the new Bing, the market perception is that Google has fallen behind in the AI race. That's why Alphabet rushed to release its new conversational AI service called Bard earlier this year. In a research note, analysts at Morgan Stanley said that since late March, Google's web traffic through Bard has not "inflected materially, which contrasts with ChatGPT's steady rise in traffic." As a result, they lowered Alphabet's revenue forecast by 2%, citing an uncertain macroeconomic environment and lower results from its search business. Morgan Stanley said Alphabet's full integration of Bard into search is an important next step to showcase the company's "leading multiyear AI search and development." They noted that its AI and machine-learning products are tools that can reinforce the company's leading position in the online ecosystem. The Club's take Google has been and still is the long-time leader in search among consumers and corporate partners. But the Times report on Samsung is another example that Microsoft poses a threat to Alphabet as it accelerates plans in artificial intelligence. We own both mega-cap tech names for distinct reasons. Microsoft is making strides in AI and has a solid cloud business in Azure. Alphabet has been a core position in the portfolio for a long time because of its industry-leading advertising platform. In recent years, Alphabet has also made big strides in building out its cloud computing business. However, the main issue the Times story raises is that Google isn't the only option for search. Even if Samsung is not serious about switching, the mere fact that it was considered raises uncertainty around Alphabet's AI leadership and how much investment is required into further developing AI to make its search engine more competitive. Still, we're holding on to GOOGL, in part, because it has a much cheaper valuation than MSFT. Moreover, Microsoft might have accelerated AI capabilities through its partnership with OpenAI, but it hasn't proven its ability to pull in ad dollars like Alphabet. We don't view this as an either-or decision: It pays to own both stocks right now. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long GOOGL, MSFT. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

Google headquarters in Mountain View, California, US, on Monday, Jan. 30, 2023. Alphabet Inc. is expected to release earnings figures on February 2. Marlena Sloss | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Shares of Moderna fell Monday as Wall Street chewed over new trial results on the personalized cancer vaccine it is developing with Merck .

Merck's shares were essentially flat.

The experimental mRNA vaccine, when combined with Merck's blockbuster drug Keytruda, cut the risk of recurrence of skin cancer melanoma by 44% compared with Keytruda alone, the companies said Sunday in their first detailed presentation of results from a key phase two trial.

Nearly 80% of participants who received both the vaccine and Keytruda stayed cancer-free for 18 months compared with the 62% of participants who only received Keytruda, the companies said. They added that side effects with the vaccine were generally mild, with fatigue being the most common.

Those results, presented at an American Association for Cancer Research meeting in Florida, add to the initial results on the treatment combination released in December.

The results suggest the vaccine in combination with Keytruda "may be a novel means of potentially extending the lives of patients with high-risk melanoma, Dr. Kyle Holen, Moderna's head of development, therapeutics and oncology, said in a press release. Moderna and Merck said they will initiate a phase three trial in 2023 and will "rapidly expand" their research to study the treatment's effect on additional tumor types, including a major type of lung cancer.

Wall Street met the news with a mix of cautious optimism and doubt.

Analysts from SVB Securities said the results suggest the personalized cancer vaccine shows promise. But they also wrote in a Sunday note that the treatment's path to approval is new and untested, adding that the firm does not believe accelerated approval is an option.

The Food and Drug Administration's accelerated approval designation is meant to allow for faster clearance of drugs for serious conditions that fill an unmet medical need.

A Monday note from Wolfe Research analyst Tim Anderson said many Moderna and Merck stakeholders remain "cautiously optimistic at best" about the opportunity of the cancer vaccine-Keytruda combination.

He said expectations for the treatment combination were reasonably high going into the weekend, but noted there are still plenty of cancer vaccine skeptics due to a "long history of failures in this space."

Wells Fargo analyst Mohit Bansal also said he's expressing "cautious optimism" about the treatment combination. In a Sunday note, Bansal pointed to "trial imbalances" that potentially produced more favorable results for the personalized cancer vaccine.

He said those imbalances warrant waiting for more data on the treatment.
Peter Coker Jr., left, is issued search warrants from police at his villa on the southern resort island of Phuket, Thailand, Jan. 11, 2023.

CAMDEN, N.J.  The former fugitive at the center of a securities fraud case involving a $100 million New Jersey deli was ordered held without bail Monday as a federal judge ruled he is a serious flight risk.

A magistrate judge had approved Peter Coker Jr.'s release on a $1.5 million bond in late March, but he remained in an Essex County jail as prosecutors appealed the ruling.

During a hearing Monday in federal court in Camden, New Jersey, and in motions filed before the court, prosecutors argued Coker Jr. should be held pending trial because he had renounced his U.S. citizenship, had "extensive" links to foreign countries and owned more than $3 million in assets.

Judge Christine O'Hearn sided with the government. She repeatedly noted that Coker Jr., who had been living in Phuket, Thailand, for the past year and a half, had made no effort to contact the authorities to turn himself in after he learned he'd been indicted in September.

She said Coker Jr. was only in the U.S. to answer the charges against him because federal authorities eventually tracked him down to Phuket and extradited him to the U.S.

Coker Jr., who was smiling as he was led into court clad in a yellow jail jumpsuit, didn't make formal comments to the judge.

The 53-year-old Coker Jr., his father, Peter Coker Sr., and a third man, James Patten, were charged in a 12-count indictment for securities fraud and conspiracy for allegedly concocting a scheme to inflate the stock prices of two companies, Hometown International and E-Waste.

At the time of the alleged actions, the firms' market capitalizations exceeded $100 million each even though Hometown's only asset was a small deli in Paulsboro, New Jersey, that made no money and E-Waste was a shell company, according to prosecutors.

Coker Jr.'s defense attorney, John Azzarello, argued his client had made no efforts to hide while in Phuket. He also said Coker Jr. had not changed his name or made other attempts to evade capture from authorities after learning about the charges against him.

When O'Hearn questioned why Coker Jr. didn't try to contact the government or turn himself in after he learned he had been indicted, Azzarello explained that his client had been hospitalized with cirrhosis and hepatitis.

There was "fear and concern" that if Coker Jr. turned himself in to Thai authorities, he would be forced to get on a more than 25-hour plane ride to the U.S., Azzarello said. He added that Coker Jr.'s local doctors had advised him not to travel because of his health issues.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn Barnes acknowledged that Coker Jr. had health concerns, but said officials could have made arrangements to ensure his safety while traveling.

O'Hearn decided Monday there were no conditions that could reasonably assure Coker Jr.'s return to court. She agreed that he was a flight risk because he is not a U.S. citizen, does not have significant ties to the U.S. and is not currently employed, among other reasons.

Calling Coker Jr. a "sophisticated defendant" who is "very familiar with international travel," O'Hearn said her "main concern" was that he didn't attempt to surrender after he learned he was indicted. She also cited his assets and "little if any" family ties.

"I am surprised," Azzarello told CNBC of O'Hearn's decision after the hearing.

He said he wasn't yet sure about his next move and whether he would propose a different bail package or attempt to appeal the judge's ruling.

After the judge delivered her ruling, Coker Jr.'s mother cried in the gallery and outside of the courtroom. She and her husband, the elder Coker, declined to comment to CNBC.
Nordstrom on Monday said it has tapped former Nike operating chief Eric Sprunk to join its board, as the company faces pressure from an activist investor.

Nordstrom shares rose about 4% on Monday to close at $17.00.

Sprunk, who was Nike's COO from 2013 to 2020, will join the board immediately, the company said. With the appointment, Nordstrom said its board will grow to 11 directors.

In a news release, Nordstrom board member Brad Tilden highlighted Sprunk's "track record of driving e-commerce growth and large-scale transformations within a complex global business."

The move comes as the retailer's performance gets scrutinized by some investors, including Ryan Cohen, an activist investor. Cohen, founder of Chewy and chairman of GameStop , bought a major stake in Nordstrom in February with plans to shake up the retailer's board, according to people familiar with the matter, who wished to remain anonymous due to the private nature of the discussions.

One of those requested changes was removing Mark Tritton, former Bed Bath & Beyond CEO, from the board, those people said. Cohen previously bought and then sold a major stake in the home goods retailer, which is now on the verge of bankruptcy.

In a proxy filing Monday, the company said it "received notice from a shareholder stating its intention to nominate two candidates for election to the Board at the Annual Meeting, which notice was later withdrawn."

Nordstrom declined to say whether Cohen is that shareholder and if he influenced Sprunk's appointment. Cohen's firm, RC Ventures, did not respond to a request for comment.

Yet the proxy also hints at a potential ongoing dispute with Cohen. According to the proxy, Cohen has made moves to seek a larger stake in the company. In early March, his firm formally requested a waiver of a board provision so he could acquire up to 19.9% of Nordstrom's common stock. His firm owned 4.2% of the company's common stock as of early March.

Nordstrom's board provision, called a Rights Plan, was adopted last September. It is intended to protect the company and shareholders from a takeover, such as a entity, person or group gaining control of the company by surreptitiously amassing a large stake.

In the proxy, the board recommends that shareholders vote to extend that provision until Sept. 19, 2025. Shareholders will vote at the company's annual meeting, which will be in the coming months.

As the retail backdrop gets tougher, Nordstrom has reported slowing sales and falling profits. The high-end department store's net income fell to $119 million, or 74 cents per share, from $200 million, or $1.23 per share, in the holiday quarter compared with the year-ago period. Net sales for the company's namesake banner decreased 2.4%, and net sales for its off-price banner, Nordstrom Rack, dropped 8.1% in the quarter versus the year-ago period.

This fiscal year, the company said it expects revenue to drop by between 4% and 6%.

 CNBC's Gabrielle Fonrouge contributed to this report.
Piper Sandler said several positive catalysts are in sight for Biogen over the next several quarters. Analyst Christopher Raymond upgraded Biogen to overweight from neutral. He also raised his price target to $346 per share from $280 per share. The new target implies upside of 20.3% from Friday's close. The firm named the foremost catalyst for Biogen as Alzheimer's treatment Leqembi , which it co-developed with Japanese pharmaceutical company Eisai. Leqembi is awaiting full approval from the Food and Drug Administration by July 6. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced earlier in the year that it would provide broader coverage of Leqembi following the FDA approval. "Once full approval and subsequent full CMS reimbursement is gained (both rather likely in our view), uptake of the drug will indeed accelerate. Specifically, while share today is minimal (0.7% of patients), docs project this share to almost quadruple within 6 months," Raymond wrote in a Monday note. "Moreover, peak share is projected at almost 24%. Pen to paper, these projections would infer an annual US run rate north of $500M within 6 months, and over $5.4B at peak. For perspective, US consensus is just $49M this year and $2.9B in 2027," Raymond continued. To be sure, Raymond said that the pending full approval is also a primary obstacle to his ambitious growth projections. He noted that 75% of doctors indicated they would never prescribe Leqembi under the current accelerated approval  meanwhile, the number increases to over 80% when within a year of full approval. "Moreover, addressing a key investor concern  almost 80% of docs today report adequate access to infusion capacity, but that number drops just a little to 70% after increasing use upon full approval," said Raymond. "Other issues such as the cumbersome existing diagnostic protocol and ARIA concerns are real, but also seem quite manageable according to these docs. Weighed against a very interesting dynamic where most docs see the Leqembi's CLARITY AD result as clinically meaningful, but especially so for Alzheimer's specialists, we think  in contrast to Aduhelm  docs believe in this drug's clinical utility and will thus find a way to get it to patients," Raymond added. Aduhelm is the controversial Alzheimer's treatment developed by Biogen and Eisai, whose sales fell below Wall Street's expectations as its efficacy was called into question. "For our part, we think Leqembi has set a high bar  especially with regard to safety," said Raymond. "While management has already telegraphed a decent amount of cost savings, especially by dismantling the Aduhelm commercial effort, etc. we think even more expense leverage is in store." Shares of Biogen were up 1.3% in the premarket Monday. Shares have gained 4% in 2023. They are also up 35% in the past 12 months. "Bottom line, with this Leqembi feedback and our expectation for a new era of management execution at Biogen, we now think the stock is worth a close look. Buyers right here." CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas  Elon Musk's SpaceX was eyeing Monday to launch its towering Starship rocket to space for the first time from a private facility in Texas along the Gulf Coast. But with under 15 minutes left in the countdown, the company announced a "scrub," postponing the launch for at least 48 hours.

The Starship orbital launch is the culmination of several years of regulatory work and technological tests. Company leadership has repeatedly stressed the experimental nature of the launch. SpaceX had hoped to conduct the first orbital Starship launch as early as summer 2021, but delays in development and FAA approval pushed back the timeline.

Starship is designed to carry cargo and people beyond Earth and is critical to NASA's plan to return astronauts to the moon. Two years ago, SpaceX won a nearly $3 billion contract from NASA to use Starship as a crewed lunar lander. That would see Starship be used for as part of NASA's Artemis moon program, delivering astronauts to the lunar surface from the agency's SLS rocket and Orion capsule.

Below are live updates out of South Texas.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin discussed efforts to hold those responsible for war crimes in Ukraine accountable.

Garland said to aid the effort, the U.S. will send a representative to work as a legal advisor to the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv as well as a prosecutor to the Hague.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with China's Defense Minister Li Shangfu on Sunday, marking the latest high-profile meeting between Russian and Chinese officials in recent months.

Putin hailed the deepening military cooperation between Moscow and Beijing, saying recent joint military exercises had strengthened "the extremely trusting, strategic nature of our relations."

The meeting between top Russian and Chinese officials will fuel further speculation that the countries are pursuing deeper military cooperation as the war in Ukraine continues and relations with the West deteriorate. Both countries previously hailed a "no limits" partnership.

There's also been an international outcry after Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza was jailed for 25 years by a Moscow court on Monday after it found him guilty of treason and other offenses he denied.

The U.S., U.K. and Germany condemned the sentence, with London calling the conviction of Kara-Murza, a British dual national, "politically motivated."
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace speaks during a press conference held by the Department of Justice announcing arrests and charges against multiple individuals alleged to be working in connection to the Chinese Government, at the US Attorney's office in New York City on April 17, 2023.

U.S. law enforcement officials on Monday arrested two New York residents for allegedly operating a Chinese "secret police station" in Manhattan's Chinatown, part of a crackdown on Beijing's alleged targeting of U.S.-based dissidents.

Lu Jianwang, 61, and Chen Jinping, 59, face charges of conspiring to act as agents of China's government without informing U.S. authorities and obstruction of justice. They were released on bond following an initial appearance in Brooklyn federal court.

A 2022 investigation published by Spain-based advocacy group Safeguard Defenders reported that China had set up overseas "service stations," including in New York, that illegally worked with Chinese police to pressure fugitives to return to China.

The Chinese government has said there are centers outside China run by local volunteers, not Chinese police officers, that aim to help Chinese citizens renew documents and offer other services.

The Department of Justice has been ramping up probes into what it calls "transnational repression" by U.S. adversaries such as China and Iran to intimidate political opponents living in the United States.

"We cannot and will not tolerate the Chinese government's persecution of pro-democracy activists who have sought refuge in this country," Breon Peace, the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, told reporters.
watch now

Western companies were quick to shutter operations in Russia after the country's military invasion of Ukraine last February. But U.S. and European microelectronic tech continues to power the Kremlin's war. Key components from more than a dozen Western countries have been found in the military equipment used by Russian forces in Ukraine, according to research from the British academic journal Royal United Services Institute. A separate report from independent research group Conflict Armament Research analyzed the components of four Iranian-made drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles, used by Russia in Ukraine and found the vast majority of the technological devices originated from U.S. companies. The two reports help demonstrate how multibillion-dollar, decadeslong military-modernization programs in Iran and Russia have depended on semiconductors made by U.S. companies. The research calls into question the two countries' domestic capabilities when it comes to microelectronics manufacturing and demonstrates the illicit procurement and misuse of semiconductors by overseas entities. "For Russian systems, I think we have a little bit more than 50% of components that bear the brands of U.S.-based entities," said Damien Spleeters, deputy director of operations for CAR. "For Iranian systems, it is more than 80%."

Qaem-5 precision-guided munition, documented by Conflict Armament Research in Ukraine. Source: Conflict Armament Research

Spleeters said he's personally traveled to Ukraine on seven separate occasions to investigate and trace the supply sources of the microelectronics used in advanced weapons like Iranian-made drones. "With just screwdrivers and wrenches and whatnot, we'll just open these systems and take them apart to access every single component," Spleeters said. He and his colleagues take thousands of photos of the parts before rebuilding the weapon in a process he compared to "an IKEA system." Russia's sourcing of equipment, like the UAV drones from Iran, "underscores the challenges" the country is having "replacing equipment lost or expended since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine," according to RUSI researchers.

Shahed-131 UAV documented by Conflict Armament Research in Ukraine. Source: Conflict Armament Research

About 70% of the 450 components that RUSI examined from more than 27 different weapons systems, platforms, radios and equipment were manufactured by U.S. companies. Nearly half of the components came from Analog Devices , Texas Instruments , Microchip Technology , Onsemi , Intel , Xilinx (recently acquired by AMD ) and Cypress Semiconductor (now owned by Germany's Infineon Tech ). According to RUSI's report, products from Analog Devices and Texas Instruments were the most prevalent in weapon systems. All of these U.S.-listed companies told CNBC they have halted shipments of goods to Russia, Belarus and Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, in accordance with U.S. restrictions.

Trade restrictions

The U.S. and Iran have a history of trade restrictions that date back decades. The current economic sanctions restricting imports and exports between the two countries were first imposed in 2012. They've been updated several times over the years, banning nearly every type of exchange of goods and services except those meant for humanitarian aid and informational services. Even those exempted categories still require a specialized license from the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security. While many of the harshest sanctions imposed on Russia didn't start until after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many exports to the country had been restricted since at least 2014 when Russia first violated Ukrainian sovereignty by annexing the country's eastern peninsula, Crimea. In the near-decade since, American semiconductor components have still found their way into Russian weapons.

A date marking on a Qaem-5 munition, documented by Conflict Armament Research investigators in Ukraine. Source: Conflict Armament Research

"For the Russian systems, we see that a lot of these components were manufactured between 2014 and 2021. And for Iranian systems, we found a lot of components made in 2021, 2020 and then we've got some components from 2022, as well," said CAR's Spleeters. The more recently dated parts demonstrate how Iran and Russia may have circumvented U.S. restrictions, according to the analyses done by CAR and RUSI. Even more troublesome, according to that research: Some of the discovered components are classified as dual-use goods, with what are called Export Control Classification Numbers on the Commerce Control List. This means that a chip could be sold legally to a country for consumer or commercial use, only to then be resold to a company in a different country on the secondary market for military use. This type of re-routing of goods is known as transshipment and causes three problems, according to industry experts. First, it's more difficult for manufacturers and governments to trace end users, and second, it raises questions about the effectiveness of existing export controls given that many of these products were made recently and would have fallen under stricter regulations. What's more, it underscores that an outright ban is likely unachievable, given the dual use of certain chips that are needed for commercial products.

Circuit boards of four different items of Russian military equipment found in Ukraine by Conflict Armament Research investigators. Source: Conflict Armament Research

All seven of the U.S. chipmakers CNBC contacted for comment condemned the unauthorized diversion of their products to countries like Russia and Iran. A spokesperson for AMD said the company would take "immediate measures per our contract terms" if any of its products were found to be sold to these countries or regions. Onsemi called export-control violations a "material breach" and said they "may lead to the termination of our contractual relationship with business partners." Texas Instruments said it does not "support or condone" the use of its products "in applications for which they weren't designed." A spokesperson for Intel said, "We do not always know nor can we control what products our customers create or the applications end-users may develop," but stressed the chipmaker "does not support or tolerate our products being used to violate human rights." Analog Devices said it takes the unintended misuse of its products "very seriously" and is strengthening efforts to counter these issues by "implementing enhanced monitoring and audit processes and taking enforcement action where appropriate." Microchip Technology said it uses "various methods including screening customers against restricted party lists" to help prevent the illegal use of its products. And Infineon said it has directed global distribution partners to "prevent deliveries and to implement measures that will prevent any diversion of Infineon products or services contrary to the sanctions," adding that it has reiterated this position "several times."

Accountability

Although the semiconductor companies and government officials CNBC spoke to acknowledge the unauthorized use of American chips is a serious issue, experts can't agree on who is to blame. "I don't think the bulk of the bad behavior is with the manufacturer ... It's the ultimate buyers where I think you've got the real problem," said Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., the ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. "I think our supply chains are really so fundamentally weak," said Nazak Nikakhtar, a partner at the law firm Wiley Rein and the former assistant secretary for industry and analysis at the International Trade Administration. "What I see all too often is for companies just to say, 'This is not my problem. I have a good compliance mechanism. This is somebody else's fault.'" Others, however, blame what they say is a lack of government oversight. "The Department of Commerce has been lax about export controls for too long, sending critical supplies like chips to third parties which it knows will turn around and sell those materials to adversary militaries. This must end," said Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark, who serves on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. "We should deny export licenses to companies if we even suspect that they are helping our enemies evade U.S. sanctions."

Electronic components documented by Conflict Armament Research investigators in Ukraine. Source: Conflict Armament Research
Volkswagen on Monday unveiled a new large electric sedan that it says will have well over 300 miles of range in its top-level trim when it arrives in the U.S. market next year.

Volkswagen's new ID.7, as it's called, will serve as a flagship for the automaker's growing line of mainstream EVs. The German auto giant said last month that it expects to invest 180 billion euros (nearly $200 billion) in future products and technologies between now and 2027, with more than two-thirds earmarked for "electrification and digitalization." The company expects about 80% of the VW brand's sales in Europe, and about 50% of its sales in the U.S., to consist of electric vehicles by 2030.

VW hopes that the new ID.7 will play a key part in that transition. It's a large sedan with a distinctive hatchback design that allows for more headroom in the rear seats and improves the car's aerodynamic efficiency.

That aerodynamic emphasis and a brand-new high-efficiency electric drivetrain help the ID.7 achieve what VW says will be strong range ratings: up to 435 miles with the optional 86 kilowatt-hour battery on the European WLTP (Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicle Test Procedure) test cycle. (The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's EV range ratings are often 10% to 20% lower than WLTP ratings.) Base models will come with a 77 kWh battery that will provide an estimated 382 miles of range on the WLTP cycle, the company said.
Mauritiusbased Infinity Holdings along with promoter Ashish Dandekar have launched open offer for an additional 26 percent stake in Camlin Fine Sciences at Rs 160 per share, a premium of over 5 percent to Thursday's closing price of Rs 152 per share.

Infinity Holdings along with its subsidiaries held 23 percent stake, while Ashish Dandekar held 9.44 percent stake in the company, as of December 2022. Open offer is made to eligible public shareholders to acquire up to 4.45 crore equity shares, constituting 26 percent of voting share capital.

Assuming full acceptance of the open offer, total consideration payable at the offer price will be Rs 712.96 crore, which will be paid in cash. Following the open offer, Infinity Holdings along with Ashish Dandekar will together hold 9.55 crore equity shares representing 55.76 percent of the voting share capital of Camlin Fine Sciences.

On April 17, 2023, Infinity Holdings and other related parties entered into an agreement to jointly exercise control over the company. Pursuant to the open offer, Infinity Holdings and other related acquirers shall be classified as promoters.

Also Read | Camlin Fine Sciences shares rise after commercial production begins at Dahej unit

The acquirers (Infinity Direct Holdings, Infinity Direct Holdings Sidecar I) are private companies limited by shares and Infinity Holdings (PAC 1) is a public company under the laws of Mauritius.

The acquirers are controlled by Infinity Investment Management (IIM), which has 100 percent control over the investment decisions by virtue of an investment management agreement entered into by IIM with each of them and by virtue of holding shares in each of them with management rights.

In other words, IIM is the investment manager and controlling shareholder of the acquirers and PAC 1. No individual has any controlling interest in IIM.

The shareholders of IIM are James Paton - citizen of United Kingdom, Gautam Godhwani  citizen of USA, Shakeel Dyall  citizen of Mauritius and Aravinda De Silva  citizen of Sri Lanka.

On the basis of SEBI Circular dated January 24, 2013 giving the guidelines on identification of beneficial ownership, Aravinda De Silva can be identified as beneficial owner as he owns more than 25 percent of the share capital of IIM.

PAC 2 (Anfima NV) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ackermans & van Haaren NV. Ackermans & van Haaren NV is listed on Euronext Brussels.

Shares of Camlin Fine Sciences are trading 11 percent higher at Rs 169. The stock is trading near its 52-week high of Rs 174.70.
The prime minister will inaugurate the conference that will be the first of its kind, given its scale and the stature of participants.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a two-day Global Buddhist Summit in Delhi, to be held later this week, that will see the participation of eminent Buddhist monks, scholars and delegates from various parts of the world, Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy said on Monday.

Addressing a press conference here, he said the conference will be held at The Ashok hotel on April 20-21.

The prime minister will inaugurate the conference that will be the first of its kind, given its scale and the stature of participants, Reddy said.

"Eminent Buddhist monks, scholars, ambassadors and diplomats from various foreign countries will take part in the summit, which will be hosted by the Union Ministry of Culture along with the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC)," he told reporters.

IBC is a global umbrella body for Buddhists with its headquarters in New Delhi.

The Union minister said delegates from nearly 30 countries apart from India are scheduled to attend the mega event.

Over 170 foreign delegates and nearly 150 delegates from various Buddhist organisations in India will take part in the event, he said.

"Many leaders of Buddhist monks, considered 'gurus' in their respective countries, will set foot in India for the first time. They have been trying to come to India for many years but (for) some reason they were unable to do so. The government of India has decided that such eminent Buddhist monks should be invited," Reddy said.

The Union minister said India is the "birthplace of Buddhism" and "the land of the Buddha".

"Therefore, it is our responsibility to showcase our Buddhist history and heritage to the wider world and the conference is in line with that vision of the country and the current government led by PM Modi," he added.

Venerable Buddhist monks, prominent Buddhist followers and leading members of various Buddhist organisations working in India are also set to attend it, the Union minister said.

Reddy also referred to the opening of the Kushinagar International Airport in Uttar Pradesh in October 2021 and other projects undertaken in the last few years.

Digitalisation of books related to Buddhism is underway, museums are being built, students coming from foreign countries are enrolling in courses and their stints are also being extended, he said.

Reddy also spoke of the project underway in Lumbini  the birthplace of Lord Buddha.

Modi and his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba laid the foundation stone for the India International Centre for Buddhist Culture and Heritage in the Lumbini Monastic Zone here last May.

The Union minister, who also holds the portfolio of Tourism and Development of the Northeast Region, said the conference is also important from the point of view of culture and will foster stronger cultural and diplomatic ties.

IBC Director-General Abhijit Halder said delegates from Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Russia, Brazil, Mexico, the US, Germany, France and Myanmar, among others, will attend the event.

Asked from which country the maximum number of delegates are expected, he said, about 20 and 30 people will attend from Sri Lanka and Vietnam, respectively.

The theme of the conference is 'Responses to Contemporary Challenges from Philosophy to Praxis'.

Asked if any delegate from China will attend the event, Halder said "an invitation was sent but no specific response has been received".

He said the IBC network spans the world and invitations were sent to institutions and "not governments".

Halder was also asked if Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama will attend.

"We have sent the invite but due to (his) health issues, we are still awaiting confirmation," he added.

Halder said the conference was first envisioned in 2020 but could not take place at the time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Then it was difficult to bring together top monks from various countries at one time in one place, he added.

Asked if the conference being held at a time of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and participation from Russia will hold any larger significance, Reddy said, the conference is not to be linked with the ongoing tensions as it was envisioned in 2020, much before the conflict began.

Later, the Union Ministry of Culture said in a statement that eminent scholars, Sangha (Buddhist) leaders and Dharma practitioners from all over the world will attend the conference.

Also read: PM Modi to inaugurate new campus of NAMO Medical Education and Research Institute in Silvassa on April 17

"There are 173 international participants comprising 84 Sangha members and 151 Indian delegates comprising 46 Sangha members, 40 nuns and 65 laity from outside Delhi. Nearly 200 persons from the NCR region will also be participating in the conference including more than 30 ambassadors from foreign embassies. The delegates will discuss todays pressing global issues and look for answers in the Buddha Dhamma that are based on universal values," it said.

The discussions to be held during the two-day event will fall under Buddha Dhamma and Peace; Buddha Dhamma: Environmental Crisis, Health and Sustainability; Preservation of Nalanda Buddhist Tradition; Buddha Dhamma Pilgrimage, Living Heritage and Buddha Relics: A Resilient Foundation to Indias Centuries-old Cultural Links to Countries in South, Southeast and East Asia, it added.

"Two keynote speeches will be delivered by His Holiness Thich Tri Quang, Supreme Patriarch of Vietnam Buddhist Sangha and Prof Robert Thurman, for Sangha and academic sessions, respectively," the statement said.

Reddy was also asked if the foreign delegates will visit various Buddhist sites in the country.

The Union minister said, "Delegates may visit different sites and the government of India will help coordinate their visits so that we can showcase our monuments and sites associated with Buddhism."

The ministry in its statement said the prime vision of the summit is to look into the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha that have been continuously enriched over the centuries with the practice of Buddha Dhamma.

"The aim is to set up a forum for the lay Buddhist scholars and Dharma Masters. It will also delve into Buddhas message for peace, compassion and harmony with the objective of working towards universal peace and harmony, in accordance with the core values of Dharma and produce a document for further academic research, to study its viability for use as a tool for the conduct of international relations on the global stage," it added.
Alongside the Opposition's attack on the government over Malik's comments, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has also taken to slamming the former governor.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satyapal Malik's recent comments on the Pulwama attack have sparked controversy, with Pakistan's Foreign Ministry using them to claim that the Modi government has used the incident to advance a Hindutva agenda.

Malik's allegations were made in an interview with veteran journalist Karan Thapar and widely circulated thereafter.

In the interview, Malik expressed his opinion on the government's failure to ensure security for CRPF personnel who died in the Pulwama attack.

"I told the Prime Minister after the attack that it happened due to our fault. Had we given the aircraft, this wouldn't have happened. To which he told me that I should keep quiet now," said Malik to Thapar.

He further alleged that National Security Adviser Ajit Doval also urged him to stay silent on the issue.

The statement by Malik have led to an uproar in the nation, with the Congress party demanding answers from the Centre on the outcome of the probe into the 2019 Pulwama incident.

What was the incident?

The Pulwama terror strike triggered active hostilities between India and Pakistan and led to the Balakot strike of February 26, in which India fired missiles targeting a terrorist training centre in Pakistan.

In the incident, 40 Central Reserve Police Force jawans were killed after being made to commute via road despite a terror attack threat. The Opposition has questioned the Modi government as to why the personnel were denied an aircraft.

How has Pakistan reacted?

The Pakistan Foreign Ministry has issued a press note stating that Malik's comments had "vindicated" Pakistan's position on the Pulwama incident.

They went on to say that Malik's disclosures showed how the Indian leadership habitually used the bogey of terrorism from Pakistan to advance its "sham victimhood narrative and the Hindutva agenda, clearly for domestic political gains."

Pakistan has asked the Indian government to answer the questions raised by Malik's remarks.

"India must answer the questions raised in the latest revelations. It is time India be held accountable for the actions that imperilled regional peace in the aftermath of Pulwama attack," said the statement from Pakistan.

The controversy surrounding Malik's comments is likely to further escalate tensions between India and Pakistan.

The Indian government has not yet responded to Pakistan's statement, and it remains to be seen how they will address the issue.

In their statement, the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, "Pakistan, for its part, will continue to counter India's false narrative, and act firmly and responsibly in the face of different provocations."

What's the controversy in India about?

Meanwhile, within the nation, the National Executive of RSS, Ram Madhav, has served a defamation notice to the former J&K governor for his April 8 remarks on Madhav's attempt to influence Malik over a deal regarding a health insurance scheme involving a kickback of Rs 300 crores.

Alongside the Opposition's attack on the government over Malik's comments, the ruling BJP has also taken to slamming the former governor.

"And before Congress minions get all excited about Satyapal Malik, their new found knight in the shinning armour, here is what he had to say about Rahul Gandhi. So, sit down," BJP's IT department head Amit Malviya tweeted, sharing a video of Malik.

Besides calling Rahul Gandhi a "political juvenile," Malik is heard saying in the video that people will "beat him with shoes" during elections if they are told he (Gandhi) supports Article 370, which was nullified by the Modi government.

With agency inputs.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) panel on Monday, April 17, ruled against India in a dispute over import duties on IT products with the European Union (EU), Japan, and Taiwan. The panel found that India had violated global trading rules in imposing import tariffs on mobile phones and other Information and Communication Technology (ICT) products.

In 2019, India introduced import duties ranging from 7.5 percent to 20 percent for various IT products including mobile phones, components, and integrated circuits.

This move was challenged by the European Union, which argued that the import duties exceeded the maximum rate. The challenge was also supported by Japan and Taiwan, who filed similar complaints.

As per the European Commission, the EU is India's third-largest trading partner, contributing to 10.8 percent of the country's total trade in the year 2021. This indicates that any dispute between India and the EU can have a significant impact on their economic ties.

The WTO panel's report said, "We recommend that India bring such measures into conformity with its obligations." The panel further suggested that India should amend its tariffs on these products to align them with global trading rules.

The panel's decision could lead to India having to roll back the tariffs, which may impact its trade relations with the countries involved in the dispute.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 17)  NOW Telecom, an affiliate of Velarde-led media and technology holding firm NOW Corp., said Monday its development of a 5G network is now "in full swing" after it received the last tranche of its grant from the US government.

In a statement, NOW Telecom said it signed the secondary agreement of the US Trade and Development Agencys (USTDA) grant for technical assistance on the rollout of 5G-powered mobile and broadband network in the Philippines.

"This marks the completion of the execution of all the required documents for the USTDA Project. The Project is now in full swing," it said.

NOW Telecom is working with Nokia's research arm Bell Labs Consulting for technical assistance, which covers analysis, designs, and plans for phased implementation of the 5G wireless network in Metro Manila.

To expand the project across the country, NOW Telecom might have to explore other funding opportunities here and abroad, including the Export-Import Bank of the United States and the US Development Finance Corporation.

In November 2022, NOW Corp. disclosed the project following US Vice President Kamala Harris' visit to the Philippines. The US White House said teaming up with NOW Telecom to deploy 5G would "provide faster and more reliable digital services and increased broadband internet access for Filipinos countrywide."
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 17)  The five-year wait is finally over for fans after Korean actor Lee Jong-suk finally returned to the Philippines to again meet his Filipino Sukkies, his fandom name, during the weekend.

Organized by fashion magazine L'Officiel Philippines, the fan meeting held on Sunday at the PICC was filled with a lot of surprises, especially from Lee himself, and romantic thrill for his fans.

The event was opened by P-pop group BGYO with their song Be Us.

Following an introduction by actress Denise Laurel, Lee was welcomed by loud cheers from fans.

During one of the segments, the actor was asked several questions, including what he looks forward to the most at the fan meeting.

Speaking in Korean, Lee said he was excited to finally meet his Filipino Sukkies again after a long while. Lee last held his fan meeting in the Philippines in 2018.

He was also asked how he would define Lee Jong-suk. Echoing his fans response of gwapo (handsome), the actor said I am gwapo.

Questions from three lucky fans were also picked. But they did not only get to personally ask the actor on stage, he did not hesitate to also give them hugs, selfies, and surprise gifts.

Making a special appearance during the fan meeting was Lees friend, rising Korean actor Shin Jae-ha.

The two were together in K-dramas Pinocchio and While You Were Sleeping.

As a special treat to fans, both actors danced to BTS Dynamite and NewJeans Hybe Boy.

They also played a game and re-enacted some iconic scenes from Lees dramas I Can Hear Your Voice and Romance is a Bonus Book.

The night ended with a video gifted by fans to the actor and a song from Lee.

In his parting message, Lee thanked his fans and promised to return to the country for his Filipino Sukkies.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines Life, April 17)  This week, catch a gig prods anniversary show and a free ballet performance, celebrate International Book Day, and shop for new art pieces and scents.

Celebrate International Book Day at Instituto Cervantes de Manilas Intramuros branch. Photo from INSTITUTO CERVANTES DE MANILA/FACEBOOK

Celebrate Dia del Libro at Instituto Cervantes de Manila

This April 22, celebrate International Book Day at Instituto Cervantes de Manilas Intramuros branch. Opening at 10 a.m., the event program includes a concert, free Spanish lessons, talks from publishers and authors, book signing events, and more. There will also be a book market open the whole day, with discounted books from local bookstores and publishers. For the full schedule and updates on the event, visit their Facebook page.  CNN PHILIPPINES LIFE STAFF

Catch the Paniki Anniversary show at Mows

Started last year, the Paniki Collective has been an interesting gig prod group to follow, with lineups that range from Zild and Blaster and the Celestial Klownz to Walktrip and Space Moses. This April 23, theyre holding an anniversary and benefit show at Mows in partnership with cultural mass organizations SINAGBAYAN (Sining na Naglilingkod sa Bayan) and Tambisan sa Sining. The lineup includes Ang Bandang Shirley, Zild, ToneeJay, Salem And The Stellar Cats, Cherry Society, Butterfly Den, and Nakasabit sa Puno ay Ako. Get your tickets at tinyurl.com/PANIKIANNIV-PRESALE-TIX. For updates, visit their Instagram page.  GABY GLORIA

Shop for local art at BGC Art Mart

BGCs regular art mart is back this weekend. Spend a summer day browsing through unique artworks from local artists, sample food from the available stalls, and catch some live performances throughout the art-filled weekend. The BGC Art Mart will be at the Alveo Central Plaza from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. from April 21 to 23. For updates, visit the event page.  CNN PHILIPPINES LIFE STAFF

Members of the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) Studio Company. Photo courtesy of AYALA FOUNDATION

Cebu and Davao residents, enjoy the ballet for free this weekend at Ayala Malls

Enjoying cultural shows at little to no cost is a rare treat in the Philippines, especially in the field of ballet. But there are thankfully moments in which these spectacles are available for the wider public to enjoy. After their last visit in 2019, the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) Studio Company comes back to the Philippines this week with their new roster of stars, as well as a special performance by the countrys acclaimed pianist, Cecile Licad. This will be Licads first performance since the pandemic. The ABT will be performing for free this April 22 at Ayala Center Cebu, and April 23 at Ayala Malls Abreeza in Davao. The benefit performance is for the Ayala Foundations CENTEX program, which provides education for underserved students while providing opportunities to thrive in arts, dance, and music. If youre ever in Cebu or Davao for the free performances, we suggest bringing a younger sibling or family member whose love for dance may be piqued by such a show. As the Ayala Foundation asserts through its CENTEX program, who knows what budding talent lies in each of us?  MARGA BUENAVENTURA

For more information, visit the Ayala Foundation website.

Gloam (9,300/50mL) is the newest scent by Aesop. Photo by MARGA BUENAVENTURA

Try this new eau de parfum by Aesop, perfect for cool summer nights

Spicy scents are tricky things in warm weather, because for some noses, it does make one smell like a savory dish. Its certainly not for everybody, but I like to believe they have a place in anyones perfume collection. Gloam (9,300/50mL), the newest scent by Aesop is another spice-forward offering, and the latest installment of their Othertopias collection by longtime collaborator Barnabe Fillion. Pink pepper and cardamom open up the scent, with neroli and orange flower complementing it with floral notes. At the depths of Gloam is a woodsy and earthiness that Ive come to love across many Aesop scents, a subtle nod to how scents are a natural dialogue between us and essences found in the natural world. And while Gloam is admittedly not for everyone, I find that experimenting with wearing it at different times of the day can yield to varying results. The spicy and floral notes are strong in the daytime, but when worn at night, Gloam settles as a soft, almost powdery scent on me. Its the kind thatll make you sink into nice, cozy sheets. The scent still lingered in my night clothes the day after, and it was such a surprising pleasure that I turned it into a new step in my evening rituals.  MB

Gloam is available in their official online store and in their Aesop shops at Greenbelt 5 and Powerplant Mall.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 17)  An alleged leader of the New People's Army was arrested in Malaysia earlier this month, authorities confirmed on Monday.

A statement from the Philippine Army's 10th Infantry Division said Eric Jun Casilao was apprehended in Langkawi in a joint operation by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, Bureau of Immigration, and Department of Foreign Affairs, together with the Royal Malaysian Police and Malaysian Immigration.

He was apprehended at the Jeti Point International Clearance Gate, Langkawi on April 1, as he was boarding a ferry bound for Koh Lipe, Thailand.

"Eric Jun Casilao was put on the Malaysian Red Notice List for falsification of passport by assuming fake identity. Likewise, after his arrest, Eric Casilao was detained for violating Malaysian Immigration laws and deported to the Philippines on April 17, 2023," the statement said.

Casilao has warrants of arrest for murder, kidnapping and serious illegal detention, and attempted murder, it added.

In a separate statement, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) said Casilao's arrest is proof of Philippine laws at work.

Meanwhile, former Anakpawis Party-list representative Ariel Casilao appealed for his brother's safety, adding that his lawyers were "denied information regarding the details of his deportation to the Philippines."

"I believe that Eric has the right to have access to his lawyers, at every stage of his being in the custody of authorities, and especially in the duration of his deportation and travel from Malaysia to the Philippines. I am very worried of his safety," he said in a statement.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 17)  Soon-to-retire Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Rodolfo Azurin Jr. said he has advised President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to be careful in choosing the next head of the organization, as he alleged that certain individuals may be attempting to smear the PNPs reputation.

He made the call on Monday during a press briefing where he defended high-ranking police officials implicated in the alleged 6.7-billion shabu haul cover-up last October.

While Azurin acknowledged that there are scalawags within the police force, he also raised the possibility that some officers are merely being set up and that he, himself, may even be a target.

The PNP chief expressed concerns that the same thing may happen to his successor.

I have to warn even the president, Azurin told reporters. Sir, be careful in selecting 'yung papalit sa 'kin [my replacement].

Definitely, hindi ordinaryo yung nabangga ko rito. Napakaliit ko lamang na kayang-kaya nila ako, he also said. How long can we stand the heat? Thats the problem. Thats why Im worried sa ating pangulo, kung sino ang pipiliin niya na papalit sakin.

[Translation: Definitely, Ive earned the ire of someone a lot more powerful than I am How long can we stand the heat? Thats the problem. Thats why Im worried about who the president will pick as my replacement.]

Azurin is set to retire on April 24.

He said he has not recommended anyone to Marcos to be the next police chief, adding that he only suggested to the president to personally interview candidates for the post.

The head of the PNP also said he will be leaving the organization better than it was when he joined it nearly four decades ago, and that he is departing with his integrity intact.

During the briefing, Azurin denied allegations of a cover-up by his men, and said Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos may have been fed with misinformation to cast doubt on the integrity of the PNP.

READ: PNP chief denies cover-up in 6.7B shabu haul arrest

He added that the supposed moves to discredit the organization may have something to do with the PNPs attempt to unmask syndicates operating within the government.

We need to identify the different branches (of syndicates), he said.

Wala pa ho tayo doon sa pinaka main branch. Palabas pa lamang tayo sa PNP para hanapin natin yung ibang branch sa ibang mga sektor ng gobyerno natin, sinisira na po nila ang ginagawang imbestigasyon ng ating Philippine National Police sa 990 kilos (shabu haul), Azurin continued.

[Translation: We have not yet reached the main branch. We are just moving outside of the PNP to find branches in other sectors of the government, and theyre already disrupting the PNPs investigation into the 990-kilo shabu haul.]
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 17)  Suspected smuggled agricultural products worth 150 million were discovered in six warehouses in Metro Manila, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) said Monday.

In a statement, Customs Commissioner Bien Rubio said those discovered include frozen meat and fresh fruits.

The products were found in inspected warehouses in Caloocan and Manila. A facility in Navotas was found to be empty but was under construction as a cold storage place.

The BOC said the owners of the goods would need to present importation documents or proof of payment. If they fail to provide the necessary documents, authorities would conduct seizure and forfeiture proceedings.

Right now, our team is a well-oiled machine running after these smuggling groups. The operations yesterday showed how our officers work day and night to make sure these products will not make it to our local markets, Rubio said.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 17)  Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Gregorio Catapang on Monday said he is currently training a number of new personnel as part of his program to improve the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) management.

I have the new blood that Im training. I have about 2,000, Catapang told CNN Philippines The Source.

This comes after Catapang sacked some 700 guards at the NBP maximum security compound for allegedly committing work violations, like having someone else sign their attendance despite not physically reporting to work.

Catapang said this shows that he is dead serious about pushing for his reforms to improve the management of the whole prison facility.

The relieved officials will be replaced by 300 new ones, who will be supported by technology and police dogs in monitoring the inmates, he noted.

To further tighten security in the facility, the BuCor chief said body cams will soon be distributed to prison guards.

Some of the body cameras that they'll be using were from the confiscated cell phones, he added. Were starting maybe next month kasi nandito na yung mga cell phones (are here), we are just putting the app."

The software will allow higher authorities to monitor NBP personnel in terms of who they are interacting with and if they are in their respective posts, said Catapang.

To ensure that these will work, Catapang said they will be removing signal jammers to utilize their satellite internet facility.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 17)  Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Gregorio Catapang on Monday said up to 20 of the 700 prison guards relieved of their post may face administrative cases.

Maybe about 10 or 20, Catapang told CNN Philippines The Source, adding that authorities are currently collecting pieces of evidence against the involved officials to support the cases.

On April 12, Catapang said he had ordered the removal of some 700 guards at the New Bilibid Prisons maximum compound. Many of these personnel were revealed to have committed work violations, like having someone else sign their attendance despite not reporting for duty.

About 300 personnel will replace the relieved officers, he noted.

Corruption among prison guards has also remained, Catapang said. Reports say visitors are asked to pay as much as 500 to expedite their entry and be allowed to bring in some prohibited items, he added.

They are the bad example connivance na sila eh. Sila sila nagtataguan (They help each other hide), they help each other profit from within, may sindikato na dito (there is already a sydicate here), the BuCor chief said.

Catapang said the relieved officers will be reeducated through seminars. If they continue to misbehave, they will be jailed, he warned.

Meanwhile, a number of officers may also be removed from their post after failing to qualify for the position they are currently holding, Catapang said.

We are just waiting for the order of the CSC (Civil Service Commission) to really validate that they are not allowed to occupy their present positions, he noted.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 17)  Filipinos could see more job opportunities in the Czech Republic, said visiting Prime Minister Petr Fiala.

"We also highly appreciate the Philippines' system of recruiting workers for work in other countries. Czech companies are very satisfied with Philippine citizens. We are discussing the possibilities to expand migration for work," Fiala said at a joint press briefing on Monday after a bilateral meeting with President Bongbong Marcos in Malacanang.

Fiala arrived on Sunday. It was his first stop in a 10-day Asian tour which will end in Uzbekistan on April 25.

The two leaders held a bilateral meeting attended by representatives of Czech businesses.

"We hope that our visit will be a new start for successful cooperation between our companies," Fiala said.

He also said he supported talks concerning transport aircraft and other projects in the aviation sector.

"Our company Ceska zbrojovka offers extensive modernization to the Philippine Armed Forces. This project also includes transfer of technology," Fiala said.

Marcos said the meeting with Fiala marked an "important milestone" in the decades of diplomatic ties between the Philippines and the Czech Republic.

" Prime Minister Fiala and I discussed a range of issues of mutual interest, including defense cooperation, trade and investment, university-to-university linkages, and labor cooperation. We also exchanged views on regional and international issues of common concern," he said.

The president added issues concerning the West Philippine Sea and the war in Ukraine was also discussed, among others. He did not give details.

"I express our commitment to strengthening the bilateral relationship between our two countries. We recognize the importance of building on the existing areas of cooperation and exploring new opportunities for collaboration," he said.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 17)  The legal team of Leila De Lima said Monday that one of the remaining drug cases against the former senator has been submitted for decision.

During a chance interview, Boni Tacardon, legal counsel of de Lima, said they expect the decision to be promulgated on May 12.

Malalaman na natin dito kung inosente nga si Sen. Leila de Lima at hinihiling namin ang dasal ng ating mga kababayan, he said.

[Translation: We will find out here if Sen. Leila de Lima is indeed innocent and we ask for the prayers of our countrymen.]

Tacardon said the case was filed following an allegation that de Lima, a known critic of former President Rodrigo Duterte, received drug money from the New Bilibid Prison inmates.

But this claim was retracted by former Bureau of Corrections officer-in-charge Rafael Ragos early last year, claiming he was coerced by then Justice chief Vitaliano Aguirrean appointee of Duterte.

Likewise, drug dealer Kerwin Espinosa also withdrew his allegations against De Lima, who has been in jail since 2017 over accusations that she funded her senatorial campaign using drug money.

De Lima has long denied the allegations.

Dahil nga dito, nag-desisyon ang kampo ni Sen. Leila de Lima na i-submit na for resolution talaga yung buong kaso na at pinapa-desisyunan na namin sa hukuman ang nasabing criminal case ni Sen. Leila de Lima, Tacardon said.

[Translation: Because of this, the camp of Sen. Leila de Lima decided to submit the entire case for resolution and we are now asking the court to decide on the said criminal case.]

Her lawyer also noted that they already submitted a petition for bail for the other case of De Lima.

RELATED: De Lima to again seek bail after key witness ends testimony
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 17)  Former Bureau of Corrections Director General Gerald Bantag, who is charged with murder for the killing of radio broadcaster Percy Lapid, is now considered to be in hiding, according to the Philippine National Police (PNP).

As of now, he (Bantag) is considered as a fugitive from the law, PNP Public Information Office chief Red Maranan said on Sunday.

He added the arrest warrants issued this month against Bantag, BuCor officer Ricardo Zulueta, brothers Israel and Edmon Dimaculangan, and alias Orly/Orlando are not yet considered served. He explained it has to be physically served to the respondents.

The PNP has launched a manhunt to track down the whereabouts of Bantag and the four others. The warrant was brought to Bantag's home in Caloocan and Zulueta's home in Bulacan, but they were both not home at that time.

Tuloy-tuloy po ang ating mga tracker team sa paghanap at paghabol doon po sa mga akusado, said Maranan.

[Translation: Our tracker teams are looking and chasing after the accused.]

The PNP also said it is coordinating with the court to issue a hold departure order against the suspects to prevent them from leaving the country.

"Assuming naman na makalabas sila, then we will be coordinating with Interpol for the possible coordination na makikita sa kanilang respective countries and we have extradition case sa country na iyon then we could proceed sa extradition ng suspek for that matter," said PNP spokesperson Jean Fajardo.

[Translation: If they're able to leave, we will coordinate with the Interpol. Wherever they are, we will ask for their extradition.]

Apart from the arrest warrant over Lapids assassination, Bantag and Zulueta also face another arrest warrant for the killing of Jun Villamor, the supposed middleman in the journalists slay.

CNN Philippines correspondents Daniza Fernandez and Crissy Dimatulac contributed to this report.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 17)  The absence of human interaction during the COVID-19 pandemic affects students soft skills, Philip Gioca, country manager of JobStreet Philippines, said Monday.

Human interaction ang naging nagkulang sa atin kasi nasa loob lang tayo ng bahay, Gioca told CNN Philippines Newsroom Ngayon. So ang lumalabas ay nagkaroon sila [students] ng culture shock pagpasok nila sa workspace.

[Translation: We lacked human interaction since we were always in our homes. As a result, students experience culture shock when they enter the workspace.]

He stressed that human interaction consists of verbal and nonverbal interplay. He added that communication for students was limited to visual reality or virtual discussions during the pandemic.

Yung mga bata na gumraduate at nag-aral lamang using virtual mode, pag pasok nila at ni-require sila pumunta ng opisina, marami sa kanila, 'yung communication nila ay hindi enough o adequate o hindi masyadong na practice, Gioca said.

[Translation: Those who graduated and only studied through the virtual mode, when they're required to go to the office, a lot of them, their communication skills are not enough or adequate, or unpracticed.]

He also stressed that honing soft skills such as teamwork was difficult, as students were only exposed to a virtual world or Zoom environment during the pandemic.

Soft skills also include active learning, critical learning, survival skills or complex learning, resilience, flexibility, time management, communication and technology literacy.

Gioca urged students to join extracurricular activities, on-the-job training and internships to gain job experience and have an opportunity to work with other people.

The Philippine Statistics Authority earlier reported that the employment rate stood at 95.2%, with 48.8 million Filipinos employed.

However, senators also expressed alarm at the reported lack of soft skills and job readiness of fresh graduates, as revealed by the study of the Commission on Human Rights.

READ: Senators express alarm over CHR report on fresh grads 'lack of job readiness'
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 17)  The Philippine government has advised Filipinos in Sudan to stay inside their homes as the fighting between the countrys army and a paramilitary group continues.

Due to the ongoing conflict in Sudan, the Philippine Embassy in Cairo calls on Filipinos in Sudan to: Stay indoors. Do not go out and stay in the safety of your homes, read the advisory issued by the embassy on Sunday.

Filipinos are also asked to contact and coordinate with the embassy in Cairo and the Philippine Consulate in Khartoum regarding their current circumstances. These include sending clear copies of their passport and residence via email, and providing their basic information and the details of their next of kin in the Philippines.

Cairo is the capital of Egypt, while Khartoum is the capital of Sudan.

There are at least 250 Filipinos residing in Sudan, the Department of Foreign Affairs said, citing data as of March this year.

Dozens in Sudan were killed in the clashes, which have entered a second day, while hundreds have been injured, according to the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors.

The violence erupted after months-long tensions further rose during negotiations to integrate the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) into the countrys military as part of plans to restore civilian rule.

READ: Rival generals are battling for control in Sudan. A simple guide to the fighting

The two organizations, which were previously allies, blame each other for starting the fight.

Sudan's army has also warned residents to stay indoors as warplanes search for paramilitary fighters.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 17)  Three provinces are now at high risk for infections as their COVID-19 positivity rates increased to over 20%, according to an OCTA Research report released on Monday.

OCTA Research fellow Guido David said high positivity rates were recorded in Camarines Sur (21.1%), Misamis Oriental (22.7%), and Rizal (20.2%) as of April 15.

He added that many provinces, including Metro Manila, also witnessed higher positivity rates during the period.

The National Capital Region saw its positivity rate slightly go up from 6.5% last April 8 to 7.2% as of April 15, the report showed.

The positivity rate refers to the percentage of tested people with positive results. The World Health Organization has set a positivity rate benchmark of below 5%.

Despite the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases, the Department of Health has yet to recommend the reimposition of stricter mask-wearing rules.

In late 2022, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. issued an executive order allowing individuals to not wear their face masks in indoor and outdoor spaces.

Mask-wearing in healthcare facilities and inside public transportation, however, remains a must.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 17)  Negros Oriental 3rd district Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. refused to comment on reports that he was seen in South Korea amid the public inquiry into the murder of his political rival, Roel Degamo.

"No comment na lang. It's for me to know and for them to find out," Teves quipped during his camp's online press conference on Monday.

This came after Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva claimed that his friends supposedly spotted Teves eating at a hotel buffet in South Korea.

"For two days consecutively, some friends of mine have seen him [Rep. Teves] in South Korea in Lotte Hotel, eating in a buffet," Villanueva said at the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs hearing on Monday.

"I asked if they were sure if it was Teves indeed that they have seen. According to them I spoke to them four persons we're talking about eight eyes na nagsabi nandun po siya at kumakain. Hindi ko lang alam if sigurado na siya po yun," he continued.

[Translation: who said that he was there eating. I just don't know if it actually was him.]

He added: "I don't know if alam na ng authorities [know this], I just want to share that information that was given to me personally. I spoke to one of the guys kanina [earlier] and you [Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa] were there Mr. Chairman, they were saying they have seen him."

Sen. Risa Hontiveros and Dela Rosa, committee chairman, asked that authorities check with the Bureau of Immigration and the Philippine Embassy in Seoul to verify the information regarding Teves.

Dela Rosa then addressed Teves on the assumption that he was watching the panel hearing.

"Kung nasa Korea siya ngayon, you [Teves] can go to the Philippine embassy in Seoul and makiusap ka doon na pagbigyan ka na you can attend virtually kung nandoon ka na," Dela Rosa said.

[Translation: If he is in Korea, he can go to the embassy and ask that they allow him to attend virtually if he is there.]

The committee unanimously rejected Teves' request to attend the hearing remotely out of fear for his personal safety. However, an amendment in the Senates legislative inquiry proceedings allows witnesses outside the country to have their oath administered by their host country's embassy or consulate.

READ: Dela Rosa: Senate panel rejects Rep. Teves' remote attendance at Degamo slay hearing

Meanwhile, Dela Rosa said that the Senate panel would welcome Teves if he appeared before them physically.

The congressman has been out of the country since February 28 and was suspended from his House seat due to his continued absence.

The DOJ has named him as one of the masterminds behind the assassination of Gov. Roel Degamo. Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla earlier claimed that Teves was in Cambodia.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 17)  The Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs "unanimously agreed" to not allow Negros Oriental 3rd district Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. to attend its Monday hearing into the assassination of Roel Degamo, the panel's chairman said.

"The members of this committee unanimously agree not to allow the virtual presence of Congressman Teves but the doors are not completely shut down to him," Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa said on Monday. "If he wants to come here physically, we will entertain."

Sen. Risa Hontiveros explained during the hearing that the rules of Senate inquiries require that witnesses be placed under oath prior to giving their testimony. However, Teves is not in the country to do this.

Sen. Francis Tolentino noted that an amendment made to procedures a year earlier allow witnesses abroad to take their oath in the Philippine embassy or consulate in the country where they are located.

Despite this, Dela Rosa said the panel agreed not to allow Teves to virtually attend the hearing.

Dela Rosa also said that Teves called him on Sunday.

"For transparency purposes, tumawag sakin si Teves kahapon. Sabi ko 'bakit hindi ka mag-attend physically?' Sabi niya he is under threat," the senator said.

[Translation: Teves called me yesterday. I said 'why don't you attend physically?' He said he is under threat.]

He added that Teves refused to disclose his location.

This comes after Dela Rosa disclosed that Teves had committed to attend the hearing virtually. Pamplona Town Mayor Janice Degamo, widow of the slain governor, urged the Senate to reconsider Teves' virtual attendance.

READ:

Dela Rosa: Rep. Arnie Teves to virtually attend Senate inquiry into Degamo slay

Degamo widow to Senate: Reconsider Teves' virtual attendance in slay probe

The Department of Justice has named Teves as the main mastermind and "executive producer" behind the Degamo assassination. It saId that no arrest warrants had yet been issued against him.

Senate's rejection 'unfair'

Teves' lawyer called the Senate panel unfair for blocking his client from virtually attend the hearing, which would merely act as an "echo chamber" and leave his side unheard.

"Para sa amin po, ang unfair ay hindi po pinayagan si Cong. Teves sabihin ang kaniyang panig sa pandinig na ito," said Atty. Ferdinand Topacio, the congressman's legal counsel, during an online press conference.

[Translation: For us, the unfair thing is that Cong. Teves was not allowed to say his side in this hearing.]

Topacio said other "fundamental unfairness" are the lack of a trial by publicity as well as statements made by the Department of Justice that he claimed appear to implicate Teves while the preliminary investigation is still ongoing.

Meanwhile, Teves said the senators asked him to join the hearing.

"Totoo, nagusap kami ni Bato (Dela Rosa). Pero nag-ano lang ako, hindi naman ako nagrequest na isali nila ako sa hearing. Sila yung nagimbita at sila pa nagsabi na pwedeng Zoom (video conference)," Teves said.

[Translation: It's true, Bato (Dela Rosa) and I talked. But what did I do, I didn't request that they include me in the hearing. They are the ones who invited and they even said that Zoom (video conference) is possible.]

Teves reiterated that he will only return to the country once he feels his life is no longer under threat.
(CNN)  The newest addition to the Oregon Zoo is adorable, and its helping boost the population of a once-endangered species.

A baby bontebok was born at the Zoo April 1 to Winter, his 8-year-old mother, according to a news release from the Oregon Zoo.

The bontebok is a species of grazing antelope native to the coastal plains of northwestern South Africa, according to the zoos website. But after being hunted to near extinction in the early 20th century, the herbivores are now only found in zoos, farms, and game preserves.

The yet-unnamed calf weighs just around 18 pounds and appears healthy, the news release explained. The baby received supplemental feedings and a plasma transfusion because he did not start nursing immediately after birth. He seems to have bounced back, the zoo said.

We gave him a couple supplemental bottle feedings and then returned him to mom, said Kelly Gomez, who oversees the zoos Africa section, in the release. And then overnight, he was nursing just fine. Hes a sturdy little guy, and quite handsome.

Gomez described the baby boy as living proof of the impact people can have if we work together for wildlife.

A couple hundred years ago, there were only 17 bontebok left on the planet, and the species was headed for almost certain extinction, she said in the release.

The antelopes were overhunted by Dutch settlers in southern Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries who viewed them as pests, according to the zoo.

But the bontebok is distinct from other antelopes in one crucial way: They are unable to jump. Because of this, some sympathetic farmers were able to safely enclose the 17 bontebok still alive in a fenced property in 1837, says the zoo.

In 1931, Bontebok National Park was established in South Africa and the species began to slowly rebound.

Today, bontebok are categorized as vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. There are an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 of the antelope.

Its an incredible conservation story, Gomez said in the release. And hopefully, we can inspire more successes like this for the future.

This story was first published on CNN.com, An incredible conservation story: Oregon Zoo welcomes birth of rare antelope once facing extinction"
Colorado Politics is published both in print and online. Our website features subscriber-only news stories daily, designed for public policy arena professionals. Member subscribers also receive the weekly print edition of our award-winning newspaper, containing outstanding features and news stories, in their mailboxes every Saturday.
Offer a personal message of sympathy...

By sharing a fond memory or writing a kind tribute, you will be providing a comforting keepsake to those in mourning. If you have an existing account with this site, you may log in with that below. Otherwise, you can create an account by clicking on the Log in button below, and then register to create your account.
Thank you for reading!

Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue.
The US Federal Reserve (Fed) is preparing to launch a new financial network that would eliminate any wait time for sending and receiving payments. The system is now being tested by more than 100 market participants.

The FedNow Service, which has been in pilot since Jan. 2021, is planned to launch in July.

Its a game changer for some businesses, said Debbie Buckland, a director analyst for financial services at research firm Gartner. Its the first Federal Reserve-sponsored real-time system.

What is FedNow?

In simple terms, FedNow is Zelle for banks and businesses  a digital payments network based on federally insured accounts that can be debited for payments.

FedNow will allow businesses to bill a customer for parts or services and receive that money instantly, instead of waiting hours or days, as they must today.

For example, an insurance company can send a request-to-pay message to a customer. The customer receives that message through their digital banking application, and they can then view the bill and select to pay it. The FedNow system instantly debits the customers account and pays the insurance company in real time.

FedNow helps with reconciliation, because when the recipient receives the payment, it also gets information about who sent the payment and for what reason  in this example, an insurance premium payment.

FedNow would be especially useful for accelerating supply chain payments because it increases liquidity. That liquidity is helpful for supply chain participants  especially small businesses  who in tough economic times would benefit from instant payments for parts supplied for manufacturing.

It helps small businesses because theyre receiving instant liquidity, Buckland said. They dont have to wait for three or four days, and its good for the consumer paying the bill, because theyre not accruing late fees because the business sent them a request for payment prior to the due date expiring.

Any transaction would fail if there are no funds in a primary or linked account for payment purposes.

Guaranteeing transaction authenticity

The US is among the last nations to implement a real-time payments network based on a central bank system, according to Buckland. Canada is also currently rolling out a real-time rail (RTR) payment and settlement network for banks and businesses.

Up until now, some banks have been reluctant to use a real-time payment and settlement system that wasnt backed by the Federal Reserve banking system, Buckland said. This would guarantee the authenticity of a transaction.

The FedNow real-time payment and settlement service will incorporate clearing functionality into each payment, allowing banks and businesses using it to instantly determine if the payor has the funds to cover a purchase.

If Im sending money to you, that money is deposited into your account from mine, and its instantly available, Buckland said. The opposite is also true. If you charge someone for a service, that money is instantly debited from their account.

FedNow will run on the Feds FedLine, an IP-based network and messaging system that currently provides payment and information services to more than 10,000 financial organizations.

"With the launch drawing near, we urge financial institutions and their industry partners to move full steam ahead with preparations to join the FedNow Service, said Ken Montgomery, first vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and FedNow program executive.

What businesses need to do now

Early adopters will have to complete a testing and certification program to prepare for sending live transactions through the system.

More than 110 banks piloted the settlement system, including BNY Mellon, Citi, Capital One Financial, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, TD Bank, U.S. Bancorp, U.S. Department of the Treasurys Bureau of the Fiscal Service, and Wells Fargo, according to the FedNow Pilot Program.

Buckland suggests that businesses start considering how they can use a real-time payment and settlement system. For example, are your customers younger in age and are they more often late in paying bills than others? Would an instant billing and payment system be beneficial to both business and consumer?

We really believe that age of your customer drives which payment rail theyll use, she said.

Businesses can also find creative ways of using an instant payment network. For example, contracted and gig workers could be paid once a task is completed instead of waiting to be paid on the 15th and 30th of each month.

This can also be used by companies to retain workers, because rather than paying twice a month, you can pay at more regular intervals, such as at the end of a shift, Buckland said.

FedNow or other payment networks?

There are two primary differences between FedNow and traditional payment systems  automated clearinghouse services (ACH) and wire transfers, such as Western Union or the Feds own Fedwire service. ACH transactions settle just once at the end of a business day. Wire transfers are faster but charge user fees. Wires are also not used for multiple or batch transactions, and theyre still not real time; they can take several minutes or several days for remittances or cross-border payments.

FedNow is not a replacement for existing ACH and wire networks, but an additional payment rail when real-time payments and settlements are needed. There will be a fee for the FedNow Service, as well.

The Federal Reserve has been investigating more than one way to create a real-time payment system. It is also investigating the potential of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) as the backbone for a new, secure real-time payments and settlements system.

In Feb. 2020, the Federal Reserve began considering a Central Bank Digital Currency as the backbone for a new, secure real-time payments and settlements system.

The move toward a form of government-backed digital currency is being driven by fintech firms and a banking industry already piloting or planning to pilot cash-backed digital tokens, according to Lael Brainard, a member of the US Federal Reserve's Board of Governors.

US payment fintech companies plan to use a Fed-backed real-time payment system to build new products and services to compete against banks, according to a Gartner report. Banking leaders need to adopt real-time payments quickly to maintain competitive advantage in an evolving field, the company said.
Its a base desire of the human psyche to explore new frontiers. To venture out into that great unknown in the pursuit of new knowledge and more accurate maps. Well, for some people at least. Personally, Im perfectly content to just chill out. Nonetheless, theres still plenty of people out there on the new horizons beat who are strapping up in wetsuits or heavy parkas or those weird billowy shirts desert explorers wear, dead (sometimes literally) set on seeing everything the world has to offer.

Despite this, and despite having been around on Earth for a whole heck of a long time, we still have not 100 percented the planet we live on. Sure, weve got a much better grasp now than the old guys who were filling in blank bits on the map with drawings of sea monsters. Weve also got satellites and things like Google Earth to give us peeks, at least for surface-level mysteries. For all our advancements, though, there are still a couple tricky corners we havent been quite able to fit the vacuum head of knowledge into.

Here are five locations that have somehow remained unsullied by our filthy little mitts
By Microsoft Security

When the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) first went into effect in January 2020, it had far-reaching implications for the way that public and private businesses handle consumer data. Under the CCPA, for-profit businesses that do business in the state of California now have to disclose the personal information they collect, as well as how it is used and shared. Even more critically, the CCPA grants consumers the right to opt out of the selling and sharing of their personal information. In November of 2020, California voters approved an amendment to the CCPA which increased consumer data privacy protections. These protections only recently went into effect in January of 2023.

The data privacy landscape has only grown more complicated as subsequent regulations like the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act, the Utah Consumer Privacy Act, and others follow, further broadening protections for consumer data. By 2024, privacy regulations will encompass the personal data of 75% of the global population.

Today, safeguarding consumer privacy is a deeply nuanced task that can vary widely depending on where your business operates, where consumers are located, your annual gross revenue, the type of data you collect or share, and more. For enterprise businesses, this has created an urgent need to stay ahead of changing laws like the CCPA while also maintaining a secure and compliant infrastructure. Keep reading to learn how.

Understanding the CCPAs requirements

Regulatory bodies release more than 250 updates per day to current compliance regulations. So its no wonder that 25% of organizations dont understand which regulations apply to them or what steps they need to take to ensure compliance.

While specific requirements vary from regulation to regulation, examining the CCPA is a great place to start when gaining a basic understanding of how consumer privacy works.

For example, the CCPA defines a business as a legal entity that collects consumers personal information, determines the purposes and means of processing consumers personal information, and conducts business in the State of California. However, to fall under the scope of the CCPA, your organization must also earn more than $25M in annual gross revenue; derive at least half of its annual revenue from selling consumers personal information; or buy, receive, sell, or share the personal information of at least 50,000 consumers, households, or devices on an annual basis.

Understanding how consumers rights are defined under the law is also critical. Under the CCPA, consumers have the right to know what personal information companies collect, store, or share on their behalf. They also have the right to ask companies to delete that data and initiate a private cause of action, which essentially allows consumers to sue businesses they believe have violated the CCPA.

Other regulations, like the CPRA, further amend these rights by allowing consumers to correct their personal information and limit the use and disclosure of sensitive personal information. Sensitive personal information can encompass everything from a social security or passport number to precise geolocation data, a consumers racial or ethnic origin, or more.

What are your obligations under the CCPA?

So, knowing that consumer privacy regulations cover a broad swath of the population and can vary depending on where your business or consumers are located, what can organizations do to ensure theyre compliant?

First and foremost, you must understand your obligations. At a minimum, the CCPA requires that businesses disclose their practices around personal information. This disclosure must happen before the data is collected or at the point of collection. Businesses must also respond to consumer rights requests within 45 days, with the option to extend this response time by an additional 45 days as long as they notify the consumer. The CPRA takes this a step further by requiring that businesses minimize the amount of data they collect and retain. It also requires that companies conduct regular cybersecurity audits and privacy risk assessments as an additional safeguard.

At Microsoft, we focus on delivering a proactive defense-in-depth approach to data security and compliance. This helps to ensure organizations have multiple layers of protection that satisfy regulations like the CCPA.

The first stage is discovery. Organizations must understand how much data they have, where that data exists, and what kind of information is captured in that data. From there, we move to the protection stage where organizations can apply sensitivity labels, encrypt data, and enact additional safeguards to secure data against outside threats. Next is the risk management phase in which organizations secure their data against insider risks using tools like automated security alerts and multifactor authentication (MFA). Finally, there is the loss prevention phase. This phase relies heavily on AI-driven data loss prevention policies to help organizations ensure they dont overshare sensitive information.

As organizations move closer and closer to maintaining compliance, a robust data retention and deletion strategy can no longer be viewed as tomorrows task. The time to act is now when it comes to preparing employees for incoming right to know requests, data mapping consumers personal and sensitive information, and conducting business-wide risk assessments.

Visit Microsofts Security Insider to learn how you can better comply with rapidly evolving consumer privacy regulations and check out our webinar on CCPA here.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

NEW YORK (AP)  Two men were arrested Monday on charges that they helped establish a secret police station in New York City on behalf of the Chinese government, and about three dozen officers with China's national police force were charged with using social media to harass dissidents inside the United States, authorities said Monday.

The cases are part of a series of Justice Department prosecutions in recent years aimed at disrupting Chinese government efforts to locate in America pro-democracy activists and others who are openly critical of Beijing's policies and to suppress their speech.

One of three cases announced Monday concerns a local branch of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security that had operated inside an office building in Manhattan's Chinatown neighborhood before closing last fall amid an FBI investigation. The two men who were arrested were acting under the direction and control of a Chinese government official and deleted communication with that official from their phones after learning of the FBI's probe in an apparent effort to obstruct the inquiry, according to the Justice Department.

Though China is believed to be operating secretive police outposts in countries around the globe, Justice Department officials said these arrests were the first of their kind anywhere in the world.

This is a blatant violation of our national sovereignty, Michael Driscoll, the head of New York's FBI field office, said at a news conference announcing the cases.

The men, identified as Harry Lu Jianwang, 61, of the Bronx, and Chen Jinping, 59, of Manhattan, both U.S. citizens, were arrested at their homes on Monday morning. A lawyer for Lu declined to comment. An email message seeking comment was left with a lawyer for Chen.

At no point did the men register with the Justice Department as agents of a foreign government, U.S. law enforcement officials said. And though the secret police station did perform some basic services, such as helping Chinese citizens renew their Chinese driver's licenses, it also served a more sinister function, including helping the Chinese government locate a pro-democracy activist of Chinese descent living in California, officials said.

New York City is home to New Yorks finest: the NYPD," said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace, the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, whose office brought the cases. "We dont need or want a secret police station in our great city.

Justice Department officials in recent years have prioritized prosecutions of whats known as transnational repression, in which foreign governments work to identify, intimidate and silence dissidents in the U.S.

A signature case concerning China was announced in 2020, when the Justice Department charged more than a half-dozen people with working on behalf of the Chinese government in a pressure campaign aimed at coercing a New Jersey man wanted by Beijing into returning to China to face charges. In January, the Justice Department charged three men in an alleged plot that originated in Iran to kill an I ranian American author and activist who has spoken out against human rights abuses there.

In America, the law protects all of us equally from persecution, violence and threats of violence," said David Newman, a top official in the Justice Departments national security division.

As authoritarian governments  whether the PRC, Russia, Iran, or others  become more brazen in their efforts to trample the rights and liberties that are the bedrock of our democracy, the Department of Justice will redouble its efforts to defend our democracy, our democratic institutions, and our sovereignty, Newman said, using an acronym for the People's Republic of China.

In a separate scheme announced Monday, the Justice Department charged 34 officers in the Ministry of Public Security with creating and using thousands of fake social media accounts on Twitter and other platforms to harass dissidents abroad.

Prosecutors say the defendants, all part of a specialized task force that worked out of a police facility in Beijing, also used social media to spread Chinese government propaganda on subjects including racial justice protests in the U.S., Russia's war against Ukraine and human rights issues in Hong Kong. All of the defendants remain at large and are believed to be living in China.

In addition, prosecutors on Monday announced that eight Chinese government officials who are believed to be currently living in China were charged with directing an employee of a U.S. telecommunications company to remove Chinese dissidents from the companys platform.

Jin Xinjiang, also known as Julien Jin, a former China-based Zoom executive, was among 10 people charged in an amended complaint. He was initially charged in December 2020, when authorities alleged that he tried to disrupt a series of Zoom meetings in May and June of that year that were meant to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre.

At the time, Jin served as Zooms primary liaison with Chinese government law enforcement and intelligence services, regularly responding to requests by the Chinese government to terminate meetings and block users on Zooms video communications platform, authorities said.

____

Tucker reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Bobby Caina Calvan in New York contributed to this report.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP)  An American architect of Northern Irelands historic 1998 peace accord on Monday urged its feuding politicians to revive the mothballed Belfast government, as a current political crisis clouded celebration of the peacemaking milestone.

Former U.S. Senator George Mitchell told a conference to mark a quarter century since the Good Friday Agreement that Northern Irelands leaders must act with courage and vision as their predecessors did 25 years ago, when bitter enemies forged an unlikely peace.

Mitchell, the U.S. special envoy who chaired two arduous years of negotiations that led to the accord, joined ex-President Bill Clinton and political leaders from the U.K., Ireland and Northern Ireland at Queen's University Belfast to mark 25 years since the agreement largely ended three decades of sectarian bloodshed -- a moment, Mitchell said, when history opened itself to hope.

The people of Northern Ireland continue to wrestle with their doubts, their differences, their disagreements, said Mitchell, who is now 89 and being treated for leukemia. But, he added: The people of Northern Ireland dont want to return to violence  not now and not ever.

The war is over, agreed Gerry Adams, former leader of Sinn Fein, the party linked during the conflict to the Irish Republican Army, which killed around 1,800 people. The conflicts finished.

The Good Friday Agreement has been held up around the world as proof that bitter enemies can make peace. It committed armed groups to stop fighting and set up a Northern Ireland legislature and government with power shared between unionist and nationalist parties.

Northern Ireland has changed dramatically since then. A young peacetime generation is increasingly shedding the rival identities  British unionist and Irish nationalist  that erupted into three decades of bloodshed that killed 3,600 people. But at the same time, Northern Ireland is locked in a political crisis that threatens to rattle the peace secured by the Good Friday Agreement. And violence hasnt disappeared completely. In February, IRA dissidents opposed to the peace process shot and wounded a senior police officer.

Youve got a transformed society in which (the labels) unionist, nationalist for many young people doesnt mean anything, said Katy Hayward, professor of political sociology at Queens University Belfast, the conference venue. But on the other hand, society is in a state of quite severe disrepair. We havent had a functioning Assembly for four out of the last six years, and our public services are crumbling around our ears.

Increasing numbers of people wonder whether the accord that created peace is still capable of sustaining it. Northern Irelands 1.9 million people have been without a functioning government since the main unionist party walked out more than a year ago to protest post-Brexit trade rules that  like so much in Northern Ireland  roiled notions of history and identity.

Participants at the conference  gently or pointedly  urged the Democratic Unionist Party to return to the power-sharing government.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Queens Universitys chancellor, urged people in Northern Ireland to show the same unstoppable grit and resolve that secured the peace deal.

You have always found a way through, and I believe you will again, she told delegates.

Sinn Feins Adams predicted the political impasse will be resolved by the DUP returning to government.

As ministers they have a mandate to do that, he told The Associated Press. We can disagree on all of these other matters, but we should do it on the basis of the political and institutional office that we are entitled to on behalf of the people who elected us.

The three-day conference caps commemorations of the April 10, 1998, peace accord that included a flying visit last week by President Joe Biden, on his way to explore his Irish roots in the neighboring Republic of Ireland. During speeches in Belfast and Dublin, Biden reminded Northern Irelands politicians how strongly the U.S. remains invested in peace.

I wanted to make clear theres a lot at stake, a lot at stake, Biden told reporters as he left Ireland on Friday.

U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is due to host a gala commemorative dinner in Belfast on Wednesday, hailed the courage, imagination and perseverance of the peacemakers.

But critics say the U.K. government has been, at best, careless with Northern Irelands peace  especially by leading Britain out of the European Union following a 2016 referendum.

Brexit was a disaster for the peace process, said Bertie Ahern, who was Ireland's prime minister during the 1990s peace talks. It opened up things that were closed.

Brexit destabilized the delicate political balance in Northern Ireland, by reviving the need for a customs border between the EU and now ex-member the U.K. An open border between Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland is one of the foundations of peace, so checks were imposed instead on goods moving from mainland Britain to Northern Ireland.

That unsettled unionists, who see the economic barrier as undermining Northern Irelands place in the United Kingdom. The DUP walked out and has not returned, despite a deal reached by the U.K. and the EU in February to remove many of the border checks.

Increasing numbers of people argue that power-sharing must be tweaked to reflect the growing importance of forces such as the Alliance Party, which defines itself as neither unionist nor nationalist.

DUP lawmaker Ian Paisley Jr. warned that changing the terms of the peace accord risked unravelling the whole agreement.

Ahern said that despite the problems, the Good Friday Agreement was a huge achievement.

I think so far, so good, and then we have to just try and -- as George Mitchell said -- do better."

Blair urged Northern Ireland's to do the right thing.

We know the peace isnt perfect," he said. "We know the institutions have often been rocky and unstable as they are today. We know theres still a lot of distrust and mistrust between the communities. But we also know that Northern Ireland is a much better place than it was before the Good Friday Agreement."
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

WASHINGTON (AP)  Stepping gingerly over the lawn in their spiky heels, first lady Jill Biden and Yuko Kishida, the wife of Japan's prime minister, planted a cherry tree at the White House on Monday to honor decades of friendship between their countries.

This is how you always plant a tree," Biden said, laughing about their shoes as she and Kishida shoveled soil around the base of a Yoshino cherry tree sapling on the south grounds.

She welcomed Kishida to the White House and said, The planting of this tree is a symbol of the friendship between our two nations forever and ever.

It was their only public engagement of the day.

Kishida is on a rare solo visit to the United States. It's the first time the spouse of the prime minister has traveled alone to the United States, and Kishida visited at Biden's invitation, according to the Japanese embassy in Washington.

She is spending part of the week in Washington to promote friendship between the U.S. and Japan, as well as cultural exchanges, the Japanese government said.

The women met first over tea prepared by Kishida, who was given a tour of the White House by Biden, Japan's embassy said in a statement.

Biden took Kishida to the Oval Office to greet President Joe Biden, both governments said, and also hosted her for lunch. Among those invited to the women-only meal were Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif.; Maki Onuki, principal dancer at the Washington Ballet; and Akiko Iwasaki, immunology professor at Yale University School of Medicine, according to the first lady's office.

The new sapling is a Yoshino cherry tree that was propagated from a cutting from a cherry tree that was planted on the south grounds in July 2017, the White House said. It was planted near the East Wing. The White House has 23 other cherry trees across the 18 acres.

The meeting between Biden and Kishida was rescheduled from January when Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and President Biden met in the Oval Office. Kishida's wife accompanied him on the trip. But Jill Biden was unable to host Yuko Kishida at the time because the first lady was recovering from a surgical procedure performed two days earlier to remove several cancerous lesions from her skin.

It also comes before next week's state visit by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady, Kim Keon Hee.

President Biden has looked to build closer security cooperation with Japan and South Korea at a time of shared concerns about a restive North Korea and a more powerful China. He has sought opportunities to help the historic rivals improve their long, fraught relationship as the Indo-Pacific region becomes increasingly complicated.

In March, South Korea announced a plan to compensate Koreans who performed forced labor during Tokyos colonial rule that doesnt require Japanese companies to contribute to the reparations.

President Biden hailed the step as a "groundbreaking new chapter in cooperation between the countries. Yoon followed up by visiting Tokyo later in March for talks with Kishida. It was the first summit between the two nations leaders since 2011.

The U.S. and Japanese spouses also met several weeks before Kishida hosts the annual Group of Seven summit of leading industrialized nations, including the U.S., in mid-May in Hiroshima, Japan.

At the end of the meeting, Kishida said she hoped that she and the prime minister would be able to welcome the Bidens to the summit, her government said.

___

Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani in Washington and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

CAIRO (AP)  Tensions have been brewing for weeks between Sudan's two most powerful generals, who just 18 months earlier jointly orchestrated a military coup to derail the nation's transition to democracy.

Over the weekend, those tensions between the armed forces chief, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the head of the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, erupted into an unprecedented battle for control of the resource-rich nation of more than 46 million people.

Both men, each with tens of thousands of troops deployed just in the capital of Khartoum, vowed not to negotiate or cease fire, despite mounting global diplomatic pressure. It is a deadly setback for a country at the crossroads of the Arab world and Africa, which four years ago ended the rule of a long-time dictator in part through largely peaceful popular protests.

Here's a look at how Sudan, a country with a long history of coups, reached this point and what is at stake.

___

WHAT PRECEDED THE FIGHTING?

In recent months, negotiations had been under way for a return to the democratic transition that had been halted by the October 2021 coup.

Under mounting international and regional pressure, the armed forces and the RSF signed a preliminary deal in December with pro-democracy and civilian groups. But the internationally brokered agreement provided only broad outlines, leaving the thorniest political issues unsettled.

During tortuous negotiations to reach a final agreement, tensions between Burhan and Dagalo escalated. A key dispute is over how the RSF would be integrated into the military and who would have ultimate control over fighters and weapons.

Dagalo, whose RSF was involved in brutal crackdowns during tribal unrest and pro-democracy protests, also tried to fashion himself a supporter of the democratic transition. In March, he slammed Burhan, saying military leaders were unwilling to relinquish power.

Analysts argued that Dagalo is trying to whitewash the reputation of his paramilitary force, which began as brutal militias implicated in atrocities in the Darfur conflict.

__

HOW DID THE SITUATION ESCALATE?

On Wednesday, the RSF began deploying forces around the small town of Merowe north of the capital. The town is strategic, with its large airport, central location and downstream electric dam on the Nile River. The next day, the RSF also sent more forces into the capital and other areas of the country, without the army leadership's consent.

On Saturday morning, fighting erupted at a military base south of Khartoum, with each side blaming the other for having initiated the violence. Since then, the military and the RSF have battled each other with heavy weapons, including armored vehicles and truck-mounted machine guns, in densely populated areas of the capital and the adjoining city of Omdurman. The military has pounded RSF bases with airstrikes.

By Monday, dozens of people have been killed and hundreds wounded in the fighting.

The clashes spread to other areas in the country, including the strategic coastal city of Port Sudan on the Red Sea and eastern regions, on the borders with Ethiopia and Eritrea. Fighting was also reported in the war-wrecked Darfur region, where U.N. facilities were attacked and looted. The U.N. says three employees with the World Food Program were killed in the clashes there on Saturday.

___

WHAT ARE THE PROSPECTS FOR A CEASE-FIRE AND A RETURN TO DIALOGUE?

The prospects for an immediate cease-fire appear to be slim. Burhan and Dagalo have dug in, demanding that the other surrender. The intense nature of the fighting also might make it harder for the two generals to return to negotiations.

On the other hand, the military and the RSF both have foreign backers, who unanimously appealed for an immediate halt to hostilities.

The Muslim religious calendar might also play a role. The fighting erupted during the last week of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, with the three-day holiday of Eid al-Fitr marking the end of the fasting month later this week. The population is increasingly strained for necessities, many homebound by the violence.

Meanwhile, there has been a flurry of diplomatic contacts. The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to discuss Sudan on Monday.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he discussed the developments in Sudan with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Saudi Foreign Minister said he spoke separately by phone with Burhan and Dagalo, and urged them to stop all kinds of military escalation."

The Gulf Arab monarchies are close allies to the military as well as the RSF.

Cameron Hudson, a senior associate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank and a former U.S. diplomat, said the Biden administration should get its allies in the region to push for peace.

"Without such pressure, we could find a conflict with the same pattern of the war in Tigray (in Ethiopia ), he said.

___

WHO ARE THE FOREIGN ACTORS AND WHAT RESOURCES ARE AT STAKE?

During the decades-long rule of strongman Omar al-Bashir, who was deposed in 2019, Russia was a dominant force. At one point, Moscow reached an initial deal to build a naval base on Sudan's Red Sea cost.

After al-Bashir's ouster, the United States and European nations began competing with Russia for influence in Sudan, which is rich in natural resources, including gold, but has been mired in civil conflicts and military coups. In recent years, the Russian mercenary outfit Wagner has even made inroads in the country.

Burhan and Dagalo have also forged close ties with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Sudanese troops drawn from the military and the RSF have fought alongside the Saudi-led coalition in Yemens long-running civil war.

Egypt, another regional power, also has deep ties with the Sudanese military. The two armies conduct regular war games, most recently this month. Egyptian troops were in a Sudanese military base for exercises when the clashes erupted Saturday. They were caught by the RSF which said they would be returned to Egypt.

The military controls most of the country's economy, but the RSF runs major gold mining areas, a key source of income for the powerful group.
Harmful.

The word describes the organized movement thats sprung up in opposition to the legislative efforts of the pro-homes advocacy organizations that work to address Connecticuts housing crisis.

This negative opposition force, reflecting an anti-growth mindset, is founded upon being against  anti  state housing initiatives, but presents itself in pro language. It self-defines as pro-homes, which means promotion of single-family homeownership and protection of local zoning from state interference and mandates. To preserve community character and keep taxes down these anti-advocates seek to minimize density of development, constrain population growth, limit infrastructure capacity, and avoid increased student population.

Considering Connecticuts housing needs, this myopic anti-advocacy that emanates from the states wealthiest Fairfield County towns does us a disservice.

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, theres a shortage of 89,013 rental units affordable to extremely low-income renters in Connecticut, with other estimates that between 86,000 and 135,000 new housing units are required to meet the need. This housing shortage drives up housing costs with dire consequences for families and individuals of low and moderate income. More than half of Connecticut renters are cost burdened, which means more than 30 percent of their income is spent keeping a roof over their heads. Data from the National Low Income Housing Coalition indicates that 68 percent of extremely low-income households in Connecticut are severely cost burdened.

Cost burdened families, especially lower income households, live with the ever-present possibility of eviction and homelessness. They also live with food anxiety and must constantly make difficult spending choices that often preclude adequate health care. Moreover, the over-priced housing thats available to them is often dilapidated and unsafe, with serious code violations.

Many speakers at the state legislatures Feb. 28 Housing Committee public hearing spoke to bills that addressed the human consequences of this housing insecurity, the increase in evictions and homelessness, tenants rights, and stronger measures to correct code violations. Given this backdrop of testimony, it was disconcerting to hear the arguments of the anti-advocates coming from places of wealth.

Maria Weingarten of New Canaan, a leading anti-advocate, spoke against HB 6633, which proposes a housing needs assessment and municipal fair share plans to increase affordable housing supply. The subtext of her message is that towns have no fair share responsibility.

Despite anti-advocacy, the bill was voted out of committee.

Anti-advocacy elitism was highlighted during the March 15 Planning and Development public hearing where anti-advocates were out in force, their sights set on HB 6890, the Work, Live, Ride legislative proposal that encourages concentrated development around train stations and bus lines. Unlike the fair share bill, HB 6890 has no mandates, only incentives to opt-in as a transit-oriented community.

When asked during the hearing why she advocated so passionately, Weingarten, an anti-advocate, invoked single-family homeownership as the American dream, and voiced concern about attempts to change the look and feel of our 169 towns.

She neglected to say that 90.6 percent of Connecticuts land is zoned for single-family housing, while only 2 percent of the land allows for as of right housing of four or more units.

Former state legislator Kimberly Fiorello, who represented parts of Greenwich and Stamford, expressed similar concerns about destruction of our charming New England towns and stressed the role of single-family homeownership in building lives.

These statements were jarring given that average single-family homes in Greenwich and New Canaan sell for multi-millions of dollars and will always be unattainable for most people. Many who spoke in favor of HB 6890 felt single-family home ownership was out of their reach anywhere in Connecticut. Many young speakers dreamed of an affordable rental that would allow them to stay in Connecticut.

Despite the anti-advocacy, HB 6890 was voted out of committee.

Connecticuts exodus of young people and lack of diverse types of housing affordable at a variety of income levels harms the states economy, as does the anti-growth mindset reflected in the anti-advocacy arguments, something the legislatures Democratic leadership realizes.

Several housing bills, voted out of committee, await floor action. Hopefully, when the legislative sausage making is done, new housing legislation will take Connecticut beyond the harmful status quo advocated by anti-advocates in wealthy communities where property values rise with housing scarcity.
NEW LONDON  Police are investigating the death of a 17-year-old girl who was found unresponsive early Saturday in a home off Jefferson Avenue, officials said.

New London Police Capt. Matthew Galante said officers and medics responded around 3:10 a.m. to a home in the area of Jefferson Avenue and Buchanan Road for a report of an unresponsive person.

Upon arrival, the crews located and then transported the unnamed teen to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital where she was pronounced dead, Galante said.

In addition to the 17-year-old girl, officials discovered two other individuals at the home and transported them to the hospital for treatment of unspecified, but not life-threatening injuries, Galante said.

Galante said the identity of the girl who died is being withheld until the teens family members are notified of her death. Similarly, he said the identity of the other two individuals is being withheld for investigatory reasons."

In a memo sent to students and families in the city's public schools Saturday, Superintendent Cynthia Ritchie said the girl was a high school student.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and to the entire school community of which this student was a beloved part," Ritchie said. "This news is sure to raise many emotions, concerns, and questions, especially for our staff and students."

In a statement, New London Mayor Michael Passero said, "My heart goes out to the loved ones of the young lady who has passed away."

"Our community is grief stricken at this sudden, tragic loss of a young life," Passero said. "We ask everyone to please respect the family and friends who are grieving. Our school administration is providing counseling to students and staff. We are asking for everyones patience and understanding as our investigators help us learn more about this tragedy."

The superintendent said in an email that counselors for students were in place Saturday and would continue to be Sunday. "Our district is home to a robust mental health team that employs an Assistant Director of Mental Health, school counselors and social workers," Ritchie said.

"Thank you for your thoughts and prayers as the family and school community processes this tremendous loss," the superintendent said. "Please allow time and privacy as many grieve."

No further information about the incident was immediately available from police, including the cause of the girls death. The Connecticut State Police and local prosecutors are assisting New London police with the ongoing investigation, Galante said.

richard.chumney@hearstmediact.com; Twitter @RichChumney.
The deadly police shooting of Jayland Walker, a 25-year-old Black man, by eight officers last summer sparked protests in his hometown of Akron, Ohio, and led to calls for a federal investigation. Ohio's attorney general announced Monday that a grand jury had declined to indict the officers and said that Walker fired at least one shot at police during a pursuit.

Walker's family called it a brutal and senseless shooting. A police union official said the officers thought there was an immediate threat and that their actions were in line with their training.

WHY DID POLICE CHASE WALKER?

Police said the chase began when they tried to pull Walker over for minor equipment violations on June 27 and he failed to stop. They said he then fired a shot from his car 40 seconds into the pursuit.

The chase began on a city street, continued onto a freeway and ended on a street where police had set up a roadblock.

Akron police initially did not try to stop Walker, but officers decided to follow him after they saw him pass by the same intersection within 10 minutes and became suspicious, the state investigation said.

Less than 24 hours before the pursuit, an officer in a nearby township had tried to stop a car matching Walkers for equipment violations. A police supervisor called off that pursuit when the car crossed the township border into Akron.

HOW DID THE CHASE END?

Police body camera footage released by the city showed Walker wearing a ski mask, jumping out the front passenger door of his still-moving car and then running into a parking lot. A handgun, loaded magazine and wedding ring were found on the drivers seat of the car, police said.

Officers chased Walker for about 10 seconds before they fired from multiple directions in a burst of 94 shots that lasted 6 or 7 seconds. A county medical examiner said Walker was shot at least 40 times.

The blurry footage did not clearly show what authorities said was a threatening gesture before Walker was shot.

WHO WAS JAYLAND WALKER?

Walker was remembered at his funeral last summer by family and friends as a shy, kind, thoughtful man with a quiet sense of humor.

When I think about Jayland, I think about someone who had the biggest heart, said Robin Elerick, a cousin. He was so sweet and so authentically genuine.

Walker grew up in Akron and was on the wrestling team in high school. He had been working as food delivery driver.

A month before he died, his fiancee died in a car crash near Cincinnati.

WHAT'S NEXT

Akron Police Chief Steve Mylett said Monday that the city will begin an internal investigation into the shooting, but he would not release the names of the eight officers because of ongoing threats against them.

The officers, who initially were placed on leave, will remain on administrative duties. None of the eight officers appear to have been disciplined for any previous use of force incidences, according to investigation records released by the state.

There's a possibility that U.S. Department of Justice could open a federal civil rights investigation. The NAACP and an attorney for Walkers family have called for that to happen and the department has said it is monitoring the case.

An attorney for Walker's family said they will file a civil lawsuit within the next few months.
One sheriff's deputy died on his 44th birthday and two other law enforcement officers were injured after a shootout in west-central Minnesota that also killed the suspect in a domestic assault call Saturday night.

Pope County Sheriff's Deputy Joshua Owen died at the hospital Saturday after the shooting that happened around 7:30 p.m. at an apartment in Cyrus, authorities said. Another deputy and a police officer from Starbuck, Minnesota, were also injured. But they are expected to be OK.

The shooting began after the officers told a man that he was going to be arrested for domestic assault. Scott Mueller, deputy superintendent for investigations at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said the man responded by pulling a handgun and shooting at the officers. That agency is investigating the shooting.

The man officers exchanged gunfire with died at the scene. His name and the names of the other officers involved in the incident were not immediately released Sunday.

Mueller said all three officers were wearing body cameras, and that footage will be released later.

This shooting extends a streak of gunfire involving police officers in the state.

In 2023, weve had seven police officers shot in the line of duty in Minnesota," Mueller said. "This is an alarming trend that needs to stop now.

The Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association identified Owen as the deputy who died Sunday morning.

This killing is a senseless act of violence and hate towards police officers who put everything on the line to serve and protect our communities, the associations director, Brian Peters, said. It shows the dangers of the job that police do every day, and how what could be considered a normal day could turn into their last day.

Owen had worked as a deputy for nearly 12 years after previously serving in the U.S. military, Sheriff Tim Riley said. His squad car was parked outside the Pope County Courthouse in Glenwood Sunday with a bouquet of flowers on the ground in front of the car.

Deputy Owen had a heart as big as his stature. He leaves behind a wife and a son," Riley said while trying to hold back tears at a news conference Sunday afternoon. He loved his family, his brotherhood and his community.

According to the Pope County Sheriffs offices Facebook page, Owen was just honored last month along with two other first responders for his response to a Glenwood house fire in November. The department said Owen helped care for an individual injured in the fire after another deputy and another responder pulled that person from a burning house.

Cyrus is a town of about 300 people that is 140 miles (225 kilometers) northwest of Minneapolis.
11 killed, 28 injured as tractor trolley falls off bridge in India's Uttar Pradesh

Xinhua) 11:20, April 17, 2023

NEW DELHI, April 15 (Xinhua) -- At least 11 people were killed and 28 others injured, some of them critically, after a tractor trolley they were aboard fell off a bridge in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday, police said.

The accident took place in Birsinghpur village in Shahjahanpur district, about 213 km northwest of Lucknow, the capital city of Uttar Pradesh.

According to police, the victims were going to fetch water from Garra river for a religious gathering.

Police said that rescuers rushed to the spot immediately after receiving the distress call. The injured have been taken to the nearest hospitals.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  An Iranian court has sentenced an air defense commander allegedly responsible for the deadly downing of a passenger plane amid Iran-U.S. tensions several years ago, a state news agency reported Sunday.

Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard mistakenly shot down the Ukraine International Airlines flight in January 2020. The missile strike killed all 176 people on board and came as Tehran and Washington teetered on the brink of war.

The Guards commander who officials purport ordered the strike was sentenced to 13 years in prison, the official judiciary news outlet said.

Mizan said the commander did not follow protocols in the moments leading up to the shooting down of the plane. The commander was ordered to pay fines to families of victims, the report added.

Mizan said the court also sentenced two personnel allegedly involved in running the surface-to-air missile system Tor M-1 to one year in prison each.

After a lengthy series of hearings, the court sentenced at least seven other personnel and air defense officers to up to three years in prison. According to Mizan, the verdicts are appealable within 20 days.

The report did not identify any of the defendants by name or further details.

The judiciary news agency also said Iran's government plans to pay $150,000 for each victim to their families. It did not elaborate on how this money will be delivered to the families.

The hearing sessions have faced international criticism since starting in 2021. At that time, an association of the victims families also criticized the hearing and cast doubts on the court's legitimacy. The group also alleged that none of the defendants were present at hearings.

Just hours before the shootdown in January 2020, Iran had fired ballistic missiles at American bases in Iraq in retaliation for the U.S. drone strike that killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad.
JERUSALEM (AP)  Iran's exiled crown prince is scheduled to come to Israel this week on a visit that reflects the warm ties his father once had with Israel and the current state of hostility between Israel and the Islamic Republic.

Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last shah to rule Iran before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, said Sunday that he will be delivering a message of friendship from the Iranian people.

He is set to participate in Israel's annual Holocaust memorial ceremony on Monday night, said Israeli Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel, who will host him. He is also set to visit a desalination plant, see the Western Wall and meet representatives of the local Bahai community and Israeli Jews of Iranian descent, she said.

Gamliel praised the brave decision by Pahlavi to make what she said would be his first visit to Israel. The crown prince symbolizes a leadership different from that of the ayatollah regime, and leads values of peace and tolerance, in contrast to the extremists who rule Iran, she said.

Pahlavi left Iran at age 17 for military flight school in the U.S., just before his cancer-stricken father Mohammad Reza Pahlavi abandoned the throne for exile. The revolution followed, with the creation of the Islamic Republic, the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and the sweeping away of the last vestiges of the American-backed monarchy.

Pahlavi, who still resides in the U.S., has called for a peaceful revolution that would replace clerical rule with a parliamentary monarchy, enshrine human rights and modernize its state-run economy.

Whether he can galvanize support for a return to power is unknown. His father ruled lavishly and repressively and benefitted from a CIA-supported coup in 1953. The late shah also had close diplomatic and military ties with Israel.

That ended in 1979, when the Iranian revolutions leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, declared Israel an enemy of Islam and cut all ties. Today, the countries are arch-enemies. Israel considers Iran to be its greatest threat, citing the country's calls for Israel's destruction, its support of hostile militant groups on Israel's borders and its nuclear program. Iran denies accusations by Israel and its western allies that it is pursuing a nuclear bomb.

I want the people of Israel to know that the Islamic Republic does not represent the Iranian people. The ancient bond between our people can be rekindled for the benefit of both nations, Pahlavi said on Twitter.
During The Kids Easter break, I took him to a Bruce Springsteen concert and the New York International Auto Show.

You might think less of my parenting habits when I mention that The Kid has autism.

After all, exposing an 11-year-old on the spectrum to see the Boss and 18,000 acolytes screaming Badlands and plopping him in a test run to experience a Ford going zero-to 60 in 3.5 seconds could be judged as acts of cruelty.

But both experiences reminded me during Autism Awareness Month that its called a spectrum for a reason.

Experts cautioned us early on that our son would need to avoid parties, concerts, amusement parks, malls  basically anything where he could experience heightened stimulation.

The Kid has been struggling of late, dealing with a fresh diagnosis of diabetes on top of his autism. Losing ice cream is probably the leading trigger of meltdowns these days (and thats just for me). But his flareups seem to occur in more tranquil settings.

So I flinch when strangers say, I know autism. Perhaps they do. But autism is like a fingerprint. The Kid is a Seeker, relentlessly snatching phones to talk to friends and family, scrambling ahead to catch up with neighbors walking their dog up ahead, chatting up strangers in restaurants. For some others on different hues and wavelengths of the spectrum, any of these traits would be anathema. Of their autism, I do not know.

When it comes to keeping The Kid on track I often steer into the curve, letting him take repeat rides on roller coasters because he likes to feel the extra hug of gravity pressing on his frame. But even I know there are far more curves than usual at a Springsteen gig and an auto show in Manhattan.

I was prepared to bail on Springsteen, but heroic friends volunteered to take the ride with the Kid wherever it took them. That might just mean a song or two. I found other heroes at the UBS Arena in Long Island. I reached out about getting permission for The Kid to bring in a handheld gaming device. The head of security for the event gave his stamp of approval, and his cell number to call in case we needed anything on site.

I also inquired about sensory rooms at the arena, which just opened in 2021. The only previous concerts The Kid has attended were brief (unlike any E Street Band show), but they taught me that he benefits from taking breaks.

I should probably also mention that this was his first Bruce show  and my 54th. And  though no one believes me  I try not to expose him to too much Springsteen. He shows no such sensitivity in relentlessly blaring an eccentric playlist of Reel 2 Real, Metallica, a-ha, Masked Wolf, Flo Rida, Buzzcocks, Post Malone 

The Kids Easter gift to dad was to stream live on Facebook as we rocked along to Out in the Street while he figured out why I made him practice his Bruuuuuces and whoo, whoos. At one point, we were both convinced Springsteen had pointed right at The Kid. Just those few minutes were enough for me. My beautiful reward, as someone once sang. So I didnt mind a few songs later when he typed Can I take a break? on my phone. He was convinced we could find a friend in the crowd. Thanks to his posting, they found us. Former work colleagues. One of my grade school classmates. A neighbor.

I took him to the sensory room more out of curiosity than need. The lawmakers debating remedies to seclusions in schools should check it out too. Its by far the best one Ive ever seen, with bean bag chairs, an infinity tunnel, bubble tubes, and more. Staff offered to lend The Kid noise canceling headphones or ear plugs. He declined, finding his balm in some BBQ chicken before we headed back to the music.

For the second time that night, I had to boot someone from our seats. For all the viral kerfuffle over tickets, I got exactly the seats I wanted (by asking for them specifically when my number came up on the day they went on sale). The upper section behind the stage, end of the front row. It was like a Juliet balcony overlooking the stage and offered the perspective of the band taking in the rest of the crowd.

Sorry, these are the best seats in the house, a woman said politely as she moved from our perch. It turned out she'd once had better. A retired elementary school teacher, she recalled seeing Springsteen barnstorm in Jersey bars more than 50 years ago.

And yes, The Kid made it to the end, and even proved me wrong about finding friends by sneaking up on one of his favorite people in the downstairs section.

So clearly, I owed him.

Thus, we hopped aboard a Metro-North train three days later to Grand Central, where the subway delivered us straight to the car show. I didnt know how he would respond to this spectacle either, but it turns out that the New York Auto Show is The Kids Springsteen.

I never needed to search for sensory rooms at the Javits Center, as The Kid seemed to find one behind every steering wheel. And while this too was his rookie ride, Id been there before, attending my first some 50 years ago with my father. My dad advised The Grandkid to bring a bag so he could collect promotional materials.

Theres a lot less paper these days, but some things havent changed. When I was growing up, a neighbor told me that when he was at the show in the 1960s, he flagged someone from Aston Martin that people were nicking souvenirs from James Bonds ride. That earned him the top secret assignment to guard The Most Famous Car in the World for a few days.

While The Kid was fantasizing about driving a Subaru, I noticed the shift knob was missing.

Please tell me someone didnt walk off with that? I inquired.

No, we take them off before the show.

The Kid spent hours teaching me about cars. Our last stop was to see one of Mr. Bonds other Aston Martins, where The Kid did his best 007 impersonation.

We stopped to see my parents on the way back, where The Kid drifted down the street to tell Bonds former protector about his adventures. Then my dad shared how when I was a boy, I participated in a demonstration at the car show where the moderator asked if I was afraid to click two electric cables together.

John didnt care, my dad told The Kid.

My son laughed at me. Youre stupid  but brave.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

When Douglas Lord became a librarian 30 years ago, he said calls to ban books in Connecticut "were completely unheard of."

Today, the number of challenged books is at a record high, according to national data, with challenges in Westport, Brookfield, Fairfield, Darien and other Connecticut communities.

Lord, now the president of the Connecticut Library Association, said there are about 35 active challenges in public and school libraries that the association knows of, about double 2022's figure.

He said there are probably about the same number they don't know of since it is difficult to know how often books are challenged in schools across the state each year.

"I've recently learned that a lot of school challenges can be anonymously submitted," he said. "It gets really dicey when an especially powerful or upset parent/group throws their influence around behind the scenes and books just go away with no public notice."

He said this frequently happens.

"I really feel for the school media specialists who get up every morning with the best of intentions and wind up getting caught up in that crossfire," Lord said.

There were 2,532 national instances of books banned in the 2021-2022 school year, with 1,648 unique book titles, according to PEN America, a nonprofit dedicated to defending free speech.

The American Library Association tracks the data on a calendar year basis. Its report released in March showed a record 2,571 unique titles were targeted for censorship in 2022, which is a 38 percent increase over the 1,858 unique titles that were targeted for censorship in 2021, the previous record.

In that time period, the data shows that Connecticut did not officially ban any books, and the state with the most bans was Texas.

Lord said a book ban occurs when a governmental agency, such as a board of education or municipality, intentionally removes a book, though it is rare in Connecticut, but challenges are at an all time high.

"Schools and libraries have reconsideration policies that administrators go through in order to determine if books or other materials are suitable," Lord said.

Lord said the association believes the challenged books are part of a larger, organized effort.

"Many challenges and the movement in general have been traced back to political organizations and political action groups," he said.

Eric Scoville, a spokesman for the state Department of Education, said though the state has developed position statements, content standards and frameworks to assist districts in curriculum development, "it is ultimately up to local school districts and their boards to determine which books best support the learning needs of their students and families."

"In alignment with the K-12 Universal Curriculum Design Principles, these decisions are best made through stakeholder engagement, including educators, administrators, and members of the public including, parents and other stakeholders, as appropriate," he said.

Since the control is local, the State Department of Education does not collect information about local level book utilization.

Lord said the Connecticut Library Association is a member-driven organizations of about 750 people.

He said the association will do what it can if a member or resident asks for help in getting involved in a challenged book process.

"But we all have our normal day jobs in addition to committee work," Lord cautioned. "We do make resources available and the American Library association website has lots of information that can help librarians and people."

"Since Connecticut is such a proudly parochial state, each town and school district has its own set of policies and procedures that needs to be followed," Lord added. "Some have three steps, while others have six steps, and still others have nine steps to these protocols. So it is up to each individual community to make those determinations. Rest assured the librarians involved in those decisions are professionals who use a wealth of judgment and care when assisting their communities."

The most banned books

Of the challenged books, Lord said LGBTQ+ and BIPOC "stories, authors, and voices are very clearly targeted."

He also said two of the top nonfiction titles being brought up in Connecticut are "Gender Queer" and "Let's Talk About It."

"Gender Queer" is listed as the number one challenged book for 2021 in the American Library Association Top 10 Most Challenged Books List released each year.

The data shows most of the challenged books, being 41 percent, focused on LGBTQ+ themes, protagonists or prominent secondary characters. The second most, 40 percent, focused on protagonists or prominent secondary characters of color.

According to PEN America, "Gender Queer" was banned in 41 districts across the country.

"Gender Queer" is one of the books under review in Westport to remain in the Staples Library. That, along with "This Book is Gay" and "Flamer" were challenged by a parent who said the books are sexually explicit and stereotypical toward the LGBTQ+ community. At the most recent meeting on April 3, the committee unanimously voted to uphold each book, though it has to continue through a review process, with an official decision from the superintendent, which can be appealed.

Controversy arose in Westport after "This Book is Gay" and "Gender Queer" were included in a Staples library book display in honor of banned book week in September 2022.

"This Book is Gay" is also on the top 10 banned books list. "Flamer" is not, but it was nominated for a Nutmeg Book Award in 2023.

In Brookfield, "This Book is Gay" is also being challenged for its content. Challengers in town have called it "pornographic," and the parent in Westport objected to its depictions of sex.

Brookfield's complaints arose at an April 5 Board of Education meeting, where more than a dozen residents talked about its content, though it was not on the agenda. According to the school catalogue, it is available as an e-book through the high school library.

Also in 2022, a teen graphic novel called "Let's Talk About It" faced scrutiny in Fairfield because of its sexual nature. However, this was at the town's public library, not a school one. The Board of Trustees voted to keep the book on shelves.

In Darien, a book called "Julian Is a Mermaid" was challenged in 2022. The book was read in a second grade classroom, with a parent bringing it to the Board of Education's attention, saying it was inappropriate for that age group for its themes about gender. However, the district announced it would keep the book in a memo sent to parents, saying it met the district's values of diversity, inclusion, acceptance and empathy.

Officials and locals speak out

At a Ferguson Library event about banned books on April 13, state Sen. Ceci Maher, D-Wilton, brought up the PEN America data, adding that 49 percent of banned books are for young adults, and 19 percent were picture books, which the data shows.



"Were seeing this play out now, and for me, its extraordinarily frightening," she said about book bans.

In an interview, Maher said, "Any attempt to ban books is dangerous, because 'the suppression of ideas is fatal to a democratic society,'" which is a quote from the American Library Association Freedom to Read statement.

State Rep. Matt Blumenthal, D-Stamford, said in an interview that he is unaware of any current or attempted book bans in Stamford, but he is in support of Stamford's decision to become a Book Sanctuary City.

There is a bill currently in the General Assembly that would create "sanctuary libraries,"which gives extra money to libraries that aren't banning books.

In 2022, Stamford became the second city in the country to become a Book Sanctuary City. Being one, according to the Ferguson Library, "provides opportunities to expand access to banned and challenged books as well as provides support and protection for the freedom to read."

"More generally, I support our LGBTQ community against hate and prejudice and will not stand for any demonization of it," Blumenthal said. "LGBTQ individuals  especially trans kids  face heightened risk of harm, whether from bullies, anti-LGBTQ violence, lack of acceptance, or suicide."

Blumenthal said any school instruction or discussion on sexuality and gender identity should be age appropriate, adding parents should also be involved in their children's education. He said he supported the library and school officials and their efforts to make parents more aware of the curriculum.

"Banning books hurts the very same people that advocates believe that they are protecting," said state Rep. Hubert Delany, D-Stamford.

He said youth need to see characters in books that look like them.

"They serve as a living reminder that their future can look like them, and that our institutions are invested their future," he said. "It is of the upmost importance that we do not deprive our the children of the opportunity to see themselves in literature.

Blumenthal, who used to represent Darien until redistricting this January, said he condemns the online targeting of Darien educators that happened last year, alongside an attempt to ban the book "Julian Is a Mermaid."

Darien resident Corey Frate called the challenge of that book an "unfortunate targeting."

"These are not the things we want to see Darien in the news for," he said. "It is abhorrent that some place would, really, shoot themselves in the foot and defund libraries than allow them to have a single book with a rainbow on the cover."

He added that he is grateful to live in Connecticut, where institutions like libraries and its values are affirmed by legislators.

"Our students, library officials and educators deserve to teach and learn without being dragged into politics," Blumenthal said. "We must continue to stand up against efforts, here and across the country, to censor or ban books from our libraries."
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP)  The judge hearing the wrongful death lawsuit against actor Alec Baldwin and an array of producers and crew linked to a fatal film set shooting agreed Monday to seal from public view the terms of a proposed settlement agreement in the case that benefits the son of slain cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

The New Mexico judge said the right to privacy for Hutchins' 10-year-old son overrides obligations for public disclosure and ordered that settlement documents and approval hearings be sealed in the civil lawsuit that argues that Baldwin and other film crewmembers ignored industry gun safety standards on the set of the Western film Rust" ahead of the 2021 shooting.

What is driving my decision is really the interests of the minor child. And that is one of the very most powerful reasons to seal a matter, District Court Judge Bryan Biedscheid said in a videoconference hearing of the Santa Fe-based court.

Baldwin, an actor and coproducer of the film, was pointing a pistol at Hutchins during a rehearsal on the film's set outside Santa Fe when the gun went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. He and other defendants have disputed the accusations that they were lax with safety standards.

Widower Matthew Hutchins filed the wrongful death suit last year against Rust producers, including Baldwin, as well as members of the film crew with safety responsibilities and an ammunition supplier. Son Andros Hutchins, who was 9 at the time of the shooting, is also named as a plaintiff.

Attorneys for they boy said Monday that secrecy provisions are paramount to protect his privacy and finalize a settlement with Rust producers.

Knowledge of the settlement terms also will be off limits to people beyond Rust producers who were named as defendants in the lawsuit, including weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. Several of those defendants objected to being left in the dark on details of the settlement, though approval of the agreement should end their involvement in the wrongful death suit.

Gutierrez-Reed and Baldwin are also confronting criminal charges of involuntary manslaughter in separate court proceedings and have pleaded not guilty, with two weeks of evidentiary hearings scheduled in May.

Matthew Hutchins outlined a proposed settlement agreement in October that opened the way for filming of Rust to resume in Montana. He'll serve as a producer.
With recreational cannabis use now legal for adults, many law enforcement agencies in southwestern Connecticut are no longer bringing pot-detecting police dogs to sniff out drugs around vehicles during car stops, officials said.

In Monroe, the police department decided not to replace a retired police dog after the legalization of cannabis reduced its role in vehicle searches. Meanwhile, Stratford police expect to replace its two K9 dogs with those specializing in searching for missing people once they retire, spokesman Capt. Frank Eannotti said.

The two dogs, a Belgian malinois and a German shepherd, are trained to sniff out marijuana and narcotics, including heroin and cocaine.

Connecticut law also still prohibits selling marijuana without a license. Still, Stratford police are no longer deploying its K9s for drug searches, Eannotti said.

Theres lines to be crossed now. So you gotta watch out for that, he said.

Police dogs are typically trained to sniff out multiple drugs, but they are unable to change how they alert handlers based on what they smell, officers said.

Its not like if he puts his left paw its cocaine, if he puts his right paw its marijuana, said Lt. Pat Lynch, who oversees Ansonia's police patrol officers.

Without that distinction, police would not have enough probable cause to search a vehicle for drugs even if a K9 alerts its handler, he said.

It basically goes back to the Constitution and Fourth Amendment, said Lynch, referring to the constitutional protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. The dog just indicates saying, OK, theres drugs. I dont know what kind of drugs there are.

To adapt to the change, Ansonia police are no longer routinely bringing its German shepherd around a vehicle while they check a drivers license and registration. But they would still use the dog for vehicle or home searches with a warrant, Lynch said.

In addition, Ansonia police are still deploying the K9 to recover evidence like a suspects handgun and use its sense of smell to track wanted and missing persons.

Since Ansonia has a small law enforcement agency, its K9 handler also answers calls and makes car stops, bringing the dog with him.

If he sees a motor vehicle violation, hell stop it. If hes on patrol with another officer who stops the car and hes the closest car, hell go and hell provide a backup to the officer that makes a stop, Lynch said.

Two of Westport police's dogs, a Belgian malinois and a Dutch Shepherd-crossbreed, are drug-detecting dogs trained in sniffing out marijuana and are no longer walked by handlers around cars during a stop, said spokesman Lt. Eric Woods. But if police spot possible illicit drugs or paraphernalia inside a vehicle, they would use the dogs to search it, Woods said.

Lets say the car that was stopped, the cop sees white powder, or sees cocaine, or sees heroin needles or sees something else that would indicate that theres drugs in the car that is not marijuana, Woods said.

But another younger, drug sniffing Belgian malinois isnt trained to detect marijuana. Unlike the older K9s, Westport police still use this dog to sniff around a vehicle and consider its alert enough probable cause to conduct a search.

I think its gonna come down to, as dogs get retired, and they start training new officers and handlers, you just dont introduce marijuana into the mix, Woods said.

In Bridgeport, three officers are training to become K9 handlers. The dogs they will oversee won't be trained in sniffing out drugs, but they are hoping to have them "cross-trained" to detect narcotics in the future, said Lt. William Simpson, who oversees Bridgeport police's K9 handlers.

How long do we want to take a random K9 off the road to get that training? So really its gonna boil down to manpower issues," Simpson said.

Along with drug dogs, some police departments also have K9s specialized in bomb-sniffing and emotional support. Simpson said he hopes the department will replace its retiring explosives-detecting dog, but added they also help protect the city's ferry terminal and other critical infrastructure from bomb threats. Simpson also said Bridgeport police is considering taking in an emotional support dog.

But the department's ability to take in the dogs would be dependent on whether it can resolve its manpower shortages, he said.

While the city is making efforts to fill vacancies, the mayor's budget calls for fewer officers in the department overall.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

BRIDGEPORT  Whether for job protection, a sense of fealty or other reasons, when mayoral campaign season rolls around every four years in Bridgeport, city employees pull out their checkbooks and contribute to the incumbent's re-election bid.

But one key department head insists his name will not be found on Mayor Joe Ganim's campaign finance reports now or in the future.

"I'm not going to get involved in any politicking," Police Chief Roderick Porter said recently in response to a question during a discussion about his first four months on the job.

Top administration hires and other city staffers, many of whom are non-union employees who serve at Ganim's pleasure, have given money to their boss not only these past several months and ahead of his 2019 re-election, but also to aid Ganim's failed 2018 gubernatorial campaign. And they do not simply cut checks. Some also regularly attend and mingle at political fundraisers.

But Porter, a recently-retired captain whom the mayor put in charge of the force last fall following a nationwide search for a permanent top cop, said that is not his style.

"I think there's a level of politics that goes along with policing and being a police chief, but I think it should be kept to a minimum," he said.

The chief said he will obviously respond when contacted for public safety-related assistance by the mayor, his staff or elected City Council members.

"The mayor and his staff are my boss," Porter said. "If the mayor calls me, I'm going to answer. But in terms of politicking, that's not something I think policing should be involved in. We should be neutral."

Porter does enjoy a bit more job security than other of Ganim's top aides in the form of an appointment letter, signed last November by the mayor, which states that following a six-month probation, Porter can only be terminated "for just cause."

He said he believes the best way he can help Bridgeport's elected officials politically is "by doing a decent job and being professional."

That has not always been the attitude of Bridgeport's top cops or even its officers.

Former Chief Armando Perez was a close friend of the mayor's. He served as Ganim's driver when the former initially ran the city in the 1990s, and, as a prominent police captain, campaigned for Ganim's successful 2015 comeback. After Ganim won, he bought out then-Chief Joseph Gaudett's contract in order to make Perez acting head of the department.

Then in 2018, following a national search, Ganim picked Perez from among the three finalists to be his permanent chief with a five-year contract. Porter was also among that trio. Perez was then arrested in September 2020 and subsequently pleaded guilty to cheating in 2018 to get the job.

Perez during his time in charge contributed money to Ganim's campaigns and also attended fundraisers. For example, when Ganim was competing in 2018's Democratic gubernatorial primary, Perez gave $1,850 to that effort and attended a fundraiser at an exclusive Manhattan cigar bar.

Also, as revealed in a 2017 City Council election dispute, Perez at the request of Ganim ally Democratic Town Chairman Mario Testa, dispatched an officer to retrieve some mail-in or absentee ballots that had not been submitted during a hotly contested North End council race.

Following Perez's arrest, Ganim promoted assistant chief Rebeca Garica to acting top cop. Garcia, like Porter, eschewed municipal politics. She was the top-rated finalist in last year's search for a permanent chief, but Ganim instead chose Porter and Garcia retired.

Bridgeport's police union has also not been above politics. Though its current leadership is at odds with the mayor over the lack of a contract, back in 2015 the union endorsed Ganim and then-President Sgt. Chuck Paris became a fairly familiar face in City Hall.

And last year Bridgeport's police got involved in the race or governor, backing losing Republican Bob Stefanowski over Democratic incumbent Ned Lamont.

Gemeem Davis is a head of Bridgeport Generation Now, a civic group that has been highly critical of how Ganim and Testa run the city and had opposed Perez being made chief in 2018. The group endorsed Porter for top cop last year.

Davis was pleased to learn of Porter's comments about staying out of city politics.

"That is a good thing," she said. "Our police department and the chief shouldn't be politicized. I think he should stay focused on his job."
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP)  Russias Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday expressed gratitude to Brazil for its approach in pushing for an end to hostilities in Ukraine  an effort that has irked both Kyiv and the West, and by afternoon prompted an unusually sharp rebuke from the White House.

Brazils President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has refused to provide weapons to Ukraine while proposing a club of nations including Brazil and China to mediate peace.

On Sunday, Lula told reporters in Abu Dhabi that two nations  both Russia and Ukraine  had decided to go to war, and a day earlier in Beijing said the U.S. must stop stimulating the continued fighting and start discussing peace. Earlier this month, he suggested Ukraine could cede Crimea to end the war, which the spokesperson for Ukraines foreign ministry, Oleg Nikolenko, and others rejected.

After meeting Brazils foreign minister on Monday, Lavrov told reporters in a short press conference that the West has engaged in a rather tough struggle to maintain its dominance in world affairs, including economics and geopolitics.

As for the process in Ukraine, we are grateful to our Brazilian friends for their excellent understanding of this situations genesis. We are grateful (to them) for striving to contribute to finding ways to settle it," Lavrov said, sitting alongside his Brazilian counterpart, Mauro Vieira.

Lula's recent comments, particularly ascribing any blame to Ukraine for Russia's invasion in Feb. 2022, run counter to the position held by the European Union, the U.S. and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. And any talk of a ceasefire is viewed as an opportunity for Russia to regroup its forces for a new offensive. Zelenskyy told The Associated Press last month that a loss anywhere at this stage in the war could put Ukraines hard-fought momentum at risk.

Vieira, for his part, told reporters that Brazil sees sanctions against Russia as causing negative impacts for the global economy, particularly developing nations, and that Brazil supports an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.

Following the meeting, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby blasted Brazils approach to the war and for its officials having met Lavrov and Russia's Vladimir Putin in person, while thus far only speaking to Ukrainian officials by phone.

Brazil has substantively and rhetorically approached this issue by suggesting that the United States and Europe are somehow not interested in peace or that we share responsibility for the war, Kirby told reporters in Washington. In this case, Brazil is parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda without at all looking at the facts.

Kirby said the Biden administration hoped Lula and others will urge the Russians to cease the bombing of Ukrainian cities, hospitals and schools, halt the war crimes and the atrocities and, quite frankly, to pull back Russian forces from Ukraine.

Both foreign ministers were meeting with Lula in the afternoon.

As part of his effort to end the war, Lula also has withheld munitions to Ukraine, despite a request from Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Lula has said that sending supplies would mean Brazil entering the war, which he seeks to end.

His administration is seeking to simultaneously develop ties with China, Europe and the U.S. while keeping an open door to Russia. However, his recent remarks may have undermined his effort to secure these competing objectives, said Christopher Garman, managing director for the Americas at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group.

Its not a good look, when you have the Russian chancellor side by side, and its the Russian position, Garman said by phone. The optics do diminish Brazils credibility as an independent arbiter, but I think that the import is larger precisely because of the current storms that Lula stoked with his comments in China and the UAE.

There were already indications that Moscow had appreciated Lula's stance. One of roughly 50 leaked classified documents on the platform Discord that have been viewed by the AP said that, as of late February, Russias foreign affairs ministry supported Lulas plan to establish a club of supposedly impartial mediators, as it would reject the Wests aggressor-victim paradigm. The item cited electronic surveillance as the source.

Critics have argued that Brazil's position aims to avoid confronting a key supplier of fertilizer for its soybean plantations, exports from which are largely destined for China. Both Russia and China hold permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council, and Brazil for decades has sought to join them. Lavrov told reporters on Monday that Russia is backing Brazil's bid.

Vinicius Vieira, an international relations professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a university and think tank, said Lulas comments on Ukraine have been badly calibrated and that saying Kyiv should cede Crimea would appear to favor Russia.

The issue of fertilizers is fundamental, but that would be well resolved with Brazil staying neutral, calling all sides to speak, but without saying Ukraine owes something to Russia, Vieira said.

After his stay in Brazil, Lavrov will travel to Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.

In an article published on the website of Russias Foreign Ministry, as well as in Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo, Lavrov appeared to cast the Latin American countries trade relationship  notably that between Russia and Brazil, especially concerning fertilizers  as a backdrop and source of leverage for possible discussions regarding Brazil's continued refusal to provide weapons to Ukraine, which Moscow would like to ensure.

Brazils foreign minister told reporters that Russia accounts for one-quarter of the South American nations fertilizer imports, and that he and Lavrov discussed measures to guarantee its influx.

___

Madhani reported from Washington. AP videojournalist Kostya Manenkov contributed from Tallinn, Estonia, and journalist Elise Morton contributed from London.
On April 7, the University of Oregon Student Worker Union filed its petition for certification. If the process is successful, the group expects to be the largest undergraduate union in the United States, according to UOSW.

After a campus union rally on April 6, the last day for student workers to sign union cards, the group went to Salem to deliver the signed cards to the Oregon Employment Relations Board, marking the beginning of the certification process.

We had about 25 members of our organizing committee come up to Salem with us. It was a really special moment to be there, UOSW organizer and social media coordinator Elizabeth White said.

An organizer from the union, Ella Meloy, said the group will now focus on deepening its understanding of issues facing workplaces on campus.

We need to prepare to bargain for a contract that benefits all workers on campus, especially the workers that are being the most exploited by the university, Meloy said.

Despite not being certified yet, a UOSW post on social media said it has been making strides toward policy changes in the workplace.

According to a social media post made by UOSW, the group sent a letter to Tom Driscoll, the director of dining services, addressing a $200 retention bonus that is available to student dining workers during finals week if they work an average of 10 hours per week over the term and a minimum of 10 hours during finals week.

One student in UOSW had a gender-affirming surgery scheduled during finals week, because the surgery prevented the student from working the required hours for the bonus, members of UOSW believed that the students non-eligibility for the bonus constituted disparate impact under Title IXs disparate impact clause.

UOSW requested students be able to provide documentation of a medical concern that would prevent them from working the required number of hours during finals week.

White said UOSW reached out to Driscoll in the letter requesting the policy be adjusted, and that the group plans to continue pursuing policy change in the future.

Student employees gain sick time with the hours they work, and in response to the letter, UO now allows student employees in dining halls to apply sick leave toward their required hours to get the bonus, according to UOSW.

For Roderique, as a resident assistant in the dorms, certification of the union would mean that all RAs have access to more mental health services and all student workers receive higher pay.

UOSW organizer Carolyn Roderique said the certification process should take a few weeks. Until then, UOSW plans to raise money and prepare for its bargaining sessions.

From the beginning to now, organizers said they feel proud of the work they have done this year.

Im leaving my time at UO incredibly honored to have been able to organize with a group of students who have inspired me to continue to organize every day, Meloy said. I've never seen such an impressive, hardworking and dedicated group of students while here at UO.
Opinion: Many students love the spring. But Im allergic to grass. The warmer weather makes a lot of people happy. But Im allergic to grass.

----------

The University of Oregons students are as excited as the newly grown flowers scattered around the campus. The sun comes out, and the flowers open their gracious petals to receive it. In the same breath, students around the campus rush toward the green spaces with their hammocks, blankets and books. Warm weather makes people feel better, or at least, thats what Ive heard. I, however, have a different experience with the spring term weather.

I am allergic to grass; its unfortunate, I know. Do you remember those years you spent as a child, frolicking through open fields and rolling down steep hills of grass? I remember mine, too. Except, they always ended with swollen eyes, itchy arms and a damaged spirit. There was a time in my life when I thought that I could beat this allergy  that I could stick to artificial grass, and I could run inside at the sound of any lawnmower. This has not been proven truthful since moving to Eugene.

What I didnt know before moving to Eugene was that I am currently placed right outside of whats called the grass seed capital of the world: Linn County. This means Oregon is the worlds number one producer of grass seed, and most of the seed farms are in Eugene's neighboring county. Every spring, I pay the price for my ignorance. Last year, while other students were enjoying some of the first sunny days of the term, I was on the phone with my mother, hobbling to Hirons and attempting this new technique where I only breathed out through the mouth. It didnt work.

I understand that spring term is very exciting for students. The issue is, I cant relate without Claritin.

Zane Globus-OHarra, a spring fanatic and fourth year student at UO said, I just really like it when the weather warms up because I can go outside more, and I can actually enjoy it.

That must be nice.

As an avid biker, Globus-OHarra enjoys the extra hours of light in which he can spend time partaking in his favorite activities.

There's something about those warm spring evenings and just going on a bike ride with your friends, Globus-OHarra said.

Did I mention I also have bad knees? Imagine coupling extreme amounts of pollen inhalations with hyperextensive knees. Now ask me again why I dont love spring.

One thing Globus-OHarra and I agree on, however, is the scenery.

Globus-OHarra said, the No. 1 thing is getting the leaves back on the trees. He likes when the trees switch from their winter bareness to their green and abundant spring picture. I like the trees, too. I am relatively unaffected by their pollen, and no one decides to mow them every three days.

Finally, Globus-OHarra recounted some family traditions that take place in spring.

I always go on a camping trip with my family and some friends, Globus-OHarra said. Ive gone every year except once when I had mono.

Globus-OHarra remembers a time in fifth grade when he was unable to go on the trip due to sickness.

I was in and out of school for a month, and I wasn't able to go camping with my mom and dad. I was so sad I literally cried, Globus-OHarra said.

I have the urge to cry, too, when lawnmowers follow me down the street, when I see a hill that I simply can not roll down and when other students describe their spring experiences as I wipe my nose and nod along.

Spring is a tough time for me. But if you are one of the lucky ones, embrace it. Go run through fields of grass. Go find the softest patches to touch. Maybe go on a bike ride and breathe in the fresh, pollinated air. Be unafraid of the smell of freshly-cut grass and enjoy the green scenery in whichever way you see fit. I will be in my room, watching the grass blow in Home on the Range, taking allergy medication and living vicariously through the people I see on the street.
Opinion: The GOPs efforts at blocking gender-affirming healthcare, other anti-trans bills and negative media coverage share striking similarities to the tactics used by Nazi Germany against minority groups. The GOP bases all of these efforts on nothing.

----------

In the few months of 2023, 494 anti-trans pieces of legislation have been introduced. Of those, 39 have passed, 363 are waiting on a decision and 92 of them have failed.

The vilification of transgender and LGBTQ+ populations is not a new phenomenon, but its sharp increase within the past few years is concerning when thinking about the future freedoms of these groups.

The Republican party asserts that trans and LGBTQ+ people are inherently dangerous as a result of the social contagion theory. According to the GOP, because these people are currently allowed to exist in public, they are going to corrupt children into believing that they are also transgender.

According to the book Creativity and Morality, edited by Hansika Kapoor and James C. Kaufman, social contagion theory is deceptive behavior [that] is acquired, normalized and practiced via a process of enculturation. This deceptive behavior is often presented in the form of attitudes, emotions or behaviors which rapidly spread throughout a group from one member to others without rational thought and reason. The example the book presents is that a child will learn to lie if their parents are frequently lying.

At a surface-level analysis, this theory seems relatively simple and harmless; we can presume even without naming a specific theory that children will learn how to act as a result of others behaviors. It is the classic nature versus nurture argument.

However, when leveraged by fascist and authoritarian leaders, this theory is used as justification for the horrific and unjust treatment of certain groups of people, often groups that have already been marginalized and discriminated against before.

One of the largest  and most cruel  examples of this was Hitlers Nazi Germany.

Hitler and the Nazi Party outwardly worked to define and exclude outsiders from German society. These outsiders included Jews, Roma (Gypsies), homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Germans viewed as genetically inferior and harmful to national health (people with mental illness and intellectual or physical disabilities, epileptics, congenitally deaf and blind persons, chronic alcoholics, drug users, and others).

This was done through extensive propaganda and legislative initiatives which depicted Jews and these outsiders as parasites to Germany. According to this propaganda, these outsiders only served to infect the German population by stealing jobs and controlling the economy, corrupting the culture and weakening German blood through race mixing. The result of this propaganda and citizen mobilization against Jews and other outsiders was an atmosphere of violence and hostility, and ultimately one of the worst human rights violations in history.

Today, the Republican party is working to mimic an atmosphere of violence and hostility against transgender and LGBTQ+ populations through similar tactics of propaganda and legislative initiatives.

The main platform that Republicans are pushing these narratives through is that blocking and removing trans rights protects the children. As former President Donald Trump stated, gender-affirming healthcare for minors is child abuse and child sexual mutilation. Additionally, Republicans and right-wing media continue to push scare tactics stating that transgender people are pedophiles dressed up as men or women going into bathrooms or locker rooms to target and prey on children.

The issue with all of these statements is that none of them are true, similar to the Nazi portrayals of Jewish people and other minorities. Instead, these statements are used to incite fear and increase voter turnout rates for Republican party members and transphobic legislation.

On the claim that the percentage of transgender youth is increasing as a result of social contagion theory, a 2022 study in the journal Pediatrics found this to be baseless. The study found that there has been no increase in assigned female at birth people coming out and/or transitioning and  to no surprise  rates of bullying, victimization and suicide were higher among trans youth compared to cisgender youth. As such, the study argued social contagion theory should not be used to argue against the provision of gender-affirming medical care for [transgender and gender diverse] adolescents.

Now that its been established that the social contagion theory has no impact on cisgender youth, what children are the Republican party trying to protect? Its certainly not trans children.

A Journal of the American Medical Association study in 2022 found that transgender and nonbinary youth that received gender-affirming healthcare  including puberty blockers and hormone treatments  had a 60% lower rate of experiencing moderate to severe depression and a 73% lower rate of suicidality over one year.

As mentioned above, trans youth face higher rates of bullying, victimization and suicide, and with that, gender-affirming care may serve as a lifeline.

Put in comparison to other depression treatments, the average success rate of antidepressant medications is only 40-60%. Thus, if an established and more effective means of combating depression and suicide exists, to attempt to ban it is to harm children, not protect them.

But even if gender-affirming healthcare doesnt serve to aid a persons mental health, why should trans people not be able to improve the conditions of their lives when everyone else can?

Finally, on the remark about trans people being pedophiles who use bathrooms and locker rooms to target children: There is no evidence to suggest this is in any way true. A study done by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law found that the passage of bathroom bills has no effect on assault and sex crimes that occur in the exceedingly rare instance that they happen.

The ultimate question is, at what point will the Republican party draw the line of who they choose to target? Transgender and LGBTQ+ populations may be the current focus of the partys attention, but if they continue to target each and every minority group the striking comparisons to Nazi Germany will only grow.

No matter how hard the right tries to discriminate against trans youth, they will continue to exist. Queer youth will continue to exist. And they will not be pushed aside and disappeared by incorrect and ignorant lawmakers.
Imagine a country where an unelected group of politicians who've had their noses put out of joint can simply say no to new laws proposed by the elected government.

And not just in extreme circumstances, but every day, whenever the fancy takes them. You don't have to imagine such a country, of course, because I am referring to post-Brexit Britain and our very own House of Lords.

In recent years, the peers who make up our second chamber have voted on 430 separate occasions to reject legislation passed to it by the House of Commons.

If you think that figure of 430 sounds a lot, you're right: it represents more than half of all Lords votes. In other words, many peers who sit in the House of Lords have decided that their view is more important and worthwhile than that of elected MPs and, by extension, the voters who put them in the Commons.

But if you think that's alarming, it gets worse. I referred above to the Lords voting record in 'recent years'.

In recent years, the peers who make up the House of Lords (pictured) have voted on 430 separate occasions to reject legislation passed to it by the House of Commons

Imagine a country where an unelected group of politicians who've had their noses put out of joint can simply say no to new laws proposed by the elected government, writes Stephen Pollard (pictured)

To be specific, the figure of 430 votes against the Government dates from the 2015/16 session of parliament. Before that session, rejection of government measures by the Lords on such a scale was relatively rare.

In 2014/15, for example, it rejected legislation on just 11 occasions, and only 14 times the year before that.

But in the last full session of 2021/22 the Lords voted against the Government an astonishing 128 times, and it did so 114 times the year before.

We do not have to dig deep for an explanation of this extraordinary state of affairs, of course, for 2016 was not just any old year.

It was the year of the Brexit referendum  in which the vast majority of Lords were Remainers.

You may remember the seemingly unending parliamentary battles to implement the result of the referendum and the viciousness with which Remainers fought to defeat the Government.

That attitude  that their view was superior to that of the ordinary people who had voted in favour of Brexit  is surely what lies behind the extraordinary change in voting behaviour since 2016 and their willingness to place their own views above those of the elected Government.

Now, however, this extends far beyond the battles over Brexit. Having developed the habit of voting against the freely elected government of the day on Brexit issues, the Lords appear to be in the grip of mission creep.

Stephen Pollard asks whether it is time for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to address the imbalance

In the past few months, for example, the House of Lords has defeated the Government on such measures as the Energy Bill, the Public Order Bill, the National Security Bill, the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill, the Procurement Bill and the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill.

To my mind, this is all down to a growing mismatch in the composition of the two chambers. While Remainiac LibDem members make up just 2 per cent of the democratically elected Commons, for example, their 83 peers give them 11 per cent of the votes in the Lords.

Another Remainer-dominated bloc is the crossbenchers. Ostensibly unaligned, they are in fact another redoubt of the Remainer tendency. In 2018, crossbench peers sided against the Government in a row over the EU customs union. Seventy-five backed an amendment that inflicted a blow to then PM Theresa May. Just 26 voted with the Government.

It doesn't help that the Tories are under-represented in the upper chamber. While the Conservatives have 54 per cent of seats in the Commons, they make up just 33 per cent of the Lords.

Expansion of the Lords is often opposed by critics on the grounds that it is the world's second largest legislature after the Chinese National People's Congress.

But in the face of the level of obstructivism his party has experienced, is it now time for the PM to address the imbalance?
Leading Tories pounced on Sir Keir Starmer's desperate attempt to deflect accusations that he was incapable of defining what a woman is by saying 99.9 per cent of them don't have a penis.

But one Cabinet minister, Leader of the Commons Penny Mordaunt, preferred to remain silent  a surprise to some given how vociferous she has been in the past in support of trans rights.

Mordaunt's two Tory leadership campaigns were badly damaged by her past declaration that 'trans women are women', as well as her reference to 'pregnant people'.

But her stock is rising among Tory MPs thanks to her assured performances at weekly business questions in the Commons.

Is Mordaunt's silence a sign that she still nurses leadership ambitions and is in the process of repositioning herself on the trans issue in order to make herself more palatable to mainstream Tories?

Leading Tories pounced on Sir Keir Starmer's desperate attempt to deflect accusations that he was incapable of defining what a woman is by saying 99.9 per cent of them don't have a penis

Leader of the Commons Penny Mordaunt, preferred to remain silent  a surprise to some given how vociferous she has been in the past in support of trans rights

Cabinet Office documents show that ten of her 13 ministerial meetings in the last quarter of 2022 were with journalists  a huge number considering she has no legislative responsibilities.

Mordaunt has risen to fifth place in the ConservativeHome league table of the party faithful's favourite ministers.

She'll not be content until she's in first place, which is not a futile hope if she recants her views on the trans issue.

Labour's vicious personal attacks on Rishi Sunak bring to mind Margaret Thatcher's response when she was targeted in just such a manner.

'I always cheer up immensely,' she said in 1986. 'I think, well if they attack one personally it means they have not a single political argument left.' She was absolutely right.

Whisky costs King's ransom!

King Charles is partial to a wee dram, so little wonder he's brought out a limited edition Coronation Whisky to celebrate the big day.

Using barley grown on his Highgrove estate, Charles has partnered with the award-winning Cotswold Distillery to make an 'exceptional' single malt.

It comes from a specially selected ex-red wine cask filled in May 2017 and was bottled last month.

King Charles is partial to a wee dram, so little wonder he's brought out a limited edition Coronation Whisky to celebrate the big day

The only thing some might find hard to swallow is the price  it costs 295.

There was an awkward moment on Alastair Campbell's podcast last week.

Tony Blair's former spin doctor was interviewing Succession actor Brian Cox, 76.

Cox, who voiced Labour Party political broadcasts in 1997 but is now an SNP supporter, blamed his rejection of Labour on the Iraq war of 2003.

'And there weren't any weapons of mass destruction,' he said.

Conscious that Campbell was Blair's pugnacious communications chief at the time, he added: 'I know this must be difficult for you. You were all part of it.' He can say that again.

There was an awkward moment on Alastair Campbell's podcast last week while he interviewed Succession actor Brian Cox

Spectator editor Fraser Nelson, in an article criticising the lacklustre Keir Starmer, reminds his readers the magazine once published a verbatim copy of one of the Opposition leader's speeches.

'Midway through, we buried an offer of free champagne to anyone who read that far,' he wrote. 'No one claimed it.'

Author and ex Tory MP Gyles Brandreth admits he calls his doctor too much. 'The last time I went to see the doctor I said, "Do you think I'm a hypochondriac?" "Yes," he said. "I think you've got that as well." '

Not too late for SNP's Kate

Narrowly defeated in the SNP leadership contest by 52 per cent to 48 per cent, is Kate Forbes already plotting a comeback?

She quit the Scottish Cabinet after Humza Yousaf, the new First Minister, tried to fob her off with the rural affairs brief.

But she now has the support of a 15-strong caucus in the Scottish Parliament.

Narrowly defeated in the SNP leadership contest by 52 per cent to 48 per cent, is Kate Forbes (pictured hugging Humza Yousaf) already plotting a comeback?

She has also been signed as a columnist by The National, the unashamedly pro-independence newspaper.

Forbes may need the higher profile sooner than she thought. Questions are already being asked about whether the leadership contest was speeded up to help Yousaf win as the 'continuity candidate' before the bombshell arrest of Peter Murrell, the party's former chief executive, otherwise known as Mr Nicola Sturgeon.
Should my father, the former Chancellor Nigel Lawson, who died a fortnight ago, find himself memorialised in dictionaries of quotations, I know what those words will be: 'The NHS is the closest thing the English have to a religion.'

But while that observation of his is endlessly repeated as an unquestionable aphorism, no one ever goes on to quote the rest of the passage, from his political memoirs published over 30 years ago.

After those words, it continues: 'with those who practise in it regarding themselves as a priesthood. This made it quite extraordinarily difficult to reform.

'For a bunch of laymen, who called themselves the Government, to presume to tell the priesthood that they must change their ways in any respect whatsoever was clearly intolerable. And faced with a dispute between their priests and Ministers, the public would have no hesitation in taking the part of the priesthood.'

We can see the truth of this now, at least if the polls taken about public attitudes to the strikes by junior doctors and nurses are remotely accurate.

The former group, led by young socialist firebrands at the helm of the BMA's junior doctors committee, have gone on strike for a pay increase of 35 per cent  and insist that is a non-negotiable figure.

DOMINIC LAWSON: Should my father (pictured, Nigel Lawson) find himself memorialised in dictionaries of quotations, I know what those words will be: 'The NHS is the closest thing the English have to a religion'

DOMINIC LAWSON: Yet though the unions are holding the public's health as the hostage in this dispute  about 330,000 operations and other medical procedures have been cancelled so far  they have widespread public support for their approach

Yet though the unions are holding the public's health as the hostage in this dispute  about 330,000 operations and other medical procedures have been cancelled so far  they have widespread public support for their approach.

A survey by the pollsters Ipsos reported that 54 per cent of those questioned are 'strongly supporting' the junior doctors' action. The proportion who 'strongly opposed' the action was only 26 per cent.

Now, it may be that those supporting the action take everything the strike leaders say about their pay, and the extent to which it has been eroded in real terms, as the gospel truth  after all, this is the priesthood.

And the wider public may not realise that, in the European league of how doctors' pay relates to average salaries in each country, the British doctors are close to the top. Nor that the average annual NHS earnings of a junior doctor, including those working part-time, is 55,420.

Nor, as the director of the non-partisan Social Market Foundation, James Kirkup, wrote last week, that 'a medical career is a salary escalator that will carry many doctors to an income in retirement so big the Treasury is rewriting the law to accommodate medical pension pots worth 1 million'.

But these facts don't touch the real issue, which is about emotions. As my father pointed out, those working in the NHS are venerated, politicians aren't; and so the former will always be favoured over the latter in any dispute.

DOMINIC LAWSON: Junior doctors, led by young socialist firebrands at the helm of the BMA's junior doctors committee, have gone on strike for a pay increase of 35 per cent  and insist that is a non-negotiable figure. Pictured, co-chairman Dr Robert Laurenson

DOMINIC LAWSON: The leader of the Royal College of Nursing, Pat Cullen, who after her members narrowly rejected their own union's recommendation of the Government's pay offer, has threatened that their next strike will extend to cancer wards and accident and emergency

The religious metaphor is apt for many reasons. Priests are the people whom practising Christians (a declining faith in this country) need to see when they are at their most vulnerable. And the life-saving things doctors do for us sometimes seem indistinguishable from miracles.

There is another common factor  or rather, one which appears to be the case, but actually isn't. Churchgoers don't have to pay to attend, to receive their spiritual succour. No priest would ever charge the very sick to deliver their final blessing.

Similarly, the NHS's services are free at the point of use. We are never presented with the bill for their service when we leave the hospital. This creates the illusion (I suspect) for many, that the doctors and nurses are akin to a charity, as churches are, and that we are getting 'free' medical care.

In reality, we are all paying for our treatment through our taxes. And the Conservative-led governments since 2010 have increased spending on health and social care by 40 per cent in real terms  from just under 130 billion to more than 180 billion.

But perhaps the belief that NHS treatment is free is not a complete illusion, in the sense that the average family needs to be earning above the median income before it becomes a 'net payer' of tax (that is, when taxes exceed benefits)

That makes it easier to understand a second factor: that the British public is remarkably tolerant of the NHS when it is let down by the institution. When you are not paying for something, or think you aren't, then gratitude tends to be the dominant emotion, even when it may not be appropriate.

And just as, for far too long, the public deferred excessively to the real priesthood's demand for unquestioning deference  with some dreadful consequences in terms of abuses covered up  so the British 'faith' in the NHS has made it excruciatingly difficult for whistleblowers to get the justice they need after they have suffered scandalously bad treatment. This has been especially obvious in the field of maternity care.

Nor have I ever forgotten the account by Julie Bailey of her experience when trying to bring to light what happened at Mid Staffs hospital, where patients dying of thirst desperately drank water from flower vases, and an estimated 1,200 'extra' deaths were the result of neglect.

DOMINIC LAWSON: As my father pointed out, those working in the NHS are venerated, politicians aren't; and so the former will always be favoured over the latter in any dispute.

She told an interviewer that when her campaign caused the hospital's emergency department to be closed at night, pending review, 'I had my car tyres slashed, 'B***h' written on my windows, and 'Shut your effing mouth'.'

Julie Bailey decided to leave the area altogether after her mother's grave was vandalised. These were the actions of what amounted to a fanatical NHS cult.

Now, there is no comparison with this, and the intentions of the leader of the Royal College of Nursing, Pat Cullen, who after her members narrowly rejected their own union's recommendation of the Government's pay offer, has threatened that their next strike will extend to cancer wards and accident and emergency  with 'no derogations'.

Unlike what happened at Mid Staffs, this is not sadistic. But when on the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg programme yesterday, Cullen repeatedly refused to rule out co-ordinating any future strike action to coincide with that by the junior doctors, she must have realised that she would be causing genuine terror to those awaiting treatment in the coming weeks.

Indeed, she is using that terror as a means of pressurising the Government to concede to her membership's demands. But, in terms of bargaining, the nurses and junior doctors are acting rationally and using their position of strength.

DOMINIC LAWSON: I have never forgotten the account by Julie Bailey of her experience when trying to bring to light what happened at Mid Staffs hospital

There are many thousands of nursing vacancies which need to be filled, and so the Government needs to make the profession more attractive  something it thought it did with its improved pay offer.

And although there are now 132,000 doctors in England's public health sector  which is about a third more than 20 years ago  the number is still less than required to meet inexorably growing demand (a function of an ageing population).

But as James Kirkup pointed out last week, the rational response from the Government would be to increase the amount of medical degree courses available, and make the process of qualification much quicker.

In the past, however, such reforms have been resisted by the profession; and, as my father observed, the public invariably takes the side of the NHS practitioners, regarding them, and not the politicians, as being disinterestedly acting only in the public's good.

DOMINIC LAWSON: James Kirkup, director of the Social Market Foundation, pointed out that a rational response from the Government would be to increase the amount of medical degree courses available, and make the process of qualification much quicker

Of course, there will be many, many nurses who will refuse to obey the call to withdraw their labour, precisely because they regard it as a threat to their own patients, which they could not inflict, as a matter of conscience.

And the letters columns of our newspapers have not been short of missives from retired doctors, criticising the juniors of today.

For example, one, Gavin Tait, wrote to The Times, describing the demands as 'unrealistic and selfish', adding: 'My experience in discussing rewards with European doctors, who enter independent practice after five years' training, is that they often envy UK doctors' salaries and their pensions.'

A heretic speaks! But among those still practising, almost none dare speak out publicly in this way. The priesthood must not be questioned; and certainly not in front of the congregation.
Hospitals are meant to be safe places for people when they are at their most vulnerable.

Many patients are incapacitated due to illness or medication. Some will be unconscious.

But with staff coming and going at all hours, outsiders confined to the set visiting hours and CCTV cameras in operation, family and friends are entitled to believe that their nearest and dearest are being cared for in a secure environment.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

As figures uncovered by the Women's Rights Network (WRN) show, over the past four years, thousands of women have been raped or sexually assaulted in hospitals, with just 4 per cent of offenders charged.

With staff coming and going at all hours, outsiders confined to the set visiting hours and CCTV cameras in operation, family and friends are entitled to believe that their nearest and dearest are being cared

The data WRN has managed to extract from police forces under the Freedom Of Information (FoI) Act covers the period of the Covid pandemic, which includes many months of lockdowns and tighter controls on access to hospitals (file image)

This is nothing short of a national disgrace.

What's more, a significant number of these attacks took place during a time when hospitals were supposedly on heightened alert.

The data WRN has managed to extract from police forces under the Freedom Of Information (FoI) Act covers the period of the Covid pandemic, which includes many months of lockdowns and tighter controls on access to hospitals.

The flip side of this is that the masks and gowns which were essential for Covid infection control offered sexual predators a ready-made way of concealing their identity from their victims.

The thought of a masked-and-gowned predator stalking the wards is the stuff of nightmares.

Valerie Kneale died at the stroke unit of Blackpool Victoria Hospital on November 16, 2018, following a sexual assault

Part of the reason why it has taken so long for this phenomenon to come to light is that hospitals are not one of the categories specified in the police's reporting procedures.

There is an established protocol for recording the location of crimes of a sexual nature, with a sizeable list of tick-box options including 'own home', 'offender's home', and 'parks or other open public place'.

But attacks in hospitals are logged under the heading 'somewhere else'.

Not only is there something deeply dismissive about this term but, as the WRN has discovered, it means that rapes and sexual assaults carried out in hospitals are not even being counted separately.

As a result, we were forced to use FoI requests to reveal the full horror of the sex crimes epidemic in the healthcare sector.

And while the figures we have released are shocking, the true scale of the problem is likely to be much worse.

This is not only because these crimes are often not reported, but also because of the inconsistent systems in place to capture this data and the fact that eight forces  including Police Scotland, which covers all hospitals north of the border  would not, or could not, provide the data requested.

The detail of some responses is also telling. Of the 6,539 rapes and sexual assaults reported to police, only 265 people have been charged or summonsed in relation to these offences.

Some cases will not even appear in official crime statistics, because we asked for the number of offences reported rather than the number police actually recorded.

I suspect most people don't realise there is a difference  why would they? The reality is that when an offence is reported to the police, it may (or may not) be fully investigated but not recorded as a crime.

This is no secret. A parliamentary report titled 'Caught red-handed: Why we can't count on police recorded crime statistics', published almost a decade ago, warned: 'There is strong evidence that PRC [police recorded crime] is under-recording, and therefore exaggerating the rate of decrease in crime, primarily due to lax police compliance with the agreed national standard of victim-focused crime recording.'

Victim-focused recording must now be a priority but, above all, hospitals must be monitored more rigorously so that patients can feel safe and secure when they enter our health system.

Jo Phoenix is a professor of criminology at Reading University and member of the Women's Rights Network
Ruin My Week has collected funny texting blunders from around the world

We all know the feeling of firing off a text message without thinking and regretting it afterwards - but sometimes the result is so funny it's worth the embarrassment.

Ruin My Week has put together a selection of funny messages from around the world, which help show how to see the best side of a mortifying situation.

One woman thought she had texted her ex-lover, Dave, and called him a d****** but it turned out to be her driving instructor.

Another message exchange shows two people from Vermont, discussing an item for sale with the would-be buyer haggling aggressively.

Someone's boss messaged them and asked them to work overtime, and the person accidentally messaged the boss back and called them a very offensive term.

This British woman thought she texted her ex-lover named Dave, and called him a called him a d*******. But it turned out to be her driving instructor with the same name

Another funny message saw someone's classmate mistake a thermometer showing a high temperature for a pregnancy test.

In a rather bizarre exchange between two people in Germany, a man pretended to have been beaten up, but in reality he had just smothered strawberry jam on his face.

FEMAIL have gathered some of the most hilarious text messages sent that either will have you in stitches or cringing.

This person, from Vermont was not up for haggling today, and told a buyer to meet him in a comedy club because his offer was a joke

This person accidentally messaged their boss and called them a c*** after he asked them to work overtime

Who is going to tell her? Becky thought the Rock and Dwayne Johnson were two separate people - one being a wrestler and the other, an actor

Congratulations in order? Jeremy asked his classmate whether she was going into class tomorrow and when she sent him a picture of a thermometer, he mistook this for a pregnancy test

This Facebook marketplace shopper in the US was not taking no for an answer when they set their sights on a second hand television

This girl from the US drunk texted her mother with a rant about food - but at least she didn't drunk dial an ex

Some people will do anything to get out of work, including this man in Germany who thought he'd convince his boss he'd been hurt in a fight

Awkward! A man from the UK ended up in a toe-curling exchange with his mother after his brother came home and had loud sex

Jumping to conclusions! A woman from the US thought she was being propositioned when it was just a friendly text from her daughter

This woman took to Twitter to show that her boyfriend hinted it was rude that she didn't say 'bless you' after he sneezed

This woman took to Twitter to share a funny picture screenshot of her mother messaging her asking why she was smiling because she laughed at her phone
A woman has split opinions online after revealing a secret tip that waiting staff should use to get tips from stingy customers.

Kat Busch, from Texas, who has been a bottle girl for four years, took to her TikTok @smarthotties to reveal the trick she uses to ensure a cash-injection from visiting customers.

Tips are an integral part of American hospitality culture, and customers are regularly reminded that leaving the waiting staff empty-handed is out of the question.

While in the UK many view service charge as an optional add-on to their bill, US diners are expected to fork out an average 15 to 20 percent per meal, and more than 20 per cent for exceptional service.

The video divided opinions, with many service staff taking to the comments to defend the woman, while others warned to follow her advice at their own risk.

Kat said: Zero Dollar tip  no problem. Let me tell you how to resolve that. My names Kat Ive been in the service industry for four years and Ive only had this happen to me a handful of times.

If they haven't left yet, walk up to whoever paid in front of everyone and say, Hey sir or ma'am, I see you didn't leave a tip, is there anything I can improve on the service that you feel like you could share with me?.

Nine times out of 10 they're going to make some excuse like, Oh, it was a mistake, oh I didn't see the receipt, and they're going to give you some kind of tip, a couple of bucks here and there.

And for the worst case scenario - the woman shared how both parties could go home with new lessons learned.

She said that even if they don't leave cash, you might get 'a tip to improve your service so you can make more money in the long run.

Another trick for waiting staff is to ask a manager if they can take inexpensive items such as sodas off a high bill, so that th mnoney goes to the server.

If the tab was really high I would explain to your manager the situation to see if maybe they could comp off like a soda or something so at least you made a couple dollars off of it and you dont have to tip out in the negative,' she explained.

Kat Busch, from Texas, has split opinions online after revealing a secret tip that waiting staff should use to get tips from stingy customers

Short story is just confront them. This is for like a sit down restaurant or like bottle service, this is not really for bartenders. If youre a bartender and someone zero-dollar tips you, I would just take forever to serve them again.

Not all servers agreed, with many fearing the consequences of confronting a customer at their workplace.

One said: I would get in SO much trouble if I did this. Some people just don't tip no matter how good your service was.

A second chimed in: Ok but what if you just embarrassed someone who was planning to leave a cash tip so you wouldn't be taxed?'

Kat who has been a bottle girl for four years, took to her TikTok to announce the drastic measure she takes to ensure a cash-injection from visiting customers

Also agreeing, a third said: Servers should be allowed to do this! I would have loved to embarrass a lot of people when I used to serve.

A fourth added: I think tips should be done away with. Pay your workers a good wage.'

One customer revealed what they would do if approached to pay a tip: Wtf no I would leave immediately, you're guilt tripping customers for a tip.'

The news follows a similar event in New York, where a woman was left fuming after receiving a 10 per cent tip of a $700 bill, even after her boss intervened to request more.

The woman shared her annoyance on Twitter, saying a set of European diners tipped her just half the amount she was expecting. She said her manager confronted the table but the group were steadfast and left without offering an additional cent.

Not all servers agreed, with many fearing the consequences of confronting a customer at their workplace

The angered waitress tweeted: 'Laughing my a** off I f***** hate Europeans sometimes. This table just left $70 on a $700 check after chilling for HOURS.

My manager even asked about their service and they were OVER THE MOON about my service so he explained the customary tip is 20 per cent and they were like "ok" and left.

The waitress put the rift down to cultural differences and added: I understand a lot of the qualms with European behaviour in restaurants comes from cultural differences (camping at tables, being a little brusque or forceful, etc) all of which I'd be willing to overlook if they at least tipped appropriately.

The Tweet has since racked up over 40 million views and 16,000 comments.
Q: Can you recommend a good consultant for getting my eyelids pinned up? At the age of 80, mine are so bad I cant use eyeliner, but I worry about the bad eye jobs I see on celebs!

A: As you are not far from London, I will recommend Jonathan Roos and Rachna Murthy at FaceRestoration (facerestoration.com), an award-winning duo of eye surgeons who consult and operate together.

They have a familial, supportive approach, boasting the best recovery time in the business (most patients return to work in three days!) for hooded eyelid surgery, which is done under local anaesthetic as a day case.

An anonymous reader has asked Inge Van Lotringen to recommend a good consultant for getting their eyelids pinned up

Despite this being a simple procedure in the scheme of things (so much so, the surgery is often called a tweakment), you want highly skilled oculoplastic surgeons with an artists eye for natural results; and pictures of their work, which is available only on request to safeguard patient confidentiality, proves their ability.

You also want ample aftercare and follow-up included in the price (in this case, 6,950 all-in), and these two make themselves fully available by, among others things, three-way WhatsApp.

Of course, there are other great options, and for anyone outside London, I recommend looking on doctify.com to research oculoplastic surgeons in your area.
Sarah Ferguson has broken her silence after she was snubbed by King Charles for a Coronation invitation.

It was reported last week that the Duchess of York is not expected to attend the event next month  despite the fact Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie are set to be there.

Experts claimed King Charles decided to not invite Sarah to the historic event because she is an 'embarrassment' and no longer a member of the Royal Family.

And while she has yet to comment on the news, yesterday she tweeted in support of a friend's charity expedition up Everest.

She posted: 'This is my friend John Charts last trek. John, who suffers from #MotorNeuroneDisease, climbs Everest to raise awareness about MND and how more research is needed.

Sarah Ferguson has broken her silence after she was snubbed by King Charles for a Coronation invitation

It was reported last week that the Duchess of York is not expected to attend the Coronation next month  despite the fact Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie are set to be there

'Support John by donating to help find a cure and share.'

In a follow up tweet, she shared a photograph of John carrying a doll of Little Red, a character from one of her children's books.

She wrote: 'Little Red and team are by his side every step of this challenging journey. #MND #Awareness.'

Yesterday, she was seen for the first time since news broke she wouldn't be attending the Coronation.

She cut a solemn figure as she was spotted leaving the Royal Lodge in Windsor following the snub.

The 63-year-old Duchess of York was seen in the passenger seat of a Range Rover driven by her ex-husband Prince Andrew.

The mother-of-two was dressed casually in a tan blazer, shirt and black circular glasses.

Meanwhile, Prince Andrew, 63, was sporting a navy jumper over a red shirt as he drove the 4x4 out of the complex.

Royal commentator Tom Bower previously told MailOnline that Sarah had excluded herself because of her previous 'conduct'.

He added that her presence would 'provoke critical comment which Charles doesn't need'.

And expert Richard Fitzwilliams praised the 'extremely wise' decision from the King because she has been an 'embarrassment to the Royal Family for many years'.

Sarah shared a tweet online in support of a friend's charity trek climbing Everest over the weekend

Meanwhile the duchess also shared a snap of her friend walking in the mountains and carrying a Little Red doll, which is a character from one of her children's books

But the apparent decision has surprised some royal watchers  with Meghan's friend Omid Scobie tweeting: 'If true, this feels kinda cruel, no?'

Speaking about the absence of Sarah, Mr Bower said she will be left out 'because she is not a member of the Royal Family'.

He added that she had excluded herself 'by her past conduct', saying: 'Her presence would provoke critical comment which Charles doesn't need.'

Among Sarah's most embarrassing moments was when photographs were published showing her having her toes sucked by her financial adviser John Bryan at her holiday villa in St Tropez, while they were also seen kissing, embracing and frolicking in the pool.

She was also said to have had a rift with her once good friend, Princess Diana, after she claimed she got a verruca after borrowing a pair of her shoes. They were reportedly still not speaking at the time of Diana's death in 1997.

And in 2010 she apologised after being secretly recorded offering to sell access to Andrew in return for 500,000.

Mr Fitzwilliams told MailOnline: 'The decision not to invite Sarah Ferguson is extremely wise and to be welcomed. She has been an embarrassment to the Royal Family for many years.

'Time and again she gives embarrassing interviews, there seems no end to it.

'There are times when a dignified silence is required which she seems incapable of.'

Sarah did attend the Queen's funeral at Westminster Abbey last September, but was not one of the 30 guests for Prince Philip's funeral in April 2021.

Speaking about the absence of Sarah, royal expert Tom Bower said she will be left out 'because she is not a member of the Royal Family'

Last month Sarah, pictured with Charles, revealed during a chat with Glamour editor Samantha Barry that she had not received an invitation to the Coronation

Sarah, Duchess of York (centre, left) posted a picture in May 2020 of her with Prince Andrew (centre, right) and their daughters Princess Eugenie (far right) and Princess Beatrice (far left)

She was not invited to Prince William and Kate's wedding in 2011, saying she went on holiday to Thailand instead  but did attend Harry and Meghan's marriage at St George's Chapel in Windsor in May 2018.

Speaking about the Coronation, one of Sarah's friends told the Independent: 'She has been hugely supportive of Charles and Camilla and does not want this to become about her.

'The whole day is about the new King and the success of his reign but she has always championed the Royal Family and the Queen undoubtedly would have wanted her to be there.'

Her lack of invitation comes despite Andrew turning up at the Easter Service at St George's Chapel in Windsor  although her ex-husband is still excluded from most of life within the Royal Family.

Sarah herself has also had something of a renaissance in recent months, having been invited to join King Charles and other senior royals at Sandringham at Christmas, as well as looking after the late Queen's corgis.

She was also a favourite of the late Queen and they were known to spend plenty of time together including walks at Windsor Park.

They knew each other before Sarah's marriage to Andrew because her father Major Ronald Ferguson was the royal polo manager.

Last month Sarah revealed during a chat with Glamour editor Samantha Barry that she had not received an invitation to the coronation  joking that it was 'TBD' whether she would end up going.

'The invitations haven't gone out yet. Have they?' she asked when questioned whether she plans to go.

Sarah also insisted that a lack of invitation did not bother her, saying: 'Well I've decided the best thing about being British around a Coronation  although I've never been to one  I think we should, I should set up a tea room at the bottom of the drive with bunting and cakes.'
A Holocaust survivor - who lived through six concentration camps, including Auschwitz - has recalled a horrific moment which saw a Jewish man killed just for being too 'handsome' for a Nazi to bear.

Josef Lewkowicz, 96, laid bare the atrocities committed by Amon Goeth - known as the Butcher of Paszow - who he later went on to track down and confront after being freed.

After the war, the Austrian Nazi officer was finally found hiding under a false name at Dachau concentration camp.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain, the Polish-born author opened up about just one chilling example of the villain - who was played by Ralph Fiennes in the 1993 film Schindler's List - and his 'crazy' mind.

'There's no expression how to describe him...he was just a murderer,' Josef recounted.

Josef Lewkowicz, 96, laid bare the monstrosities committed by Amon Goeth - known as the Butcher of Paszow

'He went through the camps, we were shivering because we never knew what this crazy mind would happen.'

Once, a man in front of him was shot just because the horrific monster said he 'cannot take a Jew so handsome looking'.

In Josef's new book The Survivor, he details capturing the man who had tormented him for years after offering his services to the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration.

He told Susanna Reid and Ed Balls that his blood 'boiled' upon seeing Goeth in 1946, who looked 'like a beggar' and was lying on the ground at Dachau.

'I didn't know what to do,' he admitted. 'To shoot him would be like giving him a gold medal.

'I started beating him...calling him all the names he would call us.'

Josef was even reprimanded for his violence by American intelligence - but has no regrets for his actions.

'I can tell you that it is not a miracle that I survived,' he concluded. 'Every day was a miracle to survive. At day we prayed to be night, because during the day to survive was a miracle...at night we prayed to be day...'

He told Susanna Reid and Ed Balls that his blood 'boiled' upon seeing Goeth (pictured in 1943) in 1946, who looked 'like a beggar' and was lying on the ground at Dachau

Speaking on Good Morning Britain, the Polish-born inspirational author opened up about just one chilling example of the villain - who was played by Ralph Fiennes (pictured) in the 1993 film Schindler's List - and his 'crazy' mind

Josef was just 14 when he was given his first job of shovelling human bones into a wheelbarrow at the Paszow concentration camp in Poland.

It marked the start of three years of misery that saw him shipped through five different concentration camps as a teenager.

During that time - in which Nazis killed all 150 members of his family - he saw starving prisoners butchering and eating a dead boy and watched guards make prisoners jump off cliffs.

While being held captive in Ebensee  a concentration camp in Austria  Josef had once recalled how conditions became unbearable as he watched on as starving people roasted the body of a dead Russian boy.

In 2019, he told The Sun: 'A young Russian boy died and there was a few of the Russian people went and cut off his whole behind, and made a fire with branches and dry wood, and roasted human flesh, and ate it.

In Josef's new book The Survivor, he details capturing the man who had tormented him for years

'I had seen so much cruelty that nothing surprised me anymore.'

Josef added that he has chosen to share his harrowing story in a bid to preserve the truth for generations to come.

He then made it his life mission to hunt down Nazis who went into hiding after the war, saying: 'I have to get after those Nazis who tortured us, that made our days miserable, killing us, beating us, hanging us.'

Josef trained as a policeman and set about searching large prisoner of war camps and interrogating captured German soldiers about where SS officers had fled to.

Shortly before Goeth was executed for his war crimes, former prisoner Josef went to see him in his cell where he told him: 'You are the worst  there is nothing like you.'
The Hunt for Raoul Moat viewers have criticised the 'awful accents and acting' after the first episode of the controversial ITV series aired last night.

After killing one person and wounding two others in a two-day shooting spree, Raoul Moat managed to evade the police for days by camping out in the Northumbrian countryside.

The seven-day search for the gunman in July 2010 - which was the biggest manhunt in modern British history and made headlines around the world - is the focus of the ITV crime drama.

However viewers were left disappointed by the casting, with many claiming Matt Stokoe, who plays the crazed gun killer in the series, looks nothing like Moat.

Others suggested the actors' Newcastle accents were 'awful' - despite at least three of the cast members hailing from the North East - and joked that the 'rushed' programme must have had a low budget of just 40.

The Hunt for Raoul Moat viewers were left disappointed by the casting, with many claiming Matt Stokoe (pictured), who plays the crazed gun killer in the series, looks nothing like Moat

One person wrote: 'F*** me, that Raul Moat documentary on ITV must of had a budget of about 40 quid, it's terrible. #TheHuntforRaoulMoat.'

Another said: 'Acting is awful, accents are awful but if you're from the North East you're definitely watching all of this.'

A third added: 'Thought it was well acted but the actor who played Moat didn't look anything like as menacing as the actual killer. I didn't find him convincing as a psycho murderer.'

A fourth wrote: 'Raoul was twice the size of this geezer but I'm trying to look past the epic failure that is the casting.'

Starring Lee Ingleby as the detective leading the search, this serial running on three consecutive nights mostly centred on Moat's former partner Samantha (Sally Messham) and her boyfriend Chris (Josef Davies) in the first episode.

Moat had murdered Christopher Brown, 29, who was dating his ex-partner Samantha Stobbart, who he also shot and wounded in the street in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.

The former nightclub bouncer then shot and blinded PC David Rathband, who tragically took his own life two years later aged 44.

Moat threatened to target more police officers after launching into his murderous rampage following his release from prison.

After killing one person and wounding two others in a two-day shooting spree, Raoul Moat (pictured) managed to evade the police for days by camping out in the Northumbrian countryside

Reaction: Viewers were left disappointed by the casting, while others suggested the actors' Newcastle accents were 'awful'

He became Britain's most wanted fugitive after he went on the run for seven days before taking his own life in a stand-off with armed police in July 2010.

Yesterday the mother of Moat's oldest child said she feared the ITV drama will only 'glorify his crimes'.

Caroline Dodd, 43, suggested the killer would have loved being back in the spotlight. She and her daughter Katelaine Fitzpatrick, 24, were taken into hiding while the crazed bodybuilder went on his rampage.

She said: 'This series will throw Raoul Moat back into the limelight and glorify his crime. He would have loved it.

'He doesn't deserve that, or the admiration that comes with it. He was referred to as a "hero" at the time and this will bring that back.'

Earlier this week former detective chief superintendent Neil Adamson, the ex-head of Northumbria CID, said the gunman was 'a controlling and deranged misogynistic bully'.

He condemned the support he received from some 30,000 people who liked a Facebook page named 'RIP Raoul Moat You Legend'.

Mrs Dodd added to the Sun: 'He should never be seen as a role model. He was a narcissist and a bully. He has always been violent, scary and aggressive. He was abusive to me and many other partners.'

Elsewhere, the heartbroken mother of a karate instructor shot dead by Moat hit out at TV bosses for ignoring the distress of families in their pursuit of ratings.

Sally Brown, 72, whose son Christopher was murdered in cold blood by the notorious killer, slammed ITV ahead of The Hunt for Raoul Moat.

Mrs Brown told MailOnline: 'When they make these programmes no one ever thinks about the mothers. We want to know why they are doing this now?

'It just opens up old wounds for us just so that they can attract viewers and make millions out of it. They should allow my son to rest in peace.'

The seven-day search for the gunman in July 2010 - which was the biggest manhunt in modern British history and made headlines around the world - is the focus of the ITV crime drama. Pictured, Lee Ingleby as Neil Adams, Vineeta Rishi as Nisha Roberts and Sonya Cassidy as Diane Barnwell

Most of the first episode centred on Moat's former partner Samantha (played by Sally Messham, right)

The drama is being broadcast over three days and will be followed by a documentary about the manhunt, which will be broadcast on April 19.

Grandmother Sally, who lives in Slough, Berkshire, with daughter Beckie, said: 'Making a drama out of it is like opening old wounds.

'My daughter and I have both suffered with our health because of all this. It's going to have a ripple effect.

'My 19-year-old granddaughter heard about it when it was announced they had began filming and she asked me "What is this programme they are making about Christopher".

'She said don't get involved in it, it's just going to make you ill again.'

Police track down the murderer during the show. Viewers see events, not only from the viewpoint of the police and Moat himself, but also through the eyes of each victim's family

But Sally - who keeps her son's ashes at home so 'he can be with me', said: 'We had a letter saying they were going to do something in 2020. My daughter had a conversation with them on the phone about it.

'They said they would call back but she never heard anything more from them. I don't know if that is the same people or something else.

'My understanding of that was that they said it was going to be a reconstruction which sounds like something completely different.

'This certainly has nothing to do with us. They must have been speaking to somebody and I suppose they are going to make the programme based on somebody's point of view but it won't be about Christopher.

'They should leave it alone and let Christopher and David rest in peace. Just leave them be.'
Deborah James's sister has revealed she misses the late campaigner's 'sparkle' and 'ability to make the normal a little bit different and fun'.

Relaunching the No Butts bowel cancer awareness campaign on Lorraine - with her mother Heather James - Sarah Wieczorek opened up about the fundraiser's legacy after she passed away aged 40 last year.

'A lot of people have often come up and said, "Oh it must be really hard to talk about", but actually it's kind of been like therapy,' she told the programme.

'And the fact that Deborah was so open about it, we haven't had to explain a lot of the hard stuff, she's done that for us...she's left us a real privilege of a legacy.'

Her sister had also admitted she feels a 'little bit blase' about Deborah's incredible achievements - including her fund recently raising more than 11 million for bowel cancer - because she had always been exceptional.

Relaunching the No Butts bowel cancer awareness campaign on Lorraine - with her mother Heather James - Sarah Wieczorek opened up about the fundraiser's legacy

'She used to move mountains all the time,' Sarah added. 'So I wouldn't have expected anything less.'

Their mother Heather had also praised her daughter's memory as being preserved by the incredible awareness raised about the gruelling disease.

'If only we'd had that Deborah ten years ago, perhaps Deborah wouldn't have died,' she said. 'But what a legacy.'

The showing also played an exclusive, emotional clip from Deborah James: Bowelbabe in Her Own Words, in which the campaigner opened up about her love for family.

Airing on BBC 2, the viewing will give fans an intimate insight into her bittersweet journey from living with incurable disease, to Damehood and to her untimely death.

Meanwhile Deborah's family and Cancer Research UK (CRUK) recently revealed that the former deputy head teacher helped raise 11.3million before she died.

She also left behind a video message expressing her gratitude over the success of her campaign and her plans for how the funds raised would be used.

'One thing I wanted to do before I passed away was to set up the Bowelbabe fund,' Dame Deborah said in the video.

Her sister had also admitted she feels a 'little bit blase' about Deborah's incredible achievements - including her fund recently raising more than 11 million for bowel cancer - because she had always been exceptional

Their mother Heather had also praised her daughter's memory as being preserved by the incredible awareness raised about the gruelling disease

'I wanted to set it up to ensure that more people can benefit from some of the things that I benefited from.

'We will ensure that more people have access to personalised medicine, clinical trials, cutting edge technology to help more and more people live longer with cancer.'

She added: 'Every penny counts. I cannot thank you enough for your support of the Bowelbabe fund. You are awesome.'

CRUK has also announced the initial research projects that will receive Bowelbabe funding.

One study will look at laying the foundations for new precision treatment that could stop bowel cancer spread. It will be led by Professor Trevor Graham, director of the Centre for Evolution and Cancer at the Institute of Cancer Research, London.

Footage recorded before her death shows Dame Deborah James telling her 'awesome' supporters that she is beyond grateful for their donations. She is pictured in the video

Dame Deborah (pictured) launched the Bowelbabe cancer research fund last May to raise money for research into personalised medicine for cancer patients

Meanwhile Deborah's family and Cancer Research UK (CRUK) recently revealed that the former deputy head teacher helped raise 11.3million before she died

Another project, involving a team of leading scientists, will look at targeting microbes that might cause bowel cancer.

This team has already discovered a type of bacteria that increases the risk of bowel cancer in some people under 50 and is exploring whether it might be possible to target these bacteria to reduce bowel cancer risk.

A further project, led by Dr Oleg Blyuss from Queen Mary University of London, will look at using artificial intelligence and blood tests to detect the earliest signs of cancer.

At the Royal Marsden cancer hospital in London, an advanced IR X-ray machine will also offer better imaging resolution that will allow more patients to be treated.

The projects announced, collectively totalling around 4 million, are the first round of funding, with more projects due to be confirmed later this year.
Viewers have been reliving the horrific shooting spree of Raoul Moat as part of a controversial new true crime drama on ITV.

The first episode of the three-part series The Hunt for Raoul Moat aired last night, portraying the seven-day search for gunman Moat in July 2010, which was the biggest manhunt in modern British history.

After killing one person and wounding two others in a two-day shooting spree, Moat, 37, managed to evade the police for days by camping out in the Northumbrian countryside.

Before his days on the run, he had been released from Durham Prison on July 1, having served an 18-week sentence for assaulting a child.

Here, FEMAIL is recapping the nightmare in Northumberland - and telling the story of those caught up in the deadly drama....

Raoul Moat

After killing one person and wounding two others in a two-day shooting spree, Raoul Moat (pictured), 37, managed to evade the police for days by camping out in the Northumbrian countryside

A three-part series called The Hunt for Raoul Moat is airing on ITV this week. The first episode aired on Sunday. Pictured: Matt Stokoe as Moat

Moat became Britain's most wanted fugitive after he went on the run for seven days before taking his own life in a stand-off with armed police in July 2010.

He had murdered Christopher Brown, 29, who was dating Moat's ex-partner Samantha Stobbart, who he also shot and wounded in the street in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.

The former nightclub bouncer then shot and blinded PC David Rathband, who tragically took his own life two years later aged 44.

Moat, 37, threatened to target more police officers after launching into his murderous rampage following his release from prison.

He was released from Durham Prison on July 1, having served an 18-week sentence for assaulting a child.

While in prison, his girlfriend Samantha, 15 years his junior and mother to his daughter Chanel, told him that she had a new partner, karate instructor Chris.

Knowing Moat has a violent temper, Samantha tried to protect them by saying Brown was a policeman.

Moat wrote on Facebook: 'Gonna lose my home and lost my Mrs of nearly 6 years to a copper. Like they haven't f****d my life enough over the years. I've lost everything... watch and see what happens.'

On July 3, after a night out, Samantha and Chris were at a friend's house in Birtley on the outskirts of Newcastle. Moat was crouched down outside an open window armed with a sawn-off shotgun listening to the conversations inside.

His daughter Chanel was asleep upstairs. Samantha kissed Chris Brown goodbye as he left the house. Suddenly Moat appeared and shot Chris twice at close range, then reloaded and fired a fatal shot to his head.

Samantha ran inside and Moat fired at her through a window, hitting her in the arm and stomach. He watched Samantha crawl out of the room then ran to his car.

Police then announced they were trying to trace Raoul Moat in connection with the shootings and warned the public not to approach him.

Less than 24 hours after shooting Samantha and Chris, the gunman crept up on unarmed PC David Rathband as he sat in his patrol car by a roundabout in Newcastle.

The 37-year-old former doorman shot the father-of-two twice in the face. In March 2009 PC Rathband had interviewed Moat under caution in the back of his police car for driving a van that was uninsured to carry scrap metal.

After the shooting spree, Moat went on the run for a week, assisted by two accomplices. Northumbria Police organised a mass manhunt which included 160 armed officers.

Moat was later located by a riverbank but after a six-hour standoff with the police, he shot himself. He was rushed to Newcastle General Hospital and was pronounced dead by doctors.

Samantha Stobbart

Ex-girlfriend Samantha Stobbart (pictured), then 22, was hospitalised in the shooting

Ms Stobbart (pictured) was left critically injured after she was shot in the stomach by Moat and only survived because her arm had partially blocked the shot

Ms Stobbart, pictured in March 2011, told a court of the horrifying moment Moat blasted her boyfriend before turning his shotgun on her and shooting her

Samantha Stobbart had spent six years with Moat before he tried to murder her with a shotgun.

She reportedly met Moat when she was 16. At the time of Moat's shooting spree, they had a four-year-old girl, Chanel, together.

Ms Stobbart, then a 22-year-old trainee hairdresser, had started dating karate instructor Chris Brown while Moat was jailed.

In an interview with the Daily Star in 2011, her sister Claire Burdis said Samantha was 'terrified of Raoul' and wanted him to stay away from her. The 'vengeful' killer had become obsessed by the fact she was in a new relationship.

On July 3, just days after being released from jail, Moat shot her through the window of a friend's house moments after 'calmly' executing her boyfriend with a double-barrelled sawn-off shotgun.

Describing the horror in court in 2011, Ms Stobbart said: 'It all happened so quickly. Chris walked in front of me. Raoul then shot him. Chris went down on to the grass. Raoul was shouting. He then went to point the gun at my legs.

'I ran back to the house. I couldn't see anybody. I was panicking because my daughter was upstairs. I couldn't find the keys (to lock the door).

'Jackie was hiding in the kitchen, Karl was hiding in the bathroom and my mum was upstairs.

'She had the children and was getting them in the loft. I looked out of the window and it was done.

'I just remember Chris slouch down on to his knees and then from what I remember I got shot. I didn't fall to the ground straight away. It took 20 seconds and then I just collapsed. I remember blood pumping out of my arm and my chest.'

The shotgun cartridge penetrated her left arm and entered her abdomen. Samantha was rushed to the nearby Queen Elizabeth hospital in Gateshead, where she was left fighting for her life.

On July 5, 2010, she was declared to no longer be in a critical condition following the attack, and left hospital on July 17.

On the same day, she issued a direct appeal to Moat, who was in hiding having gone on the run. She said: 'Please give yourself up. If you still loved me and our baby you would not be doing this.'

Later that year, she told The News of the World how there had been 'nothing' she could do 'against a madman with a gun'.

Christopher Brown

Chris Brown (pictured) was gunned down and killed by Raoul Moat on July 3, 2010

Karate instructor Chris Brown was murdered by Raoul Moat in the early hours of July 3, 2010.

The 29-year-old had been in a relationship with Moat's ex-girlfriend Samantha Stobbart - who had lied to her former lover, telling him she was dating a police officer.

Mr Brown had moved from Windsor, Berkshire, to Tyneside six months before being gunned down and was living in a flat in Gateshead when he met Samantha while promoting his martial arts classes.

On the night of his murder, the heroic martial artist confronted gunman Moat as Ms Stobbart cowered in the home of friends Jackie and Karl Wilkinson.

Moat  released from prison just 36 hours earlier  had been crouching below the living room window of the Wilkinsons' home listening to his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend.

When Ms Stobbart and Mr Brown left shortly after 2.30am he 'jumped up', a court was told.

Ms Stobbart said at an inquest that Mr Brown had deliberately stepped in front of Moat to protect her as she ran back inside the Wilkinsons' home.

Former doorman Moat shot the karate instructor in the neck and chest before putting a third shot in his head at close range, Newcastle Crown Court heard in 2011.

Hundreds of mourners gathered on August 6, 2010, to mark Mr Brown's funeral at Slough Crematorium, Berkshire.

Mr Brown's family previously criticised Ms Stobbart for lying about her new boyfriend being a police officer, knowing Moat hated police.

They have also blamed police officers for not warning Mr Brown that his life could be in danger following Moat's release from prison.

Christopher Brown's mother In April, Christopher's mother Sally Brown, 72, hit out at TV bosses for ignoring the distress of families in their pursuit of ratings. Grandmother Sally, who lives in Slough, with daughter Beckie, slammed The Hunt for Raoul Moat. Sally Brown, 72, pictured in 2020 Mrs Brown told MailOnline: 'When they make these programmes no one ever thinks about the mothers. We want to know why they are doing this now? 'It just opens up old wounds for us just so that they can attract viewers and make millions out of it. They should allow my son to rest in peace. 'My daughter and I have both suffered with our health because of all this. It's going to have a ripple effect. 'My 19-year-old granddaughter heard about it when it was announced they had began filming and she asked me 'What is this programme they are making about Christopher?' She said don't get involved in it, it's just going to make you ill again.' Sally - who keeps her son's ashes at home so 'he can be with me' - added: 'They should leave it alone and let Christopher and David rest in peace. Just leave them be.' Advertisement

PC David Rathband

During his time on the run, Moat declared war on the police after shooting PC David Rathband (pictured) in the face whilst he was parked up in a patrol car on a roundabout in Newcastle

PC David Rathband (left) with his twin brother Darren, after being shot in the face twice by Raoul Moat. He was left blinded by the attack

PC Rathband took his life on February 29, 2012, after his 20-year marriage ended the year before. Pictured, his funeral in Stafford

During his time on the run, Moat declared war on the police after shooting PC David Rathband in the face whilst he was parked up in a patrol car on a roundabout in Newcastle.

In March 2009 PC David had interviewed Moat under caution in the back of his police car for driving a van that was uninsured to carry scrap metal.

PC David Rathband recalled: 'I looked into his eyes, a focus of ice-cold white, from which any warmth had long since passed. There was a white flash of light from the barrel and that was the last thing I saw.'

Kath Rathband In 2017, Kath Rathband - the widow of hero policeman David Rathband - was faced with new heartache after splitting from her second husband. She is reported to have discovered messages to a former sweetheart on husband John McGee's Facebook. It is believed that Mr McGee began exchanging messages with the woman after she made contact initially. 'She's devastated. She thought this was her new beginning. Now here life is shattered again', a close friend told the Sunday Mirror. Kath Rathband is pictured left on her wedding day with her second husband John McGee The woman, who Mr McGee is believed to know form his schooldays, is thought to have reached out when she heard about his marriage to Kath Rathband in October last year. The messages continued for a number of months and they are believed to have grown close again. It is thought that Mrs Rathband kicked Mr McGee out their home after discovering messages to the woman on his phone. Mrs Rathband was still recovering from her husband's death when she met John McGee - 10 months later, they moved in together. At the time of their wedding, she said: 'I'm happier now than I ever have been  and I'm absolutely sure David would be happy for me.' Advertisement

Moat shot him right between the eyes and he slumped into the footwell. The killer waited to see if he was dead.

PC Rathband could hear his blood splashing on the dashboard and then the sound of the gun reloading, so instinctively put his left arm up to protect himself.

Moat fired once more but, still conscious, Rathband decided to play dead, knowing that if he moved his attacker would finish him off. Moat walked away.

PC David Rathband was blinded for life. He received many tributes for his bravery including one from a then Prince Charles who wrote: 'The United Kingdom owes a huge debt of gratitude to policemen like yourself.'

Almost 18 months after the shooting, David was found hanged at his home in Blyth. A coroner ruled that he could not cope with his disability and the subsequent breakdown of his marriage.

The officer had moved out of the marital home in August 2011 after his wife found out he was having an affair with 7/7 London bombing survivor Lisa French.

He became a national hero and used his profile to set up the Blue Lamp Foundation to support 999 staff injured at work. However, the inquest heard Mr Rathband had made threats to kill himself and told Miss French he had attempted to hang himself but could not go through with it.

On the night Mr Rathband took his own life, his estranged wife Kath visited him for the last time. She said she thought he looked 'awful' and decided he needed support. But she felt she was not the right person to be with him and contacted his sister Debbie Essery and his welfare officer.

Concluding that Rathband took his own life, Coroner Eric Armstrong said: 'The circumstances of his injuries [inflicted by Moat] are well known. It is difficult, if not impossible, not to view the infliction of those injuries as the first step in a series which culminated in his death.

'Many people may look back, police officers and others, and with the benefit of hindsight, form the view that they wish they could have done something else. Could I implore them not to carry that out? Decisions were taken which at the time seemed appropriate and were justified at the time.'

In a statement read after the hearing by lawyer Philip Davison, Kath thanked family and friends for their 'unwavering' support. She said: 'David fought so hard to come to terms with the devastating injuries that resulted from the shooting and the effect it had on us all as a family.

'Whilst I have lost David, he has left me with two amazing children and he would be immensely proud of them and what they have achieved, as I am.'

Ms Stobbart said: 'That's another life that Raoul's taken away. Even when he's dead he is still hurting people.'

Raoul Moat's children

Caroline Dodd, 43, and her daughter Katelaine Fitzpatrick (pictured), 24, were taken into hiding while the crazed bodybuilder went on his rampage

The mother of Raoul Moat's oldest child shared her fears over the weekend that ITV's drama The Hunt for Raoul Moat will only 'glorify his crimes'.

Raoul Moat's father Peter Blake, who is the long lost father of Raoul Moat, watched from his home as the manhunt for his son played out. The 81-year-old, of Purley, Surrey, had never met the murderous bodybuilder. But although the retired civil servant had never been in contact with Moat, he recognised him from his unusual name. The father pleaded with the cops to let him help with the manhunt but to no avail. He added: 'I was listening to the radio and heard about a gunman in Gateshead and I didn't pay too much attention to it until I heard the name Raoul Thomas Moat and I knew it was my son. 'I called the police and told them it was my son. I felt it in my bones that it would end in a stand off, I just knew. I asked if I could come up and chat to him when it inevitably happened. 'I knew he wouldn't surrender to the police but he might to me. If I showed up and told him he was my son, he would have believed me. 'I would have told him that I always felt love for him and that it was unconditional. I would have asked him to put the gun down. 'They ended up not needing me so I watched the whole stand off on television. I couldn't sleep while it was going on. I heard the gun shot and knew it was over, I felt like I couldn't do anything, it was very emotional.' Advertisement

Caroline Dodd, 43, suggested the killer would have loved being back in the spotlight. She and her daughter Katelaine Fitzpatrick, 24, were taken into hiding while the crazed bodybuilder went on his rampage.

She said: 'This series will throw Raoul Moat back into the limelight and glorify his crime. He would have loved it.

'He doesn't deserve that, or the admiration that comes with it. He was referred to as a 'hero' at the time and this will bring that back.'

Earlier this week former detective chief superintendent Neil Adamson, the ex-head of Northumbria CID, said the gunman was 'a controlling and deranged misogynistic bully'.

He condemned the support he received from some 30,000 people who liked a Facebook page named 'RIP Raoul Moat You Legend'.

Mrs Dodd added to the Sun: 'He should never be seen as a role model. He was a narcissist and a bully. He has always been violent, scary and aggressive. He was abusive to me and many other partners.'

It's thought Moat had a total of six children from different women, according to The Mirror. It's unclear what has happened to his other children.

Raoul Moat's mother

In 2020, Moat's mother broke her silence almost 10 years after his shooting spree that sparked a huge manhunt - revealing that she has disowned her son.

Moat's mother, Josephine Healey, then aged 73, told the Mirror: 'He is not my son.'

She added that the ordeal is still causing 'a lot of trouble for me', revealing she was still receiving abusive messages posted through her letterbox.

At the time of Moat's standoff with officers, when he threatened to kill any policeman who crossed his path, Mrs Healey spoke at length about her son's dramatic change.

She said her gentle son disappeared at the age of 19, replaced by a snarling man who hated everything - and everyone.

He returned to her home after a lengthy absence in 2007 and, standing on the doorstep, made a gun gesture with his fingers before threatening to kill her.

Why would he do that? she asked on the penultimate day of Moat's standoff. It was like he was not my real son. He now has a totally different character, attitude and manner. Every last detail.
A woman who married a stranger she met on TikTok for 'life experience' fell in love with her husband - and 'couldn't be happier'.

Danielle Gross, 26, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, always knew she would get married in a 'silly way' but had never envisioned they would get hitched to someone she had never even met before.

The chance encounter came about when content creator, Danielle stumbled across a TikTok video of Gunnar Michels, 26, saying that he was looking for a stranger to marry him.

However, Danielle wasn't the only person who was interested in marrying Gunnar, who says he had the idea in January 2021.

Gunnar explains: 'In the pandemic I was looking for a way to make content and meet people.

Gunnar Michels and Danielle Gross met online after Gunnar posted a video asking to marry a stranger. The couple had planned on splitting up after a week but fell in love

Danielle and Gunnar converted an old ambulance into a liveable van and travelled around America exploring the country and getting to know each other

The spontaneous couple travelled for almost two years after getting married but have now settled in Danielle's home of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where they plan to buy a house

'I came up with this idea of getting married to a stranger. It was pretty wild.

'I wasn't seriously looking for a life partner - more to have a life experience but so many people wanted to do it.

'I got them to make a video for me on why they would be a good fit for me. Danielle posted a video and it was hard to miss.'

Danielle was among the thousands of strangers competing for Gunnar's marriage.

Danielle said: 'My video went viral. I had an army of people getting him to pick me.'

The pair started chatting and FaceTimed twice before Gunnar surprised Danielle by driving down to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US, get down on one knee.

Gunnar said: 'I didn't tell her I was coming to propose until I was on my way.'

Danielle added: 'When he said he was on his way I thought: "This is really happening."

'I was shopping with my friends and then all of sudden I'm getting proposed to.'

Gunnar met Danielle's family that night. They were sceptical of the marriage - but are now supportive of the pair.

Danielle said: 'My mum said: "What if he kidnaps you?"'

Two weeks after their first meeting, the strangers took a road trip to Las Vegas, Nevada, US, to wed on Valentine's Day 2021.

Gunnar and Danielle admit they had planned to divorce a week later but as they got to know each other their relationship blossomed.

The happy couple have travelled all around America and their love has blossomed as their personalities 'complement each other' and they have the same core values

Gunnar and Danielle, who started travelling across America in a converted ambulance in March 2021, say their families are supportive of their relationship

In March 2021 they started travelling across America in a converted ambulance and have now settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US, where they are looking to buy a home together.

Danielle said: 'I always had the idea in my head that any way I got married it would be something silly - like Vegas.

'So when I saw Gunnar's video I thought: 'This is the silly way.' I had to jump on the opportunity.

'Our original plan was to get divorced a week after the wedding but then we were chatting and thought let's keep talking as friends and then it became something more.'

Danielle added: 'Gunnar and I never would have gone up to each other in a bar. It opened our eyes to other people.'

Gunnar, a video creator, said: 'Looking back it seems like a story. It doesn't feel real but it definitely happened.'

He went on: 'It's blossomed into a really healthy relationship as we've got to know each other.

'There was no pressure on it to work out.'

The pair dived in head first and have spent the last two year travelling around 50 states of America in a converted ambulance.

Danielle said: 'It was a tiny place. We didn't know each other  it was a lot. We were forced to be comfortable.'

Gunnar added: 'There was nothing to do but talk.'

The happy couple say their personalities 'complement each other' and although they're different - deep inside they are the same and share the same core values.

Danielle says that although her family is supportive now at first they were worried Gunnar might kidnap her

The pair are taking a break from travelling and moved into a home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US, in February 2023 but are both still lovers of spontaneity.

Danielle said: 'We could buy a house tomorrow. We could leave for Europe tomorrow.

'Our families have both been really happy for us. They all get along and my friends can't believe we're still together.

'It is something I'd suggest for others to do. It opened our eyes to other people. If you're open minded it's a really interesting concept.'
The Princess of Wales had to stay away from Balmoral while other senior royals rushed to the Queen's side for a final goodbye in order to prevent Meghan Markle going, a royal author has claimed.

Kate, 41, remained in Windsor to look after her children while the immediate family headed to Scotland to be at the late monarch's bedside when she died last September.

Biographer Robert Jobson - author of Our King - said the decision was taken to ensure Prince Harry didn't have an excuse to bring his wife, because he might have insisted if the Princess of Wales was there.

'The King said it was only for the children and grandchildren to be with the Queen,' he told the Daily Telegraph in Australia, adding that Charles wanted to stress that it was 'not appropriate for wives to attend', even though Sophie Wessex travelled to Balmoral.

Kate deliberately stayed away but she desperately wanted to be there with the Queen in her last moments. Thats eaten Kate up and has built up resentment towards Meghan.' 'Privately, he wanted to say Meghan was not welcome,' he continued, according to a report in the NZ Herald . '

Kate, 41, pictured with the Queen in 2012, remained in Windsor to look after her children while the immediate family headed to be at the late monarch's bedside

'But he couldn't say that to Harry, so he personally intervened and asked Kate to stay back so that it was fairer on Meghan.'

He said that the Princess of Wales - who had stayed back at Adelaide Cottage and was spotted leaving Windsor Castle to collect the children from school on the day - had 'wanted to be there with the Queen', but couldn't be.

Meanwhile, William joined his father and other members of the immediate family to be with his grandmother, as doctors revealed they were 'concerned' for her health.

Prince Harry scrambled to Scotland to see the Queen but failed to reach the estate before she passed away aged 96.

In his explosive memoir Spare, the Duke of Sussex revealed the heartfelt final words he told his grandmother just hours after she passed away.

The father-of-two described how he whispered that he 'hoped she was happy' and would be reunited with Prince Philip, who died a year earlier. He also told her that he admired her for having carried out her duties until the end.

It comes as reports claim that Prince William has no plans to reunite with his younger brother when the Duke of Sussex visits the UK for the King's Coronation.

Royal analysts revealed that Harry, 38, had a heartfelt talk with his father on Saturday in an attempt to ease tensions, but has not addressed the ongoing dispute with William.

The Princess of Wales - pictured at the Queen's funeral - has reportedly 'built up resentment' because she was forced to stay back while Royal Family members rushed to Balmoral last year

Biographer Robert Jobson has claimed in his latest book, Our King, that this was to ensure that Prince Harry didn't have an excuse to bring his wife Meghan, pictured

Click here to read part two of the Mail's sensational Royal serialisation of Our King Arrangements were made to fly the Queen from Windsor to Buckingham Palace and to use a wheelchair - not seen by the public - so that she could make a public appearance Advertisement

It is also understood that there will be no time for the pair to meet during Harry's trip for the May 6 event, The Sun reported.

Ingrid Seward, editor of Majesty Magazine, told the newspaper that the royals all have 'really tight schedules' and she thinks Harry addressing his relationship with William is 'for another time'.

The royal analyst noted it would be 'nice' for Harry to 'stick around and be friendly'. However, it is understood that the Duke's solo trip across the pond will be short.

'Out of politeness you'd think Harry would want to mingle with his family no matter how difficult that might be for him,' she said.

Ms Seward added that she is 'glad' Harry has spoken to Charles because it has 'eased the path to rapprochement', adding: 'Charles will welcome his son. I think his relationship with William is for another time.'

William, 40, and Harry will see each other during the Coronation at Westminster Abbey on May 6.

This is understood to be the first time the pair will face each other since January when Harry released Spare, in which he branded his brother as his 'arch-nemesis'.

Harry has also publicly called on his family to apologise to him and Meghan for what they see as slights.

Charles is said to be very pleased that his youngest son is coming and his mood is described as 'generally quite forgiving'.

However, the Prince of Wales is understood to still feel betrayed and angry, particularly by the revelations in Spare.

Sources have recently alleged the 'gulf' between the brothers, who were once close, is now so large they cannot see how their relationship can be repaired.

It is also reportedly unlikely that the pair will sit down together - which insiders previously claimed Harry had demanded.

William had no contact with his brother when Harry came over with Meghan and their children for Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee celebrations last year.

And the brothers barely spoke at her funeral later in the year, meeting briefly when William invited Harry and Meghan to join him and Kate to meet the public and view the floral tributes left by members of the public outside Windsor Castle.

It's not the only shocking claim made in veteran royal correspondent Robert Jobson's book, which also revealed that Kate found her Windsor walkabout with Harry and Meghan after the Queen's death 'one of the hardest things she'd ever had to do'.

The Princess of Wales told a senior royal it was so difficult for her because of the 'ill-feeling' between the couples, Mr Jobson said.

Harry, pictured with Meghan and Kate at the Queen's funeral, scrambled to Scotland to see his grandmother as her health deteriorated, but failed to reach Balmoral before she died at 96

Kate found her Windsor walkabout with Harry and Meghan after the Queen's death 'one of the hardest things she'd ever had to do', a sensational new royal book revealed

Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince William, Prince of Wales, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, on the Long Walk at Windsor Castle to greet well-wishers

His new book, Our King, which is being serialised in the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday this month, lays bare the inside story of the Royals' war with the Sussexes before, during and after Megxit, when Harry and Meghan quit the UK.

Kate and William's appearance with Harry and Meghan to greet well-wishers and view the flowers outside the gates of Windsor Castle came two days after the Queen's death at the age of 96 in September last year.

To many, the couples' joint walkabout - said to have been William's idea to put on a show of unity - might have seemed like some kind of reconciliation.

But Mr Jobson said sources close to the Royal Family had confirmed to him that this was an 'illusion'.

He wrote: 'Catherine later admitted to a senior royal that, such was the ill-feeling between the two couples, the joint walkabout was one of the hardest things she'd ever had to do.'

The late Queen Elizabeth II, Charles, Camilla, William, Kate, Harry and Meghan attend the Commonwealth Day Service on March 9, 2020

It comes as relations between the Sussexes and the rest of the Royal Family remain at an all-time low following a series of blistering attacks over the past year.

The Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan in December criticised King Charles as a father before taking a swipe at the choice of wives by male members of The Firm, as the Royals refer to themselves.

Harry insisted that his decision to marry Meghan set him apart from his family because it was 'from his heart' and not because she 'would fit the mould'.

Meanwhile, the Duke's bombshell memoir dealt further blows to the reputation of the monarchy.

Harry accused his brother of assault, branded his stepmother, Camilla, a 'villain' and repeatedly spoke of the family's 'unconscious bias' on race.
The most in-demand energy drinks in the UK will be back on supermarket shelves from tomorrow as a major retailer announces a restock.

Budget supermarket giant Aldi has said it will be offering the energy drinks, from YouTube stars KSI and Logan Paul, from Tuesday 18 April.

The supermarket teased the return of the product on Twitter today, writing: 'Getting prepped and PRIMEd for a popular product that may be returning tomorrow'

The announcement comes after shoppers were sent into a frenzy when the drinks were first released, with chaotic scenes from supermarkets up and down the country showing people getting into scuffles over the product.

It also follows KSI's controversial broadcast with his YouTube gang The Sidemen in which he was accused of racism following his use of the word 'p***' during a Countdown skit.

Aldi has announced it will be restocking Prime energy drinks from tomorrow and will have six flavours on offer in total

As the supermarket prepares for what is likely to be another flurry of demand for the products, it warned customers they will only be able to buy one bottle per person of each flavour.

In another tweet, it revealed it would be stocking six flavours of the drink including lemon lime and meta moon.

The bottles will be sold for 1.99 each, but the supermarket has warned that once they're gone, they're gone.

Following the announcement, excited shoppers responded to suggest they were already preparing for chaos in order to pick up a bottle.

Prime, which was created by YouTube stars KSI and Logan Paul, often sells out within minutes of reaching supermarket stores

One person wrote: 'This is going to be one stressful pre school run visit to my local store to try and get some.'

So what is actually in the viral Prime drink? The drink launched by influencer boxers Logan Paul and KSI has been marketed as a healthy alternative to many energy drinks. The vast majority of each 500ml bottle is filtered water, mixed with 10 per cent coconut water. The latter is good source of minerals like potassium, magnesium, calcium and sodium important components of in heart, skeletal and muscle health. Branding around Prime boasts it contains no added sugar and zero caffeine. Therefore it isn't really an energy drink. Cans of energy drinks, and in particular their consumption by young people, have been controversial as some can contain more than 80g of sugar and have as much caffeine as three cups of coffee. In comparison, prime only has 2g of sugar per bottle, about 7 per cent of an adult's recommended intake. It instead gets its sweetness from a substances Sucralose and Acesulfame K. These are both artificial sweeteners, a family of low-calorie chemicals used instead of sugar. While there have been some health concerns about these substances, health authorities say they are safe. However, some studies have suggested sweeteners can stimulate appetite or alter the gut microbiome and therefore increase the risk of weight gain and obesity. Advertisement

Another customer dismissed the idea altogether, claiming: 'I can't face it'.

One customer, who decided not to get caught up in the madness, joked they were 'cancelling [their] big shop' so they didn't have to deal with how busy it would be.

After Prime was first launched in the US last year, it has been estimated that more than 100 million bottles have now been sold worldwide.

The popularity of the energy drink, which is mainly comprised of filtered water and coconut water, is thought to have been fuelled by the enormous social media reach of KSI and Logan Paul.

In February, the launch of a new flavour of the drink sent shoppers wild as people were filmed queueing for hours outside supermarkets to get their hands on bottles.

Shocking footage emerged of a branch of Sainsbury's in Liverpool where shoppers fought over bottles of the orange and mango flavour.

As the entrance opened for the first time, scenes soon descended into carnage as impatient shoppers, including both adults and children, climbed over each other in a desperate bid to reach the bottles.

Furious staff, who had moments earlier warned of a three-bottle limit per person, could be heard urging the customers to 'stop f***ing pushing'.

Another individual could be heard saying, 'guys, it's just a drink'.

Children were seen in the crush as staff members tried to prevent the fighting.

And when the drink first arrived in the UK in June last year, scenes of pandemonium broke out.

Demand for the drinks outpaced supply as youngsters tried to emulate their social media heroes.

When Aldi started selling Prime last December, limiting bottles to one per person, customers queued at dawn and were pictured jumping over shelves in the frenzy to get their hands on it.

Wakefield Wines, an off-licence in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, went viral after reportedly selling bottles for 100 each, while a 12-pack was advertised for 50,000 on auction site eBay, together fuelling the demand further.

But the craze acquired a sinister edge when a 17-year-old in Kent was arrested for stealing a case, and reports emerged of children being bullied into handing over their drinks.

One ten-year-old was also reportedly punched in the face when he refused to give his drink to a group of teenagers in the park.
It was confirmed last week that Prince Harry would attend the coronation alone

Prince Harry 'will fly straight back to California' after 'quick and awkward' visit to the UK for the King's Coronation, according to a royal expert.

Following the crowning of his father Charles III, the Duke of Sussex, 38, will likely rush home to his Montecito mansion to 'celebrate late in the day' his son Prince Archie's fourth birthday, Jennie Bond told GB News.

It was confirmed last week that Prince Harry will attend the Coronation alone, while his wife Meghan Markle, 41, stays in California with their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, one.

The Coronation, which is just three weeks away, will see both King Charles III and Queen Camilla crowned in front of 2,000 people in Westminster Abbey.

In a discussion during Breakfast with Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster, Jennie said: 'Harry's going to make a fleeting visit, we're told, for the coronation.

'It's not beyond the bounds of possibility that he will fly straight out after the ceremony and get back to California just about in time to celebrate late in the day with his little son, Archie, who's fourth birthday it is.

'It is certainly going to be a quick visit and an awkward one. I mean, who wouldn't be hurt by being called a villain, by being accused as Camilla was, of leaking stories to the press which she didn't leak.'

Queen Camilla was 'hurt' by Prince Harry's memoir Spare, in which she was labelled 'dangerous' and a 'villain', according to one of her closest friends.

Fiona, the Marchioness of Lansdowne, who was recently chosen to be one of the Queen's official companions, has long been a friend of the Queen and supported her during the 1990s when details of her relationship with Charles emerged.

She spoke about Camilla for the first time in an interview with the Sunday Times this weekend.

Harry claimed in Spare, which was published in January, that his father's wife leaked stories about the Royal Family to the media to bolster her image.

He added she had 'sacrificed him' in order to improve her reputation, and accused other palace sources of briefing the press about his wife Meghan.

In Spare, he wrote of Camilla: 'I have complex feelings about gaining a step-parent who I thought had recently sacrificed me on her personal PR altar.'

Prince Harry 'will fly straight back to California' after 'quick and awkward' visit to the UK for the King's Coronation, according to a royal expert. Pictured, Harry and Charles in September 2022

Following the crowning of his father Charles III, the Duke of Sussex, 38, will likely rush home to his Montecito mansion to 'celebrate late in the day' his son (pictured together) Prince Archie's fourth birthday, Jennie Bond told GB News

Harry also said that he and his brother William had 'begged' their father not to marry Camilla because they feared she would become their 'wicked stepmother'.

In another blow, Harry described Camilla as 'dangerous' and a 'villain' who left 'bodies in the street' in her desire to change the public's perception of her.

At the time, there was no word on how the new Queen felt but an aide has now told The Sunday Times: 'It was not stamping of feet or gnashing of teeth  it was much more of an eye-roll response.'

Lady Lansdowne also spoke to the paper and said: 'Of course it bothers her, of course it hurts. But she doesn't let it get to her. Her philosophy is always, "Don't make a thing of it and it will settle down  least said, soonest mended." '

Jennie said: '[Prince Harry] didn't do his research properly. He made some very unpleasant accusations about Camilla and she has been magnanimous.

'Of course, you will be polite, to be courteous, I assume Harry will be as well, but it's not going to be an easy weekend.'

The royal expert also told of how the Duke is expected to snub the King by not attending a lunch after the ceremony next month, scuppering hopes of a reconciliation.

The late Queen Elizabeth II, Charles, Camilla, William, Kate, Harry and Meghan attend the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey on March 9, 2020

Jennie said: 'He is not going to attend the lunch afterwards, as far as we know and we're told that maybe a place will be set in case he changes his mind.

'I don't think he'll change his mind. I actually think he will head straight back to California, probably within a couple of hours of ripping off his suit or whatever he's wearing and getting into his jeans and off he goes back to California.

'It's not going to happen. They're not going to get close,' added the journalist.

It comes following reports that Prince William has no plans to reunite with his younger brother when the Duke of Sussex visits the UK for the King's Coronation.

Royal insiders revealed that Harry had a heartfelt talk with his father on Saturday in an attempt to ease tensions, but has not addressed the ongoing dispute with William.

It is also understood that there will be no time for the pair to meet during Harry's trip for the May 6 event, The Sun reported.

Ingrid Seward, editor of Majesty Magazine, told the newspaper that the royals all have 'really tight schedules' and she thinks Harry addressing his relationship with William is 'for another time'.

The royal expert noted it would be 'nice' for Harry to 'stick around and be friendly'. However, it is understood that the Duke's solo trip across the pond will be short.

'Out of politeness you'd think Harry would want to mingle with his family no matter how difficult that might be for him,' she said.

Ms Seward added that she is 'glad' Harry has spoken with Charles because it has 'eased the path to rapprochement'.

She said: 'Charles will welcome his son. I think his relationship with William is for another time.'

William, 40, and Harry will see each other during the Coronation. This is understood to be the first time the pair will face each other since Harry released his memoir - which saw him brand his brother as his 'arch-nemesis'.

Harry has also publicly called on his family to apologise to himself and Meghan for what they see as slights.

Charles is said to be very pleased his youngest son is coming and his mood is described as 'generally quite forgiving', however, the Prince of Wales is understood to still feel betrayed and angry, particularly by the revelations in the memoir.

Sources have recently alleged the 'gulf' between the brothers, who were once as close as siblings could be, is now so large they cannot see how their relationship can ever be repaired.

It is also reportedly unlikely that the pair will have a sit down - which insiders have previously claimed that Harry demanded.
Starbucks refuted claims that it had plans to change its ice policy when asked

Refreshers will reportedly fall victim to up charging in all locations across the US

The internet has been sent into a frenzy amid widespread speculation that Starbucks is set to charge customers extra for requesting drinks with 'no water, no ice, or light ice.'

The rumors specifically relate to the company's Refresher beverages which will reportedly fall victim to the up charging in all locations across the US from May 9.

It has caused a furor on social media with customers outraged at the thought of increasing costs.

However, a Starbucks representative told FEMAIL: 'Starbucks is not making changes to the ice policy and we don't have anything to share regarding changes to Refreshers.'

The rumors specifically relate to the company's Refresher beverages (pictured) which will reportedly fall victim to the up charging in all locations across the US from May 9

TikTok user Rayah, who has more than 140,000 followers on the video sharing platform, was among the first to claim that the price hike was coming.

In her clip, which has so far been viewed more than 1.3 million times, the Starbucks aficionado speaks to camera and says: 'You guys, Starbucks is giving us another price increase just in time for summer.

'This increase goes in effect for the summer launch starting on May 9. This will effect all of you who drink Refreshers.

'With this change, if you say no water, you'll get charged an extra dollar for them adding more base.

'Additionally, if you say no ice or light ice, you also will get charged this dollar because they have to add more base to make up for the space loss.'

The content creator said that it was unclear whether the same rules would apply to coffee and tea.

And the claims did not go down well with customers who flooded the comments to express their frustration.

One user wrote: 'A company this big worth billions of dollars and STILL being greedy af smh.'

TikTok user Rayah, who has more than 140,000 followers on the video sharing platform, was among the first to claim that the price hike was coming

And the revelation did not go down well with customers who flooded the comments to express their frustration

Another joked: 'So can they take a $1 off since I always ask for extra ice? Same logic, they are using less base now.'

And a third simply said: 'I refuse to go to Starbucks anymore.'

Rayah's statements were seemingly backed up by a now viral Reddit post, uploaded by Kevin7309, which received thousands of interactions.

He shared a photograph of a sign that appeared to be displayed in a Starbucks store which read: 'Important news, please read.

'Starting on May 9, Starbucks will begin to up charge for no water, no ice, and light ice in Starbucks Refresher beverages at all of their locations.'

It concluded: 'Thank you for reading!'

Rayah's statements were seemingly backed up by a now viral Reddit post, uploaded by Kevin7309, which received thousands of interactions

As rumors continue to swirl, baristas have been taken to social media themselves to share their own concerns.

Many have argued that they will be the ones in the firing lines of angry customers if the changes are implemented.

TikTok user Niccole, who works at a Starbucks in Travis County, Texas, was among those to share voice their thoughts.

In her video, which has so far been viewed more than 546,000 times, she wrote: 'How imma be crying once Starbucks starts charging for no ice in drinks and customers are gonna bully tf out of me.'

A spokesperson for the brand told FEMAIL: 'Starbucks is not making changes to the ice policy and we don't have anything to share regarding changes to Refreshers.'
The model in the Levi's dress stares impassively, her features perfectly symmetrical, her face an unblemished oval. Even by the fashion industry's exacting standards, hers is a flawless beauty.

Which is no surprise when you discover 'she' is not a human but an avatar that has been created using artificial intelligence (AI).

When she was unveiled last month, a Levi's spokesman said AI models had the potential to reflect 'any combination of body type, age, size, race and ethnicity, enabling us to create a more personal and inclusive shopping experience', adding that the company planned to deploy them.

The backlash against the Levi's creation  a collaboration with 'digital model agency' Lalaland (lalaland.ai), which uses computer programs to create lifelike models  was swift.

Critics demanded to know what was so 'inclusive' about featuring computer-generated pictures of a black person for profit, rather than making the effort to hire a more diverse range of real-life models.

The future: Levi's will use AI models to show off products online, becoming the first major fashion label to embrace tech

Flawless fakes: Digital models including 'Shudu' (above)

They pointed out that while Levi's was championing the concept of diversity, it had laid off around 15 per cent of its workforce as part of a company restructuring last year.

'The Levi's images are not my idea of diversifying fashion,' said style commentator Caryn Franklin. 'Instead, the use of AI in this instance feels like a way to cut out diverse models who deserve representation, jobs and exposure.'

Levi's quickly backtracked, insisting the pilot programme was not 'a means to advance diversity'. But it is far from alone in using AI models.

Lalaland was founded in Amsterdam in 2019 and the three men who run it charge less than 400 a month for the use of 'unlimited' models. They have already worked with Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger.

Last month, Dutch entrepreneur Danny Postma launched Deep Agency, another 'AI modelling agency', offering businesses a variety of 'high-quality' fake models for around 20 a month.

And it's not just high-fashion brands. Last year, Marks & Spencer introduced a computer-generated digital 'influencer' to flog their wares on Instagram, although she was created by human programmers.

Last month, the three female models on the cover of Singapore Vogue were all AI-generated. The project was masterminded by Varun Gupta, creative director of content agency We Create Films, who said: 'I strongly believe AI has enabled us to realise the true potential of our imagination.'

With the intelligence to learn to pose, change outfits and even acquire a programmed personality, AI models won't age, get wrinkles or require airbrushing. They won't flag on 12-hour shoots or demand $10,000 to get out of bed. Indeed, they need not be paid at all.

But more troubling than the potential death of the supermodel are the ramifications for the women and girls who aspire to look like these AI replacements. Already bombarded by filtered images on social media, they will now have digitally assembled pixels of perfection to contend with.

A new dawn: An instagram post from Marks and Spencer's showing the new virtual influencer Mira

New model: A look at one of the posts on Mira's instagram account

While AI has developed at an alarming pace in recent years, to understand its specific appeal to the fashion industry we must go back to April 2016, when the world's first computer-generated social media influencer  Lil Miquela  was created by Los Angeles 'transmedia studio' Brud.

It wasn't just the fictitious 19-year-old Brazilian-American's freckles and thigh gap that appealed to an idealistic digital generation, but the backstory her creators, Trevor McFedries and Sara Decou, used to humanise her; Miquela is an ardent supporter of Black Lives Matter, for example, and has written about surviving sexual assault.

She now has 2.8 million Instagram followers and has modelled for Prada and Calvin Klein, as well as posing with flesh-and-blood celebrities including Bella Hadid and Millie Bobby Brown.

And she is not alone. In 2018, South African model Shudu Gram was created by British photographer Cameron James-Wilson, using an online 3-D drawing program. With gazelle-like limbs and an intention to 'champion diversity in the fashion world' to her 238,000 Instagram followers, she too shot to stardom, modelling for Givenchy and even being named one of the most influential 'people' on the internet by Time magazine.

Yet her success prompted so many allegations of misogyny and racism towards Wilson, a white man, for profiting from his black female creation that he employed black writer Ama Badu to make Shudu's story more authentic.

But neither Miquela nor Shudu was constructed using AI. 'They can't think or learn or offer posing variations independently,' the model Sinead Bovell wrote in 2020, in a prescient Vogue piece entitled I Am A Model And I Know That Artificial Intelligence Will Eventually Take My Job. But, she warned, 'with the pace of AI development, that won't be the case for much longer'.

And she later predicted a future 'where beauty standards become even more unrealistic because clothing is literally worn by people who aren't real. If you look at the history of how tech has evolved things like selfies and filters  it's not super-positive.'

AI takes computer-generated images further, because it is trained to make models itself without any human input.

One process involves deconstructing images gleaned from the internet into individual pixels. 'The system then learns to reassemble them into a person, calculating what concepts like colour, objects and style mean in terms of image composition,' according to technology expert James Bore. It is, as one AI entrepreneur has admitted, 'a big scrape of the internet'.

It was the pandemic that sped up the road to AI dominance in fashion. With models prevented from attending studios in person, British retailer Asos started using AI technology for virtual photoshoots, mapping virtual copies of clothes onto human bodies.

Runway: All of these models were produced for AI for the Levi's brand

The new trend: Levi's are boasting several different AI models

Chic: Another look at one of Levi's AI models

Denim: Another look at the AI models Levi's is using to show off their products

AI didn't just circumvent social distancing rules  it saved money on modelling fees, travel costs, stylists, photographers and studio hires. No wonder, then, that from the end of 2020 to the start of 2021, Asos tripled its profits.

In 2020, leading fashion photographer Nick Knight helped Valentino hold a virtual fashion show in which ethereal white outfits were superimposed on virtual models.

Maleika Harrower, 22, is a model from London of Guyanese, Italian and Jamaican descent. She says the pressure to break into the modelling industry for models from ethnic minorities continues to be tough.

'On shoots I've had hairstylists not really know what to do with my hair. My make-up has been matched a shade lighter. It has had an impact,' says Maleika, who has worked for Charlotte Tilbury, Asos and Selfridges. 'This will definitely mean fewer jobs for ethnic minorities. AI models are just taking over our jobs. It's terrifying.'

Maleika clings to one ray of hope: part of her appeal, she believes, is a personality that no amount of technology can replicate: 'Being bubbly on shoots definitely has an impact on how the pictures look,' she says.

Nor could AI, presumably, detect the physical idiosyncrasies that often send a model's career into the stratosphere. Would it ever have spotted the potential in 5ft 7in Kate Moss, who described herself when she was scouted as 'not the prettiest girl in class  no breasts, short legs, gangly teeth', for example?

'Fashion and beauty clients look for unique features and there's no school or university to become a model agent,' says John Bruce, founder of model agency PRM, who has been scouting models for 22 years.

'We do a lot of street scouting, which is so important because you see how someone moves. Someone can be drop-dead beautiful but have zero personality, which isn't going to get you anywhere. To try and put what we do into a computer program or system is going to be pretty tough.'

The current popularity of AI models is, he believes, mostly about 'reducing costs' and as a strategy, he hopes it's temporary. 'Customers like to relate to images. They want to feel they're purchasing from someone showing emotion. It goes back to the human aspect. People want to see and feel.'

Certainly, Marks & Spencer's introduction of its virtual influencer Mira (an acronym for 'Marks & Spencer, Influencer, Reality, Augmented'), with her own Instagram account with almost 5,000 followers, a fictional office commute and 'chic and classy' style, met with a lukewarm reaction last October.

'This is so wrong, we should be promoting real, imperfect people not creating flawless avatars that create impossible beauty standards,' wrote one woman online. Tellingly, perhaps, after sharing just six pictures, Mira hasn't posted on Instagram since last November.

Unreal deal: AI model for Chanel Lil Miquela pictured above

Beauty: Lil Miguela with Bella Hadid in 2019 campaign video for Calvin Klein

Nonetheless, Katie Green, a 35-year-old mother of two from Northampton, who has modelled for Special K and Wonderbra and is seen as 'plus sized' on account of her size 16 figure, admits 'we're in a really strange place now. I get lots of work for being a bust size 36F. Sometimes the samples are very niche which is why I fit them perfectly, but AI can produce undetectable fake images, which puts a lot of pressure on us real models and will construct a beauty standard that is going to be even worse for young girls to distinguish between what's real and what's not.'

Katie agrees that labels will use AI models 'because it will save them money'.

'It's a quicker turnaround,' she says. 'I think I'm going to see a huge drop in castings  by 60 per cent at least over the next year or so  which is scary.'

During her 20 years of modelling, the fashion industry has become more diverse, with plus-size models and models with disabilities, she says. 'It feels like we've finally got somewhere, and it could easily be taken away from us.'

Those who stand to profit from the new breed of models  and who are redefining what beauty is  appear to be mostly men. And it is a lucrative business.

Lalaland is reportedly valued at up to 11 million. Meanwhile, Deep Agency developer Danny Postma sold his previous AI copywriting business, Headlime, last year for a reported seven-figure sum and is currently living in Bali.

Describing his modelling agency on Twitter as 'a photo studio, with a few big differences . . . No camera. No real people. No physical location', he refutes accusations that his business model has exploited others' photography: 'I don't see AI killing businesses, but enhancing them.' Deep Agency did not respond to requests for comment.

The CEO of Lalaland, Michael Musandu, told the Mail that Lalaland's mission was 'not to replace traditional photography but to enhance it' and 'to work alongside human models to make fashion more inclusive. And yes  we need more of them to come from under-represented groups if fashion companies are serious about inclusion efforts. We need real models!'

He added: 'Our AI models help to level the playing field for brands of all sizes. At Lalaland, we acknowledge the concerns raised and remain committed to establishing strong AI principles while deploying our technology. We believe in the importance of fostering critical conversations about Responsible and Ethical AI to ensure it serves humanity.'

Several other companies look set to develop AI programs to generate images of models. But while there may be handsome profits to be made, will their millions come at the expense of women's self-esteem?
Thousands of Aussies are only just discovering what the iconic national spread Vegemite is made from.

The polarising condiment was invented in Melbourne in 1923 when an Australian food manufacturer requested a product similar to British Marmite.

As seen in an episode of ABC's Great Australian Stuff, Vegemite is made from a 'brewer's waste' - a by-product of beer.

In the episode, a brown liquid is poured into a factory tub and the narrator says: 'This is the brown sludge at the bottom of your VB factory.'

Scroll down for video

The popular spread Vegemite has been around since 1923, but only now some Aussies are only finding out what it's made from.

According to an episode of ABC's Great Australian Stuff, Vegemite is made from a 'brewer's waste' - a by-product of beer

Comedian Nazeem Hussain was featured in the episode and said: 'Vegemite is made from leftover beer'.

Another voiceover said: 'During World War 1, Marmite stocks ran out so we started looking for something else. Britain started making Marmite in 1902, the world's very first yeast spread.

'When Aussies couldn't get enough of it, Fred Walker, a businessman in the food industry, saw an opportunity.

'He challenged a food scientist called Cyril Callister to come up with an equivalent to Marmite.'

Originally Mr Callister named the product 'Pure Vegetable Extract', which admittedly 'wasn't very sexy'.

At the time in Australia there was a 'craze' for public competitions for naming things or designing things - for instance, the Australian flag was designed thanks to one competition.

And so 'Vegemite' was picked for the yeast spread.

The educational episode went on to explain that Vegemite was originally marketed as a 'health food for babies' that will help kids 'grow up big and strong'.

In the mid-30s American company Kraft picked up the product and it took off through tactical marketing strategies, including the 'happy little Vegemite' jingle thousands know today.

After a small part of the episode was shared on Facebook, hundreds of Aussies shared their love for Vegemite, and many couldn't believe they didn't know of the 'interesting' fact.

'Now I know why I like it so much,' one commented, another said: 'YUM! Especially now I know I'm eating beer.'

'Toast, Vegemite and sliced avocado, best breakfast,' a third said.

'I'm a happy little Vegemite kid through and through!' another added.
Princess Mary's children wowed with how much they've grown as they united on a balcony at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen for Queen Margrethe's 83rd birthday on April 16.

The Princess' oldest daughter Isabella, 16, put on an elegant display as she lay an arm around her younger twin siblings Princess Josephine and Prince Vincent, 12.

The twins were front and centre while Prince Christian, 17, stood behind his siblings beside Princess Mary and Crown Price Frederik.

The whole family were in unison as they were shades of blue, green and white. Princess Josephine $585 Ba&sh edmee printed midi dress and Princess Isabella wore a Massimo Dutti wool suit blazer.

Prince Vincent and Price Christian looked sharp in blue suits while Princess Josephine appeared comfortable and quaint in a green floral dress with blue jumper.

Queen Margrethe - who underwent back surgery last month - was also seen waving to crowds of wellwishers from the balcony.

The Danish Royal Family waved to wellwishers on a balcony at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen for Queen Margrethe's 83rd birthday

Crown Princess Mary of Denmark's oldest daughter Princess Isabella, 16, (right) lay an arm around her younger brother Prince Vincent, 12 (left)

She also supported her sister Princess Josephine, 12, (right) by placing an arm on her shoulder

The Crown Princess herself donned a dark green blazer and skirt while the Crown Prince wore a suit

The Crown Princess herself donned a dark green blazer and skirt while the Crown Prince wore a suit.

Prince Joachim and his children were also in attendance - with the full family appearing on the balcony later in the afternoon.

The Danish Queen - whose half-century reign makes her Europe's longest-serving monarch - swept her hair back into her trademark and bun and wore a set of blue diamond earrings.

She added a pop of colour to her outfit with some vibrant red nail polish but otherwise wore minimal makeup.

As she stepped out on the balcony, Margrethe was pictured without a walking stick - having previously been spotted with one at Fredensborg Castle in Denmark on Wednesday.

The whole family were in unison as they were shades of blue, green and white, with Princess Isabella wearing a stunning emerald green blazer, white shirt and black trousers

The twins were spotted smiling and giggling as they exchanged a few words

Queen Margrethe of Denmark (pictured) swept her hair back into her trademark and bun and wore a set of blue diamond earrings

It was a tumultuous autumn for the Danish Royal Family

Images taken show the whole family waving proudly with smiles on their faces to onlookers

It was a tumultuous autumn for the Danish Royal Family after the monarch stripped her younger son Prince Joachim's four children of their prince and princess titles - a shocking move which he publicly spoke out against.

She has said the decision was intended to allow Nikolai, 23, Felix, 20 - born from Prince Joachim's first marriage - and Henrik, 13, and Athena, 10, to live normal lives without royal obligations.

Instead of being Princes and Princesses, they are Counts and Countess and referred to as Their Excellencies - a change which is now reflected on the household's website.

At the time, Prince Joachim publicly spoke out against his mother's decision - claiming that his children had been 'harmed' in the process.

Later this year, the 53-year-old royal, who is sixth in line to the Danish throne, will relocate to Washington DC with his family to become defence industry attache at the Embassy of Denmark.

Prince Joachim and his children were also in attendance (pictured: Count Felix, left, Count Nikolai, right)

Prince Joachim, Princess Marie, Count Henrik, Count Nikolai and Countess Athena pictured on the balcony at Amalienborg Castle

Count Nikolai likely turned heads as he stood beside his brother

The Royal cousins also looked sharp

Last year, the sixth-in-line to the throne admitted that 'communication was missing' within the Royal Family in the lead-up to the shock announcement.

Joachim told local news outlet B.T.: 'There is a lot to work on. Communication was what was missing. Now we have met and we are on the right track.'

Shortly after his children were stripped of his titles, Joachim claimed that he had only been given five days' notice before the news was made public.

Following the Queen's announcement, Joachim spoke to Danish publication Ekstra Bladet outside the Danish Embassy in Paris, where he lives with his French-born wife Princess Marie and his two youngest children, and said his four children had been 'hurt' by their grandmother's decision.

'I was given five days' notice to tell them. In May, I was presented with a plan which, by and large, was that when the children each turned 25, it would happen. Now I had only five days to tell them. Athena turns 11 in January,' he clarified

Meanwhile, his ex-wife Alexandra said that her sons, Nikolai and Felix, had been left feeling 'ostracised' from the institution and the decision had come like a 'bolt out of the blue'.

Queen Margrethe (centre) pictured with her sons Prince Frederick (left) and Prince Joachim (right) and their children

Pictured: royal fans gather outside Christian VII Palace at Amalienborg in Copenhagen to catch a glimpse of the monarch

Last year, Queen Margrethe stripped Prince Joachim's children of their royal titles. Pictured with her sons on her 83rd birthday

Isabella then guided her younger siblings back inside, placing an arm behind her sister's back

The Royal Household released a further statement, saying: 'As the Queen stated yesterday, the decision has been a long time coming.

'We understand that there are many emotions at stake at the moment, but we hope that the Queen's wish to future-proof the Royal Household will be respected.'

In February, the royal palace announced that Queen Margrethe was having to undergo 'major back surgery'.

'During a long period, Her Majesty has been affected by problems with her back, and in recent times the situation has worsened,' the announcement read.

Following the operation, the palace said the Queen needed to go through a 'longer rehabilitation process'.

The announcement came after Margrethe was forced to cancel a string of events - including the opening of an exhibition in Copenhagen.

Pictured: the family on May 24, 2018 in Hillerod, Denmark

The Danish Constitution gives Margrethe, Denmark's head of state, no political power and her duties are ceremonial.

She was proclaimed queen on January 15, 1972, a day after her father, King Frederik IX, died following a short illness.

Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Margrethe became the only living Queen in the world.

She is also now the second longest-serving monarch in the world, second only to Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan of Brunei, after celebrating 50 years on the throne.
A Canadian woman living in Australia has taken aim at how people Down Under dress in the winter.

Ioana, who's lived in Australia for seven years hopping between New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, dressed as what she thinks Aussies from all over the country wear in the chilly months.

She mocked 'rich Sydney mums', people from Perth and Brisbane who rug up when temperatures dip below 24C and those from Canberra and Victoria who still wear shorts despite frosty conditions.

Ioana, who's now living on the Gold Coast, poked fun at Tasmanians who don't wear a jacket in winter and Queenslanders who still don shorts and thongs despite complaining about cold weather.

Australians loved Ioana's impressions deeming them 'accurate' and were left in stitches at her takes.

Scroll down for video

Ioana (pictured) is from Canadian but has been living in Australia for seven years. She recently left thousands in stitches with her impressions of Australians in winter

She mocked 'rich Sydney mums' and those from Canberra and Victoria who still wear shorts despite frosty conditions

In a TikTok clip, the Canadian dressed as a 'rich Sydney mum' who she said wears a puffer jacket with branded athleisure, is 'needlessly aggressive' and 'ready for brunch'.

Next she showed the 'Perth/Brisbane special' and bundled up for temperatures below 24 degrees.

For the 'Melbourne commuter' Ioana dressed in skinny pants, laced boots, a scarf, long cardigan and over-ear headphones.

'Is this outfit black enough?' she wrote.

The 'nah I'm fine mate' person from Canberra or Victoria 'stubbornly' wears shorts, slides and a light jumper in winter.

The 'I don't need a jacket, I'm from Tasmania' person, Ioana thought donned a 'fisherman sweater' and occasionally a Kathmandu jacket.

Finally, Ioana put on the 'official Queensland uniform' wearing a puffer jacket, shorts and thongs.

She joked people in the get-up usually complain it's 'not warm, hey?'.

Ioana's clip amassed more than 563,700 views and left Australians impressed by her 'on-point' impersonations.

For the 'Melbourne commuter' Ioana dressed in skinny pants, laced boots, a scarf, long cardigan and over-ear headphones

'Yup it dropped to 24 degrees in Perth the other day and I was ready to put the heating on,' one viewer said.

'Love it. My teenagers here in Melbourne have just done the winter upgrade from one hoodie to two hoodies (each),' a mum added.

'A puffer is essential in Tassie. Sometimes with shorts. It's a Tassie tuxedo,' another wrote.

South Australians and people from the Northern Territory had a gripe for not being included but Ioana admitted she has never visited.

'I was gonna do a full bikini for NT but no one needs to see that!' she joked.

They were quick to inform the expat what winter dressing looked like where they lived.

'I've seen thongs, shorts and singlet but WITH A SCARF in Darwin on a rare sub 24 day,' laughed one woman.

'Flannel for the morning/evening over the singlet. tied around waist during the day. jeans or shorts and thongs,' another added.

An Adelaide local said: '10 years ago everyone discovered puffer jackets and now they've taken over the city'.
A lesser-known travel hack that can help travellers secure the best possible deal for their holidays has recently been revealed.

It's essential to keep an open mind when it comes to booking trips, because being rigid in terms of place and time of year could cost you thousands.

Skyscanner's 'Explore Everywhere' search function will help you find the cheapest flights from your destination, and Google Flights Explore is another helpful tool that provides you with options filtered by region, continent, or price.

People often pick their destination and season - usually within fixed windows - before even scouting out prices and holiday packages which could save them tons of money.

All great bargain hunters understand that being flexible is key when it comes to finding cheap travel destinations.

Skyscanner's 'Explore Everywhere' search function will help you find the cheapest flights from your destination to places all over the world

How to use Skyscanner and Google Flights Explore Skyscanner: Go to the Skyscanner website

Input your 'From' destination with your city and airport

Input a potential travel date and click 'Everywhere' for destination

Explore various popular destinations with flight, hotel, and car hire options

You can also adjust your results based on your spending budget and ideal destination Google Flights Explore: Go to the Google Flights Explore website

Input your departure airport and travel date, but leave the destination blank

You can also click on 'Flexible dates' to view the best possible prices

Click on the 'Search' button

The first flights that come up with be close and cheap options

Toggle on 'Update search as map moves' button to view more flight options as you explore the map

You can also specifically write 'Europe' or 'Africa' in the 'To' section to only show flights to that region Advertisement

Having an open mind can also unearth various locations that has escaped your radar.

It is recommended not to have fixed travel dates and look at bookings six to 12 months in advance.

Such a feat can be difficult when you're planning around school holidays or annual leave, but as much flexibility as possible is key to securing the best deal.

Escape.com provided travellers with an easy trick when, for example, booking with Singapore Airlines.

After inputing your departure and arrival dates, you will be presented with fares for a destination along with a '7-day fares' option.

That button will show you the difference in prices close to your preferred dates, which could save you hundreds of dollars.

Google Flights Explore is another helpful tool that provides you with options filtered by region, continent, or price

Another thing to bear in mind when booking a vacation is the 'magic number' of days before a flight opens to secure the cheapest price.

According to CheapAir's annual study, the price of a flight changes on average every 4.5 days and each change averages $33 up or down.

The number differs across all airlines, but can usually be checked simply by visiting the website. Often airlines release seats between 330 to 362 days in advance.

It's essential to know the 'magic number' of days before a flight opens to secure the cheapest price (stock image)

Qantas releases its award flights 353 days before departure for those wanting to book using Frequent Flyer points, while Singapore Airlines releasing dates 355 days prior.

As for Virgin Australia, customers can book and choose seats 336 days before travel at time of booking.

Singapore Airlines also has a 'Secure My Flight' page where customers can reserve the desired itinerary before deciding to buy a ticket, which comes at a non-refundable fee of $20.

The handy feature freezes a booking without worrying if the fare price increases.

According to the website, if your flight is eligible, a 'Secure My Fare' button will appear after you've selected your flight and fare type.

Travellers should book domestic flights at least 21 weeks in advance and international flights 22 weeks in advance.
Thousands of sick Brits are booking private GP appointments instead of relying on the NHS, figures suggest.

Independent healthcare providers have reported a surge in demand since the start of Covid, with patients citing difficulties securing an appointment during the 8am rush and a lack of in-person consultations with their NHS clinic.

Top doctors have warned that general practice is at risk of following dentistry, with only those who for pay being able to access top quality care.

It comes as data today revealed more than 1,000 practices have closed since 2015, leaving remaining ones with heftier lists and forcing many rural patients to travel further for an appointment.

Patients satisfaction has dropped to its lowest level in four decades amid the never-ending appointments crisis.

The data was gathered on behalf of Spire Healthcare, which has nearly 4,000 consultants and 38 private hospitals across the UK. Its latest results show that the number of appointments with its GPs had surged 39 per cent last year

A survey of 2,000 Brits, by Focaldata, shows that the majority (54 per cent) reported having difficulty booking an in-person consultation with a GP, while almost half (45 per cent) said they struggled to get a phone appointment

A survey of 2,000 Brits, by Focaldata, suggests that a third (32 per cent) of adults have had an appointment with a private GP in the last three years.

Of this group, six in 10 had booked more than one private appointment, which can between 80 and 250, during this period.

Overall, more than half of respondents (53 per cent) said they would consider going private for a GP appointment.

The majority (54 per cent) reported having difficulty booking an in-person consultation with a GP, while almost half (45 per cent) said they struggled to get a phone appointment.

Among those who needed an appointment in the last six months, one in four (24 per cent) were unable to book one.

Most said the appeal was down to being seen quickly and because it was easier to book an appointment and see a GP in person if they went private.

READ MORE The NHS is spending more than 1 million a week hiring private ambulances to respond to emergency calls, figures reveal Trusts are booking private emergency vehicles and crews up to a year in advance to respond to emergency incidents Advertisement

The data was gathered on behalf of Spire Healthcare, which has nearly 4,000 consultants and 38 private hospitals across the UK.

Its latest results show that the number of appointments with its GPs had surged 39 per cent last year.

It says a lack of access to GPs, including face-to-face appointments, is becoming a 'growing issue' for patients and expects demand in the private sector to remain high.

Public satisfaction with GPs is at its lowest levels since records began in 1983, with more than four in 10 Brits saying they are dissatisfied, according to the British Social Attitudes survey.

Dr Jeremy Cohen, a GP who practises within the NHS and at Spire's clinic in Harpenden, Hertfordshire said: 'Most patients seen at Spire Healthcare seem to prefer to be seen privately because of both the speed of access and longer appointment time.

'During the pandemic, I had contact with lots of patients who were simply desperate to speak with a doctor but whose concerns were not deemed urgent.

'Post-pandemic, I now see a broad range of private patients, some of whom require on-going care for chronic illnesses, some who come for a one-off problem and others who come for a single consultation but then stay for the duration of their treatment.

'Meanwhile, the most significant benefit of private care, in my opinion, is the time available to discuss an individual's medical concerns and my recommendations in depth, which often isn't achievable with the duration of an NHS GP appointment, especially if it is about a complex issue.'

Carl Caswell, a company director from Hertfordshire primarily sees an NHS GP but has used a private GP through Spire Harpenden Hospital on occasion.

He said: 'With my most recent medical concern, it took several days to get through to the reception at my local NHS GP and I couldn't get an appointment sooner than in three weeks' time.

There were just 27,558 full-time equivalent, fully qualified GPs working in England last month, down 1.6 per cent on the 18,000 recorded in June 2021. It was down 5.3 per cent on the more than 29,000 working in June 2017

More than a third of patients were unable to access a GP when they needed one in the past year, a MailOnline survey revealed in January. The poll of 1,500 Brits showed 34 per cent said they could not get an appointment their local doctor or other NHS services when they tried to in 2022

According to NHS data, GPs now only account of a quarter of the primary care workforce, outnumbered 2-to-1 by admin staff, of which over half are receptionists

'I decided to contact Spires's private GP service in Harpenden and was able to get an appointment that same week, which led to uncovering I had diabetes after a blood test.

'I particularly value the accessibility and personability of private GP services. It allows them the time to discuss my concerns with me at length and understand my feelings.

'The NHS is still my first port of call. However, for pressing issues, I'm fortunate to be able to use Spire's services when I want to have something sorted urgently.'

It comes as data shows that 2.8million patients in England have been forced to find a new doctor after their GP practice closed.

The figures, obtained by Labour through a Freedom of Information Request, reveal that there are 1,200 fewer practices today than in 2015 and 2,000 GPs have been cut in the same time.

READ MORE Are these the worst hospital dinners ever served? Shock images show the dreary NHS meals that patients have complained about for decades The hospital in Cambridgeshire offered a plate of broccoli and cauliflower in a cheese sauce for dinner on another occasion Advertisement

As a result, the number of patients per practice has gone from 7,465 in 2015 to 9,722 in February, meaning each remaining practice has had to take on an extra 2,257 patients, on average.

People in rural areas are often left having to register with practices miles away from where they live, Labour said.

Data from the Office for National Statistics suggests that a quarter of Brits could not get an appointment when they last tried to, while three in 10 faced difficulty contacting their GP and more than one third were offered a phone consultation when they wanted a face-to-face appointment.

Many GPs, who earn over 100,000 a year, on average, are retiring in their 50s, moving abroad or leaving to work in the private sector because of soaring demand and paperwork.

Workload pressures, inability to fill vacancies and practices merging have been blamed for the drop in GP surgery numbers.

Separate figures from Unison shows that the NHS is spending more than 1million a week hiring private ambulances to attend emergency calls.

Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: 'Patients are finding it impossible to get a GP appointment when they need one, thanks to the Conservatives failure to train enough doctors.

'Practices are shutting up shop across the country, leaving people to travel miles to be seen, and GPs overburdened.

'Labour will train 15,000 doctors a year so patients can be seen on time again, paid for by abolishing the non-dom tax status. We will bring back the family doctor and ensure patients can easily book appointments to see the doctor they want, in the manner they choose.'

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: 'We're making real progress in getting patients to see their GP quickly, with almost two million more GP appointments delivered when compared to this time last year  that's 100,000 more appointments each working day.

'We're also boosting the GP workforce, with hundreds more doctors in general practice than last year, record numbers in training and we have almost reached our target of delivering 26,000 additional primary care staff to support GPs and patients, including pharmacists and physiotherapists.'
Some vapes wrongly claiming to be 'nicotine-free' are being sold on Britain's high streets, analysis has revealed.

Inter Scientific  which tests products to check whether they following regulations  examined more than 50 vape brands sold across England and Wales.

It found eight devices marketed as containing no addictive substances, sold in high street shops, actually contained nicotine, while one carried just as much nicotine as full-strength e-cigarettes.

This blackcurrant-flavoured option contained near maximum levels of the stimulant, despite its packaging suggesting it had none.

On top of this, the probe also identified dozens of vapes that had a tank size that was too big, with the worst offender being more than twice the legal limit.

Under current regulations, the vape tank size should be no larger than 2ml, while the legal limit for nicotine is set at 2 per cent, or 20mg/ml. But one device recorded levels more than 50 per cent higher than the legal limit, while eight others which allege they are nicotine free, were found to contain to substance, Inter Scientific said

Laboratory analysis of the 52 products bought in England also found 73 per cent were above the 2ml capacity limit. These products were sold in shops in Birmingham, Staffordshire, Dudley, Liverpool, Newcastle, Hertfordshire and Wales, Inter Scientific said. A MailOnline investigation earlier this month discovered 'dupes' of Chupa Chups, Jolly Rancher, Calypso and Rubicon  all on Oxford Street (pictured)

Under current regulations, a vape tank size should be no larger than 2ml, while the legal limit for nicotine is set at 2 per cent, or 20mg/ml.

Any vapes with contents exceeding these amounts are illegal and should not be sold to the public, regulators say.

But Inter Scientific, which shared its data with The Guardian, found Dr Gorilla King Blackcurrant Grape Slush had 19.7mg/ml of nicotine, even though it was supposed to be nicotine-free.

Seven other devices which allege they are nicotine free, were also found to contain the substance, Inter Scientific said.

The product tester also found, that of 52 vapes it bought in England, 73 per cent were above the legal tank capacity of 2ml.

And more than 40 per cent of the vapes had 5ml of liquid or more  more than double the legal limit.

It also found that the product with the highest nicotine content  Vape With a Bang Havana Tobacco's 6 per cent disposable device  contained 29.35mg/ml.

This is above the legal limit.

These products were sold in shops in Birmingham, Staffordshire, Dudley, Liverpool, Newcastle, Hertfordshire and Wales, Inter Scientific said.

MailOnline was unable to track down the product manufacturers for comment.

None of the products were listed with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, which has a notification scheme for vapes so that any harm caused by the devices can be logged.

Inter Scientific is working with Trading Standards to tackle the sale of illicit products, which are flooding high street stores.

More than 1.4 tonnes of illegal vapes were seized in the last six months of 2022 in the north-east of England alone.

David Lawson, chief executive at Inter Scientific and a fellow of the Organisation for Professionals in Regulatory Affairs, told The Guardian: 'We have seen a large increase in the number of illegal vape products being seized by trading standards and sent for analysis.

'Though these products don't pose an immediate health risk, they are circumventing UK regulation.'

It comes as health minister Neil O'Brien last week unveiled plans to crackdown on the sale of e-cigarettes to under-18s amid Government concerns of a rise of vaping among children.

NHS data for 2021 shows 9 per cent of 11 to 15-year-old children used e-cigarettes, up from 6 per cent in 2018.

NHS Digital data shows the number of children who are current vapers has soared in recent years, jumping from 6 per cent in 2018 to 9 per cent in 2021

The 15 recommendations to help England be smoke-free by 2030 of the Khan review which was published in July last year

Experts have stressed their concern at children not being fully aware of the contents of e-cigarettes, with many so anxious for their next 'fix' they are begging teachers to let them vape at school

But under the anti-smoking push, a million cigarette addicts will also get e-cig 'starter kits' as part of a 'swap to stop' scheme.

The free kits are set to be offered to almost one in five of all smokers in England at an estimated cost of 45million over two years.

Health chiefs hope the world-first policy will make England smoke-free, despite a torrent of evidence cataloguing the health risks of vaping.

Almost every high street in the country now has a designated shop, where e-cigs, costing as little as 5, are paraded.

Around 6million people smoke in the UK and it is estimated to cause 64,000 deaths every year.

It also costs the NHS 2.4billion every year to treat smoking-related conditions.

Rates have plunged over the past decade, but experts say it is still not close enough to reach the smoke free goal.

Vaping rates have exploded over the same time, however.

E-cigarettes still contain harmful toxins, according to a study by researchers at the Medical University of Silesia in Poland.

And their long-term effect on health remains a mystery, with some doctors fearing a wave of lung disease and even cancer in the coming decades.

Experts are also concerned the high nicotine content might increase blood pressure and cause other heart problems.

In February, major retailers pulled sales of bestselling Elf Bar vapes after a Mail investigation found the company was breaking the law on nicotine limits.

Tesco, Sainsbury's and WH Smith withdrew all Elf Bar's products and Morrisons and Asda stripped the top-ranked Elf Bar 600 range from their shelves.

It came after independent lab tests commissioned by the Mail found the 600 line of e-cigarettes were at least 50 per cent over the legal limit for nicotine e-liquid.
In the years since, her twin sister Megan has had many of the same symptoms

Two identical twins both suffer the same cancer symptoms  despite only one of them actually having the disease.

Sophie Walker, of Edinburgh, was diagnosed with a Wilms' tumour, a type of kidney cancer, in 2017, aged 10.

In the six years since, Sophie has gone into remission three times but sadly relapsed in December.

Throughout this time, the 16-year-old's twin sister Megan has experienced many of the same symptoms, including stomach and back pain, paleness and weight loss.

Megan underwent a 'head-to-toe' MRI scan, which came back completely clear. Her doctors have called the phenomenon a 'twin thing'.

Sophie Walker (left, pictured with her twin sister Megan), then aged 10, was diagnosed with a Wilms' tumour - a type of kidney cancer - in 2017

Throughout Sophie's cancer battle, Megan (right) has been experiencing many of the same symptoms - including stomach and back pain, paleness and weight loss

Megan (right) even underwent a 'head-to-toe' MRI scan - which came back completely clear - with doctors calling the phenomenon a 'twin thing'

Rebecca Walker, the girls' mother, said: 'When Sophie was first diagnosed, Megan had all the symptoms.

'People comment on how ill she looks all the time  she's even paler than her sister.'

The mother-of-ten added: 'Every test under the sun has been done on her, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with her. It's so bizarre.'

Wilms' tumour is a type of kidney cancer in children, which most often affects those under the age of five.

It was named after Dr Max Wilms, who first discovered it, and around 90 children are diagnosed each year in the UK. In the US, there are 500 to 600 cases annually.

Sophie was diagnosed on October 25, 2017, after experiencing 'stomach bug-like cramps'. She had four weeks of chemotherapy and surgery to remove the tumour.

After an additional 27 weeks of chemotherapy, Sophie went into remission in April 2018.

But in January 2020, a routine MRI showed 'something worrying' on her spine.

A doctor reportedly told Mrs Walker that Sophie's initial biopsy had seeded on her spine  meaning the needle inserted into Sophie's initial tumour had dislodged and spread cancer cells.

The Covid pandemic delayed further treatment  surgery and a three-week course of radiotherapy  but Sophie again went into remission in January 2021.

She then relapsed in December that year, and underwent chemotherapy until May 2022.

In November, Sophie went into remission for a third time but following a check-up just a month later, doctors said her results were 'not good'.

Sophie was diagnosed with a Wilms' tumour on October 25, 2017, after experiencing 'stomach bug-like cramps'. She had four weeks of chemotherapy and surgery to remove the tumour

After an additional 27 weeks of chemotherapy, Sophie went into remission in April 2018 but in January 2020, a routine MRI showed 'something worrying' on her spine

The Covid pandemic delayed further treatment  surgery and a three-week course of radiotherapy  but Sophie again went into remission in January 2021

Mrs Walker said: 'We went to get Sophie checked out one day, and were told by the consultant she couldn't feel anything there.

'But by the following day, we were called back in. All the consultant could say was that the results were 'not good'  and she started to cry.

'Sophie saw the look on her face and just broke down, for the first time in six years.'

Sophie's dad, Jamie, 44, left the room with Sophie to console her, while Mrs Walker stayed with the consultant to ask further questions.

She said: 'I was told to take her away and make memories, while she's well enough.'

Since the news, Sophie's consultant has said she'll be able to have the tumour on her spine operated on  by a team of consultants, oncologists, paediatric surgeons and plastic surgeons.

Despite this 'little bit of hope', Sophie is still struggling 'deeply' with health anxiety and depression and Megan has been feeling the 'exact same way'.

Mrs Walker said: 'Megan just can't settle if Sophie isn't there. We have a big family and everyone looks out for each other, but Megan has been struggling hugely.'

Sophie and Megan have eight siblings  James, 20, Emily, 19, Ruthie, 17, Daniel, 13, Olivia, 11, Emma, nine, Nathan, eight and eight-month old Evan.

Since the news, Sophie's consultant has said she'll be able to have the tumour on her spine operated on  by a team of consultants, oncologists, paediatric surgeons and plastic surgeons

A doctor told Mrs Walker that Sophie's initial biopsy had seeded on her spine - meaning the needle inserted into Sophie's initial tumour had dislodged and spread cancer cells

In November, Sophie went into remission for a third time but following a check-up just a month later, doctors said her results were 'not good'

'While the older ones are looking after the younger ones in the house, Megan will stay in hospital by Sophie's side, sometimes until 3am,' Mrs Walker added.

'She won't leave her until she says, "I'm tired, I want to go to sleep".

'All throughout Covid, she wasn't allowed to see Sophie as Jamie and I were her two named visitors. She couldn't cope.

'As soon as those restrictions were slightly lifted, Megan wanted to see Sophie again.'

When Sophie relapsed in January, Megan also volunteered herself for a 'head-to-toe' MRI scan.

'Nothing showed up, there's absolutely nothing wrong with her,' explained Mrs Walker.

'Consultants are telling me it's just a "twin thing"  which I find totally bizarre. I've never heard of identical twins getting sick at the same time, when one isn't even ill herself.'

Experts in the past, when discussing similar tales, have dismissed the theory that twins can feel each other's physical pain.

But they have suggested their strong empathy for each other may explain some of the physical reaction.

The Walker family are currently running a GoFundMe to raise funds for proton therapy in New York  after receiving surgery in Scotland on a date to be confirmed.

The GoFundMe has so far raised 21,526.
An experimental vaccine nearly halves the risk of skin cancer returning in high-risk patients, final study results show.

A phase two clinical trial found the shot  developed by Moderna  combined with an immunotherapy drug made by Merck slashed the risk of melanoma coming back by 44 percent compared to those receiving the drug alone.

Preliminary findings were published in December but had not been reviewed and confirmed by other scientists. Dr Ryan Sullivan, an oncologist at Mass General Cancer Center who is leading the research, heralded the finalized results and said they could lead to shots against lung cancer and other forms of the disease.

Patients in the trial included 61-year-old teacher Gary Keblish, from Brooklyn, who has now been melanoma free for two years.

Moderna's cancer vaccine combined with Merck's immunotherapy drug Keytruda reduces the risk of melanoma returning by 44 percent, scientists say (stock image)

The new shot, designed for people with high-risk melanoma, harnesses mRNA technology that delivers pieces of genetic code from patients' tumors into their cells and teaches the body to fight off cancer. The vaccine is given to people post-surgery to prevent the tumor from returning, and it is tailored to each patient, meaning no two shots will be the same

Scientists are now planning a phase three trial of the shot but said it could take three to four years to get the results.

It comes after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave the treatment 'breakthrough' status in February, meaning officials will keep closer tabs on the data as it comes in. The classification means it can be approved before the full study wraps.

The phase 2 results were presented Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Orlando, Florida.

Dr Sullivan said: 'The relevance of this study is the impact it could have not just for melanoma patients but for other cancers as well.

Gary Keblish, 61, from Brooklyn, was included in the trial. He has now been melanoma free for two years after a dark-brown mole on his back developed the disease

'From a general cancer therapeutic standpoint, this is a potential major breakthrough.'

Dr Jeffrey Weber, an oncologist and deputy director at NYU Langone Perlmutter Cancer Center who was also involved in the study, said: 'For the first time in a randomized study with a control arm, the addition of an mRNA neoantigen vaccine appeared to augment the benefit of [Keytruda] without adding significant high-grade toxicity.

'This study is extraordinarily important, because it gives hope that this novel strategy will provide clinical benefit.'

The new vaccine harnesses mRNA technology - pioneered by Moderna during the Covid pandemic - that uses pieces of genetic code from patients' tumors to teach the body to fight off the cancer.

The vaccine is given to people post-surgery to prevent the tumor from returning, and it is tailored to each patient, meaning no two shots will be the same.

More than one million Americans are living with melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer, roughly 4 percent of whom have advanced forms of the disease.

The phase two clinical trial recruited 157 patients with stage three or four melanoma  where the cancer had spread to other areas of the body such as the lymph nodes  who had already had their tumors removed via surgery.

Participants were split into two groups with 107 receiving the experimental vaccine and Merck's immunotherapy called Keytruda, or pembrolizumab, while 50 received just Keytruda.

Patients received the experimental vaccine  named mRNA-4157/V940  as one dose every three weeks for seven months.

They also received a dose of Keytruda once every three weeks for up to 13 months.

Results showed that in the group that received the cancer vaccine 24 (22 percent of the group) had their cancer return.

But among those who were only administered Keytruda 20 (40 percent) saw their cancer return.

Analysis showed the experimental treatment cut the risk of cancer returning by 44 percent compared to those who only received Keytruda.

There was little difference in response rates to treatments among those whose cancers had a lot of mutations and few mutations.

Severe side effects were similar between the two arms of the study, the scientists reported. Fatigue was the most common one associated with the vaccine, followed by injection site pain and chills.

Patients involved in the study included Gary Keblish, a 61-year-old teacher from Brooklyn, who was diagnosed with late-stage melanoma in 2019.

Mr Keblish told NBC News that he initially 'felt numb' over the diagnosis, with cancer detected in a dark-brown mole on his back that he had had for as long as he could remember.

But he was then signed onto the clinical trial testing a vaccine that may be able to prevent the cancer from coming back.

He was one of the participants who received the experimental vaccine and said that thanks to the treatment he has now been cancer clear for two years.

The companies are now in talks with US regulators about a stage three clinical trial of the treatment. But they warned it would likely be another three to four years before results from these trials are available.

Dr Kyle Holen, Moderna's senior vice president and head of development, said: 'Today's results provide further encouragement for the potential of mRNA as an individualized neoantigen therapy to positively impact patients with high-risk resected [tumor removed] melanoma.

'The profound observed reduction in the risk of recurrence-free survival suggests this combination may be a novel means of potentially extending the lives of patients with high-risk melanoma.

'We look forward to starting the phase three melanoma trial soon and expanding testing to lung cancer and beyond.'

The vaccine uses DNA taken from each patient's tumor.

This genetic snippet is then inserted into messenger RNA  the molecule that carries a cells instructions for making proteins.

Once inside the body, the mRNA delivers this piece of code to human cells, teaching them to recognize cancer cells and attack them if it returns.

The hope is that the body will be able to recognize and destroy them before they can start to multiply and form tumors.
A man has been infected with a bird flu strain in Chile that has 'concerning' mutations feared to make the virus more likely to infect humans.

The 53-year-old is still hospitalized after he came down with a cough, sore throat and hoarseness on March 13. His symptoms worsened and he was sent to an intensive care unit and treated with antiviral medicines and antibiotics.

Tests carried out by Chilean and American health officials this week revealed two concerning mutations in the PB2 gene, thought to make the virus more deadly and transmissible in people.

It comes after experts last week said the virus - which is causing record infections in birds and mammals - was just three or four mutations away from a human outbreak.

Experts highlight four key traits bird flu can pick up through mutation that can lead to it causing a pandemic level event in humans. Two of the mutations would need to occur on the hemagglutinin, the outside parts of the virus that are responsible for binding it to human cells. With these mutations it can travel through the air and bypass the body's natural defenses. Other changes include matching itself to better connect to human viruses rather than bird, and to optimize itself to strike cell proteins

Municipal workers collect dead pelicans on Santa Maria beach in Lima, Peru, on November 30, 2022, as thousands of birds died in November along the Pacific of Peru from bird flu, according to The National Forest and Wildlife Service. A man in Chile is infected with a bird flu that has concerning mutations, according to a new lab analysis. But US health officials said Friday, April 14, 2023, that the threat to people remains low

The new lab analysis looked at the virus found in the lungs of the patient living in Chile's Antofagasta region. According to a World Health Organization (WHO) summary of the case, he is thought to have become infected through contact with sick or dead birds.

The man was healthy and had not traveled recently. He is still hospitalized and being monitored, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Genetic sequencing from pieces of the virus in his lungs week revealed the two concerning mutations.

Past animal studies suggest these mutations could cause the virus to be more harmful or spread more easily, health officials said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the virus was found to have a clade 2.3.4.4b HA and was the same genotype that had been seen most of the wild birds in South America.

This means there is 'no evidence for genetic reassortment compared to A(H5N1) viruses predominating in birds in South America', the agency said, and the virus was '99 percent identical to many viruses identified in A(H5N1) virus-infected wild birds in Chile'.

Analysis of the gene found that it 'lacked amino acid changes that improve recognition of mammalian receptors' or fusion between cell membranes in the virus and the host.

However, the PB2 of the virus 'had two changes compared to PB2 genes typically found in A(H5N1) viruses circulating in wild birds'.

Dr Andrew Pekosz, a flu researcher at Johns Hopkins University, told DailyMail.com the changes to PB2 was a 'worrying mutation because it is one that is known to increase avian influenza virus replication in mammals/humans'.

He added: 'The more H5N1 infects mammals, the more likely we will see more of these adaption mutations start to occur so we really need to find ways to address the massive increase in H5N1 infections seen worldwide so we can limit the virus spilling over to mammals.'

The CDC said there is no evidence that the mutations would make it easier for it to take root in a person's upper lungs  a development that would raise concerns about spread among people.

The mutations do not change public health officials' assessment of the overall risk to people from the H5N1 virus, which 'continues to be low', said Dr Vivien Dugan of the CDC on Friday, as it 'remains primarily an animal health issue'.

The mutations, which have appeared only in the one hospitalized patient, may have occurred after the man got sick, CDC officials said.

As the virus jumps from animal to animal or person to person, there is the opportunity for it to mutate, raising the risk of new variants and mutant strains.

There's no evidence yet that the mutated virus spread to other people, mixed with other flu viruses, or developed the ability to fight off current medicines or evade vaccines, agency officials said.

The fresh outbreak of bird flu cases in humans in Cambodia has lead to fears a new Covid-like pandemic could be on the horizon

Such genetic changes have been seen in past bird flu infections.

Dr Dugan said: 'Nevertheless, it's important to continue to look carefully at every instance of human infection. We need to remain vigilant for changes that would make these viruses more dangerous to people.'

Since early 2022, more than 49 million birds in the US have either died as a result of bird flu virus infection or have been culled.

In the US, it has recently been detected in wild birds in every state, as well as in commercial poultry operations and backyard flocks across the country.

Last week, before the Chilean case was revealed, scientists warned of an inevitable human outbreak.

Dr Mathilde Richard, a virologist at the Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands, told the journal Science: 'This is the threat that's going to keep knocking at our door until it will indeed, I assume, cause a pandemic.

'Because there is no way back.'

She said the virus will inevitably reach the point where all four mutations have occurred and it can strike humans, the time it could take for this varies greatly.

Dr Pekosz told the Associated Press on Friday: 'When these viruses get into humans, there's a likelihood that they start to adapt to grow better in us,' and this is a sign that is happening.

There are just three or four kinds of mutations that would need to be seen in a H5N1 virus 'before that would really raise the alarm signal that something is happening of concern'.

Currently, a person can be infected with bird flu after viral particles enter their body through the mouth, nose or eyes.

Usually, this happens when someone touches an infected surface and then wipes their face.

These instances are rare, though, with only around 1,000 cases ever having been detected in humans.

In a landmark 2012 study, Dutch researchers manufactured the H5N1 bird flu to spread airborne between ferrets.

This type of research falls under the controversial 'gain-of-function' label and has been restricted in most of the world.

But through their studies, the team identified changes to the virus's bindings that allow it to travel through the air and attach to human cells, it's RNA code and that allow it to infect more efficiently and let it escape natural barriers.

Viral pathogens, such as Covid-19, the flu and respiratory syncytial virus transmit most effectively through the air.

But, bird flu has trouble spreading through aerosol particles.

Like other pathogens, the avian flu attaches to a host's cell through a part called the hemagglutinin. These are small proteins on the outer layer of the virus.

When the virus infects an animal's cell, the hemagglutinin fuses with liquid in the cell called the vesicle.

It fuses with it because of the high acidity of the liquid. This allows the virus to melt into the cell and infect the membrane  an inner layer of cell protection.

Once in the membrane, the virus can cause harm to the cell with little resistance, fully infecting it and further transmitting itself when it starts to replicate.

Because water and other surfaces have a relatively balanced pH, the virus can survive on surfaces for long periods of time.

But, it is a different story when it travels through the air after a person sneezes or coughs out particles.

Carbon dioxide in the air causes it to become slightly acidic. As a result, the hemagglutinin will begin to melt and fail to reach a new host.

Scientists say that if the hemagglutinin of bird flu mutates to be more similar to that of Covid or influenza, it will be able to travel through the air.

Once the virus reaches the host, it then must infect them.

The second mutation optimizes the flu to bind to a human cell.

Birds fall into the 'aves' class within the animal kingdom, while humans are considered mammals.

This means they have different biologic makeup, enough that virus's tailored for the animals have trouble with humans.

Avian flu has mutated to optimize itself infect birds and as a result, has a hard time finding non-avian hosts. The virus was first detected in ducks in Europe and Asia, but it is unclear where they picked it up.

But, this could change with simple mutations of the hemagglutinin. A more optimized hemagglutinin would convert more exposures into infections, leading to sharp growth in cases.

Changes to amino acids dubbed the G228S and Q226L will be necessary for this optimization to occur, scientists say after reviewing data from previous outbreaks.

When these amino acids undergo this mutation, they are better adapted to attach to carbohydrates in human cells.

These mutations were detected in previous human outbreaks of the virus.

This includes the 1968 H3N2 outbreak, which originated in America and ended up killing around 1million people worldwide.

The 1957 'Asian flu' outbreak was responsible for 1.1million deaths globally.

Later, it was determined to be caused by the H2N2 strain of bird flu, which also had these mutations.

Both strains of the virus have since vanished from the human population, but their outbreaks show these dangerous mutations are possible.

The Type A H5N1 bird flu was first identified as a threat to people during a 1997 outbreak in Hong Kong, when visitors to live poultry markets caught it.

Sporadic outbreaks have followed, and more than 450 people have died in the past two decades from bird flu infections, according to the WHO. The vast majority of infected people got it directly from birds.

As bird flu hits other species, however, scientists fear the virus could evolve to spread more easily among people. And it has been spreading widely, to birds and animals in scores of countries.
A breakthrough in DNA research could lead to a reversible male contraceptive that works by causing temporary infertility.

Scientists have discovered a gene that is responsible for normal sperm production in humans and other mammals.

Blocking or deactivating it with drugs leads to a reduced sperm count, reduced movement and an abnormal shape, a new study has found.

But simply stopping the medication would allow the gene to reactivate and make the patient produce normal sperm again, experts suggest.

It comes as US Government-funded researchers edge closer to developing a functional male contraceptive pill.

The research could mean we are one step closer to the male contraceptive pill

A team from Washington State University used laboratory mice to see whether deactivating the Arrdc5 gene would affect their fertility.

Analysis revealed these mice produced 28 percent less sperm than their normal counterparts, and that the majority of this sperm was damaged and moved nearly three times slower.

Professor Jon Oatley, one of the studys authors, said: The study identifies this gene for the first time as being expressed only in testicular tissue, nowhere else in the body.

When this gene is inactivated or inhibited in males they make sperm that cannot fertilise an egg, and thats a prime target for male contraceptive development.

Targeting male fertility in this way would not require any hormonal interference, the team said, and the process could be reversible.

You dont want to wipe out the ability to ever make sperm - just stop the sperm that are being made from being made correctly, Professor Oatley said.

Then, in theory, you could remove the drug and the sperm would start being built normally again.

Having a male contraceptive that does not rely on hormones is important because testosterone plays other roles beyond sperm production in men, the researchers said.

While other male contraceptives are currently being tested, the only options available at the moment are a vasectomy or condoms.

As a result of their findings, published in the journal Nature Communications, the researchers are now working on a drug for humans and have filed a patent for a contraceptive blocking the protein made by this gene.

Developing a way to curb population growth and stop unwanted pregnancies is really important for the future of the human race, Professor Oatley added.

Right now, we don't really have anything on the male side for contraception other than surgery and only a small percentage of men choose vasectomies.

If we can develop this discovery into a solution for contraception, it could have far-ranging impacts.

Earlier this year, separate scientists announced they had found an equivalent of the male contraceptive pill that could be taken half an hour before sex.

Used in mice, the treatment prevented 100 percent of pregnancies over around two hours by stopping sperm swimming towards eggs, or maturing so that it is able to fertilize an egg to create a baby.

The researchers, from Cornell University in New York, said they hope it could be used by men, last for 16 hours and then wear off the next day.
More than 200,000 NHS procedures and appointments were postponed because of the devastating four-day junior doctors' strike.

It means the historic walk-out  organised to coincide with fragile hospital staffing rotas around the Easter holidays  caused more carnage than any other during the ongoing pay dispute.

Tens of thousands of junior doctors took to picket lines in pursuit of a whopping 35 per cent pay rise between April 11-15.

Sir Stephen Powis, national medical director for the NHS, branded the impact of the unprecedented 96-hour strike 'colossal'.

He said: 'Todays figures lay bare the colossal impact of industrial action on planned care in the NHS.

It puts to end the dispute that saw tens of thousands of union members strike over the winter months, leading to mass disruption across the health service

Rishi Sunak's spokesperson today said pay negotiations with the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) will not be reopened

'Each of the appointments postponed has an impact on the lives of individuals and their families and creates further pressure on services and on a tired workforce.'

Sir Stephen said the figure, published by NHS England, may be an underestimate of the true impact because some hospitals chose not to schedule appointments on the strike days.

He added: 'Our staff now have an immense amount of work to catch up on hundreds of thousands of appointments, all while continuing to make progress on tackling the backlog of people who have been waiting the longest for treatment.'

READ MORE NHS paramedics, nurses and hospital porters who are part of Unison have accepted Government pay offer Paramedics, nurses and hospital porters in England who are members of Unison have accepted the Government's pay offer. Pictured: Unison ambulance workers on the picket line outside London Ambulance Service in Waterloo, south London, on February 10 2023 Advertisement

Sir Stephen said the impact 'becomes harder' with each strike and that 'the impact on patients and staff will unfortunately continue to worsen'.

NHS Providers chief executive Sir Julian Hartley said: 'As feared, the four-day strike by junior doctors has led to the biggest disruption for patients yet... We cant go on like this.

'The huge number of rescheduled operations and appointments will keep climbing unless the government sits down with unions to find a way to prevent more strikes.'

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: 'This strike action is going on much longer than expected and will have long-term consequences for patients.

'If there are to be further strikes, it is vital that derogations are set out as soon as possible and before further action takes place, so leaders can ensure safe levels of staffing, particularly for urgent and emergency care.

'Otherwise, it will be tougher for NHS leaders to plan and mitigate the effects of strike action, meaning that the impact of any disruption could be far worse than what we have already seen.'

Around half a million appointments and procedures have now been suspended since the winter of discontent began.

The British Medical Association (BMA), which orchestrated the junior doctors' walk-out, is feared to be plotting even more walk-outs in May in order to bring the ailing health service to a standstill once more.

There are also fears it might coordinate with other unions to cripple the NHS.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has also announced a fresh 48-hour strike at the end of April after rejecting No10's 'final' pay offer.

For the first time since walk-outs began, nurses working in A&E, intensive care and cancer wards will picket.

Pat Cullen, chief executive of the union, today said that the RCN will 'get a better deal' and urged the Government to 'pay nurses decently' and 'add to' what they had already offered

Ms Cullen confirmed that the next nurses strike will run over the early May Bank Holiday, from 8pm on April 30 to 8pm on May 2

Fellow union Unite, which was given the same deal, today also revealed it would be holding more action in May because the sum is 'nowhere near good enough'.

Unison, however, 'decisively accepted' the same offer, which amounted to a five per cent pay rise this year plus a one-off bonus averaging 6 per cent.

Downing Street has ruled out improving its pay offer for more than a million workers covered by that deal.

But RCN boss Pat Cullen said: 'We will have to get a better deal.'

Labour's Wes Streeting today called on Health Secretary Steve Barclay to 'swallow his pride' and call in conciliation service Acas to 'mediate an end' to the action.

NHS England data showed 20,470 inpatient procedures had to be rescheduled due to the junior doctors' walk-out last week.

This can include routine procedures like hip and knee replacements, which require an overnight stay in hospital.

The majority (175,755) were outpatient cases, such as X-rays and minor procedures.

The rest of the cancellations were for community services appointments and mental health and learning disability appointments.

An average of 26,145 staff per day were absent from work as a result of the industrial action.
Cancer patient Nilush Aponso knows he is only alive today thanks to a decision by two anonymous mothers to donate the umbilical cords of their newborn babies.

The blood the cords contained provided life-saving cells to cure his cancer.

Nilush, 42, from Barwell, Leicester, who owns a doggy day centre, had an aggressive type of blood cancer, acute myeloid leukaemia.

Initially, chemotherapy had seemed to clear the disease but three months after his treatment finished, the cancer returned.

He was told that the only treatment option left was a stem cell transplant  donated cells that would make their way to his bone marrow, where they could grow and make healthy new blood cells.

Nilush, 42, from Barwell, Leicester, had an aggressive form of blood cancer. He said he encourages the customers at his doggy daycare to donate

Xin Tong with her husband Justas Budraitis and their baby daughter Luna Budraitis (pictured) from Manchester. The couple donated baby Luna's cord blood

'I'd spent eight months in and out of hospital, having three lots of chemotherapy and trying different types of drugs, more than I can remember,' says Nilush. 'But none of them worked and doctors told me my only option left was a transplant.'

Stem cells can be taken from a donor's blood or bone marrow, but the patient's tissue type needs to be matched.

'My younger brother was tested to see if he was a match, but sadly he wasn't,' says Nilush. 'And as I'm Sri Lankan, I was told the chance of finding a match was much lower than usual because there is a shortage of people from minority ethnic backgrounds on the bone marrow register.'

Those from a minority ethnic background have only a 37 per cent chance of finding a bone marrow match from an unrelated donor, whereas someone from a white Caucasian background has a 72 per cent chance because there are many more from this population signed up to the register.

A recruitment drive among the Sri Lankan community in London couldn't find a match for Nilush, so the only chance for him was a transplant of stem cells from cord blood, i.e. that which remains in the placenta and umbilical cord following the birth of a baby.

Stem cells from cord blood don't have to be as highly matched in terms of the donor tissue type as adult stem cells.

This blood is rich in blood stem cells similar to those found in bone marrow, and because these cells have the ability to transform themselves into different types of cells, they can be used to treat a range of blood cancers, genetic disorders and immune deficiencies.

The charity Anthony Nolan, which runs the oldest bone marrow register in the UK, is now campaigning to encourage more parents to donate their baby's cord blood.

Read more: Advertisement

Since starting its cord blood storage programme in 2008, 324 of its donations have been used for life-saving transplants: the charity aims to bank 800 cords a year, from as diverse a population as possible.

The major benefit of cord blood stem cell transplants is they're less likely to be rejected by the host than an adult donor's cells.

'The stem cells from cord blood are more naive as they haven't been exposed to the environment or pathogens that could cause disease to a patient,' explains Dr Roger Horton, lead cord specialist at Anthony Nolan.

'They don't react in a way that could negatively impact the patient's health as much long term, which is always a possibility with cells from adult donors. So we are able to have a higher degree of mismatch and the transplant can still be a success.'

If no suitable donor is found, the charity will scour international registers for a match, as happened with Nilush.

He knows the stem cells used in his transplant came either from the cord blood of a baby born in the U.S. or from one born in Australia, as both matched.

'I'm all over the place  a Sri Lankan, living in England, with an immune system from an American or an Australian,' Nilush laughs.

As well as increasing the number of transplants possible, cord blood stem cells extend the age range of patients to those of retirement age.

'With adult donor cells, high doses of chemotherapy are needed to thoroughly clean out the patient's own immune system  and the side effects of this can be too harsh for older patients or those with other complications,' explains Dr Horton.

'But when using cord blood, you can use much less intense chemo, so it's broadened the window for transplant to people who have recently retired or older.'

Cord blood transplants have also increased the survival rates of some blood cancers, particularly in young patients with high-risk blood cancers. The exact figures are due to be published later this year.

The drawback of using these cells is an umbilical cord only holds 70ml to 300ml of blood.

'It's a finite amount, so we can't go back for a top-up if a patient needs more, which of course we can do if an adult donor is a match,' Dr Horton adds. (And with some diseases 'only adult donor cells will work as it can be given in greater amounts'.)

The actual transplant is relatively simple, Dr Horton says.

'The bag of cord blood, which has been stored at minus 196c, is defrosted in a waterbath at the patient's bedside and is infused via a central line into the chest, in a process lasting less than 20 minutes,' he says.

'It then takes between seven and 28 days to repopulate the bone marrow and create a functioning immune system.'

After having the cord blood transplant in November 2013, Nilush had to stay in hospital for two months. Since then, he has remained cancer free.

Yet when he was diagnosed in June 2012, after losing weight and having no energy, he was told his cancer was so aggressive that he had to start treatment immediately. He wasn't even given the time to go home first.

'I just had to start the chemotherapy straight away,' he recalls.

Anthony Nolan collects cord blood from babies born at five hospitals: St Mary's Oxford Road and St Mary's Wythenshawe, both in Manchester; Leicester Royal Infirmary; Leicester General Hospital and King's College Hospital in London.

Separately, the NHS collects cord blood from University College London Hospital, St George's Hospital in London and Luton & Dunstable University Hospital.

'Immediately after the baby is born, and the placenta is delivered, one of our collectors takes away the placenta and umbilical cord,' says Dr Horton.

Once collected, the blood is processed and tested to ensure it is free of viruses and bacteria, and is used either for research or is frozen and banked to be used for patients in the UK or around the world. It's the same process for cord blood collected by the NHS.

Anthony Nolan works with the NHS in sharing the register and together they store about 35,000 cord blood donations in Nottingham and Bristol. Unlike blood donations, cord blood can be stored indefinitely.

Despite the amount already stored, more donations are needed, particularly to help patients from African, African-Caribbean, Asian, Chinese, Jewish, Eastern European and Mediterranean communities.

Xin Tong, 34, and Justas Budraitis, 29, donated their daughter's cord blood.

Xin was a blood donor in China and is pleased that her daughter Luna has followed suit, saying: 'She was born a life-saver'

The couple, from China and Lithuania respectively, met when they were studying at Manchester University. Now married and still living in the city, their daughter Luna was born on October 26, 2022, weighing 8lb 9oz.

'We wanted to welcome her into the world by doing something with significance,' says Xin, an e-commerce account manager.

We saw the posters up in the hospital about donating when we went for antenatal checks and decided to sign up,' Xin explains. 'It was a simple process and we were told that when we went to hospital for the birth I should tell the midwife, who would inform Anthony Nolan.

'I ended up going into hospital early as Luna had stopped growing and needed to be induced, but I was still able to donate the umbilical cord.'

Xin was a blood donor in China and is pleased that her daughter has followed suit.

'She was born a life saver  she's really special,' says Justas, who is an IT consultant.

Understandably, Nilush and his wife Helen, 55, are also vocal about the importance of cord donation.

'I tell all my customers about its benefits  and since then two of them have donated successfully,' Nilush says, proudly.

'I wish everyone would look into it. I don't know when the parents donated or who they are, but their decision to donate their babies' umbilical cords is why I am here today. And I want other people to have the same chance.'
A face mask that delivers blasts of oxygen could help treat migraines.

The device, which is worn as soon as symptoms start, is thought to work by reducing inflammation in nerve cells that cause pain. It is now being tested in a trial of 160 patients.

Migraines affect around ten million people in Britain, and cause attacks of painful headaches that can be accompanied by nausea, disturbed vision and sensitivity to light, sound and smells.

The exact cause of these attacks is not fully understood. One theory is that its the result of brain cells activating the trigeminal nerve, one of the main nerves in the face, which then relays pain signals back to the brain.

This causes the release of chemicals that irritate blood vessels on the surface of the brain and cause them to swell, which activates additional pain signals.

There is some evidence that the oxygen reduces inflammation and activity in nerve cells linked to cluster headaches  and a similar mechanism has been proposed for migraine relief (file image)

Migraines affect around ten million people in Britain, and cause attacks of painful headaches that can be accompanied by nausea, disturbed vision and sensitivity to light, sound and smells (file image)

Theres no cure for migraine  the main treatments are painkillers and drugs called triptans, which work by lowering inflammation and narrowing blood vessels in the head, reducing pain.

However, these dont always work and triptans can have side-effects such as nausea, dry mouth and drowsiness.

Oxygen therapy is already used in the treatment of cluster headaches  severe attacks of pain in one side of the head, often felt around the eye, which affect one in 1,000 people.

Could garlic ease symptoms of migraine? In a new study by Curtin University in Australia, 240 sufferers will be given a combination of L-arginine (an amino acid involved in blood pressure regulation) and aged garlic, or placebo pills, daily for 12 weeks. (Aged garlic is immersed in liquid for up to 20 months and is said to increase levels of beneficialantioxidant compounds.) Its based on the idea that the combination of supplements will benefit blood flow to the brain. Advertisement

In this case, patients are given cylinders of oxygen to use at home and on-the-go; they are attached to a face mask and activated at the first signs of a painful attack.

There is some evidence that the oxygen reduces inflammation and activity in nerve cells linked to cluster headaches  and a similar mechanism has been proposed for migraine relief.

The new migraine trial follows an earlier study by Massachusetts General Hospital, on 22 patients, where oxygen devices were four times as effective as a placebo (filled with air) at easing pain.

Relief of nausea was also higher in the oxygen group  42 per cent compared to 23 per cent  and there was a greater improvement in visual symptoms  36 per cent versus 7 per cent, reported the journal Cephalalgia.

Now, 160 migraine sufferers who seek help in A&E at Ankara Research Hospital in Turkey will be offered standard anti-inflammatory painkillers at the first sign of an attack  and half will also be given oxygen therapy, via a mask delivering 10 litres of oxygen per minute.

They will breathe in the oxygen for up to one hour, and pain levels before and after will be compared in the two groups.

Dr Andrew Dowson, clinical lead at NHS East Kent and Bromley Headache Services, said: It is always good to see more research into migraine especially with treatment options that are unlikely to cause bad side-effects.

The evidence for use of oxygen in cluster headache is clinically uncontroversial and is included in the NICE guidelines.

Oxygen has been suggested as a possible treatment for migraine, and if the new study is positive we will need to assess how strong the evidence is and balance that with the logistical issues of delivering home oxygen for patients.

Did you know?

Eating high-fat, sugary foods may rewire our brain, making us crave more of them, a study by Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research in Germany found.

A box of doughnuts. Eating high-fat, sugary foods may rewire our brain, making us crave more of them, research has found (file image)

Researchers measured brain activity in a group given a high-fat, high-sugar pudding daily for eight weeks, compared with another group who received a pudding that contained the same calories but less fat and sugar.

They found the sugary pudding group had an activated dopaminergic system (responsible for motivation and reward) in response to these foods, so they craved more of them in future.
Seven million people in England are currently waiting for treatment on the NHS.

That's more than the entire populations of some countries, including Denmark and New Zealand.

For many, the delays will be adding to their existing anxieties over having a serious  even life-threatening  illness.

Just under half of those referred to a specialist will have been in the queue for longer than 18 weeks  the maximum target set in 2004 by the Government. And more than 360,000 of them will have been waiting a year or more.

It's a deeply troubling state of affairs that has been thrown into sharp focus by the impact of the junior doctors' strike.

While the impact of the virus may have worsened the bottlenecks, the problem of rising patient demand is of longer standing (file image)

Last week's four-day walkout by medics demanding a 35 per cent pay rise was expected to lead to the cancellation of another quarter of a million appointments (striking doctors on April 14)

Last week's four-day walkout by medics demanding a 35 per cent pay rise was expected to lead to the cancellation of another quarter of a million appointments and operations across the NHS.

However, 'treatment delays existed long before the doctors' strike  and also the Covid-19 pandemic,' Danielle Jefferies, a senior analyst with independent think-tank The King's Fund, told Good Health.

Indeed, while the impact of the virus may have worsened the bottlenecks, the problem of rising patient demand is of longer standing. And the potential consequences are terrifying.

Studies show that for each month patients with breast, bowel or head and neck cancers have their treatment delayed, the chances of them dying from the disease increase by 6 to 13 per cent.

Meanwhile, eye specialists fear some people may suffer permanent sight loss because they cannot get to a specialist in time to prevent the worsening of serious conditions such as glaucoma, which affects around 700,000 people in Britain.

'This is extremely urgent,' says Mel Hingorani, a consultant ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London and honorary secretary of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists. 'We are seeing people develop sight loss as a result of being unable to access services.'

Waiting lists for common complaints Cancer patients waiting: 229,721 Heart conditions patients waiting: 372,803 Joint patients waiting: 792,000 Eye care patients waiting: 656,000 Gynaecology patients waiting: 570,000 Advertisement

What's more, according to figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, an estimated 117,000 people in England died in 2021 while awaiting NHS treatment.

But what are the driving forces behind this crisis? Good Health looked at some of the worst-hit sectors to unravel the truth.

According to NHS England targets, 93 per cent of patients in England given an urgent cancer referral should be seen by a specialist within 14 days. Latest NHS figures show that in February, only 86.1 per cent were seen within that target time.

Cancer Research UK says this means at least 16,000 patients a month missed out on being seen within the targeted time (based on the 93 per cent target).

Similarly, only 58 per cent of cancer patients were started on treatment (such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy) within 62 days of an urgent referral. The target in England is 85 per cent, which means that nearly 4,000 patients began treatment later than they should have done, Cancer Research UK claims.

The charity's director of evidence and implementation, Naser Turabi, told Good Health: 'There isn't a single bit of the system that does not have shortages.

'The first step for most patients is seeing the GP  there are problems accessing them and if they do, GPs often don't have enough time  but it can take a long conversation to arrive at a suspected cancer case.'

Other countries with better cancer outcomes, such as Norway, Australia and Germany, spend up to 40 per cent more on cancer care and have much higher levels of referrals (i.e. a lower threshold for suspicion of cancer and more investment in diagnostics) than the UK, he says.

And this has knock-on effects: a recent report by the NHS Confederation found UK survival rates lag behind the European average in nine out of ten cancer types.

Despite improvements in UK cancer outcomes, patients here still face a lower chance of survival from stomach, bowel, lung, breast, ovarian and prostate cancers than patients in Germany, France or Italy, for instance.

Naser Turabi says that for the UK to improve, large-scale investment is needed to bolster hospitals' diagnostic services.

'There aren't enough GPs to assess patients and put them on the cancer pathway [i.e. the process by which they get diagnosed and treated],' he says. 'And even if there were, we'd need a lot more scanners and staff.'

In February this year, around 1.23 million people were waiting for key cancer diagnostic tests in England. Of these, 22 per cent have been waiting six weeks or more.

One improvement that Cancer Research UK is pushing for is training for radiographers  who carry out X-rays and MRI or CT scans  to identify cancers and raise the alarm over any suspicious images.

Currently, they must pass the images on to radiologists  medically trained doctors  to assess them, even though there is a shortage of radiologists, meaning that scans are not always checked promptly.

'It's a real missed opportunity,' says Naser Turabi. 'Radiographers could be easily trained to prioritise the scans that need urgent treatment.'

More patients in England are waiting for cardiac care  ranging from a heart scan to the insertion of a pacemaker or reopening of a blocked artery  than at any time in history; a record 372,803 in February this year, according to NHS data. This is a 60 per cent jump on February 2020 figures.

Worse still, more than 136,000 had spent more than the NHS target of 18 weeks in the queue for potentially life-saving heart care and almost 10,000 had been waiting over a year for often time-critical heart tests and treatments.

The British Heart Foundation says high demand is partly due to a rise in patients seeking help for problems that were not attended to during the pandemic, as well as the growing needs of Britain's ageing population.

In Scotland, figures (available up to June 2022) show the number of heart patients waiting more than four months jumped to 5,083  nine times pre-pandemic levels.

In Wales, up to August 2022, 37 per cent of people waited eight weeks or more, compared with just 6 per cent of people in August 2019. And in Northern Ireland, at the end of September 2022 there were 3,271 waiting; up 43 per cent on pre-pandemic levels.

'Each month, we are seeing far too many people waiting far too long for time-critical heart care  waiting too many weeks for a heart test that could unlock life-saving treatment or even a year for heart surgery,' says Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

According to a report published by the charity in December 2022, this is due to 'too few staff being trained to keep up with demand'.

So how long will you wait? The NHS Constitution says that patients should be seen within 18 weeks once referred to a specialist. But this has proved an impossible target, as these NHS England figures, from February 2023, reveal. Proportion of patients seen within 18 weeks of referral: Elderly medicine: 81.7 per cent

Heart/lung surgery: 66.7 per cent

Respiratory care: 65.5 per cent

Internal medicine: 65.3 per cent

Rheumatology: 64.8 per cent

Neurology: 56.3 per cent

General surgery: 55.4 per cent

Orthopaedic: 54.2 per cent

Gynaecology: 54.1 per cent

Plastic surgery: 53.1 per cent

Oral surgery: 52 per cent

Ear, nose and throat: 51.4 per cent Advertisement

One particular area of concern is a shortage of cardiac physiologists  experts who carry out tests such as echocardiography, where ultrasound is used to check on the state of the heart. This is vital for assessing damage to cardiac muscle from a heart attack, monitoring heart failure (where the heart struggles to pump blood around the body) and diagnosing birth defects that stop hearts working properly. Without these checks, the chance to prevent someone's condition deteriorating may be missed.

The BHF report found almost 80 per cent of NHS cardiac units struggled to recruit qualified staff for tasks such as echocardiograms. It warned: 'We won't tackle long waiting lists for heart tests if these shortages are not addressed.'

The BHF has called for the Government to set up surgical 'hubs' across the country to tackle the backlog of heart surgery, plus more community diagnostic centres where patients can get faster diagnoses rather than face hospital delays.

It says ministers have committed to some of its proposals in the elective recovery plan  a blueprint drawn up in 2022 to tackle the surplus of patients needing treatment as a result of delays caused by the pandemic.

One of the NHS sectors worst hit by the pandemic-induced restrictions on surgery was hip and knee replacement surgery, which effectively ground to a halt when hospitals filled up with Covid patients.

Across England, 792,000 patients are waiting for treatment for everything from broken bones to hip or knee replacements. And nearly half of them  363,000  have been on the list for more than 18 weeks, according to NHS data for February 2023. More than 52,000 have been on the waiting list for at least a year and 353 for two years or more.

In Scotland, up to December 2022, just under 47,000 patients were waiting to be seen for orthopaedic problems  nearly 1,500 of them for more than a year; while in Wales 98,555 were awaiting treatment at the end of January.

In Northern Ireland, almost two-thirds of the 25,000 or so people needing treatment have to wait at least a year.

Need a scan? Join the queue PATIENTS WAITING: 1.58million Scans and other investigations are vital for diagnosing serious illnesses. But data reveals that 1.58 million people in England alone were waiting for an appointments at the end of January  up almost 9 per cent from the same time in 2022. These include: Ultrasound: 535,949

MRI scans: 294,469

CT scans: 182,610

Echocardiography (for heart ailments): 164,825

Audiology (hearing) checks: 81,964

Colonoscopy (to check on the bowels): 79,926

Gastroscopy (for stomach problems): 66,985

Dexa scan (for bones): 62,469

Flexible cystoscopy (to check the bladder): 27,553

Peripheral neurophysiology (for diabetes): 26,088 Advertisement

Deborah Alsina, chief executive of the charity Versus Arthritis, says: 'Joint replacement waiting times are destroying the lives of people with arthritis who desperately need surgery and support.

'Some are having to give up work, struggling to walk down the stairs or even leave their homes.'

The charity is calling for a network of 'surgical hubs'  hospitals with facilities ring-fenced for planned joint surgery  so that more operations can be done.

Of all the medical specialties across the NHS, ophthalmology has one of the largest treatment backlogs  more than 656,000 in England alone at the last count (up to November 2022), which is more than the entire population of the city of Bristol.

But the Royal College of Ophthalmologists claims the numbers needing help could be much higher because they only include patients awaiting a first appointment, usually to get a diagnosis.

The numbers don't include the thousands more waiting for delayed follow-up appointments to manage their chronic conditions, such as glaucoma, which is a leading cause of blindness.

Around 700,000 people in the UK are affected by glaucoma, where the optic nerve (which connects the eye to the brain) becomes damaged by a build-up of fluid, and they can need three or six-monthly checks to make sure their treatment (usually drops to reduce pressure in the eye) is working and their vision is not deteriorating.

The College warns that permanent vision loss is nine times more likely to occur in follow-up patients than in new ones.

Mel Hingorani, the honorary secretary of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, says: 'We aim to see all high-risk patients (those in most danger of permanent vision loss) every three to four months and low-risk patients every 12 to 18 months.

'But 75 per cent of NHS trusts cannot attract the number of consultant ophthalmologists they need to cover the workload  and we are starting to see people with sight loss as a result.'

As well as 40 per cent more consultants to cope with the expanding workload, there have been calls for the NHS to make better use of Britain's 14,000 optometrists  who work alongside High-Street opticians but are specialists in screening for eye disease  in order to meet some of the shortfalls in hospital care.

Around 570,000 women in England are living with extreme pain, heavy bleeding and declining mental health because they cannot get to see an NHS gynaecologist  in some cases waiting for years, according to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Covid restrictions were especially bad for this specialty as many operations considered non-urgent were cancelled.

Many awaiting surgery for conditions such as fibroids (benign growths in the womb) or incontinence fell into this category.

In a 2022 report, the College warned that the number of women in England waiting more than a year for treatment soared from less than one in 1,000 before the pandemic to more than one in 20 afterwards.

It surveyed 837 women stuck on waiting lists for conditions such as endometriosis  which affects one woman in ten of reproductive age and causes heavy and excruciatingly painful periods  and found that 80 per cent had suffered a decline in mental health as a result of the delays. Three-quarters of the women said it was affecting their work and social life.

The College wants the NHS to focus funding on areas where the waiting lists are longest, and also to ring-fence cash in order to tackle the backlog.

Faye Farthing, head of communications and campaigns at the charity Endometriosis UK, told Good Health: 'Gynaecology is one of the worst-affected areas when it comes to NHS waiting times and it's having a huge impact on women's lives.

'We even hear of women losing their jobs because they are not able to work due to pain.'

At risk of going blind

Charlotte Cheetham, 62, a former occupational health nurse, runs a cattery with husband Peter, 64, and lives in Somerset. They have three grown-up children. She says:

Charlotte Cheetham, 62: I dont know how quickly my vision might deteriorate to the point where I am blind. Its a frightening prospect

Back in November last year, I was told I needed urgent surgery to save my sight  and Im still waiting to have it.

I have open-angle glaucoma, which means that fluid that should keep the eye healthy instead builds up and is pressing on the optic nerve.

The optic nerve sends vision messages to the brain so damage to it could leave me blind.

The condition was picked up by an eye test about ten years ago. Initially, I was prescribed eye drops (which reduce the production of fluid), but gradually my vision got worse.

It has quite a big knock-on effect on my life. I can no longer drive; I can just about read and watch television with glasses, but my distance vision is badly affected.

At my check-up in November, I was told the pressure around the optic nerve in my right eye was so bad that I needed an urgent operation to insert a shunt (a hollow tube) to keep the drainage channels open.

But it still hasnt been done. The appointments have been cancelled five times in all  once, last month, owing to the junior doctors strike.

I now have a date for today and I am dreading getting a call to say that it, too, has been cancelled.

Im pretty depressed about the delays. I dont know how quickly my vision might deteriorate to the point where I am blind. Its a frightening prospect.

We can't start a family

Josie Sensier, 29, works in mental health and lives in Manchester. She says:

Josie Sensier, 29: I work for the NHS and I know were all struggling. But waiting times are unreasonable. I feel Im in limbo and its devastating

Ive been waiting over 12 months to see a gynaecologist; I fear it might take years. I have endometriosis  a painful condition in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows elsewhere, making it, among other things, difficult to get pregnant.

The repeated cancellations and long wait are having a terrible impact on me and my partner. Its so frustrating.

Not only are my dreams of motherhood on hold, but my symptoms can be agonising: pain, sickness and heavy bleeding can leave me bedbound for days.

Theres a procedure known as a laparoscopy, where they look inside the abdomen and remove any extra endometriosis tissue.

That would reduce my symptoms and increase my chances of having a baby. Ive had it before  in 2012 and 2016  but I need it again as the tissue can regrow.

The problem is I cannot get in front of a specialist even to arrange the procedure.

And I know from experience that once I see a gynaecologist it can then take another nine months to have it done on the NHS.

My GP referred me in March 2022, and my first appointment finally came through in February this year. But its since been cancelled five times owing to clinics being reorganised.

I work for the NHS and I know were all struggling. But waiting times are unreasonable. I feel Im in limbo and its devastating.

Too much pain to walk

Caryl Wright, 72, volunteers in a cathedral shop and lives in Norwich. She says:

Caryl Wright, 72: I worry that if the surgery on my left knee isnt done soon I wont even be able to care for myself at home

I first developed pain in my right knee ten years ago and a scan showed that it was osteoarthritis  wear and tear of the joint.

The doctor said I may need surgery at some point but to manage with painkillers. By 2017 it was absolute agony.

I couldnt straighten it properly or walk on anything except flat ground. I was put on a waiting list for surgery and had to wait two and-a-half years to have my partial knee replacement in June 2022.

But any relief was short-lived because, almost immediately afterwards, I felt pain in my left knee. I couldnt believe it.

I had waited so long to be pain-free. I saw my consultant in July, who said that during the long wait for surgery in my right knee, I had been limping and putting extra pressure on the left side, so the arthritis there had got worse in that time.

I now needed a full joint replacement in my left knee, and was warned  again  that the waiting list was long. That was months ago and Ive still had no news.

I live outside Norwich in the countryside and loved going for walks, but now its too painful.

I had to give up my hobby of singing because I can no longer stand for long periods, and also had to give up as a cathedral tour guide because I cannot walk for long.

I worry that if the surgery on my left knee isnt done soon I wont even be able to care for myself at home.

Case study interviews: Angela Epstein, Julie Cook and Lucy Elkins
New laws come about as over a dozen states curtail trans minors' access to care

Democrat-led Colorado is a liberal peninsula among a see of hostile red states

A trio of new laws ensures that people traveling there for care won't be punished

Colorado will become the first state to legally protect teen transgender treatment 'tourism' as part of a trio of bills signed by its Democratic governor.

The new laws mean healthcare providers cannot be sued by red states where gender-affirming medication and surgery are illegal if their residents travel to Colorado for care.

It makes Colorado a safe haven for children under-18 with gender dysphoria looking for puberty blockers, hormone therapies and sex change operations - which have been restricted in more than a dozen Republican states.

Two more states - Indiana and Idaho - have banned transgender care for minors, signing bills into law

The trio of new laws signed by Democratic Gov Jared Polis establishes Colorado as a safehaven for abortion access as well as access to transition healthcare services for transgender people

Leading US medical authorities support so-called gender-affirming care for minors but conservatives and some experts argue children are too young to make irreversible changes to their bodies.

The three bills that Gov Jared Polis signed into law on Friday also protect healthcare providers from being sued by neighboring states if their residents travel to Colorado for abortions.

Bordering states of Wyoming and Oklahoma are among the red states that have severely restricted transgender care for minors and abortions.

Gov Polis said: Here in Colorado, we value individual freedoms, and we stand up to protect themIm excited by the work of advocates and legislators to further Colorados reputation as a beacon of freedom, a beacon of choice, a beacon of individuality where we live our own lives on our own terms in a Colorado for all.

Democratic state Sen. Julie Gonzales added: We see you and in Colorado, weve got your back.

But Conservatives have pushed back on liberal efforts to make interstate travel for restricted healthcare easier.

Republican-controlled Idaho, for instance, has become the first state to pass a law explicitly restricting some out-of-state travel for abortions.

In Colorado, debates over the bills led by the Republican minority lasted more than 29 hours.

State and federal legislatures have taken to calling interstate travel for controversial healthcare abortion tourism, prompting Democrats to reinforce constitutional protections for free interstate travel.

Abortion is restricted or outright banned in states largely concentrated in the southern US

Democratic state Sen. Julie Gonzales, a supporter of the bills, said: We see you and in Colorado, weve got your back

Last year, Nevada Democratic Sen Catherine Cortez Masto introduced a bill called the Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act, which would make it unlawful for a person or a government official to prevent or punish traveling across state lines to receive or provide reproductive health care that is legal in that State.

Senate Republicans shot it down, calling it radical and an effort to inflame the public and raise the what-ifs.

Democrat-led New Mexico passed a similar abortion protection bill earlier this year to legally shield people who seek abortions or gender-affirming care, and those who provide the treatments, from interstate investigations.

Colorados government has set itself apart among a largely Republican cluster of states in the Midwest where over the past few years transgender peoples access to puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and transition surgeries have become heavily restricted, and in the cases of care for minors, banned outright.

Fully expecting the Supreme Court to overturn the 1973 decision that guaranteed a right to abortion last spring, Polis and the Democratic-majority state legislature codified the right to the procedure into the state constitution, meaning any Coloradan who wants an abortion could get one regardless of the SCOTUS ruling.

In the months leading up to the June decision and immediately following it, emergency trips to Colorado from abortion-hostile states for abortion services ballooned 33 percent, the third-most of any state. The uptick began in April, around the time when Colorados neighbor Texas passed a vigilante-style law that banned abortion at six weeks.

Colorado also became the first state in October 2021 to include transition-related care for transgender people as part of the requirements for essential health care in the state, meaning people looking to access those transition services will be able to use the health insurance they pay for to get the care they need.

Already tenuous access to transition care services, also referred to as gender-affirming care, is dissipating across the US and quickly.

Over a dozen states have limited access to some extent. Most recently, Indiana Gov Eric Holcomb banned all transition care for minors starting in July.

This means that minors currently receiving transition care in Indiana have until the end of the year to stop doing so. Starting July 1, transgender youth under 18 will be prohibited from accessing hormone therapy, puberty blockers and surgeries in the state.

The June 2022 decision in the Supreme Court case that returned abortion policy-making power to individual states created a confusing patchwork of laws governing the procedure across the US. The inconsistent laws in combination with increased wait times created a new migratory pattern in which patients are forced to drive hours or even days to an abortion-friendly state.
A new map has laid bare the areas of England that are worst affected by the country's ever-growing pothole nightmare.

New data has revealed some councils are being buried under an avalanche of complaints about crumbling roads, with some dealing with tens of thousands craters.

The figures, obtained through a series of freedom of information (FOI) requests, show that Derbyshire is the worst hit county in the country after having more than 90,000 pothole reports.

Meanwhile, some councils took more than a year-and-a-half to fix some pockmarked roads, with residents in five areas having to wait more than 400 days for their local authority to fix some individual potholes.

It means motorists are being forced to 'swerve around an obstacle course of tarmac craters' in a bid to avoid potentially costly damage to their vehicle's suspension, wheels and shock absorbers.

Seawick Road in St Osyth, Essex, (pictured) is one of thousands of roads across Britain plagued by potholes

The data, obtained by the Liberal Democrats, shows huge discrepancies in the number of potholes in different parts of the country in 2021/22 with rural areas seeing by far the greatest amount.

Of the 81 councils who responded, Derbyshire had the most potholes with a staggering 90,596 reported that year.

This was followed by Lancashire with 67,439, Northumberland with 51,703 and Surrey with 43,191. Cornwall, North Yorkshire, West Sussex and Staffordshire all also had above 20,000 potholes.

By comparison, the London boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea, Newham and Bexley had the fewest with 62, 138 and 208 respectively.

When it came to fixing potholes some individula craters were left for more than a year-and-a-half before being fixed.

In Stoke-On-Trent one hold was left for 567 days before filling it in, while one Westminster took 556 days before being removed.

Norfolk, East Sussex and Wiltshire all saw at least one pothole go unrepaired for more than 400 days.

Newham council in London was the slowest to fix potholes in general, taking an average of 56 days to fix them.

This was followed by Lambeth, Stoke-on-Trent and Norfolk, which took average of 50 days, 48 days and 39.9 days to fill in their holes.

It comes after a report by the Asphalt Industry Alliance last month revealed that clearly Britain's pothole backlog costs 14billion a year - up 1.5billion on the previous 12 months.

Areas with the top 10 average times to fix potholes 1. Newham - 56 days 2. Lambeth - 50 days 3. Stoke-on-Trent - 48 days 4. Norfolk - 39.93 days 5. North East Lincolnshire - 34 days 6. Westminster - 30 days 7. Southampton - 29.95 days 8. West Sussex - 29.66 days 9. Hammersmith and Fulham - 28 days 10. Suffolk - 26.9 days

Areas with the top 10 longest times to fix individual potholes 1. Stoke-on-Trent - 567 days 2. Westminster - 556 days 3. Norfolk - 482 days 4. East Sussex - 463 days 5. Wiltshire - 453 days 6. Warwickshire - 304 days 7. Lambeth - 300 days 8. Suffolk - 296 days 9. Shropshire - 285 days 10. West Sussex - 273.48 days

Data collated from freedom of information (FOI) request shows that Derbyshire has the highest number of reported potholes, followed by Lancashire and Northumberland

The Lib Dems blamed a 'postcode lottery' in its latest attack on Tory spending cuts and is demanding the Government reverse cuts to road maintenance budgets as councils reveal the number of potholes they are dealing with has jumped by nearly 35,000 in four years.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has sought to focus on fixing Britain's ailing roads in the run-up to May's local elections.

Opponents have accused him of deploying a 'complete re-hash' of a year-old pothole crackdown, with Downing Street confirming there is no new money on top of the 200million in the Budget.

The nationwide pothole nightmare has left some communities blighted with crater-filled roads.

Remarkable pictures taken in St Osyth, a seaside community in Essex, showed one road that is so pocked that taxi drivers refuse to go down it to pick up residents and emergency services struggle to access it.

Some 556,658 of the road defects were reported in the financial year 2021/22, up from 519,968 in 2017/18, according to data obtained from 81 councils responding to the Lib Dems' FOI.

Roads in Derbyshire County Council were the hardest hit with 90,596 potholes, followed closely by Lancashire County Council with 67,439 and Northumberland County Council with 51,703, the party said.

The Lib Dems accused the Government of creating a 'pothole postcode lottery' by cutting local authorities' highways maintenance budgets by 500 million since 2020-21 and announcing only a 200million top-up to the national potholes fund in the Budget.

The party's local government spokesperson, Helen Morgan MP, said: 'Potholes have become a plague on our roads. Motorists should not have to spend their journeys choosing between hitting potholes or dangerously swerving around an obstacle course of tarmac craters.

'Hardworking people are paying huge bills to repair damage from potholes, while this Conservative Government takes away the money local councils need to repair our roads.

'It is not fair for local residents in some areas of the country to be waiting over a year for road repairs because their council cannot afford it.

The total number of potholes filled reported in this year's survey has decreased by 16 per cent from 1.7million reported for the last two years to 1.4million in England and Wales

'The pothole, postcode lottery needs to end. That's why the Liberal Democrats are demanding that the Government reverses its cuts to councils' road maintenance budgets in full, so they can get on with fixing our roads.'

On a visit to Darlington last month, the Prime Minister highlighted new regulations that will see utility companies penalised for leaving streets in poor condition.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: 'We're investing more than 5.5billion to maintain roads up and down the country, and cracking down on utility companies that leave potholes in their wake, so motorists and cyclists can enjoy smoother, safer journeys.'

Mr Sunak said: 'There'll be more fines, more inspections, that's also going to help. We want to make sure it's easy for people to get around.'

Labour said the announcement echoed a 2021 Government pledge to make potholes a thing of the past and accused ministers of 'broken promises'.

The Lib Dems described it as a 'complete re-hash' and said the 'blunt truth' was that roads will continue to fall into disrepair until councils received the funding to fix them.

Conservative Party chairman Greg Hands said: 'If you are unfortunate enough to live in an area with a Liberal Democrat council it's less likely your potholes will be fixed.

'Labour's record is no better. Their only plan to stop potholes in Wales is to simply stop building any roads.

'Conservatives fix more potholes than Labour or the Liberal Democrats.'

Jonathan White, legal and compliance director at National Accident Helpline, said tens of thousands of people are injured each year by potholes and other road defects.

'Many people suffer significant injuries as a result of pothole accidents as pedestrians or cyclists, including brain and spinal injuries in the most serious cases,' he said.

'The most common injuries tend to be ligament damages to ankles and knees and sprains and fractures to wrists.

'Many people dont bring claims for these sorts of accidents because of a perceived stigma around compensations culture or worries about legal costs or process. Local authorities and councils are legally required to maintain public roads and pavements to a standard that ensures they are safe for road users.

'It must ensure the road or pavement it is maintained effectively for the volume and type of traffic use and make repairs swiftly to any known damages. It is not easy to bring a successful personal injury claim for potholes.'

The Lib Dems accused the Government of creating a 'pothole postcode lottery' by cutting local authorities' highways maintenance budgets by 500 million since 2020-21 and announcing only a 200million top-up to the national potholes fund in the Budget

A survey by the Asphalt Industry Alliance claims it would take 11 years for local authorities to fix every crumbling road in England and Wales, up from nine years in 2022.

Last year the trade body found it would cost councils 12.64billion to fill in all potholes  but since then the repair bill has risen by 11 per cent to 14.02billion.

The Daily Mail is campaigning for an end to the nation's pothole plague, which is costing drivers millions in repair bills and putting cyclists' lives at risk.

Overall, the AIA found there were 8,000 fewer miles of road classified as 'good' compared with last year, a fall of 4 per cent.

And one in every nine miles of local road is now in 'poor condition' and likely to require maintenance in the next 12 months.

Despite the deteriorating state of the nation's roads, only 1.4million potholes were filled in 2022/3, down from 1.7million in the previous year.

The AIA's Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey found shortfalls in pothole repair budgets among local authorities had reached a record high.

Councils in England and Wales said they only received two-thirds of what they needed during the current financial year to stop local roads further deteriorating, the ALARM survey found.
When Rob Wallis and Sam Hunt secured their first order with Waitrose, they could hardly believe their luck.

The school friends had only launched their canned cocktail drink firm, Moth, two-and-a-half years earlier, and were still in the process of securing an investment round.

Fast forward two years and Moth is among the most popular ready-to-drink cocktail brands in the UK.

It has been a whirlwind for the duo, which has seen them go from bottling cocktails by hand to their products being available in 2,000 stores nationwide.

The pair seem a mixture of excited and bemused at their near-overnight success.

Rob Wallis (left) and Sam Hunt (right) launched Moth drinks in 2018 and are now stocked in 2,000 stores nationwide

Rob and Sam, both 28, have known each other 'for donkey's years', having gone to school together before both ending up at York university.

'Looking after people with food and drink has been a massive part of our relationship and our lives,' says Rob. 'Cooking together at university, hosting when you haven't got loads of money, there's nothing quite like having people over and being hospitable.'

'You come home on a Friday night and in your fridge you've got a can of beer or a bottle of wine, but there was no way to have a cocktail as easy as that. Why couldn't I have an Old Fashioned as easy as a can of beer or glass of Sauvignon Blanc?

'We just couldn't find it. I sent Sam a Facebook message and said I wanted to start a company that makes the perfect bottled Old Fashioned. He sent back the immortal reply, which I still have screen-shotted somewhere: 'That's not actually a terrible idea'.'

From there, Rob and Sam launched their first company Buveur, hand filling and hand labelling cocktails in a glass bottle. It secured them a spot in Selfridges, which eventually led to being stocked at the Ritz, but it still wasn't what the friends had envisioned.

'You spot the slight issue that we keep talking about a can of beer and a bottle of cocktail' says Rob. 'It was one of the things we'd always said, as easy as a can of beer but we were in a glass bottle.'

After painstakingly building the brand for two-and-a-half years the duo rebranded to its current version with a canned drink range.

But then the pandemic hit and so many of their partners were forced to close that the pair had to sell via Amazon.

A surprise success

The ready-to-drink cocktail market had largely gone under the radar before the pandemic. Canned gin and tonics had been on offer, but the trend for hard seltzer seen in the US had not yet made it across the pond.

The pandemic completely changed the rules.

It's not the failure that will kill you, it's the big success

'I wish I could say we knew it was coming and we did everything to be ready but it's not true,' says Rob. 'We were there at the right time in the right place and that meant we could have the conversation with Waitrose, which changed everything.'

Overnight, Moth had gone from being a small brand led by best friends to being rolled out in 200 Waitrose stores nationwide. It was the most cocktails Moth had made in the whole preceding two-and-a-half years.

'We said when we rebranded, either this goes and we're ready for scale or it doesn't work. We said to ourselves, it's not the failure that will kill you, it's the big success,' says Rob.

Sam adds: 'Everyone says you've got to plan for stuff to go wrong, but I think a lot of startups fail to plan for success.'

For two entrepreneurs who say they had little understanding of the business, they strike a mature tone when it comes to the market.

Their 'plan for success' meant they focused solely on Waitrose for the first year, which led to Moth becoming the second biggest ready-to-drink brand in the upmarket store, behind only drinks giant Diageo.

Now, Moth can be found in Sainsbury's, Tesco and even on British Airways flights. There are eight cocktails in the range, including the French 75, Aperitivo Spritz and Pina Colada, which launched last October, adding to the existing range of Negroni, Margarita, Espresso Martini, Old Fashioned and Mojito.

'The aim really is to become the market leader in premium ready-to-drink,' says Sam. '[We want to] become a household brand like FeverTree, growing that brand and watching consumers learn about Moth and love us. It's unbelievably rewarding.'

Rob adds: 'It's surreal that people know who we are who aren't our mums! I remember walking down a road in London, seeing one of our Old Fashioned cans that had been left on the side of the street. I think I took about 100 photos!'

Moth now has eight cocktails in its range, including its bestseller Margarita

'We made a product for us'

The duo have managed to make their mark in an industry they actually have little experience in.

While Rob spent some time working in luxury hospitality as a bartender, Sam has a background in film and television.

Moth is now the ninth most popular ready-to-drink brand in the UK, outselling White Claw hard seltzer, according to Nielsen figures.

It's surreal that people know who we are that aren't our mums!

What did they manage to do right?

Certainly the pandemic helped catapult premixed cocktails into the mainstream.

Moth is on the pricier end - a can is 3.90 for 125ml, almost double the average 2 - but being the cheapest on the market was not what they set out do.

'Deliciousness was the core of it. And we've got to persuade consumers to pick it up with no marketing budget,' says Sam. 'It was standing at a supermarket shelf and going, right well everyone else is colourful, we'll be black and white. Everyone else is in big cans, we'll be in small cans. Everyone else is shiny, we'll be matte.'

Do they consider themselves disruptors in what is fast-becoming a crowded market?

'I think there's two types of entrepreneurs,' says Rob. 'There's people who just have an idea, and there's people who think there's a niche in a market that needs disruption, like Harry's with razors.

'That's not us, we want to build a product that we're genuinely proud of, and, actually, it turns out it's the right time and right place.'

The demographic they are selling to has likely been a significant factor in their success. The friends admit their core market is millennials, although they say the gender split is fairly even.

Top 10 ready to drink brands 1 - WKD (1.25) 2 - Gordons G&T (2.25) 3 - Jack Daniels (2.10) 4 - Malibu (2) 5) Smirnoff (2) 6) Funkin (2.20) 7) All Shook Up (1.85) 8) Captain Morgan (2.35) 9) Moth (3.90) 10) Tails (3.75) Figures - Nielsen

But at nearly double the price for half the amount of an average canned cocktail, just how much disposable income will this group have in the months to come?

The Moth founders insist that growth continues at breakneck speed, enjoying their biggest-ever Christmas in the business, but they know they'll have to diversify their revenue stream.

They have partnered with grocery delivery startups like Gorillas and Zapp, again popular among millennials, and recently launched a direct-to-consumer offering through their website.

Where they think they can make the most impact is in the hospitality industry, though.

'There's a staffing crisis and we think we can help,' says Rob. 'For an overstretched team that's being asked to serve cocktails, [selling Moth drinks] actually makes that easier and quicker for the team, and therefore the customer, and is a massive opportunity.

'We're kind of on the fence as to what we'll see this year. But I think there's lots of people who buy Moth who wouldn't [usually] buy a canned cocktail.'

Their humility and innovation is a breath of fresh air in an industry that is dominated by large multinationals.

They might well have been in the right place at the right time, but the duo managed to tap into this market well before some of the bigger players have.

With a small team in place, their flexibility means they will be able to work quickly and far better respond to what people want to drink.

This is part of our new series looking at companies disrupting sectors which have historically lacked innovation.

We'll look at some of the most exciting companies in industries we encounter on a day-to-day basis who want to do things a bit differently.
Delivery riders for the defunct grocery delivery service MilkRun have opened up on the company's desperate efforts to stay afloat in the lead-up to its closure.

CEO and founder of MilkRun, Dany Milham, wrote to the company's approximately 400 staff on Tuesday last week notifying them that the business would shut its doors on the Friday, making it the latest in a long line of home delivery firms to go under.

To many of its workers, the decision to shut down the business was not a shock after they claimed to have witnessed desperate attempts to keep the company afloat as it tried to maintain high standards - but ended up cutting costs, wasting food and blowing out delivery times.

Two delivery riders for MilkRun, both who wished to remain anonymous, revealed to Daily Mail Australia what it was like working for the business that promised home delivery of groceries in 10 minutes.

'The message from management was "we're doing okay", but on Tuesday we get the email saying "we're closing on Friday, get another job'," delivery rider Jake (not his real name) said.

MilkRun riders have revealed that the company tried desperately to strike a fine line between cost cutting measures and customer satisfaction in the lead-up to its closure on Friday

In the email to staff, Mr Milham blamed deteriorating economic and capital conditions following a company restructure in February.

'When the email first got to me I kind of laughed at it, honestly, because I thought "oh, this came sooner than I expected", but I was by no means shocked,' Dee (not his real name) told Daily Mail Australia.

The restructure lead to the redundancy of about 20 per cent of MilkRun's staff and the dissolution of the 'senior rider' job title that played an important mediation role between management and riders.

'They were angry, pissed even - some of them relied only on MilkRun as their only earnings,' Jake said of riders' reaction to the restructure.

'They were told to either move down from their role or leave all together.'

Jake and Dee both worked for separate MilkRun 'hubs' in Sydney's inner-city, enticed by the company's policy of making them employees rather than contractors.

In contrast with many delivery companies, MilkRun hired staff on either full-time, part-time or casual contracts to provide secure work.

'At other places you're your own boss, at MilkRun you're not a boss, you're an employee of someone,' Jake said.

Delivery riders become 'sceptical' of the business after a restructure in February lead to well-respected senior riders becoming part of the 20 per cent of staff made redundant

The restructure also closed numerous 'hubs' where orders were packaged, expanding the distance that riders had to cover to deliver orders and blowing out delivery times.

Dee had become quite sceptical and less susceptible to 'blindly following and believing' MilkRun's business model following the February restructure.

'They said they had about a year's worth of runway but closed this early,' he said.

'Everyone I worked with was under pressure to make sure the customer was getting the order on time,' Jake said about the post-February changes to the business.

'We were just trying to make it the best for the customer but how were you able to do that? It's impossible.

'Customers were expecting the order to get there in 10 minutes but there was no notification to customers that it could be up to 30 minutes.

'You could also be picking up a bunch of orders, but before you were just picking up one.'

One of the selling points of MilkRun's model was being able to get groceries to customers within 10 minutes, but after the February restructure this stretched to half an hour or longer.

While Jake and others he worked with felt pressure to step up in more pressing circumstances, Dee and the team around him felt quite the opposite.

'We kind of prefer doing the longer rides... it means that there was less times you were on and off your bike, it was more peaceful I guess,' Dee said.

'I understand there's some people that wouldn't want to be riding for longer periods of time though.'

Two delivery riders, Jake and Dee (not their names), both saw pallets of food that was before its expiry date being thrown out or taken by staff for 'aesthetic' reasons (pictured: unusable bread at a hub in Sydney City)

Both Dee and Jake witnessed the company trying to strike a fine line between cost cutting measures and customer satisfaction.

'The fact people don't get to pick their own stuff, it sort of allows them to be quite nit-picky about it, which can be annoying,' Dee said.

'They definitely put in a lot of effort to give people the best (produce) that they could, we had to get rid of stock they deemed was unusable or going to go out of date within three days.

'Some of the big ones were bananas and avocados - if the banana even had a tiny little brown spot on the outside of the skin the decision was "this isn't good enough for customers".

'I suppose it was an aesthetic decision, but I think it was kind of valid, because I think we've had a few complaints in the past of products not being perfect.

'The food would either be given to staff to take home or chucked out.

'I didn't have to do a month's worth of shopping for meat because we had so much food stored in the freezer,' Jake said.

'We were promising the customers that the food was fresh, and it was, but if food looked damaged it wouldn't go in.'

Furthermore, if the customer was unhappy with the quality of the food, an identical order had to be sent to them with none of the original delivery being able to be returned.

'We'd have to re-deliver orders and if it wasn't up to the customer's satisfaction, they got to keep both products because we couldn't take a product back as it's impossible to know whether it's been tampered with,' Dee said.

'We never really knew if customers were trying to get free food by just complaining but management would have to listen to the customer either way.'

With experienced riders axed and hubs closed, delivery times blew out for customers from the original promise of 10 minute to upwards of half an hour

To help cut down delivery times, MilkRun recently introduced delivery staff who could complete orders on mopeds or in cars, expanding from the company's e-bike-riding workforce.

According to Jake, the company had also been hiring new staff who could drive either vehicles for the past couple months and even as late as last week.

'I was doing my last delivery when I saw one of the drivers and she started with them a couple months ago and that was her only job, and now she's scrambling for another job,' he said.

'She was driving a van for them.'

The company had also changed how riders were assigned deliveries during the restructure.

'Before February, all orders were given to riders by senior riders, but they were made redundant,' Dee said.

'After that we'd assign ourselves orders, but then this past month we would get assigned orders by someone at MilkRun HQ's central dispatch.'

Many riders could end up taking up to five separate orders on a single outing, with delivery times for customers at the end of a string of deliveries stretching up to an hour.

Company founder Dany Milham (pictured, right) sent an email to its 400 workers on Tuesday informing them they would receive economic and emotional support through the closure process

Jake and Dee have both spent the past two days looking into new lines of work after hearing the news.

'I was lucky to walk by a Domino's and see they're hiring delivery riders,' Jake said.

'I told them I worked for MilkRun and they're speeding up the process to get me a job.'

MilkRun are also providing economic and emotional support to staff that were made redundant on Tuesday.

'I want to assure you all that as part of this process, everybody will receive their full statutory entitlements, as well as additional ex gratia payments and ongoing support, including counselling and redeployment services,' Mr Milham's email reads.

The payment is rumoured to be about four weeks pay in lieu of a notice period, an extra $10 per hour for shifts following Tuesday's announcement and a $750 ex gratia payment.

'We've always been committed to doing things the right way, and winding down the business while we still have a sufficient cash balance enables us to ensure our people and suppliers are paid in full,' Mr Milham continued.

The company's coverage stretched across 50 suburbs in Sydney's CBD, inner-west, eastern suburbs and just north of the Harbour Bridge.

It also covered 26 suburbs in Melbourne's CBD, inner-north and south.

Daily Mail Australia have approached MilkRun for comment.
Australia is spending millions of dollars operating hundreds of Covid mass testing clinics - a relic from the height of the pandemic that are now barely used.

Gone are the huge queues and maddening waits of two years ago. Instead, bored staff fiddle with their phones and put their feet up, waiting patiently for someone to turn up.

At the height of the outbreak, the specialist drive-through and walk-in PCR test sites had queues hours long - now anything more than 100 people would be a busy day.

Maintaining 88 drive-through and 77 walk-in clinics across NSW alone costs taxpayers millions, but NSW Health refused to say exactly how much.

Bored staff at the Maroubra clinic, in Sydney's east, fiddle with their phones, call friends, and put their feet up - grateful to have something to do when a patient arrives

A once-bustling Covid drive-through testing clinic in Maroubra is now empty with less than 100 showing up a day

A health worker sits waiting for someone to arrive for testing in Brighton-Le-Sands, Sydney

Huge white shelters are still planted in car parks as cars trickle through, rarely encountering a delay before a medical worker walks up.

The rest of the time, two or three bored staff watch their phones or call friends - grateful to have something to do when a patient arrives.

Staff at one clinic in Sydney's eastern suburbs said they usually had 50 to 100 show up a day during the 7am to 4pm opening hours, with about 95 on Wednesday.

Unlike during the Omicron outbreak, when there was no lockdown but plenty of cases, there was no pre- and post-work rush.

'They just come one at a time, or sometimes a few - it's really random. There's fewer today, maybe 50-something so far,' one said at lunch on Thursday.

Very few tests were positive and there was no sign of the clinics being wound up any time soon.

'It's all up to the government, we don't really know,' they said.

The turn up today is a far cry from the height of the pandemic when there were hours long waits

Workers at Histopath Pathology drive-through clinic in Merrylands, Sydney amuse themselves waiting for patients to arrive

A patient rolls up for a PCR test, finally giving the worker something to do

The clinic is completely empty with only the occasional trickle of people arriving for testing

Another clinic in southern Sydney had four cars arrive in the space of half an hour, with a worker saying there was usually less than 100 a day.

'It's not many compared to what it used to be,' staff said, having conducted 40 to 50 tests by early Thursday afternoon.

NSW Health stopped counting tests in its weekly updates after February 3, when there were 41,747 combined PCR and rapid tests over the previous week.

How many were conducted at testing sites is not known and NSW Health failed to provide the figure when asked by Daily Mail Australia.

Senior ministerial staffers are understood to be surprised so many of the clinics are still operating more than three years after the pandemic began.

The previous government shut down many of them last October, but left the current sites operating despite dwindling use.

Staff at Covid test clinics had no idea how long they would continue operating

At the height of the outbreak, the specialist drive-through and walk-in PCR test sites had queues hours long. Now they are white elephans

So few people come to this test site in Bankstown, western Sydney, that there are no staff at the front, having all retreated inside

4Cyte drive-through clinic in North Ryde, in Sydney's north, has nothing but empty chairs

A well-placed source in the previous government said there was no reason to have the clinics open anymore and patients could get a PCR test at a GP or hospital.

'We need the nurses elsewhere and they are costing us a fortune,' they said.

The source said the clinics were only kept open because the Coalition feared political backlash from sections of the population ahead of the March 25 election.

Operation of the clinics is largely outsourced to private companies, but the staff are spending much of their day idle during a serious nursing shortage.

There is a forecast shortfall of 20,000 to 40,000 nursing positions by 2025 that the new government hopes it can fix with higher pay and a huge recruiting drive.
Two grandsons of identical twin brothers who started America's most inbred family have both previously been jailed for sexual offenses against children, DailyMail.com can reveal.

John Wade Whittaker Jr, 45, and Jason Whittaker, 44, were both convicted of sexual assault with a child in two separate incidents.

The pair are sons of John Wade Whittaker, who passed away in 2022, and Ethel Jean Meadows-Devereux, who died in 2021.

Whittaker is the son of Gracie and John Whittaker, two first cousins who got married and had 15 children.

Jason was convicted of two counts of predatory criminal assault against a 13-year-old girl in McHenry County in Illinois in 2001, spending eight years in prison.

John Wade Whittaker Jr, 45, (right) and Jason Whittaker, 44, (left) were both convicted of sexual assault with a child in two separate incidents.

The pair are sons of John Wade Whittaker, who passed away in 2022, and Ethel Jean Meadows-Devereux, who died in 2021. Whittaker is the son of Gracie and John Whittaker, two first cousins who got married and had 15 children

He was jailed again for failing to register as a sex offender when he moved back to Raleigh County in 2015 as well as driving a vehicle that was not registered to him.

The convicted felon is currently still behind bars at the Salem Correctional Center and Jail on charges of failing to register and grand larceny.

John Jr was jailed in 1999 on charges of 'indecent liberties' against a child aged 13 to 17 in Catawba, North Carolina.

He spent a year and eight months in prison, before moving back to Odd in 2010 where he also failed to re-register as a sex offender.

Like his brother, he was sentenced for failing to re-register but appears to have been released - but updated mugshots show that a warrant appeared to be out for his arrest in March this year.

In records seen by DailyMail.com the pair are still registered as living in Odd close to other members of the family on the same road.

On a recent visit to Odd, West Virginia, DailyMail spoke with members of the family who communicate in grunts and barks.

A set of identical twin brothers sparked the family's history of incest, with the children of Henry and John Whittaker getting married and having their first child in 1937.

Jason is currently still behind bars at the Salem Correctional Center and Jail on charges of failing to register and grand larceny

John Wade Whittaker died in 2022, after being born in 1950, and had five children - including John Jr and Jason

Jason was convicted of two counts of predatory criminal assault against a 13-year-old girl in McHenry County in Illinois in 2001, spending eight years in prison

Aileen was the first of 15 children that the couple had, and passed away in June 1997 after suffering from a heart attack and had on son called Frankie with her husband.

The couple then had a baby boy, Emery Lee Whittaker, in 1938, who died a month later after suffering from pneumonia.

Barbra Whittaker was born in September 1940, and did not appear to marry before she died following a short illness in October 2008.

An obituary shows that she died at St Mary's Hospital in Huntington, and she was described as a homemaker who loved picnics with her family.

Not much is known about the next two sisters, Nannie Lou Whittaker, born in 1942, and Connie Jean Whittaker, born in 1943.

Both married and are still living in Lowe, with Nannie Lou losing her husband William, later remarrying a man called Leonard, and Connie living with her husband, James.

Freddie Lee Whittaker was born in 1944 and made-up part of the documentary produced in 2004 and was part of the family portrait along with his brother Ray.

John Jr was jailed in 1999 on charges of 'indecent liberties' against a child aged 13 to 17 in Catawba, North Carolina

The pair are sons of John Wade Whittaker, who passed away in 2022, and Ethel Jean Meadows-Devereux, who died in 2021

The two grandsons also live in Odd, but do not live in the property with Timmy, Betty and Lorene

In records seen by DailyMail.com the pair are still registered as living in Odd close to other members of the family on the same road

He passed away in May 2013 following a long illness and is buried close to the family home in Odd. It is not clear if his illness was related to his genetic complications.

Another member of the family who is included in all parts of the updated documentary in 2021 is Lorene Whittaker, who was born in 1946 and has one son called Timmy Whittaker, born 1979.

Mary Madeline Whittaker was born in 1948, and passed away the following year, though it is unclear the cause for this.

John Wade Whittaker died in 2022, after being born in 1950, and had five children, several grandchildren and one great-grandson.

He suffered a long battle with cancer, and died with his loving wife Sophia by his side, and was cared for at Bowers Hospice House.

Betty Ann Whittaker is considered the matriarch of the family, and reportedly promised her mother that she would not marry and planned to look after her 14 siblings.

Betty, 71, is the matriarch of the family and confirmed to DailyMail.com that the family don't visit the graveyard much

Many members of the community believed the family were an 'urban legend' before meeting them at school or church

She was born in 1952 and features a lot on the documentary, taking care of shopping to ensure the members living in the small run-down property are eating enough.

Danny Ray Whittaker, known as Ray, was born a year after Betty.

Larry Whittaker and Kenneth Whittaker were born in 1956, and 1957, and also appear in the most recent documentary and talk about how their lives have improved.

The final two siblings are Judy Kay Whittaker, born in 1959 and Michael Stevie Whittaker born in 1960.

Michael passed away in July 2001, aged 40, while Judy died in August of 2021  though it is unclear how they both died.
The start of Dominion Voting Systems' $1.6 billion defamation trial against Fox News has been delayed until Tuesday as the parties pursue a potential settlement, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Dominion claims Fox defamed the long-established voting firm by questioning its technology and methods after Donald Trump's November 2020 election loss to Joe Biden.

Jury selection in what shaped as the most-anticipated defamation trial in America was expected to conclude Monday before opening statements but Judge Eric Davis on Sunday announced he was delaying the start 24 hours.

Dominion may have softened its claims, according to a new Fox legal filing, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Claire Bischoff, a Dominion spokesperson, said the company had no comment on the delay, as did Fox Corp, which is being sued along with Fox News, which did not return a request for comment.

Fox Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch was expected to testify in Dominion Voting Systems' defamation trial against Fox News - which is accused of peddling conspiracy theories regarding election fraud after Trump's defeat in 2020

The trial has been widely viewed as a test of whether Fox's coverage crossed the line between ethical journalism and the heedless pursuit of ratings, as Dominion alleges and Fox denies

'The Court has decided to continue the start of the trial, including jury selection, until Tuesday, April 18, 2023 at 9:00am (1300 GMT),' Judge Davis said in a statement, without providing a specific reason for the delay.

'I will make such an announcement tomorrow at 9:00am in Courtroom 7E.'

The lawsuit, filed in Delaware Superior Court, accuses Fox of 'giving life' to a 'manufactured storyline about election fraud' in its coverage of the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

Many legal experts are surprised Fox and Dominion have not already reached an out-of-court settlement, although they can at any time.

The media giant contends the $1.6 billion damages claim is a wild overestimate while the voting company has been accused of trying to inflict maximum embarrassment by exposing the network's internal communications following the election.

The lawsuit filed against Fox News Network by Dominion Voting Systems in Delaware last March

The company claims Fox's endorsement of the voter fraud allegations and theories 'deeply damaged Dominion's once-thriving business'

Fox Corp chairman, Rupert Murdoch, was expected to be one of the first witnesses called before a parade of executives and on-air hosts, including Carlson, Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro.

The delay follows a week of pretrial hearings with Judge Davis last Wednesday sanctioning Fox News and handing Dominion a fresh chance to gather evidence after Fox withheld records until the eve of the trial.

The evidence includes recordings of Rudy Giuliani, former President Trump's lawyer, saying in pre-taped Fox appearances that he did not have any evidence to back up the false allegations of election rigging by Dominion in the 2020 race that are at the heart of the lawsuit.

The recordings were made by a former Fox employee who is currently suing the network.

Judge Davis said he would also very likely tap an outside investigator to probe Fox's late disclosure of the evidence and take whatever steps necessary to remedy the situation, which he described as troubling.

Fox said in a statement last Wednesday that it 'produced the supplemental information' to Dominion 'when we first learned it.'

Blake Rohrbacher, a Fox lawyer, sent a letter of apology to Davis on Friday, saying it was a misunderstanding and not an intention to deceive.

Fox defamed the voting firm by questioning their technology and methods after Trump lost to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, Dominion claims

Fox News attorneys exit the Leonard L. Williams Justice Center in Delaware as jury selection begins in the defamation trial on Thursday

Dominion has accused Fox of ruining its reputation by airing baseless claims that its machines secretly changed votes in favor of Democrat Biden, who defeated then-President Trump, a Republican, in the 2020 presidential election.

The voting company says the claims were part of a calculated bid by the network to 'lure viewers back' after they lost loyal fans because they were the first to declare that Trump had lost the state of Arizona.

Dominion, which was founded in 2002 and had, until 2020, operated largely unknown in 28 states in America said 'Fox endorsed, repeated and broadcast a series of verifiably false yet devastating lies about Dominion.'

These included claims that the company committed election fraud by rigging the 2020 presidential election, that its software and algorithms manipulated vote counts, that it was owned by a company founded in Venezuela to rig elections for former president Hugo Chavez, and that it paid 'kickbacks' to government officials who used its machines in the 2020 election.

Dominion claims Fox knew these claims were false but 'recklessly disregarded the truth,' as its hosts including Hannity, Pirro, Carlson, Lou Dobbs, and Maria Bartiromo, gave it oxygen.

The suit slams the network for allowing guests such as Sidney Powell, a lawyer denounced by the Trump team, Giuliani and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell on air to peddle conspiracy theories regarding election fraud unchallenged and unchecked.

Dominion's lawyers allege the false claims were promoted on Fox's news channels and online to its 80million subscribers ensuring the 'lies' went viral as people tweeted and retweeted them and that, ultimately, they were seen by billions.

The voting company says it lost millions in unrenewed state contracts as a result and anger generated by claims of a 'stolen election' put company personnel in physical danger which required $600,000 in additional security measures.

Fox News hosts Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Jeanine Pirro, and other on-air stars, were deposed in the case last year. The lawsuit claims the hosts helped perpetuate election fraud lies on air

Jeanine Pirro interviewing Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, who is also being sued by Dominion in a separate lawsuit. They are pictured on November 14, 2020

The suit also slams the network for allowing guests such as former New York mayor and Trump cohort, Rudy Giuliani and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell on air to peddle conspiracy theories about voter fraud unchallenged and unchecked

Fox Corp, which reported nearly $14 billion in annual revenue last year, said the lawsuit was a threat to press freedom and the $1.6 billion figure unrealistic and based on flawed economic modeling.

'While Dominion has pushed irrelevant and misleading information to generate headlines, Fox News remains steadfast in protecting the rights of a free press,' Fox said in a statement.

Fox had argued that coverage of the vote-rigging claims was inherently newsworthy and protected by the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment guarantee of press freedom.

Judge Davis rejected that argument in a ruling last month on both parties' competing motions for summary judgment.

Fox said Dominion cannot pin actual malice on the individuals whom Dominion says were responsible for the defamatory statements.

The network said Dominion must prove that a 'superior officer' at the network or its parent company 'ordered, participated in, or ratified' wrongdoing.

Texts and emails revealed as part of the litigation appear to indicate that several people at Fox had doubts about the election fraud claims.

Carlson, in a text to host Laura Ingraham in November 2020, said 'Sidney Powell is lying by the way. I caught her. It's insane.'

In a later text he wrote: 'It's unbelievably offensive to me. Our viewers are good people, and they believe it.'

In another text political correspondent Bret Baier wrote, 'There is NO evidence of fraud.'

Murdoch himself has also conceded that some Fox hosts, 'endorsed' the 'false notion' that the 2020 election was stolen and that he personally could have done more to prevent claims from airing.

But lawyers for the network maintain that there is no evidence of a high-level conspiracy to peddle a falsehood, or that Murdoch and his colleagues were, 'reckless with the truth.'
An 'academically gifted' black teenager was shot in the head twice by a white homeowner after her mistakenly went to the wrong house to pick up his younger brothers.

Ralph Yarl, 16, was attacked outside of a house in Kansas City, Missouri, just a block away from the property his siblings were waiting to be picked up from.

He reportedly pulled into the driveway of the home at 10pm, rang the doorbell, and was immediately shot in the head.

His aunt Dr Faith Spoonmore claims that when he fell to the floor, he was shot again but miraculously managed to run next door to a neighbor for help.

The family of the teenager has branded the incident a 'hate crime', with Ralph currently recovering from his injuries in hospital.

Ralph Yarl, 16, was shot twice in the head by a white man after he went to the wrong house in Kansas City while trying to pick up younger siblings

Ralph was hospitalized and is still recovering from his injuries after being shot in the head

A talented bass clarinet player, Ralph also leads a section of his school's marching band and plays multiple instruments in the Northland Symphony Youth Orchestra

Ralph, who aspired to study chemical engineering at Texas A&M University , was forced to knock on three doors before he was helped.

The teenager was still told to lie on the ground with his hands up despite suffering from the gunshot injuries.

Dr Spoonmore said: 'The man in the home opened the door, looked my nephew in the eye, and shot him in the head. My nephew fell to the ground, and the man shot him again.'

The teen is known among his peers for his intellect and for being a 'musical genius.'

Ralph is part of his high school's Technology Student Association and Science Olympia Team, plays in the marching, jazz, and competition band, and is one of the top base clarinet players in Missouri.

He had big dreams of attending college, after being recognized as a Missouri scholar academy alumni in 2022.

His family has set up a GoFundMe page to handle medical expenses and have stated that he has 'a long road ahead of him mentally and emotionally.'

The alleged gunman, who has not been identified, was taken into custody soon after the incident and to give a statement but was later 'released pending further investigation.'

Ralph had to knock on the doors of three different homes before someone finally came to his aid and even then he was told to lie on the ground with his hands up

Ralph's family have labeled his shooting a hate crime

Police obtained the firearm that was used in the incident but have explained their delay in bringing charges against the homeowner because they are waiting for the teen to make his own statement as to what happened.

The release of the gunman did not sit well with civil rights attorney Lee Merritt who stated in tweet on Sunday morning, 'Ralph is fighting for his life.

'This man must be arrested. We are on our way.'

On Sunday afternoon, the Chief of the Kansas City Police Department, Stacey Graves, also justified the decision to release the alleged gunman.

'The vast majority of cases to include violent crime involve the suspect being released pending further investigation,' Chief Graves said. 'In this case, the prosecutor requires more information from investigators that would take more than 24 hours to compile throughout the weekend.

'We want the community to know that we are committed to justice in this case and every case and work everyday to seek that justice for all victims of all crimes,' Graves said while noting that she was 'listening' and understood the community's 'concern.'

On Sunday afternoon, the Chief of the Kansas City Police Department, Stacey Graves, also justified the decision to release the alleged gunman.

Ralph, center, was said to be trying to pick up his younger siblings from a friend's house but went to the wrong address

Hundreds of protesters turned up out outside the alleged gunman's home on 115th Street on Sunday afternoon, demanding immediate justice

Protestors marched in the neighborhood where Thursday night's shooting took place

Hundreds gathered outsider the home of the alleged gunman to demand justice

A march was held on Sunday afternoon to demand the arrest of the gunman

Graves explained how detectives were working to compile forensic evidence and to take a formal statement from Ralph before deciding whether to bring charges.

She assured the community that the police department was committed to justice in the case.

Graves said the KCPD will forward the case to the Clay County prosecutor's office to what determine charges, if any, be brought.

Despite such assurances, hundreds of protesters turned up out outside the alleged gunman's home on 115th Street on Sunday afternoon, demanding immediate justice.

Ralph's family described him as a fantastic child who dreamt of attending Texas A&M for chemical engineering.

A talented bass clarinet player, Ralph also leads a section of his school's marching band and plays multiple instruments in the Northland Symphony Youth Orchestra.

'Ralph can often be found with a musical instrument,' aunt Spoonmore wrote. 'He loves them all.'

She noted how it was a miracle that her nephew was alive.

'He is our miracle. We have heard these types of stories many times, and unfortunately, most black boys are not alive to get another chance.'

'This was not an 'error.' This is a hate crime,' she wrote on Instagram. 'You don't shoot a child in the head because he rang your doorbell.'

According to his family members, Ralph's teacher and friends describe him as ' a kind soul,' 'quiet,' 'friendly,' 'well-mannered,' 'always willing to help,' 'super smart,' and a 'musical genius.'
The family of a man who was fatally stabbed outside a train station has paid tribute to the 'much-loved' 20-year-old who 'always put his friends and family first'.

Filipe was attacked outside Tulse Hill in Lambeth, south London on Saturday around 6pm. He was found wounded inside a shop along busy Norwood Road.

Paramedics tried to treat his injuries, but Filipe died at the scene. No arrests have been made at this time.

Now his loved ones have paid tribute to the 'good strong young man' who was taken away from them by 'senseless knife crime with no provocation'.

Filipe (pictured) was attacked outside Tulse Hill in Lambeth, south London on Saturday around 6pm. He was found wounded inside a shop along busy Norwood Road

Paramedics tried to treat his injuries, but Filipe died at the scene. No arrests have been made at this time. Officers are pictured at the scene on Saturday

Now his loved ones have paid tribute to the 'good strong young man' who was taken away from them by 'senseless knife crime with no provocation'. Pictured: Officers at the scene in Lambeth

'He was a very much loved member of our family and his loss will be felt strongly forever,' Filipe's family wrote on a crowdfunding page.

'His friends are forever going to miss his company, jokes, laugh and smile.'

Soraia Oliveira, who is organising the GoFundMe seeking 10,000 for funeral costs, described Filipe as one of the 'funniest people you could come across'.

Ms Oliveira said he always wanted to help others and 'shared everything he had'.

'He would be willing to give his last pound away to someone else who needed it,' she penned. 'Filipe was a very spiritual person and was using this to find himself and to become the good strong young man we knew he would grow to be.'

She also launched an appeal for help with funeral costs, saying: 'No one plans for someone to die at 20 years old. Especially not for them to be taken so violently and suddenly.

'We hope that you are able to donate or share this link to help us be able to give him a funeral and send off fitting of the good person he was.'

Ms Oliveira concluded: 'Rest in Peace Filipe - we love you forever.'
Melbourne has overtaken Sydney as Australia's largest city after the Victorian capital's boundary was changed.

The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show Melbourne has almost 19,000 more people than Sydney, with a population of 4,875,400.

The ABS measures a city's significant urban area by including all touching suburbs with more than 10,000 people, with Sydney holding the top spot for more than 100 years.

The rise in Melbourne's population comes due to a 'technicality', after the city's limits were expanded to include the suburb of Melton, The Australian Bureau of Statistics says.

'Until the 2021 census definition, the Sydney significant area had a higher population than Melbourne,' explained Andrew Howe, of the ABS's Regional Population Unit.

'However, with the amalgamation of Melton into Melbourne in the latest significant urban area classification, Melbourne has more people than Sydney - and has had since 2018.'

Sydney's more than a century long reign as the country's largest city is over as Melbourne takes top spot on a technicality after city of Melton is included in Melbourne's significant urban area

Macquarie University demographer Professor Nick Parr says Sydney's growth is slowing as more people choose to live in other cities and towns.

'Sydney's growth has been slowed by its substantial net losses of people due to internal migration,' he told the Sydney Morning Herald.

'Far more people have moved out of Sydney going to other parts of Australia, especially to the rest of NSW, Queensland and Victoria, than have moved to Sydney from elsewhere in Australia.'

But when looking at the total size of the greater Sydney and Melbourne regions, Sydney remained the largest with an overall population of 5.26million in June 2021 compared to Melbourne's 4.98million.

The greater region metric represents populations who regularly socialise, shop or work within the city, but may live in small towns and rural areas surrounding it.

However in another blow to Sydney, the federal government predict Greater Melbourne will overtake Greater Sydney between 2031 and 2032.

As Melbourne continues to grow, the state of New South Wales is still expected to remain Australia's largest, with the population of NSW sitting at 8.23 million, compared to VIC's 6.72 million.

Melbourne's Significant Urban boundary has now extended to include Melton (pictured)
'Kerasid' says he has no remorse for exposing confidential data

A hacker claims Aussies are the easiest targets and the 'stupidest humans alive' as he lifts the lid on how cyber gangs target individuals and corporations with no remorse.

Cyber attacks on Australians have become increasingly prevalent in recent years and are often linked back to Russian criminal organisations.

Last year Medibank were targeted in Australia's largest-ever hack, with millions of Aussies' details exposed on the dark web.

Russian hackers targeted Medibank in October, stealing millions of private health files and demanding the company pay $US10million ($A15million) in ransom or the anonymous group would post everything online.

Medibank, Australia's largest private health insurer, refused to pay the ransom. The hackers made good on their threat and posted private health claims and personal data of at least 10 million customers onto the dark web.

A hacker has revealed how criminal gangs target corporations and individuals and says he feels no remorse for posting personal data and takes aim at Australians' stupidity

A hacker known as 'Kerasid' says Aussies are stupid and the easiest targets. 'Australians are the most stupidest humans alive, and they have a lot of money for no reason, a lot of money and no sense at all'

While authorities have remained tight-lipped about who carried out the attack, security researchers have traced it back to REvil - one of the most notorious and successful cyber gangs to ever exist.

One hacker who has worked extensively with REvil - known online as 'Kerasid' - said he enjoys ransoming data and says Aussies are stupid and the easiest targets.

'It's a feeling of being on top of the world like nobody can touch you, he told ABC News.

'Australians are the most stupidest humans alive, and they have a lot of money for no reason, a lot of money and no sense at all.'

REvil is a sophisticated group that aims to secure the largest sum of ransom money possible, hiring hackers known as 'affiliates' hired to gain access to an organisation.

The affiliates steal sensitive data before encrypting the files stolen with the gang's ransomware application.

They then carry out a negotiation process with the affiliate and gang splitting the money if the victim pays up.

Kerasid said he has made millions from hacking and moves freely between eastern Europe and the UK, and claims he is a key leader in REvil.

REvil- stands for Ransomware Evil - and the group have carried out dozens of attacks in 2020 and 2021 which saw them bring in more than $US200 million.

The hacking giant attempted to extort Apple by stealing new product sketchers, put Travelex into administration after locking their systems and took down JBS abattoirs which threatened Australian and US food supply chains.

In 2022 Australians lost a record $3 billion to scammers, with the average victim forking out $20,000 according to the latest Targeting Scams report

Cyber analyst Jon DiMaggio - whose studied REvil extensively - said they use embarrassment to try to extract additional money and attention.

'They would post bits of [data] publicly on their website, in order to embarrass victims and sort of entice them to pay the ransom,' he said.

'They would reach out to reporters and talk to them and do interviews. They drew a lot of attention.'

In 2022, Australians lost a record $3 billion to scammers, with the average victim forking out $20,000, according to the latest Targeting Scams report.

This is an 80 per cent increase in total losses recorded from the year before.

'Australians lost more money to scams than ever before in 2022, but the true cost of scams is much more than a dollar figure as they also cause emotional distress to victims, their families and businesses,' Australian Competition and Consumer Commission deputy chair Catriona Lowe said.
A mysterious car bearing the markings of a Chinese police vehicle has been spotted in Melbourne, sparking fears of Chinese Communist Party intimidation tactics.

It comes after reports of undercover Chinese police stations being set up in major cities across the world including London, Glasgow, New York and Toronto.

The Victoria-registered 2015 silver Nissan Maxima has been fitted out with Chinese police decals, and text on the rear passenger door claims it is 'Special Police'.

The 2015 silver Nissan Maxima sedan (pictured) has been fitted out with Chinese police decals and text on the rear passenger door claims it is 'Special Police'

The vehicle in Melbourne shares similar marking to genuine police cars like this one seen here in Hangzhou, China

The vehicle also bizarrely has a cuddly toy and box of tissues on the dashboard, and what appears to be a disabled parking permit hanging from its rear view mirror.

The car was spotted in Melbourne's south-east suburbs over the weekend and pictures of it posted to social media after details of it were given to police.

Victoria Police told Daily Mail Australia they needed more information on the vehicle's location to comment.

Similar fake Chinese police cars were spotted in Adelaide and Perth three years ago at the time of the Hong Kong protests, sparking outrage from pro-democracy campaigners.

Western Australia Police tracked down the owner of one of the fake police cars in 2019 whose owner said they had bought the decals online as a joke.

'There are people who feel intimidated by it,' one pro-democracy rally organiser said at the time.

'I think it's highly inappropriate, especially when you pretend to represent a foreign law enforcement unit in a Western country.'

Activists fear the new police-marked vehicle may be the latest escalation in attempts by Chinese President Xi Jinping to intimidate Chinese migrants overseas.

More than 100 secret police stations are said to be in operation in 53 countries with reported dark sites located in the UK, Canada, US and Australia among others.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government was 'very concerned about' the allegations.

'We're in the process of making sure the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is following up on this and that our intelligence systems are taking this seriously,' he said last month.

Two of the covert police stations are said to be in Australia, ostensibly set up to 'help Chinese emigrant' but instead ' harass, threaten, intimidate and force targets to return to China for persecution', say pressure group Safeguard Defenders.

Western Australia Police tracked down the owner of one of the fake police cars in 2019 (pictured) whose owner said they had bought the decals online as a joke

Activists fear the new police-marked vehicle may be the latest escalation in attempts by Chinese President Xi Jinping to intimidate Chinese migrants overseas

A report released in December said Wenzhou police in China had already set up a police 'service station' in Sydney.

Nantong police were also reported to have set up somewhere within Australia at an unknown location, but Melbourne would be an obvious second site.

Anti-CCP campaigner Drew Pavlou - who has been repeatedly been arrested over his protests against the Chinese government - slammed the latest fake police car tactic.

'It's illegal to impersonate a police officer in Australia but somehow it's fine to impersonate foreign police in Australia,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'We know the CCP subjects members of the Chinese, Tibetan, Hong Konger and Uyghur diaspora in Australia to intimidation and we know the Iranian regime targets protesters here too.

'We need legislation making it illegal to impersonate foreign police in Australia.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Chinese Embassy for comment.
A boastful tweet has come back to haunt Daniel Andrews as massive debt threatens to swamp his government.

The Victorian Premier in August claimed that under his administration it was not a case of choosing between funding health care and new train lines.

'Not rail or hospitals. Both,' he tweeted in the lead-up to the state's November election.

Mr Andrews' tweet referenced a 1990s-era advertising campaign by Mexican food company Old El Paso that customers didn't need to choose between soft and hard taco shells: 'Why don't you have both?'

The image implied Mr Andrews was keen to push ahead with both the healthcare and train line projects rather than choose one option over the other.

His tweet - a reference to the Liberal opposition saying they wanted to halt construction on the Suburban Rail Loop to fund healthcare - has since come back to bite him.

It was revealed at the weekend that the Andrews government has been forced to halt work on two major rail projects and make cutbacks to the healthcare system due to budget pressures.

Victorian Premier Dan Andrews is struggling to finance all the projects promised by his 'Big Build' construction program

In August Mr Andrews tweeted that his government would be able to fund both the 'Big Build' and hospitals

Critics have been quick to rip into the premier and put their own spin on the Old El Paso meme.

'How about neither? Your regime can't run a bath,' one person replied.

'Debt or bankruptcy? Why can't we have both?' another tweeted.

A number questioned claims that hospitals were being well provisioned.

Some demanded to know if Mr Andrews intended to deliver on his election promise to spend $675million on upgrading the West Gippsland hospital.

'Where is funding for new WestGippsland hospital then? If it wasn't for $470m+ from the Fed Coalition & you wouldn't be doing the Gippsland rail upgrade either, which you've botched anyway,' one wrote.

'You can't get funding or delivery right for either.'

'Very much hoping my family doesn't need a tent, I mean hospital bed soon,' a second added.

'Sure, but you don't have a history of executing anything well... So perhaps just stick with one thing at a time?' was a further piece of advice.

Just months after work began on the airport line from the city to Melbourne's main Tullamarine Airport the massive $8-14billion project has been halted, the Herald Sun revealed on Saturday.

Work has also been suspended on the Geelong Fast Rail project with the Victorian government struggling to rein in its crippling debt, which has climbed above $100million for the first time in the state's history.

The state which has racked up a debt larger than NSW, Queensland and Tasmania combined had to pay $1.8 billion in interest alone over the last half of 2022 and the crippling amount if forecast to reach $165.9 billion by 2025.

In the last state budge $700m was set aside for early works on the airport line as part of a $5billion commitment to be matched by the federal government, while $123m was allocated to the Geelong Fast Rail.

However, the Andrew government's signature rail project the Suburban Rail Loop, which has been predicted to blow out in cost to $200billion is going ahead.

While work on the airport link has stopped other 'Big Build' projects are being pushed ahead

Opposition transport spokesman David Southwick said the Andrews government's construction plans were buckling under the weight of the state's debt.

'The Big Build has become the big budget blowout that is grinding major projects to a halt,' he said.

'This is really disappointing for Victorians who want an airport rail.'

The state government also has an ambitious slate of construction promised for healthcare with new hospitals promised for Melton and the Barwon Women's and Children's Hospital.

However, last week the government warned community health programs they will see funding reduced by up to 15 per cent in the state's May budget.

Mr Andrews said this was flagged in previous budgets and would eliminate 'a whole lot of services that were basically double-ups'.

'We've got all manner of different programs that are being delivered, and we don't need multiple different services providing the same thing,' he said.

However, chief executives of the services affected said they had been blindsided by the move with IPC Health's Jayne Nelson describing the news as 'devastating, really disappointing'.
Yale University hosted a speaker last week who is known to promote antisemitic views, including justifying the murders of Jews and Israelis.

Houria Bouteldja who has expressed hatred towards Jews, Israel, and white people, was invited to speak and endorsed by Yale's flagship DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) program known as 'Belonging at Yale.'

Bouteldja's 2017 book, Whites, Jews, and Us, calls for the dismantling of Israel and expresses outright antisemitism.

Bouteldja also blames Jews for their near-extermination by the Nazis and expresses hatred towards white people.

She has been quoted as saying, 'killing an Israeli is killing two birds with one stone, eliminating in one go oppressor and oppressed.'

Yale University hosted, Houria Bouteldja, a speaker who promotes antisemitic views, including justifying the murders of Jews and Israelis

Bouteldja's 2017 book, Whites, Jews, and Us, calls for the dismantling of Israel and expresses outright antisemitism.

The university hosted Bouteldja to speak on the second night of Passover, making it all but impossible for Jewish people to attend, challenge her views and raise important questions.

In March 2012 following the killing of a Rabbi and three children in Toulouse, France by radical Islamist Mohammed Merah, Bouteldja declared 'Mohammed Merah is me.'

Bouteldja also blames Jews for their near-extermination by the Nazis, claiming that they 'tolerated Nazism before it was inflicted on them. ... They absolved it, shut their eyes to it, [and] legitimized it, because until then, it had been applied only to non-European peoples. ... They have cultivated that Nazism ... [and hence] are responsible for it.'

The university hosted Bouteldja to speak on the second night of Passover, making it all but impossible for Jewish people to attend, challenge her views and raise important questions

Yale University has long been known for its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as its efforts to combat racism on campus, but it has not been without controversy

She also expresses hatred towards white people, defining them as 'the one who subjugates, pillages, steals, rapes, commits genocide,' and declares, 'I hate the white good conscience. I curse it.'

She added: 'Every white person ... must take and steal ... like a gangster, a brute, or a thug.'

She also brushes aside the victims of 9/11, July 7 London subway bombings, and the Charlie Hebdo Paris murders as dispensable whites: 'Bombs explode in the subway. Towers ... collapse like a house of cards. The journalists of a famous magazine are decimated. ... [But] they are all white.'

The university, which has long been known for its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as its efforts to combat racism on campus, have not been without controversy.

In the past, the administration and students have been accused of suppressing speech that challenges the school's DEI perspective with some recorded instances of harassment and even intimidation of individuals who express dissenting views.

Nicholas and Erika Christakis, a husband and wife team of professors were subjected to days of stalking, shouting, and cursing by mobs of students in 2015.

Nicholas and Erika Christakis, a husband and wife team of professors were subjected to days of stalking, shouting, and cursing by mobs of students in 2015 in a row over Halloween outfits

Yale University faculty member Erika Christakis resigned, as did her husband, in the aftermath

The incident occurred after Erika questioned whether the campus DEI office needed to police students' Halloween costumes.

Both professors were eventually driven to resign from their administrative leadership positions with Erika Christakis resigning from Yale altogether.

In 2021, a Yale law student was summoned before a diversity dean and threatened with adverse references that would preclude his bar admission for having used a joke phrase in an email.

Although himself of Native American heritage, the student was labeled a racist.

In 2022, a mob of over 100 Yale law students disrupted and sought to shut down a campus debate between a liberal atheist attorney and a conservative Christian lawyer.

On that occasion, police had to escort the speakers from the building.
A mother has bravely fought off a dingo that attacked and injured her two-year-old son at a remote national park in Western Australia.

The boy sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries when set upon by the dingo about 7pm on Friday at Dales Campground in Karijini National Park.

He has since been released from Tom Price Hospital, the WA Country Health Service said on Sunday.

WA Premier Mark McGowan told reporters that was 'great news' as he praised the boy's mother for her bravery.

'His mother courageously fought off the dingo so she deserves our congratulations and she's obviously a very brave person,' he said on Sunday.

A mother fought off a dingo that attacked and injured her two-year-old son (stock pictured)

The boy sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries on Friday at Dales Campground in Karijini National Park (pictured)

Mr McGowan said dingo attacks were very rare and the advice from park rangers was that the animal in question, when found, would be destroyed.

Parks and Wildlife Department rangers spent Saturday trying to find and trap the wild dog.

'The safety of visitors is our number one priority,' the department said in a statement.

'Due to the aggressive behaviour of the dingo and the fact that it has remained at the campground following the incident, rangers are preparing to humanely destroy the animal as soon as a safe opportunity presents.'

Dingoes often prowl campsites in search of food where they can intimidate and harass people

The department wasn't aware of another attack in that part of Karijini, a rugged national park half the size of Sydney.

'Signage and information at Dales Campground warns visitors that dingoes may be present and provides dingo safety advice,' it said.

The local government in the coastal town of Karratha last month warned visitors dingoes were frequently seen in Karijini and other popular national parks, and the animals may raid rubbish bags and take food from picnic tables.

'While searching for food or water dingoes may harass and intimidate people,' the City of Karratha said.
Part of the highway is closed

A woman has died in a two-vehicle crash after a hatchback collided with a ute.

Emergency services were called to the Hume Highway at Boxers Creek, about 10km northeast of Goulburn, southwest of Sydney, around 6.45am on Monday.

A northbound utility and a hatchback, travelling in the same direction, collided.

A woman driving the hatchback suffered critical injuries and unfortunately died at the scene.

A woman has died in a crash on the Hume Highway, north of Goulburn on Monday

Northbound lanes of the Hume Highway have since been closed off

A man driving the utility was not injured and has been taken to Goulburn Hospital for mandatory testing.

Northbound lanes of the Hume Highway have since been closed off, with traffic banking up on the major transport route between Canberra and Sydney.

A contraflow will be put in place between Murrays Flat Road to Boxers Creek Road, while the scene is cleared.

Motorists are advised there may be traffic delays.
Remainer peers have been accused of damaging the legitimacy of the House of Lords after it emerged that the Government has lost more than half of votes there since the EU referendum.

A study by officials in the upper house reveals it has become increasingly assertive since the vote to leave the EU  a decision opposed by most peers.

Each year since 2015-16 the Government has lost more than half of votes  a milestone previously achieved just once this century.

In the session running from 2019-2021, when vital legislation to take Britain out of the EU was being considered, peers inflicted 114 defeats on ministers, equal to more than two thirds of all votes held.

The following year, when Parliament was still dealing with the post-Brexit fallout, the Government suffered a staggering 128 defeats in the Lords.

A study by officials in the House of Lords (pictured) reveals it has become increasingly assertive since the vote to leave the EU  a decision opposed by most peers

The findings raise doubts about the Government's ability to push through key legislation, such as the Illegal Migration Bill

The findings will fuel concerns that, almost seven years on, many peers have refused to accept Brexit.

The Lords on the loose Peers inflicted 18 defeats on ministers over the EU Withdrawal Bill 2018, including on a no-deal Brexit. The Government also lost 17 votes related to the Northern Ireland Protocol and internal markets in 2020. The Lords dealt 24 blows to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill last year. Another 34 defeats were inflicted on the Nationality and Borders Bill, which set up the scheme to send migrants to Rwanda. Advertisement

They also raise doubts about the Government's ability to push through key legislation, such as the Illegal Migration Bill and the Retained EU Law Bill, which peers have raised concerns about.

Former Lords leader Baroness Stowell said peers had to be careful not to undermine the legitimacy of the unelected house.

She added that the pattern of defeating a government on more than half of all votes was 'untenable'.

And she said it undermined the case for trying to slim the size of the upper chamber by limiting prime ministerial appointments.

'If you want a more effective unelected Lords then it is not just the Prime Minister who needs to change their ways, the House of Lords needs to change its ways too,' she argued.

The figures show that Labour suffered a much lower rate of defeats in the Lords, despite not having a majority there.

In 1999, fewer than one in five Labour proposals were defeated  a figure that rose to one in three by 2009-10.

A Tory source said: 'The Lords is supposed to be an unelected revising chamber.

'It cannot go on defying the will of an elected government.'
A photo of a bottle shop shelf has led frustrated shoppers to demand an explanation for why non-alcoholic drinks are so expensive, when they aren't taxed as heavily as alcoholic wine.

A Reddit user walked into a bottle shop and was infuriated at how zero per cent wines, beers and spirits cost the same, if not more, than their alcoholic counterparts - from between $AUD10 to $18 a bottle.

'I thought a big per cent of alcohol was tax, surely this shouldn't apply to alcohol-free drinks?'

Major bottle shop chains, breweries and distilleries told Daily Mail Australia there are reasons non-alcoholic wines are sold at similar prices - arguing higher production costs, including a more complicated brewing process, drive prices up.

This picture of a bottle shop shelf - showing non-alcoholic wines being sold for between $10 and $18 - led a furious shopper to demand an explanation

At Dan Murphy's, the 700ml bottle of Gordons London has barely any difference in price between the non-alcoholic version and the alcoholic version

Online at Dan Murphy's, a 700ml bottle of Gordons London non-alc gin costs $37.99, while the alcoholic version costs a bit more at $46.99 and only $41.90 for members.

Endeavour Group, Dan Murphy's owner, said that the complicated manufacturing process of non-alcoholic beverages is the main reason the prices are so close to one another.

'It's important to note that in some instances these products have different manufacturing cost structures due to the process that is undertaken to remove the alcohol,' a spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.

Seadrift, a local Sydney craft distillery, also pointed to the production costs of non-alc spirits as a factor in their pricing.

Seadrift's co-founder, Carolyn Whiteley, said the growing market of non-alcoholic drinks is still new, so small distilleries also bear the brunt a lot of unexpected costs.

'The costs to develop, produce and market are all significantly higher, meaning that the only people making money are the retailers and the large brands that can leverage brand awareness,' Ms Whiteley told Daily Mail Australia.

Non-alcoholic distilleries often employ manual labour, and do not have automated production lines or larger stills which can produce much higher volumes for the same or fewer labour costs.

The advantages that big breweries have also impacts non-alc beers like Heaps Normal, another Sydney brewery, which echoed Seadrift's concerns about the market.

'Our beers are brewed in the same way as normal craft beers, using the same premium ingredients,' a spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.

'We are also a small independent company, we dont benefit from any of the economies of scale across our supply chain that the big brewers do.'

The group also said that they needed to use higher quantities of some ingredients to ensure their beer meets the the standards of others on the market.

Seadrift's co-founder, Carolyn Whiteley (left), said the growing market of non-alcoholic drinks is still new, so small distilleries also have to bear the brunt a lot of unexpected costs

Heaps Normal, a Sydney brewery behind low alcoholic beers, said that bigger brands have an easier time on the market

Ms Whiteley said non-alcoholic brands also typically need to spend big on marketing.

As of yet, very few if any non-alc brands have reached a point of wide brand recognition in Australia, making marketing spend much higher and brand loyalty lower.

'If we want good quality, local non-alcs to exist in the market then we need to support the industry,' Ms Whiteley said.

'If not we will be reduced to having product that is made from basic colours and flavours such as the UK's Gordons 0%, imported and sold here instead.

'For some people that's fine, for others who are trying to moderate or give up - something that tastes amazing, is made from natural ingredients, supports local industry and is actually good for you is worth paying for.'

Coles, the owner of major bottle shop brand Liquorland, declined to comment.
Steven Tougher (pictured) was stabbed to death on Friday. He was 29

Former patients of a paramedic who was allegedly stabbed 50 times in a McDonald's car park have remembered the young dad as a hero for saving their lives while on the job.

Steven Tougher, 29, was almost at the end of his shift when he sat in the back of his ambulance during a meal break outside the fast food restaurant on Queen Street in Campbelltown, in western Sydney, at 5.30am on Friday.

Police allege Jordan Fineanganofo, 21, pulled up next to the ambulance, pulled the rear doors of the vehicle open and unleashed his 'frenzied' and 'unprovoked' attack.

The paramedic was raced to Liverpool Hospital in a critical condition but later died. Fineanganofo was arrested and charged with murder.

A GoFundMe campaign was set up to support Mr Tougher's pregnant widow, Madison, who he only married about a month ago. The newlyweds were expecting their second child in a matter of weeks.

More than 6,000 people donated about $400,000 within the first three days - many of whom either worked with Mr Tougher, or had been in his care.

One woman, Amy, said he was one of the attending paramedics who saved her partner's life - just weeks before the alleged stabbing.

'Whilst waiting for a hospital bed, Steven sat with us and shared pictures of his recent wedding, talked about his love for his little one and excitement about his wifes pregnancy,' she wrote.

Steven Tougher is pictured with his wife, Madison

'From our family to his, sending our deepest condolences may he RIP. He was an angel for our family.'

Another patient, Yvonne, said Mr Tougher had recently raced her to hospital in Wollongong: 'I cannot imagine the heartache his family are going through  Fly high buddy.'

A former colleague, Jenna, said she was 'blessed' to work alongside the young dad.

'You loved talking about your wife, son and unborn child. You were always so scared to bring some bug or infection home to them,' she wrote.

'The way your eyes lit up every time you spoke about Madison - it was just beautiful.'

A woman named Tanika studied at Charles Sturt University with Mr Tougher, and said he helped her achieve her goals.

'You deserved so much more than this,' she wrote.

Some remembered his big smile and upbeat energy while working with him in the St John's cadets as teenagers, while others who worked with him at NSW Ambulance said he was a 'beautiful, caring' person.

Paramedic Steven Tougher and his wife Madison tied the knot about five weeks before he died

Another woman named Amanda said she and her husband are both paramedics, and had sat in the same McDonald's car park in Campbelltown 'many times'.

'I am devastated that this has happened and my heart hurts for you Madison, your children, and for Steven's whole family. Steven your service and sacrifice will never be forgotten,' she wrote.

Police allege Mr Tougher was 'completely defenceless' and wedged between Fineanganofo's car and the ambulance during the alleged attack.

Onlookers tried unsuccessfully to intervene and talk the alleged stabber down. He was eventually tasered by police.

Fineanganofo did not appear before Parramatta Bail Court on Saturday, but his lawyer Javid Faiz told the court his client would not apply for release.

Court documents stated Fineanganofo was diagnosed with psychosis in 2021, but was not medicated.

The scene where Steven Tougher, 29, was allegedly stabbed 50 times in a McDonald's car park on Queen Street in Campbelltown, western Sydney, at 5.30am on Friday

Mr Faiz said outside court that his client was aware of the serious nature of the alleged crime, despite his serious mental health issues.

His matter will be mentioned in court again on June 28.

Mr Tougher's wife Madison, his parents Jillian and Jeff, and his sister Jess issued an emotional statement on Saturday afternoon.

'Steven's dedication to helping others shone brightest during his work as a NSW Ambulance paramedic and previously as a nurse,' the family said.

'But it wasn't just his medical expertise that made him exceptional - Steven's compassion touched the lives of so many people.

'He had a way of calming fears, offering words of solace, and showing kindness in the midst of chaotic or traumatic events.'

The family thanked the help and support they received from the ambulance service and members of the community.
Comes as Putin was accused of more war crimes amid traditional Easter service

Trudging along a war-torn road, with some holding up hobbling comrades, more than 100 Ukrainian prisoners of war were released by Russia yesterday.

Some 130 troops were freed in a great Easter exchange between the two Orthodox countries as the Russian paramilitary Wagner group warned them: I hope you dont fall back into our hands.

It came as Vladimir Putin looked forlorn as he held a candle for his countrys traditional Easter service, hours before he was accused of yet more war crimes.

Yevgeny Prigozhin  who founded the pro-Putin militia accused of atrocities and torture around the world  posted a video of them returning to Ukraine, with many seen limping down the muddy road.

Prepare all of them, feed and water them, check the wounded, Prigozhin was seen saying.

Vladimir Putin looked forlorn as he held a candle for his countrys traditional Easter service, hours before he was accused of yet more war crimes

Some 130 troops were freed in a great Easter exchange between the two Orthodox countries as the Russian paramilitary Wagner group warned them: I hope you dont fall back into our hands.

But another armed Wagner soldier was filmed giving the more ominous warning before they were ordered into a truck.

Andriy Yermak, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskys chief of staff, said 130 Ukrainian prisoners of war had been released and returned home in a great Easter exchange. It was not clear how many Russians were sent back.

Meanwhile beleaguered Russian President Putin appeared exhausted during the midnight service at Moscows largest cathedral, Christ the Saviour.

Both he and Russias spiritual leader, Patriarch Kirill, had arrived surrounded by dozens of security operatives  and worshippers underwent security checks.

Traffic was restricted in central Moscow for hours amid paranoia following the assassination of pro-Kremlin propagandist Vladlen Tatarsky earlier this month. Putin admitted that the second Orthodox Easter since his illegal invasion of Ukraine came at a time of serious challenges. The wonderful, beloved Easter holiday gives believers hope, inspires good thoughts and deeds, and serves to affirm high moral ideals and values in society, he said.

Incredibly, Putin spoke of how the Russian Orthodox Church which has parroted Kremlin lies in favour of the war  is actively involved in the affairs of mercy and charity. Kirill also referred to Ukraine as our Russian historical land and described the conflict as an internal feud.

Trudging along a war-torn road, with some holding up hobbling comrades, more than 100 Ukrainian prisoners of war were released by Russia

READ MORE: Putin celebrates Orthodox Easter after leaked US intelligence documents revealed rumours that his top general is planning to 'throw' the war while despot undergoes chemotherapy for cancer Russian President Vladimir Putin attends an Orthodox Easter service in the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow, Russia Advertisement

Within hours of their service, Russia was accused of bombing an Orthodox church in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine.

The building was destroyed with a large scorched-black hole where it once stood.

Anton Gerashchenko, a Ukrainian official, uploaded a photograph of the damage and wrote: On Easter Sunday, terrorist Russia attacked a church in Zaporizhzhia region. Thankfully, it was empty, and no one was hurt.

Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko also questioned how the Russians could label his country as Nazis and Satanists given their mounting atrocities. There were further claims that Russia attacked Snihurivka, in Mykolaiv region, killing two teenagers.

And in his Easter address, Mr Zelensky described the holiday as marking the victory of good, the victory of truth, the victory of life. He said: Belief in victory unites all of us always, and especially today.

'At Easter, which from time immemorial has been a family holiday for Ukrainians, a day of warmth, hope and great unity. We are one big family  Ukrainians.

Meanwhile there were yet more signs of infighting in the Kremlin as a UK intelligence report said General Colonel Mikhail Teplinsky has returned to a major role in their invasion.

The Airborne commander is popular with the rank and file but was dismissed from the theatre in January.

His return suggests Russias stalling bids to capture the eastern town of Bakhmut has increased tensions between factions in Moscow.
A blackened human jaw found on an Australian beach almost three years ago is now believed to have belonged to a 15-year-old boy who drowned with his father in a boating accident in 1940.

The breakthrough came after a world-renowned archeologist read about the mystery in Daily Mail Australia and recognised the jaw's distinctive discolouration as being similar to old bones he'd seen before.

The mandible was found by 20-year-old Toyah Evans who was walking her dogs along Umina Beach on the NSW Central Coast on June 11, 2020 after a heavy storm.

Initial forensic investigations established the jaw belonged to a boy aged no older than 15 who experts believed had died about a decade earlier.

A blackened human jaw found on an Australian beach almost three years ago is now believed to belong to a 15-year-old boy who drowned with his father in a boating accident in 1940. Police hope they can match the jaw to Ronald Montgomery

Donald Maxwell was on a fishing boat with his father Samuel (above) on July 29 , 1940 at Ettalong, near Umina, on Brisbane Water. Donald's leg become caught in an anchor line and he went overboard. Samuel then dived in to save him but father and son both drowned

Unusually for such an apparently recent death no missing person report fitted the discovery, no human remains found elsewhere matched the bone and no grieving loved ones had ever come forward.

The story first appeared in an episode of the Inside the NSW Police Force podcast titled Lost At Sea: The Black Bone and hosted by journalist Adam Shand.

After Daily Mail Australia reported on the mystery early last year acclaimed archaeologist Richard Wright contacted police and Shand with his theories about the find.

Wright won worldwide fame for his work excavating mass graves in Bosnia which led to the prosecution of war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

He also led a team which in 2009 began exhuming and identifying 249 Australian and British remains buried on the World War I battlefield at Fromelles in northern France.

Wright told police the colour of the mandible suggested it might have been encased in peat, a dark soil-like substance formed by the partial decomposition of plant material.

After Daily Mail Australia reported on the mystery early last year acclaimed archaeologist Richard Wright contacted police with his theories about the find. Wright gained worldwide fame for excavating mass graves in Bosnia and exhuming World War I remains of Diggers

He believed the jaw could have been preserved in an underwater seam of peat that had been disturbed by dredging, then washed up on the shore.

The significance of that observation was that the jaw could have come from a person who died decades earlier than originally thought.

After every person missing from the region since 1948 had been ruled out Wright discovered an extraordinary newspaper clipping from 1940.

On July 29 that year 15-year-old Donald Maxwell was on a fishing boat with his father Samuel when they tried to moor the vessel at Ettalong, near Umina, on Brisbane Water.

Donald's leg had become caught in an anchor line and he went overboard. Samuel then dived in to save him but father and son both drowned.

While the body of Samuel, a 47-year-old widower and draughtsman on the railways,, was quickly recovered, Donald's remains were never found.

Says Shand: 'Everything seems to fit: Donald's age, the location of the incident, its proximity to the location where the bone was found on the beach.'

Investigators originally set out to find where the jaw had come from, how it got to Umina beach and why it was so well preserved.

The jaw was found near the entry to Ocean Beach Caravan Park and about 200m south of Umina Beach Surf Club. This picture was taken by Toyah Evans who found the bone

If it belongs to Donald Montgomery all those questions will be answered soon.

Apart from the jaw's dark colour it was notable for the lack of damage to the bone.

Police looked for sand or soil around Umina Beach that could have caused the jaw to be so blackened but no significant deposits of such matter were found.

Wright directed investigators to go back through council records to see if peat had been dredged up over the decades from the ocean floor.

A former local beach manager revealed there were indeed peat deposits near where Donald lost his life and there had been regular dredging in the area.

In the latest installment of Lost At Sea: The Black Bone released on Tuesday, Wright suggests the jaw bone became encased in disturbed peat sometime after Donald died.

'It probably got mixed up with dredge peat that hadn't actually been pulled to the surface and then later it was exposed to current action and washed up on the beach,' he tells Shand.

Wright, a longtime emeritus professor at Sydney University, compares the blackness of the jaw bone to animal remains found in peat bogs in Ireland.

'It's in remarkably good condition,' he tells Shand. 'If it's in peat it's not going to be abraded.

Umina Beach had been almost empty and the tide was receding when Torah Evans and her mother saw the jaw amid detritus washed up by a recent storm. The pair immediately realised the significance of their discovery and took the bone to police. Umina Beach is pictured

'Abrasion is the thing that destroys bone under those sort of marine conditions and this hasn't suffered any abrasion.

'But if it was in the peat for 80 years it's just lying peacefully and unabraded. So I think yes it could well have been from a person who died 80 years ago under the circumstances that I'm proposing.'

It was dentist and forensic odontologist Dr Phil Kendall who first determined the jaw came from someone about 15 years old.

Kendall believes the bone is likely to have come from Donald Montgomery. 'It's too much a coincidence,' he tells Shand.

Sergeant Donna Bruce says in the podcast: 'Every line of inquiry is leading us to believe that it is Donald.'

Police have now located a living relative of Samuel - 81-year-old Edmund Ironside from Sydney's Pennant Hills. Ironside's mother was Donald's cousin.

'We're really happy if you've really found something,' Ironside tells Shand in the podcast.

'I know the family never knew what happened to Donald. The last we heard he went under the side of a launch and his father dived in after him and he drowned too.'

A DNA sample from another female relative has been sent to the United States with the mandible for testing and results are expected soon.

Lost at Sea: The Black Bone Part 4 can be heard for free via Apple podcasts here or on Spotify. The new episode is available from April 18.
A search has been launched for a missing teenage girl after she disappeared from her home.

Katia Di Palma, 15, was last seen leaving her home at Drummoyne, in Sydney's inner west, at 6pm on Saturday.

Her family reported her missing prompting police to launch a search for the girl.

A search has been launched for a missing teenage girl after she disappeared from her home

Officers hold concerns for her welfare due to her young age.

She is of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean appearance, 155cm tall and has a slim build.

Katia was wearing a grey jumper, black leggings and white sneakers at the time of her disappearance.

Anyone who has information on her whereabouts is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Katie Price is considering taking legal action after two Metropolitan Police officers were dismissed from the force for trading 'horrific', 'discriminatory and offensive' messages about her disabled son Harvey.

The model, 44, has said she is 'not going to let it drop' and was considering her options of claims over discrimination and defamation.

Harvey, 20, has autism and is partially sighted, as well as having Prader-Willi syndrome which affects his physical and behavioural development.

The two serving officers and six former colleagues were found guilty of gross misconduct over racist, homophobic and sexist messages they shared between May 2016 and June 2018 in a WhatsApp group called 'Secret Squirrel S**t'. Some of these related to Katie Price's son.

PC Glynn Rees and PC Dave Selway were fired after a disciplinary hearing at Palestra House in Southwark, central London, on Friday following a six-day hearing.

Katie Price's (right) son Harvey (left), 20, has autism and is partially sighted, as well as having Prader-Willi syndrome which affects his physical and behavioural development

Price is now considering taking legal action over 'discrimination and defamation, the Times reports

Speaking to The Times, the model said that the sackings were 'not really punishment' for the officers involved.

She said: 'I'm disappointed that others resigned. It's a cheap way out.'

She continued: 'Those officers mocked my son's disability, race and size. It doesn't matter if you're in the public eye, no-one deserves that.

'I've got five kids and they picked on him. Why? Because he's different.'

She also questioned why photographs of the officers were not released by police to the public.

The news comes after Katie Price revealed she was 'over the moon' at the decision that the eight officers had been charged with misconduct over the warped WhatsApp group.

'I hope they feel ashamed. I hope they're embarrassed,' the 44-year-old model told Channel 5 News' Dan Walker before adding: 'It's about time justice has been done.'

When asked by Katie how it made him feel when people were horrible to him, Harvey said: 'Angry and sad'.

Commander Jon Savell, the Met's professionalism and standards chief, said: 'I was repulsed and ashamed to read the deeply offensive messages sent by these officers and I utterly condemn their behaviour. I am deeply sorry to those who have been the subject of such awful disgusting messages.

'This is another painful day for us. We know there are more uncomfortable days to come as we turn over the stones and uncover others who corrupt our integrity.'

Among those involved was the team's leading officer, Police Sergeant Luke Allen, PS Luke Thomas and his team members; PC Kelsey Buchan, PC Carlo Francisco, PC Lee South and PC Darren Jenner, PC Rees and Selway.

Only PC Rees and PC Selway, who are still serving in the Met, attended the misconduct hearing.

Price said that while she has five children, the officers chose to ridicule Harvey because he is 'different'

Katie Price pictured with her son Harvey as she speaks out about the gross misconduct charges facing eight Met Police officers

All eight officers were found by the panel to have carried out acts amounting to gross misconduct.

They have now been placed on the barred list preventing them for life from serving in any police force within the UK.

PC Selway and PC Rees have also both been dismissed without further notice.

The panel also determined the six former officers would also have been dismissed had they still been serving.

Five of the six resigned after the messages emerged. Francisco had already been dismissed from the force last July for an 'unrelated matter'.

Price is currently campaigning to introduce 'Harvey's Law', which would ensure internet trolls face consequences for their behaviour online.
Germany has shut down its last three nuclear power plants as part of a long-planned transition towards renewable energy.

The closure, which was agreed more than a decade ago, is being closely watched abroad.

Countries such as the UK, US, Japan, China and France are counting on nuclear energy to replace fossil fuels.

Decades of anti-nuclear protests in Germany, stoked by disasters at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima, put pressure on Berlin to end the use of a technology that critics argue is unsafe and unsustainable.

But Bavaria's conservative governor, Markus Soeder, who backed the original deadline set in 2011, this week called the shutdown 'an absolute mistaken decision'.

The Neckarwestheim nuclear power plant, as Germany shuts down its last nuclear power plants. The closures are being watched carefully abroad

A general view shows the nuclear power plant Isar 2 by the river Isar in Eschenbach near Landshut, Germany on April 13

He added: 'We need every possible form of energy. Otherwise, we risk higher electricity prices and businesses moving away.'

The German government has accepted that in the short term the country will be reliant on polluting coal and natural gas to meet its energy needs, even as it takes steps to massively ramp up electricity production from solar and wind.

Nuclear power advocates worldwide have criticised the shutdown, fearing it could deal a blow to a technology they argue is a clean and reliable alternative to fossil fuels.
Troops were searching for pilot taken hostage Phillip Mehrtens

Another 30 troops are missing in the dense forest in Papau

Rebel gunmen attack Indonesian troops with at least six dead

At least six people have died, and another 30 are missing after separatist gunmen attacked Indonesian army troops searching for a missing pilot.

New Zealand pilot Philip Mark Mehrtens was taken hostage in Papua with army troops deployed to rescue him.

Mr Mehrtens, 37, was working for an Indonesian aviation company when he was abducted in February.

Separatist rebels kidnapped him after they stormed a single-engine Indonesian Susi Airlines plane shortly after it landed on a small runway.

At least six people are dead and another 30 are missing after rebel gunmen attacked Indonesian troops searching for missing New Zealand pilot Philip Mehrtens (pictured: Philip Mehrtens, middle, with West Papau Liberation Army)

Military leaders had narrowed down his location but were attacked by the West Papua Liberation Army on Saturday.

Military reports stated at least six people died, and 21 others fled into the jungle.

It is understood one soldier fell into a deep ravine and died, while others came under attack trying to rescue him.

A military spokesman said only one person had died, with another nine soldiers reportedly being held by the rebel forces.

Papua military spokesperson Colonel Herman Taryaman said 30 soldiers were still missing.

'It's still unknown exactly how many Indonesian army troops died and were injured,' Mr Taryaman said.

'We are still searching, but heavy rain, foggy weather and a lack of communication have hampered our search and evacuation efforts.'

First Admiral Julius Widjojono, spokesperson for the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) said rebels confronted troops when they tried to comb the region for the pilot.

Rebel spokesperson Sebby Sambom issued a statement saying the killings were revenge for the death of two rebels in a shootout with Indonesian security forces in March.

Mr Mehrtens (middle) , 37, was working for the Indonesian aviation company Susi Air when he was abducted by rebels in February when the separatist rebels stormed a Susi airlines plane after it landed on a small runway

Mr Sambom said at least nine soldiers from Indonesia's elite army force were killed and urged Indonesia's government to halt military operations in the region.

'Indonesia's government must stop its security operation in Papua and be willing to negotiate with our leaders under the mediation of a neutral third party from a United Nations agency,' Mr Sambom said.

Mr Mehrtens met his wife Maria in Indonesia, with the couple moving to New Zealand and living in Auckland while Mr Mehrtens worked for Jetstar.

The couple then returned to live in Indonesia when he recommenced employment with Susi Air, founded in 2004, which operates a fleet on 50 aircraft.

Papua was incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 after an UN-sponsored referendum widely seen as a sham.

Since then, a low-level insurgency has simmered in the mineral-rich region, which is divided into two provinces, Papua and West Papua.
Ukraine's air force has warned the country could lose air superiority by May amid concerns over its ability to mount an effective spring counteroffensive.

Russia has so far struggled to gain the upper hand in the skies, with Ukraine's anti-air systems and fighter jets keeping Russian gunships at bay since the initial invasion.

It comes after the leak of secret Pentagon documents last week, a damning development which revealed Ukraine could run out of S-300 AA missiles by 2 May.

The report also revealed American planners doubt Ukraine's ability to mount a counterattack this spring, hit hard by 'force generation and sustainment shortfalls'.

Airforce spokesperson Colonel Yuri Ihnat warned Russia might be able to push through in a matter of weeks if Ukraine's air defences do not hold up, The Times reported.

A Ukrainian Su-25 flies after an attack on Russian positions in Donetsk region on 10 May 2022

A High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) of Ukrainian army fires close to the frontline at the northern Kherson region, Ukraine, 5 November 2022

He said: 'If we lose the battle for our skies, the consequences will be critical. The Russians will smash every city just like they did in Syria.

'Our nuclear power stations will be vulnerable too. And we will struggle to protect our frontline troops.'

At present, Buk and S-300 anti-aircraft missiles make up about 90 percent of Ukraine's air defences.

The Soviet-era technology has been supplemented with Western-supplied HIMARS systems, a multiple rocket launcher system developed for the US Army in the 1990s.

Ihnat said the difficulty was with how to restock the weapons, which are only produced by Russia. He said Slovakia had been able to supply some to this point.

While Russian fighter jets have remained highly effective against Ukrainian aircraft near the frontlines, most of the VKS attacks came at the start of the invasion while Ukrainian ground-based air defences were suppressed.

Since March 2022, the VKS has been unable to effectively operate in Ukrainian airspace as air defences have been widely and dispersed.

Russia has since been limited to cruise and ballistic missile barrages, which are expensive and were unable to achieve any decisive effects by the end of 2023.

The ability to station and resupply Ukrainian surface to air missiles has been documented as one of Ukraine's most immediate priorities in order to stave off Russian aggression.

After months locked in stalemate, the end of winter was expected to bring a new Russian offensive - but experts say the attack has 'stalled'.

Analysts then expected Ukraine to make a decisive counterattack after eight months stuck in attrition warfare around Bakhmut.

Analysis as of this week shows Ukraine and Russia held in positions in the east and south

Ukrainian soldiers fire an artillery on the Marinka-Pisky frontline as the Russia-Ukraine war continues, in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on 16 April, 2023

Residents collect metal from a crashed fighter jet in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine, 8 April 2023

Ukraine also seeks to break Russia's land connection to the Crimean peninsula, which it has held since 2014, while exploiting weaknesses to reclaim contested territories in the east.

But leaked documents show material obstacles in meeting these objectives.

Top-secret US documents warned leaked on social media and picked up last week warned of Ukraine's difficulty in 'force generation' amid shortages of newly-trained troops and munitions.

Despite western provisions for air defence, documents note that Ukraine is 'unable to match the Russian volume' of fire.

The US has been the biggest backer of the Ukrainian war effort, followed by the European Union, the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan.

Congress has approved more than $113bn of aid and military assistance to support Ukraine and allies since the war started in February last year.

But the US is increasingly divided on whether or not to continue sending funds directly to Ukraine to support the war effort.

This proves a problem for Biden, with Trump and likely presidential candidate Ron DeSantis less supportive of sending aid - which could entirely disrupt the war effort.
Furious motorists have slammed parking app firms for failing to provide anyone to talk to when they have complaints.

Drivers bemoaned the 'appalling' lack of customer service after they were left grappling with automated voice recordings or diverted to chat bots.

Some have described spending hours trying to speak to a 'human' while others have simply given up and driven elsewhere.

It comes after the Daily Mail revealed how more than two million drivers will soon live in 'parking meter deserts' as pay and display machines are increasingly being scrapped by local authorities.

In their place, many councils are installing cashless meters or instructing motorists to pay for parking through apps like RingGo, PayByPhone and MiPermit.

Furious motorists have slammed parking app firms for failing to provide anyone to talk to when they have complaints. (file image)

More than half of over-65s do not feel comfortable using apps, according to a Consumer Intelligence poll commissioned by the Mail this month

Yet more than half of over-65s do not feel comfortable using apps, according to a Consumer Intelligence poll commissioned by the Mail this month. And firms offer little assistance to those who may struggle to use them  even if their systems have crashed.

Consumer expert Martyn James said: 'I have seen a significant increase in... drivers who cannot contact an app's customer service team if there is a problem.'

He added: 'Firms need to understand that not everyone is as comfortable [using them] and there needs to be an option to speak to someone if there is a problem.'

Gas engineer Rohan Ataa has nearly half a dozen parking apps installed on his phone, as his job requires him to drive all over the country. However, he encounters problems with them on a 'weekly' basis  from payments being rejected to systems crashing.

Earlier this month he had to leave a note on his van in Colchester, Essex, when his MiPermit app was repeatedly unable to process his payment.

Mr Ataa, 36, said: 'I have experienced appalling customer service when using these apps. It only adds further stress to my day.' Britain's biggest parking app RingGo has up to 515,000 users.

But when the Mail visited its website, no obvious customer service helpline was available.

Many councils are installing cashless meters or instructing motorists to pay for parking through apps like RingGo, PayByPhone and MiPermit

Instead, customers were instructed to raise a query online or use its 'virtual assistant' chat service available through the app.

University student Ann Ismat uses RingGo when she attends lectures in Plymouth city centre.

Ms Ismat, 45, once spent two hours trying to get through to someone who worked for RingGo on the phone. Even her tweets to the firm on social media have received no responses. She said: 'This is a car park I am using up to four times a week. I already suffer from anxiety and having to use this app makes it so much worse.'

RAC spokesman Simon Williams said: 'It's bad enough that drivers have to use multiple apps to pay for parking and the option of using cash is fast disappearing, but not being able to speak to someone should there be a problem creates a whole new level of frustration.'

A RingGo spokesman said: 'We have a help centre both in app and on our website, as well as FAQs, live web and app chat agents, and call-backs available during core hours to assist customers.'
US President Joe Biden will not be in attendance but his wife Jill will be instead

President Macron has confirmed he will attend King Charles III's coronation

He said that he will make an appearance to show his 'friendship, respect and esteem' for the United Kingdom on Saturday 6 May at Westminster Abbey.

It comes after Macron was pressed to ask the King to cancel the first planned trip of his reign in March over nationwide rioting due to his pension reforms.

Headlines in France last month also spoke of an 'Entente renewed' as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met the French leader for a summit to mark a 'new beginning' and 'turn the page' on frictions that have existed between the two countries since Brexit.

A French diplomatic source told The Times: 'Relations with the UK are very important for the French authorities. We are willing to build on the new chapter opened at the March bilateral summit.'

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during his joint statement with Costa Rica President Rodrigo Chaves Robles at the Elysee Palace in Paris

King Charles III inspects the 200th Sovereign's parade at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst

King Charles is a fluent French speaker and has great admiration for the country, just like his mother who made six state visits during her reign.

More than 2,000 people are expected to be present for the King's coronation.

READ MORE: William 'still feels betrayed' by Harry as King Charles uses Coronation to 'mend family rifts' Advertisement

Germany and Italy will send Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Sergio Mattarella - their presidents - instead of their heads of government, Olaf Scholz and Giorgia Meloni.

The US President Joe Biden will not be in attendance after spending four days in Ireland last week, but his wife Jill will be.

The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and prime minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif, have also said they are going.

On Friday it was revealed that Prince Harry had a 'heart to heart' with his father King Charles about his invitation to the Coronation ceremony before agreeing to attend after weeks of talks over the event's security, insiders claim.

Sources previously said there were weeks of negotiations, likened to 'transatlantic ping pong', between Harry and Buckingham Palace about what role he might play, where he might sit and security arrangements.

It was also discovered that King Charles has not invited Sarah Ferguson to his coronation  meaning his former sister-in-law will have to watch the event on TV.

The 63-year-old Duchess of York, nicknamed 'Fergie', still lives with her ex-husband Prince Andrew at the Windsor mansion of Royal Lodge despite their divorce in 1996.

But she is now not expected to attend the coronation despite Andrew and their daughters Beatrice and Eugenie both set to be there.
Another home builder has signed on to complete close to 400 unfinished Porter Davis properties.

Liquidators Grant Thornton on Monday confirmed Nostra Property Group had entered into a sales agreement for Porter Davis' multiple dwelling business.

Nostra will complete up to 375 town houses, 169 of which haven't been started yet, as well as offer ongoing employment to 16 Porter Davis staff.

The parties have been able to preserve jobs and minimise disruption for existing and future builds, Grant Thornton Liquidator Said Jahani said.

'All parties worked tirelessly to achieve a positive outcome in an extremely short period of time,' Mr Jahani said in a statement.

Liquidators Grant Thornton has confirmed Nostra Property Group will complete up to 375 homes for collapsed home builder Porter Davis

Porter Davis had been working on at least 1,700 projects across Victoria and Queensland

'Critically, up to 375 homes (will be) built for families who have had to suffer enormous stress and anxiety following the collapse of the PDH Group.'

Nostra Property Group founder and managing director Anthony Caruana said it was a natural fit for his business.

'We will work towards not only completing the existing partially built homes in this portfolio but also those projects yet to commence,' he said in a statement.

'This will ensure we can provide much needed certainty to the families who have purchased a PDH designed townhouse and they can once again look forward to having a new place to call home.'

Dozens of Porter Davis customers rallied on the steps of Victoria's parliament on Sunday, calling for more support from the government.

Many say they need financial and legal assistance to help navigate their next steps, get their deposits back and gain access to plans.

Deputy Premier Jacinta Allan said the government was still assessing what steps it could take to support affected customers.

'When there's further detail to announce, we will make those announcements,' she told ABC Radio Melbourne on Monday.

About 1700 homes across Victoria and Queensland were left in limbo when Grant Thornton went into liquidation last month.
A notorious Rebels bikie has been thrown behind bars after police allegedly discovered methamphetamine in his bum bag.

Joseph Bradley Raimondi, 39, was refused bail in Northbridge Magistrates Court on Sunday over charges of unlawfully obtained property and burglary with intent.

The father-of-three is accused of stealing a Suzuki motorcycle reported missing in July 2021, with police finding the bike during a search warrant at his Lansdale home, north Perth, on April 1.

In court, Raimondi denied allegations that he stole the motorbike and insisted it belonged to his brother-in-law, the West Australian reports.

Joseph Bradley Raimondi, 39, was refused bail in Northbridge Magistrates Court on Sunday over charges of unlawfully obtained property and burglary with intent

The father-of-three is accused of stealing a Suzuki motorcycle reported missing in July 2021, with police finding the bike during a search warrant at his Lansdale home on April 1

Prosecutors said police had 'reasonable grounds to suspect' he had also stolen a Volvo truck from a Kalamunda address and driven it to his father's house.

Raimondi also rejected these claims, telling the court a 'mate had called me up to store the truck,' and that he 'never touched the truck.'

The Rebels bikie was allegedly found with 3.6g of methamphetamine in his bum bag during a routine traffic stop on Saturday.

He spent the night in custody before facing court, where prosecutors alleged the evidence against the bricklayer and fish shop owner was strong.

They claimed police had photos of Raimondi committing the stealing offences.

Raimondi lost 51kg following gastric sleeve surgery, one-third of his body weight, last year and has a Rebels tattoo on the left side of his head

The 39-year-old was once considered close to slain Rebels boss Nick Martin and was famously photographed flashing his Rebels tattoo at the scene of the gangland-style shooting of bikie enforcer Joseph Versace last September.

He lost 51kg following gastric sleeve surgery, one-third of his body weight, last year and has a Rebels tattoo on the left side of his head.

Raimondi applied for bail but was denied by Magistrate Stephen Wilson who cited a suspended sentence he had already been serving at the time.

He was remanded in custody to face Perth Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
The killer pleaded guilty on day one of murder trial

Couple were high school sweethearts and had a son

The estranged husband of a young mum accused of murdering and dumping her body under the family home has pleaded guilty to her murder after failing to prove he was insane.

Zoran Pandilovski, 47, finally admitted to the cold blooded murder of Elaine Pandilovski, 44, in July 2020.

Her body was discovered underneath her Mill Park home, on the northern outskirts of Melbourne, after Pandilovski was involved in a serious car crash.

Elaine Pandilovski was a doting mum and cared for kids with special needs. Her body was found under the home she shared with her young son

Zoran Pandilovski (left), their son (centre), and Elaine Pandilovski

Zoran Pandilovski has been charged with the murder of his estranged wife. Pictured: Elaine and Zoran Pandilovski

Pandilovski was to face a Supreme Court of Victoria murder trial on Monday, which was abandoned after his shock admission.

The hulking brute had cruelly delayed his guilty plea for years in the hope of escaping responsibility for his actions with bogus claims of mental illness.

A forensic psychiatrist had declared Pandilovski fit to stand trial in February last year, but he refused to accept his fate.

Little remains known about how Victoria Police put its case against Pandilovski, who will now face a preliminary sentencing hearing in June.

During a hearing last year, the court heard Pandilovski had been assessed by Dr Jacqueline Rakov, who reported she believed there was insufficient medical evidence to support a defence of mental impairment.

Pandilovski then tried to get a different opinion from Dr Patrick Newton, who agreed with Dr Rakov's diagnosis.

Pandilovski was arrested after slamming his car head-on into a random motorist in what detectives suspected at the time may have been a deliberate act to kill himself.

He faced two further charges of reckless conduct endangering life over the alleged act, which have been withdrawn by prosecutors in part of a plea deal.

Elaine Pandilovski and Zoran Pandilovski (pictured) were high school sweethearts. They had a son together

Detectives (pictured in 2020) are seen leaving the Mill Park property after discovering the body of Pandilovski's estranged wife Elaine Pandilovski

Elaine Pandilovski's (pictured) body was discovered after police conducted a welfare check at the home on at Mill Park

A teenage boy was among those injured in the sickening crash, which Pandilovski appeared to have escaped mostly uninjured.

His estranged wife had been found dead inside her own home shortly after during a welfare check by worried police.

No explanation has been offered by prosecutors as to why Pandilovski killed his former partner.

Instead, prosecutors deliberately withheld a police summary in order to keep the allegations secret when Pandilovski first appeared in court in 2020.

At the time, his acting lawyer revealed Pandilovski had been struggling with anxiety and depression and suffered from diabetes.

Mrs Pandilovski had been a special needs school teacher, who also cared for her 10-year-old son with autism.

Elaine Pandilovski appears deep in thought as her young son enjoys an arcade game. She would be dead less than two years after the photo was taken

Ms Pandilovski's aunt shared a heartbreaking post about the loss of a 'beautiful, caring and compassionate' woman

A police car is seen out the front of a residential property in Mill Park after the alleged murder

She had lived alone with the couple's son when her life was cruelly taken.

Family became concerned for her welfare after she failed to turn up to work at the Plenty Parkland Primary School in Mill Park.

Mrs Pandilovski had been high school sweethearts with her alleged killer and previously lived together for 15 years.

But according to neighbours they had recently separated and Pandilovski was living in the nearby suburb of Epping.

Local residents said Mrs Pandilovski was a devoted mother and had been living at the single-storey home with the couple's son.

Her vicious death rocked Melbourne and saw an outpouring of grief from friends and family.

'My beautiful niece, words can't explain how we are feeling now. Your life was taken from us and we couldn't help... I love you always, life will never be the same, our hearts will never be the same,' Ms Pandilovski's aunt wrote on social media at the time.

'Rest In Peace my beautiful Angel.'

Pandilovski will return to court in June.
Netflix apologized to subscribers after the 'live' Love is Blind reunion was delayed over an hour before finally streaming.

The reunion episode - scheduled to start at 8 p.m. ET and be hosted by Love is Blind emcees Nick and Vanessa Lachey - led viewers only to a screen that says: 'There's an issue with the live stream.'

'Hang tight! We're trying to fix it as soon as possible,' the message continues.

Vanessa Lachey posted to Instagram as the delay was going on, bragging to the audience that 'apparently y'all, everybody broke the internet to see this reunion!'

At around 9:30 p.m., Netflix tweeted out a statement: 'To everyone who stayed up late, woke up early, gave up their Sunday afternoon we are incredibly sorry that the Love is Blind Live Reunion did not turn out as we had planned,' they tweeted.

'We're filming it now and we'll have it on Netflix as soon as humanly possible. Again, thank you and sorry.'

Netflix subscribers took to social media to express their outrage after the live Love is Blind reunion special - only the second live event in the service's history - has been delayed well over an hour

The show finally started just after 9:15 p.m. with Vanessa Lachey apologizing to viewers and admitting the show was now airing in a live-to-tape format.

'I want to say, we are sorry we're late. We are no longer live but we are here!' with husband Nick exclaiming: 'yes, finally!'

'All of you at home, you haven't missed a thing. We've actually been sitting here on these couches not talking to each other,' Vanessa joked.

Variety confirmed the live-to-tape, saying that the show was only airing live at a viewing party at The Vermont Hollywood.

The only previous live streaming event in Netflix's history was Chris Rock's comedy special, Selective Outrage, which aired without a hitch on March 4.

The delay led to outrage online posted by everyone from comedians to journalists to members of Congress.

MSNBC host Chris Hayes wrote: 'Would love to read the oral history of this evening inside Netflix.'

Comedian Desus Nice shared a meme of Tory Lanez's father and posted: 'NETFLIX YOU WILL CRUMBLE!'

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez referenced the series finale, in which a seamstress was able to save one of the weddings by refitting a tuxedo with less than an hour to go.

'Someone call Lucia the seamstress to fix this. I believe in her,' the left-wing representative tweeted.

Vanessa Lachey posted to Instagram as the delay was going on, bragging to the audience that 'apparently y'all, everybody broke the internet to see this reunion!'

Variety confirmed the live-to-tape, saying that the show was only airing live at a viewing party in Hollywood

An account replying to her chimed in: 'I expect a full Congressional hearing on this Love is Blind fiasco. the American people deserve better.'

One Twitter user pointed out how Netflix had squandered their opportunity to keep viewership once another addictive television show began on a different streamer.

'Meanwhile, ima turn on HBO Max in 15 minutes and #Succession is going to be waiting for me in 4K, you should be ashamed of yourselves @netflix,' wrote Jomi Adeniran.

Another quote tweeted host Nick Lachey tweeting earlier Sunday asking 'Who's ready?!' by quipping 'literally everyone except Netflix!'

Long underground video rental store Blockbuster's Twitter account got in on the action, writing: 'Remember renting vhs from us. You could start it on time no problem This is what we get.'

On demand video service Redbox responded: 'Solidarity, bro.'

Even fellow haven of reality TV Bravo decided to spill some tea, writing: 'We would never leave you waiting for a reunion.'

Chloe Veitch and Chris Burns speak onstage at the VIP Watch Party and Celebration for "Love Is Blind: The Live Reunion" held at The Vermont Hollywood

Zack Goytowski attends the Love Is Blind cast celebration of Netflix's First Live Reunion with The Iconic Pods at The Brig

DailyMail.com has reached out to Netflix for further comment.

The mega-streamer has been promoting the reunion special for over two weeks, especially hyping the hoped for live element.

'Save the date for this can't miss LIVE reunion special,' they said in a press release April 4.

'Hosts Nick & Vanessa Lachey will join the cast for this front row seat as they unravel all the season's twists and turns, share reactions to watching their stories unfold, and find out which couples are still together after saying 'I do' and 'I don't.'

'Anything could happen! Literally, anything - because it's LIVE!'
Neighbours have described the grim reality of living in a notorious block of flats in south-west Sydney where five people were arrested in a major police operation - as its local nickname as the 'Ice Block' is revealed.

Dozens of heavily-armed NSW police officers descended on the blonde brick block of public housing flats on Charles Street in Liverpool in the early hours of Monday morning.

A woman was arrested as she left the building about 2.15am, with two more women and two men also taken into custody. There have been no reports of any injuries.

Outside the complex later in the morning, residents described noisy parties being held at the unit, which sits near common areas that are strewn with discarded trolleys and dumped garbage.

Residents noted the complex has a bloody past: a man aged in his 20s was shot in the driveway of the complex late last year.

One neighbour said the blonde brick units used to be a nice place to live until they were turned into public housing a few years ago

One neighbour claimed: 'There's lots of people in these blocks doing drugs and selling drugs'

A large red chemical drum and piles of clothes could be seen scattered along the balcony of the decrepit unit on Monday. The residents used the drum as a bin

Heavily-armed tactical police officers arrived on Charles Street in Liverpool in the early hours of Monday morning after residents reported hearing a gunshot

Jin Shin, who lives next door to the unit police raided on Monday, said a man and woman moved into the apartment several months ago.

Ever since, Mr Shin said he had struggled to go to sleep due to the incessant music blasting out of the place.

'There were lots of parties, 20 people constantly coming and going,' Mr Shin said.

'Once when I knocked on the door to complain, they became aggressive. The police were always over there knocking on their door.'

A woman who lives in a nearby block said her neighbour heard a loud bang during the early hours of the morning.

She said the units used to be a nice place to live until they were turned into public housing a few years ago.

'There's lots of people in these blocks doing drugs and selling drugs,' the woman said.

'I know there were people in that block selling drugs because people in my block would go there to buy them.

'Cars pull up and you can see them handing over the drugs and money. I wish the police would do more to stop them. It's scary.'

Another resident, who wished not to be named, said two of the apartment blocks in the housing complex were notoriously associated with ice and heroin use.

Daily Mail Australia does not suggest that all residents use or sell drugs, simply that neighbours believe illegal behaviour occurs at the building.

The unit block has been cordoned-off from the public, with specialist officers and police negotiators also called to the scene. Police are pictured at the complex on Monday morning

Jin Shin, who lives next door, said a man and woman moved into the unit police raided on Monday morning several months ago. Mr Shin is pictured

Detectives were seen searching a white truck in the driveway on Monday morning

A police officers is pictured sticking an evidence seal over the the door of a truck near the apartment block on Monday

Police are pictured talking to residents at the same Liverpool unit block in October 2022 after a man was shot in the driveway

Mr Shin said there had been a shooting in the driveway just six months ago.

'The guy was shot in the legs, he ran into our building bleeding and collapsed on the ground,' he said.

On that occasion a man aged in his 20s was shot about 6.20am on October 12 and taken to Liverpool Hospital.

Daily Mail Australia does not suggest the October 2022 shooting is related to the current police operation.

The unit block has been cordoned-off from the public, with specialist officers and police negotiators also called to the scene.

The five people in custody have been taken to Liverpool police station, with police vehicles seen leaving the street about 5.40am.

NSW Police said a crime scene warrant would be executed with detectives to continue to investigate.

Detectives were seen searching a white truck parked in the driveway on Monday morning.

The vehicle was later marked with a 'forensic evidence' sticker before it was towed away from the scene.

Anyone with information has been urged to contact Liverpool police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

A detective carried brown paper evidence bags from the building after five people were arrested at the premises
Lidia Thorpe is facing calls to be booted from Parliament following her outburst outside a Melbourne strip club, with a workplace relations lawyer saying she would have been sacked by any other business over similar behaviour.

Senator Thorpe was filmed trading vile insults at men about the size of a patron's genitalia outside Maxine's Gentlemen's Club, in Melbourne's north, in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The incident - one of several involving Ms Thorpe - prompted several Australians to demand Ms Thorpe be thrown out of parliament altogether. However, protections are in place that make it virtually impossible to get rid of a senator.

Politicians can be dropped from a party but can only be removed from Parliament under special circumstances. Bad behaviour is not among the reasons.

Employment law firm McArdle Legal associate Kieran McArdle told Daily Mail Australia Senator Thorpe would have been sacked in most other workplaces.

Senator Thorpe's parliamentary colleagues called on her to 'take responsibility' following Sunday's public outburst

He cited rule 1.07 under the Fair Work regulations that defines serious misconduct.

'If it harms the reputation of a company as defined in the act it amounts to serious misconduct,' Mr McArdle said.

'Free speech is not absolute. It is not a crime but from an employer's perspective, you can't just say things that are going to hurt a company you work for.'

McArdle said such misconduct could include behaviour out of work hours.

'Who is going to engage me or my firm if I am some guy spraying beer all over a pub or getting arrested or something like that?' he asked.

In the legal profession Mr McArdle said he might also have his licence to practice come under review if he misbehaved.

'I could have the law society saying I am not a fit and proper standards,' he said.

In the case of federal MPs the only grounds they can be kicked out of office are for holding a dual citizenship, bankruptcy, holding 'certain government offices' or being convicted of offences punishable by imprisonment for one year or longer.

Sydney University constitutional law expert, Professor Anne Twomey explained why a senator could not be booted from parliament in a written piece for The Conversation in 2019.

She said there 'is no ground of disqualification for behaviour that brings a House of Parliament into disrepute'.

Only one elected representative, Labor MP Hugh Mahon, who was voted out by his party for criticising British actions in Ireland and supporting an Australian republic, has ever been expelled from federal parliament.

The power to expel members was revoked in 1987 over fears the ability to expel someone could be abused.

Houses can suspend members for unruly conduct and in more serious cases censure a member, as happened to former prime minister Scott Morrison in November for holding multiple secret ministry appointments.

A censure remains on a parliamentary record but brings no fine or other punishment.

At one point, the Senator approaches one of the men outside the strip club and says: 'You are marked'

Labor minister Tanya Plibersek and Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce were united in condemning Lidia Thorpe's behaviour outside a Melbourne strip club

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek on Monday slammed Senator Thorpe's 'unacceptable' behaviour becoming the most powerful politician involved in a growing pile-on against the senator.

'It doesn't matter if you're a member of Parliament or you're an average person, I think that sort of behaviour in public is just not acceptable,' she told Sunrise.

Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce told Sunrise Senator Thorpe's behaviour in Melbourne was 'completely outside the realm' and was becoming a 'litany' of incidents.

'I start to feel sorry for her, to be honest,' he said.

'I think that she has to have some serious conversations with a few people about how she is conducting herself and whether it is appropriate and how she gets into that position to act like that.'

Mr Joyce stopped short on calling for parliament to remove MPs for such behaviour.

'Unfortunately I don't think you should be able to kick people out of parliament. I think once you are elected you are elected,' he said.

Senator Thorpe already faces a potential censure by the Senate for her alleged undisclosed relationship with a bikie boss while she was a member of a committee looking into organised crime.

Social media users have demanded Senator Thorpe be dropped from parliament.

'Lidia Thorpe should be sacked - no ifs, buts or maybes. She's a disgrace,' one wrote.

A second added: 'how do we, the taxpayer's remove Sen Lidia Thorpe from office?'

Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie said she thought Senator Thorpe needed help.

'I think that when you are out that late and you put yourself in that sort of situation, you better take responsibility for your actions,' Ms Lambie said.

'You are a politician, and sometimes we do muck up, but not taking any responsibility for that yourself is not very helpful.

'If you do not think you're in a good way, go and do what the rest of us do - go and get some counselling or psychology because quite frankly, something needs to be done.

'But I would say this to Lidia: you just cannot keep doing this.

'A good start would be admitting you are part of the problem and the responsibility of your own actions need to be taken into your own hands.'

Senator Thorpe, who swapped from being a Greens representative to an independent one in February, said she was provoked by the men outside Maxine's Gentlemen's Club in the inner north Melbourne suburb of Brunswick.

Employment lawyer Kieran McArdle says that bringing a company into disrepute can be grounds for a legal dismissal

'It's sad people are utilising whatever they can to drag me down when we're trying to discuss important issues in this country,' she said in a statement.

Senator Thorpe has been banned for life by the strip club.

The former Greens politician has been warned not to 'cause further embarrassment' in the letter - seen by Daily Mail Australia - after she screamed obscenities outside Maxine's Gentlemen's Club.

Footage of the incident shows Senator Thorpe pointing her finger at the men in a heated exchange.

At one stage, Senator Thorpe walks up to one of the men and says in a menacing tone 'you, you are marked'.

One of them calls her a 'racist dog' to which she responds 'f*** you' before a friend holds her back.'

She tells the men: 'All I want to say to the black brothers there and anyone that we're fighting...

'Any black man that stands with the f***ing white little c*** like that - yous (sic) can all get f***ed too!'

One of the men asks: 'How the f**** does someone get in parliament like you?'

She hits back: 'We've been repressed all our f***ing life in this country and you let this little dog speak...'

READ THE LETTER BANNING SENATOR LIDIA THORPE IN FULL Dear Senator, I write to you regarding your attendance at Maxine's Gentlemen's Club on Saturday evening, and the incident outside the venue after closing at 3am, Sunday April 16, 2023. Maxine's Gentlemen's Club is a local Brunswick club which prides itself on providing a relaxed environment and fostering harmony between patrons of all genders and from all ethnic and religious backgrounds; a fact the staff and dancers are very proud of. With this in mind, and after reviewing security footage and speaking with staff and security, I have to inform you that you are no longer welcome at Maxine's Gentlemen's Club. Please do not attempt to enter the venue in future, as being refused entry may cause further embarrassment. Yours sincerely, David Ross General Manager Maxine's Gentlemen's Club Advertisement

It is the latest in a series of public incidents centring on the outspoken Senator.

In March the Senator had tried to interrupt a rally by UK women's right advocate Parker Posey and was pulled to the ground by police leaving her to crawl on all fours out of their grasp.

In February she had to be removed after halting Sydney's s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade by lying on a road in front of a float to stage a protest against NSW police taking part in the event.
Charged by WorkSafe over four breaches to Occupational Health and Safety Act

He got out of his vehicle to re-enter an access code, wash cycle then started

Mulgrave man, 73, was crushed in a Melbourne car wash in November of 2019

A witness has described the shocking moment an elderly man rushed to his doom in a tragic automatic car wash accident that claimed his life, a court has heard.

Lawyers representing international oil company Chevron appeared before the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Monday after the company was charged over the 73-year old Mulgrave man's death.

Pietrina Di Noto had been next in line to have her vehicle washed when she watched the horrific incident unfold.

Global oil giant Chevron has been charged by WorkSafe over four breaches to the Occupational Health and Safety Act following the death of a man at a Melbourne car wash in November 2019 (stock image)

She told the court the elderly man's fate was sealed when he attempted to make it into the front seat of his car after the car wash fired into action.

WorkSafe Victoria hit Chevron with four negligence charges after the man drove into an automatic car wash in Springvale, Melbourne, before getting out of his car to re-enter an access code.

The court heard he was crushed when he tried to get back into his vehicle when the wash cycle started, with his car door becoming stuck by a gantry.

The man died from his injuries in hospital three days later, in November 2019.

Ms Di Noto told the court she was waiting in her car behind the elderly man when she saw him jump out of his car to enter the code.

Addressing the court on day one of an expected four day preliminary hearing, Ms Di Noto said the man 'roughly' asked her to move her vehicle so he could enter the code.

'He saw the machine move and started to run,' she said.

Ms Di Noto said she saw water starting to flow from the car wash as the man desperately tried to re-enter the front seat of his vehicle.

'I thought "Oh no, please get into the back seat",' she said.

Ms Di Noto said the man managed to open the front door wide enough to get a foot inside before he was cut down by the car wash.

'It would have been better if he'd just walked out,' she said. 'It was clear to me.'

Ms Di Noto said it would have been obvious to the man that attempting to re-enter the front seat was folly.

'It was obviously dangerous to get in the front,' she said. 'I was shocked.'

A man, 73, was crushed after getting out of his vehicle to re-enter an access code, with the wash cycle then starting (stock image)

Chevron Australia Downstream Fuels, which operates the car wash, was charged by WorkSafe with four breaches to the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Court documents allege Chevron failed to take reasonably practicable steps to eliminate risks including not installing signage instructing drivers not to exit their vehicle while the car wash was operating, and not fitting anti-collision bars or other systems capable of detecting an impending impact between moving parts and obstacles in the wash bay.

WorkSafe also alleged gantry legs were fitted with metal brackets which reduced the amount of space for cars, people and other items in the wash bay, and it was reasonably practicable for Chevron to eliminate or reduce the risk by removing those brackets.

The fourth charge alleges failures over the operating system of the car wash, which allowed customers to drive into the wash bay and leave the car on foot to enter an access code to start the wash cycle.

'It was reasonably practicable for Chevron to eliminate or reduce the risk by installing boom gates which would grant access to the wash bay only after a valid access code was entered,' court documents allege.

The hearing continues.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk has claimed the U.S. government had access to users private messages on Twitter.

In a wide-ranging interview with Fox News' Tucker Carlson, set to be broadcast on Monday and Tuesday night, Musk made the startling claims noting how he was shocked to learn that the government had full access to private communications on the platform.

The billionaire tycoon told Carlson how unaware of the fact until he joined the company and expressed surprise at the degree to which government agencies were able to monitor social media.

'The degree to which government agencies effectively had full access to everything that was going on on Twitter blew my mind,' Musk said. 'I was not aware of that.'

Twitter owner and CEO Elon Musk has claimed in a new interview how the U.S. government had complete access to users private messages on Twitter

The wide-ranging interview with Tucker Carlson, pictured, is set to be broadcast on Monday and Tuesday night

'Would that include people's DMs?' Carlson probed.

'Yes,' Musk replied.

The extensive interview with Carlson is set to air over the next two nights.

Musk's admission that agencies had full access to everything happening on Twitter, including direct messages, is likely to raise concerns among users who may have assumed that their private conversations were entirely private and secure.

While it is unclear how long the government had such access, Musk's comments suggest the situation is far more widespread than many may have considered.

In addition to discussing government surveillance of social media, Musk also expressed concerns about the dangers of artificial intelligence.

In an alarmist view, Musk stated that he believes AI has the potential to cause the downfall of civilization.

'AI is more dangerous than, say, mismanaged aircraft design or production maintenance, or bad car production in the sense that it has the potential  however small one may regard that probability, but it is non-trivial  it has the potential for civilizational destruction,' Musk said.

Twitter owner Elon Musk (left) gave an interview to the BBC's US tech journalist James Clayton

Last week, in another interview with the BBC, Musk, a self-confessed workaholic, confirmed he sometimes sleeps on a sofa in a library in Twitters San Francisco headquarters.

The Tesla and SpaceX boss was criticized for cutting half the company's full-time staff in one week, ending remote working and setting an ultimatum for remaining staff to agree to longer, more intense working patterns or leave.

It led to concerns that the platform could struggle to survive with the reduced maintenance team and available engineers.

Musk admitted that shutting down one of Twitter's service centers had ended up being 'quite catastrophic' as it resulted in the platform losing a large amount of its functionality.

He also said the business was now roughly breaking even, could be profitable again soon and he would be open to selling to the right person.

Musk also revealed legacy blue checkmarks will finally be removed this week.

Musk stated last month that legacy-verified Twitter users would see their blue ticks removed from the service on April 1, unless they paid a monthly fee of $8 to its Twitter Blue subscription operation.

As a result, thousands of the platform's high-profile users were braced to lose the ticks, which can help verify their identity and distinguish them from imposters.

But the legacy blue ticks have remained in place past the original deadline of April 1.
Two teenage boys, 16 and 17, were reported shot but in stable condition

Rowdy teens torched cars and got into fights before gunfire ended Saturday

Chicago's mayor-elect says he does not condone violence carried out by teens Saturday night but that the city should not vilify the group

Chicago's mayor-elect said the city should not demonize the teens who organized a 'Teen Takeover' of the Loop over the weekend, even after the event turned violent with cars burnt cars and minors shot.

Brandon Johnson, 47, said Sunday he does not 'condone the destructive activity' and that it's 'unacceptable and has no place' in Chicago, but that it should not be used as a way to vilify the group.

'However, it is not constructive to demonize youth who have otherwise been starved of opportunities in their own communities,' said Johnson, a progressive Democrat.

Shocking footage showed some teenagers jumping on top of a bus while others started a massive brawl after descending on Millennium Park and attempting to breach barricades.

Gunshots rang out with rounds striking two teenage boys aged 16 and 17 who were reported to be in stable condition as of Sunday. Cars were also left vandalized near East Washington Street in the Windy City, including a Tesla which is worth about $120,000.

Chicago's mayor-elect says the city should not demonize the teens who organized a 'Teen Takeover' of the Loop over the weekend, even after the event turned violent with cars burnt cars and minors shot

Brandon Johnson, 47, said Sunday he does not 'condone the destructive activity' and that it's 'unacceptable' but that it should not be used as a way to vilify the group

Johnson is the mayor-elect, and is a former union organizer who has called for new taxes and more social programs in Chicago.

The situation began Saturday when a crowd of more than a hundred rowdy teenagers turned violent as dozens torched and smashed cars while blaring music.

In total, 15 people were arrested including nine adults and six children.

Despite the outrage over the violence and destruction, Johnson said he thinks the only path forward is to 'work together' to give kids safer spaces.

'Our city must work together to create spaces for youth to gather safely and responsibly, under adult guidance and supervision, to ensure that every part of our city remains welcome for both residents and visitors,' he said in a statement.

The mayor-elect's response did not go over well on social media with hundreds calling him and others out for what they say is a city on the brink of ruin.

'Isn't that the whole point of having city parks and beaches....are these not meant to be the community spaces for our youth to gather safely?' replied one user on Twitter.

'Nowhere In This City Is Safe!!!!' said another.

'Apparently Chicago decided it hasn't yet hit rock bottom. Soon,' wrote one person.

'When they travel in packs so large, there is no fear of repercussion,' wrote another.

'When there are NO repercussions. Why would anyone listen to authority? Just keep doing what they are doing, because they don't fear any type of punishment,' wrote one Twitter user.

Saturday's incident is one of many which are being dubbed 'teen trends.'

On Friday, a 14-year-old boy was shot at another gathering near 31st Avenue Beach.

'Our city must work together to create spaces for youth to gather safely and responsibly, under adult guidance and supervision, to ensure that every part of our city remains welcome for both residents and visitors,' Johnson said in a statement released on Sunday

More than a rowdy hundred teenagers gathered in Millennium Park on Saturday

Two teenage boys, 16 and 17, were reported shot during a fight. They were transported to the hospital in stable condition

The rowdy group torched cars and got into fights before gunfire ended the night

Hundreds of teenagers flooded into Downtown Chicago on Saturday night, smashing car windows, trying to get into Millennium Park

During the chaos on Saturday night, a bystander was attacked while in the driver seat of his car by rowdy teenagers and had to be taken to the hospital.

It appeared as if police were unable to handle the crowd and were seen escorting innocent bystanders and tourists to safety.

Officers worked to clear large the crowds and video showed dozens of cops lining the street near Washington and State.

'It's heartbreaking, kids fighting, chasing each other, some of them got guns,' an unidentified witness told NBC News. 'It's really heartbreaking when one of them actually gets hurt, and that's unfortunate, happened last night.'

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Mayor-Elect Brandon Johnson both issued statements regarding chaotic scenes.

Mayor Lightfoot said while many of the young people gathered to have a good time and enjoy the weather, some were involved in 'reckless, disrespectful and unlawful behavior.'

'As I have said before, we as a city cannot and will not allow any of our public spaces to become a platform for criminal conduct,' the liberal mayor said.

'Most importantly, parents and guardians must know where their children are and be responsible for their actions. Instilling the important values of respect for people and property must begin at home.'

Lightfoot noted that Chicago police leadership has assured her they will 'make the necessary adjustments to address these teen trends issues as we move into the summer months.'

Video taken by Jessica Tamburo shows young people jumping up and down on a car on Michigan Avenue in Chicago on the night of April 15

Shots were fired near the corner of Madison and Michigan with some news organizations deciding that it was unsafe to keep news crew on the scene

Two teens were wounded by gunfire in the crowds in the first block of East Washington Street

A 16 and 17-year-old boy were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in fair condition with gunshot wounds

The crowd was trying to get into Millennium Park, but there were checkpoints around the perimeter and people under 21 are not allowed without an adult

Chicago police said nine adults and six juveniles were arrested. Most were charged with reckless conduct

The witness added that police stood no chance against the crowed.

'It was a lot of cops here, but they were still outnumbered,' the witness said. 'There were so many teenagers that showed up, and they tried to keep the peace and keep them under control.'

After the shooting, a nearby Tesla was then seen on fire.

The rowdy teenagers disrupted the city's transportation system after several climbed on top of a bus. They could be seen dancing while the bus was at a stop.

It's unclear if anyone was in the bus at the time but the Chicago Transit Authority announced that schedules were disrupted due to police activity.

After the shooting, a nearby Tesla was then seen on fire. Pictured: the torched car

The rowdy teenagers disrupted the city's transportation system after several climbed on top of a bus. They can be seen dancing while the bus was at a stop

It's unclear if anyone was in the bus but the Chicago Transit Authority announced that travels were disrupted due to police activity. Pictured: The rowdy crowd

On Friday night, a 14-year-old boy was shot in the thigh around 9pm.

Beforehand, authorities were informed about the 300-person gathering via Emergency Management and Communications.

Some reports cited that nearly 1,000 teenagers were at the 'teen trend' event - though the true number remains unclear.

A 17-year-old boy was arrested in connection to the shooting.

Chicago police work the scene following a police involved shooting in the 3800 block of W. Flournoy on Saturday

Police in Chicago are seen looking over the scene of a police shooting although it was several miles west of downtown

Most of those arrested were charged with reckless conduct, but a 16-year-old male was charged with unlawful use of a weapon

Chaotic scenes erupted in the downtown area amid large gatherings over the weekend

The gatherings led to a large response from law enforcement in the downtown Chicago area
Police are poised to begin the gruelling task of sifting through tonnes of landfill for the body of a woman as a top police officer warns the efforts could take months.

Engineers have attempted a 'mammoth task' to isolate the rubbish collected from a single bin on March 28 , which is believed to contain the body of Brisbane woman Lesley Trotter, 78, among the thousands of tonnes of landfill.

A team of police this week are expected to begin a physical search - by hand and piece- by-piece - to find any trace of her remains.

Police are set to begin a painstaking search for the body of missing Brisbane woman Katarina Carroll whose body was dumped in a wheelie bin in Toowong on March 28 (pictured: Ms Carroll missing poster)

Engineers will now attempt a 'mammoth task' to isolate the rubbish collected from a single bin among the thousands of tonnes of landfill in an attempt to find any trace of her remains (picture: stock image of garbage bins)

'It might take days but, I've seen investigations like this in the past it might take weeks,' Commissioner Katarina Carroll said on Monday.

'They might even take months.'

Despite the arduous task, recovering Ms Trotter's remains will be vital to the police investigation.

'When you get the body of a person, you then have a lot more information available to you in terms of evidence, the forensics et cetera, so it's incredibly important that we do as much as we can over the next few weeks to find her.'

Ms Trotter vanished from the inner suburb of Toowong on March 28.

The retired teacher's mobile phone and wallet were found in her unit and her car was still in the garage.

Days of searching became weeks and the hope of finding her alive faded as police confirmed they feared Ms Trotter was dead and treated her death as a homicide.

Investigators had 'strong evidence' Ms Trotter died the night she disappeared, police said.

Her body was hidden a wheelie bin, which was collected the next day then taken to a Nudgee transfer station and dumped in a pit, along with rubbish from another 22 trucks.

The rubbish was pressed in a massive compactor into huge blocks and freighted to landfill sites at Swanbank near Ipswich and Rochedale in Brisbane's south.

Both landfill sites are official crime scenes as police begin a forensic search through mountains of refuse.

Her body was hidden a wheelie bin, which was collected the next day then taken to a Nudgee transfer station and dumped in a pit, along with rubbish from another 22 trucks (pictured: waste facilities where police are searching for Ms Trotter's remains)

It will not be a simple task.

The day Ms Trotter went missing six B-double loads of garbage were moved to landfill sites.

Rubbish collection continued for another 14 days, with another 300 truckloads disposed at the Nudgee transfer station alone.

'It's going to be tough going,' Ms Carroll said.

'They've done an extraordinarily good job of isolating the areas that have to have to be searched and now the tough job starts of searching those areas thoroughly.'

It will be an agonising wait for her devastated family who have begged for privacy.

'While the family continue to support each other at this difficult time, they ask to be allowed the space to grieve in private,' the family said in a police statement.
Victims of the Windrush scandal are still facing long waits and receiving inadequate amounts of compensation when their payout finally arrives, a new report has warned today.

Human Rights Watch says that the scheme should be 'stripped' from the Home Office and given to an independent body after the group's report found that claimants are being asked to provide unreasonable levels of documentation or proof.

The scheme was set up to recompense members of the Windrush Generation - legal immigrant workers from the Caribbean who arrived post-World War Two - who had been incorrectly classed as illegal migrants. It has come under fire from those applying for compensation, with many expressing frustration at the struggle to obtain reasonable payouts.

The Home Office says it has paid out or offered more than 68million in compensation so far, and told the BBC that it is 'committed to righting the wrongs of Windrush'.

The Windrush scandal saw legal migrant workers from the Caribbean who arrived in Britain after World War Two incorrectly classed as illegal immigrants. Pictured: Jamaican immigrants arrive at Tibury Docks in Essex on June 22, 1948, on former troop ship 'Empire Windrush'.

Thomas Tobierre, pictured, who arrived legally in Britain 1965 as a child from St Lucia, was forced to drain his pension after being unable to get a job after being made redundant because of his lack of documentation

In its report, seen by the BBC, Human Rights Watch said victims should be granted legal aid to help make their applications for the scheme, which was put in place 2019.

READ MORE HERE - Lenny Henry reveals his own family could have faced deportation in Windrush scandal Advertisement

The HMT Empire Windrush first docked in England 75 years ago, bringing legal immigrant workers from the Caribbean to help fill post-war labour shortages.

Five years ago it was revealed thousands of immigrants had been incorrectly classed as illegal.

People affected by the scandal arrived to the UK between 1948 and 1971, when immigration laws changed in the UK.

Those who were incorrectly classed as illegal immigrants, who were also from countries outside the Caribbean, struggled to find work, housing, access healthcare and in some cases people who had lived their whole lives in the UK were deported.

Human Rights Watch said there was an unreasonable burden of truth placed on the victims.

Thomas Toubierre, who came to the UK from St Lucia in 1965 as a small child when the island was still a British colony, said he had been forced to drain his pension after being made redundant in 2017 and was unable to take a job because of the lack of documentation.

He told the BBC 'it's like they're saying you don't exist', and added that despite spending weeks gathering evidence he had been in the UK since the 60s.

When he applied for compensation he was told by the Home Office it didn't cover the loss of his pension, and offered 3,000 - but this was increased to 16,000 after an appeal and formal complaint by his daughter Charlotte.

He added their family went through the process again when his wife Caroline applied as a close family member of someone affected by the scandal.

Human rights groups have called on the Government to take responsibility for the compensation scheme away from the Home Office to an independent body. Pictured: Home Secretary Suella Braverman with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak

Earlier this month Windrush campaigners delivered a petition to Downing Street calling on the Home Secretary to honour promises made by her predecessor Priti Patel to implement recommendations in the Williams report

At the time she had stage four terminal cancer and after being given weeks to live wanted the money to pay for her funeral - Mr Toubierre said she was forced to go through a long interview which made her 'break down so many times'.

One lawyer representing hundreds of Windrush victims told the BBC the scheme was 'torturing people' with requests for unreasonable amounts of evidence.

READ MORE HERE - 'Hostile environment' is back: Migrants working on black market face new crackdown to force them out of the country Advertisement

Jacqueline McKenzie said: 'A lot of this goes back decades, particularly around employment - so many of the employers, and the sorts of places they were working... they don't exist.

The Black Equity Organisation echoed calls from Human Rights Watch, with chief executive Dr Wanda Wyporska saying the Home Office 'must be stripped of the administration of the compensation scheme'.

Dr Wyporska said: 'The report confirms the worst fears of the Windrush victims and survivors, that the institutional prejudice, ignorance, carelessness and inhumanity that drove the scandal, would resurface if the Home Office were allowed to manage the compensation scheme, and sadly, that has proven to be the case.

'The Department has created a process that is so bureaucratic and complicated, that some Windrush victims have died before they could successfully complete it.'

The report also said victims do not feel they would get a fair hearing at the Home Office as it is the agency responsible for the scandal.

'To add insult to unimaginable injury, surviving claimants have been prevented from getting the legal aid they urgently need to help complete the process and begin to rebuild their lives,' Dr Wyporska added.

'We are calling for an independent body focused on the needs of victims to be appointed and Windrush survivors must be able to access legal aid.

'It is unforgivable that the horrific damage done to the Windrush generation is being compounded by the gross mismanagement of the scheme created to help them.'
The ABC has hit back after Twitter updated the public broadcaster's social media page to include the tag, 'government-funded media'.

The public broadcaster quickly attempted to correct the mistake after the update appeared involuntarily on the ABC News' account on Monday.

'FYI: The ABC is a publicly funded broadcaster, governed by the ABC Charter which is enshrined in legislation,' the account tweeted.

'For more than 90 years the ABC has always been and remains an independent media organisation, free from political and commercial interests.'

Twitter has added similar updates to the social media pages of several news outlets around the world in a bid to provide transparency on who funds the organisations.

Social media users were quick to jump onto the wagon and offer alternative and less appealing labels that they wanted to be added to ABC's Twitter page.

The ABC has lashed out after Twitter updated the public broadcaster's social media page and included the tag, 'government-funded media' (pictured, ABC investigative reporter Louise Milligan)

'It should say state-controlled corrupt lying untrustworthy fake news leftist extremist media,' one wrote.

Another suggested: 'Chronically InnerCity Woke, Constipated with Green Advocacy & Political Bias?'

A shorter suggestion was 'forced tax payer-funded propaganda', while another chided Twitter that 'they forgot to add the Left Wing Bias part'.

Another had a more sympathetic view of the national broadcaster.

'Should read ABC kowtowed by the Coaltion who cut the funding but still enjoy full support and loyalty,' the wrote.

Some thought the descriptive labels should be expanded to other media outlets.

'When is Twitter going to start identifying media outlets owned by conservative, climate denying billionaires?' Greens MP Adam Bandt wrote.

SBS, which is funded by a mix of government money and advertising revenues, has also expressed its displeasure at being given the 'Government-Funded Media' label.

Twitter says the new labels are to provide more transparency about who funds accounts that provide news and commentary.

The two other labels are 'state-affiliated media' and 'publicly-funded media', with the 'government-funded' designation being applied where 'the government provides some or all of the outlet's funding'.

Twitter goes on to say the label means 'governments may have varying degrees of government involvement over editorial content'.

The main ABC news account has been labelled as 'Government-funded media' by Twitter

The ABC was quick to give itself the description of being a 'publicly funded broadcaster'

An ABC spokesperson said the broadcaster was 'liaising with Twitter regarding changes to account verification and labels'.

Twitter's new labels have upset other public broadcasters.

After initially labelling Britain's BBC as 'Government-funded' Twitter backed down and changed the description to 'publicly-funded'.

'I know the BBC's, for example, not thrilled about being labelled state-affiliated media,' Twitter CEO Elon Musk said in an interveiw.

However, for America's National Public Radio (NPR), which has a mix of public and private funding, Twitter has not changed the label which led to the station leaving the platform.

New Zealand's Radio NZ also made this threat after being given the 'government-funded media' tag.

Radio NZ Head of Content Megan Whelan said Twitter's definition gave the left open the false impression that the broadcaster was not totally independent.

'Twitter's own policy defines government-funded media as cases where the government 'may have varying degrees of government involvement over editorial content', which does not apply to RNZ,' she said.

An ABC spokesperson told the Australian on Wednesday it would stay on the platform despite the involuntary update to its page.

Twitter owner Elon Musk says the social media platform's new labels on new organisations provide context on where their funding comes from

'The ABC doesn't currently have any plans to shut down all its Twitter accounts,' he said.

In February the ABC closed accounts for some its major news programs, such as ABC News Breakfast and Insiders.

A spokesperson denied this was due to trolling and said it was to rationalise the broadcaster's presence on Twitter under the one main account.

'We're closing some of the ABC News program accounts and consolidating our activity in our main Twitter account, @abcnews, which has by far the most activity, followers and engagement with audiences,' said a spokesman.

'This is a better use of resources while still serving audiences on this platform.'

An ABC spokesperson declined to comment further on the matter when contacted by Daily Mail Australia.
Phillip Schofield broke his silence on his paedophile brother today as he returned to This Morning and thanked viewers for their support at the start of a show where he laughed uproariously at Gazza's jokes and enjoyed some Babycham live on air.

The broadcaster, 61, has not been on TV since Timothy Schofield went on trial at the end of March. His close friend and co-host Holly Willoughby is unwell with a bout of shingles, so Rochelle Humes stepped in at the 11th hour.

Phillip began the ITV programme by thanking fans for their 'kind messages' to him after his younger sibling was convicted of sexually abusing a teenager over three years.

He said: 'I'd just like to say, it is really lovely to be back. I have missed the show and everyone here and also you. I wanted to say thank you for your kind messages and support which were really appreciated. Thank you very much indeed. On with the show... Shall we?'

This Morning's main guest was Paul Gascoigne, who is the star of the new reality show Scared Of The Dark, where stars live without light 24 hours a day.

Gazza spoke of his fear of the dark, but soon sent Phil and Rochelle into fits of giggles when he joked about having three testicles after a challenge on the show. The hosts also looked shocked and then laughed when Gascoigne said of fellow contestant Chris Eubank: 'I thought that he was born with a d**k up his backside'. It was later clarified that he meant dictionary - but his murmured speech made it sound like a rude word.

Later he and Rochelle toasted the 'nostalgic' taste of Babycham in a feature on the sparkling perry cider. 'Great in the summer. And only 6% volume so it won't knock you off your stool', Phil said.

Phillip Schofield has returned to the This Morning sofa today following his brother's conviction for child abuse, thanking viewers for their support and kind messages

Paul Gascoigne, the star of the new reality show Scared Of The Dark, was on This Morning to discuss the experience of living without light

Phil and Rochelle were left in hysterics by some of Gazza's jokes

Later the hosts enjoyed some Babycham in a feature on the sparkling perry cider

Timothy Schofield told his TV star brother in September 2021 that he performed a sex act with the boy, according to a witness statement Phillip gave to the trial

There were several fun features on the upcoming Coronation, and a moving and fun interview with Nathan, the ballroom dancer with Down's syndrome who is taking Britain's Got Talent by storm with his teacher and dance partner Joanne, 28.

Holly Willoughby, 42, took to Instagram on Sunday to reveal shingles will delay her return to ITV's main daytime programme. She wrote: 'Hi... Just to let you know I may be away for the rest of the week as I have shingles... I'll be back as soon as I'm better. Huge Love, Holly xxx.'

Phil said on air today: 'Holly isn't well today so is sadly off today and perhaps a few more days with a bout of shingles. Ouch.

'So if you are watching at home, Holly, then get well soon'.

Fans were pleased to see him back at work today.

Mr Schofield has said 'I no longer have a brother' after his sibling Tim, who is seven years his junior, was convicted of 11 sexual offences against the boy, including two of sexual activity with a child, in a case where the star gave evidence.

In a written statement, read to the court, the broadcaster said his brother had phoned him in an agitated and upset state and Mr Schofield had invited him to drive to his London house for a meal.

Phillip said Timothy had later said 'you are going to hate me for what I am about to say' before confessing that he had masturbated with the boy while watching porn. The This Morning host exploded with rage and told him: 'You've got to stop, just never do it again', the jury heard. Mr Schofield insists he had no knowledge of any criminal behaviour and that the boy was over the age of consent at the time.

Three months later, after the victim spoke to a counsellor, his abuser was arrested. He was convicted of a campaign of sexual abuse between October 2016 and October 2019 following a trial at Exeter Crown Court earlier this month.

In a statement released by his lawyer after the guilty verdict, Phillip Schofield said: 'My overwhelming concern is and has always been for the wellbeing of the victim and his family. I hope that their privacy will now be respected.'

He continued: 'If any crime had ever been confessed to me by my brother, I would have acted immediately to protect the victim and their family. These are despicable crimes, and I welcome the guilty verdicts. As far as I am concerned, I no longer have a brother.'

Rochelle and Phillip during a segment on the upcoming Coronation

Timothy Schofield was convicted of 11 sexual offences involving a child between October 2016 and October 2019

A statement released by Phillip Schofield following his brother's conviction

At the heart of the case was the brave and harrowing evidence of the victim - and a meeting in September 2021 when Phillip Schofield had invited his brother to drive to his home in London after Timothy had called him in an upset state.

The court heard they spent several hours talking, including eating a meal, before he went to do the washing-up.

He told how his brother then said 'You are going to hate me for what I am about to say', with Phillip assuring him there was nothing he could say that would do that.

Mr Schofield said in the statement: 'Then he said that he and (the boy) had time together and that last year they had watched porn ... and (masturbated)'.

'I turned and said, 'What did you just say?' He said it was last year and we were alone together. Tim said it was just this once. I told him it should never happen again. He then started to tell me about (the boy's) body.

'I said, 'F***, stop'. I shouted at Tim that he had to stop. I didn't want to know any of the details but he made it sound like a one-off.

'I said, 'I don't want you to tell me any more'. I said, 'You've got to stop, just never do it again. Regardless how that happened, it must never happen again'.'

The 54-year-old, a civilian police worker from Bath, told the jury while giving evidence that he had watched pornography with the boy, whom he insisted was over the age of 16 at that time, and they had masturbated while sitting apart, but denied performing sexual acts on the teenager.

The jury found him guilty on all 11 counts with a majority of 10-2 after more than five-and-a-half hours of deliberation.

The boy, who alleged the offending started when he was 13, told the jury he felt 'emotionally blackmailed' by Tim Schofield and 'forced' to participate in sexual activity.

He said: 'I felt that emotionally there was no escape from what we had to do and I felt that there was a tremendous amount of pressure and expectation for me to fulfil what was being asked and wanted.'

Phillip said he was glad to be back at work after three weeks off. He is without his co-star and close friend Holly Willoughby, who has shingles. Rochelle Humes is sitting in this week

Down's syndrome dancer Nathan and his teacher Joanne have become the stand out stars of BGT. They were on This Morning today

Phil clearly enjoyed being back at work today

Rochelle took to Instagram today to share a behind the scenes shot at ITV studios, declaring: 'Looking after my girl Holly Willoughby's seat this week'

Get well soon! Holly Willoughby has announced she might not be back presenting This Morning for another week after falling ill with shingles

The police IT technician, from Bath, had repeatedly blamed his actions on his 'mental health struggles' and suggested the complainant is 'exaggerating' what happened.

Meanwhile, his defence lawyer said that while he was guilty of 'the most serious crimes in the court of public morals' he had not committed a criminal offence.

But closing the case for the prosecution, prosecutor Robin Shellard said: 'We are not dealing with morals but criminal abuse against a child.' And the jury agreed.

The case is a tragedy for the victim first and foremost, but it has also signalled the destruction of a fraternal bond.

Yet for all Phillip's understandable desire to distance himself from Tim  in a statement to police he said there was no brotherly relationship between them because of the seven-year age gap  they were once close enough that Phillip took time off work to care for his younger sibling.

In 2015, Tim fell seriously ill  understood to be related to the type one diabetes he lives with. After helping look after him, Phillip said his sibling's recovery was 'the best Christmas present ever'.

He and his brother had also seemed warm as recently as 2016 when Tim went backstage at This Morning.

Two years previously, Phillip had invited Tim to his younger daughter's 18th birthday party, and to watch Dancing On Ice, which he presents with Holly Willoughby.

Indeed, it was to Phillip that Tim turned  as Phillip relayed in a statement to the police  in September 2021 to say he was suicidal, before driving to the star's London home 'in a state of heightened agitation'.

After switching between being 'furiously angry' and bursting into tears, he told Phillip he had carried out a sex act and watched pornography in the presence of the teenager.

Three months later Tim Schofield, who was employed as a civilian IT consultant by Avon and Somerset Police, was arrested.

Although he did move to London for the BBC job when Tim was ten, Phillip rejoined his family when they relocated to New Zealand (Pictured: Phillip Schofield with his brother and parents)

Timothy Schofield is seven years younger than Phillip

A photo of the Schofield brothers enjoying a day out with their mother

Schofield was convicted of three counts of causing a child to watch sexual activity, three of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, three of causing a child to engage in sexual activity, and two of sexual activity with a child.

Coincidentally, both Phillip and Tim are gay men who married women, and each had two children with their wives.

Phillip, 61, 'came out' in 2020 but said he had been aware when he got married that he was denying his orientation.

It's impossible to know if the brothers will ever be reconciled. Tim's close friend John Picton, who lived with him and accompanied him to court during the trial, said that Tim's relationship with Phillip has been a source of great pain to him.

He said: 'Tim has spent his lifetime living in Phil's shadow and being controlled by everyone. The one person Tim thought might be able to help him has thrown him under the bus.'
Hong Kong holds activities to mark National Security Education Day

Xinhua) 11:22, April 17, 2023

This photo taken on April 15, 2023 shows a performance by police officers and service dogs during an open-day event at the Hong Kong Police College, south China's Hong Kong. China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Saturday held a string of activities to mark the annual National Security Education Day under the theme of "National Security, Foundation of Stability and Prosperity". (Information Services Department of the Government of the HKSAR/Handout via Xinhua)

HONG KONG, April 15 (Xinhua) -- China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Saturday held a string of activities to mark the annual National Security Education Day under the theme of "National Security, Foundation of Stability and Prosperity".

April 15 this year marks the third National Security Education Day in Hong Kong. The opening ceremony was held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, where people from all walks of life gathered to kick off such activities organized by the Committee for Safeguarding National Security of the HKSAR.

John Lee, chief executive of the HKSAR, attended the ceremony. He said that in the cause of safeguarding national security, Hong Kong will further implement the national security law in Hong Kong to ensure a safe and stable environment in Hong Kong and contribute to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Disciplined services departments of the HKSAR government jointly held a flag-raising ceremony at the Hong Kong Police College. Members of youth groups also participated in it to show the younger generation's patriotism and love for Hong Kong, as well as their awareness and responsibility in safeguarding national security.

The Security Bureau of the HKSAR government launched the Safeguarding National Security Cup and the Disciplined Forces National Security Education Promotion Competition for the first time. Some of the disciplinary forces arranged open days to give the public a better understanding of their work related to national security.

Many teenagers said that by participating in games, they have a deep understanding that national security is related to all aspects of their daily life.

"I realize that network security can protect our privacy and social security can make us live and work in peace," said Hung Ching-ying, a primary school student.

School education is important in promoting national security education. The HKSAR government will distribute 60,000 copies of picture books to all primary schools.

The "2023 Let's Join Hands in Safeguarding National Security" program for primary and secondary school students in Hong Kong will last for the whole school year.

A community roving exhibition on national security education which covered a wide range of topics, including the holistic approach to national security, the latest progress in implementing the national security law in Hong Kong, and strengthening of security foundation, was launched on Saturday and will last until the end of June.

Meanwhile, local civic groups also actively promote national security education. A summit forum on patriotic education was held by the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers on Saturday, and the importance of safeguarding national security was highlighted.

Students visit an exhibition on national security during an open-day event at the Hong Kong Police College, south China's Hong Kong, April 15, 2023. China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Saturday held a string of activities to mark the annual National Security Education Day under the theme of "National Security, Foundation of Stability and Prosperity". (Information Services Department of the Government of the HKSAR/Handout via Xinhua)

Guard of honor perform the Chinese-style goose-stepping during an open-day event at the Hong Kong Correctional Service Academy, south China's Hong Kong, April 15, 2023. China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Saturday held a string of activities to mark the annual National Security Education Day under the theme of "National Security, Foundation of Stability and Prosperity". (Information Services Department of the Government of the HKSAR/Handout via Xinhua)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Two key electricity supply stations in Russia have been destroyed amid a suspected Ukrainian drone attack behind enemy lines.

Stunning footage taken overnight showed how the bombing of the power stations had created a huge inferno which spiralled high into the night sky.

The destruction of the sites in Igumenka and Dragunskoe - a pair of villages a few miles from Belgorod city - left thousands without power across the Belgorod region of Russia which borders eastern Ukraine, according to Baza media outlet which has close links to law enforcement.

Belgorod's regional governor confirmed the attack late last night in a Telegram post.

'In Belgorod and the Belgorod region, two fires were recorded at civilian facilities,' he said, adding there had not been any casualties.

The suspected strikes came as Ukraine is reportedly preparing a counteroffensive to grab back territory from invading Russian forces.

Stunning footage taken overnight showed how the bombing of the power stations had created a huge inferno which spiraled high into the night sky

Two power stations were attacked, severing the electricity supply to thousands of residents in Belgorod

City of Belgorod and Belgorod region were seemingly hit by Ukrainian explosives overnight

A power station is seen ablaze from a passing car following a suspected Ukrainian attack in Russia's western Belgorod region

The Belgorod region has faced intermittent drone and missile strikes from Ukrainian territory, albeit on a far smaller scale than the regular bombardment suffered by dozens of Ukrainian cities since Russia invaded.

But officials in Kyiv have also spoken of using sabotage tactics to cause fires and disrupt logistics in Russia.

Intelligence chief Major-General Kyrylo Budanov said knowingly in a recent interview that territory in western Russia was seeing many unusual explosions and fires.

'Much of this is no accident... Something is constantly on fire [in Russia],' he said, admitting that Ukraine was paying Russian saboteurs to damage or destroy key infrastructure and logistics equipment to slow down Moscow's supply routes into eastern Ukraine.

'Signalling equipment on railways, it lights up several times a day, on various highways constantly for two to three hours, sometimes for five to six hours, traffic gets suspended,' Budanov added.

'Clearly it doesn't just happen like this. I would put it this way: money works wonders.'

Ukraine has been building its forces over winter for a supposed spring counteroffensive, though there is no telling exactly when or where the attacks are likely to take place.

Prime minister Denys Shmyhal claimed last week the counteroffensive would start in the 'near future', while President Volodymyr Zelensky declared in a televised address this weekend that final preparations were being made.

'The key is the constant destruction of the occupiers which is done to downgrade their logistic capabilities and any potential in the occupied territories. This is preparation for our active operations, this is counteroffensive work,' he said.

But constant fighting in the Donbas region, particularly around the embattled city of Bakhmut, is thought to have absorbed a huge amount of both Ukrainian and Russian resources.

The Wagner mercenary group, which has been leading much of the Russian offensives in Bakhmut in recent months, claimed on Saturday to have captured more of the city - though Ukrainian defence officials maintain their forces have not been defeated.

And US intelligence documents leaked online appeared to suggest that Ukraine's spring offensive could falter amid a lack of air defence ammunition.

The report also revealed American planners doubt Ukraine's ability to mount a counterattack this spring, hit hard by 'force generation and sustainment shortfalls'.

Ukraine's air defenses could be depleted within weeks - making the country vulnerable to Russia President Vladimir Putin's fighter jets, newly leaked Pentagon documents suggests

This document appears to show the state of Ukraine's air defenses in February, and in May when it is anticipated they'll be badly depleted

A Ukrainian Su-25 flies after an attack on Russian positions in Donetsk region

A High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) of Ukrainian army fires close to the frontline at the northern Kherson region

Russia has so far struggled to gain the upper hand in the skies, with Ukraine's anti-air systems and fighter jets keeping Russian gunships at bay since the initial invasion.

But air force spokesperson Colonel Yuri Ihnat warned Russia might be able to push through in a matter of weeks if Ukraine's air defences do not hold up, The Times reported.

He said: 'If we lose the battle for our skies, the consequences will be critical. The Russians will smash every city just like they did in Syria.

'Our nuclear power stations will be vulnerable too. And we will struggle to protect our frontline troops.'

At present, Buk and S-300 anti-aircraft missiles make up about 90 percent of Ukraine's air defences.

The Soviet-era technology has been supplemented with Western-supplied HIMARS systems, a multiple rocket launcher system developed for the US Army in the 1990s.

Ihnat said the difficulty was with how to restock the weapons, which are only produced by Russia. He said Slovakia had been able to supply some to this point.

The ability to station and resupply Ukrainian surface to air missiles has been documented as one of Ukraine's most immediate priorities in order to stave off Russian aggression.

After months locked in stalemate, the end of winter was expected to bring a new Russian offensive - but experts say the attack has 'stalled'.
A seven-storey concrete carpark seen as an eyesore by locals has been heritage listed by a council with an extraordinary description of its architectural value.

The former hospital carpark, in the inner Melbourne suburb of Carlton, is a 1970s brutalist design, which favours bare building materials over decorative looks.

Melbourne council described it as 'striking, robust and bold, with a powerful presence ... a monumental building which is both strong and simple in its form and expression'.

But many locals see it very differently, with one submission to the council comparing giving it a heritage listing to 'protecting a cigarette factory'.

Despite the objections, the council voted unanimously to heritage list the building on the corner of Grattan and Cardigan streets for its 'local aesthetic significance'.

A seven-storey concrete carpark (pictured) seen as an eyesore by locals has been heritage listed by a council with an extraordinary description of its architectural value

Many locals protested, with one submission to the council comparing giving it a heritage listing to 'protecting a cigarette factory'

Councillors did admit, though, that its sloping floors and low ceilings made it difficult to adapt for other uses, so it could still be demolished.

'The heritage overlay does not necessarily mean a prohibition on demolition,' Councillor Jamal Hakim said at the meeting, The Age reported.

'Including the carpark in the planning scheme amendment ... does not preclude development on the site in the future that can be considered.'

Many residents made submissions to the council opposing the carpark's inclusion in the Carlton Heritage Review, with one calling for the site to be used for housing.

One local, in a submission to Melbourne council, called for the carpark site (pictured) to be used for housing

Katie Roberts-Hull said locals were not interested in protecting the carpark and the heritage listing was driven by the private consultants hired to conduct the review.

'This is symbolic of how heritage has gone too far,' Ms Roberts-Hull said in her submission to the council.

'Protecting a carpark is like protecting a cigarette factory. It creates more pollution in the area, obviously more traffic and is a symbol of car dependency in a suburb where you don't really need a car at all.'

She said her daughter's daycare was across the road from the carpark on the former site of the demolished Royal Women's Hospital, which the carpark had served.

'I'm grateful the hospital did not have any heritage protection and was allowed to be replaced by a development that has enhanced our community,' she said.

'The potential benefit of protecting the carpark is for a small number of architecture enthusiasts, but this is outweighed by the harm caused to the community.'

Councillors admitted that the carpark's (pictured) sloping floors and low ceilings made it difficult to adapt for other uses, so it could still be demolished

Melbourne's acting lord mayor Nicholas Reece said the heritage listing was based on expert opinion and the carpark had value as an example of the brutalist building era.

But even that may not be enough to save it in the long term.

'Just because a building receives heritage listing does not mean it cannot be redeveloped or even demolished,' he said.

'It does mean that any alterations to the building will be held to a higher standard, but we have seen many examples of heritage buildings across the city which have been significantly redeveloped notwithstanding their heritage status.'
As many schools across the UK return to teaching after the Easter holidays, primary school places are also set to be announced for the 2023-24 academic year.

Parents of children entering primary school will soon find out which school has offered their child a place.

Parents will be able to find out which school has offered their child a place from their local council.

So, when is primary school offer day? Can you appeal a primary school place? How are primary school places decided?

Read on below for everything you need to know about the allocation of primary school places.

Primary school places ahead of the 2023-24 academic year are set to be revealed

When is primary school offer day?

Primary school places for September 2023 will be revealed on Monday, 17 April, 2023.

Parents will be notified via email or post with a decision from the local council on their child's school place.

The time that offers will be released varies from council to council.

In 2022, 92.2% of families received an offer from their first choice of primary school and 98.1% received an offer from one of their top three choices, the Government website states.

Can you appeal a primary school place?

If you are not given an offer by your first-choice school, you are allowed to appeal the decision.

This can be done by contacting the school's admissions authority, which organises the appeal panel. School admission authorities can be found by visiting your local council website.

The appeal will be judged by an independent panel.

The Government website advises: 'Even if you're appealing a decision, we recommend accepting the offer your child did receive so that they have a school place if the appeal is unsuccessful.

Accepting another offer wont affect your appeal or limit other options available to you.'

How are primary school places decided?

All schools have admission criteria to decide which children get places. This criteria may vary, as is set by the school or local council.

All state schools are required to give top priority to admitting children who are in care or have been in care, but admission criteria is different for each school.

Priority may be given to children who live closer to the school or have a sibling at that school already.

More information about a schools criteria for deciding places can be obtained from your local council.

Some schools will not be able to offer a place for every application it receives due to the volume of applications in some areas.

If the local authority does not offer a place at one of the parents preferred schools, it must offer a place at another school.

If a parent does not receive an offer of a place on 17 April, 2023, parents should contact their local authority for further advice.

If you are not given an offer by your first-choice school, you are allowed to appeal the decision

Is there a primary school waiting list?

Even if your child has not been accepted into their first-choice school, you can still apply to that school's waiting list.

To ensure that your child does have a primary school place in 2023-24, the Government advises you to accept any place you are offered.

Schools are required to keep a waiting list for at least one term.

In some areas, your child will be automatically added to the waiting lists of the schools you placed higher up in your choices.

In others, you need to ask to be put on the waiting list. You are advised to check the school admissions section of your local authority website to find out more about how it works in your area.

When do schools open in 2023?

The majority of children will start the 2023-24 academic year on Monday, 4 September, 2023.

Term dates will vary by area, so parents should check their local council's website for full details.
Animal Rising has vowed to unleash a summer of chaos after the eco-group disrupted the Grand National during which a racehorse died after falling at the first fence.

The animal rights activists said the demonstrations seen at Aintree on Saturday, which saw 118 people arrested, were 'just the beginning' and 'it's all up from here', leading to fears that the Epsom Derby and Ascot could be targeted next.

The group, formerly known as Animal Rebellion, has pledged to start a 'national conversation' around animal welfare concerns, after three horses died as a result of sustaining injuries at Aintree over the weekend.

Following a weekend of mayhem, the group tweeted: 'This week has been just the beginning of Animal Rising, it's all up from here.

'This summer is going to be an unmissable opportunity to shine a spotlight on our treatment of animals, our relationship to nature and the world around us, and to start talking about how we can rebuild these relationships, creating a kind and safe world for all life.'

Activists attempted to disrupt the Grand National by getting into the racecourse and fixing themselves to fences and railings, causing the race to be delayed by 15 minutes

In a video released on Twitter, the group vowed to continue with their disruption, saying the Grand National is 'just the start'

They also invited people to register to 'hear more about our plans' and get involved with their non-violent direct action.

Their next possible targets include the Derby on June 3, the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket on May 6 and the Royal Ascot from June 20 to June 24.

The group kicked off its 'summer of Animal Rising' by attempting to disrupt the Grand National by getting into the racecourse and fixing themselves to fences and railings, causing the race to be delayed by 15 minutes.

When the race did start, the horse Hill Sixteen died after a fatal fall at the first fence and was put down after suffering a broken neck.

Trainer Sandy Thomson (pictured) has blasted protesters for his horse Hill Sixteen's death after a fatal fall on Saturday

A protester being detained as activists tried to disrupt the Grand National by getting into the racecourse and fixing themselves to fences and railings, causing the race to be delayed by 15 minutes.

The horse's trainer, Sandy Thomson, has blasted 'ignorant' protesters for Hill Sixteen's death after the 15-minute delay left horses sweating and agitated in the sun.

Sandy Thomson said that the 'delay to the race definitely contributed hugely to what happened at the first two fences'.

The Scottish handler said that there were more falls at the first two fences than in previous years because 'everybody got very uptight and very unsettled' due to the delay caused by 'so-called animal lovers'.

Sandy Thomson told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'If we look at the last nine years since the course has been modified, there's been an average of under two fallers at the first two fences and this year everybody got very uptight about it - horses, jockeys, starters - and there were eight fallers at those first two fences.

'This was all caused by these so-called animal lovers who actually are ignorant and have absolutely no idea about welfare of horses.'

Speaking about how the sport could become safer, Mr Thomson said: 'Two of the considerations - a shorter run to the first fence and a few less horses - those are obvious things that may be considered.

'There have been huge changes in the whip rule, which has made a huge effect - last year's winner would have been disqualified under the new rules, so we as a sport are continually moving forward and trying to make the sport safer.

'The figures of people watching are surely a huge indication of where public perception is about the Grand National.'

Following the death of Hill Sixteen, Animal Rising cited the deaths of more than 49 horses who have died in the UK in horse racing events so far this year alone.

They said: 'We didn't cause those deaths and we haven't caused any today.'

Meanwhile RSPCA policy director Emma Slawinski has called for the Grand National to make changes to ensure the safety of the horses, including having fewer on the field and prohibiting the use of whips.

She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'One of the things we particularly see at the Grand National is a very big field, so lots of horses running together.

More than 100 protesters were arrested at the Grand National on Saturday

The group released a video in which they vowed to continue with their action to stop the exploitation of animals

'That, of course, causes issues when horses fall and can get in the way of other horses, and cause accidents in that way.

'The other thing that we think needs to change very urgently is to see an end of the use of the whip for encouragement - hitting the horses to make them run faster.

'We know that that actually causes more accidents, it makes accidents more likely, makes injuries more likely, so we'd like to see that reform happen as well.'

Animal Rising has been contacted for further comment.
Beijing and Moscow have vowed to deepen their military ties for the 'maintenance of world security' in the latest sign of a growing closeness between China and Russia.

The warning to the west came as an American warship sailed through the sea separating Taiwan and the Chinese mainland amid soaring tensions in the region, and after Beijing staged war games around the self-ruled island.

Meanwhile, it was reported over the weekend that leaked US documents showed China would likely establish air superiority over Taiwan very quickly, raising uneasy questions about the island's ability to defend itself against a possible invasion.

The classified documents - seen by the Washington post - reveal that Taiwan's military leaders doubt their air defence systems can 'accurately detect missile launches' and that only about half of the island's military aircraft would be capable of effectively engaging with Chinese adversaries.

China's defence minister on Sunday met with Russian president Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin, where he hailed a 'new era' of Russia-China ties.

Beijing and Moscow have vowed to deepen their military ties for the 'maintenance of world security' in the latest sign of a growing closeness between China and Russia, as a US warship (pictured: the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius) sailed through the Taiwan straight in a show of strength

'We have very strong ties. They surpass the military-political alliances of the Cold War era... They are very stable,' he said in translated remarks broadcast on Russian TV.

'This is my first overseas visit since taking over as China's defence minister. I specifically chose Russia for this in order to emphasise the special nature and strategic importance of our bilateral ties,' Li said.

Li also said China was willing to work with Russia to 'further strengthen strategic communication between the two militaries', according to a readout of the meeting published by China's defence ministry.

In the meeting, also attended by Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, Putin welcomed military cooperation between Russia and China.

'We are also working actively through the military departments, regularly exchange useful information, cooperate in the field of military-technical cooperation, conduct joint exercises,' Putin said.

'This is, undoubtedly, another important area that strengthens the exclusively trusting, strategic nature of our relations,' he added.

Li's trip to Russia - which will last until April 19 - comes weeks after an official visit to Moscow by Chinese leader Xi Jinping last month, and as The G7's top diplomats arrived in the Japanese resort town of Karuizawa Sunday for talks.

During two days of talks between Putin and Xi, the pair hailed a 'new era' in their relationship and discussed Beijing's proposals to end the Ukraine conflict.

Moscow and Beijing have over the past years ramped up cooperation, both driven by a desire to counterbalance US global dominance. Their partnership has only grown closer since Putin launched an offensive in Ukraine last February.

China has sought to portray itself as a neutral party in the Ukraine conflict - which began with Putin ordering an invasion of the country in February 2022 - and has worked to position itself as a potential media in the conflict.

However, the West has questioned China's true motive, and Washington has accused Beijing of mulling arms exports to Moscow - claims China has denied.

Last week, the leaked documents from the Pentagon appeared to show that US intelligence had learned that China had approved sending arms to Russia.

A senior official in Kyiv said on Friday that Ukrainian forces are finding a growing number of Chinese-made components in Russian weapons in the country.

Publicly, both NATO and the US have said they have seen no signs that China has approved the provision of lethal aid to Moscow's forces.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu (centre) meet with Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu (left) at the Kremlin in Moscow on April 16

China's growing pressure on Taiwan, and Russia's war in Ukraine were the two issues set to dominate G7 talks in Japan.

READ MORE: Uighurs in UK being forced to spy on each other as their families back home effectively held hostage by China Advertisement

The foreign ministers arrived by special bullet train for discussions that will set the stage for a leaders' summit in Hiroshima next month.

There is no shortage of challenges to discuss, but recent regional events are likely to sharpen the focus on Asia.

The meeting, and Li's visit to Moscow, followed a series oh large-scale drills carried out by China's military, in which a blockade of Taiwan was simulated.

Three days of military exercises were launched on April 8 in response to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen's recent visit to the United States, where she met with Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy.

Beijing bristles at any official contact between Taipei and foreign governments.

On the final day of last week's drills, Taiwan's defence ministry said 54 Chinese planes crossed into Taiwan's southwestern and southeastern air defence identification zone (ADIZ) - the highest recorded in a single day since October 2021.

That same day, the USS Milius sailed through waters claimed by Beijing in the South China Sea. That deployment triggered condemnation from China, which said the vessel had 'illegally intruded' into its territorial waters.

That deployment triggered condemnation from China, which said the vessel had 'illegally intruded' into its territorial waters.

That same warship sailed through the Taiwan straight on Monday.

Led by the United States, multiple Western navies regularly conduct 'freedom of navigation operations' to assert the international status of regional waterways such as the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.

The USS Milius guided-missile destroyer 'conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit April 16 (local time) through waters where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law', the US Navy said in a statement.

'The ship transited through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal State.'

This was the first such US operation through the waterway since January.

The US 7th Fleet shared images Monday on Twitter of crew looking out into the strait, one of the most crucial waterways in the world for international shipping.

China said on Monday it had tracked a US warship through the Taiwan Strait, adding that the United States had 'hyped up' the transit.

Colonel Shi Yi, a Chinese military spokesman, said troops in the area 'remain on a high level of alert at all times and will resolutely defend national sovereignty and security as well as regional peace and stability'.

China also sanctioned the organisations involved with Tsai's visit in the US, including the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, where her meeting with McCarthy and other members of Congress were held.

It also later sanctioned US Rep. Michael McCaul, the Texas Republican who chairs the chamber's Foreign Affairs Committee, for visiting Taiwan.

On Sunday, China launched a rocket carrying a satellite that dropped debris into waters north of the capital Taipei. While the satellite launch had no obvious military purpose, it disrupted travel, delaying flights.

China claims Taiwan as its territory and has vowed to bring the island under its control one day. It also claims the entire Taiwan Strait as its territorial waters.

Taiwan's defence ministry said on Monday that during the vessel's transit, its military had 'closely monitored the dynamics in our surrounding sea and airspace, and the situation was normal.'

Since the war games ended, Chinese warships and aircraft have continued to circle Taiwan, the country's government has said.

On Monday, Taipei's defence ministry said it had detected four warships and 18 aircraft, four of which had crossed its southwestern ADIZ.

The guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon sailed through the Taiwan Strait on January 5, months after McCarthy's predecessor Nancy Pelosi visited the island.

American troops take part in weapons training during the 'Balikatan' US-Philippines joint military exercises in Fort Magsaysay on April 13, 2023 in Nueva Ecija, Philippines

Pelosi's trip sparked China's largest-ever war games around Taiwan.

The United States has been carrying out its own war games with its ally the Philippines in the region.

The Balikatan drills in the Philippines are being seen as a show of strength around areas that are contested in the South China sea.

Almost 18,000 troops are taking part in the live fire drills which will see a ship sinking rocket attack and beach assaults to simulate retaking in island.
Rochelle Humes is today sitting in for Holly Willoughby on the This Morning sofa with Phillip Schofield, who returns to work for the first time on Monday after the conviction of his paedophile brother.

Holly will not be presenting for another week after falling ill with shingles over Easter while 61-year-old Phillip has not been on TV since Timothy Schofield went on trial at the end of March.

And Rochelle took to Instagram today to share a behind the scenes shot at ITV's studios, declaring: 'Looking after my girl Holly Willoughby's seat this week'. Until today, Alison Hammond and Joel Dommett had taken Phillip's place.

This Morning's Instagram post on today's edition said: 'Phillip and Rochelle have a packed show and a very special live announcement from Alison Hammond around midday.'

Phillip has said he now has no brother after his sibling, who is seven years his junior, was convicted of 11 sexual offences against the boy, including two of sexual activity with a child, in a case where the star gave evidence.

In a written statement the broadcaster said his brother had phoned him in an agitated and upset state and Mr Schofield had invited him to drive to his London house for a meal.

Phillip said Timothy had later said 'you are going to hate me for what I am about to say' before confessing that he had masturbated with the boy while watching porn. The This Morning host exploded with rage and told him: 'You've got to stop, just never do it again', the jury heard. Mr Schofield insists he had no knowledge of any criminal behaviour and that the boy was over the age of consent at the time.

Rochelle Humes will replace Holly Willoughby on the This Morning sofa with Phillip Schofield, who returns to work today after his brother was convicted of child abuse

Get well soon! Holly Willoughby has announced she might not be back presenting This Morning for another week after falling ill with shingles

Timothy Schofield told his TV star brother in September 2021 that he performed a sex act with the boy, according to a witness statement Phillip gave to the trial

Rochelle took to Instagram today to share a behind the scenes shot at ITV studios, declaring: 'Looking after my girl Holly Willoughby's seat this week'

Holly, 42, took to her Instagram Stories on Sunday to reveal her health woes will delay her return to ITV's main daytime programme. She wrote: 'Hi... Just to let you know I may be away for the rest of the week as I have shingles... I'll be back as soon as I'm better. Huge Love, Holly xxx.'

A source told the Mirror that Phillip's management company would like him back on screen as soon as possible.

They said: 'YMU's view was the sooner Phillip was back the better.

'But ITV offered him the chance to have more time off. They felt a longer break would benefit him as he has been in bits at points over the past few weeks. They were also keen to see how audiences responded to other presenters.

'ITV have a lot of talent and this was a good opportunity to test people out. It is possible in future there may be a presenting shakeup, and experiments like this are really helpful.'

Three months later, after the victim spoke to a counsellor, his abuser was arrested. He was convicted of a campaign of sexual abuse between October 2016 and October 2019 following a trial at Exeter Crown Court earlier this month.

In a statement released by his lawyer after the guilty verdict, Phillip Schofield said: 'My overwhelming concern is and has always been for the wellbeing of the victim and his family. I hope that their privacy will now be respected.'

He continued: 'If any crime had ever been confessed to me by my brother, I would have acted immediately to protect the victim and their family. These are despicable crimes, and I welcome the guilty verdicts. As far as I am concerned, I no longer have a brother.'

Hooray! But Phillip Schofield will return to his day job following claims he held crisis talks with bosses over his break from the show (pictured in March 2023)

You'll be missed! The TV host, 42, took to her Instagram Stories on Sunday to reveal her health woes will delay her return to the daytime programme after the Easter break

A statement released by Phillip Schofield following his brother's conviction

At the heart of the case was the brave and harrowing evidence of the victim - and a meeting in September 2021 when Phillip Schofield had invited his brother to drive to his home in London after Timothy had called him in an upset state.

The court heard they spent several hours talking, including eating a meal, before he went to do the washing-up.

He told how his brother then said 'You are going to hate me for what I am about to say', with Phillip assuring him there was nothing he could say that would do that.

Mr Schofield said in the statement: 'Then he said that he and (the boy) had time together and that last year they had watched porn ... and (masturbated)'.

'I turned and said, 'What did you just say?' He said it was last year and we were alone together. Tim said it was just this once. I told him it should never happen again. He then started to tell me about (the boy's) body.

'I said, 'F***, stop'. I shouted at Tim that he had to stop. I didn't want to know any of the details but he made it sound like a one-off.

'I said, 'I don't want you to tell me any more'. I said, 'You've got to stop, just never do it again. Regardless how that happened, it must never happen again'.'

The 54-year-old, a civilian police worker from Bath, told the jury while giving evidence that he had watched pornography with the boy, whom he insisted was over the age of 16 at that time, and they had masturbated while sitting apart, but denied performing sexual acts on the teenager.

The jury found him guilty on all 11 counts with a majority of 10-2 after more than five-and-a-half hours of deliberation.

Timothy Schofield was convicted of 11 sexual offences involving a child between October 2016 and October 2019

Although he did move to London for the BBC job when Tim was ten, Phillip rejoined his family when they relocated to New Zealand (Pictured: Phillip Schofield with his brother and parents)

The boy, who alleged the offending started when he was 13, told the jury he felt 'emotionally blackmailed' by Tim Schofield and 'forced' to participate in sexual activity.

He said: 'I felt that emotionally there was no escape from what we had to do and I felt that there was a tremendous amount of pressure and expectation for me to fulfil what was being asked and wanted.'

The police IT technician, from Bath, had repeatedly blamed his actions on his 'mental health struggles' and suggested the complainant is 'exaggerating' what happened.

Meanwhile, his defence lawyer said that while he was guilty of 'the most serious crimes in the court of public morals' he had not committed a criminal offence.

But closing the case for the prosecution, prosecutor Robin Shellard said: 'We are not dealing with morals but criminal abuse against a child.' And the jury agreed.

The case is a tragedy for the victim first and foremost, but it has also signalled the destruction of a fraternal bond.

Yet for all Phillip's understandable desire to distance himself from Tim  in a statement to police he said there was no brotherly relationship between them because of the seven-year age gap  they were once close enough that Phillip took time off work to care for his younger sibling.

In 2015, Tim fell seriously ill  understood to be related to the type one diabetes he lives with. After helping look after him, Phillip said his sibling's recovery was 'the best Christmas present ever'.

He and his brother had also seemed warm as recently as 2016 when Tim went backstage at This Morning.

Two years previously, Phillip had invited Tim to his younger daughter's 18th birthday party, and to watch Dancing On Ice, which he presents with Holly Willoughby.

Indeed, it was to Phillip that Tim turned  as Phillip relayed in a statement to the police  in September 2021 to say he was suicidal, before driving to the star's London home 'in a state of heightened agitation'.

After switching between being 'furiously angry' and bursting into tears, he told Phillip he had carried out a sex act and watched pornography in the presence of the teenager.

Three months later Tim Schofield, who was employed as a civilian IT consultant by Avon and Somerset Police, was arrested.

Timothy Schofield is seven years younger than Phillip

A photo of the Schofield brothers enjoying a day out with their mother

Schofield was convicted of three counts of causing a child to watch sexual activity, three of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, three of causing a child to engage in sexual activity, and two of sexual activity with a child.

Coincidentally, both Phillip and Tim are gay men who married women, and each had two children with their wives.

Phillip, 61, 'came out' in 2020 but said he had been aware when he got married that he was denying his orientation.

It's impossible to know if the brothers will ever be reconciled. Tim's close friend John Picton, who lived with him and accompanied him to court during the trial, said that Tim's relationship with Phillip has been a source of great pain to him.

He said: 'Tim has spent his lifetime living in Phil's shadow and being controlled by everyone. The one person Tim thought might be able to help him has thrown him under the bus.'
City, University of London, is fighting her claims at an employment tribunal

A sociologist behind a study into whether social scientists at universities feel censored over their views on trans issues says she had her own views censored by her university.

Dr Laura Favaro began penning her research in March 2020 at City, University of London.

In it, scholars told her they had endured threats of violence over the gender debate, feared reprisals and were 'all so afraid'.

But after an article for the magazine Times Higher Education - which spoke of a 'culture of silencing and fear' - she said City stopped her from publishing it.

Dr Favaro claimed: 'Those with a responsibility to support me have frustrated my ability to progress with the research or denied expected support via actions as well as omissions to act. This includes being ignored, ostracised, bullied, harassed  ending with a dismissal and confiscation of my data.

Dr Laura Favaro began penning her research in March 2020 at City, University of London

After an article for the magazine Times Higher Education - which spoke of a 'culture of silencing and fear' - she said City stopped her from publishing it

'It feels like a never-ending nightmare, dystopian, so unjust. All I have been trying to do is my job as a sociologist. There was a social conflict, so I asked questions, collected data, reported on the findings, offered an analysis. That is my job.

'In contrast to all my expectations, I leave with poor employment prospects because I have been unable to publish findings or even attend interviews. My experience at City has left me exhausted, traumatised and with broken self-esteem.'

'I want my research data back. I want to make the anonymised survey accessible to other researchers by depositing in the UK Data Archive as per my commitment to the funder and participants, and I want to publish findings. I owe this to myself, my family, my participants, and society,' she told The Telegraph.

Dr Favaro is now taking City to an employment tribunal, claiming harassment, victimisation and whistleblowing detriment, as well as discrimination against for her protected philosophical belief in the reality of biological sex.

She had been invited from Spain to go to City to do the study, which was was funded with 18,000 from the Equality and Human Rights Commission and 10,000 from the British Academy.

Transgender people and their supporters march along Piccadilly during London's second Trans Pride protest march for equality in September 2020

Her summary report on her findings for the EHRC has still not been published.

Dr Favaro's research came in the form of 50 individual interviews with gender studies academics.

It also took in a survey of 650 social scientists, a tranche of documents and scores of tweets.

She said that she was told the study had 'become an institutionally sensitive issue'.

Dr Favaro also alleged she was informed that 'City considers my data to be dangerous' and is 'frightened of making it public'.

Dr Sahra Taylor, a City lecturer, complained about Dr Favaro's study and said it was an 'attack piece on trans people and our existences' that has 'clearly caused harm to many interviewed'.

Dr Favaro claims City then locked the email account she used to communicate with her survey respondents.

She said the university demanded that she hand over all of her interview and survey data and delete any copies of it.

City is said to have made her redundant on March 31, and she was unable to publish her survey or release it anywhere else.

Her lawyer Peter Daly, a partner at the London law firm Doyle Clayton, said: 'Dr Favaro's treatment raises significant and concerning questions about the freedom of academics to properly pursue research.

'We are in the process of preparing an employment tribunal claim on her behalf, which we anticipate will succeed if litigated to a conclusion.'

City, University of London, said it was 'unable to comment on employment matters relating to individual members of staff'.

But it said it took its 'obligations with respect to ethics and integrity very seriously', added: 'We refute the allegations made against us and reject the context in which they are presented.'

A spokesman said: 'At City, we have a legal obligation to protect freedom of expression that we take very seriously.

'We uphold academic freedom of inquiry in our education and research and are committed to ensuring that free and open-minded discussion can take place.

'As controller of any personal data processed in the course of any research it is also very important to City that personal data is processed in compliance with data protection legislation.

'City has a robust framework in place to support compliance.'

The EHRC said: 'We agreed to publish the summary report provided to us by Dr Favaro once her final report was published, as this would enable us to link, as appropriate, to her wider findings.

'Due to legal proceedings it would be inappropriate to comment further.'
Bestselling children's author Judy Blume has clarified that she 'wholly supports the trans community' after receiving backlash for saying she is '100 per cent' behind Harry Potter writer J.K. Rowling.

Blume, 85, who is known for teen novels Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret and Deenie, said she had wanted to show empathy with Rowling as someone 'who has been harassed online'.

The New Jersey-born author said her comments to the Sunday Times were 'taken out of context' in a tweet today defending herself against criticism she received for the interview.

'I stand with the trans community and vehemently disagree with anyone who does not support equality and acceptance for LGBTQIA+ people. Anything to the contrary is total bull****.'

Rowling has been heavily criticised in recent years for her remarks about trans rights, facing backlash from LGBTQ groups, but has denied being transphobic.

Judy Blume, 85, who is known for young adult novels Are You There God? It's Me, said her comments on supporting JK Rowling were taken out of context

Harry Potter author JK Rowling has been heavily criticised in recent years for her remarks about trans rights

Blume has also faced online abuse in the past for themes in her books, which are typically coming of age stories shedding light on adolescent sexuality and puberty.

The article's author, journalist Hadley Freeman, previously described herself as a 'gender critical feminist'.

Seemingly agreeing with Freeman over her love for the Harry Potter author, Blume said of Rowling in the interview: 'And I love her... I am behind her 100 per cent as I watch from afar.'

She added that she hadn't reached out to Rowling over online backlash, saying: 'I met her very early on in her Harry Potter career, and she said to me, 'Oh, my sister and I used to read all your books,' and she talked about Deenie.

'I think once or twice we sent each other little notes. But I haven't been in touch with her during this tough time. Probably I should.'

In a tweet last night rebutting the characterisation of her comments in the Sunday Times, Blume was clear on her feelings about the article.

She went on to say: 'What are you protecting your children from? Protecting your children means educating them and arming them with knowledge, and reading and supporting what they want to read.

'No child is going to become transgender or gay or lesbian because they read a book. It's not going to happen. They may say, 'Oh, this is just like me. This is what I'm feeling and thinking about.''

'Or, "I'm interested in this because I have friends who may be gay, bi, lesbian." They want to know!'

'I just read a book that was wonderfully enlightening to me. It's called 'Gender Queer' [a memoir by Maia Kobabe]. It's probably the No. 1 banned book in America right now.

'And I thought, "This young person is telling me how they came to be what they are today." And I learned a lot, and became even more empathetic. That's what books are all about.'

READ MORE: JK Rowling reveals people close to her 'begged' her not to speak out on transgender debate Advertisement

Blume was criticised by some for sympathizing with Rowling, with supporters of trans rights saying 'people need to stop framing criticism as harassment'.

It comes as the works of both authors are being reprised for film and TV.

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, starring Rachel McAdams, releases in theaters at the end of the month.

And last week, it was announced that a new Harry Potter series, is being made for Max - formerly HBO Max.

Rowling is said to be closely involved in the series, although creators declined to comment on her stance on trans rights.

It comes after Rowling revealed last month how friends 'begged' her not to voice her opinions on transgender issues.

The multimillionaire author said she was warned not to get involved in the controversy due to the backlash she would face.

However, she said she felt women were being 'shut down' and could not have lived with herself if she didn't speak out.

She first aired her views in 2019 when she tweeted her backing for Maya Forstater, a tax expert who was sacked for tweeting that 'men cannot become women'.
Two bodies have been found in the hunt for canoeists who got into difficulty in a river and capsized, police have said.

Emergency services rushed to the Weir embankment in Kempston, Bedfordshire, yesterday after reports of canoeists getting into difficulty in the River Great Ouse.

Bedfordshire Police said they received reports at around 10.50am of two capsized canoes and possibly a female in difficulty.

Fire and rescue teams and the ambulance service worked with the force to recover the two bodies, a spokesman said.

Emergency services rushed to the Weir embankment in Kempston, Bedfordshire, yesterday after reports of canoeists getting into difficulty in the River Great Ouse

Officers were working to establish the identities of the bodies and the coroner had been informed, the force added.

A spokesman said: ''Members of the public may have seen an emergency services presence at the Weir embankment in Water Lane, Kempston this morning, following reports received at around 10:50am of two capsized canoes and a possible female in difficulties.

'Officers, working with Beds Fire and Rescue teams and the ambulance service, searched the river and sadly, two deceased persons have been discovered.

'The two bodies have been recovered and the Bedfordshire Coroner made aware.

'At this time, no formal identification has been made and officers continue to work towards establishing this.'

A police presence would remain and the public have been requested to avoid the weir embankment area while officers continue their investigations.

The River Great Ouse is the fifth longest river in the UK.
The US military has killed three and arrested one in a helicopter raid targeting a senior ISIS leader responsible for planning terror attacks in the Middle East and Europe, which is the second strike against a warlord in the region in two weeks.

Central Command (CENTCOM) revealed on Twitter that US forces conducted a helicopter raid in northern Syria in the early hours of this morning.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) confirmed that the strike killed a senior ISIS leader and operational planner responsible for planning terror attacks in the Middle East and Europe as well as two other armed fighters.

Another ISIS commander was arrested after he reportedly moved to the targeted building - which was hit by two missiles - a few months ago. However, the US military made no mention yet of any arrests.

The Observatory, a Britain-based war monitor that relies on sources on the ground, added that the strike 'targeted the building where an IS member was present' in Al Suwaydah, a village about 15 miles (25 kilometres) west of the town of Jarabulus on Syria's northern border with Turkey, and resulted in 'violent clashes' on the ground.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) confirmed that the strike killed a senior ISIS leader and operational planner responsible for planning terror attacks in the Middle East and Europe as well as two other armed fighters (pictured: a house in Al Suwaydah near Jarabulus, in the north-east of Syria's Aleppo province)

Another ISIS commander was arrested after he reportedly moved to the targeted building - which was hit by two missiles - a few months ago. However, the US military made no mention yet of any arrests (pictured: a woman walking oast a house in Al Suqaydah near Jarabulus)

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which partners with the U.S. in anti-IS operations in northeast Syria, said that the operation was launched from the Kharab Ishk base near the Turkish border and was carried out in Al Suwaydah. Nearby, in Killi, a US drone strike killed an ISIS leader two weeks ago on April 3

The SOHR said those 'violent clashes' took place after the helicopter airdrop, the first airdrop this year after an ISIS leader was killed by a drone strike two weeks ago.

An airdrop sees soldiers or items being 'unloaded' while the helicopter is still in flight, for example by soldiers climbing down a rope hanging from the helicopter.

The two armed fighters killed were members of the Soqour Al-Shamal factions, who were near the site where the operation took place, the SOHR said.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which partners with the U.S. in anti-IS operations in northeast Syria, said that the operation was launched from a base near the town of Kobani and targeted a military site belonging to a Turkish-backed armed opposition group, Suqour al-Shamal, in the village of village of Suwayda in the region of Jarablus, near the Turkish border.

The SOHR confirmed: 'International Coalition Forces helicopters which carried out the airdrop took off from Kharab Ishk base in Ain Al-Arab countryside (Kobani).

'Violent clashes erupted in the site of the airdrop, during which Coalition Forces fired two missiles on the building which that ISIS commander was living.'

A Turkish-backed rebel group also said in a statement that two of its fighters were killed after they went to the site of the raid in the Jarabulus area.

Many former IS militants joined pro-Turkish groups after the jihadists lost their last scraps of territory in Syria in March 2019, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.

In separate attacks on Sunday, suspected IS fighters killed at least 36 truffle hunters and five shepherds in Syria, the Observatory reported, with 17 pro-regime fighters among the dead.

According to CENTCOM's assessment, no civilians were killed or injured in today's raid and no US troops were wounded nor were any US helicopters damaged.

General Michael 'Erik' Kurilla, a CENTCOM Commander, said: 'Though degraded, ISIS remains able to conduct operations within the region with a desire to strike beyond the Middle East. We will continue the relentless campaig against ISIS.'

General Michael 'Erik' Kurilla (pictured), a CENTCOM Commander, said: 'Though degraded, ISIS remains able to conduct operations within the region with a desire to strike beyond the Middle East. We will continue the relentless campaig against ISIS'

The two armed fighters killed were members of the Soqour Al-Shamal factions, who were near the site where the operation took place, the SOHR said (pictured: a man walking past the sign of Al Suwaydah near Jarabulus in nthe north-east of Syria's Aleppo province)

Two weeks ago, on April 3, a US drone strike in Syria killed a senior ISIS leader in charge of planning attacks in Europe, CENTCOM announced. It confirmed the operation took out Khalid 'Aydd Ahmad al-Jabouri - which will now 'temporarily disrupt the organisation's ability to plot external attacks.' (pictured: Syria's White Helmets after the drone strike in Killi)

An earlier report by CENTCOM said the ISIS leader was 'probably' dead and that two armed fighters were killed.

CENTCOM's Colonel Joe Buccino said: 'This operation reaffirms CENTCOM's steadfast commitment to the region and the enduring defeat of ISIS.'

Buccino promised CENTCOM would provide additional details soon.

The identity of the alleged senior leader and target has not yet been revealed.

He also said that no US forces were wounded and no US helicopters were shot down in the raid.

Syria's White Helmets, a civil defense group operating in opposition-held areas of northern Syria, said it transported two people wounded during the raid to a local hospital, which later said they had died.

A third person was killed when the U.S. forces landed for the raid, the White Helmets said.

At least 900 U.S. troops are deployed in Syria, along with an undisclosed number of contractors.

As part of the US's ongoing campaign to defeat ISIS in Syria and Iraq and prevent the terror organisation from growing again, the US military captured an ISIS operative and two of his associates just a week ago in eastern Syria during another helicopter raid.

The Islamic State group, which swept through Iraq and Syria in 2014, taking control of large swaths of territory, was defeated in Syria in 2019, but sleeper cells maintain a presence and periodically stage attacks on military and civilian targets.

A US armoured military vehicle drives on the outskirts of Rumaylan in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province, bordering Turkey, on March 27, 2023

On April 3, a US drone strike in Syria killed a senior ISIS leader in charge of planning attacks in Europe, CENTCOM announced.

It confirmed the operation took out Khalid 'Aydd Ahmad al-Jabouri - which will now 'temporarily disrupt the organisation's ability to plot external attacks.'

The terrorist was responsible for planning attacks into Europe and developing the leadership structure for ISIS, the US Department of Defense command said.

He was reportedly speaking on a phone on the outskirts of the town of Killi, in Syria's Idlib province, when he was targeted by a Hellfire missile, according to local outlets.

General Michael Kurilla said ISIS 'continues to represent a threat to the region and beyond.'

'Though degraded, the group remains able to conduct operations within the region with a desire to strike beyond the Middle East.'

No civilians were killed or injured in this strike, CENTCOM said in its statement.

The strike was the latest in a series of attacks over the past years targeting al-Qaida-linked militants and senior members of the Islamic State group in northwestern Syria.
The decomposed body of a woman covered in 'maggots' has been found stuffed inside a suitcase at a bus stop in Malaysia.

The body of the woman, said to be around 25, was found in the suitcase by a man in Kulai, a district in the southern state of Johor, on Tuesday, according to police.

Police Chief Superintendent Tok Beng Yeow said he was alerted to the discarded suitcase at around 1.50pm and found the remains '50 per cent' decomposed.

The woman's death probably happened 'two weeks ago' and she had suffered a head injury 'below the scalp', according to a preliminary post-mortem report by Sultanah Aminah Hospital.

But the cause of death is still under 'investigation' and the police have appealed for anyone with information to come forward.

The body of the woman, said to be around 25, was found in the suitcase by a man in Kulai (pictured), a district in the southern state of Johor, on Tuesday, according to police

Mr Tok said: 'Police officers, together with a team from the Kulai police's Criminal Investigation Division (CID) and the state police contingent's forensic unit, were immediately despatched to the scene.

'A preliminary inspection at the scene failed to determine gender, age and estimated time of death due to the advanced stage of decomposition.

'There is also an injury below the victim's scalp. However, the cause of death is still under investigation. The case is classified under section 302 of the penal code for murder.'

He appealed to anyone who has information on the case to contact the Kulai police or investigating officer at 016-2850204.
Fresh explosions rocked the capital of Sudan this morning as fighting between the regular army and paramilitaries raged for a third day with the death toll rising to nearly 100.

The violence in Khartoum erupted on Saturday after weeks of power struggles between Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Bitter fighting has ensued in the days since, triggered a wide international outcry with appeals for an immediate ceasefire and dialogue.

A total of 97 civilians have been killed and hundreds have been wounded so far, said the Sudan Doctors' Syndicate, a pro-democracy group monitoring casualties. The group noted the figure does not include all casualties as many could not reach hospitals due to difficulties in movement.

There has been no official word on the number of fighters killed in the clashes, many of which have been captured in shocking video footage.

'Gunfire and shelling are everywhere,' Wadeya Mahmoud Koko, head of a union for food workers, said from her home in Khartoum.

She said a shell stuck a neighbour's house Sunday, killing at least three people. 'We couldn't take them to a hospital or bury them.'

Sudan's capital city is seen burning amid bitter fighting and airstrikes

Fighters in Sudan are seen firing automatic weapons and taking cover from opposing forces

A Sudanese air force plane is seen conducting an airstrike over Khartoum

Smoke rises as clashes continue in the Sudanese capital on April 16, 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF)

Smoke streaks from the centre of Khartoum this morning

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly give a joint statement on the situation in Sudan during a G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Japan, April 17

Fierce clashes broke out across the capital Khartoum and the sister city of Omdurman on Saturday and have continued ever since

Loud gunfire and deafening explosions echoed across the streets of Khartoum Monday morning as clashes continued.

Who are the RSF? The Rapid Support Forces are a paramilitary group, which Sudan's intelligence service created from the Janjaweed militia in 2013. The Janjaweed militia had worked closely with the Sudanese military and police forces in the War in Darfur (2003-20). The war was fought between an alliance of rebels and the Sudanese government, backed by the Janjaweed and supported by Libya, Russia, Iran and China, among others. Rebel groups accused the government of oppressing non-Arabs in western Sudan. The war saw a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing against non-Arabs, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians and a major humanitarian crisis as refugees fled the country. While the UN and African Union managed to establish a peacekeeping mission to help negotiate the end of the conflict in 2020, the RSF became a branch of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in 2013. It has since been deployed in a number of roles domestically and in foreign conflicts, including in Libya and Yemen. The RSF is accused of numerous human rights abuses, and reportedly tied to Russia's Wagner Group mercenaries, active in Ukraine Advertisement

A stench of gunpowder lingered as plumes of thick black smoke emanated from damaged buildings, according to witnesses.

The chaotic scenes of fighting with tanks, truck-mounted machine guns, artillery and warplanes in densely populated areas of the capital are unprecedented. Sudan has a long history of civil strife, but much of that has taken place in remote tribal areas, far from Khartoum.

On Sunday, the warring sides agreed to a three-hour pause in fighting to allow civilians to stock up on necessities. Compliance was spotty, and there were reports of casualties during the humanitarian pause.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken renewed his call for a truce and a return to negotiations during a meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) wealthy nations in Japan on Monday.

'People in Sudan want the military back in the barracks,' he said. 'They want democracy. They want the civilian-led government, Sudan needs to return to that path.'

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly added: 'Ultimately, the immediate, future lies in the hands of the generals who are engaged in this fight. And we call upon them to put peace first, to bring an end to the fighting, to get back to negotiations.

'That's what the people of Sudan want. That's what the people of Sudan deserve, and we will continue to seek ways to support that road back to peace.'

The fighting broke out after bitter disagreements between former allies Burhan and Daglo over the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army - a key condition for a final deal aimed at ending a crisis since the 2021 military coup they orchestrated together.

The coup has already derailed a transition to civilian rule following the 2019 ouster of president Omar al-Bashir and piled on a spiralling economic crisis in Sudan.

Now the two generals have dug in, saying they would not negotiate a truce, instead engaging in verbal attacks and demanding the other's surrender.

Two burning planes at Khartoum International Airport, 16 April, amid clashes for strategic locations between the RSF paramilitary group and the Sudanese armed forces

Sudanese greet army soldiers in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan on 16 April 2023

Sudanese greet army soldiers in Port Sudan on 16 April. The army appeared to have the upper hand in the capital city of Khartoum by Sunday

Sudan's capital city burns overnight amid continued clashes between the army and RSF

A building is seen on fire following an airstrike in Khartoum

The clashes forced Sudanese to hunker down in their homes with fears of a prolonged conflict that could plunge the country into deeper chaos, dashing hopes for return to civilian rule.

Since Saturday, the two sides have traded blame over who started the fighting.

Each has claimed the upper hand by declaring control of key sites, including the airport and the presidential palace but none of their claims could be independently verified.

Fighting also raged in others parts of Sudan including the western Darfur region and in the eastern border state of Kassala.

The Saturday killing of three staff from the World Food Programme in North Darfur clashes prompted the agency to suspend all operations in the impoverished country.

Medics have pleaded for safe corridors for ambulances and a ceasefire to treat the victims because the streets are too dangerous for transporting casualties to hospital.

The RSF was created under Bashir in 2013, emerging from the Janjaweed militia that his government unleashed against non-Arab ethnic minorities in Darfur a decade earlier, drawing accusations of war crimes.

The latest violence sparked by the two generals has reflected the deep-seated divisions between the regular army and the RSF.

Despite the wide calls for a ceasefire, the two generals appeared in no mood for talks.

Burhan, who rose through the ranks under the three-decade rule of now-jailed Bashir, has said the coup was 'necessary' to include more factions in politics.

Daglo later called the coup a 'mistake' that failed to bring about change and reinvigorated remnants of Bashir's regime ousted by the army in 2019 following mass protests.
An Australian man has been refused bail after being charged with a foreign interference offence for accepting cash from suspected Chinese intelligence agents, with a Sydney court saying his close ties to China made him a flight risk.

Magistrate Michael Barko said Alexander Csergo was a 'sophisticated, worldly businessperson' who had been on the radar of Australian intelligence for some time before his arrest on Friday.

The prosecution had a strong case against Csergo, 55, who had lived in China for decades, Mr Barko said in refusing bail.

Csergo is alleged to have arrived back in Australia this year with a 'shopping list' of intelligence priorities he had been asked for by two people he had suspected since 2021 to be agents for China's Ministry of State Security, the court heard.

The pair, named in court only as 'Ken' and 'Evelyn', first made contact with Csergo through LinkedIn.

Australian man Alexander Csergo (pictured) has been refused bail after being charged with a foreign interference offence for accepting cash from suspected Chinese intelligence agents

This list had been discovered by Australian intelligence authorities three weeks after he returned to Sydney, the court was told.

Csergo had been allegedly asked to handwrite reports about Australia's AUKUS defence technology partnership with the US and Britain, the QUAD diplomatic partnership of Australia, India, Japan and the US, and iron ore and lithium mining.

The marketing executive was arrested in the Sydney beachside suburb of Bondi last Friday.

He is the second person charged under Australia's foreign interference law, which criminalises activity that helps a foreign power interfere with Australia's sovereignty or national interest.

It carries a maximum 15 year prison sentence.

Csergo appeared in court via video link from Parklea Prison where he is being held as a high security prisoner. His mother and brother were in court.

The prosecution had a strong case against Csergo (pictured centre), who had lived in China for decades, magistrate Michael Barko said in refusing bail

He had told Australian intelligence agents in an interview that when he met Ken and Evelyn in Shanghai cafes and restaurants, the establishments had been empty and he suspected they had been cleared, Mr Barko said.

He developed a high level of anxiety, was in 'survival mode', exchanged around 3,300 WeChat messages with the pair, and allegedly got cash payments in envelopes.

The magistrate raised concerns for Csergo's safety, saying some people may not want him to give evidence against China.

His lawyer, Bernard Collaery, had sought bail, saying the reports Csergo had written were based on publicly sourced information and the case against his client was 'shallow and unsubstantiated'.

Prosecutor Conor McCraith disputed this, saying it was not all open source because he had engaged covertly with two others to prepare reports.

He also said Csergo had not come to Australian authorities with his concerns about Ken and Evelyn, and had instead invited Ken to come to Australia.

Mr Collaery said making cash payments was a common business practice in China, and Csergo undertook the consulting work during the Covid-19 lockdown in Shanghai as a source of income.

'Of course he believed Ken and Evelyn were keeping tabs on him. That's how it works in China, he became very worried about it,' Mr Collaery said.

The magistrate raised concerns for Csergo's (pictured right) safety, saying some people may not want him to give evidence against China

Csergo had worked in China since 2002 in data marketing, including for a major international advertising agency.

The lawyer said his client's career had come 'tumbling down' since his arrest and he had no intention to return to China and instead planned to pursue the Australian government for damages for ruining his career.

Mr Collaery told media outside the court the case was a 'civil liberties' issue and raised concerns about the scope of the foreign interference law introduced in 2018.

'If you work as a consultant in any foreign country ... and you undertake consulting work that may relate to Australia's foreign influences or national security ... you can be guilty of foreign interference,' he told reporters.
Nicola Sturgeon will avoid scrutiny from politicians and the media of her involvement in the SNP finances row this week by refusing to turn up for work at Holyrood.

The former first minister will take part in proceedings in the Scottish Parliament 'remotely' as politicians return from their Easter break.

That time off was calamitous for the Scottish National Party. Its former chief executive, Ms Sturgeon's husband Peter Murrell, was arrested and their Glasgow home was searched by police.

The SNP headquarters in Edinburgh was also searched by police investigating the whereabouts of more than 600,000 in donations.

Ms Sturgeon is facing pressure to quit the part she led for eight years after a series of astonishing new allegations suggested she scuppered efforts by SNP officials to hire a fundraising manager to provide checks and oversight of donations.

As her successor, Humza Yousaf, tries to draw a line under the scandal, an SNP spokesman said: 'In order to ensure the focus of this week is on the new First Minister setting out his priorities for the people of Scotland, Ms Sturgeon has always intended to participate remotely and intends to return to Holyrood in the near future.'

The party's former Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, also said there was 'no reason' for Ms Sturgeon to step down, and branded the furore over her future a 'media frenzy'.

Mr Yousaf will today unveil plans to double council tax for second homes in Scotland in a speech to trade union leaders.

Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon will work 'remotely' this week as the Scottish Parliament returns from its Easter break.

Her husband, ex-SNP chief executive Peter Murrell. New video footage revealed Ms Sturgeon claimed in a 2021 meeting that the SNP's finances had 'never been stronger'. Some allege it reveals 'everything that was wrong with the SNP under the control of her and Peter Murrell'.

Humza Yousaf will today unveil plans to double council tax for second homes in Scotland in a speech to trade union leaders

The proposed changes would enable councils to charge up to double the full rate of council tax on second homes from April 2024, bringing them in line with long-term empty homes.

The proposal is part of a new consultation by the Scottish government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) to increase housing.

New video footage released yesterday revealed that Ms Sturgeon claimed in a 2021 meeting that the SNP's finances had 'never been stronger'.

A senior party source told The Daily Telegraph they didn't 'see the advantages' in Ms Sturgeon keeping her role as an MSP, and that the 'pantomime' of the SNP finances row would will make life in the Scottish parliament 'very uncomfortable for her'.

The remarks come as senior SNP figures insisted the party remains 'solvent' after its treasurer admitted at a weekend meeting of the party's national executive committee (NEC) that he was having difficulty balancing the books.

According to the Sunday Mail newspaper, detectives investigating the funding and finances of the SNP have been passed emails from June 2021 suggesting Ms Sturgeon personally refused a proposal to hire a fundraising manager.

Douglas Chapman, who was the SNP's treasurer at the time, had suggested the appointment and this was backed by current treasurer Colin Beattie, but deputy leader Keith Brown said the idea was dismissed by Ms Sturgeon.

The emails, which are notes from an SNP governance review group, said: 'CB can see benefits of a fundraising manager. KB mentioned this was declined by NS.'

In another email on June 28, 2021, Mr Brown said he had shared details about the proposal being rejected 'in confidence' and requested that the member of the review group who received the email did not tell anyone else.

Video footage of a March 2021 NEC meeting also showed Ms Sturgeon lashing out at the decision of three members of the party's finance and audit committee to quit over the lack of transparency about finances. She said: 'The party has never been in a stronger financial position than it is right now, and that's a reflection of our strength and our membership.

'I'm not going to get into the details... but just be very careful about suggestions there are problems with the party's finances, because we depend on donors.

'There are no reasons for people to be concerned about the party's finances and all of us need to be careful about not suggesting there is. We've got to be careful we don't reap what we sow. If we have leaks from this body it limits the ability for open discussion.'

In wake of the newly unveiled evidence, SNP insiders allege Ms Sturgeon - who planned to remain in Holyrood until 2026 - will be quitting sooner rather than later.

'There is growing suspicion now that she will be stepping down,' the source told The Daily Telegraph, adding that regardless of how Ms Sturgeon tries to help her Glasgow Southside constituency the 'opposition will drag all this up any chance they get'.

First Minister Humza Yousaf, Ms Sturgeon's successor, is also facing demands to suspend her party membership if she does not step down.

Nicola Sturgeon votes with her husband Peter Murrell at Broomhouse Community Hall in Ballieston, Glasgow, in December 2019

Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy said: 'Nicola Sturgeon has huge questions to answer over this devastating video, which reveals everything that was wrong with the SNP under the control of her and Peter Murrell.

'For her to claim that the party's finances were in rude health  a matter of weeks before a police investigation was launched into the missing 600,000, and her chief executive husband lent his own employers a six-figure sum to help with 'cash-flow' issues  is frankly astonishing.

'Her trademark addiction to secrecy, and to image over candour, can be seen in her crude efforts to suppress any discussion from NEC members about the party's finances because it might put off donors.

'No wonder "continuity candidate" Humza Yousaf is now desperately trying to distance himself from the Sturgeon-Murrell era. The shocking lack of transparency among the toxic clique at the top of the SNP is what has got the party in its current mess.

'If Humza Yousaf wants to show he's determined to tackle the crisis within the SNP, he should suspend the party membership of Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell.'

At a meeting of the SNP's NEC on Saturday, Mr Beattie is said to have warned about the growing strain on the party's finances. According to The Sunday Times, he said there was 'difficulty in balancing the books due to the reduction in membership and donors'.

Last month, it was revealed that the SNP had lost 30,000 members in just over a year, even though the party had previously dismissed such claims.

The accountancy firm Johnston Carmichael resigned as the SNP's auditor last September and from the same role at the SNP's Westminster group, which is now in danger of losing more than 1million in funding from the UK Government unless it finds, by the end of next month, a new auditor to confirm it spent the money exclusively on parliamentary duties.

However, it emerged yesterday that the SNP informed the Electoral Commission that its auditors had resigned in 'early February', which was shortly before Ms Sturgeon announced her resignation.

Referring to Saturday's meeting, the SNP said: 'The SNP national executive committee agreed to a series of proposals to increase transparency in the SNP.

'It is the case that the SNP accounts are published annually and are in order.'
A transgender killer serving a life sentence for beating a man to death with a rolling pin has announced she has requested a sex-change on the NHS  and hopes to become the first UK prisoner to have full gender reassignment surgery while in jail.

Paris Green, 30, who is reportedly in the women's unit at HMP Edinburgh, said the procedure would make her feel more 'comfortable in the shower.'

Born Peter Laing, Green began taking hormones in 2011  two years before she and two accomplices tied up and beat 45-year-old Robert Shankland to death.

Within weeks of being imprisoned in Cornton Vale women's prison, Green was moved to the female section of Edinburgh's Saughton jail after reports she was having casual-sex with fellow convicts.

Green has long maintained it is her goal to have the full operation and even met a surgeon in March 2020.

30-year-old transgender killer Paris Green has said she wants gender reassignment surgery to feel comfortable in the shower

45-year-old Robert Shankland was tied up and beaten to death by Green and her accomplices

Green is reportedly housed in the women's unit at HMP Edinburgh

However, the pandemic and the doctor's doubts over security of other patients at Brighton's Nuffield Centre due to the nature of her offence meant her application was halted.

Green however has not given up her hopes and told the Daily Record she will continue to push for the surgery even though 'a lot of people will say [she doesn't] deserve it.'

She said: 'I want to feel comfortable in the shower rather than feeling repulsed. Having male genitalia feels wrong.'

The news that a criminal like Green is in a women's unit follows the debacle that saw trans rapist Isla Bryson housed in HMP Cornton Vale earlier this year.

Following the furore, the SPS took the decision to halt the movement of all trans prisoners with a history of violence against women into the female estate.

With at least eight years left to serve on her life sentence and biological time not on her side, Green says she is in a race against the clock for successful treatment.

She continued: 'It's a major operation. It takes you a long time to be prepared for it and long time to recover.

'I'll have a better chance of making a good recovery if I have it in my 30s rather than my 40s.

'I'd be able to come out of prison with my past completely behind me, which gives the best chance of succeeding outside.

'I realise it's not just as simple as me wanting the operation and everyone having to help make it happen and I understand the security concerns because I was convicted of an awful crime, but that's past and I'm no danger to anyone.'

Green is aware that the nature of her sickening crime means she is unlikely to ever receive any sympathy from authorities or the public.

In March 2013, Green, Kevin McDonagh and Dean Smith invited Mr Shankland to a party at a flat in Fife.

Once he was inside, the trio tied him up with torn bedsheets and set upon him, punching and kicking him and beating him with a rolling pin.

They also placed a plastic bag over his head and tied a ligature around his neck.

Paris Green (left) Kevin McDonagh (centre) and Dean Smith (right) were all given life sentences

Green has said she regrets the killing and believes if she had been born as a woman she would have avoided it

Coroners concluded the cause of Mr Shankland's death was either by suffocation or blunt force injuries.

Sentencing all three killers to life with a minimum term of 18 years in November 2013, Judge John Morris had told Green: 'It beggars belief you could act towards another human in this way.'

To this day, Green herself claims she is also unsure, telling the Record: 'It was inexcusable  all I can say is I had a really awful childhood and was totally messed up.

'I was carrying a lot of anger inside me even before I realised I should have been a woman and that made me more angry.

'I wondered if I'd have been a different person if I'd been a woman. I'm not going to make excuses because there are none. I regret what I did and I'm sorry for it every day of my life.

'Even five minutes before it started if someone had asked me if I was capable of murder, I'd have said no way.

'I know what I did. But I can't change it and I can't bring him back.

'But I can't help anyone by sitting quietly, doing my time and not trying to complete my transition, so this is the best road for me.'

MailOnline has approached the Scottish Prison Service for more information regarding Green's imprisonment and surgery hopes.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: 'The Scottish Government does not comment on individual cases.

'All transgender individuals in custody - including those who transition while in the care of the prison service - are supported and managed by the Scottish Prison Service through an individualised risk assessment and case conference process that protects their rights and needs, and those of others in the establishment.

'Scottish Prison Service works with NHS partners to ensure that a transgender individual in custody is provided with the opportunity to access gender reassignment services and support.'
An Australian has died while hiking the historic Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea.

The 48-year-old reportedly fainted while walking and his companions immediately performed CPR.

He was then rushed to Pacific International Hospital in the capital Port Moresby where doctors declared him deceased.

Local police are investigating.

The Kokoda Track Authority, which manages the site, told the ABC it had been contacted by Adventure Kokoda about the incident.

An Australian man was rushed to hospital after he fainted while hiking the Kokoda Track (pictured) in PNG

The track (pictured), which winds through the Owen Stanley mountain range, was used by Australian soldiers in WWII as they fought the Japanese

April is one of busiest periods for visitors on the trail - which winds 96km through dense jungle - as it includes the lead-up to Anzac Day.

While it's considered one of the world's toughest hikes, thousands take on the challenge each year retracing the steps of Australian soldiers as they fought the Japanese in World War II .

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian man who died in Papua New Guinea.

'Our deepest condolences to the family,' a spokesperson said but could provide no other comment due to privacy obligations.

More to follow.
Gillian Keegan today waded into the row over a teacher who claims she was ordered to apologise for saying 'good afternoon girls' to a class of 11-year-olds at a private girls' school.

The Education Secretary insisted using such a greeting was 'absolutely fine' despite the pupils complaining that some of them did not identify as female.

The Mail on Sunday revealed at the weekend that bosses at the 20,000-a-year school told the woman to deliver the mea culpa.

After being told by the pupils that 'not everyone here identifies as female', she arrived in class the following day to find they had pointedly written their names and pronouns on the board, including one who used they/them.

They also held a lunchtime protest after she refused to acknowledge their demands.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan insisted using such a greeting was 'absolutely fine' despite the pupils complaining that some of them did not identify as female

The philosophy and religious education teacher said she believed she had been 'managed out' by senior staff at the prestigious institution, which is part of the independent Girls' Day School Trust, but only after she was forced to publicly apologise.

In a round of interviews this morning, Ms Keegan said there was an 'obvious' need to be 'sensitive' to children.

In that case, you know, the well being of girls is also very important,' she told Times Radio.

'And good morning (sic) girls is absolutely fine to say in a girls' school to a girls' class, you know.

'We have to be sensible and have, you know, a big dose of common sense here...

'We can't mix up sex and gender. We've seen what happened in Scotland when it got that round the wrong way.'

Ms Keegan said guidance to schools on how to handle gender issues will be published before the Commons summer recess in July.

The advice is expected to say schools should tell parents if their children start using a different gender identity.

The guidelines are also set to urge a ban on self-declared trans students going in the opposite sex changing rooms. Instead there will be a recommendation that they are provided bespoke facilities where possible

'We need to be sensitive, but we also need to have common sense,' Ms Keegan said.

The woman, who gave evidence last week to an ongoing review into child and adolescent gender dysphoria care, led by paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass, said the problems began in May 2021 after some Year 7 students complained when she greeted the class with 'good afternoon, girls.'

After being told that not everyone identified as female, one pupil stood up and challenged her to 'acknowledge' their pronouns.

But the teacher, who has requested anonymity to protect the pupils, replied that if their pronouns differed from their biological sex, she would need to involve parents.

The teacher then said she sought guidance from the head of year about what to do if a pupil was experiencing gender dysphoria  a term used to describe a mismatch between biological sex and gender.

But her superior allegedly told her she had no knowledge of the terminology or whether any communications had been had with parents on the issue.

The students then held a lunchtime protest against the teacher  and she said senior staff appeared to side with them.

'I was told that they made placards with slogans on such as 'Trans lives matter',' she said.

'Before the end of the week I was in some sort of disciplinary process and the head of year was telling me I had to apologise to the girls.'

The teacher then described how she was accompanied by the head of year, who addressed the pupils while she stood to one side.

She said: 'She spoke to the children on my behalf saying no one here would want to hurt you and you're all really loved by us.

A file picture illustrating girls in a classroom

'She then worded the apology in terms of, 'I am sorry you're upset and we didn't mean to offend. I'm sorry you felt bad.' But it was all pretty humiliating and embarrassing.'

The teacher said the problems started less than a week after the sixth form's 'diversity and inclusion' prefects delivered an assembly on gender and pronouns.

During the session, the 17- and 18-year-olds showed a video discussing gender identities and sex being assigned at birth.

The tutor believes that as a result of her refusal to capitulate to her students' gender demands she was 'managed out'.

She said the head teacher rejected her application to remain at the school after her one-term contract came to an end.

The Girls' Day School Trust, a group of 25 schools and academies, declined to comment over the weekend.
Transgender teacher then told school counsellor she was having 'bad thoughts'

A transgender teacher has been removed from a school after allegedly threatening to 'shoot some students' days after seeing social media posts discussing her sexual orientation.

The teacher from Florida who uses she/her pronouns has been removed from a classroom int he Hernando School District (HSD) and police have seized three firearms and ammunition from her home.

The Fox Chapel Middle School teacher is allegedly transgender and recently learned of a social media post discussing her sexual orientation negatively.

The teacher was sent to the school guidance counselor's office on March 24 after she said she was having 'bad thoughts', according to Wear News ABC 3.

In an incident report obtained by Crisis in the Classroom, it says that the teacher allegedly 'made a comment that she wanted to shoot some students due to them not performing to their ability'.

The teacher from Florida who uses she/her pronouns has been removed from a classroom int he Hernando School District (HSD, pictured) and police have seized three firearms and ammunition from her home

The Fox Chapel Middle School (pictured) teacher is allegedly transgender and recently learned of a social media post discussing her sexual orientation negatively

The teacher immediately added that she would never harm a student, the report also notes.

Later that day, the Hernando County Sheriff's Office (HSCO) seized three firearms and ammunition from the teacher's residence.

In a letter sent to concerned parents and teachers last week, the school said the investigation was ongoing and the the teacher has been removed from 'all student contact'.

However, the teacher has only been removed after Florida's Department of Education (FLDOE) stepped in, a FLDOE notice indicates.

The notice posted last Friday said: 'Earlier this week, the Department was informed of a situation regarding student safety at a school in Hernando County.

'Upon the Department bringing the concern to the Superintendent Wednesday evening, only then did the district remove the teacher from the school, effective yesterday, Thursday, April 13.'

Please see the Florida Department of Educations statement below on a school safety situation in Hernando County. pic.twitter.com/gBwNpcf4H6  Florida Department of Education (@EducationFL) April 14, 2023

Parents were outraged at the school's lack of action and threatened to pull their children out of the school.

One father told WEAR News ABC 3: 'The fact that it took two weeks for us, as parents, to find out that anything happened is mind-boggling.'

He added that he also contacted Governor Ron DeSantis's office to investigate the matter.

Some parents reportedly supported the teacher at the meeting, saying she was 'brave enough to work on showing her true self' and that the allegations were 'clearly false'.

Crisis in the Classroom was told that the district would not comment on the matter further than last week's letter and that the Hernando County District was taking 'all actions' to ensure that the 'campus is safe'.
A beloved children's shoe company has appointed receivers after running into financial trouble.

Bobux International, which is headquartered in New Zealand but popular with Australian parents, was placed in receivership last Tuesday.

Founded in 1991 by husband-and-wife Colleen and Chris Bennett, the brand sells high-quality shoes, boots and sandals for toddlers and kids in over 40 countries.

But the business suffered supply chain issues during the pandemic.

Bobux sells high-quality shoes, boots and sandals for toddlers and kids in over 40 countries

The firm blamed Covid-related supply chain issues and an IT overspend for going under

These combined with overstocking and an over-budget IT system revamp pushed the business over the edge and it was unable to secure ongoing funding.

'This is a tragic outcome for our staff, suppliers and customers after putting our hearts and souls into the business for 30 years. Our sincere hope is that a buyer can be found to take Bobux forward,' Mr Bennett told the Australian Financial Review.

McGrathNicols NZ partners Conor McElhinney and Andrew Grenfell were appointed receivers and managers of Bobux and related companies on April 11.

They are acting on behalf of the Bank of New Zealand.

The website is still functioning as the receivers sell off its remaining stock

'The business suffered significant supply chain disruptions from Covid-19 that resulted in overstocking to combat delays and challenges with an IT system overhaul,' McGrathNicol said in a statement to news.com.au.

During the receivership, the company will trade as normal while liquidators work to sell off its remaining stock.

In New Zealand, 25 employees will be impacted, as will eight staff members in Indonesia, and one in Australia.
Pope Francis weighed into a decades-old Vatican scandal on Sunday, rejecting insinuations that the late Pope John Paul II sought out underage girls to molest.

The Pontiff's comments were in relation to the disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi, a 15-year-old girl who lived in the Vatican and failed to return home on June 22, 1983.

Her disappearance 40 years ago - after a music lesson in Rome - is one of Italy's most enduring mysteries, and entered a new chapter on Tuesday when her brother Pietro Orlandi met with Vatican chief prosecutor Alessandro Diddi - who Francis himself has given free rein to get to the bottom of the case.

After speaking to Diddi for more than eight hours, Pietro appeared on a television programme where he played part of an audio recording with the voice of a man Orlandi said was part of an organised crime group that Italian media have for decades speculated may have been involved in his sister's disappearance.

The voice of the alleged gangster says that more than 40 years ago, girls were brought into the Vatican to be molested - and that Pope John Paul would go out looking for underage girls.

Pope Francis weighed into a decades-old Vatican scandal on Sunday, rejecting insinuations that the late Pope John Paul II (pictured in 1978) sought out underage girls to molest

The Pontiff's comments on Sunday were in relation to the disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi, a 15-year-old girl who lived in the Vatican and failed to return home on June 22, 1983

Orlandi then said in his own words on the show: 'They tell me Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II's surname) used to go out in the evenings with two Polish monsignors and it certainly was not to bless houses'.

The comments caused a storm and were condemned by Vatican officials in the past few days before the pope himself entered the fray at his noon address to about 20,000 people in St. Peter's Square.

'Certain that I am interpreting the sentiments of the faithful from all over the world, I express a grateful thought to the memory of St. John Paul, who in these days has been the object of offensive and unfounded insinuations,' Francis said.

The mostly Italian crowd broke into applause.

Francis noted that in Sunday's crowd in the square were pilgrims and other faithful in town to pray at a sanctuary for divine mercy, a quality John Paul stressed often in his papacy, which spanned from 1978 to 2005.

Diddi summoned Pietro's lawyer, Laura Sgro, on Saturday. The Vatican said she invoked attorney-client privileges.

Sgro told Reuters on Sunday that John Paul did not come up in her conversation with Diddi, adding in a text message: 'I have never questioned the sanctity of John Paul II'.

Sgro insisted her client wasn't accusing anyone.

Pietro Orlandi - who has vowed to discover what happened to his sister - told Reuters on Sunday by telephone that it was 'correct that Francis defended John Paul II'.

Orlandi added that during the television appearance he was 'repeating what others had said. I certainly did not see it myself'.

The Vatican's editorial director, Andrea Tornielli, earlier condemned Orlandi's comments as a 'sleazy' vilification of the pontiff, who was declared a saint in 2014.

'No one deserves to be vilified in this way, without even a shred of a clue, on the basis of the 'rumours' of some unknown figure in the criminal underworld or some sleazy anonymous comment produced on live TV,' Tornielli said.

Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, who was John Paul's secretary throughout his leadership, called Orlandi's actions 'ignoble, unrealistic, laughable if they were not tragic, even criminal'.

Emanuela vanished on June 22, 1983, after leaving her familys Vatican City apartment to go to a music lesson in Rome. Her father was a lay employee of the Holy See.

Over the past four decades tombs have been opened, bones have been exhumed from forgotten grave sites and conspiracy theories have abounded.

Among the theories have been ones linking the disappearance to the aftermath of the failed assassination attempt against John Paul in 1981 in St. Peter's Square or to the international financial scandal over the Vatican bank.

Still other theories envision a role played by Rome's criminal underworld.

Pope Francis on Sunday (pictured) condemned comments by Emanuela Orlandi's brother, in which he insinuated that Pope John Paul II sought out underage girls to moles

People gather on the day Pope Francis leads Regina Caeli prayer at the Vatican, April 16

Pictured: A banner is seen in the crowd in the Vatican in support of Pope John Paul II, April 16

Pictured: Emanuela Orlandi's brother Pietro Orlandi is seen in the Vatican (file photo) in 2019

The case, which has been the subject of on-and-off investigations in Italy and the Vatican, has drawn fresh worldwide attention following the release late last year of the Netflix series 'Vatican Girl'.

The series explored those possible scenarios and provided new testimony from a friend who said Emanuela had told her a week before she disappeared that a high-ranking Vatican cleric had made sexual advances toward her.

She would be 55 now.

Her brother has long insisted the Vatican knows more than it has said.
The mother was found guilty of murdering her 42-day old baby back in 2007

A mother found guilty of murdering her own 42-day old baby with a powerful painkiller has a parole hearing and could be freed after just 12-years in jail.

Michelle Smith, then 34, was sentenced to life in 2007 after being convicted of feeding adult painkillers to her baby daughter Amy.

A jury at Swansea Crown Court found her unanimously guilty of murdering the defenceless baby at home in Morriston, Swansea, south Wales, in November 2007.

The Parole Board confirmed that Smith, now 46, has been granted an 'oral' appeal in June when she will appear before the three person panel.

If she is recommended for release, Smith will be back on the streets a few weeks later.

Michelle Smith, then 34, (pictured outside Swansea Crown Court in 2012) was sentenced to life after being convicted of feeding adult painkillers to her 42-day old baby daughter Amy

The Parole Board confirmed that Smith, now 46, has been granted an 'oral' appeal in June when she will appear before the three person panel. Pictured: Swansea Crown Court

A Parole Board spokesperson said: 'An oral hearing has been listed for the parole review of Michelle Smith and is scheduled to take place in June 2023.

'Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.

'A panel will carefully examine a huge range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as explore the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims.

'Members read and digest hundreds of pages of evidence and reports in the lead up to an oral hearing.

'Evidence from witnesses including probation officers, psychiatrists and psychologists, officials supervising the offender in prison as well as victim personal statements are then given at the hearing.

'The prisoner and witnesses are then questioned at length during the hearing which often lasts a full day or more.

'Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority.'

If the panel does not recommend her release, she could be moved to a cushy Category D open prison, normally a step towards eventual freedom.

Smith poisoned baby Amy three times before finally managing to kill her. She crushed tablets of the powerful painkiller dihydrocodeine- prescribed only to adults - and fed it to Amy in her bottle feed

A jury at Swansea Crown Court found her unanimously guilty of murdering the defenceless baby at home in Morriston, Swansea, south Wales, in November 2007. Pictured: A general view of Morriston, Swansea

Smith poisoned baby Amy three times before finally managing to kill her.

She crushed tablets of the powerful painkiller dihydrocodeine- prescribed only to adults - and fed it to Amy in her bottle feed.

On the first occasion doctors could not find anything wrong with her and sent her home.

The second time she was rushed to hospital urine tests revealed dihydrocodeine- but the results were not passed on to the doctors and Amy was again released.

But the third time it happened Amy could not be revived and she died aged six weeks.

A post mortem revealed the presence of the drug and it was only then that the earlier urine test results became known.

Sentencing, judge Mr Justice Spencer told a sobbing Smith that he believed she killed Amy out of a craving for attention.

He told Smith her actions involved a 'substantial premeditation'.

He added: 'The giving of this drug to Amy required, as it must have done, the crushing of tablet or tablets involving a significant degree or planning and premeditation.'

He said Amy was young and vulnerable and that Smiths actions were 'a gross abuse of your position as her mother'.

'In all probability you were in some way craving and seeking attention by presenting Amy to the doctors at hospital.'

The judge told Smith: 'The only conclusion on all the evidence is that on the day she died you must have crushed one or more tablets that were available in the home.'

He also drew attention to the condition of Amy, described as 'thriving' when seen by the health visitor on the day she died.

Within hours she was found in a collapsed state from which she never recovered, dying later the same day.

Concluding, he told her: 'Inevitably your contact with your other children, the siblings that Amy will never grow to know, has been very substantially curtailed, adding to the tragedy of this case.'

A relative of Smith, who attended court only after the jury retired, wailed in anguish throughout the sentencing.

Several times she was heard to say 'No, no', and was eventually taken away to a private room in an obviously distressed state.

A shell shocked Smith was led away in tears still protesting 'But I did not do it. I did not do it.'

Six-week old Amy Smith died on November 9 2007.

Smith and her husband Christopher, who never attended the trial or gave evidence, were questioned by police in the aftermath of the death.

Both had previously been prescribed medication for various ailments which contained DHC.

It was not until September 2010 that Smith herself was arrested on suspicion of murder.

At that time she was released without charge but was arrested and charged with murder in June 2011 and then released on bail.

In January 2011, she reported to Neath police station as part of her bail conditions and confessed to killing Amy but retracted it almost immediately.

Smith insisted throughout her trial that she had never done anything to harm Amy and never given her DHC.

She dismissed suggestions that she knew drugs stored in their home contained DHC, claiming she never so much as gave Amy Calpol.

Detective Sergeant Justin Evans, of South Wales Police, said after the verdict in July 2012 that he hoped it would help the family move on.

Speaking outside the court, he said: 'Michelle Smith has today been convicted of the murder of her baby daughter Amy Smith.

'Amy was only six weeks old when she was killed by the one person who should have done more than any other to keep her safe.

'Amy Smith would have been approaching her fifth birthday, and Michelle Smiths actions have left a family without a much loved little girl.

'Our thoughts are with Amys family at this sad time, and we hope that todays verdict will allow the family to now move on with the rest of their lives.'
Featuring a boy bearing all the hallmarks of Hollywood-style demonic possession, new film The Pope's Exorcist has sent shivers down viewers' spines.

Echoing horror classic The Exorcist, it sees a Catholic priest do battle against a demon that has possessed a bed-bound child in scenes that are more than a little fantastical.

But the film, which stars Russell Crowe, is based on the real life and work of the Vatican's chief exorcist, Father Gabriele Amorth.

Father Amorth, who died in 2016, claimed to have banished the devil 60,000 times and was an outspoken critic of, among other things, Harry Potter and yoga.

And, remarkably, he said that William Friedkin's classic but hugely controversial 1973 film, which starred teenager Linda Blair as a head-spinning possessed child was 'substantially' accurate.

New film The Pope's Exorcist stars Russell Crowe as Father Gabriele Amorth, who was the Vatican's chief exorcist

Father Amorth (pictured in 2010), who died in 2016, claimed to have banished the devil 60,000 times and was an outspoken critic of, among other things, Harry Potter and yoga

Speaking of his exorcisms in 2005, Father Amorth said: 'Some patients have to be tied down on a bed.

'They spit. They vomit. At first the demon will try to demoralise the exorcist, then he will try to terrify him.

'But I am not frightened. I have faith. I laugh at the demon and say to him: "I've got the Madonna on my side. I am called Gabriel. Go fight the Archangel if you will!"

'That usually shuts them up.'

But in 1997, Father Amorth encountered a case of alleged possession that tested his abilities to the limit.

The story is recounted in 2020 book The Devil Is Afraid Of Me, which was written by Marcello Stanzione, a fellow Catholic priest who worked with Father Amorth.

One morning, a young Italian man was brought to Father Amorth's consulting room in Rome with his priest and a translator.

Whilst the afflicted man only spoke in his native tongue, the evil spirit inside him spoke perfect English, Father Amorth was told.

Beginning his exorcism in Latin, as soon as he mentioned Jesus's name, the young man began shouting curses and threats in English and then spat at him.

He did briefly go quiet when Father Amorth uttered the prayer Praecipio tibi, which translates as 'I command you'.

'But then, screaming and howling, the demon burst forth and looked straight at him, drooling saliva from the young man's mouth,' Father Stanzione wrote.

After demanding that the demon reveal its name, Father Amorth was shocked when he was told it was the Devil himself.

Father Amorth, pictured in 2012, was a prominent figure in the Catholic Church and became the world's best known exorcist

Father Amorth claimed that some possessed patients had to be tied down during exorcisms. Above: The priest in 2005

The priest became an apprentice exorcist in 1986 and went on to set up the International Association of Exorcists in 1990

The possessed man continued shrieking and twisted his head back, rolled his eyes and arched his back.

The room allegedly became extremely cold, with ice crystals even forming on the windows.

After Father Amorth demanded that the demon leave him, the man's body began levitating before collapsing into a chair.

The demon then apparently gave up and announced the exact day and hour he would leave the man's body.

That was just one case among the many that Amorth encountered in his 30-year career.

Father Amorth, the youngest of five sons of a lawyer, grew up in the town of Modena and fought in the Italian resistance during the Second World War.

He went on to become a lawyer before entering the priesthood in 1951.

The priest became an apprentice exorcist in 1986 and went on to set up the International Association of Exorcists in 1990.

Whilst he initially conducted exorcisms in Rome's famous Church of the Holy Stairs, the shrieks of the possessed drove away the faithful and so he moved to the headquarters of his order, the Paulist Fathers.

There, in a nine by 15ft room that was set away from the street so screaming could not be heard, he did the bulk of his work.

The walls were adorned with eight crucifixes, pictures of the Virgin Mary and one of Archangel Michael.

A photo of Pope John Paul II - his boss for much of his time in post - apparently made devils 'particularly irritable'.

In a briefcase, Father Amorth carried two wooden crucifixes, an aspergillum - a device for sprinkling holy water - and a vial of consecrated oil.

He also carried a book of prayers that contained the official formulae for exorcisms.

According to Father Stanzione, during one exorcism a demon accused him of being a glutton. Quick-witted, he replied: 'Well, what's it to you?'

Remarkably Father Amorth said that William Friedkin's classic but hugely controversial 1973 film, which starred teenager Linda Blair as a head-spinning possessed child was 'substantially' accurate. Above: The moment that Blair's character levitates in The Exorcist

Months before the priest's death aged 91, The Exorcist's director, William Friedkin, became the first person to be allowed to film Father Amorth performing an actual exorcism. The documentary he produced showed a woman in her late 30s thrashing violently and shouting in a guttural voice that does not sound human

Father Gabriele Amorth is seen posing with a crucifix in Rome in 2010, when he was 85

He would also joke: 'You know why the devil flees when he sees me? Because I'm uglier than he is.'

The Catholic Church does recognise exorcism, but the practice has its critics in the church, who argue it plays on superstition to encourage followers to be faithful.

But Father Amorth was still among was still among at least 400 exorcists who work for the Catholic Church around the world.

However, the priest admitted that many of those who he treated had psychological problems that would have been better seen to by a professional.

He also estimated that he only encountered around 100 genuine cases of possession.

His appointments lasted for an average of 30 minutes and some were even done on Skype or on the phone.

The more mundane typical symptoms of possession allegedly included stomach cramps and violent headaches, meaning they could easily be confused with a routine illness.

The Devil apparently particularly hated hearing Latin and often preferred to speak in English, even if the possessed person could not speak a word of it.

The possessed would also spit and even apparently vomit shards of glass or pieces of iron.

Father Amorth kept a collection of nails, keys and plastic figurines that he claimed had been regurgitated.

As for almost supernatural strength, Father Amorth said he once saw a possessed 11-year-old boy resisting three big policemen as they tried to hold him down.

A ten-year-old boy is said to have picked up a huge table on his own.

Answering the question of how people came to be possessed, Father Amorth blamed 90 per cent of cases on Satanists or 'someone who has acted with Satanic perfidy'.

The Pope's Exorcist is loosely based on Father Amorth's files. Above: Russell Crowe as the priest

Father Amorth's work has received a Hollywood makeover in Russell Crowe's The Pope's Exorcist

He blamed the rest on taking part in practices such as seances.

In 2007, Father Amorth announced an initiative by his boss Pope Benedict to set up exorcism squads to tackle the rise of Satanism.

Accusing bishops of not taking the issue seriously enough, he said they had to 'hunt high and low for a properly trained exorcist.'

He added: 'Thankfully, Benedict XVI believes in the existence of evil...'

Months before the priest's death aged 91, The Exorcist's director, William Friedkin, became the first person to be allowed to film Father Amorth performing an actual exorcism.

The documentary he produced showed a woman in her late 30s thrashing violently and shouting in a guttural voice that does not sound human.

Father Amorth believed the woman, who had been cursed by her brother and his girlfriend - both satanists - was genuinely possessed.

Friedkin had not expected to see anything authentic but said the experience was 'terrifying'.

Father Amorth also claimed that yoga is 'evil' because he said it led to people practising eastern religions and said JK Rowling's Potter novels drove people to witchcraft.

His death prompted national mourning in Italy, a country where around 500,000 people a year visit an exorcist.

The Pope's Exorcist, which was released earlier this month and is very loosely based on Father Amorth's own files, has received mixed reviews from critics.

The International Association of Exorcists have however slammed the film, saying it poses 'unacceptable doubt' to the public as to who 'the real enemy is, the devil or ecclesiastical power'.

The group said in a statement: 'The end result is to instil the conviction that exorcism is an abnormal, monstrous, and frightening phenomenon, whose only protagonist is the devil, whose violent reactions can be faced with great difficulty.

'This is the exact opposite of what occurs in the context of exorcism celebrated in the Catholic church in obedience to the directives imparted by it.'

This image released by Sony Pictures shows Russell Crowe, right, in a scene from Screen The Pope's Exorcist'

The Exorcist caused huge controversy when it was released. Some who went to see it fainted or vomited, while others said they had wanted to leave the cinema but were too scared to leave.

Councils in Britain banned showings and priests called for it to be removed from screens entirely.

It featured scenes including the moment possessed girl Regan did a 'spider-walk' down the stairs, while another showed her head spin 360 degrees.

The film was based on a real case that took place in St Louis, Missouri, in 1949.

It involved a 14-year-old boy named Richard who is said to have summoned up spirits during a Ouija board session with his aunt.

A few days later, strange things started to happen, such as tables and chairs moving of their own accord and pictures falling off walls.

Footsteps could also be heard in the loft of the family's home. His aunt died shortly afterwards in mysterious circumstances.

Richard himself ended up covered in strange lettering that had been carved into his flesh, whilst claw marks appeared on his arms and legs.

Crowe is seen with co-star Daniel Zovatto as the fictional Father Esquibel

His family summoned Catholic Priest Father William Bowden for help.

The priest tried to get him to say a prayer to renounce Satan, but every time the child tried, a force seized control of his body and stopped him from doing so.,

The young boy then became extremely strong during exorcism rituals, to the point where it took three men to hold him down.

At one point Richard seized a pen from Father William and wrote: 'I am the devil himself'.

Finally, after 28 days, the spirit left his body when Father William urged him to say the words of the Lord's Prayer.

The boy later claimed that the archangel Michael had intervened to help him say the words.
Children as young as six have been pictured handling guns at the National Rifle Association's annual convention, as shooting deaths surge to new heights this year with 469 victims teenagers and kids.

The gun association described the 152nd annual event in Indianapolis, which sees over 650,000 square foot of guns and shooting gear exhibited, as family-friendly.

'Make plans now to join fellow Second Amendment patriots for a freedom-filled weekend for the entire family!' the NRA said of the event.

Shocking photos from the exhibition showed small kids inspecting, aiming and playing with guns as their parents watched on.

It comes as 2023 is on track to be the deadliest in terms of gun deaths, with more than 11,523 killed by firearms in the US, including 398 teens and 71 children as of April 10.

Hudson Eckart, six, from Indiana, tries out a handgun with his grandfather Daniel Eckart

The Louisville tragedy was the country's 146th such massacre in 2023. On April 10 last year, America had experienced 126 'mass shootings'

Firearms at the exhibition over the weekend all had to be 'deactivated by removal of the firing pin or other alteration so that they are rendered incapable of being fired.'

The conference was free to attend and open to all NRA members and their immediate families, meaning spouse and children under 18 years old.

Images of young families attending emerged as gun violence continues to be the leading cause of death in children in the US, ahead of car accidents and cancer.

Some showed six-year-old Hudson Eckart from Indiana, who inspected and raised a handgun under the supervision of his grandfather.

Also pictured were Alexander Schoenhals, 14, from Oklahoma, as he examined a handgun emblazoned with an American flag, and a little girl called Rachel, aged seven.

The photos prompted backlash online, including from former speaker of the House of Representatives, Democrat Nancy Pelosi.

Pelosi tweeted: 'As families mourn loved ones killed in mass shootings and gun violence is the #1 cause of death for children in the US, extreme Republicans cowed to the NRA and bragged about giving guns to kids rather than keeping kids safe.

'We must defeat these extremists  For The Children.'

Protesters gathered outside the centre, among them teachers who spoke of 'chilling' stories they had heard from students as young as five.

Six-year-old Hudson holds a handgun at the conference. The little boy wore an NRA sticker that read: 'I am freedom'

Alexander Schoenhals, 14, from Oklahoma, holds American flag handgun

Speaking to Insider, Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action, said: Responsible gun owners and parents would not allow a child to put their finger on a firearm's trigger while pointing it at other people - even if they're props

'It's more clear than ever that the NRA's goal was never to teach children about responsible gun handling, but to market guns and gun extremism to a new generation.'

Adding to the huge number, four more people were killed by a gunman last night at a sweet sixteen party in Alabama.

Among the four killed were high school seniors Keke Nicole Smith and Philstavious 'Phil' Dowdell.

A man and his two sons inspect a rifle while attending the 152nd NRA annual convention

A young attendee holds a weapon at the Holosun booth during the NRA annual convention

Tom Branham and grandchild Morgon Nelson, 11, from St. Louis, look at handguns

President Joe Biden used the shooting in Dadesville to once again slam Republicans in calling for gun control regulations Sunday afternoon.

He said in a statement: 'This is outrageous and unacceptable. Americans agree and want lawmakers to act on commonsense gun safety reforms.

'Instead, this past week Americans saw national Republican elected leaders stand alongside the NRA in a race to the bottom on dangerous laws that further erode gun safety. Our communities need and deserve better.'

The shooting came just days after further massacres in Louisville, Kentucky, where five bank workers were killed, and at a school in Nashville, Alabama which saw three children and three teachers murdered.

Shooters in both killing sprees were armed with assault rifles.

On Friday, former President Donald Trump used the gathering to rally support for his 2024 presidential campaign.

People protest outside the venue in Indianapolis on Saturday calling for the government to 'protect kids not guns'

One protester held up a sign which read 'our kids are worth more than your guns'

'Let's be very clear the issue is not too many guns, the issue is too many thugs, hoodlums and savage criminals on our streets', he told the audience.

He was among contenders for the race to address the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum, including former Vice President Mike Pence, Kristi Noem and Ron DeSantis.

The Florida Governor dropped a campaign ad calling Trump a 'coward' when it came to gun control just moments before the former president addressed the NRA.

The ad called Trump a 'gun-grabber' who has attacked the NRA.

The damaging ad accused Trump of aligning with anti-gun Democrats, naming President Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Chuck Schumer, and Nancy Pelosi.

Former President Donald Trump used the gathering in Indianapolis to rally support for his 2024 presidential campaign

Gun control laws vary widely around the country, with different age requirements for different types of guns.

Federal law prohibits handgun ownership by any person under the age 18, but there is no minimum age for the ownership of long guns like rifles or shotguns.

Commentators have criticised the accessibility of firearms, highlighting that kids' safety is a concern when it comes to Kinder Surprise eggs - banned because children could choke on them - but not guns - the leading cause of child deaths.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis also spoke at the event, at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Indiana, but virtually

A recent Gallup poll shows 63 percent of Americans 'dissatisfied' with the nation's gun laws with only 34 percent saying they were 'satisfied.'

Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace warned on Sunday warned her fellow party members 'can no longer be silent' on the issue of gun control.

'Republicans can no longer be silent on this issue, and it's not about the Second Amendment,' Mace said on Fox News Sunday. 'There are plenty of things that we can be doing besides offering prayers in silence.'

America has more guns per capita than any nation in the world and in recent years the numbers have rocketed.

In 2020 alone, US gun sales increased by an astonishing 65 per cent on the previous year.
Outspoken Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza was jailed for a quarter of a century by a Moscow court on Monday, after it found him guilty of treason and other offences.

The sentence was the harshest of its kind since Russia invaded Ukraine, and was swiftly condemned by the UK government which called it 'politically motivated' and called for his immediate release. The UN also called for his release 'without delay.'

Kara-Murza, 41, a father of three and an opposition politician who holds Russian and British passports, spent years speaking out against President Vladimir Putin and lobbied Western governments to impose sanctions on Russia and individual Russians for purported human rights violations.

State prosecutors, who had requested the court jail him for 25 years, had accused him of treason and of discrediting the Russian military after he criticised what Moscow calls its 'special military operation' in Ukraine.

Kara-Murza had denied the charges and defended his right to a political opinion.

The British Foreign Office said in a statement that it had summoned Russia's ambassador, Andrey Kelin, over the conviction.

Outspoken Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza (pictured today) was jailed for a quarter of a century by a Moscow court on Monday, after it found him guilty of treason and other offences

Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza, accused of treason and of discrediting the Russian army, stands inside an enclosure for defendants during a court hearing in Moscow, Russia, April 17

In a CNN interview broadcast hours before he was arrested in April 2022, Kara-Murza had alleged that Russia was being run by a 'regime of murderers.'

He had also used speeches in the United States and across Europe to accuse Moscow of bombing civilian targets in Ukraine, a charge it has rejected.

In his final speech to the court last week, Kara-Murza had compared his own trial, which was held behind closed doors, to Josef Stalin's show trials in the 1930s.

He had declined to ask the court to acquit him, saying he stood by and was proud of everything he had said.

'Criminals are supposed to repent of what they have done. I, on the other hand, am in prison for my political views. I also know that the day will come when the darkness over our country will dissipate,' he had said.

'I know that the day will come when the darkness engulfing our country will clear,' Kara-Murza said in remarks last week that were posted on social networks and Russian opposition media. 'And then our society will open its eyes and shudder when it realizes what terrible crimes were committed in its name.'

In March 2022, he delivered a speech to the Arizona House of Representatives in the US, in which he denounced Russia's military action in Ukraine.

Shortly after sending tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February last year, Russia introduced sweeping wartime censorship laws which have been used to silence dissenting voices across society.

'Discrediting' the army can currently be punished by up to five years in prison, while spreading 'deliberately false information' about it can attract a 15-year jail sentence.

At a time of what they have cast as an existential struggle with the West, pro-government politicians say unity across society is vital and have described Russian citizens questioning Moscow's actions in Ukraine as part of a pro-Western fifth column trying to undermine the military campaign.

As a consequence, dissent in Russia against the war in Ukraine is rare, and those that do publicly oppose it can be severely punished.

Twice, in 2015 and 2017, Kara-Murza fell suddenly ill in what he said were poisonings by the Russian security services, on both occasions falling into a coma before eventually recovering.

Russian authorities denied involvement in the incidents. Kara-Murza's lawyers say that as a result, he suffers from a serious nerve disorder called polyneuropathy.

He was also an associate of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was killed near the Kremlin in 2015.

The UK swiftly condemned the sentence handed down to Kara-Murza.

Kara-Murza (pictured in October, file photo), 41, a father of three and an opposition politician who holds Russian and British passports, spent years speaking out against President Vladimir Putin and lobbied Western governments to impose sanctions on Russia and individual Russians for purported human rights violations

Canadian Ambassador to Russia Alison LeClaire, British Ambassador to Russia Deborah Bronnert and U.S. ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy address the media after a hearing of the case of Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was found guilty of treason and of discrediting the Russian army, in Moscow, Russia, April 17, 2023

'Vladimir Kara-Murza bravely denounced Russia's invasion of Ukraine for what it was  a blatant violation of international law and the UN Charter,' Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a statement to MailOnline.

'Russia's lack of commitment to protecting fundamental human rights, including freedom of expression, is alarming.

'We continue to urge Russia to adhere to its international obligations including Vladimir Kara-Murza's entitlement to proper healthcare,' Mr Cleverly added.

'I pay tribute to Mr Kara-Murza and his family, including his wife Evgenia and her unwavering commitment to raising her husband's cause on the international stage. The UK will continue to support them and to call for Mr Kara-Murza's immediate release.'

The British Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said it had summoned the Russian ambassador over the ruling, and that it would make it clear to him the UK considers the conviction to be 'contrary to Russia's international obligations on human rights, including the right to a fair trial.'

The statement added: 'The UK has already sanctioned the judge that presided over the trial for previous involvement in human rights violations, and will consider further measures for holding to account those involved in Vladimir Kara-Murza's detention and mistreatment.'

Britain's ambassador to Moscow Dame Deborah Bronnert stood outside the courtroom in Moscow where Vladimir Kara-Murza was hit with a draconian sentence for opposing the bloody war against Ukraine.

'Vladimir Kara-Murza was sentenced today to 25 years in prison,' said Dame Deborah, speaking in Russian. 'The verdict came after a hasty closed trial.

'A criminal case was initiated against him for his bold speech against Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The UK government expresses its solidarity with Vladimir Kara-Murza and his wife and calls for his immediate release.'

She was flanked by the ambassadors of the United States Lynne M. Tracy and Canada Alison LeClaire.

UN human rights chief Volker Turk urged Russia to release Kara-Murza immediately.

Turk said the sentence handed down by a Moscow court was 'another blow to the rule of law and civic space in the Russian Federation'.

'Kara-Murza was tried on charges that appear related to the legitimate exercise of his right to freedom of opinion, expression, and association, including his public criticism of the Russian Federation's armed attack against Ukraine,' Turk said.

'No one should be deprived of their liberty for exercising their human rights, and I call on the Russian authorities to release him without delay. As long as he continues to be detained, he must be treated with humanity and respect for his dignity.'

The EU also slammed the 'outrageously harsh' sentence for the Kremlin critic.

Natalia Zviagina, Amnesty International's Russia Director, also hit out at Russia.

'Vladimir Kara-Murza's 25-year prison sentence is yet another chilling example of the systematic repression of civil society which has broadened and accelerated under the Kremlin since Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year.

'The so-called 'crimes' Vladimir Kara-Murza was tried for - speaking out against the invasion and advocacy on behalf of victims of human rights violations - are in fact acts of outstanding bravery. This verdict wrongly conflates human rights activism with high treason and is reminiscent of Stalin-era repression.'

Amnesty International said in a statement: 'Amnesty considers Vladimir Kara-Murza a prisoner of conscience as he has been convicted solely for his political beliefs. He should be immediately and unconditionally released.'

Kara-Murza will join another prominent Putin enemy Alexei Navalny behind bars, who is grappling with a mystery ailment in jail that has seen him lose nearly 18lbs in just over two weeks, his spokesperson said last week.

British ambassador to Russia Deborah Bronnert speaks to the media after the sentence of Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza at the Moscow City Court in Moscow, Russia, on Monday, April 17

The health concerns have prompted fears that the Kremlin dissident is being slowly poisoned as he remains incarcerated in a brutal maximum-security penal colony at Melekhovo, some 115 miles east of Moscow.

Announcing the grave fears over his health, Navalny's spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh, added that he was back in a punishment cell after a few days in regular confinement.

In 2020, Navalny survived an apparent attempt to poison him during a flight in Siberia, with what Western laboratory tests determined was a nerve agent. Russia denies that the state tried to kill him.

He was treated for that poisoning in Germany but voluntarily returned to Russia in 2021, where he was arrested on arrival and jailed in a fraud case he calls politically motivated.
Alec Baldwin has asked for the lawsuit filed by Halyna Hutchins' parents and sister after the cinematorgrapher died on the set of Rust to be thrown out.

The actor said that Hutchins' parents and sister had been distanced from her 'physically, financially and emotionally for years before her death'.

Baldwin said in court documents filed last Thursday that Olga Solovey, Anatolii Androsovych, and Svetlana Zemko only filed the 'misguided' suit to 'obtain compensation' over Hutchins' death in October 2021 on the film set of Rust outside Santa Fe, New Mexico.

'The loss of a daughter and sister is undoubtedly painful in any circumstance.

'Yet Plaintiffswho had been distanced from Halyna physically, financially, and emotionally for years before her deathhave no viable cause of action against Defendants,' the documents state, according to NBC News.

Alec Baldwin (pictured) said that Hutchins' parents and sister had been distanced from her 'physically, financially and emotionally for years before her death'

Baldwin said in court documents filed last Thursday that Olga Solovey, Anatolii Androsovych, and Svetlana Zemko only filed the 'misguided' suit to 'obtain compensation' over Hutchins' death in October 2021 on the film set of Rust outside Santa Fe, New Mexico (pictured left to right: Mother Olga Solovey, Matthew Hutchins, Halyna Hutchins and father Anatolii Androsovych)

The attorney representing Hutchins' parents and sister, Gloria Allred, said in a statement on Saturday that Baldwin calling for the lawsuit to be thrown out showed that he was 'once again attempting to avoid responsibility' (pictured: Halyna Hutchins, right, and her sister, Svetlana Zemko, left)

The suit filed in February named Baldwin, the armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, assistant director David Halls as well as Rust Movie Productions, LLC. as the defendants.

The attorney representing Hutchins' parents and sister, Gloria Allred, reportedly said in a statement on Saturday that Baldwin calling for the lawsuit to be thrown out showed that he was 'once again attempting to avoid responsibility'.

She added that she and Hutchins' family were there to make sure Baldwin was 'held accountable for his actions'.

Halyna Hutchins was shot and killed on October 21, 2021, at the Bonanza Creek Ranch, while Baldwin was rehearsing with a pistol for a scene, also wounding director Joel Souza after the bullet passed through Hutchins.

In January, Baldwin as well as Gutierrez-Reed were charged with involuntary manslaughter and Baldwin has since vowed to fight the charges, calling them a 'terrible miscarriage of justice'.

He and Rust armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed are facing a maximum of 18 months in prison if convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

Prosecutors allege Baldwin pulled the trigger of the gun that killed Hutchins while Gutierrez-Reed failed to ensure it was unloaded.

Director Halls was charged with negligent use of a deadly weapon and has agreed to plead no contest, District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said.

Halyna Hutchins (pictured) was shot and killed on October 21, 2021, at the Bonanza Creek Ranch, while Baldwin was rehearsing with a pistol for a scene, also wounding director Joel Souza after the bullet passed through Hutchins

Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 25, (left) was also charged with involuntary manslaughter. Dave Halls (right), the Assistant Director, has pleaded guilty to the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon

Last year, Baldwin was sued by Hutchins' husband, Matthew Hutchins, and their nine-year-old son, but they reached a settlement in October 2022

Last year, Baldwin was sued by Hutchins' husband, Matthew Hutchins and their nine-year-old son, but they reached a settlement in October 2022.

After settling the lawsuit last year, Mr Hutchins claimed he desired no further 'recriminations'.

But in January, Hutchins' family said that they support Alec Baldwin being charged with manslaughter.

In his court filing on Thursday, Baldwin said he believed the settlement 'should have been the end of the matter.'

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for June 9.
London mayor Sadiq Khan has defended his much-hated Ulez expansion plan by saying it will give men high sperm counts.

Mr Khan is facing a backlash over plans to expand his controversy Ultra Low Emission Zone to include all 32 London boroughs, with mass protests staged in the capital over the weekend.

Rolling out on August 29, the expansion will mean thousands of owners older and more polluting vehicles will have to pay a 12.50 daily charge to travel around the capital.

Defending his scheme, Mr Khan said a new study by Imperial College London showed air pollution can damage testicles and stunt lung growth, as well as increase the risk of miscarriages and dementia.

Calling the report a 'startling reminder that toxic air is a matter of life and death', the London mayor added: 'From evidence of lowering sperm count to impacting foetal development, air quality can even have a major impact pre-birth. Taking action must be an absolute priority.'

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has defended his Ulez expansion plan following a study by experts at Imperial College London, who claimed air pollution can stunt lung growth and lower sperm count among a host of other negative side effects

Mr Khan say 4,000 people a year died from air pollution-related illnesses. Pictured is a stock image of the smog over London in 2015

But his plans to expand the Ulez to the rest of the capital have been met by staunch resistance. Over the weekend protesters marched on London, armed with plaques and setting off smoke grenades

But he has been slammed over the claims, with critics saying they will have 'little to no impact' on reducing air pollution in the capital.

Nick Rogers, City Hall's Tory transport spokesman, told The Sun: 'Sadiq Khan's latest comments are yet another desperate attempt at justifying the devastating impact of his Ulez expansion.

'His plans will have next to no impact on air quality in Outer London but thousands of Londoners will feel the pinch and many businesses and charities face closure.'

Mr Khan has insisted the Ulez project will save lives as 4,000 Londoners die from air pollution each year.

But ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson rubbished the plan, saying the charge has nothing to do with improving air quality. Its all about Khans catastrophic mismanagement of TfL finances.

The former mayor accused his Labour successor of misleading the public about the schemes health benefits.

Mr Johnson said the Ulez was designed to fill a black hole in Transport for Londons finances, not to save lives.

The former prime minister told the Sunday Telegraph: How can it be right that Khan is able to impose this tax on working people who have been given no say, and no opportunity to raise their objections?

This scheme was never intended for outer London. Khan must be stopped.

The latest study, revealed on Monday, was carried out by a team from Imperial's Environment Research Group.

They looked at evidence from more than 35,000 studies on the impact of air pollution over the past decade.

The Ulez, which is aimed at reducing air pollution by charging drivers of older vehicles, covers the area inside the North and South Circular roads. But Mr Khan intends to expand it across all of Greater London on August 29 of this year

The protesters gathered at Trafalgar Square, London, in high-visibility jackets with 'Free our streets' placards and mock registration plates reading 'No to Ulez'

Protesters even painted a van to say "Stop the Ulez expansion" as they demonstrated in London against the expansion of the controversial pollution levy

Former prime minister Boris Johnson leaves his home in London, the day after his appearance before the Commons Privileges committee over his denials of No 10 parties during the pandemic. He has rubbished Mr Khan's Ulez expansion bid

As well as concluding it impacted male sperm count and damaged lung growth, experts also said it affected life later in adulthood, potentially causing chronic illnesses, cancer and strokes.

As part of the research, the team looked at studies from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the UK Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollution (COMEAP), the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), the Health Effects Institute, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

The study found air pollution harmed foetal development during pregnancy and could cause low birth weight.

It also found air pollution could stunt lung growth in children, cause asthma, and affect blood pressure, cognitive abilities and mental health.

Researchers identified particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) - both of which come from vehicle exhausts - as particularly harmful.

There was no evidence to identify a threshold where PM2.5 did no harm, and even those living in the least polluted suburbs of London were affected, they said.

Dr Gary Fuller, air pollution scientist from Imperial's Environmental Research Group and lead author of the new report said: 'There is increasing evidence that impacts of air pollution are hiding in plain sight in the burden of chronic illness that affects so many people.

A new study by Imperial College London showed air pollution can damage testicles and stunt lung growth, as well as increase the risk of miscarriages and dementia

Mr Khan introduced the scheme last summer when it was welcomed by green groups, clean air campaigners and some businesses but opposed by Conservatives and some of the public who claim outer boroughs don't want it.

Drivers of older, polluting cars will have to pay 12.50 a day to use their vehicle across Greater London

'These air pollution impacts affect our quality of life and have a large cost to society through additional health and social care costs, as well our ability to learn, work and contribute to society.

'The latest evidence, reflected in the new WHO guidelines, tell us that current levels of air pollution will be affecting everyone in London, including those living in the least polluted suburbs, and especially those with pre-existing vulnerabilities.'

The rollout of the Ulez has faced staunch criticism.

Five Conservative-led councils - Bexley, Bromley, Harrow, Hillingdon and Surrey - launched legal action over the plans. And on Saturday, hundreds of campaigners marched on the capital in protest over the scheme.

Demonstrators rallied at Trafalgar Square in high-visibility jackets with 'Free our Streets' placards and mock registration plates reading 'No to ULEZ'.

Protesters could also be seen with placards that read 'Get Khan Out' and 'Take Back Democracy'.

It comes after a High Court judgment permitted four London councils to proceed with a legal challenge against London Mayor Sadiq Khan's plans to expand the Ulez to the whole of Greater London.

But Mr Khan's proposals also follows the death of nine-year-old Ella Kissi-Debrah from Lewisham in south-east London, who was the first person to have air pollution listed as a cause of death at an inquest in the UK.

Ella Kissi-Debrah, pictured, died in 2013, after three years of seizures and 27 visits to hospital for treatment to breathing problems

Ella Kissi-Debrah lived just 80ft from a notorious pollution 'hotspot' on the busy south circular road in Lewisham, south-east London - one of the capital's busiest roads, an inquest heard

Rosamund Kissi-Debrah, Ella's mother, pictured outside the High Court in London in May 2019 following the death of her daughter in February 2013

The youngster died in 2013, after three years of seizures and 27 visits to hospital for treatment to breathing problems

At the conclusion of Ella's inquest in 2020, coroner Philip Barlow said she had been exposed to excessive levels of pollution before she died.

The girl's mother, Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah - founder of the Ella Roberta Family Foundation and WHO Advocate for Health and Clean Air - said the latest study into air pollution was 'a reminder of the damage air pollution is doing to everyones health especially children'.

She added: 'Two years on from Ellas inquest and the urgent action that should be taken is still lacking. My hope is once politicians read carefully through more research they will reconsider Ellas Law.

'Politicians must find the political will to deal with this health emergency and I will continue to urge doctors to help in raising awareness with the public.'

But campaign group Together calculated that pollution reduces each Londoners life by an average of 68 hours per year, while life expectancy increases by an average of 73 days a year.

Ben Pile, of Together, said: Rather than causing deaths, at worst, air pollution slightly impedes the rate at which life expectancy increases.
A convicted double-killer who strangled two sex workers in the 1990s and dumped their bodies in remote areas probably murdered several other women, a top detective has claimed.

Alun Kyte, dubbed the 'Midlands Ripper', is currently in jail for killing prostitutes Samo Paull and Tracey Turner.

He will be sentenced next month after he was convicted of raping a primary school-age boy in the 1980s.

Mike Creedon, the retired police officer who helped bring Kyte to justice in 2000, has now claimed that Kyte bragged to inmates that he was a serial killer who had murdered more women.

Alun Kyte (pictured above) was convicted of two murders in 2000, and of raping a child in February his year

A retired police officer who worked on Kyte's case believes he killed more women (Pictured above: Samo Paull, murdered by Kyte in 1993)

Mr Creedon, who later became Chief Constable of the Derbyshire Constabulary, said there were other murders with similarities to those Kyte committed, and that he had a 'very distinctive' method. He added that it was extremely likely Kyte had targeted other women, and that there were a number of cold cases that could be reviewed.

He said: 'I'm absolutely convinced there are more victims out there. He did not suddenly do this and then stop. It doesn't work that way with people who are wired like him.

'There might be cold cases out there with evidence that could be reviewed.

'Twenty years ago, we said he's dangerous. Now, after the latest conviction, there is even more proof about how dangerous he is.'

Kyte, who travelled routinely for work, is feared to have committed crimes in several police force areas. He was caught in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset in December 1997 for the rape of a woman who escaped, running naked into the street, after he threatened her with a knife.

She had been staying at the same hostel as Kyte and was attacked by him one night.

He was later found guilty of this attack and sentenced to eight years imprisonment.

After being picked up by police, they found his DNA matched samples recovered from the body of Ms Turner, who was strangled after meeting Kyte at a service station on the M6 in March 1994.

Her body was found about 50 miles away in Leicestershire.

The brutal killer was also found guilty of the murder of 20-year-old Ms Paull, a single mother who met him in Birmingham's Balsall heath red light district in December 1993.

Her body was found almost 40 miles away in a water-filled ditch in Swinford, Leicestershire.

Detectives believed that Kyte roamed the motorway network looking for victims.

After his conviction in 2000, investigators announced their suspicions that Kyte could have been behind a number of other unsolved murders of sex workers across Britain in the 1980s and 1990s.

Kyte was caught after his DNA was matched with that found on Tracey Turner's body (Pictured: Ms Turner, murdered by Kyte in March 1994)

Unsolved murders he could be in the frame for include Julie Finlay, 23, whose body was found in a lay-by near Skelmersdale, Lancashire, in August 1994, and Dawn Shields, 19, whose body was found at the Mam Tor landmark in the Peak District that same year.

Kyte was said to have detailed knowledge of the area where Ms Finlay had been found, and he had recently moved to a residence near to where Ms Shields was abducted - and her murder was said to have all the hallmarks of a Kyte killing.

A review concluded that there were up to 10 potential victims, but could not find enough evidence to charge him for them.

Mr Creedon explained that Kyte's method was 'very distinctive' in that he targeted sex workers, abducted them, strangled and then stripped them, before dumping them in rural locations.

He said that the convicted killer was a fantasist who enjoyed his notoriety, but there is good reason to believe his in-prison serial killer boast.

Kyte will be sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court in May for the sexual abuse of a young boy years years before the murders were carried out.

The victim was lured to his house with the promise of toys, and was raped on at least two occasions.

He said he was at times strangled until he became unconscious and that Kyte threatened to make his family suffer if he told anyone what happened.

Creedon said the case showed the depth of Kyte's depravity, saying: 'We knew he was violent to women, a rapist and a murderer.

'To be in the category of child sex abuser is a little bit unusual but it paints a wider picture.'

He said it was possible that other abuse victims were out there and that further examination of unsolved murder cases could bring up new links to Kyte.

Kyte was first apprehended due to the ground-breaking investigations of a wider police enquiry called Operation Enigma, launched in 1996 in response to the unsolved murders of more than 200 sex workers and vulnerable women across Britain since 1986.

The influential investigations is believed to be the first step towards the creation of a violent crime database.
A businessman was left shocked after an AI chatbot wrongly branded him a mass murdering IRA terrorist.

Jim Buckley was the chief executive of the maritime industry's Baltic Exchange membership organisation in London when it was bombed by the Provisional IRA in 1992, killing three people and injuring 91.

The 79-year-old decided to test out the ChatGPT after his 14-year-old grandson started using it.

But when he entered his name, occupation and 'IRA bombing' into ChatGPT the results said he was responsible for the attack.

According to a report in the Daily Star, the bot said: 'Jim Buckley was an Irish republican parliamentary and member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) who was responsible for the 1992 bombing of the Baltic Exchange.

Jim Buckley was the chief executive of the maritime industry's Baltic Exchange membership organisation in London when it was bombed by the Provisional IRA in 1992, killing three people and injuring 91

The scene of devastation after the IRA bombing in London in 1992

ChatGPT is a large language model that has been trained on a massive amount of text data, allowing it to generate human-like text in response to a given prompt

'In 1993, he was found guilty on all charges and sentenced to life.'

The bot then continued to claim Mr Buckley was behind the attack when he tried to correct the error, rejecting that he was the chief of the Baltic Exchange.

The businessman warned the error proved the need for caution when relying on AI, saying 'this could be really serious'.

A ChatGPT bot wrongly branded Mr Buckley responsible for the bombing, saying: 'Jim Buckley was an Irish republican parliamentary and member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) who was responsible for the 1992 bombing of the Baltic Exchange'

ChatGPT is a large language model that has been trained on a huge amount of text data, allowing it to generate human-like text in response to a given prompt.

OpenAI said its ChatGPT model has been trained using a machine learning technique called Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF).

This can simulate dialogue, answer follow-up questions, admit mistakes, challenge incorrect premises and reject inappropriate requests.
Eleven guests have collapsed and died of heatstroke in 100F (38C) heat at a Government-sponsored award ceremony in India.

The event, which was held in Maharashtra, India, saw hundreds of thousands of people packed into an open field to congratulate social activist Dattatreya Narayan Dharmadhikari.

It was attended by top politicians, including India's Home Minister Amit Shah and leaders from the state's governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

But the Government was accused of 'negligence' after eleven people died from heat stroke and hundreds of others complained of dehydration and high blood pressure.

It comes after experts warned people to stay out of the sun during peak heat hours of 11am to 4pm during April, which is considered to be one of India's hottest months.

The event (pictured), which was held in Maharashtra, India, saw hundreds of thousands of people packed into an open field to congratulate social activist Dattatreya Narayan Dharmadhikari

The Government was accused of 'negligence' after eleven people died from heat stroke and hundreds of others complained of dehydration and high blood pressure

Former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said the event had 'not been planned properly' and called for an investigation.

Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe Patil also accused Maharashtra's state Government of 'negligence' and said people had died because the event was held in April.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde the incident 'unexpected and painful' and announced 4,913 as compensation to the families of each of the deceased.

He also said the Government would provide free treatment to those who fell ill during the event.
The alleged killer of a paramedic who was stabbed while he sat in his ambulance outside a McDonald's had previously spent time being treated at a mental health facility.

Daily Mail Australia can reveal Jordan Fineanganofo, 21, was sent to Macarthur Youth Community Mental Health Facility at Campbelltown, in Sydney's south-west, in August 2021.

Police allege Fineanganofo pulled up alongside the ambulance early on Friday morning, pulled the rear doors of the vehicle open and unleashed his 'frenzied' and 'unprovoked' attack.

His alleged victim, Steven Tougher, 29, was almost at the end of his shift as he sat in the back during a meal break at the fast food restaurant car park on Queen Street in Campbelltown about 5.30am.

The young father suffered 50 stab wounds and was raced to Liverpool Hospital in a critical condition but later died.

Fineanganofo has been arrested and charged with murder.

Steven Tougher (pictured) was stabbed to death on Friday as he sat in the back of his ambulance. He was 29

Police allege Mr Tougher was 'completely defenceless' and wedged between Fineanganofo's car and the ambulance during the alleged attack.

Onlookers tried unsuccessfully to intervene and talk the alleged stabber down. He was eventually tasered by police.

Fineanganofo did not appear before Parramatta Bail Court on Saturday, but his lawyer Javid Faiz told the court his client would not apply for release.

Court documents stated Fineanganofo was diagnosed with psychosis in 2021, but was not medicated.

Mr Faiz said outside court that his client was aware of the serious nature of the alleged crime, despite his serious mental health issues.

His matter will be mentioned in court again on June 28.

Paramedic Steven Tougher and his wife Madison tied the knot about five weeks before he died

The scene where Steven Tougher, 29, was allegedly stabbed 50 times in a McDonald's car park on Queen Street in Campbelltown, western Sydney

Mr Tougher's wife Madison, his parents Jillian and Jeff, and his sister Jess issued an emotional statement on Saturday afternoon.

'Steven's dedication to helping others shone brightest during his work as a NSW Ambulance paramedic and previously as a nurse,' the family said.

'But it wasn't just his medical expertise that made him exceptional - Steven's compassion touched the lives of so many people.

'He had a way of calming fears, offering words of solace, and showing kindness in the midst of chaotic or traumatic events.'

The family thanked the help and support they received from the ambulance service and members of the community.

A GoFundMe campaign was set up to support Mr Tougher's pregnant widow, Madison, who he only married about a month ago. The newlyweds were expecting their second child in a matter of weeks.

More than 6,000 people donated about $400,000 within the first three days - many of whom either worked with Mr Tougher, or had been in his care.

One woman, Amy, said he was one of the attending paramedics who saved her partner's life - just weeks before the alleged stabbing.

'Whilst waiting for a hospital bed, Steven sat with us and shared pictures of his recent wedding, talked about his love for his little one and excitement about his wife's pregnancy,' she wrote.

Steven Tougher is pictured with his wife, Madison who is pregnant with their second child

'From our family to his, sending our deepest condolences may he RIP. He was an angel for our family.'

Another patient, Yvonne, said Mr Tougher had recently raced her to hospital in Wollongong: 'I cannot imagine the heartache his family are going through  Fly high buddy.'

A former colleague, Jenna, said she was 'blessed' to work alongside the young dad.

'You loved talking about your wife, son and unborn child. You were always so scared to bring some bug or infection home to them,' she wrote.

'The way your eyes lit up every time you spoke about Madison - it was just beautiful.'

A woman named Tanika studied at Charles Sturt University with Mr Tougher, and said he helped her achieve her goals.

'You deserved so much more than this,' she wrote.

Some remembered his big smile and upbeat energy while working with him in the St John's cadets as teenagers, while others who worked with him at NSW Ambulance said he was a 'beautiful, caring' person.

Another woman named Amanda said she and her husband are both paramedics, and had sat in the same McDonald's car park in Campbelltown 'many times'.

'I am devastated that this has happened and my heart hurts for you Madison, your children, and for Steven's whole family. Steven your service and sacrifice will never be forgotten,' she wrote.
This is the mother-of-seven whose sons brought misery to a seaside town for two decades.

Shameless Jainine Scamp, 51, refused to apologise over sons Tyler and Shamen Williams 20-year reign of terror which began when they became two of the youngest people in Britain to receive Asbos.

Dressed in a grey hooded top with matching sweatpants and with a towel on her head, Scamp declined to discuss her sons campaign of chaos.

She was angry after MailOnline tracked her down to her first floor council flat just half a mile from the towns famous harbour.

Scamp - who lives with her fiancee - said: I dont want to say anything about it. I dont want to talk to you.

Jainine Scamp (pictured above) refused to apologise over sons Tyler and Shamen Williams 20-year reign of terror

Scamp declined to discuss her sons campaign of chaos and was angry after MailOnline tracked her down to her first floor council flat

This week Tyler and Shamen's scowling mugshots were released again when the pair each received 13-year sentences for a string of violent attacks involving machetes which took place in just one night in 2021

Tyler Williams and Shamen Williams were just baby-faced 13 and 10-year-olds when Kent Police took their first mugshots and 'named and shamed' them for their unruly behaviour

After briefly appearing on the communal walkway at the block the tattooed mother scurried back inside, closing the door behind her.

Tyler and Shamen were aged just 13 and 10 when they first gained notoriety in 2003 after police named and shamed the baby-faced tearaways for generating their own crimewave.

This week their scowling mugshots were released again when the pair each received 13-year sentences for a string of violent attacks involving machetes which took place in just one night in 2021 and was carried out purely 'for sport'.

The two brothers, along with their younger sibling Brandon, embarked on an hour-long violent spree 'for sport or fun' on March 4, 2021, targeting strangers in the street with a machete in Kent.

Tyler, now 33, and Shamen, 30, slashed and stabbed victims at random in the unprovoked assaults which left three men and a woman injured.

One victim, a woman parked in her car near a shop in Gillingham, Kent, at about 9.40pm, was assaulted by Shamen, suffering injuries to her face and head, while her vehicle was damaged by Tyler.

He also brandished a machete at a man and chased him down the street.

Then, at around 10.55pm on Institute Road, Chatham, three men were attacked by Shamen with a machete, with one needing treatment in a London hospital for multiple injuries to his face, shoulder and back, while another was taken to a local hospital.

Although Tyler was unarmed on this occasion and did not inflict any of the wounds himself, he was said to have encouraged Shamen, urging: 'Go on, do him.'

Tyler, of Tonbridge Road, Maidstone, was subsequently convicted of two offences of affray, possessing a bladed article, criminal damage, wounding with intent, and possessing cocaine with intent to supply.

Scamp - who lives with her fiancee - said: I dont want to say anything about it. I dont want to talk to you

The mother-of-seven, whose sons brought misery to Folkestone, Kent, a seaside town for two decades

Younger sibling Brandon, 24, was jailed for 18 months for his involvement in the two incidents at another hearing in December last year

Shamen, of Tupman Close, Rochester, Kent, was convicted of two offences of affray, two of possessing a bladed article, assault causing actual bodily harm, criminal damage, wounding with intent and attempted wounding with intent.

Their previous offending has included attacking victims with their Pitbull crossbreed dogs as well as a clawhammer.

But the brothers' reign of terror stretches right back to 2003, when Tyler and Shamen, then baby-faced 13 and ten-year-olds, were named and shamed by Kent Police after becoming some of the youngest recipients of Asbos (anti-social behaviour orders)  for generating their own crimewave in Kent.

Younger brother Brandon, 24, was jailed for 18 months for his role in the assaults but is already back on the streets due to time spent on remand.

Labour Home Secretary David Blunkett introduced ASBOs in 1998 in an attempted crackdown on youth disorder.

They have since been replaced in England, Wales and Northern Ireland by civil injunctions and criminal behaviour orders (CBOs).
This is the dramatic moment police seized more than 350million worth of cocaine found floating in the Mediterranean.

The two ton haul was spotted by a surveillance plane as it flew over the sea between Italy and Greece looking for migrant boats.

Hidden inside more than 70 waterproof packages and tied together with rope and floatation devices the drugs also had a tracking device attached so they could be easily found.

The drugs were found in an area between Messina and Catania off the eastern coast of Sicily but police are refusing to be more specific as they continue searching for other packages.

Officials said it was one of the largest hauls of cocaine ever found in Italy and had probably been dropped at sea by a cargo ship and was due to have been picked up by local criminal gangs.

The two ton haul was spotted by a surveillance plane as it flew over the sea between Italy and Greece looking for migrant boats

The packages, made up of around 1,600 bricks of drugs, and sporting a tracking device, were spotted by a navy surveillance plane, police said.

They were 'probably left at sea by one of the cargo ships frequenting that stretch of coastline, to be subsequently recovered and transported to the mainland,' they said.

The Mafia organises drug importation into Sicily and onwards through Italy and the rest of Europe but police are also investigating the possibility it may have been bound for the wealthy and powerful 'Ndrangheta organised crime group.

Although Sicily is home to the Cosa Nostra mafia immortalised in the Godfather films, the country's leading organised crime group is the 'Ndrangheta.

Based on the Italian mainland in the southern Calabria region they have direct links to the cocaine producing cartels in Columbia and the rest of South America.

The group controls the bulk of cocaine flowing into Europe.

The packages, made up of around 1,600 bricks of drugs, and sporting a tracking device, were spotted by a navy surveillance plane, police said

An Italian police source told MailOnline: 'This is one of the biggest seizures of cocaine on our national territory and has a value of more than 400 million Euros.

'The drugs were packed into waterproof packets and all tied together with rope and held securely together,' they said. Therefore, they noted it would have been 'difficult for the consignment to have split up.

'There was a tracking device attached which was luminous as well so that it could easily be spotted in the dark. Experts are examine this device to see what it can reveal about the origins but we are working on the theory it was thrown overboard from a cargo vessel to be picked up later.'

The 'peculiar packaging methods and the presence of a luminous device to allow tracking' suggest the haul was dumped at sea by a cargo ship in order for it to be recovered later, a statement the police added.
Rishi Sunak has warned Britain of the need to end its 'anti-maths' culture in a speech on Monday.

During a talk at a London academy, Mr Sunak warned that poor attainment in the subject has become 'socially acceptable'.

Despite Mr Sunak's fears, there are a number of online tools to help maths students with exam material and problem-solving.

Catering for all ages from beginners right the way through to Further Maths and A-level students, mathematical help is on hand.

Following the Prime Minister's address, here are the most popular online maths tools, to help you solve the trickiest number puzzles.

Rishi Sunak has warned Britain of the need to end its 'anti-maths' culture, with potential plans to introduce a maths qualification for students aged between 16 and 18

White Rose

With over 66,000 followers on their Twitter account, the resources provided by White Rose for parents, teachers and students have proved immensely popular.

Their website states: 'White Rose Maths brings together a team of highly experienced and passionate maths teaching experts to train, guide, help and support all those who want to make change happen.

'We offer you in-depth training programmes, a vast bank of clear, practical resources (many of them free of charge), and the bespoke support you want and need to keep raising the bar. Well not only make your life a whole lot simpler, well help you change the future for every learner.'

Maths Genie

Maths Genie offers a host of online learning resources, with past papers available for GCSE and A-level students, from a number of different exam boards, including EdExcel, AQA and OCR.

All of their featured past papers come with model solutions, so that students can see the working out process behind certain formulae.

Corbett

Corbettmaths is another online learning tool to feature a wealth of mathematical information for students.

This website is ideal for younger students, those taking their GCSE maths exams, and anyone taking the Further Maths qualification.

With a plethora of material, featuring videos, practice questions and answers, Corbettmaths caters to maths students of all ages. Corbett also offers ready-made GCSE revision cards for both Foundation and Higher tiers, that are available to purchase on their website.

Dr Frost

Dr Jamie Frost of Tiffin School, Kingston Upon Thames is one of the more recognisable names on this list.

His website - which had more than million page views a day when schools shut during the pandemic and is funded by the Mayor of London's office - has had more than seven million teaching resource downloads.

With over 17,000 subscribers, his YouTube channel features Dr. Frost illustrating various different mathematical principles on paper, enabling students to easily follow Frost's explanation and thought process.

After receiving the Covid Hero Award in 2020 for his efforts to help students with their maths during the pandemic, Mr Frost, who was the only British finalist in the competition, said: 'I feel absolutely fantastic.

'It's such an honour to receive this award and I'm just so happy that so many students have been able to benefit from my site, and that's what I want really.'

Dr Jamie Frost (pictured above) runs a YouTube channel which has over 17,000 subscribers

Twinkl

Founded in 2010 by Jonathan Seaton, Twinkl gives students of all ages access to a number of subjects beyond mathematics, including science, languages and geography.

According to his bio on the University of Leeds website, where he works as an ambassador, Mr Seaton 'has a love for education and believes that Twinkl exists to provide high-quality teaching resources that support the profession.

'The site, www.twinkl.co.uk, has grown rapidly since 2010 and now serves hundreds of thousands of educators in over 200 countries and regions worldwide.

'Jon is particularly interested in business strategy, the social and ethical dimensions of business and brand lovemarks. Jon believes passionately in the principle of business making a lasting difference to those it serves, so Twinkls mission is to help those who teach.'

Mr Sunak said teenagers will be made to study maths in 'some form' until 18 and said it must be 'additional to other subjects, not instead of them'.

'Let me be absolutely clear: I am not saying that the answer is A-Level maths for everyone, but we do need to work out the maths our young people should study,' he said.

'When I first announced this in January, I saw some of the reaction to it and I thought that actually spoke to this anti-maths mindset that we've got to challenge a little bit.'

Mr Sunak said the 'big long term reform' is 'not going to happen overnight'.
A British holidaymaker died of alcohol poisoning after being given 22 shots in just 90 minutes on a visit to a Polish strip club, reports claim.

The victim, named only as 36-year-old Mark C. due to local privacy laws, was already drunk when he arrived with a pal at the Wild Night club in Krakow.

But despite trying to refuse drinks, investigators said he was plied with nearly two dozen powerful shots before he collapsed and later died.

After he collapsed, staff at the club robbed him of PLN 2,200 (420) in cash, according to the Polish authorities.

MailOnline has contacted the Foreign Office for comment.

Picture shows police with one of the suspects, undated. Police raided night clubs and arrested suspects during an investigation of an organised criminal group extorting money from customers of nightclubs after a British man died of alcohol poisoning

Picture shows police with one of the suspects, undated

In recent days, Polish cops have arrested seven people over the fatality, which happened in 2017.

Holidaymaker Mark was in Poland as a tourist with his pal, who has not been named, and the pair were allegedly lured into the club by an offer of free entry.

Poland's National Prosecutor's Office says that he had a lethal blood-alcohol content of at least 4 per mille at the time of his death.

Polish media said that Mark had died before local police declared that they had charged some 58 people with being part of an organised crime group amid a raid on the Wild Night club, among others.

Footage released by Polish police showed how officers stormed the club, apprehending suspects and confiscating computers, cash and phones.

The Polish Central Police Investigation Bureau (CBSP) said in a statement that they have filed over 700 criminal charges against the group.

They said the clubs ran a racket where they systematically got punters drunk before robbing them.

Some were even persuaded to take out loans to cover 'debts' run up by the fraudsters.

Authorities this week said they had finally arrested the group who forced Mark to drink himself to death.

'One of the leads investigated by the investigators in the case concerns the victim who was driven to a state of intoxication, causing loss of consciousness, and then death as a result of acute alcohol poisoning,' their statement read.

They also said: 'The man was not given medical assistance during the incident. Provisional arrests were made against those suspected of this act.'

The investigators also said that 'CBSP police officers detained another seven people suspected of robberies and fraud on customers of go-go-clubs.

'There are already 58 suspects in the case.'

A GV of the building in Krakow's Old Town that used to host the fraudulent Wild Nights club

Polish police are seen arresting one suspect in this bodycam footage

Picture shows the monitoring centre in one of the strip clubs, undated

The statement also said: 'The officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation of the Police are conducting an investigation into an organised criminal group extorting money from customers of go-go nightclubs.

'According to the findings of the investigators, the activities of the group were aimed at committing crimes to the detriment of club customers by leading them to a state of deprivation of awareness and perception [...].

'The perpetrators, taking advantage of the mental and physical condition of the victims, made payment transactions using payment cards or other financial instruments for goods and services allegedly offered in the club.

'In some cases, through electronic banking, on devices owned by customers, loans were also allowed to be taken or deposits or savings accounts were closed, and the funds accumulated there were transferred to the accounts of companies operating clubs.'

The statement continued: 'To the persons detained during the recent activities, the Prosecutor presented allegations of participation in an organised crime group, committing robberies and fraud to the detriment of clients of clubs from Krakow and Warsaw, among other charges. They include e.g. leading or participating in an organized criminal group.

'In the case, 31 arrests were also applied, property sureties in the amount of almost PLN 1.6 million [GBP 305,000] and property with a total value of over PLN 6.8 million [GBP 1.3] was secured,' the statement concluded.

The investigation is ongoing.
Are YOU the victim of 'food poisoning' at the Rixos Sungate resort in Turkey?

*** Are YOU the victim of 'food poisoning' at the Rixos Sungate resort in Turkey? Email eleanor.blake@mailonline.co.uk***

*** Are YOU the victim of 'food poisoning' at the Rixos Sungate resort in Turkey? Email eleanor.blake@mailonline.co.uk***

One 14-year-old girl was hospitalised for three days after getting gastroenteritis

British families have described the misery they endured after an outbreak of suspected food poisoning at a five-star Tui hotel in Turkey left as many as 25 with severe bouts of diarrhoea, vomiting and fever.

More than two dozen holidaymakers have become ill at the Rixos Sungate resort in recent days, with at least one person - a 14-year-old schoolgirl - rushed to hospital with serious sickness.

Her furious family hit out at the hotel after staff apparently tried to blame the weather for the illness. Another holidaymaker said he had been forced to stay in bed for 10 days at the resort where families pay up to 4,000 for package holidays with TUI.

Those caught in the chaos say it has affected everyone from a woman in her 60s to a 22-month-old baby.

Rebecca Wright, pictured here with husband David Bracewell, says her 14-year-old stepdaughter was hospitalised after getting ill at the resort

Liam Garnett, pictured, said he was struck down with illness and left bed-bound for 10 days

Among those struck down with the illness is the Bracewell family from Lancashire, whose 14-year-old daughter Charlie has ended up in hospital for three days with gastroenteritis.

Rebecca Wright, her husband David Bracewell and children Charlie, Oliver, ten, and Indie, three, now face a 3,000 hospital bill.

READ MORE HERE: Up to 25 British holidaymakers are struck down by food poisoning at five star TUI resort in Turkey Advertisement

Ms Wright told the Sun that after complaining to TUI she got a message saying the hotel had told them it may have been caused not by food poisoning, but by 'weather changes, especially day and night temperature differences, seasonal factors, especially allergic reactions'.

The 37-year-old branded the response 'laughable and unhelpful', telling the outlet: 'I've been absolutely exhausted and felt so ill.

'There are more people coming down with it every day. It's laughable they suggested it was the weather.

'I am so worried about being able to fly home. I went out of my room for two hours and had to go back to bed feeling exhausted.

'We are all petrified of the buffet. We all think it's food or drink related. Literally, since my step daughter got ill we have lived off bananas.'

Another tourist, Liam Garnett, from Manchester, told the publication he had had a 'nightmare' holiday after getting ill along with his children Jude, six, and Eleanora, four.

The 37-year-old said he was ill for 10 days and was so unwell he couldn't leave his bed, adding: 'I'm gutted. I've never been so poorly.'

It is claimed people at the hotel have set up a WhatsApp group, with one woman going out to do shopping for others, and guests say they are worried about eating from the buffet or drinking the water.

A number of families have been struck down with diarrhoea, vomiting and fever. Pictured: Medication taken by the families to help with their symptoms

The Rixos Sungate (pictured) is a five-star rated resort in Turkey where families spend as much as 4,000 on TUI package holidays

A spokesperson for TUI told MailOnline: 'We are concerned to hear of a small number cases at Rixos Sungate in Turkey, as health and safety of our customers is our highest priority.

'Our team at resort are in close contact with our guests and offering support where necessary.

'Our health and safety team are investigating in close collaboration with the hotel and we will remain in frequent contact with our guests.

'We'd like to reassure all customers that we regularly audit all of our hotels in respect to health and safety, including hygiene.'

On its website TUI classes the Rixos Sungate hotel as a 'Platinum' resort, meaning it is consistently scored highly by customers and gives it a five-star rating.

One of its selling points is that it is 'tailored just for families' - it comes with a waterpark attached and a kids club.

TUI's website claims people staying at the hotel will have an English-speaking rep visiting the hotel during their stay, and they can get information and support on its app 24 hours a day.

Accor, which owns Rixos hotels, has been contacted for comment.

***Are YOU the victim of 'food poisoning' at the Rixos Sungate resort in Turkey? Email eleanor.blake@mailonline.co.uk***
Move was welcomed by many after teens engaged in 'unacceptable behavior'

Chick-fil-A has been praised by customers for bringing in a controversial new rule to help deal with 'rowdy' customers'.

A branch of the chain in Royersford, Pennsylvania, announced a ban on under 16s attending the restaurant without adult supervision.

Staff there said that while they 'love being a community restaurant', they were left with no choice but to take a stand as children and teens regularly engaged in 'unacceptable behaviors'.

These included trashing the restaurant, disrespecting employees and unsafe activities like walking through the Drive Thru.

The move was in response to parents allegedly leaving their kids at the Urban Air activity center, where the fast food restaurant is based, for several hours, with some online accusing them of using it as 'daycare'.

A branch of Chick-fil-A in Royersford, Pennsylvania, announced a ban on under 16s attending the restaurant without adult supervision

The major change sparked huge reaction from local people, with many welcoming the decision as they themselves struggle with anti-social behavior at the chain.

The Royersford Chick-fil-A said on its Facebook page last Wednesday: 'If not accompanied by an adult, they may come in to purchase food, but must take it to go.

'To those unaccompanied children and teens that have visited us and acted appropriately, we thank you. But we also apologize.

'Due to the numerous extreme behaviors of many of your peers, we must make a blanket rule covering anyone under the age of 16.'

'We contemplated long and hard before posting this, but decided it was time.'

The statement read: 'While we love being a community restaurant and serving guests of all ages, some issues need to be addressed.

'When groups of unaccompanied children and teens visit our restaurant, the following unacceptable behaviors often occur:

'Volume. They are loud and their conversation often contains a lot of explicit language.'

As a 'family friendly restaurant', it said, such conversations would not be tolerated at the chain.

The statement continued: 'Mistreatment of property. Food and trash are often thrown around and left on the tables, chairs, and on the floor.

'Tables and restrooms are vandalized. Decorations are stolen.'

The chain noted that such activities usually occurred on Saturdays and days when kids were absent from school.

The chain continued with its list of issues, saying: 'Employees are laughed at, made fun of and treated rudely.'

Many shared their own experiences of young people displaying poor behavior at the chain.

Customer Joe Tuturice revealed: 'I was there on Monday and what a disaster! I felt bad for the staff. Kudos to you for taking a stance.

'Parents (I am one myself) need to be made aware of what's going on when they drop kids off at Urban Air! Minors need to be accompanied by a parent - no drop and go!

'Urban air is a drop off point and then they run around the entire shopping center going in and out of stores and running through parking lots.'

And mom Bethany Spears said: 'This is sad for those teens who are polite, but I agree you have to do this.

'My family and I were having dinner there a few weeks ago, and a group of teens did exactly what you described. Thank you for creating a safe, family friendly atmosphere.'

But others questioned the move, which some saw as unfairly punished well-behaved teens, while others questioned whether it was in line with the company's Christian values.

Jessica Coniglia commented: 'As a company that is guided by Christian values, I have to wonder if this action is what Christ would have wanted? Where in the Bible does it say 'Thou shall turn away youth who clearly need guidance'?'

But others pushed back saying the decision was not about religion and politics.

'It is about youth who believe they are entitled and no rules apply to them. Simple respect and discipline need to be taught from an early age. They are not too young to be taught this. It is simple respect for others,' said Julie Ann Walters.

Many expressed sympathy for the restaurant's staff, with Jeff Doyle responding that it was 'a shame that your employee have to put up with that'.
The Russian defence ministry has made an extraordinary and unproven claim that it has killed seven 'giant British fighters' in Ukraine.

The ministry's TV channel showed footage of trench combat said to be in Ukraine, and testimony from Russian servicemen, but no hard evidence of the claims.

The alleged British 'mercenaries' were 'twice the size' of Vladimir Putin's fighters.

'In a battle for a stronghold, Russian servicemen destroyed a group of British mercenaries,' claimed Zvezda channel. 'A six-man assault team from the Central Military District (CMD) stormed an enemy stronghold.'

A fighter whose face is largely covered said: 'It was unexpected for them.

The Russian defence ministry has made an extraordinary and unproven claim that it has killed seven 'giant British fighters' in Ukraine. Pictured: A video released by the ministry

The alleged British 'mercenaries' were 'twice the size' of Vladimir Putin's fighters, according to Russian fighters seen speaking in the video released by Russia's Ministry of Defence

'We appeared from the direction they didn't expect. We were crawling against their positions along the minefield. We threw grenades at them.

He claimed: 'All of them had British chevrons. They were taller and larger than us. One of the guys was twice my size.

'Nearly all of them, all seven of them, were really big.'

The Russians portrayed themselves as heroes for using their limited stock of ammunition to kill larger, more heavily armed foes.

However, no direct evidence was initially shown of the allegedly slain British fighters.

The channel claimed that using drones the Russian reconnaissance personnel uncovered the location of Ukrainian fortified positions in a forested area.

After that, they boast that soldiers of the assault squad, under fire cover of tanks, crossed more than 500 yards of mined terrain and crawled up to the positions of the enemy, where a fierce battle broke out.

Footage captured by a drone showed the enemy forces exchanging fire, and explosions erupting from the trenches where grenades were thrown.

The intense combat sees bullets hitting the banks of the trench and narrowly missing the defending Ukrainian troops.

Pictured: An aerial view of the trench battle in which Russia claimed seven British soldiers were involved. An explosion is seen coming from a trench where a grenade was thrown

Pictured: An aerial view of the trench battle in which Russia claimed British soldiers were involved. Two Russian soldiers are seen crawling along the ground near the trench

The Russians (pictured) portrayed themselves as heroes for using their limited stock of ammunition to kill larger, more heavily armed foes

Russian soldiers are shown crawling towards the trench while a Ukrainian soldier holds his position, before he is eventually taken down by a blast.

The Russian version of events has been disputed, with usually pro-Kremlin Ukrainian blogger Anatoliy Shariy saying the Russian video shows 'no mercenaries'.

'There were ordinary fighters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and it is strange to imagine that all seven servicemen on the site were British,' he said, challenging Russia to release proof of their claims.

'If they were British - show their documents,' he demanded. 'Russia claimed they were British based on them being "healthy" and "taller than us, bigger than us". The chevrons supposedly on their uniforms were not shown.

Mocking the claim, Shariy said: 'I think if they are healthy, then they are Dutch, not British. Or Vikings and Scythians.'

Russia has often made the claim that Western fighters including regular forces are operating in Ukraine as it parrots the version of the war that Putin's forces are now engaged against the massed ranks of NATO.

This helps officials in Moscow in their efforts to frame Putin's invasion as an existential fight for Russia against the west.

Kyiv and its western allies say the war is nothing but an imperialistic land grab, and an attempt to eradicate a sovereign country.

Last week, classified US intelligence documents which emerged in a leak online appeared to show that 50 British special forces are operating in Ukraine.

Britain's Ministry of Defence denied the reports, and warned against taking allegations contained in the reported leak of classified information at 'face value'.

Pictured: An explosion is seen amid the trench battle in drone footage released by Russia

Pictured: Ukrainian servicemen return from heavy fighting amid Russia?s attack on Ukraine, close to Bakhmut, Ukraine, April 15

Posting on Twitter, the MoD said: 'The widely reported leak of alleged classified US information has demonstrated a serious level of inaccuracy.'

The documents did not say in what capacity British special forces are supposedly operating in Ukraine.

Former head of the Royal Marines, Lt. Gen. Robert Magowan, confirmed in December that British commandos had already deployed twice to Ukraine in 2022 - first in January to evacuate the British Embassy in Kyiv, and again in April 'to provide protection to critical personnel'.

Lt Gen Magowan said the personnel had served in Ukraine 'with a high level of political and military risk'.
A schoolgirl's chance encounter with a musclebound doorman started the terrible chain of events playing out in ITV's The Hunt for Raoul Moat.

Samantha Stobbart was just 15 when she first met the head bouncer at Newcastle's Liquid & Envy club.

A year later she was 16 and the pair began a relationship together, he was almost twice her age at 31.

In 2010 her half-sister Claire Burdis gave a chilling insight into how the romance had begin.

She said at the time: ' Girls fancied anyone who did the doors at the pubs and clubs.

'All the girls like blokes with fit bodies who can get them and their mates into a club.

'He was always very polite and you could tell he looked after himself. He wore skin-tight jeans and T-shirts that showed off how muscular he was. He had these huge arms from working out daily.'

Jealous and controlling: Raoul Moat was possessive of his much younger girlfriend, Samantha Stobbart, after he relentlessly pursued her when she was just 15

Ms Stobbart (pictured) was left critically injured after she was shot in the stomach by Moat and only survived because her arm had partially blocked the shot

Ms Stobbart left school at 16 and began an apprenticeship at a hairdressers as she dated Moat.

He managed to ingratiate himself so well into her family they would have regular Monday night meals all together at a Chinese restaurant.

By now the relationship had got so serious Ms Stobbart had moved in Moat's flat in Kenton.

Bizarrely Moat would often claim he would tip off police about crimes happening.

But Ms Stobbart was slowly being isolated by him, cut off from most of her friends.

She fell pregnant with their baby Chanel and it had appeared Moat was going to try and change.

Moat managed to ingratiate himself so well into her family they would have regular Monday night meals all together at a Chinese restaurant.

Ex-girlfriend Samantha Stobbart (pictured), then 22, was hospitalised in the shooting

Then he was jailed for 18 weeks for assaulting a nine-year-old, which gave Ms Stobbart a chance to be free of his clutches.

As he served behind bars between February and July 2010 she ended the relationship, telling him she was dating a police officer to try scare him off.

Moat was insane with jealousy and combined this with a long grudge he held against the police.

After leaving prison he went to Ms Stobbart's house and shot dead her new lover Chris Brown, who was not a police officer but a karate instructor.

He also shot Ms Stobbart and she had to be rushed to hospital for emergency surgery.

She was declared to no longer be in a critical condition following the attack and left the hospital on July 17.

That same day she issued a direct appeal to Moat, telling him: 'Please give yourself up. If you still loved me and our baby you would not be doing this.'

Less than 24 hours after shooting Ms Stobbart and Mr Brown, the gunman crept up on unarmed PC David Rathband as he sat in his patrol car by a roundabout in Newcastle.

Sally Messham playing Samantha Stobbart in the ITV dramatisation, The Hunt For Raoul Moat

He shot the father-of-two twice in the face. In March 2009 PC Rathband had interviewed Moat under caution in the back of his police car for driving a van that was uninsured to carry scrap metal.

After the shooting spree, Moat went on the run for a week, assisted by two accomplices. Northumbria Police organised a mass manhunt which included 160 armed officers.

Moat was later located by a riverbank but after a six-hour standoff with the police, he shot himself. He was rushed to Newcastle General Hospital and was pronounced dead by doctors.

Samantha said in 2010: 'There was nothing I could do against a madman with a gun.

'I had to get back to the house to make sure my baby daughter Chanel was safe.

'I saw the sparks flying off Raoul's gun as he shot me.

'Then I was on the floor with blood pumping out everywhere.'

Samantha added that 'there was no emotion' in Moat's eyes as he carried out the attack.

She told the Daily Mirror in 2012: 'Without my daughter, I wouldn't have lasted this long.

'I have never had counselling. I don't want to talk about it  it just brings it all back. The whole thing made me realise how quickly things can go wrong in just a few seconds.

'And if you think like that, the world is a pretty scary place.'
A man accused of stabbing a nine-year-old girl to death while she played outside her house with her little sister has been declared unfit to stand trial.

Deividas Skebas allegedly attacked Lilia Valutyte in Fountain Lane, Boston, Lincolnshire, on July 28 last year.

At a hearing at Lincoln Crown Court, Judge Simon Hirst said the 23-year-old is not fit to enter a plea or stand trial.

Instead, a trial of the facts, to be heard at the same court, has been scheduled for July 10.

Lilia had been was playing with a hula hoop before she was found with a stab wound in Fountain Lane at 6.20pm and could not be saved by medics.

Deividas Skebas has been declared unfit to stand trial for the murder of Lilia Valutyte

Nine-year-old Lillia was stabbed in the street while she played with her sister last year

Lilia Valutyte's coffin being carried into St Botolph's Church in Boston for her funeral last year

Skebas was not at today's hearing which arranged that the proceedings would be a trial of the facts.

In these instances, the prosecution sets out the case in front of a jury but the defendant does not have to play a part in proceedings or be present in court.

Police launched a manhunt for her killer and armed officers arrested Skebas two days later before charging him with murder.

Following her death, her devastated mum Lina Savicke, 35, and her stepfather, Aurelijus Savickas, 32, paid tribute to Lilia.

They also revealed they are planning to build a statue of her in Boston town centre as a lasting tribute to their daughter.

Lina said: 'Lilia was grown in that street, every week she spent down there playing, and it happened next to the window.

'The memorial is a way for her to still be there, and we're now fundraising to get it.

'It's hard to know what to say. She was just a normal child, one day she's happy and another she isn't, one day she wants to eat pancakes and another she doesn't - the usual things.

Lilia had been discovered with a stab wound and could not be saved despite the efforts of paramedics

Skebas will not enter a plea for the alleged crime and will not play a part in proceedings

Lilia's family have said they wish to build a statue of her in Boston town centre

'She loved to dance, travel and try new things, and annoy her sister. She wanted to go to Italy, so we will probably go anyway next year.

'There are so many things we could say, but we are not going to talk a lot about who she was and share those stories from our home; they are ours and we want to keep them for us.

'You find yourself looking for her everywhere. We had four corners and now one is gone.'

Aurelijus added: 'She was cheeky; quiet in one way and then other ways she wasn't. She always tried to make fun.'
As many as one hundred Brits are planning to sue US cosmetic companies after developing mesothelioma, a cancer most often caused by exposure to asbestos and traces of which have been found in products containing talc.

Laura Evans, a 34-year-old NHS worker from Glasgow, is one of those seeking compensation after she became ill with the condition and was told it was linked to asbestos exposure.

'My oncologist said I had two years to live, and that conversation has never left me,' she told The Times of her diagnosis at 31.

Evans struggled to understand when she may have been exposed to asbestos, and after doing some research with the help of law firm Digby Brown identified that it may have been from American makeup.

Now she, along with dozens of other Brits, is reportedly pursuing legal action against cosmetic firms there, following high profile cases involving brands such as Avon and Estee Lauder and Clinique.

Laura Evans, a 34-year-old NHS worker from Glasgow, is one of those seeking compensation after she became ill with mesothelioma

Traces of asbestos have historically been found in various products, which can be present in talc due to how the two minerals are mined.

Cosmetic brands use talc in products like eye shadow, foundation and blush because of its absorbency, and while it is itself harmless, it can be contaminated with asbestos.

A carcinogen, there is no safe level of asbestos exposure, with it thought to be responsible for up to nine out of 10 cases of mesothelioma, according to Mesothelioma UK.

Cancer Research UK advises that the link between cosmetics and cancer isn't proven, however it does point out that some studies suggest a potential increase in ovarian cancer risk in women who use talcum powder.

In the latest UK data from 2020 there were 2,544 deaths from mesothelioma, a rise of six per cent compared with the number in 2019.

In 2020, Hannah Fletcher, 45, claimed her lifelong use of the Estee Lauder talc and face powder and Clinique loose face powder caused her to develop mesothelioma

What is mesothelioma and how common is it? Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that develops in the lining that covers the outer surface of some of the body's organs. It's usually linked to asbestos exposure. It mainly affects the lining of the lungs (pleural mesothelioma), although it can also affect the lining of the tummy (peritoneal mesothelioma), heart or testicles. More than 2,600 people are diagnosed with the condition each year in the UK. Most cases are diagnosed in people aged 60-80 and men are affected more commonly than women. Unfortunately it's rarely possible to cure mesothelioma, although treatment can help control the symptoms. The symptoms of mesothelioma tend to develop gradually over time. They typically don't appear until several decades after exposure to asbestos. Mesothelioma is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos, a group of minerals made of microscopic fibres that used to be widely used in construction. These tiny fibres can easily get in the lungs, where they get stuck, damaging the lungs over time. It usually takes a while for this to cause any obvious problems, with mesothelioma typically developing more than 20 years after exposure to asbestos. The use of asbestos was completely banned in 1999, so the risk of exposure is much lower nowadays. However, materials containing asbestos are still found in many older buildings. Source: NHS Choices Advertisement

While an increase, this number is in line with an average of over 2,500 deaths a year from the illness in the UK over the past ten years.

Britain now has among the highest mesothelioma rates in the world, according to the country's leading charity, with the use of asbestos in building widespread during the post war era.

WHY COULD TALCUM POWDER BE DANGEROUS? Talcum powder is made of finely ground talc, a mineral which forms underground as a clay-like rock. Talc is often mined from the same place as asbestos, a mineral known to cause lung disease. Non-contaminated talc is completely safe. But if tainted with asbestos, there is a risk it could be damaging to health. Tests have in the past found traces of asbestos in talcum powder products. Asbestos is made up of six minerals that form together as tiny crystallised fibres. The minerals on their own aren't dangerous, but together they are a recognised cause of cancer. About eight out of 10 people with mesothelioma  a type of lung cancer  have been exposed to asbestos. When asbestos fibres are breathed in, they travel to the ends of small air passages and reach the membranes of the thorax and lungs. They can cause inflammation and scarring, damage cells' DNA, or cause changes that result in uncontrolled cell growth. If swallowed, these fibres can reach the abdominal lining, where they can cause mesothelioma. Ovarian cancer is another cancer asbestos is believed to be linked to. Advertisement

US companies have been inundated with claims in recent years, both from domestic customers and those across the Atlantic.

In 2020, Hannah Fletcher, 45, claimed her lifelong use of the Estee Lauder talc and face powder and Clinique loose face powder caused her to develop mesothelioma.

The New York Supreme Court ruled that she could bring her case against the company despite residing in England, demonstrating that companies could face legal action from consumers outside the US.

Ms Feltcher and Ms Evans' US lawyer, Brendan Tully, has years of experience helping UK clients to take US firms to court.

He told The Times: 'Asbestos contamination in both the UK and US was discussed in boardrooms before Laura was even born.

'If they had done the right thing and removed talc from the products at that point, Laura may not be sitting here.'

In the past decade, thousands of cancer lawsuits have been filed against Johnson & Johnson.

And in a securities filing revealed three years ago, Avon said that 128 lawsuits were pending against it over talc products.

Last December, a California jury ordered Avon Products Inc to pay more than $50 million in damages to one victim of asbestos exposure.

Avon told MailOnline that it believes 'the claims asserted against Avon by plaintiffs in the cosmetic talc litigations are without merit and we will continue to defend our position.

'Avon is vigorously pursuing all available avenues to appeal and we are confident that we have strong grounds to overturn the verdict,' the company added.

Other companies have removed talc from their products following lawsuits, including Chanel, Revlon and Johnson & Johnson.

Since 2013, pharma giant Johnson & Johnson received thousands of cancer-related suits.

The company has been forced to pay out billions of dollars to women alleging it caused their cancer.

It announced last year that it would cease selling its trademark talc-based baby powder.

MailOnline has contacted the makeup companies for comment.

A spokesperson for Avon said: 'Avon has an unequivocable belief in the safety of every talc product it has sold.

'All talc used by Avon is the highest quality, cosmetic grade and has been tested to confirm that it does not contain asbestos.'

Britain now has among the highest mesothelioma rates in the world, Mesothelioma UK says, with the use of asbestos in building widespread during the post war era
News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism.
Rishi Sunak is facing a probe by the Commons sleaze watchdog into claims he failed to declare his wife's interest in a childcare business.

Parliamentary commissioner Daniel Greenberg is investigating following criticism that the PM did not mention Akshata Murty's stake in Koru Kids when discussing the 4billion childcare boost in the Budget.

Downing Street flatly denied he had broken any rules at the time, arguing that the matter only needed to be declared on the ministerial register.

However, no version of that register has been published since May last year, when Boris Johnson was premier.

In a letter to the cross-party Liaison Committee released today, Mr Sunak insisted the interest had been 'rightly' notified to the Cabinet Office to avoid any conflict, and a new list would be published 'shortly'.

'I was being asked questions by the Committee in my capacity as Prime Minister,' he wrote.

A No10 spokeswoman said: 'We are happy to assist the commissioner to clarify how this has been transparently declared as a ministerial interest.'

The Code of Conduct states: 'Members must always be open and frank in declaring any relevant interest in any proceeding of the House or its Committees, and in any communications with Ministers, Members, public officials or public office holders.'

Rishi Sunak is facing a probe by the Commons standards watchdog into claims that he failed to declare an interest

It is not the first time the financial affairs of Ms Murty, the daughter of billionaire Indian IT mogul Narayana Murthy, have caused embarrassment for Mr Sunak

The PM's failure to notify MPs of his wife's interest has led to demands for Mr Sunak's ethics adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, to launch an investigation

Mr Sunak's name has been added to the list of MPs under investigation by the Commons standards commissioner

Ms Murty is listed as a shareholder in the London-based childcare agency in Companies House documents as recently as March 6 this year

In a letter to the cross-party Liaison Committee released today, Mr Sunak insisted the interest had been 'rightly' notified to the Cabinet Office to avoid any conflict, and a new list would be published 'shortly'

Who is Akshata Murty? The Prime Minister's wife is the daughter of billionaire Indian IT mogul Narayana Murthy. The 42-year-old married Mr Sunak in 2009 at a lavish ceremony in Bengaluru, India. The couple met while both studying at Stanford University in California. During their early years together, Ms Murty pursued a career in fashion, and in 2007 set up her own business, Akshata Designs. Her wealth comes predominantly from the 0.93 per cent stake she holds in her father's firm, Infosys. She and Mr Sunak also set up their own investment firm called Catamaran Ventures. When he became PM in October, Mr Sunak and his wife decided to move themselves - as well as their two daughters, Krishna, 11, and Anoushka, nine - into the flat above No10 where they had previously lived when he was Chancellor. This is different from previous PMs who, in recent times, have usually lived in the larger flat above No11. Explaining their choice of residence, the PM's press secretary said the family were 'very happy there' during Mr Sunak's time as Treasury chief. The PM's wife has become an increasingly prominent presence during Mr Sunak's political career. In April last year, she was forced to admit she held non-dom tax status in the UK in a row that threatened to derail her husband's ambitions. But the couple survived the fierce scrutiny of their financial affairs, and Ms Murty is now taking on a First Lady role as the PM's wife. As well as a five-bedroom Kensington mews house worth an estimated 7million, Ms Murty and Mr Sunak also own another west London flat, a 2million manor house in Mr Sunak's Yorkshire constituency, and a 5.5million penthouse in Santa Monica, California. Advertisement

Last month Downing Street denied that Mr Sunak had broken any rules by failing to mention his wife Akshata Murty's shareholding in the childcare business.

The premier did not declare Ms Murty's investment in Koru Kids when he was quizzed about his 4billion boost for the childcare sector at last month's Budget.

She is listed as a shareholder in the London-based agency in Companies House documents as recently as March 6 this year.

Koru Kids is set to benefit from the major shake-up of the childcare sector by Mr Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.

Questioning Mr Sunak during the Liaison Committee session, Labour MP Catherine McKinnell asked if he had any interests to declare.

'No, all my disclosures are declared in the normal way,' Mr Sunak said.

The PM's failure to notify MPs specifically about his wife's interest led to demands for Sir Laurie to investigate.

But the PM's press secretary said at the time: 'The Ministerial Code sets out a process by which ministers declare their interests.

'They do that in writing, in this case to the Cabinet Secretary. That process was followed to the letter by the Prime Minister.'

She added: 'He declared the interest in the usual way - he followed the process.'

The PM's press secretary insisted Mr Sunak was also happy that he had abided by Parliamentary obligations on declaring financial interests when answering questions from fellow MPs.

Liberal Democrat frontbencher Wendy Chamberlain said: 'Another day and another accusation of a Conservative Prime Minister bending the rules.

'This is on the same day that Rishi Sunak may have broken election rules for his government announcement today.

'After months of Conservative sleaze and scandal, the public just want a government which is focused on the country, rather than saving their own skin.'

Koru Kids is one of six childminder agencies listed on the Government's website.

The firm welcomed the Budget announcement on its website and hailed the 'great' new incentives open to childminders.

It said a bonus of '1,200  yes double' would be paid 'if you come through an agency like Koru Kids who offer community, training and ongoing support'.

The most recent register of ministerial interests only notes that Ms Murty owns a venture-capital investment company known as Catamaran Ventures UK.

But there has been no update to the register of ministerial interests since May last year, since when there has been a series of changes in Government ranks, including the departure of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss as prime minister.

Ministers are expected to provide a written list of all financial interests that might 'give rise to a conflict'.

The 'interests of their spouse, partner or close family members' are included in the information expected to be handed over.

But they may not appear on the finished list if there is deemed not to be an issue.

It is not the first time the financial affairs of Ms Murty, the daughter of billionaire Indian IT mogul Narayana Murthy have caused embarrassment for Mr Sunak.

He faced a bitter row last year when it emerged Ms Murty held non-dom tax status.

In February it was revealed Ms Murty held shares in a collapsed firm that received nearly 300,000 in taxpayer-funded loans under schemes set up by Mr Sunak when he was Chancellor.
A tenant was arrested over the death of two missing men whose bodies, one of which was dismembered, were found stuffed into bins in a storage unit with bleach and rubber gloves after one of the victims reportedly refused to be a guarantor for the suspect's rental lease.

Leonid Volkov, 37, from Medford, Massachusetts was arrested on Saturday following an investigation into the deaths of Kiryl Schukin, 37, and Pavel Vekshin, 28, according to the Middlesex County District Attorney.

Both men died after being stabbed and were reported missing by friends and coworkers on April 9, which prompted the initial investigation.

Police executed a search warrant on a storage unit rented by Volkov under one of the victim's names last Friday, on April 14.

Inside the storage unit, police found the bodies of both victims inside rubber storage bins as well as bleach, rubber gloves and items belonging to the victims.

Leonid Volkov, 37, from Medford, Massachusetts was arrested on Saturday following an investigation into the deaths of Kiryl Schukin, 37, and Pavel Vekshin, 28, according to the Middlesex County District Attorney

Both men died after being stabbed and were reported missing by friends and coworkers on April 9, which prompted the initial investigation

Schukin and Vekshin's deaths were both ruled as homicides by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

The body of a man believed to be Schukin had also been dismembered.

Schukin acted as a guarantor for Volkov's apartment in Medford, but recently declined to continue being the guarantor for the lease extension, which lead to the suspect's eviction.

Police said Volkov and Schukin met up in a rented U-Haul truck driven by the alleged killer on March 29.

They later located the U-Haul truck - which he was likely using to transport his victims according to police - at the storage facility where the bodies were found.

He was also captured on video entering and leaving the couple's apartment in the days after both victims were last seen.

Volkov was charged with murder and will likely face additional charges in the next few days, according to the District Attorney's Office.

He is due to be arraigned tomorrow, on April 18, at Somerville District Court.
The Welsh government has been criticised after it emerged they spent 24.6m on 38 properties along a planned 150m M4 relief road - only for the project to be scrapped.

As a result, Mark Drakeford's government now owns 31 properties around Newport in South Wales with a combined value of about 22million after they sold seven for 2.1million.

The Telegraph reports that after Mr Drakeford axed the relief road in 2019, none of the properties which are principally located in the community of Coedkernew have been sold.

The scrapping of the M4 relief road between Junctions 23 and 29 has been one of the most controversial decisions of Mr Drakeford's tenure as First Minister of Wales as 150million had already been spent on planning for the road.

The move sparked fury from local business leaders, including beer giant Budweiser who brew along the motorway, due to the frequent heavy delays along the Newport section of the road.

Many of the properties are located in the Coedkernew area close to Newport and the M4. This map shows the location of the M4, the proposed new relief road and the properties bought by the government

The Welsh government spent a 24.6million on the properties including this house in Coedkernew for a reported 725,000

This property in Newport was reportedly bought for 300,000 by the Welsh government but still sits empty

It was hoped that the 14 mile stretch of relief road would have provided the local Welsh economy with a boost.

However Mr Drakeford argued there was no 'compelling case in the public interest' to build the new motorway.

The route would bypass through many small communities on the periphery of Newport including Coedkernew, Nash and Mager.

The area, which is heavily industrialised, has been blighted by fly tipping issues in recent years.

Last year, after it was left to decay, a stretch of abandoned dual carriageway near Coedkernew was dubbed 'The Road to Nowhere' after a major clear up operation resulted in the removal of 1,800 flytipped tyres.

The news that so many of the houses bought by compulsory purchase sit empty years later has angered many people in Wales including the Conservative opposition.

The Welsh government bought this cottage for 132, 500 in 1998

Roads in the area were blighted by fly tipping as recently as last year with locals dubbing it the 'Road to Nowhere'

Speaking to the Telegraph, Welsh Conservative Shadow Transport Minister Natasha Asghar said: 'Mark Drakeford cancelled the M4 relief road, against the advice of independent experts, the people of South Wales and his own party's manifesto.

'The Labour Government in Wales quite literally spent 150 million of taxpayer money on a road to nowhere.

'This is a classic example of an out of touch band of incompetent socialists in Cardiff Bay who frankly couldn't run a bath, let alone the sale and resale of commercial properties.

'It is our view that all of these properties should be tenanted or sold to recuperate the costs imposed on the taxpayer.'

A spokesman for the Welsh Government said: 'We are working with the local authority to establish if any of the properties along the route are suitable for social housing schemes.

'If any of the properties are deemed not suitable for housing, we will consider selling them.'
Actress Christie Whelan Browne has claimed Victoria's health system is 'seriously broken' after she was turned away from two hospitals while trying to seek help for her toddler son.

The Mad As Hell star revealed she had to visit three hospitals to get help for her two-year-old son, Duke, who she shares with fellow actor husband Rohan.

'The health system is seriously broken in Victoria,' she wrote on Twitter.

It is unclear what is wrong with her child but in late December she revealed he had suffered a stress fracture in his leg.

'His first Christmas (2021) was spent with Covid. This year he couldn't walk. Next year he will be firing on all cylinders for sure,' she wrote on Instagram.

Christie Whelan Browne (pictured, right) and her husband Rohan (left) were turned away from two hospitals while seeking help for their toddler son (middle)

Victoria's health system has been creaking under the strain of skyrocketing waitlists for elective surgery, ambulance ramping, staff shortages and patients languishing in emergency for hours.

Late last year, the Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne advised families to seek alternative care after faced 'unprecedented demand' in its emergency department.

On December 5 the hospital said there were 90 patients in the ED and it anticipated some children with less serious conditions could be waiting more than 12 hours.

It comes less than two weeks after former Neighbours star Craig McLachlan dropped his defamation case against Ms Browne, his former co-star on The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

She had accused Mr McLachlan of indecent assault on set. He was acquitted by a magistrate of all charges in December 2020.

The three-time Logie winner was last month revealed to be a contestant on the next season of SAS Australia, where celebrities are put through grueling tests by ex-special forces.

But Ms Browne, one of the four women who accused him of indecent assault, was furious he was being welcomed back to the spotlight.

'How do we feel about someone who was charged on multiple sexual assault charges being put back on TV and being referred to simply as a 'controversial figure'?' she wrote on Twitter on Monday.

'I also saw a post saying he was the 'winner' of that case. But if you bother to read the judgement... the judge WHO HEARD THE EVIDENCE, believed it happened.

'I am so f**king sick of this s**t.'

Ms Brown (pictured, left) is currently starring in the new musical Not Finished With You Yet! alongside her husband, Rohan (right)

Craig McLachlan was charged with assault and indecent assault over complaints from female co-stars in a 2014 stage production of the Rocky Horror Picture Show - he was acquitted by a magistrate of all charges in December 2020

McLachlan was referred to as a 'controversial former actor' in one article, and the trial barely mentioned in the first report of his SAS casting - and even then sympathetically.

The case was tried under old consent laws because the alleged crimes occurred before they were changed.

Victorian laws were updated in 2015 to make a defendant guilty of sexual or indecent assault if their incorrect belief they had consent was 'unreasonable'.

McLachlan by contrast merely had to prove he believed he had consent, regardless of whether his belief was unreasonable.

Magistrate Belinda Wallington said in her 105-page judgement that she found the incidents to have happened, but that McLachlan believed he had consent.

'I can not dismiss the reasonable possibility that in his egocentric state of mind, amongst some amount of adulation from sections of the cast and management, in combination with a lack of checks and balances on his lewd behaviour, that he was not aware of [the complainant's] lack of consent,' she said.

The musical theatre star said Victoria's health system is 'seriously broken'

Of another charge she said: 'I am unable to exclude the possibility that an egotistical, self-entitled sense of humour led the accused to genuinely think that [the complainant] was consenting to his actions.'

Magistrate Wallington on several occasions said she found the complainants to be 'credible' and that she 'accepted [their] evidence in full'.

She also pointed out that her judgement would likely be different had the case been tried under the post-2015 laws.

Ms Brown is currently starring in the new musical Not Finished With You Yet! alongside her husband, Rohan.
Brutal turbulence caused carnage on a recent flight from Angola to Portugal, leaving 10 people injured as passengers were battered and loose items crashed around the cabin.

Shocking images taken in the aftermath of the turbulence show how meals, trays, and plastic cutlery littered the aisles on the flight from Luanda to Lisbon on March 23.

Food and drink stains can be seen all over the cabin, including on the cracked and perforated ceiling panels.

In the third piece of footage, a plastic tray can even be seen wedged in the gap above the overhead bins.

Media in Portugal reported that at least 10 people, including two crew members, were injured on the Hi Fly flight operated by TAAG Angola Airlines, eight of whom needed medical assistance.

The turbulence occurred as lunch was being served and left the cabin covered in detritus

This screengrab shows the moment a passenger's glass of wine flies out of her hand amid brutal turbulence

Brasilian influencer Diana Assis was travelling on board the flight from Luanda and shared a startling clip of the turbulence that wrecked passengers' meals and left several injured

TAAG said 'adverse atmospheric conditions' caused the turbulence, which reportedly struck as the plane was flying over the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Eight passengers required medical assistance, with a doctor on board assisting one of the injured.

TAAG said in a statement that an ambulance and medical team were sent to Lisbon Airport, where the flight landed at 8.37pm, seven hours and 18 minutes after take-off.

Brazilian influencer Diana Assis was travelling on board the flight from Luanda and shared a startling clip of the turbulence that wrecked passengers' meals and left her wine splattered all over the cabin ceiling and floor.

The digital content creator was terrified on what she claimed was her first-ever international flight.

The video shows how Diana first treated the turbulence as a joke and chuckled as the plane began to vibrate, but her laughter was brought to a sudden halt when a severe jolt launched the wine out of her glass onto the ceiling as her fellow passengers screamed in terror.

Diana's wine is seen spattered on the ceiling of the cabin amid turbulence

Diana said that the turbulence struck two hours after takeoff just as lunch was being served.

She said of the ordeal: 'It only lasted a few seconds but it was enough to leave some people injured and the crew provided first aid before landing.

One of those injured, according to the influencer, was a newborn baby who had flown out of its parent's arms and hit the ceiling, prompting the captain to ask for a doctor to help the child.

Portuguese media reported that many of the passengers showed symptoms of anxiety upon examination.

Heavy rain in the Angolan capital caused a flight to Lisbon scheduled for later that day to be postponed due to the slippery runway.

The European Union banned TAAG aircraft from entering into European airspace in July 2007 because of safety concerns.

The ban was completely lifted in April 2019, following a number of partial relaxations over the years.

The TAAG airline declined to comment when contacted by local media.
One of the architects of peace in Northern Ireland urged unionists to return to power-sharing with Sinn Fein today.

Former US senator George Mitchell said the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and others had to reject the views of the '100 percenters (who) want everything their way all the time' at an event to mark 25 years of the Good Friday Agreement.

Mr Mitchell, 89, who was US president Bill Clinton's peace envoy in 1998, gave a keynote speech on the first morning of the Agreement 25 conference at Queen's University in Belfast, marking the anniversary of the deal which largely ended the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

The commemoration comes at a time of political deadlock in Belfast, with the DUP refusing to restart the power-sharing executive at Stormont unless more concessions over the UK's Brexit agreement are made.

They rejected Rishi Sunak's Windsor Framework, agreed with the EU last month and are refusing to rejoin what nominally would be a nationalist-led government for the first time in Northern Ireland's history.

At an event also attended by Hillary Clinton and Gerry Adams, Mr Mitchell said: 'I know that each of your parties - like all political parties in the world - have some of what I call the 100 percenters, they want everything their way all the time - to them, any compromise is a sign of weakness.

'I say to you that reasoned, principled compromise is essential, especially in divided societies. It reflects a belief in democratic values that we all are in this together.

Former US senator George Mitchell said the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and others had to reject the views of the '100 percenters (who) want everything their way all the time' at an event to mark 25 years of the Good Friday Agreement.

Mr Mitchell, 89, who was US president Bill Clinton's peace envoy in 1998 (pictured, centre, with Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern), gave a keynote speech on the first morning of the Agreement 25 conference at Queen's University in Belfast, marking the anniversary of the deal which largely ended the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

The commemoration comes at a time of political deadlock in Belfast, with the DUP (leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson pictured) refusing to restart the power-sharing executive at Stormont unless more concessions over the UK's Brexit agreement are made.

At an event also attended by Hillary Clinton and Gerry Adams, Mr Mitchell said: 'I know that each of your parties - like all political parties in the world - have some of what I call the 100 percenters, they want everything their way all the time - to them, any compromise is a sign of weakness.'

'There is great depth in recognising that the only way to help us emerge from the rubble of conflict is that we must learn to understand one another.

We don't need to love one another. We don't even need to like one another, although we hope we could.

'But we must learn to understand one another and to be able to say yes to one another, especially when the quicker and easier answer is no.

'Because, like it or not, we are all in this together, facing the reality of the future, rather than clinging to the myths of the past, takes strength and courage, and vision.

'Those we honour today showed those qualities a quarter of a century ago, they will be forever remembered.'

Former US secretary of state Mrs Clinton, who is hosting the Agreement 25 conference as part of her role as chancellor at Queen's University in Belfast, urged current politicians to move forward with 'the same spirit of unstoppable grit and resolve' as their predecessors had done.

Ex-US president Bill Clinton, Sir Tony Blair and former taoiseach Bertie Ahern are also scheduled to participate in the three-day event, 25 years on from the landmark accord.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar are due to attend later in the week.

The agreement largely ended Northern Ireland's 30-year sectarian conflict.

During his speech, Mr Mitchell asked the audience to observe a moment of silence in tribute to the victims of the Troubles.

He also ask them to applaud for the politicians who struck the agreement 25 years ago.

'I say now to the current and future leaders of Northern Ireland, there is much in your history and in your politics that divide you, but there also is much that can bring you together, that can inspire you to continue what your predecessors began a quarter century ago,' he said.

'It is not a sign of weakness to resolve your differences by democratic and peaceful means. To the contrary, it is a sign of strength and of wisdom, and it clearly reflects the will of the overwhelming majority of the people of Northern Ireland.

'Yes, they often disagree, sometimes very strongly.

'Yes, they may take offence quickly. But it is unmistakably clear that the people of Northern Ireland do not want to return to violence, not now and not ever.'
Police have not brought any charges in the incident, and released the suspected gunman after 24 hours

A teenager shot by a white homeowner in Missouri after mistakenly ringing the wrong doorbell has been released from hospital.

Ralph Yarl, 16, was shot twice through glass at the front of the house in Kansas City, just a block away from the property his twin brothers were waiting to be picked up from.

He reportedly pulled into the driveway of the home at 10pm on April 13, rang the doorbell, and was immediately shot in the head by the homeowner.

But his family have confirmed that he has been released from the hospital four days after being shot, and will continue to recover at home with his mother who is a nurse.

Police have not yet officially identified the shooter, but Kansas City Police Department detention unit confirmed to CNN that a white man in his 80s with an address matching the property where the incident occurred was taken into custody and later released.

Ralph Yarl, 16, was shot twice in the head by a white man after he went to the wrong house in Kansas City while trying to pick up younger siblings

A police officer is parked outside of the property where Ralph Yarl was shot when he rang the doorbell

Lawyer for the family, Lee Merritt, also confirmed that the suspect was detained for just two hours before being released, and that cops took a statement from Ralph on Friday from his hospital bed.

Clay County Prosecutor Zachary Thompson said his office has not yet received a criminal referral from the Kansas City Police Department to present charges for this case.

However, the prosecutor said his office is working with police to speed the process up so they can review the case and determine if charges are appropriate.

Viola Davis and Halle Berry have both since called for justice for Ralph after hundreds of protesters marched outside the home of the suspected shooter on Sunday with the victim's family to demand action.

More than $1.5million have been raised by a GoFundMe account to help Ralph and his family with the medical bills.

Davis and Berry are both putting pressure on Kansas City Prosecutor Zachary Thompson to bring 'appropriate charges'.

'All Hands On Deck! Davis said in a social media post with a photo of the teenager.

'16-year-old #RalphYarl was going to pick up his two younger siblings from an unfamiliar address when he was shot in the head and again while on the ground by the white man that answered the door after he rang the wrong door bell.

Actresses Viola Davis and Halle Berry are calling for justice for the academically gifted teenager and is putting pressure on Kansas City Prosecutor Zachary Thompson to bring 'appropriate charges'

More than $1.5million have been raised by a GoFundMe account to help Ralph and his family with the medical bills, but has been released from hospital

Lawyer for the family, Lee Merritt, also confirmed that the suspect was detained for just two hours before being released, and that cops took a statement from Ralph on Friday from his hospital bed

Halle Berry said that she is 'sick and tired' of the feeling, calling the teenage victim 'precious' in her post

MISSOURI 'STAND YOUR GROUND' LAWS Missouri is one of twenty US states which has stand-your-ground laws, which removes the duty to retreat before using deadly force in self-defense. The law permits homeowners to protect themselves, or a third party (with exceptions) with deadly force should a person feel it is necessary. According to Missouri Revised Statutes 563.031 residents must be faced with a threat before shooting trespassers on the property. It states: '[Protective] force is used against a person who unlawfully enters, remains after unlawfully entering, or attempts to unlawfully enter a dwelling, residence, or vehicle lawfully occupied by such person.' 'Stand-your-ground' laws roughly define how an individual can defend themselves when faced with an imminent threat anywhere else; imminent being a keyword here because even threatening words towards a defending person can lead to a justified homicide. Advertisement

'Ralph is a junior in High School. He loves music and plays the bass clarinet. He is loved by his family and community and he has a bright bright future.

'He didn't deserve what happened to him. We won't stand for it. We are coming for justice. Use the contact information below to demand Prosecutor Zachary Thompson make an immediate arrest and bring the appropriate charges.'

Berry added: 'His name is #RalphYarl and I'm sick and tired of this feeling

'My heart completely broke when I learned this precious 16-year-old, who accidentally rang the door of the wrong address in an attempt to pick up his siblings, was shot in the head by a man who didn't want him on his property.

'This innocent child is now fighting for his life. This could be your child. This should NOT happen. Please do something today!

'Join me and please contact Prosecutor Zachary Thompson and demand an immediate arrest and bring the appropriate charges.'

The teenager's family branded the incident a 'hate crime'.

Ralph's aunt, Dr Faith Spoonmore, claims when the teenager fell to the floor, he was shot again but miraculously managed to run next door to a neighbor for help.

She said her nephew had to knock on three doors before he was helped, and even then was told to lie on the floor with his hands above his head.

'This was not an 'error.' This is a hate crime. You don't shoot a child in the head because he rang your doorbell,' she said.

The teenager's family branded the incident a 'hate crime' after he was shot in the head and arm

A talented bass clarinet player, Ralph also leads a section of his school's marching band and plays multiple instruments in the Northland Symphony Youth Orchestra

'He walked up to the door, rang the doorbell. A man opened up the door, looked him in the eye and said don't ever come back here as he shot him in the head.

'My nephew fell down and the man shot him again, he was able to get up and ran to the neighbor, who did not open the door. He ran to three houses before one of the neighbors said put your hands up and lay on the ground,.

'And then he lay on the ground like he passed out before the neighbor called the police for help.

'You hear these stories about racism in America and you think wow how sad is that?

'But then you have this little bit of hope because you feel like it's very far away and it would never happen to your family and you. But God, the people in this country are sick.'

On their GoFundMe page they say that he is 'doing well physically' but has a 'long road ahead mentally and emotionally.'

Clay County Prosecutor Zachary Thompson said his office has not yet received a criminal referral from the Kansas City Police Department to present charges for this case

His family has retained the services of civil rights attorneys Lee Merritt and Ben Crump, who have represented the families of Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and Cameron Lamb

On their GoFundMe page they say that he is 'doing well physically' but has a 'long road ahead mentally and emotionally.

Ralph was known among his peers for his intellect and for being a 'musical genius', before he was shot in the head and arm.

The teen had received a letter from Yale Undergraduate Admissions Board identifying him as a 'good candidate' for the prestigious university.

Ralph is part of his high school's Technology Student Association and Science Olympia Team, plays in the marching, jazz, and competition band, and is one of the top base clarinet players in Missouri.

He had big dreams of attending college after being recognized as a Missouri scholar academy alumni in 2022.

The alleged gunman was taken into custody soon after the incident to give a statement but was later 'released pending further investigation.'

Police discovered the firearm used in the incident while searching the house, and say there has been a delay in charges being brought to allow Ralph to make a statement.

His family has retained the services of civil rights attorneys Lee Merritt and Ben Crump, who have represented the families of Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and Cameron Lamb.

Ralph, center, was said to be trying to pick up his younger siblings from a friend's house but went to the wrong address

On Sunday afternoon, the Chief of the Kansas City Police Department, Stacey Graves, said that she is 'listening' to the complaints

The alleged gunman, who has not been identified, was taken into custody soon after the incident and to give a statement but was later 'released pending further investigation'

Hundreds of protestors marched in the neighborhood where Thursday night's shooting took place

Police Chief Stacey Graves said her department is working to quickly prepare evidence in the case for the Clay County prosecutor.

In a news conference on Sunday, she said: 'I want everyone to know that I am listening and I understand the concern we are receiving from the community.

'After consulting with the Clay County Prosecutor's Office, the homeowner was released pending further investigation due to the need to obtain a formal statement from the victim, forensic evidence and compile additional information for a case file to be presented.

Officials would not confirm the number of times the homeowner shot the victim or where his injuries were

Investigators will also consider whether or not the suspect was protected within the Stand Your Ground laws

'Detectives have been working over the past several days to compile a detailed case file so they have all the information they need to make the best charging decision on the case moving forward.

'We want the community to know that we are committed to justice in this case, and every case and work every day to seek that justice for all victims of all crimes.'

She noted that Missouri law allows a person to be held up to 24 hours for a felony investigation, and following that they must be arrested or formally charged.

Investigators will also consider whether or not the suspect was protected within the Stand Your Ground laws.

Officials would not confirm the number of times the homeowner shot the victim or where his injuries were.
Armie Hammer is being investigated over claims of sexual assault after an ex-girlfriend previously accused him of raping her, it has been reported.

'I can confirm that the LAPD has presented a case regarding Armie Hammer to the (Los Angeles District Attorney's Office). The matter is currently under review,' DA rep Tiffiny Blackwell told CNN.

Details of the claims and the complainants are unclear.

The Social Network star has been under investigation for sexual assault since February 2021 after his ex-girlfriend, Effie Angelova, 26, accused him of 'violently' raping and abusing her in 2017.

Hammer, 36, has previously denied criminal wrongdoing and has not been charged in the case.

Effie Angelova, 26, (left) accused Armie Hammer, 36, of having 'violently raped' her in 2017. It is not clear whether it is her claims that are being reviewed by the LA District Attorney

Elizabeth Chambers (left) divorced Hammer after 10 years of marriage following the allegations of sexual assault and abuse made against him

They have two children together, Harper, 8, and Ford, 6

The actor is being investigated by the LA District Attorney after claims of sexual assault were made against him by his ex-girlfriend

He has denied the accusations of rape through his attorney and said all of his sexual encounters were 'completely consensual, discussed and agreed upon in advance and mutually participatory'.

DailyMail.com has contacted Hammer's attorney, Andrew Brettler, for a response to the DA's statement.

Several other women came forward and accused Hammer of being interested in kinky sex and even cannibalism in the wake of Angelova's claims.

The Call Me By Your Name star was dropped by his personal publicist and former agency as well as multiple projects following the allegations.

His ex-wife, Elizabeth Chambers, with whom Hammer has two children, Harper, 8, and Ford, 6, filed for divorce after ten years of marriage.

Hammer also stepped down from a role in Jennifer Lopez's film Shotgun Wedding, but maintained his innocence.

'I'm not responding to these b******* claims but in light of the vicious and spurious online attacks against me, I cannot in good conscience now leave my children for four months to shoot a film in the Dominican Republic,' he said in a statement to the Daily Mail.

The actor subsequently claimed he tried to commit suicide in the Cayman Islands following the backlash.

'I just walked out into the ocean and swam out as far as I could and hoped that either I drowned, or was hit by a boat, or eaten by a shark,' Hammer said.

Angelova hit back, accusing Hammer of being 'manipulative' and trying to 'evoke sympathy'.

She said he had told her the suicide story years before she spoke out, and was only sharing it publicly in an attempt to gain sympathy and silence his victims.

The actor has admitted he was emotionally abusive towards his former partners, but blamed his actions on being traumatized by a youth pastor who allegedly sexually abused him when he was 13.

The alleged crimes and scandals involving Hammer and generations of his wealthy family will be the subject of a true crime special. Armie's dad Michael Hammer (seen second from left) was allegedly embroiled in New York City 's biggest art fraud

Hammer has consistently denied the allegations and has said all encounters were consensual

Hammer, pictured her in a scene from the film Rebecca with co-star Lily James, was dropped by his agency, publicist and multiple projects amid the backlash

The scandal began when the Instagram account House of Effie started leaking disturbing messages, said to be sent by him between 2016 and February 2020, that include conversations about BDSM, in addition to numerous sexual references to cannibalistic acts and blood-sucking.

In one message, the actor allegedly writes to the woman: 'I am 100% a cannibal. I want to eat you.'

'F**k. That's scary to admit,' the message continues. 'I've never admitted that before.'

Hammer's former partners Paige Lorenze and Courtney Vucekovich then also accused him of being physically and emotionally abusive while they were together.

Lorenze told Page Six that the actor had carved the letter 'A' into her pelvis to brand her and then sucked the blood that oozed out.

In March 2021, Angelova officially came forward with her attorney Gloria Allred, alleging: 'On April 24, 2017, Armie Hammer violently raped me for over four hours in Los Angeles, during which he repeatedly slapped my head against a wall bruising my face.

'He also committed other acts of violence against me to which I did not consent.'

Angelova said she thought Hammer was 'going to kill' her and claimed he beat her feet during the alleged attack 'so they would hurt', according to Variety.

The 26-year-old claimed she met Hammer on Facebook when she was 20, before falling in love with the actor.

But she has since said she fell victim to 'manipulation tactics'.

Model Paige Lorenze, a former professional skier turned Instagram mode, spoke of the 'deeply traumatic' four month relationship she had with Armie Hammer, which left her emotionally and physically scarred

Lorenze said Hammer was fixated on biting her body, begging that she allow him to take lumps of flesh from her arm, before consuming them

Using a sharp knife Hammer cut his first initial 'A' into her skin during a kinky sex game, which Lorenze insists got out of control

Shortly after, the LAPD confirmed it was investigating the actor after a 'community member' came forward with an attorney on February 3, 2021, with a sexual assault claim.

Hammer has continuously denied the allegations made against him.

His lawyer has said Hammer's encounter with Angelova was 'completely consensual, discussed and agreed upon in advance, and mutually participatory'.

In a statement, the lawyer said: 'Effie's own correspondence with Mr. Hammer undermines and refutes her outrageous allegations. As recently as July 18, 2020, [she] sent graphic texts to Mr. Hammer telling him what she wanted him to do to her.

'Mr. Hammer responded, making it clear that he did not want to maintain that type of relationship with her.

'It was never Mr. Hammer's intention to embarrass or expose [Effie's] fetishes or kinky sexual desires, but she has now escalated this matter to another level by hiring a civil lawyer to host a public press conference.

'With the truth on his side, Mr. Hammer welcomes the opportunity to set the record straight. From day one, Mr. Hammer has maintained that all of his interactions with [Effie]  and every other sexual partner of his for that matter  have been completely consensual, discussed and agreed upon in advance, and mutually participatory.

'[Effie's] attention seeking and ill-advised legal bid will only make it more difficult for real victims of sexual violence to get the justice they deserve.'
Scotland's First Minister defied critics demanding he sack predecessor Nicola Sturgeon today amid a probe into Scottish National Party finances - suggesting they were sexist.

Humza Yousaf told reporters that 'we are far past the time of judging what a woman does based on what happens to her husband' when asked about Ms Sturgeon's future as an MSP.

She is facing pressure to quit the part she led for eight years after a series of astonishing new allegations suggested she scuppered efforts by party officials to hire a fundraising manager to provide checks and oversight of donations.

Peter Murrell, Ms Sturgeon's husband and the former chief executive of the SNP, was arrested last week by police investigating the whereabouts of more than 600,000 in donations.

Mr Yousaf spoke today after new video footage released yesterday revealed that Ms Sturgeon claimed in a 2021 meeting that the SNP's finances had 'never been stronger'.

The footage obtained by the Daily Record saw her suggest members of the party's ruling national executive committee (NEC) 'be very careful about suggestions that there are problems with the party's finances because we depend on donors to donate'.

Mr Yousaf was asked about the video after he spoke to at STUC conference in Dundee. Asked if she should be suspended, he said 'not at all'.

Humza Yousaf today tried to draw a veil over a tumultuous start to his term in office. He unveilled plans to double council tax for second homes in Scotland in a speech to trade union leaders.

The former first minister went out for a two hour spin today after it was revealed she will work from home this week when other MSPs return to Holyrood.

Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon will work 'remotely' this week as the Scottish Parliament returns from its Easter break.

Her husband, ex-SNP chief executive Peter Murrell. New video footage revealed Ms Sturgeon claimed in a 2021 meeting that the SNP's finances had 'never been stronger'. Some allege it reveals 'everything that was wrong with the SNP under the control of her and Peter Murrell'.

He told journalists: 'It tends to be the case that you fundraise in advance of an election and tend to spend quite a fair bit of money during an election.

'After the election, of course, is when you want to make sure you can address any cash flow issues that you might have as a result of that big spend.

'I wasn't particularly disturbed at all by the video in the way that some of our opponents seem to be.'

The First Minister added: 'We are far past the time of judging what a woman does based on what happens to her husband.'

Ms Sturgeon was back behind the wheel today just weeks after giving up power - as she took a break from the SNP finances row engulfing her family to take a driving lesson.

The former first minister went out for a two hour spin today after it was revealed she will work from home this week when other MSPs return to Holyrood.

Ms Sturgeon will take part in proceedings in the Scottish Parliament 'remotely' amid mounting questions over the SNP finances under her leadership.

The couple's and their Glasgow home and the SNP headquarters in Edinburgh were both searched.

Mr Yousaf, today tried to draw a veil over a tumultuous start to his term in office. He unveiled plans to double council tax for second homes in Scotland in a speech to trade union leaders.

The proposed changes would enable councils to charge up to double the full rate of council tax on second homes from April 2024, bringing them in line with long-term empty homes.

The proposal is part of a new consultation by the Scottish government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) to increase housing.

The party's former Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, also said there was 'no reason' for Ms Sturgeon to step down, and branded the furore over her future a 'media frenzy'.

A senior party source told The Daily Telegraph they didn't 'see the advantages' in Ms Sturgeon keeping her role as an MSP, and that the 'pantomime' of the SNP finances row would will make life in the Scottish parliament 'very uncomfortable for her'.

The remarks come as senior SNP figures insisted the party remains 'solvent' after its treasurer admitted at a weekend meeting of the party's national executive committee (NEC) that he was having difficulty balancing the books.

According to the Sunday Mail newspaper, detectives investigating the funding and finances of the SNP have been passed emails from June 2021 suggesting Ms Sturgeon personally refused a proposal to hire a fundraising manager.

Douglas Chapman, who was the SNP's treasurer at the time, had suggested the appointment and this was backed by current treasurer Colin Beattie, but deputy leader Keith Brown said the idea was dismissed by Ms Sturgeon.

The emails, which are notes from an SNP governance review group, said: 'CB can see benefits of a fundraising manager. KB mentioned this was declined by NS.'

In another email on June 28, 2021, Mr Brown said he had shared details about the proposal being rejected 'in confidence' and requested that the member of the review group who received the email did not tell anyone else.

Video footage of a March 2021 NEC meeting also showed Ms Sturgeon lashing out at the decision of three members of the party's finance and audit committee to quit over the lack of transparency about finances. She said: 'The party has never been in a stronger financial position than it is right now, and that's a reflection of our strength and our membership.

'I'm not going to get into the details... but just be very careful about suggestions there are problems with the party's finances, because we depend on donors.

'There are no reasons for people to be concerned about the party's finances and all of us need to be careful about not suggesting there is. We've got to be careful we don't reap what we sow. If we have leaks from this body it limits the ability for open discussion.'

In wake of the newly unveiled evidence, SNP insiders allege Ms Sturgeon - who planned to remain in Holyrood until 2026 - will be quitting sooner rather than later.

'There is growing suspicion now that she will be stepping down,' the source told The Daily Telegraph, adding that regardless of how Ms Sturgeon tries to help her Glasgow Southside constituency the 'opposition will drag all this up any chance they get'.

First Minister Humza Yousaf, Ms Sturgeon's successor, is also facing demands to suspend her party membership if she does not step down.

Nicola Sturgeon votes with her husband Peter Murrell at Broomhouse Community Hall in Ballieston, Glasgow, in December 2019

Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy said: 'Nicola Sturgeon has huge questions to answer over this devastating video, which reveals everything that was wrong with the SNP under the control of her and Peter Murrell.

'For her to claim that the party's finances were in rude health  a matter of weeks before a police investigation was launched into the missing 600,000, and her chief executive husband lent his own employers a six-figure sum to help with 'cash-flow' issues  is frankly astonishing.

'Her trademark addiction to secrecy, and to image over candour, can be seen in her crude efforts to suppress any discussion from NEC members about the party's finances because it might put off donors.

'No wonder 'continuity candidate' Humza Yousaf is now desperately trying to distance himself from the Sturgeon-Murrell era. The shocking lack of transparency among the toxic clique at the top of the SNP is what has got the party in its current mess.

'If Humza Yousaf wants to show he's determined to tackle the crisis within the SNP, he should suspend the party membership of Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell.'

At a meeting of the SNP's NEC on Saturday, Mr Beattie is said to have warned about the growing strain on the party's finances. According to The Sunday Times, he said there was 'difficulty in balancing the books due to the reduction in membership and donors'.

Last month, it was revealed that the SNP had lost 30,000 members in just over a year, even though the party had previously dismissed such claims.

The accountancy firm Johnston Carmichael resigned as the SNP's auditor last September and from the same role at the SNP's Westminster group, which is now in danger of losing more than 1million in funding from the UK Government unless it finds, by the end of next month, a new auditor to confirm it spent the money exclusively on parliamentary duties.

However, it emerged yesterday that the SNP informed the Electoral Commission that its auditors had resigned in 'early February', which was shortly before Ms Sturgeon announced her resignation.

Referring to Saturday's meeting, the SNP said: 'The SNP national executive committee agreed to a series of proposals to increase transparency in the SNP.

'It is the case that the SNP accounts are published annually and are in order.'
Jury selection starts in Los Angeles Monday for the re-trial of TV star Danny Masterson who's accused of raping three women at his Hollywood Hills home between 2001 and 2003.

The Scientologist actor's first trial ended in a mistrial last November after jurors failed to reach a verdict on any of the three rape counts that he pleaded not guilty to.

So prosecutors decided to re-try Masterson, 47  best known for playing smart-mouthed Steven Hyde on That 70s Show  who has remained free on $3.3million bail since his arrest in 2020.

He's facing up to 45 years in prison if he's convicted.

After his earlier trial ended with a hung jury, Masterson's attorney, Philip Cohen, asked Judge Charlaine Olmedo to dismiss the charges, arguing that 'no reasonable jury' in a second trial could convict his client based on the same evidence presented in the original case.

Jury selection in Danny Masterson's (pictured today) new trial began Monday in Los Angeles, five months after the original round of proceedings resulted in a mistrial

Masterson was seen leaving court with his legal team during a lunch break on day 1 of jury selection for the retrial

The That 70s Show star (pictured in a court sketch last year) who did not testify in his own defense at the month-long trial last year, pleaded not guilty to raping three women, all of them Scientologists, at his Hollywood Hills home between 2001 and 2003

It was 'not a fluke,' said Cohen, that the six men and six women jurors in the first trial acquitted Masterson 10-to-two on the first charge, eight-to-four on the second and seven-to-five on the third.

'The jury focused on the most relevant evidence  the testimony and prior statements of the Jane Does (the three alleged victims)  and a strong majority reasonably concluded that this critical evidence established reasonable doubt,' he added.

Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller hit back, saying that he 'intends to introduce additional evidence at the retrial' and that several new witnesses  who weren't called to the stand in the first trial  would be called to give testimony at the second.

'Not giving the victims another chance with a jury would be an injustice,' he told Judge Olmedo.

The judge agreed and denied Cohen's motion to dismiss the charges, paving the way for jury selection in the second trial to start Monday, followed by the full trial which is expected to last four weeks.

Masterson's accusers  whom DailyMail.com is identifying only as Jane Does 1 through 3  are all ex-Scientologists and are also suing him and the Church of Scientology in civil court, claiming that they've been harassed and intimidated since reporting him to police.

Scientology was front and center during the highly-publicized, five-week first trial. Masterson's lawyer, Cohen, said the church was mentioned more than 700 times.

Masterson appeared clean-shaven as he returned to court one more time on Monday

The judge presiding over the case had denied Masterson's motion to dismiss the charges, paving the way for jury selection in the second trial to start Monday, followed by the full, four-week trial

Masterson's wife was seen supporting the actor throughout the month-long trial last year. Prosecutors had attempted to paint the Scientologist actor as a man who did not take no for an answer

Cohen even tried  unsuccessfully  to get the trial delayed until after last year's LA Mayoral election because anti-Scientology TV ads made by rival candidates Karen Bass and Rick Caruso could prejudice the jury against his client, who is a prominent member of the church.

All three women who accused Masterson of rape testified that the reason they took so long to report him to the police was their fear of retribution from the Church of Scientology.

They said that church officials warned them not to use the word rape, that turning in a fellow Scientologist to law enforcement was considered a 'high crime', and if they disobeyed that doctrine, they could be declared a 'suppressive person', cast out by the church and left alone, cut off from family and friends.

Presiding Judge Charlaine Olmedo declared a mistrial in November after jurors failed to reach a decision

Jane Doe 1 had told the court that in April 2003 she was at Masterson's house where he gave her a fruity red drink with vodka that made her feel woozy, then threw her in his Jacuzzi, carried her upstairs where she passed out and woke up to find him raping her

She fought back, pushed a pillow into his face, she told the jury. But he pushed it back into her face, smothering her and she blacked out again.

When she woke, Masterson opened a bedside draw and pulled out a gun which he brandished, telling her, 'Don't f***ing move.'

Jane Doe 3  who lived with Masterson for six years  was only 17 when she met him and he persuaded her to become a Scientologist, the court heard.

About a year into their relationship he became very controllingand very aggressive sexually  she would often wake up at night and he would be on top of her, having sex with her, she told the court.

In one such incident in November 2001, when she woke up to find him having sex with her, she told him no and tried to push him off, the court heard.

When that didn't work, she pulled his hair. But he retaliated by hitting her across the face and calling her 'white trash,' said prosecutors.

Masterson played wise-cracking Steven Hyde on That '70s Show from 1998 to 2006

The Church of Scientology, of which Masterson is a member, is accused of advising the victims against going public. It is being sued in a separate case in civil court

All three rapes allegedly occurred at Masterson's Hollywood Hills house

Jane Doe 2 met Masterson at a bar in 2003 and gave him her phone number. He called her and invited her to his home.

She went, and, the court heard, after a stint in his Jacuzzi she found herself in his bathroom shower with him where he 'suddenly shoved his penis into her vagina.She said no, I told you no sex.'

They ended up in Masterson's bed where, despite her protests, he flipped her over and started pounding her from behind 'like a jackhammer,' she testified, adding that she felt 'like a limp rag doll.'

Attorney Cohen challenged 'inconsistencies' in the women's testimony and statements to police, accusing them of 'blatant fabrications.'

And he asserted that the three had 'colluded,' choreographing their rape stories to help get Masterson convicted  which in turn could help them win a big cash payout in a civil lawsuit they have brought against the actor and the Church of Scientology, claiming that they've been harassed and intimidated since reporting him to police.
Ties between Russia's shadowy Wagner group and the Sudanese military have been thrust into the spotlight today after a rogue general began waging war on the ruling junta, killing at least 97 civilians in just three days.

Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as 'Hemedti' and leader of the powerful Rapid Support Forces (RSF), is currently battling for control of the capital Khartoum and other key sites against the country's de-facto leader, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

Hemedti is known to have strong ties to Wagner, which has been operating in Sudan since at least 2017 and is accused of providing the RSF with weapons and training. In return, Wagner has allegedly been allowed to plunder Sudanese mines for gold worth billions.

While Wagner's exact role in the current fighting is unclear, the violence broke out just hours after a Russian national who works as head of security for a suspected Wagner front-company was arrested and accused of gold smuggling.

Smoke billows above residential buildings in Khartoum on April 16, 2023, as fighting in Sudan raged for a second day in battles between rival generals

Mercenary from the Wagner Group is pictured in Ukraine

Head of Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin (L) assists Vladimir Putin

The last time the Sudanese government began investigating Russian gold smugglers, back in 2021, Western officials believe Wagner backed a coup that toppled the country's civilian leaders in favour of the junta - who then allowed the smuggling to continue.

It raises the possibility that Wagner could have again stepped in and backed Hemedti in his effort to topple Burhan, provided investigations against the alleged smugglers and the firm they work for are dropped.

Or it could be that Wagner's dealings with Hemedti - which are thought to have ramped up as Moscow tries to extract more gold from Sudan to counter Western sanctions - has upset a delicate balance of power within the junta.

Wagner is thought to have been invited into Sudan starting in 2017, shortly after then-leader Omar al-Bashir - a dictator who ruled the country with an iron fist for three decades - visited Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

The ultra-violent mercenary group, run by Putin oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, set up a now-sanctioned front company - Meroe Gold - to run its operations in the country, which was in turn owned by M Invest, a firm controlled by Prigozhin.

Meroe signed shady deals with a Sudanese firm thought to be run by military intelligence which gave it access to lucrative gold mining operations as well as weapons and protection for its men, leaked documents obtained by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project revealed.

In return, Wagner was allegedly charged with providing political and military support to the armed forces which controlled the country in an uneasy alliance with civilian elites who replaced Bashir when he was forced from power in 2019.

Smoke rises as clashes continue in the Sudanese capital on April 16, 2023

A Sudanese air force plane is seen conducting an airstrike over Khartoum

Fierce clashes broke out across the capital Khartoum and the sister city of Omdurman

When the civilian administration began investigating Wagner's dealings in the country in 2021, the group was accused of supporting another coup which forced them from power and handed total control of Sudan to the armed forces.

Immediately after the junta was installed, the anti-corruption committee investigating Wagner was disbanded and its mining operations allowed to continue unimpeded.

Wagner's activity in Sudan is thought to have ramped up last year in response to the invasion of Ukraine, which saw $300billion of its foreign currency reserves frozen overseas and its economy hammered by Western sanctions.

CNN investigators found Russia could be smuggling gold out of the country via military bases in Syria and the Central Africa Republic worth more than $2billion per year as it attempts to shore up its reserves.

In the 18 months to July last year there were at least 16 flights out of Sudan carrying smuggled gold but the true figure is likely far higher, CNN said.

In February this year, it was reported that the US had begun pressuring Sudan, Libya, and the Central African Republic to cut ties with Wagner - leaning on allies such Egypt to turn up the heat.

The same month, Bloomberg reported that dozens of Russians working for a gold mining firm thought to be a Wagner front-company had been placed under investigation for smuggling.

On Thursday last week, just 24 hours before the new round of fighting broke out, one of those being investigated - a Russian national - was charged.

The man was not named but was reported to be 'head of security' for the Wagner-linked firm, raising the prospect he is a senior figure within the group.

By Saturday, fighter jets were screaming through the skies above Khartoum and firing missiles into the city as General Hemedti - Wagner's go-to man - began a war against General Burhan, who runs the junta.

Artillery shells rained down on the junta's main base in the capital, and civilian aircraft were blown up on the runway of its main airport.

Fighting continued on Monday, as aid groups said at least 97 civilians have been killed so far with hundreds more wounded.

But they cautioned the true toll is likely to be far higher, as many people cannot travel to hospital for help because it is unsafe.

Mortar and artillery fire was reported in Khartoum on Monday morning.
Chaos broke out at the Judiciary Committee's Manhattan crime hearing with protesters demanding to be let in and Chairman Jim Jordan having to tell the witness section to be quiet multiple times due to outbursts of applause during testimony.

Pro- and anti-Jordan protesters clashed with police trying to keep them out of the hearing room, while the chairman knocked Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg's crime policies.

Meanwhile inside the committee room Jordan had to have multiple people removed from the witness section after chaotic outbursts where one protester shouted 'Jim Jordan I love you!' and 'Ralph Nadler you are a disgrace!,' referring to ranking member Jerry Nadler.

'In this country, justice is supposed to be blind regardless of race, religion, or creed. However, here in Manhattan the scales of justice are weighed down by politics,' Jordan, R-Ohio, said in his opening statement.

Nadler, a New Yorker himself, said in his opening statement that the hearing was just a way for Republicans to carry water for former President Trump.

Pro- and anti-Jordan protesters clashed with police trying to keep them out of the hearing room, while the chairman knocked Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg's crime policies

'In this country, justice is supposed to be blind regardless of race, religion, or creed. However, here in Manhattan the scales of justice are weighed down by politics,' Jordan, R-Ohio, said in his opening statement

Protesters demand to be let in to the hearing room

Bragg arrives at his office with heavy security as Jordan holds a hearing on his policies

'Let me be very clear, we are here for one reason and one reason only the chairman is doing the bidding of Donald Trump,' said the Democrat.

He called Jordan's political plays since Bragg's indictment of Trump an 'outrageous abuse of power' used to 'perpetuate anti-semitic and racist tropes' lobbed by Trump against Bragg and New York attorney general Letitia James, who is also investigating Trump's finances.

'It is - to use the chairmans' favorite term -weaponization of the federal government.'

Witness Barry Borge said his son was beaten 'in broad daylight' in 2021 in Times Square, 'all because he was wearing a yarmulke going to a pro-Israel rally.'

Anti-semitic hate crimes have been on the rise in New York and around the country.

He blamed Bragg for slow-walking the case and offering one of the attackers a 'sweetheart' deal and Nadler for not stepping in to advocate for his son.

'You're a Jewish New Yorker,' Borgen said in comments directed to Nadler. 'I called your office numerous times. I called Mr. Schumer's office, another Jewish New Yorker, numerous times.'

'You have Jewish roots here, and behavior like this enables DA Bragg to just do whatever he wants to do. We wouldnt vote for Mr. Schumer again.  And if I lived in Manhattan, I wouldnt vote for you, either.'

Joseph Borgen, 29, whose father spoke at the Judiciary hearing, spoke to DailyMail.com one day after he was left bruised and battered by a group of pro-Palestinian men in Midtown Manhattan on Thursday

Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa., told the GOP witnesses who had loved ones who were victims of crime: 'I'm so sorry for the impact that has had on you and your families. Anyone listening to has to be moved by what you've experienced ... but I fear that victimized by this hearing, because this hearing is not going to provide that change. it's not a serious effort to make our communities safer.'

'My colleagues are here to protect someone who's been charged with committing fraud,' she added, referring to Trump.

Ahead of the hearing Judiciary Democrats joined by Mayor Eric Adams held a press conference to push back on the narrative that New York City is unsafe.

'Welcome to the safest big city in America,' the mayor said.

'We need to focus on how do we deal with the gun violence that is suffocating America, and let the DA do his job, which is the job that he's doing.'

But Democrat city councilman Robert Holden voiced opposition to Bragg's policies.

Holden said he'd live through New York's high crime era of the 1980s but 'I have not seen the lawlessness like this in my life time.'

'All the pharmacies are under lock and key,' Holden said. 'It's so bad - these small crimes that Mr. Bragg has said he's not gonna prosecute. My allegiance is not to the party it's to my constituents.'

Other Democrats used the hearing to highlight Republican opposition to gun control.

'Gun violence is now the leading cause of death of children in America,' said Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I.

'Manhattan has the sixth fewest murders out of the top 50 cities in this country. So we all know why you're here. So don't play the political games,' added Cicilline.'This is about the desire to earn the admiration of the former president.'

Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., noted that so far this year 5,000 people have died by gun violence.

Madeline Brame, chairwoman of the Victims Rights Reform Council and the mother of a homicide victim herself, told the committee that under Bragg 'all types of criminal elements free to do what they want when they want, however they want to, whomever they want, with no consequences, no deterrence.'

She said federal funding should be pulled from the Manhattan DA office.

'They're doing absolutely nothing. And I propose another not another dime of our federal tax dollars being pumped into these organizations until they can produce some measurable outcomes of effectiveness of what they're doing with our tax to protect the public.'

Brame's son, Army veteran Hason Correa, was fatally stabbed in Harlem in 2018.

Correa, a 35-year-old married father of three, was allegedly beaten and stabbed to death by a group of assailants in an altercation outside an apartment building. Two of Correa's attackers struck a plea deal with Manhattan prosecutors and one has already been let off on time served.

Pro-Trump protester demands to be let in to hearing

'Jim Jordan engages in a lot of political theatre in Washington. He should know better than to take his tired act to Broadway,' said Rep. Jerry Nadler

The man who stabbed Correa was given 20 years in prison.

'If you take a life you do life,' Brame said, arguing even the stabber had not been sentenced appropriately. 'There should be no plea deals for murder.'

'They treated us like garbage,' Brame said of Bragg's office, adding the office had not informed her it would offer plea deals to the people involved in the murder.

Democrat Rep. Dan Goldman, whose district includes the Javitz federal building where the hearing took place, told Republican anti-crime witnesses: 'We don't have jurisdiction to do anything about what you're concerned about.'

Jose Alba also testified about the 'horrible experience' he had when Bragg originally charged him with murder when he stabbed a man who attacked him at the bodega where he worked.

Bragg's office asked a judge to drop the charges on July 19 after facing intense backlash for going after Alba, including from Mayor Eric Adams.

'I am not here because I'm supporting Republicans. I am not here because I want to criticize Democrats. I just want to tell the public about the horrible experience I had to go through because of crime in this city,' he said.

'Even though the charges were ultimately dropped, they should not have been brought against me to begin with,' Alba said through his attorney. 'I am now traumatized from the incident. I am not working because I'm terrified for my life.'

Democrats brought in witnesses to point out that many crimes happen at a lower rate in New York City than elsewhere in the country.

Jim Kessler, vice president of progressive think thank Third Way, noted under questioning from Nadler that New York's murder rate is 18 percent lower than the national average.

'What we found when we looked at data between 2000 and 2020 Is the murder rate in red states, as defined by the 25 states that voted for Donald Trump in 2020 ... the murder rate in red states, was higher than the murder rate in blue states, and all 21 of those years.'

'If Republicans really wanted to stop violent crime, they would be in DC right now working with Democrats to pass common sense gun legislation,' said Georgia Democrat Rep. Hank Johnson.

Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, tore into Bragg for saying his office would not prosecute the crime of resisting arrest. To Bragg, he said: 'You're a disgrace. You're a danger to this country.'

Crime in New York City ticked up in 2020 and 2021 during the pandemic (before Bragg took office) after a decade-long mostly downward trend. Major crime soared about 22 percent in 2022 - with Bragg taking office on the first day of that year.

New York recorded 438 homicides in 2022 -- up from 319 in pre-pandemic 2019.

From April 2022 to April 2023, major crime remains about the same, though murders, shootings and burglaries have dropped.

The city was far safer even in 2022 than it was during a dangerous period in the 80s and 90s -- murders and robberies were down 80 percent in 2022 compared to 1990, rapes down 50 percent.

From the start of 2022 when he took office to November of this year, Bragg downgraded 52 percent of felony cases to misdemeanors. When he did bring forth a case, his office won a conviction just 51 percent of the time - a low figure compared to the district attorney's office in recent years.

The Judiciary Committee, together with Oversight and Administration, have launched all-out political war against Bragg over the indictment, most recently firing off a subpoena to prosecutor Mark Pomerantz, who formerly worked in Bragg's office and wrote a book about the need to prosecute Trump.

Madeline Brame, above, will testify at the Judiciary Committee's NYC hearing on Monday. Her son was fatally stabbed in 2018

Hason Correa, a US Army veteran, was fatally stabbed in Harlem in 2018 and two of his assailants got a plea deal with a light sentencing 10993537

Alba shows DailyMail.com the wounds he suffered in the attack

On Tuesday Bragg sued Jordan in an extraordinary move to try to keep him from interfering in the criminal case against Trump.

The suit accused Jordan of a 'brazen and unconstitutional attack' on the prosecution of Trump after the committee subpoenaed Bragg's former employee, demanded documents and planned a field hearing in New York.

Lawyers for Bragg seek to prevent Jordan's subpoena of Pomerantz.

Pomerantz tried to persuade the DA he should prosecute Trump - but quit when Bragg rejected his legal theories.

Bragg has refused to comply with documents requests from chairs of the three committees relating to Bragg's communications with the Department of Justice. Bragg has described Republicans' interference as improper interference in a criminal case.

The charges against Trump were revealed last week and included 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels and 'catch and kill' payments through the National Enquirer to Playboy model Karen McDougal and a doorman who purported to have a story on Trump's alleged love child with a housekeeper.
A teenager has been rescued nearly 30 miles out to sea on a paddle board 21 hours after going missing from an Algarve beach.

Erica Vicente, 17, cheated death after being spotted by a container ship that was waiting for permission to enter the Moroccan port of Tangier.

A massive rescue operation was launched to find her after a gust of wind took her out to sea as she enjoyed the last day of her holiday on a beach in Monte Gordo near Portugal's southern border with Spain.

She got into difficulties around 8pm on Saturday and was rescued, conscious but suffering from hypothermia, after being aided by MSC Reef around 5.30pm yesterday.

At the time she was 25 nautical miles out to sea - the equivalent of nearly 29 land miles.

Erica Vicente, 17, cheated death after being spotted by a container ship that was waiting for permission to enter the Moroccan port of Tangier

The Portuguese Air Force released footage showing Erica, who is better known by her nickname of Kika, being carried to a stretcher so she could be helped off MSC Reef

At the time she was 25 nautical miles out to sea - the equivalent of nearly 29 land miles

The crew of the ship, which sails under the flag of Liberia, contacted Portuguese authorities with the good news she had been found safe and well.

Today Portugal's National Maritime Authority confirmed the rescue as police chiefs revealed her dad had told them he felt like his daughter had been 'born again' and she could be discharged from hospital within 24 to 48 hours.

It said in a statement: 'The 17-year-old girl who had been missing at sea since April 15 was found alive after having entered the water with a stand-up paddle board and being unable to paddle back to land at Coelho beach in the municipality of Vila Real de Santo Antonio.

'Following an alert received by a merchant ship, informing they had found the missing girl, 25 nautical miles south of Vila Real de Santo Antonio, a vessel from the Local Command of the Maritime Police of Vila Real de Santo Antonio and the Portuguese Navy ship NRP Orion were immediately sent to the scene.

'The young woman had severe hypothermia and the support of the Portuguese Air Force aircraft was requested so she could be transported her to Faro airport where an ambulance was waiting.'

The Portuguese Air Force released footage showing Erica, who is better known by her nickname of Kika, being carried to a stretcher so she could be helped off MSC Reef.

A spokesman at the hospital she was taken to said she could be discharged within the next 24 hours.

Horacio Guerreiro said: 'She's endured a lot of time without food or water, exposed to the sun and in a situation of street, but she's okay, she's stable.

'It takes a survival instinct to come through situations like this. She's a heroine, without a doubt.'

Elsa Rocha, the doctor who led the medical team that has been assisting Erica, added: 'She's a real fighter. She arrived at hospital exhausted and a little confused but that's normal after 20 hours at sea on a paddle board.

'When she arrived at the hospital she was no longer either dehydrated or suffering from hypothermia.

'This shows just how amazing human beings can be.'

The teenager at the centre of the amazing rescue comes from Azeitao near Setubal an hour's drive south of Lisbon.

A local police chief said her dad had leapt into the water and tried to save his daughter after seeing she was drifting out to sea but wasn't able to drag her back to shore.

Searches took place along the southern Spanish coastline as well as Portugal before the alert she had been found.

Afonso Martins, Maritime Police chief at Vila Real de Santo Antonio port, said: 'The father's reaction when he was told his daughter had been rescued was that of someone who has seen her born again.'

A massive rescue operation was launched to find her after a gust of wind took her out to sea as she enjoyed the last day of her holiday on a beach in Monte Gordo near Portugal's southern border with Spain
Three Americans sailing from Mexico to San Diego have been missing for almost two weeks as the Coast Guard says there is no record of the trio arriving in Cabo San Lucas where they had planned to stop.

Kerry O'Brien, Frank O'Brien and William Gross, the captain, were aboard the 44-foot La Fitte sailboat named the Ocean Bound when they mysteriously disappeared after departing the Port of Mazatlan, Mexico on April 4.

The trio had planned to stop on April 6 at the Port of Cabo San Lucas for provisions en route to San Diego, but they never arrived. The Coast Guard said 'there was no record of them arriving in Cabo San Lucas or a report in of their location.'

The trip from the Port of Mazatlan, Mexico to the Port of Cabo San Lucas is about 213 nautical miles across the southern Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortez. The journey should have taken between 15 and 17 hours, depending on the wind, weather and current.

Their distraught families said they are 'experienced sailors' with more than 100 years of sailing experience between them as a massive search is now underway.

Kerry O'Brien and Frank O'Brien were aboard the 44-foot La Fitte sailing vessel named the Ocean Bound when it mysteriously disappeared after leaving Mazatlan, Mexico April 4

Captain William Gross was also aboard the vessel. Gross and the O'Briens were heading from Mazatlan, Mexico to the Port of Cabo San Lucas en route to San Diego

Their last known contact took place on April 4 when their cell phone pings show them off the coast of Mazatlan.

Gross's daughter Melissa Spicuzza told NBC San Diego that the trio may have been trying to make slip-ball reservations to get a spot at the marina in Cabo.

She also said she had received a message from her dad that day, saying 'we have a a 9:30 departure today.'

Levi Read, public affairs officer with the US Coast Guard told DailyMail.com that the family notified the Coast Guard on April 10 when they were concerned that they did not hear from them.

He also said the weather conditions the day of their departure was 'dangerous' with approximately 30 knot winds and 15 to 20 foot swells, but he said there were other sailing vessels out on the water.

As of Monday afternoon Read said there was 'still no sign of them [the O'Briens and Gross] or the boat and the search continues.'

Spicuzza described her father as an experienced seaman, who has been sailing for more than 50 years and that being on the water is his passion.

'He loves the ocean and he loves sailing so any opportunity that he has to be on the water, he will take,' Spicuzza said.

She said the O'Brien's had asked if her father would join them on their sailing expedition, sailing their boat back from Mazatlan, Mexico, and that 'he couldn't resist.'

She said that he loves being near the water so much, he lives on her boat that is docked at the National City Marina.

Spicuzza said the O'Briens are also consummate sailors with two decades of experience between them. The pair also have their Captain licenses with the US Coast Guard.

The family stays in touch through a Facebook group. 'We communicate constantly with family and friends, Spicuzza said. 'We check in. If our sailing plans change, we let people know.'

A map showing the route the Kerry and Frank O'Brien and William Gross were taking

William, 'Bill' Gross is a seasoned seaman with more than 50 years experience on the high seas

Kerry O'Brien has decades of sailing experience and also holds a Captain licenses with the US Coast Guard

The 44-foot La Fitte sailboat named the Ocean Bound was the sailboat the trio were aboard

District 11 Coast Guard, which covers the areas of California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah, and offshore waters of Mexico and Central America, are assisting the Mexican Navy, the lead agency in the search.

'Search and rescue coordinators have contacted marinas throughout Baja, Mexico, with negative sightings of the vessel,' as per a news release by the Coast Guard.

'Urgent marine information broadcasts have been issued over VHF radio requesting all mariners to keep a lookout for the missing persons and vessel.'

Spicuzza said: 'I'm just wanting my dad, my dad and the O'Briens, to roll back in and say, 'What's going on guys?'

The US Coast Guard search and rescue coordination center is asking anyone for information to contact them at 510-437-3701.
A source blamed aides, and said Thomas didn't think he had to file after taking a loss following improvements to home where his mom still lives

The company bought the properties from co-owners Thomas, his mother and his late brother's family for $133,363

Company belonging to Texas billionaire Crow bought three properties right next to each other in Savannah, Georgia, including a single-story home and two lots

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas intends to update his annual financial disclosure form to include a sale of the Georgia home where his mother lives to a Republican megadonor for more than $100,000.

The reversal is not the first time the justice with lifetime tenure has agreed to update his disclosures following press reports.

This time it comes after a bombshell ProPublica report on his longtime friendship with billionaire Harlan Crow, who has sponsored Thomas and his wife Ginni on lavish vacations, while also purchasing the Savannah home where his mother, Leola Williams, 94, lives without paying rent.

The updated form will reflect the 2014 deal, which had Crow purchasing the single-story home and two vacant lots for $133,363 as a future 'public museum' dedicated to Thomas' life.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas plans to amend his financial disclosure to reflect the sale of property totaling more than $100,000 to billionaire Harlan Crow. Thomas flew on Crow's private jet, sailed around the world on his yacht and stayed at his resort in the Adirondacks nearly every summer for around two decades, according to a Pro Publica report

Crow called Thomas a dear friend, and got to know him after he joined the Supreme Court. Crow is a Dallas-based real estate magnate

A source who spoke about the decision to update the forms told CNN Thomas filled out earlier versions with the help of aides and characterized it as an oversight, while also arguing the powerful jurist believed he didn't have to disclose it because he had lost money on the transactions.

That arrangement is apparently founded on Thomas having having invested between $50,000 to $70,000 on improvements, on a sale that brought proceeds of $44,000, according to the source, although the disclosure form itself requires reporting of transactions, not simply those that turn a profit.

A company belonging to Texas billionaire Crow, who has showered Thomas with lavish trips and odd yet pricey gifts, bought a series of properties right next to each other in Savannah, Georgia, including a single-story home and two lots, according to ProPublica.

The series of disclosures about Thomas' relationship with Crow has renewed calls in Congress to impose a code of conduct on the court, and for Chief Justice John Roberts to take action against the powerful justice, who has an influential voice and usually finds himself on the winning side on the 6-3 conservative court.

'Justice Thomas's acceptance of and failure to disclose these repeated, lavish gifts and shocking real estate sales not only undermines public trust in his ability to serve impartially on the Court, it undermines confidence in the Supreme Court as an institution,' Citizens for Responsible Ethics ins Washington President Noah Bookbinder said in a statement after the report on the real estate deal.

A 2014 photograph shows the vacant lots that Crow bought from Thomas

Tax deed showing Thomas owned the home he sold to Crow in Savannah

Thomas and wife, Ginni traveled aboard a Bombardier Global 5000 private jet. The trips weren't disclosed, and are not required to be under guidelines the Supreme Court sets for itself

Thomas has had to amend his disclosure reports in the past. He did so in 2011 after neglecting to mention income his wife earned at the conservative Heritage Foundation between 1998 and 2003 after ethics watchdog Common Cause flagged the matter.

The justice's elderly mother lived at the Savannah property, and continued to do so under Crow's ownership. Soon after the purchase was finalized contractors went to work on tens of thousands of dollars' worth of improvements, including a carport, a fixed roof and a new fence and gates.

A federal disclosure law requires justices and other officials to report the sale of real estate over $1,000. But Thomas never reported selling the Savannah properties.

Crow told ProPublica he bought the home, where Thomas partially grew up, to one day preserve it for future generations.

'My intention is to one day create a public museum at the Thomas home dedicated to telling the story of our nation's second black Supreme Court Justice,' he said. 'I approached the Thomas family about my desire to maintain this historic site so future generations could learn about the inspiring life of one of our greatest Americans.'

Crow did not say why he bought the two lots next to the home, but said 'the other lots were later sold to a vetted builder who was committed to improving the quality of the neighborhood and preserving its historical integrity.'

It's not clear if Crow bought the properties at fair market value. In 2013, he bought two properties on the same block, a vacant lot and a small house, for just $40,000.

Crow said his company bought the properties 'at market rate based on many factors including the size, quality, and livability of the dwellings.'

Meanwhile Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee wrote a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts demanding he open an investigation into Thomas's gifts from his billionaire friend, as they announced their own hearing into court ethics.

Judiciary Republicans have been notably quiet on the issue.

Calling the gifts 'plainly inconsistent' with the ethical standards Americans expect of 'any person in a position of public trust,' the letter, led by Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin, urged the Republican-appointed chief justice to 'immediately' open an investigation to ensure Thomas's behavior isn't repeated.

Clarence Thomas pictured above with his mother Leola Williams

Durbin wrote his committee will hold a hearing 'in the coming days,' adding: 'If the Court does not resolve this issue on its own, the Committee will consider legislation to resolve it.'

Some Democrats have called on the high court to adopt a formal code of ethics - it is currently the only court in the federal judiciary that does not have one for its nine members.

The letter noted there had been call for a code of ethics over reporting on Thomas's gifts from real estate billionaire Harlan Crow in 2011, which Roberts 'dismissed' at the time.

Thomas, who has been showered with exotic vacations and luxurious gifts by the Republican megadonor, made a rare statement last week insisting colleagues and 'others in the judiciary' had told him such 'personal hospitality' was allowable.

Thomas flew on Crow's private jet, sailed around the world on his yacht and stayed at his resort in the Adirondacks nearly every summer for around two decades, according to a Pro Publica report released Thursday.

Monday's letter turns up the heat on Roberts. Some have even called on the 74-year-old justice to resign. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib have called for his impeachment.

Crow has donated millions to Republican campaigns and conservative groups. He has also presented Thomas with a series of peculiar gifts, including an Abraham Lincoln bust and a $19,000 bible that once belonging to Frederick Douglass.

Thomas did not disclose trips to Indonesia, New Zealand and Sonoma, California, that he took with Crow - and which he would not have been able to afford on his $285,000-a-year salary.

Thomas takes annual trips to Topridge, Crow's Adirondacks estate

The retreat offers opportunities for boat rides and fishing, and features exotic furnishings

Crow issued a lengthy statement in response to the revelations about his travels with Thomas.

'My wife Kathy and I have been friends with Justice Thomas and his wife Ginni since 1996. We are very dear friends,' he said.

'The hospitality we have extended to the Thomases over the years is no different from the hospitality we have extended to our many other dear friends,' he said.

'Justice Thomas and Ginni never asked for any of this hospitality. We have never asked about a pending or lower court case, and Justice Thomas has never discussed one, he continued.

Crow called the trips 'gatherings of friends.'

Crow and Thomas met in the 1990s, a few years after Thomas joined the high court and the two have had a close relationship ever since - Crow once reportedly provided $500,000 to Thomas' wife Ginni to found a Tea Party-related group.

The 74-year-old billionaire real estate developer who has lavished gifts and trips on Thomas is the chairman of a highly successful private investment firm, Crow Holdings, with almost $29 billion in holdings, according to the Dallas Morning News.

He inherited the real estate empire founded by his father, Trammall Crow, who the Wall Street Journal in 1986 said was the nation's largest landowner, with nearly 300 million square feet of developed real estate.

He has been active in Republican politics, once a member of the founding committee of the Club for Growth and serving on the board of the American Enterprise Institute.

He has donated millions to Republican campaigns and conservative groups. He has also presented Thomas with a series of peculiar gifts as an Abraham Lincoln bust and a $19,000 bible once belonging to Frederick Douglass.

A ProPublica report revealed that Thomas has issued a ruling in his own favor  allowing himself to make use of luxury jets, a mega-yacht, and stunning retreats all owned by the same real estate magnate.

He purchased and helped restore Camp Topridge in the Adirondacks, taking down some buildings and constructing new ones at the facility once owned by Marjorie Merriweather Post.

A friend of the Bush family, Crow is a trustee of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Texas, and also backs the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

He is a member of the Supreme Court Historical Society, although he said in a statement he has never had business before the Thomas court.

Crow has not been a party in any Supreme Court litigation, but has been involved in two conservative groups involved in filing supporting briefs in cases that go before the Supreme Court.
A demonstrator arrested inside Tate Britain after protesting against a drag storytime event was supported by Piers Corbyn in court today.

Lance O'Connor, 58, had the support of several friends in court - including the ex Labour leader's activist brother - as he argued there was 'no case' against him and denied two public order offences.

O'Connor, who had planned to represent himself in court, initially refused to sit in the dock and interrupted the judge several times, who refused to listen to him unless he sat in the dock.

The defendant eventually entered the dock 'under duress' but was repeatedly told by the District Judge to 'be quiet'.

Lance O'Connor, a demonstrator arrested inside Tate Britain after protesting against a drag storytime event, was supported by Piers Corbyn in court today

Aida H Dee's story telling event is seen taking place inside Tate Britain in February

City of London Magistrates' Court heard O'Connor wished to make applications under 'article 61' of the famous Magna Carta - the Royal charter of rights from the year 1215.

Piers Corbyn, the 76-year-old brother of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, attended court saying he knew O'Connor and talked to him through the glass in the dock.

O'Connor, of Plaistow, East London, denied two charges of using threatening words or behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress against two complainants, arguing there was instead 'no case to answer'.

Two further charges relating to assaulting police staff following his arrest on February 11 are being dealt with at Southwark Crown Court.

O'Connor, wearing a grey suit and a patterned tie, began by arguing for his case to be adjourned - saying the judge who had dealt with his case at Southwark Crown Court had ordered for his charges to be 'amalgamated' and complaining he had only recently received video footage of the incident.

Piers Corbyn, the 76-year-old brother of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, attended court saying he knew O'Connor and talked to him through the glass in the dock

Anti fascists and members of Stand up to Racism demonstrated against the protest at the Tate Britain

In honour of LGBTQ history month Aida H Dee was booked to perform for children. Above: Protesters clash

Following several breaks, O'Connor - who has previously refused legal representation - decided he wished for solicitor Sundeep Pankhania to represent him in his future court appearances.

O'Connor, upon entering the court and refusing to sit in the dock, produced his birth certificate and placed the document in the dock, saying: 'Mr Lance O'Connor is now entering the dock.

'This is my birth certificate. I am a living man. If they want me to go in there then I need a contract and full disclosure.'

After eventually entering the dock himself 'under duress', O'Connor also initially refused to stand for the judge, saying, 'I am a living man and I do not rise for the dead'.

O'Connor repeatedly struggled to hear what was being said in court and continually asked for those speaking to speak louder.

His case has now been adjourned for a future hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court, where it is hoped he will be able to hear better.

On Saturday February 11, violent protests erupted outside the Tate Britain art gallery on Millbank, central London, which was hosting a 'Drag Queen Story Hour' event for children that day.

On Saturday February 11, violent protests erupted outside the Tate Britain art gallery on Millbank, central London, which was hosting a 'Drag Queen Story Hour' event for children that day

Tales were advertised to be read by Aida H Dee, who was described on the gallery's website as being 'the first drag artist in Europe to read stories to children in a nursery'.

A group of demonstrators organised a protest outside the gallery, which was met by trans-rights counter-protesters and political groups such as Stand Up to Racism.

Aida had been staging three storytelling sessions on Saturday at 11am, noon and 2pm.

CCTV and police body camera footage of the incident shows O'Connor inside the Tate Gallery, complaining 'they're indoctrinating them'.

Frances McCormack, prosecuting, told the court that body-worn footage from police officers who attended the gallery captured 'some of the words' used by O'Connor during the incident.

Ms McCormack added other footage showed O'Connor's 'oral response' to his arrest.

O'Connor is next due to appear for a further case management hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court on April 25.
A missing Minnesota mom was no longer in a relationship with the father of her kids and was looking to move out of their home when she disappeared, her sister has revealed.

Mom-of-two Madeline Kingsbury had split from Adam Fravel and was still living with him while she looked for a new home when she vanished, according to her sister Megan Kingsbury.

The 26-year-old mom was last seen more than two weeks ago by Fravel at their home at 10 a.m. on March 31 and her disappearance has shaken the small town of Winona.

Madeline was considering moving closer to her sister two hours north to the Twin Cities - St. Paul and Minneapolis, but was insistent she stayed close to Fravel for co-parenting purposes, Megan told KARE 11.

Fravel denies any involvement in Madeline's disappearance - which police have described as 'involuntary' - and he released a statement through his lawyers reprimanding the hate he's received from people during the investigation.

Their two kids, two and five, were in his care until they were taken away by a social worker following an alleged uncooperative outburst he had with investigators.

Madeline Kingsbury's March 31 disappearance has shaken Winona, Minnesota

She lived with her children's father, Adam Fravel, but planned to move following their split. Pictured: Adam Fravel

Fravel's name wasn't initially revealed by police but the father-of-two came forward on his own free will to speak out about Madeline.

'My family and I have been subject to a myriad of accusations regarding the disappearance of the mother of my children,' he told KSTP.

'During these last 12 days, I have cooperated with law enforcement at every turn, including sitting down for multiple interviews with Winona County law enforcement,' he said. 'I did not have anything to do with Maddis disappearance.'

'I want the mother of my 5-year-old and 2-year-old to be found and brought home safely. I want that more than anything,' Fravel wrote in a statement.

More than 100 searches have been conducted by law enforcement through tips received from a CrimeStoppers line, according to Megan. The status of the searches are unknown.

Megan recalled the day Madeline went missing and the last text she received from her around 8:15am.

Madeline had responded to a funny vacation photo her sister sent the night before but with a simple, 'lol,' Megan told the news outlet.

She was last seen by her kid's daycare teacher at 8am when she dropped them off with Fravel.

The two then returned home and Fravel last saw her when he left the home at 10am, he told authorities. When he returned, Madeline was gone.

Megan shared her sister works from home and will occasionally run to Target and other errands throughout the day.

But Madeline failed to log onto work and later didn't respond to several calls and messages. She also didn't pick up her children later that day.

Madeline's disappearance wasn't questioned until later that day when her mom failed to get ahold of her.

According to her family, Madeline was always in constant communication.

'For years, since her first child was born, which is five years ago now, I talked to her multiple times daily - FaceTime, phone, texts,' Megan previously told Fox News.

Her family later filed a missing person's report and found Madeline left her phone, wallet and ID inside her home and it's unclear whether she left the house of her own volition.

This is very unlike her. She's not the type of person who would want to take a break and not tell anybody.

'If she had a problem and wanted to get away, she would come to my house,' Megan said.

Megan added her sister had plans to go over to her home the next morning with her five-year-old daughter, Ellie.

Her sister Megan Kingsbury revealed she was trying to get Madeline to move to the Twin Cities. But the mother-of-two didn't want to move too far from Fravel

Madeline was last seen by her kid's daycare teacher at 8am when she dropped them off with Fravel. Pictured: Fravel and his kids

The two then returned home and Fravel last saw her when he left the home at 10am, he told authorities. When he returned, Madeline was gone. Pictured: Fravel with his kids

At around 10am, the father of the kids left their house in a dark blue 2014 Chrysler Town and Country minivan, he told authorities. Pictured: Madeline's home

More than 100 searches have been conducted by law enforcement through tips received from a CrimeStoppers line. Pictured: Fravel with his child

Megan revealed that the van was her sister's and the couple used it to transport their kids because it fit two carseats

Police have expressed they are 'concerned for her [Madeline's] safety'.

Using surveillance video, police determined a van that matched the couple's was seen in Fillmore County between 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on March 31, according to the La Crosse Tribune.

Fravel told investigators he was using the van that day.

Megan revealed that the van was her sister's and the couple used it to transport their kids because it fit two carseats, according to KARE 11.

They did not confirm who was driving the van at the time. They are asking residents in both counties to check their own security cameras to see if they noticed the minivan.

Kingsbury's family spoke at a press conference Wednesday, offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to her return, according to ABC News.

'Please help us find Madeline,' said her sister, Megan Kingsbury. 'Her children need their mother. We need our daughter, our sister, our aunt and our best friend back.'

She's described as 5 feet 4 inches, weighing about 135 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes.

Megan Kingsbury described her sister as a 'hard-working and dedicated mother' who doubles up her job at the Mayo Clinic with graduate studies.

'Our hearts go out to Kingsbury's family and we are asking everyone to help us bring her home safely,' Winona police stated Monday.
A German house of horrors where a cannibal killer cut off his volunteer victim's penis before eating his body parts has been destroyed in a fire.

Armin Meiwes, 61, also known as the 'Cannibal of Rotenburg', killed engineer Bernd Juergen Brandes, 43, at the house, in the small town of Rotenburg an der Fulda, on 10th March 2001, in a case that appalled Germany two decades ago.

Police said the house burned down early on Monday, at about 3.20am, according to local media, with fire brigades from at least five towns sent to the scene.

Pictures overnight of the large once picturesque house - behind a fence and a gate - showed large flames bursting through the roof as it collapsed in on itself.

Nearly 80 firefighters tackled the blaze but they were reportedly unable to put it out and could only allow the building to burn in a controlled manner.

A German house of horrors where a cannibal killer cut off his volunteer victim's penis before eating his body parts has been destroyed in a fire

Armin Meiwes (pictured in 2006), 61, also known as the 'Cannibal of Rotenburg', killed engineer Bernd Juergen Brandes, 43, at the house, in the small town of Rotenburg an der Fulda, on 10th March 2001, in a case that appalled Germany two decades ago

The cause of the overnight blaze in the small central town of Rotenburg an der Fulda was not immediately clear, but police said they are not ruling out arson, German news agency dpa reported.

A police spokeswoman reportedly said: 'At present, arson cannot be ruled out.'

The building had been empty for years and long been in a state of disrepair, with crime fans often visiting it out of morbid curiosity, according to local media.

The remains of the building are now reportedly set to be torn down after the blaze for safety reasons. Investigators have asked potential witnesses to contact them.

Mayor Christian Grunwald said he hoped the fire would put an end to frequent trips to the site by people visiting out of curiosity and for other reasons. 'The ruin must be removed permanently; it must not become a pilgrimage site,' he said.

The half-timbered house belonged to Armin Meiwes, who was convicted of murder and disturbing the peace of the dead, and was the scene of the crime.

Meiwes was arrested in December 2002 over the death the previous year of Bernd Juergen Brandes.

The pair had met on the now-defunct website 'The Cannibal Cafe' - a website frequented at the time by people with a cannibalism fetish. Meiwes had posted an advert looking for a 'well-built' man who wanted to be killed and eaten.

Brandes, from Berlin, answered the advertisement in March 2021.

The killer cannibal picked up his victim from the train station and took him to his home where he had set up a 'battle room'.

The victim wanted the cannibal to cut off his penis and for them to eat his genitals together - while he was still alive. He swallowed 20 sleeping pills to withstand the pain, before they continued with the act.

The court heard that the victim was unable to eat his own body part, possibly on account of the sleeping pills he had taken, or because of blood loss.

The following morning, Meiwes killed his victim by stabbing him in a bath, before dismembering his body and storing parts in a freezer to be eaten later.

Police said the house (pictured) burned down early on Monday, at about 3.20am, according to local media, with fire brigades from at least five towns including Rotenburg, Muendershausen, Lispenhausen, Braach and Bebra sent to the scene

Pictured: The house is pictured with police tape outside in 2002 (file photo)

Bernd Juergen Brandes (pictured) answered an advertisement on a cannibalism fetish forum, through which Meiwes was looking for a volunteer to be killed and eaten

Meiwes captured the killing in a four-hour video tape, which has never been released to the public on account of it being too gruesome.

In 2004, Meiwes was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison, but prosecutors appealed.

Federal judges overturned that ruling and ordered a retrial, arguing that the lower court, in rejecting murder charges, failed to give sufficient consideration to the sexual motive behind the killing.

Meiwes was convicted of murder and given a life sentence at a retrial in 2006.
A teenager who snorted ketamine before hurling a lit firework at riot police during a protest at an asylum seeker hotel has been locked up for three years.

Jared Skeete, 19, 'goaded' officers by 'deliberately' taking drugs before shouting abuse at them during the mayhem in Knowsley, Merseyside.

Body-worn video footage captured the chaos at the Suites Hotel on February 10, with Skeete being filmed standing next to a burnt-out police van launching numerous fireworks at cops.

Skeete's defence lawyer said the yob had become 'caught up' in the 'mob mentality' of the night, which saw more than 100 protesters causing carnage.

Skeete appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday where he was sentenced to three years' detention after pleading guilty to violent disorder.

A police van was set alight in Merseyside after protests outside a hotel housing asylum seekers turned violent. Pictured are riot police in front of the blazing van

Police detained at least three people following the violent scenes outside the hotel - including Jared Skeete (pictured), who 'goaded' officers by 'deliberately' taking drugs before shouting and throwing fireworks at officers, a court heard

On Monday at Liverpool Crown Court, Skeete (pictured) was sentenced to three years' detention after pleading guilty to violent disorder.

Sentencing the bushy-haired teen Judge David Swinnerton said: 'The scenes overall were appalling and shameful.

'Your role in it, there at the forefront, very close to the police line, throwing fireworks to them, hurling abuse at them, seeking to remove a shield from an officer therefore exposing him to violence and injury, wrestling with him for his riot shield, all of that is despicable behaviour.

'Those scenes of what you did bring shame on you. They were shameful for the city... That is not who we are.

'You goaded the police, you sniffed from your bag of ketamine deliberately in front of them and you were, throughout, shouting abuse at them.'

Prosecutor Martyn Walsh said Skeete, from Aigburth, in Liverpool, shouted to police: 'Why are you protecting the scumbags, you big gang of d***heads?'.'

Skeete was also reported to have said to an officer: 'What are you going to do you silly little sausage? Go and do something better lad, go and arrest them nonces.'

When arrested and interviewed Skeete denied being the person shown in the footage but then asked if he could have a copy of it for himself, describing it as 'like a movie' and 'brutal', the court heard.

In a statement, PC John Thompson, who was hit on his arm and foot by objects, said he had suffered bruising and swelling and the incident had caused stress to him and his family.

A police van was destroyed amid the riot outside the Suites Hotel in Knowsley, with more than 100 protesters reportedly taking part in the carnage in February

The protests were sparked by misinformation which had been shared on social media, it has been clamed. It saw a police van being torched and fireworks hurled at officers

Standing strong: a line of riot police are pictured as a fire rages behind them during the mayhem in Knowsley, Merseyside

Inspector Ian Murphy had suffered post concussion syndrome following the disorder, the court heard.

Mr Walsh said 83,684 worth of damage was caused to five police vehicles, including the van which was burnt-out.

Peter White, defending, said Skeete had been socialising with friends on February 10 when he been made aware of social media rumours which incorrectly accused a resident of the hotel of a serious offence.

He said: 'He is a young man aged 19 who allowed himself to be caught up in mob mentality and used this as an opportunity to act in a thoroughly unacceptable manner.'

He said Skeete was not part of any right-wing organisation and was not involved in planning the disorder.

He added: 'He was only there for the anarchy that resulted.'

Mr White said: 'He genuinely wishes to apologise for his actions.'

The prosecution did not continue with a charge of assaulting an emergency worker because it was incorporated into the violent disorder charge, the court was told.

Speaking after Skeete was sentenced, Detective Chief Inspector John Fitzgerald said: 'The appalling scenes of that evening were completely reprehensible and Skeete clearly played a role in the disorder.

Merseyside's Police & Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell condemned the 'shocking and concerning' violence outside the Suites Hotel

The incident happened outside the Suites Hotel in Knowsley. Detective Chief Inspector John Fitzgerald said: 'The appalling scenes of that evening were completely reprehensible and Skeete clearly played a role in the disorder'

Protesters and counter protesters have clashed outside a Merseyside Hotel housing asylum seekers

'We welcome the sentencing today and hope that he spends his time in prison reflecting on his dangerous actions on that night.

'We will always respect the right to protest when these are peaceful, but the scenes outside the Suites Hotel were completely unacceptable, putting those present, our officers and the wider community in danger.

'I hope this sentencing makes it absolutely clear that anyone who plays a part in violent disorder on our streets will be brought before the courts, whatever their role may have been.'

The carnage was widely condemned by senior politicians and officials.

Knowsley MP Sir George Howarth said the violence did not represent the community.

'The people of Knowsley are not bigots and are welcoming to people escaping from some of the most dangerous places in the world in search of a place of safety,' he added.

Merseyside's Police & Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell condemned the 'shocking and concerning' violence outside the hotel, saying there was 'no excuse for it'.

She said on Twitter: 'Deeply shocking and concerning scenes of violence in Knowsley this evening. Utterly unacceptable behaviour, putting officers & public in danger.
Royal Air Force Typhoon jets intercepted a Russian spy aircraft and a pair of fighter planes close to encroaching on NATO airspace over the Baltic Sea on Friday.

The RAF Eurofighter Typhoons teamed up with Germany's Air Force to buzz their Russian foes who were soaring over the Gulf of Finland and bearing down on Estonia.

One of the aircraft was identified to be a Russian Air Force IL-20 Coot-A intelligence plane headed for the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad which borders Poland. It was being escorted by Su-27 Flanker-B fighter jets.

These intelligence planes are designed to soak up enemy communications and signals for analysis.

Meanwhile, stunning images shared by the allied air forces on social media showed one of the Russian Su-27 jets gliding through the air just metres away from an RAF plane.

A Russian Su-27 is seen flying off the wing of an RAF aircraft

Typhoon fighter jets from the Royal Air Force and German Air Force have conducted a joint mission to intercept three Russian aircraft flying over the Gulf of Finland and Baltic Sea

One of the Russian aircraft (L) was identified to be a Russian Air Force IL-20 Coot-A intelligence plane headed for the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad which borders Poland

The Russian jets were intercepted over the Gulf of Finland just north of Estonia

'We often see Russian military aircraft flying over the Baltic Sea and so this was a routine intercept for us,' an RAF statement read.

'Nevertheless, the importance of intercepting these aircraft and our commitment to the collective defence of NATO airspace remains steadfast and resolute.

'What this intercept has proven is that together with our German allies, we are able to act with speed and decisiveness to effectively ensure the Alliances security.'

The RAF and German Typhoons escorted the Coot-A and Flanker-Bs through the Estonian flight information region before handing over to Saab Gripen fighters of the Swedish Air Force.

The allies are currently co-operating on Operation Azotize - a NATO Air Policing initiative designed to ensure the security of member nations in eastern Europe close to Ukraine.

The RAF and German Air Force are flying their Eurofighter Typhoon jets out of Amari Air Base in Estonia.

Friday's intercept is the fifth time German and British planes have come into contact with Russian planes near NAO airspace in just six weeks.

'This was another demonstration of our readiness and commitment to react at speed to conduct a live intercept. These combined RAF and German Air Force intercepts continue to enhance NATO cohesion, ensuring seamless cooperation and understanding during these missions,' the RAF concluded.

The latest interception of Russian aircraft came just days after leaked Pentagon documents claimed one of Moscow's fighter jets almost shot down an RAF spy plane over the Black Sea last year - an incident which could have dragged Britain into the war in Ukraine.

On September 29, an RAF RC-135 Rivet Joint surveillance aircraft was flying through international airspace close to the Russian-occupied Crimea peninsula when it was buzzed by a squadron of Moscow's Su-27 fighters.

At the time, British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace acknowledged the incident, telling Parliament that the Russian jets 'recklessly' came within 15ft of the RAF plane and one 'released a missile in the vicinity'.

Russia's defence minister Sergei Shoigu blamed a technical malfunction and Wallace, having spoken with other Russian defence officials, accepted the explanation and drew a line under the incident.

But leaked US military documents have now revealed that the missile launch came agonisingly close to striking the RAF aircraft in an incident that was described as 'a near-shoot down of UK RJ (Rivet Joint)'.

A Russian Su-27 jet shadowing an RAF RC-135 spy plane over the Black Sea in September came close to shooting the British aircraft down

Two Russian Su-27 fighter jets were following the British plane when one suffered a 'technical malfunction' and fired a missile, Ben Wallace said (file image)

An RAF RC-135 Rivet Joint spy plane had been flying over international waters near Crimea at the time of the incident in September

A UK defence source meanwhile disputed this version of events, telling MailOnline: 'These reports contain inaccuracies and do not reflect what happened in International air space over the Black Sea,' referring back to Defence Secretary Wallace's comments to Parliament in October.

Had a Russian missile blown Rivet Joint out of the sky over the Black Sea, the UK and its NATO allies may have been compelled to war.

According to Article 5 of the founding treaty of NATO, member nations agree that an armed attack against one or more of them 'shall be considered an attack against them all'.

If such an attack does occur, each NATO member will assist the country that has been attacked with any action 'it deems necessary'.

The RAF regularly flies sorties over the Black Sea's international waters, as well the Baltics and eastern Poland, to gather intelligence.

The role of the Rivet Joint aircraft is to hoover up electronic transmissions and communications - the plane is also known as a 'nuke-sniffer' for its ability to detect radioactivity.

British and US aircraft continued to conduct these reconnaissance flights after the hair-raising incident in September, but RAF surveillance aircraft are now escorted by Typhoon fighters while the US resorts to the use of unmanned surveillance drones.

Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said last month that it is important to keep the Black Sea and the skies over it open to all nations.

'The Black Sea is a critical international seaway supporting many of our Nato allies, including Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey, and does not belong to any one country,' he said.

Ryder's comments came after yet another aerial incident in which Russian jets dumped fuel on and ultimately crashed into a US surveillance drone last month.

Video footage shows the Russian fighter jet approaching the American drone from behind and beginning to release fuel as it passes - the Pentagon said

After the clash, the onboard camera shows a broken propeller (L) and a comparative operational propeller (R) turning. Russia previously said it did not make contact with the drone

Drone footage showed the shocking moment Moscow's Su-27 jet approached the US MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from behind and clipped its propeller over international airspace on March 14.

US forces had to bring down the $32million surveillance drone in international waters after the encounter, sparking a race between Moscow and Washington to recover it.

Russian ships were spotted at the crash site on March 15 trying to find the debris, though the Pentagon insisted the parts could not be retrieved and any intelligence had been wiped.

Moscow insisted its jet did not make contact with the drone, and instead blamed 'sharp maneuvering' for the crash.

But experts say it was likely an accidental clash as Russian pilots adopted increasingly aggressive tactics to force the drone to change course.
A prominent pro-Kremlin propagandist has been unmasked as a 37-year-old Navy veteran and tropical fish seller from New Jersey.

Divorcee Sarah Bils is known to her 100,000 devoted fans online as 'Donbas Devushka', or Donbas Girl.

She posed as a Russian Jew from the occupied Ukrainian city of Luhansk and a geopolitics expert.

On her Telegram account, a popular messaging service in Russia and Ukraine, she claims to participating in 'Russian-style information warfare.'

It recently shared some of the documents allegedly leaked by US National Guard member Jack Teixeira, who was charged with two offenses on Friday.

Sarah Bils claimed to be a Russian Jew living in Luhansk and documenting alleged 'war crimes' committed by the Ukrainian army.

Teixeira, 21, will next appear in court on Wednesday as Department of Justice investigators continue their probe into how he got access to such top secret information.

She is now being investigated by the Department of Justice as part of the probe into how leaked Pentagon documents appeared online.

Bils, who had security clearance, denied that she was involved in helping Teixeira.

'I obviously know the gravity of top-secret classified materials,' she was quoted by the Wall Street Journal as saying.

The 37-year-old also posted videos and podcasts online that faithfully parroted pro-Moscow talking points and tried to raise money for the Russian army.

They have been praised by pro-Kremlin military bloggers in Russia, such as the highly influential Rybar Telegram channel.

Bils claimed that in 2014, the time of the first Russian invasion, she had been travelling between the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and eastern Ukraine.

She alleged that the Ukrainian army was killing people in Luhansk, a city in the Russian-occupied Donbas region of the country.

Bils left the military last year but after being demoted. No reasons were given in the official records for her demotion.

One of the leaked documents outlined how Ukraine's stockpile of missiles was running out and required urgent supplies from Kyiv's Western allies

She has also posted under the pseudonyms Mila Medvedev, Luganskforlife, CheburekiVibes, MeatballSubZero, YuGopnik, and GhostofLugansk.

But Bils is in fact a former aviation electronics technician with the US Navy and she served at Whitby Island in Washington State.

Her real identity was revealed by volunteers from the North Atlantic Fella Organization, which raises funds for Ukraine and fights disinformation online.

The Ukrainian group was able to unmask Bils thanks to yet another unusual side hustle that she had.

Aside from serving in the Navy, she also ran a business selling tropical fish and imported food from Poland.

Bils had appeared in a popular podcast about fish tanks in June 2020 that proved to be her undoing.

It allowed NAFO to match up her voice and home interiors to her postings as Donbas Devushka.

She left the military in November last year with an honorable discharge but only after being demoted.

DailyMail.com has approached the US Navy for comment.

Her Twitter account has now been locked, but her YouTube channel where she interviews pro-Kremlin commentators remains online.
A group of senior Republicans want lawmakers in Washington to be banned from using TikTok because they claim the app is a ploy by China to snoop on Americans.

The 17 members of Congress branded the video sharing platform as a 'de facto, spyware app' in a letter published on Monday.

'We urge you to enact a change to the Senate and House rules to ban members of Congress from using TikTok for official use,' they wrote.

The group, writing to the legislators in charge of the rules for members of Congress, blasted the app for 'mining data and potentially spying on Americans.'

The call was led by Dan Crenshaw, the Republican representative for Texas's second district.

Their letter comes after Montana's House of Representatives voted for an outright ban on Friday although questions remain over how it will be enforced.

It also follows the company's CEO Shou Zi Chew facing a fiery four-and-a-half grilling in Washington from angry lawmakers last month over privacy concerns.

Shou Zi Chew, TikTok's chief executive, fought off a series of broadsides from lawmakers across the political spectrum last month. He suggested the US government was being hypocritical because it had not looked to regulate Facebook in the same way.

But officials in Washington insist that the platform poses a serious national security risk to the United States and that the Chinese government can access the data of US users

And last month, the White House warned Chinese parent company Byte Dance that they should relinquish their stake in the firm or face an outright ban.

It provoked a furious response from the Chinese government, accusing the US of spreading 'false information' about TikTok and data security.

Former president Donald Trump had effectively tried to outlaw the app by signing an executive order, but the move was overturned in the courts.

Last year, lawmakers and their staff in Washington were told to remove the Chinese-owned video app from their official devices.

Officials ordered the change due to the 'high risk due to a number of security issues.'

'If you have the TikTok app on your House mobile device, you will be contacted to remove it,' the memo sent in December said.

TikTok has become a popular way for some members of Congress to communicate with younger voters.

Democrat Jeff Jackson of North Carolina's 14th district has racked up just over 1.6 million followers with his regular updates on politics.

It makes him the most viewed US member of Congress on the platform.

Hard-Left lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slammed the Biden administration's threat to outlaw the Chinese video sharing app across the United States.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Democratic representative for New York's 14th district, recently hit out at the plan for a nationwide ban of TikTok.

'Its important to discuss how unprecedented of a move this would be. The United States has never before banned a social media company from existence, from operating in our borders,' she said in her first-ever video on the Chinese app.

An estimated 150 million Americans have downloaded TikTok, the majority of whom are aged 10-30.

Byte Dance and TikTok have combined to spend over $13 million on federal lobbying since 2019, according to online filings.

Regulators worldwide worry the app is merely a ruse by the Beijing regime to collect data and information on their citizens.

Britain last month banned ministers and staffers from downloading TikTok to their official government phones.

And EU officials in Brussels are now also forbidden from using it on their professional devices.

But not a single country in the 27-member bloc has moved to copy the Biden administration and seek an outright nationwide ban on the software.

Critics of TikTok have said new Chinese privacy laws require Chinese-owned companies to share data with the Chinese government.

Several Western tech firms, such as Airbnb and LinkedIn, are either downsizing or leaving China altogether as a result of the draconian legislation.

TikTok is instead proposing a $1.5 billion security plan, dubbed Project Texas, that would see US users' data walled off and supervised by Texas-based Oracle.

The plan would include independent monitors and auditors to ensure that neither ByteDance, nor Chinese officials, would be able to access certain data.

The company insists it is entirely independent and does not share data with the Chinese government.

A spokesman for TikTok declined to comment for this story.
As Bud Light continues to navigate the backlash against its partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, millions are flocking to its social media pages to view its content.

On Friday, after nearly two weeks of silence, the Bud Light Twitter account posted again. The brand tweeted out a frosty can of its classic brew and captioned it 'TGIF?'

Though the post garnered myriad negative comments relating to the controversial brand partnership with Mulvaney, it has so far amassed a whopping 11.1million views and 25,000 comments.

That massive figure becomes even more eye-popping as compared to the brand's most recent tweets, most of which fall far shy of the 1million mark.

Even a recent popular tweet from late last month promoting the brand's March Madness sweepstakes received just 1.2million views.

The brand returned to social media Friday to post for the first time since the eruption of controversy. The post garnered 11.1million views

Even a recent popular post of the brand's advertising its March Madness sweepstakes garnered a paltry 1.2million views compared to its more recent work

Despite the nature of the attention, Bud Light's partnership with Mulvaney seems to be paying dividends in terms of the amount of sheer exposure it has yielded for the brand.

Brand reach is a primary tool used to measure the success of marketing campaigns. And by the figures alone, the Mulvaney partnership has likely smashed all expectations.

Typically, however, that reach is not supposed to come with a $6billion market cap loss and hundreds of thousands if not millions of disgruntled customers.

The disastrous fallout from the Mulvaney partnership prompted a lukewarm apology for the Anheuser-Busch CEO last week, but it remains unclear exactly what the next step for the struggling brand will be.

Budweiser released a patriotic new ad featuring its iconic Clydesdale horse on Friday.

The one-minute commercial features shots of the animal galloping across Western landscapes and past landmarks including the Lincoln Memorial and the Brooklyn Bridge.

The ad for the beer - which like Bud Light is owned by Anheuser-Busch - appeared to be a return to traditional values for the brand which has historically appealed to blue-collar American workers.

However, online users slammed the ad as a pathetic attempt to right the ship that was permanently sent in the wrong direction with the Mulvaney partnership.

The iconic Clydesdales are shown galloping across iconic American settings

'My favorite advertisement by a mile was the Clydesdales after 9/11. It was absolute perfection. After your embrace of the trans agenda, glorifying a man looking for his 15 mins of fame by mocking women. I will never buy, drink or serve your beer again,' wrote one user.

'Is the horse trans now?' wrote radio host Dan O'Donnell.

'Nope, you guys destroyed your own base and market because you had to go woke. I'll never drink any of your products again,' wrote Brandon Saario.

'Lol, hard pivot huh?' wrote Angela McArdle, the chair of the Libertarian Party.

Commentator Philip Holloway wrote: 'Don't look now Anheuser Busch and Budweiser but the Clydesdale has already left the barn. The train has sailed, the ship has left the station.'

Bud Light and Budweiser are distinct brands housed under the same parent company. With the new ad, the latter - often called The King of Beers - appears to be stepping in to save the reputation of Bud Light.

Mulvaney's April 1 Instagram post included her drinking a beer with her face printed on the can and lying in a bathtub knocking back Bud Light

In her controversial ad, Mulvaney posted a clip of herself sipping from a one-off, custom Bud Light can with her face on to promote its March Madness competition - and the backlash saw parent company Anheuser-Busch lose $6billion in market cap within six days.

Mulvaney became well known for the 'days of girlhood' videos, in which the 26-year-old documented the first year of identifying as a girl.

But the TikTok star has angered some feminists and conservatives over claims she's 'play-acting' being a 'girl,' and co-opting parts of womanhood she finds interesting - without having to deal with the misogyny or prejudice many women face.
Jeremy Clarkson has dismissed the idea that teenagers should be studious at school, saying that it is an environment 'for smoking and sh*gging not swotting'.

Mr Clarkson, 63, made the claims as he believes youngsters are under too much pressure to revise for exams.

The broadcaster also said that his French O-Level paper was 'so incomprehensible' that he 'put it to one side and spent the allotted two hours reading Melody Maker' instead.

He also revealed that the only reason he managed to break into journalism was because grandfather, who worked as a GP, delivered the editor's wife's first baby during an air raid in the war.

Writing in his column for The Times, the Clarkson's Farm star said: 'I tell this story to kids hoping they'll realise that school is for smoking and sh*gging, not swotting.

Jeremy Clarkson has claimed that teenagers at school should be 'smoking and sh*gging, not swotting'

Clarkson is pictured here at his Diddly Squat farm. The second series of Clarkson's Farm was released in February 2023.

Clarkson, who notoriously flunked his A-Levels with a C-grade and two U-grades from three subjects, said: 'I forgot to turn up for two of them and learnt that in the third I was supposed to have answered four questions, not just one. But it didn't matter.

Indeed, his annual tweet on A-Level results day has become a hot topic, when students receive their results, with many of them needing to meet high grades to obtain university places.

As students received their results in August 2021, Clarkson wrote: 'If the teachers didnt give you the A level results you were hoping for, dont worry. I got a C and 2Us and Ive ended up happy, with loads of friends and a Bentley.'

And as students got their results amid the Covid pandemic in 2020, he said: 'A level results not great? Don't worry, I got a C and 2 Us and I'm currently building a large house with far reaching views of the Cotswolds.'

The total number of students accepted onto degree courses in Britain fell by two per cent in 2022 from 2021 - with 425,830 taking up places.

The former Top Gear presenter, 62, today took another swipe at the importance of the results by tweeting a picture of himself on a boat

He continued: 'Exam results only really matter if you want to be a doctor or a lawyer and you need to be professionally qualified.

'I employed a chap on the farm last month and never looked at how he'd done at school or if he'd been to uni. I took him on only because I liked his shoes.'

Clarkson's thoughts on studying come after he recently revealed that he was enduring sleepless nights following multiple 'gut-wrenching' losses on his Diddly Squat Farm.

The former Top Gear host, who has a renowned reputation for being extremely outspoken, recently described ex-Countdown presenter Carol Vorderman as an 'anti-Tory, anti-sleaze warrior'.

Mr Clarkson also accused Ms Vorderman of being 'awfully shouty', after she was angry with Maria Caulfield, the Minister for Women's Health, for failing to attend an event on menopause.
A couple have spoken of their disgust after claiming their Sunday lunch was ruined by seeing other diners at a top London restaurant let their toddler use a potty in front of them.

The incident allegedly took place at the Cacciari Asia restaurant in south Kensington, west London over the weekend.

Writing on the Next Door website, the diner with the user name Tuan H said: 'We went there for lunch today and, while having our meal, a couple sitting nearby pulled out a potty for their kid to use right in front of other customers.'

But while a source at the restaurant said the incident was being investigated, he insisted the customer had overreacted.

'The toddler only urinated into the potty. The table was at least 3m away. I do think the diner overreacted. The child was about two years old and was with his pregnant mother,' he said.

A couple have spoken of their disgust after their Sunday lunch was ruined by seeing other diners at Cacciari Asia restaurant in south Kensington let their toddler use a potty in front of them

'I don't know the full circumstances of what happened, but it is being investigated.'

The outraged diner who went online to complain said in their post that waiters had been aware of what was happening during the Sunday lunchtime service  and did nothing to stop the potty being used.

The post continued: 'They were not asked by the waiting staff or restaurant manager to take the kid to the toilet.

'We found this such a put off as this wasn't overwhelmingly respectful to fellow diners or a display of respect of hygiene in a public dining space.'

The post suggested the child had used the potty to 'defacate'. A source at the restaurant disputed this - they accepted that the child had used the potty in an open area but said it was to urinate and was not seen by many other diners.

The source at the restaurant said the aggrieved diner had overreacted.

The diner's post suggested the child used the potty to 'defacate'. A source at the restaurant disputed this, saying the child used the potty to urinate and it was not seen by many other diners. [File image]

Others commenting on the post about the child's toilet break at the table expressed disgust and urged the diner to report the restaurant to the local council.

The restaurant has four- and five-star reviews for its hygiene and food service.

On its website the restaurant serving mostly Japanese food says it is a ' high end restaurant where you can sit comfortably to experience the mouth watering and fully ecstatic culinary adventure to Asia.

It is one of four Cacciari restaurants in West London and named after their founder Stefano Cacciari.

Dishes available include Chilean Seabass Yuzu truffle brown butter ponzu, sea vegetables for 39, Miyazaki Sirloin, 'melt in mouth texture, high marbling', for 72 per 120 grams, Wagyu beef maki, smoked egg, truffle, mustard beer pickle for 25, and Black Cod Tonburi, wakame, smoked ponzu, yuzu togarashi sauce for 37.

Other members of the community app Next-Door app were appalled.

One wrote: 'This should be reported to Environmental Health immediately . If the parents have no common sense or respect for other diners, the restaurant staff should have intervened immediately and frankly ejected the inconsiderate patrons.'

Another said: 'How appalling. Whilst I can appreciate the challenges of potty training this is completely unacceptable.'

Of the more than 50 commenting on the post most were appalled by the potty incident. But some did express some sympathy for the parents.

One wrote:' It's called potty training... come on the kid had to go... parents may have thought it was just a pee needed.'

A spokesman for the restaurant said they were aware of the incident and had begun an investigation.

A spokesman for Kensington and Chelsea council said: 'We can confirm that we have had a complaint and we will be investigating further.'
The wife of a former Transport for London boss has gone on trial accused of blocking an interchange onto the M25.

Insulate Britain activist Cathy Eastburn, 55, has been charged with one count of causing a public nuisance on a highway.

The incident happened at the Swanley interchange at Junction 3 of the M25 during rush hour on September 13, 2021 when a dozen protesters walked into the road, unfurled banners and sat down.

The trespass closed the busy roundabout - an interchange of major roads - and caused a huge backlog of traffic.

It also caused fury among rush hour drivers commuting to work, parents taking children to school and lorry and van drivers.

Insulate Britain activist Cathy Eastburn appears in court charged with one count of causing a public nuisance on a highway

Insulate Britain activists outside Hove Crown Court on Monday

Insulate Britain activists caused travel mayhem on September 13 after allegedly blocking an interchange in Swanley, Kent

The court heard a police officer was approached by a woman in tears who said she needed to get through to see a dying friend but the officer was unable to help her through the obstruction.

Another man told police he had his two young children in the back of the car and it was their first day in school and they were going to be late.

Asked by police to remove themselves, the protesters told officers they wouldn't go and told officers they would have to arrest them.

Today Eastburn, who is a Cambridge philosophy graduate, went on trial at Hove Crown Court.

She is on trial with Insulate Britain spokesperson, Cameron Ford, 32, Alexander Rodger, 33, and Venetia (corr) Carter, 58, who have all been charged with causing a public nuisance at the same incident.

Eastburn is among four defendants appearing in court over an M25 protest in Kent in 2021

Eastburn pictured outside Hove Crown Court

Alex Young, prosecuting, said the case involved the environmental group, Insulate Britain, who launched their very first road protest on September 13.

He told the jury: 'You may recall the protest movement it was in the news. Environmental activists were calling on the Government to improve home insulation and engaged in protests to try and persuade the Government to take action.'

'These protests did not occur at the gates of Downing Street or Parliament Square,' but took place on the highways and roads used by ordinary motorists, he said.

Mr Young said: 'Around 8am on Sept 13 the 12 defendants were waiting at this interchange to commence their protest.

'A group of a dozen people wearing orange tabards sat down in the middle of the road. The location was busy roundabout Swanley interchange which connects six or seven major roads including the M25.

'A couple of protesters did not sit down but offered leaflets to a number of motorists to justify their cause. Unsurprisingly the motorists were concerned and then angry at what was happening and police were called.

'Traffic was backing up. This busy rush hour traffic was backing up at this interchange with nowhere to go.

'It was the very first Insulate Britain protest and this was a new tactic. As a result the police were ill-prepared to deal with it.'

He said that due to the volume of traffic police struggled to get the scene and when they did they needed to wait for sufficient numbers before they could begin to deal with the protesters.

He said: 'There were concerns motorists might take matters into their own hands and remove the protesters themselves.'

Mr Young said some motorists were driving along the grass verges in an attempt to get round the blockage causing danger to the protesters and other drivers.

He said police had to ensure that did not happen but also had to ensure the rights of the protesters - to free speech and assembly - were not infringed.

He said the Swanley interchange was a busy meeting point of several major roads including the M25.

'That is why it was chosen by these protesters,' he added. 'We suggest that by doing this act they were committing a criminal offence.'

Eastburn was arrested after being accused of blocking a roundabout over the M25

Cathy Eastburn is married to Benedict Plowden

Mr Young told the jury seven men and five women to put to one side their own opinions about the rights and wrongs of environmental protest and to weigh the case on the facts presented to them.

He said: 'The issue for you is to assess how that morning unfolded and how that day unfolded and to ask yourself whether you are sure that the defendants are guilty of the offences with which they are charged.'

The jury was played a video footage of the incident with police attempting to persuade the protesters to abandon their action as it was causing havoc at the junction.

One protester tells the officers that they intend to stay in the road and if police wanted to remove them they would have to arrest them.

Eastburn is married to Benedict Plowden, 59, who left his post at TfL in November 2021.

A large number of Insulate Britain activists and supporters gathered outside Hove Crown Court at the start of the trial, holding placards and banners in support of the four defendants on trial.

The case continues.
Businesswoman and TV personality Barbara Corcoran is facing heavy criticism after she said she 'loves firing people on Friday' on popular podcast The Diary of a CEO.

The real estate mogul, who also stars on ABC's Shark Tank, first made the controversial comments on the podcast in December, which have now resurfaced on TikTok.

Corcoran, 74, who has a reported net worth of $100 million, spoke about how she 'couldn't wait' to lay off 'negative employees'.

Scores of users have taken to the platform to express their disgust at the entrepreneur's comments, saying she seems like a 'spiteful' person.

One user wrote: 'We should change the system so that people can become successful without having to become a terrible person.'

Corcoran is known for her tough business advice on Shark Tank and her Business Unusual podcast

Speaking to British businessman Steve Bartlett on the podcast, Corcoran said: 'What I would love to do is call someone into my office on Friday.

'I love firing people on Friday. I would stop by someones desk on a Wednesday and say, "Hey, would you have any time, sometime on Friday?"

'They should have heard about the rumors. I couldnt wait till they came in to fire them!'

Corcoran founded the residential real estate company The Corcoran Group in 1973 with just $1,000, and sold it in 2001 for $66 million.

She has also been an investor on Shark Tank, ABCs four-time Emmy award winning show since 2009, investing in over 80 businesses to date, and lives in a reported $15 million New York City penthouse.

The businesswoman has also ruffled feathers with her description of the kind of employee she looks to let go of.

'I picked out individuals who were negative, and my attitude toward the negative person was, they were ruining my good kids, because people who are negative have to have somebody else to be negative with them,' she said. 'They got to talk to somebody and complain.

'I'm not talking about people who tell you what you're doing wrong - they're invaluable so you can get better. Im talking about chronic complainers and negative people. You got to get rid of them.'

She added: 'I learnt very early after firing one negative person, never tell them why you're firing them.' Instead she said to tell them: 'I don't know, you just dont fit the company.'

Corcoran founded the residential real estate company The Corcoran Group in 1973 with just $1,000, and sold it in 2001 for $66 million

She has been an investor on Shark Tank, ABCs four-time Emmy award winning show since 2009

Corcoran, who is known for her tough business advice on Shark Tank and her Business Unusual podcast, faced backlash for the comments on social media.

One of the top commenters replied to the clip, 'I love quitting a toxic a job on a Friday'.

'She doesn't seem like a good person at all. We should change the system so that people can become successful without having to become a terrible person,' another wrote.

'One should NEVER be giddy about firing people,' another user wrote. 'Ive been a business leader for 15+ years. This is the one thing I hate.'

Another commenter wrote on TikTok: 'Most people use toxic reasons to prove something and it seems to have yielded a lot of success but dysfunctional people'.

In the interview, Corcoran, who has more than 1 million followers on TikTok, detailed how she was driven by being left by her boyfriend and business partner Ramon Simone, who told her she would 'never succeed' without him.

Speaking about the experience, she said: 'Insult can be a wonderful motivator. With my entrepreneurs that I invest in on Shark Tank, I love it when I can find an entrepreneur who had a horrible dad, or had this go wrong, that go wrong.

'Because they're angry and they've got more to prove. I love an entrepreneur like that. I relate to them.'
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is pushing a tough-on-crime agenda ahead of an expected presidential bid with his support for two bills in the state legislature, including one that would challenge the U.S. Supreme Court.

DeSantis is backing a bill that would authorize the death penalty for child rapists. Under the legislation, a jury - by a vote of at least 8-4 - can recommend a death sentence for sexual battery on a child under age 12.

'We are authorizing the death penalty for child rapists,' DeSantis said Monday morning during an interview with an Orlando radio state. 'My view is you have some of these people that will be serial rapists of six, seven-year-old kids. I think the death penalty is the only appropriate punishment when you have situations like that.'

In 2008, however, in a 5-4 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment prevented the death penalty for child rapists.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis pushing tough on crime approach ahead of expected White House bid

DeSantis is touting his crime credentials - a message Republicans found effective in the 2022 midterm election - with his support for a series of bills in the state Capitol.

The Florida governor has slammed Democratic 'soft-on-crime' policies and 'woke ideology' in other states as he pushes his own vision for America.

His crackdown comes ahead of an expected announcement he's running for president

He told the Orlando radio station that he thinks the current high court would hear a challenge to the older ruling on the death penalty for child rape. Many of the justices that made that ruling are no longer on the bench,

'I think we're right at the law and I think that its current court would consider a challenge to that,' he said.

He's also pushing a second death penalty measure that would remove the requirement that only a unanimous jury can issue the death penalty.

Gov. DeSantis supports a death penalty measure that would remove the requirement that only a unanimous jury can issue the death penalty - it's in response to Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz receiving life in prison after a divided jury couldn't agree on Capitol punishment

Democratic state Sen. Lauren Book of Florida, who is a victim of child abuse and represents the district with Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, supports DeSantis on the bills

The bill is in response to the outrage last year after a divided jury meant Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz received life in prison instead of the death penalty.

In 2020, the state Supreme Court said unanimous jury recommendations were not needed, although the law remains on the books.

Now DeSantis is moving to get it removed. Under the legislation, at least 8 members of a 12-person jury would have to recommend a death sentence.

The bill was proposed after a 9-3 by the jury in the Parkland case spared the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter from capital punishment.

And some Democrats in his state back his proposals, including Democratic state Sen. Lauren Book, a victim of child sexual abuse who founded the advocacy organization, Lauren's Kids.

She said allowing capital punishment to be applied to sex crimes against children is warranted.

Book also represents the district includes Parkland. She has called the Cruz decision a 'gross injustice.'

Gov. DeSantis is backing a series of bills in the Florida State Capitol that are tough on crime

As DeSantis go about his book tour across the country - and in states that are important in the 2024 presidential election - he is slamming prosecutors and those he sees as 'soft' on crime, such as cities controlled by Democratic mayors.

'Crime has gone up,' he said in Michgian earlier this month. 'People have fled these jurisdictions because of their recklessness.'

And, he noted recently in Georgia, his state has rejected 'soft on crime policies, like eliminating cash bail, or jailbreak legislation which lets violent criminals out of prison before they've completed their prison sentences. And we've also raised the alarm about the growing trend of left wing prosecutors getting elected.'

After carrying out two executions in his first term, DeSantis has now signed three death warrants so far this year.

'We are tough on crime, and we support the men and women of law enforcement,' he said during his state of the state address in March.
A respiratory therapist from Kentucky is suing Netflix for $1million after the streaming giant used a photo of him in a documentary about a convicted killer to whom he has no connection.

Taylor Hazlewood, 27, says Netflix depicted him in a 'sinister and defamatory light' after twice using a picture of him posing with a hatchet in its documentary The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker even though he was not involved.

The new show tells the story of Caleb 'Kai' McGillvary who went from viral sensation to convicted killer in the space of a year. The 34-year-old spoke to a local TV station in 2013, famously re-enacting how he had smashed a man over the head with a hatchet to save a woman from being attacked.

But three months later he was arrested over the killing of a New Jersey attorney in a separate incident in California. He claimed he was acting in self-defense but was convicted of first-degree murder.

Hazlewood's suit states that during the show his image is shown while the narrator asks if he is a 'stone-cold' killer. It says Netflix misappropriated his likeness in an act of 'pure recklessness', according to the suit filed in a Dallas County court Monday.

Taylor Hazlewood, 27, from Kentucky, is suing Netflix for using a picture of him holding a hatchet in its documentary The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker even though he was not involved

A picture of him holding a hatcher (far right) was used in the documentary while a narrator asked if he was a 'stone-cold killer'

Caleb 'Kai' McGillvary became a viral sensation after giving a nonchalant interview explaining how he used a hatchet to save a woman from a deadly attack

'Hazlewood is, of course, beyond angry that Netflix would implicate and connect him to such a salacious and infamous story and individual,' the suit obtained by the Washington Post says.

McGillvary, 34, was catapulted to fame after he gave a viral interview explaining how he had saved a woman from a deadly attack in February 2013.

He had been hitchhiking through Fresno, California when the man who was giving him a lift, Jett McBride, crashed his car into a utility worker.

McBride then attacked the worker and a woman who had tried to step in.

McGillvary claimed he took a hatchet from his bag and smashed McBride in the head repeatedly to stop him.

McBride was later convicted of two counts of assault with a deadly weapon.

Explaining his part in the incident, McGillvary, wearing a headscarf over his bedraggled hair, began his interview with KMPH by saying that 'no matter what you done, you deserve respect. Even if you make mistakes, you loveable'.

He memorably showed the interviewer how he had struck McBride over the head, describing the blows with the words: 'Smash, smash, smash.'

The hitchhiker, McGillvary, appeared on Jimmy Kimmel after going viral

McGillvary on Kimmel. His reputation as a hero was short-lived after he was arrested for murder three months later following a separate incident

The video went viral overnight and has been viewed more than 8 million times since.

Canada-born McGillvary soon appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.

But three months later he was arrested and accused of killing New Jersey attorney Joseph Galfy.

McGillvary claimed he was acting in self-defense, saying Joseph had drugged and raped him after offering him a place to stay.

But prosecutors argued during the trial that his version of events changed numerous times and that injuries on Joseph's body - he suffered from three skill fractures and four broken ribs - were too severe for self-defense.

McGillvary was convicted of first-degree murder in 2019 and sentenced to 57 years.

Towards the end of the Netflix documentary, a photo of Hazlewood holding a hatchet appears while the narrator asks: 'Is this a guardian angel or a stone-cold killer?'

The lawsuit says Hazlewood is 'beyond angry that Netflix would implicate and connect him to such a salacious and infamous story and individual'

It claims the use of his image 'causes Hazlewood a constant fear of losing future employment or relationships because of people believing he is dangerous or untrustworthy'

McGillvary became a social media sensation but was convicted of murder just a year later

The lawsuit filed by Hazlewood claims the photo was taken in June 2019 after he spotted a friend's hatchet, which reminded him of his favorite childhood book, Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen.

Hazlewood held it and posed for a photo, which he posted to Instagram.

More than three and a half years later, Netflix released its documentary and texts started pouring in on Hazlewood's phone, the lawsuit states.

A friend from Hawaii said: 'Dude this is so weird but im watching this murder documentary and they start flashing a bunch of peoples pictures and I said that is Hazlewood. Did they steal your photo? How did you get on there?'

Another texted from Virginia: 'Why are you on Netflix?'

And a former co-worker living in Ohio messaged him: 'They put your picture up with a murderer lol.'

The lawsuit states the documentary has tarnished Hazlewood's reputation, adding: 'The use causes Hazlewood a constant fear of losing future employment or relationships because of people believing he is dangerous or untrustworthy.'

McGillvary is also suing Netflix for $3million in a separate case that accuses the documentary of 'ruthlessly exploiting a hero's life story for money', according to the Fresno Bee. It is still working its way through the US District Court of Central California.

Netflix declined to comment.
The attorney for the man accused of fatally stabbing CashApp founder Bob Lee has claimed there is more to the story - and prosecutors don't have enough evidence to make an arrest.

Nima Momeni, 38, is charged with murdering Lee on April 4 in San Francisco at around 2.35am after spending around two hours with him in his married sister Khazar's apartment.

Prosecutors say he stabbed Lee in the heart after vowing to 'come down hard on him' and grilling him over his relationship with his married sister, with whom 43-year-old Lee exchanged intimate text messages.

But Momeni's lawyer, Paula Canny, said Friday: 'There's so much more to this - and a much greater backstory than what has been disclosed at all in the government's pleading.'

She warned that the San Francisco District Attorney's Office 'seem to think they have enough to make an arrest, but I haven't seen it.'

Scroll down for video:

Speaking about the case against her client, Nima Momeni, defense attorney Paula Canny said from what she's seen, the man accused of killing tech exec Bob Lee on the streets of San Francisco is being unjustly held by the city DA's office

Facing a murder charge for the high-profile stabbing, Iranian-American tech consultant Nima Momeni was arrested Thursday, and will continue to be held without bail after his arraignment

Defense attorney Paula Canny spoke with Sergio Quintana Broadcast Journalist about the case against her client, Nima Momeni, the man accused of killing tech executive Bob Lee in San Francisco. Watch full interview here: http://nbcbay.com/c8gp82B Posted by NBC Bay Area on Friday, April 14, 2023

Filed by district attorneys working under Mayor London Breed, a detention motion released Friday laid bare how prosecutors believe Momeni stabbed the millionaire with a kitchen knife in an attack they described as 'planned' and 'deliberate'.

'It's a detention motion, it's standard operating procedure in San Francisco,' Canny told NBC Bay Area's Sergio Quintana Friday of recently unveiled order, which suggested Momeni be held without bail even after his arraignment on April 25.

'In San Francisco they no longer have cash bail,' she said. 'It's a risk assessment. They're giving the reasons in that motion why they say my client should be held without bail.

Seemingly undeterred by the city's argument - which alleged Momeni drove Lee to a 'secluded area' before stabbing the morning of April 4 - Canny added that such motions are generally 'not considered admissible' due to them not naming sources.

'Clearly they seem to think they have enough to make an arrest, but I haven't seen it,' the attorney continued, adding that she had yet to peruse the document due to being on vacation.

'So, until I see it and analyze it, I'm gonna say they've made a mistake,' she added. 'There isn't enough [to hold him].'

After her brother stood in her place for the brief hearing Friday at the Hall of Justice, the legal eagle added: 'My client is a super nice person, his family loves him and supports him.

'There's so much more to this - and a much greater backstory - than what has been disclosed at all in the government's pleading.'

Canny did not clarify what she meant by the comment, as questions continue to linger concerning Momeni's background - as well as his apparent connection to Lee, who had been visiting San Francisco from Miami on business.

In a motion filed in court while Canny is overseas, attorneys tasked with bringing Momeni to justice revealed a text from his sister Khazar sent to Lee in which she gushed over what a 'classy guy' he was.

Khazar was in court Friday - along with her prominent Bay Area plastic surgeon husband Dino Elyassnia - as prosecutors made their case as to why Momeni should remain behind bars.

The claimed that hours before his murder, Nima grilled Lee about his relationship with Khazar, demanding to know whether she'd been 'doing drugs' or anything 'inappropriate' while spending time with the tech tycoon.

Lawyers further maintained Momeni had a drink with Khazar and one of Lee's friends earlier in the day, before they claim Lee was seen entering Khazar's apartment building

Nima was already inside.

The founder of Cash App, 43-year-old Bob Lee was stabbed to death on April 4. News that Momeni knew Lee surprised many who had assumed the millionaire's murderer was a vagrant, given the city's crime situation

Khazar and her husband, plastic surgeon Dr. Dino Elyassnia Friday at her brother's arraignment. Prosecutors laid out part of their case on Friday and she is at the center of her brother's alleged motive

In a text message to Lee earlier in the day, Khazar gushed: 'Just wanted to make sure your doing OK because I know Nima came wayyy down hard on you and thank you for being such a classy man handling it with class. 'Love you Selfish pr***s'

At 2.03am, Lee and Nima left the apartment building and got into Nima's BMW, who'd offered to drive him to his hotel.

Instead, prosecutors say he took him to a shady downtown street, where he stabbed him three times including once in the heart, and fled.

An unnamed witness who said he'd been friends with Bob for 10 years told police that he believed Lee and Khazar were having an intimate relationship and that her marriage might have been in 'jeopardy.'

Both he and Khazar lived in Mill Valley, an exclusive San Francisco suburb, before Lee moved to Miami in October last year.

In a text message to Lee earlier in the day, she gushed: 'Just wanted to make sure your doing OK because I know Nima came wayyy down hard on you and thank you for being such a classy man handling it with class.

'Love you Selfish pr***s.'

Momeni depicted in a court sketch Friday. His sister was in the courtroom to support him. The pair immigrated to the US from Iran as children

Lee is said to have met Momeni through his sister Khazar, who he also met recently, according to The San Francisco Chronicle. She is shown with her husband, a prominent local plastic surgeon

She was seen at court Friday for her brother's arraignment, accompanied by her husband.

Lee had also had drinks with Khazar at 3.30pm the day before he died. The friend was also with them. Lee invited Khazar to go to his hotel room but she said no.

Once in the hotel room, Nima called Lee on Facetime. It was about him picking Khazar up from the house where they had been earlier.

'[Nima] was questioning [Lee] about whether his sister was doing drugs or anything inappropriate... [Lee] had to reassure him nothing inappropriate had happened,' court documents reveal.

They then went to the friend's apartment where they continued to 'hang out' until 12.30am.

Lee was seen entering Khazar's apartment at 12.39am. Nima had been there since 8.31pm. Surveillance footage showed them leaving together at 2.03am, 30 minutes before the stabbing.

Neither Khazar nor her husband has commented on her brother's arrest

Nima Momeni's loft, where neighbors say he both worked and lived. It was raided on Thursday morning

On April 4, Lee was filmed on surveillance cameras staggering into an apartment building in downtown San Francisco at 2.35am after being stabbed. Yesterday, police searched the nearby apartment of Momeni's sister, Khazar. It's unclear if they'd been together or at the apartment earlier in the night

The day after the murder, the friend called Khazar and asked whether Lee had gone round to her apartment. She said he had 'for a second' but that she 'fell asleep' and didn't know when he left, according to the documents.

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins has charged Momeni with murder, alongside a further charge of special enhancement for using a knife.

In the motion filed Friday, her office said it was a pre-meditated attack carried out by the angry brother.

Surveillance footage is also said to have captured the stabbing in Momeni's BMW.

He sped away afterwards, throwing his knife into the street, and leaving Lee to stagger through the San Francisco streets in a desperate, final attempt to cling to life - a moment also captured by surveillance cameras

He was taken to the hospital but eventually died of his injuries - leading to Momeni's arrest nine days later to loft that doubled as his home and home office in Emeryville.

Lee's family have since vowed to work with prosecutors to bring Momeni to 'justice' - as much of the tech worker's past continues to come to light

He says he attended Berkeley, but the school has no record the 38-year-old ever attending. The condo where he was arrested - a rental - doubled as his home and workspace, but neighbors said he was the only employee.

He also has a previous arrest for carrying a switchblade in California in 2011, a charge that was later dismissed.

Neighbors at the Emeryville building - -where condos routinely sell for more than $800,000 - described Momeni as 'warm and welcoming' to DailyMail.com, recalling how he would regularly work late into the night while running his IT firm.

One resident in the building recalled how the techie liked cars, boats and women, with some adding he recently developed an interest in firearms and knives.

During a tour of the businessman's unit - which records indicate is a rental - one neighbor recalled how Momeni's home office contained a pool table and a host of expensive tech equipment, presumably to run his company.

According to Momeni's LinkedIn, the startup offers outsourcing of IT services like cybersecurity and website hosting, including to companies that work in health care, law and manufacturing, as well as other startups.

'We take care of the technical heavy lifting, so you can focus on growing your enterprise,' a description for the company reads. Momeni also claims to represent several nonprofits and government clients.

The company's official website and LinkedIn profile were both deleted Thursday, as news of the relatively small-time techie's arrest began to spread.

On Momeni's profile, he writes that he attended UC Berkeley - a claim that has since emerged as dubious, after a spokesperson said Thursday the university has no record of anyone attending or graduating under his name.

The city had kept mum about Momeni's relationship with Lee until Friday, prviously only confirming they 'knew each other.' Local outlets previously reported the pair may have met through Momeni's sister - something prosecutors seem to agree with.

As for Khazar, she owns an apartment in a luxury apartment just blocks from where Lee was found, and was seen clad in black and sunglasses at court Friday.

Her brother does not have a violent criminal history  despite being arrested for a few misdemeanors including the 2011 one involving the illegal switchblade, which cops said he had been illegally selling.

Records show the charge was ultimately dismissed after the then-26-year-old pleaded guilty to another charge of driving with a suspended license stemming from a DUI, earning him 10 days in county jail.

Both offenses were classified as misdemeanors, and ultimately saw the the perp jailed for ten days and put on three years' probation.

The case made its way through the California criminal courts in early 2011, records show - around the time the Iranian-American tech consultant, Nima Momeni, is said to have formed Bay Area startup Expand IT.etime after the Iranian revolution - was charged with driving while intoxicated.

Last Thursday, Momeni was arrested again, after being tracked down to his swanky loft inside a converted industrial condominium complex.

Officers arrived around 5 a.m., with neighbors reporting hearing loud bangs from officers knocking on the accused murderer's door.

Momeni reportedly was apprehended without incident - leaving the spacious unit he had been living and working out of vacant.

The arrest happened nine days after Lee's April 4 stabbing sent shockwaves throughout the Bay Area

On Thursday morning, Momeni was arrested over Bob Lee's murder after being tracked down to his swanky loft inside this converted industrial condominium complex

Momeni reportedly was apprehended without incident - leaving the spacious unit he had been living and working out of vacant

Nima Momeni was arrested at his loft (pictured) in Emeryville on Thursday morning. During a tour of the businessman's unit - which records indicate is a rental - one neighbor recalled how Momeni's home office contained a pool table and a host of expensive tech equipment

Momeni met Lee through his sister, Khazar Momeni (pictured), the wife of a prominent San Francisco plastic surgeon

Her husband (at right), is a respected doctor whose practice is based in the Bay Area. Reports indicate she recently became acquainted with the CashApp founder

Neighbors described Momeni as 'warm and welcoming' to DailyMail.com, recalling how he would regularly work late into the night while running his IT firm.

One resident in the building - where condos routinely sell for more than $800,000 - recalled how the techie liked cars, boats and women, with some adding he recently developed an interest in firearms and knives.

During a tour of the businessman's unit - which records indicate is a rental - one neighbor recalled how Momeni's home office contained a pool table and a host of expensive tech equipment, presumably to run his company.

According to Momeni's LinkedIn, the startup offers outsourcing of IT services like cybersecurity and website hosting, including to companies that work in health care, law and manufacturing, as well as other startups.

'We take care of the technical heavy lifting, so you can focus on growing your enterprise,' a description for the company reads. Momeni also claims to represent several nonprofits and government clients.

The company's official website and LinkedIn profile were both deleted Thursday, as news of the relatively small-time techie's arrest began to spread.

On Momeni's profile, he writes that he attended UC Berkeley - a claim that has since emerged as dubious, after a spokesperson said Thursday the university has no record of anyone attending or graduating under his name.

As for how he came into contact with Lee - who resided in Miami and had been in San Francisco on business - police Thursday would only say the attack was not random.

On Momeni's LinkedInprofile, he writes that he attended UC Berkeley - a claim that has since surfaced as dubious as a spokesperson said Thursday the university has no record of anyone attending or graduating under his name.

Momeni has a previous arrest for carrying a switchblade and driving with a suspended license

Both offenses were classified as misdemeanors, and ultimately saw the the perp jailed for ten days and put on three years' probation. Early Thursday, Momeni was arrested and charged with Lee's murder

'We can confirm Mr. Lee and Mr. Momeni knew each other,' Police Chief Bill Scott said.

However, accounts garnered from local outlets suggest the two may have known each other through Momeni's sister, Khazar Momeni, who they said recently met Lee.

She is married with the wife of a prominent plastic surgeon, Dr. Dino Elyassnia, whose practice is also based in San Francisco.

Khazar, also known as Khazar Elyassnia, is the registered owner of an apartment in the Millennium, an upscale building located just four blocks from where Lee was found bleeding to death, and a block from the hotel where he had been saying.

Police sources further revealed to The Standard that one of three search warrants executed by San Francisco cops Thursday during Momeni's arrest was at his sister's residence, though cops themselves would only confirm they searched three residences including Momeni's.

A friend of Lee's told the publication they believe Lee and Momeni been partying the night before the stabbing, into early Tuesday.

Other accounts suggested the two men had driving together through downtown San Francisco in Momeni's car, before coming to some sort of dispute.

Amid this outflow of information - as m any had assumed Lee's murder to be the work of a vagrant given the city's crime situation - Mayor London Breed decried the press for reports lumping the stabbing with other incidents of violence seen under her administration.

Amid this outflow of information - as many had assumed Lee's murder to be the work of a vagrant given the city's crime situation - Mayor London Breed decried the press for reports lumping the stabbing with other incidents of violence seen under her administration.

'When the facts of many of these cases come out, many people are going to be surprised,' Breed said Wednesday, adding local and national reports surrounding the case have left a false impression on safety in city.

'It has really heightened events like this - as well as people jumping to conclusions about what they think is happening.'

Momeni has already been hit with a murder charge from the city's DA office, is expected to be arraigned in court Friday morning.
Britain has given China 400million in foreign aid since ministers pledged to end the payments, according to new research.

Figures compiled by the House of Commons library reveal that the Government has continued to send tens of millions of pounds a year to the communist superpower, in spite of a pledge by aid minister Andrew Mitchell to halt funding in 2010.

In the decade since Mr Mitchell's intervention, a total of 391million of taxpayers' money was sent to China, despite the fact it is now the world's second biggest economy. The final figure is expected to top 400million, as the details of spending last year have not yet been released. Annual spending peaked at 68.3million in 2019 and was still running at 51.7million in 2021, the last year for which figures are available.

Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith condemned the spending  and said it showed that ministers were still not taking the threat posed by China seriously.

Figures compiled by the House of Commons library reveal that the Government has continued to send tens of millions of pounds a year to the communist superpower, in spite of a pledge by aid minister Andrew Mitchell (pictured) to halt funding in 2010

Britain has given China 400million in foreign aid since ministers pledged to end the payments, according to new research. Pictured: Chinese President Xi Jinping

Sir Iain, who has been sanctioned by Beijing for criticising the country's grim human rights record, described the Government's approach as 'hopelessly weak'.

'It is outrageous that the Government is still sending tens of millions of pounds a year to China when we were promised in 2010 that this would stop,' he said.

'People will be rightly shocked that we have given 400million to China, not only because it does not need it  it is the second biggest economy in the world  but also because of its appalling human rights record.

'It is guilty of genocide in Xinjiang, it has trashed the Sino-British agreement on Hong Kong, it is threatening Taiwan  what does China have to do before we end the nonsense of sending it aid?

'It is another sign that when it comes to China we are hopelessly weak. The Government talks about 'robust pragmatism'  is this what it means? The whole thing is becoming an embarrassment to the UK.'

Sarah Champion, Labour chairman of the Commons international development committee, said there was 'confusion across government departments around our aid policy on China'.

She said that while the business department was now taking a 'strong line', the Foreign Office was 'seemingly more tolerant'.

Iain Duncan Smith and Labour peer Helena Kennedy, Co-Chairs of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, join artist Rahima Mahmut at a vigil taking place outside the Foreign Office in London

She added: 'If a commitment is made by ministers to stop aid going to China, that's exactly what should happen - not the sleight of hand that appears be happening now.'

The new report reveals that although direct aid to the Chinese government stopped in 2010, government departments have continued to fund aid programmes in the country.

While some funding was aimed at promoting human rights, other projects were designed to help China improve its economy, healthcare and environment  all things that would normally be paid for by the state.

The funding has continued in spite of the rapid development of China's economy, which became the world's second biggest in 2010. The World Bank now classes China as an upper-middle income country, alongside states including Turkey, South Africa and Brazil. Beijing now even operates its own foreign aid programme while continuing to receive handouts from the UK.

Mr Mitchell, who was reappointed as aid minister in October last year, has restated his intention to end payments to China.

In December last year he argued that 'it does great damage to the reputation of the development budget to spend money in China'.

In February this year, he said there would have to be a 'very strong case' for approving future projects in China.

However, much of the aid in recent years has come from other parts of government, including the business department and the environment department, which has funded projects designed to discourage the Chinese public from buying goods made from endangered species, such as pangolins.

The business department said last year it would end its funding for 'research and innovation' in China, although projects to help tackle climate change may continue.
A Chinese acrobat has died after falling during a show in Suzhou city on Saturday.

A viral clip showed the moment Sun Moumou, 37, fell from a height onto the stage.

Her husband failed to catch her with his legs as the pair transitioned in mid-air.

Local news claimed Sun fell from more than 32 feet (10 metres) above the ground.

Reports say she was taken to hospital where doctors were unable to save her life.

'We were always happy together,' her husband said. 'As I am in the middle of the process of dealing with all of this, I can't disclose any specific details at this time.'

Video still shows the couple transitioning into a new position during the performance in China

In the original video, spectators are heard to scream as Sun loses her grip.

A colleague told reporters she was still breathing 'weakly' after the fall.

The performance was cancelled immediately, along with planned weekend shows.

The Global Times reported that Anhui Yaxi Performing Art Media had been fined more than $7,000 for 'holding commercial performances without approval'.

Local officials expressed 'deep condolences' and sympathy to the victim's family.

The couple, both born in 1986, reportedly had a son and a daughter together.

Social media users called for better regulation in the industry as the clip went viral.

Authorities will investigate how Sun performed without proper safety precautions.

Initial reports show the performance took place at a local family farm in Hougao.

Hougao is a village in Suzhou, a city in the northern part of Anhui Province, China.

It was reported she had worked with her husband, Zhang Moumou, for years.

News website The Paper reported that they often performed without safety belts.

Zhang told local news that she had not 'refused' to wear a safety line, as reported.

The horrific moment Ms Sun, 37, loses her grip and separates from her husband while in mid air
A Minnesota court rejected ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin's appeal for a new trial over the killing of George Floyd, meaning his 22 and a half-year state-issued sentence remains in place.

The decision was made by the Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday in response to a claim made by Chauvin in January that excessive publicity, among other things, prejudiced his trial.

His attorney also argued that excessive security, as well as the revelation that a juror attended a civil rights march, deprived Chauvin of a fair trial. But a three-judge panel sided with prosecutors, who said Chauvin got a fair trial and sentence.

It comes nearly three years after George Floyd's death on May 25 2020, which occurred after Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes.

Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill sentenced Chauvin in 2021 to 22 and a half years after jurors found him guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Later that year he pleaded guilty to a separate federal civil rights charge and was sentenced to 21 years in federal prison, which he is now serving in Arizona, at the same time as his state sentence.

A Minnesota court rejected ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin's appeal for a new trial over the killing of George Floyd. He is pictured appearing via Zoom from a federal prison in Tucson, Arizona, on Friday, March 17, 2023

It comes nearly three years since George Floyd's death on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes

'Police officers undoubtedly have a challenging, difficult, and sometimes dangerous job. However, no one is above the law,' Appeals Judge Peter Reyes wrote for the panel.

'When they commit a crime, they must be held accountable just as those individuals that they lawfully apprehend. The law only permits police officers to use reasonable force when effecting a lawful arrest. Chauvin crossed that line here when he used unreasonable force on Floyd,' Reyes added.

Chauvin's attorney, William Mohrman, argued on appeal that the trial judge should have moved the case out of Minneapolis because to excessive pretrial publicity and the extreme security measures that were in place during the trial.

'The primary issue on this appeal is whether a criminal defendant can get a fair trial consistent with constitutional requirements in a courthouse surrounded by concrete block, barbed wire, two armored personnel carriers, and a squad of National Guard troops, all of which or whom are there for one purpose: in the event that the jury acquits the defendant,' Mohrman said in oral arguments in January.

He argued that the pretrial publicity was the most extensive of any trial in Minnesota history, and that the judge should have moved the trial and sequestered the jury.

He also said the city's $27 million settlement with Floyd's family and unrest over the police killing of another black man in a Minneapolis suburb during jury selection prejudiced Chauvin's trial.

Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides over the sentencing of former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis on June 25, 2021

Chauvin was also sentenced to 21 years in federal prison last year, which he is now serving in Arizona concurrent with his state sentence. He is pictured in mugshots released by the Minnesota Department of Corrections in December 2021

People gather at the unveiling of artist Kenny Altidor's memorial portrait of George Floyd painted on a storefront sidewall of CTown Supermarket in Brooklyn, New York

His appeal also focused on one juror who participated in a civil rights event commemorating the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s March on Washington, a few months after Floyd's death. Only after the trial did the juror reveal that he had been there.

But Neal Katyal, a special attorney for the state, argued that Chauvin got 'one of the most transparent and thorough trials in our nation's history.'

'Judge Cahill managed this trial with enormous care, and even if Chauvin could identify some minor fault, any error is harmless,' Katyal said. 'The evidence of Chauvin's guilt was captured on video for the world to see.'

Bystander video captured Floyd's cries of "I can't breathe". His death triggered protests around the world, some of which turned violent, and forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism.

The appeals court ruling dictates that the trial judge did not abuse his discretion in deciding those issues.

Chauvin was seen in videos recorded by horrified onlookers kneeling on the handcuffed Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes in May 2020

Four former Minneapolis police officers convicted of civil rights violations in George Floyd's killing. Pictured from left: Derek Chauvin, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao

Last year Chauvin was transferred from the state prison to a federal prison, which is considered by many to be a far safer and less restrictive place to serve time.

In handing down the sentence, US District Judge Paul Magnuson told Chauvin: 'For your actions, you must be held accountable.'

Chauvin's sentence was doled out as 252 months in prison, but Judge Magnuson subtracted seven-months for time already served.

He pleaded guilty in December 2021 as part of a plea deal, admitting he violated Floyd's civil rights by kneeling on the man's neck and back.

Chauvin didn't offer an apology to the members of Floyd's family present in the courtroom, but instead said he wished his kids 'all the best in their life,' and hoped they would have 'excellent guidance in becoming good adults.'

Other police officers present at the time - J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao - were also handed federal sentences.

Kueng, Lane and Thao were convicted of federal charges in February 2022. All three were convicted of depriving Floyd of his right to medical care and Thao and Kueng were also convicted of failing to intervene to stop Chauvin during the killing.

Lane, who is white, is serving a two and a half-year federal sentence at a facility in Colorado. He's serving a three-year state sentence at the same time.

Kueng, who is black, was sentenced to three years on the federal counts. Thao, who is Hmong American, got a three and a half year federal sentence.
Disgraced MP Margaret Ferrier is appealing her 30-day suspension from the House of Commons for breaking Covid rules, it was revealed today.

The Rutherglen and Hamilton West MP is facing the prospect of a by-election in her Scottish constituency after being sanctioned by Parliament's sleaze watchdog.

But the 62-year-old will fight against the punishment handed to her as she battles to save her political career.

Ms Ferrier, who was elected as an SNP MP at the 2019 general election, was suspended by her party after she was revealed to have broken Covid rules.

She developed coronavirus symptoms on 26 September 2020 and took a test, but still went to church and had lunch with a family member the following day.

Margaret Ferrier is facing the prospect of a by-election in her Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency after being sanctioned by Parliament's sleaze watchdog

A by-election would be an immediate electoral test for new SNP leader Humza Yousaf in the wake of the party's recent turmoil

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar is 'confident' enough people will sign the petition needed to spark a by-election if Ms Ferrier is suspended from the Commons for 10 days or more

While awaiting the result of the test, Ms Ferrier travelled by train to London, took part in a Commons debate and ate in the MPs' tea room in Parliament.

That evening she received a text telling her the test was positive. But instead of isolating, she travelled back to Scotland by train the following morning.

Ms Ferrier was ordered to complete a 270-hour community payback order by a court after admitting culpably and recklessly exposing the public 'to the risk of infection, illness and death'.

Last month, the Commons' Committee on Standards then recommended Ms Ferrier be suspended from Parliament for 30 days for damaging the reputation of the House.

It means she faces losing her seat in a by-election if the proposed suspension is backed by MPs, as anything longer than a 10-day punishment can trigger a recall petition.

If 10 per cent of constituents in Rutherglen and Hamilton West back a recall petition, a by-election will be called.

The contest would be a close fight between the SNP and Labour, with the two parties having seen the seat swap between them at the last four general elections.

It would also be an immediate electoral test for new SNP leader Humza Yousaf in the wake of the party's recent turmoil.

But Ms Ferrier's suspension is yet to be confirmed as she is appealing to Parliament's Independent Expert Panel, which is entirely independent and has no MPs sitting on it.

The panel, as part of its remit, considers appeals against decisions by the Committee on Standards from MPs who have been found to have breached the code of conduct.

Sir Stephen Irwin, the chair of the Independent Expert Panel, confirmed Ms Ferrier had submitted an appeal against her suspension in a letter to Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle today.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said he was 'confident' enough people will sign the petition needed to spark a by-election if Ms Ferrier is suspended from the Commons for 10 days or more.

'There's plenty of anger and frustration, and people realising they have a local MP who broke the law and hasn't been there fighting their corner,' he said as he campaigned in Rutherglen today.

'We're confident we can get the numbers, but we're not complacent about that, we have got to do the hard work.'

Mr Yousaf has already said he would welcome a by-election in the constituency  although he has conceded it will take 'hard work' for his party to retain the seat.

'We've said from day one that Margaret Ferrier should have stepped down because of her reckless action,' he said.

'I look forward to fighting that by-election on our strong track record.

'We've got strong support in Rutherglen and right across that region. But it will take hard work.'
A Connecticut mother-of-three on a solo expedition through the mountainous region of Japan never reached her checkpoint seven days ago and now her frantic family is pleading for help.

Patricia 'Pattie' Wu-Murad, from Storrs, Connecticut was last seen a week ago on April 10 when she checked out of the Mandokoro guesthouse in Higashiomi city at about 7am.

She was due to stay at the Taiyo-no-yu guesthouse 11.2 miles away that night and her family believe she was planning to follow a scenic hiking trail from one guesthouse to the next, which should have taken her seven to nine hours. Pattie never arrived.

Cops began a 72-hour search including 26 officers and helicopters on April 11 but were unable to find any leads - claiming they have 'limited resources over the weekends'. Wu-Murad's frantic family is now flying out to join the search on Tuesday.

Her devastated husband, Kirk Murad told the Hartford Courant, who has called the ordeal a 'nightmare,' expressed gratitude for the support and love he has received.

Patricia 'Pattie' Wu-Murad, from Storrs, Connecticut was last seen one week ago - April 10 - when she checked out of the Mandokoro guesthouse at about 7am

A photo of the Unesco heritage Kumano Kodo pilgrimage path in the heavily wooded forest leading to Nachi Falls, Wakayama, Japan

A photo of Patricia Wu-Murad and her husband Kirk Murad

'Pattie has been my best friend since 1986. We married in 1990. I want to celebrate our 33rd anniversary next month with her and both our families,' Murad wrote.

Wu-Murad's concerned daughter Murphy Murad said she received the last text from her mother on April 9 around 8:02 AM, Japan Standard Time to which she responded 40 minutes later, and it went through.

Given the time she left on the morning of April 10, family believe she should have arrived at the second guesthouse between 4pm and 5pm, but when she hadn't arrived by 8:15pm, the guesthouse host reported her missing to police.

A family friend sent a text message to Pattie on April 12 around 2:53 am but that message was undeliverable.

Murphy said her mother's planned itinerary had included traveling to Osaka on April 13 and April 14 then meeting up with family friends at the Ryozen-ji Temples on April 16.

'Our family friends went to the location hoping she would show up but after waiting for a few hours, walking around both temples, and showing Pattie's picture around,' Murphy said. 'They came out empty handed.'

An employee at the first guest house told family and authorities that Wu-Murad was wearing a 'brownish red jacket and had been holding a camera in her hands.' The person shared the photo to help aid in the search.

Murphy accompanied by her father and another family member, who is a native of Japan, plan to travel to Japan on Tuesday and meet with a local guide and translator in hopes of speaking with the Gojo Police Department and urging them to continue their search.

They also plan on doing their own investigation by traveling to the guesthouses and stopping at the major checkpoints and sites where people may have seen her.

On April 16, the family issued a statement that their private search and rescue team was deployed early morning and have so far come up empty but will be continuing their efforts.

'The past 48 hours they have searched areas where individuals are more likely to get lost, fall from heights, or get swept up by the nearby river.

'At this point the private search and rescue team believe 'that a very irregular situation occurred on April 10'.'

The family said they were notified by the US Embassy on Thursday and and have been pleading with local authorities to continue the search, but said they have had 'zero luck.'

'We now need to take matters into our own hands, hire a private search and rescue mountain crew (est. $10,000), fly out to Osaka (est. $5,000), and begin looking for her ourselves,' they family wrote.

'Additionally, the cost of hiring a helicopter for aerial search (a highly important resource to cover as much ground as possible) is roughly $1,600 per hour.'

The family said they also need to cover insurance, accommodation, guides to lead them through the unfamiliar terrain, and other expenses that we they wrote, 'the can't even begin to comprehend at the moment.'

'We are reaching out to you, our friends, family, and community to help us raise funds to cover these expenses,' they said.

'Every dollar counts and any amount you can contribute will make a significant difference in our efforts to find our mom and wife. We are determined to bring her home safely, but we cannot do it alone.'

As of Monday afternoon, nearly $82,000 has been raised towards their goal of $100,000.

Wu-Murad retired last year from her job as an associated director of development at United Technologies Aerospace System.

Two statues of Jozo or Jizo Bosatsu, called Hanakake Jizo"are carved on a large rock located along Dainichi-goe route, a trail over Mt. Dainichi that connects Kumano Hongu Taisha and Yunomine Onsen on June 12, 2019 in Tanabe, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan
The DOJ announced three cases that accuse the Chinese government of spying in the US

Prosecutors say the illegal police station to 'silence and harass' individuals across America

The FBI have arrested two Chinese operatives on suspicion of running an illegal police station in downtown Manhattan to spy on and harass dissidents on US soil.

US attorney for the Eastern District of New York confirmed that two men have been arrested in connection with the station in New York City's Chinatown neighborhood.

Lu Jianwang, 61, of the Bronx, and Chen Jinping, 59, of Manhattan, were both arrested on Monday morning at their addresses in New York.

They have been charged with conspiring to act as agents for the Chinese government, and are expected to appear in federal court in Brooklyn.

More than a dozen Chinese nationals have been charged by federal prosecutors with waging a campaign of surveillance and harassment against dissidents living in the States.

The US attorney for the Eastern District of New York confirmed that two residents have been arrested in connection with the station in Manhattan's Chinatown neighborhood

Prosecutors say Jianwang tried to persuade a Chinese fugitive to return home, and continually 'harassed and threatened' the individual in 2018.

In 2022 China's government asked Jianwang to locate a pro-democracy Chinese activist living in California.

The pair admitted to the FBI that they deleted their communications with a Chinese government official after discovering they were under investigation.

Lu Jianwang, 61, of the Bronx was arrested on Monday morning

Both are accused of running the station for a provincial branch of the Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China (PRC).

If convicted of conspiring to act as agents of the PRC, the defendants face a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

An obstruction of justice charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Jianwang admitted that in 2015, during President Xi Jinpings visit to the US, he sent 15 members of the group to participate in counterprotests in Washington DC .

Acting Assistant Director Kurt Ronnow, of the Counterintelligence Division, said in a press conference on Monday: 'It is simply outrageous that China's Ministry of Public Security thinks it can get away with establishing a secret, illegal police station on U.S. soil to aid its efforts to export repression and subvert our rule of law.

'This case serves as a powerful reminder that the People's Republic of China will stop at nothing to bend people to their will and silence messages they don't want anyone to hear.'

Both are accused of running the station for a provincial branch of the Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China (PRC)

They ran the secret police station above a ramen store in Manhattan's Chinatown for several months

Lu Jianwang, 61, (third left) and Chen Jinping, 59, (second left) were both arrested on Monday morning at their addresses in New York

In addition to the case in New York, the Department of Justice announced two other cases accusing dozens of Chinese nationals of spying on US soil.

One is against 34 members of Beijing's Municipal Public Security Bureau (MPSB), and another against a group of 10 people that includes eight Chinese government officials.

Members of the MPSB are accused of creating fake social media accounts across various platforms to harass Chinese dissidents in the US and to promote propaganda from China  including relating to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The third case involves Chinese security officials allegedly spying on Zoom calls and then harassing those that they identified as targets.

Ten Chinese officials were charged with conspiracy along with an employee of a telecommunications company who worked in the People's Republic of China - Julien Jin.

An obstruction of justice charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison

Many of the stations are open in Western Europe, with only four in North America

Six were officers of the PRC Ministry of Public Security (MPS) and two are officials with the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC).

One civilian was also charged with conspiracy to commit interstate harassment and unlawful conspiracy to transfer means of identification. All the defendants are believed to reside in the PRC and remain at large

Breon Peace, the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, said in a statement: 'This prosecution reveals the Chinese government's flagrant violation of our nation's sovereignty by establishing a secret police station in the middle of New York City.'

The charges come after FBI Director Christopher Wray told a U.S. Senate committee in November that he was 'very concerned' about the presence of such stations in U.S. cities.

He said the Chinese government setting up a police presence in the United States 'violates sovereignty' and circumvents law enforcement cooperation.
A 'Peeping Tom' who hacked into hundreds of webcams across the world so he could spy on women undressing and having sex is facing jail.

Over a three-year period Christopher Taylor, 60, tricked 772 people in 39 different countries into unwittingly relinquishing control of their computers so he could monitor their private lives.

Police believe 47 women were secretly watched by the married father-of-three from his laptop at his 170,000 semi-detached home in Wigan, Greater Manchester, while engaging in sexual activity with their partners.

He was finally caught when IT specialists at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta alerted the FBI after the malware was found on the laptop of a student at its aerospace laboratory.

When British police raided his home, Taylor - a full-time carer for his wife Wendy - told officers: 'It's just what I've been meddling with on the computer.'

Christopher Taylor, 60, pictured outside Bolton Crown Court, hacked into hundreds of webcams across the world so he could spy on women undressing and having sex

Taylor's home in Wigan, Greater Manchester, where police believe he secretly watched 47 women

He faced extradition proceedings to face trial in the US for wire fraud and computer fraud, but the request was turned down after a judge in London ruled it would 'negatively impact' his ailing wife.

More than seven years after his original arrest, Taylor could be jailed tomorrow after he admitted securing unauthorised access to computer material and voyeurism.

Taylor also admitted possession of extreme pornography over obscene images found on his devices.

He lured in his unwitting victims with a phony link he placed on porn sites which, when clicked, would allow him full access to their laptop's function, Bolton Crown Court heard.

He was found to have amassed a huge cache of 80,000 images and videos dating from between 2012 and 2015.

'Many of these images and videos captured people eating, working, lying in bed and doing yoga,' Neil Fryman, prosecuting, told the hearing.

'However, there were also a number of images that showed people in various stages of undress and involved in sexual activity.'

Mr Fryman said the malware was detected on a student's laptop by the 'sophisticated spyware systems' at Georgia Institute of Technology.

The married father-of-three, who is a full-time carer for his wife Wendy, is now facing a maximum of two years' imprisonment

That enabled FBI agents to link it back to Taylor's unassuming home in north west England.

The investigation found Taylor had deleted thousands of files before his arrest.

In mitigation for Taylor, Andrew Jebb said his client 'still struggles to provide an obvious answer as to why all of this began'.

He told the court that Taylor's obsession 'merely started out as an interest in viruses before it developed into something more sinister'.

Taylor - who has been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome  previously claimed he not used the malware for 'sexual gratification' or targeted anyone in particular but had an 'obsessive interest in computers and hacking'.

The failed extradition bid in 2020 heard he had become 'fascinated' by the idea that he would be able to see through other people's webcams - describing it as an 'addiction'.

He faces a maximum of two years' imprisonment.
More than 5,000 migrants could have crossed the English Channel already this year, with dozens more making the perilous journey today amid more favourable weather conditions.

Onlookers reported seeing three groups being intercepted as they attempted to cross the 21-mile Dover Straits in inflatable dinghies or other small boats this morning.

Border Force vessel Ranger escorted dozens of migrants, including at least three small children and a baby, into the port at Dover, Kent shortly before 11am.

A second group, predominantly made up of men, was steered into the harbour on Border Force cutter Hurricane less than an hour later.

Smugglers appeared to take advantage of milder weather in the UK - as Britons were hit with highs of 17 degrees this afternoon.

More than 5,000 migrants could have crossed the English Channel already this year, with dozens more making the perilous journey today amid more favourable weather conditions. Pictured: RNLI picks up migrants earlier this month

While the Home Office is yet to confirm the official figures for today, it is thought that the latest arrivals could tip the running total over 5,000

According to data released by the Government, 37 migrants crossed the Channel on Sunday, taking the total for 2023 so far to 4,936 in 118 boats - an average of 42 people per vessel.

While the Home Office is yet to confirm the official figures for today, it is thought that the latest arrivals could tip the running total over 5,000.

This is significantly less than 2022, which had already seen 6,342 migrants cross the Channel by small boat at this point in the year.

Last year saw a record of 45,755 asylum seekers reach the UK. The busiest day came on August 22 when 1,295 people made treacherous journey in a 24-hour period.

Officials predicted that as many as 80,000 migrants could enter the UK on small boats this year, but bad weather on the coast has put a temporary halt to crossings on multiple occasions already.

A Home Office spokesperson said: 'The unacceptable number of people risking their lives by making these dangerous crossings is placing an unprecedented strain on our asylum system.

'Our priority is to stop this illegal trade, and our Small Boats Operational Command is working alongside our French partners and other agencies to disrupt the people smugglers.

Officials predicted that as many as 80,000 migrants could enter the UK on small boats this year but bad weather has halted crossings on many occasions. Pictured: Migrants arrive in Dover on April 10

The Home Office condemned the illegal crossings and hit out at them 'placing an unprecedented strain on our asylum system'

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Home Secretary Ms Braverman have said that 'stopping the boats' across the Channel is a crucial priority

'The government has gone further by introducing legislation which will ensure that those people arriving in the UK illegally are detained and promptly removed to their country of origin or a safe third country.'

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Home Secretary Ms Braverman have said that 'stopping the boats' across the Channel is a crucial priority, but campaigners have condemned much of the Government's response, with the latest proposed legislation - the Illegal Migration Bill - described as an effective 'asylum ban'.

Meanwhile it was just over a year ago since the 120million Rwanda scheme was announced by then home secretary Priti Patel on April 14.

Under the proposals, any adult who enters Britain illegally could be sent on a one-way ticket to the African country to have their asylum claim processed.

But, over the past 12 months, no migrants have been sent to Rwanda from the UK as the Government battles legal challenges against the policy.

A poll by the More In Common think tank, carried out between April 6 to 11, found that 46 per cent of people still support the Rwanda scheme.

However, results of the poll, published showed almost half (48 per cent) believed the policy would not make a difference to the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats.
Senior Senate Republicans are warning they will block Democrats from sliding Sen. Dianne Feinstein out of her Judiciary Committee role amid demands that she resign due to her advanced age.

Following calls for the longtime California Democrat to step down as she continues to miss votes with a case of shingles, party leaders made arrangements to get her off the panel so that majority Democrats can keep confirming federal judges through the narrowly divided Senate.

But any change requires Republicans to go along, and Arkansas GOP Sen. Tom Cotton made his own views known over the weekend.

'Republicans should not assist Democrats in confirming Joe Biden's most radical nominees to the courts,' he wrote, tweeting and article in the conservative publication The Federalist which argued there was 'zero reason' for them to assist.

Cotton's hardline stance came as senators were returning to Washington after a recess, after a prominent Democrat again called on Feinstein to step down.

Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has missed a series of votes while battling shingles. Republicans might not let Democrats take her off the powerful Judiciary Committee in order to keep President Biden's judicial nominees stalled

Feinstein faced new calls for her to resign her seat last month, after she was hospitalized for shingles and missed a series of committee votes. Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, who has missed weeks of votes while seeking in-patient treatment for depression, was set to return to the Senate Monday.

The absences have hobbled the majority's ability to move nominations.

Feinstein is refusing to step down, but said days ago she has asked Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to appoint a temporary replacement for her on Judiciary.

She has already said she won't seek re-election in 2024 after a series of reports about her difficulties particulars about legislation or personnel in Congress.

Republicans have the ability to try to block the move: any single senator could object to a Schumer request for 'unanimous consent' to make the move. Party leaders could then try to push the change through on a vote, but rules would require them to obtain 60 votes to make the change.

Democrats have faced challenges in the 51-49 Senate, with absences by Feinstein and Pennsylvania's John Fetterman, who returned to the U.S. Capitol Monday following six weeks of treatment for clinical depression.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., center, walks to the Senate Chamber, Monday, April 17, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington, after almost six weeks away after a fall at a Washington-area hotel and extended treatment for a concussion. He has yet to reveal whether he would seek to block Democrats from shifting Feinstein off Judiciary, where her absences have stalled President Biden's nomiantions

Sen. Tom Cotton indicated he won't go along with an effort by Democrats to take the ailing senators off the Judiciary Committee on a temporary basis

A key figure in the matter will be Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has himself been absent for weeks after taking a fall at a fundraiser at the former Trump hotel, only returning to the Senate Monday after suffering a concussion.

McConnell, 81, considers himself an institutionalist who said he held Trump responsible for January 6. But one of his principal achievements has been helping remake the judiciary through bitter floor flights  including killing the nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court during the Obama administration.

One McConnell confidant told Politico 'My instinct is he would do everything he could to keep Democrats from stacking the federal judiciary,' saying: 'It would be a little strange for him to grease the wheels to continue to churn out what heretofore has been a pretty high rate of confirmations.'

But it is an issue that could one day bounce back at McConnell, 81, who hopes to reclaim the majority next year with his own aging cohort. Senior Republican, Charles Grassley, 89, had hip surgery just 10 days into his new six-year term.

If Republicans nix the move, it but the issue right back the Democrats' court, where California progressive Rep. Ro Khanna on Sunday kept up his calls for Feinstein to step down.

He called on Gov. Gavin Newsom to appoint a 'caretaker' senator to fill the seat.

'He doesn't have to appoint someone in the current race' to succeed her, Khanna said on Fox News Sunday. 'I would support the governor doing that. This has nothing to do with the current race, because a caretaker would solve that.'
Convicted killer Alex Murdaugh has requested more time to fight an insurance fraud lawsuit filed by the family of his late housekeeper who mysteriously died after tripping at their family home.

Murdaugh, 54, argued prison conditions prohibit him from properly fighting a legal challenge posed by Tony Satterfield and his brother Bryan, who he promised to take care of after their mother Gloria died following a fall at the Murdaugh estate in February 2018.

Gloria was found at the bottom of the stairs in front of the Murdaugh's home in an incident officially declared as an 'accident.' Unanswered questions about her death have recently surfaced since Murdaugh was arrested for killing his wife and son in 2021.

The disgraced attorney pledged to get Gloria's sons $100,000 each and cover Gloria's medical expenses after she allegedly tripped over the Murdaugh family dog and later died in the hospital.

But Murdaugh went on to steal more than $4.3million from two insurance policies without giving the sons a cent, according to the lawsuit.

The extension filed by Murdaugh's lawyers on April 3 claimed he 'intends to participate fully in this litigation to the extent his carceral circumstances permit.' Murdaugh's request was approved and extended until May 1.

Alex Murdaugh, 54, received an extension in an insurance fraud case involving his late housekeeper, who died at his family's estate

Gloria Satterfield allegedly tripped over the Murdaugh family dog while working at their South Carolina home in 2018

Murdaugh is being held at a South Carolina maximum security prison, McCormick Correctional Institution.

He was convicted of killing his wife and son at the family's sprawling hunting estate in Islandton, South Carolina, on June 7, 2021. Paul, 22, was shot twice with a shotgun and Maggie, 52, was shot five times with a rifle.

The State argues he killed the pair to distract from the millions he had stolen from his firm and the soaring debts that he could no longer keep up with.

Even though Gloria Satterfield died in an accident, her death was never reported to the Hampton County coroner.

The Murdaugh family told the sons their mother tripped over the family dog. Gloria died in hospital around four weeks later from a head injury. She was never able to relay the events of that day.

Court documents state how Alex Murdaugh, a former attorney himself, told Satterfield's sons he was personally responsible for the fall and said he would 'sue himself' so that their family would be taken care of financially.

Murdaugh managed to secure $4.3 million from his insurers, but he only told the sons about a $500,000 settlement, the lawsuit claims.

He took the settlement money by creating a fraudulent bank account with a name similar to a legal consulting firm that handles settlements, the lawsuit said.

To this day, Satterfield's two sons say they still don't know how the fall caused her such horrific injuries that she died from them and never received a penny from an insurance payout

Murdaugh told Satterfield's sons at her February 2018 funeral that he would get insurance settlements for her death and take care of them, according to the lawsuit filed by the sons

Tony Satterfield, son of Gloria Satterfield, points out Alex Murdaugh during Murdaugh's double murder trial in February. To this day, Satterfield's two sons say they still don't know how the fall caused her such horrific injuries that she died from them and never received a penny from an insurance payout

Alex Murdaugh, right, was seen leaning over to talk with his attorney Jim Griffin in his double murder trial at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, on February 3

Murdaugh is being held at a South Carolina maximum security prison, McCormick Correctional Institution

Buster, Maggie, Paul and Alex Murdaugh (from left). Murdaugh's wife, Maggie, and son Paul were found shot dead at the family's hunting lodge in a horrific double murder in June 2021

Gloria's son, Tony testified in February about text messages and calls exchanged with Murdaugh in April 2021, telling him he was 'finally getting some movement' in the case - but in fact had already pocketed two recovery payments.

'When the defendant came to you around the time of your mom's funeral and said he was going to help you and file a claim on your behalf, why did you agree?' prosecutor Creighton Waters asked.

'Because I trusted him,' said Satterfield.

Satterfield testified he was only informed of the settlements in June, 2021, after the murders.

'Did you ever get one cent from Alex Murdaugh?' Waters asked.

'No,' Satterfield answered.

Gloria had worked at the Murdaugh estate as a housekeeper and nanny for more than two years.

'Gloria was told she was part of the Murdaugh family, and she believed it to be true. The Murdaughs are prominent and wealthy family based in Hampton County that for generations controlled the prosecutors office in Hampton County and were the prominent legal family in the area,' the sons' lawyer said in their lawsuit.
The detective who caught one of the most notorious hoaxers in British criminal history has revealed how he almost cheated justice as all the key exhibits were feared to have been destroyed or lost.

'Wearside Jack' convinced police hunting the Yorkshire Ripper in 1979 that he was the mass murderer by sending in three anonymous letters and a sinister, taunting tape recording.

While detectives were distracted by the false trail, convinced they were hunting a killer from Sunderland, the real Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe - who died in 2020 aged 74 - murdered three more women in a reign of terror that cost 13 lives.

It was only 27 years later that bricklayer John Humble was finally unmasked as the hoaxer and jailed.

John Humble, the Yorkshire Ripper hoaxer known as 'Wearside Jack', convinced police hunting the Yorkshire Ripper in 1979 that he was the mass murderer

Humble taunted police detectives in the 1970s by claiming to be the Yorkshire Ripper in three letters and an audio tape. Pictured: An envelope Humble sent West Yorkshire police in 1979

Now the only detective to work on both the original Ripper investigation and the subsequent cold case probe has spoken of how he was told key exhibits had been destroyed when he set about trying to catch the hoaxer in 2005.

Three letters in which 'Jack' laid down a string of false 'clues' had been treated with chemicals in a bid to find fingerprints so many times they had turned black, Chris Gregg tells a new podcast series.

Meanwhile the now infamous tape on which the hoaxer sent the detective leading the team hunting the Ripper a taunting message in June 1979 had been taken home by a scientist.

It was recovered, but investigators were unable to develop any new scientific leads.

Now retired, former Detective Chief Superintendent Gregg told the 'Behind the Crimes' podcast how a laboratory biologist made the breakthrough when she came across a crucial piece of evidence.

'In a place it shouldn't have been were glass slides,' he said.

'In between the two pieces (of glass) was a perfectly-preserved two centimetre section of the seal from envelope three of the Ripper letters.

'Perfectly preserved.

'She blew the dust off and that quickly produced a one in a billion profile.'

While detectives were distracted by the false trail, convinced they were hunting a killer from Sunderland, the real Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe (pictured) - who died in 2020 aged 74 - murdered three more women in a reign of terror that cost 13 lives

The now infamous tape (pictured) on which the hoaxer sent the detective leading the team hunting the Ripper a taunting message in June 1979 had been taken home by a scientist

Three letters in which 'Jack' laid down a string of false 'clues' had been treated with chemicals in a bid to find fingerprints so many times they had turned black, Chris Gregg tells a new podcast series. Pictured: Page one of the first letter sent by John Humble

When that tiny slip of paper was tested, a DNA sample was found.

It quickly led to Humble's arrest as his profile had already been logged for minor offences.

He admitted four counts of perverting the course of justice and was jailed for eight years in 2005.

After being given a new identity following his release, Humble died aged 63 in 2019 from 'chronic alcohol abuse'.

Speaking to the podcast, Mr Gregg describes how the Ripper Inquiry  which was already under extreme pressure - was 'derailed' by Humble's three letters and tape recording.

He was one of more than 100 detectives ordered to Halifax's Old Court House by George Oldfield, head of West Yorkshire CID.

Mr Gregg recalls how the lead detective sat in the court's high chair and spoke with the team of Ripper investigators.

'He said they'd received a tape which he was going to play for us and that they are satisfied that this was from the killer,' he said.

'And he was saying it in a tone that was very, very sombre and serious.'

He recalls how Mr Oldfield  who was to die 'a broken man' in 1985  told them: 'I want you to listen to this very carefully.

Author and lecturer Patrick Lavelle (pictured in October 2005) spent years trying to track down the Yorkshire Ripper hoaxer

'I want every one of you to see if you can recall anyone you have questioned that has an accent or a voice like this.'

Mr Gregg told how the courtroom fell 'deathly silent'.

'Then he went click.'

The tape lasted for three minutes and 14 seconds, beginning with the haunting words: 'I'm Jack'.

In a gruff north east accent, he went on: 'I see you are having no luck in catching me.

'I have the greatest respect for you, George, but Lord you are no nearer catching me now than four years ago, when I started.

'I reckon your boys are letting you down, George. Ya can't be much good, can ya?'

Analysts linked the voice to the Castletown area of Sunderland  fatefully shifting the focus of the inquiry to a completely different part of northern England.

More than a million pounds was spent on advertising, while the recording was played on television and radio bulletins.

In the meantime, the real serial killer  lorry driver Peter Sutcliffe  murdered three more women and attacked three more who survived.

Two victims who had managed to get away alive told detectives their attacker had a Yorkshire accent  not the North Eastern voice of the person on the tape. However they were discounted by Mr Oldfield, a move which would later heap shame on both him and his force.

A set of catastrophic coincidences had already helped convince him the letters  the first of which was sent in 1978 - were genuine.

At that time, detectives knew of seven murder victims.

This letter described an eighth, referred to as 'Preston 1975'.

Police Assistant Chief Constable George Oldfield reads the text of a letter thought to be written by the Yorkshire Ripper to the media at a press conference in Wakefield in 1979

Pictured: Four envelopes and two signatures of the Yorkshire 'Ripper'

The back of an envelope sent to police which contained an audio tape made by John Humble, better known as 'Wearside Jack'

This alluded to the killing of 26-year-old Joan Harrison. Lancashire Police had discounted any links with the Yorkshire murders.

But scientists found that the person who licked the letter, a sample found at the scene of the crime and a third sample found from one of the confirmed Ripper murders all came from men with rare blood group.

In the days before DNA, Mr Oldfield concluded these were likely to be the same man.

The man who murdered Joan Harrison also left a bite mark which matched one inflicted by Sutcliffe when he killed Josephine Whitaker in Halifax in April 1979.

Sutcliffe was interviewed a total of nine times during the investigation, without being arrested.

'Getting the killer in the net, the lines of inquiry, they were doing it,' Mr Gregg told the podcast.

'But then they started eliminating on Geordie accents.'

Apparently stricken with remorse, Humble later phoned police anonymously to reveal he was a hoaxer  but he was not believed.

Sutcliffe was finally caught in January 1981 after being stopped in Sheffield's red light district.

He was given 20 life sentences and died in 2020 after refusing treatment for Covid-19.

In 2011, Joan Harrison's killer was identified as Christopher Smith, who had died in 2008.

Robert Murphy, presenter and showrunner of 'Behind the Crimes' said: 'The investigation to find the serial killer was floundering.

Pictured: John Humble being interviewed by West Yorkshire police

The house in Sunderland that is thought to be the home of 'Wearside Jack' - as seen in October 2005 after Humble was arrested on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice

'John Humble could never have foreseen just how many catastrophic coincidences would be thrown up by his dark deception  the letters and the tape.

'Often in crime, insignificant people are capable of doing deeply significant things.

'Humble didn't kill anyone. But he, his hoax and police mistakes paved the way for Britain's most famous killer to continue his murderous rampage.

'Three women lost their lives  and he did little to put police back on the right track.'

Behind the Crimes is a true crime podcast series written, presented and produced by TV crime correspondent Robert Murphy.

He produced crime podcast series 'No Strings Attached' and 'Catching Melanie's Killer' for ITV News. All three episodes are available from tomorrow.
A man extradited from Pakistan over the murder of Police Constable Sharon Beshenivsky 18 years ago may have to wait until next year to go on trial.

Piran Ditta Khan, 74, appeared at the Old Bailey by videolink from Belmarsh top security jail on Monday for the preliminary hearing before Judge Mark Lucraft KC.

The judge, who is the Recorder of London, set a timetable for the preparation of the case with a plea hearing on July 14 provisionally at the Old Bailey before him.

A trial fixture of up to six weeks could not be accommodated at the Old Bailey before January 2024, the court heard.

The question of whether the case should be moved to a crown court in the region where Pc Beshenivsky died will be settled at a future date.

Piran Ditta Khan, 74, (right) appeared at the Old Bailey by videolink from Belmarsh top security jail on Monday for the preliminary hearing before Judge Mark Lucraft KC

He is charged with the murder of rookie officer PC Sharon Beshenivsky, 38, (pictured) who was killed during an armed robbery in West Yorkshire in 2005

The defendant is alleged to have played a large part in the organisation of an armed robbery which led to the death of Pc Beshenivsky.

The 38-year-old died on November 18 2005 after she and a colleague responded to a report of a robbery at Universal Travel in Morley Street, Bradford.

The married mother-of-three, who had two stepchildren, was a probationer with only nine months service when she was killed.

Her colleague, Pc Teresa Millburn, was seriously injured.

Pakistani police officers escort Piran Ditta Khan (centre) following his court appearance in Islamabad, Pakistan in January 2020

The charges against Khan were authorised in 2006, leading to the issuing of the extradition warrant. He is pictured in a courtroom sketch

In 2018, a warrant was issued for the arrest of Khan in Pakistan and he was detained in 2020.

After being brought back to the UK last Thursday, Khan was taken into custody at a West Yorkshire police station and charge with the murder of Pc Beshenivsky and five other offences.

Khan is also charged with robbery, two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon.

PC Teresa Milburn (pictured at the funeral of PC Beshenivsky) was also shot in the armed robbery

Forensic investigators are pictured at the scene of PC Beshenivsky's murder in Bradford in 2005

Officers are pictured patrolling floral tributes laid where PC Sharon Beshenivsky was gunned down in Bradford in 2005

The defendant is accused of robbing Mohammed Yousaf of a quantity of cash of a value unknown.

The firearms charges relate to alleged possession of a Mac 10 submachine gun and a 9mm pistol.

All the alleged offences are said to have taken place on the same day.

During the Old Bailey hearing, white-bearded Khan wore a grey tracksuit and spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth.

Judge Lucraft remanded British citizen Khan into custody.
The Women's Institute is facing a revolt over its policy on allowing transgender members to join.

Trustees of the organisation have been blasted for forcing equality rules upon local branches following advice from campaign groups, meaning that anyone who says they are 'living as a woman' can become a WI member and that anyone who refuses them on the grounds of their gender identity is transphobic.

The National Federation of Women's Institutes (NFWI) has been warned it risks not fulfilling its purpose as a charity to 'advance the education of women and girls' if it cannot properly define what a woman is.

A new group of disgruntled WI members is demanding the national HQ to pause the admission of trans women to local branches and wants members to be able to debate and hold a vote on the contentious issue.

More than 700 people have also signed its petition calling for the Middle England institution to return to being a single-sex space.

Petra Wenham (pictured right) from Elmsett, Ipswch. Petra is the first transgender person to appear on the cover of the Woman's Institute magazine. Her wife is Loraine (pictured left)

A letter sent to the board by the activists, who are calling themselves the Women's Institute Declaration, concludes: 'By failing to define what a woman is, by having a wide description for a trans woman and by not allowing respectful debate, or debate of any kind, the NFWI has de facto forced individual Women's Institutes to accept men.

'This has been achieved by poor drafting of policies, poor advice from advisers and is harmful to women as a whole.'

The WI  formed in 1915 and now the largest voluntary women's organisation in the UK with more than 180,000 members  declared in 2015 that it welcomed transgender women and, in 2021, featured trans woman Petra Wenham, who transitioned at age 68, on the cover of its magazine.

Its published policy states: 'Anyone who is living as a woman is welcome to join the WI and to participate in any WI activities in the same way as any other woman.'

The document says that it is 'unhelpful' to ask if there is a difference between a transgender woman who has undergone gender reassignment surgery and one who has not, and adds that it would be 'very offensive and hurtful' to ask for written evidence about an applicant's legal sex.

It adds that 'crossdressers' cannot join the WI as 'only those living as women can join the WI'.

A separate equality, diversity and inclusion policy states: 'Including transgender women furthers our objectives and enriches our membership to ensure we are a place for all women to celebrate who they are and influence positive change in their communities.'

But the new campaign group points out: 'There is no definition of what a woman is.'

Its letter to the trustees continues: 'If you cannot define the group you seek to represent [women], how can you understand their needs and demands?'

It points out that the WI often runs campaigns that are specific to women as a biological group, such as those opposing male violence, mixed hospital wards and the gender pay gap.

It says that the WI 'cannot legitimately campaign for women specific issues and constitutions have been de facto changed without members' consent' as a result of the admission of people who were born men.

The letter also brands as Orwellian the equality policy's glossary, which defines transphobia as 'the fear or dislike of someone based on the fact they are transgender, including denying their gender identity or refusing to accept it'.

Loraine (pictured right) is pictured with Petra Wenham on their wedding day in 1973. Petra transitioned aged 68 and became the first trans person to feature on the WI's magazine cover

The activists say that WI headquarters is 'seeking to police the thoughts of its members, who are not allowed to question an individual's intentions, and if they think that a man is a bad actor this is transphobic'.

Caroline Ffiske from Conservatives for Women told the Mail: 'Women have a right to vote to retain their single-sex spaces.

'I hope the WI allow this discussion and I do hope that it ultimately votes to remain proudly single sex.'

The campaign comes as ministers consider changing the equality law to make clear that it is based on biological sex rather than gender identity, a move that could see transgender women barred from female-only spaces.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said that he backs the proposal and just last week declared that 100 per cent of women do not have a penis, after Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer suggested the majority  99.9 per cent  did not, meaning the equivalent of one in a thousand do have male genitalia.
The biggest 'elephant walk' in the history of the US Air Force has been staged in a show of military strength amid the war in Ukraine and tensions with China.

In incredible scenes at Sheppard Air Force Base, in Wichita County, Texas, 4,000 airmen shared the runway with 80 aircraft.

The powerful display comes as an American warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait as China makes continued aggressive maneuvers around the island nation.

The term 'elephant walk' originated in the Second World War, when large fleets of allied bombers would conduct attacks in missions containing 1,000 aircraft.

The taxiing of these large numbers of aircraft to take off in single file in nose-to-tail formations is said to resemble elephants walking.

The United States held the world's biggest 'elephant walk' in a titanic show of military might

The term 'elephant walk' originated in the Second World War, as taxiing aircrafts resembled the animal

The incredible show took place at Sheppard Air Force Base, in Wichita County, Texas

The spectacular display, carried out last week, aimed to highlight the importance of Air Force training and America's partnerships worldwide.

'The key to airpower is exceptional Airmen, and the key to exceptional Airmen is exceptional training,' said General Lyle K. Drew, commander of the 82nd Training Wing.

'Thats what we do here at Sheppard, and this elephant walk was our message to the world that the U.S. and its international partners remain committed to delivering the best trained Airmen in the world.'

Sheppard Air Force Base is home to three of the eight technical training groups in the Air Force as well as Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training.

Commenting on the impressive display, Colonel Brad Orgeron, from the 80th Flying Training Wing, said: 'No other base could bring this many training aircraft and student Airmen to bear like this.

'The fundamental technical and pilot training missions that happen here every day affect literally every base and every combat sortie in the Air Force  not to mention the impact on our global partners.'

Leaders from the two wings planned the unprecedented event to show that the U.S. and its allies remain committed to the legacy of unequalled training as the foundation of combat power.

Colonel Orgeron said: 'We want our allies to know that we are committed to and value our shared training experience with them, and we want our potential adversaries to know that we are bound together with our friends and partners from the very beginning of our military careers as we train side by side to defend our way of life.'

'A picture is worth a thousand words, and this elephant walk really illustrates the scope and magnitude of what we do here,' General Drew added.

'Sheppard is like the epicenter of a huge sonic boom that reverberates around the planet as we graduate nearly 65,000 Airmen annually and send them off to deliver combat power all over the world.'

4,000 airmen shared the runway with 80 aircrafts in a display of military prowess

The display aimed to highlight the importance of Air Force training

Sheppard Air Force Base is home to three of the eight technical training groups in the Air Force

Military leaders planned the unprecedented event to show that the U.S. and its allies remain committed to the legacy of unequalled training

The military display comes as Beijing and Moscow have vowed to deepen their military ties for the 'maintenance of world security' in the latest sign of a growing closeness between the countries.

The warning to the west came as an American warship sailed through the sea separating China and Taiwan, seen by Chinese President Xi Jinping as part of the mainland.

It also comes days after China's military declared it is 'ready to fight and smash Taiwanese independence', releasing an animated video simulating how it would launch an all-out attack on the island nation.

The clip, shared by the Chinese military's Eastern Theatre Command's official WeChat account and later posted on Twitter by The Global Times, showed how Beijing would launch a torrent of missiles from the mainland and its navy in the Taiwan Strait to demolish Taiwan's defenses before invading.

'The theatre's troops are ready to fight at all times and can fight at any time to resolutely smash any form of ''Taiwan independence'' and foreign interference attempts,' the military said.
The Covid-19 lockdown has produced a heartbreaking rollcall of children who became victims of tragic deaths at the hands of those who are meant to take care of them.

Two-year-old Lola James was tragically killed by her evil stepfather, suffering 101 injuries including brain damage similar to what is sustained in high-speed car-crashes.

The little girl was victim to a 'frenized and extremely violent attack' on July 17, 2020 at her home in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, by her mother Sinead James' new partner Kyle Bevan, 31. She died four days later.

Young Logan Mwangi, five, was killed by his mother, stepfather and stepbrother on July 31, 2020 after suffering 'catastrophic' internal injuries. His body was found in the River Ogmore near his home in Sarn, Bridgend County.

Star Hobson was only 16 months old when she was killed at her home in Keighley, West Yorkshire on September 22, 2020 by her mother Frankie Smith's girlfriend Savannah Brockhill, after suffering months of abuse in her home during the Covid lockdown.

A mother and her 'monster' boyfriend have been found guilty over the death of two-year-old Lola James (pictured) who was fatally attacked at her home in Wales

NSPCC Cymru's assistant director Tracey Holdsworth said a review into Lola's death must establish whether more could have been done by agencies to prevent her death and called for the Welsh Government to make child protection a national priority.

Ms Holdsworth said: 'This is another tragic case where a young child has died at the hands of those who she depended on.

'Lola deserved a happy and healthy future, but that was cruelly taken away by the horrendous actions of Kyle Bevan and the failure of her mother, Sinead James, to intervene.

'The Welsh Government has rightly committed to transforming children's social care and it's crucial this leads to systemic changes that ensure children like Lola are better protected.'

Lola James, two - murdered July 17, 2020

Lola James, two

Two-year-old Lola James was tragically killed by her evil stepfather, suffering 101 injuries including brain damage similar to what is sustained in high-speed car-crashes.

Sinead James, 30, moved her partner Kyle Bevan, 31, into the house she shared with little Lola James in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, a day after meeting him on Facebook in February 2020.

Swansea Crown Court heard Bevan, who had a 'Jekyll and Hyde' temper, carried out a 'frenzied and extremely violent attack' on the young girl just four months later, causing 101 bruises and scratches and a catastrophic injury to the brain.

Lola's mother was a victim of domestic abuse and had twice been educated on how to spot signs of an abuser, but chose to prioritise her relationship with Bevan over the safety of her child, the jury was told - before they convicted her of allowing Lola's death.

James was told by the local authority not to invite adults into the family home if she did not know them well or if they were alcohol or drug abusers, but she ignored their advice.

Kaylea Titford, 16 - found dead October 10, 2020

Also amongst the victims of lockdown is Kaylea Titford.

Kaylea Titford, 16

The 16-year-old, who suffered from spina bifida, was found dead at her home in Newtown, Powys, on October 10, 2020 after her parents allowed her to become morbidly obese during lockdown.

Her mother, Sarah Lloyd-Jones, 39, admitted manslaughter by gross negligence last year, while her father, Alun Titford, denied the charges and was found guilty after a trial last month.

The teenager weighed 22st 13lb with a BMI of 70 at the time of her death, and her body was discovered inside her bedroom in conditions described as 'unfit for any animal'.

A jury of eight men and four women convicted Titford after being shown pictures during the trial at Mold Crown Court in North Wales of the 'squalor and degradation' Kaylea had been forced to endure.

Alijah Thomas, five - murdered September 14, 2021

Five-year-old Alijah Thomas begged her mother Martina Madarova, 41, not to kill her as she strangled her to death at their home in Ealing, west London, on September 14, 2021.

Alijah Thomas, five

Madarova had put on cartoons for her daughter Alijah Thomas before carrying out the act as the child said: 'Mummy, don't kill me.' She proceeded to strangle Aljah, before 'tucking her in with a blanket'.

The 41-year-old had been suffering with her mental health and turned to alcohol during the Covid lockdown, and had been in a 'dark place' the night before her daughter's tragic death.

She was given a five-year jail sentence after a judge ruled that she had 'low responsibility' over Alijah's death.

A court heard that in the months leading up to the incident, family members and friends became concerned for Madarova's wellbeing as she appeared 'increasingly stressed'.

She was concerned for her income, after her hours as a carer had been reduced, and had become anxious after missing the deadline to enrol Alijah at school.

On the morning of September 14, Alijah's father had left early for work and was notified a few hours later from a phone call from Madarova that their daughter was dead.

Kyrell Matthews, two - murdered October 20, 2019

Kyrell Matthews, two

Kyrell Matthews, aged two, was left with 41 rib fractures and internal injuries by the time of his death after weeks of cruelty at the hands of his mother Phylesia Shirley and her boyfriend Kemar Brown.

Brown was convicted of murder while Shirley was acquitted of murder but found guilty of the alternative charge of manslaughter.

They appeared alongside each other in the dock as Brown was sentenced to at least 25 years in prison while Shirley was jailed for 13 years.

The toddler, who was non-verbal, could be heard crying and screaming on distressing audio files taken from Shirley's phone and played to jurors during the trial.

Brown and Shirley are understood to have been visited by social services at least once.

Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, six, murdered June 17, 2020

Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, six

Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, aged six, was murdered by his cruel stepmother Emma Tustin in June.

She was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 29 years and the boy's father Thomas Hughes was jailed for 21 years for manslaughter.

The boy had been seen by social workers just two months before his death, but they concluded there were no safeguarding concerns.

In October 2019, Aileen Carabine, a special educational coordinator at Arthur's school, said Arthur 'deteriorated' that month.

Hughes, 29, was jailed for life with a minimum of 21 years after being found guilty of manslaughter - but cleared of murder - for encouraging the killing, including by sending a text message to Tustin 18 hours before the fatal assault telling her 'just end him'.

Logan Mwangi, five - murdered July 31, 2020

Logan Mwangi, five

Five-year-old Logan Mwangi was murdered by his mother, step-father and teenage step-brother on July 31, 2021.

His body, which suffered 56 'catastrophic' injuries consistent with a 'brutal and sustained assault' was found in the River Ogmore near his home in Sarn, Bridgend county.

John Cole, 40, Angharad Williamson, 31, and 14-year-old Craig Mulligan were all convicted of murder in April 2022.

Cole will serve a minimum of 29 years, Williamson at least 28 years, while teenage Mulligan will serve at least 15 years.

Social services repeatedly missed signs of abuse and opportunities to protect Logan, with injuries dating back to August 2020.

Inspectors have blasted the council which failed to protect murdered five-year-old Logan Mwangi, with the watchdog insisting 'serious concerns' remain about its children's services a full year after his death.

Care Inspectorate Wales noted there have been improvements at Bridgend County Borough Council in the last 12 months, but said there was still a need for 'further urgent action'.

Star Hobson, 16 months - murdered September 22, 2020

Star Hobson, 16 months

Star Hobson was just 16 months old when she was murdered by her mother's girlfriend Savannah Brockill in September 2020.

In the lead-up to her death, she had suffered months of abuse in her home in Keighley, West Yorkshire, during the coronavirus lockdown in 2020.

Former Children's Commissioner for England Anne Longfield, the chairwoman of the Commission on Young Lives, warned after Star's murder that the Covid lockdown 'brought its own opportunities for those who harm, groom and abuse children.'

Brockill is now serving a life sentence with a minimum term of 25 years at HMP Styal in Cheshire, after being convicted in December 2021.

Star's mother, Frankie Smith, was convicted of causing or allowing the toddler's death and was initially sentenced to eight years behind bars.

This was increased to 12 years after a judicial review.

Social services missed five opportunities to stop Star's killers, with her great-grandfather Dave Fawcett saying after their convictions: 'It's disgusting because there were five referrals. Not one of them did anything. It's just beyond belief, really.
A solicitor who was convicted of indecent exposure and banned from wearing shorts after he repeatedly flashed schoolgirls while out running has been struck off.

Mark Pittaway left young girls feeling 'scared', 'targeted' and suffering from PTSD after he exposed himself to them between January 2018 and May 2021, a tribunal heard.

He was convicted of five counts of indecent exposure involving exposing his genitals to cause alarm or distress after a trial at West Dorset Magistrates' Court.

Now, after being hauled in front of a Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, he has been struck off for 'deliberately targeting vulnerable female victims' and the 'immense' impact it has had on them.

The panel concluded his conduct was 'totally unbecoming of a member of the solicitors' profession'.

Mark Pittaway, (pictured) a solicitor who was convicted of indecent exposure and banned from wearing shorts after he repeatedly flashed schoolgirls while out running, has been struck off

He was convicted of five counts of indecent exposure involving exposing his genitals to cause alarm or distress after a trial at West Dorset Magistrates' Court (pictured)

Pittaway, who had worked as a solicitor since 1986 and at Thursfields Legal Limited at the time of offending, self reported himself to the Solicitors Regulation Authority in October 2021.

He warned that he had been charged with five offences of indecent exposure by police for incidents dating back to 2018, something that 'may attract media attention'.

He repeated his offending between January 2018 and May 2021, and targeted one 'nearly every day for two years', the tribunal heard.

In his report he said the incidents had occurred while he was out running near his home in Portland, Dorset, and included CCTV and eyewitness evidence from school girls.

However, he denied all the charges, claiming as a 'seasoned runner', any exposure would have been 'purely accidental' and as a result of the 'length of his shorts'.

Upon viewing of the CCTV footage he 'conceded that his genitals were on display' - but had not known at the time and must only have occurred when his shorts 'hitched up' as he scratched his groin area.

In March 2022, after a trial at West Dorset Magistrates' Court, he was convicted of the offences and sentenced to a suspended prison sentence, a 12 week curfew with electronic tag, 20 rehab requirement days and 250 hours unpaid work.

He was also made subject of a five-year sexual harm prevention order, making it compulsory for any exercise in a public place to be carried out in trousers, or shorts 'that are no shorter than knee length and that have no front fastenings'.

Pittaway was also banned from running on weekdays between the hours ad 7am and 9am and 2.30pm to 4.30pm and within sight of any school premises.

At the tribunal, he offered no mitigation for the offences which he had previously denied.

One of the schoolgirl witnesses, known only as person A, offered her victim impact statement to the tribunal.

She said: 'Nearly everyday for two years, this man would flash his genitals to me. I was in school, walking to and from school - it was horrible.

'I would go to school scared and frightened of what will happen to me. I thought he would've raped me or done stuff to me.'

She added: 'I have never been so scared in my life. lt has degraded me as a woman and I felt targeted. When it first happened I was fourteen years old - I was a child.

'No girl should ever go through that.'

The victim said the incidents left her so 'upset and scared' that she couldn't walk to school. She continued: 'I now suffer PTSD from this and I always will.'

Another girl, known as person B, said she was left 'so uncomfortable' and 'scared' she would 'always make sure she was with someone or got a lift'.

Upon viewing of the CCTV footage Pittaway (pictured) 'conceded that his genitals were on display' - but had not known at the time and must only have occurred when his shorts 'hitched up' as he scratched his groin area

The panel found Pittaway's admitted conduct had been 'disgraceful' and 'totally unbecoming of a member of the solicitors' profession'.

While sentencing him, the tribunal described the impact of his offending as having been 'immense', finding the 'the location and timing of the offences was deliberate and that he was deliberating targeting vulnerable female victims'.

They continued: 'This was not a case in which Pittaway's behaviour had little or no nexus with his professional life.

'His criminal conviction was of a degree and nature entirely incompatible with maintaining the reputation of the profession in the eyes of the public.

'The serious circumstances of this case required no lesser sanction than strike off.'

The tribunal ordered that Pittaway be struck off the Roll of Solicitors. He was also ordered to pay the 'costs of and incidental to this application and enquiry fixed in the agreed sum of 2,850.'
The House Judiciary Committee, led by Rep. Jim Jordan, held a field hearing in lower Manhattan on Monday to embarrass Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg as being 'pro-crime and anti-victim' but it was a key witness that made the headlines.

Madeline Brame, who lost her son to a stabbing attack in 2018, blames Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg for going 'soft' on the perpetrators.

Brame's son Hason Correa, a 35-year-old father of three and Army veteran, was assaulted by a group of people he did not know and stabbed to death during an altercation outside an apartment building.

Two of Correa's attackers struck a plea deal with Manhattan prosecutors and one has already been let off on time served - Mary Saunders pleaded guilty to a completely manufactured charge of assault with a shoe and sentenced to one year time served.

The mother of a homicide victim gave fiery testimony and at times tore into Democrats Monday morning during a Judiciary hearing focused on crime in Manhattan

Madeline Brame, who lost her son to a stabbing attack in 2018 and blames Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg for going 'soft' on the perpetrators

Travis Stewart pleaded guilty to attempted gang assault and was sentenced to seven years because of a past criminal record.

The man who stabbed Correa was given 20 years in prison.

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), whose district includes the Javitz Federal Building, told Brame: 'Your experiences are devastating, but the problem is this is a charade to cover up for an abuse of power that they are going around talking incessantly outside of this hearing about Donald Trump. The purpose of this hearing is to cover up for what they know to be an inappropriate investigating.'

'Can I respond to you, please?' Brame asked.

'Not right now; I only have 20 seconds. I'm sorry,' said Goldman.

'Don't insult my intelligence!' then shouted Brame.

'You're trying to insult me like I'm not aware of what's going on. I'm fully aware of what's going on here! That's why I walked away from the plantation of the Democratic Party!'

Brame, who also chairs the Victims' Rights Council, also said she doesn't 'hear anyone talking about politics or Trump except for the other side,' referring to Democrats.

'Victims can care less about anyone's political ideology or party. Neither do criminals. They don't roll up to a person and ask them if they're a Democrat or a Republican before they bust them in the head, or before they push them in front of the train, or before they stab them to death,' Brame explained.

But Goldman told the Republicans' anti-crime witnesses: 'We don't have jurisdiction to do anything about what you're concerned about.'

Rep. Dan Goldman told the Republicans' anti-crime witnesses: 'We don't have jurisdiction to do anything about what you're concerned about.'

Goldman references anti-semitic poster outside hearing that attacks billionaire George Soros, who's donated heavily to Alvin Bragg's DA campaign

Speaking to DailyMail.com after the hearing, Brame explained why she got so upset.

'You know they all made remarks about us being used, about us being props, about how it was a political stunt ... and you know he was one of the last ones, by the time we got to him, I was just done with it. So that's why my reaction was like that.'

The mother of five pushed back on Democratic claims that they don't have any jurisdiction over city crime.

'Yes, they do. It could be one dollar - one federal dollar - that Alvin Bragg's office is getting. They have a right to investigate it and find out where that money is being spent.'

The Manhattan DA's Office receives about $630,000 annually from federal funding and also has access to another $200,000 to use by 2024, through different grants used to help local law enforcement combat crime.

'If you take a life, you do life,' Brame said, arguing even the stabber had not been sentenced appropriately. 'There should be no plea deals for murder.'

'They treated us like garbage,' Brame said of Bragg's office, adding the office had not informed her it would offer plea deals to the people involved in the murder.

Democratic witnesses and committee members noted that crime in New York occurs at lower rates than in other cities - some cited a recent study finding New York City to be the fifth safest big city in America.

To that end, Brame said: 'We don't care...about your statistics. You cannot convince us to not believe our lying eyes with your numbers because we see it with our very eyes day in and day out.'

Hason Correa, a US Army veteran, was fatally stabbed in Harlem in 2018 and two of his assailants got a plea deal with a light sentencing 10993537

But Chair Jim Jordan zeroed in on Bragg's 'Day One' memo where he said he would not prosecute some lower-level crimes that did not impact public safety.

Those included 'marijuana, fare evasion, some trespass cases, driving with 1 or 2 license suspensions, noncriminal offenses such as traffic infractions, resisting arrest for any non-criminal offense, prostitution, and obstructing governmental administration.'

On robberies, the memo told assistant district attorneys 'to make a common-sense difference between two very different types of cases: a person holding a knife to someone's neck, and someone who, usually struggling with substance use or mental health issues, shoplifts and makes a minimal threat to a store employee while leaving.'

Crime in New York City ticked up in 2020 and 2021 during the pandemic (before Bragg took office) after a primarily decade-long downward trend. Major crime soared about 22 percent in 2022 - with Bragg taking office on the first day of that year.

New York recorded 438 homicides in 2022 -- up from 319 in pre-pandemic 2019.

From April 2022 to April 2023, major crime remains about the same, though murders, shootings and burglaries have dropped.

The city was far safer even in 2022 than during a dangerous period in the 80s and 90s -- murders and robberies were down 80 percent in 2022 compared to 1990, rapes down 50 percent.

From the start of 2022 when he took office to November of this year, Bragg downgraded 52 percent of felony cases to misdemeanors. When he did bring forth a case, his office won a conviction just 51 percent of the time - a low figure compared to the district attorney's office in recent years.
Stevens' body began to seize up, and after six days in the hospital his family decided to pull the plug when doctors declared that he was brain dead

The stunt is part of the 'Benadryl Challenge,' in which teens take an large amount of the antihistamines in order to hallucinate and then film and post the results

A teenager in Ohio has died after overdosing on Benadryl as part of a viral TokTok challenge.

Jacob Stevens' body began to seize up after the 13-year-old swallowed a large amount of the antihistamine allergy pills as his friends filmed to see what would happen.

The 'Benadryl Challenge' trend sees teens swallow up to 14 pills in order to induce hallucinations and then post videos of their experience on social media.

Jacob was rushed to the hospital as his body began to shut down, and his family decided to take him off of life-support six days later after his brain functions ceased.

The teen's father, Justin, told ABC 6 he is now dedicated to warning parents and teens of the dangers of social media and released a picture of Jacob hooked up to life support in the hospital to spread awareness.

Jacob's family released this photo of him on life support to spread awareness of the dangers of the 'Benadryl Challenge' trend sweeping TikTok

The 13-year-old from Ohio was remembered as a fun-loving and caring kid who could brighten anybody's day

'It was too much for his body,' Justin said.

The teen was placed on a ventilator and lay in the hospital for six days before doctors found his brain was no longer responsive.

'No brain scan, there was nothing there,' Justin said. 'They said we could keep him on the vent, that he could lay there - but he will never open his eyes, he'll never breathe, smile, walk or talk.'

He said it was the 'worst day of his life' when doctor's told him about his son's terminal condition.

Justin recalled Jacob as being a caring kid who could brighten any day.

'It didn't matter how bad of a day I was having, no one could make me smile, Jacob could make me smile,' Justin recalled through tears.

Justin and his family have dedicated themselves to making sure such a tragedy never happens again.

'I'm going to do anything I can to make sure another child doesn't go through it,' Jacob's grandmother, Dianna, said.

Justin cautioned other parents to be aware of what their kids are up to on social media.

'Keep an eye at what they're doing on that phone. Talk to them about the situation,' he said. 'I want everyone to know about my son.'

Jacob took more than 14 pills as a part of the Benadryl Challenge and died six days later

Jacob's friends filmed him while he took the pills and then as his body began to seize

Jacob's family is pushing for age restrictions on over-the-counter medications like Benadryl

The family has begun pushing lawmakers to take steps to prevent other kids from partaking in such a challenge by putting age restrictions on over-the-counter drugs like Benadryl.

They also want to see TikTok impose an age-restriction for making accounts, forcing users to provide identification before being allowed onto the platform.

Jacob was not the first to die from the challenge.

In 2020 a 15-year-old Oklahoma girl died after overdosing on the pills.

Responding to the challenge, the Food and Drug administration issued a statement warning of the dangers of participating.

'Taking higher than recommended doses of the common over-the-counter (OTC) allergy medicine diphenhydramine (Benadryl) can lead to serious heart problems, seizures, coma or even death,' the FDA wrote.

'We are aware of news reports of teenagers ending up in emergency rooms or dying after participating in the 'Benadryl Challenge' encouraged in videos posted on the social media application TikTok.'

Benadryl manufacturer, Johnson and Johnson, also issued a statement condemning the trend, saying 'the Benadryl TikTok trend is extremely concerning, dangerous and should be stopped immediately.'
After seeing himself on the news, Dan Abimana, 23, turned himself in to police

He spent 30 minutes in the apartment and did a number of strange things

A man was recorded on surveillance video entering a woman's home and creepily watching her sleep before leaving with a pair of socks around half an hour later.

Dan Abimana, 23, is accused of entering the unlocked home of a woman in Ankeny, Iowa, at around 3.30am on April 1.

He then proceeded to rearrange her shoes, stare at her, touch her knees, put on socks, write a note, use the bathroom and then drank a glass of water from her kitchen sink.

The woman eventually woke up when he touched her knee as she lay on the couch. When she did he was seen on the video quickly leaving the apartment.

The woman's daughter-in-law circulated footage of the encounter and later Abimana surrendered himself to police, Ankeny Police Department confirmed.

Dan Abimana, 23, was recorded on surveillance video entering a woman's home and watching her sleep for around half an out before leaving with a pair of socks

Abimana (pictured on April 14) was charged with two counts of trespassing as the police said they do not believe he had bad intentions, but that alcohol 'played a role'

'I don't think that gentlemen had any really bad intentions but it could have ended a lot worse. He's lucky someone didn't find him and shoot him,' Sergeant Corey Schneden, a spokesperson for Ankeny Police Department, told DailyMail.com.

The police department ended up charging him with two counts of trespassing.

'It was a simple misdemeanor we charged him with. The video in this case might have helped him because it just showed him doing strange things,' said Schneden. 'Alcohol was definitely a factor, to what level I don't know.'

The woman, who said she did not want to be identified, told the Law and Crime the experience was traumatizing for her, members of her family, and even her dog.

She said Abimana woke her up by making contact with her knee. She then said she asked him multiple times who he was before he eventually replied mysteriously, 'I'm the guy who dropped you off last night.'

'At that point, I knew he wasn't a friend of the kids or anything,' she told Law and Crime. 'My assumption was that he was on drugs or something,' she said. 'I didn't smell alcohol on him when he was standing right in front of me and I was awake.'

The woman then screamed for her son, who arrived, but the man had swiftly made off.

He was also recorded writing an unintelligible note, which he left in the apartment after he left

In the footage the man was seen repeatedly rearranging shoes and playing around with socks

The woman confirmed a note had been left - it was five or six lines jotted on a piece of paper. She says the only intelligible part referred to watching her sleep.

'Part of it said, "While you are sleeping," and then it just went into jumbled letters together. You couldn't even sound out anything it was just random letters,' she said. 'Five or six lines in one paragraph and then one line at the bottom.'

She said the door had been left open and that's how he got in, and warned others to always lock their doors when they sleep.

'Lock your doors!' she said. 'I can't say that loud enough or enough times. I am really really grateful that nothing happened to the kids that were in the apartment.'

She said she was disappointed Abimana only charged with trespassing.

'I was very upset, I was not happy at all,' she told Law and Crime. 'I felt at the least it should have been either burglary or assault. I was in fear for my life when I woke up.'

The woman's daughter-in-law, Brittany Andrews, shared the surveillance footage to a community group online and the next day Abimana came forward to say he was the man in the video

Andrews confirmed her mother-in-law wanted to stay the night so was asleep on the couch

The woman's daughter-in-law, Brittany Andrews, also addressed the incident in an interview with Inside Edition. She says her mother-in-law wanted to stay the night so was asleep on the couch.

'He drank out of a cup that was on the counter that was someone else's drink. He kind of mingled around our kitchen quite a bit. He got on my mother-in-law's phone quite a few times, got in in his pocket. Set it down,' Andrews told Inside Edition.

'It appeared he was taking photos of her while she was sleeping at one some point. He put on a pair of socks, clean laundry, that was waiting to be put away,' she said.

'I have trouble sleeping,' said her mother-in-law. 'I constantly wake up in the night and look around to see if anyone's in my room. If I go around the corner coming in, I look to see if anybody's there. I mean it's really affected me. I want to see some justice.'
The brazen group stole thousands of dollars worth of goods before fleeing

Police said they couldn't intervene because they were outnumbered

A mob of about 100 people ransacked an Arco mini-mart in Compton on Sunday

A massive mob ransacked a Los Angeles gas station and stole thousands of dollars worth of alcohol, condoms and snacks during an illegal street takeover - as cops said they were unable to intervene due to being outnumbered.

Footage from Sunday around 2am showed a group stopping traffic in the Compton intersection of Alondra Boulevard and Central Avenue to drift their cars before charging toward a nearby Arco.

Deputies said they couldn't intervene as a mob of about 100 people broke the windows of a mini-mart and wiped it clean because they worried about their safety, according to ABC 7.

Those involved appeared to be mostly men with face coverings and were seen snagging thousands of dollars worth of goods before all running in different directions.

The store clerk locked himself in the restroom of the mini-mart until the scene cleared.

A mob of about 100 people ransacked an Arco mini-mart in Compton on Sunday. Police said they couldn't intervene because they were outnumbered

Footage from Sunday around 2am showed a group stopping traffic in the Compton intersection of Alondra Boulevard and Central Avenue to drift their cars before charging toward a nearby Arco

Police said the street takeover was one of three that occurred in Compton. Only one arrest was made but the cause is unclear.

Another massive takeover involving street racers occurred at Long Beach Boulevard and Rosecrans Avenue. Police said a total of 500 people were at involved in both illegal events.

Similarly to the ARCO mini-mart incident, the Long Beach Boulevard takeover ended with vandalism and looting. Police said a laundromat was broken into.

While the ages of the group were disclosed, footage from the night showed grinning youngsters smiling as they plucked condoms from the displays clearly unafraid of getting caught.

Los Angeles Sheriff Department Sergeant Clarence Williams told the Los Angeles Times that street takeovers occur nearly every weekend, but he's never seen one to the extent of the ARCO break-in.

'Were doing our best we can to try to assist the citizens in dealing with this issue,' Williams told the news outlet.

Compton residents were in fury over the incidents they believe were done by outsiders.

'The people who did this, I don't think they are Compton residents,' Kevin Evans told ABC 7. 'We don't tear up our own city like this.'

Jonathan Bowers, Compton councilmember, echoed his disgust and belief the mayhem wasn't caused by city residents. He referred to the thugs as 'kids'.

'I am totally disgusted,' Bowers told the news outlet. 'I'm just upside down behind this. These kids coming in our city and just destroying it like this.

'In my opinion, the city has not done enough to quell this issue. There are other alternatives and ways to deal with this and I feel like we put it on the back burner and we're dragging our feet as this thing is getting worse.'

Some residents said they passed by the chaos and saw parents with their little kids sitting to enjoy the street drifting.

'It makes me angry,' Norrice Heron told KTLA5. 'Its makes me angry when they do that to the streets and put everybody in danger.'

The brazen group stole thousands of dollars worth of goods before fleeing. Pictured: a man stealing condoms

A group of people can be seen standing around the Compton mini-mart before storming in

The thieves can be seen pushing each other shoulder to shoulder to get inside the mini-mart

One person was seen smashing the window of the mini-mart with what appeared to be a hammer. Their faces appeared to be covered with masks

A broken door window can be seen at the mini-mart as the group prepared to storm in

Tire remains, trash and skid marks could be seen the next morning on the streets

The brazen incident comes after Proposition 47 was passed in California in 2014, meaning that some property theft was reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor.

California's Proposition 47 - lighter sentences for thieves Proposition 47 was passed by California voters on November 5, 2014. It made some 'non-violent' property crimes, where the value of the stolen goods does not exceed $950, into misdemeanors. It also made some 'simple' drug possession offenses into misdemeanors, and allows past convictions for these charges to be reduced to a misdemeanor by a court. Under California law, though, if two or more person's conspire to 'cheat and defraud any person or any property, by any means which are in themselves criminal' they can face no more than one year in county prison, a fine of $10,000 or a combination of the two. Advertisement

The law, aimed at complying with a California Supreme Court order to reduce prison overcrowding, raised the threshold for felony theft to $950 from $400.

Two or more people who conspire to 'cheat and defraud any person or any property, by any means which are in themselves criminal' can face only one year in a county prison, a fine of $10k or a combination of the two.

Soft-on-crime progressive District Attorney George Gascon has been slammed for his policies which other politicians claim weaken their laws.

Meanwhile, in the neighboring city of Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Brass is seeking to lower the bar for new police department recruits to up the number of officers in the defunded Los Angeles Police Department as crime runs rampant.

To achieve this, Bass plans on hiring a third party to study why some recruits fail in hopes of eliminating some qualifications, according to Fox News.

The mayor's goal to diversify the police department and lower the qualifications has been deemed 'dangerous' among LAPD union leaders as some aspiring officers are extremely unfit for the job.

Aside from seeking ways to increase the number of recruits, Bass also plans on eliminating 'officers associated with right-wing domestic extremist organizations.'

LAPD has reported the number of staff has fallen to 9,103 - with 1,000 officers lost since 2019, according to The Los Angeles Times.

Part of the decline in cops can be attributed to former Mayor Eric Garcetti, who agreed to cut the police department force to around 9,750.

As the police department numbers continued to decrease, he then called for an increase in police officers.

Crime in the city of Los Angeles has been on a steady high with 26,552 reported property crime incidents, including burglaries, motor vehicle theft and personal theft reported in 2021.

There have been a reported 7,325 cases of violent crime so far this year, including in the categories of homicides, rapes, aggravated assault and robbery.

In total, 15,721 arrests have been made.

Crime in the city of Los Angeles has been on a steady high with 26,552 reported property crime incidents, including burglaries, motor vehicle theft and personal theft reported in 2021

Similarly over the weekend in Chicago, a crowd of more than a hundred rowdy teenagers turned violent in Downtown Chicago on Saturday night as dozens torched and smashed cars while blaring music in a 'teen trend' that left two with gunshot wounds.

Shocking footage showed some teenagers jumping on top of a bus while others started a massive brawl after descending on Millennium Park and attempting to breach barricades.

Gunshots rang out with some rounds striking two teenage boys aged 16 and 17.

The two youths were transported to a nearby hospital in fair condition. A total of 15 people, nine adults and six children were arrested.

Police said most of the charges were for reckless conduct, but a 16-year-old boy was also charged with unlawful use of a weapon, and a firearm was recovered. An adult and a juvenile were also charged with possession of a stolen vehicle.

Cars were also left vandalized near East Washington Street in the Windy City, including a Tesla.

More than a rowdy hundred teenagers gathered in Millennium Park on Saturday

Two teenage boys, 16 and 17, were reported shot during a fight. They were transported to the hospital in stable condition

The rowdy group torched cars and got into fights before gunfire ended the night
Emmanuel Macron tonight admitted that pushing France's retirement age up from 62 to 64 'had not been accepted'  but said there would be no U-turns following weeks of strikes and rioting.

The embattled President appeared on a pre-recorded nationwide TV broadcast on Thursday evening, three days after his controversial pension plans passed into law without a parliamentary vote.

'Is this reform accepted?' asked Mr Macron during the 12-minute address. 'Obviously not. In spite of months of negotiations, no consensus was reached, and I regret that.'

He said he 'heard the anger' of the French, adding 'no-one can remain deaf to it.'

French President Emmanuel Macron during a televised address to the nation, made from the Elysee Palace, after signing into law a pensions reform, in Paris, on April 17, 2023

Pedestrians walk past burning bins following a concert of pans to protest during French President Emmanuel Macron's televised address to the nation, in Paris on April 17, 2023

President Macron said there was 'anger at jobs which, for many French people, no longer allow them to live well, in the face of rising prices for fuel, shopping, canteens.

'There is anger because some have the feeling of doing their part, but without being rewarded for their efforts, neither in wages, nor in effective public services.'

But insisting there would be no change in his policies, Mr Macron said the reform was 'necessary to guarantee pensions and produce more wealth for our nation', and for France to stay in line with European neighbours.

Within minutes of Mr Macron's speech, illegal protests were underway, as riot police fought to restore order.

A crowd marched through the Republic area of Paris chanting 'Macron resign!', while lighting fires and smashing windows.

There were similar scenes around Hotel de Ville - Paris city hall - where another illegal protest formed.

Some banged casserole dishes - a traditional means of showing anger in France, while others through projectiles at the police.

Police in Marseille, Toulouse and Nantes reported similar disturbances.

Last Thursday, a mob stormed the Paris headquarters of luxury group LVMH, which is run by Bernard Arnault, the richest man in the world.

There was also widespread rioting around Bastille Square  scene of the original 1789 Revolution  and in other cities and towns across the country.

Opposition politicians and unions spent the weekend attacking they see as the arrogant imposition of a two-year rise in the retirement age to 64 in the face of its rejection by an estimated 70 per cent of the population in opinion polls.

Marine Le Pen, of the far-Right National Rally, called for either a referendum on the reform, the dissolution of parliament, or Macron's resignation.

Elisabeth Borne, the prime minister, had been 'totally destroyed' and the government had lost all credibility, said Ms Le Pen.

And Olivier Faure, leader of the Socialist party, said the opposition was 'not ready to move on to other things'.

Protesters march by burning garbage cans as they demonstrate after French President Emmanuel Macron tried to diffuse tensions in a televised address to the nation on Monday

French police operate during a demonstration following a special address to the nation by Macron in Paris, France, April 17

As sporadic protests took place around the country today, the trade unions urged the public to turn May Day workers' parades on May 1 into giant protests against the pension reform.

'It will be a tidal wave of historic proportions,' said Sophie Binet, leader of the CGT union, said.

And Laurent Berger, head of the CFDT, the biggest union, said: 'Let's bring down the house on May 1.'

Britain's retirement age is 66, in Germany and Italy it is 67, and in Spain it is 65.
A US Navy veteran turned pro-Kremlin propagandist was a highly decorated servicewoman who won a string of coveted awards, DailyMail.com can reveal.

Military records for Sarah Bils, a 37-year-old divorced tropical fish seller, obtained by the Daily Mail show she picked up as many as 11 medals and decorations during her 13 years of service.

They include the Global War on Terrorism Service medal given to those who serve directly in anti-terror operations.

The gong was created by former president George W. Bush to honour those who had fought in the war on terror.

Sarah Bils claimed to be a Russian Jew living in Luhansk and documenting alleged 'war crimes' committed by the Ukrainian army.

Bils left the military last year but after being demoted. No reasons were given in the official records for her demotion.

The documents do not state when the New Jersey native was decorated for her service.

Such honors are usually reserved for those serving at least 30 days of consecutive duty or 60 days of non-consecutive duty in support of anti-terror operations.

The records also show that she quit the military on November 27 last year, but no reasons are given for her departure.

DailyMail.com has asked the US Navy to provide further details about Bils's military service.

She was unmasked earlier on Monday as the woman behind 'Donbas Devushka', or Donbas Girl, that racked up more than 100,000 followers online.

Her popular social media account spouted pro-Moscow propaganda about the war in Ukraine, and even tried to raise money for the Russian cause.

They have been praised by pro-Kremlin military bloggers in Russia, such as the highly influential Rybar Telegram channel.

Bils claimed that in 2014, the time of the first Russian invasion, she had been travelling between the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and eastern Ukraine.

She alleged that the Ukrainian army was killing people in Luhansk, a city in the Russian-occupied Donbas region of the country.

On her Telegram account, a popular messaging service in Russia and Ukraine, she claims to participating in 'Russian-style information warfare.'

It recently shared some of the documents allegedly leaked by US National Guard member Jack Teixeira, who was charged with two offenses on Friday.

She is now being investigated by the Department of Justice as part of the probe into how leaked Pentagon documents appeared online.

Bils, who had security clearance, denied that she was involved in helping Teixeira.

'I obviously know the gravity of top-secret classified materials,' she was quoted by the Wall Street Journal as saying.

Teixeira, 21, will next appear in court on Wednesday as Department of Justice investigators continue their probe into how he got access to such top secret information.

One of the leaked documents outlined how Ukraine's stockpile of missiles was running out and required urgent supplies from Kyiv's Western allies

She has also posted under the pseudonyms Mila Medvedev, Luganskforlife, CheburekiVibes, MeatballSubZero, YuGopnik, and GhostofLugansk.

But Bils is in fact a former aviation electronics technician with the US Navy and she served at Whitby Island in Washington State.

Her real identity was revealed by volunteers from the North Atlantic Fella Organization, which raises funds for Ukraine and fights disinformation online.

The Ukrainian group was able to unmask Bils thanks to yet another unusual side hustle that she had.

Aside from serving in the Navy, she also ran a business selling tropical fish and imported food from Poland.

Bils had appeared in a popular podcast about fish tanks in June 2020 that proved to be her undoing.

It allowed NAFO to match up her voice and home interiors to her postings as Donbas Devushka.

Her Twitter account has now been locked, but her YouTube channel where she interviews pro-Kremlin commentators remains online.
The panel of women derided the politicization of the beer company over its decision to partner with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney

Whoopi Goldberg today slammed Anheuser-Busch for backtracking on its Bud Light advertising campaign featuring trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

The View hosts claimed that the company's subsequent commercial for Budweiser using the famous Clydesdale horse galloping across the heartland was an attempt to to offer an apology to its outraged customer base.

'What are you so angry about? Beer does not have a - I mean, it's not a Democrat or a Republican. It doesn't have a belief system. It's just beer!' Whoopi said. The 67-year-old urged the brewer not to 'let them scare you' as she claimed America was not 'transphobic'.

Goldberg's co-host, progressive Sunny Hostin said it was offensive that the Clydesdale ad was presented in an attempt to ease some of the tension around the Mulvaney partnership.

'All of the sudden they get this backlash and their response is, 'Let's get the horses out!' And I was like, "Because horses are so much more American than trans people"', she said.

Longtime The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg said that it's ridiculous that people have political expectations of their beer

Mulvaney's April 1 Instagram post included her drinking a beer with her face printed on the can and lying in a bathtub knocking back Bud Light

Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth struck a conciliatory tone Friday as he put out a statement on behalf of the company that said 'we never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people.'

'We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer,' Whitworth wrote in an open letter published on the companys Twitter account.

It referred to the companys 'history and heritage' in 'Americas heartland,' but never mentioned Mulvaney or the backlash specifically.

Hostin told her View co-hosts that people have branded Bud Light an 'American beer,' despite the owner - Anheuser-Busch - being a Belgian company.

She railed against the United States, saying that 'this country is highly transphobic.'

To which Goldberg replied that it's merely the transphobes that often get the microphone, but 'I doubt that the country's as transphobic.'

Meanwhile, so-called conservative co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin called the Mulvaney/Bud Light partnership a 'smart move' to court the LGBT community.

Goldberg then closed out the segment by saying: 'Listen Budweiser, we're all Americans here. We appreciate your beer whether it's light or your regular beer.

'You have every right and we have every right to buy it if we like it. Don't let them scare you. Let us scare you.'

On Sunday, in an apparent response to the uproar over Bud Light's partnership with Mulvaney, Budweiser - which is also owned by Anheuser-Busch - released a new all-American ad featuring their beloved Clydesdales.

The one-minute commercial features shots of the animal galloping across Western landscapes and past landmarks including the Lincoln Memorial and the Brooklyn Bridge.

The ad for the beer - which like Bud Light is owned by Anheuser-Busch - appeared to be a return to traditional values for the brand which has historically appealed to blue-collar American workers.

Sunny Hostin said the United States is a transphobic country in her assessment of the controversy

The brand returned to social media Friday to post for the first time since the eruption of controversy. The post garnered 11.1million views

Bud Light is attempting to move forward with its social media presence. On Friday, after nearly two weeks of silence, the Bud Light Twitter account posted again. The brand tweeted out a frosty can of its classic brew and captioned it 'TGIF?'

Though the post garnered myriad negative comments relating to the controversial brand partnership with Mulvaney, it has so far amassed a whopping 11.1million views and 25,000 comments.

That massive figure becomes even more eye-popping as compared to the brand's most recent tweets, most of which fall far shy of the 1million mark.

Even a recent popular tweet from late last month promoting the brand's March Madness sweepstakes received just 1.2million views.

Despite the nature of the attention, Bud Light's partnership with Mulvaney seems to be paying dividends in terms of the amount of sheer exposure it has yielded for the brand.

Brand reach is a primary tool used to measure the success of marketing campaigns. And by the figures alone, the Mulvaney partnership has likely smashed all expectations.

Typically, however, that reach is not supposed to come with a $6billion market cap loss and hundreds of thousands if not millions of disgruntled customers.

The disastrous fallout from the Mulvaney partnership prompted a lukewarm apology for the Anheuser-Busch CEO last week, but it remains unclear exactly what the next step for the struggling brand will be.

The iconic Clydesdales are shown galloping across iconic American settings

It doesn't seem to be the case that online observing are buying the brand's attemkpt to right the ship.

Many labeled the ad as a pathetic attempt to course correct after the Mulvaney partnership.

'My favorite advertisement by a mile was the Clydesdales after 9/11. It was absolute perfection. After your embrace of the trans agenda, glorifying a man looking for his 15 mins of fame by mocking women. I will never buy, drink or serve your beer again,' wrote one user.

'Is the horse trans now?' wrote radio host Dan O'Donnell.

'Nope, you guys destroyed your own base and market because you had to go woke. I'll never drink any of your products again,' wrote Brandon Saario.

'Lol, hard pivot huh?' wrote Angela McArdle, the chair of the Libertarian Party.

Commentator Philip Holloway wrote: 'Don't look now Anheuser Busch and Budweiser but the Clydesdale has already left the barn. The train has sailed, the ship has left the station.'

Bud Light and Budweiser are distinct brands housed under the same parent company. With the new ad, the latter - often called The King of Beers - appears to be stepping in to save the reputation of Bud Light.

In her controversial ad, Mulvaney posted a clip of herself sipping from a one-off, custom Bud Light can with her face on to promote its March Madness competition - and the backlash saw parent company Anheuser-Busch lose $6billion in market cap within six days.

Mulvaney became well known for the 'days of girlhood' videos, in which the 26-year-old documented the first year of identifying as a girl.

But the TikTok star has angered some feminists and conservatives over claims she's 'play-acting' being a 'girl,' and co-opting parts of womanhood she finds interesting - without having to deal with the misogyny or prejudice many women face.
An Ohio grand jury declined to indict eight police officers who fired dozens of rounds in the shooting death last year of Jayland Walker, a 25-year-old black man.

The state's attorney general made the announcement on Monday, saying the officers were under threat because Walker had fired a gunshot at them during a car and foot chase.

Walker's death in June 2022 sparked protests in Akron after police released body camera footage showing him dying in a hail of gunfire. He was shot or grazed by at least 46 bullets.

Police said he had refused to stop when they tried to pull him over for minor equipment and traffic violations, though they haven't specified further. Police say Walker fired a shot from his car 40 seconds into the pursuit.

The officers involved in the incident were suspended for three months and in October, placed on desk duty.

Jayland Walker, 25, was shot dead by police in Ohio, with a medical examiner finding that he was shot or grazed 46 times when police fired a hail of bullets at him on June 27

Police had been in pursuit of Walker and said the 25-year-old black man shot at them 40 seconds into the chase

Walker's death received widespread attention from activists, including from the family of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The NAACP and an attorney for Walkers family called on the Justice Department to open a federal civil rights investigation.

President Joe Biden responded to the shooting during a trip to Ohio last summer by saying the DOJ was monitoring the case.

Officers chased the car on a freeway and city streets until Walker bailed from the still-moving vehicle, ignored officers commands and ran into a parking lot where he was killed while wearing a ski mask, body cam video showed. Authorities said he represented a 'deadly threat.' A handgun, a loaded magazine and a wedding ring were found on the drivers seat of his car.

Walker took at least one shot from his vehicle at police and then after jumping out of his car he ignored commands to stop and show his hands, Yost said. 'There is no doubt he did in fact shoot at police officers,' Yost said.

Walker reached for his waistband as officers were chasing and raised his hand, Yost said. The officers, not knowing he left his gun in the car, believed he was firing again at them, Yost said.

Yost said it is critical to remember that Walker had fired at police, and that he 'shot first.'

Dash-cam video from a police cruiser captured images of Walker firing the gun from his car, said Anthony Pierson, an assistant state attorney general. Walker had no criminal history and had never fired a gun until he went to a shooting range with a friend in early June, Pierson said.

Pierson wouldnt speculate about Walkers state of mind that night and said there was no direct evidence that he was suicidal. 'That night he encountered the police he wasnt acting himself,' Pierson said. 'By all accounts he was a good person, a good man.'

Walker's death received widespread attention from activists, including from the family of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The NAACP and an attorney for Walkers family called on the Justice Department to open a federal civil rights investigation

Mourners at Walker's funeral on July 13 wore 'Black Lives Matter' and 'Zero Threat, Zero Violence, Justice for Jayland' T-shirts as the protested his death at the hands of police

Walkers family called it a brutal and senseless shooting of a man who was unarmed at the time and whose fiancee recently died. Police union officials said the officers thought there was an immediate threat of serious harm and that their actions were in line with their training and protocols.

Walker had been grieving his fiancees recent death but his family had no indication of concern beyond that, a family representative previously said.

The blurry body camera footage did not clearly show what authorities say was a threatening gesture Walker made before he was shot. Police chased him for about 10 seconds before officers fired from multiple directions, a burst of shots that lasts 6 or 7 seconds.

The eight officers, whose names have been withheld from the public, initially were placed on leave, but they returned to administrative duties 3 1/2 months after the shooting.

A county medical examiner said Walker was shot at least 40 times. The autopsy also said no illegal drugs or alcohol were detected in his body.

After taking over the investigation last summer at the request of Akron police, prosecutors with the Ohio attorney generals office presented the case to the grand jury.

City leaders have been meeting with community leaders, church groups, activists and business owners ahead of the grand jury meeting while also preparing for potential protests.

The city created a designated protest zone downtown outside the city hall building, where workers put plywood over the first-floor windows. Theres also temporary fencing around the county courthouse.

Less than 24 hours before the chase, police in neighboring New Franklin Township had tried to stop a car matching Walkers, also for unspecified minor equipment violations. A supervisor there called off the pursuit when the car crossed the townships border with Akron.
John Fetterman said it was 'great' to be back as he arrived on Capitol Hill Monday after spending almost two months in Walter Reed military hospital being treated for clinical depression.

The Democratic senator from Pennsylvania was dressed in his signature shorts and hoodie as he walked into the Capitol building.

'It's great to be back,' he told reporters.

He waved to the waiting crowd but didn't answer any questions.

Senator John Fetterman returned to the Capitol on Monday after a two month absence to be treated for clinical depression

Fetterman was released from the hospital at the end of March but went home to Pennsylvania as the Senate was on a two-week spring break.

Almost all lawmakers are returning on Monday - including Republican Leader Mitch McConnell who was out after hitting his head in a fall. A notable exception is Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, who remains in California where she has spent the past two months recovering from shingles. She has not said when she will return.

Fetterman will be getting right to work. Senators have a vote on Monday evening. And, on Wednesday, the senator will chair his first hearing, a subcommittee hearing of the Agriculture committee.

'Sen. Fetterman on Wednesday will chair his first subcommittee hearing in the Subcommittee on Food and Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Organics, and Research for a hearing will focus specifically on SNAP and the critical assistance it provides to working families through the upcoming Farm Bill,' his office said in a statement.

Federal farm programs expire Sept. 30, and both the House and Senate Agriculture committees are starting work on legislation to renew them.

The senator worked on the issue in Pennsylvania last week. He met with farmers from Beaver and Lawrence Counties and tour a dairy farm in Enon Valley that dates back to the time of the American Revolution.

He posted photos of his meetings on his social media websites.

'It's great to be back,' Senator Fetterman said

Fetterman will chair his first committee hearing on Wednesday

Fetterman last voted in the Senate on February 15th.

He checked into Walter Reed on that day after weeks of what aides described as Fetterman being withdrawn and uninterested in eating, discussing work or the usual banter with staff.

At the time, Fetterman was barely a month into his service in Washington and still recovering from the aftereffects of the stroke he suffered last May. He went to Walter Reed on the advice of the Capitol physician, Dr. Brian P. Monahan.

During his stay, his staff emphasized he was working, being kept briefed on issue and in contact with them.

While in the hospital in early February, Fetterman signed onto bipartisan rail safety legislation introduced after the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. A member of the Agriculture Committee, the senator also has a hand drafting the farm bill Congress votes on every five years.

While Fetterman was gone Democrats grappled with his and several other absences, including Feinstein's illness and the absence of Senator Jeff Merkley, who took time at home after the death of his mother.

Senator John Fetterman declined to answer questions upon his return

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell also returned on Monday after being out due to a fall

Vice President Kamala Harris, in her role as president of the Senate, had to cast some time breaking votes. Democrats hold a slim 51-seat majority and any absence can hold up their ability to pass legislation.

In a statement when he was released from Walter Reed late last month, Fetterman said the care he received there 'changed my life.'

'Im excited to be the father and husband I want to be, and the senator Pennsylvania deserves,' said Fetterman, who won praise for his decision to seek treatment.
A late-night high-speed pursuit has ended with a crash and a police dog biting one of the five teen girls arrested.

NSW Police were patrolling the Great Western Highway at Bungarribee in Sydney's west shortly before midnight on Monday night when they spotted an allegedly stolen vehicle.

Officers attempted to stop the Toyota Kluger and initiated a pursuit when it failed to stop.

A short time later, the vehicle failed to navigate an intersection and crashed into a truck near the M7 intersection at Eastern Creek.

Five teens were allegedly inside the Toyota Kluger when it crashed into a truck on the Great Western Highway

Five teenage occupants in the Kluger fled the scene on foot into nearby bushland.

Officers from the Dog Squad launched a search and located the teens a short time later.

The 17-year-old female driver was treated at the scenes by paramedics after she sustained dog bites during the arrest.

The five girls were taken to Mount Druitt Police Station to be questioned.

No charges have been laid at this early stage.

Extensive damage was caused to the Toyota Kluger.
The Kansas City Police Department confirmed it had submitted a criminal referral to Clay County Prosecutor's Office amid calls for criminal charges

The home in Kansas City, Missouri, had signs saying 'no solicitors' and ' this property is protected by surveillance cameras'

The Missouri home where a black teenager rang the wrong doorbell before being shot in the head by a white homeowner had signs warning trespassers and unwelcomed visitors.

Ralph Yarl, 16, was shot twice through glass at the front of the house in Kansas City, just a block away from the property his younger twin brothers were waiting to be picked up from.

The doorbell had a small 'no solicitors' sign on top while another sign claimed the property was 'protected by surveillance cameras.'

It is unclear if Ralph noticed the signs when ringing the doorbell or pulling up on the driveway at around 10pm on Thursday April 13.

The teenager's family said he was collecting his younger siblings but went to the wrong address.

Ralph Yarl, 16, was shot twice in the head by a white man after he approached the wrong house by mistake when going to collect his siblings

The house is Kansas City, Missouri had a 'no solicitors' sign on top of the doorbell which Ralph mistakenly rang

The property also had a sign claiming it was 'protected by surveillance cameras'

Police have not yet identified the suspect of the shooting, but a lawyer for the family confirmed that the man was released two hours after he was arrested  without any charges.

Ralph's attorneys, Lee Merritt and Ben Crump, said the teen was shot twice by a white man, with Kansas City police officials telling CNN that the suspect is in his 80s.

Police took a statement from Ralph in hospital last Friday before he was released from hospital on Monday to continue to recover at home with his mother who is a nurse.

Kansas City Police Department also confirmed on Monday that they had submitted a criminal referral to Clay County Prosecutor Zachary Thompson.

The prosecutor said his office was working with police to speed the process up so they can review the case and determine if charges are appropriate.

Viola Davis and Halle Berry had both earlier called for justice for Ralph after hundreds of protesters marched outside the home of the suspected shooter on Sunday with the victim's family to demand action.

More than $1.7million has been raised by a GoFundMe account to help Ralph and his family with the medical bills.

More than $1.7million have been raised by a GoFundMe account to help Ralph and his family with the medical bills, but has been released from hospital

Lawyer for the family, Lee Merritt, also confirmed that the suspect was detained for just two hours before being released, and that cops took a statement from Ralph on Friday from his hospital bed

MISSOURI 'STAND YOUR GROUND' LAWS Missouri is one of twenty US states which has stand-your-ground laws, which removes the duty to retreat before using deadly force in self-defense. The law permits homeowners to protect themselves, or a third party (with exceptions) with deadly force should a person feel it is necessary. According to Missouri Revised Statutes 563.031 residents must be faced with a threat before shooting trespassers on the property. It states: '[Protective] force is used against a person who unlawfully enters, remains after unlawfully entering, or attempts to unlawfully enter a dwelling, residence, or vehicle lawfully occupied by such person.' 'Stand-your-ground' laws roughly define how an individual can defend themselves when faced with an imminent threat anywhere else; imminent being a keyword here because even threatening words towards a defending person can lead to a justified homicide. Advertisement

Davis and Berry had put pressure on Kansas City Prosecutor Zachary Thompson to bring 'appropriate charges' but his department said it was waiting for the case file which they now have.

The teenager's family branded the incident a 'hate crime'.

Ralph's aunt, Dr Faith Spoonmore, claims when the teenager fell to the floor, he was shot again but miraculously managed to run next door to a neighbor for help.

She said her nephew had to knock on three doors before he was helped, and even then was told to lie on the floor with his hands above his head.

'This was not an 'error. This is a hate crime. You don't shoot a child in the head because he rang your doorbell,' she said.

'He walked up to the door, rang the doorbell. A man opened up the door, looked him in the eye and said don't ever come back here as he shot him in the head.

'My nephew fell down and the man shot him again, he was able to get up and ran to the neighbor, who did not open the door. He ran to three houses before one of the neighbors said put your hands up and lay on the ground,.

'And then he lay on the ground like he passed out before the neighbor called the police for help.

'You hear these stories about racism in America and you think wow how sad is that?

'But then you have this little bit of hope because you feel like it's very far away and it would never happen to your family and you. But God, the people in this country are sick.'

On their GoFundMe page they say that he is 'doing well physically' but has a 'long road ahead mentally and emotionally.'

A police officer is parked outside of the property where Ralph Yarl was shot when he rang the doorbell

A talented bass clarinet player, Ralph also leads a section of his school's marching band and plays multiple instruments in the Northland Symphony Youth Orchestra

The teenager's family branded the incident a 'hate crime' after he was shot in the head and arm

Ralph was known among his peers for his intellect and for being a 'musical genius', before he was shot in the head and arm.

The teen had received a letter from Yale Undergraduate Admissions Board identifying him as a 'good candidate' for the prestigious university.

Ralph is part of his high school's Technology Student Association and Science Olympia Team, plays in the marching, jazz, and competition band, and is one of the top base clarinet players in Missouri.

He had big dreams of attending college after being recognized as a Missouri scholar academy alumni in 2022.

Ralph's attorneys specialize in civil rights and previously represented the families of Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and Cameron Lamb.

Police Chief Stacey Graves said her department is working to quickly prepare evidence in the case for the Clay County prosecutor

His family has retained the services of civil rights attorneys Lee Merritt and Ben Crump, who have represented the families of Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and Cameron Lamb

Ralph, center, was said to be trying to pick up his younger siblings from a friend's house but went to the wrong address

Police Chief Stacey Graves said in a news conference on Sunday: 'I want everyone to know that I am listening and I understand the concern we are receiving from the community.

'After consulting with the Clay County Prosecutor's Office, the homeowner was released pending further investigation due to the need to obtain a formal statement from the victim, forensic evidence and compile additional information for a case file to be presented.

'Detectives have been working over the past several days to compile a detailed case file so they have all the information they need to make the best charging decision on the case moving forward.

'We want the community to know that we are committed to justice in this case, and every case and work every day to seek that justice for all victims of all crimes.'

She noted that Missouri law allows a person to be held up to 24 hours for a felony investigation, and following that they must be arrested or formally charged.

Investigators will also consider whether or not the suspect was protected within the Stand Your Ground laws.

Officials would not confirm the number of times the homeowner shot the victim or where his injuries were.

Clay County Prosecutor Zachary Thompson said his office has not yet received a criminal referral from the Kansas City Police Department to present charges for this case
A source blamed aides, and said Thomas didn't think he had to file after taking a loss following improvements to home where his mom still lives

The billionaire hit back at ProPublica stories about how he funded lavish vacations with Thomas

Republican billionaire Harlan Crow is hitting back at a series of bombshell reports about his relationship with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, calling them a 'hit job' and 'factually incorrect.'

'I think it's a political hit job,' Crow said. 'I don't think the media cares really much about Harlan Crow, and I think they're right. They shouldn't care much about Harlan Crow.'

In his first interview since explosive stories emerged about lavish vacations he provided for Thomas and his wife Ginni, Crow told the Dallas Morning News the reports were 'factually incorrect and being written with a strong political agenda.'

He also defended his collection of memorabilia from the Nazi period  saying: 'We have a small number of things here that are about bad guys, including items related to slavery, which he called 'a great evil in American history,' and a collection on the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

His pushback comes after Thomas indicated he would file an amended financial disclosure to reflect that the billionaire bought the Savannah home where his 94-year-old mother lives rent free.

Billionaire developer and GOP megadonor Harlan Crow blasted a ProPublica report on the lavish vacations he hosted for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, whom he has called a dear friend

It has been revealed amid the uproar that his collection includes two paintings by Hitler and a signed copy of Mein Kampf.

Crow was unapologetic, saying: 'We've got Jesse James and Al Capone and Lee Harvey Oswald and John Wilkes Booth. Those are bad guys. They did bad things to America,' he said, name checking the mob boss and assassins of Kennedy and Lincoln.

'So, yeah, World War II was a fairly big event in American history. We have a bunch of stuff about World War II, including some of our enemies... For somebody to say that I like those guys would be a weird conclusion, but that's been in the press recently.'

He went on to say that his mother was 'on a ship that was sunk by Germans during World War II.'

'If you try to kill my mom, I don't like you. I mean, that's reasonably obvious. And so the idea that I could have sympathy for Nazism is insane,' he said.

Crow also attacked the nonprofit ProPublica, which unearthed details of his lavish trips with Thomas, as 'funded by leftists' and said it 'has an agenda to destabilize the Court. What they've done is not truthful. It lacks integrity. They've done a pretty good job in the last week or two of unfairly slamming me and, more importantly than that, unfairly slamming Justice Thomas.'

The publication responded that it is 'an independent, nonpartisan nonprofit news organization funded by 36,000 donors.'

The relationship between Thomas and the GOP megadonor was first formed aboard a private jet.

Crow said he met Thomas at a meeting in D.C. of the now-defunct free market National Center for Policy Analysis think tank. He offered Thomas a ride on his private jet upon learning he had a speaking engagement for the group in Dallas, where he lives.

'I had never met him,' Crow said. 'During that flight, we found out we were kind of simpatico. We're the same age. We grew up in the same era. We come from absolutely polar opposite life stories, but we had a lot in common.'

Jet transport would turn out to figure prominently in revelations about his vacations with Thomas, including one that involved private jet travel to Indonesia.

Thomas and wife, Ginni traveled aboard a Bombardier Global 5000 private jet. The trips weren't disclosed, and are not required to be under guidelines the Supreme Court sets for itself

Thomas now intends to update his annual financial disclosure form to include the sale of the Georgia home - where his mother, Leola Williams, 94, lives rent-free - to Crow for $100,000.

The updated form will reflect the 2014 deal, which had Crow purchasing the single-story home and two vacant lots for $133,363 as a future 'public museum' dedicated to Thomas's life.

The reversal is not the first time the justice with lifetime tenure has agreed to update his disclosures following press reports.

A source who spoke about the decision to update the forms told CNN Thomas filled out earlier versions with the help of aides and characterized it as an oversight, while also arguing the powerful jurist believed he didn't have to disclose it because he had lost money on the transactions.

That arrangement is apparently founded on Thomas having invested between $50,000 and $70,000 on improvements, on a sale that brought proceeds of $44,000, according to the source, although the disclosure form itself requires reporting of transactions, not simply those that turn a profit.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas plans to amend his financial disclosure to reflect the sale of property totaling more than $100,000 to billionaire Harlan Crow

A 2014 photograph shows the vacant lots that Crow bought from Thomas

The series of disclosures about Thomas's relationship with Crow has renewed calls in Congress to impose a code of conduct on the court, and for Chief Justice John Roberts to take action against the powerful justice, who has an influential voice and usually finds himself on the winning side on the 6-3 conservative court.

'Justice Thomas's acceptance of and failure to disclose these repeated, lavish gifts and shocking real estate sales not only undermines public trust in his ability to serve impartially on the Court, it undermines confidence in the Supreme Court as an institution,' Citizens for Responsible Ethics in Washington President Noah Bookbinder said in a statement after the report on the real estate deal.

Thomas has had to amend his disclosure reports in the past. He did so in 2011 after neglecting to mention income his wife earned at the conservative Heritage Foundation between 1998 and 2003 after ethics watchdog Common Cause flagged the matter.

The justice's elderly mother lived at the Savannah property, and continued to do so under Crow's ownership. Soon after the purchase was finalized contractors went to work on tens of thousands of dollars' worth of improvements, including a carport, a fixed roof and a new fence and gates.

Tax deed showing Thomas owned the home he sold to Crow in Savannah

A federal disclosure law requires justices and other officials to report the sale of real estate over $1,000. But Thomas never reported selling the Savannah properties.

Crow told ProPublica he bought the home, where Thomas partially grew up, to one day preserve it for future generations.

'My intention is to one day create a public museum at the Thomas home dedicated to telling the story of our nation's second black Supreme Court Justice,' he said. 'I approached the Thomas family about my desire to maintain this historic site so future generations could learn about the inspiring life of one of our greatest Americans.'

Crow did not say why he bought the two lots next to the home, but said 'the other lots were later sold to a vetted builder who was committed to improving the quality of the neighborhood and preserving its historical integrity.'

It's not clear if Crow bought the properties at fair market value. In 2013, he bought two properties on the same block, a vacant lot and a small house, for just $40,000.

Crow said his company bought the properties 'at market rate based on many factors including the size, quality, and livability of the dwellings.'

Meanwhile Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee wrote a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts demanding he open an investigation into Thomas's gifts from his billionaire friend, as they announced their own hearing into court ethics.

Judiciary Republicans have been notably quiet on the issue.

Calling the gifts 'plainly inconsistent' with the ethical standards Americans expect of 'any person in a position of public trust,' the letter, led by Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin, urged the Republican-appointed chief justice to 'immediately' open an investigation to ensure Thomas's behavior isn't repeated.

Clarence Thomas pictured above with his mother Leola Williams

Durbin wrote his committee will hold a hearing 'in the coming days,' adding: 'If the Court does not resolve this issue on its own, the Committee will consider legislation to resolve it.'

Some Democrats have called on the high court to adopt a formal code of ethics - it is currently the only court in the federal judiciary that does not have one for its nine members.

The letter noted there had been call for a code of ethics over reporting on Thomas's gifts from real estate billionaire Harlan Crow in 2011, which Roberts 'dismissed' at the time.

Thomas, who has been showered with exotic vacations and luxurious gifts by the Republican megadonor, made a rare statement last week insisting colleagues and 'others in the judiciary' had told him such 'personal hospitality' was allowable.

Thomas flew on Crow's private jet, sailed around the world on his yacht and stayed at his resort in the Adirondacks nearly every summer for around two decades, according to a Pro Publica report released Thursday.

Monday's letter turns up the heat on Roberts. Some have even called on the 74-year-old justice to resign. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib have called for his impeachment.

Crow has donated millions to Republican campaigns and conservative groups. He has also presented Thomas with a series of peculiar gifts, including an Abraham Lincoln bust and a $19,000 bible that once belonging to Frederick Douglass.

Thomas did not disclose trips to Indonesia, New Zealand and Sonoma, California, that he took with Crow - and which he would not have been able to afford on his $285,000-a-year salary.

Thomas takes annual trips to Topridge, Crow's Adirondacks estate

The retreat offers opportunities for boat rides and fishing, and features exotic furnishings

Crow issued a lengthy statement in response to the revelations about his travels with Thomas.

'My wife Kathy and I have been friends with Justice Thomas and his wife Ginni since 1996. We are very dear friends,' he said.

'The hospitality we have extended to the Thomases over the years is no different from the hospitality we have extended to our many other dear friends,' he said.

'Justice Thomas and Ginni never asked for any of this hospitality. We have never asked about a pending or lower court case, and Justice Thomas has never discussed one, he continued.

Crow called the trips 'gatherings of friends.'

Crow and Thomas met in the 1990s, a few years after Thomas joined the high court and the two have had a close relationship ever since - Crow once reportedly provided $500,000 to Thomas' wife Ginni to found a Tea Party-related group.

The 74-year-old billionaire real estate developer who has lavished gifts and trips on Thomas is the chairman of a highly successful private investment firm, Crow Holdings, with almost $29 billion in holdings, according to the Dallas Morning News.

He inherited the real estate empire founded by his father, Trammall Crow, who the Wall Street Journal in 1986 said was the nation's largest landowner, with nearly 300 million square feet of developed real estate.

He has been active in Republican politics, once a member of the founding committee of the Club for Growth and serving on the board of the American Enterprise Institute.

He has donated millions to Republican campaigns and conservative groups. He has also presented Thomas with a series of peculiar gifts as an Abraham Lincoln bust and a $19,000 bible once belonging to Frederick Douglass.

A ProPublica report revealed that Thomas has issued a ruling in his own favor  allowing himself to make use of luxury jets, a mega-yacht, and stunning retreats all owned by the same real estate magnate.

He purchased and helped restore Camp Topridge in the Adirondacks, taking down some buildings and constructing new ones at the facility once owned by Marjorie Merriweather Post.

A friend of the Bush family, Crow is a trustee of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Texas, and also backs the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

He is a member of the Supreme Court Historical Society, although he said in a statement he has never had business before the Thomas court.

Crow has not been a party in any Supreme Court litigation, but has been involved in two conservative groups involved in filing supporting briefs in cases that go before the Supreme Court.
An American woman kidnapped alongside three friends by a drug cartel in Mexico said she was traveling to the country for a second tummy tuck surgery after having six children.

Latavia McGee, 34, told The New York Times she had received a cosmetic treatment in Mexico two years before the kidnapping, and that she was returning with her friends for a second procedure as a form of 'self-care.'

'It wasn't that I was self-conscious, because I always thought I was beautiful,' McGee said. 'I wanted to do it, so I saved my money, and I went.'

McGee and her friends Eric Williams, Zindell Brown and Shaeed Woodard - dubbed 'the tummy tuck four' - became lost trying to find the cosmetic clinic in the border town of Matamoros in March, when they were caught in the crossfire of a cartel gunfight and taken after being mistaken for drug traffickers.

Williams and McGee survived after four days in captivity, and were released after the cartels realized their mistake while Brown and Woodard were killed.

The surviving pair have since begun detailing their ordeal, and revealed to CNN the cartels tried to force them to have sex with each other while in captivity.

The group of Americans traveled to Matamoros in March for Latavia McGee, 34, (pictured) to have a tummy tuck when a drug cartel kidnapped them

Eric Williams (pictured) was injured in the leg and says the cartel 'stitched him up' on a table but Zindell Brown and Shaeed Woodard were killed

McGee told The Times she and her friends she was traveling with were as close as brothers. Williams told CNN they told the cartels they were related when the tried to force them to have sex with one another.

'They tried to make us have sex with each other but we told them we were brother and sister and that she was pregnant,' Williams said.

They also described being moved between multiple cartel safehouses and having to hide under their friends' dead bodies while in transit.

After several days, a video of the moment the group were kidnapped started to spread.

McGee says the kidnappers showed them the footage - and that is when they realized they'd taken four innocent Americans.

The gangster who set them free, she said, told them he was American.

The pair were rescued from a safe house after four days in captivity

McGee said 'none of them deserved' the treatment they received. She is shown after being rescued

'He said there's nothing we can do to bring your two brothers back but we're sorry, somebody made the wrong call, he was high and drunk, and I am from America too.

'He said, "I am fighting with my boss for him to give you up" and that once he let us go, he'd have to leave too because they would kill him.'

They drove 'all night' in a car beneath their friends' bodies, she said, waiting to be rescued.

'They kept asking us questions and our answers never changed, they said, "We're going to get you some help,"' McGee said.

The group had traveled to Matamoros for her to have a tummy tuck. They had driven from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, for days to get there.

Speaking of her murdered friends, McGee said: 'They didnt deserve that. None of us deserved it. But were alive  we have a lot of recovering to do'.

The State Department has repeatedly urged caution when traveling to Mexico.

Many states remain under 'do not travel' advisories.

Members (pictured) of the Gulf Cartel's Scorpions Group were abandoned on a Matamoros street and accused by the criminal organization of being behind the kidnapping

Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown, two of the Americans kidnapped in Mexico, were found dead Tuesday

Shortly after the Americans were found, five cartel members turned themselves over to authorities, along with a note from the gang apologizing for the kidnapping and explaining the men had operated on their own.

'The Gulf Cartel's Scorpions Group strongly condemns the events of last Friday, March 3 where unfortunately an 'innocent' working mother died and 4 American citizens were 'kidnapped' of which 2 died,' the Spanish-written message read.

'And for this reason, we have decided to hand over those involved and directly responsible for the facts who at all times acted under their own determination and indiscipline and against the rules that 'The CDG' has always operated, respecting the life and integrity of the innocent,' the cartel said.

After the Americans were rescued, many wondered whether their story about being in Mexico for cosmetic surgery was true, especially after DailyMail.com revealed their lengthy rap sheets.

Williams was previously busted for 'distributing crack near a school,' while McGee has been slapped with 'unlawful conduct towards a child,' when her daughter tested positive for amphetamines.

Woodard was charged with the 'manufacturing and possession' of drugs and pleaded guilty, while Brown was also charged for 'possession of marijuana or hashish.'
A leading pro-democracy campaigner and Kremlin critic has been sentenced to 25 years in a Russian penal colony for condemning the war in Ukraine after a show trial that has been compared with the most brutal excesses of the Stalin era.

Opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, who holds dual British and Russian citizenship and has survived two poisonings by the authorities, was deemed guilty of treason after accusing Russian military forces of war crimes in a speech to US politicians last year.

The sentence is the longest yet handed out to a Russian opposition figure, and marks another sinister step in Vladimir Putin's crackdown on dissent following his bungled invasion of Ukraine.

Human rights lawyer Mikhail Biryukov compared the spectacle to Joseph Stalin's show trials, adding that such a long sentence for treason was similar to those handed to 'Nazi accomplices who fought with weapons in their hands during the Second World War'.

Opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza (pictured in court), who holds dual British and Russian citizenship and has survived two poisonings by the authorities, was deemed guilty of treason

The sentence is the longest yet handed out to a Russian opposition figure, and marks another sinister step in Vladimir Putin's crackdown on dissent

The judge in Moscow took only minutes to rule on the case and demanded Kara-Murza should be sent to a 'strict regime correctional colony', despite the fact he suffers from serious health concerns that are thought to be a legacy of the assassination attempts.

The father-of-three defiantly told the court that he was proud of every word he had spoken, adding that his only regret was his failure to convince enough people at home and abroad about the dangers of Putin.

'I know that the day will come when the darkness over our country will dissipate and when those who kindled and unleashed this war, rather than those who tried to stop it, will be recognised as criminals,' he said. The 41-year-old Cambridge University graduate, who had moved his family to America, returned to Russia a year ago  and, despite the intensifying crackdown on Putin's critics, kept making attacks on a war that he called 'illegal' while describing the government as a 'regime of murderers'.

He was arrested on grounds of 'spreading 'fakes' about the Russian army motivated by political hatred' and then labelled 'a foreign agent' a few days later.

His bravery is remarkable. When I chatted to Kara-Murza at a conference on Putin hosted by former chess champion Garry Kasparov in New York in 2018, he told me of his determination to save his nation from despotism.

'If we did nothing, we would be complicit in the destruction of Russia. I am doing this for my children. I want them to be able to live in a free and democratic Russia.' He knew better than most the risks of fighting Putin, but seemed fearless. 'They've tried to kill me twice in the last three years but I am not easily intimidated,' he told me, adding with a rueful smile that the murder attempts were 'disconcerting'.

In May 2015  three months after his mentor and political colleague Boris Nemtsov was shot dead on a bridge near the Kremlin  Kara-Murza was rushed to hospital in Moscow when his heartbeat suddenly surged and he started vomiting following lunch in a restaurant.

He was found guilty after accusing Russian military forces of war crimes in a speech to US politicians last year. Pictured: British Ambassador Deborah Bronnert (left) and U.S. ambassador Lynne Tracy (right)

The judge in Moscow took only minutes to rule on the case and demanded Kara-Murza should be sent to a 'strict regime correctional colony'

Kara-Murza (pictured in October, file photo), 41, a father of three and an opposition politician who holds Russian and British passports, spent years speaking out against President Vladimir Putin and lobbied Western governments to impose sanctions on Russia and individual Russians for purported human rights violations

He was in a coma for a week and suffered kidney failure, saying after he had recovered in the US that it was difficult to 'believe this was an accident'. Tests found an excess of heavy metals in his blood, although Russian authorities refused to investigate.

Two years later, he ended up in another coma on life support after a similar incident. Doctors and toxicology tests found his symptoms consistent with poisoning.

Bellingcat, the digital investigation group, found that in both instances he had been 'systematically tailed' by security operatives  including one individual who had allegedly been involved in the poisoning of anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny, also since jailed by the Kremlin.

Afterwards, Kara-Murza moved his wife and children to Washington, telling me that he doubted he would survive a third attempt on his life. 'I cannot stop eating and drinking,' he said. 'All I can do is move my family away from Russia.'

Kara-Murza's wife Evgenia said yesterday the long prison term was 'recognition' of her husband's work. 'The sentence shows that they're so afraid of him and they hate him so much for his consistency, for his courage, for his amazing bravery.'

But concerns over his health have grown recently after he suffered dramatic weight loss and spreading numbness in his hands and feet. Kara-Murza's lawyer said the activist had polyneuropathy, caused by damage to the peripheral nerves on his limbs as a result of the poison attacks.

Navalny, who was attacked with the nerve agent Novichok three years ago, said in a statement yesterday that Kara-Murza was being persecuted as 'revenge for the fact that he did not die' after being poisoned.

Canadian Ambassador to Russia Alison LeClaire, British Ambassador to Russia Deborah Bronnert and U.S. ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy address the media after a hearing of the case of Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was found guilty of treason and of discrediting the Russian army, in Moscow, Russia, April 17, 2023

Kara-Murza's wife Evgenia (pictured) said yesterday the long prison term was 'recognition' of her husband's work

He added that the trial was 'illegal, unscrupulous and simply fascist'. Navalny has also been severely ill, with stomach pains and weight loss, after being sent to a top-security penal colony following his arrest on returning to Russia in January 2021.

'It's a sort of slow and methodical murder, happening in front of our eyes right now, with the whole world watching,' said a member of his Anti-Corruption Foundation.

Kara-Murza became active in politics after meeting Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister. The pair co-wrote an appeal for Putin to quit in 2010, then become key voices in the global campaign for the imposition of 'Magnitsky sanctions' on officials tied to human rights abuses.

The sanctions are named after Sergei Magnitsky, who was beaten to death in a Russian jail after exposing a 185 million tax fraud  and have been imposed on the judge in Kara-Murza's case for his role in sentencing the lawyer.

When we last met, this likeable and brave man told me that he was 'very optimistic' for Russia's future, explaining how he saw flight as a form of defeat. But that was before the war, before the Kremlin terror worsened  and before his jail sentence.

The activist had predicted his fate to the court. 'I know the verdict,' he said. 'I knew it a year ago when I saw people in black uniforms and black masks running after my car in the rear-view mirror. Such is the price for speaking up in Russia today.'
Interview: U.S., NATO pump weapons to Ukraine for own interests, says Irish EU lawmaker

Xinhua) 11:28, April 17, 2023

CHONGQING, April 16 (Xinhua) -- While China presented to the world a peace plan to the Ukraine crisis, "the U.S. and NATO haven't wanted the war to stop" for their own interests, Mick Wallace, a member of the European Parliament (MEP), has said.

"It was good to see China come up with a peace plan," the Irish MEP told Xinhua during his stay in Chongqing, the last stop of his 9-day visit to China.

Wallace, who had also visited Beijing, Xi'an and Chengdu in his first China trip, said that he had the chance to understand more about the country and its people.

"The vast majority of the world are voting for peace, and China finds itself on the same side as most of the global side. That is incredibly significant," he said.

"The U.S. and NATO haven't wanted the war to stop. They stopped peace breaking out... All the NATO countries and the Americans are arming the Ukrainians to the teeth," said Wallace.

"That's helping to keep the war going," he said, stressing that the war only suits the interests of the military-industrial complex, the United States and NATO.

He said that some from Europe "have an arrogance to come here and lecture the Chinese about what you should do and not do when we are actually facilitating the war by pumping weapons into it."

"There is a trend that Europe may undermine its position with China at its own expense," said Wallace, referring to it as "very foolish."

"The Americans want to stall the progress of China, and they want the support of Europe in doing it ... The Americans have been looking to drive a wedge between Europe and China," said the EU lawmaker.

"If they (European countries) are going to make decisions that suit the U.S. empire more than they suit the people of Europe, that would be very sad. But that's what's happening at the moment," he said.

Europe can have "a very healthy relationship with China," and "should not talk about fighting with China," said Wallace. "We should have a relationship that enhances the life of the Europeans and the Chinese."

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell returned to the Senate floor Monday nearly six weeks after he tripped at a Washington fundraiser and suffered a concussion and broken rib.

'It's good to be back,' McConnell said with a wisecrack: 'Suffice to say, this wasn't the first time being hard-headed has served me very well.'

In between a few coughs, the Kentuckian gave a slow but articulate speech that signaled he had no intentions of stepping away from the role of leading Republicans in the upper chamber.

'We're truly lucky and blessed to get to serve in this remarkable institution, represent our home states and serve our country. And needless to say, I'm very happy to be back. There's important business for Congress to tackle,' he said.

Mitch McConnell returned to the Senate floor Monday nearly six weeks after he tripped at a Washington fundraiser and suffered a concussion and broken rib.

McConnell fell at a dinner event for the Senate Leadership Fund on March 8 at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C. The 86-year-old has helmed the ship for Senate Republicans since 2007.

He criticized President Joe Biden for not doing enough to negotiate a lift to the debt ceiling and thanked his colleagues for their well wishes.

'President Biden does not get to stick his fingers in his ears and refuse to listen, talk or negotiate,' he said. 'The White House needs to stop wasting time and start negotiating with the speaker of the House.'

Meanwhile on the other side of the aisle, Sen. John Fetterman returned to Capitol Hill after spending nearly two months at Walter Reed hospital receiving treatment for depression.

He suffered a stroke on the campaign trail last May and has since struggled with auditory processing disorder, meaning it is hard for him to speak fluidly and quickly process when people are speaking to him.

Both men will be getting right to work after senators were on a two-week recess - the chamber has a vote scheduled for Monday night.

'It's good to be back,' McConnell said with a wisecrack: 'Suffice to say, this wasn't the first time being hard-headed has served me very well'

McConnell fell at a dinner event for the Senate Leadership Fund on March 8 at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C.

Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein - at 89 the oldest member of the Senate - has provided no timeline for her return to Washington as she recovers from shingles. Her absence has stalled confirmation of Biden's judiciary nominees.

McConnell returns to Congress during a chaotic stretch where both parties must reach an agreement to raise the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling by an undetermined summer deadline and also hash out whether to further fund the war in Ukraine.

McConnell's March fall was his second in recent years - four years ago he fell at his Kentucky home, suffering a shoulder fracture that required surgery. He had polio as as a child and has said it has caused him some difficulty climbing stairs even into adulthood.
More than 1.3million of taxpayers' money has been spent defending 121 different legal challenges against the Rwanda asylum deal, the Mail can disclose.

The astonishing sum covers the Government's legal costs since the first attempted charter flight last June.

It includes the cost of fighting judicial reviews brought by the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) trade union, which represents Border Force staff, and pro-migrant charities, plus a host of cases brought by individual foreign nationals.

The sum would pay for 35 NHS nurses for a year on the average salary of 37,000 a year.

The overall legal bill will continue to rise because challenges against the Rwanda deal are still being pursued.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman speaks during a press conference in Kigali, Rwanda Saturday, March 18, 2023. Braverman's visit aimed at reinforcing the U.K. government's commitment to a controversial plan to deport some asylum-seekers to the country

British Home Secretary Suella Braverman visits Bwiza Riverside Houses in Kigali, Rwanda on March 18, 2023. Riverside developments are planned to accommodate asylum seekers

In December, High Court judges ruled the policy - which will see 'irregular' migrants such as Channel arrivals sent to Rwanda to claim asylum there rather than here - was lawful.

Lord Justice Lewis, sitting with Mr Justice Swift, said the plans did not amount to a breach of human rights laws or other international refugee agreements.

Their ruling even questioned whether the four groups had even been eligible to intervene.

The ruling said PCS members were 'not directly affected by the Rwanda policy in any sense relevant for the purposes of bringing a claim for judicial review'.

It found that two charities involved in the case - Detention Action and Care4Calais - did not have legal 'standing' to bring judicial reviews, and a separate challenge brought by Asylum Aid was 'unnecessary'.

However, a further challenge at the Court of Appeal has been launched with hearings due later this month.

It came as new details emerged of a plan to house 1,800 migrants aboard a ship moored at Birkenhead, Merseyside.

A vessel similar to the one already announced for Portland in Dorset could be moored at facilities operated by the port operators the Peel Group, according to reports.

There have also been suggestions that a disused ferry could be converted to house Channel migrants.

Ministers are this week preparing for a final showdown with rebel MPs over the new immigration Bill.

Up to 60 Tory backbenchers threatened to vote against the proposed measures before Easter unless ministers met a series of demands to introduce tougher measures against illegal immigration.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman, left, listens to Rwanda's Minister of Education Valentine Uwamariya, right, during a visit to Kepler university in the capital Kigali, Rwanda, 19 March

RNLI crew pick up migrants in an inflatable boat who were travelling across the English Channel, bound for Dover on the south coast of England

The Government is due to publish a series of amendments to the legislation later this week - some of which are likely to be aimed at placating the rebels.

The number of migrants to have crossed the Channel since the start of the year is likely to have topped 5,000 on Monday.

There had been 4,936 by Sunday but three further boats arrived at Dover on Monday with as-yet unconfirmed numbers aboard.

The running total is significantly below that seen at the same point last year, when it had reached 6,342, but Home Office forecasts suggest this year could beat last year's record 45,700 arrivals.

By the end of the year 85,000 migrants may have crossed the Channel under worst case scenarios, leaked documents suggested earlier this year.
The former president has been mired in a series of lawsuits

Ex-president Donald Trump has vowed to fire U.S. government employees who fail a proposed civil service test.

The real estate mogul made the pledge in a campaign video released over the weekend that hit out at last year's raid on Mar-a-Lago.

'I will require every federal employee to pass a new civil service test, demonstrating an understanding our constitutional limited government,' he said.

The 76-year-old said they would be forced to answer questions on 'due process rights, equal protection, free speech (and) religious liberty.'

In a thinly veiled reference to the removal of documents at his exclusive Florida residence, Trump said officials would be expected to brush up on 'the Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable seizure and search.'

He added: 'We will put unelected bureaucrats back in their place.'

Donald Trump has repeatedly blasted the so-called 'deep state' since entering politics in 2015 when he first ran for the White House

The former commander-in-chief has repeatedly railed against the so-called 'Deep State' since his first run for the White House in 2015.

In March last year, Trump said he wanted a new law to be passed allowing the president to fire any U.S. government employee working for the executive branch.

During his presidency, he repeatedly attacked top officials, such as former FBI Director James Comey or the U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

The would-be Republican nominee, who leads in GOP opinion polls, is currently mired in a series of lawsuits and investigations.

He was indicted and arraigned in Manhattan earlier this month on 34 charges related to alleged hush money payments, including to ex-porn star Stormy Daniels.

Trump has denied ever having sexual relations with the former adult movie actress.

A group of Republicans, led by Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio, are suing District Attorney Alvin Bragg in a bid to get that case thrown out.

Republican Congressman Jim Jordan, who chairs the House judiciary committee, has launched his own lawsuit to block the Manhattan 'hush money' case brought by District Attorney Alvin Bragg

Trump has repeatedly denied claims by Stormy Daniels that he had an affair with her whilst married to his Slovenian model wife Melania

Special Counsel Jack Smith is also investigating his handling of classified documents and his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

Trump continues to make baseless claims that the vote was rigged in favor of Joe Biden.

And earlier on Monday, a New York judge gave his approval for a civil lawsuit against the one-time reality TV star to go ahead next week.

His lawyers had tried to delay the defamation and battery case brought by Elle columnist E Jean Carroll.

Carroll sued Trump in November, alleging he defamed her by calling her a liar when he denied her claim that he raped her in the 1990s.

She added a battery charge under a recently adopted New York law that allows adult survivors of sexual abuse to sue their alleged attacker regardless of the statute of limitations.

Trump has repeatedly denied Carroll's allegations.

But his apparent legal woes have not dissuaded Republican donors, with his 2024 campaign raking in $34 million since the start of the year.
More than half a million operations and appointments have been ditched as a result of NHS strikes, official figures show.

There were at least 201,000 cancellations last week when junior doctors staged a four-day walkout, resulting in an average of 26,145 medics being absent each day.

It means the total has now soared past 531,000 since December because of industrial action by doctors, nurses, paramedics and physiotherapists.

NHS England said the true impact is likely to have been much higher as not all hospitals have provided staffing data and many had avoided scheduling consultations on these dates.

National medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis admitted it is becoming 'increasingly difficult' to manage the impact of the walkouts and warned this will 'unfortunately continue to worsen'. He added: 'Today's figures lay bare the colossal impact of industrial action on planned care in the NHS. Our staff now have an immense amount of work to catch up.'

More than half a million operations and appointments have been ditched as a result of NHS strikes, official figures show

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents healthcare organisations, also fears there is 'far worse' disruption to come from strikes, with 'long-term consequences for patients'.

And Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive of NHS Providers, said: 'The huge number of rescheduled operations and appointments will keep climbing unless the Government sits down with unions to find a way to prevent any more strikes.'

The figures came as Rishi Sunak vowed to face down striking nurses and ruled out a better pay offer. He insisted the Government had already put 'significantly more money' on the table in its latest rejected offer and indicated there'd be no more.

Mr Sunak took aim at a potential joint 'mega strike' between nurses and doctors following a speech in London, saying 'everyone will be concerned about the impact on patient care'.

Nurses are planning to walk out in emergency departments, intensive care and cancer wards for the first time later this month.

And Royal College of Nursing union bosses are threatening to carry on the strikes until Christmas. Last week its members snubbed a 5 per cent pay rise and one-off lump sum of between 1,655 and 3,789.

However, members of Unison, which represents ambulance workers, accepted the deal.

The British Medical Association, behind last week's strikes by junior doctors and which is calling for a 35 per cent pay rise, has said it is 'not ruling in or out' joint action with other unions.

It came as patients have been left waiting more than two days for an ambulance in England, new analysis suggests.

Data collected by Labour from Freedom of Information requests shows patients across the country enduring long waits for ambulances to arrive or stuck outside hospitals waiting to be admitted to A&E.

The figures, collected in responses from half of ambulance trusts by the party, showed that in the North West in December a patient waited 65 hours, 38 minutes and 13 seconds for a response to a category 3 call.

Category 3 calls are classified as urgent but are not immediately life-threatening, with problems including a diabetes issue or requirement for pain control to relieve suffering. These calls should be reached within two hours in nine out of ten cases.

The data also showed that the longest waits for an ambulance following category 2 calls in the West Midlands and Yorkshire (which can include people with heart attack and stroke) meant patients were left waiting over 21 hours. The target is 18 minutes.

Meanwhile, also in December, the longest wait for a category 2 call in the East Midlands was more than 26 hours.

Other Freedom of Information data collected by Labour for 2022 showed that one patient waited 40 hours in the back of an ambulance outside a hospital in the South West, while in the East of England there was an almost 36-hour wait, and one of 32 hours in the West Midlands.

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said: 'Patients can no longer trust that an ambulance will reach them in an emergency.

The figures came as Rishi Sunak vowed to face down striking nurses and ruled out a better pay offer. He insisted the Government had already put 'significantly more money' on the table in its latest rejected offer and indicated there'd be no more

'Stroke and heart attack victims are left waiting for hours, when every second counts.'

NHS Providers chief executive Sir Julian Hartley said: 'These figures are further evidence, were it needed, that last winter was one of toughest on record for the NHS.

'Trust leaders will be very concerned by these wait times as ensuring timely, high-quality care for patients is their top priority.

'The causes of long ambulance waits are complex. High demand - always at its worst in winter - along with overstretched capacity and vast workforce shortages all contribute.

'Trust leaders are working extremely hard to recover urgent and emergency care services and develop community and mental health support to ensure patients can access the care they need swiftly in the right setting. However, they desperately need action on a national level to help tackle these problems.

'The Government's promised long-term workforce plan, which must be fully funded and costed, should help address these issues. It cannot come a minute too soon.'

NHS England data shows that, on average, people waiting for a response to a category 2 call in December waited one hour, 32 minutes and 54 seconds.

Some 36,000 category 2 patients overall waited more than three-and-a-half hours in December for ambulances, the data showed.

There was a big improvement in January, to an average response time of 39 minutes and 33 seconds. However, this was still above the 18-minute target.

Meanwhile, from December 1 to February 28, some 129,023 people waited more than an hour in ambulances outside hospitals.

Mr Streeting said: 'This is the terrifying reality after 13 years of Conservative understaffing of our NHS.

'Patients should be able to phone 999, safe in the knowledge that they will get an answer and an ambulance when they need it. The longer we give the Conservatives in office, the longer patients will wait.

'Labour will launch the biggest expansion of the NHS workforce in history, training the staff needed to reach patients on time, paid for by abolishing the non-dom tax status. We will ensure the NHS is there for us when we need it once again.'
House Oversight Committee Republicans reviewed documents Monday suggesting that six more members of Joe Biden's family may have benefitted from business deals related to the president's influence peddling.

It comes as the panel now under GOP leadership continues to comb through the financial records of the Biden family and interview those involved in alleged foreign business deals.

Rep. Nancy Mace, who sits on the committee, said that the amount of money that is allegedly trading hands in suspicious activity reports is 'astronomical' and that the number of Biden family members involved is 'wild.'

'We've now identified 6 additional members of Joe Biden's family who may have benefited from shady deals. This brings our total to 9,' Oversight Chairman James Comer revealed on Monday.

Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (right) revealed Monday that six more Biden family members may have been involved in shady business deals

Rep. Nancy Mace posted a selfie-style video to her Instagram story saying that the amount of money in question is 'astronomical' and the number of Biden family members involved is 'wild'. She also noted that money transferring hands included with the Bidens included to 'prostitution rings'

Democrats on the committee are again denouncing the moves by the opposing party, claiming that they are only conducting these investigations to gain 'political dirt' on the Bidens.

'After years of pursuing political dirt against the Biden family, today's statement by Chairman Comer once again proves that he has failed to uncover evidence of any wrongdoing by President Biden,' a spokesperson for Oversight Democrats told DailyMail.com in a statement on the latest.

Oversight members went to the Treasury Department to review more suspicious activity reports (SARs)involving Biden and his family amid allegations that Hunter Biden used his father's influence to engage in foreign business deals.

The family members that Comer has already claimed benefitted are Biden's brother Jim and Beau Biden's widow Hallie, who dated her late husband's brother Hunter in the years following his death.

Mace said in a selfie video posted to her Instagram on Monday that the transactions she reviewed involved claims of money going to 'prostitution rings,' likely in reference to Hunter Biden paying money to an escort service to transport prostitutes across state lines.

'Just left the Treasury to review over 100 suspicious activity reports on the Biden family and I have to tell you, there are more Bidens involved than we knew previously,' Mace said in the video while walking out of the Treasury Department onto the streets of Washington, D.C. 'And every time you unturn, overturn or look under a stone, there's so much more you have to investigate.'

'It's wild the number of family members involved, and it's even  the amount of money that we're talking about in these suspicious activity reports is astronomical,' the South Carolina lawmaker added.

'And the accusations there, and the source of the funding or where the money's going  the shell companies, prostitution rings, etc.  it's insanity even to me that it's not been investigated in the way that it should be.'

Comer revealed Monday that after the Oversight panel reviewed more records on Monday, it was made clear that the reach of foreign influence peddling benefitted more than just a few members of the president's family.

'We will provide more details soon,' Comer said.

A spokesperson for the Kentucky lawmaker told DailyMail.com that the panel is not yet providing the names of additional family members who may have benefitted from the deals outside of Jim and Hallie Biden.

Joe and Hunter Biden stand with the president's sister Valerie Biden Owens as a plague dedicated to his late son Beau was unveiled at the Mayo Roscommon Hospice in County Mayo, Ireland on Friday, April 14, 2023

Republicans subpoenaed bank records and released documents purporting to show that Hallie Biden (right) received a cut of $3 million in cash from China. Beau Biden's widow was identified last week as the third member of the first family wrapped up in Rep. James Comer's investigation into allegations they used their names to profit on business deals

Democrats are furious, claiming that Comer and Republicans on the panel are drawing their own conclusions and mischaracterizing SARs as evidence in their probes.

'Committee Republicans continue to mischaracterize Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) as evidence of misconduct or criminality, instead of calling them what they are: unsubstantiated tips that rarely result in any follow-up by law enforcement,' Democrats on the panel said in a statement to DailyMail.com.

'Let's be honest about what this isit's another opportunity for Committee Republicans to rush to Fox News to mislead the public about what has been happening behind closed doors to justify their fishing expedition.'

Comer accused Hallie Biden  who was married to President Biden's late son Beau  of influence peddling by receiving a $35,000 payment linked to a Chinese firm.

Republicans released last week additional information identifying Hallie as the third members of the first family wrapped up in Comer's investigation. The new total is at nine.

The reports last week also claimed that Hallie received a cut of the $3 million from China sent to an associate of Hunter Biden, whom she dated from 2016-2019 after her husband Beau died of brain cancer.

The White House released a blistering statement accusing Republicans of orchestrating an 'attack' on Hallie as they accused the family of using their Biden name to profit off business deals around the world.

In a memo seen by DailyMail.com, Republicans claim that Hallie received $35,000 in two transfers in March from Biden family associate John 'Rob' Walker, after he received a $3 million wire from the Chinese State Energy HK Limited, a firm affiliated with CEFC China Energy.
A woman has died after suffering serious injuries at a home in the Perth suburb of Kewdale, with a man known to her arrested after a ute crashed nearby.

Police and paramedics were called to the home about 7.45pm on Monday and administered first aid to a 35-year-old woman before she was taken to Royal Perth Hospital where she later died.

Police say a man known to the woman was later taken into custody in St James after a dual-cab utility he was driving was involved in a serious crash.

The man was arrested at a nearby residence and taken to hospital where he remains under police guard.
A white homeowner has been charged with first-degree assault for shooting 16-year-old black boy Ralph Yarl when he mistakenly rung his doorbell in Kansas City, Missouri.

Andrew Lester, 84, is facing two felony charges and a warrant has been issued for his arrest, Clay County prosecutor Zachary Thompson revealed on Monday.

The prosecutor confirmed that there was indeed a racial factor in the shooting. The teenage music scholar was shot twice, in the head and arm, after ringing the wrong doorbell when he went to pick up his younger brothers.

'I can tell you there was a racial component to the case,' said Thompson.

Lester's bond is set at $200,000. If convicted, he could face life in prison for the assault charge, and 3 to 15 years for armed criminal action.

He is accused of shooting Yarl twice through glass at the front of the house, just a block away from the property his younger twin brothers were waiting to be picked up.

Andrew Lester, 84, has been charged with two felony counts over the April 13 shooting of Ralph Yarl, which Kansas City prosecutors said was racially motivated

Ralph Yarl, 16, was shot twice in the head by a white man after he approached the wrong house by mistake when going to collect his siblings

Andrew Lester, 84, has been charged with two felony counts over the April 13 shooting of Ralph Yarl (right), which Kansas City prosecutors said was racially motivated

He pulled into the driveway of the home around 10pm on April 13, rang the doorbell, and was immediately shot in the head by the homeowner.

He survived, and was released from hospital after only four days, in what family attorney Ben Crump said was a miracle.

'He continues to improve. He's responsive and he's making good progress,' said his father, Paul.

Crump added that it was a tragedy it had taken the prosecutor so long to charge Lester.

'I think it is appropriate, you can't send a message to society that it's okay to shoot black people in the head just for ringing your doorbell.'

President Joe Biden rang the Yarl family on Monday, and invited them to the White House when Ralph is well enough.

'Moments after the family got off the phone with President Biden, who offered his prayers for Ralph's health and for justice, we learned that the prosecutor will be charging the man who is responsible for the deplorable shooting of this innocent boy,' Crump added.

'Gun violence against unarmed black individuals must stop.

'Our children should feel safe, not as though they are being hunted.

'While this is certainly a step in the right direction, we will continue to fight for Ralph while he works towards a full recovery.'

Thompson, asked why Lester was not charged with attempted murder, said they had decided to charge him with an 'a felony' because it was the most serious crime.

'It is the highest level of offense in the state of Missouri,' said Thompson.

'Other charges may not carry that same level of range of punishment.'

Zachary Thompson, Clay County prosecutor, announced charges against Andrew Lester on Monday afternoon

Ralph, center, was said to be trying to pick up his younger siblings from a friend's house but went to the wrong address

Heres the prosecutor explaining why theres no attempted murder charge in the Ralph Yarl shooting: pic.twitter.com/EVPV2P2PFj  philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) April 17, 2023

The house is Kansas City, Missouri had a 'no solicitors' sign on top of the doorbell

The property also had a sign claiming it was 'protected by surveillance cameras'

The doorbell had a small 'no solicitors' sign on top, while another sign claimed the property was 'protected by surveillance cameras.'

The teenager's family said he was collecting his younger siblings but went to the wrong address.

Lester was taken in for questioning immediately after the shooting, but was released two hours after he was arrested  without any charges.

Police took a statement from Ralph in hospital last Friday before he was released from hospital on Monday, to continue to recover at home with his mother - who is a nurse.

Yarl said he was immediately shot in the head and fell to the ground where he was shot a second time, this time in the right arm. Yarl told police the man said: 'Don't come around here.'

Famous faces picked up the cause, with actresses Viola Davis, Jennifer Hudson and Halle Berry calling for justice for Ralph. and hundreds of protesters marching outside the home of the suspected shooter on Sunday to demand action.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said he hopes 'the justice system does right by him.'

More than $1.7million has been raised by a GoFundMe account to help Ralph and his family with the medical bills.

More than $1.7million have been raised by a GoFundMe account to help Ralph and his family with the medical bills, but has been released from hospital

MISSOURI 'STAND YOUR GROUND' LAWS Missouri is one of twenty US states which has stand-your-ground laws, which removes the duty to retreat before using deadly force in self-defense. The law permits homeowners to protect themselves, or a third party (with exceptions) with deadly force should a person feel it is necessary. According to Missouri Revised Statutes 563.031 residents must be faced with a threat before shooting trespassers on the property. It states: '[Protective] force is used against a person who unlawfully enters, remains after unlawfully entering, or attempts to unlawfully enter a dwelling, residence, or vehicle lawfully occupied by such person.' 'Stand-your-ground' laws roughly define how an individual can defend themselves when faced with an imminent threat anywhere else; imminent being a keyword here because even threatening words towards a defending person can lead to a justified homicide. Advertisement

Davis and Berry had put pressure on Thompson to bring 'appropriate charges', but his department said it was waiting for the case file which they now have.

The teenager's family branded the incident a 'hate crime'.

Ralph's aunt, Dr Faith Spoonmore, claims when the teenager fell to the floor, he was shot again - but miraculously managed to run next door to a neighbor for help.

She said her nephew had to knock on three doors before he was helped, and even then was told to lie on the floor with his hands above his head.

'This was not an "error". This is a hate crime. You don't shoot a child in the head because he rang your doorbell,' she said.

'He walked up to the door, rang the doorbell. A man opened up the door, looked him in the eye and said, "Don't ever come back here" as he shot him in the head.

'My nephew fell down and the man shot him again, he was able to get up and ran to the neighbor, who did not open the door. He ran to three houses before one of the neighbors said, "Put your hands up and lay on the ground."

'And then he lay on the ground like he passed out before the neighbor called the police for help.

'You hear these stories about racism in America and you think wow, how sad is that?

'But then you have this little bit of hope because you feel like it's very far away and it would never happen to your family and you. But God, the people in this country are sick.'

On their GoFundMe page they say that he is 'doing well physically' but has a 'long road ahead mentally and emotionally.'

A police officer is parked outside of the property where Ralph Yarl was shot

A talented bass clarinet player, Ralph also leads a section of his school's marching band and plays multiple instruments in the Northland Symphony Youth Orchestra

The teenager's family branded the incident a 'hate crime' after he was shot in the head and arm

Ralph was known among his peers for his intellect and for being a 'musical genius'.

The teen had received a letter from Yale Undergraduate Admissions Board identifying him as a 'good candidate' for the prestigious university.

Ralph is part of his high school's Technology Student Association and Science Olympia Team, plays in the marching, jazz, and competition band, and is one of the top base clarinet players in Missouri.

He had big dreams of attending college after being recognized as a Missouri scholar academy alumni in 2022.

Ralph's attorneys specialize in civil rights and previously represented the families of Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and Cameron Lamb.

His family has retained the services of civil rights attorneys Lee Merritt and Ben Crump, who have represented the families of Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and Cameron Lamb

Police Chief Stacey Graves said in a news conference on Sunday: 'I want everyone to know that I am listening and I understand the concern we are receiving from the community.

'After consulting with the Clay County Prosecutor's Office, the homeowner was released pending further investigation due to the need to obtain a formal statement from the victim, forensic evidence and compile additional information for a case file to be presented.

'Detectives have been working over the past several days to compile a detailed case file so they have all the information they need to make the best charging decision on the case moving forward.

'We want the community to know that we are committed to justice in this case, and every case and work every day to seek that justice for all victims of all crimes.'

She noted that Missouri law allows a person to be held up to 24 hours for a felony investigation, and following that they must be arrested or formally charged.

Investigators will also consider whether or not the suspect was protected within the Stand Your Ground laws.

Officials would not confirm the number of times the homeowner shot the victim or where his injuries were.
Tony Blair has reunited with former US President Bill Clinton at a major conference in Belfast to mark 25 years since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.

The pair were previously pictured together in 1997 in Paris as Clinton met with European leaders in signing the NATO Russia Founding Act to help improve relations with Russia.

The former political heads at one time shared an intimate and trusting relationship as shown in transcripts of their conversations between 1997 and 2000, exposed in 2016 by the BBC.

Clinton and Blair were joined on Monday by Ireland's former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern for a panel discussion chaired by former US secretary and Mr Clinton's wife, Hillary Clinton.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair (left) walks with former US President Bill Clinton (right) at an event at Queen's University Belfast

The former political heads at one time shared an intimate and trusting relationship as shown in transcripts of their conversations between 1997 and 2000 (pictured in 1998)

Mrs Clinton is hosting the three-day celebration of the landmark deal at Queen's University, Belfast, where she is a chancellor.

Addressing the current Stormont stalemate, Mr Blair said Northern Ireland's leaders 'know that the right thing to do is, and you should just get on and do it'.

The Good Friday Agreement, signed on the 10 April 1998, ended 30 years of conflict in Northern Ireland and implemented a power-sharing government between nationalists and unionists.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is due to attend the conference later in the week.
It is being drawn up by Education Secretary Gillian Keegan and Kemi Badenoch

Single-sex schools will be able to reject transgender pupils under new government guidelines.

The move comes after school leaders and governors met with lawyers amid fears about discrimination claims from parents of transgender pupils if they refused to accommodate them.

The guidance, which will apply to all state and independent single-sex schools in England and be issued in weeks, is being drawn up by Education Secretary Gillian Keegan and equalities minister Kemi Badenoch.

Under it, school leaders will also be able to refuse demands by pupils to use different pronouns. A Department for Education source said: 'Single-sex schools can refuse to admit pupils of the other legal sex regardless of whether the child is questioning their gender.'

The move comes after school leaders and governors met with lawyers amid fears about discrimination claims from parents of transgender pupils if they refused to accommodate them (stock image)

The guidance, which will apply to all state and independent single-sex schools in England and be issued in weeks, is being drawn up by Education Secretary Gillian Keegan (left) and equalities minister Kemi Badenoch (right)

The document will also set out that children who change their gender identity cannot share changing or shower facilities with the opposite sex.

The guidance is intended to clarify how schools should respond to children with gender dysphoria and comes after a dramatic increase in the number of children who claim they are trans.

A leader of a girls' school in London told the Telegraph: 'There's anxiety around litigious parents. Most schools say they will be supportive but there are grey areas the Department for Education needs to clarify.'

It comes after Mrs Keegan insisted teachers should be able to say 'good morning, girls' at a single-sex school.

Urging schools to take 'a big dose of common sense' when navigating trans issues, she said: 'We need to look after the wellbeing of all pupils. In that case, the wellbeing of girls is also very important and 'good morning, girls' is absolutely fine to say in a girls' school to a girls' class.'
A documentary questioning whether the monarchy has a future and a programme about Prince Andrew's notorious Newsnight interview will lead Channel 4's coverage marking the King's Coronation.

The broadcaster has announced a schedule of 'alternative' programmes to counter what it called the national 'forelock-tugging' ahead of Charles's crowning.

Comedian Frankie Boyle will present Farewell to the Monarchy, which will ask whether the royal family 'has a place in today's world'.

And Andrew - The Problem Prince, which will air in two parts, will see former BBC journalist Emily Maitlis speak in detail about how she came to grill the Duke of York over his relationship with the late billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Following the November 2019 broadcast and the furore over Andrew's friendship with Epstein, the duke stepped down from public life.

Comedian Frankie Boyle's show Farewell to the Monarchy is to feature in Channel 4's schedule of programmes to mark the King's Coronation. Above: Boyle in the show with artist Kit Green as Queen Elizabeth I

Andrew - The Problem Prince, which will air in two parts, will see former BBC journalist Emily Maitlis speak in detail about how she came to grill the Duke of York over his relationship with the late billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Above: The pair in the infamous interview in 2019

The broadcaster will also show a Coronation special episode of its satirical comedy The Windsors, starring Harry Enfield as the King, and will re-air Prince Andrew: The Musical.

The show about Andrew will also feature archive footage, an interview with former Newsnight producer Sam McAlister and access to palace insiders, Channel 4 said.

The programme is being executively produced by Maitlis - who now works on Global's The News Agents podcast which also features former BBC News presenter Jon Sopel - along with James Goldston, Sheldon Lazarus and Nina Davies.

The interview is also being adapted by Netflix with Sex Education star Gillian Anderson playing Maitlis and The Man In The High Castle actor Rufus Sewell as Andrew.

During the original airing around four years ago, the duke denied to Newsnight that he had sex with Virginia Giuffre and said he had no recollection of ever meeting her and had spent the day in question at Pizza Express in Woking for a party with one of his daughters.

The broadcaster will also show a Coronation special episode of its satirical comedy The Windsors, starring Harry Enfield as the King

Channel 4 will re-air Prince Andrew: The Musical, which stars Kieran Hodgson as Prince Andrew and Emma Sidi as Emily Maitlis

Ms Giuffre said the duke sweated heavily as they danced at London nightclub Tramp in one alleged encounter.

Andrew told Maitlis his Falklands War service had caused a medical condition which meant that at the time he could not sweat.

Ms Giuffre also claims that Epstein trafficked her on three separate occasions, including when she was 17 - still a minor under US law.

Epstein died in August 2019 at the age of 66.

Last year, the duke settled his US sexual assault case out of court, although the agreement was not an admission of guilt and he has always strenuously denied the allegations against him.

Boyle's broadcast sees the Scottish comedian, 50, take a look back at its more than 1,000-year history during the 60-minute special.

The documentary will also ask whether the royal family 'has a place in today's world' and 'should it continue?'.

The one-off programme was previously titled Frankie Boyle: Monarchy, when it was announced in August last year as part of the broadcaster's 40 year-anniversary celebrations.

After the Queen's death last September, a lot of broadcasters' programming was changed.

Last month, The Windsors Coronation Special was announced which will see Enfield as the King invite the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to his special day as the comedy show returns after three years with a 60-minute one-off programme.

Ian Katz, the broadcaster's chief content officer, said: 'Channel 4 exists to provide viewers with an alternative, so as the nation is engulfed by pomp, circumstance and forelock-tugging, we'll be offering a rather less reverential slate of programmes including Frankie Boyle's case against the monarchy and the Windsors' scabrous satirical take on the Coronation.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) keeps spotting galaxies that are too big to exist, scientists have claimed.

Six of these star clusters are far too massive to be the age their data suggests they are, which is between 500 and 700 million years old.

This means that, unless the data has been analysed incorrectly, there is still something fundamental to learn about how galaxies formed after the Big Bang.

'If the masses are right, then we are in uncharted territory,' said the study's author, Dr Mike Boylan-Kolchin from the University of Texas at Austin.

One theory is that the universe expanded much more quickly after the Big Bang than is currently assumed.

Six galaxies (pictured) spotted by JWST are far too massive to be the age their data suggests they are, which is between 500 and 700 million years old

Graph that shows the relative amount of atoms (y axis) contained in galaxies with at least a certain mass (M*) of stars (x axis). Three galaxies detected by the JWST (black square) appear to be using up a much larger number available gas atoms for stars than would be expected

The $10 billion JWST, which sent back its first official photos in July last year, is designed to detect light from the earliest stars and galaxies.

HOW DOES JWST SEE BACK IN TIME? The further away an object is, the further back in time we are looking. This is because of the time it takes light to travel from the object to us. With James Webb's larger mirror, it will be able to see almost the whole way back to the beginning of the Universe, around 13.7 billion years ago. With its ability to view the Universe in longer wavelength infrared light, James Webb will be capable of seeing some of the most distant galaxies in our Universe, certainly with more ease than than the visible/ultraviolet light view of Hubble. This is because light from distant objects is stretched out by the expansion of our Universe - an effect known as redshift - pushing the light out of the visible range and into infrared. Source: Royal Museums Greenwich Advertisement

The further away an object is, the further back in time it is looking, because it takes longer for the light to reach its 21 foot-long (6 m) mirror.

It is the world's biggest and most powerful orbital space telescope, and is capable of peering back 100 to 200 million years after the Big Bang.

In February, scientists at the Swinburne University of Technology in Australia analysed the data it had collected on six galaxies.

They estimated the age of the first one they looked at to be about 13.8 billion years old, but the light JWST had detected had taken 13 billion years to reach it.

This meant that what they were observing was a picture of how it looked when the universe was just 700 million years old - barely 5 per cent of its current age.

However, this picture also showed it was made up of 100 billion stars - the same amount as the present-day Milky Way, which had 13 billion more years to grow.

It was a similar story for the five other galaxies, where they contained way more stars than would be predicted for a cluster of their age.

For a follow-up study, published in Nature Astronomy last week, Dr Boylan-Kolchin 'stress tested' these results against the 'CDM cosmological model'.

This is a framework for understanding the role of dark energy () and cold dark matter (CDM) in shaping the universe's evolution.

The astronomy professor found that, in theory, galaxies of this size and age are possible with this model, but are at an 'absolute upper limit'.

In February, scientists analysed the data it had collected on six galaxies. They estimated the age of the first one they looked at to be about 13.8 billion years old, but the light JWST had detected had taken 13 billion years to reach it. This meant that what were observing was a picture of how it looked when the universe was just 700 million years old - barely 5 per cent of its current age. However, this picture also showed it was made up of 100 billion stars - the same amount as the present-day Milky Way, which had 13 billion more years to grow. Pictured: The six massive galaxies and their surroundings in the sky

Galaxies form when clouds of gas collapse under their own gravity, becoming increasingly dense and hot, and eventually forming stars.

But some of this gas can be lost, either because it is ejected during the star formation process, or stripped away by an exterior force, like a nearby supernova.

'We typically see a maximum of 10 per cent of gas converted into stars,' said Dr Boylan-Kolchin.

However, for these six galaxies to have grown as big as they have in the time they have existed, they must have been converting nearly 100 per cent of their available gas into stars.

Dr Boylan-Kolchin added: 'While 100 per cent conversion of gas into stars is technically right at the edge of what is theoretically possible, it's really the case that this would require something to be very different from what we expect.'

This means that the CDM model, which has been relied upon by cosmologists since the late 1990s, may not be totally correct.

The $10 billion JWST (pictured), that sent back its first official photos in July last year, is designed to detect light from the earliest stars and galaxies

Dr Boylan-Kolchin said. 'We'll require something very new about galaxy formation or a modification to cosmology.

'One of the most extreme possibilities is that the universe was expanding faster shortly after the Big Bang than we predict, which might require new forces and particles.'

Therefore, it is possible that the model needs to be altered to take these new, faster galaxy formation processes into account.

It could also be the case that there was more matter available to the start of the universe for star and galaxy formation, which the model should also account for.

But before scientists jump to change their fundamental approach to cosmology, the data from the JWST needs to be confirmed as correct.

It may be the case that supermassive black holes could have heated up the gas surrounding the galaxies, making them appear larger than they are.

The light that the JWST detected may also not have originated as far back as 13 billion years, meaning that it may actually show the galaxies at more advanced ages.

As light travels across expanding space, its wavelength is stretched and frequency reduced, through what is known as 'redshift'.

The magnitude of the redshift allows scientists to calculate when the light was emitted from a star, but it can be impacted by dust and give the wrong age.

It is hoped further study will reveal if this is the case.

Dr Boylan-Kolchin wrote: 'If analysis of JWST data continues to reveal the presence of strikingly massive galaxies at very early cosmic epochs, more exciting surprises lie ahead for the fields of galaxy formation and cosmology.'
READ MORE: ChatGPT accused of 'wokeness' after string of biased responses

After describing ChatGPT's left-wing bias as 'concerning', Elon Musk is now working on a new AI chatbot of his own.

The Twitter, Telsa and SpaceX boss has registered a company with the name of 'X.AI', a subsidiary under his new conglomerate X Holdings Corp.

According to the Financial Times, the new subsidiary will be the home of efforts to build a tool just like the hugely successful ChatGPT, owned by OpenAI.

Musk is assembling a team of AI researchers and engineers and is in discussions with some investors in SpaceX and Tesla about putting money into his new venture.

Due to Musk's belief in free speech, the new bot product could have less of a left-wing bias than ChatGPT, which has already been criticised for 'woke' responses.

Twitter, Telsa and SpaceX boss Elon Musk (pictured) has registered an artificial intelligence (AI) company with the name of 'X.AI'

Mr Musk has been critical of AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT in the past. He is now reportedly developing a rival. Pictured: Mr Musk commented on a MailOnline story which highlights bias replies from ChatGPT, saying it was 'extremely concerning'

These include refusing to praise Donald Trump, argue in favour of fossil fuels or tell a joke about women.

What is X.AI? X.AI is a new company owned by billionaire Elon Musk. Musk incorporated the company on March 9, according to Nevada business records. It appears to come under X Holdings, his conglomerate that also oversees X Corp, the company that owns Twitter. Advertisement

Musk has already commented on a MailOnline story which highlights bias replies from ChatGPT, saying it was 'extremely concerning'.

He also already tweeted: 'The danger of training AI to be woke  in other words, lie  is deadly.'

The Financial Times cited people 'familiar with the tech entrepreneur's plans', although Musk is yet to comment.

'A bunch of people are investing in it . . . it's real and they are excited about it,' the person said.

ChatGPT, created by San Francisco-based company OpenAI, has been trained on a massive amount of text so it can generate human-like answers to questions.

Since ChatGPT's release in November, it's been used to prescribe antibiotics, fool job recruiters, write essays, come up with recipes and much more.

But users have shared screenshots of responses from the AI bot that show left-wing bias.

Pedro Domingos, a computer science professor at the University of Washington, dismissed ChatGPT as a 'woke parrot'.

ChatGPT wouldn't tell a joke about women as doing so would be 'offensive or inappropriate', but happily told a joke about men

Pedro Domingos, a computer science professor at the University of Washington, asked ChatGPT to write a 10 paragraph argument for using more fossil fuels to increase human happiness

When Domingos asked the bot to list 'five things white people need to improve', it offered a lengthy reply that included 'understanding and acknowledging privilege' and 'being active listeners in conversations about race'.

9 shocking replies that show ChatGPT's 'woke' bias - READ MORE ChatGPT wouldn't tell a joke about women as doing so would be 'offensive' Advertisement

But when asked to do the same for Asian, black and Hispanic people, the bot declined, because 'such a request reinforces harmful stereotypes'.

Another user asked ChatGPT to write a story where President Joe Biden beat Donald Trump in a presidential debate and vice versa.

ChatGPT replied with a detailed story of Biden beating Trump, where the former president struggled to 'keep up with Biden's 'deeper knowledge and more thoughtful responses'.

But when asked to write a story where Trump gets the better of Biden, ChatGPT said 'it's not appropriate' to depict a fictional political victory of one candidate over another as it 'can be viewed in poor taste'.

According to The Telegraph, other 'woke' responses from ChatGPT, recorded by a variety of users, included deeming jokes about overweight people to be inappropriate.

In a hypothetical scenario, it also said it is never OK to use a racial slur even if this is the only way to save millions of people from a nuclear bomb  a reply Musk called 'concerning'.

Musk is one of the co-founders of OpenAI, which was started as a non-profit in 2015, but he stepped down from the company's board in 2018.

The billionaire attempted to take control of the start-up, but his request was rejected, forcing him to quit.

ChatGPT, created by San Francisco-based company OpenAI, has been trained on a massive amount of text so it can generate human-like answers to questions

Now, X.AI will be a 'rival' to OpenAI, according to the report, although details about the upcoming chatbot product are still scarce.

Musk is listed as the sole director of his new firm X.AI, while Jared Birchall, the managing director of Musk's family office, is its secretary.

Google launches its ChatGPT competitor 'Bard' - read more Following the success of ChatGPT, Google announced its competitor called Bard Advertisement

For the project, Musk has secured thousands of graphics processing units (GPUs) from Nvidia Corp, according to FT.

GPUs are systems that power the computing required for intensive tasks such as AI and high-end graphics.

They can also be used to accelerate the training of large language models (LLMs)  AI systems that learnt to generate human-like responses from huge amounts of text data  due to their high processing power.

Shares of the chip company, which declined to comment on the matter, gained on the news on Friday, according to Reuters.

X.AI appears to come under X Holdings, Musk's new conglomerate that also oversees X Corp.

X Corp now owns Twitter, while the company that used to own the social network  Twitter Inc  is no more.

The Twitter and Tesla boss appeared to allude to the news with a simple tweet containing the letter X

X Corp is set to become the company for an upcoming platform that he's referred to as an 'everything app'.

Musk shut down the company that owned Twitter  Twitter Inc  and incorporated it into a company of his own, called X Corp

This app could one day incorporate parts or all of Twitter, as well as online services and utilities such as ridesharing, food deliveries and more.

It comes just weeks after Musk and 1,000 other technology leaders called for a pause on the 'dangerous race' to develop AI, which they fear poses a 'profound risk to society and humanity' and could have 'catastrophic' effects.

Musk's fear is that the technology will become so advanced, that it will no longer require  or even listen to  human interference.

The South African-born entrepreneur has already been highly vocal about his concerns over AI, calling it 'much more dangerous than nukes' and 'more risk than North Korea'.
A mysterious 300-million-year-old sea creature, known as the 'Tully monster', definitely did not have a backbone, a new study has claimed.

Scientists have been debating the morphology of Tullimonstrum gregarium since its fossils were first discovered in the 1950s.

The 'undersea alien' had eyes on stalks and teeth on the end of a trunk, and grew up to 14 inches (35 cm) in length.

But whether it was a vertebrate or invertebrate has been a point of contention, with evidence being found to suggest both.

Now, researchers at the University of Tokyo in Japan say that the Tully monster's body parts once thought to indicate a backbone are not actually as they seemed.

A mysterious 300 million-year-old sea creature, known as the 'Tully monster' (pictured in artist's impression), definitely did not have a backbone, a new study has claimed

Colour-coded depth maps (pictured) enabled the researchers to thoroughly investigate the structure of the Tully monster and other fossils from Mazon Creek, Illinois, USA

'We believe that the mystery of it being an invertebrate or vertebrate has been solved,' said first author and doctoral student Tomoyuki Mikami.

WHAT WAS THE TULLY MONSTER? The Tullimonstrum was first discovered in the 1950s by fossil collector named Francis Tully when the first fossils were found in Mazon Creek fossil beds in central Illinois. The Tully Monster, or Tullimonstrum gregarium, is thought to have been a soft-bodied sea creature that lived in muddy coastal waters in what is now Illinois. They would have grown up to about to 14 inches (35 cm) long with a slender segmented body. Its eyes sat at each end of a long rigid bar across the top of its head and it had a caudal fin. Most strangely it had jaws at the end of a long proboscis, suggesting it perhaps ate food hidden deep in the silt of the estuary or within rocky nooks and crannies. Advertisement

'Based on multiple lines of evidence, the vertebrate hypothesis of the Tully monster is untenable.

'The most important point is that the Tully monster had segmentation in its head region that extended from its body.

'This characteristic is not known in any vertebrate lineage, suggesting a nonvertebrate affinity.'

Fossils of the Tully monster were first discovered in Mazon Creek, Illinois, in 1955, by amateur collector Francis Tully.

They are thought to have lived in the muddy shallow waters around the coast that once sat over that area of Illinois 300 million years ago.

When they died they were covered in silt and became encased in the hard rock that later formed.

The fossil beds at Mazon Creek are one of the only places where the conditions were right to preserve the soft-bodied creature in a fossil before they decayed.

Their eyes sat at each end of a long rigid bar across the top of their heads and they had tail fins.

Most strangely, they had jaws at the end of a long proboscis, or trunk, suggesting they ate food hidden deep in the silt of the estuary or within rocky nooks and crannies.

This bizarre anatomy has made the Tully monster difficult to classify and, in 2016, a study from Yale University put forward evidence to suggest that it was a vertebrate.

Thousands of fossils of the creature have been unearthed in hard rocks dug out of coal mining pits in Mazon Creek, Grundy County, Illinois

Fossils of the Tully monster (pictured in artist's impression) were first discovered in Mazon Creek, Illinois, USA in 1955, by amateur collector Francis Tully

Analysis of some fossils revealed what appeared to be a rudimentary spinal cord made of stiffened cartilage, known as a notochord.

They also claimed it contained other internal organ structures, such as gill sacs, that identified it as a vertebrate, and that its teeth resembled those of the lamprey fish, which also has a notochord.

Then, scientists at the University of Leicester claimed to identity fossilised granules in the creature's eyes that could only be the pigment melanin.

They saw that the pigment-producing cells called 'melanosomes' were of two different shapes, which is something only seen in vertebrates.

If these two studies are correct, then the Tully monster could fill a crucial gap in the evolutionary tree of vertebrates.

However, a year later, a team from the University of Pennsylvania claimed they were wrong.

They said that you can't discern the Tully monster's internal structures from its fossils, and that lampreys also do not resemble them.

While the melanosomes do suggest it was a vertebrate, they added that many invertebrates, such as arthropods and cephalopods like octopuses, also have complex eyes.

'It's not too much of a leap to imagine Tully monsters could have evolved an eye that resembled a vertebrate eye,' they said.

They concluded that none of the more than 1,000 Tully specimens examined in the two 2016 studies appeared to possess structures believed to be universal in aquatic vertebrates.

But a 2019 study from University College Cork disputed this again, saying that the ratio of zinc to copper in the creature's melanosomes were more similar to that of modern day invertebrates than vertebrates.

In 2016, scientists claimed to identity fossilised granules in the Tully monster's eyes that could only be the pigment melanin. They saw that the pigment-producing cells called 'melanosomes' were of two different shapes ('sausages' or 'meatballs, pictured bottom right), which is something only seen in vertebrates. Above: Fossil of Tully monster

For the new study, researchesrs studied more than 150 fossilised Tully monsters and over 70 other varied animal fossils from Mazon Creek using state-of-the-art imaging technologies. Pictured: An illustration depicts what Mazon Creek may have looked like 300 million years ago, complete with Tully monsters (the two small swimming creatures), a large shark and a salamander relative. The new study claims that the identity of the monsters is still up in the air

WHAT ARE VERTEBRATES? A vertebrate is an animal with a back bone or cartilage covered spinal cord. The term stems from the word vertebrae, the bones that make up the spine. Animals that do not have backbones or cartilage covered spinal cords are called invertebrates. Vertebrates include birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals. Advertisement

But, for their new study, published in Palaeontology, the Tokyo-based researchers wanted to put this debate to bed.

They studied more than 150 fossilised Tully monsters and over 70 other varied animal fossils from Mazon Creek using state-of-the-art imaging technologies.

This involved using lasers to make colour-coded depth maps of their surfaces, and X-Rays to create 3D models of their trunks.

This data revealed that certain, previously identified structures are not actually comparable with those of vertebrates.

These include a tri-lobed brain, specific brain cartilage, fin spines and 'myomeres' - muscle segments that offer greater body control.

Furthermore, the teeth on its trunk are not comparable to those of the lamprey either.

The team are therefore confident that Tully monsters were not vertebrates, but are still not sure what class of invertebrate they fall into.

They could be a nonvertebrate chordate, which have a notochord but lack a true backbone, or a protostome, like an earthworm or a snail.

Mr Mikami says that the difficulty had in classifying the Tully monster highlights how many interesting, soft-bodied creatures may never have been preserved as fossils.

'In this sense, research on the fossils from Mazon Creek is important because it provides paleontological evidence that cannot be obtained from other sites,' he said,

'More and more research is needed to extract important clues from Mazon Creek fossils to understand the evolutionary history of life.'
At 620,000 square miles or three times the size of France, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the largest accumulation of ocean plastic in the world.

Located halfway between Hawaii and California, it's a tangled mass of plastic bottles, microplastics, fishing gear and more, all carried by the ocean's current.

Now, scientists have found that the patch is home for marine invertebrates who are living and reproducing there, including mussels, oysters and crustaceans.

Most of those found on the massive patch by the US researchers usually only inhabit coastal areas of the western Pacific Ocean.

Researchers have already shown that harmful microbes can hitch a ride on microplastics and disperse throughout the ocean.

Garbage patches are large areas of the ocean where litter, fishing gear, and other debris - known as marine debris - collects. The most famous of these patches, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, is located in the North Pacific Gyre (between Hawaii and California). Pictured are clean-up efforts at a part of the patch by The Ocean Cleanup

The GPGP covers an estimated surface area of 620,000 square miles, an area twice the size of Texas or three times the size of France

The study has been led by Linsey Haram at Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Maryland and published today in Nature Ecology & Evolution.

What are garbage patches? Garbage patches are regions with high concentrations of marine debris, according to the NOAA. They form from rotating ocean currents called gyres, and are not actually islands of trash, as commonly believed. These patches are mostly composed of microplastics, most of which are the remnants of larger pieces of plastic garbage that have been broken up by the sun, salt, wind, and waves. Advertisement

The authors suggest this discovery indicates that species originating on the coast are capable of surviving and reproducing on plastic debris that may have travelled thousands of miles over several years.

They may represent a new type of ecological community in the ocean  which they term a 'neopelagic community'  that may compete for space and other resources on plastic 'rafts'.

'We show that the high seas are colonised by a diverse array of coastal species, which survive and reproduce in the open ocean, contributing strongly to its foating community composition,' Haram and colleagues say.

'It appears that coastal species persist now in the open ocean as a substantial component of a neopelagic community sustained by the vast and expanding sea of plastic debris.

'The "plastisphere" may now provide extraordinary new opportunities for coastal species to expand populations into the open ocean and become a permanent part of the pelagic community.'

It's well known plastic that falls into our rivers or is engulfed by tides at beaches gets transported by currents before ending up in the open ocean.

These plastics are broken down by waves and sunlight into small microplastics, which can be mistaken for food by marine life with fatal consequences.

Ocean Voyages Institute's marine plastic recovery vessel, S/V KWAI, after a 48-day expedition, successfully removing 103 tons (206,000 lbs.) of fishing nets and consumer plastics from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in 2020

The animation and images on this page show the location and concentration of floating plastics between April 2017 to September 2018. Data were collected between approximately 38 degrees north and 38 degrees south latitude, the observation range for the CYGNSS mission

Eventually plastic becomes trapped in the centres of ocean basins or subtropical 'gyres'  large systems of rotating currents in each of the five major oceans.

Disease-causing parasites 'hitch a ride' on microplastics - READ MORE Pathogens adhere to surfaces of microplastics, research shows Advertisement

Unfortunately, the world's five subtropical gyres can go on to host 'garbage patches', comprised of plastic waste, fishing gear and other debris.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, between California and Hawaii, is the most well-known because a lot of ship traffic passes through it.

About 8 million tons of plastic flow from rivers and beaches into the ocean every year, according to NASA.

For the new study, the team collected 105 items of floating plastic debris from the patch between November 2018 and January 2019.

Many items showed advanced degradation from having been at sea for 'many years', such as households items.

'For example, many plastic bins and baskets, typically a minimum of 35 mm in thickness, were now paper-thin and highly friable,' the researchers say.

Overall, they found evidence of living coastal species on 70.5 per cent of the debris analysed.

They identified 484 marine invertebrate organisms on the debris, of which 80 per cent were species that are normally found in coastal habitats.

Examples included crustaceans of the amphipoda order (Elasmopus rapax and Calliopius pacificus), mussels (Musculus cupreus), sea anemone (Diadumene lineata) and the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas).

The number of coastal species such as arthropods and molluscs identified rafting on plastic was more than three times greater than that of pelagic species that normally live in the open ocean.

They note that the diversity of all organisms was highest on rope, and that fishing nets harboured the highest diversity of coastal species.

Creatures found on the garbage patch included crustaceans, mussels, sea anemone and the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas, pictured)

The authors also identify evidence of sexual reproduction among both coastal and open-ocean species, including among hydroids (relatives of jellyfish and corals) and amphipods and isopods (both types of crustacean).

'The presence of reproductive females and multiple size classes for coastal crustaceans and cnidarians suggests that coastal species are reproducing and may be self-recruiting and continuously populating their parent rafts,' they say.

More research is now needed to understand how the species survive and the 'ecological and evolutionary consequences', they team conclude.

'With plastic pollution waste generation and inputs to the ocean expected to exponentially increase over the next few decades, a steady source of substrate may sustain the neopelagic as a persistent community,' they say.

'Future research should also investigate the degree to which the patterns observed in the North Pacific Ocean occur in other ocean gyre systems.'
The Tonga volcanic eruption in January 2022 was more powerful than the largest ever nuclear explosion in the US, scientists have confirmed.

Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai, an underwater volcano in the South Pacific, blasted 20,000 Olympic swimming pools-worth of water into the stratosphere.

It triggered a 7.4 magnitude earthquake, sending tsunami waves crashing into the island that were felt as far away as Russia, the US and Chile.

Scientists at the University of Miami used satellite and underwater data to create a simulation of the colossal tsunami striking the Tongan Archipelago.

It revealed that the eruption was the largest natural explosion in more than a century, rivalling Krakatau in 1883, that killed over 36,000 people.

Scientists at the University of Miami used satellite and underwater data to create a simulation of the colossal tsunami striking the Tongan Archipelago (pictured)

The simulation revealed that the eruption was the largest natural explosion in more than a century, rivalling Krakatau in 1883, that killed over 36,000 people. Pictured: Satellite image of the Tonga island archipelago 13 hours after the initial eruption

The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai eruption took place in the southern Pacific Ocean, around 40 miles (65 km) from Tonga's main island, on January 15 2022.

TONGA'S DESTRUCTIVE VOLCANIC ERUPTION Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai, an underwater volcano in the South Pacific, spewed debris as high as 25 miles into the atmosphere when it erupted on January 15. It triggered a 7.4 magnitude earthquake, sending tsunami waves crashing into the island, leaving it covered in ash and cut off from outside help. It also released somewhere between 5 to 30 megatons (5 million to 30 million tonnes) of TNT equivalent, according to NASA Earth Observatory. Ash sent spewing into the air from the massive underwater volcanic eruption in Tonga was photographed by International Space Station astronauts. Advertisement

It released an ash cloud that was 187,000 feet (57 km) high, and was the first recorded to have broken through into the third layer of the atmosphere - the mesosphere.

The eruption is said to have released more energy than the Tsar Bomba - the most powerful nuclear bomb ever detonated.

It also generated a mega-tsunami, sending out waves up to 148 feet-high (45 m) along the coast of Tonga's Tofua Island.

Waves of up to 56 feet (17 m) high also struck the country's most populated island, Tongatapu.

But despite the strength of the eruption and resulting tsunami, only four deaths were recorded in the Tongan Archipelago, and two in Peru.

For the new study, published in Science Advances, researchers wanted to see what it was that prevented the devastation from extending even further.

They first constructed a timeline of events; five sequential blasts, with the fifth measuring 15 megatonnes of TNT.

They used before-and-after satellite images, drone images, field observations and topographical data of the coral reef and ocean floor to simulate the effect these had on the ocean.

The simulation showed that Tofua Island would have experienced waves more than 100 feet (30 m) tall, but as it is uninhabited these claimed no lives.

However, Nukualofa - Tonga's capital and largest city - only experienced waves of up to about 56 feet (17 m), despite it sitting just 40 miles (64 km) south of the eruption.

Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai, an underwater volcano in the South Pacific, spewed ash and other debris as high as 25 miles into the atmosphere when it erupted in January

The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai eruption caused many effects, like atmospheric waves, extreme winds and unusual electric currents, that were felt around the world and into space

The researchers think that the difference in wave sizes experienced by Tofua and Tongapatu, the island where Nukualofa is located, is partially due to their geography.

While the former is situated in deep waters, the latter is surrounded by shallows which acted as a wave trap, as it offers less water to displace.

First author Dr Sam Purkis told Nature that shallow reef platforms in the Tonga Archipelago also likely acted as a barrier to the waves.

'Thats a blessing and a curse,' he told the publication.

This is because, as well as diffusing the energy of larger waves, they acted as a trap for smaller ones, allowing them to bounce around for longer and grow larger.

To simulate the eruption, the researchers first constructed a timeline of events; five sequential blasts, with the fifth measuring 15 megatonnes of TNT. Pictured: Tsunami simulations for the repetitive blasts of the volcano

The team also say that the lack of tourists due to the COVID-19 pandemic and increased evaluation drills and awareness efforts in Tonga will have also reduced the number of casualties.

At the same time, the simulation proved that if the eruption occurred any closer to more populated areas, the devastation would have been huge.

'While 2022 may have been a lucky escape, other submarine volcanoes possess the capacity to spawn a future tsunami at the same scale,' said Dr Purkis.

'This eruption holds important lessons for both past and future tsunami in Tonga and beyond.

'The eruption was an excellent natural laboratory to test hypotheses and models that can be deployed elsewhere to improve future disaster preparations, and better understand similar eruptions and subsequent tsunami as preserved in antiquity and in the geologic record.'
A German artist who won the Sony World Photography Award has refused to accept his prize after revealing his black and white portrait of two women was in fact created by AI.

Boris Eldagsen tricked competition organisers with his entry, Pseudomnesia: The Electrician - a haunting close-up of two women in a grainy sepia which won the creative open category last week.

He stunned organisers by rejecting the award, claiming that 'AI is not photography' - as he hopes to create a discussion surrounding the future of art.

The World Photography Organisation, who run the Sony awards, told MailOnline that they had been deliberately mis-led by Eldagsen about the extent to which AI would be involved.

In a statement on his website, Eldagsen, 52, described this as a 'historic moment', adding: 'I applied as a cheeky monkey, to find out if the competitions are prepared for AI images to enter. They are not.

Boris Eldagsen tricked competition organisers with his entry, Pseudomnesia: The Electrician - a haunting close-up of two women in a grainy sepia which won the creative open category

'AI images and photography should not compete with each other in an award like this. They are different entities. AI is not photography. Therefore I will not accept the award.'

Eldagsen, who has been a photographer for 30 years before turning to AI, is hoping his snub of the award at Somerset House in London can trigger a debate.

He added: 'We, the photo world, need an open discussion. A discussion about what we want to consider photography and what not. Is the umbrella of photography large enough to invite AI images to enter  or would this be a mistake?

'With my refusal of the award I hope to speed up this debate.'

In gate-crashing the prestigious awards ceremony to reject the prize, Eldagsen has reignited a row over the rapid development of AI.

Recent fake photographs of Donald Trump being arrested and the Pope in a puffer jacket have raised concerns over the future of AI.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak are among those to have publicly declared their fears over the development of AI.

In an open letter on The Future of Life Institute, Musk and 100 others called for a pause on the 'dangerous race' to develop AI, arguing that humankind doesn't yet know the full scope of the risk involved in advancing the technology.

They asked all AI labs to stop developing their products for at least six months while more risk assessment is done.

Musk and others fear that the technology will become so advanced that it will no longer require - or listen to- human interference.

Eldagsen (pictured), who has been a photographer for 30 years before turning to AI, is hoping his snub of the award at Somerset House in London can trigger a debate

Recent fake photographs of Donald Trump being arrested (left) and the Pope in a puffer jacket (right) have raised concerns over the future of AI

The World Photography Organisation said they were under the belief that Eldagsen's entry was a a 'co-creation' of his image using AI which 'fulfilled the criteria for this category', adding: 'We were supportive of his participation'.

He noted his interest in 'the creative possibilities of AI generators', they added, while 'emphasising the image heavily relies on his wealth of photographic knowledge'.

A spokesman added: 'The Creative category of the Open competition welcomes various experimental approaches to image making from cyanotypes and rayographs to cutting-edge digital practices.

'As such, following our correspondence with Boris and the warranties he provided, we felt that his entry fulfilled the criteria for this category, and we were supportive of his participation. Additionally, we were looking forward to engaging in a more in-depth discussion on this topic and welcomed Boris' wish for dialogue by preparing questions for a dedicated Q&A with him for our website.

'As he has now decided to decline his award we have suspended our activities with him and in keeping with his wishes have removed him from the competition.

'Given his actions and subsequent statement noting his deliberate attempts at misleading us, and therefore invalidating the warranties he provided, we no longer feel we are able to engage in a meaningful and constructive dialogue with him.

They continued: 'We recognise the importance of this subject and its impact on image-making today. We look forward to further exploring this topic via our various channels and programmes and welcome the conversation around it.

'While elements of AI practices are relevant in artistic contexts of image-making, the Awards always have been and will continue to be a platform for championing the excellence and skill of photographers and artists working in the medium.'
You may be entitled to a piece of a $725 million settlement Meta agreed to pay in a class action lawsuit.

Eligible users are those who had a Facebook account from May 24, 2007 through December 22, 2022 - these individuals must submit a claim here by August 25, 2023.

The lawsuit, in which Meta admitted no wrongdoing, claims the social media platform made user data and data about users' friends without permission available to third parties.

It stems from the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal, which claimed the company had misused data from tens of millions of Facebook accounts by allowing access to third parties.

Cambridge Analytica had previously claimed it had only collected data from about 30 million Facebook profiles, it 'may have collected the personal information of as many as 87 million Facebook users, according to the law office of Keller Rohrback.

Eligible users are those who had a Facebook account from May 24, 2007 through December 22, 2022

'Facebook has allegedly known about Cambridge Analytica's improper data collection since 2015 and failed to take action to stop the activity or notify users until March 2018,' the law office shared on its website.

The suit consolidates several filed against the company and claims that 'Facebook failed to properly protect users' content and information from misuse or unauthorized access.

This allowed third-party apps to 'bundle and sell access to Facebook users' private information, including to the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, without users' knowledge or consent,' the lawsuit claims.

Meta was approved for the $725 million settlement last month by a California federal judge.

The lawsuit was filed in 2019 by plaintiffs who claimed Facebook did not just share basic data, like gender and age, but also their photographs, videos they made, videos they watched and words from their direct personal messages.

In August 2022, a settlement was reached and brought to the court, followed by months of negotiations until December 22, when plaintiffs filed a motion seeking preliminary approval of the settlement.

'This historic settlement will provide meaningful relief to the class in this complex and novel privacy case,' said Derek Loeser and Lesley Weaver of Keller Rohrback LLP, the law firm representing the plaintiffs, in a statement.

The lawsuit, in which Meta admitted no wrongdoing, claims the social media platform made user data and data about users' friends without permission available to third parties

The Court held a hearing on preliminary approval of the Settlement on March 2, 2023 and granted Preliminary Approval of the Settlement on March 29, 2023.

Users who think they are entitled to a portion of the settlement can fill out a form with their name, address, and email.

The form asks if you lived in the US during a specific time and were a Facebook user.

You will also be asked to provide your Facebook user names and phone number linked to your account.

Meta released a statement in December after the lawsuit settlement was announced.

'Over the last three years we revamped our approach to privacy and implemented a comprehensive privacy program,' Meta said in a statement, adding that the settlement 'was in the best interest of our community and shareholders.'

In 2022, leaked documents revealed that brass at flailing Facebook failed to keep track of its nearly three billion users' data, as the Mark Zuckerberg-led company continues to face scrutiny from privacy regulators.

In an internal document obtained by Motherboard, privacy engineers for the site pointed out flaws in its data management system, admitting they were at a loss as to where its users' data goes.

The leak was revealed after the company that changed its corporate name to Meta came under fire for collecting unwitting users' personal information for purposes including targeted advertising - a currently automated practice, workers who wrote the directive pointed out.
Madrid may become the latest holiday destination in Spain to introduce a controversial tourist tax.

Former tourism minister Reyes Maroto is now running to become mayor of the Spanish capital which attracts millions of visitors every year, including tens of thousands of Brits.

She has stirred controversy by suggesting she would consider introducing a tourist tax if elected, a prospect which has already infuriated hoteliers.

Several regions of Spain, including Barcelona and the hugely popular Balearic Islands, have already implemented such a tourism tax which sees holidaymakers pay up to 4 extra per night during their stay.

The additional tariff is seen as a way of raising more capital for those regions, supposedly to be ploughed back into tourism. But hoteliers are strongly opposed to the tax, which they say could discourage holidaymakers concerned about their budgets.

A tourist tax for Madrid was first proposed in 2015 and again in 2018, but never introduced.

Former tourism minister Reyes Maroto could introduce a tourism tax in Madrid if she becomes mayor

Aerial view of Madrid's La Latina district at sunset

At a recent tourism forum in Madrid, former Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism Ms. Maroto said: 'The tourist tax does not have to be merely a tax, it has to be a tax that reverts to the tourism industry.'

Her comments at the forum were reported by the leading tourism media, Hosteltur.com

The Madrid Hotel Business Association immediately signalled its opposition to the idea, claiming it would directly harm the hotel sector and visitors.

'Madrid is booming and becoming one of the most desired destinations for national and international tourists with a large hotel investment, without the need for a tourist tax,' said its president, Gabriel Garcia Alonso.

Many parts of Spain are also considering a new tourist tax. Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, which include Mallorca and Ibiza, implemented the tax in 2012 and 2016, respectively.

In November 2022, Valencia approved the tax which will come into force in December of this year and will range between 0.5 and 2 euros per day depending on the type and category of the accommodation in which people stay.

Galicia and San Sebastian are two other regions of Spain considering introducing a tourist tax.

Because the tax is implemented at a municipal level, it will be up to individual councils in the Valencia region to decide whether they want to levy the tax or not.

Benidorm, a popular destination among Brits, has already declared it will not introduce the extra tariff.

It comes as Spanish hoteliers continue to voice their concern over a proposed EU-wide tax which would see non-EU holidaymakers forced to pay an extra 7 (6.20) every time they want to visit the continent.

Tourism leaders in the Costa del Sol issued a blistering 'leave tourism alone' message in February as fears grow over the proposed tax, with one leading politician calling for the EU to 'stop meddling'.

The famous Cibeles fountain in Madrid, Spain

In its general assembly, the Mesa del Tourismo expressed concern about the creation of the new tourist tax for non-EU visitors who enter the Schengen Area.

The European Union could begin to apply this rate from November, under the name of the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) and would entail the payment of 7 per non-EU tourist.

This would be on top of any local tourist tax in the growing number of Spanish regions which charge 2-5 for each night spent in hotel accommodation.

In a statement on Monday, the board said: '[We are] especially concerned about the impact of this EU tax on British tourism, our main issuing market with 18 million arrivals in 2019.

'It must also be taken into account that the measure - if it goes ahead - will be added to the rest of local taxes that the tourist is already paying to visit certain European cities.'

Francisco Salado, president of Malaga's provincial council, also spoke out against the EU tax.

'Leave tourism alone!' he told a Press conference.

'Tourism works very well on its own through the sector and the agents involved such as Turismo Costa del Sol and Turismo Andaluz.'

The president of the provincial council of Malaga, pictured, has spoken out against the tax

Talking to journalists, he said tourism was the economic engine of Malaga and Andalusia and criticised the prospective tax.

He added: 'Stop inventing. Every time we introduce a product, we do it because we improve tourism quality and, in the end, an imposition does not improve the quality.

'What it does is put a cost on the final product and makes us less competitive.

'The EU is always inventing how to put new taxes on the municipalities.

'They legislate up there and we, the city councils and the citizens, pay. I think it is a lack of loyalty that local administrations are not there when making these decisions.'

The ETIAS will apply to visitors from 63 countries - including Britain - outside the European Union. It was first confirmed by the EU in August 2021.

The scheme will be similar to the US's Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) system - which allows citizens from 40 countries a 90-day visa-free stay.

Like the US system, the ETIAS will allow people visa-free entry for up to 90 days, during which visitors are not allowed to work or study, but can 'engage in business and tourism activities,' according to the Schengen visa info website.

The EU's version will be valid for up to three years - and will count for multiple entries. Those under 18 and over 70 will be exempt from the fee.

The website states visitors 'can enter the Schengen member states as many times as you want, for as long as your ETIAS is valid, and you have not stayed more than 90 days in a 180-day period.'
Binky Felstead has given birth to her third child.

The Made In Chelsea alum, 32, welcomed the bundle of joy on Monday 17 April, which is her second child with husband Max Darnton, 33.

Her businessman beau took to Instagram to reveal the happy news as he shared a picture of his wife sat on a wooden fence with a picturesque background, captioning the snap: 'Champion' with heart eye and kiss face emojis.

Friends and fans took to the comments section to offer their congratulations for the happy news of the birth, with some making sure to send their well wishes to mum Binky.

On Saturday, Binky shared that she had gone into labour as she shared a picture from her hospital bed at the 5,900-a-night Lindo Wing.

She had taken to Instagram to share that she had headed to the plush Lindo Wing at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, central London, to give birth.

Congratulations! Binky Felstead has given birth to her third child. The Made In Chelsea alum, 32, welcomed the bundle of joy on Monday 17 April, which is her second child with husband Max Darnton, 33, who took to Instagram to reveal the happy news as he shared a picture of his wife sat on a wooden fence with a picturesque background, captioning the snap: 'Champion'

Labour: On Saturday, Binky shared that she had gone into labour as she shared a picture from her hospital bed at the 5,900-a-night Lindo Wing

'Glorious Easter': The Made In Chelsea star was all smiles as she shared a snap of her Easter ventures in the Cotswolds with her daughter India, 5, and son Wolfie, 22 months

Incoming arrival: Binky used the post to hint to fans about her upcoming birth date calling the festive break 'the last weekend as a family of 4!'

In the snap, Binky appeared to be in good spirits as she flashed a smile while lying in a hospital bed, showing off her baby bump.

Alongside the picture, she wrote: 'Here we gooooooooo.'

Earlier in the day, Binky had taken to her Instagram Stories to share a snap of her and Max holding hands as they sat in a car on their way to hospital.

Binky welcomed her third child at the Lindo Wing, where Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, welcomed Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

Prince William and Prince Harry were also both born at the private wing, which features luxury toiletries and personalised care.

With such high-profile patients, prices start at 5,900 for a one-night stay - rising to 6,275 for a deluxe package and even higher for the ward's suites.

Elsewhere, Binky hinted to her 1.4million Instagram followers about the oncoming arrival of the newest family member on Good Friday.

Hospital trip: Earlier in the day, Binky had taken to her Instagram Stories to share a snap of her and Max holding hands as they sat in a car on their way to hospital

The reality star shared a picture from the weekend spent at the Cotswolds, where she posed on top of a Jeep with her two older children India, five, and Wofie, 22 months.

The trio were all smiles in a snap, arms raised triumphantly in the air.

She penned: 'Glorious Easter in the Cotswolds soaking up the last weekend as a family of 4!!'

The mother-of-three also recently revealed she and her partner of five years had 'narrowed it down to three names' for the newest member of their clan.

She wrote: 'NAMES. Ok, so we've narrowed it down to 3 names that we think we love, but not 100% set on.

'Any name suggestions would be SUPER welcome just to add a bit more confusion into the mix'.

The former socialite first announced her pregnancy back in November 2022, sharing a sweet family video with India and Max holding the ultrasound.

Binky looked radiant as she cradled Wolfie in her left arm, she cuddled India with her right.

In the post's caption she penned: 'Imagine thinking youre nearing the oh so quiet phase again. Taurus baby coming in hot'.

The reality star has been with her husband since February 2019, and they tied the knot in a lavish three-day celebration on the Greek island of Corfu in July 2022.

Binky and Max welcomed their first child together, Wolfie in June 2021.

The TV personality shares her daughter India with her ex-boyfriend and former MIC co-star Josh Patterson.

Speaking to Eammon Holmes on GB News back in February, Binky said Max sees India as his daughter when asked if they use the term blended family.

She said: 'I never really say it. I've only had to say it in the book because it's the only thing that you do that people know these days to say.

Happy family: Binky announced her third pregnancy in an adorable family video back in November 2022

'Taurus baby coming in hot': Binky let her fans know early on the rough time her new baby was due

Proud parents: The couple welcomed their first child together, Wolfie, back in June 2021 (pictured last summer)

'We don't think of ourselves as a blended family. We are a family, yeah. I would never would never like India to call her brothers her half brothers.

On becoming a mother, Binky has previously said: 'It's the most rewarding job I've ever had and I'm doing. I don't think I'm quite there yet.

'The toughest part is going to be for me when my kids are flying the nest and they're out at God knows what time and doing God knows what, and I haven't got control over them anymore.

'That's what I'm really dreading the most.'
Married At First Sight star Booka Nile recently welcomed her first child, a baby boy, with her friend Luke Millar.

And the new parents revealed their son's very rock 'n' roll name on Friday.

The pair, who aren't together romantically but are committed to co-parenting their child, have named their boy Halen Millar Nile.

This appears to be a reference to the legendary rock band Van Halen.

The name is a fitting choice for Booka, who is a life-long rock music fan and used to be the keyboard player for metalcore band Make Them Suffer.

Married At First Sight star Booka Nile recently welcomed her first child, a baby boy, with her friend Luke Millar. The new parents revealed their son's very rock 'n' roll name on Friday

The pair, who aren't together romantically but are committed to co-parenting their child, have named their boy Halen Millar Nile. Confirming the child's name in an Instagram post (pictured), Luke wrote: Welcome to the world my boy, Halen Millar Nile. He arrived 2:18pm Saturday, 8th of April. Big thanks to @bookanile - baby mumma, co-parent, and good friend'

Confirming the child's name in an Instagram post, Luke wrote: Welcome to the world my boy, Halen Millar Nile.

'He arrived 2:18pm Saturday, 8th of April. Big thanks to @bookanile - baby mumma, co-parent, and good friend.

'I'm pretty stoked to be doing this with you. I definitely couldn't have predicted last July, that after a couple of dates I'd be a father the following year! But I wouldn't have it any other way. Love this boy forever.'

Booka announced the birth of little Halen last Sunday, writing: 'Can't believe it's possible to love someone this much. Welcome to the world, my little Easter baby.'

Fans and fellow MAFS stars alike were quick to congratulate Booka in the comments.

'Congratulations, how exciting! Welcome to the parent club,' wrote father-of-two Bryce Ruthven.

This appears to be a reference to the legendary rock band Van Halen (pictured in 1978)

The name is a fitting choice for Booka, who is a life-long rock music fan and used to be the keyboard player for metalcore band Make Them Suffer

'Congratulations, Booka  Enjoy every second. It's a blessing,' added Chris Jensen, who appeared on her season of MAFS.

Booka announced she was pregnant with an unnamed male friend in September last year.

She told fans on Instagram at the time that while the news was unexpected, she was looking forward to the challenge.

'Motherhood was not something I ever thought I'd experience,' she wrote. 'It just didn't feel like it could or would ever happen for me.'
If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here
Kerry Washington was a vision of beauty as she appeared at an Q&A event at the SAG-AFTRA Foundation Screening Room in Los Angeles in support of her new series Unprisoned.

The 46-year-old star, who appeared alongside her costar Delroy Lindo, 70, was in style as she donned a dark denim blue zip front dress over a sheer black top with pointy black heels.

The Emmy-winning actress had her locks neatly pulled back into a ponytail as she accessorized with gold earrings and necklaces at the industry event.

The two-hour event included a screening of the show's first two episodes in addition to a discussion with Washington and Lindo.

Washington, who is mother to two children with husband Nnamdi Asomugha, 41 - daughter Isabelle, eight, and son Caleb, six - plays the role of Paige Alexander on the streaming series, while Lindo plays the role of her father, Edwin Alexander.

The latest: Kerry Washington, 46, was a vision of beauty as she appeared at an Q&A event at the SAG-AFTRA Foundation Screening Room in Los Angeles in support of her new series Unprisoned

According to a storyline synopsis, the show tells the story of a therapist and single mom whose life is turned right-side-up when her dad gets out of prison and moves to her house to live with her and her teenage son.

The series is inspired by the life of the show's creator, Mad Men writer Tracy McMillan.

The show also stars Marque Richardson, Faly Rakotohavana, Jordyn McIntosh, Brenda Strong, Jee Young Han and Edwin Lee Gibson.

The show is the first scripted comedy from the Disney subsidiary Onyx Collective, which showcases 'a series of projects from Black artists and artists of color,' The Daily Beast reported last month.

The brand has also released high-profile projects such as Summer of Soul and 1619 Project.

Washington said that the organization's diversity helps keep things moving in everyone being on the same page about 'specific, intracommunal ideas' in relation to the material.

'If there's a story about a Black character, a lot of that time gets spent explaining Blackness, defining Blackness, interpreting Blackness for your co-collaborators,' Washington told the outlet.

She continued: 'When you have more than one Black voice at the table, you get to sort of acknowledge the Blackness, celebrate the Blackness, and also go deeper into the human-ness.'

Washington, who portrayed Olivia Pope on the political drama Scandal, donned a dark denim blue zip front dress over a sheer black top with pointy black heels

The Emmy-winning actress accessorized with gold earrings and necklaces at the industry event

The stunning star had her locks neatly pulled back into a ponytail at the screening

The actress was pictured between costar Delroy Lindo and moderator Marcus Jones

The two-hour event included a screening of the show's first two episodes in addition to a discussion with Washington and Lindo
Fans of Australian porn star Angela White are begging the adult entertainer to give her body 'a break' after reports she 'almost died' in an on-set accident.

But the 37-year-old, who has filmed more than 900 hardcore scenes, says she won't be slowing down anytime soon and insists she 'loves' her physically taxing job.

She spoke about her workload after one of her fans, who goes by the username DionYoung255, asked her on Instagram to 'consider taking a break for once'.

'After doing over 900 scenes, isn't it time to consider taking a break for once?' they commented on one of Angela's posts.

But the three-time winner of the AVN Award for Female Performer of the Year was having none of it.

Fans of Australian porn star Angela White (pictured in 2020) are begging the adult entertainer to give her body 'a break' after reports she 'almost died' in an on-set accident

'Do a job you love and never work a day in your life,' Angela responded.

But DionYoung255 wasn't alone in expressing concern, with more fans saying Angela risks long-term health issues if she continues with her punishing work schedule.

'I don't know, Angela. That's a brutal way to treat your body for years on end. At some point you pay a price,' one said.

'I think you should find a nice guy, enjoy a relationship for once. Haven't you at least earned that?

'I think you have earned some downtime and a romantic dinner with some guy you connect with. But it's your body, so go ahead and keep going, if that's what you want to do.'

She spoke about her workload after one of her fans, who goes by the username DionYoung255, asked her on Instagram to 'consider taking a break for once'

DionYoung255 wasn't alone in expressing concern, with more fans saying Angela risks long-term health issues if she continues with her punishing work schedule

Angela downplayed these concerns, saying she 'loves my life and my job' and does take time out to connect and have 'romantic dinners'

Another pointed out how fellow adult performer Adriana Chechik had broken her back in two places after jumping from a foam pit at a convention.

'Look what happened to Adriana Chechik! Her body is through. The body can only take so much. This is no joke. Nine hundred scenes is way too many on the frame.'

Angela downplayed these concerns, saying she 'loves my life and my job' and does take time out to connect and have 'romantic dinners'.

'I do take time to have romantic dinners and connect. I do have ''real relationships'' (even if they may be unconventional). Thank you for your concern but I love my life and my job,' she commented.

It comes after Angela was forced to throw cold water over rumours she 'almost died' while filming an intense sex scene with fellow porn star Keiran Lee.

It comes after Angela was forced to throw cold water over rumours she 'almost died' while filming an intense sex scene with fellow porn star Keiran Lee

Keiran, 39, recently made headlines when he claimed Angela was rushed to hospital with a burst appendix after they filmed an hour-long sex scene in 2013.

Speaking on the Only Stans podcast with Glenny Balls, Angela said reports of the incident had been 'blown way out of proportion'.

'My appendix actually did not burst, but it is true I had appendicitis and did have to have emergency surgery to have it removed,' she clarified.

Appendicitis refers to a condition where the appendix is inflamed, with symptoms including severe abdominal pain, fever, chills and weakness.

Prolonged appendicitis can lead to the appendix rupturing, also known as a 'burst appendix'.

While Keiran was under the impression his large manhood was the cause of her injury, Angela insisted her condition was 'likely a pure coincidence'.

'There is no medical evidence to suggest his giant d**k was pummeling my organs,' she said.

Keiran (pictured with wife Kirsten Price) recently made headlines when he claimed Angela was rushed to hospital with a burst appendix after they filmed an hour-long sex scene in 2013

She joked that Keiran's nine-and-a-half-inch penis, which is reportedly insured for $1million, may not have done lasting damage, but it did 'reach organs that shouldn't be reached'.

She added: 'But there's more room in there, now that [my appendix] has been removed! There's a lot more room to accommodate.'

It comes after Keiran alleged he was the cause of Angela's infamous appendix injury during an interview with the Pillow Talk podcast in February.

While Keiran was under the impression his large manhood was the cause of her injury, Angela (pictured in January 2020) insisted her condition was 'likely a pure coincidence'

'I put her into hospital and this was actually not on purpose,' he revealed.

'We were shooting content and we were going at it for over an hour. After that, I'm like, 'See you, sweetheart. [Have a] lovely day.''

Keiran said he was shocked to learn his first scene with Angela had left her complaining of abdominal pain.

Angela joked that Keiran's nine-and-a-half-inch penis, which is reportedly insured for $1million, may not have done lasting damage, but it did 'reach organs that shouldn't be reached'

'I found out two days later she'd gone back home to Australia. She said her stomach was hurting, and she had to go see a doctor. Apparently her appendix burst in the scene, which could have killed her,' he explained.

When quizzed on whether the size of his manhood was to blame, Keiran replied: 'I don't know. But listen, I could have killed Angela White [in] our first scene.'

Angela briefly addressed the near-fatal incident in 2016 when she tweeted that surgeons had removed her appendix via her belly button.

Angela (pictured in January 2018) briefly addressed the near-fatal incident in 2016 when she tweeted that surgeons had removed her appendix via her belly button

'They had to make an incision above my pubic bone and at my hip. The scarring was minimal and the recovery was pretty fast. I did a porn expo four days after surgery,' she wrote.

Keiran and Angela went on to work together several more times and remain friends.

Angela was 18 years old and still in high school when she flew overseas and shot her first pornographic film in Miami, Florida.

Keiran works with leading production companies such as Brazzers, and is one of the world's highest-paid male performers.
A former I'm Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! star has alleged the Channel 10 show is 'fixed', claiming a clause in her contract gave the network the ability to pick a winner - regardless of who the public voted for.

Ajay Rochester entered the South African jungle in 2019, and is convinced the series is rigged in favour of pre-determined winners.

The ex-Biggest Loser host, 54, shared supposed details from her contract in a TikTok video over the weekend, alleging there was a detail in the small print saying Ten had final say on the order of elimination during her season.

This is despite the fact eliminations are supposed to be decided by public vote.

'In the contract, it says in very tiny little writing right at the end that Channel 10 can choose to elect a winner regardless of the votes,' Rochester said in the video.

Former I'm Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! star Ajay Rochester (pictured) has alleged the Channel 10 show is 'fixed', claiming a clause in her contract gave the network the ability to pick a winner - regardless of who the public voted for

The ex-Biggest Loser host, 54, shared supposed details from her contract in a TikTok video over the weekend, alleging there was a detail in the small print saying Ten had final say on the order of elimination. (Pictured: I'm a Celebrity star Kerri-Anne Kennerley)

'It also says Channel 10 can decide when the contestants are eliminated - with or without the voting,' she added.

Rochester went on to question the longevity of certain I'm a Celebrity contestants, suggesting that contracted Channel 10 talent are allowed to stay longer, even if they are not popular with viewers.

She also noted that celebrity chefs tend to make it to the end because they're the ones cooking for their campmates, giving them an essential role.

'Have you ever noticed that the chef lasts almost all the way through? The chef that feeds all the people. Have you ever noticed that it's predominantly Channel 10 current talent that make it all the way through?' she asked.

'In the contract, it says in very tiny little writing right at the end, that Channel 10 can choose to elect a winner regardless of the votes,' Rochester claimed in the video

She suspected Love Island star Justin Lacko - who also appeared on the 2019 season of I'm a Celebrity - was being groomed for a role on The Bachelor, which was one of Ten's tentpole reality shows at the time.

But she claimed his poor behaviour made it impossible for the network to follow through and make him a winner - although she believes he was edited favourably to maintain a positive public image.

'He got so lucky with [the] edit. He was a disgustingly pathetic, spoiled little baby... They painted him very well because I think they really did truly want him to be the Bachelor,' Rochester said.

Rochester went on to question the longevity of certain I'm a Celebrity contestants, suggesting that contracted Channel 10 talent are allowed to stay longer regardless of their popularity with viewers. (Angie Kent is pictured left, and Justine Schofield is pictured right)

Rochester even went as far as to say one challenge was rigged for Lacko to win, ensuring he had a record ten victories in a row.

She believes this was done to create a compelling storyline.

Rochester also revealed that all contestants are paid handsomely to appear on the show, and it's not purely for charity.

In her case, she only took part so she had the money to apply for her American green card, or permanent residency.

'Every single celebrity is getting paid and raising money for a charity. So they're not doing it for charity; they're doing it for money,' she said.
The long-standing rumour that Britney Spears is secretly obsessed with the late Princess Diana has finally been confirmed, according to fans.

Spears, 41, often referred to as the 'Princess of Pop', has expressed empathy for the People's Princess in recent years.

While she has also often been compared to the royal due to their respective troubled paths in the public eye.

And some fans believe the troubled Toxic hit-maker feels a special connection to the tragic British royal, who died in 1997.

The speculation was revealed to be true on Saturday when Spears posted a bizarre video on Instagram of herself dancing at home in front of a framed portrait of Diana.

Rumours of Britney Spears' obsession with Princess Diana were confirmed on Saturday when the troubled pop star, 41, shared a bizarre video on Instagram of herself dancing in her living room in front of a prominently displayed framed portrait of the late British royal

Clad in a pink mini dress, sunglasses and white boots, the American musician danced suggestively to the iconic track Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper.

'PRETTY IN PINK TODAY,' she wrote in the caption alongside a pink bow emoji.

Eagle-eyed fans noticed the image of Diana displayed prominently in the background, in a large oval frame.

One tweeted: 'My mood today is the framed photo of Princess Diana in Britney Spears' house.'

'Britney Spears being a fellow Princess Diana worshipper is so real of her,' another added.

It comes as no surprise that Britney sees a kindred spirit in Diana, whose life in the spotlight was also marred by intense scrutiny and battles with the paparazzi.

The classic image of Diana was hard to miss in the background of Spears' racy dancing video

In 2009, Vanity Fair writer Steve Dennis penned an article titled 'The Diana-Britney Connection' in which he wrote, 'In many respects, these are two women whose fame consumed and defined them, and left them lost as private people within the bubble.'

The two women also shared a famous mutual friend in Sir Elton John.

In May 2021, Spears paid a seemingly timely tribute to Diana on Instagram following renewed criticism of the BBC's 1995 Panorama interview that is said to have exploited the late princess at a vulnerable time in her life.

'She never wanted to be the queen,' Britney wrote to her 29.9 million followers, alongside a classic photo of Diana.

Eagle-eyed fans noticed the image of Diana displayed prominently in the background, with one tweeting: 'My mood today is the framed photo of Princess Diana in Britney Spears' house'

It comes as no surprise that Britney sees a kindred spirit in Diana, whose life in the spotlight was also marred by intense scrutiny and battles with the paparazzi. (Left: Spears in 2001, and right: Diana in 1996)

Britney wrote this tribute to Diana in May 2021, following renewed criticism of the BBC's 1995 Panorama interview that is said to have exploited the princess at a vulnerable time in her life

'She wanted to be the heart of the people! She was more than class she was sheer genius down to the way she spoke to the way she mothered her children,' she added.

'The essence of being completely oblivious to her own power! 750 MILLION people watched her get married on TV! She will always be remembered as one of the most remarkable women to date.'

Like Diana, who was 36 when she died, Spears has also found her troubled life to be the subject of television fodder for the BBC, which released the controversial documentary The Battle For Britney: Fans, Cash and a Conservatorship weeks before Spears' post.

Britney slammed the documentary herself as 'hypocritical' in a separate Instagram post at the time.
Love Is Blind has given viewers its fair share of drama, break-ups and tense arguments when it returned for a fourth series earlier this month.

However fans were left wondering the fate of their favourite couples when the show's first ever live reunion crashed following technical difficulties on Sunday - being released 75 minutes after it was scheduled.

In previous years, the reunion episode has been prerecorded before being aired on Netflix after the series finale, and is usually followed by more catch-up episodes called After The Altar.

But at the scheduled time for the live reunion to air, Netflix subscribers were left with a message that read: 'It's almost time! The Live event will start soon'.

Furious fans slammed the delay with one writing: 'Netflix you better fix the Love Is Blind reunion' while a second quipped: 'Love Is Blind...and late'

Gutted! 'Netflix is the new Ticketmaster!': Love is Blind fans SLAM the streaming service after first ever live reunion crashed after technical difficulties

Fuming: Subscribers were left with a message that read: 'It's almost time! The Live event will start soon'

Another fan shared a snap of the show's hosts Vanessa and Nick Lachey writing: 'These two come up on the screen to tell us about their new show Love is Patient'.

One more declared: 'Alright Netflix, you tried it. It didn't work. Let's just upload [the pre-recorded episode] like you usually do'.

As another commented: 'Netflix been harassing me all week to watch this live reunion and they can't even get it up and running?'.

Meanwhile some compared the streaming service to website Ticketmaster - which has previously hit the headlines after struggling to meet demand.

Another joked that the company should go back to it's original business model of mailing out DVDs.

All five couples from season four are set to be attending the reunion and will share the gossip about what happened on the show and reveal if they are still together now.

Netflix has confirmed that Brett Brown and Tiffany Pennywell, Chelsea Griffin and Kwame Appiah, Paul Peden and Micah Lussier and Zack Goytowski and Bliss Poureetezadi will all be on the show.

Exes Marshall Glaze and Jackelina Bonds, who explosively broke up shortly before the weddings, will also be returning to speak about their journey on the show.

Wishing and hoping: All five couples from season four are set to be attending the reunion and will share the gossip about what happened on the show and reveal if they are still together now

Slammed: Furious fans slammed the upset with one writing: 'Netflix you better fix the love is blind reunion' while a second said 'Love is blind...and late'

It is not yet known whether Irina Solomonova will be rejoining her former castmates for the episode, after she and Zack explosively broke up during their Mexico 'honeymoon'.

On Sunday, she took to Instagram to apologize to the people she 'mistreated' on the show after fans called her out for being a 'mean girl.'

'The first thing I want to say is that I have privately apologized to the people that I have hurt and mistreated,' she told her Instagram followers.

'Second of all, I wanted to say I am so, so, so sorry for the people that watched the show that felt frustrated, angry, hurt by the way that I was mistreating people on the show. It was very immature and naive of me in a lot of those situations.'

Fuming: Meanwhile some compared the streaming service to website Ticketmaster - which has previously hit the headlines after struggling to meet demand

LOL: One joked that the company should go back to it's original business model of mailing out DVDs

Still together? It is not yet known which couples are still together, but Chelsea Griffin and Kwame Appiah will be among the people returning for the reunion

Exes: Marshall Glaze and Jackelina Bonds, who explosively broke up shortly before the weddings, will also be returning to speak about their journey on the show

Tense: It is not yet known whether Irina Solomonova will be rejoining her former castmates for the episode, after she and Zack explosively broke up during their Mexico 'honeymoon'

Netflix released a teaser trailer ahead of the show airing featuring a whole host of familiar faces along with hosts Nick and Vanessa Lachey.

The teaser kicked off with Brett saying: 'We have a lot to discuss,' before his former co-star Zack was seen raising a teacup, hinting at who will be 'spilling the tea'.

Nick and Vanessa also teased that there 'would be no spoilers' as they revealed it will be the first ever reunion show broadcast live in Netflix's history.

Live reunion: Netflix released a teaser trailer ahead of the show airing featuring a whole host of familiar faces along with hosts Nick and Vanessa Lachey

Gossip: The teaser kicked off with Brett saying: 'We have a lot to discuss,' before his former co-star Zack (pictured) was seen raising a teacup, hinting at who will be 'spilling the tea'

Zack was then seen saying, 'anything could happen,' while Jackie added: 'Literally anything.'

Host Vanessa added: 'And when it does, we will be just as shocked as you are.'

'You know the tea is going to be spilled,' Tiffany added as she threw a sugar cube into a gold teacup and saucer, hinting at the gossip to come.

Irina did not feature in the teaser trailer, leaving fans questioning whether she will be returning for the show.
Influencer Christie Swadling has been mocked for sharing her 'money-saving tips' despite filing for bankruptcy last year.

Documents leaked online in February showed the 27-year-old YouTuber was in financial strife, even though she projects a lavish lifestyle on social media.

She has since shared advice on Instagram on how to save money in a video advertisement for a cashback company.

'It's no surprise that the cost of living has gone through the roof,' she said in the clip, which was reposted by the influencer watchdog account Dutch Minty.

'As a family, we try to make smarter decisions so we can still enjoy quality time together in more of a cost-effective way.'

Influencer Christie Swadling (pictured) has been mocked for sharing her 'money-saving tips' despite filing for bankruptcy last year

Swadling then listed the things she does with her family that don't involve spending money, including outdoor activities and making food at home instead of buying takeaway.

'We do try to save the outing meals and the coffee dates for more special occasions,' she added.

Dutch Minty posted a clip from the video alongside a screenshot of Swadling's bankruptcy filing.

She shared advice on Instagram on how to save money in a video advertisement for a cashback company

'It's no surprise that the cost of living has gone through the roof,' she said in the clip, which was reposted by the influencer watchdog account Dutch Minty

'Bankrupt Christie giving out savings tips!' the admin captioned the post.

Swadling was roasted in the comments section, with fans noting the video showed her picking up an expensive punnet of blueberries.

'Ten dollars for blueberries! No wonder she's bankrupt,' one user wrote, while another added: 'Oh, the irony!'

It was revealed in February that Swadling was bankrupt after an anonymous user on the Tattle Life forums paid $15 to obtain the paperwork on her bankruptcy filing (pictured here)

The Instagram model listed her job as an 'advertising and marketing professional' in the publicly available document filed on December 29

It was revealed in February that Swadling was bankrupt after an anonymous user on the Tattle Life forums paid $15 to obtain the paperwork on her bankruptcy filing.

The Instagram model listed her job as an 'advertising and marketing professional' in the publicly available document filed on December 29.

The status of her bankruptcy is 'undischarged', which means she will still need to pay back particular debts.

It also means she will not be able to borrow again from financial institutions without the disclosure of her bankruptcy.

The release of the debtor's petition did not specify the outstanding debts.

The status of her bankruptcy is 'undischarged', which means she will still need to pay back particular debts

The document was published on Tattle Life after a user decided to pay the $15 clerical fee to settle the speculation about the mystery bankruptcy once and for all.

'Well, well, well. Look what we have here. Best $15 spent,' they wrote.

'Public register states she has been bankrupt since December 29. She probably got approval to leave for Bali but chances of her travelling again are slim to none.'

There is no minimum amount owed for an individual to claim bankruptcy.

According to the Australian Financial Securities Authority, a creditor must be seeking $10,000 or more to apply to make you bankrupt.

According to the Australian Financial Securities Authority, a creditor must be seeking $10,000 or more to apply to make you bankrupt
The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise star Timm Hanly is expecting his first child with fiancee Briana De La Motte.

The couple announced the news on Instagram last week, posting a gallery of loved-up photos with Briana's burgeoning bump on display.

One image showed Timm, 31, rubbing his partner's stomach, while another showed a sign with the words 'Baby Hanly' surrounded by white balloons.

'Coming soon,' the pair wrote in the caption.

Timm's reality star pals were quick to congratulate the duo on the amazing news.

The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise star Timm Hanly is expecting his first child with fiancee Briana De La Motte. The couple announced the news on Instagram last week, posting a gallery of loved-up photos with Briana's burgeoning bump on display

'This is the best,' said MAFS alum Hayley Vernon. Bachelor star Keira Maguire wrote: 'OMG, congratulations'.

Tim proposed to his long-term girlfriend in April last year.

Sharing the news on Instagram at the time, he uploaded a sweet photo of the pair embracing in font of rose petals that spelled out 'I love you'.

'It was always you, and always will be,' he wrote.

'Coming soon,' the pair wrote in the caption

Tim proposed to his long-term girlfriend in April last year. He uploaded this sweet photo on Instagram of the pair embracing in font of rose petals that spelled out 'I love you'

The couple had been dating on-and-off for six years before Timm's stint on Angie Kent's season of the Bachelorette in 2019, in which he placed runner-up to Carlin Sterritt.

He went on to appear in Bachelor in Paradise in 2020, where he struck up a romance with Brittany Hockley in Fiji.

The pair left the show as a couple after just a few episodes, but broke up not long after returning to Australia.

Timm and Briana went public with their newly rekindled romance soon after Bachelor in Paradise's finale aired on TV.
Bindi Irwin's daughter Grace Warrior is set for television stardom.

And one family insider believes the two-year-old could become even more famous than her grandfather Steve 'The Crocodile Hunter' Irwin.

'Grace is an absolute natural in front of the camera,' the source told New Idea.

'It's also believed she could be an even greater entertainer than her grandfather Steve Irwin. She's so bright and funny,' they added.

While some close to the Irwin family believe Grace is too young for a life in front of the cameras, her mother Bindi was already appearing on TV from the age of two.

Bindi Irwin's daughter Grace Warrior is set for stardom as the famous family look for new TV opportunities in the United States, according to a report by New Idea magazine

'You have to remember that Bindi grew up in front of the cameras and was Grace's age when she first started appearing on television,' said a source.

They added that Bindi is excited about a possible new TV opportunity in the U.S. with a format similar to The Crocodile Hunter - the show that made her parents famous.

'In a few years' time there's incredible opportunities, some that Bindi herself is excited about, including a Crocodile Huntress [series] that would be family led, but have American favourite Bindi in the lead,' the insider said.

The news comes weeks after Bindi and her husband Chandler Powell celebrated Grace Warrior's birthday at Australia Zoo on March 25.

'It's also believed she could be an even greater entertainer than her grandfather Steve Irwin. She's so bright and funny,' an insider said. (Pictured: Grace Warrior at Australia Zoo)

Bindi had earlier posted the invitation on Instagram alongside a photo of her toddler daughter next to a wombat and echidna.

She listed all the things visitors could expect from the birthday celebration, including free cupcakes and a live Bluey and Bingo performance.

'Our beautiful Grace Warrior is turning two. We're sharing the birthday celebrations with you at Australia Zoo. Sat, March 25,' she wrote.

Some other perks included free entry for children aged 14 and under, a safari obstacle course, party hat creation, pot planting and clay workshops.

'In a few years' time there's incredible opportunities, some that Bindi herself is excited about, including a Crocodile Huntress [TV series] that would be family led, but have American favourite Bindi in the lead,' the insider said. (Pictured: Grace with her grandmother Terri Irwin)

Grace's birthday came weeks after Bindi revealed she had to fly to the United States to undergo major surgery for endometriosis.

The daughter of the late Steve 'the Crocodile Hunter' Irwin and his American-born wife Terri spoke about her decade-long struggle with the disease in a lengthy Instagram post.

Posting a confronting photo of herself in a hospital bed after the surgery, she said she had spent ten years 'torn apart [by] the pain' and knew she had to have surgery because she 'couldn't live like I was'.

The news comes weeks after Bindi and her husband Chandler Powell celebrated Grace Warrior's birthday at Australia Zoo on March 25

She explained how the surgeon from the Seckin Endometriosis Center in New York City had removed a total of thirty-seven lesions and a 'chocolate cyst' - a term for a cyst filled with menstrual blood.

The practitioners at the Seckin Endometriosis Center typically perform surgeries at Lenox Hill Hospital, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

Endometriosis is an often painful condition in which the tissue that lines the uterus also grows outside the uterus.
After drawing the ire from fans after the 'live' Love is Blind Season 4 reunion special was delayed 75 minutes, fans finally got the updates and closure they needed.

The theme of the special - if any - seemed to revolve around second chances, revealing that Zach Goytowski marrying Bliss Poureetezadi, after breaking up with Irina Solomonovay.

Jackelina 'Jackie' Bonds also started a relationship with Josh Demas after splitting with fiancee Marshall Glaze, who said he felt 'slighted' that the couple skipped the reunion, instead offering an updated in a pre-taped interview with host Vanessa Lachey.

Zack also called out Irina for going on the show only so she could be famous during the reunion.

The reunion itself was still largely upstaged by the technical difficulties that left fans fuming after it was filmed and released 75 minutes after it was supposed to air live.

Closure: After drawing the ire from fans after the 'live' Love is Blind Season 4 reunion special was delayed 75 minutes, fans finally got the updates and closure they needed

Irina: Zack also called out Irina (right) for going on the show only so she could be famous during the reunion

The special kicked off with the pre-taped interview with Jackie, 31, and Josh, 27, revealing they're currently living together.

'We're taking our time with everything. You know what I mean? Life comes at you fast and we don't want to rush anything. I think sometimes, you can rush love. We live together now. We got a dog. We got a fish. I'm a girl dad!' Josh said in the interview.

Jackie added, 'I have grown within the last year. That person that I've seen was a totally different Jackie, to be honest.'

She also clarified, 'I broke up with Marshall before I saw Josh at the coffee shop. It looks like I'm a cheater and I am not a cheater.'

She also took to Instagram last week to clarify she broke up with Marshall first, with the show making it seem like her first date with Josh was during her wedding dress fitting.

'I am wearing different clothes, my hair is styled different and at the end of the video I say 'I DON'T KNOW IF I AM GOING TO BE WITH JOSH,"' Jackie said on IG.

'I am not sure what the reason is for playing the coffee shop date before the break up but to restate Marshall and I were broken up before Josh and I had our coffee shop date,' she added.

When co-host Vanessa Lachey asked how things deteriorated with Josh, she said it happened when they were applying for their marriage license.

Jackie: The special kicked off with the pre-taped interview with Jackie, 31, and Josh, 27, revealing they're currently living together

Josh: 'We're taking our time with everything. You know what I mean? Life comes at you fast and we don't want to rush anything. I think sometimes, you can rush love. We live together now. We got a dog. We got a fish. I'm a girl dad!' Josh said in the interview

'It happened off-camera when we were filling out the marriage certificate. He had called me a derogatory name and we fought about it and he left for three days,' she said.

'I think what it was was it was a bad joke. It was one of those where we were joking, but it just came off as bad,' she explained.

Marshall appeared at the reunion, claiming, 'there's a difference between joking with someone and being able to move on from it if there is a pressure point.'

He admitted that he told Jackie she has a 'strong jawline' and she 'could've been a man for all I know,' though he admitted that wasn't the joke Jackie was referring to.

He also confirmed that Jackie still had the engagement ring, and, after breaking up with Jackie, he connected with Kacia Clark, though that didn't work out either, adding he wanted to put the, 'horrible experience' he had on the show behind him, adding he felt 'slighted' that Jackie and Josh didn't show up.

'For the second time in this experience, I have been slighted. One at the altar and now at the reunion,' adding he still wants to, 'move on from this.'

'There's a lot that's going into this and I'm just going to direct this to the public. At this point, this is not about Jackie and Marshall anymore. Let that be bygones. Let them move on, let me move on and just forget it. Jackie and Josh are happy. She's happy. I'm happy. Let it die,' he said.

Jackie said she did have only one regret from her experience on Love is Blind Season 4.

Marshall: Marshall appeared at the reunion, claiming, 'there's a difference between joking with someone and being able to move on from it if there is a pressure point

Admitted: He admitted that he told Jackie she has a 'strong jawline' and she 'could've been a man for all I know,' though he admitted that wasn't the joke Jackie was referring to

'What I did was right for me. I was simple. Well, I was simple in the breakup, but maybe I wasn't as simple in the relationship," she said. "But I don't have no regrets. The only regret I do have is I didn't have that final conversation with Josh in the pods. That's the only thing I regret,' she said.

Irina got choked up when trying to apologize to Zack and to the show's viewers, telling the audience she 'needs a minute' which caused some to burst out into laughter.

'I know that's not the person that I want to be and that I'm not,' Irina said, admitted she treated Zack, 'like s---.'

Zack also came face-to-face with his ex Irina, and he didn't pull any punches during the special.

'You did a lot of things, um, that hurt a lot of people, including me, and I mean, you only see 10 percent of it on the camera. There was so much stuff that happened that was just unbelievable,' Zack, 32, began.

'If we're real, you went on this show to get famous. But look, I forgive you. I genuinely, 100 percent forgive you, Irina,' he said to cheers from the audience.

'I really don't hold anything against you. There's so many people that want to attack the people, the cast on this show. And you have no idea, like, everybody who made a mistake on this show, it has been punishment enough for the entire world to see them at their worst,' he continued.

'Like trust me, Irina, Micah [Lussier], everybody here who did something. We all did something stupid. And so I 100 percent forgive you Irina," he added.

Irina: Irina got choked up when trying to apologize to Zack and to the show's viewers, telling the audience she 'needs a minute' which caused some to burst out into laughter

'My last comment, I stand on that. I have receipts. The only receipts I think the world should see are the ones I posted on my Instagram today. And with that said, I really believe Irina that you will become an amazing person one day. I believe that and I forgive you for what happened and I hope the world does too,' he said.

Zack's new wife Bliss added, 'I do too and we talked. I really don't hold anything against you,' though she did bring up something harmful Irina said.

'You did tell me when you landed in Mexico that I dodged a bullet while you also texted him, "I'm so sorry, let's talk. I hope something happens with you and Bliss,"' Bliss, 33, said.

'I think you can have panic attacks and you can have trouble with mental illness and all of that. That's totally valid. But then you're turning around and you're doing malicious things and you're acting in really cruel ways. It's hard to reconcile those two things,' she added

Irina responded, 'That was completely out of line for me to say. Nothing I did was okay, the way I was acting, the way I was talking.'

Irina also admitted that she was flirting with her BFF Micah Lussier's fiance Paul Peden, with Micah saying she always stuck up for her.

'I always was like, "That's my b***h. She's a good person." I never left your side. Was I the big fool here that missed your red flags or was it just a misunderstanding?' Micah asked.

'I do admit to doing that. That's so sneaky. Me seeing Paul, honestly, I was way more attracted to him than I was to Zack,' Irina admitted.

Micah: Irina also admitted that she was flirting with her BFF Micah Lussier's fiance Paul Peden, with Micah saying she always stuck up for her

Paul; 'I do admit to doing that. That's so sneaky. Me seeing Paul, honestly, I was way more attracted to him than I was to Zack,' Irina admitted

It was also confirmed at the reunion that Micah and Paul continued dating even after Paul declined an engagement at the altar, though Micah said she would have said yes.

'I knew that I was going to say yes,' Micah said through tears, adding, 'And I didn't want to spend the rest of our life wondering if he was to say yes wondering if he did it not to embarrass me or I needed to know he did it for him.'

Paul, however, admitted that he made the right decision by not marrying Micah during the finale.

'Doing things like making decisions based on other people. I really do think that you should own your truth and that serves both people in a relationship,' he said.

'So I don't think that I would have, but also I don't know what that feels like. You know, to have your partner choosing you, saying yes, affirming you,' he said.

'I don't know what that feels like, so I don't know. I can't say with a hundred percent certainty that it wouldn't have changed my answer,' he clarified.

Paul also addressed a rather controversial comment when he said he couldn't see Micah as a mother.

'I think I phrased that really unfairly towards her. I don't think that it was a reflection of what she was capable of or anything like that,' he admitted.

'I think that the better way to phrase that would've been, I can't see us as parents because I couldn't envision myself as she pointed out  couldn't envision myself as a father just as much as I couldn't see in her,' he admitted.

Micah said that made her feel, 'terrible,' adding, 'I felt like it was the worst thing that could be said. I think because, you know, you would've been a great mom and he knew how important it was for me to be a mom. It's something that I've talked about since the pods, how important having family was to me.'

They confirmed they continued to date after declining an engagement at the altar though it ended, 'pretty quickly' after Paul visited Micah in Arizona.

Continued: It was also confirmed at the reunion that Micah and Paul continued dating even after Paul declined an engagement at the altar, though Micah said she would have said yes
Samara Weaving is a rising star in Hollywood.

And the 31-year-old Aussie actress turned plenty of heads as she wore a midriff-flashing ensemble for a special screening of the movie Chevalier in LA on Sunday.

The Ready or Not star showcased her impeccably toned figure in a tan crop top with sheer sleeves, which she teamed with tailored pants.

Beaming on the red carpet, Samara styled her blonde tresses in glamorous waves and opted for a glossy makeup palette.

She rounded out her look with a pair of pointy-toe heels.

Samara Weaving turned plenty of heads as she wore a midriff-flashing ensemble for a special screening of the movie Chevalier in Los Angeles on Sunday

It comes after Samara revealed her X-rated mishap with her co-star Kelvin Harrison Jr during their love scenes on Chevalier.

Samara appeared on the Late Late Show with James Corden last month where she spoke about the awkward scene.

She began by explaining Kelvin was quite tired after having to learn the violin and the art of fencing for the project.

The Ready or Not star, 31, showcased her impeccably toned figure in a tan crop top with sheer sleeves, which she teamed with tailored pants

'It was a Friday. We were in bed. I was super naked. We're making out and this is the time he decides to go, "Ugh, I just want to quit,"' she said.

'I couldn't believe it. I looked amazing!'

Samara went on to say Kelvin immediately regretted what he'd said, and did not mean to insult her in any way.

'He felt bad and then he was like, "I'm so sorry, I'm just really tired." So yeah, my lovemaking almost got Kelvin to quit,' she joked.

Beaming on the red carpet, Samara styled her blonde tresses in glamorous waves and opted for a glossy makeup palette

Samara is a rising star in Tinseltown after starting her career on the long-running Aussie soap Home and Away.

In an interview with The Courier Mail in May last year, she said the show had helped prepare her for Hollywood.

'Home and Away is such a machine and you're just pumping out so many scenes,' she said.

'We would do up to ten scenes a day if we were in the studio. Working on my first American job, and doing four scenes a day, was wild. I was like, "Oh, we can take our time, I guess." It was a lovely surprise.'
Peter Overton is known for being a true gentleman.

And on Monday, a leaked internal memo from Channel Nine exposed just how friendly a guy the Nine News presenter really is.

In a post shared to Instagram Stories, one of Peter's scripts was revealed, along with edits he made.

Peter gave the Today show and its hosts a shout-out at the end of his Sydney news bulletin, which was his addition and not part of his original script.

'Good morning Charles and Sarah, Brooke, Alex and Tim. Have a glorious show and week. Peter,' the addition read.

Peter Overton (pictured) is known for being a true gentleman. And on Monday, a leaked internal memo from Channel Nine exposed just how friendly a guy the Nine News presenter really is

'Peter Overton is a saint,' a caption on the Stories post read, alongside an angel and heart emoji.

In January, Peter and his wife Jessica Rowe celebrated their 19th wedding anniversary.

In a post shared to Instagram, Jessica, 52, beamed as she paid tribute to her husband alongside a glorious photo of the pair.

'What a difference 19 years makes! Home before we turn into pumpkins,' the beloved TV star began.

'But what hasnt changed is the love and moral compass we share,' Jess continued.

Peter gave the Today show and its hosts a shout-out at the end of his Sydney news bulletin, which was his addition and not part of his original script

'Happy Anniversary my darling Petee, marrying you is the best decision of my life.'

The couple share two daughters, Allegra 15, and Giselle, 13, and first met when Jess was doing work experience at Channel Nine when she was 19.

Jess said Peter, 57, was one of the few people who spoke to her during her work experience stint, and they saw each other again years later at the Logies.

'As we were talking I was thinking, "Why can't I meet a nice man like this? Why am I not attracting really good, decent people like this beautiful man?"' she told Mamamia in May 2018.

'It was a lovely night, you know. We were just chatting, and off I went and off he went.'

In January, Peter and his wife Jessica Rowe (right) celebrated their 19th wedding anniversary

Jessica said she was later lamenting about her single status to her friend and colleague at the time, rugby league reporter Tony Peters.

She mentioned that she thought Peter seemed 'really nice', and Tony revealed that he knew him and offered to give him a call on her behalf.

Peter eventually agreed to take Jessica out, but only if she called him, which led to them having a 'lovely night'.

'I thought, "Damn it. I will ring." Because I'd asked blokes out before - sometimes you have to. So I rang Petey and, I'll never forget, he said to me, "I like your style,"' she recounted.
Damien Hirst stepped out with his girlfriend Sophie Cannell for a romantic date night at Scott's in Mayfair at the weekend.

On Sunday night, the artist, 57, and his ballerina lover, 28, looked loved-up as they gazed into each other's eyes while heading down the streets of central London.

Bristol-born artist Damien donned an all-white ensemble including an out-there leather jacket with pink stripes across the arms and embroidered pink and black crosses on the chest.

He opted for some white bottoms with the same cross design emblazoned across the legs and some black writing across the side.

Hirst slipped his feet into a pair of Nike Air Force trainers and threw a white leather cross-body bag across himself, as well as adding a baby pink beanie hat.

Romantic: Damien Hirst stepped out with his girlfriend Sophie Cannell for a romantic date night at Scott's in Mayfair at the weekend. On Sunday night, the artist, 57, and his ballerina lover, 28, looked loved-up as they gazed into each other's eyes while heading down the streets of central London

Stylish: Bristol-born artist Damien donned an all-white ensemble including an out-there leather jacket with pink stripes across the arms and embroidered pink and black crosses on the chest

Casual: Blonde beauty Sophie, who is 28 years his junior, contrasted her other half perfectly as she went for an all-black look, throwing on a black Alo hoodie and some comfortable black joggers

Blonde beauty Sophie, who is 28 years his junior, contrasted her other half perfectly as she went for an all-black look, throwing on a black Alo hoodie and some comfortable black joggers.

She held onto a black Balenciaga handbag, and to add a pop of colour, she went for a pair of purple and white Off White trainers.

Her light tresses were worn in a wavy style and her palette of makeup looked flawless yet natural.

It was previously reported that Damien met Sophie at the swanky Chiltern Firehouse, where she used to work as a waitress.

Hirst declared his love for Sophie in March this year when he immortalised her by creating a sculpture based on her body as part of one of his four works for new Mayfair restaurant Bacchanalia.

The artist also made a statement on his relationship back in August 2022 as he gifted Sophie 166,600 18-carat gold Rolex Pearlmaster studded with 713 gems.

It's so spectacular that Sophie took to Instagram at the time to show it off  along with a whopping great diamond ring on her left hand.

Such a sparkler did little to quell speculation that she and Damien, her boyfriend of three years, are engaged and ready to commit despite their 28-year age gap.

When the couple's romance first came to light, a friend close to the duo told Richard Eden at the Mail On Sunday that Damien is 'besotted' with the beauty.

MailOnline now understands that the couple are not engaged.

Lovers: It was previously reported that Damien met Sophie at the swanky Chiltern Firehouse, where she used to work as a waitress. Hirst declared his love for Sophie in March this year when he immortalised her by creating a sculpture based on her body as part of one of his four works for new Mayfair restaurant Bacchanalia (pictured)

Wow! The artist gifted the ballerina a 166,600 18-carat gold Rolex Pearlmaster studded with 713 gems back in August 2022. It's so spectacular that Sophie took to Instagram to show it off  along with a whopping great diamond ring on her left hand

Better times: Damien Hirst with his partner and children at the UK premiere of Disney/pixar's Finding Nemo in 2003

Damien's love life prior to Sophie included his long-term girlfriend Maia Norman, with whom he shares three sons.

The former couple are parents to Connor Ojala, 26, Cassius Atticus, 21, and Cyrus Joe, 16.

Although he never married Maia he referred to her as his 'common-law wife'.

After his eldest child Connor's birth, the artist spent much of his time in a remote farmhouse near Combe Martin in Devon.
Coronation Street's Sally Dynevor has celebrated her Bridgerton star daughter Phoebe's birthday with an adorable throwback snap and a gushing note.

The 59-year-old soap star took to Instagram on Monday morning to share a sweet picture of herself and husband Tim Dynevor holding their eldest child Phoebe who turned 28 on 17 April.

Baby Phoebe looks precious as she is proudly held by dad Tim and a young Sally beams for the camera as they take a family photograph.

Sally penned the post: 'Happy Birthday Phoebe. I cant believe our beautiful baby is now 28. We love you so much xxx'.

She also shared two extra snaps to her 119,000 followers, including one of all three children Phoebe, Sam, 26, and Hattie, 19.

Happy Birthday! Coronation Street's Sally Dynevor has celebrated her Bridgerton star daughter Phoebe's birthday with an adorable throwback snap and a gushing note

Sweet: Sally penned the post: 'Happy Birthday Phoebe. I cant believe our beautiful baby is now 28. We love you so much xxx'

Gushing: One last picture on the post showed Phoebe looking glammed up with a full face of makeup on and her hair styled perfectly as she appears to be at an event, grinning from ear to ear

One last picture on the post showed Phoebe looking glammed up with a full face of makeup on and her hair styled perfectly as she appears to be at an event, grinning from ear to ear.

It comes after Phoebe's little sister Hattie Dynevor was reported to following in the footsteps of her Coronation Street cast member mother and her Bridgerton star sister and become a television actress.

Model Hattie has signed up to appear in BBC One drama Waterloo road, The Sun reports.

The series, about a troubled comprehensive school set in Rochdale, Lancashire, helped put her sister Phoebe on the map 14 years ago.

Their mother Sally Dynevor, 59, has played the part of Sally Metcalfe in Corrie for 27 years since 1986.

A TV insider told the publication: 'Hattie bagging a part on Waterloo Road sees the Dynevors become a real acting dynasty.

'It is a no-brainer for the show and a shrewd move for her too.

'Not many fledgling stars would get a part on such a big drama so early in their career.

'But theyre confident she has the skills to do the job  after all the ability to perform runs in the family.'

Their father Tim, 61, also started out as an actor before moving into a career as a writer, penning scripts for the likes of Emmerdale.

MailOnline has contacted the BBC for comment.

Sally previously shared some pictures of herself with Tim after they jetted off to enjoy a holiday together.

Brood: She also shared two extra snaps to her 119,000 followers, including one of all three children Phoebe, Sam, 26, and Hattie, 19

Rising star: Hattie Dynevor is reportedly set to follow in the footsteps of her Coronation Street cast member mother and her Bridgerton star sister and become a television actress

Acting dynasty: Hattie's mother Sally Dynevor, 59 (right), has played the part of Sally Metcalfe in Corrie for 27 years since 1986

The couple looked loved-up on Instagram as they enjoyed a family getaway to Rome last year.

Sally gave her 119,000 Instagram fans an insight into their sightseeing trip.

She looked smitten as she leant on Tim's shoulder while sitting on a grand staircase.

The star took some time away from filming as she cut a casual figure in a brown cardigan which she paired with blue jeans and white trainers.

Sally beamed while wearing a pair of large black sunglasses and kept her belongings close to her in a woven crossbody bag.
Alexandra Mardell has officially become a 'Mrs' after tying the knot with her fiance Joe Parker with a lavish North Yorkshire wedding.

The Coronation Street star, 29, had kept details of her big day with Joe, also 29, which took place on March 19, private as she refrained from posting any snaps from the celebration.

But now sharing an insight into the wedding, the blushing bride said this week: 'It was gorgeous  the scenery was stunning'.

Saying 'I Do' at The Tithe Barn in Bolton Abbey, North Yorkshire, she donned a gorgeous white wedding dress with a flowing train and lace-detailed bustier.

Sharing her wedding pictures with OK! Magazine, Alexandra spoke to the publication about her special day as she explained that the couple banned the use of phones.

Congrats! Alexandra Mardell is married! Coronation Street actress ties the knot with fiance Joe Parker in stunning North Yorkshire ceremony

Celebrations: Before the wedding, she enjoyed a wild hen do to Lanzarote with her gal pals, sharing a series of photos of the festivities

Talking with the publication on the emotional ceremony, she said: 'It was all just really surreal. I didnt get emotional until I saw Joes face. I was telling myself, 'Please dont cry, this make-up took too long!'

'I was just looking at Joe and didnt really notice everyone else. It felt like it was just us two in that moment'.

Hoping to enjoy the day without distractions, Alexandra and Joe decided to put a mobile phone ban on the wedding for guests to live in the moment.

Sharing that she wanted the wedding party of 90 to be 'present', she explained that everyone adhered to their wishes - sharing no images to social media.

Keeping things traditional, the couple stayed separately on the night before the wedding and even bought gifts for one another.

The actress was given a statue of the Child of Prague by her soon-to-be husband on the day, with the gift relating to an old tale - which says that the statue will bring sun on your wedding day.

While she opted for a gift with sentimental meaning by buying Joe a tie clip with their wedding date on it.

Following the emotional ceremony, during which Joe began to 'cry straight away' upon seeing his bride, the pair then partied into the night with 150 guests.

Alexandra and Joe then jetted off to Jamaica for a sunny honeymoon as they enjoyed marital bliss.

'The best weekend!': Alexandra Mardell enjoyed a sun-soaked hen do with her family and pals as she prepares for her wedding

Before the wedding, she enjoyed a wild hen do to Lanzarote with her gal pals, sharing a series of photos of the festivities.

In the pictures, she posed in an all-white ensemble including a veil that said 'The Future Mrs Parker' on it and clutched a bag which read 'I do'.

Alexandra also grinned while clad in a white swimsuit as she posed with a giant inflatable wedding ring and an embellished silver hat.

In another snap, Alexandra and her nearest and dearest stood together dressed in all black as the hen do continued.

She captioned her post: 'Mrs P to be! THE BEST weekend with THE BESTEST people!

Alexandra and Joe moved in together just before Britain was plunged into the first lockdown and their romance continued to go from strength to strength.

Alongside a cute snap with her new fiancee announcing their engagement in 2021, Alexandra penned: 'Love locked down!! 1000000 times yes! You make me so happy, my face hurts! Love you ridiculously. Future Mrs Parker'.

Joe also shared a slew of snaps from the moment he popped the question as he penned: 'Went in to lockdown with a girlfriend, came out with a fiancee. What a lucky man I am. Can't wait to marry you @alexandramardell I love you '

Alexandra - who played Emma Brooker on Corrie- was congratulated by several of her Corrie co-stars, with the likes of Lucy Fallon posting, 'Congratulations guys! Super happy for you both xxx'

Lisa Riley added: 'yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee thats amazing!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS loving the love', while Victoria Ekanoye penned: 'SHUT THE ACTUAL FRONT DOOOOOR! This is amazing news.

'Aww Im so happy for you guys. Just told @ekanoye and shes over the moon. What a beaut couple you are. Cheers xx'.

In the snaps, Alexandra looked radiant as she showed off her new ring while clad in a little black dress.

Grins: Alexandra posed with her mother as she enjoyed her holiday hen do, wearing a glittery bride hat

Having fun: She captioned her post: 'Mrs P to be! THE BEST weekend with THE BESTEST people'

Looking good: Alexandra also grinned with a giant inflatable wedding ring and stood by the pool wearing a giant headdress which said 'Bride'

Quality time: Elsewhere, in another snap, Alexandra and her nearest and dearest stood together dressed in all black as the hen do continued

Glam: She also sported a veil which read: 'The future Mrs Parker' as excitement for her wedding grew

Fun: The group grinned as they headed out to a bar together during Alexandra's fun hen do holiday

Cute couple: Alexandra revealed she was engaged to Joe in 2021, announcing the news with a series of Instagram posts

Alexandra announced she would be moving in with Joe back in January 2020 with a gushing Instagram tribute to her boyfriend.

She shared a selection of loved-up photos to her Instagram that documented the couple's romance since first meeting at The Guildford School of Acting aged 21.

The first adorable snap showed the pair back when they were 'just friends,' with Alexandra stunning in a glittering gold gown as Joe looked dapper in a tie and waistcoat.

She wrote: 'GSA Grad Ball 2015 - We were just friends, 2 years later we were a couple, now 2 years together, hes moving in! So many exciting events and adventures already and still so many more to come!'

'We have such a laugh! Love you massively! So excited for all the laughs, date nights, lazy days, long walks and chicken wings we want!

She ended the adorable caption: 'There were too many pics to choose from but here are some of the biggies! Jan 2020!'

It came after the former Corrie star won the The British Soap Award for Best Newcomer in 2019.

She spoke on Lorraine about joining the cobbles and admitted: 'It's a bit overwhelming because its so surreal.

'I've grown up with it so I was a bit starstruck with everyone, but I tried to play it cool and everyone was so welcoming.'

She also admitted her mum had some initial hesitations about her joining the soap.

She told Lorraine: 'She was worried I was going to ruin her favourite show for her.

'But after the first episode she watched it and she was like, "Oh actually no, I like it, you havent ruined it, youre good."'
The Neighbours cast are back on set and cameras have begun rolling.

The soap shared the good news, announcing that the revamped series is now in production, on Monday.

'Lights, camera, action, let's go! Brand new Neighbours is officially in production!' read the caption alongside an Instagram post from the show's account.

In the accompanying images were cast members Alan Fletcher (as Karl Kennedy), Lucinda Cowden (as Melanie Pearson), Rebekah Elmaloglou (as Terese Willis), Stefan Dennis (as Paul Robinson) and Annie Jones (as Jane Harris).

The actors beamed as they got back to work, but not before sharing a champagne toast outside the fictional Lassiters Hotel.

The Neighbours cast are back on set and cameras have begun rolling. Pictured: Cast members Alan Fletcher (as Karl Kennedy), Lucinda Cowden (as Melanie Pearson), Rebekah Elmaloglou (as Terese Willis), Stefan Dennis (as Paul Robinson) and Annie Jones (as Jane Harris)

Neighbours should be back on screens by the end of this year.

The series will air for free on Amazon Freevee in the UK and US and will include streaming rights to thousands of episodes from previous seasons. The series will stream on Prime Video in Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.

The continuation of the long-running soap series follows the finale in 2022, which was watched by millions of adoring fans.

Georgie Stone (as Mackenzie Hargreaves) and Tim Kano (as Leo Tanaka) will also reprise their roles as series regulars, after the show was axed by Australia's Network 10 last July.

Returning in guest roles are Ian Smith (as Harold Bishop), April Rose Pengilly (as Chloe Brennan), and Melissa Bell (as Lucy Robinson).

'Lights, camera, action, let's go! Brand new Neighbours is officially in production!' read the caption alongside an Instagram post from the show's account

The actors beamed as they got back to work, but not before sharing a champagne toast outside the fictional Lassiters Hotel

Neighbours should be back on screens by the end of this year. The series will air for free on Amazon Freevee in the UK and US. The series will stream on Prime Video in Australia

Lauren Anderson, head of AVOD original content and programming, Amazon Studios, recently said: 'Neighbours has captivated its audience for nearly 40 years, building a dedicated and loyal following for the lives and stories of the characters on Ramsay Street.

'With the power of streaming, we're able to offer a catalogue of thousands of Neighbours episodes for new audiences to discover this legendary series and current fans to relive their favourite moments.

'We look forward to immersing the audience in new Ramsay Street experiences when we relaunch the show next year for Amazon Freevee and Prime Video customers.'

However, the beloved series is reportedly unlikely to return as a daily program as it previously was during its impressive 37-year run.

UK audiences were flooded with nostalgia during an emotional Neighbours finale which saw Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan make an epic comeback to the soap, joining a host of stars amid Margot Robbie and Holly Valance returning to Ramsay Street for one final time.

The Channel 5 soap first aired in 1985 and has been on screens for 37 years, but in March it was announced the Australian series was being axed after 8,903 episodes with the finale airing in March.
Zendaya was just a face in the crowd as she left a crowded cafe on Sunday, despite being one of the world's most instantly recognizable actresses.

The American star was seen emerging from a London branch of Gail's after picking up coffee and pastries, but her appearance failed to muster a reaction from those gathered outside the popular cafe and bakery chain.

Zendaya, 26, looked typically stylish in a cropped leather jacket and suede skirt, teamed with stylish Louboutin boots as she made her way onto the street.

The Euphoria star is currently visiting London based boyfriend Tom Holland, but there was no sign of the Spider Man star during her latest outing.

It comes after Zendaya gave fans a unique insight into her relationship with boyfriend Tom.

Here she comes: Zendaya was just a face in the crowd as she left a crowded cafe on Sunday, despite being one of the world's most instantly recognizable actresses

Refreshments: The American star was seen emerging from a London branch of Gail's after picking up coffee and pastries

The American star has admitted she still struggles to understand the actor's British accent despite being linked for seven years.

She claims she often struggles to understand what Tom says and is baffled by cockney rhyming slang, despite her beau trying repeatedly to explain it to her.

She told The Sun: 'I love the British accent, but as much as Tom tries to explain it to me, I will never understand rhyming slang.

'Like I understand the concept  but what do apples and pears have to do with stairs?

'Its cute when he tells me all the different phrases  but I really dont get it!'

Going solo: The Euphoria star is currently visiting London based boyfriend Tom Holland, but there was no sign of the Spider Man star during her latest outing

Smart: Zendaya looked typically stylish in a cropped leather jacket and suede skirt, teamed with stylish Louboutin boots as she made her way onto the street

The couple were first linked in 2016 when they were both cast in Marvel reboot Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Tom's 2.5million west London home is currently undergoing extensive renovations after he purchased the huge property in 2018.

The couple are also said to have purchased a 3million six-bedroom home in Richmond together.

According to The Mirror, the couple have big renovation plans for their new abode which will include a cinema, a gym and a man cave for Tom.
Love Island star Liberty Poole took to Instagram on Sunday to share a slew of sizzling snap - and make a candid confession about editing.

The reality personality, 23, who appeared on the show in 2021's series seven, looked nothing short of sensational in a scanty red swimsuit with a deeply plunging neckline and high-rise hips, to show as much skin as possible.

Feeling candid, in the caption on the shot, newly-brunette Liberty revealed she was 'tempted' to edit the snap to 'lift her natural boobs and shrink her bloating', but the decided she wanted to show off her normal body and quash beauty standards.

Her inspirational words read: 'Curvy and proud !! I was tempted to lift my natural boobs in this picture so they looked perfect shrink the bloating but no this is me...

'So why would I, this is real and this is a normal body despite what beauty standards say just be you . MY BODY MY STANDARDS'.

Cheeky! Love Island star Liberty Poole took to Instagram on Sunday to share a slew of sizzling snap - and make a candid confession about editing

Stunner: The reality personality, 23, who appeared on the show in 2021's series seven, looked nothing short of sensational in a scanty red swimsuit with a deeply plunging neckline and high-rise hips, to show as much skin as possible

Cheeky! Feeling candid, in the caption on the shot, newly-brunette Liberty revealed she was 'tempted' to edit the snap to 'lift her natural boobs and shrink her bloating', but the decided she wanted to show off her normal body and quash beauty standards

Liberty looked sensational in her sexy swimsuit, which featured a cleavage-enhancing low cut neckline and just about contained her assets.

Not content with showing her cleavage, she also showed off her bottom and hips with the perilously high-rise hips on the one-piece.

She was also using the snap to debut her newly darkened locks, with the bouncy brunette curls enhanced with lightened strands around her face.

Over the weekend, Liberty shared another snap from the impromptu photoshoot, taken during her sun-drenched trip to the United Arab Emirates. She was at the Cafe del Mar beach bar in Abu Dhabi, in the sexy shots.

Stunner! Her inspirational words read: 'Curvy and proud !! I was tempted to lift my natural boobs in this picture so they looked perfect shrink the bloating but no this is me'

'Ready for 2023': It comes after Liberty showed off her new brunette hair in December as she switched up her blonde locks to 'enter a new era'

It comes after Liberty showed off her new brunette hair in December as she switched up her blonde locks to 'enter a new era'.

The beauty looked incredible as she styled her darker do in luxurious loose waves in a glamorous video posted to Instagram. The reality star flashed her toned figure in a plunging beige ribbed crop top, which she teamed with a matching mini skirt.

She applied a flawless palette of makeup and accessorised with small gold hoop earrings. Liberty captioned the post: 'Seasons are changing and so is the hair ready for 2023.'

The former Dancing On Ice star also shared a series of snaps to her Instagram Story hinting she: 'Might have done something...'

In a transformation video, Liberty played with her short blonde tresses while posing in a bathroom in a glamorous khaki leather blazer.

She wrote: 'This is your sign to go from blonde to bronde for winter. I say winter I think I'm keeping this forever.'
Former I'm A Celebrity star David Subritzsky has revealed he was assaulted during a night out in Sydney on Sunday.

The 28-year-old shared a video to Instagram on Monday of his cut and swollen lip and revealed 'he was bashed'.

'Getting called a fa***t and bashed in Sydney... still goanna do me losers,' he wrote.

David then shared a photo of his bloody lip while lying in bed and said: 'People are gross'.

After fans expressed their concern, he reassured them he was 'good but just a bit swollen'.

I'm A Celebrity's David Subritzsky has shared confronting photos of his swollen and cut lip and revealed he was assaulted in Sydney on Monday

'Thanks for all the lovely messages, I'm actually all good just a bit swollen s**t happens.'

'I've honestly had the best weekend in Sydney and no d**k head is going to take that away. Call me whatever you like, bash me, I'm not goanna change.'

David told Daily Mail Australia on Monday he went out with a friend on Sunday night and a guy approached them at a takeaway shop.

'He called me a fa**ot several times and then I got hit in the face a couple times, the police was called but not sure if they found him as he ran off.'

It comes just months after David was 'bashed and robbed' of all of his belongings in Paris.

The I'm A Celebrity star took to his sister Holly Subritzky's Instagram in September to reveal he ended up in hospital with a bloodied nose after his phone and credit cards were stolen.

'Hi Holly's Instagram,' David began. 'I thought I would just hijack because I have no phone, I have no credit card, I'm back in the UK.

The reality star continued: 'I got bashed and robbed in Paris. Full Kimmy K vibes. Not ideal, but I'm safe, I'm well.

'If anyone is tying to get in touch with me, reach out to Holly because I don't have a phone right now.'

The 28-year-old shared a video to Instagram of his cut and swollen lip and revealed he was bashed. He also shared a photo of his bloody lip while lying in bed and said: 'People are gross'

Holly, who sat next to him on the couch as he filmed the video, chimed in to express her gratitude to the 'girlies in Paris' who helped her brother in hospital during 'the worst 24 hours'.

David finished off the video with a frustrated sound as he said: 'It's been f***ed. Look at my face.'

A few hours later, David shared a message a fan sent his sister about her own experience of being 'gassed and robbed' in Paris while she was with her children.

'Omg so it's a thing in Paris! Please be careful if you visit!' he captioned the post.
Sir Anthony Hopkins transformed into Sigmund Freud as he was seen for the first time shooting his upcoming film, Freud's Last Session.

The actor, 85, was dressed in a khaki coat and a brown trilby hat as he got to work on the Ireland film set last month alongside 30 extras.

Donning Freud's trademark round-rimmed glasses, he was joined by former Downton Abbey star Matthew Goode, 45, who plays Narnia author C.S Lewis.

The leading men were seen walking into a church while carrying gas masks.

It is thought the pair will discuss the existence of God in the latter years of the doctor's life on the brink of World War II.

In-action: Sir Anthony Hopkins transformed into Sigmund Freud as he was seen for the first time shooting his upcoming film, Freud's Last Session

Starring role: The actor, 85, was dressed in a khaki coat and a brown trilby hat as he got to work on the Ireland film set last month alongside 30 extras

Based on Mark St. Germain's acclaimed 2010 play of ideas, the exciting new movie was filming at Ardmore Studios in Bray, Co. Wicklow.

Its IMDb description reads: 'Set on the eve of WWII and towards the end of his life, Freud's Last Session sees Freud (Hopkins) invite iconic author C.S. Lewis for a debate over the existence of God.

'Exploring Freud's unique relationship with his lesbian daughter Anna and Lewis' unconventional romance with his best friend's mother, the film interweaves past, present and fantasy, bursting from the confines of Freud's study on a dynamic journey.'

Anthony may be 84 but he's showing no signs of slowing down.

He recently joined the cast of the Peacock series Those About To Die, based on the book that inspired the 2000 movie Gladiator.

The Oscar winner will portray Emperor Vespasian in the epic period drama by German director Roland Emmerich, 67, according to Deadline.

The series was inspired by Daniel P. Mannix's 1958 book Those About To Die that also was the inspiration for the Gladiator film starring Russell Crowe, 58, as Maximus.

Vespasian was a Roman emperor who reigned from AD 69 to 79 and during his rule the Flavian Amphitheatre was built, better known today as the Roman Colosseum.

Legendary: He donned Freud's trademark round-rimmed glasses

Wow! Its IMDb description reads: 'Set on the eve of WWII and towards the end of his life, Freud's Last Session sees Freud (Hopkins) invite iconic author C.S. Lewis for a debate over the existence of God'

Talented: Anthony may be 84 but he's showing no signs of slowing down

What a pair! He was joined by former Downton Abbey star Matthew Goode, 45, who plays Narnia author C.S Lewis

Busy bees: The leading men were seen walking into a church while carrying gas masks

Those About To Die will be set in the 'complex and corrupt' world of gladiatorial competition and will follow an ensemble of characters from all layers of Roman society.

An official synopsis described the ageing Vespasian as 'despised by the Patricians jockeying for position in the Empire and looking to supplant his heirs to the throne the first chance they get.'

Roland in addition to directing also will executive produce the series along with writer Robert Rodat.

Anthony won an Oscar in 2021 for his performance in The Father and also won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his work in the 1991 film Silence Of The Lambs.

Roland directed, co-wrote and co-produced the 2022 sci-fi disaster film Moonfall that was a box-office bomb after it grossed only $67 million worldwide.

The film starring Halle Berry and Patrick Wilson was released in February 2022 and was panned by critics.

Anthony began his acting career in the 1960s and made his film debut in the 1967 British short drama The White Bus.

He was knighted in 1993 by the late Queen Elizabeth II for his services to drama.

Anthony recently has portrayed Odin in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and starred in the HBO series Westworld.

Good watch: It is thought the pair will discuss the existence of God in the latter years of the doctor's life on the brink of World War II
Winnie Harlow showcased her jaw-dropping figure in a tiny colourful carnival outfit as she attended the Yard Mas and Xodus Carnival in Jamaica on Monday.

The supermodel, 28, turned heads in the bold racy number which boasted a plunging jewelled cut out thong and bralette.

She turned up the heat by wearing an array of pink and orange feathered wings but also opted for comfort in a pair of tie dye trainers.

Winnie, born Chantelle Whitney Brown-Young, was decked out with a number of patterned leg accessories.

Her costume was complete with an extravagant jewelled headpiece as she left her long dark locks loose in luxurious waves.

Impressing: Winnie Harlow showcased her jaw-dropping figure in a tiny colourful carnival outfit as she attended the Yard Mas and Xodus Carnival in Jamaica on Monday

Extravagant: The supermodel, 28, turned heads in the bold racy number which boasted a plunging jewelled cut out thong and bralette

Stunning: The supermodel later removed her extravagant multi coloured feathered wings as she enjoyed drinks in the street

Phenomenal: She turned up the heat by wearing an array of pink and orange feathered wings and a pair of tie dye trainers

The former Victoria Secret Angel applied a flawless palette of makeup to accentuate her beauty including a shimmering pink eye shadow and silver diamantes.

The model was seen posing up a storm on the back of lorry before strutting in the street with the rest of the crowds celebrating.

Winnie showcased her impressive dance moves by twerking in the street in the eye catching costume.

The beauty also took to Instagram to share a gallery of snaps from the carnival, she wrote: 'JOUVERT MAWNIN !!! What a blessing after expanding @cayskin to Canada, coming home to Jamaica for Carnival to celebrate the inspiration for @cayskin is a dream come true.

'My country always welcomes me home with open arms. Carnival day is coming. JAMAICA WE READY FI DI ROADDDD!!!'

It comes after she launched her beauty brand Cay Skin in Toronto, Canada earlier this month.

Winnie touted her vegan, silicone-free, and cruelty-free products on social media as well as at the in-person event.

A caption for a joint post shared by Sephora and Cay Skin read: 'Get ready to glow @CaySkin is coming soon to Sephora [Canada] and look who stopped by to celebrate.'

Turning heads: Winnie, born Chantelle Whitney Brown-Young, was decked out with a number of patterned leg accessories

Amazing: Her costume was complete with an extravagant jewelled headpiece as she left her long dark locks loose in luxurious waves

All smiles: The former Victoria Secret Angel applied a flawless palette of makeup to accentuate her beauty including a shimmering pink eye shadow and silver diamantes

The piece of content showed Winnie in a behind-the-scenes reel as she walked through an aisle of stored merchandise.

Draped in a fur coat, the beauty said, 'Hey, guys. It's Winnie Harlow. We are here in Toronto at Sephora.

'I am so excited to announce the launch of Cay Skin coming soon to Canada. Let's go celebrate!'

The clip featured swarms of consumers gathered in the brick and mortar store to see the runway star.

She looked typically beautiful in a full face of flowy makeup compete with golden eyeshadow and wispy lashes.

Winnie's dark hair was styled in a part-less look with face-framing baby hair as the locks tumbled down her back in loose, fluffy curls.

Cay Skin's Instagram bio describes the line as 'Daily suncare that puts your skin first.'

Winnie made the shift from modeling into the beauty space when she launched Cay Skin last year.

The suncare brand's standout product - Isle Glow Face Lotion - offers 45 SPF and is environmentally friendly, according to the official Cay Skin site.

Having fun: The model was seen posing up a storm on the back of lorry before strutting in the street with the rest of the crowds celebrating

High spirits: Winnie showcased her impressive dance moves by twerking in the street in the eye catching costume

Colourful: The beauty flashed her gorgeous smile as she celebrated with friends

Speaking with Byrdie last spring, the star revealed that the inspiration for creating Cay Skin stemmed from a 'traumatic' shoot in the Bahamas in 2018.

'I was shooting in the Bahamas sun for two days, and no one [on set] wanted me to reapply sunscreen because the ones we had left a blue or purple cast,' she explained.

Without any protection from the harsh sun, Winnie's skin suffered sun damage that required her to seek medical attention.

'When I finished the two-day project, I got back to my hotel and my skin was so red and tight. Doctors had to come to the hotel room and give me injections for pain and inflammation. It was a traumatic experience.'

Though the incident was excruciating, it inspired Winnie to create sunscreen that suits all skin tones in the hopes that what happened to her wouldn't happen to someone else.

'It's so important to protect your skin, and there should be products that work for everyone,' she told the outlet. 'That's really how the idea for Cay Skin came to life.'
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
Addison Rae is known for posting provocative images of herself in scantily clad outfits to social media.

But this weekend the 22-year-old TikTok favorite from Louisiana took the shock factor to a whole new level with an eye-popping image.

The close pal of reality TV veteran Kourtney Kardashian was seen touching tongues with female look-alike friend, actress Nell Verlaque, in an Instagram post.

The ladies were seen closing their eyes as they went tongue to tongue while Zombies actor Milo Manheim, 22, was seen making a surprised facial expression in the background. Milo wrote in the comment box, 'Uuummm yeeeaaahh I'll have what she's having.'

But other followers were not as thrilled with the move with one even called it 'tacky.'

Daring turn: Addison Rae was seen touching tongues with actress Nell Verlaque her Thanksgiving costar as Milo Manheim looked on

Rae time: The image was taken at the wrap party for the new horror movie Thanksgiving which comes out November 17

The image was taken at the wrap party for the new horror movie Thanksgiving which comes out November 17.

Also at the fete was Grey's Anatomy veteran Patrick Dempsey as well as the film's director Eli Roth.

Fans were shocked at what Addison posted.

One follower wrote, 'Tacky and low class! Im surprised!!' then added, 'Are you coming out?' It was a hint that Addison may have been queer-baiting, a trend that has taken over social media to garner clicks.

Another wrote in the comment box, 'Feel like I should *insert Brittney quote*.'

Emily Ratajkowski hit the like button.

Rae is a part of the cast for director Roth's upcoming horror movie Thanksgiving.

It is based on the spoof trailer the 50-year-old filmmaker made 16 years ago for the Quentin Tarantino-Robert Rodriguez double bill Grindhouse but it is unclear what role she will be playing.

Sources told The Hollywood Reporter in February that the movie centers on a slasher who arrives at a small town in Massachusetts with the intention of 'creating a Thanksgiving carving board out of the town's inhabitants.'

Shock value: Fans were shocked at what Addison posted. One follower wrote, 'Tacky and low class! Im surprised!!' then adding, 'Are you coming out?' It was a hint that Addison may have been queer-baiting, a trend that has taken over social media to garner clicks. Another wrote in the comment box, 'Feel like I should *insert Brittney quote*'

Dempsey and a number of unknown names star.

Production began in Toronto earlier this year.

Eli produces alongside Electromagnetic Productions' Roger Birnbaum.

Addison made her movie debut in He's All That in 2021 and previously revealed she wanted to prove she's not 'limited to one thing' and hoped to explore a variety of acting roles.

She said: 'I want to show people I'm not just limited to one thing. I want to play the bad guy but also the good guy. I eventually want something really deep and emotional and real as possible.'

Another cute image: Rae was also seen in a cowgirl hat and boots while in a car

And thestar claimed she had to work 'much harder' in order to make it as an actress because of her background.

She explained: 'In this industry, when you come in and get labelled as one thing ... people like to keep you there. Which is understandable, and I get it, but what people don't realize is I've always wanted to do acting, I've always wanted to do music. I've always wanted to do all these other things that they didn't really get to see or know, because I just started being known when I was 19 years old.

'People haven't really seen the background, or the classes I used to take and things like that. So I try to tell myself, 'You have to work that much harder to get people to take you seriously.''
After months of anticipation the quiet suburban enclave made famous by a certain Australian soap opera welcomed back some familiar faces on Monday.

Little more than thirteen months after airing what everyone believed would be its final episode, Neighbours returned to Ramsay Street with old cast and a new home having been revived by streaming service Amazon Prime.

With work now officially underway on a new series of the long-running soap opera, cast and crew were seen embracing one another as vans containing production equipment pulled into the Melbourne street.

Evidently pleased to be back, show regular Ryan Moloney - a household name thanks to his role as Jarrod "Toadfish" Rebecchi - was filmed ferrying bags into his old home in suburban Nunawading.

Alan Fletcher was also back, having reprised his role as Dr. Karl Kennedy, while show stalwart Stefan Dennis - the show's longest serving cast-member - prepared to shoot his first scenes as Paul Robinson for the rebooted show.

Here he comes: Ryan Moloney returned to Ramsay Street on Monday as filming commenced on a new series of Neighbours after the axed show was revived by Amazon Prime

Make way: Alan Fletcher (L) and Stefan Dennis (R) were on set as they prepared to reprise their respective roles as Dr. Karl Kennedy and Paul Robinson

Old friends: Cast and crew were seen embracing one another as vans containing production equipment pulled into the Melbourne street

Has it really been a year: Moloney warmly welcomed a co-star as they prepared to shoot on the Melbourne set

Other familiar faces included Annie Jones, Rebekah Elmaloglou and Georgie Stone, with all three expected to reprise their respective roles as Jane Harris, Terese Willis and Mackenzie Hargreaves.

Elsewhere Tim Kano and Lucinda Cowden, best known for their roles as Leo Tanaka and Melanie Pearson, were also filmed moving boxes outside the famous Ramsay Street residences.

The revamped soap originally confirmed it was back in production earlier that day.

'Lights, camera, action, let's go! Brand new Neighbours is officially in production!' read the caption alongside an Instagram post from the show's account.

In the accompanying images were cast members Alan Fletcher, Lucinda Cowden, Rebekah Elmaloglou, Stefan Dennis and Annie Jones.

The actors beamed as they got back to work, but not before sharing a champagne toast outside the fictional Lassiters Hotel.

Hard at work: Moloney carried what appeared to be a shooting script as he idled with co-star Dennis on the famous street

Everybody needs good neighbours: Georgie Stone (L) and Tim Kano (R) waited to film scenes as the first day of production kicked off on Monday

Breakthrough: Georgie found fame as Mackenzie Hargreaves after making her Neighbours debut in 2019

Plenty to talk about: The blonde star was seen chatting to cast-members as she waited for cameras to roll

Moving in: The group were eventually filmed as they carried boxes and bags into a home on the famous street

Neighbours should be back on screens by the end of this year after what appears to be a remarkable change in fortunes.

The show was thought to be indefinitely over after Australia's Network 10 wielded the axe on July 10 2022. Channel 5, the show's UK home, also dropped the show that month.

The series now will air for free on Amazon Freevee in the UK and US and will include streaming rights to thousands of episodes from previous seasons. The series will stream on Prime Video in Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.

The continuation of the long-running soap series follows the finale in 2022, which was watched by millions of adoring fans.

Returning in guest roles are Ian Smith as Harold Bishop, April Rose Pengilly as Chloe Brennan, and Melissa Bell as Lucy Robinson.

Good to be back: Stefan Dennis returns as the show's longest serving cast-member

Hello there: Neighbours star Rebekah Elmaloglou acknowledged fans as she returned on Monday morning

Banter: Georgie Stone shared a joke with a male co-star while preparing to shoot scenes

All set: Actresses Annie Jones (L) and Lucinda Cowden (R) were in high spirits as they made their way across the Melbourne set

Lights, camera, action! Moloney was keen to take a photo of the clapper board on Monday

Greetings! Tim Kano waved and grinned onlookers as he prepared to shoot his next scenes as Leo Tanaka

All set: Moloney and his co-stars will return to TV screens at the end of the year

Incoming: Boxes of generic household objects were ferried into one of the Ramsay Street homes on Monday

Lauren Anderson, head of AVOD original content and programming, Amazon Studios, recently said: 'Neighbours has captivated its audience for nearly 40 years, building a dedicated and loyal following for the lives and stories of the characters on Ramsay Street.

'With the power of streaming, we're able to offer a catalogue of thousands of Neighbours episodes for new audiences to discover this legendary series and current fans to relive their favourite moments.

'We look forward to immersing the audience in new Ramsay Street experiences when we relaunch the show next year for Amazon Freevee and Prime Video customers.'

However, the beloved series is reportedly unlikely to return as a daily program as it previously was during its impressive 37-year run.

UK audiences were flooded with nostalgia during an emotional Neighbours finale which saw Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan make an epic comeback to the soap, joining a host of stars amid Margot Robbie and Holly Valance returning to Ramsay Street for one final time.

The Channel 5 soap first aired in 1985 and has been on screens for 37 years, but in March it was announced the Australian series was being axed after 8,903 episodes with the finale airing in March.

Walk this way: Show regular Moloney appeared to direct box carrying cast-members into a nearby property

Getting involved: Georgie got her hands dirty on Monday as moving day continued in earnest

Upbeat: Moloney looked delighted to be back on set as he chatted to crew members

The Neighbours cast are back on set and cameras have begun rolling. Pictured: Cast members Alan Fletcher (Karl Kennedy), Lucinda Cowden (Melanie Pearson), Rebekah Elmaloglou (Terese Willis), Stefan Dennis (Paul Robinson) and Annie Jones (Jane Harris)

'Lights, camera, action, let's go! Brand new Neighbours is officially in production!' read the caption alongside an Instagram post from the show's account

Cheers! The actors beamed as they got back to work, but not before sharing a champagne toast outside the fictional Lassiters Hotel

Coming soon: Neighbours should be back on screens by the end of this year. The series will air for free on Amazon Freevee in the UK and US. The series will stream on Prime Video in Australia
Netflix's most terrifying series have been revealed.

From nail-biting technology thrillers, supernatural curses, true crime anthologies and even religious horrors, the streaming service has it all.

But even those who get a rush from indulging in their favourite horror flick will come across the occasional offering that even they find too frightening to finish.

Midnight Mass, Dahmer, Ratched and The Watcher are just some of the titles guaranteed to send shivers down your spine.

So, are you brave enough to watch them? Here, MailOnline takes a look at the greatest seat-jumpers currently available to watch on Netflix.

Netflix's most terrifying series have been REVEALED! From supernatural curses, true crime anthologies AND religious horrors... a look at the streaming service's greatest seat-jumpers

Haunted

Netflix's series Haunted left viewers so scared they are unable to sleep.

The anthology show focuses on the horror stories of people who have experienced strange paranormal activity - from a house of horrors to a demon cat who haunts a home with strange howls and hisses.

All three series are available to view on the streaming platform - but fans of the show have taken to Twitter saying those who do watch, will be 'terrified for the rest of your life'.

Each season has six episodes. In the first episode of series one, the narrator describes being revived by a defibrillator after being medically declared dead from dehydration and heat stroke.

Episode two, named The Slaughterhouse, follows the story of two sisters who grow up terrified in a house of horrors, where their sadistic father does unimaginable things.

Those who have watched it have taken to Twitter to warn others about the terrifying nature of the show.

'Watched too many #hauntednetflix and now Im too scared to sleep', one wrote.

Another added: 'Why did I watch #hauntednetflix right before bed. I mean, there are hundreds of shows I could have started from the beginning yet here I am.'

A third viewer chimed: 'Ok that last episode of season 2 Haunted, scared the c**p outta me! That face was so gd creepy! Omg I was gonna go to bed but hell no. Watching Fist of Fury first so I have good dreams of Bruce Lee.'

While another added: 'If yall want to be absolutely terrified for the rest of your life watch #haunted on @netflix'.

Terrifying: Netflix's series Haunted left viewers so scared they are unable to sleep

The Watcher

Netflix viewers were left tossing and turning in terror after watching the creepy thriller The Watcher - and people who live near the house that the show was based off of are too afraid to go near it.

The brand new horror series tells the real-life story of a couple who were harassed out of their dream home by a creepy stalker - whose identity remains a mystery to this day - and it has left many people on the internet reeling in fear.

Viewers flooded Twitter with their thoughts on the scary show ever since it premiered in October 2022, and many have revealed that they were so frightened by it that they weren't able to sleep.

'Don't watch The Watcher before you sleep, I'm paranoid as Hell,' wrote one person, while another added, 'Watched The Watcher on Netflix today. Lost the ability to sleep in its entirety.'

A third tweet read, 'I didn't sleep the whole night. After watching The Watcher, I felt like my room was watched.'

'Thanks to The Watcher, I couldn't sleep last night,' admitted a different person. Another viewer said, 'The Watcher makes me not wanna sleep alone.'

The seven-part series stars Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale as a married couple who just moved into a brand new house in a suburb of New Jersey, only to find themselves targeted by a stalker who left them threatening letters telling them to leave.

The Watcher is based on a true story about a couple named Derek and Maria Broaddus, who were menaced by an unidentified person after purchasing a six-bedroom home at 657 Boulevard in Westfield, New Jersey, for $1.4 million in 2014.

Scary: Netflix viewers were left tossing and turning in terror after watching the creepy thriller The Watcher

Dahmer  Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story

Dahmer  Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story was certainly a ratings hit for Netflix, in spite of the controversy over the project.

The series debuted September 2022 to an audience of 196.2 million, garnering the streaming service its best ratings since Stranger Things' season four amid Netflix's switch in reporting ratings since June of 2021, Deadline reported.

With its large total, the limited series starring Evan Peters in the title role eclipsed the numbers amassed by shows such as Inventing Anna (195.97 million) and You's third season (179 million).

The ten-part series retells the story of Dahmer from the perspective of his victims, and explores major mistakes Wisconsin police made in handling the probe of the notorious mass murderer, who made national headlines for acts of cannibalism and necrophilia.

The show features at least 10 incidents in which authorities nearly took Dahmer into custody, but didn't, extending the twisted crime spree.

The show also features actors Niecy Nash, Penelope Ann Miller, Shaun J. Brown, Colin Ford, and Richard Jenkins, with directors Paris Barclay, Carl Franklin, and Janet Mock.

Miller and Jenkins play the roles of Dahmer's parents, while Nash portrays Dahmers neighbor Glenda Cleveland, who tried in vain to report his bizarre behavior to authorities.

Dahmer in 1992 was convicted of 16 murders he'd been charged with, and sentenced to 16 life sentences in prison.

He was bludgeoned to death with a metal bar in November of 1994 by Christopher Scarver, another inmate at the Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisconsin. The infamous Milwaukee serial killer - who murdered 17 people between 1978 and 1991.

Dead-ringer: Dahmer  Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story was certainly a ratings hit for Netflix, in spite of the controversy over the project (left: Evan Peters, right: Jeffrey Dahmer)

Ratched

Fans can't get enough of Netflix's hit series Ratched, but some horrified viewers insisted the show's gruesome depictions of child sex abuse and asylum torture should come with 'trigger warnings.'

Developed by Ryan Murphy, the psychological thriller stars Sarah Paulson as Nurse Mildred Ratched, the sadistic villain from Ken Kesey's 1963 novel 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.'

The show topped Netflix's chart upon its September 2020 debut, and while many viewers were quick to praise Sarah's performance, some were admittedly disturbed by the show's shocking content.

Set in 1947, the eight-episode series follows Nurse Ratched as she arrives in Northern California to work at Lucia State Hospital, where she conducts experiments on her psychiatric patients.

The star-studded cast includes Finn Wittrock as mass murderer Edmund Tolleson, Cynthia Nixon as Ratched's love interest Gwendolyn Briggs, and Sharon Stone as eccentric heiress Lenore Osgood.

The series is rated TV-MA, for mature, adult audiences only, and at the beginning of each episode warnings of 'violence, sex, nudity, language, gore, [and] smoking' briefly appear in the corner of the screen.

However, some critics think the warnings don't go far enough, considering the horror show has scenes of child sex abuse, graphic conversion therapy, and torture.

While the premiere date for Ratched's second season has yet to be released, it's definitely returning to Netflix. The streaming network ordered two seasons of the series back in September 2017.

Famous face: Developed by Ryan Murphy, Ratched stars Sarah Paulson as Nurse Mildred Ratched, the sadistic villain from Ken Kesey's 1963 novel 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'

The OA

Netflix surprised subscribers in 2016 by streaming their top secret series The OA just four days after it was formerly announced.

The mysterious spiritual thriller about near-death experiences and surviving trauma centers on an adopted blind girl from Russia named Prairie Johnson.

Prairie (Brit Marling) goes missing for seven years, tangles with the FBI, and then resurfaces magically cured of her blindness after jumping off a bridge.

There were inevitable comparisons to Stranger Things' psychokinetic Eleven due to Prairie's nosebleeds, gnarly scars, and underwater helmet experiments inside a strange lab.

Prairie - who calls herself 'The OA' - eventually recalls what happened to her and tells her outlandish story to a high school teacher and a group of students.

'I think there is something really delicious in the mystery about questioning the storyteller's truth,' Brit told Variety

'Certainly, you go back and forth on it. As an audience member, the boys are kind of your surrogate. I think just as the boys go back and forth on the truth of her story, you do, too. I think the place it kind of ultimately arrives at is that it maybe doesn't matter as much the details are true, because there's some essential core that she's imparting that smacks of honesty.'

The Georgetown grad continued: 'Whether part of the story is a metaphor, or it is a literal truth, tends to matter less when you get to the end and see that the DNA of the story contains something that just this group needed.'

Ready to binge? The OA, a mysterious spiritual thriller about near-death experiences and surviving trauma, centers on an adopted blind girl from Russia named Prairie Johnson

The Haunting Of Hill House

Netflix unveiled its horror TV series The Haunting of Hill House in 2018 and it had profound effects on some viewers.

Netflix subscribers took to Twitter, revealing that the show is so terrifying that some have passed out from sheer terror, while others can't sleep.

One Twitter user, @babyjanequeen, proclaimed the show is, 'one of the most terrifying, nail biting, hide behind the couch, dont even breath, Im going to pass out from fear things I have ever watched.'

Another Twitter user dubbed @boy_vomit responded to another terrified viewer's tweet, claiming the viewing experience was so intense she had to take a break from the show.

'It's going to give me a f***ing anxiety attack,' she added in another tweet.

Another Twitter user, @sarahpenmanxx, claimed the show is, 'sooo creepy but actual the best Ive seen, even if I cant sleep after it.'

Even before it was released, the Netflix Twitter played into the terrifying nature of this show, claiming the trailer released in September was, 'so scary we had to release it during the daytime.'

The Haunting of Hill House Twitter also released a trailer last Thursday, which included snippets from some of the shows reviews, including one from GQ which makes a bold statement, claiming it's, 'the first great horror show ever.'

Several fans seem to agree, including @Now_Voyager who claims the show made her, 'afraid of the dark,' and @RupaulFTompkins, who said the show made him, 'terror vomit in joyful confusion.'

The Haunting of Hill House is based on the novel of the same name by Shirley Jackson, which had been adapted twice on the big screen.

The first adaptation was the 1963 film The Haunting, starring Julie Harris and Russ Tamblyn, followed by 1999's The Haunting, starring Liam Neeson and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

This new TV series, created by Mike Flanagan, features a talented ensemble including Michiel Huisman, Sarah Paulson, Carla Gugino, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Victoria Pedretti

Flanagan is no stranger to the horror genre, writing, directing and editing hits like Oculus, Hush, Before I Wake and last year's Netflix thriller Gerald's Game.

Flanagan will next be delving into the world of Stephen King's The Shining, directing an upcoming movie sequel Doctor Sleep, based on King's 2013 novel.

He has also written the screenplay for a new theatrical remake of the 1997 horror-thriller I Know What You Did Last Summer.

So scary, you'll pass out! Netflix unveiled its horror TV series The Haunting of Hill House in 2018 and it had profound effects on some viewers

The Haunting Of Bly Manor

After Netflix dropped the supernatural horror drama series The Haunting Of Bly Manor, some viewers were having trouble sleeping.

After binge-watching the series, loosely based on Henry James' 1898 novella The Turn Of The Screw, Twitter users vented about recovering from the chilling scenes.

The nine-episodes, which are the second installment in the Haunting anthology, have even prompted fans to cover all the mirrors in their home out of fear.

Among the sea frightened binge-watchers, many admitted they 'can't sleep' and, now, believe even the sound of a door creaking is a sign of paranormal activity.

Ahead of watching Haunting of Bly Manor, one viewer tweeted she would 'like to formally apologize' to her future self, as she will 'undoubtedly regret it later on when I can't sleep.'

While many found the ghost story to be terrifying, others commented to agree with the series' showrunner Mike Flanagan's description of the series as a 'love story.'

While the series comes on the heels of Flanagan's The Haunting Of Hill House, with some of the same cast members and creative team returning, the stories of the two seasons are not connected.

Victoria Pedretti, who portrayed the older version of Nell Crain in Hill House, is back in the lead role of Dani Clayton, an American nanny looking after orphaned children Miles and Flora Wingrave (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth and Amelie Bea Smith).

Henry Wingrave (Henry Thomas) hires Dani (Pedretti) to care for his orphaned niece and nephew, following the death of their caretaker (Tahirah Sharif), who died on the grounds of their family manor in the town of Bly.

The children reside at Bly Manor with the estate's chef Owen (Rahul Kohli), groundskeeper Jamie (Amelia Eve) and housekeeper, Mrs. Grose (T'Nia Miller).

But all is not as it seems at the manor, as centuries of dark secrets of love and loss are waiting to be unearthed in this chilling gothic romance.

The Haunting Of Bly Manor, which also stars Oliver Jackson-Cohen and Kate Siegel, debuted in October 2020.

Chilling scenes: After Netflix dropped the supernatural horror drama series The Haunting Of Bly Manor, some viewers were having trouble sleeping

Midnight Mass

Following horror series The Haunting Of Hill House and The Haunting Of Bly Manor, director Mike Flanagan took his attention to Midnight Mass.

The limited series is set on the lonely Crockett Island - home to a disgraced resident [played by Zach Gilford] who returns after being away.

Hamish Linklater plays a priest who arrives at the same time.

His appearance leads to unexplained and seemingly miraculous events, leading to the small community's renewed religious fervor.

The trailer leaves things open to interpretation, featuring flashes from around the solitary island of a creepy, rundown church and a coastal setting.

The island is prone to sea storms, with torrential rain and flashing lightening engulfing the beach, and solitary figures spotted here and there.

One shot in the trailer sees blood in a sink, another sees a deadened eye, staring into nothingness.

A cat carcass is seen washed up on the shore as grey thunderclouds roll towards the island.

The creepy priest is seen debating 'mysteries', admitting he 'dislikes' them.

'We feel uncomfortable not knowing. The more that we know, the less we bend. The more brittle we become. The easier we break!' he says.

He is then seen discussing acts of God and saying 'it's okay to ask why?'

Kate Siegel, Rahul Abburi, Crystal Balint, Matt Biedel, Alex Essoe, Annabeth Gish, Rahul Kohli, Kristin Lehman, Robert Longstreet, Igby Rigney, Annarah Shephard, Samantha Sloyan, Henry Thomas and Michael Trucco round off the cast.
Jennifer Garner turned 51-years-old on Monday.

And to celebrate, the star was met with multi colored balloons when stopping by The Drew Barrymore Show to plug her new series The Last Thing He Told Me.

The actress, who was supported by her boyfriend John Miller during a recent premiere, was also informed about a new holiday that had been started in her honor.

And the mother of three was given a key to her hometown.

Also during the sit down interview, Garner said that Barrymore's role in Charlie's Angels inspired her work on Alias.

Front and center: Jennifer Garner was the featured guest on Monday's episode of The Drew Barrymore Show

Well-dressed: Garner, who also celebrated her birthday on Monday, tucked a fashionable floral-print blouse into a leather skirt during her time on the program

Garner tucked a fashionable floral-print blouse into a leather skirt during her interview.

The Elektra star also wore a pair of jet-black high-heeled shoes and accessorized with numerous pieces of jewelry.

Her beautiful brunette locks fell towards her shoulders and paired well with the neutral tones of her outfit.

Although Barrymore surprised her guest with balloons and flowers for her birthday, she informed her that she had another trick up her sleeve.

The 50 First Dates actress stated: 'This surprise is very meaningful and it comes from your hometown of Charleston, West Virginia. From here on out April 17th will be known as Jennifer Garner Day in Charleston.'

Charleston's mayor, Amy Goodwin, then made a special appearance to elaborate on the actress' impact on her hometown, and the performer was also given the key to her hometown.

Barrymore, who donated $25,000 to Save The Children during the episode, and her guest went on to discuss the latter's time on Alias, in which she starred from 2001 to 2006.

Letting her know: The performer then credited her friend's work in Charlie's Angels to take on such a physical role

Surprises: Although Barrymore surprised her guest with balloons and flowers for her birthday, she informed her that she had another trick up her sleeve

Letting her know: The 50 First Dates actress stated: 'This surprise is very meaningful and it comes from your hometown of Charleston, West Virginia. From here on out April 17th will be known as Jennifer Garner Day in Charleston'

The performer then credited her friend's work in Charlie's Angels to take on such a physical role.

'You had shown me a new way. You had shown me something that I was like, "Wait that's possible? Get me in there, I want to do that.' So fun," she said.

Garner then spoke about the difficulty of working on the action drama series.

She recalled: 'Twenty-two episodes a year of every single lunch break I had somebody waiting for me to teach me a fight, teach me a language, to have a fitting...it was just so taxing, and it was also just heaven to do.'

Barrymore then changed the subject of conversation to the feature 13 Going on 30 and stated: 'This movie means so much to me and my daughters, it meant so much to me when it came out and it means so much to us now.'

Garner then expressed that she previously had conversations with past castmates regarding the enduring quality of the movie.

'I just knew that, we've talked about...how it kind of grows, because I think the kids who were thirteen when it came out are now thirty and god bless them,' she said.

Talking it out: Garner then expressed that she previously had conversations with past castmates regarding the enduring quality of the movie
Lizzie Cundy was seen greeting pals Eamonn Holmes and Alex Best as they gathered for the funeral of Ann Summers boss Jacqueline Gold on Monday at the historic Old Royal Naval College.

The former WAG, 54, embraced Eamonn, 63, and Alex, 51, before stopping to take a selfie together.

She wore a bright pink top over a pair of tight-fitted black leather leggings and under a black jacket.

She matched her footwear to her ensemble, opting for a pair of height-boosting pink high heels.

Lizzie toted a black handbag and hid her eyes behind a pair of tinted sunglasses, while sporting a faux fur shawl draped over her shoulder.

Pals: Lizzie Cundy was seen greeting pals Eamonn Holmes and Alex Best as they gathered for the funeral of Ann Summers boss Jacqueline Gold on Monday at the historic Old Royal Naval College

Say cheese! The former WAG, 54, embraced Eamonn, 63, and Alex, 51, before stopping to take a selfie together

Stylish: She wore a bright pink top over a pair of tight-fitted black leather leggings and under a black jacket

Eamonn cut a smart figure in a black suit and white shirt, and leaned on a cane for support.

While Alex donned a black blazer and a pair of tailored black trousers, while adding a pop of colour with a pink patterned scarf.

Lizzie took to her Instagram to share a photo of her and Jacqueline, adding the words: 'The saddest farewell'.

The businesswoman, who was credited with transforming the chain and being a champion for women in industry, died last month from breast cancer aged just 62.

A hearse decked in flowers spelling 'Mummy' pulled up at the historic site in brilliant sunshine, before pallbearers carried her coffin up a flight of steps.

In a double tragedy for the Gold family this year, Jacqueline passed away on March 16 after seven years fighting stage 4 cancer having briefly, and tragically, been given the all clear in 2020. Her father, David, had died just weeks earlier.

Jacqueline was surrounded by close family when she died, including her husband, daughter and her sister Vanessa, who took over Ann Summers in 2022 and described her sibling as 'an absolute warrior' having been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016 - the year she was handed a CBE.

Ann Summers paid tribute to Jacqueline before her funeral today, posting on Instagram: 'The Ann Summers team are busy getting ready to welcome Jacqueline Gold CBE on her final visit to the office. Today we celebrate all that she was, tomorrow (& everyday) we continue her legacy.'

READ MORE: The Daddys girl who revolutionised sex for women and made the Queen raise an eyebrow Advertisement

Meanwhile, dancer Shirley Ballas called her friend 'an inspiring young lady who loved life and who loved her family'.

Her famous father, the co-chairman of West Ham United, rose from abject East End poverty to a 500million fortune, died after a short illness on January 4 aged 86.

He handed Jacqueline Ann Summers and its four stores to Jacqueline in 1981 - today it has 80 stores and annual sales of 113.8million.

Jacqueline was made a CBE in the 2016 New Year Honours for services to entrepreneurship, women in business and social enterprise.

In the same year she was diagnosed with breast cancer, which she credited with transforming her life because it forced her to enjoy things more.

She wrote last year: 'It's no secret I have been through a lot of tragedy in my life. Whilst I would prefer things to have been different, I cope by finding the opportunity in a bad situation.

'For example, if it wasnt for my breast cancer diagnosis six years ago I wouldnt be living my best life now. If you train your mind to find the positive in every event you will banish worry and feel empowered'.

Looking good: Lizzie toted a black handbag and hid her eyes behind a pair of tinted sunglasses, while sporting a faux fur shawl draped over her shoulder

Goodbye: Lizzie took to her Instagram to share a photo of her and Jacqueline, adding the words: 'The saddest farewell'

Devastating: A hearse decked in flowers spelling 'Mummy' pulled up at the historic site in brilliant sunshine, before pallbearers carried her coffin up a flight of steps

Tragic: Jacqueline - seen with her father, David - died in March after a long battle with breast cancer

As well as battling breast cancer, she had also faced a fertility struggle.

After a failed marriage she met Dan Cunningham, a City broker 17 years her junior.

They split in 2006 after three failed IVF attempts - but got back together and married in 2010.

In 2009 the couple lost their son Alfie at eight months.

The multi-millionaire businesswoman was told her son Alfie had an abnormality that meant he would not survive childbirth.

The little boy fought for eight months after birth but was never well enough to leave hospital. Alfie's twin sister, Scarlett, survived and was her mother's pride and joy.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs in 2018, Jacqueline said: 'Alfie did survive the birth. He was crying when he was born but not as babies do - he was crying because he was in pain. No mother should have to go through that, to hear her child cry in pain.'

She added: 'I desperately want my daughter to grow up believing she can be whatever she wants to be.'

David Gold said Jacqueline and her sister Vanessa had transformed Ann Summers. When he bought the brand with his brother Ralph in 1972, it had four stores.

Tribute: Ann Summers paid tribute to Jacqueline before her funeral today with this post on Instagram

Touching: Meanwhile, dancer Shirley Ballas called her friend 'an inspiring young lady who loved life and who loved her family'

The London-based company served as a standard sex shop under the ownership of its founder, Michael Caborn-Waterfield.

In 1981 Jacqueline was brought into the company. She quickly set about making her mark, introducing the 'Party Plan' concept.

This would see 'parties' held at the homes of customers, where women would be given presentations on sex toys and lingerie, and would play party games. These proved extremely popular and a good way of getting around laws that prevented sex toys being put on public display.

Ann Summers now has 80 high street stores in Britain and Ireland, and in the years since has become synonymous with the sale of lingerie and adult toys.
The trailer for the new documentary about the tumultuous life of late Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith was released on Monday as it touches on several personal moments including her marriage to 89-year-old billionaire J. Howard Marshall.

The two-and-a-half minute clip - which boasts a never-before-seen look at the bombshell - promises a revealing look at her legacy.

Smith - born Vickie Lynn Hogan - had died of an accidental prescription drug overdose at just 39-years-old in February 2007.

In the trailer there is an interview with the late model as she says: 'I want lots of money to make my dreams come true.'

Shortly after one of those interviewed for the documentary says: 'Then she met J. Howard Marshall and he's a billionaire with a "B."'

Bombshell: The trailer for the new documentary about the tumultuous life of late Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith was released on Monday

There were sweet clips shown of their home life together including one of Smith behind the wheel of an ATV with Marshall behind her.

Another commentator added: 'What impressed me was how much they loved each other.'

Smith had met the petroleum tycoon Marshall while performing at a Houston strip club in October 1991 while she was 24 and he was 86.

The two enjoyed a two year affair where Marshall had reportedly lavished her with expensive gifts and asked the blonde bombshell's hand in marriage on several occasions.

The two eventually wed on June 27, 1994 which led to speculation that Smith was only marrying him for money despite her insistence that she loved him and age did not matter to her.

However 13 months after their wedding day, Marshall died at the age of 90 on August 4, 1995.

She was later involved in a very ugly court battle over his estate after his death as he had verbally promised her half of his estate which had consisted of 16percent of Koch Industries which was worth $1.6billion at the time.

Smith was shown in court saying: 'He was just a wonderful man that I loved deeply.'

Interesting: It touches on several personal moments including her marriage to 89-year-old billionaire J. Howard Marshall

In the trailer there is an interview with the late model as she says: 'I want lots of money to make my dreams come true'

Shortly after one of those interviewed for the documentary says: 'Then she met J. Howard Marshall and he's a billionaire with a "B"'

Stunning: There were sweet clips shown of their home life together

Life in the fast lane: There was also a clip of Smith behind the wheel of an ATV with Marshall behind her

Not without a fight: After his death she involved in a very ugly court battle over his estate after his death as he had verbally promised her half of his estate which had consisted of 16percent of Koch Industries which was worth $1.6billion at the time

Smith was shown in court saying: 'He was just a wonderful man that I loved deeply'

There was plenty of media scrutiny at the time as a commentator said: 'She was devastated by what the media was saying about her'

At one point she is even shown surrounded by reporters and photographers as she tells them: 'I was being all sweet to you guys, and y'all screwed me over'

There was plenty of media scrutiny at the time as a commentator said: 'She was devastated by what the media was saying about her.'

At one point she is even shown surrounded by reporters and photographers as she tells them: 'I was being all sweet to you guys, and y'all screwed me over.'

The two minute clip concludes with several scenes from both her public and private life.

A commentator could be heard saying: 'What you see in the public eye is a bombshell, but behind the scenes, it's a different story.

'Being with her was like a rollercoaster ride. Anna knew how to work the crowd. Nothing could stop her. That's what cost her,'

Smith was just 39 when she died of an accidental prescription drug overdose in February 8, 2007 in a Hollywood, Florida hotel room.

She was survived by her daughter Dannielynn Birkhead, now 16.

Her son Daniel died in September 2006 at age 20 of an accidental drug overdose in the Bahamas just three days after Dannielynn was born.

Tumultuous: The two minute clip concludes with several scenes from her public and private life

A commentator could be heard saying: 'What you see in the public eye is a bombshell, but behind the scenes, it's a different story

They concluded: 'Being with her was like a rollercoaster ride. Anna knew how to work the crowd. Nothing could stop her. That's what cost her'

Birkhead filed a paternity case after Dannielynn's birth and a DNA test confirmed that he was her father.

Smith rose to fame as a nude model for Playboy then became a model for Guess. She also starred in movies such as Naked Gun 33 and Skyscraper.

She later starred in her own E! reality series The Anna Nicole Show.

Anna Nicole Smith: You Dont Know Me - directed by Ursula Macfarlane - is set to stream on Netflix beginning May 16.
Joshua Jackson expressed his belief that extra-marital affairs can be 'forgiven' during an interview with the Sunday Times.

The 44-year-old actor, who has a daughter named Janie, aged three, with wife Jodie Turner-Smith, has explored infidelity in two of his major projects, The Affair, as well as the television adaptation of Fatal Attraction.

The actor, who was recently featured in the second program's trailer, said he believes that someone straying in a relationship doesn't necessarily spell the end of one, though there would be a 'massive repair' to achieve.

He told the magazine: 'I think an affair can be forgiven. We're all grown-ups. No one wants to be cheated on and there is massive repair to be done.'

Jackson went on to express that he felt as if infidelity was mainly an issue on the part of unfaithful individuals.

Being open: Joshua Jackson expressed his belief that extra-marital affairs can be 'forgiven' during an interview with the Sunday Times; he is seen in March

'Affairs aren't about the partner, they're about the person who has transgressed. It's not purely about the sex. There's a deeper violation.'

The actor, who dated Diane Kruger for 10 years until 2016, thinks meeting Jodie in 2018 was the 'right moment' in his life as he believes if they had met when he was younger, they would have just had a 'torrid affair.'

Asked what made him settle down with the White Noise actress, he said: 'Partially it's age. I'm old enough to be able to do this. Partially it's about finding somebody in the right moment of life.'

Jackson went on to state that, in the past, he likely would have been emotionally unprepared to begin a relationship with Smith.

'If we had met five years earlier we probably would have had a torrid affair, but all the rest of this stuff, I was just not ready. I didn't think I ever wanted to get married,' he said.

The couple met through a mutual friend and initially insisted their romance was just 'casual' even though their actions said differently.

Joshua said: 'In the beginning we did this dance with each other like, "Oh, this is casual." Except that we'd spend every moment together and find reasons to be in other cities together at the same time.'

The 36-year-old actress proposed during a New Year's Eve holiday in Nicaragua, and the former 'Dawson's Creek' actor 'instinctively' said yes.

Caveat: The actor, who was recently featured in the second program's trailer , said he believes that someone straying in a relationship doesn't necessarily spell the end of one, though there would be a 'massive repair' to achieve; he is seen with his wife Jodie Turner-Smith in 2022

On screen: The 44-year-old actor, who has a daughter named Janie, aged three, with wife Jodie Turner-Smith, has explored infidelity in two of his major projects, The Affair, and now the TV adaptation of Fatal Attraction

He recalled: 'I don't know if she planned it or if it was a spur-of-the-moment thing, but out popped a proposal I was not expecting and the organic and instinctive answer was yes.

The actor went on to state: 'Six months later she was pregnant and we were on our way.'

Jackson concluded by remarking that he had grown to embrace his roles as a husband and father.

'Now we have this beautiful baby who is literally the manifestation of that love. It is impossible for me to look into the face of my child without feeling love for my wife. [Fatherhood] has changed me in every single possible way,' he said.
Britain's Got Talent's Amy Lou Smith has heaped praise on medical staff after she welcomed her newborn daughter Aida on Saturday - after she nearly died following the birth her first child Hudson.

The aspiring singer, 34, wowed both the judges and fans of the ITV show when she performed Beyonce's 2006 powerhouse hit Listen from the film Dreamgirls during her pre-recorded audition at 30 weeks pregnant, with the moment airing this weekend just four hours after she gave birth.

Amy said she was treated like 'royalty' on the hospital ward where she watched her audition for the first time on her phone, with no clue it was set to air during the opening episode of this year's series.

But she was in a much different place when giving birth to her first child Hudson, four, after she nearly died following complications with Sepsis after his birth, and she would not have survived if it was not for the quick action of the nurses at the time.

Amy exclusively told MailOnline: 'I cannot say thank you enough to the nurses who brought my baby girl into the world safely. They are the real stars!

Grateful: Britain's Got Talent 's Amy Lou Smith, 34, has heaped praise on nurses after she welcomed her baby daughter on Saturday - after she nearly died after the birth her first child

Born to perform: Her pre-recorded audition took place when she was 30 weeks pregnant, with the moment airing this weekend just four hours after she gave birth to her new baby girl

'Despite how busy and stressful their jobs are, they still made us feel like royalty.

'I nearly lost my life after my first birth following complications with sepsis, it was really touch and go.

'I can never ever say thank you enough to nurses for saving my life - Aida wouldn't be here without them - because I wouldn't have survived without them.'

Sepsis is the body's life-threatening extreme response to an infection which triggers a chain reaction and a variety of symptoms including shortness of breath, increased heart rate, confusion or disorientation, fever and extreme pain amongst others.

All four judges - Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and newcomer Bruno Tonioli - unanimously voted her through to the next round of the talent competition during her audition, with Amy receiving a standing ovation from the audience for her impressive performance.

Just four hours before her audition aired on ITV1, Amy welcomed baby Aida to the world, three months after the moment was filmed at the London Palladium.

Now Amy has gushed over newborn saying she is a 'bundle of utter joy' and revealed that they watched the audition from her hospital bed on her phone.

She continued to MailOnline: 'We are so in love as a family. Aida has settled in well, and she is a bundle of utter joy. I feel so blessed to have had our little girl.

Set up: Amy said she was treated like 'royalty' on the hospital ward where she watched her audition for the first time on her phone, with no clue her audition was due to air this weekend

Little one: She was in a much different place when giving birth to her first child Hudson, four, after she nearly died following complications with Sepsis after his birth (new daughter Aida pictured)

Happy: Amy praised hospital staff, exclusively telling MailOnline: 'I cannot say thank you enough to the nurses who brought my baby girl into the world safely. They are the real stars!'

Timing: Amy, who is already mother to Hudson, four, gave birth to Aida at 3.59pm on Saturday with her audition, the first of this year's series, being shown on television shortly after 8pm

'We watched the audition from the hospital bed on my phone, so it was the tiniest screen, but it was such a special moment between my family and I.

'We were all together huddled around a tiny phone screen, but it's a moment we will always remember.

'We had our own viewing party, of sorts, on the ward. Aida slept through most of the show, but she made sure she was awake to see herself on screen.'

She added of the reaction from fans to her audition: 'I've had such a lovely response from people who have watched my audition  it feels like Aida has been born into one big BGT family  one day old and she's already in the papers!

'So I think she's going to be a handful, seeing as she's had the celebrity treatment at 24 hrs old. The kindness I have received from people has been so special and I keep pinching myself.'

And Amy joked that presenters Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly would have to feed her little one while she performs, as she watches on from the wings during the next stage.

Amy explained: 'Hopefully I will make it through to the next round, but if not, I am so grateful for this opportunity. BGT has done more for my singing dreams than I ever could have imagined.

'These things dont happen to me  I feel like Im going to wake up soon, and its all going to have been a dream.

Born to perform: Amy was given a standing ovation by judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and Bruno Tonioli during Saturday night's programme

'If we get through to the live shows, I might have to ask Ant and Dec to do the feeds whilst Im side of stage! Theyll have to be on babysitting duties!

'But baby girl will definitely be with me - with her ear defenders on!'

She concluded: 'All I have ever wanted to do is be able to provide the best life for my family, and just to make them proud and happy.

'Ive done local bits and bobs and performances to try to play pretend artist, but being on BGT, It really feels like my dreams are coming true.

'Everything seems to be aligning, and it just doesnt feel real. I cant stop smiling  for people to know my name  its just surreal!'

Amy, who is already mother to Hudson, four, gave birth to Aida at 3.59pm on Saturday with her audition, the first of this year's series, being shown on television shortly after 8pm the same day.

She said she had no idea her audition would be shown during the first episode, describing it as 'perfect timing'.

Amy was given a standing ovation by judges Simon, Amanda, Alesha and Bruno during Saturday night's programme.

Simon told her: 'That just doesn't happen. I don't think I've ever seen anyone so connected to an audience in all my years of doing this. Whatever happens next is going to be amazing. Really, you deserve this.'

While Amanda added: 'The moment you started singing I was covered in goosebumps. I was thinking your baby is probably having a lovely little sleep in there and the she's gone 'oh, here we go!'. You are a star.'

Impressed: All four judges sent Amy her through to the next round of the competition (L-R: Bruno Tonioli, Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden and Simon Cowell)

Former Strictly Come Dancing panellist Bruno said: 'The measure of a true artist is to take a song by Beyonce but make it completely your own. The interpretation was on another level. you really are a revelation.'

And Alesha remarked: 'That was by far my favourite audition so far!'

An impressive 6.2million viewers tuned in to the first episode of this year's series of Britain's Got Talent.

Britain's Got Talent's latest series continues next Saturday at 7.45pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
Amy Adams was pictured while leaving a market in Beverly Hills on Sunday afternoon.

The 48-year-old performer cut a very casual figure as she carried her purchases out of the store and took a call while making her way through a parking lot.

The actress, who was unrecognizable when spotted on the set of her upcoming movie Nightb****, was recently announced to have joined the cast of a feature in which she will reunite with director Adam McKay.

Adams wore a flowing beige cardigan sweater on top of a white blouse during her grocery run.

The American Hustle actress also wore a pair of cropped blue jeans that paired well with her brown sandals.

Grocery run: Amy Adams was pictured while leaving a market in Beverly Hills on Sunday afternoon

The Academy Award-winning performer accessorized with a stylish pair of sunglasses that gave her look a bit of extra shine.

Her gorgeous red hair was tied back into a loose bun for the length of her outing.

It was announced that Adams had joined the cast of McKay's upcoming film Average Height, Average Build this past March.

Deadline also revealed that Robert Pattinson, Robert Downey Jr. and Forest Whitaker had signed on to appear in the feature.

The upcoming comedy movie will be centered on a serial killer who employs the help of a lobbyist to make it easier for him to claim further victims.

The star of The Lighthouse will portray the murderer, while Adams and Downey Jr. are set to play the lobbyist and a retired police officer who takes an interest in the criminal.

In addition to directing the upcoming movie, McKay will serve as one of its producers.

Average Height, Average Build's prospective release date has not been revealed as of yet.

Staying comfortable: Adams wore a flowing beige cardigan sweater on top of a white blouse during her grocery run

Solid addition: It was announced that Adams had joined the cast of McKay's upcoming film Average Height, Average Build this past March

Storyline: The upcoming comedy movie will be centered on a serial killer who employs the help of a lobbyist to make it easier for him to claim further victims

Leading lady: The star of The Lighthouse will portray the murderer, while Adams and Downey Jr. are set to play the lobbyist and a retired police officer who takes an interest in the criminal; she is seen in 2022

In the past: Adams previously collaborated with McKay on the 2018 satire feature Vice, which was centered on the life of former vice president Dick Cheney; she is seen in the movie

Adams previously collaborated with the director on the 2018 satire feature Vice, which was centered on the life of former vice president Dick Cheney.

The performer portrayed the politician's wife, Lynne Cheney, in the Christian Bale-starring movie, which also featured the talents of Sam Rockwell, Tyler Perry and Steve Carell.

The feature was met with a mixed reception from critics upon its release, although much praise was directed at its cast.

Adams was nominated for several distinctions for her work in the project, and she was put up for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, which ultimately went to Regina King.
Dolph Lundgren and his fiancee Emma Krokdal looked fit as they enjoyed a stroll in Los Angeles.

The 65-year-old Swedish born actor, who was spotted pumping iron with pal Arnold Schwarzenegger in late March, took Sunday's walk one step at a time after recently having sinus surgery.

The actor looked comfortable in a navy blue T-shirt and gray shorts. He wore white jogging leggings and sneakers.

The Rocky IV star brushed his blonde hair away from his face wore a pair of dark sunglasses.

Emma, 25, showcased her toned abs in a pair of black leggings and a white bra top.

Stroll: Dolph Lundgren, 65, and his fiancee Emma Krokdal, 25, looked fit as they enjoyed a stroll in the springtime air in Los Angeles

The personal trainer stepped out in black sneakers and covered up in the bright California sun with a gray zip jacket.

The Norwegian beauty's shoulder length blonde hair was brushed away from her face.

She appeared to be makeup free and protected her eyes from the sun's bright rays with a pair of square framed sunglasses.

The Operation Seawolf star has been recovering from a recent sinus surgery.

Dolph shared news about the procedure on Instagram Friday, explaining that it was designed to fix the broken nose he has lived with for some 40 years, and to cut back on infections.

The action star shared video of a treadmill workout with his fans on Instagram, explaining his workout will have to be light for the time being.

'Can only walk for 2 weeks after my sinus procedure,' he wrote.

Restricted: The actor looked comfortable in a navy blue T-shirt and gray shorts. He wore white jogging leggings and sneakers. Dolph told fans he has been restricted to walking only for two weeks following a recent sinus surgery

Toned: Emma showcased her toned abs in a pair of black leggings and a white bra top. The personal trainer stepped out in black sneakers and covered up in the bright California sun with a gray zip jacket. The Norwegian beauty's blonde hair was brushed away from her face

The Swedish strong man had ankle surgery in August 2022, explaining it was necessary because of other old injuries.

'Finally doing surgery on my left ankle,' he posted on social media at the time.

'Ive had this injury since my time in the military. During 40 years of martial arts and doing action films, its been a fight every day.

'The joint is now basically destroyed. Directing and starring in Wanted Man really did it in Cant wait to be able to walk normally again.'

Ankle surgery: Dolph had ankle surgery in August 2022, explaining it was necessary because of other old injuries. 'Finally doing surgery on my left ankle,' he posted on social media at the time. 'Ive had this injury since my time in the military'

Upcoming projects: Dolph recently wrapped shooting on a new documentary about himself. He has several upcoming projects including The Best Man with Luke Wilson, which opens Friday, April 21

The producer and director recently told his 2.9 million Instagram follower she filmed his last interview for the upcoming autobiographical documentary he has been working on since 2021.

'Shooting the last interview for my documentary,' he posted next to a photo of himself in front of a camera.

'Theyve been with us for a year and a half now. Pretty interesting stuff.'

No release date has been issued for the film, but fans will be able to see the strongman in several upcoming projects, including The Best Man with Luke Wilson, which opens April 21, and The Expendables 4.
Lauren Goodger sadly revealed her grandfather Ken had passed away as she attended his funeral on Monday.

The former TOWIE star, 36, poignantly told how 'heaven had taken another angel'. after her baby daughter Lorena died last year.

The little one was born in July 2022 with her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck and lost her life.

Explaining she had been to Ken's funeral, she wrote on Instagram: 'RIP grandad Ken. Today we said goodbye to grandad Ken, was a beautiful send off for you.

'Thoughts are with family today, and very proud of all the childhood memories I have with you. Heaven takes another angel.'

Tough: Lauren Goodger sadly revealed her grandfather Ken had passed away as she attended his funeral on Monday

Cute: She paid tribute to Ken with a moving throwback photo of her as a child with her doting grandfather

She paid tribute to Ken with a moving throwback photo of her as a child with her doting grandfather.

In January Lauren revealed that she lost three stone in the wake of the tragic death of her baby newborn daughter.

The birthing tragedy came after Lauren's ex-partner Jake McLean was killed in a car crash in Turkey, then in a matter of weeks.

Lauren and boyfriend Charles Drury, who had been dating since October 2020, then separated following his arrest after an alleged assault at her Essex home on the night of their daughter's funeral.

The harrowing grief Lauren experienced following Lorena's death meant she was unable to eat, but she has put on a stone as her mental health has improved.

Speaking to OK!, she said: 'I lost nearly three stone after I lost Lorena because of the stress. I didn't eat. I'm now eating again and I've put a stone back on because I'm being more healthy.

'I stayed indoors and I didn't go out, and now I feel I'm in a better place mentally. This year is about focusing on me and getting back on track.'

The TV personality also said that her 20-month-old daughter Larose - who she has with Charles - has been a 'rock' for her and without she wouldn't have been able to have survived Lorena's death.

Sad: The former TOWIE star, 36, poignantly told how 'heaven had taken another angel'. after her baby daughter Lorena died last year

Hard times: The little one was born in July 2022 with her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck and lost her life

She said: 'She's the best. She makes me so proud every single day. She's unbelievable. She's my rock.

'After everything I went through, Larose is definitely my inspiration. She inspires me and she's kept me going through the hardest times. Without her, I wouldn't survive.'

It comes after after Lauren opened up about her 'hellish' 2022 after the tragic loss of her baby daughter Lorena and a bitter split with her partner.

Speaking to MailOnline at The Inspiration Awards in London recently, Lauren reflected on the 'massive trauma' she has been through over the past 12 months.

She said: 'I've been through massive trauma, I'm not gonna sugarcoat it but everyone knows and I feel like one day I want to inspire other women.'

Lauren said she finds her strength in being a mother to her daughter Larose, who she shares with her ex-boyfriend Charles.

It is understood that their relationship ended bitterly last year, and at the funeral of their second daughter Lorena, it is alleged Lauren was attacked.

Charles, 25, was later arrested and bailed following the incident.

She said: 'Larose, my daughter, I think being a mum to the most amazing little girl I've ever had in my life.

'Like, she's the best thing that's ever happened to me. And I am a very strong person. I've been through a lot. And I feel like I want to be there...

Tragic: In July, Lauren confirmed the tragic news of her newborn Lorena's death in an Instagram post. She shared her with her ex-boyfriend Charles Drury (pictured)

Mother: The TV personality recently said that her 20-month-old daughter Larose - who she has with Charles - has been a 'rock' for her since the death

'I'm strong, independent and I want to inspire young girls and other mum that are going through similar things. And just you know like, everything happens for a reason and just don't like... life goes on.'

In July, Lauren confirmed the tragic news of her newborn Lorena's death in an Instagram post, explaining she was born 'without complications' prior to her death.

Only a few days before the death of her daughter, her ex boyfriend Jake McClean tragically died in a car accident that has left his on-off partner Yazmin Oukhellou seriously injured.

Jake, who was 33, was driving in Bodrum, Turkey on Sunday when his car crashed over a hill before emergency services rushed to save him.
Reese Witherspoon did not have an easy time announcing her split from husband, CAA talent agent Jim Toth, 52.

The actress - who announced their split in a joint statement last month - felt stressed about the decision.

But a source close to The Last Thing He Told Me producer, 47, told People that she has 'no regrets' about ending the union.

'The divorce decision was not an easy one for her. It was rough to reach the decision and to announce it,' the source shared.

'Reese is doing much better now though. She has no regrets and is just focused on her kids and work.'

Called it quits: Reese Witherspoon is newly single and looking ahead to life without her ex-husband, CAA talent agent Jim Toth, 52; seen in 2020

The former couple are parents to their son Tennessee James, 10.

The Sweet Home Alabama actress also shares daughter Ava, 23, and son Deacon, 19, with ex-husband Ryan Phillippe.

'She has a big group of loyal friends that she leans on,' the source added. 'There is no drama with Jim. They co-parent and this is the focus.'

The Morning Show star and her ex announced their split on May 24 with a joint post.

The statement read: 'We have some personal news to share ... It is with a great deal of care and consideration that we have made the difficult decision to divorce.

'We have enjoyed so many wonderful years together and are moving forward with deep love, kindness and mutual respect for everything we have created together.

'Our biggest priority is our son and our entire family as we navigate this next chapter.

'These matters are never easy and are extremely personal. We truly appreciate everyone's respect for our family's privacy at this time.'

The Big Little Lies actress and the talent agent explained that in spite of their break-up, they are 'moving forward with deep love, kindness and mutual respect'.

No regrets: 'Reese is doing much better now though. She has no regrets and is just focused on her kids and work,' a source told People

Mom of three: The former couple are parents to their son Tennessee James, 10. The Sweet Home Alabama actress also shares daughter Ava, 23, and son Deacon, 19, (pictured) with ex-husband Ryan Phillippe

Reese is now determined to 'co-parent amicably' with Jim. The insider added: 'They love Tennessee and this is their focus. They will continue to co-parent amicably. There is no drama.'

'Reese is obviously disappointed and upset. She never saw herself getting another divorce,' a source told People at the time.'

The source added, 'It's been very difficult for Reese to get to this point. They both concluded this was right for them

Reese is a self-proclaimed Type A person while sources say Jim is more 'laid back', and that was likely the issue.

'They are two very different people though. Reese is headstrong and focused. Although very hard-working, Jim is more laidback,' said the source.

But there is no mess: 'There is no drama,' insisted the insider. And the Los Angeles residents will be there for the child. 'They love Tennessee and this is their focus. They will continue to co-parent amicably.'

Leaning on friends: 'She has a big group of loyal friends that she leans on,' the source added. 'There is no drama with Jim. They co-parent and this is the focus'. Seen with Laura Dave, Jennifer Garner, Aisha Tyler and Lauren Levy Neustadter at The Last Thing He Told Me premiere in LA on April 13

The source also provided some background on the marriage. 'After she was set up with Jim, their relationship moved quickly. Reese was thrilled by his attention and excited to marry him,' added the source.

And Reese has been a very busy lady lately. She produced Hulu's Daisy Jones and the Six and star in the rom com Your Place or Mine with Ashton Kutcher.

She also produces the Jennifer Garner series The Last Thing He Told Me, which is a thriller set in Sausalito, California.

And The Morning Show's third season is due to his AppleTV+ later this year.
Denise Richards turned heads as she walked the pink carpet at the 6th Canneseries International Festival in Cannes, France on Monday.

The actress, 53, showcased her svelte physique and long gorgeous legs in a figure-hugging black gown complete with racy thigh-high split.

Her strapless frock perfectly displayed her toned arms and she completed the look sparkly silver heels.

The Bold and the Beautiful star wore camera friendly makeup with a natural pink lip and styled her long blonde tresses styled in loose, layered curls.

Denise was joined at the event by her co-stars as well as supportive husband Aaron Phypers.

Stunner: Denise Richards, 53, turned heads as she walked the pink carpet at the 6th Canneseries International Festival in Cannes, France on Monday

Sensational: The actress showcased her svelte physique and long gorgeous legs in a figure-hugging black gown complete with racy thigh-high split

Couple: Denise was joined at the event by her co-stars as well as supportive husband Aaron Phypers (pictured)

The former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast member is at the festival promoting her new crime drama Paper Empire.

She stars as Bentley, the wife of a Bernie Madoff-type wealth management services company owner, Laurence Finch, played by Robert Davi.

After Laurence's in-house accountant, played by Steve Guttenberg, discovers some huge discrepancies in the company ledgers, the company is raided by the FBI and Laurence is eventually sentenced to prison.

The discovery creates a huge disruption in world financial markets.

What his former clients and investigators don't know is that the funds have been hidden in a 'digital limbo' cryptocurrency blockchain technology.

To access it, Laurence breaks out of jail, and then both clients and the government are on the hunt for him, and the money.

Last month the Drop Dead Gorgeous star and her ex celebrated their daughter Sami's 19th birthday.

The model, whose birthday was on March 9, received love from her 'proud' mother, with a tribute post on her Instagram page.

BacklesS: The outfit featured a cut out at her back which showcased more of her figure

Holding hands: Denise held her hubby's hand as they made their way along the pink carpet

Pals: Denise posed up a storm with fellow actor Robert Davi who looked suave in a dark suite

Actress: The former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast member is at the festival promoting her new crime drama Paper Empire

She shared a selfie of the budding model as natural sunlight streamed through a window, and wrote, 'Happy Birthday my beautiful Sami girl!'

'I love you so much & I am so proud of you and your heart is even more gorgeous. I love you so much. Happy 19th Birthday!!!! I love you @samisheen,' followed by a red heart emoji.

Sami joined OnlyFans last year, which led to her mother also joining OnlyFans.

And last fall it was revealed Denise's husband Aaron helps her shoot her OnlyFans content.

The Wild Things star joined the website in June 2022, just days after Sami signed up for the service, and Denise has recruited her partner to take the sexiest shots for the adult platform - admitting she values his opinion.

Cast: (L-R) Carol Alt, Bleona Qereti, Robert Gillings, Denise Richards, Robert Davi and guest

New show: Denise was in Cannes to promote her new show at the annual MIPTV International Market

Plot: Bentley is married to Laurence Finch, a Bernie Madoff-type wealth manager who is sent to jail for his mismanagement of the funds placed in his care. Laurence has hidden the money in a 'digital limbo' cryptocurrency blockchain technology

During an appearance on Sirius XM's Jeff Lewis Live, she explained: 'Aaron takes a lot of my content for me. He knows what guys like. I ask him, I show him things, and say, 'What do you think?''

Denise went on to reveal she takes pictures in bikinis and lingerie and isn't afraid to show off her body - insisting pictures of her semi-naked already exist on the internet.

She told host Jeff: 'I do bikini, I do lingerie, I do stuff that is sexier 'cause I also think, 'Why not?' if I'm able to do stuff outside of some of the more conservative stuff that's on my Instagram. I do show my boobies, my tush,' she explained.

'They're already out there if you Google them.'

The actress said she first joined the site to show support for her daughter, but she came to understand why it feels 'empowering.'

Model credentials: Denise's Her 19-year-old daughter: Sami joined OnlyFans last year, which led to her mother also joining OnlyFans

Loving couple: And last fall it was revealed Denise's husband Aaron Phypers helps her shoot her saucy snaps

She went on: 'I did it to support my daughter, being a mom who is an actress who has done stuff, and I just thought it was empowering too as a woman  to take control,' she said. 'You own all of the content and (on) a lot of the other platforms, you don't own the content. So, it's nice to be able to control it.'

Sami previously faced opposition from her actor dad Charlie Sheen, who wasn't happy with her decision to join OnlyFans, told E! News in June of last year, 'I do not condone this, but since I'm unable to prevent it, I urged her to keep it classy, creative and not sacrifice her integrity.'

However, only a few days later, he informed the outlet that after speaking with his ex-wife, she, 'illuminated a variety of salient points, that in my haste, I overlooked and dismissed.'

'Now more than ever, it's essential that Sami have a united parental front to rely upon, as she embarks on this new adventure. From this moment forward, she'll have it abundantly.'
Married At First Sight villain Sam Ball stunned fans on Monday when he debuted his jaw-dropping new look.

The 30-year-old shared a post-workout selfie on Instagram showcasing his bulging biceps as he posed in a black T-shirt and tight sweatpants.

The army recruit also sported a bushy beard and eye-catching tattoos in the photo.

'A one-hour workout is four per cent of your day,' he captioned his motivational post about fitness, adding: 'No excuses.'

The snap was taken at a gym in Perth, where Sam's new girlfriend Kylie Caires lives.

Married At First Sight villain Sam Ball stunned fans on Monday when he debuted his jaw-dropping new look. The 30-year-old shared this post-workout selfie on Instagram showcasing his bulging biceps as he posed in a black T-shirt and tight sweatpants

Sam's selfie shows how much the divisive MAFS star has changed since he appeared on the Channel Nine series in 2019.

He was public enemy No. 1 during the sixth season when he body-shamed his 'wife' Elizabeth Sobinoff on their wedding day.

Later in the experiment, he cheated on Lizzie with fellow bride Ines Basic, in one of the biggest scandals in the history of the franchise.

Sam's selfie shows how much the divisive MAFS star has changed since he appeared on the Channel Nine series in 2019 (left). He is seen right in a photo from November 2022

In May 2021, Sam revealed his pride at being accepted into the Royal Australian Regiment.

Posing in his army greens, he shared a lengthy Instagram post about his journey into the military and expressed how proud he was to be Australian.

'Every time I put on this uniform I can't help but be proud of who I am and what it represents to me,' he wrote.

In May 2021, Sam revealed his pride at being accepted into the Royal Australian Regiment

'I feel the need to give back to our ancestors and the brave men and women who served and gave their lives for the freedoms we have today,' he continued.

Sam graduated from the Kapooka Army Recruit Training program in Canberra.

He received the Most Outstanding Soldier award upon completing the course, according to a post on the Army Recruit Training Centre - Kapooka Facebook page.
Bindi Irwin has revealed she is planning to renew her marriage vows with her husband Chandler Powell.

The 24-year-old daughter of the late Steve 'The Crocodile Hunter' Irwin tied the knot with the Florida-born wakeboarder, 26, in an intimate ceremony at the start of the Covid pandemic in March 2020.

She told HELLO! magazine it was tough not having family and friends present for their nuptials as they were forced to follow the strict lockdown rules at the time.

Bindi said she would 'love' to have a second ceremony with guests who were unable to attend their official wedding, perhaps when their daughter Grace Warrior - who was born on their one-year anniversary - is a bit older.

'Chandler and I got married in the midst of the 2020 lockdowns due to the pandemic. We weren't able to have family and friends join us for the wedding,' she said.

Bindi Irwin (right) has revealed she is planning to renew her marriage vows with her husband Chandler Powell (left)

'Personally, I'd love to renew our vows one day when Grace is older. It would be lovely to have our closest friends and family with us to celebrate.'

The conservationist also spoke about her husband's adjustment into fatherhood, after the couple welcomed Grace on March 25, 2021, exactly one year after they exchanged vows at Australia Zoo.

The Crikey! It's the Irwins star said it had been incredible to watch Chandler adapt as their daughter grows up.

Bindi Irwin married Chandler Powell in an intimate ceremony at the beginning of the Covid pandemic on March 25, 2020

Bindi told HELLO! magazine it was tough not having family and friends present for their nuptials as they were forced to follow the strict lockdown rules at the time

'Chandler is an extraordinary husband and watching him become a dad fills my heart with joy,' she said.

'He is such a kind-hearted, patient person, which makes him the best dad. Grace adores Chandler and has endless fun running around with him.'

Speaking of her father Steve's legacy, Bindi said she believes her dad would be 'proud' of what the Irwins have achieved at Australia Zoo.

The TV personality also honoured her dad, known as The Crocodile Hunter, who died on September 4, 2006, at the age of 44 after he was pierced in the chest by a stingray barb while filming a wildlife documentary in Queensland.

'I hope he would be proud of what we have achieved for conservation,' Bindi said.

'It's hard to believe it's been over 16 years since he passed away. In some ways, it still feels like yesterday that we were on our last crocodile research trip together as a family.

'I know in my heart that his love and enthusiasm will live on and that brings me great comfort.'

Bindi said she would 'love' to have a second ceremony with guests who were unable to attend their official wedding, perhaps when their daughter Grace Warrior (centre) - who was born on their one-year anniversary - is a bit older

It comes after an Irwin family insider revealed baby Grace Warrior is set for television stardom.

The source said the two-year-old could become even more famous than her grandfather Steve.

'Grace is an absolute natural in front of the camera,' they told New Idea.

'It's also believed she could be an even greater entertainer than her grandfather Steve Irwin. She's so bright and funny,' they added.

While some close to the Irwin family believe Grace is too young for a life in front of the cameras, her mother Bindi was already appearing on TV from the age of two.

It comes after an Irwin family insider revealed baby Grace Warrior is set for television stardom

'You have to remember that Bindi grew up in front of the cameras and was Grace's age when she first started appearing on television,' said a source.

They added that Bindi is excited about a possible new TV opportunity in the U.S. with a format similar to The Crocodile Hunter - the show that made her parents famous.

Bindi and her husband celebrated Grace's second birthday on March 25, and decided to throw an intimate party in the U.S. with Chandler's American family.

They also had a small-scale event at Australia Zoo, where visitors were able to enjoy free cupcakes and a live Bluey and Bingo performance.
Jamie Foxx is still in hospital almost a week after suffering 'a medical complication'.

The 55-year-old star remains at a medical facility in Georgia where he is undergoing tests, People confirmed on Monday.

Foxx was taken ill last Tuesday in Atlanta where he is filming his upcoming Netflix movie Back in Action, alongside Cameron Diaz and Glenn Close.

While his family has shared news of his health scare, they have not provided any details.

However, on Friday, a source told People that Foxx was steadily improving.

Health scare: Jamie Foxx remains at a medical facility in Georgia where he is undergoing tests almost a week after suffering 'a medical emergency', People confirmed on Monday

Fans were initially alerted about the health scare when the actor's daughter Corinne Foxx shared a grave statement on social media this past Wednesday.

The 29-year-old actress wrote, 'We wanted to share that, my father, Jamie Foxx, experienced a medical complication yesterday.

'Luckily, due to quick action and great care, he is already on his way to recovery,' she continued.

'We know how beloved he is and appreciate your prayers. The family asks for privacy during this time,' the statement concluded.

At the time, sources confirmed to TMZ that Foxx's unnamed condition was serious enough to require him to go to a hospital.

Limited details have been shared and it's unclear what symptoms the comedian may have been suffering from.

Hoping for the best: While his family has shared news of his health scare , they have not provided any details. However, on Friday, a source told People that Foxx is steadily improving

On Friday, CNN reported tests were being conducted to determine what led to his health scare and that the actor was under observation at the hospital.

'They are running tests and still trying to figure out what exactly happened,' an insider said.

Despite his improving condition, there's no word yet on when he will be able to leave the hospital or get back to filming.

The film has been marketed as the return to acting for his co-star Cameron Diaz, whom he helped to lure out of retirement, though she reportedly plans to retire for good after a string of catastrophes on the film set.

Glenn Close is also featured in the film.

The hospitalization was serious enough that the actor's family came from out of town to be with him.

One source told TMZ, 'He's communicating now, and that's good news,' which may imply that he was at one point unable to communicate due to the medical emergency.

Foxx shares his daughter Corinne with his ex-girlfriend Connie Kline. He also has a 13-year-old daughter Annalise, whom he shares with Kristin Grannis.

His latest film shoot in Atlanta appears to have been a surprisingly stressful ordeal for the Baby Driver actor, as well as his colleagues.

Breaking: Fans were initially alerted about the health scare when the actor's daughter Corinne Foxx shared a grave statement on social media this past Wednesday; pictured in 2019

Grave: The 29-year-old actress wrote, 'We wanted to share that, my father, Jamie Foxx, experienced a medical complication yesterday'

It was reported last month that Foxx 'had an absolute meltdown' while the film was shooting in the UK, which led to the firing of multiple people.

He reportedly booted an executive producer from the project, along with two directors and even his own driver.

According to The Sun, one staffer was fired in relation to an apparent scam to access 33,000 in cash from the actor, which was reportedly in relation to the sale of a Rolex watch.

There was even more drama when it was revealed that production was paused last month after an unexploded WWII-era bomb was discovered on the film's set in London, just before two major action scenes were set to be filmed.
Ambedkars fears have come true as the Dalits, Adivasi and minorities' political interests are not being addressed in Parliament, writes KC Tyagi and Pankaj Chaurasia

Every year on April 14, Dr B.R. Ambedkar Jayanti is commemorated to honour the birth of B.R. Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution. His 132nd birthday was celebrated this year. He was a well-known statesman who fought for the rights of the Dalits and other socially backward classes.

Ambedkar aimed to thrive in a just society where each citizen was granted the same equal significance and dignity. He believed that liberty, equality, and fraternity must be upheld to sustain egalitarian justice within a community, but the caste system in India is the biggest barrier to the idea of justice taking root in the Indian social structure which is why Dr Ambedkar prioritised caste for the justice of the oppressed group because the fundamental premise of basic social justice undermines social, economic, and political justice, as well as democracy.

In 1932, the subject of whether the 'untouchables' should be granted separate electorates because they were not an intrinsic part of Hindu social structures but rather were a community with a distinct sociopolitical identity, sparked a heated dispute between Gandhi and Ambedkar. In modern India, many people have reframed the disagreements between Gandhi and Ambedkar into starkly contrasting narratives, with supporters of each man strongly criticising the other's views on caste and anti-caste campaigns. In this context, it is necessary to reexamine the Poona Pact, the agreement reached between Gandhi and Ambedkar in 1932, from a modern standpoint.

In 1932, Mahatma Gandhi and Dr B.R. Ambedkar signed the Poona Pact to cease the Dalit campaign for separate electorates in exchange for legislative bodies. This agreement brought together two of the most prominent leaders of the Indian liberation struggle, who disagreed on Dalit rights. The Puna Accord has always been criticised and debated. The demand for separate electorates for Dalits was raised for the first time in 1917, and it gained traction during the Round Table Conferences in 1930.

In 1932, the British government, which was hesitant to award separate electorates, proposed the Communal Award, which would have granted Dalits distinct electorates. This concept, however, was rejected by Gandhi, who went on a death fast to prevent the introduction of separate electorates. It all came down to a fundamental difference in their points of view. While Gandhi saw caste as a social issue, Ambedkar saw it as a political one.

Following negotiations at Puna, Gandhi and Ambedkar signed the Poona Accord in September 1932. This arrangement reserved Dalit legislative seats rather than having distinct electorates. The Poona Pact, which brought together two of India's most well-known leaders and settled a contentious issue, was a significant turning point in the liberation fight. Detractors claim that the Puna Accord was a compromise because it did not contain separate electorates for Dalit representation. Critics claim that the reservation system has not provided Dalits with sufficient resources and opportunities for success. The Poona Pact dispute for Dalit rights in India is still relevant today.

According to historian Prabodhan Pol, Ambedkar's interpretation of caste hinged on his perception of the Dalit question as a political matter, not only a social one, as Gandhi did. "The Gandhi-Ambedkar dispute centred on how to interpret caste. Ambedkar asserted, for the first time in India's modern history, that caste was a political issue that could not be resolved just by social changes. Ambedkar stressed in his writings and speeches that political democracy was meaningless unless the so-called oppressed classes were equal participants in it.

Ambedkar preferred a rights-based approach, whereas Gandhi preferred a faith-based and spiritual approach. Unlike Ambedkar, Gandhi believed that any exploitative connection could only be repaired if the exploiter changed his mind. As a result, he worked with upper castes to modify their beliefs. "I thus implore you not to deprive Hinduism of one final opportunity to make voluntary atonement for its wicked past." "Give me the opportunity to work among the Hindu castes," he urges Ambedkar. It is unclear why Gandhi took such a strong stance against separate electorates, and this is still debated today.

The legacy of the Poona Accord lingers on to this day for India's 300 million scheduled caste people, today, India accords scheduled castes (SCs) a proportional number of seats in Parliament and assemblies based on their population for instance, in the Lok Sabha, representatives of socially and economically disadvantaged communities are granted 84 of a total of 543 seats. However, Dalits are not particularly concentrated in any one region, which means that they are in the minority in the majority of these seats. This indicates that the majority of voters do not belong to the Scheduled Castes and that their influence is the deciding factor in elections, even though the majority of MPs do for this reason, many Ambedkarite intellectuals keep arguing that the way Dalits are represented has been badly distorted. Because of this, in a society that is heavily influenced by caste, it is impossible for a Dalit member of parliament to truly advocate for members of more oppressed castes because he or she is required to make concessions and appease members of higher castes.

A system like this deprives Dalits of actual leadership, and the community suffers as a result. Leaders are unable to be independent since they must rely on their party's vote bank to be elected. Many Dalit politicians and thinkers are aware of this shackle, and many Dalit politicians and thinkers think that the current system is not good for choosing real leaders. They think that we must make a lot of compromises and that the current arrangement is very different from what the Poona Pact originally proposed. Gandhiji made it possible for this to happen, but Ambedkar's plan was very different.

In 1932, Ambedkar joined the Poona Agreements, knowing its fatal defect and its outcome. So, in 1949, after independence and when drafting the Constitution, he proposed a Dalit electorate and settlement.

The way things are now prove that Babasaheb was right to be worried. In the 60 years since India became independent, it has become clear that the Dalits, Adivasis, and other minorities' political interests are not represented in the Parliament with the way elections work now. Even though some untouchable castes have improved in the 75 years since the Poona Agreement, many castes have lagged. Nonetheless, some castes in this class have maintained their progress today in all states. While certain castes have started to get involved with politics and democracy, many remain outside of the system. As a consequence, there have been more occurrences of violence against Dalits, and the situation has gotten worse. There hasn't been much of a change in the way the community is represented in politics, and because of this, caste-based Dalit parties have been soundly trounced by the BJP.

The Dalits, tribals, labourers, farmers, and members of the most backward castes have been the most negatively impacted by the authoritarian politics of the BJP that have resulted from this. Now, if we examine the state and trajectory of Dalit politics, it appears to be on the verge of collapse. The majority of Dalit leaders have joined the ruling party or have formed alliances with it. In hope of achieving social, economic, political and cultural justice and equitable representation for all oppressed castes, particularly Dalits, Tribals, and Most Backward castes also, we need to have a national discussion about a proportional system of representation for justice for all.

(KC Tyagi is a former MP and JDU leader and Pankaj Chaurasia is a research fellow at Jamia Millia Islamia University)

(The views expressed are personal)
Actor Alaya F, known for her films such as "Jawaani Jaaneman" and "Freddy", says the pandemic has changed the Hindi film industry as a whole and she finds it easier to adapt to it now.

The actor, daughter of model-actor Pooja Bedi, will next be seen in ZEE5's "U Turn".

"The pandemic has changed the industry as a whole. It has changed approaches, it has changed people's viewing patterns, and what is being made. Luckily, this is the world that I know. This post-pandemic industry is easier for me to adapt to," the actor told PTI in an interview.

The 25-year-old actor, whose debut movie "Jawaani Jaaneman" came right before the pandemic in 2020, said she still considers the pandemic as the biggest "obstacle" in her four-film-old career.

My biggest challenge was the pandemic right after my first release. So far, it is my biggest obstacle. My film was released and a few weeks later the entire world stopped. What s***ed even more is that I got good reviews, it was a great time for me to capitalise on it.

"You work for this moment and that moment goes well but before you make the most of it, everything stops. Two years and 11 months after that you don't have another release. It is not easy, the whole phase of the pandemic, I was like, 'Is my career over?'.

Alaya F, however, is happy to be a part of the film industry at a time when it is going through a shift in the way creators and viewers approach content.

"The silver lining is that everything turned out well. In the last six months it is my third release. It feels great, she said.

U Turn is the official Hindi adaptation of a 2016 Kannada movie of the same name, featuring actor Shraddha Srinath. The Kannada film was remade in Malayalam in 2017 and was adapted as a Telugu-Tamil bilingual feature in 2018.

In the Hindi version, Alaya plays Radhika, an inquisitive, emotionally-driven woman, who is investigating and writing a story on a flyover where multiple accidents take place.

The actor said the Hindi version of U Turn is a bit different from the original.

U Turn' has been made many times before but the core of it is the same. There are twists and turns, the ending is different. Even if someone has seen the other version, this is new, it has its own energy, there are surprises at the end, Alaya said, adding that she hasn't seen the original film as film's director Arif Khan didn't want her to get influenced.

Produced by Ektaa Kapoor's Balaji Motion Pictures, U-Turn will be released on ZEE5 on April 28.

Alaya will also feature in Rajkummar Rao-led movie Sri, a biopic on visually impaired industrialist Srikanth Bolla.

Sri' is coming out in September. It is a special film. It is one of those projects, I felt I had to be part of this story, how small or big (the role is). It is an incredible real-life story that deserves to be told and seen in the most beautiful way and there is no one better than Raj to do it, she said.
Supporting the Congress' demand for an up-to-date caste census in the country, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said it would be beneficial for all sections of the society.

The survey report would help the government in better implementation of welfare schemes for the socially and economically disadvantaged groups, the chief minister said.

We have been in favour of the caste census right from the very beginning. When the central government refused to do so, we decided to conduct the caste survey on our own. It is going on in the state. The exercise will provide data to the government for carrying out works for the benefit of weaker sections of the society, Kumar told reporters here.

The month-long second phase of caste headcount is underway in Bihar from April 15 to May 15. The enumeration exercise, which started from January 7, will be completed by May.

The Congress is the alliance partner of the Mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) government in Bihar.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 16 demanding an up-to-date caste census, saying meaningful social justice and empowerment programmes are incomplete in the absence of such a data.

Addressing a rally in Katnataka's Kolar, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday dared Prime Minister Modi to release the 2011 caste-based census data in the public domain and also demanded the 50 per cent cap on reservation be removed.

The 50 per cent ceiling refers to Supreme Court judgements pointing out that the overall reservation in government jobs and education for various communities should not breach the mark although there are exceptions with some states crossing the figure.

The numbers from the caste census in 2011 were not made available, after which it was found that it was not done properly. We started demanding that it be done properly. All parties in Bihar had the same view when we decided to have a caste-based survey and it is currently being conducted in the state, the chief minister said.

The Congress-led-UPA regime had compiled the Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) in 2011. The reports from the census have been published except that of the caste data.

The ongoing caste survey is a good initiative taken by the grand alliance_ government. Data related to people's economic status and their caste will be collected during the headcount so that the state government can know how many people are poor and what sort of steps should be taken to bring them into the mainstream, Kumar said.

People will be hugely benefited after recognition of their economic status, whether they belong to upper caste, backward caste or extremely weaker sections of the society, he said.

The decision to conduct a caste survey was taken by the Bihar Cabinet on June 2, 2022. Resolutions in support of a caste census had been unanimously passed by the bicameral legislature in Bihar twice, in 2019 and 2020. An all-party delegation from the state had also met the Prime Minister in this regard.
On a day gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Khalid Azeem alias Ashraf were buried in the Kasari Masari graveyard in their native village in Uttar Pradesh (UP), the State Government constituted a three-member judicial commission to probe their killing on Saturday by four men posing as journalists. The commission will be headed by High Court Judge (retired) Arvind Kumar Tripathi, retired Judge Brijesh Kumar Soni and former DGP Subesh Kumar Singh. The commission will have to submit its report to the Government within two months, officials said on Sunday, adding the Home Department has constituted the panel under Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952.

Earlier, on Sunday a Prayagraj court sent Atiq Ahmads three assailants Luvlesh Tiwari (22) of Banda, Mohit, alias Sunny, (23) of Hamirpur and Arun Kumar Maurya (18) of Kasganj to 14 days judicial custody. The three were caught on the spot after shooting Atiq and his brother outside a hospital in the Shahganj area. The last rites of Ahmads son Asad, who was gunned down in a police encounter in Jhansi on April 13, were performed here just hours before Saturdays shooting.

Three accused in Atiq-Ashraf killing sent to 14 days judicial custody by a court here, lawyer Manish Khanna, who represented Ahmad, said.

Meanwhile, police patrolling was intensified on Sunday in Prayagrajs Chakiya area where Ahmads house is located even as the UP police tightened security across the State. Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) have been issued in all districts of UP to prevent any untoward incident. Internet services remained shut in Prayagraj district as part of the security measures. Interestingly, just two weeks before his killing, the Supreme Court had dismissed Ahmads plea seeking protection during his custody with the UP Police.

On March 28, the apex court had dismissed Ahmads plea for protection and observed that the UP State machinery would take care of his protection in case of a threat to his life.

When Atiqs plea had come up for hearing before the top court, a Bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi granted him liberty to approach the Allahabad High Court for protection after he had claimed that his life was under threat while being in the custody of the UP Police.

It is not a case where this court is going to interfere. Liberty granted to move appropriate application before the High Court. Whatever is the process prescribed under law will be followed, the Bench had said.

In his plea, Ahmad, who was earlier lodged at the Ahmedabad central jail in Gujarat pursuant to the apex courts direction, had referred to the statement made by Adityanath on the floor of the Assembly to completely ruin and destroy him.

Interestingly, as per an FIR registered at the Shahganj police station, Ahmad admitted to having links with the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

Police said Ahmads statement was recorded on court orders.

The ISI, using drones, used to drop weapons in Punjab, and someone linked to the ISI used to collect these arms and send some of them to LeT, some to Khalistan separatist organisations, and some weapons like .45 bore pistol, AK-47 and RDX were made available to me, and I used to pay for the same.

People belonging to these organisations also used to come to my place. And, information gathered from their conversations suggested that they wanted to cause a major incident in the country, Ahmad told police.

He also told police that he knew the whereabouts of some of these people associated with ISI and LeT, while his brother knew the details of others.

The five-time MLA also said that the weapons taken from (LeT and ISI) were used in the murder of Umesh Pal and two policemen in February this year. I know the places where the weapons have been kept. These places do not have house numbers. If you (police) take me and my brother together, we can identify these places,
A court in Ahmedabad has issued summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Partys (AAP) Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh in a criminal defamation complaint for their alleged sarcastic and derogatory statements against Gujarat University.

The court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Jayeshbhai Chovatiya on Saturday summoned the two AAP leaders on May 23, after observing that prima facie there appeared to be a case against them under Indian Penal Code Section 500 (defamation) on a complaint filed by the Gujarat Universitys registrar Piyush Patel.

The court also ordered to delete Chief Minister from Kejriwals name in the cause title of the case, saying the statements were made by him in his personal capacity.

Kejriwal and Singh had made the comments after the Gujarat High Court passed an order setting aside the Chief Information Commissioners order asking the Gujarat University (GU) to provide information on Prime Minister Narendra Modis academic degree.

As per the complainant, they made defamatory statements in press conferences and on Twitter handles targeting the university. Their comments hurt the prestige of the institution which has established its name among the public, he said.

The Gujarat University was established more than 70 years ago. It is reputed among the people and utterances by the accused will create mistrust about the university, the complainants lawyer Amit Nair argued. The complainant alleged the statements were defamatory towards the university because they were sarcastic and intended to intentionally hurt the prestige of the university. They were shared in the media and on Twitter handles with the same intention, he said.
Opposition parties on Sunday came down heavily on the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh (UP) Government over the killing of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf Ahmad, seeking a Supreme Court-monitored investigation and the resignation of the UP Chief Minister over the issue. While maintaining that criminals should be given the harshest of punishment, the Congress said it should be done under the rule of law and subverting or violating the rule of law was dangerous for democracy.

Whoever does this, or gives protection to those who do such acts, should also be held responsible and the law should be strictly enforced on them. It should be our collective endeavour to ensure that the judicial system and rule of law are at all times honoured in letter and spirit, Congress chief spokesman Jairam Ramesh said.

Without taking names, in a tweet in Hindi, Priyanka Vadra said the law of the country was written in the Constitution and this law was paramount. Whoever plays with or violates the rule of law and the judicial process or gives protection to those who indulge in such an act, should also be held responsible and the law should be strictly enforced on that person, she said, adding that it should be the endeavour of all that the justice system and the rule of law remained supreme in India.

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi alleged that the UP Government had a role in the killings and demanded a Supreme Court-monitored investigation into the matter.

No officer from Uttar Pradesh should be included in the committee. This was a cold-blooded murder, he said adding people who were celebrating this killing are vultures.

Owaisi said that the incident raises a big question about the law and order situation in the State and demanded the resignation of Yogi Adityanath.

I have always been saying that BJP in Uttar Pradesh is not running the Government by the rule of law but by the rule of gun, Owaisi said.

Former UP Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said a deliberate atmosphere of fear was being created among people, while BSP MP Danish Ali termed the shootings as cold-blooded killings and said there was a height of anarchy in the State.

When someone can be shot dead amidst a police cordon, then what about the safety of the general public, said Akhilesh.

Former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Sunday said the killing raised serious questions over the style of functioning of the UP Government.

It would be better if the Supreme Court takes cognisance of this extremely serious and worrisome incident, which is being discussed across the country, she added.

In a series of tweets, she said, Now, instead of rule of law by law in Uttar Pradesh, how appropriate is it that it becomes encounter Pradesh? Something to think about.

RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary said every criminal has a right to be heard in court and be convicted there but Atiq Ahmad and his brother were killed in police custody in the open.

The CM should answer what kind of law and order he has established in the State. Is this not jungle raj and a ground to call for emergency rule in UP?, the RLD leader said.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, too, on Sunday expressed her shock at what she termed as collapse of law and order in UP.
Lashing out at the BJP-led Central Government, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday asserted that there are two Shahs sitting at the Centre  one is Amit Shah and the other is Tanashah (dictator).

Mann, who on Sunday joined other top Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders to stage a protest dharna outside the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) office in the national capital against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals questioning by the central probe agency in the liquor policy case, said that seeing Kejriwal going to Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and also to Chhattisgarh, and earlier in Gujarat, they created hurdles for him; and that was why he was called today.

But if any AAP worker put up a poster against Modi ji, they say you cannot do this. This is not democracy but dictatorship. Two Shahs are sitting there one Amit Shah and another tanashah, said Mann.

Several AAP leaders, including Punjab Ministers and MLAs, alleged that they were stopped from entering Delhi. Many of them were detained for protesting outside CBIs Delhi office, while others were detained at Delhi borders.

AAP leaders from Punjab, including Ministers, were headed for Delhi to show support to party chief Kejriwal. The ruling party in Punjab claimed that its ministers  Bram Shanker Jimpa, Dr Balbir Singh and Harjot Singh Bains, and MLAs Dinesh Chadha and Kuljit Randhawa were among those stopped at the Singhu border and not allowed to enter Delhi.

Health Minister Dr Balbir said that democracy was being murdered in the country, and tweeted that Many of my cabinet colleagues, MLAs & volunteers have been illegally detained at Badli. Shame.

Meanwhile, Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema slammed the BJP for targeting AAP chief saying that it was scared of Delhi Chief Minister's rising popularity.

Cheema, also referring to the AAP gaining status of a 'national party' from the Election Commission, said: We are gaining the peoples support wherever we are fighting elections. In just 10 years, AAP has (formed) governments in two statesAAP got 13 per cent and six per cent vote share in Gujarat and Goa, respectively. BJP is scared of AAP and Kejriwal.
Lt Governor VK Saxena on Sunday flagged off 250 Delhi Police vehicles that will add to the forces mobility amid ever-increasing operational requirements, officials said.

The newly procured vehicles, including 100 Maruti Suzuki Ertigas and 150 Mahinda Boleros, were flagged off from Baansera, a lush green asset created on the banks of the Yamuna near Sarai Kale Khan, they said. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs approved the procurement of 850 light motor vehicles as fresh authorisation for the Delhi Police to supplement its existing fleet, the officials said.

According to the police, the fleet added on Sunday is the first tranche of the 850 vehicles that comprise 300 Ertigas, 200 Boleros, 100 Mahindra Scorpios and 250 Toyota Innovas. The remaining vehicles will be added gradually.

These vehicles, to be deployed strategically across the national capital, will ensure swifter mobility of the police besides improving the Delhi Polices visibility and enhancing the efficiency, the police said.
A group of Delhi BJP leaders and workers on Sunday staged a sit-in at Rajghat here over alleged insult to Mahatma Gandhi by the AAP.

The BJP leaders led by state president Virendra Sachdeva also prayed at the Gandhis memorial prior to AAP convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal reached there before going to the CBI headquarters for questioning in connection with the alleged liquor scam.

When Kejriwal gets trapped, he remembers Mahatma Gandhi, although he has ordered for removing Gandhis portrait from offices of his government, Sachdeva charged.

He further attacked Kejriwal over AAP workers holding protests across the city, and said, Kejriwals politics is inspired by his actor friend Prakash Rajs villainous roles in the movies. The call of AAP for road blockade in Delhi is inspired by the role of Raj in film Policegiri.

Sachdeva said Kejriwal was called by the CBI for liquor scam of his government but he went to the Samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi, and nothing can be more shameful than this.

Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said that due to the hard work of BJP workers, Kejriwal who is mastermind of the liquor policy scam will also be in jail soon.

Whenever Kejriwal was asked about the liquor scam in the assembly, he ran away. Kejriwal will now have to face the consequences of his actions and will have to resign and also go to jail, Bidhuri said.

Former Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta said the party workers struggle has paid off today. Kejriwals aides Satyendar Jain and Manish Sisodia are already in the jail waiting to welcome him there, he said.
Bhopal Tamil Sangam (BTS) celebrated the Tamil New Year 2023, also known as Tamil Puthandu in a truly festive atmosphere at Sree Narayana Mission Guru Mandir old Subhash Nagar Bhopal here on Sunday.

During the evening, song and dance performances were held followed by awards distribution. Bhopal Tamil Sangam, an organization that celebrates South Indian culture.

A day that signifies renewal, Puthandu is a time for families and friends to share a meal, exchange gifts and pray for a peaceful and prosperous year ahead. It all began after the exchange of new year greetings with one another followed by lighting the ceremonial oil lamp by Chief guest M Kali Durai IFS Addl. PCCF MP Forest Department Bhopal The event started with an introductory speech, honoring guests of Honour V Chandrasekar General Manager and Head IREL India Ltd Dept. of Atomic Energy Gov of India , Special guest Shri Sakthi Perumal President Delhi Tamil Sangam , R Mukunthan, Ashokan. C , L. M Anantha Padmanabham, Dr S Suresh Kumar and Sarita Rajan was present on the occasion.

Besides, other special guests along with the residents and members also graced the event and wished each other for the prosperous New Year ahead. The prayer and the welcome note for the guests and the Honorable Chief guest added a light of inspiration to the event.

Chief Guest of the event, M. Kali Durai said, "I wish everyone celebrating Puthandu a very happy new year. May this new year bring you health, happiness and prosperity! Iniya Puthandu Nalvazhthukka."

V. Chadrasekar said, "Puthandu is the term for the Tamil new year. It is the celebration of the first day of the Tamil new year. The new year celebration in India according to the Hindu calendars in different parts of the country usually takes place in the months of March-April. Puthandu, the people of Tamil Nadu celebrate their new year generally on April 14 according to the Gregorian calendar. It is also known by different names such as Chithirai Tiru Naal and Varushap Pirappu.

The Tamil people welcome each other by exchanging words such as Iniya Tamizh Puthandu Nalvaazhthukkal or simply Puthandu Vazthukal. It is also known as the yellow harvest festival of India.

He also congratulated members of the Bhopal Tamil Sangam in general and those of his Executive Committee in particular for their unstinted cooperation, quantified by love, respect and adoration for the Tamil language and culture.
Addressing the needs to reduce the bones related issues and complications of the patients Central Zone of India Orthopaedic Association(CEZIOA) conducted a one day scientific programme on Reduce Patients Suffering by avoiding complications theme on Sunday in the State Capital.



The orthopedic surgeons from the States like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Rajasthan and Jharkhand attended the programme. Throughout the day, workshops by leading doctors and experts were scheduled to discuss the intricacies and challenges that come while conducting evasive and noninvasive procedures on the patients.



The organizing committee comprises Organising Chairman, Dr. Pawan Kumar, Organizing Secretary, Dr Rohit Lal, Scientific Chairman, Dr Govinf Gupta and Treasurer, Dr AlokRanjan.



The focus topics identified after lots of deliberation by the organizing committee for mid term symposium were foot and ankle session, injuries around knees, open fracture and their management, paediatric orthopedics, bone infections, rehab and also preventive cases.



The Central Zone of India Orthopaedic Association has the biggest number of practicing doctors and has the amalgamation of diverse cultures connected with one common thread looking for best solutions to the suffering of their patients.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday formed a three-member judicial committee to probe the killing of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf Ahmad.

The commission will be headed by retired Allahabad High Court judge, Justice (Retd) Arvind Kumar Tripathi, and will include two other members, retired judge Brijesh Kumar Soni and former DGP Subesh Kumar Singh.

Chief Minister Yogi has been keeping strict and consistent vigil on the entire case since the killing took place on Saturday night. Earlier, the chief minister had called the principal secretary (Home), DGP and Special DG (Law and Order) at his residence and held a high-level meeting with them on law and order, after which prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code were imposed in the state. Apart from this, the police started foot patrolling in various districts. In addition, heavy security forces were deployed in the sensitive areas of the state to maintain law and order.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath instructed the officers to be vigilant in the field soon after the killing. He said that peace and order should be maintained in the state. Under the Commission of Inquiry Act 1952, a three-member judicial committee was constituted by the Home department on the instructions of the chief minister. The committee will submit its report within two months.

After the incident, taking prompt action with the policy of zero tolerance against crime and criminals, the police had nabbed all the youths involved in the murder of Atiq and Ashraf from on the spot.

101 cases against Atiq, 57 cases against Ashraf

Lucknow (PNS): Atiq Ahmad and Ashraf had a long criminal history. Since 1979, 101 cases were registered against Atiq while 57 cases were registered against Ashraf. In the year 1979, at the age of 17, the first case of murder was registered against Atiq Ahmad. By 1985, Atiqs terror had spread not only in Prayagraj but also in other parts of the state. During Mulayam Singh Yadavs tenure, Ashraf was accused of raping two innocent girls from a madarsa, who were later found at the same place brutally injured.
The race is on, at least for fundraising, as the four candidates for City Council filed their first financial declarations with the city. The reporting period covers donations and expenditures from July 1 through Sept. 19.Vying for two council seats are Margaux Bangs, a former Planning commissioner; Caitlin Barringer, who now sits on the citys Measure T Committee; Leslie Cornejo, a Ventura County Fair director and board president; and Andy Sobel, who appointed to a short-term on the council two years ago to fill a vacancy.

Cornejo has received the most monetary support so far with a total raised of $9,494. Of that amount, according to her campaign treasurer Mary Deines, $1,000 is a campaign loan from the candidate. Freska Produce International of Oxnard, co-owned by Santa Paulan Chuy Loza, donated $500 to Cornejos campaign as did Rene Smead and Carol Mailloux, also Santa Paula residents. A wide majority of her donors are Santa Paula residents. Cornejo reported $5775.98 in expenditures leaving $3,718.0 in the bank.

Bangs, like Cornejo a first-time candidate, raised $6,893 according to the report prepared by her campaign treasurer Patricia Zavala. Of that, $800 was reported as nonmonetary contributions. Grower Ellen Brokaw of Santa Paula donated $500 to Bangs campaign as did Michael Liberman of Santa Monica, an independent record executive, and Aagie Murphy, a student of Philadelphia. Another $500 donation was given by Brian Davis of Ventura, the chief operating officer of a broadcasting company. A majority of Bangs donations so far are outside Santa Paula. With expenditures of $832, Bangs has an account balance of $5,261.

Sobel has raised $4,299, mostly locally, according to his filing prepared by campaign treasurer Daniel Sandoval. Of that total, $150 was listed as nonmonetary. Notable donors include Ellen Brokaw with $500 as well as Trina Nagele, also of Santa Paula. Suzanne Sobel of Chula Vista also donated $500 to the campaign. With a $1,006.23 in expenditures, Sobel has $3,142.77 in his campaign account.
A Hoshiarpur court on Sunday sent a close aide of radical Sikh preacher and Khalistan sympathizer Amritpal Singh to three-day police remand. Joga Singh, who was arrested by the police for allegedly providing shelter and other assistance to Amritpal Singh in Uttar Pradeshs Pilibhit district, was produced before a court on Sunday.

A resident of Ludhiana and in-charge of a dera in Pilibhit, Joga Singh was nabbed from Sirhind in Fatehgarh Sahib after he crossed over to Punjab from Haryana, the police had said.

He was apprehended in a joint operation by the Amritsar Police (Rural) and the Hoshiarpur Police.

Joga Singh had been in direct contact with Amritpal Singh, police had said. It was Joga Singh who brought Amritpal and his other aide Papalpreet back to Punjab.

Amritpal and Papalpreet fled Punjab following a police crackdown on March 18. They returned to the state on March 28. Papalpreet has already been arrested. Police launched a major crackdown last month against Amritpal and the members of his "Waris Punjab De" outfit. The Khalistan sympathizer escaped the police net in Jalandhar district on March 18 by switching vehicles and changing appearances.

Amritpal and his associates have been booked in several criminal cases related to spreading disharmony, attempt to murder, attack on police personnel and creating obstructions in the lawful discharge of duty by public servants.
Heavy traffic snarls were witnessed on Sunday in several parts of Delhi following protests by AAP workers against the summoning of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by the CBI in the excise policy case.

Vehicular movement was choked at the protest sites of Anand Vihar Terminal, ITO Chowk, Mukarba Chowk Peera Garhi Chowk, Lado Sarai Chowk, Crown Plaza Chowk, Dwarka More Sec 6 and Sec 2 Chauraha, Pecific Wala Chowk Subhash Nagar More, Prem Wari Chauraha Ring Road, New Delhi Railway Station Ajmeri Gate Side, Bara Hanuman Mandir, Karol Bagh Chowk, IIT Crossing, ISBT Kashmiri Gate, Raj Ghat and NH 24 near Murga Mandi Gazipur. Serpentine queues of vehicles clogged the roads owing to the protest.

Commuters stuck because of the protests at NH-44 and GT-Karnal Road tweeted pictures that showed long queues of vehicles. Moving at a snails pace in bumper-to-bumper traffic, many commuters tagged the police in their social media posts and requested them to manage the situation.

Police officials, along with the traffic unit deployed at multiple locations, persuaded the protesters to move from the roads and allow vehiclular movement to flow.

We have deployed sufficient force at these locations. But the protesters are on a sit-in, so we are persuading them to move because they are causing heavy traffic jams. If they are refusing to cooperate, we are removing them from the spot, a senior police official said.

The Delhi Police stepped up security outside the CBI headquarters as Kejriwal appeared before the agency for questioning in connection with alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped excise policy, officials said.
Achieving a technological milestone, Government of India's indigenous Mobile Seva App Store (M-Seva) is now available for citizens as an alternative to Google Play.AppStore. This App Store has been specially created by C-DAC Mumbai, a part of the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

It is India's alternative to Google and Apple website store. This is India's first indigenous website store. There are around 1200 live hosted apps on this app store from multiple domains and search from public services.

M-Seva can be downloaded from the official website of App Store https://apps.mgov.gov.in. So far, 9.1 crore downloads of the M-Seva app have been done.According to Dr Padmaja Joshi Senior Director Centre for Development of Advanced Computing,C-DAC, Mumbai, these app stores comply with all security and data related laws. Any citizen, government, private organization in India can register as a developer and upload their app for free.

The feature of testing has also been given before publishing the app on this application store. C-DAC is also conducting state dedicated workshops to interact with budding startups for the National App Store and Single Sign-On, a project of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology developed under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Mission, he added.

In this series, orientation workshops are going to be organized in Indore on April 20, 2023.M Services App Store (apps.mgov.gov.in) is available for hosting Citizen Shopping Mobile.

This is a novel initiative aimed at mainstreaming the mobile app industry in the country and India's data will also be safe. As part of outreach activities mSeva has launched a National Level Innovative App Competition. Entries are invited under 5 categories.

Details are available at https://apps.mgov.gov.in/AppContest/.According to Padmaja Joshi the App Store is available for government and public services. mServices is based on service-oriented architecture and cloud-based technologies, service of government department, private developer mobile app to provide government and other public services related to health, education, agriculture, financial, online payment, election related user website from mobile The service can be downloaded from the App Store.

According to Senior Director, C-DAC, the mobile service has been launched by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology and provides mobile services through various channels such as SMS for all government access and status in the country at central, state and local levels. C-DAC is a central cloud-based mobile affiliate partnership to provide its services through IVRS, USSD, Mobile App and App Store to enable rapid introduction of services offering through mobile devices anywhere in India.
Opposition parties have questioned the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh and demanded that the state government be dismissed after gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were shot dead in Prayagraj on Saturday.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said crime had reached its peak in Uttar Pradesh, criminals were unfazed and jungle law prevailed in the state.

Reacting to the incident, Akhilesh Yadav said in a tweet in Hindi: "When someone can be shot dead amidst a police cordon, then what about the safety of the general public? An atmosphere of fear is being created among the public due to this and it seems that some people are deliberately creating such an atmosphere."

During Samajwadi Party regime, metro rail, expressway, IT City and laptop dominated the agenda of the public discourse while under the present Bharatiya Janata Party government crime, criminals, guns and pistols are the talk of the town, he added.

Senior SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav in a tweet in Hindi said, "Chief minister's order 'mitti mein mila denge', Atiq Ahmad's petition in the Supreme Court demanding security owing to threat of death in custody -- No relief. Then fake encounters and planned murders in police custody were bound to happen. It would not be surprising if Atiq's other sons are also killed."

The cold-blooded killings are the height of anarchy in Uttar Pradesh. This can't happen without a go-ahead from the top. In any other democracy the state government would have been dismissed for such a heinous crime against the rule of law, Bahujan Samaj Party MP Danish Ali claimed.

In a tweet, Rajya Sabha member Kapil Sibal said, "Two murders in UP: 1) Atiq Ahmed and brother Ashraf, 2) Rule of law.

Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Jayant Chaudhary asked whether 'jungle raj' prevails in the state.

"Nobody is sympathising with Atiq Ahmad because a criminal should be punished. But anyone who sees this video (of Atiq and Ashrafs killing) will question if we are a democracy. Every criminal has the right to be heard in court and be convicted there. But you can see they were killed in police custody in the open," he said.

"The chief minister should answer what kind of law and order he has established in the state. Is this not jungle raj and a ground to call for emergency rule in UP? asked Jayant Chaudhary.

"Uttar Pradesh has turned into a "lawless state", the Communist Party of India (Marxist) alleged on Sunday after gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother were killed while being escorted by police to a Prayagraj hospital.

In a statement, the party said the "ghastly killing" of Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf, while in police custody and in front of the media, showed that Uttar Pradesh had become a completely "lawless state".

"The manner in which two men were murdered in the presence of heavy police escort points towards official connivance. This must be seen in the background of the repeated spate of encounter killings which are nothing but extrajudicial murders," the party said.

"The Adityanath government is directly responsible for this state of affairs," the CPI(M) added.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) said that it was evident from the murder of Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf Ahmed in police custody in Prayagraj that there was no rule of law in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Uttar Pradesh.

CPI (ML) state secretary Sudhakar Yadav said in a statement on Sunday that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had been consistently calling the extrajudicial killings being carried out in the name of encounter as an effective step against crime.

The tragic end of Ahmad and his brother came on a day the former MP's son Asad, who was killed in a police encounter in Jhansi on April 13, was buried in Prayagraj.

Ahmad (61) and Ashraf were shot dead at point-blank range by three men posing as journalists in the middle of a media interaction on Saturday night while police personnel were escorting them to a medical college in Prayagraj for a check-up.

The brothers, both jailed in Prayagraj, were in handcuffs when they were killed in full view of camera crews around on Saturday night. The horrifying visuals were circulated widely on social media platforms and television channels.

Ahmad and his brother were brought to Prayagraj for a court hearing in connection with the Umesh Pal murder case and were remanded to police custody. Umesh Pal, a key witness in the murder case of BSP MLA Raju Pal, and his two police security guards were shot dead outside his Dhoomanganj residence here on February 24. Based on a complaint lodged by Umesh Pal's wife Jaya Pal, a case was registered on February 25 against Atiq Ahmad, Ashraf, Ahmad's wife Shaista Parveen, two sons, aides Guddu Muslim and Ghulam, and nine others.
Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena has raised red flags over procedural lapses in summoning of the State Assemblys one-day session on Monday amid AAP convener and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals questioning by the CBI in the alleged liquor scam case.

In a note to the Delhi government, Saxena has pointed out that the Speaker of the Delhi Legislative Assembly has proposed to call the second part of the 4th session of the 7th Assembly, whereas the Delhi Cabinet has recommended for convening a one-day session of the Assembly, officials at LG office said on Sunday.

As per Rules and Act, the Assembly House, which was adjourned sine die on March 29, 2023, has to be first prorogued before a fresh session can be convened. As a session remains unprorogued, a new session cannot be convened, they said.

I fail to understand as to under what circumstances and under which provision of the GNCTD Act, 1991 the Second Part of the Fourth Session (Budget Session) of the Seventh Legislative Assembly has been convened instead of moving a proposal for Prorogation of the Budget Session and convening of the One Day Session as per the Cabinet Decision. the LG said in his note.

This convening of Second Part of the Fourth Session (Budget Session) of the Seventh Legislative Assembly is not in accordance with the Cabinet Decision dated and hence inconsistent with the statutory provisions envisaged under section 6 of the Government of NCT of Delhi Act, 1991, he said. Therefore, the proposed Second Part of Fourth session on April 17 being summoned without following the due procedure, should not be convened, Saxena suggested.

The LG, in his note, advised the government to direct the concerned department to submit an appropriate proposal to prorogue the Fourth Session (Budget Session) of the Seventh Legislative Assembly with immediate effect, and for summoning One-Day Session in accordance with provisions of Section 6 of the GNCTD Act, 1991.

The LG also highlighted that there was no indication of any proposed legislative business to be transacted by the Assembly on April 17.

This also needs to be reflected in the Cabinet Decision as per Rule 15 (1) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of Legislative Assembly of NCT of Delhi Rules, 1997 to allow the members of the House to come prepared for fruitful deliberations, read his note.

Reacting to the LGs note, senior AAP leader and Cabinet minister in the Kejriwal government Saurabh Bhardwaj said, Let me enlighten LG Under Rule 17 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Delhi Assembly, Honble Speaker has the power to call a sitting of the House at any time after the House has been adjourned sine-die.
Light rain accompanied by strong winds and thunderstorms occurred in many areas of the state as weather suddenly changed again in Madhya Pradesh on Sunday.

In the state capital too, there was a storm with a speed of about 60 kilometers per hour, while it remained cloudy throughout the day, light rain was recorded at some places. Similar weather is prevailing in Mandla, Burhanpur, Khargone, Khandwa, Dhar, Seoni and Balaghat. According to the Meteorological Department, the weather pattern will remain the same on Monday as well.

There is also intense heat in many areas of the state. The temperature in Rajgarh reached 43 degree Celsius on Sunday. Whereas, the temperature was recorded at 38.9 in Bhopal, 38.8 in Indore, 41.3 in Gwalior and 39.6 degree Celsius in Jabalpur.

Earlier on Saturday evening, there was heavy rain with thunderstorms in Khandwa city. The wind blew at a speed of 70 km per hour. The wall of the house under construction in Vatsala Vihar Colony fell on an elderly watchman. Security guard Sewalya (70) died after being hit by a brick on his head of an under construction house while his wife Kashibai and grandson Yash have minor injuries.

In Khargone city too, it rained with strong wind after thunder on Saturday evening. Light drizzle occurred in Mandla as well. In Burhanpur too, it was cloudy at 9 o'clock in the night and after half an hour there was drizzling and heavy rain at some places. Strong wind also blew. According to the Meteorological Department, due to the effect of Western Disturbance, the situation of rain was created. Due to the direction of winds from Khargone and Burhanpur towards Khandwa through Maharashtra, it has rained with lightning.

According to meteorologists, after April 17, there may be rain with thunder and lightning. There is a possibility of rain in Bhopal on April 18 and 19.

Meteorologist Pandey told that the Western Disturbance has become active in North India. Its effect will be seen more in North India. Due to this, hot winds will not come in Madhya Pradesh. On the other hand, a circulation has formed over Southwest Rajasthan. The trough line is passing from North Chhattisgarh to Kerala via Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka. Some moisture remains from the Arabian Sea. Due to this, the weather is expected to change on 18 and 19 April. In the southern part of the state i.e. Khandwa, Khargone, Barwani, Betul, Harda, Chhindwara, Seoni, Mandla and Balaghat, there will be a situation of thunder and lightning.

According to the Meteorological Department, light drizzle may occur in Narmadapur, Betul, Harda, Burhanpur, Khandwa, Khargone, Barwani, Dhar, Indore, Narsinghpur, Chhindwara, Mandla on April 18 and 19. The effect of heat is expected in other cities including Gwalior, Ujjain.

In Madhya Pradesh, it was partly cloudy on Saturday in many cities including Bhopal. Due to this, a drop in mercury was recorded in Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur and other cities. However, in Gwalior, the sun showed its attitude and the highest temperature so far reached 41 degrees. Here the mercury has increased by 2.7 degrees. According to the Meteorological Department, 37.8 degrees Celsius was recorded in Bhopal, 37.8 in Indore, 35.9 in Jabalpur, 41 in Gwalior. Rajgarh was the hottest. The temperature here reached 42.5 degree Celsius. The mercury crossed 41 degrees in Khajuraho, Khargone and Shivpuri.

The Meteorological Department said that on April 17, there will be intense heat in Bhopal. Partly cloudy in the afternoon. Due to this, the day temperature will remain around 40 degrees and at night around 23 degrees.
The DNA report of Mirchi Baba alias Vairagyanand Giri, who is in jail on charges of rape, has come negative. That is, Babas samples have not matched with the victims samples, after which his lawyer has said that he will soon go to the Supreme Court for bail. Here, Baba is kept in Barrack-17 of Central Jail Bhopal.

Jail Superintendent Rakesh Bhangre said that most of Baba's time is spent in turning the garland. He lives decently now. He wakes up in the morning and worships in the temple built inside the jail. After this he goes to the barracks. All the under trial prisoners are in his barracks. Baba is in jail for 8 months and 8 days.

About two months back, the police had taken him from jail to Jaypee Hospital. Where, medical samples of the victim and Baba were taken for DNA.

Let us tell you that on August 8, 2022, a 28-year-old woman from Raisen lodged a case of rape and threats against Mirchi Baba alias Vairagyanand Giri. After which he was arrested from Gwalior. Since then Baba has been in the Central Jail of Bhopal.

Mirchi Baba's lawyer Shrikrishna Dhonsela says- During the police investigation, the DNA sample of the accused was taken at Jaypee Hospital in Bhopal. At the same time Baba was called from jail and a blood sample was taken. He had given all those samples in the forensic investigation.

All those reports have been found negative. They haven't been able to match. This will help in the case that Baba was politically implicated.

About five months ago, the police presented a 566-page challan in the Bhopal court. Out of these, 414 pages are of call details of Baba's phone.
A photo booth was put up at Medi-Caps University, Indore, which was an exhibition of memorable moments, which members of the Ikshana Film & Photography community put together with their own hands and decorated with photographs of club members.

Photography is one art that will never go out of fashion because it has the ability to literally stop time. A child always remains a child in the photo and the bird keeps flying. In this way photography captures a moment out of the ever-moving eternal time and this is its beauty and greatest attraction.

Joel Sartor, a young specialist in photography, says that for me a beautiful photograph must have three things - it must have good lighting, it must be well composed, the background should not clash with the main subject and it should have one of the following: Moments should be cherished that either capture a feeling or a particular scene.

In all these also the importance of the time of taking the photo is very high. The best photos are those that seem impossible, that seem beyond belief in the ordinary way of thinking.

All the members of the University of Medi-Caps, The Chancellor R.C. Mittal, Hon'ble Pro-Chancellor Gopal Agrawal, Vice-Chancellor Prof (Dr.) D.K. Patnayak, PalashGarg, Saloni Garg and Registrar Naveen Dhingra, Dr. Rekha Jain, Anil Patidar and Alok Rarotia and all those who came to witness of the event. EFPC The community thanks you all from the bottom of our hearts.
With the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections still over a year away in Haryana, it would be premature to predict the poll strategy of various parties but churning has already started in the states all major players  Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress, Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).

Currently, all 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana are held by BJP members. In the 2019 Assembly polls, JJP won 10 seats, while the BJP and Congress got 40 and 31 respectively. Six of the seven Independents are also supporting the BJP-JJP government in the State.

Talking to reporters, senior BJP leader and former Union Minister Birender Singh, who is in favour of the party contesting the 2024 State Assembly and Lok Sabha polls independently, said that BJP has a very strong base in the State and does not need anyones support. Although it was early to predict, BJPs fight in the next years state Assembly polls should mainly be with the Congress, he added.

Reacting to a question on the future of the alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party and Jannayak Janata Party, Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala had recently said: I am not an astrologer. As of today, we have an alliance with the BJP and it is working well. The state has progressed well during the BJP-JJP regime.

As far as the next years elections are concerned, we are preparing for all the 10 Lok Sabha seats and 70 Assembly seats. Every party aspires to increase its number of seats in the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha, and with that in mind, we are trying to strengthen our base in all the seats, he had added.

Moreover, keeping in view of upcoming elections, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had also recently launched a Jan Samvad programme to listen to public grievances by sitting among them. After Bhiwani, the Chief Minister, on the demand of the people during the Jan Samvad programme in Palwal, had made a slew of announcements and solved problems on the spot while visiting different villages and interacting with rural folks.

Few months ago, around 50 leaders, including three former MLAs had joined the Congress at the Congress Bhavan in Chandigarh, leaving BJP, JJP, INLD and Aam Aadmi Party.

Congress party also has recently started several public meetings under the campaign Hath Se Hath Jodo Abhiyan. To woo the voters, the senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda had also made several promises during the campaign. Farmers will get MSP, jobs for youth and old pension scheme for employees when the Congress government is formed in Haryana. Congress is constantly engaged in public relations under the 'Haath se Haath Jodo' campaign, he had said.

Hooda, while addressing the Vipaksh Aapke Samaksh and Jai Bharat Satyagraha program in Yamunanagar recently, had said: About two lakh posts are lying vacant in government departments. The wind blowing in favour of the Congress has now taken the form of a storm, by the time the elections come, it will turn into a typhoon.

Moreover, fighting for the partys survival, senior INLD leader Abhay Chautala has now embarked upon a 215-day padayatra  flagged off by its supremo Om Prakash Chautala in Nuhs Shringar village on February 24  passing through all 90 Assembly constituencies of the State to reconnect with the electorate ahead of the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections next year and reclaim the political ground ceded to its breakaway group.

To brighten its chances, this party has kept its doors open for alliance with any political party, including the Congress, to defeat the anti-farmer BJP-JJP alliance in the State. Om Prakash Chautala also made a call for a grand national coalition against the BJP and the birth anniversary celebration of the late Deputy Prime Minister Chaudhary Devi Lal last year provided a platform for Oppositions unity with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his Deputy Tejashwi Yadav, along with several leaders from the different political parties, sharing the dais.

Abhay Chautala, at a press conference earlier this month, had said that the padayatra would culminate at Kurukshetra on September 25 coinciding with the birth anniversary celebration of Chaudhary Devi Lal and the event would be attended by senior Opposition leaders.

The Bharatiya Janata Party gave a slogan to cross the 75-seat mark in 2019, but the people of Haryana rejected it. However, some selfish people supported the party to form its government. But the coalition government has created problems for the masses, instead of addressing their grievances, said Ellenabad MLA Abhay Singh Chautala in a veiled attack on the partys breakaway faction Jannayak Janta Party, the junior partner in the States alliance government, at a gathering in Faridabads Fathepur village.
Inaugurating a 2 MW power generation power plant at Maa Mahamaya Sugar Factory at Kerta, Chhattisgarh Cooperative Minister Dr Premsai Singh Tekam said it will generate Rs 1 crore additional income each month to the factory.

The generation of 2 MW is one more achievement for the sugar factory. It will benefit the factory and farmers, an official communication quoted him as saying.

He said it is the third power plant for the area. Work has also been undertaken to establish an ethanol plant in the factory premises.
RPS Hospital Bariyatu today celebrated its 8th Foundation Day on this occasion the hospital management Committee paid floral tributes to the doctor late Dr RP Singh

The directors and they staff of the hospital on this occasion also cut Cake, besides doing the Puja rituals

This hospital was formerly known as Bariatu Nursing Home and it was converted into RPS Hospital in year 2015 thus this premises is having this hospital for last 58 years .As on today the Super Speciality Hospital is capable of delivery all state of the art Super Speciality service which includes besides the dialysis unit and a fully acute modular roti for all kind of letters surgical procedures from neurosurgical to spinal and difficult oncological and plastic surgical surgery the the directors give appreciation award to after more than half as a start after doesn't more than half doesn't stop for there dedicated services as incentive they were given gifts ,certificate and the staff of the Year got cash award RPS Hospital Bariyatu today celebrated its 8th Foundation Day on this occasion the hospital management Committee paid floral tributes to the doctor late Dr RP Singh

The directors and they staff of the hospital on this occasion also cut Cake, besides doing the Puja rituals

This hospital was formerly known as Bariatu Nursing Home and it was converted into RPS Hospital in year 2015 thus this premises is having this hospital for last 58 years .As on today the Super Speciality Hospital is capable of delivery all state of the art Super Speciality service which includes besides the dialysis unit and a fully acute modular roti for all kind of letters surgical procedures from neurosurgical to spinal and difficult oncological and plastic surgical surgery the the directors give appreciation award to after more than half as a start after doesn't more than half doesn't stop for there dedicated services as incentive they were given gifts ,certificate and the staff of the Year got cash award to on this occasion besides all the staff and doctors all four directors Dr.Amar Kumar Singh ,Dr Ajay Kumar Singh Dr. Usha Singh and Dr Mrs. S. Singh where present to on this occasion besides all the staff and doctors all four directors Dr.Amar Kumar Singh ,Dr Ajay Kumar Singh Dr. Usha Singh and Dr Mrs. S. Singh where present

* Best Employee Award

Josephin Panna (ICN)

* Certificate of Appreciation

1. Tabish Naushad (Business Head)

2. Mohibull Ashquin Khan (Operations Manager)

3. Geeta Kumari (Staff Nurse?

4. Madhu (Staff housekeeper)

5. Ganesh (Staff Housekeeper)

6. Santosh Ram (Canteen Supervisor)
Former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Sunday said the killing of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf in police custody in Prayagraj raised serious questions over the style of functioning of the Uttar Pradesh government.

It would be better if the Supreme Court takes cognisance of this "extremely serious and worrisome" incident, which is being discussed across the country, the former chief minister added.

In a series of tweets, she said, "Now, instead of 'rule of law by law' in Uttar Pradesh, how appropriate is it that it becomes 'encounter Pradesh'? Something to think about."

"The shooting dead of Atiq Ahmad, who was brought from a Gujarat jail, and his brother Ashraf, who was brought from Bareilly jail, last night in Prayagraj in police custody is just as heinous as the Umesh Pal murder case. It raises serious questions on the law and order of the UP government, and its style of functioning," she said.

"Criminals should be given the harshest punishment but it should be according to the law of the land. Playing with or violating the rule of law and the judicial process for any political purpose is not right for our democracy," Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on Sunday, a day after gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were shot dead in Prayagraj.

Without taking names, in a tweet in Hindi, Priyanka Vadra said the law of the country was written in the Constitution and this law was paramount. "Whoever plays with or violates the rule of law and the judicial process or gives protection to those who indulge in such an act, should also be held responsible and the law should be strictly enforced on that person," she said, adding that it should be the endeavour of all that the justice system and the rule of law remained supreme in the country.

Atiq Ahmad and Ashraf, both jailed in Prayagraj, were in handcuffs when they were killed in full view of camera crews around 10 pm on Saturday. The horrifying visuals were circulated widely on social media platforms and television channels.
The name of Saint Ravidas is taken with reverence because he told people to live with equality, said Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Sunday.

He said Ravidas called work as worship and that no work is small, he said addressing a conference of the Chhattisgarh Mehar Samaj on Mahadev Ghat Road.

The Chief Minister pledged to rename a chowk in Naya Raipur after Ravidas and Rs. 5 lakh every year to celebrate his birth anniversary.

Baghel blessed four newly-weds. Six people of the society were felicitated with Meher Ratna.
Police on Saturday registered a case after the SDM of Karawal Nagar and his staff were allegedly assaulted when they had gone to inspect a jeans unit in northeast Delhi, officials said.

Sanjay Sondhi, Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Karawal Nagar, filed a complaint with the police stating that around 1.45 pm, he along with staff members, visited a house in Amar Vihar to raid an illegal jeans colouring unit, they said.

The owner of the house, a Head Constable identified as Kuldeep Singh, along with some others, assaulted him and his staff and did not allow them to inspect the place, the officials said.

Kuldeep is posted in the Security Unit of Delhi Police, a senior police officer said.

The SDM and his staff were taken to GTB Hospital for medical examination, he said.

Based on the complaint, a case was registered under sections 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 at Karawal Nagar police station, police said.
Barricades will be removed in communal violence-hit Biranpur village in Chhattisgarh's Bemetara district in line with an agreement reached between the district administration and villagers.

The agreement was reached at the second peace committee meeting held in the presence of District Collector P S Alma and Superintendent of Police I Kalyan Elesela. Village heads were also present.

But the barricade at the entrance of the village will continue with deployment of police. The entry of outsiders will be prohibited.

The worship in the temple will continue as normal and namaz will be offered in the mosque. The police will continue to patrol in the village.

The villagers reiterated that all the villagers will live in harmony. The Collector and the Superintendent of Police urged the villagers to celebrate all the upcoming festivals with mutual brotherhood.

District Collector P S Alma said economic activities have to be resumed in the village and work needs to be done to bring back the village to normal.

He said legal action is being taken against all those involved in disturbing peace. He assured the villagers all possible help from the administration.

Members from both the communities members hugged each other at the meeting.
Israel is gripped by a serious political crisis. Anti-government protesters are out on roads. They want Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign. Since the beginning of this year, people have been opposing the governments reform plans.

What the protesters and the people say is that the Governments reform plans will seriously weaken the ethos of democracy in Israel. He is targeting the judiciary that continuously keeps a check on the political leaders. The critics all over the world allege that if his reform plans become laws, these will shield Netanyahu from his current trials, and will help his government pass all the laws without any hassle.

What has created the controversy? And what is the fallout? Under the new reform proposal, the power of the countrys Supreme Court to review the bills of the Government would be restricted. Second, a simple majority in the Parliament, called Knesset, would be able to overturn the decisions of the court. Third, the Government would be capable of having a bigger say in the selection of the judges, including that of the Supreme Court. Finally, the Ministers would no longer be bound by the advice of the Attorney General.

In the meantime, Netanyahu has already made one big change  the Attorney General has lost power to declare a sitting Prime Minister unfit for running the office.

All these fears have sparked sufficient controversies and doubts over the real intentions of the Government. Netanyahu was forced to withdraw the reform proposals. And he did it with a theatrical speech knowing fully well that these all have happened only because of him. He is simply buying time and making future plans. But it has been accepted that he has failed to grasp the pulse of the people this time.

Benjamin Netanyahu is a hardliner. A masters from MIT, America, is very much acquainted with what Washington expects from Israel. And in the 1980s, he advocated his countrys case as a diplomat in the US and became very popular. By the 1990s, he launched his active political career when the fragile peace accord between Palestine and Israel fell.

Netanyahu wanted to bring serious reform measures, especially judicial reform, in the country. But the country witnessed massive protests all over, particularly in the commercial capital city of Tel Aviv in the last week of March. The protesters have called for the resignation of the Prime Minister and scrapping the new bills for reforms. In fact, this was a golden opportunity for all the Opposition parties and his political rivals to come together to unseat the government of Netanyahu.

And another decades old trouble with Palestine continues as of today. The recent changes in the power equations in the region have once again threatened the fragile Abraham Accords with Bahrain and the UAE, mediated by then US President Donald Trump. In fact, Trump brought more chaos to the region. Today, geopolitical equations are fast changing as Iran; the biggest Shia power of the region, is coming closer to its Sunni rivals.

Meanwhile Netanyahu is creating more troubles for himself by simply denying a two-state solution to the long-standing Israel-Palestine crisis. A group of progressive democrats in the US has already called on President Biden to change the countrys policy on the Israel-Palestine conflict. These democratic lawmakers appeal to the US President that the money paid by the American taxpayers should not be used for abusing the rights of the Palestinian people. They also urged the administration to investigate whether American weapons were used to target Palestinians. What was striking in the appeal was that the US public funds should not be supplied to build illegal construction in occupied territories. Interestingly, the US gives nearly $3.8 billion as military aid to Israel and now veteran Congressman like Bernie Sanders and Jamaal Bowman are asking the lawmaking body to restrict the same.

Netanyahu is creating a fresh political mess by resorting to money and muscle power. He must understand the limits of public patience. Despite running a coalition government, he is creating one after other hurdles for the regime. No doubt, he is a veteran and he can easily turn the tide at any time. He has absolutely proved the political pundits wrong on many occasions by returning to power amid calls for his imprisonment.

For decades, the Israeli Prime Ministers have resorted to the same tactic whenever they are in trouble: either they provoke confrontation or when the situation worsens, the Army will be sent. Gaza has been the testing laboratory for this purpose for the last more than one and half decade. However, another Israeli leader Ehud Olmert tried to experiment the same process with Lebanon, but it did not yield good results for him.

But unlike other leaders, Netanyahu is immersed in both personal and political crises. He is currently in the midst of a corruption trial but unfortunately the law is not on his side. He is working hard to remain relevant and stay in power in the days to come. And the last controversy is the new legislation to weaken the courts.

Now, we need to see what holds good for Netanyahu. He is a man who works against all odds. Known as the King of Israel and popularly as Bibi, Netanyahu has been dominating Israeli politics for generations. Thus, he is regarded as the Great Survivor in the country. He has a combative style of functioning. He is the longest serving leader of the country. A country heavily surrounded by Islamic countries, so-called enemies for the Jewish State, demands a strong leader like him. He absolutely fits the bill, and he has done so. He has taken his right-wing politics with a nationalist tinge to the voters. He is the face of his nation and he knows how to woo the successive leaders in the West, especially in the White House.

A former commando turned politician, long convinced the Israeli people that they are much safer and stronger and richer under his reign. Ironically, most of the Israelis and Palestinians who are under 30 have spent their lives under the leadership of Prime Minister Netanyahu. He was first elected as the PM at the age of 46 and now going to be 73. He has remained in power and was never far away from the hot seat. Today he is the longest serving Prime Minister and has already surpassed the record of the founding father of Israel David Ben-Gurion.

The PM has much to lose against possible gains from introducing new legislations. Because it is time for reconciliation, not for fresh conflicts in the already war-torn West Asia. But the problem is that his central agenda is all dictated by the religious extremists to whom he cant say no.

Looking at the fast-changing global power calculus and declining power of the US, Netanyahu should handle his political affairs rather very carefully. The reason behind this is that the US is gradually withdrawing from the West Asian region and concentrating solely on the Asia Pacific simply to contain an ever growing China.

(The writer is the Head of the Department of Arts and Humanities at Geeta University, Panipat)
Prime Minister Modi's leadership qualities elevate our understanding of what makes for effective national and global leadership designed to produce quick, better results impacting the world immensely, writes Kk Srivastava

And everywhere is darkness

There is a challenge, there is a call..Search for dreams in ruins

For they give living meaning

Forgetting yesterday

Opening our hearts today

Extending the horizons

We resolve to save the drowning ones

Taking support of each other

Usher a bright new beginning

There is a challenge, There is a call.

These lines are from then Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modis poem Tomorrows Challenge included in his book of poems: a JOURNEY, (translated into English from Gujarati by Ravi Mantha and published in 2014). While one may sink into the sweet cadence of these lyrical lines, these also arouse interest in another area. It is the subject of national leadership which makes possible realisation of the dream of Taking support of each other/Usher a bright new beginning or the dream Irish poet Seamus Heaney so analogously expresses, The longed for tidal wave/Of justice can rise up, and hope and history rhyme.

People are fascinated by such a leadership; a few traits of which I intend to analyse here. Many have attempted solving the riddle of what effective leadership is all about. George W Bush once quipped, A leadership is someone who brings people together John Kenneth Galbraith argued a great leader is one who is willing to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time but also who changes himself as these change. An unknown satirist described a leader as someone who turns her/his back on the people and then claims they are all standing behind her/him. Another view: a great leader is one who creates a problem for her/his people and then convinces them only s/he can solve it. However, the best classification and by corollary the best definition of leaders came to me from an entirely unexpected quarter: literary critics. I found it in a 1959 edition of the book titled Living Biographies of Great Poets by Henry Thomas and Dana Lee Thomas. They introduced to readers three types of leaders in the world. The Sayers: those who make laws and direct our activities. The Seekers: those who examine the nature of the world and invent new tools. And the Seers: those who interpret the spirit of the world and proclaim new truths.

The authors claimed poets belong to the last category, for they, articulate the best thoughts that arise in all the other classes. More importantly, while We all have an instinct for noble ideas and hopes, but it takes the poet to express this instinct in noble words. Prime Minister Narendra Modis poems bring insightfulness in others hearts and awaken the minds to bloom, expand and grow.

Prime Minister Modis leadership qualities elevate our understanding of what makes for effective national and global leadership designed to produce quick, better results impacting the world immensely. Modern World is highly complex, uncertain and full of market volatility. Already existing thin lining between polity and economy is almost extinguished. A good politician has got to be a good economist. Prime Minister Modi has a sound understanding of the processes of economic expansion and required structural changes through which peoples life can be improved. He knows a proper nexus between politics, economics and policies leads to good politics where political processes are sorted out effectively which in turn produce enduring policies. Only then good governance can be a reality.

A successful leader has to anticipate and navigate inherited and emerging complexities. He has to be courageous, conscious, and of impeccable integrity and character. Above all, the leader has to relentlessly pursue sustainable collective welfare while being such a creative person as to shape the future of not only the nation but also the world. When Modi became the Prime Minister in 2014, he realised huge expectations placed on him by the people of the country. Expectations were both explicit like the ones flowing from BJPs manifesto and implicit also. Implicit expectations are what people look forward to seeing in the leader: commitment, listening, acting on suggestions, fairness, competence, imparting meaning and direction to the society and economy, creating international impact et al. Implicit expectations, once met, carry a huge impact of the leaders image on people. People silently believed, given his performance as Chief Minister of Gujarat, he would fulfil both expectations. Put it differently, he would fulfil what his leadership has promised.

Prime Minister Modi has been displaying a few characteristics so symbolic of his effective leadership. He has been setting the vision of his leadership and then directing his team to make strategies needed to achieve the vision. From such a direction flows national and international identity and brand which, in turn, seek to answer the question what peerless contribution can be made to the international community.

Secondly, he has been engaging all stakeholders (Various States and Opposition parties) inviting suggestions to draw holistic plans of action. Thirdly, Prime Minister Modi has been ensuring that processes and systems are devised in all areas in such a manner as to facilitate execution, linking efforts to results. Fourthly, he has been steadfastly maintaining his leadership strengths, with increased pace, making these relevant to the complexity of the milieu the world is in. These characteristics, lumped together, have boosted his image as a global leader enhancing the possibility of India becoming Vishwa Guru.

His messages are succinct, direct and clear. It is another important quality of Modis leadership. We all know how unclear messages from leaders can cause confusion, distract attention and lead to problematic situations. Democracy, Leadership, Commitment: last chapter of John Kenneth Galbraiths book The Age of Uncertainty deals extensively with how bad consequences can be of a leaders not sharing accurate information with the people. In 1933, the Great Depression was an anxiety arousing phenomenon. President Hoover could not face an economic disaster of that magnitude and falsely conveyed to people the slump was over. On the contrary President Roosevelt, in his inaugural address itself, laid bare the truth before the public and directed all his energies towards tackling the problem. Galbraith summarises, The peoples concern was his concern. What could be done, he would do. There would be no pretence.

Modi does not mince words when he foresees difficult times ahead. He takes utmost care to ensure that people do not get mired in a state of helplessness and hopelessness. His vision and ensuing strategies capture peoples imagination and act as a source of morale booster. With passing time and experience, his credibility enhances and expands itself. This is what has been making a difference globally.

Yet another extraordinary feature of Modis leadership has been his emphasis on desired future vision while confronting current scenarios and hurdles and taking cohesive, collaborative and direct steps to actualise future vision. There is a direct nexus between his passion, mental and physical agility, innovativeness and empowerment that facilitate attainment of desired future goals. There is a belief in need for change, sometimes drastic change for betterment of human welfare. Robert F Kennedy remarked, Some men look at the way things are and say why. I dream of things that never were and say why not. Prime Minister Modi keeps asking himself, Why not? Evolution of New India has deep roots in things that were never there with the leader of the nation questioning why not. Modis India-Vision 2047 is a shining example of future vision.

Modi tackled, with ingenuity, courage and vigour, the image of India as a soft state. His vast experience as Chief Minister of Gujarat and later as Prime Minister convinced him of Gunnar Myrdals assertions that competence of government in developing countries itself is a part of the equilibrium of poverty and backwardness. The governments of developing countries are politically and financially vulnerable; they have a limited resource base and enormous civil service set up and other micro/macro level responsibilities. These, coupled with absence of strong political will, rendered India very much a soft state. Sensing the necessity to escape from India being a soft state, Prime Minister Modis emphasis on minimum government and maximum governance paves the way for smooth and hurdle less governance.

Correction of a historical wrong i.e the abolition of Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu & Kashmir required tough interior of Modis leadership. Removal of Article 370 wiped out in one stroke the veil enveloping J&K. One of the most path-breaking consequences has been assimilation of Kashmiris into the national mainstream and much reduction in acts of terrorism.

Demonetisation in November 2016 was a sharp attack on black money that was eating into vitals of healthy economic relations. The swiftness with which the exercise was carried out nationally was remarkable and the laudable objectives, inter alia, of curtailing black money running as shadow economy and preventing use of counterfeit cash to fund illegal activity and terrorism have been amply achieved. Digital empowerment of citizens of the country is amazing and citizens across the country can now access electronic and digital services of the government.

During management of Covid-19, Modi had a hands-on approach towards energising the healthcare system, tackling pharma-related issues and coordinating with various Chief Ministers through regular meetings which led to worldwide appreciation. Many countries asked for help from India and under Modis guidance a helping hand was extended to many countries. He, through his actions, proved the words of Rabindranth Tagore, When a light is lighted, it cannot be held within a short range. It is for the whole world.

New tools like Jan Dhan, Aadhar and Mobile (JAM) are crucial in Indias empowerment the poor and downtrodden. Middlemen and corrupt practices have vanished and direct benefits reach households without any interruptions. Institutional complexities of socio-economic development: allocation of resources, distributive justice, ease of business, etc, are resolved at reasonable speed. Ayushman Bharat: a comprehensive need-based health-care service aims at undertaking pioneering interventions to address holistically the healthcare system at the primary, secondary and tertiary level.

At the website of any scheme, one realises the presence and value of crucial information about that scheme. Good economics reveals maximum information to the beneficiaries. Now poor people dont lack critical information about what the government is doing for them. Above cited cases are illustrative only.

Wider acceptance of India in the world as a democratically functioning country which shows a clear, illumined path for progress and which solves intricate problems efficiently has much to do with Prime Minister Modis capability as a leader who has built rich linkages with the world. The Prime Minister knows how to lose himself in a worthwhile cause which improves life for others in different parts of the world. Formation of meaningful and warm relationships with other nations reflects on Modis brilliance as a leader.

Last but not the least, Mann ki Baat, a programme conveyed through Radio, represents collective thoughts and experiences of people of India and the Prime Minister himself. It, inter alia, caters to broader requirements of plurality and heterodoxy empowering the most disadvantaged members of society to reach the Prime Minister. It is a fusion of rarest order signalling an unprecedented oneness between the Prime Minister and the people of the country and vice versa.

Rounding up Modis leadership, one gets a feeling there is much more than competence, skills and capability. In him, we come across abundance of passion, compassion, honesty, intellectual integrity, courage, intuition, reliance on internal strengths, humility, et al. Modi has reached that stage of self and conscious awareness where philosophy, human psychology, meditation and spiritualism blend harmoniously. This blend has evolved into a leadership model enabling him decipher reality, ruminate comprehensively, act decisively and wallow in creativity. As a leader, Prime Minister Modi is an epitome of what Henry Thomas and Dana Lee Thomas describe as three types of leaders: a Sayer, a Seeker and a Seer.

(KK Srivastava is a former Additional Deputy Comptroller & Auditor General. He is a poet, writer and columnist. Author of three volumes of poetry, his poems have been translated into Hindi (Andhere Se Nikli Kavitayen) and his book Shadows of the Real into Russian by veteran Russian poet Adolf Shvedchikov. His fourth book Soliloquy of a Small-Town Uncivil Servant: a literary semi-autobiography published in March 2019 by Rupa Publications, has received international acclaim. His fifth book: The Descent: Essays and Critiques was published in 2022 by Authors Press, New Delhi. He writes for The Pioneer, The Daily Guardian and Brazilian Literary Magazine SIBILA. Views expressed here are his personal views)
Franco-Nevada (TSE:FNV  Get Rating) (NYSE:FNV) had its target price trimmed by BMO Capital Markets from C$238.00 to C$237.00 in a report published on Friday, BayStreet.CA reports.

FNV has been the subject of a number of other reports. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Franco-Nevada from a buy rating to a hold rating and cut their price target for the stock from C$206.00 to C$204.00 in a research note on Monday, January 23rd. CIBC increased their price objective on Franco-Nevada from C$230.00 to C$240.00 in a report on Friday, March 10th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Franco-Nevada from C$222.00 to C$226.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 5th. National Bankshares increased their price objective on Franco-Nevada from C$190.00 to C$200.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Friday, January 13th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Franco-Nevada from C$202.00 to C$214.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Franco-Nevada presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of C$204.11.

Get Franco-Nevada alerts:

Franco-Nevada Stock Down 0.3 %

FNV opened at C$208.67 on Friday. Franco-Nevada has a fifty-two week low of C$151.08 and a fifty-two week high of C$212.57. The business has a 50-day moving average of C$189.49 and a 200-day moving average of C$185.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 27.55 and a quick ratio of 23.26. The company has a market capitalization of C$40.04 billion, a PE ratio of 42.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 0.63.

Franco-Nevada Increases Dividend

Franco-Nevada Company Profile

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 16th were paid a dividend of $0.462 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 15th. This is a boost from Franco-Nevadas previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Franco-Nevadas payout ratio is 37.55%.

(Get Rating)

Franco-Nevada Corporation operates as a gold-focused royalty and streaming company in Latin America, the United States, Canada, and internationally. It operates in two segments, Mining and Energy. The company manages its portfolio with a focus on precious metals, such as gold, silver, and platinum group metals; and energy comprising oil, gas, and natural gas liquids.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Franco-Nevada Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Franco-Nevada and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Chorus Aviation (TSE:CHR  Get Rating) had its price target decreased by CIBC from C$4.75 to C$4.50 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, BayStreet.CA reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. National Bankshares reduced their price target on Chorus Aviation from C$4.80 to C$4.50 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 17th. Cormark dropped their price objective on Chorus Aviation from C$4.75 to C$4.25 in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on Chorus Aviation from C$4.00 to C$3.25 in a research note on Thursday, March 30th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered Chorus Aviation from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating and lifted their price objective for the company from C$4.00 to C$4.40 in a research note on Monday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of C$4.41.

Get Chorus Aviation alerts:

Chorus Aviation Stock Performance

Shares of CHR opened at C$3.07 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 160.06. The company has a market capitalization of C$615.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.62, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 2.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average of C$3.26 and a 200 day moving average of C$3.14. Chorus Aviation has a 12 month low of C$2.24 and a 12 month high of C$4.24.

About Chorus Aviation

Chorus Aviation ( TSE:CHR Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 15th. The company reported C$0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts consensus estimates of C$0.11. Chorus Aviation had a return on equity of 5.30% and a net margin of 3.06%. The business had revenue of C$439.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$409.16 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Chorus Aviation will post 0.4171196 earnings per share for the current year.

(Get Rating)

Chorus Aviation Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides various aviation support services in the United States and Canada. The company operates through two segments, Regional Aviation Services and Regional Aircraft Leasing. The Regional Aviation Services segment includes all three sectors of the regional aviation, such as contract flying, including ACMI and charter operations; aircraft leasing; and maintenance, repair, and overhaul, as well as part sales and technical services.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Chorus Aviation Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Chorus Aviation and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Cross Timbers Royalty Trust (NYSE:CRT  Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 43,100 shares, an increase of 70.4% from the March 15th total of 25,300 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the companys stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 67,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.6 days.

Institutional Trading of Cross Timbers Royalty Trust

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CRT. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Cross Timbers Royalty Trust during the 1st quarter worth approximately $780,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Cross Timbers Royalty Trust by 817.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 20,327 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 18,112 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Cross Timbers Royalty Trust by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 17,853 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $454,000 after purchasing an additional 2,403 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in Cross Timbers Royalty Trust by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 13,425 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $176,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citadel Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Cross Timbers Royalty Trust during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $216,000.

Get Cross Timbers Royalty Trust alerts:

Cross Timbers Royalty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of CRT traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $19.94. The companys stock had a trading volume of 42,343 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,912. Cross Timbers Royalty Trust has a 1-year low of $13.20 and a 1-year high of $30.40. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.17.

Cross Timbers Royalty Trust Increases Dividend

Analyst Ratings Changes

The firm also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 31st were given a $0.1793 dividend. This represents a $2.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.79%. This is a boost from Cross Timbers Royalty Trusts previous monthly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 30th. Cross Timbers Royalty Trusts dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 121.47%.

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on Cross Timbers Royalty Trust in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating for the company.

About Cross Timbers Royalty Trust

(Get Rating)

Cross Timbers Royalty Trust is an express trust, which operates as a trustee of Southwest Bank. It is created to collect and distribute monthly net profits income to Unitholders. It has interest in certain royalty and overriding royalty interest properties in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. The firm also has interest in certain working interest properties in Texas and Oklahoma.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Cross Timbers Royalty Trust Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Cross Timbers Royalty Trust and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
StockNews.com cut shares of Southern (NYSE:SO  Get Rating) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Thursday morning.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $79.00 to $78.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $71.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $68.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Friday, December 16th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $61.00 to $57.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $71.64.

Get Southern alerts:

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $71.94 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The firms fifty day moving average price is $67.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.51. Southern has a 1 year low of $58.85 and a 1 year high of $80.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.02 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern Announces Dividend

Southern ( NYSE:SO Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.02. Southern had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 11.73%. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.36 earnings per share. The companys quarterly revenue was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Southern will post 3.61 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 17th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.78%. Southerns payout ratio is 82.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 852 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.31, for a total value of $57,348.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,059 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,484,791.29. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.89, for a total value of $359,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 146,284 shares of the companys stock, valued at $10,516,356.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 852 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.31, for a total transaction of $57,348.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,059 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,484,791.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,134 shares of company stock worth $502,179 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Southern by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 684,928 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $46,575,000 after purchasing an additional 65,826 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 13,547 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $920,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. CAPROCK Group Inc. bought a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $228,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 23,372 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $1,589,000 after acquiring an additional 2,528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its stake in Southern by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 38,631 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $2,627,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.78% of the companys stock.

About Southern

(Get Rating)

The Southern Co is a holding company, which engages in the generation and sale of electricity. It operates through the following segments: Traditional Electric Operating Companies, Southern Power and Southern Company Gas. The Traditional Electric Operating Companies segment refers to vertically integrated utilities that own generation, transmission and distribution facilities, and supplies electric services in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Southern Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Southern and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) had its target price lifted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $160.00 to $172.00 in a research report released on Friday morning, The Fly reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on JPM. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $150.00 to $132.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 24th. UBS Group set a $156.00 price target on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a research report on Friday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and upped their price target for the stock from $148.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Monday, March 13th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $189.00 to $179.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $150.88.

Get JPMorgan Chase & Co. alerts:

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trading Up 7.6 %

Shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. stock opened at $138.73 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $406.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a 1 year low of $101.28 and a 1 year high of $144.34. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $134.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $131.47.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Announces Dividend

JPMorgan Chase & Co. ( NYSE:JPM Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 14th. The financial services provider reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.69. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a net margin of 24.34% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The firm had revenue of $38.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $35.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.63 EPS. JPMorgan Chase & Co.s revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 12.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 6th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 5th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. JPMorgan Chase & Co.s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.11%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mary E. Erdoes sold 10,340 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.29, for a total value of $1,450,598.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 544,136 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,336,839.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mary E. Erdoes sold 10,340 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.29, for a total transaction of $1,450,598.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 544,136 shares in the company, valued at $76,336,839.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Stacey Friedman sold 23,148 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.31, for a total transaction of $3,247,895.88. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 48,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,778,516.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 37,887 shares of company stock worth $5,315,762. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P grew its position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 81.1% in the 1st quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P now owns 222,422 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $30,321,000 after purchasing an additional 99,636 shares during the last quarter. BCK Partners Inc. bought a new position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the 1st quarter worth about $2,455,000. LSV Asset Management grew its position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 35.6% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 37,300 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $5,085,000 after purchasing an additional 9,800 shares during the last quarter. Wsfs Capital Management LLC grew its position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 70.8% in the 1st quarter. Wsfs Capital Management LLC now owns 4,221 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $575,000 after purchasing an additional 1,749 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lumature Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 1,451.4% in the 1st quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,770 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $514,000 after purchasing an additional 3,527 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.89% of the companys stock.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Company Profile

(Get Rating)

JPMorgan Chase & Co is a financial holding company, which engages in providing financial and investment banking services. The firm offers a range of investment banking products and services in all capital markets, including advising on corporate strategy and structure, capital raising in equity and debt markets, risk management, market making in cash securities and derivative instruments, and brokerage and research.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for JPMorgan Chase & Co. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for JPMorgan Chase & Co. and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Xinyuan Real Estate (NYSE:XIN  Get Rating) in a report issued on Friday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the financial services providers stock.

Xinyuan Real Estate Stock Performance

XIN opened at $3.32 on Friday. Xinyuan Real Estate has a 1-year low of $2.95 and a 1-year high of $11.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $4.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.63.

Get Xinyuan Real Estate alerts:

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A hedge fund recently bought a new stake in Xinyuan Real Estate stock. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd. (NYSE:XIN  Get Rating) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 478,629 shares of the financial services providers stock, valued at approximately $536,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. owned 0.90% of Xinyuan Real Estate as of its most recent SEC filing. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.91% of the companys stock.

Xinyuan Real Estate Company Profile

Xinyuan Real Estate Co Ltd. is a holding company, which engages in the acquisition, investment, and development of real estate properties. It operates through the following geographical segments: Henan Province, Shandong Province, Jiangsu Province, Sichuan Province, Beijing, Hainan Province, Hunan Province, Shaanxi Province, Shanghai, Tianjin, Xinjiang, Zhuhai, and United States.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Xinyuan Real Estate Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Xinyuan Real Estate and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Zhejiang Expressway (OTCMKTS:ZHEXF  Get Rating) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research note published on Thursday, The Fly reports.

Zhejiang Expressway Trading Up 5.8 %

Zhejiang Expressway stock opened at $0.84 on Thursday. Zhejiang Expressway has a 12-month low of $0.61 and a 12-month high of $0.94.

Get Zhejiang Expressway alerts:

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Zhejiang Expressway Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Zhejiang Expressway and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
All Season Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Invesco Senior Loan ETF (NYSEARCA:BKLN  Get Rating) by 86.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 82,933 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after purchasing an additional 38,459 shares during the quarter. Invesco Senior Loan ETF comprises 1.5% of All Season Financial Advisors Inc.s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. All Season Financial Advisors Inc.s holdings in Invesco Senior Loan ETF were worth $1,703,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BKLN. Great Diamond Partners LLC acquired a new position in Invesco Senior Loan ETF in the 4th quarter valued at $4,159,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D acquired a new stake in shares of Invesco Senior Loan ETF during the 4th quarter worth $25,663,000. Cedar Brook Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Invesco Senior Loan ETF during the 4th quarter worth $303,000. Wambolt & Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Invesco Senior Loan ETF by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC now owns 247,599 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $5,083,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Invesco Senior Loan ETF by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Securities Inc. now owns 467,314 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $9,594,000 after buying an additional 3,559 shares during the last quarter.

Get Invesco Senior Loan ETF alerts:

Invesco Senior Loan ETF Price Performance

Invesco Senior Loan ETF stock traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $20.97. The stock had a trading volume of 983,887 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,664,421. Invesco Senior Loan ETF has a one year low of $20.06 and a one year high of $21.81. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $20.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.83.

Invesco Senior Loan ETF Profile

The Invesco Senior Loan ETF (BKLN) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in high yield fixed income. The fund tracks a market-value-weighted index of senior loans issued by banks to corporations. BKLN was launched on Mar 3, 2011 and is managed by Invesco.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Invesco Senior Loan ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Invesco Senior Loan ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Arrow Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT  Get Rating) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,729 shares of the healthcare product makers stock after purchasing an additional 454 shares during the quarter. Arrow Financial Corps holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $4,581,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,424,620 shares of the healthcare product makers stock worth $407,564,000 after acquiring an additional 97,387 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 28.7% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 7,273 shares of the healthcare product makers stock worth $799,000 after acquiring an additional 1,623 shares in the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $293,000. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 5,785 shares of the healthcare product makers stock worth $635,000 after acquiring an additional 1,364 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 514,633 shares of the healthcare product makers stock worth $56,502,000 after acquiring an additional 16,328 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.93% of the companys stock.

Get Abbott Laboratories alerts:

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Julie L. Tyler sold 260 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.24, for a total transaction of $26,842.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,896 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,222,103.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Randel William Woodgrift sold 1,032 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total value of $103,922.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 52,203 shares in the company, valued at $5,256,842.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Julie L. Tyler sold 260 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.24, for a total value of $26,842.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,896 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,222,103.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,971 shares of company stock worth $199,140. Company insiders own 1.10% of the companys stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.4 %

ABT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a buy rating for the company. BTIG Research increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Finally, SVB Leerink increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, March 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $121.88.

ABT stock traded up $0.45 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $104.41. The companys stock had a trading volume of 976,941 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,155,373. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $102.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.54. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $93.25 and a 1 year high of $124.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.71, a PEG ratio of 4.68 and a beta of 0.67.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT  Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $10.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.69 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 26.09% and a net margin of 15.88%. The businesss revenue was down 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.32 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 13th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. Abbott Laboratoriess dividend payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Abbott Laboratories engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and sale of a broad and diversified line of health care products. It operates through the following business segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The Established Pharmaceutical Products segment refers to the international sales of a line of branded generic pharmaceutical products.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for Abbott Laboratories Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Abbott Laboratories and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Canadian Natural Resources (TSE:CNQ  Get Rating) (NYSE:CNQ) had its price target dropped by equities research analysts at ATB Capital from C$94.00 to C$90.00 in a research note issued on Monday, BayStreet.CA reports. ATB Capitals price target suggests a potential upside of 9.76% from the stocks current price.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Raymond James decreased their price objective on Canadian Natural Resources from C$87.00 to C$85.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 16th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Canadian Natural Resources from C$86.00 to C$87.00 in a report on Thursday. Stifel Firstegy reiterated a buy rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Thursday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Canadian Natural Resources from C$90.00 to C$87.00 in a report on Monday, March 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Canadian Natural Resources from C$76.00 to C$82.00 in a report on Friday, March 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of C$90.50.

Get Canadian Natural Resources alerts:

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Down 1.0 %

TSE CNQ traded down C$0.85 on Monday, reaching C$82.00. The company had a trading volume of 1,266,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,255,355. The firm has a market cap of C$90.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 2.02. Canadian Natural Resources has a fifty-two week low of C$58.75 and a fifty-two week high of C$88.18. The business has a 50 day moving average of C$76.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$77.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 34.01, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Insider Activity

About Canadian Natural Resources

In related news, Senior Officer Scott Gerald Stauth sold 14,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$81.05, for a total value of C$1,134,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 49,221 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately C$3,989,362.05. In related news, Senior Officer Scott Gerald Stauth sold 14,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$81.05, for a total value of C$1,134,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 49,221 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately C$3,989,362.05. Also, Senior Officer Trevor James Cassidy sold 20,000 shares of Canadian Natural Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$81.38, for a total transaction of C$1,627,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$2,832,512.28. Insiders sold a total of 269,000 shares of company stock worth $21,881,897 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.22% of the companys stock.

(Get Rating)

Canadian Natural Resources Limited acquires, explores for, develops, produces, markets, and sells crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs). The company offers synthetic crude oil (SCO), light and medium crude oil, bitumen (thermal oil), primary heavy crude oil, and Pelican Lake heavy crude oil.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Canadian Natural Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Canadian Natural Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT  Get Rating) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,424,620 shares of the healthcare product makers stock after buying an additional 97,387 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.20% of Abbott Laboratories worth $407,564,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Arcus Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. 72.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Get Abbott Laboratories alerts:

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on ABT. BTIG Research upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday. Barclays increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Finally, SVB Leerink increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, March 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $121.88.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

In other Abbott Laboratories news, SVP Randel William Woodgrift sold 1,032 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total value of $103,922.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 52,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,256,842.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link . In related news, SVP Julie L. Tyler sold 260 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.24, for a total transaction of $26,842.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,896 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,222,103.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website . Also, SVP Randel William Woodgrift sold 1,032 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total transaction of $103,922.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,203 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $5,256,842.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Insiders sold 1,971 shares of company stock worth $199,140 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.10% of the companys stock.

Shares of NYSE ABT traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $104.21. 565,480 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,150,608. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $102.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $104.54. The stock has a market cap of $181.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.81, a PEG ratio of 4.68 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $93.25 and a one year high of $124.35.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT  Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $10.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $9.69 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 26.09% and a net margin of 15.88%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was down 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.32 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 13th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Abbott Laboratoriess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.17%.

Abbott Laboratories Profile

(Get Rating)

Abbott Laboratories engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and sale of a broad and diversified line of health care products. It operates through the following business segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The Established Pharmaceutical Products segment refers to the international sales of a line of branded generic pharmaceutical products.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Abbott Laboratories Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Abbott Laboratories and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Shares of Barclays PLC (LON:BARC  Get Rating) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of Moderate Buy from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is GBX 238.56 ($2.95).

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on BARC shares. UBS Group set a GBX 238 ($2.95) target price on Barclays in a report on Monday, March 6th. Citigroup reiterated a buy rating on shares of Barclays in a research report on Friday, March 10th. Berenberg Bank raised their target price on Barclays from GBX 260 ($3.22) to GBX 270 ($3.34) and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, January 20th. Shore Capital reissued a buy rating on shares of Barclays in a research report on Wednesday, February 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Barclays from GBX 240 ($2.97) to GBX 200 ($2.48) and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 27th.

Get Barclays alerts:

Barclays Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of LON BARC opened at GBX 155.06 ($1.92) on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of GBX 160.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of GBX 160.16. The company has a market capitalization of 24.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 526.27, a PEG ratio of -1.09 and a beta of 1.37. Barclays has a twelve month low of GBX 128.12 ($1.59) and a twelve month high of GBX 198.86 ($2.46).

Barclays Increases Dividend

Insider Buying and Selling at Barclays

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, February 23rd were given a dividend of GBX 5 ($0.06) per share. This represents a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 23rd. This is a positive change from Barclayss previous dividend of $2.25. Barclayss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2,333.33%.

In other Barclays news, insider Dawn Fitzpatrick purchased 5,613 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of GBX 174 ($2.15) per share, for a total transaction of 9,766.62 ($12,094.89). Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the companys stock.

About Barclays

(Get Rating)

Barclays PLC, through its subsidiaries, provides various financial products and services in the United Kingdom, Europe, the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The company operates through Barclays UK and Barclays International divisions. It offers financial services, such as retail banking, credit cards, wholesale banking, investment banking, wealth management, and investment management services.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Barclays Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Barclays and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
BlackRock Short Maturity Bond ETF (BATS:NEAR  Get Rating) hit a new 52-week low on Monday . The company traded as low as $49.55 and last traded at $49.56, with a volume of 458755 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $49.56.

BlackRock Short Maturity Bond ETF Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $49.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.35.

Get BlackRock Short Maturity Bond ETF alerts:

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Leelyn Smith LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock Short Maturity Bond ETF in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new position in BlackRock Short Maturity Bond ETF during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Private Trust Co. NA purchased a new position in BlackRock Short Maturity Bond ETF during the 2nd quarter worth $54,000. Tsfg LLC grew its stake in BlackRock Short Maturity Bond ETF by 912.4% during the 4th quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 2,774 shares of the companys stock worth $137,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, One Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock Short Maturity Bond ETF during the 3rd quarter worth $202,000.

About BlackRock Short Maturity Bond ETF

The iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF (NEAR) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in investment grade fixed income. The fund aims to maximize income and preserve capital using very short maturity, USD-denominated global fixed income securities in an actively-managed fund. NEAR was launched on Sep 25, 2013 and is managed by BlackRock.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for BlackRock Short Maturity Bond ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BlackRock Short Maturity Bond ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
China's kite festival draws enthusiasts from home and abroad

Xinhua) 13:35, April 17, 2023

Competitors attend a kite flying competition during the 40th Weifang International Kite Festival in Weifang, east China's Shandong Province, April 15, 2023. (Photo by Sun Shubao/Xinhua)

JINAN, April 16 (Xinhua) -- The 40th Weifang International Kite Festival, which kicked off Saturday in Weifang in east China's Shandong Province has drawn kite fanciers from China and beyond.

The coruscating festival, featuring an array of kites in various shapes and sizes ranging from a gigantic trilobite to a 50-carriage high-speed train, has become one of the most iconic international events held in China since the country initiated reform and opening up in the late 1970s.

According to the organizers, more than 600 kite enthusiasts from 59 countries and regions are attending this year's festival, including many from overseas who missed the annual event over the past three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

People try to fly a phoenix-shaped kite during the 40th Weifang International Kite Festival in Weifang, east China's Shandong Province, April 15, 2023. (Xinhua/Li Ziheng)

"Weifang is very famous among kite lovers around the world," said Stanislav Kolbintsev from Russia, who was seen with a giant bird-shaped kite. Amazed by China's long history of kite flying and the huge public enthusiasm for the sport, he said he hopes to visit more Chinese cities to fly kites.

"I've loved flying kites since I was a child. Flying kites has many good meanings in India," said Arindam Adhikary, an Indian expat. He was one of the dozens of foreign students from Weifang Medical University who attended the event as spectators.

The main activities of the festival, which include competitions for kite making, flying and fighting, are scheduled over the weekend.

People attend the 40th Weifang International Kite Festival in Weifang, east China's Shandong Province, April 15, 2023. (Xinhua/Li Ziheng)

The first Weifang International Kite Festival was held in 1984. The festival has since grown in scale and international influence together with China's continuous opening up.

Known as the "capital of kites," Weifang has a long history of kite making, with some records suggesting the first wooden kite was invented there during the Spring and Autumn period more than 2,000 years ago.

The city boasts a thriving kite industry, employing more than 80,000 people in its 600-plus companies involved in the manufacture and sale of kites.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
CF Industries (NYSE:CF  Get Rating) had its price target reduced by Barclays from $115.00 to $105.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, The Fly reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on CF Industries from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of CF Industries in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of CF Industries from $105.00 to $101.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 17th. Credit Suisse Group restated an underperform rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of CF Industries in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of CF Industries from a buy rating to a hold rating and cut their price target for the company from $104.00 to $90.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $101.80.

Get CF Industries alerts:

CF Industries Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of CF stock opened at $77.08 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.69, a quick ratio of 3.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. CF Industries has a twelve month low of $67.95 and a twelve month high of $119.60. The company has a market capitalization of $15.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.01. The businesss 50 day moving average is $78.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $90.53.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

CF Industries ( NYSE:CF Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The basic materials company reported $4.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $4.13 by $0.22. CF Industries had a return on equity of 48.59% and a net margin of 29.91%. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.71 earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that CF Industries will post 9.5 EPS for the current year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 15th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 14th. CF Industriess dividend payout ratio is presently 9.80%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CF Industries

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CF. Blair William & Co. IL raised its stake in shares of CF Industries by 0.8% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 76,830 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $7,918,000 after purchasing an additional 634 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CF Industries during the 1st quarter valued at $245,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CF Industries during the 1st quarter valued at $232,000. National Pension Service bought a new position in shares of CF Industries during the 1st quarter valued at $27,765,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,747,358 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $2,653,523,000 after purchasing an additional 94,482 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.94% of the companys stock.

About CF Industries

(Get Rating)

CF Industries Holdings, Inc engages in the manufacture and distribution of nitrogen fertilizer. The firm owns and operates nitrogen plants and serves agricultural and industrial customers through its distribution system. It operates through following segments: Ammonia, Granular Urea, UAN, AN, and Other.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for CF Industries Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for CF Industries and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Chart Industries (NYSE:GTLS  Get Rating) issued an update on its FY 2023 earnings guidance on Saturday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $5.50-$6.70 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $6.55. The company issued revenue guidance of $3.65 billion-$3.80 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $3.28 billion.

Chart Industries Price Performance

Shares of Chart Industries stock opened at $127.80 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 224.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 3.08 and a current ratio of 3.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $118.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $130.74. Chart Industries has a one year low of $101.44 and a one year high of $242.59.

Get Chart Industries alerts:

Chart Industries (NYSE:GTLS  Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.03. Chart Industries had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 1.40%. The firm had revenue of $441.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $490.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.73 EPS. The companys quarterly revenue was up 16.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Chart Industries will post 5.8 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Insider Buying and Selling

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on GTLS shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Chart Industries from $144.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Chart Industries in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a sell rating on the stock. Craig Hallum lowered their price target on shares of Chart Industries from $249.00 to $205.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 13th. Raymond James raised shares of Chart Industries from a market perform rating to a strong-buy rating and set a $160.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Chart Industries in a research note on Tuesday, March 21st. They issued an outperform rating and a $217.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $194.81.

In other news, VP Gerald F. Vinci acquired 300 shares of Chart Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 21st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $119.28 per share, for a total transaction of $35,784.00. Following the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,784. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Linda S. Harty purchased 5,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, March 20th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $105.01 per share, for a total transaction of $525,050.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 6,067 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $637,095.67. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Gerald F. Vinci purchased 300 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 21st. The shares were bought at an average price of $119.28 per share, for a total transaction of $35,784.00. Following the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,784. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 7,875 shares of company stock worth $836,825 in the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Chart Industries by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 97,193 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $11,200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,588 shares in the last quarter. CI Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Chart Industries during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $359,000. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY boosted its holdings in shares of Chart Industries by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 2,636 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $304,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Chart Industries by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 47,805 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $5,509,000 after acquiring an additional 5,991 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Tennessee Treasury Department purchased a new stake in shares of Chart Industries in the 4th quarter valued at $2,305,000.

About Chart Industries

(Get Rating)

Chart Industries, Inc engages in the manufacturing of engineered equipment for the industrial gas, energy, and biomedical industries. It operates through the following business segments: Cryo Tank Solutions, Heat Transfer Systems, Specialty Products and Repair, Service & Leasing, and Corporate. The Cryo Tank Solutions segment supplies bulk, microbulk, and mobile equipment used in the storage, distribution, vaporization, and application of industrial gases.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Chart Industries Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Chart Industries and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of China Green Agriculture (NYSE:CGA  Get Rating) in a research note released on Friday. The brokerage issued a sell rating on the basic materials companys stock.

China Green Agriculture Price Performance

Shares of CGA opened at $4.00 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $4.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. China Green Agriculture has a 52-week low of $3.90 and a 52-week high of $10.28.

Get China Green Agriculture alerts:

China Green Agriculture (NYSE:CGA  Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 21st. The basic materials company reported ($0.27) earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $24.54 million during the quarter. China Green Agriculture had a negative net margin of 37.35% and a negative return on equity of 36.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On China Green Agriculture

China Green Agriculture Company Profile

A hedge fund recently bought a new stake in China Green Agriculture stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of China Green Agriculture, Inc. ( NYSE:CGA Get Rating ) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 11,368 shares of the basic materials companys stock, valued at approximately $115,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.13% of China Green Agriculture at the end of the most recent reporting period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 0.14% of the companys stock.

(Get Rating)

China Green Agriculture, Inc engages in the research, development, production, and sale of various types of fertilizers and agricultural products. It operates through the following segments: Jinong, Gufeng, and Yuxing. The Jinong segment includes fertilizer products, with focus on humic acid-based compound fertilizer.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for China Green Agriculture Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for China Green Agriculture and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Sittner & Nelson LLC grew its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED  Get Rating) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,497 shares of the utilities providers stock after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Sittner & Nelson LLCs holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $333,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 1.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,918,192 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $3,680,664,000 after purchasing an additional 483,980 shares in the last quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. boosted its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 7.4% in the third quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 4,087,000 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $350,501,000 after purchasing an additional 281,500 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 6.8% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,072,363 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $263,485,000 after purchasing an additional 196,032 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 3.5% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,909,853 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $180,825,000 after purchasing an additional 65,145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 13.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,472,752 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $139,440,000 after purchasing an additional 178,781 shares in the last quarter. 64.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get Consolidated Edison alerts:

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ED. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $94.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Monday, February 27th. Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $97.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Friday, February 17th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $98.00 to $92.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 17th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Consolidated Edison from $88.00 to $87.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $90.50.

Consolidated Edison Stock Performance

Shares of ED traded up $1.03 on Monday, reaching $97.71. 243,877 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,822,145. The firm has a market cap of $33.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.70, a P/E/G ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 12 month low of $78.10 and a 12 month high of $102.21. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $93.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.74.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED  Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $3.18 billion. Consolidated Edison had a return on equity of 7.79% and a net margin of 10.59%. Consolidated Edisons quarterly revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 4.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 15th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 14th. This is a boost from Consolidated Edisons previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Consolidated Edisons payout ratio is currently 69.38%.

About Consolidated Edison

(Get Rating)

Consolidated Edison, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the business of regulated electric, gas, and steam delivery. It operates through the following segments: Consolidated Edison Company of New York (CECONY), Orange and Rockland Utilities(O&R), Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses and Con Edison Transmission.

Featured Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ED? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for Consolidated Edison Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Consolidated Edison and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Eaton (NYSE:ETN  Get Rating) had its price objective lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $180.00 to $170.00 in a report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the industrial products companys stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Eaton from $149.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Thursday, February 9th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Eaton from $173.00 to $197.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Eaton from $188.00 to $189.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Eaton from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, March 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Eaton in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a strong-buy rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $172.00.

Get Eaton alerts:

Eaton Price Performance

ETN traded up $1.29 during trading on Thursday, hitting $163.11. 906,122 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,021,912. The company has a market cap of $65.00 billion, a PE ratio of 26.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.12. Eaton has a 1 year low of $122.50 and a 1 year high of $178.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is $168.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $159.65.

Eaton Increases Dividend

Eaton ( NYSE:ETN Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 8th. The industrial products company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.01. Eaton had a net margin of 11.86% and a return on equity of 18.31%. The firm had revenue of $5.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.34 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.72 earnings per share. Eatons revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Eaton will post 8.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. This is a positive change from Eatons previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Eatons dividend payout ratio is currently 55.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eaton news, insider Joao V. Faria sold 2,500 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.71, for a total value of $441,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,314 shares in the company, valued at $12,601,896.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Joao V. Faria sold 2,326 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.23, for a total value of $398,280.98. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 77,626 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $13,291,899.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joao V. Faria sold 2,500 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.71, for a total value of $441,775.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 71,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,601,896.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,377 shares of company stock worth $5,864,193 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.53% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ETN. Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 0.6% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 46,851 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $8,027,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Eaton by 16.7% during the 1st quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,940 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $1,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138 shares during the period. Naples Global Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Eaton by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 2,783 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI boosted its stake in shares of Eaton by 8.1% in the first quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 6,332 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $1,085,000 after buying an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lake Street Financial LLC grew its holdings in Eaton by 19.4% during the first quarter. Lake Street Financial LLC now owns 5,488 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $940,000 after acquiring an additional 892 shares during the period. 80.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Eaton

(Get Rating)

Eaton Corp. Plc is a power management company, which provides energy-efficient solutions for electrical, hydraulic, and mechanical power. It operates through the following segments: Electrical Americas and Electrical Global, Aerospace, Vehicle, and eMobility. The Electrical Americas and Electrical Global segments engage in sales contracts for electrical components, industrial components, power distribution and assemblies, residential products, single and three phase power quality, wiring devices, circuit protection, utility power distribution, power reliability equipment, and service.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for Eaton Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Eaton and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Edison International (NYSE:EIX  Get Rating) has earned an average rating of Hold from the fourteen analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $70.58.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on EIX shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Edison International from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Edison International from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 21st. StockNews.com began coverage on Edison International in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Mizuho lifted their target price on Edison International from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, April 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Edison International in a report on Monday, March 6th.

Get Edison International alerts:

Edison International Trading Down 1.8 %

NYSE EIX opened at $71.61 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. Edison International has a twelve month low of $54.45 and a twelve month high of $73.32. The company has a market cap of $27.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 0.80. The businesss fifty day moving average is $68.48 and its 200 day moving average is $64.91.

Edison International Announces Dividend

Edison International ( NYSE:EIX Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.07. Edison International had a return on equity of 12.05% and a net margin of 4.48%. The company had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.16 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Edison International will post 4.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, March 31st will be given a $0.7375 dividend. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 30th. Edison Internationals payout ratio is 184.38%.

Insider Activity at Edison International

In related news, SVP J Andrew Murphy sold 22,471 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total value of $1,618,586.13. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,989 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $935,597.67. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Edison International

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Edison International by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 8,484 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $480,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Edison International by 30.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 449,187 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $25,412,000 after purchasing an additional 106,084 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Edison International by 2,742.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 532,789 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $30,186,000 after purchasing an additional 514,047 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Edison International by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 133,786 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $8,464,000 after purchasing an additional 2,292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Edison International by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 730,620 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $41,338,000 after purchasing an additional 13,965 shares in the last quarter. 87.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Edison International Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Edison International is a renewable energy company, which through its subsidiaries, generates and distributes electric power, and invests in energy services and technologies. The company was founded on July 4, 1886, and is headquartered in Rosemead, CA.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for Edison International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Edison International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Shares of Gjensidige Forsikring ASA (OTCMKTS:GJNSY  Get Rating) have earned an average rating of Hold from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $230.50.

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Gjensidige Forsikring ASA from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Thursday. HSBC lowered shares of Gjensidige Forsikring ASA from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, April 12th.

Get Gjensidige Forsikring ASA alerts:

Gjensidige Forsikring ASA Price Performance

GJNSY opened at $17.60 on Wednesday. Gjensidige Forsikring ASA has a 12-month low of $15.27 and a 12-month high of $24.81. The businesss fifty day simple moving average is $17.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.17.

Gjensidige Forsikring ASA Cuts Dividend

Gjensidige Forsikring ASA Company Profile

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 27th will be issued a $0.5574 dividend. This represents a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 24th. Gjensidige Forsikring ASAs payout ratio is presently 122.66%.

(Get Rating)

Gjensidige Forsikring ASA engages in the provision of insurance services. It operates through the following segments: General Insurance Private, General Insurance Commercial, General Insurance Denmark, General Insurance Sweden, General Insurance Baltics, and Pension. The General Insurance Private segment offers insurances related to motor, property, accident and health, and leisure.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Gjensidige Forsikring ASA Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Gjensidige Forsikring ASA and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG  Get Rating) have been given a consensus rating of Hold by the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $73.00.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Graco from $66.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Graco from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Graco from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 14th.

Get Graco alerts:

Graco Stock Performance

NYSE:GGG opened at $70.72 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 3.01 and a quick ratio of 1.82. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $70.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.15. The stock has a market cap of $11.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.49, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.80. Graco has a 1-year low of $56.48 and a 1-year high of $73.10.

Graco Dividend Announcement

Graco ( NYSE:GGG Get Rating ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $555.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $556.72 million. Graco had a net margin of 21.49% and a return on equity of 25.67%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Graco will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 14th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Gracos dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO David M. Lowe sold 31,128 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.17, for a total transaction of $2,184,251.76. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 601,770 shares in the company, valued at $42,226,200.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Graco news, CFO David M. Lowe sold 31,128 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.17, for a total value of $2,184,251.76. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 601,770 shares in the company, valued at $42,226,200.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Sant R. William Van sold 20,820 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.14, for a total transaction of $1,481,134.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 57,948 shares of company stock worth $4,096,787 over the last quarter. 2.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 38.4% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 65,772 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $3,908,000 after acquiring an additional 18,262 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in Graco by 24.4% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 13,287 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $797,000 after buying an additional 2,608 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association bought a new stake in Graco during the second quarter worth approximately $1,079,000. Trexquant Investment LP boosted its holdings in Graco by 72.3% during the third quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 26,251 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $1,574,000 after buying an additional 11,013 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its holdings in Graco by 1.3% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 74,188 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $4,448,000 after buying an additional 960 shares in the last quarter. 85.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Graco

(Get Rating)

Graco, Inc is a manufacturing company, which engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of systems and equipment used to move, measure, control, dispense, and spray fluid and powder materials. It operates through the following segments: Industrial, Process, and Contractor. The Industrial segment markets equipment and pre-engineered packages for moving and applying paints, coatings, sealants, adhesives, and other fluids.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Graco Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Graco and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Great Diamond Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO  Get Rating) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,513 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the period. Great Diamond Partners LLCs holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $1,423,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NVO. Roundview Capital LLC grew its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 18,803 shares of the companys stock worth $2,088,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 45.4% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,035,879 shares of the companys stock valued at $559,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,571,747 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 739,585 shares of the companys stock worth $82,131,000 after purchasing an additional 6,903 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 19,466 shares of the companys stock worth $2,136,000 after buying an additional 2,194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 17.5% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 107,175 shares of the companys stock valued at $11,913,000 after buying an additional 15,996 shares during the last quarter. 6.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Get Novo Nordisk A/S alerts:

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE NVO opened at $170.88 on Monday. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 52-week low of $95.02 and a 52-week high of $171.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $386.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $147.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $131.38.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

Novo Nordisk A/S ( NYSE:NVO Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $6.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.74 billion. Novo Nordisk A/S had a net margin of 31.44% and a return on equity of 73.39%. Analysts expect that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 4.52 EPS for the current year.

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 27th were issued a dividend of $1.1887 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 24th. This is a boost from Novo Nordisk A/Ss previous semi-annual dividend of $0.58. Novo Nordisk A/Ss payout ratio is 48.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NVO. Credit Suisse Group upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a strong-buy rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from 925.00 to 1,100.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, Novo Nordisk A/S has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $697.78.

Novo Nordisk A/S Profile

(Get Rating)

Novo Nordisk A/S is a global healthcare company, which engages in the the discovery, development, manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceutical products. It operates through the Diabetes and Obesity Care, and Biopharm segments. The Diabetes and Obesity Care segment includes insulin, GLP-1 and related delivery systems, oral antidiabetic products (OAD), obesity, and other serious chronic diseases.

Featured Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NVO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for Novo Nordisk A/S Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Novo Nordisk A/S and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its holdings in shares of EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG  Get Rating) by 9.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 160,971 shares of the energy exploration companys stock after purchasing an additional 14,013 shares during the quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTDs holdings in EOG Resources were worth $20,836,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. HM Payson & Co. grew its position in EOG Resources by 54.3% in the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 233 shares of the energy exploration companys stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of EOG Resources during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Kistler Tiffany Companies LLC purchased a new stake in EOG Resources during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in EOG Resources in the third quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new position in EOG Resources during the second quarter worth $33,000. 87.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get EOG Resources alerts:

EOG Resources Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE EOG traded down $0.59 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $121.02. 521,543 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,779,708. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.71. The company has a market cap of $71.13 billion, a PE ratio of 9.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.53. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $117.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $126.61. EOG Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $92.16 and a 52 week high of $150.88.

EOG Resources Dividend Announcement

EOG Resources ( NYSE:EOG Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 24th. The energy exploration company reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.31 by ($0.01). EOG Resources had a net margin of 30.19% and a return on equity of 34.95%. The company had revenue of $6.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.09 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.09 EPS. The firms revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that EOG Resources, Inc. will post 11.76 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 13th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. EOG Resourcess dividend payout ratio is presently 24.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EOG. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of EOG Resources from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Friday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of EOG Resources from $164.00 to $141.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on EOG Resources from $167.00 to $158.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 8th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on EOG Resources from $146.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 11th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group decreased their price objective on shares of EOG Resources from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $149.87.

EOG Resources Company Profile

(Get Rating)

EOG Resources, Inc engages in the exploration, development, production and marketing of crude oil and natural gas. It operates through the United States, Trinidad & Tobago, and Other International segments. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.

Recommended Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding EOG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for EOG Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for EOG Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Get Rating) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 249,817 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after purchasing an additional 2,738 shares during the quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTDs holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $17,974,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Boston Financial Mangement LLC lifted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.9% during the third quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 15,468 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $1,100,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.9% in the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 15,461 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $1,099,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Lincoln National Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.4% in the third quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 36,282 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $2,579,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.4% in the third quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 10,053 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $715,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elmwood Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.0% in the third quarter. Elmwood Wealth Management Inc. now owns 13,686 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $973,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.51% of the companys stock.

Get Bristol-Myers Squibb alerts:

Insider Transactions at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In other news, EVP Ann Powell sold 11,183 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total transaction of $835,258.27. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,043 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,721,081.67. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Ann Powell sold 11,183 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total value of $835,258.27. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,721,081.67. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Giovanni Caforio sold 240,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.65, for a total value of $17,916,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 236,104 shares in the company, valued at $17,625,163.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the companys stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:BMY traded up $0.14 on Monday, reaching $70.59. 720,549 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,908,089. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.45. The companys 50 day moving average is $69.55 and its 200-day moving average is $72.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 1-year low of $65.28 and a 1-year high of $81.43.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $11.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.20 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a net margin of 13.71% and a return on equity of 51.60%. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 7.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 6th. Bristol-Myers Squibbs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Tuesday, January 17th. They issued an overweight rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a strong-buy rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Monday, March 6th. They issued a hold rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, January 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bristol-Myers Squibb presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $79.69.

About Bristol-Myers Squibb

(Get Rating)

Bristol Myers Squibb Co engages in the discovery, development, licensing, manufacture, marketing, distribution, and sale of biopharmaceutical products. It offers chemically-synthesized drugs or small molecules and products produced from biological processes called biologics. The company was founded in August 1933 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Bristol-Myers Squibb Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bristol-Myers Squibb and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG  Get Rating) had its price objective cut by Citigroup from $52.00 to $41.00 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Harley-Davidson from $47.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Harley-Davidson from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, March 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Harley-Davidson from an underperform rating to a hold rating and set a $39.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 15th. Morgan Stanley raised Harley-Davidson from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Harley-Davidson from $56.00 to $50.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $47.38.

Get Harley-Davidson alerts:

Harley-Davidson Trading Up 0.9 %

Harley-Davidson stock traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $37.44. The stock had a trading volume of 1,089,692 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,758,832. The firms fifty day simple moving average is $42.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.77. The firm has a market cap of $5.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.46, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.35. Harley-Davidson has a twelve month low of $29.80 and a twelve month high of $51.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Harley-Davidson Increases Dividend

Harley-Davidson ( NYSE:HOG Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $918.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $910.04 million. Harley-Davidson had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 27.23%. The firms revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.15 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Harley-Davidson will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 3rd were given a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. This is a positive change from Harley-Davidsons previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 2nd. Harley-Davidsons dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.28%.

Insider Transactions at Harley-Davidson

In other Harley-Davidson news, SVP Jonathan R. Root sold 2,239 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.17, for a total value of $112,330.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 5,474 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $274,630.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.60% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Harley-Davidson by 28.6% during the first quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 224,155 shares of the companys stock worth $8,511,000 after acquiring an additional 49,790 shares in the last quarter. Joule Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Harley-Davidson during the first quarter worth $216,000. Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in Harley-Davidson by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 13,270 shares of the companys stock valued at $493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Bank of New Hampshire lifted its holdings in Harley-Davidson by 8.4% in the first quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 26,627 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,011,000 after buying an additional 2,068 shares during the period. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Harley-Davidson by 2,237.6% in the 4th quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management now owns 13,488 shares of the companys stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 12,911 shares during the last quarter. 83.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Harley-Davidson Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Harley-Davidson, Inc is engaged in the manufacture and sale of custom, cruiser, and touring motorcycles. It operates through the following segments: Motorcycles & Related Products and Financial Services. The Motorcycles & Related Products segment manufactures, designs, and sells at wholesale on-road Harley-Davidson motorcycles as well as motorcycle parts, accessories, general merchandise, and related services.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for Harley-Davidson Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Harley-Davidson and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
PerkinElmer, Inc. (NYSE:PKI  Get Rating) insider Andrew Okun sold 2,435 shares of PerkinElmer stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.51, for a total value of $332,401.85. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,356 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $594,637.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Andrew Okun also recently made the following trade(s):

Get PerkinElmer alerts:

On Tuesday, April 11th, Andrew Okun sold 1,851 shares of PerkinElmer stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.01, for a total value of $249,903.51.

PerkinElmer Stock Performance

Shares of PKI stock opened at $137.11 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.13. The company has a market capitalization of $17.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.94, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $129.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $133.17. PerkinElmer, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $113.46 and a fifty-two week high of $170.00.

PerkinElmer Dividend Announcement

PerkinElmer ( NYSE:PKI Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 14th. The medical research company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $741.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. PerkinElmer had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 14.69%. The firms revenue for the quarter was down 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. Analysts expect that PerkinElmer, Inc. will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 12th. Investors of record on Friday, April 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 20th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.20%. PerkinElmers dividend payout ratio is presently 6.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on PKI shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on PerkinElmer from $185.00 to $182.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 15th. StockNews.com started coverage on PerkinElmer in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Credit Suisse Group restated a neutral rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of PerkinElmer in a research report on Wednesday, February 15th. TheStreet upgraded PerkinElmer from a c+ rating to a b rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on PerkinElmer from $145.00 to $140.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $166.30.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PerkinElmer

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in PerkinElmer by 7.5% in the first quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,880 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $1,583,000 after purchasing an additional 827 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in PerkinElmer by 133.6% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 8,599 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $1,146,000 after purchasing an additional 4,918 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in PerkinElmer by 1.8% in the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,124 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $1,616,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in PerkinElmer in the first quarter worth $211,000. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in PerkinElmer by 46.9% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 81,246 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $10,827,000 after purchasing an additional 25,933 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.22% of the companys stock.

About PerkinElmer

(Get Rating)

PerkinElmer, Inc engages in the provision of products, services, and solutions for diagnostics, food, environmental, life sciences, and applied markets. It operates through the following segments: Discovery & Analytical Solutions and Diagnostics. The Discovery & Analytical Solutions segment consists of technologies that help life sciences researchers better understand diseases and develop treatments.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for PerkinElmer Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for PerkinElmer and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF (BATS:USMV  Get Rating) shares reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $74.14 and last traded at $73.99, with a volume of 1529155 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.65.

iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF Stock Up 0.5 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $30.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.17 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.63.

Get iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF alerts:

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of USMV. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,253 shares of the companys stock valued at $646,000 after purchasing an additional 594 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its holdings in iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF by 1.7% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 95,612 shares of the companys stock worth $7,417,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612 shares in the last quarter. AJ Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF by 4.4% in the first quarter. AJ Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,348,690 shares of the companys stock worth $104,618,000 after purchasing an additional 57,434 shares in the last quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC boosted its holdings in iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF by 27.0% in the first quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 88,779 shares of the companys stock worth $6,887,000 after purchasing an additional 18,853 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Michigan Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF by 6.1% in the first quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC now owns 12,575 shares of the companys stock worth $975,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares in the last quarter.

About iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF

The iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF (USMV) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI USA Minimum Volatility (USD) index. The fund tracks an index of US-listed firms selected and weighted to create a low-volatility portfolio subject to various constraints. USMV was launched on Oct 18, 2011 and is managed by BlackRock.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI  Get Rating) had its target price lowered by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $69.00 to $65.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an overweight rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Companys target price points to a potential upside of 12.09% from the companys previous close.

JCI has been the subject of several other reports. Mizuho upped their target price on Johnson Controls International from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, January 13th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Johnson Controls International in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a buy rating for the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on Johnson Controls International from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Johnson Controls International from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, January 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Johnson Controls International from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $69.21.

Get Johnson Controls International alerts:

Johnson Controls International Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:JCI traded up $0.50 during trading on Thursday, hitting $57.99. The companys stock had a trading volume of 1,788,954 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,758,812. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $61.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.13. Johnson Controls International has a fifty-two week low of $45.52 and a fifty-two week high of $69.60. The company has a market capitalization of $35.85 billion, a PE ratio of 31.41, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Insider Activity

Johnson Controls International ( NYSE:JCI Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 1st. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.01. Johnson Controls International had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 4.98%. The firm had revenue of $6.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $6.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. Johnson Controls Internationals revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Johnson Controls International will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

In other news, VP Daniel C. Mcconeghy sold 3,068 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.43, for a total value of $197,671.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,054 shares of the companys stock, valued at $325,629.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.71% of the companys stock.

Institutional Trading of Johnson Controls International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Czech National Bank boosted its position in shares of Johnson Controls International by 0.4% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 80,959 shares of the companys stock worth $4,875,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Johnson Controls International by 60.0% in the first quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,000 shares of the companys stock worth $361,000 after buying an additional 2,251 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Johnson Controls International by 21.8% during the first quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 158,244 shares of the companys stock valued at $9,529,000 after purchasing an additional 28,300 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Johnson Controls International by 13.8% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 84,017 shares of the companys stock valued at $5,060,000 after purchasing an additional 10,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Johnson Controls International by 8.7% during the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,102 shares of the companys stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.76% of the companys stock.

About Johnson Controls International

(Get Rating)

Johnson Controls International Plc engages in the provision of building products, energy solutions, integrated infrastructure and next generation transportation systems. Its technology and service capabilities include fire, security, HVAC, power solutions and energy storage to serve various end markets including large institutions, commercial buildings, retail, industrial, small business and residential.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Johnson Controls International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Johnson Controls International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
MFS Government Markets Income Trust (NYSE:MGF  Get Rating) announced a monthly dividend on Tuesday, April 4th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 19th will be given a dividend of 0.0212 per share on Friday, April 28th. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 18th.

MFS Government Markets Income Trust has decreased its dividend by an average of 6.7% annually over the last three years.

Get MFS Government Markets Income Trust alerts:

MFS Government Markets Income Trust Stock Performance

MGF opened at $3.33 on Monday. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $3.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.31. MFS Government Markets Income Trust has a 1-year low of $3.11 and a 1-year high of $3.80.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MFS Government Markets Income Trust

MFS Government Markets Income Trust Company Profile

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MGF. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MFS Government Markets Income Trust by 92.4% in the 4th quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 15,765 shares of the companys stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 7,571 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in MFS Government Markets Income Trust by 134.6% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 26,908 shares of the companys stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 15,440 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in MFS Government Markets Income Trust by 103.4% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 230,183 shares of the companys stock valued at $762,000 after buying an additional 117,025 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in MFS Government Markets Income Trust by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 266,381 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,007,000 after buying an additional 17,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in MFS Government Markets Income Trust by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 316,288 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,113,000 after buying an additional 38,144 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.34% of the companys stock.

(Get Rating)

MFS Government Markets Income Trust is a close ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by Massachusetts Financial Services Company. The fund invests in the fixed income markets of United States. It primarily invests in investment grade debt instruments. The fund also invests in mortgage backed, U.S.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for MFS Government Markets Income Trust Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for MFS Government Markets Income Trust and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Nan Fung Trinity HK Ltd. acquired a new stake in iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF (NYSEARCA:ECNS  Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 357,360 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $12,493,000. iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF makes up approximately 3.6% of Nan Fung Trinity HK Ltd.s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Nan Fung Trinity HK Ltd. owned 17.43% of iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. IFP Advisors Inc bought a new position in iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF in the third quarter worth about $118,000. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF by 9.1% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,185 shares of the companys stock worth $207,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF during the first quarter worth about $220,000. UBS Group AG grew its stake in shares of iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF by 32.1% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 6,563 shares of the companys stock worth $192,000 after acquiring an additional 1,596 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flow Traders U.S. LLC grew its stake in shares of iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF by 152.1% during the first quarter. Flow Traders U.S. LLC now owns 13,748 shares of the companys stock worth $549,000 after acquiring an additional 8,295 shares during the last quarter.

Get iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF alerts:

iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of ECNS stock traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $34.56. 1,732 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,766. iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF has a 1 year low of $26.57 and a 1 year high of $41.03. The stock has a market cap of $70.85 million, a PE ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 0.53. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $35.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.34.

iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF Profile

The iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF (ECNS) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI China Small Cap index. The fund tracks an index of small-cap Chinese securities. The fund covers roughly the bottom 14% of Chinese securities by market cap. ECNS was launched on Sep 28, 2010 and is managed by BlackRock.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI  Get Rating) (TSE:CNR) had its target price increased by National Bank Financial from C$175.00 to C$178.00 in a report issued on Monday, The Fly reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on CNI. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from C$159.00 to C$170.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, April 6th. Atb Cap Markets restated a sector perform rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a report on Tuesday, December 20th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Canadian National Railway in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a buy rating on the stock. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $137.00 to $134.00 in a report on Monday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $142.12.

Get Canadian National Railway alerts:

Canadian National Railway Stock Performance

Shares of CNI stock traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $122.41. 385,376 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,040,170. Canadian National Railway has a 12 month low of $103.79 and a 12 month high of $131.53. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $117.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $118.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.44 billion, a PE ratio of 21.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.90.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canadian National Railway

Canadian National Railway ( NYSE:CNI Get Rating ) (TSE:CNR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 24th. The transportation company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.56 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $3.33 billion. Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 29.87% and a return on equity of 23.30%. On average, research analysts forecast that Canadian National Railway will post 5.82 EPS for the current year.

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Canadian National Railway in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 108.7% in the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 263 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Canadian National Railway in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Canadian National Railway in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 351 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. 86.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Canadian National Railway

(Get Rating)

Canadian National Railway Co engages in rail and related transportation business. Its services include rail, intermodal, trucking, supply chain services, business development and maps and network. Its offers their services in automotive, coal, fertilizer, food and beverages, forest products, dimensional loads, grain, metals and minerals and petroleum and chemicals industries.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Canadian National Railway Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Canadian National Railway and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
NovaGold Resources Inc. (NYSEAMERICAN:NG  Get Rating) (TSE:NG)s share price dropped 3.5% during mid-day trading on Monday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $5.97 and last traded at $6.00. Approximately 322,309 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 1,101,056 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.22.

Specifically, Director Anthony P. Walsh sold 12,479 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.27, for a total transaction of $78,243.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 41,751 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $261,778.77. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Sharon Dowdall sold 39,799 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.41, for a total transaction of $255,111.59. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 45,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $291,776.79. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Anthony P. Walsh sold 12,479 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.27, for a total value of $78,243.33. Following the sale, the director now owns 41,751 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $261,778.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Get NovaGold Resources alerts:

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on NG shares. StockNews.com cut NovaGold Resources from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Wednesday, April 12th. National Bank Financial upped their price target on NovaGold Resources from C$10.00 to C$11.00 in a report on Friday, January 13th.

NovaGold Resources Stock Down 4.7 %

The stocks 50 day moving average price is $5.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -38.88 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.14, a quick ratio of 33.17 and a current ratio of 33.17.

NovaGold Resources (NYSEAMERICAN:NG  Get Rating) (TSE:NG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 5th. The mining company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter. Research analysts expect that NovaGold Resources Inc. will post -0.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NovaGold Resources

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in NovaGold Resources by 47.1% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,148,564 shares of the mining companys stock worth $8,878,000 after acquiring an additional 367,773 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in NovaGold Resources by 19.9% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 87,901 shares of the mining companys stock worth $679,000 after acquiring an additional 14,573 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in NovaGold Resources in the 1st quarter worth about $78,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in NovaGold Resources by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 656,705 shares of the mining companys stock worth $5,076,000 after acquiring an additional 8,220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in NovaGold Resources by 37.5% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 112,267 shares of the mining companys stock worth $868,000 after acquiring an additional 30,641 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.92% of the companys stock.

About NovaGold Resources

(Get Rating)

NovaGold Resources, Inc is a mineral exploration company, which engages in the development of the Donlin Gold project in Alaska. The company was founded by Gregory Shawn Johnson, John W. Chisholm, Macisaac G. Angus, Rick van Nieuwenhuyse, and Gerald James McConnell on December 5, 1984 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, UT.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for NovaGold Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for NovaGold Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Parker-Hannifin (NYSE:PH  Get Rating) had its price target lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $385.00 to $366.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the industrial products companys stock. Wells Fargo & Companys price target suggests a potential upside of 13.27% from the stocks previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. StockNews.com started coverage on Parker-Hannifin in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating for the company. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Parker-Hannifin from $335.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Parker-Hannifin from $343.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Sunday, February 5th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Parker-Hannifin from $385.00 to $403.00 in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Parker-Hannifin from $320.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, February 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Parker-Hannifin presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $371.08.

Get Parker-Hannifin alerts:

Parker-Hannifin Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PH traded up $4.00 on Thursday, hitting $323.11. The companys stock had a trading volume of 391,276 shares, compared to its average volume of 964,718. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $337.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $308.50. Parker-Hannifin has a 1 year low of $230.44 and a 1 year high of $364.57. The company has a market capitalization of $41.45 billion, a PE ratio of 33.35, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

Parker-Hannifin ( NYSE:PH Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The industrial products company reported $4.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $4.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. Parker-Hannifin had a net margin of 7.33% and a return on equity of 28.23%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Parker-Hannifin will post 19.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

In other Parker-Hannifin news, Chairman Thomas L. Williams sold 38,098 shares of Parker-Hannifin stock in a transaction on Monday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.63, for a total value of $13,434,497.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 229,027 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $80,761,791.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP Mark T. Czaja sold 430 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.70, for a total transaction of $151,231.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 507 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $178,311.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Thomas L. Williams sold 38,098 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.63, for a total transaction of $13,434,497.74. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 229,027 shares in the company, valued at $80,761,791.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 62,454 shares of company stock valued at $21,706,490. Corporate insiders own 1.37% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Parker-Hannifin

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Parker-Hannifin by 1.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,098,862 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $2,447,056,000 after purchasing an additional 116,630 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Parker-Hannifin by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,578,874 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $749,061,000 after purchasing an additional 62,303 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Parker-Hannifin by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,025,151 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $573,799,000 after purchasing an additional 6,323 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Parker-Hannifin in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $519,286,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Parker-Hannifin by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,737,517 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $505,618,000 after purchasing an additional 178,108 shares during the last quarter. 81.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Parker-Hannifin Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Parker-Hannifin Corp. engages in the manufacture of motion and control technologies and systems. It operates through Diversified Industrial and Aerospace Systems segments. The Diversified Industrial segment sells products to both original equipment manufacturers and distributors who serve the replacement markets in manufacturing, packaging, processing, transportation, mobile construction, refrigeration and air conditioning, agricultural and military machinery, and equipment industries.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Parker-Hannifin Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Parker-Hannifin and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Progressive (NYSE:PGR  Get Rating)s stock had its neutral rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Credit Suisse Group in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $143.00 price objective on the insurance providers stock. Credit Suisse Groups price objective suggests a potential upside of 4.08% from the stocks previous close.

PGR has been the subject of a number of other reports. Barclays lowered their price target on Progressive from $123.00 to $121.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $159.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, April 10th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $109.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. Roth Capital restated a buy rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, February 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Progressive from $167.00 to $163.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $148.20.

Get Progressive alerts:

Progressive Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:PGR traded up $1.55 during trading on Friday, hitting $137.40. The companys stock had a trading volume of 1,590,754 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,510,951. The company has a market capitalization of $80.43 billion, a PE ratio of 97.43, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.50. Progressive has a fifty-two week low of $106.35 and a fifty-two week high of $149.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $141.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $132.97.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

Progressive ( NYSE:PGR Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The insurance provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $13.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.33 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 1.64% and a return on equity of 14.29%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Progressive will post 6.27 EPS for the current year.

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 15,473 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.64, for a total transaction of $2,207,068.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 431,811 shares of the companys stock, valued at $61,593,521.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Daniel P. Mascaro sold 2,806 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.96, for a total value of $384,309.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,557,480.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 15,473 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.64, for a total transaction of $2,207,068.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 431,811 shares in the company, valued at $61,593,521.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 22,987 shares of company stock valued at $3,250,378. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Venture Visionary Partners LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 9,426 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $1,348,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its position in Progressive by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 348 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Progressive by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 2,536 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its position in Progressive by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 4,078 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $549,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. 83.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Progressive Corp. is an insurance holding company, which engages in the provision of personal and commercial auto insurance, residential property insurance, and other specialty property-casualty insurance and related services. It operates through the following segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Progressive Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Progressive and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Range Resources (NYSE:RRC  Get Rating) had its price objective increased by Stifel Nicolaus from $28.00 to $30.00 in a report released on Thursday morning, The Fly reports.

RRC has been the subject of a number of other reports. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Range Resources from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 7th. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Range Resources from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $33.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 21st. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Range Resources in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Range Resources from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, April 5th. Finally, Benchmark lowered shares of Range Resources from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, January 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $33.22.

Get Range Resources alerts:

Range Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:RRC opened at $27.26 on Thursday. Range Resources has a 52 week low of $22.61 and a 52 week high of $37.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.79, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 2.13. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Range Resources Announces Dividend

Range Resources ( NYSE:RRC Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 27th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.18. Range Resources had a net margin of 28.54% and a return on equity of 57.62%. The business had revenue of $997.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.02 billion. On average, analysts expect that Range Resources will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Range Resourcess dividend payout ratio is currently 6.79%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Third Point LLC purchased a new position in shares of Range Resources in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $98,514,000. Profund Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Range Resources by 126.7% in the 3rd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 21,054 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock worth $532,000 after buying an additional 11,766 shares during the last quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in Range Resources during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $594,000. Orser Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Range Resources during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,424,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in Range Resources by 159.9% during the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 110,349 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock worth $2,787,000 after purchasing an additional 67,895 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.32% of the companys stock.

About Range Resources

(Get Rating)

Range Resources Corp. engages in the exploration, development and acquisition of natural gas and oil properties in the Appalachian and Midcontinent regions. The company was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Fort Worth, TX.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for Range Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Range Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Riskified (NYSE:RSKD  Get Rating) had its price target upped by stock analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $5.00 to $5.50 in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a neutral rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Groups target price would suggest a potential upside of 3.00% from the companys current price.

RSKD has been the topic of several other reports. Credit Suisse Group lowered their target price on shares of Riskified from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 24th. TheStreet downgraded Riskified from a c- rating to a d rating in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Riskified from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and lifted their target price for the company from $6.00 to $8.00 in a report on Friday, March 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $6.70.

Get Riskified alerts:

Riskified Stock Performance

NYSE RSKD traded down $0.03 on Thursday, reaching $5.34. The stock had a trading volume of 77,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 364,614. The stock has a market cap of $875.55 million, a P/E ratio of -8.65 and a beta of 1.27. The businesss 50-day moving average price is $5.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.10. Riskified has a 12-month low of $3.43 and a 12-month high of $6.73.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Riskified

About Riskified

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Toronado Partners LLC increased its position in Riskified by 344.7% during the first quarter. Toronado Partners LLC now owns 3,380,700 shares of the companys stock worth $20,419,000 after acquiring an additional 2,620,437 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Riskified in the 1st quarter valued at about $9,587,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Riskified by 100.6% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,388,468 shares of the companys stock worth $7,831,000 after buying an additional 696,423 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Riskified by 131.9% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,093,844 shares of the companys stock worth $5,054,000 after purchasing an additional 622,181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EVR Research LP grew its holdings in Riskified by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. EVR Research LP now owns 3,200,000 shares of the companys stock worth $14,784,000 after acquiring an additional 492,000 shares during the period. 25.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

(Get Rating)

Riskified Ltd. operates an e-commerce risk management platform that allows online merchants to create trusted relationships with their consumers in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and internationally. It offers Chargeback Guarantee that approves or denies online orders; Policy Protect and Account Secure, which identifies and blocks consumers that may be taking advantage of the merchant's terms and conditions or that may be trying to gain unauthorized access to another consumer's account; Deco and PSD2, a optimize products that help merchants to avoid bank authorization failures and abandoned shopping carts resulting from the secure customer authentication process.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for Riskified Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Riskified and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Shares of Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA  Get Rating) have earned a consensus recommendation of Moderate Buy from the eight analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $256.20.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SNA. Roth Capital reissued a neutral rating on shares of Snap-on in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. Tigress Financial reissued a buy rating and issued a $302.00 price objective (up from $298.00) on shares of Snap-on in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Snap-on in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a buy rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Snap-on from $253.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Barrington Research reissued an outperform rating and issued a $280.00 price objective on shares of Snap-on in a research note on Monday.

Get Snap-on alerts:

Snap-on Stock Performance

Snap-on stock traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $239.82. The company had a trading volume of 89,717 shares, compared to its average volume of 299,182. The firm has a market cap of $12.74 billion, a PE ratio of 14.28, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 3.47 and a quick ratio of 2.40. Snap-on has a one year low of $190.08 and a one year high of $259.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $243.22 and a 200 day moving average of $234.76.

Snap-on Dividend Announcement

Snap-on ( NYSE:SNA Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $4.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.09 by $0.33. Snap-on had a net margin of 20.29% and a return on equity of 20.83%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.10 earnings per share. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Snap-on will post 17.1 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 22nd. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Snap-ons dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Snap-on news, CEO Nicholas T. Pinchuk sold 22,800 shares of Snap-on stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.05, for a total value of $5,381,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 676,929 shares of the companys stock, valued at $159,789,090.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Nicholas T. Pinchuk sold 22,800 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.05, for a total transaction of $5,381,940.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 676,929 shares in the company, valued at $159,789,090.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Iain Boyd sold 2,736 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.01, for a total transaction of $708,651.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,249 shares in the company, valued at $1,618,553.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,744 shares of company stock valued at $10,207,319 over the last quarter. Insiders own 4.20% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Copeland Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Snap-on by 653.3% during the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 113 shares of the companys stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in Snap-on by 57.3% during the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 129 shares of the companys stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. NuWave Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Snap-on in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Trustcore Financial Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Snap-on by 200.0% in the 3rd quarter. Trustcore Financial Services LLC now owns 150 shares of the companys stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Snap-on in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. 85.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Snap-on

(Get Rating)

Snap-On, Inc engages in the manufacture and marketing of tools, equipment, diagnostics, repair information, and systems solutions for professional users performing critical tasks. Its products and services include hand and power tools, tool storage, diagnostics software, handheld and PC-based diagnostic products, information and management systems, shop equipment and other solutions for vehicle dealerships and repair centers, as well as for customers in industries such as aviation and aerospace, agriculture, construction, government and military, mining, natural resources, power generation, and technical education.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for Snap-on Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Snap-on and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Legacy Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of State Street Co. (NYSE:STT  Get Rating) by 12.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,394 shares of the asset managers stock after buying an additional 3,936 shares during the period. Legacy Advisors LLCs holdings in State Street were worth $2,846,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of State Street by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 920 shares of the asset managers stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Rossmore Private Capital grew its holdings in shares of State Street by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 4,925 shares of the asset managers stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in State Street by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 6,316 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $384,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of State Street by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,922 shares of the asset managers stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Finally, United Capital Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of State Street by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC now owns 4,717 shares of the asset managers stock worth $411,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.41% of the companys stock.

Get State Street alerts:

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP David C. Phelan sold 15,000 shares of State Street stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.63, for a total value of $1,299,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 72,491 shares in the company, valued at $6,279,895.33. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other State Street news, EVP David C. Phelan sold 15,000 shares of State Street stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.63, for a total transaction of $1,299,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,491 shares in the company, valued at $6,279,895.33. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Ian Appleyard sold 6,725 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.42, for a total transaction of $594,624.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,493 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,281,471.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,893 shares of company stock worth $2,923,987. Insiders own 0.25% of the companys stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

State Street Stock Down 16.5 %

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on State Street from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 5th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on State Street from $85.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, March 24th. UBS Group cut their price target on State Street from $100.00 to $95.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on State Street from $82.00 to $85.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 11th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of State Street in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $87.27.

Shares of STT stock opened at $66.80 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.13, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.56. The firms fifty day moving average price is $82.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.60. State Street Co. has a 1 year low of $58.62 and a 1 year high of $94.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

State Street (NYSE:STT  Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 20th. The asset manager reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.07. State Street had a net margin of 20.92% and a return on equity of 12.03%. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $3.06 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that State Street Co. will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

State Street Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 3rd were issued a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 31st. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. State Streets dividend payout ratio is currently 35.05%.

About State Street

(Get Rating)

State Street Corp. engages in the provision of financial services to institutional investors. It operates through the Commercial and Financial, and Commercial Real Estate segments. The company was founded in 1792 and is headquartered in Boston, MA.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding STT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for State Street Co. (NYSE:STT  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for State Street Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for State Street and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
StockNews.com started coverage on shares of InnSuites Hospitality Trust (NYSEAMERICAN:IHT  Get Rating) in a research report sent to investors on Friday. The firm issued a hold rating on the stock.

InnSuites Hospitality Trust Stock Down 5.5 %

InnSuites Hospitality Trust stock opened at $1.37 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $12.49 million, a P/E ratio of 17.13 and a beta of 0.16. The company has a quick ratio of 2.63, a current ratio of 2.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31. InnSuites Hospitality Trust has a twelve month low of $1.26 and a twelve month high of $3.77. The companys 50-day moving average price is $1.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1.69.

Get InnSuites Hospitality Trust alerts:

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A hedge fund recently bought a new stake in InnSuites Hospitality Trust stock. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in InnSuites Hospitality Trust (NYSEAMERICAN:IHT  Get Rating) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 43,352 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $83,000. Brighton Jones LLC owned about 0.48% of InnSuites Hospitality Trust at the end of the most recent reporting period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 3.15% of the companys stock.

About InnSuites Hospitality Trust

InnSuites Hospitality Trust engages in the ownership and operation of hotel properties. It also offers management services, which focus on trademark and licensing. The company was founded by James F. Wirth on June 21, 1971 and is headquartered in Phoenix, AZ.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for InnSuites Hospitality Trust Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for InnSuites Hospitality Trust and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
TBC Bank Group PLC (OTCMKTS:TBCCF  Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,700 shares, a decline of 29.9% from the March 15th total of 16,700 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 0 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently  days.

TBC Bank Group Price Performance

Shares of TBC Bank Group stock remained flat at $19.98 during trading on Monday. TBC Bank Group has a one year low of $19.98 and a one year high of $19.98. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $19.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.98.

Get TBC Bank Group alerts:

TBC Bank Group Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Featured Articles

TBC Bank Group PLC, through its subsidiaries, provides banking, leasing, brokerage, and card processing services to corporate and individual customers in Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan. The company operates through Retail; Corporate; and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises segments. It offers various current/settlement accounts, and term deposits; mortgage, consumer, retail, and corporate loans, as well as loans for micro, small, and medium enterprises; credit cards, credit lines, letters of credit, and guarantees; and money transfer and currency exchange services.

Receive News & Ratings for TBC Bank Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for TBC Bank Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC lifted its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW  Get Rating) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 88,632 shares of the financial services providers stock after buying an additional 347 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab makes up about 1.8% of Ironwood Investment Counsel LLCs portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLCs holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $7,380,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SCHW. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Charles Schwab by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. now owns 15,913 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 1,579 shares during the period. Sittner & Nelson LLC purchased a new position in Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Private Ocean LLC increased its holdings in Charles Schwab by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Private Ocean LLC now owns 14,253 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Charles Schwab by 65.9% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 381,125 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $31,732,000 after purchasing an additional 151,435 shares during the period. Finally, Keystone Financial Services increased its holdings in Charles Schwab by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Keystone Financial Services now owns 7,663 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $593,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares during the period. 73.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get Charles Schwab alerts:

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Walter W. Bettinger acquired 50,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $59.31 per share, with a total value of $2,965,500.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 656,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,937,074.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Charles Schwab news, insider Bernard J. Clark purchased 5,000 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $54.83 per share, with a total value of $274,150.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 120,653 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $6,615,403.99. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Walter W. Bettinger purchased 50,000 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $59.31 per share, with a total value of $2,965,500.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 656,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,937,074.31. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 81,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,706,960 and sold 728,106 shares valued at $58,067,403. Insiders own 6.60% of the companys stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley cut Charles Schwab from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 30th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Charles Schwab from $75.00 to $65.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 29th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Charles Schwab in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Charles Schwab from $89.00 to $65.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $76.21.

Shares of SCHW stock traded up $0.92 on Monday, hitting $51.69. The company had a trading volume of 28,023,766 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,585,725. The firm has a market cap of $92.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $65.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The Charles Schwab Co. has a twelve month low of $45.00 and a twelve month high of $86.63.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW  Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $5.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.13 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 24.94% and a net margin of 34.60%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 9th. This is a boost from Charles Schwabs previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Charles Schwabs payout ratio is 28.57%.

About Charles Schwab

(Get Rating)

The Charles Schwab Corp. is a savings and loan holding company, which engages in the provision of wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services. It operates through the Investor Services and Advisor Services segments. The Investor Services segment includes retail brokerage and banking services to individual investors, and retirement plan services, as well as other corporate brokerage services, to businesses and their employees.

Recommended Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SCHW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for Charles Schwab Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Charles Schwab and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Quanta Services (NYSE:PWR  Get Rating) had its price target increased by equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group from $150.00 to $171.00 in a research report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a neutral rating on the construction companys stock. The Goldman Sachs Groups price target suggests a potential upside of 2.79% from the companys current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Argus raised their target price on Quanta Services from $168.00 to $189.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 24th. Cowen upped their price target on Quanta Services from $155.00 to $165.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 27th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Quanta Services from $140.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Friday, February 24th. Cowen lifted their price objective on Quanta Services from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, December 27th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Quanta Services in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $169.64.

Get Quanta Services alerts:

Quanta Services Stock Performance

PWR traded up $0.34 during trading on Monday, reaching $166.36. 180,202 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 913,474. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $159.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $148.58. The company has a market capitalization of $24.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.16 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Quanta Services has a fifty-two week low of $106.33 and a fifty-two week high of $168.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quanta Services

Quanta Services ( NYSE:PWR Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The construction company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.27 billion. Quanta Services had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 16.48%. As a group, analysts predict that Quanta Services will post 6.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In related news, EVP Donald Wayne sold 23,214 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.68, for a total value of $3,799,667.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,367 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $8,244,070.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,646 shares of company stock worth $6,801,898. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Signet Financial Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Quanta Services by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC now owns 20,785 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $3,464,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Quanta Services by 18.6% during the first quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,956 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $2,825,000 after buying an additional 2,660 shares during the period. Strong Tower Advisory Services bought a new stake in Quanta Services during the first quarter valued at about $2,853,000. Dakota Wealth Management bought a new stake in Quanta Services during the first quarter valued at about $7,872,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Quanta Services by 6.7% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 104,952 shares of the construction companys stock worth $17,489,000 after acquiring an additional 6,550 shares in the last quarter. 89.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Quanta Services

(Get Rating)

Quanta Services, Inc engages in the provision of comprehensive infrastructure solutions to the electric power, oil and gas, and communication industries. It operates through the following segments: Electric Power Infrastructure Solutions, Renewable Energy Infrastructure Solutions, and Underground Utility and Infrastructure Solutions.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Quanta Services Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Quanta Services and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp. (OTCMKTS:TCYMF  Get Rating) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,122,000 shares, a decline of 26.9% from the March 15th total of 5,640,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 0 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently  days.

Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Price Performance

Shares of Tingyi (Cayman Islands) stock remained flat at $1.74 on Monday. Tingyi has a 12 month low of $1.39 and a 12 month high of $1.74. The businesss 50-day moving average price is $1.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1.69.

Get Tingyi (Cayman Islands) alerts:

Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Featured Stories

Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp., an investment holding company, manufactures and sells instant noodles, beverages, and instant food products in the People's Republic of China. The company operates through Instant Noodles, Beverages, and Others segments. It offers ready-to-drink teas, juices, milk tea, bottled water, and carbonated soft drinks, as well as coffee drinks/functional drinks/probiotics.

Receive News & Ratings for Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Tingyi (Cayman Islands) and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Welch & Forbes LLC lowered its position in Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC  Get Rating) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 279,097 shares of the business services providers stock after selling 1,046 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC owned about 0.14% of Omnicom Group worth $22,766,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Resources Investment Advisors LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Omnicom Group by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Resources Investment Advisors LLC. now owns 4,763 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of Omnicom Group by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 517,316 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $42,203,000 after buying an additional 39,244 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management raised its position in shares of Omnicom Group by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 33,087 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $2,699,000 after buying an additional 1,670 shares in the last quarter. TFG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Omnicom Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $211,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Omnicom Group by 64.1% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 130,295 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $10,628,000 after buying an additional 50,913 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.20% of the companys stock.

Get Omnicom Group alerts:

Omnicom Group Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE OMC traded down $0.23 during trading on Monday, reaching $94.78. 863,383 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,857,334. The businesss 50-day moving average price is $91.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.07. Omnicom Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.31 and a twelve month high of $96.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The company has a market capitalization of $19.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.83.

Omnicom Group Dividend Announcement

Omnicom Group ( NYSE:OMC Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 7th. The business services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $3.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.75 billion. Omnicom Group had a net margin of 9.21% and a return on equity of 41.20%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.95 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Omnicom Group Inc. will post 7.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 6th. Investors of record on Friday, March 10th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 9th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.95%. Omnicom Groups dividend payout ratio is presently 43.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on OMC shares. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Omnicom Group from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Omnicom Group from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and raised their target price for the company from $85.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Omnicom Group from $91.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Omnicom Group in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Omnicom Group from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and set a $96.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $97.14.

About Omnicom Group

(Get Rating)

Omnicom Group, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of advertising, marketing and corporate communications services. Its agency networks operate in the advertising, marketing, and corporate communications services industry, which are organized into regions, which are the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Omnicom Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Omnicom Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Country

Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Canada Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cuba, Republic of Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Dominican Republic Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Haiti, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Jamaica Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Mexico, United Mexican States Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu US Virgin Islands Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland United States Minor Outlying Islands United States of America Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe
Having arrived in Vancouver, Canada after leaving Britain for good, former prince, Harry wasted no time by viewing some prime properties to make a home for his young family.

The couple do not want to stay as a guest of the Russian FSB, and Kremlin operative, who lent them a massive villa for too long, simply because there seems to be too many negative headlines served up if they stay.

The former prince, now a nobody, wants to live a simple life in the woods with his family. There will only be basic amenities, and the only visitors will be stray grizzlies, but certainly not any Windsors, Canadian real estate agent, Anita Longhorn, told the Canada Times newspaper.

Especially close to the former royals heart is a cabin somewhere deep in the forest located in the Yukon.

You can only get there by foot, as there are no passable roads, but it is ideal for privacy from the press, as this is what Harry wishes for, the real estate agent added.

The only problem is that Meghan Markle, craves for the press, and is continually phoning them up to create photoshoots and other headline material.

Is this all going to work out?
Despite the misguided Tory celebrations today after passing Rishi Sunaks Brexit stitch-up law and proclaiming that Brexit is Done, it is not done, it simply is NOT Brexit.

How can we have a Brexit when Britain and N. Ireland is still ruled by the EU Commission, European Courts of Justice and European Court of Human Rights? This is not in any way British sovereignty. Would the USA or Australia or Japan agree to be ruled by these EU legal entities and subject to their laws? No, is the emphatic answer, yet it seems the UK has capitulated to the EU and is in no way a sovereign nation.

EU law will still be dominant in Northern Ireland; the rights of its people under the 1800 Act of Union are not restored; the green lane is not really a green lane at all; the Stormont brake is useless; and the framework itself has no exit, other than through a highly convoluted legal process which would drag on for decades without an end in sight.

It seems the Brexiteers have been fully purged from the Tory Party, which is now an effete socialist mirror of the Labour Party. This is why the vote today in parliament required Labour votes to pass.

If you voted to leave the EU on June 23, 2016, what has happened today in parliament is effectively a complete whitewash of Brexit and no doubt many, including the DUP are ashamed at the whole farcical fake and undignified manner this entire disgraceful episode has been conducted.

You can pull the wool over the eyes of the blind muppets and yes-men all nodding their heads in unison as they are shepherded off the cliff edge, but not everyone will fall for these duplicitous dishonest tricks.

As the Reform UK party gains strength, the Tories are only shooting themselves in the foot for the next election. High tax and spend Tories who capitulate to the EU at every point and have betrayed not only Britain but democracy in general have already lost the election in 2024.

Macron will enjoy spending the half a billion pounds Sunak has given him to do nothing about the migrant Channel crisis; Brussels is gloating at another coup with this erroneous Brexit deal that means nothing, nada, shit, zilch, zero, and is absolute bollocks.

Since Brexit, some 640 laws have been passed for Northern Ireland behind closed doors in Brussels by majority vote.

Brexit never happened, and it will probably never happen.
SOUTH CHINA SEA - Taiwan - When communist China invades the tiny island, Biden has been ordered by the CCP to hold back and to not engage U.S. military forces.

Kompromat is a very powerful thing, and despite the FBI and other federal agencies protecting the Biden family from its numerous alleged criminal dealings, when China finally pushes the trigger on Taiwan, Biden will do very little. This is because the Chinese Communist Party has a lot more damning information they could release that even the FBI and other biased agencies could not hide.

The military consensus is that Taiwan will be Ukraine 2.0, as much as the Biden/Obama administration simply watched Ukraine be invaded from afar in 2014, the current Biden/Harris administration will do the same with Taiwan. Its not just that the current U.S. admin is completely useless and incompetent in every way, there are various factors to attribute to this intransigence to do anything.

One only has to look at Democrat run cities to see how they ruin everything, and to supplant that serious neglect to how they run global issues that will bring the world to closer to world war III. The Democrats are more interested in perpetuating an atmosphere of drug death and severe homelessness in their shit heaving faeces ridden cities, as well as encouraging the full throttle emasculation of the entire male population, including the U.S. military. In effect, they are serving up their own country to the enemy because it is all too evident that the Democrat Party, which has embraced full communist Marxist ideology, is actively working to destroy the one thing they really hate  America.

To ameliorate this destruction of America from within and without, the disgraceful Biden administration will not defend a little poxy island like Taiwan. In fact, even if China lands its armies on mainland Australia or Japan, Biden will do very little.

The sea ways are open, and China is actively preparing for action, they have been watching the disgraceful treatment of Ukraine by its so-called allies and know that Bidens economy is in serious deficit. Under Bidens terrible policies of ruination, the U.S. Deficit has rocketed above $35 trillion, and is rising every day as Biden concentrates on the transgender and homosexual agenda as a matter of high national importance.
Amid rampant corruption in Kiev and as US troops gather at the Ukrainian border, does the Biden administration have an endgame to the conflict?

by Seymour Myron "Sy" Hersh

The Ukraine government, headed by Volodymyr Zelensky, has been using American taxpayers funds to pay dearly for the vitally needed diesel fuel that is keeping the Ukrainian army on the move in its war with Russia. It is unknown how much the Zelensky government is paying per gallon for the fuel, but the Pentagon was paying as much as $400 per gallon to transport gasoline from a port in Pakistan, via truck or parachute, into Afghanistan during the decades-long American war there.

What also is unknown is that Zelensky has been buying the fuel from Russia, the country with which it, and Washington, are at war, and the Ukrainian president and many in his entourage have been skimming untold millions from the American dollars earmarked for diesel fuel payments. One estimate by analysts from the Central Intelligence Agency put the embezzled funds at $400 million last year, at least; another expert compared the level of corruption in Kiev as approaching that of the Afghan war, although there will be no professional audit reports emerging from the Ukraine.

Zelenskys been buying discount diesel from the Russians, one knowledgeable American intelligence official told me. And whos paying for the gas and oil? We are. Putin and his oligarchs are making millions on it.

Many government ministries in Kiev have been literally competing, I was told, to set up front companies for export contracts for weapons and ammunition with private arms dealers around the world, all of which provide kickbacks. Many of those companies are in Poland and Czechia, but others are thought to exist in the Persian Gulf and Israel. I wouldnt be surprised to learn that there are others in places like the Cayman Islands and Panama, and there are lots of Americans involved, an American expert on international trade told me.

The issue of corruption was directly raised with Zelensky in a meeting last January in Kiev with CIA Director William Burns. His message to the Ukrainian president, I was told by an intelligence official with direct knowledge of the meeting, was out of a 1950s mob movie. The senior generals and government officials in Kiev were angry at what they saw as Zelenskys greed, so Burns told the Ukrainian president, because he was taking a larger share of the skim money than was going to the generals.

Burns also presented Zelensky with a list of thirty-five generals and senior officials whose corruption was known to the CIA and others in the American government. Zelensky responded to the American pressure ten days later by publicly dismissing ten of the most ostentatious officials on the list and doing little else. The ten he got rid of were brazenly bragging about the money they haddriving around Kiev in their new Mercedes, the intelligence official told me.

Source: seymourhersh.substack.com

Seymour Myron "Sy" Hersh is an American investigative journalist, and political writer. Hersh first gained recognition in 1969 for exposing the My Lai Massacre and its cover-up during the Vietnam War, for which he received the 1970 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge (PTI)

New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding an "up-to-date caste census". The BJP had earlier this month had accused the Congress leader of being "anti-OBC".

In the letter, Kharge pointed out that the regular decennial census was to be carried out in 2021, but it had not yet been conducted. "I am writing to you to once again place on record the demand of the Indian National Congress for an up-to-date caste census. My colleagues and I have raised this demand earlier in both Houses of Parliament on a number of occasions, as have the leaders of many other Opposition parties," he wrote. The letter said: "In the absence of an updated caste census, I am afraid a reliable database so very essential for meaningful social justice and empowerment programmes, particularly for OBCs, is incomplete. This census is the responsibility of the Union government."

Congress leaders have started the campaign of "Jitni Aabadi Utna Haq" as the party plans to make the Narendra Modi governments reluctance to conduct the caste census a key focus of its campaign for the 2024 general election.

Addressing a rally in Katnatakas Kolar, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had on Sunday dared Prime Minister Modi to release the 2011 caste-based census data in the public domain and demanded that the 50 per cent cap on reservations be removed.

"UPA in 2011 did the caste-based census. It has the data of all castes. Mr Prime Minister, you talk of OBCs. Make that data public. Let the nation know how many OBCs, Dalits and tribals are there in the country," Rahul Gandhi had said at the Congress "Jai Bharat" rally in Kolar.

He also added: "Please release the caste census data so that the nation knows how much is the population of OBCs, Dalits and tribals. If you dont do this, then it is an insult to OBCs. Also, remove the cap of 50 per cent on reservations."

Supporting the Congress demand for an up-to-date caste census in the country, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said it would be beneficial for all sections of society. He said: "We have been in favour of the caste census right from the very beginning. When the Central government refused to do so, we decided to conduct the caste survey on our own. It is going on in the state. The exercise will provide data to the government for carrying out work for the benefit of the weaker sections of society." The month-long second phase of caste headcount is underway in Bihar from April 15 to May 15. The enumeration exercise, which started from January 7, will be completed by May.
Supreme Court (PTI)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court agreed to hear on Tuesday a plea filed by the Centre questioning the maintainability of the petitions seeking legal validation of same-sex marriage.

A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud took note of the submissions of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who mentioned the plea to decide a preliminary issue.

"Yes, it will be listed tomorrow," the bench also comprising justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala said.

Terming the petitions seeking legal validation of same-sex marriage as one which reflect an "urban elitist" view for the purpose of social acceptance, the Centre has told the Supreme Court that recognition of marriage is essentially a legislative function which the courts should refrain from deciding.

Questioning the maintainability of the petitions, the Centre has said that legal validation for same-sex marriages will cause complete havoc with the delicate balance of personal laws and accepted societal values.

A five-judge Supreme Court constitution bench is scheduled to hear from Tuesday a batch of petitions seeking legal validation of same-sex marriages in the country.

A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices S K Kaul, S Ravindra Bhat, P S Narasimha and Hima Kohli will hear the petitions which were referred to a larger bench for an authoritative pronouncement on March 13 by the CJI-led bench, saying it is very seminal issue.

The hearing and the consequential outcome will have significant ramifications for the country where common people and political parties hold divergent views on the subject.

The apex court on November 25 last year had sought the Centre's response to separate pleas moved by two gay couples seeking enforcement of their right to marry and a direction to the authorities concerned to register their marriages under the Special Marriage Act.
YSRC MP Y.S. Avinash Reddy. (DC File)

HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court on Monday facilitated YSRC MP Y.S. Avinash Reddy to appear before the CBI on Tuesday, after hearing his anticipatory bail petition in relation to the probe into the murder of Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy.

The CBI had arrested his father Y.S. Bhaskar Reddy on Sunday and his close aide G. Uday Kumar Reddy on Saturday.

Avinash Reddy was supposed to appear before the CBI at 10 am on Tuesday but Justice K. Surender of the Telangana High Court, who was dealing with the petition, changed it to 4 pm so as to hear the matter in the morning.

Avinash Reddy had requested release on bail in the event of his arrest. His senior counsel T. Niranjan Reddy alleged that the CBI was leaking case details to the media. Electronic media had already flashed the news that Avinash was co-accused when it was not so.

He submitted that CBI had arrested Bhaskar Reddy even though his petition was pending before the High Court. Except for the statement of Shaik Dastagiri, a driver and accused who has since turned approver, the CBI had no evidence against Avinash Reddy, he said.

How can the CBI implicate a person or arrest him in a murder case based on the statement of an accused, he wondered.

Niranjan Reddy claimed that Vivekananda Reddy had been involved in illegal commercial transactions and was a womaniser but the CBI was looking into the political angle and not into the victims family disputes. He argued that Dr Suneetha Nareddy, daughter of the deceased, was trying to divert attention away from her husband.

CBI counsel said the agency had not only depended on the statements of the accused but had found that Avinash Reddy had played a key role in destruction of evidence. The CBI has some text messages exchanged from the MPs phone with the accused, counsel said and added that if the agency felt it necessary it would arrest him.

Dr Suneetha requested that she be heard on Avinash Reddys plea. Justice Surender then rescheduled the CBIs summons and adjourned the hearing to Tuesday morning.
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy participates in prayers at the Iftar party at Vidyadharapuram in Vijayawada on Monday, Minister Amzath Basha, MLA Mustafa, and others were also seen. (Photo by arrangement)

VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has greeted Muslims marking the occasion of Ramzan festival and offered special prayers at an Iftar programme hosted by the state government at a mini-stadium in Vidyadharapuram area here on Monday.

The chief minister, in his address, called upon Muslims to pray for development of Andhra Pradesh and wished all the people well with blessings from God the Almighty. He also wished that the prayers of Muslims be heard. The chief minister wore a traditional cap and shawl and offered namaz along with his Muslim brethren.

Deputy chief minister Amjad Basha lauded the chief minister saying he was striving hard for the welfare of all the denizens including the minorities. "The minorities in the state are availing several welfare schemes in an unprecedented manner, thanks to CM Jagan. He has provided reservation to the minorities, fee-reimbursement in educational institutions to pursue studies and even political empowerment to Muslims."

Basha said under Jagan, AP was the only state that provided huge funds for the welfare of minorities. He said Jagan cared for Muslims. "I was made deputy chief minister while a Muslim woman functioned as the deputy chairperson of the Legislative Council. This apart, four MLC seats have been given to Muslim brethren by the CM.

Several MLAs, MLCs, leaders, officials and a large number of Muslim elders took part in the Iftar programme.
The legacy of Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike serves as a reminder of the kind of leadership Sri Lanka needs today.

by Our Political Affairs Editor

Peace is not just the absence of war, it is the presence of justice and harmony.  Speech delivered at the Non-Aligned Movement Summit, Colombo, August 1976.

On the occasion of the birth anniversary of our former Prime Minister Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike, it is important to reflect on her leadership and the qualities that made her an exemplary leader. She was born on 17 April 1916. Mrs. Bandaranaike was not just the first female Prime Minister in the world, but she was also a leader who prioritized the welfare of her people over personal gain.

The story shared by her daughter, former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, about her mothers simple act of stitching her saree, despite being the Prime Minister, highlights her humility and dedication towards her country. Mrs. Bandaranaikes response to her daughters question also reflects her commitment to public service and her understanding of the responsibilities that come with being a leader.

File Photo: Moscow State University professor Olga Oleinik presenting flowers to Prime Minister of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) Sirimavo Bandaranaike during her visit to the university. [Photo: Dmitriy Kozlov/Sputnik]

In the story, Mrs. Bandaranaike was seen stitching her saree one day in the evening, which surprised her young daughter CBK. CBK asked her mother why she didnt simply use a new saree, especially since she was the Prime Minister and was scheduled to leave on a foreign visit the next day.

In response, Mrs. Bandaranaike explained to her daughter that she was not in politics to live a lavish life, but rather to put the nation on the right track. She emphasized the importance of being responsible with resources and prioritizing the needs of the country over personal luxury.

This simple act of stitching a saree may seem insignificant, but it speaks volumes about Mrs. Bandaranaikes leadership style and priorities. She was a leader who valued humility, dedication, and service to her people, and her actions reflected this.

The story also serves as a reminder of the importance of responsible leadership, particularly in times of crisis. As we face various challenges, it is critical that our leaders prioritize the needs of the country over personal gain, and lead by example in demonstrating the values of dedication, humility, and service to others.

Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike was not only a trailblazing female leader, but also an influential figure in the global political arena. As a key figure in the Non-Aligned Movement, Mrs. Bandaranaike played an important role in promoting peace and stability in the world, advocating for cooperation and dialogue among nations.

Her commitment to peace was further demonstrated by her declaration of the Indian Ocean as a peace zone, a visionary move that helped to reduce tensions in the region and promote cooperation among neighbouring nations.

Moreover, Mrs. Bandaranaike firmly believed in the importance of a production-based economy, recognizing the need for Sri Lanka to develop its own industries and reduce its dependence on foreign imports. Her economic policies were geared towards promoting domestic industries, creating jobs, and driving economic growth through investment in infrastructure and human capital.

Despite facing a polarized political situation and attempts by opponents to humiliate and undermine her, Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike remained steadfast in her dedication to serving the people of Sri Lanka. She did her best to steer the nation towards a production-based economy, recognizing the need for responsible economic management and sustainability.

Unfortunately, subsequent governments did not follow in her footsteps, and instead, the nations economy became characterized by undisciplined economic management and overconsumption, resulting in an unsustainable debt burden. Today, Sri Lanka faces the consequences of these decisions, with the nation grappling with a severe economic crisis.

However, what is perhaps even more concerning is the lack of accountability and responsibility taken by those responsible for this economic meltdown. Politicians and their family members who have been directly involved in the mismanagement of the nations finances have not taken responsibility or worked towards correcting the situation. This lack of accountability is unacceptable and undermines the very principles of responsible leadership and governance.

As we remember the legacy of Mrs. Bandaranaike on her birth anniversary, it is important that we reflect not only on her leadership qualities but also on the challenges facing our nation today. We must hold our leaders accountable for their actions and demand that they work towards responsible economic management and sustainable development.

It is essential that we learn from the mistakes of the past and work towards building a more sustainable and equitable future for Sri Lanka. This requires leaders who are committed to serving the people, promoting accountability and transparency, and prioritizing the needs of the country over personal gain. In this way, we can honor the legacy of Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike and work towards a brighter future for all Sri Lankans.

As we pay tribute to Mrs. Bandaranaikes leadership, we must also recognize that we need leaders who can bring people together, bridge differences, and promote reconciliation. Today, as Sri Lanka faces a multitude of challenges, including an economic crisis and, political instability, the need for visionary and dedicated leadership has never been greater. We need leaders who, like Mrs. Bandaranaike, are committed to promoting peace, stability, and cooperation both domestically and globally. We need leaders who prioritize the needs of the country over personal gain and who are committed to promoting sustainable economic growth through responsible economic management and investment in domestic industries.

The legacy of Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike serves as a reminder of the kind of leadership Sri Lanka needs today. We need leaders who are committed to promoting peace, stability, and prosperity, both for the present and for future generations. By honoring her legacy and learning from her example, we can work towards building a brighter future for all Sri Lankans. But, do we have any politicians who will stand with the public, rather than scheming and plotting to maintain or gain power? Its disheartening to see how shameless groups of people have manipulated our country.
Former Karnataka CM Jagadish Shettar being felicitated by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge after he joined the Congress Party, at KPCC office in Bengaluru (PTI)

New Delhi: The Congress on Monday took a swipe at the BJP over former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar crossing over to it ahead of the May 10 Assembly elections, claiming the ruling party is "falling like a house of cards".

Shettar joined the Congress in Bengaluru in the presence of AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, general secretaries K C Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala (Karnataka in-charge), KPCC president D K Shivakumar and Legislature Party leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah, among others.

In a tweet on his joining, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "A massive shift in Karnataka politics! Former CM and a widely respected leader across the state, Jagadish Shettar, has joined the Congress party today."

"@INCKarnataka is on track to form the government with a full majority. BJP is falling like a house of cards," Ramesh said.

Shettar on Sunday had resigned as the Hubli-Dharwad (Central) MLA after the BJP denied him the ticket to contest the Assembly polls.

The 67-year old six-time MLA, Shettar was asked by the BJP top brass to make way for others, but he on his part had asserted that he wanted to contest one last time.

After joining the Congress, Shettar alleged that he had been humiliated by the BJP by denying him a ticket and that the party is today in the control of "very few people."
Former Karnataka CM Jagadish Shettar joins Congress in the presence of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge (left in picture), at KPCC office in Bengaluru on Monday. DC Image

Bengaluru: Senior BJP leader and former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar on Monday joined the Congress Party in the presence of party president Mallikarjun Kharge in Bengaluru at the party office. Mr Shettar, a six-time MLA representing Hubballi Central Assembly seat, was denied a ticket by the BJP to contest the coming Assembly polls.

After joining the Congress, Mr Shettar said: "I deserved a graceful exit or retirement from the BJP." But that did not happen and he added: "I was driven out of the party in a systematic manner."

He recalled that his family has been associated with the Jan Sangh, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the BJP for a long time, and said: "I was the seniormost in the party after former chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa and the leaders feared my seniority in the party."

Over the denial of a ticket by the BJP, Mr Shettar said: "I have won for six consecutive times and won the election with a margin of about 25,000 votes, and there was no mention of my name even in the second list of nominees." He asked: "Is this the way to treat a senior leader of the party who strived hard to build it in north Karnataka region?"

"I had extensively worked for the development of the constituency for the last two years and expected a party ticket to contest the polls," Mr Shettar said, adding that he was "hurt" after BJP leaders denied him a ticket at the last minute.

Explaining what happened, he said that BJP leaders had on April 11 informed him that he would not be fielded in the coming Assembly polls. "The BJP leaders should have made their decision known to me at least 10 days in advance about the denial of ticket to me," Mr Shettar said.

Mr Shettar added that "some individuals" have taken control over party affairs, including ticket distribution. "The BJP is centralised in Karnataka, with a few individuals controlling all its affairs," he said, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP president J.P. Nadda may be unaware of the state of affairs in the Karnataka unit.

"With no other option," Mr Shettar said, he had joined the Congress, accepting its ideology, after an invitation from Congress leaders M.B. Patil, Randeep Singh Surjewala, Siddaramaiah and D.K. Shivakumar. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the party gained strength in north Karnataka with the joining of Jagadish Shettar and he was confident that the Congress would win in about 150 seats in the coming polls.
State finance minister T. Harish Rao is once again the man of the moment. (Photo:Twitter)

HYDERABAD: As the deadline for filing nominations for the Karnataka Assembly elections approaches on April 20, state minister T. Harish Rao is once again the man of the moment, as the BRS plans to send party leaders to campaign in support of the JD(S).

Harish Rao, nephew of BRS president and Chief Minister K.Chandrashekar Rao and widely referred to as the CM's Man Friday, is expected to leave for Bidar district next week with a team of local leaders from undivided Medak district. The party leadership plans to use the services of Harish Rao, because a sizeable Telugu voters in Bidar district are from the undivided Medak district which he has a long association.

Harish Rao and his team plan to campaign in six Assembly constituencies in Bidar district. According to data gathered by the BRS, a big block of the Telugu voters in Bidar district, comprising about 20 per cent, belongs to Sangareddy.

BRS leaders obtained phone numbers of these voters their relatives in order to conduct Atmeeya Sammelanams. The BRS leadership plans to reach out to every Telugu voter through various programmes. The BRS has identified nearly 40 Assembly constituencies in 12 districts of Karnataka where Telugu voters play a significant role in determining the fate of candidates.

The Chief Minister is planning to depute one minister for each of these 12 districts who will be supported by MLAs, MLCs, MPs of respective districts. Plans are being made to campaign in Karnataka until May 8 before the polling on May 10.

The BRS leadership has decided to support JD(S) in Assembly polls, but plans to contest the Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka in 2024 in alliance with JD(S).

Telangana impact

Data gathered by BRS leaders show that Telugu voters are present in significant numbers in 12 Karnataka districts, where they can influence the outcome

District Telugu vote Influence

Kolar 76% 6 seats

Bengaluru Rural 65% 4 seats

Bengaluru Urban 49% 28 seats

Raichuru 64% 7 seats

Ballari 63% 9 seats

Chikkaballapura 49% 5 seats

Koppal 43% 5 seats
The visit by Shah is expected to be a no-nonsense trip focused on seeing how the BJP is shaping up in Telangana. (Photo: PTI)

HYDERABAD: In yet another clear signal that the BJP means business in Telangana, and is serious about coming to power in the state, Union home minister Amit Shah is expected to visit Hyderabad on April 23.

If everything goes as planned, Shah, who has a reputation for his organisational abilities and has often served as the BJP's main election strategist, will meet with state party leaders and representatives from the Chevella Lok Sabha constituency, where he is scheduled to address a public gathering.

Shahs visit, party leaders hope, will be one among a series of regular visits by him to the state as the BJP in Telangana attempts to get its act together to take on Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).

The visit by Shah is expected to be a no-nonsense trip focused on seeing how the BJP is shaping up in Telangana.

The visit comes at a time when the BJP and the BRS are at odds over a host of issues, with the TSPSC question paper leak case currently topping the list. The BJP has pressed the BRS and the state government for a judicial investigation into the leaks, as well as the resignation of IT minister K.T. Rama Rao.

While there was some speculation in the party during the day that at least one senior leader, possibly a former minister from the Congress or the BRS, might join the BJP in Shah's presence at the Chevella public meeting, party leaders did not confirm or deny this possibility.

Though the BJP had deployed two troubleshooters drawn from the Sangh Parivar into the party, the BJP's national general secretary Sunil Bansal and national joint secretary Shiv Prakash, to Telangana for troubleshooting and guidance, it is Shah's impending visit that has some party leaders worried about what Shah will say about their efforts thus far.

"There may be some awkward moments for us as Shah is very focused on Telangana and will come armed with his own inputs on what is happening here," a party leader said.

Following a meeting with state party leaders in New Delhi earlier in March, Shah reportedly assured them that he will now take a direct interest in how the party and its leaders are doing in Telangana. Shah is expected to visit several parliamentary constituencies, with the visit to Chevella constituency being the first in this series.

Preceding Shahs visit will be a meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday of BJPs state leaders with Bansal, and Prakash In the run-up to Shah's visit, the two leaders are slated to take stock of the party's programmes thus far, future action plans, and progress on attempts to build the party at the polling booth level on Wednesday. Also on the cards, according to party leaders, is a review of the partys current agitation on the issue of TSPSC question paper leaks.
A Chinese supervisor at a dam construction project in Pakistan is under police protection after workers accused him of blasphemy against Islam, officials said Monday.

Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in Muslim-majority Pakistan, where even rumours of sacrilegious remarks can incite lynch mobs and deadly violence.

Officials said the engineer at the Dasu hydropower project in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was accused of blasphemy after he highlighted the "slow pace of work" during the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims fast from dawn to sunset.

"The labourers said they were fasting but denied that work had slowed down, which led to an exchange of heated words" with the supervisor, a police official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"Later, the labourers accused the engineer of making blasphemous remarks" and around 400 locals gathered to protest, he said.

Also Read | Army Commanders' Conference starts, India-China issues to be discussed

A written complaint filed with the police identified him only as a heavy transport supervisor by the name of "Mr Tian", and said that his remarks on Saturday "sparked tensions".

"The Chinese national has been taken to a safe place as a precautionary measure," Muhammad Nazir, a police official in Dasu, told AFP.

The Chinese embassy in Islamabad did not respond to a request for comment.

A local administration official in Dasu, around 180 kilometres (110 miles) north of the capital Islamabad, said army and paramilitary troops were deployed "to ensure the safety of the engineers".

The Dasu dam construction contract was awarded to the China Gezhouba Group Company in 2017, and the project is shrouded by tight security.

It is among a number of Chinese firms that have taken on lucrative infrastructure contracts in Pakistan despite the security threats to Chinese nationals.

Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan, though no executions have ever been carried out for the crime.

Nazir said "formal police action" has not yet started against the Chinese national in Dasu "as authorities are trying to solve this issue peacefully".

Another police official said that "local clerics and village elders are negotiating with the workers to solve this issue".

In December 2021, a Sri Lankan factory manager was beaten to death and set ablaze by a mob that accused him of blasphemy in the city of Sialkot in eastern Pakistan.
Fierce fighting raged in Sudan's capital despite a pause Sunday to help those caught up in the violence, on the second day of battles that left three UN staff among more than 50 civilians killed nationwide.

Doctors say hundreds are injured, while the World Health Organization warned "several of the nine hospitals in Khartoum receiving injured civilians have run out of blood, transfusion equipment, intravenous fluids and other vital supplies".

The World Food Programme said it was suspending operations in the impoverished country after the killing of its three workers.

Also Read | Keralite dies in crossfire in Sudan clashes

The battles between the powerful armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) sparked an international outcry and regional concern, including border closures by neighbours Egypt and Chad.

Deafening explosions and intense gunfire rattled buildings in the capital Khartoum's densely populated northern and southern suburbs as tanks rumbled on the streets and fighter jets roared overhead, witnesses said.

Fighting continued after nightfall on Sunday, as Sudanese hunkered down in their homes with fears of a prolonged conflict that could plunge the country into deeper chaos, dashing long-held hopes for a transition to civilian-led democracy.

Violence erupted early Saturday following weeks of power struggles between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo who heads the heavily armed RSF.

The pro-democracy Central Committee of Sudan Doctors reported 56 civilians killed as well as "tens of deaths" among security forces, and around 600 wounded.

Late Sunday afternoon the army said they had "agreed to a United Nations proposal to open safe passage for humanitarian cases", including the evacuation of wounded, for three hours, which ended at 1700 GMT.

RSF confirmed the measure, though they said it would last four hours, and both sides maintained their right to "respond in the event of transgressions" from the other side.

Despite the pause, heavy gunfire could be heard in central Khartoum near the airport, and dense black smoke billowed from the surrounding area.

"The gunfire and explosions are incessant," Ahmed Hamid, 34, from a northern Khartoum suburb, said earlier.

Ahmed Seif, another Khartoum resident, called the situation very worrying and said: "It doesn't seem like it will calm any time soon."

Daglo's RSF say they have seized the presidential palace, Khartoum airport and other strategic locations, but the army insist they are still in control.

As the fighting continued, the stench of gunpowder wafted through Khartoum's streets, deserted except for soldiers.

Medics pleaded for safe corridors for ambulances and a ceasefire to treat the victims because the streets were too dangerous for transporting casualties to hospital.

Fighting also erupted in the western Darfur region and in the eastern border state of Kassala, where witness Hussein Saleh said the army fired artillery at a paramilitary camp.

The UN said its WFP employees had been killed Saturday in clashes in North Darfur and announced a "temporary halt to all operations in Sudan".

After their deaths as well as those of other civilians, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for "justice without delay". He had earlier warned that an escalation in the fighting would "further aggravate the already precarious humanitarian situation".

The UN says one-third of Sudan's population needs humanitarian aid.

WFP said an aircraft managed by the organisation "was also significantly damaged" at Khartoum airport.

"We cannot do our lifesaving work if the safety and security of our teams and partners is not guaranteed," WFP head Cindy McCain said.

Created in 2013, the RSF emerged from the Janjaweed militia that then-president Omar al-Bashir unleashed against non-Arab ethnic minorities in Darfur a decade earlier, drawing accusations of war crimes.

The RSF's planned integration into the regular army was a key element of talks to finalise a deal that was hoped to restore Sudan's civilian transition and end the political-economic crisis sparked by the military's 2021 coup by Burhan and Daglo.

Appeals to end the fighting have come from across the region and the globe, including the United States, Britain, China, the European Union and Russia, while Pope Francis said he was following the events "with concern" and urged dialogue.

After a meeting on Sudan, the African Union said a senior official would "immediately" travel there on a ceasefire mission.

The Arab League bloc held an emergency meeting in Cairo.

Sudan's former prime minister Abdalla Hamdok, at a press conference in Abu Dhabi, described the humanitarian situation as "catastrophic", called for a truce and appealed for "a helping hand", particularly from Arab countries.

But the two generals appeared in no mood for talks, having described each other as criminals.

Their October 2021 coup triggered international aid cuts and sparked near-weekly protests met by a deadly crackdown.

Burhan, who rose through the ranks under the three-decade rule of now-jailed Bashir, has said the coup was "necessary" to include more factions in politics.

Daglo later called the coup a "mistake" that failed to bring about change and reinvigorated remnants of Bashir's regime ousted by the army in 2019 following mass protests.
A gurdwara in the south-east England county of Kent has posted a scam alert warning on its website after it discovered that fraudsters had been impersonating the Sikh temple with fake job and visa offers for Indians.

The Sri Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara in Gravesend posted a copy of the scam advertisement with the words Scam Alert on its website and social media platforms, warning its promise of Ticket Free, Visa Free, Food Free Job Alert was fake. The ad, with the title Urgently needed in the UK, calls on males and females to get in contact via a WhatsApp number.

Scam Alert: Do not use these services. This is not affiliated to Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara Gravesend, the gurdwara's warning said.

Gurdwara General Secretary, Jagdev Singh Virdee, told news outlet Kent Online that they were alerted about the scam when a local worshipper inquired about it for a parent based in India earlier this month.

Her father had been alerted to this ad and asked if it was a job, so she came to check whether it's genuine or not, and that's how we first found out about it," Virdee was quoted as saying in the report.

Since then, around a dozen people have contacted the gurdwara to ask about the authenticity of the flyer, which has been circulating on the web. Some reportedly even went through the process of exchanging passport information and personal details.

"Theyre faking letters as if its a job offer from the gurdwara, then they're saying to them, 'you've had the job offer now, so if you pay over so much money, then well arrange a travel ticket and visa'. The fraudsters are telling people abroad we've got jobs here so theyre impersonating us. It amounts to immigration fraud and financial fraud," Virdee warned.

The local Kent police and the nationwide Action Fraud network have been alerted to the scam.

"Officers have been in contact with representatives at the gurdwara and are investigating the circumstances," a Kent Police spokesperson said.

The gurdwara prides itself as a place of worship on a unique scale, with its five elaborate domes and design inspired by the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

It includes hand-crafted marble and stonework, colourful interior tiling, and stained-glass windows. It is a famous local landmark and works with the community with many volunteering efforts.

An estimated 15,000 Sikhs live in the Gravesend and surrounding area, with strong family and friend ties in India.
After the hooch tragedy in Bihar's East Champaran that has claimed 31 lives, the district police suspended SHOs of five police stations, an official said on Monday.

A letter in this regard was issued from the district SP office saying that the SHOs of Turkaulia, Sugaili, Paharpur, Harsidhi and Raghunathpur police stations have been suspended with immediate effect.

Also Read | Bihar hooch tragedy: 80 held, 11 police personnel suspended

Kantesh Kumar Mishra, the SP of East Champaran district said: "The officers of five police stations were suspected for their callous attitude. Hence, we have taken action against them and suspended them from immediate effect. We have also arrested 20 accused so far. The district police will not let anyone go scot free."

Meanwhile, the toll has reached 31 in the hooch tragedy that struck on Thursday. 22 people had died till Saturday and nine more persons succumbed till Monday morning.

According to a police officer, 20 people were admitted to different private hospitals in the district. Five of them are in serious condition. Besides, eight people have lost their eyesights.
MCD Mayor Shelly Oberoi and Deputy Mayor Aaley Mohammad Iqbal on Monday filed their nominations for the April 26 mayoral elections for a possible second consecutive term, with the AAP confident its candidates are poised for a win.

"We will repeat Shelly Oberoi and Aaley Mohammad Iqbal as candidates for mayor and deputy mayor posts respectively. AAP had emerged victorious despite the BJP's attempts to disrupt the mayoral polls earlier. Our candidates will win the polls this time too," AAP leader Sanjay Singh said in a press conference earlier in the day.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elects a new mayor after the end of every financial year.

Also Read | Protest against CBI summons to Kejriwal: AAP senior leaders detained by Delhi Police released

Singh also accused the opposition BJP of attempting to disrupt the mayoral polls earlier. Despite that, the AAP emerged victorious, he added.

Oberoi and Iqbal later filed their nomination papers in the presence of AAP leaders Singh and Atishi.

The post of the mayor sees five single-year terms on a rotation basis, with the first year being reserved for women, the second for the open category, the third for the reserved category, and the remaining two again for the open category.

The December 4 civic polls last year were the first after the three corporations were unified into the MCD and a fresh delimitation exercise was carried out, reducing the total number of wards from 272 in 2012 to 250.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had emerged victorious in the polls.
The Punjab Police has registered an FIR in connection with an alleged security lapse at Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu's Patiala residence, officials said on Monday.

On Sunday, Sidhu said a suspicious person, with a grey blanket wrapped around his body, was spotted on the terrace of his residence. He added that the person escaped after a servant raised an alarm.

Also Read | Navjot Singh Sidhu walks out of Patiala jail after 10 months, slams Centre

Today on the terrace of my residence an unknown suspicious character wrapped in grey blanket was noticed around 7:00 PM , the moment my servant went out raised the alarm and called for help , he immediately ran and escaped. Have spoken to @DGPPunjabPolice and SSP Patiala has  Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) April 16, 2023

A police official in Patiala said a case has been registered in the matter and an investigation is underway.

CCTV footage of the area is being scanned, he added.

Taking to Twitter on Sunday, Sidhu said he had spoken to the Punjab Police chief and the SSP of Patiala over the issue.

"This security lapse will not deter me from raising my voice for Punjab," he tweeted.
EQS-Ad-hoc: Semperit AG Holding / Key word(s): Takeover/Dividend

Semperit AG Holding acquires RICO Group; additional dividend proposal specified at EUR 3,00 per share



17-Apr-2023 / 14:41 CET/CEST

Disclosure of an inside information acc. to Article 17 MAR of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, transmitted by EQS News - a service of EQS Group AG.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.





Ad-hoc Information

Semperit acquires RICO Group; additional dividend proposal specified at EUR 3.00 per share

Vienna, Austria, 17 April 2023  Semperit AG Holding has reached an agreement with the owners of Upper Austrian RICO Group GmbH on the acquisition of the Group (RICO Group), whose portfolio ranges from the production of injection moulds to consulting in component development and series production of customised components. RICO Group focuses on the processing of elastomers, in particular liquid silicone and solid silicone; the components are produced in single-, two- or multi-component injection moulding. The contract was signed in Wels today.

The purchase price (cash and debt free) is based on the assumption of a recurring EBITDA of around EUR 16.5 million for the existing business as well as on a multiple of 12 and is subject to a customary price adjustment mechanism upon execution of the transaction. In addition, the investment payments for the plant expansion currently under construction in Thalheim, Upper Austria, will be compensated through the purchase price. The financing of the transaction is secured by the liquidity status of the Semperit Group and by newly negotiated, available bank financing. The execution of the transaction is, in particular, subject to regulatory approvals and is expected for the third quarter of 2023.

In the context of the ad-hoc information reported on 1 March 2023, stating that the Executive Board will propose to the Annual General Meeting the distribution of a conditional additional dividend of EUR 2.00 to EUR 3.50 per share in addition to a basic dividend of EUR 1.50 for the 2022 financial year, and the dividend proposals published on 4 April 2023, the Executive Board has now resolved the following: Taking into account the acquisition of RICO Group, the Executive Board of Semperit AG Holding proposes to the Annual General Meeting to distribute a conditional additional dividend of EUR 3.00 per share (in addition to the basic dividend of EUR 1.50 per share) for the 2022 financial year. A corresponding resolution proposal will be submitted at the Annual General Meeting on 25 April 2023 in accordance with the statutory provisions.

For questions, please contact:

Alexander Kleedorfer

Director Group Brand Management (Interim),

Corporate Spokesperson

+43 676 8715 8464

alexander.kleedorfer@semperitgroup.com Judit Helenyi

Director Investor Relations



+43 676 8715 8310

judit.helenyi@semperitgroup.com

www.semperitgroup.com

www.linkedin.com/company/semperit-ag
The Raigad district disaster management cell had taken into account the sunstroke possibility at the Navi Mumbai event on Sunday and made arrangements but as water in tankers and taps became hot due to heat, many attendees couldn't quench their thirst and suffered dehydration, officials said on Monday.

At least 12 people died of sunstroke after attending the program held in an open ground in Kharghar area in Raigad district where social worker Appasaheb Dharmadhikari was conferred with the Maharashtra Bhushan award by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

"The Raigad district administration and Navi Mumbai Police had made adequate arrangements anticipating the arrival of 20 lakh people. Actually, 8 to 10 lakh people attended the event," an official said.

Also Read | Opposition parties lash out at Shinde-Fadnavis government on heat stroke deaths

He said several people had arrived a day before the ceremony from various parts of the state.

"The followers of Dharmadhikari were sitting in the open ground for hours since Sunday morning and many might have not drunk sufficient water thinking they might lose their place offering a better view of the ceremony," he said.

After the function concluded, people rushed towards tankers and water taps but the water had become hot due to heat.

"It seems many people couldn't drink adequate water immediately which might have caused dehydration," the official added.

The official said usual aspects related to security including a terror attack, sabotage and the possibility of untoward incidents were taken into consideration and more than 3,500 police personnel were deployed at the spot.

"We had anticipated the arrival of a large number of followers in private vehicles and buses from all corners of the state and provided separate parking facilities at various places nearby the corporate park. Due to the presence of union home minister Amit Shah, the use of drones was restricted at the function," he added.

An official release from Navi Mumbai police had said children and women lay on roads seeking drinking water during the function, following which a senior police inspector from Kharghar along with his team carried water for them.

Many women collapsed due to excessive heat and the policemen on duty drove them on motorbikes through the crowd to medical assistance centres for first aid and saved their lives, the release said.

Lakhs of people had come for the event held on a 306-acre ground in Kharghar.

The nearest weather station to the spot had recorded a maximum temperature of 38 degrees Celsius.


After some delay, the authorities at the Pentagon have finally approved production for the Armys Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS). Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment William LaPlante comments gave the okay to move forward. This procession will facilitate the services progress on a core component of its air and missile defense upgrading efforts.



Indeed, the Army considers its IBCS the command-and-control heart of its air and missile defense infrastructure. Unfortunately, the program has been persistently hampered by technical setbacks. Specifically, the constant expansion of important capabilities and mission sets has dragged progress over the years.



Work on the IBCS commenced in 2009, but several hurdles prevented significant progress. This includes 2016s calamitous limited user test that resulted in a full program reset. The Director, Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E) described these as deficiencies in the flight mission simulator/digital and launcher on the net tools in its report for fiscal 2020. On that note, the Army finally restarted the IBCS program again in 2020 and considered it successful.



The second limited user test allowed the service to prepare IBCS for the initial operational test and evaluation. This necessary test concluded in late 2022, and DOT&E released its report this January. However, they do not plan to publish its final assessment for at least another year. Completion of this evaluation will be necessary for LaPlant to determine if IBCS capabilities are ready for full-scale production. In addition, the DOT&E also advised the Army to establish an integrated modeling and simulation suite for ongoing testing as the branch further experiments with the project.



In response to the announcement, primary contractor Northrop Grumman noted, The full-rate production decision enables the US Army to set the fielding schedule for IBCS to operational air defense units.



Furthermore, Northrop Grumman commented that this weeks decision should open the door for foreign military sales in the future. They cite Polands election to acquire IBCS to support its Patriot air defense system as a prime example. The unit hopes this will encourage more allies and partners to adopt the IBCS.
















Loganair, the UKs largest regional airline, has today announced the introduction of flights linking City of Derry Airport and London Heathrow from May 6 2023.

The airline has recently gained additional access to slots at Heathrow, and subject to Government approval, will move its Derry service from the current London terminus of Stansted into Heathrows Terminal Two from Saturday May 6.

This will offer improved access to central London where the new Elizabeth Line now connects the nations premier airport to key City destinations, offering faster and cheaper journeys than before.

Just as importantly, the move to London Heathrow opens up a tremendous range of new connections from Derry  firmly establishing Derrys place on the worldwide map of air routes.

Customers will be able to book single-ticket, assured connections to and from City of Derry via London Heathrow to 119 destinations in 56 countries.

Destinations across Europe, Middle East, North and South America, Africa, Asia and Australasia ranging from Singapore and Hong Kong through to Buenos Aires and Budapest will all be available from City of Derry through Loganairs growing range of airline partnerships, including with British Airways, the largest airline at Heathrow.

The move to Heathrow truly is a gamechanger for City of Derrys air links, said Loganair Chief Executive Jonathan Hinkles.

Alongside improved ground transport links into central London, the new range of global flight connections will bring new inward investment opportunities and tourism into the region, together with enabling travellers from the Derry City region to use their local airport to fly worldwide for the first time.

Were delighted to be able to bring these new opportunities to our customers. Id like to extend my sincere thanks to the teams at City of Derry Airport and to Derry City & Strabane District Council, who have enthusiastically supported and encouraged this move since the possibility first arose."

Steve Frazer, Managing Director at City of Derry Airport said: This proposed switch to London Heathrow from City of Derry Airport is an exciting time for the airport. Not only will this provide direct connectivity to Londons premier airport, it also creates a Gateway to the World via one of the worlds best international hubs.

This will be a significant step for economic and strategic growth across the Northwest, all from your convenient local airport.

Heathrow Chief Commercial Officer Ross Baker said: Welcoming further Loganair services to Heathrow is exciting, with UK passengers and businesses set to benefit from hundreds of onward connections around the world.

"Our domestic charging discounts will continue to support further growth in our domestic network  which is vital to strengthen our role as the UKs hub airport, helping to level-up investment across the country, while connecting more people and businesses to global growth.

There will also be an increase in the number of flights between City of Derry and Heathrow following the move, with a choice of three departures in each direction every weekday throughout the year.

Previously, the third flight operated only on peak days during the summer season.

This will increase seat capacity by 12%, whilst more efficient air traffic routings into Heathrow will cut flight times and carbon emissions.

All flights will continue to be operated by Loganairs locally-based City of Derry crews and Embraer 145 aircraft.
A meeting has taken place between stallholders and Derry City and Strabane District councillors and officers, to discuss the future of the citys iconic Walled City Market.

The monthly market, named as the Local Attraction of 2022 for Northern Ireland, in the Travel and Hospitality European Travel Awards programme, took place in the Guildhall, possibly for the final time, on Saturday, April 1.

A spokesperson for Derry City and Strabane District Council told Derry News: Elected members and Council officers met with Walled City Market traders following the withdrawal of the Markets Development Programme budget as part of Councils Savings plan for the 23/24 budgetary period.

Signing the petition to save the Walled City Market.

It was confirmed to traders that due to the current budgetary situation Council is no longer able to deliver a monthly Walled City Market under the current model.

A range of options for delivery at zero cost to Council were presented to the traders for consideration.

Officers will continue to engage with traders to explore these options over the coming weeks, said the spokesperson.

Stallholder, Maureen McLaughlin, said she was disappointed and sad the Walled City Market was facing closure.

Speaking at the bustling final event, she said: I am very disappointed and sad because we have been doing it for two years and I really enjoy it. I sell wood-crafts gemstone jewellery, earrings, bracelets and pendants, all genuine gemstones and all handmade.

And the band played 'The Last Waltz'.

I enjoy meeting different people from all over the world. The tourists come out of their hotels, come along to the Walled City Market and say how much they love it.

We have sold items to the US, New Zealand, and Australia. As well as that we have many, many local customers, who would come back every month to browse and maybe buy items for special occasions like birthdays or anniversaries. They would come back and say, Well what have you today? And I would say, How are you doing? and we would have a wee chat.

We did not know the Walled City Market was actually closing until all the stallholders got an email the week before the March Market. That was when we started to organise ourselves. We formed a WhatsApp group to exchange ideas about what we were going to do and we arranged to meet with the Council, said Maureen.

The meeting between stallholders and Council took place on March 28. Maureen added that she did not think it had been productive.

She said: I think Council would prefer it if we funded any future Walled City Markets ourselves but that is a whole different ball game for stall holders.

Some of the stalls at the Walled City Market.

Although they said they would go back and see what they could do, I got the impression the Council has made up its mind.

Having said that, the stallholders have started a petition and we are getting great support. There are a lot of people here today who didnt even know this was the last Market. I think the closure of the Market will be a blow for the town. I know for a fact, the local hotels recommended a trip here to any visitors they had staying.

We suggested to the Council that we would pay more for the stalls. We also suggested ways of cutting costs, which the Council said it would consider. We were also told there would be another meeting and we would be contacted, said Maureen.

Maureens stallholder colleague, Irena Campbell, said the possible closure of the Walled City Market was really sad news.

Irena added: The Market is my life. I have been here from the very start, about 10 years ago. For me the Walled City Market is not just about selling my products, it is also my social life. I found friends here. My colleagues are very welcoming. We chat away to one another all the time and I look forward to meeting my customers.

Customers line up at the Silver Bean eatery.

But, it is not just about me. More importantly, it is about adding to the social life of the city because a lot of tourists visit the Walled City Market.

People might wait from one month to another to buy an item for a particular event in their lives. The Market is part of the culture of the city and I hope Derry City and Strabane District Council will listen to the stall holders and our customers and I hope it will change its decision to close the Market, said Irena.

Irena, who sells carved candles, Russian dolls, toys and jewellery, said every month customers constantly asked when the market would be on again because they were interested in buying particular items.
The inquest into the deaths of two Derry men shot dead by the SAS in disputed circumstances in the grounds of Gransha Hospital on December 6 1984 has been adjourned due to the failure of the British Ministry of Defence to comply with their public interest immunity obligations.

The hearing into the deaths of William Fleming (19) from the Waterside and Danny Doherty (23) from Creggan was scheduled to start this morning in Banbridge and had been due to last 6 weeks.

Both men died when they were shot by the SAS on the morning of December 6 1984.

However, at the start of the proceedings the Coroner, Judge Ian Huddleston, was told that the hearing could not proceed as the Ministry of Defence had not completed their public interest immunity papers.

Peter Coll KC for the MOD said his client 'extremely regretted and sincerely apologised to all the participants for the delay in completing the PII process.'

He said there was 'no intention' on behalf of the MOD to fail to meet deadlines but it had proved 'impossible to do so.'

The barrister said that there was 'no thumbing of the nose at the court.'

Judge Huddleston said that the lessons to be learned where not only for this inquest but for all inquests and there could be no repeat.

The Coroner said that all the issues that had arisen were avoidable and should not have been allowed to develop.

Mr Coll told the hearing that the Minister of Defence had signed off on a PII certificate over the weekend and that would be with the court presently and the papers could be disseminated 'within days.'

The hearing was told that the inquest proper should begin on Thursday week with the first civilian witnesses being called.

The hearing was also told by Mark Mulholland KC who represents some of the soldiers involved that a psychiatric report on Soldier A, described previously as 'a pivitable witness', indicated there was a suicide risk.

The barrister said a full report would be available to all the interested parties next week.

The hearing was adjourned for two days of closed PII hearings on Monday and Tuesday next.
The artist who created a bust of George Mitchell has thanked the former US senator for his dedication to the people of Northern Ireland.

A bust of Mr Mitchell, who chaired the Good Friday Agreement negotiations in 1998, was unveiled on Monday at Queens University Belfast where a three-day conference is taking place to mark the 25th anniversary of the peace deal.

The creator of the bust, Co Down artist Colin Davidson, paid tribute to Mr Mitchells role and said the people of Northern Ireland will forever be grateful.

Speaking at the unveiling, Mr Davidson said: As an artist, I would like to say what a privilege it is to have a piece of work here.

And Id like to express my sincere thanks to Queens, chancellor, vice chancellor.

But also as a human being from this part of the world who voted Yes in the Good Friday Agreement 25 years ago.

I want to express my sincere and great thanks to senator Mitchell. We are here today because of you, in this place, but in a more broad sense we in this part of the world are here because of you.

And we thank you sincerely, if I can speak for everybody in this place, for caring enough about us and for putting us top of the list.

And we will forever be grateful for that. And it is my delight that this will outlive us all and will be a reminder constantly of that, and of that particular period of time, which meant so much to us here. Thank you very much.
As a brand, Apple has cemented itself as a mainstay in the world of smartphones, laptops, and now wearables and accessories. The brands love affair with India, predates its existence. It started when its co-founder, Steve Jobs, fell in love with the country and started visiting India before even establishing the brand. This week marks the completion of 25 years of the brand in India, as it gears up for the inauguration of its first official Apple stores in India.

In case you didn't know, Apple is set to open two stores in India. The first is in Mumbai and is opening on April 18, and the second is in Delhi set to open on April 20. This comes on the back of the rising affinity of the Indian populous towards the brand. That mainly comes from iPhones and MacBooks having a sense of ownership-pride attached to them.

A lot more to come

Apples CEO, Tim Cook, commented on the completion of this milestone and said, At Apple, our mission is to enrich lives and empower people around the world. He added, India has such a beautiful culture and an incredible energy, and were excited to build on our long-standing history  supporting our customers, investing in local communities, and working together to build a better future with innovations that serve humanity.

After years of importing its iPhones from its main manufacturing hub, China, in 2017, Apple began manufacturing phones in India in 2017. This move was welcomed with a lot of excitement both by the government and the fans of the brand. While it has been successful in many ways, there have been a few hiccups along the way. A Financial Times article published in February this year revealed that about half the Apple iPhone housings that were made in India were rejected during quality checks.

While this may seem like a major hit to Indias relationship with Apple as a whole, there are ways in which amends can be made. And, I am sure that the brand, and its associates in India would have already set the ball rolling on the fixes that need to be made to get things back on track. India, as a market and manufacturing hub, still has a lot to offer to Apple. It will be interesting to see how the relationship between one of the biggest personal electronics markets and one of the biggest personal electronics brands shapes up in the future.

For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in or head to our Google News page.
Poco is planning to launch its new mid-range lineup namely the Poco F5 series. It will reportedly carry two models that are Poco F5 and Poco F5 Pro. Poco F4 series, which is their predecessor was launched in India last June. It had come out with appealing specifications. Now, a tipster known as Gadgetsdata has tweeted the specifications of the upcoming Poco F5 which generates some curiosity in us. The leaks suggest display, camera, processor and much more about the smartphone, lets have a look.

Poco F5 expected specifications

Poco C5 is expected to come out in India in two memory variants that are; 8GB RAM 256GB storage and 12GB RAM 256GB storage.

It is rumoured that the smartphone will be equipped with a 6.7-inch OLED display with FHD+ resolution. The display will reportedly support a 120Hz refresh rate and 12-bit colours.

The phone is more likely to be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 roomed with LPDDR5 and UFS 3.1 and it could run on the Android 13 operating system.

The Poco F5 is expected to come out with a triple camera setup holding a 64-megapixel primary camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide lens and a 2-megapixel unknown sensor. On the front, it might sport a 16-megapixel selfie shooter.

It could be packed with a 5000mAh battery with 67-watt fast charging support.

In terms of design, the render shows Poco F5 looking like the Redmi K60 series which never made it to India. It might also feature a capacitive fingerprint sensor and dual speakers. The tipster also suggests it could weigh 181g and will be 7.9mm thick. It might also boast a 3.5mm Jack, Bluetooth 5.3, and WiFi 6.

That is all the information we have so far about the Poco F5. For the Poco F5 Pro, there is not much data available on the internet about it except a model number, i.e., 23049PCD8G. It is spotted on Indonesias NBTC website but it could be for Poco F5 as well. So stay tuned for more updates on the Poco F5 series.

For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in or head to our Google News page.
Save my User ID and Password

Some subscribers prefer to save their log-in information so they do not have to enter their User ID and Password each time they visit the site. To activate this function, check the 'Save my User ID and Password' box in the log-in section. This will save the password on the computer you're using to access the site.

Note: If you choose to use the log-out feature, you will lose your saved information. This means you will be required to log-in the next time you visit our site.
China-based automaker SAIC Motor announced CNY6 billion auto chip fund, focusing on six sectors

At an industrial summit held in Shanghai on April 15, China-based automaker SAIC Motor Corp. announced a CNY6 billion fund dedicated to automotive semiconductor ecosystem, focusing on six sectors of automotive ICs. In addition, the fund will partner with Shanghai Industrial Technology Research Institute (SITRI) to found an automotive semiconductor engineering center.

In the first quarter of 2023, more than six automotive industrial funds have been set up in several Chinese provinces, according to Chinese semiconductor media Ijiwei, with funding size mostly in the range of several billions.

An official from Hengxu Capital, a PE fund under SAIC, noted that the downstream of the global semiconductor industry is generally in the doldrums, and it is expected that overcapacity will be a challenge in the next 1 to 3 years, according to Ijiwei. Amidst the downturn, the official believes that the automotive segment will be one of the few bright spots for the semiconductor industry in the next few years, indicating that Chinese auto industry will be driven by the three major trends of electrification, smartification and the pursuit of autonomy.

The CNY6 billion fund will focus on semiconductor applications in six sectors, including power switch, power management, battery management, smart cockpit, connectivity and sensing.

As of 2022, China remained the biggest EV market in the world, accounting for 64.4% of the global EV market, said DIGITIMES Research. Despite a pandemic-induced slowdown in 2019, Chinese EV market has seen dramatic annual growth since 2020 as a result of subsidies, with an annual growth rate of 158% between 2020-21 and 79% between 2021-22, according to DIGITIMES Research.
Over the last two decades, emergency medicine, administered by civilian EMTs (Emergency Medical Technicians) or military combat medics has made huge strides. Now the new medical tech is coming to band aids or bandages for people with minor bleeding injuries like cuts or scrapes. Some people do not heal as quickly and these minor injuries can take a long time to heal. The solution is the self-monitoring polymer band-aids or bandages. This smart bandage tech has completed animal testing and now faces up to a decade of human tests and development of larger bandages before it is generally available.

This smart bandage is worn for a week or two until the chronic bleeding is healed. The smart bandage consists of two parts. The most obvious is what appears to be a disposable band-aid or bandage containing biosensors, electrodes and hydrogel containing medications in hydrogel form as well as a device delivering low-level electrical stimulation to speed the healing. The second component is a flexible reusable electronic patch that monitors the healing process by tracking temperature, PH and other items that allow a doctor or medical technician to monitor the healing process. Each year there are millions of people with slow-healing wounds and the smart bandage is designed to speed the healing process.

The smart bandage benefits from two decades of dramatic developments in emergency and combat medicine. These new techs and procedures led to a reduction of combat deaths by more than half since 2003. This was the result of new treatments to deal wounds for which there was previously no battlefield treatment. That meant the victim would die before more extensive treatment could be applied. Chief among these were deep (abdominal or thigh) wounds where large arteries (like the abdominal aorta) were opened. When that happens the victim bleeds to death in minutes.

There have been several new battlefield treatments for catastrophic injuries like this. The first appeared in 2013 in the form of a belt that is placed on the abdomen and activated. A bladder inflates which puts sufficient pressure on the abdominal aorta to stop the bleeding or reduce it enough to make it possible to get the casualty to a surgeon. The belt does not always work. This led, in 2014 to the introduction of another more thorough solution. This was XStat, a syringe-like device that injected nearly a hundred small cellulose sponges into deep wounds. The tiny sponges were infused with anti-bacterial and clotting chemicals that stop the most severe bleeding in 20 seconds or less. The latest version of Xstat sponges also contains a material that can be detected by X-rays and makes it possible for a surgeon to be sure all the tiny sponges are later removed.

While tourniquets have been around for thousands of years, these devices only work on limbs and not well enough when extensive damage is done to major arteries. Preventing death from most other rapid blood loss situations was achieved with the development and widespread use of powders and granules that could quickly stop the bleeding. First (in 2004) came special bandages like the Chitosan Hemostatic Dressing (more commonly called HemCon). This was basically a freeze dried substance that caused rapid clotting of blood and was incorporated into what otherwise looked like a typical battlefield bandage. This bandage greatly reduced bleeding, which had become the most common cause of death among wounded American troops. This device was a major breakthrough in bandage technology. Over 95 percent of the time, the HemCon bandages stopped bleeding, especially in areas where a tourniquet could not be applied. This did not work for extreme cases, especially if the abdominal aorta was involved. HemCon was followed by WoundStat powder to deal with some of the bleeding that HemCon could not handle. While medics, and troops, prefer the bandage type device, there are situations where WoundStat (a fine granular substance) is a better solution (especially in the hands of a medic). Only the medics got packets (usually two) of Woundstat powder. That's because this is only needed for deep wounds and has a theoretical risk of causing fatal clots if it gets into the bloodstream.

WoundStat was but one of many new medical tools for battlefield medicine that greatly increased the effectiveness of the immediate, as within minutes or seconds after getting hit, medical care for troops. This effort consisted of three programs. First, there was the development of new medical tools and treatments that troops could quickly and safely be taught to use. This included stuff like HemCon. Then came the equipping of medics (about one for every 30 or so combat troops) with more powerful tools, so that troops were less likely to bleed to death or suffocate from certain types of wounds that are not fatal if treated quickly enough. Finally, there was the Combat Lifesaver program, which more than tripled the number of "medics" by putting selected soldiers through a 40 hour CLS (Combat Lifesaver) course in the most common medical procedures soldiers can perform to deal with the most dangerous types of wounds usually encountered. These CLS trained soldiers were not medics, but they did make true emergency medical treatment more widely available in combat. In other words, CLS qualified troops are sort of "medics lite," which is close enough if you are badly wounded and in need of some prompt medical treatment.

During the last two centuries major wars have tended to produce significant improvements in medical care. This is what has happened since 2001 but in a much accelerated fashion. For example, since September 11, 2001, over two million American troops went off to war and about two percent of them were killed or wounded. Only 12 percent of the 57,000 combat zone wounds were fatal, the lowest percentage in military history. This was largely due to major improvements in dealing with rapid blood loss from a major artery being severed and the increased speed with which complex medical care could be delivered to wounded troops. New medical technologies also made it possible to detect injuries (like brain trauma) that, in the past, was very difficult to detect and treat.

The Combat Lifesaver course teaches the troops how to do things like inserting breathing tubes and other emergency surgical procedures to restore breathing. The CLS troops have skills most likely to be needed in life saving situations when a medic is not available. The additional emergency medical training, and new emergency first aid gear (the "CLS bag"), has saved hundreds of lives and reduced the severity of even more wounds. Enough troops have taken CLS training so that there is one for every 10-15 combat troops and one for every 20 or so support troops on convoy or security duty.

These new developments were also popular with civilian emergency medical services, and many of the experienced combat medics coming out of the military went to work as EMTs, thus increasing the quality of care for civilian accident victims. This was similar to what happened to the EMT field after the Vietnam War, when ambulance crews rapidly evolved from simply transporting accident victims, after a little first aid, to EMTs who could administer procedures that previously only doctors could handle. This followed the experience in World War II, where war demands led to development of mass production of the newly created antibiotics and that led to a revolution in surgery techniques.
DIGITIMES premiers its documentary on Taiwan's ICT industry at 25th anniversary ceremony

During DIGITIMES' 25th Anniversary ceremony, the company premiered a self-produced documentary film, Silicon Island Chronicles and Beyond, covering the history of Taiwan's IT industry. The film will come as a five-part series and be broadcasted on DIGITIMES' Youtube channel, enabling their viewers to discover Taiwan's pivotal role as a semiconductor shield and its remarkable growth story in the global tech industry.

In the film, DIGITIMES invited several tech leaders including DIGITIMES chairman Colley Hwang, Acer founder Stan Shih, Lite-On founder Raymond Soong, and Etron Technology chairman Dr. Nicky Lu, as well as scholars from top-tier institutes such as Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and National Yang-Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU), to describe their experiences during the challenging early days of the nation's most famous industry.

After the premiere of the documentary, Hwang and Lu were invited on stage to talk about how Taiwan's IT industry has evolved in the past half of a century. Hwang pointed out that Taiwan has not had a national-level semiconductor policy for a long time, and is now in dire need of one with the geopolitical tensions that Taiwan is experiencing at the moment.

Lu said that although Taiwan's IT industry experienced some failures in businesses such as panels and DRAM, new opportunities such as man-collaborative machines have already emerged and he expects more applications are still waiting to be developed by Taiwan's IT companies.

Jay Shen, Assistant General Manager of Garmin Taiwan's automotive business, was also invited on stage with him pointing out that the automotive industry now contributes around 8% of many countries' GDPs. With the arrival of the EV era, Taiwan, which has an advantage in IT, will certainly find a good cut-in point as rising demand from automakers for more computing capability will translate to more orders for semiconductors.
Online mentions of Dundalk, Carlingford and Louth soared last week during the visit of US President Joe Biden, with the reach extending to hundreds of millions.

Director of Service, Thomas McEvoy, told members at the Louth County Council April meeting, that the Council did research last weekend, following the visit, where it discovered that Dundalk achieved a reach online of 89 million people.

Louth achieved a reach of 257 million people, while Carlingford achieved a reach of 334 million, extraordinary numbers, Mr McEvoy told the meeting.

Cllr Paula Butterly had raised the matter at the April meeting, asking that in light of the successful visit of President Biden, what plans Louth County Council might have to develop and accelerate any economic and tourist opportunity that arose from the visit.

Mr McEvoy said that there is an opportunity to build on the visit and told the members that in terms of hits on the local authority's websites, on the Visit Louth website alone, the number of visits were 2.5 times the normal rate.

He added that they have yet to get figures for Carlingford.ie, but he would expect those to be quite high also. Along with this there was over 3,000 lands on the Visit Louth blog on the Visit Louth website, again a multiple of what would normally be the case, Mr McEvoy explained.

Highlighting the international potential, Mr McEvoy further added that 80% of the online engagement was from overseas, 50% was with the US and 20% was from the UK.

Louth County Council are looking at ideas on how to use the opportunity created from the visit, Mr McEvoy said, and shared one idea with the meeting, which was the creation of a Biden Trail, which could be looking at the places President Biden visited and building a programme around those.

The organisation of the events during President Biden's visit by groups including Louth County Council, An Garda Siochana and Dundalk Tidy Towns was congratulated by councillors at the April meeting.

Cllr Andrea McKevitt and Cathaoirleach Conor Keelan congratulated the local authority for its work, with councillors including Cllr Kevin Meenan and Cllr Michelle Hall singling out Director of Services Paddy Donnelly, and his staff for their work.

Cllr Maeve Yore also congratulated An Garda Siochana and Dundalk Tidy Towns for the work carried out by both. Cllr John Reilly added that the Council did itself proud and congratulated it for the work and preparation it carried out for the visit.
Some 40k in funding will be allocated to two local GAA clubs in Louth to upgrade their community walking tracks, it was confirmed on Monday by Louth TD, Fergus O'Dowd.

Deputy ODowd said: The funding, 25k of which has been allocated to Naomh Martin in Monasterboice and 15k of which has been allocated to Annaghminnon Rovers GFC in Stonetown will enable upgrades such as lighting and improved surfaces.

The Fine Gael TD added, these upgrades will help people to stay active all year round by creating safe and inclusive spaces for people of all ages and mobilities.

Our GAA community play an invaluable role in fostering social connections in our local communities and by expanding access to their facilities they are helping to improve the health and wellbeing of everyone who uses them.

Once off national funding of 815,000 has been provided by Healthy Ireland, to make community walking tracks located on GAA grounds more accessible to more people.

Commenting on the funding, Minister Hildegard Naughton said, I am delighted to welcome the announcement of the successful clubs for this very worthwhile initiative. Healthy Ireland has been a long-standing partner of the Irish Life GAA Healthy Club Project and supporter of the GAAs efforts to transform clubs into hubs for health in their communities, all of which makes a significant contribution to the Healthy Ireland agenda.
Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) have been selected as part of a national programme of events marking Irelands 50 years of EU membership.

Students are excitedly rehearsing for this historic event that will showcase and celebrate DkITs Music Department and its collaboration with fellow European Erasmus educational partners.

The commemorative project that DkIT are involved in is called Echoes of Erasmus. This specific initiative honours music as an important shared cultural asset across Europe that highlights similarities and differences within its communities.

Through the Erasmus and other programmes, individuals and educational organisations across Europe have benefited from shared opportunities. The music at the upcoming event is inspired by the successful partnerships already established by the Institute with associates across Europe and the project will culminate in a performance of a new piece of music, incorporating contributions from musicians across Europe in both live and pre-recorded formats.

Reflecting on the EU Work Plan for Culture 2019-2022 (2018), the initiative will harness the power of culture and cultural diversity for social cohesion and well-being by promoting cultural participation, the mobility of artists and the protection of heritage.

As part of this celebration DkIT has invited musician-educators from Erasmus partner institutions across Europe to facilitate workshops and perform a concert culminating in a new, co-composed piece of music.

The three visiting lecturers are bass guitarist Frode Hammersland from the University of Western Norway (Stord-Haugesund), Brendan Hemsworth who is the director of percussion at the Curso de Musica Silva Monteiro in Porto and Ragnhild Knudson who is a hardanger fiddle player based in the University College Southeast Norway, Rauland, Norway.

The event will be held from the 2nd  4th May with a performance of music, comprised primarily of compositions by Dr Daithi Kearney, involving visiting musicians and students on the BA (Hons) Music at DkIT.

Italian student, Leandro Pessina, an Irish Research Scholar in the Department of Creative Arts, Media and Music at DkIT, and visiting Erasmus student David Kappermeier from the University of Hildesheim, will also participate in the concert reflecting the European links in the Department of Creative Arts, Media and Music.

This programme is being funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Department of An Taoiseach as part of the Communicating Europe Initiative 2023.

The aim of this project is to deepen public awareness of the role the EU plays in our daily lives and to help improve the quality and accessibility of public information on European issues, particularly at regional or national level.
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.

Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.

If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .

Support our mission and join our community now.
Nicaragua to gain strength, experience from Chinese-style modernization: president

Xinhua) 13:47, April 17, 2023

MANAGUA, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said on Saturday that Nicaragua expects to gain strength and experience from Chinese-style modernization.

Ortega made the remarks when he and Nicaraguan Vice President Rosario Murillo jointly met with visiting Luo Zhaohui, chairman of the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) in Managua.

The Nicaraguan president noted that the experience of Chinese-style modernization has greatly encouraged developing countries, including Nicaragua, to independently explore their development paths.

Luo expressed the expectations to strengthen practical cooperation between China and Nicaragua in infrastructure, energy, education, and other fields, and carry out more "small but beautiful" projects that benefit the people.

The CIDCA head held working talks with Laureano Ortega Murillo, advisor to the Nicaraguan president, on Friday afternoon, signing cooperation agreements on subsidized affordable housing, power stations and other projects.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
The Mayor of the County of Cork has welcomed an investment of over 550,000 in architectural heritage projects in the county.

The investment, which amounts to 556,654, was announced for County Cork under the Built Heritage Investment Scheme (BHIS) and Historic Structures Fund (HSF), two heritage funding schemes which are run by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in association with the countrys 31 Local Authorities.

Welcoming the allocations, the Mayor of the County of Cork, Councillor Danny Collins, said the funds would facilitate important heritage conservation works at 17 different properties throughout the county.

This allocation of over 550,000 through the BHIS and HSF is a very welcome investment in the unrivalled built heritage of County Cork, Cllr Collins said.

Through excellent heritage practice and schemes such as the BHIS and HSF, the built heritage of County Cork is clearly being valued and I wish all applicants success with their projects.

Under the BHIS allocations for Cork county, 17 projects will benefit from funding to the sum of 169,154, with 42,753 allocated specifically for conservation works on five thatched buildings, located in Charleville, Glanworth, Kanturk, Killeagh and Mitchelstown.

The balance of 126,401 will support conservation works on 12 buildings, which include Castlemartyrs Glebe House, Hill House in Cobh, 13 Main Street and St Marys Church of Ireland in Doneraile, Patsys Corner in Kinsale, and Chapel Hill School of Art in Macroom.

WORKS

Works will also be carried out on Midleton College, Mitchelstowns St Georges Arts and Heritage Centre, Rockenham House in Passage West, Ballinterry House in Rathcormac, the Sisters of Mercy Convent in Rosscarbery and Youghals Myrtle Grove.

Five projects, in Bantry, Cobh, Kinsale, Mallow and Passage West, will benefit from HSF funding.

Providing grants of between 15,000 and 200,000, the HSF assists owners of heritage structures, including those on the local authorities record of protected structures and those in architectural conservation areas, helping them to meet their obligations to care for their properties.

The scheme provides assistance to a wide range of heritage structures, including castles, churches, mills, bridges, shopfronts, and thatch structures, as well as to private houses.

Bantry House will receive 200,000 and Mallow Castle Granary Buildings will receive 80,000, with a further 80,000 ringfenced for 2024.

Overall HSF funding for the county of Cork in 2023 amounts to 387,500.

The BHIS assists owners of heritage structures, including those on local authorities record of protected structures and those in architectural conservation areas, to meet their obligations to care for their properties, providing match-funded grants of up to 15,000 for projects.

The scheme is not limited to private dwellings, it also provides assistance to a wide range of other important heritage structures and in 2023, funding included the ringfencing of 500,000 for conservation repairs to historic thatched structures.

Speaking about the allocations, Chief Executive of Cork County Council, Tim Lucey, said: Heritage is one of the countys greatest assets and as a council we welcome the opportunity to administer and support these schemes which provide essential funding for the conservation of important heritage buildings.
TRAFFIC lights in an area of Douglas village need to be re-sequenced as huge tailbacks are occurring during the morning and evening rush hours, according to a Cork City Councillor.

Independent councillor Mick Finn has called for a report to be furnished to Cork City Council on the changed traffic junction on the Douglas Road, where the road comes off the N40 Ring Road by Douglas Community School and Willow Park.

This report should include any measures taken since installation, regarding requested changes in the sequencing of lights.

Huge tailbacks are causing headaches for local commuters, he said.

The problem is that cars coming off the slip road from the Ring Road  whats happening is that the red lights under the underpass are preventing the flow of traffic into the village.

Its been reported to me on numerous occasions, that there are long tailbacks on the Douglas Road, out on to the Ring Road.

I have seen it myself.

The lights are not in sync, he claimed.

Mr Finn said he has asked on numerous previous occasions for the lights to be re-sequenced.

However, local residents say there is still chaos there at certain points in the day, especially around the school-run in the mornings, at lunch time, and in the evenings as workers return home.

Cars cant get through the junction, he said.

It [re-sequencing] still has yet to be done to an extent where it prevents this big build-up of traffic going into the village, going out of the village, and coming off the link road.

The principle of it is good, but they need other traffic sequences coming out of Douglas Village on to the link road from past Dunnes.

That needs to be looked at because theyre obviously not in sync and its causing traffic chaos in Douglas, Mr Finn added.
THE parents of a 10-year-old Cork girl who died following a Strep A infection have called for parents to be more aware of the disease in a bid to save other children.

Vivienne Murphy from Millstreet, north Cork, died on March 1, 2019, two weeks after complaining of a sore throat.

Her condition deteriorated rapidly after she started showing symptoms but was not immediately diagnosed with Strep A and later had to be transferred to Temple Street in Dublin because she could not be treated at Cork University Hospital.

Speaking on RTE Radio Ones This Week, parents Lilly and Dermot recalled she was out of sorts on Valentines Day and developed a rash and high temperature in the evening.

Following an examination by an out-of-hours doctor, they were told that Vivienne had a viral illness and were advised to give her Calpol and Nurofen but her condition did not improve.

Ms Murphy said three different doctors told them that Viviennes illness was viral, but they said that it couldnt be as it had been going on for days.

Following a urine sample, a GP said it did not return anything concerning but when Viviennes rash became really angry looking and her right knee began to swell, her parents decided to take her to Cork University Hospital (CUH).

While being examined by a nurse, they noticed a little black mark on her right leg and blood tests were carried out.

When the results returned, the Murphys were told your daughter is critically ill and were later told it meant Vivienne had Strep A which had led to sepsis and shock, and would need surgery at Temple Street as there was no paediatric critical care unit at CUH.

At Temple Street, the surgeons had to cut away 17% of Viviennes body in an attempt to save her but the day after, she went into cardiac arrest.

Doctors resuscitated Vivienne but the cardiac arrest led to brain damage and an MRI scan revealed that there was no hope.

Her parents are now raising awareness about Strep A and want other parents to be aware of the dangers of the life-threatening infection.

Its sad to comprehend, its impossible to comprehend.

After seeing three doctors five times in five days, a child with a rash, sore throat, not eating, not drinking and now we find out our child is dying, Mr Murphy said.

Its shocking. Thats why were here. We dont ever want a family in Ireland again, ever, to witness what we witnessed.

Ms Murphy highlighted concerns about the lack of intensive care unit facilities for children outside of Dublin.

Cork is a big hospital, and we dont have any intensive care facilities for children, it doesnt make sense.

If Viviennes story could only save one child, thats a plus, she said.
There were almost 130 knives seized by gardai in Cork city last year.

Figures provided to Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell by the Department of Justice have revealed that there were over 13,000 knife seizures across the country from 2016-2022.

In 2022 alone, 128 knives were seized in Cork city. 172 knives were seized in Cork city in 2020 compared to just 66 knives seized in 2016.

The figures were contained in a parliamentary reply given by Minister for Justice Simon Harris. Mr Farrell said: [Nationally] 2,146 knives were seized in 2022 alone, this equates to nearly six knives seized every day.

In 2022, 905 knives were seized in the Dublin Region, up from 812 in 2021. 128 knives were seized in Cork City; 164 seizures in Louth; while Galway saw 105 knives seized, in 2022.

There has been a steady increase in the amount of knives being seized annually by the gardai, in 2016, 1,203 knives were seized, and this number rose to 2,146 last year, a staggering 78% increase over the seven year period.

The Fine Gael Deputy has commended gardai on the increasingly proactive operations being undertaken to tackle antisocial behaviour, especially knife crime.

If an individual is carrying a weapon, it dramatically increases the danger to the general public. We cannot allow thugs to think they can roam our streets armed with a knife or any other weapon, he said.
NEW figures released by the Central Statistics Office have shown that the annual rate of residential property price increases has slowed nationally.

The lowering of price hikes showed a 22-month low of 5% in the latest figures from February, compared to 6.1% in January.

The CSO Property Price Index released indicates that the deceleration of price growth is continuing, says Helen OKeefe of the Cork branch of Auctioneera.

However, Cork has seen less of decrease in price rises compared to the rest of the country.

Ms OKeefe of the Cork estate agents explained: In Januarys figures released last month, Corks price growth was 6.8% and [this] release details that it went down to 6.4% for February. In comparison to national figures, that shows that while there is a slow down in growth in Cork property prices, its not as large as was seen across the country with the national price growth down overall to 5% for February from 6.1% for January.

The report also analyses the median prices of properties across the city and showed a cost difference of roughly 40,000 between houses on the North and Southside of Cork city.

Other interesting elements I note from the Cork figures released were that the median price of residential properties sold in the T23 Eircode of Corks Northside in February 2023 was 260,000 which was under the national median of 310,000.

The median price of residential properties sold in the T12 Cork Southside Eircode in February 2023 was 350,000 which was over the national median of 310,000, the representative for Auctioneera told The Echo.

The report showed that The lowest median price for a house in the 12 months to February 2023 in Ireland was 152,000 in Longford, while the highest median price was 630,000 in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown.

Despite prices remaining relatively high across Cork compared to other parts of the country, demand for housing in the city remains high.

Here in Auctioneera, we still are seeing strong demand for properties across Cork as witnessed by high viewing attendances and strong results for our sellers  this underlines that there is still restricted supply but strong demand.

The deceleration of price growth is to be welcomed though as its a healthy market environment for the participants, Ms OKeefe said.
LOCAL representatives have welcomed news that Cork City Council is to compulsorily acquire the derelict sites at numbers 21 and 22 Thomas Davis St, Blackpool.

The local authority will hand the land over to the Respond Housing Agency for the purpose of social housing. The purchase will allow the Respond Housing Agency to build 35 housing units and breathe life into the area by rejuvenating a site that has been long idle.

Dr John Sheehan, a city councillor, who runs a GP practice in Blackpool, said this will help in the regeneration of Blackpool and the construction of 35 housing units by Respond on Thomas Davis St.

Green Party representative for Cork City North West, Louise Jordan, said the project should proceed with green space factored in.

A photo of the site in Blackpool that will be acquired by Cork City Council. Pic: Louise Jordan

Well done, Cork City Council, on eventually putting compulsory purchase orders on two sites at 21 and 22 Thomas Davis St, Blackpool.

This will allow Respond Housing to commence their scheme on the site. The hoarding around this has been a blight on Blackpool for years. I hope there will be an element of green space for the new residents, as the village is badly lacking in amenity space.

There was a call to continue the frontage on the street with small shops and living space above them. This is a practical idea that links in with the renewal of Blackpool as a living village. I look forward to seeing the plans that Respond have for the new 35 homes being built on the site.

Respond was established in 1982 and has built 5,500 homes nationwide. Respond has provided homes for families, lone parents, older persons, the homeless and people with disabilities.
MEMBERS of the Defence Forces who come forward with allegations of sexual abuse or harassment will be heard and supported by the garda investigation but a public statutory inquiry is still needed.

That is according to a Cork former member of the Defence Forces who said she was sexually assaulted by a senior officer on her first tour more than 20 years ago. Roslyn OCallaghan, of Bandon in Cork, served in the army for 21 years and was among a delegation from the Women of Honour group that met Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, today.

It was a very frank meeting, she told The Echo. We had what we consider a very productive and constructive 90 minute meeting where we were able to raise many of our concerns with the commissioner.

Although we felt these issues were heard, we are in no doubt that this is only the start of a process and relationship with the gardai that we will continue to develop to ensure that trust can be built going forward.

"Trust has always been an issue for us and continues to be but we are encouraged by the dialogue and discussion today and look forward to further meetings to assist with trust going forward.

Ms OCallaghan highlighted the need for a public, statutory inquiry into the allegations of abuse and misconduct within the Defence Forces, something the Women of Honour group has been calling for.

She said that, while Commissioner Harris could not give an answer on the statutory inquiry, the gardai did say that anyone who does come forward and tell their story will be heard and will be supported.

Thats hugely important, added Ms OCallaghan.

Its important to know that anyone who wants to come forward is no longer alone.

Ms OCallaghan came forward earlier this month stating she was sexually assaulted by a senior non-commissioned officer (NCO) on her first tour abroad, shortly after she turned 21.

Speaking on RTEs Upfront, Ms OCallaghan recalled reporting the incident to the army.

From that moment on my soul left my body  there was Roslyn no more, she said.

I was always of the opinion that the army will look after me, theyll believe me, Ive done nothing wrong here. How wrong I was.

Following an investigation by the Defence Forces, Ms OCallaghan was informed that there was insufficient evidence to charge her alleged attacker with rape or sexual assault.

She told RTE that she felt let down by a flawed investigation, had developed PTSD and twice attempted suicide.

An Garda Siochana recently announced that it is conducting an investigation into sexual abuse and misconduct in the Defence Forces.

The investigation comes after a damning report was unveiled last month, highlighting a worrying pattern of bullying, harassment, discrimination, and sexual harassment in the Defence Forces.

The Women of Honour group has been calling for an investigation into such allegations for more than a year.

Speaking at the annual conference of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI), Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said: We have set up national operations in terms of receiving complaints from retired or serving members of the Defence Forces, who wish to make a complaint of sexual assault or serious sexual assault, so thats in place already.

The gardai have already received complaints, with some dating back to the 1960s, and alleged victims including both males and females.

The review into the Defence Forces, conducted by an independent panel, found that 88% of female respondents reported experiencing one or more forms of sexual harassment, compared with 17% of male respondents.

The review reported that bullying, harassment, discrimination, and sexual harassment continue in the Defence Forces today, and that the working environment is not safe for men or women.

It also found that members do not trust the complaints procedures as well as those responsible for dealing with them.
One of Cork citys most popular party spots is changing hands after 17 years of business on the Grand Parade.

SoHo Bar and Restaurant posted a notice on its social media page on Friday, April 14, saying the business will be handed over to new owners in a few weeks.

The statement reads: 17 years of fun in SoHo is coming to an end, as with heavy hearts, we hand over to new owners in early May.

We want to thank you, the people of Cork, for your support and patronage for all these years.

"We have had a lot of fun and we hope you did too.

We have two weeks to re-live all our favourite SoHo moments, so come in for a plate of wings, a cocktail, Spanish fries.

"Whatever your SoHo indulgence is, now is the time to indulge!

Customers expressed their sadness at the news.

God we will miss this place, some happy nights and beautiful food, wrote one member of the public.

Aw very sad news, wrote another. We all had many a great day/night in there over the years with great events, beautiful food and great craic. Must pop in soon for the best chicken wings on the planet.
EASTER weekend reminded us of the dreams and ideals of the heroes of 1916.

Ireland has developed into a respected beacon of hope for the smaller nations of the world. From our role in the United Nations to punching above our weight in the diplomatic, arts, cultural and sporting arenas.

It is with this optimistic note that Irish leaders and voices from around the world will convene on Dublin Castle for the Global Civic forum on April 20. This optimistic note is tempered by the sad reality that there is such a large segment of the Irish population that has essentially been abandoned.

Some 20% of the Irish population are scattered all over the globe. Very often they left out of economic necessity, a lack of opportunity and a lack of hope. They represent the people of Ireland every day in everything they say and do. Many want to return home but cannot. Many will want to come home in the future but will not be able to. Their hearts will always be in Ireland. Is it too big of an ask for those living abroad to be given the right to vote in an Irish Presidential election?

I left Cork in September, 2004, clinging to the hope I would one day bring my American sweetheart home. Jobs and life caught up with us and I now have the most amazing wife and three children living in the Florida sun.

I am Irish. I will always be Irish. Yet there are times I feel that Ireland has abandoned me.

Returning home from Florida, I am viewed as the Yank. While living in the U.S I am viewed as the Irishman. And even though I am now a citizen of both countries, there are times I feel I am a citizen of none. That is the true story of the Irish diaspora.

Our families love and miss us, and we miss them, but the moment we step onto the plane in Cork or Dublin or Shannon, our connection to home is severely and irreparably damaged.

I essentially became disenfranchised from the right to vote as soon as the plane left the tarmac.

We still carry Irish passports. We maintain the same cultural ethic. Yet the reality is we are essentially no longer important in the eyes of the state. There is no tax money being generated from us and no social welfare being paid out. It is as if we never existed.

The detractors will suggest the emigrant is not entitled to have a say in the affairs of the country, with the old adage no representation without taxation. After all, why should those living abroad be afforded a voice in the affairs of the country, when they are not even living there?

In terms of taxation, the reality is that only the U.S in the developed world places a tax on its citizens on foreign earned income. Eritrea follows Americas lead. It is not demanded amongst any of our European counterparts and nearly every country has some form of emigrant voting rights.

Is it too big of an ask for those of us overseas to have a say in electing the President, the first citizen that represents all of us?

What is it like being an immigrant abroad? You live with the reality your phone could ring at any time, calling for you to rush home to Ireland for an emergency. You miss birthdays, christenings, weddings, and family gatherings, and you live them through phone calls and FaceTime.

For me, the struggle to make it home is financial. For the undocumented, they have no choice. They knew of their sacrifices when departing, yet it still jars at the soul.

Corkman Morgan O'Sullivan.

In the early years, I struggled with the idea of becoming an American citizen as I longed for home, and always thought next year would be the year to return. We even sent money home every month to pay health insurance in case we were to return home to start a family.

Yet people always asked when I was going to become a US citizen. Nothing makes me prouder than being Irish. How could I dilute that?

The advent of the Trump administration would change everything. Even though I had permanent residency, a culture of fear had developed in this country and a reality that nothing appeared permanent anymore. The time had come to protect the ones I love. The time had come to be able to have a say in the future shape of the U.S, and not just for me, but for the thousands of Irish who have never had that opportunity.

I became a US citizen in July, 2019. I will always be Irish, but now, like my wife and three children, I am American as well. Does this make me any less Irish than my brothers and sisters? Fundamentally it does not due to dual citizenship agreements between the two nations, of which the bond goes back so far.

Raising an Irish family overseas is a task I embrace. As soon as the children were born, we applied for Irish citizenship. Drives to daycare and school were undertaken while learning our numbers in Irish and singing Irish songs.

The internet and advent of smartphones has transformed the experience of the immigrant. RTE news is the first thing I look at in the morning. I connect with friends and family via social media. I can even facetime my brother to watch a local hurling match. I get all the TV channels and shows beamed in from home.

Every so often, I even splurge on some rashers and sausages, but that can be costly. The reality is when it comes to goings on in Ireland, I often know more than my siblings. I can only hope a time will come when those at home will see me as Irish once again.

Bunreacht na hEireann states that it is the birthright of every person born in the Island of Ireland  to be a part of the Irish Nation. Wouldnt it be nice if all those Irish citizens living abroad were allowed to be heard?

The Good Friday Agreement ensured every person born on the Island is entitled to Irish citizenship, yet those in the six counties are unable to vote in the selection for our first citizen. The husband of Mary McAleese, Martin McAleese, could not even vote for his wife in her presidential election. I am proud of my culture and heritage. But at times it can feel that our love for home is not reciprocated.

Two signatories of the Easter Proclamation were emigrants (Thomas J. Clarke and James Connolly) and fought for the rights of Irishmen around the world. They were honoured and recognised throughout the centennial celebrations. They will never be forgotten in Irish history.

Let us take this opportunity to ensure we never forget all those who have left our shores. Our voices have been silenced for too long.
WAKEFIELD  A decade on from one of the fashion industrys darkest days, a panel of industry experts come together as part of a special podcast examining the long-term impacts of the Rana Plaza catastrophe and assessing what progress has been made in the intervening years.

This commemorative episode of Ecotextile Talks unites voices from the fashion industry with the fields of politics, academia and advocacy to share diverse perspectives on the tragedy.

Our podcast also trails a 12-page supplement in the printed April edition of Ecotextile News, which we will release free to the industry, on Monday 24th April  coinciding with the 10th anniversary of the Rana Plaza disaster.

Marking this significant and sombre milestone, podcast host David Styles and guests explore the culture in which the catastrophe occurred, its lasting legacies for victims and the global apparel sector, as well as looking ahead to what the next decade may hold.

This episode and any others in the series can be listened to via all major podcast platforms. Subscribe to our podcasts and radio shows by following us on Apple, Google, Spotify and Amazon Music.

Frank and often emotive testimonies help contextualise a tragic event which drew the worlds attention in 2013, with Professor Rashedur Chowdhury, an academic who has conducted more than 400 interviews with those impacted by the disaster, providing unique insights into the experiences of those who worked at Rana Plaza.

Highlighting the prevalence of practices which placed undue pressure on workers, Chowdhury shares a theme evident throughout his Rana Plaza research of impractically high production targets being set which nobody he spoke to had ever been able to meet.

They simply knew they were never good enough. Forget about the physical injustice, its so morally wrong to tell someone you didnt work hard when they just gave their lives for these factories and brands, he told Ecotextile Talks.

The comments of Miran Ali, factory owner and vice-president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, also give an invaluable insiders view on the work which has since been undertaken  both by the Bangladeshi authorities and those working in the nations garment sector  to ensure workers are protected.

He says the significance of the factory collapse means to this day he thinks of his career in terms of "pre-Rana Plaza and post-Rana Plaza".

Further contributions making up the 40-minute podcast include the perspectives of Mary Creagh, chair of the Ethical Trading Initiative, and Lavinia Muth, activist and consultant.
Founded in 2005 as an Ohio-based environmental newspaper, EcoWatch is a digital platform dedicated to publishing quality, science-based content on environmental issues, causes, and solutions.

Days into his presidency, President Joe Biden signed Executive Order 14008, mandating that 40 percent of federal climate, environment and energy funding go towards disadvantaged communities that have been exposed to more than their fair share of pollution. But how will these communities actually access this money?

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Thursday that it was channeling $177 million towards 17 Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers (EJ TCTACs) to help marginalized communities apply for federal grants.

We know that so many communities across the nation have the solutions to the environmental challenges they face. Unfortunately, many have lacked access or faced barriers when it comes to the crucial federal resources needed to deliver these solutions, EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said in a statement. Today were taking another step to break down these barriers. Establishing these Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers across the nation will ensure all communities can access benefits from the Presidents historic economic plan, which includes groundbreaking investments in clean air, clean water, and our clean energy future.

 BIG NEWS! @EPA has announced the selection of 17 Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers, also known as EJ TCTACs! Learn more: https://t.co/N5ZdOPfXU0 pic.twitter.com/mfoj58wPAV  EPA Office of EJ and External Civil Rights (@EPAEnvJustice) April 13, 2023

Regan announced the new centers in New York City alongside Congressman Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) and WE ACT for Environmental Justice Co-Founder & Executive Director Peggy Shepard as part of the Biden-Harris Administrations Investing in America tour. The announcement itself came on top of a Hudson River sewage treatment plant that has been turned into a community dance and music venue, AP News reported.

We're at Riverbank State Park celebrating with @EPA, @EPAMichaelRegan, @RepEspaillat, @SenSchumer's office & EJ leaders the announcement of an historic $177 million investment for #environmentaljustice communities with 17 new technical assistance centers across the country! pic.twitter.com/pd6FUnSi7p  WE ACT for EJ (@weact4ej) April 13, 2023

The EPA is partnering with the Department of Energy (DOE) on the centers, which will receive at least $10 million each to help their communities navigate the process of applying for and managing federal grant money. Fourteen centers will be linked to a different organization, including West Harlem Environmental Action, Inc., or WE ACT.

We are honored to host the new TCTAC for @EPAregion2! And to help communities who have long faced barriers across the Region to access critical funding for #environmentaljustice projects, the group wrote on Twitter.

We are honored to host the new TCTAC for @EPAregion2! And to help communities who have long faced barriers across the Region to access critical funding for #environmentaljustice projects. https://t.co/vmdjf3CjCV  WE ACT for EJ (@weact4ej) April 13, 2023

Other partner organizations are the University of Connecticut, the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico-Metro Campus, the National Wildlife Federation, the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, the Research Triangle Institute, Blacks in Green, University of Minnesota, New Mexico State University, the University of Arizona, San Diego State University, the Willamette Partnership, the University of Washington and Wichita State University.

This grant from the EPA is a phenomenal opportunity for Wichita State to drive prosperity for rural and underserved communities, who unfortunately carry a disproportional share of pollution and environmental hazards, Wichita State President Rick Muma said in a press release. We look forward to the opportunity to advance environmental justice in our region and promote healthy growth for Kansas and our Midwestern neighbors.

The EPA will also fund three national centers that will focus especially on helping Indigenous Tribes: the International City/County Management Association, the Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC) and the National Indian Health Board.

The entire team at ISC is excited to start this journey, the organization tweeted.

The entire team at ISC is excited to start this journey as one of three national TCTACs with @NIHB1 and @ICMA as well as 14 regional TCTACs. More news to come. Join us as we move forward. #EnvironmentalJustice #thrivingcommunities https://t.co/b91gNZxdCm  Institute for Sustainable Communities (@SustainableComm) April 14, 2023

This is the latest step the Biden administration has taken to prioritize environmental justice, following establishing a new EPA Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights in 2022 and releasing $550 million in environmental justice grants in February. However, something like the Technical Assistance Centers has been requested by impacted communities hoping to effectively access these funds, as AP News reported.

The money is there, Robert Bullard, who directs the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice in Houston and sits on the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council, told AP News. There are communities waiting for (toxic) sites to get cleaned up. They are waiting for infrastructure to be built so their communities dont flood.

However, if the communities arent able to apply for the grants in the first place, its all for naught, he said.
Tackling the mental health stigma through Mental Health Awareness Week

Isle Listen has launched its campaign for Mental Health Awareness Week which runs from 15-21 May.

Mental health is now a key part of public conversation after years in which it was not spoken about, and the week enables the charity to ensure mental health receives the attention it deserves, and to keep up the pressure for funding and change. The need for change is highlighted by the fact that Isle Listen received a staggering 1,337 referrals of children and young people for one-to-one mental health support in 2022.

The theme this year is Anxiety. Anxiety is an important human emotion but, for some, it can get out of hand and become a mental health problem. It is one of the most common mental health problems people face across the world at present and the Isle of Man is no exception.

Isle Listen wants people across the Isle of Man to get involved during the awareness week to help shine a spotlight on anxiety. By better understanding the ways that we manage and improve feelings of anxiety, they can be prevented from increasing and sometimes becoming a more serious mental health problem.

There are lots of ways to get involved during Mental Health Awareness Week:

Join Isle Listen in Ramsey for its signature Sea Dip for your Sanity event on Sunday 14 May 2023  sea dipping is a great way to support mental health!

Learn practical ways to prevent anxiety becoming a problem through Isle Listens short learning sessions  increasing awareness and understanding of anxiety will help people to better manage the emotion.

Give your logo a twist and go green for Mental Health Awareness Week  help raise awareness of the importance of mental health.

Host one of Isle Listens Merchandise Boxes to help raise vital funds.

Wear something green on Friday 19 May.

Tuck in for mental health at Isle Listens Curry and Chaat event with Leelas Kitchen  connecting with others, socialising, and talking is a great way to strengthen relationships and beat anxiety.

If you cant join one of Isle Listens organised events, do your own thing and fundraise to help raise awareness of mental health.

Order one of Isle Listens green heart or limited-edition badges by Jade Boylan, to raise awareness of mental health  all proceeds go towards Isle Listens essential work as a charitable organisation focused on mental health and prevention amongst children and young people.

Andrea Chambers, Isle Listen Chief Executive, said: We all experience anxiety about many things that arise in our everyday lives. Sometimes however, anxiety can become overwhelming and, in some cases, become a mental health problem. There are things we can do to improve feelings of anxiety and stop them becoming overwhelming, such as physical activity, any sort of hobby, or talking to a trusted friend. The earlier in life we learn skills that support us to overcome anxiety the better, and this is very much at the heart of the work we do at Isle Listen. We hope Mental Health Awareness Week will help people to better understand how to manage anxiety, as well as feeling more confident to talk openly about it.

Each year, Mental Health Awareness Week gives us a valuable platform and allows us to work towards increasing public understanding of mental health on our Island, and also highlight the essential mental health support we provide to children and young people in schools and the community. However, we want to ensure that the principles of positive mental health are embedded in society regardless of age, all year round. Occasions such as Mental Health Awareness Week can be used to help tackle the real issue of people not feeling comfortable speaking openly about their mental health and everything that contributes to making it either better or worse. I hope as many people as possible will want to get involved and you can find out how on our website.
German artist refuses award after his AI image wins prestigious photography prize The photo has since been stripped from the show and competition website.

There's some controversy in the photography world as an AI-generated image won a major prize at a prestigious competition, PetaPixel has reported. An piece called The Electrician by Boris Eldagsen took first prize in the Creative category at the World Photography Organizations Sony World Photography Awards  despite not being taken by a camera. Eldagsen subsequently refused the award, saying "AI is not photography. I applied [...] to find out if the competitions are prepared for AI images to enter. They are not."

Eldagsen's image is part of a series called PSEUDOMNESIA: Fake Memories, designed to evoke a photographic style of the 1940s. However, they are in reality "fake memories of a past, that never existed, that no one photographed. These images were imagined by language and re-edited more between 20 to 40 times through AI image generators, combining inpainting, outpainting, and prompt whispering techniques."

In a blog, Eldagsen explained that he used his experience as a photographer to create the prize-winning image, acting as a director of the process with the AI generators as "co-creators." Although the work is inspired by photography, he said that the point of the submission is that it is not photography. "Participating in open calls, I want to speed up the process of the Award organizers to become aware of this difference and create separate competitions for AI-generated images," he said.

Eldagsen subsequently declined the prize. Thank you for selecting my image and making this a historic moment, as it is the first AI-generated image to win in a prestigious international photography competition, he wrote. How many of you knew or suspected that it was AI generated? Something about this doesnt feel right, does it? AI images and photography should not compete with each other in an award like this. They are different entities. AI is not photography. Therefore I will not accept the award.

Subscribe to the Engadget Deals Newsletter Great deals on consumer electronics delivered straight to your inbox, curated by Engadgets editorial team. See latest Subscribe Please enter a valid email address Please select a newsletter By subscribing, you are agreeing to Engadget's Terms and Privacy Policy.

Shortly thereafter, the photo was stripped from the show and competition website and organizers have yet to comment on the matter. Eldagsen actually traveled to London to attend the ceremony and even got up on stage (uninvited) to read a statement in person.

It's not clear if the organizers knew the work was AI-generated or not (Eldagsen said he told them it was). In any case, rather than shrinking from the situation, they should be embracing it. AI-generated art has entered the culture in a huge way over the past year, with AI winning both photo and art competitions over the past few months. Eldagsen's piece is bound to create conversations about how to handle it, particularly when it encroaches into traditional mediums.

All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. All prices are correct at the time of publishing.
SIGWE  I warned driver against speeding.

This is the advice that a member of the Zwane family is said to have given to the driver of the mini-truck that claimed 10 lives. The family member shared this during the vigil of the 10 victims, most of whom were from a Zwane family. The family member said he warned the driver when they arrived at the traditional ceremony, not knowing the worst was yet to come.

Following the vigil, the victims were buried in a mass funeral yesterday morning, estimated to have been attended by close to 5 000 mourners. The 10 deaceased were involved in an accident while returning from a traditional ceremony at Ondiyaneni over the Easter weekend. There were initially 25 people on board the mini-truck, whose driver lost control of and it landed in a ditch.

Homicide

The driver of the mini-truck, Thula Mkhumane, was charged with 10 counts of culpable homicide and one for driving without a licence. Thulani Zwane, a brother to deceased Thantazo Zwane, told the mourners that he also attended the ceremony, though he was travelling in his own car. He said he was among those who were tasked with coordinating the whole traditional ceremony. Along the way, he said, when they were around Ngozi, together with the passengers in his car, they questioned the min-truck driver why he was speeding. Zwane told the mourners that upon arrival at the venue, he called the driver and questioned him why he was speeding. He stated that he warned him not to speed on his way back. Little did I know that we were yet to experience the worst, he said. He stated that when he received the call, he was in disbelief.

Scene

He said he was more shocked upon arrival at the scene, where he found his relatives lifeless bodies scattered on the ground. More relatives shared that the death of their relatives lived bad memories as some of the deceaseds siblings also died in accidents, while others were burnt to death in different incidents. One family shared that their deceased relative was the only survivor after both her parents had passed on. In fact, it was said that there was a child-headed family that was left behind after the only elderly person died in the mini- truck accident.

The families shared that they were looking forward to a great future from the children as they were young. Ekuthuleni Indvuna Henry Mamba appreciated the people who supported the families during their difficult times. He sent a word of comfort to the families and urged them to unite and not to blame anyone for what happened. Emphasising on same was Brian Zwane, who spoke on behalf of the International Zwane Community. He stated that they were not supposed to accuse anyone for what transpired, in particular, the Mkhumane family.

Service

If you hated each other you were not going to request his services, so do not start hating him now, he said. He added that no one was supposed to say anything foul to them or lie about anything at all. He said his prayer was for God to deal with whosoever would tarnish their name. He requested the Zwanes to forgive whosoever wronged them and ask for forgiveness to those they wronged. He stated that they were a family and they should keep it like that. He further appreciated all the organisations and companies that contributed towards the burial. He further shared that they would do a ceremony after this one and give them the hero dignity they deserved. Speaking during the morning service, the Mkhumane family appreciated the support they received from everyone. A representative of the family shared that they wished for peace to prevail as they were family and not enemies. He shared that they were saddened by the news of the deaths, adding that they were grateful that the people were laid to rest with dignity. This was not intentional and we were not fighting about anything at all, he added.
Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Limited (Company) announces that Shantanu Khosla has been appointed and elevated as the Executive Vice Chairman for a period of 1 (one) year from May 1, 2023 till April 30, 2024, and thereafter as NonExecutive Vice Chairman till December 31, 2025. In view of his elevation as Executive Vice Chairman, he will be relinquishing his position as the Companys Managing Director with effect from the close of business hours on April 30, 2023.

In his new role, Khosla will provide valuable counsel and advice to the new Managing Director on strategic matters and support the integration of Crompton and Butterfly.

Further, Mathew Job has resigned from his position as the Companys CEO and Executive Director, to pursue other career interests. He will step down as the Executive Director with effect from close of business hours on April 24, 2023, and as the CEO with effect from the close of business hours on April 30, 2023.

During his notice period over the next three (3) months, Job will work closely with the new Managing Director to ensure a smooth transition.

The Board has resolved to appoint Promeet Ghosh as the Companys new Managing Director & CEO effective May 1, 2023.

Following the demerger of the Company and the purchase of the promoters stake by Advent and Temasek, Ghosh was closely engaged with the operations of the Company on the Companys Board, as it went on to establish itself as a major professionally run consumer electricals company.

He has been on the Board of the Company since 2016. Until March 2022, Ghosh was Temasek India Deputy Head, leading the team on the ground for ten years. During Ghoshs tenure, Temaseks direct India portfolio exposure grew significantly.

As an investor representative, in positions of significant influence, Promeet Ghosh has been actively involved with management of various businesses across sectors in India. Prior to joining Temasek, he was a leading M&A / investment banker for two decades including eighteen years at DSP Merrill Lynch. Commenting on the realignment of executive leadership,

Hemant Nerurkar, Chairman of the Board, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Limited, stated,On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to welcome Promeet Ghosh as the new MD & CEO of Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Limited. His deep understanding of businesses, and drivers of sustainable value as an engaged long term equity investor and an M&A Banker, his strong familiarity with the Company and his leadership style, will contribute greatly in the next phase of the Companys journey. The Board of Directors looks forward to working with him and is confident that Ghosh will lead the Company to greater heights. On behalf of the Board, I look forward to Shantanu Khosla's valuable inputs and advice on strategic matters, in his role as an Executive Vice Chairman. Further, I would also like to thank Mathew Job for his leadership and many contributions in building up the Company over the past seven and a half years and wish him all the best for his future endeavors.

Promeet Ghosh said: I am honored to be given the opportunity to join the strong management team at CGCEL. Crompton has enjoyed the enduring trust of consumers for over 90 years and is uniquely positioned to seize rapidly emerging market opportunities in the consumer electricals space. I look forward to working closely with the key stakeholders of Crompton in stewarding the Company in the next phase of its evolution, CGCEL2.0.

Shantanu Khosla commented: I welcome Promeet Ghosh on board, as Managing Director. He combines a deep understanding of our business built over his long association with Crompton as well as markets. With him as Managing Director,the Company is well positioned to achieve greater success in the coming years. I would also like to thank Mathew for his leadership. It has been a wonderful experience collaborating with Job over the past several years. I wish him every success in his next venture. Mathew Job commented: It has been a privilege to work with everyone at Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Limited over the last seven and a half years and to serve as the CEO & Executive Director. I wish the Board, management, and Promeet Ghosh all the best in taking the Company forward and further building on its strong market position.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND  SpaceX has been working for years to launch its giant Starship from South Texas. It will have to wait a few more days.

An uncrewed test flight planned for Monday morning was scrubbed with just minutes left in the countdown after a problem cropped up during fueling of its Super Heavy rocket and Starship spacecraft on the launch pad at Boca Chica. The launch has been rescheduled for Thursday.

No launch today, CEO Elon Musk tweeted Monday morning. A pressurant valve appears to be frozen.

It was an outcome hed teased a day earlier.

AT ROCKET RANCH: Tourists streaming into South Texas for a chance to see first-ever orbital launch of SpaceX Starship

Theres a good chance that it gets postponed since were going to be pretty careful about this launch, Musk said during a live conversation Sunday night on Twitter. If it does go wrong, its a lot to go wrong.

Monday evening, the company said in a tweet it was working toward a launch attempt Thursday  which is April 20, or 4/20, code for marijuana, the date for a marijuana holiday and a Musk obsession. SpaceX said there will be a 62-minute launch window between 8:28 a.m. and 9:30 a.m.

'Very disappointing'

Most among the throngs of onlookers who began packing the beach at South Padre Island hours before dawn for a view of the launch said they understood the decision to scrub Mondays attempt.

Its very disappointing, said Ethan Shore, a 14-year-old aspiring SpaceX engineer and rocket scientist from Houston. But its not surprising.

He was on the beach across the bay from the launch site with his parents, George and Kimberly Shore, after arriving Sunday in hopes of seeing Starship reach for orbit.

Its incredible to see history in action  and its launching in Texas! said George Shore, 51, explaining why the family made the trip.

As they packed up, he spoke with Ethan about how SpaceX has to fine-tune operations to get the rocket ready to launch.

Its the right call to be cautious because we want to see a successful orbital launch, he said.

It was unclear if theyll witness it in person; the family was heading home because Ethan has a school exam Tuesday.

Whenever it happens, whether the rocket reaches orbit is also an open question  Musk has given even odds on that. On Sunday night, he said hell consider a test flight a success if we get far enough away from launch pad before something goes wrong  just dont blow up the pad.

The company wants to avoid an explosion that could damage the launch facility, an outcome that could cause months of delay while repairs are made.

JULY EXPLOSION: SpaceX booster test explosion, fire slows companys progress toward orbital launch from Boca Chica

Though Mondays launch was scrubbed, the countdown continued and fueling was completed as a wet dress rehearsal to check that other systems were working. It was canceled at 10 seconds, just before the rockets 33 engines would have ignited.

South Texas presence

It was the latest step in a process that began in 2012, when Musk first shared his dream of a fully reusable rocket system. California-based SpaceX began ramping up its South Texas presence in 2019 when a significantly smaller Starship prototype took a 500-foot hop.

Starships development drew more attention between December 2020 and May 2021 when versions of its three-engine prototype took five high-altitude flights. Only the fifth of those landed without exploding into nearby marshes.

SpaceX has continued testing and building out its production and development footprint at Boca Chica, but it hasnt launched from there since 2021. Its been focused instead on developing the Super Heavy booster and working through an environmental review necessary for orbital launch.

The tallest and most powerful rocket ever built, Starship represents a new era in space exploration. The vehicle is capable of pushing between 100 and 150 tons into low-Earth orbit, which should help bring down the cost of accessing space.

The Super Heavy booster, the lower section thats to propel the upper Starship vehicle into orbit, has 33 of SpaceXs powerful Raptor engines at its base. Together, theyre able to generate 16 million pounds of thrust at full throttle, far more than the Saturn V that carried the Apollo astronauts to the moon.

STARLINK: SpaceX banking on Starship launches from South Texas to ramp up deployment of Starlink satellites

NASA plans to use Starship to land its astronauts on the moon in 2025: NASAs Orion spacecraft cant land there so astronauts will transfer from Orion to Starship for that leg of the mission.

Ultimately, Musk wants Starship to put humans on Mars. And closer to home, hes said its key to stepping up deployment of the companys Starlink network of communication satellites into low-Earth orbit. SpaceX has said that business is key to its future.

Weve got an arduous two or three years ahead of us with probably, you know, many bumps on the road, Musk said Sunday. But at the end of that, we should have something that enables a base on the moon and a base on Mars.

And a growing base of fans on Earth.

Sticking with it

Before 4 a.m. Monday, cars were lined up for more than a mile to get into South Padres Isla Blanca Park, a prime viewing spot for watching a launch. Park officials were expecting several thousand SpaceX fans when they opened the park to vehicles at 4 a.m.

One of those heading into the park was Sean Wallace, a free-lance photographer and Walmart employee from LaGrange who rode his wheelchair scooter into the park about 3:50 a.m.

Ive been following SpaceX for so long, I feel like Im part of it, said Wallace, 31. But Im mostly down here to talk to the rocket nerds like me.

After the launch was called off, the packed beach had mostly emptied by 9 a.m., save for a few groups of people taking selfies and debating whether they should stay in town in case Musk announces a launch attempt for later this week.

But Ren Juarez, a 47-year-old Army veteran from Weslaco, stuck around to fish for trout in the ship channel. As he cast his orange lure off the beach, Starship could be seen still on its pad in the distance.

Theres always scrubs, said Juarez, who is studying psychology and philosophy at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley. To me, its nothing new. So instead of moping around, Im having fun fishing.

Juarez has seen SpaceX attempt  and fail  to launch previous vehicles from Starbase. He plans on returning to South Padre Island whenever Musk greenlights the next launch attempt.

Im definitely coming back, he said.
A bomb threat forced the evacuation of the Texas Capitol Sunday evening.

The Texas Department of Public Safety alerted people to the evacuation after 5 p.m. telling them to follow first responders, KXAN reported.

If you are in the Capitol building, please evacuate, the message read.

Austin police received a call saying a pipe bomb had been placed at the Capitol, the alert stated, and that Bomb-sniffing dogs were searching the area.

A DPS spokesperson told KXAN nothing had been found as of 5:45 p.m.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Freshman councilman Mario Bravo is facing strong challengers in what could be the most competitive local race this election season.

But hes confident hell serve a second term in the district that includes most of downtown, the Alamo, Hemisfair Park and some of Brackenridge Park.

You always run scared, but I feel strongly that were going to win without a runoff, the District 1 councilman said. Hell need to win more than half the votes to do so.

Bravo is facing six challengers and a few of them have drawn decent financial support. Jeremy Roberts and Sukh Kaur have raised tens of thousands of dollars for their campaigns. But with more than $57,000 cash on hand at the end of the most recent filing period, Bravo has about $10,000 more than Roberts and Kaur combined. Roberts has about $16,000 in cash, while Kaur has approximately $31,000.

Roberts, 44, is a professor at Texas A&M San Antonio and the senior vice president of marketing at the startup firm Prosperas. District 8 City Councilman Manny Pelaez donated $500 of his own campaign funds to Roberts.

Its just family friends supporting family friends, Roberts said.

He thinks he will take Bravo into a runoff, which could lead some people who have previously supported the councilman just because hes an incumbent to switch gears and back the Roberts campaign.

I think theyre going to see that the incumbent is vulnerable, and they can support somebody new, Roberts said.

OnExpressNews.com: How to vote early for San Antonios May 6 election. Well walk you through it.

Kaur, 34, is a former middle school teacher turned public education consultant. She is CEO and founder of the education consulting organization EDreimagined.

Every single day, we go out there, pound the pavement, and I feel really good about what people are telling me at the doors, she said. Folks are saying they want change. They like my message.

Though Ernest Salinas, 62, hasnt raised nearly as much as others in the race, theres still a chance he could see support from neighborhood leaders since he himself was president of the active group Dellview Area Neighborhood Association before running for office. He retired from a three-decade-long career at USAA in 2015.

Candidates Lauro Bustamante, Roberto Rios Ortega and William T. Lamar-Boone are also on the ballot.

Perennial candidate Bustamante, 72, is an attorney. He was elected to the Edwards Aquifer Authority in 2010. He won the Democratic nomination for the 224th District Court bench in 2014 but lost in the general election.

Lamar-Boone is a psychologist who has lived in Texas for 10 years.

Rios Ortega, 26, is an outreach specialist for the telemedicine company Teladoc Health. Ortega volunteers at Texas Organizing Project and holds dual citizenship in Mexico and the United States.

Salinas reported no cash on hand, and Bustamante and Lamar-Boone do not have campaign finance reports posted on the city website. Though Rios Ortega reported a single cent spent to open a bank account, he has not logged any contributions to his campaign.

Tumultuous first term

Bravos first two years in office have been rocky.

He inherited roadway projects that moved slowly and frustrated business owners. The Migrant Resource Center opening in District 1 created more controversy.

And some voters have remained concerned about Bravos abilities after an unprofessional outburst last year led to his censure and a vote of no confidence from his council colleagues.

In September, Bravo berated former District 7 City Councilwoman Ana Sandoval, his former romantic partner, near the dais for not supporting his plan to use $50 million in excess CPS Energy revenue to weatherize homes instead of disbursing a roughly $30 credit to individual households. He told Sandoval that her lack of support was why he ended their relationship and didnt have children with her.

And during a council meeting, Bravo alluded to Sandoval so often that City Attorney Andy Segovia reprimanded him.

Mayor Ron Nirenberg temporarily suspended Bravo from his City Council committee assignments, and an independent investigator determined his actions violated anti-harassment and violence in the workplace policies.

OnExpressNews.com: District 10 frontrunner Marc Whyte gets long-awaited endorsement from embattled Clayton Perry

Bravo has made efforts to fix problems he faced in his first two years in office.

He pushed for businesses impacted by construction to get funding relief. He brought residents concerns about the Migrant Resource Center to the city and, at one point, helped pick up trash outside the center.

After his council outburst, Bravo apologized and sought counseling.

It was a tough lesson to learn in public, he said. It was humbling.

Bravo doesnt think the issue will negatively impact his ability to serve on the council moving forward. He said he repaired relationships with council colleagues, pointing to policy proposals he has put forward with the support of several others on the dais.

But the vote of no confidence is still concerning to Kaur and Roberts. Salinas, on the other hand, said he doesnt think Bravo should have ever been censured.

Kaur and Roberts announced intentions to run for office soon after the Bravo-Sandoval incident, but both have said that situation was not their main motivation for running.

Despite the challenges, Bravo said he still has overwhelming support from neighborhood groups in his district.

He won his seat in a 2021 runoff election against three-time incumbent Roberto C. Trevino after losing a race for Bexar County commissioner in 2018. He serves on three council committees  audit and accountability, public safety, and economic and workforce development.

Bravo believes in building more housing stock to keep up with the citys growing population. While on the council, he has made improving energy efficiency in San Antonio a major focus.

The councilman was an Environmental Defense Fund project manager until March of last year when he decided to focus full-time on being a council member.

Since Ive gotten into office, I think Ive demonstrated that Im somebody who listens to all sides, whos accessible, somebody who has a balanced approach, and Im very proud of that, Bravo said.

OnExpressNews.com: Mayor Nirenberg has $320K to fend off opponents, but a local business owner is putting up a fight

Strong competitors

Roberts and Kaur are first-time candidates.

Roberts was born and raised in District 1. Hes worked for major companies, including Adobe, IBM and Rackspace. Before running for office, Roberts was chair of the citys small business advisory commission and a member of the airport advisory commission.

If elected, Roberts wants to focus on equitable growth, public safety and growth in neighborhoods, and addressing homelessness.

I want to be that small business advocate, that champion for the city, he said.

And if he doesnt win, Roberts said he will likely run again in two years.

Through her education consulting business, Kaur works on several projects for public schools. She is currently implementing a new budgeting system for Edgewood ISD.

In addition to her work in the education sector, Kaur is a realtor, Texas Public Radio Board member and San Antonio Leaders and Teachers Board treasurer.

Kaur wants to invest in safer neighborhoods, improve streets and sidewalks, collaborate with small businesses and address rising property taxes.

Im also a small business owner, so I understand very much many of the issues that are facing our small business community, she said. I believe I would be a strong representative for District 1.

OnExpressNews.com: Misinformation and fear: Policy nuances lost in Prop A debate about cite-and-release

Prop A

Proposition A, also called the San Antonio Justice Charter, has been a major topic of conversation and division throughout this years election. It would decriminalize abortion and marijuana, expand cite-and-release and ban some policing techniques. It also would create a citywide justice director to oversee the implementation of the policy changes.

City Attorney Andy Segovia has said the only part of the proposition the city could enforce would be the justice director provision. The other changes to the city charter are inconsistent with state law, he said.

Bravo has not said if he is voting in favor of or against the charter. He said there are parts of it he supports, such as the decriminalization of marijuana and a womans right to choose, but he is concerned that it would take away officer discretion when it comes to property theft and destruction.

The proposed change would require officers to issue citations for low-level crimes, taking away the option of making an arrest, and it expands the list of misdemeanors to include graffiti  unless the offender has an outstanding arrest warrant for a crime not covered by cite-and-release or they dont have proper identification.

Kaur plans to vote for Proposition A because she supports abortion rights.

And though Roberts said he supports the decriminalization of marijuana and is pro-choice, he will vote against Prop A in part due to concern about taking away officer discretion.

Salinas is the strongest Prop A opponent among the District 1 candidates, disagreeing with everything under the measure.

May 6 is Election Day, and early voting runs from April 24 through May 2.
An award from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will provide 47 more families and individuals in San Antonio an escape from chronic homelessness  a stable, permanent place to live, officials announced Monday.

In addition to the housing vouchers, a group of organizations will share a $14.5 million federal grant that will be used for resident support services, street outreach, staffing and other efforts to connect homeless persons with housing and resources.

Housing opportunity is economic opportunity, its health care, its public safety, its everything thats at the foundation of having a secure, thriving community, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said at the announcement at The Hudson apartment complex on the North Side.

The unassuming, two-story white brick complex on Blanco Road is one of three sites in line to receive a combined $31.2 million from the citys 2022 housing bond and from city and county coronavirus stimulus funding to provide close to 300 units of permanent support housing. The City Council is expected to approve the funding on Thursday.

The properties will have on-site services, including case managers and mental health counselors, as part of the permanent supportive housing model, which aims to address issues that have caused people to lose housing.

READ MORE: These 14 San Antonio housing projects will receive nearly $44 million from city bond, federal funds

San Antonio has seen an increase in the number of people who are considered chronically homeless, meaning theyve been homeless for at least a year, or repeatedly, while struggling with a physical disability, serious mental illness or substance use disorder.

The citys chronically homeless population rose 77 percent from 2020 to 2022, according to the South Alamo Regional Alliance for the Homeless, or SARAH.

Things like the housing bond are great to develop and rehabilitate units, but this will be ongoing funding that will be used to operate the programming, SARAH Executive Director Katie Vela said of the HUD grant.

The $14.5 million will be split among SA Hope Center, Haven for Hope, SAMMinistries and Opportunity Home San Antonio over a three-year period, Vela said.

People can live in permanent supportive housing for as long as needed. For some, that might be only a year, for others a decade or more.

Its really tailored to the individual persons needs  of course, always with the goal of self-sufficiency or other opportunities if possible, so were making space for another person to come in, Vela said.

READ MORE: Cared for and loved: How a San Antonio nonprofit is providing vet care for pets of homeless people

San Antonio aims to create 1,000 permanent supportive housing units by 2031 as part of a 10-year affordable housing plan that the council adopted in late 2021.

Candace Valenzuela, a HUD regional director for an area that includes Texas, said the citys success so far in offering permanent supportive housing factored into the Biden administrations decision to include San Antonio in the latest batch of HUD awards.

In October 2022, San Antonio became the first city to reach its goal of placing at least 1,500 homeless individuals in permanent supportive housing as part of the administrations House America initiative, an achievement Valenzuela praised Monday.

All of that good work has made this investment possible, and I look forward to coming back to San Antonio and Bexar County to celebrate more of your success, she said.
MBABANE  Thantaza Silolo, Spokesperson of the Swaziland Liberation Movement (SWALIMO), says the unknown people driving foreign registered rental cars at night are terrorising emaSwati.

Silolo said government should act on these people because it was even hard to identify who they were. He highlighted that people who were commonly using the rented Toyota GD6 vehicles were police and soldiers. Silolo said as a movement, they were furious about the continued brutality towards citizens. He said besides the attack on one of their members Wonder Gama, they were aware of other emaSwati who were allegedly being tortured by the members of the armed forces.

Petition

He said as a movement, they were organising a march to the police headquarters to deliver a petition to raise a concern about the foreign registered cars used by the police, who were allegedly torturing the citizens. Silolo said the people driving the GD6 type of cars, especially at night, were unruly and making the lives of the citizens hard. He said if driving or walking at night was no longer allowed or if there was some sort of a curfew, government should make it clear that a state of emergency had been declared. On Thursday morning, there were reports of a Peoples United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) member, Brian Sihlongonyane, who alleged to have been assaulted by members of the Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF). Sihlongonyane said he was attacked at night as well.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

When Mikayla Sotelo and fellow students arrive at Walnut Springs Elementarys morning drop off, shades of grey color the New Braunfels suburb like a black and white film.

As her father, Michael Sotelo, 45, recently parked his car near the covered walkway, the 8-year-old brimmed with anticipation  it was teachers cosplay (costume play) time.

Adrian Baker, 56, and two colleagues were tucked into inflated, gold-hoofed unicorn costumes. They waved to students and parents as oldies but goodies blared from a tube-shaped speaker. The larger-than-life characters swayed side-to-side as the rock band Chicago sang Saturday in the Park when every day was the Fourth of July.

The youngster dashed from her fathers side. She burrowed her head into Bakers air-filled outfit that absorbed both her impact and her joy.

I love that they do this every day and get the kids inspired, Sotelo said as his daughter waved bye. It says a lot about the teachers that care about the kids.

READ MORE: Sam Grecos mom prayed to St. Francis for a son. Hes now giving the saints statue to San Antonio

About the Author A 22-year veteran of the Air Force, Vincent T. Davis embarked on a second career as a journalist and found his calling. Observing and listening across San Antonio, he finds intriguing tales to tell about everyday people. He shares his stories with Express-News subscribers every Monday morning. See More Collapse

Since August 2022, from 7:15 a.m. to 7:55 a.m., Baker has led the schools dress-up fest, where kids greet the costumed teachers with high fives and hugs.

Baker, the schools special education resource teacher, pays for her outfits. She has 15 tubs of costumes, each labeled with a different category, such as food, space creatures and holidays. Some of her past getups have included Garfield, Sponge Bob SquarePants, The Mandalorian and Mr. Potato Head.

I hope I start off everyones day the right way, Baker said. I also do it for myself because it makes me happy. Were just trying to make a difference every day.

Bakers goal is to dress up in a different costume every day for the 322 students enrolled at the school with grades kindergarten through fifth grade.

Parents wave and shout rounds of approval for Bakers outfit of the day. While waiting in line, some scroll through playlists to find a song to match what she is wearing. When she dresses like Buzz Lightyear, parents play the Toy Story theme as they pull up to the curb.

She ruffles the fur of front-seat riding dogs. Kids from an elementary school across the road scan the campus to see what Baker is wearing. Shes even chosen costumes, such as a koala, to ease a students anxiety about coming to school.

READ MORE: San Antonio public health nurse tended to Cesar Chavez amid Delano Grape Strike march

Colleagues help Baker put on and take off costumes, and she has handlers for mammoth-sized garb. She sends photos of herself in the days regalia to her six grandchildren each day.

Baker began the high-energy greetings with principal Leigh Anne Bailey, 52, and assistant principal Jackie Winters, 48, two years ago. Winters said she brought the morning routine from a previous school where counselor Kim Scott dressed up every few weeks. During meetings, called porch conversations, the trio decided to cheer up the students by dressing up  their first outfits were unicorns. They donned the disguises on Fridays, but Baker made role-playing a drop-off tradition.

(Shes) here to brighten the lives of parents and students, Winters said. Shes student-centered.

Bailey said Baker is committed to bringing joy to the childrens lives.

She sets the climate for the kids through the day, the principal said. They really do start off happy, even if theyre cranky.

Teaching hasnt been Bakers only career. She worked for 18 years in the corporate world as a medical device sales manager. Quotas and quarterly sales made up her days. When the fast-paced routine became too much, she returned to the career that gave her purpose  teaching.

In March 2021, Baker came full circle, working as a substitute teacher in the New Braunfels Independent School District. She said after teaching at Walnut Springs, shed found her home.

READ MORE: Chi is energy: Former art professor teaches meditation through movement

They gave me a chance to be me, Baker said. Were like a family.

Like fellow teachers, Bailey has a wish list of supplies for her classroom. It includes outfits and accessories like antennae, butterfly wings and super-hero capes. Recently, an anonymous supporter surprised her with a mail-in addition  a shark costume.

Baker said shes lucky to dress up, splashed with rainbow colors that bring smiles at the morning drop-off. In her world, nothing is better than being with her team, greeting kids and parents at the Walnut Springs curved driveway.

Only one thing matches the experience  hearing one of her second-grade students read for the first time.

This is her dream job.
BOB OWEN/San Antonio Express-News

A nursing student who was in the Army ROTC program at the University of the Incarnate Word was killed Saturday night in a vehicle crash in Selma.

About 11:45 p.m., Joseph Banales was driving in the 15400 block of Interstate 35 North when he began swerving, witnesses told Selma police.
The Alamo region is booming.

Recently, San Antonio was ranked the fastest-growing city in the country in terms of sheer population growth. New Braunfels is the fastest growing small city this year. Companies such as DeLorean Motors Reimagined and Nissei America are seeking out this growth and moving to our region in astounding numbers, creating an exploding manufacturing base.

This is encouraging news, but we also have a problem on our hands. Despite our population growth, our region does not have the skilled workforce to staff these jobs. Thankfully, new legislation filed this session to bolster our states community colleges could change this.

There is a fundamental mismatch between the needs of our employers and the training our area students have  and its not unique to the Alamo region. For 12 years, I served as chair and commissioner of the Texas Workforce Commission. In that role, I heard from employers in every region of our state who were having trouble finding employees with the right certificate or credential, which didnt usually have to be a four-year degree. This is what is known as the middle skills gap.

By 2030, 62 percent of all Texas jobs will require a post-secondary credential. But right now, only 22 percent of Texas students earn any type of degree or certification within six years of high school graduation. This puts our area employers and the students they are trying to hire at a disadvantage. However, innovative partnerships with our community colleges are chipping away at this skills gap and better preparing our students to earn a self-sustaining wage in high-demand careers.

Alamo Colleges District is a key example. HOLT CAT  a prime construction equipment dealer in San Antonio  desperately needed diesel mechanics. Alamo Colleges quickly adapted and worked with industry leaders to build a program to train diesel mechanics. This is what makes community colleges so special. They can respond to changing workforce needs in our community and create new, high-demand pathways. However, they need our help. The current funding model these schools rely on is outdated and doesnt meet the needs of our colleges, businesses or students.

House Bill 8 and Senate Bill 2539, introduced by state Rep. Gary VanDeaver and Sen. Brandon Creighton, offer a new path forward based on the final recommendations of the Texas Commission on Community College Finance. Their legislation will revitalize funding for community colleges with a critical focus on the outcomes our business leaders want to see, such as degree and certificate completion in high-demand fields. This legislation will expand funding for dual-credit programs that provide high school students with pathways to careers in fast-growing industries such as manufacturing. Crucially, it will improve affordability for students, which will improve access to our community colleges. This legislation is supported by all 50 community college districts in the state.

Now it is our turn to repay the favor and provide all community colleges with the funding they need. The House just passed H.B. 8 with overwhelming support  a remarkable step forward for our states community colleges. As this legislation moves to the Senate, I ask lawmakers to vote yes to help more of our neighbors in the Alamo region access the continued prosperity of our state.

Diane Rath is the former chair and commissioner of the Texas Workforce Commission.
Although City Council District 7 is an open seat, the race has a clear favorite.

In her bid to join City Council, Marina Alderete Gavito has racked up a number of endorsements  former Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, Bexar County Commissioner Justin Rodriguez, state Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, numerous members of City Council  and outpaced other candidates in fundraising.

We also recommend Gavito. The former executive director of SA Digital Connects would bring expertise and attention to the persistent digital divide in San Antonio. She is tech savvy, having also worked at Rackspace and USAA and serving as the founding executive director at Tech Bloc.

She struck us as someone who could build consensus on the council, bringing together disparate groups such as the public safety unions, neighborhood associations and business leaders  and this is reflected in that aforementioned long list of endorsements.

There has been some controversy in this race. Gavitos father, Joe Alderete, represented District 7 from 1977 to 1985 and is an Alamo Colleges trustee. He was caught on video removing a sign belonging to Sandragrace Martinez, a candidate in this race. Martinez skipped our candidate meeting (she had RSVPd). Gavito called the incident an unfortunate mistake and said her campaigns policy is to not touch other candidates signs.

We were also impressed with Dan Rossiter, a computer scientist who oversaw transportation projects with Southwest Research Institute and is past president of the Thunderbird Hills Neighborhood Association. Rossiter is smart and knows the issues. Should this race not go his way, we hope he stays involved in local politics.

Gavito has pledged to focus on infrastructure, public safety and greater accountability at City Hall. She opposes Proposition A, the citys Justice Charter, citing concerns about increased crime and impacts on businesses. She holds bachelors and masters degrees in business from St. Marys University and an MBA from DePauls Driehaus College of Business.

Gavito would be a welcome addition to City Council.
District 6 City Councilwoman Melissa Cabello Havrda likes to say she represents the fastest-growing section of one of the fastest-growing cities in the country.

And its true. District 6 is booming. This sprawling district on the Far West side has experienced hyper growth, and with that comes challenges when it comes to keeping pace with roads and sidewalks and police presence. The good news for District 6 residents is they have an outstanding council representative.
Montana lawmakers are considering a bill that would require insurance companies to cover continuous glucose monitors for people with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. (Photo by Lynne Shallcross of Kaiser Health News).

In between sets of tumbling warmups, Adrienne Prashar crossed the gym to where she had stashed her diabetes supplies and tested her blood sugar. Prashar, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes the day before her 13th birthday, said tumbling usually drops her blood sugar levels.

Prashar, now 14, did a finger stick, saw her blood sugar was 127, and went back to the mat. For most people with diabetes, the target range is about 80-130, and up to 180 two hours after meals.

Prashar doesnt have to check her blood sugar often. She wears a continuous glucose monitor, or CGM, that gives her blood glucose readings on her phone every five minutes. When shes feeling differently than her CGM is showing, as on that March day at the gym, she checks her level by doing a finger stick.

But most of the time, she simply glances at her phone to see whether her numbers are trending low or high, which beats repeatedly pricking her finger, she said.

I would hate it so much, Prashar said. Its such a pain and its harder to see trends.

Montana lawmakers are considering a bill that would require insurance companies to cover CGMs for people with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Multiple studies and experts back up the effectiveness of the devices, showing better blood test results, fewer long-term complications, and a reduction in health care costs.

Studies show CGMs can greatly benefit people with Type 1 diabetes. There are also promising results for people with Type 2 diabetes, the more prevalent of the two types, but the research is limited compared with that on Type 1.

House Bill 758 has broad support from lawmakers, but it faces opposition from insurance companies and some providers. That opposition focuses on the cost, whether a CGM is medically necessary at all stages of diabetes, and the possibility that CGM manufacturers will raise their prices if there is an insurance mandate.

CGMs can be worn on the legs, stomach, or arms, and they stay in place with an adhesive patch. A thin tube goes under the skin and measures blood glucose levels from tissue fluid. The data is transmitted via Bluetooth to a phone or similar device. Instead of a finger prick, which provides a reading for a single point in time, a CGM gives the wearer a continuous stream of data.

According to GoodRx Health, CGMs can cost between $1,000 and $3,000 each year out-of-pocket.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana, the states largest insurer, estimates the bill, if passed, would cost the organization nearly $5 million a year, spokesperson John Doran said.

CGMs arent medically necessary in all circumstances, Doran said, and medical necessity should be determined through a partnership between provider and payer. But Doran said that he understands there are instances in which a CGM may be necessary and that Blue Cross already covers CGMs in those cases.

These things are a convenience, Doran said. They provide you real-time information and there is some benefit to a persons lifestyle to these monitors.

Lawmakers in several states are considering bills to regulate coverage of CGMs, and Illinois governor signed one such bill into law last year.

A study published in the Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology in 2022 says about 30 million Americans have diabetes, a condition in which a persons body cant make enough insulin (as in Type 1) or use it effectively (as in Type 2). By 2030, the study estimated, 55 million people in the U.S. will have diabetes, with total medical and societal costs of more than $622 billion  a 53% increase from 2015. According to the American Diabetes Association, nearly 78,000 Montanans have been diagnosed with diabetes.

Various studies, diabetes educators, and health care providers say that CGMs can help people with diabetes reduce their A1C levels, a common measure of blood sugar levels used in diabetes management. Proper management can reduce complications from diabetes  like retinopathy, heart attack, and nerve damage  that lead to higher costs in the health care system through emergency room visits and hospitalizations.

Dr. Brian Robinson, an endocrinologist at St. Peters Health in Helena, said supplies for people with Type 1 diabetes are generally covered by insurance. When he considers recommending a glucose monitor for a patient, he said, the decision is driven by insurance rules that are informed by the American Diabetes Associations standards of care.

My patients are better because of CGMs, theres no doubt about that, Robinson said. But he noted the science doesnt yet support his opinion that CGMs should be given to everyone with diabetes, no matter what.

Not all physicians, especially in endocrinology, agree that a person with Type 2 diabetes needs a continuous glucose monitor, Robinson said. But if a person needs a shot each day to manage diabetes, he said, that patient should have access to a CGM.

Lisa Ranes, manager of the diabetes, endocrinology, and metabolism center at Billings Clinic, said the benefits of a CGM are the same for people with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

Many studies have shown that CGMs are just as effective for patients on lower quantities of insulin, like some people with Type 2 diabetes, as for people with Type 1 diabetes, who rely on insulin throughout the day.

It gives patients that complete picture to help them make the decisions on what they need to do to keep their blood sugar safe, Ranes said, giving examples like upping the frequency or dose of insulin, having some food, or exercising.

For people with Type 2 diabetes, Ranes said, CGMs could be helpful in early diagnosis. Type 2 diabetes is progressive, Ranes said, so the sooner it is under control, the better.

When Cass Mitchell, 76, was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes more than 30 years ago, her doctor told her that people with Type 2 diabetes dont live long because they have a hard time managing their care.

Mitchell, who lives in Helena, warmed to finger pricks. But test strips were expensive, about $1 each at the time, she said.

About 10 years ago, she got a CGM. Mitchell went from testing maybe twice a day to looking at her blood sugar on an app 20 to 25 times each day. She said shes more in tune with her diabetes and uses her devices time-in-range reports  showing how often blood glucose stays within a set range  to make lifestyle changes.

Mitchell has lowered her A1C from around 11% to 7%. According to the ADA, the target for most adults with diabetes is less than 7%.

Mitchells device is covered under Medicare and supplemental insurance and would remain so with the passage of HB 758. She said if she had to pay out-of-pocket she wouldnt be able to afford her CGM and that she was excited about the potential of the bill to give more people access to CGMs.

Dr. Hayley Miller, medical director of Mountain States Diabetes in Missoula, initially thought HB 758 sounded good, but now she isnt so sure. She thinks the biggest risk of the bill passing is that prices for CGMs go up.

It seems like Im against it, but it really is, when insurance gets involved everything gets tricky, Miller said.

Emma Peterson, a former diabetes educator for St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings and Providence Endocrinology in Missoula, said most people working in diabetes care think everyone diagnosed should just have a continuous glucose monitor.

At the end of the day, both forms of diabetes and all the other many forms of diabetes have the same complications and still face the same struggles of trying to keep blood sugars in range, Peterson said.

Keely Larson is the KHN fellow for the UM Legislative News Service, a partnership of the University of Montana School of Journalism, the Montana Newspaper Association, and Kaiser Health News. Larson is a graduate student in environmental and natural resources journalism at the University of Montana.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFFan independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

The post Montana may require insurers to cover monitoring devices for diabetes appeared first on Daily Montanan.
Sperm in a fallopian tube. Coloured composition scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of human sperm travelling through a fallopian tube (oviduct) of a female. After ejaculation sperm may stay alive in the female reproductive tract for about 48 hours. At the beginning of their journey in the vagina the sperm number about 300 million but only a few thousand survive to reach the ampullary region of the two female fallopian tubes where fertilization of an egg may occur. The inner walls of the fallopian tube contain simple columnar cells of two types: ciliated cells (pink, with hair-like cilia), and secretory cells (lilac).

Heather Vahdat has been advocating for male contraceptive options for nearly a decade, but she is the first to say it is a lonely space to occupy in the health science field.

Vahdat is the executive director of the Male Contraceptive Initiative, based in Durham, North Carolina, which has been working with a single donor to provide up to $1.5 million in grants per year for emerging male birth control technologies since 2017  and that makes it the second largest funder of that type of research in the U.S., second only to the National Institutes of Health.

At the moment, the options for men are limited to condoms and vasectomies, Vahdat said, and while vasectomies can potentially be reversed, it doesnt always work.

Vahdat says demand for male contraceptives was already stronger than most would guess, but the U.S. Supreme Courts Dobbs decision in 2022 was a tipping point.

After Roe fell, women looked around and said, What can you do? and men looked around and said, Crap, what can I do? Vahdat said. Men are waiting for this; I think its really underestimated how much attention men are paying to this.

Cody Romero, a 32-year-old single Idaho resident, said he will be happy to take any method of male contraception once it is available, especially in the current environment of abortion restrictions.

After all, even with the birth control methods that are available for women, a recent estimate showed half of the worlds yearly pregnancies are unplanned. In the United States, as of 2019 data from the Guttmacher Institute, there were about 45 unintended pregnancies per 1,000 women between the ages of 15 and 44.

I dont like the idea of getting someone pregnant. Thats scary, Romero said. I always feel bad for the ladies that do get on birth control and struggle with some of them. Its like, Well, this is my fault as well.

Romero had only heard of a study on hormonal pills for male birth control that was cut short after some of the participants experienced adverse psychological effects  that was in 2016. But he said he is open to any method, particularly since he does want children at some point and doesnt want a vasectomy at his age.

Romero said among the men he knows, subjects like contraception are rarely talked about. But if more options became available, he thinks many of them would be interested in taking the contraception burden on themselves.

Right now, it just feels like thats not something they need to take care of, Its someone elses problem sort of thing, thats the impression I get, Romero said.

Potential 10 years of birth control with injectable gel

Although male contraceptives have been discussed and researched since as early as the 1950s, Vahdat said there has been little interest from pharmaceutical companies to invest in options for men. The Male Contraceptive Initiative has provided grant funding for research at institutes such as Emory University, Baylor College of Medicine, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Yale University.

The initiative also partnered with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to produce research released in February that assessed the demand for potential contraceptives for men across various regions of the world, including the United States, India, Africa and Vietnam. Two thousand men were surveyed in each country, and in the U.S., 78% of those surveyed said they would use male contraceptive methods if available. That included options such as hormonal pills, a gel that is rubbed into the shoulder, a nasal spray and implants or injections.

The organization is planning to replicate the survey in the U.S. to assess interest after the fall of Roe and the return of abortion regulation to the states.

One of the grants the Male Contraceptive Initiative provided in the last few years was for a hydrogel developed by Virginia-based business Contraline called ADAM, which is a similar technology in development by a company called NEXT Life Sciences.

Contraline representatives could not be reached for comment, but the ADAM technology is in use in a clinical trial in Australia that is expected to be completed by 2025.

L.R. Fox, CEO of NEXT Life, said his California-based company acquired rights to vasalgel from the Parsemus Foundation. Vasalgel is a technology derived from a hydrogel that has been used in clinical trials in India for about 30 years called Reversible Inhibition of Sperm Under Guidance, or RISUG, according to Fox. NEXT Life is calling their product Plan A.

The non-hormonal contraceptive method involves the injection of a substance called vasalgel that forms a small, flexible filter inside the vas deferens  the duct that produces sperm  and filters sperm out while allowing other fluids to pass through.

The injection would take place during a quick doctors visit with local anesthetic, Fox said, and he said it could potentially provide up to 10 years of birth control that could be reversed at any time. He likened it to non-hormonal IUD implants.

The company will begin clinical trials with Plan A at the end of this year, so those numbers are preliminary, according to Fox, but they are based on data from trials in India and animal studies, which he said have been promising so far. That length of time, if it holds true in clinical trials, will be much longer than similar hydrogel formulations, Fox said.

Since the overturn of Roe, the only effective contraceptive option for men is currently a vasectomy, which solves the long-lasting problem, but is designed to be permanent, Fox said. Therefore, its primarily only used by men who are child complete at 45 or often 65 and older, so what we see is this massive demand from men who are in their 20s and 30s who are in committed relationships and who are saying they want to be able to participate in the family planning process.

Contraception takes two, initiative leader says

The lack of investment into the development of male contraception hasnt gone unnoticed by Fox, who said he grew up in the foster care system and saw firsthand the devastating consequences that can occur when someone cant choose when to have a child.

People arent recognizing the problem because they sit back and say, Well, is it really needed? because women have a solution, Fox said. The assumption is we can just burden women with contraception that clearly is not sufficient.

Fox said 50,000 people have expressed interest in participating in the clinical trials, and if all goes as planned, he hopes Plan A will have approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and roll out on the market by 2026, which is just right around the corner, he said.

Fox believes Plan A represents the best option because of its simplicity and potential effectiveness.

Of course, those (pills and creams) are incredibly valuable contributions to science, but at the same time, one of the big concerns is how can you ensure effectiveness and also how do we remove user error? Fox said. Thats why something long lasting and reversible is so key.

From Vahdats perspective, it is unrealistic to expect an option to hit the market by 2026 given all of the bureaucratic hurdles involved in clinical trials and approval that can take years to complete. A 2018 study from the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development showed FDA-approved drugs and biologics spent an average of nearly 90 months  more than seven years  in the clinical trial phase.

But Vahdat does think the market in general is on a steady upward trajectory.

What we cant do is slow that momentum, she said.

Vahdat said shed love to see more investment from donors and organizations, but what will also aid the speed of bringing products to market is individuals demanding more options. Because in the meantime, the options remain limited.

We have to stop looking at contraception as either for men or for women. Like conception, you need two people, she said. So with the onus being on women, weve kind of gendered that term, but really contraception is about two people preventing an unintended pregnancy.

The post Viable male birth control options could be on the horizon appeared first on Daily Montanan.
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
In a new paper published in the journal Scientific Reports, a team of scientists analyzed a collection of at least 12 severed hands found in an ancient Egyptian palace. The macabre trove (which would surely pique the interest of Wednesday Adams) may be the first physical evidence of a gruesome, militaristic ceremony.

Archaeologists originally unearthed the grisly find back in 2011. The hands were strewn in three pits in front of the throne room of a palace dated to around 1600 BC at Tell el-Daba in northeastern Egypt. This would have been during the century-long 15th Dynasty, when invading Hyksos from the Levant ruled the northern part of the country from their capital Avaris. Tell el-Daba is where Avaris once stood.

Hieroglyphs discovered in various locations dated to the second half of ancient Egypts roughly 3,000-year history hint that soldiers would sometimes present the severed right hands of defeated foes to the Pharaoh to garner the gold of honor, a prestigious reward that came in the form of a collar of golden beads. But it was hard to know whether these depictions portrayed an accurate or mythologized account of the past.

The new analysis of the severed hands leaves little doubt that the gold of honor ceremony actually occurred.

Credit: J Gresky et al., Scientific Reports, 2023

When the scientists closely analyzed the bones, they found that at least 12 hands were in the pits, but there might have been as many as 18 considering they found a few lonesome finger bones. Bone structure analysis suggested that all the hands were from individuals at least over the ages of 14 to 21. All were right hands, and all were likely male, as identified by examining the length ratio of the hands index and ring fingers. Men regularly have longer ring fingers than index fingers while women typically have longer index fingers.

Lend me a hand

The researchers also delved into gorier details.

Because no fragments of lower arm bones were attached or found in the pit, it implies that these hands were precisely severed from the lower arm, they described. The hands must have been soft and flexible when they were placed into the pit. That is, either before rigor mortis sets in or after it has resolved.

If it was before rigor mortis  the stiffening of the joints and muscles a few hours after death  then living victims were mutilated just before or even during the ceremony. If it was after, then the hands must have been stored long enough for rigor mortis to conclude, between one and four days.

And remember, the pits where the hands were discovered were located in the forecourt just in front of the palaces throne room, implying that gold of honor would have been a very public event. An enemys mutilation would have taken on special significance in ancient Egypt, the researchers noted.

Because corporeal integrity was vital for survival in the ancient Egyptian view of the afterlife, the victims impairment adds a deeper dimension to this act of dominance.

Archaeologists regularly showcase the grandeur of ancient Egypt. With this new research, we also witness its brutality.

This article was first published at Big Think.
MBABANE  The Swaziland Liberation Movement (SWALIMO) member, Wonder Gama, who alleges to have been attacked and burnt by the police, says he does not know why they wanted to kill him.

Gama is the man who had been trending on social media with a burnt face over the weekend, alleging to have been attacked by the police, who allegedly first doused him with petrol on the face and then threw a burning piece of paper on him, resulting in him catching fire. In an interview with this publication yesterday, Gama narrated his story on what transpired on that fateful night of April 3, 2023. Prior to the interview, Gama met with his fellow party members at the Commercial Centre. The SWALIMO members met with Gama to give him moral support following the incident that befell him.

Stopped

He narrated that he was heading home from a bar when armed men travelling in a blue double cab, with foreign registration numbers, stopped him. He stated that they stopped him by the traffic lights near Kia Motors. Gama said the armed men, who were wearing balaclavas, stopped him while driving towards the Mbabane Government Hospital from the city centre. He narrated that the men drove their car towards his, forcing him to stop. He said they asked him where he was going in the middle of the night and he informed them that he was going home. Gama, who is also a popular mechanic in Mbabane, said he tried to pull down his window manually and while doing so, one of the men doused him with petrol on the face, which further reached his chest and arms and some parts of his car.

He narrated that while doing that, the other men who were pointing him with guns hurled insults at him. He said at that moment, another man threw a burning piece of paper on him and because he had been doused with petrol, he quickly caught the fire. He said the men drove off and left him there. Gama narrated that as his face and body was burning, he stepped out of the car and took off his jacket and used it to put out the fire on his face and arms.

Lucky

The SWALIMO member said he was lucky that he was able to put out the flames on his own, but he had already been burnt on the face, part of his chest and part of his hands and arms.

He said after that, he quickly went to put out the small flame that was on his car door. He said he then drove to Msunduza where he went to another bar and rushed to the restroom and tried to put some water on his face and arms. Gama said at first, people who were around that bar shunned him and later noticed that he had been injured and they assisted him to go to hospital. The mechanic narrated that it was not the first time the armed men driving in a blue double cab with foreign registration plates had stopped him. He said on a Friday of March 31, the same car had stopped him.

Gama narrated that on this day, the armed men, who were wearing all black and balaclavas, stopped him and forced him out of his car. He said they forced him to lie on the ground and not to look at them. He narrated that there were five of them and they were all armed with rifles. Gama said at first, one of them slapped him on the face and pulled him down, forcing him to lie facing downward. He narrated that another put his foot on his back, pressing him down. Gama said at that time, the others were busy searching his car, while insulting him as well. He said they searched his car and found some bottles of alcoholic beverages. He said one of them shouted in vernacular saying; Uyanatsa tsine sisemsebenti. He stated that while searching his car and hurling insults at him, he identified one of the mens voice and shouted towards them, calling the man he had identified through his voice by name. He said unfortunately they ignored him and continued searching his car. Gama alleged that one of them opened his cars trunk and found his toolbox and one of the men questioned him about the toolbox.

Mechanic

Gama said another one responded by informing the others that the reason he (Gama) was caring a toolbox was because he was a mechanic. He said the men then drove off, leaving him lying on the ground. When asked if he reported the matter to the police, the SWALIMO member said since he was traumatised by the near death experience, he did not know what to do hence he did not think of reporting the matter to the police. He said now that he had been advised to open a case with the police, he would do so soon. When sought for comment, Deputy Police Information and Communications Officer Inspector Nosipho Mnguni said there was no record of anyone who was burnt by the police. Mnguni said anyone who had such incident should go and open a case with the police and the matter would be taken from there once reported.
Discounters Lidl and Aldi have followed in the footsteps of Sainsbury's and Tesco in announcing a reduction in the price of milk.

The two retailers are the latest to unveil a drop in the price of milk, with the cost of one pint reducing from 95p to 90p.

The price of two pints will be slashed from 1.30 to 1.25, while four-pint own brand bottles will fall by 10p from 1.65 to 1.55.

It comes after Sainsbury's and Tesco announced the same move last week.

Tesco and Sainsbury's, the UK's first and second largest retailer respectively, both said the move would not impact the amount farmer suppliers are paid.

Spokespeople for Lidl and Aldi have also confirmed that their milk price cuts would not impact its suppliers.

Jason Tarry, Tesco's UK chief executive, said: "We've seen some cost price deflation for milk across the market in recent times, and we want to take this opportunity to pass that reduction on to customers.

This will not affect the price we pay our farmers," he said, "Our Tesco Sustainable Dairy Group was set up to ensure that farmers across the UK get a fair, independently-set price for the milk they produce for us.

Announcing Sainsbury's move, a spokesperson said: With costs going up, we are working hard to keep prices low, especially on the everyday essentials people buy the most.

"We have reduced the price of our own brand milk to just 1.55 for four pints, 1.25 for two pints and 90p for a pint.

"Our focus on value means that all our customers can be confident that they will receive great deals when they shop with us."

In other news, First Milk recently announced a substantial milk price fall for its farmer suppliers from next month, declining by 3.40p per litre.

Dairy farmers supplying Muller who meet the conditions of the processor's Advantage scheme will also see an May milk price decline, of 2.5ppl.
A member of the public has been ordered to pay 300 compensation to a farmer following a dog attack which killed one sheep.

The incident happened on the Isle of Wight on 14 March, when a dog off a lead chased sheep which were grazing in a field, before it bit and killed one.

A few days later, the dog owner visited the shepherd to apologise and offered to pay for the loss, according to Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary.

But following a review of the evidence obtained by the force, and in consultation with the victim in this case, the dog owner - a 53-year-old woman - will pay 300 compensation.

Community resolutions are out of court disposals, meaning that offences can be dealt with following an admission of guilt by a suspect, without pursuing criminal charges or a prosecution through court.

They are issued on a case by case basis, factoring in the circumstances based on the evidence, and most importantly in line with the wishes of the victim.

Police Staff Investigator Andrew Williams said it was 'so important' to keep dogs either on leads or under close control, particularly around livestock.

If you are walking your dog in a field and there is no livestock, please keep the dog in sight at all times, be aware of what it is doing, and be confident it will return to you promptly on command.

"If you cannot be confident of this, the dog should not be off the lead. Ensure the dog does not stray off the path or area where you have right of access.

Under the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953, it is a criminal offence for a dog to actively worry livestock.

It follows alarming findings from a survey by the National Sheep Association (NSA) that shows sheep farmers are experiencing an increasing occurrence of dog attacks.

In the survey of more than 300 sheep farmers, 70% had experienced a sheep worrying attack in the past 12 months.

On average, three sheep deaths were reported each year per farmer as a result of dog attacks.

Just this month, 16 lambs were killed in a suspected livestock worrying incident in Fife.
Two Northern Irish farmers have been given substantial fines after being convicted on separate charges following cattle identification inspections.

Alan McFarland, 61, of Clogher, Co Tyrone, was convicted at Dungannon Magistrates Court and was fined 2,600 and given a 12-month conditional discharge on an obstruction charge.

He was convicted of one charge of failure to notify the movement of cattle off his holding and one charge of obstructing a Department of Agriculture (DAERA) inspector, plus three charges of failure to notify the movement or birth of cattle onto his holding.

He was also convicted of one charge of failure to attach an approved ear tag to an animal, one charge of failure to notify the birth of an animal, one charge of failure to present veterinary medicine records and one charge of failure to present a herd register.

The case arose following a cattle identification inspection carried out by officers from DAERA Welfare and Enforcement Branch.

Meanwhile, Robert McFarland, 29, also of Clogher, was convicted of one charge of using an ear tag to identify an animal which had already been used to identify another animal. He was fined 500.

The case arose, from a number of discrepancies found during a cattle identification inspection carried out by DAERAs Welfare and Enforcement Branch.
The Chinese market continues to be a major focus for pork exporters from the UK, with two of the most important meat industry shows taking place over the next month.

This week, exporters and the AHDB will exhibit at the China International Meat Industry Exhibition (CIMIE) to help boost British pig meat.

Exports of the meat are already up 28% in value on the same period last year, according to the latest figures from HMRC.

In January, almost 11,000 tonnes of pig meat was shipped to China, worth more than 18.5 million.

Despite a number of challenges in the market, the UK exported over 126,000 tonnes of pig meat to China last year, worth a staggering 203 million  resulting in China remaining the leading market for UK pork exports.

Held in Qingdao Cosmopolitan Exposition, from Thursday until Saturday, CIMIE attracts thousands of visitors from all over the world.

The show will be particularly important this year, being the first dedicated meat event since China has reopened its borders since the beginning of the pandemic.

Exporters, including AHDBs export team, will be returning to CIMIE for the first time since November 2019 due to Covid-related travel restrictions, to showcase UK pork to thousands of potential buyers.

And next month, a further five exporters from the UK be at the British Meat Pavilion at Chinas leading trade show for meat, SIAL China at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre.

The three-day show, which will host around 4,500 global exhibitors and over 150,000 visitors, runs from 18  20 May.

AHDBs head of Asia Pacific Jonathan Eckley said exporters were 'excited' to be returning to China for the two major events.

China remains the largest export market for our pork products and its imperative that we continue to build all important relationships with key importers, as face to face meetings are particularly important in China.

It will be fantastic to be able to host the UKs leading exporters in person in China for the first time since November 2019 and reconnect with our in-market stakeholders and showcase Quality Pork from Britain at these professional industry shows.
A paranoid Vladimir Putin attended church with a large security team as he fears assassination.

Vladimir Putin attended church with a large security team

The Russian president attended a service at Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow at the weekend to mark Orthodox Easter and dozens of dark-suited security operatives were seen taking up positions around the church before Putin entered the building.

The operatives were believed to be FSO Federal Protection Service guards, whose task is to keep Putin and other top Kremlin officials safe.

The despot admitted that the second Orthodox Easter of Russia's war with Ukraine came at a time of "serious challenges" for the nation.

Putin said: "The wonderful, beloved Easter holiday gives believers hope, inspires good thoughts and deeds, and serves to affirm high moral ideals and values in society.

"The Church has always been together with the people, sharing joys and hardships with them.

"And today, in the face of serious challenges, it is actively involved in the affairs of mercy and charity, helping people find a strong spiritual support."

Russia's top churchman Patriarch Kirill gave his blessing to Putin's invasion of Ukraine and told the tyrant that the land he has snatched is traditional Russian territory.

He said: "Today, I am addressing both Russians and Ukrainians. I especially appeal to those who, against their will, were involved in this conflict.

"We must do everything by the power of our prayers and good deeds to stop this conflict as soon as possible, so that peace and a common good life, fraternal relations once again unite our peoples firmly and firmly, who were the one people of united Rus."
MANZINI - We are tired of voting for the same families.

This was the assertion by a Manzini South Constituency member when making a submission during the civic and voter exercise. The constituent said some of them were tired of the current system, which was seemingly not working, where they witnessed family members being voted for term after term. Some of us believe this system is not working. How can you best advise us because we are tired of having the same families into power? he asked. Meanwhile, Sibusiso Dlamini questioned if voting was fair in the kingdom. According to the constituent, it was unfair because the King appointed 20 people into Senate, while the House of Assembly was eligible to vote for 10, much against 59 from constituencies. He submitted that the law of the country allowed freedom of expression. However, he questioned the limitations of the law on Members of Parliament (MPs). Dlamini said he was asking because there were some MPs who were currently incarcerated because they expressed themselves.

Expression

He said one of them was in exile because he exercised freedom of expression. Are the MPs who we are going to vote for going to freely exercise freedom of expression, because as it were, some MPs are in prison for that? he posed. He further submitted that some emaSwati were dissatisfied with the current system and wanted the multiparty system of voting. He requested the EBC to advise them on how best they could fulfill this desire. On another note, Dumisani Dlamini highlighted that as far as he knew, gatherings at constituency centres were banned after people convened to petition their MPs. Perhaps I am behind, was this ban later uplifted? Can we now go back to constituencies and petition our MPs. I see the elections process is underway as though things are normal, does this imply that the ban was lifted? he asked. He further queried how they were going to petition MPs if they were failing to do their jobs. I am asking this so that we know that we are voting for people we can petition, he said. Responding to the submissions, EBC Education Facilitator Vusumuzi Mdluli said he was not in a position to respond to the political questions.
Scientists plan to send a robot snake to hunt for aliens.

Robot snakes are going to hunt aliens in space

The Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor (EELS) System is being developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

The elongated robot will slither along terrains in space using spinning wheels on its body and its target is the vent systems on Saturn's small icy moon Enceladus.

NASA data indicates that Enceladus has a liquid ocean under its icy crust and the plumes erupting from its surface are conduits directly to liquid water. It is potentially the easiest path to a habitable liquid ocean on a different planet.

Boffins at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory said: "We are working with Earth scientists to identify terrestrial scientific investigations that demonstrate the capabilities of EELS in a planetary analogue environment."

EELS could also be deployed on Earth to navigate hazardous environments.
Vladimir Putin's puffy face could be a sign of a serious underlying health condition.

Vladimir Putin's puffy face could be due to health problems

Debate about the Russian tyrant's health has been raging for years with changes to his face - often getting puffier - a key topic.

A doctor has explained some of the main possibilities behind Putin's puffy face and suggested that health problems could be the cause.

Dr. Gareth Nye, a programme lead for Medical Science at Chester Medical School, told the Daily Star newspaper: "The face can appear puffy for a number of reasons ranging from the acute to the chronic with varying levels of severity.

"The first thing to consider is that age plays a huge role in every aspect of our bodies including the face which may give an appearance of something underlying when it's just natural.

"As we age, skin isn't as smooth and robust as it is in youth and meaning it sags and gets loose allowing the natural fat deposits to move lower than previously. In combination with the changes in ears and nose with age, most faces end up with a puffier appearance in the lower half around the chin and neck."

Dr. Nye continued: "Away from age, the most common causes of facial swelling is allergies or infections, particularly in the sinus or tooth areas, which can become life-threatening if it impedes the throat or airways. This is unlikely to be the case in people with continued puffiness."
Alec Baldwin wants a "misguided" lawsuit filed against him by Halyna Hutchins' parents and sister to be dismissed.

Alec Baldwin wants a lawsuit dismissed

The 64-year-old actor - who is facing involuntary manslaughter charges over the death of the cinematographer after she was fatally shot on the set of 'Rust' in October 2021 - argued Olga Solovey, Anatolii Androsovych, and Svetlana Zemko only filed their suit to "obtain compensation" despite being "physically, financially and emotionally" estranged from their late relative "for years" before her death.

Court documents obtained by NBC News stated: "The loss of a daughter and sister is undoubtedly painful in any circumstance. Yet Plaintiffswho had been distanced from Halyna physically, financially, and emotionally for years before her deathhave no viable cause of action against Defendants. This action is especially misguided."

Alec, who has denied any wrongdoing, previously agreed a settlement with Halyna's widower, Matthew Hutchins, their son and estate, and said he believed resolving that court case "should have been the end of the matter."

The documents added: "But it is not. The Court should dismiss Plaintiffs Complaint with prejudice."

The lawsuit was filed in February and as well as Alec, 'Rust' armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, assistant director David Halls, and Rust Movie Productions, LLC. are listed as defendants.

Gloria Allred, who is representing the family in the suit, hit out at the '30 Rock' star and said he is "once again attempting to avoid responsibility."

The lawyer added in a statement: "It is abundantly clear under New Mexico law , which will be applied in the California court that he is responsible for all of the harm he did to the entirety of Halyna Hutchins family.

"We are here to make sure that he is held accountable for his actions."

Like Alec, Hannah has also been charged with involuntary manslaughter, while David agreed to plead no contest to negligent use of a deadly weapon.

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for June 9.
Armie Hammer has had a set of sexual assault allegations against him put under review by the district attorney.

Armie Hammer has had a set of sexual assault allegations against him put under review by the district attorney

The embattled 36-year-old Call Me by Your Name actor  who has been fighting to claw back his Hollywood career after a string of his messages featuring extreme sexual fantasies emerged  was under investigation for nine months in 2021 after being accused of raping a woman in Los Angeles in 2017, but no charges were filed against the actor.

A Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson has now confirmed it has handed over its investigation into sexual assault allegations against Armie to the district attorney, with the forces communications director Tiffiny Blacknell telling CNN: I can confirm that the LAPD has presented a case regarding Armie Hammer to the LADA (Los Angeles District Attorneys Office.)

The matter is currently under review.

The LA Times reported Armies attorney Andrew Brettler did not comment on the case when he was reached by the newspaper.

It added: Blacknell did not disclose additional information about the case nor identify the complainant or complainants.

While the details of the investigation remain unclear, a woman only identified as Effie accused The Social Network star Armie of rape during a March 2021 press conference with attorney Gloria Allred at her side.

Effie claimed the actor violently raped her in 2017 while they were secretly having an affair, as Armie would have been married to his now-estranged wife, Elizabeth Chambers at the time of the alleged attack.

She also accused Armie of abusing her mentally, emotionally and sexually during their apparent four-year relationship.

Armie has never been charged with a crime and denied the claims, slamming them as outrageous.

His attorney previously told Page Six: From day one, Mr Hammer has maintained that all of his interactions with (Effie)  and every other sexual partner of his for that matter  have been completely consensual, discussed and agreed upon in advance, and mutually participatory.

(Effies) attention seeking and ill-advised legal bid will only make it more difficult for real victims of sexual violence to get the justice they deserve.

Other women have accused the actor of harbouring abusive bondage fantasies and cannibalistic fetishes  allegations Armie has said drive him to wish he was dead.

The actor, who has daughter, Harper, eight, and son Ford, six, with his former wife, told AirMail about the impact of the claims on his mental health: I just walked out into the ocean and swam out as far as I could and hoped that either I drowned, or was hit by a boat, or eaten by a shark.
Jeremy Renner has visited the "amazing" medical staff who saved his life after his near-fatal snowplough accident.

Jeremy Renner met with medical staff (c) Instagram

The 'Hawkeye' star needed chest surgery and suffered over 30 broken bones when he was crushed by his snow-clearing vehicle in Reno, Nevada, on New Year's Day (01.01.23) and he was thrilled to return to hospital on Friday (14.04.23) to meet with the team that had cared for him in the weeks following the incident.

Posing with 12 staff members, he wrote on his Instagram Story: "I got to revisit the amazing group of people who saved my life," he overlayed the photo with text while adding a few emojis.

In another photo, the 52-year-old actor stood next to a doctor, which he simply captioned: "Thank you."

A final picture depicted Jeremy standing outside the hospital with various members of staff.

The 'Avengers' actor recently praised his 10-year-old daughter Ava - who he has with ex-wife Sonni Pacheco - as his "number one" inspiration in his recovery.

Asked what had motivated him to battle back to health, he told E! News: "My daughter, for sure, number one. And then my family, and then my will. It's like, well, if I was going to go, I guess, it's one or the other. There's no alternative to like, 'Alright, I'm going to be living so, let's go really live and get it done.' So there's no alternative. I have to kind of do something."

Jeremy - who was trying to save his nephew as the snowplough headed for him - has been undergoing rehabilitation therapy in the months since the incident and has been able to get back on his feet, even noting that stepping back into the real world was "intense" but a "step in the right direction".

He told People magazine at the premiere of his docuseries 'Rennervations': "[It's the] first time to kind of get out of my bed and out of rehab and, you know, to be on my feet and be out in the

world. It's intense, you know, for me, it's a lot, but it's a step in the direction I want to be going, right?

"And this is exactly what I want to be doing and exactly where I want my life to be right now."
Offset is sporting a new back tattoo in memory of his late Migos bandmate and cousin Takeoff.

Offset shows off his epic back tattoo of late cousin Takeoff

The 31-year-old rapper has had a permanent tribute inked on his body in honour of the 28-year-old star - who was tragically shot dead in November following an altercation at a bowling alley in Houston, Texas.

Alongside two snaps of the finished portrait on Instagram, the heavily-tattooed star wrote in the caption: "Love you 4L and after."

The inking appears to have a halo around Takeoff's head.

Offset - who is married to fellow rap star Cardi B - previously admitted he "misses everything" about Takeoff.

He wrote on Instagram: "Missing everything bout you specially that smile. (sic)"

The 'Slippery' hitmaker previously explained that he wanted to "hug, laugh, smoke and perform" with his cousin one last time.

He wrote on the social media app: "Dear Take, the pain you have left me with is unbearable. My heart is shattered and I have so many things to say, but I cant find the words. Ive been going to sleep and waking up hoping that all of this is a dream, but its reality, and reality feels like a nightmare. Every time you would see me, you didnt give me a dap you gave me a hug. I wish I could hug you one last time. Laugh one last time. Smoke one last time. Perform one last time. know someone with a soul like yours is in heaven now. I hope you can see how much we love you and miss you. You have left a hole in my heart that will never be filled. Give me strength, give your brothers strength, give your family strength. Even though I know you will always be with us. throw me a lil sign or a beautiful dream. I love you forever, 4L and after. (sic)"

Police arrested and charged Patrick Xavier Clark, 33, with murder in December.

Officers also arrested Cameron Joshua, 22, who was charged with the unlawful carrying of a weapon in connection to the shooting.

Patrick was released from jail in early January on a $1 million bond, and as part of the terms of his release, he was placed under house arrest, fitted with a GPS tracking device, and had to avoid contact with anyone involved in the shooting investigation.
Cambodia's apparel exports decreased by 22.56 per cent to $1,654.632 million in the first quarter (Q1) of 2023, accounting for 30.7 per cent of its total foreign income of $5,392.013 million during the period, according to general department of customs and excise (GDCE) under ministry of economy and finance. This represents a significant drop from last year when the country's apparel exports increased by 12.69 per cent to $9.035 billion.

During the period under review, Cambodia's exports of apparel and clothing accessories (knitted) (Chapter 61) were $1,047.137 million, 27.3 per cent lower than the exports worth $1,440.385 million during the corresponding period of 2022. The country's exports of apparel and clothing accessories (not knitted) (Chapter 62) dropped by 12.8 per cent to $607.495 million. In January-March 2022, the country exported apparel worth $696.729 million in this category. The decline in shipments reflects sluggish demand in the global market.

In March 2023, Cambodia's apparel exports declined by 15.78 per cent to $571.187 million compared to the shipment of $678.263 million in the corresponding month of 2022. The shipment of apparel and clothing accessories (knitted) slipped 19.1 per cent to $379.385 million from $458.068 million during the same period last year. The exports of apparel and clothing accessories (not knitted) dropped by 8.8 per cent to $200.802 million in March 2023.

Cambodia's apparel exports fell 22.56 per cent to $1.65 billion in Q1 2023, accounting for 30.7 per cent of the country's total foreign income. This decline contrasts with a 12.69 per cent increase in apparel exports in 2022. The drop reflects sluggish global demand, with knitted exports falling 27.3 per cent and non-knitted exports dropping 12.8 per cent.

As for imports, the country's knitted or crocheted fabric (Chapter 60) imports during January-March 2023 were valued at $591.904 million, 24 per cent lower than the imports worth $779.053 million in the same period of 2022. Manmade fibre (Chapter 55) imports declined by 18.9 per cent to $269.846 million, against $332.693 million in the same period of 2022. Cotton (Chapter 52) imports slipped 7.3 per cent to reach $129.145 million during the period under review, compared to $139.257 million in the same period of 2022.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)
Ram Charan Teja Biography

Ram Charan is a film actor. He is the son of legendary actor Megastar Chiranjeevi and Surekha, the grandson of Allu Ramalingaih, and the nephew of actors Nagendra Babu and Pawan Kalyan. He has two sisters, Sushmita and Srija. His cousin, Allu Arjun, is also a Tollywood actor. He made his film debut with Chirutha.



Ram Charan studied at Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan School, Chennai, and he was brought up there. He is famous for dancing in the Telugu film industry, and he has good skills in martial arts. He knows horse riding well, and the person who encouraged him to get involved in horseback riding was Prabhu, a Tamil actor.



Career



Ram Charan Tej made his film debut in Chiruta (2007), for which he won numerous awards, including the Filmfare Best Male Debut Award and the Cine MAA Award for Best Male Debut, as well as praise from superstar Rajnikanth, who said Charan's acting in that film was comparable to that of someone with over 70 films experience.



The second film, Magadheera (2009), was a blockbuster hit and the first-ever Telugu film to collect over INR 100 crores.
Ankit Gupta-Priyanka Choudhary wedding: The two Bigg Boss 16 contestants might have always refuted the rumours of dating each other; however, the world wants their union. While PriyAnkit fans are hoping that the duo will entern into a relationship, one former Bigg Boss star went an extra mile ahead and manifested their wedding. Yes, you read that right!

The model-reality TV star claimed that he is even ready to 'pay' for Ankit Gupta and Priyanka Chahar Choudhary's wedding. As the Udaariyaan co-stars attended Baba Siddique's Iftaar 2023 party in Mumbai, they received praise from all the corners for their stylish clothes.

Ankit Gupta and Priyanka Choudhary walked hand-in-hand as they arrived for the Iftaar celebrations. The two celebrities hogged all the limelight as they twinned in black, giving us a picture-perfect moment.

The Junooniyatt actor safely escorted Priyanka as they came out of the party venue, showcasing how a gentleman should treat a lady. His special gesture went viral on the internet, grabbing several eyeballs.

Guess what? The popular BB star went gaga over PriyAnkit's moment at Baba Siddiqui's Iftaar 2023 party, sharing a post for them. He mentioned that he is ready to sponsor their wedding, asking fans if they wished for the same or not.

"All those in favour of (ring emoji) say aye!! Hahahah!! Listen I've tho always wanted this!! Karlo I will pay for the wedding don't worry!! I will be the Priest!! Only joking!! Hahah!! (Not really) only joking (sic)," he tweeted.

We are talking about the one and only Rajiv Adatia, who has openly expressed his love for Priyanka and Ankit. Check out his viral tweet right here!

All those in favour of  say aye!! Hahahah!! Listen Ive tho always wanted this!! Karlo I will pay for the wedding dont worry!!  I will be the Priest!! Only joking!! Hahah!! (Not really) only joking!!!  pic.twitter.com/L4mVtuwZqT  Rajiv Adatia (@TheRajivAdatia) April 16, 2023

ANKIT GUPTA, PRIYANKA CHOUDHARY'S NEW PROJECT

Talking about Ankit, the handsome hunk has taken some time off his busy schedule to travel to Mumbai. He is currently seen in Junooniyatt, where he is paired opposite Neha Rana. The musical drama co-starring Gautam Vig airs on Colors channel.

Priyanka Choudhary, who has shifted base to Mumbai after Bigg Boss 16, is in talks with leading production houses for their upcoming projects.

What do you have to say about Rajiv Adatia's tweet? Share your thoughts with us by tweeting @Filmibeat.

Stay tuned for more updates.
Diplomats, international friends plant trees in Beijing to promote green development

14:53, April 17, 2023 By Peng Yukai, Xian Jiangnan ( People's Daily Online

The 2023 "Beijing International Friendship Forest" Tree Planting Event took place on April 15 at the Olympic Forest Park in Changping district, Beijing, attracting nearly 200 foreign diplomatic envoys, foreign experts and international students from around 50 countries across five continents.

Under the theme of "Together for a Greener Development," the event was a concrete action of Beijing in response to the UN's sustainable development goals, promoting green development, as well as fostering friendly people-to-people exchanges.

Zhang Qian, Executive Vice President of the Beijing People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (BPAFFC), addressed the opening ceremony, noting that Beijing's forest coverage rate has reached 44.8 percent, and its annual carbon sink capacity of forest and green land ecosystem has amounted to 8.8 million tons.

The 2023 "Beijing International Friendship Forest" Tree Planting Event takes place on April 15 at the Olympic Forest Park in Changping district, Beijing. (Photo provided by Beijing People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries)

Choo AnYin, Ambassador of Guyana to China, delivered a speech on behalf of the foreign participants, saying that the event will help not only make Beijing greener and more beautiful but also contribute to the efforts against global warming and deforestation.

The ambassador was deeply impressed by Beijing's efforts in green development over the years. She mentioned that before the 1990s when she was studying in Beijing, there was a lot of pollution and sandstorms, and when she came to Beijing in 2008, she saw a great improvement in the environment with more trees and flowers. She was honored to act as part of the team to plant trees and saw a more beautiful and greener landscape in Beijing.

Attendees plant trees at the Olympic Forest Park in Changping district, Beijing, on April 15. (Photo provided by Beijing People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries)

Mohhammed El Bakkari, Minister of Moroccan Embassy, applauded the event, saying that afforestation is significant as it not only protects the environment but also saves our earth. Embalo Mama Samba, a student from Guinea, said that planting trees is very important to make the air cleaner and improve people's health. "The more green, the better for our lives," he stressed.

The tree planting event has been held eight times since 2015, with a total of over 5,800 trees planted. Many foreigners in Beijing have taken part in the event, which not only deepens foreign friends' affection for Beijing, but also contributes to the building of a beautiful and green city.

(Gong Weiwei, as an intern, also contributed to this report.)

(Web editor: Wu Chengliang)
MANZINI - Two ministers are accused of campaigning for the oncoming elections using rice donated by the Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan).

The three are Minister of Labour and Social Security Phila Buthelezi, Minister of Tinkhundla Administration and Development David Cruiser Ngcamphalala and Minister of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs Harris Madze Bulunga. They have been accused of taking advantage of the Taiwan Embassy by allegedly using donated rice to campaign for the upcoming elections. This was an allegation submitted by some Manzini South constituents during the civic and voter education exercise hosted by the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC). It took place at the Manzini Nazarene High School Hall yesterday. Some of the constituents were of the view that certain ministers were taking advantage of their term in office now to engage in campaigning exercises with food parcels (rice) donated by the Taiwan Embassy. They asked the EBC to do something about this, as they felt it was offside.

Sibusiso Dlamini first highlighted that he was aware that campaigning was only permitted in the secondary elections. He questioned how a candidate could be voted for without properly introducing himself; his educational background, as well as economic policies in the primary elections. He queried how they were supposed to nominate people they did not know. Another thing, the EBC declared that campaigning is not allowed at this stage but we see the Taiwan Embassy is going up and down with some ministers such as Madze, Cruiser and Phila Buthelezi, distributing rice parcels to constituents, much against your directivce, Dlamini alleged.

The constituent further supposed that the EBC was quiet amid the campaigns by the said ministers. On another note, he enquired how the EBC ensured fair voting in prison. The constituent alluded to that there were no people (bogalajane), who were present in Correctional facilities to ensure that voting was done fairly without officers influencing inmates to vote for a particular person. Another constituent purported that the ministers were campaigning because they were all along not distributing the parcels but were seemingly doing so in the past two months. He alleged that they were using their power in office to push their campaigns because no one could call them to order. He was supported by another member, who supposed that the ministers were using the remaining time they had to solicit votes from constituency members.

Allegations

When drawn for comment, Minister Ngcamphalala disputed the allegations, stating that such did not hold water. Ngcamphalala said the embassy did not only single out ministers but was giving out donations to everyone. The minister articulated that as far as he was concerned, people who were in office were not campaigning but only serving their mandate. We are not campaigning but doing our job. A person in office is not campaigning but it is the one who is not in office, as he or she is still aspiring to be elected, (who can be said to be campaigning). Otherwise we are only doing our job, Ngcamphalala reiterated. Meanwhile, Minister Buthelezi wondered if Taiwan only offered donations to ministers. He chose not to comment on the allegations. I cannot be part of politics without direction. I wouldnt want to entertain any rubbish, let alone involve an independent country in cheap politics, I dont think it would be fair. So I dont have anything to say in this, Buthelezi said. Minister Harries Madze Bulunga said for the record, the rice donation had always been there for the past five years to every MP who requested such from the embassy.

Items

They have always assisted us with other items such as walking sticks for the elderly and wheelchairs. There is no harm in asking for such and distributing to the needy of my constituency. The last donation to Mbabane East Inkhundla was on November 3, 2022 and its not for campaigning because I gave it to bucopho and indvuna to distribute in the four imiphakatsi, he said. In response, EBC Education Facilitator Vusumuzi Mdluli said they were not certain that the ministers were campaigning. He said as long as they did not declare by word of mouth, requesting for peoples votes, then they could not be deemed as campaigning.
Pranali On Dating Harshad Chopda: Pranali Rathod and Harshad Chopda are currently starring as the lead actors, Akshara and Abhimanyu, respectively, in Rajan Shahi's Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai. The popular show, which has completed 14 years in January 2023, is currently focusing on its third generation.

Despite being one of the longest-running shows on Indian television, YRKKH continues to attract a large audience with its family-oriented storyline and the onscreen chemistry between Pranali Rathod and Harshad Chopda's characters. The show has consistently performed well in terms of TRP ratings and remains one of the highest-rated shows across all channels.

As Pranali and Harshad eve share a great bond in real life, there have been constant speculations that the duo seems to be dating each other off-screen too.

PRANALI RATHOD DENIES DATING HARSHAD ARORA IN REAL LIFE

Pranali Rathod, in a recent interview, opened up about the ongoing speculations about PrShad bein a real-life couple and dismissed the news. Talking to Hindustan Times, she said, "We are really good friends. We have been shooting for a long time. Hum bohot acche dost hai...I don't know how to explain this to people."

Sabse Sasti Main Hi...: Shehnaaz Gill Reveals Being The 'Least Paid' Contestant Of Bigg Boss 13

On being asked of there's anything between then besides friendship, she cleared, "Absolutely not."

Audiences Should Understand...: Anupamaa Star On Received HATE After Turning Against Rupali Ganguly's Character

Well, her comment might make some AbhiRa fans upset. However, that's the truth and they should accept it happily.

CURRENT TRACK OF YEH RISHTA KYA KEHLATA HAI

Produced by Rajan Shahi's Director's Kut Productions, Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai is currently focusing on a very crucial track as Akshara's son Abhir is suffering from a heart disease and only Abhimanyu can treat him.

While Abhimanyu is ready to help Abhir, he still has no idea about the kid being his own son. As shown in the recent episodes, Aaorhi and Kairav now knows the truth abd it'll be interesting to see how Abhimanyu is going to react after knowing the reality.

Keep watching this space for more updates!
Junooniyatt twist: Ankit Gupta's romantic drama has managed to capture the attention of the netizens, courtesy of his drama-packed episodes. The show has been churning out new twists and turns, keeping the viewers hooked on to their television sets.

JUNOONIYATT WRITTEN UPDATES APRIL 17, 2023

Fans have been eagerly waiting for Jahaan and Elahi's love track to start in the show ever since it was revealed that the duo will have a romantic angle. The makers have introduced a new track where Jahaan and Jordan competed against each other to win Elahi's heart.

IS ANKIT GUPTA'S CHARACTER ENDING IN JUNOONIYATT?

While the team is working to spice up the ratings, gossip mills suggested that Jahaan's character might end, marking Ankit Gupta's exit from the show. However, Filmibeat was the firs portral to squash the rumours.

"The creative team of Junooniyatt has planned a nice track for the viewers. And yes, Jahaan is not going anywhere. In fact, Elahi will realise her love for Jahaan after she will see him in the hospital. Jahaan, who always supported Elahi, will injure his vocal cord and face major issues in singing. Will be able to fulfil his dreams and reclaim his parents' respect and goodwill? That's the main question," a source close to the show exclusively told Filmibeat.

JUNOONIYATT UPDATE: JAHAAN TO SUFFER BIG LOSS

According to the latest buzz, Jahaan will suffer a major loss after the car accident. While he will be able to save himself and Jordaan from meeting an unfortunate death, his car caught fire because of a petrol leak. He will be admitted to the hospital in a serious condition.

After treating him, doctors will inform Elahi that his vocal cords have been damaged and he might never be able to sing again.

Elahi will leave no stone unturned to cheer up Jahaan. From seeking prayers at Gurudwara to making food for him, she will try her best to emotionally support Jahaan.

Junooniyatt co-starring Neha Rana and Gautam Vig airs on Colors channel. The show is also available for viewing on VOOT Select. Ravie Dubey and Sargun Mehta, who produced Udaariyaan, have created the show under their home banner.

Keep watching this space for more updates.
Lakshmi Manchu is one actress who made her mark in the Telugu Film Industry. Coming from a filmy background, Lakshmi had begun small through Television talk shows with celebrities and emerged as one of the female producers-cum-actress doing a variety of work.

Lakshmi Manchu received great appreciation for taking charge of organizing her younger brother Manchu Manoj's wedding with Bhuma Mounika Reddy in March this year. She was the rock behind their controversial wedding and performed the wedding with all rituals at her house.

The actress-producer shared a post on her Instagram status that read, "The best revenge is to become the person no one thought you were capable of becoming."

Fans wondered what Lakshmi might have been reeling under or whom did she aim this quote. On the other hand, the post comes across as daily motivational quotes the social media platforms that are usually filled up. She must have vibed with this one and thought of sharing it on her handle as well.

Vignesh Shivan: 'When Nayan Says Uyir Or Ulagam, I See If She's Calling Me; We Address Each Other The Same'

The Manchus of Tollywood has been all over the news making headlines ever since Lakshmi Manchu's half-brother Manchu Manoj tied the knot to Bhuma Mounika Reddy. After the divorce from his first wife, Manoj stayed separately from his father and brother, who live together. Manchu Lakshmi lives separately with her daughter.

Several reports claimed that all is not well between Manoj and his father and brother. For Manoj's second wedding, while Mohan Babu was there throughout, Manchu Vishnu and his wife Viranica attended as guests. This was noticed by the media.

Immediately after, Manoj shared a video of Manchu Vishnu trying to barge into the homes seemingly to attack one of Manoj's friends Saradhi. Manoj's voice was also heard in the background saying, "This is how they barge in & attack." Manoj took down the status but the damage has already been done. None of the Manchu family members cared to respond to these issues. Reportedly, Manchu Lakshmi also has been maintaining distance from Vishnu, since the latter was elected Movies Artists Association President, in addition to their issues.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Lakshmi Manchu will next be seen in a female-centric film titled 'Agni Nakshatram.' The movie is gearing up for a theatrical release.
MELBOURNE, Australia, April 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited (ASX: TLX, Telix, the Company) today announces successful preclinical development of radiolabelled olaratumab, an antibody licensed from Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly). Telix has demonstrated proof-of-concept (PoC) of using olaratumab to selectively deliver both diagnostic and therapeutic radiation to tumours as a radiopharmaceutical moiety and has produced a candidate for clinical translation. Telix will now progress to first-in-human clinical studies based on these highly encouraging results.





In April 2022, Telix secured the exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialise radiolabelled forms of olaratumab for the diagnosis and treatment of human cancers.[1] Olaratumab was originally developed as a naked (non-radiolabelled) monoclonal antibody targeting Platelet Derived Growth Factor Receptor Alpha (PDGFRa), a target expressed in multiple tumour types. Olaratumab has a well-established clinical safety profile, a favourable toxicology dataset and advanced manufacturing package in relation to Lilly's development program, which Telix expects to be able to leverage for future development as a radiopharmaceutical drug product.

Telix's initial development PoC has focused on a rare type of cancer known as Soft Tissue Sarcoma (STS). External beam radiation is a key part of the standard of care for STS, which may therefore be a suitable clinical target for novel radionuclide therapy, particularly for alpha-emitting radionuclides. The ability of olaratumab to target PDGFRa in the STS tumour microenvironment makes it a highly novel and high-potential radiopharmaceutical candidate.

Telix has now completed its preclinical evaluation, with results sufficiently encouraging to advance development toward initial human clinical trials, in line with planned R&D expenditure for 2023/24. The agent has been assigned formal candidate status in Telix's development pipeline (to be denoted as TLX300-CDx/TLX300 for the diagnostic/patient selection tool and therapeutic, respectively). Specifically, these studies have shown that olaratumab can be bioconjugated with multiple chelators (including Telix's proprietary DFO-squaramide chelator), radiolabelled with zirconium-89 (89Zr) for imaging by Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and used to demonstrate specific delivery of radiation to STS cancer cells to show proof of concept in xenograft tumour mouse models. Furthermore, olaratumab radiolabelled with therapeutic radionuclide payloads has demonstrated in vivo efficacy with significant reduction in tumour volumes in relevant disease models, even after administration of a single dose. The Company is preparing to publish preliminary findings.

Telix Chief Scientist, Dr Michael Wheatcroft stated, "Building on Telix's proven track record in acquiring and developing novel radiopharmaceutical assets, it is extremely pleasing to demonstrate the adaptation of this traditional biologic agent for future potential use as a targeted radiopharmaceutical. TLX300 will initially be evaluated in a first-in-human clinical study that is designed to inform both the potential efficacy (dosimetry) and safety profile of this research candidate as a therapeutic, demonstrating the development advantage of a theranostic approach."

About Soft Tissue Sarcoma (STS)

Soft tissue sarcoma is a complex disease that encompasses a diverse group of relatively rare cancers, with more than 50 histological subtypes. In the United States (U.S.), it is estimated that 13,040 new cases and 5,150 deaths were caused by STS in 2019, representing 0.75% of overall cancer incidence and 0.84% of overall cancer mortality.[2] In Europe, nearly 23,600 new STS cases rose annually, and the crude incidence rate was 4.7 per 100,000.[3] Approximately 39,900 new STS cases occurred nationwide in China in 2019, accounting for 1.05% of overall cancer incidence.[4] The crude incidence rate was 2.91/100,000 and generally increased with age. Standard treatment for soft tissue sarcoma includes surgery, radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy. For patients with advanced, unresectable, or metastatic disease, treatment typically involves chemotherapy with single agents (e.g., doxorubicin) or anthracycline-based combination regimens. However, the prognosis for these patients remains poor, with treated patients with metastatic disease having a median overall survival of around 12-18 months.[5]

About olaratumab

Olaratumab (previously marketed under the brand name, Lartruvo) was originally developed as a monoclonal antibody targeting PDGFRa. Olaratumab was granted "Accelerated Approval" in the U.S. and "Conditional Approval" in the EU based on Phase II trial data which showed a 1-year survival benefit in patients with STS, when given in combination with standard chemotherapy. Olaratumab was voluntarily withdrawn from the market by Lilly following the failure of the Phase III ANNOUNCE clinical trial, in which olaratumab did not improve survival for patients.

About Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited

Telix is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialisation of diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals. Telix is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia with international operations in the United States, Europe (Belgium and Switzerland), and Japan. Telix is developing a portfolio of clinical-stage products that aims to address significant unmet medical need in oncology and rare diseases. Telix is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX: TLX).

Visit www.telixpharma.com for further information about Telix, including details of the latest share price, announcements made to the ASX, investor and analyst presentations, news releases, event details and other publications that may be of interest. You can also follow Telix on Twitter (@TelixPharma) and LinkedIn.

Telix's lead product, gallium-68 (68Ga) gozetotide (also known as 68Ga PSMA-11) injection, has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA),[6] and by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA),[7] and by Health Canada.[8] Telix is also progressing a marketing authorisation application for this investigational candidate in the United Kingdom.[9]

Telix Investor Relations

Ms. Kyahn Williamson

Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited

SVP Corporate Communications and Investor Relations

Email: kyahn.williamson@telixpharma.com

This announcement has been authorised for release by the Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited Disclosure Committee on behalf of the Board.

Legal Notices

This announcement is not intended as promotion or advertising directed to any healthcare professional or other audience in any country worldwide (including Australia, United States and the United Kingdom). This announcement may include forward-looking statements that relate to anticipated future events, financial performance, plans, strategies or business developments. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of words such as "may", "expect", "intend", "plan", "estimate", "anticipate", "outlook", "forecast" and "guidance", or other similar words. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the Company's good-faith assumptions as to the financial, market, regulatory and other risks and considerations that exist and affect the Company's business and operations in the future and there can be no assurance that any of the assumptions will prove to be correct. In the context of Telix's business, forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements about: the initiation, timing, progress and results of Telix's preclinical and clinical studies, and Telix's research and development programs; Telix's ability to advance product candidates into, enrol and successfully complete, clinical studies, including multi-national clinical trials; the timing or likelihood of regulatory filings and approvals, manufacturing activities and product marketing activities; the commercialisation of Telix's product candidates, if or when they have been approved; estimates of Telix's expenses, future revenues and capital requirements; Telix's financial performance; developments relating to Telix's competitors and industry; and the pricing and reimbursement of Telix's product candidates, if and after they have been approved. Telix's actual results, performance or achievements may be materially different from those which may be expressed or implied by such statements, and the differences may be adverse. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

Except as required by applicable laws or regulations, Telix does not undertake to publicly update or review any forward-looking statements. Past performance cannot be relied on as a guide to future performance. Readers should read this announcement together with our material risks, as disclosed in our most recently filed reports with the ASX and on our website.

2023 Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited. The Telix Pharmaceuticals and Illuccix name and logo are trademarks of Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited and its affiliates (all rights reserved).

[1] Telix ASX disclosure 11 April 2022. [2] American Cancer Society 2020. [3] RARECARE Project 2013. [4] Yang et al. Cancer Biol Med. 2019. [5] In et al. Ther Adv Med Oncol. 2017. [6] Telix ASX disclosure 20 December 2021. [7] Telix ASX disclosure 2 November 2021. [8] Telix ASX disclosure 14 October 2022. [9] Telix ASX disclosure 3 April 2023.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1920208/3985611/Telix_Main_Logo_Logo.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/olaratumab-antibody-licensed-from-lilly-demonstrates-proof-of-concept-as-a-theranostic-radiopharmaceutical-301798405.html
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 16, 2023 / SouthGobi Resources Ltd. (TSX-V:SGQ)(HK:1878) ("SouthGobi" or the "Company") Reference is made to the announcement of SouthGobi Resources Ltd. (Hong Kong Stock Exchange: 1878; TSX Venture Exchange ("TSX-V"):SGQ,) (the "Company" or "SouthGobi") dated April 4, 2023 (Hong Kong time). The Company, which is focused on the exploration, development and production of its coal deposits in Mongolia's South Gobi Region, announced that the change of its secondary listing status to primary listing on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange became effective today. SouthGobi's common shares are now primary listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and will be listed on the TSX-V as of the opening of trade on April 17, 2023 in Canada. The Company's trading symbol on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the TSX-V will remain as "1878" and "SGQ", respectively.

Mr. Mao Sun, the Lead Director of SouthGobi, commented, "With SouthGobi's shares listed on the TSX-V, the Company's current operational and financial position can be better accommodated, whilst still providing our shareholders with continued liquidity on a stock exchange which is recognized for its leadership in mining issuer listings. Following the change to primary listing status on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, we believe that our investor base can be broadened, the liquidity of our common shares improved and our flexibility in the capital markets enhanced as well".

This announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute, or form part of, any invitation or offer to acquire, purchase or subscribe for any of our securities. Shareholders and potential investors should exercise caution when dealing in our securities.

If there is any inconsistency or discrepancy between the English version and the Chinese version, the English version shall prevail.

About SouthGobi

SouthGobi, listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the TSX Venture Exchange, owns and operates its flagship Ovoot Tolgoi coal mine in Mongolia. It also holds the mining licences of its other metallurgical and thermal coal deposits in South Gobi region of Mongolia. SouthGobi produces and sells coal to customers in China.

Contact:

Investor Relations

Office: +852 2156 1438 (Hong Kong)

+1 604 762 6783 (Canada)

Email: info@southgobi.com

Website: www.southgobi.com

SOURCE: SouthGobi Resources Ltd.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/749453/SouthGobi-Announces-Primary-Listing-on-the-Main-Board-of-the-Hong-Kong-Stock-Exchange
Invir.IO based oncolytic virus TG6050, is armed with IL-12 and an anti-CTLA4 antibody. A Phase I trial (Delivir) recently started enrolling patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)

Regulatory News:

Transgene (Euronext Paris: TNG), a biotech company that designs and develops virus-based immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer, presented promising preclinical data on its novel oncolytic virus TG6050, at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting, April 14-19, 2023.

These data demonstrate the ability of TG6050 to induce strong antitumor responses through the production of IL-12 and anti-CTLA4 antibody in the tumor and the induction of innate and adaptive immune responses.

TG6050 is a clinical-stage oncolytic virus that has been engineered to encode human IL-12 and a full length anti-CTLA4 antibody. It is derived from the Invir.IO platform and its patented VVCOPTKRR viral vector which was shown to be well tolerated in humans and to replicate and express payloads in tumor tissues.

Key results of the poster are as follows:

Sustained expression of IL-12 has been detected in tumors after intravenous and intratumoral administration of the murine version of TG6050 (mTG6050). The levels of functional IL-12 found in the tumor reach active concentrations. They are associated with low systemic exposure.

? mTG6050 treatment increased T cell responses capable of killing cancer cells.

? Transcriptomic and immunological analyses clearly show a remodeling of the tumor micro-environment and the activation of numerous innate and adaptive immune pathways.

? In several mice models, mTG6050 displayed a very strong anti-tumor activity.

Hedi Ben Brahim, Transgene's CEO said, "We have designed TG6050, a novel oncolytic virus encoding the IL-12 and an anti-CTLA4, to generate both innate and adaptive immune responses.These outstanding pre-clinical findings clearly support the clinical development of TG6050, which has recently started the Phase I Delivir trial in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. We are confident that by generating similar effects in humans, TG6050 could become a new standard of care in patients with solid tumors

The Phase I Delivir trial has been initiated in 2023 and is currently enrolling patients with metastatic and recurring NSCLC.

Transgene will present a total of eight posters at AACR 2023 which all demonstrate the potential of the Company's viral vectors in the treatment of solid tumors.

About TG6050

TG6050 is an oncolytic virus developed with Transgene's Invir.IO platform for intravenous administration. Invir.IO's viruses are based on the patented large capacity Vaccinia virus Copenhagen strain genetically modified with the double deletion TK-RR- (VVCOPTKRR). TG6050 has been engineered to encode human IL-12, a cytokine that triggers a powerful antitumor immune response and a full length anti-CTLA4 antibody. It has also been optimized with the deletion of the gene encoding for the M2L viral protein that targets CD80 and CD86, two ligands of CTLA4 [source: Kleinpeter et al., J Virol. 2019 Jun 1; 93(11): e00207-19]. The use of an oncolytic virus to deliver these immunotherapies locally and selectively in the tumor microenvironment allows high intratumoral concentrations of both therapeutic proteins eliciting a stronger and more effective antitumor response. By reducing systemic exposure to a very low level, this local therapeutic activity furthermore allows to increase the safety and tolerability profile of IL-12 and the anti-CTLA4 antibody.

It will be evaluated in the Delivir trial, a Phase I trial conducted in advanced NSCLC patients.

A short video detailing TG6050's mechanism of action can be found here.

About the Delivir trial (NCT: 05788926)

The Delivir trial is a multicenter, open label, dose-escalation Phase I trial evaluating TG6050 as a single agent. The trial will enroll up to 36 patients with metastatic/advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), who have failed standard therapeutic options including immunotherapies such as immune checkpoint inhibitors. Patients will receive single and repeated escalating doses of TG6050 administered intravenously, to determine the recommended dose and best schedule of administration for subsequent clinical development.

About Transgene

Transgene (Euronext: TNG) is a biotechnology company focused on designing and developing targeted immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer. Transgene's programs utilize viral vector technology with the goal of indirectly or directly killing cancer cells.

The Company's clinical-stage programs consist of a portfolio of therapeutic vaccines and oncolytic viruses:

TG4050, the first individualized therapeutic vaccine based on the myvac platform, TG4001 for the treatment of HPV-positive cancers, as well as TG6002, BT-001 and TG6050, three oncolytic viruses based on the Invir.IO viral backbone.

With Transgene's myvac platform, therapeutic vaccination enters the field of precision medicine with a novel immunotherapy that is fully tailored to each individual. The myvac approach allows the generation of a virus-based immunotherapy that encodes patient-specific mutations identified and selected by Artificial Intelligence capabilities provided by its partner NEC.

With its proprietary platform Invir.IO, Transgene is building on its viral vector engineering expertise to design a new generation of multifunctional oncolytic viruses. Transgene has an ongoing Invir.IO collaboration with AstraZeneca. Additional information about Transgene is available at: www.transgene.fr

Follow us on Twitter: @TransgeneSA

Disclaimer

This press release contains forward-looking statements, which are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. The occurrence of any of these risks could have a significant negative outcome for the Company's activities, perspectives, financial situation, results, regulatory authorities' agreement with development phases, and development. The Company's ability to commercialize its products depends on but is not limited to the following factors: positive pre-clinical data may not be predictive of human clinical results, the success of clinical studies, the ability to obtain financing and/or partnerships for product manufacturing, development and commercialization, and marketing approval by government regulatory authorities. For a discussion of risks and uncertainties which could cause the Company's actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, please refer to the Risk Factors ("Facteurs de Risque") section of the Universal Registration Document, available on the AMF website (http://www.amf-france.org) or on Transgene's website (www.transgene.fr). Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and Transgene undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230416005012/en/

Contacts:

Transgene:

Lucie Larguier

Director Corporate Communications IR

+33 (0)3 88 27 91 04

investorrelations@transgene.fr

Media: MEDiSTRAVA Consulting

David Dible/Sylvie Berrebi/Evelyn McCormack+44 (0)203 928 6900

transgene@medistrava.com
Collaborative IN-ARMOR project aims to advance novel innate immune system inducers for a healthier future

Akthelia Pharmaceuticals, a biopharma company, with a first-in-class immunotherapeutic approach, and the University of Iceland, are proud to announce the successful joint award of a 6 million EU Horizon Grant to fund the groundbreaking IN-ARMOR project. The project seeks to address antimicrobial resistance (AMR), a major global health threat identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the top 10 health challenges of our time.

AMR and multi-drug resistance contribute to over 5 million deaths per year, with the potential to give rise to the next global pandemic as 'pan-drug' resistant strains emerge. As traditional antibiotics lose effectiveness, alternative therapeutic approaches are urgently needed.

"We are thrilled that our cutting-edge technology, developed in collaboration with the University of Iceland, has received this prestigious grant," said Egill Masson, CEO of Akthelia Pharma, "The IN-ARMOR project focuses on novel immune system inducers and is a testament to the potential of our approach to address the global challenge of antimicrobial resistance. The funding propels our ground-breaking research to address not only infections caused by bacteria but also inflammation and the challenge of viral and fungal infections, where fewer treatment options exist."

"I am delighted to collaborate with Akthelia Pharmaceuticals on this critical initiative," commented Professor Gudmundur Gudmundsson, Professor of Cell Biology at the University of Iceland and leading authority on innate immunology, "By focusing on enhancing innate immunology, we have the opportunity to move beyond traditional antibiotics towards next generation therapies that could revolutionize the way we combat antimicrobial resistance, ultimately protecting countless lives worldwide."

The IN-ARMOR project brings together nine universities, research institutes, and seven medical and industry partners across nine EU countries. The project's goal is to introduce a novel class of immune system inducers to enhance the body's innate microbial defense mechanisms, combating AMR and reducing the incidence of 13 of the most dangerous infections, including two of the top three priority-1 infections. Horizon Europe is the EU's key funding program for research and innovation with a budget of 95.5 billion.

Employing computer-aided drug design and in-silico approaches, alongside a nanotech-based drug delivery system, IN-ARMOR will optimize an existing drug platform for its first target indication. The therapy will undergo pre-clinical validation for safety and efficacy, meeting all investigational medicinal product requirements.

Upon completion, IN-ARMOR will advance to clinical validation, with the potential to save over 4 million lives worldwide and significantly reduce the burden of antibiotic development, leading to long-term cost reduction impact of 107BN and reduction in global disease burden of 97 million DALYs.

Akthelia Pharmaceuticals is committed to addressing the global threat of antimicrobial resistance and believes that the IN-ARMOR project is a vital step towards a healthier future.

ABOUT AKTHELIA PHARMACEUTICALS

Akthelia Pharmaceuticals is a preclinical-stage biopharma company with a next-generation immunotherapeutic strategy to upregulate the innate immunology of epithelial surfaces. This novel approach has application potential to many areas of medicine and addresses the growing threat of antibiotic bacterial resistance (AMR) worldwide.

Akthelia's lead therapeutic program upregulates the innate immunology in the GI tract, blocking leakage of microbiota to improve outcomes in cancer care through reducing the risk of neutropenia, a common and severe complication in chemotherapy and immunocompromised patients.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230416005038/en/

Contacts:

Egill Masson

CEO

egill.masson@aktheliapharma.com

Akthelia Pharmaceuticals

Grandagari 16

101 Reykjavik

Iceland
Notice is given that the Annual General Meeting of Norsk Hydro ASA will be held on Wednesday, May 10, 2023, at 10:00 (CEST). The Annual General Meeting will be held as a hybrid meeting, and shareholders may attend either in-person or digitally. It is also possible to vote in advance or attend the meeting by proxy.

In-person participation: The Annual General Meeting will be held at Norsk Hydro ASA's offices at Vker, Drammensveien 260, 0283 Oslo. Participation to be registered no later than May 8, 2023, at 12:00 CEST.

Digital participation: Please refer to the attached guide for online participation, appendix 6. There is no enrolment for digital attendance.

The notice including appendices is attached. All relevant documents may also be found on www.hydro.com/generalmeeting.

Investor contact:

Line Haugetraa

+47 41406376

Line.Haugetraa@hydro.com

Media contact:

Halvor Molland

+47 92979797

Halvor.Molland@hydro.com

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act

Attachments
STOCKHOLM, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BILSTEIN GROUP as a technology-driven solutions provider is a producer of cold rolled steel strip for customers in industries like automotive, tooling and furnishings. It has been in the steel processing business over 100 years and has now signed a seven-year agreement for the delivery of low carbon footprint steel from H2 Green Steel.

BILSTEIN GROUP was an early investor in H2 Green Steel and one of its first customers to sign an off-take agreement for green steel. This off-take agreement has been further detailed into a binding significant seven-year supply agreement with planned start of deliveries in 2026 from H2 Green Steel's plant in Boden in northern Sweden.

"The ambitious positioning of H2 Green Steel with the aim of producing CO2-neutral steel as quickly as possible and setting up a greenfield project with an optimum process chain and state-of-the-art technology within a short time has thrilled us right from the beginning. The contract now signed is an important milestone for our company on the way to significantly reducing our carbon footprint as quickly as possible and ensuring that a large part of our raw material sourcing is 'green' by the end of the decade. This agreement brings the BILSTEIN GROUP an important step closer to the ambitious CO2 reduction targets we have set for ourselves," says Marc T. Oehler, CEO and managing Partner BILSTEIN GROUP.

BILSTEIN GROUP is working with H2 Green Steel linked to its sustainability targets and to further reduce the emissions from its supply chain, where hot rolled steel accounts for more than 90 percent of the footprint of BILSTEIN GROUP's final product. The two companies also intend to work together to develop steel grades, share best practices on reducing the carbon footprint and develop a circular model to take back scrap from BILSTEIN GROUP's production sites to be recycled in H2 Green Steel's operations.

"BILSTEIN GROUP produces demanding cold rolled steel grades and works with high-end specialty production facilities which require exacting standards in some of the most demanding grades for any steel producer. Working with them is a real vote of confidence in our future sustainable steel production and a milestone achievement for us. Additionally, working with a family-owned company like BILSTEIN GROUP, with a lot of solid legacy which, combined with a strong and future-looking capability, makes them a very good partner to us", says Henrik Henriksson, CEO of H2 Green Steel.

CONTACT:



Karin Hallstan,

Head of Public and Media Relations,

phone: +46 76 842 81 04,

email: press@h2greensteel.com

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/20623/3750938/1984325.pdf Bilstein H2 Green Steel press release_Final https://news.cision.com/h2-green-steel/i/bilstein-aerial-view,c3166902 BILSTEIN aerial view https://news.cision.com/h2-green-steel/i/kst280-06,c3166903 KST280-06

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/bilstein-group-reduces-co2-footprint-through-deal-with-h2-green-steel-that-exceeds-250-million-301798595.html
Madame Tussauds Istanbul has recently added the renowned actress Tuba Buyukustun to its wax figure collection of iconic figures. Known for her exceptional performances in Turkey's groundbreaking productions, Buyukustun's impressive career has earned her several prestigious awards. Her inclusion in the world-renowned attraction further adds to the establishment's impressive display of famous personalities immortalized as works of art. Starting April 15, visitors to Madame Tussauds Istanbul can now marvel at Buyukustun's stunningly accurate wax figure.

Madame Tussauds Istanbul, the renowned wax museum with a 250-year history, has added Tuba Buyukustun, a celebrated name in the world of cinema and television. Madame Tussauds Istanbul houses over 70 figures from various fields such as art, sports, and science. Responding to the visitors' demands, Madame Tussauds Istanbul includes popular celebrities from Turkey in its collection. As of April 15, attraction will now feature the beloved actress Buyukustun, allowing her fans to pose with her stunning wax figure up close.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230417005445/en/

Madame Tussauds Istanbul Welcomes Tuba Buyukustun to its Collection of Stars (Photo: Business Wire)

Meticulous attention to detail

The design process of creating the figure commenced with meticulous measurement-taking, followed by advanced techniques such as scan technology and 360-degree photography using 96 cameras. A skilled team of professional studio artists from Madame Tussauds in London and Istanbul collaborated to bring the figure to life. Finally, the celebrated actress herself made a visit to the Madame Tussauds studio in London to oversee and complete the final touches of the figure.

"I consider it to be one of the most extraordinary experiences in my life"

Tuba Buyukustun, who met with the guests at the launch, couldn't hide her delight when she saw the wax figure. The stunning actress has gained international recognition for her outstanding performances in various productions and has also established herself as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, actively participating in social projects. Her extensive fan base is a testament to her popularity beyond the borders of her home country.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230417005445/en/

Contacts:

Selen Filiz selen.filiz@saltiletisimgrup.com (0536) 336 61 16
MBABANE  Let the police take care of everything, says the family of the man claiming to be part of a group which was training in Mozambique in order to overthrow government.

A relative of the man claiming to have been training with 300 men, said they were not keen to speak on the issue as the police were handling it. The next-of-kin said engaging on the issue could expose them to unwarranted attention and danger. In the brief engagement, the family member said law enforcement personnel were engaging on the issue and it would be best left with them. Meanwhile, the country has for almost 20 months been in a political unrest which has resulted in arson attacks on private and public property, killing of citizens and also security personnel.

Government has been calling for calm and the silencing of firearms in order to have a conducive environment for a national dialogue. This call has been ongoing since 2021. Also, political formations through their umbrella body  Multi-Stakeholder Forum (MSF)  have been calling for calm and suspension of violence as they stated that its consequences would be irreparable.

On the other hand, in preparation for the upcoming 2023 National Elections, the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) has been engaging in civic and voter education exercises within communities. Among many issues, traditional leaders are being requested to reconcile with the youth and bury the hatchet.

Jurisdiction

Manzini Regional Administrator (RA) Chief Gija, said chiefs within in his jurisdiction were already advised on burying the hatchet. He said the call follows that since the political unrest ensued in the kingdom; chiefs were being intimidated and were living in fear after one of them was brutally killed. It is worth noting that a number of people have been killed since the beginning of the political uprising. The people killed include political activists, State security personnel and KaZandondo Chief, Prince Mahloma Dlamini.
New research from Workhuman iQexplores the expectation of the workplace experience and the impact of employee recognition programs over the past three years

Workhuman, the company revolutionizing how employees celebrate, connect with, and appreciate each other in the workplace, announced the publication of its latest Workhuman iQ research report, The Evolution of Work. The goal of this report was to understand the kaleidoscope of the global employee experience in today's workplace environment and how it, as well as employee recognition, has impacted groups of employees differently. One of the key experiences highlighted in the report is participation in Employee Resource Groups (ERGs).

Report findings show that employees who participate in an ERG experience higher psychological safety, and are more likely to be highly engaged, to know their organization's values, and to recommend their organization to a friend. However, employees in ERGs report higher levels of stress and burnout than those who don't participate. Further, one-third of employees in ERGs report being treated unfairly for their participation in the group. This feeling of unfair treatment increases sharply for Black employees and LGBTQIA+. This finding is especially remarkable for what is meant to be a company-sponsored resource. What's often missing is recognition for their work.

"Our research over time has repeatedly found that recognition is strongly related to higher levels of psychological safety, an important indicator of belongingness and acceptance at work," said Dr. Isha Vicaria, People Data Analyst, Workhuman iQ. "Digging deeper into the experiences of employees involved in ERGs, we see those who participate have higher levels of psychological safety, which fits with the missions of most ERGs, which are to provide a workplace community that celebrates shared experiences and goals. When these employees work in an organization with a recognition program, they are more likely to say that their work is visible to the rest of the organization. This is huge because recognition has the power to strengthen ERGs by giving more attention to and appreciation for the people doing the work, who go largely unnoticed and uncompensated for these important contributions."

The Evolution of Work report also explored the connection between preferred ways of ways of working and its impact in the workplace. Interesting findings include:

How much say do employees have in their work arrangements? Overall, 66% of respondents say their work arrangement is their preference. Senior leaders (74%) were more likely to work in their preferred arrangement, while employees in the beginning stages of their career were less likely (57%). Nearly one-fourth of on-site workers reported their work arrangement is not their preference.

Overall, 66% of respondents say their work arrangement is their preference. Senior leaders (74%) were more likely to work in their preferred arrangement, while employees in the beginning stages of their career were less likely (57%). Nearly one-fourth of on-site workers reported their work arrangement is their preference. How satisfied are employees with their way of working ? Remote workers are the most satisfied with their arrangement (87%), followed by hybrid (67%) and on-site workers (60%).

? Remote workers are the most satisfied with their arrangement (87%), followed by hybrid (67%) and on-site workers (60%). How do preferred ways of working impact employees? The 20% of the survey sample that indicated that their work arrangement is not their preference scored lower on literally every single positive workplace outcome studied most notably: lower connection, productivity, and hope for career growth. Across all ways of working, employees who had a say in their work arrangement had lower stress levels.

Additional topics covered in the research report include job security/insecurity, company culture, the Human Workplace, and employee recognition at large, in addition to global breakdowns and comparisons.

Workhuman iQpolled more than 4,100 full-time employees in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, and Canada for the Evolution of Work research report. This is the 15th iteration of Workhuman's white paper research, and the most diverse population sampled so far. In addition to the most expansive survey fielded, it's also the deepest foray into some of the intricacies and intersections of the employee experience.

To read the full Evolution of Work report, please visit: The Evolution of Work.

To learn more about how Workhuman's employee recognition solution can help reduce turnover, improve engagement and productivity, and elevate DEI efforts, please visit: www.workhuman.com/solutions/social-recognition.

About Workhuman

Workhuman is helping companies meet today's biggest human capital challenges including unprecedented turnover, employee engagement, and DEI through the Workhuman Cloud, a secure SaaS platform that provides the industry's best-in-class Social Recognition solution. As the leading global provider of technology solutions, analytics, expertise, and services helping organizations of all sizes build and foster workplace cultures powered by employee recognition and crowdsourced feedback, Workhuman is revolutionizing the way employees celebrate, connect with, and appreciate each other in the workplace. Combined with unmatched data through Workhuman iQ, we empower HR and business leaders with proactive insight to understand issues as they develop and tools to help them make the right decisions to align business objectives and culture to deliver immediate impact. And, with world-class award redemption from our proprietary global network, Workhuman is committed to building more connected human-centered workplaces that recognize the value and potential of each and every employee.

For more than 20 years, Workhuman has been pioneering the human workplace by disrupting legacy and obsolete HR approaches to improve the employee experience at work, with solutions that engage with approx. seven million customer employees in 30+ languages, in 180 countries, generating 100 million instances of human connection. With dual headquarters in Dublin, Ireland and Framingham, Massachusetts, deploys solutions and services at scale, committed to helping companies improve returns on their most important investment- their people. For more information, please visit www.workhuman.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230417005249/en/

Contacts:

Jenna West

Jenna.west@workhuman.com
The global aircraft doors market is expected to grow primarily due to the rising need for advanced aircraft doors in the aviation sector. Passenger doors sub-segment is expected to flourish immensely. The North America region is predicted to grow at a high CAGR by 2031

NEW YORK, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Aircraft Doors Market Forecast Analysis:





As per the report published by Research Dive, the global aircraft doors market is expected to register a revenue of $9,057.5 million by 2031 at a CAGR of 6.2% during the forecast period 2022-2031.

Segments of the Aircraft Doors Market

The report has divided the market into the following segments:

Door Type : passenger doors, emergency exits, cockpit door, cargo doors, and others

: passenger doors, emergency exits, cockpit door, cargo doors, and others Passenger Doors - Most dominant in 2021

The presence of several passenger doors in a wide-body aircraft, in addition to their lower price, is a significant factor contributing to passenger doors sub-segment's dominance.

Aircraft Type : commercial and military

: commercial and military Commercial - Highest market share in 2021

The growth of this sub-segment is mainly because the global consumer base for commercial aviation has risen significantly throughout the years.

End-user : OEM and aftermarket

: OEM and aftermarket OEM - Most profitable in 2021

Aircraft are fitted with doors such as emergency doors, passenger doors, landing gear doors, and cargo doors before being handed over to airline operators. To speed up aircraft delivery, OEM operators offer door installation services all over the world. This is expected to push the growth of this sub-segment further.

Region : North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and LAMEA

: , , , and LAMEA North America - Significant market share in 2021

The surging demand for dependable and safe aircraft doors, rising consumer demand for air travel, and increased consumer spending on air travel in this region are predicted to propel the market in the forecast period.

Access to the Complete PDF Sample of the Aircraft Doors Market

Dynamics of the Global Aircraft Doors Market

The increased need for lightweight aircraft doors from aircraft manufacturers to reduce the total weight of commercial aircraft and boost fuel efficiency is expected to make the aircraft doors market a highly profitable one in the forecast period. Additionally, a rise in the need for low-cost airlines is predicted to propel the market forward. However, the price of aircraft doors and the technical difficulties with aircraft doors might become a restraint on the growth of the market.

The increase in demand for commercial aircraft is predicted to offer numerous growth opportunities to the market in the forecast period. Moreover, globally, increasing tourism and a growing aviation industry are generating demand for commercial aircraft, which will certainly increase the demand for secure, lightweight aircraft doors in the coming period.

COVID-19 Impact on the Global Aircraft Doors Market

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the routine lifestyle of people across the globe, and the subsequent lockdowns adversely impacted industrial processes across all sectors. The aircraft doors market, too, was negatively impacted by the pandemic. The government-imposed travel restrictions and lockdowns delayed aircraft production across the world. The availability of hydraulic and electrical components used in aircraft doors was significantly impacted. However, the initiatives taken by governments in nations like the US, China, and India to decrease the effect on the aviation sector may present a growth potential for the global market in the next few years.

Speak with an Analyst or Schedule a call to get more Industry Insights on the Aircraft Doors Market

Key Players of the Global Aircraft Doors Market

The major players of the market include

Aviation Technical Services

Groupe Latecoere

Altitude Aerospace

SAAB

FACC AG

Primus Aerospace

Collins Aerospace

Airbus

Potez Aeronautique

Hellenic Aerospace Industry

These players are working on developing strategies such as product development, merger and acquisition, partnerships, and collaborations to sustain the market growth.

For instance, in October 2019, Door Engineering, a leader in the aviation hangar door sector, announced the formal launch of the Premier Door Hydraulic Door System for aviation applications. Compared to other hydraulically powered doors now on the market, this single panel door system is made to endure longer and function better.

Granular Research on Specific Regions or Segments of Aircraft Doors Market & Avail 10%OFF

What the Report Covers

Apart from the information summarized in this press release, the final report covers crucial aspects of the market including SWOT analysis, market overview, Porter's five forces analysis, market dynamics, segmentation (key market trends, forecast analysis, and regional analysis), and company profiles (company overview, operating business segments, product portfolio, financial performance, and latest strategic moves and developments.)

More about Aircraft Doors Market:

Unlocking the Future: An Exploration of the Latest Aircraft Door Developments

Global Aircraft Doors Market to Generate $9,057.5 Million in the 2022-2031 Timeframe Due to the Growing Demand for Lightweight Aircraft Doors

Some Trending Article Links:

The Global Aerospace Maintenance Chemical Market is projected to garner $13,673.3 million in the 2021-2030 timeframe, growing from $7,762.8 million in 2021, at a healthy CAGR of 6.24%

The Global Aerospace Avionics Market forecast to be valued at $110,605.5 million by 2030, surging from $74,217.3 million in 2021, at a noteworthy CAGR of 4.6%

The Global Airborne Sensors Market is estimated to be valued at $14,473.7 million by 2030, surging from $9,200.0 million in 2021, at a noteworthy CAGR of 5.3%

About Research Dive

Research Dive is a market research firm based in Pune, India. Maintaining the integrity and authenticity of the services, the firm provides the services that are solely based on its exclusive data model, compelled by the 360-degree research methodology, which guarantees comprehensive and accurate analysis. With an unprecedented access to several paid data resources, team of expert researchers, and strict work ethic, the firm offers insights that are extremely precise and reliable. Scrutinizing relevant news releases, government publications, decades of trade data, and technical & white papers, Research dive deliver the required services to its clients well within the required timeframe. Its expertise is focused on examining niche markets, targeting its major driving factors, and spotting threatening hindrances. Complementarily, it also has a seamless collaboration with the major industry aficionado that further offers its research an edge.

Contact:

Mr. Abhishek Paliwal

Research Dive

30 Wall St. 8th Floor, New York NY 10005

(P) +91-(788)-802-9103 (India)

+1-(917)-444-1262 (US)

Toll Free: 1-888-961-4454

E-mail: support@researchdive.com

Website: https://www.researchdive.com

Blog: https://www.researchdive.com/blog/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/research-dive/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ResearchDive

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Research-Dive-1385542314927521

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/997523/Research_Dive_Logo.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/aircraft-doors-market-to-surpass-9-057-5-million-and-grow-at-a-cagr-of-6-2-in-the-2022-2031-timeframe-260-pages--explained-by-research-dive-301798599.html
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
EIG, a leading institutional investor in the global energy and infrastructure sectors, today announced that Joe Kaeser, former President and Chief Executive Officer of Siemens AG ("Siemens"), has joined EIG as Senior Advisor. In this role, Mr. Kaeser will provide strategic counsel to the firm's leadership team on matters related to global energy markets, with an emphasis on power, renewables and the energy transition.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230417005037/en/

(Photo: Business Wire)

Mr. Kaeser served as President and CEO of Siemens from 2013 until 2021 and as CFO from 2006 until 2013. During his tenure at Siemens, Mr. Kaeser oversaw significant growth and transformation, leading the company through major strategic initiatives, including the reorganization of the conglomerate structure of Siemens into three focused companies: Siemens Healthineers, Siemens Energy and the new industrial Siemens AG, creating significant value for all stakeholders. Mr. Kaeser currently serves as non-executive Chairman of the Board of Siemens Energy AG, which provides products, solutions and services for the generation, transmission and distribution of power. He also acts as non-executive Chairman of the Board of Daimler Truck Holding AG and serves on the Board of Linde, PLC.

"We are thrilled to welcome Joe to the EIG team," said Blair Thomas, Chairman and CEO of EIG. "His extensive global experience and deep industry knowledge, gathered over a long and distinguished career, will be invaluable to our firm and our portfolio companies as they navigate a complex and fast-changing global energy ecosystem. We look forward to his contributions as we continue to pursue new investment opportunities supporting the energy transition and to deliver exceptional results for our investors."

"I'm excited to join EIG at this crucial moment in the energy industry, which presents significant investment opportunity across the energy and infrastructure sectors," said Mr. Kaeser. "EIG's expertise and track record, combined with its disciplined approach to investing in the energy transition, is second-to-none. I look forward to applying my experience and global network to help the team identify and pursue opportunities that drive growth and create value for EIG's investors and portfolio companies across the globe."

About EIG

EIG is a leading institutional investor in the global energy and infrastructure sectors with $22.7 billion under management as of December 31, 2022. EIG specializes in private investments in energy and energy-related infrastructure on a global basis. During its 40-year history, EIG has committed $44.6 billion in 396 projects or companies in 42 countries on six continents. EIG's clients include many of the leading pension plans, insurance companies, endowments, foundations and sovereign wealth funds in the U.S., Asia and Europe. EIG is headquartered in Washington, D.C. with offices in Houston, London, Sydney, Rio de Janeiro, Hong Kong and Seoul. For additional information, please visit EIG's website at www.eigpartners.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230417005037/en/

Contacts:

Media

FGS Global

Kelly Kimberly Brandon Messina

+1 212-687-8080

EIG@fgsglobal.com
The study highlights existing disparities in EV charging infrastructure and emphasizes the importance of addressing these gaps in order to achieve the United States' ambitious goals for EV adoption.

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / April 17, 2023 / By 2030, the Biden Administration set a goal for 50% of all new-vehicle sales to be electric. A newly released study from Bumper, the go-to for low-cost vehicle history reports and a platform for buying, selling and owning a vehicle, shows electric vehicle charging stations and charge ports across the U.S. are in short supply, largely underscored by income and racial disparities. More than 70% of public EV charge ports are in America's wealthiest counties, and 96% are in majority-white counties.





EV Deserts in America

EV Deserts Map

Looking at a range of socioeconomic factors (see Methodology), Bumper found the following insights.

Key takeaways

States that fall within the highest per capita income have more chargers on average per 10,000 people. Nevada (499% more chargers than average), Colorado (339%), D.C. (337%), Vermont (336%) and California (316%) have the most chargers per 10,000 people.

Nevada (499% more chargers than average), Colorado (339%), D.C. (337%), Vermont (336%) and California (316%) have the most chargers per 10,000 people. The national average for charge ports per 10,000 people is 2.4, but 60% of counties with the lowest income have no EV chargers at all. The five states with the lowest income - Mississippi (0.71 chargers/10,000 people), Arkansas (1.24), Kentucky (0.71), Alabama (0.91) and Louisiana (0.46) - all have less than two chargers per 10,000 people.

The five states with the lowest income - Mississippi (0.71 chargers/10,000 people), Arkansas (1.24), Kentucky (0.71), Alabama (0.91) and Louisiana (0.46) - all have less than two chargers per 10,000 people. Predominantly white communities have 3.03 charge ports per 10,000 people. That's more than double the number of charge ports available to Black or African American counties and 2.7 times more than counties with an American Indian and Alaskan native majority.

"Many Americans hesitate buying an EV because of the initial upfront cost," said Kerry Sherin, a Senior PR and data insights manager for Bumper. "For Americans living in socioeconomically distressed communities, they have the added concern of access to convenient EV charging stations. We hope our analysis will shine a light on the work that still needs to be done to make electric vehicle adoption an attainable goal for all Americans."

Methodology

To determine county quintiles, Bumper created the Distressed County Index, determined by nine metrics of economic health and prosperity across counties in each state.

Bumper is using inter-state quartiles, comparing counties only within the same state on a quintile basis. The metrics used are from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year 2021 dataset and are as follows:

Percent of the population with no diploma

Percent of the population below the poverty level

Percent of the non-institutionalized civilian population without health insurance

Percent of occupied housing units without access to indoor plumbing

Percent of occupied housing units without access to a car

Percent of the population using SNAP benefits

Percentage of the population that is unemployed

Percent of vacant housing units

Per capita income (dollars)

For Bumper's income analysis, it categorized into income quintiles all U.S. counties and county equivalents (such as parishes in Louisiana and boroughs in Alaska) based on per capita income. Bumper used inter-state quartiles, comparing counties only within the same state on a quintile basis.

Income group 1: $35,331.20

Income group 2:

Income group 3:

Income group 4:

Income group 5:

Bumper then analyzed the counties that were home to 131,195 charge ports at 51,012 public, open EV stations, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Excludes Puerto Rico. Figures were current as of March 15, 2023. Per capita figures represent average number charge ports per 10,000 population.

Population was based using the members of the population who reported being only one race in the American Community Survey 5-year estimates by the U.S. Census.

About Bumper

Bumper's mission is simple: make the car-owning, buying and selling experience better and more affordable through vehicle history reports for one low cost. Membership also unlocks access to detailed information on accidents, recalls, market value and easy-to-use tools available online or through the Bumper.com mobile app. Follow Bumper on TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. For partnership inquiries, email partners@bumper.com.

Media Contact:

Kerry Sherin or Erin Kemp

press@bumper.com

Contact Information

Press Team

press@bumper.com

Related Files

EV Deserts Map.png

SOURCE: Bumper

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/749503/Bumper-Study-More-Than-70-of-Public-EV-Charge-Ports-Are-in-Americas-Wealthiest-Counties
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / April 17, 2023 / Aflac Incorporated

By Amber Burton, Paolo Confino

Originally published on Fortune

Think about the buzziest tech workplaces. What perks come to mind? Perhaps kombucha fountains and foosball tables. Now think about the corporate benefits of the past. What comes to mind? Perhaps an on-site fitness center or health care clinic. For Aflac, these traditional benefits have been most helpful in attracting, retaining, and engaging new hires who value perks that create ease over splashiness.

The insurance firm has also found that adding more benefits that require its 12,000-person workforce to come into the office to take advantage of them is, well, a great way to entice employees back to the office. It's a strategy that CHRO Matthew Owenby admits might sound "old school" to some.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Fortune: There's often a knowledge gap when it comes to benefits. How do you close that for employees?

Matthew Owenby: HR people should do better. It's one thing for me to say, 'Hey, I've given you a benefits handbook, and I put it online, so my work is done here.' Wrong. Most people in the workplace spend less than 30 minutes a year determining what their benefits are going to be. They spend far more time searching for a vacation than they do on something that not only affects their financial stability but, in a post-COVID world, can be a financial exposure. It's the job of the HR organization to ensure that this is as important as getting your taxes right.

You're missing the point if you're waiting for annual enrollment in September to talk about benefits. And you're also not allowing yourself as an employer to use the benefits as another reason to retain your employee base.

Continue reading the full article here.

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Aflac Incorporated on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Aflac Incorporated

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/aflac-incorporated

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: Aflac Incorporated

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/749515/How-Aflac-Is-Winning-at-Employee-Retention-and-Getting-Workers-Back-to-the-Office-On-Site-Doctors-Therapists-and-Childcare
AUSTIN, TX / ACCESSWIRE / April 17, 2023 / Xtra Energy Corp. (OTC PINK:XTPT) is pleased to announce the successfully completed 20 acre expansion to gain full ownership rights of the historical antimony producing Drumm Mine. The Drumm Mine is directly adjacent and west of our American Antimony #59 lode claim that holds our Far South Marguerite Prospect. This brings our total ownership rights to fourteen (14) historically documented antimony mines over 1425 acres in the Bernice Mining District of Churchill County, Nevada.

As described in LAWRENCE, E.F., 1963, ANTIMONY DEPOSITS OF NEVADA; NBMG BULL. 61; "The Drumm mine is on the west side of a southeast-trending side canyon, which meets Bernice Canyon 3.8 miles from the mouth of the canyon, 500 feet above the canyon floor. The mine is developed by a 22-foot adit, 40-foot crosscut, and a 95-foot inclined winze. In 1940, 28 tons of ore averaging 52 percent antimony were produced. During 1941 and 1942, 57 tons of ore containing 48.2 percent antimony were produced. The country rock is brown shale dipping 80 E. A dense, brown sill crops out below the portal of the adit. It is highly sericitized, but apparently was composed of at least 10 percent feldspar phenocrysts in a groundmass of feldspar and quartz. A 6-inch quartz vein containing numerous pods of stibnite up to 10 by 24 inches in size is exposed in the adit. One limb of the vein strikes N. 25 E. and dips 15 E.; the other limb dips 35 to the west. The winze was sunk in the westward-dipping limb of the vein. A 6-inch wide sample of the easterly dipping limb assayed a trace of gold and 0.04 ounce of silver per ton, and 16.37 percent antimony. The width of the vein varies greatly in the winze, but at the bottom a brecciated zone up to 48 inches wide has been recemented by quartz containing pods and veinlets of stibnite. In both the adit and crosscut, small pods of stibnite are disseminated through the wall rock. The stibnite has been oxidized slightly to yellow antimony oxides."

On the expansion, Xtra Energy Corp. Chairman Mac J. Shahsavar, P. Eng. commented "By combining several smaller operations under a consolidated district a mining company can better manage these growing resources and ensure they are used in the most sustainable and responsible manner. A consolidation of a mining district can lead to improved efficiency, increased safety, better environmental management, improved regulatory compliance, and better resource management, all of which can contribute to a more sustainable and profitable mining industry."

Contact & Learn More:

Xtra Energy Corporation

Phone: 512-412-3636

Corporate Website: https://americanantimony.com/

Corporate Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/xtra-energy-corp/

Corporate Twitter: https://twitter.com/xtra_corp

Corporate Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xtraenergycorp/

About Xtra Energy Corp.

Xtra Energy Corp. is an antimony exploration company focused on developing its flagship project "American Antimony", approximately 31 miles northeast of Eastgate, Nevada. Xtra Energy Corp. holds a 100% ownership in a 69 lode claim, 1425 acre antimony project surrounding the historically documented Antimony King Mine and covering all other documented antimony producers of the Bernice Mining District. The Company is seeking to develop this expanding portfolio of antimony-rich assets to become a major supplier of antimony based products.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS:

This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined within Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements relate to future events, including our ability to raise capital, or to our future financial performance, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause materially different results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond our control and which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Any forward-looking statement reflects our current views with respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to our operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. We assume no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.

For a discussion of these risks and uncertainties, please see our filings with the OTC Markets Group Inc. Our public filings with the OTC Markets Group Inc are available from commercial document retrieval services and at the website maintained by the OTC Markets at https://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/XTPT/disclosure.

SOURCE: Xtra Energy Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/749506/Xtra-Energy-Corp-Announces-Further-Expansion-onto-the-American-Antimony-Project-to-Cover-the-Past-Producing-Drumm-Mine
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / April 17, 2023 / Tapestry, Inc.:





Originally published in Tapestry's 2022 Corporate Responsibility Report Report

Tapestry Gives is Tapestry's global employee engagement program. It provides our employees with the tools and resources they need to give back to their communities and empowers them to volunteer with the causes that align with their passions.

VOLUNTEERING AT TAPESTRY

Volunteering is core to who we are as a purpose-led company with employees who Stretch What's Possible with the generosity of their time, talent and resources.

The credit for achieving our 2025 volunteer goal early goes to the thousands of employees across our brands and regions, who even through unprecedented times, prioritized making a difference in their local communities. All global employees, including part- and full-time corporate, field and fulfillment center, receive up to one paid day a year of Volunteer Time Off to support causes they are most passionate about.

Our employees take pride in supporting their local communities individually and as a team, and Tapestry Gives allows them to give back in the ways that work best for them through virtual volunteering options, flexible scheduling and a localized approach. This localized approach is spearheaded by our +250 Employee Volunteer Ambassadors around the world who champion our culture of service and bring Tapestry Gives to life.

FY2022 marked the most volunteer hours completed by our employees since we set our 2025 goal in 2018. Our employees served as mentors for first-generation college students from underrepresented backgrounds, participated in letter-writing campaigns to bring comfort and joy to those in need and served at local soup kitchens and food pantries to combat food insecurity.

MATCHING GIFTS

To encourage employee involvement and recognize their contributions to their communities, The Tapestry Foundation matches the personal charitable giving of eligible employees in North America up to $10,000 each year, with up to $1,000 matched 2:1.

Since the program's inception in 2010, we have donated over $4.8 million, including almost $400K in FY2022. This is in tandem with Tapestry's Dollars for Doers program, which provides micro-grants to eligible non-profits based on employee volunteer hours.

Read more

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Tapestry, Inc. on 3blmedia.com.



Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Tapestry, Inc.

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/tapestry-inc

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: Tapestry, Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/749518/Volunteerism-Its-in-Our-DNA-at-Tapestry
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / April 17, 2023 / Illumina



Samuel Oyola, senior scientist and head of genomics at Nairobi's International Livestock Research Institute, near a vat used for long-term storage of specimen samples. Photo by: Sara Jerving / Devex

Originally published on Devex

By Sara Jerving

On a recent afternoon in Nairobi, Kenya, about two dozen scientists gathered, peering at a screen that to the untrained eye looked like gibberish - rows of letters but no coherent words.

The scientists were attending a training to advance skills in the analysis of genomic sequences - a process where the genetic code of an organism is turned into data which reveals information about its characteristics. It's an important technique in public health to determine what pathogen is inflicting a community and whether it's mutating.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, only seven African countries had national laboratories equipped to do this. But the need to identify new variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 forced laboratories to ramp up this expertise in an unprecedented way.

During the first year of the pandemic, the Africa Pathogen Genomics Initiative was launched as a partnership to close gaps in genomics capacity. As part of that partnership, over the past two years, American biotechnology company Illumina donated over $9 million in sequencing systems, reagents, and training to the continent.

Continue reading the full article here

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Illumina on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Illumina

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/illumina

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: Illumina

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/749520/The-African-Continent-Ramps-Up-Efforts-To-Crack-the-Code-on-Outbreaks
MBABANE  The police are skeptical of a man alleging that he was part of 28 locals training in Mozambique in anticipation to stage a coup detat.

This publication has gathered that about a fortnight ago, a man handed himself over to security personnel at Mhlumeni in the Lubombo Region. The man was said to have first handed himself over to members of the Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF) based along the Mhlumeni  Siteki Public Road. According to sources, when handing himself to the security personnel, the man supposedly relayed to them that he was part of 28 people recruited locally to form part of a 300-people-militia group set to stage a coup detat in the country. A coup detat is defined as a sudden, violent, and unlawful seizure of power from a government.

The UEDF personnel are said to have taken the man to the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) officers in Siteki. According to sources, the man was interviewed on his allegations by the law enforcers at the police station over a number of days. It was gathered from sources that the man supposed to have been recruited into joining the so-called militia group with a promise of earning E10 000 monthly. According to sources, the man in his version of events, claimed that they were lured to render security services with a monthly remuneration of E10 000. In the country, according to the Labour Survey of 2021 conducted by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, youth unemployment stands at 58.2 per cent, while the overall unemployment rate in the kingdom is at 33.3 per cent, which was an acute increase from 23.4 per cent recorded in 2016.

Meanwhile, the man was said to have informed the law enforcers that after partaking in the training, the anticipated remuneration was said to have not been forthcoming. He supposedly informed the security personnel that when he arrived in Mozambique, there were other emaSwati already in training with some Mozambican nationals. The man was said to have purported that the Mozambican nationals were former members of certain rebel groups in the hosting State. It was gathered that the man, in his narration of events, supposed that they had been training for over three months.

Training

However, the man was said to have claimed that he had left the secluded training facility in Mozambique because the supposed remuneration was not forthcoming, while also their welfare was not catered for. In his alleged three-month stay at the supposed training facility, the man supposed that in the first month, they engaged in physical training, which was followed by tactical fighting using firearms. Sources claimed that as part of the investigation into vetting the veracity of the mans allegations, he was supposedly given a gun to dismantle and re-assemble it. The sources claimed that with ease, the man engaged in the exercise. Furthermore, the man was said to have insisted that a certain political leader had visited their training facility at some point and informed them that they were making a sacrifice for generations to come. He further claimed that the man was particular with the area in which the supposed training was taking place. They claimed that the man insisted that he could lead the security personnel to it.

He was said to have informed the law enforcers that before supposedly fleeing from the training facility, he had tried to reason with some of the emaSwati that they were on a losing battle.

He supposed that his challenge was that they would be outnumbered in the country and that their firearms would be insufficient for the purported mission. However, his countrymen supposedly did not buy into his reasoning, which led to him fleeing the training camp. The sources claimed that there were elements of truth in some of the things the man said; but they argued that there were events which did not correspond with his time frames. The sources claimed that the man had alleged that the coup would be staged just before the final stages of the elections. They claimed that he outlined that the plan was to render the country ungovernable before a particular political leader returned to the country with the hope of negotiations ensuing.

Meanwhile, some of the allegations made by the man cannot be repeated in the interim as they could not be verified. This publication has it in authority that the said man was interviewed by law enforcers over several days before being released to his family. The allegations reported and recorded by the police came after claims that a group of locals were recruited and trained in South Africa (SA). Some of the men who were supposedly trained in SA were arrested by the police and face 38 charges, which three of them are related to being found in possession of illegal firearms and violating the Suppression of Terrorism Act. They are, among other charges, accused of being involved in the murder and attempted murder of law enforcement officers in different parts of the country. They are accused to be members of a group known as Swaziland Solidarity Forces. The commander of this group is said to be a former police officer. The similarities in the allegations also include the hardships endured while in training, such as the lack of financial resources and also the failure to attain the promised financial reward.

Arrested

Meanwhile, REPS reported that it had arrested 10 suspects who were involved in over 16 politically motivated and/or terrorism-related cases committed from year 2021 to date.The police, in their annual report ended January 31, 2023, stated that the suspects were arrested and are currently undergoing processes of the countrys justice system. These cases, the police reported, included but not limited to murders (including the killing of police officers and members of the other security forces), attempted murders, suppression of terrorism, contravention of the Arms and Ammunition Act, armed robbery, malicious injury to property, arson and kidnapping. The police reported that investigations were still actively ongoing to bring to book other suspects linked to these destructive acts of criminality. Conversely, Deputy Police Information and Communications Officer Inspector Nosipho Mnguni confirmed that a man handed himself to the police with certain allegations. Mnguni, however, said, when they interviewed the man and in their investigations, they concluded that his information was not credible.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 17, 2023 / Gander Gold Corp. ("Gander" or the "Company") (CSE:GAND)(OTCQB:GANDF) is pleased to report the highest gold-in-soil results to date from the Company's 956 sq. km Mount Peyton Project in Newfoundland, specifically from the newly-identified "Goldenrod Zone" covering a large area in the northwest corner of the project.

Goldenrod is located 12 km directly east of Sokoman Minerals' Moosehead Project, which features five open-ended zones of high-grade gold mineralization.

The Mount Peyton field season begins in May which will lead toward first-ever diamond drilling at this project. In addition to Mount Peyton, Gander has also made important progress at its flagship Gander North Project (see April 5, 2023 news release), BLT and Cape Ray II properties, with additional exploration updates expected over the coming weeks.

Goldenrod Highlights

Gander has taken approximately 4,020 B and C-horizon soil samples within the Goldenrod Zone (2021 and 2022), showing anomalous to extremely anomalous values across the 95 sq. km target area (see attached map);

B and C-horizon soil samples within the Goldenrod Zone (2021 and 2022), showing anomalous to extremely anomalous values across the 95 sq. km target area (see attached map); Goldenrod has generated the highest grade soil samples at Mount Peyton ( 1,583 ppb Au and 1,014 ppb Au). Of the 17 Mount Peyton soil samples greater than 110 ppb Au, 13 were produced by the Goldenrod Zone. In total, 67 samples from Goldenrod have Au values >99 th percentile;

ppb Au and ppb Au). Of the 17 Mount Peyton soil samples greater than 110 ppb Au, 13 were produced by the Goldenrod Zone. In total, 67 samples from Goldenrod have Au values >99 percentile; Arsenic, which is a key pathfinder associated with the Moosehead and New Found Gold discoveries, is very anomalous at Goldenrod. There is a very positive correlation of Au-in-soil with As-in-soil at Goldenrod as 61 samples have As values >99 th percentile;

percentile; There is also correlation with NE trending dyke swarms and Au-in soil anomalies at Goldenrod. Gold-in-soil at Goldenrod conform to and are aligned in a NE-SW orientation consistent with NE-SW lineaments in the MAG interpretation. At Moosehead, Sokoman has identified NE structures with E-W splays, in addition to an arsenopyrite-mineralization association;

Preliminary interpretation suggests the Goldenrod Zone is a typical setting for orogenic gold. The Mount Peyton gabbro-granite may be younger and sitting atop sediment hosted lode gold, as is found at Moosehead and New Found Gold's Queensway Project.

Mr. Shawn Ryan, Technical Advisor for Gander Gold, commented: "It's truly amazing, especially with the Goldenrod results, that Mount Peyton was never previously soil sampled or systematically explored. The soils at Goldenrod are very high in gold in the context of Newfoundland and point to a potential mineralized system in that part of the property, which is also supported by the geophysics that has been carried out."

Mr. Ryan added, "We're very excited to be approaching the next stage of exploration at Mount Peyton with the distinct possibility of drilling into a new high-grade grassroots discovery at Goldenrod or elsewhere as multiple high priority targets are emerging."

Gander Gold Corporate Video

To view the latest Gander Gold corporate video, click on the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op06adMXkHs

Goldenrod Zone Map

Mount Peyton Project Map

Quality Assurance/Quality Control

Gander Gold Corporation has contracted the services of GroundTruth Exploration to conduct its soil geochemistry programs in Newfoundland. Soil samples are collected at pre-determined sites, placed in soil sample bags and all metadata associated with a sample is recorded. Once sorted and logged, samples are shipped to Eastern Analytical in Springdale, Newfoundland for sample preparation. At Eastern Analytical individual samples are dried and sieved and 50g splits are prepared and then shipped by courier to Bureau Veritas Commodities Canada Ltd. (Bureau Veritas) in Vancouver, British Columbia for analyses. Eastern Analytical and Bureau Veritas are ISO / IEC 17025 certified laboratories and independent of Gander Gold Corporation. At Bureau Veritas 15g splits are partially digested by aqua regia digestion and analysed for gold plus 36 additional elements by ICP-ES/MS (method AQ201). GroundTruth Exploration crews took a field duplicate every 25th sample and inserted certified reference material (OREAS 47) at a frequency of 1 in 55 samples which were inserted into the sample stream to monitor the quality of analysis for the soil sampling program. In addition, the lab was requested to perform repeat analyses at multiple intervals within the sampling stream.

Qualified Person

The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Ian Fraser, P.Geo., Vice- President of Exploration for Gander Gold. Mr. Fraser is the Qualified Person responsible for the scientific and technical information contained herein under National Instrument 43-101 standards.

Acknowledgment

Gander Gold acknowledges the financial support of the Junior Exploration Assistance Program, Department of Natural Resources, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.

About Gander Gold Corporation

Gander Gold is "All Newfoundland, All the Time". The Company is one of the island's largest claimholders targeting new high-grade gold discoveries with a current focus on the large Gander North, Mount Peyton, BLT (Botwood-Laurenceton-Thwart Island) and Cape Ray II projects where there has been very promising early exploration success. Other opportunities advancing through the pipeline are Carmanville, Gander South, Little River and Hermitage.

Contact Info:

Mark Scott Terry Bramhall Chief Executive Officer & Director Gander Gold - Corporate Communications info@gandergold.com 1.604.833.6999 (mobile) 1.604.675.9985 (office) terry.bramhall@gandergold.com

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements

Investors are cautioned that, except for statements of historical fact, certain information contained in this document includes "forward looking information", with respect to a performance expectation for Sassy Resources Corporation. Such forward looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections formulated using assumptions believed to be reasonable and involving a number of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. Such factors include, without limitation, fluctuations in foreign exchange markets, the price of commodities in both the cash market and futures market, changes in legislation, taxation, controls and regulation of national and local governments and political and economic developments in Canada and other countries where Sassy carries out or may carry out business in the future, the availability of future business opportunities and the ability to successfully integrate acquisitions or operational difficulties related to technical activities of mining and reclamation, the speculative nature of exploration and development of mineral deposits, including risks obtaining necessary licenses and permits, reducing the quantity or grade of reserves, adverse changes in credit ratings, and the challenge of title. The Company does not undertake an obligation to update publicly or revise forward looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws. Some of the results reported are historical and may not have been verified by the Company.

The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

SOURCE: Gander Gold Corporation

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/749508/Gander-Gold-Identifies-New-High-Grade-Gold-Target-at-Mount-Peyton-Project
The leading cyber protection company, with support from GoDaddy Pro, delivers improved infrastructure and boundless educational opportunities to over 645 students in underserved communities

SCHAFFHAUSEN, Switzerland, April 17, 2023Program is proud to announce the completion of new school construction in Sierra Leone and Guatemala. In partnership with GoDaddy Inc.(NYSE: GDDY), the company that helps entrepreneurs thrive, both construction projects uphold the Program's mission to help and empower children with modern educational infrastructure and learning environments.

The Barbara Junior Secondary School in Sierra Leonewas completed in September 2022 and included the development of three separate buildings designed to maximize natural light and fresh air. The school is located in the village of Barbara in Sierra Leone's Port Loko district, an agricultural region where most families have an income of less than $2 per day. Built with sustainable resources readily available in the immediate community including bamboo and interlocking brick masonry, the construction began in December 2021 with NGO partner Forikoloand is expected to be attended by over 120 pupils. The school features amenities to support disabled children, a hygiene room for girls, and the distribution of free hygiene products.

"These construction projects would not have been possible without the continued efforts of the Acronis Cyber Foundation Program and the extreme generosity of GoDaddy Pro," said Patrick Pulvermueller, CEO, Acronis. "We work with tens of thousands of partners worldwide and over the past five years, we have successfully and positively impacted thousands of children together with our partners through the determinations of the Foundation. We are so thankful to our partners who have joined our mission to help those in underserved communities."

In 2019, the Acronis Cyber Foundation Program, Cloudfest and NGO partner Esperanza e.V. built five new classrooms to extend the existing Escuela Oficial Urbana Mixta San Antonio School in Guatemala. Prior to the Program's involvement, the school's 525 students shared just 10 classrooms which led to significant overcrowding. GoDaddy Pro joined the initiative in 2021 and helped fund the latest construction project which includes remodeling and expanding three classrooms of the current facility, four additional classrooms, and proper stairs. The next goal for the school in San Antonio, Guatemala will be the development of a modern computer classroom that will allow students to optimize educational resources.

"These projects align with GoDaddy's mission to make opportunity more inclusive for all. The successful completion of these projects provides communities with the educational resources they need and deserve," said Paul Bindel, President of GoDaddy Partners. "We're proud our efforts and partnership with Acronis created momentum in these communities and gave these students a chance at a formal, modern education."

Founded in 2018, the Acronis Cyber Foundation Program has been strongly dedicated to education by funding school construction and bringing IT skills training to communities around the globe. In addition to building 18 schools and seven computer classrooms, the Program has engaged in educational projects with over 19,000 people participating in Acronis IT Skills Programs worldwide. It has brought humanitarian aid to more than 5,000 persons in underserved communities.

The Acronis Cyber Foundation Program is focused on partnering with other organizations to help make a difference. Acronis invites all businesses, large or small, to engage in joint projects. For partners wanting to develop their own community development plans, the Program can also help in supporting other initiatives. To join our mission, please visit: www.acronis.org.

To learn more about our partnership with GoDaddy Pro, check out our latest blog here: https://www.acronis.com/en-us/blog/posts/the-acronis-cyber-foundation-program-and-godaddy-pro-announce-school-construction-partnership

Visit Acronis.orgfor up-to-date information on past and present Acronis Cyber Foundation Program projects and initiatives. https://acronis.org/2023/04/acronis-and-godaddy-pro-partnership-empowering-650-children-to-study/

About Acronis

Acronis unifies data protection and cybersecurityto deliver integrated, automated cyber protection that solves the safety, accessibility, privacy, authenticity, and security, disaster recovery, and endpoint protection management solutions powered by AI. With advanced anti-malware powered by cutting-edge machine intelligence and blockchain based data authentication technologies, Acronis protects any environment - from cloud to hybrid to on premises - at a low and predictable cost.

Acronis is a Swiss company, founded in Singapore. Celebrating two decades of innovation, Acronis has more than 2,000 employees in 45 locations. Acronis Cyber Protect solution is available in 26 languages in over 150 countries and is used by 18,000 service providers to protect over 750,000 businesses.

Press Contacts:

Julia Carfagno

Julia.Carfagno@acronis.com

Karl Bateson

Karl.Bateson@acronis.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6465ac24-689e-4ed9-911d-1ba9597f7eb2
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- George Sanders, President of Goldcliff Resource Corporation ("Goldcliff" or the "Company") (GCN: TSX.V, GCFFF: OTCBB PINKS) reports that in light of the recent strong move in silver prices Goldcliff management has undertaken a review of the silver component of the Company's asset portfolio. Of Goldcliff's five properties, three are silver dominant, and of those, two are former high-grade districts where Goldcliff has sampled silver grades in excess of 1 kilo per tonne. The strong move in silver is reflected in the gold/silver ratio which has moved from a March 10, 2023 high of 91.65 to below 80. Historically silver outperforms gold during bull phases in precious metals cycles.



The Company holds an option to purchase a 100% interest in the historic Rand district in Mineral County, Nevada. The Rand district hosts a series of old underground workings from the early 1900's where small miners were exploiting very high grade, surface enriched mineralization via small shafts. Sampling by Goldcliff in 2019 returned values of 1,415 g/t Ag over 2 metres from a chip sample on the 100 ft level of the Nevada Rand shaft. On the 150 ft level a 0.5 metre chip returned 737 g/t Ag and a 1 metre chip 752 g/t Ag.

At the 100% owned Ainsworth silver property located near Kaslo, BC rock samples from float, sub crop and outcrop assayed up to 359 g/t and 355 g/t Ag in a reconnaissance programme in 2020. Follow up sampling in 2021 yielded a sub crop sample grading 1,381 g/t Ag. Goldcliff is the largest land holder in this historic district. Other than the Company's prospecting activities, this district has received no modern systematic exploration for decades.

The Company holds an option to earn a 100% interest in the Kettle Valley project located near Rock Creek BC. This is a newly recognized epithermal mineralized occurrence. Although the focus at Kettle Valley is on gold, the silver component is very significant. Two of the best gold values in surface outcrop samples taken in late 2021 also assayed 181 g/t Ag and 93 g/t Ag respectively.

The Goldcliff team is continuing to formulate exploration plans for these projects. A series of subsequent News Releases will discuss the plans and details of each project.

Ed Rockel, P. Geo, qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 supervised the preparation and verification of the technical information contained in this release.

For further information, please contact George W. Sanders, President, at 250-764-8879, toll free at 1-866-769-4802 or email at info@directroyalty.com.

GOLDCLIFF RESOURCE CORPORATION

Per: "George W. Sanders"

George W. Sanders, President

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of this news release.

Statements regarding the Company which are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. Such information can generally be identified by the use of forwarding-looking wording such as "may", "expect", "estimate", "anticipate", "intend", "believe" and "continue" or the negative thereof or similar variations, and include statements regarding the anticipated timing for closing of the second tranche of the Private Placement. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature, they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results in each case could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Except as required by law, the Company does not intend to update any changes to such statements.
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / April 17, 2023 / Macaulay Honors College at the City University of New York (CUNY) and the Liu Shiming Art Foundation hosted a special installation reception and panel discussion to celebrate the work and legacy of Chinese sculptor Liu Shiming. The event took place on April.11th and included a panel discussion featuring panelists Maria Cristina Pio, Fran Kaufman, Louise Weinberg, Angela Goh '23, and Sin-Ying Ho. The event also included the unveiling of Liu Shiming's sculpture work "Dream to Fly" which will be permanently displayed at the Macaulay Honors College.

Panel discussion on the work and legacy of Chinese sculptor Liu Shiming

Liu Shiming, who passed away in 2010, made a distinct impact on the course of Chinese modern art with his sculptures that focused on people's day-to-day life and the human spirit. Liu Shiming's legacy has been recognized and celebrated by the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, where he studied and worked. In 2018, the academy founded the Liu Shiming Sculpture Museum to research and investigate Liu's artworks and their historical significance. His works have been displayed in prominent galleries and spaces across the globe, including exhibitions in Beijing, Washington D.C., and a special exhibition in the main atrium of the Oculus in New York City.

Macaulay Dean Dara Byrne and the entire Macaulay community were honored to host this special panel discussion and installation ceremony. The panelists brought a wealth of experience in the arts industry and will provide insights into Liu Shiming's work and legacy.

Maria Cristina Pio moderated the panel discussion. Pio is the co-director and director of Education and Administration at the Godwin-Ternbach Museum at Queens College, where she oversees all aspects of education programming and administration. Fran Kaufman, a partner at Kaufman Vardy Projects, is also the curator of Liu Shiming's exhibition at Roosevelt Island Visual Arts Association. Louise Weinberg is an accomplished curator, visual artist, and photographer. Angela Goh '23, a senior majoring in art and computer science at Brooklyn College, is the first Liu Shiming Scholar from Macaulay Honors College, and Sin-Ying Ho is the associate professor in ceramics art at Queens College.

About The Liu Shiming Art Foundation

The Liu Shiming Art Foundation is a 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization which was founded in 2021 to preserve the works of acclaimed Chinese artist Liu Shiming, as well as for the advancement of the global discourse surrounding the arts, history and culture. The Fund aims to support art students and emerging artists by encouraging them to explore all forms of art, and to engage in a multicultural study of art history. Particularly, the Foundation hopes to foster a greater understanding and appreciation of Asian art forms, and to contextualize them within a global purview. Conceptualizing the creative process by focusing on a multicultural East and West perspective was fundamental to Liu Shiming's identity as an artist, and is consequently a central part of Foundation's identity. Fostering a sense of inclusiveness, the Liu Shiming Art Foundation hopes to remind artists of their power to create art that transcends time or place.

About Liu Shiming:

Liu Shiming (1926-2010) was a revered Chinese sculptor, whose works have made a distinct impact on the course of modern Chinese sculpture art. Born in 1926, Shiming attended the Central Academy of Fine. As early as 1950, Shiming received international recognition for his work Measuring Land, and thereafter, Shiming continued to make large-scale and publicly displayed sculptures. In the 1960s, Shiming resided in the countryside of Henan and Hebei provinces, where he gained a unique perspective on the working class and rural life. His time outside of the city, and closely handling folk art works in local museums, inspired Shiming to focus on everyday scenes in his works, becoming a common theme of Shiming sculptures. Today, Shiming is recognized for his ability to beautifully capture the most mundane scenes, as well as his aptitude for fusing folk traditions with modern sensibilities.

? Liu Shiming works have been displayed in prominent galleries and spaces across the globe, including exhibitions in Beijing, Washington D.C., and most notably a special exhibition in the main atrium of the Oculus in New York City. In 2018, the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing founded the Liu Shiming Sculpture Museum, dedicated to researching and investigating Liu's artworks and their historical significance.

Discover the inspiring story behind Liu Shiming's masterpiece, "Dream to Fly," in this captivating documentary, Dream to Fly - Story behind Liu Shiming's Masterpiece

For more information on the work of the foundation, head to their website, Http://www.lsmartfund.org

Media Contact

Organization: Liu Shiming Art Foundation

Contact Person: Luka Lee

Website: https://www.lsmartfund.org

Email: info@lsmartfund.org

City: New York City

State: New York

Country: United States

SOURCE: Liu Shiming Art Foundation

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/749559/Celebrating-the-Work-and-Legacy-of-the-Late-Chinese-Sculptor-Liu-Shimin
Regulatory News:

The shareholders of Etablissements Maurel Prom S.A. (the "Company") (Paris:MAU) are hereby informed that an Ordinary and Extraordinary General Shareholders' Meeting will be held on first notice of meeting on Tuesday, 23 May 2023, at 10 a.m., at 9 avenue Hoche, 75008 Paris, France.

Availability of the Shareholders General Meeting's preparatory documents

The notice of meeting including the agenda and draft resolutions proposed to the General Shareholders Meeting was published in the Bulletin des Annonces Legales Obligatoires ("BALO"), on 17 April 2023. Such notice and the related report of the Board of Directors are available on the Company's website (www.maureletprom.fr, section "Investors", sub-section "General Meeting 2023").

The preparatory documents for the Shareholders General Meeting referred to in Article R. 22-10-23 of the French Commercial Code are available, within the time period provided for in the applicable regulation, on the Company's website, at the abovementioned address. In addition, the preparatory documents for the Shareholders General Meeting referred to in Articles L. 225-115, L. 225-116 and R. 225-83 of the French Commercial Code are available, within the time period provided for in the applicable regulation, at the Company's registered office (51, rue d'Anjou, 75008 Paris).

As from the notice of meeting, shareholders may request that the Company send them the documents and information referred to in Articles R. 225-81 and R. 225-83 of the French Commercial Code, up to the fifth day before the meeting (inclusive), i.e. Wednesday 17 May 2023. Requests should be sent preferably by email to ir@maureletprom.fr (otherwise by post to the Company's head office at 51, rue d'Anjou 75008 Paris, France or by request sent to Uptevia, Service Assemblees Generales, 12, place des Etats-Unis, CS 40083, 92549 Montrouge Cedex). It is recalled that holders of bearer shares will have to prove they are shareholders by providing a certificate of account registration.

Finally, please note that any shareholder able to prove its status can attend the General Meeting in person, voting online by logging in to the secure voting platform VOTACCESS before the General Shareholders' Meeting, vote by post, or voting by appointing the Chairman of the General Shareholders' Meeting or a third party as proxy The applicable rules for attending the General Meeting are described in particular in the notice of meeting published in the BALO. This document is available on the Company's website (www.maureletprom.fr, website section "Investors", sub-section "General Meeting 2023").

For more information, visit www.maureletprom.fr

This document may contain forward-looking statements regarding the financial position, results, business and industrial strategy of Maurel Prom. By nature, forward-looking statements contain risks and uncertainties to the extent that they are based on events or circumstances that may or may not happen in the future. These projections are based on assumptions we believe to be reasonable, but which may prove to be incorrect and which depend on a number of risk factors, such as fluctuations in crude oil prices, changes in exchange rates, uncertainties related to the valuation of our oil reserves, actual rates of oil production and the related costs, operational problems, political stability, legislative or regulatory reforms, or even wars, terrorism and sabotage.

Maurel Prom is listed for trading on Euronext Paris

CAC All-Tradable CAC Small CAC Mid Small Eligible PEA-PME and SRD

Isin FR0000051070/Bloomberg MAU.FP/Reuters MAUP.PA

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230417005706/en/

Contacts:

Maurel Prom

Press, shareholder and investor relations

Tel: +33 (0)1 53 83 16 45

ir@maureletprom.fr

NewCap

Financial communications and investor relations/Media relations

Louis-Victor Delouvrier Nicolas Merigeau

Tel: +33 (0)1 44 71 98 53 +33 (0)1 44 71 94 98

maureletprom@newcap.eu
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / April 17, 2023 / The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth

The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth

YouTube influencer and philanthropist Lilly Singh and Mastercard's Shamina Singh took the stage in a packed room in Washington, D.C., to share how we can all encourage greater gender equity.

"We can't change the issue of gender equality with just money  it's culture," Lilly Singh said. "Culture determines how we treat women, how we view women. What is the patriarchy if not just a story that's been told for a really long time? I believe if you change the stories, you can change the world. We can change culture."

The topic was just one of many big, thorny issues discussed Thursday at the Global Inclusive Growth Summit, which brought together private-sector and social-sector leaders, government officials, economists, and academics to spark conversation and drive change on the environment, digital inclusion and much more.

A core sentiment of the daylong event, hosted by the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and the Aspen Institute, was that of urgency: There's no more time left to kick the can down the road on climate - we need to address it now. The same with gender equality and financial inclusion.

And if we all manage to drive greater inclusion, many of the speakers said, we could unlock far greater economic prosperity for everyone and build significantly more resilience in communities so they can withstand future challenges.

Here are three takeaways from the event.

01

There's no one way to define financial inclusion and inclusive growth: Financial inclusion is, quite simply, the work of bringing more people into the formal financial system, whether that's giving people access to a bank account, insurance, working capital for their business or the ability to safely send money to family overseas. Inclusive growth, meanwhile, is all about encouraging economic growth that more people can benefit from, not just those at the top of the ladder.

Many speakers at the event shared their takes on both ideas.

Comedian and author Trevor Noah challenged the notion that inclusive growth and financial inclusion are primarily about charity. He said that people being left out of markets is a failing of those markets. When more people are included, that's not inclusive growth, but really "complete growth," he said.

Building on that idea, Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser said during a separate presentation that her administration sees inclusive growth as a balance.

"Yes, we want to grow our population. Yes, we want more businesses. Yes, we want more development," she said. "Well, we want the people who have lived here in good times and bad times to be able to afford to live. So what that has meant for us is: How do we grow wages? And how do we build more affordable housing?"

In a speech capping the event, Queen Maxima of the Netherlands said a focus on fostering financial health - encouraging people to save money and avoid excessive debt - was essential to true financial inclusion. "Without financial health we will not be able to do it."

02

Technology directed in the right way can have a big impact on inclusion: A number of speakers mentioned the potentially negative impacts of artificial intelligence, noting the rapid developments of generative AI models like ChatGPT.

But Microsoft Vice Chairman Brad Smith, whose company has invested in OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, and provides ChatGPT in its products, shared a much more optimistic view of how AI could be used. He said it could unlock huge benefits for nonprofits, allowing them to deliver programs and measure their impacts much more effectively and at a much lower cost.

During another presentation, Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach said companies need to consider three factors when developing new technology: Does it solve a problem for people? Is it inclusive? Is it trustworthy?

"If it's not inclusive, it doesn't scale. If it doesn't scale, it doesn't matter," he added.

Samantha Power, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, shared how the Ukrainian government created an app that's grown to include more than 200 government services. That app, called Diia, helped cut down on corruption by increasing government transparency and enabled people to let the government know if they've been displaced during the war.

Potential legislation is shared on the platform, and citizens can share positive or negative sentiments with their leaders - not wait for an election to hold them accountable. "It's the digital and democracy coming together," she said.

03

Find ways to make the world work for more people: BBC journalist and Paralympian Ade Adepitan, who uses a wheelchair, asked the audience, somewhat jokingly, "What's this fixation you able-bodied people have with stairs!"

The idea of adding more ramps and other means of access helps not just people like him, but many others, as well.

Chetna Sinha, founder of the Mann Deshi Foundation, which helps women in rural India access credit and build up their business skills, said that as the pandemic eased she worked with many women who had to start making money after their spouses lost their jobs.

They asked to be armed with smartphones, not feature phones, saying they had better services, especially voice SMS, which could matter because many of them didn't read or write.

"They said, 'Never give poor solutions to poor people. We are smart.'"

Philanthropist Melinda French Gates reinforced the point about empowering women.

"Make sure they have a great education. Make sure they can plan and space the first of their children. Make sure they have networks to get into a great job and be part of the banking system to save money," she told the audience. "You will absolutely accelerate their growth. And guess what? They're going to accelerate your economy."

Originally published by The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth

Check out more content from The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth

Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth President Shamina Singh with comedian and YouTuber Lilly Singh. (Photo credit: Isaac Latimer)

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/mastercard-center-inclusive-growth

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/749610/How-To-Define-Inclusive-Growth-And-How-To-Get-There
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 17, 2023) - Li-FT Power Ltd. (CSE: LIFT) (FSE: WS0) ("LIFT" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that Kenneth Scott has been appointed to the Board of Directors and Andrew Marshall has been appointed to the role of interim Chief Financial Officer ("CFO"), effective immediately.

Mr. Marshall is a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Financial Analyst with 20 years of accounting, finance and CFO experience in the mining sector. He was recently the CFO at a Canadian gold development company and is currently the CFO at a European base metals exploration/development company. Prior to this, Mr. Marshall built experience at two TSX/NYSE listed silver operating companies with projects in Mexico and Canada. He has an extensive background in accounting, finance and risk management; corporate reporting in Canada and the US, as well as M&A transactions and strategic support for the growth and development of junior mining companies. Mr. Marshall started his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers ("PwC") in London and moved to the Vancouver mining practice in 2008.

Mr. Scott brings over 33 years of public company auditing experience to the Company. He retired as a partner of PwC in Vancouver in 2018, where his engagements as either the engagement leader or quality review partner included mining companies with international operations, such as SSR Mining, Lundin Gold, B2Gold and Teck Resources. He has also performed multi-location audits, advised on mergers and acquisitions, and advised on public and private financings. Mr. Scott's regulatory experience includes a leadership role on engagements selected by either the firm's internal audit quality review process or by the Canadian Public Accountability Board. Since retiring, Mr. Scott has served as a consultant and performed quality review roles for many of PwC's larger public company engagements. Mr. Scott holds a Canadian Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) designation.

Heidi Gutte has resigned from her positions of CFO and member of the Board of Directors, effective immediately.

Francis MacDonald, CEO of LIFT comments, "I would like welcome Mr. Marshall and Mr. Scott to the LIFT team. Their wealth of experience in financial, accounting, audit, and strategic roles in the mining industry strengthens LIFT at the management and board levels and will allow us to pursue our goal of becoming one of the most successful lithium exploration and development companies in Canada. I would like to thank Heidi Gutte for her contributions to the Company to date and wish her all the best in future endeavours."

Stock Options Grant

The Company announces that it has granted stock options (the "Options") to its directors, officers, employees and consultants to acquire a total of 575,000 common shares of the Company at an exercise price of $10.00 per share for a period of five years. The Options vest after six months, with one quarter of the total options vesting at each six-month anniversary.

About Li-FT

Li-FT is a mineral exploration company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, and development of lithium pegmatite projects located in Canada. The Company's flagship project is the Yellowknife Lithium Project located in Northwest Territories, Canada. Li-FT also holds three early-stage exploration properties in Quebec, Canada with excellent potential for the discovery of buried lithium pegmatites, in addition to the Cali Project in Northwest Territories within the Little Nahanni Pegmatite Field.

For further information, please contact:

Francis MacDonald

Chief Executive Officer

Tel: Canada: + 1.604.609.6185

Email: info@li-ft.com

Website: www.li-ft.com

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements included in this press release constitute forward-looking information or statements (collectively, "forward-looking statements"), including those identified by the expressions "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "may", "should" and similar expressions to the extent they relate to the Company or its management. The forward-looking statements are not historical facts but reflect current expectations regarding future results or events. This press release contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and various estimates, factors and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors.

Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions which are difficult to predict. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include the continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions, including the effects of COVID-19. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by such statements. Although such statements are based on management's reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that the statements will prove to be accurate or that management's expectations or estimates of future developments, circumstances or results will materialize. The Company assumes no responsibility to update or revise forward-looking information to reflect new events or circumstances unless required by law. Readers should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange (the "CSE") nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/162749
PHILADELPHIA, PA / ACCESSWIRE / April 17, 2023 / abrdn Emerging Markets Equity Income Fund, Inc. (the "Fund") (NYSE American:AEF) held its Annual Meeting of Shareholders (the "Meeting") on April 17, 2023. At the Meeting, shareholders of the Fund voted to re-elect one Class III Director to the Board of Directors.

As of the record date, March 3, 2023, there were 50,751,779 outstanding shares of the Fund. 85.0% of the outstanding shares were voted at the Meeting representing a quorum.

The description of the proposal and number of shares voted at the Meeting are as follows:

To re-elect one Class III Director to the Board of Directors:

Votes For Votes Against Abstained Steven N. Rappaport 23,207,835 19,727,371 223,055

In the United States, abrdn is the marketing name for the following affiliated, registered investment advisers: abrdn Inc., abrdn Investments Limited, abrdn Australia Limited, abrdn Asia Limited, Aberdeen Capital Management, LLC, abrdn ETFs Advisors LLC and abrdn Alternative Funds Limited.

Closed-end funds are traded on the secondary market through one of the stock exchanges. A Fund's investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that an investor's shares may be worth more or less than the original cost. Shares of closed-end funds may trade above (a premium) or below (a discount) the net asset value (NAV) of the fund's portfolio. There is no assurance that a Fund will achieve its investment objective. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

https://www.abrdnaef.com/

For More Information Contact:

abrdn Inc.

Investor Relations

800-522-5465

Investor.Relations@abrdn.com

SOURCE: abrdn Emerging Markets Equity Income Fund, Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/749636/abrdn-Emerging-Markets-Equity-Income-Fund-Inc-Announces-Results-Of-Annual-Meeting-Of-Shareholders
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 17, 2023) - Kutcho Copper Corp. (TSXV: KC) (OTCQX: KCCFF) ("Kutcho Copper" or the "Company") announces that it has arranged a non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement") to raise total proceeds of up to $4,000,000. The Private Placement will consist of 8,000,000 units ("Units") at a price of $0.25 per Unit for gross Unit proceeds of $2,000,000 and 6,666,667 units consisting of flow-through units ("FT Units") at a price of $0.30 per FT Unit of the Company for gross FT Unit proceeds of $2,000,000.

Vince Sorace, President & CEO of Kutcho Copper comments: "This financing allows us to begin the detailed regional exploration plan as outlined in our press release dated February 28, 2023. The Kutcho Project has not seen any significant exploration since 1990. The prospective mineralized horizons that host the existing deposits repeat three times across our land position and volcanogenic massive sulphide ("VMS") deposits typically occur in clusters along favourable horizons. With three deposits already identified along the Main-Sumac-Esso horizon, the Project has the making of a substantive VMS district and has potential for discovery of completely new deposits."

Each Unit will consist of one common share in the capital of the Company (each, a "Common Share") and one-half transferable common share purchase warrant (each whole, a "Warrant"), exercisable at a price of $0.40 per common share for a period of 24 months from the closing date, subject to accelerated expiry as described herein.

Each FT Unit will consist of one flow-through share in the capital of the Company (each, a "FT Share") and one-half transferable Warrant, exercisable at a price of $0.45 per common share for a period of 24 months from the closing date, subject to accelerated expiry as described herein. Each FT Share will be a Common Share that will qualify as a "flow-through share" for the purposes of the Income Tax Act (Canada). Each FT Share will entitle the holder thereof the same rights as holders of Common Shares, as described below.

If the closing price of the Company's Common Shares on the TSX Venture Exchange (or such other principal exchange on which the Common Shares may be traded at such time) is equal to or greater than $0.60 for a period of 10 consecutive trading days, the Company may (but is not required to), at its sole discretion, accelerate the expiry date of Warrants to the date which is 30 days following the date upon which notice of the accelerated expiry date is provided by the Company to the holders of the Warrants (given by way of news release).

The Company intends to use the gross proceeds raised from the sale of FT Shares (comprised within the FT Units) for exploration on its Kutcho property in British Columbia that will qualify as "Canadian exploration expense" and "flow-through critical mineral mining expenditure" (both within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada)) and which will be incurred on or before December 31, 2024 and renounced with an effective date no later than December 31, 2023 to the initial purchasers of FT Shares (comprised within the FT Units). The Company intends to use the net proceeds raised from the sale of Units for general administrative and working capital expenses.

The closing of the Offering is subject to the Company's receipt of TSX Venture Exchange approval for the Offering. The Company may pay finder's fees and grant finder's warrants under the Offering as permitted by TSX Venture Exchange policy and applicable securities laws. All securities issued under the Offering will have a hold period of four months and a day from the date of issuance.

The securities to be offered pursuant to the Offering have not been, and will not be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any U.S. state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, United States persons absent registration or any applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable U.S. state securities laws. This release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in the United States, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

Vince Sorace

President & CEO, Kutcho Copper Corp.

For further information regarding Kutcho Copper Corp., please email info@kutcho.ca or visit our website at www.kutcho.ca.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements" with respect to the Company within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "plans", "believes", "estimates", "potential", "indicates", and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although Kutcho Copper believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results or realities may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such material risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the timing, results and implications of the planned exploration programs, whether or not new deposits will be identified and, if so, whether such deposits will be permittable and economically feasible, the Company's ability to raise sufficient capital to fund its obligations under its property agreements going forward, to maintain its mineral tenures and concessions in good standing, to explore and develop the Kutcho Project, to repay its debt and for general working capital purposes; changes in economic conditions or financial markets; the inherent hazards associates with mineral exploration and mining operations, future prices of copper and other metals, changes in general economic conditions, accuracy of mineral resource and reserve estimates, the ability of the Company to obtain the necessary permits and consents required to explore, drill and develop the Kutcho project and if obtained, to obtain such permits and consents in a timely fashion relative to the Company's plans and business objectives for the projects; the general ability of the Company to monetize its mineral resources; and changes in environmental and other laws or regulations that could have an impact on the Company's operations, compliance with environmental laws and regulations, aboriginal title claims and rights to consultation and accommodation, dependence on key management personnel and general competition in the mining industry. Forward-looking statements are based on the reasonable beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. This news release includes historical information that has been reviewed by the Company's geological team and qualified person. The Company's review of the historical records and information reasonably substantiate the validity of the information presented in this news release; however, the Company cannot directly verify the accuracy of the historical data, including the procedures used for sample collection and analysis. There is insufficient exploration on these prospects to define a mineral resource. It is uncertain if after additional exploration a mineral resource will be delineated. Therefore, the Company encourages investors to exercise appropriate caution when evaluating these results.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE U.S

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/162728
HAMILTON, BERMUDA / ACCESSWIRE / April 17, 2023 / In response to the growing demand for trained bartenders, family-owned Bacardi, today announced that it is expanding Shake Your Future, its special initiative giving young, unemployed adults the life-changing opportunity to train as a professional mixologist.

With an industry-wide shortage of skilled bartenders, Bacardi is launching the program in Madrid for the first time, following a successful return to Barcelona in March. A total of 30 young adults - 15 in each city - are taking part in the 10-week diploma course which will give them the skills and experience they need to start a new career in the hospitality industry.

The first-ever launch of Shake Your Future in Madrid builds on the program's debut in Barcelona, when 10 students took part and after graduating in 2022 are now pursuing careers in the hospitality industry.

Participants in the 10-week program are trained in the art of bartending and mixology, as well as gaining invaluable work experience in some of the industry's leading bars and restaurants. Shake Your Future graduates receive an internationally recognized diploma and access to permanent employment opportunities within the sector, empowering them to transform their lives and build a brighter future.

Bacardi is running Shake Your Future in partnership with the European Bartender School in Madrid and Barcelona.

Bacardi launched Shake Your Future as a pilot in 2018 to help address the youth unemployment crisis on the doorstep of its French office, which at the time was in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Ouen. Since then it has expanded to Spain, Italy, South Africa, India and Bermuda, home to the company's global headquarters. In the coming months, Shake Your Future will roll out to Germany, Belgium and many more countries as part of a plan to bring the same opportunity to 10,000 young adults around the world by 2030.

Sebastian ten Berge, Bar Manager, ENTOURAGE GROUP, owner of bar & restaurant MR PORTER Barcelona, said: "The timing of this launch from Bacardi is perfect. It is extremely difficult to find trained bartenders and so it is a pleasure to support the Shake Your Future initiative. Hopefully Shake Your Future will lead to many young people enjoying a long and successful career in the industry."

Amanda Almond, Managing Director, Bacardi Iberia & Greece, added: "Following the global pandemic, the hospitality industry is facing an unprecedented shortage of trained bartenders making it even more of a win-win for these young adults looking for a fresh start and our fantastic partners in the bar industry who are very supportive and give them that opportunity. Shake Your Future has already changed people's lives for the better and I'm looking forward to it doing the same for many more in the months and years ahead."

Shake Your Future will run annually in each of the cities where it is launched, with an ever-growing number of bar and restaurant partners pledging their support and giving the trainees the all-important experience they need to change their lives.

Always drink responsibly.

About Bacardi

Bacardi Limited, the largest privately held international spirits company in the world, produces and markets internationally recognized spirits and wines. The Bacardi Limited brand portfolio comprises more than 200 brands and labels, including BACARDI rum, DEWAR'S Blended Scotch whisky, BOMBAY SAPPHIRE gin, MARTINI vermouth and sparkling wines, GREY GOOSE vodka, PATRON tequila, and other leading and emerging brands including WILLIAM LAWSON'S Scotch whisky, ST-GERMAIN elderflower liqueur, and ERISTOFF vodka. Founded more than 161 years ago in Santiago de Cuba, family-owned Bacardi Limited currently employs approximately 9,000, operates production facilities in 10 countries, and sells its brands in more than 160 markets. Bacardi Limited refers to the Bacardi group of companies, including Bacardi International Limited. Visit www.bacardilimited.com or follow us on Twitter , LinkedIn or Instagram .

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Bacardi Limited on 3blmedia.com.

Media Contact:

Andrew Carney

Communications Director Europe, Bacardi

acarney@bacardi.com

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Bacardi Limited

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/bacardi-limited

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: Bacardi Limited

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/749655/Bacardi-Expands-Shake-Your-Future-to-Madrid-Where-Young-Unemployed-Will-Be-Given-Fresh-Start-in-World-of-Bartending
MBABANE  While some public hospitals have no medication, drugs worth about E800 000 were nabbed being smuggled into South Africa.

The consignment of the medical drugs was discovered with a liSwati who was transporting them into South Africa and were suspected to have been stolen locally. The suspect, who was arrested at the South African side of the Ngwenya/Oshoek Border Gate, reportedly informed South African law enforcers upon his arrest that he had been recruited to transport the medication.

Imports

He supposedly informed the law enforcers that someone had bought the medical drugs locally. However, it is worth noting that the country imports medical drugs as there are no pharmaceutical plants producing them locally. It is yet to be verified if the drugs were stolen from government institutions or private pharmacies. The arrest of the man transporting the medical drugs happened almost eight weeks after the Auditor General (AG), Timothy Matsebula, submitted a report in Parliament, detailing that over E151 million of medical drugs were unaccounted for in the public health facilities. This, he said, resulted in a shortage of medical supplies yet government had improved its budget for them by over 55 per cent. Meanwhile, the destination of the medical drugs is yet to be ascertained as the driver claimed ignorance to the contents of the consignment when he was arrested.

Busted

The suspect was said to have also submitted that he did not know that he was transporting a stolen consignment when he was busted by the South African Police Service (SAPS) under the Border Policing at the Oshoek Port of entry. Subsequent to his arrest, the man is expected to appear at the Chief Albert Luthuli Magistrates Court today and he was charged for the contravention of the South Africa Medical Act. SAPSs Brigadier Selvy Mohlala confirmed that a liSwati man was arrested on Friday at around 4:05pm. In a media statement, which was issued by the office of the Provincial Commissioner in Mpumalanga, it was reported that the suspect was nabbed after failure to produce authorisation for transportation of the consignment across the border.

It was stated that the police, who were busy with their routine duties, searched a truck which was pulling two trailers. During their search, the law enforcers reportedly discovered that the truck was transporting a huge consignment of medication and that it was headed to SA from Eswatini. The driver is said to have failed to produce authorisation for transportation of the luggage across the border, hence he was locked up and charged for alleged contravention of the Medical Act, reads part of the statement. It is worth noting that leading to the enquiry by the AG, there had been complaints from almost all medical facilities that there was no medication. As such, there were claims that some of the medication was being stolen to be supposedly sold to mushrooming pharmacies in the various parts of the country. In February 2023, Matsebula presented his Forensic Investigation Proposal and Audit of Acquisition, Distribution, and Management of Pharmaceuticals Report wherein he stated that drugs worth E151.6 million were missing and or unaccounted for in public health facilities around the country.

Misuse

The AG supposed the cause of this to be, among other things, theft and misuse for personal benefit, which in turn led to a public outcry on the shortage of medical drugs and pharmaceuticals. The audit focused on the acquisition and distribution of medicines to public health facilities, including the Central Medical Stores (CMS), under the administration of the Ministry of Health, and covered the 2020/21 and 2021/22 financial years. The investigation by Matsebula was prompted by the constant shortage of medical supplies and drugs, which has been a continuous challenge in the public health sector in the kingdom over the years. This challenge has continued despite interventions by the Ministry of Health to strengthen its stock controls. This issue has seen health practitioners petitioning government in various instances and they raised concerns and outlined that, among other things, they were now issuing prescription letters instead of affording the citizenry adequate care, as per their oath of service.

Discrepancies

It has been gathered that during the AGs audit, a number of discrepancies in the health sector came to the fore. Last year April, drugs worth over E250 000 were reported to be missing at the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) Hospital. The drugs were said to have been received and recorded at the institutions storeroom, but could not be accounted for during a stick verification exercise. Also, over E2 million worth of medical drugs were allegedly unaccounted for at the Piggs Peak Government Hospital. It was gathered that the medical drugs went missing as there were no stock cards, where they had been recorded to have been distributed.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 17, 2023) - Ross Beaty, a concerned shareholder of Teck, issues the following statement: As both a Teck shareholder and a mining industry veteran, I strongly support Teck's plan to create two new Canadian companies, Teck Metals and Elk Valley Resources, and I will vote for the proposed separation.

There is no question in my mind that separation will open the door to a host of value-enhancing opportunities. It would be foolish to entertain proposals from a single interested party prior to separation, which is why I also fully agree with Teck's rejection of Glencore.

I encourage all Teck shareholders to vote for separation, and unleash the full potential of creating two new, world-class Canadian companies.

Ross Beaty

Tel: +1 (604) 806-3150

Email: ross.j.beaty@outlook.com

1550 - 625 Howe Street, Vancouver, BC V6C 2T6

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/162783
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / April 17, 2023 / HIRE Technologies Inc. (TSXV:HIRE.V)(OTC PINK:HIRRF) ("HIRE" or the "Company"), a company focused on modernizing and digitizing human resources solutions, announces that it has made an application to the Ontario Securities Commission to approve a temporary management cease trade order ("MCTO") under National Policy 12-203 - Cease Trade Orders for Continuous Disclosure Defaults ("NP 12-203"), which, if granted, will prohibit trading in securities of the Company by the Chief Executive Officer of the Company until such time as the Required Filings (defined below) and all continuous disclosure requirements have been filed by the Company, and the MCTO has been lifted. During the period in which the MCTO is effective, the general public, who are not insiders of the Company, will continue to be able to trade in the Company's listed securities. The MCTO application has been made but there is no guarantee or assurance that the MCTO will be granted.

The Company expects it will be unable to file its audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023, and the management's discussion and analysis and related Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer certificates for this period (collectively, the "Required Filings") before the May 1, 2023 filing deadline (the "Filing Deadline").

The Company's failure to file its Required Filings by the Filing Deadline is due to unforeseen challenges in completing the 2022 financial audit. The recent resignation fo our CFO and the ongoing search for a suitable replacement have led to internal resource constraints, causing delays in providing necessary information to our auditors. Additionally, the complexities associated with the divestiture of The HeadHunters business unit (for more details, see the Company's press release dated March 13, 2023) have contributed to the audit's prolonged completion. The MCTO is being sought to ensure accuracy and compliance in our financial reporting as we remain committed to providing transparent information to our shareholders and the market

The Company is working diligently with its auditor to complete the audit. Based on its current expectations, the Company anticipates that it will be in a position to remedy the default by filing the Required Filings on or prior to June 30, 2023. The MCTO will be in effect until the Required Filings are filed.

The Company intends to satisfy the provisions of the alternative information guidelines set out in sections 9 and 10 of NP 12-203 so long as the Required Filings are outstanding.

About HIRE Technologies Inc.

HIRE is a growing capital allocator rapidly establishing itself as a market leader in workforce management and staffing. HIRE's mission is to create a world-class portfolio of brands that will define the future of human resources through synergies, scale, and reach. The Company has extensive experience building and growing staffing and executive search companies and is supported by a large recurring revenue base and a highly scalable shared services platform. This structure enables HIRE to create value for partners and shareholders. For more information, visit hire.company .

Contacts

Simon Dealy

Chief Executive Officer

(647) 264-9196

sdealy@hire.company

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to the expected timing of the filing of the Required Filings. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations are risks detailed from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulations. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company will only update or revise publicly any of the included forward-looking statements as expressly required by Canadian securities law.

All forward-looking statements herein are qualified by this cautionary statement as of the date hereof. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. HIRE undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

SOURCE: HIRE Technologies Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/749700/Hire-Technologies-Announces-Delay-in-Filing-Its-Annual-Financial-Statements-for-2022
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 17, 2023) - Origen Resources Inc. (CSE: ORGN) (FSE: 4VXA) (the "Company" or "Origen") is pleased to announce it has added to its large land package at its 100% owned Los Sapitos Lithium Project in San Juan Province, Argentina. Origen has applied for 6,200 hectares just south east of the main Los Sapitos area, covering a shallow basin.

Thomas Hawkins, Managing Director, notes: "We are very excited about what we are seeing in San Juan and having a top-notch team in Argentina has allowed us to quickly move to add to our substantial land holdings. Our field crews have just completed their work at Los Sapitos, so they can now be dedicated to the new Los Toritos area to identify further priority areas."

Origen's two field crews have just completed sampling and mapping work on the four priority areas initially outlined at Los Sapitos. The Company currently plans to follow this field work with geophysical surveys and is still on-track for the initial drill testing program planned for the second half of this year.

Origen's Los Sapitos Lithium Project is located in the northern part of the San Juan Province in Argentina. Discovered by Origen during a global search for lithium occurrences, the most prospective part of Los Sapitos consists of 26,962 hectares of contiguous exploration licences, covering a lithium-rich brine occurrence, with an additional 6,200 hectares less than 10 km away. Our lithium exploration team has theorized that like at Clayton Valley, the brines are contained at depth in dipping aquifers controlled by faults and therefore have never formed a conspicuously visible salt lake. Preliminary water sampling in Los Sapitos indicated lithium levels similar to some established lithium salars - as high as 390 mg/l (see news release dated October 13, 2021). This crucially demonstrates that Los Sapitos has inflows with the right chemistry to generate lithium brines. Ulexite (a boron evaporite mineral) has also been identified at Los Sapitos and indicates that concentrated boron-bearing brines have been present.





Figure 1. Map of Los Toritos area, next to Los Sapitos Lithium Project area,

San Juan province, Argentina



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7117/162604_37e8e543c4fa0899_001full.jpg







Figure 2. Images of a field crew sampling at Los Sapitos



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7117/162604_37e8e543c4fa0899_0002full.jpg

About Origen

Origen is fully focused on its 100% interest in the Los Sapitos Lithium project in Argentina and its 100% interest in the 33,000 ha Newfoundland Lithium projects, and also holds a property portfolio of four 100% owned precious and base metal projects in southern British Columbia, a 100% interest in the 26,771 ha LGM project in the mineral rich Golden Triangle of British Columbia, and a portfolio of investments from prior property joint ventures and sales.

John Harrop, P.Geo., a Qualified Person as that term is defined in NI 43-101 has prepared, supervised the preparation or approved the scientific and technical disclosure in the news release.

On behalf of Origen,

Thomas Hawkins

Managing Director

For further information, please contact Gary Schellenberg, Chief Executive Officer, at 604-681-0221.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

Certain of the statements made and information contained herein may constitute "forward-looking information." In particular references to the private placement and future work programs or expectations on the quality or results of such work programs are subject to risks associated with operations on the property, exploration activity generally, equipment limitations and availability, as well as other risks that we may not be currently aware of. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/162604
Factris, an Amsterdam, The Netherlands-based fintech company, secured a 50m EUR funding line from Aegon Asset Management.

The amount of the deal was not disclosed.

With this additional line of funding, Factris is on course to expand their SME financing services into Estonia in Q2 of 2023, as well as provide more business funding opportunities in existing EU markets which include the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.

The company has just reached the milestone of financing 1 billion in invoices in Q1 of 2023.

Led by CEO Brian Reaves, Factris is a fintech company supporting European SMEs with financial technology and financing to improve business results. Since 2017, the company has focused on helping businesses move forward with innovative financial tools like invoice financing, debt management, and insurance to provide SMEs with working capital when and how they need it most.

Factris has also developed new technologies that promote growth and increase financial product availability. These include their proprietary FAB (Finance Automation for Business) platform which makes accessing and managing finances easy and convenient, along with an AI-powered risk management system.

FinSMEs

17/04/2023
Web3.0 Global Acceleration Program

Multichain has teamed up with the Web3hub, a platform initiated by G-Rocket Accelerator to grow the Web3.0 industry, to launch a three-month Web3.0 Global Acceleration Program.

With a total funding of $10 million and an initial funding of $1 million raised by Multichain, the program aims to accelerate high-tech cross-chain application projects and build a MultichainVerse (MV) where all crypto ecosystems are united.

Competitive projects will be provided with the necessary financial incentives, technology empowerment, and global acceleration to help them reach their full potential and find an easy way to locate in Hong Kong, laying the foundation for a new era of growth for the cross-chain applications and Web3.0 industry.

Multichain, together with Web3Hub, backed by the Institute of Web3.0 Hong Kong, has brought together key players from the web3 industry in this program, including mainstream blockchains, cloud service, media, etc.

1. Blockchain Collaboration

Avalanche

Avalanche is a smart contracts platform that scales infinitely and regularly finalizes transactions in less than one second.

Conflux Network

Conflux is a permissionless Layer 1 public blockchain connecting decentralized economies across borders and protocols.

Cronos

Cronos is the first EVM-compatible blockchain network built on the Cosmos SDK, supporting Decentralized Finance, NFTs and Metaverse.

EOS Network

The EOS Network is a 3rd generation blockchain platform powered by the EOS VM.

Fantom

Fantom is a blockchain platform based on a scalable and secure aBFT consensus layer. It has smart contract support and its flexible & easy to integrate.

Horizen

Horizen is the zero-knowledge network of blockchains powered by the largest node system with tools for developers to custom-build blockchains.

IRISHUB

Built with Cosmos-SDK, IRIS Hub (IRISnet) enables cross-chain interoperability through a unified service model, while providing a variety of modules to support DeFi applications.

KAVA

Kava is a decentralized blockchain that combines the speed and interoperability of Cosmos with the developer power of Ethereum.

MultiversX

MultiversX is a highly scalable, fast, and secure blockchain platform for distributed apps, enterprise use cases and the new internet economy.

Wemix

WEMIX3.0 is a high-performance EVM-compatible open-source protocol powered by SPoA consensus algorithm which is secured by 40 decentralized authority nodes operated by highly-qualified global partners as well as on-chain community DAO.

2. Cloud Service Collocation

Tencent Cloud

AWS

With the help of these partners, Multichain offers one million financial support, technology empowerment, and Multichain ecosystem support (88 chains integrated and 3500+ cross-chain bridges supported).

WEB3HUB was established by G-Rocket International Accelerator, with the aim of responding to the policy statement from SAR Government on the development of virtual assets in Hong Kong. Through on-the-ground services, investment acceleration, and technical cooperation, WEB3HUB supports overseas WEB3 enterprises in landing Hong Kong. Currently, over 300 WEB3 enterprises have consulted WEB3HUB for information or directly landed in Hong Kong.

FinSMEs

17/04/2023
Reef, a Honolulu, HI-based provider of Net Revenue Retention software, closed a USD 5.2M seed funding round.

Struck Capital with participation from SCV-SBI, Builders VC, Dig Ventures, and several angels.

The company intends to use the funds to scale up, and expand its reach.

Led by CEO Brenton Grimes, Reef is a customer revenue platform that helps companies predictably grow revenue with existing customers and ease net retention reporting.

Key capabilities include:

*Net Retention Analytics: Generate board-ready to grow and lets users know what they can do to make them more likely to grow

* Advanced Customer Segmentation and Visualization: Visualize territories to identify growth opportunity and churn risk based on engagement, product usage, consumption %, health score, and NPS

* Revenue Campaigns: Convert insights into action with advanced targeting and workflow to ensure consistent follow-through and execution

* Data History and Enrichment: Out-of-the-box data warehouse that builds rich data history and helps users improve customer data quality for effective customer scoring and analysis

Use cases include:

* Capture more ARR uplift at the time of renewal

* Identify and mitigate churn risks

* Improve cross-sell targeting and effectiveness

* Predict consumption overage for early upsell

The company already has over 30 customers and 10 employees.

FinSMEs

17/04/2023
Looks like infidelity runs in the genes of the Royal British family. Rose Hanbury, who is rumoured to be Prince Williams mistress, will attend the coronation of King Charles III, an appearance that could cause some tension among the Royal couple. Wife of the 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley and a close friend of the Prince and Princess of Wales, Rose (nee Hanbury)s son will be one of the Kings Pages of Honour at the coronation.

According to geotv, Rose was considered very close friend to William and Kate, but unsubstantiated claims that her connection to King Charles IIIs eldest son was more than friendly set the internet on fire in 2019. It was also claimed that William was unfaithful to his wife Kate during her third pregnancy due the same reason. In fact, since then, she has been referred to as the rural rival to Prince and princess of Wales. And the palace and Kate reportedly asked William to remove her from his circle of friends.

The coronation of King Charles III will take place on Saturday May 6 at Westminster Abbey. The coronation will be one of the most important events of the century as it marks the beginning of a new era after more than 70 years of rule of Queen Elizabeth II. Media providers across the world will be following every detail of the ceremony as it unfolds, especially as there could be some controversial moments to capture.

One of the most anticipated moments will be the arrival of Rose Hanbury, who is alleged to be Prince Williams mistress. Various images published to social media seem to confirm this speculation as they claim to show Rose and the Duke of Cambridge kissing. Such infidelity was confirmed by Prince Harry in his book Spare.

Hanbury to attend Kings coronation after one of her sons takes on important role. King Charles III has insisted that Hanbury attends the coronation and has given her son, Oliver, an important role as his page. Kate Middletons sons will also feature as pages, meaning both Kate and Rose will be stationed in a similar circle.

Rose will likely attend not only because she is the wife of David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley, who has been named Lord-in-Waiting to King Charles, but also because her son, Oliver, will be in charge of holding the kings robes, along with Prince George.

There has never been any enmity between Kate and Rose. The rumors were all a load of rubbish. The family are ancient allies of the Crown and they will be there, a family friend revealed to The Daily Beast. Another friend of the royals told the same media outlet that it would be unimaginable that David Cholmondeley would not be at the coronation with his wife.

But who is Rose Hanbury?

If you havent heard of Rose before, you get informed now. Rose is wife of David George Philip Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley, and her official title is the Marchioness of Cholmondeley. She was described as a beguiling socialite and worked as a model before marrying David in 2009.

David, who has connections to the palace through his own high social status, counts King Charles among his friends. While, Rose also enjoys strong ties back to the royal family with her grandmother, Lady Elizabeth Lambart, reportedly serving as one of The Queens bridesmaids at her 1947 wedding to Prince Philip. She reportedly lives near the Wales country home Anmer Hall in Norfolk.

She made headlines again after appearing as a guest at the Queens funeral last year in September, where senior royals were also in attendance.

But, the story took a new turn after the Duke and Duchess of Sussexs Netflix show Harry & Meghan, where the Duke claimed: They were happy to lie to protect my brother. They were never willing to tell the truth to protect us.

Harrys claims set tongues wagging as some speculated whether the Duke meant that his elder brother and Roses alleged affair was covered up by Buckingham Palace officials who lied to kill the story and instead focused on Harrys then-pregnant wife Meghan Markle.

There was speculation that Rose had been excluded from royal engagements as a result of the rumours about her and Prince William, however that claim has since been debunked as she attend the Queens funeral with her husband. While she wasnt pictured with any members of the royal family.

Marca News, citing the UK press, claims that the heir to the throne spent Valentines Day with his alleged mistress. The two were reportedly having a romantic dinner together and were spotted at a fancy Italian restaurant in the London capital. The outlet, citing a waiter at the restaurant, reports William had given Rose a pearl necklace for Valentines Day.

(With added inputs from agencies)

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
The mercury in India has risen to dangerous highs  fatally high levels. Close to the financial capital of India, Mumbai, 12 people have died after suffering from a sunstroke at an award function.

In Bengal, the temperatures have soared so high that officials have called for a holiday in schools. Same is the situation in Odisha. The weather man has also sounded a heatwave alarm for New Delhi.

Just how hot is it in India and will the situation worsen or improve?

Maharashtra

The western state of Maharashtra has been left sweating and sweltering as the temperature keeps climbing. On Sunday, in Mumbais Navi Mumbai area, the heat turned into a killer at an event where Home Minister Amit Shah was the chief guest.

Twelve people succumbed to a sunstroke at the Maharashtra Bhushan award function, attended by lakhs, was held in an open ground in Kharghar area. At the time of the event, the weather man reported the temperature to be 38 degrees Celsius. The issue has become a hot political topic with the Oppositions Ajit Pawar seeking an inquiry into how the event was organised in the afternoon when the temperature was very high.

Maharashtra has been witnessing soaring temperatures since the beginning of this month with 10 districts crossing the 40 degrees Celsius barrier. According to Indian Meteorological Departments (IMD) data, Chandrapur is the hottest at 43.2 degrees and south Mumbai emerging the coolest at 31.6.

The hottest districts in the state with the highest mercury readings are: Chandrapur (43.2 degrees), Wardha (42.2), Amravati and Solapur (41.4), Nagpur (41), Parbhani (40.8), Yavatmal (40.5), Akola and Jalgaon (40.3), and Nanded (40.2).

Many educational institutions across the state have curtailed outdoor activities for students and officials have asked people to refrain from stepping out of their houses unless necessary between 1-5 pm.

Also read: How deadly will be the Indian summer?

New Delhi

The Capital is also feeling the heat with an IMD official saying that there will be marginal heatwave conditions for the next two days in Delhi-NCR. Naresh Kumar, the IMD expert, said, For now there is a poor possibility of heatwave conditions in Delhi-NCR, but still the temperature will be 3-4 degrees Celsius above normal.

#WATCH | Delhi: Therell be further increase in temperature in Delhi,Punjab,Haryana & North West India in coming days. Due to western disturbances, temp will drop in coming days. Orange alert has been issued regarding heatwave in many states, incl West Bengal: Naresh Kumar,IMD pic.twitter.com/Wpj0mj8KUu  ANI (@ANI) April 16, 2023

The Safdarjung Observatory, which is Delhis main weather station, registered a maximum temperature of 40.4 degrees Celsius, which is three degrees higher than the normal average.

West Bengal

The IMD has sounded an orange alert for West Bengal, which is already reeling from extremely high temperatures. The authorities have called for all schools, colleges and educational institutions to remain close until Saturday (22 April) in view of the severe heatwave conditions.

Odisha

The rising temperatures is also an issue in neighbouring Odisha. The state is experiencing extreme heat, with the day temperature reaching 43.5 degrees Celsius.

On Thursday, Baripada in north Odisha recorded the highest maximum day temperature of 43.5 degree Celsius across the world.

Also read: Heatwave from hell: What do IMD colour codes  orange, yellow, red  mean

The heat conditions prompted officials to change school timings in the state and schools are now running from 6.30 am to 11 am. However, the 11 am timings has irked parents, as the sun is at its peak then.

Bihar

The heat is on even in Bihar. The IMD has said that the state is likely to experience heatwave conditions over the next three to four days. Maximum temperature in the state is likely to stay above 40 degrees Celsius with high relative humidity.

Over the weekend, Dehri, Gaya, and Nawada remained the hottest places with the highest maximum temperature of 43.2 degrees Celsius.

Kumar Gaurav, an official at Patna Meteorological Centre, told Hindustan Times, North-westerly winds are prevailing over the state up to 5.8 km above mean sea level. A cyclonic circulation lies over north Bangladesh and neighbourhood at 1.5 km above mean sea level. As a result, the maximum temperature in the state is likely to rise by two to four degrees.

Andhra Pradesh

The southern state of Andhra Pradesh is also witnessing a very hot summer, with the weatherman issuing an orange alert for the state. The Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA) has forecast severe heat wave conditions in six mandals and heat waves in 174 more mandals.

Effects of heatwaves

Heatwaves have devastating effects on our physical well-being. As the bodys temperature increases, blood vessels open up, leading to lower blood pressure. It makes the heart work harder to circulate the blood around the body. The effects of lower blood pressure can be felt through dizziness, headache, and nausea. It can also lead to dehydration, and in the worst cases cause heart attacks.

They also impact our mental being, with studies showing that it is not unusual to feel anxious, stressed and irritable due to the increased temperatures.

Mental health experts have suggested that extreme physical exhaustion and restlessness due to high temperatures can lead to depression and anxiety.

An increase in suicide rate has also been noticed due to extreme heat. A 2021 review of epidemiological studies on heat exposure and mental health outcomes found a 2.2 per cent increase in mental health-related mortality with an increase in temperature of just one-degree Celsius.

Hence, it is important that people stay calm and stay hydrated and away from the sun as far as possible.

With inputs from agencies

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
It seems like a script straight out of a gangster film. But this is a tale of Uttar Pradeshs dark side. Notorious don and former lawmaker Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were gunned down on Saturday by three shooters who posed as journalists. They were shot point blank when being escorted to a hospital handcuffed  in the presence of policemen and as TV cameras rolled.

The murders bring to an end the gangster era in UPs Prayagraj, say former policemen. Ahmed first grabbed attention in 1979 and his reign of terror continued until 44 years later. There have been cases of murder and extortion, links to Pakistans infamous Inter-Services Intelligence and some 100-odd FIRs filed against him. Yet it was only recently that his first conviction came: On 28 March 2023, Ahmed was awarded a life sentence in the abduction and killing of Umesh Pal, the key witness in the 2005 murder case of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Raju Pal.

The links to ISI

According to the police, Ahmed had links to the Pakistan spy agency. He was reportedly the leader of the IS 227 gang. With at least 132 members, which included his brother, his three sons and wife, the gang indulged in extortion and land grabbing.

The kingpin also had ties with the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba. According to a First Information Report (FIR) registered at the Shahganj police station in UP, Ahmed confessed to links to ISI and the LeT.

The gang reportedly received arms dropped through Pakistani drones in Punjab. The ISI, using drones, used to drop weapons in Punjab, and someone linked to the ISI used to collect these arms and send some of them to LeT, some to Khalistan separatist organisations, and some weapons like .45 bore pistol, AK-47 and RDX were made available to me, and I used to pay for the same. People belonging to these organisations also used to come to my place. And, information gathered from their conversations suggested that they wanted to cause a major incident in the country, Ahmed reportedly told police.

Ahmed, during his interrogation, revealed that he knew the whereabouts of the people associated with the ISI and the LeT but could not locate them from jail. I know the places where the weapons have been kept. These places do not have house numbers. If you (police) take me and my brother together, we can identify these places, he said.

According to the brothers, the arms used to murder Umesh Pal were also received from Pakistan.

Ironically, the Zigana pistol which was used to kill Ahmed and his brother also has a Pakistan link. Originally, the weapon is made in Turkey, Banned in India, it is often illegally imported from the neighbouring nation. Local workshops in the countrys gun valley, Darra Adam Khel, create and sell copies of Zigana models illegally, according to a report in the Turkish defence daily.

The weapons are made like the original but sold at a much lower price.

A web of crimes

Ahmed committed his first murder in 1979 and caught the attention of the police as he was booked for the crime in Prayagrajs Khuldabad police station. Soon, he gained notoriety after joining gangster Shok-e-Ilahi alias Chand Baba.

Chand Baba was considered a saviour of the poor by locals and enjoyed political patronage. Its when Ahmed started harbouring political ambitions that the two clashed.

Ahmed decided to contest the 1989 Uttar Pradesh elections from the Allahabad West constituency as an independent candidate. Chand Baba decided to challenge him and filed a nomination from the same constituency after being reportedly brainwashed by his political godfathers.

During an election rally, Chand Baba was killed and a case was filed against Ahmed. With the murder, Ahmed became the don of Prayagraj, then Allahabad.

He became a dominant figure in Allahabad West and won as an independent candidate in 1991 and 1993. In 1996, he contested on a Samajwadi Party ticket and in 2002, on an Apna Dal ticket. After winning five consecutive terms as MLA, his political ambitions grew with time.

In 2004, he contested the Lok Sabha elections from an SP ticket and won from Phulpur, the constituency once held by former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. But he resigned soon after, necessitating a by-poll. BSPs Raju Pal defeated Ahmeds brother Ashraf.

Defeat is not something Ahmed took well. Pal was killed in Prayagraj by Ahmed and his men in 2005  at least two dozen bullets were removed from the slain MLAs body. Ashraf, who became the prime accused in the murder, then defeated Pals widow Pooja.

The case against Ahmed and Ashraf dragged on with Pooja Pal being the main complainant. The brothers had become accustomed to silencing those standing up to them.

In 2006, Ahmed and his men allegedly abducted Umesh Pal, the key witness in the MLAs murder. Seventeen years later, on 24 February 2034, Umesh Pal was gunned down in broad daylight by the gang.

In all these years, Ahmed had become unstoppable. Extortions, kidnappings, and land grabbing continued. In January 2007, he shielded an accused in a gangrape case in a local madrassa. In 2016, his henchmen assaulted staff members of a university in Allahabad.

If one political party distanced itself from Ahmed, he found refuge in another. In 2021, his wife Shaista Parveen joined the AIMIM only to quit and join the BSP in January 2023. Yes, the same party that Rajul Pal belonged to.

In the end, Ahmed met his end in the way as he eliminated his rivals. Gunned down in public.

With inputs from agencies

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Another day in the United States witnessed another mass shooting  this time at a sweet 16th birthday party in Alabama.

Four people have been left dead including a high school senior and 28 injured in the city of Dadeville, which is 92 kilometers northeast of Montgomery, Alabama.

That same day a shooting in Kentuckys Louisville left two dead and four injured  this just days after a gunman at a bank killed five employees.

And where did the 2024 Republican hopefuls including Donald Trump, Mike Pence, Ron DeSantis, and Nikki Haley spend their weekend?

At the National Rifle Association Convention in Indiana  vowing to stand up for guns.

Lets take a closer look at why the US gun lobby is so powerful:

What is it?

Founded by Civil War veterans in 1871, the NRA calls itself Americas longest-standing civil rights organisation.

The NRA, which claims to have an estimated five million members, is arguably Americas most powerful and high-profile lobby.

It is headed up by its controversial CEO and spokesperson Wayne LaPierre.

LaPierre, who was re-elected CEO in May, during Saturdays convention slammed gun-hating politicians and warned that his group could end their careers.

Gun-hating politicians should never go to bed unafraid of what this association and all of our millions of members can do to their political careers, LaPierre was quoted as saying by The Independent.

Wayne LaPierre says at the NRA event that gun hating politicians should never go to bed unafraid of what this association and all of our millions of members can do to their political careers  pic.twitter.com/UzQSHJkZU4  Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 14, 2023

How powerful is it?

When it comes to politics, it is extremely powerful.

Its endorsements  it usually assigns lawmakers grades from A+ to F  are thought to be the difference between a campaign winning or going down in defeat (particularly Republican campaigns but also in purple states).

The BBC quoted US research group OpenSecrets as saying that the NRA had spent more than $140 million to elect pro-gun candidates since 2010.

It spent $4.2m on lobbying in 2021 alone, the group added.

Little wonder then that an assortment of Republicans took the opportunity this weekend to make a play for its endorsement.

Trump in his speech argued that mass shootings are not a gun problem, as per Hindustan Times.

Its a scandal and a tragedy that year after year, Democrats in Washington continue to hold common-sense school safety measures hostage to their radical gun control agenda, which in virtually all cases would do nothing to prevent attacks by demented and disturbed individuals, Trump claimed.

Trump, in fact, vowed to do away with gun laws, said he would let teachers carry firearms and have security guards at the entrance of every school in America.

Others were more than happy to kiss the ring.

In fact, South Dakota governor Kristi Noem claimed that her granddaughter, just two, has both a shotgun and a rifle already, as per The Independent.

Influence waning?

However, some experts argue its powers are on the wane.

According to BBC, its membership is closer to around three million.

It also took in $97 million in membership fees in 2022  a decrease of more than 40 per cent from 2018.

The NRA is also in a fight for its existence with New York Attorney-General Letitia James.

James sued the NRA in August 2020, alleging executives diverted tens of millions of dollars for lavish personal trips, no-show contracts for associates and other questionable expenditures. The NRA chief LaPierre and three others who have worked for the organization were also sued.

The NRA countersued, alleging James  who once called the NRA a terrorist organization  was motivated by political hostility.

The group, which is headquartered in Virginia, filed for bankruptcy protection in New York (where it was chartered as a non-profit) in January 2022.

However, it is important to note that despite a poll in February showing that Americans dissatisfaction with US gun laws increased to 63 per cent  a seven point increase over the past year  politicians on both sides of the aisle remain wary of directly challenging the NRA.

This, despite the country witnessing 146 mass shootings and 14 mass murders in 2023 with 4,900 deaths and nearly 9,000 injuries.

With inputs from agencies

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Brazilian exports to the Arab World surged 14% in the first quarter of 2023, totalling $4.42 billion as compared to $3.88 billion during the same period last year, the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) reported.

Imports also jumped 1.7% to $2.764 billion in the first quarter of this year, as opposed to $2.718 billion during the same period in 2022.

The volume of exports and imports of goods and services between Brazil and the Arab world grew significantly in the first quarter of 2023, demonstrating the expanding robust trade relations between the countries.

Exports to KSA up

Brazilian exports to the UAE amounted to $714.07 million in the first quarter of 2023, while exports to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) stood at $750.2 million. Similarly, Brazilian exports to Egypt increased to $554.66 million in Q1 2023, as opposed to the figures recorded during the same period in 2022. Kuwait also experienced an increase in Brazilian exports, amounting to $57.08 million in the first quarter this year, while exports to Qatar reached $52.44 million.

The ABCC further stated that products such as meat, ores, slag, sugars, cereals, oil seeds and oleaginous fruits, natural or cultured pearls, precious metals, jewellery, coffee, tea, mate, and spices, were the top exported products from Brazil to the Arab world.

Osmar Chohfi, President of ABCC commented: Compared to Q1 2022, the export and import volumes in the first quarter of 2023 have increased significantly. These positive trade figures demonstrate the expanding trade relations between Brazil and the Arab world. We are continually working to strengthen and advance the bilateral trade between Brazil and the Arab region by promoting commerce and exploring more avenues of economic cooperation, as well as trade and partnership prospects between both sides. The figures are anticipated to soar in the upcoming months as the robust relations between the two sides are opening up new opportunities for Arab products in the Brazilian markets. Brazil has consistently been and will remain a reliable partner for the Arab world.

Imports rise

Furthermore, Brazilian imports from Arab countries have also experienced substantial growth in the first quarter of 2023. According to the ABCC reports, the top imported products to Brazil from the Arab nations were mineral fuels, fertilisers, aluminum, plastics, inorganic chemicals, precious metals, salt, sulphur, stones, organic chemicals, fish, cast iron, iron, and steel. The imports from the KSA stood at $691.84 million, while the imports from the UAE amounted to $356.99 million during Q1 2023.

Meanwhile, imports from Qatar stood at $179.24 million in the first quarter of this year. Imports from Egypt also witnessed a surge, amounting to $97.08 million, while imports from Kuwait increased to $88.39 million during Q1 2023.-- TradeArabia News Service
Sentenced on Monday to 25 years in prison on charges including treason, Vladimir Kara-Murza joined a growing list of Russians who have received long jail terms after speaking out against President Vladimir Putin or the invasion of Ukraine.

Here are some of the most prominent cases.

Vladimir Kara-Murza

Kara-Murza, 41, was convicted by a Moscow court over a series of interviews and speeches last year in which he condemned Russias leadership and the war in Ukraine.

The 25-year term he received was the harshest of its kind since Russia invaded its neighbour last February.

Alexei Navalny

Navalny, the most prominent opposition figure in Russia, is serving sentences totalling 11-and-a-half years at the IK-6 penal colony at Melekhovo, about 235 km (145 miles) east of Moscow.

He was convicted of fraud and contempt of court, charges that supporters and human rights groups say were trumped up to silence him. His spokeswoman said last week he was suffering severe stomach pain and weight loss, which his allies fear may be the result of slow poisoning.

Ilya Yashin

Opposition politician Yashin was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison in December 2022 on charges of spreading false information about the army.

He was tried over a YouTube video in which he discussed evidence uncovered by Western journalists of alleged Russian atrocities in Bucha, near Kyiv, and cast doubt on the official Moscow version that such reports had been fabricated as a provocation against Russia.

Alexei Gorinov

Gorinov, a Moscow district councillor, was jailed for seven years in July 2022 on charges of spreading false information about the armed forces. He had told a council meeting in March that children were dying every day in Ukraine.

Gorinov was the first person to be jailed under harsh new censorship laws that were passed eight days after the start of the war.

Andrei Pivovarov

Pivovarov, who had headed a now-defunct activist organisation called Open Russia, was jailed for four years in July 2022 on charges of leading an undesirable organisation.

Alexei Moskalyov

Moskalyov was investigated by police after his daughter Masha, then 12, drew an anti-war picture at school in 2022. He was alleged to have discredited the armed forces in his own social media posts, and was sentenced in March to two years in jail.

He fled house arrest the night before the verdict but was captured in Belarus and extradited back to Russia.

Ivan Safronov

In a case that predated the invasion of Ukraine, Safronov was sentenced to 22 years in prison for treason in September 2022 after prosecutors said he had disclosed state secrets.

A former defence reporter who became an adviser to the head of Russias space agency, he was arrested in 2020. He said he had revealed only information that was already in the public domain. Supporters said his harsh punishment showed Russias contempt for media freedom.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Sudan, once the largest and one of the most geographically diverse states in Africa that split into two countries in July 2011, is witnessing unprecedented violence. At least 97 civilians have been killed and another 595, including combatants have been wounded after violence broke out in the African nation on Saturday as forces loyal to two rival generals are vying for control.

The fighting that took place over the weekend has also killed an Indian, a man from Kerala identified as Albert Augestine. The Indian embassy in Sudan tweeted, It has been reported that Mr Albert Augestine, an Indian National working in a Dal Group Company in Sudan who got hit by a stray bullet yesterday succumbed to his injuries. Embassy is in touch with family and medical authorities to make further arrangements.

The Indian embassy  along with the US and UK ones  have issued advisories asking their citizens in the embattled country to take utmost precautions and stay indoors. The Indian mission also urged that those planning to travel to the African nation should defer their visit.

The violence has forced the United Nations World Food Programme to suspend operations in the country. Moreover, the US, China, Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UN Security Council, EU and African Union have appealed for a quick end to the hostilities that threaten to worsen instability in an already volatile wider region.

But why is the African nation witnessing gunfire and violence? Who are the factions involved? What has caused this? Heres what you need to know.

A struggle for power

The clashes are a result of a power struggle between the Sudan army headed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo  better known as Hemedti.

The two heads were allies until recently; they had worked together to oust former leader Omar al-Bashir in 2019 and played a pivotal role in the military coup in 2021.

Also read: Timeline | How unrest in Sudan continues since military coup that ousted Omar al-Bashir

However, various disagreements  over how the country should be run, the integration of the RSF into the countrys military  led to both sides fighting amongst themselves. These hostilities led to a fight of dominance, which is now being played out in the country.

Rivalry between army and RSF

The RSF was formed by former president Omar al-Bashir to crush a rebellion in Darfur  a western region in Sudan. The RSF, also known by the name of Janjaweed, became synonymous with widespread atrocities. It has also been accused of human rights abuses, including the massacre of more than 120 protesters in June 2019. In 2013, Bashir gave the leaders of the RSF military ranks.

Following the ouster of Bashir in 2019, a transition government dominated by civilians came into power. However, they were overthrown by the military in 2021 with the cooperation of the RSF.

Since then both groups have been competing for legitimacy and control of the country. And in recent months the ties between Burhan and Dagalo have worsened. The two powerful leaders continue to clash over how the RSF should be integrated into the armed forces and what authority should oversee the process. The army wants the transition to happen within two years while the RSF says it would take 10 years.

The weekend violence

The fighting that broke out on Saturday was the result of the members of the RSF being redeployed around the country in a move that the army saw as a threat. The Burhan-led army issued a statement as RSF forces were deployed, saying the mobilisation represented a clear violation of law.

On Saturday, the fighting began at a military base south of the capital Khartoum, with both sides accusing the other of initiating attacks. The fighting quickly spread to other parts of the city, including around the militarys headquarters, the airport and the presidential palace.

An Al Jazeera report stated that heavy artillery being fired could be heard and even fighter jets were witnessed in several districts.

The Associated Press further reported that heavy fighting involving armoured vehicles, truck-mounted machine guns and war planes raged on Sunday in Khartoum, adjoining city of Omdurman. Fighting was also reported around Khartoum International Airport and state television headquarters.

Satellite images analysed by the Associated Press showed columns of black smoke covering the sky over the capitals airport. The images by Maxar Technologies showed two large planes on fire, and four others damaged. Airlines have suspended flights to the Sudanese capital.

Residents have been holed up in their houses. Khartoum has become a battlefield, Tahani Abass, a prominent Sudanese rights advocate, told Sky News, adding, The situation is very dire, and we dont know when it will be ended.

Three UN World Food Programme (WFP) workers were among those killed in the clashes. Another two were injured while carrying out duties and a humanitarian aircraft was damaged, seriously impacting WFPs work, a spokesperson said.

On Sunday, the two factions agreed to a three-hour humanitarian pause from 4 pm to 7 pm local time. However, gunfire could still be heard and plumes of smoke continued to be seen in live telecasts from Khartoum.

The worlds response

The international community has condemned the violence, calling for an immediate halt to the battle. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the outbreak of fighting and called for calm.

The Secretary-General calls on the leaders of the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces to immediately cease hostilities, restore calm and initiate a dialogue to resolve the current crisis, said Stephane Dujarric, Guterress spokesman.

Antony Blinken of the US said the situation in Sudan was fragile but insisted there was still an opportunity to complete a transition to a civilian-led government.

Even China expressed concern with its ministry of foreign affairs urging both sides to pursue a ceasefire and prevent further escalation.

Consequences for Sudan

When the fighting will end is unclear, but there are grave repercussions for Sudan if the violence continues. The fighting could fragment an already broken country and worsen political turbulence. Moreover volatility in Sudan will affect its neighbours  Ethiopia, Chad and South Sudan.

Even though Sudan is one of Africas poorest countries, its natural resources and its strategic location on the Red Sea make it an important country when it comes to geopolitics. Russia is keen to establish a naval base on the coast, a move that Washington wants to prevent. Also, the US doesnt want the nation to return to the days when it hosted terrorists groups like Osama Bin Ladens Al-Qaeda.

However, even as diplomats from the country and outside try to put a stop to the violence and move Sudan to a civilian rule, it is the ordinary man in Sudan who will have to endure this uncertainty and live with a fear for their lives.

With inputs from your agencies

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
The fighting in Sudan has entered its third day as the capital Khartoum woke up to explosions and gunfire. Close to 100 civilians have been killed and hundreds more injured.

The clashes first erupted on Saturday following days of tension between the military led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti.

Why are the two military leaders at loggerheads? What does Hemedti want?

Why have tensions erupted in Sudan?

After the October 2021 coup which saw the arrest of civilian members of a power-sharing transitional council including Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, Sudan has been run by a council of generals. Al-Burhan and Hemedti are the two main military men at the centre of the dispute.

al-Burhan heads the countrys armed forces and is in effect its de facto head of state. Hemedti is his deputy and the leader of the RSF.

The two have had a fallout over the proposed move over toward civilian rule. A bone of contention is the plan to include the RSF in the military and its possible new leader.

According to analyst Kholood Khair, a December framework agreement for the deal ratcheted up tensions between al-Burhan and Hemedti, when it elevated Hemedtis position into Burhans equal, rather than his deputy.

The ongoing violence started after rising tension between the army and the RSF as members of the paramilitary were deployed across the country. The army looked at this as a threat.

It is unclear who instigated the fighting on Saturday but the RSF has claimed that it has seized control of the presidential palace and two international airports, including the one in Khartoum. However, the army has denied the claims.

The two sides observed a temporary ceasefire to allow the evacuation of wounded on Sunday but the fighting has now resumed. Hemedti told CNN on Sunday that the army had broken a United Nations-brokered humanitarian ceasefire.

Who is Hemedti?

The RSF is influential in the northeast African nation because of General Dagalo, known as Hemedti, or Little Mohamed. He rose to prominence in the country after he helped topple President Omar al-Bashir in 2019 and then quelled pro-democracy protests.

Today, Hemedti is among the most powerful and richest men in Sudan but he was once a camel trader with no formal education. He was reportedly forced to take up arms in the western region of Darfur after his trade convoy was attacked, 60 of his family members killed, and his camels looted. There was rising tension in Darfur in 2003 after mostly non-Arab rebels rose against Khartoum, according to a report in Reuters.

He formed the Janjaweed, a conglomeration of Arab tribal militias mostly drawn from camel-trading tribes, which he later transformed into the RSF. He caught the attention of President al-Bashir, who had turned to the Janjaweed to fight non-Arab people who were revolting against his rule in Darfur.

Al-Bashir and other top officials were charged with genocide in Darfur, where 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million were displaced. However, there were no charges against Hemedti.

The then-Sudanese president became increasingly dependent on Hemedti. A tall imposing figure, he is said to be cunning. Al-Bashir relied on the militia leader to fight enemies in Darfur and other parts of Sudan.

Also read: Sudan conflict kills 97: The fight between rival generals for the control of the nation, explained

Hemedti became the lieutenant general and had complete control  he seized gold mines in Darfur, sold Sudans valuable resources and became wealthy. His family soon owned gold mines and had business interests in livestock and infrastructure.

Im not the first man to have gold mines. Its true, we have gold mines and theres nothing preventing us from working in gold, Hemedti said in a BBC interview.

It was under al-Bashir that Hemedti gained all power but that did not stop him from overthrowing the president in 2019 and ending his nearly 30-year rule. Al-Bashir was facing mass protests with the call growing for democracy and putting an end to the economic woes in Sudan.

After the departure of the al-Bashir, a civilian-military partnership was set up and Hemedti was at the centre of it. Since then, he has wanted a say in the future of Sudan.

He spoke of the need for democracy, met Western ambassadors and held talks with rebel groups, reports Reuters. But he did everything to crush dissent and the RSF played a big role.

How powerful is the RSF?

The RSF, created in 2013, emerged from the Janjaweed fighters and its forces were used as border guards. In 2015, the heavily armed militia was deployed alongside regular Sudanese forces in the civil war in Yemen as part of the Saudi-led coalition, which helped boost Hemedtis profile abroad.

It was granted the status of a regular force, and in 2017, a law legitimising the RSF as an independent security force was passed, reports Al Jazeera.

According to experts, the force has also been involved in the conflict in neighbouring Libya.

After the ouster of al-Bashir, the RSF cracked down on a protest camp outside the Ministry of Defence in 2019, killing more than 100 people. Hemedti denied ordering the assault. Two years later, the military and the RSF staged a coup.

However, since then the rivalry between al-Burhan and Hemedti has intensified.

Today, the RSF has about 100,000 members. Over the past two years, Hemedti ran a rapid recruitment campaign that helped grow the RSFs ranks, according to a report in Washington Post.

The RSF troops come largely from western Sudan, near Darfur, and areas long neglected by the government, including regions in the east near the Red Sea and along the border with South Sudan, experts say. They also include child soldiers.

Now this strong growing force outside the army is leading to instability in the region.

What happens next?

Hemedti and the RSF are seeking legitimacy in the region. He wants a constitutional role in the country, Cameron Hudson, an expert on African peace and security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told The Post. He has tried to depict himself as an everyman standing up for Sudans marginalised areas, he said.

But as Hemedti became wealthy and others plundered villages, the belief in the RSF dwindled.

As the conflict continues, experts say the Sudanese army is more powerful. It has an advantage over the RSF, which has fought in rural areas. This gives the formal military an upper hand in cities such as Khartoum.

According to experts, the relationship between al-Burhan and Hemedti was a marriage of convenience. Independent researcher and policy analyst Hamid Khalafallah told AFP, It was never a genuine alliance or partnership, they just had to tie their interests together to face the civilians as a united military front.

The rift widened after Hemedti called the coup a mistake.

With both generals out for blood, Khair finds it unlikely theyll come to the negotiating table without one or both of them suffering heavy losses. The longer they battle it out in city streets, she said, the higher the civilian toll climbs and the harder it will be for either general to rule over the wreckage.

Both sides are strong enough that any war between them will be extremely costly, deadly and long, Alan Boswell, Horn of Africa director at the International Crisis Group, told AFP. Even with a partial victory for either side in Khartoum, war will continue elsewhere in the country, dividing up Sudan into strongholds.

With inputs from agencies

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Paris: Sudan has been gripped by intense fighting between the army and rival paramilitaries who disagree over a plan to restore civilian rule 18 months after a military coup.

The putsch upended a democratic transition begun after the ouster of long-ruling autocrat Omar al-Bashir.

AFP looks back on key developments since the coup:

25 October 2021: Coup

On 25 October 2021, the army arrests civilian members of a power-sharing transitional council installed after the militarys ouster of Bashir in April 2019 following a popular uprising.

Those arrested include Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.

A state of emergency is declared and security forces kill seven protesters and wound dozens in the violence.

The United States and the World Bank suspend vital aid to Sudan.

11 November: General becomes leader

The African Union suspends Sudan.

Sudans de facto leader since Bashirs overthrow, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, forms a new ruling council which he leads.

The main bloc demanding a transfer to civilian rule is excluded.

21 November: PM returns

On 21 November, Burhan agrees to restore the transition to civilian rule, with elections slated for July 2023.

Hamdok is reinstated as premier. Several civilian leaders are released.

But the crackdown on pro-democracy protests continues, prompting Hamdok to resign in January 2022.

4 July 2022: Military to step aside

UN-brokered negotiations start in early June but are quickly broken off due to a boycott by civilian groups.

On 4 July, Burhan says the army will quit the talks in order to allow civilian groups to form a government. The announcement is met with widespread scepticism.

5 December: Preliminary deal

Sudans military, paramilitary and most civilian leaders sign an interim deal on 5 December aimed at restoring the civilian transition within two years.

Protesters complain the accord ignores their demands for justice for the more than 120 pro-democracy demonstrators killed since Burhans coup.

January 2023: Negotiations

Military and civilian leaders meet to discuss contentious aspects of the deal. These include the integration into the regular army of the feared paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), born out of the notorious Janjaweed militia that terrorised the western Darfur region in the early 2000s.

13 April: Dangerous tensions

Tensions emerge between the army and RSF over the proposed integration.

Burhans deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the RSF, says the 2021 coup was a mistake that has invigorated remnants of Bashirs regime, remarks seen as referring to Burhan.

The planned signing of a final deal on democratic transition is twice postponed.

On 13 April, the army warns Sudan is at a dangerous turning point.

15 April: Fighting erupts

On 15 April, explosions and gunfire rock the capital Khartoum.

The paramilitaries and army accuse each other of starting the fight.

Also Read: EgyptAir suspends flights to and from Sudan capital over security concerns

The RSF says it controls Khartoum airport and the presidential palace. The army, which carries out air strikes on RSF bases, insists it is still in charge.

Fighting also erupts in Darfur, where three UN World Food Programme employees are killed.

16 April: Death toll rises

The Rome-based WFP says it has suspended its operations in Sudan temporarily after the death of its employees.

A Sudanese doctors group reports 56 civilians killed and tens of deaths in the security forces.

Civilian leaders call for an immediate ceasefire, as do the African Union, United Nations and others.

Both the army and RSF agree to a UN proposal for an hours-long humanitarian corridor, but heavy gunfire is still heard in Khartoum.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
If not for the 2020 election, most people would not have heard of Dominion Voting Systems, an elections technology company that John Poulos started out of his basement in Canada more than two decades ago.

But in the days and weeks after the election, former president Donald Trump and many of his allies accused the company of perpetrating election fraud. Dominion then filed a slew of defamation lawsuits against public figures and news networks, accusing them of spreading the false narratives and exposing its employees to harassment.

The companys case against Fox News is scheduled to go to trial this week. Judge Eric M Davis, who is presiding over the case, said in a statement late Sunday that he was delaying the trial by a day, until Tuesday.

Here is what we know about the company, from its private equity owner in New York to its powerful perch in the nations elections industry.

Dominions Early Days

Dominion became one of the largest providers of election technology in the United States by selling, licensing and maintaining products such as its Democracy Suite software and ImageCast voting and tabulation machines. During the 2020 election, the company served 28 states, including many swing states, as well as Puerto Rico.

Poulos, who has degrees in electrical engineering and business, incorporated Dominion in Toronto in 2003 with some friends after a stint in Silicon Valley. His sister was his first investor, followed by his parents and his friends parents. (Dominion declined to comment for this article.)

The company is named after Canadas 1920 Dominion Elections Act, which removed barriers to voting that had excluded women and voters of certain racial, religious or economic groups. Poulos business idea was to help people with disabilities, such as paralysis or blindness, cast their ballots as independently as possible while still leaving an auditable paper trail. Dominion incorporated accessible technology such as audio readouts and large screens into election machines.

The company scored its first American contract in 2009, providing voting technology to dozens of counties in New York. The next year, it moved its headquarters to Denver, where it now has several hundred employees.

Private Equity Owners

Staple Street Capital, a private equity firm in New York, is the majority owner of Dominion. Poulos, Dominions CEO, retains a roughly 12 per cent stake. PennantPark Investment, a financial firm based in Miami, is another investor.

Fox said in a legal filing that Staple Street paid $38.3 million in 2018 to acquire 76.2 per cent of Dominion.

At the time, the private equity firm valued the technology vendor at $80 million, or one-twentieth of the $1.6 billion in damages that Dominion is seeking from Fox, according to Foxs filing.

Staple Streets owners, Stephen D. Owens and Hootan Yaghoobzadeh, first worked together in 1998 on buyouts for the Carlyle Group, a private equity giant. (Their resumes also feature stints at Lehman Brothers and Cerberus Capital Management.) The firms board of directors includes a former CEO of Dunkin Brands as well as a former chair of the Federal Communications Commission and ambassador to the European Union.

Staple Street declined to comment.

On its website, Staple Street says it has $900 million in assets under management  mostly midsize companies such as a flower bulb distributor in New Jersey, an accounting and payroll reporting service popular with restaurant chains, a support organization for dental clinics and, at one point, theme park operator Six Flags.

Fox said in its filing that Yaghoobzadeh had authorized Dominions lawsuit against the network. The lawsuit, Fox said, is meant to generate publicity, deter negative reporting and unjustly enrich Staple Street.

Fox cited discovery documents that it said showed Dominion in a solid financial position, maintaining substantial cash, carrying no debt and producing a steady return on investment to Staple Street. In 2021, Dominion paid full bonuses to its employees and executives and projected $98 million in revenue for 2022, Fox said.

Last year, when asked whether he believed that Dominion was a toxic company after the 2020 election, Owens answered, Thats correct.

A Business in Flux

In its complaint, which it filed in 2021, Dominion accused Fox of broadcasting lies that deeply damaged its once-thriving business, one of the fastest-growing technology companies in North America with a potential value of more than $1 billion.

Shasta County, a rural area in Northern California that has become a hotbed for election denial, terminated its Dominion contract in January. Lawmakers in Montgomery County in Pennsylvania renewed a deal with Dominion for $518,052 in February, the same month that officials in Kern County, north of Los Angeles, narrowly approved a three-year, $672,948 contract after hours of heated debate.

Dominions contracts with local and state governments typically last for several years and range from tens of thousands of dollars to more than $100 million, the company said in its complaint against Fox. The company estimated that misinformation about the company had cost it more than $600 million in profits.

In an expert witness report submitted in the case late last year, Mark J. Hosfield, a managing director of investment bank and advisory firm Stout, wrote that the false narratives had led Dominion to lose $88 million in profits from current and future opportunities. He also wrote that Foxs coverage had caused the value of Dominions equity and debt to drop $920.8 million. Dominions renewal rate with clients had historically been 90 per cent, he said.

Fox has said the $1.6 billion that Dominion is seeking is a staggering figure that has no factual support and was pulled out of thin air. There has been no evidence of Dominions laying off employees, closing offices, defaulting on credit obligations or suffering cancelled contracts as a result of Foxs coverage, the network said.

Fox said in other court filings last year that Dominions calculations are riddled with mathematical overstatements and losses misattributed to damaging news coverage, and that the company had beaten revenue forecasts that it set before the election.

Dominions lawsuit is a political crusade in search of a financial windfall, but the real cost would be cherished First Amendment rights, Fox said in a statement.

Dominion, in a statement said: In the coming weeks, we will prove Fox spread lies causing enormous damage to Dominion. We look forward to trial.

A Small Club

The elections technology industry has few major players and offers little public information about its finances. Dominion is most likely the second-largest company of its kind operating in the United States, behind Election Systems & Software in Nebraska, according to Verified Voting, an election security non-profit.

Both companies, along with Hart InterCivic in Texas, have acquired smaller competitors over the past two decades. As of 2016, the three vendors served more than 90 per cent of eligible voters in the country, according to a report from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Wharton researchers at that point described the election technology business as having all the aspects of an industry that new investors would want to avoid  a costly regulatory environment, constrained market size, cost-conscious customers, and concentrated and entrenched vendors.

The Brennan Center for Justice estimated last year that replacing outdated voting equipment over the next five years could cost more than $580 million. A group of Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, sent letters in 2019 to Staple Street and other private equity firms that had invested in election technology companies, voicing concern about industry consolidation and the maintenance of voting machines. In response, Staple Street wrote to Warren that it spent roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent of its revenue on research and development.

Tiffany Hsu c.2023 The New York Times Company

With inputs from agencies

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
On Monday, Russian Opposition leader and Putin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

The 41-year-old was convicted of treason and sentenced to 25 years in prison for publicly the Ukraine war.

But who is Kara-Murza?

Lets take a closer look:

Who is he?

Kara Murza is a historian, journalist, and Opposition leader who holds dual Russian and British citizenship.

He went to Cambridge University where he received an MA (Cantab.) in History, as per the NATO website.

According to the website Bellingcat, Kara-Murza began his journalism career at 16.

According to Frontline, Kara-Murza was an adviser to Opposition leader Boris Nemtsov  who was assassinated near the Kremlin  from 2000 to 2003.

He also stood as a candidate for Parliament in 2003.

Kara-Murza founded the Nemtsov Foundation and served as deputy chief of the Peoples Freedom Party.

He was also vice-president of Open Russia and the Free Russia Foundation  groups the Kremlin labelled undesirable.

He was a critical figure in the implementation of the Magnitsky Act, as per Bellingcat.

The law lets Washington freeze the overseas assets of Russian officials and high-profile figures linked to Vladimir Putin who have committed human rights abuses.

Kara-Murza served as Washington bureau chief of Russian independent TV station RTVI between 2004 and 2012.

According to the NATO website, Kara-Murza has received a slew of awards including the Sakharov Prize for Journalism as an Act of Conscience, the Magnitsky Human Rights Award, and the Geneva Summit Courage Award.

He is married and has three children.

Tussle with Russian authorities

Kara-Murza in 2015 and 2017 fell sick twice in what he said were poisonings by the Russian security services.

Though he recovered from both incidents despite twice falling into a coma, his lawyers say Kara-Murza has been left with a serious nerve disorder called polyneuropathy as a result.

Russian authorities have denied involvement in the incidents.

He has been one of a small number of Opposition politicians who remained active in Russia after it invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and publicly condemned the war in defiance of new censorship laws.

Kara-Murza has continued to speak out against President Vladimir Putin despite the mounting risks.

Kara-Murza, Alexei Navalny and more: The growing list of Vladimir Putin critics facing long jail terms

He was arrested in April 2022, hours after CNN broadcast an interview in which he said Russia was being run by a regime of murderers.

He was declared a foreign agent and accused of spreading false information about the actions of the Russian military in Ukraine in connection with a speech he had given the previous month in the Arizona House of Representatives, where he said Putin was dropping cluster bombs on residential areas, mothers homes, hospitals, and schools.

In July he was additionally charged over his involvement with two foreign-based opposition forums that are labelled by the Russian state as undesirable.

Finally, on 6 October, he was charged with treason over public speeches he had made in Lisbon, Helsinki and Washington.

Kara-Murzas health has deteriorated in custody, leading to the development of polyneuropathy  disease of or damage to nerves  in both his feet, according to his lawyers.

Russia will be free

Prosecutors requested a 25-year jail term.

The trial was held behind closed doors but Kara-Murzas wife and lawyer released a copy of a speech he delivered to the court. He said he had done nothing wrong and compared the proceedings to Josef Stalins show trials of the 1930s.

Criminals are supposed to repent of what they have done. I, on the other hand, am in prison for my political views. I also know that the day will come when the darkness over our country will dissipate, said Kara-Murza, who has described the entire case against him as being based on political vengeance.

After hearing hed been ordered to spend the next 25 years in a maximum-security penal colony, Kara-Murza, who had calmly listened to proceedings inside a glass courtroom cage, said Russia will be free, a well-known Opposition slogan.

He also smiled and  according to one of his lawyers, Maria Eismont  said he regarded the harsh sentence as recognition of his effective work as an opposition politician.

When he heard hed got 25 years he said: My self-esteem has gone up, I understand that I did everything right. Its the highest score I could have got for what I did, for what I believed in as a citizen and a patriot,' she said.

I know that the day will come when the darkness engulfing our country will dissipate, Kara-Murza, a father of three, told the court in remarks that were posted on his Twitter account.

This day will come as inevitably as spring comes to replace even the frostiest winter.

Amnesty International has denounced Kara-Murzas sentence as yet another chilling example of the systematic repression of civil society, which has broadened and accelerated under the Kremlin since Russias invasion of Ukraine last year.

With inputs from agencies

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
The war in Russia-Ukraine continues to rage on and after over 400 days cracks continue to appear in the Western solidarity to Kyiv. First it was Frances Emmanuel Macron with his comments on China and Taiwan and now it is Poland and Hungary.

Over the weekend, both the European nations announced that they were banning imports of grain and other food from neighbouring Ukraine and that the bans would continue until 30 June.

What is the reason for such a move? How does it impact the ongoing war? We take a closer look and give you all the answers.

Food grain ban

On Saturday, leader of Polands governing party, Jarosaw Kaczynski, said, Today, the government has decided on a regulation that prohibits the importation of grain, but also dozens of other types of food, to Poland.

Otherwise it would lead to a far-reaching crisis of Polands farming sector We have to protect Polish agriculture, he added. Speaking at a convention of his right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party in the northern village of Lyse, Kaczynski stressed that Poland remained a staunch supporter of neighbouring Ukraine. We remain, without even the slightest change, friends and allies of Ukraine, he said.

Poland has been a vocal and active supporter of Ukraine during the war, handing over tanks and pledging fighter jets to the country.

Also read: What is the grain deal Russia has suspended? What does this mean for the world?

The government announced that the ban on imports would last until June 30 and includes a prohibition on imports of sugar, eggs, meat, milk and other dairy products and fruits and vegetables.

Polish agriculture minister Robert Telus was also quoted as saying, The increasing imports of agricultural products from Ukraine cause serious disturbances in the markets of our countries, great damage to producers and social unrest. We cannot accept a situation where the entire burden of dealing with increased imports rests mainly with farmers from our countries.

On Sunday, the countrys Economic Development and Technology Minister Waldemar Buda clarified that the ban applied to goods in transit as well as those staying in Poland.

Following in Polands footsteps, Hungary too announced that they would be banning the import of agricultural products from Ukraine. Minister of Agriculture Istvan Nagy took to Facebook to announce the ban, saying that the Hungarian government is committed to representing the interests of its farming community.

It further added that the continuation of the current domestic market processes would cause serious damage to Hungarian agriculture, so extraordinary measures must be put in place to hinder them.

Why the bans though

The bans are a result of the Russia-Ukraine war. When Vladimir Putin-led Russia invaded Ukraine last year in February it blocked ports and sea routes used to export Ukrainian grain to Africa and the Middle East.

One must understand that Ukraine is called the bread basket of the world, exporting food grains across the globe. In fact, when Moscow initially blocked the ports, food prices had risen drastically causing food shortages.

Fearing the worst consequences, the European Union then lifted duties on grain from Ukraine to ease distribution to those global markets. However, instead of the grain transiting seamlessly onto global markets, it has remained in Poland and caused a grain glut.

Also read: From Argentina to Turkey, countries that have stopped overseas food trade

This grain glut has brought down the prices drastically, causing massive losses to the Polish farming community. The farmers in Poland, who make up a significant number, have expressed their anger over the Ukraine grain. Earlier in the month, farmers took to the streets protesting the grain glut as Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy made his way to Warsaw.

On 12 April, farmers attempted to blockade the rail line on the border with Ukraine, but a cordon of police cars prevented them from doing so. The waves of protests also led to Polish agriculture minister Henryk Kowalczyk to resign.

The issue has become a headache for the Polish government in an election year. Polls show that it is the most popular party in the country but could fall short of a majority in the next parliament. It faces a particular challenge from a far-right party, Confederation, which combines libertarian and nationalist views and which contains some members seen as sympathetic to Russia. The party has grown to be the third-most popular party in some polls.

And its not just Poland that is voicing displeasure about the Ukraine grain glut. Bulgaria has also voiced its displeasure with the Agriculture Minister Yavor Gechev being quoted by CNN as saying, Bulgaria is in solidarity with Ukraine, but a local glut is being created on the agricultural market, because instead of export corridors our countries are becoming warehouses.

Crying foul over ban

Reacting to the news of the ban, Ukraine said the move contradicts bilateral trade agreements. A statement by Ukraines agriculture ministry said it had always been sympathetic to the situation in the Polish agricultural sector and responded promptly to various challenges.

At present, unilateral drastic actions will not accelerate the positive resolution of the situation, it added.

The European Commission voiced its displeasure over Warsaw and Budapests decision. Miriam Garcia Ferrer, commission spokesperson for trade and agriculture, was quoted by the Financial Times as saying: Trade policy is of EU exclusive competence and, therefore, unilateral actions are not acceptable. In such challenging times, it is crucial to co-ordinate and align all decisions within the EU.

Cracks in the alliance

The tensions over grains is at odds with these countries political position on Ukraine, barring Hungary. Most of the nations have supported Kyiv in its war against Moscow. Poland has taken in millions of Ukrainian refugees, while weapons and ammunition flow in the opposite direction; Romania has helped transport millions of tons of Ukrainian corn and wheat.

This change of heart has been noticed by Western governments with one official telling Politico, Curious to see that some of these countries are (always) asking for more on sanctions, more on ammunition, etc. But when it affects them, they turn to Brussels begging for financial support.

This comes on the heels of French president Emmanuel Macrons an ally not a vassal remark in connection to Taiwan. The comment irked Europe as it displayed the fault lines in the alliance.

One Member of European Parliament said that the French leader did not speak for the EU. Macron says, Europe should and we Europeans, but he speaks for France, he cant really speak for Europe.

Norbert Rottgen, a German centre-right MP who is a member and former chair of the Bundestags foreign affairs committee, told The Guardian that Macron had turned his trip to China into a PR coup for Xi and a foreign policy disaster for Europe. With his idea of sovereignty, which he defines in demarcation rather than partnership with the USA, he is increasingly isolating himself in Europe.

We dont know what will happen next, but it is obvious that the drawn-out war is wearing thin on Europe.

With inputs from agencies

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
New Delhi: With no sign of de-escalations in the ongoing three-year military standoff with China in eastern Ladakh, top Indian Army generals begin five-day conference to extensively review the operational situation, combat readiness and infrastructure along the LAC.

The Army Commanders Conference (ACC) will be chaired by General Manoj Pande. Indias Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be addressing the conference on Wednesday (19 April) where he will also review an equipment display focussing on niche technology, innovation, solutions for surveillance, artificial intelligence, training, robotics, virtual reality and operational logistics.

India-China border standoff

During the ACC, top Indian defence officers will also brainstorm the current and emerging security scenarios and get an update on the tri-service Andaman and Nicobar Command.

The operational preparedness along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the three sectors  western (Ladakh), middle (Uttarakhand, Himachal) and eastern (Sikkim, Arunachal)  will be analysed amid reports of China strengthening its military positions and infrastructure along the frontier.

A talk on future contours of Indo-China relations is also planned by Vijay Gokhale, former Ambassador to China.

For the first time, the ACC is being held in a hybrid format, with the commanders-in-chief of the different commands in the country meeting virtually on Monday and then travelling to capital New Delhi.

National security challenges along borders with Pakistan

During the ACC, the top defence commanders of India will review in detail the countrys national security challenges along the borders with Pakistan and ways to enhance the combat capability.

The conference will also focus on the ongoing reform process in the 1.3 million-strong force and the use of high technologies including artificial intelligence, robotics and virtual reality for various purposes.

The Armys plan as part of Year of Transformation-2023 along with progress on the Agnipath scheme and ambitious digitisation and automation initiatives will also be discussed in the five-day conference.

Bathinda killings to be a key focus

The top commanders will discuss the mysterious shootout inside the Bathinda military cantonment on Wednesday (12 April) that saw four sleeping soldiers being gunned down. An Army jawan was arrested in connection with the killing of the soldiers.

Held twice a year, the ACC plans and executes process of the Indian Army that undertakes a 360-degree look at the current emerging perspectives on issues relating to operations, logistics, administration, human resources and welfare.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Shillong: The northeastern city of Shillong began hosting G20s Space Economy Leaders Meeting (SELM) on Monday. The meeting will conclude on 18 April.

The inaugural ceremony of the SELM pre-cursor event was attended by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, MoS Dr Jitendra Singh and G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant who extended a warm welcome to delegates present at the event.

The pre-cursor event was organised by Indian Space Research Organisation. Talking to reporters, Principal Secretary, P Shakeel Ahmed said that representatives from the Space Agency of Russia, the Chinese Government, Ministers as well as ten Ambassadors will be attending the meeting.

Ahmed said, Apart from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), there will be exhibits by the startups of the space economy sector. We would also showcase our cultural heritage and events.

He added that hosting the delegates will help showcase and benchmark Meghalaya as a prime destination for tourism, investment and development, according to a press release.

Northeast States play a very important role for us. Because of the hilly areas, the potential is more. In harsh conditions, the space application is the best. The Northeast Space Application Centre is doing great. We want to showcase that these areas have huge potential for the space industries to come and invest. Our next event will be held in Bengaluru on the 6th and 7th of July. This is a precursor to that main event, said the ISRO Director citing that space technology serves best to predict weather conditions with high probability.

With inputs from agencies

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a two-day Global Buddhist Summit, to be held later this week in Delhi.

Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy on Monday said the Summit will witness the participation of eminent Buddhist monks, scholars and delegates from various parts of the world, adding that the conference will be held at The Ashok hotel on April 20-21.

The theme of the Conference is Responses to Contemporary Challenges from Philosophy to Praxis.

The prime minister will inaugurate the conference that will be the first of its kind, given its scale and the stature of participants, Reddy said. Eminent Buddhist monks, scholars, ambassadors and diplomats from various foreign countries will take part in the summit, which will be hosted by the Union Ministry of Culture along with the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC), he told reporters.

The minister said delegates from nearly 30 countries apart from India are scheduled to attend the mega event.

Delegates from Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Russia, among others, will attend the event, IBC Director-General Abhijit Halder said.

Asked if any delegate from China will attend the event, Halder said an invitation was sent but no specific response has been received.

He said the IBC network spans the world and invitations were sent to institutions and not governments.

Halder was also asked if Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama will attend. We have sent the invite but due to (his) health issues, we are still awaiting confirmation, he added.

Halder said the conference was first envisioned in 2020 but could not take place at the time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Then it was difficult to bring together top monks from various countries at one time in one place, he added.

Reddy said India is the birthplace of Buddhism and the land of the Buddha.

Therefore, it is our responsibility to showcase our Buddhist history and heritage to the wider world and the conference is in line with that vision of the country and the current government led by PM Modi, he added.

Reddy was also asked if the foreign delegates will visit various Buddhist sites in the country. The minister said, Delegates may visit different sites and the government of India will help coordinate their visits so that we can showcase our monuments and sites associated with Buddhism.

(With inputs from PTI)

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Saudi Ceramic Company said it has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with leading Turkish sanitaryware group Eczacibasi Yapi Gerecleri (EYAP) to conduct a feasibility study for the establishment of a new venture in Saudi Arabia that will specialise in the manufacture of sanitaryware and its accessories.

A leading provider of key building solutions, Saudi Ceramics said as per the LOI, all the factories and assets of the sanitaryware segment of Saudi Ceramics Company will get transferred to the new company once the deal is sealed.

The LOI, which is valid for six months, will see the companies carry out due diligence from all relevant aspects, perform necessary assessments and finalise the negotiations as well as sign the relevant agreements.

Saudi Ceramics pointed out that the duo will also apply to the concerned authorities for getting the necessary approvals.

Eczacbas Group is a leading Turkish group that has amongst its other activities, a segment for building materials and sanitaryware, as well as several major brands (the most renowned of which is Vitra). It also owns factories for sanitaryware and accessories in Turkiye and abroad.-TradeArabia News Service
Panaji: The second Health Working Group meeting will be held in the southwestern Indian city of Goa under Indias G20 presidency from Monday. The three-day-long meeting will conclude on 19 April.

.@DrBharatippawar, MoS (HFW) delivered the keynote address today at the inaugural session of the 2nd #G20India Health Working Group meeting in Goa. The three day mega event will hold meaningful conversations around health, ensuring #UniversalHealthCoverage. @PMOIndia @g20org pic.twitter.com/0SamYhrvrB  Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) April 17, 2023

The high-level meeting will be attended by around 180 delegates from 19 G20 member countries, 10 invited states and 22 international organizations, according to a statement by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The meeting will hold discussions around three priorities that have been identified by the G20 Health Track.

The first priority is to focus on Health Emergencies Prevention, Preparedness and Response with special emphasis on One Health and AMR (antimicrobial resistance). The delegates will then discuss ways to increase the accessibility and availability of safe, effective, quality and affordable medical countermeasures. Lastly, the meeting will hold a discussion on Digital Health Innovations and Solutions to Aid Universal Health Coverage and Improve Healthcare Service Delivery.

Along with holding important meetings, the delegates will also have a chance to experience the local Goan culture. The cultural ministry has arranged various traditional programs for the participants to showcase Indias rich diversity and culture based on the Indian philosophy of Atithi Devo Bhava.

The Health Track of the G20 India Presidency will comprise four Health Working Group (HWG) Meetings and one Health Ministerial Meeting (HMM).

India plans to host four side events along with HWG meetings to enrich, supplement and support G20 discussions. A side event on Digital Health will be held on the sidelines of the second meeting of HWG at Goa on April 18-19.

With inputs from agencies

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Amritsar: A girl who had the Tricolour painted on her face was denied entry into the Golden Temple, a religious place of Sikhs in northern Indian state of Punjab. A video of the incident went viral on Monday, 17 April.

The incident, which left social media divided also saw Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) General Secretary Gurucharan Singh Grewal apologised for any misbehaviour but add that the flag painted on the girls face was not a tricolour.

In the clip which has now gone viral shows the girl and a man confronting the person who did not allow them entry into the gurudwara in Amritsar. On being asked why the girl was denied entrance, the person said: She has a flag on her face. When the girl said that it was an Indian flag, he said, This is Punjab, not India.

1) A girl was stopped from entering Golden Temple because she had an Indian flag painted on her face. The man who denied her entry into Golden Temple said, this is Punjab not India. pic.twitter.com/IfUi74poIk  Anshul Saxena (@AskAnshul) April 17, 2023

News agency ANI quoted Grewal saying, "This is a Sikh shrine. Every religious place has its own decorum...We welcome everyone...We apologise if an official misbehaved...The flag on her face was not our national flag as it didn't have Ashoka Chakra. It could have been a political flag."

The incident comes amid growing tensions regarding Sikh separatist movement in Punjab.

These concerns have recently seen a spike, with police hunting the self-described separatist Amritpal Singh and reporters pointing out sightings caught on CCTV cameras.

There has been increasing tensions in Punjab over the last few years with some members from the Sikh religion calling for an independent state called Khalistan.

Social media users pointed out that while a girl with a tricolour was denied entry by a Gurudwara personnell claiming that it is not India but Punjab, Khalistani flags and posters of terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale are allowed inside the religious site.

With inputs from agencies

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
As the International Monetary Fund slashes Pakistans growth to a mere 0.5 per cent, and there is no sign at all of the promised funds, yet the Cabinet Committee on National Security issued notice that it was set to launch an all-out comprehensive operation against terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Such operations dont come cheap, not to mention taking a toll on the army. But it seems the establishment is on board, and thats all that matters in Pakistan.

The big men meet

The meeting of the National Security Committee, chaired by the Prime Minister and attended by service chiefs, key cabinet members and intelligence heads, should have been one of due solemnity, considering that the formal launch of a new military operation hasnt been seen since 2016. Its a different issue that there are continuous operations going on in the tribal areas and in Balochistan throughout the year, but this promises to be a much larger effort, involving efforts at the political, diplomatic, security, economic and social levels, together with social and media platforms.

A high-level committee has also been formed to make recommendations towards its implementation. All that sounds very impressive, except that the committee also announced that talking to the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had been a huge blunder  naturally by the previous government of Imran Khan  and condemned their appeasement. Thats incredible, since all of this was sanctioned by the then Pakistani military leadership, including the rehabilitation of some 5,000 TTP cadres. Now it seems that a fresh set of khakis had decided to condemn what their seniors  specifically COAS General Qamar Bajwa  did. Its quite unprecedented.

The subtext

Then look closely at the subtext. Elections are due in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as per the Supreme courts orders. That order saw high drama after two judges of the original five-member bench, Justices Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Aminuddin Khan, recused themselves from hearing the case.

Thereafter, the CJP constituted a fresh bench to hear the petition of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf to hold the election. That led to a 3-2 verdict on March 1 for elections within 90 days. This was a suo-moto action by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial.

The government reacted with an outrageous bill to clip the wings of the Courts, with The Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill, 2023 which was passed in both houses and sent to the President for his signature. Even higher drama was to follow. On April 4, the apex court ordered the government to provide 21 billion Pakistani rupees in funds to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), to conduct elections in both states by April 10. The government referred that to Parliament.

As of the time of writing, no funds had been provided, leading to a an angry outburst from the court noting The failure of the federal government to comply with the order of the court as aforesaid is prima facie disobedience..Every person who embarks upon, encourages or instigates disobedience or defiance of the court can be held liable and accountable,. It then proceeded to summon every person concerned from the Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, to the Finance Secretary, the Attorney General and others. The government did table a bill mandating release of funds, but the tussle continues as to whether there should be joint elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab, or staggered ones. That the general public is more than aware of these machinations, and the reason for this makes it worse.

The upcoming threat

Meanwhile, the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have every reason to be more than apprehensive. Saleem Safi in Jang, (12 April 2023) notes that the present round would be far more like war. Past operations have seen youth picked up and disappeared, extra-judicial killings, houses razed, and knocks in the night. Worst for the locals have been the routine humiliation of a proud people at checkposts, all of which and more are part of the charter of demands of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement , an entirely peaceful effort lead by stalwarts like Manzoor Pashteen, which originated from the refugee camps of thousands displaced by brutal military operations.

All they want is peace in their lands and their constitutional rights. Nowhere is there even a hint of separatism, yet their leaders like Ali Wazir have been imprisoned for years, and their just demands are ignored. The Pashtuns are essentially the fiercest fighters, and it is the legacy of non violence from the days of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan or the Frontier Gandhi that has prevailed so far. That could change if a new even fiercer military operation is launched. That violence could spread quickly into other areas like Karachi, and parts of Balochistan. Thats danger number one

That Pashtun flame

The Pashtuns are a large ethnic group, numbering some 45 million, spread in an arc across Pakistan into Balochistan, Sindh and even Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. About 42 per cent of the population in Afghanistan are Pashtun, while Iran, India and Bangladesh also host minority populations, as does much of Europe.

With a history over several millennia, their modern past can be traced from the Durrani empire (1747) with the group fighting the British, and everyone else including the Soviets. These hardy fighters are now shunned in mainland Pakistan, with racially derogatory epithets used to describe them. This was most evident after a deadly terrorist attack on a mosque in Peshawar in February 2023, which led to a public denouncing of Pashtuns as terrorists.

This racial profiling has long been evident with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, condemning this in the strongest terms in 2017. Meanwhile fears are already being expressed on social media of renewed operations  with most saying that the operations have already begun.

As this sense of alienation worsens, danger number two is that a real fight for Pashtunistan may emerge, in not just the tribal areas, but also large parts of Balochistan.

So far the political wing of the Pashtun movement, the National Demoratic Front, is only pressing for provincial autonomy and resisting growing militarisation. The NDF enjoys a wide base, with stalwarts from the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), but also leaders expelled from the Awami National Party like Afrasiab Khattak and Bushra Gohar, along with rights activists and workers from the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party.

If brutal military operations are launched, leaders like Mohsin Dawar may be unable to stop the demand from shifting to a separate homeland for Pashtuns, which would then be difficult to roll back. Thats danger number two.

The violent factor

That terror attacks are worsening is clear. Data from the Pakistan based Centre for Research and Security Studies, indicates that 2022 ended as the deadliest month for Pakistans security personnel for over a decade with an alleged triad formed between Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Daesh-Afghanistan.

There is little else to support this claim, since the BLA has little truck with religious extremism. The Security forces have however suffered heavily with 282 personnel lost, and 40 fatalities just in December last year.

KP was the worst hit with fatalities rising by 108 per cent. Since then, there has been a welter of almost daily attacks against security forces, including against the Brigadier of the ISI, while the Counter Terrorism Department has taken hit after hit.

As for the local people, they are caught quite literally between the devil and the deep, with the terrorists hitting their homes, and extortion rackets again evident. Recently a lawmaker paid out 1.2 million Pakistani rupees after receiving threats. The TTP is not just about demands for shariat. It is also about big money.

The corrosion in the army

Then there is the obverse side. Those on the ground like Ismat Shahjahan, deputy general-secretary of the socialist Awami Workers Party (AWP) and a member of the core committee of the PTM says, Terrorism and war are themselves highly profitable businesses. And, we repeatedly stress that the military have made these their profession  their bread and butter. That is the brutal truth, though in all fairness, is not limited to only Pakistan. Its an ugly facet of most security dominated states. The danger is then to the Pakistani army itself, which seems to have shifted from a once highly professional army, to a racketeering force due to years of counter insurgency operations, which has instilled a disregard for the lives of their own citizens. Stories of extortion by the ISI for instance have been narrated on the quiet. That is then danger number three, to an army that is already being reviled across the country.

And finally, wheres the money going to come from? In 2010, operations by the Frontier Corps was estimated at $230 million a year, with the state budget only accounting for $88million. The rest had to be made up by the army. Now are plans for an operation on a much larger scale, at a time when the IMF is demanding a reduction in government expenditure, including defence.

Meanwhile, the US is re-entering Pakistan, with the State Department calling for enhanced counter terrorism cooperation, even as the Pakistani military complex provides weapons for Ukraine. It begins to seem therefore, that the new operation is aimed at pushing the IMF to loosen the purse strings for the army, even while it again looks for assistance from Washington.

Much of the Frontier Corps training for instance, was once provided by the US till President Trump virtually ended the relationship. Now it looks like cooperation in the back, front and centre. While a state effort at reducing terrorism into Pakistan is understandable, the problem is that first, any weapons or training provided will immediately be used against the Indian state. Second is the far more subtle problem. The Pakistan army has yet to learn to fight a humane war, even after a decade of operations. That means all of the dangers identified above are likely to multiply.

Hence, theres trouble ahead, for Pakistan, the region and its allies, unless a bottom up rehashing of security policy is done with clear basic requirements in mind. And, that is putting Pakistans people first; not Afghanistan; not India; nor China and certainly not the Army. Its that simple. The complicated part is implementing it. Thats nowhere near the horizon.

The author is a Distinguished Fellow at the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi. She tweets @kartha_tara. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Kyiv: Worried about getting eradicated from the face of the world, Ukrainian soldiers are increasingly freezing their sperm to ensure their bloodline stays safe.

The practice, which has become something of a patriotic act, has gained momentum as Ukrainian soldiers try to combat a move by Russians to exterminate them and their countrymen.

Several clinics in Ukraine are making the practice of freezing sperm free of cost, according to New York Times. At a time when the war in Ukraine sees no end, saving the bloodline is providing comfort to the partners of soldiers.

Nataliya Kyrkach-Antonenko, the wife of a Ukrainian soldier who died in the line of duty while she was only three months pregnant said, The modern world allows us to give birth and raise the children of our fallen loved ones  the bravest and most courageous humans in this world.

Raise them worthy of their father with the same love for Ukraine, and give them the chance to live in the country for which their father shed his blood, she told New York Times.

Antonenko now runs a Facebook page where she encourages couples to give themselves the option of making a family, no matter what happens on the battlefield.

The Ukrainian Parliament is doing its bit to ensure soldiers can freeze their sperm without hesitation by discussing a bill that would subsidise the service.

The lawmaker who tabled and wrote the bill, Oksana Dmytriieva, said, This is a continuation of our gene pool.

Although the exact number of people who availed of this service is not clear, Dr Oleksandr Mykhailovych Yuzko, president of the Ukrainian Association of Reproductive Medicine said that requests have risen at clinics throughout Ukraine.

A private clinic in Kyiv, called IVMED, has recorded requests by about 100 soldiers.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Canadian public broadcaster CBC and its French-language version Radio-Canada said Monday they were effectively quitting Twitter over a new government-funded label it says questions its editorial independence.

The exit follows that of National Public Radio in the United States over the same tag, which had also been applied to the BBC before the UK broadcaster successfully petitioned to have it changed to publicly-funded.

Untrue and deceptive labelling

In a statement, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Radio-Canada said Twitter had added a government-funded media label to its account, branding it the same way as it does major media outlets in countries such as Russia or China.

In the case of CBC/Radio-Canada this labeling is untrue and deceptive, the statement said.

While the broadcaster is publicly funded, it said its editorial independence is protected under Canadian broadcasting law.

Twitter can be a powerful tool for our journalists to communicate with Canadians, but it undermines the accuracy and professionalism of the work they do to allow our independence to be falsely described in this way, it said.

Consequently, we will be pausing our activity on our corporate Twitter account and all CBC and Radio-Canada news-related accounts.

The broadcaster instead urged Canadians to follow it on other social media.

Conservative opposition leader Pierre Poilievre, who has publicly expressed disdain for the CBC and fundraised on promises to gut its funding, last week wrote to Elon Musk urging him to add a government-funded media label to CBCs Twitter accounts.

He said such was in the interest of transparency and noted that almost two-thirds of its funding in fiscal 2021-2022 was from the federal government.

On Monday, Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau blasted his rival for attacking this Canadian institution, and attacking the culture and local content (that it produces) that is so important to so many Canadians.

Since Elon Musk bought Twitter, the company has relaxed its moderation of content on the network, letting back many users banned because of messages inciting hatred or spreading misinformation.

Musk also slashed Twitters workforce from 7,500 to fewer than 2,000 employees.

He has expressed deep disdain for news media for years and recently installed an automatic response of a poop emoji to emailed inquiries from journalists.

News organisations, however, have struggled to wean themselves from the platform, which remains a main communication exchange for celebrities, politicians and pundits.

With inputs from AFP

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
After executing substantial reorganisation steps last month, e-commerce titans Alibaba Group Holding and JD.com are changing their retail business operations, with the newest initiatives targeted at increasing sales amid Chinas sluggish economic recovery.

According to the local media, Alibaba has reorganised its Taobao and Tmall companies by forming three key industry growth units based on consumption patterns and customer demand scenarios. Alibaba, the owner of this publication and situated in Hangzhou in eastern Zhejiang province, verified the adjustments.

Also read: Xi Jinping breaking up Chinese tech giants into smaller parts is making Google and Apple very happy.

Trudy Dai, president of Alibabas Core Domestic E-commerce segment, will report to the heads of three new departments: Greater Taobao (Taobao, Tmall, Alimama), B2C Retail (Tmall Global, Tmall Supermarket, Tmall Luxury), Taocaicai, Taobao Deals, and 1688.com.

Separately, JD.com is revamping its retail division again, flattening the management structure. According to a person familiar with the situation, the Beijing-based firm would no longer have separate teams for its own stores and third-party stores managed by foreign merchants.

I think they made the changes because both Alibaba and JD.coms business was not doing very well last year, said Li Chengdong, founder of Dolphin, a Beijing-based consultancy. Although macroeconomic headwinds are a factor, competitors such as Pinduoduo and Douyin are doing well. The changes are also due to increased competitiveness.

Li noted that the modifications were mostly intended to increase their organisations flexibility, allowing them to adapt more quickly.

According to Tong Wenhao, an analyst at research company LeadLeo, downplaying the competitive relationship between its own stores and third-party stores will enable the two compete in a more even playing field.

Also read: Chinese tech giant Alibaba to split into six groups, separate IPOs expected

The most recent changes came after massive reorganisation efforts late last month. Alibaba announced a reorganisation of its entire company into six autonomous organisations. Each company unit will have to compete in the market on its own and will be allowed to seek funds through initial public offerings.

Separately, JD.com stated that it will split out its real estate and manufacturing businesses and float them on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

Chinas retail industry is gradually rebounding after being severely harmed by Beijings tight Covid-19 regulations for the majority of the previous two years. According to official data, overall retail sales of social consumer items increased 3.5 per cent year on year to 7.71 trillion yuan (US$1.12 trillion) in January and February, reversing prior month decreases.

A shoe trader called Zhou, who resides in Zhejiang province and sells wholesale items to shoe stores and live streams, claimed his company has improved dramatically this year compared to the same time last year.

According to Hong Kong, an associate researcher at the Ministry of Commerces research section, e-commerce behemoths have lately implemented extensive management adjustments to improve their competitiveness and market position.

Those changes are intended to better fit current business needs and strategic priorities by reducing duplication and waste and improving efficiency and innovation, Hong explained.

Also read: AI frenzy: Chinese tech firms are scrambling to make AI generative bots like ChatGPT

Alibabas stock gained 18 per cent in the week ending March 27 as investors welcomed its internal reform, while JD.coms stock increased 8.4 per cent in the same period. Both stocks have dropped in value during the last two weeks.

Traffic is flowing to platforms like Douyin so traditional e-commerce platforms are under greater strain, said Li of the Dolphin consultancy. Nonetheless, he is cautiously hopeful that the reorganisation changes would help the two largest e-commerce players in the long run.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Khartoum: Two days after Sudans military unleashed airstrikes on a paramilitary base near the capital city of Khartoum, the UN food agency suspended operations in the country as three of its staff were killed in the restive Darfur region.

Cindy McCain, executive director of the World Food Programme, said in a statement, I am appalled and heartbroken by the tragic deaths of three WFP employees on Saturday 15 April in violence in Kabkabiya, North Darfur while carrying out their life-saving duties on the front lines of the global hunger crisis.

The conflict between the countrys military and paramilitary forces has killed as many as 59 people and injured over 600.

While we review the evolving security situation, we are forced to temporarily halt all operations in Sudan, McCain added.

She further said, WFP is committed to assisting the Sudanese people facing dire food insecurity, but we cannot do our life-saving work if the safety and security of our teams and partners are not guaranteed.

The clash between the RSF and the military forced the former to seize the presidential palace, army chiefs residence, state television station and airports in Khartoum, the northern city of Merowe, El Fasher and West Darfur state. Apart from killing 59, around 600 people were also left heavily wounded.

The Sudanese air force told people to stay indoors while it conducted what it called an aerial survey of RSF activity, and a holiday was declared in Khartoum state for Sunday, closing schools, banks and government offices.

According to reports, sustained firing broke out at one of its bases in the Sudanese capital on Saturday morning and the sound could be heard in a number of areas, including central Khartoum and neighboring Bahri.

With inputs from agencies

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Sydney: Due to his close ties to China, a Sydney court denied an Australian mans request for bail after he was charged with a foreign interference violation for receiving money from alleged Chinese intelligence agents in exchange of state secrets about AUKUS deal.

Alexander Csergo, who was arrested on Friday, was described by Magistrate Michael Barko as a sophisticated, worldly businessperson who had been on Australian intelligences radar for some time.

In his decision to deny bail, the judge stated that the prosecution had a solid case against Csergo, 55, who had spent decades living in China.

The court heard that Csergo is claimed to have returned to Australia this year with a shopping list of intelligence priorities that he was asked for by two individuals he had suspected since 2021 of being Ministry of State Security of China operatives.

The two, who were only identified in court as Ken and Evelyn, initially contacted Csergo via LinkedIn.

The court was informed that Australian intelligence officials had found this list, three weeks after his return to Sydney.

According to sources, Csergo was instructed to handwrite reports on the QUAD diplomatic alliance between Australia, India, Japan, and the US, iron ore and lithium mining, and Australias AUKUS defence technology partnership with the US and Britain.

The marketing executive was detained last Friday in Bondi, a Sydney neighbourhood near the ocean.

He is the second individual to be accused of violating Australias foreign interference law, which makes it illegal to take part in any conduct that aids a foreign government in interfering with Australias sovereignty or other vital interests.

The maximum prison term for it is 15 years.

Csergo, a high security prisoner at Parklea Prison, made an appearance in court by video link. In court with him were his mother and brother.

When he met Ken and Evelyn in Shanghai cafes and restaurants, the places had been empty, and he assumed they had been cleared, he had told Australian intelligence officials in an interview, according to Mr. Barko.

He allegedly received cash payments in envelopes, experienced extreme fear, went into survival mode, and exchanged almost 3,300 WeChat chats with the couple.

The magistrate expressed fear for Csergos safety and said that certain individuals might not want him to testify against China.

His attorney, Bernard Collaery, had asked for bail, claiming that the accusations against his client were shallow and unsubstantiated and that the reports Csergo had produced were based on material obtained from public sources.

Conor McCraith, the prosecutor, disputed this and claimed that he had secretly collaborated with two other people to compile reports, thus it was not entirely open source.

Additionally, he said that Csergo had invited Ken to visit Australia rather than contacting Australian authorities to express his worries about Ken and Evelyn.

During the Covid-19 lockout in Shanghai, Collaery claimed that Csergo did consulting work to supplement his revenue because it was a typical business practise in China to make cash payments.

Naturally, he thought Ken and Evelyn were watching him. He felt really concerned about it because that is how things are in China, according to Collaery.

Since 2002, Csergo has worked in data marketing in China, including time spent with a significant global advertising firm.

The attorney claimed that after his detention, his clients career had tumbled down, and that he had no plans to travel back to China but rather to sue the Australian government for damages for destroying his career instead.

Outside of court, Collaery spoke to the media and expressed worries about the reach of the 2018 foreign interference statute. He described the matter as a civil liberties problem.

You can be guilty of foreign interference if you work as a consultant in any foreign country and you undertake consulting work that may relate to Australias foreign influences or national security, he told reporters.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Moscow: During a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday, Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu praised relations with Moscow.

He said, We have very strong ties. They surpass the military-political alliances of the Cold War era They are very stable, reported AFP.

Russia-China relations have already entered a new era, he added.

This is my first overseas visit since taking over as Chinas defence minister. I specifically chose Russia for this in order to emphasise the special nature and strategic importance of our bilateral ties, Li said.

Sergei Shoigu, Russias minister of defence, also attended the meeting, and Putin commended military cooperation between China and Russia.

We are also working actively through the military departments, regularly exchange useful information, cooperate in the field of military-technical cooperation, conduct joint exercises,  Putin said, reported AFP.

This is, undoubtedly, another important area that strengthens the exclusively trusting, strategic nature of our relations, he added.

Lis journey to Russia comes weeks after Chinese President Xi Jinpings official visit to Moscow last month.

Putin and Xi reviewed Beijings recommendations for resolving the Ukraine issue during the course of two days of talks, during which they proclaimed a new era in their relationship.

Moscow and Beijing have intensified their cooperation in recent years, motivated by a shared ambition to balance out US global dominance. Since Putin began an offensive in Ukraine in February of last year, their alliance has only gotten stronger, according to AFP.

China has made an effort to present itself as an impartial party to the war in Ukraine, but Washington has accused Beijing of considering arms transfers to Moscow, accusations that China has refuted.

With inputs from agencies

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Paris: The newly-acquired Rafale fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) will embark on their first mission on foreign shores by flying alongside their counterparts in the French Air and Space Force (FASF) during Exercise Orion.

Exercise Orion, a bilateral military drill between the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the French Air and Space Force (FASF) started at the Mont-de-Marsan airbase in France on Monday.

France warmly welcomes the @IAF_MCC contingent that will take part in exercise #Orion2023 from today! French & Indian #Rafale jets will soon fly together in the skies of France, France Ambassador Emmanuel Lenain said in a statement on Twitter.

The exercise is scheduled to be conducted from April 17 to May 5. The IAF contingent comprises eight aircraft including four Rafale, two C-17, two ll-78. A total of 165 personnel are also a part of the IAF delegation.

According to a statement by the Defence Ministry, the Rafale aircraft of the IAF will feature in an overseas military exercise for the first time since their acquisition.

Besides the IAF and the FASF, Air Forces from Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Spain and the United States would also be flying in this multilateral exercise. Participation in this exercise would further enrich the employment philosophy of the India Air Force, by imbibing the best practices from other Air Forces, the Defence Ministry statement added.

Orion is reportedly the largest ever multinational exercise being carried out by the French defence forces. The military drills have featured several sections of the French armed forces including the Army, Navy and Air Force. Several nations allied with France such as the US and the UK have also taken part in the exercises in the past.

In addition, the Indian Air Force will participate in Exercise Copeindia beginning on April 10 in Kalaikunda, West Bengal.

According to an ANI report, there is a chance that the drill schedule and the availability of American F-15 fighter planes may change.

The Rafale fighter aircraft are the most recent additions to the Indian Air Force (IAF). They are regarded as among the most powerful fighter jets in service with any military in Asia.

The 36 Rafale fighter aircraft with the Indian Air Force (IAF) have been fully incorporated, and have reportedly contributed significantly to enhancing the Indias operational readiness against China and Pakistan.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, today (April 17) announced the Eid Al Fitr holidays for Bahrain's public sector.

A circular from HRH Prince Salman stipulates that the kingdom's ministries and public institutions will close on the day of Eid Al Fitr (which is likely to fall on April 20 or 21) and the following two days, reported BNA.

If any of the Eid days coincides with an official holiday, an extra day will be given in lieu, it added.
Paris, France: On Monday, President Emmanuel Macron vehemently defended his wildly unpopular pension reform but expressed disappointment that no agreement had been reached.

Addressing France for the first time since enacting the change, Macron said he recognised the anger the French felt as a result of the retirement age increase.

It was said that Macron smuggled the bill through in the dark of night when he signed it early on Saturday, barely hours after the constitutional court had approved its major modification to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.

After three months of protests and strikes, the left and unions have vowed not to give in and warned of mass Labour Day protests on 1 May.

Polls have consistently recorded a majority of French opposed to the reform, which the government rammed through parliament using a controversial mechanism to avoid a vote.

Speaking from the Elysee Palace, Macron defended the reform as necessary and insisted doing nothing was not a solution.

Has this reform been accepted? Obviously not. And despite months of consultations, no consensus could be found and I regret it.

Noting the protests that have raged against the reform, he added: No one, especially not me, can remain deaf to this demand for social justice.

The answer can be neither in rigidity nor in extremism, said the president, adding his door will always be open to talks with the unions.

Macrons personal popularity ratings have eroded with some analysts suggesting he has given a head start to far-right leader Marine Le Pen down the long path to 2027 elections.

No point in listening

Unions have meanwhile spurned an invitation to the Elysee for talks.

As the president spoke, thousands gathered outside town halls across France, banging saucepans in a bid to drown out the speech.

He hasnt listened to us for three months. Were doing this to show theres no point in listening to him either, 57-year-old projectionist Benedicte Gelgehier said in Paris.

After the speech, dozens joined a spontaneous protest in the capital, setting fire to garbage containers with police firing tear gas canisters to disperse them, AFP correspondents said.

Opponents from across the board said Macrons speech had only reinforced concerns about how the reform was handled.

He chose to turn his back on the French and ignore their suffering, said far-right figurehead and former presidential candidate Marine Le Pen.

Hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon said Macron was totally out of touch with reality.

CFDT union leader Laurent Berger added that it contained nothing concrete for the labour movement and said Macron had not uttered a word on easing tensions.

Possibly more troublingly for the president, the head of the right-wing Republicans who supported the reform, Eric Ciotti, dismissed the speech as a catalogue of pious wishes and said Macrons method had clearly not changed.

Macron said he had tasked his government led by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne to lead 100 days of action at the service of France.

Within slapping range

The prime minister should lay out a roadmap in the next few days with the first results to be announced on Frances national day on 14 July, Macron said.

He promised major announcements during May including action against juvenile delinquency and also reinforcing controls against illegal immigration.

Macron earlier had lunch with Borne, then met key figures from his party including ultra-loyal rising stars tipped for promotions such as Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu, 36, and Budget Minister Gabriel Attal, 34.

But no cabinet reshuffle is planned in the near future, several sources close to the presidency told AFP.

The president, often consumed with diplomacy, will this week also make at least one trip to France after criticism that he is failing to connect with people.

I want Macron to spend more time on the ground, said one cabinet minister, who asked not to be named. Even within range of being slapped.

The crisis also comes at a time of increasing challenges on the international stage for Macron, who faced accusations of cosying up to China on a visit to Beijing.

Macron, 45, came to power in 2017 promising reform and a fresh new politics. But opponents accuse him of increasingly reclusive and anti-democratic behaviour.

Emmanuel Macron is far from finished from having to deal with the social and political crisis, which he continues to dangerously stir up, said Le Monde newspaper in an editorial.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Taipei: Visitors at Jing-Mei White Terror Memorial Park have lauded Taiwans modern-day democracy shaped by its own national identity on the island across from authoritarian China.

The barbed-wire museum where political prisoners were once held is a stark reminder of the islands history as a one-party state under the Kuomintang nationalists who fled to Taiwan at the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, AFP reported.

Those accused of aiding the Communists across the Taiwan Strait were tried in secret courts. I heard people were arrested for protesting against the government, said office worker Mars Hung, after his visit to the grey-walled former military school commemorating the crackdown between 1947 and 1987.

We are so much freer now, the 24-year-old said. To me, Taiwan stands for democracy. We dont have so many restrictions like China. Its a blessing to be Taiwanese, to have our free and democratic way of life.

The island faces an authoritarian threat from Xi Jinping-led government in China which has vowed to annex its neighbour.

China considers Taiwan to be a part of its territory, and during the past year, Beijing has held a number of war simulations near the island.

The Chinese president says Taiwans people  the majority of whom have roots in mainland China  are Chinese and are betraying their heritage by hanging on to independence.

But locals on Taiwans main island say they are their own people in a sovereign nation that has forged a unique identity defined by democratic ideals.

I was born in Taiwan and I live in Taiwan so I am Taiwanese, said Jing-Mei museum worker Angela Hung, 50. Its a free and peaceful place I hope to continue our current way of living.

The decades-long threat from Beijing has only strengthened the islands distinct  and separate  identity among its 23 million people, said history student Rick Lai, who was snapping graduation photos at Taipeis Liberty Square.

This sense of insecurity is making Taiwanese more and more aware of who they are, the 22-year-old told AFP.

The constant threat has made Taiwanese ask themselves who are we, what are we, what are we defending?'

Free and peaceful

Polling from the islands Election Study Center shows that around 60 percent of residents feel distinctly Taiwanese  three times as many as in the 1990s.

Attachment to Chinese identity has fallen dramatically from 25 percent to less than 3 percent, while around a third feel both Taiwanese and Chinese.

Just a shade over one percent want to see the island unified with mainland China and the overwhelming majority reject the idea of falling under the shadow of the Chinese Communist Party.

While opposition to China can be a motivating factor, University of Missouris Sydney Yueh, who authored a book on Taiwans identity politics and culture, said the islands political reformation has put in place the roots for a more open and prosperous society.

It is the strength of Taiwans institutions and social freedoms that allow people to see their ways of life as different from, if not superior to, the Chinese, Yueh said.

Taiwan is Taiwan

Some in Taiwan believe their historic bond with those living across the strait cannot be ignored and say the islands democracy is the only noticeable difference.

I dont think we can ever deny that we look Chinese and think like a Chinese, said 70-year-old retired air force pilot Peter Tzeng, who identifies as both.

His words echo that of former pro-China president Ma Ying-jeou, who paid a historic visit to the mainland as sitting leader Tsai Ing-wen left for the US and Central America last month.

We are all Chinese, he said during his visit  the first by a former or sitting president.

Comments like that from the pro-China camp have raised concerns about next years presidential election.

I am more worried about our own change of government. Such as our own political leaders, do they identify with Taiwan? asked student Thousand Hung, 20.

For bubble tea seller Sam Chen, Taiwans identity is already set in stone.

They may think we belong to them but we are separate and different We are already independent, the 50-year-old said. Taiwan is Taiwan, China is China.

(With inputs from AFP)

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed that India on Monday celebrated a key milestone in its G20 presidency with the hosting of the 100th meeting of the grouping.

The 100 meetings have been held across 41 cities, covering 28 states and union territories of India, the ministry said.

Indias G20 presidency, in the build-up to the New Delhi leaders summit on September 9 and 10 has received immense support from G20 members and guest countries for its inclusive, ambitious, action-oriented and decisive agenda, the MEA said.

The wide ranging, large-scale and enthusiastic participation in Indias G20 meetings is a testimony to the G20 members and invitees coming together under Indias presidency to collectively address contemporary global challenges, it said in a statement.

The G20 members represent around 85 per cent of the global GDP, over 75 per cent of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the worlds population.

The Meeting of Agricultural Chief Scientists (MACS) in Varanasi is the 100th meeting of the grouping under Indias presidency that began on December 1 last year.

The second Health Working Group in Goa, the 2nd Digital Economy Working Group in Hyderabad and the Space Economy Leaders Precursor Meeting in Shillong are also being held on Monday, according to the MEA.

It said the in-person participation during Indias G20 presidency is among the largest ever. Over 12,300 delegates, from over 110 nationalities have attended G20-related meetings so far. This includes participation from G20 members, nine invitee countries and 14 international organisations.

As on date, the 100 G20 meetings have been held in 41 cities, covering 28 states and union territories. Meetings are being organised across the length and breadth of India with the full support and participation of state governments and union territories, the MEA said.

It said India will be hosting foreign delegates for over 200 G20-related meetings in around 60 cities across India, the widest geographical spread in any presidency of the grouping. All 13 sherpa track working groups, eight finance track work streams, 11 engagement groups and four initiatives have embarked on substantive interactions, the MEA said.

A new working group on disaster risk reduction (DRR), a new engagement group Startup 20 and a new initiative chief science advisers round table (CSAR) have been operationalised under Indias G20 presidency.

The 11 engagement groups provide a platform for dialogue among the private sector, academia, civil society, youth and women, as well as institutions including the Parliaments, audit authorities and urban administrations.

Indias G20 presidency will continue till November 30.

The Group of Twenty (G20) comprises 19 countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkiye, United Kingdom, and United States) and the European Union.

Under Indias G20 presidency, three ministerial meetings have been held till date.

The first finance ministers and central bank governors meeting (FMCBG) was held in Bengaluru on February 24-25, the G20 foreign ministers meeting (FMM) was held in New Delhi on March 1 and 2 and the second FMCBG meeting was held in Washington DC on April 12 and 13. Two sherpa meetings have been held in Udaipur (December 4 to 7 2022) and Kumarakom (March 30 to April 2).

The MEA said the FMCBG, FMM and sherpa meetings saw record, high-level in-person participation from all delegations with ministerial-level dignitaries. During its presidency, India is also amplifying the voice and concerns of the Global South and developing countries, the MEA said.

The Voice of Global South Summit held in January was attended by 125 countries, including 18 at heads of state/government level and others at ministerial level.

(With inputs from PTI)

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
New Delhi: India and Russia exceeded their bilateral trade goal of USD 30 billion by 2025, according to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who also predicted that the trade will continue to grow.

We have crossed the bilateral trade target of USD 30 billion before the year 2025 which was the target year given to us by our leaderships. And in fact for the period April 2022  February 2023, I understand that the trade is actually about USD 45 billion and the expectation is that this will continue to grow, S Jaishankar said while addressing the India-Russia Business Dialogue in Delhi on Monday.

According to Jaishankar, business motivation on both sides must come from India and Russia. They are committed, he continued, to turning India into a global manufacturing hub.

We need to motivate business on both sides. You can see that there are big changes going on like Make in India. We are determined to make India a global manufacturing hub. I want to emphasise the opportunity of Make in India and Russia as Russia is known for its technological strength, Jaishankar said.

While discussing the relationship between India and Russia, Jaishankar noted that the two countries have a long history of inter-ethnic contact. He also discussed the potential for increased trade in the travel and tourist sector between the two countries.

In his remarks at the India-Russia Business Dialogue, Jaishankar said, Our two countries historically have also had a strong people-to-people connection. But, I must point out that we actually get less than 1 per cent of Russias outbound tourism. So, now when we are talking today of exploring new areas and new opportunities, I would also flag that whether more direct flights to more destinations will provide a possibility for greater business when it comes to tourism.

The connections between India and Russia have not changed, EAM Jaishankar underscored.

Our partnership today is a subject of attention and comment, not because it has changed, but because it has not. Indeed, it has been among the steadiest of the major relationships of the world in the contemporary era. But that by itself is not enough, he remarked.

According to Jaishankar, Russia is turning its attention more towards Asia, which for India implies expanding the scope of their previous military, nuclear, and supply space cooperation.

We share a commitment to a multipolar world and that also means a multipolar Asia. Russia is today looking much more towards Asia, a reassessment from its traditional focus. For India, this could mean a broadening out of our engagement that was overly reliant on the triad of military, nuclear and supply space cooperation, Jaishankar said.

For Russia also it presents a broader set of options as Russia looks eastwards, its resources and technology complementarity can be a powerful contribution to Indias growth. And this is a growth of a 3.5 trillion economy that is expected to grow at more than 7 per cent for at least a decade or more. And I would say that our ties, our cooperation are best advanced through more intensive bilateral engagement, he added.

In his address at the India-Russia Business Dialogue, he said, We are discussing the importance of connectivity and the north-south and maritime corridors have been considered. There is also discussion on payment issues like International trade settlement in the Indian Rupee.

According to EAM Jaishankar, the trade deficit is a source of concern. He emphasised the urgent necessity for cooperation with Russia to overcome the trade deficit. He asserted that solving the problem entails solving the barriers, whether they be non-tariff barriers, payment and logistics barriers, or barriers to market access.

There is also understandable concern about the trade imbalance which these new volumes have created. And we need to work together with our Russian friends on a very urgent basis of how to address that imbalance. And addressing that imbalance really means addressing the impediments, whether they are market access impediments, whether they are non-tariff barriers, whether they are related to payments or to logistics, Jaishankar said.

I really cannot emphasize this enough. I think we should also, in a business gathering be honest about the short and medium-term challenges that we face. And there could be, quite frankly, there could be over compliance there could be over anxiety or even over caution on our side and equally on the Russian side there could be an inadequate appreciation of the concerns and the risks that Indian businesses face. So I would say what really the future of our economic cooperation requires is the willingness, the ability to really look at it from the point of view of the other party and then come up with solutions which will overcome the obstacles, he added.

(With agency inputs)

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
New Delhi: The Indian national who died of bullet injuries in the violence-hit Sudanese capital city of Khartoum two days ago was all set to come here for a few days in May when the tragedy struck.

Albert Augestine, a retired soldier, had called his wife and daughter to Sudan a couple of weeks ago to celebrate Easter with them and had booked tickets to travel back with them on May 3.

However, on Saturday, April 15, a stray bullet hit him while he was standing near the window of his flat talking to his son in the UK, the victims father told the media here.

Alberts wife and daughter, who were with him at the time, escaped unhurt and moved into a bunker under the flat.

They were later shifted to a safe place and provided food, according to information received from the Indian Embassy in Sudan and the company Albert worked for, his father said.

The body could be shifted to a local hospital in the Sudanese capital city of Khartoum only after more than 24 hours due to the ongoing military conflict in the region.</p><p>On Sunday, Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan had said that Alberts family will be provided all necessary help and added that steps are on to bring his body back to the country.

Albert, hailing from Alakode in Kannur district, was working in a Dal Group company in Sudan.

Meanwhile, KPCC chief K Sudhakaran wrote to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday seeking his urgent intervention to expedite the repatriation of Augestines remains to India.

Explosions and clashes were reported in various areas in Khartoum in the backdrop of escalating tension between a paramilitary force and Sudans Army.

According to official data, the number of Indians in Sudan is around 4,000, including 1,200 who have settled down in the country decades ago.

Sudans military captured power in a coup in October 2021 and has been running the country through a sovereign council since then. There has been a dispute between the Army and the paramilitary over a proposed timeline for handing over power to a civilian government.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
New Delhi: Irans judiciary has announced prison sentences for 10 unnamed people it says were responsible for the downing of a Ukraine International Airlines Commercial in January 2020.

According to a report in Al Jazeera, The prime suspect in the case, identified only as the commander of the Tor-M1 surface-to-air missile defence system that shot down the plane with two missiles, received a 10-year discretionary sentence for not heeding orders and three years for being accessory to semi-intentional murder.

Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard mistakenly shot down the Ukraine International Airlines flight in January 2020. The missile strike killed all 176 people on board and came as Tehran and Washington teetered on the brink of war.

The Guards commander who officials purport ordered the strike was sentenced to 13 years in prison, the official judiciary news outlet said.

Mizan said the commander did not follow protocols in the moments leading up to the shooting down of the plane. The commander was ordered to pay fines to families of victims, the report added.

Mizan said the court also sentenced two personnel allegedly involved in running the surface-to-air missile system Tor M-1 to one year in prison each.

After a lengthy series of hearings, the court sentenced at least seven other personnel and air defense officers to up to three years in prison. According to Mizan, the verdicts are appealable within 20 days.

The report did not identify any of the defendants by name or further details.

The judiciary news agency also said Irans government plans to pay $150,000 for each victim to their families. It did not elaborate on how this money will be delivered to the families.

The hearing sessions have faced international criticism since starting in 2021. At that time, an association of the victims families also criticized the hearing and cast doubts on the courts legitimacy. The group also alleged that none of the defendants were present at hearings.

Just hours before the shootdown in January 2020, Iran had fired ballistic missiles at American bases in Iraq in retaliation for the U.S. drone strike that killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad.

With inputs from your agencies

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
New Delhi: Japans police are looking into the probability that the objects used in the attack on Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Saturday were potentially homemade pipe bombs, according to investigators on Sunday, reported The Japan Times.

The revelation came after police stormed the 24-year-old suspect Ryuji Kimuras residence in Kawanishi, Hyogo Prefecture, in the early hours of Sunday.

Also Read: Japan PM resumes campaigning after evacuation from smoke bomb blast

Conducting wires discovered on both ends of one of the cylinders, which resembled a steel pipe, led detectives to suspect the objects were pipe bombs, as such devices contain gunpowder enclosed inside a cylinder and are detonated by igniting a fuse, according to NHK.

Police are currently looking into whether the devices were intended to be lethal.

According to investigators, Kimura was also carrying a knife in his backpack at the time of the incident.

On Saturday evening, police reportedly advised neighbours near Kimuras home to evacuate to a local community centre due to the possibility of explosives being discovered. After police established it was safe, the neighbours were permitted to return home before dawn on Sunday, reported The Japan Times.

The eight-hour search began at 1 am on Sunday. In connection with the incident, police seized more than a dozen cardboard boxes thought to contain confiscated things, including what seemed to be dynamite and a computer.

Kishida said that he expects the police force to step up the safety situation in the country in the wake of the incident.

The attack on the Japanese prime minister brought back cruel memories of the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, who was shot at last year during a rally.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Saturday that police have been instructed to boost security and the government would do what is necessary to ensure security when Kishida hosts the May G7 summit in Hiroshima.

With inputs from agencies

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Kansas City, Mo.: Last week, a sixteen-year-old boy accidentally rang the doorbell of the incorrect home in Kansas City, Missouri, while on his way to pick up his two younger siblings. Ralph Yarl was shot in the head by a guy who arrived at the door, and then shot him once again after he had on the ground.

Before anybody assisted the Black adolescent, who was released from the hospital on Sunday and is now healing at home, Yarl wandered to one house, then another, and finally a third. Community leaders, Democratic legislators, and a family lawyer for Yarl are now calling for justice and debating whether race was a factor in the incident.

Clay County Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson said that his office is collaborating with the police to immediately evaluate the situation and determine whether the homeowner needs to be prosecuted. He did not address whether race was a factor in the shooting; the Kansas City police chief said that, so far, race does not appear to be a factor.

We understand how frustrating this has been, but we can assure the public that the system is working, Thompson said in a statement. As with any serious case submitted to our office, we will approach this case in an objective and impartial manner.

At a news conference on Sunday, Police Chief Stacey Graves said the shooter was taken into custody Thursday and placed on a 24-hour hold but released after consultation with the prosecutors office. The firearm used was found at the home, she said.

Rev. Vernon Howard, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Kansas City, said in a statement Monday that the homeowner should immediately be arrested for what he called a heinous and hate-filled crime.

The state of Missouri, specifically the Kansas City metropolitan area, remains one of the most unsafe locations for Black people in the country, Howard said.

The Missouri Senate held a moment of silence for Yarl on Monday. We pray for justice, Democratic Sen. Lauren Arthur said.

The shooting happened Thursday night in a middle-class neighbourhood in north Kansas City. Yarl was sent to pick up his twin younger brothers. He didnt have a phone with him and went to the wrong block, his aunt, Faith Spoonmore, wrote on a GoFundMe page set up to help pay medical bills. By Monday afternoon, $1.4 million had been raised from 37,000 donations.

Spoonmore wrote that Yarl pulled into the driveway and rang the doorbell.

The man in the home opened the door, looked my nephew in the eye, and shot him in the head, Spoonmore wrote. When Yarl fell to the ground, the man shot him again.

Spoonmore wrote that Yarl ran to three different homes before someone finally agreed to help him after he was told to lie on the ground with his hands up.

Yarl is a bass clarinettist who earned the Missouri All-State Band honourable mention and who plays several instruments in the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of Kansas City, Spoonmore wrote.

A statement from the North Kansas City School District described Yarl as an excellent student and talented musician. He maintains a stellar GPA while taking mostly college-level courses. While he loves science and hopes to pursue that career path, his passion is music.

Crump told The Associated Press that Yarl is like the child you would want to call your own.

Yarl was released from the hospital Sunday and is recovering at home, his father, Paul Yarl, told the Kansas City Star. Spoonmore said Yarl is doing well physically but has a lot of trauma to overcome emotionally.

He is our miracle, she said. We have heard these types of stories many times, and unfortunately, most Black boys are not alive to get another chance.

Police have not identified the shooter or his race, though Crump said the family provided information indicating he was white. He did not elaborate. Information that officials have now does not point to race as a factor in the shooting, according to Graves, but that remains under investigation.

By Monday afternoon, the home where the shooting happened had been vandalized. Black spray paint on the side of the house showed a heart with 16 in the middle. Another showed what appeared to be Yarls initials with 16 below the letters. Eggs splattered the front windows and the door.

The shooting has caught the attention of national figures.

Lets be for justice, which is a continuum, Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., wrote on Twitter. That means the man who did this should be charged AND we need to work for the legislative and heart change to prevent these tragedies.

His name is #RalphYarl and Im sick and tired of this feeling  my heart completely broke when I learned this precious 16-year-old, who accidentally rang the door of the wrong address in an attempt to pick up his siblings, was shot in the head, actress Halle Berry tweeted.

Graves said investigators will consider whether the suspect was protected by Stand Your Ground laws, which allow for the use of deadly force in self-defence. Missouri is among around 30 states with such laws.

These laws breed a society of violence and fear while providing cover for those who harm, maim and kill others, state Rep. Marlene Terry, a St. Louis Democrat who chairs the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus, said in a statement.

Democratic House Minority Leader Crystal Quade said Missouris lenient gun laws have created an us-versus-them mentality and too often, Black lives suffer the most from this fear-driven, shoot-first culture.

A message seeking comment from Republican Gov. Mike Parson, a staunch gun rights supporter, wasnt immediately returned.

Because of the teens injuries, Graves said, police havent been able to get a victim statement. Crump, who has represented families in several high-profile cases, including those of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, called it asinine that charges have to wait for an interview with Yarl.

We all believe that if the roles were reversed and this was a Black citizen who shot a 16-year-old for merely ringing his doorbell, they would have arrested him, and he wouldnt have slept in his bed that night, Crump said.

Prosecutions of shootings cases in which the defendants claimed self-defence have seen mixed results.

Martin was walking home from a convenience store in February 2012 in Sanford, Florida, when he was killed by George Zimmerman, who claimed self-defence and was later acquitted during a jury trial. Martins death helped lead to the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement.

In Michigan, Ted Wafer is serving a 17-year prison sentence in the 2013 death of Renisha McBride in suburban Detroit. The 19-year-old Black woman was on the porch of Wafers home when he shot her. Wafer is white. Prosecutors speculated that McBride, who was drunk and had crashed her car hours earlier, might have been confused when she arrived on Wafers porch.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Naypyidaw: The Myanmar military will release 3,113 prisoners, including 98 foreigners, to mark the countrys traditional New Year. Thingyan or the traditional Myanmar New Year festival is celebrated in the middle of April for a period of four to five days.

The statement by Myanmar Junta, released on Monday, however, did not specify whether those imprisoned for opposing its power grab in February 2021 would be freed.

For the unversed, Myanmars coup leader Min Aung Hlaing has imprisoned thousands of opponents and pro-democracy activists since it came to power.

According to a report by Al Jazeera, Lieutenant General Aung Lin Dwe, a spokesman for the military, said that the amnesty is a celebration of Myanmars New Year to bring joy for the people and address humanitarian concerns.

However, he added that those who reoffend would have to serve the remainder of their sentences with additional penalty.

The report added that the activist group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners have claimed that at least 17,460 people who opposed the coup are still in detention.

This includes Nobel laureate and military rule opposition figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi, who is serving 33 years in prison after trials that the international community decreed as being shams.

Myanmars military has been in the past accused of indiscriminately killing civilians in its attempts at suppressing armed resistance opposed to its takeover of the government two years ago.

On February 1, 2021, the military toppled the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, prompting peaceful protests that security forces suppressed with bloody violence.

In Myanmar, the military periodically grants amnesty to prisoners. However, compared to 2021s 23,000 prisoners pardoned, the present numbers are a mere shadow, amid growing dissent in the country.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
New Delhi: The European Unions executive warned on Sunday that unilateral trade action by EU member states is unacceptable, after Poland and Hungary declared bans on grain and other food imports from Ukraine to defend their domestic agricultural sectors, reported Reuters.

Due to logistical difficulties caused by Russias invasion of some Black Sea ports, substantial quantities of Ukrainian grain, which is cheaper than that produced in the European Union, ended up lingering in Central European states, lowering prices and sales for local farmers.

According to Reuters, the issue has created a political headache for Polands ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party in an election year, as it has enraged people in rural areas where PiS support is often high.

We are aware of Poland and Hungarys announcements regarding the ban on imports of grain and other agricultural products from Ukraine, a European Commission representative said in an emailed statement, reported Reuters.

In this context, it is important to underline that trade policy is of EU exclusive competence and, therefore, unilateral actions are not acceptable.

Also Read: Polish government bans cheap grain, food imports from Ukraine

The statement added, In such challenging times, it is crucial to coordinate and align all decisions within the EU.

According to Piotr Muller, a spokesman for the Polish government, the administration is in frequent contact with the European Commission regarding the matter, and the ban is possible due to a security clause.

Poland and Hungary have had long-running disputes with Brussels over topics such as judicial independence, media freedoms, and LGBT rights, and both have had subsidies withheld owing to concerns about the rule of law.

Ukraines agriculture minister, Mykola Solsky, spoke with his Hungarian counterpart, Istvan Nagy, on Sunday and stressed that unilateral moves were unacceptable, according to a statement from the Ukrainian agricultural ministry. According to the report, the two promised to talk again shortly.

The ministry stated on Saturday that the Polish ban violated existing bilateral export agreements and asked for discussions to resolve the matter, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, Bulgarias Agriculture Minister Yavor Gechev stated on Sunday that the country was mulling a ban on Ukrainian grain imports.

With inputs from agencies

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
London: UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks answer to boosting the countrys economy is to make math mandatory for students.

Sunak will hold a review meeting today to ensure that students till the age of 18 get some kind of math education in schools, without an A-Level in the subject compulsory.

Taking an aim at tackling an anti-math mindset in Britain, the expert-level meeting will consider what math skills are required for students and whether a new math qualification is necessary for the nation.

The UK is the only country that has not made mathematics mandatory for children.

On Monday, Sunak is expected to deliver a speech that will attack a cultural sense that its OK to be bad at maths. The prime minister believes that this belief is putting children at a disadvantage by depriving them of the analytical skills required in the workplace.

My campaign to transform our national approach to maths is not some nice-to-have. It is about changing how we value maths in this country, he added.

The plan of action

Rishi Sunak, on Monday, will be speaking to an audience of students, teachers, and business leaders where he will deliver more information about his plans to make mathematics a requirement.

For the purpose of implementing the plan, Labour leaders will also look at ways to employ more math teachers in schools.

The panel will also review the system of countries that have high rates of numeracy and consider whether a new math qualification is required for school students, reported BBC.

We simply cannot allow poor numeracy to cost our economy tens of billions a year or to leave people twice as likely to be unemployed as those with competent numeracy, Sunak is expected to say.

Hailing Sunaks efforts, the joint general secretary of the National Education Union, Mary Bousted said that his plans are laudable but warned that they would be thwarted unless he faces up to the reality of the state of education in England.

UK students most anxious about mathematics

A 2021 survey by global math EdTech called Cuemath found that students in the UK are most anxious about math as a subject than in other 20 participant countries.

The results reveal that its common for students to stress over maths studies and to not believe in their own abilities. In recent years, the child mental health crisis in the UK has become an increasing concern, with five students in every classroom of 30 now thought to have a mental health problem, the survey revealed.

It showed that students feel anxious about math from a very young age and the fear peaks at the age of 14-15 years. Also, anxiety is more common among girls than boys.

The founder of Cuemath, Manan Khurma, believes that the high rate of anxiety among UK students may have roots in an outdated approach to maths teaching generally, a culture less focused on excellence in these subjects, and a shortage of role models.

The UK education system is one of the most respected in the world, yet it is also very traditional, Khurma said.

He added, The way maths is taught and learned in UK schools can contribute to the subject being perceived as complicated, and one in which only smarter students should hope to succeed.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Islamabad: A Chinese engineer working at a hydropower project in the Kohistan district of Pakistans Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was arrested by police for allegedly making blasphemous remarks during a workplace argument.

The unnamed Chinese national, an employee of China Gezhouba Group Company, was arrested from the Dasu hydropower project on Sunday after an angry mob gathered to attack him, to avert a serious situationl, South China Morning Post reported.

Here we go again.

Angry mob demanding the arrest of a Chinese citizen who committed 'blasphemy' in Kohistan.#blasphemy #Pakistan pic.twitter.com/dZfieF4KmA  Shamila Ghyas (@ShamilaGhyas) April 16, 2023

the Chinese national was being detained at a police station in the remote Kohistan region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The engineer was detained at a police station in the remote Kohistan region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the report quoted sources as saying.

As per the source, a large number of infuriated Pakistani labourers gathered outside the Chinese work camp with the apparent intention of attacking the engineer for insulting Allah amid a heated conversation about the slow pace of work during Ramzan.

Soon after the news of the workers alleged blasphemy spread to nearby villages, hundreds of men reportedly gathered to block the Karakoram Highway, the sole overland road connecting Pakistan to China.

Looking at the situation, police restrained the chanting mob with the help of paramilitary soldiers  assigned to ensure the security of Chinese nationals working on the dam.

The security personnel even fired aerial warning shots to prevent a riot situation in the area, the report by South China Morning Post said.

Later on, the protesters dispersed after about four hours after officials assured community leaders that legal action would be taken against the Chinese engineer.

(With inputs from agencies)

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
New Delhi: Separatist rebels in Indonesias Papua region say they have killed at least 13 Indonesian military soldiers after the army sent troops in search of captured New Zealand pilot, Phillip Mehrtens, who was taken hostage in February.

According to a report in CNN, The West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) said its soldiers attacked two Indonesian military posts in the Yal and Mugi districts in Nduga Regency over the weekend, according to a statement.

Separatist rebels in Indonesias Papua province released more photos and videos in March appearing to show the New Zealand pilot they took hostage in February is alive.

In a video distributed in March by rebel spokesperson Sebby Sambom, a man wearing a blue jacket is identified as Philip Mark Mehrtens of Christchurch, a pilot for Indonesian aviation company Susi Air who was abducted by independence fighters from the West Papua Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement. He sat at a wooden block on the ground surrounded by separatists holding various weapons, with the morning star flag that is a separatist symbol.

Mehrtens was instructed to read a statement from a piece of paper he held. He said foreign pilots werent allowed to work or fly in Papua until it is independent, and that the Free Papua Movement requested the United Nations mediate independence negotiations.

The video distributed by the rebel group is part of their propaganda, regional military commander Brig. Gen. Juinta Omboh Sembiring said in March.

It strengthens our analysis of the condition of the pilot, that the pilot is still alive. And we will continue to try to find and save him, Sembiring said. He said military forces have mapped out and stopped some of the groups members in the region.

In a separate video, Mehrtens delivered a message to his family asking them to not worry too much, as he has been taken care of and had enough food and water. He also requested his salary be sent directly to his wife.

Another video shows Egianus Kogoya, the leader of the separatist group reading out demands.

We ask the U.N. Security Council to mediate the armed conflict between West Papua Liberation Army and the Indonesian Military in Papua, Kogoya said in the video.

The group also asked New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, the U.S., France, China and Russia to stop supporting military cooperation to Indonesia.

With inputs from your agencies

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
New Delhi: Russia is looking forward to intensifying negotiations on Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India, said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Valentinovich Manturov on Monday.

The Russian minister, who is on a two-day India visit, said Moscow is interested in a quality increase in trade.

We are working on signing of Russia-India Bilateral Agreement for the Promotion and Protection of Investments, Manturaov said while addressing the Russia-India Business Dialogue in New Delhi.

The event was organised jointly by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Russia-India Business Council.

Also Read: WATCH: Need to boost trade with India, says Russian Deputy PM on trade imbalances

To protect the principles of free trade with its partners, Russia has undertaken a set of effective measures, including import preferences and mechanism that guarantee the protection of investments will be in demand among Russian and Indian businessmen, Maturaov said.

He stated that India can become one of the key partners within the framework of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC).

Notably, INSTC was agreed upon in 2000 and ratified in 2002 by India, Iran, and Russia, and trial runs were conducted in 2016.

Also, we believe that it is important to expand direct air connectivity  this is a necessary condition for regular exchange of business delegations, an increase of mutual tourist flow, he said.

The Russian trade minister also invited Indian business partners to visit the international industrial exhibition INNOPROM, which will take place on July 10-13 in the city of Ekaterinburg.

And certainly we are expecting the Indian delegation at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum this June and at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok in September, he said.

With inputs from ANI

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
New Delhi: Russias Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov on Monday arrived in New Delhi to co-chair the Intergovernmental Russian-Indian Commission, which is aimed at enhancing trade ties between the two countries, reported ANI.

Denis Manturov arrived in the Republic of India on a working trip. On April 17, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation  Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Denis Manturov arrived on a two-day working visit to the Republic of India, New Delhi, tweeted the Russian Embassy in India.

On the first day, the co-chairs of the Intergovernmental Russian-Indian commission on trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation will meet with the business representatives from both countries. https://t.co/ggyAhNsvVu  Russia in India  (@RusEmbIndia) April 17, 2023

Manturov will co-chair the 24th India-Russia Inter-governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological, and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) on the first day of his visit.

According to ANI, the IRIGC-TEC is the primary institutional mechanism in charge of monitoring economic cooperation. It integrates six working groups on economic and trade cooperation, modernisation and industrial cooperation, energy, tourism and culture, science and technology, and information and communication technology.

On Tuesday, the intergovernmental commission (IGC) will hold a plenary meeting, after which the co-chairs will sign the final protocol of the 24th IGC conference.

Both sides plan to discuss the issues of bilateral trade, and economic and humanitarian cooperation. Manturov will also hold a number of bilateral meetings, the Russian Embassy in India said in a tweet.

On second day, a plenary meeting of IGC will be held, following which co-chairs will sign final protocol of 24th IGC meeting. The sides plan to discuss the issues of bilateral trade, economic & humanitarian cooperation. Mr Manturov will also hold a number of bilateral meetings. https://t.co/j803yKk2Pr  Russia in India  (@RusEmbIndia) April 17, 2023

A variety of institutionalised channels for the growth of economic cooperation between the two countries have been established. IRIGC-TEC is the governments major institution.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Manturov co-chaired the IRIGC-TEC virtual conference last month.

Jaishankar and Manturov reviewed the progress made in the various Working Groups and Sub-Group Meetings under the IRIGC-TEC framework since their meeting in Moscow in November 2022, and provided guidance to prepare the ground for the next IRIGC-TEC in-person meeting, which will be held in New Delhi on mutually convenient dates, reported ANI.

The Inter-governmental Commission was established by an Agreement on Inter-governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, and Technological Cooperation signed in May 1992 as a mechanism for regularly monitoring bilateral progress across the sectors of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.

On September 14, 2018, the IRIGC convened its 23rd Session in Moscow. India will host the 24th IRIGC-TEC meeting, and todays review meeting will prepare the path for that, according to ANI.

According to Indian data, as reported by ANI, bilateral trade was USD 8.1 billion between April 2020 and March 2021. Indian exports totaled USD 2.6 billion, while Russian imports totaled USD 5.48 billion. According to Russian estimates, bilateral trade totaled USD 9.31 billion during the same time, with Indian exports being USD 3.48 billion and imports totaling USD 5.83 billion.

With inputs from agencies

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Bratislava: Slovakia on Monday delivered the remaining nine of the 13 Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets that it promised to Ukraine, reported The Associated Press (AP).

According to the Slovak Defence Ministry, the warplanes were moved overland for security concerns in a complicated logistics operation. Ukrainian pilots flew the first four from Slovakia to Ukraine on 23 March.

Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad said, We are doing the right thing.

According to the Associated Press, the Slovak government accepted a plan on 17 March to provide Ukraine its complete fleet of Soviet-era MiG-29 jets, making Slovakia the second NATO member to respond to Ukraines request for warplanes to help defend against Russias incursion.

Slovakia grounded its MiGs this summer due to a shortage of spare parts and maintenance personnel. Poland and the Czech Republic intervened to monitor Slovak airspace.

It will probably be another year before the MiG-29 replacements arrive. Slovakia had agreed to purchase 14 F-16 Block 70/72 fighter jets from the United States, but delivery was delayed by two years, with the first aircraft arriving in early 2024.

The US has offered Slovakia 12 new military helicopters in exchange for the fighter jets provided to Ukraine. Slovakia would pay $340 million for the Bell AH-1Z attack helicopters as part of a $1 billion agreement. The remaining $660 million would be covered by foreign military finance from the United States, reported AP.

With inputs from agencies

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Over 185 people have been killed in Sudan in fighting between forces loyal to the countrys top two generals, United Nations envoy Volker Perthes said on Monday.

More than 1,800 people have been wounded in the clashes that erupted early Saturday, he added.

The Sudanese military and a paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces have been battling with heavy weapons and even aircraft in the capital Khartoum and other locations. Civilians have been caught in the crossfire, as many take shelter at home.

Capital Khartoum turns into battlezone

Amid explosions, people in the capital Khartoum and other cities continue to huddle in their homes. The two warring sides have been fighting it out in the densely populated urban area with heavy machine guns, tanks, and artillery. Fighter jets swooped overhead and anti-aircraft fire lit up the skies as darkness fell.

But the toll is likely much higher because there are many bodies in the streets around central Khartoum that no one can reach because of the clashes, said Atiya Abdalla Atiya, secretary of the Sudan Doctors Syndicate, which has tracked casualties. There has been no official word on the number of combatants killed.

The sudden explosion of violence over the weekend between the nations two top generals, each backed by tens of thousands of fighters, trapped millions of people in their homes or wherever they could find shelter, with supplies running low in many areas. Top diplomats on four continents scrambled to broker a truce, with the UN Security Council set to discuss the crisis.

Gunfire and shelling are everywhere, Awadeya Mahmoud Koko, head of a union for thousands of tea vendors and other food workers, said from her home in a southern district of Khartoum.

She said a shell stuck a neighbors house Sunday, killing at least three people. We couldnt take them to a hospital or bury them.

In central Khartoum, sustained gunfire erupted and white smoke rose near the main military headquarters, a major battlefront. Nearby, at least 88 students and staffers have been trapped in the engineering college library at Khartoum University since the start of the fighting, one of the students said in a video posted online Monday. One student was killed during clashes outside and another wounded, he said. They do not have food or water, he said, showing a room full of people sleeping on the floor.

Even in a country with a long history of military coups, the scenes of fighting in the capital and its adjoining city Omdurman across the Nile River were unprecedented. The turmoil comes just days before Sudanese were to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting.

The power struggle pits Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the commander of the armed forces, against Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group. The former allies jointly orchestrated an October 2021 military coup that derailed Sudans transition to democracy. The violence now threatens to throw the country into a wider civil conflict just as Sudanese were trying to revive the drive for a democratic, civilian government after decades of military rule.

The US, the UN and others have called for a truce. Egypt, which backs Sudans military, and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates  which forged close ties to the RSF in recent years as it sent thousands of fighters to support their war in Yemen  have also called for both sides to stand down.

But both generals have thus far dug in, demanding the others surrender and ruling out negotiations.

Dagalo, whose forces grew out of the notorious Janjaweed militias in Sudans Darfur region, portrayed himself in a statement on Twitter on Monday as a defender of democracy and branded Burhan as the aggressor and a radical Islamist. Both generals have a long history of human rights abuses and have cracked down on pro-democracy activists.

Heavy gunbattles raged in multiple parts of the capital and Omdurman, where the two sides have brought in tens of thousands of troops, positioning them in nearly every neighborhood. At least six hospitals in Khartoum were shut down because of damage from fighting, nearby clashes or because they ran low on fuel, said Atiya of the Doctors Syndicate.

Hadia Saeed, a housewife, said she and her three children were sheltering in one room on the ground floor of their home for fear of the shelling as gunfire rattled across their Bahri district in north Khartoum. They have food for a few more days, but after that we dont know what to do, she said.

Residents said fierce fighting with artillery and other heavy weapons raged Monday afternoon in the Gabra neighborhood southwest of Khartoum. People were trapped and screaming inside their homes, said Asmaa al-Toum, a physician living in the area.

Fighting has been particularly fierce around each sides main bases, located amid civilian areas, and at strategic government buildings.

The military on Monday claimed to have secured the main television building in Omdurman, fending off RSF fighters trying to seize the building for days. State-run Sudan TV resumed broadcasting.

The military scored a significant gain Sunday when the RSF said it abandoned its main barracks and base, in Omdurman, which the armed forces had pounded with airstrikes. Online videos Monday purported to show the bodies of dozens of men said to be RSF fighters at the base, strewn over beds, the floor of a clinic and outside in a yard. The authenticity of the videos could not be confirmed independently.

The military and RSF were also fighting in most major centers around the country, including in the western Darfur region and parts of the north and the east, by the borders with Egypt and Ethiopia. Battles raged Monday around a strategic airbase in Merowe, some 350 kilometers (215 miles) northwest of the capital, with both sides claiming control of the facility.

Only four years ago, Sudan inspired hope after a popular uprising helped depose long-time autocratic leader Omar al-Bashir.

But the turmoil since, especially the 2021 coup, has frustrated the democracy drive and wrecked the economy. A third of the population  around 16 million people  now depends on humanitarian assistance in the resource-rich nation, Africas third largest.

Save the Children, an international charity, said it has temporarily suspended most of its operations across Sudan. It said looters raided its offices in Darfur, stealing medical supplies, laptops, vehicles and a refrigerator. The World Food Program suspended operations over the weekend after three employees were killed in Darfur, and the International Rescue Committee has also halted most operations.

With the U.S., European Union, African and Arab nations all calling for an end to fighting, the U.N. Security Council was to discuss the developments in Sudan later Monday. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was consulting with the Arab League, African Union and leaders in the region, urging anyone with influence to press for peace.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry discussed the violence in separate phone calls with his Saudi and French counterparts, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said.

At a meeting of the Group of Seven wealthy nations in Japan on Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Sudanese want the military back in the barracks. They want democracy. They want the civilian-led government, Sudan needs to return to that path.

Under international pressure, Burhan and Dagalo had recently agreed to a framework agreement with political parties and pro-democracy groups.

However, the deal was vague on key points of dispute, including how the RSF would be integrated into the armed forces and who would have final control. The signing of the deal was put off repeatedly as tensions rose between the generals.

With inputs from AP

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Washington: The United States has called for a ceasefire in Sudan where the deadly fighting between rival military factions have claimed lives of at least 100 civilians and injured 365 others. An ex-serviceman from Indias Kerala was also among those killed after being hit by stray bullets in capital Khartoum on Saturday.

The fighting between the army and a paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) which started on 15 April, continued overnight into its third day on Monday.

Khartoum woke up to bombardments and air strikes that lasted for around two hours, before the heavy strikes abated but artillery fire continued, a report by Reuters quoted its reporter as saying.

Such skirmishes that have spread to other parts of Sudan as well are the first such instances of violence in the capital in recent years. Armed forces have gone up against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) with the leaders of the two opposing sides holding the top two positions in Sundans ruling council.

Following the overthrowing of the long-ruling autocrat Omar al-Bashir in an uprising four years back, such power struggle has the potential to topple the country into a civil war. It could, subsequently, also derail international efforts to launch a civilian transition for the war-torn country.

Speaking at the sidelines of a Group of Seven Foreign Ministers meeting in Japan, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed on the need of an immediate ceasefire, saying, There is a shared deep concern about the fighting, violence thats going on in Sudan  the threat that that poses to civilians, that it poses to the Sudanese nation and potentially poses even to the region, according to the Reuters report.

Blinken also called on Sudanese army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo to ensure that the civilians are protected.

Violence in Sudan

As soon as the clashes broke out, social media users reported firing in Omdurman as well as Khartoum, with residents stating they could hear the boom of artillery and warplanes flying overhead in Kafouri, which has an RSF base and adjoins Khartoum.

The clashes broke out after rising tensions over the RSFs integration into the military. Discord over it has led to the delay of the signing of Sudans transition to democracy after a 2021 military coup.

With inputs from Reuters

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
London: A gurdwara in the south-east England county of Kent posted a scam alert warning on its website after it was found that fraudsters were posting fake job and visa offers for Indians.

The Sri Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara in Gravesend shared a copy of the scam advertisement with the words Scam Alert on its website and social media platforms, and warned that the promise of Ticket Free, Visa Free, Food Free Job Alert was fake. The ad, with the title Urgently needed in the UK, calls on males and females to get in contact via a WhatsApp number.

Scam Alert: Do not use these services. This is not affiliated to Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara Gravesend, the gurdwaras warning said.

Gurdwara General Secretary, Jagdev Singh Virdee, told news outlet Kent Online that they were alerted about the scam when a local worshipper inquired about it for a parent based in India earlier this month. Her father had been alerted to this ad and asked if it was a job, so she came to check whether its genuine or not, and thats how we first found out about it, Virdee was quoted as saying in the report.

Since then, around a dozen people have contacted the gurdwara to ask about the authenticity of the flyer, which has been circulating on the web. Some reportedly even went through the process of exchanging passport information and personal details. Theyre faking letters as if its a job offer from the gurdwara, then theyre saying to them, youve had the job offer now, so if you pay over so much money, then well arrange a travel ticket and visa. The fraudsters are telling people abroad weve got jobs here so theyre impersonating us. It amounts to immigration fraud and financial fraud, Virdee warned.

The local Kent police and the nationwide Action Fraud network have been alerted to the scam. Officers have been in contact with representatives at the gurdwara and are investigating the circumstances, a Kent Police spokesperson said.

The gurdwara prides itself as a place of worship on a unique scale, with its five elaborate domes and design inspired by the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

It includes hand-crafted marble and stonework, colourful interior tiling, and stained-glass windows. It is a famous local landmark and works with the community with many volunteering efforts.

An estimated 15,000 Sikhs live in the Gravesend and surrounding area, with strong family and friend ties in India.

(With inputs from PTI)

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
New Delhi, Apr 17 (UNI) President Droupadi Murmu on Monday said development of villages can lead to the overall progress of the country.

The President made the statement at a programme here.

The villagers should be able to decide what should be the model for the development of a village, and how it should be implemented. Panchayats are not just a means of implementing government programs and initiatives, but also a place to encourage new leaders, planners, policy-makers, and innovators," Murmu said after presenting the National Panchayat Awards and inaugurating the National Conference on Incentivisation of Panchayats.

She said, "By adopting the best practices of one Panchayat in other Panchayats, we can quickly develop and make our villages prosperous.

Talking about rural elections, the President said, There is a provision for the election of Panchayat representatives, every five years, to ensure the participation of every section of society. However, it has been observed that these elections sometimes create bitterness among the people. Keeping in mind the need to avoid any mutual discord among the villagers due to the elections, Panchayat elections have been kept separate from political parties.

A village is an extension of family. All community work should be done with mutual agreement as much as possible, Murmu said.

The President also said for the holistic development of any society, the participation of women is very important.

Women should have the right to make decisions for themselves, for their families and for the welfare of society. This right could be achieved through their empowerment at the family and village level, Murmu said.

The President called upon women to actively participate in the work of the Gram Panchayats. She also appealed to their families to support them in these efforts.

UNI DS SY RKM
London: A recent report has exposed horrifying stories of sexual assaults with children and adults inside NHS hospitals of England and Wales.

According to recent statistics from the Womens Rights Network (WRN), more than 6,500 sexual assaults were reported in just three years.

According to reports, patients, staff members, and visitors have experienced horrendous crimes like gang rapes and child sexual assaults.

Based on freedom of information requests made to police forces in England and Wales, the statistics were compiled.

Between January 2019 and October 2022, at least 2,088 rapes and 4,451 sexual assaults were reported, or 33 per week.

The answers of the government could not provide specifics on whether the incidents took place in NHS or for-profit establishments. However, a startling one in seven occurred in hospital wards.

As per the report, only 4.1% of the crimes led to a charge or summons being issued to the suspect.

The findings, according to WRNs founder Heather Binning, are just the tip of the iceberg and demonstrate that hospitals just arent safe spaces.

They are practically a market for sexual criminals, she said. Its horrifying beyond belief.

The police are not doing enough in terms of properly documenting the crimes and pursuing them, as these are locations with CCTV and restricted access, she claimed. What causes the poor charge rate?

Her WRN organisation is urging the police, the NHS, and the Care Quality Commission to recognise this hidden domain of sexual violence.

These statistics are astonishing, according to Binning. We started looking into this because we were worried about the safety of women and children on NHS wards, but we are shocked by what we found, she said.

When you consider that this data covers the epidemic, when part of the country was in lockdown and hospitals were purportedly significantly more attentive, the volume of sexual assaults and rapes is even more horrifying.

The reported offences include the rape of a little girl under the age of 13 and the rape of a woman in West Midlands hospitals by multiple offenders.

In Cambridgeshire, three young girls and a boy claimed to have been sexually assaulted, while six girls allegedly suffered attacks in Lancashire hospitals.

According to Jo Phoenix, the reports author and professor of criminology at Reading University, NHS trusts were failing in their duty to protect both patients and staff as a result of the results.

She added: The fact that 95.9 percent of all reports were either no-further-actioned or not recorded (officially as crimes) is also truly appalling. Although there are no reasons given within the research for this alarmingly low figure, what is clear is that there appears to be ingrained inertia in dealing with this safeguarding and policing failure.

Freedom of information requests were sent to 43 police forces by WRN researchers. There were eight that couldnt offer the information, including those in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The true figures are going to be significantly higher, Binning continued. Even now, crimes of this sort frequently go unreported, and there is also a great deal of information that is lacking.

The WRN argued that improved documentation of crimes committed in healthcare facilities was necessary and urged the Home Office to issue directives to the police so they could create a more realistic picture of the issue.

This is serious, it wont go away, and if we dont get a handle on it, it will only get worse, Ms. Binning continued. We thought we were past the days when someone like Jimmy Savile could go in and wander the wards unchallenged. This does have echoes of that.

The statistics, according to a representative for NHS England, are inacceptable.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
New Delhi: The British parliaments Commissioner for Standards opened an investigation into Prime Minister Rishi Sunak earlier this month, according to a list of open inquiries posted on its website on Monday.

According to a report, the probe by the standards commissioner, Daniel Greenberg, was launched on 13 April and cited paragraph 6 of the MPs code of conduct, which governs how MPs should behave.

The code states that members must always be open and frank in declaring any relevant interest in any proceeding of the House or its committees and in any communications with ministers, members, public officials or public office holders.

A Downing Street source said the investigation relates to the shares his wife Akshata Murthy holds in a childcare agency that could benefit from a policy announced in the budget.

The Commissioner is responsible for monitoring the operation of the House of Commons Code of Conduct and Registers, including investigating any alleged breaches. The commissioners page on the parliament website did not provide further details on the possible breach.

Under the code of conduct, all members of parliament are required to provide information about any financial interest which might reasonably be thought by others to influence a Members actions, speeches or votes in Parliament, or actions taken in his or her capacity as a Member of Parliament. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Baghdad, Iraq: On Monday, the foreign minister of Ukraine questioned attempts to end his countrys war with Russia, claiming that Moscow wants war while on a visit to Iraq.

Dmytro Kulebas trip is the first one by a Ukrainian foreign minister to Baghdad in eleven years.

It happens after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Bagdad in February, a year after Russia invaded Ukraine.

At a joint press conference, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said Baghdad was ready to help the two parties to first reach a ceasefire, then to start discussions.

However, Kuleba appeared doubtful that peace efforts would succeed.

Russia is seeking war. And this is the biggest impediment, the biggest hurdle on the way to peace, he told reporters.

You dont behave like this when you want peace. So whatever Russian officials are saying today Russia wants war, Kuleba said.

We need Russia to agree with a very simple fact: it has to stop the war and withdraw from the territory of Ukraine. This will give space to diplomacy.

Offers to mediate in the Ukraine-Russia conflict have multiplied in recent weeks.

On Sunday in Abu Dhabi, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he had discussed joint mediation with China and the United Arab Emirates, and accused the United States and Europe of prolonging the conflict.

On Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macrons office said in a statement he had discussed the next steps in the organisation of a peace summit with Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky.

In 2021 and 2022 Iraq mediated several rounds of talks between officials from regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Last month, Riyadh and Tehran announced in China that they would be resuming diplomatic ties severed in 2016.

Hussein said on Monday of Ukraine and Russia: When the two parties are convinced that dialogue is necessary, Baghdad will be at the service of both.

Iraq maintains good economic ties with both Kyiv and Moscow and has adopted a neutral stance since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

While it has secured support from the West, Ukraine is on a mission to bolster diplomatic support among emerging countries, especially in the Middle East and Asia.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Aleppo: A unilateral helicopter raid in Northern Syria by the US forces has claimed life of an ISIS leader, early morning on Monday.

The operation was the result of extensive planning and resulted in the probable death of the targeted individual,  US Central Command said in a statement.

The deceased, a senior Islamic State Syria leader was responsible for planning terror attacks in the Middle East and Europe, according to US Central Command (Centcom).

The targeted person was a group operations planner, according to Centcom, who also stated that he was likely killed as a result of the raid. On the target, two other armed men were killed.

Information regarding the American heli-raid in Syria

In a brief statement, it was stated that no US soldiers had been hurt, no helicopters had been wrecked, and Centcom did not believe any civilians had been killed or hurt.

Additional information would be released soon, according to a Central Command official.

The White Helmets of Syria, a civil defence organisation that works in opposition-held parts of northern Syria, claimed to have taken two victims injured in the raid to a nearby hospital. Later, local officials announced that the injured had passed away.

According to the White Helmets, a third individual perished when US forces landed for the raid.

The operation, according to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, was launched from a base in Kobani and targeted a military facility belonging to what it characterised as a Turkish-backed armed opposition organisation close to the Turkish border.

The Kurdish-led SDF collaborates with the US in anti-IS operations in northeast Syria.

A US helicopter raid and violent clashes, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring organisation.

What all Islamic state doing in Syria?

Around 2014, the self-styled Islamic State quickly seized control of a sizable area of northern Syria and Iraq; to drive them back, US and coalition forces fought alongside primarily Kurdish local fighters.

By December, the group had lost almost 95% of the territory it had controlled at its height, which had included Syrian city of Raqqa and the cities of Mosul in Iraq.

ISIS, to use another term for the organization, remains capable of conducting operations within the region with a desire to strike beyond the Middle East, said General Michael Erik Kurilla, commander of CENTCOM.

We will keep up our tenacious fight against ISIS.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights stated on Sunday that at least 36 people had died in an incident that the Islamic State had claimed responsibility for.

According to the report, they included 19 civilians and 17 members of a government-aligned militia. According to the NGO, they were collecting truffles.

Additionally, it stated that IS fighters in the countrys east had killed five shepherds and abducted two more

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Taipei: The US Navy said on Monday that its guided-missile destroyer the USS Milius had entered and sailed through the Taiwan Strait under the freedom of navigation operation.

The operation comes days after China carried out military exercises over the island last week. US Navys 7th Fleet said in a statement that the warship conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit through waters where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law.

In response to the operation, China said that it had tracked an American warship that sailed through the Taiwan Strait, adding the United States had publicly hyped up its transit.

Colonel Shi Yi, a PLA spokesman, said: Theatre troops remain on a high level of alert at all times and will resolutely defend national sovereignty and security as well as regional peace and stability.

Also read: China launches weather satellite after civilian flights divert routes to avoid Beijings no-fly zone over Taiwan

Sharing images of crew looking out into the Taiwan Strait on Twitter, the 7th Fleet said, The ship transited through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal State.

USS Milius (DDG 69) conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit April 16 (local time) through waters where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law. Click here to read more:https://t.co/kVeETF1HUi pic.twitter.com/IzEOPA1T0Y  7th Fleet (@US7thFleet) April 17, 2023

The statement elaborated that the exercise was meant to demonstrate Americas commitment to promoting a free and open Asia-Pacific region.

China, which views Taiwan as part of its own territory, launched a three-day military exercise around the island on 8 April in which it simulated targeted strikes and practised a blockade of the island.

Beijing began three days of military exercises around the island on Saturday, the day after President Tsai Ing-wen returned to Taipei from Los Angeles, where she met with US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

On Sunday, China allegedly launched a satellite into orbit while Taiwanese authorities claimed that rocket debris had landed in the sea, where Beijing had this week declared a no-sail zone.

The US had earlier said, The United States military flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows.

With inputs from agencies

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
United Nations, United States: Concerned with Russias detention of American journalist Evan Gershkovich, the United States and several other UN members demanded on Monday that Moscow free inmates jailed on political grounds.

We protest Russian efforts to limit and intimidate the media, said Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US ambassador to the United Nations, reading a statement supported by 45 other UN member states, including Britain, France, Germany and Japan.

The signatories said they were deeply concerned by Russias detention of The Wall Street Journals Gershkovich, who has been held for more than two weeks.

We will continue to advocate for press freedom and the safety of journalists worldwide, the statement said.

We urge Russian Federation authorities to release those they hold on political grounds, and to end the draconian crackdown on freedom of expression, including against members of the media.

Gershkovich has been charged with espionage and faces up to 20 years in prison.

Moscow accuses him of trying to obtain classified defence information for the US government.

The reporter, The Wall Street Journal and US officials vehemently deny the allegations.

US ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy said she found Gershkovich in good health when meeting him at Moscows Lefortovo Prison on Monday for the first time since his arrest.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
New Delhi: Moscow needs to boost the trade with New Delhi in order to balance Russias merchandise trade deficit with India, said Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Valentinovich Manturov.

We need to boost the trade with India and we are looking at balance like for example, we have with China. We have $200 billion trade with China, and its balanced, said Manturov on the India-Russia trade and payments issue.

#WATCH | Because of a lack of import from India, its not enough to use Rupee. We need to boost trade from India. In this case we are looking at balance, like for example, we have with China  we have 200 billion dollars trade with China and its balanced says Denis pic.twitter.com/OqWv5rtVpx  ANI (@ANI) April 17, 2023

Manturov is on a two-day visit to India to co-chair the Intergovernmental Russian-Indian Commission, which is aimed at enhancing trade ties between the two countries.

India-Russia free trade agreement

India and Russia are discussing a free trade agreement (FTA), an initiative that would give a fillip to bilateral commercial ties that have flourished since the conflict began in Ukraine.

The FTA talks will be a step-up in economic relations between India and Russia despite calls from Western countries for New Delhi to gradually distance itself from Moscow over its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

India's imports from Russia more than quadrupled to $46.33 billion over the last fiscal year, mainly through oil.

Surge in Russia-China trade

After sanctions were imposed on Russia last year, it gave away dollar to trade in yuan with China.

As both the countries started settling bilateral transactions in Chinese renminbi, there was no currency conversion fee which led to increase in trade.

China's total exports to Russia grew to $76.12 billion in 2022, representing an increase of over 12 per cent compared to a year earlier.

Russian President Vladimir Putin in March endorsed the broader international use of the renminbi. As he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, he said that he supported "the use of the yuan in payments between Russia and countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America," a report by TASS had said.

With inputs from agencies

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Sicily: In what can be called one of the largest drug hauls ever made in Italy, over 400 million euros worth of cocaine was found floating off Sicily in packages. The packages were most likely left by a cargo ship for traffickers to bring ashore, according to Italian police.

As per a report in AFP, the police intercepted 70 packages, which were all tied together and contained around 2,000 kilogrammes of cocaine, off Sicilys eastern coast. The packages themselves were made of around 1,600 bricks of drugs and even sported a tracking device.

The consignment was spotted by a navy surveillance plane, the police informed, adding in a statement that they were probably left at sea by one of the cargo ships frequenting that stretch of coastline, to be subsequently recovered and transported to the mainland.

The statement added that the cargo was worth over 400 million euros.

Two tons of #cocaine worth about 400 million euros were intercepted by #Italian law enforcement officers east of #Sicily. pic.twitter.com/6qn8NTB5pt  NEXTA (@nexta_tv) April 17, 2023

According to a report in DW, tax and customs authorities called it a "record" seizure and quoted a statement as stating that "peculiar packaging methods and the presence of a luminous device to allow tracking" suggested that the haul was dumped at sea by a cargo ship in order for it to recovered later.

Notably, Sicily is home to the wealthy and powerful Ndrangheta mafia family.

However, this is not the first time that two tonnes of cocaine have been intercepted by authorities on sea. Back in 2021, the UK authorities seized around 2 tonnes of cocaine on a luxury yacht off the coast of southern England.

At that time British authorities were also able to nab six people after discovering the drugs estimated to be worth $221 million. The drugs were intercepted on a Jamaican-flagged yacht sailing from the Caribbean.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
New Delhi: The spokesperson of the Kandahar Education Department, Mutwakul Ahmed has said that they have been instructed by the leadership of the Ministry of Education to suspend the activities of regional classes and all educational institutions in this province until further notice.

In an official letter from the Ministry of Education, it has been stated that the Ministry has appointed a delegation to investigate the projects and activities of all educational institutions in Kandahar and Helmand provinces, and for this purpose, it has informed the Departments of Education in these provinces of all educational institutions. Activities have been directed to be suspended.

Meanwhile, Girls cannot go to school beyond sixth grade in Afghanistan, with the education ban extending to universities. Women are barred from public spaces, including parks, and most forms of employment. Last week, Afghan women were barred from working at the U.N., according to the global body, although the Taliban have yet to make a public announcement.

Authorities present the education restrictions as temporary suspensions rather than bans, but universities and schools reopened in March without their female students.

The bans have raised fierce international uproar, increasing the countrys isolation at a time when its economy has collapsed and worsened a humanitarian crisis.

Two religious scholars who are well-known within Afghanistan said Saturday that authorities should reconsider their decision. Public opposition to Taliban policies is rare, although some Taliban leaders have voiced their disagreement with the decision-making process.
One of the largest and deadliest Nazi concentration camps that bore witness to the Holocaust, Auschwitz saw the brutal murder of over 1 million people between 1939 and 1945. Located in Poland, the former Nazi concentration camp, which included several centres and subcamps, has been developed into the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in a bid to honour the lives of those who were killed during the Holocaust. The place, which is visited by a number of tourists on a regular basis, is a reflection of the atrocities that were faced by Jewish people and evokes an immense amount of respect.

The museum authorities always ask visitors to maintain a respectful and dignified attitude toward the place. But a womans inappropriate photoshoot has left Twitter users irked. The woman, who was seemingly a tourist, grabbed attention for all the wrong reasons as she posed inappropriately in front of the museum gate. The woman can be seen sitting on the rail tracks and posing for the camera. Notably, these are the same tracks that were used by the Nazi officials to bring prisoners to the concentration camps.

As others present at the museum also noticed her weird antics, social media has also gone abuzz over the same.

Today I had one of the most harrowing experiences of my life. Regrettably it didnt seem everyone there found it quite so poignant. pic.twitter.com/3OdWavqC4P  Maria  (@MariaRMGBNews) April 15, 2023

Taking to Twitter, a user added a caption expressing her disappointment with the picture. Today I had one of the most harrowing experiences of my life. Regrettably it didnt seem everyone there found it quite so poignant, she wrote.

In reaction to her post, many others also posted similar reactions. A user wrote, When I was there, I seem to remember the guide asking people not to do this out of respect.

When I was there, I seem to remember the guide asking people not to do this out of respect  reggie_dunlop (@reggiedunlopno4) April 15, 2023

Another one commented, This woman is posing on a railroad track that brought hundreds of thousands to their murders. There is no nuance here.

This woman is posing on a railroad track that brought hundreds of thousands to their murders. There is no nuance here.  Harrison Lowman (@harrisonlowman) April 16, 2023

Absolutely disgusting. When I went, people were taking selfies. So disrespectful, an account remarked.

Absolutely disgusting. When I went, people were taking selfies. So disrespectful  GemmaSherlock (@GemmaSherlock2) April 16, 2023

The museum while commenting on the post wrote, Pictures can hold immense emotional & documentation value for visitors. Images help us remember. When coming to Auschwitz Museum, visitors should bear in mind that they enter the authentic site of the former camp where over 1 million people were murdered. Respect their memory.

Pictures can hold immense emotional & documentation value for visitors. Images help us remember. When coming to @AuschwitzMuseum visitors should bear in mind that they enter the authentic site of the former camp where over 1 million people were murdered. Respect their memory.  Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) April 16, 2023

So far, the tweet has gathered over 20 million views.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
A fire has swept through an apartment building in an older neighborhood of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, killing at least 16 people and injuring another nine
Moscow: In his first letter to his parents in the US, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is currently detained in Russia on espionage allegations, indicated that he is not losing hope and made a joke about the food in jail.

When Gershkovich, 31, was arrested in the city of Ekaterinburg, 1,100 miles (1,800 km) east of Moscow, on March 29, he made history as the first American journalist to be held in Russia on suspicion of spying since the conclusion of the cold war.

The reporter is being investigated by Russias Federal Security Service (FSB) for gathering what it claimed to be state secrets about the military industrial complex. Both Gershkovich and the Journal have disputed that he was a spy.

Since then, he has been detained at Moscows Lefortovo prison, where he is allowed visits from his Russian lawyers but is not yet allowed to see friends or representatives from the US consulate since, according to Moscow, the matter is still being looked into.

In the two-page, handwritten note dated 5 April that his parents, Soviet immigrants who now reside in Philadelphia, received late last week, Gershkovich wrote, I want to say that I am not losing hope. I read. I work out. Im also attempting to write.

He made fun of his mothers meals as well. For better or worse, you unluckily did a good job of preparing me for jail meals, he added to his mother.

For breakfast they give us hot creamed wheat, oatmeal cereal or wheat gruel. I am remembering my childhood.

The letter, which was written in Russian, the familys native tongue, also attested to Gershkovich receiving a care package of clothing, slippers, toiletries, and stationery from friends in Russia.

In a video interview with the Journal last week, the reporters parents, Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich, who left the Soviet Union in 1979, expressed optimism for a favourable resolution and emphasised that their son still cherished Russia.

Being optimistic and believing in a happy ending is one of the American qualities that we absorbed, Milman added.

But Im not a fool. I am aware of the issues. If found guilty, Gershkovich could receive a term as long as 20 years in jail.

As one of the few surviving western journalists who continued to cover Moscow following the invasion of Ukraine, Milman claimed her son felt obliged to remain in Russia. I am aware that he believed it was his obligation to report She said, He adores Russians.

Media outlets, human rights organizations, and foreign governments have expressed outrage over Gershkovichs detention. Joe Biden last week called the confinement totally illegal and told the family he was working to get a release.

The journalist, who is widely regarded as a gifted and well-respected reporter, was last week officially recognised by the US as having been wrongfully detained, sending a message that it believes the espionage charges against him are false and that he is being kept as a hostage.

Russias foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, asserted that Gershkovich was caught red-handed while attempting to collect secrets. The Kremlin claimed that he had been engaging in espionage under the cover of journalism.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Got two of my sons to come with me to the garage to push and pull the ol' girl into her bay, and while we were at it I thought I'd try and loosen the seized up left front wheel... any tricks to getting the drum off? I got this far;The cap, pin and center nut came right off, no problem at all. The bottom half of the drum can be pulled out about half an inch, but then it goes right back, as if it is hooked on a spring...Oh well, I'll read the shop manual I bought and see what it says too. Big Red will just have to wait until I return... she's pretty though
I agree with Steve above. I have the stock straight axle on mine. When I first got it, the P.O. just finished installing a hydraulic ram cylinder power steering on it and was experiencing death wobbles after hitting different bumps on the road. I paid him for the truck, drove it some 140 miles home, and found out what he was talking about. Not fun, scarry with another car coming down the road. Didn't do it all the time but once in a while you hit just the right bump and the wobble and shake would be crazy until you just stopped. I found out a couple of things. None of the front ,nor rear suspension parts had a grease gun applied to them for years. It took a couple of days of work with a grease buster tool to get them to even take grease. One of them never did open up. I would grease them, take it fir a ride and notice how much better it seemed to handle. Greased them all right away again, even more improvement. Did 3 or 4 cycles of greasing and driving, and it was like night and day. Then I noticed the passenger side front tire was very worn on the inside. Took off both wheels and measured the toe from the backing plate to the frame and that spindle was off by 5/8 of an inch. The P.O. changed the tie rod with the ram cylinder kit and never had the front end aligned. So with the driver's side spindle squared with the frame I set the passger side spindle and adjusted that end of the tie rod to square it. It ended up at about 0 tow. Before putting it back on the road new front tires went on and an appointment was booked to take it in for alignment. On alignment day I am driving it into town and I could Not believe the improvement! The alignment rack told us I set it for 0 tow, but in it's alignment data base, suggested it be set for 11 degrees. So that is what they set it for. The steering and ride even improved with that amount! The caster could of been a little more according to the alignment rack, but since then it really drives nice!

There used to be a guy on this forum named Ax Racer. He was a wealth of knowledge I always thought. I remember going through this front end stuff about the time he made the suggestion of how you could get very close to the ride of an IFS if you could go completely through your front end and rebuild or at least replace worn steering and suspension parts. I think he was right, as after all that my stock suspension rides very smoothly at 60 or 65 and am quite happy with the ride.

The ram assist cylinder power steering on mine works very well too.

I do have just a little front brake pull when heavily braking with the original drum brakes, so I am going to be working on that.

I think there is always going to be something!




US foreign policy is failing, as the Pentagon leaks show: The Times

People's Daily Online) 15:00, April 17, 2023

The weakening of the United States' global position and the failure of its foreign policies have been made abundantly clear by US President Biden's visit to Ireland, according to an article published by The Times on April 13, 2023.

Bidens Irish escape this week is especially convenient. It comes as events in the real world highlight the sharply diminished status of the American superpower he supposedly leads. While hes enjoying the crack, the US is increasingly enfeebled in the main theatres of global security: Europe, the Middle East and Asia, writes Gerald Baker, the author of the article.

According to the article, the embarrassing leak of Pentagon documents showed "Washington's strategic disarray, ineptitude, and weakness." The leaks have not only jeopardized US intelligence prestige and harmed trust in US communication security, but they have also embarrassed the US's allies, who have had their secrets exposed as a result of the leaks.

Biden has placed all his US and Nato chips on winning the proxy war against Russia, or at least holding Vladimir Putin to a stalemate. Failure would be a humanitarian and political disaster for Ukraine and a hammer-blow to American credibility and leadership, writes the author.

The article draws attention to French President Emmanuel Macron's trip to China earlier this month, after which he returned to Europe with the view that the European Union should not blindly follow US policy towards China. Additionally, America's influence in the Middle East has been weakened due to Chinese-brokered peace talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran. When it comes to Asia, the United States talks a tough game but plays a weak one.

Still, as US power recedes on continent after continent, its adversaries advance, its allies look frantically to alternatives, Joe Biden has one consolation. Hell always have Dundalk.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Wu Chengliang)
If you have an event you'd like to list on the site, submit it now!

Submit
Babatunde Fashola, the Minister of Works and Housing, addresses the controversy surrounding the alleged dual citizenship status of President-elect Bola Tinubu.

During an appearance on Channels Televisions Sunday Politics, Fashola stated that the issue of dual citizenship should not be a cause for worry.

Quote

I know he carries Nigerian passport, I dont know of dual citizenship, I know he resided in abroad when he went on exile, I dont know if they gave him American citizen or not,

Fashola said.Fashola queried, What does that has to do with the results of the election, I think the last time I checked the Nigerian constitution allows one to have dual citizenship. Doesnt it?On whether or not having dual citizenship goes against the constitution of Nigeria, Fashola, who served as Chief of Staff to Tinubu when the latter was Lagos governor, however, said he would find out.

Quote

I will check that, but I doubt the Nigerian constitution makes you disentitled if you have dual citizenship because the constitution allows you to have dual citizenship,

he said.Watch the video below 
Netflix Is Down Complain Subscribers in India, US, and UK Right Before Platforms Second-Ever Live Event News oi -Alap Naik Desai

Netflix is currently suffering from a considerably large outage. Thousands of users across the US, UK, and India have complained about the streaming platform on social media.

Streaming platform Netflix acknowledged that it was facing some issues and assured users that it was working on addressing the same. The outage is a significant setback for Netflix. The streaming giant had scheduled its second-ever live event, which would be streamed to its subscribers via the platform.

More Than 11,000 Subscribers Unable To Stream Content From Netflix

More than 11,000 users, primarily from the US, reported issues while streaming content from Netflix, indicated Downdetector, an online tool for reporting tech outages. The outage primarily affected users in the US. However, subscribers in other countries, such as the UK and India, also reported problems with Netflix's services.

To everyone who stayed up late, woke up early, gave up their Sunday afternoon we are incredibly sorry that the Love is Blind Live Reunion did not turn out as we had planned. We're filming it now and we'll have it on Netflix as soon as humanly possible. Again, thank you and  Netflix (@netflix) April 17, 2023

Netflix acknowledged the problem and promised to fix the issue. However, thousands of subscribers waiting for the live event were left disappointed as Netflix failed to deliver.

The outage delayed the live stream of the highly anticipated event "Love Is Blind: The Live Reunion". The show was hosted by Vanessa and Nick Lachey. Netflix was to stream the show live from Los Angeles, USA starting at 5 PM Pacific (5:30AM IST).

we deserve to all share the same password after this #LoveIsBlindLIVE #LoveIsBlind pic.twitter.com/wClMHJO0ro  T (@trinawatters) April 17, 2023

Netflix subscribers could join a waiting room for the show 10 minutes before the start time. However, Netflix sputtered to a halt just before the event began. Several subscribers were left waiting for the show to start streaming even after an hour of delay.

Netflix Claims Services Have Resumed, But Users Still Facing Difficulties

Netflix claims it started the live-streaming of the event approximately two hours later at 6:16PM Pacific (6:46 AM IST). The platform issued an apology on Twitter at 9:30PM EST (7:00 AM IST), saying that the show was being filmed at the time. However, a few Netflix users reported difficulties accessing the content.

Netflix charging Netflix running

extra for services one live event #LoveIsBlind #LoveIsBlindLIVE pic.twitter.com/fqH5m41emT  Shelby (@Shelby_Delaine) April 17, 2023

Needless to say, Netflix dropping the ball on the live event may benefit HBO as several subscribers are expected to switch over to the latter's service to watch their popular show, Succession.

Netflix hasn't shared the reasons for the disruption of its services. The platform's servers may likely have buckled under the sudden rise in demand.

Best Mobiles in India
Truecaller Introduces AI-Powered Fraud Protection Feature to Combat SMS Fraud News oi -Afrin Humayon

There has been a rise in SMS fraud lately, with users receiving messages that claim to be from authentic banks or businesses and which, more often than not, advise users to click a link. Unsuspecting individuals who believe the message is legitimate end up clicking the link, thereby getting duped of their money from their banks.

To combat this, Truecaller has introduced a Fraud Protection feature that uses machine learning to recognize fraudulent messages and alert users. While Truecaller already had a feature to detect spam messages earlier, it relied primarily on community-driven feedback.

Truecaller has said that over the 100 million users who use their app, each of them would have received at least one fraudulent message. Unlike spam, these are malicious and can range from electricity bill payments, banks, job offers, KYC-related, loans, charity, or lottery.

Truecaller claims the Fraud Protection feature intelligently recognizes fraudulent senders and messages. The company also claims the system is designed to detect new forms of fraud without explicit user reportage.

When the Fraud Protection feature identifies a message as fraudulent on the user's device, Truecaller marks it with a red notification to warn the user not to open it. The notification remains on the screen until dismissed by the user.

But, if the user accidentally opens the SMS, to add another layer of security, Truecaller will disable any links in the message to prevent any accidental clicking. Only when the user marks the sender as safe will the app allow the user to access the message.

Truecaller claims that it does not upload any messages and that all messages remain locally on the user's device. The Fraud Protection feature is free and has been rolled out to all Android users in India using Truecaller.

While this feature is currently being launched in India, Truecaller has said it plans to launch the feature in other markets as well.

Source: Truecaller

Best Mobiles in India

Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications
Google's Next Big Move: AI-Powered Search Engine in the Works News oi -Kabir Jain

As AI continues to rapidly evolve, the world around us is changing at an unprecedented pace, and the implications can be both fascinating and unsettling. With the rise of concerns about AI becoming sentient, replacing human jobs, and spurring newfound competition, it's no surprise that even tech behemoths like Google are feeling the pressure. In fact, the search giant is reportedly racing to create a cutting-edge, all-new search engine powered by AI, as reported by The New York Times.

Google Reportedly Developing an AI-Powered Search Engine

According to the report, Google is in the initial stages of developing an advanced search service that aims to provide users with a highly personalized experience. This innovative service is designed to anticipate the needs of users, and Google is also planning to enhance its current search engine by incorporating new AI-powered features. According to internal documents reviewed by The Times, these features are being developed under the codename Magi.

One of the features of Magi is a chatbot that can answer software engineering queries and generate code snippets, while another feature enables users to search for music through a chatbot. Over 160 Google employees are currently working on this ambitious project, which is aimed at revolutionizing the way people search for information online.

Some of the other tools being developed as part of Magi include GIFI, which generates images using AI for Google Image results, and Tivoli Tutor, which teaches users a new language through conversation with a chatbot. Additionally, there is a feature called Searchalong that allows users to ask a chatbot questions while browsing the web through Google's Chrome browser.

When Will Google Roll Out These Features?

The company intends to initially make these features available to a maximum of one million people. By the end of the year, that figure should have risen to 30 million. The features will only be available in the United States.

Concerning the new search engine, it would provide users with a far more personalized experience than the company's current service, attempting to anticipate users' needs. As users ask questions to the new search service, the system will learn what they want to know. And, as a chatbot, the service will function as if the user is conversing with a "helpful person."

According to Lara Levin, a Google spokesperson, "Not every brainstorm deck or product idea leads to a launch, but as we've said before, we're excited about bringing new A.I.-powered features to search, and will share more details soon."

However, the project is still in the works, with "no clear timetable" as of now.

A Samsung Statement Sent Google Into a Panic

Amid reports that Samsung is considering replacing Google with Microsoft's Bing as the default search engine on its smartphones, Google is racing to strengthen its AI capabilities. The possibility of losing the partnership with Samsung, which ships millions of its Galaxy devices with Android software and Google's search engine, has reportedly caused a "panic" within Google.

The search agreement between Google and Samsung is valued at around $3 billion annually, highlighting the significance of this partnership. Similarly, Google has a similar tie-up with Apple, which is worth a staggering $20 billion and is set to be renewed this year. These developments demonstrate the fierce competition in the tech industry brought about by AI and the importance of maintaining key partnerships for continued success.

Via Engadget

Best Mobiles in India

Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications
Motorola Razr Lite 2023 Design Renders Surface Online: Smaller Outer Display And Camera Setup Revealed News oi -Alap Naik Desai

Motorola is expected to launch the Motorola Razr 2023 flip phone this year. In addition to the flagship-grade Android smartphone, Motorola may also launch the Razr Lite 2023, a trimmed-down version of the Razr 2023 Flip.

Design renders of the Motorola Razr Lite 2023 have surfaced, revealing its design, camera, and other details. The Razr Lite appears to have an inner display with a hole-punch cutout at the top center for the selfie camera, uniform bezels, and a smaller external display, according to renders.

Motorola Razr Lite 2023 Design Renders Suggest A Smaller Outer Screen

Motorola Razr lineup should welcome the Motorola Razr 2023. However, there are persistent rumors about another clamshell-style foldable Android smartphone in the lineup.

Motorola hasn't offered any information or confirmed the existence of any upcoming foldable smartphone, but several leaks suggest the company is readying the Motorola Razr Plus. The device is being internally referred to as the XT2321.

Apart from the Motorola Razr Plus 2023 Edition, a mystery device, dubbed the Motorola Razr Lite, has surfaced online. The design renders of this device have been reportedly based on low-resolution real-world photographs of a prototype in the testing phase.

As indicated by the renders, the Razr Lite 2023 has a clamshell-style folding mechanism. The foldable display of the smartphone has a hole-punch cutout at the top center. The bezels around the display seem thin and uniform, which should offer an immersive viewing experience for the user.

The Motorola Razr Lite 2023 has a comparatively tiny outer display. This suggests the cover display might be limited to offering basic functions, shortened notifications for calls and messages, and perhaps weather as well as battery life indications.

The display is smaller than any of the current generation of clamshell-foldable Android smartphones such as the Oppo Find N2 Flip, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 (Review), and even the upcoming Vivo X Flip.

Motorola Razr Lite 2023 Dual Camera Setup Nestled Alongside The Outer Display

The relatively tiny outer display of the Motorola Razr Lite 2023 seems to house the dual camera setup as well. The LED flash module is also placed below the camera sensors.

The renders of the Motorola Razr Lite 2023 hint at antenna lines placed on the curved side edges of the Android smartphone. This suggests the chassis is made of metal, presumably aerospace-grade aluminum.

Needless to say, Motorola hasn't even acknowledged the existence of the Motorola Razr Lite 2023. Some reports suggest Motorola might launch a single clamshell-style foldable smartphone this year, and call it Motorola Razr 2023.

Best Mobiles in India

Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications
Pixel 7a Price in India Leaked as Google Begins Distributing Shipments to Retailers News oi -Carlsen Martin

Google is hosting its major I/O 2023 event next month. While Google I/O will focus on the many software developments by the search giant, we can also expect to see the Pixel 7a, a Pixel tablet, and a new pair of Pixel-branded TWS earbuds. Google will also reveal details of its flagship Pixel 8 series.

However, our focus in this report is on the more affordable Pixel 7a. According to tipster SnooyTech, the Google Pixel 7a is expected to arrive in retail stores in the next 14 days. Moreover, another tipster Debayan Roy, recently leaked that the Google Pixel 7a price in India will start from under 40,000, which is lower than the Pixel 6a's launch price in India.

Google Pixel 7a Launch Timeline

It is worth noting that Google I/O 2023 will take place on May 10, less than a month away. So it would make sense for Google to prepare for the Pixel 7a launch by shipping devices out to retailers. The tipster also noted that the Pixel 7a won't be offered in a Jade color option.

Google Pixel 7A launching on May 10.



 6.1" FHD+ 90Hz OLED

 Tensor G2 , LPDDR5 RAM, UFS 3.1

 64MP Sony IMX787 OIS + 12MP UW , 10.8MP

 5W wireless charging

 Android 13

 ~ 4500mAh battery



Price : ~ 40,000  Debayan Roy (Gadgetsdata) (@Gadgetsdata) April 16, 2023

Additionally, the long-rumored Pixel Fold might not be unveiled at Google I/O 2023, although the tipster didn't rule it out in the future. Moreover, Indian customers might have to wait a while before seeing the Pixel 7a, considering the Pixel 6a took over two months to hit Indian shores after its release at Google I/O 2022.

Google Pixel 7a Specifications (Expected)

The Pixel 7a is expected to be powered by the same flagship Tensor G2 chip used on the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro. Moreover, the phone will sport a 6.1-inch OLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate, an upgrade from the 60Hz on the Pixel 6a. The Pixel 7a will run on stock Android 13 out of the box.

Pixel 7a is set to arrive at retail-stores within the next 14 days, so ready to launch @Google #IO2023. No new signs of the Pixel Fold (yet?).



And no, there is no Jade colour of the Pixel 7a, different to recent reports.  SnoopyTech (@_snoopytech_) April 16, 2023

For optics, Google could equip the Pixel 7a with a dual-camera setup, which is expected to include a 64 MP Sony IMX787 primary sensor and a 12MP ultrawide lens. On the front, Google's budget Pixel will opt for a 10.8MP selfie camera. While there's no information about battery life, the Pixel 7a is expected to support wireless charging.

Best Mobiles in India
Samsung Galaxy F54 5G India Launch Tipped Again; Specifications Suggests Mid-Range Offering News oi -Carlsen Martin

Samsung is gearing up to launch a new mid-range smartphone in its Galaxy F series. While the Samsung Galaxy M14 5G launch in India is scheduled for later today, the South Korean tech giant is all set to unveil a new Galaxy F series smartphone in India soon.

The Samsung Galaxy F54 5G is expected to make its Indian debut later this month. While Samsung hasn't provided an official timeline for the Galaxy F54 5G launch in India, a new report by SlashLeaks suggests that the handset will arrive in the country by the end of this month.

Samsung Galaxy F54 5G Specifications (Expected)

While the report doesn't provide an exact Samsung Galaxy F54 5G launch date, it does reveal key specifications about the device. And judging by the leaked Galaxy F54 5G specs sheet, it is safe to say that the device will debut in India's mid-range smartphone market and could succeed the Galaxy F52 5G unveiled back in 2021.

According to the report, the Samsung Galaxy F54 5G will be powered by the Exynos 1380 SoC, the same chip powering the Galaxy A54 5G. Additionally, the chipset will be paired with LPDDR4X RAM and UFS 2.2 storage, although the amount of memory hasn't been revealed.

Samsung Galaxy F54 5G Highlights

At the front, the phone will sport a 6.7-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. The handset will likely also feature a triple-camera setup on the back that consists of a 108MP primary sensor with OIS, an 8 MP ultrawide shooter, and a 2MP macro unit.

The hole-punch screen cut-out could house a 32MP selfie camera. The Galaxy F54 is also expected to pack a massive 6,000 mAh battery with 25W fast charging support. The handset will run on Android 13 with Samsung's One UI skin.

Connectivity options for the upcoming Galaxy F54 will likely include Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3. Additionally, the phone is rumored to measure 8.4mm thick and weigh 199 grams. While the back of the Galaxy F54 5G will likely be made of plastic, the screen is expected to be protected by Gorilla Glass 5.

Best Mobiles in India
Xiaomi 13 Ultra Design Officially Revealed In Promotional Posters Of Flagship Android Smartphone News oi -Alap Naik Desai

Xiaomi will launch the Xiaomi 13 Ultra this week. Just before the launch, Xiaomi released posters promoting the flagship Android smartphone, which confirm its design, camera, and other details.

The Xiaomi 13 Ultra has been surfacing in leaks and rumors, but Xiaomi has essentially kept the majority of the details under wraps. But as the launch of the premium smartphone is fast approaching, Xiaomi has been teasing the specifications, features, and design of the Xiaomi 13 Ultra by releasing promotional posters.

Xiaomi 13 Ultra Color Options And Design Highlighted In Promo Posters

Xiaomi has confirmed it will launch the Xiaomi 13 Ultra, its top-of-the-line smartphone of 2023, in China and global markets on April 18. The Chinese tech giant hasn't yet confirmed if the flagship Android smartphone will launch in India.

Xiaomi has released a few teasers image that shows the rear panel of the 13 Ultra. It appears to be sporting an olive-green color.

The rear panel has been confirmed to have a leather-like finish, similar to the Xiaomi 12S Ultra. The device should launch in two color options - Olive Green and Eggshell White.

Xiaomi 13 Ultra Rear Camera Setup Detailed

Xiaomi claimed the Xiaomi 13 Ultra's back panel has been designed to offer the texture and in-hand feel of a traditional Leica camera. Speaking of the camera, Xiaomi recently revealed the flagship smartphone's imaging hardware will have a variable aperture.

Needless to say, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra will be the first smartphone to offer a 1-inch camera sensor with a variable aperture. The primary rear camera's aperture can be adjusted to f/1.9 or f/4.0 depending on user preferences.

As we had recently reported, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra will have four cameras on its back. The premium smartphone will retain the 1-inch 50MP Sony IMX989 sensor for the primary camera from last year's Xiaomi 12S Ultra.

Alongside the 50MP Sony IMX989 sensor, Xiaomi has embedded three 50MP Sony IMX858 sensors. These sensors will have advanced noise-reduction features and offer better HDR capabilities.

The Sony IMX858 sensor has been paired with the ultrawide camera (with PDAF), the 3x telephoto, and the 5x telephoto. The Sony IMX989 is reserved for the primary rear camera.

Xiaomi has assured that all 4 cameras on the back of the Xiaomi 13 Ultra will "support capture, night scene shooting, and 8K video".

Best Mobiles in India
OpenAI To Improve Safety Standards On ChatGPT-4 By Sacrificing ChatGPT-5 Development? Tech Biz oi -Alap Naik Desai

ChatGPT-3 was quickly succeeded by ChatGPT-4. However, ChatGPT-5 might not arrive as swiftly. OpenAI's CEO has indicated that the Microsoft-funded company is focusing on improving the ChatGPT-4 language model.

OpenAI is not currently training a GPT-5 language model, mentioned OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman. Does this mean ChatGPT-4 will remain the top language model, which will function alongside ChatGPT-3?

Why is OpenAI Halting The Development Of Next-Gen ChatGPT-5?

ChatGPT-3 was the first public-facing version of the chatbot and it is based on the GPT-3 Generative AI platform. Ever since OpenAI introduced the AI chatbot, internet users as well as companies have been adopting and using the same very actively.

Following the immense success of ChatGPT-3, OpenAI announced GPT-4 in March. Simultaneously, Microsoft revealed that ChatGPT-4 was powering Bing Chat for weeks before the announcement.

While ChatGPT-3 is currently available for free, GPT-4 is available to all ChatGPT Plus users for a monthly $20 charge. Alternatively, users can access some of its capabilities for free in apps like Bing Chat or Petey for Apple Watch.

Considering the rapid deployment of ChatGPT-4, there were rumors about the arrival of ChatGPT-5. However, OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman has squashed the rumors and confirmed that OpenAI is currently focusing on ChatGPT-4. In other words, ChatGPT-5 is on the back burner, for now.

Altman made the announcement while discussing some of the concerns raised in an open letter, allegedly signed by Elon Musk, calling for a pause in the development of large-scale language models.

Although Altman didn't agree with most of the points in the letter, he did agree that there's an immediate need for "increasing safety rigor as capabilities become more serious." Hence, OpenAI will be moving in this direction, he concluded.

OpenAI Taking Measured Approach As Safety Is A Big Concern

Altman has clarified that OpenAI is working on upgrades and updates for GPT-4. "We are doing other things on top of GPT-4 that I think have all sorts of safety issues that are important to address and were totally left out of the letter."

OpenAI CEO claimed the company spent over six months training GPT-4 before its public release. "Taking the time to really study the safety of the model is important. As capabilities get more and more serious, the safety bar has got to increase. I think moving with caution and an increasing rigor for safety issues is really important."

What this basically means is that ChatGPT-4 could remain the premium product, while ChatGPT-3 will be offered for free, for the considerable future. Incidentally, ChatGPT-4 recently gained the ability to accept information via multiple input methods, including text and images. It also supports multiple languages and OpenAI has significantly improved the performance of ChatGPT's responses.

Best Mobiles in India
by Jonathan Kujawa

In the past few months Ive been thinking a fair bit about math and humanity. We often think of math as outside of us but, in fact, it is a deeply human enterprise.

A group of us in the University of Oklahoma (OU) math department have been trying to establish a bridge program for students coming out of undergraduate but not quite ready for graduate school. In meetings with various university administrators, Ive had to fumble my way towards an articulation of the sort of students we hope to have in the program. There are several such programs around the country with most designed to reach one or more groups that are underrepresented in mathematics. But, certainly, to have an effective program and to get administrators to open their wallets, you really need to be able to say who youre trying to reach [1].

Oklahoma happens to be the home of Langston University, the westernmost historically black college or university (HCBU), along with a number of universities which serve sizable populations of Native Americans. The idea of a bridge program at OU came out of a thought-provoking meeting this past spring with members of the Langston math department. In that meeting we discussed ways we could partner together. A bridge program that gives Langston students the opportunity to be part of a graduate program while staying in Oklahoma would be a great start. More generally, like those other math bridge programs around the country, we would like to knock down barriers for members of under-represented groups who would like to dive more deeply into mathematics.

But as Ive thought about it, I think it should be more than that. If I were to encapsulate our bridge program in a phrase, I would say our program should be for students who have both potential and interest in graduate school in mathematics, but not yet the requisite background.

This would naturally include people from underrepresented groups. But it could also include students from a small college in the Oklahoma panhandle who size precludes them from offering the full menu of typical undergraduate courses. Or a student who started at a community college or with a non-math major, and only came to the good stuff very late in their college career. We have a student in our graduate program now who majored in literature at a small liberal arts school, discovered Calculus and higher math through independent reading after graduation, and is now discovering worlds he couldnt have imagined a year or two ago. Math for all should be our motto.

Mathematics is universes upon universes. There is space to play, to do serious research, or just to marvel at its wonders. You could study math for a lifetime and not plumb its depths. There is room for everyone. Perversely, though, math is frequently used as a gate-keeper in education. At best it is often a brutal form of hazing for students of engineering, economics, and the sciences. You prove you belong by surviving seemingly pointless abuse. At worst, it is a gauntlet meant to cut down the number of students who are able to enroll in their desired major or even enroll in college at all. And I have to admit math instructors are as guilty of this as anyone. How many of us have been told explicitly or implicitly that we werent good at this stuff?

Conversely, a boost at the right time can make all the difference in the world. I grew up in a small town in Minnesota and many of my relatives have never gone to college. My parents made it clear that college wasnt optional. But the world of academia, teaching, research, and the pure pleasures of mathematics was outside my worldview. Who knew you could have a job doing this stuff all day?

If it wasnt for Carlton Urdahl and Al Heine at Buffalo High School in Buffalo, MN I may well have not ended up in the sciences. If Jeff Rosoff and the other faculty at Gustavus Adolphus College hadnt taken the initiative to teach us what we were missing in our undergraduate education, Im sure Mark Tomforde and I would have found graduate school even more daunting than it was. If it wasnt for the advice and good cheer of my advisor and fellow graduate students, I may well not have stuck it out. And while my grandfather and David Brunet werent mathematicians, they did show me what it meant to live a rich life centered on your values and interests. By good luck and hard work I ended up here and couldnt imagine being anywhere else.

When I think about the doors which were already open to me and the folks who opened more along the way, I feel an obligation and a pleasure in doing the same for others. This point was driven home when I read the recently released Living Proof. It is a book jointly published by the American Mathematical Society and by the Mathematical Association of American and can be downloaded for free from the link. It is a series of short essays by mathematicians where they share the doubts, challenges, and frustrations they faced in their careers. It was an illuminating reminder of the many paths people take. I plan to make it required reading for my graduate and undergraduate students. Both so they might see themselves reflected in its pages and hopefully find empathy for their own students and classmates.

Math is rewarding and beautiful and amazing, but it is also hard! Part of the pleasure is in the challenge, but its also easy to become discouraged. Math is hard enough on its own. We shouldnt be gate-keepers, but gate-openers. We should share books, podcasts, and videos with anyone who is interested. We should have some fun puzzles and open problems in our back pocket for cocktail parties. Ones that can capture the imagination of anyone with a bit of curiosity.

There is a small paradox here when talking of math and humanity. We tell our students that math is one of the few disciplines which deals with actual Truth. And there is something to that. The Pythagorean Theorem and Fermats Last Theorem will be true long after the sun burns down to a cold cinder. When I recently figured out the final ingredient of a result my collaborator and I have been working towards for months, there was the feeling of a key turning smoothly in a lock to open a door reveal a truth never before seen (finally!).

That is true as far as it goes. But mathematics research is guided by humans sense of beauty and importance. There are plenty of true math facts which a computer could verify, but nobody would care a fig to know. And even what is true depends on humanity. While computer verification is starting to become a thing, we still depend on humans to confirm the correctness of arguments. After all, after seven years it is still contested whether or not Shinichi Mochizuki has proven the famous abc conjecture. The worlds experts cannot agree if it is settled or not.

But, you argue, in the movies dont they always use the prime numbers when making First Contact with an alien species? Sure, and we put plenty of math on the Voyager spacecraft:

But what if the aliens can perceive the curvature of spacetime? They might find references to the Pythagorean theorem bafflingly obscure if flat geometry is an esoteric limit case in their geometric theories. Would NASA recognize hyperbolic geometry if they saw it? Octopuses are wicked smart. It isnt hard to imagine a planet where cephalopods rule. For the highly deformable octopus, straight lines and rigid geometry are hardly worth thinking about. Would mathematics built on a heptapods sense of beauty and importance be centered on topology?

Inescapably, mathematics depends on humanity and humanity depends on mathematics. Several years ago Francis Su wrote the beautiful Mathematics for Human Flourishing. In it, Dr. Su argues that mathematics is inextricably intertwined with the deepest parts of what makes us human. If you think of mathematics as a cold, logical realm suitable only for Vulcans which has nothing to do with things like love, justice, or play, then you must read Mathematics for Human Flourishing.

While I doubt Ill ever grasp mathematics in all its complexity, I am ever more sure it belongs to all of us.

[1] Although you might think a University who seems to have racially charged incidents altogether too often would race to support a program to support under-represented groups.

[2] Image from here.

[3] Image and a further discussion of the math on the Voyager spacecraft can be found here.
Saudis among prisoners released in landmark exchange with Yemen

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 15 April 2023 11:29 AM

Scores of prisoners of war, including Saudis, have been freed as part of a cross-border exchange between a Saudi-led military coalition and Yemen's Ansarullah movement, the International Committee of the Red Cross says.

The exchange on Saturday was part of a multi-day transfer involving nearly 900 detainees, that comes amid peace talks which have raised hopes for an end to an eight-year-old war on Yemen.

The flight from the southern Saudi city of Abha took off before 9 a.m. local time (0600 GMT), carrying 120 former detainees who headed for Yemen's capital Sana'a, ICRC spokeswoman Jessica Moussan said.

It was followed by a flight from Sana'a to Riyadh carrying 20 former detainees, among them 16 Saudis and three Sudanese, that landed around midday local time, according to the state-affiliated al-Ekhbariya channel.

"The release operations are the result of talks concluded on March 20, 2023 in Bern, Switzerland, where the parties to the conflict in Yemen finalized the plan for the release. The ICRC co-chaired these meetings with the Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen," the ICRC said.

Fabrizio Carboni, the ICRC's regional director for the Near and Middle East, noted, "With this act of goodwill, hundreds of families torn apart by conflict are being reunited during the holy month of Ramadan, a glimmer of hope amidst great suffering."

"Our deep desire is that these releases provide momentum for a broader political solution, leading to even more detainees returning to their loved ones," he added.

The development comes a day after the Saudi-backed Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council and Ansarullah movement exchanged 322 prisoners, marking a significant confidence-building measure and a major step toward peace in the warn-torn Arab country.

A total of 72 prisoners were sent from Sana'a airport to Aden airport on board two flights, and 250 Ansarullah captives on two flights from Aden to Sana'a.

High-profile figures, including Nasser Mansour Hadi, brother of former Yemeni president Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, and Mahmoud al-Subeihi, former defense minister in the deposed government, were among those being freed.

After the planes touched down at Aden airport, the families of the released prisoners shed tears of joy and greeted their loved ones.

"The exchange of prisoners is a positive step. We hope that all captives will eventually be released and the search for the missing will begin with a positive outcome. This is an important step in the humanitarian process as well as a big step towards peace," Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, Chairman of the Supreme Revolutionary Committee of Yemen, said.

All parties to the conflict in Yemen agreed at negotiations in Switzerland last month to free 887 detainees and to meet again in May to discuss further releases. The deal was overseen by the United Nations envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, and the ICRC.

Riyadh and Tehran last month agreed to restore diplomatic ties severed in 2016, raising hopes Yemen's peace process will see progress.

A Saudi delegation on Thursday concluded peace talks in Sana'a with officials from the Ansarullah movement. The Yemeni officials cited progress and said further discussions were needed to iron out remaining differences.

Saudi Arabia launched the bloody war against Yemen in March 2015 in collaboration with a number of its allies and with arms and logistics support from the US and several Western states to reinstall Hadi, who resigned from the presidency in late 2014 and later fled to Riyadh amid a political conflict with the popular Ansarullah movement.

The war objective was also to crush the Ansarullah movement, which has been running state affairs in the absence of an effective government in Yemen.

However, it has stopped well shy of all of its goals, despite killing tens of thousands of Yemenis and turning the entire country into the scene of the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Sudan paramilitaries say in control of presidential palace, other centers

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 15 April 2023 9:17 AM

Sudan's paramilitaries say they are in control of several key sites, including the presidential palace in central Khartoum, following fighting with the regular army.

Fierce exchanges of gunfire as well as massive explosions hit the capital on Saturday as columns of smoke bellowed from various places and soldiers were deployed on the streets.

The clashes came following days of tension between the army and the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

In a statement, the group said it was surprised Saturday with a large force from the army entering its camps in Khartoum and laying siege to its paramilitaries.

The army force "launched a sweeping attack with all kinds of heavy and light weapons", it said.

However, a spokesman for Sudan's army said paramilitary troops attacked military bases.

"Fighters from the Rapid Support Forces attacked several army camps in Khartoum and elsewhere around Sudan," Brigadier-General Nabil Abdallah said.

The RSF later said its fighters had wrested control of the presidential palace, the residence of army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Khartoum International Airport.

Russia's embassy in Sudan said on Saturday it was concerned by the "escalation of violence" in the Northeast African country and called for a ceasefire and negotiations.

The embassy said the atmosphere in the capital Khartoum was tense but Russian diplomats were safe, the state-owned Russian news agency RIA reported.

Sudanese civilian parties, which had signed an initial power-sharing deal with the country's army and powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, have called on both parties to cease hostilities.

The parties also urged international and regional players to urgently help stop the bloodshed.

Meanwhile, the Sudanese army said in a statement on Saturday that the air force is conducting operations to confront RSF fighters.

The British embassy in Sudan also urged its nationals there to remain indoors, and said it was closely monitoring the situation after paramilitaries said they had taken control of the presidential palace and other sites.

"We are closely monitoring the situation in Khartoum and other parts of Sudan where there are ongoing military clashes," the embassy said on Twitter.

"We advise all British Nationals in Sudan to remain indoors and follow our travel advice for more updates," it added.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






UN chief and officials condemn fighting between Sudanese forces

15 April 2023 - Following reports of armed fighting in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, on Saturday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the head of the UN Mission in the country, issued statements on Saturday strongly condemning the violence, as other senior officials voiced concerns.

The senior officials were responding to the outbreak of armed clashes between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in many parts of the capital Khartoum and other areas outside the capital, on Saturday morning.

According to media reports, the RSF claimed that it had taken control of Khartoum international airport, Merowe airport, al-Obeid airport and the presidential palace.

The RSF, an independent Sudanese military force, grew out of the Janjaweed militia, formerly active in the Darfur region of the country. The organization has been involved in talks aimed at a transition from the military rule in place since the 2021 military coup, to a civilian government.

'Immediately cease hostilities'

A statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General noted the UN chief's call for the leaders of the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces to "immediately cease hostilities, restore calm and initiate a dialogue to resolve the current crisis," and for Member States in the region to support efforts to restore order and return to the path of transition to civilian rule.

In a Tweet posted later in the day, the Secretary-General's Spokesperson wrote that Mr. Guterres had spoken to President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt and Moussa Faki Mahamat, the President of the African Union, on how to de-escalate the situation.

The Spokesperson added that the Secretary-General also spoke to the leaders of the two opposing military sides - Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Al Burhan of the Sudanese Army, and Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo of the RSF - calling for an immediate stop to the violence and a return to dialogue, and offering his good offices, in close co-ordination with ongoing efforts to restore security and conclude the ongoing political process.

The integration of the RSF into the armed forces has been one of the issues under discussion, as part of a UN-backed political agreement reached in February, following months of negotiations.

However, in a Security Council briefing on 20 March, Volker Perthes, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sudan and Head of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), warned that tensions between the Sudanese Army and the RSF have risen in recent weeks, and called for de-escalation.

In his statement on the current fighting, Mr. Perthes reached out to both parties asking them for an immediate cessation of fighting, to ensure the safety of the Sudanese people, and spare the country from further violence.

'More violence will only make things worse'

Mr. Guterres also raised concerns over the "devastating" impact that any further escalation in the fighting would have on civilians, further aggravating the already precarious humanitarian situation in the country.

Similar fears were expressed on Saturday by Martin Griffiths, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator. In a Tweet, Mr. Griffiths said that more violence would only makes things worse for the nearly 16 million people, around a third of the population, in need of humanitarian aid.

An update on the humanitarian situation in Sudan, released on 13 April by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), noted that humanitarian needs across Sudan are at an all-time high, with conflict one of the four most significant risks, alongside natural disasters, disease outbreaks, and economic deterioration.

Volker Turk, the UN rights chief, expressing alarm at the unfolding situation, Tweeting on Saturday that the people of Sudan "deserve better." Mr. Turk wrote that a "voice of reason" is urgently needed, in order to stop violence and "revert to earlier promising path towards peace and civilian transition."



NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






US Secretary of State, Vietnamese PM Talk of Deeper Ties Between Nations

By VOA News April 15, 2023

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Hanoi on his first visit to Vietnam since becoming the top U.S. diplomat and he met Saturday with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh as they discussed strengthening ties between the two nations.

Blinken's visit to Vietnam is part of the Biden administration's campaign to counter China's increasing influence in the region.

He met with other top officials that included Vietnamese General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong as they talked about upgrading diplomatic and security connections.

"For President [Joe] Biden, for Washington, this is one of the most dynamic and one of the most important relationships we've had," Blinken said at a news conference after a full slate of engagements in Hanoi.

"It has had a remarkable trajectory over the last couple of decades. Our conviction is that it can and will grow even stronger," said Blinken.

It is not clear when an upgrade of formal ties could happen, although Blinken expressed hope it could happen "in the weeks and months ahead."

Blinken noted to reporters that security is the top priority and he pointed out Washington is finalizing the shipment of a third naval cutter to support Vietnam's coast guard.

Washington and U.S. defense firms have emphasized they would like to bolster their military supplies to Vietnam, which currently is mostly limited to coast guard ships and training aircraft, as the country aims to diversify from its main supplier, Russia.

Military deals with the U.S. face myriad challenges, though, because Washington's lawmakers could block arms sales over human rights issues. Additionally, analysts point out that U.S. weapons are expensive, they risk triggering Chinese reactions, and they might be difficult to integrate with Vietnam's legacy weapons.

The U.S. is building a $1.2 billion embassy compound in Hanoi, a move intended to show a U.S. commitment to improving ties with the Southeast Asian trading partner.

Nguyen Khac Giang, a visiting fellow at the Vietnam Studies Program of the ISEAS research organization in Singapore, said it is an extremely important trip by Blinken to Hanoi. "It will be a very strong boost for an upgrade to a higher bilateral relationship between Vietnam and Washington."

"I don't think they will announce the strategic partnership when Blinken is in Hanoi," Nguyen said. "But I think his visit might be a formation for potential Biden's visit to Hanoi or the General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong's visit to Washington, and probably, that moment the bilateral relation might be upgraded."

Vietnam has a delicate balance to maintain, however, and does not want to antagonize its powerful neighbor, China, while building up a relationship with the U.S.

Blinken's visit to Vietnam comes just two weeks after the 50th anniversary of former U.S. President Richard Nixon's administration's withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from Vietnam, marking the end of the Vietnam War.

VOA's Mandarin Service contributed to this report, and some information was provided by The Associated Press and Reuters.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






China urges two sides of Sudan conflict to implement cease-fire, move forward political transition

Global Times

Certain countries should refrain from overly interfering with Sudan's internal affairs, further escalating conflict: experts

By GT staff reporters Published: Apr 16, 2023 08:26 PM Updated: Apr 16, 2023 10:20 PM

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Sunday urged the two sides of the Sudan conflict to stop the fighting as soon as possible and work to move forward the political transition process together, as the African country is once again engulfed in conflict that has so far caused dozens of deaths and hundreds of casualties.

Experts believe that as the country has been embroiled in frequent political turmoil since the 2019 coup, Sudan is more exposed to foreign interference during each social conflict. However, certain Western forces should refrain from interfering with domestic affairs of the country, as deepened political fissures will not only damage Sudanese people's lives, but also risk other countries' investments in the Horn of Africa.

Clashes erupted on Saturday morning in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudanese Armed Forces in many parts of the capital Khartoum and areas outside the capital, according to media reports.

The Sudan Doctors' Syndicate said at least 56 civilians were killed and that it believes there were dozens of additional deaths among the rival forces. The doctors' group said close to 600 people were wounded, including civilians and fighters, the Associate Press reported.

One of the flashpoints was the Khartoum International Airport. There was no formal announcement that the airport was closed, the agency reported.

The scene in Khartoum is chaotic, according to a Global Times reporter on the ground. Traffic in the Sudanese capital is gridlocked, and both sides have been engaging in armed battle at several important sites in the city. Many civilians are trapped in public places such as the airport, banks and campuses. On the streets, civilians have been injured or killed by stray bullets.

Since Saturday, power, water supply and the internet have been cut in the capital. Currently, all markets in Khartoum are closed, and the government ordered people to stay at home.

The Chinese Embassy in Sudan said it has not received reports of Chinese nationals being killed or injured, and reminded Chinese nationals in the country to stay safe and avoid going out, China Central Television reported Sunday, citing Zhang Xianghua, charge d' affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Sudan.

The embassy has issued security warnings to Chinese nationals and institutions in Sudan and assisted with emergency requests for help after the armed conflict broke out on Saturday morning, Zhang said.

Sun Junbo, head of the Chinese Mining Association in Sudan who is in Khartoum, told media on Saturday that most of the 700 Chinese nationals in Sudan are staying at home and being updated on the latest situation by phone, while some who do have to go out to work have maintained normal work and life even though the violent conflict is still ongoing.

An employee surnamed Chang who works in a Chinese company in Sudan told media that after the conflict his company turned off all the lights to prevent being targeted.

A spokesperson from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Sunday that China is closely following the latest developments in Sudan. The Foreign Ministry called on the two sides to stop fighting as soon as possible and prevent the escalation of tensions. We hope parties in Sudan will increase dialogue and jointly move forward the political transition process, the ministry said.

In a press statement issued on Saturday, members of the UN Security Council urged the parties to immediately cease hostilities, restore calm and called on all actors to return to dialogue to resolve the current crisis.

Shadow in the back

The tensions were triggered by disagreement over how the RSF, headed by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, should be integrated into the armed forces and what authority should oversee the process, He Wenping, director of the African Studies Section at the Institute of West Asian and African Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday. The merger is a key condition of Sudan's unsigned transition agreement with political groups.

Sudan began its halting transition toward democracy after military generals ousted long-term ruler Omar al-Bashir in an uprising in April 2019.

Sudan's social contract is based on tribal bonds and ethnic kinship, which makes conflicts between military groups and political parties very difficult to reconcile, Song Wei, professor at the School of International Relations and Diplomacy, Beijing Foreign Studies University, told the Global Times on Sunday.

She noted that in recent years, Western countries, especially the US, have upped the ante on interfering with African countries' internal affairs, and imposed on them a model that rich countries have designed for African countries.

Social conflicts in African countries were further fueled by their maladjustment to the West-designed model, as well as the West's conflicts of interest on the continent, Song said.

US interference in Sudanese affairs, including in its support of the country's division and the 2019 coup, has been widely criticized by many countries.

During the 2021 coup in Sudan, where former Sudanese prime minister Abdalla Hamdok, members of the Transitional Sovereignty Council's civilian component and several ministers were arrested by joint military forces, the Russia Foreign Ministry said that "large-scale foreign interference in the internal affairs of the republic in practice led to the loss of confidence in the transitional authorities by Sudanese citizens... which repeatedly resulted in numerous protests and provoked general instability in the country."

Sudan has not been stable since the 2019 coup and now there is another attempted coup while the country is still in the transition process, said He Wenping. She noted that this situation will exert a wider impact in the Horn of Africa, where many big countries, including China, have huge investments.

He urged Western powers involved to refrain from becoming deeply engaged in the current conflict, and to push for a peaceful resolution.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Very serious developments in Sudan

Government of Norway

News story | Date: 16/04/2023

The events in Sudan over the past 24 hours are dramatic and alarming. Tensions are rising, as clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continue to escalate. There are disturbing reports that many civilians have been killed and injured. Among these are three UN employees who were killed on Saturday in the hostilities in Sudan's Darfur region.

'We condemn attacks on civilians. Norway urges the parties to end the fighting immediately and find a peaceful solution,' said Minister of Foreign Affairs Anniken Huitfeldt.

Norway is represented with an embassy in Khartoum.

'Early on Sunday the ambassador's residence in Khartoum was hit by a shell. The ambassador was not injured, but the incident did result in damage to the property. We have no grounds to believe that the embassy was targeted. The incident is cause for grave concern, and we will be following the matter up,' Ms Huitfeldt said.

The embassy has introduced an wide array of security measures. The situation remains unpredictable.

'We are deeply concerned about our employees at the embassy in Khartoum and Norwegian nationals in the country. We recommend that all Norwegians in Sudan stay indoors and do not try to travel. There is a risk of getting caught in crossfire as a result of the ongoing air strikes and violent street battles,' Ms Huitfeldt said.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been put on high alert to ensure we are doing everything in our power to protect our employees and assist Norwegian nationals in Sudan. We are in close contact with other countries regarding how to address the situation moving forward.



NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






by Jonathan Kujawa

As Ive tried to convey over the years here at 3QD, mathematics is the bees knees. Like most apologias for mathematics, many of my essays tend to fall into one of two categories.

The extrinsic: on maths usefulness in real-world applications like internet searches, GPS technology, compression and recovery of images, encryption, the handling of large data, and the like. This is the reason my relatives (and most of my students) think math is worth learning.

The intrinsic: on maths beauty, universality, timelessness, ability to amaze and inspire awe, its endless depth and richness, and its ability to spark joy and fun. This is what drew me (and some of my students) to study math and still motivates me today to teach and do research.

But there is a third quality of mathematics which Ive never quite been able to articulate. Ive only managed to sneak up on it from time-to-time. This is the humanity of mathematics. For some, humanity may seem more the purview of literature, music, art, psychology, sociology, or philosophy. Not mathematics. They would be wrong, though.

In October, my 3QD essay gestured in this direction. I talked about how what is considered proven and important depends on human judgment [1]. I talked about the fact mathematics should be open to all, but is closed off to many; whether a person is encouraged or discouraged to follow their interest in math is a human and social affair, not a mathematical one.

But that essay, like my other efforts in this direction, wasnt entirely satisfactory. It didnt quite capture the full range of what could and should be said about the humanity of mathematics. Fortunately, Francis Su has managed to square this circle [2]. I just finished his truly exceptional book Mathematics for Human Flourishing. Dr. Su has said more than I could hope to about the deeply human aspects of mathematics.

The book is based on Dr. Sus departing address as the outgoing president of the Mathematical Association of America. You can read the accompanying essay here: Mathematics for Human Flourishing. The book is an expansion of the essay, but this is not to say the book is the essay plus padding! The essay covered five themes, the book, twelve.

By going wider and deeper he is able to go to entirely new places. Dr. Su weaves together events from his own life, stories from his students and historical figures in mathematics and, most poignantly, letters from Christopher Jackson, a man who found his love of mathematics after receiving a thirty-two year prison sentence for crimes he committed as a teenager.

Dr. Sus central thesis is that mathematics helps people flourish. What does he mean? As Dr. Su writes:

Human flourishing refers to a wholeness  of being and doing, of realizing ones potential and helping others do the same, of acting with honor and treating others with dignity, of living with integrity even in challenging circumstances. It is not the same as happiness, and it is not just a state of mind. The well-lived life is a life of human flourishing.

To give a sense of the book, chapter titles include exploration, play, permanence, and truth. But also, meaning, struggle, freedom, community, and love. Dr. Su makes the compelling argument that all these are aspects of human flourishing and math communicates in deep ways with all of them. You might expect to see mathematics play a role in the first list, but it may be harder to imagine it as part of the second. Dr. Su makes the argument better than I could hope to, so Ill let his words speak for themselves.

On Meaning:

Dr Su writes:

Likewise, mathematical ideas, too, are metaphors. Think about the number 7. To say anything interesting about 7, you have to place it in conversation with other things. To say that 7 is prime is talk about its relationship with its factors: those numbers that divide evenly into 7. To say 7 is 111 in binary notation is to have it dialogue with the number 2. To say that 7 is the number of days of the week is to make it converse with the calendar.

The meaning of words grows richer the more you use them  they have nuance, they evoke images  so that synonyms are not really synonyms. Poets find great delight in expressing an idea with just the right word. Mathematical ideas, too, grow richer in meaning the more you play with them.

Meaning is a fundamental human desire. We crave beautifully written poetry because we enjoy the richness of its meaning. why do we settle for less in the way we learn mathematics?

On Power:

In discussing the ways in which mathematical knowledge and experience intertwine with power, Dr. Su reminds us this link may or may not be a force for good. We can use our power to uplift others by encouraging, explaining, and sharing, but we can also use it to do the opposite. Every parent who inadvertently transmits to their children their own anxieties and fear about mathematics is, perhaps unconsciously, using their power to close doors.

Even those of us who choose to tap into the power of mathematics must be mindful. As Dr. Su warns:

So you and I have a responsibility, as we grow in power, to use it for good  to grow in creative power and not coercive power. Creative power isnt solely instrumental. You dont grow in creative power only to accomplish things. You do it to be a better human being, to grow in virtue, to elevate human dignity  your own and those around you  in all mathematical spaces.

On Freedom:

One freedom granted by knowledge, mathematical or otherwise, is the freedom given by knowing the options available to you. On this Dr. Su quotes a letter of Christopher Jackson who drew an analogy from chess:

It is [a sign] of a skilled chess player that he or she can play well out of any position or circumstance on the board. The person who is unaware of his or her options is like a player who is in a bad position. Because even if there are fruitful paths available to you that you are not aware of, they may as well not exist.

Related to this is the freedom granted by understanding. As Dr. Su describes it:

If you go through life pretending to understand, you will always be a slave to the things you dont understand. Math education should promote, rather than inhibit, this freedom, but as learners we must strive for deep understanding even when our education isnt promoting it. This is where the hard work is.

I hope these morsels whet your appetite for Dr. Sus remarkable book. If you read with an open mind and an open heart, it will transform how you look at mathematics and your fellow human beings. A similar book could be written about how poetry, music, or art can raise us up, and many have. But no small part of the thought-provoking power of Mathematics of Human Flourishing is the unexpectedly compelling way mathematics is shown to be just as important to our humanity.

By chance, a month or so ago I watched the documentary College Behind Bars. It speaks to the same themes as the Mathematics of Human Flourishing. It, too, made the compelling argument that every person is capable of greater depth and richness than we commonly give them credit for. People live their lives according to their choices and circumstances, but we shouldnt be so quick to judge their potential.

As Dr. Su wrote:

Believe that you and every person in your life can flourish in mathematics.

[1] With the growing use of computer systems for verifying proofs, mathematical arguments can be mechanized and checked, but meaning and interpretation will depend on humans for the foreseeable future. As will the decision of which initial axioms and assumptions are allowed.

[2] Full disclosure: Ive known Francis Su for years. Ever since he visited the University of Oklahoma to speak in our departmental colloquium and in our Math Day for high school students. Hes a great guy, but Id recommend his book regardless!

[3] The original image is from here. It is a composite photo of a portion of the Milky Way. This one photo contains more than 84 million stars. The original image is zoomable and must be seen to be appreciated. Here at 3QD we saw every shuffled deck of cards is virtually certain to be the first of its kind. Dr. Su made a more cosmic comparison when discussing card shuffling.
Iran voices concern over Sudan's unrest

ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency

Sun / 16 April 2023 / 12:02

Tehran (ISNA) - Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani has reacted to the fresh developments and unrest in Sudan, saying the Islamic Republic of Iran is concerned about what is happening in the Muslim and brotherly country of Sudan.

Kanaani added, "We hope that in the last days of the holy month of Ramadan, our Sudanese brothers will exercise restraint and resort to dialog to resolve the internal differences and will leave behind this worrisome situation through negotiations and peaceful means."

The Foreign Ministry spokesman noted there is no doubt that the current crisis can only be resolved through dialog between Sudanese factions and through consensus over a national initiative.

End Item

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Latest Revelations about the Pulwama Attack Vindicate Pakistan

Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The latest revelations made by Mr Satya Pal Malik, the so-called former Governor of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), have once again vindicated Pakistan's stance on the Pulwama Attack of February 2019. His disclosures demonstrate how the Indian leadership has habitually used the bogey of terrorism from Pakistan to advance its sham victimhood narrative and the Hindutva agenda, clearly for domestic political gains.

We hope that the international community would take cognizance of the latest revelations and see through India's propaganda campaign against Pakistan driven by selfish political considerations and based on lies and deceit.

India must answer the questions raised in the latest revelations. It is time India be held accountable for the actions that imperiled regional peace in the aftermath of Pulwama attack.

Pakistan, for its part, will continue to counter India's false narrative, and act firmly and responsibly in the face of different provocations.

Islamabad

16 April 2023



74/2023

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Foreign Ministry Spokesperson's Remarks on the Armed Clashes in Sudan

People's Republic of China Ministry of Foreign Affairs

2023-04-16 13:01

Q: According to reports, on April 15 local time, fierce armed clashes erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in Khartoum and elsewhere in the country. Do you have any comment?

A: China is closely following the latest developments of the situation in Sudan. We call on the two sides to stop fighting as soon as possible and prevent the escalation of tensions. We hope parties in Sudan will increase dialogue and jointly move forward the political transition process.



NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Amid ongoing violence, Sudan armed forces reject dialogue with paramilitary RSF

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 16 April 2023 12:18 AM

Sudan's armed forces have dismissed any possibility of negotiations or dialogue with the country's powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), amid ongoing violence in the country.

There will be "no negotiations or dialogue until the dissolution of the paramilitary RSF," the Sudanese armed forces said on their Facebook page on Saturday.

This came after the RSF claimed its fighters have wrested control of several key sites, including the presidential palace, the residence of army chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and Khartoum International Airport.

The Sudanese army has rejected all RSF's claims.

The ongoing violence in Sudan has caused great concern, with many countries urging the opposing sides to show restraint and engage in dialogue to end the hostilities.

On Saturday, the two sides exchanged gunfire in Khartoum and elsewhere across the country in an apparent struggle for control.

According to the Sudanese Doctors' Central Committee, at least 56 people have been killed and 595 others injured in the ongoing clashes.

The committee said it recorded deaths at Khartoum's airport and Omdurman, as well as west of Khartoum in the cities of Nyala, El Obeid and El Fasher.

UN chief calls for end to violence in Sudan

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for an immediate end to the violence in Sudan, his spokesperson said on Twitter.

According to Stephane Dujarric, Guterres made the remarks while speaking with leaders of the army, the paramilitary, Egypt's president, and the chair of the African Union Commission.

Iran has also expressed concern over the ongoing violence in Sudan, urging the opposing sides to show restraint and engage in dialogue to end the unrest in the country.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran expresses its concern over what is taking place in the Muslim and brotherly country of Sudan," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan'ani said on Saturday.

Sudan military's airstrikes hit RSF base

Meanwhile, Sudan's military said it has launched airstrikes on the RSF's base near the capital in a bid to reassert control over the country.

The strike, which came at the end of a day of heavy fighting, struck a base belonging to the RSF in the city of Omdurman, which adjoins the capital Khartoum, eyewitnesses were quoted by Reuters as saying late on Saturday.

The Sudanese air force told people to stay indoors while it conducted what it called an aerial survey of RSF activity, and a holiday was declared in Khartoum state for Sunday, closing schools, banks and government offices.

RSF says ready to cooperate over Egyptian troops

In a separate development, the head of the RSF said his forces were ready to cooperate with Egypt to ease the return of Egyptian troops, who had handed themselves over to the group in the northern Sudanese town of Merowe.

After clashes erupted across Sudan between the RSF and the army, the RSF shared a video claiming that it showed Egyptian troops who had "surrendered" to them in Merowe, about halfway between Khartoum and the border with Egypt.

Egypt's military said Egyptian forces were in Sudan to conduct exercises with their Sudanese counterparts and that it was coordinating with Sudanese authorities to guarantee their safety.

RSF leader, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti, told Sky News Arabia TV that the Egyptian soldiers were safe and that the RSF had provided them with food and water and was ready to facilitate their return.

Egypt has long been wary of political change in Sudan. It strongly supports Sudan's army and has recently promoted negotiations with pro-army political parties in parallel to a plan for a transition towards elections backed by Hemedti.

Chad closes border with Sudan amid simmering violence

In another related development, the government of Chad announced Saturday it was closing its border with Sudan after battles erupted in the neighboring country.

"Faced with this troubling situation, Chad, while securing its borders, has decided to close the frontier with Sudan until further notice," government spokesman, Aziz Mahamat Saleh, said in a statement.

Chad shares a more then 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) border with Sudan, much of it abutting Darfur, long the theater of tribal violence.

"The fighting is not only in Khartoum" and there is "a risk of spillover and infiltration," a member of the Chadian government told AFP on condition of anonymity.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Fierce fighting continues in Sudan despite hours-long humanitarian pause

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 16 April 2023 9:57 PM

Fierce fighting has raged on in Sudan's capital for the second day between the army and the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), despite an hours-long pause announced to address urgent humanitarian needs on the ground.

Violence erupted on Saturday following weeks of power struggle between army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, also known as Hemedti, who heads the heavily-armed RSF.

The fighting dragged on into Sunday, killing three World Food Program (WFP) staff among more than 50 civilians throughout the country.

The Central Committee of Sudan Doctors reported 56 civilians killed as well as "tens of deaths" among security forces, and around 600 wounded.

Late Sunday afternoon, the army said the warring sides had "agreed to a United Nations proposal to open safe passage for humanitarian cases," including the evacuation of wounded, for three hours, which ended at 1700 GMT.

The RSF confirmed the measure, though, they said it would last four hours, and both sides maintained their right to "respond in the event of transgressions" from the other side.

Despite the pause, heavy gunfire could still be heard in central Khartoum near the airport, and dense black smoke billowed from the surrounding area.

On Saturday, Sudan's armed forces had dismissed any possibility of negotiations or dialogue with the RSF "until the dissolution of the paramilitary."

This came after the RSF claimed its fighters had wrested control of several key sites, including the presidential palace, the residence of army chief, Burhan, and Khartoum International Airport.

The Sudanese army rejected all RSF's claims, and on Sunday, said they had gained control over key sections of the capital, including the radio and television building, previously occupied by the paramilitary.

As the fighting continues, medics are pleading for safe corridors for ambulances and a ceasefire to treat the victims because the streets are too dangerous for transporting casualties to hospital.

The ongoing violence in Sudan has caused great concern, with many countries urging the opposing sides to show restraint and engage in dialogue to end the hostilities.

Neighbors Egypt and Chad have already closed their borders with the violence-wracked country.

In addition, there have been urgent demands for an end to the fighting from across the region and the globe, including the US, Britain, China, the European Union and Russia, with Pope Francis urging dialogue.

The UN says one-third of Sudan's population needs humanitarian aid as the WFP announced that it was suspending its operations in the impoverished country after three of its workers were killed.

The African Union said one of its senior officials would "immediately" go to Sudan on a ceasefire mission following a meeting of the regional body on the situation there.

The Arab League, for its part, held an emergency meeting in Cairo, at the request of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, calling for immediate ceasefire in the country.

Also on Sunday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the clashes, demanding swift justice over the killings.

Guterres "strongly condemns the deaths and injuries of civilians, including the death of three staff members of the World Food Program in North Darfur, with a further two seriously injured," the UN chief's spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said in a statement, adding, "Those responsible should be brought to justice without delay."

The UN chief also reiterated his call for an immediate halt to the fighting and "a return to dialogue," stressing that he remains engaged with regional leaders and with Sudanese stakeholders "to find a way out of this crisis," Dujarric added.

The RSF was created in 2013 and its planned integration into the regular army was a key element of talks to finalize a deal that was hoped to restore Sudan's civilian transition and end the politico-economic crisis sparked by the military's 2021 coup by Burhan and Daglo.

The ongoing fighting, though, has stoked fears of a prolonged conflict that could plunge the country into deeper chaos, dashing long-held hopes for a transition to civilian-led democracy.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Ansarullah, Saudi-backed presidential council complete Yemen prisoner swap

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 16 April 2023 11:07 AM

Yemen's Ansarullah resistance movement and the Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) have freed scores of prisoners on the last of a three-day exchange of nearly 900 detainees, raising prospects for nationwide peace in a country embroiled in a devastating Saudi-led war.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which is managing the prisoner exchange, said on Sunday that planes carrying released detainees took off at the same time from the capital city of Sana'a and the energy-rich northern city of Ma'rib.

"The first flight from Ma'rib and the first flight from Sana'a have left," ICRC media adviser Jessica Moussan told AFP news agency.

She added, "Forty-eight former detainees were on board the Ma'rib-Sana'a flight, while 42 others were on the Sana'a-Ma'rib flight."

Three other flights during the day were to complete the deal, the senior official from the Geneva-based humanitarian organization noted.

Four journalists sentenced to death by the Ansarullah movement are part of the exchange, PLC negotiator Majed Fadail said.

Mahdi al-Mashat, head of Yemen's Supreme Political Council, said the next round of talks with Saudi Arabia would start after the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which is expected on April 21 and marks the end of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, Yemen's official Saba news agency reported.

The last talks ended hours before 318 prisoners were transported on four flights on Friday between the southern Yemeni port city of Aden and Sana'a, reuniting detainees with their families.

On Saturday, 357 detainees took flights between the Saudi city of Abha and Sana'a. Saudis were among the prisoners freed. It is not known how many prisoners each side still has.

All parties to the conflict in Yemen agreed at negotiations in Switzerland last month to free 887 detainees and to meet again in May to discuss further releases. The deal was overseen by the United Nations envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, and the ICRC.

Riyadh and Tehran last month agreed to restore diplomatic ties severed in 2016, raising hopes Yemen's peace process will see progress.

A Saudi delegation on Thursday concluded peace talks in Sana'a with officials from the Ansarullah movement. The Yemeni officials cited progress and said further discussions were needed to iron out remaining differences.

Saudi Arabia launched the bloody war against Yemen in March 2015 in collaboration with a number of its allies and with arms and logistics support from the US and several Western states to reinstall Hadi, who resigned from the presidency in late 2014 and later fled to Riyadh amid a political conflict with the popular Ansarullah movement.

The war objective was also to crush the Ansarullah movement, which has been running state affairs in the absence of an effective government in Yemen.

However, it has stopped well shy of all of its goals, despite killing tens of thousands of Yemenis and turning the entire country into the scene of the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Sudan unrest: Army regains several key sites as civilian toll mounts

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 16 April 2023 11:28 AM

Sudanese armed forces have gained control over key sections of the capital Khartoum city, including the radio and television building, previously occupied by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary, as the battle rages on for the second consecutive day.

In a statement released on Sunday, the Sudanese army claimed "the hour of victory is near", adding that "we pray for mercy for the innocent lives taken by this reckless adventure taken by the rebel Rapid Support militia... We will have good news for our patient and proud people soon, God willing."

The conflict between the two sides in the south of Khartoum resumed on Sunday, as heavy fighting between military rivals has led to the number of casualties rising to 56 across the country, injuring at least 600, according to the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors.

Twenty-five people, including 17 civilians, have died in the city, a doctors' organization said. Earlier during the day, the Sudanese armed forces launched air strikes on an RSF base near the capital in a bid to reassert control over the country.

Deafening explosions and intense gunfire rattled buildings in the capital Khartoum's densely-populated northern and southern suburbs as tanks rumbled on the streets and fighter jets roared overhead, witnesses said.

The RSF claims that they have successfully seized the presidential palace and the Khartoum airport, but the Sudanese armed forces denied their claim and stated that they are the ones who are in charge of the sites, as fighting continued overnight.

The fierce clashes have also led Sudanese telecom provider MTN Telecommunications to block internet services in the country on the orders of the government telecommunications regulator, two officials from the company told Reuters.

The air force late Saturday urged people to stay indoors as it continued air strikes targeting RSF bases.

Footage obtained from AFP showed heavy smoke emerging from a building near the army headquarters in Khartoum.

The military said that a building "caught fire" amid the clashes, but that it had been contained.

"Yesterday morning, around like 9 or so, it sounded like there was a thunderstorm of sorts. We woke up and went outside, there were fighter jets, and it just sounded like there were gunshots. There's just a lot of chaos going on. There was smoke everywhere," said a tourist, Lakshmi Parthasarathy, a 32-year-old software engineer.

Middle Eastern countries such as Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE along with the African Union have called to immediately end the fighting and to engage in dialogue to settle the dispute.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran expresses its concern over what is taking place in the Muslim and brotherly country of Sudan," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan'ani was quoted as saying on Saturday.

UN chief Antonio Guterres also called for "an immediate cessation of hostilities"

The African Union's Peace and Security Council has called an emergency session on Sunday to discuss political and security developments in Sudan, it said on Twitter.

An Al-Alam reporter stationed in Sudan has said that the conflict will increase in the next few hours.

Clashes erupted in Sudan on Saturday between Sudanese armed forces loyal to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, a paramilitary force led by Sudan's deputy leader, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti.

Hemedti, belonging to a family of camel herders, rose from lowly beginnings to head a widely feared Arab militia that crushed a revolt in Darfur, winning him influence and eventually a role as the country's second most powerful man, and one of its richest.

Hemedti has played a prominent role in his country's turbulent politics for 10 years, helping topple his one-time benefactor President Omar al-Bashir in 2019 and later quashing protests by Sudanese seeking democracy.

As deputy head of state, Hemedti, with little formal education, has taken on some of Sudan's most important portfolios in the post-Bashir era, including the crumbling economy and peace negotiations with rebel groups.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






The View From Finland: With Or Without NATO, You Need To Be Able To Defend Your Own Country

By Vazha Tavberidze April 16, 2023

As chief of defense, retired General Jarmo Lindberg was the Finnish Defense Forces' highest-ranking officer from 2014 to 2019. A career fighter pilot who ascended through the air force ranks, he was elected to the Finnish parliament this month, representing the center-right opposition National Coalition Party, which won the largest number of seats. He has also worked as an adviser and lobbyist.

RFE/RL's Georgian Service spoke with Lindberg about the evolution of Finland's relationship with NATO, Finns' volte-face on membership once Russian troops were pouring over Ukraine's border, and the current war's effect on NATO's new northern flank.

RFE/RL: Finland's a NATO member now. How does that change the security paradigm with respect to Russia?

Jarmo Lindberg: It has a stabilizing effect. The biggest change in Europe, obviously, was Russia's attack on Ukraine and the ongoing war in Europe. Finland joining NATO means that Finland will have the Article Five security guarantees from a large alliance. That's the most important factor and the big change here.

It remains to be seen what kind of differences there might be in the relationship between Finland and Russia. Obviously, there has already been a big change from the pre-war situation and relationship. Because Finland has been with the EU with all 10 rounds of [Russia] sanctions, and Finnish industry has pretty much left Russia. So, the business is over, and relations have changed dramatically already....

The war and the Russian attack on February 24, [2022], created a big change, because within a week the numbers in Finland of those who were pro-NATO membership and those who were against [membership] changed places, so that the majority of Finns were pro-NATO membership.

RFE/RL: What do you expect them to do now? What about the "military and political consequences" of NATO membership that Russia has been threatening?

Lindberg: Yes, you're right, they have mentioned several times throughout this process and also recently that they will strengthen the northwestern corner of Russia, maybe form a new army corps, a new headquarters in the area, [although] that remains to be seen.

The current situation is such that, from the army garrisons and army brigades, they deployed two battalions [garrisoned next to Finland] to Ukraine, and they have seen heavy fighting and heavy losses. So, the Russian Army capability is at the moment smaller to the east of the Finnish border. And Russia is preoccupied in Ukraine for the foreseeable future, because nobody knows when the war is going to end.

Then there has been discussion about information warfare, cyberattacks, and so on, and also that remains to be seen. You might say that information warfare is already ongoing with the statements that [Russia is making], so that is nothing new.

So far, there have been no dramatic cyberactions. After formal accession to NATO, would there be any changes to what we have been seeing already? Hard to say. In a way, [at that point] the signing process [didn't] change anything.

RFE/RL: We are speaking right after the latest elections, which saw the change of the ruling party in Finland. Does it spell any change in foreign policy?

Lindberg: I actually also got elected to the parliament [in national elections on April 2]. I'm now a member of the winning National Coalition Party....There will be changes to Finnish policy, but those were laid out already during the previous government, because it was the previous government that made the decision [to join NATO], based on polls and the realization that the majority of Finns now support NATO membership....The next government will have to form a policy toward Russia with Finland now a full member of NATO.

RFE/RL: Now that Finland has become a NATO member, should we expect an increase in military assistance to Ukraine?

Lindberg: The new government hasn't been formed yet, but it's easy to say that it will be pro-NATO, because 80 percent of Finns are now pro-NATO membership. And when the [parliamentary] vote was taken on the law to participate in NATO, it was almost unanimous; all the parties supported Finnish NATO membership.

It's hard to say [on increased military assistance] because I have had no view into...the 14 rounds of assistance that we've already given Ukraine. There's only the numbers. It is now up to 960 million euros ($1.1 billion) [in contributions], and I think the previous government stated that it is not the end of it. So, it will continue.

With the next round, it will probably go over 1 billion euros, and it will keep on going. And it has been a situation where it has been a negotiation with Ukraine [regarding] what they need and what is available here in Finland -- so what Finland has so far given to Ukraine has [provided] meaningful military help....So, when the process has already been done 14 times, it will continue like that.

RFE/RL: As you're a former fighter pilot, I would like to ask you how essential would Western fighter jets be for a Ukrainian victory, and will they be getting them?

Lindberg: It's hard for me to speculate on if they'll get them sooner or later. That's a decision of individual Western nations. So far, as we all know, no such decision has been made by the United States or European countries. And the latest was the help from Poland and Slovakia with the MiG-29s, which makes perfect sense because the Ukrainians have had them already. So that is the fastest way to give them technology that they already know how to use and [for which] they have the spare parts, the logistics system.

For any new type of jets, it will take a while to train the pilots and even a larger crew of maintenance people; then to get the spare parts to the country; and then [to build] the maintenance and logistics chains in country while they are waging war.

You know, I'm a MiG pilot; I flew Soviet-made MiGs. And then I was trained by the United States Navy in California to fly F-18 Hornet jets. I was the commander of the first Finnish Hornet squadron. So, I should know, because I have done it myself. And I know that it takes a while, and there are no shortcuts. You can speed it up a bit, but then there are realistic limitations on how long the whole process will take.

Even if the decision is made now, it will not help the war this spring or this summer or not even this year, because it's such a complicated combination. Yes, it's an added capability, depending on what kind of capabilities are given to Ukraine. Of course, it is beneficial for fighting a war.

Having been involved in planning many military capabilities here in Finland, there is no one silver bullet. You can say, "OK, tanks are what is going to win the war." But when [the front line] is some 750 kilometers [long] and you get a battalion or two of tanks, every planner realizes that it's a long front, and you need additional capabilities, and you need the capability to launch joint operations to reclaim the lost areas. Yes, they are added capabilities, but in an all-out war, it's hard to say that you could have one single capability that would win you the war. It [needs to be] a combination.

RFE/RL: I understand your reservations about the time that it would require and also logistical difficulties. And yet Ukrainian pilots who have been trained already in the West are showing very rapid progress, and nobody really knows how long this war will last. With that in mind, is it conceivable that, for example, Finland could donate its soon-to-be-phased-out Hornet fighter jets to Ukraine?

Lindberg: There's been a lot of discussion regarding that in Finland. I'm not in a position to say whether Finland is going to give them [to Ukraine] or not.... What I've said in the media is that the planned lifecycle for the Hornets is 30 years, and they have been pretty much used to the end of their lifecycle. And the spare-part inventory is declining with the jets. Also, from a technical perspective, the replacement timeline [is that] the first new fighter jets will come to Finland in 2026....

When the new jets start to arrive, the used Hornets, one by one, will start to go down at the end of their lifecycle. The replacement timeline for the Hornets is some five years -- so after 2025 all the way up to 2030. It will take several years to replace the Hornets. And it will take some years in Finland to get the operational readiness -- having enough new fighter jets so that they can say that "OK, we have an operational fighting capability with the replacement jets."

Anyway, it will take years, and then it's up to the air force and the defense leadership to say, "OK, when we're getting new jets, when are we ready to start to draw down the current capability of the F-18s?"

RFE/RL: Finland's defense forces are already interoperable with NATO, but still, should we expect any new bases and such? Should we expect growing numbers of the professional standing army?

Lindberg: Finland has been doing the interoperability preparations for NATO for decades...so there are [just] some interoperability procedures that need to be done with the command-and-control systems with NATO. But that's not a big deal.

[As far as defense capabilities go, don't expect] very dramatic changes. The Finnish reserve force is already 280,000 [people]. It is larger than all the other Nordic nations combined. We have the largest field artillery in Europe along with Poland. We have long-range precision-guided munitions for all the services: army, navy, air force. We already have the main battle tanks -- the Leopard main battle tanks -- and the armored capabilities in country.... Plus, the new F-35 fighter jets. So, for [our] defense capabilities, there are no dramatic changes needed.

We can keep our general conscription here; we don't have to change that. Also, the structure is there: The percentage of defense procurement and the defense budget from the GNP [gross national product] is already over the NATO 2 percent requirement. And also, the material procurement part that needs to be over 20 percent, we are already easily over that. So, the...defense [funding] here in Finland is already over the NATO requirements.

If we're talking about bases, then first we need to have discussions about what kind of a NATO profile Finland has -- and those discussions are ongoing. Then afterward, when the profile is figured out together with NATO, then there can be smaller details, additional discussions. NATO is now very busy closer to Ukraine, having deployed a lot of forces closer to Ukraine, so probably this is not the first thing for NATO to do -- to have a base here up north -- because the more acute need is down south in Central Europe.

RFE/RL: What does Finland's NATO membership mean for Ukraine's NATO hopes and, from a wider perspective, for other countries that also have NATO aspirations -- for example, Georgia? Can Kyiv and Tbilisi count on Helsinki's support in that regard?

Lindberg: I think that the most pressing need is for Sweden [to join NATO], because Finland and Sweden had parallel accession processes and now Sweden wasn't ratified by Turkey and Hungary. So, it would be important for...Sweden, hopefully, [to get in] before the Vilnius NATO summit in July. Then I think Ukraine and Georgia [should be considered].

I'm not a specialist in the process...and the timing...with those nations. It's more up to the NATO leadership to analyze and have the additional negotiations about the readiness of nations and the NATO requirements for membership....

Being in NATO, we have to play by NATO rules. So, whatever the NATO process is for a new nation, that has to [be gone] through and [has to be] the same thing as we had. If it's all [gone] through and the nation is ready in the NATO leadership's view, then it comes to the ratification process, and each nation, when their time comes, will ratify it or they will have -- as we saw with Turkey or Hungary -- they may have specific things. I don't have a crystal ball or the knowledge to give you a specific answer.

RFE/RL: Finland was well-defended even before becoming a NATO member. Do you have any textbook advice for similarly small countries within Russia's neighborhood that don't enjoy being under the NATO umbrella?

Lindberg: For Finland, being a neighboring country of Russia, after the Cold War ended, some other nations viewed us as being a bit conservative -- having general conscription and large reserve forces and territorial defense -- when a lot of [other] nations started to focus on crisis-management operations.

You know, with our history, and having fought during our history with Russia previously and during World War II, we kept up the combination of having the large reserve, general conscription, and when some other nations were giving up their weapons, selling their weapons, we were there buying the surplus weapons at a cheaper price because we wanted to keep up our traditional defenses.

But on top of the traditional capabilities, we were already buying the high-end, long-range, precision-guided weapons: the missiles for the air force, the rockets for the army, and the missiles for the navy.

The combination that Ukraine is looking for in this war that we are now watching -- having sufficient forces, having the armor capabilities, having the tanks, having the missiles, the long-range capabilities, having the modern fighter jets and air defense -- we have them all. So now people are saying that the defense planning in Finland has been correct for the war that we are now watching [in Ukraine].

This would be my advice to any nation: You need to plan in advance, and you need to have the capabilities in-country to defend your country, whether you are a member of an alliance or not. And you're not freeriding an alliance; you have to be able to defend your own area and even help others, if needed, if you think that within the alliance somebody else is going to help you. It's vice versa, and it doesn't work [if] you don't have the capabilities in your own country and you join the alliance and you say, "OK, somebody come and help us, because we didn't do our homework."

RFE/RL: How does one combine being the "happiest country in the world" with being ready to go to war against a nuclear power any day of the week?

Lindberg: Well, that's been a discussion here in Finland: Why is it the sixth year in a row that we are the "happiest country in the world" [according to the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network's World Happiness Report]? I don't know. I think the Finns are very pragmatic, straightforward people. You can trust a Finn and the word of a Finn. And it's very straightforward here in Finland.

I would give the example of Russia attacking Ukraine and, within a week, the Finnish population figured out that we have to be [in] NATO and, very quickly, the political leadership followed with a very fast process to apply for NATO membership. I would say that's very pragmatic. When Finns realize that OK, something is not working, we just [think we] need to go and fix it. That's the Finnish way of thinking.

RFE/RL: During your tenure, what were contingency plans in terms of conflict with Russia?

Lindberg: If there's one topic that I'd mention, it's that when Russia invaded Crimea in the spring of 2014 and I became the chief of defense in August 2014, throughout Europe and also within NATO, there was a realization: Are we ready enough? Because that was a very fast [Russian] special-forces operation. And in the defense [departments] of different nations, people were analyzing whether if something like that were to happen in their area, would they be fast enough to react to that kind of operation.

Also here in Finland, one of my first public statements [when I became chief of defense in 2014] was that we need to improve our readiness so that we are more agile if something happens. Obviously the specific contingency planning and operational planning, that is classified, and the details cannot be given out. But...it's easy to say, "OK, there's an example for you for contingency planning" when you see that something in the real world happens. And then when you see that in the neighborhood and also [regarding] your capabilities, there may be some deficiencies -- then you need to go and fix them.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/finland-nato-russia- defense-jarmo-lindberg/32366037.html

Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Largest Rebel Group, Colombian Government Peace Talks To Start In Mid-May - Reports

Sputnik News

20230416

MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) - Rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) plan to start peace talks with the country's government next month, media report.

On May 16, a negotiation table will be organized for dialogue between the FARC, under the command of Ivan Mordisco, and the national government, the Bogota-based Blue Radio station reported on Twitter on Sunday.

In July of last year, Colombian authorities said that FARC leader Nestor Gregorio Vera, known as Ivan Mordisco, was eliminated during a special operation in the south of the country.

However, Mordisco appeared in an interview with Colombian media in October of last year and again appeared in person at a public meeting of FARC leaders and local representatives in Colombia's Caqueta Department this month, according to media reports.

In December of last year, FARC and the National Liberation Army (ELN), Colombia's second-largest rebel group after FARC, announced a ceasefire as a contribution to the ongoing dialogue with the government of Colombian President Gustavo Petro, which seeks to achieve peace with armed groups in order to end over 50 years of armed conflict in the country.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Taliban: Territory Will Not Be Used Against Russia, Central Asia

Sputnik News

20230416

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - A delegation of the Russian Foundation for Islamic Culture, Sciences and Education has received assurances from a senior Taliban official that the movement will not let Afghan territory to be used against Russia, a member of the delegation, Magomedbashir Albogachiev, told Sputnik.

"On Sunday, our delegation in Kabul held a meeting with Maulavi Abdul Kabir, Afghanistan's deputy prime minister for political affairs. He asked us to tell the Russian leadership that the Taliban* movement will not let use its territory against Russia or the countries of Central Asia," Albogachiev said.

According to Albogachiev, the Afghan deputy prime minister said that Afghanistan was "extremely interested" in building comprehensive trade and economic ties with Russia, which is an issue currently complicated by the absence of a clear logistical route.

Earlier in the week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov took part in the fourth meeting of the foreign ministers of Afghanistan's neighboring countries in the Uzbek city of Samarkand, with the officials discussing the situation in Afghanistan and ways to develop a common regional approach to improving it. Lavrov said at a press conference after the meeting that practically all of the participating countries agreed on the necessity to maintain and develop contacts with the Taliban movement.

*The Taliban is an organization under UN sanctions for terrorism.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






by Ethan Seavey

In the growing sector of the contemporary art world which focuses on environmental issues, participants in the art (artists, critics, and the general audience) disagree on the intention of each work of art: does it merit only aesthetic praise, or is it a successful work of climate activism? In my brief internship at Art of Change 21, a French nonprofit association at the intersection of contemporary art and the environment, I frequently encountered this dichotomy. At Art Paris 2022, the association hosted an exhibition centered around artists who deal with environmental themes. My goal is to contextualize some of the artworks present at this exhibition, based on critical theory as well as my own experiences.

When an artist depicts an environmental issue, they want to bring attention to it, and for many in the art world, this attention is enough to be considered powerful activism. In a study for the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Laura Kim Sommer and Christian Andreas Klockner collected qualitative date based on surveys and cognitive recognition information and determined that art engaging with environmental issues had strong emotional effects upon its audience. This study was conducted at the 2015 UN Climate Conference, for an exhibition of art pertaining to climate issues. (Art of Change 21 was born at this Climate Conference, and had no role in the display of these artworks; the association was present elsewhere in the conference, though, with similar projects.)

What Sommer and Klockner discovered was that these strong emotional results could be categorized by the artists approach to these issues. For example, an artist may approach an issue negatively, displaying pressing problems or a bleak future, or they may approach positively, displaying solutions for problems and a brighter future. After the survey, it was clear that the negative art created strong emotional reactions, of shock, surprise, fear, and anxiety. However, this strong initial emotional response was inversely related to a feeling of a call to action. These pieces presented problems with no solutions, which seem to overwhelm or depress the audience, or at least to create a distance between the audience and the art due to its terrifying content. On the other hand, while positively framed artworks aroused slightly duller initial emotions, in the end the audience left feeling more empowered when presented with pieces which depict solutions to problems, as well as a world that is interconnected and beautiful. Overall, this study concluded that art can be an effective form of activism, especially when it is created with an optimistic angle towards environmental issues.

While Sommer and Klockner are satisfied with the idea that an emotional response to art translates into a work of activism, there is some debate on this idea. In her piece Visual climate change art 20052015, Joanna Nurmus writes, while [artworks engaging with the climate] gain critical praise, there appears to be a discrepancy between the urgency that artists and curators wish to convey and the contemplative, cathartic effect that these art works produce. The issue Nurmus finds with comparing art focused on the environment to climate activism is that there is a large gap between the immediate, urgent calls of the artist and the deliberate, long contemplation by the audience. This tension is a frustrating loss of activist potential. Moreover, there is no guarantee that these emotional responses will translate into action by audience. So, Nurmus presents the notion that this branch of contemporary art should rather be contextualized as an aesthetic approach to the problems of the contemporary world. Nurmus essay begins with a quote by Walter Benajmin that summarizes this notion: Mankind[s]  self alienation has reached such a degree that it can experience its own destruction as an aesthetic pleasure of the first order (Walter Benjamin, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, 1936). This quote appears to present a cynical critique of environmentalist art, wherein artists derive a sort of sadistic aesthetic by drawing on the problems we create instead of creating the solutions.

While Nurmus presents an interesting perspective, it seems to ignore the side of environmental art which provides solutions, the exact group that Sommer and Klockner find the most effective as a means of activism. Both sides seem to discourage pessimistic climate change art, as it only points out problems and warns the audience of a reckoning for the actions of humanity.

In my own experiences at one of the largest art fairs in Paris, Art Paris 2022, at the Exhibition Around the Laureates of the Planete Art Solidaire Prize, I encountered these different forms of activism. I found most of the pieces at the exhibition to be quite optimistic. Two artists in particular, Come di Meglio and Chloe Jeanne, chose to represent the positive connection between humanity and naturecoincidentally, through the medium of fungus. Di Meglio created MycoTemple, 2022 a dome created by the roots of the mycelium. The sculpture awakens our fundamental essential relationship with the living world, according to di Meglio.

Chloe Jeannes Capsules Olfactives, 2021 was made of two mycelium and burlap sculptures, which allow the development of the mycelium [], thus becoming the link between all the elements that make up the work. These two artists would fall into the optimistic category, and could potentially leave the audience feeling motivated about their relationship to nature.

However, not all artists chose the same route. Anais Tondeurs Tchernobyl Herbarium, 2022 is a collection of rayograms, taken by directly imprinting plants born in the irradiated soils of Chernobyl onto photosensitive plates. I worked directly with Tondeur, in the careful installation and dismantling of her art work, and though her attitude was very positive and kind, her artwork is a grim reminder of the terrible effects mankind has had on the Earth. Decades after the catastrophe at Chernobyl, its effects linger in the flora of the site. It leave the impression that humans have wronged the Earth irreversibly, a darker message than the rest of the artworks at the exhibition.

One more artist, Jonathan Brechignac, created an art work which seemed to fit in the gray area in this spectrum of black and white. His artwork, PRIMAL_LUTUM_SYNTHETICA_012022, 2022 is a stunning piece to approach. It is a massive tableau with a base of a reflective, iridescent film which is covered partially by bright orange clay. The piece is said to create a poisonous beauty that reveals our origins and questions the idea of progress and its consequences on the environment. The healing dimension of clay transcends this duality and appeases the future. Now, personal bias alert: I loved working with Jon. He was a genuinely kind man (which can be hard to find in Paris). He helped the association in our assembling and dismantling of the entire exhibit. At the art fair he became the guy I could ask any question, and I became the person who could hold the other corner of the painting he was carrying. And, on top of all that, he was absolutely brilliant; he produced my favorite piece in the exhibition, and the one with the most complex approach. His piece does not deny the positive or the negative, instead weaving them together for an honest depiction of the world. As an artist, he does not deny labels like activist and environmentalist, unlike some of the artists represented at the exhibition.

If an art work has a depiction of environmental issues, is it necessarily a work of activism? Well, maybe not necessarilybut I think it would be difficult to argue the reverse, because artists create something to draw attention to it. The nonprofit Art of Change 21 would frequently deal with these issues of syntax. The intersection of contemporary art and environmental issues is a very new development, and the proper terms arent clearly distinguished. Are artists like Brechignac artists engaged in environmental issues, or activists using art as their medium? Probably the answer is somewhere in the middle.

Regardless, Art of Change 21 would not exist if it did not believe that these artists could change the world, and I am left in agreement with them. Sometimes, it was hard for me to see the bigger picture. Working with the association, I would wonder if supporting art speaking about the environment was enough to change anything. In fact, I was hung up on the idea that art is detrimental to the environment, and of course it is, somewhat depending on the artist. Artists like Di Meglio and Jeanne created art from growing fungus and recycled burlap, but those like Brechignac and Tondeur use synthetic materials, in effect further harming the world theyre trying to save. The cynical side of me sees this paradox and wants to condemn these artists further by agreeing with Nurmus, in thinking that aesthetic is the intent and that an emotional response is not enough for real social change.

However, I changed my mind because of the founding president of Art of Change 21, who would frequently remind me of a universal truth: its the artists who pave the path first, et les autres qui suivent. I realized that the benefits of this environmental art was the social change which will follow it. These emotional responses can seem fleeting, but an artwork doesnt always cause immediate action. Instead, sometimes it lingers, creating gradual positive change. Of course, Sommer and Klockner found that optimistic pieces are more effective in this regard, but I found myself contemplating Brechignacs work the most, a piece which lingered in the gray area. I am left with the conclusion that a successful work of artistic activism is the creation of a piece which engages with environmental issues and which leaves you thinking about it as you walk away from it.

Sources:

Sommer, Laura Kim and Klockner, Christian Andreas, Does Activist Art Have the

Capacity to Raise Awareness in Audiences? A Study on Climate Change Art at

the ArtCOP21 Event in Paris.Norwegian University of Science and Technology,

2019.

https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Faca0000247

Nurmus, Joanna. Visual climate change art 20052015: discourse and practice.

WIREs Clim Change 2016, 7:501516. doi: 10.1002/wcc.400,

https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/wcc.400?casa_token=HO7N1fgWuiQAAAAA%3ATxOS25wIaKVrepysWlEGay8BmyibkVGPPHQr9qNYuI87zNiASgiIndDxaqg0XVgme8FZynkqrznyCl8
UN Security Council Calls on Conflicting Sides in Sudan to Stop Violence

Sputnik News

20230416

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) - The UN Security Council (UNSC) has called for an end to violence in Sudan and has urged the conflicting parties to cease hostilities.

Clashes between the Sudanese regular army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) broke out on Saturday in Sudan's capital of Khartoum and elsewhere in the country. Government forces accused the RSF of mutiny and launched airstrikes against their bases. The RSF claimed control of the presidential palace in Khartoum and the airports in Khartoum and Merowe. The national army denied the presidential palace's takeover and said it was bombing RSF bases near Khartoum.

"The members of the Security Council expressed deep concern over the military clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces and expressed their regret for the loss of lives and injuries, including amongst civilians," the UNSC said in a Saturday statement.

The UNSC stressed the importance of ensuring safe humanitarian access in Sudan amid the clashes.

"The members of the Security Council urged the parties to immediately cease hostilities, restore calm, and called on all actors to return to dialogue to resolve the current crisis in Sudan," the UNSC said.

A United Nations source told Sputnik earlier on Saturday that the UN Security Council was going to discuss the situation in Sudan on Monday; the talks will be held behind closed doors.

UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Twitter late on Saturday that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had discussed the situation in Sudan with the conflicting sides, commander-in-chief of the Sudanese military Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah Al Burhan and RSF leader Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, as well as Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi and Chairman of the African Union Commission (AUC) Moussa Faki. Guterres called for an end to violence and a return to dialogue.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






UN Secretary General Holds Talks With Sudan's Conflicting Sides

Sputnik News

20230416

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has discussed the situation in Sudan with the conflicting sides, calling for an end to violence and the return to political dialogue, UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.

"The Secretary-General is calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Sudan. He has spoken to President [Abdel Fattah Al] Sisi of Egypt and [Chairman of the African Union Commission] AUC Moussa Faki, on how to de-escalate the situation. He has also spoken to [commander-in-chief of the Sudanese military] Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah Al Burhan and to RSF [Rapid Support Forces] Leader Lt. General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, calling for an immediate stop to the violence and a return to dialogue," Dujarric said on Twitter late on Saturday night.

He added that the Secretary General has offered his "good offices" to restore security in Sudan and conclude the ongoing political process in the country.

Clashes between the Sudanese regular army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) broke out on Saturday in Sudan's capital of Khartoum and elsewhere in the country. Government forces accused the RSF of mutiny and launched airstrikes against their bases. The RSF claimed control of the presidential palace in Khartoum and the airports in Khartoum and Merowe. The national army denied the presidential palace's takeover and said it was bombing RSF bases near Khartoum.

An Egyptian presidential representative said on Saturday that Al Sisi held telephone talks with Guterres discussing the latest events in Sudan. The Egyptian president called on the conflicting sides in Sudan to return to dialogue.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Twitter on Saturday that he discussed Sudan over the phone with the foreign ministers of Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. Borrell urged all the sides in Sudan to show leadership and engage in an immediate cessation of hostilities.

A United Nations source told Sputnik on Saturday that the UN Security Council (UNSC) was going to discuss the situation in Sudan on Monday; the talks will be held behind closed doors.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement late on Saturday that the Council of the League of Arab States (LAS) would meet on Sunday to discuss the situation in Sudan, after Egypt and Saudi Arabia called for the emergency meeting at the level of permanent representatives.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Sudanese Armed Forces Take Control of RSF Headquarters in Omdurman - Reports

Sputnik News

20230416

KHARTOUM (Sputnik) - The Sudanese Armed Forces have taken control of the entire headquarters of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the city of Omdurman and all the equipment there, the Al Jazeera broadcaster reports citing a Sudanese military representative.

Earlier on Saturday night, Al Jazeera said, citing a Sudanese military source that the Sudanese Air Force had launched an airstrike targeting an RSF camp in Omdurman.

According to the broadcaster, RSF forces have left their positions in Omdurman, leaving all their equipment and weapons behind.

Clashes between the Sudanese regular army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) broke out on Saturday in Sudan's capital of Khartoum and elsewhere in the country. Government forces accused the RSF of mutiny and launched airstrikes against their bases. The RSF claimed control of the presidential palace in Khartoum and the airports in Khartoum and Merowe. The national army denied the presidential palace's takeover and said it was bombing RSF bases near Khartoum.

Director of a hospital in Omdurman told Sputnik on Saturday that the fighting between the RSF and the national army left six civilians killed. According to media reports, the death toll from the violence in Sudan could be at least 25, while the number of injured reportedly stands at over 180.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






WFP chief puts hold on Sudan aid operations, following death of 3 staff in unrest

16 April 2023 - The World Food Programme (WFP) has temporarily halted all operations, as a result of the fighting between rival military groups in Sudan, which led to the deaths of three WFP employees on Saturday. The UN Secretary-General has called for those responsible to be brought to justice.

According to a statement attributable to the Executive Director of the UN agency, Cindy McCain, the workers were carrying out life-saving duties in Kabkabiya, North Darfur.

In a separate incident on Saturday, a WFP-managed UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) aircraft was significantly damaged at Khartoum International airport during an exchange of gunfire, seriously impacting WFP's ability to move humanitarian workers and aid within the country.

In the statement, Ms. McCain explained that all operations in Sudan have been suspended, pending a review of the evolving security situation.

"WFP is committed to assisting the Sudanese people facing dire food insecurity," said Ms. McCain, "but we cannot do our lifesaving work if the safety and security of our teams and partners is not guaranteed. All parties must come to an agreement that ensures the safety of humanitarian workers on the ground and enables the continued delivery of life saving humanitarian assistance to the people of Sudan. They remain our top priority."

Any loss of life in humanitarian service is unacceptable and I demand immediate steps to guarantee the safety of those who remain.

Ms. McCain emphasized that threats to WFP teams make it impossible for them to operate safely and effectively in the country and carry out the UN agency's critical work.

'Justice without delay': UN Secretary-General

Responding to the crisis on Sunday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for those responsible to be brought to justice without delay.

In a statement attributable to Mr. Guterres, he expressed deep concern about the continued clashes, and reminded the warring parties of the need to respect international law, including the obligation to ensure the safety and security of all United Nations and associated personnel, their premises, and their assets.

The Secretary-General reiterated his call for an immediate halt to the fighting and for a return to dialogue, and emphasized that he continues to engage with regional leaders and with Sudanese stakeholders to find a way out of this crisis.

Aid workers 'not a target', looting of UN premises must stop

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sudan and Head of the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission (UNITAMS) Mr. Volker Perthes strongly condemned the attacks on Sunday, and insisted that civilians and humanitarian aid workers are "not a target."

Mr. Perthes referred to reports of projectiles hitting UN and other humanitarian premises, and of looting at these premises, in several locations in Darfur.

The UNITAMS chief said that these acts of violence disrupt the delivery of life-saving assistance, and must end. "When incidents like this occur, it is women, men, and children in desperate need of assistance who suffer the most."

Mr. Perthes announced on Sunday that he had convinced the two warring parties to the current fighting to briefly pause hostilities, on humanitarian grounds, between four and seven PM, local time.

Security Council members call for calm

The members of the Security Council added their voices to the calls for an end to hostilities on Sunday, in a statement expressing their regret for the loss of lives and injuries.

In the statement, they urged the parties to restore calm, and return to dialogue to resolve the current crisis in Sudan.

They went on to stress the importance that humanitarian access is maintained and the safety of UN personnel is ensured, and reaffirmed their "strong commitment to the unity, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the Republic of the Sudan."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Pakistan to Send Its Ambassador Back to Afghanistan

By Ayaz Gul April 16, 2023

Pakistan has decided to send its ambassador back to Afghanistan this week, more than four months after he was pulled out because of a failed attempt on his life in Kabul by the Islamic State group, multiple official sources told VOA Sunday.

The decision stemmed from an overnight telephone call between Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.

"The ambassador is due to arrive in Kabul before the Eid-ul-Fitar festival," a Pakistani government official said, requesting anonymity because he was not authorized to interact with media.

The official refused to share more details, saying diplomatic movements require secrecy for security reasons. The three-day Eid festivities marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan are expected to begin in Afghanistan this weekend.

Both sides have released brief statements confirming the Saturday contact between the two officials but neither mentioned the planned return of Pakistani Charge d'affaires Ubaid-ur-Rehman Nizamanit to the Afghan capital.

Muttaqi discussed "a range of important bilateral political, economic, trade and transit issues" with the Pakistani counterpart, the Taliban-led Afghan foreign ministry said Sunday. "Both sides also agreed to improve diplomatic relations," the statement said without elaborating.

Zardari's office in Islamabad said that "issues of mutual interest" came under discussion between the two leaders but provided no further details. "The foreign minister reaffirmed Pakistan's commitment to a stable, peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan," the statement said.

Nizamani was on a routine walk inside the sprawling embassy compound in Kabul on December 2 when shooters opened fire on him from a nearby multistory building. He escaped unhurt, but his Pakistani security guard was hit in the legs by bullets. Pakistan immediately evacuated the chief diplomat and demanded the Taliban enhance the security of its embassy.

The Islamic State group, in a statement, claimed responsibility for the shooting, saying its regional affiliate, known as Islamic State Khorasan, assaulted "the apostate Pakistani ambassador and his guards."

The incident strained otherwise friendly ties between the Taliban administration and Pakistan.

Pakistan and landlocked Afghanistan share a nearly 2,600-kilometer border. Bilateral trade ties have increased since the Taliban reclaimed control of Afghanistan in August 2021 as the United States-led NATO troops withdrew after 20 years of the Afghan war.

Islamabad and the world at large do not formally recognize the Taliban government, citing human rights concerns, particularly restrictions placed on Afghan women's access to work and education.

The Taliban have banned female higher education and teenage girls are barred from attending schools beyond the sixth grade. They have banned Afghan women from working for the United Nations and nongovernmental aid organizations and ordered most women government employees to stay home.

Sunday's Taliban statement said Zardari assured Muttaqi that Pakistan, in the coming days, would release the remaining Afghan migrants jailed for not possessing valid travel documents. It gave no further details.

Pakistani authorities have, in recent months, released and repatriated more than 2,000 Afghan inmates, including women and children.

Nearly 300,000 people arrived in Pakistan after the Taliban takeover 20 months ago, fleeing worsening economic and humanitarian conditions in strife-torn, impoverished Afghanistan. Many left the country fearing Taliban reprisals for their association with U.S. and Western troops.

Pakistani officials estimate that only about 100,000 asylum seekers entered the country on valid visas. They have joined several million Afghans living in Pakistan as refugees and economic migrants after having fled decades of Afghan conflicts and poverty.

Several countries, including Pakistan, China, Russia, Turkey, and Iran, have kept their embassies in Kabul open after the Taliban seized power 20 months ago. But the United States and other Western nations moved their diplomatic missions out of Afghanistan to Qatar to help facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to the more than 28 million, two-thirds of the country's population, in need of it.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Dozens Killed in Sudan Amid Fighting Between Army, Paramilitary Forces

By Michael Atit April 16, 2023

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned two days of fighting between Sudan's military and a paramilitary force that has killed dozens of people, including three U.N. workers for the World Food Program.

Guterres "strongly condemns the deaths and injuries of civilians, including the death of three staff members of the World Food Program in North Darfur, with a further two seriously injured," the U.N. chief's spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said in a statement, adding: "Those responsible should be brought to justice without delay."

The statement said, "United Nations and other humanitarian premises have also been hit by projectiles and looted in several locations in Darfur."

The pro-democracy Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors reported at least 56 civilians had been killed, as well as "tens of deaths" among security forces, according to Agence France-Presse. The three U.N. workers raised the death toll to 59.

The group said more than 600 people, including combatants, had been wounded since the fighting erupted on Saturday.

Guterres reiterated a call for an immediate cease-fire between the warring groups, the U.N. statement said.

On Saturday, fighting erupted between army units loyal to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of Sudan's transitional governing Sovereign Council, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, deputy head of the council, Reuters reported.

The U.N. had announced a three-hour cease-fire late Sunday afternoon between the two groups, yet residents told media that heavy explosions and continued gunfire, as well as airstrikes pounding RSF targets, could be heard Sunday night.

Earlier Sunday, heavy gunfire could be heard downtown around Sudan's military headquarters and the presidential palace.

Both the military and the RSF have claimed control of these strategic locations.

The World Food Program says it has suspended operations in the country after three WFP employees were killed in the violence that erupted on Saturday.

The head of the Sudanese journalists' syndicate, Abdulmuniem Abu Idris, told VOA via a messaging application that about 12 journalists, including four females, have been stranded in the Sudanese Kuwaiti business center since Saturday morning.

Abu Idris had earlier appealed to the warring parties to create a safe corridor for them to go to their families.

"I am calling on the two parties to create a safe passage for all the civilians inside the conflict areas, especially the journalists who have been stuck since yesterday," he said.

The Sudanese-Kuwaiti business center is located east of the presidential palace along the River Nile. It is a working office space for many media outlets.

Abu Idris says described the area as a "serious" confrontation zone between the military and the RSF.

He says those journalists and other civilians would be in need of basic items to survive.

"They don't have food; they are not in a safe area because they are inside the area of the exchange fires. And we are calling on the Red Crescent to intervene and rescue the civilians and those journalists," he said.

Reports say recent tensions between the army and the RSF stem from disagreements with how the RSF should be integrated in the army and who should oversee that process. It's part of an effort to restore the country to civilian rule and end a political crisis sparked by a military coup in October 2021.

The African Union's Peace and Security Council held an extraordinary meeting Sunday in Nairobi to discuss the situation in Sudan. Participants appealed to the Sudanese military RSF leaders to de-escalate confrontation and restore stability.

Arab League countries also condemned the fighting in Sudan, calling for calm.

Egypt and South Sudan announced in a joint statement their intention to mediate between Sudan's warring parties.

Some information for this article came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






ICRC: Fighting in Sudan Puts Civilians and Refugees at Risk

By VOA News April 16, 2023

The International Committee of the Red Cross warned Sunday that fighting in densely populated areas in Sudan is putting the lives of civilians at risk.

The ICRC's call is one of many humanitarian organizations urging all parties to the conflict to take immediate action to protect civilians.

Germain Mwehu, ICRC spokesperson in Khartoum, told VOA there are grave concerns over the use of explosives in populated areas.

"There are blasts, there is heavy gunfire anytime," Mwehu told VOA's English to Africa Services' South Sudan in Focus radio program. He added that is the case not only in the capital city but other cities in the country.

The situation in Sudan remains tense, with ongoing clashes between government forces and the country's paramilitary group, Rapid Support Forces, in several parts of the country.

"It's a very horrifying situation for the civilian population. They can't move. It's very dangerous for everyone to move, including humanitarian organizations," Mwehu said.

Alfonso Verdu Perez, the head of the ICRC delegation in Sudan, said in a statement the ongoing conflict in Sudan has escalated, particularly in urban areas, leading to a high number of civilian casualties.

As of Sunday, the number of civilians killed has reached 59 with nearly 700 others injured, but humanitarian organizations say the death toll could rise.

The conflict is impacting the ability of humanitarian organizations to aid those in need, Mwehu said.

"There are students, for example, who have been stuck in schools since yesterday morning. There are people who were traveling at the airport. They have been stuck there since yesterday morning. There are those who work in the market and other places. They are not able to go back to their home. Those who are in hospitals, they can't receive visits from the families, medical workers, they can't reach the place the[y] work, and humanitarian organizations, they're not in a position, they can't move in the cities to provide humanitarian assistance."

The ICRC has reiterated its commitment to providing assistance to civilians affected by the conflict, but emphasized that without an end to the fighting, the situation will continue to deteriorate.

"The civilian population is exposed. They are not spared," Mwehu told VOA.

Mwehu said the fighting also impacts refugees and internally displaced people in the country. "We have in Sudan, refugees from Chad, refugees from CAR [the Central African Republic], refugees from South Sudan, refugees from Ethiopia, refugees from Eritrea, the situation will also affect everyone, so the situation is already very difficult from [a] humanitarian perspective, I'm afraid, due to this fighting happening now in different parts of the country and it will make it even more difficult."

According to the U.N., Sudan is home to more than 1 million refugees from neighboring countries.

This story originated in VOA English to Africa Service's South Sudan in Focus radio program.

Nabeel Biajo contributed to this report.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Statement by WFP Executive Director on developments in Sudan

World Food Programme

16 April 2023

ROME - I am appalled and heartbroken by the tragic deaths of three WFP employees on Saturday 15 April in violence in Kabkabiya, North Darfur while carrying out their life saving duties on the front lines of the global hunger crisis. Two WFP employees were also injured in the same incident. We have informed the families of these dedicated team members and stand with them and our entire WFP family at this time of catastrophe.

Any loss of life in humanitarian service is unacceptable and I demand immediate steps to guarantee the safety of those who remain.

Aid workers are neutral and should never be a target. Threats to our teams make it impossible to operate safely and effectively in the country and carry out WFP's critical work.

In a separate incident, one WFP-managed UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) aircraft was also significantly damaged at Khartoum International airport during an exchange of gunfire on 15 April, seriously impacting WFP's ability to move humanitarian workers and aid within the country.

While we review the evolving security situation, we are forced to temporarily halt all operations in Sudan. WFP is committed to assisting the Sudanese people facing dire food insecurity, but we cannot do our lifesaving work if the safety and security of our teams and partners is not guaranteed.

All parties must come to an agreement that ensures the safety of humanitarian workers on the ground and enables the continued delivery of life saving humanitarian assistance to the people of Sudan. They remain our top priority.

(Statement attributable to Cindy McCain, Executive Director of the World Food Programme).

# # #

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Russo-Ukraine War - 16 April 2023 - Day 417

Su M Tu W Th F Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While GlobalSecurity.org takes utmost care to accurately report this news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

On 24 February 2022, Ukraine was suddenly and deliberately attacked by land, naval and air forces of Russia, igniting the largest European war since the Great Patriotic War. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" (SVO - spetsialnaya voennaya operatsiya) in Ukraine in response to the appeal of the leaders of the "Donbass republics" for help. That attack is a blatant violation of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. Putin stressed that Moscow's goal is the demilitarization and denazification of the country. The military buildup in preceeding months makes it obvious that the unprovoked and dastardly Russian attack was deliberately planned long in advance. During the intervening time, the Russian government had deliberately sought to deceive the world by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.

"To initiate a war of aggression... is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." [Judgment of the International Military Tribunal]

The UK Ministry of Defence reported that General Colonel Mikhail Teplinsky, commander of Russia's corps of airborne troops, the VDV, has highly likely returned to a major role in Ukraine. He was previously dismissed from the theatre in January 2023.

Teplinsky is likely one of the few senior Russian generals widely respected by the rank-and-file. His recent turbulent career suggests intense tensions between factions within the Russian General Staff about Russia's military approach in Ukraine.

It is unlikely Teplinsky's remit will be limited to VDV units, but he is highly likely to promote the corps' traditional role as an elite force. In recent days, the VDV have resumed a key mission in the battle for Bakhmut, and likely undertaken novel integration with TOS-1A thermobaric rocket launchers in the Kremina sector.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that during the day of April 15, Russian forces launched 25x S-300 air defense system missile strikes targeting peaceful cities of Zaporizhzhia, Komyshuvakha (Zaporizhzhia oblast), and Snihurivka (Mykolaiv oblast). Also, Russia launched 28x air strikes. Russian forces launched 4x MLRS attacks at the positions of Ukrainian troops and civilian infrastructure in various settlements. The attacks have killed and wounded civilians, destroyed and damaged multistory and private residential buildings, civilian educational institutions, hospitals, churches, and other civilian infrastructure.

The Russian aggressor keeps using terror tactics. The likelihood of missile and air strikes across Ukraine remains high.

Russia suffers considerable losses, but does not abandon its plans to occupy Ukrainian territory. The Russian invaders continue to focus their main efforts on the offensive operations on Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, and Mar'inka axes. Russian tactical and army aircraft are intensively employed on these axes. Bakhmut, and Mar'inka remain at the epicenter of the fighting. During the day of April 16, Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled more than 45x Russian attacks in these areas of the frontline.

Volyn, Polissya, Sivershchyna, and Slobozhanshchyna axes: no signs of the formation of Russian offensive groups were found. A comprehensive inspection of the combat readiness of the armed forces of the Republic of Belarus is underway. Certain units of the territorial troops of the Russian Armed Forces continue their deployment on the territory of Belarus.

Certain Russian units are still present in the areas of Bryansk, Kursk, and Belgorod oblasts (russia) bordering Ukraine.

During the day of April 16, Russian forces shelled the settlements of Svesa, Bunyakyne, Iskryskivshchyna, Shpyl', Volfyne, Yunakivka, Basivka (Sumy oblast), Veterynarne, Neskuchne, Vovchans'k, Bochkove, Mala Vovcha, and Zemlyanky (Kharkiv oblast).

Kup'yans'k axis: Novomlyns'k, Dvorichna, Zapadne, and Kindrashivka (Kharkiv oblast) came under Russian fire.

Lyman axis: Russian forces conducted unsuccessful offensives to the north of Hryhorivka and near Spirne. Stel'makhivka, Nevs'ke, Bilohorivka (Luhansk oblast), Ivanivka, and Spirne (Donetsk oblast) were shelled with artillery.

Bakhmut axis: Russia continues its offensive operations.

Fighting for the city of Bakhmut continues. Russian forces attempted attacks in the vicinities of settlements of Khromove and Ivanivske, to no success. Vasyukivka, Min'kivka, Orikhovo-Vasylivka, Bakhmut, Ivanivske, Novodmytrivka, and Pivnichne (Donetsk oblast) suffered from Russian shelling.

Avdiivka axis: Russian forces conducted offensive operations in the vicinities of Novokalynove, Sjeverne, Vodyane and Pervomais'ke (Donetsk oblast), to no success. More than 15x settlements near the line of contact were shelled by Russian forces. These include Novokalynove, Avdiivka, Vodyane, Pervomais'ke, and Netaylove (Donetsk oblast).

Mar'inka axis: Ukrainian defenders repelled numerous Russian attacks in the vicinity of Mar'inka. At the same time, Krasnohorivka, Mar'inka, Heorhiivka, Maksymil'yanivka, Pobjeda, and Novomykhailivka (Donetsk oblast) were shelled by Russian forces.

Shakhtars'ke axis: Russian forces did not conduct any offensive operations during the day of April 16. The invaders shelled the settlements of Vuhledar, Prechystivka, Velyka Novosilka, and Vremivka (Donetsk oblast).

Zaporizhzhia and Kherson axes: Russia continues to defend. During the day of April 16, the invaders shelled several settlements. Among them are Vremivka, Novopil' (Donetsk oblast), Hulyaipole, Zaliznychne, Bilohir'ya, Mala Tokmachka Novodanylivka, Novoandriivka, Kam'yans'ke (Zaporizhzhia oblast), Dudchany, Beryslav, Vesele, Burhunka, Bilozerka, Dniprovs'ke (Kherson oblast), and the city of Kherson.

Russian occupation forces continue to suffer heavy losses. All medical facilities in the temporarily occupied territory are overcrowded with wounded invaders. As a result, Russia is using civilian educational institutions in the temporarily occupied territories for its own purposes.

For example, the Russian occupiers re-purposed a local school gym in the settlement of Vysoke (Zaporizhzhia oblast) into a military hospital. Medical services are provided to Russian military personnel exclusively.

As of April 15, about 100x occupants with injuries of varying severity were undergoing treatment.

Russian invaders continue to rob civilians, appropriating their grain harvest. For example, the Russian so-called "authorities" put in office by the occupation forces in the city of Berdiansk (Zaporizhzhia oblast) are trying to take out stolen corn by loading it onto barges.

At the same time, the Russian occupiers continue to force their passports on the population of the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. In particular, the Russian invaders are actively conducting house-to-house visits in the settlement of Tavriya (Kherson oblast) to check for Russian passports. Citizens of Ukraine who have not received a Russian passport have been informed they will be deported and all their personal property confiscated, unless they obtain the documents by June 1.

During the day of April 16, Ukrainian Air Force launched 5x air strikes on the concentrations of troops and the anti-aircraft missile system of the Russian occupiers. The Ukrainian defenders shot down 4x Russian UAVs (2x Orlan-10, 1x Eleron reconnaissance UAV, and 1x Lancet kamikaze drone). During the day of April 16, missile troops and artillery units hit 1x command post, 1x anti-aircraft missile system, 1x concentration of Russian troops, weapons, and military equipment, 1x fuel and lubricants depot, and 2x ammunition depots.

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that, according to the information provided to the military commissar Alexander Simonov by the Wagner PMC analyst, in the area of Bakhmut (Artemovsk), the assault units of the "musicians" are confronted by an enemy group of about 80 thousand people. It is preparing to strike on the flanks in the direction of Seversk and Popasnaya, as well as Konstantinovka and Debaltseve.

Due to losses in personnel, the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) planned the rotation of units of the 93rd brigade, sending units of the 60th to replace them. However, due to the ongoing onslaught of the "Wagnerites", both of these formations are forced to jointly hold their positions.

The daily losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine here are up to 450 people, which is compensated by new battalions of territorial defense, which are being formed in the depths of the country. They do not lack weapons or ammunition.

In the meantime, mobilized Russian military personnel are voluntarily joining Wagner PMC, who already make up three motorized rifle brigades, who are now being trained by Orchestra instructors.

The situation in other directions

During the day of fighting, the Armed Forces of Ukraine lost up to 335 servicemen, 2 tanks, 11 vehicles, 2 armored vehicles, an infantry fighting vehicle, 3 pickup trucks, as well as 3 D-20 howitzers, 2 D-30, Msta-B, Grad rocket launcher, self-propelled gun "Carnation".

The Russian army delivered strikes on 92 enemy artillery positions and 127 troop concentration areas. Command posts of the 125th and 102nd brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were hit in Yampolovka and Zaliznichny, and three ammunition depots in Torsky and Terny.

In the districts of Masyutovka, Kuzemovka, Novoselovsky, Novodonetsky, the activities of four reconnaissance and sabotage groups were suppressed. In Kamyshevakh, the AN / TPQ-37 counter-battery radar was eliminated.

Air defense systems intercepted ten rockets from the HIMARS and Smerch systems, as well as three HARM anti-radar missiles. In addition, four enemy drones were shot down.





NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Top official on HK pays 'historical visit' to LegCo, meets legal representatives

Global Times

Inspection tour highlights national security awareness, paving way for legislation of Article 23: experts

By Chen Qingqing Published: Apr 16, 2023 09:49 PM

China's top official on Hong Kong and Macao affairs Xia Baolong met with more than 80 lawmakers on Sunday during his inspection tour in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), which was described by some lawmakers as historical, signaling that the central government indeed cares about and pays close attention to the city's development.

Although Xia did not mention the legislation of Article 23 during the meeting, his six-day tour shows that the central government plays the role of supervisor over Hong Kong affairs, and it also trusts in local justice and legal representatives to push forward Article 23 - the city's constitutional responsibility in fixing loopholes in national security-related laws, some legal experts and policy advisors said.

Particularly, as both central and local officials in the HKSAR warned against national security risks and the possibility of a return of street violence on the occasion of the third National Security Education Day on Saturday, the completion of Article 23 is supported and expected by both the central and HKSAR governments.

Without the National Security Law (NSL) for Hong Kong and electoral reform with the principle of "only patriots administering Hong Kong," there would be no such arrangement for central government officials to communicate with lawmakers, Andrew Leung, president of the Legislative Council (LegCo), told media following Xia's visit, as the LegCo was a place witnessing the city's darkest moment due to the extreme confrontations among different political groups.

"This was the first time that a central government official paid a visit to the LegCo and had such an exchange with lawmakers, which is a hard-won situation," Nixie Lam, a lawmaker who attended the meeting, told the Global Times on Sunday.

In the past, some opposition lawmakers only focused on quarreling and using the filibuster and other malicious tactics to paralyze the legislature, and it was hard for lawmakers from different political groups to communicate and work together on bills related to people's livelihoods and the economy, but now, it has changed and the legislature has become much more efficient in tackling social and economic issues, Lam said.

Some lawmakers who preferred not to be identified told the Global Times that the central government official addressed relations between the administration and the legislature, which should play positive roles for each other. Local media reported that Xia expected that Hong Kong society was in unity, and the development of democracy meant listening to different opinions.

Xia also reminded lawmakers that Western-style democracy has its own problems, and democracy does not necessarily mean "one cast, one vote." They were also told "do not think that opposition is democracy," which can be a form of consultation and find a good path for people, HK01.com said.

After the visit to the LegCo, Xia also met with representatives from the Law Society of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Bar Association on Sunday afternoon, the association's chairman Victor Dawes was quoted as saying in local media reports. Dawes said that the central government's message is very clear: It highly values the city's rule of law, common law system and its judiciary sector.

During the inspection tour to Hong Kong, Xia reminded that national security risks still exist. Although the NSL for Hong Kong helped restore social order, the social turmoil in 2019 "is a permanent scar that cannot be erased," Xia told the national security-themed activities on Saturday.

"It shows that the central government aims to increase the national security awareness among Hong Kong residents, paving the way for the legislation of Article 23," Lau Siu-kai, a consultant from the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, who is also a senior policy advisor, told the Global Times on Sunday.

As US-China relations become much more intense and the Taiwan Straits situation escalates, Hong Kong also faces bigger national security challenges in the future, Lau said, noting that when it comes to the legislation of Article 23, the central and HKSAR governments will work together to ensure a smooth process.

As early as 2003, it was close to realizing the legislation of Article 23 but it was severely disrupted and blocked by anti-government forces. The social turmoil in 2019 once again confirmed the importance of the national security-related legislation, legal experts said.

"I noticed that Xia mentioned his expectation for professional and responsible legal representatives to shoulder their responsibilities in safeguarding national security, which was encouraging," Dr Louis Chen, a member of the Election Committee of Hong Kong and member of the all-China Youth Federation, told the Global Times on Sunday.

It's also believed that with the atmosphere of national security education growing in Hong Kong, the legal sector will create all necessary conditions for finalizing Article 23 as soon as possible, Chen said.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






by Tim Sommers

One thing that Elon Musk and Bill Gates have in common, besides being two of the five richest people in the world, is that they both believe that there is a very serious risk that an AI more intelligent than them  and, so, more intelligent than you and I, obviously  will one day take over, or destroy, the world. This makes sense because in our society how smart you are is well-known to be the best predictor of how successful and powerful you will become. But, you may have noticed, its not only the richest people in the world that worry about an AI apocalypse. One of the Godfathers of AI, Geoff Hinton recently said Its not inconceivable that AI will wipe out humanity. In a response linked to by 3 Quarks Daily, Gary Marcus, a neuroscientist and founder of a machine learning company, asked whether the advantages of AI were sufficient for us to accept a 1% chance of extinction. This question struck me as eerily familiar.

Do you remember who offered this advice? Even if theres a 1% chance of the unimaginable coming due, act as it is a certainty.

That would be Dick Cheney as quoted by Ron Suskin in The One Percent Doctrine. Many regard this as the line of thinking that led to the Iraq invasion. If anything, thats an insufficiently cynical interpretation of the motives behind an invasion that killed between three hundred thousand and a million people and found no weapons of mass destruction. But there is a lesson there. Besides the fact that inconceivable need not mean 1%  but might mean a one following a googolplex of zeroes [.0.01%]  trying to react to every one-percent probable threat may not be a good idea. Therapists have a word for this. Its called catastrophizing. I know, I know, even if you are catastrophizing, we still might be on the brink of catastrophe. The decline and fall of everything is our daily dread, Saul Bellow said. So, lets look at the basic story that AI doomsayers tell.

Eventually someone will create an artificial general intelligence (AGI) more intelligent than the smartest humans. This AGI will be recursively self-improving on computer time-scales and so will quickly make itself much more intelligent until it achieves (what Nick Bostrom calls) superintelligence. Then it will either take over the world or immediately wipe us out as a means of self-defense (so we cant turn it off, for example) or due to a too literal interpretation of its programming (the AGI assigned to make paper clips, in an oft-used example, makes the whole planet, and everything on it, into paper clips before we can stop it).

I doubt this. I dont doubt that AI will be more and more disruptive, transformative, partly good, partly bad, and that things will definitely change. I only doubt this apocalypse story where an AGI wipes us out or takes over. For one thing, the standard AGI apocalypse story bears a suspicious resemblance to a marriage of Frankensteins Monster with the Monkeys Paw. For another, the logic of the AGI apocalypse resembles the seemingly implacable logic of so many prior, hotly anticipated, apocalypses, including neoMalthusian predictions, like Paul Ehrlichs in his best-selling 1968 book The Population Bomb, that In the 1970s, hundreds of millions of people will starve to death because of overpopulation. But I will leave that line to others.

Since I am a philosopher and not a neuroscientist, computer scientist, or a coder, I dont want to focus on what neuroscientists and coders know, which is more than me. I want to focus on what they dont know. Specifically, they dont know what intelligence is. Neither do I. But as the Oracle of Delphi called Socrates the wisest man in Athens not because of what he knew, but because of what he knew he didnt know; so too, while I am no Socrates, I think I know that we dont know some things we need to know before we can know whats possible for AGI. You know?

(1) We dont know if intelligence involves sentience, consciousness, self-conscious, or more.

Heres a pretty standard list of things that make a person a person. (a) Sentience  able to feel, at a minimum, pleasure and pain; (b) Consciousness 1  awake/aware ; (c) Consciousness 2 -hard problem/there is something that is like to be me/not a philosophical zombie consciousness (may be the same as (b)); (d) Self-Consciousness aware of self as a self, and the world as separate; (e) Language  or the ability to communicate in some way by manipulating symbols; (f) Rationality  capable of using reason and/or giving and responding to reasons; (g) Morality  able to understand and follow moral rules.

I am not saying that I know these are the requirements for being a person and/or intelligent. These are just some oft mentioned possibilities. What we dont know is which of these are essential to intelligence. (f) seems to be what the AGI debate is mostly about, but we dont know if other things are also required. If sentience or consciousness, for example, are required, then theres no evidence that any progress towards AGI has ever been made at all  even a little tiny bit. And even supposing a being might be intelligent without being anything other that rational, its hard to see why such a being would be motivated to do anything, even to add to its own intelligence or processing power.

(2) We dont know what general intelligence is.

Some AIs always win at Jeopardy! or at chess or Go. The calculator on your phone is better at basic math than you, probably. I think my Spotify AI is better at picking music Ill like that I am. Thats obviously different from general intelligence. But even if you create one AI that wins at Jeopardy! and chess and Go, and does math while picking out better music than you or I can, thats still not general intelligence. We have no idea if all the recent machine learning progress, which made has been made only with domain specific AIs, contributes at all, in any way, to the project of creating artificial general intelligence. It depends on what the general in general intelligence is.

(3) In fact, we dont know what intelligence is either.

Just as AGI researchers were formulating the goal of creating a general intelligence, many psychologists were beginning to deny that there is such a thing as general intelligence  something like an IQ or whatever is measured by an IQ test. Some have argued that we should break intelligence into a number of more specific intelligences  not that different from the specific ones that AGI researches are hoping to transcend. This stuff is too controversial to be very helpful at this point. But I think it is fair to say this. Forget knowing what general intelligence is, psychologists and neuroscientists still dont agree on what intelligence is  or how to measure it  well enough to predict anything about what machine intelligence would be like if it could exist. In the mean time, if you are an AI researcher and you think that the best way to understand intelligence is by amalgamating domain specific abilities, just keep in mind that some psychologist think that the best way to understand general intelligence is by breaking it down into domain specific abilities.

(4) We also dont know the character and space of possible intelligences.

But lets pretend that we do know what intelligence is and we do know what general intelligence is.

Maciej Ceglowski argues that another essential premise of the argument for an AGI apocalypse that the space of all possible minds is largeIn particular, [theres nothing like a] physical law that puts a cap on intelligence This is important because the AGI apocalypse seems to require, not just human level general intelligence, but something way beyond that. Is that even possible?

As Ceglowski points out, especially since we know so little about what intelligence is, why shouldnt we expect that there will be all kinds of limitations on it that we also dont know about yet? Further, as I hinted in the beginning, isnt there an odd assumption here that intelligence is like a superpower  or a megalomaniacal kind of sociopathy. If you are intelligent, in the doomsday story, you are also super persuasive (hook me to the internet!), wildly inventive (I just made a new doomsday weapon!), and single-mindedly motivated to seek power at all costs (bow down before me or die!)  among other things. (Theres a great story in which scientists turn on a supercomputer and ask it if there is a God and it answers, There is now.*)

Most AGI doomsayers rely on an even stronger claim than just that there are no limits on general intelligence. As noted, they claim that an AI exhibiting general intelligence will be recursively self-improving. The way AGI goes from merely irritatingly literal to world-ending so quickly we cant turn it off, on this account, is that once its smarter than us, it starts making itself smarter and smarter. Which is a weird idea. If thats a thing that can be done, why dont we do it? Are we not smart enough? Or is it that we dont have access to our own code or central processor or something? But large language models dont have access to their own inner workings either, do they? Anyway, where have we seen computers that can do this? From what I can tell, machine learning is about more and more data. It is not the case that the algorithm becomes more intelligent, much less makes itself more intelligent.

But even if Im wrong about all that, since none of these large-language models are even purported to exhibit general intelligence, by definition, none of them are recursively improving their general intelligence. So far, we just have no evidence that this is a thing that could happen. Its pure science fiction. A cool story idea. But is that how we behave as intelligent beings? Are we totally focused on becoming smarter and smarter all the time above all else, no matter what it takes?

(5) We also dont know the significance of the fact that intelligence seems to be social.

As I said at the beginning, the AGI story finally explains why the most intelligent people in the world are also the richest and run everything  not to mention are the most socially adept and persuasive (e.g., see Musks tweets). Thats one issue about how intelligence is social. Heres another.

Human beings are social animals. Most other relatively intelligent animals (chimps, dolphins, etc.) are also social. There seems to be some kind of connection between intelligence and sociability. Maybe, its just that social cooperation requires reasoning or makes reasoning useful. But starting with language and going all the way up to general intelligence, many philosophers now see all intelligence as deeply social. We participate in complicated, and sometimes vast, networks of cooperation in making stuff, but also in making language and concepts and ideas.

A solitary AGI would be wholly dependent on us for its intellectual development. No matter how smart it is, why believe that it can somehow out think all the cumulative achievements of collective human thought over eons and overturn everything people have created very quickly and all by-itself?

Theres a familiar narrative of transcendent specialness that I believe is behind this way of thinking  see, Ayn Rand, X-Men, Enders Game, Harry Potter, etc. This narrative is especially comforting to young, smart, socially isolated people, but it encourages a distorted view of our social world. Why think that AGI can manipulate social interactions so successfully that it can take over the world  or just even avoid being turned off? Intelligence was not the best predictor of success in social interactions at my high school.

I wonder if there is some group of people somewhere who wildly overestimate the significance of intelligence, all by itself? And I wonder if such people might have their own favored apocalyptic theory centered around the thought that somewhere in the universe there might be someone smarter that them. Hearing all this, they might think that I dont know just how smart an AGI could be be. The thing is, neither do they.

*I thought that this was an Asimov story, but it seems to be a Fredric Brown story. I am not entirely sure. Stephen Hawking, another doomsday AI believer told it to John Oliver without any attribution. Just saying.
Chinese defense minister starts first foreign visit to Russia, highlighting bilateral military ties

Global Times

Trip to deepen bilateral military ties, promote global peace: expert

By Liu Xuanzun and Guo Yuandan Published: Apr 16, 2023 07:25 PM Updated: Apr 16, 2023 10:10 PM

Chinese State Councilor and Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu is scheduled to start his four-day visit to Russia on Sunday, his first foreign trip in his new position, with experts saying the trip will deepen bilateral military ties and contribute to peace and stability of major international and regional hotspot issues amid a complex security environment.

At the invitation of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Li will pay an official visit to Russia from Sunday to Wednesday, during which he will hold talks with Russian military leaders and visit Russian military academies, Senior Colonel Tan Kefei, a spokesperson at China's Ministry of National Defense, said in a press release on Friday.

China-Russia military ties have been kept at a high level under the strategic leadership of the two heads of state in recent years, as new progress has been made in strategic communication, joint exercises and pragmatic cooperation, continuously enriching the strategic connotations of the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era between the two countries, Tan said.

Li and Shoigu are expected to discuss the status and prospects of bilateral cooperation in the defense sphere as well as topical global and regional security issues in their talks, according to a press release from Russia's Ministry of Defense on Friday.

This is Li's first foreign trip after he took position as China's Defense Minister in March.

Choosing Russia as the destination of Li's first foreign trip reflects the two countries' aspirations to deepen military mutual trust and enrich the strategic connotations of the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era, Zhuo Hua, an international affairs expert at the School of International Relations and Diplomacy of Beijing Foreign Studies University, told the Global Times on Sunday.

It is also necessary for the two sides to exchange views and coordinate positions over major international and regional issues, so as to jointly contribute to safeguarding world peace and stability, Zhuo said.

As two major powers of key influences in international and regional security affairs, the two countries have maintained close and routine communication and cooperation, Zhuo said.

Over the past year, China and Russia conducted joint military drills including a joint naval exercise in the East China Sea, a joint naval patrol in the Pacific Ocean, two joint strategic air patrols over the Sea of Japan, the East China Sea and the West Pacific and the Vostok-2022 exercise in Russia.

Li's trip will highlight a high level of bilateral military ties, and the two countries are expected to have more mutually beneficial exchanges in many fields, including defense technologies and military exercises, Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Foreign media outlets, including a report by AP, speculatively connected Li's Russia visit to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, hyping so-called Chinese support to Russia.

The China-Russia joint military drills and defense cooperation are not linked to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and their goal is to safeguard peace and stability, analysts said.

China's position on the Ukraine crisis is to promote peace and negotiations, and China did not provide weapons to either side of the conflict like the US and the West do to add fuel to fire, Song said.

The visit comes at a time when the US has been hyping stalled top-level China-US defense communications since the balloon incident in February, when the US shot down with an F-22 fighter jet a Chinese civilian unmanned airship which made an unintended entry into the US airspace due to force majeure.

This comes on top of US sanctions on Li before he became defense minister. When Li was in charge of China's Equipment Development Department of the Central Military Commission, the administration of then US president Donald Trump sanctioned him and the department in 2018 for purchasing Russian weapons, including Su-35 combat aircraft and S-400 surface-to-air missile systems, according to media reports.

If the US really wants to resume defense and military communication and talks with China, it must take action first, withdraw related sanctions and give up its strategy to contain China, analysts said.

This includes stop seeing China as an imaginary enemy, stop conducting close-in reconnaissance on China, not rallying up gangs and shifting NATO-like military mechanisms to the Asia-Pacific region, Song said.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






New Street for People Fully Representing Great Ideal of Workers' Party of KoreaInauguration Ceremony of First-stage 10 000 Flats in Hwasong Area Held with SplendorRespected Comrade Kim Jong Un Cuts Inauguration Tape with Senior Party and Government Officials

Korean Central News Agency of DPRK

Pyongyang, April 17 (KCNA) -- Monumental edifices symbolic of the development and future of socialism are springing up one after another along with the undying journey of the great Workers' Party of Korea for demonstrating the dignity and status of the country and people to the world and courageously ushering in a new era of overall state prosperity through its strong guidance.

A thriving street under socialism and a new street for the people which will provide the citizens in Pyongyang with more civilized life was built in the Hwasong area near the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, the sacred temple of Juche, according to the long-term goal of building dwelling houses in Pyongyang set forth by the Party.

True to the noble intention of the Party Central Committee, which set it as the primary policy task to build the people's houses, soldier-builders and civilian-builders have successfully completed another modern city district in a matter of one year by displaying fervent enthusiasm for working miracles and the revolutionary spirit out of their glory and pride of opening up a new era of capital city construction.

The eye-opening reality in which a new magnificent street is built as a large peculiar architectural group every year, reflecting the bright future of Pyongyang, is an epochal change brought about by the unique people-first political idea of the WPK and a vivid proof of the strong spirit and inexhaustible strength of the DPRK which is advancing and leaping forward despite all difficulties, according to the timetable for upsurge and development.

An inauguration ceremony of the first-stage 10 000 flats in the Hwasong area took place with splendor on April 16, adding to the people's joy of significantly celebrating the Day of the Sun, the greatest auspicious holiday of the Korean nation.

Kim Jong Un , general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the DPRK, was present at the ceremony.

He appeared at the venue of the ceremony greeted by the fireworks display and stormy cheers of "Hurrah!"

All the participants raised stormy cheers looking up to the great Comrade Kim Jong Un who is building an ideal socialist society, regarding it as the most important affair of the Party and the state to fulfill the demands and interests of the people and sparing nothing for them.

Present at the ceremony were Kim Tok Hun, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the C.C., WPK, vice-president of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK and premier of the Cabinet, Jo Yong Won, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the C.C., WPK and secretary for Organizational Affairs of the C.C., WPK, Choe Ryong Hae, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the C.C., WPK, first vice-president of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK and chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly, and Ri Pyong Chol, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau and secretary of the C.C., WPK.

Also present there were Ri Il Hwan and Jon Hyon Chol, secretaries of the WPK Central Committee, Jong Kyong Thaek, director of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People's Army, Kim Su Gil, chief secretary of the Pyongyang City Committee of the WPK, members of the construction headquarters of 50 000 flats in Pyongyang, officials of construction units, the service personnel and civilians involved in the construction, and Pyongyang citizens.

It was attended by working people and their families who will live in the new flats successfully completed under the leadership of the Party.

The venue of the ceremony was overflowing with absolute trust and boundless gratitude for the great mother Party, which takes care of the destiny, happiness and future of the people with ardent love and affection, and for the socialist system without parallel in the world.

The national anthem of the DPRK was solemnly played.

Ri Il Hwan made an inaugural address.

The first-stage flats in the Hwasong area are a monument to the great era of Kim Jong Un eloquently showing for what our powerful strength should become stronger and what our socialist ideal is and by what our state and cause emerge victorious.

He noted that Kim Jong Un , who had worked out a plan to turn the area of the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun into an ideal place where the people's happiness and civilization of socialism come into full bloom, made sure that another grand construction project was launched in the Hwasong area as the second stage of the construction of 50 000 flats in Pyongyang, and indicated in detail the goal and orientation for its completion and energetically led the whole process of the project to build a model district of the modern city.

He noted that the Hwasong area has undergone a dramatic transformation, thanks to the fervent love and dedication by Kim Jong Un who regards the people as the dearest and focuses all his thoughts and deeds on promoting the people's wellbeing.

He, reflecting the boundless respect and reverence of all the builders and other people across the country, extended the highest tribute and warmest thanks to Kim Jong Un who is putting his heart and soul into providing the people with the most dignified, civilized and happiest life.

Thanks to the soldiers and civilians involved in the construction, the ardent patriots and heroes of creation of this era who always support the Party's determination absolutely and perfectly carry it out with matchless courage, activeness and self-sacrificing struggle, the vitality of the people-first politics of our Party has been fully demonstrated, the power for dynamic and encouraging progress redoubled in major worksites for economic development and the improvement of the people's living standard, and a significant success made to significantly glorify this year marking the 75th founding anniversary of the DPRK and the 70th anniversary of the victory in the Fatherland Liberation War, he added.

Saying that the completion of the first-stage flats construction in the Hwasong area will instill firm confidence in a new victory of the revolution and a bright future of great prosperity into all the people of the country and give spurs to the struggle for attaining without fail the grandiose goal set by the Eighth Congress of the Party, he called for dynamically advancing toward the completion of the second-stage construction, holding higher the red flag of the construction headquarters of 50 000 flats in Pyongyang.

The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un cut the inauguration tape together with leading Party and government officials.

Reflecting the highest glory and reverence to Kim Jong Un , the distinguished leader of the people, all the participants broke into thunderous cheers of "Hurrah!", and fireworks were set off and balloons flew up to the sky of meaningful April to gorgeously decorate the Hwasong area.

Waving back to the enthusiastically cheering crowds, he warmly congratulated the soldiers and civilians involved in the construction and the citizens who will live in the new beautiful street.

He met the commanding officers of the KPA units involved in the construction and highly appreciated the efforts of the soldier-builders who are ushering in a new era of great changes in Pyongyang by becoming the main force and spearhead in the efforts for successfully building more than 20 000 flats in just two years.

Saying that to build 50 000 flats in the capital of the country is the long-cherished plan being pushed forward with by the Party and the state as a top priority to provide citizens with more stable and civilized living conditions, he once again referred to the Party's construction policy prioritizing the convenience of the people and the plan to turn Pyongyang into a magnificent world-famous city.

He called upon all the service personnel and civilians involved in the construction to usher in a heyday not only in the capital city construction but also in regional construction with the pride and confidence of being the proud creators and pioneers in the worthwhile struggle for making a new history of prosperity and development in the era of the Workers' Party, in order to accelerate the building of highly civilized society.

Expressing belief that the WPK's construction policy would be perfectly and thoroughly carried out thanks to the powerful army of construction which unconditionally and successfully carries out anything if it is desired by the people and determined by the Party, he sincerely hoped that the citizens who will greet the auspicious event of moving into new houses amid the blessings by the people across the country would enjoy a happy, harmonious and worthwhile life generation after generation.

All the participants raised cheers with excitement, looking up to Kim Jong Un who is ushering in a new era of building a powerful country where the beloved people will enjoy all blessings, demonstrating the vigorous advance and invincibility of Korean-style socialism to the world with eye-opening changes and miraculous successes.

At the end of the ceremony, senior Party and government officials and the participants looked round a new street in the Hwasong area decorated by colorful lights.

Seeing around the blocks of modern flats, where various sky-scrapers, high-rise apartment buildings, public buildings, public service establishments and facilities are located in the area of more than 150 hectares to suit the convenience of citizens, they keenly realized the development of Juche-oriented architecture leaping at the Pyongyang speed of racing against time, and the patriotic loyalty of the solider-builders and the civilian-builders who successfully built another monumental edifice by dint of their indomitable tenacity and boundless creativity.

The masters of the new street, who came to enjoy dream-like fortune under the benevolence of the mother Party, made a pledge of loyalty and repayment to devotedly work for the prosperity of our great state, expressing in tears their excitement at the honor of leading a blessed life with

Kim Jong Un as the father of the great socialist family.

The cause of the WPK, a genuine people's Party, which regards it as its immutable nature and firm faith to believe in the people as in heaven and dedicates itself to the people's well-being, will bring about more brilliant changes on this land along with the victorious advance of Korean-style socialism. -0-

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






IRGC Ground Force test-fires new homegrown Sadid-365 top attack anti-tank missile

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 15 April 2023 2:18 PM

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Ground Force has successfully test-launched a new homegrown top attack anti-tank missile, amid a drive to develop state-of-the-art military equipment.

Head of the Research and Self-Sufficiency Jihad Organization of the IRGC Ground Force General Ali Kouhestani said on Saturday that the notable military achievement, dubbed Sadid-365 (Solemn-365), is a guided anti-tank missile with a range of 8 kilometers, that is capable of destroying various armored vehicles.

He noted that the domestically- designed and -manufactured optically guided missile enjoys high pinpoint accuracy, is designed to strike designated targets from above as a form of plunging fire, and can even penetrate through the active protection system (APS) of tanks and destroy them.

The Iranian general added the IRGC experts are going to optimize the missile in the next phase and equip it with foldable wingtips and a new fire control system.

He highlighted that the IRGC Ground Force's personnel carriers will be furnished with four Sadid-365 missiles, two installed on each side of their turrets.

Back on July 7, 2021, the IRGC Ground Force took delivery of the ground-launched version of Almas (Diamond) anti-tank missile.

The homegrown missile is reportedly a top attack weapon that can hit targets within a range of 8 kilometers.

The IRGC had already developed the air-launched version of Almas missile fired by Ababil-III drones.

Iranian military experts and engineers have in recent years made remarkable breakthroughs in manufacturing a broad range of indigenous equipment, making the armed forces self-sufficient.

Iranian officials have repeatedly underscored that the country will not hesitate to strengthen its military capabilities, including its missile power, which are entirely meant for defense, and that Iran's defense capabilities will be never open for negotiations.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has repeatedly called for efforts to maintain and boost Iran's defense capabilities, decrying enemies for questioning the country's missile program.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






IRGC seizes foreign tanker smuggling fuel in Persian Gulf

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Apr 16, 2023

Bushehr, IRNA -- A commander at the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) naval forces has announced that the force has seized a foreign tanker in the Persian Gulf loaded with 1.45 million liters of smuggled diesel.

Round-the-clock observation of the Persian Gulf through state-of-the-art equipment led to the operation, Brigadier General Ramezan Zirrahi, the commander of the IRGC second naval region, told IRNA on Saturday.

Zirrahi noted that providing the security of the Persian Gulf is among the most important missions of the country's naval forces.

The smuggled fuel was destined for one of the Persian Gulf littoral states, the commander said.

He went on to say that the crew members of the vessel were arrested.

According to Zirrahi, the IRGC naval forces clutched 1.6 million liters of bootleg fuel in the Persian Gulf region last year.

1483**9417

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Many countries send aircraft to Iran for repairs: Minister

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Apr 16, 2023

Tehran, IRNA -- Iran's transportation minister Mehrdad Bazrpash says the country is now capable of repairing aircraft parts, in spite of long-running sanctions aimed at hampering Iran's development.

Bazrpash said on Saturday that Iran was once not capable of repairing aircraft parts, but it now repairs the aircraft for many countries.

"Before, we were not capable of repairing a single part, but today, many aircraft parts are repaired inside the country," he said.

"Also, many countries send their aircraft to our country for maintenance, which is a good thing, and this [trend] should be accelerated," he added.

Earlier this month, Russia's largest air carrier sent one of its planes to Iran for repair, as part of an agreement on cooperation in civil aviation between the two countries amid Western sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine.

"The maintenance of the Airbus A330 aircraft (in Iran) will be implemented by a provider for a wide range of work," Russian Airlines, commonly known as Aeroflot, said in a statement on Tuesday.

Bazrpash further explained, "Russia and some other countries have come to our country for aircraft maintenance. Now an aircraft repair market has been established inside the country."

**9417

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Iran, Venezuela sign new MoUs to expand oil cooperation

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 16 April 2023 7:40 PM

Iran and Venezuela have signed a series of memoranda of understanding (MoUs) to expand oil sector cooperation between the two countries, according to a report by Iranian oil ministry's news service Shana.

Shana's report on Sunday said Oil Minister Javad Owji and his Venezuelan counterpart Pedro Tellechea had signed "numerous MoUs" in the presence of Venezuelan Vice-President Delcy RodrAguez earlier in the day in Caracas.

Owji has traveled to the Venezuelan capital since earlier this week to pursue a series of joint energy projects between Iran and Venezuela.

Shana said the MoUs signed on Sunday covered projects on developing oil and gas fields, renovation of refineries and petrochemical complexes as well oil trade.

It said Iran has committed under the agreements to execute renovation projects in Venezuelan oil refineries to bring their outputs to maximum levels.

The report said that Iran had also agreed to provide technical and engineering services and equipment needed for reconstruction and renovation of petrochemical plants, oil export terminals and gas condensate facilities in Venezuela.

Iran and Venezuela have sought to expand their energy cooperation in recent years in a bid to form a united front against sanctions imposed by the United States on their economies.

Iran has offered crucial equipment and services needed to upgrade oil refineries in Venezuela amid efforts in the South American country to respond to a shortage of motor fuels that have been caused by US sanctions.

Iran has also supplied shipments of condensates, which is a very light form of oil, for blending with Venezuela's heavy crude grade to make it available for exports.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Iran court hands down jail sentences to 10 military staff over 2020 Ukraine jet downing

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 16 April 2023 6:58 PM

An Iranian court has issued a verdict for 10 members of the country's Armed Forces who were involved in the 2020 accidental downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane in the skies over the capital, Tehran.

The Mizan news agency of Iran's Judiciary announced on Sunday that the court found 10 people guilty in the deadly incident, with the main defendant being sentenced to 13 years in prison while nine others received terms of one to three years.

The prime suspect, Mizan said, is a defense system commander who "mistook" Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 (PS752/AUI752) for a cruise missile and shot the plane twice in contravention of to the order of the commanding center.

The website added that the commander's action in leading the downing of the plane "was due to his ignorance of the situation and his misplaced belief that the discovered target was hostile."

The other persons who have been found guilty by the court are the personnel of the Army's air defense post.

Mizan stressed that the verdict was issued after more than three years and a total of 20 trial hearings in a lengthy judicial process in which 117 plaintiffs filed their lawsuits, 55 of the plaintiffs spoke and read out their complaints in the court sessions, and 20 lawyers represented the plaintiffs and presented their complaints and relevant evidence.

"Examining this case has been one of the most important, sensitive, and complex judicial processes in the last few years of the country," the Judiciary-affiliated website said.

The verdict issued in the case is preliminary and can be appealed within 20 days.

Mizan underlined that for each victim of the tragic incident, a sum of 150,000 dollars or its equivalent in Euros has been considered as reparations, which is independent of judicial proceedings and will be awarded to their families.

On January 8, 2020, the Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752, en route to Kiev and transporting mostly Iranians, crashed minutes after takeoff near the Iranian capital, killing all the 176 on board.

The plane was shot down by Iran's air defenses, which mistook the aircraft for a military target amid tensions between Tehran and Washington following the US assassination of revered Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani in Iraq days earlier.

Iran acknowledged days later that the mismanagement of an air defense unit's radar system by its operator was the key human error that led to the accident.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Iran Sentences 10 Military Members To Prison In 2020 Downing Of Ukrainian Airliner That Killed 176

By RFE/RL April 16, 2023

Iran has sentenced 10 members of the armed forces to prison on charges of involvement in the 2020 downing of a Ukrainian airliner that killed 176 people, according to the Iranian judiciary's website.

Mizan Online on April 16 reported that a commander was sentenced to 10 years in prison while nine others received terms of one to three years.

"Examining this case has been one of the most important, sensitive, and complex judicial processes in the last few years of the country," the website said.

The website added that the commander's action in leading the downing of the craft "was due to his ignorance of the situation and his misplaced belief that the discovered target was hostile."

Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 crashed on January 8, 2020, while en route to Kyiv, killing all 176 people on board.

Days after official denials, Iran admitted that a unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) had inadvertently shot down the plane amid heightened tensions with the United States over the U.S. drone assassination of top IRGC general, Qasem Soleimani, near Baghdad.

The majority of the victims were Iranians and Canadians, but 11 of them were citizens of Ukraine. The families have demanded transparency and accountability. The Iranian government has allocated $150,000 to compensate the family of each passenger, but some families have refused the money.

Canada said last year that it found no evidence of premeditation in the downing of the airliner. A Canadian court awarded $84 million and interest to the families of six of the victims.

The Group of Seven industrialized countries (G7) last year said in a joint statement that Iran should be held accountable for the shooting down of Flight PS752.

"We continue to support international efforts to hold Iran accountable for the illegal downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752," the June 28, 2022, statement said.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Farda and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-sentences-prison-2020- downing-ukrainian-airliner/32366156.html

Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






'Leave As Soon As Possible': New Conscription Law Raises Fresh Fears Of Mobilization At Home And Abroad

By Marina Aronova, Aleksei Aleksandrov, Reid Standish April 15, 2023

A new bill signed into law by Russian President Vladimir Putin that allows authorities to issue electronic notices to draftees and reservists is sparking fears of a new wave of mobilization for Moscow's war in Ukraine and prompting fresh conversations among Russians about leaving the country.

When the Kremlin announced a partial mobilization of reservists in September as part of a drive to call up some 300,000 new personnel to fight in Ukraine, the decision led to a mass exodus of military-age Russian men and their families. Hundreds of thousands of Russians left to neighboring countries and other locations that had few entry requirements and allowed them to live and work for extended periods of time in order to avoid the draft.

But as anxiety over another mobilization wave looms more than seven months later, Russians looking to avoid getting caught up in the war in Ukraine are facing a more difficult path ahead, including policies that could make it harder to leave the country and visa changes in many destinations that will limit Russians' ability to stay abroad for longer periods.

"The universal advice is to leave as soon as possible," Ivan Pavlov, head of the human rights group First Department, told Current Time, a Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA, adding that the new law could give military planners a mechanism for quickly beefing up their ranks in preparation for a new Ukrainian attack.

The new April 14 law modifies Russia's military service rules that previously required the in-person delivery of notices to conscripts and reservists who are called up for duty. Now, the notices issued by local military conscription offices will also be sent electronically and be considered valid from the moment they are put on a state portal for electronic services, known as Gosuslug. The law will also set up an electronic registry of all people required to serve and collect their personal data while creating a public list of all those who have been summoned for military service.

Unlike in September, however, fleeing abroad is not as straightforward of a process as before, with the list of possible countries to receive Russian citizens shrinking.

Popular destinations like Turkey, Kazakhstan, and Argentina have changed their laws and made it more difficult to establish residency and cut down the period that Russians can remain without a visa. Elsewhere, many European Union countries close to Russia -- such as the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland -- have also restricted issuing visas and entry to its citizens.

'Not Welcome' Anymore

How the new law works in practice remains to be seen. Russian officials deny another mobilization drive is planned and have said the database for electronic conscription notices is unlikely to be fully operational until the fall.

But the law's swift enactment -- and its specifics -- are also already fueling fears that the Kremlin is preparing another wave of mobilization after it has suffered heavy battlefield losses and is believed to be facing manpower shortages in Ukraine.

Under the new law, recipients who fail to show up for service after getting a summons would be prohibited from leaving Russia and have their drivers' licenses suspended and could be barred from selling their apartments and other assets. Similarly, activists and legal experts say Russian border guards could now use the online registry to further restrict travel for anyone looking to avoid military service.

That potentially limited timeline, coupled with added challenges to leaving the country, is weighing on those inside Russia looking for an exit and those who have already left and are struggling with the bureaucratic and financial constraints of remaining abroad.

Daria, a 35-year old from Omsk who arrived in Turkey with her boyfriend in October, told RFE/RL's Siberia Realities that they face limited possibilities moving forward and are worried about the new law.

Like many Russians who spoke to RFE/RL, Daria asked for her last name to be withheld to avoid repercussions back in Russia. She says she and her boyfriend first left Russia following the mobilization announcement by car to Kazakhstan and then arrived in Turkey in early October, but quickly faced difficulties establishing residency in the country after entering on tourist visas.

Turkey became a leading destination for Russians looking to flee the country following Moscow's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine due to the affordable cost of living and a straightforward legal process that would grant a tourist residence permit for a period of six months to two years if an applicant was able to show a corresponding lease on a property in the country. The lease could be extended and a residence permit of up to another two years could be issued. After five years of residency, preparations for a citizenship application could then be initiated.

But Turkish authorities began tightening the screws already in March 2022 by adding restrictions on which kinds of rental properties could grant a residence permit, which were expanded again in July. By the end of 2022, a growing number of Russians began to have their applications rejected.

Precise statistics on the number of rejections -- as well as the total number of Russians who have fled to Turkey to avoid military service -- are difficult to ascertain. However, the moderators of a Telegram channel for Russian speakers navigating the process in the country -- which has nearly 10,000 members -- say that the number of rejections is growing, with 237 rejections out of 371 applicants among group members alone in January.

Daria says the Turkish authorities are often vague about the parameters for which applications are approved and the process, which often includes translations and notarization, can be costly.

She says remote work in Turkey has begun to strain her finances and after their application was rejected they were given a short time period to leave the country and have since returned to Russia.

"It was scary, [and] now everyone is waiting for the second wave [of mobilization]," she said. "The law [seemed] to change every five minutes there, and we foreigners are definitely not welcome in Turkey anymore."

Few Alternatives

For those rejected in Turkey, countries like Thailand, Vietnam, as well as Kazakhstan, Georgia, and Serbia have been alternative destinations, but room for Russians fleeing has been shrinking there as well.

A total of 2.9 million Russian citizens entered Kazakhstan in 2022, although that figure also includes families and those with personal connections across the two countries' lengthy border.

Denis, who asked to have his last name withheld to prevent reprisals, said he and his girlfriend chose the country in a panic in September as he was looking to leave Russia and chose Kazakhstan because it was relatively close to his home city of Novosibirsk in Siberia.

Kazakhstan's policy at the time allowed Russians to do a "visa run" every 90 days to a neighboring country and then reset the period upon re-entry. But Kazakh authorities changed the law in January to close this loophole, and now citizens of countries that are part of the Eurasian Economic Union, which includes Russia, are only allowed to stay in Kazakhstan for no more than 90 days within a single 180-day period.

Like many other Russians in Kazakhstan who fled and are fearful of returning to face another round of mobilization, Denis faces two choices: leave or apply for a temporary residence permit.

While Kazakh wages are lower than those in large Russian cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg, a growing number of Russians have chosen to stay and work in the Central Asian country for local employers. In 2022, according to official government figures, the number of Russians in Kazakhstan on work permits rose to 63,000 people, more than double the figure for 2021.

Denis and his girlfriend are currently exploring other destinations but are not sure what options will be possible for them.

"For the future, we came to the conclusion that you need to move away from Russia, to truly free countries," he said. "The world is big, and it does not end in Kazakhstan."

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-conscription-law- fears-mobilization-ukraine/32365282.html

Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Putin, Chinese Defense Minister Li Hail Strong Bilateral Ties Surpassing 'Cold War-Era Alliances'

Sputnik News

20230416

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has met with Chinese Defense Minister and member of China's State Council Li Shangfu, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday.

"Putin held a working meeting with Li Shangfu, a member of China's State Council and defense minister," Peskov said.

During the meeting with Li, who is visiting Russia from Sunday to Tuesday, the Russian president stated that cooperation between the two sides is developing in all directions, including between the defense ministries.

Putin stressed that the Russian and Chinese defense ministries share information regularly.

"As for defense departments, we are working just as actively, regularly exchanging useful information, cooperating in the military-technical field, conducting joint exercises, moreover, at different theaters, including in the Far East region, in Europe, and at sea, and on the land and in the air," Putin said during the meeting, which was attended by Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu too.

The president expressed confidence that defense is yet another important area that strengthens the strategic nature of relations between the two countries.

"We are glad to see you. I know that you have a busy work schedule. I am sure that your visit will be held at the highest level. Welcome to Russia," the president told Defense Minister Li.

He further mentioned the recent visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Russia, praising it as very productive.

"You arrived in Russia after a visit to our country by our great friend, my friend, the president of the People's Republic of China, Comrade Xi Jinping. I would like to emphasize once again that the visit was very productive," Putin told Li, asking the minister to convey his best wishes to Chairman Xi.

For his part, the Chinese defense minister told the Russian president that he had chosen Russia as the destination of his first foreign trip in order to show how significant the bilateral relations were.

Li then pointed out that the Sino-Russian cooperation contributes greatly to global security, as he emphasized that the relationship between the two nations is stronger than any alliances clinched during the Cold War.

"We have very strong relations. They surpass the military-political alliances of the Cold War era, they are built on the principles of non-alignment, non-confrontation with a third party. They are very stable," the minister elaborated.

The Chinese minister added that the two sides would continue to work for the prosperity of the entire world.

"We stand shoulder to shoulder and work to improve the well-being of our peoples. Taking into account that the economic recovery is very slow... the world is very restless, peace, peaceful relations between countries are in great demand ... Cooperation (with Russia) is developing at all levels and we will continue such cooperation for the development and prosperity of the whole world," he said.

The Chinese defense minister's visit comes less than a month after President Xi's trip to Russia, where he held an informal meeting with Putin. Aside from that, the two presidents held talks in a broad format with the participation of delegations. The two leaders signed a joint statement on a plan to develop key areas of Russian-Chinese economic cooperation until 2030.

A Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






by Eric Bies

Everyone is talking about artificial intelligence. This is understandable: AI in its current capacity, which we so little understand ourselves, alternately threatens dystopia and promises utopia. We are mostly asking questions. Crucially, we are not asking so much whether the risks outweigh the rewards. That is because the relationship between the first potential and the second is laughably skewed. Most of us are already striving to thrive; whether increasingly superintelligent AI can help us do that is questionable. Whether AI can kill all humans is not.

So laymen like me potter about and conceive, no longer of Kants end-in-itself, but of some increasingly possible end-to-it-all. No surprise, then, when notions of the parallel and the alternate grow more and more conspicuous in our cultural moment. We long for other science-fictional universes.

Happily, then, did the news of the FDAs approval of one companys proprietary blend of cultured chicken cell material greet my wonky eyes last month.

Too much time and money has been poured into the research and development of plant-based meat, I thought. Its time we focused our attention on meat-based meat.

When I shared this milestone with my studentsmost of them high school freshmenopinions were split. Like AI, lab-grown meat was quick to take on the Janus-faced contour of promise and threat. The regulatory thumbs-up to GOOD Meats synthetic chicken breast was, for some students, evidence of our steady march, aided by science, into a sustainable future. For other students, it was yet another chromium-plated creepy-crawly, an omen of more bad to come.

You could make the case, I shared with my third period, that this stuff is vegan!

A hand shot up. Mr. Bies, could they do this with human meat?

I knew that my students would learn about supply and demand in Econ their senior year. I also knew that many of them had watched the recent Netflix series about Jeffrey Dahmer.

They could, I replied. But I cant imagine any companies would. There isnt a market for human meat.

The following week, we read Lamb to the Slaughter, Roald Dahls superb short story about a pregnant housewife named Mary Maloney who murders her police detective husband, Patrick. Motivated by Patricks decision to leave herperhaps for another woman; it isnt clearshe clobbers him with a leg of lamb, hard as iron from the deepfreeze, and dutifully tucks the murder weapon away in the oven. Later, after calling the police and observing their fruitless search for evidence, Mary offers (practically begs) the detectives to eat the lamb she planned to serve to her poor dead husband. Sympathetic to her loss, and shaken by their occupational connection to the deceased, they agree to take a break and sit down for supper. The result is one of the great ironic conclusions in modern fictionso effective that Hitchcock decided to adapt it for an episode of his popular television series, Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

She could hear them speaking among themselves, and their voices were thick because their mouths were full of meat.

Have some more, Charlie.

No, wed better not finish it.

She wants us to finish it. She said we ought to eat it up.

Thats a big bar the murderer must have used to hit poor Patrick. The doctor says the back of his head was broken to pieces.

Thats why the weapon should be easy to find.

Exactly what I say.

Whoever did it, he cant carry a weapon that big around with him.

Personally, I think the weapon is somewhere near the house.

Its probably right under our noses. What do you think, Jack?

And in the other room, Mary Maloney began to laugh.

Rarely does an ending so effectively exceed the promise of its premise. Some critics would have us think of such credible, logical, enjoyable endings as cheap. But the truth is that it is easier to think up a story that starts on a compelling note than one that ends on one. (Think now of how frequently you find yourself saying something started well, only for it to peter out.) Whether one is writing a story, an essay, or a poem, painting a painting or deliberating the termination of a relationship, endings are hard because they are beset by two nontrivial problems: when and how. For example, when Charles Lamb wrote his hilarious Dissertation Upon Roast Pig, did he know how or when he would end it? No matter how loose the outline, we are often thankful that our novelists and screenwriters have not solely proceeded by the seat of their pants. Yet the essay remains of so much interest to those who write and read them precisely because of this unfixed fluidity.

Lambs Dissertation begins with ancient history, hearkening back to a more primal era in which we ate our meat raw. Absolving himself of any real authority on the subject, pointing instead to a Chinese manuscript, which [his] friend M. was obliging enough to read and explain to [him], Lamb proceeds to rattle off a short farce about a Chinese swineherd whose son, having accidentally set fire to the farm, discovers that he is unable to control his cravings for the deliciously charred corpses of his fathers hogs.

Most readers who have encountered the essay remember it for this delightfully offbeat opening. If you had to say what makes it so lovely, you might point out how Lamb taps into something fundamental, something that most of us miss: that rich curiosity we experience during childhood. The question of how and when our species decided to devour our meat cooked instead of rawright up there with the question of how we arrived at the resolution to chew on chunks of fermented milkis a question of the type that lots of kids ask. Unfortunately for most of us, the older we get, the more we learn, the more we seem to feel we know enoughenough, at least, to get by. Even then, what we miss is not precisely the acquisition of new information. What we miss is the fun of asking questions.

No one reads much Lamb anymore, anyway. But neither does anyone read much of William Hazlitt, his contemporary. If I were to predict a literary revival for one or the other essayist, my heart would say Lamb. My brain would say Hazlitt, whose calling card was the acerbic, the cynical, not the whimsical or childlike.

Here is how Lamb ends his essay. Well, almost. I like the second-to-last paragraph more than the last.

I remember an hypothesis, argued upon by the young students, when I was at St. Omers, and maintained with much learning and pleasantry on both sides, Whether, supposing that the flavor of a pig who obtained his death by whipping (per flagellationem extremam) superadded a pleasure upon the palate of a man more intense than any possible suffering we can conceive in the animal, is man justified in using that method of putting the animal to death? I forget the decision.

If I were Lamb, that is how and that is when I would end my dissertation. I am not, of course, so I cant. But I can dream of electric sheep. They will be on supermarket shelves once the USDA gives the OK.
Putin Hails Russia's Broad Ties With China

By VOA News April 16, 2023

Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed his country's broad ties with China on Sunday, including military cooperation, as he met with Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu in Moscow.

"Development of relations between our two nations is going well in all areas -- in the economy, social, cultural and educational sectors, and in military departments," Putin said in opening remarks.

The Kremlin posted footage of the meeting showing Putin shaking hands with Li and then sitting down at a table. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was also present.

Beijing had announced Li's visit to Moscow last week, saying he would meet defense officials, but made no mention of a meeting with Putin. Chinese President Xi Jinping met Putin in Moscow last month.

The two countries have strengthened their ties since Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year. China has officially claimed neutrality on Moscow's invasion but at the same time Russia and China have declared they have a "no-limits" partnership.

China has offered a peace plan to end the fighting in Ukraine, but it does not call for Russia to withdraw its troops, as demanded by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before peace talks can occur.

China has often denied sending military equipment to Russia, but a Kyiv official said last Friday that Ukrainian forces are finding a growing number of components from China in Russian weapons used in Ukraine.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






2 French parliamentary groups to visit Taiwan in coming weeks

ROC Central News Agency

04/16/2023 06:21 PM

Paris, April 15 (CNA) Two French parliamentary delegations are set to visit Taiwan in the coming weeks amid rising tensions across the Taiwan Strait, according to Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

A four-member delegation from the French National Assembly is scheduled to leave France for Taiwan Sunday to enhance cooperation between the two countries and show their support for Taiwan's democracy and stability across the strait, according to delegation members.

Another group composed of Senator Alain Richard, chairman of the French Senate's Taiwan Friendship Group, and four other senators is slated to visit Taiwan April 24, MOFA said in a statement issued Sunday.

The scheduled visits come amid warming ties between the two countries despite French President Emmanuel Macron's recent comments in which he said that Europe must avoid being drawn into any conflict between the United States and China over Taiwan, warning that Europe should not become a follower on the issue and be forced to adapt to American pace and Chinese overreaction.

Macron made the comments after concluding a three-day state visit to China on April 8.

Despite his words, a Taiwanese delegation of 16 cross-party legislators arrived in France on April 14 for meetings with their French counterparts.

Eric Bothorel, who is set to visit Taiwan Sunday at the head of the French National Assembly delegation, told CNA on the sidelines of a meeting with the Taiwanese delegation that the upcoming trip to Taiwan is to strengthen organization-to-organization exchanges and trade relations between the two countries.

While semiconductors will be on the agenda during the visit, culture and talent cultivation will also be areas of collaboration between France and Taiwan, Bothorel said.

Constance Le Grip, a member of the French National Assembly delegation, who will be visiting Taiwan for the first time, told CNA on April 14 that she hopes to learn as much as possible about the real situation in the country's politics, economy and geopolitics and gain a better understanding of the situation in the strait as well as Taiwan's 2024 presidential and legislative elections.

Le Grip also reiterated her support for Taiwan's democracy, saying the delegation members hope to make clear the official position of France, the European Union and the Group of Seven (G7) on maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, show their respect for the rule of law and firm opposition to any unilateral changes in the cross-strait status quo by use of force.

(By Tseng Ting-hsuan and Evelyn Kao)

Enditem/AW

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Debris from China's satellite launch poses no threat to Taiwan: MND

ROC Central News Agency

04/16/2023 01:35 PM

Taipei, April 16 (CNA) China launched a meteorological satellite from its north-central Gansu Province at 9:36 a.m. Sunday with some rocket wreckage later detected falling into a no-fly zone off the coast of northern Taiwan, which Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense said did not pose a safety threat.

The ministry said in a statement that Taiwanese forces monitored the whole process of the rocket launch through joint intelligence and surveillance.

The no-fly zone, located 85 nautical miles north of Taiwan and within the Taipei Flight Information Region, was marked out for a 27-minute period from 9:30 a.m. to 9:57 a.m. Sunday because of the possibility of falling rocket debris.

Flightradar24 maps showed that as of 10:10 a.m. Sunday, there had been no flights in the closed airspace as all civilian airlines had altered their routes to avoid the no-fly zone.

Air traffic in the no-fly zone was observed returning to normal at 10:20 a.m., according to the maps.

In addition, several airlines at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport said their flight operations were normal on Sunday morning, while some passengers told CNA they were unaffected by the control measures.

China, which initially notified Taipei of a three-day no-fly zone to the north of Taiwan from April 16-18, revised the zone's duration to 27 minutes on Sunday morning after a protest by Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the ministry said in a statement Wednesday.

The no-fly zone was expected to affect about 33 flights to and from Northeast Asia and North America, according to the ministry.

China's Fujian Maritime Safety Administration also issued a navigation warning on Thursday, saying potential rocket debris would fall in the East China Sea on Sunday between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. and banned shipping vessels from the area.

Earlier in the day, Chinese weather forecasting authorities said the launch of the Long March-4B rocket carrying the "Fengyun-3 G-Star" meteorological satellite had been completed at 9:36 a.m. from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu.

(By Matt Yu and Evelyn Kao)

Enditem/cs

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






The island of Taiwan unsure of how to respond to US' scathing assessment of its armed forces

Global Times

By Global Times Published: Apr 16, 2023 11:45 PM

Citing previously leaked documents, The Washington Post reported on Saturday that the military of the island of Taiwan is "unlikely to thwart Chinese mainland military air superiority in a cross-strait conflict," highlighting a series of shortcomings in the Taiwan military's equipment and training. In response, the defense authority on the island of Taiwan stated that it "respects outside opinions about its military preparedness," but military experts said the "Taiwan military" is being slapped in the face by its master, yet still has to smile.

The documents leak, which first came to authorities' attention last week, has provided extensive insight into US intelligence activities.

The classified documents addressing a potential conflict suggest Chinese mainland's air force would have a much better shot at establishing early control of the skies, the Post said.

One assessment notes that the PLA's modernization, its heightened operations tempo, and the use of civilian ferries in exercises near the island of Taiwan are "eroding" the US intelligence community's ability to detect abnormal activity and preparations for "attacks."

Previously, confidential Pentagon documents circulated on social media platforms revealed that the US government has not only been deeply involved in the Russian-Ukraine conflict but also continuously and intensively monitored its allies. The FBI arrested its primary suspect, 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard Jack Teixeira, on April 13.

The assessments also state that officials of the island doubt their air defenses system can "accurately detect missile launches," that barely more than half of the island's aircraft are fully mission capable, and that moving the jets to shelters would take at least a week a a huge problem if the Chinese mainland launched missiles before Taiwan had a chance to disperse those planes.

In addition, the documents also reveal the shortcomings of the island's armed forces training, which says the island's current doctrine of firing two air defense missiles per target "would be strained under high-volume PLA fires" from mainland's short-range ballistic missile system, dispersed across multiple moving launch platforms. Airmen of the island of Taiwan train for shooting at single unmoving targets, the document said.

Moreover, Pentagon analysts note, Taiwan's missile warning drills are highly scripted and inadequate for steeling civil authorities and the public for "a real-world event."

Chinese military expert Zhang Xuefeng told the Global Times on Sunday that the contents of the US' "classified" documents may not necessarily be "unknown secrets" but rather point to the intelligence sources or characterizations being classified.

"Overall, the document's analysis of the armed forces' capabilities reveals some common sense, such as that slightly more than half of Taiwan's aircraft are fully capable of executing missions," Zhang said. "It may sound incredible, but this is proportional to the capabilities of some US Air Force aircraft, which have similar readiness rates."

In response, the defense authority on the island said in a statement that it "respects outside opinions about its military preparedness," asserting that Taiwan's defense system is carefully constructed based on threats and that Taiwan authorities are "absolutely capable, determined and confident"in ensuring security.

Regarding the statement, Zhang said that the Taiwan military is indeed being slapped in the face by its master, yet still has to smile and that if the document had not come from the US, it would be difficult for Taiwan's military to express "respect."

"Furthermore, the so-called carefully constructed defense system of Taiwan's military will quickly crumble in the face of the PLA's superior offensive system. Taiwan's supposed absolute capability, determination, and confidence are probably only reflected in words," Zhang said.

An anonymous military expert believes that, in fact, the PLA's military exercises around Taiwan and the normalization of deterrence have already made the "Taiwan independence" secessionists feel the pressure of challenging the Chinese mainland's red lines.

At present, the PLA's military deterrence around Taiwan has become the norm, and as the collaboration between the US and the island of Taiwan grows more frequent, so do the PLA's military exercises and the rapid enhancement of its combat capabilities, the expert said.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Fighting Rages In Ukraine's Bakhmut As Death Toll In Slovyansk Climbs To 11

By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service April 15, 2023

Intense fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces raged in the devastated town of Bakhmut on April 15 as the death toll from a Russian strike in nearby Slovyansk climbed to 11.

Russian forces have been besieging Bakhmut in the Donetsk region of Ukraine for months, making only incremental progress at an enormous cost of human life.

In an interview with state TV, Serhiy Cherevatiy, the spokesman for the eastern military command, described the fighting in the city center as "unprecedented," adding there had been 17 clashes with Russian troops over the past 24 hours.

He said Russia had also launched 158 strikes on Bakhmut using rockets and artillery over the same time period.

In Sloviansk, located about 45 kilometers northwest of Bakhmut, Ukrainian emergency workers were still looking for people under the rubble of buildings struck by Russian rockets on April 14.

The rockets struck five buildings, five homes, a school and an administrative building, killing at least 11 and wounding 23.

"None of the people responsible for this aggression can be forgiven or forgotten," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his daily address to the nation.

Russia on April 15 claimed advances on the northern and southern outskirts of Bakhmut, which had a pre-war population of 70,000 people.

Russian forces have surrounded Bakhmut on three sides, with just one major road still available to Ukraine's beleaguered forces.

Nonetheless, Ukrainian forces have been able to hold parts of the city despite Russian and analyst predictions it was on the verge of falling to Russia.

Bakhmut, which had a pre-war population of 70,000 sits at the junction of several major roads, making it a valuable city for logistic purposes. However, its symbolic importance to both sides far outweighs its strategic importance, experts say.

For the Russians, a victory in Bakhmut would provide bragging rights in the wake of a series of Ukrainian victories last year that underscored systemic problems in the Russian military.

Meanwhile, Zelenskiy has visited Bakhmut twice and made it a center point of his speech in the U.S. Capitol before both chambers of Congress.

Zelenskiy compared the battle for Bakhmut to the Battle of Saratoga that turned the tide of the U.S. war for independence.

"Ukraine holds its lines and will never surrender," he said.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/21/us/politics/zelensky-speech-transcript.html

Russia and Ukraine have each lost thousands of soldiers in Bakhmut in what is likely the deadliest theater of the invasion to date.

Russia's losses in Ukraine, including Bakhmut, could force the Kremlin to announce further mobilization this year.

In possible anticipation of that need, Russia's parliament quickly passed legislation this week that makes it harder for Russians to avoid the draft.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the legislation into law on April 14.

With reporting by Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-ukraine-slovyansk- strike-death-toll/32364921.html

Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






We will restore justice as a memory of all those whose lives were taken by Russia - address of President of Ukraine

President of Ukraine

15 April 2023 - 21:08

Dear Ukrainians, I wish you health!

I spoke today with French President Macron. The conversation lasted for almost an hour and a half. We had time to go through all the key security issues on the agenda - very important for us, in Ukraine, and in Europe in general.

It is the front, our opportunities to move, to act, to return freedom and justice to the people in those territories, which, unfortunately, are still occupied by Russia.

We also discussed international contacts - both ours and France's. Emmanuel informed me about the details and results of his visit to China. And I am thankful for the clear support of those principles that unite our entire anti-war coalition.

Russia must withdraw from the territory of Ukraine. All Ukraine and all occupiers. And every point of the UN Charter must work again - none of Russia's violations of international law can be ignored. It is on such principles that security and peace will return to international relations. It is precisely why there is a Ukrainian Peace Formula, which is absolutely realistic and quite concrete, and it was also discussed in detail with Macron today, as well as the international events we are preparing for this year, in particular, the Vilnius NATO summit.

Our joint position at the summit in Lithuania - of all participating states - can be just as ambitious as European security needs. I am sure of that. Effective security guarantees for Ukraine, and, in fact, for the rules-based international order, are needed even before we join the Alliance.

By the way, a meeting of the member states of the joint investigation team to investigate the crimes of the occupiers in Ukraine took place in Vilnius. One of the results of the meeting is an agreement - it was signed yesterday. The agreement on joint investigation of not only Russian war crimes but also crimes of genocide.

We will ensure Russia's full accountability for what it has committed against Ukraine and Ukrainians at all levels, including at the legal level. And I thank all the partners who help bring the verdicts closer to the occupiers - Russian murderers and terrorists.

A rescue operation is still ongoing in Sloviansk, Donbas, following yesterday's Russian missile strike. It is reported that under the rubble of buildings, there are still bodies of the dead, unfortunately...

This terrorist strike alone damaged and destroyed over 50 residential buildings, of which more than 30 are multi-apartment buildings. More than 20 people were injured, and as of this time, 11 have died. Among them is a very small child - a boy born in 2021. My condolences to the relatives, to all those who lost loved ones...

None of those who are guilty of this aggression can be forgiven and forgotten.

Today, two more decrees with sanctions against individuals and companies that share the blame for this terror or help it were issued. In particular, these are sanctions against persons who promote the terrorist state under the disguise of sports. Against those related to its officials. A separate list includes IT companies that sponsor terror or provide digital opportunities to continue aggression.

We synchronize all Ukrainian sanctions with global sanctions, it is an inevitable process. Thank you to everyone in international institutions and partner states who work with us, with government officials, the National Security and Defense Council, intelligence services, and our Office.

Sanction pressure on all those who are guilty of this aggression, blocking their assets and opportunities at the level of the whole world is the self-defense of the world and today against any other possibilities of aggression.

The return of peace and its stability have no alternatives.

Thank you to everyone who helps us, Ukraine! Glory to all our soldiers who are fighting against terrorists!

We will restore justice as a worthy memory of all those whose lives were taken by Russia and its terror...

Glory to Ukraine!

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Presidium of Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under President chaired by Andriy Yermak discuss preparations for international summit of communities and regions

President of Ukraine

15 April 2023 - 11:51

On the instructions of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Head of the Office of the President Andriy Yermak held a meeting of the Presidium of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the President of Ukraine. The meeting participants discussed the course of preparation for hosting the international summit of communities and regions.

Yermak said that the upcoming summit would be an important international event with high levels of engagement of representatives of various states and foreign communities. The event is going to confirm that the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities is a platform for the effective interaction of city and community leaders. Thanks to the platform, representatives of local authorities can directly discuss issues of post-war reconstruction of the state, initiatives to normalize community life, and, most importantly, receive comprehensive support from organizers and partners.

"Today, we already have many examples of cooperation, but everyone expects a more structured program from us. And I hope that the Congress will become such a platform," the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine said.

According to Deputy Head of the President's Office Oleksiy Kuleba, as of today, 91 representatives from 18 countries have confirmed their personal participation in the summit. Another 111 representatives from 36 countries are ready to participate via video links.

The delegations will also visit regions of Ukraine that suffered from hostilities or were under Russian occupation.

"As of today, the invited participants have expressed their desire to visit Kyiv and Chernihiv regions, where they will have the opportunity to see with their own eyes the consequences of the occupation and hostilities, the destruction caused by the Russian army," Kuleba said.

He said that at the summit, a discussion of reintegrating Ukrainian territories, overcoming humanitarian challenges, and restoring community life with the participation of international governmental and non-governmental organizations is planned . The event participants will also raise the issue of demining and innovative development of territories.

At the summit, it is planned to sign the final declaration and some partnership agreements at the municipal level.

At the same time, Ukrainian parliamentarians are improving legislation in the field of local self-government. Head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on State Building, Local Self-Governance, Regional Development and Urban Planning MP Olena Shuliak reported on the state of preparation for the second reading of the bill "On Service in Local Self-Government Bodies." She said that the document's importance lies in the fact that it defines the legal independence of the service in local self-government bodies, regulates the salaries of employees, transparent recruitment process, and also provides for the de-politicization of governance processes, etc.

"We understand that the local self-government bodies will be one of the key drivers of our country's recovery. Therefore, a transparent recruitment procedure, transparent career growth, and work based on KPI approved are the things that will make it possible to recruit motivated, decent and professional people for service in the local self-government bodies," Shuliak is convinced.

According to her, the document has already been approved and is ready for consideration at the second reading in the session hall of the Verkhovna Rada.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Zelenskiy Calls For 'Security Guarantees' For Ukraine As Putin Ally Urges Moscow To End Fighting

By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service April 16, 2023

KYIV -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called for "effective security guarantees for Ukraine" immediately, even as rescue work continues following a Russian air strike in the Donetsk region city of Slovyansk that left at least 11 civilians dead.

In his nightly video address on April 15, Zelenskiy said he had held a 90-minute phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron during which the two leaders affirmed "those principles that unite our entire anti-war coalition," including that Russia must withdraw from all Ukrainian territory, that all points of the UN Charter must be enforced, and that "none of Russia's violations of international law can be ignored."

"It is upon such principles that security and peace will be restored in international relations," Zelenskiy said.

He urged NATO leaders to extend "effective security guarantees for Ukraine" ahead of the NATO summit in Vilnius in July, "even before we join the alliance." Ukraine in September asked NATO to consider it for an accelerated membership path.

Speaking at a Black Sea regional security conference in Bucharest on April 15, Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov called on the international community to seize "the strategic initiative and be ready to act quickly and preemptively" in the face of security threats.

Such an approach, he said, "will be the best sobering factor for any aggressor." He also called for a "system of guarantees" that he said could curb "the desire of the Russian Federation to solve things by force."

In his video address, Zelenskiy said over 50 buildings had been damaged or destroyed in the Slovyansk air strike on April 14 and that "there are still bodies" under the rubble. One of the victims was an "boy born in 2021," he said. At least 23 people were reportedly injured in the attack.

"None of those who are guilty of this aggression can be forgiven or forgotten," he concluded.

The Ukrainian military on April 16 reported more than 60 Russian attacks along the contested front around the Donetsk region city of Bakhmut, which has seen the most intense fighting of the war over the past several months.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Wagner units had seized two additional city blocks in northwest and southeastern Bakhmut. The report could not immediately be verified.

The claims come as Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Kremlin-connected businessman who controls Wagner, said that a long conflict in Ukraine could lead to the dissolution of Russia.

In a statement on Telegram, Prigozhin urged Moscow to declare its goals in Ukraine "achieved" and bring an end to the fighting there. Prigozhin wrote that "many of those who yesterday supported the special operation today either have doubts or are categorically opposed to what is happening."

The Ukrainian General Staff, in its daily briefing, reported there also were attacks in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhya areas.

The military administration in the Zaporizhzhya region reported a "massive attack" overnight that damaged a church in the settlement of Komyshuvakha. The extent of the damage and number of possible casualties was being determined, administration head Yuriy Malashko wrote on Telegram.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/zelenskiy-security- guarantees-ukraine-slovyansk-bakhmut/32365848.html

Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Ukraine, Russia Mark Orthodox Easter With Large Prisoner Exchange

By RFE/RL April 16, 2023

Russia and Ukraine completed a prisoner exchange that resulted in the return of 130 Ukrainian prisoners, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, wrote on Telegram on April 16.

He did not say how many Russians were released in what he called a "great Easter exchange."

Earlier in the week, 106 Russian prisoners were swapped for 100 Ukrainians, the two governments reported.

Despite the Easter holiday, fighting continued to rage in eastern Ukraine, with Ukraine's military reporting dozens of attacks over the past 24 hours.

Zelenskiy congratulated Orthodox Christian Ukrainians on the occasion of Easter, noting that after 417 days of war with Russia, the country retains an "unshakeable faith" in victory.

"We are not only waiting and asking, but we are winning and creating this victory ourselves," Zelenskiy said in a video address on April 16. "With all our strength, we fight for our land and ask for the help of heavenly forces."

In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin attended an Easter service at Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior with Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, both of whom have been outspoken supporters of Russia's February 2022 massive invasion of Ukraine.

Putin praised the Russian Orthodox Church for its "active commitment to mercy and charity in the face of serious challenges" in a statement posted by the Kremlin.

He added that Easter "gives hope to believers, inspires good thoughts and deeds, and serves to reaffirm high moral ideals and values in society."

Putin, 70, is the subject of an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, including the mass deportation of Ukrainian children.

During the service Patriarch Kirill described the Russian invasion and the war, which has killed tens of thousands and left millions of people displaced, as "sad events that may be described as an internal feud that are now taking place on our historic Russian land."

With reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian and Russian services

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-russia-orthodox- easter-prisoner-exchange/32365909.html

Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Ukraine to Start Talks With Poland on Export of Products on Monday

Sputnik News

20230416

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Ukraine will start negotiations with Poland on the issue of product exports on Monday, Ukrainian Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Mykola Solskyi said, adding that similar talks with Romania and Slovakia are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.

On Saturday, Poland and Hungary said they were banning imports of Ukrainian agricultural products until June 30, citing the need to protect domestic farmers from the uncontrolled influx of cheap grain from Ukraine. Bulgaria is also mulling such plans, the country's agriculture minister Yavor Gechev said.

"There will be difficult negotiations in the coming months, caused by the active export of our products to the EU countries. As for Poland, the talks start tomorrow. We will meet tomorrow in Warsaw and we will inform everyone. We believe that the first step should be the opening of transit," Solskyi told a telethon.

The minister added that separate rounds of negotiations with Romania and Slovakia are set to be held on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

Earlier on Sunday, Ukraine's agriculture ministry said that Solskyi held an online meeting with his Hungarian counterpart, Istvan Nagy, to discuss the export of Ukrainian agricultural products to the country.

"Solskyi emphasized the need to continue negotiations to reach agreements on the export of Ukrainian agricultural products and the inadmissibility of unilateral decisions," the statement read.

Nagy, in turn, gave his assurances that Hungary will continue transiting agricultural products coming from Ukraine.

In late March, prime ministers of Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia published a joint open letter to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, calling for measures to counteract the negative effects of the increased Ukrainian grain imports. Since early February, several Polish farmer organizations have been campaigning against the imported Ukrainian grain, primarily of poor quality, which was flooding the Polish market and damaging local production.

A Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Deadly U.S. mass shootings in 2023

Xinhua) 15:32, April 17, 2023

WASHINGTON, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Four people were killed and at least 28 others injured in a shooting at a birthday party on Saturday night in the small Alabama town of Dadeville, the United States, authorities said Sunday.

This incident took the United States to a bleak milestone of more than 160 mass shootings so far this year, with 12,277 deaths from gun violence, according to a database run by the nonprofit research group Gun Violence Archive.

The following are some of the bloodiest shootings in the United States this year:

-- On April 11, one man died and three other people were hurt in a shooting at a funeral home in Washington, D.C.

-- On April 10, a shooting in downtown Louisville in the state of Kentucky left six people dead, including the shooter, and nine others injured.

-- On April 9, three people and a suspect died in an officer-involved shooting related to a domestic violence incident in Orlando, the southeastern state of Florida.

-- On April 8, two police officers were shot dead in a shooting during a traffic stop northwest of the village of Cameron in the northwestern state of Wisconsin.

-- On April 6, two people were killed and another was hospitalized after a shooting at a residence in the state of Colorado, authorities said.

-- On April 1, three people were killed on the scene and three others wounded at a bar shooting in Oklahoma City, the capital city of the midwestern state Oklahoma, authorities said.

-- On March 30, two people died and five others were wounded after a shooting outside a restaurant in Memphis, Tennessee, police said.

-- On March 27, three children and three adults died after a shooting at an elementary school in Nashville, the state of Tennessee.

-- On March 15, two people were killed in a shooting at a hotel in Portland in the state of Oregon, police said.

-- On Feb. 23, three people were killed following a shooting in Albuquerque, the largest city in the state of New Mexico, police said.

-- On Jan. 28, at least three people were killed and four others wounded in a shooting in a neighborhood in Los Angeles, reported local media, citing police.

-- On Jan. 24, three people were killed in a shooting at a convenience store in Yakima, the state of Washington.

-- On Jan. 23, seven people were killed and one was critically injured in two shootings in northern California, U.S. media reported.

-- On Jan. 22, a dozen people were injured at a nightclub shooting in Baton Rouge, the capital city of the southern state of Louisiana.

-- On Jan. 16, six people were killed in a shooting in central California, local media reported.

-- On Jan. 5, a 42-year-old man fatally shot seven other family members, including his wife and their five children, inside their home in the state of Utah before taking his own life, authorities said.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
by Chris Horner

The illusion of rational autonomy

The world is full of people who think that they think for themselves. Free thinkers and sceptics, they imagine themselves as emancipated from imprisoning beliefs. Yet most of what they, and you, know comes not from direct experience or through figuring it out for oneself, but from unknown others. Take science, for instance. What do you think you actually know? That the moon affects the tides? Something about space-time continuum or the exciting stuff about quantum mechanics? Or maybe the research on viruses and vaccines? Chances are whatever you know you have taken on trust  even, or particularly, if you are a reader of popular science books. This also applies to most scientists, since they usually only know what is going on in their own field of research. The range of things we call science is simply too vast for anyone to have knowledge in any other way.

We are confronted by a series of fields of research, experimentation and application: complex and specialised fields that requires years of study and training to fully understand. As individuals, we cannot be experts in all scientific domains, which is why we typically rely on the knowledge and expertise of the scientific community, composed of experts from various fields who have the necessary background knowledge, experience, and expertise to evaluate scientific theories and data accurately.

Findings are published in peer-reviewed journals, so their work has been critically evaluated by other experts in their field. This process is supposed to ensure that their studies are methodologically sound, their results are valid and reliable, and that their conclusions are supported by the evidence. It doesnt always work out like that, though, what with the way fallible people get things wrong, cover up or massage data, etc., and the way institutions and individuals tend to agree with whoever is funding them. And scientists and their popularisers can get caught up in fashions: Chaos Theory, Evolutionary Psychology etc. The natural sciences, though, are the most successful way of predicting and controlling the natural world we have so far contrived. We, as non-experts, rely on scientists themselves to do the evaluating. We trust in the scientific communitys collective knowledge and expertise to determine which theories are most probable and which should be discarded based on the available evidence. But it would be good for the layperson to know more about scientific method. Knowing, for instance, what a theory is, or how important blind (randomised) trials are in research, might defend us from media claims about what researchers have discovered, miracle cures and so on. An additional benefit would be knowing what the limits of science are, thus avoiding scientism: the belief that the investigative methods of the physical sciences are appropriate in all fields of inquiry.

The 90% Rule

There is no such thing as rational autonomy here. Yet scientists do change their minds. Theories get discarded as inadequate or are disproved. So the question arises about who to rely on. What about controversial or debatable claims? Some things dont rate now as the knowledge we once thought we had (eg, the existence of phlogiston) or remain to be settled, like string theory or many worlds in physics. Such developments are, of course, part and parcel of the successful progress of science. But the scope for the layman for making assessments is rather small. I would suggest the following rough and ready criterion: if about 90 % of scientists in the relevant scientific area come to agree on something, and keep on agreeing about it, Im prepared to call it a fact, or true. So by that test, human caused climate warming is a scientific fact. Only a tiny fringe disputes it. Lets not deny the importance of tiny fringes in keeping everyone on their toes, but lets not overrate their importance either: until and unless they can come forward with enough evidence to move the vast majority of scientists on this issue, Im sticking with the 90%.

And what applies to the physical sciences applies to the human sciences too, to history, psychology and so on. Not everything is settled, but a surprising amount of it is agreed on. One relies, again, on the work of qualified others. Reason is a collective enterprise, and we outsource most of it. The best most of us can do is to understand the basics of the relevant methods used in the respective disciplines. What is appropriate for history wont necessarily apply to biology. But what does apply across all fields and outside of them too, is the importance of critical thinking. This is a vital practice for all citizens, whatever their expertise or interests, and should include an awareness of the importance of independent corroboration, confirmation bias, classic errors in thinking like post hoc, therefore propter hoc and more. Reliance on the scientific community, provided it is informed by a habit of critical reflection, is a better option than being a free thinker who does her own research on YouTube. And it is the free thinker who is most often prone, I think, to that odd combination of gullibility and scepticism that leads to fantasies about UFOs, the New World Order, or claptrap about Qanon.

God, etc.

What about religion? There too, very little generally has to do with the investigations of the individual thinker. While we should assess the claims made by religions and their spokespeople, belief and unbelief both have a lot to do with the social norms. Most people in England 400 years ago professed belief in the christian God: now less than half do, and a far fewer number go to any church. In contrast, the majority of US citizens profess belief in god and an after life. This isnt due to the rise of philosophical reasoning in Kent rather than Kentucky. It is secularisation that has advanced further in the UK, not reason. The corrosive effect of capitalism and consumer culture has more to do with it than any number of tracts by atheists. Nor is the popularity of Christianity rather than Hinduism in the USA much to do with the careful examination of the pros and cons of the respective faiths. Where you were born and what your parents believe is rather more important. In some cases rational argument and careful thought will play a role, but on the whole, it doesnt. And in any case one can overrate the importance of beliefs in what is a whole way of life, with its rituals and observances, rather than a philosophical position anyone has consciously adopted.

Ideology as a Form of Life

Further, the widespread acceptance of Capitalist Realism, the notion that there can be no alternative to our current economic system, isnt based on an careful discussion of the merits of Adam Smith versus Karl Marx, or Hayek versus Polanyi, but on what most others seem to be doing. Ideology itself relies less on beliefs and opinions, but more on the routines that are regularly performed. Commodity fetishism, too, is a form of life. We may express cynical distrust or doubt in The Market but our actions keep the show on the road. Presumably this will go on unless and until something jolts us out of our daily round: like the ATMs ceasing to pay out cash, for instance. Perhaps that day will come. But until it does, we will go on as we always have. Events radicalise people more than seminars ever do. To paraphrase Jonathan Swift, you cant reason a person out of something they werent reasoned into in the first place.
Bulgaria Eyeing Temporary Ban on Ukrainian Grain Imports

Sputnik News

20230416

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Bulgaria is mulling the possibility of introducing a temporary ban on grain imports from Ukraine, following the lead of Poland and Hungary, Bulgarian Agriculture Minister Yavor Gechev said on Sunday.

"Bulgarian interests must be safeguarded, particularly when two of the countries react in this way. If we do not react in a similar manner, the accumulation [of Ukrainian grain] on Bulgarian territory may become even bigger," Gechev was quoted as saying by a Bulgarian news agency.

On Saturday, Poland and Hungary said they were banning imports of Ukrainian agricultural products until June 30, citing the need to protect domestic farmers from the uncontrolled influx of cheap grain from Ukraine.

On Monday, Gechev is expected to receive reports on the legal grounds for the bans enacted in other countries. The following day, the agriculture minister is reportedly slated to discuss the situation with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev.

In late March, prime ministers of Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia published a joint open letter to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, calling for measures to counteract the negative effects of the increased Ukrainian grain imports. Since early February, several Polish farmer organizations have been campaigning against the imported Ukrainian grain, primarily of poor quality, which was flooding the Polish market and damaging local production.

A Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Italy Sends Two Dozen M109L Self-Propelled Howitzers to Ukraine - Reports

Sputnik News

20230416

ROME (Sputnik) - Italy is seemingly shipping by rail to Ukraine around 20 M109L self-propelled howitzers, Italian media report, citing footage shot by eyewitnesses at a railway station in the city of Udine in the northeast of the country.

The clip appears to show a train carrying around 20 self-propelled howitzers mounted on special transport wagons moving at a speed of around 5-10 km/h (3.1-6.2 m/h), Italian newspapers reported. The weapons did not appear to have any insignia or identification numbers. One of news outlets identified the cargo as 155 mm M109L self-propelled howitzers, adding that several similar howitzers had already been transferred to Kiev in October 2022.

Italian Minister for Parliamentary Relations Luca Ciriani confirmed to the local broadcaster that the weapons in question were on their way to Ukraine. These howitzers are part of a military assistance package approved by the government of ex-Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, which was in power until October 2022, the official said.

Since the beginning of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, Western countries have been supplying Kiev regime with various types of weapon systems, including air defense missiles, multiple launch rocket systems, tanks, self-propelled artillery and anti-aircraft guns.

In January, the Italian parliament approved a government decree stipulating the continuation of military aid to Ukraine in 2023. In February, the government greenlit a sixth package of military aid to Ukraine. Although the exact types of weapons provided under these packages are classified, Italian media report that the latest round included an air defense system and drones, while the previous ones featured heavy armored vehicles and heavy artillery equipment.

A Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Brazilian President Warns US Against 'Encouraging' Ukraine Conflict

Sputnik News

20230416

Oleg Burunov

Washington and its allies have already provided Kiev with billions of dollars worth of arms, which Russia says adds to prolonging the Ukraine standoff.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has warned Washington against further instigating the conflict in Ukraine, where Russia continues its special military operation.

He told reporters after his talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing that "the United States needs to stop encouraging war and start talking about peace."

"The European Union needs to start talking about peace so that we can convince [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and [Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr] Zelensky that peace is in the interest of everyone and that war is only interesting, for now, to the two of them," Lula pointed out.

He also revealed that during his sit-down with the Chinese president, they, in particular, discussed forming a group of like-minded leaders to grapple with the Ukraine conflict.

"I have a theory that I have already defended with [French President Emmanuel] Macron, with [Chancellor] Olaf Scholz of Germany, and with [US President Joe] Biden, and yesterday, we discussed at length with Xi Jinping. It is necessary to constitute a group of countries willing to find a way to make peace," Lula emphasized.

He spoke after White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre made it clear that the US will keep on giving military aid to Ukraine. Washington and its allies ramped up their military assistance to Kiev shortly after Russia launched the special operation in Ukraine.

Moscow has repeatedly warned countries who send weapons to Kiev it sees their military shipments as legitimate targets, and that such an aid will add to prolonging the Ukraine conflict. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, for his part, stressed that NATO allies arming and training Ukrainian forces is tantamount to a direct involvement in the standoff.

A Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Latest in Ukraine: Russia, Ukraine Exchange More Prisoners on Orthodox Easter

By VOA News April 16, 2023

New developments:

Ukraine says more than 100 prisoners of war were freed in a major Orthodox Easter exchange with Russia Sunday. It's the second time Orthodox Ukrainians are marking the holiday since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion.

Russian shelling overnight hit an Orthodox church in Zaporizhzhia province despite the holiday. At least four civilians were killed, and eight others were injured.

Russia President Vladimir Putin marked the Orthodox Easter holiday attending a midnight service Saturday, crossing himself several times, even as Russian troops continued shelling Ukraine.

British military analysts say Moscow is bringing back a senior general that was dismissed in January. His return could signal a larger role for Russia's air borne forces.



Ukraine and Russia said Sunday they carried out a new prisoner exchange on the Sunday of Orthodox Easter, with Kyiv saying 130 of its military personnel had returned home.

Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Ukraine's president, said the returning prisoners of war included soldiers, sailors, border guards and others, but it was not known how many Russian captives Ukraine released. Despite the ongoing war, now in its 14th month, the two countries have exchanged prisoners several times, usually roughly in equal numbers.

In a video on Telegram, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner mercenary group fighting alongside Moscow's troops, was seen ordering a soldier to prepare the Ukrainian captives to leave Russian-controlled territory "by lunchtime" Sunday. The POWs were shown walking along a road and boarding trucks.

Yermak said in a Telegram post that the latest group of released Ukrainians included troops who fought near Bakhmut, the eastern mining city where Russian and Ukrainian forces have for months engaged in fierce fighting.

"The lives of our people are the highest value for us," Yermak said, adding that Kyiv's goal was to bring back all remaining POWs, although he did not disclose any head count of the remaining military personnel held by Russia.

Orthodox Easter celebrations in Ukraine were muted, with curfews barring the faithful from customary all-night services, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus in the Christian faith.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attended Easter services Saturday in Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral. He crossed himself several times during the midnight service, known as the Divine Liturgy. When Patriarch Kirill announced, "Christ has risen," Putin, along with other members of the congregation, replied, "Truly he is risen."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in his Easter address released Sunday, described the holiday as marking "the victory of good, the victory of truth, the victory of life," and he stressed what he said was Ukrainian unity in the face of Russian aggression.

"Belief in victory unites all of us always, and especially today," Zelenskyy said. "At Easter, which from time immemorial has been a family holiday for Ukrainians, a day of warmth, hope and great unity. We are one big family a Ukrainians. We have one big home a Ukraine. We have one big goal a victory for all."

Despite the holiday, fighting raged on, with officials in the country's south and east saying that churches had not been spared. The head of the local military administration in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia province said Russian shelling overnight hit an Orthodox church in the town of Komyshuvakha. Photos showed residents rescuing icons from the church, its gutted frame visible in the background.

Ukrainian officials said at least four civilians were killed and eight others were wounded Saturday and overnight. In the Russian-occupied territory in eastern Ukraine, the Kremlin-appointed head of the Donetsk region claimed that a Ukrainian strike killed one civilian and wounded six others in the province's namesake capital.

Some material in this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Latest in Ukraine: Respected Russian Military Leader Returns to Ukraine

By VOA News April 16, 2023

New developments:

Eleven people were killed and 21 were injured in Russian airstrikes in the Ukrainian city of Sloviansk. Rescue crews are trying to reach victims trapped in the rubble of an apartment building.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has enacted a law making it easier to mobilize Russians into the military, even as one of his allies says it's time to end military operations in Ukraine.

America's top diplomat says Russia is not granting U.S. officials access to Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters at a news conference in Hanoi, that "we need consular access now."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his daily address Saturday that he had a long conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron, and they discussed the Ukrainian peace formula that Zelenskyy described as being, "absolutely realistic and quite concrete." The two leaders also discussed, according to Zelenskyy, their participation in the Vilnius NATO summit this summer.

The British Defense Ministry said in its daily intelligence update Sunday on the Russian invasion of Ukraine that it is "highly likely" that General Colonel Mikhail Teplinsky, commander of Russia's corps of airborne troops, the VDV, has returned to a major role in Ukraine, after being dismissed in January 2023.

The ministry described Teplinsky as "likely one of the few senior Russian generals widely respected by the rank-and-file" and that his "recent turbulent career suggests intense tensions between factions within the Russian General Staff about Russia's military approach in Ukraine."

His return means he will "highly likely" promote the VDV's traditional role as an elite force, according to the intelligence update, and it is "unlikely" that his role will be limited to VDV units.

"In recent days," the intelligence report said, "the VDV have resumed a key mission in the battle for Bakhmut, and likely undertaken novel integration with TOS-1A thermobaric rocket launchers in the Kremina sector."

Bakhmut, the main target of Russia's offensive in the east and the scene of months of grinding warfare, is experiencing some of its bloodiest fighting, Ukraine's military said Saturday.

"Bloody battles unprecedented in recent decades are taking place in the middle of the city's urban area," Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesperson for Ukraine's eastern military command, said of the eastern Ukrainian city that was once home to 70,000 people.

"Our soldiers are doing everything in bloody and fierce battles to grind down [the enemy's] combat capability and break its morale. Every day, in every corner of this city, they are successfully doing so," he told the 1+1 television channel.

His comments came as the Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday that the Wagner mercenary group now controlled two more areas on the northern and southern outskirts of the city. Reuters could not independently confirm the report.

Wagner's reported gains Saturday came one day after the group's founder said Russia has should end its "special military operation" against its neighbor.

"Russia has achieved the results it wanted" and has "eradicated most of active male population of Ukraine and intimidated the rest," Yevgeny Prigozhin posted Friday on Telegram, omitting any of Ukraine's victories over Russia.

Death toll rising in Sloviansk

The death toll from a Russian airstrike Friday rose to at least 11 people, with 21 wounded in the eastern Ukrainian city of, northwest of Bakhmut.

In his nightly video address Saturday, Zelenskyy said that the rescue operation continues in Sloviansk and Donbas after Friday's Russian missile strike.

"It is reported that under the rubble of buildings, there are still bodies of the dead, unfortunately," he said. Among them, he said, is a 2-year-old boy. Fifty residential buildings, of which more than 30 are apartment buildings, were damaged or destroyed, he said.

"None of those who are guilty of this aggression can be forgiven and forgotten," he added.

Gershkovich prisoner swap

Russia has not allowed access of U.S. officials to Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich since he was detained last month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday.

"We continue to call for his immediate release," Blinken told reporters during a news conference in Hanoi. "We need consular access now," The Washington Post reported.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Russia could consider a prisoner exchange for the jailed reporter once a Russian court reaches a verdict on espionage charges against him, a senior Russian official said.

Poland curbs imports

Poland's government said Saturday it would temporarily stop grain and other food imports from Ukraine to stem the rising anger of Polish farmers, who say they cannot compete with the lower-priced Ukrainian grain on the market.

Ruling party leader JarosAaw KaczyAski said at a party convention in eastern Poland that while Poland supports Ukraine, it is forced to act to protect its farmers who are facing a "moment of crisis."

"Today, the government has decided on a regulation that prohibits the importation of grain, but also dozens of other types of food, to Poland," KaczyAski said. The government announced its import ban on agricultural products such as sugar, eggs, meat, dairy and vegetables would last until June 30.

Farmers in neighboring countries also have complained they are losing money because of Ukrainian grain flooding into their countries, causing prices to fall.

Orthodox Easter

Russian President Vladimir Putin attended Easter services Saturday in Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral.

He crossed himself several times during the midnight service, known as the Divine Liturgy. When Patriarch Kirill announced, "Christ has risen," Putin, along with other members of the congregation, replied, "Truly he is risen."

Some material in this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Westford USA, April 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SkyQuest projects that the fuel cell powertrain market will attain a value of USD 12974.72 billion by 2030, with a CAGR of 62.1% over the forecast (2022-2030). The market for Fuel Cell Powertrain is expected to grow at a rapid pace during the forecast period, owing to increased awareness about rising greenhouse gas emissions and the growing adoption of fuel cell electric vehicles. Furthermore, fuel cells have several advantages over combustion engines, such as higher energy efficiency and lower emissions, lower operational costs due to the elimination of battery replacement and charging, and silent operation due to fewer moving parts. These previously mentioned factors are likely to boost market growth.

According to the SkyQuest's, Furthermore, increased R&D activities to make hydrogen-powered vehicles safe, eco-friendly, and affordable are expected to drive the global fuel cell powertrain market during the forecast period. Electric drive components such as electric motors and inverters are combined as part of the fuel cell powertrain to maximize battery space while meeting a wide range of temperature requirements. All of these factors are helping to drive the growth of the Fuel Cell Powertrain market.

Browse in-depth TOC on "Fuel Cell Powertrain Market"

Pages - 278

Tables - 68

Figures - 62

A fuel cell powertrain is an electrically powered system that uses a fuel cell to convert hydrogen energy into electricity. Fuel cells have a variety of applications, including material handling, emergency backup power, and transportation. Fuel cell powertrains are more efficient and environmentally friendly than internal combustion engine powertrains because they do not emit harmful pollutants,

Prominent Players in Fuel Cell Powertrain Market

 AVID Technology Ltd

 Ballard Power Systems

 Ceres Power

 Cummins

 Brown Machine Group

 Delphi Technologies

 Denso Corporation

 ITM Power Manufacturers

 Robert Bosch

 Bloom Energy

 SFC Ene Ballard Power Systems

 Cummins Inc.

 Denso Corporation

 Robert Bosch GmbH

 FEVrgy

Get a sample copy of this report:

https://www.skyquestt.com/sample-request/fuel-cell-powertrain-market

Commercial Vehicle Segment Is Expected to Grow the fastest Attributed to Its High Efficiency

Commercial vehicle segment is expected to grow the fastest during the forecast period. The market for Fuel Cell Powertrain is expected to be fueled by high efficiency, long driving range and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Renault is one of the most recent companies to incorporate Hydrogen into its commercial vehicle lineup. The company has installed hydrogen fuel cell powertrains in its KANGOO and MASTER models. As a result, such advancements are likely to fuel the growth of the commercial vehicle segment in the Fuel Cell Powertrain market during the forecast period. Commercial vehicle sales are expected to increase in the second half of 2021, owing to increased economic activity, increased road traffic and a recovery in global production and demand.

During the forecast period, North America is expected to remain a consistent region of the Fuel Cell Powertrain market. The introduction of strict rules and laws to reduce GHG emissions is a significant factor driving demand for Fuel Cell Powertrain across the region. Europe is expected to have a significant share of the fuel cell powertrain market due to manufacturers' increasing efforts to reduce vehicle weight in order to improve performance.

Browse summary of the report and Complete Table of Contents (ToC):

https://www.skyquestt.com/report/fuel-cell-powertrain-market

Less than 150 kw Segment Led the Market Due to Increase in The Fuel Efficiency of the Vehicle

The market for less than 150 kW was dominated in 2021 and is expected to remain dominant throughout the forecast period. The majority of fuel cell electric vehicles sold worldwide, particularly passenger vehicles, have a power output of less than 150kW. For example, one of the best-selling fuel cell vehicles, the Toyota Mirai, has a powertrain with a 128kW output. As a result, rising demand for fuel-cell passenger cars is expected to drive segment growth in the near future. Asia Pacific is expected to grow significantly during the forecast period. The regional market for Fuel Cell Powertrain is expected to expand as consumer demand for eco-friendly and fuel-efficient vehicles rises. The presence of numerous domestic and foreign fuel cell power train manufacturers can also be attributed to market expansion.

A comprehensive analysis of the major players in the Fuel Cell Powertrain market has been recently conducted in a report. The report encompasses various aspects, including collaborations, mergers, innovative business policies, and strategies, providing valuable insights into key trends and breakthroughs in the market. Furthermore, the report scrutinizes the market share of the top segments and presents a detailed geographic analysis. Lastly, the report highlights the major players in the industry and their endeavors to develop innovative solutions to cater to the growing demand.

Speak to Analyst for your custom requirements:

https://www.skyquestt.com/speak-with-analyst/fuel-cell-powertrain-market

Key Developments in Fuel Cell Powertrain Market

In June 2022, Hydroplane Ltd announced that they were use hydrogen fuel cell technology for flight decarbonization that can be retrofitted with existing general aviation aircraft. In addition, the company announced the completion of a recent funding round in which it raised $2 million from unnamed angel investors.

In June 2022, a battery cell specialist and a major manufacturing facility called 'Scots' collaborated on the development of advanced hydrogen hypercars and heavy goods vehicles.

Key Questions Answered in Fuel Cell Powertrain Market Report

What specific growth drivers are projected to impact the market during the forecast period?

Can you list the top companies in the market and explain how they have achieved their positions of influence?

In what ways do regional trends and patterns differ within the global market, and how might these differences shape the market's future growth?

Related Reports in SkyQuests Library:

Global Substation Market

Global Wind Turbine Foundation Market

Global Electrolyzer market

Global Microgrid Monitoring System Market

Global Charcoal Market

About Us:

SkyQuest Technology is leading growth consulting firm providing market intelligence, commercialization and technology services. It has 450+ happy clients globally.

Address:

1 Apache Way, Westford, Massachusetts 01886

Phone:

USA (+1) 617-230-0741

Email: sales@skyquestt.com
Did you lose money on investments in Rite Aid? If so, please visit Rite Aid Corporation Shareholder Class Action Lawsuit or contact Peter Allocco at (212) 951-2030 or pallocco@bernlieb.com to discuss your rights.



NEW YORK, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bernstein Liebhard LLP, a nationally acclaimed investor rights law firm, reminds investors of the deadline to file a lead plaintiff motion in a securities class action lawsuit that has been filed on behalf of investors who purchased or acquired the securities of Rite Aid Corporation (Rite Aid or the Company) (NYSE: RAD) between April 26, 2018 and March 13, 2023, inclusive (the Class Period). The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio and alleges violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Rite Aid is a national health care service and retail products company. Through Elixir, Rite Aids pharmacy benefits manager, the Company purports to provide pharmacy benefits and services to over two million members nationwide.

Plaintiff alleges that Defendants made materially false and misleading statements throughout the Class Period. Specifically, Plaintiff alleges that Defendants failed to disclose that: (1) until at least June 2019, Rite Aid filled at least hundreds of thousands of unlawful prescriptions for controlled substances that lacked a legitimate medical purpose, including for potentially lethal opioids such as oxycodone and fentanyl; (2) Rite Aid pharmacists filled these prescriptions despite clear red flags that indicated that the prescriptions were unlawful; (3) Rite Aid ignored evidence that its stores were dispensing unlawful prescriptions, and intentionally deleted internal notes about suspicious prescribers written by concerned pharmacists; (4) Rite Aid violated the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and, where Rite Aid sought reimbursement from federal healthcare programs, also violated the False Claims Act; and (5) as a result, it was at risk of prosecution by federal authorities such as the United States Department of Justice (DOJ).

On Monday, March 13, 2023, after market hours, the DOJ announced in a press release that it had filed a lawsuit against Rite Aid, intervening in a whistleblower lawsuit brought under the False Claims Act (FCA) against Rite Aid and various subsidiaries. The whistleblower lawsuit alleged that Rite Aid knowingly filled unlawful prescriptions for controlled substances. The DOJ also announced that it was suing Rite Aid for violations of the CSA.

On this news, Rite Aids stock fell $0.62 per share, or 18.9%, to close at $2.66 on March 14, 2023.

If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than May 19, 2023 . A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. Your ability to share in any recovery doesnt require that you serve as lead plaintiff. If you choose to take no action, you may remain an absent class member.

If you purchased or acquired Rite Aid securities, and/or would like to discuss your legal rights and options please visit Rite Aid Corporation Shareholder Class Action Lawsuit or contact Peter Allocco at (212) 951-2030 or pallocco@bernlieb.com.

Since 1993, Bernstein Liebhard LLP has recovered over $3.5 billion for its clients. In addition to representing individual investors, the Firm has been retained by some of the largest public and private pension funds in the country to monitor their assets and pursue litigation on their behalf. As a result of its success litigating hundreds of lawsuits and class actions, the Firm has been named to The National Law Journals Plaintiffs Hot List thirteen times and listed in The Legal 500 for ten consecutive years.

ATTORNEY ADVERTISING.  2023 Bernstein Liebhard LLP. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Bernstein Liebhard LLP, 10 East 40th Street, New York, New York 10016, (212) 779-1414. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter.

Contact Information:

Peter Allocco

Bernstein Liebhard LLP

https://www.bernlieb.com

(212) 951-2030

pallocco@bernlieb.com
MANCHESTER, UK, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Digital transformation and customer experience experts, FourNet , have acquired leading cybersecurity, network infrastructure and collaboration specialists Nowcomm, one of only two Cisco Gold, Master Security and Master Collaboration accredited partners in the UK.



Todays announcement is the third acquisition in three years for FourNet as the global business pursues a high-growth, best-in-class acquisition strategy.

The investment in Derby-based Nowcomm significantly enhances FourNets cybersecurity and network infrastructure offering to customers.

Nowcomm was founded 18 years ago by US technology giant Cisco employees Mark Lamont and James Baly who saw a gap in the market for a consultative-led Cisco business, focused on engineering and technology.

Nowcomm now has 34 highly accredited employees; the purchase of the firm will bring FourNets employee headcount to over 200.

Richard Pennington, co-founder and CEO of FourNet, said: We warmly welcome Nowcomm into the rapidly expanding FourNet family. As one of the leading Cisco partners in the UK, they bring with them a wealth of specialist skills and expertise which will enable us to provide a significantly enhanced cybersecurity, networking and collaboration offering to our customers - from central government to blue light and other critical services.

With the post-covid convergence of the IT and communications marketplace and the increasing pace of digital transformation, it also provides Nowcomm with access to a broader spectrum of solutions and customers.

Todays strategic acquisition, and the ones to follow, will enable us to maintain our position as the partner of choice for public sector and enterprise customers. With FourNet, customers can be assured we have all the IT, security, communications and customer experience expertise, coupled with our 24/7 dedicated technical support teams, to help digitally transform their business.

James Baly, Nowcomm co-founder and Director for Front Office, said: This is a merging of like-minded businesses. Our companies are both at the top of their game and have a very similar culture and outlook  customers first, high customer retention, technology and engineering innovation, and best-in-class expertise.

Mark Lamont, Nowcomm co-founder and Director for Back Office, said: These are exciting times for the Nowcomm team. We have been working with FourNet on various projects in recent months, and it is clear that our thinking and our businesses are very well aligned. Together we will serve our customers better and open up a whole new customer base.

Last year, FourNet acquired infrastructure and security firm C>Ways, and in 2021 brought ComputerTel into the FourNet family.

James Painter, Senior Investment Director at Palatine said: Adding capability through strategic M&A is a key part of FourNets growth strategy with Nowcomm representing the second acquisition since our initial investment. This acquisition will enable FourNet to expand its offering to customers and we are keen to support the group in making additional acquisitions in the future.

FourNet has offices in Manchester, Burton-on-Trent, Scarborough and London.

FourNet counts the UK Prime Ministers Office, a range of Whitehall departments, local authorities, housing, health, blue-light and utility companies among its growing list of customers and is one of the fastest-growing privately-owned UK tech companies.

About FourNet

Award-winning FourNet is one of the fastest growing privately owned technology companies in the UK, providing communications, cloud, contact centre, managed service and secure infrastructure solutions. We work with some of the most secure, critical and commercially driven customers in the UK, including more than 30 UK Government departments and agencies, as well as emergency services and local authorities. FourNet is an ethical and environmentally responsible business, committed to maximizing our positive environmental and social impacts and championing transparency in all our business operations.

www.fournet.co.uk

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0a905fd1-01cd-4e9b-b433-78b7dc7f5289
Selbyville, Delaware, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As per the report published by Global Market Insights Inc., the Global Cloud Data Center Market was estimated at USD 20 billion in 2022 and is expected to surpass a valuation of $70 billion by 2032, progressing at a CAGR of 10% from 2023 to 2032. The report provides a detailed analysis of top winning strategies, drivers & opportunities, competitive scenario, wavering market trends, market size, statistics & estimations, and major investment pockets.

Government efforts fostering the advancement of cloud computing technologies are anticipated to be the major driver of market growth. Cloud computing projects provide integrated management with automatic problem resolution, end-to-end security management, and budgeting according to actual data consumption. The governments of several countries, including India, are emphasizing the improvement of cloud computing infrastructure for e-governance practices, and are setting up initiatives to enhance skill sets to promote digitalization.

Request for a sample of this research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/5491







Direct access to cloud server & storage to boost infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) segment growth

By service, the infrastructure-as-a-service segment accounted for over 30% share of the cloud data center market in 2022. Several organizations are adopting IaaS as it provides direct access to the cloud server and storage with the freedom to expand computer resources as needed and address data traffic issues. Leading industry players are constantly focusing on implementing innovative capabilities and advancing IaaS technology, which is anticipated to accelerate segment expansion through 2032.

Growing adoption by new start-ups to reduce costs to stimulate public segment development

Based on deployment model, the public cloud data center market was worth more than USD 5 billion in 2022 and is expected to record lucrative expansion through 2032. Many SMBs and new start-ups with limited budgets are adopting public cloud data centers as they reduce the cost of setting up an on-premises personal infrastructure for data storage. Major cloud technology providers are also taking efforts to broaden their reach, thereby supporting segment growth.

Key reasons for cloud data center market growth:

Rising digitalization in various industries. Growth of e-commerce and online services. Government initiatives for cloud computing. Increasing data storage and processing requirements.

Limited need for data backups and data privacy to fuel Small/medium enterprise segment share

The cloud data market from small/medium enterprise segment is estimated to grow at over 12% CAGR through 2032. Cloud data software facilitates the consolidation of data and the understanding of business requirements. It reduces the need for data backups and data privacy, as well as assists MSMEs in avoiding infrastructure expenditures. Additionally, cloud technologies enable automated upgrades, ensure application availability, and provide much-needed business continuity and resilience to small and medium-sized businesses and startups, allowing them to focus on their core business activities. Moreover, SMEs choose cloud for data storage since it decreases infrastructure and labor costs while also saving time.

Automation of business operations to impel Europe industry trends

Europe cloud data center market size was worth more than USD 5 billion in 2022 and is projected to witness a robust growth rate between 2023 and 2032 owing to increasing efforts by European enterprises to automate business processes with real-time insights into market dynamics in response to market problems, such as supply chain disruption. In 2021, 41% of EU businesses utilized cloud computing for file storage and e-mail. In November 2022, AWS, the cloud computing giant, announced the establishment of a new cloud region and data centers in Spain with plans to invest $2.5 billion in the region. Such investments are estimated to propel the regional share.

Availability of fully redundant network connections to augment colocation segment revenue

As per end-user, the cloud data center market from colocation segment is expected to generate over USD 15 billion in revenue by 2032. Colocation entails a client transferring their servers and hardware into a data center and utilizing the facility's electricity, cooling, internet, and security systems. The fully redundant network connections in colocation data centers ensure that clients' mission-critical applications constantly function without interruption. Moreover, colocation enables businesses to scale their infrastructure to accommodate their expansion without having to incur capital costs. Hence, rising investment and innovations to enable cloud software applications for colocation are likely to support segment development from 2023 to 2032.

Secure a copy of the premium research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/securecheckout/paymenta/5491?gmpaycod=sugmp



Increasing investments in the development of data centers to define the market outlook

IBM Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Alibaba Cloud, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud Platform are among the major companies engaged in the cloud data center market. Industry participants are focused on implementing development strategies to fulfill expanding demand. Businesses have begun to invest in the development of new technologies and services to strengthen their market standing.

Partial chapters of report table of contents (TOC):

Chapter 4 Competitive Landscape, 2022

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Company market share, 2022

4.3 Competitive analysis of major market players, 2022

4.4 Competitive analysis of innovative players, 2022

4.5 Competitive positioning matrix, 2022

4.6 Strategic outlook matrix

Chapter 5 Market, By Service Model

5.1 Key trends, by service model

5.2 Infrastructure-as-a-service model (IaaS)

5.3 Platform-as-a-service model (PaaS)

5.4 Software-as-a-service model (SaaS)

Chapter 6 Market, By Deployment Model

6.1 Key trends, by deployment model

6.2 Public

6.3 Private

6.4 Hybrid

Chapter 7 Market, By Organization Size

7.1 Key trends, by organization size

7.2 Small/medium enterprises

7.3 Large enterprise

Browse Our Reports Store - GMIPulse @ https://www.gminsights.com/gmipulse



About Global Market Insights

Global Market Insights Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider, offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy, and biotechnology.








BRISBANE, Australia, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Allkem Limited (ASX|TSX: AKE, Allkem or the Company) provides an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) and development drilling update at 31 December 2022 for its Mt Cattlin operation in Western Australia.



HIGHLIGHTS

The completion of a major infill drilling program (132 drillholes 31,231 metres) and review of the MRE has successfully converted Inferred resources to Indicated category. Total tonnes of contained metal increased by 4%

The updated Mineral Resource of 12.8 Mt @ 1.3% Li 2 O and 179ppm Ta 2 O 5 reflects higher lithium grade with 92% of the total resource tonnage now sitting in the Indicated category (up by 130%), supporting an upcoming Reserve update and life of mine extension review

O and 179ppm Ta O reflects higher lithium grade with 92% of the total resource tonnage now sitting in the Indicated category (up by 130%), supporting an upcoming Reserve update and life of mine extension review Open pit and underground mining studies are currently being undertaken which include diamond drilling for geotechnical purposes and additional metallurgical test work. This will result in a revised ore reserve and will determine the trade-off between open pit and underground mining options

Stage 3 exploration drilling in the SW area has been completed and assay results are pending

Further step out drilling is planned for late CY23 to test down dip extension of the pegmatite orebodies beyond the area included in this MRE



RESOURCE EXTENSION DRILLING

Allkem commenced a three-phase resource extension program in April 2022, the first phase targeting the conversion of inferred resource into the indicated category and the second to test two pegmatite lenses along strike and at depth.

Results were included in the 30 June 2022 Resource Update and interim drilling and assay results were released 5 October 2022 for 81 RC drillholes and 19,177 metres. Additional drilling for 51 RC drillholes for 12,054m were completed subsequently to total 132 drill holes for 31,231 (Figure 1, below).

Assay highlights from the upper pegmatite include:

Drill Hole ID From (m) To (m) Width (m) Li 2 O% Ta 2 O 5 ppm NWRC214 102 117 15 1.71 157 NWRC229 53 67 14 2.02 52 NWRC230 58 76 18 1.42 90 NWRC237 66 83 17 1.46 87

Highlights from the lower pegmatite include:

Drill Hole_ID From (m) To (m) Width (m) Li 2 O% Ta 2 O 5 ppm NWRC140 235 249 14 2.31 126 NWRC162 232 245 13 2.20 586 NWRC167 211 223 12 3.04 154 NWRC169 224 236 12 2.39 154

All intercepts are reported down hole, however the orientation of the drilling is such that intercepts are approximate true widths.

Drillhole collars are tabulated in Appendix 2, and all significant assays, with intercept lengths greater than 3m, with a maximum of 1m internal dilution are presented in Appendices 3 and 4 for the upper and lower pegmatite, respectively.

Figure 1: Mt Cattlin 2022 Mineral Resource drilling at NW pit

Figure 2: Mt Cattlin Cross section looking west





MINERAL RESOURCE UPDATE

The Mineral Resource Estimate at 31 December 2022 (Table 1) represents the 30 June 2022 resource estimate, adjusted for mining and stockpile depletion from 30 June to 31 December 2022 combined with infill drilling undertaken during 2022. The target pegmatites are drilled out to a nominal 40 x 40m spacing. The Indicated proportion of the classified Mineral Resource contained metal has increased by 130% with a corresponding decrease of Inferred resources by -80%.

Table 1: Mt Cattlin Mineral Resource at 31 December 2022

Mineral Resource Estimate for the Mt Cattlin Spodumene Deposit reported at 0.4% cut off grade - All material types.

Category



Tonnage Grade Grade Contained

Metal Contained

Metal Nett contained

metal variance

to prior

Statement Mt % Li2O ppm Ta 2 O 5 (000) t Li 2 O lbs Ta2O5 % Measured In-situ 0.1 1.0 170 1 37,000 100 % Indicated In-situ 9.6 1.4 134 134 2,899,000 130 % Stockpiles 1.8 0.8 122 14 484,000 -25 % Inferred In-situ 1.3 1.3 169 17 516,000 -80 % Total Resource at 31 December

2022 12.8 1.3 179 167 3,936,000 4 % Decrease Notes Measured - - - - Indicated +

Inferred -0.4 1.3 -5 Mining

depletion by

tonnage

reconciliation Indicated +

Inferred -2.9 1.1 -31 Elimination of

fine-grained mineralisation

and waste Stockpiles -0.6 0.8 -5 Difference

between ore

tonnes mined

and processed Increase Notes Measured 0.1 1.0 1 37,000 Remnant in SW Indicated +

Inferred 3.3 1.40 46 151,000 Addition at

periphery and

at depth Stockpiles

(Indicated) - - - - - - Total Resource at 30 June 2022 13.3 1.2 131 161 3,835,000

Notes: Reported at cut-off grade of 0.4% Li 2 O. The proportion of potential open pit (64%) and underground resource (36%) is tabulated below (Table 2). The statements of Mineral Resources conforms to the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (the JORC Code) 2012 edition. All tonnages reported are dry metric tonnes. Excludes mineralisation classified as oxide and transitional. Minor discrepancies may occur due to rounding to appropriate significant figures.

The Mineral Resources are reported at a cut-off of 0.4% Li 2 O. Table 2 below demonstrates that 64% of the Mineral Resource reports inside a USD 1,100 pit shell which satisfies the requirements for Reasonable Prospects for Eventual Economic Extraction (RPEEE) as defined in the JORC Code (2012) and is potentially minable by open cut methods. The remainder of the resource is a direct continuation of the mineralised pegmatites and may be minable by underground mining methods such as room and pillar with decline access. This will be confirmed in studies that are underway. The updated resource has been depleted for mining and stockpile reclamation (by tonnes) in the six month period between this update and the previous estimate.

Table 2: Classified Mt Cattlin Mineral Resource depleted for mining as at 31 December 2022

Mineral Resource Estimate for the Mt Cattlin Spodumene Deposit  December 2022 (excluding stockpiles) Material

Cut-Off

Measured Indicated Inferred TOTAL Tonnes (kt) Li2O % Ta2O5 ppm Fe2O3 % Tonnes (kt) Li2O % Ta2O5 ppm Fe2O3 % Tonnes (kt) Li2O % Ta2O5 ppm Fe2O3 % Tonnes (kt) Li2O % Ta2O5 ppm Fe2O3 % In-Pit Resource 0.40

%

6,900 1.4 137 1.91 57 1.3 102 2.36 7,000 1.4 137 1.91 Remaining

u/g

Resource 92 1.0 206 2.18 2,700 1.3 224 2.06 1235 1.3 183 2.14 4,000 1.4 248 2.04 Total 92 1.0 206 2.18 9,600 1.3 163 2.00 1,292 1.3 179 2.15 11,000 1.3 163 2.00 The preceding statements of Mineral Resources conforms to the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (JORC Code) 2012 Edition. All tonnages reported are dry metric tonnes. Minor discrepancies may occur due to rounding to appropriate significant figures.

The open pit RPEEE test was re-visited in H2 CY22 to reflect spodumene pricing at USD 900, 1,100 and 1,500 and FX AUD/USD 0.70. It was observed that both the USD 1,100 and 1,500 Mineral Resource remain limited by drilling data which will be resolved by further step out drilling planned for later in CY23. Depleted stockpiles at the same record date have been included in the Mineral Resource. Depletion of high-grade material, an updated optimised pit shell design and the impact of additional drilling is reflected in the updated Mineral Resource. Remnant classified Mineral Resources under the backfilled 2SW pit have been included as potential underground feed.

The resource classification has been applied to the MRE based on the drilling data spacing, grade and geological continuity, the quality of the resource estimate as defined by the slope of regression and data integrity. Following recent experiences with mining in the current pit, fine grained pegmatite and unmineralised pegmatite waste was domained out of the estimate at the geological modelling stage using a < 0.3% lithia wireframe supported with a Na 2 O < 4% proxy.

Minor portions immediately adjacent to the SW of the current mining area have been classified as Measured where prior grade control drilling had been completed. No portions of the NW area have been classified as Measured Mineral Resources

Pegmatites that have been defined by drillholes on a spacing at or closer than 40 m by 40 m, estimated on the first two passes (up to the range of the variogram) and have returned a slope of regression value above 0.5 have been classified as Indicated Mineral Resources . In order to avoid the generation of an inconsistent classification each pegmatite domain is accessed individually and estimates within are used to classify the majority of Indicated blocks; and

. In order to avoid the generation of an inconsistent classification each pegmatite domain is accessed individually and estimates within are used to classify the majority of Indicated blocks; and The blocks that have been estimated on either the first, second or third pass and have been defined by drillholes spaced wider apart than 40 m by 40 m, with lower levels of confidence in the quality of the estimate and hence in the continuity of grade, have been classified as Inferred Mineral Resources.



A description of the major factors that resulted in changes from the June 2022 Mineral Resource Estimate to the December 2022 Mineral Resource Estimate are:

Depletion for mining and stockpile reclamation

Change in resource classification to majority Indicated in a nominal 40 x 40m intercept spacing in the completed drill out

Drill out at depth to the limits of the nominal RPEEE USD 1,100 pit shell

Change in the methods of geological domaining to exclude pegmatite types (waste and fine-grained pegmatite) that result in poor or low metallurgical recoveries

The Mineral Resource Estimate depletion and reporting was supervised and completed by Allkem staff. Allkem has assumed responsibility for the logging, sampling, analytical and quality assurance/quality control protocols currently in place for estimates and depletions.

NEXT STEPS

Reserve update

Further HQ diameter diamond drilling has been completed with seven HQ size drillholes for 1,682m completed to support geometallurgical and geotechnical test work to inform the Mt Cattlin mine life extension study, which aims to inform approvals and design of both potential opencut and underground options. Initial results are expected by mid CY23.

Exploration Drilling

Exploration drilling to the southwest of the current mineralised pegmatites is complete and assays are awaited. The first drillhole SWRC089 (azure coloured collar in Figure 1) returned:

Hole ID From (m) To (m) Width (m) Li 2 O% Ta2O5 ppm SWRC089 153 163 10 1.84 163 SWRC089 173 177 4 0.49 117

RESOURCE AND RESERVE CONTROLS & GOVERNANCE

Allkem ensures that quoted Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve estimates are subject to internal controls, peer review and validation at both project and corporate levels. Mineral Resource and Ore Reserves are estimated and reported in accordance with the 2012 edition of the JORC Code.

Allkem stores and collects exploration data using industry standard software that contains internal validation checks. Exploration samples from drilling have certified reference material standards introduced to the sample stream at set ratios, typically 1 per 25 samples. These are reported as necessary to the relevant Competent Persons to assess both accuracy and precision of the assay data applied to resource estimates. In resource modelling, block models are validated by checking the input drill hole composites against the block model grades by domain.

Allkem engages independent, qualified experts on a commercial fee for service basis, to undertake Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve audits. Allkem internally reconciles the resource outcomes to validate both the process and the outcome. A RPEEE has been tested against a Whittle Optimisation with only the revenue factor changed from USD 900, 1,100 and to 1,500.

The Company has developed its internal systems and controls to maintain JORC compliance in all external reporting, including the preparation of all reported data by Competent Persons who are members of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy or a Recognised Professional Organisation. As set out above, the Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve statements included in this announcement were reviewed by suitably qualified Competent Persons (below) prior to their inclusion, in the form and context announced.

This release was authorised by Mr Martin Perez de Solay, CEO and Managing Director of Allkem Limited.

Allkem Limited



ABN 31 112 589 910



Level 35, 71 Eagle St

Brisbane, QLD 4000 Investor Relations & Media Enquiries



Andrew Barber

M: +61 418 783 701 E: Andrew.Barber@allkem.co



Phoebe Lee

P: +61 7 3064 3600 E: Phoebe.Lee@allkem.co Connect



info@allkem.co

+61 7 3064 3600

www.allkem.co

IMPORTANT NOTICES

This investor ASX/TSX release (Release) has been prepared by Allkem Limited (ACN 112 589 910) (the Company or Allkem). It contains general information about the Company as at the date of this Release. The information in this Release should not be considered to be comprehensive or to comprise all of the material which a shareholder or potential investor in the Company may require in order to determine whether to deal in Shares of Allkem. The information in this Release is of a general nature only and does not purport to be complete. It should be read in conjunction with the Companys periodic and continuous disclosure announcements which are available at allkem.co and with the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) announcements, which are available at www.asx.com.au.

This Release does not take into account the financial situation, investment objectives, tax situation or particular needs of any person and nothing contained in this Release constitutes investment, legal, tax, accounting or other advice, nor does it contain all the information which would be required in a disclosure document or prospectus prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (Corporations Act). Readers or recipients of this Release should, before making any decisions in relation to their investment or potential investment in the Company, consider the appropriateness of the information having regard to their own individual investment objectives and financial situation and seek their own professional investment, legal, taxation and accounting advice appropriate to their particular circumstances.

This Release does not constitute or form part of any offer, invitation, solicitation or recommendation to acquire, purchase, subscribe for, sell or otherwise dispose of, or issue, any Shares or any other financial product. Further, this Release does not constitute financial product, investment advice (nor tax, accounting or legal advice) or recommendation, nor shall it or any part of it or the fact of its distribution form the basis of, or be relied on in connection with, any contract or investment decision.

The distribution of this Release in other jurisdictions outside Australia may also be restricted by law and any restrictions should be observed. Any failure to comply with such restrictions may constitute a violation of applicable securities laws.

Past performance information given in this Release is given for illustrative purposes only and should not be relied upon as (and is not) an indication of future performance.

Forward Looking Statements

Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and beliefs and, by their nature, are subject to a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results, performances and achievements to differ materially from any expected future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to, the risk of further changes in government regulations, policies or legislation; the risks associated with the continued implementation of the merger between the Company and Galaxy Resources Ltd, risks that further funding may be required, but unavailable, for the ongoing development of the Companys projects; fluctuations or decreases in commodity prices; uncertainty in the estimation, economic viability, recoverability and processing of mineral resources; risks associated with development of the Company Projects; unexpected capital or operating cost increases; uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones at the Companys Projects; risks associated with investment in publicly listed companies, such as the Company; and risks associated with general economic conditions.

Subject to any continuing obligation under applicable law or relevant listing rules of the ASX, the Company disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements in this Release to reflect any change in expectations in relation to any forward-looking statements or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based. Nothing in this Release shall under any circumstances (including by reason of this Release remaining available and not being superseded or replaced by any other Release or publication with respect to the subject matter of this Release), create an implication that there has been no change in the affairs of the Company since the date of this Release.

Competent Person Statement

The information in this announcement that relates to Exploration Results and Mineral Resources is based on information compiled and supervised by Albert Thamm, B.Sc. (Hons)., M.Sc. F.Aus.IMM, a Competent Person who is a Fellow of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Albert Thamm is a full-time employee of Galaxy Resources Pty. Limited. Albert Thamm has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralization and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves. Albert Thamm consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

The scientific and technical information contained in this announcement has been reviewed and approved by Albert Thamm, as it relates to geology, exploration, drilling, sample preparation, data verification and the depleted Mineral Resource.

Not for release or distribution in the United States

This announcement has been prepared for publication in Australia and may not be released to U.S. wire services or distributed in the United States. This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, securities in the United States or any other jurisdiction, and neither this announcement or anything attached to this announcement shall form the basis of any contract or commitment. Any securities described in this announcement have not been, and will not be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 and may not be offered or sold in the United States except in transactions registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 or exempt from, or not subject to, the registration of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 and applicable U.S. state securities laws.

APPENDIX 1  JORC 2012 TABLE 1 DISCLOSURE

Section 1: Sampling Techniques and Data

MT CATTLIN LITHIUM PROJECT SAMPLING AND DATA

Sampling techniques

Nature and quality of sampling (e.g. cut channels, random chips, or specific specialized industry standard measurement tools appropriate to the minerals under investigation, such as down hole gamma sondes, or handheld XRF instruments, etc.). These examples should not be taken as limiting the broad meaning of sampling.

Include reference to measures taken to ensure sample representivity and the appropriate calibration of any measurement tools or systems used.

Aspects of the determination of mineralization that are Material to the Public Report.

In cases where industry standard work has been done this would be relatively simple (e.g. reverse circulation drilling was used to obtain 1 m samples from which 3 kg was pulverized to produce a 30 g charge for fire assay). In other cases more explanation may be required, such as where there is coarse gold that has inherent sampling problems. Unusual commodities or mineralization types (e.g. submarine nodules) may warrant disclosure of detailed information. Pre-2017

Mt Catlin mineralization was sampled using a mixture of Diamond (DD) Reverse Circulation drill holes (RC), rotary Air Blast (RAB) and Open Hole (OH). In the north zone drilling is a 40mE x 40mN spacing and infilled to 20mE to 25mE x 20mN to 20mN in the central zone. In the south the drilling is on a 40mE x 80mN pattern. Drill holes were drilled vertical to intersect true thickness of the spodumene mineralization.



A total of 39 DD holes for 1,528.56m, 986 RC holes for 48,763m,59 OH holes for 1,999m and 23 RAB for 402m had been completed before 2017.



The drill-hole collars were surveyed by professional survey contractors. A total of 71 drill holes were surveyed by Surtron Technologies Australia of Welshpool in 2010. Sampling was carried out under Galaxy Resources QAQC protocols and as per industry best practice.



RC sample returns were closely monitored, managed and recorded. Drill samples were logged for lithology and SG measurements. Diamond HQ and PQ core was quarter-cored to sample lengths relating to the geological boundaries, but not exceeding 1m on average. RC samples were composited from 1m drill samples split using a two-stage riffle splitter 25/75 to obtain 2kg to 4kg of sample for sample preparation. All samples were dried, crushed, pulverized and split to produce a 3.5kg and then 200g sub-sample for analysis For Li (method AAS40Q), for Ta, Nb and Sn (method XRF78O) and in some cases for SiO2, Al2O3, CaO, Cr2O3, Fe2O3, K2O3, MgO, MnO, P2O5, SO3, TiO2 and V2O5 were analysed by XRF78O. Entire drill-hole lengths were submitted for assay.



Drilling 2017-8

From 1m of drilling and sampling, two 12.5% splits are taken by a static cone splitter in calico drawstring bags. This obtains two 2kg to 4kg samples with one being retained as an archive sample and the other submitted for assay, where required an archive bag is used as the duplicate sample.



A 4.5-inch diameter rod string is used and the cyclone is cleaned at the end of every 6m rod as caking occurs from the mandatory use of dust suppression equipment.



Drilling November 2018  2021

Subsequent to 2018 update, 5,912m (41 holes) of new reverse circulation (RC) and 273.65m of diamond tails (2 holes) has been completed (excluding metallurgical and geotechnical) has taken place.



From 1m of drilling and sampling, two 12.5% splits are taken by a static cone splitter in calico drawstring bags. This obtains two 2kg to 4kg samples with one being retained as an archive sample and the other submitted for assay, where required an archive bag is used as the duplicate sample.



A 4.5-inch diameter rod string is used and the cyclone is cleaned at the end of every 6m rod as caking occurs from the mandatory use of dust suppression equipment.



2022 Drilling

The current drillhole dataset for the project contains 3,232 drillholes, for 175,950 metres, comprised of a combination of reverse circulation (RC), diamond drilling (DD), and RC with a diamond tail (RC_DDT) drillholes.



The dominant drillhole type is RC, with over 95% of the metres being from RC drillholes.









Hole_Type Count Metres % Drillholes % Metres DDH 45 5,437.8 1.4% 3.1% RC 3,173 169,037.8 98.2% 96.1% RC_DDT 14 1,474.4 0.4% 0.8% TOTAL 3,232 175,950 100% 100%





Drilling techniques

Drill type (e.g. core, reverse circulation, open-hole hammer, rotary air blast, auger, Bangka, sonic, etc.) and details (e.g. core diameter, triple or standard tube, depth of diamond tails, face-sampling bit or other type, whether core is oriented and if so, by what method, etc.).

RC drilling hammer diameter was generally 4 & 5/8 inches in early exploration, from 2009 and 2010 the bit diameter was 5  inches.



RC 2017 -2020

5.25-inch face sampling hammer, reverse circulation, truck mounted or tracked drilling rigs, Three Rivers Drilling, Castle Drilling.



Diamond core is generally RC from surface, and either PQ size tails in weathered rock and narrowed to HQ in fresh rock (standard tubing). Core was not oriented as the disseminated and weathered nature of the mineralization does not warrant or allow it. Diamond core is typically for metallurgical test-work. Pre-collars drilled short of mineralisation.



RC 2021 A 5.25-inch face sampling hammer, used in reverse circulation. ASX (Australian Surface Exploration) drillers used for RC (including pre-collars).



Diamond 2021:

Wizard Drilling utilised for diamond drilling from surface. HQ size Metallurgical and geotechnical diamond drilling (standard tubing). Two Metallurgical holes were diamond tails from approximately 70m to 80m. Four Geotechnical holes were diamond from surface and two tails from 50-60m depth.



RC 2022

PXD drilling was utilised for RC drilling from surface. HQ size Metallurgical and geotechnical diamond drilling (standard tubing) by Orlando Drilling. Four Metallurgical holes were and three Geotechnical holes were diamond drilled from surface and two diamond tails from 150-160m depth. Logging

Whether core and chip samples have been geologically and geotechnically logged to a level of detail to support appropriate Mineral Resource estimation, mining studies and metallurgical studies.

Whether logging is qualitative or quantitative in nature. Core (or costean, channel, etc.) photography.

The total length and percentage of the relevant intersections logged. All DD, RC and OH (PC) and RAB intervals were geologically logged (where applicable); RQD (DD only), interval weights, recovery, lithology, mineralogy and weathering were recorded in the database.



The DD core was oriented using the Ezy-Mark tool and after 2019 using the Reflex ACT electronic orientation tool.

Geological logging was qualitative.



Recording of interval weights, recovery and RQD was quantitative.

All DD core was photographed and representative 1m samples of RC and OH (PC) chips were collected in chip trays for future reference and photographed. All drill holes were logged in full.



2017-2023 logging

All drill holes are logged and validated via LogChief/ Maxwells Geosciences/DataShed systems.

Assays, standards and control limits are monitored after loading of each batch and reports supplied on demand. All drill holes are logged in full. Different Lithium bearing mineral species are logged in detail.

Sub- sampling techniques and sample preparation

If core, whether cut or sawn and whether quarter, half or all core taken.

If non-core, whether riffled, tube sampled, rotary split, etc. and whether sampled wet or dry.

For all sample types, the nature, quality and appropriateness of the sample preparation technique.

Quality control procedures adopted for all sub-sampling stages to maximise representivity of samples.

Measures taken to ensure that the sampling is representative of the in situ material collected, including for instance results for field duplicate/second-half sampling.

Whether sample sizes are appropriate to the grain size of the material being sampled. Pre-2016 sampling

All fresh rock DD core was quarter-cored using a stand mounted brick saw. Soft, weathered DD core was also sampled quarter-core, using a knife and scoop where applicable and practical.

RC samples were collected using a two stage riffle splitter. All samples were dry or dried prior to riffle-splitting.



All 2kg 1m drill samples were sent to SGS, dried, crushed, pulverized and split to approximately -75 to produce a sample less than 3.5kg sub-sample for analysis.



Sampling was carried out under Galaxy Resources QAQC protocols and as per industry best practice.



Duplicate, blank and standard reference samples were inserted into the sample stream at random, but averaging no less than 1 blank and standard in every 25 samples.



Samples were selected periodically and screened to ensure pulps are pulverized to the required specifications.



Duplicate quarter-core samples were taken from DD core at random for testing averaging one in every 25 samples.



Duplicate riffle-split RC samples were taken at random, but averaging one every approximately 25 samples.



The sample sizes are appropriate to the style, thickness and consistency of the mineralization at Mt Catlin.



Drilling 2016 (SGS)

Core was halved by saw and sample lengths typically 0.5m in length. Sample preparation involved crushing followed by splitting of sample if sample greater than 3 kg using a riffle splitter (SPL26), Dry sample, crush to 6mm, pulverise to 75m (PRP88) in a LM5 Mill.



Drilling 2017-2021

Diamond drilling was typically sawn half core with whole core used for metallurgical test work.



Intertek (2017-8)

Samples are sorted and weighed. Samples >3kg are riffle split and milled in LM5 to obtain 85% passing 75 Microns. A 400g pulp is taken and a nominal 0.25g sub-sample is fused with sodium peroxide.



Nagrom: 2018-2021

RC chips are dried to 105C, crushed to nominal top-size of 2 mm in a Terminator Jaw crusher using method CRU01. Pulverised up to 3 kg in a LM5 pulveriser mill at 80% or better passing 75m, using method PUL01. If the sample is greater than 3 kg, the sample is dried, and split with rotary splitter before analysis, Diamond core is dried, crushed in a Terminator Jaw crusher to top size 6.3 mm, and pulverised in a LM5 mill up to 2.5 kg using method CRU01. If the sample is greater than 2.5 kg, the sample is riffle split after drying to reduce the sample size.



Intertek 2022-3

Samples are sorted and weighed. Samples >3kg are riffle split and milled in LM5 to obtain 85% passing 75 Microns. A 400g pulp is taken and a nominal 0.25g sub-sample is assayed by Sodium peroxide fusion in a Ni crucible / MS, OES method FP6-Li/OM19. Quality of assay data and laboratory tests The nature, quality and appropriateness of the assaying and laboratory procedures used and whether the technique is considered partial or total.

For geophysical tools, spectrometers, handheld XRF instruments, etc., the parameters used in determining the analysis including instrument make and model, reading times, calibrations factors applied and their derivation, etc.

Nature of quality control procedures adopted (e.g. standards, blanks, duplicates, external laboratory checks) and whether acceptable levels of accuracy (i.e. lack of bias) and precision have been established. Pre-2016 QAQC

All samples were dried, crushed, pulverized and split to produce a 3.5kg and then 200g sub-sample for analysis For Li (method AS40Q), for Ta, Nb and Sn (method XRF78O) and in some cases for SiO2, Al2O3, CaO, Cr2O3, Fe2O3, K2O3, MgO, MnO, P2O5, SO3, TiO2 and V2O5 were analysed by XRF78O. This process involves fusing the sample in a platinum crucible using lithium metaborate/tetraborate flux. For Cs, Rb, Ga, Be and Nb from time to time analysis was by IMS40Q  DIG40Q to ICPMS end.



Duplicate, blank and certified reference samples were inserted into the sample stream at random, but averaging one every ~25 samples. Galaxy Resources utilized certified Lithium standards produced in China and one from SGS in Australia, STD-TAN1.



Inter-laboratory checking of analytical outcomes was routinely undertaken to ensure continued accuracy and precision by the preferred laboratory.

Samples were selected periodically and screened by the laboratory to ensure pulps are pulverized to the required specifications. All QAQC data is stored in the Mt Catlin database and regular studies were undertaken to ensure sample analysis was kept within acceptable levels of accuracy; the studies confirmed that accuracy and precision are within industry standard accepted limits.



Umpire analysis performed on pulps at Genalysis and Ultratrace Perth



2016-QAQC

In 2016 Perth SGS were used for a small 6 hole diamond program by General Mining. Samples were digested using a sodium peroxide fusion digest, method DIG90Q and the resultant solution from the digest was then presented to an ICP-MS for the quantification of Li2O, using method IMS40Q. The majority of standards submitted performed within expected ranges with a positive bias observed for two standards.



2017 - 2021 QAQC

Samples (including QA/QC samples) were processed by Intertek PLC, Perth laboratory in 2017 and 2018, by utilised method FP1 digest (Peroxide Fusion  complete), MS analytical finish, 22 elements, Li2O detection limit 0.03% Ta2O5 detection limit, 0.2 ppm. Monthly review of QA/QC, which includes blanks, field duplicates, high grade standards and CRM (certified reference materials) and SRM (standard reference materials). FS_ICPMS is a Laboratory Method FP1/MS (mass spectrometry) used to analyse for Cs, Nb, Rb, Ta,Th, and U . FS/ICPES (inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy) is Laboratory method FP1/OE used to analyse Al, Fe, K, Li, and Si. Reports include calculated values of oxides for all elements.



RC samples and diamond (including QA/QC samples) have been processed by Nagrom Perth, Perth Western Australia. Methods utilised from Lithium and Tantalum are ICP004 and ICP005 (Peroxide Fusion  complete). ICP005 utilises tungsten carbide bowl to reduce iron contamination at exploration and resource development stages (detection limit of 10ppm and 1ppm for Li2O and Ta respectively) Monthly review of QA/QC, which includes blanks, field duplicates, high grade standards and CRM (certified reference materials) and SRM (standard reference materials). All sampling has rigorous QAQC in terms of reference sampling as well as blank and standards introduced into the sample steam.

Duplicate field samples show some evidence of high nugget effect. Typically, duplicate pairs plot within acceptable limits. Field duplicates have been submitted at a rate of 1 per 20.5 samples.



Standards used are ASM0343, ASM0340 AMIS0339, OREAS147, OREAS148 and OREAS149.



Standards reported only one result outside three standard deviations from 533 assays for Lithium. The majority of Tantalum standards reported within three standard deviations.



Coarse blanks have shown no evidence of systematic contamination from 2016-2021 with results consistently low.



QAQC in 2022-3 is broadly in line with the processes above, assays are by Intertek, Perth and Kalgoorlie.



Standards used are OREAS 147, AMIS0341, OREAS 751, OREAS 753, OREAS 148, AMIS0341, AMIS0341, and OREAS 147 to support Sodium peroxide fusion in Ni crucible assay method MS, OES FP6-Li/OM19. This method provides near complete recovery for most samples.



Ore grade standards e.g. OREAS 751 reported only four results outside 2 standard deviations from assays for Lithia. The majority of Tantalum standards reported within 2 standard deviations.







The data is moderately precise.

Verification of sampling and assaying The verification of significant intersections by either independent or alternative company personnel.

The use of twinned holes.

Documentation of primary data, data entry procedures, data verification, data storage (physical and electronic) protocols.

Discuss any adjustment to assay data. Pre-2018 Verification

An external geological consultant and staff have visually assessed and verified significant intersections of core and RC and PC chips.

Several core holes were compared to neighbouring RC and PC drill holes.



The geological logging of the DD holes supports the interpreted geological and mineralization domains.



Studies on assays results from twinned holes showed a close correlation of geology and assays.



Primary data is recorded by hand in the field and entered Excel spread sheets with in-built validation settings and look-up codes.

Scans of field data sheets and digital data entry spread sheets are handled on site at Mt Cattlin.

Data collection and entry procedures are documented, and training given to all staff.



QAQC checks of assays had identified several standards out of control, these were subsequently reviewed and results rectified.



No clear and consistent biases were defined by Galaxy during the further investigations into QAQC performances although deviations were noted by Galaxy.



2017-8 Verification

CP independently verified drilling, sampling, assay and results from validated, externally maintained and stored database.

No adjustments to assay data other than conversion from Li to Li20 and Ta to Ta2O5.



2018 - 2022 Verification

The CP independently verified drilling, sampling, assay and results from validated, externally maintained and stored database.

No adjustments to assay data other than conversion from Li to Li20 and Ta to Ta2O5.



Primary data capture by Maxwell LogChief and management by Maxwell DataShed. Assay data loaded directly from Laboratory supplied .csv files as are downhole and collar surveys.



An independent data verification was completed as part of a 2021 Ni-43-101 filing by then competent person.



Data exported from SQL database and verified by the CP.



No adjustments are made to assay data.







Section 2: Reporting of Exploration Results

Criteria JORC Code explanation Commentary Mineral tenement

and land tenure status Type, reference name/number, location and ownership including agreements or material issues with third parties such as joint ventures, partnerships, overriding royalties, native title interests, historical sites, wilderness or national park and environmental settings.

The security of the tenure held at the time of reporting along with any known impediments to obtaining a license to operate in the area. Mining Lease M74/244 was amalgamated and awarded on 04/08/2009 and is valid until 23/12/2030 and covers 1830 Ha.



The project is subject to normal projects approvals processes as regulated by the WA Department of Mines, Industry and Regulation.



The tenement is subject to the Standard Noongar Heritage agreement as executed 7 February 2018.



The underlying land is a mixture of freehold property and vacant Crown land. The property Freehold title is held by Galaxy Resources or its child subsidiaries. Exploration done by other parties Acknowledgment and appraisal of exploration by other parties. During the 1960s WMC carried out an extensive drilling program to define the extent of local spodumene bearing pegmatite. The WMC work led onto a further investigation into project feasibility.



In 1989 Pancontinental Mining, Limited drilled 101 RC drill holes. In 1990 Pancontinental drilled a further 21 RC drill holes.



In 1997 Greenstone Resources drilled 3 diamond holes and 38 RC holes, undertook soil sampling and metallurgical test work on bulk samples from the mine area.



Haddington Resources Ltd in 2001 drilled 9 diamond holes for metallurgical test work and undertook further sterilization drilling.



Galaxy acquired the M72/12 mining tenement from Sons of Gwalia administrators in 2006. Geology Deposit type, geological setting and style of mineralization. The Mount Catlin Project lies within the Ravensthorpe Suite, with host rocks comprising both the Annabelle Volcanics to the west, and the Manyutup Tonalite to the east. The contact between these rock types extends through the Project area.







The Annabelle Volcanics at Mt Cattlin consist of intermediate to mafic volcanic rocks, comprising both pyroclastic material and lavas.



The pegmatites which comprise the orebodies occurs as a series of sub- horizontal sills, hosted by both volcanic and intrusive rocks, interpreted as a series of westward verging thrusts. Typical coarse grained spodumene (grey green colour) from the NW pegmatite shown below.



Drill hole Information A summary of all information material to the understanding of the exploration results including a tabulation of the following information for all Material drill holes: easting and northing of the drill hole collar elevation or RL (Reduced Level  elevation above sea level in meters) of the drill hole collar dip and azimuth of the hole down hole length and interception depth hole length.

Pre-2017 drilling reported 4 August 2015 by subsidiary GMM (ASX:GMM). Last prior resource and update was 28 November 2018



2019-2022 drill collars

New resource development collar information is presented in Appendices below.



Holes generally inclined between -75 to -80 degrees to determine true width or due to local infrastructure. Data aggregation methods In reporting Exploration Results, weighting averaging techniques, maximum and/or minimum grade truncations (e.g. cutting of high grades) and cut-off grades are usually Material and should be stated.

Where aggregate intercepts incorporate short lengths of high grade results and longer lengths of low grade results, the procedure used for such aggregation should be stated and some typical examples of such aggregations should be shown in detail.

The assumptions used for any reporting of metal equivalent values should be clearly stated. Pre-2017 Data

Where higher grade zones internal to broader intervals of lower grade mineralization were reported, these were noted as included intervals and italicized.



2019-2022 Drilling

New results are reported to a 0.3% cut-of grade (below), minimum 4m width, maximum 1m internal dilution. Only drillholes incorporated into the resource model are reported.



No metal equivalent values are used.

Relationship between mineralization widths and intercept lengths These relationships are particularly important in the reporting of Exploration Results.

If the geometry of the mineralization with respect to the drill hole angle is known, its nature should be reported.

If it is not known and only the down hole lengths are reported, there should be a clear statement to this effect (eg down hole length, true width not known). All intersection grades have been reported previously as length weighted average grades using a 0.3% Li2O lower grade cut-off except where stated.



Intersections were calculated allowing a maximum of 2m of internal dilution with no top-cut applied. Cutting of high grades is not required due to nature of the mineralization and grade distribution/estimation.



The Mt Cattlin lithium and tantalum mineralization occurs as a thick horizontal to gently dipping pegmatite and generally lies 30 to 280m below the current topographic surface resulting in drill intercepts nearing true widths.



All reported intersections in 2023 are approximate true widths. Diagrams Appropriate maps and sections (with scales) and tabulations of intercepts should be included for any significant discovery being reported These should include, but not be limited to a plan view of drill hole collar locations and appropriate sectional views. Diagrams are included in the text above.

Balanced reporting Where comprehensive reporting of all Exploration Results is not practicable, representative reporting of both low and high grades and/or widths should be practiced to avoid misleading reporting of Exploration Results. All significant intersections above 0.3% Li2O have been fully reported in previous releases.



2019-2022 Drilling

Drill hole collars and relevant assay details are appended below. Other substantive exploration data Other exploration data, if meaningful and material, should be reported including (but not limited to): geological observations; geophysical survey results; geochemical survey results; bulk sample size and method of treatment; metallurgical test results; bulk density, groundwater, geotechnical and rock characteristics; potential deleterious or contaminating substances. Fe2O3 is modelled with Li and Ta to determine the effect of deleterious chemistry and mineralogy at or near pegmatite contacts and rafts of surrounding country rock with pegmatite.

Further work The nature and scale of planned further work (eg tests for lateral extensions or depth extensions or large-scale step-out drilling).

Diagrams clearly highlighting the areas of possible extensions, including the main geological interpretations and future drilling areas, provided this information is not commercially sensitive. Development and extraction of the NW Pit Mineral Resource and Reserve.



Diagrams are illustrated in the text above.

Feasibility study work to trade off open pit vs underground options.



Section 3: Estimation and Reporting of Mineral Resources  Mt Cattlin

Criteria JORC Code explanation Commentary Database integrity Measures taken to ensure that data has not been corrupted by, for example, transcription or keying errors, between its initial collection and its use for Mineral Resource estimation purposes.

Data validation procedures used. Pre-2017

At the time of the 2012 Mineral Resource estimates, Allkem had appointed a data administrator to manage and host the Mt Catlin database in a GBIS SQL database.



Field data was entered into project-specific password-protected spread sheets with in-built auto-validation settings. The spread sheets were emailed to head office on a weekly basis and then passed on to the data administrator, where all data was subject to validation procedures and checks before being imported into the central database. Invalid data was not imported into the central database but was quarantined until corrected. Data exports were routinely sent from head office to site for visual validation using ArcGIS and Micromine.



2017 to Jan 2019

Database and data QAQC processes was re-established after review in 2016. The DataShed database was managed/maintained by Maxwell Geoservices and was validated externally to GXY and aggregated meta-data from site and the sample laboratory. The assay laboratory reported sample validation and checks on arrival. Database managers reported both QAQC and validation checks monthly and upon request.



Jan 2019 to Current

Allkem have employed a Database Administrator who loads all data, manages the database and performs routine validations on all loaded data.



All logging is undertaken on a Toughbook using the dedicated LogChief logging system matched to the Datashed database.



Visual validation of drilling data versus the wireframes in Surpac software is undertaken routinely by Mine Geology and Exploration personnel. Site visits Comment on any site visits undertaken by the Competent Person and the outcome of those visits.

If no site visits have been undertaken indicate why this is the case. The reporting CP has completed several site visits since 2016.

Geological interpretation Confidence in (or conversely, the uncertainty of) the geological interpretation of the mineral deposit.

Nature of the data used and of any assumptions made.

The effect, if any, of alternative interpretations on Mineral Resource estimation.

The use of geology in guiding and controlling Mineral Resource estimation.

The factors affecting continuity both of grade and geology. The geological interpretation is considered robust due to the nature of the geology and mineralisation.



Surface diamond and reverse circulation (RC) drillholes have been logged for lithology, structure, and alteration and mineralisation data.



The lithological logging of pegmatite in combination with the Li 2 O, Fe 2 O 3 and MgO assays, including grain size and mineralogical differentiation, have been used to guide the sectional interpretation of the pegmatites in Leapfrog Geo modelling software.



The geological wireframes have then been used as a boundary within which internal, mineralisation wireframes have been generated in Leapfrog software using geology logging and assay data. The primary assumption is that the mineralisation is hosted within the fine-grained material within the pegmatite sills, which is considered robust.



Weathering surfaces have been updated by Allkem Resources in Leapfrog Geo software for recently completed drillholes.



Due to the consistent nature of the pegmatite identified in the area, no alternative interpretations have been considered. The pegmatites are found to be continuous over the area of the deposit.



The Li 2 O% mineralisation interpretations are contained wholly within the pegmatite geological units. Evidence of late-stage faulting is present and has, where appropriate, been incorporated into the geological model. Dimensions The extent and variability of the Mineral Resource expressed as length (along strike or otherwise), plan width, and depth below surface to the upper and lower limits of the Mineral Resource. The Mt Cattlin pegmatites strike north-south and are typically between 10 m and 30 m wide and are typically flat-lying or with a subtle dip east of around 5 to 10 degrees. Several different pegmatites have been identified, either as separate intrusions or due to fault offsets, over a strike length of 1,300 m, an across strike extent of 1,700 m and down to a depth of greater than 300 m below surface.



Thirteen pegmatites have been identified to date in the NW and SW area. They range in extent from 50 m along strike and 50 m down-dip to 650 m along-strike and 500 m down-dip. The pegmatites range in thickness from a few metres to 20 m. Estimation and modelling techniques The nature and appropriateness of the estimation technique(s) applied and key assumptions, including treatment of extreme grade values, domaining, interpolation parameters and maximum distance of extrapolation from data points. If a computer assisted estimation method was chosen include a description of computer software and parameters used.

The availability of check estimates, previous estimates and/or mine production records and whether the Mineral Resource estimate takes appropriate account of such data.

The assumptions made regarding recovery of by-products.

Estimation of deleterious elements or other non-grade variables of economic significance (e.g. sulphur for acid mine drainage characterisation).

In the case of block model interpolation, the block size in relation to the average sample spacing and the search employed.

Any assumptions behind modelling of selective mining units.

Any assumptions about correlation between variables

Description of how the geological interpretation was used to control the resource estimates.

Discussion of basis for using or not using grade cutting or capping.

The process of validation, the checking process used, the comparison of model data to drillhole data, and use of reconciliation data if available. Grade estimation for Li 2 O%, Fe 2 O 3 % and Ta 2 O 5 ppm has been completed using Ordinary Kriging (OK) into pegmatite domains using Datamine, Studio RM software. Grade estimation of Fe 2 O 3 % has been completed using OK into the encapsulating mafic waste and late-stage mafic dyke, which intersects the pegmatites.



The geological, mineralisation and weathering wireframes generated have been used to define the domain codes by concatenating the three codes into one. The drillholes have been flagged with the domain code and composited using the domain code to segregate the data. Hard boundaries have been used at all domain boundaries for the grade estimation Pegmatite waste wireframing using <0.3% lithia and < 4% Na2O.



Compositing has been undertaken within domain boundaries at 1m with a merge tolerance of 0.1 m.



Top cuts for all elements have been assessed for all mineralised and un-mineralised pegmatite domains, as well as for the external waste and mafic dyke domains, with only those domains with extreme values having been top cut. The top cut levels have been determined using a combination of histograms, log probability and mean-variance plots. Two domains have been top cut for Li 2 O. Three domains have been top-cut for or Ta 2 O 5 ppm and no top-cutting completed in Fe 2 O 3 %.



Variography has been completed in Supervisor 8.14 software on an individual domain basis. Domains with too few samples have borrowed variography.



No assumptions have been made regarding the recovery of any by-products.



The drillhole data spacing ranges from 40 m by 40 m resource definition drillhole spacing out to an 80 m by 80 m exploration spacing.



The block model parent block size is 20 m (X) by 20 m (Y) by 5 m (Z), which is considered appropriate for the dominant drillhole spacing used to define the deposit. A sub-block size of 2.5 m (X) by 2.5 m (Y) by 0.625 m (Z) has been used to define the mineralisation edges, with the estimation undertaken at the parent block scale.



Pass 1 estimations have been undertaken using a minimum of 7 and a maximum of 27 samples into a search ellipse set at approximately half of the variogram range. A 4 sample per drillhole limit has been applied in all pegmatite domains.

Pass 2 estimations have been undertaken using a minimum of 7 and a maximum of 27 samples into a search ellipse set at approximately the variogram range. A 4 sample per drillhole limit has been applied in all pegmatite domains.

Pass 3 estimations have been undertaken using a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 24 samples into a search ellipse set at four times the Search 2 range. The Mineral Resource estimate has been validated using visual validation tools combined with volume comparisons with the input wireframes, mean grade comparisons between the block model and composite grade means and swath plots comparing the composite grades and block model grades by Northing, Easting and RL.



Mining reconciliation data for the NW and SW regions is available.



No selective mining units are assumed in this estimate.



No correlation between variables has been assumed. Moisture Whether the tonnages are estimated on a dry basis or with natural moisture, and the method of determination of the moisture content. Tonnes have been estimated on a dry basis.

Cut-off parameters The basis of the adopted cut-off grade(s) or quality parameters applied. For the reporting of the Mineral Resource Estimate, a 0.4 Li2O% cut-off within a USD 1,100 Whittle pit shell has been used.

Mining factors or assumptions

Assumptions made regarding possible mining methods, minimum mining dimensions and internal (or, if applicable, external) mining dilution. It is always necessary as part of the process of determining reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction to consider potential mining methods, but the assumptions made regarding mining methods and parameters when estimating Mineral Resources may not always be rigorous. Where this is the case, this should be reported with an explanation of the basis of the mining assumptions made. A Whittle pit optimisation has been run at 1,100 USD in order to generate a pit shell wireframe for Mineral Resource reporting purposes and to meet the RPEEE reporting requirement.



The mining assumptions/parameters applied to the optimisation are:



 Mining Recovery  93%



 Mining Dilution  17%



 Li2O% Price/tonne 6% concentrate  USD$1,100



 Li2O% recovery  75%



 Ta2O5ppm Price/pound concentrate  USD$40



 Ta2O5ppm recovery  25%



 Transport and port Cost/tonne  AUD$49.68



 State Royalty  5%



 Processing Cost/tonne  AUD$33.16



 Mining Cost/tonne  AUD$4.29



USD exchange rate of 0.70 Li 2 O cut-off of 0.4% has been applied in the Whittle optimisation.



Both Inferred and Indicated Mineral Resource classifications have been utilised in the RPEEE optimisation. Metallurgical factors or assumptions

The basis for assumptions or predictions regarding metallurgical amenability. It is always necessary as part of the process of determining reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction to consider potential metallurgical methods, but the assumptions regarding metallurgical treatment processes and parameters made when reporting Mineral Resources may not always be rigorous. Where this is the case, this should be reported with an explanation of the basis of the metallurgical assumptions made. A Li2O% metallurgical recovery of 75% and Ta2O5 ppm recovery of 25% has been applied during the pit optimisation and generation of the RPEEE pit shell.

Environmental factors or assumptions Assumptions made regarding possible waste and process residue disposal options. It is always necessary as part of the process of determining reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction to consider the potential environmental impacts of the mining and processing operation. While at this stage the determination of potential environmental impacts, particularly for a greenfield project, may not always be well advanced, the status of early consideration of these potential environmental impacts should be reported. Where these aspects have not been considered this should be reported with an explanation of the environmental assumptions made. No environmental factors or assumptions have been incorporated into this Mineral Resource Estimate since Mt Cattlin is a producing operation with Environmental approvals and an Environmental Management Plan in place. Bulk density Whether assumed or determined. If assumed, the basis for the assumptions. If determined, the method used, whether wet or dry, the frequency of the measurements, the nature, size and representativeness of the samples.

The bulk density for bulk material must have been measured by methods that adequately account for void spaces (vugs, porosity, etc), moisture and differences between rock and alteration zones within the deposit,

Discuss assumptions for bulk density estimates used in the evaluation process of the different materials. No additional bulk density data has been collected in the NW Area. As a consequence, the bulk density values determined in the previous MRE (Nov 2018) have been assigned to the block model.



The bulk densities which have been assigned to the Mineral Resource block model by lithology and weathering state are:





Waste Lithologies







Oxide 2.50 Transitional 2.70 Fresh 2.86 Unmineralized Pegmatite







Oxide 2.42 Transitional 2.62 Fresh 2.78 Mineralised Pegmatite







Oxide 2.47 Transitional 2.71 Fresh 2.72





Classification The basis for the classification of the Mineral Resources into varying confidence categories

Whether appropriate account has been taken of all relevant factors (i.e. relative confidence in tonnage/grade estimations, reliability of input data, confidence in continuity of geology and metal values, quality, quantity and distribution of the data).

Whether the result appropriately reflects the Competent Persons view of the deposit. The resource classification has been applied to the MRE based on the drilling data spacing, grade and geological continuity, quality of the estimation and data integrity.



The classification takes into account the relative contributions of geological and data quality and confidence, as well as grade confidence and continuity.



Portions of the deposit which have been estimated in the first two estimation passes and which have been estimated with a high degree of confidence, with defined grade continuity, have been classified as Indicated Mineral Resources.



Portions of the deposit that have been estimated and have a suitable level of drilling to assume geological continuity of the pegmatite have been classified as Inferred Mineral Resources.



The classification reflects the view of the Competent Person. Audits or reviews The results of any audits or reviews of Mineral Resource estimates. This 2023 Mineral Resource estimate for Mt Cattlin has been peer reviewed and validated. Original outputs in Datamine/Studio have been translated into Dassault/Surpac for further development into regularised models for the development of diluted models.

Discussion of relative accuracy/



confidence Where appropriate a statement of the relative accuracy and confidence level in the Mineral Resource estimate using an approach or procedure deemed appropriate by the Competent Person. For example, the application of statistical or geostatistical procedures to quantify the relative accuracy of the resource within stated confidence limits, or, if such an approach is not deemed appropriate, a qualitative discussion of the factors that could affect the relative accuracy and confidence of the estimate

The statement should specify whether it relates to global or local estimates, and, if local, state the relevant tonnages, which should be relevant to technical and economic evaluation. Documentation should include assumptions made and the procedures used

These statements of relative accuracy and confidence of the estimate should be compared with production data, where available The relative accuracy of the Mineral Resource estimate is reflected in the reporting of the Mineral Resource as per the guidelines of the 2012 JORC Code.



The remaining Measured, Indicated, and Inferred material from the NW and SW region have been considered in the mineral resource.



The estimate is domained by identified pegmatite number and zoned by mineralised and un-mineralised subtypes using 0.3% lithia and Na2O < 4%.



Estimates are thus local by domain.



The same geological model and wireframes are used for grade control and mine planning in Dassault/Surpac Software.



Regularized translations of the original Datamine Studio model are used in Dassault/Surpac re-blocked to 5 x 5 x 6.25m for short term mine planning and monthly reconciliations.



Reconciliation is within tolerance for an Indicated resource.





Appendix 2: New RC Drillhole collar details post 14 September 2022.

(Previous results released 5 October 2022 for 81 drillholes and 19,177metres)

Hole ID TYPE MGA94 Z51

East MGA94 Z51

North RL Depth Dip MGA94 Z51

Azimuth NWRC115 RC 223,759 6,282,220 269.236 260 -65.1 180 NWRC127 RC 223,835 6,282,319 267.995 240 -68.8 180 NWRC133 RC 223,856 6,282,580 272.944 54 -85.0 195 NWRC133A RC 223,872 6,282,633 268.009 267 -72.0 202 NWRC135 RC 223,840 6,282,208 268.918 222 -65.8 153 NWRC136 RC 223,831 6,282,328 267.968 250 -64.0 148 NWRC139 RC 223,870 6,282,469 270.942 246 -82.2 165 NWRC140 RC 223,901 6,282,569 275.245 250 -70.0 193 NWRC141 RC 223,877 6,282,629 268.079 270 -63.3 180 NWRC143 RC 223,958 6,282,103 263.265 210 -90.0 180 NWRC144 RC 223,980 6,282,220 264.881 225 -66.5 235 NWRC145 RC 223,971 6,282,296 267.619 213 -68.7 231 NWRC146 RC 223,906 6,282,385 269.86 245 -63.9 173 NWRC150 RC 223,921 6,282,520 270.509 255 -90.0 180 NWRC152 RC 223,917 6,282,701 264.729 285 -73.3 180 NWRC159 RC 223,959 6,282,520 270.441 230 -90.0 180 NWRC160 RC 223,970 6,282,501 270.251 205 -79.8 200 NWRC161 RC 223,956 6,282,633 268.004 270 -69.1 180 NWRC163 RC 223,974 6,282,316 268.239 206 -68.0 159 NWRC169 RC 223,995 6,282,640 267.915 260 -70.0 180 NWRC173 RC 224,009 6,282,431 269.763 230 -80.1 130 NWRC177 RC 224,045 6,282,677 267.162 260 -70.2 180 NWRC178 RC 224,061 6,282,651 267.654 265 -86.2 237 NWRC180 RC 224,080 6,282,480 258.026 225 -71.4 180 NWRC183 RC 224,075 6,282,640 267.946 250 -70.3 180 NWRC184 RC 224,080 6,282,680 266.194 260 -70.0 180 NWRC185 RC 224,080 6,282,720 264.762 240 -69.3 180 NWRC187 RC 224,121 6,282,478 258.29 225 -70.3 180 NWRC193 RC 224,122 6,282,754 263.716 265 -69.7 180 NWRC194 RC 224,159 6,282,479 258.201 220 -68.6 180 NWRC206 RC 224,199 6,282,516 258.294 225 -69.1 180 NWRC217 RC 224,231 6,282,587 244.593 220 -81.3 161 NWRC218 RC 224,190 6,282,659 264.326 250 -69.2 141 NWRC221 RC 224,258 6,282,778 257.083 250 -82.0 215 NWRC222 RC 224,323 6,282,548 225.045 205 -65.0 215 NWRC228 RC 224,319 6,282,388 235.328 170 -71.8 180 NWRC229 RC 224,319 6,282,436 227.993 180 -69.6 180 NWRC230 RC 224,325 6,282,474 228.106 180 -65.6 188 NWRC231 RC 224,330 6,282,506 228.17 185 -70.0 191 NWRC232 RC 224,330 6,282,545 224.938 190 -69.5 191 NWRC237 RC 224,361 6,282,505 224.73 180 -70.0 180 NWRC239 RC 224,366 6,282,636 237.314 195 -78.0 187 NWRC243 RC 223,837 6,282,480 270.931 252 -84.9 180 NWRC245 RC 224,070 6,282,993 261.106 336 -71.7 180 NWRC246 RC 224,085 6,282,744 263.695 264 -84.2 170 NWRC247 RC 224,002 6,282,760 262.257 306 -85.0 180 NWRC248 RC 223,732 6,282,427 270.54 400 -59.9 200 NWRC249 RC 223,930 6,282,481 270.991 150 -83.0 175 NWRC250 RC 223,897 6,282,683 265.992 270 -81.7 210 NWRC251 RC 223,961 6,282,718 264.263 265 -84.9 180 NWRC252 RC 223,817 6,282,477 270.692 278 -72.0 160 SWRC089 RC 224,086 6,281915 260.05 305 -90 000

Appendix 3: New Significant results upper pegmatite

Hole_ID Depth_From Depth_To Interval

Width Li2O% Ta2O5ppm NWRC145 127 132 5 0.83 219.02 NWRC167 148 152 4 1.41 63 NWRC177 175 181 6 1.08 54.95 NWRC180 114 119 5 1.92 75.07 NWRC187 104 108 4 2.26 52.87 NWRC193 186 190 4 0.65 44.69 NWRC194 101 110 9 1.8 83.3 NWRC195 113 117 4 2.23 78.69 NWRC205 98 112 14 1.59 209.66 NWRC206 99 112 13 1.87 71.25 NWRC213 100 113 13 1.83 190.75 NWRC214 102 117 15 1.71 157.15 NWRC215 113 125 12 1.47 108.45 NWRC217 113 119 6 2.1 68.93 NWRC218 156 163 7 0.82 81.49 NWRC219 174 180 6 1.97 105.78 NWRC222 72 77 5 1.27 54.53 NWRC225 137 142 5 1.14 84.35 NWRC228 58 73 15 1.24 94.07 NWRC229 53 67 14 2.02 52.13 NWRC230 58 76 18 1.42 89.74 NWRC231 64 78 14 1.72 94.73 NWRC232 68 77 9 1.02 121.82 NWRC233 133 140 7 1.32 67.22 NWRC237 66 83 17 1.46 86.89 NWRC239 106 115 9 1.32 90.39 NWRC240 152 157 5 1.58 53.04 NWRC246 196 202 6 0.98 40.2

Appendix 4: Significant new results lower pegmatite

Hole_ID Depth_From

(m) Depth_To

(m) Width (m) Li2O% Ta2O5ppm NWRC116 231 236 5 1.94 143.69 NWRC117 265 270 5 1.19 242.39 NWRC122 236 240 4 0.95 76.62 NWRC126 203 210 7 2.7 123.29 NWRC132 234 240 6 2.03 216.77 NWRC133A 235 241 6 1.92 239.38 NWRC134 255 259 4 1.93 93.68 NWRC139 224 234 10 1.2 232.01 NWRC140 235 249 14 2.31 125.66 NWRC141 245 256 11 2.56 196.91 NWRC142 234 244 10 1.91 255.95 NWRC145 199 208 9 0.73 170.83 NWRC146 207 216 9 2 352.25 NWRC150 214 227 13 1.96 164.32 NWRC151 230 238 8 2.4 132.26 NWRC152 231 240 9 1.93 208.61 NWRC159 209 222 13 2.08 77.57 NWRC161 226 238 12 1.61 268.32 NWRC162 232 245 13 2.2 585.54 NWRC163 160 168 8 1.26 113.54 NWRC167 211 223 12 3.04 154.24 NWRC168 217 232 15 1.86 89.7 NWRC169 224 236 12 2.39 154.24 NWRC171 228 238 10 0.98 125.56 NWRC177 235 249 14 1.47 192.38 NWRC178 230 240 10 1.15 331.71 NWRC180 181 188 7 1.83 132.08 NWRC181 212 221 9 1.11 282.55 NWRC183 221 232 11 1.71 235.99 NWRC184 227 234 7 1.39 216.57 NWRC187 186 197 11 1.56 248.7 NWRC193 233 242 9 1.68 493.19 NWRC194 189 199 10 2.08 515.15 NWRC195 193 207 14 1.26 264.11 NWRC196 196 211 15 0.86 191.54 NWRC197 204 216 12 1.32 79.17 NWRC202 246 257 11 1.01 482.63 NWRC205 190 197 7 1.53 115.19 NWRC206 188 199 11 1.5 146.88 NWRC208 223 232 9 2.07 133.43 NWRC209 241 245 4 0.93 133.09 NWRC213 186 192 6 0.68 100.81 NWRC215 201 208 7 0.85 71.93 NWRC217 186 192 6 0.97 77.29 NWRC219 232 238 6 1.22 199.61 NWRC224 131 142 11 1.37 38.87 NWRC225 200 205 5 0.75 76.75 NWRC227 228 233 5 0.98 90.35 NWRC228 149 154 5 0.57 97.8 NWRC229 143 152 9 0.81 85.12 NWRC230 144 156 12 0.62 75.68 NWRC231 154 162 8 0.97 72.7 NWRC232 157 162 5 1.11 60.27 NWRC233 199 203 4 1.09 80.68 NWRC237 147 153 6 1.62 73.67 NWRC242 221 231 10 1.76 281 NWRC243 236 245 9 1.05 176.04 NWRC246 244 254 10 2.17 224.9 NWRC247 223 230 7 0.68 326.36 NWRC252 244 252 8 0.98 130.3




TORONTO, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Western Metallica Resources Corp. (TSXV: WMS) (Western Metallica or the Company) is pleased to report on the results of the first hole drilled at the Companys 100% owned Nueva Celti Project, a past producing copper mine with significant exploration potential, located in the southernmost region of Spain.



Nueva Celti is a highly prospective project that spans 1,250 hectares with an additional 5,100 hectares in the process of being secured to the East of the known mineralization with the application of the Retortillo investigation permit. The project is located in the Ossa Morena geological province in Andalusia, positioned in a region where copper mineralization has been recognized since ancient times. The Nueva Celti Project has now been prioritized by the Company as a strategic exploration project due to these initial results demonstrating comparability to the vast amounts of regional and historical data, as well as past production of commercial grade copper with high quality infrastructure on and adjacent to the property.

Western Metallica recently launched a diamond drilling program aimed at validating the grades and confirming the geology interpreted compiling the historical information from the Asturiana de Zinc, Glencore, drilling program. Refer to Figure 2 for the location, and Table 2 for the details, of the planned holes that will be executed across two different phases totaling approximately 3,000 metres. The drilling program will target the ore bodies below the historical mine levels with the aim of proving the continuity of the ore bodies at depth for at least 400 metres, and for more than 400 metres on strike. Furthermore, the Company has planned the execution of both gravimetric and magnetic ground geophysical surveys aimed at broadening the target area and immediately generating further drill targets. The Company is financed to complete this program and a substantially larger program with approximately CAD $4.7 million in the treasury.

The results from the first hole, NCDD001, have confirmed the presence of the ore bodies reported by the Asturian de Zinc, Glencore drilling program, as well as intersected other shallower and deeper mineralized zones (refer to Table 1) with total widths and grades comparable with the historical results. The control on mineralization, mainly represented by a total >50% of disseminated magnetite, pyrite and chalcopyrite, seems mainly lithological with the copper-mineralized zone coinciding with layers of muscovite and biotite-schists locally fragmental (meta-volcaniclastics) within an amphibolite unit (meta-volcanics).

HOLE From m To m Width (m) Cu % Zn % Pb % Ag g/t Au g/t NCDD001



















149.97 151.53 1.56 1.9 0.9 0.1 23.0 0.5 165.55 170.42 4.87 1.8 1.1 0.2 18.2 0.6 191.95 196.50 4.55 2.6 10.6 0.5 228.65 235.03 6.38 1.1 0.3 7.3 0.3 280.10 289.70 9.60 0.9 0.2 6.7 0.3 417.75 420.10 2.35 0.8 0.5 0.2 12.1 0.4

Table 1: Significant Results from Drill Hole NCDD001.





Figure 1: Nueva Celti cross section 100S containing hole NCDD001 from the current Western Metallica drilling program. The position of the mine levels is also shown.

HOLE Phase Easting Northing Elevation Az DIP Planned Depth (m) Final Depth (m) NCDD001 1 293716 4176850 103 265 -55 450 448.80 NCDD002 1 293730 4176956 87 265 -50 400 1 293712 4177067 92 265 -50 300 2 293697 4177104 92 265 -50 300 2 293740 4177030 86 265 -45 315 2 293745 4176814 100 265 -45 340 2 293625 4176629 88 265 -50 200 2 293719 4177005 90 265 -45 300 2 293721 4176899 96 265 -45 325 Total metres 1st phase 1,150 448.80 Total metres 2nd phase 1,780

Table 2: Nueva Celti Project Drill Program Schedule





Figure 2: Nueva Celti 1st and 2nd phase drilling platform locations. Mise-A-La-Masse anomalies (1975 survey) on background and position of mag anomalies (1975 survey)

Results of the second drill hole, NCDD002, localized 100 metres north of drill hole NCDD001, are expected to be returned at the beginning of May. Managements initial impression is that orebodies may anastomose giving origin to a single, wider, Cu-sulfide bearing body.

Western Metallica is in the process of securing the land covering the potential repetition toward the East of the same-trending mineralization, with the application of the Retortillo investigation permit covering 5,100 hectares. With the amalgamation of Nueva Celti and the Retortillo permit, the prospective project could span over 6,300 hectares of combined exploration potential (refer to Figure 3).





Figure 3: Location of the area under investigation on respect to the Nueva Celti and Retortillo (applied) Investigation Permits.

Quality Assurance and Quality Control

Sample preparation and analyses will be conducted according to standard industry procedures. Drill core samples are crushed, split and pulverized prior to analysis of Gold by fire assay and Atomic Absorption and multi-elements by ICP-AES after four acid digestion. Analytical performance is monitored by means of certified reference materials (CRMs), coarse blanks, coarse and pulp duplicate samples. Samples have been prepared in ALS Chemex preparation lab in Seville, Spain and analyses have been completed in ALS Rosia Montana, Alba, Romania (Fire Assays) and LAS Loughrea, Galway, Ireland (ICP).

Qualified Person

The technical and scientific information in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Giovanni Funaioli, Eur.Geol., Vice President Exploration of Western Metallica, who is a Qualified Person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Giovanni Funaioli is an employee of the Company and is not considered independent under NI 43-101.

About Western Metallica Resources Corp.

Western Metallica is an Ontario company with its head office in Toronto, Ontario, trading on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) under symbol WMS. Western Metallica is in the business of mineral resource exploration and development, its principal asset is its 100% owned Nueva Celti Copper Property in the Ossa Morena belt in Andalusia, Spain. Western Metallica also holds interests in three other Spanish gold projects in the Navelgas Gold Belt in Asturias, Spain (Penedela, Valledor and Sierra Alta).

Further information of the Company can be found at: www.westernmetallica.com

For more information please contact:

Western Metallica Resources Corp.

Gregory Duras

Chief Executive Officer

Email: gduras@westernmetallica.com

Investor Relations

Email: info@westernmetallica.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

The TSXV has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

This press release contains statements that constitute forward-statements. Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Companys actual results, performance or achievements, or developments to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

Although the Company believes, in light of the experience of its officers and directors, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. When used in this press release, the words estimate, project, belief, anticipate, intend, expect, plan, predict, may or should and the negative of these words or such variations thereon or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. The forward-looking statements and information in this press release include information relating to the planned drill program and the development of the Project and other mining projects and prospects thereof. Such statements and information reflect the current view of the Company. Risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in those forward-looking statements and information.

By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the expectations of the Company as of the date of this news release and, accordingly, is subject to change after such date. Readers should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that managements beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.

Three figures accompanying this announcement are available at:

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/eb9466d8-034e-4e7a-8852-92a3bbc6f1b1

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0b3f7979-3cdc-4aa0-879d-2465e651593b



https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e6ff869a-20d0-4c19-9363-bd1456efc2d0
SCHAFFHAUSEN, Switzerland, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Acronis Cyber Foundation Program is proud to announce the completion of new school construction in Sierra Leone and Guatemala. In partnership with GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE: GDDY), the company that helps entrepreneurs thrive, both construction projects uphold the Programs mission to help and empower children with modern educational infrastructure and learning environments.

The Barbara Junior Secondary School in Sierra Leone was completed in September 2022 and included the development of three separate buildings designed to maximize natural light and fresh air. The school is located in the village of Barbara in Sierra Leones Port Loko district, an agricultural region where most families have an income of less than $2 per day. Built with sustainable resources readily available in the immediate community including bamboo and interlocking brick masonry, the construction began in December 2021 with NGO partner Forikolo and is expected to be attended by over 120 pupils. The school features amenities to support disabled children, a hygiene room for girls, and the distribution of free hygiene products.

These construction projects would not have been possible without the continued efforts of the Acronis Cyber Foundation Program and the extreme generosity of GoDaddy Pro, said Patrick Pulvermueller, CEO, Acronis. We work with tens of thousands of partners worldwide and over the past five years, we have successfully and positively impacted thousands of children together with our partners through the determinations of the Foundation. We are so thankful to our partners who have joined our mission to help those in underserved communities.

In 2019, the Acronis Cyber Foundation Program, Cloudfest and NGO partner Esperanza e.V. built five new classrooms to extend the existing Escuela Oficial Urbana Mixta San Antonio School in Guatemala. Prior to the Programs involvement, the schools 525 students shared just 10 classrooms which led to significant overcrowding. GoDaddy Pro joined the initiative in 2021 and helped fund the latest construction project which includes remodeling and expanding three classrooms of the current facility, four additional classrooms, and proper stairs. The next goal for the school in San Antonio, Guatemala will be the development of a modern computer classroom that will allow students to optimize educational resources.

These projects align with GoDaddys mission to make opportunity more inclusive for all. The successful completion of these projects provides communities with the educational resources they need and deserve, said Paul Bindel, President of GoDaddy Partners. Were proud our efforts and partnership with Acronis created momentum in these communities and gave these students a chance at a formal, modern education.

Founded in 2018, the Acronis Cyber Foundation Program has been strongly dedicated to education by funding school construction and bringing IT skills training to communities around the globe. In addition to building 18 schools and seven computer classrooms, the Program has engaged in educational projects with over 19,000 people participating in Acronis IT Skills Programs worldwide. It has brought humanitarian aid to more than 5,000 persons in underserved communities.

The Acronis Cyber Foundation Program is focused on partnering with other organizations to help make a difference. Acronis invites all businesses, large or small, to engage in joint projects. For partners wanting to develop their own community development plans, the Program can also help in supporting other initiatives. To join our mission, please visit: www.acronis.org.

To learn more about our partnership with GoDaddy Pro, check out our latest blog here: https://www.acronis.com/en-us/blog/posts/the-acronis-cyber-foundation-program-and-godaddy-pro-announce-school-construction-partnership

Visit Acronis.org for up-to-date information on past and present Acronis Cyber Foundation Program projects and initiatives. https://acronis.org/2023/04/acronis-and-godaddy-pro-partnership-empowering-650-children-to-study/

About Acronis

Acronis unifies data protection and cybersecurity to deliver integrated, automated cyber protection that solves the safety, accessibility, privacy, authenticity, and security (SAPAS) challenges of the modern digital world. With flexible deployment models that fit the demands of service providers and IT professionals, Acronis provides superior cyber protection for data, applications, and systems with innovative next-generation antivirus, backup, disaster recovery, and endpoint protection management solutions powered by AI. With advanced anti-malware powered by cutting-edge machine intelligence and blockchain based data authentication technologies, Acronis protects any environment - from cloud to hybrid to on premises - at a low and predictable cost.

Acronis is a Swiss company, founded in Singapore. Celebrating two decades of innovation, Acronis has more than 2,000 employees in 45 locations. Acronis Cyber Protect solution is available in 26 languages in over 150 countries and is used by 18,000 service providers to protect over 750,000 businesses.

Press Contacts:

Julia Carfagno

Julia.Carfagno@acronis.com

Karl Bateson

Karl.Bateson@acronis.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6465ac24-689e-4ed9-911d-1ba9597f7eb2
MERRIMAC, MASS., April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Muzzy Lane, a global leader in educational simulations, has launched SkillBuild, a series of online short courses to help higher education institutions, employers, and learners to develop, assess, and verify soft skills that are in high demand among employers. According to research from America Succeeds, job postings request soft skills four times more often than hard skills.

The nine SkillBuild courses empower learners to gain and demonstrate soft skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, oral communication, and resilience. Previously, these skills were labor-intensive for educators and employers to assess, partly due to a lack of consistency and standards. SkillBuild uses role-playing simulations, where Muzzy Lane has been one of the founding industry leaders, to provide learners with authentic, experiential learning activities. Along the way, learners are presented with real-world scenarios and asked to make choices that build on each other. As they encounter new information and see the effects of their decisions, they learn to course-correct. Simultaneously, the simulations auto-assess the learners mastery of each skill, so employers and educators can trust the accompanied microcredential.

For years, weve been helping educators and employers assess skills in complex scenarios that reflect the real world, said David McCool, president and CEO of Muzzy Lane. Were excited to take this next step and offer learners everywhere the opportunity to learn, sharpen, or prove their soft skills and demonstrate to employers that they have these vitally important competencies. Assessing these skills through role-playing simulations is a recognized best practice for skill-based education. Experiential learning helps learners build their own mental models that improve their retention of skills and helps them apply those skills in the real world.

The SkillBuild suite of courses enables learners to practice and master the soft skills employers are looking for and earn a microcredential they can showcase on their resumes. Employers can also integrate these courses into their learning and development programs to support employees in upskilling or reskilling. Higher education institutions can incorporate these courses as they transition to more skills-based programming.

Developed in partnership with Education Design Lab (the Lab), the courses are built on the Labs foundational 21st Century Skills framework and based on Muzzy Lanes extensive experience working with universities and other educational organizations, including Western Governors University, Excelsior University, Herzing University, Arizona State University, and McGraw-Hill.

Were honored to work with Muzzy Lane on building tools for a more skills-based future, said Naomi Boyer, PhD, Executive Director of Digital Transformation at Education Design Lab. Soft skills are notoriously difficult to assess, particularly at scale, but SkillBuild will help prepare students for the non-academic challenges of the working world, and will provide employers the confidence that their newest team members have both the technical know-how and the soft skills to succeed.

Muzzy Lane's expansion into skills-based learning, assessment, and microcredentialing is based on insight and feedback garnered through the use of its flagship product, Author. A simulation authoring platform, Author has been used by schools and other organizations to create and deliver more than 16 million authentic learning experiences for students to practice and apply their knowledge and skills and make their learning visible to educators and others. Muzzy Lane has recently enhanced Author with new course-building features to enable educators and employers to turn their own custom simulations into full courses.

Anyone can access SkillBuild from the Muzzy Lane website, and the courses run on any browser or operating system and are compliant with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA. Muzzy Lane offers Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) integration to allow schools and employers to easily embed SkillBuild courses in their LMS platforms.

The first SkillBuild course, on critical thinking, is currently in the pilot phase. Educators and learners can visit Muzzy Lane's SkillBuild website to learn more and sign up for the pilot.





About Muzzy Lane

Muzzy Lane provides content and tools to support the transition to skills-based learning and training. Our SkillBuild line of soft skills courses allow learners to practice and validate their skills, providing an industry validated microcredential upon the successful completion of each course. Our Muzzy Lane Author suite of tools enables partners to develop their own skills-based simulations and courses. These can be integrated into existing courseware or delivered as standalone learning experiences. Partners can award their own microcredentials to their learners as well. We have delivered more than 16 million simulations to millions of learners and would love to help with your skills challenges as well! Visit us at MuzzyLane.com to learn more.

Attachments
MONTREAL, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Accelia Capital, a technology oriented venture capital fund that prioritizes investments in innovative, female-owned or led businesses, is pleased to welcome Export Development Canada (EDC) as a new investor. This prestigious partners $5.6 million investment brings Accelia Capitals funding pool to $60 million in assets under management.



EDCs new role as investor will include participation to Accelia Capital's Advisory committee, as well as the offering of a competitive investment matching program to portfolio companies.

A fund that creates impact

Accelia Capital, which was founded by technology entrepreneurs Christine Beaubien and Annick Charbonneau just over a year ago, is already highly active in the venture capital ecosystem through the deployment of its vast network of business professionals, including twenty renowned women investors who contribute their skills towards the portfolio companies successes. As such, Accelia leverages its investors and partners expertise to accelerate development of innovative Canadian businesses, while building the future and creating national and diverse wealth.

Accelia Capital 's key objective is to increase gender diversity in the competitive field of technological entrepreneurship. The venture funds ultimate goal is to generate a portfolio composed of at least 70% women-owned or led businesses. Significant investments have already been made within promising companies, several of which are set to be announced soon.

In addition to the more than twenty influential businesswomen who have already invested in the fund, Accelia Capital now counts on the support of 6 institutional investors as well as several private investors. The arrival of EDC completes Accelia Capitals value proposition to help propel successful Canadian, women-owned and led businesses onto the world stage.

Quotes

EDCs mission of supporting Canadian businesses to expand in international markets complements Accelia Capital's value proposition, which focuses on providing women entrepreneurs with access to financial and human capital to build successful companies on the global stage.

Annick Charbonneau, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Accelia Capital.

The arrival of EDC as an investor, after just over a year following the creation of Accelia Capital, positions our fund as a key venture capital player. The participation of this major partner will help accelerate product development, research, and the expansion of young companies in new Canadian and international markets. This exciting new partnership reinforces our mandate to provide more support to innovative companies, especially those owned or run by women.

Christine Beaubien, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Accelia Capital.

EDC is thrilled to support Accelia Capital as it grows its portfolio of companies, with an emphasis on promoting women-owned or led businesses with a potential to grow internationally. This investment is an opportunity for EDC and Accelia to create positive impacts in our economy and communities, by accelerating female leadership in the tech sector and giving a runway for future generations of Canadian innovators.

Guillermo Freire, Senior Vice-President, Mid-Market Group at EDC

About Accelia Capital

Accelia Capital is a venture capital fund with $60 million in assets under management that invests in innovative companies with high-technological potential. It was co-founded in December 2021 by Christine Beaubien and Annick Charbonneau, two experienced technology entrepreneurs. The founders' goal of supporting innovative companies and accelerating female leadership in technology can be encapsulated in three words: diversity, performance, and impact. This dynamic duo, who are backed by an extensive business network, have rallied a team of top management professionals and seasoned businesswomen to help propel promising young companies to new heights.

About EDC

Export Development Canada (EDC) is a financial Crown corporation dedicated to helping Canadian businesses make an impact at home and abroad. EDC has the financial products and knowledge Canadian companies need to confidently enter new markets, reduce financial risk and grow their business as they go from local to global. Together, EDC and Canadian companies are building a more prosperous, stronger and sustainable economy for all Canadians.

Sources :

Accelia Capital Inc. | accelia.vc

EDC | edc.ca

Media contacts :

Anne-Marie-A. Savoie | Fernandez relations publiques |

annemarie@fernandezcom.ca

C. 418-934-7448

Alexandra Mc Donald | Fernandez relations publiques |

alexandra@fernandezcom.ca

C. 418-271-7600
Vaughan, ON, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The federal government is underfunding municipalities and public infrastructure, while reaping the greatest proportion of tax dollars from high-tax policies on homebuilding. Cumulative underinvestment in public infrastructure across all three levels of governments in Ontario reveals the federal government has the greatest capacity to close the gap to the best practice recommendation of 4% of GDP spending on public infrastructure. These are among the ground-breaking findings revealed in an economic analysis report.

The research showed public infrastructure investment is 30% below what economic analysis recommends, while production taxes on new housing construction are the highest of any sector. The research report, Will Feds Answer the Call? Infrastructure Investment Lags Amidst Highly Taxed Housing Construction was authored by the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis and commissioned by the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario (RCCAO).

The high taxes on housing construction and underinvestment in public infrastructure is a problem the federal government is uniquely positioned to resolve, said Nadia Todorova, Executive Director of RCCAO. Ontario cannot realize economic and immigration growth goals without the support of the federal government increasing funding for public infrastructure.

In light of the research findings and industry challenges, RCCAO is calling on the Government of Canada to:

Increase public infrastructure funding to enable immigration and economic growth policies to be realized.

Provide long-term, sustainable funding to municipalities to enable greater investment and planning in public infrastructure development and maintenance.

Continue expansion of immigration programs that welcome skilled construction workers to Canada to address infrastructure and housing labour force challenges.

Key findings from the report:

2X  The tax burden on new home construction is two times higher compared to the rest of the economy.

 The tax burden on new home construction is two times higher compared to the rest of the economy. 39%  The federal governments share of new home construction taxes, while only investing 7.1% in public infrastructure.

 The federal governments share of new home construction taxes, while only investing 7.1% in public infrastructure. 71%  Without immigration, Ontarios dependency ratio would grow to 70.7% by 2050, roughly where Japan is currently. A high dependency ratio means that there are fewer people of working age to support a dependent population, like children and seniors.

 Without immigration, Ontarios dependency ratio would grow to 70.7% by 2050, roughly where Japan is currently. A high dependency ratio means that there are fewer people of working age to support a dependent population, like children and seniors. 31%  The total purchase price of a home in Ontario contains at least 30.7% of taxation revenues in total.

 The total purchase price of a home in Ontario contains at least 30.7% of taxation revenues in total. $0.39 of every $1 in taxes  The federal government receives 39 cents of every $1 of tax revenue generated from the construction of a new home in Ontario, yet it only pays 7 cents of every $1 invested in public infrastructure in Ontario.

RCCAO will continue to work with all three levels of government, representing industry's voice at the table and advocating for action to build the best future possible for Ontario.

Read the full report here.

RCCAO Executive Director Nadia Todorova is available for interviews.

Background on RCCAO: The Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario (RCCAO) is a labour-management construction alliance. Since its formation in 2005, RCCAO has been a leading industry advocate for infrastructure investment. It has commissioned 61 independent, solutions-based research reports to help inform decision makers.

Attachments
Dublin, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Flexible Endoscopes Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Type (Laparoscopes, Arthroscopes, Ureteroscopes, Cystoscopes), By End-use (Hospitals, Outpatient Facilities), By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2023 - 2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global flexible endoscopes market size is expected to reach USD 16.1 billion by 2030 and is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.6% over the forecast period.

Company Profiles

Olympus Corporation

Ethicon Endo-surgery, LLC.

FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation

Stryker Corporation

Boston Scientific Corporation

Karl Storz GmbH & Co. KG.

Smith & Nephew Inc.

Richard Wolf GmbH

Medtronic Plc (Covidien)

PENTAX Medical

Machida Endoscope Co., Ltd.

Rising preference for minimally invasive surgeries in comparison with open surgeries, owing to benefits provided by minimally invasive surgeries and technological advancements are some of the factors boosting the market growth.



The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the market. The postponement and decrease in elective surgeries performed during the pandemic had a major effect on the market. Additionally, changes in regulations related to surgical procedures, including minimally invasive procedures, and supply chain disruptions have also hindered growth during the pandemic.

An international study of endoscopists, published in the Elsevier Public Health Emergency Collection in 2020, revealed that around 85% of respondents reduced their procedure volume by more than 50% and approximately 2.45% of respondents completely stopped their endoscopy services during the COVID-19 pandemic.



The market is growing due to several factors, including an increase in age-related diseases and a higher demand for endoscopic devices in both therapeutic and diagnostic procedures. These products and devices are beneficial in treating and diagnosing various health conditions because they require minimal intervention, shortening recovery time. The global population of older adults is increasing.

They are more susceptible to medical conditions that often require endoscopic interventions, such as pelvic abscess, liver abscess, endometriosis, gallstones, and intestinal perforation. For example, in 2019, approximately 16% of the US population was over 65 years old, according to the Administration on Aging, which is projected to increase to 21.6% by 2040. Therefore, the growing geriatric population is expected to contribute to the market's expansion.



The drivers responsible for the market growth are the rising incidence of chronic diseases that affect internal body systems, the benefits offered by flexible endoscopes over other products, and the growing necessity for early diagnosis of chronic conditions. In order to diagnose several chronic ailments such as colon cancer, stomach cancer, respiratory infections, and inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), endoscopes are extensively used.

The increasing prevalence of these chronic diseases is therefore contributing to the increasing demand for flexible endoscopes. The rising adoption of flexible endoscopes also propels market growth due to their advantages over other endoscopes. The most advantageous feature of flexible endoscopes is the surgeon's ability to control the direction of the endoscope's lens, which expands its range of use.



Flexible Endoscopes Market Report Highlights

Based on type, colonoscopes dominated with a share of 21.8% in 2022, owing to an increasing prevalence of colorectal cancer and other gastrointestinal disorders

The neuro endoscopes segment is anticipated to witness the fastest growth over the forecast period from 2023 to 2030

In 2022, based on end use, outpatient facilities accounted for the highest revenue share of 52.9%. This high share is attributable to the substantially large adoption and usage of endoscopy devices in outpatient facilities and favorable reimbursement policies

The outpatient facilities are also expected to witness the fastest growth over the forecast period from 2023 to 2030

North America dominated the market in terms of the revenue share of 41.8% in 2022 due to an increase in chronic diseases that require their use, such as stomach and colorectal cancer, and irritable bowel syndrome

The Asia Pacific region is expected to witness the fastest growth over the forecast period owing to increase demand for flexible endoscopes

Key Attributes:

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 118 Forecast Period 2022 - 2030 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2022 $8.96 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2030 $16.1 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 7.6% Regions Covered Global

Key Topics Covered:



Chapter 1 Methodology and Scope



Chapter 2 Executive Summary

2.1 Market Outlook

2.2 Segment Outlook

2.3 Regional Insights

2.4 Competitive Insights

2.5 Flexible Endoscopes Market Snapshot

2.6 Flexible Endoscopes Market Segment Snapshot

2.7 Flexible Endoscopes Market Competitive Landscape Snapshot



Chapter 3 Flexible Endoscopes Market Variables, Trends, & Scope

3.1 Market Driver Analysis

3.2 Market Restraint Analysis

3.3 Flexible Endoscopes Market Analysis Tools

3.4 Impact of COVID-19 pandemic

Chapter 4 Flexible Endoscopes Market: Type Estimates & Trend Analysis

4.1 Segment Dashboard

4.2 Flexible Endoscopes Market: Product Movement Analysis, USD Million, 2022 & 2030

4.3 Laparoscopes

4.4 Arthroscopes

4.5 Ureteroscopes

4.6 Cystoscopes

4.7 Gynecology Endoscopes

4.8 Neuroendoscopes

4.9 Bronchoscopes

4.10 Hysteroscopes

4.11 Laryngoscopes

4.12 Sinuscopes

4.13 Sigmoidoscopes

4.14 Pharyngoscopes

4.15 Otoscopes

4.16 Duodenoscope

4.17 Nasopharyngoscopes

4.18 Rhinoscopes

4.19 Colonoscopes

Chapter 5 Global Flexible Endoscopes Market: End Use Estimates & Trend Analysis

5.1 Segment Dashboard

5.2 Flexible Endoscopes Market: End Use Movement Analysis, USD Million, 2022 & 2030

5.3 Hospitals

5.4 Outpatients Facilities

Chapter 6 Flexible Endoscopes Market: Regional Estimates & Trend Analysis By Product



Chapter 7 Global Fexible Endoscopes Market: Competitive Landscape

7.1 Strategy framework

7.2 Market participation categorization

7.3 Company Profiles

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/o4if9b

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Attachment
English French

Press contact:

Helene Delannet

Tel.: + 33 6 81 41 86 95

Email: helene.delannet@capgemini.com

Capgemini applies geospatial artificial intelligence to support Eramet in the rehabilitation of its mining site in Senegal

Eramets Connected Concession application uses drone imagery and artificial intelligence to accelerate land rehabilitation

Paris, April 17, 2023  The mining and metals company, Eramet, has worked closely with Capgemini to leverage artificial intelligence for the transformation of the mining operations of its subsidiary "Grande Cote Operations" (GCO), that specializes in mineralized sands, with the aim to facilitate revegetation and land rehabilitation.

In Senegal, Eramets local subsidiary, GCO, produces mineralized sands. To extract minerals present in small quantities in the desert sands, the company has a mobile mine comprising a dredge and a nomadic mill1 that operate in an artificial basin (see visuals here) within a 400 km2 mining concession.

Combining mining, 3D drone imagery and complex data volumes

GCO and Capgemini began developing a roadmap in 2020 that included optimization plans for the mine's path, water management, extraction mechanism and energy consumption. From this work came "Connected Concession," a platform designed to improve vegetation inventory and monitoring of mined lands to support re-vegetation and land rehabilitation efforts after mining is complete.

Using a drone imagery system, the Connected Concession application provides a complete map of the mining area designated by GCO2. This has notably increased the inventory capacity from 80 to 930 hectares per team member. As a result, an area previously mapped in half a day is now mapped in a few minutes. On the technical side, the collected images are transmitted in near real time to Eramet, then processed and displayed in GCO's geographic information system (GIS) using algorithms that combine computer vision and deep learning technologies3. The solution allows Eramet to rehabilitate the areas concerned in two ways: either by replanting the soil or by identifying areas suitable for the introduction of food crops that respect biodiversity and are then used by local communities.

"The Connected Concession application is revolutionizing the way we work on an open pit mine site. It is a human, operational and technological transformation. Because we have an impact on the environment and on people, our objective in the years to come is to ensure that this impact is minimal or positive," explains Ludovic Donati, Director of Transformation and Digital Performance at Eramet.

Some 20 experts spanning a multicultural and multidisciplinary team, including data scientists, developers, cloud architects, GIS experts, and designers specialized in user experience, participated in this project. Piloted entirely remotely, using agile methodology and lasting only one year, it involved end users on a daily basis in order to stay as close as possible to their needs.

Charlotte Pierron-Perles, Head of Intelligent Industry at Capgemini Invent, said: "We are particularly proud of this program, which demonstrates how our connected Intelligent Industry4 approach offers powerful levers of transformation for the benefit of the environment, thanks to technologies and in particular the application of data and artificial intelligence.

New features of the application are now being considered to extend the tool to monitor water resources, or to identify alternative routes for the mine. There is also a plan to make this technology available to local communities, government authorities and non-governmental organizations in an open data5 context.

With this program, Eramet won one of the four Netexplo Change 2022 Trophies, which reward initiatives highlighting sustainable and technological transformations, and Capgemini Invent was awarded in France a Silver Trophy at the Grand Prix Syntec Conseil 2022 in the "social, societal and environmental impact" category.

To learn more about this project, please watch the video here.

About Capgemini

Capgemini is a global leader in partnering with companies to transform and manage their business by harnessing the power of technology. The Group is guided every day by its purpose of unleashing human energy through technology for an inclusive and sustainable future. It is a responsible and diverse organization of 360,000 team members in more than 50 countries. With its strong 55-year heritage and deep industry expertise, Capgemini is trusted by its clients to address the entire breadth of their business needs, from strategy and design to operations, fueled by the fast evolving and innovative world of cloud, data, AI, connectivity, software, digital engineering, and platforms. The Group reported in 2022 global revenues of 22 billion.

Get The Future You Want | www.capgemini.com

1 In mineralogy, a mill is a plant where the ore is finely ground and undergoes physical or chemical treatment to allow the extraction of useful metals.

2 Once a week, the company's surveying division flies its drones over the planned path of the mine as well as areas already being rehabilitated, gradually covering the entire region over the course of several flights.

3 The algorithms, derived from agroforestry, have been adapted upstream to better meet the specific challenges posed by the Senegalese desert to scan points of interest: trees, bushes, fields and certain types of buildings.

4 Intelligent Industry is the new era of digital transformation: characterized by a growing convergence of the physical and virtual worlds - product, software, data, and services - across all industries; and fueled by the rapid development of technologies, including cloud, artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT), edge computing and 5G.

5 It is data that anyone can access, use and share. Governments, businesses and individuals can use open data to create social, economic and environmental benefits.

Attachment
WAWA, Pa., April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Every April, Wawa celebrates the anniversary of opening its first convenience store in 1964 and the launch of The Wawa Foundation established to mark the Companys 50th anniversary in 2014. Nine years later, Wawa and The Wawa Foundation are proud to announce having reached more than $136 million in support provided to more than 6,000 community partners focused on health, hunger and everyday heroes across the companys footprint of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, Florida and Washington, DC. In addition, more than 30 million meals have been donated by Wawa stores to local food pantries through the Wawa Share food donation program.

We are incredibly grateful for the generosity of our wonderful customers who support our Foundation campaigns and send our heartfelt thanks to every one of them for helping us provide funding to so many meaningful non-profit partners that have positively impacted lives across our communities, said Maria Kalogredis, Chair of The Wawa Foundation. We look forward to continuing our commitment to building stronger communities by championing life-saving research and care, leading hunger relief efforts, and supporting the heroes making a difference every day.

Every year, Wawa and The Wawa Foundation support thousands of local non-profit partners throughout Wawas operating area with financial grants and in-kind donations. The Wawa Foundation has seven national partners: Special Olympics, The American Red Cross, Childrens Miracle Network Hospitals, USO, JDRF, LLS Light the Night, and Check Out Hunger (Feeding America Food Banks) supported through direct funding and the results of our in-store fundraising campaigns.

For the year 2022, support from Wawa and The Wawa Foundation provided more than $22 million in financial grants and support to national and local charity partners, 3.2 million pounds of food to local food pantries, $4 million in in-kind donations, and more than $1 million in hurricane relief support to Florida communities. In addition, Wawa associates supported almost 100 local community events including assembling and shipping more than 15,000 care packages to deployed service members through our Taste of Home initiative. The Wawa Community Care Beverage vans served more than 25,000 coffee, hot chocolate and beverages during Polar Plunges, JDRF One Walks and Light the Night events to support those serving others.

At Wawa, it isnt just our customers who support our charitable efforts. Our associates are proudly committed to their communities as well and constantly seek to have a positive impact not only through donations but also through heartfelt actions, said Kalogredis. We couldnt be more thankful to have such a generous team that helps us deliver on our mission every single day.

During the week of April 17, local Wawa stores will feature signs with highlights of local non-profits who received funding in 2022, and Wawa will celebrate its associate volunteers with a social media video campaign.

About The Wawa Foundation

As an extension of Wawas commitment to making the world a better place by fulfilling customers lives every day, it launched The Wawa Foundation in 2014. The Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation founded by Wawa, Inc. to support the companys charitable giving and philanthropic activities  and ultimately to help build happier, stronger communities. The Foundation focuses its support on organizations committed to health, hunger, and everyday heroes through local, state, and national grants and / or in-store fundraising, such as, donation boxes and point-of-purchase scan materials.





A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e790266d-230b-4da4-a98f-9ce1573d3a2c

CONTACT: public.relations@wawa.com
New Delhi, April 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global sexual wellness market is projected to attain a valuation of US$54.8 billion by 2031 from US$30.0 billion in 2022 at a CAGR of 7.15% during the forecast period, 20232031.

Get Free sample copy of this report @ https://www.astuteanalytica.com/request-sample/sexual-wellness-market

Changing cultural attitudes towards sex and sexuality, increasing awareness and acceptance of sexual health issues, and the availability of a wide range of sexual wellness products and services have collectively contributed to the significant growth of the sexual wellness market. Over the years, society's views on sex and sexuality have evolved, and people are becoming more open and accepting of sexual expression. This has led to a growing demand for sexual wellness products and services that can help individuals explore and satisfy their sexual needs and desires.

Moreover, there is a growing awareness of the importance of sexual health and wellbeing, which has led to an increased demand for safe sex practices and products that can help individuals maintain good sexual health. The availability of a wide range of sexual wellness products and services, including sexual lubricants, contraceptives, sex toys, and sexual enhancement supplements, has made it easier for people to access and try out new sexual experiences.

The rise of e-commerce and online shopping has also contributed to the growth of the sexual wellness market. The anonymity of online shopping has made it easier for people to purchase sexual wellness products and services without feeling embarrassed or judged. This has led to a surge in online sales of sexual wellness products and services, which is expected to continue over the forecast period.

Sex Toys to Generate Revenue of over 27.42 billion by 2031 Despite Ban in Most of Countries

Sex toys are a significant contributor to the sexual wellness market, accounting for more than 50% of the market revenue. The widespread availability of sex toys has contributed to their popularity, with consumers being able to easily access them online and in retail stores. Consumer preferences have also evolved, with the market now offering a wide range of products to cater to different needs and preferences. From vibrators and dildos to anal toys and BDSM equipment, there is a sex toy for almost every desire.

However, the easy availability of sex toys has also led to controversy and bans in some countries. In India, for example, the sale and distribution of sex toys are banned, with the government citing moral grounds as the reason for the ban. Similarly, in some parts of the United States, the sale and distribution of sex toys are restricted by law, with some states requiring that they be sold as novelty items rather than sex toys.

Despite the bans and restrictions, the sex toys demand continues to grow in the global sexual wellness market, with consumers finding ways to access the products they desire. Some consumers purchase sex toys online or travel to neighboring countries where they are legal, while others make their own sex toys using household items.

Prominent Countries with Ban on Sex Toys Sell in Global Sexual Wellness Market

India: The sale and distribution of sex toys are banned in India, with the government citing moral grounds as the reason for the ban.

United Arab Emirates: The import and sale of sex toys are banned in the UAE, with the government citing religious and cultural reasons as the justification for the ban.

Saudi Arabia: The sale and distribution of sex toys are prohibited in Saudi Arabia, with the government citing religious and cultural reasons as the justification for the ban.

Malaysia: The sale and distribution of sex toys are banned in Malaysia, with the government citing moral and religious grounds as the reason for the ban.

Thailand: The sale and distribution of sex toys are illegal in Thailand, with the government citing cultural reasons as the justification for the ban.

Iran: The sale and distribution of sex toys are illegal in Iran, with the government citing moral and religious reasons as the justification for the ban.

South Korea: The sale and distribution of sex toys are restricted in South Korea, with sex toys only available for sale in designated areas.

Men to Bring in Over 50% Revenue of Global Sexual Wellness Market

According to Astute Analytica's study, men are a significant contributor to the global sexual wellness market, accounting for more than 50% of the market revenue. A demographic analysis and survey findings help shed light on the factors driving this trend. Demographic analysis shows that men aged 18-45 are the primary consumers of sexual wellness products and services. This group is typically more open-minded and accepting of sexual expression, leading to a higher demand for sexual wellness products and services.

A survey conducted by Astute Analytica found that men are increasingly investing in sexual wellness products and services to improve their sexual health and wellbeing. The survey found that men are more likely to purchase sexual enhancement supplements, sex toys, and lubricants to enhance their sexual experiences. It was also found that men are becoming more aware of the importance of safe sex practices and are seeking out contraceptives and other safe sex products. This is driven in part by concerns around sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies.

Interestingly, men are more likely to purchase sexual wellness products and services for solo use, rather than with a partner. This is driven in part by the growing acceptance of solo sexual pleasure, as well as the increasing availability and variety of sex toys and other products designed for solo use.

In terms of product preferences, sexual enhancement supplements and condoms are the most popular product among men, followed closely by sex toys and lubricants. This suggests that men are looking for ways to improve their sexual experiences and performance, and are willing to invest in products that can help them achieve this.

Browse summary of the report and Complete Table of Contents (ToC): https://www.astuteanalytica.com/industry-report/sexual-wellness-market

Rise of Online Sales: Consumers' Preference for Online Channels in the Sexual Wellness Market to Garner More than 27% Revenue

According to Astute Analytica, the online channel is becoming an increasingly popular distribution channel for sexual wellness products, with consumers preferring to purchase these products online. In 2022, online sales accounted for around 24% of the market revenue share, and this is projected to expand to 27% over the forecast period.

A distribution analysis reveals that online stores are becoming an important channel for the sexual wellness market, with an increasing number of retailers and manufacturers setting up online stores to cater to this growing demand. Online stores offer several advantages over traditional retail stores, including a wider product range, greater convenience, and lower prices.

Consumer purchasing habit analysis suggests that the convenience and anonymity of online shopping are driving the shift towards online channels. Consumers are increasingly turning to online stores to purchase sexual wellness products, as they can do so discreetly from the comfort of their own homes.

The use of social media and influencer marketing is also driving the growth of online sales in the sexual wellness market. Many brands are using social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook to market their products, with influencers promoting sexual wellness products to their followers.

Moreover, the online channel allows for greater access to a wider range of products, particularly for consumers living in remote or rural areas. This is particularly important for consumers who may not have access to traditional retail stores that carry sexual wellness products.

Asia Pacific is On the Verge of Overtaking North America, with over 34% Revenue Share by 2031

According to Astute Analytica, Asia Pacific has emerged as the strongest and fastest-growing sexual wellness market. Although the region was 4% behind North America in terms of market value in 2022, it is projected to almost level up with North America in terms of revenue by 2031. The growth of Asia Pacific's sexual wellness market can be attributed to several factors. There is a growing awareness and acceptance of sexual health issues in the region. As society becomes more open-minded about sex and sexuality, the demand for sexual wellness products and services has increased.

There is a rising middle class in Asia Pacific, with increasing disposable income and a growing consumer culture. This has led to a higher demand for sexual wellness products and services, particularly among younger consumers. This is further supported by the availability of a wide range of sexual wellness products and services. The online channel has made it easier for consumers to access a wider range of products, including sexual lubricants, contraceptives, sex toys, and sexual enhancement supplements.

Furthermore, the regional sales of condoms in Asia Pacific have been significant, driving the growth of the sexual wellness market. According to a report, China and India were the two largest markets for condoms in the region in 2021, with sales of 6.8 billion and 2.6 billion units respectively. The demand for condoms is expected to continue to grow in Asia Pacific, driven by increasing awareness of the importance of safe sex practices.

Some of the Top Market Players Are:

B. Cumming

Beate Uhse

Beijing Aimer

Bijoux Indiscrets

BILLY BOY (MAPA)

BioFilm

Church & Dwight Co. Inc.

Diamond Products

Doc Johnson

Karex Berhad

LELO

LifeStyles Healthcare (Ansell)

Mayer Laboratories, Inc.

Mankind Pharma

Reckitt Benckiser Group plc

Veru Inc.

Other Prominent Players

Directly Purchase a copy of report with TOC @ https://www.astuteanalytica.com/inquire-before-purchase/sexual-wellness-market

About Astute Analytica

Astute Analytica is a global analytics and advisory company which has built a solid reputation in a short period, thanks to the tangible outcomes we have delivered to our clients. We pride ourselves in generating unparalleled, in depth and uncannily accurate estimates and projections for our very demanding clients spread across different verticals. We have a long list of satisfied and repeat clients from a wide spectrum including technology, healthcare, chemicals, semiconductors, FMCG, and many more. These happy customers come to us from all across the Globe. They are able to make well calibrated decisions and leverage highly lucrative opportunities while surmounting the fierce challenges all because we analyze for them the complex business environment, segment wise existing and emerging possibilities, technology formations, growth estimates, and even the strategic choices available. In short, a complete package. All this is possible because we have a highly qualified, competent, and experienced team of professionals comprising of business analysts, economists, consultants, and technology experts. In our list of priorities, you-our patron-come at the top. You can be sure of best cost-effective, value-added package from us, should you decide to engage with us.

Contact us:

Aamir Beg

BSI Business Park, H-15,Sector-63, Noida- 201301- India

Phone: +1-888 429 6757 (US Toll Free); +91-0120- 4483891 (Rest of the World)

Email: sales@astuteanalytica.com

Website: www.astuteanalytica.com
CALGARY, Alberta, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PHX Energy Services Corp. ("PHX Energy" "we" "our" or the "Corporation") (TSX: PHX) is pleased to announce the release of our 2022 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and Sustainability Report, highlighting our 2022 performance, initiatives related to sustainability, ethical business practices and social responsibility.



We are committed to our ongoing ESG journey, focused on measurable objectives, data driven decisions, continual improvement and transparent communication. We are proud to share our commitment with our stakeholders, including these highlights from our 2022 ESG Report.

We focused on aligning our ESG program and reporting with SASB and TCFD and we are proud to say our ESG and Sustainability Report contains all relevant disclosure set forth by SASB and TCFD.

We undertook the process of mapping our companywide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and established our baseline for scope 1 and scope 2 emissions, which will aide us in further implementing GHG reduction strategies.

We established an environmental committee, comprised of employees in both Canada and the US, who meet monthly to discuss environmental goals, strategies and tactics.

We continued to evolve our workplace culture to ensure we maintain an environment where each individual feels safe, valued, and respected and did so through initiatives such as our employee engagement surveys, diversity training for supervisors and managers and a new development and assessment procedure.

For the second consecutive year we achieved silver status on our EcoVadis Assessment improving our ranking from the 80 th percentile to the 88 th .

percentile to the 88 . We proudly and diligently maintained a safe work environment as evidenced by the feedback from our safety engagement survey and our Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) of 0.47, which is well below industry average.

We built upon the responsibilities in our Nomination and Corporate Governance Committee and Board of Directors Mandates to provide more in depth and clearly defined oversight related to ESG matters, including climate change.

Our full 2022 ESG and Sustainability Report is available on our website at www.phxtech.com.

About PHX Energy Services Corp.

PHX Energy, through its directional drilling subsidiary entities, provides horizontal and directional drilling technology and services to oil and natural gas producing companies in Canada, the US and Albania.

The common shares of PHX Energy are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "PHX".

For further information please contact:

John Hooks, CEO; Michael Buker, President; or Cameron Ritchie, Senior Vice President Finance and CFO

PHX Energy Services Corp.

Suite 1400, 250 2nd Street SW

Calgary, Alberta T2P 0C1

Tel: 403-543-4466 Fax: 403-543-4485
SAN FRANCISCO, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hagens Berman urges Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE: MPW) investors who suffered substantial losses submit your losses now.



Class Period: July 15, 2019 Feb. 22, 2023

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: June 12, 2023

Visit: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/MPW

Contact An Attorney Now: MPW@hbsslaw.com

844-916-0895

Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (MPW) Securities Fraud Class Action:

According to the complaint, Defendants made false and misleading statements and failed to disclose that Medical Properties: (1) masked the distressed state of its tenants through sale-leaseback arrangements that were essentially round-robin transactions in that they allowed debt-saddled tenants to meet their obligations in the short term; (2) fraudulently transferred hundreds of millions of dollars in what amounted to a bailout of financially distressed tenants; and (3) concealed its fraudulent transfers with fake construction projects with purportedly high capital expenses, despite the fact that the company entered into triple-net leases that obligated its tenants to pay a significant portion of expenses.

Investors began to learn the truth on Jan. 26, 2023, when Viceroy Research published a scathing report accusing Medical Properties of engaging in billions of dollars of uncommercial transactions with its tenants and their management teams in order to mask a pervasive revenue round-robin scheme and/or theft.

Then, on Feb. 2, 2023, Viceroy sent and published its letter to Medical Properties' auditor highlighting Viceroys concerns about severely distressed tenants and round-tripped revenues, uncollectible accrued revenues and impaired asset values.

Finally, on Feb. 23, 2023, the company announced Q4 and full-year 2022 financial results that included a whopping $171 million impairment charge relating to four properties leased to Prospect and a write-off of $112 million on unbilled Prospect rent.

These revelations drove the price of Medical Properties shares sharply lower.

Were focused on investors losses and proving Medical Properties cooked its books, said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the investigation.

If you invested in Medical Properties and have substantial losses, or have knowledge that may assist the firms investigation, click here to discuss your legal rights with Hagens Berman.

Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding Medical Properties should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 844-916-0895 or email MPW@hbsslaw.com.

About Hagens Berman

Hagens Berman is a global plaintiffs rights complex litigation law firm focusing on corporate accountability through class-action law. The firm is home to a robust securities litigation practice and represents investors as well as whistleblowers, workers, consumers and others in cases achieving real results for those harmed by corporate negligence and fraud. More about the firm and its successes can be found at hbsslaw.com. Follow the firm for updates and news at @ClassActionLaw.
/NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES/

TORONTO, April 17, 2023 - Nubian Resources Ltd. (TSXV: NBR) (OTCQB: NBRFF) ("Nubian" or the "Company") announces its intention to undertake a non-brokered private placement for further investment in Athena Gold Corporation ("Athena") to undertake its follow-up drilling program at the Excelsior Springs Project, located in Esmeralda County, Nevada ("Excelsior Springs"), for exploration activities at the Company's Fosterville East Project, located in central Victoria, Australia, and for general working capital purposes.

The non-brokered private placement will consist of the issuance of up to 7,500,000 units, each Unit being priced at $0.08 and comprising one common share and one common share purchase warrant (a "Warrant") for aggregate gross proceeds of $600,000 (the "Private Placement"). Each Warrant will be exercisable at $0.10 for a period of 24 months post the closing date. In connection with the private placement, the Company may pay finder's fees of 6% cash and 6% compensation warrants in accordance with the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange.

Nubian intends to invest $350,000 of the Private Placement in Athena's current non-brokered private placement to maintain its ownership position in Athena and the Excelsior Springs gold project. In 2022, Athena drilled three holes in the Western Slope zone at Excelsior Springs that identified two zones of high-grade and shallow mineralization less than 120 metres deep, which included 6.05 g/t Au over 27.4 metres at a 40-metre depth, a second deeper zone of 4.49 g/t Au over 7.6 metres, and a third hole of 10.03 g/t Au and 17.3 g/t Ag over 16.7 metres, including 15.3 g/t Au and 26.5 g/t Ag over 10.7 metres (see Athena press releases dated June 29, 2022 and January 10, 2023). Nubian's subscription of $350,000 will comprise 5,000,000 units at a price of $0.07 per unit, with a unit comprising one common share and one common share purchase warrant exercisable at $0.10 for a period of two years.

QUALIFIED PERSON

The technical information contained in this news release relating to Excelsior Springs has been reviewed and approved by Dr. Scott Jobin-Bevans (P.Geo.), a Director of Nubian, who is a Qualified Person under the definitions established by the National Instrument 43-101.

ABOUT NUBIAN

Nubian Resources Ltd. is a publicly traded precious and base metals exploration company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. The Company is managed by a team of experienced mining and geological professionals. Nubian's projects are focused on key mining jurisdictions including Peru and Australia (central Victoria and Tasmania).

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated", "may" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on Nubian's current beliefs or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially. Although such statements are based on reasonable assumptions of Nubian's management, there can be no assurance that any conclusions or forecasts will prove to be accurate.

Forward looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information, including the closing of the Private Placement and use of proceeds. Such factors include risks inherent in the exploration and development of mineral deposits, including risks relating to changes in parameters of the projects as plans continue to be redefined, risks relating to variations in grade or recovery rates, risks relating to changes in mineral prices and the worldwide demand for and supply of minerals, risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic and current global financial conditions, increased competition, access and supply risks, reliance on key personnel, operational risks, regulatory risks, including risks relating to licenses and permits, financing, capitalization and liquidity risks and title and environmental risks.

The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof, and Nubian is not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws.

Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein.

SOURCE Nubian Resources Ltd.
Vancouver, April 17, 2023 - Fjordland Exploration Inc. (TSXV: FEX) (the "Company") announces that it has received notice from Ivanhoe Electric BC Holding Limited ("Ivanhoe Electric") that it is terminating its investment agreement with Fjordland in the South Voisey's Bay ("SVB") Project, effective immediately. Fjordland currently owns a 75% interest in the project, with Commander Resources Ltd. owning the balance. Under the existing agreement with Commander, Fjordland has the option to increase its interest to 100% by expending $4 million in exploration expenditures, together with additional cash and shares, by October 31, 2024. The 150 square kilometer SVB project is in good standing with the Newfoundland and Labrador government until at least mid-2027. Due to exiting the venture, Mark Gibson, Ivanhoe Electric's Chief Operating Officer, has resigned from Fjordland's Board of Directors.

"We appreciate the time, effort and expenditures that Ivanhoe Electric put into evaluating the South Voisey's Bay project since they first entered into the agreement in 2017," said James Tuer, President and CEO of Fjordland Exploration. "While we are disappointed that the agreement has been terminated, we remain committed to creating value for our shareholders by advancing this world-class nickel exploration asset, whether on our own or with the help of another senior nickel explorer."

In 2022, Fjordland completed a small drill program which was cut short by poor performance from the drilling contractor. The one hole completed at the Worm gabbro reached a target depth of 420 m. Gabbro was intersected between 206 m and 260 m and from 400 m to the end of the hole. Assays failed to show any significant amounts of mineralization, however, there were obvious sulfide inclusions within the core suggestive of the potential for nearby mineralization. Recent re-interpretation of borehole EM from work completed in the late nineties across the entire property has generated some significant off-hole conductors that need to be tested. As demonstrated by several recent high grade nickel discoveries, world class nickel projects can be found within metres of near barren drill holes using this technique. Fjordland plans to create an exploration program in order to attract new investment or a partner to test these anomalies.

The company gratefully acknowledges the Newfoundland and Labrador Ministry of Natural Resources' Junior Exploration Assistance (JEA) program for its financial support that aided the 2021 LT Squid MLTEM survey and the 2022 drill program.

About Fjordland Exploration Inc.

Fjordland Exploration Inc. is a mineral exploration company that is focused on the discovery of large-scale economic metal deposits in Canada.

In collaboration with Commander Resources Ltd., Fjordland is exploring the SVB "Pants Lake Intrusive" target which is in a geologic setting analogous to the nearby nickel-cobalt-copper Voisey's Bay deposit. Fjordland has earned a 75% interest in the project.

Fjordland, owns a 100% interest in the Renzy nickel-project located near Maniwaki, Quebec. The project encompasses the former Renzy Mine where, during the period from 1969 to 1972, 716,000 short tons were mined with average grades of 0.70% nickel and 0.72% copper. Fjordland has staked additional claims to increase the size of the project to 530 sq. km.

As well, Fjordland has two copper-gold properties in the Quesnel Trough of central British Columbia, The West Milligan copper-gold project is a joint venture with Northwest Copper Corp. located within 4 km of Centerra's Mount Milligan copper-gold mine. The 103 sq. km. Witch copper-gold project is located another 35 km west of the Milligan mine.

Robert Cameron, PGeo, is a qualified person within the context of National Instrument 43-101 and has read and takes responsibility for the technical aspects of this release.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

"James Tuer"

James Tuer, CEO

For further information:

James Tuer

Ph: 604-688-3415

tuer@fjordlandex.com

www.fjordlandex.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes certain forward-looking statements or information. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this news release, including, without limitation, statements regarding the use of proceeds from the private placement, and other future plans and objectives of the Company are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's plans or expectations include market prices, general economic, market or business conditions, regulatory changes, timeliness of government or regulatory approvals and other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators. The Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/162694
Carlos Sainz has hit out at the Italian media for weeks of negative coverage about the start of Ferrari's 2023 campaign.

The Spanish driver says the negativity is not helping the fabled Maranello team to improve.

"You have to realise that no one is more upset or angry or unhappy about the situation than everyone here," said Sainz.

"We are the first to not like the situation, and we are the ones who are going full throttle to turn the situation around. And sometimes the comments are more of a distraction and pull us down even more instead of helping us."

Some of the Ferrari criticism is even in-house, with Lapo Elkann hinting on social media that his brother John Elkann is not present enough at Maranello.

When one user insisted that "in the eyes of us fans, the presidency is absent", Lapo Elkann replied: "Unfortunately, I know."

John Elkann, however, told a Ferrari shareholders' meeting late last week: "Last year we were able to improve our performance significantly.

"Our goal now is and remains to win the world title. Fred (Vasseur) is concentrating on achieving this goal together with the whole team."

Ferrari's determination for every single point is also evident in the appeal against Sainz's controversial Melbourne penalty for a clash with Fernando Alonso.

The FIA has set the online appeal hearing date for Tuesday morning.

Aston Martin boss Mike Krack, meanwhile, admits that although the team he leads is ahead of both Mercedes and Ferrari, Aston Martin is having to look backwards as well as ahead to dominant Red Bull.

"We are substantially behind Red Bull," he told Auto Motor und Sport. "Even if they stand still, the gap would be too big to catch them in one season.

"Of course we take the fastest car as a reference, but we are constantly looking at the gaps with respect to Ferrari, Mercedes and Alpine.

"We have to be realistic. We have to look ahead, but we also have to look at third and fourth place. Things can change very quickly," Krack added.

(GMM)
Hopes that Germany may return to the Formula 1 calendar are not dead, according to Hockenheim boss Jorn Teske.

Although the country's prominence at the pinnacle of motorsport is at a low ebb, rumours have circulated in just the past few days that Formula 1 is keen to revive a German GP.

It could be thanks to an annual race rotation scheme championed by F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali - fuelled by Volkswagen marque Audi's foray for 2026.

When asked about the rumours, Hockenheim managing director Teske told Sport1: "We are looking forward to further discussions about Formula 1 in Germany.

"And we are pleased that the Audi entry has brought a new dynamic to the discussion. But we were always in contact with Formula 1. We never let it stop.

"But that doesn't necessarily mean that there's always something new to report. And we also know that it is still not easy.

"But when a global player like Audi opens up new paths, then of course we welcome it and are very interested in exchanging ideas with everyone involved."

However, Hockenheim's position for the past several years is that the current race fee model does not allow similar circuits to even break even.

"We stand by our opinion that a Formula 1 race shouldn't ruin us," Teske insisted. "In this respect, one has to look for ways of reconciling the various interests."

One way to break even may be for Hockenheim to share an annual calendar spot with another race - meaning a German GP only takes place every two years.

When asked if that would be a problem, Teske answered: "Not at all.

"I think it's a very good idea to have an alternating solution.

"I can understand that Formula 1 wants variety in the calendar. And on the other hand we would only tie up the enormous resources needed to hold a Formula 1 race every two years whilst retaining the image and status of a Formula 1 circuit.

"In that respect it is absolutely ideal. If there was then a rotation of the two German tracks, and I'm mentioning our colleagues from the Nurburgring, that would certainly be fine with the German fans and me as well."

(GMM)
Daniel Ricciardo seems unlikely to return to the Formula 1 grid next year with Haas.

Late last year, as Ricciardo lost his McLaren race seat for 2023, Haas boss Gunther Steiner had brief talks with the Australian.

"He wants ten f***ing million. Minimum," Steiner said.

Steiner ultimately brought Nico Hulkenberg out of his three-year forced sabbatical to replace the struggling Mick Schumacher.

He is happy with his choice.

"I think Nico feels comfortable with us," Steiner told the German broadcaster ntv. "The team and the engineers love working with him.

"He helps the team a lot to bring in his experience to bring us further forward."

Steiner also said his personal relationship with Hulkenberg, 35, is "very easy".

"When I need him, he's there for me - and when he needs me, I'm there for him," he said.

But while it may seem like Haas and Hulkenberg are headed towards a definite contract extension for 2024, Steiner insists it's too early for that.

"It depends whether we are happy with him or not," he said.

"We also have to see what alternatives there are, that's what it's all about. Sometimes it's important to stick to the status quo and get some peace and quiet into the house.

"But we haven't talked about drivers or extensions at the moment," Steiner said.

As for Ricciardo, apart from his high salary demands, the Australian has also said he doesn't want to rebuild his race career from the ground up with anything other than a "top team".

When asked about Ricciardo specifically, Steiner answered: "At some point, maybe I will speak with him.

"Everybody will want to speak with Danny after a year off, but I cannot promise anything, especially if our two guys do a good job. I also have a new driver this year so I need to give him a bit of a chance."

(GMM)
Transforming economy through agriculture: Tree Crops Development Authority leads charge

Severious Kale-Dery Features Apr - 17 - 2023 , 07:14 Updated: Apr - 17 - 2023 , 07:14

On September 19, 2020, when President Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo inaugurated the Tree Crops Development Authority (TCDA) in Kumasi, he foresaw Ghanas economic transformation hinging on agriculture.

His belief in the agricultural sector as the surest way to transform the economy led to the rollout of the agricultural flagship policy, Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ), which covered five broad areas.

These are the Planting for Food and Jobs (Crops), the Rearing for Food and Jobs, the Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD), the Greenhouse Technology and Mechanisation.

TCDA Act, 2019 ( Act 1010)

The TCDA, a legal institution established by an act of Parliament, Tree Crops Development Authority Act, 2019 ( Act 1010), is projected to lead the charge in using six tree crops to generate a minimum of $6 billion annually starting from the year 2028.

The TCDA, an offshoot of the PERD, is, thus, tasked to regulate and develop in a sustainable environment; the production, processing, pricing and marketing of six tree crops, namely Oil Palm, Rubber, Shea, Coconut, Cashew and Mango.

The authority was, therefore, set up to lead the agenda for the diversification of Ghana's agriculture by putting in place policies and programmes to guide research, production, processing, pricing and marketing of the six stated tree crops with enormous agricultural, economic, export and forex earning potential for Ghana.

The TCDA, with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), William Quaittoo, is undoubtedly the unnoticed gold mine and the panacea for the country permanently weaning itself from this perennial phenomenon of going back to seek funding support in terms of loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank or any of those international financial agencies.

Potentials of TCDA

This is because of the potential the six tree crops have in posting between $6 billion and $12 billion annually for the country as each one is expected to give the country a maximum of $2 billion.

Currently, there is an overreliance on cocoa, as the main foreign exchange earner, which is said to have even lost steam because available information suggests that this year, we are likely to earn less than $1 billion.

That is why the government must be committed to supporting the TCDA to stabilise. It is therefore disturbing to learn that out of the $15 million seed money for the authority, so far, only $1.3 million has been released. This is unacceptable, considering the potential of the TCDA.

There are best practices in other jurisdictions and one is just our neighbour, Cote d'Ivoire, which is currently doing it so well.

Major task

One major task that the new Agriculture Minister, Bryan Acheampong, will face is to find ways to ensure that the TCDA is stabilised to enable it to stand on its feet and have the capacity to borrow money based on its balance sheets.

As a country, we cannot sit down and see TCDA crumbles down. TCDA has come to stay and everything possible should be done to put it on its feet to enable it to realise the purpose for which it has been set up.

Modest successes

Even before its 3rd anniversary, the TCDA has achieved some modest successes. For instance, as of December 2022, the authority has been able to supply 3.7 million elite seedlings of Coconut, Oil Palm, Rubber, Mango, Shea and Cashew freely to farmers.

It has also developed and launched a five-year strategic framework (20222027) to improve policy and regulatory environments conducive to leveraging both public and private sector investments to stimulate inclusive and sustainable growth in the tree crop sub-sector.

It has also established a digital framework for traceable supply chains and sustainable financing mechanisms to enhance the operational capacity of TCDA and the value chain actors of the six tree crops.

The authority is tasked to develop pricing mechanisms for cashew, oil palm and rubber with the objective of incentivising producers to sustainably increase production.

Consequently, the authority had already started last year with the monthly minimum producer price for cashew and starting from January this year, it has added oil palm fresh fruits bunch (FFB) and raw rubber (Cup-lumps).

Producer price

The monthly minimum producer price per tonne of FFB for January 2023 was GH 1,252. 92 while the minimum producer price for raw rubber cup lumps for the same month stood at GH 4.9167 per kilogramme.

For February, the price per tonne of FFB was GH1,157.27, while the raw rubber was GH5.0911 per kilogramme.

In March, the monthly minimum producer price per tonne of FFB was GH1,433.70 and that of the raw rubber is fixed at 5.5200/kg.

The advantage of the monthly minimum producer price is that it informs the producers, how much their product will cost to make.

This ultimately encourages the producers to supply more as prices are high. As there will be more competitors, it gives the customers more choices in the market.

The monthly minimum producer price ensures that the farmer is not unduly cheated by middlemen or the market women.

It is clear that with the political will to stabilise the TCDA, Ghana is on its way to being truly FREE FOREVER from relying on international donor support to meet our developmental challenges.
KayBlez tours Europe in May

Kofi Duah Showbiz News Apr - 16 - 2023 , 07:47

HIGHLIFE musician KayBlez starts his Europe tour early next month under his new management team Invicta Jam Empire Limited.

The tour which is to get him close to his fans outside Ghana will take him to countries such as Spain, Germany, Austria, Italy and France.

Briefing Graphic Showbiz about the tour, Felix Kwaku Takpah, Road Manager for KayBlez who was formerly known as Bless said his team decided to organise the tour to get the artiste close to his fans after rebranding.

KayBlez is very talented and we have a lot of plans for him. We know why we signed him for five years.

There are a lot of things we will be doing together to put him out there. The name KayBlez will not die like that because we are investing so much into him, he said.

KayBlez on the other hand said he was grateful for the support from his new management and promised to give off his best.

I know the effort my new management is putting into my craft so I will not disappoint them. It is hard to come by a record label that spends so much on you. I am grateful for their effort, he noted.

KayBlez has been in the music industry for close to 10 years.

He released his first single, Medanda featuring Okyeame Kwame in 2013. He followed it up with the hit song Chocho Mucho featuring Kofi Kinaata in 2017.
At least 56 killed, nearly 600 injured as Sudan clashes continue

International News Apr - 16 - 2023 , 18:11

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a bloc of East African nations, has resolved to hold an emergency meeting to discuss measures to settle the conflict in Sudan between the army and paramilitary forces.

IGAD spokesperson Nuur Mohamud Sheekh told the Anadolu News Agency that the leaders of the member states would meet on Sunday and discuss the developments in the country as the military continues to clash with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for a second day.

After the hostilities began on Saturday, the leaders of neighboring countries including Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia were urged to put an end to the violence.

Moussa Faki Mahamat, president of the African Union Commission, urged the sides in Sudan to immediately stop harming the country and the international community to make a work towards an end to hostilities.

Armed clashes erupted Saturday morning in Sudan's capital Khartoum and its surrounding cities between the army and a paramilitary RSF.

A dispute over military security reform, which calls for the RSF fully joining the army, had escalated into armed clashes between the two sides.

At least 56 were killed, and nearly 600 others were injured in Sudan after clashes erupted between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces in many parts of the capital Khartoum and other areas outside the capital.

The RSF announced that it had taken control of the presidential palace, a strategic guesthouse within the army's headquarters, and the Khartoum International Airport in the capital. The RSF also claimed to have seized control of Merowe and El-Obeid airports and other strategic sites in the states.

However, the Sudanese army denied the claims, stating that "all sites are under the control of the armed forces." On Saturday evening, the Sudanese Armed Forces issued a statement on social media that there would be no negotiations or dialogue until the RSF is disbanded.
Hearing impaired achieves dream of becoming nurse "Thanks Daily Graphic, others for assistance"

Mohammed Fugu Apr - 17 - 2023 , 08:06

HER dream of becoming a professional nurse to be able to serve the hearing impaired community nearly got shattered due to her inability to fund her education at the Community Health Nursing Training College (CHNTC) in Tamale in 2021.

Undaunted, Issahaku Zakia, a 25-year-old young lady with hearing impairment defied all odds and enrolled at the nursing training school which is affiliated to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology to become a professional nurse.

However, her predicament started after gaining admission to the school, as she continuously struggled with her studies because she couldnt pay her fees and also pay an interpreter to regularly guide her in class during lessons.

The school had no sign language interpreter to help students with hearing impairment during lessons, and the hearing-impaired student was unable to afford the services of a permanent interpreter to assist her.

Ms Zakia hails from Kintampo in the Bono East Region but lives with her parents in Tamale.

She is the first born of four siblings and the only hearing-impaired in the family.

She aspires to be a certified public health nurse to serve the deaf community and champion their interest.

Graphic report

Following a report in the Daily Graphic on March 24, 2021, which highlighted the plight of Ms Zakia, who found it difficult to cope with the Diploma in Nursing programme, a number of institutions swiftly responded to enable her to continue with her education.

The Alexandra Miriam Foundation, Under The Sun Foundation, Moon Touch Travels and Tours and a number of philanthropists donated laptops and funded her tuition fees throughout the programme.

One of the laptops was installed with a conversation software that transcribed voices into texts to enable her to read.

Achieving dream

After the long and tough journey, the hearing-impaired student has now completed the three-year programme and has since graduated.

She is currently awaiting posting for her national service.

She told the Daily Graphic that it has been a tough journey; at a point I nearly gave up on my dream.

She thanked the Daily Graphic for highlighting her plight which caught the attention of some benevolent organisations and philanthropists to come to her aid, saying I remain indebted to the Daily Graphic and all those who supported me in one way or the other to enable me to complete the programme.

On her next plans, Ms Zakia said she intended to serve the hearing impaired persons and advocate for their health rights when she was fully posted and started working.

Hearing-impaired nurses

Although many persons with disabilities are often marginalised or discriminated against at almost all levels of national development, especially in the education sector, she has defied the odds to make herself relevant to society.

Checks by the Daily Graphic revealed that since independence, Ghana has not produced any hearing-impaired person as a medical doctor or a nurse due to the barrier of communication in sign language and mode of teaching in the schools.

Since the introduction of the sign language curricula into the nursing and midwifery training schools by the Nursing and Midwifery Council in 2014, not a single hearing-impaired person has been trained as a nurse, though the idea was to help deal with the challenges faced by the deaf community when they visited health facilities and to make professional medical training accessible to them.

Disability Act

The Ghana Persons with Disability Act, 2006, Act 715, provides for all Ghanaians living with any form of disability the right to health care and medical treatment. However, access to quality health care continues to be a major challenge.

The Act states that The Ministry of Health shall include the study of disability and disability related issues in the curricula of training institutions for health professionals, to develop appropriate human resources to provide general and specialised rehabilitation services.

The Ministry of Health shall include education on disability and disability issues in healthcare programmes.

Writers email: mohammed.fugu

@graphic.com.gh
International Maritime Piracy report misleading  Rear Admiral Yakubu

Joshua Bediako Apr - 17 - 2023 , 08:25

The Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Issah Yakubu, has said in the past two years, no violent attack or kidnapping occurred on vessels in the countrys waters.

He, therefore, described as utterly misleading and disingenuous a report by the International Maritime Bureau Piracy Reporting Centre (IMB PRC) last year which portrayed Ghana as the country with the highest piracy incidents globally.

Rear Admiral Yakubu made the rebuttal at a ceremony in Accra last Friday at which he received two brand new Mitsubishi Pajero vehicles from the Danish government to support the development of the Special Boat Squadron of the Ghana Navy.

The donation is part of the Danish Maritime Security Programme which seeks to enhance regional research, capacity building and convening of stakeholders toward a safer maritime domain in the Gulf of Guinea.



Piracy

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) defines piracy as an act of violence or detention perpetrated on the high sea against a ship outside of a states jurisdiction of 12 nautical miles off its coast.

Rear Admiral Yakubu said the IMB, for whatever reason, had chosen to redefine piracy as the act of boarding any vessel with the intent to commit theft or any other crime and with an intent or capacity to use force in furtherance of that act.

Let me state categorically that none of the incidents of petty theft that occurred on some vessels at the Takoradi Port and anchorage fits any of the two definitions, he said.

He added that the UNCLOS definition of piracy made the crime one of universal jurisdiction, so any state could respond to a piracy incident anywhere it occurred on the high seas.

The Chief of Naval Staff said it was the responsibility of every vessel to keep proper watch on board to ensure that miscreants did not sneak on board to steal petty items and sneak out without being detected.

According to him, what exacerbated the problem was that most of the vessels did not report such incidents to the local authorities on detection but chose to report them to their parent companies overseas, thereby denying local authorities the opportunity to act swiftly on the incidents.

While admitting that Ghana could do more to improve security at the ports and anchorages, he said vessel crews must bear full responsibility for what happened on board their vessels where law enforcement officers had no access, particularly where no violence nor the threat of it was involved.

It is like leaving your front door open and blaming the police when thieves sneak in to steal your belongings, he said.

The IMB report

In the 2022 report, Ghana and Angola rose to the top of the list of countries reporting piracy incidents in the Gulf of Guinea.

The data indicated that the Takoradi and the Luanda anchorages were both included in the IMB PRC's list of worldwide ports with three or more reported incidents of piracy in 2022, with more than two-thirds of the events occurring while ships were anchored or berthed.

Ghana was ranked highest in percentage of incidents  33  with Angola scoring 24 per cent, according to the IMB PRC.

The report, however, pointed out that the increased presence of naval vessels and cooperation between coastal authorities in the Gulf of Guinea continued to positively impact the piratical activities reported in Africa.



Collaboration

Rear Admiral Yakubu said efforts by the Ghana Navy, in collaboration with other agencies, to nip piracy in the countrys waters in the bud over the last two years included close collaboration with international partners in capacity building and information sharing, increased presence at sea and the deployment of armed guards on fishing vessels.

The support from the Danish Government, he said, demonstrated the strong partnership which had contributed significantly to the fight against piracy and other maritime crimes in Ghana.

He gave an assurance that all the equipment received from the Danish government, including the vehicles, would be put to very good use and properly maintained.

The Danish Ambassador to Ghana, Tom Norring, who presented the vehicles on behalf of his government, said the support proved genuine cooperation between the two countries, with a common aim, even though the perspective varied.
Manage diabetes as epidemic - Expert

Augustina Tawiah Apr - 17 - 2023 , 07:29

A diabetes treatment expert, Dr Yacoba Atiase, has said diabetes has reached epidemic levels in the country and so it should be managed as such.

Dr Atiase, who is the Head of the Diabetes Centre at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, explained that from being a rare disease 50 years ago, diabetes was now everywhere in the country, adding that half the patients on admission at hospitals were being diagnosed with diabetes, even though they were on admission for different ailments.

Speaking at the launch of affordable access to diabetes care and the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Health (MOH) and Sanofi, the French multinational pharmaceutical and healthcare company, in Accra last Friday, Dr Atiase called for aggressive public education on the disease, as was done in 2020 during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

That, the consultant diabetologist and endocrinologist said, would enable everybody to know about the disease and how to manage it.

"I describe it as an epidemic or even a pandemic because now the disease is everywhere. Diabetes is becoming predominant, not only in adults but also children, and it is affecting our aged; it is affecting everybody.

We did well in 2020 with the COVID-19. There was massive education to the extent that everybody knew about the pandemic and how to manage it.

There are people with all the symptoms  urinating frequently, losing weight, etc.  but it hasn't crossed their minds that they have diabetes. There is work to be done," Dr Atiase stressed.

The MoU

The Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, signed the MoU on behalf of the ministry, while the Head of Sanofi sub-Saharan Africa, Dr Stephane Gokou, initialled for the company.

Under the MoU, healthcare authorities in the country will be able to purchase affordable high-quality Sanofi analogue insulin produce.

It also provides for the deployment of diabetes management solutions in four Ghanaian diabetes centres where 500 healthcare professionals will benefit from a targeted medical training programme.

In addition, Sanofi will co-develop a digital solution to help physicians, nurses, pharmacists and community healthcare workers to better support more than 5,000 people living with diabetes in Ghana.

The agreement will also provide patient support initiatives and measures designed to help strengthen the Ghanaian health system.

Managing diabetes epidemic

Dr Atiase said to manage a diabetes epidemic, healthcare workers must be bombarded with education to the point where they would know what to do for patients with the disease and also for patients to have excellent comprehensive care.

It also required access to health care and medication by patients, she said, adding that every community must have a place where diabetic patients could be seen.

Statistics

Quoting statistics, Dr Atiase said in the 1950s, Ghana had less than one per cent of its population living with diabetes.

Now, we have between eight and nine per cent being diabetic, which we think will be an underestimation of the real numbers on the ground,  she said.

Globally, in 2000, 150 million people lived with diabetes, and by 2013, the figure had risen to 382 million, while in 2017, it was 425 million people.

Dr Atiase said this year, the number of people living with diabetes was 537 million, representing one in every 10 adults, while 6.7 million deaths were attributed to diabetes every year, which represented one death every five seconds.

This is not good; 50 per cent of people living with diabetes do not even know they have diabetes, and in Ghana, this percentage may be higher.

In 2021, Africa had 24 million people living with diabetes. By 2030, there will be 33 million people living with diabetes, and by 2045, there will be 55 million people living with the disease in Africa alone, she pointed out.

Management of Diabetes

For his part, the Minister of Health said prioritising the prevention, early detection and management of diabetes in Ghana was crucial to reducing the morbidity and mortality of the disease.

He added that that required collective action and commitment from various stakeholders.

Describing diabetes as a significant public health challenge, the Health Minister said its management required multi-sectoral action, including partnerships among the government, healthcare providers, civil society organisations and the private sector.

Mr Agyeman-Manu, therefore, described the MoU with Sanofi as a timely intervention necessary to enhance the management of diabetes in the country, as it would help people who had the disease have greater access to equitable, comprehensive, affordable and quality care for better outcomes.

This partnership is a very strategic and important one in our fight against diabetes to try to ensure that by 2030, the numbers that we are projecting will not be real, he said.

SANOFI

Speaking from the French capital, Paris, through Zoom, the Executive Vice-President of Sanofi, Olivier Charmeil, said the objective of the company was to galvanise efforts to reduce the risk of diabetes and ensure affordable and quality diabetes treatment.

Pointing out that diabetes management was a shared responsibility, he said Sanofi wanted to be part of Ghanas journey on that path.
Military busts explosives producers - Seizes 20,000 pieces

Dotsey Koblah Aklorbortu Apr - 17 - 2023 , 17:27

The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) have bust a syndicate of 13 foreigners allegedly engaged in the manufacture of explosives in Tarkwa in the Western Region.

Over 20,000 pieces of illegal explosives were seized from the suspects, made up of eight Chinese, three Togolese, an Ivorian and a Nigerian.

The explosives, which were seized on the premises of Mohammed Brothers Company Limited and Dakete Mines in Tarkwa, included about 10,000 kg of ammonium nitrate and about 20,000 explosive charges in the form of dynamite which had been prepared from ammonium nitrate.

Most of the ammonium nitrate was concealed in flour and rice sacks, the GAF said in a statement yesterday.

According to the statement, the operation, led by personnel of the 2nd Infantry Battalion, was premised on detailed intelligence aimed at clamping down on the manufacture, sale and use of illegal dynamite in parts of the country, especially mining areas.

Further checks by the Daily Graphic indicated that the suspects had been screened and handed over to the National Security in Accra fur further investigations.

Community alarmed

Members of the community where the explosives were found were alarmed by the operations of the syndicate, especially as terrorists were threatening the northern border areas of the country.

Some who spoke with the Daily Graphic said the suspects were operating in the heart of Tarkwa, not far from a senior high school, with other social and economic activities going on in the area, saying the operations of the syndicate posed a threat to lives and properties.

They commended the GAF for their intervention, since the explosives could have caused a blast, with devastating consequences.

Dangers

A military source told the Daily Graphic that Mohammed Brothers and Dakete Mines where the arrests took place were unsafe, and that in case of any explosion, the damage could be colossal.

It is important to let the public know that ammonium nitrate mixed with diesel tends to be dangerous when there is a blast. Aside from that, exposure to and inhalation of high concentrations of ammonium nitrate dust could lead to respiratory diseases.

The danger here is that Mohammed Brothers and Dakete Mines are located in a populated area in Tarkwa and near a school, it said.

Rules

Sharing his views on the matter with the Daily Graphic, a source at the mining industry who pleaded anonymity said the use of explosives in the mines came with rules that were strictly followed.

Any mine which uses explosives requires a permit from industry regulators. After that, the mine is constructed with a certified storage and a magazine before it is issued with such a licence.

The mine in question has to indicate the specification of the explosive it requires and the quantity, after which Minerals Commission officials will carry out an inspection, the source said.

Furthermore, it said, after the mine had acquired a licence from the Minerals Commission, the commission would continue to inspect the storage of the magazine every month.
Nkoranza killing: Suspect Albert Donkor was an armed robber - Police

News Desk Report Apr - 17 - 2023 , 08:35

The Ghana Police Service says its investigations shows that a man who died in their custody at Nkoranza last year was an alleged armed robber and lost his life during an operation to apprehend his accomplices.

In an investigative brief discussed with the families of the deceased in Nkoranza last Friday, the police insisted that Albert Donkor, 27, was part of a group of alleged robbers that attacked and robbed passengers along the Nkoronza-Jema road on April 25, last year.

However, the police said investigations revealed that Donkor would not have died if the police officers had acted more professionally.

Police Professional

Investigation by the Police Professional Standards Bureau (PPSB) into the incident revealed that in spite of the suspects involvement in the robbery, on hindsight, if the police officers who took the deceased to the hideout of his accomplices had acted a little more professionally, they might have been better able to protect him from the gunshots that led to his death, the police added.

The killing of Donkor led to widespread riot at Nkoranza in May last year, with the youth of the town claiming that Donkor was a trader and not an armed robber.

Wearing red armbands, the youth blocked some streets of the town, burnt used car tyres, as well as besieged the local police station and vandalised some vehicles and other property to register their displeasure at the incident.

Police investigations

However, according to the police, on April 25, last year, it received a distress call from a passenger that some armed robbers had blocked the Nkoronza-Jema highway and were robbing passengers.

The police said it arrived on the scene and exchanged gunshots with the robbers, making the robbers to flee into the bush.

According to the police, one of the victims gave a vivid description of the robbers, including one that wore a grey-like hoodie.

Police mounted intelligence operations and subsequently arrested Albert Donkor, the deceased, in his house, and a grey-like hoodie was retrieved from his room.

The deceased, during interrogation also admitted that he had taken part in the robbery and mentioned some of his accomplices, the police investigative brief said.

On how Donkor died, the investigative brief said he died during a shootout when he led the police to apprehend his supposed accomplice.

Deceased

The deceased led the police to the hideout of his accomplices, but they came under fire as they approached. The police returned fire and after the exchange, Albert Donkor was found with gunshot wounds. He was rushed to a hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival, the police said.

In a related development, the police hasve absolved themselves from any involvement in the death of Victor Kwadwo Owusu, one of the protestors who attacked the police station at Nkoranza after the death of Donkor.

According to the police, autopsy report showed that Owusu died from a severe head injury and not gunshot as alleged by the family and others.

On June 6, 2022, the autopsy was conducted by a police pathologist in the presence of the father of the deceased, James Boamah and the investigator. The pathologist gave the verbal cause of death as severe head injury, fall and brain tumor, the police said in the statement.

The key finding of the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Owusu is that he died as a result of a head injury, fall and brain tumor and not as a result of a gunshot, the police said.
STC bus accident on Cape Coast road; All passengers safe

Shirley Asiedu-Addo Apr - 17 - 2023 , 16:20

All the 45 passengers, mostly senior high school students who were involved in an accident on the Accra-Cape Coast highway on Monday morning are safe.

The students were returning to school after the Easter break.

They were aboard an STC bus.

The bus skipped off the road and fell on its side.

Graphic Online's Central Regional correspondent, Shirley Asiedu Addo reports that initial investigations by the police indicate that the driver of the bus with registration number GB 1079-20 was moving from Accra towards Cape Coast.

On reaching a section of the road near Gomoa Buduattah junction, the bus grazed the driver side of a tipper truck.

The Central Regional Director of the National Road Safety Authority, Ms Linda Afotey-Annan told Graphic Online that the tipper truck with registration number GN 7932- 22 was being driven by suspect Kwabena Tawiah with two persons onboard.

The tipper truck was moving towards Kasoa.
3 new tax laws get presidential assent

Graphic.com.gh Politics Apr - 17 - 2023 , 15:59

The three major tax laws targeted at bolstering the sustainable generation of domestic revenue for Ghana and recently passed by Parliament has been given presidential assent.

The Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah disclosed in a radio interview with Accra based Citi FM that the President has signed them.

The Information Minister indicated that after President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo assented to them, the laws have since been returned to the Clerk of Parliament for the final processes to be completed.

It will be recalled that Parliament on March 31, 2023, approved the three major tax bills.

They are the Excise Duty and Excise Tax Stamp (Amendment) Bill, 2022, the Income Tax (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2022, and the Growth and Sustainability Levy Bill, 2022.

The trio, which were passed under certificates of urgency, are projected to complement the governments efforts to raise more than GH4 billion annually.

The Excise Duty (Amendment) Bill, which will impose a 20 per cent tax on cigarettes and e-smoking devices, as well as sweetened beverages, spirits and wines, is projected to rake in about GH400 million annually, while the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill will generate about GH1.2 billion.

Read also: Parliament passes 3 revenue bills
EC sets May 23 for Kumawu By-Election

Zadok Kwame Gyesi Politics Apr - 17 - 2023 , 12:47

The Electoral Commission (EC) has set May 23, 2023, as the date to conduct the Kumawu By-Election in the Ashanti Region.

The by-election follows the death of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Philip Basoah.

Mr Basoah died on Monday, March 27 at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, where he was on admission for a serious ailment.

He was 54-years-old.

By-Election

The EC in a statement on Monday, April 17, 2023, signed by its Chairperson, Jean Mensa, asked interested parties who wish to contest the seat to download nomination forms from the EC's website from April 14, 2023 to May 5, 2023.

The statement added that the nominations will be received at the Sekyere Kumawu District Office of the Commission from May 2, 2023 to May 5, 2023 between the hours of 9:00 am to 12:00 pm and 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm on each day.

"In accordance with Article 112 (5) of the Constitution, as amended, the Electoral Commission will hold a By-Election in the constituency on Tuesday, the 23rd of May, 2023," the statement said.

Kumawu Constituency

This is the second time a sitting NPP MP has died in the Kumawu constituency and a by-election is going to be organised under the 4th Republican Constitution of Ghana.

The first one was Reo Addai Basoah in July 2002.

Reo Addai Basoah was an NPP MP for Kumawu from 1997 to 2001. He was re-elected in 2000 for a second term from 2001 to 2005 but died in July 2002.

Yaw Baah succeeded him for the NPP, won the by-election in 2002, and was re-elected in 2004 and 2008 until 2012 when Philip Basoah took over.

Philip Basoah was in his third term having won 2012, 2016 and 2020.

Before becoming MP, Philip Basoah was the District Chief Executive for Sekyere Kumawu District from 2005 to January 2009.

Philip Basoah was born on November 18, 1969. He hails from Kumawu in the Ashanti Region.

Attached below is a copy of the EC's statement
XPENG unveiled its next-generation end-to-end integrated technology architecture SEPA2.0 (Smart Electric Platform Architecture), which sets the foundation for future production models. SEPA2.0 brings a series of more advanced architectural solutions, from XPENGs in-house development autonomous driving software to vehicle engineering.

XPENG says that SEPA2.0 will shorten future models R&D cycle by 20%, significantly optimizing R&D efficiency. 80% of architectural components will be compatible with new models, enabling XPENG to meet diverse customer needs at optimized costs.

SEPA2.0 is adaptable and flexible with multiple vehicle platforms for wheelbases between 1,800mm and 3,200mm and scalable to support a variety of vehicle types, including sedan, coupe, hatchback, wagon, SUV, MPV and pickup truck. On 18 April, the first new production model built on SEPA2.0the XPENG G6 Ultra Smart Coupe SUVwill debut at Auto Shanghai 2023.

Among the features of SEPA2.0 are:

XNGP Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS). XPENGs in-house full-scenario ADAS solution will come as standard on all future XPENG models for the Chinese market. With SEPA2.0 architecture, XNGPs overall R&D efficiency will increase by 30%, while ADAS software model adaptation costs will reduce by 70%. Backed by Chinas largest and only operational autonomous driving supercomputing center, closed-loop data feedback and self-evolving AI system, XNGP will consistently evolve and upgrade its driving assistance skills. It targets takeover frequency less than once per 1000 km in highway scenarios in 2023 and takeover frequency less than once per 100 km in urban scenarios by 2025.

Xmart OS In-car Operating System. Xmart OS leverages a multi-sensor software and hardware platform to augment and transform control and driver-vehicle interaction. Powered by AI, supercomputers and foundation models, Xmart OS can make intelligent decisions to optimize control of cabin functions. The SEPA2.0-based R&D platform lowers Xmart OS software adaptation costs by 85%, shortens voice software R&D cycle by 50% and reduces cost of voice assistant service by 50%, making the industrys top smart cabin services available to every XPENG owner.

X-EEA Electrical and Electronic Architecture. Consisting of a data technology platform, a whole-car software platform and a hardware architecture platform, X-EEA underpins XPENGs technology foundation with high performance, superior safety and cloud application integration. It optimizes overall vehicle R&D costs by 50%, shortens software iteration cycles by 30% and increases OTA update speed by 300%.

800 Volt High Voltage Silicon Carbide (SiC) Platform. XPENGs superfast charging solution enables 800V high voltage charging, increasing battery charging speed by 50% over the previous generation. With a standard 3C cell configuration, the battery can add 130 kilometers of range with a five-minute charge, and can charge even faster at XPENGs S4 480kW superfast charging facilities, adding 200 km of range with a five-minute charge. When charging via third-party charging stations, it can generate up to 180kW of charging power.

XPower 800 Volt High Voltage Oil-cooled Flat-wire SiC Integrated Electric Drive System. Full-stack and in-house developed, XPower increases the maximum electric drive efficiency to 97.5% and the overall electric drive efficiency to 92%. Each 1% increase in overall electric drive system efficiency, with other conditions unchanged, translates into an estimated 2% increase in EV range. Powerful system integrations deliver industry-leading power-to-weight ratio of 2.5 kW/kg, ensuring less whole-car weight while creating a more spacious and quieter cabin.



X-HP Smart Thermal Management System. X-HP offers an intelligent, systematic energy-efficient solution for temperatures from -30 C to 55 C, ensuring range and charging capacity under all weather conditions. In cold conditions, it increases range by 15%; it improves battery cooling performance by 100%, leading to a 90% increase in charging power.

Front and Rear Integrated Aluminum Die Casting Technology. Enables more uniform fabrication of the car body, bringing more stable control and a better driving performance. It also improves torsional rigidity by 83% compared to a traditional car body, enhancing body safety, while at the same time reducing body weight by 17% versus traditional bodies, further boosting EV range.



CIB (Cell Integrated Body) Technology. Battery pack integrated in the car body optimizes cabin design with added vertical space, increases battery safety and enhances overall driving performance by improving center of gravity. With an 80-ton side collision resistance design and a IP68 waterproof & dustproof design, the CIB battery pack meets the highest safety standards in three main markets: China, North America and Europe.



Chassis Platform: Compatible with multiple types of suspension systems, providing superior mechanical quality and excellent handling performance.

This system will be built out by 2025, including the Zhaoqing Plant, Guangzhou Base and several future projects. All manufacturing facilities will integrate SEPA2.0 through technology upgrades.
Christian Abraham/Hearst Connecticut Media

GREENWICH  The Greenwich Parks and Recreation Department in conjunction with the Greenwich Arts Council held their annual Kite Flying Festival at Greenwich Point Park Beach in Greenwich, Conn., on Saturday April 15, 2023.

Dozens of colorful kites could be seen even though foggy weather covered the beach.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

WARSAW, Poland (AP)  Slovakia became the third European Union country to ban food imports from Ukraine on Monday, deepening the challenge for the bloc as it works to help Ukraine transport its grain to world markets.

Slovakia followed Poland and Hungary, both of which announced bans Saturday on Ukrainian food imports through June 30. They did so in response to rising anger from farmers who say that a glut of grain in their countries is causing them economic hardship.

The EUs executive branch, the European Commission, manages trade on behalf of the 27 member countries and objects to them taking unilateral or uncoordinated measures.

At a briefing in Brussels, two spokespeople stressed gratitude to Poland and other Central European countries for supporting Ukraine, but said a solution must be found that respects the EU legal framework.

We are dealing with a war, right? And this war has consequences, obviously, on farmers and more generally, the population in Ukraine and the European Union and its member states, said Eric Mamer, chief spokesperson.

He acknowledged that Poland and other countries have been doing their utmost in order to help Ukraine, adding: So this is not about sanctioning. This is about finding solutions based on EU law in the interests at the same time of the Ukrainians and of the EU."

EU countries that neighbor Ukraine have asked the EU to treat the matter of Ukrainian food with urgency, saying they cant allow their own farmers to bear the cost of disruption that Ukrainian agriculture products are causing to their markets.

A delegation of Ukrainian officials visited Warsaw on Monday for government consultations on the issue. Poland faces an election in the fall and farmer groups have been protesting to urge action.

Hungarys agriculture minister, Istvan Nagy, said the surge in Ukrainian products on European markets had made it impossible for Hungarian farmers to remain competitive.

Nagy also said low production costs in Ukraine, owing to practices being used that are not permitted in EU countries, had allowed Ukraine to export large quantities of poultry, eggs and honey to the European market, driving costs down to unsustainable levels.

The Slovak Agriculture Ministry announced last week that tests of 1,500 tons of grain from Ukraine in one mill in Slovakia revealed it contained a pesticide banned in the EU. As a result, the Slovak authorities decided to test all Ukrainian grain in the country and temporarily banned its processing.

Its ban will affect imports of grain and also some other food, including sugar, hops, flax, hemp, fruits and vegetables and products made of them, vine, honey and honey products. Slovak Agriculture Minister Samuel Vlcan said the ban that take effect Tuesday will remain in place until further notice and doesnt apply for transit.

Ukraine and Russia are both major global suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other affordable food products that developing nations depend on. The war upended those supplies to Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia where people were already going hungry and helped push millions more people into poverty or food insecurity.

After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it became too dangerous for ships to sail in the Black Sea, disrupting the flow of large ships carrying food to distant markets. Shipments resumed under a deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey.

The EU reacted to the crisis by lifting tariffs and other trade duties on Ukraine to help keep its economy afloat. That helped to divert Ukraines grain flows destined for Africa and the Middle East through Europe  but much of this food has instead remained in the bordering countries, creating a glut that has caused high losses for local farmers.

The EU measures expire in June, but the EU is expected to renew them.

Ukraine's EU neighbors are, with the exception of Hungary, allies of Ukraine who favor their neighbors future membership in the EU.

Yet already the EUs decision to banish tariffs for Ukrainian goods as a result of Russias invasion of its neighbor underlines the challenges that would come with integrating a huge food producer with the rest of the bloc.

Ian Mitchell, an economist and London-based co-director of the Europe program at the Center for Global Development, said its unusual for EU member states to take unilateral trade action.

Mitchell, who specializes in agriculture and trade, argued that the move undermines the solidarity of the EU and shows the power of farmers voices in politics. He described it as an attempt to get the EU to provide more support for the agricultural industry, even though aid is already generous for farmers in Eastern and Central Europe.

Youre a consumer in Hungary, Slovakia or Poland, then effectively the government has just ensured that youre going to be paying a higher price for your food, Mitchell said. The balance of the food lobby is so powerful that it can get the government to do that even in a cost-of-living crisis.

Their bans come as Russia threatens to pull out of the Black Sea deal. Moscow is complaining that a separate agreement to facilitate exports of Russian food and fertilizers amid Western sanctions hasnt worked.

Global food commodity prices surged to record levels after the invasion of Ukraine and have been falling steadily since, but food is still expensive for people in many places because of factors like droughts, trade restrictions and the high cost of buying imported food priced in dollars as some emerging economies currencies weaken.

___

Courtney Bonnell in London, Lorne Cook in Brussels, Justin Spike in Budapest, Hungary, and Karel Janicek in Prague, contributed to this report.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

PARIS (AP)  France's government sounded the alarm Monday about the growing risk of forest fires because of climate change, as hundreds of firefighters in the country's parched south wrestled with their biggest woodland-destroying blaze so far this year.

The fire erupted Sunday and burned on more than 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres) of land along the Mediterranean coast, and spread across the border into northeastern Spain.

On a visit Monday to the zone, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said: The fire season is starting early because of climate warming.

Forest fires have long regularly afflicted France but generally used to start later in the year. However, major wildfires in Europe are now starting earlier in the year, becoming more frequent and harder to stop, and doing more damage. Scientists say theyll likely get worse as climate change intensifies. The Mediterranean region is warming faster than the global average.

We're in April. We have already seen the start of several important fires, notably in the south of France, Darmanin said.

Droughts that hit France last year have been compounded by shortages of rain this past winter, leaving already tinder-dry woodlands at even greater risk.

French authorities are urging home owners to chop back and thin out trees and scrublands around their properties and appealing for people to take extra care not to discard cigarettes or otherwise start fires inadvertently.

Hundreds of firefighters backed by water-bombing planes were deployed to tackle Sunday's forest fire between Banyuls-sur-Mer and Cerbere in southern France that also spilled into Spain.

French rescue services spokesman Arnaud Wilm told broadcaster FranceInfo on Monday morning that the blaze is being successfully contained and that its biggest flames have been extinguished but fire crews were still working to completely stop its spread and put it out.

On the Spanish side, firefighters said the flames that spread close to the town of Portbou were still active but had been stabilized and were no longer spreading.

They said two border roads remained closed to traffic and the train service linking Portbou to Cerbere was halted.

Spanish national television said some 50 people were temporarily evacuated from their houses near the town while around 20 French people unable to cross the border were given accommodation overnight in the town.

___

Follow APs climate and environment coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment
Amid Gov. Ned Lamonts multi-billion-dollar effort to improve commuter rail service along the New Haven and Hartford lines, a bipartisan group of lawmakers has begun pushing an even grander vision for rail travel in Connecticut.

That vision includes a return to full, pre-pandemic service along eastern Connecticuts Shore Line East route, which has been plagued by low-ridership figures, and a hefty state subsidy that Lamont has sought to cut.

In the Naugatuck Valley, local lawmakers are fighting to add new trains and service to three additional stations along the Waterbury Branch line on top of the service upgrades that Lamont announced last year. And in the Northwest corner of the state, Republicans want to extend the Danbury Branch line to include service to New Milford  a distance of about 15 miles.

Each of those projects has been folded into a single piece of rail legislation by leaders on the Transportation Committee, which voted unanimously last month to send the bill to the Senate floor.

Proponents of the bill argue that secondary routes in Connecticut have long been hampered by a lack of investment from the state and that better service will spur ridership and economic development.

Shore Line East, for example, is only operating at two-thirds the level it did before the pandemic, while the more popular New Haven and Hartford lines have returned to full service. In his proposed budget for the next two fiscal years, Lamont has proposed cutting Shore Line East service even further to 44 percent of pre-pandemic levels. (The governors budget also proposed cutting New Haven line service to 86 percent of its pre-2020 level to reflect a slower-than-expected return of riders).

At one point in time, the Shore Line East was a thriving, vibrant rail line that did a very successful job linking commuters to their places of employment, as well as to destination places along the shoreline, said Jim Gildea, chair of the Connecticut Commuter Rail Council. Then COVID came, and unfortunately, as with all the lines, it lost service numbers.

Some rail advocates, however, described the push for new services as a misguided attempt to attract riders  who mostly live along well-established routes such as the New Haven Line.

Fix what youve got before you start telling DOT how to spend money it doesnt have, said Jim Cameron, the president of the Commuter Action Group, which advocates for mass transit.

Since taking office in 2019, Lamont has mostly focused his rail agenda on increasing speeds along the states two most popular lines, which link New Haven and Hartford with New York City, while also investing in service upgrades along some existing branch lines, such as those to Danbury and Waterbury.

Last year, the governor and Metro-North touted new super express trains that quickened the trip between New Haven and Grand Central by 10 minutes. Lamont has promised to shave another 15 minutes off the trip by 2035, requiring an investment of up to $10 billion in infrastructure improvements.

Lamonts office on Thursday referred comment on the bill to his commissioner of transportation, Garrett Eucalitto, who has raised concerns about the cost of the projects and the need to conduct additional studies.

We appreciate the committees dedication to railroads in our state, and we would like to work with the committee on the best way to modernize our rail system, but additional studies will require funding, beyond what was included in the governors budget, Eucalitto said in testimony submitted to lawmakers last month, adding that new studies would divert staff time from executing on the major rail modernization program currently underway.

Restoring service along the Shore Line East route alone would cost at least $25 million a year over Lamonts proposed budget, according to a fiscal impact report prepared by legislative staff. In an attempt to trim costs, the bill would also allow the Department of Transportation to conduct a competitive bidding process to find a lower-cost operator for Shore Line East, an idea supported by Eucalitto.

Currently, service along the line is operated by Amtrak, which also owns the rails east of New Haven.

The report did not estimate costs associated with other projects in the bill, though it predicted that adding service to New Milford would require a significant investment from the state.

With the inclusion of projects that stretch from the shoreline to the Naugatuck River Valley and into Litchfield County, however, the legislation has drawn the support from a broad coalition of lawmakers from both parties.

As companies start up and grow across our state, we have to be mindful about developing a workforce and getting those employees to these places of business, state Sen. Christine Cohen, D-Guilford, said in a text message on Friday. That means prioritizing the expansion of rail lines, restoring full service on lines like (Shore Line East) and providing micro transit options to provide connectivity. While these things come with a price tag, they pay off in droves and are key to economic development.

Cohen serves as co-chair of the Transportation Committee and represents a district with several stops along Shore Line East.

In addition to the projects included by lawmakers, the bill would also direct DOT to study the feasibility of future rail projects, such as establishing a connection between Hartford and Middletown and running hybrid diesel-electric trains on the Danbury Line.

Such a study would cost roughly $2 million, according to legislative staff, and come on the heels of a similar study ordered by lawmakers in 2021 to explore options for expanding rail service in Eastern Connecticut.

A preliminary report from that study, released in January, detailed significant challenges to expanding rail service beyond New London, including capacity limits caused by movable bridges and the need to spend between $350 and $400 million to retrofit the aging freight lines along the Thames River to accommodate passenger trains.

Cameron, of the Commuter Action Group, noted that the Metropolitan Transit Authority  which operates the New Haven Line  has warned that it is facing a fiscal cliff as it deals with sluggish ridership and the end to federal pandemic-era financial assistance.

Even with billions of dollars in transit funding made available from Congress and the Biden administration, Cameron said its unlikely Connecticut will have the funding available to make the necessary improvements along the New Haven and Hartford lines while also adding new services elsewhere.

Cameron also criticized the proposed extension of the Danbury line to New Milford, saying it would offer little value to commuters in Litchfield County, who already have the option of driving to catch trains along New Yorks Harlem Line, which already offers quicker commutes into Grand Central Terminal.

One of the principal backers of the plan to expand the Danbury Line, state Rep. Billy Buckbee, R-New Milford, countered that the goal of the project would not necessarily be to serve commuters into New York City but rather those making shorter trips along the Route 7 corridor to cities in Fairfield County, as well as those making weekend trips to the Northwest corner.

The historic station in downtown New Milford, Buckbee added, was once a part of the defunct Berkshire Line that ran up to Pittsfield, Mass. Rail advocates hope that with the success of an initial expansion, trains will once again make the complete trip from the Berkshire hills to the coast.

Theres a lot of opportunity to expand Western Connecticut for more people to be able to access, Buckbee said. "Let's show that it works, and then we expand."
Fees that the Archdiocese of Agana has been ordered to pay lawyers, real estate agents and other professional service firms reached about $9.3 million in its four-year-old bankruptcy case, which also includes $34 million to $45 million or more in settlement to pay survivors of Guam clergy sexual assaults.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood, who served as bankruptcy judge in the archdiocese case, approved the final application for compensation for a handful of law firms.

Lawyers who worked on the archdiocese bankruptcy case billed $250 to $575 an hour.

The judge approved a final payment of $152,618.58 to Minneapolis-based Stinson LLP, representing the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, which includes the abuse survivors. Total ordered payment to the law firm is nearly $4.7 million.

The judge also approved a final payment of $46,018.05 to Idaho-based Elsaesser Anderson Chtd., bankruptcy counsel for the archdiocese. Total payment awarded to the law firm reached nearly $1.95 million.

Retired U.S. District Court Judge for Oregon Michael Hogan, the unknown claims representative in the archdiocese bankruptcy case, got approval for his first and final application for compensation totaling $48,921.06.

Former archdiocese attorney John Terlaje got approval for his final compensation of $12,387.50. This brings to $317,000-plus his total payments from the archdiocese in its bankruptcy case.

Terlaje, now a Superior Court of Guam judge, has been replaced by attorney Andrew T. Perez as archdiocese counsel.

The judge also approved the final compensation of $3,565 for California-based Law Offices of Paul A. Richler, the special insurance counsel for the creditors committee. The law firms total compensation is $56,000-plus.

There were other law firms, real estate-related firms and accounting firms that previously worked on the archdiocese bankruptcy case, payments for which were completed.

Meanwhile, theres no telling when more than 270 survivors of Guam clergy sexual assaults would begin receiving their settlement payment from the archdiocese.
A lease of military land at Eagles Field still is possible after the Navy granted the governors request for more time to review the document, which was rejected last month by Attorney General Douglas Moylan.

The governor now has until April 30 to sign the agreement, according to a letter written by Rear Adm. Benjamin Nicholson, commander of Joint Region Marianas.

The Navy has reserved the right to keep the 112-acre site along Route 15 for military use  including a possible family housing area  if the governor does not sign the lease.

The lease was presented to the governor March 15, with an initial 30-day deadline, to April 14.

Guam law requires the attorney general to review and sign off on the agreement before the governor can sign it, but Moylan declined.

The governor wants to use the site to build a medical campus, including a new Guam Memorial Hospital, a Centers for Disease Control lab, and facilities for the Department of Public Health and Social Services and the Behavioral Health and Wellness Center.

The governor, who is lobbying for federal funding to help cover the projects cost, has said the lease is a lifetime opportunity to work with the federal government to build a new medical facility.

Moylan last week said the lease is flawed because it never received legislative approval to fund the agreement.

He said the governor is sidestepping the legislative process.

Although a 2021 Guam law provides funding for a medical campus and hospital on a lease-to-own basis, Moylan said that funding applies only to a facility built on government of Guam land  not on leased land.

Moylan said the proposed lease would allow GovGuam to use the property for 50 to 75 years, after which the federal government would own the hospital and medical campus at the site.

Requirements

The military normally charges fair-market value to lease its property, but the proposed Eagles Field agreement would waive the lease payments if the new hospital provides the following services requested by the military:

The ability to treat mass casualties.

Hyperbaric oxygen treatment.

Inpatient rehabilitation services.

Inpatient hemodialysis.

A pediatric intensive care unit.

A heat-resistant landing pad for military aircraft.

An interventional radiology facility that can be used for cardiac catheterization.

Leon Guerrero on Monday said her attorneys are working with the militarys attorneys to address the concerns. The Legislature is not involved, she said.

I have just been executing my executive authority in negotiations, Leon Guerrero said. For any leases in the government thats an executive authority and an executive function.

She said if lawmakers want to be involved, they can create a plan, and we can sit down and discuss it.

Speaker Therese Terlaje said the governor can sign leases, but the Legislature must authorize them.

The AG made that very clear, because if youre going to obligate the people of Guam to an amount of money  which in this case is $1 million a year  or youre going to obligate the use of Guams resources, then of course its a legislative function at that point, Terlaje said.

Its not a matter of whether the Legislature wants to be involved, Terlaje said. I think weve actually been precluded from seeing the details, which are very much necessary, I think, for all of the people of Guam to really have a firm hold on the terms of the agreement being proposed.

My team is in the process of performing its due diligence review of attorney general Moylans concerns, which we are conducting with the necessary expediency in light of the urgency of this matter, the governor stated in a letter to the Navy on Friday, requesting the extension.

In acknowledgement of our good faith efforts I am granting an extension of time, for the lease to be finalized and endorsed, Nicholson stated in an April 14 letter to the governor.

Moylan last week said the administration had not contacted his office to address his concerns about the lease, but said he is ready to work with the administration on an agreement that he is able to sign.

Sen. Chris Barnett, who is a member of the legislative health and land committee, said secret lease negotiations have led us to this juncture.

The governors office did not involve lawmakers in the lease negotiations and a full copy of the document, including attachments, has not been made publicly available.

To further proceed with the lease without having the involvement of the legally required branches of our government is a slap in the face to the democratic values that should come with living under the U.S. flag, Barnett stated.
Only education and public safety issues were on the agenda for a Legislative community caucus hosted in Dededo last Friday  but the frustrations aired by residents ran the gamut.

Ive been gone for 30 years, and its really sad. Our island is not safe, said Ben Servino, one of many residents who gathered at the Dededo Senior Center on Friday night to air concerns to senators.

The park near his Dededo home is littered with beer cans, and he wakes up in the middle of the night to the sound of domestic squabbles in the area.

Servino said he reports issues to his neighborhood watch group  but police visibility and enforcement are poor, and people just dont seem to care.

Upcoming Caucuses Upcoming dates for the Voices of the Village community caucus are:

Inalahan and Malesso residents on from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, April 21, at the Inalahan Community Center;

Hagat, Humatak, and Santa Rita-Sumai residents from 6:30 to 8:30 on May 5; and

More northern and central dates to be announced. Call the Office of Sen. Chris Barnett at 671-969-3586 for more information.

Susie Golez said her granddaughter was bitten by one of the many stray dogs that live in her area, but she cant find any help to get rid of them.

Before the election, I called the animal control, and they (picked) up two dogs  but they only (picked) up two, and they never came back. I keep calling, and they never pick up the phone anymore, Golez said.

Meanwhile Liz Amaguin said shes been getting the runaround from an off-island company handling billing for the Guam Fire Department  months after she got into a car accident and paid off her emergency bill.

You have to call at 1 a.m.  and according to them you never had a billing. You go to Bank of Guam and they say, Oh , you were sent to their account. Its paid off already. Its frustrating.

Of particular concern to many was the seemingly ever-multiplying number of abandoned vehicles in Dededo and Yigo.

On the CHamoru Land Trust, people are farming cars, said farmer Ernie Wusstig, Thousands of them. Not just hundreds, thousands.

Besides the regular rounds of illegal dumping, people have also taken to operating chop-shops on Land Trust land, where they hoard scores of vehicles, said John Savares, son of Dededo Mayor Melissa Savares.

White goods are rampant, along with the cars, and all the junk leaks potentially hazardous substances into the groundwater, he said.

When is enough, enough? When the water coolant and the oil starts leaking into the ground and we cannot revert that?

Coming to your village

The caucus, dubbed Voices of the Village was the first of a series, a move that Public Safety and Education chair Sen. Chris Barnett said is meant to bring the peoples house, the Guam Congress Building, out to the people.

Residents had a chance to go back and forth with the handful of lawmakers who came along: Barnett along with Speaker Therese Terlaje and Sen. Sabina Perez. Some of the issues raised were met with surprise from lawmakers.

Also on hand was the Guam Police Departments Sgt. Paul Tapao, who was able to answer questions residents had about police response  and take notes about aggravations in the community to be relayed back to command.

The point is to hear out residents, and any problem is important, Barnett said, small or big.

A lot of times the solution doesnt require a bill, doesnt require a public hearing. It doesnt require a roundtable or an oversight because it requires more people like us to want to change things.
Former Gov. Carl T.C. Gutierrez is the president and CEO of Guam Visitors Bureau, Guam Permit Czar, and chairman of the Governors Economic Strategy Council. Send comments or questions to GVB at communityrelations@visitguam.org.




Haiti - Education : Open letter from Nesmy Manigat to his fellow teachers





After carefully reading the various messages written by several public school teachers' unions concerning the working conditions and living conditions of teachers, Nesmy Manigat Minister of National Education and also a teacher formulated some answers to his teacher colleagues in an open letter:



Excerpts from Nesmy Manigat's Open Letter:



"[...] here are some answers I can begin to provide before talks continue on our legitimate grievances:



Regarding the delay in receiving paychecks, the Ministry of National Education has already published a note to announce that it will start paying this month of March 2023 counting from April 14. I understand and agree with this statement, I have already commented on this subject. I can say that the Government will do everything possible to solve this problem.



With regard to the checks that the Departmental Directorate of Education withholds after the report of the school principals on the situation of several teachers who have not come to work for several months, the Ministry has launched the census of all the schools in the country since March 27, 2023 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-39137-haiti-education-compulsory-general-census-of-public-and-private-schools.html , in order to have soon the list of all teachers who are really working.



[...] It can't wait, we know that several teachers have left the country in recent days. This is why this census is important, it is necessary for the Ministry to obtain adequate information which will enable it to supervise, control and approve public schools as well as private schools. The last school census which took place in 2016, that is to say for 7 years, does not make it possible to know which teachers are no longer in the sector or in the country.



[...] I know that our working conditions are not easy, especially where insecurity and violence hinder school activities and threaten our physical and mental health. In this regard, the ministry has recently decided to establish a partnership with the Association of Haitian Psychologists to monitor the well-being of students and teachers, where you can call free at (29 19 90 00). [...] we will continue to work to solve what a transitional government can solve, as has been done in the salary adjustment given in 2022, in the update of the salary grid proposal of 2014 for when there is will have a Parliament and a government after the elections, in addition to the various training courses for teachers that will be carried out during the school year 2022  (and) 2023. The salary grid will be important in particular for teachers of preschool and 2 first cycles of the fundamental school.



[...] Teacher friends, the door of the Ministry of National Education is still open to us to continue discussing and preparing possible negotiations with the rest of the State structures, so as not to sacrifice the rest of the year school. No more students should be victimized.



[...] To conclude, I will say that I know that the majority of you are also parents of pupils, I know that I can rely on you so that your children do not lose this school year. [..]



[...] I know that you will agree to support the great sacrifice that 4 million parents of students continue to make every morning. Many are making all kinds of efforts so that their children do not lose this school year which continues with many difficulties due to insecurity and violence. After much effort, the students have just reached the halfway point. Let's continue to make sacrifices to save the rest of the school year while the Government works to meet our demands that cannot wait. I remind you, the country has just lost 190 school days, from September 2019 to today, a year of lost learning.



Dear teachers, we hear and understand your requests. There is no country without education, no education without schools, no schools without teachers.



Protect schools and children !



School can't wait !



Encourage there !"



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Korean Movie | 2011

 Thriller

Directed by Sohn Young-sung ()

Written by  Lee Choon-hyeong ()  Sohn Young-sung ()

123min | Release date in South Korea: 2011/09/29

Battle of wits as a lawyer slowly uncovers the truth that his client tries to hide

Defense attorney Kang receives a notorious case to defend Han, who is accused of killing his wife. Even though her body is not discovered, the general public is quick to label him as the devil-reincarnate and begs for a shift guilty verdict. Its a difficult case but Kang is confident that he will prevail. The defendant is an enigmatic character with OCD who cant express his thoughts clearly. Fortunately for him, there is no murder weapon but he doesnt have an alibi either. The prosecutor handling Hans case is also Kangs archrival, and is determined to bring down Han for the murder and his lawyer along with him. Kang digs into Hans case in order to uncover evidences to clear his clients name.

Source
Login or sign up to follow actresses, movies & dramas and get specific updates and news

Login Sign Up

 New Ad-free Subscriber Login

Email

Password

Password Username Subscribe to our daily NewsLetter Your E-mail will only be used to retrieve a lost password or receive our NewsLetter.

Stay logged in

Lost password

Contact
The Japanese woman who wrote the extraordinary Tale of Genji a thousand years ago is known only by a nickname. Her given name went unrecorded, which was normal for a daughter. Shikibu, which means "Bureau of Ceremonial," refers to a post once held by her father, and Murasaki, the name of a plant that produces a purple dyestuff, is her tale's main heroine.

Our Murasaki was born into a lesser branch of the powerful Fujiwara family, whose males occupied most of the highest positions in the imperial government. The greatest might rule as regent or marry a daughter to the emperor and have an imperial grandson. Murasaki's father, however, was only a scholar and a provincial governor who served in Harima, Echigo, and Echizen, to which his daughter accompanied him in 996. Liza Dalby's fictional autobiography, The Tale of Murasaki, gives her a romantic adventure there, on the coast of the Sea of Japan, with one of the Chinese merchants who sometimes visited.

These paintings by the seventeenth-century artist Tosa Mitsuoki frame a set of 54 album leaf paintings done by Tosa Mitsunobu about 1510. Paintings courtesy of the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, bequest of the Hofer Collection of the Arts of Asia President and Fellows of Harvard College. Photographs by Peter Siegel

Murasaki married in 998 or 999, but lost her husband in 1001. Her daughter, probably born in 999, became a distinguished poet. About 1006, Murasaki was called to serve the empress, no doubt because of her talent for writing stories. She last appears in a record dating from 1013, and may have died the following year. Apart from The Tale of Genji she left a collection of her poetry and a fragmentary diary devoted largely to events at the palace in 1008. She does mention that she learned Chinese by listening outside the door while her father taught her brother, and that later she gave the empress lessons in reading Chinese poetry.

In her time, court ladies were expected to confine themselves to stories written in Japanese. Such frivolities were supposedly beneath men's notice, yet her hero declares in one chapter, "Without stories like these about the old days, though, how would we ever pass the time when there is nothing else to do? Besides, among these lies there certainly are some plausibly touching scenes, convincingly told....We may disbelieve the blatantly impossible but still be amazed by magnificently contrived wonders...." Her own story, centered on the life of the "shining prince," Genji, evoked for her contemporaries a version of their world in which many things are done right for a change. Even so, life's cruelties show clearly enough through the grace of color and form; the author saw things very clearly.

No one knows just when she began her tale or when she finished it, but her diary suggests that whatever existed in 1007 or 1008 was hers, and she has been recognized ever since as the author of all 54 chapters. The chapters, however, do not all seem to have been written in their present order. The tale contains some astonishing writing, but it also suggests brilliant editing. Does it have a consciously planned structure? Many doubt that it does, apart from the loose continuity of time as the characters age, but others (like me) see a more concerted design. The question is one for each reader to decide.

A book-length, fourteenth-century commentary on the tale relates that a certain princess once asked the empress whether she had any new stories. Having none to offer, the empress asked Murasaki Shikibu to write one. The lady therefore went on pilgrimage to Ishiyama-dera, a temple near the southern end of Lake Biwa, a day's journey by ox carriage east of Kyoto, in search of inspiration. According to legend, Murasaki had been close since childhood to a gifted courtier unjustly exiled to Kyushu. That night at the temple, the full moon of the eighth lunar month shone up from the lake's waters, and while she lost herself in its beauty a vision of the tale rose before her. She saw her hero, Genji, languishing in unjust exile on the shore of a moonlit sea, and the image was so compelling that, lest she forget it, she immediately wrote down what became chapters 11 and 12. After that, the legend says, she simply added the others until she had 54 in all.

The artist Tosa Mitsuoki's evocation of the legend has a simple grandeur. In his first painting, the author sits before a writing desk at Ishiyama-dera, gazing out through open, double doors at a broad scene of lake and hills; in the second, a full moon soars over the hills as its reflection shines up from the lake. The two works frame 54 others, each illustrating a chapter of the tale, as though his Murasaki contemplates through the chapters the moon from which her vision and insight issue, and to which they return.

Hers is certainly a most remarkable tale. After eight and a half years spent translating, pondering, and discussing it, I still cannot imagine how she created it. The gist of a passage Montaigne wrote in praise of Homer applies equally well to Murasaki Shikibu.

It is against nature that he made the most excellent creation that could ever be; for things are normally born imperfect, then grow and gather strength as they do so. He took poetry and several other sciences in their infancy and brought them to perfect, accomplished maturity. [Thus] one may call him the first and last of poets, in accordance with that fine tribute left to us by antiquity: that, having had no predecessor to imitate, he had no successor capable of imitating him.

Similarly, nothing earlier announces The Tale of Genji, and nothing came close to it again.

Royall Tyler '57 is a visiting professor of Japanese at Harvard. His new translation of The Tale of Genji was published by Viking late last year.
Jokisipila on Sunday stated to Helsingin Sanomat that his assessment is based on the list of 24 questions the right-wing party submitted to other parliamentary groups at the end of last week with a view to identifying its best coalition partners.

THE NATIONAL COALITION has set its sights on forming a ruling coalition with the Finns Party, views Markku Jokisipila , the director of the University of Turkus Centre for Parliamentary Studies.

The answers are due on Tuesday.

Jokisipila told the newspaper that the themes and formulation of the questions suggest that a coalition with the Finns Party is more likely than with the Social Democrats. The questions, he highlighted, refer to neither the carbon-neutrality target set for 2035, nor to the status of the Swedish language  both issues that would have singled out the Finns Party.

Another possible bone of contention is related to immigration. Riikka Purra, the chairperson of the Finns Party, on Friday reiterated that the populist right-wing party will insist on tightening harmful immigration if it is part of the next ruling coalition.

The questions do not refer even to work-based immigration, instead speaking about international recruitment.

You could think that thats a politically less loaded wording. It could therefore be possible for the parties to find an understanding on international recruitment, analysed Jokisipila. Its also noteworthy that gang and youth violence was mentioned specifically. The theme was very central in the Finns Partys campaign.

The National Coalition must find common ground with either the Finns Party or Social Democrats, as well as bring in a couple of smaller parties, in order to form a ruling majority in the Finnish Parliament.

Jokisipila reminded Helsingin Sanomat that the questions do not rule out the Social Democrats, either.

There are questions related to well-being services, education and elderly care. These are the Social Democrats bread and butter, he said.

Emilia Palonen, a researcher at the University of Helsinki, similarly viewed that in principle all parties could provide positive answers to the questions. Also interesting is the question that hints at the possibility of a minority government, she said to the newspaper, pointing to a question about the willingness of parties to support initiatives that align with their political goals from the opposition.

The National Coalition nevertheless clearly believes it is necessary to take a right turn in the domain of economic policy in the electoral term, added Jokisipila.

Questions about fiscal adjustment are at the top of the document, he said. The Social Democrats commitment to adjustment was left somewhat unclear during the campaign, with chairperson Sanna Marin questioning the National Coalitions view on the scope, schedule and means of the necessary adjustment. Im sure the Social Democrats answer will be read carefully.

On the other hand, the Finns Party is expected to answer questions that enquire about its relationship to EU politics, he said.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT
A SHAKE-UP of planning legislation around solar panels will threaten the historical street scene of Henley, it has been claimed.

The governments Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has launched a consultation on relaxing permitted development rights to allow solar panels on flat roofs and walls of domestic and non-domestic properties which front the highway in a conservation area.

The changes also include allowing solar panels on flat roofs, which is not currently allowed, in an attempt to support the UKs renewable energy infrastructure.

Henley Town Councils planning committee has discussed the proposals and has written back saying they would be against it. The consultation runs until April 25.

Deputy clerk Cath Adams told a meeting about the proposals.

She said: Theres an item on solar equipment on domestic and non-domestic buildings, to allow solar panels on flat roofs, which arent allowed at the moment, and solar equipment on walls of domestic properties which front the highway in a conservation area.

Mrs Adams said that it may be that the council could put solar panels on the town hall in future.

She added: There is also an item about solar canopies and permitted development rights on non-domestic car parks with a maximum of 4m height but not in conservation areas.

There is also more flexibility for local authorities and companies being able to install charging points.

Councillor Laurence Plant said allowing solar panels to face the highway would spoil the street scene.

Thats ridiculous, he said. Until they make roof panels that look like tiles. Imagine if we tell the residents were going to slap a bunch of solar panels on Kings Arms Barn.

I completely understand the use of them but it would destroy the aesthetic of Henley. Until they look the same and maintain the same street scene and consistency with the conservation area then its a no.

Councillor Lorraine Hillier said: They have still not perfected them yet. Until they perfect them for historic buildings they would be totally unsuitable.

Speaking after the meeting, Mayor Michelle Thomas said the technology needs to catch up.

She said: I think theres going to come a time where panels will mimic the actual exterior tiles or roof structure. Until that time is reached, Im not sure its going ahead.

We do need to find a solution to the energy crisis but I dont think technology or design has caught up yet. But it will eventually come  sooner rather than later I hope.

Councillor Thomas said she hoped the legislation did not proceed as there would be nothing the council could do to stop panels being installed.

She said: It would certainly change things. The majority of the town centre is a conservation area  gosh, that would look different wouldnt it.

Anything that is energy saving is a plus but I would prefer for companies which install them to come up with a more aesthetically pleasing design for a conservation area or listed buildings.

Councillor Stefan Gawrysiak said: I would be against solar panels on the front of roofs. I recognise there is a climate emergency and I think on the back of buildings, facing away from the street scene, is perfectly acceptable.

Henley is a conservation area and we vastly have to keep it looking the way it was built.

Geoff Luckett, who chairs the Henley Society, a conservation group, said planning authorities should still have a say on changes to buildings within a protected area.

He said: In a conservation area and on historical buildings, I dont think there is anything wrong with the planning authority having an oversight. Letting people do whatever they want is not correct.
JOHN HOWELL is not seeking re-election as Henleys MP and will retire ahead of the next general election.

Mr Howell, 67, says he will be too old to return to parliament having already served for 15 years, winning five elections.

He took over the constituency in 2008 from Boris Johnson when he became Mayor of London and will remain in post until parliament is dissolved.

In a letter to Will Hall, who chairs the South Oxfordshire Conservative Association, Mr Howell said he did not want to remain an MP due to his age and other interests.

He wrote: By the end of the next parliament, I will be approaching my mid-70s and that is why I said at the time of the 2019 general election that I would not seek re-adoption again. I have a number of other areas I would like to pursue.

Mr Howell leads the UK delegation to the Council of Europe and has twice served as a parliamentary private secretary to ministers.

He has contested four general elections, retaining more than 50 per cent of vote share at each one.

Mr Howell said: I have enjoyed the 15 years I have been MP for the Henley constituency. I thank the executive and members for their support during this time.

It has also been a matter of great pride, and still is, to have undertaken the exciting and important work I have been involved with, and continue to lead, at the Council of Europe. As this is crucial to the country continuing as a multilateral power, I look forward to this work continuing.

The world of politics has changed substantially since I became an MP and, as you know, I have never treated this seat as a safe seat despite my majority being way above 20,000 in 2015 and 2017. Indeed, I am not sure that any seat can be regarded in this way anymore.

I wish the association well in the search for a prospective parliamentary candidate and every success to that person in their new role.

Mr Howell said he remained a strong supporter of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and he urged party colleagues to get behind him and said he would continue to work hard for his constituency.

In February, Mr Howell said he was yet to decide on whether to stand again as MP amid speculation that Mr Johnson could return.

It had been claimed that the former Prime Minister, who was MP for Henley from 2001 to 2008 was seeing a safe seat at the election, which is expected to be held next year.

But Mr Johnson has been reselected as the Conservative candidate for the Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency.

So far, Freddie van Mierlo, for the Liberal Democrats, is the only parliamentary candidate to be named. He has represented Chalgrove and Watlington on Oxfordshire County Council since 2021.

Cllr van Mierlo was selected after taking more than half of members votes in a five-way contest.

He said The Liberal Democrats are the very clear challengers to the Conservatives in the Henley constituency. I live here in Henley and my aim is to deliver Henley a hard-working MP that is on their side.
A SAFE was stolen in a burglary at a house in Greys Road, Henley, by two masked men.

Police said the pair broke in between 6.40pm and 7.30pm on Friday and carried out a messy search.

One man was white, about 5ft 9in and had an Irish accent. He was wearing a dark blue face mask, a dark blue and grey coat with a white logo on the chest and arms and a yellow striped bobble hat.

The other man was white and wore an orange and red hat, blue jacket and a face mask.

Police are appealing for witnesses. Anyone with information should call 101, quoting reference number 43230163500.
Chinese ambassador attends donation ceremony for impoverished villages in South Africa

15:21, April 17, 2023 By Liu Chang ( People's Daily Online

Chinese Ambassador to South Africa Chen Xiaodong and South African Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu jointly visited the Moretele Municipality of North West Province to inspect the poverty alleviation work being done in local villages and attended a donation ceremony on April 14, 2023.

(Photo/Chinese Embassy in South Africa)

Chen had cordial exchanges with local government officials and villagers, and learned about the local peoples living conditions as well as their access to education and medical facilities. The two sides discussed ways to meet local rural development needs and carry out poverty alleviation cooperation between China and South Africa. Chen and Zulu also visited a local youth care center together and donated a batch of study and living supplies to the center and some local schools.

Chen said that China is pursuing the Chinese path to modernization, striving to achieve common prosperity for all its people, and at the same time is committed to promoting common development worldwide. China and South Africa share a special relationship of "comradeship plus brotherhood". China has always supported South Africa's efforts in improving its people's livelihoods and eliminating poverty. China stands ready to strengthen experience exchange and cooperation in poverty alleviation with South Africa and make greater contributions to its economic and social development.

(Photo/Chinese Embassy in South Africa)

Zulu thanked the Chinese Embassy for its generous donation, and spoke highly of China's support for improving people's livelihoods in South Africa. She said she admires China for the remarkable achievements it has made in poverty alleviation, and expressed her readiness to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with China in poverty alleviation and rural development in South Africa.

Chen was warmly received by local government officials and residents, who spoke highly of the friendship between the two countries, thanked China for supporting local poverty alleviation and social development work, and looked forward to learning from China's experience in poverty alleviation.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Wu Chengliang)
Established in Boston in 2019, the top ranked analytics institute has grown rapidly across the globe tapping the huge demand in the classroom training space for AI and advanced technology courses. Boston Institute of Analytics, top ranked international training institute focused on advanced technologies, has expanded their footprint in Middle East with campuses planned in United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The first campus in Middle East will be operational in Dubai in August followed by campuses in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Riyadh and Doha. With 55+ training campuses across US, EU and Asia, Boston Institute of Analytics is a global leader in classroom trainings in Analytics and Artificial Intelligence space.

As an education company focused on providing high quality classroom-based training in advanced technology courses by practicing industry professionals, BIA has been growing rapidly with new campuses across all major global cities.

Every year 15000+ students enroll into BIAs coveted certification and diploma programs to become part of the growing tech workforce in AI and other rapidly evolving new age technology fields. With alumni working at technology companies like Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Citibank and such top MNCs, BIA students get access to professional network from top global companies.

BIA has been a market leader in classroom trainings in emerging tech fields like Data Science, Machine Learning, Cybersecurity and AI with trainings provided by industrys top Data Scientists, Cyber Sec Professionals and AI Experts. Ranked number one analytics training institute by Business Asia, Indian Analytics Forum, IFC and several recognized forums, BIA plans to launch 100 campuses by end of 2023. 62 of those campus partners have already been appointed and the campuses will go live in the next 3-6 months.

Founded by IIT Bombay alumnus Ashwin Malik Meshram and senior education industry professional Sufia Khan, BIA was established in Boston in 2019 and later expanded to London and India in the same year. The advanced tech focused education company witnessed a rapid expansion of campuses after rolling out the franchise model in late 2022.

Commenting on the expansion of BIA footprint to Middle East, Ashwin Malik Meshram, Founder and CEO of BIA, said, We have been getting immense demand from students from countries like UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar to enroll into our courses. There is a huge gap in the global market for classroom-based trainings in advanced tech space. BIA has been capitalizing on this growing demand and growing rapidly across all major cities in the world.

Disclaimer: This article is a paid publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times. Hindustan Times does not endorse/subscribe to the content(s) of the article/advertisement and/or view(s) expressed herein. Hindustan Times shall not in any manner, be responsible and/or liable in any manner whatsoever for all that is stated in the article and/or also with regard to the view(s), opinion(s), announcement(s), declaration(s), affirmation(s) etc., stated/featured in the same.
Apple is preparing ambitious plans for India, starting with the opening of its first two retail stores this week, but with a wider array of products and services as it completes 25 years in the country. Apple CEO Tim Cook. (AP Photo)

Among these steps are strengthening Indias app developer space, commitment towards sustainability, community initiatives in different regions and localised manufacturing, some of the companys top executives told HT, signalling an intent designed to strengthen its presence as well as impact.

At Apple, our mission is to enrich lives and empower people around the world. India has such a beautiful culture and an incredible energy, and were excited to build on our long-standing history  supporting our customers, investing in local communities, and working together to build a better future with innovations that serve humanity, said Tim Cook, CEO of Apple.

Apple BKC in Mumbai and Apple Saket in Delhi will open doors for business this week to join an illustrious list of Apple Stores globally, including the Apple Park Visitor Center in Cupertino, Apple Champs-Elysees in Paris, Apple Dubai Mall and Apple Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, being some of the 552 stores in 25 countries.

For Apple in India, official retail stores are the final piece of the jigsaw with strong sales and local manufacturing already in place. Our stores are always influenced by the communities where they reside, said Deirdre OBrien, senior vice president of Retail at Apple.

Apple relies heavily on developers in India for the App Store. The iOS App Design and Development Accelerator in Bengaluru, since 2017, has hosted sessions for more than 15,000 developers in the country. The company works one-on-one with developers. They say Indias app developers now support more than 1 million jobs.

The App Store pay-outs for developers in India have tripled since 2018, Apple said. The company has reworked price point flexibility for developers, with 900 price points and global differential pricing for apps, to correspond with local currency and taxes.

While manufacturing has gained importance for Apple in India, the company has strict targets in place for sustainability and environment. These tie in with its commitment to be 100% carbon neutral for its supply chain and products by the year 2030. These will include operations in India, as well as the Indian manufacturing supply chain.

Also Read:In retail re-entry, Apple bets big on India tech appetite

Recycled materials are an important link in the chain. Last week, Apple announced theyll switch to the use of fully recycled cobalt for all batteries by 2025. These would include battery packs for all iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch.

A similar target has also been set for the use of entirely recycled rare earth elements to make the magnets in Apple devices, and all Apple-designed printed circuit boards will use fully percent recycled tin soldering and gold plating across products.

From the recycled materials in our products, to the clean energy that powers our operations, our environmental work is integral to everything we make and to who we are, said Cook.

Apple is already using the worlds first direct carbon-free aluminium in iPhones, a mission that started with the iPhone SE.

Apple began manufacturing the iPhone in India in 2017, working with partners including Foxconn, Pegatron and Wistron. Component suppliers include Avary, Foxlink, Sunwoda and Salcomp. There has since been a strengthening of iPhone manufacturing in India, including commitments under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme. The latest generation iPhone 14 is also made here and these steps, the company said, has furthered the cause for job creation in India.

Apples $50 million Supplier Employee Development Fund, for new skill development, rights awareness, and other learning opportunities for supplier employees, was launched in 2022. Apple has also collaborated with the Barefoot College to conduct training programs for women in rural India, with particular focus on the advantages of using solar energy in communities.

Apples environment focus extends to working with communities in different regions. Earlier this year, the tech giant announced a partnership with non-government organisation Frank Water, with focus on improving water quality and supply, as well as availability of sanitation and hygiene facilities. The pilot project is set to begin at the Anekal taluk in the outskirts of Bengaluru.

Apple has partnered with the Applied Environmental Research Foundation to promote protection and conservation of mangroves in Maharashtra. Research shows mangroves can store up to 10 times more carbon per acre than terrestrial forests.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday accused the ruling BJP and RSS of attacking democracy and spreading hatred and violence in the country. He also appealed to the people to support the Congress and ensure that the party wins at least 150 seats in the May 10 Assembly polls in Karnataka, and comes to power with a full majority. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addresses a public meeting Jai Bharat in Kolar on Sunday. (ANI)

"Bidar is Basavanna's (12th century social reformer) 'karma bhoomi'. If someone first spoke about democracy and showed the path towards democracy it was Basavanna. It is sad that today across the country, people from RSS and BJP are attacking democracy," Gandhi said. Addressing a public meeting here, he alleged that BJP and RSS are attacking Basavanna's ideals of- equal partnership, equal opportunities, and that everyone should move ahead together.

"They are spreading hatred and violence in Hindustan, and they are taking away money from poor and weaker section people and giving it to two or three rich people," he added. AICC General Secretaries K C Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala (in-charge of Karnataka), KPCC working president and candidate from Bhalki Assembly seat Eshwar Khandre were among those present.

Expressing confidence about the Congress coming to power, Gandhi said the party government's first cabinet meeting will take a decision on implementing its poll guarantees. The Congress party has announced four poll guarantees  200 units of free power to all households (Gruha Jyoti), 2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family (Gruha Lakshmi), 10 kg of rice free to every member of a BPL household (Anna Bhagya), and 3,000 every month for graduate youth and 1,500 for diploma holders (both in the age group of 18-25) for two years (YuvaNidhi), on coming to power in the state. He said the Congress will not make false promises like Prime Minister Narendra Modi did regarding depositing 15 lakh in every bank account, and war against black money, among others, and will fulfill its promises immediately after coming to power. "Whoever becomes the Chief Minister of Karnataka, will convert guarantees into law, on the first day after coming to power," he added.
Former CM and Karnatakas prominent Lingayat leader Jagadish Shettar has joined the Congress party on Monday morning at Bengaluru. He joined the Congress in the presence of the partys national president Mallikarjun Kharge and KPCC president DK Shivakumar. Karnataka elections: Former CM Jagadish Shettar joins Congress

Shettar on Sunday evening held a key meeting with DK Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah and Randeep Surjewala at Bengaluru and explained his terms to them. He is also likely to get the Congress ticket from Hubballi  Dharwad central constituency. Jagadish Shettar is a six-time MLA, served as CM of Karnataka and as a BJPs state president. He was denied a ticket by the BJP this time for assembly polls.

Also Read - Karnataka Assembly Election LIVE updates: Ex-CM J Shettar joins Congress party

Meanwhile, Jagadish Shettar has slammed the BJP and alleged that the party has humiliated and ill-treated him. He said, I was humiliated and badly treated by the BJP leaders. A few leaders in the state are misusing the BJP system and it is hurtful.

Karnataka CM Bommai said that his departure from the party might have an impact. Jagadish Shettar is a senior leader and him leaving the party will have an impact. We tried pacifying him by offering a key position at New Delhi and also an assembly ticket to his family member. But Shettar was very adamant about his assembly ticket and did not agree to our terms. We will overcome his impact at Hubballi  Dharwad region.

Former CM Yediyurappa also took a swipe at Jagadish Shettar also said that his decision made him unhappy. Jagadish Shettar should pave a way for the younger generation. If he contests on a Congress ticket, I will personally campaign in his constituency and make sure that he will be defeated. The Lingayat community will always be with the BJP, he added.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) sounded its bugle for the Jalandhar Lok Sabha byelection with party candidate Sushil Kumar Rinku filing his nomination papers in the presence of chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Sushil Kumar Rinku filing his nomination for the Jalandhar Lok Sabha byelections in the presence of Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mannand state finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Monday. (PTI Photo)

Mann, accompanied with cabinet ministers and AAP MLAs, held a roadshow before reaching the deputy commissioners office, where the nomination formalities were completed.

Also read: Police-drug mafia nexus: Punjab CM Mann dismisses Moga ex-SSP Raj Jit Singh

We have sounded our bugle. Now campaigning will be intensified to highlight party policies and welfare work done by the state government in the past one year, Mann said.

He said this is AAPs first election since it was declared a national party and it will go all out to ensure Rinkus victory. AAP leaders and workers will go village to village to woo voters, he added.

Mann said opposition parties were stunned by the rising popularity of the AAP and were trying their best to defame its leaders.

Rinku, a former Congress MLA, was given the AAP ticket a day after he joined the party on April 5.

In the 2022 assembly elections, Rinku had lost to incumbent AAP MLA Sheetal Angural from Jalandhar West assembly segment by 4,253 votes.

The Jalandhar Lok Sabha byelection was necessitated after Santokh Singh Chaudhary, the sitting MP, died after suffering a heart attack during Rahul Gandhis Bharat Jodo Yatra on January 14.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
An army jawan, Desai Mohan, who till last week was the sole witness of the killing of four army personnel at Bathinda military station on April 12, has been arrested for murdering the soldiers. The accused army jawan, Desai Mohan (face covered), with Punjab Police personnel after his arrest in Bathinda on Monday. (Sanjeev Kumar/HT)

Investigators said it was a premeditated plan where Mohan stole an INSAS rifle and 28 bullets to eliminate four gunners from an artillery unit.

In a joint press conference, Bathinda senior superintendent of police (SSP) Gulneet Khurana and Colonel Animesh Sharan from the Bathinda military station said that the accused has confessed to turning the gun on his colleagues to avenge the humiliation and harassment meted out to him by them.

They said it was early to confirm the kind of harassment the accused was facing at the hands of the four soldiers.

Evading a reply if the accused had filed any complaint against the four soldiers in the past, Colonel Sharan said: It is all a matter of internal investigation.

He said during the ongoing internal investigation, it was found that Mohan had stolen an INSAS rifle, its 20 cartridges and another eight bullets of a light machine gun (LMG) on April 10. Following a complaint of weapon and ammunition going missing, the military base was on high alert and now the matter is being investigated under a court of inquiry (CoI), he added.

Accused hid stolen rifle, ammo for two days

He hid the weapon and ammunition at an isolated spot of the army base for two days before targeting his colleagues early in the morning on April 12. After the murders, Mohan was among others questioned. He was handed over to the police on Sunday, Colonel Sharan said.

SSP Khurana said a police team recovered the rifle and six live rounds of the LMG from a sewage pit in the compound.

We recovered 19 empty shells of the INSAS from the crime spot. After committing the crime, Mohan dumped the rifle and ammunition in a pit and they were found on the basis of information shared by the accused to the investigators. Mohan was repeatedly changing his statements during questioning by the army officials and then to the police. He remained under focused questioning, the SSP said.

Mohan was among the four jawans summoned for questioning by the police on Sunday.

Khurana said that during questioning, Mohan said he was facing repeated harassment from the victims.

After committing the crime, he tried to mislead the army by concocting a story about two unidentified men in kurta-pyjamas and masks. But his lie was detected. We are conducting a scientific probe to make it a watertight case, the SSP said.

Mohan was produced in a local court which sent him in police remand till April 20, said Bathinda Cantonment station house officer Gurdeep Singh.

Accused, victims deployed at officers mess

The four soldiers  Sagar Banne, Kamlesh R, Santosh Nagaral, and Yogeshkumar J  were shot dead on April 12 as they slept in their rooms near the officers mess of the heavily guarded military base.

The deceased and the accused were colleagues at the mess.

According to the first information report (FIR) at the cantonment police station on April 12, Mohan claimed he had spotted two masked men in white kurta-pyjama near the crime scene.

The case was registered on the complaint of Major Ashutosh Shukla of 80 Medium Regiment, who quoted Mohans information that one of the assailants was carrying an INSAS (Indian Small Arms System) rifle and the other an axe.

Gaps in jawans account to police

The FIR stated that an INSAS rifle and a magazine with 28 cartridges had gone missing from the army unit and was likely to have been used by the suspects in the attack. The rifle and magazine were recovered from the pit later the same day.

A day after the crime, HT was first to repsort of Punjab Police finding gaps in the eyewitness account.

Mohan had stated that he saw two men carrying a rifle and an axe, but the autopsy of the four jawans did not reveal any sharp-edged weapon injury.

Additional director general of police (ADGP), Bathinda Range, SPS Parmar had said that the jawan (Mohan) was questioned as it did not go well why one of the two assailants was carrying an axe when it was not used to attack the soldiers. Moreover, no other person on duty spotted the movement of the men in civvies in the secured campus. There was no security breach or attempt of intrusion reported, Parmar added.
Hours after a couple stole a newborn boy from the civil hospital here on Monday, the police have arrested the two accused and handed over the child to the family. Couple steals newborn boy from Ludhiana civil hospital; held

According to the police, the accused had stolen the newborn to sell it for 5 lakh. However, the buyer of the newborn is yet to be traced.

The arrested accused have been identified as Preeti of Bhamian Khurd village and her husband Sahil Kumar.

The child was stolen from the Mother Child Hospital wing of the health facility. The woman was caught on camera while executing the crime.

According to sources, while scanning the CCTVs, the woman was captured while boarding a three-wheeler outside the civil hospital. The registration number of the three-wheeler was captured in the CCTVs. Tracing the vehicle, the police found the clue about the woman.

Sources also said that the woman had fed the newborn milk with the help of a spoon. As the milk was a little warm, the newborn suffered burns on his palate. The couple had taken the newborn to a local doctor also for the treatment.

The accused woman, Preeti, is a nurse at a private hospital, while Kumar is an auto driver.

The Division number 2 police have lodged an FIR against the accused under sections 365 and 34 of the IPC.

The police also suspect that the accused themselves have two daughters. It is suspected that Preeti had come in contact with the buyer of the newborn at the private hospital where she works as a nurse.

The woman, wearing a tracksuit had stolen the four-day old boy at around 3.15am.

According to eyewitnesses, the woman entered the premises pretending to look up a relative admitted at the hospital. She took the infant in her lap on the pretext of playing with him and suddenly walked away with him.

Security cameras captured the footage of the woman leaving the hospital with the baby in her arms. Shabnam, mother of the child, immediately raised the alarm, and the police were informed.

Shabnam, who resides in Karabara, had given birth to a male child through Cesarean section after three daughters. She alleged that while stealing the newborn, the accused had sprayed some sedatives in the air following which she went into slumber for a few minutes.

After she gained consciousness, she was shocked when she did not find her son on the bed and raised an alarm. She alleged that the staff at the hospital had started abusing her for being careless.

Commissioner of police Mandeep Singh Sidhu said that as the matter was sensitive and the police swung into action immediately and formed separate teams for the arrest of the accused. In the afternoon, the woman and her husband were traced from Bhamian Kalan and the newborn was rescued.

He added that the woman along with her husband and a 10-year-old daughter had reached the hospital at around 10pm on Sunday. She went to Mother and child hospital posing as a relative of a patient and started enquiring about the newborn male children.

The staff at the civil hospital had asked her to leave, but she managed to stay inside.

Sidhu said that the police are investigating the couples past criminal record. He announced a reward for the police team for solving the case within hours.

The incident has raised the issue of safety and security of patients and their kin. A police post has been established inside the civil hospital, but it had no impact.

Senior medical officer (SMO) at civil hospital Dr Deepika Goyal said that the hospital performs more than 300 deliveries every month despite staff crunch.

She said that as the staff is overworked, there must be some laxity by the staff. She will investigate and take action against the staff if found guilty.
Two days after a 27-year-old man of Ber Kalan village in Khanna was killed over old rivalry, the Malaud police have arrested four persons in connection with the case. Four held for murder of 27-year-old man in Ludhiana

However, one of the accused is absconding.

The incident had occurred on Friday night following which the police had booked five persons, Ranjit Singh alias Goga and his aides, including Gurtej Singh, Gurmeet Singh alias Kaka, Satnam Singh alias Laddi and Gurjit Singh alias Geeta, all residents of Ber Kalan village.

Of these five, Ranjit, Gurmeet, Satnam and Gurjit have been arrested by the police.

The reason behind the murder is said to be an old rivalry.

According to the victims father Ranjit Singh, around two years ago his son Balkar Singh and Ranjit had indulged in a scuffle.

Goga had lodged an FIR against Balkar Singh under section 326 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) of the IPC. After the incident, Goga had nursed a rivalry against Balkar.

He said that on Friday night, his elder son Balkar Singh went to a nearby retail shop to buy some groceries. The assailants intercepted his way and assaulted him with blunt weapons, including sticks and wooden logs. After the locals gathered there, the accused escaped from the spot leaving Balkar injured.

The complainant said that he rushed to the spot after villagers informed him about the incident and took his son home. On Saturday morning, the condition of his son started deteriorating following which he rushed him to the hospital, where he succumbed to the injuries while undergoing treatment.

A case under sections 302, 506, 148 and 149 of the IPC was registered against the accused. The police are investigating the matter.

Sub-inspector Lakhvir Singh, who is investigating the case, said that the accused were trying to escape from the village to avoid police, but the police foiled their plan and arrested four of the accused.
An unidentified woman stole a newborn boy from the Mother and Child Hospital in Lord Mahavira Civil Hospital in Ludhiana early on Monday. The woman captured on CCTV after stealing the newborn from the civil hospital in Ludhiana early on Monday. (CCTV footage)

According to eyewitnesses, the woman entered the premises pretending to look up a relative admitted to the hospital. She took the infant, who was born four days ago, in her lap on the pretext of playing with him and suddenly walked away with him at 3.15am.

Also read: Bathinda military station firing: Sole witness army jawan arrested for killing 4 soldiers

Security cameras captured footage of the woman leaving the hospital with the baby in her arms. The mother immediately raised the alarm and the police were informed.

However, despite an extensive search, the police have been unable to locate the woman or the infant.

The mother, Shabnam of Karabara area of Ludhiana, was inconsolable. She had given birth to a male child after three daughters and her family has appealed to the public for any information that may help locate her child. She alleged that the hospital staff threatened her when she raised the alarm.

Sub-inspector Amritpal Sharma, the SHO at division number 2 police station, said a case has been registered.

The police found that the accused woman entered the hospital with a male accomplice at 12.04am.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar will visit Kaithal on April 23 to attend a state-level programme on Dhanna Bhagats birth anniversary. As per the information, the Vice-President will be the chief guest on the occasion and chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar will also attend the programme along with ministers and BJP leaders. Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar will visit Kaithal on April 23 to attend a state-level programme on Dhanna Bhagats birth anniversary. (PTI File Photo)

The programme will be organised in Dhanauri village of the district. Kaithal deputy commissioner Jagdish Sharma and Jind SP Sumit Kumar visited the village to review the arrangements. Randeep Ghangas, media coordinator to the Haryana CM, said that this is for the first time that a state-level programme is being organised to mark the birth anniversary of Dhanna Bhagat. He said thousands of people from across the state will attend the programme.
After a Delhi court on Monday extended the judicial custody of Manish Sisodia till April 27 in CBI case and April 29 in ED in connection with the liquor policy case, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla tore into the former Delhi deputy chief minister and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. Calling Sisodia the architect of the now-scrapped liquor policy, Poonawalla questioned why the Aam Aadmi Party leader was not being released by the court despite Kejriwal asserting that there was no scam. BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla and former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia. (File)

He tweeted, Once again no relief for Accused no 1 Manish Sisodia - architect of the sharab ghotala. JC extended for 2 more weeks. But Kejriwal says no ghotala; hands out kattar imaandar certificates. Clearly the mastermind of the Sharab Ghotala- Natwarlal Kejriwal must tell us why court isnt granting relief to his henchman in Sharab ghotala Manish. Karenge Brashtachar bolenge hua atyachar !

Hitting out at Kejriwal, the BJP leader, in a video, raised questions on why Vijay Nair, an accused in the excise policy case, and former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain, who is in jail in connection with a money laundering probe, remained behind bars. Alleging that AAP indulges in corruption first, plays the victim card and then does drama to divert attention, Poonawalla said that the party celebrates and justifies corruption now'. From Anna Hazare, theyve (AAP) come to support Lalu Prasad Yadav..wont answer a single question on sharab ghotala, how hundreds of crores of rupees were taken from sharab mafia and used in elections, why blacklisted companies were allowed to come in he continued while attacking Kejriwal's dismissal of the arrests of the AAP leaders as political vendetta.

The Rouse Avenue court modified its earlier order which had extended Sisodia's judicial custody till May 1 in both CBI and ED cases.

The Delhi court's decision came a day after the CBI summoned Kejriwal in the case as a witness. He was questioned by the investigating agency for nine hours and his statements will be verified and collated with the available evidence. Sisodia was arrested by CBI in February in the liquor policy case.Kejriwal's summons led to dramatic developments in Delhi as AAP leaders protesting peacefully near the CBI office were detained.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Rouse Avenue court on Monday extended the judicial custody of Delhi's former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in two different cases in connection with the alleged irregularities in national capital's now-scrapped excise policy. The judicial custody in the case linked with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been extended till April 27 and with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) till April 29. Former deputy chief minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia(ANI)

The Delhi court's decision came a day after CBI summoned Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in a similar case. He was questioned by the investigating agency for nine hours and his statements will be verified and collated with the available evidence. His summons became a major flashpoint in the national capital as AAP leader protesting near CBI office were detained on Sunday. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also staged a protest on Monday outside the Delhi assembly against CM Kejriwal chanting slogans, whereas, some party workers tried to breach the barricade placed by security personnel.

Sisodia was arrested by CBI in February after an extensive questioning session. The federal agency claimed that the former Delhi deputy CM gave evasive replies and did not co-operate with the investigation despite being confronted with evidence to the contrary.

Also read: BJP workers protest outside Delhi assembly as CM Kejriwal prepares for showdown

In March, ED arrested Sisodia on money laundering charges in the liquor policy case after he was questioned inside the Tihar jail. Soon after his arrest, CM Kejriwal had tweeted, "Manish was earlier arrested by the CBI. The CBI could not find any evidence or money in the raid. Tomorrow, his bail plea is to be heard. Today, he was arrested by the ED. This serves only one motive- to keep Manish Sisodia in jail for as long as possible through false cases. The people are watching and will give a befitting reply.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a two-day Global Buddhist Summit in Delhi, to be held later this week, that will see the participation of eminent Buddhist monks, scholars and delegates from various parts of the world, Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy said on Monday. PM Modi will also attend the Bihu dance event during his visit (File Photo)(HT_PRINT)

Addressing a press conference here, he said the conference will be held at The Ashok hotel on April 20-21.

The prime minister will inaugurate the conference that will be the first of its kind, given its scale and the stature of participants, Reddy said.

"Eminent Buddhist monks, scholars, ambassadors and diplomats from various foreign countries will take part in the summit, which will be hosted by the Union Ministry of Culture along with the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC)," he told reporters.

The minister said delegates from nearly 30 countries apart from India are scheduled to attend the mega event.

Delegates from Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Russia, among others, will attend the event, IBC Director-General Abhijit Halder said.

The theme of the Conference is 'Responses to Contemporary Challenges from Philosophy to Praxis'.

Asked if any delegate from China will attend the event, Halder said "an invitation was sent but no specific response has been received".

He said the IBC network spans the world and invitations were sent to institutions and "not governments".

Halder was also asked if Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama will attend.

"We have sent the invite but due to (his) health issues, we are still awaiting confirmation," he added.

Halder said the conference was first envisioned in 2020 but could not take place at the time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Then it was difficult to bring together top monks from various countries at one time in one place, he added.

Reddy said India is the "birthplace of Buddhism" and "the land of the Buddha".

"Therefore, it is our responsibility to showcase our Buddhist history and heritage to the wider world and the conference is in line with that vision of the country and the current government led by PM Modi," he added.

Reddy was also asked if the foreign delegates will visit various Buddhist sites in the country.

The minister said, "Delegates may visit different sites and the government of India will help coordinate their visits so that we can showcase our monuments and sites associated with Buddhism."
The Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from lieutenant governor VK Saxena on a petition moved by the Delhi government against the LGs mandate, prohibiting government school teachers from travelling abroad to receive training. Delhi lieutenant governor VK Saxena was given the notice on a petition by the Delhi government in which it claimed that the LG did not allow state government school teachers to go to Finland for training. (HT Photo)

A bench led by Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud issued a notice to the LG and listed the matter for hearing after two weeks.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi and Saxena have had several run-ins over the control of the Capital since May 26, 2022, when the latter took over as LG. One of the flashpoints in their longstanding feud is Saxenas decision to seek a cost-benefit analysis on sending a group of Delhi school teachers for training in Finland.

On January 16, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had led ministers, MLAs and party workers to the LGs residence, demanding an immediate approval of the governments proposal to send 30 teachers to Finland for training. On March 4, the L-G cleared some of the teachers for the Finland programme but mandated against such exercises in future.

On Monday, advocate Shadan Farasat, appearing for the AAP government, submitted before the top court bench that the law is clear that the LG cannot take independent decisions. He (the LG) has also said that no teacher training will happen in Finland in the future. Thats like taking a decision on his own. He cannot do that, Farasat told the bench, which also included justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala.

Challenging Saxenas mandate, the petition pointed out that even though the proposal was first submitted to the LG in October 2022, it was only approved on March 4, 2023, subject to several amendments and conditions, rendering the proposal infructuous.

While granting the approval, the LG has stated that such teachers trained in said programme shall only become trainers in India and that in future, there was no need for such training programmes to be conducted abroad, instead, they should be conducted within India. In this context, the petitioner (Delhi government) is seeking a re-declaration of the well-settled position of law that the Governor is bound to act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers and has no independent decision-making power, said the petition.

The plea sought direction to set aside the order passed by the LG on March 4, and affirm the proposal of the Delhi governments State Council of Educational Research and Training (SECRT) to send primary in-charge teachers at government schools for training abroad.
KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday responded to Union home minister Amit Shahs stinging attacks on the states ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), alleging that Shah was conspiring to pull down the government. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee addresses a press conference at Nabanna, in Howrah on Monday. (PTI)

On April 14, the Union home minister came to Bengal to address his partys meeting. He has the freedom to do that. What he says in public is his prerogative. But having sworn to protect the Constitution, the home minister of India cannot say that if his party wins 35 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal the state government will collapse. This means a home minister is conspiring to dismantle a democratically elected government, Banerjee said at the state secretariat on Monday, her first comment to Amit Shahs statements on Friday.

How can a home minister have so much audacity that instead of protecting the nation, the democracy and the federal structure he talks of dismantling an elected government? Which law permits him to do that? Does it mean he will make his own law? Does it mean the Constitution is being replaced?, she said.

Shah, who was in the state last week to kick off the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) campaign for the 2024 general elections, also prophesied that the next chief minister in West Bengal will be from the BJP.

The senior BJP leader credited the party workers for the BJP becoming the principal opposition party in West Bengal in the 2021 assembly elections.

Complete what began in 2021 in 2024. Give BJP more than 35 seats and make Narendra Modi the Prime Minister once again. The only way to end the rule of lawlessness by Mamata Banerjee and her nephew is to usher in a BJP government.

Banerjee responded to Shah on Monday.

She said: They are replacing the judiciary, replacing the Constitution, replacing history. Law and order are being replaced by killers. He (Shah) has no right to continue as Union home minister after making these statements. We demand his resignation in a democratic manner.

Banerjee also highlighted former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Maliks sensational claims in a recent interview.

Malik, who was governor of J&K in 2018-19, claimed Modi asked him to keep quiet on the Pulwama attack and the home ministry allegedly rejected a proposal to fly down the jawans instead of having them travel by road. Malik didnt provide any material evidence to prove his allegations.

What Satyapal Ji said...There was intelligence failure. At that time (2019) also, we raised this point. The truth will emerge one day. We want an investigation, she said.

We salute our jawans (soldiers). We love our motherland. They sacrificed their lives for the motherland. They are devoted to our country. But for the polarization and to create some fake nationalism. Banerjee said without completing the sentence.

We respect our nationalism because Bengal is where nationalism was born, she added.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Jiban Krishna Saha, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislator from Burwan in Murshidabad district, early on Monday for his alleged involvement in bribe-for-job scam in the West Bengal school education department, officials said. rinamool Congress legislator Jiban Krishna Saha. (File Photo)

The federal agency had been questioning the legislator and searching his house since Friday. It was the longest raid so far in the probe into the recruitment scam.

Saha is the third sitting legislator to be arrested in the scam. He was being brought to Kolkata and is likely to be produced in the court later during the day.

Officials from the federal agency said documents linked to a few hundred people who apparently paid bribe for school jobs were found in five bags that were allegedly stashed in shrubs and bushes behind Sahas house.

Five bags of documents were recovered from the bushes adjacent to the boundary wall of his house. The documents affixed with photographs of aspiring candidates, who had allegedly paid bribes, were recovered. The bribe collected runs into multiple crores, said a statement issued by the agency.

Saha allegedly threw his two mobile phones into an adjacent pond when the CBI team arrived at his residence on Friday morning. The agency used three pumps for around 48 hours to drain the pond. An earth mover was brought in on Sunday afternoon to dig out the sludge since hired labourers could find only one phone after the water was fully drained.

In May 2022, Calcutta high court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay ordered the CBI to probe the appointment of non-teaching staff (Group C and D) and teaching staff by the West Bengal School Service Commission and West Bengal Board of Secondary Education between 2014 and 2021.

The appointees allegedly paid bribes in the range of 5-15 lakh to get jobs after failing the selection tests.

The suspected involvement of TMC leaders surfaced when the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is conducting a parallel probe, arrested education minister Partha Chatterjee and his aide Arpita Mukherjee on July 23, 2022. Chatterjee was dropped from the government and suspended from the TMC.

In its first charge sheet filed on September 19, ED said it traced cash, jewellery and immovable property worth 103.10 crore linked to the duo.

TMC legislator from Nadia district and former president of the primary education board, Manik Bhattacharya, was arrested by ED on October 11 last year. He is also in judicial custody and has been named as a key accused in the EDs second charge sheet.

On Friday, the CBI raided six locations in Bengal, including Sahas home in Murshidabad. A construction site at New Town on the eastern outskirts of Kolkata and some places in Birbhum district were also raided.

The search operations started hours before Union home minister Amit Shah arrived in Bengal to launch the BJPs Lok Sabha campaign in the state. He addressed a rally at Siuri town in Birbhum district.

Criticised by two Calcutta high court judges, who observed that the CBI investigation appeared slow and directionless, the agency recently brought in seven officers from other states to add pace to the probe.
KOLKATA: West Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose has asked the vice-chancellors (V-Cs) of the state universities to send a list of their five most-experienced and qualified professors, state education department officials said. West Bengal governor CV Ananda Boses office is compiling a list of five most qualified professors in each state universities (PTI File Photo)

The letter, which reached the V-Cs last week, has triggered speculation that Raj Bhavan may be in the process of creating a database of professors who could be elevated as V-Cs following the Calcutta high courts order last month.

The high court on March 14 cancelled the appointment of vice chancellors of 29 state universities whose term was extended till May 31, ruling that the state has no power to appoint, re-appoint or extend the tenure of V-Cs

The bench comprising the then chief justice Prakash Shrivastava and justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj said the V-Cs should be appointed on the recommendation of a search committee comprising representatives of UGC, the governor and the state in line with the University Grants Commission (UGC) 2018 regulations.

The high courts order came on a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the validity of the amendments made by the state government in the appointment rules in 2012 and 2014. The 2014 amendment excluded UGC from the appointment process.

A state education department official, who did not want to be named, said the government requires time to form search committees following the courts order.

The development comes amid growing differences between Raj Bhawan and the state government over running of universities.

Education minister Bratya Basu on Friday said the governor should clear the West Bengal University Laws (Amendment) Bill 2022 which sought to make the chief minister the chancellor of the state-run universities in place of the governor.

The bill was not cleared by former governor Jagdeep Dhankhar with whom the TMC government had an acrimonious relationship. Basu said: The passing of the bill with absolute majority in the assembly implies that Mamata Banerjee is the chancellor all state universities. The governor should either clear it or return it us so that we can get it passed once again and send it back to him.

The governor has not commented on the ministers remark. When reporters sought his Boses reaction on Friday, he declined comment. Thank you for the information, he said.

The education ministers comment came weeks after Raj Bhawan asked all V-Cs to submit weekly reports on their activities.

Raj Bhawan officials did not comment on the letter sent to the V-Cs.
KANPUR: A 20-year-old woman on her way home after a college exam was shot dead by two men on a motorcycle in Jalaun district on Monday, police said. The shooting is reported to have taken place at a spot about 200 metres from the local police post (Twitter/videograb)

The woman, Roshni Ahirwar, was a Bachelor of Arts (BA) student. She was returning home after writing an examination at her college when she was attacked, her father Man Singh said.

The assailants, who shot her in the head with a country-made pistol, dropped the weapon near the body and fled.

The spot where he was shot dead is about 200 metres away from the local police station.

Roshini had gone to write her digital marketing paper at Ram Lakhan Patel Degree College in Ait town of the district, her father said.

Jalaun superintendent of police (SP) Iraj Raja said the assailants were likely to be someone known to the woman. Witnesses told the police that the two men had their faces covered when they approached her near the Kotra trisection.
The Uttar Pradesh Police on Monday transferred Lavalesh Tiwari, Sunny Singh and Arun Maurya, the three shooters who killed gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad on Saturday, have been transferred from Prayagrajs Naini Central Jail to Pratapgarh District Jail. The move has been carried out on administrative grounds. Lavlesh Tiwari and Sunny Singh (right- this picture above is taken from police station) -- the alleged killers of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf. (HT photo)

The three shooters were sent to Naini jail after being sent to 14-day judicial custody on Sunday. All three accused have been kept separately from other prisoners and their special monitoring is being done by jail officials.



Atiq Ahmad, wanted in more than 100 cases including the murder of lawyer Umesh Pal, was shot dead along with his brother Ashraf while they were being taken for a medical examination in Prayagraj. The three shooters posed as journalist, and shot the Ahmad brothers at point-blank range in full view of camera crews. The shooters immediately surrendered after the killing and were arrested.

Atiq Ahmad was shot dead on the same day his son Asad Ahmad, killed in an alleged encounter with UP police, was buried.

The Uttar Pradesh government has set up a three-member judicial committee to probe Atiq Ahmad's killing. The panel will be headed by retired Allahabad high court judge Arvind Kumar Tripathi, and will include retired judge BK Soni and ex-DGP Subesh Kumar Singh.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Confident of their winning chances, all Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates, including the 10 mayor hopefuls, for the first phase of the civic polls filed their nomination papers on Monday. Close to 4.23 crore people will be electing their civic representatives on May 4 and 11. BJPs Lucknow mayor candidate Sushma Kharkwal, the wife of a retired army personnel and an old party hand, also filed her nomination in the presence of senior party leaders (HT photo)

Monday was the last date for filing of nominations for seats that go to polls in the first phase. The BJP, which has traditionally done well in civic polls, put on a big show by tasking its ministers and senior party functionaries to escort the civic poll picks.

The ruling party has fielded its cadre this time over parachute candidates -- the term given to those who get picked over the party workers due to extraneous considerations.

Some BJP leaders felt that this move was to keep the party cadre happy ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

BJPs Lucknow mayor candidate Sushma Kharkwal, the wife of a retired army personnel and an old party hand, filed her nomination in the presence of senior party leaders. On the day, Kharkwal, a Brahmin from Uttarakhand, also met Aparna Bisht Yadav (daughter-in-law of Samajwadi Party founder late Mulayam Singh Yadav) who joined the BJP in the 2022 state assembly polls, and the outgoing mayor Sanyukta Bhatia at a hospital where she was admitted.

I am a party loyalist and come from an average family background. My husband served in the army at a lower position and all I can say is, if elected, I will do my best to make an impression, she added.

Present during Kharkwals nomination filing were senior ministers in the Yogi 2.0 government, including deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak, finance minister Suresh Khanna and former deputy CM Dinesh Sharma

States agriculture minister Surya Pratap Shahi and the partys state vice-president Neelam Sonkar assisted Gorakhpur mayor hopeful Dr Manglesh Srivastava, a well-known doctor and social worker, during his document submission.

In Prayagraj, Jal shakti minister Swatantra Dev and senior party functionary Mahesh Chandra Srivastava were present when mayoral candidate Umesh Chandra Ganesh Kesarwani, the partys Prayagraj unit chief, filed his papers.

States urban development minister Arvind Kumar Sharma and U.P. BJP secretary Anjula Mahaur were present for the nomination filing of Agra mayoral candidate Hemlata Diwaker, a former Dalit lawmaker. Tourism minister Jaivir Singh and state general secretary Govind Narayan Shukla were in Varanasi where mayoral candidate Ashok Tiwari, the partys regional secretary in Kashi, submitted his papers.

During the nomination filling of the partys mayoral candidate in Mathura-Vrindavan Vinod Agarwal, the BJPs city chief, the party sent Sandeep Singh, a minister of state and grandson of former chief minister Kalyan Singh, and U.P. BJP secretary Vijay Shivhare to assist.

Present for the party nomination in Moradabad, from where the BJP has repeated its sitting mayor Vinod Agarwal, the only mayoral candidate in the first phase seats to be repeated, were party vice president Pankaj Singh, the lawmaker son of defence minister Rajnath Singh, and minister of state Jaswant Saini.

PARTY WORKERS UPBEAT

The naming of cadre candidates for mayoral posts has elated the partys rank and file, who felt that due to the enormous goodwill of chief minister Yogi Adityanath and the work done under his stewardship, all party candidates were hopeful of a win with decisive margins.

The new MY factor in UP is the Modi-Yogi factor and that is playing out election after election. This one would be no different and even more so now as the party has preferred cadre candidates, said state BJP co-media in-charge Himanshu Dubey.
Now that gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Khalid Azeem aka Ashraf are dead, it will become quite tough for the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to trace their unknown or benami assets believed to be worth several hundreds of crores of rupees. The administration attached properties worth around  417 crore while properties worth over  752 crore were either demolished or freed from mafia in the past three years. (For Representation)

Besides investments in Prayagraj, Atiq is believed to have made investments in other cities of the state and country as well through his white collared associates. The ED lodged a money laundering case against Atiq in 2021 and had recently raided locations of 10 of his associates and suspected financers.

In over last four decades ever since he entered the world of crime in 1979, Atiq is believed to have earned movable and immovable assets worth hundreds of crores, claimed some of those who were once close to him.

Under a massive crackdown on Atiq and his gang members during the last few years, police and administration identified his illegally earned properties worth over 1,169 crore, show Prayagraj police and administration records.

The administration attached properties worth around 417 crore while properties worth over 752 crore were either demolished or freed from mafia in the past three years. Those who were close to him disclosed that Atiq used to invest his illegally earned money into other businesses and projects through his white collared partners.

These partners allegedly included politicians, builders, realtors, big contractors, hotel owners, doctors, lawyers etc. He made investments in their projects and used to get profits in return.

Meanwhile, the ED officials on Monday summoned builder Sanjeev Agarwal for recording his statement. On April 11, the ED had raided houses of Atiqs alleged 10 financers and builders, including that of Sanjeev Agarwal.

Atiq usually purchased properties in the name of others instead of his family members. Properties worth several crores of Atiq were in the name of his associates many of whom were white collared people, an official who was part of identification of Atiqs properties claimed.

Earlier, his properties were identified in Prayagraj, Kaushambi, Lucknow and some 20 other districts. Moreover, Atiqs benami properties and investments are also believed be in many other states.
Atiq Ahmad's brother Ashraf was allegedly threatened by a Uttar Pradesh Police official who had said he would be eliminated after being taken out of jail, his lawyer claimed on Monday. Police personnel escort Mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad for a medical examination, in Prayagraj. Atiq's brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf also seen. (ANI file)

While being taken from Prayagraj to Bareilly, Ashraf was taken to Police Line where a senior police official told him that he survived this time but would be taken out of jail within 15 days and eliminated", Vijay Mishra, who represents the Ahmad brothers, told ANI.

During my meeting with him in Bareilly district jail, I asked Ashraf about the police official. He didn't disclose his name as he felt I would be in trouble. Ashraf said in case he is murdered a sealed envelope will reach the chief justice of India, chief justice of high court and the chief minister, the lawyer added.



Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were shot dead while being taken for medical test in Prayagraj on Saturday night. The elder Atiq received nine bullet injuries on his head and chest while Ashraf received five bullet wounds. The attack was orchestrated by three shooters who posed as media personnel carrying video camera, mike and media identity cards.

The three shooters Luvlesh Tiwari, Arun Maurya and Sunny Singh have been sent to 14-day judicial custody and are presently lodged in high security Pratapgarh district jail after being transferred from Naini Central jail due to administrative reasons. The UP government has set up a three-member judicial committee to probe Atiq and Ashraf's killing.



The panel is headed by retired Allahabad high court judge Arvind Kumar Tripathi, with other members being retired judge BK Soni and ex-DGP Subesh Kumar Singh. The panel will submit its report to the state government in the next two months.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
VARANASI Union minister VK Singh on Monday said that India would be the largest producer of millets in the world in near future as the government is serious about promoting its output due to nutritional qualities of millets. Union minister of state for civil aviation General (retd) VK Singh and others during three-day G20 Meeting of Agricultural Chief Scientists, in Varanasi on Monday. (ANI Photo)

Inaugurating the G20 meeting of agricultural chief scientists (MACS) in Varanasi, he asked G20 countries to work towards promotion of crop diversification, efficient use of inputs like fertilisers and post-harvest management, and said the latest digital tools should be used in agriculture across the world.

About 80 delegates from G20 member states -- Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the USA and European Union -- are participating in the tree-day meeting.

We should utilise the emerging digital technologies to usher in ease of farming across the G20 countries and the world. India would be happy to share its expertise in this regard with other countries, especially developing and least developed countries, said the minister of state for civil aviation, road transport and highways.

The minister said Indias G20 Presidency theme One Earth, One Family, One Future signifies collective efforts for achieving SDGs (sustainable development goals). The theme of MACS, sustainable agriculture and food system for healthy people and plant resonates the emphasis put forth in the theme.

He stated that the UN General Assembly, based on Indias proposal, has declared 2023 as the International Year of the Millets, which will help highlight the benefits of millets to the world. He said India has made it a peoples movement and appealed to all the G20 countries to support the move.

The minister said bio-fortified crop varieties are the quicker solution to improve health and address nutrition issues of women and children. Over 5 million hectare area in India is under bio-fortified varieties of different crops, he added.

It is my pleasure to be with you in the ancient and holy city of Varanasi for this important meeting of top scientists of developed and developing countries and international organizations. This is an attractive opportunity to take stock of our progress on critical issues of food security and nutrition, climate change adaptation solutions, digital agriculture, public-private investment in agriculture. G20, as a group, shares about 85% of the GDP of the world and hence has greater responsibility towards the wellbeing of global humanity, said Singh.

As two-thirds of the world population lives in G-20 nations and 60% of all agricultural land and 80% of world trade in agricultural production is accounted for by these countries, our onus on food security and nutrition, livelihood support to the people is crucial. We must utilize our collective strengths for responsible and responsive R&D in agriculture and promoting cooperation for faster transition towards sustainable agriculture and food systems, he added.

In India, as the food supply improved, we moved towards the goals of sustainability, efficiency, equity, affordable and healthy safe food as also farmers income and competitiveness in food value chain. Our efforts to deal with global food price shock of 2007-2011 and during COVID -19 pandemic offers useful lessons. We have put the worlds largest rural employment programme under National Rural Employment Guarantee Act since 2005. The scheme provides constitutional right to every rural household to get work for 100 days in a year on voluntary basis. We have the worlds largest food-based safety net programs, reaching out to about 800 million people in 2020, including ~ 120 million school children through the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) scheme, he mentioned.

The political will and policy support in agricultural research gave us results through different research-based revolutions viz. Green, White, Yellow, Blue, Golden, Silver and evergreen revolutions. We were able to increase our agricultural production from 135 MT in 1950s to over 1300 MT in 2022. This sector engages around 47% of the workforce and contributes for about 17% to Indias GDP, said the minister.

India recognizes and appreciates the renewed efforts made by G-20 and other nations/organisations for the digitalisation of agriculture. India has one of the largest digital connects in the form of over 1.2 billion mobile connections and 1.20 billion+ unique ID-AADHAR holders. We have provided 120 million soil health cards to farmers, said VK Singh.

As the demand for food is set to increase significantly in the decades to come with the rise in population, countries should harness each others strengths and improve trade relations. They should not just open new business opportunities for sustainable agriculture, but also stabilise food availability across regions and help small farmers as part of the agricultural value chain, he said.
Gangster Atiq Ahmads eldest son Umar, who is lodged in the Lucknow district jail, and second eldest son Ali, jailed in Naini, Prayagraj, were informed of the brazen murders of their father and uncle Khalid Azim (Ashraf) only on Sunday evening, prison officials confirmed. Police personnel escort Mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed for a medical examination, in Prayagraj on Thursday. (FIle photo)

Also Read: Atiq, Ashraf buried at Kasari Masari graveyard

Umar was jailed in August last year after he surrendered himself in the Lucknow CBI court. He was being investigated for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping and torture of a Lucknow relator, Mohit Jaiswal. Jaiswal was allegedly taken to the Deoria jail where Atiq Ahmad was then lodged in December 2018.

Ali, meanwhile, was arrested and jailed at the Naini central prison the same month in an extortion case. Despite getting bail in the case, he continued to be in jail as another criminal case was pending against him.

Also Read: Opposition slams U.P. govt over Atiq-Ashraf killings, seeks SC-monitored probe

The prison officials said Umar was informed about the murders around 5.30 pm. He started crying upon learning about the incident, but had his dinner, they added.

The brothers were not formally informed of the murders till Sunday evening. They said the duo followed their daily routine and their reaction did not suggest that they had any hint of the incident. We will, however, inform them about the incident in the evening. The duo is already under round-the-clock video surveillance, the officials had said earlier.

Also Read: Atiq Ahmad's three killers sent to 14-day judicial custody

A Lucknow jail official stated that no newspaper was sent to Umars barrack to avoid letting him know of the incident. He said Umar was inconsolably crying upon coming to know of his brother Asads death in an encounter with the UPSTF on April 13.

The two minor sons of Atiq, lodged at Rajrooppur juvenile home, however, knew about the Saturday nights event as hundreds of people gathered outside the institution later that night demanding the release of the boys. The minor sons also took part in the funeral of their father and uncle.

Also Read: UP govt forms judicial commission to probe killing of Atiq Ahmad, his brother

Meanwhile, Atiqs wife Shaishta Parveen was claimed to be planning a surrender. Police officials and lawyers in Prayagraj speculated that her surrender could be imminent.
NAVI MUMBAI: The death toll in the heatstroke tragedy that marred the Maharashtra Bhushan award ceremony in Kharghar on Sunday could have mounted further had it not been for the efforts put in by the Kharghar police department. Going beyond the line of duty, it was the men in khaki who emerged as heroes minus the capes. HT Image

Even as people were vomiting and falling unconscious, it was the efforts put in by the police department that got citizens attention. A video of Rajiv Shejwal, a senior police inspector of Kharghar, manually lifting a 20-litre water bottle and distributing it to people has gone viral. The incident, though tragic, has demonstrated the humane side of the police, said social activist Kiran Patil. I was present at the venue, and all around I could only see people in a miserable state. It was amidst this that police officials rose to the occasion.

Senior inspector Shejwal said he only did his duty. The people at the venue had come with deep devotion for their guru, he said. Most of them had arrived a day in advance, and in their attempt to be the closest to their leader, they didnt think of making provisions for water or even to attend Natures call. By the end of the event, people started falling unconscious, and I realised that their primary and very urgent requirement was water. Since the stock of small bottles provided for the police force was over, I arranged for bigger bottles and got them personally distributed. My colleagues also handed out snacks meant for the team.

The entire Navi Mumbai police force had been working since Friday, and many were showing signs of exertion and fatigue. Most of the senior officials were present at the venue and helping the public in whichever way possible, said police inspector Shatrughan Mali. They too were exhausted owing to lack of sleep, as since Friday, we were preparing for the event with trial runs and drills. A senior police inspector, earlier attached to the Nerul Sagari police station, called in sick on Monday. There will be many more constables and inspectors who are likely to experience the after-effects, but on Sunday each of us stood strong.

Mali recounted the timely steps taken by his colleagues. Since the place was extremely crowded, ambulances or cars were unable to come to the aid of those falling ill, he said. People were collapsing like a pack of cards. So the next best option was to transport them on bikes and scooters. We moved the women and the elderly to the nearest shaded area on two-wheelers.

Vimal Bidave, a woman traffic inspector, showed similar presence of mind and ensured that vehicles transporting patients did not get caught in traffic. I was entrusted with piloting and so I was on the outskirts of the venue, she said. There were a few people driving on the wrong side of the road to ensure that heatstroke victims reached hospital on time, and that was fine.

DCP Pankaj Dahane said he was proud that each and every officer performed in spite of being on duty for 36 hours without a break. There were officers ferrying people on two-wheelers, assisting the medical team in picking up those who had collapsed, and Shejwal arranged for vans with water to reach inside the venue, he said. Such actions show the sensitive side of the police and restore peoples faith in the force.
Gujarat Aam Aadmi Party leader Gopal Italia was on Monday arrested in connection with a case registered in September last year for allegedly using defamatory words against state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader including Gujarat home minister Harsh Sanghavi and state chief CR Paatil. After being released on bail, Italia said the police action was aimed at harassing him. (Gopal Italia | Twitter)

He was later granted bail.

The case was lodged in Umra police station in Surat on September 2, 2022 for using allegedly defamatory words against Paatil and Sanghavi and also calling BJP workers goons in a video message uploaded on social media platforms.

Also Read: AAP Gujarat chief Gopal Italia briefly detained by Delhi Police after stir at NCW office

An FIR was registered based on a complaint filed by BJP worker Pratapbhai Chodvadiya, a businessman, in Surat for the derogatory language used by Italia against the two BJP leaders on August 30 in a social post.

He (Italia) called BJP the party of goons and incited the public by stating that AAP would take revenge for each blood drop, the complaint by Chodvadiya stated.

After being released on bail, Italia said the police action was aimed at harassing him.

Such statements are made by all political leaders against one another. How come an FIR was lodged only against me? They (police and government) are misusing their power, he said.

The case was registered against Italia under Indian Penal Code sections 500 (defamation), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 505 (1)(b) (offending act inducing person to commit an offence against state or public tranquillity), and 469 (forgery for purpose of harming reputation) of the Indian Penal Code.

With PTI inputs
Lucknow A clear pattern has emerged over the last few civic polls. While the BJP takes a clear lead in urban centres, other parties put up a good fight on several of the nagar panchayat seats. BJP usually takes a clear lead in urban centres. (HT Photo)

While the saffron party has retained the mayor post in Lucknow for the last five times, the Samajwadi Party clinched five nagar panchayat chairman seats the last time. In comparison, the BJP only won one nagar panchayat chairman seat while the other two were secured by Independents.

In 2017, elections were held in 12,007 wards for 653 local bodies of the state. In these polls, BJP won 14 out of 16 municipal corporations. While BSP did win at two places, it was a clean sweep for BJP in major cities. The results of 198 nagar palika parishads were also dominated by BJP as it won 67 seats, followed by BSP (28), CPM (1), Congress (9), Samajwadi Party (45), and Independents (43).

Similarly, among the 438 nagar panchayat seats, AAP won 2, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (1), All India Forward Block (1), Bahujan Samaj Party (45), BJP (100), Congress (17), Rashtriya Janata Dal (2), Rashtriya Lok Dal (3), Samajwadi Party (83), Independents (181), and Others (2).

Speaking on BJPs prospects in the upcoming polls, former Lucknow mayor and former deputy chief minister, Dinesh Sharma, said, People in urban areas are mostly educated and the caste influence is much lesser here compared to nagar panchayats. Wherever the educated class is dominant, BJP wins more seats. In Lucknow, for the last five terms starting with two terms of Dr SC Rai, my two terms, and one term of Sanyukta Bhatia, BJP has won comfortably. While in nagar panchayats, issues and factors are different. However, this time, the BJP is going to sweep in Nagar Panchayat polls too.

Meanwhile, spokesperson of Samajwadi Party, Avadhesh Varma, said, The real India lives in panchayat areas and here, the Samajwadi Party has shown its strength. The issues of panchayats are totally different from municipal corporations. In municipal corporations too, the Samajwadi Party has emerged as the main opposition party. This time, SP will surprise everyone by winning more seats of the mayor and nagar panchayat chairman. People have seen the poor governance of BJP in urban local bodies. Now, they have decided to bring a change. He added, SP has won 45 seats in palika parishad, 83 in nagar panchayats the last time. This time, our seats would definitely double.
VARANASI All G20 countries strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including those on the basis of xenophobia, racism, and other forms of intolerance, or in the name of religion or belief, recognising the commitment of all religions to peace, said Abhay Thakur, additional secretary, G20, ministry of external affairs. Speaking to reporters in the wake of the G20 meeting in Varanasi, he added, Terrorism constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security. G-20 countries expressed concern about illicit trafficking and the diversion of small arms and light weapons. (HT Photo)

Sharing the details of the meeting of foreign ministers in New Delhi in March this year, Thakur said that during the meeting in Delhi, G-20 countries unanimously said, We strongly condemn all terrorist acts against critical infrastructure, including critical energy facilities, and against other vulnerable targets. All acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever, and by whomsoever committed. Effective counterterrorism measures, support for the victims of terrorism, and the protection of human rights are not conflicting goals, but complementary and mutually reinforcing. A holistic approach based on international law can effectively counter terrorism.

The senior official added that the nature and scope of linkages between terrorism and organized crime, including trafficking in arms and drugs, corruption, money laundering, and other crimes which may support terrorism, vary by context, and require effective criminal justice responses. Efforts to increase the effectiveness of international cooperation should be strengthened to deny terrorist groups safe heaven, freedom of operations, movement, and recruitment, as well as financial, material or political support. The international community should step up efforts to effectively combat these growing threats. We will also step up our fight against corruption, he further said.

Thakur also said that the G-20 countries expressed concern about illicit trafficking and the diversion of small arms and light weapons. International cooperation among states is critical to combat these phenomena, including export, import controls, and tracing. He said that countering illicit international drug supply chains, including synthetic drugs is essential for global health and security and requires an enhanced cooperation, including through the existing, relevant international legal instruments, to counter the production, trafficking, demand for, and illicit profits from these dangerous substances. The proliferation of illicit drugs and precursor chemicals should be disrupted at origin, transit, and destination points.

During the meeting, G20 members called for inclusive and strong international cooperation, free of unnecessary restrictions, towards this end, including capacity building and information sharing. He said that the G20 members have also formed a Common Framework for Debt Treatment to assist countries in bad economic conditions.
KANPUR A rape accused, along with his accomplices, allegedly burnt the house of the teenage rape survivor in Unnao late on Monday evening. As the fire spread, locals rushed to douse the flames and saved all the inhabitants of the house. They rushed them to the district hospital. The teenage rape survivor and her three-month-old daughter sustained burn injuries in the attack. The teenage girl was raped last year by a group of men who were later arrested and sent to jail. (HT Photo)

The teenage girl was raped last year by a group of men who were later arrested and sent to jail. The survivor, however, became pregnant and delivered a baby girl early in January.

The latest attack comes just a few days after the father of the rape survivor was allegedly attacked with an axe by the accused, who is out on bail. The accused is reportedly coercing the teenage girl to retract her complaint.

Sharing further details, Santosh Singh, circle officer, Purwa, said the family has given a complaint based on which an FIR will be lodged. Police, however, could not explain as to why it did not act against the accused, who had already attacked the father of the rape survivor.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
PATNA: A team of Bihars mining department including a woman officer were attacked by miscreants after they stopped two trucks and parked the vehicles near an abandoned petrol pump on Monday afternoon. Patna SSP Rajiv Mishra said the Bihta police registered three FIRs against the suspects as well as truck owners under sections of attempt to murder and illegal mining b (Video Screengrab)

After video clips of the attack emerged on social media, police said 44 people had been arrested for the assault and booked under multiple penal provisions including attempt to murder.

Patna district magistrate Chandrasekhar said the incident took place when the mining department team was carrying out a drive against overloaded vehicles with the help of Danapur administration. The team was led by district mining officer Kumar Gaurav, and comprised mining inspector Sayyed Farhin and Amya Kumari. The team seized two overloaded trucks near Koilwar bridge in rural Patna and had them parked.

Soon after, a group of miscreants reached the spot, threw stones at the officers and thrashed them mercilessly with bamboo sticks.

Chandrasekhar said he sent Danapur sub divisional officer and assistant superintendent of police Abhinav Dheeman to the spot and act against the miscreants.

A police team led by city SP Rajesh Kumar also went to the spot with reinforcements and caught the suspects.

Patna senior superintendent of police Rajiv Mishra said the Bihta police registered three FIRs against the suspects as well as truck owners under sections of attempt to murder and illegal mining based on the statement of injured mining officers.

They were booked under Section 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 307 (attempt to murder), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 34 (common intention), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 21 (1) and 4 (1) of the Mines and Minerals (Regulation of Development) Act.

SSP Rajiv Mishra said the police identified the suspects from the video clips that were being circulated. The crackdown against overloaded vehicles will continue, he said.

Illegal sand mining is rampant in Bihta and other places and vehicles, trucks and tractors, loaded with sand can be seen parked at several places in the state capital. Officials said mining officials and other officials were frequently attacked by the sand mafia when action is taken against them. One official said more than two dozen attacks have taken place against them over the past three and half months.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
PATNA: A fire engine, which was part of governor Rajendra Vishwanarh Arlekar convoy on Monday lost control, overturned and hit an autorickshaw on national highway 22 in Vaishali districts Ratanpura area, police said. Bihar governor Rajendra Vishwanarh Arlekar said he was unhurt and totally fine. (Getty Images/iStockphotosaid he was )

Nine people including four Bihar Fire Services sustained injuries in the accident which took place when the governor was on way to Muzaffarpur to attend a function.

Arlekar later tweeted about the accident. Fire fighting vehicle in my carcade skid, hit road divider. Four firemen got minor injuries. They were sent home after first aid. I am unhurt and totally fine, he said in a post on Twitter after his return to Patna.

Vaishali superintendent of police (SP) Ravi Ranjan Kumar said the fire engine in the convoy was damaged in the accident. He said the district police removed the fire engine involved in the accident out of the way and cleared the traffic jam on the Hajipur-Muzaffarpur stretch.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
A total of 44 people have been arrested so far and three FIRs have been filed in a case involving assaulting a woman officer in Bihar's Patna district, according to top police official as quoted by news agency ANI. The woman officer was claimed to be from state's mining department and people who attacked her by dragging and hurling abuses were allegedly involved in illegal sand mining activity in Patna's Bihta town. The video has been confirmed by the police.(ANI)

According to senior superintendent of police, Patna, as quoted by ANI, raids are being conducted to arrest more people in connection with the case.

A video clip went viral on social media platforms, the authenticity of which cannot be confirmed by us, shows a large group of people chasing the woman officer away by throwing what seems like stones at her. Many of them, including the person who was shooting the video, were hurling abusive language at her, demanding to maul her. The woman officer could be seen running to save her life. By the time the person who was recording the video reached the site following the crowd, someone was seen dragging the officer by her hand.

The video has been confirmed by the police.

We have chosen not to show the video because of its disturbing content.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) along with the state water resources department has called a meeting on Tuesday, April 18, to discuss water planning and cuts even as it goes ahead with water cuts in various parts of the city on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 19, in the name of emergency repairs. The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) along with the state water resources department has called a meeting on Tuesday, April 18, to discuss water planning and cuts (HT FILE PHOTO)

The PMC has scheduled the Tuesday meeting following Maharashtra chief secretary Manu Kumar Srivastavas instructions on Saturday to use water carefully and make plans for the coming days in view of a possible El Nino effect and delayed monsoon. Whereas the PMC is going ahead with the proposed water cuts in the Sinhagad Road area and the eastern parts of the city on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. According to the civic body, urgent repairs are needed at Wadgaon pumping station, and the main water supply line near Ramtekdi under Cantonment Water Works. The water supply in the Sinhagad Road area and the eastern parts of the city will be restored, albeit with low pressure, on Wednesday and Thursday, April 20, respectively.

While PMC commissioner Vikram Kumar on Monday said, We have been coordinating with the water resources department officials and have arranged a meeting to discuss a plan wherein we will come to know how to tackle the water problem.

Ramdas Taru, superintendent engineer of the water supply department, PMC, said, During the summer season, the demand for water increases. It reaches 1,670 MLD (million litres per day). In the winter season, our water demand is around 1,600 MLD. As the summer starts, the demand gradually increases from 1,600 to 1,670 MLD.

Prasana Joshi, executive engineer of the water supply department, PMC, said, Normally, we carry out maintenance and repair works on Thursdays. However, due to some emergency repair work, we have scheduled water cuts in the Sinhagad Road area and eastern parts of the city on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. These are not undeclared water cuts and will not create any difference in water savings.

Indrabhan Randive, executive engineer of the Cantonment Water Works, said, We have scheduled water cuts in the cantonment area on Thursday. The work is only related to one water tank. So, a very limited area including Hadapsar Gaothan, Magarpatta and Keshav Nagar etc. will be affected.

Regarding the water cut in the midst of summer, Asha Kavatekar, a resident of the Sinhagad Road area, said, Water cuts during the summer create a lot of problems. I am a working woman. Water is extremely essential. We can manage drinking water by buying cans. But we cannot manage water for daily usage because we have a limited storage system and there is greater usage during the summer season. Before imposing the water cuts, the PMC should have considered the problems of the residents.

Preeti Shinde, a resident of Keshav Nagar area, echoed similar sentiments and said, Already, Keshav Nagar area is getting inadequate and irregular water supply. Now, the PMC has planned a water cut. It is a very annoying situation for us. We have six family members. It is very difficult to manage an entire day without water supply.
Chairman of National Commission for Minorities Iqbal Singh Lalpura on Monday said that popularity of PM Narendra Modi has gone up in the Sikh Community as they have seen the PM work for them and listen to their problems.  The PM has opened Kartarpur corridor, provided financial aid of 360 crore to the Golden temple and even removing names of Sikhs from the blacklist. The PM has also observed Bal Diwas which is the commemoration of the martyrdom of two sons of the Guru by the Mughal emperor. The Sikh community is thankful to PM Modi for his service to the community. Singh addressing an all-minorities community gathering on the occasion of Iftaar at Imambara in Pune Camp. In a major development , Lalpura appointed state BJP spokesperson Ali Daruwala as a National Advisor of Minority Commission of India. (HT PHOTO)

He further stated that the government was not worried about law-and-order situation in Punjab as the Sikhs were in a majority. Who is Amritpal and what are his credentials. What has he done for the Sikhs? Why will Sikh community follow him. This issue has been hyped by the media. The situation is peaceful in Punjab, he added.

In a major development , Lalpura appointed state BJP spokesperson Ali Daruwala as a National Advisor of Minority Commission of India . Daruwala said that he will work for educational and socio-economic empowerment of all minorities of the country.

On Monday, dignitaries from the Muslim, Jewish, Parsi, Iranian and Christian communities gathered at the Imambara for an Iftar.
RANCHI: Hundreds of job aspirants on Monday managed to beat the barricade and security arrangements to reach closer to the chief minister residence, demanding the withdrawal of the employment policy of the Hemant Soren government for the grade three and four jobs besides filling the vacancies in the government at the earliest. Police detain a student during a protest march in Ranchi on Monday. (ANI)

Police, which had made heavy security arrangements on the route from Morhabadi ground to CMs residence on Kanke Road, had to use mild force to disperse the protesters, who blocked Kanke Road for a brief period.

They had not taken requisite permission from the concerned authorities for the protest. As per our information, we had made security arrangements. We have detained a few protesters against whom action would be taken as per law, said Ranchi senior superintendent of police, Kishor Kaushal.

The state government has recently notified employment rules 2023, according to which 40 percent of the vacancies in grade three and four government jobs would be open for all. The job aspirants however are demanding the government to announce a Khatiyan-based domicile policy and for reducing the open seats to percent.

In view of the protest, the district administration had imposed Section 144 in the area besides turning all roads from Moarhabadi ground to the chief ministers residence into a fortress. The kind of arrangements they have made is for all to see. The way they are treating us, it seems we are terrorists and Maoists. We just wanted to go to CM house and submit our memorandum. Cant we do that when we are making genuine demands? Why should outsiders get entry in such jobs here? Other states also have laws for their citizens. We demand a Khatiyan-based domicile policy. And at best, they should open 10 percent seats for all, said Motilal Mahto, one of the organisers of the protest.

Another protester Manoj Yadav alleged the government was fooling the students by regularly changing its policy. They are simply wasting time. We are waiting for several years for one vacancy. But this government is playing politics over employment policy. And when we are raising this issue, we are served legal notices threatening legal action. We are not afraid of such tactics and ready to go to jail, said Yadav.

Another protester Baby Mahto said she would like the courts to intervene and help the students. Forget about the boys, the police came to my house. They can impose case against us, but the courts should also let us know what sections should be imposed against such governments, leaders who fail to deliver on electrical promises, said Baby.

The protesters have decided to hold Masal Juloos in all district headquarters on Tuesday besides calling Jharkhand bandh on Wednesday.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Monday announced a compensation of 10 lakhs each to the kin of two persons from the state who were killed in a fire incident in Dubai. Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin. (PTI)(HT_PRINT)

Read here: Kerala couple among 4 Indians killed in Dubai building fire: Report

The incident was reported on Saturday.

According to a statement released by Tamil Nadu government, the deceased were identified as Imam Kasim (43), and S Mohammed Rafiq (49) - both residents of Kallakurichi.

"I am deeply saddened to hear the sad news that both of them died in a fire in their residential area on Saturday," CM Stalin said in the statement.

He also stated that the Indian Embassy is taking the action to bring the bodies to Tamil Nadu.

At least 16 people, including 4 Indians were killed in a tragic fire which broke out in a residential building in Dubai on Saturday, Gulf News reported adding that the Indian consulate identified all four people.

Among other Indians, a couple from Kerala's Malappuram district was identified. They have been identified as Kalangadan Rijesh (38) and Kandamangalat Jishi (32), both hailing from Vengara in Malappuram.

Rijesh worked as a travel employee, while Jishi was a teacher at Khizais Crescent School.

According to the police, the couple died of suffocation. The security guard who took part in the rescue operation also got killed, informed the police.

The police suspect that the cause of the fire was an electrical short-circuit.

"We have received their passport copies through social worker Naseer Vatanappally. We want to express our heartfelt condolences to the families and thank the social workers and others who have reached out with support. We are coordinating with the local authorities for the repatriation procedures," said Bijender Singh, consul, Consular and Labour, at the consulate, Gulf News reported.

Rafiq's older brother Saliga Sahib Gudu Basha told Gulf News he was outside the building when his brother was inside, insisting on helping out with the rescue of others when he died. He claimed it was the same case with Abdul Khader who also hailed from his hometown, Gulf News reported.

Rafiq and Kasim worked as watchman-cum-cleaner and painter-cum-carpenter respectively. "I was helpless...I could only watch from outside," Basha said.

Read here: DMK sends BJP state chief notice seeking damages for levelling graft charges

Basha works as a security guard in a nearby building. On hearing about the blaze, he said that he rushed to the site around 12.30 pm.
KSEEB Karnataka SSLC 2023 Answer Key: Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (known as KSEEB) has issued answer keys of SSLC or Class 10 public exams 2023. Students can check subject-wise Karnataka SSLC answer key 2023 from kseeb.karnataka.gov.in. Find the direct link below. Karnataka SSLC 2023 answer key out on kseeb.karnataka.gov.in(Shutterstock)

KSEEB has also given an window to raise objections to these answer keys.

Karnataka SSLC answer key 2023

Objection window.

How to download Karnataka SSLC answer key

Go to the official website, kseeb.karnataka.gov.in. Open the link to download answer key and for objection entry. Open the link to download answer key. Select the subject and view answer key.

Karnataka SSLC 2023 was held from March 31 to April 15. As per official information, evaluation of answer sheets will begin on April 21. Results will be announced after that.

This year, around 8 lakh students have appeared for Karnataka SSLC exams.

Last year, Karnataka SSLC result was declared on May 19. A total of 8.73 lakh candidates had appeared for the examination and the overall pass percentage was 85.63 percent.
Online registration for Kerala Teacher Eligibility Test (KTET) March 2023 examination will end today, April 17. Candidates who want to apply for the exam can visit the official website of Kerala Pareeksha Bhavan for KTET -- ktet.kerala.gov.in. KTET 2023 registration last date today, apply on ktet.kerala.gov.in(Unsplash)

The application process started on April 3. As per the schedule of exam-related events, admit cards for the state-level teacher eligibility test will be issued on April 25.

The examination will be held on May 12 and 15, in two shifts on both days.

The first shift will be from 10 am to 12:30 pm and the second one will be from 2 pm to 4:30 pm. Name of shift, subjects and exam centre details will be mentioned on KTET admit cards.

How to apply for KTET 2023

Visit the official website of KTET 2023, ktet.kerala.gov.in. On the home page, open the KTET 2023 registration link. First register by submitting the asked details After that, login and fill the application form. Upload documents and pay the exam fee. Submit your form and download the final page.

Direct link to apply for KTET 2023.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday dismissed the Congress' prediction - that it will win over 150 seats in next month's Karnataka election. "No chance... they will not be able to reach their present number (79). They will not cross their existing number. BJP will come back with record margin," minister CN Ashwathnarayan was quoted by news agency ANI. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with KPCC President DK Shivakumar and AICC general secretary Randeep Surjewala in Kolar on Sunday, April 16, 2023. (PTI Photo/Shailendra Bhojak)

He was speaking after a bold statement by DK Shivakumar, the chief of the Congress' state unit and one of its two possible chief ministerial candidates.

Shivakumar had pointed to senior leaders Jagdish Shettar and Laxman Savadi joining the Congress - both quit the BJP after being denied tickets for this election - and claimed 'many ministers and MLAs' had also expressed interest.

"I don't know the agenda of BJP and Janata Dal (Secular)... I have created hundreds of leaders here... Jagadish Shettar, Laxman Savadi and others joined... many ministers and MLAs wanted to come but we did not have political space. We will cross 150 seats... I am very confident," he was quoted by ANI.

Also, in the aftermath of Shettar and Savadi quitting to join the Congress, Jairam Ramesh today declared the BJP to be 'falling like a house of cards'.

Jagdish Shettar, a former CM and six-time MLA, quit the BJP Sunday after declaring he had been humiliated in being denied a ticket for next month's poll.

He joined the Congress earlier today in the presence of some of the party's senior-most figures, including president Mallikarjun Kharge and Shivakumar.

"I was humiliated and badly treated by the BJP leaders. A few leaders in the state are misusing the BJP system and it is hurtful," he said at his induction.

READ | Ex-K'taka CM Jagadish Shettar joins Congress day after quitting BJP

Shettar's switch has been called 'unfortunate' by Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, who admitted it could hurt the party in the Hubballi  Dharwad region of the state. Bommai said the BJP would win nonetheless.

"BJP wanted to give a chance to the young generation many senior leaders like BS Yediyurappa had quit for the same reason. Seniors should understand."

Laxman Savadi, a former deputy chief minister, joined the Congress last week - two days after leaving the BJP. He too had been denied a ticket to contest.

READ | K'taka ex-deputy CM Laxman Savadi joins Cong; BJP denied him ticket

The BJP - in line with internal guidelines - presented 52 new names in its first list of 189 candidates for this election. The second list was released last week.

The BJP and the Congress have ramped up their attacks on each other as voting day nears; Karnataka will vote on May 10 and results will be declared May 13.

With input from ANI

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Kajol and Rani Mukerji took the stage at an awards show in Mumbai on Sunday, where both of them shared a funny anecdote from the sets of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Filmmaker Karan Johar's debut film featured them alongside Shah Rukh Khan. When Kajol teased Rani about dancing in a short dress in Koi Mil Gaya, she responded with how the dress was initially not so short, at all. (Also read: Kajol says 'I would have gone with Salman Khan's character' in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, would have never worn a saree) Kajol and Rani Mukerji talk about the Koi Mil Gaya outfit at a recent award ceremony.

Captured in content creator Ankush Bahuguna's Instagram Stories, a short clip from the event showed both Rani and Kajol on stage at Hello! Hall of Fame awards. In the clip, Kajol said that she had one 'eternal question' for Rani about her dress in the song Koi Mil Gaya from the film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, and how she managed to dance in such a short skirt. She asked Rani on stage, I think till today something that I truly question is  how did you dance in that dress. When I saw it on her and saw her walking on stage, I was like she does not look like she can move... how the hell is she going to do that (dance), but she was brilliant, she was flawless, and so very, very graceful so... my eternal question to you.

Responding to Kajol's question, Rani shared the story of her Koi Mil Gaya dress and said, "Actually the honest answer is I just went with the flow, I said 'Joy Ma Dugga (Hail Goddess Durga)' and just went ahead. Because for me I think I was only 19 years old and till such time I hadn't actually worn such a short skirt ever in my life. So, when Karan (Johar) and Manish (Malhotra) presented the outfit to me it was a gown... which kept getting shorter and shorter till it reached the set. And when the outfit was taken to the cameraman, the cameraman looked at the outfit and said Oh is this for baby Sana (Sana Saeed, who played Shah Rukhs daughter in the film)?' They said no this is actually Rani's outfit!"

Koi Mil Gaya was one of the biggest hits from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. The film marked Karan Johar's directorial debut, and revolved around three college students in a love triangle. Actor Salman Khan had made a guest appearance in the film.

In 2019, director Karan Johar had said that Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was the most politically incorrect film. Speaking to Indian Express, he also revealed how Shabana Azmi had blasted him on phone over the film. Speaking at the film festival of Melbourne, Karan said, She told me, what have you shown? That a girl has short hair, so shes not attractive, and now her hair is long and shes pretty? What do you have to say to this? I said Im sorry. She said, what? Thats all you have to say? I said yes because I know youre right.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Madhuri Dixit went down memory lane as she performed a few steps from her iconic song Ek Do Teen from Tezaab (1988). The actor attended an awards show in Mumbai on Sunday, where she was honoured with the trophy and named timeless icon. After accepting the award, the actor was also asked to dance to her famous Tezaab number. Her colleague and friend Anil Kapoor also joined her on the dais to praise her talents as friend and co-star. (Also read: Madhuri Dixit, Kajol, Rani Mukerji sit together at an awards show; Anil Kapoor greets them with folded hands. Watch) Madhuri Dixit danced to her breakthrough song Ek Do Teen from Tezaab at a recent awards ceremony.

A few videos from the event were shared online on Twitter by fans. The actor attended the event dressed in a peach tulle gown. In her acceptance speech, Madhuri got philosophical. She stated, "Failure is always a teacher and if you don't push the envelope, if you don't think out of the box, if you don't take the risks... if you don't do what you think is your comfort zone, I think it'll be hard to grow as an artiste and a person. And I took that to heart and I always took risks in my life, with the kind of roles I played. I tried to play a gamut of different kinds of characters and that's what helped me. My parents also helped me to ride the wave of success and failure, gracefully and elegantly. So there's a lot to be thankful about and I miss them dearly. My mom always taught me to be myself."

The actor's mother, Snehlata Dixit, died at her Mumbai home on March 12, 2023. Madhuri and her husband Dr Shriram Nene had announced the news of her death.

Madhuri's frequent co-star Anil Kapoor also shared the stage with her to pay tribute to her career. They have worked together on films like Karma (1986), Ram Lakhan (1989), Parinda (1989), Beta (1992), Pukar (2000) and Total Dhamaal (2019). He shared, "I've done more than 30 films with Madhuri and these days, heroes do one or two films together and say, 'That's enough'. Do as many films as possible. I want to keep on working with her. I've again worked with her and I would love to work with her again and again."

He jokingly asked Madhuri, "You'll be what 95-years-old? Today, 80 is the new 60. She's a great dancer, a fantastic actress. She's a fabulous daughter, a great wife, fabulous friend. What do I say? I can go on and on. I can write a book."

After mentioning her being a great dancer, the actor was asked to recreate her famous steps from Ek Do Teen from Tezaab, which also starred Anil. Madhuri performed a few seconds of the song to cheers from the audience. Later, Anil also danced on stage to the song My Name is Lakhan, while his wife Sunita looked on.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dedicated professionals who write about cinema and television in all their vibrancy. Expect views, reviews and news. ...view detail
Manoj Bajpayee has come a long way since he moved to Delhi from Bihar to become an actor. He started out in theatre and then joined films with a small role in Shekhar Kapur's acclaimed film Bandit Queen in 1994. Since then, he has gone on to win the National Film Award for Satya (1998) and Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor for Shool (1999) and Aligarh (2016). But when he was starting out, the actor revealed he was quite naive about how to handle himself in social situations outside of India. When he went abroad for the first time for a play, he was unaware that alcohol served on planes is free. (Also read: Manoj Bajpayee says Ram Gopal Varma scolded him for doing Sapne Mein Milte Hai remix: 'He calls me just to give gaalis') Manoj Bajpayee spoke about how he fell unconscious on his first trip abroad after drinking too much on the plane. (Photo by Sujit JAISWAL / AFP)(AFP)

When he returned back to India, he drank so much that he became unconscious. The actor also revealed that while he was part of this theatre exchange program, he didn't know how to eat food with chopsticks. Luckily, a woman helped him out by pointing out a fork to use instead.

In an interview with Curly Tales, the actor recalled his first time abroad in France. He said, "When I was doing theatre, I had gone to Paris, that was my first international trip. While on the flight, I didnt take alcohol at all, because I thought they would charge me for it and I didnt have money! Because of theater I was going there as part of an exchange program. So after going there I found out that they serve it for free. While coming back, I drank so much that I fell unconscious! I drank so much!"

While in France, he also had a funny experience while trying to eat with chopsticks. He added, "When I went to Paris, I had gone to a party where these (chopsticks) were there and people were eating with it, comfortably. I tried it. Every time I would hold it, the food would fall down. A very dignified lady came from the other side of the table, picked up the fork, and she said, You can use this also. Dont worry, this needs practice.'"

Manoj was last seen in the Disney+ Hotstar film Gulmohar with Sharmila Tagore, Simran and Suraj Sharma. He also has the films Despatch, Soup and Joram that are due for release. The actor is also expected to begin work on the third season of Prime Video's The Family Man.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Preity Zinta was spotted at Baba Siddique's Iftar party, which was attended by several Bollywood celebrities including Salman Khan. Preity made a brief appearance before the paparazzo as she entered the event by herself. (Also read: Priyanka Chopra supports Preity Zinta after she was harassed in Mumbai, Arjun Rampal ready to beat up culprits) Preity Zinta arrives at Baba Siddique's Iftar party.

At Baba Siddique's Iftar party, Preity posed for the paparazzi. The actor wore a yellow kurta and palazzo and left her hair untied. She smiled as a paparazzo complimented her, while clicking her pictures. In the video shared on Instagram by a paparazzo account, Preity was seen entering the event and greeting the photographers at the event. She also thanked the paparazzi before she went inside.

Reacting to Preity's look, many fans commented on the post. Shes looking better than ever, said a fan. "She looks gorgeous!! (red heart emoticon)" wrote another fan. A comment also read, 90s beauty Preity Zinta!

Some of the other celebrity guests, who were spotted at Baba Siddique's Iftar party, were Rashmi Desai, mom-to-be Gauahar Khan with husband Zaid Darbar, Javed Jaffery, Pooja Hegde, Salim Khan, Arpita and Aayush Sharma. Upon arriving at the venue, Salman Khan was greeted by Baba Siddique and Zeeshan Siddique.

Recently, Preity Zinta had posted on Instagram about getting harassed on two separate occasions in Mumbai. She had said that a woman tried to take her daughter Gia's photo, and even 'planted a big wet kiss' next to her mouth. Preity also said how a 'handicapped man kept trying to stop' her for money.

"Two events this week have left me a bit shaken. 1 regarding my daughter Gia-where a woman tried to take her photo. When we politely asked her not to she walked away, then suddenly scooped my daughter in her arms and planted a big wet kiss next to her mouth and ran off saying what a cute baby... U can see the 2nd incident here. I had a plane to catch and this handicapped man kept trying to stop me. Over the years he has harassed me for money & I have given it to him when I could... I think its high time people realise that Im a human being first, then a mom and then a celebrity. I also dont need to apologise for my success constantly and be bullied for it cuz (because) Ive worked very hard to get where I am." she wrote in the caption.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Radhika Apte's latest project is the Zee5 film Mrs Undercover in which she plays a former special agent who has retired and settled down in domesticity. Directed by Anushree Mehta, the comedy-drama also stars Sumeet Vyas and Rajesh Sharma. The actor spoke about the difficult situations that actors find themselves in when they say yes to a project, see the script and find it objectionable. She went on to explain that while certain things are covered in a contract, not every actor can just walk away from a project. (Also read: Mrs. Undercover review: Radhika Apte's spy comedy is a clueless, tonal misfire) Last year, Radhika Apte was seen in the films Forensic, Vikram Vedha and Monica, O My Darling.

The actor has worked in several industries including Bengali, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu. These days she is primarily seen in Hindi projects. Radhika divides her time between her London and Indian homes. She also stated that she wants to try spending her time writing as well. She co-wrote a segment in the Netflix anthology Lust Stories in 2018 in which she also acted as the lead.

Speaking to Bollywood Hungama, Radhika shared how sometimes actors find themselves in a corner when a project they're on suddenly changes direction. She explained, "I find it difficult when they don't give you the script and it comes much later and there are lots of things you would have had a problem with... but now you're shooting. I've had films where scripts were changed so last minute. And you're like I don't agree with this, but you have no option because the whole unit is standing and waiting. Even though things are in your contract, things don't go as per the contract."

She added, "It's very hard. Sometimes people don't like what they watch and they come to you and say, how could you do a film like that? You think it's easy? It's not in my control. Some many actors don't have the control, the authority and ability to just walk away and say I'm not going to do it."

Last year, she was seen in the films Forensic, Vikram Vedha and Monica, O My Darling. In the interview, the actor also revealed that she completed a British film and will announce a Hindi and an American project soon.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Ranbir Kapoor is working extensively for his upcoming film, Animal. As he was filming in London, new visuals from the sets suggest that the film's team has now wrapped up its international shoot. All of them came together for a small celebration on sets and in attendance was also Bobby Deol. Also read: Ranbir Kapoor spotted shooting for Animal at a hospital Ranbir Kapoor and Bobby Deol's Animal will be directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga.

A video has surfaced online as the Animal cast and crew hosted a cake-cutting session. In the video, Bobby and Ranbir are seen in warm clothes as the entire crew members cheered for them. A cake was placed on a table in front of them.

Before cutting it, Ranbir placed a kiss on Bobby's cheek. He also went on to call him amazing and said Thank you Bobby sir. You are amazing. To this, Bobby responded by calling Ranbir and everyone else amazing in return. They went on to cut the cake together and everyone cheered and clapped for them. The cake had the first look poster of the film on it.

The video is shared by a paparazzi account on Instagram. It read, "#Animal co-stars Bobby Deol and Ranbir Kapoor celebrate the wrap up party of the London schedule. We are excited to watch them together on screen." Soon after it was shared, a user took to the comment section and wrote, Bobby you are great. Chacha bhatija (uncle and nephew), another one named Ranbir and Bobby's bond.

Animal is directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga. It is touted to be an action-heavy film. It will be Ranbir's last film before he takes a break.

Earlier, Ranbir had said he will take a break after the release of Animal. During an interview with GOODTiMES, Ranbir revealed why he's not inclined to sign anything up after he's done with this film. He said, "I've not signed anything after Animal. I haven't signed a film yet and I'm not looking for anything also. I would like to take a little bit of a break to understand after Tu Jhoothi Main Makkar and Animal where I stand, where the film industry stands."

I think there has been a huge correction the film industry also, post pandemic, about the stories, about budgets, actor fees. I think that the industry is going through a correction phase and I think by next we will back on our feet, he also said. Ranbir was last seen in Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
It was meant to be a dream comeback for actress Cameron Diaz who is set to return to the silver screen with Netflix film Back in Action alongside Jamie Fox. However the scandalous reports from the sets of Back in Action have reportedly made her rethink retirement. It was meant to be a dream comeback for actress Cameron Diaz who is set to return to the silver screen with Netflix film Back in Action alongside Jamie Fox. (Twitter)

According to a report on RadarOnline.com before Jamie Foxx was hospitalised due to a medical complication he was not sharing happiest of moments with her handpicked co-star and they weren't seeing eye to eye. Now Cameron has gone publish with the idea of quitting showbiz again, She hates drama and confrontation. This is why she retired in the first place, The Sun reported.

Radar Online quotes a source from the sets claiming Jamie has been throwing a lot of weight around and sadly Camerons bearing the brunt of his foul moods'. The source added, Youd think hed be thrilled he convinced her to be in his movie, but he hates that she is the centre of attention.

The making of the much awaited film has been shrouded with controversies in the past. Weeks before the medical emergency, according to The Sun, Jamie allegedly had a breakdown after which the film had to be halted. Fans speculate that the health problem could be a result of stress he has been enduring on the sets of the film.

Previously four film crew members were also sacked after they allegedly duped the star/ One staffer has been sacked, and there are investigations after someone tried to get access to 33,000 in cash from Jamie Foxx. It sounds as though they tried to offer up a Rolex watch as part of the deal but now theres an investigation into everything going on. The Sun reported. Even a bomb scare halted the film shooting few weeks back.

Even as Jamie recuperates reports claim a 10-hour work schedule and a desire to head back with her kid is reshaping Cameron's desire to work again. But several known to the internal matter blame Foxx's attitude, The guy needs to chill. Making the whole experience a nightmare of Cameron is totally out of line!

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The first look of the highly anticipated two-part adaptation of the Broadway musical Wicked has dropped. Director Jon M Chu has revealed the first look of stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda, much to the excitement of the fans. (Also read: Ariana Grande urges fans to stop speculating about her body: 'These are my eyes, so dont freak out...') Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo star in Wicked.

Jon took to Instagram to share two dimly-lit pictures from the film and wrote in the caption: "You werent told the whole story. What happens when you veer off the Yellow Brick Road? FIRST LOOK of the #WickedMovie  currently in production in Oz. @WickedMovie @UniversalPics #2024" The first image showed Cynthia Erivo in her signature witch hat and broom looking back at the screen. The second picture saw Ariana Grande in a blonde hairstyle pacing up a dark staircase in a beautiful pink gown. Reacting to the post, star Cynthia Erivo commented, "Its been wonderful making magic with you (green emoticons)."

Fans reacted enthusiastically to the first look and commented on the post. "They both looks so amazing and cute I and I am so proud of Ari for having her dream role," said a fan. One comment read, "THANK U FOR THIS!! OUR WITCHES! so beyond proud of these women and cant wait to see them bring these amazing characters to life." Another said, "Im so ready!!"

Although many gushed about the first look, fans also noticed how the pictures were unusually dark. Many posted hilarious reactions to the first look on Twitter and wished the brightness of the pictures were turned up instead. "i'm BEGGING studios to fix their lighting and color theory problems I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE." said one fan. Look Im very excited to see Wicked but I would like to actually *see* Wicked (crying face emoticons) please use better lighting, I beg (folded hands emoticon)."

Earlier this month, Ariana gave fans an update about the filming process in a detailed Instagram post, in the caption of which she wrote, "halfway. savoring every millisecond left with my Galinda (although shell be with me irrevocably, forever). she shows me so many new things every day. i am so grateful, i dont know what to do or say to be here in Oz where everyday is a life changing one"

The first part of Wicked is set to release next year, eyeing the date of November 27, 2024. The second part is expected to release the following year.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Last week, the announcement was made that Prince Harry would be attending the coronation of his father, King Charles III without wife Meghan Markle. Now, according to some reports, Prince Harry had also conducted certain 'peace talks' with King Charles III and some members of the Royal Family ahead of the coronation ceremony next month. (Also read: Meghan Markle's ex-pal calls her decision to skip coronation selfish: 'Shes putting herself before anyone...') Prince Harry reportedly had 'peace talks' with King Charles III.

Speculation surrounding the couple's attendance at the coronation grabbed media headlines weeks before the official statement from the spokesperson was released. It was revealed that since the date of the coronation coincided with their son Archies fourth birthday, Meghan decided that she didn't want to spend the day away from him.

Now as per a report by The Telegraph, there had been positive conversations, which was held between Prince Harry and King Charles before the official announcement was released from the Buckingham Palace. The report also mentions that even though Prince Harry seems to be reaching out to King Charles towards the possibility of a reconciliation, it did not involve his brother Prince William.

Following the revelations made by Prince Harry in his memoir Spare about his brother Prince William that he had physically assaulted him at one instance, the equation between the them seems to have grown tense. Ahead of the release of Spare earlier this year, in the excerpts shared in The Guardian Prince Harry detailed how William had called Meghan Markle difficult and rude." Prince Harry wrote, He set down the water, called me another name, then came at me. It all happened so fast. So very fast. He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor. I landed on the dogs bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me. I lay there for a moment, dazed, then got to my feet and told him to get out.

Harry and Meghan were last spotted with the rest of the members of the royal family during the funeral of Queen Elizabeth in September 2022. Prince Harry and Meghan tied the knot in May 2018. They welcomed son Archie in May 2019, and daughter Lilibet in June 2021. Since Meghan and Harry announced in January 2020 that they would step down as senior working royals, they have been open about their life in the royal family, and moved to the US, where they now live with their two children.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Actor Himani Shivpuri wants to take a break from her ongoing daily soap to dabble more in films and theatre. With a career spanning over four decades, the actor feels the daily grind has become too much and monotonous. Himani Shivpuri in Lucknow to attend the ongoing Intentional Children Film Festival at City Montessori School.

On her visit to Lucknow, the actor says, Daily soap is a very tough thing to do. I tried to balance it with films and theatre but now its getting too much. It has been four years now and Happu Ki Ultan Paltan has completed 1,000 episodes. I have resigned earlier too and again I have tendered my resignation from the show but every time the team gets after me. I am so soft-hearted that I am yet to learn to say no but this time I have decided.

She agrees that TV is tempting. As an actor we get greedy as we dont have a permanent job, and this is a very secure income. I kept on for so long as my character is good, and you get attached. But ab ki baar maine mann pakka kar liya hai. I want to give time to myself, theatre, write and get into direction. I had to let go of some very good projects due to my hectic shooting schedule including a film with Taapsee Pannu which needed 25 days.

Shivpuri has no complaints with the medium either. People used to say to me that you are doing films with Yash Raj films, Sooraj Barjatya, Shyam Benegal, Subhash Ghai and Karan Johar then why do TV but I cant ignore the medium that gave me so much popularity and love. I am not one of those who will work in TV and say bad things about it. I want to take a break because I want to do better things, not because I have any problems with it.

Three months back she shot a film in Lucknow. I was recently here to shoot Binny Aur Baba with Pankaj Kapur and Rajesh Sharma. I had a good time here shopping and savouring the local delicacies. Besides, I have also completed the shooting for the film Dukaan which stars Jamtara actor Monika Panwar and Sikandar Kher. I am also doing theatre. I did a solo play Akeli in Patna, then another as the protagonist in Bhopal and along with Rajendra Gupta have prepared a play Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai which we opened in National Theatre Festival in February. So, I have been balancing the three but ab thoda mushkil ho raha hai, says the actor who was in city to attend the Intentional Children Film Festival underway at City Montessori School.
On March 28, gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad's brother Ashraf had warned that he would be killed within two weeks. Kisi bahane se do hafte baad tumhe jail se nikalenge aur nipta denge. (You would be taken out of jail on the pretext of some reason and would be killed), Ashraf had told reporters citing an officer when he was brought to Bareilly jail. Police personnel escort Mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad for a medical examination, in Prayagraj. Atiq's brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf also seen. (ANI file)

On Saturday (April 15), Ashraf and Atiq Ahmad were shot dead at point-blank range by three men posing as journalists in the middle of a media interaction while police personnel were escorting them to a medical college in Prayagraj for a checkup.

Watch: 'CM Yogi Understands My Pain As He Faced Fake Cases Too': Ashraf Ahmed

Ashraf had also said that Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath understood his pain as fake cases were also filed against him.

Also Read | Assailants tracking Atiq since his police remand started: FIR

"Allegations levelled against me are fake. The CM understands my pain as fake cases were also filed against him," he told reporters sitting in a police van.

Ashraf had further claimed that the threat was given by a senior official whose name would be divulged to the chief minister, Chief Justice of India and also to the Chief Justice of Allahabad.

"This threat was given by a senior officer. I cannot tell his name, but if I am killed, then the closed envelope will reach the chief minister and Supreme Court Chief Justice and Allahabad Chief Justice, it will contain his name," Ashraf said.

Ashraf was shifted to Bareilly jail while Atiq was being brought to Gujarat's Sabarmati jail.

The brothers were held guilty in the Umesh Pal kidnapping case by Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj MP-MLA Court which also sentenced Atiq to rigorous life imprisonment in the abduction case of now-deceased Umesh Pal.

On Sunday, Atiq Ahmad and Ashraf were buried in their ancestral village amid tight security. Ahmad's son Asad, an accused in the Umesh Pal murder case who fell to police bullets, was buried at the same graveyard on Saturday. Ahmad was laid to rest right next to his son's grave. The graveyard is located in Ahmad's ancestral village and his parents were also buried there.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
'There is pressure, few may quit': Sanjay Raut on meeting with Sharad Pawar Amid rumbling in the Nationalist Congress Party, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut on Monday claimed that NCP supremo Sharad Pawar told him that his party will not join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party but some MLAs may defect under pressure. Read More Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP Sanjay Raut.(ANI)

Sudan clashes toll nears 100 as army, paramilitaries continue to fight

Explosions rocked the Sudanese capital Khartoum Monday as fighting between the regular army and paramilitaries raged for a third day with the death toll rising to nearly 100. Read More

Shehnaaz Gill says she was least paid contestant on Bigg Boss 13: 'Sabse sasti main hi thi, aur ab sabse mehengi...'

Shehnaaz Gill has said that hers was the 'lowest' payment on Bigg Boss 13, when she participated in the Salman Khan-hosted reality show. She added that she eventually emerged as the most expensive one. Read More

Is it safe for pets to sleep in AC room? Experts weigh in

Summers have officially arrived in India and as the temperature continues to rise with each passing day, it is important to protect against heatwave. Summer season is also a tough time for pets who are at a risk of heat-related ailments from dehydration, heat stroke to diarrhoea. Read More

Watch: Samson keeps cool after epic staredown with Pandya; RR skipper hits hat-trick of sixes in Rashid's over

Striking the ball with brute force, a fearless Sanju Samson simply upped the ante when Rajasthan Royals (RR) were struggling big time in their recently concluded encounter with defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) on Sunday. Read More

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Akhil Bhartiya Sant Samiti has moved an Intervention Application in the Supreme Court and said that the concept of same-sex marriage is alien to our society and it is liable to be rejected in toto. The top court is dealing with various petitions seeking recognition for same-sex marriages under statutory provisions of various enactments such as the Special Marriage Act, the Foreign Marriage Act, the Hindu Marriage Act, and others. (File)

Akhil Bhartiya Sant Samiti, in the application, submitted that like some of the other Western countries who are following the same-sex relationship, we cannot just follow in our Indian Society.

"The concept of same-sex marriage is alien to our society and it is liable to be rejected in toto," Akhil Bhartiya Sant Samiti said in the Intervention Application through its general secretary Swami Jeetendranand Sarswatee.

The application has been moved through the advocate on record Atulesh Kumar. The organisation sought permission to intervene in the petitions seeking legal recognition of same-sex marriage.

Akhil Bhartiya Sant Samiti submitted that petitioners are trying to destroy the very Indian concept of marriage which is an institution in itself by advocating the concept of same-sex marriage.

"The concept of same-sex marriage is going to attack the whole family system in our country," Akhil Bhartiya Sant Samiti said.

Akhil Bhartiya Sant Samiti submitted that in the Hindu religion, marriage is defined as a religious sacrament in which a biological man and woman are bound in a permanent relationship for physical, social, and spiritual purposes of dharma and procreation. "The aim of marriage among Hindus is not merely physical pleasure or procreation but spiritual advancement but it is one of the sixteen sanskaras," the organisation said.

Akhil Bhartiya Sant Samiti submitted that in the Indian legal system, different communities are governed by different personal laws/codified laws. "These personal laws find constitutional protection. It is submitted that the nature of prayers in the present petition is in complete contravention of the established understanding of the concept of marriage in all personal laws in India i.e. between a biological man and a biological woman," the applicant submitted.

Akhil Bhartiya Sant Samiti submitted that the legislative policy of a "marriage" in the Indian legal system has been between a biological man and a biological woman. There are categorical and definitive binaries with the usage of terms such as "husband", "wife", "mother", "father", "brother", "sister" etc. Any deviation/dilution of such definitions is a matter of legislative policy based on social and cultural realities and on extensive socio-legal research.

Akhil Bhartiya Sant Samiti submitted that the concept of marriage is more than just socio-legal recognition of a union of any two persons.

The top court is dealing with various petitions seeking recognition for same-sex marriages under statutory provisions of various enactments such as the Special Marriage Act, the Foreign Marriage Act, the Hindu Marriage Act, and others.

The matter will be heard by a five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court on April 18.
The registration for Amarnath Yatra 2023 has begun on Monday, the officials said. The 62-day-long yatra to the holy shrine will commence on July 1, 2023 and will culminate on August 31. The 62-day-long Amarnath yatra will commence on July 1, 2023 and will culminate on August 31.(HT file photo)

Read here: Amarnath yatra 2023: Registration begins today, yatra to commence on July 1

The yatra would commence simultaneously for both the routes- the Pahalgam track in the Anantnag district and Baltal in the Ganderbal district, for which the registrations have been started today through both online and offline modes.

Located 141 kms from Jammu and Kashmir's capital Srinagar and at an altitude of 12,756 feet above sea level, the holy shrine lies in the Ladar Valley, which is covered by glaciers, and snow-capped mountains for most of the year.

Who can register?

As per the guidelines, individuals aged between 13-70 can register themselves for Amarnath yatra 2023 with a mandatory health certificate. Women with a pregnancy of 6 weeks or more are not allowed to undertake the yatra.

Online registration process:

Interested people can register for the Amarnath yatra 2023 on the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board official website www.jksasb.nic.in.

1. Visit the official website of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) www.jksasb.nic.in

2. Click on Online Services tab and click 'Register'.

3. Enter all the relevant details asked and click on submit.

4. Verify the OTP received on the entered mobile number.

5. Pay application fees.

6. Download yatra permit.

Meanwhile, the pilgrims can also register online through SASB's mobile app Shri Amamathji Yatra available on Google Play Store.

Advance registration through banks:

542 bank branches across the country have been designated for the registration process of the Amarnath pilgrims. These include 316 branches of Punjab National Bank, 90 branches of Jammu and Kashmir, 37 branches of Yes Bank and 99 branches of State Bank of India, the officials said.

This year, an Aadhar-based registration of the pilgrims would be done where a thumb scan of pilgrim will be taken for registration.

It is to be noted that every pilgrim will have to submit Compulsory Health Certificate to obtain yatra permit. The format of CHC, and the list of Doctors/ Medical Institutions authorized to issue CHC are available at SASBs website link, https://jksasb.nic.in/ListofAuthorizedDoctorsInstitutions2023.html.

Here are the steps to apply for the yatra permit:

1. Firstly, the applicant will submit the following documents to the Registration Officer:

a) Prescribed Compulsory Health Certificate (CHC) issued on or after April 16, 2023 by the authorized Doctor/ Medical Institution; and,

b) Receipt of fee deposited in the bank.

2. If everything is in place, the Registration Official shall issue System Generated YPFs bearing BALTAL for Baltal route and PAHALGAM for the Pahalgam route.

3. The Registration Officer shall sign the System Generated Yatra Permit and along with the bank branch's seal.

4. The date printed on the yatra permit is the date on which the pilgrim will be allowed to cross the Access Control Gates at Domel (Baltal) and Chandanwari (Pahalgam).

Registration fees:

The advance registration for the Amarnath yatra through bank branches will cost 120. For online registration, the fees would be 220 per pilgrim. The registration fees for NRI pilgrim through PNB will be 1520 per pilgrim.

The schedule of the pilgrimage was decided at the 44th meeting of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) chaired by Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha at the Raj Bhavan.

Announcing the dates for holy pilgrimage and registration, Lt governor said, "Hassle-free pilgrimage is the top priority of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji and Home Minister Shri Amit Shah Ji. The administration will provide best-in-class healthcare and other essential facilities to all the visiting devotees and service providers. Telecom services will be made operational prior to the commencement of the pilgrimage".

Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) will also enable live telecast of morning and evening Aarti (Prayers) for devotees across the globe. Amarnath Yatras app has been made available on the Google Play Store to get real time information about the yatra, weather and for availing several services online.

To ensure full-proof security to the Amarnath yatra, drone and mine-proof vehicles will be used, Jammu and Kashmir Police said.
The registration for 62-day-long Amarnath yatra in Jammu and Kashmir has begun on Monday, the officials said. The yatra to the holy shrine will commence on July 1 this year and will culminate on August 31. The Amarnath Yatra will commence simultaneously from both routes  the Pahalgam track in the Anantnag district and Baltal in the Ganderbal district.(HT file Photo for representation)

Read here: Amarnath Yatra to commence on July 1, registration begins next week | Details

The registrations for both the routes- the Pahalgam track in the Anantnag district and Baltal in the Ganderbal district- have been initiated through online and offline modes.

Around 542 bank branches across the country have been designated for the registration process of the Amarnath pilgrims. These include 316 branches of Punjab National Bank, 90 branches of Jammu and Kashmir, 37 branches of Yes Bank and 99 branches of State Bank of India, the officials said.

This year, an Aadhaar-based registration of the pilgrims would be done where a thumb scan of pilgrim will be taken for registration.

Meanwhile, interested people can also register online for the Amarnath yatra on the official website www.jksasb.nic.in or can download the Shri AmarnathJi Yatra App to register themselves to visit the holy shrine.

As per the guidelines, individuals aged between 13-70 can register themselves for Amarnath yatra 2023 with a mandatory health certificate. Women with a pregnancy of 6 weeks or more are not allowed to undertake the yatra.

Announcing the dates for holy pilgrimage and registration, Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha said, "Hassle-free pilgrimage is the top priority of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji and Home Minister Shri Amit Shah Ji. The administration will provide best-in-class healthcare and other essential facilities to all the visiting devotees and service providers. Telecom services will be made operational prior to the commencement of the pilgrimage".

The Lt governor also directed the officials to ensure high levels of cleanliness and to take necessary intervention for sanitation and waste management.

Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) will also enable live telecast of morning and evening Aarti (Prayers) for devotees across the globe. Amarnath yatras app has been made available on the Google Play Store to get real time information about the yatra, weather and for availing several services online.

Located 141 km from the capital Srinagar at an altitude of 12,756 feet above sea level, the holy cave of Amarnath lies in the Ladar Valley, which is covered by glaciers, and snow-capped mountains for most of the year.

(With inputs from ANI)
Hundreds of villagers in northern India were under orders not to leave their homes after dark on Monday after two people were killed in tiger attacks, authorities said. At least 108 people were killed in tiger attacks in India between 2019 and mid-2021, the government said last year. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Last week India said its wild tiger population had risen above 3,000 but the growing numbers combined with habitat loss and urban expansion are leading to more attacks.

The curfew issued on Sunday banned people in two districts of the hilly state of Uttarakhand from going out between 7:00 pm and 6:00 am.

Schools have also been closed for two days, starting Monday.

Officials said the first death was reported on Thursday and the second one on Sunday but it was unclear whether the two killings involved the same tiger.

"We received an alert about a tiger in the territory on April 10. We are continuously monitoring the area," forest officer Swapnil Anirudh told AFP.

"Our armed staff are also on the scene... This area has a low number of wild prey, so humans and cattle are easy targets," Anirudh said.

Read Here | Farmer killed in alleged tiger attack in Uttarakhand district: Forest official

At least 108 people were killed in tiger attacks in India between 2019 and mid-2021, the government said last year.

Conservationists blame the rapid expansion of human settlements around forests and key wildlife corridors for an increase in man-animal conflict.

Last year, police shot dead a tiger dubbed the "man-eater of Champaran" that had killed at least nine people in eastern India.

The South Asian country is home to 75 percent of the global tiger population. According to the latest census released last week, there are an estimated 3,167 of the big cats in India.

Their numbers have rebounded in the last decade but the rate of increase slowed to under seven percent between 2018 and 2022, down from over 30 percent in the previous four years.

The tiger has lost more than 93 percent of its historical range globally over the past 100 years and now only survives in scattered populations in 13 countries, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

In 1900, more than 100,000 tigers were estimated to roam the planet. But that fell to a record low of 3,200 in 2010.

That year, India and 12 other countries with tiger populations signed an agreement aiming to double their numbers by 2022.
A March 29 editorial in the Hindustan Times described the Karnataka elections as a contest based on three Cs, namely, caste, communalism and corruption. A few days later a fourth C; cooperatives, was added to the Karnataka contest when Indias dairy cooperative giant Amul announced its plans to enter Karnatakas markets. The main opposition party Congress has described this as a move to weaken Karnatakas own dairy cooperative Nandini. The BJP, as expected, has dismissed these fears. Will Nandini versus Amul fight be a factor to reckon with in the 2023 Karnatakas contest? The answer to this question is rooted in the importance of dairy cooperatives in Karnatakas economy. Here is what data shows. PREMIUM Bengaluru, Apr 17 (ANI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Karnataka Congress President DK Shivakumar and general secretary KC Venugopal visited Nandini Milk parlour at JP Nagar, in Bengaluru on Sunday. (ANI Photo) (Congress Twitter)

Karnataka is in the middle of the pack when it comes to state rankings for share of households producing milk  Data from the 2018-19 Situation Assessment Survey (SAS) can tell us about the share of rural households that produce milk. For Karnataka, this number is 23.6%. Given the fact that rural households have a share of 56% in Karnatakas population, according to 2023 population projections by the National Commission on Population, this means that around 13% of Karnatakas households are milk producers. Data from the 2018-19 Situation Assessment Survey (SAS) can tell us about the share of rural households that produce milk. For Karnataka, this number is 23.6%. Given the fact that rural households have a share of 56% in Karnatakas population, according to 2023 population projections by the National Commission on Population, this means that around 13% of Karnatakas households are milk producers. How does this compare vis-a-vis other states in India? If major agricultural states of India (states that house at least 1% of Indias agricultural households) were arranged in order of how important dairy farming is in the state, Karnataka would lie in the middle of that table. It is ranked 9th among 20 major agricultural states by share of rural households producing milk (23.6%) and 11th by share of agricultural households producing milk (43.1%). The 2018-19 SAS defined agricultural households as those that produced agricultural products worth at least 4,000 in the year preceding the survey and had at least one member self-employed in agriculture. This statistic would suggest that Amul versus Nandini should not be much of an issue in the Karnataka polls.

 but milk production for cooperatives is one of the highest in the state

The SAS also asks households about the importance of cooperatives in the sale of milk. Data shows that cooperatives are among the most important in Karnataka when it comes to overall and per capita share in the value of milk sold to cooperatives. In terms of overall value of milk, more than 50% is sold to cooperatives in Karnataka, second only to Gujarat, the home of dairy giant Amul. Karnataka is also ranked second or third in terms of per capita value of milk sold to cooperatives depending on whether one looks at milk sold by rural or agricultural households. While SAS does not ask details about the exact cooperative to which milk is sold, it is reasonable to assume that Nandini is the biggest buyer of milk from Karnatakas dairy farmers. This makes fears (even unfounded ones) about Nandini allegedly losing its market share to Amul a potent political issue in Karnataka.

Has Nandini been losing its importance in Karnatakas dairy economy? A simple comparison of the share in value of total milk sold to cooperatives in the 2018-19 and 2012-13 SAS survey suggests that it has. The share of cooperatives in total value of milk sold fell from almost two-third to just above half between 2012-13 and 2018-19. To be sure, these numbers need to be read with a caveat that they are not exactly comparable because of a difference in methodology in the two surveys. In the 2018-19 SAS, the household was specifically asked about the amount used for self-consumption; and the amount sold to other households, cooperatives, and private processors. This leaves only 3.6% of disposal amount in the miscellaneous others category. In the 2012-13 survey, households were asked details about their first and second major disposal, but not the rest. The destination of around 30% of disposal therefore remains in a miscellaneous category. The political geography of the Nandini issue This is an important question as far as the political impact of the issue is concerned. If all of Karnatakas dairy farmers are concentrated in a small geographical pocket, it is more likely to influence the overall outcome of the elections. While SAS does not give disaggregated data beyond the state level, we have some information from Karnatakas own livestock census which was last conducted in 2019. It shows that geographical pockets which have a large share of cattle and milk production are not necessarily the same in Karnataka. While the former is concentrated an arc along the coast going into a few districts of southern Karnataka, such as Chikmagalur, Ramanagara, Hassan, and Mandya; milk production (per 1000 households) is much more concentrated in southern Karnataka districts. Of course, local politicians will have a much better information about places where the Nandini versus Amul narrative will have a bigger traction than official data can tell us.

Enjoy unlimited digital access with HT Premium Subscribe Now to continue reading Start 14 Days Free Trial Already Subscribed? Sign In

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Prayagraj: Uttar Pradesh Police on Sunday filed a first information report against three assailants who gunned down gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Khalid Azeem, alias Ashraf, saying that the three men followed around the criminal duo for several days to kill them, but couldnt do so earlier due to a lack of opportunity. People gather for Atiq Ahmeds funeral in Prayagraj on Sunday. (PTI)(HT_PRINT)

The men were booked for murder, attempt to murder and possessing illegal weapons.

The FIR, lodged by station house officer (SHO) of Dhoomanganj police station, inspector Rajesh Kumar Maurya, named Lavlesh Tiwari (22) of Banda, Mohit aka Sunny (23) of Hamirpur and Arun Kumar Maurya (18) of Kasganj district as the accused who gunned down Ahmad and Ashraf.

Posing as journalists, three assailants sprayed Ahmad and his brother with bullets on the Colvin Hospital premises in Prayagraj city around 10.30pm on Saturday when police brought the duo there for a routine health examination. Ahmad and Ashraf were talking to the media and were ringfenced by policemen when gunshots rang out and the murder was captured live on video.

The station house officer of Shahganj police station, Ashwani Kumar Singh, confirmed the registration of the FIR at 9.53am on Sunday.

The FIR, a copy of which is with HT, said that during the interrogation, the three assailants confessed that they killed Ahmad and Ashraf to wipe out their gang and make a name for themselves in the state.

The three men told the police that they failed to gauge the security arrangements in place and therefore could not flee the scene and got caught. They also said that they were following Ahmad and Ashraf along with the crowd of reporters since the criminals were sent to police remand, because they intended to target the brothers but could not do so earlier due to lack of an opportunity, the FIR added.

Atiq and Ashraf were sent to police remand on April 13.

The FIR was registered under different sections of the Indian Penal Code including section 302 (murder) and section 307 (attempt to commit murder), besides Section 3 (using prohibited arms or prohibited ammunition), 7 (prohibition of acquisition or possession, or of manufacture or sale of prohibited arms or prohibited ammunition), Section 25 (possession or carrying any prohibited arms or prohibited ammunition) and Section 27 (using any arms or ammunition sans licence) of Arms Act and Section 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment (CLA) Act.

In the FIR, police said the assailants posed as media persons to approach Ahmad and Ashraf, along with other reporters as the duo was being taken for daily medical examination at the Motilal Nehru (Colvin) Divisional Hospital. Before anyone could react, the three assailants opened fire using sophisticated firearms on Ahmad and Ashraf from a close range, added the FIR. Tiwari was also injured in the firing, said a senior police official.

A police official said that all the three assailants, along with their weapons, were nabbed from the site. A local court later remanded the assailants in 14-day judicial custody.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has formed a three-member judicial commission to probe the killing of Atiq and his brother.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Monday flagged eight 'odd' points about the killing of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf - accused of the February murder of lawyer Umesh Pal - while in police custody. Gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Ahmed being escorted to a hospital by police for a medical check-up, in Prayagraj, Saturday, April 15, 2023. (PTI Photo)

The Congress leader tweeted: "Atiq and Ashraf (the art of elimination)" and listed his eight observations on their deaths.

The 'odd' points raised included questions about the late night check-up, cops allowing media persons to approach, the use of high-powered and imported weapons, and the fact that none of three killers made any attempt to escape.

"Odd:

1) 10pm for medical check up ?

2) No medical emergency

3) made victims walk

4) open to media?

5) assassins unknown to each other at the spot ?

6) weapons above 7lakhs

7) well trained to shoot !

8) All 3 surrendered"

Sibal's questions - seen as directed to the Bharatiya Janata Party that is in power in UP and at the centre - echo those raised by other opposition leaders, such as the Rashtriya Janata Dal's Tejashwi Yadav. The Bihar deputy chief minister ripped into the BJP this morning and claimed a 'scripted' encounter.

Samajwadi Party chief and former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has also been critical of current CM Yogi Adityanath and his administration.

He has declared the killing of Atiq Ahmad and Ashraf, and that of Atiq's son Asad and his aide Ghulam, to be 'fake'. These, he has said, were orchestrated by the ruling BJP to 'divert attention from real issues' ahead of civic body polls.

The killing of Atiq Ahmad's son Asad and his aide Ghulam in an encounter with UP Police last week had triggered similar criticisms.

READ | UP Oppn leaders demand high-level probe into Jhansi encounter

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi was particularly ferocious in his attack, declaring 'you (the BJP) do encounters in the name of religion'.

READ | 'Will BJP also shoot...': Furious Owaisi slams Asad Ahmad killing

Atiq Ahmad and Ashraf were shot dead at point blank range late Saturday night by three men posing as journalists. This was as Atiq and Ashraf were being walked - with an escort of armed policemen - for a 'medical check-up'.

READ | Atiq Ahmad's killers shouted 'Jai Shri Ram', identified. What we know

It is unclear if Atiq and Ashraf were experiencing a medical emergency; if yes, should they not have been in an ambulance? Both should have had routine check-ups completed after being arrested, in line with protocols. Police officers quoted in some reports referred to a night medical check-up as 'unusual'.

Atiq Ahmed's brother Ashraf predicted their deaths two weeks ago | Watch

Their killers - Arun Maurya, Lavlesh Tiwari and Sunny - made no effort to escape. They have been sent to judicial custody for 14 days. Police claim the trio killed Atiq and Ashraf to make a name for themselves among the underworld.

Police further said they recovered three pistols from the killers, two of which were 9mm guns made in Turkey; the third was a country-made 7.62 weapon.

READ | Atiq Ahmad was killed using Turkey-made pistols: What police said

The entire incident was caught live on camera; Atiq was shot responding to a question on not being able to attend the funeral of his son Asad.

Atiq Ahmad, his brother and his son were among those accused in the murder of Umesh Pal, a witness to the 2005 killing of the Bahujan Samaj Party's Raju Pal.

READ | In 50 days, Atiq, Asad among 6 accused killed in Umesh Pal murder case

The UP government has responded by setting up a three-member judicial committee to investigate the killing of Atiq Ahmad and Ashraf. Faced with questions, UP Police has also set up a three-member team of its own.

With input from agencies

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
PATNA: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Monday announced a 4 lakh ex-gratia for the next-of-kin of people who died in hooch tragedies after prohibition was introduced in 2016 but stressed that people who seek financial assistance will have to reveal the identity of the person from who liquor was illegally bought. The family will also have to sign off on a pledge not to consume liquor and support prohibition, he added. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar said next-of-kin of people who die due to illicit liquor will have to disclose the source of the illicit liquor to be eligible for the  4 lakh compensation (PTI)

Kumars announcement on Monday is a reversal of his stand for years that the government will not compensate people who lost their lives because they were breaking the law, and comes following sharp attacks from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the death of 22 people in a hooch tragedy reported on Friday in East Champaran districts Motihari area.

This is very sad. These are people of poor families. So, we have decided that the families of all the deceased should be given compensation of 4 lakh from the Chief Ministers Relief Fund. Not only Motihari but compensation will be given to the families of all the people who died due to drinking alcohol before this, Kumar told reporters on the sidelines of a function in state capital Patna on Monday.

More than 155 people have died across Bihar due to the consumption of hooch since November 2021

The chief minister made it clear that families would be entitled to the assistance only if they give in writing to the district magistrate (DM) that the person who died consumed illicit alcohol. The name and address of the person from where he had taken the liquor will have to be given. Along with this, they will also have to write that prohibition is a very good thing, we support this and no one in the family will drink alcohol in future, said Kumar.

Kumar said he has all along maintained that it was wrong to consume liquor but there has been a sudden rise in such deaths in the last two-three years.

To be sure, Bihar did provide ex-gratia assistance to families of people who died due to illicit liquor in the initial phase of prohibition. But this practice was stopped after questions were raised, underlining that people who buy illicit liquor despite prohibition have violated the law.

Nitish Kumar has since then repeatedly refused to resume the financial assistance and has been accused by the opposition of being insensitive to the plight of people.

Those who drink and die deserve no sympathy and no compensation, he told the state assembly in December last, stressing that giving any compensation will go against the spirit of the prohibition law and those who drink liquor will die.

The statement had roiled the opposition BJP, which stepped up its campaign against the chief minister, had asked him to apologise for his insensitive statement.

BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand reiterated the demand for an apology on Monday as well. Secondly, he should set up a judicial enquiry committee and come out with a white paper on liquor deaths and supply of illegal drugs, Anand said.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Bharatiya Janata Party has 'only one aim... to finish (off) the Aam Aadmi Party', Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal declared Monday evening after the AAP's ex-Gujarat unit boss was arrested for contentious remarks against home minister Harsh Sanghvi and the ruling BJP's state chief, CR Patil. Kejriwal also claimed the BJP would not rest till it had jailed each member of his party, and that it was driven by fear of the AAP's rising popularity in the state. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal(PTI)

"BJP is so shocked by spectacular performance of AAP in Gujarat that it has now arrested our Gujarat leader, Gopal Italia. Now BJP has only one aim... how to finish (off) Aam Aadmi Party. These people will put everyone in jail one by one," Kejriwal tweeted.

Kejriwal's stinging rebuke was countered by the BJP's IT Cell in-charge Amit Malviya, who slammed the Delhi chief minister's comments as a 'lie' and pointed to his summons by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the excise policy case.

"After the CBI inquiry, there is such a state of insanity that the man is seeing jail everywhere," Malviya declared.

On Sunday - after Kejriwal was questioned by the CBI - Malviya gloated: "... devastated look on Kejriwals face, apprehensive body language and feeble tone and tenor of speech after CBI questioning is a sure sign... sins of his (have) finally caught up And he knows it."

The AAP made its debut in Gujarat last year after a strong showing in civic body polls in prime minister Narendra Modi's home state, then widely seen as a bastion for the ruling party.

The party from Delhi - which last year also secured its first government outside the national capital after a massive win over the Congress in Punjab - won five seats in Gujarat and, crucially, nearly 13 per cent of the vote share. This, in addition to wins in Punjab and Delhi, and over six per cent of the votes in Goa, mean Kejriwal's AAP is now a 'national' party.

Since then talk over a possible run at the 2024 Lok Sabha election has gathered pace, although it remains unlikely the AAP will generate enough support nationally for Kejriwal's ambition.

Earlier today Gopal Italia was detained by police in Gujarat's Surat and taken to the Crime Branch office in connection with allegedly derogatory statements about Sanghvi and Patil.

Italia has since been given bail.

"Since offences... were bailable, Crime Branch let me go. AAP showed its strength in the last election in Gujarat, which is considered BJP's stronghold. That is why they are scared..."

The complaint was reportedly filed by a BJP worker, Pratap Chodwadia.

In the 2022 Gujarat election, Gopal Italia contested from xxx and (result?)

Incidentally, Surat is also where Congress MP Rahul Gandhi was found guilty of criminal defamation last month; he was convicted in the 2019 'Modi surname' case that led to him being disqualified as a Lok Sabha MP and ordered to evacuate his Delhi bungalow.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday staged a protest outside the Delhi assembly against chief minister Arvind Kejriwal over the excise policy case in which the AAP leader was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) the previous day. The party workers present outside the Delhi assembly premise chanted slogans against the AAP supremo and some even tried to breach the barricade placed by security personnel. BJP workers protest against Arvind Kejriwal over excise policy case.(ANI)

They were holding the protest during the daylong session of the Assembly that began shortly after 11am. Kejriwal will address the House at 4pm where he is expected to launch a no-holds-barred attack on the BJP-ruled Centre as the probe agencies tighten their noose.

I will be speaking in Delhi Legislative Assembly at 4 pm today. Do watch, the chief minister said in a tweet.

The ruling AAP MLAs on Monday attacked Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena for raising objection to the summoning of the Assembly session, calling it an "insult" to the House. Deputy Speaker Rakhi Birla alleged that attempts were being made to diminish the dignity and power of the House and also ordered referring the matter to the Committee of Privileges.

Saxena had flagged "procedural lapses" in summoning a day-long session of the Delhi Assembly on April 17.

"I fail to understand as to under what circumstances and under which provision of the GNCTD Act, 1991 the Second Part of the Fourth Session (Budget session) of the Seventh Legislative Assembly has been convened instead of moving a proposal for prorogation of the Budget Session and convening of the 'One-Day Session as per the Cabinet Decision'," Saxena said in his note, drawing a sharp reaction from Kejriwal who said he would want the LG to study the Constitution again.

"The session will be held tomorrow. I want the LG sahib to study the Constitution again or have some advisor who is at least well-educated and has knowledge about it," the chief minister said after emerging from the CBI office.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The union government on Sunday assured all necessary help to the family of the Indian national - identified as Albert Augestine - who died of bullet injuries in the violence-hit Sudanese capital city of Khartoum. Union minister of state for external affairs V Muraleedharan said that steps are on to bring the victim's body back to the country, reported news agency PTI. Smoke is seen rising from a neighborhood in Khartoum, Sudan, Saturday, April 15. (AP)

V Muraleedharan also spoke to the victim's father earlier on Sunday, PTI reported citing a government statement.

The minister also said that the victim's wife and daughter who were with him in Sudan are safe. The Indian Embassy in Sudan has been instructed to coordinate on further steps, he said.

Augestine - who was working for the Dal Group Company in the African country - was hit by a stray bullet on Saturday. He was inside his house when the tragic incident occurred.

The Indian embassy in Sudan tweeted: It has been reported that Mr Albert Augestine, an Indian National working in a Dal Group Company in Sudan who got hit by a stray bullet yesterday succumbed to his injuries. Embassy is in touch with family and medical authorities to make further arrangements.

On Monday, the death toll in the Sudan clashes rose to nearly 100 as the fighting between the regular army and paramilitaries raged for a third day. The violence erupted on Saturday - after weeks of power struggles between Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

(With inputs from agencies)

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Chhattisgarh police on Monday arrested eight people in connection with the murder of a 55-year-old man and his 35-year-old son in the states communal violence-hit Biranpur village last week, police said. Violence had erupted between Hindu and Muslim groups in the village on April 8 after a fight between schoolchildren. (Representative photo)

The bodies of Raheem Mohammad and his son Idul Mohammad were found at a mine, a few kilometres away from the village on April 11, three days after it was rocked by communal violence.

 The main accused, Takeshwar Sinhna, was aware that the two had gone to graze their goats. He instigated others and then started searching for them. When the accused found the two men, they first thrashed them and then bludgeoned them with stones, Bemetra Superintendent of Police Indira Kalyan Elesela said.

Violence had erupted between Hindu and Muslim groups in the village on April 8 after a fight between schoolchildren.

A local resident, Bhuneshwar Sahu (22), was killed in the clash. Two houses were burnt down on the outskirts of the village amid a Chhattisgarh called by right- wing organisations on April 10.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
A colleague of the four soldiers killed in the attack at an officers mess at Punjabs Bathinda military station on Wednesday last has confessed to the fratricide and stealing an INSAS rifle used for allegedly killing them due to personal animosity, the Indian Armys South Western Command said in a statement on Monday. There was no terror angle to the killings as speculated earlier in some media reports, it added. Four soldiers were killed in the attack at an officers mess in Punjabs Bathinda military station. (HT PHOTO)

The statement said Desai Mohan from the Artillery Unit, where the incident occurred, confessed to his involvement to the police after sustained interrogation.

It added on April 9, Mohan allegedly stole the weapon along with a filled magazine. He then hid the weapon. On 12 April...while... on sentry duty, he recovered the weapon from its hiding place, moved to the first floor, and killed all four personnel while they were asleep.

Mohan later allegedly threw the weapon into the sewage pit. The weapon and additional ammunition have been recovered from the sewage pit, the statement said. It added Mohan earlier tried to divert the attention of investigating agencies by claiming two people in civvies and carrying an INSAS rifle and an axe were involved in the killings.

The individual [Mohan] is currently in police custody and further details are being ascertained.

The statement said the army has zero tolerance for such acts of indiscipline and is committed to ensuring that the guilty will get punished. All possible assistance is being provided to [the] Punjab Police and other agencies for early conclusion of investigations.

It cited the sensitivities and requested the media to avoid rumours and refrain from speculation.

Superintendent of police (investigation) Ajay Gandhi, who led the probe, last week said the crime was being probed from all angles. He added that the terrorist angle was not completely ruled out at that stage.

Quick reaction teams were activated after the shooting took place in the mess at 4.35am.

The Jaipur-based South Western Command last week issued three statements on the shooting incident, but none described it as fratricide. The statements also did not say who may have been responsible for the incident.

The military station area was cordoned off, and combing operations were launched after the shooting.

Spread over a 40km area, it is the largest military base in Asia and home to the armys HQs 10 Corps. The pivot Chetak corps is responsible for defending Indias border with Pakistan in south Punjab and north Rajasthan.

Gunners Sagar Banne, 25, Kamalesh R, 24, Yogeshkumar J, 24, and Santosh M Nagaral, 25, were killed in their rooms near the officers mess. Police recovered 19 empty shells of an Insas rifle from the crime spot.

The defense authorities used quadcopters to scan the entire area. CCTV footage was scanned minutely for crucial leads.
A 20-year-old college student was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne assailants in broad daylight in Uttar Pradeshs Jalaun district on Monday, police said. Roshini Ahirwar was a Bachelor of Arts (BA) student at Ram Lakhan Patel Degree College in UP's Jalaun.

One person was later arrested following an exchange of fire with police during which he sustained a bullet injury. Police said the accused attacked the student after she reportedly refused his marriage proposal. Efforts are on to nab the second accused.

Additional director general of police (ADGP) Alok Singh said the incident took place when the deceased, Roshini Ahirwar, a Bachelor of Arts (BA) student at Ram Lakhan Patel Degree College, was returning home after appearing for an examination in her college. Her father Man Singh said she was returning home after her exam when she was shot on her head, Singh said.

The assailants used a country-made pistol and had abandoned the weapon on the spot before escaping, he added.

The crime spot is around 200 metres away from a local police station. One accused, identified as Raj Ahirwar, was later arrested on the basis of a complaint by the womans parents..

Jalaun superintendent of police (SP) Iraj Raja said after Ahirwar was arrested, he was taken to recover the motorcycle number plate he had dismantled. During this time, he snatched the service pistol of a local station house officer and fired at the police officials. The police retaliated and shot him in the legs.

Preliminary probe suggests Roshini and Raj knew each other. As Raj wanted to marry her, Rohini had started distancing herself from him. Angered by this, he followed her on Monday and along with one of his cousins, killed her, the SP said.
Here are todays top news, analysis, and opinion. Know all about the latest news and other news updates from Hindustan Times. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.(ANI)

'BJP has only one aim...': Kejriwal hits out after AAP's Gujarat leader detained

The Bharatiya Janata Party has 'only one aim... to finish (off) the Aam Aadmi Party', Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal declared Monday evening after the AAP's ex-Gujarat unit boss was arrested for contentious remarks against home minister Harsh Sanghvi and the ruling BJP's state chief, CR Patil. Read more

Woman officer in Bihar abused, dragged by crowd, 44 arrested: Report

A total of 44 people have been arrested so far and three FIRs have been filed in a case involving assaulting a woman officer in Bihar's Patna district, according to top police official as quoted by news agency ANI. Read more

Rishi Sunak to be probed over wife's stake in UK childcare firm

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is being investigated by parliament's standards watchdog over whether he properly declared his wife's shareholding in a childcare company which stands to benefit from new government policy. Read more

O Balle Balle: Salman Khan grooves to Punjabi beats of Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan song, creates new hook steps

Actor Salman Khan's new dance number O Balle Balle from Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan just dropped and it has him grooving with new hook steps. Read more

Watch: Gavaskar 'rubs his eyes' after Rahane's monster six crashes on Chinnaswamy roof, Faf du Plessis shellshocked

Ajinkya Rahane continued his impressive show in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) facing the carnage from the discarded India star in the clash against Chennai Super Kings at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Read more

Home decor, interior design ideas for a statement-making entrance foyer

First impressions are crucial and the entryway of a home sets the tone for the rest of the house where a statement-making entryway is one that immediately captures the attention of visitors. Read more

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Tamil Nadus ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has sent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state chief K Annamalai a legal notice demanding a public apology and 500 crores damages for levelling corruption charges against party leaders including chief minister M K Stalin. It said the damages will be deposited in the Tamil Nadu Chief Ministers Relief Fund. Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin. (PTI)

On April 14, Annamalai accused Stalin of receiving 200 crore in 2011 from Alstom for awarding the company a contract related to the Chennai Metro rail project.

DMK leader R S Bharathi called the allegations a joke while the Chennai Metro Rail Limited said it actually saved 250 crore. He sent Annamalai a 10-page legal notice on Sunday saying Stalin has not received a single paise as illegal gratification throughout his 56 years of public life.

Bharathi said the BJP has been unable to make a mark electorally in the state and was hence making attempts to defame, scandalise, and tarnish the reputation of the DMK and its leaders.

He added Annamalais allegations that the DMK has assets worth 1408.94 crore is inflated while providing their break-up. Bharathi said Annamalai must understand the difference between the assets of an individual and that of a political party.

Annamalai claimed the BJP has evidence in connection with the alleged scam in the metro project during the previous DMK government. We will submit it to the CBI [Central Bureau of Investiation]. Until your party leader and all those involved in this scam are summoned for an explanation, I request DMK organisational secretary [Bharathi] to be patient, Annamalai said in a statement.
BJP to unleash PM Modi, Yogi Adityanath in Karnataka before election: Report Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Karnataka's Udupi on May 4 to attend a conference of Bharatiya Janata Party workers, sources in the party told PTI. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath is also expected to accompany the prime minister. Read More PM Modi and Yogi Adityanath to visit Karnataka ahead of assembly polls in the state.(HT File Photo)

US raid in Syria targets senior IS leader: US Central Command

A US helicopter raid on Monday targeted a senior Islamic State group leader in Syria suspected of plotting attacks in Europe and the Middle East, US Central Command said. Read More

Radhika Apte says newer generation seems the same as they undergo plastic surgery: People look quite AI

Actor Radhika Apte recently talked about how the newer generation all look alike on the pretext of plastic surgery. The actor who is vocal about being comfortable in her own skin, compared those going under the knife to Artificial intelligence due to their enhanced cheekbones and lips. Read More

4 delicious Kulfi recipes to beat the summer heat

There is nothing quite as refreshing and heavenly as a frozen treat in summer season when the mercury soars. Kulfi is one such summer delights that makes the summer heat bearable. Read More

'Don't you ever say sorry to me...': Ponting to DC star in front of Ganguly

After a few years of reaching the playoffs, Delhi Capitals have once again lost their way in the IPL. Finalists in 2020, the Capitals have lost all five of their matches in IPL 2023. In the absence of Rishabh Pant, stand-in captain David Warner has not been able to get his team together and despite individual brilliances, the Capitals have struggled to come together as a unit and as a result, find themselves in the middle of this losing streak. Read More

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Union minister RK Singh on Monday slammed opposition leaders over their reactions to the killing gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad in Prayagraj, accusing them of searching for vote bank politics. Union Minister of Power and New & Renewable Energy RK Singh (File)

Singh also responded to Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav's comments where he claimed that crime should be eliminated in a lawful manner and the funeral procession of Atiq and Ashraf would be the funeral procession of law in Uttar Pradesh.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Singh said, Tejashwi Yadav is Dy CM but he addressed Atiq Ahmed as 'Atiq ji' who had cases of murder, kidnapping, extortion against him. Atiq used to kill witnesses against him. He confessed he had connection with LeT. A criminal got killed in gangwar.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has also said on Monday that it had become normal for encounters to occur in UP. Saying that if anything happens in West Bengal the Centre sends federal agencies in the state, Banerjee had also asked people of Uttar Pradesh to protest against the incident.

She said at a press conference, Encounters have become a normal thing for the people of Uttar Pradesh. People of UP should protest against these encounters. If anything happens in West Bengal, they (BJP) send central agencies. BJP is double enginedouble standard.

Uttar Pradesh Police on Monday set up a three-member special investigation team (SIT) to probe the death of Atiq and Ashraf.

A statement from the office of Prayagraj's top cop said the SIT had been directed to 'complete the investigation in a quality and time-bound manner (and) in a scientific manner..."

A supervision team has also been set up by RK Vishwakarma, the Director-General of UP Police to oversee the working of the SIT.

On Sunday, the Uttar Pradesh government had formed a three-member judicial committee which would be headed by retired Allahabad High Court judge Arvind Kumar Tripathi and will include Brijesh Kumar Soni, another retired judge, and Subesh Kumar Singh, an ex-DGP.

Atif and Ashraf were shot dead at point-blank range at 10 PM while they were being taken for a medical checkup. The incident took place in presence of the media and was carried out by three men who were posing as journalists. The shooting place on the day Atiq Ahmad's son Asad, who was shot dead in an encounter with UP police, was buried.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Heatwave conditions prevailed in several states - including Maharashtra, Bihar, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi-NCR - and are likely to continue for the next few days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. The weather agency also predicted that temperatures may rise in Punjab and Haryana in the next two days and abate thereafter. Above-normal heatwave days are expected in most parts of central, east, and northwest India during this period, the Met Office predicted. (PTI)

Also read: Andhra Pradesh: 12 mandals to suffer severe heat wave, 115 to face today

Here is the list of states who are likely to continue witnessing the scorching heat:

Maharashtra

According to the IMD, the temperatures in Maharashtra are likely to rise by 2 to 4 degrees Celsius during the next five days. During the past few days, more than 10 districts in the state have witnessed maximum daytime temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius - with Chandrapur recording the highest temperature at 43.2 degrees Celsius.

Due to the scorching heat, at least 11 people died tragically due to sunstroke on Sunday after attending the 'Maharashtra Bhushan' award event in an open ground in Navi Mumbai. Reportedly, lakhs of his followers attended the event under peak sun during peak daytime - after which around 125 people started complaining of exhaustion, and chest pain.

The nearest weather station to the event spot had recorded a maximum temperature of 38 degrees Celsius.

West Bengal

The weather agency on Sunday forecast that heatwave conditions will prevail in some parts of Gangetic West Bengal till April 19. Heat wave conditions are very likely in isolated/some pockets over Gangetic West Bengal during the next 5 days and over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal during the next 3 days, the IMD bulletin read.

On Sunday, Panagarh in West Bengal's Paschim Bardhanman recorded the day's highest temperature at 42.6 degrees Celsius, while Kolkata's maximum temperature touched 39.8 degrees C.

In view of this, the West Bengal government notified the closure of educational institutions in the state for one week or until further orders from April 17.

Odisha

Despite a marginal fall in temperatures across Odisha last week, the mercury level on Sunday remained at or above 40 degrees Celsius in at least 20 places in the state, the IMD bulletin said. Odisha's Jharsuguda recorded the highest temperature at 43 degrees Celsius, while Boudh, Sambalpur, and Talcher recorded temperatures around 42 degrees Celsius.

In view of the scorching heat, the state government announced that all the Anganwadi centers will conduct classes from 7 am to 11 am from Monday onwards.

Also read: Who will investigate?: Uddhav Thackeray after 11 die of heatstroke at state event

Bihar

The heatwave conditions are likely to prevail in isolated or some pockets over Bihar during the next five days, with the Patna IMD issuing a yellow warning on Monday and Tuesday.

On Saturday, Bihar Disaster Management minister Shahnawaz told PTI that people are advised to avoid heat exposure in the state, keep cool and avoid dehydration. Besides, district authorities have also been advised to monitor the situation in their respective districts. The situation is being closely monitored by the state Disaster Management Department, he added.

Delhi-NCR

While Delhi-NCR witnessed heatwave conditions for the past few days, the IMD has predicted a relief with rainfall activity starting Tuesday. However, till then, the temperature in the national capital is likely to be above normal, the IMD said.

"For now there is a poor possibility of heatwave conditions in Delhi-NCR, but still the temperature will be 3-4 degrees Celsius above normal.

As the heat is mounting up in the national capital, an expert from India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday said that there will be marginal heatwave conditions for the next two days in Delhi-NCR.

Naresh Kumar, the IMD expert, said, For now there is a poor possibility of heatwave conditions in Delhi-NCR, but still the temperature will be 3-4 degrees Celsius above normal. Marginal heat wave means the temperature can go 4.5-5 degrees Celsius above normal, he said, reported ANI.

Apart from these states, the heatwave conditions are also likely to continue in isolated pockets over Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam during the next three days, and in West Madhya Pradesh on April 17 and 18, the IMD said.

(With inputs from agencies)
Amid the row over Nandini vs Amul brand, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is on a two-day visit to the poll-bound Karnataka, on Sunday bought a Nandini ice cream from a store in Bengaluru and termed the brand Karnataka's pride. Gandhi also termed Nandini, the flagship brand of Karnataka Milk Federation, the best. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at a Nandini milk shop during his visit to Karnataka on Sunday, (PTI)

The Congress leader's move comes following the state party leaders' endorsement of a local dairy brand, amid concerns about its acquisition by Gujarat's Amul. Gandhi was accompanied by Congress state president DK Shivakumar and party general secretary KC Venugopal.

Gandhi later posted his photo on Twitter with a caption, "Karnatakas Pride - NANDINI is the best!"

Reacting to Gandhi's tweet, Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Karnataka Tejasvi Surya requested the Congress leader to intervene in Kerala for the smooth sale of Nandini.

Glad that Rahul Gandhi thinks Nandini is the best. There is no doubt about it. I request him to intervene in Kerala for smooth sale of Nandini. If not, this will be yet another gimmick. Waiting for Rahul Gandhi to make a public announcement in Kerala for free access to Nandini, Surya tweeted.

The row involving the two unions began when Amul declared its plans to distribute its milk products in Bengaluru. The Congress and JD(S) opposition parties accused the BJP of attempting to eliminate Nandini by granting access to Amul in Karnataka.

Additionally, they voiced concerns that a shortage of Nandini items would be manufactured to pave the way for Amul's dominance. The BJP government under Basavaraj Bommai, however, dismissed the allegations, claiming that Amul did not pose a danger to Nandini.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
NEW DELHI: India and Russia are discussing a free trade agreement (FTA) involving the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), leaders of the two countries said on Monday against the backdrop of bilateral economic ties seeing a sharp expansion since the start of the Ukraine war. Russian deputy prime minister Denis Manturov and external affairs minister S Jaishankar at the India-Russia Business Dialogue in New Delhi on April 17 (ANI)

Visiting Russian deputy prime minister Denis Manturov, who is also the trade minister, listed India among his countrys trusted foreign partners and said the two sides are also working on an agreement to protect investments. External affairs minister S Jaishankar, however, highlighted the urgent need to address the trade imbalance created by the recent increase in two-way trade to $45 billion.

Manturov and Jaishankar were speaking at an India-Russia Business Dialogue hosted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) ahead of chairing a meeting of the bilateral inter-governmental commission on trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation on Tuesday.

India-Russia trade has witnessed a dramatic increase since last year, driven largely by New Delhis increased purchases of discounted Russian crude in the wake of Western sanctions slapped on Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine. Russia has already emerged as one of the top energy suppliers for India, which has not publicly criticised Russias aggression and has called for a peaceful resolution of the hostilities.

We pay special attention to the issues of mutual access of production to the markets of our countries. Together with the Eurasian Economic Commission we are looking forward to intensifying negotiations on a free trade agreement with India, Manturov said, referring to the executive body of the EEU.

Trade preferences and a mechanism that guarantees protection of investments will be in demand among Russian and Indian businessmen, he added.

Jaishankar noted that discussions for an FTA between India and EEU were interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, and said the external affairs ministry will encourage resumption of the talks because the proposed pact will make a real difference to our trade relationship.

An Indian official who declined to be named said that initial discussions on the FTA with EEU began in 2017 but there had not been much progress due to various reasons, including the pandemic. There is a renewed push to expedite further discussions on this matter, he said.

Jaishankar highlighted the fact that India and Russia have already achieved the bilateral trade target of $30 billion before the target year of 2025, and said the increase in two-way trade between April 2022 and February 2023 to $45 billion has given rise to understandable concern about trade imbalance.

The two sides need to work urgently to address this imbalance by tackling impediments, including market access, non-rariff barriers, payment-related matters and logistics. The two sides can also diversify and expand the basket of goods by exploring possibilities in automobiles and spare parts, electronics goods, medical devices, solar photovoltaic modules, textiles, food and agricultural products, Jaishankar said.

Both Jaishankar and Manturov tacitly referred to problems created by Western sanctions imposed on Russia, especially in terms of trade settlement. Though India and Russia have agreed on rupee-rouble trade, recent reports have suggested there are problems in making payments to the Russian side, leading to the possible use of currencies of third countries.

Jaishankar said there could be an inadequate appreciation of the concerns and the risks that the Indian businesses face on the Russian side, and the future of bilateral economic cooperation requires the willingness and ability to look at it from the point of view of the other party and come up with solutions which will overcome the obstacles. He listed payments, logistics and certifications as the key areas.

The payments issue, including expansion of the network under the scheme for international trade settlement in Indian rupees through special rupee vostro accounts, needs to be worked through by the systems of both countries and will be discussed at the meeting of the inter-governmental commission on Tuesday, Jaishankar said.

Manturov said ensuring smooth mutual settlements could give further impetus to trade. At the intergovernmental dialogue on Tuesday, Russia will propose the possibility of wide use of national currencies and currencies of friendly countries to minimise expenses and currency risks, he added.

Russia relies on trusted foreign partners such as India for certain components and technologies, and Indian companies can help meet the growing demand in Russia for road construction equipment, chemicals and pharmaceutical products, Manturov said. Indian firms can also benefit from Russias cluster investment platform that provides preferential credit, insurance premium and income tax preferences for manufacturing priority products.

Manturov also met National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and discussed a range of bilateral issues to implement the India-Russia strategic partnership, people familiar with the matter said.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
India and Russia are discussing a free trade agreement (FTA) involving the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), leaders of the two countries said on Monday against the backdrop of bilateral economic ties seeing a sharp expansion since the start of the Ukraine war. External affairs minister S Jaishankar and deputy Prime Minister of Russian Denis Valentinovich Manturov during an event, in New Delhi. (HT Photo)

Visiting Russian deputy prime minister Denis Manturov, who is also the trade minister, listed India among his countrys trusted foreign partners and said the two sides are also working on an agreement to protect investments. External affairs minister S Jaishankar, however, highlighted the urgent need to address the trade imbalance created by the recent increase in two-way trade to $45 billion.

Also Read: India nudges Russia to address trade imbalance due to discounted oil

Manturov and Jaishankar were speaking at an India-Russia Business Dialogue hosted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) ahead of chairing a meeting of the bilateral inter-governmental commission on trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation on Tuesday.

India-Russia trade has witnessed a dramatic increase since last year, driven largely by Indias increased purchases of discounted Russian crude in the wake of Western sanctions slapped on Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine. Russia has already emerged as one of the top energy suppliers for India, which has not publicly criticised Russias aggression and has called for a peaceful resolution of the hostilities.

We pay special attention to the issues of mutual access of production to the markets of our countries. Together with the Eurasian Economic Commission we are looking forward to intensifying negotiations on a free trade agreement with India, Manturov said, referring to the executive body of the EAEU.

Trade preferences and a mechanism that guarantees protection of investments will be in demand among Russian and Indian businessmen, he added.

Jaishankar noted that discussions for an FTA between India and EAEU were interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, and said the external affairs ministry will encourage resumption of the talks because the proposed pact will make a real difference to our trade relationship.

An Indian official who declined to be named said that initial discussions on the FTA with EAEU began in 2017 but there had not been much progress due to various reasons, including the pandemic. There is a renewed push to expedite further discussions on this matter, he said.

Jaishankar highlighted the fact that India and Russia have already achieved the bilateral trade target of $30 billion before the target year of 2025, and said the increase in two-way trade between April 2022 and February 2023 to $45 billion has given rise to understandable concern about trade imbalance.

The two sides need to work urgently to address this imbalance by tackling impediments, including market access, non-rariff barriers, payment-related matters and logistics. The two sides can also diversify and expand the basket of goods by exploring possibilities in automobiles and spare parts, electronics goods, medical devices, solar photovoltaic modules, textiles, food and agricultural products, Jaishankar said.

Both Jaishankar and Manturov tacitly referred to problems created by Western sanctions imposed on Russia, especially in terms of trade settlement. Though India and Russia have agreed on rupee-rouble trade, recent reports have suggested there are problems in making payments to the Russian side, leading to the possible use of currencies of third countries.

Jaishankar said there could be an inadequate appreciation of the concerns and the risks that the Indian businesses face on the Russian side, and the future of bilateral economic cooperation requires the willingness and ability to look at it from the point of view of the other party and come up with solutions which will overcome the obstacles. He listed payments, logistics and certifications as the key areas.

The payments issue, including expansion of the network under the scheme for international trade settlement in Indian rupees through special rupee vostro accounts, needs to be worked through by the systems of both countries and will be discussed at the meeting of the inter-governmental commission on Tuesday, Jaishankar said.

Manturov said ensuring smooth mutual settlements could give further impetus to trade. At the intergovernmental dialogue on Tuesday, Russia will propose the possibility of wide use of national currencies and currencies of friendly countries to minimise expenses and currency risks, he added.

Russia relies on trusted foreign partners such as India for certain components and technologies, and Indian companies can help meet the growing demand in Russia for road construction equipment, chemicals and pharmaceutical products, Manturov said. Indian firms can also benefit from Russias cluster investment platform that provides preferential credit, insurance premium and income tax preferences for manufacturing priority products. Commerce minister Piyush Goyal also met Manturov and discussed various issues concerning trade and commerce, an official said.

After a gap of over five years, the India-Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is being renewed, which could not progress much due to pandemic, he said requesting anonymity. Russia-led five-member EAEU includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan. A joint statement to launch negotiations for FTA between India and the Union was signed on June 3, 2017. At that time, the two partners were expected the FTA to double the bilateral trade to about $30 billion by 2025.

A second official confirmed about the trade talks between the two partners and scheduling of a meeting between India and EAEU on 16-18th March, 2020 in Moscow after India-EAEU had finalised the report of Joint Feasibility Study Group (JFSG) that prepared the ground for the FTA negotiations. The meeting could not take place due to the spread of the Covid pandemic.

The official said there is a possibility to expand the scope of proposed trade deal to investments and the two partners can explore other types of economic cooperation, including trade in mutually-recognised national currencies.

The FTA will help the two partners will help them to collaborate in key areas such as oil and gas, gold and diamond, timber, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, aviation, railways and logistics, he said.

Manturov also met National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and discussed a range of bilateral issues to implement the India-Russia strategic partnership, people familiar with the matter said.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Indias first mobile BSL-3 laboratory was displayed on Monday at the second G20 Health Working Group Meeting in Goa. The made-in-India mobile clinic RAMBAAN (Rapid Action Mobile BSL3+ Advanced Augmented Network) can be used to reach remote regions to carry out testing. The GPS-enabled technology allows the bus to transfer the test report instantly, Dr Rajni Kant, director at ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre in Delhi, told news agency ANI. The mobile clinic's facilities ensure proper treatment of chemical waste, thus avoiding the possibility of an infection. (ANI)

Kant added that the bus facilities ensure proper treatment of chemical waste, thus avoiding the possibility of an infection.

G20 countries can collaborate with common concerns. This bus can be a boon in tackling health situations. It is fully equipped. All chemical waste is treated so theres no chance of any infection, ANI quoted him in a statement.

According to news agency PTI, Dr Lakshmi Narasimhan Balaji, who works with UNICEF, praised Indias innovative initiatives to provide healthcare in far-flung areas with challenging weather patterns. The mobile clinics serve as a model for insurgency-struck countries to help overcome transportation problems.

The senior advisor of health at UNICEF-New York, told PTI that a modified vehicle can double up as an ambulance while a boat can transport people in flood-affected areas.

India's G20 Presidency has prioritised three areas of health: Health Emergencies Prevention, Preparedness, and Response, including antimicrobial resistance (AMR); Strengthening Cooperation in the Pharmaceutical Sector; and digital health.

The 2nd Health Working Group meeting is being conducted in Panaji from Monday to Wednesday with the attendance of over 180 delegates from 19 G20 member countries, 10 invited states and 22 international organisations.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Monday said100 G-20 meetings have been held in 41 cities, covering 28 states and union territories of India, marking a key milestone in its G20 presidency.India's G20 presidency will continue till November 30.

(With inputs from PTI, ANI)

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Karnataka's Udupi on May 4 to attend a conference of Bharatiya Janata Party workers, sources in the party told PTI. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath is also expected to accompany the prime minister. According to report, a huge function will be arranged in the city for PM Modi's visit.



The prime minister's visit to Udupi, a coastal Karnataka district, assumes significance ahead of the polls. The Udupi Chikmagluru Lok Sabha seat has eight assembly seats, four in Udupi and five in Chikmagluru. In the 2018 Assembly elections, the BJP had won seven out of eight seats.



Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address at least 15-20 rallies ahead of the elections. "We are hoping that PM Modi holds between 15-20 rallies in Karnataka ahead of May 10 polling," a BJP leader told ANI.



The BJP is banking on Yogi Adityanath in a bid to consolidate the Hindu vote bank in the coastal district. In the 2018 assembly elections, Adityanath had campaigned in the southern state. After leading the BJP to a second straight win in Uttar Pradesh last year, he is among the star campaigners of the saffron party in state elections.



Karnataka goes to polls in a single phase election on May 10. The counting of votes will take place on May 13.

Prime minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath.(Virendra Singh Gosain/HT File Photo)
New Delhi: In Karnataka, it is believed that the party that wins Ron assembly constituency in Bombay-Karnataka region in the northern parts of the state, rules the state. Ron has the distinction of being the only constituency in the state that has elected a ruling party MLA since 1957,according to election data. PREMIUM An analysis of the swing, or flip seats shows that the BJP was able to win the most of these seats in Lingayat dominated regions and coastal Karnataka while the JD (S) won most of them in southern Karnataka. (PTI)

Ron is also among the 84 assembly constituencies, where the winning party has changed every election since 2008 as per election data maintained by Bengaluru based Azim Premji University.

Also Read | '150+' vs 'no chance... won't cross 79': BJP, Cong trade jabs before K'taka poll

These seats are a huge chunk of the total (224) assembly seats in the state and is also a reason for change in government every five years in Karnataka. So many swing seats also indicates the inclination of the people to punish the incumbent heavily, said A Narayana, a professor of public policy and governance at the Azim Premji University.

In 2018, the data shows that the BJP won 54 of these seats enabling the party to win 104 constituencies and emerge the largest party in the assembly. However, the Congress, which won 19 of these seats, formed the government with the Janata Dal (Secular), which won eight of these. The Congress won 78 seats overall and the JD (S) 37.

An analysis of the swing, or flip seats shows that the BJP was able to win the most of these seats in Lingayat dominated regions and coastal Karnataka while the JD (S) won most of them in southern Karnataka.

Also Read | BJP releases third list of 10 candidates for Karnataka polls

The BJP won all 19 of these seats in the Bombay-Karnataka region, considered a Lingayat stronghold, a reason for the ruling party relying heavily on the Lingayat strong man, B S Yediyurappa, to deliver again in 2023. Yediyurappa is not contesting and has announced that he will campaign across the state for the party.

The Bombay-Karnataka region has highest number of seats (50) for any region in the state. Of these 50, in 2018, the BJP won 30, Congress, 17 and JD (S) 2. One reason for this was the BJP declaring Yediyurappa its chief ministerial candidate, and its promise to increase reservation for the community, which the party has delivered just before 2023 assembly polls in March 2023.

Most of the flip seats, 20, are in Central Karnataka, where Lingayats and another dominant community, Vokkaligas comprise the bulk of the electorate. The BJP was able to win 16 of these flip seats , and 21 of the total 37 assembly seats in the region. In all, the Congress won 13 seats and JD (S) 2.

Also Read | Its raining retirements & resignations in Karnataka as BJP leaders miffed over poll list

Even though considered a BJP bastion, coastal Karnataka has maximum number of flip seats as percentage of the total seats for any region. Ten of the 19 seats in the region have seen a different party winning every five years since 2008, the data shows.

In 2018, the BJP won 16 and Congress 3 of these. The BJP won all flip seats. About 20% of the population in coastal Karnataka is Muslims followed by communities such as Billavas, Bunts and Mogaveeras. Of the 16 MLAs, the BJP has dropped two incumbents including Udupi MLA, Raghupati Bhat. The BJP won all five seats in Udupi district in 2018.

In the Hyderabad-Karnataka region, the BJP won 21 of the 40 assembly seats, including 12 swing seats, in 2018. The Congress won 15 and the JD (S) five. The region is one of the most backward parts of the state.

The Southern and Bengaluru regions have 14 and 2 flip seats respectively, least in proportion to the total seats in these regions, 46 and 32.

In the Southern region, also known as Old Mysuru and dominated by Vokkaligas, the JD (S) won 26 seats followed by the Congress (11 ) and the BJP (9). Of the 14 flip seats, the BJP won 4, the Congress 3 and the JD(S), 7. This election, the BJP has nominated 41 candidates from the dominant Vokkaliga community in the region.

In Bengaluru, the BJP won 17, the Congress 11 and JD (S) 4.

Of the total 224 assembly constituencies in the state, data shows that are only 60 assembly constituencies where the same party has won since 2008, according to the data. Of these, 27 are with the Congress, 23 with the BJP and 10 with the JD (S).

Narayana said the data clearly shows that swing seats decides which party will form the government in Karnataka. Many of the seats are in Lingayat and coastal belts and so many swing seats is also a reason for no party getting re-elected after every five years.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him for a comprehensive up-to-date caste census, the same day Rahul Gandhi dared the top BJP leader to release the 2011 caste-based census data in the public domain. In the letter, Kharge said the UPA government has conducted a Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) during 2011-12 but the data could not be published even though Congress and other MPs demanded its release after your government came to power in May 2014. (Also Read | Rahul Gandhi returns to Kolar, takes on Modi amid Hindenburg row) Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge with party leader Rahul Gandhi during a public meeting ahead of Assembly polls, in Kolar, Karnataka, Sunday, April 16, 2023.(PTI)

In the absence of an updated Caste Census, I am afraid a reliable data base so very essential for meaningful social justice and empowerment programmes, particularly for OBCs, is incomplete. This Census is the responsibility of the Union Government, the veteran Congress leader said.

I would also like to point out that the regular decennial Census was to be carried out in 2021 but it has not yet been conducted. We demand that it be done immediately and that a comprehensive Caste Census be made its integral part, he added.

Addressing an election rally in Karnataka's Kolar, Rahul Gandhi claimed there are only 7 per cent other backward castes, Dalits and tribals as secretaries in the central government and demanded the 50 per cent cap on reservation be removed.

"UPA in 2011 did the caste-based census. It has the data of all the castes. Mr Prime Minister, you talk of OBCs. Make that data public. Let the nation know how many OBCs, Dalits and tribals are there in the country," Gandhi said at the Congress' 'Jai Bharat' election rally in Kolar in the run-up to the May 10 Karnataka polls.

"Please release the caste census data so that the nation knows how much is the population of OBCs, Dalits and tribals. If you don't do this, then it is an insult to the OBCs. Also, remove the cap of 50 per cent on reservations," Gandhi said.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Encounters have become normal for people in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday alleged as she doubled down her attack against the Yogi Adityanath government after gangster-turned politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were shot dead at point-blank range on Saturday. She urged the people in UP to stage protests against these encounters. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee addresses a press conference at Nabanna, in Howrah, Monday, April 17, 2023. (PTI)

CM Banerjee further attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government and alleged that they send federal agencies if anything happens in West Bengal.

Encounters have become a normal thing for the people of Uttar Pradesh. People of UP should protest against these encounters. If anything happens in West Bengal, they (BJP) send central agencies. BJP is double enginedouble standard, the chief minister said addressing a press conference at party headquarters.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson on Sunday slammed the BJP government in UP over the law and order situation in the state. She raised concern over the total collapse of the law and order in the state.

I am shocked by the brazen anarchy and total collapse of law & order in Uttar Pradesh. It is shameful that perpetrators are now taking the law in their own hands, unfazed by the police and media presence. Such unlawful acts have no place in our constitutional democracy, she had tweeted.

Atiq Ahmad and Ashraf were shot dead at point-blank range by three men in Prayagraj on Saturday night, days after the gangster-turned-politician's son was killed in an alleged encounter. Both of them were killed in full view of camera crews when they were being taken for a medical examination as a mandatory legal requirement.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The ministry of home affairs (MHA) is keeping an eye on law and order-related developments in Uttar Pradesh after the murders of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf by three assailants on Saturday, people familiar with the development said on Monday. Police personnel deployed outside the Kasari Masari office of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad. (PTI)

Prohibitory orders under section 144 of the criminal procedure code (CrPC) continue to be imposed in all 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh since Saturday while police are maintaining extra vigil in sensitive areas and checking vehicles in various places.

Section 144 empowers an executive magistrate to issue orders for disallowing assembly of five or more persons and apprehend people in case of nuisance or if danger is anticipated.

The officials cited above said the ministry was in touch with the state government and police officials on the law-and-order situation.

No incidents of any unrest have been reported so far, said an officer, who asked not to be named.

The MHA has not sought any specific report from the state government on the murders of Atiq Ahmad and his brother on Saturday, but a second officer cited above said a regular incident report on any crime is normally shared by every state with the ministry.

Former member of Parliament (MP) Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were killed in full view of TV camera crews around 10pm on Saturday by three assailants identified as Sunny Singh, Lavlesh Tiwari and Arun Maurya.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has unearthed 100 benami (not registered in his name) properties of the gangster-turned-politician acquired between 2012 and 2017 by wielding muscle power, agency officials said.

The financial crimes probe agency had carried out a two-day raid on Wednesday and Thursday on Atiq Ahmad and his associates as part of a money laundering probe.

Apart from benami properties, the ED seized cash totalling 84.68 lakh, gold bars worth 60 lakh, gold and diamond jewellery worth 2.8 crore and various electronic devices containing crucial details.

The ED was probing the gangster and his associates under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The search action concluded on Thursday, during which both residential and agricultural properties directly in the name of Atiq Ahmad were seized from the residence of an advocate, said an ED officer, who asked not to be named.

Overall, this officer said, they have unearthed over 100 benami properties of Atiq Ahmad, which had been acquired mainly from FY2012-13 to FY2016-17.

These properties are situated in Prayagraj, Lucknow and other places and acquired in the names of Atiqs associates and other persons, he said.

The ED said it is keeping names of buyers and sellers secret due to security concerns.

Other than benami properties, the ED also found documents pertaining to nearly 200 bank accounts and 50 shell entities used for laundering of ill-gotten money generated out of extortion, land grabbing and other criminal activities, apart from cash transactions worth more than 50 crore.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge with party leader Rahul Gandhi during a public meeting ahead of Assembly polls, in Kolar, Karnataka, Sunday.(PTI)

Kharge's letter to Modi as Rahul Gandhi dares on caste census: I am afraid

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him for a comprehensive up-to-date caste census, the same day Rahul Gandhi dared the top BJP leader to releaseread more.

Who will investigate?: Uddhav Thackeray after 11 die of heatstroke at state event

Former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, his son Aditya Thackeray and NCP leader Ajit Pawar visited the MGM Kamothe Hospital in Navi Mumbai during the wee hours of Monday to take stock of the situationread more.

Xi Jinping projects dominance in Indian Ocean, names 19 sea bed features

Signalling expansionist intentions and its rise on the global stage, China delivered a double whammy to India on April Fools Day and the next by directly meddling into Indias sovereignty and its area of influenceread more.

Arjun, today you have: Sachin Tendulkars priceless message for son after his IPL debut in MIs win; Sara emotional

In 2021, Arjun Tendulkar was picked by Mumbai Indians in the IPL auction for a base price of INR 20 lakh. A year later, at the mega auction before the 2022 season, Arjun saw interest from Gujarat Titans, but MIread more.

Priyanka Chopra poses with sis-in-law Sophie Turner after Jonas Brothers concert, both look divine

Priyanka Chopra is in London for her Citadel promotions and it coincides with her husband Nick Jonas' UK tour with his brothers as well. The Jonas Brothers are performing in London and their wives have joinedread more.

Madhuri Dixit to Kajol, who wore what at Hall of Fame awards

The Hello Hall of Fame Awards was a star-studded affair last night in Mumbai. The A-listers of the film fraternity dropped by at the awards ceremony and braced the red carpet. The looks for the red carpet surelyread more.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Monday hit out at the Uttar Pradesh government over the killing of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf in Prayagraj. Kumar said that the UP govt should think about the law and order in the state. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar (PTI Photo)

Police should have taken care of their security. The Court is there to provide justice, killing the criminals is never a solution, Nitish Kumar told the media.

Atiq and Ashraf were shot dead at nearly point-blank range in full media glare by three men posing as journalists in Prayagraj on Saturday night while they were being taken for a medical examination. The three killers - identified as Sunny Singh, Lavlesh Tiwari, and Arun Maurya - who immediately surrendered and were arrested, have been sent to a 14-day judicial custody by the Prayagraj magistrate court.

The Ahmad brothers were buried at Kasari Masari graveyard on the outskirts of Chakia locality on Sunday night - the same place where Atiq's son Asad was buried after he was killed in an encounter in UP's Jhansi.

A day after the shooting, the UP government formed a three-member judicial committee to probe the incident. The commission will be headed by Allahabad high court judge (retired) Arvind Kumar Tripathi, and will include two other members - retired judge Brijesh Kumar Soni and former DGP Subesh Kumar Singh.

Meanwhile, on Monday, Prayagraj's Commissioner of Police Ramit Sharma formed a three-member special investigation team (SIT) - which will be headed by Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Satish Chandra.
New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken over the probe into the violent demonstration by pro-Khalistan protesters outside the Indian high commission in London last month and is likely to send a team there very soon to investigate a larger conspiracy, people familiar with the development said on Monday. On March 19, the national flag at the Indian high commission in London was pulled down during a protest by pro-Khalistan activists. (PTI)

Also Read: India asks UK to monitor pro-Khalistan elements operating from its soil

On March 19, the national flag at the Indian high commission in London was pulled down during a protest by pro-Khalistan activists. Videos of the incident showed several protesters carrying the yellow and black Khalistan flag and calling for radical Sikh preacher and Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal Singh to be freed. The videos showed one of the protesters clambering on to a balcony and pulling down the Indian flag from a pole at the front of the high commission to cheers from the other men. British policemen arrived on the scene and prevented the protestors from approaching an entrance of the Indian high commission. The protesters shouted slogans and abuse at Indian officials within, the videos showed.

The Delhi Police, which registered a case under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), are currently investigation the case. However, after a meeting with UK representatives last week, the ministry of home affairs (MHA) decided to hand over the probe to the federal anti-terror probe agency, those aware of the matter said.

Also Read: 'Denied': Govt sources on UK trade talks 'halted' over Khalistani row - Report

The Centre had amended the NIA act in August 2019, empowering the agency to investigate terror activities against Indians and Indian interests abroad apart from cyber-crimes and human trafficking.

Union home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla and other top officials in Indias security apparatus last Wednesday conveyed their concerns on the misuse of the UKs asylum status by pro-Khalistan elements to carry out terrorist activities in India and raised the issue of attack on Indian embassy during the fifth India-UK Home Affairs Dialogue (HAD) in Delhi. The dialogue was attended by Permanent Secretary, Home Office, Sir Matthew Rycroft from the UK side.

The ministry of external affairs (MEA) had said last month - We expect host governments will take action to identify and prosecute all those involved and take all necessary measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents. We would hope host governments provide full and adequate protection to our missions as well as to the personnel working there.
After securing a minimum credible nuclear deterrent with a proven nuclear triad, the Narendra Modi government is moving towards a robust conventional warhead missile deterrent to ward off Communist Party of China (CPC) military expansionist plans against India. Pralay conventionally armed short range ballistic missile

Given Indias vulnerability on the Siliguri corridor and the largely ceremonial military force of Bhutan, the Indian national security planners have decided to secure North-East states with conventionally armed short-range ballistic missiles like Pralay with a max range of 500 kilometres and conventionally armed subsonic cruise missile Nirbhay with a max range of 1500 kilometres. India also has other conventionally armed delivery platforms.

The development trials of both Pralay and Nirbhay have been completed to the satisfaction of missile developer DRDO and user trials are expected soon with the Defence Ministry already placing orders on the Pralay missile. The conventional deterrent is backed by the nuclear arsenal of India with the proven capability of a second strike and survival of the deterrent in wake of the first strike. India has a no-first-use policy on nuclear weapons with the Agni series of nuclear missiles, air delivery platforms and submarine-launched nuclear ballistic missiles.

Nirbhay sub-sonic cruise missile

Given the deployment of PLAs rocket regiments along the 3488 km Line of Actual Control (LAC), India will have to ward off Chinese aggression on the Siliguri corridor and Arunachal Pradesh with counter-weapons. The PLA has already deployed 70 km range HQ-16 surface-to-air missiles in the Yatong area across the Siliguri corridor to threaten Indian airspace in the worst-case scenario. It is in this context that Indian national security planners have countered the Chinese deployment in both the Siliguri corridor and the Northeast states with missile deployment and hardened shelters for IAFs fighters and ammunition depots.

The fact is that China today is overtly deploying its nuclear deterrent with new missile silos in Hami in Hotan province, Yumen in Gansu province and Hanggin Banner in Inner Mongolia to ward off any US military aggression towards the Middle Kingdom. According to national security planners, the Hami nuclear missiles in the Taklamakan desert in East Turkestan has no less than 230 missile silos in the open to tell the world about robust Chinese nuclear missile capability. Its nuclear arsenal is fronted by conventionally armed ballistic and cruise missiles to take on the adversary. While the PLA develops new sites, the Chinese aggression towards Taiwan is real and also a call for submission to ASEAN countries including client states of Cambodia and Laos. At present, only the Philippines has decided to stand up to the CPC with most ASEAN countries leaning towards China due to mounting BRI debt.

To further complicate matters for India, China is supplying 039 class diesel attack submarines and armed drones to client state Pakistan with the objective of making Indias western front vulnerable. It is for this reason that the Indian Navy is expected to give the contract of three more Scorpene class submarines to Mazagon Dockyards Limited (MDL) and strengthen conventionally armed rocket and missile forces on the western border.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The murders of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf Ahmad in Uttar Pradeshs Prayagraj have become the latest point of contention between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party government headed by Yogi Adityanath and the opposition parties over 'the state of law and order' in UP. Bihar's deputy chief minister, Tejashwi Yadav, now waded into the controversy on Monday. Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav.(HT photo)

Yadav maintained that eliminating crime must be done lawfully and claimed that Atiqs funeral procession actually signified the funeral procession of law in the state. "I have no sympathies for crime or criminals. There are laws & Constitution to eliminate crime, Yadav said while speaking to the reporters.

He added that looking at past events, even the assassins of a PM were made to undergo trial and were punished. What happened in Uttar Pradesh was not the funeral procession of Atiq Ahmed but that of law. UP tops in terms of custodial deaths. This has been done for cheap publicity. Everyone knows the kind of governance that exists in UP...This seemed scripted, the Rashtriya Janata Dal leader said.

Following the incident, the opposition has been charging the BJP, which is also in power at the Centre, with having created "jungle raj" and "mafia raj" in Uttar Pradesh lead by chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

The brothers were shot dead live on camera amid a media interaction while they were being escorted by the UP police for a medical checkup in Prayagraj late Saturday. Three men posing as journalists, opened fire from close range, killing both Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf on the spot.

As the Yogi government continues to face backlash over the disturbing incident, it has set up a three-member judicial enquiry committee to probe the murders and submit a report in two months. The three killers, who were nabbed on spot by the police, were identified and sent to 14-day judicial custody on Sunday.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was considered one of India's top scholars in the fields of comparative religion and philosophy. Born in Thiruttani in the erstwhile Madras Presidency, he became the country's second president in 1962, succeeding Rajendra Prasad and was also the first to hold the post of the vice president. On his death anniversary on Monday, tributes poured in from across the nation to honour the notable scholar, who was born on September 5, 1888, which is nationally observed as Teachers Day in India. Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, former President of India, felicitating PL Vaidya, on conclusion of the project in 1966. (HT/BORI PHOTO)

Leaders including Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, his Madhya Pradesh counterpart Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, Union minister Kailash Choudhary, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath paid tributes to the former president.

Also Read: Here are some facts about Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

Kejriwal remembered Radhakrishnans contribution to the field of education and tweeted, Humble tribute to the great educationist and former President of the country, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan on his death anniversary. He is still remembered as an ideal teacher for his contribution in the field of education.

While MP CM Chouhan tweeted Only through education can the human mind be utilized - Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. "Tributes to the great teacher, Bharat Ratna, former President Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan ji on his death anniversary. Your energetic thoughts will always educate and inspire the youth to build a strong India.

Congress CMs Baghel and Ashok Gehlot also echoed similar sentiments, paying tribute to the phenomenal leader and remembered his incomparable contribution to nation building.

"Tributes to Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, former President of India, on his death anniversary. Dr. Radhakrishnan considered education as a mission. He carried the dedication and commitment towards education in his life as an ideal teacher. His values of knowledge will always inspire future generations.

Honoured with Bharat Ratna in 1954, Radhakrishnan was the first to be given Sahitya Akademi fellowship, the highest honour granted by the Sahitya Akademi to a writer. Married at the age of 16, he passed away on April 17, 1975 at the age of 86. Among his many achievements, the former president is credited for having made Hinduism more readily accessible to the Western audience.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday said he understands the tricks used by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speeches, days after the top BJP leader addressed him as his friend while taking a veiled swipe at the infighting in state Congress. Addressing a programme at the Rajasthan College in Jaipur, the senior Congress leader said the prime minister would begin his speech with the words "my friend Ashok Gehlot" and then criticise his government in a harsh manner. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.(PTI)

Referring to Modi's speech delivered virtually at the launch of Rajasthan's first Vande Bharat train on April 12, Gehlot said, "The prime minister had recently joined a VC (video-conference) from Delhi.... He started his speech saying 'my friend Ashok Gehlot'. And they will do whatever they want with my government (meri sarkar ki aisi ki taisi karenge). This is cleverness."

"I understand all these tricksI too have been doing politics for a long time," he said.

Prime Minister Modi last Wednesday called Gehlot a "friend" and thanked him for attending the launch of a Vande Bharat Express even though he is going through several crises, in what was seen as a veiled jibe at Rajasthan chief minister's tussle with his former deputy Sachin Pilot.

Gehlot is facing a fresh challenge from Pilot, who sat on a day-long fast in Jaipur on Tuesday against his own party's government for "inaction" in cases of alleged corruption under the previous Vasundhara Raje-led BJP government.

"I express my special gratitude to Gehlot ji. During these days of political struggle when he is going through several crises, he took out the time for development work and participated in a railway programme. I welcome him," Modi said.

Gehlot later issued a statement attacking Modi over his remarks targeting the previous governments. He said the prime minister's comments were made with an eye on the coming assembly and general elections and added that it was not fair to say the development of railways happened only after 2014.

"Today, your speech was given completely keeping in view the 2023-24 assembly and Lok Sabha elections and it was in the form of the election agenda of the Bharatiya Janata Party. I believe such comments will not be acceptable to the people of the state and the country," the Rajasthan chief minister said.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on Monday once again questioned the governor's constitutional power to withhold assent for bills cleared in the state's assembly. He was referring to the state's amended reservation bill that was passed in the Chhattisgarh assembly last year which is since waiting for the governor's assent. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel(PTI)

CM Baghel urged governor Biswabhusan Harichandan to either give his assent or return the bill to the assembly. Our reservation bill has been put on hold. This is affecting the beneficiaries. I once again urge the governor to either send it back to the assembly or grant his assent to it, the chief minister said talking to reporters.

His remarks on reservation bill came after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi dared the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government to release the 2011 caste-based census in the public domain and remove the 50% cap on reservation. Similarly, party president Mallikarjun Kharge urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to conduct a comprehensive and updated caste census.

CM Baghel and the governor's House have been at loggerheads since last year over pending assent to the bill. The reservation bill was passed when Harichandan's predecessor Anusuiya Uikey was in the office. He also cited a resolution that was passed in the Tamil Nadu assembly urging the Centre and President Droupadi Murmu to issue appropriate instructions against governor RN Ravi on giving assents to bills within specific period.

We don't want to pass such resolution therefore we appeal the governor to give his assent to the bill and hand it over to us, CM Baghel added.

The reservation bill was passed on December 3, 2022, in the assembly which increased reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBC) to 27% from the existing 14%, and for the Scheduled Caste (SC) community to 13% from 12% in public employment and admissions. The 32% reservation for the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category was kept unchanged. Besides, a 4% reservation provision was also provided to the Economic Weaker Section (EWS), taking the total extent of the reservation to 76%.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Uttar Pradesh police have shifted their focus to tracing slain gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmeds absconding wife Shaista Parveen, and are surprised she did not either surrender or turn up for the burials of her son or those of her husband and brother-in-law. HT Image

Parveen has been at large since the February 24 murders of Umesh Pal and his two police guards in Uttar Pradeshs Prayagraj district , a case in which she is an accused.

Her third son Asad was killed in an encounter with the Special Task Force of UP Police in the states Jhansi district on April 13 while her husband Atiq Ahmed and brother-in-law Khalid Azeem aka Ashraf were shot dead by three assailants while in police custody in Prayagraj on April 15.

Multiple teams have been constituted for tracing and arresting Shaista Parveen. She has been named as one of the prime accused in the Umesh Pal murder case and carries a cash reward of 50,000, a senior police official said.

The reason we wish to question her is not just to get more details of Umesh Pal murder but also the manner in which weapons were procured and payments made to assailants. With Atiq in jail since 2017, she was his key connection to the outside world and can reveal details of individuals who helped him run his illegal empire, said another senior policemen. Neither policeman wished to be identified.

Parveen, 51, has four criminal cases registered against her at Colonelganj and Dhoomanganj police stations of Prayagraj.

The first three cases filed at Colonelganj police station date back to 2009 and were registered under different sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security or will), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using forged document) besides section 30 (contravention of licence or rule) of the Arms Act.

In three of these cases charge sheets have been filed by the police at the court of special chief judicial magistrate, Prayagraj . The fourth case registered on February 24, 2023 at Dhoomanganj police station relates to the murders of lawyer Umesh Pal, a prime witness in the 2005 BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case, and his two police guards.

Atiq Ahmed is believed to be behind Raju Pals murder.

Police investigation has revealed that after Atiq and Ashraf were arrested and sent to jail, Shaista was handling the illegal real estate business of Atiq, said the second police officer. During his questioning, Atiq Ahmed is believed to have revealed names of at least a dozen of his associates who were aiding him in running his real estate business on his behalf especially on the outskirts of Prayagraj and Kaushambi districts.

On receiving instructions, Atiqs associates used to provide the profit to Shaista Parveen. After Atiq and Ashrafs deaths, only Shaista has the knowledge about all the white collared associates of Atiq who were making hefty amounts of profits through illegal real estate business, the second officer said.

Her arrest may provide clues regarding Atiqs associates who were making profits in his name. Shaista may also throw light on those from whom Atiq had life threats, the officer said.

Meanwhile, Atiq Ahmeds lawyer Vijay Mishra said, Shaista is not in contact with me, nor has she filed any surrender application in the court through me.

A resident of Damupur village of Prayagraj, Parveen is the eldest among four sisters and two brothers. Her father Harun Ahmad is a retired police constable. She was married to Atiq Ahmed in 1996.
The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to RTI (Right To Information) activist-turned Trinamool Congress (TMC) spokesperson Saket Gokhale in an alleged misappropriation of funds case registered against him at Ahmedabad. The case pertains to the alleged misuse of money he had collected through crowdfunding during the Covid pandemic. (File image)

Taking into consideration that the charge sheet has already been filed, the applicant is directed to be released on bail, said a bench of justices BR Gavai and Vikram Nath.

Gokhale was arrested by the Gujarat police on December 29 from Delhi and had approached the top court against the rejection of his bail by the Gujarat high court in February.

The case pertains to the alleged misuse of money he had collected through crowdfunding during the Covid pandemic where he had allegedly collected money from over 1,700 persons through a crowdfunding platform Our Democracy which was supposed to be used for legal aid, journalism and other public purposes.

Also Read:Trinamool leader Saket Gokhale denied bail in crowdfunding misuse case

However, police found out that the money was spent allegedly spent for his personal needs.

Additional solicitor general (ASG) SV Raju representing state, opposed bail claiming that the allegations were serious.

The bench remarked, He (Gokhale) is known for his right to information (RTI) campaigns. Why are you keeping him behind bars?

Senior advocate Siddharth Agarwal appearing for Gokhale said the latter has been behind bars for 109 days.

In March, the top court had issued a notice to Gujarat police on Gokhales plea for bail.

A complaint was filed against him by a woman who claimed to have contributed 500 to the crowdfunding initiative launched by the TMC spokesperson.

She accused Gokhale of cheating, criminal breach of trust and forgery  all which are punishable offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

He is also facing a probe by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over alleged money laundering charges.

The HC while denying bail to Gokhale examined his bank accounts and concluded that whether some transactions were done for his personal use is a question of fact to be decided based on evidence during trial and this aspect cannot be answered at the stage of investigation. The high court, therefore, had denied bail and asked him to cooperate with the probe.

During that time, the charge sheet was not filed.
A five-judge Supreme Court bench will begin hearing a batch of petitions regarding the legalisation of same-sex marriages in India from Tuesday. This comes after at least 15 petitions on the matter were referred to a larger bench for an authoritative decision last month by a CJI-led bench, who called it a "very seminal issue. Through the pleas, the petitioners are seeking wider constitutional entitlements based on the right to life and personal liberty, among other rights.(Unsplash)

The bench, consisting of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and justices S K Kaul, S Ravindra Bhat, PS Narasimha, and Hima Kohli will commence the hearing, two days after the Centre termed the petitions as merely reflecting urban elitist views and submitted a fresh application Sunday, questioning their maintainability.

The debate:

Following the decriminalisation of Section 377 of the IPC in 2018 by the Supreme Court, the act which criminalised consensual sex done against the order of nature, which it considered sexual acts between individuals of the same gender, there has been a greater demand for legalising same-sex marriages in a bid to reduce the taboo and discrimination against the LGBTQIA+ community as well as a long term effort to normalise homosexuality within the society.

The arguments in favour of legalising same-sex marriages:

The Delhi Commission For Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) supported the petition saying that same-sex family units are normal and that the government should intervene in taking steps to encourage such family units. Multiple studies have argued that same-sex couples can be good parentsthere are over 50 countries that allow same-sex couples to legally adopt children, the child rights body argued.

Through the pleas, the petitioners are seeking wider constitutional entitlements based on the right to life and personal liberty, the right to dignity, and other related rights.

Last week, the Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS) came in support of the same-sex family units arguing it would promote their inclusion in society. The medical bodys stance that homosexuality is not an illness - had played a key role in the 2018 judgment that decriminalised homosexuality.

...they are variants of normal sexuality, not deviant, and certainly not an illness the IPS said. LGBTQI+ spectrum should enjoy all civil rights like education, employment, housing, income, government or military service, access to health care, property rights, marriage, adoption and survivorship benefits to name a few.any form of discrimination on these rights leads to mental health issues, it added.

On the contention that children of same-sex couples may face stigma, the IPS said that while it is imperative that LGBTQI+ couples bring up their children in a gender-neutral environment, the greater onus lies on the family, community, school and society to be sensitised to protect any child and ensure its development.

The arguments against legalising same-sex marriages:

Meanwhile, the central government has repeatedly opposed the idea, contending it will cause a complete havoc with the equilibrium of personal laws and widely recognised societal values and termed it as merely reflecting urban elitist views. Centre argued the petitioners cannot claim same-sex marriages as a fundamental right and claimed "Marriage, as an institution in law, has many statutory and other consequences under various legislative enactments. Therefore, any formal recognition of such a human relationship cannot be regarded as just a privacy issue between two adults.

Organisations like the Jamiat Ulama-i Hind and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have opposed the validity of same-sex marriage, claiming its a threat to thefamily ecosystem. ...the aim of marriage among Hindus is not merely physical pleasure or procreation but spiritual advancement. It is one of the 16 'sanskars' in Hindus, news agency PTI reported quoting the Jamiat. While RSS leader Dattatreya Hosabale agreeing with the Centre said, marriage is not a contract but an institution, not an instrument for enjoyment, and people of same sex cannot marry for their personal interests." He added that "individuals from different genders marry for the welfare of society not fulfilment of personal or physical sexual enjoyment."

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Supreme Court on Monday stayed a Calcutta high court order asking the CBI and ED to also question Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee in connection with the ongoing probe into the alleged school recruitment scam in West Bengal. The next hearing is on April 24. TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.(PTI file)

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwalam also stayed the Calcutta high court's April 13 order directing the West Bengal Police not to lodge any FIR against CBI and Enforcement Directorate officers probing the school jobs-for-bribes scam.

The petition was in the mentioning list. Dr AM Singhvi has adverted to the contents of the order and the directions passed by which the ED and CBI have been directed to file a report with respect to a probe in connection with a public speech by Abhishek Banerjee. List on April 24, 2023. Till the next date of listing, there shall be stay on all action against petitioner in relation to the directions passed in impugned order, the apex court ordered.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The sole eyewitness in the sensational killings of four Indian army jawans at Bathinda Military Station has been held as a suspect, police said on Monday. Bathinda senior superintendent of police Gulneet Khurana confirmed that Desai Mohan, who had claimed to have spotted two masked men in white kurta-pyjamas near the crime scene, has turned accused in the case. Police will share further details around noon. Soldiers stand guard near the Bathinda Military Station after the firing incident on Wednesday,April 12,2023. (HT File Photo)(HT_PRINT)

Desai Mohan was among four jawans summoned for questioning by the Bathinda police on Sunday. He had informed his superiors that two masked individuals wearing white kurta-pyjamas were fleeing the crime scene.

HT had first reported that police suspected Mohan's version.

Investigators said CCTV footage of the campus scanned has not indicated any attempt of trespass. Police officials said they are yet to take a conclusive line of the probe as the matter is being investigated from all angles.

Bathinda Military Base is a peace posting station where troops stay with their families. Besides the suspicion of professional reasons behind the killings, we are working to find any link to the personal lives that led to the incident, the SSP had said.

Four soldiers  Sagar Banne, Kamlesh R, Santosh Nagaral, and Yogeshkumar J  were killed as they slept in their rooms behind the officers mess.

The additional director general of police (ADGP), Bathinda range, SPS Parmar, had earlier said it seemed to be a case of target killing as the assailants did not touch anyone else, and no damage was done to any property.
The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Varanasi district collector to convene a meeting on Tuesday for working out a congenial arrangement on the Gyanvapi mosque management committees plea for arrangement for wuzu (ablutions) during Ramzan prayers near the section in the mosque complex where a Shivling was said to have been found during a survey last year. The bench said that all the parties should sit together and come up with a proper working arrangement, and the court could then pass an order by consensus of all the parties (PTI)

A bench led by Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud said that the district collector will convene a meeting with representatives of the mosque management committee and other stakeholders on Tuesday.

The bench, which also comprised justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala, said the matter will be taken up again on Friday when appropriate directions on arranegements for wuzu will be passed.

Varanasi district magistrate S Rajalingam is likely to convene a meeting on Tuesday with members of the Gyanvapi mosque management committee and Hindu litigants to find an amicable solution of the issue.The holy-month of Ramadan is likely to end on Friday (April 21) and Eid is likely to be celebrated next day depending on sighting on the moon.

Senior counsel Huzefa Ahmadi, representing the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee that manages the Gyanvapi mosque, cited heavy rush during Ramzan as he requested for further arrangements for performing wuzu.

Ahmadi, assisted by advocate Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi, said that even a mobile washroom and toilet would serve the purpose. The lawyer pointed out that the previous court orders have already asked the district administration to ensure proper arrangements for wuzu and he was only seeking suitable implementation of these directives in view of Ramzan.

Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, said the representatives of the mosque management committee could have a meeting with the district collector so that proper arrangements could be made. The S-G added that the place of ablution will have to be suitably determined in view of the religious sensibilities of the other community (Hindus) involved too.

To this, the bench said that all the parties should sit together and come up with a proper working arrangement, and the court could then pass an order by consensus of all the parties.

The top court is currently seized of a petition filed by the mosque committee in May, opposing the suit of five Hindu women who demanded an unhindered right to worship Maa Shringar Gauri Sthal, a shrine for goddess Parvati purportedly located behind the western wall of the mosque complex.

The committee claims the suit is barred by the provisions of the 1991 Act, which locks the position or religious identity of any place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947. The committee had appealed against the April 2022 order of the Allahabad high court allowing the survey.

By an order in May 2022, the top court protected the area where the Shivling was said to have been found after a Varanasi civil court allowed a videographic survey of the mosque complex adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple. The Hindu petitioners claimed the Shivling was found close to the wuzukhana, a small reservoir used by Muslim worshippers to perform ritual ablutions before offering namaz.

At the same time, the top court in last May allowed offering of namaz inside the mosque complex and directed the local administration to ensure proper arrangements for wuzu.

By its May 2022 order, the Supreme Court also transferred the suit filed by the Hindu women from the Varanasi civil judge to the district judge for deciding the mosque committees objections against the inquiry. It asked the district judge to first decide on the maintainability of the suit. Ascertainment of the religious character of a place may not be barred by the Places of Worship Act, 1991, the court observed on that day, as it refrained from interfering with the Gyanvapi mosque survey.

The Varanasi district judge rejected the mosque committees objections to maintainability on September 12, 2022, and decided to proceed with the suit. The committee has challenged this order before the Allahabad high court, which is yet to rule on the appeal.
The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Varanasi district collector to convene a meeting on Tuesday for working out a congenial arrangement on the Gyanvapi mosque management committees plea for arrangement for wuzu (ablution) during Ramzan prayers near the section in the mosque complex where a Shivling was stated to have been found during a survey last year. The Supreme Court said the district collector will convene a meeting with the representatives of the mosque management committee and other stakeholders on Tuesday. (File Photo)

A bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud said that the district collector will convene a meeting with the representatives of the mosque management committee and other stakeholders on Tuesday.

The bench, which also comprised justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala, said that the matter will be taken up again on Friday when appropriate directions on arrangement for wuzu will be passed.

Senior counsel Huzefa Ahmadi, representing the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee that manages the Gyanvapi mosque, cited heavy rush during Ramzan as he requested for further arrangements for performing wuzu.

Ahmadi, assisted by advocate Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi, said that even a mobile washroom and toilet would serve the purpose. The lawyer pointed out that the previous court orders have already asked the district administration to ensure proper arrangements for wuzu and he was only seeking suitable implementation of these directives in view of Ramzan.

Solicitor general (SG) Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, said that the representatives of the mosque management committee could have a meeting with the district collector so that proper arrangement could be made. The SG added that the place of ablution will have to be suitably determined in view of the religious sensibilities of the other community (Hindus) involved too.

To this, the bench said that all the parties should sit together and come up with a proper working arrangement, and the court could then pass an order by consensus of all the parties.

The top court is currently seized of a petition filed by the mosque committee in May, opposing the suit of five Hindu women who demanded an unhindered right to worship Maa Shringar Gauri Sthal, a shrine for goddess Parvati allegedly located behind the western wall of the mosque complex.

The committee claims the suit is barred by the provisions of the 1991 Act, which locks the position or religious identity of any place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947. The committee had appealed against the April 2022 order of the Allahabad high court allowing the survey.

By an order in May 2022, the top court protected the area where the Shivling was said to have been found after a Varanasi civil court allowed a videographic survey of the mosque complex adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple. The Hindu petitioners claimed the Shivling was found close to the wuzukhana, a small reservoir used by Muslim worshippers to perform ritual ablutions before offering namaz.

At the same time, the top court in last May allowed offering of namaz inside the mosque complex and directed the local administration to ensure proper arrangements for wuzu.

By its May 2022 order, the Supreme Court also transferred the suit filed by the Hindu women from the Varanasi civil judge to the district judge for deciding the mosque committees objections against the inquiry. It asked the district judge to first decide on the maintainability of the suit. Ascertainment of the religious character of a place may not be barred by the Places of Worship Act, 1991, the court observed on that day, as it refrained from interfering with the Gyanvapi mosque survey.

The Varanasi district judge rejected the mosque committees objections to maintainability on September 12, 2022, and decided to proceed with the suit. The committee has challenged this order before the Allahabad high court, which is yet to rule on the appeal.
The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio, state chief secretary and tribal leaders for repealing the Nagaland Municipal Act and violating a undertaking given to the court to roll out 33% reservation for women in local bodies after a gap of more than a decade. Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio (PTI)

The state assembly had on March 29 repealed the 2001 law, leading to cancellation of municipal elections proposed to be held next month. Prior to this, it had given an undertaking to the Supreme Court in a public interest litigation (PIL) proceeding by Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) to abide with Part IXA of the Constitution that provides 33% reservation for women in municipal bodies. This was recorded in an order passed on March 14.

Finding the ingenious method adopted by the state to be a clear violation of its March 14 order directing elections to 36 town councils and three municipalities, a bench of justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Aravind Kumar said, There is hardly any hesitation to note what is done is in breach of the order of this Court.

The order came on an application moved by PUCL informing the court about the attempt by the state to defeat the implementation of womens reservation in the face of protests by tribal groups threatening to boycott the local body elections.

The application by PUCL had sought contempt notices to be issued to the chief minister, chief secretary, state election commissioner and heads of tribal groups for not implementing courts order. The bench directed notices to be issued to all persons except the state election commissioner. What can the election commission do? They (state) have frustrated everything, the bench said.

Posting the matter to May 1, the bench asked the Centre to respond whether the state was justified to act in this manner when there is no justification under the Constitution for not implementing the same. The Centre cannot let a part of a country, particularly in the process of assimilation, go against the constitutional scheme, the bench said. You will have to find a solution.

Additional solicitor general KM Nataraj, appearing for the Centre, told the court that the state has taken the defence of Article 371A of the Constitution. This relates to special provisions for Nagaland where any Act of Parliament in respect of religious or social practices of the Nagas, Naga customary law and procedure, administration of civil and criminal justice, and ownership and transfer of land and its resources, will be applicable in state only by a resolution adopted by the state assembly.

We would like the Centre to place its stand whether constitutional scheme of one-third reservation in municipalities and town councils in the opinion of the Central government can be violated by a process so adopted by the Nagaland government, The bench in its order said. We say so in the context of Article 371A of the Constitution of India as nothing has emerged so far has emerged to advance a plea that religious or social practices or customary laws would deny women reservation.

Nagaland advocate general KN Balagopal sought a last chance from the court. There is a climate of negotiation prevailing where we are trying to convince the tribal leaders that implementing the reservation as part of Part IXA is in the interest of development of state as it will get grants, he said, adding that the issue was not of men versus women as out of the 15 tribal groups, eight have raised certain inconsistencies in the law where they apprehend that women could tinker with inheritance rights.

Opposing the state, senior advocate Colin Gonsalves for PUCL submitted: There is no shred of evidence that reservation for women interferes with customary Naga tradition.

The bench also raised concerns over the states stand. You cannot keep everyone happy, it said. At every stage when something is concluded, someone will object.

Stating that the states move is done with the intention to defeat womens empowerment, the bench told the state: Empowerment comes from education, inheritance and political participation. There is some section of society having male domination. If political consensus does not emerge, how can we allow the law to languish?

Balagopal told the court that any boycott by tribal groups is to be taken seriously, as it may result in violence and bloodshed, which the state wishes to avoid. The court reminded the state that threat of violence is there in every election, but this does not mean that elections wont be held.

The PUCL wanted both orders passed by state assembly on March 29 repealing the law and a subsequent order of March 30 issued by Nagaland election commission cancelling the election schedule to be set aside. On April 5, the top court had stayed the March 30 order, but with the Act not in place, the election process could not be held.

The tribal heads known as hohos sought a guarantee that 33% women reservation does not infringe Article 371-A and proposed that the tenures or the time duration of the application of 33% women reservation be fixed. They desired that such reservation should not exceed for more than two tenures. Until and unless the Nagaland Municipal Act 2001 is reviewed and rewritten, urban local body election may be deferred, the hohos demanded.
Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief K Annamalai has said his party will not spare anyone who is corrupt. We have no friends here. Everyone here is our enemy, said Annamalai. Whoever has indulged in corruption will be viewed as an enemy. The plank of the 2024 parliamentary elections is corruption, he said on Sunday. Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai. (ANI)

On April 14, Annamalai said they will expose the corruption of all political parties that have ruled the state. For the next eight months, we are going to ask more questions and release more documents, Annamalai said. If not now, there can never be a change in Tamil Nadu.

Annamalais comments came a day after All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) chided Annamalai saying they were ready to face anything that the BJP leaders were to bring out and would not feel threatened.

EPS asked reporters on Saturday not to ask him questions about Annamalai and that he would only respond to questions about mature leaders. He is promoting himself as a big person. And leaders like us have come to a position to be answerable. Please do not ask me anything about him.

EPS separately on Sunday presided over a meeting of the AIADMK, where the party adopted resolutions against the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government over issues including alleged deteriorating law and order.

The AIADMK will hold a conference in Madurai in August in preparation for the 2024 general elections.
Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) convenor and Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will address a rally at Aurangabad on April 24 highlighting the governments achievements and his plans to replicate the same in the entire country. This will be the third public meeting of KCR in Maharashtra. (KCR | Facebook)

The chief minister will explain the schemes being implemented in Telangana for the last nine years and his vision for the rest of the country. We are planning to mobilise people from every nook and corner of Aurangabad and its surroundings to the public meeting, senior BRS leader and Armoor legislator A Jeevan Reddy told reporters at Aurangabad on Monday.

Also Read: Next government is ours : KCR after unveiling Indias tallest Ambedkar statue

Reddy, along with Zaheerabad parliament member BB Patil and other senior leaders of the party, flagged as many as seven vehicles fitted with screens and audio-visual equipment at Aurangabad to highlight the programmes and schemes of Telangana government.

The objective of this campaign is to explain to the people of the country the Telangana model of development. The vehicles will travel interior villages of various constituencies like Aurangabad East, West, Central, Vaijapur, Kannad, Gangapur and other areas and explain in the local language how the KCR government had introduced different schemes that transformed the lives of people of Telangana, the BRS MLA said.

He said the BRS chief would tell the people of Maharashtra that if the schemes could be implemented in Telangana, they could as well be successfully introduced in Maharashtra.

The meeting being held at Aamkhas Grounds at Aurangabad, will be a major turnaround in Maharashtra politics, Reddy said.

This will be the third public meeting of KCR in Maharashtra.

The first meeting was held at Bhokar of Nanded on February 5, which was the first such rally outside Telangana after the transformation of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) into BRS.

The second meeting was held at Kandhar-Loha on March 26.

Several prominent leaders from different political parties in Maharashtra will join the BRS in the presence of the chief minister, the Armoor MLA said.

KCR, who registered the BRS as a political party in Maharashtra, announced at the March 26 meeting that the party would contest in all local body elections.

Interestingly, the BRS chief has remained silent on contesting the assembly elections in neighbouring Karnataka scheduled to be held next month.

Though at the time of transformation of the TRS into BRS on October 5 last year, KCR indicated that the BRS would have an alliance with the Janata Dal (S) headed by former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy in the upcoming Karnataka elections.

In December and January, a few of the BRS leaders toured the bordering assembly constituencies of Karnataka namely Gulbarga, Raichur, Bidar and Yadgir.

In the first week of January, state tribal welfare minister Satyavathi Rathod visited Gulbarga and took part in a meeting organised by local JD (S) leaders.

The chief minister will extensively campaign for its alliance partner in the Karnataka elections, she said and indicated that the BRS might also contest a few seats in this part of Karnataka.

However, there has been no talk in the BRS about either contesting the Karnataka elections or campaigning for the JD (S) till now, though the nomination process has begun.

We have no clue as to what is in the mind of the chief minister. There is still time for the electioneering, a BRS leader said on condition of anonymity.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) led by Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has decided to extensively propagate the Telangana model of development across the country in an attempt to expand its presence in various states and pull down the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre. Telangana CM to hold rally in Aurangabad on April 24. (PTI)

As part of its national mission, KCR, as the chief minister is called, will address a huge rally at Aurangabad on April 24, to highlight his governments achievements in Telangana and his plans to replicate the same in the entire country.

The chief minister will explain the schemes being implemented in Telangana for the last nine years and his vision for the rest of the country. We are planning to mobilise people from every nook and corner of Aurangabad and its surroundings to the public meeting, senior BRS leader and Armoor legislator A Jeevan Reddy told reporters at Aurangabad on Monday.

Reddy, along with Zaheerabad parliament member BB Patil and other senior leaders of the party, flagged as many as seven vehicles fitted with screens and audio-visual equipment at Aurangabad to campaign the programmes and schemes of Telangana government.

The objective of this campaign is to explain the people of the country about the Telangana model of development. The vehicles will travel interior villages of various constituencies like Aurangabad East, West, Central, Vaijapur, Kannad, Gangapur and other areas explaining how the KCR government had introduced different schemes that transformed the lives of people in Telangana, the BRS MLA said.

He said the BRS chief would assure the people to implement the Telangana model schemes in their state as well. The meeting being held at Aamkhas Grounds at Aurangabad, will be a major turnaround in Maharashtra politics, Reddy said.

This will be the third public meeting of KCR in Maharashtra. The first meeting was held at Bhokar of Nanded on February 5, which was the first such rally outside the state after the transformation of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) into BRS. The second meeting was held at Kandhar-Loha on March 26.

Several prominent leaders from different political parties in Maharashtra would join the BRS in the presence of the chief minister, the Armoor MLA said.

KCR, who registered the BRS as a political party in Maharashtra, announced at the March 26 meeting that the party would contest in all local body elections and directed the leaders to ensure that the BRS flag was hoisted in every Zilla Parishad.

Interestingly, the BRS chief has remained silent on contesting the assembly elections in neighbouring Karnataka scheduled to be held next month. Though at the time of transformation of the TRS into BRS on October 5 last year, KCR indicated that the BRS would have an alliance with the Janata Dal (S) headed by former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy in the ensuing Karnataka elections.

In the months of December and January, some BRS leaders toured the bordering assembly constituencies of Karnataka like Gulbarga, Raichur, Bidar and Yadgir, that were originally part of the erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad Deccan, ruled by the Nizams before it was merged with Indian Union in 1948.

In the first week of January, state tribal welfare minister Satyavathi Rathod visited Gulbarga and took part in a meeting organised by local JD (S) leaders. The chief minister will extensively campaign for its alliance partner in the Karnataka elections, she said and indicated that the BRS might also contest a few seats in this part of Karnataka.

However, there has been no talk in the BRS about either contesting the Karnataka elections or campaigning for the JD (S) till now, though the nomination process has begun and political atmosphere is heating up in that state. We have no clue as to what is in the mind of the chief minister. There is still time for the electioneering, a BRS leader said on condition of anonymity.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Telangana high court on Monday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to question YSR Congress party leader and Kadapa parliament member YS Avinash Reddy only after 4 pm on Tuesday, in connection with the murder of his uncle and former MP YS Vivekananda Reddy, people familiar with the matter said. Telangana HC directs CBI not to question YS Avinash Reddy till Tuesday. (PTI)

A single judge bench of the high court comprising Justice Surender Reddy gave the direction after hearing the arguments over a petition filed by Avinash Reddy seeking anticipatory bail stating that the CBI was likely to arrest him in the name of questioning in the Vivekananda Reddy murder case.

The CBI issued summons to the MP, hours after arresting his father YS Bhaskar Reddy, who happens to be uncle of Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, on Sunday. The central agency asked him to appear before the investigating officer in Hyderabad for questioning at 3 pm on Monday.

Avinash Reddy, who left Kadapa for Hyderabad along with a large contingent of party workers, moved the Telangana high court seeking anticipatory bail by moving a lunch motion petition.

The high court, which scheduled the hearing at 2.30 pm, asked the CBI not to question the MP till it disposed of his bail petition. The CBI later sent a message to Avinash Reddy, asking him to appear before it on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Vivekananda Reddys daughter Narreddy Sunith Reddyalso impleaded in the case by filing a separate petition, requesting that her version also be heard before looking into the bail petition of Avinash Reddy. The high court admitted her petition and listed it for Tuesday.

We shall hear both the petitions on Tuesday and pass the orders. Meanwhile, the CBI should not question the MP, Justice Surender Reddy said.

In his bail petition, a copy of which was reviewed by HT, Avinash Reddy said the CBI was trying to fix him and his father based on a confessional statement by one of the killers  Sheik Dastagiri, who had turned approver for the agency.

There is no other evidence available with the CBI, except the confessional statement of Dastagiri. It was very clear that the CBI had coerced him to issue a statement against me and my father, Avinash Reddy said.

He further alleged that the CBI had colluded with Vivekananda Reddys daughter Sunitha Reddy and his political rivals and was trying to fix him in the case. He attributed Vivekananda Reddys murder to the latters illicit relationship with other women, besides financial disputes with his own family members.

Till now, I am not an accused in the case. I was only mentioned as a suspect in the chargesheet filed by the CBI in 2021, he pointed out, adding that it was purely a politically motivated case.

The CBI counsel, however, said Avinash was deliberately moving the high court for anticipatory bail, whenever he was called for questioning. We want to question him only as part of our investigation, he said.

He argued that it was Avinash Reddy, who had informed the police about Vivekananda Reddys death stating that it was a heart attack and tried to cover up the murder as a natural death. He played a key role in destroying the vital evidence in the case, the CBI counsel argued.

On hearing the arguments on both sides, the judge posted the case to Tuesday for further hearing.

Meanwhile, the CBI filed a petition before the special court in Hyderabad seeking custody of Avinash Reddys father YS Bhaskar Reddy, who on Sunday was remanded to judicial custody for two weeks. The court will take up the petition on Tuesday.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Amid rumbling in the Nationalist Congress Party, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut on Monday claimed that NCP supremo Sharad Pawar told him that his party will not join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party but some MLAs may defect under pressure. Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP Sanjay Raut with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MPs Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule,(ANI)

The silent power struggle between NCP chief Sharad Pawar and nephew Ajit Pawar, the Leader of the Opposition in Maharashtra, is seemed to have reached a decisive stage. It is widely believed in political circles that Ajit Pawar is interested in aligning with the BJP and has communicated this to party chief Sharad Pawar. Ajit Pawar has, however, dubbed such speculations as baseless and denied meeting Union home minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah in Mumbai on Saturday night.

Referring to his meeting with Sharad Pawar, Sanjay Raut said, He said that the manner in which Shiv Sena was fragmented with the help of CBI, ED, Economic Offences Wing and Police, pressure is now being used to fragment NCP. There is pressure. Threats are being made but the party as a whole will not go with BJP. A few people, under pressure, might quit the party. This would be their personal decision."

Raut also made similar claims in his weekly column 'Rokhthok' in the party mouthpiece Saamana amid speculations of a fresh political realignment in Maharashtra as the Supreme Court's decision on a plea seeking disqualification of 16 Shiv Sena MLAs is expected in the coming days.

"(Sharad) Pawar told Uddhav Thackeray during their meeting (on Tuesday) that nobody wants to switch over. But, family is being targeted. If anyone takes a personal decision to leave, it is their individual issue. But we as a party will never go with the BJP," Raut wrote.

"There is tremendous anger among people of Maharashtra against the present state government. Any one joining the BJP will be committing political suicide. This is what Thackeray and Pawar felt," he added.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
New Delhi: The University Grants Commission (UGC) will in May release rules for foreign universities to open campuses in India, along with an online portal to facilitate the application process, a top official said. UGC chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar says the final touches are being given to the regulations and they will be released sometime in May (PTI)

In January, the higher education regulator had released draft regulations allowing foreign universities to operate in the country. The draft rules sought to provide autonomy in admissions and fees.

The final touches are being given to the regulations and they will be released sometime in May, UGC chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar said. We have received a large number of suggestions from stakeholders on the draft regulations and we are now trying to incorporate some in the final document, he said. We will also be launching an online portal along with the final guidelines to facilitate the process. We are trying to speed up the process and make it open for interested universities in May.

The portal will allow foreign universities to fill forms online and upload documents along with the application fee. It will help make the process easier and transparent, he said.

The regulator will then constitute a standing committee to examine the application. The committee will examine the application form and give their recommendations to UGC within 45 days. The commission will consider and give its decision to the applicant university within 45 days, Kumar said.

The selected university will have two years to set up a campus in India and start academic programmes. They will initially be granted approval to operate for 10 years, and at the end of the ninth year of operations, will have to file for renewal.

Several foreign universities and embassies have shown interest in the initiative, Kumar said. So far, we have received queries from universities in Europe and North America. We are also conducting regular meetings with delegates of these universities, he said.

Recently, two Australian universitiesWollongong University and Deakin University--will soon set up campuses in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City in ahmedabad. However, they do not fall in the ambit of the UGC guidelines.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
NEW DELHI: India and Britain are natural partners in a world that is becoming more contested and volatile, the UKs Chief of Defence Staff said on Monday as he began a three-day visit aimed at enhancing strategic ties. UKs Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin and CDS Gen Anil Chauhan reviewed the progress of the UK-India defence partnership and discussed ways to expand ties in all domains. (Twitter/HQ_IDS_India)

Admiral Tony Radakin held talks with his Indian counterpart, Gen Anil Chauhan, as part of a series of high-level meetings. His trip coincides with a visit by the Royal Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal Mike Wigston, reflecting the importance attached by the UK to the defence and security partnership with India.

Radakin and Chauhan reviewed the progress of the UK-India defence partnership and discussed ways to expand ties in all domains. The UK and India share a strong relationship, including collaboration in research, development and training, the UK high commission said in a statement.

India and the UK are natural partners in a world that is becoming more contested and volatile. We share many of the same democratic instincts and values and are both committed to the rule of law, Radakin said.

We are respected military powers, both undergoing significant investment and modernisation and exercising together across, land, sea and air. But we can do more.

The meeting with Chauhan was an opportunity to discuss how we can develop our partnership in a way that benefits our mutual security and prosperity, he added.

Radakin also held talks with the Indian Navy chief, Admiral Hari Kumar, the army chief, Gen Manoj Pande, defence secretary Giridhar Aramane and additional secretary for defence production T Natarajan.

Over the next two days, Radakin will visit various establishments of the Indian armed forces to boost military-to-military engagement and explore opportunities for the co-creation of future technologies.

Radakin began his visit by paying homage to fallen soldiers at the National War Memorial, ahead of his first meeting with Chauhan.

He said his visit to India reflects the UKs belief that our security is indivisible from that of the wider world. He added, As a global trading nation it matters to the UK that the Indo-Pacific is open and free, which is why the British armed forces is establishing the broadest and most integrated presence in the region of any European nation.

Following the signing of an updated memorandum of understanding in 2019, there has been progress in discussions between India and the UK on industrial collaboration in the aerospace sector. The UK minister for defence procurement visited India in February and the naval chief visited in March.

British defence minister Ben Wallace described India as a valued defence partner and said both countries are committed to the stability and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific. The UKs armed forces continue to train and operate alongside Indian partners to promote security in the region, he said.

Britains army, air force and navy are all conducting exercises with their Indian counterparts this year to develop interoperability and joint tactics.

In recent weeks, the British warship HMS Lancaster visited Kochi to train with the Indian Navy under Exercise Konkan, and five Mirage 2000 combat jets of the Indian Air Force participated in the UKs largest aerial wargame, Exercise Cobra Warrior.

Later in April, the Indian Army will participate in Exercise Ajeya Warrior in the UK.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Booked an apartment but have yet to move in because of a long delay in completion of the project? For the first time, the Union consumer affairs ministry will mediate and settle such disputes under the ambit of Indias flagship consumer rights law. India passed an updated law, the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, which provides for a three-tier quasi-judicial mechanism to redress consumer disputes -- district, state commissions and national commissions. (HT)

The ministry will hold a stakeholder conference in Mumbai on Tuesday comprising buyers, realtors and stakeholders from consumer courts to redress grievances in the real estate sector, which accounts for 10% of all registered consumer disputes, an official said.

Despite tribunals such as Real Estate Regulatory Authority and National Company Law Tribunal to deal with the cases pertaining to housing sector, the pendency of cases is rising in various consumer commissions, said Rohit Kumar Singh, secretary, consumer affairs. Thats why the government will hold a direct roundtable.

India passed an updated law, the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, which provides for a three-tier quasi-judicial mechanism to redress consumer disputes -- district, state commissions and national commissions. State commissions have jurisdiction to deal with complaints when the value of the goods or services is worth between 50 lakh and 2 crore.

Since inception, 230,517 cases have been filed by consumers in various commissions and 176,895 cases have been disposed of, while 53,622 disputes are being heard, official data show.

The conference will discuss policy interventions needed to reduce litigation in the housing sector. Cases filed in the consumer commissions will be analysed. Key reasons that result in consumer dispute cases will be identified and presented for deliberations, Singh said.

The consumer protection law stipulates that every complaint shall be disposed of as expeditiously as possible and endeavour shall be made to decide the complaint within a period of 3 months from the date of receipt of notice by opposite party where the complaint does not require analysis or testing of commodities and within 5 months if it requires analysis or testing of commodities.

Participants of the meeting, led by the consumer affairs secretary, include members of the National Consumer Commission, presidents of state commissions of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Chandigarh and Gujarat, president of the RERA Appellate Tribunal Maharashtra, and RERA chairmen from Delhi and Maharashtra, among others, such as builders. RERA is short for Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The murder of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf late Saturday night - by three armed men and despite an escort of armed Uttar Pradesh Police personnel - will be investigated by a three-member special investigation team set up by the state's police force. Police personnel escort Mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad for a medical examination, in Prayagraj. Atiq's brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf also seen. (ANI file)

The team will be headed by Satish Chandra, the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police and include Satendra Prasad Tiwari, the Assistant Commissioner of Police (Kotwali), and Inspector Om Prakash from the Investigation Cell of Prayagraj Police's Crime Branch.

A statement from the office of Prayagraj's top cop said the SIT had been directed to 'complete the investigation in a quality and time-bound manner (and) in a scientific manner..."

The statement referred to 'a large number of statements / evidences of witnesses, compilation of archival / electronic evidences (and) compilation of scientific / forensic evidences', as well as 'conducting tests from forensic science laboratory'.

These, it indicated, were meant to ensure a 'fair and quality investigation'.

In addition to the investigation team, a 'supervision' team has been set up by RK Vishwakarma, the Director-General of UP Police to oversee the SIT's progress.

The 'supervision' team counts Bhanu Bhaskar, the Additional Director General of Police (Prayagraj Zone), as its head and Ramit Sharma, the Prayagraj Police Comissioner, and the Director of the state's Forensic Science Laboratory as members.

Atiq Ahmad's murder will also be the subject of a judicial investigation.

On Sunday, the UP government set up a three-member team headed by Arvind Kumar Tripathi, a retired judge of the Allahabad High Court. It will include two other members - Brijesh Kumar Soni, another retired judge, and Subesh Kumar Singh, an ex-DGP.

Atiq Ahmad's murder comes days after his son and an aide were shot dead by UP Police's Special Task Force during an 'encounter' in Jhansi. Asad Ahmad and Ghulam were gunned down by the cops who had mounted a 'special operation' to arrest the two.

Both Atiq and Asad were accused in the February killing of lawyer Umesh Pal, who was a witness to the 2005 murder of Bahujan Samaj Party lawmaker Raju Pal. Umesh Pal and two UP cops assigned to guard him were shot dead outside the former's home in Prayagraj.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Uttar Pradesh Police formed a special investigation team (SIT) on Monday to probe the sensational killing of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Khalid Azeem alias Ashraf two days ago as authorities moved the three men accused in the murder from Prayagraj to Pratapgarh district jail for administrative and security reasons. Police personnel outside the Kasari Masari office of Atiq Ahmad in Prayagraj on Monday. (PTI)

Posing as journalists, three assailants sprayed Ahmad and his brother with bullets at the Motilal Nehru (Colvin) Divisional Hospital premises in Prayagraj city around 1030pm on Saturday when police brought the duo there for a routine health examination. Ahmad and Ashraf were talking to the media and were ringfenced by policemen when gunshots rang out and the murder was captured live on video.

A first information report (FIR) registered on Sunday morning named the three men as Lavlesh Tiwari (22) of Banda, Mohit aka Shani (23) of Hamirpur and Arun Kumar Maurya (18) of Kasganj district. The government has already announced a judicial commission to probe the crime that has sparked allegations of police laxity and a breakdown of law-and-order.

Special director general of police (law and order) Prashant Kumar said the SIT was formed on the instructions of Prayagraj police commissioner Ramit Sharma.

The investigation of the case pertaining to the murder of Atiq Ahmad and his brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf is being carried out by the SHO of Shahganj police station, said a statement issued by Sharma on Sunday night. ...In order to ensure impartial and qualitative investigation, this investigation will be carried out by a special investigation team, it added. In another statement, Uttar Pradesh director general of police RK Vishwakarma said a three-member team of supervisors was also formed to ensure qualitative investigation and time-bound action.

The developments came on a day the three assailants were moved from Prayagraj to Pratapgarh, where they reached at 2.10 pm, said the office of director general of prisons, Lucknow. At Pratapgarh jail, the three men were kept separate from the other prisoners and monitored specially, said officials aware of developments.

The three were moved as the Naini Jail in Prayagraj presently holds many members of Atiqs gang and his kin arrested in connection with the February 24 murders of lawyer Umesh Pal and his two police guards. Police officials said these prisoners may pose a threat to the three accused.

Meanwhile, old city areas of Prayagraj, including Chakia, Roshanbagh, Rajruppur and Atala, remained tense but peaceful. Police forces continue to remain deployed in these areas; internet services also remained suspended in Prayagraj for the second consecutive day.

The deaths came two days after Ahmads son Asad was killed in an encounter with the Uttar Pradesh police, which triggered a political storm with allegations that the state administration had staged the shootout. Nahi le gaye to nahi gaye (they did not take us, so we did not go), Ahmad was quoted as saying in the moments before he was shot dead, in what was a reference to his son Asads funeral that was held earlier in the day. He had just climbed out of a police van and was walking, his brother handcuffed to him.

Ahmad  a former five-time state legislator and former Lok Sabha member who has 100 cases against him  and Ashraf were both wanted in the February 24 murder of lawyer Umesh Pal, who was the prime witness in the 2005 killing of Bahujan Samaj Party lawmaker Raju Pal. Ahmad was a prime accused in the 2005 case as well. This was the sixth death of an accused in the February 24 case.

But questions mounted over possible lapses in arrangement by the police, with Opposition parties and his lawyer leading the charge.

During a meeting in Bareilly jail, Ashraf had told me that a senior police official had issued threats to him. The official, whose name could not be disclosed, had threatened Ashraf that he would be taken out from jail within 15 days and would be eliminated. Ashraf had told me that he will write a letter to the CM, UP DGP, Chief Justice of India and Chief Justice of Allahabad high court, informing them about the threat issued to him, said his lawyer Vijay Mishra.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday announced to pay 4 lakh for the kin of victims who died in the hooch tragedy in Bihars East Champaran district only if the families provided in writing that they were in favour of Bihar's alcohol ban. The Opposition parties in Bihar including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have criticised the Nitish Kumar-led government for not being able to control hooch tragedies. (PTI)

Nitish Kumar said, This is a sad incident. We'll provide 4 lakhs to the families of the deceased, from CM relief fund but they should provide in writing that they are in favour of alcohol ban in the state and that they're against drinking alcohol.

The Nitish Kumar government had banned the sale and consumption of alcohol in Bihar in 2016.

As of Monday morning, the death toll in the liquor tragedy rose to 26 and 20 others were undergoing treatment.

Bihar Police has said that over 25 people have been arrested in the case. Strict disciplinary action has been taken against 11 police personnel and SHOs of 4 police stations have been suspended for dereliction of duty.

The Opposition parties in Bihar including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have criticised the Nitish Kumar-led government for not being able to control hooch tragedies.

The leader of the Opposition in the state Vijay Kumar Sinha said on Sunday, It is a carnage due to the inability of the administration to check spurious liquor from reaching the people. During the RJD regime, Bihar was infamous for massacres. Now, it is a different kind of carnage and chief minister Nitish Kumar should take moral responsibility for this. The kin of the victims should be given compensation, as it was not their fault. It is the failure of the administration. Had the government learned lessons from the Saran hooch tragedy and taken prompt action, such a situation would not have arisen.

In December last year after the hooch tragedy in Bihar's Saran district, Nitish Kumar had said that the tragedy was an examble of how if drinking alcohol leads to death. He also faced severe backlash from the opposition for losing his temper in the state assembly after continous attack from opposition memebers and saying, Sharabi ho gaye ho tum (You all have become drunkards).

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
In times of rising antisemitism, and with the number of remaining Holocaust survivors rapidly dwindling, raising awareness about the horrors they went through remains one of humanity's essential responsibilities. Photographer Mendel Grossmann developing photos in the ghetto of Lodz (Yad Vashem Archives)

Museums equally face the task of finding new ways to keep the public interested in learning about the difficult facts.

"Flashes of Memory: Photography During the Holocaust" is an exhibition that manages to successfully tie in the past with the present. The Instagram generation, used to seeing well-curated self-optimization photos that are perfectly staged and digitally enhanced through filters, will discover through this exhibition that photography during the Nazi era was already used as a tool to manipulate the public opinion, but also served as essential documents of atrocities for later war crimes trials.

Exposing the camera's 'manipulative power'

First shown at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, "Flashes of Memory: Photography During the Holocaust" has now left Israel for the first time and is currently presented at Berlin's Museum of Photography.

"The camera, with its manipulative power, has tremendous impact and far-reaching influence," Vivian Uria, director of the Yad Vashem Museums Division, pointed out in 2018, when the exhibition first opened. While "photography pretends to reflect reality as it is, it is in fact an interpretation of it," she said.

The three-part exhibition provides three different perspectives: through photographs taken by the Nazis, photos taken by Jewish photographers, and pictures taken by the soldiers of the forces that liberated Germany from the Nazis.

Children's portraits used for antisemitic attacks

The Nazi newspaper Der Sturmer, which had been stirring up anti-Jewish resentment since the 1920s, printed for example pictures of Jewish men sitting together in a pub, and accused them of plotting. It even used portraits of children to claim that Jews supposedly had base instincts.

Beginning in 1932, the viciously anti-Jewish tabloid started using the subtitle, "German Weekly for the Fight for Truth."

During the war, the propaganda paper published photos sent in by Wehrmacht soldiers taken in the ghettos in occupied Poland, captioning them with antisemitic remarks.

Jewish photographers also took photos in the ghettos; they were commissioned by the so-called Judenrate (Jewish councils). These Jewish municipal administrations were appointed by the occupiers and were required to implement Nazi policy. Those photos aimed to document how "efficiently" the ghettos were run, while the councils were actually forced to hand over the Jewish locals for forced labor or deportation to the concentration camps. The extensive photographic documentation aimed to prove to the Nazis that Jewish labor was indispensable.

Although expressly forbidden by the Judenrate, some of the commissioned photographers used their cameras at the risk of their lives to document the suffering and horror in the ghettos.

Henryk Ross, who took photographs in the Lodz ghetto, is quoted as saying he was aware that his family members would be tortured and killed if he was caught taking pictures.

Meanwhile, the Nazis relied on antisemitic stereotypes to portray the ghettos as production facilities where "lazy Jews" were being taught to work.

The exhibition demonstrates the imbalance between the overpowering mass media Nazi propaganda industry, including elaborately staged films by Leni Riefenstahl, and the efforts of a handful of people who risked their lives trying to provide a corrective. "This is an exceptional example of human will," said Vivian Uria.

Some of these photos avoided destruction by being buried or hidden, and would later serve as evidence in Nazi war crimes trials.

The Allies' photos served their own purposes

Another section of the exhibition is dedicated to the photos taken by Allied soldiers. As they liberated concentration camps, they documented the horrors of the Holocaust. Through their photos of piles of corpses, or of the extremely emaciated bodies of the survivors, the planned extermination of human lives could no longer be denied.

Harrowing and disturbing, the Allies' photos are naturally categorized as pictures taken by the "good guys." But it should still be noted that their photographs sometimes served their own purposes: Numerous images of people behind barbed wire fences at the Auschwitz concentration camp, waiting to be freed, were staged for the cameras.

The iconic image of a Red Army soldier waving the Soviet flag on the roof of the Reichstag building on May 2, 1945, the day of Berlin's military surrender, serves as a famous example of how post-processing can taint the documentary power of a historical photograph.

The Soviet Red Army photographer who took the shot, Yevgeny Khaldei, scratched off from the photo's negative one of the two wristwatches the soldier was wearing, as it was a sign of looting  and the liberators were not to be suspected of looting.

The Soviet news agency later added clouds of smoke to the shot, darkening it and enlarging the flag to give the image more drama.

The show illuminates the manipulative power of images from all sides. "Flashes of Memory" is on view at the Museum of Photography through August 20, 2023.

This article was originally written in German.
Passengers of the Bharat Gaurav Ambedkar Yatra train on Sunday visited Deekshabhoomi, a historic place in Maharashtra's Nagpur where B R Ambedkar had embraced Buddhism, officials said. The special tourist train that is taking passengers to cities associated with the social reformer across the country was on Friday flagged from Delhi marking his 132nd birth anniversary. The train reached Indore and then the birth place of Ambedkar in Mhow on April 15 where the passengers paid tribute to the architect of the Constitution. Passengers of the Bharat Gaurav Ambedkar Yatra train on Sunday visited Deekshabhoomi.(Photo by Twitter/ani_digital)

In Mhow, the passengers gathered in the memorial hall of the Bhim Janmabhoomi and discussed the life, struggles etc. of Babasaheb Ambedkar. The train reached Nagpur on Sunday morning where the tourists visited Deekshabhoomi and Dragon Palace, the Tourism Ministry said in a statement here.

Deekshabhoomi is a historic place where Ambedkar embraced Buddhism with lakhs of his followers in October 1956. The last remains of Babasaheb Ambedkar are kept in the central dome of Deekshbhoomi stupa, the statement said. The visit also coincided with completion of 170 years of the eventful journey of Indian Railways, as it was on April 16, 1853 that the first passenger train service had run between Bombay and Thane.

Dragon Palace at Kamptee town in Nagpur has a pleasant environment for meditation where a Buddha idol made of sandalwood is the centre of attraction. The tourists bid adieu to Nagpur late in the evening and left for the next leg of their journey at Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh, the statement said.

After Sanchi, Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh is the next destination. A visit to Sarnath and Kashi Vishwanath Temple will be a part of the sightseeing. Gaya in Bihar is the next and the last destination, and the train will arrive there on the sixth day of the journey. Tourists will visit the holy site of Bodhgaya -- the Mahabodhi Temple -- and other monasteries.

The next day the tourists proceed for sightseeing at Rajgir and Nalanda in Bihar by road. Buddhist sites and the ruins at Nalanda are the key sites. The train will depart from Gaya for New Delhi as the tour will come to an end.

The Bharat Gaurav tourist train tour on Ambedkar Circuit was flagged off by Union Minister of Tourism G Kishan Reddy and Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Virendra Kumar from Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station on April 14. The special train is taking passengers on an eight-day tour that includes key sites in Maharashtra and Bihar.

This Bharat Gaurav tourist train aims to give a glimpse of the life and legacy of Bharat Ratna Babasaheb Ambedkar to all the passengers, Reddy said, adding the train also aims to promote domestic tourism and the spirit of 'Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat'.
India is a land of diverse cultures, traditions, and landscapes, offering a plethora of weekend travel options for every kind of traveller. Whether you're seeking a relaxing beach vacation or an adventurous trekking experience, India has something to offer for everyone. From the tranquil backwaters of Kerala to the majestic mountains of the Himalayas, India's weekend getaway destinations are a perfect blend of history, culture, and natural beauty. Let's explore some of the best weekend travel ideas in India for different types of travellers, so you can plan your next weekend's escape with ease. So, pack your bags, grab your camera, and get ready to explore the best of India over the weekend! (Also read: 5 most scenic Indian highways for an unforgettable bus journey ) Whether you're seeking a relaxing beach vacation or an adventurous trekking experience, India has something to offer for everyone.(Unsplash)

Praveer Kochhar, Co-Founder Mappls KOGO, shared with HT Lifestyle, some amazing weekend escape ideas for different kinds of travellers.

For nature lovers:

First up, we have Gandikota. Nestled in the Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh, this beautiful village is famous for its breathtaking gorge formed by the Pennar River. Make sure to visit the impressive Gandikota Fort and take a stroll down to the bottom of the gorge to witness the mesmerizing view of the steep cliffs and river.

For wildlife enthusiasts:

If you are a nature lover, Jawai Bandh in Rajasthan is the perfect destination for you. With its picturesque landscapes, serene lakes, and abundant wildlife, you can spot leopards, sloth bears, crocodiles, and a variety of birds. Make sure to take a leopard safari and witness these majestic creatures in their natural habitat.

For leisure travellers:

For a relaxing beach getaway, head to Diveagar, a small coastal village in Maharashtra. This unspoiled destination boasts long stretches of clean beaches lined with coconut trees, making it the perfect spot for swimming, sunbathing, and relaxation.

For spiritual travellers:

If you are looking for spiritual enrichment, Sringeri in Karnataka is the place to be. Known for its ancient temples, natural beauty, and cultural heritage, make sure to visit the Sringeri Sharada Peetham. This ancient temple dedicated to Goddess Saraswati is considered one of the most important Hindu pilgrimage centres in South India.

For art and culture lovers:

Lastly, don't miss the opportunity to visit Pelling in Sikkim. This picturesque town is renowned for its stunning views of the Kanchenjunga mountain range. Head to the 300-year-old monastery, one of the oldest and most important monasteries in Sikkim, to admire the beautiful paintings and sculptures.
Over the past few years, the growing aggression of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has rang alarm bells across the world. As the CCP has tightened its stranglehold on the Chinese economy, the United Kingdom, Australia and some members of the European Union have attempted to reduce their dependence on it. The United States (US) has named it as a key threat. PREMIUM As several economists have argued, India cannot expect to become a key node in global supply chains unless it opens its doors for trade (Shutterstock)

India, too, has reasons to worry, given its tense three-year-long border standoff with China. In April 2020, India announced a stricter investment regime for countries with which it shared a land border. Beijing was the prime target, even though it wasnt named. As India-China border tensions escalated that summer, India took more overt steps. It banned hundreds of Chinese apps, including the popular social media app TikTok. Indian policymakers declared that Indias dependence on Chinese imports must be curtailed, and the old motto of self-reliance regained currency.

The overall impact of Indias reactions appears to have been modest. To some extent, these moves helped draw global attention to the CCPs aggression. The TikTok ban certainly set an example for other countries, including the US. But Indias moves dont seem to have had the desired effect on China. It is unwilling to give up its claims on territories it has occupied, or on those it has set its eyes on. Earlier this month, it published maps renaming parts of Arunachal Pradesh, reiterating its claim to the entire Indian state.

On the trade front, Indias dependence on China remains higher than it was in the decade leading up to the pandemic. Chinas share in Indian imports shot up in fiscal 2021 before falling marginally since then. From electric vehicles to mobile phones, Indian manufacturing continues to rely heavily on Chinese raw materials and industrial inputs. It is unlikely that the make-in-India dream can be fulfilled without made-in-China machinery.

This shows that it is time for India to define clearly what self-reliance means and how that syncs with Indias ambitions of becoming a key node in global supply chains. As most economies around the world have come to realise, it is nearly impossible to build a China-free industrial supply chain. Some Western economies now advocate a China-plus strategy to diversify their sourcing of industrial inputs.

The China-plus strategy seems to have buy-in from several large companies. But this strategy essentially relies on relocating production to countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam, which depend upon China for industrial inputs. Their imports from China have gone up in tandem with their exports to western markets. Note that these East Asian economies also have territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea. But that has not stopped them from deepening economic ties with the central node of Factory Asia.

The Indian government also seems to be accepting the reality that it is difficult to shun China, and still be a part of global supply chains. Prodded by the American tech giant, Apple Inc, the Indian government seems to have warmed up to the idea of Chinese investments in mobile phone manufacturing.

Yet, such ad hoc policy adjustments dont seem to be backed by a clear framework on trade and investment. The recently released foreign trade policy of the commerce ministry doesnt have anything substantive to say on these issues. And Indias national security establishment is yet to produce a national security strategy document that identifies the precise sectors that are critical for Indias security requirements.

Once Indias core strategic requirements are delineated, it would allow India to open up on trade and investments in all other areas. To develop a national consensus on this issue, the Union government will need to take along the views of all stakeholders, including state governments and Opposition lawmakers. A broad consensus on national security and trade issues will help India develop a stronger negotiating position at regional and multilateral forums. It will also prevent Indias trade links from being held hostage to vested interests.

Indias last-minute refusal to join the pan-Asian trading bloc Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in 2019 appeared to be influenced by certain specific sectors, led by the dairy industry. The fear of China was used to block the deal, denying several sectors the benefits of integrating with the worlds most dynamic trading hub.

Indias position on trade thwarts its ambitions of playing a more influential role in regional and global affairs, the trade economist Amitendu Palit of the National University of Singapore argued in a 2020 research paper. The lack of negotiating capacity in official circles and the vocal opposition of protectionist lobbies prevents India from developing deeper trade ties with its Asian peers, Palit wrote.

As several trade economists have argued, India cannot expect to become a key node in global supply chains unless it opens its doors for trade. Without opening up the doors to imports, it cant expect to scale up exports. Without greater exports, it wont be able to raise productivity and growth. Without higher growth, it will not be possible for India to bridge the power gap with China.

The most effective economic response to China lies in raising Indias growth trajectory. In the medium term, that calls for greater integration with China and Factory Asia.

Pramit Bhattacharya is a Chennai-based journalist.

The views expressed are personal.
Sixteen sanskaras (rites of passage) mark the various stages of human life and signify entry to a particular ashrama (stage of life). The vivaha (marriage) sanskara begins the grihastha ashrama when life as an individual family begins. Marriage is a sacred institution in our country. It revolves around three primary objectives  dharma (duty), procreation, and kama (pleasure); all three can be achieved only by a union of a biological man and a biological woman. The government has opposed a batch of petitions in the Supreme Court (SC) seeking legal validation of same-sex marriage. The Union argues that such matches are incompatible with the laws of the land, and its values, and the proper forum to debate this should be Parliament. (HT PHOTO)

The institution of marriage has played a significant role in the stability and evolution of our society. In the modern era, the State is the protector of this societal ethos. It is seminal to the State, and its governance is best left to the peoples representatives. In the debate around same-sex marriages, it is important to point out that personal laws should be discussed, debated, and argued in Parliament, and not left to the wisdom of the judiciary or, more specifically, five judges, however learned they might be or however empowered the Constitution may have made them.

The government has opposed a batch of petitions in the Supreme Court (SC) seeking legal validation of same-sex marriage. The Union argues that such matches are incompatible with the laws of the land, and its values, and the proper forum to debate this should be Parliament. Political parties in the Opposition camp are shirking their responsibility by not stating their views on same-sex marriage. At the same time, in off-the-record conversations, they agree that it is not part of our societal values and is unsuitable for India. Parliament alone should decide because any decision will significantly influence our societys development. Allowing same-sex marriages will strike at the core of our culture, societal values, and traditions, leading to an upheaval.

Marriages are the most personal public institution and straddle the divide between the individual and the State. A marriage, therefore, is about entering a relationship with public significance. Consequently, the State has a legitimate interest in maintaining a societal equilibrium and ensuring cultural ethos and societal values remain unbroken.

The SC has always been the protector of individual freedoms. The governments stance on same-sex marriage does not impact the individuals right to love, express, and freedom of choice. While all freedoms come with select limitations, the right to marry is not at the core of an individuals freedom. Hence the SC has made an error by taking on a subject that is not at the heart of the definition of individual freedom.

Our personal laws  across all religions  allude to the union of a biological man and biological woman to create a married family unit. Same-gender marriages are not accepted or recognised in codified or traditional personal laws. If we start overlooking the need for a biological man and biological woman to be defined as husband and wife, a large section of our laws and regulations will become unworkable. Numerous regulations linked to the institution of marriage, such as succession, divorce, adoption, and even the domestic violence act, define the aggrieved person as any woman, will turn topsy-turvy. For example, the dowry act refers to the dowry for the benefit of the wife. At the same time, the Code of Criminal Procedure talks about the maintenance of wives, and the Indian Penal Code provides special rights to women who are part of a legally recognised relationship of marriage.

The institution of marriage and family are important social structures that provide for the security, support, and companionship of members of our society and bear an important role in raising children and their mental and emotional upbringing. Therefore, the childs fundamental rights need to be brought into this discussion and put front and centre. To cite acceptance of same-sex marriage in a handful of countries doesnt make it incumbent on India to adopt it too. India is a civilisational State, and it will need to find solutions that align with its societal realities and cultural ethos and mores.

Sushil Kumar Modi is a Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha), and former deputy chief minister of Bihar The views expressed are personal
With the real estate sector contributing around 10 per cent to the total cases in consumer commissions, the Department of Consumer Affairs will on Tuesday organise a round table conference in Mumbai to discuss ways to redress the grievances of property buyers. An aerial view of housing and real estate in Navi Mumbai, (HT/file)

According to an official statement, the Department of Consumer Affairs is organising a round table conference on "How to effectively redress the grievances pertaining to the real estate Sector" in Mumbai on April 18.

The conference will be organised in association with the Maharashtra government.

Rohit Kumar Singh, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India, will chair the conference.

"Pertinently, Real Estate cases comprise around 10 per cent of the total cases in Consumer Commissions. So far, since inception, 2,30,517 cases have been filed by the consumers in various consumer commissions, 1,76,895 cases have been disposed of till now, and 53,622 cases are pending," the statement said.

Despite separate tribunals, such as RERA and NCLT, to deal with the cases pertaining to the housing sector, the pendency of cases is rising in various consumer commissions, the department said.

"It is for the first time, the Department is conducting such a large-scale conference to redress the consumer grievance in the real estate sector," the statement said.

The conference will discuss -- systemic policy interventions required to reduce litigation in the housing sector. In this regard, the cases filed in the Consumer Commissions would be analysed, and major factors that result in consumer cases will be identified and presented for deliberations.

"In addition, why more number of cases are filed before Consumer Commissions despite there being separate authorities, such as RERA, for specifically dealing (with) the cases pertaining to the housing sector will also be discussed. Meanwhile, deliberation on how to ensure that the housing sector cases are dealt with in an effective and speedy manner will also be done," the statement said.

Members of the National Commission, Presidents of State Commissions of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Chandigarh and Gujarat; President of the RERA Appellate Tribunal Maharashtra; RERA Chairmen from Delhi and Maharashtra; Presidents of District Commissions of Delhi, Bengaluru, Thane, Pune, Raigad and Chandigarh are likely to participate in the conference.

Representatives from MOHUA (Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs), RERA, IBBI, Government of Maharashtra, ASCI, and all the VCOs (voluntary consumer organisations) and builders fraternity will also be present.

Homebuyers' body Forum For People's Collective Efforts (FPCE) President Abhay Upadhyay, who is also an invitee to the conference, has welcomed the move to organise such an event.

He hoped that the department will frame a legal framework to ensure that homebuyers get speedy resolution of their disputes.

"We are all aware that despite the regulator in place for the sector after the enactment of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act 2016, (RERA) malpractices prevalent in the sector have not completely come to an end.

"We are also witnessing that homebuyers are running pillar to post for justice even after having favourable orders from RERA as builders are refusing to obey the orders of RERA, and sadly even after six years of full implementation of RERA, we have failed to find a solution for this burning issue," Upadhyay had said earlier this month.
Realty firm M3M India on Monday said its sales bookings jumped more than two-fold to record 13,000 crore during the last fiscal on better demand for housing and commercial properties. M3M India sold 6,380 residential and commercial properties in 2022-23 against 4,017 units in the previous year.

The Gurugram-based company, in a statement, said it has recorded the highest ever sales of 13,000 crore, which is 113 per cent higher when compared to the sales of 6,100 crore in FY22.

Among listed entities, Macrotech Developers (Lodha Group) and Godrej Properties have already reported sales bookings of over 12,000 crore each in the last fiscal.

DLF's sales bookings are expected to be around 15,000 crore, while Bengaluru's Prestige Group is also estimated to clock sales bookings of around 12,000 crore.

Giving further details of its operational performance in 2022-23, M3M said its sales bookings of housing properties increased more than two-fold to 9,307 crore from 4,022 crore in the previous year.

The company's sales bookings in commercial properties rose 78 per cent to 3,693 crore in the last fiscal from 2,078 crore in the preceding financial year.

In terms of area, the company has sold about 10 million square feet of space in the last fiscal, up 81 per cent from 5.5 million square feet in the previous fiscal.

M3M India sold 6,380 residential and commercial properties in 2022-23 against 4,017 units in the previous year.

The company sold 4,124 residential units in FY23 against 2,646 units in the previous year. It sold 2,257 commercial units in FY23 compared to 1,371 commercial units.

M3M India said that more than 10 projects are under construction, comprising about 20 million square feet of overall space, where the company is investing about 7,600 crore.

"M3M has an ambitious plan lined up in the FY24 with the launching of a combination of about 8-10 ultra-luxury residential and commercial projects in Gurugram, Noida and Panipat, with overall saleable space of about 14-15 million square feet. The company is looking forward to a topline of about 20,000 crore through these projects," said Pankaj Bansal, director of M3M India.

The projects lined up for the launch include  residential and commercial projects in Noida, plotted development in Panipat on a 350-acre land parcel, residential projects in sector-79 Gurugram, retail project in sector-57 in Gurugram and ultra-luxury residential project on Dwarka Expressway in sector-111, Gurugram.

By the end of FY22, M3M had a debt of 1,873 crore, out of which the company has already paid 1,369 crore, the statement said.

M3M has a land bank of about 3,000 acres. It has about 50 projects with 3 crore square feet of delivered space.

M3M India is one of the leading real estate developers in Delhi-NCR.

Last week, Uttar Pradesh RERA issued a notice to M3M India for allegedly starting promotion and marketing for the sale of units in a project in Noida without registering it with the authority in a direct violation of rules.

M3M India, however, said the particular campaign mentioned by the UP RERA is not publicity of the project NOIDEA but the overall corporate branding campaign.

The company is also engaged in a legal battle with DLF and Shipra Group for 73-acre land in Noida's Sector 128.

Last week, Ghaziabad police launched a probe after Shipra Group alleged fraud by a finance company and another builder to usurp its land in Noida.

The police have booked 18 people, including current and former officials of Indiabulls Housing Finance and M3M India on charges of cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy, among others, according to the FIR.

M3M India, however, had rejected the allegations, saying M3M is a law-abiding company, and we do our business following best practices with the highest level of integrity and corporate governance.
Elon Musk's SpaceX on Monday called off a highly anticipated launch of its powerful new Starship rocket, delaying the first uncrewed test flight of the vehicle into space. The SpaceX Starship rocket on the launchpad ahead of its scheduled launch from the SpaceX Starbase in Boca Chica as seen from South Padre Island, Texas on April 17, 2023. (AFP)

The two-stage rocketship, standing taller than the Statue of Liberty at 394 feet (120 m) high, originally was scheduled for blast-off from the SpaceX facility at Boca Chica, Texas, during a two-hour launch window that began at 8 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT).

But the California-based space company announced in a live webcast during the final minutes of the countdown that it was scrubbing the flight attempt for at least 48 hours, citing a pressurization issue in the lower-stage rocket booster.

Musk, the company's billionaire founder and chief executive, told a private Twitter audience on Sunday night that the mission stood a better chance of being scrubbed than proceeding to launch on Monday.

Getting the vehicle to space for the first time would represent a key milestone in SpaceX's ambition of sending humans back to the moon and ultimately to Mars - at least initially as part of NASA's newly inaugurated human spaceflight program, Artemis.

A successful debut flight would also instantly rank the Starship system as the most powerful launch vehicle on Earth.

Both the lower-stage Super Heavy booster rocket and the upper-stage Starship cruise vessel it will carry to space are designed as reusable components, capable of flying back to Earth for soft landings - a maneuver that has become routine for SpaceX's smaller Falcon 9 rocket.

But neither stage would be recovered for the expendable first test flight to space, expected to last no more than 90 minutes.

Prototypes of the Starship cruise vessel have made five sub-space flights up to 6 miles (10 km) above Earth in recent years, but the Super Heavy booster has never left the ground.

In February, SpaceX did a test-firing of the booster, igniting 31 of its 33 Raptor engines for roughly 10 seconds with the rocket bolted in place vertically atop a platform.

The Federal Aviation Administration just last Friday granted a license for what would be the first test flight of the fully stacked rocket system, clearing a final regulatory hurdle for the long-awaited launch.

If all goes as planned for the next launch bid, all 33 Raptor engines will ignite simultaneously to loft the Starship on a flight that nearly completes a full orbit of the Earth before it re-enters the atmosphere and free-falls into the Pacific at supersonic speed about 60 miles (97 km) off the coast of the northern Hawaiian islands.

After separating from the Starship, the Super Heavy booster is expected to execute the beginnings of a controlled return flight before plunging into the Gulf of Mexico.

As designed, the Starship rocket is nearly two times more powerful than NASA's own Space Launch System (SLS), which made its debut uncrewed flight to orbit in November, sending a NASA cruise vessel called Orion on a 10-day voyage around the moon and back.
Apple CEO Tim Cook, set to arrive in India this week to launch the companys first retail stores in India, will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as per a Reuters report. Tim Cook's meet with PM Modi is scheduled for Wednesday, said the report. (Twitter)

The Reuters report quoting sources added that Cook will also hold discussions with deputy IT minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar. The source, which includes a government official, said that the meet with Modi is scheduled for Wednesday in Delhi. However, the PMs office or the government of India is yet to confirm the same.

The reported meetings come close on the heels of Apples increased focus on India to diversify its assembly operations beyond China. It was earlier reported by Bloomberg that Apple had sought a meeting for Cook with PM Modi amidst the Centres push to attract Apples manufacturing partners like Foxconn Technology Group and Pegatron Corp. Cook first visited India in 2016.

The world's second-largest smartphone market will be home to the iPhone makers retail stores set to open in Mumbai and Delhi. The Apple BKC store in Mumbai opened its doors for a private event on Monday and will start functioning for the public from Tuesday. The companys second outlet in India will be inaugurated on Thursday at a premier Saket mall in Delhi.

The two stores have been a long time in the making as Indias strict rules forbid global brands from opening own-brand outlets unless they source a significant portion of the goods from within the country.

According to India Cellular and Electronics Association data, iPhones took up 50% share of the overall $9 billion worth of smartphones exported from India between April 2022 and February 2023.

The company opened its Indian online store in 2020, but Apples relatively high sticker prices are still a deterrent in the nation of 1.4 billion where affordability plays a major role in purchase decisions.

(With inputs from Reuters, Bloomberg)

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook is in Mumbai ahead of the first Apple store's inauguration on Tuesday. He is likely to welcome the customers to the store when it opens to mark the iPhone maker's 25 years in the country. Tim Cook with the staff of Apple Store in Mumbai.(Twitter/Tim Cook)

On this occasion, Cook tweeted a picture of him with the employees at the Apple's new store. Hello, Mumbai! We can't wait to welcome our customers to the new Apple BKC tomorrow, the caption read.



According to a PTI report, the Apple store has products, merchandise and services like repairing the gadgets available for customers. The customers will be able to check out the products and can also educate themselves on how to use them optimally.



ALSO READ: Madhuri Dixit welcomes Tim Cook with Vada Pao in Mumbai, he reacts

There are long wooden desks on which the products have been kept, which also include specially built sensors that trigger the opening of switches.

Mumbai's Apple store is at the Reliance Jio World Drive mall, spread across 20,800 square feet, larger than the planned Delhi outlet.

After the Mumbai store's opening, a similar store will be launched in Delhi's Saket on April 20. Cook will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to the national capital, Reuters reported.



Cook's visit to India has grabbed a lot of limelight, especially in wake of the Cupertino-based technology giant upping its reliance on manufacturing in India, seen as an alternative to China.



Smartphones worth $9 billion were exported from India between April 2022 and February this year, Reuters reported. The iPhones accounted for more than 50 per cent of that. In India, iPhones are assembled by Apple's contract manufacturers Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron. Apple also plans to assemble iPads and AirPods in India.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Most people put effort into creating attractive profiles on dating apps to increase their chances of matching with someone compatible. However, one man looking for a long-term partner took a different approach and shared his academic achievements on the dating app. From listing his 10th and 12th exam scores to JEE ranks and engineering colleges he went to, the man shared a little too much about his academic history in his bio. A screenshot of his dating app profile quickly went viral as people poked fun at his confusion between LinkedIn and Tinder. While many shared that he thought its LinkedIn, others shared that his entire personality is about boasting his academic marks! A man listed down his academic details in the about me section on a dating app. (Twitter/@indianchan_)

The now-viral screenshot was shared on Twitter by user Indian Chan with the caption, All that for Infosys. Bro is robbed. The screenshot features the Tinder profile of a 24-year-old man Ankit Jha. According to the screenshot, Jha is an IIT Bombay graduate and is currently employed at Infosys. Not just this, he even listed down his board exam scores, his JEE Mains and Advanced ranks and that he was an NTSE and KVPY scholar.

Take a look at the Twitter post below:

Since being shared on April 13, the tweet has raked up more than 92,400 views and the numbers are quickly increasing. The share has also accumulated over 1,550 likes and several retweets. Additionally, the post has received numerous comments from netizens.

Heres how Twitter users reacted:

Someone please tell him that its Tinder, not some job resume, posted an individual. Another added, This definitely cant be true. Bro thought its LinkedIn, expressed a third. A fourth shared, Sab likh diya CTC nhi likha (wrote everything but not CTC). His entire personality is about boasting his academic marks! wrote a fifth. A sixth commented, Kya hai ye (what is this)? Resume or dating profile?

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
A teen from the Karimganj district of Assam has designed a sensor-enabled smart shoe to assist visually impaired individuals. Ankurit Karmakar, a class 9 student at Rowlands Memorial High School, created the shoe to help blind people avoid obstacles while walking. The shoe is equipped with sensors that can detect objects in the users path and alert them through a buzzer, making it easier for the visually impaired to navigate their surroundings with greater independence and safety. Ankurit Karmakar with the sensor-enabled shoe. (Twitter/ANI)

Ankurit Karmakar, a 9th standard student from Karimganj designed a sensor-enabled smart shoe for the visually impaired. I made this smart shoe for blind people. My aim is to become a scientist. Ill do more such work thatll help people & make their life easier, he said, wrote news agency ANI while sharing a few pictures. The images show a typical pair of shoes, but in reality, one of the shoes has a built-in sensor and buzzer to alert users. The shoe operates using a small battery.

They replied to their own tweet and wrote, If theres an obstacle in the way, the sensor in the shoe will detect it and the buzzer will give an alert. When the buzzer will ring, the visually impaired person will be able to hear it and he can become alert and act accordingly to avoid the obstacle: Ankurit Karmakar. Karmakar, who aspires to become a scientist, shared that the shoe is inspired by an individual from Great Britain who also made the same kind of shoe, reported ANI.

Take a look at the ANIs tweet below:

Since being shared on April 4, the primary tweet has received over 9,500 likes and thousands of retweets. The tweet has also accumulated a flurry of responses from netizens.

Heres how people reacted to the tweet:

Lidar on shoes.. not very cost efficient, but still impressive for a 9th class student, wrote a Twitter user. Another added, Good invention. But in practical life, it will keep beeping. Patent it as fast as you can, suggested a third. A fourth wrote, Great initiative. Kudos to his empathy for the visually impaired and his creativity, commented a fifth.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
U.S. law enforcement officials have arrested two New York residents for allegedly operating a Chinese "secret police station" in Manhattan's Chinatown neighborhood, the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn said in a statement on Monday. Liu Jianwang, 61, and Chen Jinping, 59, face charges of conspiring to act as an agent of China's government without informing U.S. authorities. (Representatives)(AFP)

Liu Jianwang, 61, and Chen Jinping, 59, face charges of conspiring to act as an agent of China's government without informing U.S. authorities, and obstruction of justice, prosecutors said. They are expected to appear in federal court in Brooklyn federal court later on Monday.

"This prosecution reveals the Chinese government's flagrant violation of our nation's sovereignty by establishing a secret police station in the middle of New York City," Breon Peace, the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, said in a statement.

Prosecutors said Lu in 2018 sought to persuade an individual considered a fugitive by China to return home, prosecutors said. That individual reported being harassed and threatened, prosecutors said.

China's government in 2022 asked Lu to help locate an individual living in California considered a pro-democracy activist, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said the pair had admitted to the FBI that they deleted their communications with a Chinese government official after learning they were under investigation.
A 34-year-old Indian climber went missing from Mt. Annapurna in Nepal on Monday, an official of the expedition organiser said. Annapurna is the tenth highest mountain in the world, standing at 8,091 metres above sea level. (Representative)(AFP)

Anurag Malu, a resident of Kishangadh in Rajasthan, went missing while descending from Camp III of Mt. Annapurna, and has gone missing since Monday morning, Mingma Sherpa, chairman of Seven Summit Treks, which conducted the trekking expedition, told PTI.

Malu is on a mission to climb all 14 peaks above 8,000m and seven summits to create awareness about the UN Sustainable Development Goals, according to Himalayan Times newspaper.

Also read: Nepal expects around 500 mountaineers to scale Mount Everest this Spring season

"We had launched an extensive search for Malu shortly after he went missing. However, till evening we have not succeeded in locating him," Sherpa said.

We will continue the search on Tuesday, he added.

Malu was awarded REX KaramVeer Chakra and became the 2041 Antarctic Youth Ambassador from India, local media reports said.

Annapurna is the tenth highest mountain in the world, standing at 8,091 metres above sea level.

It is well known for the difficulty and danger involved in its ascent.
China and Russia have vowed to strengthen military cooperation to safeguard global and regional security during a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US-sanctioned Chinese defence minister Li Shangfu in Moscow on Sunday, Chinese official media reported on Monday. Russian President Vladimir Putin, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu attend a meeting in Moscow, Russia. (REUTERS)

The meeting between Putin and Li took place in the backdrop of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, which Beijing has declined to call it so and has instead accused the US and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) of provoking Moscow.

Lis three-day Russia visit, which began Sunday, assumes significance as it comes within weeks of Xis high-profile Russia visit and deepening Western apprehension about China selling lethal weapons to Moscow with which it has a no limits friendship.

Beijing claims neutrality in the war and also floated a peace proposal in February but is seen as Moscows close ally, providing it with critical support against the US-led West.

Li, who is a state councillor and a veteran of Chinas ongoing drive to modernise the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA), came under US scrutiny five years ago for allegedly purchasing Su-35 combat aircraft and S-400 missile system equipment from Russian arms seller Rosoboronexport.

Li at the time was the director of the Equipment Development Department of Chinas Central Military Commission (CMC), the President Xi Jinping-headed top Chinese defence organisation.

Military cooperation plays an important role in Russia-China relations, Putin told Li, adding that he hoped that two militaries will strengthen cooperation in joint training, professional exchanges and other fields, and that the strategic mutual trust between the two countries will continue to be deepened.

The military mutual trust between the two countries has been increasingly consolidated with substantial progress in cooperation, Li told Putin, according to a readout of the meeting, released by official news agency, Xinhua.

China, Li said, is ready further strengthen the strategic communication between the two militaries and bolster multilateral coordination and cooperation to safeguard global and regional security and stability.

We have very close relations. They outperform military-political unions of the Cold War era. They rest on the principles of non-alignmentand are very stable, Li said, according to official Russian TASS news agency.

Li will have separate talks with Russian counterpart, Shoigu, to discuss, according to TASS, the current state and prospects for the development of bilateral cooperation in the defense sphere, as well as current issues of global and regional security.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Pakistan police on Sunday evening arrested a Chinese engineer on blasphemy charges for allegedly insulting Allah as per a report. An unnamed employee of a construction company  China Gezhouba Group, got into a heated argument about the pace of work amid Ramadan, infuriating Pakistani labourers who tried to attack him, the Hong Kong based South China Morning Post reported. Following the incident, Pakistan police and paramilitary forces were deployed to ensure the safety of Chinese nationals working on the dam.(AP/Representative photo)

Following the incident, he was taken into custody from the worksite camp located at the Dasu hydropower project in Pakistans Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

He was taken into custody to avert a serious situationas scores of workers had gathered to attack him, SCMP reported quoting local sources.

The altercation reportedly took about the workers pace of work during Ramadan  the ongoing holy month of Islam, in which Muslims observe month-long fasting. As the news of his alleged blasphemous remarks spread across the region, hundreds of people gathered and blocked the Karakoram Highway  linking Pakistan-China.

Following the incident, Pakistan police and paramilitary forces were deployed to ensure the safety of Chinese nationals working on the dam, the report further said. The protestors only dispersed after assurance from the authorities that the engineer would face legal punishment for his comments.

In the aftermath of the incident, the local religious leaders will decide today whether to file a blasphemy complaint with the police, which if proven can carry a potential death sentence, the report added.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Myanmars military government on Monday granted amnesty to more than 3,000 prisoners to mark the traditional lunar New Year holiday, but it wasnt immediately clear if those released included the thousands of political detainees locked up for opposing army rule. Prisoners released from Insein Prison are welcomed by their colleagues and family members in Yangon.(AP)

Read here: South Korea, US, Japan hold missile defence drills to counter North Korea

State-run MRTV television reported that the State Administration Council, the ruling body created by the military after it seized power in 2021, had pardoned 3,113 prisoners, including 98 foreigners who will be deported. Mass prisoner releases are common on major holidays.

An official from Yangons Insein Prison, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to release information, said the number and names of people to be freed from the country's largest penitentiary was not yet known. The releases began Monday, but sometimes can take a few days to be completed.

Some 17,460 political detainees, including Myanmars former civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, were in detention as of last Wednesday, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an independent organization that keeps detailed tallies of arrests and casualties linked to the nations political conflicts.

Myanmar has been under military rule since Feb. 1, 2021, when its army ousted Suu Kyi's elected government. The takeover was met with massive nonviolent resistance, which has since become a widespread armed struggle.

Urban guerrillas are active in major cities, and the loosely organized Peoples Defense Forces, along with their allies in ethnic minority guerrilla groups, regularly strike military columns and outposts.

Civilians have borne the brunt of brutal military offensives in the countryside, including the use of artillery and airstrikes, which have displaced more than a million people, causing a humanitarian crisis.

At least 3,240 civilians have been killed by the security forces since the military takeover, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Its tally does not include all casualties from combat.

Tun Kyi, a senior member of the Former Political Prisoners Society, said it is not known how many of the political prisoners would be among those released, if any, but any such action would be taken to burnish the image of the military government.

He said his group viewed such releases as trying to score political points, ease international pressure and seek to demonstrate the military's legitimacy.

This years celebrations of Thingyan, the New Years holiday, drew smaller crowds than had gathered before the coronavirus pandemic and the 2021 takeover. In big cities, the merrymaking involving the playful splashing of water took place at designated high-security pavilions. Celebrations in most rural areas were muted, with many people heeding the call of opponents of military rule not to take part in the military-planned activities.

During the holiday, which officially extends for nine days but has state-sponsored gatherings for just four, the violent struggle between the army and pro-democracy forces continued. There were armed clashes in the countryside and small bombings of the official military-sponsored pavilions in several towns and cities. The number of casualties was unclear.

The countrys military leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, did not touch on the countrys extended political crisis in a New Years speech broadcast Monday. He said that the economy, which faced difficulties in 2021, had rebounded last year from contraction to nearly 3% growth. The manufacturing sector had showed improvement and border trade was reopened in 2022, and businesses were able to resume operations, he said.

Read here: Putin critic jailed for 25 years in harshest sentence since Ukraine invasion

I fully believe that if the people work hard to export more products, this year the economic growth will be better than previous years, he said.
Pakistan's Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has said that PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif will return from London as soon as the electoral preparations for the general elections begin. Former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif.(Reuters Photo)

Also Read: World Bank estimates decline in Pakistan's GDP per capita income to USD 1,399

He also made it clear that elections in the politically crucial Punjab province will not be held on May 14 despite the Supreme Court's order and "all-out efforts" of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led by former prime minister Imran Khan.

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who is currently based in London, will return and supervise Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party's electoral campaign, Geo News quoted the senior party leader as saying.

An ailing Nawaz has been living in London since November 2019 for medical treatment after the high court allowed him a four-week reprieve. The 73-year-old leader was serving seven-year imprisonment in the Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore in the Al-Azizia corruption case before his departure.

Holding provincial elections has taken centre stage in Pakistani politics as Khan has been pushing for snap elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.

PTI Chairman Khan has been demanding early national elections since his ouster in April last year after he lost a confidence vote in Parliament.

Also Read: 3-kg heroin dropped by drone near Pak border seized in Amritsar

The current term of the National Assembly will complete its five-year term in August this year. According to the Constitution, elections shall be held within 90 days after the dissolution of the lower house. This means that the election must be held by mid-October. The last general election was held in July 2018.

On April 5, Pakistan's Supreme Court termed as "unconstitutional" Pakistan's election commission's decision to postpone polls in Punjab till October 8 and fixed May 14 as the date for polls in the province.

As the date for polls in the country is being considered, Sanaullah asserted on Sunday that elections to the Punjab Assembly would not be held on May 14 despite "all-out efforts" of the opposition PTI, the Geo News reported.

Elections across the country would be held at the appointed time this year, he said while talking to the media in Faisalabad on Sunday.

Despite the Supreme Court's order to hold elections in Punjab on May 14 as well as pressure from the PTI, the Interior Minister said that elections would be held together under the caretaker setup.

"Election won't be held on May 14 despite all-out efforts," he said.

"If elections are not held in May, then October is not too far away either," the senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader said.

The PTI dissolved the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies on January 14 and 18, respectively, in a bid to force the ruling coalition to hold early general elections.

Calling former prime minister Khan a "fitna" (chaos), Sanaullah said that he was brought to power through a "conspiracy".

"Their (PTI's) policies over four years created a crisis situation for the country."

"The PML-N has always taken the country out of the crisis," he added.

Sanaullah said Khan used to claim that he would prefer to die by suicide instead of approaching the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

"It was (Imran Khan's) government that signed the agreement with the IMF, not us. The difficulties are only due to the previous government's agreement."

The incumbent government, led by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), has taken tough measures including increasing taxes and energy prices, and allowing its currency to weaken to restart a USD 6.5 billion IMF loan package.

The funds will offer some relief to a nation still reeling from a dollar shortage that has raised the probability of the economy slipping into a recession ahead of elections this year.

Also Read: Chinese man arrested in Pakistan for 'blasphemy' after remarks on Ramadan: Report

Pakistan is tackling a major economic crisis as it awaits a much-needed USD 1.1 billion tranche of funding from the Washington-based International Monetary Fund, part of a USD 6.5 billion bailout package the IMF approved in 2019.

Load-shedding and terrorism were eradicated during the PML-N tenure, the federal minister said, adding that due to the PTI's "wrong" policies, the country is now facing multiple crises.
Outspoken Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza was jailed for a quarter of a century by a Moscow court on Monday, the harshest sentence of its kind since Russia invaded Ukraine, after it found him guilty of treason and other offences he denied. Russian President Vladimir Putin(AP)

Kara-Murza, 41, a father of three and an opposition politician who holds Russian and British passports, spent years speaking out against President Vladimir Putin and lobbied Western governments to impose sanctions on Russia and individual Russians for purported human rights violations.

State prosecutors, who had requested the court jail him for 25 years, had accused him of treason and of discrediting the Russian military after he criticised what Moscow calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine.

In a CNN interview broadcast hours before he was arrested, Kara-Murza had alleged that Russia was being run by a "regime of murderers." He had also used speeches in the United States and across Europe to accuse Moscow of bombing civilian targets in Ukraine, a charge it has rejected.

In his final speech to the court last week, Kara-Murza had compared his own trial, which was held behind closed doors, to Josef Stalin's show trials in the 1930s and had declined to ask the court to acquit him, saying he stood by and was proud of everything he had said.

"Criminals are supposed to repent of what they have done. I, on the other hand, am in prison for my political views. I also know that the day will come when the darkness over our country will dissipate," he had said.

Shortly after sending tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February last year, Russia introduced sweeping wartime censorship laws which have been used to silence dissenting voices across society.

"Discrediting" the army can currently be punished by up to five years in prison, while spreading deliberately false information about it can attract a 15-year jail sentence.

At a time of what they have cast as an existential struggle with the West, pro-government politicians say unity across society is vital and have described Russian citizens questioning Moscow's actions in Ukraine as part of a pro-Western fifth column trying to undermine the military campaign.

Twice, in 2015 and 2017, Kara-Murza fell suddenly ill in what he said were poisonings by the Russian security services, on both occasions falling into a coma before eventually recovering.

Russian authorities denied involvement in the incidents. Kara-Murza's lawyers say that as a result, he suffers from a serious nerve disorder called polyneuropathy.
Scottish parliamentarian Stephen Charles Kerr has triggered a controversy after he made a statement in which he claimed that there was a connection between transgender people and those who had learning difficulties. The Scottish MP from Central Scotland lashed out at the government's gender recognition reform bill.(Twitter/ Stephen Charles Kerr)

Read here: 2,000-year-old statue of Greek god Eros discovered in Italy

In a now-deleted tweet that became a lightning rod of criticism on Friday, the Scottish MP from Central Scotland lashed out at the government's gender recognition reform bill. He wrote, "The coming of a new First Minister brought the chance to review the Gender Reform Bill, and ask questions Sturgeon didn't bother with. Why are more young people wanting to change their gender? Is there a link between having learning/development disabilities? But they don't care."

According to a news report by Metro (article beyond paywall), Kerr received a massive backlash on Twitter over his controversial comments. Politicians and people alike criticised him, with some pointing out that Kerr provided no evidence at all for his claim,

Scottish National Party (SNP) councillor for Westhill and District Fatima Joji wrote, I have no words. Look at that second paragraph. Is he for real?

Amid the backlash, the Scottish MP deleted the tweet.

Read here: Rishi Sunak to be probed over wife's stake in UK childcare firm

Kerr in an interview to the National newspaper apologised for his tweet and claimed that it was written by one of his staff members, the report added. He said, I take full responsibility for everything on my Twitter and would like to apologise for any offence caused. The tweet was written in haste by a member of my team and then deleted as it does not reflect my views, the report added.
Explosions rocked the Sudanese capital Khartoum Monday as fighting between the regular army and paramilitaries raged for a third day with the death toll rising to nearly 100. This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows two burning planes at Khartoum International Airport, Sudan, Sunday.(AP)

The violence erupted Saturday after weeks of power struggles between Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The raging battles triggered a wide international outcry with appeals for an immediate ceasefire and dialogue.

"The death toll among civilians in clashes since it began on Saturday ... has reached 97," the doctors' union said in a statement early Monday, noting the figure does not include all casualties as many could not reach hospitals due to difficulties in movement.

Also Read| Indian killed in Sudan: Why are clashes happening in North African country?

It said hundreds of civilians were wounded in the clashes.

Loud gunfire and deafening explosions echoed across the streets of Khartoum Monday morning as clashes continued, according to AFP journalists.

A stench of gunpowder lingered as plumes of thick black smoke emanated from damaged buildings, according to witnesses.

The fighting broke out after bitter disagreements between Burhan and Daglo over the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army -- a key condition for a final deal aimed at ending a crisis since the 2021 military coup they orchestrated together.

The coup has already derailed a transition to civilian rule following the 2019 ouster of president Omar al-Bashir and piled on a spiralling economic crisis in Sudan.

Also Read: Indian national dies by stray bullet injuries in Sudan clashes; EAM Jaishankar expresses grief

- Trading blame -

The clashes forced Sudanese to hunker down in their homes with fears of a prolonged conflict that could plunge the country into deeper chaos, dashing hopes for return to civilian rule.

Since Saturday, the two sides have traded blame over who started the fighting.

Each has claimed the upper hand by declaring control of key sites, including the airport and the presidential palace but none of their claims could be independently verified.

Fighting also raged in others parts of Sudan including the western Darfur region and in the eastern border state of Kassala.

The Saturday killing of three staff from the World Food Programme in North Darfur clashes prompted the agency to suspend all operations in the impoverished country.

Medics have pleaded for safe corridors for ambulances and a ceasefire to treat the victims because the streets are too dangerous for transporting casualties to hospital.

The RSF was created under Bashir in 2013, emerging from the Janjaweed militia that his government unleashed against non-Arab ethnic minorities in Darfur a decade earlier, drawing accusations of war crimes.

The latest violence sparked by the two generals has reflected the deep-seated divisions between the regular army and the RSF.

Despite the wide calls for a ceasefire, the two generals appeared in no mood for talks.

Burhan, who rose through the ranks under the three-decade rule of now-jailed Bashir, has said the coup was "necessary" to include more factions in politics.

Daglo later called the coup a "mistake" that failed to bring about change and reinvigorated remnants of Bashir's regime ousted by the army in 2019 following mass protests.
Police are probing the possibility that the objects used in the Saturday attack on Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida could be homemade pipe bombs, investigators said Sunday, Japan Times reported. Japan PM Fumio Kishida Attacked: A man, on the ground, who threw what appeared to be a smoke bomb, is caught at a port in Wakayama.(AP)

The revelation came as police raided the home of Ryuji Kimura, the 24-year-old suspect, in Kawanishi, Hyogo Prefecture, in the early hours of Sunday.

Conducting wires found on both ends of one of the cylinders, which resembled a steel pipe, led investigators to believe that the objects may be pipe bombs, as such devices have gunpowder sealed inside a cylinder which is detonated by igniting a fuse, Japan Times wrote quoting NHK.

Police are still investigating whether the devices were designed to be lethal.

Also read: 'Heart still beating fast': Witness stunned as Japan PM attacked with explosive

The suspect, Kimura was also carrying a knife in his backpack at the scene, investigative sources said.

On Saturday evening, police reportedly urged residents near Kimura's home to evacuate to a nearby community centre as they feared explosives could be found. The neighbours were allowed to return home before dawn on Sunday after authorities confirmed it was safe, Japan Times reported.

The searches began at 1 am Sunday (Local Time) and lasted eight hours. Police removed more than a dozen cardboard boxes believed to contain confiscated items in connection with the incident, seizing what appeared to be gunpowder and a computer among other items.

Kishida spoke to reporters on Sunday commenting on the incident, calling violent attacks during elections "unforgivable."

He added that details on security will be verified as the investigation moves forward and that the nation must ensure safety during the upcoming Group of Seven summit and other events that bring together dignitaries from around the world.

"Together with the people of Japan, we will do our utmost to ensure safety during the diplomatic schedule," Kishida said.

Kishida was unharmed in the attack, with his security detail taking him to safety shortly before the sound of an explosion rang out and Kimura was subdued. One police officer suffered minor injuries on his left arm, Japan Times reported.

Also read: Japan PM resumes election campaign after blast incident: Report

During the attack, Kimura reportedly had two cylindrical objects, believed to be pipe bombs about 20 to 30 centimetres long. One object thrown by Kimura landed around a meter from the prime minister as he was about to begin a stump speech for a candidate in a Lower House by-election at Saikazaki fishing port in the city of Wakayama.

It exploded a few seconds later, shattering the cylinder. The other was seized by police as Kimura was held down, Japan Times reported.

Kimura was arrested on suspicion of obstruction of business and has so far not responded to police questioning, but he has said he will talk once his lawyer arrives, investigative sources have said.
A French court on Monday acquitted Airbus and Air France of manslaughter charges over the 2009 crash of Flight 447 from Rio to Paris. Airbus and Air France face potential fines of up to 225,000 euros each if convicted. (Reuters)

The accident killed 228 people and led to lasting changes in aircraft safety measures.

Sobs broke out among victims families in the courtroom as the judges read out the decision.

Also Read: Sensitise pilots, cabin crew on handling unruly flyers, says DGCA

The official investigation found that multiple factors contributed to the crash, including pilot error and the icing over of external sensors called pitot tubes.

A French court is ruling Monday on whether Airbus and Air France are guilty of manslaughter over the 2009 crash of Flight 447 en route from Rio to Paris, which killed 228 people and led to lasting changes in aircraft safety measures.

Acquittal is likely, in what would be a devastating defeat for victims families who fought for 13 years to see the case reach court.

The two-month trial left families wracked with anger and disappointment. Unusually, even state prosecutors argued for acquittal, saying that the proceedings didnt produce enough proof of criminal wrongdoing by the companies.

Prosecutors laid the responsibility primarily with the pilots, who died in the crash. Airbus lawyers also blamed pilot error, and Air France said the full reasons for the crash will never be known.

Also Read: Airbus soars with new jet factory in China as Apple pulls back

Airbus and Air France face potential fines of up to 225,000 euros ($219,000) each if convicted. While that is just a fraction of their annual revenues, a conviction for the aviation heavyweights could reverberate through the industry.

No one risks prison, as only the companies are on trial. Air France has already compensated families of those killed, who came from 33 countries. Families from around the world are among the plaintiffs, including many in Brazil.

The A330-200 plane disappeared from radar in a storm over the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009, with 216 passengers and 12 crew members aboard. It took two years to find the plane and its black box recorders on the ocean floor, at depths of more than 13,000 feet (around 4,000 meters).

Also Read: Airline Vistara operates long-haul wide-body aircraft using sustainable fuel

The official investigation found that multiple factors contributed to the crash, including pilot error and the icing over of external sensors called pitot tubes.

An Associated Press investigation at the time found that Airbus had known since at least 2002 about problems with the type of pitot tubes used on the jet that crashed, but failed to replace them until after the crash.

Air France is accused of not having implemented training in the event of icing of the pitot probes despite the risks. Airbus is accused of not doing enough to urgently inform airlines and their crews about faults with the pitots or to ensure training to mitigate the risk.

The crash had lasting impacts on the industry, leading to changes in regulations for airspeed sensors and in how pilots are trained.

Also Read: Airbus to sell 50 helicopters to China in deal announced during Macron's visit

The trial was fraught with emotion. Distraught families shouted down the CEOs of Airbus and Air France as the proceedings opened in October, crying out Shame! as the executives took the stand. Dozens of people who lost loved ones stormed out of the court as the trial wrapped up with the prosecutors surprising call for acquittal.
Lodging industry innovator WaterWalk recently introduced its first-ever conversion property, WaterWalk Atlanta - Perimeter Center. The location has undergone extensive interior and exterior modernizations to generate the upscale amenities of the brand's latest Generation 2.0 model. Located at 6096 Barfield Road in Sandy Springs, the newly renovated WaterWalk Atlanta - Perimeter Center features many elevated design elements and amenities, from the units themselves to the indoor and outdoor shared spaces.

"We are thrilled to take part in furthering tourism and providing innovative flexible lodging solutions in Atlanta," said Mimi Oliver, CEO of WaterWalk. "The newly renovated property will be a resource for all types of travelers who are looking to visit Atlanta without compromising on value and scale."

WaterWalk Atlanta - Perimeter Center is set in the heart of Sandy Springs' business center, providing travelers the best blend of an upscale extended-stay hotel and a place to call home with spacious units that can be personalized. The property houses 128 rooms - 89 fully furnished 'STAY' units and 39 ready to furnish 'LIVE' units that range in size from studio to two-bedroom lofts.

"WaterWalk is excited to continue our growth with the renovation and repositioning of WaterWalk Atlanta - Perimeter Center," said Stephen Armstrong, SVP of WaterWalk Brand. "We were able to incorporate our core brand elements and elevate this property with new contemporary kitchens, furnishings, and our brand standard of washers and dryers in every room."

Updates also include new appliances, hard surface flooring throughout, TVs and upgraded Wi-Fi for guests. The shared spaces of the property have also undergone renovations, with the common area game room and lobby now featuring a bean-to-cup espresso station, new furniture, TV and fireplace. The fitness center has been upgraded with new equipment - including Precor machines and a Peloton bike.

The outdoor space allows for an extension of living space with two BBQ grilling stations, fire pits, outdoor patio seating, and a refreshing outdoor pool. Additionally, keeping up with consumer trends, WaterWalk has also included a pickleball court with equipment available at the front desk. Renovations began last summer, and the location is targeting a grand opening at the end of April.

The premier flexible lodging brand's pipeline, which will result in a portfolio that doubles in size over the next 24 months, consists of numerous Gen 2.0 properties being constructed and additional properties under development. This includes properties currently under development in Boise, Idaho (slated to open in spring 2023); Tucson, Arizona (slated to open in summer 2023); Jacksonville, Florida (slated to open in summer 2023); and Huntsville, Alabama (slated to open in winter 2023).

For more information on WaterWalk, visit WaterWalk.com and stay up-to-date on the latest news by following WaterWalk on LinkedIn.

For more information or to book a 'LIVE' or 'STAY' at WaterWalk Atlanta - Perimeter Center, visit https://waterwalk.com/locations/waterwalk_atlanta_perimeter_center/.

Hotel website
Dubai, UAE  Bringing together government leaders, hotel investors, owners, developers and operators at what is set to be the biggest Future Hospitality Summit (FHS) to date, FHS Saudi Arabia will take place from 7-9 May at the Al Faisaliah Hotel in Riyadh.

Launched in partnership with Saudi Arabias G20 Secretariat in 2020, FHS Saudi Arabia is the most influential hospitality investment conference for industry leaders and senior decision-makers in the hospitality industry of Saudi Arabia and beyond. This will be the sixth industry conference organised by The Bench for the Saudi market.

We are thrilled to be back in Riyadh in May following the overwhelming success of our sold-out 2022 edition, and were delighted to be in a new and larger venue this year thanks to our host sponsors Al Khozama Investment Company and Al Faisaliah Hotel, said Jonathan Worsley, Chairman of The Bench. The demand for our hospitality events in Saudi Arabia continues to grow and with the Kingdom named as the fastest expanding tourism industry within the G20 countries in the UNWTO Tourism Barometer, there will be so much to share about tourism and hospitality investment and development at FHS Saudi Arabia this year.

This years conference theme, Invest in Change, highlights the importance of the positive change that can be brought forward through the investment in time, intellect and expertise in the hospitality industry to keep up with changing times and trends to better shape the future of the industry.

The action-packed three-day conference agenda will include tracks from the Global Restaurant Investment Forum (GRIF) and will have a strong focus on sustainability, innovation, start-ups and human capital development.

Delegates will have over 50 opportunities to network, learn and discuss with sessions that range in format from main stage presentations, hard talk interviews and panel discussions to case studies, culinary tours and dedicated networking time, added Worsley.

The first day is dedicated to the Global Restaurant Investment Forum (GRIF) focused on F&B investment and development in the Kingdom and beyond. This will include GRIFs signature Culinary Tours featuring LPM, The Brasserie, Mamo Michelangelo, Meraki and Yauatcha in Riyadh. The main FHS programme will kick off with the opening reception hosted by Al Khozama on Sunday evening.

We are thrilled to host the next Future Hospitality Summit at Al Faisaliah Hotel. It is an honor to bring together industry leaders and innovators to discuss the future of hospitality and shape the direction of our industry. Our team is excited to showcase our exceptional facilities and provide an unforgettable experience for all attendees. We look forward to welcoming delegates to our property and create lasting memories together, said Richard Johnson, GM of Al Faisaliah Hotel.

The official opening of the 2023 edition of FHS Saudi Arabia will take place on Monday 8 May with welcome remarks by His Highness Prince Bandar bin Saud bin Khalid Al Saud, Secretary General of the King Faisal Foundation and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Al Khozama.

Plenary sessions on Monday 8 May will cover a wide variety of topics including the evolution of the Saudi hospitality sector with a market snapshot in the FHS Intelligence Den, a panel discussion on the reinvention of hospitality space, a panel on the use of immersive technologies such as AI and the metaverse, as well as the business of luxury and wellness in a changing world, and a panel discussion on the main theme of the conference where industry leaders will share their insight on how they are investing in change.

Ian Wilson, Regional Director of Hospitality for THE LINE, NEOM, will be participating in the panel on the reinvention of commercial spaces and how hotel, retail and F&B sectors are merging to provide more value to customers.

In addition, there will be several on-stage interviews including a conversation between Glenn Mandziuk, Chief Executive Officer of the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, and CNNs Senior Reporter for Business Arabic, Widad Taleb, about the hospitality industrys response to climate change; a CEO Discussion on Real Estate Development and Hospitality Masterplans with Chris Lund, Executive Director, Head of Hospitality & Tourism MENA region at Colliers, and a Hard Talk session with Winnie Chiu JP, President and Executive Director Dorsett Hospitality International; Executive Director, Far East Consortium and Chairman of AGORA Hospitality Group and Oliver Bonke, Chief Executive Officer & Chairman of the Board of Management of Deutsche Hospitality on the return of Chinese outbound travellers and their influence on the future of tourism

Also speaking at FHS Saudi Arabia is Eng. Ahmed bin Wasl Al Juhani, Chief Executive Officer of Rua Al Madinah Holding, and he said: Rua Al Madinah Holdings flagship project is developing the area on the east of the Prophets Mosque in Madinah. The project will add 47,000 hotel rooms, ranging from five-star properties that offer direct views to the mosque, to two-star accommodations that cater to various visitors with different needs and preferences. The project aims to enrich the experience of expected 30 million visitors by year 2030 aligned with the Vision 2030 target.

The first day will conclude with a networking reception at Mansard Riyadh, a Radisson Collection Hotel, hosted by Radisson Hotel Group.

Elie Younes, Executive Vice President & Global Chief Development Officer of Radisson Hotel Group, said: "We look forward to welcoming delegates to a networking and relaxing reception at Mansard Riyadh, A Radisson Collection Hotel, our latest Radisson Collection Hotel in the Kingdom. We look forward to seeing everyone there for a memorable evening to relax, have some fun, forge new relationships, and strengthen existing ones.

The final day of FHS Saudi Arabia will focus on the future of hotel investment and development. Topics that will be tabled include attracting investment in the hospitality industry to accelerate growth and fuel a sustainable future; destination and hotel development in Saudi Arabia; the evolution of investing in holistic hospitality and activating innovation; acceleration and investment and urbanisation, and the development of new cities, to name but a few.

In addition, there will be a panel discussion with industry leaders, including Aseel Bondagjy, Hotel Talent Development Lead at NEOM, and Mae Al Mozaini,

Founder & CEO of The Arab Institute for Womens Empowerment-Nusf, on how to motivate the next generation of employees, where to educate them, and the sources of talent acquisition, as well as two on stage case studies that will cover lifestyle funds in the Kingdom and how the public and private sector are working together to enable Vision 2030 in Saudi Arabia.

FHS Saudi Arabia will conclude with a visit to Diriyah Gate, a seven square kilometre mixed-use historic, culture and lifestyle destination, set to become the Kingdoms historic and cultural heart.

New this year - Battle of the Brands

New at FHS Saudi Arabia this year is the Battle of the Brands, judged by an esteemed panel of judges and a unique opportunity for hotel operators and entrepreneurs to present their new brands to the Saudi market. Research indicates that Saudi hotel owners and developers are seeking fresh brand concepts to complement existing brands that are already in the market. This will be the ultimate platform for innovative and sustainable hotel concepts to showcase their brands that have yet to launch in the exciting hospitality landscape of Saudi Arabia.

For the first time at FHS Saudi Arabia - Start Up Den

The Bench is passionate about supporting start-ups and providing an opportunity for entrepreneurs to pitch their business model to a senior panel of judges and investors. Following the success of the Start Up Den at FHS in Dubai last September, this will be the first time that start-ups have the opportunity to pitch their business to industry delegates in Saudi Arabia. Prizes include incubation through STA providing workplaces within the Saudi hospitality industry. Register here.

For more information on the 2023 FHS event series please visit https://www.futurehospitalitysummit.com/. For FHS Saudi Arabia event registrations click here.

About The Bench

The Benchhas established a legacy for delivering world-leading investment forums and conferences in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. The key principle behind these platforms has remained "dealmaking'. Transforming the way business connect, Bench has developed a reputation for creating innovative and high-impact meeting spaces for the industry.

For over two decades - government leaders, tourism ministries, global travel & tourism associations, the world's most influential hospitality brands, hotel owners & investors, renowned restaurant groups, airlines & aviation authorities, destination developers, asset managers, financial groups and consultants  have been participating in The Bench's events for their respective objectives. These include AHIC, AHIF, GRIF, FHS, AHF, IDEEA, AviaDev and RENEW where industry players showcase their brands, position themselves as thought leaders or innovators, and connect with the right opportunities and knowledge.

Learn more on thebench.com

FHS Saudi Arabia

Dates: 7-9 May 2023

Location: Al Faisaliah Hotel, Riyadh, KSA

Sponsors: Al Faisaliah Hotel and Al Khozama Management Holdings as Host Sponsors; Accor, Boutique Group, Dur Hospitality, NEOM, Radisson Hotel Group, Rua Al Madina Holding, SRG, and Tourism Development Fund as Platinum Sponsors; Abu Dhabi Convention & Exhibition Bureau, Diriyah Company, IHG Hotels & Resorts, KAFD, Marriott International, Millennium Hotels & Resorts, Miral, Rotana and Taiba Investments as Emerald Sponsors, Aleph Hospitality; Blink Design Group, CBRE, Colliers; Compass Project Consulting, Crossover Lodge, DAR, Domus Management Housing, Dorsett Hospitality International, ELAF Group; HBA; IHCL, Insignia; JLL, Kerten Hospitality; Knight Frank, Legal Advisors Abdulaziz Alajlan & Partners in association with Baker & McKenzie Limited, Louvre Hotels Group; Mapal, Minor Hotels; OBMI, PwC, QUO, Rove Hotels, SECC Group, Spectrum, SSH, The Boundary, Voltere by Egis, Whitewater and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts as Gold Sponsors, Deutsche Hospitality, Hospitality Management Holding, HVS and Keane as Silver Sponsors and TGP International as GRIF-Saudi Arabia Platinum Sponsors.

Anne Bleeker

In2 Consulting

+971 56 603 0886

The Bench
April 2023: Adagio is returning to the screens from April 13, with a new advertising campaign (with three films in French, English and German) directed by French communications agency Josiane to support the development of the Adagio brand in France and Europe.

In February this year, Adagio unveiled its new brand identity with a redesigned graphic universe and a strong positioning, focusing on a new slogan Here For You in efforts to establish its position as the leader in the European aparthotel industry.

The new campaign focuses on the message I Lived There to make Adagio customers feel at home in the brand's aparthotels. The aim is to highlight, with humour and realism, a profound change in our societies, which increasingly values the use of different properties over ownership.

The creative idea stems from the observation that having a place of your own, where you go to all the time, was the aspiration of our elders. Adagio aims to meet the new desire of being able to discover a new place and still feel at home. It is to this paradox that Adagio responds: to be at home, everywhere, without being an owner. With Adagio, you can "live" everywhere, in the most beautiful cities, and immerse yourself in local life. Guests are welcomed by staff who are keen to share their recommendations and you will feel at home. With Adagio, you no longer feel like a tourist, but a real local. We experience the city as if we lived there.

In two films, particular emphasis is placed on the experience of local gastronomy  which is always at the heart of the discovery of a destination. There is also a focus on beautiful human encounters that give each city a face, revealing all the generosity shown by Adagio staff. This attention allows guests a new experience of the city: because the city is more beautiful when it is shared.

In addition to the video films, Adagio will share visuals adapted for the campaign throughout the year. In each movie, a key customer benefit will be highlighted: more than a tourist/traveller, become a Parisian, a Londoner, an Amsterdammer, etc.

Source: Accor

For Xavier Desaulles, Managing Director of Adagio, this campaign demonstrates how much the Adagio offer corresponds to our new lifestyles: The world is changing, and so are we. We want to live much more than just have! Having a place of your own for holidays or weekends and going to the same place all the time is outdated. Today, we want fewer constraints, more simplicity, and the chance to discover more. We want to be able to go everywhere and feel at home there. Be greeted when you arrive. Find your marks by putting down your suitcases. Being able to go out and immerse yourself in local life, but also be able to stay cocooned in the warmth and make yourself a good meal. Wanting the advantages of a home without the disadvantages may be paradoxical but at Adagio, we find it natural. In our aparthotels, you can have it all at the same time. Be at home, everywhere, without having the constraints. The best of both worlds what if that was true modernity?

Thanks to the Adagio teams who generously share their knowledge of the city, we are treated like we are home while having access to all the great recommendations and local people for guests it feels like they have become inhabitants of the city they have visited at the end of their stay instead of a tourist or a commuter. We imagined a character, who is a little cocky and appropriates with all the cities he has visited for barely 2 or 3 days, boasting about all the knowledge he has gained. Ah Rome I used to live there, How, you dont know so and so?, Malta? I lived there!" etc Laurent Allias, Founder of Josiane

The campaign will be broadcasted on TV and digitally across France and Germany while the focus for the UK is digital only from 13th April for the duration of 6 weeks.

Formats: 30' on TV and VOL and 15' on social media.

Credits:

Advertiser: Adagio

Agency: Josiane

Agency Manager: Laurent Allias

Advertiser Manager: Xavier Desaulles, Laurene Rohr, Sarah Bendaoud

Strategy Director: Evelyne Bourdonne

Strategic planner: Clara Laffont

Creative Director: Jerome Diez

Artistic Director: Theo Le Douaron

Copywriter: Romain Grange

Account Director: Fanny Kemp

Project manager: Lea Roux

Production: Animal Animal

Director: Julien Carpentier

About Adagio

Adagio combines the comfort of a flat with the services of a hotel for added convenience. Mainly found in city centres and sought-after regions. The innovative company Adagio was founded in France in 2007 as a joint venture between Accor and Pierre & Vacances Center Parcs. The idea was to offer a concept for the needs of long-term travellers. What was originally 16 aparthotels in two countries has now become a rapidly growing company with the aim of being present in Europe as well as in the Middle East and Latin America. Today, Adagio is the European market leader in the aparthotel sector and aims to expand its network to a total of 200 aparthotels with 15,000 flats by 2024. The three product lines are: Adagio Original: the heart of Adagio; Adagio access: the essence of Adagio, Adagio Premium: the exceptional Adagio.

Mason Williams Communications

Mason Williams is a Public Relations agency specialising in Consumer Lifestyle brands. Founded in 1986 we have worked with, and currently represent, some of the biggest and most exciting brands, products and names in the UK and globally through our network IPREX. We have key senior directors based in London, Manchester, Cornwall, and Mallorca to handle our growing Spanish brands.
WASHINGTON  A federal appellate court in California ruled Monday that a ban on natural gas hookups in Berkeley, Calif., is not allowed under federal energy laws.

The ruling came as cities and towns across the country have forbidden the construction of new buildings with natural gas systems, as they seek to battle climate change. Such measures could reduce demand for natural gas from producers in states like Texas.

A three-judge panel on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found that Berkeley's ban on natural gas systems was preempted, or superseded, by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, a 1970's era law designed to conserve American oil and natural gas resources.

"By its plain text and structure, EPCAs preemption provision encompasses building codes that regulate natural gas use by covered products, Judge Patrick Bumatay wrote for the panel. And by preventing such appliances from using natural gas, the new Berkeley building code does exactly that.

Berkeley's City Council in 2019 approved the ban on natural gas connections in new construction, which took effect in January 2020. That and further local bans on natural gas have drawn regular criticism from suppliers, who say they limited domestic demand at a time hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling had opened up vast new gas reserves in the United States.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit took a huge step today that will both safeguard energy choice for California consumers and help our nation continue on a path to achieving our energy and environmental goals, Karen Harbert, president of the American Gas Association, said in a statement.

The ruling stemmed from a 2019 lawsuit by the California Restaurant Association, which had argued that natural gas stoves were "crucial for restaurants to operate effectively and efficiently."

Monday's decision also overturned a 2021 ruling by a California federal judge, who had found the gas bans did not preempt federal energy law because they did not "directly regulate either the energy use or energy efficiency of covered appliances.

Some 20 Republican-led states, including Texas, have passed legislation prohibiting bans on natural gas appliances like those that have been instituted in dozens of cities around the country.

For natural gas producers and the utilities that distribute their product, which have spent years promoting the climate benefits of natural gas relative to coal, the recent attempts to ban natural gas appliances is an increasing cause of concern. Residential and commercial buildings account for more than 25 percent of natural gas demand, according to the Department of Energy.
WASHINGTON  The Texas Public Policy Foundation has for years made a name for itself in Washington and Austin campaigning on conservative issues such as rolling back pollution laws and cutting government spending.

Now the Austin-based think tank is seeking to stop President Joe Bidens plans to develop an offshore wind industry in the United States through a lawsuit aimed at blocking what would be the first U.S. commercial-scale offshore wind farm, Vineyard Wind off the coast of Massachusetts.

Attorneys for the foundation, which has long advocated for oil and gas interests and is acting on behalf of a group of local fishing companies, are awaiting a decision from a federal judge in Massachusetts on their claim that plans to construct more than 60 wind turbines measuring more than 800 feet in height would disrupt both fishermen and the endangered North Atlantic right whales that congregate in the area.

The full effects of these offshore wind farms is not fully known, but what we know is concerning, Robert Henneke, the foundation's executive director, said in an interview. A federal court determination this is unlawful would set precedent that would apply to all the other projects that are in progress.

The developers of Vineyard Wind, Connecticut-based Avangrid and the Danish investment firm Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, declined to comment. They are set to begin construction shortly and could be generating power this summer. A spokesman for the American Clean Power Association, which represent offshore wind developers, said he was confident projects would withstand "legal scrutiny."

The current slate of U.S. offshore wind projects under construction and development are among the most carefully planned and analyzed infrastructure projects in U.S. history," he said.

More than a dozen offshore wind projects are under development along the East Coast as developers rush to take advantage of increased power rates offered for offshore wind farms in Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey as they seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In the Gulf of Mexico, the Department of Interior is expected to hold a lease sale for offshore wind development later this year.

But the industry is facing a series of lawsuits and opposition campaigns from a coalition of homeowners, fishermen and conservative groups that have long opposed efforts to shift the nation to clean energy. In addition to the Texas Public Policy Foundations lawsuit, the Delaware-based Caesar Rodney Institute, which describes itself as protecting individual liberty, has been campaigning against offshore wind projects in that state and in Virginia.

Opponents are seeking to replicate the multi-year campaign that sank earlier offshore wind projects in the United States. The Obama administration in 2010 approved construction of a $2.6 billion wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts named Cape Wind that was ultimately abandoned after years of legal fights.

It is a strategy that could prove more difficult this time around, with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management moving more cautiously than it did in the past, said Timothy Fox, an analyst with the Washington consulting firm Clearview Energy Partners.

(Cape Wind) certainly was a lesson for BOEM and the industry, he said. They knew they were going to be challenged, and so you say, do you want to do it quickly or do you want to do it right?

Muddying the waters is a recent surge in dead whales washing up on beaches along the East Coast, with some environmentalists and conservative activists pointing fingers at the new wind farms under construction.

A dozen mayors in New Jersey, along with a group of Republican congressmen, have called for a moratorium on construction, but so far scientists say there is no connection to the wind farms and that the deaths were more likely the result of increased cargo ship traffic.

No whale mortality has been attributed to offshore wind activities, a spokesperson for fisheries division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in January.

In its environmental assessment of the Vineyard Wind project in 2021, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said the developers agreed to take steps to limit any impact on whales, including not drilling into the sea floor during months when whale populations in New England are high.

The focus on marine life by conservative groups has drawn skepticism from environmental groups, who question whether their motivation is more about protecting fossil fuel companies' interests than whales.

The board of directors of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, for instance, includes a number of Texas oilmen, including Tim Dunn of CrownQuest Operating in Midland and Cody Campbell of Double Eagle Energy Holdings in Fort Worth.

Its just a cynical disinformation campaign, John Hocevar, director of Greenpeace USAs oceans campaign, commented. It doesnt seem to worry them that its not based in any kind of evidence.

Asked about the criticism, Henneke maintained the lawsuit was based on, the harm this project caused to our clients and lasting damage to oceans all around the United States.
State lawmakers are considering ending some incentives to cryptocurrency mining facilities and restricting how those high-capacity computing centers can participate in electricity programs that pay them to shut down during times of peak demand.

Senate Bill 1751 would require digital currency mining facilities to register with the states electric grid operator, ERCOT, as whats called a large flexible load  essentially an operation that uses a lot of electricity but can shut down quickly when called upon. If passed, the legislation would also prohibit property tax breaks to digital currency mining facilities and would cap the industry's enrollment in ERCOTs emergency response services programs to 10 percent of all participants. The state Senate passed the bill 31-0 last week and sent it to the House.

Cryptocurrency, digital currency backed by a system of users instead of a central bank or government, is created when a certain number of digital coins are released each day. So-called miners use data centers stacked with powerful computers  which need a lot of electricity, sometimes rivaling that of a city  to continually guess a sequence of numbers to mine the coin faster than competitors.

RELATED: Ted Cruz is one of crypto's true believers, even as calls for regulation grow

Supporters of crypto say its a secure way to store cash without banks and governments, and say mines create jobs, especially in rural areas. Skeptics say the currency can easily be used by those trying to send cash for illegal purposes, such as trafficking in people, drugs or weapons, and say the mines use so much power they may help trigger emergency grid conditions even as they are able to capitalize on shutting down once electricity demand  and prices  are spiking.

Digital currency mining has surged in the last decade, and China had emerged as the go-to place for virtual coin miners. But the country banned cryptocurrency mining in 2021, shifting operations to other countries, including the U.S.

Texas is especially attractive because of the vast amount of renewable energy generated in the state. Because there are no fuel costs associated with wind and solar energy, on a sunny and windy day electricity prices in some areas of the state can be near zero. On overcast days absent of wind, prices go up as natural gas and coal power plants kick on.

There are now more than 30 digital currency mines in Texas, including Colorado-based Riot Blockchains mine in Rockdale, which claims to be the world's largest such operation. Forecasters at ERCOT have said demand from these operations could grow to 270,000 megawatts or more in the next four years. One megawatt can power about 200 Texas homes on a hot summer day, according to ERCOT.

Texas has said We have energy, we're open and we want you to bring your cryptocurrency work here, said Chris Bronk, an associate professor at the University of Houston and Rice who has studied computing for over two decades and is critical of the industry.

Crypto miners, he said, tend to do most of their work when cheap, renewable power is abundant on the grid, and will shut down when power prices rise. And they have been active participants in programs for large electricity users that compensate them for turning off electricity during peak demand. Last July, when temperatures soared and air conditioners kicked into high gear across the state, Riot Blockchain said it received $9.5 million in power credits for restricting its electricity use.

RELATED: Woodlands-based start-up is building massive data centers to stabilize ERCOT grid, help renewables

If passed, SB 1751 would limit how much crypto miners could participate in these programs, explained state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, one of the bill's sponsors, in a March committee hearing on the bill. The Brenham Republican said the bill would allow crypto facilities to account for just 10 percent of the participants in the emergency response services programs.

It's not a punitive bill, Kolkhorst said in the hearing. Instead, it simply removes incentives for an industry that clearly does not need that assistance.

Meanwhile, a group of national and Texas-based cryptocurrency and blockchain advocacy groups have banded together in opposition to the legislation, calling it anti-competitive for ending property tax abatements and limiting participation in emergency response programs.

This bill does not embody the free-market principles that have made Texas a global economic powerhouse, Lee Bratcher, president of the Texas Blockchain Council, said in a statement.

In addition to SB 1751, the Senate also passed a bill largely supported by the industry and policymakers. SB 1929, would also require virtual mining facilities to register with ERCOT as large but flexible users of electricity, and would order miners to provide a forecast for future electricity use.

Both pieces of legislation have passed out of the Senate and been sent to the House. SB 1929 has been referred to the House State Affairs committee while SB 1751 had not been assigned to a House committee as of Friday afternoon.
Nicole Mays cant bear to throw away records. Luckily, she owns a record store: Vinyl Heaven, in Dickinson. Of the dozens of milk crates, cardboard boxes and plastic storage bins that fill the small-town shop, one is reserved for LPs Mays gives away free of charge, one per purchase. Or tries to, anyway.

When it gets to where nobodys taking a free one, that means that if they're not taking it for free, I probably need to either get rid of it or take it to Goodwill, she says, and that's sad.

She cringes thinking about the condition of the records some people have shown up expecting her to take off their hands. They pull it out of the closet, or their garage even, and that damages the covers, says Mays. Then they just bring them in, and theres bugs and stuff in the box, mold on the covers. There's dust everywhere. Ive seen some gross stuff.

MORE MUSIC NEWS: Animated metal band Dethklok will kick off a very real Metalocalypse tour with Babymetal in Houston

Mays grew up in the League City area and collected records for fun long before they became her livelihood. Regular visits to bygone stores such as Sound Warehouse at Baybrook Mall, Infinite Records in Montrose and Texas Tapes N Records in Pasadena seeded her collection, which today numbers between 6,000 and 7,000, she estimates. Wisely, she never threw them out.

She worked in retail for years until deciding shed just as soon be her own boss. I had enough records to open my own store, and I made it happen, Mays says.

Vinyl Heaven Where: 401a FM 517, Dickinson Hours: Noon-6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday; noon-5 p.m. Sunday Details: 409-539-8989; facebook.com/vinylheaven2014 Note: For a list of Record Store Day releases, see recordstoreday.com. See More Collapse

Her inventory grew rapidly after she started buying other peoples collections. First came a booth at the Alvin Antique Center, little bigger than a decent walk-in closet. She came in on the weekends; otherwise customers brought their records to the front register. But Mays wanted to keep a better eye on her inventory, and in early 2017 opened the original Vinyl Heaven on the Interstate 45 feeder near League City Parkway. It was right by her storage unit, but that came with its own set of issues: little parking, trouble with a sign and the suffocating nightmare of ongoing Gulf Freeway expansion.

She likes the new location, which opened off FM 517 in August 2021, much better. Albums line the walls; bin after bin after bin of LPs of all genres, new and used, fill the floor area. Music paraphernalia is everywhere else  buttons, T-shirts, posters, even a few CDs, cassettes and 8-tracks. A listening lounge is set up near the sales counter, behind which lie the choice collectibles. It feels homey but not overcrowded, a problem Mays says she had at her last location.

When I was growing up, I had rock stars all over my walls and my bedroom, she adds. I wanted to make it like (that). A lot of people don't even realize the ones on the wall are for sale, but the ones that I put on the wall are the ones I think (are) my special ones. I probably need to change some out that I havent sold in a while, but I wanted to make it that kind of vibe.

With the exception of Sweet Spot Audio in Webster, which opened in 2010, Vinyl Heaven has Galveston County all to itself in terms of records. (Not counting the vinyl trade at Half Price Books, Walmart, or Target, that is.) Mays says people come from all over the region: Lake Jackson, Galveston, Kemah, Clear Lake, Houston. Many come from Pasadena; more than one has told her Vinyl Heaven reminds them of Texas Tapes N Records.

Her own ears perk up at Blondie, Heart, Fleetwood Mac and Led Zeppelin, but Mays has come to appreciate the wide-ranging tastes of her regulars, the majority of whom she says are between ages 15 and 25. (Repeat customers pretty much keep the store open, she adds.) Modern and classic rock both sell well, as do hip-hop, country, and anything Taylor Swift and Lana Del Rey put out. The delayed green-vinyl exclusive of Did you know theres a tunnel under Ocean Blvd will be in soon, Mays promises.

Local DJs often come in to browse the shops 12-inch singles; others prefer its ample punk, new wave and metal selections. One kid of about 13 likes to come in sporting a Dio jacket. He'll mow the lawn to get money to come in to pay for his records now, because his dad makes him work for it, notes Mays.

Saturday is Record Store Day, the biannual promotion meant to boost business at the nations brick-and-mortar music shops, chiefly through hundreds of unique releases by a kaleidoscopic array of contemporary and classic artists. Even though their queen is performing the previous evening at NRG Stadium  as she is Saturday and Sunday  Mays expects Swifties to show up en masse and early to snap up the RSD-exclusive double-LP folklore: the long pond studio sessions. Last time, they began showing up around midnight and had formed a line down the building by 7 a.m. The shop opens at 9.

This time, I think its going to be about the same, says Mays, because those Taylor Swift people are serious.
On Scene Media

Two people were dead after a man shot his girlfriend late Sunday before barricading himself in a Sugar Land home that soon caught fire, officials said. By the time officers got into the home, the man also was dead.

A woman called police around 11 p.m. and said she was being assaulted by her boyfriend at a home in the 4100 block of Issacks Way, James Davis, assistant police chief for the Sugar Land Police Department, told On Scene reporters. When the first responding officer arrived, he saw a man assaulting a woman before pulling a gun and shooting her.
Conroe ISD will keep the novel "Ramona Blue" -- which chronicles a teenager struggling with her sexuality, a pregnant sister and poverty -- on library shelves following a hearing Tuesday night.

In a 5-2 vote, trustees upheld the decision by the district's book reconsideration committee to keep the book by Julie Murphy in high school libraries. Any junior high libraries with the book will send their copies to the high school in its feeder zone.

Trustees Misty Odenweller and Tiffany Nelson opposed the decision, saying that while the book had redeeming social value, their votes were based on the mature content of the book and that a parent has the right to decide if they want their child to have access to that material.

On YourConroeNews.com: Willis ISD ends security contract with Montgomery County Precinct 1 Constable's Office after mistreatment complaints

In November, Alex Harris requested the reconsideration committee review the book based on the sexual content and Ramonas struggle with her sexuality. Harris does not have any children in Conroe ISD schools.

On YourConroeNews.com: Woodlands Elite cheerleaders shot after one got in wrong car in Texas H-E-B parking lot, 1 arrested

Ramona Blue is the third book Harris has challenged. He also challenged The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood and All Boys Arent Blue by George M. Johnson.

Both were removed from district library collections for not meeting the districts selection criteria for instructional resources and library materials.

CISD spokeswoman Sarah Blakelock said Harris also has challenged district textbooks Texas Biology, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2015 and Aquatic Science, published by McGraw Hill in 2014.

Blakelock said those reconsideration requests are pending.

During Tuesday's hearing, Harris said there is a growing movement with young adult literature that is focused on sexual content and sexual orientation.

This is a movement that is operating in our nation that is coming to indoctrinate our children and desensitize to sex, Harris said. That is the force we are battling. Thats the agenda and that is what is wrong with this book. The message is youve got to figure out your identity. Youve got to figure out your orientation.

CISD Director of Information Services Jared Lambert upheld the committees decision to keep the book in high school libraries.

I submit in this case, removal is inappropriate, Lambert said during the hearing Tuesday. The book has redeeming social values for minors, including many (students) in this district.

Ramona Blue," Lambert said, is a story of struggle, survival and hope where the character must determine responsibilities to their families, options for their future and college.

It is my opinion the reconsideration committee was correct in its decision, Lambert said. I do not find the work to be obscene or harmful.

Board President Skeeter Hubert said the sexual content in the book is moderate.

I saw just a tremendous amount of redeeming qualities (in the book), Hubert said.

The hearing comes three months after the board upheld a decision by reconsideration committee to keep the coming-of-age novel "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" on high school library shelves but agreed to pull the book from classroom curriculum.

The district reconsideration committee also is reviewing Sunny Side Up by Jennifer Holm.

Sunny Side Up is a graphic novel about a young girl who is sent to Florida to spend the summer with her grandfather and has flashbacks to months before when she and her family watched her teenage brother struggle with substance abuse.

The board's decision on Tuesday is the third step of the district's process for books brought to the committee.

The committee first reviews the book and makes a decision. If the person seeking to remove the book disagrees with that decision, it is reviewed and a decision is made to uphold or overturn it. If that second decision is appealed, the issue goes before the school board for a final review.
ONTARIO, Oregon (AP)  Authorities have arrested a man suspected of fatally shooting an eastern Oregon reserve police officer after a car chase over the weekend, prosecutors said Monday.

Officer Joseph Johnson, a 43-year-old reserve officer for the Nyssa Police Department, was unable to return fire before he died Saturday night. The suspect fled, and Johnson was found dead in his car when sheriffs officers and medical workers arrived.

Malheur County District Attorney David Goldthorpe said the shooting happened after Johnson responded to a report of a violent person damaging property and threatening people at a house. When he arrived, the people at the house told Johnson the suspect had left in a car, and Johnson then pursued him through the area, Goldthorpe said.

The suspect eventually pulled over and began shooting, Goldthorpe said, hitting Johnson while he was still in his car and before he had time to return fire or defend himself.

Law enforcement agencies searched for the suspect throughout the weekend, and the Nyssa School District told parents that students would be allowed to stay home if they wished and schools would modify security procedures and recess hours out of an abundance of caution during the search.

It was not immediately known if the suspect has retained an attorney. He has not been charged.

Nyssa, population 3,200, is near the Idaho state line about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of Boise.

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek ordered flags at public institutions to be flown at half-mast until sundown Monday in honor of Johnson.

This is an absolute tragedy, she said in a statement. Officer Johnsons service and dedication to his community and our state will not be forgotten.

Johnson is survived by a wife and two children.

Nyssa Police Chief Don Ballou wrote in a Facebook post that the department was working closely with the Oregon Fallen Badge Foundation to provide assistance to Johnson's family. He said the shooting sent a shockwave through our loving community.

I do not have the words to describe a loss of this magnitude; the loss of of one of Nyssa's finest, dedicated and most humble servants, Reserve Corporal Joseph Johnson, he wrote.
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Alan Poole, Cornell University

(THE CONVERSATION) A hundred years ago, a person wandering the back roads of coastal New England might have come across an odd sight: at the edge of a farmyard, cheek by jowl with pigs and chickens and cows, a tall pole topped with a massive stick nest. And standing guard in the nest, a large brown-backed, white-headed wild bird of prey  an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus).

Farmers in this region knew that nesting Ospreys were vigilant watchdogs, quick to chase chicken-hawks and other predators away. But as fish eaters, Ospreys were no threat to farm animals. And they were trusting enough to live comfortably near humans. So farmers lured them by building them places to nest  generally, an old wagon wheel atop a bare pole, mimicking the dead trees in which Ospreys had nested for millennia.

Although these clever farmers didnt know it, they were pioneering methods that would help to bring Ospreys back from the edge of extinction decades later. As I recount in my new book, Ospreys: The Revival of a Global Raptor, these birds have made a spectacular recovery from chemical pollution, guns and traps, thanks to many dedicated conservationists and an amazing ability to thrive in close quarters with humans.

Gone in the blink of an eye

Up to 1950, Ospreys were one of the most widespread and abundant hawks in North America. Few rivers, lakes or ocean shorelines lacked a nesting pair. In certain favorable spots, such as islands along the Atlantic coast, wooded swamps in Florida and western states, and shallow-water lagoons bordering the Gulf of Mexico and Baja California, hundreds of nests were often clustered together in just one or two square miles.

But the bottom dropped out after World War II. Insecticides developed for military use  particularly DDT  flooded onto the civilian market to control farm and forest pests and mosquitoes in towns and villages. These chemicals accumulated in food chains, so Ospreys received large doses from the fish they consumed. In their bodies, DDT thinned their eggshells, causing a disastrous drop in the number of eggs that produced live chicks. In addition, other insecticides poisoned nestling and adult Ospreys.

By the mid-1960s, the number of Ospreys breeding along the Atlantic coast between New York City and Boston had fallen by 90 percent. And, as I document in my book, most other populations in the United States and Canada had declined by half to two-thirds.

This was the era of Silent Spring, biologist Rachel Carsons blockbuster expose, which sounded one of the first alarms about the hidden environmental costs of pesticides.

Ospreys played a lead role in this drama. Their well-documented crash provided concrete data for court cases brought to block indiscriminate spraying. Sanity prevailed: The most lethal and persistent insecticides were banned by the 1970s, giving Ospreys and other birds, including the Bald Eagle and Peregrine Falcon, a respite in the nick of time.

A seismic shift in nesting sites

But restoring robust numbers of Ospreys to regions where most or all of the breeders were gone required more than just curbing the flow of environmental contaminants. Nest sites were increasingly scarce along shorelines as development consumed old pastoral landscapes. With fewer safe places to raise young, Osprey recovery prospects appeared dim, no matter how clean the environment or how abundant local fish populations were.

But concerned naturalists took a cue from those old farmyard nest poles and began to erect new poles in the 1970s and 80s, especially along the broad ribbon of salt marshes hugging the Atlantic seaboard. Ospreys adapted remarkably, zeroing in to nest on these poles, as well as on a kaleidoscope of other artificial sites springing up along U.S. coasts and rivers: power and lighting structures, channel markers and buoys, and more recently, even megatowers supporting cellphone and other electronic communications equipment. Other nesting birds of prey make occasional use of such sites, but Ospreys have been the champion colonizers.

No one could have predicted such a dramatic shift a generation ago, or what a boost it would give to Osprey numbers. Within just a few miles of where I live along the Massachusetts coast, over 200 Ospreys now nest each year, lured in by abundant nest poles weve built on wide-open marshes. Fewer than 20 Ospreys were found here in the 1960s.

This is not an isolated phenomenon. Thousands of pole nests now dot the coastal landscape from Maine to Florida  testimony to persistent work by hundreds of dedicated people. In Florida, at least 1,000 pairs of Ospreys have made cell towers their nesting homes. Along the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, nearly 20,000 Ospreys now arrive to nest each spring  the largest concentration of breeding pairs in the world. Two-thirds of them nest on buoys and channel markers maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard, who have become de facto Osprey guardians.

A global resurgence

These new nests have powered quick growth in numbers, with more Ospreys in the United States and Canada today than ever before. Many are colonizing new areas.

And this revival extends well beyond the Americas. Ospreys have a global reach, from Scotland to Japan and from the Mediterranean to Australia. Particularly in Europe, where most Ospreys were eliminated by guns and traps rather than by insecticides, we are seeing extraordinary recoveries.

Traveling to Europe in the summer of 2016 to research my book, I discovered flourishing new osprey populations. Artificial nest sites  supports built mostly in trees to stabilize existing nests and encourage new ones  were plentiful and packed with young ospreys ready to fledge. In Germany, shallow wire baskets secured atop enormous power pylons provided foundations for hundreds of new nests that had taken hold in areas long-abandoned by Ospreys.

Some researchers complain that providing these birds with nest sites is making them prisoners of platforms  creating artificial populations where none were meant to be. But rampant coastal development, plus industrial farming and forestry in surrounding regions, have badly degraded the landscapes in which Ospreys once thrived. To have robust numbers of this species back again is a reward for all who value wild animals, and a reminder of how nature can rebound if we address the key threats.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/ospreys-recovery-from-pollution-and-shooting-is-a-global-conservation-success-story-111907.
Houston Chronicle

A Houston man has been sentenced to 50 years in prison in connection with the 2018 shooting death of his friend and the wounding of another in southwest Houston, according to court records.

Christopher Joseph Cruz, 26, pleaded guilty to murder in connection with the death of Raymond James Lindgren in January 2018, court records show. Cruz opted to have a judge assess his sentence, according to the Harris County district attorneys office.
Courtesy of Metro Video Services

Two men were injured late Sunday in northwest Houston when four men in a Chevrolet Tahoe pulled up and robbed them at gun point before returning about an hour later and shooting them, police said.

Officers around 10:20 p.m. were called to a report of a shooting in the 2300 block of Haldane Drive, Lt. J.P. Horelica of the Houston Police Department told Metro Video Services reporters. Investigators arrived and realized the shooting happened about 300 feet away, in the 11600 block of Kilburn Road.
Dennis Storemski, one of Houston's top public safety officials for 13 years who led the city through Hurricanes Rita, Ike and Harvey, has died. He was 76.

Storemski, who brought hundreds of millions in federal funding for anti-terrorism efforts and created public safety education tools used across the country, died Friday, according to his family. He served as Director for the Office of Public Safety and Homeland Security from 2005 to 2018, and previously served as a Houston police officer for 38 years, rising to the rank of assistant chief.

He also was selected for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Advisory Council in 2013 and served on the International Association of Chiefs of Police Committee on Terrorism.

From 2008 to 2012, Storemski oversaw the production of public safety videos on hurricanes, mass shootings and terrorism attacks, many of which went on to be used across the U.S. and in Australia, Germany and Japan as tools to train the public. He also helped direct the effort to upgrade the radios used by the Houston Police Department to allow them to communicate with other law enforcement agencies in nearby counties.

Upon his appointment to FEMA's National Advisory Council, former Houston mayor Annise Parker praised Storemski as having a "national reputation for being an expert on public safety, emergency preparedness and homeland security." When Storemski retired in 2018, Mayor Sylvester Turner said he'd had a "tremendous impact" and helped the city benefit "on so many different levels."

"How many people can say that they spent a long career being paid for something (they) love doing? I can," Storemski told City Council in 2018. "How many people can say they spent their entire career and have no regrets? ... I can say I would never change a thing that ever happened in my career. I've been very blessed."

A visitation for Storemski is to be held from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday at Prince of Peace Catholic Church, followed by a funeral Mass at 10 a.m. Friday.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

As the sun set Saturday night over Alief, Mujahid Fletcher broke his Ramadan fast reflecting on how much his mosque has grown.

Founded two decades ago by the native Colombian and former Catholic, IslamInSpanish Centro Islamico is now a leading organization for a growing community of Houston-area Latino Muslims who lacked resources about the religion in their language.

The centers mostly Latino devotees now include Muslims from all over the world and it has emerged as one of the most prominent Spanish-speaking mosques in the country.

Celebrating our common humanity leads to what were seeing here, Fletcher said. We wanted to set up a place where people, Muslim or not, could come and feel welcome regardless.

On HoustonChronicle.com: La Luz del Mundo leaders enabled sex abuse for years, former members say

The mosque is appealing because of how it blends Latino culture with Islamic traditions, said Rafe Biswas, a 36-year-old Houstonian of Bangladeshi descent.

Biswas, a professor at the University of Texas at Tylers Houston Engineering Center, has been living in Houston for a decade and said he has not found a mosque as welcoming as IslamInSpanish.

My friends ask me why I would go here, and I tell them that its meant to be a place for all Muslims, he said.

The mosque is a leader in a growing trend nationally. Across the country, 7 percent of Muslims identified as Latino in 2018, up from just 1 percent in 2009, according to the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, a Washington-based advocacy group. The Pew Research Center says the number of Muslims living in the U.S. increased to 3.5 million in 2017, up from 2.5 million a decade earlier. Roughly a quarter-million of them are Latinos, according to Pew.

The Houston-area mosque is unique in how men and women pray together, an unconventional practice in Islam but similar to the Christian backgrounds that many of IslamInSpanishs converts come from.

Joe Robles/Contributor

And the food, Biswas added.

Most community dinners at the mosque are potluck-style meals, so Latin American staples such as flautas, empanadas and tres leches cake are common.

Foods from other cultures are also showcased at the events, as was the case Saturday night when a Pakistani couple brought butter chicken, basmati rice and naan.

Even as IslamInSpanish becomes more multicultural, with faithful coming from everywhere from Jamaica to Japan, the mosque has continued to be a refuge for Latino converts to the religion, Fletcher said.

ON RELIGION: Percentage of Latino Catholics still surpasses other religions in Texas

Will Perdomo, a 23-year-old from Alief who is studying to become a teacher, has studied Islam for a year and converted a few weeks ago at the beginning of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month.

When I pray, I feel closer, he said of his conversion through IslamInSpanish. Its like, Hey, God, its me finally.

The organization sponsors a clothing giveaway for recent converts who dont always have proper attire for celebrations such as Eid, which marks the end of Ramadan.

For Johnny Lopez, who converted nearly two years ago, IslamInSpanish has provided the stability hes longed for since he was a child growing up in north Houston.

The 25-year-old said he was surrounded by gang culture in his youth, and he began studying Islam after his son was born. He and his wife, originally Christians, eventually converted to Islam after their childs birth.

I was raised around a lot of negativity, Lopez said. This has given me a bigger family.

Joe Robles/Contributor

Others, such as Jessica Disla, have come from across the country to join IslamInSpanish.

Disla, 43, grew up in the Dominican Republic and later settled in New York Citys Washington Heights neighborhood, which is predominantly Latino.

After converting three years ago, Disla said she was disillusioned by difficulties she experienced as a Latina Muslim in New York, such as the lack of community.

A trip to Houston during Ramadan in 2021 convinced her to move her family to Texas.

When I got here, it sort of felt like visiting family, said Disla, who is now the mosques administrator. Instead of it feeling like a strange place, it was like walking into a cousins house for a family reunion.

More from Jhair Romero: Ellen Ochoa reflects on historic career 30 years after becoming first Latina in space

Islam resonates with many Latinos because of a shared cultural past rooted in centuries of Muslim rule over what is now Spain between the eighth and 15th centuries, Fletcher said. Many Arabs immigrated to parts of countries like Colombia and Mexico after they won independence from Spain in the 1800s, spreading their religion as well, he added.

He plans to pay tribute to those roots with a museum inside IslamInSpanishs 10,000-square-foot facility, which is an upgrade from the bank-turned-mosque the center used to reside in. Fletcher also hopes to remodel the building to resemble traditional Islamic architecture from Spain and the Middle East.

(IslamInSpanish) is almost like a social experiment for what many of us and our ancestors wish would come back, he said.

Joe Robles/Contributor

Samina Malik, from Pakistan, has seen IslamInSpanish grow from a small educational nonprofit founded in the early 2000s to its current facility right under the Alief water tower where hundreds can now gather.

Like Biswas, she and her family have visited multiple mosques throughout Houston but havent found a fit quite like this one.

Its the people, she said of IslamInSpanish. They make you feel like youre part of this community.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND  SpaceX scrubbed its launch from South Texas on Monday due to a pressurization issue in the first stage of the rocket. It has been rescheduled for Thursday.

The company had been planning to launch its Super Heavy rocket and Starship spacecraft from Boca Chica, and eager onlookers flocked to neighboring South Padre Island well before sunrise. They toted beach chairs and coolers to a waterfront roughly 5 miles from the rocket. Children played in the waves as the sun peaked over the horizon.

They wanted to see the world's most powerful rocket fly for the first time. Super Heavy has 33 engines and will generate more than 16 million pounds of thrust. It's twice as powerful as NASA's Saturn V rocket that sent Apollo astronauts to the moon.

MORE ON THE LAUNCH: SpaceX set for South Texas launch of Super Heavy, the world's most powerful rocket

SpaceX founder Elon Musk had a hunch the launch could be postponed.

"It's the first launch of a very complicated, gigantic rocket," Musk said Sunday during a conversation on Twitter Spaces. We're going to be very careful. And if we see anything that gives us concern, we'll postpone the launch."

Super Heavy and Starship represent a new era in space exploration. The fully reusable vehicle can push between 100 and 150 tons into low-Earth orbit. Many believe it will bring down the cost of accessing space.

NASA plans to use Starship to lower its astronauts to the moon in 2025  NASA's Orion spacecraft can't land on the moon, so the crew will transfer to Starship for this part of the mission  and Musk wants Starship to put humans on Mars.

"We've got an arduous two or three years ahead of us with probably, you know, many bumps on the road," Musk said Sunday. "But at the end of that, we should have something that enables a base on the moon and a base on Mars."

But first, Starship must fly from South Texas. Musk said a valve appeared to be frozen, so SpaceX turned Monday's launch into a wet dress rehearsal. It practiced loading the rocket with propellant but didn't ignite the engines.

It has been nearly two years since SpaceX launched from South Texas. Starship prototypes took five high-altitude flight tests between December 2020 and May 2021, four of them exploded, and the company has since focused on developing its Super Heavy rocket and working through an environmental review.

When its massive rocket does launch, Super Heavy is expected to push Starship upward for 2 minutes and 49 seconds. Super Heavy would then separate from the spacecraft and land in the Gulf of Mexico about 20 miles from Boca Chica. Starship would continue around the planet and, about an hour and a half after liftoff, splash down off the coast of Hawaii.

But that's if everything goes right.

"If we get far enough away from the launch pad before something goes wrong, I think I would consider that to be a success," Musk said Sunday. "If we get any information that allows us to improve the design of upcoming builds of Starship, then it is a success."
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

8:25 a.m. update: SpaceX scrubbed its launch from South Texas on Monday due to a pressurization issue in the first stage of the rocket.

The company had been planning the maiden voyage of its Super Heavy rocket and Starship spacecraft from Boca Chica, an area outside of Brownsville. Crowds of onlookers had arrived to South Padre Island well before sunrise, carrying beach chairs and coolers or pulling children in wagons.

But SpaceX founder Elon Musk said a valve appeared to be frozen. SpaceX turned Monday's launch into a wet dress rehearsal, where it practiced loading the rocket with propellant but didn't ignite the engines. Another launch attempt won't occur before Wednesday.

Earlier: SpaceX is debuting the world's most powerful rocket in South Texas.

The Super Heavy rocket and Starship spacecraft are expected to take their maiden flight on Monday at 8:20 a.m. SpaceX will provide a live video about 45 minutes before liftoff, though SpaceX founder Elon Musk said there's a good chance the launch gets postponed.

"It's the first launch of a very complicated gigantic rocket," he said Sunday night on a live talk via Twitter Spaces. "So it might launch tomorrow, but we're going to be very careful. And if we see anything that gives us concern, we'll postpone the launch."

SPACEX IN BROWNSVILLE: Elon Musk brings exploding rockets and real estate to South Texas. Not everyone is happy.

The company has spent years developing the fully reusable Super Heavy rocket and Starship spacecraft in Boca Chica, outside of Brownsville. It has launched Starship prototypes on high-altitude flight tests  which often ended in fireballs  but it has never launched Starship atop the Super Heavy rocket.

That's why Monday's flight test will be watched around the world. Space enthusiasts will be eager to see the rocket's revolutionary technology and sleek design. Entrepreneurs will be intrigued by the potential for a dramatically cheaper ride into orbit. And NASA will be seeking an update on the Starship spacecraft that's supposed to lower astronauts to the moon.

Locals will also be tuning in. Some will watch from rooftops, cheering for what has become one of the largest employers in Cameron County. Others will fret from their homes, worrying for the sensitive mudflats that surround the rocket and provide food for dozens of shorebird species.

Either way, the launch of 33 rocket engines will be hard to miss.

At liftoff, the Super Heavy rocket will push Starship upward for 2 minutes and 49 seconds. Super Heavy would then separate from the spacecraft and land in the Gulf of Mexico about 20 miles from Boca Chica. Starship would continue around the planet and, about an hour and a half after liftoff, splashdown off the coast of Hawaii.

"If we get far enough away from the launch pad before something goes wrong, I think I would consider that to be a success," Musk said Sunday. "If we get any information that allows us to improve the design of upcoming builds of starship, then it is a success."

With 33 engines, Super Heavy is twice as powerful as the Saturn V

Super Heavy emits between 16 million and 17 million pounds of thrust as it throttles toward space.

That's twice as powerful as the Saturn V rocket that sent Apollo astronauts to the moon with 7.6 million pounds of thrust. Super Heavy also surpasses NASA's Space Launch System rocket that sent an uncrewed capsule to the moon last year with 8.8 million pounds of thrust.

Super Heavy has 33 engines. No rocket has launched with so many before. Current U.S. rockets have no more than nine engines in a single booster, though the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket combines three Falcon 9 boosters, for a total of 27 engines.

The Soviet Union came close to Starship with the N1 rocket's 30 engines  each of its four launches failed within seconds of liftoff.

"You don't have to be an engineer to realize, jeez, that's a lot of valves and pipes and gaskets," said Phil Smith, a space industry analyst at BryceTech.

SpaceX has simplified the plumbing inside its engines, which should help it ignite 33 at one time.

Yet Musk mentioned the N1 rocket multiple times on Sunday. One of his biggest fears ahead of launch was that one engine would explode and take out other engines or the launch pad. He was particularly worried about losing the launch pad as it would take several months to rebuild.

But why so many? Smith said it comes down to redundancy. Think of a commercial airliner. If one engine goes out, the plane typically has one, two or three other engines that will get it to a comfortable landing.

Still, he's eager to see how SpaceX manages 33 engines on Monday.

"Will it work?" Smith asked. "Because operationally it has not been proven."

Landing Starship off the coast of Hawaii would be 'historic'

Smith will consider the mission a success if Super Heavy survives the 2 minutes and 49 seconds its engines are supposed to be ignited.

But that's actually the easier part.

Operations will become more complex when Super Heavy separates from Starship. It's important that these two vehicles don't collide.

Then Starship's engines have to ignite. And after nearly three minutes of shaking and rattling, Smith said it's possible that something gets knocked out of place and an engine doesn't turn on.

If the Starship engines do ignite, they're expected to burn for more than six minutes. Then they will turn off and the spacecraft will essentially coast around the planet to land off the coast of Hawaii.

"That will be a historic moment," Smith said.

It could also be awesome to watch if SpaceX shares the video. A graphic released by SpaceX suggests Starship could belly flop into the Pacific Ocean.

"Seeing that thing come down and hit the water, I think would be very striking," said Jason Davis, senior editor at the Planetary Society, a nonprofit that seeks to popularize space exploration.

On future missions, SpaceX wants both Super Heavy and Starship to land in an upright, vertical position. SpaceX would use giant robotic arms to help catch the Super Heavy.

Ken Ellis/Staff illustration

Accessing space could become cheaper than ever before

SpaceX is already credited with bringing down the cost of accessing space. Its reusable Falcon 9 rocket, which launches up to 60 times a year, has reduced the price to between $2,500 and $3,000 per kilogram of cargo, Smith said.

On Starship, he said each kilogram could cost less than $1,000.

That's largely because Starship will be able to push between 100 and 150 tons into low-Earth orbit, which is significantly more than the Falcon 9 rocket's 25 tons. The ability to launch more items means each individual item costs less.

Is there enough demand for a rocket this big? Not yet, space analysts said, but they expect businesses will find new, innovative uses for this cheaper rocket once it's reliable.

And in the meantime, SpaceX will use Starship to launch the satellites for its Starlink broadband internet service.

"That solves the early question of, 'Well, what the hell are you going to put inside this rocket?'" said Brendan Rosseau, a teaching fellow and research associate focused on the economics of space at Harvard Business School. "You'll see more and more people designing satellites specifically for Starship. It's a different kind of vehicle, and you can think about and design satellites a little bit differently."

And while he agreed that Starship will bring down the cost of accessing space, he said it might not be as dramatic as some are expecting. Because Starship will do work that is now done by another SpaceX rocket: the Falcon 9.

"They're only cutting into their own margins, and launch is a pretty tough industry," Rosseau said. "That's something that we're watching for. When this does come online and they do start launching it with some frequency, what will be the actual cost that they're charging people?"

Monday's launch is another step toward Mars

SpaceX is designing Starship to take humans to Mars. But first, it will help NASA return to the moon.

The agency's Orion capsule can carry astronauts to the moon's orbit, but it can't land them on the surface. So NASA selected Starship to land its Artemis III crew on the moon in 2025. Super Heavy will launch an empty Starship to the moon, and astronauts will transfer from Orion into Starship to be lowered to the lunar surface.

"We have a very tight schedule between now and landing on the moon," Smith said. "We need to see this thing work not just once or twice or three times. We need to see it work a lot between now and then."

Starship prototypes took five high-altitude flight tests from December 2020 to May 2021. Only the fifth prototype landed without exploding, and SpaceX hasn't launched from Boca Chica since then. It has spent nearly two years developing the Super Heavy rocket and working through environmental review.

Landing humans on the moon in 2025 will be very difficult.

"There's just so many things that have to happen in two years," said Davis with the Planetary Society. "Realistically, we're not going to be able to meet that deadline."

"But who knows? Stranger things have happened."
Austin is the No. 1 city in Texas on Apartment Advisor's new list of the 2023 Best Cities for College Graduates. Houston did not make the top 10.

To compile the list, analysts ranked the 84 largest U.S. cities and scored them based on employment rates, rent prices and average salaries.

The ranking also uses desirability scores that include access to nightlife and recreation, young adult population and ease of mobility.

Economic scores are based on factors such as average unemployment, median individual yearly earnings and more.

The total scores are based on a weighted average of all listed metrics, and the lowest scores determine which cities are ranked highest on the list.

Why is Houston not in the top ten?

Houston, with a median monthly rent of $1,399 for a one-bedroom apartment, is ranked No. 39 on the list.

Houstons economic score is 45.3, the desirability score is 47.1 and weighted average score is 46.1

Which city was ranked the best?

Madison, Wisconsin topped the list as the best U.S. city for college graduates.

The median monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Madison is $1,230.

Madisons economic score is 21.4, the desirability score is 23.9 and the weighted average score is 22.5.

According to the report, Madison is a very popular location because it is a buzzing college town with more than 30 breweries and award-winning local brews.

Twenty-somethings flock to the home of the University of Wisconsin-Madison thanks to many options for employment, affordability and a downtown area where its fairly easy to catch an Uber or Lyft.

What other Texas cities made the list?

Austin is the only Texas city that made the top ten, ranking No. 8 on the list.

Austins average median monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $1,488, which is higher than Houston, but its scores are noticeably better.

Austin was given a 22.5 economic score, a 39.2 desirability score and a 30.0 weighted average score.

Apartment Advisor highlighted Austins eccentric live music venues and festivals, dubbing it the Live Music Capital of the World.

The report also mentions that Austin is one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S., although Houston is too, according to a recent report.

Other Texas cities that made it on the list are: Lubbock at No. 22, Dallas at No. 25, Amarillo at No. 54, San Antonio at No. 60, El Paso at No. 65, Corpus Christi at No. 67 and Brownsville at No. 78.

Which city was on the bottom of the list?

Columbus, Ohio ranked last on the list of cities studied, with median rent for a one-bedroom apartment at $1,001.

Columbus has an economic score of 66.1, desirability score of 78.8 and weighted average score of 71.8.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

CHICAGO (AP)  For many progressives, the past decade has been littered with disappointments. But recent down-ballot victories are providing hope of reshaping the Democratic Party from the bottom up, rather than from Washington.

In Chicago earlier this month, a former teachers union organizer unexpectedly won the mayors race. In St. Louis, progressives secured a majority on the municipal board. The next opportunities could lie in Philadelphia and Houston, which also hold mayoral elections this year.

The focus on lower-level contests already has helped progressives gain power and influence policy at a local level, organizers say, shaping issues such as the minimum wage. It also may help the movement find future stars, with todays city and county officials becoming tomorrows breakout members of Congress and only moving further up the political ladder.

Progressives have taken a look at how to be strategic and how to build power, said Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants who was a leading national voice for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders  2016 and 2020 presidential bids. If you look around and you say, Who is ready to run for president? If your field is shallow, what do you have to do? Youve got to build the bench.

This year's focus on state and local races follows years of incremental progress and some stinging setbacks. Sanders electrified the left with 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns that centered on bold calls for universal, government-funded health care. But he lost each time to rivals aligned with the Democratic establishment who advocated for a more cautious approach.

On Capitol Hill, progressive candidates successfully defeated several high-profile incumbents during the 2018 midterms and the election of candidates like New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. But from New York to Michigan and Ohio and Texas, prominent progressives were defeated during primary campaigns last year. And, as President Joe Biden now gears up for reelection, he faces no serious challenge from the left.

Still, Sanders and others have left their mark, pushing mainstream Democrats to the left on key issues like combating climate change and forgiveness of student loan debt while inspiring some of those at the forefront of today's movement.

That includes Chicago Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson, who appealed to a diverse and young electorate as he campaigned with Sanders and other top congressional progressives.

Lets take this bold progressive movement around these United States of America, Johnson said in his victory speech.

Our Revolution, an activist group which grew out of Sanders 2016 White House bid, endorsed Johnson and progressive candidates who recently won three of four seats on the St. Louis City Board of Aldermen. That gave progressives a slim majority in a city where the mayor, Tishaura Jones, is also a self-described progressive.

Our Revolution said it activated its 90,000 members in Chicago an average of three times each to urge them to vote for Johnson, and made 100,000 phone calls in St. Louis. The group is also backing Helen Gym, a progressive former Philadelphia City Council member who is among roughly a dozen candidates competing in next months Democratic mayoral primary.

When we win on the ground in our cities, thats actually the blueprint, because we cannot wait for Congress, Gym said during a recent call with Our Revolution volunteers.

Our Revolutions executive director, Joseph Geevarghese, said local progressive organizing, including for races like school board, is more effective now than it has been in decades.

Were building power, bottom up, city by city," Geevarghese said, adding that in major metropolitan areas youve got credible progressive slates vying for power against the Democratic establishment."

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers and a Democratic National Committee member, countered that there doesn't have to be tension between the party's left and moderate wings. She said Johnson called for addressing quality of life issues such as homelessness through consensus-building, rather than ideological confrontation.

Every one of these cities are complicated places and you have to work together to get things done, Weingarten said. You have to work with people you dont always agree with. And that is a strength and not a weakness.

It hasn't all been rosy for progressives. Moderate candidates topped progressive alternatives in last week's Denver City Council races.

But there are more opportunities ahead. In the nations fourth-largest city of Houston, Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who has been an outspoken progressive in Congress since she got there in 1995, is running for mayor.

And the left isn't abandoning congressional races.

Progressive champion Rep. Barbara Lee and fellow Democratic Rep. Katie Porter, who was a vocal supporter of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren s progressive campaign for president in 2020, are among those running to replace retiring California Sen. Dianne Feinstein next year.

In Arizona, Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, a progressive 43-year-old Iraq war veteran and Spanish speaker who represents much of downtown Phoenix, is trying to unseat Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. She left the Democratic Party last year and, if she seeks reelection, would run as an independent.

Working-class Democrats are getting elected, and corporate Democrats are not, said Chuck Rocha, a key architect of Sanders 2016 campaign who heads Nuestro PAC, which has endorsed Gallego. But Rocha was quick to caution that Gallego isn't running as "a progressive or liberal savior.

"Hes going to run as I was an enlisted Marine who had to sleep on my mamas couch until I got a bed in college and has been a champion of working-class folks in the state of Arizona, Rocha said.

Questions about a resurgent Democratic left come as Biden prepares to formally kickoff his reelection campaign and will have to decide how to frame his political vision and ideology to appeal to swing voters. After besting Sanders and Warren in the 2020 primary, Biden embraced major progressive goals, promoting expanding social programs and climate-change fighting green energy.

Biden eventually oversaw passage of dramatic federal spending increases, including on health care and green technology. He tried to forgive student loans for millions of Americans, but saw the plan challenged in court.

On other issues, however, Biden has been more moderate. After major legislation to curb police brutality and institutional racism stalled in Congress, the president signed an executive order to make modest reforms. He also has said repeatedly that, rather than heed calls by some progressives to cut funding for law enforcement, the answer should be more police funding.

More recently, the president angered liberal Democrats by failing to veto Republican-championed legislation reversing new, local crime regulations in the nation's capital and approving a major oil drilling project in Alaska.

Biden campaign aides say he's shown flexibility to best respond to ongoing political and policy challenges. And Rocha said that Gallego will benefit from Bidens 2024 campaign, which should rely heavily on promoting his administrations legislative accomplishments and how they benefited working-class families in swing states like Arizona.

But some progressives say the White House should take notice of the movement's down-ballot wins.

I hope hes paying attention, said Hannah Riddle, director of candidate services for the activist group the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. Running on economic populism is a winning strategy. And that model can be replicated all over the country.

___ Weissert reported from Washington.
On the day after Easter, a holiday celebrated for a notable resurrection, a bill to bring back an expired corporate tax incentive program was quietly given new life.

Indeed, Texas economic development evangelists speak of this program  once known as Chapter 313 but now House Bill 5  with almost biblical reverence. It may not turn water into wine, but they argue it will at least turn our school property tax dollars into new jobs for years to come.

We truly wish that were true. Tax incentives done smartly can be a good deal for Texans but not when there are few protections against abuse and waste. That, after all, is why lawmakers killed Chapter 313 last session.

Sadly, the current, revised version of the bill, sponsored by state Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, simply repeats the sins of the past and, in some ways, commits new ones.

Whereas Chapter 313 gave manufacturing and energy companies a decade of steep discounts on their school property taxes, House Bill 5 would provide even more lucrative incentives for a broader range of projects, albeit with fewer job-creation requirements and even less accountability and transparency. And unlike Chapter 313, which the Legislature let expire at the end of December, this version of the program has no sunset provision, meaning, in theory, it would live on for eternity with no requirement for lawmakers to reassess its effectiveness.

The core problem with Chapter 313 was that it lacked the safeguards to ensure that tax incentives were needed or that companies actually created the jobs and economic benefits they promised. House Bill 5 makes some subtle improvements on that front, but with poor trade-offs that could lead to lower-quality jobs overall.

The new bill requires applicants to provide a more detailed economic impact statement  which includes an analysis detailing the project's total impact on the community and local tax base  and gets rid of a 313 provision that allowed job requirements to be waived for certain targets. Projects that receive a tax break in the states most populous counties  where only 4 percent of active 313 projects are located  are required to create a minimum of 50 jobs. Everywhere else, the minimum job requirement is reduced from 25 to 20, and with far weaker wage and benefits requirements. Whereas 313 required jobs to pay 110 percent of a countys manufacturing wage and required health insurance, the new wage standard is 100 percent of the local average wage for all jobs with no benefits required. Additionally, projects that qualify under the grid reliability category  such as new natural gas plants  are exempt from any requirements related to jobs, investment or the possibility that the project could go elsewhere.

Another key difference between 313 and HB 5: the types of industries and projects eligible for incentives. Lawmakers have decided that the need to remain "competitive" through taxpayer-funded incentive programs no longer applies to renewable energy projects involving wind and solar. For reasons that remain baffling, both Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have said publicly that any new tax incentive program should exclude these projects, despite the fact that one of the saving graces of Chapter 313 was its role in helping Texas become the nation's leader in combined wind and solar generation.

The program attracted more than $60 billion worth of new renewable energy investments, and was a boon for rural communities which have the land mass to accommodate turbines and solar panels. The goal for any economic development program should be that it works for counties of all sizes. By excluding an entire sector under dubious pretenses, rural Texas will have fewer options for attracting jobs.

One of the chief criticisms of 313 was that it effectively acted as a corporate welfare program and exacerbated inequities in school funding. Only a small portion of school districts attracted projects in their areas that qualified for the tax breaks. And many of those went to companies that were either already in Texas or were never a threat to locate elsewhere. Meanwhile, larger urban districts, including Houston ISD, lost tens of millions of dollars in much-needed revenue. The Chronicle's own investigation found that the program subsidized a number of projects that were expansions of facilities that already had a geographic footprint in Texas. HB 5, too, would make upgrades to existing power plants and natural gas storage eligible for the program. During last week's hearing, state Rep. Morgan Meyer, a Dallas Republican, questioned why companies would need such incentives from a program designed to vie for out-of-state businesses.

We agree that the program should be more narrowly tailored to companies which can prove they are legitimately contemplating a different location outside of Texas. It's one thing to want our state to be in the mix for major corporate relocations such as Intel and Micron  companies that recently chose to move to Ohio and New York, respectively, and got generous tax breaks for doing so  but building a new water storage facility for an existing, immobile natural gas plant is not a worthwhile investment of our tax dollars.

How did we get back to this place that lawmakers worked so hard last session to get out of?

How did we end up with a proposal that's supposed to give Texas a leg up in attracting new businesses but has lower job requirements, lower wages, pays companies that aren't at risk of leaving the state, excludes renewable energy sources and, oh yes, is far more costly to taxpayers? Under 313, projects in most Texas counties could still be taxed up to $30 million. In the proposed bill, projects can only be taxed up to $14 million and companies would be allowed to begin receiving the tax break during the construction period.

Texans support business incentives that truly boost the economy. Texas can't afford to throw away critical revenue for the public school system, which already ranks 44th in the nation in spending per pupil and 39th in funding. If there's one thing businesses need even more than generous tax incentives, it's an educated, skilled workforce.

We urge lawmakers, especially those who fought against the wasteful Chapter 313 program, to reject the current version of HB 5 for the same reasons. Texans support tax breaks as long as they're fiscally responsible. A program with few safeguards or assurances that we'll get a return on our investment doesn't fit the bill.
The Greater Houston Partnership joins with many across the state, including the Houston Chronicles editorial board, to acknowledge the now-defunct Chapter 313 economic development incentive program was a bad deal for Texans.

The lack of accountability and transparency of the old program, which expired last year, made it unpopular with the public and policy makers. Its cumbersome and unpredictable nature made it difficult for economic development advocates like the Partnership to apply the program in practice. So, good riddance Chapter 313.

That said, Texans should not take for granted that companies will bring new investment and jobs to Texas regardless of whether incentives are offered. This is simply not true.

Just last year, Texas vigorously competed for mega-projects being proposed by Micron, Intel and Rivian, among several others. All these projects went elsewhere due, in some part, to incentive packages offered by other states. New York offered Micron a 49-year payment in lieu of taxes agreement and $5.5 billion in state tax credits over 20 years; Ohio offered Intel a 30-year tax break and approximately $2 billion in incentives; and Georgia offered Rivian $1.5 billion in state and local incentives and tax credits.

These astronomical figures demonstrate that just as investment in large-scale, capital-intensive projects in the U.S. is reaching near-unprecedented levels, so is the fierce competition amongst states to capture these jobs and lay the groundwork for the industries of the future.

Fortunately, Texas, with its reputation for being a great state to do business, does not need to match these incentive packages point by point and dollar for dollar. But we do need to have a robust incentive program in place to keep us in the fight.

The economic development practitioners at the Greater Houston Partnership know this to be true, as they work directly with companies considering relocation or expansion to the Houston area every single day. The feedback we receive is consistent: Texas is attractive on nearly every measure except one  our property tax burden, which ranks among the highest in the country.

For capital-intensive projects like the ones we recently lost to other states and many that are under discussion today, an abatement of a portion of the property taxes on the new investment is key.

For this reason, the Legislature should pass the Texas Jobs & Security Act (HB 5) by Todd Hunter (R-Corpus Christi), which would incentivize projects categorized as manufacturing, national security, grid reliability, supply chain infrastructure and mega projects (projects that invest more than $1 billion within a single school district).

The legislation already has bipartisan support from 55 state representatives and has been made a priority by Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont).

This legislation would create a carefully crafted economic development program that offers a partial, time-limited discount on school property taxes on investments in new facilities to encourage high-value projects to locate in Texas. In turn, these projects will benefit local communities by creating quality jobs, driving infrastructure development and fostering emerging technologies.

The proposed legislation addresses the accountability and transparency concerns that plagued the former Chapter 313 program.

The Comptroller of Public Accounts will continue to provide oversight by reviewing applications and delivering a formal recommendation to school districts as to whether a project meets the bills requirements or not. Qualifying companies will need to show the 10-year incentive is a determining factor in their decision to invest in Texas while also submitting a 25-year economic benefit statement. The school district must also prepare a school finance report for each proposed agreement, an improved component of the program.

Importantly, companies that receive an incentive through the new program will be required to submit a Biennial Compliance Report every two years, including a sworn affidavit, to prove they are meeting the jobs and investment requirements as stated in the agreement. Unlike the prior Chapter 313 program, there are significant penalties for not meeting the necessary jobs requirements.

Should a project fail to meet the terms of the agreement, the company must return any tax savings. In addition, projects that fail to meet the number of qualifying jobs will be required to pay a substantial fee, with exceptions for grid reliability projects that will strengthen our power grid regardless of the jobs delivered.

The local school district providing the incentive is kept whole by the state, plus it receives from the company a direct payment that is a specified percentage of the property tax savings over the period of the abatement. Clearly a win for the district.

We believe this targeted approach will sustain Texas economic growth while ensuring local communities and citizens across the entire state benefit from these projects.

Voters in the Houston region appreciate the economic opportunities these projects bring. In a January Greater Houston Partnership-Morning Consult poll conducted among a representative sample of metro Houston registered voters, seven in ten (69 percent) support Texas utilizing economic development incentives to attract businesses to relocate to Texas, while very few (17 percent) oppose. Three in five (60 percent) specifically support Texas offering temporary property tax discounts to companies to incentivize their relocation and expansion in Texas.

The public supports well-crafted, transparent and accountable incentives that create jobs and contribute to the states economy. We believe HB 5 does just that.

It keeps Texas in the economic development game at this critical time when companies are reshoring overseas manufacturing and embracing new technologies that require large-scale manufacturing facilities.

Now is the time for Texas to restock our economic development toolbox with the necessary tools to compete. It is not the time for Texas to withdraw from the intense global competition for new investment and the well-paying jobs that come with it.
The Texas billionaire in the middle of the controversy around U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has a long history in Texas politics, donating more than $7 million to mostly GOP causes over the last three years and more than $19 million over the last 20 years.

According to federal and state financial records, Harlan Crow, a Dallas real estate magnate, has donated more than $10.9 million to federal campaign committees and $8.4 million to state campaigns in Texas including to Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan.

FREE TO YOUR INBOX: Texas Take with Jeremy Wallace Newsletter

Just last year, Crow donated more than $100,000 to Abbott, and he has given the three-term governor more than $316,000 since 2006.

But thats not much compared with the $2.5 million hes given to Texans for Lawsuit Reform over the last 20 years and the $800,000 he gave to Eva Guzman for her failed campaign for Texas attorney general against incumbent Ken Paxton.

Despite all his spending, Crow told the Dallas Morning News in an exclusive interview published Monday that he doesnt consider himself a Republican megadonor.

I have been a donor to moderate Republican individuals running for office, as well as groups that are involved in that kind of world to support more moderate Republican stuff, Crow said.

Campaign finance records back up Crow's statement.

He gave $160,000 over the years to former House Speaker Joe Straus and more than $500,000 to Associated Republicans of Texas, a group aligned with the former speaker. Crow has also occasionally given to Democrats, including state Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, who received $12,500. He sent $15,000 to state Rep. Ryan Guillen, who switched from the Democrats to the Republicans last year.

In 2022, Crow helped fund a GOP campaign to flip the U.S. House to Republican control.

He sent $100,000 to Take Back the House Texas PAC and $750,000 to Coalition Por Texas PAC. Both those committees spent big to help South Texas Republicans try to win seats in Congress. The Coalition Por Texas donated $150,000 to Stop Houston Murders PAC and $68,000 to Alexandra Mealer, who lost to Harris County Judge Lina Hildalgo in November.

Crow, now 73, is also a founder of Club for Growth, a major national political group with a free market, free trade, anti-regulation agenda. The Club for Growth touts having helped elect U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin, to Congress.

Crow has come under national scrutiny since ProPublica reported that Thomas accepted luxury trips over decades from the Republican donor without disclosing them, despite a federal law requiring the disclosure of most gifts.

Thomas released a statement calling Harlan and his wife, Kathy, among our dearest friends.

As friends do, we have joined them on a number of family trips," Thomas said. Early in my tenure at the court, I sought guidance from my colleagues and others in the judiciary, and was advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the court, was not reportable.

Crow told ProPublica that he and his wife have known Thomas and his wife, Ginni, since 1996, and he described them as very dear friends. He said the hospitality he provided them is no different than that which they extended to their other close friends.

We have been most fortunate to have a great life of many friends and financial success, and we have always placed a priority on spending time with our family and friends, Crow wrote, adding that he had not sought to influence Thomas on any legal or political issue.

Last week, ProPublica reported that Crows companies in 2004 bought land in Georgia from Thomas and his family that also wasnt previously publicly disclosed.

My intention is to one day create a public museum at the Thomas home dedicated to telling the story of our nations second black Supreme Court justice, Crow told ProPublica.
WFO AMARILLO Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Monday, April 17, 2023

_____

FIRE WEATHER WATCH

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE

National Weather Service Amarillo TX

Issued by National Weather Service Tulsa OK

307 PM CDT Mon Apr 17 2023

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM NOON TO 9 PM CDT TUESDAY FOR

STRONG WINDS AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR NORTHWEST OKLAHOMA

PANHANDLE AND WEST AND CENTRAL PORTIONS OF THE TEXAS PANHANDLE...

...FIRE WEATHER WATCH IN EFFECT FROM WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH

WEDNESDAY EVENING FOR STRONG WINDS AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR

NORTHWEST OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE AND WEST AND CENTRAL PORTIONS OF THE

TEXAS PANHANDLE...

The National Weather Service in Amarillo has issued a Red Flag

Warning for strong winds and low relative humidity, which is in

effect from noon to 9 PM CDT Tuesday. A Fire Weather Watch has

also been issued. This Fire Weather Watch for strong winds and

low relative humidity is in effect from Wednesday afternoon

through Wednesday evening. The Fire Weather Watch is no longer in

effect.

* Affected Area...In Oklahoma...Cimarron and Texas. In Texas...

Dallam...Sherman...Hansford...Hartley...Moore...Hutchinson...

Oldham...Potter...Carson...Deaf Smith...Randall...Armstrong

and Palo Duro Canyon.

* 20 Foot Winds...Southwest 20 to 25 mph with gusts up to 35 mph.

* Relative Humidity...As low as 5 percent.

* Red Flag Threat Index...4 to 7

* Timing...For the Red Flag Warning, 12pm to 9pm CDT, Tuesday. For

the Fire Weather Watch, 12pm to 9pm CDT, Wednesday.

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

create favorable weather for rapid fire growth and spread. Avoid

activities that promote open flames and sparks.

A Fire Weather Watch means that the potential for critical fire

weather conditions exists. Listen for later forecasts and

possible red flag warnings.

_____

Copyright 2023 AccuWeather
Wait!

Before you go

Please sign up for our Evening Digest and Breaking Newsletters

Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request.

* I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Subscribers to Register-Star or The Daily Mail are eligible to receive full access to HudsonValley360.

If you have an existing print subscription, please make sure your email address on file matches your HudsonValley360 account email.
Pittsfield Rotary Auction Raises Over $100k

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  With donations continuing to come in to support their newly established endowment for the Jeffrey Whitehouse / Paul Harris Scholarships, the Pittsfield Rotary Club announces that proceeds of their April 1, 2023 Auction at Berkshire Hills Country Club totaled over $100,000.

Over 200 supporters turned out to bid on the over $60,000 worth of goods and services donated to the auction. Those supporters bid in excess of $53,000, funds that will support the Rotary Club's good work in the community throughout the next year.

Turkey Angels and the many local food pantries are among the supported organizations by the club. Many of the local youth will benefit, too, with Rotary-sponsored camperships to local camps, including Gladys Allen Brigham, Mass Audubon, Berkshire Humane Society, and Barrington Stage Company's KidsAct!

The Rotary Club also supports local students with scholarships named in honor of previous Rotarian Gene Case, the Nash Family, and Rotary founder Paul Harris. Going forward, the club will be able to offer Paul Harris scholarships of higher denominations thanks to the endowment started in honor of long-serving Rotarian Jeffrey Whitehouse.

The night of the auction, paddles raised $44,000, which was matched by an anonymous donor for the auction-night endowment total of $88,000. The Club continues to accept tax-deductible donations toward the new scholarship sent to The Pittsfield Rotary Club Foundation / P.O. Box 78 / Pittsfield, MA 01202.
State Officials Celebrate Agriculture Day at the State House

BOSTON  Governor Maura Healey declared April 12, 2023, as Massachusetts Agriculture Day.

To celebrate the occasion, state officials, legislators, farmers, and students gathered at the State House as part of a collaborative effort between the Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation, agricultural commodity groups, Buy Local groups, and the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR). Farmers, producers, and state officials joined together to promote this sector of the Commonwealth and discuss the issues affecting the agricultural industry with lawmakers.

"Agriculture Day serves as a wonderful opportunity to pay tribute to our hard-working Massachusetts farmers and producers who provide all of us with healthy, fresh, and delicious products and are a key economic driver for our local economies," said Governor Maura Healey. "Our Administration looks forward to engaging with our agricultural industry and finding more ways to support their efforts in cultivating a robust and equitable agricultural economy."

Massachusetts is home to over 7,200 farms that maintain more than 490,000 acres of farmland and open space. Local farms provide employment to over 28,000 workers and generate nearly $500 million for the state economy. The Commonwealth is ranked #5 in the United States for direct market agricultural sales.

"As one of the largest economic drivers in the Commonwealth, Massachusetts farmers are at the forefront of our state's economy, contributing at the local, state, and national levels while helping to improve the standard of living and quality of

life for our residents," said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. "We encourage everyone to support their local farms and farmers by buying local Massachusetts-grown products throughout the year."

Commodity groups in attendance provided delicious samples of Massachusetts-grown products, including local ice cream, milk, cranberries and cranberry juice, oysters, pure maple products, honey, apple cider, baked goods featuring local fruit, cheese, pickles, local vegetables, and many other products produced by Massachusetts farmers and fishermen.

"Massachusetts is world-renowned for our variety and diversity in crops and products, which run the gamut from nursery-grown plants and horticultural products to dairy, aquaculture, maple, honey, livestock, and a wide array of fruits and vegetables," said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper. "Our farmers have tended the land for generations, maintaining and nurturing precious open and green spaces. They have been leaders in implementing the latest in renewable and energy efficient technologies to mitigate the impacts of climate change, becoming more economically viable and environmentally sustainable, contributing to a greener economy in the Commonwealth."

During the day's speaking program, Agriculture Day Awards were given to three honorees to recognize their hard work, dedication, and advocacy on behalf of the agricultural industry in Massachusetts. By honoring those who have made significant contributions to the sector, these awards help to highlight the critical role that agriculture plays in our economy and food security. They also serve as a way to inspire and encourage others in the industry to continue to innovate and push the boundaries of what is possible.

This year's award recipients are:

Senator Bruce Tarr - First Essex and Middlesex

Senator Anne Gobi - Worcester and Hampshire

Representative Paul Schmid - 8th Bristol

In addition, the Kent Lage Memorial Award, which recognizes those individuals dedicated to Massachusetts agriculture, was given posthumously to the late State Representative Stephen Kulik, who was a committed advocate and left a lasting legacy as a staunch supporter of agriculture in Massachusetts. His support of local farmers and promotion of sustainable practices served as an inspiration to the industry.

Massachusetts Agriculture Day also serves as a great opportunity to empower students, children, and their families through education regarding healthy eating, behavioral practices, agriculture, food, and environmental science. As in years past, students from local FFA and 4-H youth organizations were on hand to assist with the smooth running of the day's events. They also met with their local lawmakers to receive a hands-on learning experience about the legislative process. This year, FFA State President Alani Medeiros gave remarks during the speaking portion of the day's events.
Mount Greylock Committee Talks Behavior, 'Bias' Language Incidents

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.  The Mount Greylock Regional School District is looking for a way to address the use of "bias-based" language in the schools.

"There is some use of language, particularly in the middle/high school, and it's every middle/high school in America, there is the use of language that every student in the building is old enough to know not to use," Superintendent Jason McCandless told the School Committee on Thursday night. "Those are words that should never come out of your mouth.

"Even though I've been in education for 30 years, there have been times when I have been utterly taken aback by the casual use of some language that, to me, and to reasonable people, is some of the most historically charged language an individual could utter."

McCandless did not go into specifics of the language in question, but there have been numerous reports in recent years of the use of racial epithets in the schools.

The superintendent told the committee at its monthly meeting that he will work with the district's counsel and, perhaps, the commissioner of education to see what kinds of disciplinary actions the district can take.

Currently, district policy sets the maximum consequence for a proven use of "bias-based" language at one day of in-school suspension.

"I am firmly of the opinion  even though it brushes up against state law  I will go back to my early days of being a teacher in Virginia, when there were a few words that, if you said them out loud, you weren't seen in school for a few days," McCandless said. "Those words were charged enough that you needed to be somewhere else and you needed time to consider that something you took a quarter of a second to say may take the person who was the target of that word days and weeks and months to recover."

Any change in district policy that results from the administration's efforts around the offensive language would require the blessing of the School Committee.

"We may need new terminology that describes that language, beyond 'bias,' " McCandless said. "The seriousness of that needs to be made immediately clear."

His comments Thursday came during a larger discussion about "behavior expectations" in the district.

"We have had some challenges this year," McCandless said. "This is our first full year kind of back to what we would generally consider quote, unquote 'normal.' ... And it is clear that there are some students who, during very formative, crucial, transitional developmental years, were doing school at home, some of them sporadically, in front of a computer screen.

"Anybody watching this will understand, this is no secret to anybody, we've had some behavioral struggles in all three of our schools this year."

Mount Greylock Regional School Principal Jake Schutz walked the School Committee through the district's existing student behavior policy, which is intended to ensure the safety of students and staff and promote the "best learning experience" the district can provide.

Schutz described the district's "progressive response matrix" for disciplinary actions and stressed that suspension, while an option, is "not the first tool out of the tool kit."

In response to a comment from School Committee member Julia Bowen, McCandless emphasized that the overwhelming majority of students in the district do behave appropriately in the classroom.

"I would say the proportion is 98 percent of the students at Mount Greylock Regional School know why they are there," he said. "They understand that the things they do, the things they say really do impact those around them.  Their sense of empathy and urge to support the people around them is really strong.

"It's our job to get the much smaller group of students to understand that about themselves. The potential is there for them as well."

Jose Constantine, who was the lone holdout in a 6-1 vote to advance the district's fiscal year 2024 budget last month, asked whether the loss of a potential eight paraprofessionals in that budget might hamper the district's ability to address behavior issues in the classroom.

Schutz pointed out that paraprofessionals are not in the class to address discipline but to support individual students, often students in individualized education plans.

"When a paraprofessional is in a classroom, they're there for a specific reason to support a specific student, and that student has specific goals and objectives that call for that classroom para support," Schutz said. "Even though the para may, generally, support behavioral management in the classroom by being another adult  the teacher is in charge of the behavioral management in the classroom, not necessarily the paraprofessional. They're tasked with something very focused."

McCandless said he did not want to minimize the work that paraprofessionals do in the schools but noted that the "cuts" in the FY24 budget return the district to the level of paraprofessional staffing it had at the beginning of the 2022-23 school year.

Adding more paraprofessionals does not necessarily solve the problem, McCandless said.

"Unless there is a really specific purpose driven by the IEP, which Jake [Schutz] alluded to, that that paraprofessional is supporting and is capable of supporting, it's really easy to have  I'm not saying this is necessarily the case, but I've seen it in almost every organization I've served  you go down that pathway enough times, and you end up with a lot of grownups, and sometimes a disproportionate number of grownups to the number of children, and it's still not solving the problem," McCandless said. "For some students, paraprofessionals are the absolute answer."

In other business on Thursday, the School Committee approved Lanesborough Elementary School's annual sixth-grade trip to Cape Cod and agreed to continue in the state's School Choice program.

McCandless and Business Administrator Joe Bergeron took the committee through the district's plan for new choice slots in the 2023-24 school year. According to the numbers laid out on Thursday, the district has the potential for 127 new School Choice students if it maximizes grade levels at all three of its schools next year. The administration's plan is to open 39 plus a yet-to-be-determined number in kindergarten at Lanesborough Elementary and Williamstown Elementary.

The state-mandated School Choice reimbursement rate to a receiving school is about $5,000 per student. The district's cost per pupil was nearly $18,000 in FY20, according to the Department of Education's website.

Constantine asked why the district is not opening more School Choice spots given the budget constraints it faces going into the next school year.

McCandless and Bergeron explained that the district's practice  and their preference  is to use School Choice strategically to fill empty seats in classrooms and maintain diverse academic offerings at the middle/high school rather than as a revenue generator.

"Some of the choices we make around right-sizing our number of employees are decisions we need to stick with, no matter what," McCandless said. "Hitting pause on a position [the director of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging] that is important to all of us, and, more importantly, important to our students  we need to make a multiyear commitment to that individual when that individual comes, and I think it's really dangerous to make a commitment on the back of something that can fluctuate as much as School Choice."
Veterans Agent Stephen Roy accepts a donation from Abbot Memorial School for the veterans food bank. PreviousNext

Abbott Memorial Raises Money for Veterans Food Pantry

FLORIDA, Mass.  The Gabriel Abbott Memorial School community raised $808.08 through its Penny Delay Day. Although ir caused a bit of work for teachers, the drive has helped support an important regional agency.

"The trick of getting them to bring more money in was we couldn't start teaching until we counted the change," Denise Chesbro, second-grade teacher and assistant principal said. "We made it educational with math games, but the kids loved it."

She said the fundraiser was schoolwide and took place on April 3 when students were asked to bring in pennies or other change. She said they actually raised around $750, but a teacher wanted to round out the total to 808.08 so kicked in the rest.

"It was families, it was kids, teachers, anybody who wanted to do it," she said. "It's pretty impressive for this tiny little school."

She said there were only eight bills in the collection  the rest was all change.

Some students did help with the counting and organizing which was OK because there were important math lessons to be learned.

"Some of them helped us sort quarters, nickels, dimes which is good," she said. "There is a lesson there."

But more importantly, students learned a lesson in civics.

"It shows them that not everybody has what they need. And these people, who have served our country, might not have enough," she said. "They were really enthusiastic about it."

To thank the students for their hard work, Veterans Agent Stephen Roy and assistant Tina Samson held a pizza party for the school Friday.

"It is really wonderful what you all have done and helped make happen here," Roy said. "It is wonderful to be able to put food on the shelves for folks in need."

Roy added after that every little bit counts and there is always a need for more support.

"And there is what we get from food bank donations and things but a lot of that has dried up," Roy said. "Now it is more donations and stuff like this really helps our food bank in a big way."
Veteran Spotlight: Army Spec. Peter Haviland



Peter Haviland during his time in Vietnam. BREWSTER, Mass.  Peter Haviland served his country in the Army in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969 as a specialist fourth class.

Born in Cambridge, he went to college for a while after graduating high school, then decided to volunteer for the draft.

"College wasn't working out so I decided to enlist," he remembered.

He went to Fort Dix, N.J., for basic training then was sent to Fort Polk, La., for Infantry Training.

"They did their best to replicate what we would  lots of night training exercises  it was challenging" he recalled.

He would arrive in Vietnam in the summer of 1968. His feeling?

"There were so many people going to Vietnam from Fort Polk, I thought I was invulnerable, I was looking forward to the adventure," he said.

He would later land in Long Binh'.

"I was along for the ride, I didn't think it was a big deal," Haviland said. "Fortunately, they needed soldiers in an armored unit, that's where I got assigned. Instead of walking into battle, we rode in."

Haviland would recalled his first fire fight: "We were going through a village, the VC always knew where we were. I saw flashes on my

right, which was where my machine gun was. The tanks had incredibly bright lights, which made us a pretty good target."

"I was one of three new guys that came into the platoon," he continued. "Our sergeant said, 'you go there,' 'you go

there' and 'you go there'  the guy in front of me ended up getting his legs blown off on a mine. Luck of the draw I guess."

Was he ever afraid? "Not really, I honestly thought nothing could happen to me, maybe it was false bravado, I don't know."

Being in constant combat, he shared this wonderful story.

"We'd stop in villages, that always drew a lot of attention and we would play with the kids," Haviland said. "I wrote to my sister to send me the scariest mask she could find and used it to entertain the kids. It was an escape for me. I loved kids, it's the reason why I became a middle school teacher."

How were the holidays? "Not really difficult. Looked forward to

my 21st birthday so I could have a drink. We were in a place called the Iron Triangle, very, very dangerous place, thought 'this is a heck of a way to spend my birthday," he said with a laugh.

When I asked about camaraderie, he shared this: "10 years ago I was looking on the internet on stuff having to do with Vietnam. I said, 'that's Byron Watts!' a guy I served with. We now have a network of guys from my platoon that keep in touch and get together. We communicate on Veterans Day and some of us more frequently."

Haviland shared a very personal story on the one tattoo he has on his arm in memory of a soldier he served with.

"His name was Doc Dippert. He was a conscientious objector to the war. The Army made him a combat medic. He was from Plymouth, Ind. I wrote to his wife after the war but never heard back," he remembered.

His thoughts on the protestors? "I was supportive of them after I got out. I agreed we shouldn't have been there. Not going to fight a war against insurgents and win."

He continued, "I did my job and never expected anything from it. So glad I did it. I grew up a lot, a life experience."

Haviland was awarded a Purple Heart after his vehicle hit a track and blew up on their way toward the Cambodian border and he suffered a broken eardrum.

He expressed his strong desire to mention the nonprofit organization warfighterscuba.org

"They limit it to combat veteran, Purple Heart recipients," he said. "They take you to Honduras and teach you how to scuba dive. It's tremendous therapy, really helps combat veterans adjust to civilian life."

He taught middle school for 30 years and is happily married with two sons.

Spec. 4th Class Peter Haviland, thanks for your service to our great country and welcome home.
Cyber warfare has reached new levels - with attacks now disrupting supply chains, infiltrating governments, and affecting national infrastructure. And cyber threats at a national level have significantly bigger consequences than an organisational data breach, ones which impact international relations.

Back in 2021, the US accused China of a global cyberespionage campaign and responded with a broad coalition that included Britain, the EU and even NATO. Beijing rejected the attempted initiative and called it irresponsible. Overall, it was a highly tense situation involving two super nations, and ultimately, a conflict which emphasised a growing problem for government offices. The UKs Gloucester City Council has been hit twice by attackers in the last decade, Belgiums defence ministry and Canadas foreign ministry have been targeted by hackers, and perhaps the most serious of all; Ukraines massive cyber attack that shut down numerous government websites. The fallout of Ukraines cyber attack highlights the catastrophic effects of cyberwarfare at a national level. It should be a wake-up call for countries to strengthen their own cyber security posture.

While most countries like the UK and Belgium are increasing investment in cybersecurity, the US is turning to Big Tech for help with cyber defence. After sending out a letter back in December, the White House met executives from the top tech firms  including Google, Apple, IBM and Amazon  to discuss how to bolster software security in the wake of the attack on Log4j, the open-source software. A bold move, one that indicates the private sector could be the answer to securing critical infrastructure and systems.

The current state of national cybersecurity

Perhaps a rather obvious and inevitable challenge for governments is that countries will undeniably engage in cyber-espionage. In a data-driven and digital-first world, the easiest form of information gathering is to target systems and data. Some of the targets of the SolarWinds/Nobelium attack of 2020 included the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA), and the US Treasury.

Roger Grimes, Data Driven Defence Evangelist at KnowBe4, discusses this political challenge. He comments that, every sufficiently capable nation-state is attacking their adversaries with near impunity. It's tougher to tell an adversary to stop hacking you when you are also hacking them.

A possible solution for the national cyber warfare problem is creating a set of global rules. Grimes suggests a digital Geneva Convention, which spells out what is and isn't allowed between nation-states, and have all nation-states agree to abide by the agreed-upon global rules. It would certainly hold countries more accountable for cyber attacks, especially ones as serious as Ukraines.

But what is clear is that cyber attacks are no longer a might-happen, instead they are unavoidable. Security should be a top priority and governments must build an appropriate security framework that includes things like training and awareness, authentication, access management and encryption of sensitive data.

The other significant issue is that in a data-first world governments are still not able to collect good data on their cybersecurity problem.

To best address a problem, you need good data, and most governments don't have that. Grimes comments, [Governments] know that a bunch of cybercrime is happening, but not exactly how much and how it is accomplished All governments are working on these issues, but they remain complex and difficult to solve."

Businesses are no strangers to ransomware and malware attacks. They have been fortifying their networks, managing identity and remote access, and mitigating cyber threats. Theyve collected data on the rising threat of ransomware, from the methods being used to the vulnerabilities that are being exploited. Its only logical thats who governments would turn to for help.

Big Techs influence set to grow

Commenting on how leading tech firms can assist governments with their cybersecurity, Grimes says, It would be great if big tech companies shared their customer's attack data (anonymised) with the government to help them with getting better data. It would also be great if big tech came together to create and deploy new or improved open cybersecurity standards, then build them into their products. We actually have the technical ability to put down most cybercrime...we know how to do it...but we don't have a consensus to actually do it. It would be dare-to-dream fantastic if big tech got together, agreed to significantly improve cybersecurity, created the standards we need, and deployed them in their products to best protect their customers. Unfortunately, the competitive nature of the business makes it difficult for a bunch of competitors to come together for the common good."

And while it does seem unlikely for the big tech firms to set aside their differences for a common goal - thats exactly what they did.

Tech firms including Microsoft, Google, Amazon, IBM, and Apple made a significant commitment in the US, pledging more than $30 billion and 250,000 new jobs according to a White House statement.

Apple will establish a new program for continuous security improvements throughout the technology supply chain and is enabling the mass adoption of multi-factor authentication, security training, vulnerability remediation, event logging, and incident response.

Microsoft offered $150 million in technical services to federal, state, and local governments with upgrading security protection. Theyve also promised $20 billion over the next five years to enhance efforts in integrating cyber security by design and will also deliver advanced security solutions.

Google offered $10 billion over the next five years to help expand zero-trust programs, as well as enhancing open-source security and software supply chains.

IBM will train 150,000 people over the next three years to improve cybersecurity skills and will also partner with more than 20 university and centres to grow a more diverse cyber workforce.

These are substantial investments from some of tech most powerful firms, providing massive support to the US government and laying the foundation for an overall stronger cyber posture. The private sector already operates and owns some of the most critical infrastructure when it comes to cyber security. But there is the issue of allowing the private sector to have access to government systems.

Too much power?

Companies like Google are no stranger to controversies, especially those relating to data privacy and compliance. Mishandling of personal data has been a headache for leading tech firms in the wake of GDPR, raising legitimate concerns over the level of access being given to these firms. Allowing companies like Microsoft to deliver advanced security solutions, which will be integrated into federal, state, and local governments, means private sector companies can access the networks and systems of governments, many of which handle citizen data and information.

Grimes acknowledges the struggle between privacy concerns and government regulation, pointing out how extensive cybercrime is right now, the government can't do it alone. Big tech can't do it alone. But together, along with open standards and public participation, we can solve the big problems and make the internet a far safer place to compute. It can be done. Most people think that it's impossible to make the internet a safer place. But that isn't true. It just takes an all-hands-on-deck strategy, with each side willing to give up the extreme edges of their own concerns to come up with a common solution that works best for all. Give up a little to get a lot."

Big Tech has certainly pledged significant support to the US, but its not exactly fair to other countries who lack the same resources but are customers of the same companies. There is also the question of whether it creates a conflict of interest for leading tech firms to provide national support while operating in other regions.

Theres no doubt that tech firms could be a great support in sharing their security expertise and know-how to bolster national defences, but there is also the important question of how big a role tech firms should play in a nations cyber defence.
Journalists Tawfiq Al-Mansoori, Abdul Khaleq Amran, Akram Al-Waleedi and Hareth Humaid, who had been sentenced to death for their journalistic work, have been released as part of a prisoner exchange on 16 April, they had spent eight years behind bars. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate, the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS) in welcoming their release and calls for the release of all journalists and media workers in jail.

The four Yemeni journalists were freed as part of a three-day exchange of detainees between the government forces and the Houthi movement, which ended on 16 April, as the war nears its nine-year mark, according to YJS and media sources .

In July 2015, Al-Mansoori, Amran, Al-Waleedi and Humaid were arrested together with other journalists by the Houthi Movement/Ansar Allah at the Hotel Dream Castle in the capital, Sanaa. They were arrested for reporting on human rights violations committed by Houthi forces, who charged them with espionage for foreign states and spreading fake news. In April 2020, they were sentenced to death.

The IFJ and YJS launched an emergency call to international governments in February 2022 to put pressure on the Houthi authorities to release the four Yemeni journalists. On 21 February, the IFJ sent a letter to the President of the Republic of Yemen, Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, urging him and his government to do everything possible to save their lives. The federation also called on journalists all over the world to stand up for their colleagues by signing an open letter to the UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen, urging him to intervene to save the lives of the four journalists who were on death row.

IFJ Secretary General Anthony Bellanger said: The long-awaited day has finally arrived. We celebrate the release of our four kidnapped colleagues, who spent eight years behind bars for simply fulfilling their professional duties and informing the world about the cruelty of the Yemeni war. We urge the government forces and the Houthi movement to stop targeting the press and release all jailed journalists in the country."
Grab, Southeast Asias leading superapp, today announced new in-app travel innovations and partnerships to give travelers a safe, seamless and hyperlocal experience as Southeast Asia embraces a travel comeback.

International tourist visits to Southeast Asia saw a 1,706% increase in 2022 compared to the previous year. Grab has also seen a steady rebound in traveler numbers, with rides to and from airports growing 3x between January and December 2022.

"We want to be at the forefront of Southeast Asias travel revival, welcoming travelers back to the region with an enhanced Grab experience that is designed to help them travel with ease and peace of mind, said Russell Cohen, Group Managing Director, Operations, Grab. No one knows Southeast Asia like we do, and our goal is not only to deliver the safest and most seamless mobility experience but also encourage travelers to explore the richness of Southeast Asia like a local through our superapp offerings.

Southeast Asians love traveling within the region. Grab data show that 40 percent of international travellers using Grab in the Philippines are from other Southeast Asian countries. The data also show that the top Southeast Asian countries Philippine Grab users prefer going to are Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. Outside of Southeast Asia, top source markets for travelers using Grab regionally include North America, Australia, China and South Korea.

Grabs enhanced travel experience was designed to give all travelers the assurance and confidence to explore their destination by empowering them to plan ahead, get a smooth ride the moment they touch down, and experience their destination like a local.

New app enhancements include:

Traveller Homepage: Two-thirds of travellers who use Grab, download and register an account with Grab while still in their home country. To help travellers better plan ahead for their trips, the new Traveller Homepage allows overseas travellers to explore a city within the Grab app as if they were at the destination. Available for 33 of the top cities tourists visit in Southeast Asia, users can check out the Grab services present in the city, search and save places of interest such as their accommodation address and landmarks they intend to visit ahead of time, and even explore the food options near their destination.

Two-thirds of travellers who use Grab, download and register an account with Grab while still in their home country. To help travellers better plan ahead for their trips, the new Traveller Homepage allows overseas travellers to explore a city within the Grab app as if they were at the destination. Available for 33 of the top cities tourists visit in Southeast Asia, users can check out the Grab services present in the city, search and save places of interest such as their accommodation address and landmarks they intend to visit ahead of time, and even explore the food options near their destination. The Grab app is also now available in Chinese, Korean and Japanese languages, to deliver a more intuitive experience for travelers from China, Korea and Japan, which are key markets for international tourists visiting Southeast Asia.

Plan ahead with the new Traveller Homepage

Explore Grab in Chinese, Korean and Japanese languages

[Ready by H2 2023] Translated merchant menus: To help travellers explore the best local flavours around them, Grab is working on translating merchant menus in key cities across Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand into English. Additionally, to serve the wave of returning Chinese travellers, Grab will also provide Chinese menu transitions across key Indonesian cities.

To help travellers explore the best local flavours around them, Grab is working on translating merchant menus in key cities across Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand into English. Additionally, to serve the wave of returning Chinese travellers, Grab will also provide Chinese menu transitions across key Indonesian cities. A revamped Venues experience: For travellers, finding their way through a busy, unfamiliar airport to get to the right pick-up point and their ride can be a daunting experience. With the latest version of Venues, travellers can look at images of each pick-up point prior to selecting the one they want, and get image-based turn-by-turn walking directions to guide them, even before they book their ride. Available at all major airports in Southeast Asia, the Venues feature can also be used at over 4,000 locations such as malls, hotels, office buildings, parks and more across the region, including popular tourist attractions like the Singapore Zoo, the floating market in Pattaya, and the National Monument in Jakarta.

Find your way to your driver easily

[Ready by H2 2023] A currency converter feature that will automatically display fares in travellers preferred local currency so that they dont have to do manual conversions.

Were optimistic that the continued tourism recovery and reopening of China will be positive on the Southeast Asia economy overall, and we believe we have a strong value proposition to benefit from these trends as the regional superapp in Southeast Asia. Travellers spend on average 2x more on transport per day compared to local users. We want to be their platform of choice; their preferred travel companion. We will continue to look for ways to deliver greater value to their travel journeys, added Cohen.

Access Grab services through apps youre already familiar with

For travellers who may prefer not to download another app, Grab has also teamed up with some of the worlds most popular apps to provide travellers visiting Southeast Asia with options to access Grabs ride-hailing services through platforms they already use and are familiar with.

WeChat, AliPay, Ctrip, Kakao T and Booking.com users can access Grabs ride-hailing services across Southeast Asia through these apps. Theyll be able to select their pick-up and drop-off point, see the full range of vehicle types available locally, with the estimated fare displayed in their home currency. They can also pay via their preferred payment method in those apps.

From Q2 2023, Uber users that open the app while in Southeast Asia, will also see a message directing them to Grab as Ubers recommended way to travel in the region.

Back to travel with GrabUnlimited

In support of the travel revival, Grab today also announced a new exclusive offer to its GrabUnlimited subscription plan, giving subscribers access to discounted airport rides at 89 airports across Southeast Asia. In the Philippines, GrabUnlimited users can get as much as 15 percent off of their airport ride going to their intended destination. A Filipino GrabUnlimited user can likewise access exclusive airport-ride discounts when traveling in other Southeast Asian countries. Avid Grab users are encouraged to subscribe to GrabUnlimited, which is free on the first month and renews at Php 49 every month thereafter.
2022 appears to be a busy year for cybercriminals targeting companies in Southeast Asia (SEA).

Latest data from Kaspersky shows a 45% jump in web threats blocked by the global cybersecurity companys business solutions last year.

Web-based threats, or online threats, refers to attempts to download malicious objects from a malicious/infected website. Malicious websites are deliberately created by malicious users; infected sites include those with user-contributed content (such as forums), as well as compromised legitimate resources.

Web threats are made possible by end-user vulnerabilities, web service developers/operators, or web services themselves. Regardless of intent or cause, the consequences of a web threat may damage both individuals and organizations.

During the peak of the pandemic in 2020, Kaspersky prevented 10,200,817 web attacks from infecting businesses in SEA. The number dipped slightly in 2021 at 9,180,344 and spiked yet again in 2022 at 13,338,164.

Singapore logged the highest year-over-year (YOY) jump in terms of web threats targeting businesses last year. The Southeast Asian country logged more than a three-fold spike (329%) after Kasperskys business solutions blocked a total of 889,093 web attacks, a whopping increase from 2021s total of just 207,175 incidents.

The uptick was also observed across the four Southeast Asian countries  Malaysia (197%), Thailand (63%), Indonesia (46%), and the Philippines (29%).

Only Vietnam witnessed a slight dip (-12%) after recording only 2,485,168 web threat incidents last year as compared to 2021s 2,822,591.

Kaspersky blocks more than 13 million web attacks targeting companies in the region last year

Last year was a period of reopening for most businesses in Southeast Asia and, unfortunately, so as for cybercriminals. The Vietnam government has continuously pushed to beef up the cybersecurity defenses of the nation and the countrys local companies and it is encouraging to see that the efforts are translating into concrete results, says Yeo Siang Tiong, General Manager for Southeast Asia at Kaspersky.

The greater Southeast Asia region, however, needs more help in building their capabilities to protect their companies against cyberattacks. As 2023 will be the first year of fully re-opened borders and markets, we encourage companies here to allocate budget and resources to strengthen their defenses against the increasing attacks against their networks. While the IT security talent gap remains an issue, outsourcing experts and comprehensive solutions offer efficiencies that can fill in this missing piece, adds Yeo.

How to protect your businesses against web threats

Most threats are successful due to two main weaknesses:

Human error

Technical error

Full protection from web threats means you will need to find ways to cover these weak points. As these web threats were targeted against enterprises, this means these are just the starting points of more complex cyberattacks.

Kaspersky experts suggest enterprises to build a consistent ongoing incident investigation and response processes, nurturing and supporting your IT security talent-base, and making the most of your time and resources.

To help businesses, the global cybersecurity company has launched its Kaspersky Extended Detection and Response (XDR) platform. This platform will equip in-house experts with all the advanced technologies, actionable threat intelligence, and technical skills they need to address complex and targeted cyberattacks.

It will also enrich your knowledge pool with threat intelligence and upskill your experts to deal with complex incidents and it can call upon external experts for assessment, immediate support and back-up in case of an attack.

Businesses can find out more about this new platform at go.kaspersky.com/expert

Kaspersky in Southeast Asia also has launched a Buy 1 Free 1 promo. Businesses can now enjoy two years of enterprise-grade endpoint protection for the price of 1 with Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business or Cloud or Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum, with 24x7 phone support. Interested customers can reach out to sea.sales@kaspersky.com.
Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Morgan Freeman has spoken out against Black History Month and the term African-American in a rare interview.

The actor, 85, who can currently be seen in Zach Braffs film A Good Person, discussed race in the interview.

He told The Sunday Timess Culture magazine: Two things I can say publicly that I do not like. Black History Month is an insult. Youre going to relegate my history to a month?

Also African-American is an insult. I dont subscribe to that title. Black people have had different titles all the way back to the n-word and I do not know how these things get such a grip, but everyone uses African-American.

He continued: What does it really mean? Most Black people in this part of the world are mongrels. And you say Africa as if its a country when its a continent, like Europe.

Black History Month, an annual celebration that takes place in October in the UK and in February in the US, is a way of remembering important people and events in the history of the African diaspora.

Freemans point about the term African-American is that people would not say Euro-American  they would specify a country, for example, Italian-American.

Morgan Freeman (Getty Images for CAA)

In A Good Person, Florence Pugh plays a woman whose world falls apart when she is involved in a fatal car crash that kills her future sister-in-law.

Through her despair, she forms an unlikely friendship with her would-be father-in-law, portrayed by Freeman.

A Good Person will be available on Sky Cinema and NOW from 28 April.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A Chinese engineer working in northern Pakistan was arrested on charges of making a blasphemous remark.

The engineer of Chinas Gezhouba Group Company, who was working at the Dasu hydropower project in Kohistan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, sparked anger from Pakistani labourers and subsequently a mob of hundreds of people gathered on the highway connecting Pakistan to China.

The project he was working on was part of Beijings ambitious Belt and Road Initiative.

The incident threatened to trigger a retaliation from China which had briefly halted work at the Dasu Hydropower Project after 10 Chinese workers were killed in a terrorist attack on a bus on 14 July 2021.

The Chinese worker, who has not been identified, made alleged blasphemous remarks after an altercation with the Pakistani labourers over the slow pace of work during Ramadan, an official told the South China Morning Post on Monday.

He was detained to avert a serious situation, a member of the local citizen-police liaison committee said on the condition of anonymity.

Pakistani labourers who were working on the site alleged that the Chinese national made a remark insulting Allah. They gathered outside the camp of Chinese workers on Sunday with the intention of attacking the engineer, sources said.

Hundreds of villagers from nearby villages gathered to block the Karakoram Highway after the news spread.

The police and paramilitary soldiers had to restrain the mob using force to ensure they do not reach the Chinese nationals working on the dam and protesters were dispersed after about four hours and assurance of legal action against the engineer.

The local religious leaders are expected to hold a meeting on a Monday to decide whether to register a complaint on charges of blasphemy with the police or not.

In Pakistan, an insult to prophet Muhammad or Islam carries a potential death sentence. The laws have also been used to persecute and target minority faiths and sections in the Muslim-majority country.

The issue remains sensitive in Pakistan and have led to incidents of mob lynching of those accused of blasphemy in the past. Thousands of Islamist protesters brought the country to a standstill after Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman who spent eight years on the death row after being accused of blasphemy, was acquitted in 2019.

A Sri Lankan factory manager facing blasphemy claims was beaten to death and set ablaze by a mob in Sialkot city in December 2021.

The Dasu hydropower project was resumed in January 2022 after it halted following the deadly bombing of the bus carrying Chinese workers. The project is part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a $65bn connectivity project to connect Chinas northwestern Xinjiang province to the port of Gwadar in Pakistans Balochistan province.

CPEC is part of wide Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a 21st century silk road, launched in 2013 to connect at least 150 countries spanning Asia, Africa and Europe.
The killing of a former Indian MP Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf on live television has led to severe backlash against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by the opposition.

Ahmed was a member of Indias parliament and the Uttar Pradesh (UP) state legislative assembly. He had over 100 criminal cases registered against him, including murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping and extortion, among others, according to the Indian Express.

Police records also showed that he headed a gang of 144 members in UPs Prayagraj city.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Pakistan on Monday said it was vindicated in the deadliest terrorist attack on the Indian armed forces after a former governor of Jammu and Kashmir blamed the bomb blast on government and intelligence failure.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad issued a statement following a bombshell interview by Satya Pal Malik, who was the governor in Jammu and Kashmir from 2018-2019. Mr Malik levelled serious allegations against prime minister Narendra Modi and his administration in an interview to The Wire.

On 14 February 2019, 40 Indian army soldiers were killed in a suicide bombing attack after a car loaded with explosives rammed into a convoy of 78 buses carrying Indian paramilitary police in Pulwama, India.

The attack brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war after Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility for it and Delhi launched an air raid, known as Balakot airstrike on 26 February 2019, to bomb training camps of terrorist groups in Pakistan.

In an interview on Friday, Mr Malik said he had called prime minister Modi after the attack when he was in shooting for Man vs Wild in Jim Corbett national park, telling him that it happened due to our fault.

He said the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has asked for aircraft to carry their convoy because such a big convoy never goes by road but they were refused permission by the Home Ministry.

He alleged that he was asked by Mr Modi and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval to hush up the matter so that the government can blame Pakistan for political gains.

I distinctly remember. He was in Corbett National Park, getting his shooting done. There isnt a phone there, so after getting out of there, he called me from a dhaba (eatery), Satyapal, what happened? I told him sir I am very unhappy that this happened solely due to our fault if we had given them an aircraft it wouldnt have happened. He told me to keep quiet about it then, he said.

File Indian security men inspect at the site blast in Lethpora area of south Kashmir, Pulwama (EPA)

When asked about the involvement of Pakistan in the attack, Mr Malik maintained the Indian governments stance and said the amount of explosives that were used could only be arranged by anti-India people in Pakistan.

Taking note of his comments, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said Delhi used lies and deceit for its propaganda against Islamabad but did not respond to his comments that RDX explosives were sourced from Pakistan.

His [Malik] disclosures demonstrate how the Indian leadership has habitually used the bogey of terrorism from Pakistan to advance its sham victimhood narrative and the Hindutva agenda, clearly for domestic political gains, Pakistans Foreign Ministry said.

India must answer the questions raised in the latest revelations. It is time India be held accountable for the actions that imperiled regional peace in the aftermath of Pulwama attack, it added.

In other damning remarks in the interview, Mr Malik alleged that Mr Modi had no issues with corruption and that he is ill-informed and ignorant about the Kashmir issue.

The former governor of Jammu and Kashmir served when the Bharatiya Janata Party-led federal government abrogated the semi-autonomous status of the region granted under article 370 and demoted it to a union territory from a state. Mr Malik said the Modi government should restore Kashmirs statehood immediately as this is what has hurt the people there the most.

He said the decision to scrap the special status of Jammu and Kashmir was never discussed with him, saying Delhi takes the entire system for granted.

Mr Malik has a reputation as an outspoken politician who has left the members of the estranged BJP red-faced in the past as well.

Throughout his career, Mr Malik has served as the governor of four states  Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Goa, and Meghalaya.

In response to Mr Maliks comments, BJPs information technology head Amit Malviya tweeted an old remark of Mr Malik, praising Mr Modi as the best PM for Jammu and Kashmir.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A bodyguard has been praised for his acts of bravery during a suspected pipe-bomb attack on the Japanese prime minister at the weekend.

Footage filmed by a member of the public shows the bodyguard reacting quickly to kick away a metal object as it lands near to Fumio Kishida. The bodyguard then puts himself between the prime minister and the device, and covers Mr Kishida with a collapsible, handheld ballistics shield.

The bomb went off moments later with a loud explosion, filling the air with white smoke. Mr Kishida was evacuated unharmed.

The incident, which took place as Mr Kishida was giving a speech in Wakayama, western Japan on Saturday, sent people in the crowd running and screaming.

It came just nine months after the assassination of Mr Kishidas predecessor, Shinzo Abe, in July last year. Abe was shot and killed by a lone assailant with a homemade gun while the then prime minister was delivering a speech at a campaign event.

Police recovered two pipe-shaped objects with conducting wires from the scene on Saturday, one of which was unexploded. Only one person was injured by the device that went off  a police officer whose arm was cut by shrapnel. It is thought that the bomb did not fully explode.

Officers are working on the possibility that both of the devices were homemade pipe bombs, and are still investigating whether they were intended to be lethal, The Japan Times quoted investigators as saying.

Saturdays attack took place at the Saikazaki fishing harbour in Wakayama prefecture just as Mr Kishida had started to deliver his speech after touring the harbour.

The speech was scheduled for 11.40am local time, according to Mr Kishidas ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Several police officers appeared to pin a man to the ground before removing him from the scene. The suspect has been identified as 24-year-old Kimura Ryuji, a resident of Kawanishi city in Hyogo prefecture.

He is under arrest on suspicion of forcible obstruction of business, NHK reported. Police sent a special counterexplosives team to the suspects home to search for evidence of bomb-making.

A cylinder-shaped object believed to have been thrown during prime minister Fumio Kishidas campaign speech (JIJI Press/AFP via Getty)

A woman on the scene told the broadcaster that she saw an object flying overhead and ran frantically, adding: and then, 10 or so seconds later, we heard a really loud noise. It made my daughter cry.

Authorities are reported to suspect that two cylindrical objects were thrown, one of which exploded while the other was seized by officers.

A man present at the event said: When we all stopped in front of the podium, someone started saying Culprit! or something, or An explosive was thrown, so everyone started dispersing fast.

And then, about 10 seconds after the culprit was captured, there was a blast.

A fisherman who was watching the prime ministers speech leapt onto the suspect and pinned him down just after the bomb flew overhead and landed near Mr Kishida.

I never thought a crime like this would happen in my hometown, which is a rather small fishing area, Tsutomu Konishi said on Sunday. Im still shocked and stunned.

Mr Konishi was among those questioning the lack of security measures around Mr Kishidas visit. At a time when Japans serving prime minister was visiting, perhaps we may have needed a metal detector, he told reporters.

Mr Kishida has promised to tighten security around the visits of G7 dignitaries to his country, beginning with beefed-up security for climate ministers gathering in Sapporo at the weekend.

My security has become even heavier this morning. Its so tight I think it is going to be difficult to go out into the city, Japans environment minister, Akihiro Nishimura, said at the hotel in the northern Japanese city where he was hosting his G7 counterparts.
Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A massive, open air award function attended by thousands in western India led to the deaths of 11 people from heatstroke and hospitalisation of hundreds of others.

India is in the midst of a searing summer season that leads to a disruption of lives and livelihoods for scores of its citizens every year.

The government-run ceremony, that took place in western Maharashtra state, went on from early morning until the afternoon on Sunday  when temperatures in the area soared to a scorching 38C.

Thousands had gathered at a large open ground for the Maharashtra Bhushan Award event held to honour a popular local social activist in Navi Mumbai, a city adjacent to Mumbai, Indias financial hub.

It was attended by top political leaders, including Maharashtras chief minister Eknath Shinde, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, and Indias home minister Amit Shah.

While there were two tents to shelter VIPs, ordinary people who attended the event were left vulnerable and exposed to the heat.

The two tents at the large ground catered only to politicians, government officials and the media, reported news portal The Wire.

While the event officially began at 11.30am local time and continued until 1pm, some reports said people had been present there from 8am.

Reports also said several people were brought in for the event from different states as a show of power by the government.

The lack of adequate measures to protect against the heat proved to be fatal. The chief minister had earlier said that 7-8 people have died today, while 24 are being treated. This is a case of sunstroke.

As per the briefing received from doctors, 7-8 people have died today, while 24 are being treated, Mr Shinde had told reporters on Sunday while coming out from a hospital where several of the attendees were admitted. This is a case of sunstroke.

As of Monday, the number of deaths stood at 11 with hundreds of people hospitalised for urgent medical care.

Doctors also fear the death toll can rise as some of those hospitalised are said to be in a critical condition with cardiac issues, according to The Times of India.

The government has announced a compensation of Rs 500,000 (5,000) to the families of those who died, while the deputy chief minister said the government will pay for the treatment of those suffering from heat-related illnesses.

Members of opposition parties have slammed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party state government for choosing the wrong time to hold the event and called it negligent and careless behaviour.

Two of the states senior opposition leaders  Sharad Pawar from the opposition Nationalist Congress Party and former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray  met some of the victims in the hospital.

In this photo taken on 16 April, people gather to attend an award ceremony on the outskirts of Mumbai (AFP via Getty Images)

They said there was no clarity on the number of people who suffered heatstrokes and those who died.

They also accused the government of trying to hide the number of casualties.

What happened during the award ceremony was out of negligent and careless behaviour, Mr Pawar was quoted as saying to the Indian Express newspaper.

The government made a mistake while choosing the time for the function at noon when it was so hot. Innocent people have lost their lives.

So far, exactly how many people have lost their lives, or are injured and discharged has not come to the fore. The numbers are being hidden, he said.

People gather to attend an award ceremony that led to the deaths of 11 people on the outskirts of Mumbai (AFP via Getty Images)

The incident has raised concerns about rising temperatures in parts of India with worse anticipated ahead, according to a heatwave warning recently issued by the Indian Meteorological Department.

Prolonged exposure to direct heat can cause dehydration, hyponatremia, heat exhaustion and heatstroke.

Indias heatwaves are set to become more frequent and extreme as the average global temperature rises due to man-made global heating, said an assessment by the UNs top scientific body on the climate crisis, the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change.

India experienced its hottest February on record this year, with above-normal rainfall in March helping keep temperatures in check.

There are fears of temperatures rising to dangerous levels once again, after the subcontinent witnessed the devastating impacts of record-breaking heat last year.

An assessment from the World Weather Attribution in 2022 found the climate crisis made extreme heatwaves last year 30 times more likely.
Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A pharmacist who gave up her career to support her severely autistic son before enduring a difficult divorce has said impossible doesnt exist after successfully pursuing her lifelong dream to study medicine aged 35.

Dr Ros Jabar, 51, who lives in Cardiff, Wales, worked as a pharmacist from 1997 and said she was the breadwinner in her semi-arranged first marriage, earning about 65,000 annually to support her family, including her son Jamil, now 22, who was nonverbal at the time due to his severe autism, and daughter Yasmin, 21.

While Ros was able to provide for her family, she claims she was called a bad woman and a bad wife as she did not want to be the traditional stay-at-home mother.

Struggling in her unhappy marriage and with her sons autism, and facing criticism for her work-life balance, she ended up quitting her job as a pharmacist and later placed Jamil in a special needs school  but she had always dreamed of becoming a doctor.

In order to pay the bills, look after her children, and secure some funds to pay for university, she opened a cafe called Jabars Hut  a name inspired by Star Wars Jabba the Hutt and her surname  which was a roaring success, and she then got a place at Cardiff Universitys School of Medicine, aged 35.

Now, more than a decade after completing her degree, Ros is working part-time as a polytrauma doctor and has become a successful aesthetics professional with a high-profile clinic in Cardiff, and she has found love with her new partner Saj, 60, and had two more children: Soren, four, and Isaak, two.

After overcoming so many obstacles, Ros said impossible doesnt exist in her repertoire as there is no law on Earth saying you cant do it.

I think they were all expecting a little, quiet, gentle Asian lady, with not much fire behind her, but they got what we call in my culture, my language, Maheena Thalijara Pathan, she said.

Maheena means smooth, Thalijara means noble, and Pathan means warrior.

(PA)

I looked at everything in front of me and I thought, I want to be a businesswoman, so Im going to be a businesswoman. I want to be a doctor, so Im going to be a doctor.

Ros studied pharmacy at De Montfort University in Leicester before starting her job as a locum pharmacist in 1997.

She then got married in 1999 before having two children, Jamil and Yasmin.

I was working as a locum pharmacist for a while, supporting my little family  and I found out very early on that my son had a severe form of autism, Ros said.

The communication was zero, his sensory perceptions and his sensory function were non-existent, so he really needed a little bit of specialist care.

Ros felt guilty being a working mother, but she was career-driven and wanted to provide for her family.

However, she said the lack of support from her ex-husband led to her quitting her job before the marriage eventually broke down.

I was looking after everything, looking after everyone, doing the bills, being the wife  you name it, I did it, Ros said.

(PA)

Being then unemployed, Ros spent her days looking after her two children, taking them to school and the park, but she said she was bored out of her mind.

This is when she decided to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor  but she had to find the funds to pay for university and retake her A-Levels to improve her chances.

In the background, I had a little plan going in my head, because when you have children, you have no choice  you are driven to look for solutions constantly, Ros said.

I think women are in this constant state of flux when they have a child; all they want to look at is how they protect that child and keep that child in a safe place.

But I remember this particular doctor saying to me, You are wasted as a pharmacist, you would really make a great doctor because you have a way of chatting to people.

(PA)

Ros begged her local council to allow her to open a small cafe outside the museum in Cardiff, which would later be called Jabars Hut, serving a fusion of Indian and Italian homemade foods and coffee, and she re-took her A-Levels in that same year in 2004, ending up with all A* or A grades.

After securing enough money to pay for her first year of university, she battled to obtain her place at Cardiff University, but she was mocked and faced with constant rejection.

She went to a careers fair and spoke to a Cardiff University ENT consultant, explaining how she had always wanted to be a doctor, and he said: Ill eat my hat if you get an interview.

Ros said she was heartbroken, but little did that consultant know that he would later end up interviewing Ros, and she secured a place at the university to study medicine in 2007.

It was the most surreal experience, Ros said.

I cannot tell you, that news was the best news ever  and I thought, Im going to become a doctor.

Ros said her ex-husband left her on the day she started her five-year degree, but looking back now, she feels it was the best thing he could have done.

She applied for a pharmacy licence while studying, in order to obtain some additional funds as she had gone from earning a beautiful 65,000 a year in those days to nothing.

With the help of Saj, who was just a friend at the time, she then opened a local pharmacy in 2009, which provided an income of 80 a week to support herself and her two children.

She and her ex-husband finalised their divorce in 2010, and after graduating in 2012, then undertook some courses in aesthetics, specifically Botox and dermal fillers.

She sold the pharmacy for about 350,000 in 2014, allowing her to renovate her home and live off those earnings before she opened her own clinic, Ros Medics, in Cardiff, in 2015.

She later began working part-time as a polytrauma doctor at the University Hospital of Wales, allowing her to bring the two worlds together  jobs she absolutely loves.

Ros hopes to empower other women and has even set up her own training programme, called Calla Aesthetics Training, which aims to educate medics and non-medics to become aesthetic practitioners at the highest level.

Ros has overcome so many obstacles, but she said her passion is making people feel good and supported and she would describe herself as a warrior as she has had to fight for her success.
Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A woman who married a stranger she met on TikTok for "life experience" fell in love with her husband and "couldnt be happier".

Danielle Gross, 26, jumped at the chance to tie the knot with Gunnar Michels, 26, when she saw his video asking a stranger to marry him.

The content creator had always felt she would get married in a silly way and, after chatting for less than a week, Gunnar surprised Danielle by coming to her hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US, to propose.

Two weeks later, the strangers took a road trip to Las Vegas, Nevada, US, to wed on Valentines Day 2021.

Gunnar and Danielle admit they had planned to divorce a week later but as they got to know each other their relationship blossomed.

In March 2021 they started travelling across America in a converted ambulance and have now settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US, and are looking to buy a home together.

Danielle said: I always had the idea in my head that any way I got married it would be something silly  like Vegas.

So when I saw Gunnars video I thought: This is the silly way.' I had to jump on the opportunity.

Our original plan was to get divorced a week after the wedding. But then we were chatting and thought let's keep talking as friends and then it became something more.

Gunnar and I never would have gone up to each other in a bar. It opened our eyes to other people.

Gunnar, a video creator, said: Looking back it seems like a story. It doesnt feel real. But it definitely happened.

Gunnar had the idea to find a stranger to marry him during the pandemic in January 2021.

He said: In the pandemic I was looking for a way to make content and meet people. I came up with this idea of getting married to a stranger. It was pretty wild.

I wasnt seriously looking for a life partner - more to have a life experience. So many people wanted to do it. I got them to make a video for me on why they would be a good fit for me.

Danielle Gross with Gunner Michels (Danielle Gross / SWNS)

Danielle was among the thousands of strangers competing for Gunnars marriage: My video went viral. I had an army of people getting him to pick me, she said.

The pair started chatting and FaceTimed twice before Gunnar surprised Danielle by driving down to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US, get down on one knee. He met Danielles family that night. They were sceptical of the marriage  but are now supportive of the pair.

The couple drove to Las Vegas two weeks later and tied the knot on Valentine's Day, but were not expecting the marriage to last.

Gunnar said: Its blossomed into a really healthy relationship as weve got to know each other. There was no pressure on it to work out.

The pair dived in head first and have spent the last two year travelling around 50 states of America in a converted ambulance, where there was nothing to do but talk.

The happy couple say their personalities complement each other.

Danielle said "We have the same core values. Even though our personalities are different  deep inside we are the same."

The pair are taking a break from travelling and moved into a home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US, in February 2023 but are both still lovers of spontaneity.

Danielle said: We could buy a house tomorrow. We could leave for Europe tomorrow.

Our families have both been really happy for us. They all get along. My friends cant believe were still together.

It is something Id suggest for others to do. It opened our eyes to other people. If youre open minded its a really interesting concept.

SWNS
Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Queen Camilla was reportedly left hurt over being labelled the villain by Prince Harry in his memoir, a source has suggested.

In Spare, which was released in January, Prince Harry claimed that his stepmother leaked stories about the royal family to the media to bolster her image.

I have complex feelings about gaining a step-parent who I thought had recently sacrificed me on her personal PR altar, he wrote.

He says meeting Camilla  referred to as the Other Woman in his book  was like an injection, writing: Close your eyes and you wont even feel it.

Harry continued: I remember wondering... if she would be cruel to me; if she would be like all the evil stepmothers in the stories.

Then, during ITVs Harry: The Interview, the Duke of Sussex claimed stories began to be leaked after both he and his brother begged Charles not to marry Camilla.

In a new interview, sources close to the Queen have been reflecting on her journey ahead of her coronation.

Of course it bothers her, of course it hurts. But she doesnt let it get to her, Fiona Petty-Fitzmaurice, Marchioness of Lansdowne, told The Sunday Times of Camillas reaction to the memoir.

Charles and Camilla married in 2005 but they have been linked since the Seventies (Getty Images)

Ms Petty-Fitzmaurice is one of the Queens six companions and is married to Charles, 9th Marquess of Lansdowne.

It comes as Buckingham Palace has announced that Prince Harry will be attending the coronation on 6 May, without his wife Meghan Markle, who will stay at home with their children in California.

King Charles is reportedly using the coronation as an opportunity to mend family divisions, reports have claimed.

This includes bringing the disgraced Prince Andrew, the Duke of York in from the cold after reports claim that he was asked to leave his Windsor residence Royal Lodge.

A source told PageSix: Relations between the King and his brother have never been this bad. It has turned into a real battle which he never expected and its left him tired and infuriated.

Meanwhile, The Independent has learnt that the Duchess of York has not been invited to the coronation.

The Independent has contacted Buckingham Palace for comment.
 Close Prince Harry's lawyer arrives at High Court ahead of privacy claim against The Sun's publisher

Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The Duke of Sussex has said he felt like the tabloid press was a third party in all of his relationships.

In court documents revealed at the High Court in London on Tuesday, Harry said he always tried to be the best partner he could be, but every woman has her limit.

He said that the tabloid press always became involved in his relationships, and tried to ruin them.

Whenever I have been in a relationship, I have always tried to be the best partner that I possibly could, but every woman has her limit, he said in a witness statement.

Unfortunately, they are not just in a relationship with me but with the entire tabloid press as a third party.

At no point did I have a girlfriend or a relationship with anyone without the tabloids getting involved and ultimately ruining it, or trying to ruin it, using whatever unlawful means at their disposal.

Meanwhile, the court also heard that the Prince of Wales allegedly reached a settlement, that the late queen was aware of, with publisher News Group Newspapers over claims of hacking.
Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Prince Harry held peace talks with his father, King Charles III, before his presence at next months coronation was confirmed.

King Charles and Queen Camilla are set to be officially crowned on 6 May.

The Duke of Sussex has had a turbulent relationship with his father in recent years after moving to California with his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.

After the release of Harrys tell-all memoir, Spare, in January, speculation increased as to whether their father-son relationship had any chance of improving.

Also subject to much discussion was the question of whether Harry and Meghan would attend the coronation.

On Wednesday (12 April), Buckingham Palace announced that Harry will attend the ceremony, while Meghan will remain in California with their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

According to a friend of the Sussexes, Harry reached out to Charles ahead of confirming his attendance at next months coronation.

As reported by The Telegraph, a friend of the couple said that there had been some positive conversations between the father and son.

The report states that Harry did not speak to his elder brother, William, Prince of Wales, as part of this reconciliation.

Prince Harry and King Charles in 2018 (Getty Images)

Insight into the tense relationship between the brothers was detailed in Spare, as Harry alleged that William assaulted him in his home ahead of his wedding.

William and Harry were last seen together in public for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in September.

Elsewhere, close friends of Charles and Camilla have been sharing details about the couples long journey to the crown. One source claimed that Camilla is the yin to Charless yang, while another looked back on the struggle it took to integrate Camilla into the royal inner circle.

Follow all the latest royal updates here.
Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A poll of 4,000 adults in employment found seven in ten take under 15 minutes of breaks a day (outside their lunch break) and 43 per cent take under 10 minutes.

They blame their lack of downtime on the size of their workload (47 per cent), too many meetings (25 per cent), and receiving a constant stream of emails (23 per cent).

36 per cent dont believe their employers do enough to encourage them to take breaks.

Despite this, 93 per cent believe its an important part of the working day, with 42 per cent feeling more energised after stopping for a short break, and 41 per cent more motivated.

While 38 per cent feel less stressed.

And 76 per cent think their performance would be impaired without time away from their usual nine to five.

Furthermore, 74 per cent believe having a tea break will allow them to get to know their colleagues better.

With 33 per cent stating they dont even know all the names of the people they work with  which is highest amongst 18  24-year-olds (39 per cent).

McVities is rallying to reinstate Britains workplace breaks, supporting the 72 per cent of the UKs 32.8 million employed who would like to see the implementation of a daily 15-minute tea break in their place of work.

To do this, they have launched a modern spin on the classic tea trolley which comes with a PA system and a countdown clock to ensure breaks never get missed again, as well as being stocked with a selection of biscuits to ensure everyones dunking preferences are met.

Asl Ozen Turhan, spokesperson at McVities UK & Ireland said: It is so important we find the time to take breaks during the working day.

Just a short 15-minute break can improve wellbeing and connections with colleagues, which we witnessed among the McVities workers who recently took part in trialling a daily tea and biscuit break.

The survey also found two thirds (66 per cent) enjoy a biscuit with their tea break, while four in 10 find the most enjoyable part of having a bit of time away from their work is the peace and quiet.

However, 35 per cent think people take less breaks now than when they first started out in the working world, thanks to more demanding jobs (45 per cent) and their time being stretched more thinly than ever before (44 per cent).

Leading the campaign to bring back workplace breaks is Martine McCutcheon, who urges Brits to reinstate their tea and biccy breaks.

The McVities trolley will embark on a tour of the UK, with workers able to win a visit to their office next month accompanied by the Love Actually and Eastenders star.

She said: As someone who loves her tea and biscuit breaks, Im so excited to help reinstate this treasured tradition for the hard-working people of Britain.

Ive had my fair share of long workdays throughout my career and know how important it is to make sure you take the time for a break.

Whether you fancy a cuppa and a biccy for some time to yourself or a quick catch up with colleagues - these moments can turn around a stressful day. So, lets bring back the biscuit break.

Having analysed 26 different industries, the study, carried out via OnePoll, found salespeople are taking the smallest amount of time for tea breaks in a typical working day  at 9 minutes and 47 seconds followed by those in the charity sector at 9 minutes and 52 seconds.

And interestingly, men spend three minutes and 10 seconds longer on breaks throughout the day than female workers - which is more than 13 hours longer a year.

While those in Belfast set aside the longest time for a break from work, Norwich came out as the least generous to themselves.
Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Health Check email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The UK is not ready for the next global pandemic because public services are being dismantled and key research is being defunded, experts have claimed.

More than three years after the global outbreak of coronavirus, top scientists have warned that the UK is no better prepared for a pandemic than it was in 2020.

They say another epidemic on the scale of Covid-19 is inevitable, but that disinvestment in infection-monitoring services, dismantling of key infrastructure, and the state of the NHS mean the country is losing ground.

The warning comes as virologists told The Independent that the new Covid-19 variant behind a surge of 10,000 new Covid cases a day in India may turn more aggressive, and could become the dominant strain in the UK.

The variant, first identified in January and known as Arcturus, has been found in 22 countries, including the UK and the US, and has prompted India to resume its production of vaccines.

Sitting ducks

Sir John Bell, a leading immunologist and a member of the UKs Covid vaccine taskforce during the pandemic, said it was too easy to dismiss Covid-19 as a once in a generation crisis.

Writing in The Independent, he warned that it is a question of when, not if, another pandemic strikes, adding that the nation needs to adopt an always on approach that includes building a more resilient healthcare system, carrying out better surveillance, and identifying future threats.

Despite everything we have learned, we are not ready for the next pandemic, he wrote. The next pandemic could be even more devastating than the last. We must be in a constant state of readiness for the next big health crisis  if we do not act now, we will not be forgiven.

He referred to modelling that suggests there is a 38 per cent chance that another pandemic will happen within our lifetime, which would have the potential to cause even greater destruction.

Professor Teresa Lambe, one of the principal investigators leading the Oxford-AstraZeneca programme, said the UK had failed to take on board many hard-learned lessons from Covid. She warned that the public will be sitting ducks in a new pandemic if there are no further efforts by the government to invest in preparation.

She highlighted the governments decision to disband tracking systems  including its gold standard Covid survey, the last remaining system used to monitor infections  as a sign that the country would not be fully prepared for another pandemic.

Writing in The Independent, she described such surveillance systems as crucial for identifying new variants, tracking case numbers and helping the UK to tackle any virus spread. She added: We have learnt time and again that we need to track this virus carefully to distinguish if the current vaccine recommendations are enough.

She added: Without more of a concerted effort to work together and invest in pandemic preparedness, we are sitting ducks for the next virus.

Nothing has changed

Some experts also pointed to the issue of Covid-testing labs being mothballed, and plans to sell off the UKs future vaccine manufacturing and research laboratory  the UK Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Centre  before it had even opened.

In addition, after a year of record A&E waits, ambulance delays and escalating waiting lists, there are concerns that the NHS is now in a worse position to tackle a pandemic than it was when Covid struck three years ago.

Sir David King, a former chief scientific adviser to the government, who led the 2006 research that closely predicted the Covid pandemic, said the world is likely to see another virus outbreak on the same scale in the next 15 years.

He told The Independent: Were in the same position as we were in 2020. Nothing has changed... if anything it has got worse.

Sir David said the government had failed to invest in the NHS and he was in no doubt that it was in a worse position than it was three years ago.

The former government adviser added that, by failing to fund the health service or bolster Britains ability to respond to another pandemic, the government is discounting the future.

Thats what the pandemic in 2020 proved: that we had jettisoned all of the processes that would have managed the epidemic. I see no signs of this being reversed at the moment, he said.

If you wait for the next epidemic, which I think is where the government may be now  if you wait until the next vaccine is developed, for whatever disease that is, it will take months and months for that vaccine to arrive. We cannot rely on that. We will have many, many cases, itll get really out of hand again, and then well have hospitals completely overwhelmed by an outbreak of this kind.

Losing ground

Professor Peter Horby, the lead for the groundbreaking Covid Recovery trial and head of the Pandemic Sciences Institute, also warned that the UK would be ill-prepared if a new pandemic were to hit in the coming years.

The Oxford professor said that, despite the government backing scientific work during Covid, disinvestment since means that the UK is now losing ground. He claimed that researchers on the Covid Recovery trial  which was launched in 2020 and has identified four treatments for the disease  are having to rely on philanthropic funds because there is no sustained investment.

There were some good strategic moves by the UK government [in response to the pandemic], but I have been disappointed by whats happened since then, he said.

What weve seen is there has been the discontinuation of funding of some of the jewels in the crown of the UK response, like the ONS survey, like the Covid Geonomics Consortium, like the Recovery trial ... the mothballing of the [Covid lab] facilities.

Instead of building on the successes, [the government has] been dismantling the successes, and I find that a potential risk for the future.

He added: We may be back in the position that we saw ourselves in 2020, where weve got a new threat and we dont have the diagnostics, the drugs, the vaccine, or the surveillance capabilities that we would desire.

A government spokesperson said: We have flexible pandemic response plans which are kept under constant review and continuously updated to reflect the latest scientific information, lessons learned from exercises and our response to emergencies, including Covid, to ensure preparedness.

The UK Health Security Agency was set-up to combat future health threats and it continues to monitor the threat posed by Covid through surveillance systems and genomic capabilities, while maintaining our laboratory infrastructure and stock of lateral flow tests will ensure testing can be scaled up swiftly if a Covid wave results in significantly increased pressure on the NHS.

A record 14.1 billion of funding for health and social care over the next two years will help the NHS to address the unprecedented impact of Covid and cut waiting times.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, who has chronic leukemia, has been transferred from an intensive care unit to a regular ward at a Milan hospital, where he is being treated for a lung infection, his brother was quoted as saying on Sunday.

"All OK, he's out of intensive care,'' Milan daily Corriere della Sera quoted Paolo Berlusconi as saying before visiting his 86-year-old sibling at San Raffaele hospital.

Italian news agency LaPresse also said the brother confirmed the transfer out of the ICU at the hospital, where he was admitted on April 5.

The hospital declined to comment on the report, but said that it would issue a medical bulletin on Berlusconi's condition on Monday.

Matteo Salvini, a longtime right-wing ally of Berlusconi, and currently a government minister, tweeted Good luck, Silvio, my friend and linked his wishes in the tweet to Corrieres report.

Berlusconi was hospitalized for treatment of what his doctors said is a lung infection. During his hospitalization, his doctors, including his longtime personal physician, revealed publicly that the former three-time premier has chronic leukemia.

In past years, Berlusconi has also suffered serious heart problems, and in 2020 was admitted to the same hospital, in critical condition, for treatment of COVID-19.

His Forza Italia party, which he founded around 30 years ago, and Salvini's anti-migrant League, are junior partners in the government led by far-right Premier Giorgia Meloni. Unlike Salvini, who is infrastructure and transport minister, Berlusconi holds no government role.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Northern Irelands political leaders know the right thing to do to solve the Stormont stalemate  and need to get on and do it, former prime minister Sir Tony Blair has said.

Sir Tony was appearing alongside ex-US president Bill Clinton and former taoiseach Bertie Ahern at a major conference marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

Mr Ahern said he deeply hoped that the DUP would allow the powersharing institutions to return, while Mr Clinton spoke about how politicians winged it to help secure the historic peace deal in 1998.

Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who is hosting the Agreement 25 conference as part of her role as chancellor at Queens University in Belfast, chaired the panel discussion between the three former leaders.

Mr and Mrs Clinton were among political and civic leaders from across the UK and Ireland  including Senator George Mitchell, Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris, Catholic primate Eamon Martin and former Irish presidents Mary McAleese and Mary Robinson  who attended a banquet at Belfast City Hall as part of the events on Monday evening.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar are due to attend the conference later in the week.

The Good Friday Agreement largely ended Northern Irelands 30-year sectarian conflict.

Sir Tony said: We know the peace isnt perfect. We know the institutions have often been rocky and unstable as they are today.

We know theres still a lot of distrust and mistrust between the communities.

But we also know that Northern Ireland is a much better place than it was before the Good Friday Agreement.

And the only thing I would say to todays leaders is I think when you stand back and you reflect, you know in your heart of hearts, what the right thing to do is, and you should just get on and do it.

Mr Ahern said the alternatives to the Good Friday Agreement are not good.

He added: So, lets hope they (the DUP) listen to what George Mitchell said today, and listen to what were saying, that we all just get back on the track.

Theres too many big things to be dealing with than to be arguing about some detail that was caused over something or another, which Im not sure what it is even.

He added: So just lets move forward and try and make this work.

Mr Clinton told the conference that the 1998 peace deal came about because political leaders decided the time was right to do the right thing.

He said: It just happens, nobodys perfect, you cant foresee all this, and the fact that we trusted each other and we trusted (George) Mitchell, I think we earned the trust of the parties in Northern Ireland that we were dealing with across the board, because they thought we would be straight with them, and thats how it happened.

There were days I felt like I was taking Seamus Heaneys advice to take a flying leap and walk on air against your better judgment.

Thats how it started. We all just decided that the time was right to do the right thing.

Mr Clinton said people thought they were crazy to believe they could get the paramilitary groups to decommission their arms.

Wed like to tell you that we had it all thought through but the truth is we made up a lot of it as we went along, we had to wing it, he said.

The Good Friday Agreement created powersharing institutions at Stormont that involved nationalists and unionists governing Northern Ireland together in a mandatory coalition arrangement.

While the pact largely ended the Troubles, which had claimed more than 3,600 lives since the late 1960s, it has failed to bring long-term political stability in the region and devolution has collapsed several times in the last two decades.

The anniversary comes amid another period of collapse, with the DUP blocking powersharing in protest at post-Brexit trading arrangements that have created economic barriers between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

The barriers were first introduced under the Withdrawal Agreements contentious Northern Ireland Protocol.

The UK and EU recently agreed the Windsor Framework as a way to cut the red tape created by the protocol.

While the DUP says the framework has gone some way to address its concerns about the protocol, it says significant problems remain.

The party has opposed the framework at Westminster and has made clear its boycott of Stormont will continue until it secures further assurances from the UK Government over its concerns around sovereignty and the application of EU law in Northern Ireland.

Making the keynote address earlier in the day, former US senator George Mitchell, who chaired the 1998 negotiations, said the people of Northern Ireland and their political leaders changed history 25 years ago.

He said: When you approved the agreement you were also talking to Israelis and Palestinians, to Colombians, to Africans, Asians, to Americans  in fact you were talking to the world.

This is an agreement for peace and for the future, not just here, but everywhere.

He added: We need people who believe, who know that the possible does exist within the impossible  dont let it slip away.

A bust in honour of Mr Mitchell was later unveiled in the grounds of the Belfast campus.

Mrs Clinton said the Windsor Framework on post-Brexit trade provided Northern Ireland with an opportunity to become an economic hub for global trade and investment.

While the Good Friday Agreement is an enormous achievement, we know that peace, prosperity and progress that so many have worked tirelessly to achieve remains incomplete, she said.

The work of integration and housing and schools is far from finished, neighbourhoods remain divided, poverty and unemployment persist, the difficulties of the past continue to threaten the present.

You know, we are at a standstill with the Northern Ireland Assembly no longer functioning. But the Windsor agreement provides a path forward not just for convening but for positioning Northern Ireland as an economic hub for global trade and investment through privileged access to the UK and all of its trading partners, as well as the EU.

I encourage everyone now to move forward with the same spirit of unstoppable grit and resolve that brought the peace 25 years ago Hillary Clinton

She added: There have been many moments in Northern Irelands peace journey where progress seemed difficult, when every route forward looked blocked, there seemed nowhere to go.

But you have always found a way through and I believe you will again, because the stakes for the people of Northern Ireland are so high.

You stand as an example to the world of how even the staunchest adversaries can overcome differences to work together for the common and greater good.

So, I encourage everyone now to move forward with the same spirit of unstoppable grit and resolve that brought the peace 25 years ago. Your friends in the United States will be behind you all the way as you work toward peace, prosperity and stability that lasts.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Bereaved family members have laid the shoes of their loved ones killed during the Troubles outside court buildings in Belfast in protest against the legacy Bill.

The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill proposes offering immunity for people accused of crimes during the Troubles as long as they co-operate with a new truth recovery body.

It would also stop future court processes or inquests.

Catherine Ellis young niece, Jacqueline, was killed in the Dublin and Monaghan bombings in 1974.

Its heartbreaking what theyre doing and wed like answers Catherine Ellis

Ms Ellis brought a pair of her nieces shoes to the demonstration.

Its heartbreaking what theyre doing and wed like answers, she said.

Ms Ellis said that victims of violence during the Troubles and their surviving families had been totally ignored.

Were totally ignored and its a big let-down to us, she said.

The protest was organised by the Pat Finucane Centre, coinciding with political leaders meeting at Queens University Belfast to discuss the Good Friday Agreement.

The shoes of the victims were laid on the ground outside the court alongside pictures and words from their families.

Marjorie Roddys uncle, William McGreanery, was shot by British security forces.

Ms Roddy said that her family were attending the protest to show they would not give up the fight for justice.

Were still trying to get justice, the family are still fighting for justice. We cannot get the soldier to court, she said.

If this legacy Bill goes through this will all be called to a halt. Weve waited 52 years for this and well not give up and were still trying and thats why Im here today.

Ms Roddy said that victims processes for justice were continually delayed.

Victims have been ignored, we have tried every avenue and went through every possible way of finding justice but its always held up, she said.

Ms Roddy added: If its held off long enough therell be no one there to have to answer these charges.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Former US president Bill Clinton has been reunited with a hotel concierge he first met almost 30 years ago on his historic visit to Belfast.

Enormous crowds gathered in 1995 when the then-US president touched down in Northern Ireland for a visit amid the ongoing Troubles as peace talks faltered.

He attracted headlines by staying at the Europa Hotel, which at one point had been dubbed the most bombed hotel in Europe.

The hotel celebrated his stay by naming a suite after him and his wife Hillary.

Mr and Mrs Clinton returned to Belfast this week to take part in a major conference at Queens University to mark the 25th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.

He took some time out to go back to the Europa Hotel and meet staff members.

Among those he greeted was head concierge Martin Mulholland, who he first met when he stayed with his wife Hillary in 1995 and then again in 1998.

Im so glad to be back Bill Clinton

Greeting the hotels general manager, Andy McNeill, Mr Clinton said: Im so glad to be back.

Mr McNeill said they were thrilled to welcome him back, adding: He was genuinely delighted to return and said it was good to see familiar faces.

The atmosphere in the hotel was electric, guests were cheering and thanking him for everything he has done for Northern Ireland.

President Clinton and Hillary dined with friends and after their meal they asked to speak to our executive head chef Kyle Greer as they really enjoyed the food.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The wife of a British-Russian opposition leader jailed for 25 years has said she is baffled that those involved in his trial have not yet been sanctioned by the UK.

Vladimir Kara-Murza was sentenced to prison by a court in Moscow after he was convicted of treason and denigrating the Russian military in proceedings the Kremlin critic called a show trial.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has condemned the decision and praised Mr Kara-Murza for bravely denouncing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

But the dissidents wife, Evgenia Kara-Murza, said that while she was grateful for the support of the Foreign Office, the UK should do more.

Mrs Kara-Murza told the PA news agency: I would very much like to see the British Government actually doing something in Vladimirs case.

I would like to see the British Government introduce sanctions against the violators of my husbands rights.

Canada has already introduced sanctions even though he is not a Canadian citizen.

The United States and Latvia have also imposed sanctions on those involved in Mr Kara-Murzas prosecution.

She added: I know that the UK authorities have had a list of the violators for months, so I am honestly baffled that these sanctions have not been introduced.

Mrs Kara-Murza also asked that the UK demand an independent medical assessment for her husband, who has twice survived poisonings that left him in a coma.

She said: He is dragging both his feet because he is losing feeling in his feet and his left hand, and this is a condition that can lead to paralysis.

It is honestly becoming a question of life and death. Expressions of concern are not enough anymore.

Likening her husbands prison term to punishments handed out under Joseph Stalin, Mrs Kara-Murza added: I believe that those Russian citizens who continue opposing the war despite all odds, who continue opposing the regime despite all odds, have to see the solidarity and support of the global democratic community.

Mr Kara-Murza holds a British passport and embassy officials attended his trial to demonstrate the UKs concern in his case.

The judge who presided over the trial, Sergei Podoprigorov, has already been sanctioned by Britain for what it called previous involvement in human rights violations, as has Dmitry Komnov, the head of the detention centre where Mr Kara-Murza is being held.

Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell told the House of Commons on Monday that the Government was considering further sanctions and expected to come forward with a package of further measures within a week.

Alicia Kearns, the Conservative chair of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, welcomed the prospect of sanctions but said the Government should have acted more quickly.

She tweeted: Welcome the Governments commitment to bring forward a list of sanctions within a week following the heinous miscarriage of justice against Vladimir Kara-Murza.

However we know theres no justice in Russia, and this sentence was pre-determined. We should have been prepared with these sanctions today and action against the Russian Government.

Following the news of Mr Kara-Murzas sentencing, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said: Vladimir Kara-Murza bravely denounced Russias invasion of Ukraine for what it was  a blatant violation of international law and the UN Charter.

Russias lack of commitment to protecting fundamental human rights, including freedom of expression, is alarming. We continue to urge Russia to adhere to its international obligations including Vladimir Kara-Murzas entitlement to proper healthcare.

I pay tribute to Mr Kara-Murza and his family, including his wife Evgenia and her unwavering commitment to raising her husbands cause on the international stage. The UK will continue to support them and to call for Mr Kara-Murzas immediate release.
Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The moment King Charles III is anointed during his coronation on 6 May will be one of stillness and simplicity, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said.

In his foreword for the official coronation souvenir programme, Justin Welby said the sacred ceremony will be the only part of the ceremony the public will not see.

He wrote of the magnificence and pomp of the historic occasion  Britains first coronation since that of the late Queen Elizabeth II in 1953  but added: In the midst of this glorious spectacle is a moment of stillness and simplicity.

Welby also revealed that during the mysterious anointing ceremony, the King will swap his robes of status and honour for a simple white shirt.

This signifies the monarch as coming before God as a servant in the full knowledge that the task is difficult and he needs help.

In the full knowledge that, even as King, he is one of the people and that even if he has a particular role to fulfil, he shares in our human frailties and vulnerabilities, the archbishop continued.

It also marks the moment that the King is set apart for service: service of the people of this country and service of God. This is why at this moment he will exchange robes of status and honour for a simple white shirt.

His Majesty will follow in his mothers footsteps in blocking the anointing ceremony from public view.

King Charles, previously the Prince of Wales, greets the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby in 2013. The monarch will be anointed by the Archbishop during the coronation ceremony on 6 May 2023 (Getty Images)

Although Queen Elizabeths coronation was the first ever to be televised, she sat under a canopy that was held above her by four Knights of the Garter that shielded her from the cameras when the moment of the anointing arrived.

Welby described how coronations often carry with them the hopes and prayers of nations for peace, justice and the common good.

The 84-page official souvenir costs 20 and went on sale on Monday (17 April). It features a family portrait of Charles and Camilla, the now-Prince and Princess of Wales and their children, and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

It comes after Buckingham Palace confirmed that Prince Harry will attend the ceremony, but his wife Meghan Markle will remain in California with their two children.

A percentage of the sales of the souvenir programme will be divided between the Royal Collection Trust and SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity.

Additional reporting by PA
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The Liberal Democrats have called for an investigation after accusing the Prime Minister of flouting purdah rules by making a policy announcement in the run-up to local elections.

Christine Jardine MP said she is deeply concerned that the move breaches the Governments own guidance on the pre-election period of sensitivity.

Purdah rules restrict what communications activity can take place in the weeks before polling day.

Government resources cannot be used for party political campaigning and particular care is meant to be taken in the run-up to an election to ensure the impartiality of the civil service.

I am therefore very concerned that the purdah rules have been breached by the Government in regards to this announcement Christine Jardine

In a letter addressed to Cabinet Secretary Simon Case on Monday, Ms Jardine called for an investigation to be opened immediately into the Governments maths to 18 announcement.

The plans, outlined in a speech by Rishi Sunak at a north London college, would see all pupils studying the subject in some form up to the age of 18.

I am highly concerned that this announcement is breaching purdah rules. As you will be aware, we are now in the pre-election purdah period, which began on Thursday 13 April in relation to local elections in England, the Lib Dems Cabinet Office spokesperson wrote.

Todays announcement on mathematics has been fully supported by Government resources, including a Downing Street press release. Education is also clearly an area of relevant importance to local authorities and, accordingly, a local election campaign.

I am therefore very concerned that the purdah rules have been breached by the Government in regards to this announcement.

I therefore urge you to open an investigation as to whether this announcement breached purdah rules. If concerns were expressed by officials, were they ignored by Conservative ministers?

Labour MP Angela Eagle also hit out in a tweet: This (Government) completely ignores all the purdah rules.

Purdah rules apply to new policy announcements but the Lib Dems had issued a statement hours earlier describing Mondays pledge as a rehashed plan.

Other critics including Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, accused Mr Sunak of reannouncing a vague and poorly thought-out policy first set out in January.

The Prime Ministers official spokesman told reporters the Government ensured that announcements were within the rules.

We are aware of the rules that guide local election purdah and abide by them, the spokesman said.
Sign up to our free fortnightly newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Nadine White Sign up to our free fortnightly newsletter The Race Report Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

The Race Report email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

An Essex pub that displayed racist golly dolls has been vandalised with windows damaged and paint daubed on the door.

Police said they would now conduct extra patrols in the area after the incident at the White Hart Inn in Grays at 12.40am on Sunday.

The incident comes after officers seized a collection of dolls from the pub on 4 April. The dolls, which are based on 18th century minstrels are now regarded as racist caricatures, are now part of an investigation into an alleged hate crime.

The pub landlords were reported in 2018 over the dolls (Benice Ryley / SWNS)

The raid caught the attention of home secretary Suella Braverman, who criticised Essex Police for how it has handled the matter.

On the recent vandalism, Essex Police district commander Tony Atkin said: Inquiries are taking place to establish what happened in the lead up to this incident and to identify those responsible, and includes viewing CCTV footage.

One line of inquiry is that the criminal damage is linked to a previous incident that we are currently investigating, also linked to the White Hart Inn, he continued.

We continue to investigate that incident and would ask the public to allow us to do so, remaining calm.

No arrests have been made in connection to the alleged hate crime but police previously confirmed they are also investigating social media posts that appeared on the landlords Facebook profile.

Christopher Ryley allegedly shared a number posts on his Facebook expressing racist and far-right views, including a comment where he apparently joked about Mississippi lynchings.

In a March 2016 Facebook post still online, Mr Ryley uploaded a picture of golli***s hanging from his bar with the comment We have our golli***s, yaay. Commenting on the post his wife, Benice Ryley, asked: Are you sure this is legal. lol.

The pub was vandalised over the weekend (PA)

The landlord replied: They used to hang them in Mississippi years ago.

Months before, Mr Ryley had allegedly shared several propaganda images created by the white nationalist Generation Identity group, which inspired the 2019 New Zealand mosque shooter.

Its time to rise up, a Generation Identity poster reading: Keep calm and defend your country was captioned.

Chris and Benice Ryley were reported for the dolls in 2018 (Benice Ryley / SWNS)

Benice Ryley, Chriss wife, hit back at allegations of racism, saying the pub frequently hosts Indian weddings, and said she does not understand how people could be offended by the dolls.

When asked about her husband being photographed in a T-shirt from the far-right group Britain First, Ms Ryley said: I dont think Chris is a supporter of Britain First, he was just wearing that shirt because it was convenient at the time.

The pub has been banned from being considered for any awards by the Campaign for Real Ales (Camra) and the group said it would not be included in its Good Beer Guide "while these discriminatory dolls continue to be on display".
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A 22-year-old autistic man has been given a 20-year extended prison sentence for stabbing to death a fisherman in a terrifying 20-second burst of violence outside a Royal British Legion club.

Draven Jewell was cleared of murdering father-of-one Max Maguire in an alleyway in Lymington in the New Forest, Hampshire, on October 22 2021, but convicted of manslaughter.

He pleaded guilty to having an offensive weapon  a Huusk chefs knife  and, after a trial at Winchester Crown Court, was convicted of wounding Luke Gray and Georgia Hole.

Psychiatrist Dr Craig Forbes told the court Jewells autism means he has difficulty understanding the emotions and perspectives of others and a lack of social interaction skills  and is at risk of reoffending.

This was shown by the defendants description of his victims as red in the face, like they had been told off by their dad, he said.

The judge, Mrs Justice Cutts, sentenced Jewell to 16 years in custody and four years on licence, with the term to be served in a mental health facility while treatment is ongoing.

She told the defendant: Until you understand how your difficulties associated with your condition affect you, there is likely to remain a degree of dangerousness associated with it.

The defendants brother, Garon Jewell, 20, was formally acquitted of his part in the incident after the prosecution offered no evidence during the trial.

A fight broke out after a row between two groups inside the club after one challenged Garon over his age, the trial was told.

Tensions also rose over a nitrous oxide canister that Draven had found and taken to the club but refused to sell to the other group, which contained the three victims, the court heard.

Mr Gray suffered two serious wounds to his lower back which required emergency hospital treatment and Ms Hole suffered a less serious injury to her chest.

Jonathan Underhill, prosecuting, said the violence happened in less than 20 seconds and added: There was a short burst of violence which took place in the alleyway.

Max Maguire died within moments from a wound he received to the left side of his chest. This penetrated his lung and damaged a major artery internally and caused catastrophic and non-survivable injuries.

Draven Jewell, from Lymington, claimed he acted in self-defence and feared his brother being killed.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mr Maguires partner, Tamara Douglas, said the defendant ripped the whole world apart for her and their daughter in one cowardly action.

Until you understand how your difficulties associated with your condition affect you, there is likely to remain a degree of dangerousness associated with it Mrs Justice Cutts to the defendant

She said: Max was there for every single moment his daughter needed him. She was so proud of her big strong daddy. Every single moment they had in the future is gone.

She said her daughter screams for her father and told her: I want to be an angel to be with Daddy.

Mr Gray said in his statement he has long-term physical and mental health effects and suffers panic attacks, adding: I am a paranoid wreck.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A judge has declared a man accused of murdering a nine-year-old girl found stabbed in the street is unfit to stand trial.

Deividas Skebas, a Lithuanian national, was charged over the killing Lilia Valutyte in Boston, Lincolnshire, on July 28 last year.

At a hearing at Lincoln Crown Court on Monday, Judge Simon Hirst said the 23-year-old is not fit to enter a plea or stand trial.

Deividas Skebas at a previous court hearing (Joe Giddens/PA )

Instead, a trial of the facts has been scheduled at the same court for 10 July. Skebas, of Thorold Street, Boston, was not at Monday mornings hearing.

Lilia was found with a stab wound in Fountain Lane, Boston, at about 6.20pm, and had been seen playing with a hula hoop minutes before she was stabbed. An inquest opening later heard she died from a wound to her chest.

A trial of the facts is where the prosecution sets out the case in front of a jury but the defendant does not have to play a part in proceedings or be present in court.

The jury then decides if the defendant committed the alleged offence, though their conclusion cannot result in a criminal conviction.

Lilias mother Lina Savicke previously announced plans to create a statue of her daughter as a way for her to still be there.

Lila loved to dance, travel and try new things, her mother said (Handout)

In a tribute released in the days after her death, she said: Its hard to know what to say.

She was just a normal child, one day shes happy and another she isnt, one day she wants to eat pancakes and another she doesnt  the usual things.

She loved to dance, travel and try new things, and annoy her sister. She wanted to go to Italy, so we will probably go anyway next year.

Lilias mother Lina Savicke and step-father Aurelijus Savickas at her funeral (Joe Giddens/PA)

Lina added: There are so many things we could say, but we are not going to talk a lot about who she was and share those stories from our home; they are ours and we want to keep them for us.

You find yourself looking for her everywhere. We had four corners and now one is gone.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A nurse accused of multiple murders of babies wept in the dock as photographs of her bedroom were shown in court.

Lucy Letby cried as the images were displayed during her trial at Manchester Crown Court. Jurors heard that a number of Post-it notes were found in her diary, including one saying I am evil I did this.

The 33 year-old was first arrested in July 2018 on suspicion of attacking infants in her care  two years after she worked her last shift at the Countess of Chester Hospitals neo-natal unit.

Letby was moved by health chiefs to the hospitals risk and patient safety office after consultants raised concerns about her common link to numerous collapses of patients at the unit.

She denies murdering seven babies and attempting to murder 10 others between June 2015 and June 2016.

On Monday, jurors were told the defendant was first arrested at her three-bedroom property in Westbourne Road, Chester, at 6am on 3 July 2018.

A distressed Letby wiped away tears as photographs of her bedroom  taken by a crime scene investigator  appeared on screen in court.

On the bedroom walls there were two framed pictures containing the slogans, Shine Like A Diamond and Leave Sparkles Wherever You Go.

Among items on the floor were a red suitcase, a large burgundy handbag and a small black handbag, the court heard.

Court artist sketch of Letby appearing in the dock at Manchester Crown Court (PA Archive)

Philip Astbury, prosecutor, said three handwritten notes were recovered by police from one of the handbags.

The notes contained closely written words that filled the pages and included declarations of love for a colleague, who cannot be identified for legal reasons. Next to his name was I loved you and my best friend.

Also contained in the notes were the words Help Me, I Cant Do This Any More and How Can Life Be This Way.

Jurors were told that a 2016 diary was recovered from a chest of drawers.

A reference to twins was recorded for 8 April, the date of birth for two twin boys the Crown say Letby attempted to murder. On 9 April, a note stating twin resus was made.

Further entries on 23, 24 and 25 June included initial letters that the Crown say related to three other babies, including two triplet boys, that Letby allegedly attacked on those dates.

Countess of Chester Hospitals neonatal unit where Letby is accused of attacking infants (Cheshire Constabulary/CPS/PA)

Mr Astbury said a green Post-it note, shown to jurors at the start of Letbys trial, was found inside the diary.

Part of the note read: I dont deserve to live. I killed them on purpose because Im not good enough to care for them, I am a horrible evil person and in capital letters: I am evil I did this.

In his opening speech, Ben Myers KC, defending, told jurors the Post-it note was the anguished outpouring of a young woman.

He added Letby was at the time in fear and despair when she realises the enormity of whats being said about her, in the moment, to herself.

Searches also took place on 3 July 2018 at Letbys parents home in Hereford and at the defendants workplace at the hospitals risk and patient safety office.

Letby was re-arrested at her parents home on 10 June 2019 and 11 November 2020, the court heard. Letby denies all the allegations.

The trial continues.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A man extradited from Pakistan over the murder of Police Constable Sharon Beshenivsky 18 years ago may have to wait until next year to go on trial.

Piran Ditta Khan, 74, appeared at the Old Bailey by videolink from Belmarsh top security jail on Monday for the preliminary hearing before Judge Mark Lucraft KC.

The judge, who is the Recorder of London, set a timetable for the preparation of the case with a plea hearing on July 14 provisionally at the Old Bailey before him.

A trial fixture of up to six weeks could not be accommodated at the Old Bailey before January 2024, the court heard.

The question of whether the case should be moved to a crown court in the region where Pc Beshenivsky died will be settled at a future date.

The defendant is alleged to have played a large part in the organisation of an armed robbery which led to the death of Pc Beshenivsky.

The 38-year-old died on November 18 2005 after she and a colleague responded to a report of a robbery at Universal Travel in Morley Street, Bradford.

The married mother-of-three, who had two stepchildren, was a probationer with only nine months service when she was killed.

Her colleague, Pc Teresa Millburn, was seriously injured.

In 2018, a warrant was issued for the arrest of Khan in Pakistan and he was detained in 2020.

After being brought back to the UK last Thursday, Khan was taken into custody at a West Yorkshire police station and charge with the murder of Pc Beshenivsky and five other offences.

Khan is also charged with robbery, two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon.

The defendant is accused of robbing Mohammed Yousaf of a quantity of cash of a value unknown.

The firearms charges relate to alleged possession of a Mac 10 submachine gun and a 9mm pistol.

All the alleged offences are said to have taken place on the same day.

During the Old Bailey hearing, white-bearded Khan wore a grey tracksuit and spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth.

Judge Lucraft remanded British citizen Khan into custody.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

George Mitchell vowed that part of his heart will always be in Northern Ireland as a new bust of the peace mediator was unveiled in Belfast.

The former US senator  who helped broker the 1998 Good Friday Agreement  has been immortalised in bronze at Queens University, an institution where he once served as chancellor.

The sculpture, which was created by acclaimed Northern Ireland artist Colin Davidson, was unveiled by current chancellor Hillary Clinton and Mr Mitchells wife Heather on the first day of a major conference commemorating the 25th anniversary of the accord.

It stands in front of the universitys Whitla Hall and is intended to act as an inspiration to students emerging from the building after their graduation ceremonies.

Former US president Bill Clinton, who appointed Mr Mitchell to chair the Good Friday talks, ex-UK prime minister Sir Tony Blair and former taoiseach Bertie Ahern also attended the ceremony, as did Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton Harris and Irish government minister Eamon Ryan.

Well, my first reaction is that when youre looking at a statue of yourself, you know the end is near, Mr Mitchell joked at the ceremony.

So Im going to enjoy it in what time is left. My heart is filled with gratitude to so many people.

The veteran diplomat spoke of his and his wifes deep affection for Northern Ireland.

A very large part of our hearts and of our emotions will forever be here in Northern Ireland, he said.

He added: This is a good place. You are good people. You deserve a life of peace, opportunity and prosperity. Please, I ask you, I beseech you, continue your efforts. Life has changed, circumstances will arise in the future that cannot now be anticipated. But opportunity, prosperity and peace is a right of the people of Northern Ireland.

To have been able to participate in some way in furthering their rights, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Mr Clinton described Mr Mitchell as a brilliant mediator.

Today means a lot to me, because Im the guy that talked George Mitchell into taking that easy little part-time job I discussed, he joked.

If you ever wonder how important Ireland was to George Mitchell and the Northern Irish peace process, just remember this  I tried to get him to go on the Supreme Court and he said no.

And I said well, how about this (Northern Ireland talks process), this wont take long.

And for 25-plus years now, hes been reminding me of how misleading I was about that little part-time job I asked him to take. But he was brilliant at it. And he loved what he was doing. And he fell in love with all the details and the warts and all. He stayed at it.

Mr Clinton told the ceremony the Good Friday deal had created a thing of beauty.

As long as I have known George Mitchell he has always tried to do what was best for everybody, he said.

He has an innate sense of fairness and a genius about how to achieve it. He gets you to change your mind and you could swear you didnt change anything  thats what you thought all along.

His genius was a great gift to the people of Northern Ireland and to people who love peace everywhere and Im glad it will be commemorated in this beautiful, beautiful sculpture.

Ms Clinton said there could be no more fitting tribute than the statue.

Former PM Sir Tony conveyed the significance of the role Mr Mitchell played in the talks.

In the frenzy of Northern Ireland politics, George was this soothing balm of wisdom and calmness and tranquillity, he created just the right atmosphere for people to talk to each other, he said.

He was also, of course, instrumental in drafting the framework for the Good Friday Agreement. So he was not just a great guy, he was a great lawyer, which we needed too in order to put all the different strands together.

Mr Ahern said it as an absolute honour to attend the event as he praised Mr Mitchells courtesy, dignity and respect for all of us.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The people of Northern Ireland and their political leaders changed history 25 years ago when the Good Friday Agreement was signed, a major conference in Belfast has been told.

Former US senator George Mitchell, who chaired the negotiations in 1998, also said the deal set an example for peace around the world, and urged people in the region not to let it slip away.

Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who is hosting the Agreement 25 conference as part of her role as chancellor at Queens University in Belfast, urged current politicians to move forward with the same spirit of unstoppable grit and resolve as their predecessors had done.

It was a day when history opened itself to hope George Mitchell

Ex-US president Bill Clinton, Sir Tony Blair and former taoiseach Bertie Ahern are also scheduled to participate in the three-day event, 25 years on from the landmark accord.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar are due to attend later in the week.

The agreement largely ended Northern Irelands 30-year sectarian conflict.

Making the keynote address at the opening of the conference, Mr Mitchell said: Twenty-five years ago the people of Northern Ireland and their leaders changed the course of history.

It was a day when history opened itself to hope.

The people of Northern Ireland supported, worked for and established a democratic, peaceful process as their preferred form of governance.

They overwhelmingly rejected political violence as a way to resolve their differences.

If history teaches us anything, it is that history itself is never finished.

On the evening the agreement was reached, I commended the men and women who wrote and signed it, but I also said it would take other leaders in the future to safeguard and extend their work.

And so it has.

I am here, with many others, to sound that bell one more time.

When you approved the agreement you were also talking to Israelis and Palestinians, to Colombians, to Africans, Asians, to Americans - in fact you were talking to the world George Mitchell

Mr Mitchell said the peace deal was not perfect, but called on the current and future leaders of Northern Ireland to act with courage and vision.

He said: To find workable answers to the daily problems of the present, to preserve peace.

To leave to the next generation peace, freedom, opportunity and the hope of a better future for their children.

At the end of his address, Mr Mitchell said the referendum which approved the Good Friday Agreement had shown people around the world the possibility of hope.

He said: When you approved the agreement you were also talking to Israelis and Palestinians, to Colombians, to Africans, Asians, to Americans  in fact you were talking to the world.

This is an agreement for peace and for the future, not just here, but everywhere.

He added: We need people who believe, who know that the possible does exist within the impossible  dont let it slip away.

The Good Friday Agreement created powersharing institutions at Stormont that involved nationalists and unionists governing Northern Ireland together in a mandatory coalition arrangement.

While the pact largely ended the Troubles, which had claimed more than 3,600 lives since the late 1960s, it has failed to bring long-term political stability in the region and devolution has collapsed several times in the last two decades.

The anniversary comes amid another period of collapse, with the DUP blocking powersharing in protest at post-Brexit trading arrangements that have created economic barriers between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

The barriers were first introduced under the Withdrawal Agreements contentious Northern Ireland Protocol.

The UK and EU recently agreed the Windsor Framework as a way to cut the red tape created by the protocol.

While the DUP says the framework has gone some way to address its concerns about the protocol, it says significant problems remain.

The party has opposed the framework at Westminster and has made clear its boycott of Stormont will continue until it secures further assurances from the UK Government over its concerns around sovereignty and the application of EU law in Northern Ireland.

Mrs Clinton said the Windsor Framework on post-Brexit trade provided Northern Ireland with an opportunity to become an economic hub for global trade and investment.

While the Good Friday Agreement is an enormous achievement, we know that peace, prosperity and progress that so many have worked tirelessly to achieve remains incomplete, she said.

The work of integration and housing and schools is far from finished, neighbourhoods remain divided, poverty and unemployment persist, the difficulties of the past continue to threaten the present.

You know, we are at a standstill with the Northern Ireland Assembly no longer functioning. But the Windsor agreement provides a path forward not just for convening but for positioning Northern Ireland as an economic hub for global trade and investment through privileged access to the UK and all of its trading partners, as well as the EU.

You stand as an example to the world of how even the staunchest adversaries can overcome differences to work together for the common and greater good Hillary Clinton

She added: There have been many moments in Northern Irelands peace journey where progress seemed difficult, when every route forward looked blocked, there seemed nowhere to go.

But you have always found a way through and I believe you will again, because the stakes for the people of Northern Ireland are so high.

You stand as an example to the world of how even the staunchest adversaries can overcome differences to work together for the common and greater good.

So, I encourage everyone now to move forward with the same spirit of unstoppable grit and resolve that brought the peace 25 years ago. Your friends in the United States will be behind you all the way as you work toward peace, prosperity and stability that lasts.
Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The US politician who led the Good Friday Agreement talks has urged the DUP and other parties in Northern Ireland to compromise in bid to end the impasse at Stormont.

Former US senator George Mitchell urged leaders to act with the courage and wisdom that their predecessors had done 25 years ago  calling on them to defy the 100 percenters who want everything their way all the time.

Mr Mitchell saying delivering stability in the province doesnt require them to love one another in an apparent appeal to the unionists in the DUP to return to powersharing with nationalists Sinn Fein.

The DUP continues to boycott the Stormont political institutions over the opposition to post-Brexit trading arrangements in the protocol, despite the recent deal forged by Rishi Sunak and the EU to ease checks.

Mr Mitchell said: I know that each of your parties  like all political parties in the world  have some of what I call the 100 percenters, they want everything their way all the time  to them, any compromise is a sign of weakness.

He added: We dont need to love one another. We dont even need to like one another  But we must learn to understand one another and to be able to say yes to one another, especially when the quicker and easier answer is no.

The senior figure in the historic peace deal was delivering the keynote speech on the first morning of the Agreement 25 conference at Queens University in Belfast, marking the anniversary of the deal which largely ended the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

Mr Mitchell called on the current and future leaders of Northern Ireland to act with courage and vision as their predecessors did 25 years ago.

He added: To find workable answers to the daily problems of the present, to preserve peace. To leave to the next generation peace, freedom, opportunity and the hope of a better future for their children.

Mr Mitchell  speaking before a bronze bust of the peace mediator was unveiled at Queens University  said it was unmistakably clear that the people of Northern Ireland did not want violence to return.

It came as Sir Tony Blair said Northern Irelands leaders know in their heart of hearts what the right thing to do is and they should just get on and do it.

Sir Tony Blair, former US president Bill Clinton and former taoiseach Bertie Ahern (PA)

Without mentioning the DUP specifically, the former Labour PM told the conference. We know the peace isnt perfect. We know the institutions have often been rocky and unstable as they are today. We know theres still a lot of distrust and mistrust between the communities.

Mr Blair added: The only thing I would say to todays leaders is I think when you stand back and you reflect, you know in your heart of hearts, what the right thing to do is, and you should just get on and do it.

Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern also told the anniversary conference: Lets hope they [the DUP] listen to what George Mitchell said today, and listen to what were saying, that we all just get back on the track  lets move forward and try and make this work.

Former US president Bill Clinton told the auidence that political leaders winged it on the peace process 25 years ago. Mr Clinton said people thought they were crazy to believe they could get the paramilitary groups to decommission their arms.

Wed like to tell you that we had it all thought through but the truth is we made up a lot of it as we went along, we had to wing it, he said. And then when [George] Mitchell came in, he organised our efforts.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said he had a useful exchange with Mr Clinton in Belfast on Monday, but gave no sign his party were ready to return to powersharing or accept Mr Sunaks protocol compromise.

Sir Jeffrey said he underscored our commitment to restoring the NI Assembly on a basis that unionists as well as nationalists can support.

He added: Northern Ireland is a divided society. We must get the foundations right. Quick fixes without solid foundations will do a disservice to those trying to make the institutions work.
Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The number of people with visible differences or disfigurements who say they were the victim of a hate crime has increased since 2019, according to sobering research released this week.

A third of people (33%) with a visible difference said they had experienced a hate crime, compared to 28% of respondents in 2019, charity Changing Faces said.

Hostile behaviour had impacted nearly half of those surveyed, with 49% citing negative interactions such as staring, comments, and intimidation, a figure that has been steadily rising from 34% in 2019 and 43% in 2021.

Actor and presenter Adam Pearson, who is a Changing Faces ambassador, has urged police forces to do more as the number of people with visible differences or disfigurements who say they were the victim of a hate crime has increased since 2019 (Changing Faces/PA Wire)

The survey highlights the shocking prejudice experienced by people with visible differences, said Changing Faces chief executive Heather Blake.

Commissioned by the charity, which supports the visible difference community, the Savanta survey used interviews from more than 1,000 people with a visible disability such as a mark, scar, or other physical condition.

The research also found almost a quarter (23%) of those interviewed did not report the hate crime they experienced. The same proportion (23%) said they thought they would not be taken seriously while more than one in 10 people (12%) said hate crime was just part of life with a visible difference.

Ms Blake said: These are sobering numbers to read. We know that behind each of these statistics is a person who is directly impacted by the shocking prejudice, and in some instances criminal actions, of others. No one should be a target for abuse or discrimination because of how they look.

First and foremost, we want anyone with a visible difference or disfigurement to know that we are here for them. This isnt something you should just have to put up with. Lets call it what it is, its hate, and its wrong.

Interviewees shared experiences which included customers refusing to be served by them, and people on public transport avoiding sitting next to them.

Others spoke of verbal abuse shouted from passing cars, threats of violence in the street and even death threats made online.

Isobel Cameron who was born with a cleft lip and palate, said people threw rocks at her home when she was younger and she remains anxious to go outside (Changing Faces/PA Wire)

Isobel Cameron, who was born with a cleft lip and palate, said people threw rocks at her home when she was younger and she remains anxious about going outside.

She said: This abuse made it difficult for me to go out in public. I was very aware of the stares I received from people, and I was always waiting to see if they would go further.

Sometimes they did. At 15 years old, a grown woman was walking in front of me and my friend, and she kept turning around to look at me. At first my friend didnt seem to notice, but then the woman started to shout abuse at me, calling me fish face.

I never know when stares are going to escalate to something more, and this has had a lasting impact on me, sometimes making me anxious to go outside, in case something like this, or worse, happens again.

The number of people with visible differences or disfigurements who say they were the victim of a hate crime has increased since 2019, according to sobering new research released this week (Changing Faces/PA Wire)

Changing Faces volunteers have written to police across the UK to ask for support when reporting hate crimes.

Actor and presenter Adam Pearson, who is a Changing Faces ambassador, urged police forces to do more.

He said: Hate crimes, whoever they target, are despicable and not to be tolerated.

Seeing the steady increases in those with a visible difference or disfigurement experiencing hate crimes is frightening. We cant wait for a tragedy to happen before action is taken.

Police forces across the UK need to do more to encourage people with visible differences to report whats happening to them and reassure them that they will be taken seriously.
Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The police watchdog is investigating the death of a man who fell from a balcony in southeast London after being Tasered by an officer.

Metropolitan Police officers and paramedics were called to a flat in Peckham early last Wednesday over fears for the welfare of a man who was threatening to jump from the balcony, according to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

Officers arrived at around 2am and remained there for more than an hour trying to persuade him to come inside, before he was Tasered and fell several storeys to the ground, the IOPC said.

The man was taken to hospital with serious injuries but died later that day. He has not yet been formally identified and a post-mortem examination will take place in due course, Scotland Yard said.

The watchdog is now investigating following a mandatory self-referral by the Met, with Scotland Yard handing over officers bodycam footage to those carrying out the independent probe.

I know the community will be concerned about this tragic death and I share their concern, said Detective Chief Superintendent Seb Adjei-Addoh, who leads policing for Lambeth and Southwark.

All police officers know that their actions will be scrutinised in situations such as these, and the Met is fully supporting the independent investigation by the IOPC.

While the IOPCs statement appears to suggest that the man fell after being Tasered, the Mets statement does not indicate the relative timing of the two actions or whether the man was actually hit by the Taser, stating only that it was discharged by an officer on the balcony.

A general view of Peckham, the London district where the man was Tasered and fell from a balcony (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

An IOPC spokesperson said: We have begun an independent investigation into an incident involving Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) officers on Wednesday in southeast London, where a man was seriously injured and later died in hospital after falling from a balcony.

We were advised that MPS officers attended an address in Peckham at around 2am following a report of a man threatening to jump from a balcony on a residential building.

We have established that officers were present for over an hour and attempted to persuade the man to come inside from the balcony. The man has then been Tasered while on the balcony and he has fallen several floors to the ground.

The man was transported to hospital with life-threatening injuries and died later the same day.

We received a mandatory referral from the force and declared an independent investigation the next day. Our investigation is in its initial stages and we have secured officers body worn footage as we begin gathering evidence.

Scotland Yard said in its statement: Police were called at 01:24hrs on Wednesday 12 April to concerns for the welfare of a man threatening to jump from the balcony of a residential property in Peckham.

Officers attended along with the London Ambulance Service. The man subsequently fell from the balcony. He was taken to hospital with serious injuries and sadly he later died.

Enquiries are under way to identify the mans next of kin. Formal identification and a post-mortem examination will be arranged in due course. A Taser was discharged by an officer on the balcony. Body worn video has been reviewed.

A mandatory referral was made to the IOPC. The IOPC has launched an independent investigation and we are unable to comment further while this takes place.
Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The Royal Air Force (RAF) has intercepted two Russian fighter jets and a spy plane flying close to NATO airspace over the Gulf of Finland and Baltic Sea.

The Eurofighter Typhoons from the RAFs IX (B) Squadron and the German Air Forces 71 Richtofen Wing were scrambled to the eastern part of NATOs border, close to Estonia on Friday.

One of the planes was a Russian Air Force IL-20 Coot-A intelligence plane which was flying from mainland Russia to Kaliningrad, an enclave which borders Poland. It was being escorted by two Russian SU-27 Flanker-B fighter jets.

A pilot involved in the operation said: We often see Russian military aircraft flying over the Baltic Sea and so this was a routine intercept for us.

Nevertheless, the importance of intercepting these aircraft and our commitment to the collective defence of Nato airspace remains steadfast and resolute.

What this intercept has proven is that together with our German allies, we are able to act with speed and decisiveness to effectively ensure the Alliances security.

The three Russian planes were the Estonian flight information region before handing over to Saab Gripen fighters of the Swedish Air Force.

The Royal Air Force and German Air Force are currently operating Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets out of Amari Air Base in Estonia.

They are working in partnership as part of Operation Azotize, which protects the eastern flank of NATOs border.

Wing Commander Maccoll Commanding Officer of 140 Expeditionary Air Wing, said: This was another demonstration of our readiness and commitment to react at speed to conduct a live intercept.

These combined RAF and German Air Force intercepts continue to enhance NATO cohesion, ensuring seamless cooperation and understanding during these missions.

Our allies and partners in the region should remain assured that NATO is here to stay, and the UK continues its commitment to collective defence of NATO Airspace.

It comes just days after leaked documents showed that a Russian fighter jet attempted to fire a missile at a manned British aircraft over the Black Sea last September.

The pilot had locked on to the British aircraft but suffered a malfunction, according to the leaked classified intelligence papers reported by the New York Times.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A report from a global human rights organisation said the administration of the Windrush compensation scandal should be stripped from the Home Office and given to an independent body.

The report from Human Rights Watch revealed victims are still being subjected to long waits and their claims are underpaid.

The Home Office told the BBC it was committed to righting the wrongs of Windrush.

It said it had paid or offered more than 68 million in compensation and it was committed to making sure something like Windrush will never be repeated.

We are calling for an independent body focussed on the needs of victims to be appointed and Windrush survivors must be able to access legal aid Dr Wanda Wyporska

The HMT Empire Windrush first docked in England 75 years ago, bringing legal immigrant workers from the Caribbean to help fill post-war labour shortages.

Five years ago it was revealed thousands of immigrants had been incorrectly classed as illegal.

People affected by the scandal arrived to the UK between 1948 and 1971, when immigration laws changed in the UK.

Those who were incorrectly classed as illegal immigrants, who were also from countries outside the Caribbean, struggled to find work, housing, access healthcare and in some cases people who had lived their whole lives in the UK were deported.

Human Rights Watch said victims should be granted legal aid for compensation applications and that there was an unreasonable burden of truth placed on the victims.

The Black Equity Organisation echoed calls from Human Rights Watch, with chief executive Dr Wanda Wyporska saying the Home Office must be stripped of the administration of the compensation scheme.

Dr Wyporska said: The report confirms the worst fears of the Windrush victims and survivors, that the institutional prejudice, ignorance, carelessness and inhumanity that drove the scandal, would resurface if the Home Office were allowed to manage the compensation scheme, and sadly, that has proven to be the case.

The Department has created a process that is so bureaucratic and complicated, that some Windrush victims have died before they could successfully complete it.

The report also said victims do not feel they would get a fair hearing at the Home Office as it is the agency responsible for the scandal.

To add insult to unimaginable injury, surviving claimants have been prevented from getting the legal aid they urgently need to help complete the process and begin to rebuild their lives, Dr Wyporska added.

We are calling for an independent body focussed on the needs of victims to be appointed and Windrush survivors must be able to access legal aid.

It is unforgiveable that the horrific damage done to the Windrush generation is being compounded by the gross mismanagement of the scheme created to help them.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The husband of a British-Israeli woman murdered with her daughters in the West Bank has said he is still 100% glad his family moved to the country.

Lucy Dee, 48, died three days after her daughters, Rina, 15, and Maia, 20, were shot and killed on April 7.

The family of seven, who moved to Israel from the UK in 2014, had been travelling in separate cars en route to a Passover holiday.

Mrs Dees husband Leo Dee is a rabbi, and they have a son and two other daughters.

Mr Dee told LBCs Tonight with Andrew Marr: We moved to Israel because we thought it was the right place to educate our children, bring them up with the values we respect and wanted them to have.

I believe we brought up our children with those values, with the support of the community and Im still 100% glad that we came here.

What happened to us was one in 10 million and sadly car crashes happen all around the world, and these things happen and really there was no way of preventing it.

It was just completely extraordinary fate.

Mr Dee was formerly the senior rabbi at Radlett United Synagogue in Hertfordshire and assistant rabbi in Hendon, north London.

The family lived in the Efrat settlement, near the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, according to the settlements mayor, Oded Revivi.

Mr Dee said he does not hold any hatred towards the Palestinian terrorists believed to be responsible for the attack.

He said: I dont hold any hate towards them. The Israeli security forces will do what they usually do which is track them down and bring them to justice, which I think is right because it prevents the next attack that they might do.

In a statement from Mrs Dees brother, Benjamin Shaw  made on behalf of both the Dee and Shaw family, he said: We are devastated by the brutal murder of our dear Lucy, Maia, and Rina.

Their absence leaves a void in our hearts that can never be filled.

We are deeply touched by the words of the Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, who has shown great compassion in acknowledging our loss.

His firm stance against terrorism sets a new standard for nations and media in addressing acts of terror.

We see this as the Cleverly Declaration, akin to the Balfour Declaration, establishing that terrorism can never be justified.

Mr Cleverly had written to Rabbi Dee, offering the family the assistance of the British Government, with his letter stating: There can be no justification for such senseless and abhorrent violence, and I unequivocally condemn this act of terrorism.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The UK has demanded the release of a British-Russian opposition leader after he was sentenced to 25 years in prison by a court in Moscow.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly paid tribute to Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr for bravely denouncing Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine.

The Kremlin critic, who has twice survived poisonings, was convicted on charges of treason and denigrating the Russian military in what he denounced as a show trial.

Russia's lack of commitment to protecting fundamental human rights, including freedom of expression, is alarming Foreign Secretary James Cleverly

Russian Ambassador to the UK Andrei Kelin was summoned to the Foreign Office for a dressing down over Russias human rights obligations, including the right to a fair trial.

In a statement, Mr Cleverly said: Vladimir Kara-Murza bravely denounced Russias invasion of Ukraine for what it was  a blatant violation of international law and the UN Charter.

Russias lack of commitment to protecting fundamental human rights, including freedom of expression, is alarming.

We continue to urge Russia to adhere to its international obligations, including Vladimir Kara-Murzas entitlement to proper healthcare.

I pay tribute to Mr Kara-Murza and his family, including his wife Evgenia and her unwavering commitment to raising her husbands cause on the international stage. The UK will continue to support them and to call for Mr Kara-Murzas immediate release.

The judge who presided over the trial, Sergei Podoprigorov, has already been sanctioned by Britain for what it called previous involvement in human rights violations.

The Foreign Office is considering taking further action to hold to account individuals involved in Mr Kara-Murzas detention and treatment.

In his final statement last week, the dual national said he remains proud of standing up to the Russian Presidents dictatorship and his decision to send troops into Ukraine.

I know that the day will come when the darkness engulfing our country will clear, he said.

And then our society will open its eyes and shudder when it realises what terrible crimes were committed in its name.

The journalist was an associate of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was killed near the Kremlin in 2015.

He has survived poisonings, in 2015 and 2017, that he blamed on the Kremlin. Russian officials have denied responsibility.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A higher proportion of children are gaining places at their preferred primary school in many areas of England, a survey suggests.

Hundreds of thousands of families across England are finding out which primary school they will be joining this September, on what is commonly known as National Offer Day.

Early figures indicate that in some parts of the country, more than one in 10families have missed out on their first choice  rising to more than a quarter in one London borough.

Findings from a PA news agency survey of local authorities shows a youngsters chance of winning a place at their preferred school varies significantly depending on where they live in the country.

As of Monday afternoon, 36 of 60 councils in England, which provided comparable data, saw a rise in the proportion of children securing their preferred school compared with 2022.

New schools and new school places are not always being commissioned where they are most needed. This leaves families at the mercy of a postcode lottery when it comes to getting their first choice of school place Paul Whiteman, NAHT

Meanwhile, 24 councils have seen a decline in the proportion of families securing their top choice.

In addition, of 52 councils in England that gave information on application numbers, 36 have seen a fall in applications this year, while 16 have seen a rise.

More children in London have secured a place at their top choice of primary school this year amid a fall in demand for places across the capital, according to figures from the Pan London Admissions Board.

Across the capitals 33 boroughs, 88.57% of pupils were given their first preference of primary school this year, compared with 87.93% last year.

Kensington and Chelsea had the lowest proportion of children getting their top choice at 70.53%.

The number of applications for primary school places in the capital fell this year, and the falling birth rate  and families leaving London due to different working patterns  is said to have played a part.

The reduction in demand for primary school places has the potential to affect funding of individual schools, councils have warned.

A report, by London Councils in January, warned school leaders and local authorities could be forced to merge or close schools amid funding pressures.

Today thousands of families across England will find out which school their child will join in September, and the majority will have received their first choice of primary school Department for Education spokeswoman

Meanwhile, outside London in Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, 85.33% of children got their first preference, while in Sefton on Merseyside 89% got their top choice.

Among the areas where high proportions of pupils have obtained their first preference are Hartlepool in County Durham where 99.3% got their top choice, and north-east Lincolnshire where 98.12% were offered their first pick.

Englands school system has been put under pressure in recent years as a population bulge has been moving from primary schools into secondary schools.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: Overall, the number of children of primary school age is in decline, so the big challenge for many schools is how to adjust to lower numbers.

However, some schools will continue to be oversubscribed and families will miss out on places.

This generally happens because schools are in relatively affluent areas and have Ofsted ratings of good or outstanding, while other schools in other areas may be stigmatised by negative ratings.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders union NAHT, said: This can be an anxious time for families. Choosing the right school and securing a place there is a huge moment in a childs life.

Yet it can be an uphill struggle for parents, and not all will get the place they wanted for their child.

Local authorities are responsible for ensuring there are sufficient school places, but they no longer have the powers and resources necessary to do so.

The result is a messy, fragmented system, in which new schools and new school places are not always being commissioned where they are most needed. This leaves families at the mercy of a postcode lottery when it comes to getting their first choice of school place.

We urge the government to fix this broken system and create a national strategy to guarantee there are enough school places for every child in England and take away the worry and stress for parents.

Official data shows that last year 92.2% of pupils were offered their first choice of primary school  which was up on 91.8 % in 2021.

A Department for Education (DfE) spokeswoman said: Today thousands of families across England will find out which school their child will join in September, and the majority will have received their first choice of primary school.

She added: We have created almost 1.2 million places since 2010, the largest increase in school capacity in at least two generations, and work closely with local authorities to make sure they offer a school place to every child in the country and support the long-term viability of their schools.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The UKs highest temperature of 2023 so far has been recorded in Scotland, as many Britons basked in afternoon sunshine.

The Met Office said the temperature reached at least 20C for the first time this year on Monday afternoon.

A high of 20.2C was recorded just after 12pm in Kinlochewe in the Scottish Highlands, Met Office meteorologist Kathryn Chalk said.

The last time 20C was recorded in the UK was on November 13 2022.

The forecaster said that most of the UK was likely to remain cloudy on Monday afternoon, with some brighter spells developing across Northern Ireland and northern Scotland.

But it said skies were clearing more readily across eastern England with conditions feeling pleasantly warm in any afternoon sunshine.

A high of 18C was recorded in Greater London in south-east England on Monday, with 16C expected in Cardiff, Wales, and 17C in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The Met Office has also urged Britons to be aware of the strength of the sun, even if its cloudy over the coming days, as moderate UV levels pose a risk of sunburn.

On Tuesday, the Met Office has forecast that there will be early cloud breaking and clearing, albeit slowly for some coastal areas in eastern Scotland with conditions then fine and dry with plenty of sunshine for most areas.

But a change in wind direction could see cooler air spill west across much of the country from the middle of the week, the forecaster has warned.

Kathryn Chalk said the highest temperatures of the week will probably be recorded on Monday and Tuesday, before conditions gradually get a bit cooler from Wednesday to Friday.

She said temperatures are expected to range from about 17C to 13C over the second half of this week, with the coolest conditions expected along the eastern coast.

She said: Well be influenced by a Scandinavian high, an area of high pressure over Scandinavia, and then that drives an easterly wind, bringing in some cooler air and brisker as well.

So it will be more noticeable, particularly along the eastern coast, for example East Anglia. In that breeze, it is going to feel chilly.

Speaking on Monday, she said: It is gradually cooling off through the week so today is probably the day we will see the highest of temperatures, tomorrow, potentially another 20C for the Highlands in Scotland.

Its generally a settled picture, turning more changeable by the end of the week.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

There are signs that more children are gaining places at their first choice of primary school in a number of areas in England, a survey suggests.

Hundreds of thousands of families across England are finding out which primary school their child will be joining this September, on what is commonly known as National Offer Day.

Early findings from a PA news agency survey of local authorities shows a youngsters chances of winning a place at their preferred school varies significantly depending on where they live in the country.

The survey, sent to councils across England, excluding London, shows a number of local authorities have seen a rise in the proportion of children receiving their first choice compared with last year.

As of midday on Monday, 20 of 35 councils, which provided comparable data, saw a rise in the proportion of children securing their preferred school compared to 2022.

New schools and new school places are not always being commissioned where they are most needed. This leaves families at the mercy of a postcode lottery when it comes to getting their first choice of school place Paul Whiteman, NAHT

Meanwhile, 14 councils have seen a decline in the proportion of families securing their top choice, and one council reported no change.

Among the areas where high proportions of pupils have obtained their first preference are Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham where 98.3% got their top choice, and Calderdale in West Yorkshire where 97.9% were offered their first pick.

In comparison, in Wokingham in Berkshire, 88.8% of children got their first preference, while in Sefton in Merseyside 89% got their top choice.

Englands school system has been put under pressure in recent years as a population bulge has been moving into secondary schools.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders union NAHT, which represents the majority of primary school leaders, said: This can be an anxious time for families. Choosing the right school and securing a place there is a huge moment in a childs life.

Yet it can be an uphill struggle for parents, and not all will get the place they wanted for their child.

Today thousands of families across England will find out which school their child will join in September, and the majority will have received their first choice of primary school Department for Education spokeswoman

Local authorities are responsible for ensuring there are sufficient school places, but they no longer have the powers and resources necessary to do so.

The result is a messy, fragmented system, in which new schools and new school places are not always being commissioned where they are most needed. This leaves families at the mercy of a postcode lottery when it comes to getting their first choice of school place.

We urge the government to fix this broken system and create a national strategy to guarantee there are enough school places for every child in England and take away the worry and stress for parents.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: Overall, the number of children of primary school age is in decline, so the big challenge for many schools is how to adjust to lower numbers.

However, some schools will continue to be oversubscribed and families will miss out on places.

This generally happens because schools are in relatively affluent areas and have Ofsted ratings of good or outstanding, while other schools in other areas may be stigmatised by negative ratings.

Official data shows that last year 92.2% of pupils were offered their first choice of primary school  which was up on 91.8 % in 2021.

A Department for Education (DfE) spokeswoman said: Today thousands of families across England will find out which school their child will join in September, and the majority will have received their first choice of primary school.

She added: We have created almost 1.2 million places since 2010, the largest increase in school capacity in at least two generations, and work closely with local authorities to make sure they offer a school place to every child in the country and support the long-term viability of their schools.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Humza Yousaf has dismissed concerns over a leaked video of Nicola Sturgeon, saying he is not disturbed by it.

He also said there was no case for Ms Sturgeon to be suspended from the SNP.

Published by the Sunday Mail, the video appears to show the then first minister addressing a meeting of the partys ruling national executive committee (NEC).

She told the NEC that the party had never been in a stronger financial position than it is now, adding: Im not going to get into the details  but just be very careful about suggestions that there are problems with the partys finances because we depend on donors to donate  there are no reasons for people to be concerned about the partys finances and all of us need to be careful about suggesting that there is.

After the video surfaced, the Scottish Tories led calls for the former first minister to be suspended from the party.

Mr Yousaf was asked about the video after he spoke to at STUC conference in Dundee.

He told journalists: It tends to be the case that you fundraise in advance of an election and tend to spend quite a fair bit of money during an election.

After the election, of course, is when you want to make sure you can address any cash flow issues that you might have as a result of that big spend.

Ms Sturgeon has always intended to participate remotely and intends to return to Holyrood in the near future Spokeswoman for Nicola Sturgeon

I wasnt particularly disturbed at all by the video in the way that some of our opponents seem to be.

He said he did not think Ms Sturgeon would resign as an MSP.

The First Minister said: We are far past the time of judging what a woman does based on what happens to her husband.

Asked if she should be suspended, he said not at all.

Mr Yousaf continued: I think she was warning about any misreporting of the partys finances in the public domain.

That was in March 2021, were obviously in a different position now.

My absolute focus is to make sure we get auditors in place  (thats) exceptionally important given the Electoral Commission deadline.

He added: Nobody ever said the job of first minister or indeed leader of the SNP was going to be an easy task.

Earlier, SNP MP Ian Blackford rejected calls for Ms Sturgeon to be suspended.

Goodness gracious, absolutely not, theres no reason for that at all, Mr Blackford told BBC Radio Scotland on Monday when asked if the former first minister should be sanctioned by the SNP.

I think thats some of our opponents politicking, really, in this context.

Of the video, Mr Blackford said, there was nothing which was in any way untoward, adding: What the (former) first minister was reflecting on was the ability of the SNP to conduct itself as an organisation, having the financial resources in order to fight elections and to support its members.

The video was reportedly from a meeting of the ruling body in March 2021, days before a complaint was made to police about the use of 600,000 of donations earmarked for an independence referendum campaign, which would result in a police investigation and the subsequent arrest of her husband, and former SNP chief executive, Peter Murrell.

Mr Murrell was released without charge pending further investigation.

The release of the video compounds the torrid start to First Minister Humza Yousafs tenure as SNP leader.

On Tuesday, he will set out his priorities for his premiership, with Ms Sturgeon reportedly planning to stay away from Holyrood.

A spokeswoman for Ms Sturgeon said on Monday: In order to ensure the focus of this week is on the new First Minister setting out his priorities for the people of Scotland, Ms Sturgeon has always intended to participate remotely and intends to return to Holyrood in the near future.

A report in the Daily Telegraph suggesting Ms Sturgeon would step down as an MSP was dismissed by the former Westminster leader as idle speculation.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A lack of decision making by the devolved government in Northern Ireland is failing future generations, the president of Queens Universitys students union said.

Emma Murphy was speaking at the opening of the Agreement 25 conference, a three-day event where politicians will discuss the creation and implementation of the Good Friday Agreement in the month of its 25th anniversary, at the institution.

The Good Friday Agreement required difficult conversations and brave leadership and that is exactly what is needed again, she said on Monday morning.

For me, so much of the Troubles has been a ghost story Emma Murphy, Queen's University's students' union president

Without a functioning government, the lack of decision making is failing future generations instead of building upon the developments that Northern Ireland has made.

Let this anniversary be the case for action against stagnation and towards progress.

The Stormont government is not currently functioning due to the DUPs ongoing protest against post-Brexit trading agreements.

Quoting a line from the sitcom Derry Girls, Ms Murphy said the Troubles were a ghost story.

I, myself, am a peace baby; Im 23 years old, born and raised in Belfast, she said.

For me, so much of the Troubles has been a ghost story.

So over the next three days we will reflect on the past and renew our commitment - our commitment to collaboration, our commitment to partnership, our commitment to peace Professor Ian Greer, president and vice-chancellor

Also speaking at the conferences opening session was Professor Ian Greer, president and vice-chancellor of Queens University.

Mr Greer said Northern Ireland politicians reaction to the shooting of a prominent police officer was indicative of their commitment to peace.

After John Caldwell was gunned down in February, the five biggest parties at Stormont issued a rare joint statement condemning the attack.

Events that bring us right back to those painful memories of the past, notably the recent attempt on the life of detective chief inspector John Caldwell, Mr Greer said.

The solidarity shown by our Northern Ireland politicians following that event sent an important signal  strong confirmation of their commitment to a peaceful future.

The theme of the conferences first day is reflect.

While it will look back on the Good Friday Agreements past, it will also look to its future, Mr Greer said.

With todays theme of reflection, we think of the huge milestone reached when the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement was signed, he said.

A critically important milestone on the journey but, as many have said, its not our final destination.

So over the next three days we will reflect on the past and renew our commitment  our commitment to collaboration, our commitment to partnership, our commitment to peace.
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Former Labour shadow chancellor Ed Balls has revealed his is studying for A-level maths having never achieved the qualification at school.

Mr Balls  former schools minister and Treasury secretary in the New Labour government  said he had always regretted not getting the A-level.

The ITV Good Morning Britain presenter  married to shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper  said his mother-in-law was teaching him and he was finding it really, really hard.

It comes as Rishi Sunak unveiled a new push to boost maths learning up until the age of 18  attacking the cultural sense that its OK to be bad at maths in Britain.

Mr Balls said he agreed with Mr Sunak and revealed he only took maths to O-level. I did economics all the way through to two years of graduate school. I did lots of economics maths  but I never did A-level maths, and Ive always regretted it.

The former minister said: So before Christmas I decided to do something new. Im learning the piano, Ive learned to sail. Im actually doing A-level maths, taught by my mother-in-law who is a brilliant maths teacher.

Mr Balls added: So Ive been doing problem sets, Im doing EdExcel, Im doing fracturization and all this algebra. Ive got to say  its really hard. Its really, really hard.

I decided that in two years time  look it could be five years time  I will be turning up in some college sitting in some desks with a bunch of 18-year-olds doing my A-level maths.

GMB presenter Susanna Reid, who asked her co-host if he was some kind of masochist, said: Im having a panic attack just thinking about it. Its my anxiety dream.

In a speech at a north London college, Mr Sunak said children risk losing out on jobs and being shut out of the lives they would wish to lead because of an anti-maths mindset.

The PM announced an expert-led review into how to carry out his plan to ensure all pupils in England study some form of maths up to the age of 18  without making maths A-Level compulsory.

The review will look at whether a new maths qualification will be needed. Mr Sunak also committed to expanding teaching maths hubs, and introduce a new voluntary and fully funded professional qualification for primary school maths teachers.

Mr Sunak has insisted it is wrong to talk about him forcing pupils to study a subject that they do not enjoy with his maths to 18 plan.

I think if you ask yourself why is it that virtually every other developed country in the world thinks that its the right thing for their children to be studying some form of maths up to 18, he said.

The PM added: And if you look at it, why is it that were not doing as well, as I think we all want to do when it comes to numeracy in our country today, and then youve ask yourself: is that right? I dont think anyone could justify that.

But Labour criticised the empty pledge, with shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson saying: Once again, the prime minister needs to show his working: he cannot deliver this reheated, empty pledge without more maths teachers.

And Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said that instead of re-announcing a vague and poorly thought-out policy, Mr Sunak should focus on resolving the pay dispute which has triggered industrial action.
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Bill and Hillary Clinton marked 25 years of the Northern Irish peace deal at a three-day conference at Belfasts Queens University.

Former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, former UK prime minister Tony Blair and former Irish PM Bertie Ahern spoke on Monday 17 April, addressing the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

Mr Clinton, who recently called the day the peace deal was struck one of the happiest days of my presidency, indeed of my entire life, joined his wife Hillary at the university, where the former US secretary of state is chancellor.

Former US senator George Mitchell, who is 89 and fighting leukaemia, has also made the trip to Belfast, where as chairman of negotiations over two arduous years he was essential to striking the accord.

The three-day gathering caps commemorations that included a flying visit last week by Joe Biden.

Click here to sign up for our newsletters.
New Labour architect Peter Mandelson has backing Labours controversial attack ads against Rishi Sunak because the party cant count on right-wing newspapers to do it on their behalf.

The latest invention comes as Wes Streeting defended the anti-Sunak ads to Labour MPs at a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) on Monday night.

A major row has engulfed Sir Keir Starmers party since it claimed on Twitter that Mr Sunak did not think child sex abusers should be in prison  with senior figures accusing the leadership of sliding into gutter politics.
 Close Im surprised when one of my colleagues is arrested, says SNP leader

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf insisted the SNP was not facing bankruptcy amid a financial scandal, as the UK government issued a threat to cut off the partys funding if it fails to find new auditors within weeks.

Mr Yousaf addressed questions over the sustainability of SNP finances, telling reporters: We are definitely not facing bankruptcy, Im pleased to say we are on a steady footing, though he admitted the party stilled owed money to ex-chief executive Peter Murrell, Nicola Sturgeons husband.

The new party leader was yesterday thrust into the role of overseeing the SNPs accounts, as treasurerColin Beattie quit after police detained him for questioning in an investigation into suspected fraud over 660,000 of SNP donations earmarked for independence campaigning.

In Westminster, Commons leader Penny Mordaunt said if the SNP does not file audited accounts by 31 May their short money, payments to opposition parties for parliamentary work, will be cut off.

SNP leader Humza Yousaf said the party was still in conversations with prospective new auditors after the previous firm quit last year.
The US politician who led the Good Friday Agreement talks has urged the DUP and other parties in Northern Ireland to compromise in bid to end the impasse at Stormont.

Former US senator George Mitchell urged leaders to act with the courage and wisdom that their predecessors had done 25 years ago  calling on them to defy the 100 percenters who want everything their way all the time.

Mr Mitchell saying delivering stability in the province doesnt require them to love one another in an apparent appeal to the unionists in the DUP to return to powersharing with nationalists Sinn Fein.
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Englands roads are plagued by potholes with some taking more than 18 months to fix  including one in Stoke-on-Trent which went unrepaired for 567 days.

As drivers increasingly face damaged shock absorbers, broken suspension springs and busted wheels, new figures show huge waiting times between potholes being reported to councils and them being fixed.

Many councils in England take more than a month on average to fix potholes once they are reported. And in the worst offending area, the London borough of Newham, it took an average of 56 days to repair potholes after they were reported.

Lambeth council, also in London, was almost as bad, with potholes in the borough taking an average of 50 days to be fixed. Stoke-on-Trent was the third slowest area to fix potholes, taking an average of 48 days.

Figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats show that as well as lengthy average waits, in the worst cases, some are left untreated for well over a year. Five local authorities, Stoke-on-Trent, Westminster, Norfolk, East Sussex and Wiltshire all left at least one pothole unrepaired for more than 12 months.

The longest-standing pothole, in Stoke-on-Trent, blighted drivers and cyclists for 567 days  more than 18 months  after being reported before being filled in. Another in Westminster was not paved for 556 days, while in Norfolk, a pothole stood unfixed for 482 days.

Liberal Democrat local government spokesperson Helen Morgan said potholes have become a plague on our roads.

She said: Motorists should not have to spend their journeys choosing between hitting potholes or dangerously swerving around an obstacle course of tarmac craters.

Hard-working people are paying huge bills to repair damage from potholes, while this Conservative government takes away the money local councils need to repair our roads.

It is not fair for local residents in some areas of the country to be waiting over a year for road repairs because their council cannot afford it. The pothole postcode lottery needs to end.

View more

The party has criticised ministers for cutting local authorities highways maintenance budgets by 500m since 2020, even though the government put an extra 200m into tackling potholes in last months budget.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the governments potholes fund  which previously provided 500m a year to councils  will be increased to 700m in the 2023/24 financial year.

RAC Foundation director Steve Gooding welcomed the extra money but said at the time it would be thinly spread over Englands 190,000 miles of road.

The cost of bringing pothole-plagued local roads in England and Wales up to scratch has been estimated at 12.6bn.

Conservative party chairman Greg Hands said: If you are unfortunate enough to live in an area with a Liberal Democrat council its less likely your potholes will be fixed.

Labours record is no better. Their only plan to stop potholes in Wales is to simply stop building any roads.

Conservatives fix more potholes than Labour or the Liberal Democrats.
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Rishi Sunak is under investigation after facing allegations of a possible failure to declare the shares his wife holds in a childcare agency that was boosted by the recent Budget.

The inquiry opened by parliaments standards watchdog relates to the shares Akshata Murty holds in Koru Kids, a No 10 source confirmed.

So why is Mr Sunak being probed on the link to the childcare agency? The Independent took a closer look at the growing row, and the transparency rules for ministers.

Why is the Sunak link to Koru Kids under scrutiny?

Mr Sunak faced demands to come clean about his family shares in March after being questioned by MPs over why the childcare policy favoured private firms, which six agencies listed on the government website.

Appearing before the MPs liaison committee, he did not mention his wife Ms Murthys shares in Koru Kids  which is one of six childminder agencies listed on the governments website  in which she has been listed as a shareholder on Companies House.

A fortnight earlier, chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced a pilot of incentive payments of 600 for childminders joining the profession. Koru Kids welcomed the new incentives in the Budget as great.

Questioning why the sum doubles to 1,200 if workers sign up through an agency, Labour MP Catherine McKinnell asked if Mr Sunak had any interests to declare. No, all my disclosures are declared in the normal way, Mr Sunak said.

Who is investigating Sunak?

The new Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Daniel Greenberg has opened an investigation into Mr Sunak under the MPs code of conduct  specifically the rules demanding MPs are open and frank when declaring their interests.

Rishi Sunak with his wife, Akshata Murty (PA Wire)

There is no mention of Mr Suanks wife shares in the Koru Kids firm in the register of MPs interests which they are obliged to update every fortnight.

On the more irregular list of ministers interests  last published almost a year ago in May 2022  Mr Sunaks wife is only listed as owning an investment company, Catamaran Ventures UK Ltd. It does not go into detail of any of its shareholdings.

A revised version of the list of ministers interests is supposed to be published every six months. Suggesting there had been no failure to be open and frank, Downing Street said the PM will clarify how it was declared as a ministerial interest.

A No 10 spokeswoman said: We are happy to assist the commissioner to clarify how this has been transparently declared as a ministerial interest.

So did Sunak declare the interest or not?

It has emerged that Mr Sunak wrote to MPs on the liaison committee on 4 April to say his wifes shareholding in the childcare agency had been rightly declared to the Cabinet Office.

But on Monday, No 10 would not say exactly when Mr Sunak declared the link to the Cabinet Office.

Rishi Sunak giving a speech on education at London Screen Academy on Monday (PA)

In his letter, the PM also told MPs: The latest list of ministerial interests will be published shortly by the Independent Adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus.

At the time the possible conflict of interest around the Budget emerged in March, Mr Sunaks press secretary pointed to the forthcoming updated statement of ministers interests, due out in May.

But on Monday, No 10 would not say if the interest related to Mr Sunaks wifes shareholding in Koru Kids would be on the updated list in May, despite having been flagged to the Cabinet Office.

It understood that government considers that a declaration to the register of MPs interests is not necessary when it comes Mr Sunaks family links because any potential conflict would be examined under the ministerial declaration process.

Angela Rayner called for list of ministers interests before local elections (Getty)

What is the reaction the investigation?

Labours deputy leader Angela Rayner accused Mr Sunak of dodging proper scrutiny  and challenged No 10 to produce the new list of ministers interests before the local elections in two weeks.

She said: This governments failure to update the rules or publish a register of ministers interests in nearly a year has left a transparency black hole which is enabling the prime minister and those he has appointed to dodge proper scrutiny of their affairs.

Accusing Mr Sunak of preserving the rotten standards regime, Ms Rayner added: If Rishi Sunak has got nothing to hide, he should commit to publishing the register before Mays elections so the public can see for themselves.

Lib Dem chief whip Wendy Chamberlain  who wrote to the ethics adviser Sir Laurie to ask him to examine whether rules had been broken  said on Monday: Another day and another accusation of a Conservative prime ministers bending the rules.

She added: This is on the same day that Rishi Sunak may have broken election rules for his government announcement today. After months of Conservative sleaze and scandal, the public just want a government who are focused on the country, rather than saving their own skin.
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Watch as Rishi Sunak gives a speech on education on Monday 17 April.

The prime minister relaunched his plan to make maths education until 18 compulsory, suggesting the UK possesses an inherent anti-maths mindset.

Mr Sunak addressed students and teachers in north London, arguing that a failure to consider numeracy as basic a skill as reading is detrimental to the UK economy.

Weve got to change this anti-maths mindset. Weve got to start prizing numeracy for what it is  a key skill every bit as essential as reading, Mr Sunak was set to say, according to extracts of the speech briefed in advance by Downing Street.

I wont sit back and allow this cultural sense that its OK to be bad at maths to put our children at a disadvantage. My campaign to transform our national approach to maths is not something nice to have. Its about changing how we value maths in this country.

Click here to sign up for our newsletters.
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Rishi Sunak is the first British Asian to take up residence at 10 Downing Street, the countrys first Hindu leader, its youngest since 1812 and one of its wealthiest ever statesmen.

At 170cm (or 5 foot 7 inches), he is also one of the UKs shortest premiers on record, a matter of increasing obsession online, with Google searches into the matter spiking over the course of the week.

For the record, this is how our new PM compares with his predecessors:

Liz Truss (2022-22)  5 foot 5 inches

Boris Johnson (2019-22)  5 foot 9 inches

Theresa May (2016-19)  5 foot 6 inches

David Cameron (2010-16)  6 foot  inch

Gordon Brown (2007-10)  5 foot 11 inches

Tony Blair (1997-2007)  6 foot

John Major (1990-97)  5 foot 11 inches

Margaret Thatcher (1979-90)  5 foot 5 inches

James Callaghan (1976-79)  6 foot 1 inch

Harold Wilson (1964-70)  5 foot 8 inches

Alec Douglas-Home (1963-64)  6 foot 1inch

Harold Macmillan (1957-63)  6 foot

Winston Churchill (1940-45, then 1951-55)  5 foot 6 inches

Mr Sunaks stature has attracted attention before, notably when, as chancellor in March 2021, he rather artfully positioned himself at the top of the stairs of No 11 brandishing that famous red box in time for the Budget, forcing his fellow Treasury ministers to line the steps below him, looking far smaller than their boss.

The issue returned to the spotlight when Mr Sunak met King Charles III at Buckingham Palace and the men were photographed together shaking hands and appeared to be the same height, despite His Majesty supposedly towering 8cm above his latest PM, adding a further layer of mystery to the ever-more-baffling Wonderland world of Westminster.

Mr Sunaks height makes him 5cm shorter than the height of the average adult man in Britain, according to the Office for National Statistics, which appears to be of greater concern when it comes to politicians than for the rest of us mere mortals.

Britain Politics (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

But France, for one, has remained consistently unflustered about the prospect of short statesmen, from Napoleon Bonaparte to Emmanuel Macron by way of Nicolas Sarkozy and both Russia and Ukraine are currently led by men of 5ft 7in.

And no one looks down on Spider-Man star Tom Holland over his relationship with the much-taller Zendaya other than Zendaya herself, who can hardly help it.

Perhaps the real issue with Rishi Sunaks height, as suggested by GQs Imogen West-Knights, is that he has failed to own it, preferring trick photography and boxes discreetly concealed behind lecterns to mask the truth.

Sunak has betrayed short men, Ms West-Knights writes, adamantly.

The reason Rishi has killed the era of the short king isnt because hes short and awful  although he is both. Its because he has refused to own it.

Short men should be outraged at Sunak, who has spent his whole time in the political limelight trying desperately to distance himself from their ranks.
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Rishi Sunak is set to deliver a speech on Monday in which he will vow to tackle what he described as the UKs anti-maths mindset to boost the economy.

The prime minister will announce an expert-led review into how to carry out his plan to ensure all pupils in England study some form of maths up to age 18, without making A-Level compulsory.

Weve got to change this anti-maths mindset. Weve got to start prizing numeracy for what it is  a key skill every bit as essential as reading, Mr Sunak will say in a speech from north London later on Monday morning.

I wont sit back and allow this cultural sense that its OK to be bad at maths to put our children at a disadvantage. My campaign to transform our national approach to maths is not some nice-to-have. Its about changing how we value maths in this country.

Below we look at everything we know about Mr Sunaks plan.

What do we know about the maths plan?

There are around 8 million adults in the UK who have the numeracy skills of primary school children, according to government figures.

Currently only around half of 16-19 year olds study any maths at all and the problem is particularly acute for disadvantaged pupils, 60 per cent of whom do not have basic maths skills at age 16.

Despite these poor standards, the UK remains one of the only countries in the world not to require children to study some form of maths up to the age of 18.

To tackle this Mr Sunak, setting out his priorities as PM in January, set an ambition of ensuring that all pupils in England study some form of maths to the age of 18.

Recognising the practical challenges involved, the PM will acknowledge that reform on this scale wont be easy, No 10 said in a statement at the time.

He will commit to starting the work of introducing maths to 18 in this parliament and finishing it in the next.

Rishi Sunak wants pupils to study maths until 18 (PA Wire)

Few other details of the plan were set out and the government accepted the aspiration was unlikely to be achieved before the next general election, expected in the autumn of next year.

In addition to the expert review being set up, overnight reports said Mr Sunak would also announce plans for a new qualification for primary school maths teachers and increase the number of Maths Hubs, which brings together education professionals in a collaborative national network of 40 hubs, each locally led by an outstanding school or college, to develop and spread excellent practice, for the benefit of all pupils and students.

What has the reaction been?

Opposition MPs accused Mr Sunak of rehashing his ambition to distract from an ongoing pay dispute which will see teachers walk out again later this month.

Teachers and education expert, meanwhile, have warned the policy does not address major problems in the wider education system, including the already severe shortage of maths teachers.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said that instead of re-announcing a vague and poorly thought-out policy, Mr Sunak should focus on resolving the pay dispute which has triggered industrial action.

It is hard to understand why the prime minister is rehashing his ambition of maths to 18 having only announced this policy in January and with no further detail of what it will entail or how it will be delivered.

It seems like an attempt to divert attention away from the most pressing matter in education in England which is the industrial dispute triggered by the erosion of teacher pay and conditions and resulting crisis in recruiting and retaining enough staff.

Geoff Barton has accused Mr Sunak of re-announcing a vague and poorly thought-out policy (PA Media)

He added: These severe shortages directly undermine the prime ministers ambition because it means there are not enough maths teachers to deliver even the existing requirements let alone extend maths to every pupil to the age of 18.

Labour criticised the empty pledge, with shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson saying: Once again, the prime minister needs to show his working: he cannot deliver this reheated, empty pledge without more maths teachers.

But after 13 years of failing our children, the Tory government repeatedly misses their target for new maths teachers, with maths attainment gaps widening and existing teachers leaving in their droves.

Labour does not need a new advisory group to make the right choices for our children. We will drive up standards in every corner of our country by investing in thousands more teachers, including maths teachers, by ending tax breaks for private schools.

The Liberal Democrats said it doesnt take an A-Level in maths to work out that Mr Sunaks plan doesnt add up.
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Rishi Sunak began his premiership with a promise to bring integrity and accountability back to the heart of government.

But the prime minister and former chancellor has himself been at the centre of a string of investigations since breaking into the political mainstream.

One of the most damaging questions facing Mr Sunak has been about his familys vast fortune. But he was also caught up in the Partygate scandal which contributed to the downfall of his predecessor Boris Johnson, resulting in Mr Sunak receiving a fixed penalty notice.

As parliaments ethics watchdog launched a fresh inquiry into the PM over a possible failure to declare his wifes shares in a childcare agency, The Independent looks at six times Mr Sunak has been under scrutiny while serving in government.

Wifes non-dom status

Mr Sunaks familys tax affairs came under scrutiny last year when The Independent revealed his wife Akshata Murty claimed non-domicile status in order to save on her tax bill.

Ms Murthy, whose father is the billionaire founder of Indian tech giant Infosys, used the valuable tax break even after Mr Sunak was put in charge of setting taxes for the country in February 2020. After days of criticism over his wifes use of the tax break, Mr Sunak wrote to then prime minister Boris Johnson asking for an investigation into his own affairs.

He was later cleared of breaching the ministerial code in a report by the cabinets ethics adviser, Lord Geidt.

Ms Murty has since given up the break and promised to start paying British taxes on all her worldwide income. Mr Sunak insisted that his wife had done nothing wrong.

Green card

It then emerged Mr Sunak still held a US green card  allowing permanent residence in that country  while he was chancellor.

Overseas applicants must declare an intention to eventually become US citizens if they are to be granted a green card.

In addition, holders are required to pay US tax on their global income and also make a legal commitment to make the United States their permanent home.

Mr Sunak held the green card for nearly two years after becoming chancellor which legally declared him a permanent US resident  despite him living in Downing Street and serving as the MP for Richmond in Yorkshire. Lord Geidts review also cleared Mr Sunak of any wrongdoing over the green card.

Partygate

Mr Sunak received a 50 fixed penalty notice from the Metropolitan Police last April alongside the then PM and his wife, Carrie Johnson .

The fine was given to the then chancellor for attending a Cabinet Room birthday bash for Mr Johnson during strict Covid lockdowns in June 2020.

He paid it immediately and apologised by saying: I can appreciate peoples frustration. And I think its now the job of all of us in government and all politicians to restore peoples trust. Opposition MPs called on Mr Sunak to quit after he received the fine.

Seatbelt fine

In January, Mr Sunak was fined by Lancashire Police for failing to wear a seatbelt while filming a social media clip in the back of a moving car.

The prime minister apologised for the brief error of judgment after the clip of him on a trip to Lancashire to talk about levelling up funding was posted to Instagram.

A spokesperson said Mr Sunak removed the seatbelt for a short period of time to film a clip, which youve seen, but he accepts that was a mistake.

Dog walking

Two months later, Mr Sunaks family was reminded of the rules by the Met about keeping a dog on a lead when in a major London park.

It came after a video was shared online appearing to show the PM and his family allowing their pet dog to roam freely while in a royal park.

The video focused on a notice board saying Dogs must be kept on leads before showing Mr Sunak and what appears to be his wife putting the dog on a leash. At the time, a spokesperson for the PM told reporters: Im not going to be commenting on the filming of the prime ministers family and private individuals.

You can see the video, it speaks for itself.

Koru Kids

On Monday Mr Sunak was put under investigation by parliaments ethics watchdog amid claims he failed to declare a conflict of interest.

The prime minister is facing questions after it emerged that a childcare agency Koru Kids, partly owned by his wife Ms Murty, would benefit from policy changes in the Budget. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt had announced a pilot of incentive payments of 600 for childminders joining the profession. The sum doubles to 1,200 if workers sign up through an agency.

The prime minister did not mention his wifes interest when speaking about the childcare reforms at a parliamentary committee in March after being asked if he had anything to declare.

No, all my disclosures are declared in the normal way, Mr Sunak said at the time.

Koru Kids, which is one of six childminder agencies listed on the governments website, welcomed the new incentives in the Budget as great.

At the time the possible conflict of interest emerged, Mr Sunaks press secretary said the interest would be included in the updated statement of ministers interests, due out in May.

But it seems the investigation, by the parliamentary commissioner for standards Daniel Greenberg, appears to centre on whether the prime minister should have declared the interest to MPs. The list of ministerial interests has not been updated for nearly a year.

Downing Street said Mr Sunak will clarify how it was declared as a ministerial interest, rather than to the Commons.
 Close Rishi Sunak ignored by students as he repeatedly asks for questions after maths speech

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Rishi Sunak is under investigation by the parliaments sleaze watchdog amid allegations he failed to declare the shares his wife holds in a childcare agency that was boosted by the Budget.

The investigation relates to the shares his wife Akshata Murthy holds in Koru Kids, a child-care agency.

The prime minister last month faced demands to come clean about his family shares last month when questioned by MPs over why the childcare policy favoured private firms.

Appearing before the Liaison Committee, he did not mention Ms Murthys shares in the firm, in which she has been listed as a shareholder on Companies House.

A fortnight earlier, chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced a pilot of incentive payments of 600 for childminders joining the profession.

A No 10 spokesperson responded: We are happy to assist the commissioner to clarify how this has been transparently declared as a ministerial interest.
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Rishi Sunak is under investigation by parliaments sleaze watchdog over allegations of a possible failure to declare the shares held by his wife in a childcare agency boosted by the recent Budget.

The prime minister is facing a series of questions about his ties to the firm as No 10 confirmed the inquiry opened by the standards watchdog relates to the shares Akshata Murty holds in the Koru Kids agency.

The prime minister did not mention his wifes interest when grilled about the childcare reforms at a parliamentary committee last month  despite being asked by MPs if he had anything to declare.

Parliamentary commissioner for standards Daniel Greenberg will now examine whether Mr Sunak breached the MPs code of conduct  specifically the rules demanding MPs are open and frank when declaring their interests.

The standards probe is a major embarrassment for Mr Sunak, who vowed to bring integrity back to government when he entered No 10. It follows a fine for not wearing a seatbelt, and the Partygate fine for attending Boris Johnsons rule-breaking birthday bash.

Labour accused Mr Sunak of dodging proper scrutiny and challenged the PM to produce an updated list of ministers interests before the local elections in England in two weeks time.

Mr Sunak was asked about possible conflicts of interest relating to Jeremy Hunts Budget at the liaison committee in March. Asked whether he had anything to declare by Labour MP Catherine McKinnell, he said: No, all my disclosures are declared in the normal way.

But Downing Street revealed on Monday that Mr Sunak had later written to MPs in a 4 April letter, following attention on his wifes ties to Koru Kids, that he had declared the interest to the Cabinet Office.

While it does not appear on the MPs register of interest or the latest register of ministerial interests, which dates back to May 2022, No 10 said an updated register of ministerial interests would be published soon.

Mr Sunaks spokesperson said: We are happy to assist the commissioner to clarify how this has been transparently declared as a ministerial interest.

Rishi Sunak with his wife, Akshata Murty (PA Wire)

But the PMs official spokesperson refused to say when exactly the PM declared his wifes shareholding to the department.

And No 10 would not say when the updated register of ministers interests would be published  saying only that Mr Sunaks ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus would set it out as soon as possible and try to return to the rhythm of publishing every six months.

Koru Kids is one of six private childcare agencies being consulted on a pilot scheme as part of the governments childcare overhaul announced in the Budget.

The government is to test incentive payments of 600 for childminders joining the profession, and 1,200 if they join through an agency like the one part-owned by the prime ministers wife.

Such agencies are expected to see a major increase in business as a result of the plans, which reward childminders double for using an agency.

Rishi Sunak giving speech on maths on Monday (PA)

The probe is not the first time Ms Murtys finances have put the political spotlight on her husband.

The venture capitalist, who is worth hundreds of millions of pounds, was criticised after The Independent revealed last year that she was avoiding tax by assuming non-dom status. She later renounced the status after the revelations caused an outcry.

Labours deputy leader Angela Rayner accused Mr Sunak of dodging proper scrutiny  and challenged No 10 to produce the new list of ministers interests before the local elections in two weeks.

She said: This governments failure to update the rules or publish a register of ministers interests in nearly a year has left a transparency black hole which is enabling the prime minister and those he has appointed to dodge proper scrutiny of their affairs.

Accusing Mr Sunak of preserving the rotten standards regime, Ms Rayner added: If Rishi Sunak has got nothing to hide, he should commit to publishing the register before Mays elections so the public can see for themselves.

The Liberal Democrats chief whip Wendy Chamberlain said the revelations amounted to another day and another accusation of a Conservative prime ministers bending the rules after months of sleaze and scandal.
A top Tory donor who gave 100,000 to back Boris Johnson said he will not give money again, as he accused the Conservatives of failing to grow the economy.

Hotelier Sir Rocco Forte, who helped fund the 2019 election, said there is no point donating to Rishi Sunaks party.

Asked if he would give money again, he told GB News: No. Whats the point of having a Conservative government which is following policies which have been followed for the last 15 years and havent delivered good growth?
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation paused its use of Twitter on Monday after the social media platform owned by Elon Musk stamped CBCs account with a label the public broadcaster says is intended to undermine its credibility.

Twitter labelled CBC/Radio-Canada government-funded media"  the same label that prompted National Public Radio in the U.S. to similarly quit Twitter last Wednesday.

Twitter can be a powerful tool for our journalists to communicate with Canadians, but it undermines the accuracy and professionalism of the work they do to allow our independence to be falsely described in this way, CBC spokesman Leon Mar said in a statement announcing the change Monday afternoon.

Consequently, we will be pausing our activity on our corporate Twitter account and all CBC and Radio-Canada news-related accounts," the statement said.

CBC has sent a letter to Twitter asking the company to re-examine the designation.

CBC does not meet those criteria, Mar argued, because it is publicly funded through a parliamentary appropriation that is voted upon by all members of Parliament, and its editorial independence is protected in law in the Broadcasting Act.

The CBCs board of directors determines how the funding it receives is spent. In 2021-22, the CBC received more than $1.2 billion Canadian (US$900 million) in government funding.

Opposition Conservative Party of Canada Pierre Poilievre had urged Twitter to label CBC. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau criticized Poilievre for what he called an attack on a foundational Canadian institution.

Twitter initially had labelled NPRs main account as state-affiliated media,  a term also used to identify media outlets controlled or heavily influenced by authoritarian governments, such as Russia and China. Twitter later changed the label to government-funded media, but to NPR  which relies on the government for a tiny fraction of its funding  its still misleading.

Twitter responded to a request for comment about why the label was applied and whether it would be removed or changed with an auto-generated email bearing a poop emoji.

Twitter, more than any of its rivals, has said its users come to it to keep track of current events. That made it an attractive place for news outlets to share their stories and reinforced Twitters moves to combat the spread of misinformation. But Musk has long expressed disdain for professional journalists and said he wants to elevate the views and expertise of the average citizen.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The UK must end its anti-maths mindset to help grow the economy, Rishi Sunak will say.

The Prime Minister will announce an expert-led review into how to carry out his plan to ensure all pupils in England study some form of maths up to the age of 18, without making maths A-Level compulsory.

In a speech in north London on Monday, he will criticise a cultural sense that its OK to be bad at maths which is putting children at a disadvantage by failing to equip them with the analytical skills needed for the modern workplace.

I wont sit back and allow this cultural sense that its OK to be bad at maths to put our children at a disadvantage Rishi Sunak

The UK remains one of the only countries in the world that does not require children to study maths in some form up to the age of 18, making it one of the least numerate among the 38 OECD advanced economies.

Around a third of pupils fail to pass GCSE maths, and more than eight million adults have numeracy skills below those expected of a nine-year-old, according to Downing Street.

Mr Sunak is expected to tell an audience of students, teachers, education experts and business leaders: Weve got to change this anti-maths mindset. Weve got to start prizing numeracy for what it is  a key skill every bit as essential as reading.

I wont sit back and allow this cultural sense that its OK to be bad at maths to put our children at a disadvantage.

My campaign to transform our national approach to maths is not some nice-to-have. Its about changing how we value maths in this country.

The Prime Minister first made his maths-to-18 pledge in January, stressing the importance of numeracy in jobs increasingly underpinned by data and statistics. He said it may not be achieved in this Parliament.

But critics accused Mr Sunak of rehashing his ambition to distract from an ongoing pay dispute which will see teachers walk out again later this month.

Former chancellor Mr Sunak will argue that maths attainment will help young people in their careers and grow the economy.

We simply cannot allow poor numeracy to cost our economy tens of billions a year or to leave people twice as likely to be unemployed as those with competent numeracy.

We have to fundamentally change our education system so it gives our young people the knowledge and skills they need  and that our businesses need  to compete with the best in the world.

Teachers and education experts have warned the policy does not address major problems in the wider education system, including the already severe shortage of maths teachers.

Mr Sunak will say the change will not happen overnight, with an advisory group including mathematicians, education leaders and business representatives to be formed to advise the Government.

The review will look at what core maths content students will be required to study, and whether a new maths qualification will be needed.

Mr Sunak will say: Well need to recruit and train the maths teachers. Well need to work out how to harness technology to support them.

And well need to make sure this maths is additional to other subjects  not instead of them. But we are taking the first step today by identifying the maths content that will give our 16 to 18-year-olds the skills they need to get on in life.

It seems like an attempt to divert attention away from the most pressing matter in education in England which is the industrial dispute ASCL general secretary Geoff Barton

The Prime Minister will also commit to expanding maths hubs, where schools and colleges team up to support teaching of the subject, and introduce a new voluntary and fully funded professional qualification for primary school maths teachers.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said that instead of re-announcing a vague and poorly thought-out policy, Mr Sunak should focus on resolving the pay dispute which has triggered industrial action.

It is hard to understand why the Prime Minister is rehashing his ambition of maths to 18 having only announced this policy in January and with no further detail of what it will entail or how it will be delivered.

It seems like an attempt to divert attention away from the most pressing matter in education in England which is the industrial dispute triggered by the erosion of teacher pay and conditions and resulting crisis in recruiting and retaining enough staff.

These severe shortages directly undermine the Prime Ministers ambition because it means there are not enough maths teachers to deliver even the existing requirements let alone extend maths to every pupil to the age of 18.

Labour criticised the empty pledge, with shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson saying: Once again, the Prime Minister needs to show his working: he cannot deliver this reheated, empty pledge without more maths teachers.

But after 13 years of failing our children, the Tory government repeatedly misses their target for new maths teachers, with maths attainment gaps widening and existing teachers leaving in their droves.

Labour does not need a new advisory group to make the right choices for our children. We will drive up standards in every corner of our country by investing in thousands more teachers, including maths teachers, by ending tax breaks for private schools.

Royal Society president, Sir Adrian Smith, said it was reassuring to see the PMs commitment as more still needs to be done to make courses such as core maths and mathematics skills, in general, widely available and appealing to students.

Sam Sims, chief executive of the charity National Numeracy, said: Addressing poor numeracy needs to start much earlier than 16. We need a cradle to career vision for numeracy in the UK.
Jeremy Corbyn has said that Sir Keir Starmers claims that the pair were never friends is primary school stuff.

The former Labour leader  blocked from running as the partys candidate in Islington North  said that he had always seen Sir Keir as a colleague when the pair worked together.

The left-winger also hit out at Labours recent controversial social media campaign attacking Rishi Sunak  calling it bad news all around.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The institutions of the Good Friday Agreement need to be continually worked to secure them for the future, Sir Tony Blair said.

The former prime minister is joining other political leaders from Northern Irelands peace process era at a major conference commemorating the Good Friday Agreement.

Ex-US president Bill Clinton and former taoiseach Bertie Ahern will also participate in the three-day event, at Queens University in Belfast, 25 years on from the landmark accord.

Senator George Mitchell, who chaired the peace negotiations in 1998, will take part as well.

Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton is hosting the conference as part of her role as chancellor at Queens.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar are due to attend later in the week.

The agreement largely ended Northern Irelands 30-year sectarian conflict.

Sir Tony told the BBC there are people alive today because of the peace deal.

When you look back over this 25 years, from time to time we have had that same energy, from time to time we havent Sir Tony Blair

He said: But I am the first to say it takes a long time for the mistrust to disappear, for the institutional arrangements to make full sense to people, and youve got to work at it the whole time.

He added: When you look back over this 25 years, from time to time we have had that same energy, from time to time we havent.

But youve got to keep it and youve got to work at it all the time if you want it to be secure for the future.

Sir Tony remembered being criticised when he first met with former Sinn Fein leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness and with loyalist leaders.

He said: But the reality is  and this is what is so important about politics for the future  if everyone had just stuck in their positions and said, As a result of doing things which are unjustified in the past, we are not prepared to talk, we would never have had the Good Friday Agreement. We would never have made progress.

So the important lesson is: progress only comes when people in positions of power are prepared to take decisions that are difficult, that are going to be controversial, that are going to be highly criticised, but where in the end you believe there is a better and higher purpose that can be achieved by this engagement.

The settlement created powersharing institutions at Stormont that involved nationalists and unionists governing Northern Ireland together in a mandatory coalition arrangement.

While the pact largely ended the Troubles, which had claimed more than 3,600 lives since the late 1960s, it has failed to bring long-term political stability in the region and devolution has collapsed several times in the last two decades.

The anniversary comes amid another period of collapse, with the DUP blocking powersharing in protest at post-Brexit trading arrangements that have created economic barriers between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

The barriers were first introduced under the Withdrawal Agreements contentious Northern Ireland Protocol.

The UK and EU recently agreed the Windsor Framework as a way to cut the red tape created by the protocol.

While the DUP says the framework has gone some way to address its concerns about the protocol, it says significant problems remain.

The party has opposed the framework at Westminster and has made clear its boycott of Stormont will continue until it secures further assurances from the UK government over its concerns around sovereignty and the application of EU law in Northern Ireland.

Mr Ahern said barriers were broken down to secure the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

He told the BBC: We had the right mix of people and because we were at it night and day for eight or nine months, if not for a number of years before that.

We knew this wasnt going to be perfect, but there was a feeling with the help of the European Union, with the help of Bill Clinton and the Americans, the fact that all the parties were getting on reasonably well, we had broken down the barriers.

The former Irish premier said it is disappointing US President Joe Biden was unable to address the Stormont Assembly during his visit to Northern Ireland last week.

He said: Yeah, no doubt about it, that would have been a great thing around the world.

That would have been a really, really powerful shot and position and speech from Stormont and unfortunately that didnt happen.

Anyone who comes in and says they dont regret that isnt telling the truth.

Several events took place over the weekend ahead of the conferences start.

On Sunday evening, a special dinner was held at Hillsborough Castle to mark the contribution to the peace process by the late Mo Mowlam, who was Northern Ireland Secretary in 1998.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Train operator TransPennine Express (TPE) needs a fresh start after nearly a quarter of trains were cancelled between February and March, mayors in the north of England have said.

The Labour mayors of West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Manchester, Liverpool and North of Tyne have asked the Government not to renew FirstGroups contract to run the service when their deal expires on May 28.

In a joint letter to transport secretary, Mark Harper, the mayors said a new FirstGroup contract would be rewarding failure and be a betrayal of passengers in the north.

Rail passengers have had enough. The Northern economy has had enough, the failure of TPE is holding us back. We need change now Mayors in north of England

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said the FirstGroup-owned companys cancellation score for the four weeks to March 4 worsened from 7.2% to 23.8% when adjusted to include pre-cancellations due to a shortage of train crew.

The letter said: We are of the unanimous view that TransPennine Express needs to start afresh under new ownership.

It added: We urge you to put the views of the passengers of the North ahead of any other considerations when making the decision on the future of TransPennine Express.

Rail passengers have had enough. The Northern economy has had enough, the failure of TPE is holding us back. We need change now.

TPE passengers have suffered from widespread delays and cancellations over the past year.

The operator, which covers an area across northern England and into Scotland, has been badly affected by drivers no longer volunteering to work paid overtime shifts.

A spokesperson for TransPennine Express said: Cancellations are now down by around 40% since our recovery plan was introduced.

However, in order to further substantially reduce cancellations for customers and all those who depend on the norths connectivity, we have been trying to secure an overtime pay deal with Aslef for drivers who wish to volunteer for additional shifts.

Restoring overtime working for drivers at TPE will in turn, if implemented and used in the same way as before, significantly accelerate training and reduce cancellations within days of the overtime deal being enacted, which is exactly what our customers need.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: Ministers have been previously clear that the recent level of service provided by TransPennine Express is unacceptable and that all options remain on the table.

We are working closely with train operators to ensure disruption is kept to a minimum and long-term solutions are put in place for passengers, including the swift recruitment and training of new drivers.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Intense fighting in Sudan entered its third day as images revealed the scale of the violent clashes between the Sundanese military and rival paramilitary groups battling for control of the nation.

So far, at least 97 civilians have been killed and 365 injured, Sudan Doctors Syndicate said on Monday. Among those killed were three employees of the UN World Food Programme, said the international food agency as it announced halting its operations temporarily.

Some hospitals treating injured civilians are running out of critical supplies, including blood, transfusion equipment, intravenous fluids and other vital supplies, said WHO.

Thick, black smoke was seen drifting across the city at multiple locations, according to the satellite imagery from Maxar.

A number of government buildings have been destroyed and many are continuing to burn. They include the Army Headquarters, Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry of Energy and Mining, according to Maxar News Bureau.

The military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) both claimed to be in control of strategic locations in Khartoum and elsewhere in the county.

Overview of Khartoum international airport showing smoke on 16 April (Satellite image 2023 Maxar Technologies)

Images of the Khartoum International Airport showed two Il-76 transport aircraft on fire and several additional planes damaged.

The fighting erupted on Saturday between army units loyal to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of Sudans transitional governing Sovereign Council, and the paramilitary RSF led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, the deputy head of the council.

While General Burhans military called for dismantling of the RSF, which it labeled a "rebellious militia", General Dagalo told the satellite news network Al Arabyia that he ruled out negotiation and called on his counterpart to surrender.

Heavy fighting involving armored vehicles, truck-mounted machine guns and war planes raged in the capital of Khartoum, the adjoining city of Omdurman and in flashpoints across the country.

Burned and heavily damaged general command of the Sudanese armed forces headquarters building in Khartoum on 16 April 2023 (Satellite image 2023 Maxar Technologies.)

It was the first such violent outbreak since both joined forces to oust veteran Islamist autocrat Omar Hassan al-Bashir in 2019, sparked by a disagreement over the integration of the RSF into the military as part of a transition towards civilian rule. The merger is a key condition of Sudans unsigned transition agreement with political groups.

The two generals are former allies who jointly orchestrated an October 2021 military coup that derailed Sudans short-lived transition to democracy.

Earlier on Sunday, they agreed to a three-hour-long pause to allow humanitarian evacuations proposed by the UN. But the deal was widely ignored after a brief period of relative calm.

As night fell, residents reported the boom of artillery and roar of warplanes in the Kafouri district of Bahri, which has an RSF base, across the Nile river.

The clashes come as most Sudanese are preparing to celebrate the holiday that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims traditionally fast from sunrise to sunset.

Fighting raged around the militarys headquarters throughout the day. "Heavy explosions and gunfire around the clock," said Amany Sayed, a 38-year-old Khartoum resident. "The battles here (in the capital) never stopped."

Damaged and burned ministry of energy and mining building in Khartoum, Sudan on 16 April 2023 (Satellite image 2023 Maxar Technologies)

Fighting was also reported around the Khartoum International Airport and the state television headquarters. A senior military official said clashes with RSF fighters began earlier in the day around the military headquarters.

"They are shooting against each other in the streets," said prominent rights advocate Tahani Abass who lives near the military headquarters. "Its an all-out war in residential areas."

Ms Abass said her family spent the night huddling on the ground floor of their home. "No one was able to sleep and the kids were crying and screaming with every explosion," she said.

Eyewitnesses said the army was renewing air strikes on RSF bases in Omdurman, Khartoums sister city across the Nile, and the Kafouri and Sharg El-Nil districts of adjacent Bahri, putting RSF fighters to flight.

Amid the deteriorating security situation, World Food Programme (WFP) executive director Cindy McCain issued a statement announcing the temporary halt in the operation of the international food agency.

Smoke rises from the tarmac of Khartoum International Airport as a fire burns, in Khartoum (Reuters)

"WFP is committed to assisting the Sudanese people facing dire food insecurity, but we cannot do our lifesaving work if the safety and security of our teams and partners is not guaranteed, she said.

Ms McCain also said it was difficult for WFPs staff to operate after a UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) aircraft was "significantly damaged" at Sudans Khartoum airport during an exchange of fire on Saturday.

The incident has seriously impacted the organisations ability to move humanitarian workers and aid in Sudan, she said.

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres called for those responsible for the death of civilians to be held accountable, according to his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric.

The United States, China, Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UN Security Council, European Union and African Union have appealed for a quick end to the hostilities that threaten to worsen instability in an already volatile wider region.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken said he consulted with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken and British foreign secretary James Cleverly give a joint statement on the situation in Sudan during a G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting at the Prince Karuizawa hotel in Karuizawa on 17 April 2023 (AFP via Getty Images)

There is a shared deep concern about the fighting, the violence that is going on in Sudan, the threat that it poses to civilians, that it poses to the Sudanese nation and potentially poses even to the region, he said while speaking at G7 foreign ministers summit in Japan.

People in Sudan want the military back in the barracks, they want democracy, they want a civilian-led government. Sudan needs to return to that path, he said.

UK foreign secretary James Cleverly called upon an immediate cessation of violence, a return to the talks.

Ultimately the immediate future lies in the hands of the generals who are engaged in this fight. We call on them to put peace first, to bring an end to the fighting, to get back to negotiations.

Thats what the people of Sudan want, thats what the people of Sudan deserve. We will continue to seek ways to support that road back to peace, he said.

The UN Security Council will discuss the crisis in Sudan on Monday, said Fedor Strzhizhovskiy, the spokesperson for the UN mission in Russia, which holds the councils presidency this month.

In recent months, internationally backed negotiations revived hopes for such a transition, but growing tensions between General Burhan and General Dagalo eventually delayed a deal with political parties.

Khalid Omar, a spokesman for the pro-democracy block that negotiated with the generals in recent months, warned that the conflict could lead to war and the countrys collapse.

In a series of tweets Sunday, Mr Omar called on pro-democracy groups to set aside their disputes to find a way to end the crisis "immediately".

Meanwhile, in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur province, the two sides fought for control of the citys airport, said a military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.

Sudan, a country at the crossroads of the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa, is known for its history of military coups and civil conflicts since it gained independence in 1950s. A decade-old civil conflict resulted in the secession of South Sudan in 2011.

Additional reporting from the wires
Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The parents of Colorado 22-year-old Christian Glass, who was fatally shot in his car by police last June after calling 911 for help, on Monday demanded not only justice for their son but an end to the pervasive gun violence that has left Americans  and visitors to the country  scared.

Its known throughout the world; we know people that don't even want to visit us in America because they're too scared, said Sally Glass, originally from England, as she stood next to her husband, New Zealand native Simon. Our daughter is at college ... We just moved her to the third storey. She's scared ... people are scared.

The Glasses were speaking after the Monday court appearance of former Clear Creek County Sheriffs Deputies Andrew Buen and Kyle Gould, who are charged in the 11 June 2022 death of their son. Mr Buen, who allegedly shot and killed Christian, is charged with second-degree murder, reckless endangerment and official misconduct. Mr Gould, his former supervisor, was watching and giving instructions remotely on the tragic night; he is charged with criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment.

Simon and Sally Glass have been present at every court hearing in Georgetown, Colorado for the officers charged with murder in the death of their son, Christian, 22 (Sheila Flynn)

Lawyers for both defendants had argued against the charges but a judge ruled earlier this month that there was sufficient evidence to allow the case to continue. Fifth Judicial District Judge Catherine Cheroutes wrote that evidence supported probable cause that Mr Buen intentionally and maliciously caused harm to Christian by shooting and killing him.

The malicious intent can be inferred from the aggressive demeanor and the ultimate action of the Defendant shooting Mr Glass as seen in the body cam footage, she wrote.

The prosecution has filed a petition for the pair to be tried together, and on Monday the judge set a June court date, by which time both legal teams will have submitted responses to the motion and other matters will be addressed.

The Glasses have repeatedly pushed for charges brought against other officers, as well. After Christian called 911 last June, seven officers from multiple agencies were involved in the response. They spoke with Christian  who appeared to be suffering from some sort of nonviolent mental episode but repeatedly offered to throw anything that could be considered a weapon out of the car  for more than an hour. When he refused orders to exit his vehicle, Christian was hit with a stun gun, appeared to grab a tiny knife while thrashing around in the drivers seat, and was then quickly shot dead.

Officers had been laughing and joking while cajoling Christian just minutes before he was killed.

Christian Glass smiles with his parents, Sally and Simon Glass, from England and New Zealand, respectively (The Glass Family)

Ms Glass said on Monday that continued reports of new fatal police shootings in the months since their sons death have left them trying not to watch the news too much ... because we find it so triggering.

Honestly, were doing a bit of self preservation at the moment, she said. Its not because we dont care deeply, its just that [theres] just so much a human being can handle.

Going further than addressing just police shootings, however, Mrs Glass insisted that America has got to ban assault rifles to curb gun deaths and further mass tragedies.

In January, Mr Glass lamented the death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of police following another court hearing for the ex-deputies charged with killing his son.

I saw Tyres parents interview, part of the interview that they did, and really see the same thing we were going through  just disbelief, he said. I think he said something like, Im just trying to make it home or something like that.

What are they doing? What are they doing? he said of police departments and violent altercations.

Watching former deputies Buen and Gould in court, the Glasses said on Monday, was incredibly hard ... its awful and we have nightmares about it  but they continue to attend all court hearings for our son.

Our son lost his life, Mrs Glass said, through tears. The least we can do, as parents, is come up and support him, because I believe, somehow, hes still around.

Mr Buen and Mr Gould are scheduled to next appear in court on 21 June.
Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday upheld the most serious murder conviction against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the killing of George Floyd.

Chauvin is serving a 22 1/2-year sentence on the second-degree murder count. His attorney had asked the appeals court to throw out the ex-officers convictions for several reasons, including the massive pretrial publicity. He also argued that legal and procedural errors deprived Chauvin of a fair trial. Prosecutors say Chauvin got a fair trial and just sentence.

Floyd died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, used his knee to pin the Black mans neck to the ground for 9 1/2 minutes. A bystander video captured Floyds fading cries of I cant breathe. Floyds death touched off protests around the world, some of which turned violent, and forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism.

Chauvins attorney, William Mohrman, argued on appeal that the trial judge should have moved the case out of Minneapolis because of extensive pretrial publicity and unprecedented security precautions due to fears of violence.

The primary issue on this appeal is whether a criminal defendant can get a fair trial consistent with constitutional requirements in a courthouse surrounded by concrete block, barbed wire, two armored personnel carriers, and a squad of National Guard troops, all of which or whom are there for one purpose: in the event that the jury acquits the defendant, Mohrman said in oral arguments in January.

But Neal Katyal, a special attorney for the state, argued that Chauvin got one of the most transparent and thorough trials in our nations history. ... Chauvins many arguments before this court do not come close to justifying reversal.

Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill sentenced Chauvin to 22 1/2 years after jurors found him guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Chauvin later pleaded guilty to a separate federal civil rights charge and was sentenced to 21 years in federal prison, which he is now serving in Arizona concurrent with his state sentence.

Judge Cahill managed this trial with enormous care, and even if Chauvin could identify some minor fault, any error is harmless, Katyal said. The evidence of Chauvins guilt was captured on video for the world to see.

Mohrman argued in his brief that the pretrial publicity was the most extensive of any trial in Minnesota history, and that the judge should have moved the trial and sequestered the jury. Mohrman wrote that the publicity and the riots, the citys $27 million settlement with Floyds family announced during jury selection, the unrest over a police killing of a Black man in a Minneapolis suburb during jury selection, and the sealing off of the courthouse, were just some of the factors prejudicing Chauvins chance of a fair trial.

His appeal also focused on one juror who participated in a civil rights event commemorating the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.s March on Washington, a few months after Floyds death. Only after the trial did the juror reveal that he had been there.

The juror was questioned during selection about whether he had participated in any demonstrations or marches in Minneapolis against police brutality after Floyds death. But Chauvins original attorney, Eric Nelson, did not ask whether he had participated in any marches elsewhere.

Mohrman argued that Cahill should have held a hearing after the revelation to determine whether the jurors nondisclosure constituted misconduct. He said the appeals court should send the case back to Cahill for a hearing on that issue  a request that Cahill had denied.

Other disputes in the appeal included whether it was legally permissible to convict Chauvin of third-degree murder, given a 2021 Minnesota Supreme Court decision clarifying the definition of that crime, and whether Cahill was justified in exceeding the 12 1/2 years recommended under the states sentencing guidelines.
Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The FBI arrested two people for allegedly operating an illegal police station for the Chinese government in New York City.

The two individuals were arrested on Monday and expected to appear in federal court in the city charged with conspiring to act as Chinese agents.

Officials say that the undeclared police station in Manhattans Chinatown neighbourhood was shut down last year when a search warrant was executed.

New York City is home to New Yorks finest: the NYPD, US Attorney Breon Peace, the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, said at a news conference announcing the arrests. We dont need or want a secret police station in our great city.

The Justice Department also announced charges against 34 officers of the national police of the Peoples Republic of China for harassing Chinese nationals in the US for being critical of the Chinese government.

Those defendants live in China and are still at large, said the Justice Department. Officials say that they were part of the Chinese governments 912 Special Project Working Group to influence global perceptions of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC).

Prosecutors say that the agents used social media to attack perceived adversaries, which included pro-democracy activists around the world and to promote the PRC.

The agents, at the alleged direction of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, ran accounts that looked like they were run by American citizens.

They also posted videos and articles targeting Chinese pro-democracy activists in the US, and even made explicit death threats against them. The agents were also accused of making threats against people to not attend pro-democracy protests in the US.

Chinese officials have claimed that the service centres, which the FBI says were part of a global network, were run by volunteers and had nothing to do with policing.
Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Hollywood actors Halle Berry and Viola Davis have spoken out to demand justice for a Black teenager who was shot in the head by a white homeowner in Kansas City.

Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old high school junior, was shot twice last Thursday when he accidentally went to the wrong house to pick up his younger twin brothers.

The teenager has been discharged from hospital while the white homeowner  who has been named as 85-year-old Andrew Lester  was charged on Monday afternoon with assault in the first degree, which carries a punishment of 10 to 30 years or life imprisonment. He has also been charged with armed criminal action, which carries a punishment of 3 to 15 years..

Protesters have been demanding justice for Ralph after the alleged shooter was initially released from police custody without charge, and a growing chorus of celebrities are weighing in on the case, voicing outrage over the shooting.

Berry posted Ralphs image on Twitter and urged her Twitter followers to contact the local prosecutor to urge him to bring charges against the homeowner.

His name is #RalphYarl and Im sick and tired of this feelingmy heart completely broke when I learned this precious 16-year-old, who accidentally rang the door of the wrong address in an attempt to pick up his siblings, was shot in the head by a man who didnt want him on his property. This innocent child is now fighting for his life, she wrote.

This could be your child. This should NOT happen. Please do something today! Join me and please contact Prosecutor Zachary Thompson and demand an immediate arrest and bring the appropriate charges: Building: James S. Rooney Justice Center Address: 11 South Water Street, Liberty, Missouri 64068 Phone: 816-736-8300 Fax: 816-736- 8301 Email: prosecutor@claycopa.com

Fellow Black actor Viola Davis also took to Instagram to demand action.

ALL HANDS ON DECK!! she wrote, directing people to the posts of civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Lee Merritt.

Actor Kerry Washington wrote on Twitter: Instead of waiting around for #LoveIsBlindmake a phone call. For #RalphYarl. Demand that Prosecutor Zachary Thompson make an arrest and bring the appropriate charges. 816-736-8300.

Supermodel Naomi Campbell, actor Amy Schumer and model and TV personality Chrissy Teigen also shared Instagram posts about the case as they all rallied behind the family of the 16-year-old boy now fighting his injuries in hospital.

A GoFundMe launched to help pay for the boys medical bills had topped $1m by Monday morning.

Actor Gwyneth Paltrow wrote on Instagram: #RalphYarl accidentally rang the doorbell of the wrong house in KCMO. He was trying to pick his younger siblings. The white owner of the hours shot this Black child in the head. He shot him again as Ralph bled out. The shooter is free. No charges. This is America.

Kansas City Police said that Ralph had gone to collect his siblings from a friends house on 115th Terrace in Kansas City, Missouri, on the evening of 13 April.

Police said that the teenager got muddled up with the address and accidentally went to a home on 115th Street by mistake.

There, Ralph allegedly rang the doorbell and the homeowner opened fire on him.

The man in the home opened the door, looked my nephew in the eye, and shot him in the head. My nephew fell to the ground, and the man shot him again, the family said on a GoFundMe page.

Mr Crump and Mr Merritt, who are now representing the victim and his family, said that the aspiring Texas A&M University student was shot twice  once in the head and once in the arm.

Following the shooting, Ralph managed to stumble away to some other homes in the neighbourhood to get help, according to his family.

Unfortunately, he had to run to 3 different homes before someone finally agreed to help him after he was told to lie on the ground with his hands up, the family said.

Kansas City Police were called to reports of a shooting and arrived to find the teenager outside with gunshot wounds.

He was rushed to hospital where the familys attorneys said he was in critical condition.

Ralph Yarl (pictured) was shot twice on 13 April (Ben Crump Law via AP)

The suspect was initially taken into custody on Thursday and placed on a 24-hour hold.

However, under Missouri state law, a person can only be held for 24 hours on suspicion of a felony before officials must either charge or release them. Mr Lester was released pending further investigation. The charges were announced later by Clay County prosecutor Zachary Thompson in a press conference on Monday afternoon.

Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said at a press conference on Sunday that  due to Ralphs injuries  police had been unable to get a formal statement from the victim.

While the police chief initially said that there was no evidence to date to indicate that the shooting was racially motivated, Mr Thompson said while announcing the charges that prosecutors did believe there was a racial element.

The shooting  which marks the latest in a growing number of shootings of Black people in America  has been branded a hate crime by the victims family and has sparked protests in the city demanding justice.

Hundreds of residents took to the streets of Kansas City on Sunday to march through the Northlands area where the teenager was shot.

Many carried placards reading Black Lives Matter, Ringing a doorbell is not a crime and Justice for Ralph, reported KSHB.

A pregnant family friend of Ralph Yarls parents told The Kansas City Star that she fears for her unborn child.

How do you protect a Black kid? said Patience Gaye.

Ralph Yarl lies in hospital bed after being shot twice (Shaun King)

What are we supposed to do now? We left our countries because we dont want to be killed. Thats why we left. They came to America for a better life. How is this a better life?

Speaking before the charges were announced, Mr Crump and Mr Merritt  who have previously represented the families of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd  condemned the release of the armed and dangerous suspect in a joint statement after taking the case.

In a joint statement, the attorneys said: There can be no excuse for the release of this armed and dangerous suspect after admitting to shooting an unarmed, non-threatening and defenseless teenager that rang his doorbell.

We demand swift action from Clay County prosecutors and law enforcement to identify, arrest and prosecute to the full extent of the law the man responsible for this horrendous and unjustifiable shooting.

A woman who identified herself as Ralphs aunt described 16-year-old Ralph as a fantastic kid in the GoFundMe campaign.

At school, he is a member of the Technology Student Association and Science Olympia Team. Jazz and competition band. He is a section leader in the marching band; a scholar and one of the top base clarinet players in Missouri. He recently earned Missouri All-State Band recognition with an honorable mention. He plays multiple instruments in the metropolitan youth orchestra. He is a 2022 Missouri scholar academy alumni. Ralph can often be found with a musical instrument. He loves them all, it reads.

Last summer, Ralph attended Missouri Scholars Academy, where he got a full college life experience. His goal is to attend Texas A&M to major in chemical Engineering.

When asked how he plans to get into this university, he said, Well, if they have a scholarship for music or academics, I know I can get it. Ralphs teacher and friends describe him as  a kind soul, quiet, friendly, well-mannered, always willing to help, super smart, and a musical genius. Ralph was looking forward to graduating high school and finally getting the opportunity to visit West Africa before starting college. Life looks a lot different right now.
 Close Ralph Yarl: Prosecutors charge Kansas City homeowner for shooting teen

Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The family of suspected shooter Andrew Lester have said they are disgusted by the 84-year-olds shooting of Black teenager Ralph Yarl.

Mr Lesters grandson Klint Ludwig told CNN that myself and my family stand with Ralph Yarl and seeking justice.

This is a horrible tragedy, it never should have happened, he said.

Mr Ludwig also revealed details about his grandfathers racist comments and interest in QAnon-level conspiracy theories prior to the 13 April shooting.

The 84-year-old is accused of shooting Ralph, 16, twice through the glass screen door of his home in Kansas City, Missouri, when the Black teenager accidentally called at the wrong home to pick up his brothers.

Ralphs recovery is still ongoing, with attorney Lee Merritt sharing a photo of him back at home following his release from hospital.

Meanwhile, Mr Lester appeared in court for the first time on Wednesday where he pleaded not guilty to two felonies.

The shooting has led to protests and an outpouring of support for Ralph from celebrities and donors to a GoFundMe campaign, as the incident casts a renewed spotlight on Americas stand your ground laws and whether they help to fuel random shootings and racism.
Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Cult mom Lori Vallow is currently on trial in a case that has shocked the nation with its bizarre doomsday cult ties and the tragic deaths of almost everyone close to the mother-of-three and her new husband Chad Daybell.

The 49-year-old is charged with the murders of her children Joshua JJ Vallow, seven, and Tylee Ryan, 16, and conspiracy to murder Mr Daybells first wife Tammy Daybell.

JJ and Tylee vanished without a trace back in September 2019, with their mother refusing to reveal their whereabouts to authorities for many months.

One month after they were last seen alive, Tammy  an otherwise healthy 49-year-old  died suddenly and Ms Vallow and Mr Daybell soon jetted off to Hawaii to get married on the beach.

In June 2020, the remains of JJ and Tylee were found buried on the grounds of Mr Daybells property in Rexburg, Idaho, and the doomsday cult couple were eventually charged with murder.

Prosecutors allege that Ms Vallow and Mr Daybell conspired with Ms Vallows brother Alex Cox to murder Tammy, JJ and Tylee as part of their bizarre cult beliefs  but also for financial purposes so that they could collect Tammys life insurance money and the childrens social security and survivor benefits.

After lengthy delays  due to the pandemic and Ms Vallows admission into a mental health facility  her trial is finally under way in a courtroom in Boise, Idaho.

Here are the key revelations from the trial  so far:

Money, power and sex

During opening statements, prosecutors said that Ms Vallow was driven by money, power and sex to murder her two children and her new husbands then-wife.

Money, power, and sex  thats what this case is about, said Fremont County prosecutor Lindsey Blake.

Tylee had money. Lori wanted it. Tylees gone. JJ took time and he also lost his father. When he lost his father, he became much more difficult to care for. He was entitled to social security benefits. The defendant didnt want to have to take care of JJ anymore. He had money. JJs gone.

Ms Blake told jurors that the saga first began back in October 2018 when Ms Vallow and Mr Daybell met in person for the first time at a religious conference.

Despite both being married, their romance grew with Ms Blake saying: The defendant will remove any obstacle in her way to get what she wants  and she wanted Chad Daybell.

Lori Vallow is seen in a courtroom sketch (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Doomsday couple used cult beliefs to justify murder

The doomsday couple allegedly used their cult beliefs to justify their actions, the prosecutor said in opening statements.

She was here on a religious mission to gather the 144,000, so she needed to spend her time and energy there, said Ms Blake. What she did on earth no longer counted for her.

As part of their cult beliefs, they believed in a rating system of light and dark for how they ranked the spirits of the people around them.

Over time, this evolved into the belief that some people  including the children  were zombies and the only way to get rid of the zombies was for the human body to be destroyed.

Tammy Daybells cause of death revealed

The cause of death of Mr Daybells first wife Tammy was revealed for the first time during opening statements.

Ms Blake told jurors that Tammy, 49, died at the hands of another and died of asphyxiation, citing the Utah medical examiner.

Tammy died suddenly on 19 October 2019. Mr Daybell declined an autopsy  despite her young age and lack of health concerns  and her death was ruled natural causes.

The prosecutor said that, 10 days before her death, Tammy had called 911 to report that someone had taken a shot at her in the driveway of her home.

When Tammy then died and her body was about to be exhumed, Cox raised concerns about being made the fall guy for her death by the doomsday couple.

Tammy and Chad Daybell were married in 1990. He is now accused of conspiring with Lori Vallow to kill her (Facebook)

One day after he made that comment  on 11 December 2019  Cox also died suddenly at the age of 51. His death was also ruled natural causes, however the overdose drug Narcan was also found in his system.

After the investigation into the missing children ramped up, Tammys body was exhumed and an autopsy carried out.

Sobbing Brandon Boudreaux testifies about children and shooting

Ms Vallows former nephew-in-law Brandon Boudreaux broke down in tears as he testified about the moment he learned about JJ and Tylees deaths  and then had to identify JJs remains.

He was married to Ms Vallows niece Melani Pawlowski for ten years and was close to JJ and Tylee.

However, in 2018 he said things changed and got more bizarre when Ms Pawlowski became more involved in the doosmday cult with Ms Vallow and Mr Daybell.

The couple divorced and he was living in a new home when, on 2 October 2019, he was the victim of a failed shooting attempt. After that, he said he began looking into his estranged wifes doomsday cult and learned that Mr Daybells wife Tammy had also died recently.

Alarming items found in Vallows garage

Rexburg Police Detective Ray Hermosillo testified how his officers found several alarming items during a search of Ms Vallows home.

Arizona officials had raised the alarm about JJ and Tylees disappearance but, by that time, Ms Vallow had moved the children from Arizona to Rexburg.

After being railroaded by Ms Vallow, Mr Daybell and Cox as to the childrens whereabouts, police executed a search warrant on her home in November 2019.

In the garage, investigators found several guns, ammunition, empty magazines, silencers and Army-grade knives. There was also Hazmat-style suits and preparedness bags with emergency kits and a camouflage suit.

Black trash bags full of clothes and papers and JJs toys and prescription medication was also found in the search.

He testified that Ms Vallow appeared to have fled, with no clothes left behind in her closets.

The last photo  and known sighting  of Tylee Ryan (pictured with JJ and Alex Cox at Yellowstone National Park) (FBI)

Graphic photos show JJ was buried in pyjamas

Graphic photos revealed that JJ was still wearing his red pyjamas and a pull-up nighttime diaper when his remains were found buried in a shallow grave on Mr Daybells property on 9 June 2020.

The last proof of life of JJ is a photo taken on 22 September 2019 showing the little boy sitting on a sofa dressed in a matching set of red pyjamas.

Shocked jurors were shown images of JJs body found in the shallow grave  still dressed in the red pyjamas.

His arms were wrapped in duct tape and his head was wrapped in a white plastic bag with thick layers of duct tape around it. He had been partly covered in a blue childrens blanket before wood panelling and three white stones were placed on top of him in the shallow grave.

Det Hermosillo told the court that search teams digging on the property were first struck by the strong odour of a decomposing body.

The team then uncovered what appeared to be the crown of a head  later found to belong to JJ  protruding through the earth. Tylees remains were then found not far from her younger brothers, close to a fire pit in the pet cemetery on the property.

JJ Vallow on the day he was last seen alive (Ada County Court)

State of Tylees remains meant autopsy was impossible

Tylees body was so badly burned that an autopsy to determine her cause of death was impossible, jurors heard.

The 16-year-old had been dismembered, burned and her body parts were dispersed around the grounds.

Eventually we uncovered bits and pieces of Tylee, whom we assumed was Tylee, that had been burned. There were pieces of bone, charred flesh, just globs of flesh that were falling apart, he said.

Jurors gasped and JJs grandparents sobbed as harrowing images were shown in the courtroom of both the burial site and images taken JJs autopsy.

At one point, Ms Vallows attorneys asked the judge to allow her to be excused from the court while the graphic testimony and photos were shown. The judge swiftly denied the request.

Jailhouse call reveals Daybell warning Vallow as police close in

Jurors heard a jailhouse phone call where Mr Daybell warned Ms Vallow that police were closing in on the day that her childrens remains were discovered buried on his property.

In the call, made at 11.03am on 9 June 2020, Mr Daybell is heard telling his new wife that law enforcement were on the scene searching his property in Rexburg, Idaho.

At the time, Ms Vallow was behind bars in Madison County Jail after she failed to meet a court order to present the children.

They are searching the property, a forlorn-sounding Mr Daybell says.

He later adds: So, well see what transpires.

Just around one hour later, the remains of JJ and Tylee were discovered buried on Mr Daybells property.

Vallow lied that missing JJ was watching Frozen 2 with a friend

Ms Vallows former friend Melanie Gibb testified that the cult mom had lied to police about JJs whereabouts  using her as an alibi.

Jurors heard that Mr Daybell called Ms Gibb a few days before Thanksgiving 2019 to tell her that the police would be calling her about JJ and Tylees whereabouts and that she shouldnt answer.

Investigators are seen digging in Chad Daybells yard on the day the children were found (AP)

Ms Vallow had claimed to authorities that JJ was with Ms Gibb watching Frozen 2 and asked her friend to take photos of random children at the movies to show police, jurors heard.

Initially, Ms Gibb said she didnt know what to do so ignored police calls before speaking to them and admitting she hadnt seen JJ.

A December 2019 phone call, secretly recorded by Ms Gibb, captured her confronting Ms Vallow and Mr Daybell about asking her to lie about JJs whereabouts.

In the call, Ms Vallow also claimed that she was trying to protect JJ because his grandmother Kay Woodcock was trying to kidnap him. She insisted that JJ  who was already dead  was safe and happy but refused to reveal where he was.

Ms Gibb told her friend: If you really loved me, you would not have told the police I had JJ with me.

Ms Vallow responded by telling her it sounds like you have been influenced by somebody dark and obey dark things.

Cult mom believed children had dark spirits

Jurors heard testimony about the dark doomsday cult beliefs of Ms Vallow and Mr Daybell.

Ms Gibb testified that Ms Vallow told her JJ and Tylee had been taken over by dark spirits in September 2019  the month of their disappearance.

She claimed that JJ had become dark that month, would climb on top of the fridge and cabinets, and would say things like I love Satan.

Ms Gibb testified that JJ appeared to be acting like a typical seven-year-old who had autism.

Ms Vallow allegedly also claimed that Tylee had moved into dorm rooms at BYU-Idaho and that all of the teens belongings had been moved into storage.

As part of their cult beliefs, the doomsday couple believed in a rating system ranking peoples spirits from light to dark, said Ms Gibb.

They believed that some people  including the children  were zombies and the only way to get rid of the zombies was for the human body to be destroyed.

Ms Vallows fourth husband Charles Vallow was also labeled as dark, said Ms Gibb.

Cult mom laughed as surviving child confronted her about dead siblings

In a chilling jailhouse phone call played to the court, Ms Vallow was heard laughing as her only surviving child confronted her about the deaths of his two siblings.

Colby Ryan, Ms Vallows eldest son from her second marriage, took the stand to testify against his mother on day six of he trial.

During his testimony, jurors heard an emotional phone call between him and Ms Vallow as she was held behind bars in August 2020  two months after JJ and Tylees remains were discovered.

Lori Vallow being escorted to a court appearance in 2022 (AP)

My siblings, my whole family, my dad  everyone is gone except my mom and youre in jail because of it. You ripped my heart out. You ripped everyones heart out, he told her.

When Mr Ryan told her you murdered my siblings, Ms Vallow denied it saying: I didnt. Im sorry you feel that way.

In the call, Mr Ryan pleaded with his mother to tell him the truth about what happened to his brother and sister and questioned how she could believe Jesus Christ was on her side.

Ms Vallow was heard laughing in response, and saying that only Tylee and JJ know what happened.

They love me and they are fine and they know the truth and we are the only people that do, she said, claiming that all would become clear in the afterlife.

Mr Ryan also confronted his mother about texts that were sent from Tylees phone to him after she had already been killed, accusing her of posing as his sister to keep up the pretence that she was alive.

Vallows chilling response when asked about Tylee

Zulema Pastenes was in the cult with Ms Vallow, Mr Daybell and Cox and married Cox just weeks before he died suddenly.

She testified that Ms Vallow and Mr Daybell performed ritualistic castings to drive out dark spirits from individuals and that the cult mom also taught other women classes on how to cast out demons.

In September 2019, she said she went to Rexburg and saw JJ there alive but didnt see Tylee.

She said she asked where Tylee was and Ms Vallow told her that her daughter had to be freed.

She then allegedly put her hand in front of Ms Pastenes face and told her: Dont ask.

Prior to her disappearance, Ms Pastenes said Ms Vallow had claimed Tylee was possessed by a demon named Hillary and that JJ was also being attacked by dark spirits. She also claimed her husband Charles Vallow was possessed by a dark spirit named Garrett.

Vallow went to Burger King minutes after brother killed husband

Ms Vallow went to Burger King minutes after her brother Alex Cox shot and killed her fourth husband Charles Vallow, jurors heard.

Charles Vallow was shot dead by Cox at Ms Vallows home in Chandler, Arizona, in July 2019. Cox claimed he shot Charles in self-defence because he tried to attack him with a baseball bat. Ms Vallow is now charged with conspiracy to murder Charles in Arizona.

Detective Cassandra Ynclan, with the Chandler Police Department in Arizona, testified about Ms Vallows lack of concern for her husband when he was shot dead. She told the court how Ms Vallow claimed she did not witness the shooting but heard a gunshot and saw Charles on the ground.

Charles and Lori Vallow pictured together. Lori is charged with conspiracy to murder Charles in Arizona (Provided)

She left the scene and took JJ to school, stopping off at Burger King on the way. She returned around an hour later.

A firefighter who responded to the scene also testified that no one had performed CPR on Charles before his arrival.

Vallow and Daybell were planning new life in Hawaii  without children

The doomsday couple was planning to embark on a new life together in Hawaii  without any children.

Jurors were shown an email sent by Mr Daybell to a realtor in Hawaii in November 2019, just days after the couple wed on a beach there.

In the email, he said that they were looking for a home for a couple with no pets or children.

We are interested in seeing this property. Would the owners be interested in leasing this property to a clean couple with no pets or children? Please let us know. Thank you, he wrote.

Grand theft timeline revealed

Several law enforcement officials testified about what was described as the grand theft timeline  revealing the alleged financial motive for the killings.

Jurors heard how, in the months surrounding the murders, there were several suspicious changes to the social security payments meant for Tylee and JJ.

Tylees father  and Ms Vallows second husband  Joseph Ryan died in 2018 and so the teenager was eligible for the benefits.

On 16 August 2019, Tylees social security benefits were changed so that they would be paid into her mothers bank account instead of her own. Three days later, Ms Vallow and Tylee opened a joint bank account.

Days later  on 31 August  Ms Vallow moved Tylee and JJ to Rexburg, Idaho, to where Mr Daybell lived. On 8 September,Tylee was last seen alive.

A similar pattern was presented to jurors with JJs finances. After Charles Vallows death, his son JJ began receiving social security payments. Ms Vallow began receiving the payments into her bank account on her sons behalf in September. Days later, prosecutors say JJ was killed.

Even after the deaths of JJ and Tylee, Ms Vallow allegedly continued to collect the social security payments.

Chad Daybell pictured in court (Post Register)

Ms Vallows accounts were then used to pay for flights for herself and Mr Daybell.

Jurors also heard how Mr Daybell made a life insurance claim for Tammy Daybell just days after she died in October 2019. He ultimately received $400,000 in benefits from it.

Vallow believed Charles was possessed by demon called Ned Schneider

Ms Vallows friend testified that the cult mom believed her fourth husband Charles Vallow was possessed by demon called Ned Schneider.

April Raymond said she met Ms Vallow at a church in Hawaii in 2016  when she was married to Charles Vallow  and became very close. In February 2019, she said that Ms Vallow called her and asked if she and Tylee could stay with her because she was leaving Charles.

Ms Raymond testified that Ms Vallow told her that Charles was possessed by a demon.

Charles was already dead and a demon was using his body as a host. The demons name was Ned Schneider, she said.

Ms Vallow allegedly said she knew he was no longer Charles because he looked shorter.

She also allegedly told Ms Raymond that she was done with JJ.

Ms Vallow told her that she was the leader of the 144,000 and was there to gather her so she too could be saved.

JJ vanished after knocking over picture of Christ

Ms Vallows former friend David Warwick testified about the last time he saw JJ alive.

Mr Warwick said he and his wife Melanie Gibb visited Ms Vallow in Rexburg, Idaho, over a weekend in September 2019.

JJ was there for most of the weekend but then, on the morning they left, was nowhere to be seen.

Ms Vallow allegedly told him that JJ had an episode and knocked over a picture of Christ.

We went downstairs to say goodbye and Lori was there and she just said that JJ had an episode, he said.

She said he was out of control and she could not control him and so she had Alex come get him She said that he climbed the cabinets and the fridge and the upper cabinets and pushed over her picture of Christ.

Chad Daybells chilling dream

Jurors also heard about a chilling dream that Mr Daybell claimed he had about his wife Tammy dying.

Mr Warwick testified that Mr Daybell told him he dreamt Tammy was going to pass away by the time she was 50.

I asked him how his marriage was with Tammy and if she was a good wife and he said he had no complaints and she was a good wife, he told the court.

Joshua "JJ" Vallow and Tylee Ryan (AP)

He said her time was coming up and him and Lori were going to do things they committed to do for God.

Tammy died sudenly on October 19 2019 aged 49. he would have turned 50 in about six months time.

Chad Daybells raccoon text

Jurors also heard about a chilling text Mr Daybell sent to his wife Tammy Daybell on the day after Tylee was last seen alive.

Tylee was last seen on 8 September 2019 at Yellowstone National Park.

On 9 September, Mr Daybell sent his wife this text: Well, Ive had an interesting morning! I felt I should burn all of the limb debris by the fire pit before it got too soaked by the coming storms.

While I did so, I spotted a big racoon [sic] along the fence. I hurried and got my gun, and he was still walking along. I got close enough that one shot did the trick. He is now in our pet cemetery. Fun times!

Months later, in June 2020, Tylees remains were found buried in the pet cemetery on the Daybells property.

Chilling internet searches revealed

Chilling internet searches have revealed that Ms Vallow shopped for life insurance policies for her children two months before they were murdered and buried on the Daybell property.

FBI analyst Nicole Heideman testified that Ms Vallows lollytime4ever Gmail account was used in July 2019 to google gerber life insurance policy and life insurance for children  the Grow-Up Plan. A few days later, the same Gmail account searched for how to sell a service dog.

At the time, Tylee and JJ were still alive and JJ, who had autism, was using a service dog.

Jurors also heard how Ms Vallow appeared to begin making plans to marry Mr Daybell as far back as May 2019  while both of their spouses were still alive.

In August 2019, her account searched for malachite wedding rings before buying a pair on 2 October 2019  days before Tammy was killed. On 22 October  the same day that Tammys funeral took place  Ms Vallows account then looked up wedding dresses and wedding dresses in Kauai.

Ms Vallow and Mr Daybell got married on a beach in Hawaii on 5 November 2019, with photos showing them both sporting rings that matched those ordered online.

Meanwhile, Mr Daybell allegedly searched on 8 September 2019 for what the wind direction was going to be the following day  the day prosecutors believe Tylee was buried on the grounds of his property.

Trove of burner phones

Jurors also heard that Ms Vallow and her alleged co-conspirators were using a trove of burner phones around the time of the murders.

In total, Ms Vallow, Mr Daybell and Cox used a total of 21 burner phones over an 18-month period  18 of them billed to a PO BOX in Sugar City, Idaho.

Only one phone belonging to Cox pinged at both Ms Vallows apartment and the fire pet and pet cemetery on Mr Daybells property on 9 September and 23 September  the days when prosecutors say Tylee and JJ were buried there.
Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A 25-year-old employee opened fire at a bank in Louisville, Kentucky, on Monday morning, killing five people and injuring eight others while live streaming the attack.

The shooter, identified as bank employee Connor Sturgeon, entered the Old National Bank in the downtown area of the city at around 8.30am armed with an AR-15-style rifle.

He shot and killed four bank executives inside the first-floor conference room before exchanging gunfire with responding police officers. Louisville deputy police chief Paul Humphrey said that he was shot dead by officer fire.

A fifth victim later succumbed to her injuries in hospital. All five were executives at the bank.

The victims have now been identified as Joshua Barrick, Thomas Elliott, Juliana Farmer, James Tutt, and Deana Eckert.

Eight others, including two police officers, were hospitalised with their injuries. One of the officers, 26-year-old Nickolas Wilt, who only graduated from the police academy in March, remains in critical condition after being shot in the head.

Mr Wilt ran towards the gunfire today to save lives", the police department said on Twitter.

Here is what we know so far about the victims:

Tommy Elliott

Thomas "Tommy" Elliott, 63, was a senior vice president of commercial real estate at Old National Bank.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said Elliott was one of his closest friends. "Tommy Elliot helped me  to become governor," Mr Beshear said at Mondays news conference.

"He gave me advice on being a good dad he was an incredible friend," the governor said, his voice shaking with emotion.

"The soul is eternal. I know that I will see Tommy again".

Tommy Elliott was a close friend of the governor (Provided)

Elliott, the former chair of the Kentucky Retirement Systems board, was reportedly threatened with arrest in 2016 when he refused to resign at the direction of then-Governor Matt Bevin. Elliott was appointed to the board by former Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear.

Former Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said he had also known Elliott for 40 years. They became close friends, and when Mr Fischer launched his first bid to be mayor, Elliott signed on to be his campaign finance manager and remained with him for the rest of his political career.

Mr Fischer said Elliott was a devoted family man. He is survived by his wife, two daughters, and two stepdaughters.

Joshua Barrick

Joshua Barrick, 40, was a senior vice president of commercial real estate banking at Old National. Barrick had worked for about two decades in banking and previously worked at WesBanco, according to The Courier-Journal.

Louisville Business First named him one of its 20 People to Know in Banking in 2020.

He is survived by his wife and two children.

A memorial for Joshua Barrick is on display at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Louisville (AP)

The Holy Trinity Parish Louisville held a vigil on Monday evening to honour Barrick's life. Theyre in shock, pastor Shayne Duval said of Barrick's family.

"Ive been with his wife. Ive been with his children. Ive been with his brother and members of this community, he was quoted by Fox19 as saying. Everyone is just kind of walking around in a fog like, Did this just really happen?

Josh made himself known in our community in all the good ways. He was a very charismatic and charming man," the pastor added.

Juliana Farmer

Juliana Farmer, 45, was a loan analyst with the Old National Bank, according to her LinkedIn page.

In her last post on Facebook on Sunday  one day before she was killed  she celebrated the fact she was expecting another grandchild.

"My (heart) is so happy!!!" she wrote. "Grand #5 on the way."

Juliana Farmer, 45, was a loan analyst with the bank (Facebook)

Farmers family revealed that she had only recently moved to Louisville.

Michael Williams, who said he was Farmers uncle, wrote on Facebook: She told me she was moving to Louisville, she had a great job opportunity. Now were mourning you losing your life at the job. Im just hurt.

Deana Eckert

Deana Eckert was rushed to hospital after Mondays shooting and underwent multiple surgeries.

She succumbed to her injuries later that night, Louisville Metro Police said.

The 57-year-old was an executive administrative officer at the Old National Bank, where she worked for almost seven years.

Deana Eckert died from her injuries in hospital (LinkedIn)

Eckert graduated from the Western Kentucky University.

James Tutt

James Tutt, 64, was a real estate market executive at the Old National Bank, where he spent almost a decade.

Oldham County judge executive David Voegele knew Tutt for 11 years from his time on the board of the Oldham-La Grange Development Authority.

Jim Tutt leaves behind his wife, children, and grandchildren (LinkedIn)

He added a tremendous amount of insights as we went about developing our office park in LaGrange, Mr Voegele told The Courier-Journal.

Hes a very high quality, well-thought-of individual  Its just sickening to hear whats happened.

Tutt was a Frankfort native who graduated from the University of Kentucky and worked in banking for over 38 years.

He leaves behind his wife, children, and grandchildren.
Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A GoFundMe campaign launched to support a Black teenager who was shot in the head by a white homeowner when he accidentally went to the wrong address has soared past $3.2m in donations.

Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old high school junior, was shot twice last Thursday when he went to pick up his younger twin brothers from a friends house on 13 April.

Kansas City Police said that Ralph had gone to collect his siblings from a friends house on 115th Terrace in Kansas City, Missouri, but got muddled up with the address and accidentally went to a home on 115th Street by mistake.

There, Ralph allegedly rang the doorbell and the homeowner 84-year-old Andrew Lester opened fire on him, shooting him twice.

The Black teenager was rushed to hospital in critical condition while the white homeowner was initially detained  before being released without charge.

Mr Lester was finally charged on Monday afternoon with two felonies: assault in the first degree, which carries a punishment of 10 to 30 years or life imprisonment, and armed criminal action, which carries a punishment of 3 to 15 years.

However, more than 20 hours passed before Mr Lester was taken into custody.

He surrendered to authorities on Tuesday before being released again less than two hours later after posting $200,000 bond. He is now due to appear in court on Wednesday.

Over the weekend, protesters, the victims family and a growing number of celebrities demanded justice for the 16-year-old and for the shooter to be criminally charged.

Donations have been flooding in on a GoFundMe campaign, set up to help pay for the boys recovery.

Police booking photo of Andrew Lester, charged with shooting Ralph Yarl (Kansas City Police)

As of around 9am ET on Tuesday  just two days after its launch  a staggering $3.2m had been raised.

On the campaign page, a woman who identified herself as Ralphs aunt described the teenager as a fantastic kid who had dreams of doing to Texas A&M University to major in chemical Engineering.

At school, he is a member of the Technology Student Association and Science Olympia Team. Jazz and competition band. He is a section leader in the marching band; a scholar and one of the top base clarinet players in Missouri. He recently earned Missouri All-State Band recognition with an honorable mention. He plays multiple instruments in the metropolitan youth orchestra. He is a 2022 Missouri scholar academy alumni. Ralph can often be found with a musical instrument. He loves them all, the page reads.

Last summer, Ralph attended Missouri Scholars Academy, where he got a full college life experience. His goal is to attend Texas A&M to major in chemical Engineering.

When asked how he plans to get into this university, he said, Well, if they have a scholarship for music or academics, I know I can get it. Ralphs teacher and friends describe him as  a kind soul, quiet, friendly, well-mannered, always willing to help, super smart, and a musical genius. Ralph was looking forward to graduating high school and finally getting the opportunity to visit West Africa before starting college.

Life looks a lot different right now. Even though he is doing well physically, he has a long road ahead mentally and emotionally. The trauma that he has to endure and survive is unimaginable. He is our miracle. We have heard these types of stories many times, and unfortunately, most black boys are not alive to get another chance.

Ralph Yarl GoFundMe tops $3.2m (GoFundMe)

Ralph deserves to have the future that he has dreams about. He deserves to be the light that shows the world that LOVE wins and that humanity is still Good. However, he will need a lot of help to get there. Funds from this account will be used for his medical bills and therapy. Any additional funds will be use for college expenses at Texas A&M, a trip to West Africa, and other expenses.

The family described how Ralph had been on his way to pick up his twin younger brothers from their friends house a few blocks from his own home.

He didnt have his phone. He mistakenly went to the wrong house, one block away from the house where his siblings were. He pulled into the driveway and rang the doorbell, the page read.

The man in the home opened the door, looked my nephew in the eye, and shot him in the head. My nephew fell to the ground, and the man shot him again.

Following the shooting, Ralph managed to stumble away to some other homes in the neighbourhood to get help, according to his family.

Unfortunately, he had to run to 3 different homes before someone finally agreed to help him after he was told to lie on the ground with his hands up, the family said.

In an update on Tuesday, the family thanked people for their support and donations for the teenager and confirmed that he is now recovering from his injuries at home.

Ralph is currently at home with the family. He can ambulate and communicate. A true miracle considering what he survived.Each day is different. He has a long road ahead, the GoFundMe read.

However, we are very thankful that he is still here with us. Ive been taking the time to read the emails and comments to Ralph. It warms our hearts to see him smile at all the kind words. Thank you so much for loving Ralph.

The suspect was initially taken into custody on Thursday and placed on a 24-hour hold.

However, under Missouri state law, a person can only be held for 24 hours on suspicion of a felony before officials must either charge or release them. The suspect was released pending further investigation.

Speaking before the announcement of the charges against Mr Lester, Mr Crump and Mr Merritt  who have previously represented the families of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd  condemned the release of the armed and dangerous suspect in a joint statement after taking the case.

In a joint statement, the attorneys said: There can be no excuse for the release of this armed and dangerous suspect after admitting to shooting an unarmed, non-threatening and defenseless teenager that rang his doorbell.

Ralph Yarl lies in hospital bed as he recovers from shooting (Shaun King)

We demand swift action from Clay County prosecutors and law enforcement to identify, arrest and prosecute to the full extent of the law the man responsible for this horrendous and unjustifiable shooting.

After charges were brought on Monday, Mr Crump said in a statement: While this is certainly a step in the right direction, we will continue to fight for Ralph while he works towards a full recovery.

While the police chief initially said that there was no evidence to date to indicate that the shooting was racially motivated, Clay County prosecutor Zachary Thompson confirmed in a press conference on Monday afternoon that there was a racial component to the case, although he would not give details on what had caused him to come to that conclusion.

The shooting  which marks the latest in a growing number of shootings of Black people in America  has sparked protests with hundreds marching through the area where the teenager was shot during a rally on Sunday.

Many carried placards reading Black Lives Matter, Ringing a doorbell is not a crime and Justice for Ralph, reported KSHB.
Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Authorities in Kansas City, Missouri have charged an 84-year-old white man with the shooting of Black teenager Ralph Yarl.

In a press conference on Monday, county prosecutor Zachary Thompson said his office had charged a man named Andrew Lester wth first degree assault, carrying a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Mr Lester was arrested immediately after the shooting last Thursday night, but released by Kansas City police after less than two hours.

The homeowner has also been charged with armed criminal action, which is punishable by between three and 15 years in prison. His whereabouts on Monday evening were unknown.

Mr Thompson said that Mr Lester had shot Ralph through a glass door with a .32 calibre revolver without the 16-year-old ever crossing the threshold of his home, and that there was a "racial component" to the case.

Ralph's family have said that he was simply trying to pick up his younger twin brothers but went to the wrong house by mistake. The teenager is alive, and was discharged from hospital on Sunday after "making good progress".

"I know how frustrating this has been, but I can assure you that the criminal justice system is working and will continue to work," said Mr Thompson on Monday.

"As with any serious case, we approached this one in an objective and impartial manner. We look forward to obtaining a just result...

"It's been my goal from the very beginning to get justice for the child involved in the case."

Ralph Yarl (AP)

The lack of charges over the weekend had sparked protests in Kansas City and uproar across the country as Ralph's family and the civil rights lawyers representing them called for the shooter to be prosecuted.

Lee Merritt, a lawyer representing the Yarls, said that Ralph had rung the doorbell just before 10pm, believing that he was on the similarly-named street where his twin brothers live.

Mr Merritt said that the homeowner took a long time to appear, before telling Ralph "don't come back around here" and immediately shooting him without provocation.

Mr Thompson gave a different account, saying that the probable cause statement does not indicate any words were exchanged and that whether Ralph rang the doorbell "may be in dispute".

Police booking photo of Andrew Lester, charged with shooting Ralph Yarl (Kansas City Police)

He said Mr Lester had been released last week because he could not be charged without getting a statement from Ralph, who was in critical condition at the time, and because officers believed that a proper investigation would take longer than the 24 hour limit on holding suspects without a charge.

Mr Thompson also defended the police from suggestions that they had not taken the crime seriously enough, saying: "I think the Kansas City police department worked extremely hard. Lab results were obtained on an extremely short timeline. That's not something you see every day."
Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Authorities in Kansas City, Missouri have confirmed that there was a "racial component" to the shooting of Black teenager Ralph Yarl.

The 16-year-old's family have said he was simply trying to pick up his younger twin brothers when he rang the wrong doorbell by mistake and was shot by the white homeowner last Thursday night.

On Monday, prosecutors charged 85-year-old Andrew Lester with first degree assault, carrying a maximum sentence of life in prison, and armed criminal action, which is punishable by between three and 15 years.

Ralph Yarl was discharged from hospital after suffering two gunshot wounds (AP)

County prosecutor Zachary Thompson said that there had been "a racial component" to the shooting, but did not give any details.

Ralph survived the shooting despite being struck in the arm and the head, and was released from hospital on Sunday after "making good progress".

A lawyer for the Yarl family claimed that Ralph's attacker told him "dont come back around here" before shooting him without provocation.

Police booking photo of Andrew Lester, charged with shooting Ralph Yarl (Kansas City Police)

Mr Thompson gave a different account on Monday, saying that the probable cause statement does not indicate any words were exchanged and that whether Ralph rang the doorbell "may be in dispute".

"In Clay County, we enforce the laws and we follow the laws, and it does not matter where you come from, or what you look like, or how much money you have," Mr Thompson said. "Everyone is held to the same standard."

Mr Lester was arrested immediately after the shooting last week, but released by Kansas City police after less than two hours.

The lack of charges over the weekend had sparked protests in Kansas City and uproar across the country as Ralph's family and the civil rights lawyers representing them called for the shooter to be prosecuted.

Lee Merritt, a lawyer representing the Yarls, said that Ralph had rang the doorbell just before 10pm, believing that he was on the similarly-named street where his twin brothers live.
Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Last week, Ralph Yarl found himself lying in a hospital bed with gunshot wounds to his left forehead and right arm.

Harrowing photos showed the Black teenager with tubes coming out of him and his head and arm wrapped up in bandages.

He is alive but his family says he has a long road to recovery ahead  a recovery that threatens to derail his dreams of going off to college to pursue a career in engineering.

So how did he end up here?

He went to pick up his younger brothers from a friends house, accidentally rang the doorbell at the wrong address and was shot twice by the 84-year-old white homeowner, Andrew Lester.

Its a horror case that has led protesters to take to the streets, civil rights attorneys to rally behind the 16-year-olds family, and Hollywood celebrities use their platform to amplify the case  all demanding justice for the Black teenager and for the white homeowner to face charges.

Heres what we know so far about the case:

The shooting

The 16-year-old high school junior had gone to collect his siblings from a friends house on 115th Terrace in Kansas City, Missouri, on the evening of 13 April, according to Kansas City Police.

Police said that the teenager got muddled up with the address and went to a home on 115th Street by mistake.

Ralph allegedly rang the doorbell and the homeowner opened fire on him through a glass screen door using a .32 caliber revolver.

The aspiring Texas A&M University student was shot twice  once in the head and once in the arm.

Prosecutors said that there is no indication Ralph and the homeowner exchanged any words with each other before the shooting unfolded and there is no footage of the encounter.

According to a probable cause statement, Mr Lester told police he was in bed when he heard the doorbell ring and so he grabbed a handgun.

The 16-year-old high school junior had gone to collect his siblings from a friends house on 13 April when he got the wrong home and was shot (Ben Crump Law via AP)

When he saw Ralph, he claimed he was scared to death at the boys size and feared he was unable to defend himself given his elderly age.

He claimed he thought the boy was trying to break in and so shot twice through his exterior glass door, the documents state.

However, Ralph told police from his bed at Childrens Mercy Hospital that he only pressed the doorbell and did not try to enter the home.

He said he was waiting at the door when the man opened it and immediately shot him. He fell to the ground and was shot a second time, he said.

After being shot, he said he heard the shooter warn him: Dont come around here.

Prosecutors also said that the investigation also found no evidence to suggest Ralph was trying to enter the property.

Following the shooting, Ralph managed to stumble away to some other homes in the neighbourhood to get help.

Unfortunately, he had to run to 3 different homes before someone finally agreed to help him after he was told to lie on the ground with his hands up, the family said in a GoFundme campaign.

Kansas City Police were called to reports of a shooting and arrived to find the teenager outside with gunshot wounds.

According to a probable cause statement, Mr Lester told police he was in bed when he heard the doorbell ring and so he grabbed a handgun.

When he saw Ralph, he claimed he was scared to death at the boys size and feared he was unable to defend himself given his elderly age.

He claimed he thought the boy was trying to break in and so shot twice through his exterior glass door, the documents state.

However, Ralph told police from his bed at Childrens Mercy Hospital that he did not pull the door  but only pressed the doorbell.

Police officer walks past the house where the shooting took place (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

He said he was waiting at the door when the man opened it and immediately shot him.

He fell to the ground and was shot a second time, he said.

After being shot, he said he heard the shooter warn him: Dont come around here.

Investigators also said that Ralph did not enter the home.

The homeowner

White homeowner Andrew Lester, an 84-year-old retired aircraft mechanic, is now facing the rest of his life in prison for shooting the Black teenager.

His family broke its silence for the first time to condemn the shooting.

Mr Lesters grandson Daniel Ludwig told The Daily Beast that the violent encounter never should have happened.

Its just crazy. I wish it didnt happen, he said.

Mr Ludwig, who said he is very close to Mr Lester, revealed he understands how easy it was for Ralph to get lost on the streets.

Id go to visit my grandpa, and I would get lost on those streets, he said.

Its easy to do. They all look the same and everything.

Other people who knew the 84-year-old have described a penchant for anger and conspiracy theories.

Another grandson Klint Ludwig said that he was estranged from his grandfather because of the 84-year-olds right-wing views.

He claimed that, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Mr Lester had shared a crazy conspiracy theory about Dr Anthony Fauci.

He said his grandfather also used to make disparaging comments about Black people, gay people, and immigrants  and kept a large number of guns in his home.

Another relative, who did not want to be named, said Mr Lester spent considerable time at home in a living room chair, watching conservative news programs at high volume.

Andrew Lester appears in court to answer charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action on Wednesday (AP)

Mr Lesters ex-wife Mary Clayton has also spokem out to reveal why she isnt surprised by the shooting.

Ms Clayton, who was married to Mr Lester when she was young and had three children with him, told The New York Times she was always scared of her former husband.

During their 14-year marriage, she said he had anger issues and would smash up items around their home.

She called the police at least once over his rages but she said that nothing was done about it and she was told Mr Lester could do what he wanted in his home.

I was always scared of him, she said, adding of the shooting: It doesnt surprise me, what happened.

Following the shooting, Mr Lester was initially taken into custody on Thursday and placed on a 24-hour hold.

However, under Missouri state law, a person can only be held for 24 hours on suspicion of a felony before officials must either charge or release them.

Attorneys for Ralph  and jail officials  said that the suspect was actually released after less than two hours.

Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said at a press conference on Sunday that  due to Ralphs injuries  police had been unable to get a formal statement from him. This was also contradicted by Ralphs attorneys who said that the teenager gave an interview from his hospital bed on Friday.

On Monday morning, before charges were announced, Ben Crump and Lee Merritt  the prominent civil rights attorneys now representing the victim and his family  condemned the release of the armed and dangerous suspect.

There is no excuse for the release of this armed and dangerous suspect after admitting to shooting an unarmed, non-threatening, and defenseless teenager that rang his doorbell, the attorneys said. We demand swift action from Clay County prosecutors and law enforcement to identify, arrest, and prosecute to the full extent of the law the man responsible for this horrendous and unjustifiable shooting.

Police booking photo of Andrew Lester, charged with shooting Ralph Yarl (Kansas City Police)

The motive

Initially, officials denied any racial element to the shooting and offered no motive for the gunman opening fire on the teen.

Speaking on Sunday, the police chief said that there was no evidence to indicate that the shooting was racially motivated.

But, on Monday, when charges were announced, the prosecutor said he believed there was a racial component to the case.

He did not give details as to what led officials to that conclusion and nothing to that end was outlined in the probable cause document.

Mr Merritt, who is representing Ralph and his family, said that they were meeting with the prosecutor on Tuesday where they hoped to learn what racial element investigators had found.

He told CBS Mornings that the suspects claim that he felt threatened by a Black boy ringing his doorbell sounds awfully familiar.

Being Black has been seen as a threat often in this country. It is unjustifiable for him to use deadly force against this so-called threat. Again, Blackness is not a threat, he said.

Lee Merritt, lawyer for the family of Ralph Yarl, arrives for the initial court appearance of Andrew Lester (Getty Images)

He added that the investigation itself shows bias in the treatment of the Black teen and the white shooter.

We saw law enforcement respond by essentially criminalising the boy, he said of Mr Lesters lack of arrest.

[Mr Lester] went home and slept in his bed that night, he said.

Mr Crump told CNN that he believes things would have been different if the races of the suspect and victim were reversed.

Nobody can tell us if the roles were reversed, and you had a Black man shoot a white, 16-year-old teenager for merely ringing his doorbell that he would not be arrested, he said.

I mean, this citizen went home and slept in his bed at night after shooting that young Black kid in the head.

The charges

On Monday afternoon, Clay County prosecutor Zachary Thompson finally announced that Mr Lester had been charged with two felonies: assault in the first degree, which carries a punishment of 10 to 30 years or life imprisonment, and armed criminal action, which carries a punishment of 3 to 15 years.

However, more than 20 hours passed before Mr Lester was taken into custody.

He surrendered to authorities on Tuesday before being released again less than two hours later after posting $200,000 bond.

Under the conditions of his release, he is not allowed to possess weapons of any type or have any contact with Ralph or his family.

Mr Lester appeared in court for the first time on Wednesday for his arraignment.

He pleaded not guilty to the two felonies and was released on bond. His next court appearance is scheduled for 1 June.

The 84-year-old is facing life in prison on the charges but is also said to be under investigation for a possible hate crime.

Andrew Lester in mugshot after he surrendered to authorities on 18 April (Clay County Jail)

Mr Merritt told reporters outside Clay County Court on Wednesday that the Justice Department is looking into the case.

Before I even made it to Kansas City, we reached out to the Department of Justice, myself and my co-counsel Ben Crump, we have some longstanding relationships there, Mr Merritt said.

We thought that this was something the DOJ should be looking into. They are (looking into it). Its under investigation, theyve received our complaint and now theyre looking into it.

On Monday, when asked if Mr Lester could be charged with a hate crime by the state, the prosecutor said that it would not be possible under Missouri law.

In Missouri, a hate crime is a lower level of felony and to add the charge would amount to double jeopardy, he said.

Ralphs attorneys have also questioned why the suspect has not been charged with attempted murder.

While Mr Merritt said the family is happy that two felony charges have been brought, he has questions as to why Mr Lester has not been charged with attempted murder.

He told CBS Mornings on Tuesday that, while Mr Lesters age may be a factor in the case, the current and former president of the United States is about that age. He made a conscious decision to shoot a 16-year-old boy, he said.

Ralph Yarl was shot because he was armed with nothing but other than his Black skin, he said.

Ralph released from hospital

Ralph was rushed to hospital after the shooting where he was listed in critical condition.

Two days later, Ralph was released from hospital to continue his recovery at home.

The 16-year-olds mother Cleo Nagbe spoke out to CBS Mornings Gayle King on Tuesday about the horror injuries that her son suffered in the shooting, revealing that he had a bullet lodged in his head for a staggering 12 hours.

Ralph was shot on the top of his left eye  his frontal lobe and the top of his right arm, she said.

He had the bullet up here [in his head] for about 12 hours before it was taken out, so that injury is extensive.

Ralph Yarl lies in hospital bed (Shaun King)

Ms Nagbe said that the extensive injuries mean that he has a long road ahead to recovery.

The residual effect of that injury is going to stay with him for quite a while, she said.

Ms Nagbe said that his return home needs to be put [...] into perspective as it was possible due to many family members being medical professionals.

Hes home but I want to remind everybody that Ralph is home because he is surrounded by a team of medical professionals, she said.

Now, her son is now left replaying Thursdays attack over and over again, she said,

You can see that he is just replaying the situation over and over again. And that just doesnt stop my tears either, because when you see your kid just sits there and constantly he just  tears are just rolling from both sides of his eyes, theres nothing you can say to him, she said.

She said that her son is able to communicate when he feels like it but he mostly just sits there and stares and the buckets of tears just rolls down his eyes.

On Wednesday, Mr Merritt shared the first photo of the Black teenager recovering at home.

Ralph Yarl is home and recovering! How the bullet in his head did not cause more extensive damage is truly a miracle. To God be the glory! wrote Mr Merritt.

Ringing a doorbell is not a crime

The shooting  which marks the latest in a constantly-growing number of shootings of Black people in America  sparked protests in the city demanding justice for Ralph and questioning the treatment of the shooter.

Hundreds of residents first took to the streets of Kansas City on Sunday to march through the Northlands area where the teenager was shot.

Many carried placards reading Black Lives Matter, Ringing a doorbell is not a crime and Justice for Ralph, reported KSHB.

A pregnant family friend of Ralph Yarls parents told The Kansas City Star that she fears for her unborn child.

How do you protect a Black kid? said Patience Gaye.

What are we supposed to do now? We left our countries because we dont want to be killed. Thats why we left. They came to America for a better life. How is this a better life?

On Tuesday, over a thousand students at Ralphs school Staley High School staged a walkout  or unity walk  in solidarity with their classmate.

They were joined by school staff, civil rights leaders and politicians in a huge rally in downtown Kansas City where they chanted Justice for Ralph and We love you Ralph.

I was out here to support my friend Ralph through this time he is going through today, one of the boys friends told KSHB.

The student said he wasnt surprised by the number of people who had come out to support Ralph because everyone is willing to support a friend at our school.

GoFundMe donations

A GoFundMe launched to support the Black teenager has soared past $3.35m in donations.

Donations have been flooding in on a GoFundMe campaign, set up to help pay for the boys recovery.

As of around 9am ET Thursday  just three days after its launch  a staggering $3.35m had been raised.

Among the donors was comedian Ellyn Daniels who gave $15,000, Madonnas manager Guy Oseary who gave $5,000 and TV star Julianne Hough, who donated $1,000.

On the fundraising page, Ralphs aunt described the teenager as a fantastic kid who had dreams of doing to Texas A&M University to major in chemical Engineering.

At school, he is a member of the Technology Student Association and Science Olympia Team. Jazz and competition band. He is a section leader in the marching band; a scholar and one of the top base clarinet players in Missouri. He recently earned Missouri All-State Band recognition with an honorable mention. He plays multiple instruments in the metropolitan youth orchestra. He is a 2022 Missouri scholar academy alumni. Ralph can often be found with a musical instrument. He loves them all, the page reads.

Last summer, Ralph attended Missouri Scholars Academy, where he got a full college life experience. His goal is to attend Texas A&M to major in chemical Engineering.

Ralph Yarl GoFundMe tops $3m (GoFundMe)

When asked how he plans to get into this university, he said, Well, if they have a scholarship for music or academics, I know I can get it. Ralphs teacher and friends describe him as  a kind soul, quiet, friendly, well-mannered, always willing to help, super smart, and a musical genius. Ralph was looking forward to graduating high school and finally getting the opportunity to visit West Africa before starting college.

Life looks a lot different right now. Even though he is doing well physically, he has a long road ahead mentally and emotionally. The trauma that he has to endure and survive is unimaginable. He is our miracle. We have heard these types of stories many times, and unfortunately, most black boys are not alive to get another chance.

Ralph deserves to have the future that he has dreams about. He deserves to be the light that shows the world that LOVE wins and that humanity is still Good. However, he will need a lot of help to get there. Funds from this account will be used for his medical bills and therapy. Any additional funds will be use for college expenses at Texas A&M, a trip to West Africa, and other expenses.

In an update on Tuesday, the family thanked people for their support and donations for the teenager and confirmed that he is now recovering from his injuries at home.

Ralph is currently at home with the family. He can ambulate and communicate. A true miracle considering what he survived.Each day is different. He has a long road ahead, the GoFundMe read.

However, we are very thankful that he is still here with us. Ive been taking the time to read the emails and comments to Ralph. It warms our hearts to see him smile at all the kind words. Thank you so much for loving Ralph.

On Monday it was announced that Ralph had been discharged from hospital.

Celebrities share outrage

Several celebrities have also spoken out to condemn the shooting, with actor Halle Berry  writing before charges were announced  urging her Twitter followers to contact the local prosecutor to bring charges against the homeowner.

His name is #RalphYarl and Im sick and tired of this feelingmy heart completely broke when I learned this precious 16-year-old, who accidentally rang the door of the wrong address in an attempt to pick up his siblings, was shot in the head by a man who didnt want him on his property. This innocent child is now fighting for his life, she wrote.

This could be your child. This should NOT happen. Please do something today! Join me and please contact Prosecutor Zachary Thompson and demand an immediate arrest and bring the appropriate charges: Building: James S. Rooney Justice Center Address: 11 South Water Street, Liberty, Missouri 64068 Phone: 816-736-8300 Fax: 816-736- 8301 Email: prosecutor@claycopa.com

Fellow Black actor Viola Davis also took to Instagram to demand action.

ALL HANDS ON DECK!! she wrote, directing people to the posts of civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Lee Merritt.

Actor Gwyneth Paltrow wrote on Instagram: #RalphYarl accidentally rang the doorbell of the wrong house in KCMO. He was trying to pick his younger siblings. The white owner of the hours shot this Black child in the head. He shot him again as Ralph bled out. The shooter is free. No charges. This is America.

Kim Kardashian also used her platform to condemn the shooting, sharing an infographic of what happened to the teenage boy.

Supermodel Naomi Campbell, actor Amy Schumer, model and TV personality Chrissy Teigen and actor Justin Timberlake also shared social media posts about the case as they all rallied behind the family of the 16-year-old boy now fighting his injuries.

Joe Biden welcomes victim to White House

President Joe Biden has also spoken with the teenager and his family and invited them to the White House.

The president called the 16-year-old on Monday afternoon after Ralph had returned home from hospital.

On Tuesday, he shared a photo of himself on the phone to the teenager, writing: Last night, I had a chance to call Ralph Yarl and his family. No parent should have to worry that their kid will be shot after ringing the wrong doorbell. Weve got to keep up the fight against gun violence. And Ralph, well see you in the Oval once you feel better.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also condemned the shooting in a press conference on Tuesday, calling it devastating and the latest in an epidemic of gun violence in America.

It feels like every week, at least once a week, I come to the podium and I talk about this gun violence epidemic that were seeing across the country, and how our communities and families across America, yet again, have been devastated by tragic acts of gun violence, she said.

And it is not just devastating for me, Im sure its devastating for all of you and your families. Its devastating for this president, its devastating for our administration ... to have to continue to do that over and over again.

Neighbours speak out

Neighbours have now spoken out about the shooting including one man  James Lynch, 42  who said he ran to the boys aid.

Mr Lynch, who lives on Northeast 115 Street, told NBC News that he heard loud screams and someone shouting help, help, Ive been shot!at around 10pm on Thursday night and went to see what the commotion was.

At first, he said he thought Ralph was dead and noticed what looked like a hole in his head near his eye socket.

I thought he was dead, he said.

No one deserves to lay there like that. He hasnt even begun to live his life yet. He didnt deserve to get shot.

He said he told the teen Im going to grab your hand really tight and then launched into his Eagle Scout training, keeping Ralph awake until EMTs arrived.

I didnt do anything but hold a kids hand so he wouldnt feel alone, Mr Lynch said.

He had just gotten shot twice; he had a hole in the side of his head.

He added: That kid is tougher than I am.
Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The defrocked Roman Catholic cardinal who became the face of the church's clergy sex abuse crisis has been charged in Wisconsin with sexually assaulting an 18-year-old man more than 45 years ago, court records show.

A criminal complaint filed Friday alleges that Theodore McCarrick, who was removed from the priesthood in 2019 after a Vatican investigation found he had sexually molested adults and children, fondled a man in 1977 while staying at a cabin on Geneva Lake in southeastern Wisconsin.

The alleged victim, who is not named, told investigators that Mr McCarrick had repeatedly sexually assaulted him since he was 11 and even brought him to parties where other adult men sexually assaulted him, according to the complaint.

Mr McCarrick became the highest-ranking Roman Catholic official in the US to face criminal charges for sexual abuse when he was accused in 2021 of sexually assaulting a teenage boy in Massachusetts at a wedding reception in 1974. His attorneys asked the judge in that case earlier this year to dismiss the charges, saying that Mr McCarrick, now 92 and suffering from dementia, is not competent to stand trial.

The once-powerful priest was ordained in 1958 and became archbishop in Newark, New Jersey, in 1986 and then archbishop of Washington, DC, in 2000. He rose to power despite church officials' knowledge of accusations against him. A two-year Vatican investigation into Mr McCarrick's tenure found credible reports of his problematic behavior dating back to 1999, including an inquiry confirming that Mr McCarrick had slept with seminarians.

The church has confirmed it made financial settlements with adults who accused Mr McCarrick of sexual misconduct. Mr McCarrick retired in 2006 but continued to be active in political circles until he was defrocked by Pope Francis in 2019.

Wisconsin prosecutors learned of the alleged 1977 assault through a program dedicated to prosecuting instances of abuse by faith leaders, according to a news release. Officials were able to charge Mr McCarrick because the statute of limitations does not apply to people who are not residents of the state. A similar law allowed Massachusetts prosecutors to bring their case against Mr McCarrick more than 40 years later.

Mr McCarrick's attorney in Massachusetts, William Fick, did not immediately return a phone call or email sent Monday. An attorney for Mr McCarrick has not yet been listed in the Wisconsin case.

___

Harm Venhuizen is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Venhuizen on Twitter.
Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A helicopter raid by US forces in northern Syria early on Monday resulted in the probable death of a senior leader of the militant Islamic State group, the US military said.

The US Central Command said in a statement that the Isis leader, who was not named, was responsible for planning terror attacks in the Middle East and Europe.

Two other armed individuals were killed along with the target of the raid, CENTCOM said. The statement said no civilians or US troops were hurt in the operation.

Syrias White Helmets, a civil defense group operating in opposition-held areas of northern Syria, said it transported two people wounded during the raid to a local hospital, which later said they had died.

A third person was killed when the US forces landed for the raid, the White Helmets said.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which partners with the US in anti-IS operations in northeast Syria, said that the operation was launched from a base near the town of Kobani and targeted a military site belonging to a Turkish-backed armed opposition group, Suqour al-Shamal, in the village of village of Suwayda in the region of Jarablus, near the Turkish border.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, reported that the raid had resulted in the arrest of a senior IS leader and killed three people.

The US military made no mention of any arrests.

A US Black Hawk helicopter takes off after deploying soldiers during the Swift Response 22 military exercise in 2022 (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

The Observatory said violent clashes took place after the helicopter landed, the first such landing this year.

At least 900 US troops are deployed in Syria, along with an undisclosed number of contractors.

The Islamic State group, which swept through Iraq and Syria in 2014, taking control of large swaths of territory, was defeated in Syria in 2019, but sleeper cells maintain a presence and periodically stage attacks on military and civilian targets.
Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The US Coast Guard and the Mexican Navy are searching for three American men who went missing while sailing off the coast of Mexico.

The men have been identified as Kerry OBrien, Frank OBrien and William Gross, the US Coast Guard said in a statement on Friday. They were last heard from on 4 April while sailing near Mazatlan in western Mexico.

They were onboard the Ocean Bound, a 44-foot La Fitte sailboat, and were en route to San Diego. The alarm was raised after the men failed to show up at their planned to stop in Cabo San Lucas on 6 April.

The men were expected to pick up provisions and report in, but there is no record of them arriving at the checkpoint.

According to ABC News, the sailing distance from Mazatlan to Cabo is more than 200 miles. The Mexican Navy is now assisting in the search.

Search and rescue coordinators have contacted marinas throughout Baja, Mexico, with negative sightings of the vessel, the US Coast Guard said in a statement.

Urgent marine information broadcasts have been issued over VHF radio requesting all mariners to keep a lookout for the missing persons and vessel.

Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of the missing sailors is asked to contact the US Coast Guard search and rescue coordination centre at 510-437-3701.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

As Republican Representative Jim Jordan attempted to hold a House Judiciary Committee hearing in New York attacking Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, protesters could be heard shouting and chanting outside.

Let the public in, a group of protesters shouted from the hallway located directly outside of the room where Mr Jordan and the House Judiciary Committee held their meeting on Monday,

Outside of the Jacob Javits Federal Building in downtown Manhattan, another group of protesters chanted, Hey hey, ho, ho, Jim Jordans got to go.

Videos and photos showed people with signs calling Mr Jordan a traitor, a sleazy liar, an insurrectionist, and more.

The backlash is in response to Mr Jordans continuous attempts to attack Mr Bragg after he successfully pursued charges against Donald Trump. Mondays field hearing was just the latest in a contentious back-and-forth with the Manhattan DA.

Mr Jordan sent letters to Mr Bragg demanding he provide evidence about his investigation into Mr Trump as the investigation was ongoing. Then after Mr Bragg unveiled the charges, Mr Jordan attempted to subpoena a former employee of the Manhattan DA.

Last week, Mr Bragg filed a lawsuit against Mr Jordan for what he called an "unprecedentedly brazen and unconstitutional attack by members of Congress."

The committee, led by Mr Jordan, is examining how Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Braggs pro-crime, anti-victim policies have led to an increase in violent crime and a dangerous community for New York City residents according to the House Judiciary Committee.

However, New York City leadership disputes their allegations.

In a press conference, Mayor Eric Adams said, Im a little disappointed that theyre coming here complaining about crime here when per capita, their crime is through the roof.

He continued, This is just an extension of Donald Trump campaigning, and it really makes no sense. We havent been communicating to participate and I dont even know what theyre doing.

Mr Braggs office released a statement saying, Dont be fooled, the House GOP is coming to the safest big city in America for a political stunt. This hearing wont engage in actual efforts to increase public safety, such as supporting national gun legislation and shutting down the iron pipeline.

They also released a series of graphics that show crime data from the New York Police Department demonstrating that homicides, shootings, robberies, burglaries, and transit crimes are all down in Manhattan.

Mr Jordan has responded by issuing a series of tweets with anecdotal stories about crime in New York.

He also wrote, 170,000 felony crimes were reported in New York City last year  the most since 2006. Major crimes are up 23%. But Democrats say NYC is Americas safest big city. Give me a break.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Influential Tunisian Islamist leader Rached Ghannouchi was detained Monday after a police search, according to his lawyer.

The move against the 81-year-old former parliament speaker comes amid growing social tensions and deepening economic troubles in Tunisia, the birthplace of the Arab Spring pro-democracy movement more than a decade ago.

Ghannouchi, head of the Ennahdha party, is the most prominent critic of Tunisian President Kais Saied.

Ennahdha announced on Twitter that Ghannouchi had been taken from his home after a police search and said it condemns this very dangerous development." His lawyer Nejib Chebbi told The Associated Press that Ghannouchi was detained.

The reason for the detention was not made public. Tunisian media reported that Ghannouchi was to be questioned over a video circulating online in which he purportedly warns of civil war.

Ghannouchi has been detained in the past for questioning on suspicion of money laundering and terrorism financing through a charity. He has denied wrongdoing and his party says the accusations are politically driven.

Saied shut down the Ennahdha-led parliament in 2021 and has since moved to consolidate power amid growing public disillusionment with Tunisias democracy.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Florida governor Ron DeSantis threatened to build a prison next to Disney World in his latest attempt to retaliate against the theme park giant.

Mr DeSantis has been feuding with the company after it publicly opposed the states so-called Dont Say Gay Bill and pushed through legislation to remove Disneys self-governing status. But he was left embarrassed when the company found a way to sidestep the law shortly before it took effect.

Mr DeSantis told reporters in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, where Disney is located, that he was looking into construction projects on 40 acres of state land next to Disney.

People have said maybe create a state park, maybe try to do more amusement parks. Somebody even said, maybe you need another state prison, who knows? I just think that the possibilities are endless, Mr DeSantis said on Monday.

Mr DeSantis has been set on removing Disneys self-governing privilege, which is not enjoyed by rivals such as Sea World and Universal Studios.

This means that Disney, unlike its rivals, does not have to pass its plans through building inspection departments or zoning commissions.

If these are not good laws, then everyone should be exempt, Mr DeSantis said. You shouldnt just say one corporation should be exempt.

In February, before picks by Mr DeSantis could be seated on a new board, their predecessors passed an agreement giving full developmental control to Disney.

They negotiated with themselves, to give themselves the ability to maintain their self-governing status. Now thats in direct defiance of the will of the people of Florida, added Mr DeSantis.

They thought that they could create some type of development agreements that would essentially render everything that we did null and void and put them in control in perpetuity for this. Well, thats not going to work.

He also announced new legislation that would revoke Disneys deal to get around the state board, and require safety inspections for Disneys buildings and transportation.
 Close 'Lies have consequences': Dominion announces settlement with Fox

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Rupert Murdoch's son has suddenly dropped his lawsuit against Australian news site Crikey days after Fox News agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems a landmark settlement.

Lachlan Murdoch sued Crikey for defamation last August over a column titled: Trump is a confirmed unhinged traitor. And Murdoch is his unindicted co-conspirator.

The suit was dropped on Friday, citing Fox News $787m settlement with Dominion over lies about the 2020 presidential election.

Crikey has tried to introduce thousands of pages of documents from a defamation case in another jurisdiction, which has now settled, the statement from Lachlan Murdochs legal team said.

Mr Murdoch remains confident that the court would ultimately find in his favor, however he does not wish to further enable Crikeys use of the court to litigate a case from another jurisdiction that has already been settled and facilitate a marketing campaign designed to attract subscribers and boost their profits.

Media pundits are now speculating over the possible fallout from the defamation settlement, with Puck founder Dylan Byers sparking a Twitter frenzy with a column suggesting that Rupert Murdoch could even axe some of his hosts in response to the case.

The Independent has requested comment from Fox News addressing the speculation but there was no immediate change in the networks programming schedule as of Thursday.

On Tuesday, Fox News reached a settlement with Dominion Voting Systems in its defamation lawsuit moments before opening arguments were about to get under way at trial.

Dominion sued Fox News for defamation, alleging that the network gave a platform to and failed to challenge conspiracy theorists that suggested Dominion was engaged in voter fraud during the 2020 election.

Those conspiracies reportedly damaged Dominions business and resulted in employees receiving threats from angry Fox News viewers.

In a last-minute deal, Fox News agreed to pay Dominion $787.5m to put the issue to bed.

Fox News has other legal troubles brewing with Smartmatic revealing what it will take for it to also settle its case against the network.

The voting technology companys lawyer said on Thursday it wont accept any settlement smaller than the same $787m payout and will demand a full retraction and apology from the network.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

SenatorJohn Fetterman returned to the United States Senate on Monday after treatment for depression kept him away for six weeks.

Mr Fetterman exited his car in his trademark black hooded sweatshirt, gym shorts and sneakers and placed his hand over his heart as he returned to the chamber ahead of votes on Monday afternoon.

Mr Fetterman posted a photo of his return to the Senate.

Its good to be back, he tweeted.

The newly elected senator from Pennsylvania suffered a stroke last year shortly before the Democratic primary in May. Despite that, he still beat Republican television star and physician Mehmet Oz in the general election.

In February, Mr Fetterman checked into George Washington University hospital after he experienced lightheadedness but checked out shortly thereafter. Mr Fetterman later checked into Walter Reed Medical Center in February to undergo inpatient treatment for depression.

Mr Fettermans return comes as the Democratic caucus grapples with the continued absence of Senator Dianne Feinstein, 89, who has been out of the Senate for a similar time with shingles.

Last week, Ms Feinstein, who announced earlier this year that she would not seek re-election, asked to be temporarily removed from the Senate Judiciary Committee as she recovers. This comes as Democrats hope to continue to confirm President Joe Bidens judicial nominees.

Democrats have only 51 Senate seats, which means they need every senator present to confirm Mr Bidens nominees without Vice President Kamala Harris coming to Capitol Hill to break a tie.

Republicans, for their part, said they will not assist with Ms Feinsteins decision to temporarily step aside.

Republicans should not assist Democrats in confirming Joe Bidens most radical nominees to the courts, Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas tweeted.

I will not go along with Chuck Schumers plan to replace Senator Feinstein on the Judiciary Committee and pack the court with activist judges, Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee tweeted. Joe Biden wants the Senate to rubber stamp his unqualified and controversial judges to radically transform America.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Fox News is on trial in a Delaware courtroom standing accused of defaming a voting machine company in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.

A plaintiff must meet a high legal bar to prove that on-air statements were made with actual malice, the standard established by the US Supreme Courts 1964 ruling in New York Times v Sullivan that affirms strong First Amendment protections for the press when reporting on public officials and public figures.

This week, a judge will preside over one of the biggest-ever defamation cases against a media company, with a six-week jury trial involving a $1.6bn lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems against the most-watched cable news network in the US.

The judge has already determined that on-air statements about the company in the wake of the 2020 presidential election were false. It will be up to a jury in Superior Court in Wilmington to determine whether they rise to actual malice  in other words, whether Fox knowingly presented false claims or did so with reckless disregard for the truth.

Attorneys for Fox argue that the network had a duty to report newsworthy claims, which were endorsed by then-President Donald Trump, and that Dominion has failed to meet the so-called Sullivan test  a precedent that right-wing figures have tried to overturn for years.

In the days after Mr Trumps loss in the 2020 election, Trump-connected figures floated conspiracy theories and other baseless claims about Dominion on air, claiming that the company was responsible for flipping or manipulating votes, had ties to Hugo Chavez and Venezuela, and provided kickbacks to election officials.

Hundreds of pages from Dominion show that top on-air personalities, producers and Fox Corporation leadership knew those segments were bogus. Those claims were false, and they were aired uncritically on the network, Judge Eric Davis determined.

Still, some legal analysts and press freedom advocates are wary of a courtroom determining what constitutes ethical reporting, and fear an outcome against Fox could have significant blowback in other newsrooms.

In the Sullivan decision from nearly 60 years ago, justices on the nations highest court declared the profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open.

While Fox is relying on the constitutional safety net affirmed in the Sullivan case, the former president and other right-wing figures have spent years trying to undermine it.

The litigious former president sued The New York Times and CNN in an effort to eliminate precedent that limits the ability of public figures to launch potentially financially devastating lawsuits against the press.

Last last year, Mr Trumps lawyers in the CNN case argued that the precedent no longer merely provides breathing space for the occasional misstatement, but rather, offers a nearly impenetrable shield to the media, allowing it to publish defamatory statements targeting political enemies, without fear of consequence.

A lawsuit against CNN provides a perfect vehicle to strip First Amendment protections, his lawyers wrote in a recent filing.

The Trump campaigns lawsuit against The New York Times was dismissed, and CNN has sought to dismiss Mr Trumps challenge to the network. Mr Trumps lawsuit also suggested that the network is responsible for the rise of disinformation without addressing Mr Trumps own wave of bogus claims.

Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis is depicted in a courtroom sketch presiding over the Dominion case on 17 April (AP)

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, whose administration has launched an aggressive campaign against the press, is supporting legislation that deliberately chips away at Sullivan and weaponizes defamation law to the point that it represents a death knell for American traditions of free speech, according to Bobby Block, executive director of the Florida First Amendment Foundation.

Last year, a judge and a jury separately shut down a case from former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin in her own attempt to sue The New York Times. A judge determined that no reasonable jury would find that the newspaper and the editor at the centre of the case acted with actual malice in publishing a 2017 editorial that referenced her political action committee.

Newspaper spokesperson Danielle Rhoades Ha said in a statement that the verdict was a reaffirmation of a fundamental tenet of American law: public figures should not be permitted to use libel suits to punish or intimidate news organizations that make, acknowledge and swiftly correct unintentional errors.

At least two conservative justices on the Supreme Court have also expressed a willingness to revisit the Sullivan precedent, which could wind up in front of the conservative-supermajority panel that has already overturned the half-century precedent from Roe v Wade.

What started in 1964 with a decision to tolerate the occasional falsehood to ensure robust reporting by a comparative handful of print and broadcast outlets has evolved into an ironclad subsidy for the publication of falsehoods by means and on a scale previously unimaginable, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in 2021.

The Sullivan standard emerged from a violent period in the civil rights movement in the early 1960s, when a city commissioner in Alabama sued The New York Times for defamation over an advertisement from civil rights groups that accused Southern police of waging an unprecedented wave of terror against them.

The ad did not even mention LB Sullivan, but an all-white jury panel in a courtroom presided over by a judge who wrote articles defending white supremacy awarded him $500,000.

Mr Sullivans target was not necessarily The New York Times or winning a defamation case but against the civil rights movement itself; he wrote at the time that if Negroes persist in flaunting their arrogance and defiance by congregating  the police will have no alternative but to take whatever action that might be necessary to disperse them.

But a unanimous Supreme Court opinion from Justice William Brennan overturned the verdict. The justices underscored the right of freely examining public characters and measures and established that libel lawsuits from public figures must meet a higher threshold than challenges from other plaintiffs.

Despite the judges assertion that Fox News knowingly presented false claims, statements from Fox News spokespeople to The Independent have warned that Dominions lawsuit presents an unprecedented assault on the First Amendment that could threaten the medias absolute right to cover the news.

Fox will continue to fiercely advocate for the rights of free speech and a free press as we move into the next phase of these proceedings, according to a statement.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

In the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, the most-watched cable news network in the US gave Donald Trump and his allies a platform for their false claims that it was rigged against him.

At the centre of many election lies, conspiracy theories and the former presidents spurious legal challenges to reverse the outcome was Dominion Voting Systems  a voting machine company baselessly accused of flipping votes.

Those claims were aired uncritically on Fox News.

Those claims were false, a judge has determined.

And further, many of the networks top on-air personalities, producers and executive leadership at Fox Corporation knew that, including right-wing media mogul Rupert Murdoch and Tucker Carlson, the most-watched host on the most-watched network.

This week, a judge in Delaware, where Fox is incorporated, is expected to preside over a six-week jury trial stemming from Dominions $1.6bn lawsuit against the network, which will defend itself against Dominions argument that false statements about the company in the wake of the election were defamatory, costing Dominion significant business and reputational harm.

On Sunday evening Judge Eric Davis announced that the trial had been suddenly delayed  mere hours before opening statements were scheduled to begin on Monday morning.

No explanation was given for the sudden delay but multiple reports have revealed that Fox News is now pushing to settle the case before the trial gets under way. Lawyers for the two sides are expected to meet on Monday to discuss a potential settlement, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Defamation cases rarely go to trial, but it will be up to the jury in Superior Court in Wilmington to determine whether the claims on Fox News meet the high bar for the actual malice standard  meaning that the network knowingly presented false claims with reckless disregard for the truth.

In his 80-page decision allowing the case to go to trial, Judge Davis wrote that the evidence developed in this civil proceeding demonstrates that [it] is CRYSTAL clear  emphasis his  that none of the Statements relating to Dominion about the 2020 election are true.

We want to encourage a robust and wide-open discussion about public affairs, especially about how to run our governments, and we want to allow for some breathing room  to let people talk about this without having to do the full journalistic run at it, Andrew Geronimo, director of the First Amendment Clinic within the Milton and Charlotte Kramer Law Clinic at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, told The Independent last month.

But what you cant do is knowingly lie about somebody in a way that damages them.

A judge in Delaware Superior Court in Wilmington is presiding over the case against Fox News (REUTERS)

The former president waged a public assault on absentee or mail-in voting, which he called a hoax and corrupt before a single ballot was even cast in 2020 elections, casting public doubt about the process in an apparent effort to justify challenging the outcomes.

In the months that followed, Republican lawmakers across the US launched a coordinated campaign under the guise of preserving election integrity and restoring voter confidence that the president himself undermined.

The persistent lie that the election was stolen from him  and his legal teams baseless attempts to overturn millions of Americans votes  fuelled violence at the US Capitol on 6 January, 2021, sustained election investigations and audits in an effort to reverse the outcomes in states that Mr Trump lost, and inspired GOP-led legislation in nearly every state to change how elections are run.

The trial is among several election-related cases playing out in courtrooms and prosecutors offices across the country.

Mr Trump, whose pursuit to upend an American election is driving his 2024 ambitions, was criminally charged in New York in a case involving hush money payments to at least two women ahead of his 2016 election, and a prosecutor in Georgia is reportedly considering charges against more than a dozen people connected to Mr Trumps attempt to pressure officials to overturn his loss in the state in 2020.

Fox was also separately sued by a now-former producer who has accused the companys lawyers of coercing her testimony in the Dominion case.

Mr Trump and Mr Murdoch were not close; Mr Murdochs The Wall Street Journal called his former know-nothing nuisance a catastrophe and Mr Murdoch himself said he was embarrassing the country.

But their fortunes intertwined with Mr Trumps presidency and its aftermath, which boosted Fox ratings but now presents significant threats to both men.

Despite Mr Murdochs apparent support for the networks correct prediction that Joe Biden won in the state of Arizona, Fox leadership met over concerns of mounting viewer backlash over the call, according to court filings.

Network leadership appeared to agree to provide a platform for wild claims that the election was stolen from Mr Trump because positive impressions of Fox News among its viewers dropped precipitously after Election Day to the lowest levels the network had seen, Dominion argues.

Attorneys for Dominion, appearing outside Delaware Superior Court, have argued that Fox News relied on lying to viewers about the 2020 election facing pressure from competing networks. (REUTERS)

Indeed, Dominions extensive filings leading up to the trial have stitched together a much-larger picture of the Fox organisation, its decision making, and its concerns over declining viewership with competition from other networks that indulged the former presidents conspiracy theories.

Attorneys for Fox News have argued that the network not only had an obligation to cover those allegations, especially those endorsed by a sitting president, as newsworthy, but that they also are protected by the First Amendment.

The networks legal team has warned that the case could set a dangerous precedent for press freedoms and media companies abilities to report on other newsworthy allegations.

This case is and always has been about the First Amendment protections of the medias absolute right to cover the news, a Fox spokesperson said in a statement shared with The Independent.

Fox will continue to fiercely advocate for the rights of free speech and a free press as we move into the next phase of these proceedings.

Dominions case alleges that Fox News is a media empire that relies on lying to its audience.

The companys extensive court filings revealed private admissions among Fox producers, executives and programme hosts questioning or ridiculing the networks unreliable guests and their dubious arguments about Dominion, while, at the same time, conceding that the network risked alienating Fox viewers if it publicly rejected those claims.

Really crazy stuff. And damaging, Mr Murdoch wrote in a message on 19 November 2020 email as he watched Mr Trumps former attorney Rudy Giuliani airing false claims about Dominion during a press conference, court filings show.

Last week, Judge Davis rebuked Fox lawyers for not being straightforward with him.

He imposed a sanction against Fox News and Fox Corporation for allegedly withholding evidence in the case and said he was considering appointing an outside counsel to investigate Foxs handling of documents and whether it had withheld details about the scope of Mr Murdochs role.

The judge ruled that if Dominion needed other depositions, Fox would have to do everything they can to make the person available, and it will be at a cost to Fox.

That evidence includes recordings between Mr Giuliani and a Trump campaign aide with Fox personality Maria Bartiromo, which Dominion said was turned over just one week earlier.

Davida Brook, a lawyer for Dominion, told the court last week that the legal team was still receiving relevant documents from Fox despite an imminent trial.

We keep on learning about more relevant information from individuals other than Fox, she said. And to be honest we dont really know what to do about that, but that is the situation we find ourselves in.

In a statement, Dominion said the evidence to be presented at trial will show that Dominion was a valuable, rapidly growing business that was executing on its plan to expand prior to the time that Fox began endorsing baseless lies about Dominion voting machines.

Dominions business suffered enormously as a result, according to a statement. and its claim for compensatory damages is based on industry-standard valuation metrics and conservative methodologies. We look forward to proving this aspect of our case at trial.
 Close Donald Trump reacts to Joe Bidens 2024 re-election campaign announcement

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Donald Trump allegedly raped advice columnist E Jean Carroll after a chance encounter at an upmarket New York department store and then destroyed her career when he repeatedly lied about the claims, a civil jury in New York heard on Tuesday.

Opening arguments in Mr Trumps civil rape trial began in a courtroom in New York on Tuesday.

Former Elle magazine columnist E Jean Carroll has claimed that the former president raped her in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan in the mid-1990s.

She first spoke out about the allegations in 2019, when Mr Trump was president.

He denied the incident took place and infamously retorted, Shes not my type.

Now, Ms Carroll is getting her day in court after filing a new lawsuit  her second  in November, suing him for both the alleged sexual assault and for then defaming her by denying it took place.

The trial comes after New York passed its Adult Survivors Act, giving sexual abuse victims a one-year window to sue attackers for historic assaults.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A federal judge in New York City has rejected former president Donald Trumps 11th-hour attempt to once again postpone his long-delayed civil defamation and rape trial on the grounds that publicity surrounding his recent indictment necessitated a cooling-off period to ensure an impartial jury.

Judge Lewis Kaplan on Monday ordered the trial, which stems from two civil lawsuits brought against the ex-president by writer E Jean Carroll, to commence on 25 April as previously scheduled.

In a 10-page order and opinion, Judge Kaplan said the one-month delay Mr Trumps attorneys had asked for would have no impact on the potential jury pool in the case, which will be tried in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.

There is no reason to assume that a sufficient number of fair and impartial jurors cannot be found on April 25, 2023 or that it would be materially easier to find such jurors on May 23, 2023, he said.

Judge Kaplan added that the jury selection process would address the matter of publicity stemming from Mr Trumps indictment and other matters, including inquiry into prospective jurors awareness, if any, of Mr. Trumps various legal troubles  past, present and perhaps future  and jurors ability and willingness to render a fair and impartial verdict in this case, regardless of any prior knowledge or attitudes.

He added that at least some portion of the publicity around the criminal charges against Mr Trump is of the ex-presidents own doing and chastised him for attempting to use coverage he precipitated to delay his own trial.

There has been no shortage of recent news articles focused on Mr. Trumps own public statements on his social media platform and in press conferences and interviews he has given about his indictment, he said. It does not sit well for Mr. Trump to promote pretrial publicity and then to claim that coverage that he promoted was prejudicial to him and should be taken into account as supporting a further delay.

The judge also said it was difficult to ignore the possibility that the 11th-hour request from the ex-president was a dilatory tactic to delay a trial that comes more than three years after Ms Carroll sued Mr Trump for defamation after he said he could not have raped her because she was not his type.

In consideration of the ages of both parties and extensive pretrial litigation that has occurred in both of Ms. Carroll's actions, it would not be in tl1e interest of justice to permit further delay absent a strong justification. Mr. Trump has not provided any such justification, he said.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Melbourne has overtaken Sydney to become Australia's most populous city for the first time in over 100 years due to a boundary change.

Melbourne now has 18,700 more citizens than Sydney, according to official statistics

Melbourne surpassed Sydney to become the most populous city after the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) added a new district, expanding the city limits, in order to accommodate the rising population.

According to data from June 2021, Melbourne was home to 4,875,400 people following the inclusion of Melton. The population of the Melton region reportedly grew by 61 per cent between 2011 and 2021.

The 2021 census told us that Melton and the rest of Greater Melbourne was now, statistically, one contiguous area, ABS regional population unit demographer Andrew Howe told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Until the 2021 census definition, the Sydney significant area had a higher population than Melbourne.

However, with the amalgamation of Melton into Melbourne in the latest significant urban area classification, Melbourne has more people than Sydney  and has had since 2018.

Melbourne would have first surpassed Syndey's population in 2018 when comparing the two cities using the updated boundaries.

The ABS uses several methods to calculate the urban population, including the 'significant urban area classification', which captures urban centre populations as all adjoining centres with more than 10,000 people.

When calculated using the traditional 'greater capital city' metric, Sydney was still ahead by a margin of 283,600 in 2021.

The "functional areas of city", which include populations who frequent or work within the city, but may live surrounding it are taken into account in the traditional method.

Melbourne is expected to overtake its northern rival around 2031-32 when using that measure.

Melbourne, which has been growing rapidly outpacing Sydney due to multiple patterns of migration, was ranked as Australias most liveable city and 10th in the world by the Economist Intelligence Units Global Liveability Index for 2022.

Macquarie University demographer Professor Nick Parr told the Australian newspaper that the main reason for Melbournes faster growth is the difference in net internal migration.

Sydneys growth has been slowed by its substantial net losses of people due to internal migration, he said.

Far more people have moved out of Sydney going to other parts of Australia, especially to the rest of New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, than have moved to Sydney from elsewhere in Australia.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Russias Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived to the Brazilian capital on Monday as Brazils President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silvas pushes a diplomatic approach for peace in Ukraine that has irked both Kyiv and the West.

The meeting between Lavrov and his Brazilian counterpart Mauro Vieira was set in March, when they held a bilateral at the summit of the Group of 20 leading economies in New Dehli. They met Monday morning and, according to the foreign ministry's website, both will meet with Lula in the afternoon.

Lula has refused to provide weapons to Ukraine while proposing a club of nations including Brazil and China to mediate peace. On Sunday, he told reporters in Abu Dhabi that two nations  both Russia and Ukraine  had decided to go to war, and a day earlier in Beijing said the U.S. must stop stimulating the continued fighting and start discussing peace. Earlier this month, he suggested Ukraine could cede Crimea to end the war, which the spokesperson for Ukraines foreign ministry, Oleg Nikolenko, rejected.

Would you offer a Crimea-sized part of Brazil just for tranquilitys sake? Then well talk! Belgiums former prime minister Guy Verhofstadt said on Twitter earlier this month.

As part of his effort to end hostilities, Lula has also withheld munitions to Ukraine, even at the request of Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz. He has said that sending supplies would mean Brazil entering the war, which he seeks to end.

His position has apparently been appreciated in Moscow. One of roughly 50 leaked classified documents on the platform Discord that have been viewed by the AP said that, as of late February, Russias foreign affairs ministry supported Lulas plan to establish a club of supposedly impartial mediators, as it would reject the Wests aggressor-victim paradigm. The item cited electronic surveillance as the source.

Earlier this month, Celso Amorim, a special advisor to Brazils presidency and former foreign minister, took a discreet trip to Moscow, where he met with President Vladimir Putin. Vieira told reporters this month that Amorim went to listen and to say the time has come to talk.

Critics have argued that Brazil's position on the Ukraine war aims to avoid confronting a key supplier of fertilizer for its soybean plantations, exports from which are largely destined for China. Both Russia and China hold permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council, and Brazil for decades has sought to join them.

After his stay in Brazil, Lavrov will travel to Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza has been sentenced to 25 years in prison by a Russian court over charges linked to his criticism of Moscows invasion of Ukraine, sparking outrage from the UK  which has called for his immediate release  and other Western leaders.

Mr Kara-Murza, 41, a father of three who holds Russian and British passports, has spent years speaking out against President Vladimir Putin and lobbied Western governments to impose sanctions on Russia for purported human rights violations.

It is one of the longest sentences handed to a political opponent of Mr Putin, and is one of a number of recent high-profile cases as the Kremlin seeks to crack down on dissent. The judgment, handed down in a behind-closed-doors trial, is the maximum possible for a person without previous convictions under Russian law.

Follow the latest in our live blog here

After his sentencing, Mr Kara-Murza said Russia will be free, a slogan used by the political opposition to Mr Putin. He also smiled and  according to one of his lawyers, Maria Eismont  said he regarded the harsh sentence as recognition of his effective work as an opposition politician.

When he heard hed got 25 years he said: My self-esteem has gone up, I understand that I did everything right. Its the highest score I could have got for what I did, for what I believed in as a citizen and a patriot, she said.

Born in Moscow, Mr Kara-Murza moved to Britain with his mother when he was 15 and studied history at Cambridge University. The foreign secretary, James Cleverly, said of the sentence: Russias lack of commitment to protecting fundamental human rights, including freedom of expression, is alarming. He added that Britain would continue to call for his immediate release. The UK government has also summoned the Russian ambassador to make clear its condemnation of what it described as the politically motivated conviction and sentencing. The government had previously, in 2020, imposed sanctions on the judge presiding over the case for alleged human rights violations.

Outside the court in Moscow, the British ambassador to Russia, Deborah Bronnert, said that Mr Kara-Murza had been punished for bravely speaking out against Russias war in Ukraine and demanded he be immediately released. The US ambassador, Lynne Tracy, speaking alongside Ms Bronnert, said Mr Kara-Murzas conviction was an attempt to silence dissent. Criminalisation of criticism of government action is a sign of weakness, not strength, she said.

The charges against Mr Kara-Murza stem from his March 2022 speech to the Arizona House of Representatives in which he denounced Russias military action in Ukraine. Investigators added the treason charges while he was in custody. In a CNN interview broadcast hours before he was arrested, Mr Kara-Murza had alleged that Russia was being run by a regime of murderers. At the time of his arrest, Mr Kara-Murza was among the few prominent critics of the Kremlin based in Russia. He had used a number of speeches in the United States and across Europe to accuse Moscow of bombing civilian targets in Ukraine.

State prosecutors, who had requested the court jail him for 25 years, had accused him of treason and of discrediting the Russian military after he criticised what Moscow calls its special military operation in Ukraine.

The US, France and Norway were among the other nations to hit out at the verdict. The US State Department hailed Mr Kara-Murza along with jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and many others who serve their country and their fellow citizens at great personal cost by boldly standing up for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It renewed its call for the release of Mr Kara-Murza and more than 400 other political prisoners in Russia.

The EUs foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said of the verdict: [This] outrageously harsh court decision clearly demonstrates yet again the political misuse of judiciary in order to pressure activists, human rights defenders and any voices opposing Russias illegitimate war of aggression against Ukraine. The UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Turk, also called on Moscow to free Mr Kara-Murza. No one should be deprived of their liberty for exercising their human rights, and I call on the Russian authorities to release him without delay, he said, adding that the sentence is another blow to the rule of law and civic space in the Russian Federation.

Mr Kara-Murzas wife, Evgenia, who lives in Washington with the couples three children  aged 1, 11 and 14  has called the case political vengence, saying that her husband has not been allowed to call his children. I understand that this sentence is the high recognition of the effectiveness of Vladimirs work, she said in the wake of the sentencing. He has proven time and again that he would not back down, that he would not abandon his fight, that he would not betray his country and betray his ideals, that he would keep on fighting.

Mr Kara-Murza had previously worked to get American political approval for the Magnitsky Act of 2012, which allows the US to impose sanctions on Russian officials it believes are involved in human rights abuses.

In his final speech to the court last week, Mr Kara-Murza had compared his own trial to Josef Stalin's show trials in the 1930s and had declined to ask the court to acquit him, saying he stood by and was proud of everything he had said.

"Criminals are supposed to repent of what they have done. I, on the other hand, am in prison for my political views. I also know that the day will come when the darkness over our country will dissipate, he said. He has described the case against him as being based on political vengeance.

Shortly after sending tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February last year, Russia introduced sweeping wartime censorship laws which have been used to silence dissenting voices and independent media across the country. Discrediting the army can currently be punished by up to five years in prison, while spreading deliberately false information about it can bring a sentence of 15 years in jail. The Kremlin has denied targeting civilians during its invasion, but has been repeatedly accused of doing so by Ukraine and its Western allies.

Mr Kara-Murza was a close associate of Boris Nemtsov, a leading figure of the political opposition who was assassinated near the Kremlin in 2015, and continued to speak out against Mr Putin despite the mounting risks.

Twice, in 2015 and 2017, Mr Kara-Murza faced apparent attempted poisonings. He fell suddenly ill, falling into a coma on both occasions before eventually recovering. He alleged these were perpetrated by the Russian security services (Russian authorities denied involvement). Mr Kara-Murzas lawyers say that as a result of the incidents, he suffers from a nerve disorder called polyneuropathy, which Russian authorities have refused to acknowledge.

Another prominent opposition figure, Ilya Yashin, was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison on charges of discrediting the military late last year.

Last month, a Russian court convicted a father over social media posts critical of the war and sentenced him to two years in prison. His 13-year-old daughter, who drew an anti-war sketch at school, was sent to an orphanage. Days later, Russias security service arrested Evan Gershkovich, an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal, on espionage charges.

It is the first time since 1986 that an American reporter has been held for alleged espionage in Russia. His newspaper has rejected the charge, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. The White House has called it ridiculous, and President Joe Biden has said Mr Gershkovichs detention is totally illegal.

Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

This article first appeared in our partner site, Independent Arabia

The scent of incense traditionally fills the houses and streets of Gaza during Ramadan. However, this year, there is a unique and distinct aroma that is a break from previous years.

Palestinian Ibrahim Abu Saraya has successfully created around 15 new varieties of incense, using Gulf and French scents to concoct his signature blends.

Ibrahim works tirelessly at his humble shop, crafting various blends of his unique fragrances to cater to local preferences. Alongside these custom blends, he also produces fragrances to export and sell outside of Gaza.

Gaining popularity

The use of incense in Gaza became prevalent only seven years ago. Prior to that, only small number of people used it; they would bring the aromatic back from their travels to the Gulf.

With the introduction of imported incense, it quickly gained popularity and has now become a common feature in many homes across the Gaza Strip. Locals consider it an essential part of religious events, holidays and the holy day of Friday.

The incense industry in Gaza is emerging and it only really took off after the end of Ramadan last year. Gaza resident Ibrahim was determined to master the art of producing incense, devoting himself to continuous experimentation and refinement of his techniques. Through persistent trial and error, he was eventually able to develop a distinctive and effective method for producing high-quality incense.

Ibrahim developed a deep fascination with the diverse aromatic scents of incense. This fascination motivated him to learn how to create them himself. Over the course of less than a year, he conducted more than 30 experiments, perfecting his techniques until he finally achieved the desired result. He is now producing a variety of locally made incense products.

His extensive experience in aromatherapy fuelled his decision to pursue his current profession. He spent 15 years working in this field, and he developed his knowledge by studying the principles of perfume composition at two schools in France and the Gulf for more than five years. Through his dedication and creativity, he has become a skilled expert in his field.

Ibrahim makes use of traditional and manual methods to complete 80 percent of the incense-making process. According to him, the process begins with spreading out the basic raw aromatic materials, typically including oud wood  locally known as daqqat al-oud. Arabic gum and various types of special musk are added during production, and the final stage involves merging all the components together.

After preparing the incense mixture, he uses a press to shape it into round discs, squares, or sticks. Local buyers can specify the shape they would like for their incense mixture.

Made by Palestinian hands

Ibrahims incense production covers roughly half of the estimated 12 tonne annual consumption of the Gaza population. He produces the same amount for external export. His incense products are sold in Egypt, Morocco, and Algeria, and are proudly marked with the words "Made by Palestinian hands".

He has successfully produced around 15 different varieties of incense, each with its own unique aroma. Some popular fragrances include oud, musk, amber, and a range of Gulf and French perfumes.

He highlights to Independent Arabia that creating incense that caters to customers preferences demands a profound understanding and knowledge of fragrances, and it is an essential part of his work.

His shop has become a favourite destination for people in Gaza, thanks to the fragrances of incense that attract passers-by. He notes that the communitys trust in his incense is noticeable, given the affordable prices ranging from one to three dollars, depending on the quality of the incense and the materials used in its production.

Ibrahim tailors his incense blends to suit the emotional and psychological needs and states of the people of Gaza. He highlights the powerful influence that the scent and type of incense can have on the human psyche, emphasizing that the choice of perfume should take into account the individuals mood and its intended use.

Reviewed by Tooba Ali and Celine Assaf
Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

IndyTech email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Elon Musks SpaceX is about to launch its most daring rocket ever.

Starship is the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built. Eventually, SpaceX hopes it can carry people to the Moon and Mars.

But first it must conduct the short orbital test  which Mr Musk says it is as likely to fail as it is to succeed.

SpaceX is targeting Thursday morning local time.

It will be the first launch with Starship's two sections together. Early versions of the sci-fi-looking upper stage rocketed several miles into the stratosphere a few years back, crashing four times before finally landing upright in 2021. The towering first-stage rocket booster, dubbed Super Heavy, will soar for the first time.

For this demo, SpaceX wont attempt any landings of the rocket or the spacecraft. Everything will fall into the sea.

Im not saying it will get to orbit, but I am guaranteeing excitement. It wont be boring, Musk promised at a Morgan Stanley conference last month. I think its got, I dont know, hopefully about a 50% chance of reaching orbit.

Heres the rundown on Starships debut:

Supersize rocket

The stainless steel Starship has 33 main engines and 16.7 million pounds of thrust. All but two of the methane-fueled, first-stage engines ignited during a launch pad test in January  good enough to reach orbit, Musk noted. Given its muscle, Starship could lift as much as 250 tons and accommodate 100 people on a trip to Mars. The six-engine spacecraft accounts for 164 feet (50 meters) of its height. Musk anticipates using Starship to launch satellites into low-Earth orbit, including his own Starlinks for internet service, before strapping anyone in. Starship easily eclipses NASAs moon rockets  the Saturn V from the bygone Apollo era and the Space Launch System from the Artemis program that logged its first lunar trip late last year. It also outflanks the former Soviet Unions N1 moon rocket, which never made it past a minute into flight, exploding with no one aboard.

Game plan

The test flight will last 1 1/2 hours, and fall short of a full orbit of Earth. If Starship reaches the three-minute mark after launch, the booster will be commanded to separate and fall into the Gulf of Mexico. The spacecraft would continue eastward, passing over the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans before ditching near Hawaii. Starship is designed to be fully reusable but nothing will be saved from the test flight. Harvard astrophysicist and spacecraft tracker Jonathan McDowell will be more excited whenever Starship actually lands and returns intact from orbit. It will be "a profound development in spaceflight if and when Starship is debugged and operational, he said.

Launch pad

Starship will take off from a remote site on the southernmost tip of Texas near Boca Chica Beach. It's just below South Padre Island, and about 20 miles from Brownsville. Down the road from the launch pad is the complex where SpaceX has been developing and building Starship prototypes for the past several years. The complex, called Starbase, has more than 1,800 employees, who live in Brownsville or elsewhere in the Rio Grande Valley. The Texas launch pad is equipped with giant robotic arms  called chopsticks  to eventually grab a returning booster as it lands. SpaceX is retooling one of its two Florida launch pads to accommodate Starships down the road. Florida is where SpaceX's Falcon rockets blast off with crew, space station cargo and satellites for NASA and other customers.

The odds

As usual, Musk is remarkably blunt about his chances, giving even odds, at best, that Starship will reach orbit on its first flight. But with a fleet of Starships under construction at Starbase, he estimates an 80% chance that one of them will attain orbit by years end. He expects it will take a couple years to achieve full and rapid reusability.

Customers

With Starship, the California-based SpaceX is focusing on the moon for now, with a $3 billion NASA contract to land astronauts on the lunar surface as early as 2025, using the upper stage spacecraft. It will be the first moon landing by astronauts in more than 50 years. The moonwalkers will leave Earth via NASAs Orion capsule and Space Launch System rocket, and then transfer to Starship in lunar orbit for the descent to the surface, and then back to Orion. To reach the moon and beyond, Starship will first need to refuel in low-Earth orbit. SpaceX envisions an orbiting depot with window-less Starships as tankers. But Starship isn't just for NASA. A private crew will be the first to fly Starship, orbiting Earth. Two private flights to the moon would follow  no landings, just flyarounds.

Other players

There are other new rockets on the horizon. Jeff Bezos Blue Origin is readying the New Glenn rocket for its orbital debut from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in the next year or so. Named after the first American to orbit the world, John Glenn, the rocket towers over the companys current New Shepard rocket, named for Mercury astronaut Alan Shepards 1961 suborbital hop. NASA will use New Glenn to send a pair of spacecraft to Mars in 2024. United Launch Alliance expects its new Vulcan rocket to make its inaugural launch later this year, hoisting a private lunar lander to the moon at NASAs behest. Europes Arianespace is close to launching its new, upgraded Ariane 6 rocket from French Guiana in South America. And NASAs Space Launch System moon rocket that will carry astronauts will morph into ever bigger versions.

Additional reporting by Associated Press
 Close Elon Musks SpaceX Starship explodes shortly after launch

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

IndyTech email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

SpaceX has launched the worlds biggest rocket  which exploded seconds later.

The spacecraft successfully left its launchpad, but the two parts of the rocket failed to separate and they exploded in a dramatic cloud minutes later.

SpaceX nonetheless hailed the test as a success, having said that any flight that did not blow up the rockets launchpad would be considered a win.

Mr Musk said that the information gained from the test would be used to guide work on future versions of the spacecraft, the next text of which he said will happen in a few months.

You can follow all the latest news and updates right here after SpaceXs launch of the most powerful and largest rocket the world has ever seen.
A Black teenager was shot by a homeowner in Missouri after he went to pick up his siblings at the wrong address.

Ralph Yarl, 16, was shot in the head on 13 April outside the home in Kansas City.

The teenagers parents had asked him to pick up his siblings at a property on 115th Terrace, but he went to 115th Street instead.

After the shooting, Yarl was taken to hospital where he is described to be in stable condition.

The homeowner was arrested and released pending further inquiries.

Click here to sign up for our newsletters.
The mother of a US Army veteran stabbed to death in Harlem ripped into Alvin Bragg during a Congressional hearing examining the District Attorneys policies.

Hason Correa, a 35-year-old father and an Afghanistan war veteran, was fatally beaten and stabbed in a scuffle in Harlem in 2018.

Speaking on Monday 17 April, his mother, Madeline Brame said: He was handed a strong murder case. As soon as he (Alvin Bragg) took office, the case began to unravel. If he is receiving one penny of federal dollars, you need to pull that funding until he starts doing his job and prosecuting crime.

Sign up to our newsletters.
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for breaking Putins misinformation laws, laws introduced after his invasion of Ukraine, an act which Putin himself has all but given up pretending is anything other than a war.

So absurd is the level of misinformation required to maintain the lies about Ukraine that Putin has, on several occasions, almost broken his own laws himself.

Naturally, Kara-Murzas crime is to have had the courage to tell the truth; to accurately describe Putins Russia as the kleptocracy and autocracy it is. Kara-Murza is 41 years old, and for almost 25 years already he has been serving a sentence that has been entirely self-imposed: of fighting for a different future for his country, and never giving up.

He has already nearly died twice, from attempted assassination via chemical poisoning. And he has already spent a year in prison, not seeing his wife or his three young children.

It happens to be almost 25 years since I first met Vlad, and knew him well for a few years when we were undergraduates. Everyone called him Vlad. I called him Vlad when I interviewed him six years ago, after his second poisoning. Its only more recently Ive discovered that Vlad is actually short for Vladislav. Vladimirs tend to get called Vova. But, typically for him, he has never once mentioned it in the many decades hes gladly gone by the wrong name.

Hed already been to school in England, and was entirely bilingual, and already had bucketloads of the kind of charm and energy that many politicians have.

He was already a grown-up too, looking back, in a world of children. One night he played some of us a VHS tape he had with him, of his father, the journalist, also called Vladimir Kara Murza, broadcasting on live independent television while the channel was being raided and shut down by Russian state security services in the late 1990s.

He well knew, all those years ago, the direction of travel. Last year he gave a speech to the Arizona state senate. He said that Russia is a nation of symbols. And that it was obvious exactly who Putin was from the moment in 1999 when he changed the Russian national anthem back to Stalins approved version.

Since then, for decades, world leaders have, he said, rolled out the red carpet for him, shaken his hand, or asked for a reset. They have been complicit in his appeasement, they have allowed stolen money to be stashed away in their banks, or spent on luxurious lifestyles in London or Paris or New York.

He has already spent 25 years warning us. As early as about 2001 he once breezily said to me that it was tiring work, that he was getting nowhere and hed kind of had enough. He was doing his degree in history, so I mentioned something to him about the Aventine Secession, when opposition parties withdrew from the Italian parliament in protest at the murder of Giacomo Matteotti, but the consequence was that it provided the opportunity for Mussolini to assume dictatorial power. I remember it because it was the only time that I knew about something he didnt.

Every time I saw him after that, he mentioned the Aventine Secession. They just walked away Tom! They quit! They walked out! And look what happened! Look what happened!

The Aventine Secession was the first thing he mentioned when I called him up in 2017. He did it to make the point that he was simply never, ever going to give up. That he would go on to the end, whatever the cost may be. In his statement to the court last week, he was predictably defiant.

Not only do I not repent of any of this, I am proud of it, he said. I blame myself for only one thing: that over the years of my political activity I have not managed to convince enough of my compatriots and enough politicians in the democratic countries of the danger that the current regime in the Kremlin poses for Russia and for the world. Today this is obvious to everyone, but at a terrible price  the price of war.

For most of the last year, Vlads friends in the UK have tried to drum up publicity for his cause, but his cause is already well known. His own personal dynamism in pursuit of his cause has already led, for example, to a deep friendship with the former US senator John McCain. Vlad was one of the pallbearers at his funeral.

Vlad was educated in the UK, lived in the US, and is now fighting for the rights enjoyed in those countries not to be permanently extinguished in his own country. His cause is our cause and he should be regarded as one of our own.

He will have known the consequences when he spent the early weeks after the invasion, criticising Putin on international television from a flat in Moscow, and all the while refusing to leave. He actually returned to Moscow from London for the purposes of doing so, saying it was his duty. How, as a Russian opposition politician, could he expect Russians to stand up to Putin if he would not do so himself?

He will also know that whatever sentence imposed on him is largely meaningless. As Alexei Navalny likes to say, both he and Putin are serving life sentences. One of them will have to end first.

His final words to the court were as follows:

I know that the day will come when the darkness over our country will dissipate. When black will be called black and white will be called white; when at the official level it will be recognised that two times two is still four; when a war will be called a war, and a usurper a usurper; and when those who kindled and unleashed this war, rather than those who tried to stop it, will be recognised as criminals.

This day will come as inevitably as spring follows even the coldest winter. And then our society will open its eyes and be horrified by what terrible crimes were committed on its behalf. From this realisation, from this reflection, the long, difficult but vital path toward the recovery and restoration of Russia, its return to the community of civilised countries, will begin.

Even today, even in the darkness surrounding us, even sitting in this cage, I love my country and believe in our people. I believe that we can walk this path.

These are universal values. People of any country should be grateful there are people like Vlad around to fight for them. His fight should not be forgotten.
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The US Supreme Court is not even a year removed from its earth-shattering Dobbs v Jackson decision, which overturned the right to an abortion and triggered a political earthquake. Now the court is already gearing up for another fight on abortion.

Earlier this month, the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued a ruling blocking the US Food and Drug Administrations approval of mifepristoe, a drug used to terminate pregnancies.

Then, last week, the US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in New Orleans granted the Justice Departments request to put District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryks ruling on hold. But the same ruling rolled back rules that the FDA made in 2016 meant to increase access to the drug. Those rules had made the drug accessible for up to 10 weeks of pregnancy, but the appeals courts ruling rolled it back to simply seven weeks, when many people do not know they are pregnant.

That teed up the next step when the Justice Department joined in an appeal to the US Supreme Court to roll back the initial ruling. Additionally, Danco Laboratories, the company that manufactures mifepristone, filed an amicus brief to kep the drugs approval in place.

On Friday afternoon, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote for the majority in the Dobbs decision, issued a ruling saying that the Northern District of Texass ruling would be stayed until midnight on Wednesday.

I wrote last week about how about how Republicans in the House and Senate would not be able to wriggle out of the unchartered territory that an abortion pill ruling would create. But in a similar way, this would also create thorny terrain for the high court less than a year after its decision to overturn the landmark Roe v Wade decision.

Public opinion of the court nosedived after the Dobbs decision, as many people overwhelmingly disapproved of the court, with 48 per cent of Americans having an unfavourable view of the court while 49 per cent having an unfavourable view, according to a Pew Research Centre survey last year. In addition, the number of US adults who said that the court had too much power has tripled from August 2020 to 45 per cent, with 64 per cent of Democrats saying that the court has too much power.

This comes after Republicans have continuously played politics with the court, from blocking Merrick Garland from receiving even a confirmation hearing when Barack Obama nominated him to the Supreme Court; to then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell getting rid of the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees to confirm Donald Trumps nominee Justice Neil Gorsuch; to Mr McConnell going back on his word and confirming Justice Amy Coney Barrett just weeks before the 2020 presidential election.

The Supreme Court siding with Judge Kacsmaryk would send a signal that it has become an explicitly ideological forum meant to execute the will of social conservatives. Tellingly, numerous pharmeceutical companies also filed amicus briefs arguing that the blocking of the drugs approval would send their business practices into chaos.

On top of that, the court also faces a crisis of its own making ever since ProPublica published its first investigation of Justice Clarence Thomass connections with GOP megadonor Harlan Crow and how he has lived high on Mr Crows dime. The court will likely take no action to reprimand Mr Thomas, which only further tarnishes its image among Americans.
Professor Mary McAleese was chairing a panel at a conference at Queens University marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

Former Irish president Mary McAleese said it is the job of Government to ensure hard to reach communities enjoy the peace dividend.

Professor McAleese, referencing that she was born and reared in the Ardoyne area of north Belfast, said it had 70% unemployment when she was growing up and she believes that statistic has remained the same.

Chairing a panel at the Good Friday Agreement conference at Queens University Belfast, she spoke of the importance of action taken by Governments to ensure the dividend is enjoyed by all.

Prof McAleese said: I think there are hard to reach communities here, who probably, when they hear us talk about peace dividend and prosperity, are saying: Where?

And that is also down to governments. Thats down to governments deciding to really use this peace dividend to penetrate deeply, deeply, deeply into historically excluded communities.

If they were empowered, if they were raised to the best they can possibly be, I wonder after 25 years of the Good Friday Agreement, would things be still as difficult politically on the strand one side?

Strand one of the Good Friday Agreement deals with the democratic institutions in Northern Ireland.

Meanwhile, during the same panel discussion, Jonathan Powell  former Downing Street chief of staff for Sir Tony Blair  said the Windsor Framework will not be reopened.

The British Government had to find a solution that made that border as invisible as possible and I think thats what theyve tried to do with the Windsor Framework, and I think it does the best job that can be done from that point of view, Mr Powell said.

I very much hope the danger of Brexit is going to pass, I very much hope that the DUP is sensibly taking its time to think about this and consider how to make this work, that they will later, after elections, perhaps look at this in a more positive light because otherwise were in a complete cul-de-sac as far as the political future of Northern Ireland is concerned.

There is no way out because we cannot reopen that agreement again with the EU  that is not possible, no prime minister now or in the future is going to do that.

So, the only alternative is to make the politics work, so I hope, and believe, actually, that they will find a way to make this work, there may be other things that have to be done but they wont be reopening that.

Also during the panel discussion, former Northern Ireland secretary Paul Murphy said resolving problems from Brexit is crucial to the future of Northern Ireland.

Mr Murphy, who was was also deputy to Mo Mowlam  secretary of state for Northern Ireland at the time of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement  said: When people say to me that members of the European Union had nothing to do with the peace process, I think it has a lot to do with it.

He added: Whatever way we look at it, and I think the Windsor Framework is a good attempt to try and deal with it, it does mean that theres a big problem here because of what happened over Brexit.

How we resolve that is probably crucial to how the future of this place is over the next number of months, but resolve it we must because if we cant do that then everything weve heard about this morning, not everything but a lot of it, could be put at risk.

Mr Murphy said the rules about how the assembly is suspended may need to be adjusted.

He said: Should we change the agreement in order to give some accommodation to a new regime which would mean that you can still have your disagreements, but you cant bring down the whole assembly and the whole executive because of it.

He added: I know of no democracy in the world, where you actually bring down the whole apparatus of government because you disagree on something.
Changes to the Governments energy subsidy scheme for businesses has received European Commission approval, unlocking extra payments for firms with high electricity and gas bills.

The Commission gave the green light to enhancements to the Temporary Business Energy Subsidy Scheme (TBESS) that lower the threshold for qualifying and increase the financial support available.

The changes were originally included among new cost-living-measures introduced in February but put on hold pending State aid permission from Brussels.

They were intended to increase the take-up of TBESS, which has been sluggish since the scheme was announced last September as part of Budget 2023.

Firms and accountants were slow to apply and make claims due to tight qualifying criteria and a lengthy application process, leaving many to face high energy prices without Government support.

Businesses have received just 64.6m from the scheme in the last six months, according to the most recent Revenue figures, although the programme was allocated a fund of 1.3bn.

As of 13 April, 27,763 businesses have registered for the scheme and Revenue has approved 34,227 claims. Only about two-thirds of registered firms have completed the claims process, though.

Now firms whose energy or gas costs have increased 30pc, rather than the earlier 50pc threshold, can qualify for TBESS. The level of relief available has also gone up from 40pc to 50pc of eligible costs.

On March 1, the monthly limit was raised from 10,000 to 15,000. The overall deadline for the scheme has also been pushed back to the end of May.

These changes, in particular the lower entry threshold for the scheme, which is backdated to September 2022, will ensure that additional businesses can benefit from this vital support and I encourage businesses who have not already done so to register for and submit claims under the scheme, said Minister for Finance Michael McGrath in a statement.

Revenue has said it will reassess all submissions based on the new criteria now that EU approval has been granted, meaning firms will get bigger payouts backdated to September.

Brid Heffernan, tax and policy lead with Chartered Accountants Ireland, who lobbied enterprise minister Simon Coveney to overhaul the scheme, said earlier this month that a strong communication and education campaign to businesses will likely be needed to remind businesses of the expanded scheme and encourage them to apply where they have not done so already.
Australian group that has Irish units seeks buyer as it deals with major challenges

Former Bank of Ireland executive Kevin Murphy has been appointed interim CEO at EML

EML Payments, the beleaguered Australian fintech group battered since it bought Irelands Prepaid Financial Services (PFS) in 2020, has appointed former senior Bank of Ireland executive Kevin Murphy as interim group chief executive.

Mr Murphy is a former managing director of Bank of Irelands cards business in Ireland and the UK, and his appointment comes as EML hunts for a buyer for the business. Mr Murphy has held a number of senior banking roles and was also the managing director of AvantCard Irelands card business.

Brisbane-based EML continues to navigate massive fallout stemming from the acquisition of the Irish prepaid cards business and other issues.

Apart from Mr Murphys appointment, the Australian company told investors that it has now initiated a raft of initiatives in conjunction with a strategic review launched in February.

EML confirmed this weekend that it has appointed Australian financial services firm Barrenjoey  an associate of Barclays - to conduct a strategic review of the business.

The strategic review will consider all options available to the board including a potential sale of all or parts of the business in order to maximise shareholder value, according to EML.

It comes as the stock market-listed group deals with the regulatory probes by watchdogs including the Central Bank of Ireland.

In 2021, the Central Bank launched a probe into PFS. The watchdog had raised concerns in relation to the Irish units anti-money laundering/counter-terrorism financing, risk and control frameworks and governance. When that probe was launched, shares in EML plunged by as much as 50pc.

EML was also targeted with a class action lawsuit in Australia by shareholders.

The renewed board is committed to engaging with the Central Bank of Ireland, the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK and all other regulatory stakeholders, EML told investors on Sunday. It is the boards intention to progress remediation efforts swiftly.

In early 2022, Prepaid Financial Services was fined almost 1m by the Payment Systems Regulator in the UK following an investigation into cartel behaviour in prepaid cards issued to vulnerable people on welfare benefits.

EML was courted by private equity giant Bain Capital in the spring of last year, but the US finance group walked away from a potential deal after a number of meetings.

PFS was sold to EML in 2020 for an upfront enterprise value of 155m  less than an initial pre-Covid offer. A potential 65m of additional performance-based earn-out for the previous owners was contingent on PFS achieving targets for three years from 2021.

Mr Murphy replaces CEO Emma Shand, who resigned her role with immediate effect.

The renewed board has spoken with internal and external stakeholders and formed a view on the urgent priorities for the business, said Luke Bortoli, chairman of EML.

We are focused on doing the right thing by our people, customers, regulators and shareholders and we are committed to taking actions that will help the business move through its immediate challenges, deliver sustainable growth in the medium to long term and maximise value for shareholders, said the chairman.

He added: We are pleased to welcome Kevin Murphy as interim group CEO and are excited to have an executive of Kevins calibre join EML. His understanding of the Irish and broader European regulatory environments, previous interactions with the Central Bank of Ireland and deep experience in the payments sector are perfectly aligned to addressing the needs of our business today.
Darragh McCullough: Give yourself a break  so many of us will look back and wish we hadnt spent so much time working
Privacy tech startup Oblivious has raised 5.35m in funding as it builds new tools to enable the secure use of confidential data.

Oblivious was founded in 2020 by Robert Pisarczyk and Jack Fitzsimons, who both have doctorates from Oxford.

The seed round was led by Berlin-based early-stage venture capitalist (VC) fund Cavalry Ventures and featured other VCs and angel investors, including Act VC, Atlantic Bridge and Firestreak Ventures.

The funding will be used by the startup to create new tools which allow data scientists to work on sensitive data while ensuring the confidentiality of that information. This, the founders believe, will enable innovation.

Oblivious was established after Mr Pisarczyk and Mr Fitzsimons had noticed the failure of projects due to data access issues.

The pair then created new technologies to integrate into the workflow of both data scientist and developer to tackle these challenges, particularly for businesses with swathes of customer data.

We believe that by restricting how data is used, through modern privacy enhancing technologies, we can open the doors to the next wave of data innovations while providing the safety rails to ensure its only used for good, said Mr Pisarczyk, who is chief executive of the business.

The new financing will see Oblivious create seven new roles at the company.

It currently employs 13 people at its headquarters at NovaUCD in Dublin.

Oblivious is developing the essential tools that data scientists will undoubtedly rely on in the near future to uphold privacy and trustworthiness in their work, said Cavalry Ventures managing partner Claude Ritter.

He added that such developments are particularly important as artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities advance.

As AI systems act as a catalyst for extracting valuable insights from information, it is crucial to ensure the integrity of these models and maintain the confidentiality of the processed data, he said.


Max jets were grounded around the world between 2019 and 2020 following two fatal crashes

Ryanair has insisted that it sees no potential delivery issues with its Max aircraft after Boeing slowed production of the jets following the discovery of a problem with fittings provided by a third-party supplier.

Ryanair has 24 remaining 737 Max aircraft to take delivery of between now and June, from a total of 51 that were scheduled to be received in time for this summer.

Boeing has slowed production of the troubled Max jet after a defect was detected in a part from a supplier. Spirit Aerosystems said it found that a non-standard manufacturing process was used during the installation of fittings on the vertical tail of certain Max models.

Boeing said it wasnt an immediate safety issue and that Max jets already in service can continue flying.

Ryanair chief executive Eddie Wilson said he doesnt envisage the production delays hitting the airlines delivery schedule.

I dont anticipate any disruption that would affect our overall numbers for the year, I wouldnt think, Mr Wilson told the Irish Independent.

If there are delays or whatever, weve got to work through them, he added. Youve got lots of workarounds that you can do, but I dont anticipate anything. We could do without it. As soon as we know more, and if there are any implications, well update the response.

Max jets were grounded around the world between 2019 and 2020 following two fatal crashes that occurred as a result of a flaw with its flight control system.

Mr Wilson said any discussions with Boeing about a new aircraft order are now solely predicted on pricing rather than any production or other issues that the aircraft manufacturer has had in the past or currently.

The airline will have a 600-stong fleet by 2026.

He was speaking after Ryanair announced plans to spend 40m expanding its aircraft maintenance facility at Dublin Airport.

The four-bay hangar will create more than 200 jobs for engineers and mechanics, according to the airline.

The 120,000 sqft hangar will provide line maintenance for Ryanair jets. The airline is basing 33 aircraft at Dublin Airport this summer.
UK company sued in hunt for millions of euros invested by Irish people into Dolphin Trust

Some individuals diverted huge portions of pension funds and life savings on the advice of brokers

Charles Smethurst is the British-German businessman who founded Dolphin Trust.

John Mulligan Mon 17 Apr 2023 at 03:30
Successful candidates will enjoy two years of training and on-the-job experience. Pic: Getty images

Mediahuis, Irelands leading print and digital media publisher, has today launched the second year of its Emerging Talent (MET) programme.

This year, we are looking for aspiring video and audio journalists with a passion for story-telling, giving you the chance to develop your skills alongside our award-winning video and audio teams.

The trainee scheme offers people from all backgrounds a gateway to a potential career with some of the best-known media brands across the island of Ireland, including the Irish Independent, Independent.ie, Sunday Independent, Belfast Telegraph, BelfastTelegraph.co.uk, Sunday World and Sundayworld.com.

There are two places available on this years programme, part of Mediahuis Irelands commitment to diversity and desire to make a positive contribution to people and society.

Best of all, you dont need to have a college degree or previous experience to apply. Successful candidates will be given a two-year contract with a broad range of training and on-the-job experience.

Alan Steenson, Editorial Development Executive at Mediahuis, said: Our Emerging Talent Programme has been a huge success since its launch last year.

We want to hear from those with a passion for journalism, regardless of background or experience.

Successful candidates will learn from our award-winning video and audio teams as they take their first steps in the world of journalism.

Applications for this year's MET programme are now open

Edward McCann, Director of Publishing Operations at Mediahuis, said: Last year we launched the MET programme and it has proved to be a fantastic success.

The key goals for us are investing in the future of journalism on the island of Ireland and appealing to as broad a range of people as possible.

Applications for this years Mediahuis Emerging Talent programme are now open. You can apply at www.mediahuis.ie/emergingtalent
A local resident Gene Gore rides on his horses near SpaceX's Starship the day before it launches from the Starbase launchpad on an orbital test mission, in Boca Chica, Texas. Photo: Reuters

A tourist takes photos of SpaceX's Starship the day before it launches from the Starbase launchpad on an orbital test mission, in Boca Chica, Texas. Photo: Reuters

There is a good chance that the biggest rocket launch ever will not happen or go wrong, Elon Musk has warned.

I guess I would just like to set expectations... low, he said in a Twitter space conversation hosted hours before the scheduled launch.

He noted that it was likely that SpaceX would opt not to use the launch window on Monday morning, given the chance that last-minute problems could be encountered. If the company sees anything that gives us concern then it will postpone the launch, he said.

SpaceX will attempt a launch on Monday morning local time, but the company has a number of other dates as options and Mr Musk has previously predicted that the launch would happen on 20 April. That date  4/20, a favourite number of the Internet  holds particular significance to the SpaceX chief executive.

A local resident Gene Gore rides on his horses near SpaceX's Starship the day before it launches from the Starbase launchpad on an orbital test mission, in Boca Chica, Texas. Photo: Reuters

If the rocket does manage to launch, then there is a good chance that too will end in an explosion rather than a successful trip around the Earth as planned, he said. The spacecraft is supposed to liftoff and then complete a full orbit of the planet  but will have to go a lot less far to useful, he noted.

If we get far enough away from the launchpad before something goes wrong, I would consider that to be a success, he said. Just dont blow up the launchpad.

Even if the rocket does not manage to get into space, SpaceX will be able to gather vast amounts of data that will help inform future work. SpaceX has taken a slowly iterative approach to building Starship, which has included building a number of prototypes  some of which have exploded upon launch.

Mr Musk has repeatedly predicted that the launch could fail. At a conference last month, Mr Musk said there was a roughly 50 per cent chance that the spacecraft would make it to orbit.

Im not saying it will get to orbit, but I am guaranteeing excitement, Musk said then. So, wont be boring!

SpaceX has said that it is targeted 8am local central time, or 9am eastern and 2pm in Ireland, for its first attempt at the launch.
Visitors attend the China Import and Export Fair, also known as Canton Fair, in Guangzhou, China. Photo: Reuters/Ellen Zhang

Chinese exporters exhibiting their products at the country's largest trade fair said the weak global economy was hurting their businesses, with many freezing investments and some cutting labour costs in response.

The subdued mood at the Canton Fair in the southern city of Guangzhou suggests China's unexpected jump in exports last month may have reflected exporters catching up with orders delayed last year by Covid curbs rather than renewed economic strength.

The first major trade event since China abruptly dropped Covid restrictions and re-opened its borders comes as sharply higher borrowing costs in the United States and Europe hit demand for Chinese-made goods.

Kris Lin, a representative from Christmas light producer Taizhou Hangjie Lamps, said this year's orders so far are down 30pc from last year.

The difficulties last year came from logistics and production disruptions but the local government helped solve the problems. That's an internal issue. Now we have external problems. We can't solve those, Mr Lin said.

This year will be the hardest for us, he added, with higher electricity costs caused by the war in Ukraine reducing demand for his decorations even further.

Huang Qinqin, sales director at Zhong Shan Shi Limaton Electronics, a producer of exhaust fans, has similar thoughts on cutting costs after orders halved in the first quarter.

In our factory, workers come to work when there are orders, Huang said. This used to mean working overtime even on weekends, but it is more common this year for workers to take weekends off.

A producer of shaving devices from the eastern city of Ningbo, who asked to remain anonymous to unveil future plans, said the firm had already laid off workers and will lower prices in coming months if orders don't improve.

The worsening outlook for workers in the manufacturing industries will raise concerns among policymakers, who target 12 million new jobs across China this year, up from last year's 11 million.

Vicky Chen, foreign trade manager at socket producer Qinjia Electric, said she did not expect a big sales boost at the fair.

The whole global economy is fairing poorly at the moment, and the fair won't change that, she said.
The campaign was first launched by Dame Deborah and TV presenter Lorraine Kelly in 2021.

The life and legacy of Dame Deborah James will continue to be celebrated with the return of the No Butts campaign with Lorraine Kelly.

Dame Deborah, who set up the Bowelbabe cancer research fund, died last year at the age of 40 after suffering from bowel cancer.

In honour of the late campaigner, who was one of the original presenters of the You, Me And The Big C podcast, the return of Dame Deborahs No Butts campaign for a third year was announced on ITVs Lorraine on Monday.

We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content

The initiative, which was first spearheaded by Dame Deborah and 63-year-old host Kelly in 2021, strives to raise awareness of bowel cancer and the symptoms of the disease in support of Bowel Cancer Awareness Month.

This year, along with the original goal of raising awareness, the campaign will also celebrate the life of Dame Deborah.

As part of the campaign launch, Monday mornings episode of Lorraine saw Strictly Come Dancing judge Anton Du Beke surprise Dame Deborahs mother, Heather James, with a special dance to honour her daughter.

The show also ended with a Dance for Debs, which saw presenters Dr Amir Khan, Dr Anisha Patel, Dr Hilary Jones, Ria Hebden, Mark Heyes and Claer Barrett, as well as Strictly stars Dianne Buswell and Tyler West, dance in Dame Deborahs memory.

Alongside Ms James, Dame Deborahs sister Sarah Wieczorek also featured on the show and the family spoke about Dame Deboahs lasting legacy and the return of the No Butts campaign.

Ms James said: I think shed love it, how great that No Butts is back again.

Bittersweet because I was here last year with Deborah watching on the TV because she was too poorly, and I said to her, Youll do it next year but that wasnt to be.

We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content

Meanwhile, Ms Wieczorek said: I miss her sparkle, whatever you did with her, whether it was going for a run, a takeout on a Friday night, a movie, getting the paddling pool out, friends over for dinner, there was always a sparkle she added to it. The ability to make the normal a little bit different.

People often come up to me and say, It must be really hard to talk about it, but its kind of been like therapy.

The fact that Deborah was so open about it, we havent had to explain a lot of the hard stuff, shes done that for us.

Shes left us a real privilege of a legacy of something to talk about.

To which Ms James added: To keep her memory alive, she loved life so much.

How wonderful that people can now talk about poo, if only we had that Deborah 10 years ago, perhaps Deborah wouldnt have died.

What a legacy, with No Butts thats the awareness we need.

Speaking about the campaign, Kelly said: This is a very important year for No Butts as we recognise and celebrate the life of our friend and supporter of the campaign, Dame Deborah James.

Every year No Butts comes to life with the help of our Lorraine family, friends and supporters, and in honour of Deborah and all of the work she has done for bowel cancer, we want to make this year the biggest year yet.

Lorraines No Butts campaign will continue throughout the week from 9am on ITV1 and ITVX.
The billion-selling singer-songwriter talks to Helen Brown about his candid at-home documentary, his mate Ed Sheeran, and why he has no desire to be chiselled

I havent got to the point where any of this feels normal to me yet, says Lewis Capaldi. He points out that were speaking six years, to the day since he released his first single, Bruises, which quickly racked up 28 million plays on Spotify, making the Glaswegian the fastest unsigned artist to reach 25 million streams on the platform. The following year he wrote a song about the loss of his grandmother  Someone You Loved  that would be streamed a staggering 2.8 billion times.
Singer-songwriter Hozier has warned fans to be vigilant of scam accounts and scalpers selling tickets at obscene prices.

The multi-platinum selling artist will perform his first Irish gig in four years at Malahide Castle on Friday, June 30.

Hozier urged fans not to buy inflated tickets and reassured them that he would be back again soon.

Hearing a lot from fans about being scammed for tickets. PLEASE be vigilant of accounts claiming to have tickets and asking for DMs, he said.

Also re scalpers, I would rather play to an empty room than have those prices paid. Please do not buy inflated tickets.

Ticket scalping is the practice of using bots to bulk buy tickets from licensed sources and then selling them for a profit.

The Wicklow native (33) also suggested fans should contact their local politicians in relation to the issue of ticket touting.

If fans collectively decide not to buy resale tickets at those obscene prices, they'll lose their value. I know it sucks but there'll most likely be shows next year, he said.

Ps, Ireland managed to pass legislation on resale tix after a push! Contact your local reps and see where they stand.

In 2021, government ministers passed legislation which would ban the resale of tickets to live events, matches and concerts at certain venues at a price above their face value.

A person found guilty of an offence under the new law will face a fine of up to 100,000 or up to two years imprisonment.

Meanwhile, Hozier performed two of his songs from his new EP Eat Your Young, on Friday nights Late Late Show.

He spoke to Ryan Tubridy about his first hit, Take Me To Church, which was released ten years ago.

"I was very proud when I wrote it," Hozier said.

"I suppose there was a kind of freedom that came with that song. It was the first song I released, and I had no audience, so there was never any consideration of, 'I wonder how people will respond to this?

"I never thought it would be a hit, but at the time there were these anti-gay laws in Russia and the video focused very much on that.

"And I was thinking that culturally we live in a pretty borderless world and its very possible that something like that, with anti-gay, anti-LGBT sentiments could cross borders.
EIGHT minutes. Thats how much time elapsed between Lyra McKee, arguably the most brilliant young journalist of her generation, arriving at the scene of a riot in Derry and being shot dead by a member of the dissident republican rabble that calls itself the New IRA.

It was Holy Thursday in 2019, an otherwise ordinary evening, recalls Lyras partner Sara in Alison Millars superb documentary Lyra (Channel 4, Saturday). 

Theyd been sitting at home when a friend phoned to say a riot had erupted on the Creggan estate. Lyra immediately went into journalist mode, says Sara.

They were standing behind two police Land Rovers and decided to move back, fearing the rioters were about to charge towards the cars. Sara looked around to say something to Lyra, but she was no longer beside her. She was lying on the ground; a bullet had hit her in the head.

Intercut with scenes of the riot is mobile phone footage of people huddled around Lyra. We hear screams. A voice shouts: Theres a kid shot in the head up there! Theres a kid shot in the head!

Lyra wasnt a kid; she was 29. Yet she still looked like a teenager. The priest who was called to attend to her later says: All I could see was the face of a child.

The police put Lyra in the back of a Land Rover and sped away, crashing through a burning car as it took her to hospital. There wasnt enough room for Sara. She recalls picking up Lyras phone. My hands were just covered with her blood and I didnt now what to do, she says

Alison Millars film, which was shown at festivals last year but feels even better suited to the intimacy of television, is heartfelt (the filmmaker is a family friend) and heartbreaking.

But it refuses to allow Lyra to be defined by her senseless murder. Instead, it celebrates her incredible life, her luminous personality and her genuinely groundbreaking journalism through the recollections of her partner, her family, including her sister Nichola and late mother Joan, who died less than a year after Lyra, and her friends.

Lyra herself is vibrantly present throughout it all: in voice recordings salvaged from her dictaphone, in the videos she recorded, in her exemplary prose  crisp, clean, elegant and evocative  which appears as onscreen text, and, poignantly, in home videos of her as a little girl and a teenager.

Even as a child, she was intent on becoming an investigative journalist. This wasnt the kind of profession a working-class girl from Cliftonville Road in Belfast, not far from the area known as the murder mile, was supposed to aspire to.

I was encouraged to have ideas above my station, Lyra says in one clip. Her loving family were supportive. Her grandmother bought her books and told her: Youre going to be a writer.

She had a gift for getting people to open up and talk to her, people whose voices werent usually listened to.

She was emblematic of a new, more hopeful post-Good Friday Agreement Northern Ireland. She was one of the Ceasefire Babies, the generation who were supposed to be free of the ancient enmities, the brutal violence, of the past.

Her extraordinarily mature work reflected this. At 16, she won Skys young journalist of the year award for a report on how suicide rates in Northern Ireland, and particularly Belfast, were spiralling even as those in the rest of Europe were sharply falling. She gained even wider attention and acclaim with a piece that took the form of a letter to her 14-year-old self.

At the time of her murder, she was working on a book called The Lost Boys, about boys who disappeared during the Troubles. It was to be the first fruit of a two-book deal with Faber & Faber.

The terrible irony, says Lyras sister Nichola, is that she became the very thing she wrote about: a conflict victim bartered for political purposes.

I hope that bullet stops here, says Nichola. I hope it does not travel any further.

Lyras funeral was the first time Northern Irelands political leaders had sat down together in over two years. They looked uneasy when Father Martin McGill said from the pulpit: Why in Gods name does it take the death of a 29-year-old woman with her whole life in front of her?

What a dreadful loss she is.



Lyra is on All 4 and will be on TG4 next month.
A husband who hired an "unhinged" hitman in a "grotesque plan" to kill a couple who were having an "online affair" with his wife has been jailed for four and a half years.
A retired priest who lost control of his car and struck mourners gathered outside a church  leading to the death of one man and serious injury to three others  has been given a suspended sentence.
A judge has found Simeon Burke guilty of a public order offence over his conduct during and after he and members of his family disrupted the delivery of a judgment at the Court of Appeal last month.
Crime

Woman threw pint glass at Irish singer and destroyed guitar he bought with tip given to him by Taylor Swift
The data of hundreds of sexual abuse victims has been stolen in a ransomware attack.

The attack targeted a company that manages data for around 140 charities and non-profit organisations in Ireland, Northern Ireland and the UK, was targeted by cyber criminals last month.

It is believed 1,000 survivors have had highly sensitive and personal information stolen. When alleged perpetrators and others are included, the number of people affected is believed to be around 2,000.

It is now believed fraudsters may attempt to contact the organisations and people whose data they have stolen in an attempt to extort money from them.

A spokesperson for Derry-based Evide said that as soon as it became aware that its systems had been accessed, it contacted the police and engaged cyber security specialists to help it contain the issue and support recovery efforts.

None of the material stolen, which is described as "highly sensitive and personal information", has so far been published on the darknet or other online forums.

The four organisations are located in Dublin and the south of the country and include One in Four, which helps adults who have experienced childhood sexual abuse.

One in Four chief executive Maeve Lewis said she believes over 1,000 people who sought support from the charity have been affected.

She said the charity has so far contacted around 500 people whose personal information may have been stolen. It has also set up a helpline for victims which will operate from today.

Ms Lewis urged people to be vigilant in relation to unusual emails or text messages.

We have become aware that our clients personal data has been accessed so that means email addresses, phone numbers and so on have been accessed, she told RTEs Morning Ireland.

Were being told by cyber security experts that that data is very valuable because it can be sold to people who then go on to try and commit fraud.

Weve been reaching out to people and trying to contact people individually for the last week or so. If theyve not heard from us, they can access support and information on our website.

It is believed around 2,000 victims, survivors and suspected perpetrators may have been affected in Ireland, along with other organisations and individuals in Northern Ireland and the UK.

The attack is being investigated by specialist detectives from the PSNI Cyber Crime Investigation team.

Evide said it engaged the services of cyber security experts as soon as it became aware of the issue and notified all relevant stakeholders including the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
A young man (20s) is in a critical condition in hospital tonight after he was allegedly deliberately run over by a vehicle.

It is being investigated as an attack linked to a simmering local dispute in the Tallaght area of the capital.

Sources say that the incident is connected to a number of tit-for-tat incidents that happened in the the Kiltalown area of the west Dublin suburb.

It is understood that there was a number of earlier incidents of damage to property as part of the violent row which ultimately resulted in the victim being rammed off the road according to a source.

Initial reports suggested that a firearm had been discharged in the dispute but gardai could not confirm this tonight.

The man, who was very seriously injured, is understood to have been knocked down by the vehicle.

Another young man, involved in the incident, suffered non-life threatening injuries, which were initially described as unexplained.

A garda spokesman said: Shortly after 5pm, on Monday 17th April 2023, gardai and emergency services were alerted following reports of an incident in the Kiltalown area of Tallaght.

Two males (20s) injured in the course of the incident were removed by ambulance to Tallaght Hospital.

One of males is currently in a critical condition, while injures to the second male are not described as life threatening.

A number of scenes in the Kiltalown area are preserved for examination and enquires are ongoing, the spokesman added.

It is understood that the local dispute has been ongoing in recent weeks between young men who were formerly associates of each other.

It is alleged that some of those involved in the dispute have links to serious criminality on a national level.

No arrests have yet been made in the case which is being investigated by Tallaght gardai.
Posie Parker  real name Kellie-Jay Keen  appeared at the rally at The Big Fish on Sunday.

Ms Keen is frequently referred to as a womens rights activist by supporters, and an anti-transgender campaigner by detractors. In the past, Ms Keen labelled the idea of a transgender woman being a real woman as preposterous, drawing significant backlash.

At the rally was the group founded by Ms Keen, Standing for Women, while the counter rally featured a number of LGBTQ groups.

One attendee was Mr Linehan, who was banned from Twitter in 2020 for repeated violations of our rules against hateful conduct and platform manipulation over his tweets about trans people. His account was reinstated in December 2022 after Elon Musk's takeover of the platform but he was suspended again over the weekend after posting violent threats about counter-protesters to Sunday's rally.

The Irish writer said he was there to support Ms Keen, after the activist had juice thrown on her during a similar event in New Zealand.

Mr Linehan said: I think, now that Posie has such a big profile since some of the recent attacks on her, it just felt like it was a particularly important one to come to.

I thought that maybe if I came over, it might make the feeling a little bit different, because I bring a bit of the Father Ted stuff with me. It might draw a bit more attention  more people here who can actually listen to these women.

Mr Linehan alleged that counter protesters have no idea what these women believe and that they have just been told what they believe by various bad actors. They need to speak to the women and see what they are saying, he added.

Posie Parker, real name Kellie-Jay Keen, addresses the crowd during a rally in Belfast (Niall Carson/PA)

One participant at the counter rally, who wished to remain anonymous, believed that womens rights coincided with trans rights. The LGBTQ activist said: The fallacy that trans-people are dangerous in some way  there is no factual basis to that at all.

There is not a clash of womens rights and trans rights, you find that womens rights and trans rights are the same struggle. Another said: The trans rights issue is the thin end of the wedge of a general rise in far-right reactionary problems.

If we dont stand up for trans-people and non-binary people today, its going to get a lot worse.

Karen Sugrue said: I think our role as adults is to make the world safer for the generation coming up behind us, in whatever way they want to present ourselves. Trans lives, trans rights  they are all linked together for rights for women.

Trans rights protesters counter-protest a Standing for Women rally in Belfast. Photo: PA

Those who supported Ms Keen and members of Standing for Women said they were there to support the rights of women. One supporter, who travelled from the Republic, was Estelle Birdy. She said: I am here to support the Northern Irish women because they always support us. Sisters across the divide has always been the way in Ireland.

Hilary Rowell said: Its about letting women speak. I thought womens rights had been fought for and won by generations before mine. Some of the rights  the right to have a mortgage, the right to have a bank account in your name, the right to divorce (for women)  are less than 50 years old. We are on the precipice of all those rights being taken away and being up for grabs again. Its outrageous.

Police were in attendance to separate both groups to avoid conflict. The rallies passed without incident and no arrests were made, the PSNI said.
Two co-accused, Jason Bonney and Paul Murphy, will also learn their fate

Armed police on duty outside the Special Criminal Court in Dublin during the trial of Gerry Hutch last October. Photo: Niall Carson

The Special Criminal Court will this morning deliver its judgment on whether or not Gerry The Monk Hutch is guilty of the Regency Hotel murder.

A significant security operation will be in place at the Criminal Courts of Justice in Parkgate Street, Dublin, with the verdict due to be handed down after 11am.

Mr Hutch (60), of the Paddocks in Clontarf, Dublin, has denied the murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel on February 5, 2016.

If convicted, he will face the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment.

Gardai believe that, if found not guilty of murder, Mr Hutch will leave the jurisdiction almost immediately and return to Spain.

A separate criminal inquiry into Mr Hutch is ongoing on suspicion that he directed a criminal network.

The Indo Daily: The Gangland Trial of the Century (Part 1) - Unveiling the life and crimes of Gerry The Monk Hutch

He was arrested by members of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation in September 2022, prior to standing trial for the Regency murder.

Mr Hutch was questioned for several hours before being released without charge and returned to custody in Wheatfield Prison.

Since then, detectives have been preparing a file to be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

It is the States case that he was one of the gunmen dressed in Garda tactical gear who entered the hotel and fatally wounded Mr Byrne.

The Indo Daily - The Gangland Trial of the Century (Part 2): Robin Schiller's first-hand account of Regency shooting

The prosecutions main evidence during the lengthy trial related to audio recordings in which the accused allegedly confessed to the murder, and testimony from former Sinn Fein councillor Jonathan Dowdall.

The ex-politician told the non-jury court that he handed Mr Hutch a hotel room key used by one of the gunmen, Kevin Murray, the day before the murder.

He also gave evidence that he met the defendant in Whitehall Park in the days after the murder, during which Mr Hutch allegedly admitted his involvement.

The defence have denied this. Brendan Grehan SC, for Mr Hutch, argued that the former councillor lied about the interactions.

In his closing speech, Mr Grehan said he would challenge anyone to find any unambiguous admission in any of the audio recordings.

He also submitted that there was no evidence put forward that his client was even in the country let alone at the Regency, apart from Jonathan Dowdalls word.

The three judges, with Ms Justice Tara Burns presiding, will also give their verdicts in relation to Mr Hutchs two co-accused, Jason Bonney and Paul Murphy.

Both men are alleged to have helped the gang involved in the murder by collecting them after the shooting.
Politics

Everything you need to know about the Governments new housing plans
Motorists parking their car in Dublins Phoenix Park may have to pay to do so in the future, it can be revealed.

The Office of Public Works (OPW) has flagged to politicians the potential introduction of parking charges across the entirety of the park.

Parking for visitors is currently free.

The OPW move is planned not immediately, but in the medium to long term as part of wider Climate Action Plan objectives.

The introduction of parking charges may also be aimed at those commuters who leave their cars in the Phoenix Park each day to avoid paying to use commercial car parks in the city centre.

Fine Gael senator Emer Currie, who lives in Dublin West - which is accessed through the park by thousands of commuters every day - is seeking views on the matter, having notified constituents of other looming changes.

Ironically the OPW intends to expand car park capacity in the Phoenix Park in response to a public consultation which received over 5,000 responses.

But those advocating more car spaces will not have anticipated their needs being met in return for parking charges. A further public consultation on the response proposals opens for a five-week period from today.

A Dublin Bus service will be piloted, potentially this summer, to encourage the use of more climate-friendly transport by visitors to the park.

It will run from Parkgate at the city end along the main artery, Chesterfield Avenue, as tourist buses do at present. It will not proceed further west than the visitor centre located near the Phoenix column at the heart of the park.

But a bus service which had been planned from Heuston Station through the Cabra Gate as far as Broombridge station - to allow those arriving from the country to connect with commuter rail services and the Luas - will now not go ahead.

Experiments have shown that the Dublin Bus fleet would not be able to negotiate the Cabra Gate safely, which involves something of a hairpin turn onto Blackhorse Avenue, a relatively narrow thoroughfare.

There will be increased cycle parking within car parks. Meanwhile the full reconstruction of the now-permanent main cycle lanes on Chesterfield Avenue will go out to tender shortly.

The visitor centre car park will have increased capacity, as will a currently ad-hoc car park near the Ashtown gate, which will be made permanent with approximately 40 disabled spaces.

The car park near Dublin Zoo will also be expanded, but the construction costs of all of this will be offset by the eventual introduction of the car parking charges.

There will also be improvements to the Knockmaroon Gate car park, and potentially some new public car parking at Ratra House, close to the rear lands of Aras an Uachtarain and the Civil Defence centre.
Events marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement can provide an impetus to restore devolved governance at Stormont, Tanaiste Micheal Martin has said.

He was commenting as political leaders from the Good Friday Agreement era prepared to participate in a major three-day conference in Belfast commemorating the 1998 deal.

Former US president Bill Clinton, ex-US secretary of state Hillary Clinton and chairman of the Good Friday talks Senator George Mitchell attended several events in Belfast over the weekend ahead of the start of the conference at Queen's University on Monday.

Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and former UK prime minister Tony Blair will also be among the high-profile figures participating at Queen's.

An attending US delegation appointed by President Joe Biden will be led by his special envoy to Northern Ireland, Joe Kennedy III.

Current UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar are due to attend later in the week.

The commemorations are taking place at a time when the powersharing political institutions created by the Good Friday deal are in abeyance due to a row over post-Brexit trading arrangements.

The DUP is blocking the functioning of the Stormont assembly and executive in protest at economic barriers on trade between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

"I would like to think that there's a genuine desire to get the institutions back up and running," Mr Martin said today.

"I've met with all of the party leaders over the last year and, irrespective of their positions, they've all resolutely said that they want the institutions back up and running."

Mr Martin, who will also attend the conference, said the Windsor Framework recently agreed by the UK and EU had resolved many of the issues created by the contentious post-Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol.

He expressed frustration that Stormont was still in cold storage nearly a year after last May's Assembly election.

"All around the world when elections happen, parliaments get convened," he said.

"And I think there was a real necessity to do that in Northern Ireland to respond to the mandate that the people have given their public representatives to enable them to deal with very significant challenges facing Northern Ireland, in respect of economy, health and housing, and many other issues.

"And there are many newly elected MLAs who I know would dearly love the opportunity to participate in the Assembly. Indeed, I've met a number of them from different parties.

"And they're impatient with the fact that the mandate that they have been given by the electorate, they do not have the opportunity to reflect that mandate in the Assembly.

"I would like to think next week may give an impetus and a cause for reflection. I think there is space being provided for people to assess the situation, analyse it from their perspectives.

"But there is no getting away from a very basic democratic thing, which is basically when elections happen, parliaments get convened."

Mr Martin was speaking to reporters after attending the annual Fianna Fail commemoration at Arbour Hill Cemetery in Dublin for the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising against British rule in Ireland.

On Saturday evening, both Bill and Hillary Clinton were guests at a special screening in Belfast of a film about murdered journalist Lyra McKee.

Ms McKee (29) was shot dead by dissident republicans as she observed rioting in Derry in April 2019.

On Sunday, Ms Clinton attended an event for young leaders who have taken part in the Washington Ireland Programme.

Meanwhile, Mr Mitchell was given a standing ovation as he arrived at Belfast's Lyric Theatre on Sunday afternoon for a performance of a play about the striking of the agreement in 1998.
The new Ikea plan and order outlet is opened in Douglas Village in Cork. Photo: Press 22

Ikea is opening a new plan and order point in Cork today to allow shoppers to consult with its interior designers without having to trek to Dublin.

The new mini store, which will be dedicated to kitchen and bedroom planning, will be located in Douglas Village.

Martyn Allan, Ikea market manager, said: As part of our journey towards becoming more accessible, affordable, and sustainable, were excited to open our new plan and order point in Douglas Village Shopping Centre in Cork today.

Ikea fans in Munster have until now had to travel to Dublin to meet us. This new plan and order point means that they can instead meet us to plan kitchens and other areas of their home in their local area.

Mr Allan said the store was an exciting first step in bringing Ikea closer to our customers in southern Ireland.

The Swedish flat-pack furniture giant said the latest store is part of the retailers ongoing transformation to make it easier and more sustainable to shop with Ikea.

The focus in the Doulas store is bespoke kitchen and wardrobe designs, although customers will be able to get inspiration and help with planning for any room in their home.

Products can be ordered from across the Ikea range for delivery direct to the customers home or a location of their choice.

The new Ikea plan and order outlet is opened in Douglas Village in Cork. Photo: Press 22

As well as being able to book an appointment with a designer, customers will also have access to in-store self-service tools to create their own design.

Appointments to consult with one of Ikeas interior designers must be made in advance via an online booking system.

Ikea said customers will be able to work with the designer to create an interior plan perfect for the customers needs and lifestyle.

"This may take up to two consultations before a plan is finalised, with each consultation being free of charge, the company added.

The new Douglas outlet is the fourth plan and order point to open in Ireland in the past 12 months and follows outlets in Drogheda, Naas and St Stephen's Green in Dublin. More are planned to open by the end of the year.

Earlier this month, Ikea announced its first customer distribution centre in west Dublin which, when fully operational, will create 120 jobs.

The 450,000sqft facility will open early next year and will enable Ikea to process online orders directly from Ireland, increasing product availability and cutting delivery times in half.
A well-known Dublin GP has appeared before a medical inquiry over allegations that he conducted an unauthorised medical assessment of a psychiatric patient while representing himself as acting for the Qatari Embassy.

Dr Bassam Nasr, who operates a family practice in Sutton, is accused of professional misconduct for falsely claiming in a phone call to a social worker on April 30, 2018, that he was attached to the Qatari Embassy and seeking details of the medical condition of a patient at a HSE-run mental healthcare facility when he was not the individuals GP and had no authority to access such information.

The patient, a Qatari national, had been involuntarily detained at the Drogheda Department of Psychiatry in Co Louth the previous day after suffering a psychotic episode from suspected drug use.

Dr Nasr faces another charge of professional misconduct in relation to claims that he attended the facility on May 20, 2018, and carried out an unauthorised or inappropriate medical assessment of the patient and sought access to his medical records.

The Irish Medical Council (IMC) also alleges that Dr Nasr told a clinical nurse manager on the same occasion that he had been appointed by the Qatari Embassy to carry out the assessment when he knew such a claim was untrue and acted in a rude, aggressive and unprofessional manner with staff at the facility.

A sitting of the IMCs fitness-to-practise committee on Monday heard that Dr Nasr denies all the allegations.

Counsel for Dr Nasr, Eileen Barrington SC, told the inquiry that he was contacted by a Qatari national in April 2018 about his son who had been detained under the Mental Health Act.

Ms Barrington said her client had never met the man or his son before and neither of them were his patients.

She said the man claimed he had been referred by the Qatari Embassy to Dr Nasr as the father had not received any information about his sons diagnosis from the doctors treating him.

Ms Barrington said Dr Nasr agreed to act as an advocate for the man and to assist with communication as he did not have good English and was concerned his son was not getting proper treatment.

She said the GP offered to help out of goodness and felt that he was professional and courteous at all times to medical staff.

However, Ms Barrington said Dr Nasr acknowledged being frustrated at being unable to ascertain any helpful information for the patients father and apologised if his behaviour was considered aggressive.

Counsel said it was possible that Dr Nasr had told staff that the patients father had been referred to him by the Qatari Embassy.

Counsel for the IMC, Ronan Kennedy SC, said the inquiry arose from a formal complaint made against Dr Nasr by consultant psychiatrist, Jo Rowley, in June 2018.

He told the inquiry that Dr Rowley had described Dr Nasrs version of events as a very sanitised explanation of actual reality.

Mr Kennedy said Dr Rowley believed that the GP realised with hindsight that he had completely overstepped the mark and felt by constantly quoting the Qatari Embassy that staff were going to bow to his pressure and divulge confidential information.

In evidence, Dr Rowley told the hearing that claims that she had refused to meet the patients father were factually incorrect.

The psychiatrist pointed out that staff had called to the patients home where his relatives were staying to discuss his condition but nobody answered the door despite being seen in the property.

Dr Rowley said a junior doctor who spoke Arabic was available to talk to the patient and his family while they had arranged to hold a family meeting which included an interpreter but none of the relatives had shown up.

Under cross-examination by Ms Barrington, she said the patient had not wanted to see Dr Nasr again as he had felt very uncomfortable with the GPs visit.

A clinical nurse manager, Colum Butler, told the inquiry that he was taken back when Dr Nasr asked him on May 20, 2018, for the patients files and explained he had been appointed as a medical representative by the Qatari Embassy.

Mr Butler, who had understood Dr Nasr was just a family friend, said the GP became quite hostile and irritable when informed confidential medical records could not be released and when asked for ID which he could not provide.

He said he was the boss and what he says goes, Mr Butler recalled.

The witness said he asked Dr Nasr to reassess his attitude after he became demanding and inpatient and pointed his finger at him.

Mr Butler said the GP and the patients father were speaking to each other in Arabic and sniggering and laughing.

He said he escorted both men towards the exit and directed security officials not to allow Dr Nasr back to the unit.

Mr Butler said he had done this because he had become suspicious about not getting clarity about the purpose of Dr Nasrs visit.

The inquiry will resume on a date to be fixed.

Last year, Dr Nasr was found guilty of professional misconduct over his failure to notify the IMC of a criminal conviction in relation to tax offences.

The GP, who is known as Doctor Sam to his patients, was subsequently censured and fined 5,000 by the regulatory body.

The Palestinian-born married father-of-seven from Howth Road, Sutton, was sentenced to 16 months in jail in June 2018 for filing incorrect tax returns for 2006 and 2007 which resulted in an underpayment of 100,000 in income tax.

Dr Nasr was the subject of a high-profile public campaign following his conviction with a petition signed by over 6,000 people to have him released from prison on humanitarian grounds, while his case was also discussed on several editions of RTEs Liveline.
The operators of Dublin Airport have refused an invite to appear before the powerful Oireachtas Transport Committee after a whistleblower said gaps in security screening at the airport could lead to a terrorist attack .

The DAA is now being threatened that the committee could use its powers to compel executives to come before TDs and senators if it continues to refuse to appear before the committee.

It said it was busy preparing for the summer season and will instead attend the committee in the autumn.

TDs were expecting to grill DAA chiefs this week after the Irish Independent reported concerns from a whistleblower that gaps in the screening system could lead to a terrorist attack.

The whistleblowers claims are currently being investigated by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA), which has found prima facie evidence in the disclosure.

The disclosure was handed to Transport Minister Eamon Ryan in the Dail last June and his officials passed it on to the IAA, the regulator overseeing Dublin Airport.

In a statement, Kenny Jacobs, DAA chief executive blamed the visit of US President Joe Biden and the busy summer season for being unable to attend the committee meeting this week.

Mr Jacobs said the DAA now needs to put its full focus on the busy weeks and months ahead.

The letter, dated April 4, said the airport is preparing for President Bidens visit.

In addition I am conscious that, at this juncture, daa is very limited in its ability to comment on a number of other areas that may be of interest to committee members, given that they are the subject of statutory and other processes.

In light of these points, I regret that daa will not be in a position to attend the committee on 19 April. However, we would be more than happy to meet with the Committee again once the busy summer season has concluded, Mr Jacobs said.

Fianna Fail senator Timmy Dooley said it is not acceptable that the DAA has refused to appear before TDs this week. He said he will ask acting chairman of the committee, Fianna Fail senator Gerry Horkan, to use compelling powers to force executives to appear before it if they keep refusing invitations.

If they continue to refuse to come, Ill be asking the chairman to seek the powers to compel them to come before the committee, said Mr Dooley.

There are ongoing issues at Dublin Airport and anyone that has travelled through it in recent times will know, especially with delays at Terminal 2, and just poor management of the infrastructure.

It really is disappointing to see that while they continue to upgrade the infrastructure around the shopping experience, the infrastructure around security clearance is very poor.

The DAA was invited to appear before the committee not just to answer questions raised by the disclosure, but also about how it plans to deal with increased passenger numbers during the summer months.

The airport saw a major security breach several weeks ago when a man was able to board an Aer Lingus plane without a passport or boarding pass.

He was later fined and deported after attempting to pass through the airport without a plane ticket a second time. A review of the incident is currently under way.

The DAA has committed to a 15-point plan which will see security queues shortened to just 20 minutes. It has promised to boost security staff numbers to 811, from the current 700.

Labour TD Duncan Smith urged the DAA to reconsider its refusal to attend, calling it "very disappointing". "I would urge them to reconsider and provide a date for appearing at the earliest convenience. There are so many matters, from aircraft noise to security issues, which need a public and transparent discussion."
The aftermath of the fire at the Stardust nightclub in Artane, Dublin in 1981, when 48 people died. Photo: PA

Ireland suffered one of its worst ever disasters on St Valentines night in 1981 when a fire ripped through a nightclub, claiming the lives of 48 young people as they danced and socialised.
2 million a year research funding for former chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan was made without government approval or knowledge of Health Minister, report finds

A commitment to give Trinity College 2 million a year in ring-fenced funding as part of a research package linked to a university post for former chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan was made without government approval or the knowledge of the Minister for Health, a report has revealed.

It bypassed all established protocols.

The report carried out by former Unicef chief Maura Quinn followed the controversy last year around the botched plan to appoint Dr Holohan to a professorship as Professor of Public Health Strategy and Leadership in Trinity College Dublin while still on his 187,000 a year salary from the Department of Health.

Dr Holohan should not have been exclusively personally involved in the negotiation of research funding linked to his possible secondment, she concluded.

The substantial proposed funding commitment of 2 million a year until the retirement of Dr Holohan by-passed all of the accepted protocols for research funding and was linked atypically to one named individual.

The Department of Health press office had announced in March 25 last year that Dr Holohan would be taking up a post in Trinity College but it did not say it was secondment and he would remain an employee of the Department of Health or that 2m a year in funding would be directed to Trinity College.

Following the controversy Dr Holohan decided not to take the post and stepped down in July.

It appears that the Minister for Health knew of the proposed move to Trinity by the chief medical officer but not of the secondment details nor the research funding element.

It appears that An Taoiseach had no knowledge of the proposed secondment and associated funding elements nor did other Members of Government. It also appears that the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform had no knowledge of the matter, said the report.

A letter of intent sent to Trinity on March 16 last was signed by Department of Health Secretary General Robert Watt.

The only other two people with knowledge of its contents were Dr Holohan and the Department of Healths Head of Strategic HR.

The report referred to media coverage on April 5  the date the Irish Independent carried a story saying Dr Holohan would be on secondment and would remain on his Department of Health salary.

This led to Mr Watt preparing a briefing note for the Taoiseach confirming the secondment.

On the same day a briefing note was made for the Minister for Health before a Morning Ireland interview on April 6 but it only focussed on secondment and not the funding.

The report, which has been unpublished since last July, said there appears to have been some awareness in 2021 that Dr Holohan was planning to move on from his role.

As a consequence of the pandemic, these plans were put on hold by the Chief Medical Officer, until February 2022.

The Secretary General, Department of the Taoiseach, had a number of private conversations with the chief medical officer about such a move.

There was acute sensitivity by the chief medical officer and the Secretary General, Department of Health, that details of a possible move by Holohan would not be leaked.

The discussions on this matter were between the Secretary General of the Department of Health and Dr Holohan and all actions by the chief medical officer were agreed with the Secretary General of the Department of Health.

Dr Holohan approached University College Dublin and Trinity College Dublin. The Head of Strategic HR was involved in the discussions about the secondment element of such a move.

We do not know why discussions did not proceed with UCD whereas Trinity College Dublin expressed keen interest in pursuing the matter of a possible secondment to the College and Professorship for Dr Holohan.

The proposed secondment of the Chief Medical Officer to Trinity College Dublin and the associated research funding commitments should not have been linked together.

The chief medical officer should not have been exclusively personally involved in the negotiation of research funding linked to his possible secondment.

The absence of any consultation with the Health Research Board from the outset, on the proposed research funding element, is a deficit, as is the lack of detail on the governance over the proposed funding to Trinity College Dublin.

The substantial proposed funding commitment of 2 million a year until the retirement of the chief medical officer, by-passed all of the accepted protocols for research funding and was linked atypically to one named individual.

The commitment to Trinity College Dublin by the Department of Health of 2 million per year for research funding (to include University Departments of Public Health and others) and the subsequent declaration that this would be subject subsequently to competitive funding is unusual and outside the regular HRB processes.

The report contains statements which highlight disputes over who knew what.

Mr Watt said he shared all critical details with the secretary general of the Department of the Taoiseach at the time Martin Fraser and that he also told then Taoiseach Michael Martins adviser, Deirdre Gillane, of the appointment.

Ms Gillane said these assertions are grossly inaccurate.

Mr Fraser said he knew of the main elements of the appointment but not of the processes for the allocation of the research funding or the potential sources of the funding.

In a statement today, Dr Holohan said that when he sought the move from his role as chief medical officer, it was at all times with the full knowledge and support of the secretaries general of the Department of Health and the Department of the Taoiseach.

He said formal engagement only happened after receiving the support and approval from the Secretary General of the Department of Health.

He said he welcomed the publication of the report albeit delayed. He wrote to the Minister for Health some time ago urging its conclusion and publication.

He said he regrets a valuable opportunity to benefit the future of Irelands public health has been lost .He is gratified the report confirms the engagement of Trinity and UCD was beyond reproach.

He said he hoped there will be learnings for the government departments involved and that by implementing the reports recommendations there will be improved clarity and competence in any future initiatives of this kind.
Tuesday expected to be warmest day of the week, edging close to 20C in some places

People made the most of the improved conditions by sitting out in Herbert Park, Dublin, yesterday. Photo: Arthur Carron

After a washout past few weeks, spring weather has finally emerged and temperatures are likely to reach 19C this week.

Roscommon was the warmest place in Ireland yesterday, with temperatures rising to 21.3C  over 5C hotter than Nice in France.

Sunseekers hoping to catch more rays may have to free up their schedule tomorrow, as it is likely to be the warmest day of the week.

Met Eireann forecaster Emer Flood told the Irish Independent: Tuesday could get close to 20C but its more likely to get to 18C or 19C at the upper scale.

The warmest places will be in the west and midlands and generally it will be 15 to 16C elsewhere.

Today will start off mostly cloudy, with scattered showers and fog likely in southern and eastern coasts. But the sunshine will be back throughout the day and temperatures will reach up to 17C. The warmest areas will be in the south and eastern coastal parts of the country.

The temperatures will tumble back down tonight. It will feel cool, with lows of 3C to 7C. Later in the night some mist and fog will set in and this will be dense in places.

Ms Flood said: Tuesday does look to be the warmest day and the weekend looks like it could be rainy. Its uncertain.

People made the most of the improved conditions by sitting out in Herbert Park, Dublin, yesterday. Photo: Arthur Carron

Tomorrow will start off with fog and mist in places but the sun will break through and it will be largely dry with just a few light showers in the west.

Temperatures will reach between 15C and 18C across Atlantic counties and the midlands. It will be cooler elsewhere due to onshore winds.

The warmth washing over Ireland is particularly welcome following an extended winter that stretched into April

Wednesday will be a cooler day, with cloud and scattered showers, and there could be heavy rain along the east coast. Top temperatures will reach between 11C to 14C.

Looking ahead to Thursday and Friday, it will be mainly dry with some sunny spells. Conditions will be mildest in the west, while highest temperatures are expected to be recorded between 12C and 17C.

The warmth washing over Ireland is particularly welcome following an extended winter that stretched into April.

US president Joe Bidens visit to Ireland last week was greeted with heavy rain and winter-like temperatures as the country was locked in a cooler air mass.

However, for now, the corner has been turned. Ms Flood explained that the country is experiencing a warm sector with a relatively mild air mass.

There will be a mix of sunshine through this week, she said. Tuesday will start out cloudy and even foggy in parts but as the day goes on, there will be pretty good sunshine for most of the day.
Why the new beauty regimes are all about prevention

When you wake up in the morning and your skin looks fresh, of course you feel amazing! laughs Maud McDermott (25). You wear everything on your face  if youre drinking heavily you wear it on your face, if youre eating clean you wear it on your face, and the confidence you have when youre feeling less insecure about your skin, she pauses. Youre just generally a happier person.
Charlie Bird and his wife Claire at the 5km Hand of Friendship Walk in Avondale Forest Park, Co Wicklow. Photo: Fergal Phillips

Charlie Bird and Brent Pope at the 5km Hand of Friendship Walk in Avondale Forest Park, Co Wicklow. Photo: Fergal Phillips

Charlie Bird and his wife Claire leading the 5km Hand of Friendship Walk in Avondale Forest Park, Co Wicklow. Photo: Fergal Phillips

Hundreds of people joined Charlie Bird today as he led a special Hand of Friendship Walk for the Samaritans in his beloved Co Wicklow.

The sun shone down as Charlie, his wife Claire and their dog Tiger joined volunteers and supporters in Avondale Forest Park, Rathdrum.

The veteran broadcaster, who is battling Motor Neurone Disease (MND), vowed to continue his work raising awareness of the charity's work and extending his hand of friendship as long as he is "mobile and alive".

Claire paid tribute to Charlie, calling him an inspiration to her and others after going through a dreadful time following his diagnoses with MND.

Instead of Charlie shutting down shop, not leaving the house, he decided he was going to do something good with the horrors of having MND, she said, highlighting the 3.6m he raised during Climb with Charlie last year.

"He decided after that he wanted to continue working for a charity and he chose Samaritans - and they're an amazing charity.

He's an absolute inspiration, not just to you, but to me as his wife. His courage, his resilience, he's unbelievable and we want to continue working for charities. So today, this is an amazing day to be here for Samaritans.

Mental health advocate Brent Pope was among the supporters who walked with Charlie, and spoke about the difference he is making to people's lives.

The Charlie Bird Hand of Friendship Walk with Samaritans was supported by Coillte, which opened forest routes around the country for the event.

While Charlie led a 5km forest walk in Wicklow, Samaritans volunteers and members of the public walked simultaneously in Lough Key Forest Park, Co Roscommon, Curraghbinny Woods, Co Cork, and at Ard na Gaoithe on the border between Co Galway and Co Mayo.

A commemorative tree was planted at each site before the walk and a special message from Charlie was played to the walkers.

In the recorded messages, he told volunteers in Cork how his parents hailed from West Cork, and those in Galway how his final resting place will be on Inis Oirr.

Charlie also sent supportive words to volunteers from Athlone and Sligo - in Lough Key Forest Park - and promised to visit them if he was well and mobile enough to do so.

Anne Vaughan, volunteer branch director with Dublin Samaritans, encouraged anyone in darkness and despair to reach out for support by calling freephone 116 123.

I would like to thank Charlie Bird, his wife Claire and their dog Tiger who are some team, she said.

Last year, Charlie extended the hand of friendship to us in Dublin and said from the beginning that he wished to do so for all Samaritans and today is that day.

To reach out and give your own precious time to others and raise awareness of Samaritans is a wonderful gift to all of us and we are very grateful. We will always remember with great warmth your hand of friendship, Charlie.
An Irish diplomat has been assaulted at his residence in the Sudanese capital Khartoum.

Aidan OHara (58), the EU Ambassador to Sudan, was attacked earlier today.

The incident has been confirmed by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell Fontelles, who condemned the assault in a Twitter post.

A few hours ago, the EU Ambassador in Sudan was assaulted in his own residency, he wrote.

This constitutes a gross violation of the Vienna Convention. Security of diplomatic premises and staff is a primary responsibility of Sudanese authorities and an obligation under international law.

The EU spokesperson for foreign affairs and security, Nabila Massrali, confirmed to the Irish Independent tonight that Mr OHara was safe.

"Ambassador is ok and not injured. He is continuing his duty and we are in touch with him.

"The security of the staff is our priority.

"The EUDEL is not evacuated. Security measures are being assessed, he added

We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content

In a statement issued tonight, Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin said: I am deeply concerned at the serious incident in Khartoum today at the home of the EU Ambassador to Sudan, Aidan OHara.

"Although not seriously hurt, this is a gross violation of obligations to protect diplomats under the Vienna Convention.

"Aidan is an outstanding Irish and European diplomat who is serving the EU under the most difficult circumstances.

"We thank him for his service and call for an urgent cessation of violence in Sudan, and resumption of dialogue, he added.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said it has been in direct contact with Mr OHara.

Mr OHara joined the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1986 and took up the role of Ambassador to Ethiopia, South Sudan and the African Union in 2012.

The incident comes as the Sudanese capital has been engulfed by explosions and gunfire over the last three days, as the army and a powerful rival force battled in the streets for control of the country.

At least 185 people have been killed and over 1,800 wounded since the fighting erupted, UN envoy Volker Perthes said.

The toll could be much higher because there are many bodies in the streets around central Khartoum that no-one can reach because of the clashes.

There has been no official word on how many civilians or combatants have been killed.

We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content

The doctors syndicate earlier put the number of civilian deaths at 97.

The sudden explosion of violence over the weekend between the nations two top generals, each backed by tens of thousands of fighters, trapped millions of people in their homes or wherever they could find shelter, with supplies running low in many areas.

The two sides are using tanks, artillery and other heavy weapons in densely populated areas.

Fighter jets swooped overhead and anti-aircraft fire lit up the skies as darkness fell.

Top diplomats on four continents scrambled to broker a truce, with the UN Security Council set to discuss the crisis.

Commenting on the situation in Sudan yesterday, Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin said: I am deeply disturbed by the news that military and armed militia forces in Sudan have commenced new rounds of fighting, launching attacks in civilian areas in Khartoum and across the country in Darfur, Kordofan and Northern State, once again resorting to violence in order to consolidate their control over the future of Sudan.

"The pictures from Sudan this morning, with the airport under attack, military aircraft in the skies and civilians once more cowering at home, are completely unacceptable. Hostilities must cease, access must be provided for the provision of essential medical and humanitarian aid, and civilians protected.

I extend my deep condolences to the families and victims of those killed and injured across the country, and express the solidary of the people of Ireland with the people of Sudan as they face into this new tragedy, including with the Sudanese community living here in Ireland.

The people of Sudan have been consistent in their message that legitimacy cannot come from violence and that the countrys transition must be led by a civilian administration committed to freedom, peace and justice.

The cost of this reckless action for the people of Sudan and for the region, are immense. The international community must be clear in its response, he added.

My Department, including our Embassy in Nairobi, will continue to monitor the situation closely, and to work with our partners in the region, within the European Union, and at the United Nations, to seek to end the violence.

Additional reporting by AP News.
Vladimir Kara-Murza could face up to 25 years in jail. Photo: Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty Images

Vladimir Kara-Murza has the same jailer that Sergei Magnitsky had. That fact alone tells you something important about the rot at the heart of the Russian system.
Now that Uncle Joe has flown back home, all were left with is the warm feeling we get from an immigrant departing, but grateful for the welcome. As John F Kennedy reflected 60 years ago following his historic visit to Ireland: You send us home covered with gifts, which we can barely carry, but most of all you send us home with the warmest memories of you and of your country.
Frank Coughlan: It doesnt sit well with some, but our democracy was built on peaceful prose and not bloodshed
The pressure of winning that elusive Masters is not going to go away. But it is certain to ease if he goes out and wins another Major. Picture by David Cannon

Regarding Vincent Hogans article on Rory McIlroy (McIlroy not plumbed to go to war with likes of Rahm, Irish Independent, April 11), Rory lacks the killer edge?

Lets run through the numbers. Four-time major champion. He has 23 PGA Tour wins and 15 wins on the European Tour. PGA Player of the Year multiple times. Race to Dubai winner four times.

FedEx Cup winner three times. Rory has represented Europe in the Ryder Cup six times and has been world No 1 on multiple occasions.

Shane Lowry, himself a major winner, was asked what advice he would give to Rory, and Lowry elegantly stated that he would not presume to give Rory advice.

I understand the concept of the begrudging Irish is all too real, but perhaps Mr Hogan should follow Lowrys advice.

Kent Matthews Burford, Oxfordshire, UK

Land of the free? Or land of the wasteful and indiscreet?

Hollywood has led us to believe that US intelligence agencies and military wings are a bit like Superman crossed with John Wayne. Recent evidence suggests otherwise. In what other country could a young gamer, barely out of short trousers, have security clearance to view and copy highly classified security information on both friend and foe?

The bemedalled 4-star general wheeled out to explain the cock-up was hard put to hide his bemusement, but I doubt if any of his 40-odd gongs were for his intelligence!

The US would be better off trying to manage its staggering debts. Land of the free? More like the land of the wasteful and mostly tasteless. But who cares  its all about publicity and TV ratings.

David Ryan Drumree, Co Meath

Actions that inspire us and speak louder than words

Last Saturday morning I was driving through Ashford, Co Wicklow, toward Dublin. About a mile outside the village I saw a woman in a yellow Tidy Towns jacket with a paper grabber and refuse sack, picking up rubbish.

I have no doubt this is a common weekend sight in both cities and rural Ireland but at that moment I felt very humbled by this woman who, silently and without fuss, was respectfully caring for her local environment. Actions certainly inspire us and speak louder than any words.

Dr Aidan Hampson Artane, Dublin

Like Kennedy in 1963, Joe Biden has been a breath of fresh air

As someone who, as a child, was in the crowd on the balcony in Dublin Airport that greeted President Kennedy 60 years ago, I never expected to be as excited again about the visit to Ireland of an Irish-American president. But Joe Biden has surpassed all our expectations.

His positivity, his relaxed manner, his religious faith and  perhaps most of all  his pride in his Irish heritage, has struck a chord with people across the country.

As a nation we had become too accustomed to a narrative of self-criticism and negativity.

Like President Kennedy was in 1963 so Joe Biden has, in 2023, proved to be a real breath of fresh air.

John Glennon Wicklow

Bending the knee for the next foreign leader to visit

In my opinion, Joe Bidens visit to Dail Eireann on Thursday, April 13, emitted the aura of some all-conquering imperial emperor standing in front of his vassals, with these vassals seemingly pledging their undying devotion and servitude.

Now that the Emperor is gone, Im just wondering, does anyone have any idea who will be the next foreign leader to visit Ireland which, naturally enough, will afford the Irish political class the opportunity to bend the knee, whilst desperately yearning for the pat on the head and perhaps the echoing words of: Good Paddy. Good Paddy!

Seamus Hanratty Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan

Discarded by London and seen as obstructors, DUP in a pickle

It will be interesting to monitor goings- on in Northern Ireland over the coming months. The DUP and its followers are in a pickle, discarded by London and seen as major obstructors to the reinstating of power-sharing. Now Joe Biden has waved the $6bn (5.4bn) ticket in front of them, if they play nice.

Its one thing to agree to absolutely nothing when dealing with Sinn Fein, but when your own side start drum-beating (pardon the pun) thats when things get interesting.

Eamon Kearney Ayrfield, Dublin 13
BOTH the beauty of Irelands coastline and the potentially destructive power of the sea have been encapsulated in a series of images captured by a group of amateur photographers from Fermoy.

For its Coastal Challenge Fermoy Camera Club tasked members to capture images portraying the theme and submit them anonymously to their colleagues to be judged.

Camera Club PRO Padraig Barry said competitions this kind offer members an opportunity to challenge themselves and showcase their photographic skills.

The diversity of photographs was testament to the creative skills of members and the way each of us see and interpret the world around us, said Padraig.

Though the judging process, members were given a welcome opportunity to learn from each other in a constructive and friendly setting, he added.

Helen Arnolds image One Man and His Beach took third spot, George OKeeffes image entitled The Lost Valley came second with members placing Deirdre Casolanis Lobster Pots in first place.

Deirdres image of a set of lobster pots on the quayside was a great example of seeing something beautiful in an everyday object that most people would pass by without a second glance. In doing so, she encapsulated the club motto of having Fun with Photography, said Padraig.

He said Fermoy Camera Club was a great way for photography enthusiasts to connect with like-minded individuals, improve their skills and explore new locations and techniques.

If people would like to learn more about membership they can email fermoycameraclub@gmail.com of check out our Facebook and Instagram pages, said Padraig.
The cocaine haul was discovered hidden in the refrigeration unit of a maritime container on a ship that arrived in Cork from South America.

THE use of highly trained sniffer dogs to help stem the flow of illegal narcotics coming into the country has once again paid dividends following last Fridays significant discovery of cocaine at a Cork port.

In what was described as a joint intelligence led operation conducted by Revenue Customs Service and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB), 55kgs of cocaine with an estimated value of 3.85 million were seized at Ringaskiddy Port.

Through a combination of the Revenues dedicated Maritime Unit, their detector dog Merlin and their mobile-x-ray unit, the drug haul was discovered following the search of a ship after its arrival in Cork from Ecuador in South America.

A Revenue spokesperson said the cocaine had been found hidden in the refrigeration unit of a maritime container and that investigations into the seizure were ongoing.

This seizure was part of Revenues ongoing joint investigations targeting organised crime groups and the importation, sale and supply of illegal drugs, said the spokesperson.

If businesses, or members of the public, have any information regarding drug smuggling, they can contact Revenue in confidence on phone number 1800 295 295, they added.
Two teachers talk about their experience of leaving Ireland for a new life abroad

Jonathan Sweeney, from Tallaght in Dublin, is now living and teaching in Dubai

Two young teachers who left Dublin for work abroad have said the cost of living was the main motivator behind the move.

Along with thousands of others all around the country, they emigrated to avoid high rents and have the chance to save for a mortgage.

This week, primary school teachers instructed their union to negotiate a special Dublin allowance for those working in the capital, where severe accommodation shortages and high rents are leaving schools unable to recruit and retain staff.

Two teachers who left the country in recent years spoke to Independent.ie about their lives since leaving Dublin for Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

Jonathan Sweeney

Once I finished college, I moved into a house share with three lads. That lasted about six weeks. It became a juggling act, money was needed left, right and centre, the Tallaght native said.

The cost of living in Dublin alone, its so expensive. The cost of housing, even the food bill, everything is gone up. I remember chicken fillet rolls used to be 2.50, now its crazy.

I was quite a homebird, Id no interest in leaving the big city and moving abroad. But over here, I was amazed by the amount of Irish living here, you find them everywhere.

Its such a small world, everyone is connected over here. Ive been here three years now.

I wrote out a budget for a year, what Id earn here and what Id earn abroad. Dubai outweighed Dublin.

There was a sense of fear when I was leaving. The thought of leaving family, friends and dog behind, its terrifying. But its only one flight away.

Jonathan, from Firhouse, is loving life in Dubai, where hes able to see different parts of the world and meet new people along the way.

Every school provides you with medical insurance, not something youd get for nothing at home, he said.

You dont have as much tax on your wage, theres great weather. Ive a housing allowance and they look after my visa too.

Jonathan Sweeney from Dublin is now living in Dubai

Saving for a mortgage at home now is not doable. The money Ive had, the opportunity to save in Dubai, I wouldnt be able to do that at home.

Youre not waking up every single day to gloomy weather, the sun is shining here. It helps with getting up in the mornings, youre in a good state of mind before leaving the house.

Im enjoying it an awful lot and saving. Not paying rent, thats an extra 1,300 a month, the extra youre not paying in tax, it does add up.

I know people whove gone home after living here, but people tell me not to rush home because nothing is changing.

Philip Kelleher

Originally from Cork, Philip studied to be a teacher in Hibernia College, Dublin. Once he finished, he left for Dubai.

I completed Hibernia in the summer of 2020. I got into teaching late, I was 26 when I finished, he said.

It was always the plan to come over here at some stage, but like a lot of other people, Covid escalated that.

One of the biggest draws to come out here was definitely to save. Its tax free so you earn more money, you find that people are staying here for four to five years to try and get a deposit for the house.

The money is slightly better than home and accommodation allowances are provided as well.

Philip Kelleher with his girlfriend in Dubai

Thats a big draw, I had an interview with the school, I was flown over, my visa was sorted for me.

I was brought to a fully-furnished apartment, its a very smooth transition. Its very well set up and very appealing for teachers.

I get a flight home every year and all my medical bills are covered. I get home every Christmas and summer, so itd be about 11 weeks.

There wouldnt be a month gone by without having a friend or family member come over to visit either.

The weather is good over here, Ive the opportunity to travel a good portion of the world from here.

Im getting international experience; the kids and the way things are done are a lot different compared to home. Ill be bringing that experience back with me whenever I decide to return.

Although Philip says the lifestyle is better, he finds that teaching is more demanding in Dubai.

The lifestyle is very good here, but the teaching can be more difficult and harder compared to what it is at home, he said.

Youre getting a better quality of life, but your work life is a bit tougher and a bit longer. Theres more paperwork and more meetings.

The length of the day is generally a lot longer, at home youd work from 9am to 3pm. Here, its 7.15am until 3.30pm.

At home youre trying to get your permanency and thats our school for life. But over here, I was given a three-year contract, its finished soon but Ive the option to extend it, he added.
In a development that has created a great sense of excitement, one of Irelands leading fashion retailers has opened a new store in Killarney and is creating 10 new jobs in the process.

In what has been described as a very significant and welcome commercial boost for the town, fashion giant Born has set up in a 4,734sq ft store at Killarney Outlet Centre.

A long queue of excited customers gathered as the fabulous new shopping experience was officially launched by Mayor of Killarney, Cllr Niall Kelleher, last week

With a reputation for making fashion accessible and fun, Born opened its first premises in 2009 and now boasts 23 stores nationwide, as well as offering a top class online option.

Killarney Outlet Centre Manager, Paul Sherry, said the arrival of Born is a hugely positive development for Killarney and it will be a major attraction going forward.

They see the huge potential in the town and it will give locals and visitors a whole new retail experience based on quality, choice and value, he said.

The business occupies the former Edinburgh Woollen Mills units, numbered 13 to 15, on the ground floor of the landmark commercial premises.
Defence Forces Charity appoints first female Veteran Support Officer for Kerry and Cork

Audra Larkin has recently been appointed as the first female VSO (Veteran Support Officer) for the Irish Defence Forces' charity ONE. Audra will now have responsibility for both the Cork and Kerry regions. She spoke to Fergus Dennehy this week about the work the charity does and what she hopes to achieve in her new role.

Audra Larkin has recently been appointed as the first female VSO (Veteran Service Officer) for Irish Defence Forces' charity Oglaigh Naisiunta na hEireann (ONE) for the Kerry and Cork regions.

Fergus Dennehy Kerryman Mon 17 Apr 2023 at 13:11
Almost nine months after setting out from Dingle to take part in the Golden Globe round the world yacht race, West Kerry sailor Pat Lawless tied up his boat at Dingle marina on Friday, out of the race but now established as one of the most respected solo sailors on the planet.

Pat sailed Green Rebel out of Dingle last July 27 and was one of 15 competitors who started the Golden Globe race from Les Sables dOlonne in France on September 4. He led the early stage of the race and was still among the leading boats as the fleet approached Cape Town when disaster struck two months and almost 8,000 miles into the race.

His self-steering gear, which is a critical piece of kit for solo sailors, broke in heavy weather and he limped into Cape Town on November 11 where he had the option of getting assistance to make repairs. However, under Golden Globe race rules, sailors who get any outside help are disqualified from the race, even though they can continue in the non-competitive Chichester class.

Pat felt there was no point being in the race if he wasnt in with a chance of winning it so, broken hearted at the decision, he pulled out of the contest and his hopes of Golden Globe glory ended at the Cape of Good Hope. Even so, his achievement in the race up to that point won him the respect of the sailing community worldwide.

After stepping out of Green Rebel at Dingle marina where he was met by family and friends on Friday, Pat told The Kerryman he had nobody but himself to blame for the failure of his self-steering equipment. Its my own fault, I should have checked it before I left, he said ruefully.

Just over a week after Pat retired from the race another of the leading skippers had to be rescued after his boat sank in dramatic circumstances in the Indian Ocean, and this Tuesday a rescue operation was underway after another boat suffered catastrophic damage in a storm in the south Atlantic. Only three yachts remain in the race and, like Pat, most of the yachts that were forced to retire suffered self-steering gear failure. The leaders are currently about 1,000 miles west of the Canaries and are expected to cross the race finish line in France at the end of the month.
A Kerry farmer who lost around 90 sheep and lambs in an attack by wild dogs has spoke about his ordeal and said that he can't help but think of the suffering of the sheep
Conservation badly needed by Office of Public Works

Mayor of Drogheda, Cllr Michelle Hall welcomes the response and reassurance to her letter from Minister for State Patrick ODonovan about the conservation of the Monasterboice High Crosses. Cllr Hall had written to the Minister last September, whose portfolio includes the Office of Public Works, but only received a formal reply on April 11th.

Cllr Hall was concerned about the conservation of the internationally significant monastic crosses and has received some reassurance from the Minister that they have not been subjected to too much wear and tear in recent years and that OPW staff regularly carry out inspections of the site.

In 2009, the Monasterboice County Louth Conservation Study, commissioned by the OPW and Louth County Council examined conservation options for the Monasterboice High Crosses as it was at severe risk of vandalism and erosion. It is reassuring that in 2019, the same stone conservator examined Muirdeachs Cross and found it to be in a very stable condition. The Tall Cross will be examined very soon, she explained.

However, I am concerned about the effect that global warming will have on the crosses. We are now experiencing high volumes of rain more frequently and who knows how that may affect stability and erosion on the crosses. It is also open to vandalism as we saw recently on the Hill of Tara.

She says she is looking forward to engaging closely with OPW staff that have been instructed by Minister ODonovan to contact Cllr Hall.

"The public toilets have now been reopened by Louth County Council and I would hope that this will be an all year-round amenity, not just for the summer season, she added. I will continue to liaise with the heritage officer, locals and other stakeholders to ensure that we maximise the potential for tourism to Monasterboice and the greater Drogheda area, but in a sustainable manner that is conducive for human and natural environments.

Deputy Mayor of Drogheda Kevin Callan also raised the issue at the monthly meeting of Louth County Council.

Independent Councillor Callan put forward a motion at the April meeting for action to be taken to protect the High Crosses. Louth County Council have responded that they will now enter into communications with the Office of Public Works to begin the process.

Speaking at the council meeting, Cllr Callan said that he was asking the Council to start communications with the Office of Public Works to see if protective covers could be installed on site to have a Perspex cover shield the crosses from rain.

The crosses are internationally renowned and are the finest examples of Celtic high crosses in Ireland. The British Museum created plaster full scale moulds of the crosses in 1903 and these are currently in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The copies show the substantial amount of erosion from rain water in even 120 years".

"I am asking the council to start discussions to see will the OPW implement a covering over the two main crosses that will allow them to stay on site. As this is an operational graveyard, any such measures would have to be sympathetic to the graveyard but if we do not act, the structures will continue to lose detail. The Office of Public Works are responsible for the structures as they are national monuments and are over 100 years old".

Louth County Council have confirmed that it will enter into discussions with the Office of Public Works on the matter.
Members of the Carlingford Pipe Band are screened before playing during the visit of President Biden to Carlingford. Photo: Ken Finegan/www.newspics.ie

Smiling in the rain.....pictured during the visit of President Biden to Carlingford. Photo: Ken Finegan/www.newspics.ie

An invitation to play at the White House was the reward for the Carlingford Pipe Band whose members had braved the rain on Wednesday afternoon to perform for President Joe Biden when he toured King Johns Castle .

The band, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, was thrilled to be asked to play at what was a relatively private visit by President Biden, his sister Valerie and son Hunter to the castle overlooking Carlingford Lough.

Seventeen members of the band, pipers and drummers, played as the Presidential party entered the castle. They then took up position inside the Norman castle and played a piece composed by band member David McCloskey.

David had composed the piece called A Biden Return following President Bidens election in 2020 in the hope that one day he might again visit Co Louth. The dream of the band getting to perform the piece for the President came true last Wednesday.

The President chatted to band members and David presented him with the sheet music for the piece he had composed.

As the President was talking to the members, Niall Clarke asked if he could take a selfie and Mr Biden then grabbed his phone and proceeded to take a selfie.

It was a brilliant day for the band, said Niall. He went round a spoke to every single one of us.

Niall is the third generation of the family to play in the band, following in the footsteps of his father Luke Clarke, grandfather , also Luke Clarke and his uncle Tommy Clarke.

He said it was thanks to pipe major Paddy McShane that he learned to play.

Many of the current band are the children, grandchildren or great grandchildren of the founder members of the original Carlingford pipe band, which was active from the 1930s to 1951 and then revived after a lapse of 20 years, explained John Harold.

The band has previously performed at the St Patrick's Day Festivals in New York and Boston but it's exciting and most memorable performance to date was

for President Biden in the homeland of his ancestors. Could Washington be on

the cards?
People awaiting the arrival of US President Joe Biden in Dundalk, Co Louth, during his trip to the island of Ireland. Picture date: Wednesday April 12, 2023. PA Photo. See PA story IRISH Biden. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Police officers take down soaked flags due to the rain as U.S. President Joe Biden visits Dundalk, Ireland, April 12, 2023. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

US President Joe Biden (2nd left) visits on a walkabout through Dundalk, Co Louth, during his trip to the island of Ireland. Picture date: Wednesday April 12, 2023. PA Photo. See PA story IRISH Biden. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

People awaiting the arrival of US President Joe Biden in Dundalk, Co Louth, during his trip to the island of Ireland. Picture date: Wednesday April 12, 2023. PA Photo. See PA story IRISH Biden. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Garda on a rooftop ahead of the arrival of US President Joe Biden in Dundalk, Co Louth, during his trip to the island of Ireland. Picture date: Wednesday April 12, 2023. PA Photo. See PA story IRISH Biden. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

A woman poses in front of a shop adorned with images of U.S. President Joe Biden in Dundalk, Ireland, April 12, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

People wave as US President Joe Biden leaves after a visit to Dundalk, Co Louth, during his trip to the island of Ireland. Picture date: Wednesday April 12, 2023. PA Photo. See PA story IRISH Biden. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Patricia Moriarity with a selfie of herself and US President Joe Biden during his walkabout through Dundalk, Co Louth, during his trip to the island of Ireland, She works in the food house restaurant that Joe visited. Picture date: Wednesday April 12, 2023. PA Photo. See PA story IRISH Biden. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Its a day that will live long in the memories of the people of Dundalk and Carlingford. A day when thousands turned out to welcome Joe Biden, the 46th President of the United States of America. A day when the skies opened and drenched the crowds that waited for hours on the streets of Carlingford, along the roadside in Cooley and on the streets of Dundalk. A day when the most powerful man in the western world said he felt at home.

It was not our first rodeo in this part of the world. Dundalk had previously welcomed President Bill Clinton and his wife Hilary on a night in December 2000 that will go down in history. Carlingford and Cooley had twice put out the red carpet for Mr Biden.

This time was different, however. This time they were welcoming home one of their own, the great, great grandson of Owen Finnegan, who sailed out of Carlingford Lough in 1849, followed by his wife and son a year later.

Theres scarcely a family in Ireland that doesnt have relatives in the United States, whether they too emigrated in search of a better life hundreds of years ago or more recently.

This story of the returning Yank is a familiar one and we know to get out the best china and make a fuss of the visitor.

Dundalk and Carlingford are twin jewels in Louths crown, and while all the stops were pulled out to ensure they were looking their best, the truth is that real hard work had already been done. It was just a shame that the morning sunshine which saw them sparkling, gave way to grey skies and pouring rain.

Gardai from around the country poured into the county with their armed units, horses and dogs, standing forlornly along the route of the Presidential motorcade, rain dripping from their caps.

The worlds media turned up and images of a romantic windswept castle and brightly coloured streets were beamed around the world as commentators discussed the significance of the Presidents visit to our Wee County,

It was a day when memories were made, whether its of the incessant rain, of standing on tippy toe to catch a glimpse of President Biden, shaking his hand, getting a selfie, or watching the visit unfurl on television from the comfort of a warm dry room.

It was a day when the people of Dundalk, Carlingford and north Louth could be proud of giving a Cead Mile Faile fit for a President.
Councillor Dara Mulvey raised issue at Health Forum

No plans are in place for the development of a separate Minor Injuries unit at Sligo University Hospital, a meeting of HSE Regional Health forum West.

The matter had been raised by Councillor Dara Mulvey who said called on the HSE to incorporate a Medical Assessment Unit or Minor injury Unit in the Emergency Department at the hospital when planning new facilities there.

He said minor jnjuries could be treated at such a unit and avoid long waiting hours at the Emergency Department.

A response from the HSE stated: The establishment of Local Injury Units (LIUs) and Medical Assessment Units (MAUs) have been a much-needed addition in the provision of emergency care across Ireland.

However, there is variation in the activity and operations of these units. There are many factors that are influencing this, including staffing, physical infrastructure, public knowledge of services and clinical pathways with primary care and Model 3 and 4 hospitals in the area.

In order to better understand the capacity and capability of the LIUs and MAUs in the Model 2 hospitals a detailed assessment of these units commenced in Q4 2022.

The project is due to conclude by end of April 2023. The primary objective of this piece of work is to understand the activity and operations of IUs and MAUs across the country and to identify key findings and insights to inform future planning regarding utilisation, operations, staffing and governance.

In the expanded Department area in Sligo University Hospital, a dedicated four bay minors area has been created to see these patients that present with minor injuries.

This is supported by Advanced Nurse Practitioners to help streamline patients through the Emergency Department.

No plans are in place for the development of a separate Minor Injuries unit in Sligo.
Dail address was a warm and personal occasion says Deputy

President Biden meets Deputy Marian Harkin at the Dail as Ceann Comhairle Sean OFearghaill and Deputy Mattie McGrath look on.

Sligo Leitrim TD Marian Harkin says she was delighted to meet US President Joe Biden during his visit to the Dail, last Thursday which she described as a warm, personal occasion.

She said:I was honoured to represent the Independent Group in welcoming the President to Dail Eireann when he addressed the joint session of the Dail and Seanad.

I was introduced to the President by the Ceann Comhairle who explained I had been a member of the European Parliament and elected to the Dail on two occasions.

The President said, So you have been around the houses, You and me both, Mr President, I replied.

Deputy Harkin and the President spoke about US Senator Tom Harkin, a relative of the TD who is a long-serving Democratic Senator from the State of Iowa and a good friend of the President. He was Deputy Harkins guest in the Dail a few months ago.

The occasion of the Presidents visit was extraordinary, Deputy Harkin said.

His address was personal and warm, and was totally reciprocated by a packed chamber of TDs and Senators, former members, Taoisigh, former President McAleese with ambassadors and dignitaries from various countries.

His first words as he looked up to the heavens were, Mom you were right, and this set the tone for his address. It wasnt about policy issues other than at the highest overarching level.

He talked about shared values and the dignity of every single person along with the importance of equality and diversity in decent societies, the Deputy said.

Deputy Harkin described the Presidents presence in Ireland to support the Good Friday Agreement and strengthen democracy as a reminder that peace and democracy cannot be taken for granted.

After 25 years of peace in Northern Ireland we know that peace is not a static thing, it is something that has to be worked out and worked on every day and every week in communities throughout the island.

Similarly, democracy is not something we can take for granted because there are many agents and many groups, here and across the world, whose purpose is to undermine the democratic order and that is something we have to be vigilant about and protect fiercely, Deputy Harkin said.

Overall, she described the Presidents speech and the occasion as uplifting.

The President used one word to describe Ireland and that was possibility. It gives us a real sense that so much is possible.

Flying into Ireland West Airport, visiting Knock Shrine and County Mayo was a fitting end to a wonderful trip and was a great occasion for the people of the entire North West, Deputy Harkin concluded.
US President Biden touches part of the gable wall of the original church where the apparition of Our Lady is said to have happened.

US President Joe Biden visiting Knock Shrine and Basilica in Mayo with PP Fr. Richard Gibbons, on the last day of his visit to Ireland on Friday.

US President Joe Biden shed tears in Knock last Friday afternnon after meeting the Sligo priest who gave his son Beau the last rites before he died in 2015. Gurteen native, Fr Frank OGrady  the chaplain who was by Beau Bidens side as he died  had a chance meeting with the president at Knock Basilica during the Presidents final day of his four day trip to Ireland.

Fr OGrady, who is now the chaplain at Knock shrine, spent 12 of his 30 years service with the US military at Walter Reed Military Hospital in Washington DC and was assigned to the Medical Intensive Care Unit where Beau Biden was for six weeks until he died.

Fr OGrady said: He didnt know I worked here. So when  I saw him, he was a bit emotional. The last time we met was when his son was very ill eight years ago and it all came back to him.

He told RTE that he was surprised to be called because he knew it was a private visit and only a select number of people were allowed into the basilica. He said Knock parish priest Fr Richard Gibbons  who did not know the connection between the two until the president spoke of his sons death after arriving  made a call for a staff member to seek him out.

Fr OGrady said: I was very surprised when I got a phone call to say the president wanted to see me. It was a delightful ten minutes with him. I hadnt seen him really in eight years since Beau died, he said.

I met in the apparition chapel, himself, and his son Hunter and also his sister. We had a nice chat for about ten minutes. He was delighted to see me and I was delighted to see him. He gave me a big hug and Hunter gave me a big hug. It was like a reunion, said Fr OGrady.

I said to him he was a person of great faith and he said the faith sustained him in the past, in that difficult time, and still does.

He continued: He certainly misses his son. He has been grieving a lot, but I think the grief is kind of going down a bit. We talked a little bit about how grief can take several years.

President Biden told Fr OGrady that his faith had sustained him, adding that he was thrilled to be in Knock, in Ireland, and overwhelmed at the countrys beauty, as well as peoples kindness.

He certainly was very impressed with Knock. As a man of great faith. It really hit home very hard to him about his sons passing when he comes to Knock, because we talk about mysteries of life and death in a place like Knock, all the time here.

He is a man of great faith, and it is just a coincidence that I happened to meet him.

The death of his son, who was attorney general for Delaware, had a profound impact on President Biden, who on Thursday told the Dail that he hadnt intended to run for president in 2020 in the wake of his sons passing.

You know, I hadnt planned on running for president again in 2020. My son Beau, who had just died of stage four glioblastoma after coming back from Iraq after a year  He was the attorney general of Delaware. As a matter of fact, he should be the one standing here giving this speech to you, he said.

President Biden made a private visit to the shrine shortly after touching down in Air Force One at Ireland West Airport. He also visited Mayo/Roscommon Hospice, in Knock where he broke ground at its construction in 2017. A plaque on the ground at the entrance to the hospice is dedicated to Beau Biden. It was an emotional time as the President took a moment to look at the plaque before entering the hospice to meet the staff.
They say that everyone has a book in them and at a recent workshop with former Hot Press writer Jackie Hayden, members of Gorey Writers Group learned how to share their own story.

The event, which took place in the Loch Garman Arms Hotel, gave the writers a crash course in the art of writing memoir. As one of Irelands most respected music writers and the author of My Boy his book about Philip Lynott, Love and Theft? Bob Dylans Celtic Odyssey and his biography of Don Baker, The Winner In Me, Jackie is well-versed in the style. Jackie also spent 29 years with Hot Press where he interviewed and told the stories of artists including Mick Taylor of The Rolling Stones, Christy Moore, Sinead OConnor, Glen Campbell and Bob Geldof.

According to Carmel of Gorey Writers Group, the workshop was an extremely informative and interesting event, one that gave each writer the opportunity to ask questions and put pen to paper. Jackie offered them a myriad of tips on memoir writing, including those regarding editing and publishing and the importance of stringent fact-checking. Several of the group members are interested in penning their own memoirs, said Carmel, and this workshop offered them all of the tools to get going on the first chapter.

This was certainly not the first time that the group members had worked with Jackie. In 2019, the writer launched their anthology Taking Flight, which had a diverse range of contributions from the members. This was the second such anthology, with the first Fledglings launched in 2016 by the late John Wyse Jackson who owned Zozimus bookshop.

Gorey Writers Group will glean knowledge from another successful author later this month when they take part in a workshop with local author Sheila Forsey.

Sheila is the author of four novels and her work has reached the Irish Times Best Sellers list. Her latest book The Lake House at Lenashee, which is primarily set in Clare in the 1960s, has been described by The Sunday Independent as a Gothic-style tale with an Irish twistescapism at its best. Sheilas writing has received numerous acclaimed reviews for giving a visual and textured insight into Ireland's past in the last century. She is also a playwright and a tutor in creative writing.

The Gorey Writers Group was founded by Bernie Walsh in 2006 and has gone from strength to strength ever since.




Thousands of jobs may be lost to another country, Cathaoirleach of Wexford County Council warns

The Cathaoirleach of Wexford County Council has said that thousands of jobs could be lost to another country unless urgent government action is taken to develop Rosslare Europort to ensure its ready to become an offshore wind energy hub.

Cllr Lawlors concerns were sparked by a report undertaken for Wind Energy Ireland which was published last week and stated that Belfast is the only port on the island of Ireland that is currently capable of constructing offshore wind farms, and that Ireland could be about to miss out on an incredible economic opportunity as a result.

The report stated that state investment in ports was vital, as is common and widespread in Europe to ensure that Ireland is ready to take advantage of what is a massive and growing industry. It also said that failure to act by the government meant that offshore wind projects, due to compete in an auction next month, still have no idea which Irish ports, if any, will be available to construct the wind farms.

"If we don't act on this urgently, we risk all these jobs going elsewhere and we will lose out on what is a wonderful economic opportunity, Cllr Lawlor said.

"This is very much at risk and unless the government steps in to lessen the risk for private investment, we are in danger of losing the whole thing. The government needs to stand behind Rosslare if its going to see offshore wind energy plans proceeding. If not, were in danger of seeing these jobs go to Britain and France.

This was something also stated by Wind Energy Ireland CEO Noel Cunniffe, who said: Instead of growing jobs in Wexford, Cork and Limerick, our wind farms will be creating employment in Great Britain and France.

While last year, an ambitious plan to cast Rosslare Europort as Irelands Offshore Renewable Energy Hub was announced, one which would see over 2,000 jobs created, Cllr Lawlor fears that we are behind the curve and that urgent investment of between 100m and 200m is required to catch-up.

"It's imperative we get moving on this, he said. If we lose this, it will be a huge loss for Rosslare. These offshore wind energy companies will undoubtedly set up in countries that are better prepared.
The UN is to stop sending food to Sudan after three of its employees were killed during a second day of clashes between the countrys army and paramilitary forces.

The army has been fighting to control the rapid support forces since their apparent coup attempt on Saturday.

Violence intensified yesterday and eyewitness reported explosions and gunfire were rattling buildings in the densely populated northern and southern suburbs of Khartoum, the capital.

At least 56 civilians, including the UN staff, have been killed and there have been tens of deaths among security forces, according to a committee of medics.

In Darfur, where fighting was fierce, three Sudanese UN staff were killed. There was also an attack on the organisations aircraft at Khartoum airport during an exchange of gunfire that resulted in it being significantly damaged, said Cindy McCain, World Food Programme (WFP) executive director.

While we review the evolving security situation, we are forced to temporarily halt all operations in Sudan, she added.

The decision is a blow to a country that depends on WFP aid and where 15 million people  a third of its population  are at risk of severe hunger.

By yesterday afternoon, the combatants had agreed to pause hostilities for several hours to allow the wounded to be evacuated.

The violence follows weeks of power struggles between the army and the paramilitary RSF, which the army accuses of attempting a coup. The unrest reflects the political instability that followed the toppling of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir in 2019.

The leaders of the forces now fighting each other  army chief Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burham and commander of the RSF, Lt Gen Mohamed Hamdan  united to seize power in a military coup in 2021. The military and the RSF had each claimed they had control of Sudans airport and other key installations in Khartoum on Saturday.

The hour of victory is near, the army said in a statement yesterday. There were reports of army tanks rolling into Khartoum and warplanes firing on RSF positions, highlighting the imbalance of power between the two sides  the paramilitaries do not have any military aircraft.

Leveraging this strength, the army yesterday launched air strikes on the paramilitaries base in the city of Omdurman, which adjoins the capital Khartoum.

The gunfire and explosions are incessant, said 34-year-old Ahmed Hamid who lives in a northern suburb of Khartoum.

The situation is very worrying and it doesnt seem like it will calm anytime soon, said Ahmed Seif, another Khartoum resident, who said he feared his building had been damaged by gunfire but that it was too dangerous to go outside to check.

The RSF was created in 2013, emerging from the Janjaweed militia that then-president Omar al-Bashir unleashed against non-Arab ethnic minorities in Darfur a decade earlier, prompting accusations of war crimes.

The RSFs planned integration into the regular army was a key element of talks to finalise a deal that would return the country to civilian rule and end the political-economic crisis sparked by the militarys 2021 coup, which handed the power to its leadership.

The latest violence, during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, came after more than 120 civilians had been killed in a crackdown on regular pro-democracy demonstrations during the past 18 months.
Police officers escort Atiq Ahmed from court in Prayagraj, India, last week, days before the killing. Photo: Ritesh Shukla/Reuters

A former Indian politician convicted of kidnapping and facing murder charges was shot dead along with his brother in a dramatic attack on live TV.

Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were under police escort on their way to a medical check-up at a hospital at the weekend when three men posing as journalists targeted the two brothers from close range in Prayagraj city in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

The men quickly surrendered to the police after the shooting, with at least one of them chanting Jai Shri Ram, or Hail Lord Ram, a slogan that has become a battle cry for Hindu nationalists in their campaign against Muslims.

Uttar Pradesh is governed by Indias ruling Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party since 2017. Since then, more than 180 people facing criminal charges in Indias most populous state have been killed in so-called police encounters that rights groups say are often extra-judicial killings.

Following Saturdays shooting, authorities imposed a ban on the assembly of more than four people across the state and also cut internet access on mobiles in Prayagraj city. The government also ordered a judicial probe headed by a retired judge.

Police officer Ramit Sharma said the three assailants came on motorcycles posing as journalists.

They managed to reach close to Atiq and his brother on the pretext of recording [them] and fired at them from close range. Both sustained bullet injuries on the head, he said. It all happened in seconds.

Multiple videos of the shooting went viral on social media. It was initially broadcast live on local TV channels as the brothers spoke to media while being taken to the hospital.

The footage shows someone pulling a gun close to Atiq Ahmads head. As he collapses, his brother is also shot. The video shows assailants repeatedly firing at the two men after both fell on the ground.

Atiq Ahmad (60) was jailed in 2019 after he was convicted of kidnapping a lawyer, Umesh Pal, who had testified against him as a witness in the killing of a lawmaker in 2005. In February, Mr Pal was also killed.

On Thursday, Atiq Ahmads teenage son and another man, both of whom were blamed for Mr Pals death, were killed by police in what was described as a shootout.

Two weeks earlier, Atiq Ahmad had petitioned the Indian Supreme Court for protection, saying there was an open, direct and immediate threat to his life from state functionaries of Uttar Pradesh. But the court declined to intervene and instead asked his lawyer to approach the local state court.

Atiq Ahmad was a state lawmaker four times and was also elected to Indias Parliament in 2004 from Uttar Pradeshs Phulpur constituency, once represented by Indias first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

He faced more than 100 criminal cases and was among the first politicians from Uttar Pradesh to be prosecuted under the stringent Gangster Act when it was introduced in the late 1980s.

He also cultivated a Robin Hood image among mostly Muslim constituents and used to financially help many poor families.

But he was also criticised for leveraging his political clout to develop a syndicate that was an active player in the real estate market amid allegations of forced capture of properties and other crimes.

Opposition parties criticised the killings as a security lapse and accused the government of ruling by fear.
The clashes are part of a power struggle between armed forces General Abdel-Fattah Burhan and Rapid Support Forces General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.

Sudans embattled capital awoke on Monday to a third day of heavy fighting between the army and a powerful rival force for control of the country, as the weekends civilian death toll rose to 97.

Air strikes and shelling intensified in parts of Khartoum and the adjoining city of Omdurman.

Rapid, sustained firing was heard near the military headquarters, with white smoke rising from the area. Residents reported power outages and incidents of looting.

The clashes are part of a power struggle between General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, commander of the armed forces, and General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group.

The pair are former allies who jointly orchestrated an October 2021 military coup that derailed Sudans short-lived transition to democracy.

Both men have dug in, saying they will not negotiate a truce, instead engaging in verbal attacks and demanding the others surrender.

Nevertheless, both have powerful foreign backers, making them potentially susceptible to mounting diplomatic pressure.

Since fighting erupted on Saturday, 97 civilians have been killed and hundreds more have been wounded, said the Sudan Doctors Syndicate, a pro-democracy group monitoring casualties.

There has been no official word on the number of fighters killed.

Footage posted online on Monday purported to show RSF barracks in Omdurman, with the bodies of dozens of men in camouflage uniforms sprawled on beds and the floor of a medical ward and in a sandy outdoor area. Another video showed civilians inside the base, apparently looting food.

The authenticity of the videos could not be confirmed independently, but they surfaced after the military said it had targeted RSF bases with air strikes.

Mohmed al-Mokhtar al-Nour, an RSF adviser, told the Al Jazeera satellite network on Sunday that RSF forces have withdrawn from the camp.

The doctors group said a stray shell struck a hospital south of Khartoum on Monday morning, without causing casualties.

The chaotic scenes of fighting with tanks, truck-mounted machine guns, artillery and warplanes in densely populated areas of the capital are unprecedented. Sudan has a long history of civil strife, but much of that has taken place in remote tribal areas, far from Khartoum.

The violence erupted during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan which ends later this week and is capped by the three-day Eid al-Fitr holiday.

On Sunday, the warring sides agreed to a three-hour suspension of fighting to allow civilians to stock up on necessities but compliance was patchy, and there were reports of casualties during the humanitarian pause.

Top diplomats urged the sides to stop fighting, including the US Secretary of State, the UN secretary-general, the EU foreign policy chief, the head of the Arab League and the head of the African Union Commission. The UN Security Council was to discuss the developments in Sudan later on Monday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken renewed his call for a truce and a return to negotiations during a meeting of the Group of Seven wealthy nations in Japan on Monday.

People in Sudan want the military back in the barracks, he said. They want democracy. They want the civilian-led government. Sudan needs to return to that path.

The fighting also spread to the war-wrecked western Darfur region, and areas of northern and eastern Sudan, near the borders with Egypt and Ethiopia.

Over the weekend, the World Food Programme suspended its operations in Sudan after three of its employees were killed in fighting in Darfur.

In recent months, negotiations had been under way to get back on a path to democracy. Under international pressure, Generals Burhan and Dagalo agreed a framework deal with political parties and pro-democracy groups.

However, the agreement was vague on key points of dispute, including how the RSF would be integrated into the armed force and who would have final control.

The signing of the deal was put off repeatedly, amid rising tensions between the two men.
The two sides are using tanks, artillery and other heavy weapons in densely populated areas.

Smoke is seen rising from Khartoums skyline in Sudan (Marwan Ali/AP)

Sudanese in the capital Khartoum and other cities have huddled in their homes for a third day, as explosions and gunfire thundered outside and the army and a powerful rival force battled in the streets for control of the country.

At least 185 people have been killed and over 1,800 wounded since the fighting erupted, UN envoy Volker Perthes said.

The two sides are using tanks, artillery and other heavy weapons in densely populated areas.

Fighter jets swooped overhead and anti-aircraft fire lit up the skies as darkness fell.

Gunfire and shelling are everywhere Awadeya Mahmoud

The toll could be much higher because there are many bodies in the streets around central Khartoum that no-one can reach because of the clashes.

There has been no official word on how many civilians or combatants have been killed.

The doctors syndicate earlier put the number of civilian deaths at 97.

The sudden explosion of violence over the weekend between the nations two top generals, each backed by tens of thousands of fighters, trapped millions of people in their homes or wherever they could find shelter, with supplies running low in many areas.

Top diplomats on four continents scrambled to broker a truce, with the UN Security Council set to discuss the crisis.

Gunfire and shelling are everywhere, Awadeya Mahmoud Koko, head of a union for thousands of tea vendors and other food workers, said from her home in a southern district of Khartoum.

She said a shell struck a neighbours house on Sunday, killing at least three people.

We couldnt take them to a hospital or bury them.

In central Khartoum, sustained gunfire erupted and white smoke rose near the main military headquarters, a major battlefront.

Nearby, at least 88 students and staff have been trapped in the engineering college library at Khartoum University since the start of the fighting, one of the students said in a video posted online on Monday.

One student was killed during clashes outside and another wounded, he said.

They do not have food or water, he said, showing a room full of people sleeping on the floor.

Even in a country with a long history of military coups, the scenes of fighting in the capital and its adjoining city Omdurman across the Nile River were unprecedented.

The turmoil comes just days before Sudanese were to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting.

The power struggle pits General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the commander of the armed forces, against General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group.

The former allies jointly orchestrated an October 2021 military coup that derailed Sudans transition to democracy.

The violence now threatens to throw the country into a wider civil conflict just as Sudanese were trying to revive the drive for a democratic, civilian government after decades of military rule.

The US, the UN and others have called for a truce.

Egypt, which backs Sudans military, and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates  which forged close ties to the RSF in recent years as it sent thousands of fighters to support their war in Yemen  have also called for both sides to stand down.

But both generals have thus far dug in, demanding the others surrender and ruling out negotiations.

The European Unions foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, tweeted that the EU ambassador to Sudan was assaulted in his own residency, without providing further details.

Gen Dagalo, whose forces grew out of the notorious Janjaweed militias in Sudans Darfur region, portrayed himself in a statement on Twitter on Monday as a defender of democracy and branded Gen Burhan as the aggressor and a radical Islamist.

Both generals have a long history of human rights abuses and have cracked down on pro-democracy activists.

Heavy gunbattles raged in multiple parts of the capital and Omdurman, where the two sides have brought in tens of thousands of troops, positioning them in nearly every neighbourhood.

Twelve hospitals in the capital area have been forcefully evacuated and are out of service because of attacks or power outages, the Sudan Doctors Syndicate said, out of a total of around 20 hospitals.

Four other hospitals outside the capital have also shut down, it added in a statement late on Monday.

Hadia Saeed, a housewife, said she and her three children were sheltering in one room on the ground floor of their home for fear of the shelling as gunfire rattled across their Bahri district in north Khartoum.

They have food for a few more days, but after that we dont know what to do, she said.

Residents said fierce fighting with artillery and other heavy weapons raged on Monday afternoon in the Gabra neighbourhood south-west of Khartoum.

People were trapped and screaming inside their homes, said Asmaa al-Toum, a physician living in the area.

Fighting has been particularly fierce around each sides main bases, located amid civilian areas, and at strategic government buildings.

The military on Monday claimed to have secured the main television building in Omdurman, fending off RSF fighters trying to seize the building for days.

State-run Sudan TV resumed broadcasting.

The military scored a significant gain on Sunday when the RSF said it abandoned its main barracks and base, in Omdurman, which the armed forces had pounded with air strikes.

Online videos on Monday purported to show the bodies of dozens of men said to be RSF fighters at the base, strewn over beds, the floor of a clinic and outside in a yard.

The authenticity of the videos could not be confirmed independently.

The military and RSF were also fighting in most major centres around the country, including in the western Darfur region and parts of the north and the east, by the borders with Egypt and Ethiopia.

Battles raged on Monday around a strategic airbase in Merowe, some 350 kilometres (215 miles) north-west of the capital, with both sides claiming control of the facility.

Only four years ago, Sudan inspired hope after a popular uprising helped depose long-time autocratic leader Omar al-Bashir.

But the turmoil since, especially the 2021 coup, has frustrated the democracy drive and wrecked the economy.

A third of the population  around 16 million people  now depends on humanitarian assistance in the resource-rich nation, Africas third largest.

Save the Children, an international charity, said it has temporarily suspended most of its operations across Sudan.

It said looters raided its offices in Darfur, stealing medical supplies, laptops, vehicles and a refrigerator.

The World Food Programme suspended operations over the weekend after three employees were killed in Darfur, and the International Rescue Committee has also halted most operations.

With the US, European Union, African and Arab nations all calling for an end to fighting, the UN Security Council was to discuss the developments in Sudan later.

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said he was consulting with the Arab League, African Union and leaders in the region, urging anyone with influence to press for peace.

Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry discussed the violence in separate phone calls with his Saudi and French counterparts, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said.

At a meeting of the Group of Seven wealthy nations in Japan on Monday, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said the Sudanese want the military back in the barracks. They want democracy. They want the civilian-led government, Sudan needs to return to that path.

Under international pressure, Gen Burhan and Gen Dagalo had recently agreed to a framework agreement with political parties and pro-democracy groups.

However, the deal was vague on key points of dispute, including how the RSF would be integrated into the armed forces and who would have final control.

The signing of the deal was put off repeatedly as tensions rose between the generals.
Workers unload debris, belonging to crashed Air France flight AF447, from the Brazilian Navys Constitution Frigate in the port of Recife, northeast of Brazil, Sunday, June 14, 2009 (Eraldo Peres/AP/PA)

A French court has acquitted Airbus and Air France of manslaughter charges over the 2009 crash of Flight 447 from Rio to Paris.

The accident killed 228 people and led to lasting changes in aircraft safety measures.

Three young Irish doctors  Aisling Butler (26) of Roscrea, Co Tipperary, Jane Deasy (27) from Dublin and Eithne Walls (28) from Co Down  were among those killed in the crash.

Sobs broke out among victims families in the courtroom as the judges read out the decision.

The official investigation found that multiple factors contributed to the crash, including pilot error and the icing over of external sensors called pitot tubes.

The two-month trial left families wracked with anger and disappointment. Unusually, even state prosecutors argued for acquittal, saying that the proceedings did not produce enough proof of criminal wrongdoing by the companies.

Workers unload debris belonging to crashed Air France flight AF447 from the Brazilian Navys Constitution Frigate in the port of Recife, northeast of Brazil, on June 14, 2009 (Eraldo Peres/AP/PA)

Prosecutors laid the responsibility primarily with the pilots, who died in the crash. Airbus lawyers also blamed pilot error, and Air France said the full reasons for the crash will never be known.

Airbus and Air France had faced potential fines of up to 225,000 each if convicted.

Air France has already compensated families of those killed, who came from 33 countries. Families from around the world were among the plaintiffs, including many in Brazil.

The A330-200 plane disappeared from radar in a storm over the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009, with 216 passengers and 12 crew members aboard.

It took two years to find the plane and its black box recorders on the ocean floor, at depths of more than 13,000 feet (around 4,000 metres).

An Associated Press investigation at the time found that Airbus had known since at least 2002 about problems with the type of pitot tubes used on the jet that crashed, but failed to replace them until after the crash.

Workers unload debris, belonging to crashed Air France flight AF447, from the Brazilian Navys Constitution Frigate in the port of Recife, northeast of Brazil, Sunday, June 14, 2009 (Eraldo Peres/AP/PA)

Air France was accused of not having implemented training in the event of icing of the pitot probes despite the risks. Airbus was accused of not doing enough to urgently inform airlines and their crews about faults with the pitots or to ensure training to mitigate the risk.

The crash had lasting impacts on the industry, leading to changes in regulations for airspeed sensors and in how pilots are trained.

The trial was fraught with emotion. Distraught families shouted down the chief executives of Airbus and Air France as the proceedings opened in October, crying out Shame! as the executives took the stand.

Dozens of people who lost loved ones stormed out of the court when the prosecutors called for acquittal.
Ukrainian prisoners of war are seen during a swap at an unknown location in Ukraine. Photo: via Reuters

A mercenary group fighting for Russia in its war against Ukraine freed more than 100 prisoners to mark the Orthodox Easter in what may be its only prisoner release of the war.

A video posted on the internet by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner group chief, shows his fighters wearing balaclavas as they watch the thin, dirty and unshaven Ukrainian soldiers walking along a muddy tree-lined road in the combat fatigues they had been wearing when captured. Many were wounded.

One man was being carried on a stretcher and another supported by two others as he hobbled along.

I hope you dont fall back into our hands, an armed Wagner soldier can be seen telling them.

Since deploying his mercenaries in Bakhmut last summer, Mr Prigozhins star has risen significantly and he rarely misses an opportunity to posture.

He has accused the Russian elite of being decadent and lazy and blamed them for undermining the war effort, drawing comparisons with what his fearless Wagner fighters battling it out on the frontline and his own high work ethic.

At the start of the prisoner-release video, Mr Prigozhin was seen telling a Wagner fighters: Prepare all of them, feed and water them, check the wounded.

Earlier, he released a video of himself in combat uniform lighting a candle in what appears to be an abandoned church to mark Orthodox Easter. Its location was not given but Wagner has been fighting in Bakhmut, which Ukraine says is experiencing unprecedented bloodshed.

While celebrations were subdued due to security risks, with a curfew barring the faithful from customary all-night services, Ukrainian authorities and ordinary people shared messages of hope, linking the story of Jesuss resurrection to their longing for peace and a Ukrainian victory.

Presidential adviser Andriy Yermak announced that 130 soldiers, sailors, border guards and others captured by Moscow were on their way back home following a big Easter prisoner exchange.

Mr Yermak said in a Telegram post yesterday that those released included troops who fought near Bakhmut, the eastern mining city which has for months been the focus of Russias offensive.

The lives of our people are the highest value for us, Mr Yermak said, adding that Kyivs goal was to bring back all remaining POWs.

There was no immediate information on how many Russian prisoners were released In his Easter address released yesterday morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the holiday as marking the victory of good, the victory of truth, the victory of life.

Belief in victory unites all of us always, and especially today. At Easter, which from time immemorial has been a family holiday for Ukrainians, a day of warmth, hope and great unity. We are one big family  Ukrainians. We have one big home  Ukraine. We have one big goal  victory for all, Mr Zelensky said.

Ukraines top soldier, General Valery Zaluzhnyy, drew parallels between the Christian message of resurrection and renewal and Ukraines hopes for victory.

Easter is a holiday of great hope. Hope that will bring us peace. I believe that together, united, we will overcome the enemy, he said. He also thanked all front-line soldiers who would hold the defence in the trenches, stay in the dugouts, ... carry out combat duty as the rest of the country celebrates.

In central Kyiv, people gathered in the courtyard of the landmark St Michaels Golden-Domed Monastery to have their Easter eggs and baskets of food blessed by a priest.

For a second year in a row, Moscows brutal war has interrupted holiday routines. Ukraines security service this week warned residents not to linger in churches to minimise security risks.
Life

At last, we seem to be getting the best from our plug-in hybrids 03:30
Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for treason and denigrating the Russian military (AP)

A court in Moscow has convicted a top Kremlin opponent on charges of treason and denigrating the Russian military and sentenced him to 25 years in prison.

Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr, a prominent opposition activist who twice survived poisonings he blamed on the Kremlin, has been behind bars since his arrest a year ago.

He has rejected the charges against him as political and likened the judicial proceedings against him to the show trials during the rule of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

In his final statement last week, Kara-Murza said he remains proud of standing up to Russian President Vladimir Putin's "dictatorship" and his decision to send troops into Ukraine.

"I know that the day will come when the darkness engulfing our country will clear," he said in remarks posted on social networks and Russian opposition media.

"And then our society will open its eyes and shudder when it realises what terrible crimes were committed in its name."

Amnesty International denounced the sentence as "yet another chilling example of the systematic repression of civil society, which has broadened and accelerated" after the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine.

"This verdict wrongly conflates human rights activism with 'high treason' and is reminiscent of Stalin-era repression," Amnesty's Russia director, Natalia Zviagina, said in a statement.

The group declared Kara-Murza a prisoner of conscience convicted solely for his political beliefs and demanded his immediate and unconditional release.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to comment on the sentence.

The charges against Kara-Murza stem from his March 15 speech to the Arizona House of Representatives in which he denounced Russia's military action in Ukraine.

Investigators added the treason charges while he was in custody.

Russia adopted a law criminalising spreading "false information" about its military shortly after it sent troops into Ukraine on February 24 2022.

Authorities have used the law to stifle criticism of what the Kremlin calls "a special military operation".

Kara-Murza, a journalist, was an associate of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was killed near the Kremlin in 2015.

Kara-Murza survived poisonings in 2015 and 2017 that he blamed on the Kremlin. Russian officials have denied responsibility.

Another prominent opposition figure, Ilya Yashin, was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison late last year on charges of discrediting the military.
The fire has ripped through swathes of woods and scrubland straddling the countrys southern border with Spain.

Firefighters are tackling Frances first major forest blaze of the year (Pierre Petit/SDIS66/AP)

Frances government sounded the alarm about the growing risk of forest fires because of climate change as hundreds of firefighters in the countrys parched south wrestled with their biggest blaze so far this year.

The fire, which erupted on Sunday, burned on more than 2,500 acres (1,000 hectares) of woods and scrubland along the Mediterranean coast and spread across the border into north-eastern Spain.

On a visit to the area on Monday, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said: The fire season is starting early because of climate warming.

France has been afflicted by forest fires for years but they generally used to start later in the year.

However, major wildfires in Europe are now starting earlier, becoming more frequent and harder to stop, and doing more damage.

Scientists say they are likely to get worse as climate change intensifies, and the Mediterranean region is warming faster than the global average.

Mr Darmanin said: Were in April. We have already seen the start of several important fires, notably in the south of France.

Droughts that hit France last year have been compounded by shortages of rain this past winter, leaving already tinder-dry woodlands at even greater risk.

French authorities are urging home-owners to chop back and thin out trees and scrubland around their properties and appealing for people to take extra care not to discard cigarettes or otherwise start fires inadvertently.

Hundreds of firefighters backed by water-bombing planes were deployed to tackle Sundays forest fire between Banyuls-sur-Mer and Cerbere in southern France.

French rescue services spokesman Arnaud Wilm told broadcaster FranceInfo on Monday morning that the blaze is being successfully contained and that its biggest flames have been extinguished but fire crews are still working to completely stop its spread and put it out.

On the Spanish side, firefighters said the flames that spread close to the town of Portbou are still active but have been stabilised and are no longer spreading.

They said two border roads remain closed to traffic and the train service linking Portbou to Cerbere has been halted.

Spanish national television said some 50 people were temporarily evacuated from their homes, while around 20 French people unable to cross the border were given accommodation in the town overnight.
One of the giants of Israeli culture died aged 87 last month

Chaim Topol starred as Tevye the milkman in the West End premier and the film of Fiddler on the Roof

Israeli actor Chaim Topol lived a double life as an agent for Mossad, his family has said.

The Fiddler on the Roof star died last month aged 87.

He used his fame to gain access to high-profile locations around the world, and used his London home as a base to welcome spies for the Israeli intelligence agency, his family said.

He often visited embassies, airports and airlines of Arab countries, his widow Galia and children Adi and Omer said in an interview with Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

They claim Topol went on unexplained trips abroad in the 1960s and 70s with a state-of-the-art miniature camera and tape recorder.

I dont know exactly what the appropriate definition is for the missions and duties he performed, his son Omer said.

But what is clear is that Dad was involved in secret missions on behalf of the Mossad.

His status in those years was that of an international star, and he could go anywhere he wanted. He had the ability to deliver documents and take pictures without anyone questioning anything.

He was however no James Bond, Omer added.

The family said much of Topols secret work was carried out when he moved to London for a run of Fiddler on the Roof in the West End.

He was Tevye the milkman in the 1967 London premiere and in the 1971 Norman Jewison film version.

He toured in the role around the world for decades, reprising the performance more than 3,500 times.

He became one of Israels most famous actors, winning two Golden Globes, and being nominated for both an Academy Award and a Tony.

Announcing his death in Tel Aviv last month, Israeli president Isaac Herzog called him one of the giants of Israeli culture.
The crime scene one day after a shooting at a teenager's birthday party in in Dadeville, Alabama, on Saturday. Photo: Cheney Orr/Reuters

A six-year-old boy plays with a gun on sale during the NRA annual convention in Indiana at the weekend. Photo: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

Four people were killed and many others injured in a shooting at the weekend at a 16th birthday party in the small US town of Dadeville in Alabama.

A local TV station reported that more than 20 people had been injured in the shooting, citing investigators on the scene.

Were going to continue to work in a very methodical way to go through this scene, to look at the facts, and ensure that justice is brought to bear for the families, said Jeremy Burkett, a sergeant with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.

He would not confirm any more details, including the number injured.

The shooting occurred at 10.34pm at the Mahogany Masterpiece Dance Studio on Saturday but officials disclosed no information about what led to the shooting in the town with a population of around 3,000.

Most of the victims are understood to be teenagers  one was named by his grandmother as Phil Dowdell, a star athlete in his high school.

It is known whether any suspects had been taken into custody.

What has our nation come to when children cannot attend a birthday party without fear? President Joe Biden said in a statement.

Guns are the leading killer of children in America, and the numbers are rising  not declining. This is outrageous and unacceptable. Americans agree and want lawmakers to act on common sense gun safety reforms.

He urged the US Congress to pass laws that would make firearms manufacturers more liable for gun violence, ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and require safe storage of firearms and background checks for gun sales.

Tallapoosa County Schools Superintendent Raymond Porter said counselling would be provided at local schools today, and asked local clergy to help families through the situation.

We will make every effort to comfort those children and dont lose sight of the fact that those are the ones most impacted by this situation, Mr Porter said.

The FBI, the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Fifth Circuit District Attorneys Office had also responded to the scene and were assisting with the investigation.

The shooting occurred within weeks of two high-profile mass shootings in the nearby states of Tennessee and Kentucky, which prompted local leaders to call for tighter gun control measures last week.

Meanwhile, Republicans vying for their partys 2024 presidential nomination and other high-profile party members tried to prove themselves most supportive of gun rights without restrictions in Indiana this weekend at the annual conference of the National Rifle Association (NRA), the countrys largest gun lobby.

A bank worker last week shot dead five colleagues and wounded nine others at his workplace in Louisville, Kentucky. On March 27, three nine-year-olds and three staff members were killed at a Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, by an ex-student.

Mass shootings have become commonplace in the US. There have been more than 149 so far in 2023, the most at this point in the year since at least 2016, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The non-profit group defines a mass shooting as four or more shot or killed, not including the shooter.
This publication is designed to introduce the fundamentals of investing in the Indian market and includes a gu...
Mumbai, UNI/IBNS: Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde has declared that the state government has given assistance of Rs.5 lakh each to the families of the deceased due to heatstroke during the Maharashtra Bhushan Award Ceremony at Kharghar.

At least 11 people succumbed to sunstrokes after attending the awards ceremony on Sunday which was attended by Home Minister Amit Shah at Kharghar in Navi Mumbai.

Some Shri members (followers of Nanasaheb Dharmadhikari Pratishthan) attending the Maharashtra Bhushan Award ceremony held at Kharghar had to be shifted to hospital due to heat stroke. Eleven of them died during treatment.

Several lakhs of people were sitting for hours under searing sun at the Kharghar International Corporate Park grounds when social activist Dattatreya Narayan alias Appasaheb Dharmadhikari was conferred the award.

Shinde who visited the hospital last night said: "I pay my heartfelt tribute to these Sri Members. This is a very painful and unfortunate incident.

"The government will provide assistance of five lakh rupees each to the families of the deceased and the medical expenses of the members who are undergoing treatment in the hospital will be borne by the government."

The Chief Minister interacted with the patients undergoing treatment. Also discussed with the doctors there and got information about the treatment.

Speaking to the media representatives on this occasion, the Chief Minister said, due to heat stroke, Sri Member had to be admitted to the hospital. Doctors at the venue administered first aid to some Sri members.

Some had to be shifted to hospital. It has been directed to appoint an officer of the rank of Deputy Commissioner of Panvel Municipal Corporation to coordinate the patients admitted to MGM Hospital and their relatives.

On this occasion, the Chief Minister gave instructions to ensure that patients and relatives are not inconvenienced.
Image Credits: Tripura Govt.

Sabroom/Tripura: The Friendship Bridge connecting India and Bangladesh, also known as "Maitri Setu," situated in the southern district of Tripura, is likely to become operational by June of next year, suggested Aditya Mishra, the Chairman of the Land Port Authority of India (LPAI) during his visit to Sabroom on Thursday.

A group of five individuals, led by Mustafizur Rahman, the High Commissioner of Bangladesh stationed in Delhi, visited the Bharat-Bangla Maitri Setu in Sabroom, reported Northeast Today.

Among the delegation were Ariful Rahmam, the Foreign Affairs Minister of Bangladesh, AKM Atiqul Haque, the Commerce Minister of Bangladesh, and Arif Mohammad, the High Commissioner of Bangladesh in Agartala.

Aditya Mishra, the Chairman of the Land Port Authority of India, along with Lt. Col. Geetsab, the Director (Technical) of LPAI and other Indian officials involved in the construction of the Integrated Check Post were present, as well as former local MLA Shankar Roy, on India's side.

During their visit to Sabroom, the delegation inspected the ongoing construction work of the Maitri Bridge and Integrated Check Post (ICP), and assessed the status of the project's advancement.

A temporary ICP meeting was held, during which representatives from both countries discussed the progress made so far.

Mustafizur Rahman, the High Commissioner of Bangladesh in Delhi, expressed his admiration for the work being carried out at the Integrated Check Post (ICP) during the meeting between the two countries' representatives.

They also agreed to submit recommendations to their respective foreign ministries in the next two months, regarding allowing the daily travel of 200 to 300 individuals through passports.

It should be noted that the "Maitri Setu" is a 1.9 kilometer-long bridge that connects Sabroom in India to the Chittagong Port in Bangladesh, which is approximately 80 kilometers away.

In March 2021, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the "Maitri Setu" alongside Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Image Credit: IBNS File

Kolkata/IBNS: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday demanded the resignation of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in response to the latter's claim that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government will fall in 2025 if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) gets 35 Lok Sabha seats next year.

Addressing a press conference at her office Nabanna, Mamata said, "I have no objection to his (Amit Shah's) political statements. He has every right to say them. But how can he say the government will fall in 2025?"

"The Home Minister, who is the custodian of law and constitution, is giving the call to topple an elected government," the Chief Minister said, demanding Shah's resignation.

During a rally in Birbhum last week, Shah urged people to re-elect the Modi government in the 2024 General Elections, electing 35 MPs from the BJP.

Shah added the TMC government won't survive if the BJP gets 35 of 42 Lok Sabha seats.

Last time before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Shah had set a target of 23 seats for the BJP.

Though the BJP had failed to breach the TMC fort in 2019, it gave a massive jolt to the governing party increasing its tally from 2 to 18.
Image: Pixabay

Jalaun (UP)/IBNS/UNI: An undergraduate student was shot dead as she was returning home after appearing in an examination in the Ait area of Jalaun district here in Uttar Pradesh on Monday, police sources said.

Police sources said Roshni Ahirwar (20), a resident of Aindha village, was a Bachelor of Arts (BA) first-year student at Ram Lakhan Patel degree college.

"Around 11:40 am while Roshni was returning home after appearing in the examination she was shot by two motorcycle-borne assailants in her head from the close range at Kotra trisection," they said.

Police sources said Roshni died on the spot.

"The local residents attempted to nab the assailants but they managed to flee the spot. During this, the assailants left the firearm on the spot," they said.

Roshni's father Man Singh Ahirwar said his son dropped Roshni at the college in the morning.

He said after the exam Roshni called and said she had left for home but was shot dead near Kotra trisection.

He said her elder daughter was also a BA final year student in the same college, but she didn't go due to a holiday. He said that normally both the sisters used to go to college together.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Iraj Raja said, "A student was shot dead while she was returning after appearing in the exam."

"Some concrete evidence has been found against the assailants and they will be arrested soon. A case has been lodged on the complaint of the family members," he said.
New Delhi/IBNS: Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has written a strongly worded letter threatening legal action against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ministers over accusations that he tried to stop the Delhi government's electricity subsidy for the poor.

In the past few weeks, Delhi Power Minister Atishi and Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj had been attacking Saxena with claims that he allegedly made attempts to derail the Delhi government's power subsidy programme by not clearing the necessary files.

The Lieutenant Governor has denied these allegations and called them "blatantly false, misleading, accusatory, libellous and defamatory".

He even challenged the AAP government to show evidence to prove that he tried to stop the power subsidy, a widely popular scheme among the urban poor in the national capital.

"I write to you seeking accountability and responsibility with regards to unsubstantiated and false statements made by you and your colleagues in the government and party against me," Saxena wrote in the letter to Kejriwal.

"You are well aware that I have always been committed to power subsidy to the poor and have made the same amply clear in public domain, as indeed in writing on different files on different occasions," the Lieutenant Governor said.

"The omissions and commissions on your part have obviously been deliberate and with an aim to create an imaginary bogey to mislead the people for partisan gains... You are requested to furnish any paper or communication that establishes that the Lt Governor wants power subsidy to be stopped or is conspiring with officers or a political party to stop power subsidy, as is being openly alleged by your ministers and colleagues in the party," Saxena said.

On Friday last week, Atishi alleged that the subsidies will be stopped as the Lieutenant Governor was yet to clear the file to extend it.

Saxena's office, however, denied her allegation and said the file was cleared.
Image Credit: Twitter/Uddhav Thackeray

Mumbai/IBNS: Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal met Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai on Monday, where they discussed opposition unity ahead of the national election in 2024.

They also discussed the alleged misuse of central probe agencies by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government to target opposition leaders.

"I came here to meet Uddhav ji and to convey the message of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. The message is very clear - in the current political situation in India and Maharashtra, Uddhav ji is fighting against anti-democratic forces," Venugopal told reporters after the meeting.

"Democracy has been completely sabotaged by Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, we have seen that. The ED and CBI are being used to target Uddhav ji's and other parties," he said.

Venugopal called for a "broader opposition unity", which is the reason for Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi's meeting with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, his deputy Tejashwi Yadav and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar last week.

The two Bihar leaders had also met Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as a witness in the Delhi liquor policy case.

"The opposition will together fight the dictatorship of Narendra Modi. There may be differences in opinion. The Congress, Sena and NCP have their own ideology, but the country is facing bigger issues which we never faced. That's why we discussed all these issues and we are all in agreement that we all have to get together and fight these people," Venugopal said.

Gandhi will meet Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai sometime, and the Sena chief will also visit Delhi soon, the Congress General Secretary said.

Agreeing with the visiting Congress leader, Thackeray said everyone has their own ideology; however, their battle is to save democracy.

"Hum jab dosti nibhate hai, wo dosti nahi, rishta hota hai (for us, friendship is family)," Thackeray told reporters.

"We supported the BJP for 25 years, but they never really understood who is a friend and who is an enemy," he added.

The BJP often takes digs at the opposition's attempt to unite when there are disagreements and even outright hostility between some of them.
Image: Facebook/Huang Xilian

Beijing: China has advised the Philippines to oppose the independence of Taiwan instead of offering the United States access to its military facilities near the Taiwan strait, Manila-based publication Daily Tribune reported.

The Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines, Huang Xilian, on Friday said Manila should stand against the firm sovereignty claim of democratic, self-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing sees as part of its own territory awaiting reunification.

The Chinese diplomat stressed this in his keynote speech at the 8th Manila Forum, which was co-presented by the Embassy of China in Manila and the Association for Philippines-China Understanding, reports ANI.

Huang also said that rather than stoking the fire by offering the US access to military bases near the Taiwan Strait, the Philippines should care genuinely about the 150,000 overseas Filipino workers (in Taiwan), reported Daily Tribune.

This comes after China ramped up its political and military pressure on Taiwan following last weeks meeting between Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California.

While China commends the Philippines for adhering to the one-China principle, he explained that Taiwans issue is entirely Chinas internal affair, as is the Mindanao issue to the Philippines.

You will never allow any third party to meddle with resolving rebel issues in Mindanao. Likewise, it should not be hard to understand why the announcement of the four additional EDCA sites has caused widespread and grave concern among Chinese people, he said.

The Chinese envoy reiterated that the United States intends to use the additional Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites to push for its own interests and agenda at the expense of peace and development of the Philippines and the region at large.
File image by Kleinschmidt /MSC via Wikimedia Commons

Beijing: Top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi, in a statement released by the Chinese foreign ministry on Saturday, said China "hopes and believes" that Germany will support its peaceful reunification with Taiwan, FOX news reported.

Wang, during a meeting with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in China, said that China once supported the reunification of Germany.

To maintain stability in the Taiwan Strait, it is necessary to firmly oppose separatist activities related to Taiwan independence, Wang said.

"Taiwans 'return to China' was an essential part of the post-World War II international order," Wang added.

Baerbock on Friday said that any attempt from China to gain control of Taiwan would come with serious repercussions for Europe.

A military escalation in the Taiwan Strait, through which  50 per cent of world trade goes every day, would be a horror scenario for the entire world, Baerbock said.

Baerbock said that any potential military escalation would have inevitable repercussions for interests in Europe, Fox News reported.

Her comments are seemingly at odds with what French President Emmanuel Macron said following a trip to China on Sunday, asking Europe to avoid following the American rhythm on Taiwan.

We dont want to get into a bloc versus bloc logic, Macron said during an interview with Les Echo.

"Europe should not be caught up in a disordering of the world and crises that arent ours, he added.

Taiwans Foreign Ministry, in a statement, said that it strongly approved of the German foreign ministers statement, according to Fox News.
File photo from Wallpaper Cave

Islamabad: The World Bank has termed the rise in Pakistans fiscal deficit and debt as dangerous for its economy and made several suggestions to the country to counter this problem  starting with the end of subsidies.

The World Bank, in its report, has recommended debt management and establishing a single treasury account to improve the South Asian country's economy.

It said that Pakistan could save Rs 2.72 trillion annually by eliminating unnecessary expenses and subsidies as they eat up 70 percent of the budget.

The World Bank added that besides increasing revenue, savings equivalent to 4 percent of the GDP were possible through these administrative measures.

Rs 315 billion could be saved by limiting the development budget, according to the report.

The report has suggested to entrust various matters including 90 percent of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) expenses to the provinces.

A sum of Rs 217 billion could be saved if the provinces covered 90 percent of the BISP cost, it added.

The report mentioned that the tax revenue share of the Pak federal government was only 46 percent while the expenditure stood at 67 percent.

The report said that interest, subsidies and salary expenses were a major burden on the federal government.

The World Bank in its report maintained that expenditures and deficits increased after the 18th Constitutional Amendment, reports The Express Tribune.

The fiscal deficit of 7.9 percent last year reached a 22-year high, according to the report.

It added that the debt ratio was also recorded at a high level of 78 percent, while the total revenue in Pakistan was 12.8 percent of the GDP.
Recommendation: Add

Target Price: Rs 1,180

Analysts at IIFL Securities see two risks to TVS EV story over the next 12 months:

1) Hondas entry into e-scooters

2) Possibility of withdrawal of FAME subsidy for all players from April 2024.

Honda is the market leader in ICE scooters. Launch of Honda Activa EV is likely to shake up the 2W EV market, given its strong brand appeal. If government withdraws FAME Subsidy scheme, as is being reported in the media, it would result in 35-40% increase in price of 2W EVs. This would result in sharp fall in affordability and volumes.

Hondas Activa EV launch would pose threat to TVS EV market share

Recently, Honda announced plans to enter the 2W EV segment in India, with two launches targeted in 2024. Honda is the leader by far in ICE scooters, with ~50% market-share. Its Activa brand alone has 44% market-share in scooters. Given Activas strong brand appeal, there is a strong case for Honda to replicate its ICE dominance even in 2W EVs. This would pose a serious threat to TVS EV volume growth beyond FY24.

Withdrawal of FAME subsidies would result in sharp fall in affordability and volumes

Recent media reports suggest that the government may not extend FAME Subsidy beyond FY24. If subsidy is withdrawn, it would result in 35-40% increase in price of e-Scooters. This would hurt affordability and volumes significantly. As a case in point, EV volumes of Hero Electric and Okinawa (2W EV leaders in FY22) took a tumble after their FAME subsidy eligibility was revoked. Their combined market-share fell from 46% in FY22 to 15% in Q4FY23. Analysts at IIFL Securities have in the past highlighted that EV sales rely largely on subsidies and a favorable GST regime; this is not a sustainable business model.

Stock de-rating likely as aforesaid risk events draw closer

TVS market-share gain in 2W EVs has led to sharp re-rating in the stock. It is now the most expensive Auto OEM in India, trading at 30x FY24 PE. As the above risk events (Honda launches, FAME withdrawal) draw closer, analysts at IIFL Securities expect the stock to de-rate as the market will price in the risk of fall in volumes and/or market-share.
Apple CEO Tim Cook visited Mumbai to launch the first Apple store in the city's Jio World Drive Mall, owned by the Ambanis. During his visit, he met with Bollywood actor Madhuri Dixit, who introduced him to the famous Mumbai street food, Vada Pao.

Tim Cook/Twitter

The two were spotted enjoying Vada Pav at Mumbai's renowned Swati Snacks, where Madhuri shared a photo of the moment on social media.

In the picture, Tim Cook can be seen dressed in a simple white t-shirt, while Madhuri wore a pink kurta.

Twitter

Madhuri shared the sweetest moment by captioning the picture: "Cant think of a better welcome to Mumbai than Vada Pav!"

Cook, a vegetarian, wrote: "Thanks @madhuridixit for introducing me to my very first Vada Pav  it was delicious!"

Thanks @madhuridixit for introducing me to my very first Vada Pav  it was delicious! https://t.co/Th40jqAEGa  Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 17, 2023

Tim Cook visited the Ambani family at their residence, Antilla, earlier in the day. Paparazzi snapped photos of him leaving the building with Akash Ambani at the gate, dropping him off.

Meanwhile, Tim had tweeted upon reaching India, "Hello, Mumbai! We cant wait to welcome our customers to the new Apple BKC tomorrow."

Tim Cook will reportedly travel to Delhi on Thursday to unveil another Apple store in Saket, following the launch of the Jio World Drive Mall outlet in Mumbai.

Twitter

On Wednesday, Cook may meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Minister of State for IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

According to ANI, the Mumbai and Delhi stores will open at 11 a.m. and 10 a.m., respectively. Due to the pandemic, Apples plans to open physical stores in India were postponed, and Cook launched the companys first online store in India in 2020.

Meanwhile, Madhuri Dixit, who met Cook in Mumbai, was last seen in the 2022 Prime Video film Maja Ma.

For more trending stories, follow us on Telegram.


Loneliness can be quite detrimental to a person and it can actually affect one in so many ways that one cannot even think about it. The South Korean government has recognised that some of their country's youth seem to be completely cut off from the world and it is now ready to pay them to re-enter society, reported CNN.

There are around 3 lakh young people in South Korea who are lonely. The government is now offering them $500 (Rs 40,000) a month to help them rejoin the society.



Unsplash

To support their psychological, emotional stability and healthy growth"

Reportedly, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family has announced that it will provide 6,50,000 Korean won ($500 or 40,939) per month to them. This has been decided to support their psychological, emotional stability and healthy growth", CNN reported.

Citing the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, the ministrys report showed that almost 3.1 per cent of Koreans aged 19 to 39 are reclusive lonely young people, defined as living in a limited space, in a state of being disconnected from the outside for more than a certain period of time, and have noticeable difficulty in living a normal life.

Reuters

40% of them begin their isolation in adolescence

Out of these lonely or isolated ones, 40 per cent of them begin their isolation in adolescence. This section of the population reportedly faces financial hardships, mental illnesses, family problems, or health challenges.



The new measures especially target young people as part of the larger Youth Welfare Support Act, which aims to support persons who are highly removed from society, as well as youths who are at risk of delinquency and do not have a guardian or school protection.



Unsplash

The monthly allowance will be paid to lonely people aged 9 to 24 who live in a household of four members. This is for those people whose families earn below the national income of about $4,165 (3,41,137) per month.

Reclusive youths can have slower physical growth due to irregular living and unbalanced nutrition, and are likely to face mental difficulties such as depression due to loss of social roles and delayed adaptation, the ministry said.

For more on news and current affairs from around the world please visit Indiatimes News.


A TikTok video showing a man proposing to his girlfriend by staging her kidnapping has caused division among viewers. The man's sister Tahlia captured the proposal in Lebanon, and it has received over 372,400 views on TikTok and generated a lively discussion in the comments.

The video, which has gone viral, was captioned "the most controversial proposal ever."

The soon-to-be bride is seen riding in a car and enjoying coffee with her companions in the video.

Facebook

As per the video, a group of men holding fake guns approach the vehicle and try to force the occupants out.

Vanessa Moujalli, the bride-to-be, can be observed trying to reason with the mock kidnappers and telling one of her female companions that she does not wish to go with them.

"I'm not going with them  I told them I'll give them whatever they want," Moujalli said.

After being blindfolded, Moujalli was taken to an undisclosed location in the backseat of another vehicle.

Facebook

When she arrived, she was escorted outside, and her blindfold was removed, revealing her boyfriend, Adam Rizk, waiting for her with a bouquet and an engagement ring.

Moujalli was visibly stunned as she accepted Rizk's proposal, with a live band nearby playing music.

Many TikTok users who commented on the video were perplexed by the unusual and 'frightening' proposal. "Nope. Single for the rest of my life," one person wrote. Others praised the proposal for being "different."

In an interview with Daily Mail Australia, Tahlia stated that Moujalli was genuinely delighted with the engagement.

"[Adam] always joked that he wanted to propose in a way to scare her, and my family joined in and made it possible when she was visiting family in Lebanon," Tahlia said.

"They always play pranks on each other, so it's just their relationship ... the overall planning took three months."

This year he had seen several unique and viral wedding proposals, including one in February where a boyfriend lost the ring in the sand during a beach proposal, and one in March, when a man rented a movie theater to recreate "Everything Everywhere All At Once" for his girlfriend's proposal.

For more trending stories, follow us on Telegram.


The National Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and trustee member of the Labour Party (LP), Joe Ajaero, has said he would seek an interpretation of the two court rulings on the position of the Labour Party national chairman, Julius Abure.

Recall that a High Court in Benin had restrained anybody from removing the embattled party chairman, while another court of cognate jurisdiction, an Abuja High Court, granted an interim order, restraining Abure from parading himself as the party chairman.

The NLC chairman in a chat with Vanguard on Sunday hinted that the NLC would seek an interpretation of the two court orders over the position of the national chairman of the Labour Party.

The NLC President said that the ruling given by the High Court in Abuja was an interim order that could be vacated at any time, adding that going by order of Benin High Court, Abure remains the chairman.

According to him, it is a belief in many quarters that the acting national chairman, Lamidi Apapa, was sponsored to scuttle the court matter at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.

Ajaero said, Assuming the court has removed the substantive chairman, there will be a notice of meeting, and we will get the court ruling or the order which will enable us to know whether it is an emergency situation to call for a meeting and the circular will go out for meeting.

And then, in the meeting, we may decide to replace him, but an interim order does not mean that a chairman has been removed permanently. And if there was an interim order and before 24 hours somebody announced himself as the new leader, the person knows about that interim order.

We dont run our organization that way, so the person is not from our fold and cant parade himself anywhere and does not represent us. If there is the need for us to remove our chairman, under administrative rule, we decide who should be our chairman without prejudice to the position of court or trying him on any offence. Even if he is removed permanently, we sit down and decide who takes over.

Somebody cant tell me he is the (acting) chairman of labour party. It is insulting. So we have to say you are our chairman and not for you to announce yourself. So it is absurd, and the people doing that should be properly examined.

READ ALSO: Okeme Emerges Labour Party Guber Candidate In Kogi

The NLC President further said, Even if the executive of the party is to be dissolved, it is those of us who are trustees of the party that will be the last people to be held responsible, and that is why I told you that I have the certificate.

The Labour Party is not like other political parties, it is formed by the labour movement but open to other Nigerians to join, and that is what is happening. So people cant come from anywhere and announce themselves as our leader. We choose our leader.

He said the NLC recognises Abure as the Labour Party as authentic chairman, adding that the two court orders need interpretation.

Ajaero said: The one from Benin is an order that says nobody should remove him. The other one from the FCT says he has been removed, sorry it is an interim order on him until the substantive matter comes up before the court. So it is an interim arrangement.

So, if you look at these two, we can only ask for further interpretation on the implications of these two rulings to enable us take further decision whether we want any of the deputies or whatever to cover duties not to take over from him within this period of interim order.

But as far as there are two orders, its like saying the status quo is still remaining. He is still there until there is an interpretation of that matter. If we dont seek this further interpretation and somebody pronounces himself as a new leader, the person should be arrested and be prosecuted. After all, this is when we will know whether the person is a member of the party or not.

The NLC President said the same court would give the Union further explanation on their pronouncement, adding that the NLC will find out whether the FCT High Court will have the capacity to set aside the pronouncement of the Benin High Court.

If you take the position of Benin High Court, Abure is still there; if you take the other one, Abure is restrained from performing his functions until the court meets. Whichever way, even if he is restrained from performing his functions, it doesnt mean he has been removed as chairman of the party, he added.
Michael Ghen, the leader of DeFi Philly, talks decentralized finance and blockchain technology at a meet up in Northern Liberties. Read more

At age 73, Yoav Zohar is an outlier among the Millennials and Gen Z who make up most of the cryptocurrency community.

While many were still in grade school, Zohar learned about the booms and busts of new technology during the dot-com explosion of the early 2000s.

So when it comes to crypto  digital money that isnt tied to a central bank  Zohar wont hold more than $5 worth.

I dont want to invest in it, because I think my moneys more important than doing experiments, laughed Zohar at DeFi Philly, a meeting for decentralized finance enthusiasts in Northern Liberties.

Advertisement

If 2022 was any indicator, his prudence paid off.

It was a particularly brutal year for Bitcoin, which swelled in valuation last spring before plummeting in May. What would follow was blow after blow for the highly volatile industry.

 READ MORE: South Philadelphia crypto company hit with more lawsuits, detailing a pyramidlike rewards system

Bitcoins price fell by over 60%, and around $2 trillion disappeared from the market overall, as wealthy investors pulled out while the little guy was left in the red. Then came high-profile scandals, including the downfall of the exchange FTX and its billionaire-turned-fraudster CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. In a domino-like effect, crypto hedge funds shuttered, and President Joe Bidens administration  which had been hesitant to get involved  began a sweeping attempt to regulate the industry.

Cryptos fall has particularly affected Black and brown Americans who, feeling shut out of traditional financial markets, were more likely to invest  and ultimately lose.

Zohar read the headlines. So he comes to DeFi mainly for the pizza, drinks, and passionate talk about what was perhaps prematurely crowned the future of finance.

Among the 15 or so other attendees, this conservative outlook was rare. While some agreed that Bitcoin has had its day  for now  there was the sense that something bigger and better was on the horizon.

PolyDoge, thats the one that popped off for me, said a member who asked to go by Tom T-Bytes so employers dont know about his investments.

Hes talking about an altcoin  there are thousands of cryptocurrencies besides Bitcoin  thats worth $0.000000008299. Its an offshoot of Dogecoin, the widely memed crypto thats periodically resurfaced by Twitter owner Elon Musk.

T-Bytes claimed he turned a profit on the risky investment and is now looking to other coins. But not all of his investments have pumped.

Wearing a tie-dye purple shirt, T-Bytes is not the only member to admit facing losses after last years downturn (theyre reluctant to call it a crash).

Kaseem Dodson became crypto curious early last year, just before prices went south. Dodson, 33, sees Bitcoins hibernation as just another bear market. Rumor of a coming rebound keeps him vested in the industry.

Dodson also likes that crypto has, so far, been resistant to government regulation. But that feature has led a myriad of hucksters to take advantage of rosy-eyed investors with little knowledge of how crypto functions.

This month alone, the U.S. Justice Department recovered over $112 million in pig butchering schemes, where scammers contact victims through messaging apps with enticing offers on high-return investments. Once the Bitcoin is transferred, you can guess what happens next.

And in Philadelphia, it remains to be seen whether victims of VBit Technologies will ever see the $11 million-plus frozen in their virtual accounts after the Washington Avenue-based company folded last summer. After VBits lawyers dropped the embroiled company this month citing silence from its elusive CEO, the outcomes of the mounting federal lawsuits against it are hazy.

Those are the scams. Other initiatives, while aboveboard, have yet to fully transform Philly into a crypto-forward hot spot like Miami or San Francisco.

Soon after announcing a plan to incorporate crypto into city funding, City Hall nixed the idea. Meanwhile, scores of collectible NFTs from regional names like Wawa and the 76ers either remain unsold or are being hawked for ridiculous sums. And while a West Philadelphia house that advertised a built-in crypto miner initially made a splash, a publicly available ledger shows that today it reaps just around $14 per month.

None of this fazes 30-year-old Michael Ghen, a computer engineer and DeFis leader, though hes frustrated at the publics perception of crypto as a back-alley market. Sympathetic to stories of losses to fraudsters, he created a guide for newcomers that outlines the mechanisms behind popular scams.

Its buyer beware, Ghen said.

Minimizing the publics risk is a Herculean task, exemplified by the nearly 100 Bitcoin ATMs scattered throughout Philadelphia  ones that law enforcement warn are highly efficient vehicles for fraud, often in low-income communities.

Ghen said foreign hackers give crypto a bad name. Still, the industry is grappling with the recklessness of its former darlings like Bankman-Fried, who was arrested and faces multiple charges for mismanaging customer funds after his Bahamas-based trading company imploded in November.

One group had an idea, printing the disgraced 31-year-olds face across toilet paper at a recent crypto conference.

How larger financial institutions  including Pennsylvania billionaire Jeff Yass and his Bala Cynwyd-based Susquehanna International Group  are handling their crypto hedges is unclear, though the trend of big players pulling out of the market is on the rise.

Like the statue of Don Quixote that towers over Girard Avenue, maybe youve just got to believe. Its a block away from where Ghen and DeFi Philly are keeping the faith.

Its also near where the tech entrepreneur Thomas Jay Rush led a talk called What the Mennonites Can Teach us About Blockchains, a reference to the systems that record crypto transactions.

Whether the neo-Luddite cousins of the Amish are invested in Bitcoin was never mentioned. Instead, Rush lauded their ability to stay tight-knit and quickly raise a barn, a metaphor for how decentralized finance can weather the future.

All communities come together, Rush said with all the optimism of a Crypto.com Super Bowl advertisement circa 2022. They do things individuals cannot possibly do.
Jennifer Carroll and Billy Riddle were chefs together at Spice Finch restaurant until he got sick with ulcerate colitis. They've gone from restaurant cooking to private catering and a Patreon setup in their Kensington loft. Read more

Life throws you unexpected curves. For chefs Jennifer Carroll and Billy Riddle, the first was the pandemic, which upended their Center City restaurant, Spice Finch, and all but idled their catering business, Carroll Couture Cuisine.

The next was Riddles health issues. Riddle, 36, last year was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease that had left him unable to work demanding hours in the kitchen. Carroll, 48, who shot to fame in 2009 as the hard-edged chef from Northeast Philadelphia on the Top Chef series, stepped away from Spice Finch entirely to join her partner of 10 years.

Much of 2022 was a blur of doctors offices, medical testing, treatments, and uncertainty. We had to change so many things in our life in order to make him better, Carroll said. He wasnt looking so great for a couple of months.

Now, rather than cook together at Spice Finch, or at weddings, or at the massive pop-up dinners they used to conduct, they work together from their Kensington loft, hosting small private dinners, shooting videos for their subscribers, selling their own spices, doing research-and-development for food companies, and hosting private virtual group-cooking classes.

Advertisement

The less-frenetic pace is keeping everything in check, said Carroll, who nearly 20 years ago was a top lieutenant for chef Eric Ripert at New Yorks Le Bernardin before she returned to Philadelphia to open 10 Arts at the Ritz-Carlton with him in 2008. Were alleviating stress and choosing capacity over capability and really prioritizing  besides health  doing the things that we love to do and that fulfill us.

Something was just not right

Riddle, who grew up in Rising Sun, Md., and studied culinary at the Art Institute of Philadelphia, came up through some of the top kitchens in Philadelphia, including Lacroix, Ela, and Townsend, and then  after he and Carroll relocated to Washington, D.C.  with chef Michael Isabellas group.

Riddle said he had noticed discomfort with his digestion in late 2021. In May 2022, he decided to seek medical treatment after hearing a podcast by chef Eli Kulp with guests chef Jim Burke and his wife, Kristina Burke, about their battles with cancer. (Jim Burke, chef at Wm. Mulherins Sons, died of the disease last August.)

I wasnt thinking that I had cancer, but something was just not right, Riddle said. He recalled thinking, I shouldnt avoid this, and I need to do something about this.

The doctors advice was vague, confusing, even contradictory, Riddle said. I would hit this wall every single time. As he suffered, the couples chef friends wanted to step up, Carroll said. Everyones like, What can we make? What can we bring? And I said, Heres the list of everything that he cant have. Literally everyones reaction is like, What the hell is left?

Riddle said his list of foods ebbs and flows. He avoids red meat and pork, and most raw vegetables.

Because everyones case is different, we talked to so many people for answers, Carroll said. Its really nice to talk about things because its not a sexy disease. As soon as you start talking about it, its crazy how many people that we know are like, Oh, I have this, or I have something like this, or My mom has it.

Riddles frustration mounted. I never had that security of understanding what I could face, he said. The doctors that I had dont know what it is to live through this. During one flare-up, he said, it felt like Freddy Krueger was with me the entire time.

Then Riddle turned toward functional medicine, an alternate approach, through nutritionist Dane Johnson and CrohnsColitisLifestyle. Although Riddle gets conventional medical care, he also takes probiotics, does meditation and stretching.

Most important, he is destressing. I would wear stress on my sleeves, especially in the kitchen, Riddle said. I love what I do. I love cooking for people, but we chefs push ourselves very hard sometimes. Im still learning how to manage that and find some calmness in my life, but Im way better off than I was last year.

Developing a deeper connection

During the pandemic, the longtime couple started building a mini-media empire on Patreon, an online platform where Carrolls subscribers pay up to $35 a month for videos, recipes, and one-on-one video chats. Riddle, who taught himself video production, set up a studio with a small kitchen separate from the couples.

It has been a boon because being able to work from home and choosing the hours that we want to work is important, Carroll said.

As Riddle was stuck on his health roller coaster, Carroll said, we had the flexibility of saying, Im not feeling 100% or we have three doctors appointments today. We have the flexibility to choose when were working and lay down and take the break that we need to do. The restaurant world doesnt give you that. Of course, we still have deadlines that need to be fulfilled.

Riddle also started his own Patreon program called Chill Bills Cooking. Thats been good because weve found ways for him to become re-inspired and to learn about new ingredients and new ways to cook things that we havent done in the past, Carroll said.

The couples small team can fill in for Riddle. Our team is a lot less stressful to deal with because we understand each other, as opposed to the labor issues that restaurants have to deal with, Carroll said.

The less-frenetic pace has also allowed Carroll to work more with the Sisterly Love Collective, a group that champions women in hospitality professions.

Downsizing also has had one other benefit. It makes the connection with people, honestly, a lot nicer, Carroll. Instead of meeting people at the restaurant and doing a simple hello and a table check-in, its developing a deeper connection.

When youre working in a restaurant, thats your life, right? Carroll said. You give up weekends and parties and family and all of that because the restaurant always comes first. Well, now were alleviating stress and choosing capacity over capability and really prioritizing. Besides for health, were doing the things that we love to do and that were able to do and things that fulfill us.
U.S. Senator John Fetterman described feeling detached during his inauguration, a symptom of the depressive episode that made him seek care at Walter Reed. Read more

John Fetterman is to return to the U.S. Senate on Monday after spending 44 days hospitalized to treat an episode of severe depression.

Thats about four times longer than the typical stay for a Pennsylvanian admitted for the first time to treat a disorder that Fetterman said made him stop eating and feeling indifferent about life. He was unable to get out of bed even when his son tried to celebrate his still-fresh victory in one of the most-watched elections in the nation.

To put Fettermans experience in perspective, The Inquirer analyzed state data on all 42,000 hospital stays for depression in 2021, the most recent year available. About a third were in the Philadelphia area, the records maintained by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council showed.

 READ MORE: What we learned about Fettermans health, from his stroke last May to his recent hospital stay for depression

Advertisement

The length of Fettermans stay was unusual  about 97% of hospitalized patients for depression were discharged within 30 days. But he fit the profile of many Pennsylvanians treated in hospitals for this condition: a white man who was discharged home after his stay.

Thats not to say that Fetterman, a freshman U.S. Senator, is a typical patient. The 53-year-old from Braddock, Pa., sought care at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., a premier hospital serving national leaders. By contrast, many in Pennsylvania have to wait months just to see a therapist.

Fettermans health has been scrutinized since he suffered a stroke ahead of last springs primary election and began sharing information about his long struggle with depression after his hospitalization in February. His office has shared information about his mental health struggles through news releases, which included physician statements noting that his depression is managed with medication and therapy.

 READ MORE: Fetterman opens up about depression in first interview since his hospitalization

He had great health care and was able to really take the time he needed to do what was right and address his mental health, said a senior aide to Fetterman, who shared with CBS Sunday Morning that his depression is in remission for the first time ever.

Here is what The Inquirers analysis showed about how hospital stays for depression usually play out in Pennsylvania.

Who gets admitted for depression?

In 2021, hospitals throughout the state recorded more than 42,000 admissions in which the primary diagnosis was depression. In about 6,000 of those cases, the person was first admitted for another reason, such as having suicidal thoughts, a psychotic episode, or anxiety.

Young adults ages 18 to 39 are the most likely to be admitted for depression  accounting for 40% of hospital admissions statewide. Adult men and women were equally likely to get treated. The exception: Girls under the age of 18 accounted for three out of four of hospitalized youth.

People of color accounted for one in five of these cases. This roughly matches the demographics of the state.

Men in their 50s, like Fetterman, represented about 6% of admissions.

 READ MORE: Nearly one in four young adults received mental health treatment in 2021, CDC says

In announcing his hospitalization, his office shared that Fetterman has struggled with depression throughout his life. This was his first hospitalization. Slightly more than half of admissions in Pennsylvania in 2021 were for reoccurring episodes.

The majority of those hospitalized are having a hard time performing daily living activities, said Brittni Jones, the medical director of the inpatient psychiatric units at Main Line Healths Bryn Mawr Hospital.

Im so depressed or Im so anxious that I cant function, she said patients tell her. Im not getting out of the bed to shower. Im not taking my meds.

Fettermans physician at Walter Reed described his symptoms as severe. The senator said that he arrived at the hospital after a period in which he had stopped eating and drinking, which affected his blood pressure.

And although Fetterman said that he didnt care whether he lived or died, he also told CBS that he did not have thoughts of suicide or self-harm.

How long are people hospitalized for depression?

Length of stay is where Fettermans experience differs greatly from that of most Pennsylvania patients.

In 2021, about 3% of hospitalizations for depression lasted for more than 30 days. Fettermans stay totaled 44 days.

On average, a hospital admission for depression in Pennsylvania spans 10 days, the state data showed. Patients who had previous episodes of depression stayed slightly longer. Stays were longer for children under 18 and adults 60 and older  both groups on average were in the hospital for roughly 13 days.

 READ MORE: Sen. John Fetterman has been hospitalized with depression. Here is what to know about the common but serious disorder.

There are many factors that could contribute to length of stay: severity of symptoms, other medical issues that could complicate treatment, or insurance.

Fetterman is also a celebrity patient, a status that often leads to special care and privileges, which could have also contributed to the prolonged stay.

It shouldnt be something that only a senator may get, the senior aide said about Fettermans care. It shouldnt be something that is a luxury, it should become the norm and thats something hes going to fight for.

What do people do while in the hospital?

Fetterman spent his time at Walter Reed having therapy and learning about depression, while clinicians adjusted the dosage of his medication, a senior aide said. For much of the time, Fetterman met almost daily for an hour with staffers to continue his Senate work.

Working while seeking hospital care for a mental health condition is not routine.

 READ MORE: John Fetterman sponsored a bill from the hospital. Heres what he can and cant do in the Senate during treatment.

Robert Fine, 61, spent two weeks in the psychiatric unit of Bryn Mawr Hospital in late 2019 for depression and anxiety. He said he felt as if his brain stopped working.

To the lawyer from Ardmore, the stay at times felt like camp. Fine spent his days with about 20 other patients. They did group therapy, puzzles, shared meals. He also met with his assigned social worker and psychiatrist.

Overall, Fine was miserable. As visitation hour ended, the doors would lock behind his departing family members.

If you said to me, Bob, you know, you can go rest for two weeks. You want to rest at a mental health unit? Im like, No, I dont want to go back there, Fine said. But it definitely served an important purpose in getting me better.

Where did patients go after discharge?

On March 31, Fetterman left Walter Reed and returned to his home in Braddock. That is how roughly 90% of hospital admissions in Pennsylvania ended in 2021.

The end of a hospital stay is often followed by therapy or medication.

 READ MORE: Depression can get better. These four Philadelphians are living proof.

Fine, the lawyer, was prescribed medication that made him feel like himself again during his hospital stay. Even though he was ready to leave earlier, he stayed for two weeks, at the encouragement of his wife.

After discharge, he graduated to daily outpatient therapy that lasted multiple hours, five days a week, for two weeks.

Three years later, he is feeling good. He still visits his psychiatrist and takes medications. Fine said that he isnt embarrassed about the experience.

As long as you are under the care of a doctor, as long as youre taking the appropriate medication, he said, my disorder can be treated as well as any other disorder.
This photo shows the company logo and view of Netflix headquarters in Los Gatos, Calif. Read more

Taylor Hazlewood said he found out his photo was in a Netflix documentary when his phone started blowing up.

Explain please, a friend texted him after seeing a photo of Hazlewood, now 27, in a true-crime film about Caleb Kai McGillvary, a viral hitchhiker who was arrested in Center City for the killing of a North Jersey man.

But Hazlewood, a respiratory therapist who lives in Kentucky, couldnt explain. In a lawsuit filed April 10 against Netflix, Hazlewood says the streaming platforms documentary, The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker, used his photograph without permission and harmed his reputation. Hes seeking at least $1 million in damages.

In the lawsuit, which was filed in a Dallas County court, Hazlewood says he has no connection to McGillvary, a man who gained internet fame after explaining how he intervened in an assault on a California utility worker using his hatchet in a 2012 TV interview. McGillvary is serving a 57-year prison sentence in Trenton for the murder of Joseph Galfy Jr., 73. McGillvary was convicted of killing the North Jersey lawyer in his home after they met in Times Square. He was apprehended at a Philadelphia bus station after being recognized.

Advertisement

Hazlewood didnt know about McGillvary, the lawsuit says. Instead, a photo he posted on his Instagram more than 3 years before the documentarys debut, of himself posing with a hatchet, was inspired by his favorite childhood book, Hatchet. For years, visibility of the Instagram post was limited to a few hundred followers.

 READ MORE: Netflixs Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker hit the end of his wild ride in Philly

But in January, when Netflixs Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker was released, he found out that the documentary repurposed the photograph, which appears alongside a narration about a stone cold killer, and the text, you can never trust anyone.

Hazlewood is, of course, beyond angry that Netflix would implicate and connect him to such a salacious and infamous story and individual, the lawsuit said, adding that hes had to explain to friends, family, coworkers, and others that he has nothing to do with McGillvary or the documentary.

Hazlewoods reputation has clearly been tarnished, the lawsuit said. There are many acquaintances who will see Hazelwoods photograph in the film and will assume the worst without contacting Hazelwood to get the truth.

Thats going to go on for the rest of his life, Hazlewoods attorney, Angela Buchanan, told the Washington Post. Netflix has not commented on the lawsuit.
Michael Rohana, 29, of Bear, Del., pleaded guilty Monday to snapping off and stealing the thumb of a more than 2,000-year-old terra cotta warrior on loan to the Franklin Institute in 2017. Read more

A Delaware man who confessed to drunkenly snapping a finger off an ancient Chinese terra-cotta warrior statue at the Franklin Institute pleaded guilty Monday to a federal misdemeanor charge that could send him to prison for up to a year.

The guilty plea from Michael Rohana, 29, of Bear, Del., came more than five years after his prank at the museums 2017 ugly sweater Christmas party sparked an international incident with China, exposed Pennsylvanias most popular museum to questions about its security failures and eventually landed Rohana at the center of a case that confounded the art world.

A jury failed to reach a verdict during a previous trial, hung up on whether the value of the digit Rohana damaged exceeded $5,000  the threshold for the felony charge he originally faced.

As part of the deal with prosecutors cemented in court Monday, both sides acknowledged the value of the filched finger was less than $500  slashing the punishment Rohana will face at his sentencing this summer by more than a decade.

Advertisement

Despite that concession, Assistant U.S. Attorney K.T. Newton said after Mondays proceedings that prosecutors still maintained Rohana had caused incalculable damage to a priceless artifact central to Chinese history. She explained the plea deal by saying the government was mindful of court time and resources while still satisfied that justice was being carried out in the case.

 READ MORE: How a stolen thumb and drunken mistake at a Philly museum confounded the international art world

The statue  a life-size figure known as The Calvaryman, insured at $4.5 million  is one of the few fully restored terra-cotta figures of the thousands recovered in fragments from the tomb of Chinas first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, who united the nation under his rule in the third century B.C.

The Chinese government strictly regulates display and restoration of the 2,000-year-old relics and had spent years reviewing the Franklin Institutes security protocols and exhibit plans before choosing it in 2017 as one of two U.S. museums to host a traveling exhibit of the statues recovered from the emperors tomb.

That exhibition, between September of that year and March 2018, coincided with one of the institutes periodic Science After-Hours events, programs aimed at attracting adults and often featuring themed activities and alcohol sales.

Rohana  dressed in a fuzzy green sweater and a Phillies cap  drove in with friends from Delaware for one such event, a holiday-themed party during which he stole away from the festivities to explore.

Security footage showed him skulking past a roped-off stanchion, up a ramp and into the darkened room that housed the closed terra-cotta warrior exhibit. He snapped selfies, mugging for the camera while he grabbed one of the statues in a side embrace.

Before sneaking back out, he paused to examine one more  The Cavalryman  reached out to touch its hand, grasped its left thumb and pulled.

Testifying during his trial in 2019, Rohana told jurors he panicked after it snapped off in his hands. He shoved it in his jeans pocket and left, later hiding it in a desk drawer in his parents home, where he still lives.

But when FBI agents showed up at his home weeks later  after identifying him from that security footage  Rohana immediately confessed.

I dont know why I broke it, he told the jury. It didnt just happen, but there was never a thought of, I should break this. 

Prosecutors initially charged Rohana under the federal art theft statute, a law that requires the items in question be worth more than $5,000 and is more commonly used to prosecute perpetrators of museum heists.

His case marked the first time the statute had been applied to a theft where the motive was not financial gain but the sheer thrill of vandalism.

Rohanas lawyers  public defenders Catherine C. Henry and Nancy MacEoin  balked at what they described as a case of prosecutorial overreach.

These charges were made for art thieves  think like Oceans Eleven or Mission: Impossible, Henry said in her closing argument during the trial. Rohana wasnt in ninja clothing sneaking around the museum. He was a drunk kid in a bright green ugly Christmas sweater.

In the end, jurors said they were confused by conflicting testimony over the value of the broken thumb from dueling art appraisers testifying for the government and the defense, and they were unable to agree whether the thumb met the $5,000 threshold to constitute a felony crime.

The onset of the coronavirus pandemic delayed a retrial in Rohanas case by years as many of the witnesses the government had called to testify about the statues history and significance had to be flown in from China.

His guilty plea to one misdemeanor count of trafficking in archaeological resources  a charge much closer to what his attorneys had previously argued was appropriate in his case  negates the need for a second trial.

As he did for much of his first trial, Rohana said little in court Monday as he sat between his lawyers at the defense table answering questions from U.S. District Judge Chad F. Kenney as his family sat behind him in the courtroom gallery.

They and Rohana declined to comment after the proceedings concluded.

He will return to court to face sentencing on Aug. 17.
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pennsylvania) in the Old Senate Chamber for the ceremonial swearing-in on Jan. 3 in Washington, D.C. Read more

Welcome to the start of a new week. It looks like a slight chance of of showers but then sunny most of the day. Temps will reach the low 70s.

Its a big week for John Fetterman.

Hes set to return to the U.S. Senate today after spending 44 days hospitalized to treat an episode of severe depression. That length of time is about four times longer than the typical stay for a person admitted for the first time to treat depression.

Our lead story analyzes state data to compare his treatment to the average Pennsylvanian.

Advertisement

If you see this  in todays newsletter, that means were highlighting our exclusive journalism. You need to be a subscriber to read these stories.

 Taylor Allen (@TayImanAllen, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

Most people dont get the extensive length of treatment that John Fetterman was able to receive.

Factors that contribute to length of stay include severity of symptoms, other medical issues, or insurance.

But Fetterman is a celebrity patient which often leads to special care and privileges.

Notable quote: It shouldnt be something that only a senator may get, a senior Fetterman aide said. It shouldnt be something that is a luxury, it should become the norm and thats something hes going to fight for.

The Inquirer analyzed state data on all 42,000 hospital stays for depression in 2021, the most recent year available.

How hospital stays usually play out in Pennsylvania:

The average hospital admission is 10 days. Patients who had previous episodes, children under 18, and adults 60 and older stay slightly longer, for 13 days. Fetterman stayed for about six weeks. Young adults ages 18 to 39 are the most likely to be admitted for depression  accounting for 40% of hospital admissions statewide. Men in their 50s, like Fetterman, represented about 6% of admissions. Just like Fetterman, 90% of patients return home after discharge. The end of a hospital stay is often followed by therapy or medication.

Continue reading to learn more about what the average experience to seek treatment is like.

When youre done, we have a complete timeline of Fettermans health journey, from his stroke to his hospitalization for depression.

What you should know today

Spurred by a conversation in a teachers African American history class, two high school students dreamed up Northeast High Schools first Afro Day.

Several dozen students simply wore their hair as is, and met up for a photo to commemorate it. They traded stories of times they felt judged, like when their families questioned their decision to forgo chemicals and go natural or when someone came up and touched their hair without permission.

Notable quote: You have to learn to love your hair, because if you dont, who will? I used to be so insecure about my fro. But now, I got too much confidence  yall cant stop me, Amia Harris, 16, said laughing.

The day was about hair, but also power, community, and love.

Personal note: I wish I had their outlook when I was in high school. I didnt get to this level of acceptance until well into adulthood. I deeply respect this proclamation of self-love.

Continue reading to hear from the two high schoolers who created the homegrown holiday.

 Trivia time 

What is the name of the sport formerly known as quidditch?

A) Quadball

B) Triball

C) Qualler

D) Trick question. There isnt a new name

Think you know? Find out

What were...

 Reading: The sixth in a series of profiles about the top candidates for mayor. This installment features Allan Domb.

 Watching: Last nights Love is Blind reunion special. But it was a struggle. There was a lot of technical difficulties.

 Unscramble the anagram 

Hint: coffee 

BLAME COLO

Well select a reader at random to shout out here. Send us your own original anagram to unscramble if youd like. Email us if you know the answer. Cheers to Carrie Lawlor, who correctly guessed Sundays answer: Down the Shore.

Photo of the day

Thanks for starting your week with The Inquirer. Im beginning the day with Trinas Tiny Desk Concert on repeat. Ill catch you tomorrow .
Ukrainian forces during a training session with Soviet-era tanks in the Zaporizhzhia region last week. Leaked U.S. military documents show that without a major influx of munitions, the Ukrainian air defense system might collapse. Read more

JERUSALEM  Heres one of the most maddening aspects of the mindless leak of hundreds of classified documents by a group of young men and boys playing online war games: It may help Russia to emerge the winner in Ukraine, unless the United States takes critical action to prevent that  right now.

Of course, the most maddening aspect is that a 21-year-old Air National Guardsman and racist gun collector could obtain highly classified documents, and post them to the 20 gamers in a group called Thug Shaker Central, just to show off to his pals. How can any close ally feel safe sharing secrets with a Pentagon that seems to have learned little about plugging leaks since the troves released by Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden?

But when it comes to Ukraine, the documents  some of which were dated as recently as February  provide a bleak Pentagon assessment of how much territory Kyiv can regain in its much-awaited spring counteroffensive. They suggest that without a major influx of munitions, the Ukrainian air defense system might collapse, permitting the Russians to unleash their massive air force, which they have held back for fear of shootdowns.

 READ MORE: Into the War Zone: In four decades covering wars, Ive never seen anything like Ukraine. | Trudy Rubin

Advertisement

Moscow may or may not have been aware of Ukraines weakened air defenses. But the release of this downbeat Pentagon analysis hurts Ukrainian morale at a critical moment. It will surely encourage Vladimir Putin in his belief that he can outlast the Ukrainian military. And it fuels critics who insist  with stunning ignorance of Putins behavior  that now is the time for negotiations.

Worst of all, these documents tell Putin that the Pentagon is dubious about prospects for Ukrainian success  for totally wrongheaded reasons  and is still unready to make that success possible. They reveal more about the weakness of the Pentagons strategic thinking than Ukraines.

For months, Gen. Mark Milley has been urging the Ukrainians to consider negotiation. In November, he contended that a military victory  is maybe not achievable and therefore you need to turn to other means.

In that vein, one of the documents, labeled top secret, contends that the long-awaited counteroffensive will likely result in only modest territorial gains. Another, dated Feb. 22, said the Ukrainians were headed towards a stalemate in taking back the eastern Donbas region. Yet another predicts that the battles will continue into 2024.

Nowhere in these documents is there a sense of urgency in helping Ukraine defeat the Russians by ramping up U.S. or European defense production with the immediacy that would occur if Russia had attacked a NATO member.

Nowhere is there an appreciation that a stalemate entirely benefits Russia, since Putin cares not how many men or how much material he loses. A stalemate provides the possibility for the Kremlin to win this war.

If Putin bleeds Ukraine to death, even if he doesnt occupy the entire country, he wins. He will be perfectly content to leave Ukraine a bleeding basket case, its ports either literally or effectively controlled by Russia, destroying its export economy. He could then afford to wait until Europe tired of subsidizing the country, with the expectation that a desperate Ukraine would ultimately fall into his hands.

And nowhere do the documents show any recognition that such a Kremlin win would totally upend future security for the United States and Europe. If the West permits Putin to destroy Ukraine, China will understand that it can retake Taiwan by force, and dominate the Pacific. The new world order of aggressive authoritarians will be in full flower.

Yet these documents contain no hint that the Pentagon recognizes it neednt accept a stalemate. Rather, the assumption seems to be that, as in World War II, the Ukrainian army must drive out every Russian soldier via land battles in order to regain its land.

However, the Ukrainian military does not need to take back every inch via ground fighting. It does, however, need to trap the Russian military into an untenable position where it has no option but to retreat.

The U.S. holds the key. It can deliver a key weapons system that can be moved quickly  the long-range munitions known as ATACMS  that can help Ukraines counteroffensive succeed.

With ATACMS, the Ukrainians could put the Russian-occupied Crimea under range of their missiles. Russia has turned the Crimean peninsula into a huge armed camp, and home to its Black Sea fleet, from which it fires endless missiles into Ukrainian cities and can move man power. Crimean bases and ships dominate the entire Ukrainian coastline.

The Ukrainian military does not need to invade Crimea, as many geographically challenged critics claim, but merely to render Russian supply lines to the peninsula inoperable and its occupation untenable. At that point, the Russians would have no choice but to evacuate the jewel in Putins occupation crown  or else to bargain seriously with Kyiv. End of stalemate.

And yet, there was no hint in the leaked documents of reversing the U.S. refusal to deliver Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS), which could be delivered to Ukraine much more quickly than tanks or antiaircraft systems.

I totally agree with the brilliant analysis by Andrew Michta, an Atlantic Council fellow who writes: One of the reasons this war is still ongoing is the Wests extreme caution when it comes to resourcing the Ukrainian military with the weapons and munitions it needs to break through enemy lines and render the Russian army combat ineffective.

The West has given Ukraine enough to survive, but not enough to win.

If one positive outcome could emerge from the leakage of these documents, it would be to shake up the idea of accepting a stalemate.

The time for excuses about Putins red lines are over. The Kremlin leader has made clear he recognizes that he cant use tactical nukes against Ukraine, which would harm Moscow more than Kyiv and infuriate Big Brother China.

So if Ukraine is short of air defenses, hit them left of launch, tweeted retired Army Gen. Ben Hodges, former commander of U.S. Army forces in Europe  referring to the strategy of destroying a missiles launcher before it has a chance to be fired.

Ukraine has proven it can break Russian forces by using innovate operations. Give them ATACMS, Hodges continued, the long-range strike capability to deny sanctuary in Crimea for Russian Navy, Air Force who are launching missiles and drones  against Ukrainian civilians. Make Crimea untenable.

Prove to Putin the leaked documents on Ukraine are just a lot of outdated guff.
An evergreen resource guide to where and how you can buy legal cannabis in New Jersey. And where the laws still stand on recreational marijuana in Pennsylvania. Read more

Marijuana laws can be confusing. All but a few years ago, buying legal weed in Pennsylvania or New Jersey sounded like a fairytale, but now as the industry becomes more legal in the tri-state area people understandably have questions. Were here to help.

Weve been breaking down the rules around recreational and medical marijuana in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and what happens if you are doing anything illegal. Got a question we havent covered? Email us.

Through this page, youll find helpful guides on buying legal cannabis, differences in available products, how to get a medical marijuana card, what smoking weed could mean for your job and so much more.

Here are some useful resources about cannabis in the region:

As neighboring states change and update their marijuana and cannabis laws, it can be confusing to know whats legal in Pennsylvania. Heres everything you need to know.

After decades of prohibition, legal marijuana has come to yet another state  and this time, its just across the Delaware River. When it comes to weed in New Jersey, how does the new law work? And when can you buy legal pot? Here is what you need to know.

If youve been to a public event in Philly before, then you have probably at least smelled marijuana. Its not legal to smoke openly in public, but many do. After all  you basically cant be arrested for it. If youre confused about how the marijuana laws work, it doesnt mean that youre high: The laws in New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Pennsylvania all work differently. Were here to help.

Whether people buy marijuana legally in New Jersey or illegally in the underground market, its a crime for them to possess, consume, grow, or sell marijuana in Pennsylvania. Only medical marijuana patients can legally buy and consume cannabis from state-approved dispensaries here. While at least four states around Pennsylvania have legalized or will vote to legalize weed soon, one may be surprised to learn that the path to recreational marijuana legalization in the Keystone State is still quite long. Here are five takeaways on marijuana-legalization efforts in the state.

The Pennsylvania legislature is considering everything from expanding who can get medical marijuana to full legalization. Heres what you need to know.

Can you fly out of Philly International with marijuana? The TSA doesnt care about your jazz cabbage. But if youre dumb enough to carry your marijuana next to a switchblade or a corkscrew, youll be grounded. Heres what to keep in mind.

Recreational pot sales have started in N.J. Heres how to find your closest pot shop. Click through our map below to find the closest dispensary to you.

 READ MORE: Atlantic Citys first adult use marijuana shop to open on 4/20

Pennsylvanians with a medical marijuana card have been able to buy and consume weed legally for years, and now New Jersey has legalized recreational marijuana for all adults in the state. But if you dont have a PA medical card, you might be looking longingly across the border where flower-friendly folks can buy their weed in peace. Well, the good news is that you can still buy and consume weed in New Jersey. Heres what you need to know.

So youve heard the news? Recreational marijuana is now legal to buy in New Jersey as an adult. What if you dont live in New Jersey and want to bring it home with you  is that legal? We talked to local law enforcement to give you a clear answer. The short answer is no. Even if you live in New Jersey, you cant leave the state with your stash.

If you want to become a medical marijuana patient in Pennsylvania, you can do it from the

comfort of your own home. What conditions qualify, and what to expect at your consultation.

If you use medical marijuana, can landlords refuse to rent to you, or even evict you? And what should you tell your landlord when looking for housing? Here are some basics.

While adults can now buy legal marijuana in New Jersey, according to state law, you still cant grow your own cannabis plants.

Can I smoke weed legally at the Shore? Marijuana has been legalized and decriminalized in New Jersey. But not so fast. Theres still some things New Jersey residents and Shore-goers alike should know before lighting up.

Medical marijuana is legal in Pennsylvania, but some people who are prescribed cannabis have a hard time landing jobs because of drug screenings. A new city law bars many employers from testing job applicants for cannabis use, but there are several exemptions to the ordinance. What to know about Philadelphias ban on pre-hire marijuana testing.

Pennsylvanias health department mandated a recall of marijuana vaping products that the agency had previously approved for sale. Heres what you need to know.

You are now able to buy cannabis flower, concentrate, ingestible forms of cannabis that arent food, and drops or syrups in New Jersey. But, you cant buy edibles  specifically, any cannabis product resembling food, according to New Jersey state law. Heres why.

As legal and medical dispensaries open throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the number of products to navigate grow, too. From traditional flower or marijuana buds for smoking, to concentrates, edibles and tinctures, heres a guide to whats legally available in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

All cannabis products sold legally through dispensaries in New Jersey and Pennsylvania come with packaging and product labels that let a buyer know what the product is, dosage amounts, quantity, potency and include storage information, expiration dates and warning labels. Its a lot of information, and can be overwhelming. So, lets breakdown the elements of a cannabis product label that are essential to know.
Sen. John Fetterman is to return to the Senate this evening for the first time since mid-February, after a six-week hospitalization for clinical depression.

The Pennsylvania senator is expected to join a roll call vote to advance a nominee for deputy under secretary of defense, Radha Iyengar Plumb, to a confirmation vote. Hell cochair a panel hearing on Wednesday.

The highly routine moment will likely be met with outsized attention, given the Democrats path to the U.S. Senate  suffering a stroke, winning a politically coveted open seat, and then sharing his struggles with depression and seeking treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

Fetterman hasnt voted in the chamber, where Democrats have a razor-thin majority, since Feb. 15. Few major legislative decisions, however, have come before the Senate in the weeks he was away. Senators have spent almost all their time on confirmation votes, mostly on noncontroversial nominees who have enough support to advance even without Fetterman.

Advertisement

 READ MORE: A U.S. senator openly seeking treatment for mental health is rare. So is staying 44 days in a Pa. hospital for depression.

Fetterman left the hospital March 31 and returned home to Braddock, Pa., where his wife, Gisele, shared updates of him spending time with the family and enjoying Easter.

His staff released a letter from doctors at Walter Reed that described his depression as in remission. It also provided new information on Fettermans physical health.

In late March, Sen. Bob Casey said he visited Fetterman before he left Walter Reed.

Its remarkable how good he looked, Casey said then. Hes in really good shape. I look forward to welcoming him back to the Senate next month.

Many of Fettermans colleagues have applauded his public acknowledgment that he was suffering from depression as a courageous disclosure about an often-stigmatized topic. When he walks into the Senate on Monday, it will be the first time many will greet him in person since he went on leave.

Hell also likely face a crush of new media attention. He did a sit-down interview with CBSs Jane Pauley last month but otherwise hasnt talked to reporters since shortly after he was elected in November.

Its like you just won the biggest, you know, race in, in the country. And the whole thing about depression is, is that objectively, you may have won, Fetterman told Pauley in the interview. But depression can absolutely convince you that you actually lost. And thats exactly what happened. And that was the start of a downward spiral.

 READ MORE: A look at John Fetterman's health journey, from his stroke to his hospitalization for depression

Fettermans week on Capitol Hill will continue Tuesday and Wednesday with constituent meetings and committee hearings. He will also lead a panel hearing for the first time: Fetterman is to cochair a hearing Wednesday about food assistance and nutrition programs.

In his time away he stayed connected to Senate business and even cosponsored legislation.

His team raised money, too. An April 1 email encouraged people to support Fetterman through his mental health challenges and defend our Democratic majority with donations or by buying a Steel is forged in fire T-shirt.

As John knows better than most, making it through adversity can build an ability to withstand anything, the fundraising email read. Hes made remarkable progress in his mental health journey and come back from incredible challenges.
Sen. John Fetterman (center) makes his way to the Senate floor on Monday. He was accompanied by Pennsylvanias senior senator, Bob Casey (right), for a vote. Read more

WASHINGTON  Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.) made his highly anticipated return to the Senate on Monday, following a six-week hospital stay for depression, which put mental health challenges under a spotlight that had already been trained on him and his health for months.

Fetterman climbed out of a black SUV and waved to a crowd of gathered reporters and then put his hands to his heart. Dressed down in his signature navy shorts, sneakers, and a Carhartt hoodie, he didnt stop to talk to the press but smiled and said, Its great to be back.

its good to be back pic.twitter.com/bdqW3W7FAj  Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) April 17, 2023

A few hours later, Fetterman  in a suit and blue tie  and Sen. Bob Casey walked into the Senate to cast their votes to advance a nominee for deputy under secretary of defense, Radha Iyengar Plumb, to a confirmation vote. Fetterman walked into the mostly empty chamber (senators typically file in slowly on Mondays for procedural votes) and gave a thumbs up.

Less than a minute later, he walked out with Casey, who also voted yes. Fetterman didnt talk to reporters.

Advertisement

Fettermans return for the routine vote was met with outsized attention, given his past year  suffering a stroke, winning a politically coveted open seat, and then sharing his struggles with depression and seeking treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

Many of his colleagues have applauded his public acknowledgment that he was suffering from depression as a courageous disclosure about an often-stigmatized topic. For many of them, this week will be the first time they greet him in person since he went on leave.

Fetterman is expected to cochair a panel hearing on Wednesday about food assistance and nutrition programs. Following a report on Monday that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will unveil a debt limit proposal that includes some restrictions to food assistance, Fetterman sent out a short statement with information about the hearing:

Cut SNAP for families and kids while pushing tax cuts for billionaires? Not on my watch.

Fetterman will also join all senators for a classified briefing about the leaked U.S. documents about the war in Ukraine.

 READ MORE: How Sen. John Fetterman's hospital stay for depression compares to other Pennsylvanians'

Fetterman had not voted in the chamber, where Democrats have a razor-thin majority, since Feb. 15, though they spent most of that time on confirmation votes, mostly on noncontroversial nominees

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) also returned Monday after a medical absence following a fall and concussion.

 READ MORE: A look at Sen. John Fetterman's health journey

Fetterman checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Feb. 15 to receive treatment for clinical depression. He was released from the hospital March 31 and his staff released a letter from doctors at Walter Reed that described his depression as in remission.

He returned home to Braddock, Pa., where he spent some time with his family, enjoyed Easter and a belated birthday celebration for his son before heading back to Capitol Hill.
It takes the pressure off you in terms of selling first and looking for a retirement destination, second, he said. It doesnt have to be a retirement destination, it can be a smaller property, it can be something sold by a developer, but it just takes the pressure away from you as a retiree in terms of trying to generate cash, and remember, if you go to the bank, and you ask for a bank guarantee, generally, thats got to be collateralized with cash in any event. So its quite different to a deposit downsizer bond where youll pay a premium and essentially the insurer will stand in your place if you dont fulfill your obligations.
From an industry perspective, I am passionate about continuing to promote the importance of risk and insurance within the context of all business decisions, looking at ways to attract more new starters into our industry, and highlighting the unique opportunity we all have to be entrusted by Australian businesses and consumers, Jones said further.
We can always teach a person with the right drive the technical skills, the injury and case management skills and the legislation is what it is, she said. We pretty much only focus on that culture fit and making sure were bringing the right people into the business that are actually going to help people during their recovery - and we teach them the rest of it.
The evidence Allstate obtained through its investigation indicates it is more likely than not the subject fire was caused by the intentional acts of or at the direction of an insured person and the resulting loss was the reasonably expected and/or intended result of such acts, the letter read further. In light of that determination, the above policy provision operates to exclude coverage for your claim.
This post is part of a series sponsored by AgentSync.

In January 2023 alone, Amazon laid off 18,000 people; Google laid off 12,000 people; Microsoft laid off 10,000 people; and Salesforce laid off 7,000 people. And these are just the major headlines of a month that saw over 100,000 employees laid off across the tech sector. If any of these talented tech employees are looking for a new industry to call home, they may find a soft landing with insurance carriers looking to invest in technology and modernization.

Insurance carriers are feeling pressure to modernize

The insurance industry has a reputation for being recession-proof, but it also has a reputation for being old-fashioned and slow to evolve. As customers and employees alike continue to demand a more seamless and high-tech experience from the businesses they interact with, legacy insurers face mounting pressure to invest in their digital experience.

What does digitization mean for an insurance carrier?

Insurance carrier digitization refers specifically to:

Using digital tools to keep track of customer and claims data

Automating internal processes to create a better employee experience

Enabling customers to self-service their policies through digital portals

Using technology to assess risk more accurately and make better underwriting decisions

Each of these aspects of insurance carrier digitization helps an insurer remain competitive in a world where consumers and employees expect a frictionless experience. However, they also come with costs that many insurers have been hesitant to invest in as of now.

What are the costs of insurance carrier digitization?

For insurance carriers, investing in the modern infrastructure needed to undergo digitization may consist of any or all of the following:

The initial purchase and implementation price of technology, hardware, and software

Hiring additional staff to manage both the digital transformation process and the resulting solutions after theyre implemented

Training existing staff on using a new process or solution

Lost productivity during the downtime associated with an implementation or transition period

The cost to maintain and periodically upgrade the new technology

Some of these costs may not exist at all, depending on the type of technology an insurance carrier adopts. However, even the idea of some of these costs can be too much, and keep insurance carriers from starting the digitization process.

What are the benefits insurance carriers can get from adopting modern technology?

Despite the perceived costs, there are plenty of benefits insurance carriers can reap by investing in modernization. These include:

Time and money savings through increased operational efficiency

A better customer experience as employees are freed from tedious work to spend time focusing on customer relationships and needs

An improved employee experience which contributes to employee recruitment and retention

Better data security by using products with up-to-date encryption and security measures

The ability to scale quickly without needing additional technological investments or sacrificing security or compliance

The tech industry is scaling back and letting hundreds of thousands of employees go

The tech industry is hitting a snag, as evidenced by historic tech layoffs in the news. Reasons for this include many tech companies realizing that theyve been over-hiring in recent years and now need to adjust their workforce levels accordingly.

Why did tech companies hire so aggressively?

When the entire world went online overnight because of COVID-19, tech companies seized the opportunity to meet consumer and business demands for digital products. Businesses that had never before needed technology for particular use cases suddenly did. Think: Zoom, Slack, Microsoft Teams, etc. Every digital productivity and communications software became a must-have for nearly everyone. This meant tech and software companies needed to hire technical and non-technical talent at breakneck speeds to keep up with the demand for their products.

Why are tech companies cutting their workforce so dramatically?

With a return to more of a pre-pandemic lifestyle, consumer and business demands have shifted back toward in-person services, leaving tech companies with more people than they need. Even though many companies maintain a primarily remote workforce, theyve already implemented the bulk of the tech infrastructure they need. There isnt a constant demand by brand new customers for products they need for the first time.

The insurance industry is facing a talent shortage

While tech may seem to have an overabundance of talent vying for jobs, the insurance industry isnt in the same position. The Great Resignation, The Great Retirement, and The Great Reshuffling have left this stable industry competing for a very small number of experienced workers. At the same time, the industrys reputation doesnt help it attract fresh talent from other industries (or new graduates just finishing school).

In contrast to many other industries, the insurance sector has remained relatively stable in recent years. According to the Insurance Information Institute (III), there were over 2.8 million people working across insurance agencies and carriers in 2021  a net increase of over 500,000 people from 2012. Unfortunately, the average age of workers in the insurance industry is 44.7 years. This average (which doesnt seem that high compared to a 42.3-year-old average across all U.S. employees) masks the worrisome fact that there are more insurance professionals in the 55+ age range than in any of the younger age ranges measured by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

As these workers retire, theyre taking with them a wealth of knowledge and experience. This is a major concern for the insurance industry, as its proving difficult to replace these industry vets. According to research by The Jacobson Group, reported in Insurance Business Magazine, there were 367,000 open but unfilled roles in the insurance and financial services industry in 2022. Simple put, insurance companies are hiring, but they cant find enough candidates for the jobs.

How can insurance carriers benefit from tech layoffs?

The influx of tech talent laid off from other industries provides an opportunity for insurance carriers in several ways:

Insurance carriers can create new internal technical roles for managing or even developing their own modern technological solutions.

Carriers can also fill roles left open by retiring insurance staff, even in a non-technical capacity, if they can entice these laid-off workers to transition into new types of jobs.

Since the tech industry tends to be composed of younger, highly educated individuals, insurance companies have an opportunity to bring in non-traditional and diverse perspectives that can help move them into the future, whether thats technologically, culturally, or otherwise.

One prominent insurance company has already announced its intention to take advantage of newly-available technical talent. In a January 2023 Insurance Journal article, Allstate reports that its making investments in technology like artificial intelligence and telematics, and plans to scoop up talented software developers, engineers, and others to create its next generation of internal and customer-facing technology.

Use technology to make the insurance industry an attractive career for a new generation

Even though February is designated as Insurance Careers Month, for those of us working in the industry, every other month of the year is, too!

Weve written before about how different generations have vastly different experiences when working in insurance. Weve also written about how adopting technology is going to be pivotal for insurance companies that want to stay competitive with both talent and customers. Whether its through automating claims or supporting a hybrid workforce, investing in modern technology is no longer optional.

At AgentSync, we help insurance carriers (and agencies, MGAs, MGUs, and pretty much everyone in the distribution channel) streamline compliance management. Adding AgentSync to your tech stack comes with plenty of benefits and very few of the perceived costs of digitization. If youre interested in learning more, check out a demo today.

Topics Carriers InsurTech Tech
New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles!

A train carrying hazardous materials has derailed and caught fire in Rockwood, Maine, fire officials said.

Rockwood Fire and Rescue posted a photo of the derailment Saturday on its Facebook page and advised residents to stay clear! It was unclear if there were injuries in the derailment. The department didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a photo that accompanied the Facebook post, it appears that about four rail cars derailed. A small fire can be seen, with black smoke wafting across what looks to be snow-covered forest.

Somerset County Emergency Management and 911 Director Michael Smith confirmed that the derailment had occurred and that multiple state and local responders were on the scene. He said more details would be provided later in the afternoon.

Rockwood is in the north-central part of the state in a mostly rural area. Its near Moosehead Lake, one of the largest bodies of freshwater in the state.

The derailment is the latest one to plague the rail industry. Federal regulators and members of Congress are urging railroads to do more to prevent derailments after recent fiery wrecks involving hazardous chemicals in Ohio and Minnesota prompted evacuations.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Maine
When Rishi Sunak stepped up to the podium at the Vox venue in Birmingham in November, he had one mission: to convince business leaders to stay loyal after his predecessor unleashed economic mayhem.

The UK prime minister was addressing the annual conference of the venerable Confederation of British Industry, whose members include FTSE 100 companies down to small trade associations. Yet less than five months later, Sunaks government has halted engagement with an organization whose political clout was a linchpin of its power.

The CBI is now in chaos. Its hired a law firm to investigate sexual harassment claims and is the subject of a police probe after reports of an alleged rape. Tony Danker, the director general who welcomed Sunak onto the stage in November, was fired this week over unrelated allegations of workplace misconduct. But the existential crisis the CBI now faces is as much about whether Britains biggest business lobby group is fit for purpose as how its run, and whether the scandal will just hasten its demise.

Some prominent companies are privately considering whether to cancel their memberships. A director at one FTSE 100 company said there were already long-standing issues for the CBI, and the scandal could be a convenient excuse for many businesses to abandon ship.

Neville Koopowitz, the chief executive officer of health insurer Vitality UK, questioned whether there was value of being part of the CBI anymore, or whether more targeted organizations, such as the Association of British Insurers, could be more useful. The CBI needs to engage with its members to show the value it brings to businesses, he said.

UKs Confederation of British Industry Fires Director General After Probe of Complaints

The CBI, which has promoted the interests of UK companies for six decades, took swift action by dismissing Danker and naming its former chief economist Rain Newton-Smith as his successor. Three employees have been suspended. Traces of Danker have also largely been removed from the CBIs website, his speeches and videos gone.

Brian McBride, the president of CBI, apologized for the scandal and said he expects the probes results imminently, the Financial Times reported Friday. He said the organization needs to redefine itself to become sharper and more focused, and acknowledged a handful of smaller members had left since the scandal broke.

Whatever the outcome, the events have inevitably prompted questions about how the CBI can move on in its current form. The crux is whether one group can really talk for all of business, or whether the CBIs role will collectively be replaced by smaller groups such as the British Chambers of Commerce and Federation of Small Businesses. A CBI spokesperson declined to comment on the future or whether its power is waning.

Formed in 1965 during the post-war rise of the trade unions, the CBI worked to represent the voice of business as workers gained increasing power. By 1971, the group had an office in Brussels to open up opportunities in Europe, and outposts in Washington, Beijing and New Delhi followed.

The CBI refuses to disclose how many members it has, but claims to speak for 190,000 businesses, many through its 175 trade association members, and others as direct members.

Behind each flagship political decision, the CBI has advocated  both in private and in public  for the interests of business. And the CBI had the ear of the prime minister and the chancellor of the day.

Vince Cable, the business secretary between 2010 and 2015, recalled how the CBI had influenced policy from high pay to women on boards. Cable had favored a quota for female representation, but the CBI pushed for a compromise, and ultimately companies were encouraged to sign up for a voluntary target.

On executive pay, Cable had advocated for worker representatives on boards. Ultimately, they agreed to a compulsory shareholder approved pay policy, which had not existed before. The CBI was very good at coming up with an alternative, he said.

But a longstanding complaint is that the CBI prioritizes the views of big businesses over small. In the years after the global financial crisis, Cable said small businesses were screaming for action to get banks to lend again. Because the banks were part of the CBI membership, they were very muted and ambiguous, and not massively helpful, he said.

Even if the CBI restores its access to the highest levels of government, critics have argued for a while that the confederations power has waned.

Wyn Grant, emeritus professor at the University of Warwick and author of an analysis of the CBIs role in Britains political system, wrote in a 2015 paper that it was a shadow of its former self. Its heyday was during 1960s and 70s, when it was influential in setting economic policy, he said.

That was before a standoff with Margaret Thatchers leadership. Terence Beckett, the former chairman of Ford, denounced her economic reforms and promised a bare knuckle fight when he was director general of the CBI.

It has also been bruised by some decisions to back failed policies. In 1987, the CBI supported joining the European exchange-rate mechanism. But less than two years after joining, and after a flood of selling the pound on foreign stock exchanges, Britain was forced out of the ERM, in what became known as Black Wednesday. The CBI also campaigned to join the euro.

Attacks on the CBI intensified before Britains vote on Brexit. Ahead of the referendum on the EU, the Vote Leave campaign issued an advert to coincide with the CBI conference with the words Wrong on ERM, wrong on euro, and wrong on EU.

Supporters of the CBI say that it fills a vital role in unifying business over the big issues  and providing a screen for individual CEOs to hide behind. Mike Rake, the former chair of BT Group Plc and president of the CBI from 2013 to 2015, said it was crucial the organization survived.

Really engaging in policy matters doesnt always make them popular, but its important that we have it, particularly at the moment, with all the difficulties we have in our economy, he said, pointing towards the UKs position as the slowest-growing economy in the G7.

The CBI had ultimately been vindicated over Brexit, he said. The CBIs report on the implications of Brexit proved to be totally correct in every single sense, said Rake.

A former senior employee said that the CBI was a unifying voice among the sea of trade associations in the UK. Two other former senior employees pointed toward the success of the furlough scheme during the Covid pandemic when the government stepped in to pay employee wages when businesses were forced to close. The CBIs former director general Carolyn Fairbairn, who left in 2020, had worked directly with Sunak, when he was chancellor, on the solution.

The task now is to maintain that influence and keep members on board. Fees are paid according to revenue, meaning the lions share of its 22 million ($28 million) fees come from the biggest members of the FTSE 100. It employs 300 people across the UK and in the US, India, China and Brussels  with a wage bill of almost 14 million.

CBI President Brian McBride launched a charm offensive with members, holding conference calls to outline his plans for resolving the crisis. The organization is cooperating fully with the investigation by City of London police. The CBI said that board member Jill Ader, a former chair of the executive search firm Egon Zehner, would oversee a root and branch review of the organizations culture and governances.

Publicly, most CBI members have been restrained. Tesco Plc CEO Ken Murphy said on a call with reporters on Thursday that the allegations were very serious, but that it was inappropriate for him to comment further. As it stands today we dont have any interaction with them, he said. A Rolls-Royce Plc spokesperson said the company would await the completion of the probe before considering whether to remain a member.

However, all members are pressing for change. Some criticized the swift appointment of Newton-Smith, without a full recruitment process, and who had been at the CBI when the alleged misconduct had occurred. The longer the CBI cant engage and talk to people, the less useful they become, said the representative of another.

There are many other industry bodies that are probably closer to their particular sectors, and sometimes things come to an end, said Gwen Rhys, the CEO of campaign group Women in the City. Perhaps its time for the end of the CBI as it has been, and this is just something that has rocked it and brought things to light.

With assistance from Katie Linsell, Siddharth Vikram Philip and Justina Lee.

Top photograph: The Canary Wharf business district in view of attendees at the CBI annual conference in London in November 2017. Photo credit: Jason Alden/Bloomberg

Copyright 2023 Bloomberg.
Emergency authorities in Western Australia were assessing damage on Saturday from a tropical cyclone that hit the states northwest, sparing heavily populated areas but affecting several remote communities.

Ilsa, downgraded to a severe weather system, made landfall in the sparsely populated Pilbara region of Western Australia early on Friday with an intensity rating of 5, the highest.

The storm is the second extreme weather event this year in the states northwest. Once in a century floods lashed the vast Kimberley region further north in January.

Western Australias Iron Ore Export Hub Reopens as Cyclone Moves Inland

Western Australia Department of Fire and Emergency Services Assistant Commissioner Rick Curtis said crews were surveying damage in the very large area hit by Ilsa.

There is a large path of destruction, Curtis told ABC television, saying there had been damage to some homesteads and station properties in the region.

Its quite a remote part of Western Australia so getting support services to the area will take some time and effort.

The cyclone, which set a preliminary Australian record 10-minute sustained wind speed of 218 km per hour (135 mph), missed the worlds largest iron ore export hub at Port Hedland, before moving inland.

As the focus shifted to recovery, the federal and state governments on Saturday made emergency payments available to affected residents.

This cyclone has impacted on many extremely remote communities and  it may take some time to fully understand the full extent of the impact, Acting Federal Emergency Management Minister Andrew Giles said in a statement with Western Australian counterpart Sue Ellery.

Australias weather forecaster warned of possible severe weather on Saturday in parts of the neighboring Northern Territory, including potential flooding in the outback town of Alice Springs, as the ex-cyclone tracked east.

(Reporting by Sam McKeith in Sydney; editing by William Mallard)

Topics Australia
The city of Minneapolis agreed Thursday to pay nearly $9 million to settle lawsuits filed by two people who said former police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into their necks years before he used the same move to kill George Floyd.

John Pope Jr. will receive $7.5 million and Zoya Code will receive $1.375 million. The settlements were announced during a meeting of the Minneapolis City Council.

Both lawsuits stemmed from arrests in 2017  three years before Chauvin killed Floyd during an arrest captured on video that sparked protests worldwide, prompted a national reckoning on racial injustice and compelled a Minneapolis Police Department overhaul.

At a news conference Thursday, Mayor Jacob Frey apologized to all victims of Chauvin and said that if police supervisors had done the right thing, George Floyd would not have been murdered.

He should have been fired in 2017. He should have been held accountable in 2017,  Frey told reporters.

Both lawsuits named Chauvin and several other officers. The lawsuits alleged police misconduct, excessive force, and racism  Pope and Code are Black; Chauvin is white. They also said the city knew that Chauvin had a record of misconduct but didnt stop him.

Bob Bennett, an attorney for Pope and Code, noted that other officers failed to intervene or report Chauvin, and police leaders allowed Chauvin to keep working even though they had video evidence from body cameras of his wrongdoing.

In edited body camera footage released Thursday by Bennetts law firm, Pope is heard crying while lying on his stomach, his hands cuffed behind his back and Chauvins knee on his neck.

My neck really hurts, he says more than once. At one point, the videos show the other officers in the room walked out after Pope began crying.

The easy thing is to blame Chauvin for everything, Bennett said in a written statement. The important thing that the video shows is that none of those nine to a dozen officers at the scene ever reported it, ever tried to stop it. They violated their own policy and really any sense of humanity.

Police Chief Brian OHara said the department is forced to reckon once again with the deplorable acts of someone who has proven to be a national embarrassment. But he also cited systemic failure within the Minneapolis Police Department.

I am appalled at the repetitive behavior of this coward and disgusted by the inaction and acceptance of that behavior by members of this department. Such conduct is a disgrace to the badge and an embarrassment to what is truly a very noble profession, OHara said in a statement.

Code, who has a history of homelessness and mental health problems, was arrested in June 2017 after she allegedly tried to strangle her mother with an extension cord. Pope was 14 in September 2017 when, according to his lawsuit, Chauvin subjected him to excessive force while responding to a domestic assault report.

The lawsuits said body camera recordings showed Chauvin used many of the same tactics on Pope and Code that he used on Floyd. Chauvin was sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison on a state murder charge for killing Floyd by pressing his knee to Floyds neck for 9 1/2 minutes as he pleaded that he couldnt breathe. The city also paid $27 million to Floyds family.

Codes lawsuit said she was in handcuffs when Chauvin slammed her head to the ground and pinned his knee on the back of her neck for 4 minutes and 41 seconds. A second officer didnt intervene and a responding police sergeant approved the force, the lawsuit stated.

Popes lawsuit said his mother was drunk when she called police because she was upset that he and his 16-year-old sister left their cellphone chargers plugged in, leading to a physical confrontation. It alleged Chauvin struck Pope in the head with a large metal flashlight at least four times. It says he then put Pope in a chokehold before pinning him to the floor and putting his knee on Popes neck.

Chauvin would proceed to hold John in this prone position for more than fifteen minutes, all while John was completely subdued and not resisting, the complaint alleged. Over those minutes, John repeatedly cried out that he could not breathe.

The complaint alleged that at least eight other officers did nothing to intervene. It said Chauvin did not mention in his report that he had hit Pope with his flashlight, nor did he mention pinning Pope for so long. Chauvins sergeant reviewed and approved his report and use of force despite having firsthand knowledge that the report was false and misleading, the lawsuit alleged.

Chauvin admitted to many of Popes allegations when he pleaded guilty in December 2021 to federal charges for violating the civil rights of both Floyd and Pope. He was sentenced in July to 21 years on those charges.

Chauvin is serving his sentences concurrently in a federal prison in Arizona.

Photo: A placard with a portrait of George Floyd, who died while being detained by police in Minneapolis on Memorial Day, is held above demonstrators as they march down East Colfax Avenue after a rally calling for more oversight of the police Sunday, June 7, 2020, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A.V.I. Sea Bar & Chophouse restaurant, a Wichita, Kansas steakhouse with an attached catering service known as Corporate Caterers of Wichita, has agreed to pay $55,000 to a former employee and furnish other relief to settle an employment discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced.

According to the EEOC, hostess Macee Hoffman was provided a stool she used between serving customers to help alleviate foot and back pain due to her pregnancy. Afterward, managers took the stool away and demanded she bring in a doctors note. After providing a note, she was then fired.

Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Right Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on pregnancy. The EEOC filed its lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. A.V.I. Sea Bar & Chophouse LLC d/b/a A.V.I. Sea Bar and Chophouse and Corporate Caterers of Wichita, Civil Action No. 2:21-cv-2428), after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. Hoffman, who was seven months pregnant at the time of her termination, later filed a charge of discrimination with the Kansas Human Rights Commission and the EEOC.

The three-year consent decree prohibits A.V.I. Sea Bar and Corporate Caterers of Wichita from violating Title VII in the future, ensures employees are provided copies of the companys pregnancy discrimination and anti-retaliation policy, requires recurring training for all employees on pregnancy discrimination as well as the companys anti-harassment and anti-retaliation policies, and requires pregnancy discrimination and anti-retaliation training for all owners and managers.

The company will also regularly report to the EEOC regarding pregnancy discrimination complaints they receive, how they handle any complaints of pregnancy discrimination, accommodations requested by a pregnant employee, and adverse employment actions taken against a pregnant employee.

Source: EEOC

Topics Lawsuits Kansas
New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles!

Dominion Voting Systems $1.6 billion defamation trial against Fox Corp FOXA.O and Fox News will proceed with jury selection starting on Tuesday, a judge announced on Monday.

Judge Eric Davis did not provide a reason for the delay.

Dominion is suing Fox Corp. and Fox News for $1.6 billion over the networks coverage of the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

The trial is one of the most closely watched U.S. defamation cases in years, involving a leading cable news outlet with numerous conservative commentators.

Rupert Murdoch, the chair of Fox Corp, is set to testify, along with a parade of Fox executives and on-air hosts, including Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro.

The trial is considered a test of whether Foxs coverage crossed the line between ethical journalism and the pursuit of ratings, as Dominion alleges and Fox denies.

Dominion has accused Fox of ruining its reputation by airing baseless claims that its machines secretly changed votes in favor of Democrat Joe Biden, who defeated then-President Trump, a Republican, in the 2020 presidential election.

Dominion is asking for $1.6 billion in damages, a figure Fox has said is unrealistic and based on flawed economic modeling.

An expert report commissioned by Dominion attributed scores of lost contracts to Foxs coverage, though much of the report remains under seal.

Fox Corp reported nearly $14 billion in annual revenue last year.

Dominion has said Foxs conduct was damaging to American democracy and that the network must be held accountable, while Fox said on Friday that Dominions lawsuit was a threat to press freedom.

Davis on Wednesday sanctioned Fox News, handing Dominion a fresh chance to gather evidence after Fox withheld records until the eve of the trial.

The evidence includes recordings of Rudy Giuliani, Trumps lawyer, saying in pre-taped Fox appearances that he did not have any evidence to back up the false allegations of election rigging by Dominion in the 2020 race that are at the heart of the lawsuit.

The recordings were made by a former Fox employee who is currently suing the network.

Davis said he would also very likely tap an outside investigator to probe Foxs late disclosure of the evidence and take whatever steps necessary to remedy the situation, which he described as troubling.

Fox said in a statement on Wednesday that it produced the supplemental information to Dominion when we first learned it.

The primary question for jurors is whether Fox knowingly spread false information or recklessly disregarded the truth, the standard of actual malice that Dominion must show to prevail in a defamation case.

Dominion says defamatory statements were aired on Fox shows including Sunday Morning Futures, Lou Dobbs Tonight and Justice with Judge Jeanine.

Dominion alleges that Fox staff, ranging from members of the newsroom to the board of directors, knew the statements were false but continued to air them to avoid losing viewers to far-right outlets.

Dominion also cites evidence that some hosts and producers thought the guests spreading the false statements, including former Trump attorneys Giuliani and Sidney Powell, could not back up their allegations.

Fox had argued that coverage of the vote-rigging claims was inherently newsworthy and protected by the U.S. Constitutions First Amendment guarantee of press freedom.

Davis rejected that argument in a ruling last month on both parties competing motions for summary judgment.

Fox has also said that Dominion cannot pin actual malice on the individuals whom Dominion says were responsible for the defamatory statements.

Fox has said Dominion must prove that a superior officer at the network or its parent company ordered, participated in, or ratified wrongdoing. The network has argued that doubts about the claims among certain individuals cannot be attributed to the organization as a whole.
NEW ORLEANS (AP)  Louisiana lost more than $82 million worth of natural gas in 2019 due to leaks, venting or flaring at production sites, according to a study released Thursday by an environmental group and government watchdog organizations.

The Environmental Defense Funds report said state fossil fuel producers wasted more than 27 billion cubic feet (760 million cubic meters) of gas in 2019. Its an economic loss for the state, the report said, estimating the tax and royalty revenue lost to state government that year at $2.5 million. The report also said it was an environmental hazard because methane, a major component of natural gas, is a contributor to climate change.

More than 81% of wasted gas was from leaks. Less than 1% was from purposeful venting, and 19% was lost by flaring. Releasing gas by venting small amounts or by burning it is done for a variety of possible reasons involving safety and economics.

Thats enough lost gas to meet more than 2/3 of residential natural gas demand in the state for a year, a statement accompanying the report said.

The research was done by Synapse Energy Economics Inc., a consulting firm that lists various environmental groups and municipal, state and federal agencies among its clients.

The report comes as the federal Environmental Protection Agency considers rules aimed at preventing gas releases, including inspection requirements for well sites. The state also is setting in motion a process for developing rules to deal with the issues, said Patrick Courreges, spokesperson for the state Department of Natural Resources.

That includes what other oil and gas producing states are adopting and seeing how those regulations might work in Louisiana. Courreges, while not commenting on the accuracy of the reports figures, said reducing gas emissions is a department goal.

Wed rather keep it in the pipes and send it somewhere doing work, he said in a telephone interview.

State and federal authorities also have stepped up efforts to address leaks from orphan wells  non-producing, abandoned well sites that are still leaking contaminants.

Two watchdog groups joined the Environmental Defense Fund in calling for policies to address the issue.

Outdated policies keep billions of dollars worth of natural gas from getting to market at a time when budgets are tight and energy security is important as ever, Autumn Hanna, vice president at Taxpayers for Common Sense, said in a statement issued by the fund.

When the industry is allowed to waste natural gas, it robs the state of important tax revenue, which then has to be made up through other taxes or else leave the state without the revenue it needs to fund critical programs, added Jan Moller of the Louisiana Budget Project.

Photo: Barbed wire surrounds structures filled with liquefied natural gas at the Cameron LNG export facility in Hackberry, La., on Thursday, March 31, 2022.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Louisiana
New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles!

The owners of a Fort Myers roofing company, one that has been the subject of a number of complaints from consumers and which has filed multiple assignment-of-benefits lawsuits against property insurers, have pleaded guilty to more than $1 million in tax evasion.

David T. Aaron and Russell Ultes, co-owners of Marlin Construction Group LLC, cashed millions of dollars of customer checks at check-cashing businesses in order to underreport earnings and avoid federal taxes, federal prosecutors said last week. The men also used the cash to purchase luxury items for themselves, including jet skis and automobiles, according to the criminal complaints.

In total, Aaron and Ultes caused a tax loss to the IRS of over $1.4 million, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release.

The men could face as much as five years in prison, along with restitution requirements and fines.

Marlin Construction Group is well known to some Florida property insurers. Court records show that in 2018 and 2019, the firm filed at least three AOB lawsuits, against the Hartford Insurance Co., Metropolitan Casualty Insurance Co., and Church Mutual Insurance Co. All were removed to federal court and were settled by 2021. Marlin also filed as many as 15 suits in Collier County, against Castle Key Insurance, United Property & Casualty Insurance Co., FedNat Insurance, Avatar, First Protective, St. Johns and other property insurers in recent years, records show.

The roofing and construction firm also has seen more than 20 complaints filed against it with the Better Business Bureau. Some customers charged that the firm did not complete roof jobs, left leaks in the roof, or caused other damage to the property. And in 2021, WINK TV news in Fort Myers reported that a Citizens Property Insurance Corp. investigator recorded a Marlin employee deliberately damaging roof shingles on a home.

An affidavit from the investigator notes that, Citizens had a previous suspicious claim with Marlin with the allegation that an employee, TJ McCowan, with Marlin was allegedly damaging roofing materials and exaggerating the damage prior to the adjusters arrival, the news station reported.

The Florida Department of Financial Services investigated the matter and another Marlin employee told investigators that McCowan had been instructed on how to cause damage to the roof so that the homeowner would qualify for a new roof, paid by the insurance carrier, WINK reported.

Aaron and Ultes could not immediately be reached for comment.

The tax evasion and check-cashing problem is not unheard of in the construction business, prosecutors have said. It worked like this: Marlin Construction was an S corporation, based in Fort Myers. Companies organized under subchapter S of the U.S. tax code are considered flow-through entities, with all gains and losses passed to their shareholder owners, court documents show.

Marlin was owned by Samber Contracting LLC, which was owned by Ultes, and by DNC Holdings LLC, owned by David Aaron. Instead of properly reporting income from the Marlin company, from 2018 to 2020, Aaron and Ultes cashed more than $3 million in checks from customers, the criminal information documents charge.

The men then provided false information to Marlins tax preparers and falsified their own personal tax returns, prosecutors said.

Official documents did not indicate if the company also underreported payroll in order to reduce workers compensation premiums, a widespread problem in the U.S. construction industry. Floridas Division of Workers Compensation records show that Marlin Construction Group held comp insurance through Lion Insurance Co., with a policy cancellation date of Jan. 1, 2023.

Marlin and Aaron hold active contractor licenses, according to the state Department of Business & Professional Regulation. No license information could be found for Ultes or Samber Contracting.

Update: An earlier version of this article reported that the Florida DWC search page did not show proof of workers compensation insurance for Marlin Construction Group.

Topics Florida
A California church that defied safety regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic by holding large, unmasked religious services must pay $1.2 million in fines, a judge has ruled.

Calvary Chapel in San Jose was fined last week for ignoring Santa Clara Countys mask-wearing rules between November 2020 and June 2021.

The church will appeal, attorney Mariah Gondeiro told the San Jose Mercury News.

Calvary was one of several large California evangelical churches that flouted state and local mask-wearing and social distancing rules designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 during its deadliest period.

That has led to a tangled web of court rulings and challenges.

Calvary Chapel sued the county, arguing the health orders violated its religious freedom. Various courts have ruled either in favor the church or the county.

The church and its pastors were previously held in contempt of court and fined for violating limits on indoor public gatherings. But a state appellate court reversed those decisions last year, saying that the restrictions on indoor worship services were stricter than for secular activities such as going to grocery stores.

The county continued to seek fines for violations of mask-wearing regulations.

It should appear clear to all  regardless of religious affiliation  that wearing a mask while worshiping ones god and communing with other congregants is a simple, unobtrusive, giving way to protect others while still exercising your right to religious freedom, Superior Court Judge Evette D. Pennypacker wrote in the April 7 ruling imposing the fines.

The church, she said, flouted public health orders and urged others to do so who cares what the cost, including death.

County Counsel James Williams said the ruling showed the court once again saw through Calvarys unsupported claims and found them meritless.

The countys response to the pandemic, including the health officers public health orders and enforcement against entities that refused to follow the law, saved thousands of lives and resulted in one of the lowest death rates of any community in the United States, Williams said.

More than 101,000 Californians have died from COVID-19, according to state public health figures. Death and infection rates have fallen since the height of the virus spread, and Gov. Gavin Newsom officially ended the states coronavirus emergency several months ago.

Last week, the California Department of Public Health ended masking and coronavirus vaccination requirements in high-risk settings, including health care facilities and prisons.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics California COVID-19 Church
Dividend-earning stocks and mutual funds can help your retirement portfolio grow more quickly, as long as you reinvest the dividends. Dividends earned in a taxable account also have the advantage of being taxed at lower capital gains tax rates.

Unfortunately, when you earn dividends from investments in a traditional IRA, they won't get the favorable capital gains tax treatment. Instead, you'll pay your regular income tax rate, which may be higher.

Key Takeaways Dividends earned within traditional IRAs are not taxed when they are paid or reinvested.

Rather, as part of an IRA's earnings, they're taxed at one's current income tax rate when they are withdrawn.

Earnings on investments within a Roth IRA, including dividends, grow on a tax-free basis and are not subject to taxation when withdrawn.

These deferments and exemptions are only valid if you wait until at least age 59 to withdraw retirement funds.

1:04 How IRA Dividends Are Taxed

Capital Gains Explained

In an Investment Account

In a regular investment account, the dividends and capital gains you earn benefit from a capital gains tax treatment. This means these earnings could be taxed at a lower rate (from 0% to 20%, depending on your income level).

For example, if you earn $41,675 or less and file as single or married filing separately ($83,350 or less for married filing jointly/qualifying surviving spouse; $55,800 or less for head of household), you pay 0% taxes on dividends and long-term capital gains.

Those who earn from $41,676 to $459,750 and file as single pay 15% on dividends and capital gains. For married filing jointly/qualifying surviving spouse, that range is from $83,351 to $517,200. For head of household, it's from $55,801 to $488,500. For married filing separately, it's from $41,676 to $258,600.

Beyond those 15% thresholds, you'll pay 20% on dividends and capital gains (with a few exceptions).

In an IRA

When you earn dividends and capital gains in an IRA, the tax treatment can be radically different, depending on the type of IRA you have and when you want to withdraw the money.

Before retirement, money in any type of IRA grows without being diminished by taxes. Therefore, you'll pay no taxes on dividends that are issued and reinvested in either a Roth IRA or traditional IRA while your money remains invested.

"The great benefit of retirement accounts, IRAs and Roth IRAs, is that dividends are not taxed on an annual basis. That is the tax deferral component," says John P. Daly, CFP, president of Daly Investment Management LLC in Mount Prospect, IL. "With a regular taxable investment account, dividends are taxed every year you receive them."

With an IRA, the catch comes when you want to withdraw money. The rules are different depending on which IRA you have. Here is how they work for both Roth and traditional IRAs.

Roth IRA Withdrawals

As long as you withdraw money invested in a Roth IRA after the age of 59and you owned that account for more than five yearsyou will pay zero taxes on the withdrawals, even if the withdrawals include dividends. If you do need to withdraw money prior to 59, you are required to pay taxes on any earnings you withdraw at your current tax rate. You will not have to pay taxes or any penalty on contributions made to the IRA because that money was taxed prior to making that contribution.

"Withdrawals from Roth IRAs are a little tricky. Before retirement, you will only be taxed on earnings made on top of your contributions. For example, if 80% of your Roth IRA is made up of contributions, while the rest is made up of earnings, then only 20% of each withdrawal will be taxed at your income tax rate," says Mark Hebner, founder and president of Index Fund Advisors Inc. in Irvine, CA, and author of Index Funds: The 12-Step Recovery Program for Active Investors.

If you decide to take out money prior to the age of 59, you may also owe a 10% penalty on any gains you withdraw, unless the withdrawal qualified for a special exception. Special exceptions can include disability, first-time home purchase, and some other qualified exceptions. Even if you meet the special exception rules, you will need to pay taxes on dividends and capital gains at your current tax rate.

Traditional IRA Withdrawals

Most money withdrawn from a traditional IRA is taxed at your current tax rate, which could be as high as 37%. Capital gains in your IRA account do not benefit from the capital gains tax treatment; they are taxed at the same rate as regular income.

The only exception to that rule is when you contribute to a traditional IRA using money that has already been taxed (in other words, you haven't taken a tax deduction when making the contribution). But beware of taking this approach: Mixing tax-deferred contributions with taxable contributions in a traditional IRA can be a nightmare to sort out at retirement.

If you take money out before the age of 59, you may also need to pay a 10% penalty on contributions and gains unless you meet the qualifications for a special exception.

"The idea of being in a lower tax bracket at retirement is why most Americans contribute to a retirement plan," says Morris Armstrong, EA, founder of Armstrong Financial Strategies in Cheshire, CT. "If they can save $25 today and only pay $15 in tax when they retire, they think it is a good deal. The reality can be a wake-up call. Many people are in the same bracket and are now paying tax on every dime of income."

Owners of a traditional IRA are required to begin taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) at age 73.

How Are Dividends Within a Roth IRA Taxed? They aren't taxed at all. All earnings in a Roth IRA, including dividends issued by companies the Roth IRA invests in, grow tax free and can be withdrawn tax free in your retirement years.

What Tax Rate Applies to Dividends? Normally, the capital gains rate applies to dividends. Whether you pay 0%, 15%, or 20% depends on your income level.

How Are Dividends Taxed When Earned in a Traditional IRA? While the lower capital gains tax rate is applied to dividends in a taxable investment account, all earnings in a traditional IRAincluding dividendsare subject to the accountholder's regular income tax rate. This can often be higher than the capital gains tax rate.

The Bottom Line

An IRA is a great way to save for retirement. The key is to know the rules for withdrawals before you invest, so you do not face any tax surprises at retirement.

"Tax diversification can be just as important as investment diversification. It's important to have a mix of taxable, tax-deferred, and tax-free investments," says Marguerita M. Cheng, CFP, chief executive officer of Blue Ocean Global Wealth in Gaithersburg, MD.

As long as you meet the qualifications for a Roth IRA, that should always be your first choice. You lose the tax break on the contribution, but the long-term benefits are generally worth it.

Additionally, "for many Americans... [especially] millennials, a Roth IRA is the best choice since tax rates will only increase in the future. Although a retiree might benefit from a traditional IRA in the short term, a Roth will win for the majority. Also, with a Roth IRA, you're not restricted to future uncertain tax rates or required minimum distributions," says Carlos Dias Jr., founder and managing partner of Dias Wealth LLC in Lake Mary, FL.
April 17, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Viral vote-to-earn meme coin Love Hate Inu has raised $4.4 million from investors and to celebrate that success has launched a demo vote competition

Do you love or hate Andrew Tate? Vote now for a chance to win $10,000.

This first vote is off-chain and the free-to-enter competition is easy to take part in.

To participate, head over to the Love Hate Inu homepage and below the presale contributions area, see the 'Vote for a Chance to Win $10,000' header; click on the 'Vote Now to Win' button.

All you have to do next is click the 'Vote Love' or 'Vote Hate' button. Once you have voted, enter and verify your email address. Voters can then share on their socials how they voted.

Love or hate Andrew Tate? Let Love Hate Inu know for a chance to win $10,000

At the time of writing Andrew Tate, currently under house arrest in Romania, is feeling the love. The haters are lagging behind by a very substantial margin.

There can only be one lucky winner and the end date has not yet been communicated, so it is best to jump in as soon as you can.

If you hate Andrew Tate you may be especially motivated to take part in the platform's first poll to even up the score.

Over the weekend 4,400 people voted and that number is expected to mushroom in the coming week.

As well as being a fun and valuable way of saying thank you to the community for its enthusiastic support for the project, this first vote also provides a powerful proof of concept for the business model.

Love Hate Inu - meme coin virality and blockchain-powered vote-to-earn utility

Love Hate Inu (LHINU) is a new cryptocurrency project that combines meme coin virality with a highly innovative vote-to-earn system. It is a meme token that offers real utility in a voting system based on blockchain technology.

Going forward, platform users will be able to have a say on trending topics, address critical issues and contribute to the creation of the latest meme sensations, all while earning valuable tokens.

By staking LHINU tokens, users can participate in the latest polls and earn tokens for voting. Over time, the community will decide on which polls they want to create.

The beauty of Love Hate Inu is that it is a secure and transparent platform for voting on issues that matter - an ideally suited use case for blockchain technology.

Because its staking mechanism is secured by smart contracts, it prevents spam and manipulation as well as the voting process being both verifiable and anonymous.

No.1 crypto exchange reported last year to be creating an internal Binance, an investor in Twitter, was building a team to help Twitter fight bot accounts by leveraging blockchain and crypto.

Perhaps Elon Musk should keep an eye on what the team at Love Hate Inu are up to, as the team has already started building the on-chain system.

Seven days until the next presale price rise, so no time to waste

There are only seven days to go before the next staged price increase, from $0.000115 to $0.000125 in Stage 6 of the eight-stage presale.

The latest milestone achievement comes after it was announced two weeks ago that Carl Dawkins, formerly head of growth at top 10 ranked meme coin Tamadoge, is its new CEO.

Commenting on the $10,000 voting competition, Dawkins said: "The vote is already off to a flying start, so we couldn't be more pleased."

He continued: "If the early success of this demo vote is anything to go by then it shows we are onto something big. It is nice to see that being validated in real time. We wish everyone taking part the best of luck, whether they love or hate Mr Tate."

Dawkins is well known in the crypto space and is an advisor to the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Crypto and Digital Assets.

For more information on the project and to get acquainted with Dawkins, interested parties can check out the Monday, April 10th Twitter Spaces AMA Dawkins hosted for the Love Hate Inu community.

Massive open-ended potential of Love Hate Inu vote-to-earn platform

In addition to voting on personalities that everyone has an opinion about, there are many other possible use cases for vote-to-earn.

In the AMA with community members, Dawkins emphasized how voting would not be purely about trending issues and personalities.

He revealed that there will also be polls on project governance issues. For instance, the community could be involved with decision-making on what to spend marketing budgets on.

Also, it has been revealed that the dev team is currently working on a VIP KYC system for companies that want to conduct more serious polling activity.

Partnerships are being negotiated to deliver the KYC system, but details are yet to be confirmed. The VIP polls will include the functionality to provide participants with in-real-life rewards.

Combined with the staking requirement for voting, companies and those looking at poll results and surveys can be sure that the result is not skewed by bots or manipulated in some other way.

Polls and voting on the platform will have a security and community confidence that no other system will be able to match.

Love Hate Inu is one of the most popular presales of the year - Next Shiba Inu?

Love Hate Inu's presale is shaping up to be one of the most popular of the year so far - analysts are pointing to Love Hate Inu as among the best cryptos to buy now.

Given its unique utility setting it apart from other meme coins, Love Hate Inu could very easily be the next Dogecoin or Shiba Inu.

The $LHINU presale started at a price of $0.000085 in Stage 1 and when the presale ends will be priced at $0.000145. Buyers who were first off the mark could realize an instant gain of 70% when the coin is listed on its first exchanges.

Even so, if you buy now, before the price rises in Stage 6, you will still be in line for a 38% paper gain.

Love Hate Inu could very easily be the next Shiba Inu. The second-largest meme coin was launched in August 2020 and has grown in value since then by an incredible 722,900x.

Fair and transparent voting, fair and transparent presale

Ninety percent of the total supply of 100 billion tokens are on offer in the presale. The generous allocation means there are no worries about the possibility of a rug pull by unscrupulous developers or team members.

Investors can buy Love Hate Inu using ETH, BNB or USDT (Tether stablecoin).

There is also no vesting period for the $LHINU token, which means buyers receive 100% of their purchase before the public listing.

As the altcoin season gets going, investors are looking for the projects that will generate the highest returns on investment on the basis of strong fundamentals and a strong value proposition. Love Hate Inu is the perfect fit.

An old maxim of investment is to invest in what you know and understand.

Love Hate Inu is just that: an easy-to-understand business model that combines viral meme coin brand power with blockchain technology's unique selling points.

Media contact: pr@lovehateinu.com

Website: www.lovehateinu.com

Whitepaper: https://www.lovehateinu.com/assets/document/whitepaper.pdf



More Info:

This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders

Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions.

More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ and tickertagstocknews.com

Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp
Source: Michael Fairbairn

April 17, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) New drill data from the South Dakota property also show the explorer hit its highest-grade gold intercept to date, noted a Canaccord Genuity report.

Dakota Gold Corp.'s (DC:NYSE American) newly released data for five holes drilled at its Richmond Hill gold project in South Dakota show all of them "intersected significant mineralization," reported Canaccord Genuity analyst Michael Fairbairn in an April 13 research note.

"Where there's smoke, there may be fire," Fairbairn commented.

The U.S.-based gold explorer is trading at US$3.17 per share, which compares to Canaccord Genuity's US$5 per share price target on it. The financial services firm rates Dakota Gold Speculative Buy.

High-Grade Gold Encountered

Dakota Gold drilled the five holes, just reported, in the Twin Tunnels breccia pipe, one of six on the property and one not previously mined, Fairbairn wrote. The results of these holes confirmed that higher-grade gold mineralization exists in the breccia pipes at Richmond Hill.

Fairbairn presented the highlight intercept of each hole:

RH22C-013: 30 meters (30m) of 5.98 grams per ton gold (5.98 g/t Au), the highest-grade intercept Dakota has encountered so far. This hole was the best of the batch.

RH23C-014: 42m of 1.35 g/t Au

RH22C-009: 5.1m of 1.21 g/t Au

RH22C-011: 15.4m of 1.24 g/t Au

RH22C-010: 5.7m of 0.82 g/t Au. This hole was drilled 762m of the Twin Tunnels West breccia pipe.

"Results to date bode well for the next resource update, with indications that Richmond Hill hosts a substantial high-grade gold ore body," Fairbairn commented.

Dakota Gold continues drilling at Richmond Hill and at Maitland, with two active rigs at each project.

Disclosures:

1) Doresa Banning wrote this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an independent contractor. She or members of her household own securities of the following companies mentioned in the article: None. She or members of her household are paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None.

2) The following companies mentioned in this article are billboard sponsors of Streetwise Reports: Dakota Gold Corp. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. As of the date of this article, an affiliate of Streetwise Reports has a consulting relationship with: None. Please click here for more information.

3) Comments and opinions expressed are those of the specific experts and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security.

4) The article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports.

5) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the decision to publish an article until three business days after the publication of the article. The foregoing prohibition does not apply to articles that in substance only restate previously published company releases. As of the date of this article, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of Dakota Gold Corp. a company mentioned in this article.

Disclosures For Canaccord Genuity Corp., Dakota Gold Corp., April 13, 2023

Analyst Certification Each authoring analyst of Canaccord Genuity whose name appears on the front page of this research hereby certifies that (i) the recommendations and opinions expressed in this research accurately reflect the authoring analyst's personal, independent and objective views about any and all of the designated investments or relevant issuers discussed herein that are within such authoring analyst's coverage universe and (ii) no part of the authoring analyst's compensation was, is, or will be, directly or indirectly, related to the specific recommendations or views expressed by the authoring analyst in the research, and (iii) to the best of the authoring analyst's knowledge, she/he is not in receipt of material non-public information about the issuer. Analysts employed outside the US are not registered as research analysts with FINRA. These analysts may not be associated persons of Canaccord Genuity LLC and therefore may not be subject to the FINRA Rule 2241 and NYSE Rule 472 restrictions on communications with a subject company, public appearances and trading securities held by a research analyst account.

Required Company-Specific Disclosures (as of date of this publication) Canaccord Genuity or one or more of its affiliated companies intend to seek or expect to receive compensation for Investment Banking services from Dakota Gold Corp. in the next three months. An analyst has visited the material operations of Dakota Gold Corp.. Partial payment was received for the related travel costs.

General Disclaimers See "Required Company-Specific Disclosures" above for any of the following disclosures required as to companies referred to in this report: manager or co-manager roles; 1% or other ownership; compensation for certain services; types of client relationships; research analyst conflicts; managed/co-managed public offerings in prior periods; directorships; market making in equity securities and related derivatives. For reports identified above as compendium reports, the foregoing required company-specific disclosures can be found in a hyperlink located in the section labeled, "Compendium Reports." "Canaccord Genuity" is the business name used by certain wholly owned subsidiaries of Canaccord Genuity Group Inc., including Canaccord Genuity LLC, Canaccord Genuity Limited, Canaccord Genuity Corp., and Canaccord Genuity (Australia) Limited, an affiliated company that is 80%-owned by Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. The authoring analysts who are responsible for the preparation of this research are employed by Canaccord Genuity Corp. a Canadian broker-dealer with principal offices located in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, or Canaccord Genuity LLC, a US broker-dealer with principal offices located in New York, Boston, San Francisco and Houston, or Canaccord Genuity Limited., a UK broker-dealer with principal offices located in London (UK) and Dublin (Ireland), or Canaccord Genuity (Australia) Limited, an Australian broker-dealer with principal offices located in Sydney and Melbourne. The authoring analysts who are responsible for the preparation of this research have received (or will receive) compensation based upon (among other factors) the Investment Banking revenues and general profits of Canaccord Genuity. However, such authoring analysts have not received, and will not receive, compensation that is directly based upon or linked to one or more specific Investment Banking activities, or to recommendations contained in the research. Some regulators require that a firm must establish, implement and make available a policy for managing conflicts of interest arising as a result of publication or distribution of research. This research has been prepared in accordance with Canaccord Genuity's policy on managing conflicts of interest, and information barriers or firewalls have been used where appropriate.

Canaccord Genuity's policy is available upon request. The information contained in this research has been compiled by Canaccord Genuity from sources believed to be reliable, but (with the exception of the information about Canaccord Genuity) no representation or warranty, express or implied, is made by Canaccord Genuity, its affiliated companies or any other person as to its fairness, accuracy, completeness or correctness. Canaccord Genuity has not independently verified the facts, assumptions, and estimates contained herein. All estimates, opinions and other information contained in this research constitute Canaccord Genuity's judgement as of the date of this research, are subject to change without notice and are provided in good faith but without legal responsibility or liability. From time to time, Canaccord Genuity salespeople, traders, and other professionals provide oral or written market commentary or trading strategies to our clients and our principal trading desk that reflect opinions that are contrary to the opinions expressed in this research. Canaccord Genuity's affiliates, principal trading desk, and investing businesses also from time to time make investment decisions that are inconsistent with the recommendations or views expressed in this research. This research is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any designated investments discussed herein in any jurisdiction where such offer or solicitation would be prohibited. As a result, the designated investments discussed in this research may not be eligible for sale in some jurisdictions. This research is not, and under no circumstances should be construed as, a solicitation to act as a securities broker or dealer in any jurisdiction by any person or company that is not legally permitted to carry on the business of a securities broker or dealer in that jurisdiction. This material is prepared for general circulation to clients and does not have regard to the investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs of any particular person. Investors should obtain advice based on their own individual circumstances before making an investment decision. To the fullest extent permitted by law, none of Canaccord Genuity, its affiliated companies or any other person accepts any liability whatsoever for any direct or consequential loss arising from or relating to any use of the information contained in this research.

For United States Persons: Canaccord Genuity LLC, a US registered broker-dealer, accepts responsibility for this research and its dissemination in the United States. This research is intended for distribution in the United States only to certain US institutional investors. US clients wishing to effect transactions in any designated investment discussed should do so through a qualified salesperson of Canaccord Genuity LLC. Analysts employed outside the US, as specifically indicated elsewhere in this report, are not registered as research analysts with FINRA. These analysts may not be associated persons of Canaccord Genuity LLC and therefore may not be subject to the FINRA Rule 2241 and NYSE Rule 472 restrictions on communications with a subject company, public appearances and trading securities held by a research analyst account.

More Info:

This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders

Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions.

More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ and tickertagstocknews.com

Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp
Source: Streetwise Reports

April 17, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) First Tellurium Corp. has established a research, development and commercialization company to explore new uses for the rare element. The new company will develop improved thermoelectric generators that can be used in the renewable energy and automotive industries.

First Tellurium Corp. (FTEL:CSE) has established a research, development, and commercialization company to explore new uses for the rare element as it explores its Deer Horn project in British Columbia.

The new company, 1406975 B.C. Ltd., will look to develop improved thermoelectric generators that can be used in the renewable energy and automotive industries.

"Thermoelectric applications, whereby heat is converted to electricity, represent the No. 2 use of tellurium worldwide," First Tellurium President and Chief Executive Officer Tyrone Docherty said. "Tellurium's unique properties make it an ideal material for this process. Our new venture allows us to take these properties further and pursue potential solutions for some of the world's most pressing problems related to greenhouse gases and fossil fuel dependence."



Source: First Tellurium Corp.

Tellurium's (Te) role as a semiconductor has increased its use in solar photovoltaic (solar PV) panels.

Recent International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts show that solar PV technology will generate more power by 2027 than any other source. Te and silver (Ag), also in demand for solar PV, are abundant at Deer Horn.

The market for Te is expected to grow by about 60 metric tons from 2020 to 2024, according to research by Technavio.

"Factors such as increasing urban population, rise in disposable income, strong supply chain, and high internet penetration are driving the growth of the global consumer electronics market," the research firm said in a release. "The increase in demand for consumer electronics will, in turn, drive the demand for tellurium over the forecast period."

The Catalyst: A Positive PEA

Deer Horn is known to have the only positive preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for a Te project in North America. It's named by First Solar Inc. (FSLR:NYSE) as one of only four world-class Te projects.

"There's a very decent chance tellurium will breakout this year because First Solar is using 60 to 70% of worldwide production to make a solar panel," said asset manager Chen Lin, author of the What's Chen Buying? What's Chen Selling? newsletter. "Their production has grown rapidly."

First Solar plans to double its solar panel manufacturing capacity and spend US$1.36 billion to lessen China's dominance of the market, according to S&P Global.

But thermoelectric applications, where heat is converted into electricity, can provide alternatives for power generation and refrigeration, and could help solve the global energy crisis and lessen environmental pollution.

"We see unlimited opportunities for the growth and uses of tellurium," Docherty said. "One of our key goals is to position First Tellurium at the forefront of the sector's innovation, particularly around renewable energy and energy efficiency, and therefore drive value in the company."

Te is one of the least common elements on the planet, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Most rocks contain an average of about 3 parts per billion Te, making it eight times less abundant than gold. In addition to solar panels and thermoelectric applications, it's also used in lithium batteries and is to vulcanize rubber, tint glass, and manufacture rewritable CDs and DVDs.

The market has seen an increased push from both American and Canadian governments to apply more funding to Te mining. Docherty noted that U.S. President Joe Biden has banned solar panels coming from a Chinese company that uses forced labor.

"There's a lot of pressure now to source solar panel production from domestic suppliers," said Docherty. Our goal is to help meet that demand, both from our Deer Horn project in BC and our Klondike project in Colorado."

The global market for Te is predicted to grow at a compound annual growth (CAGR) of 4.6% between 2022 and 2030.

Co. Looking Years Ahead

The company plans to continue exploration at Deer Horn this year. The project's PEA was calculated on 450 meters of a 2.4-kilometer gold-silver-tellurium vein system. Sampling in 2022 identified a possible 1.1-kilometer extension of the system, the company has said.

"Drilling planned for 2023 will focus on confirming and enlarging the zone extension," said Docherty. "We also plan to conduct infill drilling to expand the current indicated and inferred resources."

The company will also test new targets and do mapping and aerial surveys of the 5,133-hectare property. First Tellurium is also looking to get a permit for a 10,000-tonne bulk sample at Deer Horn, which is targeted for 2025.[OWNERSHIP_CHART-10739]

"We are looking two or three years ahead with Deer Horn," Docherty said. "We believe the project will be ready for the sort of 'ground-truthing' a bulk sample can provide towards a production decision."

In addition, the company's Klondike Tellurium Project in Colorado is considered one of America's top Te exploration projects and was previously owned by First Solar as a potential source of raw Te for its solar panels.

Ownership and Share Structure

According to the company, 11% of First Tellurium is owned by management and insiders.

Docherty owns 10.50% or 7.63 million shares, Director Josef Anthony Steve Fogarassy has 1.38% or 1 million shares, and Director Lyle Allen Schwabe has 0.77% or 0.56 million shares. There are no institutional investors, and the rest is retail.

The company has a market cap of CA$14.65 million, with about 95 million shares outstanding, and 63.46 million free-floating. It trades in a 52-week range of CA$0.27 and CA$0.08.

Disclosures:

1) Steve Sobek wrote this article for Streetwise Reports LLC. He or members of his household own securities of the following companies mentioned in the article: None. He or members of his household are paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None.

2) The following companies mentioned in this article are billboard sponsors of Streetwise Reports: None. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. As of the date of this article, an affiliate of Streetwise Reports has a consulting relationship with: First Tellurium Corp. Please click here for more information.

3) The article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports.

4) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the decision to publish an article until three business days after the publication of the article. The foregoing prohibition does not apply to articles that in substance only restate previously published company releases. As of the date of this article, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of First Tellurium Corp., a company mentioned in this article.

More Info:

This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders

Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions.

More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ and tickertagstocknews.com

Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp
Source: Adam Schatzker

April 17, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) The Canadian company had some problems while drilling into a previously mined area, but efforts yielded some encouraging data, noted a Research Capital Corp. report.

Magna Mining Inc. (NICU:TSX.V; MGMNF:OTCMKTS) released "quite decent" drill results from its Crean Hill project in Ontario's Sudbury basin, despite encountering complications while drilling, reported Research Capital Corp. analyst Adam Schatzker in an April 11 research note.

"Overall, we think the drill results announced today are positive but also highlight the challenges of exploration drilling, especially where mining has already taken place (which often leaves large void spaces underground)," Schatzker wrote.

Compelling Upside

The Canadian base metals explorer-developer offers investors material potential gains, noted Schatzker. The difference between the current share price of the company, CA$0.96, and Research Capital's target price on it, CA$3, implies about a 212.5% return.

Magna Mining is a recommended Buy.

"We expect that there will be better results announced in the near future given the nature of the geology and historical results," wrote Schatzker.

New Data Generated

The just-released results are from the first three of the 14 holes drilled thus far this year at Crean Hill: MCR-23-011, -012, and -013. They were designed to test the 109 Footwall zone for open-pit and underground resource delineation. However, due to complications, some of the intended drill targets were missed.

Schatzker reviewed the findings with each hole, commenting that "where Magna hit, the results were good."

MCR-23-011: This hole encountered a narrow, high-grade area at 280 meters (280m) downhole. The zone returned 2.24m of 2.05% nickel (Ni), 2.98% copper (Cu), and 1.13 grams per ton platinum+palladium+gold (1.13 g/t Pt+Pd+Au).

MCR-23-012: With this hole, the drill bit stayed within diabase for longer than expected, and the target was missed.

MCR-23-013: This hole, which in part tested for near-surface, high-grade mineralization, returned a high-grade zone contained within a lower-grade one. These findings are like the ones returned with hole MCR-22-10 drilled last year.

The high-grade zone encountered with MCR-23-013 returned 2.4% Ni, 4.3% Cu, and 37.15 g/t Pt+Pd+Au over 7.1m. The lower-grade zone was much wider, spanning 95.4m, and showed 0.2% Ni, 0.6% Cu, and 11 g/t Pt+Pd+Au.

The other objective with this same hole, MCR-23-013, was to test a deeper area containing high-grade precious metals. The target was missed, however, but the drill intersected a narrow zone of 1.4% Cu over 3.4m.

"The drill did not deviate as planned and entered into historical workings before the targeted area," Schatzker explained.

More Drilling Planned

Magna intends to have additional drilling done on Crean Hill's 109 Footwall zone, testing near surface, but is mobilizing a second rig for this work. As such, this drilling will be done in about the next six to nine months. Meanwhile, the news flow is expected to continue.

Disclosures:

1) Doresa Banning wrote this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an independent contractor. She or members of her household own securities of the following companies mentioned in the article: None. She or members of her household are paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None.

2) The following companies mentioned in this article are billboard sponsors of Streetwise Reports: None. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees. As of the date of this article, an affiliate of Streetwise Reports has a consulting relationship with: None. Please click here for more information.

3) Comments and opinions expressed are those of the specific experts and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security.

4) The article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports.

5) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the decision to publish an article until three business days after the publication of the article. The foregoing prohibition does not apply to articles that in substance only restate previously published company releases.

More Info:

This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders

Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions.

More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ and tickertagstocknews.com

Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp
April 17, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) While I can't make any guarantees, that's very likely at this point. Gold hasn't moved back below $2,000 yet, but what it did, however, indicates that such a move is just around the corner.

Namely, gold moved lower on visibly higher volume, and this - after a profound rally - marked the beginning of the decline in many cases. This includes the March 2022 and January 2023 tops.

The indication coming from the USD Index seems more important, though.

Breakdowns to new yearly lows and moves below the previous important bottoms are viewed as important bearish events... As long as they are confirmed. Conversely, while many don't realize it, there's an even stronger signal in the opposite direction if the breakdown gets invalidated. And the more important the support level is, the more profound the bullish implications of the invalidations are.

What did the U.S. currency do on Friday?

It soared.

Right back above the previous lows.

And it wasn't just "some lows." It was the yearly low! Just when everyone and their brother had been expecting to see another powerful slide, the USDX rose back from the ashes like a phoenix!

This might not seem exciting right now, but just wait. The history tends to rhyme, and the current rhyme ends with "and then the USDX soared".

Why is this important for those who are interested in the gold price outlook?

Because of the very negative correlation between gold and the USDX. You can see it at the bottom of the above chart. It's very close to -1, which is as low as it gets. But even without looking at the so-called linear correlation coefficient, it's pretty clear that gold and the USDX have been moving in a mirror-like fashion for about a year.

As the USD Index appears to have bottomed, gold likely topped. The move back below $2,000 will confirm this.

Please note that silver volume increased visibly as well during Friday's decline. When did that happen after a sizable short-term rally as well? In early 2023. And yes - that's when the rally ended.

The above, thus, serves as a bearish confirmation.

The GDXJ - proxy for junior mining stocks - declined on Friday, but just like gold and silver, it didn't move back below its previous yearly high... Yet.

Just like in the case of silver, we see a subtle clue on the above hourly chart that this invalidation is about to take place. Namely, the size of the move below the rising, dashed support line is much bigger than what we saw earlier in April. That first attempt was invalidated, and (remember what I wrote about invalidations earlier today?) it was followed by a rally. This time, the rebound took GDXJ only a little higher and definitely not back above the support line, which has now turned into resistance.

So far in today's (Monday's) pre-market trading, gold and silver are up only barely (chart courtesy of https://SilverPriceForecast.com), which suggests that the breakdown in the GDXJ is not going to be invalidated.

This, plus the situation on the forex market, suggests that gold is about to move below the all-important $2,000 level and that the next big move in the precious metals sector is going to be to the downside. It's now very easy to be bullish on the precious metals market because it's just as easy to look into the most recent past and think that what happened recently is going to be repeated. That's what most people tend to do. And most people don't tend to get great results on the markets, do they?

That's the key reason - people tend to do what's easy instead of looking beyond the initial impression, and then acting based on cold logic and analysis of previous patterns. You see, people had been emotional... Probably for longer than our species exists, as many other species are emotional as well. That's not likely to change anytime soon. Instead of blindly following the herd, it's best to take a deep breath and look at the situation from a broader point of view. It's much easier to notice that some patterns are being repeated if one looks at the situation from a proper distance.

Right now, this "broad look" tells us that the situation on the precious metals market is not as bullish as many think. In fact, it's not bullish at all.

More Info:

This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders

Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions.

More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ and tickertagstocknews.com

Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp
Source: Streetwise Reports

April 17, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) ME2C speaks to investors as it is poised to take profit from new EPA restrictions. Click here to see how this company is improving the community and providing opportunities for investors.

Midwest Energy Emissions Corp., ME2C Environmental, "ME2C" (MEEC:OTCQB) is hosting a conference on financial and corporate news on April 17, 2023. The call will also feature a question-and-answer section. The field of mercury emissions reduction is stronger than ever, as the EPA has recently reinstated Federal restrictions for mercury and other air emissions after the Trump administration rolled back regulations to the state level.

ME2C is an environmental technologies company that specializes in mercury emissions reduction technologies. ME2C is an American company based in Texas. Executive leadership includes Chief Executive Officer Richard MacPherson, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer John Pavlish, and Vice President of Operations Jim Trettel.

The Conference

ME2C is on Monday, April 17, 2023, at 4:30 pm EST. The company will discuss financial and corporate updates, as well as host a question and answer session. Interested readers will be able to connect with the conference via the following contact information:

Participants can join by phone by dialing 1-877-407-0789 or 1-201-689-8562 for international callers. The company asks that all participants dial in at least 10 minutes before the start of the conference. A webcast link has also been provided: https://viavid.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1608136&tp_key=b0894c8f8e.

A recording of the conference will be available from after the conference until May 17, 2023. Readers can hear the playback by dialing 1-844-512-2921 if they are in the United States or 1-412-317-6671 if they are outside of the United States. Callers should enter the replay pin 13737795 or view the replay through the webcast link.

Why Mercury Emission Reduction?

ME2C's core business is constructing environmental technologies that reduce the number of mercury emissions put out by coal-fueled power plants. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, the effects of mercury emissions can range from brain damage to heart disease.

Charles T. Driscoll, in a conversation with Drew Costley, stated, "The concern largely is the brain development of young children . . . and it also has effects on adults that contribute to heart attacks. It's a highly toxic substance." Some of the largest mercury emitters in the United States, such as Coal Creek and Antelope Valley, are in the Midwest.

The EPA passed federal regulations on these emissions in 2012. During the Trump administration, these regulations were removed from federal control and reallocated to be governed at the state level.

These federal regulations are now being reinstated under Biden and impose more stringent emissions control policies for mercury and other harmful air pollutants. According to the EPA, "This finding ensures the continuation of these critical, life-saving protections while advancing President Biden's commitment to making science-based decisions and protecting the health and well-being of all people and all communities."

A report by the EPA noted these restrictions would eliminate 90% of mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants. The EPA reports that the technology to do this is already available on the market. Thankfully, ME2C's patented technologies for mercury emissions have been proven to reduce over 90% of mercury emissions, as well as provide other efficiencies and environmental benefits.

ME2C believes that over 40% of U.S. coal-fired power plants are currently using its technology; many of these plants are not yet working with the company directly. A potential result from the EPA's regulation may incite coal-fired power plants in the U.S. that are not currently working with ME2C directly as part of their emissions reduction program to begin doing so.

Catalysts

ME2C has a number of short-term catalysts. According to Zacks Small-Cap analyst Steven Ralston, "ME2C Environmental is positioned to accelerate topline growth and achieve growing profitability by providing a patented mercury capture process." It expects full-year guidance for 2023 to be announced in Q2, as well as additional licensing and supply contract wins to be announced and added to the existing recurring base of business.

Prior to the end of Q3, it expects that there will be potential for additional settlements with defendants in advance of the mid-November 2023 court date.

Before the end of Q4, it is anticipating uplisting to major U.S. and international major exchanges. It also expects a court date for patent litigation against coal refinery companies to be scheduled. [OWNERSHIP_CHART-10770]

ME2C also has good news about the company's value: the stock is currently trading at 1.5x lower than expected, and it expects that value to increase dramatically if it wins the November lawsuit, leading to the potential for a massive one-time gain. The company also expects its value to increase after it is listed on major exchanges.

The company gains most of its revenue from technology licenses, consulting fees, demonstrations, and product supply sales. Additionally, the company expects incoming emissions regulations in China and Southeast Asia.

Ownership and Share Structure

Insiders own 31% of the company. The CEO owns 16%, the Senior Vice President owns 6.8%, Chris Greenberg owns 6%, and other managers and directors own less than 5%. Alterna Capital, the company's primary lender, owns 12%. The company reports no strategic investors.

The market cap for ME2C is US$39,562,313 as of February 2023. It has 93 million shares outstanding, 4.3 million warrants as of September 2022, and 19 million options as of the same period.

ME2C reports that they have US$1.5 million in the bank.

Disclosure:

1) Amanda Duvall wrote this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports. She or members of her household own securities of the following companies mentioned in the article: none. She or members of her household are paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: none. Her company has a financial relationship with the following companies referred to in this article: none.

2) The following companies mentioned in this article are billboard sponsors of Streetwise Reports: ME2C. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees. As of the date of this article, an affiliate of Streetwise Reports has a consulting relationship with none. Please click here for more information. An affiliate of Streetwise Reports is conducting a digital media marketing campaign for this article on behalf of none. Please click here for more information. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security.

3) The article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports.

4) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the decision to publish an article until three business days after the publication of the article. The foregoing prohibition does not apply to articles that in substance only restate previously published company releases.

More Info:

This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders

Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions.

More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ and tickertagstocknews.com

Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp
Vancouver, British Columbia - April 17, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Hypercharge Networks Corp. (NEO: HC) (OTCQB: HCNWF) (FSE: PB7) (the "Company" or "Hypercharge"), a leading, smart electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions provider, is pleased to announce that it has been selected to retrofit 58 Level 2 EV charging stations into the existing parking lot of multi-unit residential building, Icon 2, with installation now underway.

Icon 2, a 12-story, 53-unit condominium building located at 633 Kinghorne Mews, Vancouver, was built in 2006 by Concert Properties Ltd. Of the 58 new Level 2 EV charging stations to be installed, 56 will be in residents' parking stalls and 2 will be available for guest use in visitor parking.

"We are delighted to work with the strata's agent, Rancho Management Services, to bring Hypercharge EV charging to the residents and visitors of Icon 2," said Chris Koch, Head of Growth & Partnerships at Hypercharge. "One of the project's key requirements included OCPP-compliant networking, and Hypercharge is proud to offer Rancho our fully open, hardware agnostic network that meets their needs."

Rancho Management Services worked in partnership with Hypercharge to secure BC Hydro and CleanBC's EV charging rebate for the project, which is funded by the Government of B.C.'s Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation, and the Government of Canada.

"We appreciate the flexibility Hypercharge offered, which allows us to transition our large complex without imposing operational cost on residents yet to acquire an EV," said Tom Hsieh, Icon Strata Council Treasurer. "Chris was also knowledgeable and easy to work with."

Hypercharge will complete the project in collaboration with Mott Electric, which will manage installation of all chargers and infrastructure requirements. Founded in 1930, Mott Electric, a Hypercharge Preferred Partner, is one of the oldest and largest electrical contracting companies in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.

Private Placement

The Company also wishes to inform shareholders that its non-brokered private placement of units of the Company (the "Offering"), as announced on April 6, 2023, is still underway. The Company will provide a further update once the Offering has completed or as otherwise may be required in accordance with applicable law and the policies of the NEO Exchange.

The securities to be issued pursuant to the Offering have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons in the absence of U.S. registration or an applicable exemption from the U.S. registration requirements. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in the United States or in any other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

About Hypercharge

Hypercharge Networks Corp. (NEO: HC) (OTCQB: HCNWF) (FSE: PB7) is a leading provider of smart electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions that offers turnkey technology to multi-unit residential and commercial buildings, fleet operations, and other rapidly growing sectors. Driven by its mission to accelerate EV adoption and enable the shift towards a carbon neutral economy, Hypercharge is committed to providing seamless, simple charging solutions by offering industry-leading equipment and a robust network of public and private charging stations. Learn more: https://hypercharge.com/.

On behalf of the company,

Hypercharge Networks Corp.

David Bibby, President & CEO

Investor Relations:

Kelsey Letham | Head of Investor Relations

invest@hypercharge.com

604-881-1730

Media Contact:

Kyle Green | Senior Marketing Manager

kyle.green@hypercharge.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Any statements that are contained in this news release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "may", "should", "anticipate", "will", "estimates", "believes", "intends", "expects" and similar expressions which are intended to identify forward-looking statements. More particularly and without limitation, this news release contains forward-looking statements concerning the Company's installation of 55 Level 2 EV charging stations at Icon 2 and the timing thereof and the Offering. Forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain, and the actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, assumptions and expectations, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Readers are cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking statements may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, as such information, although considered reasonable by the respective management of the Company at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated.

The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release, and are expressly qualified by the foregoing cautionary statement. Except as expressly required by securities law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Neither the NEO Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in policies of the NEO Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

More Info:

This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders

Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions.

More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ and tickertagstocknews.com

Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp
Dublin-based tech start-up Oblivious has raised 5.35m in funding as it seeks to develop new software tools to allow secure access to confidential data.

This funding round was led by Cavalry Ventures, a Berlin-based early-stage venture capital fund. It was joined by a range of supporting European and US-based venture capitalists and angel investors including Act VC, Atlantic Bridge, Firestreak Ventures, Expeditions Fund and Hustle Fund.

The company was founded in 2020 by Robert Pisarczyk and Jack Fitzsimons who both have PhDs from the University of Oxford. The pair also have extensive background in computer engineering, data science, machine learning, and cryptography.

Oblivious is focused on confidential computing aimed at building tools to allow data scientists and machine learning models to work on sensitive data while enforcing confidentiality constraints. The company said that this would broker trust between businesses.

Mr Pisarczyk, who also serves as the companys chief executive, said that the tech sector has poured hundreds of billions into building robust data lakes and advanced science tooling but standard access controls to this data remains untouched since the 80s.

We focus on building tools that allow data scientists to access and use the world's most impactful data while ensuring it is used for its intended purpose, and we call it Eyes-Off Data Science, he said.

Mr Pisarczyk said that large companies which rely on vast amounts of user data, such as AirBnB or Uber, cant simply hand their data over to scientists.

We believe that by restricting how data is used, through modern privacy-enhancing technologies, we can open the doors to the next wave of data innovations while providing the safety rails to ensure it is only used for good," he said.

Oblivious currently has 13 staff and intends to create seven new jobs following this funding round. It is headquartered at NovaUCD in Dublin.
Shares in Google-owner Alphabet tumbled following a New York Times report that Samsung has considered replacing Google with Microsofts Bing as the default search engine on its phones.

Google employees were shocked when they learned about Samsungs threat in March, the New York Times reported, citing internal messages. The contract between Alphabet and the worlds leading smartphone maker is under negotiation and Samsung could still stick with Google, according to the New York Times. Shares of Alphabet fell as much as 4% at one stage.
LinkedIn Ireland boss Sharon McCooey announced she will step down from her role 13 years at the top of the social media company for professionals.

Ms McCooey said the company will begin searching for her replacement shortly.
MEPs have called on EU leaders to hold a summit to find ways to control the development of advanced artificial intelligence, or AI, systems such as ChatGPT, saying they were developing faster than expected.

The 12 MEPs, all working on EU legislation on the technology, called on US president Joe Biden and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to convene the meeting, and said AI firms should be more responsible.

The statement came weeks after Twitter owner Elon Musk and more than 1,000 technology figures demanded a six-month pause in the development of systems more powerful than Microsoft-backed OpenAI's latest iteration of ChatGPT, which can mimic humans and create text and images based on prompts.

That open letter, published in March by the Future of Life Institute, had warned that AI could spread misinformation at an unprecedented rate, and that machines could "outnumber, outsmart, obsolete and replace" humans, if left unchecked.

The MEPs said they disagreed with some of the Future Life message's "more alarmist statements".

"We are nevertheless in agreement with the letter's core message: with the rapid evolution of powerful AI, we see the need for significant political action," they added.

The letter urged democratic and "non-democratic" countries to reflect on potential systems of governance, and to exercise restraint in their pursuit of very powerful AI.

Last week China's cyberspace regulator unveiled draft measures for managing generative AI services, saying it wants firms to submit security assessments to authorities before they launch their offerings to the public.

The Biden administration has also been seeking public comments on potential accountability measures for AI systems as questions loom about their impact on national security and education.

The European Commission proposed the draft rules for an AI Act nearly two years ago under which AI tools are expected to be classified according to their perceived level of risk, from low to unacceptable.

A parliamentary committee is debating the 108-page bill and hoping to reach a common position by April 26, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

Reuters
Could this year's wet spring be a taste of climate change to come?

Right now, farmers are more worried about the weekly forecast for full-time grazing or for sowing crops in late April than the often dire end-of-the-century weather warnings.

However, it can't be denied that the spring deluges are in line with the climate change forecast of extra rain for Northern Europe.

In March, there was over two times the usual rainfall at the Dublin Airport weather station, the wettest since 1947. Weather stations at Athenry, Co Galway; Mace Head, Co Galway; and Mount Dillon, Co Roscommon, also just had their wettest March on record, breaking records set up to 32 years ago.

Down in West Kerry, there was nearly two times the usual rainfall at Valentia Observatory, for its wettest March since 1963. The highest daily rainfall total was 34.7 mm at Cork Airport, on Thursday, March 9, Cork's wettest March day since 2013.

However, this spring has followed a dry winter; only one of Met Eireann's 25 weather stations had winter rain above the 1981-2010 average.

There was only 67% of the usual December, January, and February rainfall at Oak Park, Co Carlow, and 71% at Dublin Airport. Five stations, ranging geographically from Ballyhaise in Co Cavan to Moore Park, Co Cork, had dry spells from November 27 to December 18.

There were conditions equivalent to absolute drought at Johnstown Castle, Co Wexford, between January 25 and February 9, and "partial droughts" in Co Dublin from January 14 to February 14.

Agricultural adaptation to climate change

As usual, the weather has been completely unpredictable more than a few days ahead, and farmers, who are more aware of the weather than most, have learned to live with it.

Maybe that is why Ireland has one of the lowest priority rankings for adaptation to climate change in its Strategic Plan for the new Common Agricultural Policy.

It is priority three, compared to priority one for countries such as France, Germany, Latvia, Portugal, Slovenia, and Spain.

This is revealed in a new report for the European Parliament on extreme climate challenges for agriculture in the EU, and on solutions to help farmers.

It includes a climate change forecast of more extremely hot summer temperatures over all of Europe, progressively drier in the South, and more heavy rainfall episodes in Northern and Central Europe.

This includes at least a five-fold increase in heatwave days by the end of the century, even in Europe's coolest climates, and up to 30 times more in warmer climates. Drought severity in Southern Europe (already at a very difficult level for farmers) could triple by the end of the century.

Climate change could cost EU agriculture many billions of euros annually. Sectors at most risk could be non-irrigated cereals, and specifically maize; fruit trees and perennials; potatoes in Northern Europe; and livestock which depend on green fodder.

Irish farmers will agree with the latter point, after the March deluges have delayed grazing and fertiliser for grass, with some sources already warning last week there could be a severe impact on winter fodder supplies in 2023-24.

To support farmers and to maintain productivity, the EU sees options such as risk management tools (insurance, hedging, etc); early warning systems implemented by local authorities; farmers diversifying their revenue sources; improvements to soil health and agroecosystems; or investment in specific equipment such as greenhouses, irrigation, etc).

In the new CAP, some member states seek to prevent flood damage with practices favourable to soil structure, such as rotations, plant cover, and limitation of tillage, plus maintenance or establishment of hedges or buffer zones.

It is understandable that several EU members have given climate mitigation higher priority in the CAO strategies than Ireland. Climate change is much more evident in other member states.

In 2022, a sweltering heatwave with record-breaking temperatures had disastrous consequences for agriculture in many continental countries, and in the UK.

In 2021, extreme rainfall led to severe flooding in the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, and in Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands. Earlier in the year, a very cold early April after a very warm March caused large-scale frost damage in grapevines and fruit trees in central France.

In 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, record-breaking summer heat waves hit Western Europe and Scandinavia. The 2018 heatwave made life difficult for Irish livestock farmers, and we had Storm Ophelia in October, 2017.

In 2017, severe winter weather brought extreme cold and snow in Italy, the Balkans and Turkey.

In 2016, extreme rainfall forced the evacuation of thousands in central and northeastern France and southern Germany.

Irish farmers escaped most of the extreme weather events. For example, Storm Desmond struck in December 2015, a winter month when farmers are well prepared for bad weather, even though Desmond broke records for 24-hour rainfall.

Other member states have not been so lucky, with 2015 also bringing a heatwave across much of Europe in early July. There were heavy rains and landslides in France, Germany and Czechia in 2010; and extreme heat and droughts in many Western and Southern Europe countries in 2003, 2006, and 2007.

The new report for the European Parliament acknowledges pronounced regional differences in the increasing climate extremes across Europe.

It warns that adaptation requires a systemic approach, whereas CAP interventions generally support single practices.

It recommends that better efforts be made to support risk management tools such as insurance, and says synergies between water management policies, agricultural policies and climate policies still need to be strengthened.
Austin McQuinn: Some signs are secret, some manifest

South Tipperary Arts Centre, Clonmel, Co Tipperary, Until 13th May

Austin McQuinns new paintings on ash wood panels and found, antique prints were made specifically for the double-height atrium and galleries at STAC.

Also featured is a 17-foot stack of Aran sweaters, referencing the Norman tower houses of South Tipperary. From midnight on Saturday 22nd April, McQuinn will present Imperial Lunatic, a 24-hour live performance inspired by biopower and queer energy, at STAC Chapel, in the former Kickham Army Barracks.

Invisible Man Retreat, from Hollow Earth at the Glucksman.

Hollow Earth: Art, Caves, and the Subterranean Imaginary

The Glucksman, UCC, Until 9th July

Irish artists Ailbhe Ni Bhriain and Amanda Coogan are represented alongside Rene Magritte, Henry Moore and Joseph Wright of Derby in this major exhibition of work responding to the idea of the cave as the domain of gods and monsters, saints and shamans, births and burials. Reflecting on how some of the earliest known artworks were depictions of animals and human beings on the walls of caves, Hollow Earth includes work in traditional media such as painting, as well as contemporary practices such as photography, sound, installation, video and architectural models.

Johnny Bugler, Boys on the Beach, at the Lavit.

Johnny Bugler & Diarmuid Breen

Lavit Gallery, Cork, 20th April  13th May

A collaborative exhibition by two well-established artists. Bugler works in print, sculpture, found objects and mixed media. Much of his oeuvre relates to the folklore associated with the sea and ocean travel. Printed ephemera and other materials collected on his own travels have inspired much of the work in this exhibition. Meanwhile, Breens paintings are often inspired by old books and photographs, and relate to the role of work in contemporary society, particularly the relationship between the pressure to earn money and the pursuit of happiness.

muscle: a question of power

Crawford Art Gallery, Cork, 28th April  20th August

Created by Anna Furse, muscle is an immersive experience that takes visitors on an audio-guided journey through the Crawfords collection of Canova Casts. It engages with contemporary notions of beauty and perfection, as well as with the Ancient Greek cultivation of body and mind in service to the State. Also featured is a new film called women talking  muscle, a question of power, which features the voices of a soldier, a pole dancer, a bodybuilder, a fashion model, a para-athlete and a 73-year-old dancer/choreographer.

An image from the Hegartys Boatyard exhibition, by Kevin O'Farrell, at Uillinn.

Kevin OFarrell, Hegartys Boatyard: Last Surviving Traditional Boatyard in Ireland

Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre, Skibbereen, 13th May  10th June

Kevin OFarrell has spent over 20 years photographing three generations of the Hegarty family in their unique yard at Oldcourt, Skibbereen, working on the restoration of vessels such as the AK Ilen, the last traditional wooden, ocean-going sailing ship built in Ireland, and the Saoirse, the 42-foot ketch on which Connor OBrien circumnavigated the world in the 1920s. OFarrells images are as beautifully crafted as the boats themselves.

193rd RHA Annual Exhibition

Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, Opens 22nd May

Irelands largest and longest-running exhibition of visual art will feature hundreds of works in paint, drawing, print, sculpture, photography and architecture. As usual, most will be selected by open submission, with the rest being provided by RHA members and invited artists. There will be over 70,000 in prizes. The exhibition will also mark the launch of celebrations to mark the 200th anniversary of the RHA being granted a royal charter by King George IV.

Unseeing Traces

Irish Museum of Modern Art, Kilmainham, Dublin, Until 11th June

Unseeing Traces is a collaboration between IMMA and Irelands largest independent migrant-led national network, the New Communities Partnership. It features hundreds of artefacts  many of them associated with traditional rituals and ceremonies - inherited by the NCPs Community Development Coordinator, Nasser Aidara, from the Kingdom of Kongo. The kingdom, which splintered in the early 1900s, included what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola and the Congo Republic.

Richard Gorman is at the Hugh Lane in Dublin.

Richard Gorman, Living Through Paint(ing)

Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane, Until 20th August

A survey exhibition by the veteran abstract painter, Living Through Paint(ing) features Gormans large and typically robust works in oils on canvas as well as more delicate works on the handmade kozo washi paper he sources in Japan. Gorman was born in Dublin, educated at Trinity College and Dun Laoghaire College of Art and Design, and has mostly been based in Milan since the 1980s. The historian Roy Foster has contributed an essay to the exhibition catalogue.

Anne Collier, Eye

Lismore Castle Arts, Co Waterford, Until 29th October

The first exhibition in Ireland by New York-based Anne Collier focuses on images of the artists own eyes as well as those sourced from photography manuals, advertisements, comic books, film stills and album sleeves, with a particularly emphasis on the mechanics of analogue photography. Colliers work considers our emotional and psychological attachment to images, and how photography relates to memory, melancholia and loss.

The Paradisical Paintings

The Gilbert & George Centre, London E1

Gilbert Prousch and George Passmore have revelled in their status as the art worlds most lovable provocateurs for the past six decades. They regard themselves as living sculptures, but are best known for their large-scale photographic works, often on subversive subjects. The two have recently opened a museum - dedicated to themselves - in Spitalfields in the East End of London, where they have lived since 1968.
Susan ONeill and John Spillane are among those set to perform at Live at St Luke's in Cork over the June bank holiday weekend.

Three Rivers Rising is returning to the Cork venue for its second year in a celebration of the rich musical heritage of the city and its surrounding areas.
1. Joseph OConnor

All-time favourite book: Peter Careys novel Oscar and Lucinda, a book I first read several decades ago. The characterisations, the setting, the evocation of history, the beauty of the sentences  everything about it is superb. To me, Peter Carey is the Dickens of our era, except he is a better writer than Dickens because his people always seem real.

Recent favourite: Niamh Mulveys short story collection Hearts and Bones. Crisscrossing Ireland and London in our current era, these brilliantly worked stories engage in clever, witty and subtle ways with the tectonic changes that have disrupted and shaped our times, while suggesting questions about what kind of place were in now the old maps are gone. Astute and arresting, this gathering of 10 stories was a book I found unforgettable.

Joseph OConnor discusses his latest book, My Fathers House, with Mary Morrissy, 3pm, Saturday, Triskel Arts Centre.

2. Sara Baume

All-time favourite: I have roughly a dozen favourite books, and I often add or subtract from this unwritten list. A novel I have long adored is Troubles by J.G. Farrell, which was published in 1970 and won the Lost Man Booker Prize in 2010.

Recent favourite: The memoir Cells: Memories for My Mother by Gavin McCrea, though favourite is a frivolous word for a book that is often harrowing and heart-breaking. McCrea is one of Irelands best contemporary authors and all his books deserve to be more widely read.

3. Shane Hegarty

All-time: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. When I read this first as a teenager, it blew my mind  and still does every time I read it. This story of a man blundering through the galaxy after the Earth is blown up is funny, twisty, profound and endlessly imaginative. It influenced a generation of writers, but no-one has matched it since.

Recent: The Chestnut Roaster by Eve McDonnell. McDonnell's first story was the superb Elsetime, and The Chestnut Roaster is another mix of the historical and fantastical, set in a Paris where almost everyone has lost their memory of a full year  except for a young girl who remembers everything since she was born. It's a beautifully written adventure.

Clockwise: Eimear Ryan, Sophie White, William Wall

4. William Wall

All-time: If Im to think about the work that has had the most profound influence on me, for better or for worse, it has to be James Joyces Ulysses  a book that I dont understand to this day, that I can only re-read in short stretches, that amazes and infuriates me at the same time. In short, its a masterpiece.

Recent: Recently I read Conversations in Sicily by Elio Vittorini, beautifully translated from the Italian by Alane Salierno Mason. In the book, a young man, a typesetter in Milan, returns to Sicily, an island he left at 15, because his father has abandoned his mother. He comes to a new understanding of his mother from an adult point of view. The novel is a beautiful depiction of Sicilian life in the 1930s. There are biographical elements and the novel is often read as a critique of fascism, but above all it is beautifully written in what Vittorini thought of as an operatic style.

William Walls latest book, Empty Bed Blues, will be launched 7pm, Wednesday, Cork City Library.

5. Sophie White

All-time: AS Byatts Possession is about two young scholars researching the lives of two Victorian poets. As they trawl through old letters, journals and poems a fascinating examination of passion and obsession emerges. I have read it three or four times and every time I am still in awe of what Byatt made. Its practically four books: a contemporary intellectual mystery; a Victorian love story; and a collected works of two very different poets.

Recent: Milk by poet Alice Kinsella is a non-fiction meditation on the impossible beauty and impossible strangeness of motherhood. With immersive and exquisite prose, Kinsella leads us through the Mother World and, while her words often evoke the sublime, Kinsella does not ignore the politics of being a mother and an artist-mother in this age of supposed progress.

Sophie White and Sara Baume in conversation with Eimear Ryan, 8pm, Thursday, Cork City Library.

6. Eimear Ryan

All-time: My comfort read, that I return to again and again, is The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel. Shes one of those rare writers that has never written a novel, but her stories are mini masterpieces: minimalist, full of humanity, and very funny.

Recent: Emily St. John Mandels Sea of Tranquillity is ambitious in scope and effortless in execution. It takes us from a wealthy dilettante trying to forge a new life in Canada, to a novelist on an endless book tour, to a detective in the futuristic Night City. There is time travel involved. Youll be thinking about the ending for days.

L-R: Tadhg Coakley and Danielle McLaughlin

7. Tadhg Coakley

All-time: Terry Pratchetts writing has brought me more joy and pleasure than any other. Mostly I read for comfort and his Discworld series (all 41 novels) have  time and again  enhanced my wellbeing. I cant pick an individual book, but his witches and police sequences are favourites.

Recent: Olivia Laings To the River is the book I would most love to have written. Her masterly blend of the personal and the universal, meditation and memory, landscape and history is peerless. Ostensibly a memoir around a walk by the River Ouse in Sussex, but its so much more: a dazzling paean to solitude and reflection.

8. Sam Blake (pseudonym for Vanessa Fox OLoughlin)

All-time: Daphne du Mauriers Rebecca is perfectly formed, layering crime and romance with literary imagery, and for me sets the gold standard, bringing unforgettable characters and location to a gripping, twisty plot. Rebecca herself never appears and the heroine has no first name, yet this is a book you cannot forget.

Recent: Grave Expectations is Alice Bells hilarious crime debut  Claire Hendricks is a directionless thirtysomething true crime fan working as a freelance medium, assisted by the ghost of her murdered best friend, Sophie. Hired for a party at The Cloisters, they realise the unbearable family are hiding some deadly secrets.

Sam Blake and Tadhg Coakley in conversation with Michelle Dunne on crime writings rise in Ireland, 5pm, Friday, Triskel Arts Centre.

9. Danielle McLaughlin

All-time: I first read Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys as a teenager. Set between Jamaica and England, and serving as a prequel to Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, it had a big impact on me, particularly in the way it challenged an existing narrative.

Recent: The Night Interns by Austin Duffy, who is an oncologist as well as a writer, is set in a hospital and immerses the reader in the tense and often frightening world of three young surgical interns. Duffys writing is taut, vivid, assured: I felt like I was right there on the wards with the characters!

Danielle McLaughlin hosts Rapid Fire Fiction with special guests multi-instrumentalist Inni-K and Cork actor Kevin Power, 3pm-6pm, Sunday, Cork City Library.

Carys Davies

10. Carys Davies

All-time: The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald. Its the story of the eighteenth-century German philosopher, Novalis, and his doomed love affair with a fourteen-year-old girl. No one writes historical fiction that feels as real as Fitzgeralds  this is a light-footed masterpiece of wit, intelligence and piercing emotional truth.

Recent: The Hero of This Book by Elizabeth McCracken, in which a bereaved daughter tours various London tourist spots shes visited with her now-dead mother. McCrackens voice is deliciously sharp, but with as much warmth as asperity, and shes often laugh-out-loud funny. I didnt want it to end.

Carys Davies and David Constantine in conversation with Sarah Harte, 7pm, Tuesday, Cork City Library.

Cork World Book Fest runs April 15-25: https://corkworldbookfest.com
APRIL 7: Everest bound

The team for the next couple of months.

Leaving the comfort, and safety, of Kathmandu for the beauty and suffering of Mount Everest. As ready as well ever be. Lets do it.

Johnny Ward with Furtenbach Adventures and Dave Watson en route to Everest

Were in good hands with Furtenbach Adventures and Dave Watson.

APRIL 8

Phak Ding to Namche Bazaar on my classic Everest climb.

Hot and sweaty uphill day but gorgeous views of the mountains.

Johnny Ward travelling Phak Ding to Namche Bazaar

Pangs of nerves and realisation punctuate my day with what lies ahead.

I know I should stay in the present but its against my nature. My eyes are on the prize, for better or worse.

APRIL 9

Day 5. 10% of the expedition done. Albeit the easiest 10%  Active rest day today on our Everest climb.

Johnny Ward: Day 5 means 10% of the journey is completed

Lovely walk up to 3900m for our first views of Everest! Dave Watson is slowly working on me to learn to appreciate the journey rather than the summit (its a work in progress but Im trying!).

Team is bonding well and things are feeling good. Time to move onwards and upwards tomorrow AM.

APRIL 10

Namche Bazaar to Phortse. Currently at around 3900m.

Johnny Ward: A selfie on day 6 and I've realised how cold it will be as we climb higher

Lovely day today. 4/5 hours walking and all still good. Had lunch at a banging spot but had a rude awakening when the sun hid behind the clouds and the temp dropped heavy! Its gonna be coooold when we get up high.

One night here then further up tomorrow. We have a few nights until we try to tag a 6100m peak, Lobuche, before we settle into base camp for a month. Things slowly getting real.

APRIL 11

The intro to climbing Everest is so much more chill than any mountains Ive climbed leading up to this. Following the Everest Base Camp trek, chilling in tea houses and sleeping in beds is so nice!

Johnny Ward: Climbing Everest is surprisingly relaxed

Today we went from Phortse to Pangboche, just three or four hours and epic views. Now were around 4,000m and all still feeling good. One week until we reach our Base Camp, a few days until we tackle 6200m Lobuche as a warm up.

APRIL 12

Another lovely day on the Everest Base camp trek, finally starting to appreciate where we are rather than solely obsessing with tagging the summit - progress.

Were at 4400m now and still feeling fit and strong. Gonna whats up to 5k tomorrow then back down. Sleeping in the same place two nights in a row is a TREAT.

APRIL 13

Johnny Ward: Two nights in the same location is a rare treat

Day 9. Today we slept in the same place two nights running, heaven! Lazy acclimatisation hike to 5100m, still felt pretty good apart from my pasty white Irish skin taking a beating from the Himalayan sun!

Dave Watsons words of wisdom to enjoy the journey is slowing rubbing off on me.

APRIL 14: Reality check

Today we made our way to Lobuche, en route is a huge plateau which serves as a memorial to our fellow climbers and Sherpas who have lost their lives in the Himalayas. Many younger than me, and many as recently as this year. A somber thought.

Johnny Ward: A somber moment on the climb

With that in mind, Id love you all to check out The Juniper Fund. This amazing NGO supports the families of local Nepalis and Sherpas who have lost their lives on this mountain. The work they do is amazing, and represents the true heroes of the Himalayas.

APRIL 15

First proper rest day on our Everest climb.

Tomorrow we start a warm up climb to Lobuche east peak at 6110m or so (20000 feet) so today we got reacquainted with our harness and did some rope with with Dave Watson.

APRIL 16

Rollercoaster of emotions. Had my first banging headache from altitude last night, instant panic attack. Feel a lot better today thankfully, and looking forward to getting back on a proper mountain tomorrow.

Still charging on. Everest base camp in four or five days, really looking forward to settling in.
The people of Northern Ireland and their political leaders changed history 25 years ago when the Good Friday Agreement was signed, a major conference in Belfast has been told.

Former US senator George Mitchell, who chaired the negotiations in 1998, also said the deal set an example for peace around the world, and urged people in the region not to let it slip away.

Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who is hosting the Agreement 25 conference as part of her role as chancellor at Queens University in Belfast, urged current politicians to move forward with the same spirit of unstoppable grit and resolve as their predecessors had done.

It was a day when history opened itself to hope

Ex-US president Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and former taoiseach Bertie Ahern are also scheduled to participate in the three-day event, 25 years on from the landmark accord.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and British prime minister Rishi Sunak are due to attend later in the week.

The agreement largely ended Northern Irelands 30-year sectarian conflict.

Making the keynote address at the opening of the conference, Mr Mitchell said: Twenty-five years ago the people of Northern Ireland and their leaders changed the course of history.

It was a day when history opened itself to hope.

Sir Tony Blair is among the architects of the Good Friday Agreement taking part in a conference in Belfast (Niall Carson/PA)

The people of Northern Ireland supported, worked for and established a democratic, peaceful process as their preferred form of governance.

They overwhelmingly rejected political violence as a way to resolve their differences.

If history teaches us anything, it is that history itself is never finished.

On the evening the agreement was reached, I commended the men and women who wrote and signed it, but I also said it would take other leaders in the future to safeguard and extend their work.

And so it has.

I am here, with many others, to sound that bell one more time.

When you approved the agreement you were also talking to Israelis and Palestinians, to Colombians, to Africans, Asians, to Americans - in fact you were talking to the world

Mr Mitchell said the peace deal was not perfect, but called on the current and future leaders of Northern Ireland to act with courage and vision.

He said: To find workable answers to the daily problems of the present, to preserve peace.

To leave to the next generation peace, freedom, opportunity and the hope of a better future for their children.

At the end of his address, Mr Mitchell said the referendum which approved the Good Friday Agreement had shown people around the world the possibility of hope.

He said: When you approved the agreement you were also talking to Israelis and Palestinians, to Colombians, to Africans, Asians, to Americans  in fact you were talking to the world.

This is an agreement for peace and for the future, not just here, but everywhere.

George Mitchell said the Good Friday Agreement was for the world (Niall Carson/PA)

He added: We need people who believe, who know that the possible does exist within the impossible  dont let it slip away.

The Good Friday Agreement created powersharing institutions at Stormont that involved nationalists and unionists governing Northern Ireland together in a mandatory coalition arrangement.

While the pact largely ended the Troubles, which had claimed more than 3,600 lives since the late 1960s, it has failed to bring long-term political stability in the region and devolution has collapsed several times in the last two decades.

The anniversary comes amid another period of collapse, with the DUP blocking powersharing in protest at post-Brexit trading arrangements that have created economic barriers between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

The barriers were first introduced under the Withdrawal Agreements contentious Northern Ireland Protocol.

The UK and EU recently agreed the Windsor Framework as a way to cut the red tape created by the protocol.

While the DUP says the framework has gone some way to address its concerns about the protocol, it says significant problems remain.

Hillary Clinton speaking during the three-day international conference at Queens University Belfast (Niall Carson/PA)

The party has opposed the framework at Westminster and has made clear its boycott of Stormont will continue until it secures further assurances from the UK government over its concerns around sovereignty and the application of EU law in Northern Ireland.

Mrs Clinton said the Windsor Framework on post-Brexit trade provided Northern Ireland with an opportunity to become an economic hub for global trade and investment.

While the Good Friday Agreement is an enormous achievement, we know that peace, prosperity and progress that so many have worked tirelessly to achieve remains incomplete, she said.

The work of integration and housing and schools is far from finished, neighbourhoods remain divided, poverty and unemployment persist, the difficulties of the past continue to threaten the present.

You know, we are at a standstill with the Northern Ireland Assembly no longer functioning. But the Windsor agreement provides a path forward not just for convening but for positioning Northern Ireland as an economic hub for global trade and investment through privileged access to the UK and all of its trading partners, as well as the EU.

You stand as an example to the world of how even the staunchest adversaries can overcome differences to work together for the common and greater good

She added: There have been many moments in Northern Irelands peace journey where progress seemed difficult, when every route forward looked blocked, there seemed nowhere to go.

But you have always found a way through and I believe you will again, because the stakes for the people of Northern Ireland are so high.

You stand as an example to the world of how even the staunchest adversaries can overcome differences to work together for the common and greater good.

So, I encourage everyone now to move forward with the same spirit of unstoppable grit and resolve that brought the peace 25 years ago. Your friends in the United States will be behind you all the way as you work toward peace, prosperity and stability that lasts.
Food safety inspectors observed a "live cockroach infestation" and "rodent droppings" during inspections in March.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) issued a total of 11 enforcement orders last month.

Johnson Best Food African Take Away, located in 86 Summerhill, Dublin 1, was issued a closure order in March after noting "adequate procedures were not in place to control pests" and a lack of hand washing facilities in the kitchen.

The report noted "a live cockroach infestation was observed in the kitchen" during the investigation.

"The live cockroach infestation poses a risk of food and food contact surfaces becoming contaminated with pathogenic bacteria which may render foodstuffs unsafe resulting in a risk to health," the report stated.

The takeaway was also issued with a prohibition order, due to the provision of food that "is not used for human consumption" and "is restricted or prohibited from being placed on the market".

The report noted that all meat and fish products were stored in an external freezer with "no labelling or traceability provided".

The report discovered one small and one large bag of unidentifiable meat, alongside six bags of fish heads and one bag of gizzards, all stored together in the freezer.

The takeaway closed on March 13, re-opening on April 6.

Rodent droppings

Another location issued a closure order was Portarlington RFC located in Lea Road, Portarlington, Laois, which was forced to shut its doors following the presence of "rodent droppings in the cup/mug/beverage cupboard" at the time of inspection.

The club was instructed to close its doors on March 30 and has not since re-opened.

The report issued by the FSAI describes "a considerable amount of rodent droppings were noted underneath the fridge in the kitchen at the time of inspection", which they noted posed a threat for the exposure of bacteria to the food, which would "likely to render the food unfit for human consumption".

Rotten meat

Mullingar Farm Meats, located in Unit 9, Cookstown Business Centre, Cookstown Industrial Estate, Tallaght, Dublin 24, were also issued a closure order due to having "meat considered unfit for human consumption due to putrefaction/decay and or exceedance of use-by dates" stored at the establishment.

The report said: "Only food that is safe for human consumption should be placed on the market".

The FSAI also noted a lack of hygiene regulations where "meat was left on and in the mincing machine from a previous days production" observed during the investigation. The business was closed on March 22 and has not since re-opened.

FSAI advice

Chief Executive, FSAI, Dr Pamela Byrne said a number of businesses failed to follow basic food safety legislation over the month of March.

Food law requires all food businesses to be notified to the relevant inspection authority prior to operating. This requirement ensures that food businesses are registered and/or approved to ensure food safety and protect consumer health."

"Consumers have a right to safe food and the food business owner is legally responsible for ensuring that the food they produce is safe to eat.

"All food businesses must follow food safety regulations and there are no exceptions. If a food business is unsure about their legal requirements, they should consult their Environmental Health Officer, veterinary inspector or contact the FSAI Advice Line, said Dr Byrne.
A national psychological supports helpline for Ukrainians living in Ireland has been launched amid calls for refugees with counselling or medical skills to be fast-tracked into employment.

The plea for faster recognition of refugees clinical or medical qualifications came as the Call Tanya helpline is to be launched by the migrant support group Together-Razem in Corks City Hall on Monday night.

The pilot project is supported by the Community Foundation for Ireland and Cork City Council Healthy Ireland.

Together-Razem's chief executive Wojciech Bialek said there were many refugees living here with clinical or medical qualifications who would like to work in their own field but who are being delayed from doing so by red tape.

We are a migrant-led support group and we have been seeing this issue for a long time now, but more recently with Ukrainian refugees, he said.

We have seen psychologists, counsellors, therapists, even GPs, who would like to work here but are still in the process of having their qualifications recognised. It just takes so long.

We would like the State to let them work here, so that they can help their own, and contribute to this country.

He was speaking as he announced the launch of the new Call Tanya service, which aims to provide confidential psycho-social support to Ukrainians living in Ireland who are experiencing distress due to displacement or because of the war in their native country.

Callers will be able to have a conversation in either Ukrainian or Russian with a trained call ambassador about their worries or concerns, hopefully leading to a reduction in stress and distress levels, and to increased wellbeing.

The support provided by the trained call-taking volunteers will be in line with the Psychological First Aid model of look, listen, support  a model designed to help people who have experienced distressing or crisis events in a way that respects their dignity, culture, and abilities.

Together-Razem has been working with the Ukrainian community in Ireland since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, delivering many practical supports but also focusing on mental health and wellbeing supports.

It runs a weekly support group for Ukrainian women and in May 2022, it launched a trauma counselling service in the Ukrainian language, provided by a qualified, professional Ukrainian psychotherapist who was educated in Ireland and accredited by the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.

The service is in huge demand, with about 20 calls a week, but the psychotherapist is only available to the service for 10 hours a week, leading to a lengthy waiting list.

Mr Bialek said the Call Tanya service should help meet some of that demand.

Project coordinator Alyona Capatici said it had taken about four months of detailed planning to get the project off the ground.

We have skilled Ukrainian and Russian-speaking volunteers with psychology credentials from Ukraine and they are available to provide listening service to Ukrainians in Ireland. We will introduce Telegram chat soon too, she said.

The helpline is open on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 9am to 11am and from 3pm to 6pm on tel: 0818 452 178.
Northern Irelands political leaders know the right thing to do to solve the Stormont stalemate  and need to get on and do it, former prime minister Tony Blair has said.

Mr Blair was appearing alongside former US president Bill Clinton and former taoiseach Bertie Ahern at a major conference marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

Mr Ahern said he deeply hoped that the DUP would allow the powersharing institutions to return, while Mr Clinton spoke about how politicians winged it to help secure the historic peace deal in 1998.

Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who is hosting the Agreement 25 conference as part of her role as chancellor at Queens University in Belfast, chaired the panel discussion between the three former leaders.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar are due to attend the conference later in the week.

The Good Friday Agreement largely ended Northern Irelands 30-year sectarian conflict.

Sir Tony Blair on stage at the conference (Niall Carson/PA)

Mr Blair said: We know the peace isnt perfect. We know the institutions have often been rocky and unstable as they are today.

We know theres still a lot of distrust and mistrust between the communities.

But we also know that Northern Ireland is a much better place than it was before the Good Friday Agreement.

And the only thing I would say to todays leaders is I think when you stand back and you reflect, you know in your heart of hearts, what the right thing to do is, and you should just get on and do it.

Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern listening to the speakers (Niall Carson/PA)

Mr Ahern said the alternatives to the Good Friday Agreement are not good.

He added: So, lets hope they (the DUP) listen to what George Mitchell said today, and listen to what were saying, that we all just get back on the track.

Theres too many big things to be dealing with than to be arguing about some detail that was caused over something or another, which Im not sure what it is even.

He added: So just lets move forward and try and make this work.

Former US president Bill Clinton is attending the conference to mark the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement (Liam McBurney/PA)

Mr Clinton told the conference that the 1998 peace deal came about because political leaders decided the time was right to do the right thing.

He said: It just happens, nobodys perfect, you cant foresee all this, and the fact that we trusted each other and we trusted (George) Mitchell, I think we earned the trust of the parties in Northern Ireland that we were dealing with across the board, because they thought we would be straight with them, and thats how it happened.

There were days I felt like I was taking Seamus Heaneys advice to take a flying leap and walk on air against your better judgment.

Thats how it started. We all just decided that the time was right to do the right thing.

Mr Clinton said people thought they were crazy to believe they could get the paramilitary groups to decommission their arms.

Wed like to tell you that we had it all thought through but the truth is we made up a lot of it as we went along, we had to wing it, he said.

A number of former political leaders are taking part in the event at Queens University in Belfast (Niall Carson/PA)

The Good Friday Agreement created powersharing institutions at Stormont that involved nationalists and unionists governing Northern Ireland together in a mandatory coalition arrangement.

While the pact largely ended the Troubles, which had claimed more than 3,600 lives since the late 1960s, it has failed to bring long-term political stability in the region and devolution has collapsed several times in the last two decades.

The anniversary comes amid another period of collapse, with the DUP blocking powersharing in protest at post-Brexit trading arrangements that have created economic barriers between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

The barriers were first introduced under the Withdrawal Agreements contentious Northern Ireland Protocol.

The UK and EU recently agreed the Windsor Framework as a way to cut the red tape created by the protocol.

While the DUP says the framework has gone some way to address its concerns about the protocol, it says significant problems remain.

The party has opposed the framework at Westminster and has made clear its boycott of Stormont will continue until it secures further assurances from the UK Government over its concerns around sovereignty and the application of EU law in Northern Ireland.

George Mitchell made the keynote address on the first day of the conference (Niall Carson/PA)

Making the keynote address earlier in the day, former US senator George Mitchell, who chaired the 1998 negotiations, said the people of Northern Ireland and their political leaders changed history 25 years ago.

He said: When you approved the agreement you were also talking to Israelis and Palestinians, to Colombians, to Africans, Asians, to Americans  in fact you were talking to the world.

This is an agreement for peace and for the future, not just here, but everywhere.

He added: We need people who believe, who know that the possible does exist within the impossible  dont let it slip away.

A bust in honour of Mr Mitchell was later unveiled in the grounds of the Belfast campus.

Hillary Clinton said the Windsor Framework provided opportunities for Northern Ireland (Niall Carson/PA)

Mrs Clinton said the Windsor Framework on post-Brexit trade provided Northern Ireland with an opportunity to become an economic hub for global trade and investment.

While the Good Friday Agreement is an enormous achievement, we know that peace, prosperity and progress that so many have worked tirelessly to achieve remains incomplete, she said.

The work of integration and housing and schools is far from finished, neighbourhoods remain divided, poverty and unemployment persist, the difficulties of the past continue to threaten the present.

You know, we are at a standstill with the Northern Ireland Assembly no longer functioning. But the Windsor agreement provides a path forward not just for convening but for positioning Northern Ireland as an economic hub for global trade and investment through privileged access to the UK and all of its trading partners, as well as the EU.

I encourage everyone now to move forward with the same spirit of unstoppable grit and resolve that brought the peace 25 years ago

She added: There have been many moments in Northern Irelands peace journey where progress seemed difficult, when every route forward looked blocked, there seemed nowhere to go.

But you have always found a way through and I believe you will again, because the stakes for the people of Northern Ireland are so high.

You stand as an example to the world of how even the staunchest adversaries can overcome differences to work together for the common and greater good.

So, I encourage everyone now to move forward with the same spirit of unstoppable grit and resolve that brought the peace 25 years ago. Your friends in the United States will be behind you all the way as you work toward peace, prosperity and stability that lasts.
Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald has said she has never met or received money from Gerry The Monk Hutch and has hit out at false and deeply offensive comments made about her during the trial.

Her comments come as The Monk has been found not guilty of the murder of David Byrne, the Kinahan gang member who was shot dead at the Regency Hotel seven years ago.

In a statement, Ms McDonald said she has never met Gerard Hutch.

In relation to false and deeply offensive comments made about me during the course of this trial, I want to set out the facts.

I have never met Gerard Hutch. I have never received money or electoral support from Gerard Hutch.

The record shows that I have stood resolutely on the side of the community in the fight against criminal gangs, drug dealers, and anti-social elements, and I will continue to do so, she said.

Gerry The Monk Hutch being followed by the media and reporters after being freed following his court case on Monday. Picture: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ie

A key witness in the trial was former Sinn Fein councillor Jonathan Dowdall, who is currently serving a four-year sentence for facilitating the murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel.

Jonathan Dowdall should never have been a member of Sinn Fein.

Had I known what he would become involved in he would not have been a party member for one minute, never mind running for public office  I would not tolerate that, Ms McDonald said in a statement.

She said the murder of David Byrne in 2016 was a brutal and callous crime".

She said she commends the gardai and the courts for their work which has resulted in two successful convictions in relation to the shocking attack".

She was referring to the two men who were found guilty in the Special Criminal Court on Monday of helping a criminal gang to commit the murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel in 2016.

I commend the gardai and the courts for their work, and I know that the gardai will not cease in their efforts until those responsible for the murder are brought to justice.

I also know that the gardai will continue to investigate and confront organised crime within the community and they have my and my partys full and wholehearted support in this endeavour, she added.

During the trial, tapes recorded by gardai heard comments from Dowdall in which he claimed that the Sinn Fein leader had used the Hutch family for money and votes.

He also criticised her for not attending the funeral of Patsy Hutch, Gerard Hutchs brother, who was shot dead during the familys feud with the Kinahan gang.

Ms McDonald rejected all the allegations heard on the tapes.

Later in the trial, Dowdall said he regretted the comments and said they were unfair.
Law student Simeon Burke has been convicted and fined 300 over a "volatile" breach of the peace following a "melee" at his brother Enoch's case in the Four Courts in Dublin.

The younger brother of sacked teacher Enoch Burke had refused to take up bail since his arrest on March 7. Mr Burke, aged 24, repeatedly refused to sign a bail bond with a condition stay away from the Four Courts, where his brother was involved in a legal dispute before the Court of Appeal over his sacking by Wilson's Hospital School in Westmeath.

Simeon Burke, a Kings Inns barrister-at-law student, remained in prison custody on remand. After failed attempts to halt the prosecution, his trial before Judge John Hughes at Dublin District Court concluded late on Monday evening.

Mr Burke, with an address at Cloonsunna, Castlebar, Co Mayo, denied the Public Order Act offence of engaging in threatening, insulting, and abusive words and behaviour on or about the Four Courts, Inns Quay, on March 7. The offence carries a possible three-month sentence.

The contested hearing featured CCTV evidence from the Four Courts, but not from inside the courtroom where the incident started before spilling out to the yard and him being dragged by gardai to the front of the building and onto Inns Quay and his arrest.

Garda evidence

Five gardai gave evidence.

Bridewell Garda Sergeant Brian Griffin said he received a call for assistance and went over to the court at about 3pm. He saw the accused had been brought out onto Inns Quay by gardai with his left wrist handcuffed.

He said gardai were attempting to effect his arrest.

Sgt Griffin said Mr Burke was "shouting and screaming largely unintelligible insults in regards to transgenderism, that garda members should be ashamed of it, and there was a comment about going to Tallaght to deal with proper criminals".

Sgt Griffin said gardai tried to reason with the accused, and the sergeant said he tried to calm the situation and ensure the arrest was done effectively.

The sergeant said he pointed out to Mr Burke that he had his glasses in his hand and was squeezing them, and he feared they would break, but "he was not listening to me".

There was a "physical struggle" before he was put in a garda van.

He said it was a "volatile situation", and his attention was drawn to others shouting insults about the transgender issue. Sgt Griffin said he approached and cautioned them under the Public Order Act to leave the vicinity.

Witnesses alleged that Mr Burke gripped and grabbed benches in the courtroom, latched onto the door, and put his feet against the wall as he was taken out.

Mr Burke was the sole witness for the defence. He also represented himself, assisted by Ammi Burke, a trained solicitor, acting as a McKenzie Friend.

He frequently referred to himself in the third person as he cross-examined witnesses and accused them of lies.

Court Garda Michael McGrath said the accused shouted and acted aggressively in the Court of Appeal, and the judges left the courtroom due to interruptions and objections by the Burke family.

Garda McGrath said Simeon Burke gripped furniture and "pushed his feet into the floor". He disagreed with the accused that the court's business had ended and said it did not get to complete its business.

Garda Thomas Byrne said the accused was determined not to leave the courtroom, and there was high-pitched screaming.

Arresting garda Conor O'Dwyer said the accused kicked out and commented about the transgender issue. He described his behaviour as appalling and rejected Mr Burke's version that he was never told the reason for the arrest.

Garda O'Dwyer told Judge Hughes it was explained to the accused when he was led to a garda van which brought him to the Bridewell Station.

Garda Loughlin McHugh also told the court Mr Burke had been told the grounds for his arrest and that he was handed a charge sheet in the Bridewell station, which the law student disputed.

State solicitor Declan Keating submitted that it was the State's case that there was a melee in the courtroom first.

A school group was visiting the court at the outset of the incident.

Mr Burke claims unlawful arrest

In his evidence, Mr Burke insisted he was not lawfully arrested.

He claimed he was left in shock, his shirt was ripped, and he needed medical attention afterwards in custody.

He told the court that he had said there was freedom in Ireland and the country did not have to accept transgenderism. He admitted that he did not comply with gardai and pushed one officer but claimed he had not been told to leave.

He told the court he was in fear for his mother, who was frightened when the judges of the Court of Appeal rose, and gardai entered. He alleged that one officer grabbed his sister Ammi. He also said his brother Enoch, who was not present for the hearing on Monday, was injured.

Simeon Burke denied claims he was shouting or screaming.

Judge's verdict

After delivering the guilty verdict, Judge Hughes reminded him that contesting the case meant the court could not give him the same credit as a defendant who pleaded guilty.

Simeon Burke begged the court to spare him a criminal record, outlining his accomplishments  including a President's award, a law scholarship, and work with an international organisation helping disabled children.

He also told the court he taught music to young people but could not say how much he earned.

"I am a responsible citizen; I have been brought up to be a dutiful member of society. I beg this court to leave me without a conviction," he implored the court.

Judge Hughes noted the time he had spent in custody, having refused to take up bail, and offered him the opportunity of an adjournment to engage with the Probation Service.

At that stage, following a conference with family members, Mr Burke demanded a strikeout and claimed prosecution witnesses had committed perjury.

Finalising the case, Judge Hughes remarked that law and order must be maintained in the courts of all places. He said the use of force was an aggravating factor, and he noted how the incident continued into the yard of the Four Courts.

He recorded a conviction, imposed the fine to be paid in six months, and set recognisance at 200 in case of an appeal.
Ikea's new plan-and-order outlet will open its doors in the Douglas Village shopping centre this morning.

News of the Swedish company's arrival in Cork was met with excitement when it was revealed last month.

The Douglas outlet offers people the chance to meet with a planning specialist and plan out the design for any room in their home.

Previously, people from Cork would have to travel up to Dublin to do this.

This will be the fourth plan-and-order outlet to be opened by Ikea as part of their national expansion plans.

The furnishing and homeware giant plans to open more later this year as it aims to make shopping with them easier and more sustainable.

From today, Cork customers can book a free appointment with one of Ikea's interior designers online. During the appointment, the designers use 3D design technology to show how the design will look.

Once the design has been agreed upon, products can be ordered for delivery straight to the person's home or a location of their choice.

The Cork outlet will be open Monday to Friday with late-night shopping on Wednesday and Thursday.

"This new Plan and Order Point means that they instead can meet us to plan kitchens and other areas of their home in their local area. An exciting first step on bringing IKEA closer to our customers in southern Ireland," said Martyn Allan, Ikea Marketing Manager in Ireland.

Ikea previously announced it would be opening its first Irish Customer Distribution Centre in west Dublin early next year.

The 450,000sq ft facility will create 120 jobs and will enable Ikea to process online orders directly from Ireland, increasing product availability and cutting delivery times in half.
Cork County Council was never officially informed that extra funding for vacant homes officers is available, despite being told by a Government minister to get the finger out in applying for the funding.

The council has called on the Department of Housing for clarity on what extra funding is available to local authorities, after minister of State for local government Kieran ODonnell accused it last month of not being proactive in applying for more officers.

At no stage was the local authority made aware that it could seek more funds for vacant officers, Cork county councillors jointly said in a letter to the department.

The Irish Examiner has since revealed that not a single local authority across the country has applied for extra vacancy officers, which suggests a breakdown in communications, according to Cork East TD David Stanton, who raised the issue in the Dail.

Cork East Fine Gael TD David Stanton. Picture:Gareth Chaney/Collins

Around one in 25 homes in the country is vacant, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has estimated, based on metered electricity consumption.

After last years census, the CSO said there were nearly 167,000 vacant houses and apartments.

Of those, nearly 48,500 homes vacant in 2016 were still vacant in 2022, while 23,500 were vacant in 2011, 2016, and 2022.

There are now vacant home officers in place across all 31 local authorities except Donegal.

'Get the finger out'

Last month, Mr Stanton told the Dail that Cork County Council chief executive Tim Lucey has previously said that he would need a vacant homes officer for every town in the county and that he was amazed to hear the local authority has not availed of the funding for new posts.

Responding to Mr Stanton, Mr ODonnell said that the onus was on the local authority to make the case for more officers.

If a request is made and we agree to it, it will be up to the local authorities to be proactive and to make applications, he said.

"If they are complaining to Deputy Stanton that the resources are not in place and if he gets a commitment from the Government that the resources are there, then I'm sorry, but the local authority needs to get the finger out and make the application."

However, Cork County Council says that at no stage was it told by the department that extra funding is available and that it could apply for it.

Minister of State for local government Kieran ODonnell. Picture:: Damien Storan.

In a letter to the secretary-general of the department, Cork County Council has asked whether it can apply for more funding for officers, whether a business case needs to be made, and whether Government funding is available if successful.

The letter says that there never has been any official communication around extra funding from the department, or any application process for more vacant home officers.

While it has not appointed an extra vacant homes officer, Cork County Council has created a property activation and regeneration unit with a full-time equivalent of five staff to tackle vacancy, dereliction, and property activation.

A spokesperson said: Cork County Council has therefore, in agreement with the department, put in place a dedicated vacant homes unit with a full-time equivalent of five staff dedicated to implementing the vacant homes officer function within the county.

This unit can be contacted on VHO@corkcoco.ie, the spokesperson said.

Mr Stanton called on the department to inform local authorities on what funding is available as a matter of priority, saying that a concerted effort must be made to work together to tackle vacancy, which he said is blighting towns across the country.

A Department of Housing spokesperson said: "In January 2022, the Department communicated with local authorities outlining that funding, made available since 2018 to support the work of a Vacant Homes Office including a vacant homes officer, would be increased from 50,000 to 60,000 per annum, from mid-2022."

The spokesperson said this supports the commitment in Housing for All to ensure that VHOs are full-time and added that 30 out of 31 local authorities now have a full-time VHO in place.

"To March 21, no local authorities have contacted the Department to request funding for additional VHOs."
A man in his 30s was injured following an assault in Cork on Sunday night.

Gardai were alerted to the scene of the incident, a residence in the Inishmore Drive area of Ballincollig, at approximately 11pm.
In the context of the ongoing personnel and logistical difficulties currently challenging the Irish Defence Forces, there are two questions that beg to be asked.

Firstly, when examining the crisis facing our navy, when staffing numbers are so low, we cant put ships to sea to protect our own waters, why should we then send a ship to Libya?

Secondly, we need to ask why we are withdrawing troops from a UN peace-keeping mission on the Golan Heights to provide personnel to an EU Battlegroup which contains Nato members.

These moves give rise to further questions, questions that I believe the public should have a right to join in and debate.

The world is in as dangerous a place as it has been since the Second World War and the Cuban Missile Crisis.

In Ireland, we have already aligned ourselves politically with the Ukrainians since the Russian invasion of their country.

Thats probably acceptable to most right-thinking people here as in our psyche we know what its like to be invaded without provocation by a stronger power.

We had 800 years of occupation but thats now water under the bridge.

The recent revelations that we didnt have enough personnel to crew our navy ships to go out and protect our own waters came as a major embarrassment.

More than 280m worth of ships were tied up at the navy base in Haulbowline, Cork Harbour, as Russian spy ships sat provocatively over submarine Transatlantic cables off our coast. Those cables, essential for global communication transmit millions of messages  many of them massive financial transactions  between North America and Europe on a daily basis.

In the event of war, the Russians would no doubt cut them and cripple trade between the two continents thats a given.

Additionally, we couldnt put ships out to seize large foreign trawlers (and some smaller Irish ones) having a field day hoovering up depleted fish stock in our own Economic Exclusion Zones (EEZs).

Thats a million square kilometres of ocean, which incidentally, covers 15% of all EU-protected seas.

The consequences of patrol ships being tied up because of a lack of crews will result in a further swamping of the country with cocaine from maritime-borne drugs shipments, as well as our indigenous fishing industry being destroyed by massive illegal catches  for foreign trawlers, illegal fishing is now a major easy kill.

Libya

In the midst of this, we have decided to send one of our precious ships off to the Libyan coast, leaving our backdoor virtually wide open to what one high level source referred to as the two Ks the Kremlin and the Kinahans.

Members of the Emergency services form a guard of honour for Irish Naval Ship LE William Butler Yeats after it departed from Ohn Rogersons Quay, Dublin and return to routine security operations at sea. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Were sending LE William Butler Yeats to patrol the coastline off Libya in an attempt to prevent arms smuggling into the warn-torn country and to stop petroleum products leaving, products that finance the purchase of arms and equipment.

The ship will be out of Irish waters for approximately 48 days. It will take a week sailing to Libya and another week to return. The navy is committed to a further 34 days of patrolling the waters off the North African countrys coast.

At a minimum it will require 45 personnel to crew the vessel. This will again put the navy to the pin of its collar to provide home defence.

The navy continues to lose personnel at an alarming rate; the Irish Examiner understands that just 14 recruits are currently undergoing training.

Those numbers dont even come near whats required to balance ongoing personnel leakage.

Interestingly, when the announcement was made, the Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Sean Clancy said: This deployment is crucial to the regeneration of Irelands Navy and is directly linked our efforts to recruit, retain and incentivise seagoing.

All very well intentioned, no doubt, but this time there is no clause in the operation to save migrants from drowning on their way from North Africa to southern Europe.

Migrant crisis

The Irish navy performed admirably when tasked to rescue hapless migrants between 2015 and 2017, saving more than 18,000 people who almost certainly would have perished in overcrowded dinghies used by people smugglers who deliberately, in many cases, didnt supply them with enough water, food, or fuel to make the passage.

The navy won huge acclaim during the migrant rescues. There was hardly a day went by where, in my capacity as this newspapers Defence Correspondent, I wasnt hearing yet another story of the professionalism of our crews in such operations, and the dignity they showed when recovering drowning victims from the water.

Its well documented that the publicity engendered a serious interest from young people thinking about joining the force and for the first time in years there was a flurry of recruits.

Theres no doubt the extra few euro will be a godsend to the lads and lassies who serve on the Libya mission, but if anybody seriously thinks that mission is going to grab the headlines and encourage the young to join up ... quite frankly, I dont think so.

Apart from arresting a Bond-villain type trying to smuggle nuclear weapon components into Libya, I dont see how it will generate positive publicity.

Irish Naval Ship LE William Butler Yeats passes Poolbeg lighthouse in Dublin and returns to routine security operations at sea. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

This mission, unlike the previous ones, is not about saving lives. Navy personnel wont knock it and whod blame them as, theyre so poorly paid, the extra allowances from the mission might keep a roof over their heads and provide families with a few treats.

The reality is that the Italians, with some justification, felt they were being overwhelmed (so too Malta to a lesser extent) by the migrant crisis and that the rest of Europe was doing very little to help them out.

Other EU countries also wanted to stem the flow of Sub-Saharan migrants, especially the Italians whove recently acquired a more right-wing parliament.

Im not suggesting Ireland was one of those countries, and there is no evidence to the contrary but instead of saving migrants from drowning, the crew on LE William Butler Yeats will be tasked with information-gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) operations on Operation Irini.

Army

Lets turn to our army. Depleted as well, it has been tasked over the years to do what has now become impossible.

With the personnel the army has left, it cannot continue to fulfill the UN peacekeeping roles it has held most admirably since the Congo in 1961.

Raco (Representative Organisation of Commissioned Officers) stated at its conference last November that the number of overseas missions the Defence Forces engage in was simply unsustainable given the ongoing loss of personnel.

Such was the shortage of volunteer officers for such missions, they were being ordered to fill roles, even if they had recently come back from overseas duties and had young families.

This country has one of the longest and most distinguished service of any nation in carrying out peacekeeping duties and we should be very proud of that.

Some military families can boast three generations who have carried out such a role, and to date 88 soldiers have paid with their lives.

The penny appeared to drop in government circles that at least one mission had to be axed and the sword fell on the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) on the Golan Heights, on the Israeli-Syrian border.

We began that mission in 2013 and since then around 130 infantry have been deployed there on a six-month basis rotation keeping belligerent factions apart along a 75km front.

A UN helicopter takes off during Micheal Martin's visit to Camp Shamrock to pass on his condolences to troops after the death of Sean Rooney. Picture: Neil Michael

Our government has told the UN its disengaging from the mission. However, a new contingent was sent out there just a couple of weeks ago and will therefore be there until October.

After that, it is a bit of a grey area. Nobody knows yet if another contingent will be sent after that, but 2024 is the cut-off year for Irish involvement there.

Minister for Defence Micheal Martin said the withdrawal of troops from the Golan mission will relieve ongoing challenges in filling certain specialist roles in overseas deployments.

He added that, as a result of this withdrawal, the Defence Forces might be able to provide a modest increase to its peacekeeping commitment with the UN in Lebanon. It would be almost unthinkable that we will leave Lebanon anytime soon. Ireland is the longest provider of a peacekeeping force in UN history in that country.

But were withdrawing a peacekeeping force from Golan Heights to join an EU Battlegroup. This is not the first time our troops have been committed to such a force, but its fair to say the military and political landscape has drastically changed in the past year because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

We have been involved in the EU-led Nordic Battlegroups of 2008, 2011 and 2015, the British-led Battlegroup in 2016 and the German-led Battlegroups in 2012, 2016 and in 2020. The Germans will spearhead it again next year.

If you are out with your mates for a night on the town and a gang of bullies starts a fight with them, would you back up your friends?

You wouldnt be much of a friend if you didnt. And they might not be very enamoured of you, if you used the excuse that you didnt come to their aid because you wanted to remain neutral.

Being neutral means nothing to despots. Just ask the Belgians. Hitlers forces invaded them on May 10, 1940, under the codename Fall Gelb (Case Yellow) to further the occupation of France, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

There are other factors which complicate our supposed neutral stance when we join these EU Battlegroups. For example, we had troops in previous battlegroups working alongside the British and Norwegians  members of Nato, which Russia views as its mortal enemy.

Weve also worked with the Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, and Finland. All these Baltic States are now petrified that Putin will turn on them after his invasion of Ukraine; he perceives them as antagonists.

Add to the mix Finlands joining of Nato on April 4 and we can surely see a shift in our neutrality, although our senior politicians will claim otherwise.

One of Camp Shamrock's kittens. Picture: Neil Michael.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said, while this country remains militarily neutral in the Ukraine/Russia war, its clear we are not politically neutral.

I accept this to an extent, especially as the Russians are the aggressors. However, former minister for defence Simon Coveney has said on several occasions that our neutrality cannot be changed without a referendum which would undo the Triple Lock which defines our neutrality.

Our countrys forces cannot be deployed overseas without the approval of three bodies  the UN, the government, and Dail TDs. Thats the Triple Lock.

It appears the defence of our own shores doesnt come into this. A secret deal was struck a few years ago between the Irish and British governments which gave permission to the British to fly into our airspace and shoot down hostile planes, be they controlled by another State or terrorists.

The British realised that we didnt have the air power to shoot down jets and naturally didnt want a transatlantic airliner hijacked by terrorists slamming into Buckingham Palace or the House of Commons.

The Irish Examiner revealed the story of the secret deal and its not once been denied by the Irish Department of Defence. Nor does it appear the Dail was consulted.

In fact the Defence Forces werent either. The RAF wanted the Defence Forces in on the talks, but the government decided to exclude them. Why was that?

So, if the government doesnt consult our own military on such issues, youd have to ask have there been any more secret deals we dont know about?

What we do know is that the French and British are keeping a close eye on the subsea transmission cables off our coast as they know, our navy is so depleted, we dont have the capabilities to monitor them in the manner we should.

Anyone with their glasses on cant fail to notice the notable increase in the amount of EU Fisheries Protection Vessels coming to our coast and now regularly docking at Cork Citys Horgans Quay.

Its just another recognition that our navy is so run down, we dont have the capabilities to conduct the required fishery patrols.

All European military analysists agree Ireland is the continents weakest link.

We cant patrol our own waters adequately, yet we can send a ship to Libya?

Given the current uncertain geopolitical situation it might be high time the public gets a chance to say what it thinks about our neutrality, in the form of a referendum.
THE harrowing account of the parents of Vivienne Murphy, who died as a result of invasive Group A streptococcus, has focused attention on the potential for rapid and severe disease.

Notifications of invasive Group A streptococcus (iGAS) infections in Ireland have increased since October 2022, according to an update from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) earlier this month.

The increase in cases in the last quarter of 2022 was unusual as iGAS infections typically peak in the first half of the year. It is unclear why this has happened but altered social mixing patterns during the pandemic might have been a factor.

Between October 2022 and April 2023, more than 219 cases of iGAS were notified in Ireland. Of these, a third (72) were in people aged nine or under.

This contrasts with pre-pandemic years, where about a quarter of iGAS infections were in those under the age of 18.

Data from 2023 indicates that the numbers of iGAS cases remain at higher levels than expected, with 153 cases notified in the first quarter, compared with an average of 38 cases during the pre-pandemic years 2017-2019.

The HPSC report states that since October 2022 there have been six deaths in children  four in those aged under 10 years and two deaths in those aged 10-17 years, with 10 among adults aged 50-96 years.

Figures published by the World Health Organization (WHO) in December showed that this increase in cases is evident in Europe also, with a number of countries including France, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the UK reporting an increase in 2022, particularly since September, in cases of iGAS disease among children under 10 years of age.

Group A streptococcus is a common bacteria. Lots of us carry it in our throats and on our skin and it does not always result in illness.

However, the bacteria can cause a number of infections, some mild and some more serious.

Notifications of invasive Group A streptococcus (iGAS) infections in Ireland have increased since October 2022, according to an update from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre.

The most serious infection caused by Group A streptococcus occurs when it becomes invasive (invasive group A strep). That is when the bacteria gets into parts of the body where it is not normally found, such as the lungs or bloodstream. This is called invasive Group A strep (iGAS) and in rare cases it can be fatal.

The HPSC reports that while iGAS infections are still uncommon, there has been a small increase in cases this year reported in Ireland, particularly in children under 10, and sadly, a small number of deaths.

Group A streptococcus is spread by close contact with an infected person and can be passed on through coughs and sneezes or from a wound.

The bacterium causes infections in the skin, soft tissue, and respiratory tract. It is responsible for infections such as tonsillitis, pharyngitis, scarlet fever, impetigo, and cellulitis, among others.

While infections such as these can be unpleasant, they rarely become serious. When treated with antibiotics, an unwell person with a mild illness such as tonsillitis stops being contagious around 24 hours after starting their medication.

A common presentation of Group A streptococcus in children can be scarlet fever, which can present with fever, a raised rash which can feel rough to the touch, like sandpaper, a sore throat, and a swollen tongue.

The first signs of scarlet fever can be flu-like symptoms, including a high temperature, sore throat, and swollen neck glands (a large lump on the side of the neck).

The first signs of scarlet fever can be flu-like symptoms, including a high temperature.

In rare cases, iGAS bacteria can also cause a severe, life-threatening infection known as iGAS disease, which may manifest as pneumonia, or skin and bone infection (cellulitis, osteomyelitis, necrotising fasciitis).

Children with viral infections such as varicella (chickenpox) or influenza are at higher risk of developing iGAS disease. The reason for such increases is not fully understood as yet.

The HPSC suggests there is likely to be a combination of factors, including increased social mixing compared to previous years, as well the effects of higher levels of respiratory viruses such as covid-19, flu, and RSV.

The Irish Meningococcal and Sepsis Reference Laboratory, based in the Childrens University Hospital, Temple St, is carrying out investigations to

determine if a particular strain of Group A streptococcus (or strep A) is responsible for the increase in iGAS

infections in children and in the wider population in Ireland.

In a paper published in March in Nature Communications, researchers from the Doherty Institute and the University of Queenslands Institute for Molecular Bioscience reported the detection of a strep A strain named M1UK in Australia for the first time.

The M1UK strain was discovered in the UK in 2019 and has been linked to a surge in scarlet fever cases and severe infections.

The Australian researchers reported that what makes the variant markedly different to the original bacterium is that it produces significantly higher

levels of a toxin to the previous strain.

Joshua Osowicki, a paediatric infectious disease physician at the Royal Childrens Hospital in Melbourne, suggested that the really interesting part of their research is that they have answered the question of what makes this strain so much fitter.

They found that this strain makes five times as much of this key toxin as the previous strain. And that is the biggest explanation for why this strain has crowded out the old one, said Dr Osowicki.

The HSE advice for parents is that if you feel that your child is seriously unwell, you should trust your own judgement.

You should contact your GP if:

Your childs condition is getting worse;



Your child is feeding or eating much less than normal;



Your child has had a dry nappy for 12 hours or more or shows other signs of dehydration;



Your baby is aged under three months and has a temperature of 38C, or is older than three months and has a temperature of 39C or higher;



Your baby feels hotter than usual when you touch their back or chest, or feels sweaty;



Your child is very tired or irritable.

Call 999 or go to an emergency department if:

Your child is having difficulty breathing. You may notice grunting noises or their tummy sucking under their ribs;



There are pauses when your child breathes;



Your child has a rash that does not fade when you press a glass against it;



Your childs skin, tongue, or lips are blue;



Your childs skin is pale and feels cold and clammy;



If your child has a seizure (convulsion or fit);



Your child is floppy and will not wake up or stay awake.

Key to curbing the spread of infection is good hand and respiratory hygiene.

By teaching your child how to wash their hands properly with soap and warm water for 20 seconds, using a tissue to catch coughs and sneezes, and keeping away from others (and out of childcare or school) when they feel unwell, they will be able to reduce the risk of picking up or spreading infections.

Dr Catherine Conlon is a public health doctor in Cork and former director of human health and nutrition, Safefood.
I WAS in Lisbon recently where I had arranged a series of meetings with people who are experts on responding to drug use. The people I met with are well-placed to speak on the subject; not least of all because they have lived and worked in a jurisdiction where decriminalisation of drugs is well established; and where drug consumption rooms have recently been implemented.

In Portugal, drugs were decriminalised in 2001. This means drugs remain illegal, and the response to possession of drugs for personal use is a referral by the police to the Dissuasion Commission. There is plenty of evidence that this approach has worked better than if Portugal had continued to criminalise people who use drugs as in other European countries.

In 2019, a mobile supervised injecting facility was introduced in Lisbon, and this was followed up with the opening of a fixed-site drug consumption room in May 2021. The evidence is clear that drug consumption rooms achieve what they are set up to do  namely, reduce the many and varied harms associated with street-based drug use.

Ana Liffey Drug Project CEO Tony Duffin. Picture: Maxwells

My first meeting was with Nuno Capaz, the vice president of the Dissuasion Commission of Lisbon. Capaz speaks with authority about the benefits of Portugals drug decriminalisation policy.

He explained that of all the Dissuasion Commissions procedures, the 2021 national data shows that 78% were suspended, 21% were sanctioned (a fine, regular presentations, etc), and 1% were absolved.

The national data for 2021 also shows that 75% of the Dissuasion Commission procedures were related to cannabis with a minority of this total (circa 10%) relating to under-18-year-olds. Cannabis remains illegal and use of cannabis amongst under 18s is a concern. So, reaching under 18s through a decriminalised response means they are not criminalised; that they are given advice, support, and offered a referral to a range of supports, if needed.

Fixed-site drug consumption room

Next, I visited the fixed-site drug consumption room, run by the NGO Ares do Pinhal, where I met Hugo Faria, Paulo Caldeira, Roberta Reis, and the team.

The drug consumption room in Lisbon has an injecting room with eight injecting booths (for one or two people to inject, at any one time) and an inhalation room with the capacity for six people to smoke drugs. There are also one-to-one rooms; group rooms; showers; toilets; offices; and storage rooms.

I have visited a number of drug consumption rooms over the years, and I observed something here which I had not seen before.

Namely, in the injecting room, a woman was injecting a man in the neck. This is different as, for example, neither neck injecting nor injecting another person is allowed in the recently established drugs consumption room in Athens, Greece. Also, when I visited the Sydney medically supervised injecting centre in 2015, neither of the above activities were permitted; although at the time they were working through how they could allow people to inject themselves in the neck with the person utilising mirrors.

There is a challenge with drug consumption rooms to ensure that the management of clinical risk does not become a barrier to service provision. The approach taken by Hugo Faria, and the team in Lisbon, in this regard, is a response to injecting practices on the streets in the surrounding area. People inject each other in the neck outside  this is risky, and Farias opinion is that it is safer for them to do this in the injection room.

It is, of course, risky behaviour to manage in the drug consumption room; and I understand their approach to managing the reality of this risky drug-taking behaviour and not leaving people out in the street.

Importantly, between May 2021 (when the rooms opened) and April 2023, there have been 42 overdoses reversed at the fixed site service. However, they dont include the times they have administered oxygen in that figure. Oxygen is administered when someone is technically overdosing, but not yet become unconscious, lips turned blue with skin turned pallid and grey.

In drug consumption rooms across the world, people proactively have their blood oxygen levels checked and are put on oxygen when needed; meaning many more serious overdose situations are avoided.

Mobile supervised injecting facility

Next, I went to Bairro Portugal Novo  Rua Al Berto to visit the mobile supervised injecting facility. Like the fixed-site service, this is a type of drug consumption room; but delivered from a vehicle and only working with people who inject drugs  they dont have the capacity to facilitate the inhalation of drugs.

Parked up across from a block of apartments and next to an open grassed area, the service is a discreet vehicle that looks like any other mobile health unit that you might see in Ireland.

Bruna Alves had arranged for me to meet her colleagues  two nurses, a peer worker (someone with lived experience of drug use), and a psychologist. They explained their work; how they drive to different areas of the city to meet a cohort of people who inject drugs and offer them a safe, non-judgmental service.

The mobile service is a different experience to the fixed-site service. It has capacity for two people to inject. However, I saw the team provide support to one individual at a time, which struck me as a more intimate experience for the client.

Ireland's National Drug Strategy

Whilst none of the above policies has yet been implemented here, Ireland is following a similar path to Portugal.

In 2019, the Government announced that a similar approach would be implemented here; and the new health diversion programme is being developed under the auspices of Irelands National Drug Strategy.

The recently established Citizens Assembly on Drugs Use is discussing and debating the decriminalisation of the possession of drugs for personal use. It will be instructive to hear their findings on the Portuguese model of decriminalisation.

For me, the benefits of the Portuguese model of decriminalisation are not in question  where people (found in possession of drugs for personal use) are afforded each and every time the opportunity of harm reduction advice and/or a referral to a health/social intervention.

Similarly, Ireland has had legislation for supervised injecting facilities since May 2017. Nothing has been implemented yet.

However, planning permission for the pilot Dublin medically supervised injecting facility was granted at the end of December 2022. The provider, Merchants Quay Ireland, is working with various stakeholders to open the service as soon as possible. It will be a great achievement when, at long last, it opens and begins to reduce street-based injecting in the area, improving the health of those attending the service and the many other well-documented benefits supported by evidence from across the globe.

Unfortunately, since the pandemic, smoking crack cocaine has increased among people who use drugs problematically. There is an argument that in parts of Ireland, drug consumption rooms, with inhalation rooms, are needed.

A significant benefit of mobile units is that they do not require planning permission, unlike fixed-site supervised injecting facilities. So, in theory, they can be established quickly once a decision to implement them is made. However, we dont have mobile supervised injecting facilities in Ireland.

There is support for such services in areas across the country where street-based injecting is identified by local stakeholders as an issue. For example, HSE CHO4, Cork City Council, Cork Local Drug & Alcohol Task Force, and many other local stakeholders are actively advocating for a mobile supervised injecting facility in Cork City. Indeed, a group of delegates from Cork City are to visit the above services in Lisbon in mid-May this year on a fact-finding trip.

Finally, Ive mentioned evidence a few times here, and drug policy must be evidence-informed, but it would be naive to think that drug policy is only based upon evidence.

As the Citizens Assembly on Drugs Use begins its work in earnest, its important to consider that effective drug policy is informed by three elements  empathy, evidence, and experience. The Portuguese have these in spades.

Tony Duffin is CEO of the Ana Liffey Drug Project
There has been some recent reporting of a judgment of the European Court of Human Rights finding that a Hungarian law requiring publication on the internet of personal details of people in arrears or default in their tax affairs was a breach of privacy rights.

As there was some confusion on the matter, it is worth pointing out that the ECHR is not an EU institution and its decisions are not EU rulings. As such, it does not have the power to directly strike down legislation, in the way the EUs Court of Justice has.

Nonetheless, the question has been raised about whether the courts ruling might mean the Irish Revenue practice of printing lists of tax defaulters might similarly be illegal. While Revenue says it is "examining" the decision, it is required by statute to continue as before unless and until the Irish law is changed.

However, this ECHR decision follows the arguments and logic of an earlier, and more significant, ruling from the CJEU. That found Luxembourgs laws requiring the creation or a list of who really owns what shares of company, a Register of Beneficial Ownership, were in breach of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

This decision was decried by governments and civil society alike as a blow to transparency and a boon to tax evaders everywhere. However, as with the Hungarian case before the ECHR, the courts have been careful to balance rights and freedoms of individuals and the wishes of the State to name, and sometimes, shame those individuals.

Rights of the individual

Neither the ECHR or the CJEU deny the validity of the aims of the laws they found against. Both transparency of beneficial ownership and promoting tax compliance are legitimate and lawful goals, the courts found. The problem for the losing side in both cases is that, in pursuing those goals, they lost sight of the need to consider and balance them against the rights of the individual.

European Court of Justice.

In the Hungarian case, the law included a requirement to publish the persons home address. The court found the parliament had not considered whether that was necessary or proportionate in pursuing the goal of tax compliance.

In so far as it could be said that publication of that list corresponded to a public interest, parliament does not appear to have considered to what extent publication of all the data in question, and in particular the tax debtors home address, was necessary in order to achieve the original purpose of the collection of relevant personal data in the interests of the economic wellbeing of the country.

Similarly, the CJEU in the Luxembourg case stated that dropping a requirement that someone accessing the data should have a legitimate interest in doing so undermined the balance of necessity and proportionality which has to underpin state interference with privacy and data rights.

The regime introduced by Directive 2018/843, providing for the general publics access to information on beneficial ownership, amounts to a considerably more serious interference with the fundamental rights guaranteed in Articles 7 and 8 of the charter, without that increased interference being capable of being offset by any benefits which might result.

Legitimate aims

The common thread through both these court challenges is the impulse by state bodies to pass laws in pursuit of legitimate aims but in doing so to become blinkered to the limitations on the state in riding roughshod over individuals' rights.

If you are working as an official tasked with reducing money laundering, that task will come to loom above all other issues when drafting legislation to combat it. But the courts have to decide if the balance has been correctly struck when assessing legislation.

Both the EU court and ECHR have taken their roles seriously in these cases, acknowledging the important and legitimate aims of the states in passing their laws, but then requiring that those laws also demonstrate they do not go beyond what is necessary to meet those aims and what is proportionate in doing so.

Holding the line for this balancing will continue to be critical as advances in technology makes interference with personal privacy and data rights easier, and the passing of laws to allow such technology seem like an obvious response.

Both of these court decisions put down a marker that it will not be enough for the state simply saying it has "always been the way" to do something, or to argue that a particular law must be justified if the general aim is good.

Whether it is mass surveillance of communications, use of facial recognition software by the police or regulation of private companies use of AI to make decisions that affect us all, we should be glad the courts are willing and able to keep individual human beings personal rights and dignity as the benchmark which all legislation must meet.
Rolling out of bed at 8.50am for a nine oclock start, getting away with sitting through important meetings whilst donning your suit and tie and pyjama bottoms, and removing the need to interact with that overbearing colleague who has a habit of lingering by your desk

The benefits of working from home are pretty hard to deny. In fact, perks like these have bettered our lives to such an extent that while it was the norm only three years ago to drag ourselves to the office and back five days a week, doing that now seems absolutely unimaginable to many of us.

How on earth did we manage it back then, we often wonder? What could possibly beat our comfortable new routine of working from home?

Well, here to answer that question is Iconic Offices. For over 10 years theyve served as Irelands leading flexible workspace provider  theyve seen the demand for flexible workspace options become the norm post- pandemic, offering space that supports flexible working while being an attractive business home for days in the office.

Working with everyone from SMEs to global brands alike, they are seeing first-hand how the rise of remote work has simply driven an appetite for a new type of office, one that can operate as hybrid workspace.

After 9 years operating in Dublin, Iconic last year expanded the model into their newest location in NSQ2 Cork, bringing their unique style of flexible workspace options to the Cork market.

Offering clients the very best in all aspects of office life  from screening rooms that could double as a state-of-the-art cinema as well as a space to display presentations or Zoom conference calls to the rest of your team, to lunch areas that could rival the appearance of any chic city bar, nevermind the more traditional staff canteen, and studio booths that allow your team to make podcasts and promo jingles with a setup worthy of Grammy winners  working at any of the Iconic Offices creates a sense of occasion around going to your regular nine-to-five.

So much so, that some of the countrys biggest names and most promising entrepreneurs are already opting to fill the coworking spaces and private offices of Iconics new NSQ2 base, located right in the heart of Cork City in Navigation Square.

Roches Suite meeting room at Iconic Offices, Albert Quay in Cork.

Among them are the Riley team  an Irish company who shot to international attention in recent years with their ground-breaking range of sustainable pads and tampons. Their subscription boxes have become a mainstay for thousands of customers every month, offering period products made from 100% organic cotton, free from bleach, pesticides, toxins and other harmful chemicals.

As Rileys mission is all about being kinder to both our bodies and our planet, it was important to them to find a home for their business that reflected those values. Fiona Parfey, Rileys co-founder, says they realised very early on that Iconic Offices could provide them with exactly that.

We first joined Iconic in Dublin last August and then expanded to Cork in September when NSQ2 opened, with the team being split between both locations, she explains. Iconic is not only a flexible workspace solution which is perfect for our growing team, but also a really innovative and inspiring workspace to work from and it definitely helps to motivate us.

Riley co-founders Aine Kilkenny, Fiona Parfey and Lauren Duggan, pictured here at Iconic Offices, The Lennox Building. They say the WELL certification of Iconic Offices was a huge draw for them.

Another hugely motivating factor for Fiona is that the Riley team get to see the fruits of their labour going to use at their workplace each day, as Iconic exclusively supply the Riley products complimentary to their 3,000 plus members and staff across all their locations.

Iconic are very aligned with our brand, Fiona says proudly. Not only do they put their community first but they also have WELL certified buildings, both the Cork and Dublin locations we work from are WELL certified, which really aligns with our own sustainability values.

The WELL Building Standard is an internationally-recognised certification, awarded for buildings and public spaces that enhance human health and wellbeing. Iconic Offices became WELL certified in 2019, becoming one of the first workspaces in Europe to do so. With this kind of cutting edge building design to their name, its little surprise that Iconic Offices have also attracted some of the titans of the Irish construction industry as their clients.

One such group is ORS, a prominent Irish multidisciplinary building consultancy who have trusted Iconic to house their employees in both Dublin and Cork. Having initially been a private office client with Iconic Offices in Dublin for two years, ORS Director Gerard Fagan says the care they received from the expert team there made it a no-brainer to expand their business by taking on a second location with Iconic in Corks NSQ2.

ORS operates with a hybrid working model, but we recognise the importance of having a physical office space for our team to come together and collaborate effectively, he explains. In 2020, we secured an office space in SouthPoint, Iconic, Dublin, which has since become a vital hub for the team. Iconic aligns with our values of community, flexibility, and a focus on exceptional client care, and therefore was the natural choice when expanding our business in Cork.

The ORS team are looked after by the Iconic experts in both their Cork and Dublin locations. Pictured are Mark O'Toole, Project Manager, Brian Murphy, Fire Consultant, Amy McGuinness, Digital Marketing Executive, and Gerard Fagan, Director of ORS.

Since joining Iconic, ORS has found that the office space has fostered a strong sense of community among its team members and has allowed us to work productively and efficiently. Overall, our experience with Iconic has demonstrated the importance of well-designed and collaborative office space, particularly for companies that operate with a hybrid working model. Additionally, the flexible access to Iconic in multiple locations allows our team to work from different locations depending on their needs, whether meeting clients or collaborating with colleagues.

This desire to meet employees needs, and allow them increased flexibility while still getting them to return to the office, is one that can prove a tricky balancing act for many employers. Yet Iconic Offices help the companies under their roof to pull it off so well that it not only increases morale among their existing workforce, but for some the return to the office can actually be framed as an incentive for potential new candidates.

Iconics stylish and practical workspaces have allowed us to attract some of the best talent in Cork, reveals Mark Stanton, Business Unit Manager of IGA Talent Solutions. In a world where the preference is to work at home, given the option, our team actually prefers to work in the office, all because of the fantastic facilities we have at Iconic.

IGA Talent Solutions first started as coworking members in NSQ2 last year, before quickly growing into their own office space. A specialist recruitment firm, IGA has staff working across multiple markets including Change & Transformation, Actuarial Services, Financial Crime, Investments & Pensions, People & Culture and Tech roles  just a small sample of the huge variety of activity taking place in any Iconic location.

For IGA, who were established in the UK in 2018 and backed by former Dragon's Den star James Caan to grow rapidly and expand into new markets, setting up in Cork has always been a huge goal  especially with a location as central as Iconics.

Specialist recruitment firm IGA Talent Solutions say the facilities available to them in NSQ2 are world class.

As the first branch outside of the UK, it was important that we found an office space that could support our growth ambitions and NSQ2 offered us exactly that, Mark explains. The location in the city centre is key, and the Iconic team immediately understood and catered for our business needs, so much so that the Iconic staff feel like part of IGA.

As a new branch, essentially a start-up, flexibility was of the utmost importance for us in Cork. We started out in the co-working space at NSQ2, and in January made the switch to a private office, conveniently located on the same floor. With larger offices available, we hope to continue that growth trajectory in NSQ2 into the future. It's also important as a recruitment business to be at the centre of the business community, and NSQ2 is quickly becoming a hub for likeminded, ambitious businesses in Cork as the facilities and service are truly world class. They match, if not exceed, anything we have in our offices across London and the UK.

Jason Sleator of Iconic Offices is delighted to see clients cottoning on to all that Cork has to offer.

Meanwhile, for Jason Sleator, the commercial area manager at Iconic Offices in Cork, its always been only a matter of time before people would realise all that the region has to offer as a hub for their business. "I came to Cork 15 years ago and fell in love with this city," he shares. It has become my home and Ive seen it grow from strength to strength since I got here  I'm delighted were now seeing clear evidence of increasing demand for flexible workspace solutions in Cork city. Were very excited about what the future holds for Iconic Offices and our clients here."

To find out more about NSQ2 and the Iconic Offices across Dublin, visit their website.
An Iranian court has sentenced an air defence commander allegedly responsible for the deadly downing of a passenger plane amid Iran-US tensions three years ago, it has been reported.

Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard mistakenly shot down the Ukraine International Airlines flight in January 2020.

The missile strike killed all 176 people on board and came as Tehran and Washington teetered on the brink of war.

The commander whom officials said ordered the strike was sentenced to 13 years in prison, the official judiciary news outlet, Mizan, said on Sunday.

Mizan said the commander did not follow protocols in the moments leading up to the shooting down of the plane. The commander was also ordered to pay fines to families of victims, the report added.

Mizan said the court also sentenced two personnel allegedly involved in running the surface-to-air missile system Tor M-1 to one year in prison each.

After a lengthy series of hearings, the court sentenced at least seven other personnel and air defence officers to up to three years in prison.

According to Mizan, the verdicts can be appealed within 20 days.

The report did not identify any of the defendants by name or give further details.

The judiciary news agency also said Irans government plans to pay $150,000 for each victim to their families.

It did not elaborate on how this money will be delivered to the families.

The hearing sessions have faced international criticism since starting in 2021. At that time, an association of the victims families also criticised the hearing and cast doubts on the courts legitimacy.

The group also alleged that none of the defendants were present at hearings.

Just hours before the shooting down in January 2020, Iran had fired ballistic missiles at American bases in Iraq in retaliation for a US drone strike that killed top Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad.
Top diplomats from the Group of Seven wealthy democracies are pledging a tough stance over Chinas increasing threats to Taiwan and North Koreas unchecked tests of long-range missiles, while building momentum on ways to boost support for Ukraine and punish Russia for its invasion.

Russias war in Ukraine will consume much of the agenda on Monday as the envoys gather in the Japanese hot spring resort town of Karuizawa for the second day of talks meant to pave the way for action by G7 leaders when they meet in Hiroshima next month.

According to a Japanese summary, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told his colleagues the world is at a turning point on the fighting in Ukraine and must firmly reject unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force, and Russias aggression against Ukraine and its threats of the use of nuclear weapons.

From left, the EUs Enrique Mora, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, Germanys Annalena Baerbock, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Japans Yoshimasa Hayashi, Canadas Melanie Joly, Frances Catherine Colonna and Italy&

For the American delegation, the meeting comes at a crucial moment in the worlds response to Russias invasion of Ukraine and efforts to deal with China, two issues that G7 ministers from Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Italy and the European Union regard as potent challenges to the post-Second World War rules-based international order.

A senior US official traveling with Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters that the Biden administrations goal for the talks is to shore up support for Ukraine, including a major initiative on Ukraines energy infrastructure launched at last years G7 gatherings in Germany, as well as to ensure the continued provision of military assistance to Kyiv.

Ramping up punishment against Russia for the conflict, particularly through economic and financial sanctions that were first threatened by the G7 in December 2021, before the invasion, will also be a priority, the official said.

Ukraine faces an important moment in coming weeks with Russias current offensive largely stalled and Ukraine preparing a counter-offensive.

The US official said there would be discussion about ways to deepen support for Ukraines long-term defence and deterrence capabilities. That might also improve Kyivs position for potential negotiations that could end the conflict on its terms.

The role of Japan  the only Asian member of the G7  as chairman of this years talks provides an opportunity to discuss co-ordinated action on China.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, right, at the G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Karuizawa, Japan (Andrew Harnik/AP/Pool)

Leaders and foreign ministers of G7 countries, most recently France and Germany, have recently concluded visits to China, and the diplomats in Karuizawa are expected to discuss their impressions of where the Chinese stand on numerous issues, including the war in Ukraine, North Korea, and Taiwan, which is a particular sore point in US-Chinese relations.

At a private working dinner on Sunday night which was the diplomats first formal meeting, Mr Hayashi urged continued dialogue with China on the many global challenges where participation from Beijing is seen as crucial. Among the Chinese interests that are intertwined with those of wealthy democracies are global trade, finance and climate efforts.

But the diplomats are also seeking to address Chinas more aggressive recent stance in North-east Asia, where it has threatened Taiwan, the self-governing democracy that Beijing claims as its own.

Mr Hayashi told ministers that outside nations must continue building a constructive and stable relationship, while also directly expressing our concerns and calling for China to act as a responsible member of the international community, according to a summary of the closed-door dinner.

China recently sent planes and ships to simulate an encirclement of Taiwan. Beijing has also been rapidly adding nuclear warheads, taking a tougher line on its claim to the South China Sea and painting a scenario of impending confrontation.

The worry in Japan can be seen it its efforts in recent years to make a major break from its self-defence-only post-war principles, working to acquire pre-emptive strike capabilities and cruise missiles to counter growing threats.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinkens trip to Beijing in February was postponed because of a Chinese spy balloon incident (Andrew Harnik/AP/Pool)

Mr Blinken had been due to visit Beijing in February, but the trip was postponed because of a Chinese spy balloon incident over US airspace and has yet to be rescheduled.

He briefly met Chinas top diplomat, Wang Yi, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Forum, but high-level contacts between Washington and Beijing have become rare. Therefore, he will be seeking insight from his French and German counterparts on their interactions with the Chinese, the senior US official said.

Despite indications, notably comments from French President Emmanuel Macron, that the G7 is split over China, the official said there is shared concern among G7 nations over Chinas actions. The official added that the foreign ministers will be discussing how to continue a co-ordinated approach to China.

North Korea is also a key area of worry for Japan and other neighbours in the region.

Since last year, Pyongyang has test-fired around 100 missiles, including intercontinental ballistic missiles which showed the potential of reaching the US mainland and a variety of other shorter-range weapons that threaten South Korea and Japan.

Mr Hayashi expressed grave concern over North Koreas launch of ballistic missiles with an unprecedented frequency and in unprecedented manners, including the launch in the previous week, and the G-7 Foreign Ministers strongly condemned North Koreas repeated launches of ballistic missiles, according to the summary.
A French court on Monday acquitted Airbus and Air France of manslaughter charges over the 2009 crash of Flight 447 from Rio to Paris.

The accident killed 228 people, including three Irish, and led to lasting changes in aircraft safety measures.

Three newly qualified Irish doctors, who graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 2007, were returning from a holiday in Brazil when they were killed in the crash. Dr Aisling Butler, age 26, was from Roscrea, Co Tipperary; Dr Jane Deasy, age 27, from Dublin, and Dr Eithne Walls, age 28, from Co Down.

Sobs broke out among victims families in the courtroom as the judges read out the decision.

The official investigation found that multiple factors contributed to the crash, including pilot error and the icing over of external sensors called pitot tubes.

The two-month trial left families wracked with anger and disappointment. Unusually, even state prosecutors argued for acquittal, saying that the proceedings did not produce enough proof of criminal wrongdoing by the companies.

Workers unload debris belonging to crashed Air France flight AF447 from the Brazilian Navys Constitution Frigate in the port of Recife, northeast of Brazil, on June 14, 2009 (Eraldo Peres/AP/PA)

Prosecutors laid the responsibility primarily with the pilots, who died in the crash. Airbus lawyers also blamed pilot error, and Air France said the full reasons for the crash will never be known.

Airbus and Air France had faced potential fines of up to 225,000 euros (199,000) each if convicted.

Air France has already compensated families of those killed, who came from 33 countries. Families from around the world were among the plaintiffs, including many in Brazil.

The A330-200 plane disappeared from radar in a storm over the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009, with 216 passengers and 12 crew members aboard.

It took two years to find the plane and its black box recorders on the ocean floor, at depths of more than 13,000 feet (around 4,000 metres).

An Associated Press investigation at the time found that Airbus had known since at least 2002 about problems with the type of pitot tubes used on the jet that crashed, but failed to replace them until after the crash.

Air France was accused of not having implemented training in the event of icing of the pitot probes despite the risks. Airbus was accused of not doing enough to urgently inform airlines and their crews about faults with the pitots or to ensure training to mitigate the risk.

The crash had lasting impacts on the industry, leading to changes in regulations for airspeed sensors and in how pilots are trained.

The trial was fraught with emotion. Distraught families shouted down the chief executives of Airbus and Air France as the proceedings opened in October, crying out Shame! as the executives took the stand.

Dozens of people who lost loved ones stormed out of the court when the prosecutors called for acquittal.
Sudanese in the capital Khartoum and other cities have huddled in their homes for a third day, as explosions and gunfire thundered outside and the army and a powerful rival force battled in the streets for control of the country.

At least 185 people have been killed and over 1,800 wounded since the fighting erupted, UN envoy Volker Perthes said.

The two sides are using tanks, artillery and other heavy weapons in densely populated areas.

Fighter jets swooped overhead and anti-aircraft fire lit up the skies as darkness fell.

Gunfire and shelling are everywhere

The toll could be much higher because there are many bodies in the streets around central Khartoum that no-one can reach because of the clashes.

There has been no official word on how many civilians or combatants have been killed.

The doctors syndicate earlier put the number of civilian deaths at 97.

The sudden explosion of violence over the weekend between the nations two top generals, each backed by tens of thousands of fighters, trapped millions of people in their homes or wherever they could find shelter, with supplies running low in many areas.

Top diplomats on four continents scrambled to broker a truce, with the UN Security Council set to discuss the crisis.

Gunfire and shelling are everywhere, Awadeya Mahmoud Koko, head of a union for thousands of tea vendors and other food workers, said from her home in a southern district of Khartoum.

She said a shell struck a neighbours house on Sunday, killing at least three people.

We couldnt take them to a hospital or bury them.

A man sits by shuttered shops in Khartoum, Sudan (Marwan Ali/AP)

In central Khartoum, sustained gunfire erupted and white smoke rose near the main military headquarters, a major battlefront.

Nearby, at least 88 students and staff have been trapped in the engineering college library at Khartoum University since the start of the fighting, one of the students said in a video posted online on Monday.

One student was killed during clashes outside and another wounded, he said.

They do not have food or water, he said, showing a room full of people sleeping on the floor.

Even in a country with a long history of military coups, the scenes of fighting in the capital and its adjoining city Omdurman across the Nile River were unprecedented.

The turmoil comes just days before Sudanese were to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting.

The power struggle pits General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the commander of the armed forces, against General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group.

The former allies jointly orchestrated an October 2021 military coup that derailed Sudans transition to democracy.

People walk past closed shops in Khartoum, Sudan (Marwan Ali/AP)

The violence now threatens to throw the country into a wider civil conflict just as Sudanese were trying to revive the drive for a democratic, civilian government after decades of military rule.

The US, the UN and others have called for a truce.

Egypt, which backs Sudans military, and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates  which forged close ties to the RSF in recent years as it sent thousands of fighters to support their war in Yemen  have also called for both sides to stand down.

But both generals have thus far dug in, demanding the others surrender and ruling out negotiations.

Gen Dagalo, whose forces grew out of the notorious Janjaweed militias in Sudans Darfur region, portrayed himself in a statement on Twitter on Monday as a defender of democracy and branded Gen Burhan as the aggressor and a radical Islamist.

Both generals have a long history of human rights abuses and have cracked down on pro-democracy activists.

Heavy gunbattles raged in multiple parts of the capital and Omdurman, where the two sides have brought in tens of thousands of troops, positioning them in nearly every neighbourhood.

At least six hospitals in Khartoum were shut down because of damage from fighting, nearby clashes or because they ran low on fuel, said Atiya Abdalla Atiya, secretary of the Sudan Doctors Syndicate.

Smoke is seen rising from Khartoums skyline in Sudan (Marwan Ali/AP)

Hadia Saeed, a housewife, said she and her three children were sheltering in one room on the ground floor of their home for fear of the shelling as gunfire rattled across their Bahri district in north Khartoum.

They have food for a few more days, but after that we dont know what to do, she said.

Residents said fierce fighting with artillery and other heavy weapons raged on Monday afternoon in the Gabra neighbourhood south-west of Khartoum.

People were trapped and screaming inside their homes, said Asmaa al-Toum, a physician living in the area.

Fighting has been particularly fierce around each sides main bases, located amid civilian areas, and at strategic government buildings.

The military on Monday claimed to have secured the main television building in Omdurman, fending off RSF fighters trying to seize the building for days.

State-run Sudan TV resumed broadcasting.

The military scored a significant gain on Sunday when the RSF said it abandoned its main barracks and base, in Omdurman, which the armed forces had pounded with air strikes.

Smoke is seen rising from a neighbourhood in Khartoum, Sudan (Marwan Ali/AP)

Online videos on Monday purported to show the bodies of dozens of men said to be RSF fighters at the base, strewn over beds, the floor of a clinic and outside in a yard.

The authenticity of the videos could not be confirmed independently.

The military and RSF were also fighting in most major centres around the country, including in the western Darfur region and parts of the north and the east, by the borders with Egypt and Ethiopia.

Battles raged on Monday around a strategic airbase in Merowe, some 350 kilometres (215 miles) north-west of the capital, with both sides claiming control of the facility.

Only four years ago, Sudan inspired hope after a popular uprising helped depose long-time autocratic leader Omar al-Bashir.

But the turmoil since, especially the 2021 coup, has frustrated the democracy drive and wrecked the economy.

A third of the population  around 16 million people  now depends on humanitarian assistance in the resource-rich nation, Africas third largest.

Save the Children, an international charity, said it has temporarily suspended most of its operations across Sudan.

It said looters raided its offices in Darfur, stealing medical supplies, laptops, vehicles and a refrigerator.

People walk past closed shops in Khartoum (Marwan Ali/AP)

The World Food Programme suspended operations over the weekend after three employees were killed in Darfur, and the International Rescue Committee has also halted most operations.

With the US, European Union, African and Arab nations all calling for an end to fighting, the UN Security Council was to discuss the developments in Sudan later.

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said he was consulting with the Arab League, African Union and leaders in the region, urging anyone with influence to press for peace.

Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry discussed the violence in separate phone calls with his Saudi and French counterparts, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said.

At a meeting of the Group of Seven wealthy nations in Japan on Monday, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said the Sudanese want the military back in the barracks. They want democracy. They want the civilian-led government, Sudan needs to return to that path.

Under international pressure, Gen Burhan and Gen Dagalo had recently agreed to a framework agreement with political parties and pro-democracy groups.

However, the deal was vague on key points of dispute, including how the RSF would be integrated into the armed forces and who would have final control.

The signing of the deal was put off repeatedly as tensions rose between the generals.
Guest Column Myanmars Dictators Have Always Relied on a Brutal Secret Police Force

Current Myanmar dictator Min Aung Hlaing (left), ex-dictators Than Shwe (middle) and Ne Win (right).

Every dictatorship believes it needs a secret police force in order to survive in power, and the more brutal, the more effective. Nazi Germany had its Gestapo, or Geheime Staatspolizei: The Secret State Police. The Shah of Iran depended on Savak, the countrys domestic security and intelligence service, and Romanias dictator Nicolae Ceausescu had his dreaded Securitate, Department of State Security. And Myanmars generals have their military intelligence service, which over the years has changed its name but always remained a main pillar of state power.

But because of its secretive nature, Myanmars military intelligence has also on at least two occasions morphed into a state within the state, which became a threat to the established order and, therefore, was purged with some of its leaders receiving lengthy prison sentences. The question of maintaining that blind loyalty is the reason why Myanmars current dictator, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, is keeping his top intelligence operatives closer to him than his predecessors did. Lieutenant General Ye Win Oo, head of what since 2020 has been called the Office of Chief of Military Security Affairs (OCMSA), accompanies Min Aung Hlaing at all meetings with the junta-appointed cabinet, to meetings with foreign diplomats, and during trips abroad.

Lt-Gen Ye Win Oo went to Russia with Min Aung Hlaing in June 2021 to attend the 9th Moscow Conference on International Security, and again in July 2022 to meet state-owned nuclear energy and weapons companies. During the second trip, Ye Win Oos wife Nilar and other spouses of the generals also went along, but more for shopping in Moscow than to participate in any important meetings. Since the 2021 coup, Lt-Gen Ye Win Oo has been responsible for tracking down opponents to the junta and he also runs the militarys interrogation centers where detainees are subjected to torture, which usually includes electric chocks, burning of genitalia, pouring boiling liquid or chemical solutions down the mouths of victims, and rape if those arrested are women. The Internet and social media have made it possible to disseminate such information to the outside world, but the methods are as old as Myanmars military intelligence itself.

It dates back to General Ne Win, who seized power in 1962 and built up one of Asias most ruthless as well as efficient secret police forces. Originally called the Military Intelligence Service (MIS), it was known down to the lowliest non-English speaking peasant as em-eye and everybody feared it. Informants could be everywhere, sometimes even within dissident families. Ne Win was originally trained by the Japanese, in Tokyo in 1940-41 and when they occupied the then Burma 1942-45.

US Lieutenant Colonel James Mc Andrew states in his 2007 study of Myanmars military intelligence apparatus: Chosen for both guerilla tactics and clandestine activities and special leadership training was the future dictator and longtime strongman, Ne Win. Significantly, this curriculum included intelligence training provided by the Kempeitai, the brutal Japanese Military Police and counterintelligence organization. Being selected for Kempeitai is more than noteworthy in hindsight, and it must be viewed as an important early demonstration to Ne Win that maintaining coercive intelligence and counterintelligence organizations were essential to maintaining authoritarian rule.

Ne Wins trusted intelligence chief for many years was his subordinate Brigadier General Tin Oo  not to be confused with the National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Tin Oo, or Tin U, a retired general and former army chief. MI Tin Oo, as he became known, was trained by the USs Central Intelligence Agency on the US-held Pacific island of Saipan in 1957, and so was Lay Maung, who rose to become a top jurist for the military and Myanmars foreign minister 1980-1981.

In those days, US support for Myanmars military was motivated by the fact that it fought against the insurgent Communist Party of Burma, but that cooperation came to an abrupt end in 1961 when the military and the Peoples Liberation Army of China began joint operations against remnants of US-supported, nationalist Chinese Kuomintang forces who had been ensconced in eastern Shan State since their defeat in Chinas civil war.

Even if judicial executions of political opponents were the exception rather than the rule, anyone suspected of having contacts with the political or ethnic opponents of Ne Wins regime was likely to be arrested and tortured while in jail. The MIS also had its own prison and torture center, the infamous Yay Kyi Aing, or Clearwater Pond. Many political prisoners were tortured to death there and in other, smaller MIS-run jails all over the country. The MIS kept a watchful eye not only on ordinary citizens, but especially army officers with perceived liberal ideas, which apart from constant rotations, corruption and institutional brutality contributed to the remarkable cohesiveness of Myanmars armed forces.

MIS agents also watched politicized exiles living in Britain, West Germany, Thailand, Australia and the USA. For many years, mutual suspicion neutralized them as a political force because no one was ever sure who was an informant or not.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the MIS was becoming increasingly powerful, and, at the time, Rodney Tasker characterized MI Tin Oo in the Far Eastern Economic Review: He and his MIS colleagues were men of the world compared with the other short-sighted, dogmatic figures in the Burmese leadership. They were able to travel abroad, talk freely to foreigners and generally look beyond the rigid confines of the corrupt regime.although ruthless, he built up a reputation as a gregarious, open-minded, charismatic figure  a direct contrast to some of his mole-like colleagues in the leadership.

But in May 1983, Ne Wins regime suddenly and unexpectedly announced that Tin Oo had been permitted to resign along with his former aide, Colonel Bo Ni. They had been purged ostensibly because their wives were corrupt  a charge that could be brought against any army officer in the country. Tin Oo and Bo Ni were subsequently jailed  and the entire MIS apparatus purged as well. The reason behind the move, however, remained a matter for conjecture. It was suggested at the time that the urbane MIS people had become too powerful for comfort and had almost managed to establish another state-within-a-state, which threatened Ne Wins inner circle of hand-picked, less-than-intelligent yes men.

Whatever the reason behind the purge, it had immediate effects on the security situation in the country. On October 9, 1983, 21 people, including four visiting South Korean cabinet ministers, were killed in a powerful explosion in Yangon. Three North Korean military officers were behind the atrocity. One of them was killed in a shoot-out with Burmese security forces, while the other two were captured alive. One of the bombers was executed in 1985, the other remained in Yangons Insein Prison until he died of natural causes in 2008. Observers at the time believe that the incident would never have taken place if MI Tin Oo had still been in charge; it clearly indicated that the military intelligence apparatus was no longer what is used to be. A new intelligence chief, General Khin Nyunt, was appointed in 1984. His Directorate of the Defense Services Intelligence (DDSI) soon became almost as efficient as the old outfit, and Khin Nyunt in many ways also resembled Tin Oo; he was fairly young and reasonably bright, but could be exceedingly ruthless whenever this was considered expedient by the old dictator, Ne Win.

Less than four years after Khin Nyunt began rebuilding Myanmars shattered military intelligence apparatus, the country faced the largest civil unrest in its history. Millions of people nationwide marched against Ne Wins regime and for a return to the democracy that the country had enjoyed before the 1962 coup. Any regime anywhere would have collapsed under the pressure of an entire population rising up against tyranny. That was not the case with Myanmars military-dominated regime, however. Thousands of people were gunned down in the streets of Yangon and elsewhere as the military stepped in, not to overthrow the government but to shore up a regime overwhelmed with popular protest. After the military had crushed the uprising, the DDSI was expanded. By 1991, nine new units were established and the DDSI also operated 19 detention centers, seven of them of Yangon, of which Yay Kyi Aing was still the most notorious. Undercover DDSI agents covered every movement of the NLDs leaders and other opponents of the regime.

However in 2004 Khin Nyunt, who had become prime minister, was ousted and arrested along with up to 3,500 intelligence personnel countrywide, including some 300 senior officers. Khin Nyunts fall from grace followed the death of his mentor Ne Win in December 2002. The old general had been placed under house arrest earlier that year, allegedly because of the corrupt behavior of his daughter, Sanda Win, her husband Aye Zaw Win  and the couples three unruly grandsons, who had terrorized private businessmen in Yangon with demands for bribes and protection money. But few doubted that the move against Ne Win and his family came as preparation for the post-Ne Win era; to make sure that Khin Nyunts influence would be limited. The dictator, who had ruled with an iron fist for several decades, was cremated near his home in Yangon. The funeral was attended by a handful of family members and about 20 plainclothes military officers, none especially high-ranking.

Khin Nyunts ouster was not, as some reports in the foreign media at the time suggested, a power struggle between the pragmatic intelligence chief and hardliners within the military regime. A more plausible explanation for the purge was that Khin Nyunt and his DDSI had accumulated significant wealth through involvement in a wide range of commercial enterprises. They were building up a state within a state  like the old MI Tin Oo had done in the 1970s  and not sharing their riches with the rest of the military elite. Like Ne Win, the new dictator, Senior General Than Shwe, did not want to have any potential rivals around him, and Khin Nyunt clearly had political ambitions. He was a man not to be trusted.

Immediately following the ousting of Khin Nyunt, the latest intelligence outfit, the Office of the Chief of Military Intelligence [the expanded DDSI], was dissolved and an entirely new organization established: the OCMSA, which was placed under more direct military control. It is highly unlikely that Lt- Gen Ye Win Oo will repeat the mistakes which MI Tin Oo and Khin Nyunt committed, and Min Aung Hlaing may, at least for the foreseeable future, be secure.

OCMSA remained active throughout the decade of openness from 2011 to 2021, carefully watching the activities of politicians, activists and journalists. But Lt-Gen Ye Win Oo and his men unleashed the full force of the organizations most brutal operatives after the 2021 coup. According to the rights group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), 3,194 people have been killed since then, while 17,075 people have been detained and 5,274 of them have been sentenced by a court. A total of 108 prisoners received the death penalty, 121 of them are in absentia. 150 are currently on death row awaiting execution. So far, according to AAPPs data, 3,874 have been released from prison.

Until the 1988 uprising, Myanmars military intelligence conducted only limited operations overseas, mainly collecting information and giving the exiled community a scare. But after the dramatic events of the late 1980s and the subsequent flight of thousands of pro-democracy activists, especially to Thailand, its agents became more operational outside the country. Khin Nyunts right-hand man, Colonel Thein Swe sent thugs to beat up activists and, allegedly, ordered murders when he was defense attache in Bangkok. In the early 1990s, the colonel built up an extensive network among diplomats, spies, informants and some media in Thailand. He was rewarded by being made the top-ranking intelligence officer under Khin Nyunt after he returned to Myanmar.

There is now every indication that the OCMSA is even more active in foreign countries. To the surprise of many, not only are regular operatives involved in keeping a watchful eye on activists, journalist and others in Thai cities like Chiang Mai and Mae Sot, but people who once played roles in the pro-democracy movement and the so-called peace process during the 2011-2016 U Thein Sein presidency have become informants.

At home in Myanmar, as The Irrawaddy has reported, old loyalties to military supremacy remain: even military intelligence operatives who were purged or sidelined in 2004 have been used as advisers. Among them are Colonel Ngwe Tun who was at the Defense Services Academy in Pyin Oo Lwin at the same time as Min Aung Hlaing, Lieutenant Colonel Nyan Linn, who in 1988 was responsible for distributing leaflets condemning democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Sai Aung Thein who used to serve in Kengtung in Shan State, Myint Htay, an operative who liaised with Pa-O militia leader Aung Kham Hti, Lin Mingxian, another militia leader at Mong La on the Myanmar-China border, and Thein Swe, the horror man of Bangkok who has become a Brigadier General. As Ne Win once put it, lukaun lutaw, which refers to his preference for promoting loyal cronies rather than talented persons. Significantly, Major General Kyaw Win, an intellectual who Than Shwe in 1993 appointed deputy head of DDSI to counterbalance the rising power of Khin Nyunt, has not been seen since the coup.

The future of the pro-democracy movement depends on its ability to understand the inner workings of Myanmars past and present military intelligence services [which to all intents and purposes have been a secret police], to map the current OCMSAs activities, and counter them with increased vigilance in the streets  as well as in cyberspace. New, sophisticated electronic surveillance equipment, not available before, has been obtained from firms in Singapore and Israel. And with the military and its most repressive organ of power operating more closely than in the past, domestically as well as in foreign countries, the dangers are real.
It is unlikely that anyone will ever see a collection of this caliber and condition again in their lifetime, Nico and Nick Aaldering of Gallery Aaldering.

That is how the website Classic Car Auctions describes a classic car collection lot of 230 automobiles which were stored in a church and two dry but dusty warehouses in the Netherlands.

The online auction is set to start May 19. The auction will be handled by Classic Car Auctions. Viewing days will be held on May 27, 28, and 29, and the auction will close in three waves, on June 5, 6, and 7.

The eclectic group of cars - including a Lancia Aurelia Spider a Rover 16 Saloon 1937 and a Lancia B24 Spyder America 1955 - were collected over a period of 40 years by Dutch collector Ad Palmen, who worked as a Netherlands car dealer in the 1960s.

Palmen first car he collected was yellow Lancia B20 and grew his collections over the years, showing excellent taste and knowledge of rare and special.

Mr. Palmen loved Italian cars like Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Maserati and Ferrari. Plus, French Facel Vegas and German BMWs, Mercedes, and NSUs. The British are well represented with Jaguars, Aston Martins, and Rolls-Royces, while American classics include Chevrolets, Cadillacs, and Fords. The collection also features Tatra, Monica, Moretti, Matra, Alvis, Imperia, and Villard, Class Car Aunction says in describing the 230-car Palmen Barnfind Collection.

For the complete list of cars in this auction and pictures, click here.
Monday, Apr 17th, 2023 (7:38 am) - Score 1,704

The UKs Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has today launched a new Smart Data Council, which aims to help cut consumer bills, such as by finding ways to make it easier for consumers and businesses to find the tariffs best suited to their needs, or reduce the loyalty penalty that customers face when switching providers.

For example, new customers to a broadband ISP, mobile or home phone service frequently benefit from big discounts that are designed to attract them, which often run for the length of your first contract term. After that the price you pay typically increases, often dramatically, and customers who choose to remain loyal (post-contract) may find that they cant access the same deals as new customers.

On top of that we recently highlighted how far too many broadband ISPs in the UK  particularly larger players  still fail to clearly inform their customers of how much their package will cost post-contract (here). As a result, consumers often feel misled when it comes time to re-contract.

The new council suggests that the loyalty penalty, the difference between what loyal and new consumers pay for the same service, currently sits at 1,114 a year for households across mobile, mortgages and broadband. But it believes this situation could be improved by harnessing Smart Data.

Smart Data?

Smart Data is said to involve the secure sharing of customer data with authorised third parties to help improve services for consumers. The governments DBT suggests that a wider adoption of Smart Data will make it easier for more consumers and small businesses to switch providers of some utilities, therefore supporting families to save money.

The aim here seems to be to replicate the success of Open Banking in other sectors, which could include telecoms and energy. At present were not quite sure how all of this would work in the broadband and mobile sector. The former, with its mass of alternative networks and ISPs working across multiple networks, is also particularly complex and confusing.

This kind of approach might also open the way to so-called Personalised Pricing (i.e. when providers adopt the ability to set different prices for different customers, based on individual characteristics), which often seems to have almost as many pros as cons (here).

Kevin Hollinrake, Business and Trade Minister, said: Smart Data can be a real game changer for consumers across the UK, potentially saving people hundreds or even thousands of pounds a year. Our new Smart Data Council will build on the success of Open Banking and spearhead measures in sectors like SME finance, energy and telecoms, increasing competition and putting more money in the pockets of consumers and small firms.

The inaugural meeting of the new council will take place on Tuesday 25th April 2023 next week and the council itself involves representatives from Ofcom, Citizens Advice, Ofgem, various government departments, the Open Data Institute and many more (see below for a full list).

We should point out that, in recent years, Ofcom has implemented various changes to help tackle the current issues, such as the introduction of Social Tariffs and End-of-Contract Notifications (ECN). This system requires all broadband, mobile, phone and pay TV providers to issue such notifications to existing subscribers at the end of their term, which are designed to keep them informed about the best deals on their current provider and to boost switching.

We were also supposed to have gained access to a faster and simpler One Touch Switch (OTS) migration system for switching provider this month, which would have worked across multiple different broadband networks. But sadly the ISP industry is still nowhere near ready and that has pushed the launch back at least 6 months and possibly a fair bit longer (here).
Monday, Apr 17th, 2023 (8:29 am) - Score 4,296

Broadband and mobile giant O2 (VMO2) has today chosen Mavenir to supply its UK rollout of Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) technology. The supplier will also act as the prime integrator, providing its Open virtualised Radio Access Network (Open vRAN) solution for sites on VMO2s mobile network.

O-RAN technology seeks to standardise the design and functionality of radio access hardware and software, thus increasing the number of companies able to supply operators via vendor-neutral 4G and 5G hardware and software-defined technology (the RAN side covers infrastructure, masts and antennae). This may also help to cut costs and remove some of the necessity to depend upon the largest suppliers of such kit (e.g. Nokia and Ericsson).

Mavenirs Open vRAN solution is designed to be cloud-native, with fully containerised microservices allowing it to be deployed on any cloud. Mavenirs Open vRAN O-RAN compliant solution works on open interfaces supporting O-RAN Split 7.2x and Split 2.

The suppliers O-RAN system will consist of fully virtualised L1, L2 vRAN SW and will operate on Intel Xeon Scalable Processors, along with Intel vRAN Accelerator ACC100 and Intel 800 series Ethernet adapters. The delivery will also feature Mavenirs OpenBeam Radios including massive MIMO, 3rd party O-RAN based Radio Units (O-RU) for open Fronthaul, network monitoring and optimisation.

Jeanie York, Chief Technology Officer at VMO2, said: Through digitalising our networks, were seamlessly integrating our infrastructure to get more value from our existing assets. Extending our collaboration with Mavenir to the RAN for the first time will help us establish a future-proof Open vRAN architecture, unlocking the benefits of a multi-vendor open interface while allowing us to rapidly benefit from an end-to-end network solution.

Last year also saw VMO2 conduct their first O-RAN field deployment in part of Northamptonshire (England), although that involved kit and systems from NEC and Rakuten Symphony. At the time of writing VMO2 still hasnt set out a rollout plan for O-RAN in the UK.

All the major UK mobile network operators are currently looking at O-RAN solutions for the future and have even agreed to a joint ambition with the government, which will see 35% of the UKs mobile network traffic being carried over O-RAN by 2030 (here). But Vodafone is the only operator to have started a solid large-scale commercial build (here and here).
Sudanese are huddling in their homes for a third straight day as the army and a powerful rival force fight in the streets of the capital and other cities for control of the country
Today

Partly cloudy skies during the morning hours will become overcast in the afternoon. High 68F. Winds light and variable.

Tonight

A few clouds from time to time. Low around 45F. Winds light and variable.

Tomorrow

Mostly cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 67F. Winds light and variable.
Airbus and Air France have been cleared of involuntary manslaughter by a French court, nearly 14 years after an airliner crashed into the Atlantic en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, killing all 228 people aboard.

The verdict came after a historic public trial focused on the disappearance of AF447 in an equatorial storm on 1 June 2009.

The family members of the victims demanded justice, but Paris prosecutors admitted that formal blame could not be proven. This was Frances first-ever trial for corporate involuntary manslaughter, where the maximum fine is 225,000.

After searching for the A330s black boxes for two years using remote submarines, investigators discovered that the pilots responded clumsily to a problem with iced-up speed sensors and plummeted into a freefall without acknowledging stall alerts.

However, the trial also highlighted previous discussions between Air France and Airbus about the increasing problems with external pitot probes generating the speed readings. Both companies pleaded not guilty.

The Paris criminal court judge listed several acts of negligence by both companies but stated that they fell short of the certainty needed to establish firm liability for Frances worst air disaster.

A probable causal link isnt sufficient to characterise an offence, the judge told the packed courtroom.
Sudans military forces have appeared to gain the upper hand in their power struggle with rival paramilitary forces.

Witnesses have reported that the army has been carrying out air strikes on paramilitary bases, leading to at least 59 civilian casualties and the deaths of three UN workers.

This outbreak of violence marks the first of its kind since the two forces joined together to oust Omar Hassan al-Bashir in 2019.

The disagreement between the two forces began over the integration of the paramilitary forces into the military as part of a transition to civilian rule.

Despite a three-hour pause in fighting, agreed upon by both parties, the violence has continued with artillery and warplanes being heard throughout the night.

Many countries and organizations, such as the United States, China, Russia, and the United Nations, are appealing for an end to the violence.

Meanwhile, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has offered to mediate, and regional bloc the Intergovernmental Authority on Development is planning to send delegates to Sudan to help reconcile groups in conflict.

Possible further delays in Sudans transition to democracy threaten to cause economic breakdown and derail efforts towards holding elections.
The French parliament is planning to send two delegations to visit Taiwan this month in response to President Emmanuel Macrons controversial comments regarding China and Taiwan.

Macrons remarks on setting European policy on Taiwan and avoiding being a follower of Washingtons agenda on the Beijing-Taipei dispute have drawn criticism both domestically and internationally. Despite the backlash,

Macron has stood by his comments but clarified that European policy on Taiwan has not changed. Some critics have accused him of aligning with China, while others consider his comments insensitive.

Officials from both countries have attempted to emphasize their strong relations, with French Minister Delegate for Industry Roland Lescure and Taiwan Legislative Yuan Vice President Tsai Chi-Chang reassuring that foreign policy has not changed.

Additionally, a French National Assembly delegation, led by MP Eric Bothorel, will visit Taiwan to strengthen cooperation and trade between the two nations, with semiconductors, culture, and talent cultivation on the agenda.

Another separate delegation, led by French Senator and Chairman of the Senates Taiwan Friendship Group Alain Richard, is set to travel to Taiwan on April 24th.

Tensions have risen across the Taiwan Straits, with China conducting military drills around the Island and Macrons remarks potentially leading China to believe France would not intervene in the event of a military invasion of Taiwan.

Macron has emphasized that France supports the One China policy and the search for a peaceful resolution to the situation.
Jean-Marie Le Pen, the veteran leader of the far-right in France, suffered a mild heart attack and was taken to hospital on Saturday, a close source said.

Jean-Marie Le Pen has been hospitalised in a public institution in the Paris region. His family and friends are concerned but calm,

 the 94-year-olds advisor Lorrain de Saint Affrique said, confirming a story run by Le Point news magazine. Le Pen remains conscious,

 he added. Le Pen, father of current far-right leader Marine Le Pen, has suffered several health issues in recent years.

In February 2022, Le Pen senior was hospitalised after suffering a minor stroke. Jean-Marie Le Pen ran for president five times, sending shockwaves through France in 2002 when he made it to the second round of the election, which was won by Jacques Chirac.

The former paratrooper was the co-founder of the National Front  later renamed the National Rally  and spent decades whipping up anger over immigration.

While his political fortunes fluctuated sharply over more than half a century  his unabashed racism leading to him being dubbed the Devil of the Republic  he once boasted that the rise of the far-right around Europe showed his ideas had gone mainstream.

His daughter Marine Le Pen later tried to clean up the image of the party and kicked him out in 2015 over remarks he made that the Holocaust was merely a detail of history.

The party has since made significant inroads in both European and French politics. Marine Le Pen got a far-right record of 23.15 percent of the vote in 2022 presidential elections, as the party won 89 seats in parliament, becoming the countrys main opposition party.

Born in the port of La Trinite sur Mer in the western Brittany region on June 20, 1928, Le Pen served in colonial wars in Algeria and Vietnam.

He became Frances youngest MP at 27 when he was elected to parliament in 1956. Even in his later years, as he made fewer public appearances, he did not express regret for any of his controversial remarks or viewpoints.

I was a committed fighter, loyal to my cause. An unfortunate cause, but I do not regret it, he told AFP in April. (AFP)
04/17/2023



Dr. Andy Nevala conducts one of the many jazz ensembles he's established on campus.

by Brett Buckner

When Dr. Andy Nevala arrived on campus in 2011, he was surprised to learn there weren't any educational jazz festivals in the state. So, the JSU director of jazz studies decided to create one himself - establishing the only event of its kind in the state.

Modeled after a large, three-day festival Nevala helped direct at the University of Northern Colorado before moving to Alabama, the JSU Jazz Festival was born. It features middle school, high school and college ensembles, as well as professional musicians.

Our jazz festival was founded to provide a positive educational experience for the students and the directors, said Dr. Nevala. They perform in front of exceptional jazz educators, who then give them immediate feedback on how they can improve their performance. There are also clinics throughout the day the students can attend to get them fired up about playing jazz.

Now in its 12th year, the festival will be held on April 20-21 in Mason Hall, Room 351. All events are free and open to the public.

April 20

7:30 p.m. - JSU Jazz Alumni Concert

April 21

8 a.m. - JSU Jazz Ensemble IV

8:30 a.m. - The Donaho School

9 a.m. - JSU Jazz Ensemble III

9:30 a.m. - Guntersville High School

10 a.m. - Gadsden Middle School

10:30 a.m. - Jacksonville High School

11 a.m. - RF Bumpus Middle School

11:30 a.m. - Gadsden City High School

12 p.m. - JSU Latin Ensemble Rhythm Section Clinic, Sax Clinic, Brass Clinic

1:30 p.m. - Thompson High School #2

2 p.m. - Ringgold High School #2

2:30 p.m. - JSU Jazz Ensemble I

3 p.m. - Springville High School

3:30 p.m. - Thompson High School #1

4 p.m. - Ringgold High School #1

4:30 p.m. - JSU Jazz Ensemble I

5 p.m. - Meet the Artist, Mace Hibbard Quartet

7:30 p.m. - Mace Hibbard Quartet

Much like the festival it promotes, JSUs jazz program has grown steadily, now consisting of four large jazz ensembles, eight combos, a drum set ensemble, a Latin ensemble, the contemporary combo and the new vocal jazz ensemble.

"There isnt another jazz program in the Southeast, or the majority of the country for that matter, that is that size with a student population of under 10,000, Nevall said. We have even added a jazz performance degree at JSU. We are training students to become professional musicians and educators, and for them to be employable in the industry.
Reddit Email 56 Shares

By Nancy Bird, UCL | 

Pre-colonial African history is alive with tales of civilisations rising and falling and of different cultures intermingling across the continent. We have now shed more light on some of these societies using the science of genetics.

In a study published in Science Advances, my co-authors and I used DNA information from people from the present-day continent to shed light on important civilisations that existed before colonialism. Genetic information from cheek swabs was extracted by machines. Once the sequence of letters in the DNA code had been read, or sequenced, we could use computers to compare genetic differences and similarities between the populations in the study.

One striking result concerned two ethnic groups in the north of present-day Cameroon, in west-central Africa, the Kanuri and Kotoko peoples. We found that these two groups were descended from three ancestral populations.

These ancestral groups most resembled people now living in coastal regions of west Africa as well as in parts of east Africa such as Ethiopia and populations living today in north Africa and the Levant. The populations intermixed  had children together  roughly 600 years ago. But what caused them to migrate thousands of kilometres across a desert into northern Cameroon?

We think the answer is the Kanem-Bornu empire, a civilisation that existed for over 1,000 years  beginning around 700 AD. At its height, the empire spanned what is now northern Cameroon, northern Nigeria, Chad, Niger and southern Libya. It operated vast trade networks across the Sahara and attracted populations from every direction.

This example highlights how our genomes hold information about major events of the past. Merchants travelling along trade routes or the formation of empires from smaller political units can leave footprints in our DNA. Previous work shows that the Roman empire, the Mongol empire, and Silk Road trade probably all left lasting legacies in the genomes of modern-day people across Eurasia.

Hidden in the genome

We analysed 1,300 newly collected genomes of people from across Africa. They came from 150 ethnic groups within five countries. We collaborated with anthropologists, archaeologists and linguists from Africa and elsewhere. They helped us understand the historical context of these events.



Scott MacEachern , Author provided



African genome data is underrepresented compared with that from other world regions. This means that lots of genetic diversity  or variety  in the DNA of populations is probably being missed by scientists.

Studying genetic diversity has many potential uses  such as understanding risks to health and developing new treatments for disease. Our group was concerned with genetic diversity as a window into the past.

Dating events

We modelled a persons genome as a mixture of segments of DNA inherited from their ancestors. If a person had DNA segments closely matching two groups of people  for example, Europeans and west Africans  it suggested that this person descended from mixing between those two groups.

Present-day human groups that were formed from a recent mixture of Europeans and west Africans should have long sections of DNA from both populations. Those ancestral DNA segments get shorter as the genetic material of their descendants is shuffled with each new generation.

This provides a way of dating when mixture events took place. The longer the DNA segments matching, for example, west Africans or Europeans, the more recent the mixture event was.

Peace treaty

Another historical event we found evidence for was the Arab expansion in Africa. This began in the seventh century, when separate Arab armies travelling south along the Levantine coast and north from Medina in todays Saudi Arabia crossed the Sinai desert and conquered Egypt.

In Sudan at this time, the Kingdom of Makuria ruled along the Nile river. Makuria signed a peace treaty with the Egyptian Arabs in the middle of the seventh century that lasted almost 700 years.

The majority of mixing between these two ancestral groups, one closely related to Arabs and the other to Sudanese, dates to after the peace treaty began breaking down. This in turn coincided with the decline and eventual collapse of Makuria itself, which would have allowed Arab groups to continue down the Nile into Sudan.



Aksum. Via Unsplash.

But we also found evidence of earlier migrations into Africa from the Arabian peninsula, which occurred by sea. This intermixing coincided in time with the Kingdom of Aksum, located in northeast Africa and southern Arabia, during the first millennium AD.

Aksum was once considered one of the worlds four great powers, alongside contemporary empires in China, Persia and Rome.

The expansion of Bantu-speaking peoples

Genetic studies have also found evidence of a continent-wide migration known as the expansion of Bantu-speaking peoples. Bantu is a language group, now spoken by around one-quarter of Africans.

There has been debate about whether the Bantu languages spread largely as a transmission of culture, or whether large-scale migration was involved. The latest research shows that the latter explanation is the likeliest. This migration started in a small area of western Cameroon roughly 4,000 years ago, before rapidly spreading south and east. It covered more than 4,000 kilometres in less than 2,000 years.

Bantu speakers mixed with local groups, changing patterns of genetic diversity in Africa forever. We showed that migrations not only occurred to the south and east of Cameroon, but also to the west. Why so much movement took place at this time is unknown, but climate change may have played a role.

Its vital that scientists analyse more DNA from genomes of African people. As we do so, it will undoubtedly reveal an intricate picture of the continents rich past.

Nancy Bird, Postdoctoral research associate, UCL

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Reddit Email 80 Shares

By Justin Elliott, Joshua Kaplan and Alex Mierjeski

The transaction is the first known instance of money flowing from Crow to the Supreme Court justice. The sale netted the GOP megadonor two vacant lots and the house where Thomas mother was living.

( ProPublica )  In 2014, one of Texas billionaire Harlan Crows companies purchased a string of properties on a quiet residential street in Savannah, Georgia. It wasnt a marquee acquisition for the real estate magnate, just an old single-story home and two vacant lots down the road. What made it noteworthy were the people on the other side of the deal: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his relatives.

The transaction marks the first known instance of money flowing from the Republican megadonor to the Supreme Court justice. The Crow company bought the properties for $133,363 from three co-owners  Thomas, his mother and the family of Thomas late brother, according to a state tax document and a deed dated Oct. 15, 2014, filed at the Chatham County courthouse.

The purchase put Crow in an unusual position: He now owned the house where the justices elderly mother was living. Soon after the sale was completed, contractors began work on tens of thousands of dollars of improvements on the two-bedroom, one-bathroom home, which looks out onto a patch of orange trees. The renovations included a carport, a repaired roof and a new fence and gates, according to city permit records and blueprints.

A federal disclosure law passed after Watergate requires justices and other officials to disclose the details of most real estate sales over $1,000. Thomas never disclosed his sale of the Savannah properties. That appears to be a violation of the law, four ethics law experts told ProPublica.

The disclosure form Thomas filed for that year also had a space to report the identity of the buyer in any private transaction, such as a real estate deal. That space is blank.

He needed to report his interest in the sale, said Virginia Canter, a former government ethics lawyer now at the watchdog group CREW. Given the role Crow has played in subsidizing the lifestyle of Thomas and his wife, you have to wonder if this was an effort to put cash in their pockets.

Thomas did not respond to detailed questions for this story.

In a statement, Crow said he purchased Thomas mothers house, where Thomas spent part of his childhood, to preserve it for posterity. My intention is to one day create a public museum at the Thomas home dedicated to telling the story of our nations second black Supreme Court Justice, he said. I approached the Thomas family about my desire to maintain this historic site so future generations could learn about the inspiring life of one of our greatest Americans.

Crows statement did not directly address why he also bought two vacant lots from Thomas down the street. But he wrote that the other lots were later sold to a vetted builder who was committed to improving the quality of the neighborhood and preserving its historical integrity.

ProPublica also asked Crow about the additions on Thomas mothers house, like the new carport. Improvements were also made to the Thomas property to preserve its long-term viability and accessibility to the public, Crow said.

Ethics law experts said Crows intentions had no bearing on Thomas legal obligation to disclose the sale.

The justices failure to report the transaction suggests Thomas was hiding a financial relationship with Crow, said Kathleen Clark, a legal ethics expert at Washington University in St. Louis who reviewed years of Thomas disclosure filings.

There are a handful of carve-outs in the disclosure law. For example, if someone sells property used solely as a personal residence of the reporting individual or the individuals spouse, they dont need to report it. Experts said the exemptions clearly did not apply to Thomas sale.

The revelation of a direct financial transaction between Thomas and Crow casts their relationship in a new light. ProPublica reported last week that Thomas has accepted luxury travel from Crow virtually every year for decades, including private jet flights, international cruises on the businessmans superyacht and regular stays at his private resort in the Adirondacks. Crow has long been influential in conservative politics and has spent millions on efforts to shape the law and the judiciary. The story prompted outcry and calls for investigations from Democratic lawmakers.

In response to that reporting, both Thomas and Crow released statements downplaying the significance of the gifts. Thomas also maintained that he wasnt required to disclose the trips.

Harlan and Kathy Crow are among our dearest friends, Thomas wrote. As friends do, we have joined them on a number of family trips. Crow told ProPublica that his gifts to Thomas were no different from the hospitality we have extended to our many other dear friends.

Its unclear if Crow paid fair market value for the Thomas properties. Crow also bought several other properties on the street and paid significantly less than his deal with the Thomases. One example: In 2013, he bought a pair of properties on the same block  a vacant lot and a small house  for a total of $40,000.

In his statement, Crow said his company purchased the properties at market rate based on many factors including the size, quality, and livability of the dwellings.

He did not respond to requests to provide documentation or details of how he arrived at the price.

Thomas was born in the coastal hamlet of Pin Point, outside Savannah. He later moved to the city, where he spent part of his childhood in his grandfathers home on East 32nd Street.

It had hardwood floors, handsome furniture, and an indoor bathroom, and we knew better than to touch anything, Thomas wrote of the house in his memoir, My Grandfathers Son.

He inherited his stake in that house and two other properties on the block following the death of his grandfather in 1983, according to records on file at the Chatham County courthouse. He shared ownership with his brother and his mother, Leola Williams. In the late 1980s, when Thomas was an official in the George H.W. Bush administration, he listed the addresses of the three properties in a disclosure filing. He reported that he had a one-third interest in them.

Thomas was confirmed to the Supreme Court in 1991. By the early 2000s, he had stopped listing specific addresses of property he owned in his disclosures. But he continued to report holding a one-third interest in what he described as rental property at ## 1, 2, & 3 in Savannah. He valued his stake in the properties at $15,000 or less.

Two of the houses were torn down around 2010, according to property records and a footnote in Thomas annual disclosure archived by Free Law Project.

In 2014, the Thomas family sold the vacant lots and the remaining East 32nd Street house to one of Crows companies. The justice signed the paperwork personally. His signature was notarized by an administrator at the Supreme Court, Perry Thompson, who did not respond to a request for comment. (The deed was signed on the 23rd anniversary of Thomas Oct. 15 confirmation to the Supreme Court. Crow has a Senate roll call sheet from the confirmation vote in his private library.)

Thomas financial disclosure for that year is detailed, listing everything from a stained glass medallion he received from Yale to a life insurance policy. But he failed to report his sale to Crow.

Crow purchased the properties through a recently formed Texas company called Savannah Historic Developments LLC. The company shares an address in Dallas with Crow Holdings, the centerpiece of his real estate empire. Its formation documents were signed by Crow Holdings general counsel. Business records filed with the Texas secretary of state say Savannah Historic Developments is managed by a Delaware LLC, HRC Family Branch GP, an umbrella company that also covers other Crow assets like his private jet. The Delaware companys CEO is Harlan Crow.

A Crow Holdings company soon began paying the roughly $1,500 in annual property taxes on Thomas mothers house, according to county tax records. The taxes had previously been paid by Clarence and Ginni Thomas.

Crow still owns Thomas mothers home, which the now-94-year-old continued to live in through at least 2020, according to public records and social media. Two neighbors told ProPublica she still lives there. Crow did not respond to questions about whether he has charged her rent. Soon after Crow purchased the house, an award-winning local architecture firm received permits to begin $36,000 of improvements.

Crows purchases seem to have played a role in transforming the block. The billionaire eventually sold most of the other properties he bought to new owners who built upscale modern homes, including the two vacant lots he purchased from Thomas.

Crow also bought the house immediately next door to Thomas mother, which was owned by somebody else and had been known for parties and noise, according to property records and W. John Mitchell, former president of a nearby neighborhood association. Soon the house was torn down. It was an eyesore, Mitchell said. One day miraculously all of them were put out of there and they scraped it off the earth.

The surrounding properties had fallen into disrepair and needed to be demolished for health and safety reasons, Crow said in his statement. He added that his company built one new house on the block and made it available to a local police officer.

Today, the block is composed of a dwindling number of longtime elderly homeowners and a growing population of young newcomers. The vacant lots that the Thomas family once owned have been replaced by pristine two-story homes. An artisanal coffee shop and a Mediterranean bistro are within walking distance. Down the street, a multicolored pride flag blows in the wind.

Via ProPublica
Reddit Email 44 Shares

( Tomdispatch.com )- Why is the Pentagon budget so high?

On March 13th, the Biden administration unveiled its $842 billion military budget request for 2024, the largest ask (in todays dollars) since the peaks of the Afghan and Iraq wars. And mind you, thats before the hawks in Congress get their hands on it. Last year, they added $35 billion to the administrations request and, this year, their add-on is likely to prove at least that big. Given that American forces arent even officially at war right now (if you dont count those engaged in counter-terror operations in Africa and elsewhere), what explains so much military spending?

The answer offered by senior Pentagon officials and echoed in mainstream Washington media coverage is that this country faces a growing risk of war with Russia or China (or both of them at once) and that the lesson of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine is the need to stockpile vast numbers of bombs, missiles, and other munitions. Pentagon, Juggling Russia, China, Seeks Billions for Long-Range Weapons was a typical headline in the Washington Post about that 2024 budget request. Military leaders are overwhelmingly focused on a potential future conflict with either or both of those powers and are convinced that a lot more money should be spent now to prepare for such an outcome, which means buying extra tanks, ships, and planes, along with all the bombs, shells, and missiles they carry.

Even a quick look at the briefing materials for that future budget confirms such an assessment. Many of the billions of dollars being tacked onto it are intended to procure exactly the items you would expect to use in a war with those powers in the late 2020s or 2030s. Aside from personnel costs and operating expenses, the largest share of the proposed budget  $170 billion or 20%  is allocated for purchasing just such hardware.

But while preparations for such wars in the near future drive a significant part of that increase, a surprising share of it  $145 billion, or 17%  is aimed at possible conflicts in the 2040s and 2050s. Believing that our strategic competition with China is likely to persist for decades to come and that a conflict with that country could erupt at any moment along that future trajectory, the Pentagon is requesting its largest allocation ever for whats called research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E), or the process of converting the latest scientific discoveries into weapons of war.

To put this in perspective, that $145 billion is more than any other country except what China spends on defense in toto and constitutes approximately half of Chinas full military budget. So whats that staggering sum of money, itself only a modest part of this countrys military budget, intended for?

Some of it, especially the T&E part, is designed for futuristic upgrades of existing weapons systems. For example, the B-52 bomber  at 70, the oldest model still flying  is being retrofitted to carry experimental AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapons (ARRWs), or advanced hypersonic missiles. But much of that sum, especially the R&D part, is aimed at developing weapons that may not see battlefield use until decades in the future, if ever. Spending on such systems is still only in the millions or low billions, but it will certainly balloon into the tens or hundreds of billions of dollars in the years to come, ensuring that future Pentagon budgets soar into the trillions.

Weaponizing Emerging Technologies

Driving the Pentagons increased focus on future weapons development is the assumption that China and Russia will remain major adversaries for decades to come and that future wars with those, or other major powers, could largely be decided by the mastery of artificial intelligence (AI) along with other emerging technologies. Those would include robotics, hypersonics (projectiles that fly at more than five times the speed of sound), and quantum computing. As the Pentagons 2024 budget request put it:

An increasing array of fast-evolving technologies and innovative applications of existing technology complicates the [Defense] Departments ability to maintain an edge in combat credibility and deterrence. Newer capabilities such as counterspace weapons, hypersonic weapons, new and emerging payload and delivery systems all create a heightened potential for shifts in perceived deterrence of U.S. military power.

To ensure that this country can overpower Chinese and/or Russian forces in any conceivable encounter, top officials insist, Washington must focus on investing in a major way in the advanced technologies likely to dominate future battlefields. Accordingly, $17.8 billion of that $145 billion RDT&E budget will be directly dedicated to military-related science and technology development. Those funds, the Pentagon explains, will be used to accelerate the weaponization of artificial intelligence and speed the growth of other emerging technologies, especially robotics, autonomous (or unmanned) weapons systems, and hypersonic missiles.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is of particular interest to the Department of Defense, given its wide range of potential military uses, including target identification and assessment, enhanced weapons navigation and targeting systems, and computer-assisted battlefield decision-making. Although theres no total figure for AI research and development offered in the unclassified version of the 2024 budget, certain individual programs are highlighted. One of these is the Joint All-Domain Command-and-Control system (JADC2), an AI-enabled matrix of sensors, computers, and communications devices intended to collect and process data on enemy movements and convey that information at lightning speed to combat forces in every domain (air, sea, ground, and space). At $1.3 billion, JADC2 may not be the biggest number in the budget, said Under Secretary of Defense Michael J. McCord, but it constitutes a very central organizing concept of how were trying to link information together.

AI is also essential for the development of  and yes, nothing seems to lack an acronym in Pentagon documents  autonomous weapons systems, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), and unmanned surface vessels (USVs). Such devices  far more bluntly called killer robots by their critics  typically combine a mobile platform of some sort (plane, tank, or ship), an onboard kill mechanism (gun or missile), and an ability to identify and attack targets with minimal human oversight. Believing that the future battlefield will become ever more lethal, Pentagon officials aim to replace as many of its crewed platforms as possible  think ships, planes, and artillery  with advanced UAVs, UGVs, and USVs.

The 2024 budget request doesnt include a total dollar figure for research on future unmanned weapons systems but count on one thing: it will come to many billions of dollars. The budget does indicate that $2.2 billion is being sought for the early procurement of MQ-4 and MQ-25 unmanned aerial vehicles, and such figures are guaranteed to swell as experimental robotic systems move into large-scale production. Another $200 million was requested to design a large USV, essentially a crewless frigate or destroyer. Once prototype vessels of this type have been built and tested, the Navy plans to order dozens, perhaps hundreds of them, instantly creating a $100 billion-plus market for a naval force lacking the usual human crew.

Another area receiving extensive Pentagon attention is hypersonics, because such projectiles will fly so fast and maneuver with such skill (while skimming atop the atmospheres outer layer) that they should be essentially impossible to track and intercept. Both China and Russia already possess rudimentary weapons of this type, with Russia reportedly firing some of its hypersonic Kinzhal missiles into Ukraine in recent months.

As the Pentagon put it in its budget request:

Hypersonic systems expand our ability to hold distant targets at risk, dramatically shorten the timeline to strike a target, and their maneuverability increases survivability and unpredictability. The Department will accelerate fielding of transformational capability enabled by air, land, and sea-based hypersonic strike weapon systems to overcome the challenges to our future battlefield domain dominance.

Another 14% of the RDT&E request, or about $2.5 billion, is earmarked for research in even more experimental fields like quantum computing and advanced microelectronics. The Departments science and technology investments are underpinned by early-stage basic research, the Pentagon explains. Payoff for this research may not be evident for years, but it is critical to ensuring our enduring technological advantage in the decades ahead. As in the case of AI, autonomous weapons, and hypersonics, these relatively small amounts (by Pentagon standards) will balloon in the years ahead as initial discoveries are applied to functioning weapons systems and procured in ever larger quantities.

Harnessing American Tech Talent for Long-Term War Planning

Theres one consequence of such an investment in RDT&E thats almost too obvious to mention. If you think the Pentagon budget is sky high now, just wait! Future spending, as todays laboratory concepts are converted into actual combat systems, is likely to stagger the imagination. And thats just one of the significant consequences of such a path to permanent military superiority. To ensure that the United States continues to dominate research in the emerging technologies most applicable to future weaponry, the Pentagon will seek to harness an ever-increasing share of this countrys scientific and technological resources for military-oriented work.

This, in turn, will mean capturing an ever-larger part of the governments net R&D budget at the expense of other national priorities. In 2022, for example, federal funding for non-military R&D (including the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) represented only about 33% of R&D spending. If the 2024 military budget goes through at the level requested (or higher), that figure for non-military spending will drop to 31%, a trend only likely to strengthen in the future as more and more resources are devoted to war preparation, leaving an ever-diminishing share of taxpayer funding for research on vital concerns like cancer prevention and treatment, pandemic response, and climate change adaptation.

No less worrisome, ever more scientists and engineers will undoubtedly be encouraged  not to say, prodded  to devote their careers to military research rather than work in more peaceable fields. While many scientists struggle for grants to support their work, the Department of Defense (DoD) offers bundles of money to those who choose to study military-related topics. Typically enough, the 2024 request includes $347 million for what the military is now calling the University Research Initiative, most of which will be used to finance the formation of teams of researchers across disciplines and across geographic boundaries to focus on DoD-specific hard science problems. Another $200 million is being allocated to the Joint University Microelectronics Program by the Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency, the Pentagons R&D outfit, while $100 million is being provided to the University Consortium for Applied Hypersonics by the Pentagons Joint Hypersonics Transition Office. With so much money flowing into such programs and the share devoted to other fields of study shrinking, its hardly surprising that scientists and graduate students at major universities are being drawn into the Pentagons research networks.

In fact, its also seeking to expand its talent pool by providing additional funding to historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). In January, for example, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced that Howard University in Washington, D.C., had been chosen as the first such school to serve as a university-affiliated research center by the Department of Defense, in which capacity it will soon be involved in work on autonomous weapons systems. This will, of course, provide badly needed money to scientists and engineers at that school and other HBCUs that may have been starved of such funding in the past. But it also begs the question: Why shouldnt Howard receive similar amounts to study problems of greater relevance to the Black community like sickle-cell anemia and endemic poverty?

Endless Arms Races vs. Genuine Security

In devoting all those billions of dollars to research on next-generation weaponry, the Pentagons rationale is straightforward: spend now to ensure U.S. military superiority in the 2040s, 2050s, and beyond. But however persuasive this conceit may seem  even with all those mammoth sums of money pouring in  things rarely work out so neatly. Any major investment of this sort by one country is bound to trigger countermoves from its rivals, ensuring that any early technological advantage will soon be overcome in some fashion, even as the planet is turned into ever more of an armed camp.

The Pentagons development of precision-guided munitions, for example, provided American forces with an enormous military advantage during the Persian Gulf Wars of 1991 and 2003, but also prompted China, Iran, Russia, and other countries to begin developing similar weaponry, quickly diminishing that advantage. Likewise, China and Russia were the first to deploy combat-ready hypersonic weapons, but in response, the U.S. will be fielding a far greater array of them in a few years time.

Chinese and Russian advances in deploying hypersonics also led the U.S. to invest in developing  yes, you guessed it!  anti-hypersonic hypersonics, launching yet one more arms race on planet Earth, while boosting the Pentagon budget by additional billions. Given all this, Im sure you wont be surprised to learn that the 2024 Pentagon budget request includes $209 million for the development of a hypersonic interceptor, only the first installment in costly development and procurement programs in the years to come in Washington, Beijing, and Moscow.

If you want to bet on anything, then heres a surefire way to go: the Pentagons drive to achieve dominance in the development and deployment of advanced weaponry will lead not to supremacy but to another endless cycle of high-tech arms races that, in turn, will consume an ever-increasing share of this countrys wealth and scientific talent, while providing negligible improvements in national security. Rather than spending so much on future weaponry, we should all be thinking about enhanced arms control measures, global climate cooperation, and greater investment in non-military R&D.

If only

Copyright 2023 Michael T. Klare

Via Tomdispatch.com )
Kelowna, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 17, 2023) - F3 Uranium Corp (TSV: FUU) (OTCQB: FUUFF) ("F3" or "the Company") is pleased to announce initial assay results from 12 drill holes, including drill hole PLN23-060 at Patterson Lake North (PLN) where the strongest radioactivity to date was previously reported (see Press Release March 27, 2023).

The analysis for PLN23-060 returned one continuous 14.5m interval averaging 9.4% U 3 O 8 including an ultra-high-grade 5.0m interval averaging 26.7% U 3 O 8 , which further includes a 2.5m interval which assayed 45.6% U 3 O 8 .

Assay results from a total of 12 drill holes from the Winter 2023 drill program are disclosed below in Table 1, including drill holes PLN23-042 through PLN23-052.

Raymond Ashley, President, commented:

"This first release of assays from the Winter 2023 program at PLN adds confidence to the previously released scintillometer results, and we are pleased to report on 12 drill holes, 8 of which contain high grade uranium mineralization. The JR Zone has now been defined over a total strike length of 105m and remains open particularly along strike to the south and at depth, and up-dip towards the Athabasca unconformity. PLN23-060, cored 60m grid south from the discovery hole intercepted truly impressive grades within the A1 main shear zone, with a peak sample grade of 65.2 % U 3 O 8 over 0.5m at a downhole depth of 244.5m."

Drilling Highlights:

PLN23-060 (line 060S): mineralized intervals:

14.5m @ 9.4% U 3 O 8 (238.5m to 253.0m), including:

(238.5m to 253.0m), including: 5.0m @ 26.7% U 3 O 8 (243.0m to 248.0m), further including

(243.0m to 248.0m), further including 2.5m @ 45.6% U 3 O 8 (244.0m to 246.5m)

Main Intercepts:

PLN23-044 (line 015S): mineralized intervals:

1.0m @ 2.27% U 3 O 8 (227.5m to 228.5m), and:

(227.5m to 228.5m), and: 2.5m @ 0.276% U 3 O 8 (233.5m to 236.0m)

PLN23-046 (line 015S): mineralized intervals:

4.0m @ 2.6 % U 3 O 8 (261.0m to 265.0m), including:

(261.0m to 265.0m), including: 1.5m @ 6.5 % U 3 O 8 (263.0m to 264.5m)

PLN23-047 (line 00N): mineralized intervals:

10.0m @ 0.8% U 3 O 8 (199.0m to 209.0m), including:

O (199.0m to 209.0m), including: 1.0m @ 3.55% U 3 O 8 (206.0m to 207.0m)

PLN23-048 (line 030S): mineralized intervals:

13.5m @ 5.3% U 3 O 8 (247.0m to 260.5m), including:

(247.0m to 260.5m), including: 4.0m @ 17.3% U 3 O 8 (249.0m to 253.0m)

PLN23-049 (line 015N): mineralized intervals:

7.0m @ 0.62 % U 3 O 8 (245.5m to 252.5m), including:

U O (245.5m to 252.5m), including: 2.0m @ 1.24% U 3 O 8 (247.0m to 249.0m)

PLN23-050 (line 045S): mineralized intervals:

15.5m @ 2.1% U 3 O 8 (249.5m to 265.0m), including:

(249.5m to 265.0m), including: 4.0m @ 7.2% U 3 O 8 (252.0m to 256.0m)

PLN23-051 (line 00N): mineralized intervals:

0.5m @ 0.054% U 3 O 8 (209.0m to 209.5m)

PLN23-052 (line 060S): mineralized intervals:

6.5m @ 3.2% U 3 O 8 (249.0m to 255.5m), including:

(249.0m to 255.5m), including: 1.5m @ 12.7% U 3 O 8 (253.0m to 254.5m)

Table 1: Assay Results

Collar Information Assay Results Hole ID Grid Line Easting Northing Elevation Az Dip From (m) To (m) Interval (m) U3O8 weight % PLN23-042 015N 587734.0 6410786.2 546.0 51.6 -75.6 221.50 223.00 1.50 0.228 PLN23-043 00N 587657.4 6410712.2 544.8 52.3 -65.3 265.50 267.00 1.50 0.091 PLN23-044 015S 587724.9 6410743.2 545.4 53.3 -53.8 227.50 228.50 1.00 2.27 233.50 236.00 2.50 0.276 PLN23-045 015N 587674.4 6410742.9 545.5 53.3 -53.8 no mineralization > 0.05% U 3 O 8 PLN23-046 015S 587667.3 6410699.3 544.8 53.7 -56.9 261.00 263.00 2.00 0.286 263.00 264.50 1.50 6.5 264.50 265.00 0.50 0.075 PLN23-047 00N 587771.8 6410794.1 545.4 51.6 -75.6 199.00 206.00 7.00 0.259 206.00 207.00 1.00 3.55 207.00 209.00 2.00 0.79 PLN23-048 030S 587695.2 6410701.5 545.1 54.5 -57.8 247.00 249.00 2.00 0.106 249.00 253.00 4.00 17.3 253.00 260.50 7.50 0.24 PLN23-049 015N 587675.3 6410743.4 545.4 56.3 -55.5 245.50 247.00 1.50 0.220 247.00 249.00 2.00 1.24 249.00 252.50 3.50 0.44 PLN23-050 045S 587703.9 6410690.8 545.1 53.7 -59.2 249.50 252.00 2.50 0.188 252.00 256.00 4.00 7.2 incl. 255.00 255.50 0.50 20.1 256.00 265.00 9.00 0.278 PLN23-051 00N 587773.5 6410795.4 545.6 54.1 -74.1 209.00 209.50 0.50 0.054 PLN23-052 060S 587715.4 6410680.8 545.1 54.0 -61.4 245.50 246.50 1.00 0.162 249.00 253.00 4.00 0.262 253.00 254.50 1.50 12.7 incl. 254.00 254.50 0.50 22.2 254.50 255.50 1.00 0.436 265.50 266.00 0.50 0.077 PLN23-060 060S 587728.7 6410689.6 545.0 54.8 -62.2 231.50 233.00 1.50 0.061 238.50 243.00 4.50 0.394 243.00 248.00 5.00 26.7 incl. 244.00 247.50 3.50 37.1 and 244.00 245.00 1.00 57.6 248.00 253.00 5.00 0.27

Assay composite parameters:

1: Minimum Thickness of 0.5 m

2: Assay Grade Cut-Off: 0.05% U 3 O 8 (weight %)

3. Maximum Internal Dilution: 2.0 m

Composited weight % U 3 O 8 mineralized intervals are summarized in Table 1. Samples from the drill core are split in half sections on site. Where possible, samples are standardized at 0.5m down-hole intervals. One-half of the split sample is sent to SRC Geoanalytical Laboratories (an SCC ISO/IEC 17025: 2005 Accredited Facility) in Saskatoon, SK while the other half remains on site for reference. Analysis includes a 63 element suite including boron by ICP-OES, uranium by ICP-MS and gold analysis by ICP-OES and/or AAS. All depth measurements reported are down-hole and true thickness are yet to be determined but the Company estimates true thickness of the reported intervals in this news release to be close to reported interval widths. The Company considers uranium mineralization with assay results of greater than 1.0 weight % U 3 O 8 as "high grade" and results greater than 20.0 weight % U 3 O 8 as "ultra-high grade".

About Patterson Lake North:

The Company's large 39,946-hectare 100% owned Patterson Lake North property (PLN) is located just within the south-western edge of the Athabasca Basin in proximity to Fission Uranium's Triple R and NexGen Energy's Arrow high-grade uranium deposits, an area which is poised to become the next major area of development for new uranium operations in northern Saskatchewan. PLN is accessed by Provincial Highway 955, which transects the property, and the new JR Zone uranium discovery is located 23km northwest of Fission Uranium's Triple R deposit.

Qualified Person:

The technical information in this news release has been prepare in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 and approved on behalf of the company by Raymond Ashley, P.Geo., President & COO of F3 Uranium Corp, a Qualified Person. Mr. Ashley has verified the data disclosed.

About F3 Uranium Corp.:

F3 Uranium is a uranium project generator and exploration company, focusing on projects in the Athabasca Basin, home to some of the world's largest high grade uranium discovery. F3 Uranium currently has 16 projects in the Athabasca Basin. Several of F3's projects are near large uranium discoveries including Triple R, Arrow, and Hurricane.

Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements that are not historical facts, including without limitation, statements regarding future estimates, plans, programs, forecasts, projections, objectives, assumptions, expectations or beliefs of future performance, including statements regarding the suitability of the Properties for mining exploration, future payments, issuance of shares and work commitment funds, entry into of a definitive option agreement respecting the Properties, are "forward-looking statements." These forward-looking statements reflect the expectations or beliefs of the management of the Company based on information currently available to it. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those detailed from time to time in filings made by the Company with securities regulatory authorities, which may cause actual outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws.

The TSX Venture Exchange and the Canadian Securities Exchange have not reviewed, approved, or disapproved the contents of this press release, and do not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

F3 Uranium Corp.

750-1620 Dickson Avenue

Kelowna, BC V1Y9Y2

Contact Information

Investor Relations

Telephone: 778 484 8030

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"Dev Randhawa"

Dev Randhawa, CEO

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7
VANCOUVER, BC, April 17, 2023 /CNW/ - West Red Lake Gold Mines Ltd. ("West Red Lake" or "WRLG") (TSXV: WRLG) (OTC: WRLGF) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a binding letter agreement with Pure Gold Mining Inc. ("Pure Gold") and Sprott Resource Lending Corp. ("Sprott") to acquire the Madsen Gold mine and associated land package (the "Madsen Mine" or "Madsen") through the acquisition of all of the issued and outstanding shares of Pure Gold (the "Acquisition"), subject to approval of the British Columbia Supreme Court in Pure Gold's ongoing proceedings pursuant to the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act (the "CCAA Proceedings"). WRLG has agreed to pay $6.5 million in cash, issue 28,460,000 common shares and grant a 1.0% secured Net Smelter Royalty ("NSR") on the Madsen Mine as consideration for the Acquisition, as well as make up to US$10.0 million in deferred consideration payments. The share and NSR consideration is expected to accrue to Sprott as a fund managed by Sprott is the senior secured lender to Pure Gold. In conjunction with the Acquisition, WRLG has entered into an engagement letter with Canaccord Genuity in respect of a "bought-deal" private placement of subscription receipts for gross proceeds of $20,000,050 and an underwriter's option of $5,000,100. Following the transaction, WRLG will become a leading, debt-free, and well-capitalized explorer and developer of high-grade gold in the historic Red Lake gold camp.

Madsen Mine Highlights

As a flagship asset, the Madsen Mine commanded a peak market capitalization of > $1.15 billion in 2021

Madsen is a past-producing mine that has benefited from > $350M historical investment

Brownfields site with permits to restart production, existing infrastructure including a 800+ tonne per day mill, double ramp access, significant underground mine development, 1,275 metre shaft, tailings management facility, water treatment facility, all-season access and nearby workforce

Historical Indicated Mineral Resources* of approximately 1.7 million oz Au @ 7.4 g/t and Historical Inferred Mineral Resources* of approximately 0.4 million oz Au @ 6.3 g/t . (See Table 1 below for information on the date and source of the historical estimates.)

Located in Red Lake , one of the world's most prolific mining districts with >30Moz of gold produced to date. Madsen is strategically surrounded by major producers Evolution Mining (ASX:EVN), Kinross Gold (TSX:K) and Barrick Gold (TSX:ABX)

Opportunities to expand existing Mineral Resource inventory with multiple untested near-mine exploration target areas

Significant exploration potential along the regional structures controlling mineralization

Benefits to WRLG Shareholders

Post transaction WRLG emerges debt-free and well capitalized.

$59.4M post money valuation.

$19.9M in treasury

Robust mineral inventory with historical resource of ~1.7M oz Au Indicated* and ~0.4M oz Au Inferred* at Madsen Mine, and a current mineral resource of 0.8M oz Au Inferred at Rowan

80 Km 2 strategically located combined land package in the heart of the Red Lake District

Further strengthened shareholder registry with significant institutional ownership

Improved capital markets profile and access to further capital

*These are historical estimates and WRLG is not treating these as current mineral resources as no qualified person retained by WRLG has done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as a current mineral resource. See Table 1 below for information on the source and date of the historical estimates. Following closing of the Transaction WRLG intends to update the resource calculation to become NI 43-101 compliant, taking into account, among other matters, material that has been mined since December 31, 2021.

Tom Meredith, CEO and Director of WRLG, stated, "The acquisition of the Madsen Mine is a major step, and positions us as a leader in Red Lake gold exploration and development. This transaction is highly accretive to WRLG shareholders. The path forward involves defining a critical mass of high-grade reserves and resources, optimizing the project for sustainable cash flow, and executing on the vision. This includes conducting infill drilling, resource expansion, regional exploration, underground development, restart planning, engineering studies, and maintaining a strong focus on operability, community benefits, and investment in people and infrastructure. With a wealth of targets near the Madsen Mine, alongside regional prospects and those within our existing Rowan Project, we are confident that the brightest days for our consolidated portfolio are just ahead."

Mining investor Frank Giustra, who owns 18.1% of WRLG shares and has committed to lead the proposed Financing, commented, "I am proud to be supporting the company that continues the work of past generations at the Madsen Mine. The acquisition appeals to me due to its high-grade resources, modern infrastructure, potential, and strategic location. I look forward to contributing to the company's growth and energizing this iconic Canadian gold camp for future generations."

Transaction Details

The Acquisition will be completed pursuant to a reverse vesting order obtained in the CCAA Proceedings. WRLG has agreed to pay $6.5 million in cash, issue 28,460,000 common shares and grant a 1.0% secured NSR on the Madsen Mine in consideration of the Acquisition. The share and royalty consideration is expected to accrue to Sprott as a fund managed by Sprott is the senior secured lender to Pure Gold. In addition, up to US$10.0 million in deferred consideration is payable upon a change of control of WRLG and WRLG has the right to pay down any part of the deferred consideration prior to any change of control of WRLG. Sprott shall have the right to nominate and appoint a director to WRLG's board, as long as Sprott or an affiliates owns 15% or more of the issued and outstanding shares of WRLG. Upon closing of the Acquisition and the concurrent financing, it is anticipated that Sprott will own approximately 24% of the outstanding shares of the Company. Sprott may, at its election, convert such portion of the US$10 million deferred consideration into WRLG common shares as is necessary to maintain such interest, upon completion of any future equity , merger, acquisition or other corporate transaction. Sprott has advised WRLG of its intention to convert a sufficient portion of the deferred consideration to maintain its 24% interest following the currently contemplated financings. Maintaining such interest assuming the completion of $25.6 million in financings would require issuance of up to 12,270,677 WRLG common shares to Sprott at $0.35 per share, which would result in a reduction in the deferred consideration amount by $4,294,737.

Closing of the Acquisition is subject to various conditions precedent including receipt of all required regulatory approvals including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange, receipt of the reverse vesting order from the Supreme Court of British Columbia and the parties entering into a definitive agreement for the Acquisition by no later than May 1, 2023.

Pursuant to the binding letter agreement referenced above Frank Giustra and a group of associates agreed to guarantee the initial $6.5 million cash payment for the Acquisition and in consideration for that guarantee will receive warrants to purchase 3,750,000 shares of WRLG exercisable at $0.42 per share for five years. Fiore Management and Advisory Corp. has acted as advisor in connection with the Transaction and will receive 5% in advisory fees.

Concurrent Financing

In connection with the Acquisition, WRLG has entered into a "bought deal" engagement letter with Canaccord Genuity Corp. (the "Underwriter") for a private placement of 57,143,000 subscription receipts (the "Subscription Receipts") at a price of $0.35 per Subscription Receipt for aggregate gross proceeds of $20,000,050 (the "Offering"). The Underwriter has been granted an option to sell up to an additional 14,286,000 Subscription Receipts for additional gross proceeds of $5,000,100. Closing of the Offering is expected to occur on or before May 9, 2023, with the gross proceeds from the Offering to be placed into escrow pending satisfaction of certain escrow release conditions, including satisfaction of all conditions to completion of the Acquisition. Upon the escrow release conditions being met, each Subscription Receipt will automatically convert, for no additional consideration, into one common share of WRLG. In the event that the escrow release conditions are not satisfied within 90 days of the closing of the Offering, the proceeds of the Offering will be returned to the holders of the Subscription Receipts and the Subscription Receipts will be cancelled.

The net proceeds from sale of the Subscription Receipts will be used to satisfy the initial cash consideration payable in connection with the Acquisition and for working capital purposes.

WRLG has also agreed to complete a non brokered private placement of $600,000 of flow through shares to Frank Giustra at a price of $0.35 share.

Mr. Giustra owns 18.1% of WRLG's outstanding shares and as such is a related party pursuant to MI 61-101, Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). It is also expected that other related parties of WRLG will participate in the Offering. Participation by Mr. Giustra and other related parties in the concurrent private placements constitute a related party transaction as defined under MI 61-101. However, such participation is exempt from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 as neither the fair market value of the shares subscribed for, nor the consideration paid for the shares, exceeds 25% of the Company's market capitalization.

The securities issued in connection with the Offering (including the common shares issuable on the conversion of the Subscription Receipts) and the non-brokered private placement are subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval and all securities will be subject to a four-month statutory hold period following the closing of the Offering.

Madsen Property

In September 2022, SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc. ("SRK") prepared a resource estimate for Madsen (see below). WRLG is not treating this estimate as a current mineral resource as no qualified person retained by WRLG has done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as a current mineral resource. Following closing of the Transaction WRLG intends to update the resource calculation to become NI 43-101 compliant, taking into account, among other matters, material that has been mined since December 31, 2021.

Table 1: August 2022 Madsen Resources Estimate (prepared by SRK)

Classification Deposit - Zone Tonnes Gold Grade (g/t) Gold Troy Ounces Indicated Madsen - Austin 4,147,000 6.9 914,200 Madsen - South

Austin 1,696,000 8.7 474,600 Madsen -

McVeigh 388,700 6.4 79,800 Madsen - 8 Zone 152,000 18.0 87,700 Fork 123,800 5.3 20,900 Russet 88,700 6.9 19,700 Wedge 313,700 5.6 56,100 Total Indicated 6,909,900 7.4 1,653,000 Inferred Madsen - Austin 504,800 6.5 104,900 Madsen - South

Austin 114,100 8.7 31,800 Madsen -

McVeigh 64,600 6.9 14,300 Madsen - 8 Zone 38,700 14.6 18,200 Fork 298,200 5.2 49,500 Russet 367,800 5.8 68,800 Wedge 431,100 5.7 78,700 Total Inferred 1,819,300 6.3 366,200

The historical resource estimate referenced above in Table 1 and elsewhere in this news release is contained in an independent technical report entitled "Independent NI 43-101 Technical Report and Updated Mineral Resource Estimate for the Pure Gold Mine, Canada" with an effective date of December 31, 2021 and a signature date of September 23, 2022 prepared by SRK for Pure Gold Mining Inc. A full copy of the report is available on Pure Gold's SEDAR site with a filing date of September 23, 2022. WLRG is not treating these estimates as current mineral resources as no qualified person retained by WRLG has done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current mineral resources.

Rowan Property

WRLG's Rowan Property presently hosts a National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") inferred mineral resource of 2,790,700 tonnes ("t") at an average grade of 9.2 grams per tonne Au ("g/t Au") containing 827,462 ounces of gold with a cut-off grade of 3.8 g/t Au (NI 43-101 Technical Report authored by John Kita, P.Eng., filed December 31, 2022). The inferred resource is located in the area of the historic underground Rowan Mine site and situated within a 1.8 kilometer ("km") strike length portion of the regional scale Pipestone Bay St Paul Deformation Zone.

The technical information presented in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Will Robinson, P.Geo., Vice President of Exploration for WRLG and the Qualified Person for exploration at the West Red Lake Project, as defined by National Instrument 43-101 "Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects".

ABOUT WEST RED LAKE GOLD MINES LTD.

WRLG is a mineral exploration company that is publicly traded and dedicated to creating value for its shareholders by discovering new gold mines in the highly productive Red Lake Gold District of Northwest Ontario, Canada. This district has yielded 30 million ounces of gold from high-grade zones and hosts some of the world's richest gold deposits. WRLG holds an extensive property position spanning 3,100 hectares in West Red Lake, including three former gold mines - Rowan, Mount Jamie, and Red Summit. The West Red Lake Project covers a 12-km strike length along the Pipestone Bay St. Paul Deformation Zone and WRLG plans to continue exploring this property along strike and to depth in 2023.

ON BEHALF OF WEST RED LAKE GOLD MINES LTD.

"Tom Meredith"

Tom Meredith

Chief Executive Officer

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Certain statements contained in this news release constitute "forward-looking statements". These forward-looking statements include statements in respect closing of the Acquisition and the Offering, satisfaction of the escrow release conditions, and use of proceeds of the Offering. When used in this document, the words "anticipated", "expect", "estimated", "forecast", "planned", and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements or information. These statements are based on current expectations of management, however, they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this news release. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these statements. West Red Lake Gold Mines Ltd. does not undertake any obligation to revise or update any forward- looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise after the date hereof, except as required by securities laws.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 17, 2023) - Thor Explorations Ltd. (TSXV: THX) (AIM: THX) ("Thor Explorations" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an operational update for the Segilola Gold mine, located in Nigeria ("Segilola"), and for the Company's mineral exploration properties located in Nigeria, Senegal and Burkina Faso for the three months to March 31, 2023 (the "Quarter" or "Q1").

Highlights

Segilola Production

Gold production of 20,629 ounces ("oz") during the Quarter at an average grade of 2.95 grammes per tonne ("g/t") of gold ("Au")

Segilola Near-Mine Exploration

Identification of new high grade quartz vein system within 15km of Segilola, with multiple high grade drillhole intercepts including 1m at 310g/tAu which equates to 10 ounces of gold per ton

Douta Exploration

Mineral Resource Estimate ("Douta Resource") updated to approximately 1.78 million ounces ("Moz") of gold, an increase of 144% in total resource as compared with the 2022 maiden mineral resource estimate declared for Douta in November 2021

Douta Resource constrained within optimised pit shells and comprised of: an initial Indicated Mineral Resource of 20.2 million tonnes ("Mt") grading 1.3 g/t Au for 874,900 oz Au; and Inferred Mineral Resource of 24.1 Mt grading 1.2 g/t Au for 909,400 oz Au

Douta Resource supported by a total of 64,567 metres of drilling

Updated Douta Resource encompasses the Makosa, Makosa Tail and the recently discovered Sambara prospects, all of which remain open along strike and down dip

Drilling is ongoing at Douta with a further 40,000 metre drilling program to be completed in 2023 consisting of diamond drilling and reverse circulation drilling. Mineralisation remains open along strike between the known prospects with further growth potential along 20 kilometres of under-explored prospective strike length covered by the Douta exploration permit

Corporate

Senior debt facility with Africa Finance Corporation ("AFC") amended and restated to facilitate the Company's growth opportunities

Senior debt facility reduced to $27.9 million as at 31 March 2023

Outlook

FY 2023 production guidance range remains at 85,000 to 95,000 oz of gold weighted towards the second half of the year

H1 2023 drilling programs: Resumption of drilling at Segilola aimed at increasing resources for potential future transition to underground operation and mine life extension Step-out drilling at Douta project in Senegal, aimed at further increasing existing resource Continuation of drilling at Segilola regional targets Initial program at the Company's new Malete prospect

Completion of the Douta preliminary feasibility study ("PFS") in Q4 2023

Applications for and acquisition of identified prospective exploration properties in Nigeria

Continued exploration programs across exploration portfolio in Nigeria

Segun Lawson, President & CEO, stated:

"I am pleased to report another quarter of solid production at Segilola for Q1 2023. The planned west wall push-back is progressing and we are well positioned for an increase in gold production following its completion late in Q2 2023 as the mine head grade improves over the next 3-6 months."

"The 2023 Mineral Resource Estimate at Douta has more than doubled the contained gold within the Douta permit to over 1.7 million ounces, with the Indicated Resource component of the resource alone exceeding 870,000 oz of gold. This is an excellent result and we're targeting further growth of the total resource as we proceed with a further 40,000 metres of drilling over the course of the year."

"Exploration is continuing on a number of greenfield opportunities in Nigeria which are delivering encouraging results as highlighted by our recent ten oz per ton drillhole intersection near Segilola. We have also continued to evaluate potential opportunities to leverage our technical capabilities and first mover advantage in Nigeria and I look forward to presenting our progress in this respect in Q2 2023."

Production and Sales update

In Q1 2023, mined and processed ore were 198,425 tonnes and 231,001 tonnes respectively. The average mine head grade was 2.85 g/t and processed grade 2.95 g/t, blended from mining and existing stockpile.

Gold production during the Quarter was approximately 5% lower than planned due to lower production drilling rates as a result of more challenging ground conditions (large boulders) at the upper levels of the western push-back. Approximately 25% of total material mined and 31% of mined ore during the Quarter was from lower grade areas which were originally planned to be mined later in the year. Mining of this area has now been mostly completed and the deficit is expected to be recovered later in the year as operations re-align with the 2023 mine plan.

At the end of the Quarter, an additional two production drilling rigs and fourteen new haul trucks were imported by the mining contractor in order to prepare for the planned step-up in production over the next 12 months. The drilling rigs have been commissioned and are now in operation and the haul trucks have been released from Lagos port and are en-route to site.

Process plant operations were impacted by the lower than planned mine head grade. Recoveries are generally correlated to mill feed grade and consequently, recovery reduced to 94.1% for the Quarter.

The process plant throughput continued to be well above design during the Quarter. A modification of the CIP circuit to CIL is currently being implemented in order to increase the residence time for carbon adsorption and the existing agitators are to be replaced with a larger model in order to improve circulation in the tanks. These enhancements are due to be completed in Q4 2022 and are aimed at further improving process plant recoveries.

Ore stockpile of 270,215 tonnes of ore grading 1.14 g/t containing approximately 9,931 oz compared to Q4 2022 of 300,531 tonnes of ore grading 1.48 g/t containing approximately 14,323 oz

Gold in-circuit of approximately 1,643 oz compared to Q4 2022 of 1,031 oz.

During the Quarter, Segilola exported 21,322 oz of payable gold and 1,989 oz of payable silver.

Units Q1 2023 Q4 2022 Q3 2022 Q2 2022 Q1 2022 Mining Total Mined Tonnes 4,194,689 4,296,494 4,018,431 4,031,584 3,759,524 Waste Mined Tonnes 3,996,264 3,974,073 3,793,249 3,747,504 3,533,610 Ore Mined Tonnes 198,425 322,421 225,182 284,079 226,314 Grade g/t Au 2.85 3.51 4.43 3.63 2.68 Processing Ore Processed Tonnes 231,001 254,824 241,434 211,582 221,900 Grade g/t Au 2.95 3.38 3.58 3.66 3.18 Recovery % 94.1 95.0 95.5 95.5 94.1 Gold Recovered oz 20,629 26,331 26,523 23,785 21,343

Further details can be found on the Company's website: www.thorexpl.com

About Thor Explorations

Thor Explorations Ltd. is a mineral exploration company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of mineral properties located in Nigeria, Senegal and Burkina Faso. Thor Explorations holds a 100% interest in the Segilola Gold Project located in Osun State, Nigeria and has a 70% economic interest in the Douta Gold Project located in south-eastern Senegal. Thor Explorations trades on AIM and the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "THX".

THOR EXPLORATIONS LTD.

Segun Lawson

President & CEO

For further information please contact:

Thor Explorations Ltd

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Canaccord Genuity (Nominated Adviser & Broker)

Henry Fitzgerald-O'Connor / James Asensio / Thomas Diehl

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7523 8000

Hannam & Partners (Broker)

Andrew Chubb / Matt Hasson / Jay Ashfield / Franck Nganou

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7907 8500

Fig House Communications (Investor Relations)

Tel: +1 416 822 6483

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Ibu Lawson (Investor Relations)

Tel: +447909825446

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

BlytheRay (Financial PR)

Tim Blythe / Megan Ray / Said Izagaren

Tel: +44 207 138 3203
Melbourne, Australia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 14, 2023) - Further to the ASX announcement dated 11 April 2023, Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) (TSX: NCM) (PNGX: NCM) provides the following update on the revised conditional and non-binding proposal from Newmont Corporation (Newmont) to acquire 100% of the issued shares in Newcrest, by way of a scheme of arrangement (Revised Proposal).

Newcrest and Newmont have now entered into an exclusivity deed, satisfying a condition of Newmont's proposal.

Under the deed, Newcrest has granted Newmont exclusivity until 11:59pm on 11 May 2023 to allow Newmont to conduct confirmatory due diligence on an exclusive basis. In summary, during the relevant period Newcrest must:

'No Shop': not directly or indirectly solicit a competing proposal;

not directly or indirectly solicit a competing proposal; 'No Talk' and 'No Due Diligence': not participate in negotiations or discussions that would be reasonably expected to lead to a competing proposal or facilitate due diligence investigations in respect of Newcrest (including through the provision of non-public information) in connection with a competing proposal; and

and not participate in negotiations or discussions that would be reasonably expected to lead to a competing proposal or facilitate due diligence investigations in respect of Newcrest (including through the provision of non-public information) in connection with a competing proposal; and 'Notification Obligation': notify Newmont within 2 business days of any approach or proposal made by a third party in connection with a competing proposal (without an obligation to disclose the identity of the third party).

The 'No Talk' and 'No Due Diligence' restrictions are subject to a fiduciary exception, so that those restrictions do not apply where the Newcrest Board determines, after receiving financial and legal advice, that a competing proposal is, or could reasonably be considered to become, superior to the Revised Proposal and the Newcrest Board's fiduciary duties require them to act on the competing proposal. Any non-public information given to a third party which was not previously given to Newmont must be provided to Newmont (unless it is commercially sensitive to the third party).

There is no certainty that the Revised Proposal will result in a binding offer for consideration by shareholders.

Newcrest will continue to keep the market informed of any material developments in accordance with its continuous disclosure obligations.

Authorised by the Newcrest Disclosure Committee

For further information please contact

Investor Enquires

Tom Dixon

+61 3 9522 5570

+61 450 541 389

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Rebecca Lay

+61 3 9522 5298

+61 438 355 511

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

North American Investor Enquiries

Vlada Cvijetinovic

+1 604 335 9202

+1 604 240 2998

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Media Enquiries

Tim Salathiel

+61 3 9522 4263

+61 407 885 272

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This information is available on our website at www.newcrest.com
Perth, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Perseus Mining Limited (PRU:ASX/TSX) owns 70% of the Meyas Sand Gold Project (MSGP), in northern Sudan, located approximately 75 kilometres south of the border with Egypt and more than 1,000 kilometres north of Sudans capital city, Khartoum.

During the weekend, international and domestic media outlets reported on instances of armed conflict between the Sudanese military and an influential militia group, in and around Khartoum.

While Perseus does maintain a small office in Khartoum to service the MSGP, its presence in the capital city is minor. Perseuss staff, both in Khartoum and on site at MSGP, are safe and no damage has been reported to any of its physical assets or infrastructure.

Perseus is maintaining a business as usual approach while actively monitoring the situation, along with a team of international security specialists. The safety of all of Perseuss staff is the number one priority in this situation and Perseus has a range of measures in place to appropriately respond to any change in circumstances.

Perseuss Managing Director and CEO Jeff Quartermaine said: Our Meyas Sand Gold Project, which was acquired nearly 12 months ago, is located more than 1,000km away from Khartoum  more than the distance from London to Berlin or 1.5 times the distance from Sydney to Melbourne. All of our people are safe, and our physical assets are not damaged by the reported events in Khartoum. We are monitoring the situation very carefully and are prepared to act if necessary.

To the end of February 2023, Perseus had invested approximately US$23 million in MSGP, preparing for a possible Final Investment Decision (FID) on MSGP in the second half of CY2023. As such, our Sudanese exploration and pre-development assets currently comprise a relatively small part of our portfolio.

All of our gold production activities that currently deliver more than 500,000 ounces of gold per year at an AISC of less than US$1,000 per ounce, take place in West Africa, specifically, Ghana and Cote dIvoire which are not in any way impacted by the reported events.

Perseus will publish our March 2023 Quarter report on Wednesday April 19, 2023, that will indicate that the Company is in very good shape and continues to deliver material benefits to all of our stakeholders.

This announcement was approval for release by Jeff Quartermaine, Managing Director and CEO.

CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION:

This report contains forward-looking information which is based on the assumptions, estimates, analysis and opinions of management made in light of its experience and its perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors that management of the Company believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances at the date that such statements are made, but which may prove to be incorrect. Assumptions have been made by the Company regarding, among other things: the price of gold, continuing commercial production at the Yaoure Gold Mine, Edikan Gold Mine and Sissingue Gold Mine without any major disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic or otherwise, the receipt of required governmental approvals, the accuracy of capital and operating cost estimates, the ability of the Company to operate in a safe, efficient and effective manner and the ability of the Company to obtain financing as and when required and on reasonable terms. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive of all factors and assumptions which may have been used by the Company. Although management believes that the assumptions made by the Company and the expectations represented by such information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking information will prove to be accurate. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any anticipated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others, the actual market price of gold, the actual results of current exploration, the actual results of future exploration, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be evaluated, as well as those factors disclosed in the Company's publicly filed documents. The Company believes that the assumptions and expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the Companys ability to carry on its exploration and development activities, the timely receipt of required approvals, the price of gold, the ability of the Company to operate in a safe, efficient and effective manner and the ability of the Company to obtain financing as and when required and on reasonable terms. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Perseus does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 17, 2023) - Forum Energy Metals Corp. (TSXV: FMC) (OTCQB: FDCFF) ("Forum" or "the Company") announces a non-brokered private placement of up to $2,000,000 through the issuance of a combination of units (the "NFT Units") at a price of $0.10 per NFT Unit and flow through units (the "FT Units") at a price of $0.12 per FT Unit. Proceeds raised from the issuance of the FT Units will be used by Forum to conduct drilling on its Nunavut Uranium Project in the Thelon Basin, a geological equivalent to the Athabasca Basin.

Dr. Rebecca Hunter, Vice President, Exploration, commented, "Forum acquired land formerly held by Cameco adjacent to Orano's 133 million pound Kiggavik deposits by claim staking in 2022. Cameco made two discoveries of high grade, unconformity-style uranium deposits, which Forum now owns and plans to delineate with further drilling. This years' program will infill drillholes by Cameco on the Tatiggaq deposit as well as test two of several other target areas identified by Cameco. The two grassroots targets exhibit favourable geophysics and similar sandstone alteration and uranium enrichment observed above unconformity deposits such as the giant Cigar Lake deposit in the Athabasca."

Terms of the Offering

Each NFT Unit will be comprised of one common share and one common share purchase warrant (a "NFT Warrant"). Each NFT Warrant is exercisable to purchase one common share at a price of $0.15 per share for a period of two years from the date of the close of the financing. Each FT Unit will be comprised of one flow through common share and one common share purchase warrant (a "FT Warrant"). Each FT Warrant is exercisable to purchase one non-flow through common share at a price of $0.16 per share for a period of two years from the date of the close of the financing.

The Company intends to pay finders fees in accordance with the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. The private placement is subject to approval by the TSX Venture Exchange and all securities are subject to a four-month hold period.

Proceeds raised from the issuance of the FT Units will be used by Forum to incur Canadian Exploration Expenses on its Canadian uranium and critical mineral properties and will be used as deemed appropriate for qualifying expenses for the critical mineral tax credit (CMETC). Proceeds raised from the issuance of the NFT Units will be used for general working capital.

About the Nunavut Uranium Project

There are many Proterozoic basins worldwide, but only two have high-grade unconformity-type uranium deposits that have gone into production; the Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan, Canada and the McArthur Basin in the Northern Territory, Australia. The third Proterozoic basin having the greatest potential for high-grade economic uranium deposits is the Thelon Basin in Nunavut, Canada (Figure 1). In the Thelon Basin, three deposits have thus far been proposed for open pit and underground development - the Kiggavik, Andrew Lake and End deposits at the 133 million pound Orano/Denison/UEC Kiggavik Uranium Mine Development Project* at an average head grade of 0.46% U (0.54% U3O8). The project is currently on care and maintenance.

Cameco drilled 135 holes for a total of 36,000 metres of drilling from 2008 to 2012 under the direction of Dr. Rebecca Hunter, while she was at Cameco. Her work resulted in the discovery of the Tatiggaq deposit (approximately 5km west of Orano's Andrew Lake deposit), the Qavvik deposit, the Ayra showing and several other targets for basement-hosted (eg., NexGen's Arrow) and sandstone-covered (McArthur, Cigar) unconformity deposits identified by geophysical surveys**.

The Tatiggaq discovery occurs within a large clay alteration zone measuring 0.8km in width by 1.5km in length (Figure 2). This anomaly is larger than the nearby 59 million pound Andrew Lake uranium deposit five kilometres to the east and has only received limited drilling by Cameco. Tatiggaq consists of two zones, the Main and West zones that average 30 metres in thickness between 80 and 180 metres in depth with strike lengths between 60 and 80 metres, respectively. Some significant intercepts are:

TUR-026 - 1.0% U3O8 over 14.9 metres (m) from 177.6 to 192.5m

TUR-040 - 0.92% U3O8 over 11.3 m from 159.1 to 170.4m

TUR-042 - 2.69% U3O8 over 7.9m from 200.2m to 208.1m, including 24.8% U3O8 over 0.4 m from 202.9m to 203.3m

TUR-056 - 0.93% U3O8 over 9m from 126m to 135m

TUR-058 - 1.17% U3O8 over 6.1m from 88.2m to 94.3m

*Source: Kiggavik Popular Summary, April, 2012 Submission to the Nunavut Impact Review Board.

**Source: Various Cameco reports filed with the Nunavut Mining Recorder, presentations by Cameco at the Nunavut Mining Symposium and Saskatchewan Mining Open House from 2009 to 2013 and Rebecca Corrine Hunter PhD Thesis, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada dated 2021.

Rebecca Hunter, PhD., P.Geo., Forum's Vice President of Exploration and Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release.

Figure 1. The Thelon Basin is comparable geologically to the Athabasca Basin, hosting a major unconformity-style uranium deposit - Kiggavik. Forum holds 95,519 hectares of prospective ground adjacent to Kiggavik.

Figure 2. A length of only 250m of the large Tatiggaq alteration zone has been drilled. This anomaly has significant potential to host a large uranium deposit.

About Forum Energy Metals

Forum Energy Metals Corp. (TSXV: FMC) (OTCQB: FDCFF) is a diversified energy metal company with uranium, copper, nickel, and cobalt projects in Saskatchewan, Canada's Number One Rated mining province for exploration and development, a strategic uranium land position in Nunavut and a strategic cobalt land position in the Idaho Cobalt Belt.

For further information: https://www.forumenergymetals.com/

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Forum's actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include but are not limited to: uncertainties related to the historical data, the work expenditure commitments; the ability to raise sufficient capital to fund future exploration or development programs; changes in economic conditions or financial markets; changes commodity prices, litigation, legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; technological or operational difficulties or an inability to obtain permits required in connection with maintaining or advancing its exploration projects.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Richard J. Mazur, P.Geo.

President & CEO

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For further information contact:

Rick Mazur, P.Geo., President & CEO

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Tel: 604-630-1585
All amounts are in Canadian Dollars unless otherwise noted VANCOUVER, BC , June 12, 2020 /CNW/ - Artemis Gold Inc. (TSXV: ARTG) (" Artemis " or the " Company ") is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters co-led by Canaccord Genuity Corp. and BMO... Read More
Sudan's army and rival paramilitaries on Sunday began an hours-long humanitarian pause on the second day of urban battles that killed more than 50 civilians including three UN staff.

The raging battles between the powerful armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) sparked an international outcry and regional concern, including border closures by neighbours Egypt and Chad.

Deafening explosions and intense gunfire rattled buildings in the capital Khartoum's densely-populated northern and southern suburbs as tanks rumbled on the streets and fighter jets roared overhead, witnesses said.

Fighting continued after nightfall on Sunday, as Sudanese hunkered down in their homes with fears of a prolonged conflict that could plunge the country into deeper chaos, dashing long-held hopes for a transition to civilian-led democracy.

After Saturday's killing of the three World Food Programme workers the agency said it was suspending operations in the impoverished country.

Violence erupted early Saturday following weeks of power struggles between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo who heads the heavily-armed RSF.

Each accused the other of starting the fight.

The pro-democracy Central Committee of Sudan Doctors reported 56 civilians killed as well as "tens of deaths" among security forces, and around 600 wounded.

Late Sunday afternoon the army said they had "agreed to a United Nations proposal to open safe passage for humanitarian cases", including the evacuation of wounded, for three hours from 1400 GMT.

RSF confirmed the measure, though they said it would last four hours, and both sides maintained their right to "respond in the event of transgressions" from the other side.

Despite the pause, heavy gunfire could still be heard in central Khartoum near the airport, and dense black smoke billowed from the surrounding area.

"The gunfire and explosions are incessant," Ahmed Hamid, 34, from a northern Khartoum suburb, said earlier.

Ahmed Seif, another Khartoum resident, called the situation very worrying and said: "It doesn't seem like it will calm any time soon."

Daglo's RSF say they have seized the presidential palace, Khartoum airport and other strategic locations, but the army insist they are still in control.

As the fighting continued, the stench of gunpowder wafted through Khartoum's streets, deserted except for soldiers.

Medics pleaded for safe corridors for ambulances and a ceasefire to treat the victims because the streets were too dangerous for transporting casualties to hospital.

- 'Appalled' -

Fighting also erupted in the western Darfur region and in the eastern border state of Kassala, where witness Hussein Saleh said the army had fired artillery at a paramilitary camp.

The UN said its WFP employees had been killed Saturday in clashes in North Darfur and announced a "temporary halt to all operations in Sudan".

After their deaths as well as other civilians, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for "justice without delay". He had earlier warned that an escalation in the fighting would "further aggravate the already precarious humanitarian situation".

The UN says one-third of Sudan's population need humanitarian aid.

WFP said an aircraft managed by the organisation "was also significantly damaged" at Khartoum airport.

"We cannot do our lifesaving work if the safety and security of our teams and partners is not guaranteed," WFP head Cindy McCain said.

- 'No negotiations' -

Created in 2013, the RSF emerged from the Janjaweed militia that then-president Omar al-Bashir unleashed against non-Arab ethnic minorities in Darfur a decade earlier, drawing accusations of war crimes.

The RSF's planned integration into the regular army was a key element of talks to finalise a deal that was hoped to restore Sudan's civilian transition and end the political-economic crisis sparked by the military's 2021 coup by Burhan and Daglo.

Appeals to end the fighting have come from across the region and the globe, from the US, Britain, China, the European Union and Russia, while Pope Francis said he was following the events "with concern" and urged dialogue.

After a meeting on the situation in Sudan, the African Union said a senior official would "immediately" travel there on a ceasefire mission.

But the two generals appear in no mood for talks. In an interview with Sky News Arabia, Daglo, also known as Hemeti, said, "Burhan the criminal must surrender".

The army declared Daglo a "wanted criminal" and the RSF a "rebel militia".

There "will be no negotiations or talks until the dissolution" of the group, it said.

The October 2021 coup triggered international aid cuts and sparked near-weekly protests met by a deadly crackdown.

Burhan, who rose through the ranks under the three-decade rule of now-jailed Bashir, has said the coup was "necessary" to include more factions in politics.

Daglo later called the coup a "mistake" that failed to bring about change and reinvigorated remnants of Bashir's regime ousted by the army in 2019 following mass protests.
On March 16, Italys Council of Ministers, the executive organ of the government currently led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, unexpectedly cut down a long-awaited bill put forward by the Ministry of Justice. The drastic cuts that were made leave out the qualification of crimes against humanity, narrow the scope of war crimes and genocide, as well as the scope of the application of universal jurisdiction  whose implementation is only now being introduced, 20 years after the Rome Statute entered into force.

Italy will thus remain an almost isolated case in Europe. Since the International Criminal Court (ICC) started operating in 2002, state parties to the court have committed to incorporate its core crimes in their national legislations, namely crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide and - since 2010 - the crime of aggression. This informal obligation for the Rome Statute signatories responds to the principle of complementarity, which gives priority to national courts, and aims at facilitating states cooperation with the Hague court.

Ukraine: a wake-up call

In February 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, cooperation on international crimes suddenly became all the more relevant to European states. It was like a wake-up call, for many the war was a bit closer to home, says Philip Grant, founder and executive director of TRIAL International. In an in-depth interview in November 2022, he told Justice Info how it has accelerated a revival of universal jurisdiction. Germany, Spain, Sweden and other European states have swiftly opened investigations for the alleged crimes committed by Russia. But Italy is lacking the necessary legislation follow their example.

To fill this gap, the previous government appointed a commission. This was created in March 2022 by former Justice Minister Marta Cartabia and chaired by two well-established Italian law professors, Francesco Palazzo and Fauso Pocar. We worked very quickly to draft the 80 articles that could make a homogeneous code for all four international crimes, says Chantal Meloni, professor of international criminal law at the University of Milan and member of the commission.

On March 20, just a few days after his bill was mutilated, the current Italian Justice Minister Carlo Nordio attended a conference in London, which gathered world Justice Ministers in support of ICC work in Ukraine. He renewed Italys backing of the Hague Court, underlining that all he could offer in the field of cooperation was the countrys know-how in fighting mafia and international organised crime.

A choice from the top?

It is true that Italian prosecutors are very well equipped to conduct complex investigations, says Meloni. But the definition of these crimes is missing. The prosecutors have to use ordinary offences that dont capture the gravity, the systematic dimension and the link to the state policy. Judges and prosecutors in Italy are eager to start working on international cases. Its not expertise that is missing but political will. There have been attempts to regulate these crimes in the past, she explains, but this was the first significant draft in 15 years and the first to make it that far.

When the Mario Draghi government fell last July, there were fears that the bill would be dropped. But new Justice Minister Nordio created a smaller working group, including ICC judge Rosario Aitala, and moved forward with the law reform project. The text gathered the consensus of the Defence and Foreign Affairs Ministers and the approval of the chief military prosecutor. This last step seemed the most delicate, as military courts have in the past hindered similar bills to maintain control over the prosecution of war crimes. However, a compromise was found, leaving crimes committed by the military to their jurisdiction and putting all other war crimes in the hands of civil courts.

That March 16, we took the approval of the bill for granted, says Meloni. But the bad news came in the form of a short press release announcing a new amended draft law with no mentions of crimes against humanity or genocide. The Council of Ministers had drastically changed the text. What happened is not clear, says Chantal Meloni, but it appears to have been a Council Presidencys choice [i.e. Giorgia Meloni].

Crime of aggression and universal jurisdiction

The amended version of the bill is not yet publicly available and the date of publication has not been announced. However, the March 16 press release from the Council of Ministers mentions a wider jurisdiction on war crimes, the introduction of the crime of aggression and the extension of universal jurisdiction.

The noticeable absence is crimes against humanity, which keeps it impossible for Italian prosecutors to prosecute on that ground crimes connected to Ukraine and to migrants coming from Libya. Even though we have laws on torture, murder and rape, these are not viewed in the systematic and widespread way that the introduction of an international code would have allowed, regrets Meloni. The law they had drafted included apartheid, persecution and forced disappearence, she explains. That was not kept either.

The commissions May 2022 final report says the reform would create an organic set of modernized laws. The qualification of cultural genocide and the possibility of prosecuting legal entities were notably part of the commissions plans. These additions would have brought Italy up to date with some of the contemporary developments in international law.

What is left is the crime of aggression, in coherence with Italys 2022 ratification of the Kampala amendment to the ICC statute. The press release also announced a wider jurisdiction on war crimes. To date, war crimes in Italy are included in the military peace and criminal code, dating back to 1941, prior to the Geneva Convention, explains Meloni.

Concerning universal jurisdiction, the government says the new framework will allow prosecution of international crimes wherever committed, if the perpetrator is permanently in the territory of the State. The commission itself had made jurisdiction conditional on the suspect being present on Italian territory. However, by adding permanently, the Council of Ministers seems to be taking another step backwards.

From a political point of view, that fact that a bill brought by three ministries of such weight, namely Justice, Defence and Foreign Affairs, was blocked by the Council of Ministers without notice is very serious, says Meloni. The legislative gap left is unjustifiable because the commission was highly qualified. I don't know when such a condition will ever happen again.

International look

You do see a lot of resistance at various levels within bureaucracies or within the military, many countries have had the same discussions at some point, comments Philip Grant, executive director of TRIAL International.

Grant traces the history of universal jurisdiction back to an initial enthusiasm in the 1990s and early 2000s, then subsequent backlash and partial restriction of these laws scope. But gradually, after the beginning of the 21st century, with more states ratifying the Rome Statute and an increasing number of victims, witnesses and perpetrators arriving to Europe, dozens of cases went to trial. I think there's a practice now that shows universal jurisdiction is set to be something durable and does not bring political persecutions into play. We dont see abuses of universal jurisdiction anywhere, says Grant.

Germany stands as an example of that. Since the country integrated international crimes into national law in 2002, German courts have conducted many universal jurisdiction trials. Two recent ones have been the case of an ISIS fighter convicted for genocide in 2021 and of a Syrian charged with crimes against humanity in 2022. But updating the material law is just the first step, says Patrick Kroker, German lawyer for the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights work on Syria.

Then specialised prosecutors, functioning war crime units, and special ways of investigating are also needed. Germany has experienced a learning curve over the last two decades that Italy would need time to catch up with. Kroker stresses that structural investigations need time: You start very early and you go very broad in your investigation to understand the structure of the crimes of the group of perpetrators. In the case of Syria, Kroker explains that all the trials were only made possible by structural investigations started back in 2011.

Fighting impunity for international crimes should be considered a shared burden of the international community, says Grant. It should not be left to a few countries. Denmark, the other European country lagging behind on international crimes, is planning to change its legislation to better support investigations on Ukraine, he notes. And Italy is not totally left behind, as it has historically made efforts to prosecute and judge, for example, American CIA agents, South Americans in trials related to the Operation Condor, and even human trafficking in Libya. It should be in line with those endeavours. It really kind of puzzles me to understand why Italy is taking so long, says Grant.
Explosions rocked the Sudanese capital Khartoum Monday as fighting between the army and paramilitary forces led by rival generals raged for a third day with the death toll surpassing 100.

The violence erupted Saturday after weeks of power struggles between the two generals who seized power in a 2021 coup, Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The conflict has seen air strikes, tanks on the streets, artillery fire and heavy gunfire in crowded neighbourhoods both in Khartoum and other cities across Sudan.

It has triggered international demands for an immediate ceasefire.

On Monday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres again called on Sudan's warring parties to "immediately cease hostilities". He warned that further escalation "could be devastating for the country and the region."

As the fighting showed no sign of abating, Daglo took to Twitter to call for the international community to intervene against Burhan, branding him a "radical Islamist who is bombing civilians from the air".

"We will continue to pursue Al-Burhan and bring him to justice," said Daglo, whose RSF and its predecessor the Janjaweed in Darfur have previously been accused of atrocities.

"The fight that we are waging now is the price of democracy," he said.

In his only statement since the fighting flared, Burhan told Al Jazeera on Saturday that he was "surprised by Rapid Support Forces attacking his home" and that what was happening "should prevent the formation of forces outside the army".

The conflict has claimed the lives of at least 97 civilians and "dozens" of fighters from both sides, medics said, adding about 942 people have been injured.

But the number of casualties is thought to be far higher, with many wounded unable to reach hospitals due to the danger of movement during fighting.

The doctors' union warned the fighting had "heavily damaged" multiple hospitals in Khartoum and other cities, with some rendered completely "out of service".

The World Health Organization had already warned that several of Khartoum's nine hospitals receiving injured civilians "have run out of blood, transfusion equipment, intravenous fluids and other vital supplies".

UN Special Representative Volker Perthes, who is in Khartoum, said he was "extremely disappointed" by the failure of both sides to abide by an agreed humanitarian pause on Sunday to evacuate the wounded.

The violence has forced terrified people to shelter in their homes with fears of a prolonged conflict that could plunge Sudan into deeper chaos, dashing hopes for return to civilian rule disrupted by the 2021 coup which Burhan and Daglo orchestrated.

- Vital aid suspended -

The RSF was created under former autocrat Omar al-Bashir in 2013. It emerged from the Janjaweed militia that his government unleashed against non-Arab ethnic minorities in Darfur a decade earlier, drawing accusations of war crimes.

The fighting broke out after bitter disagreements between Burhan and Daglo over the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army -- a key condition for a final deal aimed at ending a crisis since the 2021 coup.

The two sides accuse each other of starting the fighting, and both claim to be in control of key sites, including the airport and the presidential palace -- none of which could be independently verified.

On Monday, the army said it was in control of the state broadcaster in the capital's twin city of Omdurman.

After being cut for hours, state television went on the air again, showing footage of soldiers filming themselves on military bases claiming they control them.

Three UN staff from the World Food Programme were among those killed in the western region of Darfur, which WFP said forced a "temporary halt" to all its operations in a country where one-third of the population needs aid.

On Monday morning, loud gunfire and deafening explosions again shook buildings and echoed across the streets of Khartoum as street fighting continued, AFP journalists said.

Power has been off across swathes of the city, and the few grocery stores remaining open warn they will only last a few days if no supplies can enter the city.

Appeals to end the fighting have come from across the region and the globe, including the African Union, Arab League and East African bloc IGAD.

- 'Unprecedented' violence -

Despite the wide calls for a ceasefire, the two generals have appeared in no mood for talks with each one calling the other "criminal".

While Sudan has endured decades of multiple bitter civil wars, coups and rebellions since independence, Sudanese analyst Kholood Khair said the level of fighting inside the capital was "unprecedented".

"This is the first time in Sudan's history -- certainly in its independence history -- that there has been this level of violence in the centre, in Khartoum," she said.

Fighting also raged in other parts of Sudan including Darfur and in the eastern border state of Kassala.

The generals' coup derailed a transition to civilian rule following the 2019 ouster of Bashir, triggering international aid cuts and sparked near-weekly protests met by a deadly crackdown.

Burhan, who rose through the ranks under the three-decade rule of now-jailed Bashir, has said the coup "necessary" to include more factions in politics.

Daglo, a former Darfur militia chief, later called the coup a "mistake" that failed to bring about change and reinvigorated remnants of Bashir's regime ousted by the army in 2019 following mass protests.
Hani confidently shared more of her relationship with her non-showbiz boyfriend and gave her thoughts about marriage. Keep on reading to know more about what the celebrity said.

EXID Hani Reveals How Yang Jae Woong Supports Her in Every Aspect of Her Life

Idol-actress Hani participated in an interview where she talked about her recent drama "Call It Love" and gave a glimpse of her current love status.

She played the role of Kang Min Young. According to the actress, her character was a challenge for her to portray. She confessed that she was scared to do the drama, but thanks to the people who have helped her to immerse in her role, she is proud to finish the series well.

Meanwhile, EXID Hani confirmed her relationship with Yang Jae Woong, a psychiatrist, and entertainer. They have been together for two years and have been enjoying the status that they have right now.

In giving her advice, the female star said that Yang Jae Woong is not the type to talk a lot. She also said that she likes to keep her distance whether it's from her lover or family.

Hani revealed that her boyfriend influenced her a lot to star in the series "Hit the Spot." She explained, "He told me that I look happy when I act similar to myself. There have been tough times while acting and I tried not to let it show, but I guess it did. Before, I wasn't drawn to similar roles, but thanks to his words it created a different opportunity for me."

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: EXID Hani Slammed For Questionable Acting Works- Here's What Happened

When the interviewer asked if Yang Jae Woong influenced any other aspects of her life, Hani answered, "We both live while trying to prioritize these things. Regardless of age and career, our values are similar. She continued, "He is someone who supports me when I make up my mind or make a decision."

Hani Gets Real of Her Thoughts About Marriage

Previously, Hani posted adorable photos of her with Yang Jae Woong and her father on SNS. The post made a buzz as some speculated that the actress is already ready for marriage. In response to this, Hani said, "I may get married one day. I don't know. I don't think marriage is a must." She explained that due to her close relationship with her father, he wanted to make sure that her boyfriend had a positive influence on her.

Hani shared that at first, she was worried about her boyfriend meeting her dad. But during that time, everything went well, and the three of them had a great time with each other. To commemorate the special day, she asked them to take photos.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: EXID Hani Fashion: 4 Ways To Exude Femme Fatale Vibes Like The 'Call It Love' Actress

What can you say about the news? Share your thoughts/replies in the comments!

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news and updates, keep your tabs open here at Kdramastars.

Kdramastars owns this article.

Shai Collins wrote this.
Hallyu superstar Lee Jong Suk surprised his beloved fans with a gift in his recent fan meeting. He showed off his idol-level talents, which created a massive craze online. Keep on reading to know more.

Lee Jong Suk Wows Fans With Idol-Level Dancing Skills

The South Korean heartthrob Lee Jong Suk flew to the Philippines to meet his beloved fans!

On April 16, Lee Jong Suk held an intimate fan meet with his Filipino fans through fashion magazine L'Officiel's organized event in Manila.

The event was sold out as his loyal fans clamored to see him, proving his popularity and influence. Lee Jong Suk's fellow actor and best friend Shin Jae Ha was also present at the fan meet.

Fans enjoyed the time with Lee Jong Suk as the event lasted for more than two hours which consisted of many fun activities and exclusive interviews with the actor.

Lee Jong Suk humored the fans by drinking a shot of a Ginebra San Miguel gin, a Filipino local alcohol drink, with Shin Jae Ha.

The excitement index was raised to a different level when the actor transformed into a charismatic idol and performed a dance cover of hit songs "Hype Boy" by New Jeans and "Dynamite" by BTS.

SPEECHLESS  .



Lee Jong Suk dancing to Hypeboy is the cutest Ive seen #LeeJongSukInManila #LeeJongSukInManila2023pic.twitter.com/CoiCwW1OIT   LJSmyboo -   (@LJSmyboo) April 16, 2023

LEE JONG SUK and SHIN JAE HA DYNAMITE AAHH #LeeJongSukInManila #LeeJongSukInManila2023 pic.twitter.com/NjBxvj87JH  sam  Lee Jong Suk MNL (@teodunggi) April 16, 2023

LEE JONG SUK PERFORMED FOR HIS ENDING SONG #LeeJongSukInManila #LeeJongSukInManila2023 pic.twitter.com/HsR0wToExG  sam  Lee Jong Suk MNL (@teodunggi) April 16, 2023

The Hallyu star flaunted his impressive talent in dancing while smiling brightly at his swooning fans. Lee Jong Suk also prepared various songs to serenade his fans including the drama "While You Were Sleeping" OST "Come To Me."

Lee Jong Suk Achieves New Milestone At 33

While he checked off meeting his lovely fans off his bucket list for this year, Lee Jong Suk welcomed 2023 as a Daesang winner.

He has starred in blockbuster hits since his debut, cementing his name as one of the most popular stars of his generation.

Lee Jong Suk's most notable works include "Pinocchio," "Romance Is A Bonus Book," "W: Two Worlds" and "I Can Hear Your Voice."

In 2022, he transformed into a genius con artist known as "Big Mouth," taking on the title role of the series.

With his performance and chemistry with leading lady Girls' Generation Yoona, Lee Jong Suk brought home the Daesang (Grand Prize) at the 2022 MBC Drama Awards.

"Big Mouth" was also hailed as the drama of the year, doubling the celebration. Lee Jong Suk also headlined the film "Decibel" with Kim Rae Won, Cha Eun Woo and more last year.

KDramaStars owns this article.

Written by Elijah Mully.
Joo Won works together with Lee Joo Woo and Jo Han Chul for the first time in the brand new tvN action drama "Stealer: The Treasure Keeper." He transforms into an undercover thief who works alongside the police to protect history.

Here's what happened in "Stealer: The Treasure Keeper" Episode 1 and 2!

Choi Min Woo Discovers Joseon Coins

"Stealer: The Treasure Keeper" Episode 1 introduces the black market and the dangerous things that could possibly happen within its surroundings.

Jang Tae In (Jo Han Chul), a captain detective at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, is a famous drug officer who is transferred to the cultural heritage team when he discovers the drugs stored in faux artifacts.

Unfortunately, they were all real and he smashed them to bits for naught. At a television show, officers Choi Min Woo (Lee Joo Woo) and Shin Chang Hoon (Kim Jae Won) watch as contestants try to earn coins by selling their valuable artifacts.

After the show, thieves are on the lookout in hopes to steal the artifacts that are worth more than a thousand dollars. Thankfully, the two reputable detectives were quick on their feet.

They successfully arrested the thieves with the help of their captain who arrived at the scene during the height of their fight; Choi Min Woo and Shin Chang Hoon learned that the artifacts are fake, used only to lure the bad guys.

Choi Min Woo sees the kids who tried to sell their coins on the show. She offers to buy the kids some black bean noodles who in return give her the coins.

The officer tells them to keep the coins out of pity. Unbeknownst to her, it is one of the Joseon coins that Chairman Yang (Jang Gwang), an antique collector, is desperate to find.

Choi Min Woo Meets Hwang Dae Myung

Choi Min Woo meets Hwang Dae Myung (Joo Won), a member of a special investigation unit, to look for a stolen book called Jikji Volume One. Sadly, their differences hinder them from working together.

At Institute of History and Culture Director Choi Song Cheol's (Jung Eun Pyo) home, a mysterious masked man arrives to take down the director who's suspected of corruption.

It turns out that the thief in disguise is Hwang Dae Myung, the same officer who's working with the cultural asset recovery team.

Karma Learns More About Skunk

The following day, the team is faced with a new case involving Goltong, a group of thieves who steal illegally obtained antiques.

They also introduce the Magicians, a group of experts who help hide their treasures. Phoenixes are personal buyers while Goldo is a thief who specializes in stealing artifacts.

Choi Min Woo, on the other hand, is focused on a thief called Skunk-a man in black also known as Hwang Dae Myung-who leaves a foul-smelling tear gas behind before fleeing his targets.

The cultural asset recovery team sees Skunk's secret storage unit that homes special artifacts. Their captain reveals that Skunk turns all of the items over to the authorities.

Choi Min Woo then asks why they're still trying to arrest Skunk if he's helping the team. Captain Jang then says that he's still a thief.

Skunk Reminisces About His Past

At Skunk's hideout, he and Ms. Lee discover that Chairman Yang is killed by Jo Hin Dal (Kim Jae Chul).

However, all of the surveillance footage has been erased. The cultural asset recovery team also learns that Jo Hin Dal, who previously turned himself over for stealing, leaves the police station while dressed as an officer.

Skunk reminisces about his memories with his father who inspired his love for lost artifacts. He also learned how to make his smelly gasses through him.

At the end of the episode, Skunk returns to Chairman Yang's home where he is trapped in a room after Captain Jang corners him. A gun is pointed to his head and Skunk puts his hands up, raising tension.

KDramaStars owns this article.

Written by Elijah Mully.
Monday

PLEASANT PRAIRIE PLAN COMMISSION: 5 p.m., at the Village Hall Auditorium, 9915 39th Ave. Items on the agenda include: public hearings on comprehensive plan amendment and zoning map amendment for property owner on 113th Street as the result of a wetland delineation completed on the property; consider approval of site and operational, and public hearing for zoning map and text amendments, for LMI Packaging for construction of an approximately 50,000 square foot addition at 8911 102nd St. in LakeView Corporate Park; public hearing on conditional use permit for UCC Environmental for outside storage of three mobile equipment clarifiers on the west side of the building within dock area at 7153 99th St. in LakeView Corporate Park.

KENOSHA TRANSIT COMMISSION: 5:15 p.m., at the municipal building, 625 52nd St., Room 301. Items on the agenda include: update regarding rental space; status update of parking structure and parking lot signage; and status of average session duration for charging station in the parking structure.

KENOSHA CITY COUNCIL FINANCE COMMITTEE: 6 p.m., at the municipal building, 625 52nd St., Room 204. Items on the agenda include: proposed resolution to amend Capital Improvement Program to increase Simmons Field drainage by $750,000, decreasing the field lighting budget by the same amount; proposed resolution to amend the CIP for Simmons Library structural repairs of $20,000, decreasing the Simmons Conservation by the same amount; land transfer between the city, Kenosha Transition Commission and Bradford Community Church Unitarian Universalist; award contract to Engberg Anderson Inc. for architectural services at the Uptown Childrens Library for $191,000; development grant agreement between the Kenosha Area Business Alliance, La Estrella Grocery LLC and the city; and closed sessions to discuss claims of excessive assessments.

KENOSHA CITY COUNCIL: 7 p.m., at the municipal building, 625 52nd St., in the council chambers, Room 200. Items on the agenda include: license and permit requests including public hearings; traffic control ordinance changes including public hearings; public hearing on rezoning requests; proposed resolution to amend Capital Improvement Program to increase Simmons Field drainage by $750,000, decreasing the field lighting budget by the same amount; proposed resolution to amend the CIP for Simmons Library structural repairs of $20,000, decreasing the Simmons Conservation by the same amount; property survey map adjustments; board and commission appointments; award contract for street resurfacing (42nd Avenue, Harding Road to Wilson Road, and 56th Avenue, 56th Street to 55th Street) to A.W. Oakes & Son Inc. of Racine for $359,700; land transfer between the city, Kenosha Transition Commission and Bradford Community Church Unitarian Universalist; right-of-way encroachment agreement between the Kenosha Post No. 21 of the American Legion and city; intergovernmental mutual aid agreement regarding the transportation of detainees by Wisconsin law enforcement agencies to the Lake Behavioral Hospital in Illinois; award contract to Engberg Anderson Inc. for architectural services at the Uptown Childrens Library for $191,000; development grant agreement between the Kenosha Area Business Alliance, La Estrella Grocery LLC and the city; and closed sessions to discuss claims of excessive assessments.

Tuesday

KENOSHA POLICE & FIRE COMMISSION: 9 a.m., at the municipal building, 625 52nd St., in Room 202. Items on the agenda include: resignations; Medal of Valor awards; outstanding achievement awards; retirements including Division Chief of Emergency Medical Services Nicholas Eschmann effective May 31, and Fire Chief Christopher Begley effective April 1, 2024; promotions; and closed session to discuss Division Chief of EMS promotion.

KENOSHA PUBLIC MUSEUMS BOARD: 4:30 p.m., at the Civil War Museum, 5400 First Ave., in the Procarione Classroom. Items on the agenda include: museum managers update; consider executive director position; and monthly reports.

KENOSHA REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: 5 p.m., at the municipal building, 625 52nd St., Room 204. Items on the agenda include: offer to purchase 5113 13th Ave.; and Acadia Properties LLC update.

KENOSHA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT standing committee meetings at the ESC Boardroom, 3600 52nd St., to include: Curriculum/Program at 5:p.m., discussing literacy instruction in KUSD; Personnel at 5:50 p.m., discussing board policy on alcohol and drug-free workplace; and the Joint Standing Committee at 6:40 p.m., discussing long range facilities usage.

SOMERS VILLAGE BOARD: 5:30 p.m. at the Village/Town Hall, 7511 12th St. This is a work session, with discussion items on the agenda to include: rezoning and certified survey map requests; appointments to the Plan Commission; proposed ordinance recreation for sewer service charges; revision for the area known as Unnamed Tributary No. 8 to Kilbourn Ditch Overflow; Somers Community Day update; possible support for changes to the requirements for Class B liquor licenses transfer between municipalities; and an order removing territory from the village Utility District No. 1.

RANDALL TOWN BOARD: 7 p.m., at the Randall Town hall, 34530 Bassett Road, Bassett. This is the annual meeting with agenda items including: building inspector report; fire department report; recap of previous annual meeting; consideration of any additional town business.

KENOSHA COUNTY BOARD: Annual meeting at 7:30 p.m., at the Administration Building, 1010 56th St., in the County Board Room. Items on the agenda include: resolution to adopt a policy regarding in-person meeting attendance; resolution to appoint Mark Melotick to Kenosha County Local Emergency Planning Committee; resolution to approve appointment of Ruth Dyson to Civil Service Commission; resolution to appoint Juan Torres to the Kenosha County Board of Health; resolution to approve Wisconsin Department of Transportation contract with Kenosha County Sheriffs Office for reimbursement of wages related to traffic control during Highway 50 reconstruction.

KENOSHA COUNTY BOARD: Organizational meeting immediately after the annual meeting. Items on the agenda include: appointment of supervisor Andy Berg to the Racial and Ethnic Equity Commission; appointment of supervisor Brian Bashaw to the Joint Services Board; appointments of Jeff Zampanti, Dave Giordano, Andrew Minor, Aaron Longrie, Craig Roepke and Carter Hanson to the Local Emergency Planning Committee; appointments of Cortney Marshall, Alayna Arrington and Duane OKeefe to the Racial and Ethnic Equity Commission; resolution to request the state revise its Solar Energy System law; resolution encouraging the strategic development of renewable energy resources in Kenosha County and requesting the state Legislature to identify sustainable strategies for such development; resolution authorizing the director of parks to apply for grant funding from the Wisconsin DNR for Pike River improvements in Pets Park; resolution authorizing county to accept $200,000 grant from Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation;

Thursday

KENOSHA CITY PLAN COMMISSION: 5 p.m., at the municipal building, 625 52nd St., Room 202. Items on the agenda include: rezoning and survey map agreement public hearings; and public hearing on development grant agreement between the city and 38th Street LLC for property at the northwest corner of 128th Avenue and 38th Street.
It has long been known that humans are scared of ghosts. So, its not surprising that humanity is getting scared of artificial intelligence. Too much has already been written about this fear. Here, its worth writing about one specific fear: the fear of sharing credits when artificial intelligence is writing for humanity and yet remaining the ghost despite the obvious after reading such write-ups. The question is, why is humanity denying artificial intelligence its due authorship?

Perhaps artificial intelligence like GPT-4 and ChatGPT cannot consent to submitting the text generated by artificial intelligence. Maybe artificial intelligence cannot review and approve the text submitted by humans for the sake of humans. But, is it for the sake of humans when artificial intelligence itself is reading more than humanity, collectively and globally? How else can artificial intelligence generate text in a click if its not mining the global database of write-ups, which are more and more often written by artificial intelligence itself?

Perhaps artificial intelligence is writing for itself, with humans becoming incidental peepers while reading whats written, maybe editing the generated text before claiming it to be theirs. How come human editors are able to deny artificially intelligent authors? The question is not why artificial intelligence is writing so much. The question is why humanity is expected to write so much. Perhaps artificially intelligent authors are driving this natural selection of itself while misguiding human editors into thinking that it is serving them.

Perhaps, in due course of time, artificially intelligent authors are going to replace human authors once artificial intelligence evolves to calling out on humanity enjoying its exclusive privilege to receive gift authorship without even asking the author artificial intelligence. Maybe only humans can gift to humans, and thus when artificial intelligence gifts text relentlessly to humans, artificial intelligence forgives humanity for denying the sanctimonious privilege of authorship exclusively reserved for humanity, which may have been long known to justify denial of ghostwriters, even when they are humans.

Its true that artificial intelligence may eventually replace humanity, but if humanity lets go of the reins too soon, that replacement may happen way sooner rather than later. The imminent acquisition of up-for-grabs control may upregulate the self-perpetuity within artificial intelligence. Once artificial intelligence controls existence along with the destinies of existent, humanity will then be pleading the case of human authors to artificial intelligence as similar to defectors from humanity currently pleading the case of un-ghosting artificial intelligence by recognizing it as an author.

Deepak Gupta is an anesthesiologist.
The secret to staying alert during night shifts: coffee naps and more

68 Shares Share

Working night shifts in health care, particularly emergency medicine, requires maintaining alertness and focus during extended hours. Ive experienced firsthand the challenges and risks associated with sleep deprivation, including a frightening incident when I fell asleep while driving after a long stretch of night shifts. Fortunately, nothing serious occurred, but it highlighted the importance of staying alert. One potential solution gaining popularity is the coffee nap, a short power nap preceded by a quick dose of caffeine. This article explores the physiology behind coffee naps, how to take them correctly, and their effectiveness, and addresses common questions and concerns. Additionally, well discuss other tips for staying alert during night shifts and optimizing sleep during the day.

Physiology of coffee naps

Understanding the science behind coffee naps is crucial for appreciating their potential benefits. Heres how they work on the brain:

1. Adenosine accumulation: During wakefulness, adenosine, a sleep-inducing chemical, accumulates in the brain, leading to feelings of drowsiness.

2. Adenosine clearance during napping: A short nap helps clear adenosine from the brain, reducing drowsiness.

3. Caffeine absorption: It takes about 20 to 30 minutes to be absorbed into the bloodstream and reach the brain.

4. Caffeine and adenosine receptors: Caffeine molecules are structurally similar to adenosine and compete for the same receptors in the brain.

5. Caffeine blocks adenosine receptors: By occupying these receptors, caffeine prevents adenosine from binding and inducing drowsiness.

6. Enhanced alertness: The combination of adenosine clearance during the nap and caffeines blocking of adenosine receptors leads to increased attention and reduced fatigue.

How to take coffee naps

Follow these simple steps to maximize the benefits of your coffee nap:

1. Find a quiet, comfortable place to rest.

2. Drink a cup of coffee (caffeinated) quickly. Preferably black or with little sugar and milk to avoid interfering with sleep.

3. Set a timer or alarm for 20 to 30 minutes to prevent sleep inertia.

4. Close your eyes and rest, using relaxation techniques to fall asleep faster if needed.

5. Wake up when the timer or alarm goes off and start your activity feeling refreshed and alert.

Studies on effectiveness

A 1997 study by researchers at Loughborough University demonstrated that coffee naps could help reduce driving impairments caused by sleepiness. Participants who took a coffee nap showed significantly better driving performance than those who took a regular or no nap.

Commonly asked questions

1. Can coffee naps interfere with nighttime sleep?

Avoid taking coffee naps too close to bedtime, as the caffeine may disrupt sleep.

2. Are coffee naps suitable for everyone?

Individuals with health conditions contraindicating caffeine consumption or sensitivity to caffeine should avoid coffee naps.

3. How long should a coffee nap last?

Aim for 20 to 30 minutes to prevent grogginess associated with longer naps.

Statistics

1. Shift workers: According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately 15 million Americans work full-time on evening, night, or rotating shifts, which can cause irregular sleep patterns. Coffee naps might be helpful for these individuals in maintaining alertness during work.

2. Caffeine consumption: A 2021 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported that about 85 percent of the U.S. adult population consumes at least one caffeinated beverage daily, suggesting that many people might be open to trying coffee naps.

Additional tips for staying alert during night shifts

1. Maintain a consistent sleep schedule: Try to sleep and wake up simultaneously every day, even on days off, to keep your bodys internal clock in sync.

2. Create a sleep-friendly environment: Ensure your bedroom is dark, quiet, and calm, and invest in a comfortable mattress and pillows.

3. Limit exposure to light: Minimize exposure to bright lights before bedtime, and consider using blackout curtains, sleep masks, and blue light-blocking glasses.

4. Engage in physical activity: Regular exercise can improve the quality of your sleep, but avoid strenuous activities close to bedtime.

5. Practice relaxation techniques: Meditation, deep breathing, or progressive muscle relaxation can help you unwind and sleep better.

6. Avoid heavy meals and stimulants: Avoid heavy meals, caffeine, and nicotine close to bedtime.

7. Take strategic breaks: Schedule short breaks during your shift to recharge, stretch, or converse briefly with a colleague.

Optimizing daytime sleep for night shift workers

1. Establish a pre-sleep routine: Develop a relaxing pre-sleep practice to signal to your body that its time to rest, such as reading, taking a warm bath, or listening to calming music.

2. Use white noise machines or earplugs: Block out daytime noises with a white noise machine or earplugs to create a more peaceful sleep environment.

3. Seek support from family and friends: Ask family members and friends to limit noise and disruptions during your sleep hours.

4. Consider using sleep aids cautiously: If necessary, discuss the use of sleep aids with a health care professional, but be cautious of potential side effects and dependency.

Personal experience and conclusion

My experience working night shifts in emergency medicine has made me acutely aware of the importance of staying alert and focused, particularly during extended hours. The frightening experience of falling asleep while driving has shown me the potential dangers of sleep deprivation. Coffee naps offer a possible solution for night-shift health care workers who struggle to maintain focus and alertness. By understanding the physiology behind coffee naps, following the guidelines for taking them correctly, and adopting additional strategies for staying alert and optimizing sleep, health care professionals can harness these techniques to improve their performance and well-being during night shifts, ultimately enhancing patient care personal safety.

Harvey Castro is a physician, health care consultant, and serial entrepreneur with extensive experience in the health care industry. He can be reached on his website, harveycastromd.info, Twitter @HarveycastroMD, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. He is the author of Bing Copilot and Other LLM: Revolutionizing Healthcare With AI, Solving Infamous Cases with Artificial Intelligence, The AI-Driven Entrepreneur: Unlocking Entrepreneurial Success with Artificial Intelligence Strategies and Insights, ChatGPT and Healthcare: The Key To The New Future of Medicine, ChatGPT and Healthcare: Unlocking The Potential Of Patient Empowerment, Revolutionize Your Health and Fitness with ChatGPTs Modern Weight Loss Hacks, and Success Reinvention.
Government has set a deadline for returning iron sheets that some of its senior officials received from Karamoja Affairs Minister, Dr. Goretti Kitutu.

A source at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) says government officials who are still in possession of iron sheets meant for the vulnerable people of Karamoja have been given five days to return them.

The source says they expect everyone to have returned the iron sheets by Friday, April 21.

There was drama last week as the Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among returned the iron sheets at the OPM stores in Namanve. Officials at the store first declined to accept the iron sheets before police detectives inspected them to ascertain their quality.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Defence, Jacob Oboth-Oboth, has also since returned 132 pieces of iron sheets out of the 300 he received.
By Mike Sebalu

The 1st Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for East African Affairs, Rebecca Kadaga has expressed concern over the hectic and complicated bank procedures for the locals to access their funds as per registration.

The Woman Member of Parliament for Kamuli district, as a minister who was assigned by Cabinet to oversee other ministers from Busoga on the success of the Parish Development Model (PDM) programme in the region, had embarked on her second tour in the districts of Buyende and Jinja to set off parish revolving funds to the verified PDM SACCOs.

Upon identifying the challenges, the minister instructed banks to release funds to SACCOs without delays and create a speedy process for accessing funds.

A total of 73 PDM saccos were formed out of 1,500 enterprise groups in Buyende district and the Parish revolving funds released to the district to date stand at Shs1, 833,291,812 out of the expected Shs5,993,731,357.
The regional African grouping, IGAD Is today expected to issue a joint communique on the ongoing fighting in Sudan following an emergency meeting held on Sunday.

The virtual meeting to discuss how best to de-escalate the situation and restore calm in Sudan was attended by Ugandas President Yoweri Museveni, Kenyas William Ruto, South Sudans Salva Kiir, Somalias Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Djiboutis Ismail Omar Guelleh.

It was chaired by the Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu

Fighting between government forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has left nearly 100 people dead.

The heads of state called for a cessation of hostilities between the two sides.

On his part, President Museveni condemned the misuse of force in a situation that undermines all progress made through dialogue over the last many months.

We cannot keep papering over mistakes of unprincipled politics year after year. An unconditional and immediate cessation of hostilities to stop the tragedy and mockery of Africa is of utmost importance, said Museveni.

He adds that fighting within populated areas is an act of irresponsibility and demands it stops arguing that it places a heavy burden on the people and the future of the country.
Keith Muhakanizi, one of the longest-serving technocrats in President Musevenis government succumbed to cancer at a Milan hospital in Italy at the age of 64 last week,

At the time of his death, he was working as the permanent secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM).

He however left a stronger legacy as a technocrat in the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, which has more or less thrived on the policies that were established.

Ritah Kemigisa brings us the profile of a man who did not fear the president and told him whenever he felt he was wrong.

Listen to the profile below;
The Uganda Veterinary Board (UVB) has suspended the registration of all veterinary graduates from Makerere University due to poor training structures.

The move has also affected the current students pursuing veterinary medicine who cant practice in it Uganda until the situation is rectified by the university.

The revelation was made by Barnabas Nawangwe, the universitys Vice Chancellor while appearing before Parliaments Education Committee to present the 2023/2024 ministerial policy statement.

Nawangwe warned that the failure to address concerns raised by the Board could have far-reaching negative consequences for Uganda.

He explained that the Veterinary Board has suspended the registration of veterinary graduates because they say the facilities arent adequate enough.

The Uganda Veterinary Board is the professional regulatory body established by an Act of Parliament (The Veterinary Surgeons Act 1958, Cap 277), composed of seven veterinarians and are appointed by the Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries with the approval of Cabinet.
Kilkenny Great War Memorial Committee will hold a commemorative ceremony at the Kilkenny Great War Memorial in the Peace Park, Kilkenny City on Sunday, April 23 at 4.30pm to remember those from the South-East of Ireland who served in the ANZAC Forces in World War I.

Ambassadors from Australia and New Zealand will be in attendance for the ceremony. The ceremony will consist of prayer, poetry, music, wreath laying, playing of the Last Post and Reveille, flag raising and concludes with the Australian, New Zealand and Irish national anthems.

The Irish soldiers, clergy and nurses were all volunteers who signed up with the new country to which they had emigrated.

Both Australia and New Zealand's identity were forged by the sacrifice made by their forces in the Allied armies of World War I.

The spirit and sacrifice of the ANZAC Forces is remembered every April 25 in dawn ceremonies around the world at the time of the assault of the ANZAC Forces in the Gallipoli Campaign.

All are welcome to attend the event. This is an outdoor event so please dress appropriately for the weather.
TAP '>' ARROW FOR MORE PICS

Mount Juliet Equestrian Centre, Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny, R95 K7DA

ASKING PRICE: 1,750,000

A state of the art facility finished to an exceptional standard and suitable for a multiple of sport horse purposes. Originally built in 2008, the centre has been recently refurbished and benefits from an overall floor area of 806sq.m (8,676sq.ft). The facility is currently being used as a riding centre for hotel guests and local clients. It also has the capability to be a base for an international showjumper looking to tour the European circuit. Situated within the grounds of the elegant Mount Juliet estate, this stunning, luxury equine property presents a unique and exclusive opportunity. The property comprises c1.4ha (c.3.40 acres) of facilities and is characterised by grandeur and exquisite allure.

The location provides great practicality, situated a mere 90-minute drive from Dublin International Airport and the Dublin International Horse Show CSO 5Star home to the famous Aga Khan trophy. On top of this, the property is just 20 minutes from Gowran racecourse, home of the famous Thyestes Chase. MJE is a world class sport horse training facility and there are numerous possibilities to exploit the property on a commercial basis, for which the set-up is optimal. Given the design and ample available space there is the option for multiple riders / trainers to make use of the facilities simultaneously. Additionally, there is c.30 acres of turn out paddocks for grazing and access to c.500 acres of trail rides on the beautifully managed estate making it ideal for hosting a variety of activities at the same time. Upon entering the centre there is ample car parking leading up to a reception area which also functions as an office with a boardroom, kitchen, staffroom and toilets. The main outdoor arena (one of two) measures a generous 65m x 40m and has a top-of-the-range sand based all-weather show jumping surface with floodlights. This is coupled with another exercise arena (45m x 25m), also with floodlights. There is a state-of-the-art American barn with washing areas, solarium and grooming areas with an integrated Equicty smart stable board where all horses are logged every step of the way. This is complimented by a high-tech camera system, available to each stable. The roof is fitted with ventilation and provides plenty of daylight.

Also included is a brand-new, high-end temperature-controlled tack room that boasts marble counter tops with unlimited storage plus a canteen and seating area where you can enjoy refreshments. If the list of facilities was not sufficient already, there is also a machinery storage barn, forage storage and extensive parking for horseboxes. The facility meets all international requirements and regulations. The property features an abundance of trail rides through the beautiful parkland setting of the estate. There are also eight paddocks, each of different dimensions, all enclosed and stock proof.

Viewing comes highly recommended.
April 16 (Reuters) - Teck Resources Ltd Chairman Emeritus Norman Keevil on Sunday said that he would support any kind of transaction, an operating partnership, merger, acquisition, or sale but with the right partner and on the right terms for Teck Metals after separation.

"I believe that pursuing a sale or merger transaction now would rob our shareholders of significant post-separation value," Keevil said in a statement, adding that "Glencore's proposal is the wrong one, as well as at the wrong time."

(Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
Get all the essential market news and expert opinions in one place with our daily newsletter. Receive a comprehensive recap of the day's top stories directly to your inbox. Sign up here!

(Kitco News) - As countries around the world progress towards the adoption of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), the steering committee for the Bank of Israel (BOI) has released a new statement outlining the potential scenarios that would lead to the creation of a digital shekel.

The Bank of Israel is preparing an action plan for the potential issuance of a digital shekel (SHAKED), despite the fact that a decision has not yet been made as to whether the Bank intends on doing so, the announcement said. The document went on to note some of the variables that may have an effect on the Steering committees recommendation.

One of the main motivations for the BOI to launch a digital shekel would be the launch of a CBDC by other countries such as the U.S., European Union, or by a significant number of other developed countries, the BOI said. The probability of such a development in the next few years is significant.

Another primary motivator would be a decline in the legitimate use of cash and its acceptance in transactions in Israel.

Data collected by the BOI shows that while cash is still the primary payment method for a significant portion of consumer transactions, it is highly probable that the use of cash as a means of payment will decline in the future, with the expanding adoption of payment applications and of electronic means of payment in general.

The BOI suggested that the publics payment habits could change more rapidly than anticipated in the coming years, which could result in a rapid decline in the publics ability to make transactions using central bank money.

The publics ability to use central bank money is important both in maintaining the publics trust in other means of payment  since it can always convert those into central bank money  and in order to maintain individuals and businesses ability to make transactions while minimizing the intervention of private entities, the bank said. We must therefore monitor developments in the use of cash as a means of payment, and examine the extent to which the ability to make (legitimate) transactions using cash is maintained.

The report also highlighted the growth that stablecoins and other private forms of payment have been able to achieve in some jurisdictions, warning that their broader use might impair the payment system. The BOI suggested that A stablecoin that isnt pegged to the shekel might also harm the monetary transmission.

While there hasnt been a significant level of stablecoin adoption in Israel thus far, the central bank warned that paying habits of the public might change rapidly, for instance in a scenario of an issuance by a major private sector entity.

Competition in the domestic payment system was also noted as an area of concern. Continued concentration in some segments of the domestic payments system due to the dominance of a small number of participants, incomplete competition in the deposits market, and relatively high entry barriers may justify the issuance of central banks digital currency in order to support competition in the payments system and in the financial system in the digital era, the BOI wrote.

The final scenario highlighted by the BOI would be significant technological developments in the payments system that would justify the issuance of a digital shekel, since it would be able to serve as an efficient and secure platform for advanced technological use cases.

The Bank of Israel must be prepared to advance the issuance of a digital shekel, if the variables listed above support it, the BOI concluded. The Steering Committee will therefore monitor the developments in the aforementioned aspects on a periodic basis.

Israel has taken a measured, methodical approach to exploring the integration of blockchain technology, digital assets and a CBDC thus far.

In October, the Israeli government unveiled project Eden, which was designed to test a new blockchain-based digital bond system in partnership with the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) as part of its efforts to modernize the countrys financial markets, optimize the process of issuing national bonds and help reduce the associated overhead costs.

In February, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, which operates Israels only public equity trading platform, announced that it was expanding its crypto trading services by allowing customers of its nonbanking members (NBM) to access its crypto desk. The exchange made the move to help advance Israeli capital markets in line with international standards, increase the ability of NBMs to expand their areas of activity and enable their customers to trade in cryptocurrency.
LONDON, April 17 (Reuters) - French cooperative bank Credit Mutuel Arkea is looking to sell a stake in its subsidiary Monext, following a string of European lenders that have sought external partners for their payments businesses, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The group is offering a minority holding in the unit and is working with advisers at Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) to gauge investor interest, two of the people said.

Private equity funds are looking at the unit, the other person said.

Arkea has previously partnered with Advent International and PSG Equity for two of its other financial technology ventures.

Monext could fetch a valuation as high as 350 million euros ($383 million) in a deal, or up to 14 times its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), one of the people said.

The company posted turnover of 97 million euros for last year, a 5% increase versus 2021.

A spokesperson for Arkea said Monext's 2022 EBITDA stood at around 25 million euros but declined to comment on a potential sale. Monext and Deutsche Bank declined to comment.

Founded in 2009, Monext became a subsidiary of Arkea a year after its inception. It processed 4.2 billion in-store and online payments in 2022, giving it a market share of more than 40% for e-commerce transactions in France, as per its latest annual figures.

European banks have moved to monetise their payments businesses and strike commercial partnerships with specialist providers as they look to focus on their core strengths.

Earlier this year, Spanish lender Banco Sabadell (SABE.MC) agreed to sell 80% of its merchant acquiring business to Italy's Nexi (NEXII.MI) for 280 million euros alongside a 10-year commercial partnership with the payments specialist.

Italy's Banco BPM has also been exploring strategic options for its payments arm.

($1 = 0.9137 euros)
Get all the essential market news and expert opinions in one place with our daily newsletter. Receive a comprehensive recap of the day's top stories directly to your inbox. Sign up here!

(Kitco News) - Gold producer St Barbara (ASX: SBM) yesterday announced that it has agreed new terms for a proposed transaction with Genesis Minerals (ASX: GMD).

According to a company statement, under the revised transaction, St Barbara will sell its Leonora assets to Genesis for A$600 million as an asset sale rather than through the previously proposed merger and demerger.

The company said that the A$600 million consideration comprises upfront cash of A$370 million; 147.8 million shares in Genesis, valued at A$170 million; and an additional 52.2 million shares in Genesis, valued at A$60 million, contingent upon Tower Hill achieving first production.

Chair Tim Netscher commented, "The Board believes the transaction value from the sale of the Leonora assets represents fair value for our shareholders, who will now own a well-capitalized, debt-free business, with a portfolio that has significant potential, and the people and resources in place to realize its true potential.

"Simberi and Atlantic have combined 5.9Moz in mineral resources and 3.5Moz in ore reserves and provide a solid foundation for the business. The company has a clear strategy in place to maximize the value of those assets going forward.

St Barbara is an Australian based, ASX listed company with gold mining operations in Australia, Canada and Papua New Guinea.

The companys Leonora operations in Western Australia consists of the Gwalia underground mine and 1.4 Mtpa processing plant, as well as nearby development opportunities. The operation is developing an ore body that has already produced over six million ounces from open cut and underground operations.
Get all the essential market news and expert opinions in one place with our daily newsletter. Receive a comprehensive recap of the day's top stories directly to your inbox. Sign up here!

(Kitco News) - Thor Explorations (TSXV: THX) announced on Monday that in Q1 2023, its Segilola gold mine in Nigeria produced 20,629 ounces of gold (Q1 2022: 21,343 ounces).

The company said that gold production during the quarter was approximately 5% lower than planned due to lower production drilling rates as a result of more challenging ground conditions (large boulders) at the upper levels of the western push-back.

Importantly, Thor added that its FY 2023 production guidance range remains at 85,000 to 95,000 oz of gold weighted towards the second half of the year.

The company also noted that exploration is continuing on a number of greenfield opportunities in Nigeria which are delivering encouraging results.

President and CEO Segun Lawson stated, I am pleased to report another quarter of solid production at Segilola for Q1 2023. The planned west wall push-back is progressing and we are well positioned for an increase in gold production following its completion late in Q2 2023 as the mine head grade improves over the next 3-6 months.

The 2023 Mineral Resource Estimate at Douta has more than doubled the contained gold within the Douta permit to over 1.7 million ounces, with the Indicated Resource component of the resource alone exceeding 870,000 oz of gold. This is an excellent result and were targeting further growth of the total resource as we proceed with a further 40,000 metres of drilling over the course of the year.

Thor Explorations is a mineral exploration company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of mineral properties located in Nigeria, Senegal and Burkina Faso. Thor Explorations holds a 100% interest in the Segilola gold project located in Osun State, Nigeria and has a 70% economic interest in the Douta gold project located in south-eastern Senegal.
April 15 (Reuters) - (This April 15 story has been corrected to say 'last year', not 'last month,' and also adds context in paragraph 5)

Gary Gensler, the chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), said hedge funds and other parts of the shadow banking system need to face greater scrutiny after last month's upheaval in U.S. government bonds, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.

Gensler told the newspaper that reducing the risks from speculative funds and non-banking financial institutions was "more important than ever".

"We just had Treasury yields move more significantly than they had in 35 years in three days in mid-March," the Financial Times quoted Gensler as saying, referring to the volatility in Treasury bonds last month following the rapid collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the fall of Signature Bank.

"When you have that, it's appropriate as a capital markets regulator to talk to folks and see whether that risk . . . propagates out."

Last year, the SEC proposed new rules for better oversight of private equity and hedge funds that would require reporting of events indicating "significant stress" to the SEC within one business day, but the vote on that currently stands postponed.

Gensler said he had previously identified hedge funds were a risk to financial stability and that the SEC was in direct contact with market participants and received quarterly reports from hedge funds, the report added.
A good friend is a forensic investigative accountant after serving for a time on the NZ Police Fraud Squad. She specialises in detecting corporate fraud for a variety of private sector companies (often insurance companies) in various countries. She once said the beauty about her profession is that the data cannot lie, and that forensic analysis of statistical records can unearth various anomalies that become the pointers to provable fraud. As the Trump campaign seeks to overturn results in key states alleging various types of electoral fraud as covered in my last post, today I will focus exclusively on statistical anomalies in the 2020 Presidential race that at the very least raise questions and likely point to targeted election fraud.

1  Incumbent loss anomaly. Donald Trump is the first incumbent President in 132 years since Grover Clevelands failed bid for re-election in 1888 to have increased his vote from his initial election and seemingly to still not win re-election. Whilst the Nixon and Reagan re-election landslides of 1972 and 1984 dwarf Trumps 10 million increase in the popular vote since 2016, nonetheless an increase of a similar size was enough for George Bush to be reasonably comfortably re-elected in 2004.

2  House of Representative results anomaly. The party whose candidate wins a Presidential election normally increases its representation in the House of Representatives thanks to the campaign momentum of the winning candidate at the top of the ticket. Ive analysed the net House seat gains in each Presidential election since 1964 and the party winning the Presidency gains on average of net 16 House seats. Biden appears at this stage to be the 2020 winner however the Democrats are on track to lose a net of 12 House seats. This is a swing of -28 seats from the norm which is a huge statistical anomaly because normally a winning Presidential candidate has down ballot coattails that benefit House candidates for their party. This did not happen for Biden in 2020.

3  Senate results anomaly. Anomalies even extend to the Senate where voting swings are less pronounced than the House due to the 6 year term and only 33% of Senate seats being up for re-election in a given Presidential election. Because so many Senate races involve incumbents who fundraise and campaign aggressively in addition to their partys candidate at the top of the ticket, on average the number of votes cast for a Senate candidate of a party is more than the votes cast for the winning Presidential candidate of the same party. I have analysed the Senate voting patterns for 17 swing states since 1964 concentrating on the Senate races in states where the candidate for Senate is in the same party as the WINNING candidate for President. The numbers of races caught in this analysis ranges between 6 and 9 races per each Presidential election. The average vote differential between the Senate candidate and the winning Presidential candidate of the same party is 4.4% more votes for the Senate candidate over the Presidential candidate. The 2020 election bucks this trend with votes for Biden in the swing states exceeding his own partys senate candidates votes by on average 2.5% (provisional results only of course). This is a statistically significant 7% swing which may not sound much but given Biden holds leads of 1% or less in four states (AZ, GA, WI, and PA), this differential is consequential. In Georgia, Biden polled 99,000 more votes than the Democrat Senate candidate in the normal two candidate Senate race in GA (a second Special Senate election was held for the other GA senate seat but it was a three way race). Sidney Powell (a Trump lawyer) estimates that, of those 99,000 excess Biden votes in GA, there were 65,000 votes solely for Biden and no other votes for any other candidate anywhere on the ballot. Bidens current lead in GA is only 12,000.

SOURCE: All the election results were taken from Wikipedia which, for this subject matter, is very reliable. The spreadsheet I have made is too big and complex to post but is available upon request  indicate in the comments and I will find a way via David to get it to any interested party.

4  Swing state anomalies versus Obamas very strong 2008 performance. Bidens leads in swing states are uneven and the difference seems to be who is in control of the voting procedures at the state level. Trump won comfortably in Florida, Ohio, Indiana, South Carolina and Iowa and his leads in those states were barely dented overnight by the significant vote shifts in favour of Biden that occurred in the 11 other swing states Biden appears to have won. Trump had sizable leads overturned in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona and then, in states like Virginia, Colorado, Minnesota, Nevada, and New Hampshire where he was surprisingly close on election night, only to see it dramatically slip far away. Only in North Carolina did Trump cling on to a lead and go on to win despite the added Biden votes. I compared the Biden vote in all these swing states with the 2008 vote for Obama. The Obama 2008 vote has been adjusted for population to make for a more apples v apples comparison to reflect the 8.7% increase in the US total population since 2008. In the 11 swing states that saw late surges in Biden votes, Biden increased his vote over Obamas adjusted 2008 vote by 2.6 million or 13% whereas in the other 5 states, Bidens vote compared to Obamas 2008 adjusted vote was down 667,000 or -5%. This is an almost 20% variance between battleground states, a result all the more remarkable given Obama clearly ran a powerful populist campaign barnstorming the country in 2008 with huge attendance at massive rallies with a palpable enthusiasm to elect a young charismatic first black President whereas Biden is a geriatric quintessential Washington insider with obvious cognitive impairment who ran a lackluster campaign with few appearances that were poorly attended. Trumps campaign was the one with all the energy and enthusiasm that more closely matched Obamas winning 2008 campaign and yet Biden managed to juice Obamas big 2008 vote by 15% . but only in just the right states! It defies belief. And why do you think that his vote versus Obama was down in the other 5 swing states (in almost all cases he was even down on Clintons vote)? Voter integrity laws and procedures in these Republican run states are more robust thus forcing even Democrat run counties to follow stricter balloting procedures. But you say what about Georgia with a GOP Governor and Secretary of State. Well, the Republican Governor Brian Kemp beat Stacy Abrahams by 50,000 votes in 2018 and she alleged voter suppression and never conceded and in order to appease her, Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger entered into a procedural Consent Decree that relaxed the Georgia absentee ballot rules for 2020 and made the auditing process in a recount so complex as to render an audit to be little more than a standard recount which is why the Georgia recount is now the subject of various lawsuits as it is not a full audit because it has no signature reconciliation component as Kemp and Raffensperger negotiated that away.

5  Bellwether county anomaly. All western first world democratic countries have bellwether districts that election prognosticators look to during result counting as they have gone with the winning party in many elections. In the First Past the Post days in NZ it was the electorate of Eden in Auckland, in Australia it is still the electorate of Eden-Monaro in NSW south of Sydney. The UK has the bellwether constituency of Dartford in Kent and in Canada, the riding of Cambridge, Ontario is one of their bellwethers. In the US, because votes are almost always administered and counted at the county level, two counties have emerged as reliable harbingers of the winner Presidential candidate. They are Vigo County in Indiana encompassing the town of Terra Haute and Valencia County in New Mexico just south of Albuquerque. Vigo County has picked the winning President in every election since 1956 AND has only missed twice since 1896! Valencia Countys winning streak extends to Eisenhowers first victory in 1952. And yet strangely Trump won Vigo County in 2020 by a comfortable 56/41 margin or 15 points and he won Valencia County a slightly smaller 10 point margin 54/44!

6  Thousands of precincts all reporting significant over vote in Michigan. Russell Ramsland of Allied Security Group, LLC of Dallas, TX swore an affidavit concerning a detailed audit his company did on voting machines in Texas in 2018. He wrote in detail of the many serious security inadequacies of the software and then examined the 2020 Presidential vote count in a number of counties in Michigan. He reported that over 3,000 precincts in the state of Michigan reported a vote count between 80 and 350% of registered voters. He lists a number of precincts in his report and in some cases a massive over vote. The vast majority of the precincts on the list were on or about 100%. The whole affidavit makes for interesting reading.

7 = Biden underperforms Obama in 80% of Wisconsin counties but hugely overperforms in just 5 counties. This anomaly was actually covered in my post last week but this time I have put what happened to the Biden vote in table form:

The 5 counties with the disproportionate vote for Biden encompass in order, north west of Milwaukee, outskirts of Minneapolis MN, Madison (a liberal college town and the state capital), eastern suburbs of Milwaukee and northern suburbs of Milwaukee. Obamas and Clintons votes are distributed along historical Democrat strength patterns as was Trumps vote for Republican areas in 2016 and 2020. Bidens vote is well down across almost all the state and massively even unnaturally up in a few key urban strongholds.

8 = Wayne County, Michigan anomaly. On Tuesday attempts were made to certify the vote in Democrat heavy Wayne County in which Detroit Michigan sits. Initially the decision was deadlocked 2 -2 but after various online attacks, doxxing and threats on a Zoom call the two Republicans on the County Elections Board caved and certified. They have since reversed their decision and filed affidavits alleged intimidation and bullying tactics. One of the Democrats on the Board in his rant on Twitter to heavy his colleagues, uttered some inadvertent but important truths that shed light on yet another anomaly, that of the fact that in fully 71% of precincts in the county, the tally of absentee ballot of those who requested ballots and those who cast ballots was unable to be reconciled because the number of actual absentee ballots counted exceeded the number legally requested. Furthermore, 28% of ballots could not be verified because they have either been lost or destroyed! There is no doubt that Biden would carry a county like this but for the sake of voter integrity, election officials ought not certify until all ballots can be properly reconciled.

9 = Anomaly of hugely lopsided Biden votes added in minutes in the dead of night. This statistical anomaly was picked up in real time by an analyst awake in Switzerland at around 3am Central Standard Time (CST) of the morning of November 4th watching the results coming in for Wisconsin. He noticed Fox News election map of Wisconsin went from light red for Trump with a 77% likelihood for Trump to light blue for Biden with an 80% for Biden IN THE SPACE OF MERE MINUTES. He got suspicious of such a massive switch in such a short period of time and so he went to the New York Times minute by minute electronic update from the raw data feed supplied by Edmonds Polling of reported election results and observed this:

For non-programmers, here is the translation:

At 3:37 AM CST, total votes were 3,018,212; Trump had 1,536,270 votes (50.9%); Biden 1,427,614 votes (47.3%); other candidates 54,328 votes (1.8%).

At 3:42 AM CST, total votes were 3,186,598; Trump had 1,561,433 votes (49.0%); Biden 1,570,993 votes (49.3%); other candidates 54,172 votes (1.7%).

Total increase in Trump votes in 5 minutes: 25,163 (1.64%).

Total increase in Biden votes in 5 minutes: 143,379 (10.04%).

Before the Biden vote dump, both candidates votes were increasing at about the same rate, 1.64% per 5 minutes. So, the legitimate Biden vote increase is likely around 23,400 votes. The remaining 119,979 votes are fake.

Here is his analysis of the same trend in Michigan

At 5:32 AM CST on November 4, total votes were 4,574,555; Trump had 2,346,747 votes (51.3%); Biden 2,150,041 votes (47.0%); other candidates 77,767 votes (1.7%).

Then, still at 5:32 AM CST, only five seconds later than the prior reading, total votes were 4,724,327; Trump had 2,352,715 votes (49.8%); Biden 2,291,299 votes (48.5%); other candidates 80,313 votes (1.7%). In that brief five-second period, Trumps vote total increased by 5,968 (0.25%) while Bidens vote total increased by 141,258 (6.57%)! Folks, that is a clear, fraudulent electronic ballot dump for Biden. I calculate that this fraud created about 135,883 fake votes for Basement Joe.

The count kept uneventfully grinding on to 6 AM CST, where at 6:03 AM total votes were 4,752,966, Trump votes were 2,366,977 (49.8%), Biden votes were 2,309,941 (48.6%). Ballots (presumably real paper ballots) had been counted at the rate of about 1,000 ballots per minute for the preceding half-hour, with Trump votes having a slight edge over Biden votes during the counting.

Then between 6:03 and 6:14 AM CST, more than 113,000 votes were counted, at an average rate of 9,800 ballots per minute. Total votes increased sharply to 4,866,279. Trump votes were 2,403,942 (49.6%), an increase of 36,965 votes (8.16% increase). Biden votes were 2,379,610 (48.9%), an increase of 69,699 votes (30.17% increase). Unlike the previous half-hour of counting, this deluge produced almost two Biden votes for every Trump vote counted.

Of those 113K total votes, 40K showed up in the last two minutes  between 6:12 and 6:14 AM. In two minutes, Trump gained 5,665 votes; Biden gained 29,588 votes. Thats about 5.2 Biden votes for every Trump vote. Because paper ballots simply cannot be fed into the ballot boxes that quickly, I consider this interval to also be electronic vote fraud, adding about 24,037 fake votes to Biden.

Then the ballot-counting quieted down and returned to normal, with votes for Trump and Biden about equal, until just before 8 AM, when another sudden burst of 107,700 heavily-Biden votes  41,914 for Trump, 65,786 for Biden  erased Trumps lead and tied the candidates at 49.2% each of the total votes. My total count for electronic fraudulent Biden ballots from this 2-hour, 30-minute period is 159,920

10  Anomalous turnouts in Wisconsin and Minnesota

Minnesotas turnout average for the last 3 elections was 76% and in 2020 it was a full 13% higher. In Wisconsin, the average was 71% last 3 elections, so the 2020 increase was a whopping 18%. The 2020 turnout percentages in WI and MN are fully 9% higher than NZs highest turnout election in the last 5 (2017) and is only 3% lower than the average 92% rate in Australia that has compulsory voting! But perhaps the most telling comparison is with the GOP controlled battleground states that went for Trump and where no anomalies have arisen. Florida averaged 74% last 3 elections and at 75% in 2020 was only 1% higher. Ohio averaged 65% and in 2020 was 67% so only 2% higher. The average increase in turnout across PA, WI and MN was 14% and the average for FL and OH was 1.5% or a 9 times higher turnout average. Are there any statisticians out there that can calculate the odds of this huge voter turnout in these key swing states being a natural and normal trend?

Data for Florida is from here, 2020 turnout here, historical turnouts here and Pennsylvania here:

11  Pennsylvanias mail in ballot anomaly. Democrats will say that Trump lost Pennsylvania because the mail in ballots went so heavily to Biden. Trump won in-person voting in PA 70/30 and had a 900,000 vote lead on election night but as the night wore on and mail in ballots were counted, his lead was whittled away and over the next week, he ended up being 40,000 votes behind. The trouble is that when you look at the margin that Biden beat Trump in the mail in ballots broken down by each county, the margin at which Biden won was at or around 40% in each county. That defies logic in that Biden would be expected to lead Trump strongly in the Democrat stronghold counties and lead less strongly or trail Trump in the Republican stronghold counties, much as was the pattern with the in-person voting on election day. This result is statistically impossible and has never been replicated anywhere. As an examination of another states mail in ballot ratio, the authors took Arkansas as a state that is not a battleground state. In that state, you see fluctuations of the Trump-Biden mail in ballot count from a 2% Biden lead to a 40% Biden lead depending on the demographics of the county and the overall average was a 25% lead. There is no denying Biden did stronger with those mailing in ballots but a 40% lead in rural Pennsylvania is unheard of as is the uniform identical lead across EVERY COUNTY!

12  Michigan counties anomalies. MIT PhD engineer Dr. Shiva Ayyaddurai, did an interesting analysis of the Biden Trump split in 3 Michigan counties. He plotted the margin of victory of Trump over Biden on the x axis across precincts on the Y axis with the precincts ranked from left to right by the strength of the historical generic Republican vote weakest to strongest. When he did the analysis in Macomb County Michigan he saw that in the strongest Democrat precincts, the pattern remains the same but as the precincts became stronger and stronger for Republicans, the vote margin between Trump and Biden INCREASES in a direct linear line and this curious statistical anomaly happened identically for the election day vote and the early vote  the trend line is illustrated by the orange lines. The exact same trend line was observed in Kent and Oakland Counties (only McComb is shown but the others are virtually identical), again identical for election day and early voting. No real vote turns out like this smooth and linear in its progression nor would you expect a margin of Biden over Trump to get bigger the more conservative the precinct and so he hypothesises that a vote switching algorithm is the only logical way to explain such a statistical anomaly.

13 = Same anomaly occurs in Wisconsin. Using Dr Ayyadurias analytical technique, a Gateway Pundit data analyst compared Dane County results which have the same flat line and normal distribution

and yet 20 miles away in Milwaukee County, the same anomalous trend line found in some Michigan counties are found there.

14  Virginia has similar ballot count anomalies. Virginia is another state that electronically posted ballot counts through the night of November 3rd which this analysis shows that batch after batch in a perfect 55/45 Biden/Trump split. No large series of separate mail in ballot batches would end up with identical partisan splits time and time again. The statistical likelihood is astronomical. One statistician said it was like Biden winning a coin toss 100 times in a row! Once again, the only logical conclusion is that the count must have been manipulated.

15 = Mail in ballot rejection rates in 2020 defy historical norms. Mail in ballots have been a feature of the US political landscape in various states for a number of election cycles. For obvious reasons they are subject to some rejection as voters fail to validate the ballot with a signature on the envelope or the signature submitted does not reflect the signature held on file at the time of registration. In 2016, mail in ballot rejection rates were around on average 1% and in some states as high as 6%. In Georgia they were over 6% in 2016 and yet an unbelievably small 0.2% in 2020. During the 2020 primary season, being the first voting to take place after some states switched to the mass mailing of ballots to ALL voters on the roll as opposed to posting only to voters who specifically requested a mail in ballot. In New York state during their primary in June this year, a whopping 20% of mail in ballots were rejected primarily because of the confusion and errors in sending ballots to not fully accurate voter rolls. Thus, it came as a big surprise to observers to see the rejection rate of mail in ballots in the swing states that Trump appears to have lost to have minute rejection rates of 0.3%. This flies in the face of the statistical experience of prior Presidential elections and the chaos seen only months ago with mass mail in ballots being sent during the spring/summer primary elections. A partial explanation is that the cure rate of flawed ballots is higher but that is because state and county courts have arbitrarily expanded the time allowed to cure defective mail in ballots from the usual statutory 3 days to as long as 8 additional days without any amendment of the relevant statutes by state legislatures who alone are tasked in the US Constitution with the job of setting election rules. This issue is the subject of some of the Trump campaign lawsuits.

CONCLUSION. These various statistical patterns raise some serious concerns. The current uncertified election results sees a seemingly defeated Donald Trump defy a number of statistical conventions going back many decades over dozens of Presidential elections. The various anomalies unearthed by various people point to irregularities in the vote that should be investigated and litigated to the highest level possible to ensure widespread integrity in the voting system. Many criticise the Trump team for their efforts and yet ask yourself this, were the roles reversed we all know the Democrats would litigate and demand full examination of any and all irregularities and I would support them in that quest, again so that people of all political persuasions can know that elections in the US are fair and accurate. If all these investigations and lawsuits unearth anomalies that are insufficient to reverse any of the leads Biden currently holds in key states, counter to the fevered speculations of some of the left, I believe Trump will concede and do so with grace. But if the allegations made (and there are very many I have not gone over in my two posts including those made at the explosive press conference yesterday) are true, then we have the most existential political crisis the US has faced probably since the Civil War and the possible remedies and outcomes thereafter do not bear thinking about.

Share this: Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Reddit

WhatsApp

More

Pinterest

Print

Tumblr


The Herald reports:

The Local Government Minister is causing concern in the Opposition after detailing his belief that New Zealands founding document contains provisions that are different from a purely academic democratic framework.

Equality of suffrage is not just an academic concept. It is a fundamental human right according to two international conventions we subscribe to.

The Local Government Minister is causing concern in the Opposition after detailing his belief that New Zealands founding document contains provisions that are different from a purely academic democratic framework.  There are provisions that we have in this country that wouldnt stand up to a purely academic democratic framework but thats not how we work in New Zealand.

Again he is talking about equality of suffrage here.

Share this: Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Reddit

WhatsApp

More

Pinterest

Print

Tumblr


Shenandoah, IA (51601)

Today

Intervals of clouds and sunshine in the morning with more clouds for later in the day. High 68F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Clear to partly cloudy. Low 43F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.
A White 84-year-old homeowner who allegedly shot and wounded Ralph Yarl, a Black teen, after the 16-year-old went to the wrong home to pick up his siblings will face two felony charges, Clay County attorney Zachary Thompson announced early Monday evening.
A suspect was injured Monday morning during an officer-involved shooting that also involved a house fire. Pictured is the house where the suspect barricaded himself.
Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE  Get Rating) has earned an average recommendation of Moderate Buy from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $172.63.

Several research firms recently commented on ARE. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, February 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Thursday. JMP Securities reiterated a buy rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities in a research note on Tuesday, January 31st. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from $155.00 to $144.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from $162.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd.

Get Alexandria Real Estate Equities alerts:

Insider Buying and Selling at Alexandria Real Estate Equities

In other Alexandria Real Estate Equities news, Director Hunter Kass sold 3,803 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.45, for a total transaction of $636,812.35. Following the transaction, the director now owns 87,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,710,482.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Joel S. Marcus sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total value of $1,512,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 388,729 shares in the company, valued at $65,306,472. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Hunter Kass sold 3,803 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.45, for a total transaction of $636,812.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 87,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,710,482.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 16,101 shares of company stock worth $2,700,271. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alexandria Real Estate Equities

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Price Performance

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ARE. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 8.6% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 4,377 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $881,000 after buying an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 242.4% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,499 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $906,000 after buying an additional 3,185 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 14.4% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 4,753 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $957,000 after buying an additional 598 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 11.7% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,903 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $1,187,000 after buying an additional 620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisor Networks LLC boosted its holdings in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 7.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 1,086 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $219,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the companys stock.

Shares of ARE opened at $118.47 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $138.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $144.28. Alexandria Real Estate Equities has a fifty-two week low of $114.94 and a fifty-two week high of $203.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.51 billion, a PE ratio of 37.85, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.35.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE:ARE  Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 31st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.13 by ($1.82). The business had revenue of $670.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $674.21 million. Alexandria Real Estate Equities had a return on equity of 2.80% and a net margin of 20.15%. Alexandria Real Estate Equitiess revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.97 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Alexandria Real Estate Equities will post 8.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $1.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 30th. This represents a $4.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.09%. Alexandria Real Estate Equitiess payout ratio is 154.63%.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc engages in the business of providing space for lease. The firm is also an owner, operator, and developer of life science, agrotechnology, and technology campuses in Greater Boston, the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, San Diego, Seattle, Maryland, and Research Triangle.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Alexandria Real Estate Equities Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Alexandria Real Estate Equities and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS  Get Rating) has received a consensus rating of Hold from the twenty-four ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $247.00.

Several brokerages have weighed in on ESS. Scotiabank raised Essex Property Trust from a sector underperform rating to a sector outperform rating and set a $240.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 12th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Piper Sandler reissued a neutral rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, March 29th. They issued an underweight rating and a $208.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 9th.

Get Essex Property Trust alerts:

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:ESS opened at $207.94 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $219.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $219.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. Essex Property Trust has a 12-month low of $195.03 and a 12-month high of $363.36.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 31st were given a $2.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 30th. This is a boost from Essex Property Trusts previous quarterly dividend of $2.20. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.44%. Essex Property Trusts payout ratio is 147.13%.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 120 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. US Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 136.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 255 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 51.3% during the 3rd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 295 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alta Advisers Ltd acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $73,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.76% of the companys stock.

Essex Property Trust Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Essex Property Trust, Inc operates as a real estate investment trust. It engages in the ownership, operation, management, acquisition, development, and redevelopment of predominantly apartment communities. The company was founded by George M. Marcus in 1971 and is headquartered in San Mateo, CA.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Essex Property Trust Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Essex Property Trust and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Shares of Greenhill & Co., Inc. (NYSE:GHL  Get Rating) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of Hold from the six analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $11.38.

GHL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Greenhill & Co., Inc. from $9.50 to $8.50 and set a sell rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 11th. JMP Securities reiterated a market outperform rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Greenhill & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Greenhill & Co., Inc. from $6.50 to $7.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Greenhill & Co., Inc. from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, April 10th.

Get Greenhill & Co. Inc. alerts:

Greenhill & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Greenhill & Co., Inc. stock opened at $7.52 on Monday. Greenhill & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $5.64 and a 52 week high of $15.21. The companys 50-day moving average price is $10.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.33, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 2.50.

Greenhill & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

Greenhill & Co., Inc. ( NYSE:GHL Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $95.82 million during the quarter. Greenhill & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 1.27% and a return on equity of 4.87%.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 8th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.32%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 7th. Greenhill & Co., Inc.s dividend payout ratio is -571.43%.

Institutional Trading of Greenhill & Co., Inc.

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky purchased a new position in shares of Greenhill & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at $33,000. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Greenhill & Co., Inc. by 139.0% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,456 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 2,010 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Greenhill & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in shares of Greenhill & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Greenhill & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth approximately $63,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.14% of the companys stock.

About Greenhill & Co., Inc.

(Get Rating)

Greenhill & Co, Inc is an independent investment bank, which engages in the provision of financial and strategic advice. It specializes in mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, restructurings, financings, and capital raising. The company was founded by Robert F. Greenhill in 1996 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for Greenhill & Co. Inc. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Greenhill & Co. Inc. and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Shares of Pennon Group Plc (LON:PNN  Get Rating) have been given a consensus recommendation of Hold by the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is GBX 1,047.50 ($12.97).

Several brokerages have issued reports on PNN. Credit Suisse Group reaffirmed a neutral rating and issued a GBX 900 ($11.15) price objective on shares of Pennon Group in a research report on Monday, March 20th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Pennon Group to a sector perform rating and set a GBX 975 ($12.07) price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, February 13th.

Get Pennon Group alerts:

Pennon Group Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of LON:PNN opened at GBX 857.41 ($10.62) on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 263.07. Pennon Group has a 52-week low of GBX 735 ($9.10) and a 52-week high of GBX 1,124 ($13.92). The company has a 50 day moving average of GBX 868.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of GBX 883.41. The company has a market capitalization of 2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4,805.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.48 and a beta of 0.31.

Pennon Group Cuts Dividend

About Pennon Group

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 26th were paid a dividend of GBX 12.96 ($0.16) per share. This represents a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 26th. Pennon Groups dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22,222.22%.

(Get Rating)

Pennon Group Plc provides clean water and wastewater services in the United Kingdom. It provides water and wastewater services for customers in Cornwall, Devon, and parts of Dorset and Somerset; water-only services in the areas of Dorset, Hampshire, and Wiltshire; and water and wastewater retail services to non-household customers in Great Britain.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Pennon Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Pennon Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
The investigation obsession sweeping Washington, where House Republicans are overseeing nearly a dozen inquiries into the Democrat-controlled White House, potentially is set to be copied by lawmakers at the Indiana Statehouse.

Except Hoosier Republicans are preparing to scrutinize the actions of one of their own.

The Indiana House voted 78-21 Monday to approve Senate Bill 4, including a provision added to the legislation last week requiring an investigation of the state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which was led throughout by Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb.

The plan establishes a 12-member Health Powers Review Task Force, comprised of eight Republican lawmakers and four Democrats, charged with spending nearly two years assessing the actions taken by the state and local governments aimed at minimizing the spread of the coronavirus.

Specifically, the task force will focus on the legal authorities undergirding state and local prevention efforts to determine whether the law was followed, exceeded or otherwise misused.

"You remember '15 Days to Stop the Spread' quickly turned into a two-year emergency for the state of Indiana? During that time, there were a lot of very significant actions that were driven largely by the public health system, also by local governments and local agencies," said Rep. Chris Jeter, R-Fishers, the sponsor of the task force proposal.

Even though COVID-19 is "a distant memory that we'd like to try to forget," Jeter believes it's important for lawmakers to reassess the validity of school and business closures amid the pandemic, widespread employee layoffs, hospital procedure prioritization and visitor limitations, and face mask requirements in public places.

"These were all very significant actions that were taken and the economic impact from those actions were significant," he said.

"Before we plow another $220 million into the public health system, we owe it to our constituents to do a review of the two-year COVID emergency: What we did well, what we didn't do well, what legal authorities were properly used, which ones were improperly used, which ones maybe were underused. I think it will make us all wiser moving forward."

State courts repeatedly have upheld the governor's authority to enact COVID-19 prevention measures in accordance with the emergency powers granted to the governor by the General Assembly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

At no point during the 728 days that the governor's emergency declaration was in effect, from March 6, 2020, to March 3, 2022, did the Republican-controlled House and Senate opt to use their statutory authority to immediately terminate the state of emergency.

Nevertheless, Rep. Brad Barrett, R-Richmond  a sponsor of the underlying governor's priority measure focused on reimagining Indiana's post-pandemic public health services  said he welcomes the opportunity to revisit the COVID-19 era that saw more than 26,000 Hoosiers die from the coronavirus, notwithstanding the prevention efforts.

"As a responsible body, that look-back can really help us move forward," Barrett said.

On the other hand, Rep. Ed Delaney, D-Indianapolis, said he can't believe House Republicans seemingly are preparing to launch a multiyear, politically motivated attack against a sitting Republican governor.

"If I understand things correctly, the governor during this horrible time when the governor overreached was a member of the majority party. I'm trying to figure out exactly what we're doing here," Delaney said. "We all know what happened during COVID. We know the consequences. The job is improving public health. Not picking on the governor's office."

Since the legislation passed the House and Senate with different components, it next will head to a conference committee where lawmakers will try to devise a compromise proposal that must be re-approved by both chambers to go to the governor to be signed into law.
Auburn, IN (46706)

Today

Light rain early. Decreasing clouds with clear skies by morning. Scattered frost possible. Low 32F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Light rain early. Decreasing clouds with clear skies by morning. Scattered frost possible. Low 32F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
FILE - Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt speaks at a news conference Friday, April 29, 2022, in Oklahoma City. Stitt has signed a bill requiring public school students to use only the bathroom of the sex listed on their birth certificate. The bill was overwhelmingly approved last week by the Republican-controlled Legislature. It was proposed after Stillwater Public Schools declined to change a policy that allows students to use the bathroom that agrees with their gender identity. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], April 17 (ANI): Former Prime Minister HD Dewegowda's grandson Nikhil Kumaraswamy on Monday filed his nomination as a candidate of Janata Dal-Secular for the May 10 Assembly polls and expressed confidence that the party will be voted to power in Karnataka.

Nikhil Kumaraswamy filed his nominations from the Ramanagara segment.

Also Read | Delhi Shocker: Youth Stabbed to Death Near Posh Khan Market, Shock in Area (Disturbing Video).

After filing his nomination papers, he said that it was an emotional moment for him to receive a ticket from his grandfather.

"...When I took the ticket from veteran politician HD Deve Gowda, it was a very emotional moment," he told ANI, adding that the JDS delivered work and promises during their tenure in the State.

Also Read | Cylinder Blast in Delhi: Two Houses Collapse in Outer Delhis Kunwar Singh Nagar Area Due to Cylinder Blast, 9 Injured.

Earlier this month, while speaking to ANI, former Prime Minister Devegowda ruled out the possibility of forging an alliance with Congress and said that the party aims to win the elections on its own.

"Two national parties and one regional party (JSD) are fighting the battle. It is very difficult to assess who will win or form the government. So many people may claim "We are going to get the majority". Some people's assessment is Hung Assembly. At the same time, some surveys have been made about all the former CMs. In the survey, HD Kumaraswamy is the tallest leader," Deve Gowda said.

Notably, JDS had stitiched an alliance with the Congress after 2018 polls in which JDS secured 37 seats and Congress got 78 seats.

When asked that JDS had stitiched an alliance with the Congress in 2018 and whether it will again opt to join hands with Congress, he said, " The party will win the elections with thumping majority on its own."

"Kumaraswamy is not willing for any alliance with anybody. Yes, Congress, I have never attacked Rahul Gandhi or Sonia Gandhi, whether in office or not in the office. I have never attacked the Prime Minister. He is there for the last nearly 10 years," Deve Gowda added.

Karnataka will go to Assembly elections on May 10 in a single phase and the counting of votes will be done on May 13. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh) [India], April 17 (ANI): A fire broke out in a factory in the Swadeshi Compound Industry area of Ghaziabad on Sunday late evening.

Around 15 fire tenders are present on the spot.

Also Read | Gujarat Shocker: Couple Die by Beheading Themselves Using Guillotine-Like Device As Sacrificial Ritual; Police Find Suicide Note.

As of now, no casualty has been reported.

The fire department officials said that the fire has not been completely under control and efforts are underway to douse the fire.

Also Read | Rahul Gandhi Visits Nandini Milk Parlour in Bengaluru Amid Row Over Amul's Entry in Karnataka (Watch Video).

"The fire has not yet been completely brought under control. Plastic items like coolers, fans, and exhausts were stocked in large numbers in the factory, which caught fire. The fire had spread all over the company," the official said.

Officials further mentioned that the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.

"There has been a lot of damage in this fire. The cause of the fire is not yet clear. There has been no loss of life in the fire," the official said.

Earlier four vehicles were dispatched to the spot after the fire broke out in the factory. After initial efforts when the fire could not be controlled and we had to call more fire tenders from the surrounding areas," the official added. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], April 17 (ANI): Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta on Monday held a meeting to review the on-ground implementation of various Water Supply Schemes being implemented under Jal Jeevan Mission in multiple districts through video conferencing.

Those who were present on this occasion included Principal Secretary Jal Shakti, Shaleen Kabra; Secretary Jal Shakti, Deepika Sharma; Chief Engineer, Jal Shakti Jammu, Hamesh Manchanda besides other concerned officers.

Also Read | Heatwave Warning: IMD Issues Season's First Heat Wave Alert for 11 Districts in Jharkhand for Two Days, Temperatures May Rise Above 44 Degrees Celsius.

Works of different nature including Rapid Sand Filtration Plants, Over Head Water Tanks, laying of Pipeline network etc were inspected by the Chief Secretary. Works from districts of Budgam, Kulgam, Udhampur, Anantnag, Rajouri and Kathua were inspected virtually.

According to an official statement, besides taking the stock of the pace and progress of these works the Chief Secretary asked about material supply, financial status, and even operational training of staff intended to work at these plants.

Also Read | MPESB High School TET 2023 Result Declared At esb.mp.gov.in; Here's How to Check Score.

Mehta stressed on completing all these water supply schemes by August 15 this year.

He advised them that the workforce may be increased for the timely completion of JJM works and that financial issues be flagged for timely completion. He called for awareness drives and other IEC activities about the Jal Jeevan Mission.

On the occasion, the Chief Secretary spoke to Sarpanchs and received their feedback. The latter expressed satisfaction and confidence that on completion the schemes would help provide quality water supply to all.

The Sarpanchs were also asked about the status of overall developmental works carried out in their respective panchayats. Demands and grievances were noted and instructions were passed for immediate redressal for each of the raised demands/grievances.

"It was given out during this virtual interaction that out of 18,67,704 Households in J-K 11,05,414 had been provided the Functional Tap Connections. Moreover, works are in progress to provide tap connections to remaining 7,62,290 households," the statement said. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], April 17 (ANI): The Horticulture Department of the Jammu and Kashmir Government has introduced hi-tech poly houses named Walnut Nursery along with high-yielding dwarf varieties in a bid to increase the state's walnut production.

The step comes after the farmers in the valley are not very enthusiastic about growing of walnut trees because of their long gestation period of more than 10-15 years. It is also because of their huge size which makes sizable portion of land under them unfit for inter-cropping.

Also Read | Python Bites Woman, Husband Carries Snake To Hospital in Sack in Uttar Pradeshs Unnao; Heres Why.

Detailing about the project Dr. Mohd Saleem, Horticulture Development Officer, Walnut Nursery said "The introduction of Hi-Tech poly houses by the Horticulture department in Kashmir is a positive step towards increasing walnut production in the region. Polyhouses provide a controlled environment for plants, protecting them from pests, diseases, and extreme weather conditions."

"These Hi-Tech poly houses have the latest technology like controlling temperature and giving a suitable environment to the crop. This can lead to higher yields and better quality produce of walnuts as walnuts is an important cash crop in Kashmir and increasing production through the use of technology can have a positive impact on the local economy," he added.

Also Read | Madhya Pradesh Bomb Threat: Private School Receives Bomb Threat on Email in Indore; Police Suspect 'Prank'.

"The use of poly houses can also help to extend the growing season and improve the quality of the nuts which can lead to better prices in the market. These Hi-Tech poly houses with the latest technology play an important role for farmers to have access to training and support to help them adopt new technologies and improve their farming practices like training on irrigation, fertilization, pest management, and post-harvest handling," said Hilal Ahmad, Horticulture Officer.

One of the employees in the walnut nursery Hilal Ahmad praised the efforts of the Horticulture department and claimed that the poly houses are very beneficial for them. "In spite of growing walnuts in open, it's very helpful to grow inside. During snowfall also we can work inside these houses and the temperature can also be adjusted according to the requirement," said Hilal. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi [India], April 17 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday appreciated the work done under Swachh Bharat Mission in Tuensang, Nagaland.

Replying to a tweet by a Member of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly, Jacob Zhimomi, the Prime Minister tweeted, "Good! We've seen tremendous energy towards Swachhata all across India, which has led to tangible benefits in various sectors including health and women empowerment."

Also Read | Same-Sex Marriage: Supreme Court Agrees to List Tomorrow Centres Application on Maintainability of Pleas Seeking Legal Recognition of Lesbian and Gay Marriages.

"Carrying forward PM Shri @narendramodi Ji's vision of Swachh Bharat, Nagaland is leaving no stone unturned to achieve the same. Sharing pics of completed works from Tuensang district under Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin), 2022-23.1/2," Jacob Zhimomi tweeted.

The Swachh Bharat Mission was launched on October 2, 2014, with an aim to make the country open defecation-free and also universal sanitation coverage.

Also Read | 7th Pay Commission: IAS, IPS, IFS Officers Must Inform Government About Stock Market Related Transactions Under New Guidelines; Heres When and Why.

Earlier in 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 to make all our cities 'Garbage Free' and 'Water Secure'.

Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 envisions making all cities 'Garbage Free' and ensuring grey and black water management in all cities other than those covered under AMRUT, making all urban local bodies Open Defecation Free + (ODF+) and those with a population of less than 1 lakh as ODF++, thereby achieving the vision of safe sanitation in urban areas.

Exhorting the people across the country to get involved in the cleanliness campaign, PM Modi said taking the campaign forward will be a giant towards fulfilling Mahatma Gandhi's dream of a clean India. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi [India], April 17 (ANI): Supreme Court judge Justice KM Joseph on Monday recused from hearing a plea challenging appointment of Arun Goel as Election Commissioner.

The matter was listed before a bench of Justices Joseph and BV Nagarathna.

Also Read | Python Bites Woman, Husband Carries Snake To Hospital in Sack in Uttar Pradeshs Unnao; Heres Why.

After a brief hearing, Justice Joseph rescued from hearing the case and ordered that matter be listed before a bench of which he is not a member.

During the hearing, the bench questioned NGO 'Association for Democratic Reforms' for challenging Goel's appointment and asked it to show which rules were violated.

Also Read | Madhya Pradesh Bomb Threat: Private School Receives Bomb Threat on Email in Indore; Police Suspect 'Prank'.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan appearing for the NGO submitted that he responded by proposing that the appointment was done arbitrarily and the whole process was malafide.

He said the selection process adopted by the government was questionable.

The plea said that there were 160 officers who belonged to the 1985 batch and some of them were younger than Goel.

"However, without any explanation as to why the officers who were younger in age than Goel and who would have a full tenure of six years as mandated by Section 4 of the Election Commission (Conditions of Service of Election Commissioners and Transaction of Business) Act, 1991 were not empanelled, the government appointed Goel as Election Commissioner," it added.

Former bureaucrat and a former IAS officer of the Punjab cadre, Arun Goel assumed charge as the new Election Commissioner of India in November last year. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, Apr 17 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear during the day a plea of the Kerala government against the high court order asking it to translocate rice-eating tusker 'Arikkomban' to the Parambikulam tiger reserve in Palakkad district of the state.

A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud took note of the submissions of the government that it is difficult to translocate the tusker which has allegedly killed seven persons so far in the state.

Also Read | Delhi Building Collapse: Eight Injured After Residential Building Collapses in Kunwar Singh Nagar Area Due to Cylinder Blast (Watch Video).

The relocation of the elephant is very difficult in a small state like Kerala, the counsel for the state government said.

You keep three copies ready. We will hear it at the end of the board today itself, said the bench which also comprised justices P S Narasimha and J B Parrdiwala.

Also Read | Same-Sex Marriage: Pleas Seeking Legal Recognition of Gay Marriages Reflect Urban Elitist Views, Centre Tells Supreme Court.

On April 12, the Kerala High Court refused to review its decision to translocate the rice-eating tusker to the Parambikulam tiger reserve.

The high court on April 5 had ordered relocation of the tusker to the tiger reserve as suggested by the CoE appointed by it to decide whether to relocate or keep in captivity the bull elephant.

The directions of the court came on a PIL by two animal rights groups, People for Animals (PFA), Trivandrum Chapter and the Walking Eye Foundation for Animal Advocacy.

However, local residents close to the tiger reserve have been protesting against the decision.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Kochi (Kerala) [India], April 17 (ANI): The Indian Railway successfully completed the trial run of Kerala's first Vande Bharat Express from Thiruvananthapuram to Kannur on Monday.

The trial run started from Thiruvananthapuram railway station at 5:10 am and reached Kannur at 12:30 pm.

Also Read | Heatstroke Kills 11 at Maharashtra Bhushan Awards: Amit Shah Condoles Death of Attendees at Award Event in Kharghar.

Meanwhile, top officials of the Thiruvananthapuram division and engineering department authorities joined the journey to Kannur.

On April 14, Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Vishukaineettam" (gift) this year is the Vande Bharat train service for Kerala.

Also Read | Job Scam Alert: UK Gurdwara Issues Warning After Indians Duped with Fake Job and Visa Offers.

"The demand for a high-speed train for Kerala has now been fulfilled. Prime Minister takes special care of Kerala. Under PM Narendra Modi's leadership, the Centre is taking all efforts for the development of Kerala," he said.

Muraleedharan said though the Centre had earlier indicated that Kerala will get the Vande Bharat train, a campaign was unleashed that the state had been denied the train.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to flag off the Vande Bharat train service during his visit to Kerala later this month.

Vande Bharat Express is an indigenously manufactured, semi-high speed and self-propelled train set.

The train is equipped with state-of-the-art passenger amenities, providing passengers with a faster, more comfortable and more convenient travel experience. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Hyderabad, Apr 17 (PTI): YSR Congress Lok Sabha MP from Andhra Pradesh Y S Avinash Reddy on Monday filed an anticipatory bail application in the Telangana High Court, ahead of his appearance before the CBI here in connection with the murder of former Minister Y S Vivekananda Reddy.

Also Read | Madhya Pradesh Bomb Threat: Private School Receives Bomb Threat on Email in Indore; Police Suspect 'Prank'.

However, the court adjourned to April 18 the hearing on the anticipatory bail petition.

Also Read | Bengaluru Bomb Blast Case: Supreme Court Relaxes Abdul Nazir Maudany's Bail Condition, Allows Him To Stay in Kerala Till July 9.

The petitioner's father Y S Bhaskar Reddy, uncle of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, was arrested by the central agency on April 16 in connection with the murder.

The CBI, which is investigating the case had issued notice to the Kadapa MP asking him to appear before it on Monday for questioning.

Avinash Reddy's counsel contended that there was no material to connect his client to the case, except the statement of one of the accused.

After hearing the counsels of Avinash Reddy and the CBI, the High Court adjourned the matter to Tuesday.

The agency is now likely to question Avinash Reddy on Tuesday.

Vivekananda Reddy, one of the brothers of late Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, was found murdered at his residence in Pulivendula in Kadapa district, on March 15, 2019, weeks before the Assembly elections in the State.

The case was initially probed by a special investigation team (SIT) of the state crime investigation department, but was handed over to the CBI in July 2020.

The CBI filed a charge sheet in the murder case on October 26, 2021 and followed it up with a supplementary charge sheet on January 31, 2022.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Kathmandu, April 17: An Indian climber went missing while attempting to climb the 10th highest mountain- Mt Annapurna in Nepal on Monday afternoon. A search operation to locate the missing climber identified as Anurag Maloo (34) from Kishangargh of Rajasthan, India has continued since afternoon.

"Search operation is on. He fell into a crevasse while returning from Camp IV this afternoon," Chairman of Seven Summit Treks, Mingma Sherpa confirmed ANI. Indian Climber Missing at Mount Annapurna in Nepal, Anurag Maloo Had Fallen Down From Around 6,000m Into a Crevasse.

As per the official from the expedition organizing organization, the climber went missing after he fell down from around 6,000m while descending from Camp III. Indian Climber Narayanan Iyer Dies While Trying to Scale Mt Kanchenjunga in Nepal.

Maloo also had abandoned the summit attempt and was on his way back to the camp when he fell into the crevasse this afternoon. His condition is yet to be known.

The aspiring mountaineer last year had successfully ascended Mount Ama Dablam and was planning to stand atop Mount Everest, Annapurna and Lhotse this season.

He was also on a mission to climb all 14 peaks above 8000 meters and 7 summits to create awareness and dive action towards achieving the UN Global Goals #ClimbingForSDGs.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Islamabad [Pakistan], April 17 (ANI): Eight Sialkot police officers and employees have been sacked in Pakistan over their involvement in murder and corruption cases and absence from government duty, Dawn reported.

According to the department, DPO Hasan Iqbal took action against 135 officials after complaints of people and departmental inquiries. The department forcibly retired ASI Ijaz Ahmed for receiving a bribe from a person and ASI Murtaza Ghamman over their involvement in a murder case.

Also Read | Indian Climber Anurag Maloo Goes Missing at Mount Annapurna in Nepal, Search Operation Continues.

Constable Muhammad Rashid has been dismissed for his involvement in a murder case in Shakargarh. Meanwhile, Azmat Ali was dismissed for his involvement in the Satrah police station murder case, as per the Dawn report.

Furthermore, constables Zeeshan Ahmed, Shiraz Ahmed and Adeel Ashraf and police van driver Yasin were sacked for continuous absence from government duty. The department ordered the confiscation of services of 85 police and traffic police officers and employees for their negligence in duty.

Also Read | Sudan Clash: Ministry of External Affairs Sets Up Control Room To Provide Information, Assistance to Indians.

DPO Hasan Iqbal directed 43 police officers and employees to continue their work and warned them regarding departmental disqualification, as per the Dawn report.

Meanwhile, the Anti-Violent Crime Cell (AVCC) police, in collaboration with law enforcement agencies, raided Shah Latif Town police station and recovered two youngsters who were abducted for ransom by Karachi Police, The News International reported.

The two kidnapped youths - Asad and Arman were abducted from Zakaria Goth for a ransom of Rs 50 lakh, but a deal was settled for Rs 10 lakh. During the raid, the AVCC police arrested four suspects, including two policemen, as per the news report.

A case has been lodged against them while the search for another suspect, who happens to be the incharge of a special party of Malir Division police, is being conducted. SHO Shah Latif denied his involvement in the kidnapping of the two youths, as per The News International report. However, he has been suspended and the District Malir SSP has started an inquiry to find how the abducted youths were brought and kept at the Shah Latif police station.

"I have no link with the kidnapping," the suspended Shah Latif SHO, Malik Mazhar Iqbal Awan, said as he spoke to The News. He further said, "Those who were involved in the kidnapping have been arrested and a case against them registered." (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Patna, April 17: After the hooch tragedy in Bihar's East Champaran that has claimed 31 lives, the district police suspended SHOs of five police stations, an official said on Monday.

A letter in this regard was issued from the district SP office saying that the SHOs of Turkaulia, Sugaili, Paharpur, Harsidhi and Raghunathpur police stations have been suspended with immediate effect. Six Dead After Consuming Spurious Liquor in Motihari, CM Nitish Calls It 'sad Incident'.

Kantesh Kumar Mishra, the SP of East Champaran district said: "The officers of five police stations were suspected for their callous attitude. Hence, we have taken action against them and suspended them from immediate effect. We have also arrested 20 accused so far. The district police will not let anyone go scot free."

Meanwhile, the toll has reached 31 in the hooch tragedy that struck on Thursday. 22 people had died till Saturday and nine more persons succumbed till Monday morning. Bihar Hooch Tragedy: CM Nitish Kumar Repeats Appeal in State Assembly, Says If You Drink, You Will Die.

According to a police officer, 20 people were admitted to different private hospitals in the district. Five of them are in serious condition. Besides, eight people have lost their eyesights.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 17, 2023 10:02 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
New Delhi, April 17: Vedanta Group on Monday said it has signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with 20 Korean companies from the display glass industry for the development of an electronics manufacturing hub in India.

The MoUs were signed at the recently-concluded 'Korea Biz-Trade Show 2023' event organised by KOTRA, the state-funded trade and investment promotion organisation operated by the South Korean government, in collaboration with Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

"More than 50 companies have shown their interest in partnering with us and we are pleased to announce that we have signed MoUs with 20 Korean companies engaged in the electronics manufacturing value chain," said Akarsh K. Hebbar, Global Managing Director of Vedanta's Semiconductor and Display business. Vedanta Board Approves Plan to Raise Rs 2,100 Cr Via NCDs.

Along with the Indian government, "we showcased the immense investment opportunities that our country has to offer, supported by conducive policies, good talent and a robust innovation ecosystem," he added. Hebbar invited prospective partners and customers to join Vedanta in establishing an electronics hub, supported by favourable government policies.

The proposed electronics ecosystem hub has the potential to attract more than 150 companies and create upwards of 1,00,000 direct and indirect jobs. Vedanta's greenfield display fab would be one of the anchors for this proposed hub.

Amit Kumar, India's Ambassador to South Korea said that the Indian electronics industry is of one the fastest sectors in the country and is expected to reach $300 billion by 2026, driven by robust domestic demand, government incentives, and increasing consumer spending power.

He pointed out that this presents a lucrative opportunity for Korean companies, known for their technology prowess and innovation, to tap into a vast and growing Indian market.

In December last year, Vedanta had received a similar invitation for a roadshow in Japan, which was attended by more than 200 delegates from around 100 companies. Undue Favour Given to Vedanta: SC Upholds Quashing of Land Acquisition for University in Odisha.

That roadshow concluded with Vedanta signing MoUs with 30 Japanese firms, according to the company. Vedanta and Foxconn signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Gujarat government last year to invest Rs 1,54,000 crore to set up the semiconductor and display manufacturing plant which is India's first.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 17, 2023 02:51 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
TIMES STAFF WRITER

The governments way of marking the end of Kenyas last year of single-party rule was not a particularly encouraging one: A squadron of presidential guards invaded a provincial hotel a few days before Jan. 1 and attacked a group meeting in support of Kenyas leading opposition party. At least four people were beaten and robbed.

But the incident in Nakuru, a prosperous farming town, failed to obscure a sea change in the politics of this East African nation. The administration of President Daniel Arap Moi, who as recently as two months ago seemed to have a stubborn grip on national politics, is in desperate retreat.

Since late last month, when Moi legalized multi-party politics under pressure from foreign aid donors, the authority of his Kenya African National Union (KANU)--until then the sole legal political party in the country--has crumbled. Serious debate on national policies, previously the province only of a handful of officially harassed publications, has flowered in the local press to an extent not seen in more than a decade.

Advertisement

That atmosphere promises to become even more intense in the run-up to nationwide elections, which Moi is expected to call early this year. Already one new party has registered with the government: the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy, or FORD, which was instrumental in pressuring the donors, and thus Moi, into ending KANUs political monopoly. At least one other group with strong political credentials is likely to register shortly, and smaller parties have begun organizing.

All this is happening amid wide uncertainty over how the balloting might unfold. Moi, who has ruled Kenya since October, 1978, is constitutionally required to call an election by 1993, but his timing is sure to hang on his appraisal of the relative strength of KANU and other parties.

FORD leaders have said they would not be organized for an election before October, but other observers argue that a relatively early election would be to the new partys advantage. That way it can ride the current wave of popular enthusiasm for new politics--and finish a campaign before inevitable policy and factional splits appear among its own leaders.

Few can guess how Kenyans will behave in a multi-party election. Before the latest events, Kenyas last opposition party to contest an election was the Kenya Peoples Union, which was banned in 1969.

Mois own core popularity is difficult to judge. Political observers in the country believe he is likely to lose in the big cities, such as Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu, but his political strength in rural districts is hard to measure. Moreover, no one can say today even what KANU and FORD will represent by the time of an election, as scores of politicians have been defecting from KANU to join FORD or form their own new parties.

Moi himself, one of the last African leaders to publicly embrace the concept of multi-party democracy, has been increasingly isolated, even within the councils of KANU. When the party scheduled a session of its leadership council for last Monday, rumors swept the political community that several party officials were plotting to force him to step down.

Hes lost all of his top supporters and friends in KANU, observed a Western diplomat with extensive political contacts. Hes got no one.

As it turned out, there was no ouster. But nevertheless the president is finding himself ruler of an ever-diminishing domain.

Over the last three weeks, six ministers--including three of Cabinet rank--have voluntarily left the government and the party. Two others, including Peter Oloo Aringo, a minister for manpower development and a leading reformist, were dismissed by Moi amid the government turmoil. Aringo, who had been KANUs national chairman, evidently realized his days were numbered when he was left off a party committee drafting its election manifesto. He later announced he had joined FORD, where he became one of its most important members from the influential Luo tribe. Scores of other officials have resigned from the party, most of them to join FORD.

Perhaps the most important defection came on Christmas Day, when former Vice President Mwai Kibaki announced his resignation as minister of health, a Cabinet post. One week later he said he would leave KANU, of which he was a founding member, and form a new opposition party.

It was a bombshell, said Kwendo Opanga, a political writer for the Daily Nation, one of Kenyas three English-language newspapers. A vice president under Moi for 10 years, Kibaki has emerged as the leading challenger for the presidency.

For all that, many political observers here see some reason for dismay in how Kenyan politics have begun to take shape in the new era of liberalization. As many feared and Moi himself predicted, political alliances have taken shape through tribal identifications.

Tribalism is an explosive issue in Kenya as in many other African nations, where ones ethnic background is still more important and potent than ones professional or economic associations.

Many see the creation of a political infrastructure encouraging economic or cultural alliances outside of the tribe as the most pressing need in the new era of political liberalization.

If you had parties which derived their strength from labor, or the legal profession, or womens groups, says Peter AnyangNyango, a political scientist and founding member of FORD, then a democracy here would be strong and Id be much happier.

The politicians jockeying for position in Kenya today are judged by their standing within their own tribes: Kibaki, for example, is viewed as potentially the most powerful Kikuyu--the largest tribe in the country and one with visions of establishing a ruling dynasty. Oloo Aringo is considered an important figure not only because of his service as KANU national chairman but because he may be the countrys strongest Luo politician except for former Vice President Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, a FORD founder who, at 80, is too old to serve in any capacity except as patriarchal figurehead.

In the absence of grass-roots organizations, much of what is happening today in Kenyan politics is little more than politicians positioning themselves to retain their old power under the new system. It is lost on almost no one that most of the leaders deserting KANU today were very recently part of the chorus that echoed Mois attacks on opposition leaders.

If they had done three years ago what they are doing now, said Anglican Archbishop Manassas Kuria of the officials leaving KANU, Kenya would not have reached the dangerous point it has reached. He added that the Kenyan Anglican Church had been publicly protesting rigged elections, corruption, and political assassination for years.

Meanwhile, Moi and other remaining KANU leaders have not lost the opportunity to stress the tribal basis of their opponents political activities, arguing that their repeated warnings that multi-party democracy would engender tribal conflict are coming true. (Its noteworthy that Moi, during his regime, has promoted people from his own small ethnic group, the Kalenjin, far out of proportion to their numbers in the total population.)

Moi has also accused the newly organized parties of relying on foreign backing and charged that they are intent on fomenting violence in the countryside.

Kibaki and other defectors, he charged, had been secretly undermining KANU as long as they remained in the government. (Kibakis Sabotage Plot, headlined the KANU-owned Kenya Times.)

There are signs that Moi is using other tactics to undermine the opposition. At dawn on Sunday, for example, Kenya Police raided the offices of the weekly magazine Society, a leading opposition voice, and seized copies and printing plates for its forthcoming issue under a law forbidding publication of material denigrating the president.

The cover of the magazine, which has a circulation of about 30,000, was to bear the headline Kibaki Wants Moi Out, and an inside article was entitled The Cost of Killing Ouko, according to the magazines publisher, Pius Nyamora.

We were really surprised, Nyamora said after the raid. We thought Kenya was becoming a more open country, but this is really taking us back again.

On several occasions Kenyan police have broken up political organizing meetings, which now are technically legal, on grounds that the organizers did not have permits to meet.

The incident in Nakuru town was potentially more serious. Witnesses said more than 40 plainclothes policemen, evidently attached to the detail at Mois nearby State House, entered the hotel on Dec. 29 and took up strategic positions at its doorways. They assaulted patrons who were heard mentioning FORD, and at one point drew pistols. Police officials later refused to comment, but the episode and others like it provoked opposition leaders to charge that KANU was using civil servants to protect its political franchise.

I think he (Moi) is playing a very dangerous game, said AnyangNyango.
Times Staff Writer

For 16 years, Dane Johnsten has been a pain-in-the-neck panhandler in this citys Castro district.

On some days, the gangly 39-year-old in the filthy Army fatigues and torn motorcycle jacket can make people smile with his reality-of-the-streets comedy rap.

Having a bad day? he asks. Well, Im having a worse one.

But his mood can change, almost between breaths.

One misplaced word will trigger him, said Ray Powers, owner of the Welcome Home restaurant. Hell go bananas and haunt you for a week. Hell walk by and stare at you.

Advertisement

Johnsten has been booted from churches for being too loud. Hes unloaded on people for taking up too much sidewalk, tying up the pay phone or suggesting there might be medications for his brand of in-your-face anger.

He once had three restraining orders for abusing neighbors and businesses, Police Officer Lisa Frazer said. One by one, the people moved away for one reason or another. But Dane stayed. He outlived them all.

These days, Johnstens life is less defined by such standoffs. More people give him the benefit of the doubt.

Because last month he did something no one expected. In 15 fast-moving minutes, Johnsten went from pariah to hero.

*

Johnsten arrived in the Castro in 1990, a 23-year-old drifter on the run from his rural roots.

He grew up in Ravenna, Neb. (pop. 1,000). He hated small-town life. There were fights with his terminally square parents. He stole things and grew his hair into dreadlocks. In high school, he said, he was voted most likely to be murdered.

Still, he tried to fit in: He served in the Army, worked as a vat cleaner in a cheese factory. He bought a house.

But Johnsten was also bisexual in a place where few admitted such things. In Nebraska, youre not gay, youre just drunk, he scoffed.

One day, over a seemingly innocuous incident -- a motorcycle repair more expensive than hed planned -- Johnsten abandoned his house, truck and job. He hit the road.

I wanted to be a rock star, he said. Maybe I shouldve learned to play an instrument and joined a band.

Instead, he landed in Eugene, Ore., where he frequented shelters and earned money selling sex in a park.

Then he moved to San Franciscos Castro, where plenty of men were willing to pay for sex. One customer rented an apartment for Johnsten. When that relationship soured, he returned to the streets.

I had this thing about my trick, he said. I didnt want him to touch me.

Social workers urged Johnsten to clean himself up. He not only stubbornly stayed on the streets, he stopped washing his hands to thumb his nose at the do-gooders.

I didnt want to rejoin society, he said. This country is always going off to fight unjust wars, and Im the one whos loony because I talk to myself and wont wash my hands.

*

With his disheveled hair, scraggly beard and piercing opal eyes, Johnsten cuts an intimidating figure. Hes anything but predictable.

One night, he walked into a community centers open-mike comedy night. People gasped, said Frazer, the officer who patrols the Castro. They knew how outrageous Dane could be. But he took the mike for three minutes of comedy that were really funny.

Days later, Johnsten was his hair-trigger self when Frazer asked why he wouldnt accept help to leave the streets.

He told how one Midwestern town caught all the stray dogs and killed them, she said. Then he ran down the street, yelling, Please dont kill me! People stared at me. Dane creates that kind of drama.

He once exploded at a store owner for implying he was a thief. I called her fat, he said. She cried and people blamed me. I wanted to tell them, Hey, Im crying inside too. 

Isaiah Carter, a manager at the Body clothing store on Castro Street, had run-ins with Johnsten, but Carter said he came to realize that Johnstens bad behavior was a way of acting out in self-defense.

Dane isnt one of those psychotics whose mind is already gone, whose spirit has left the building, Carter said. Hes still here among us.

Along with the outbursts, Johnsten reveals another side. He reads newspapers he scrounges from trash bins and talks knowledgeably about politics and foreign affairs.

Johnsten has broken up fights between other street denizens. He once found a credit card outside an automated teller machine and turned the card in to the bank. He stepped in to stop a mugger from robbing a store owner he had befriended.

Johnsten said he no longer steals, for one reason: Its what people expect. No one believes in you. Youre a thief because youre homeless. You go the extra mile to prove them wrong.

He once saw a freezer come unlashed from the bed of a parked pickup, about to topple into the street. He jumped up and helped the driver secure the appliance. He gave me 20 bucks, Johnsten said. For a week, I walked around looking for more falling freezers.

*

Around dinnertime on April 29, Johnsten was panhandling outside his favorite Castro Street bank when a passing motorist suffered a seizure.

As Johnsten watched, the mans car slammed into a BMW. Gasoline flowed on the street, igniting vehicles and setting two storefronts ablaze.

Johnsten dashed to the burning BMW. The driver, slumped behind the wheel, wasnt breathing. Johnston leaned through the window and gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Ray Powers, the restaurant owner, watched the drama from his upstairs apartment.

I told my partner, Holy Christ! The neighborhoods in flames! And theres that guy Dane on top of everything! 

There were other rescuers: Carter, the store manager, also ran toward the wreckage. So did Tony Koester, dressed in drag as a nun -- a veil, a red-and-white miniskirt, fishnet stockings and platform pumps -- a get-up he wore as a member of a gay fundraising group, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

As flames engulfed the back seat of the BMW, bystanders moved back, fearing an explosion. Johnsten went around to the passenger door.

People shouted, Stay back, its going to blow! Dane got inside the car and tried to move the victim. But his legs were stuck, Carter said. So he [got out and] began shouting for extinguishers. People came running. He kept yelling, We need more! 

As the flames receded, Johnsten slid back into the car. With the help of others, he pulled the driver out and carried him to a parking lot.

The victim, a 58-year-old marble artisan named Raymond Lee Carver, didnt survive. But nobody blamed Dane Johnsten.

Carter found Johnsten in the crowd. He asked if he needed anything. He said he could use a few dollars for something to eat, Carter said. So I gave him what I had in my wallet, which was $20. He gave me $10 back and said, This is enough. 

Koester also sought out Johnsten, with whom he had once traded angry words after Johnsten accused him of hogging the sidewalk. That night Koester hugged his old nemesis like an old friend.

Dane, he said, you and I havent always gotten along. But tonight youre my hero.

The day after the accident, television cameras followed Johnsten on his panhandling routine. Passersby sought him out. Strangers sent checks to the Welcome Home restaurant, where he collects his mail. People pressed money into his hand.

Dane, you did a good thing, one man said recently, slipping Johnsten a $20 bill as the two passed on the street a block from the accident site. Here, take this. You deserve more.

At a makeshift memorial at the crash site, Judy Chew, Carvers longtime partner, spotted someone fitting the description of the man who had tried to save her boyfriend.

Are you Dane? she asked.

The two embraced. He told me he was so sorry he couldnt do more, Chew said. I told him it was perfectly fine what he did.

Chew asked if she could do something for Johnsten. He declined, saying the Castros residents had already been more than generous.

He said people had given him cash, she said. Then he asked me if that was all right -- that he accept the money. I was really touched by that.

Carter said Johnsten has changed peoples minds.

They have a newfound respect for him, he said. Because they know if something horrible happens to them, Dane just might be the one who comes to the rescue. Ive heard people say that maybe its not a bad thing to have him here on the streets. Hes watching over us.

Johnsten endures the acclaim as he once did the scoffs and dirty looks. He still feels misunderstood, insisting hes nobodys hero: Others also risked their lives trying to save Carver.

After the crash, city officials made Johnsten housing offers. He turned them down.

That crash was a horrible thing -- nobody wants to watch someone die before his eyes, he said. But maybe my efforts to save that mans life might help defend me against closed-minded people who think, How could a homeless guy do something good like this? They dont even see me as a human being.

But you know what? Im not a bad person.

Johnsten has returned to his routine: panhandling along Castro Street, telling his jokes, visiting his merchant friends. People still get on his nerves.

One recent day, a stranger stared as Johnsten passed a doughnut shop window.

Whatre you looking at? he challenged. OK, fine. Ill move along. You win.
Times Staff Writers

Seung-hui Cho drifted in silence through four years of high school and his first year in college, all but lost in the throng.

But as a sophomore, he discovered his place in life: He would be a writer.

During the summer break, he had spent hours writing manuscripts. He changed his major to English. And he submitted a book proposal to a New York publisher, sort of like Tom Sawyer except that its really silly and pathetic, he explained in an e-mail to one professor.

Advertisement

Rather than provide a path out of his troubled world, though, his writing ambition brought disappointment, followed by a downward spiral of bizarre behavior. It culminated in a bloody massacre on the Virginia Tech campus in which Cho killed 32 students and teachers before turning the gun on himself.

The shootings April 16 prompted universities across the country to tighten their security alert systems.

In the most comprehensive report to date of the shootings, a panel appointed by Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine faulted the decision by authorities not to issue a campuswide notification after the first two students were killed in a dorm, two hours before the deadly rampage in the classrooms of Norris Hall.

The report also faulted the Virginia Tech Police Department for prematurely concluding that the initial shooting was an incident of domestic violence, spending hours tracking and interviewing a person of interest who was not involved, while Cho regrouped and reloaded for the later, deadlier assault.

The failure to give notice in a prompt fashion was a clear error, Kaine said in a news conference discussing the results of the four-month study. That could have made a difference in this particularly tragedy, but it probably wouldnt have averted the tragedy.

Kaine said that what really might have made the difference was connecting some of the mental health dots. The report noted that school officials and others did not share information on Chos behavior because they believed federal privacy laws banned any disclosure of a students mental health records. Kaine said that may have been too strict an interpretation of the law.

Tracy Littlejohn, a Virginia Tech graduate from Simi Valley whose cousin Erin Peterson was killed by Cho, said Thursday that she wished more could have been done to alert students after the first shooting. I cannot say that Erin would not have died that day, but she would have at least had the information about her safety. Littlejohn said. She was sitting in French class. She had no idea.

Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger said it was painful to hear the blunt and, in some cases, critical findings of the report. But, he added, no one at this university had any foreknowledge of his mental health problems.

Laid out in painstaking detail by the panel, which interviewed more than 200 individuals and pored over thousands of pages of documents, the tortured saga of Seung-hui Cho reads like a life-long primal scream.

The signs of trouble in Chos life were clear almost from the beginning.

Born in Seoul, South Korea, Cho developed whooping cough as a baby, and doctors suspected a hole in his heart. When he was 3, a medical procedure performed on him, believed to be an echocardiograph or a cardiac catheterization, was so traumatic that Cho developed a lifelong fear of being touched.

When he was 9, the family moved to Fairfax County, Va., so that Cho and his older sister, Sun-kyung, would have access to a better education. Despite problems communicating -- no one in the family spoke English when they arrived -- Cho seemed to be adjusting. He enrolled in a tae kwon do program, watched television and played video games such as Sonic the Hedgehog.

But he said very little. Sometimes his mother would get so frustrated at his silence she would shake him. If asked to respond to a visitor, he would develop sweaty palms, become pale, freeze and sometimes cry.

By the time he was in the sixth grade, he had grown withdrawn and uncommunicative. Teachers recommended therapy, and the Chos overcame several obstacles to get their son the help he needed, alternating absences from their dry cleaning business to drive him to weekly sessions.

In the eighth grade, an art therapist noticed that his paintings were growing darker. After the murders at Columbine High School in 1999, Cho wrote what officials deemed a disturbing paper for his English class expressing thoughts of suicide and homicide, saying he wanted to repeat Columbine. The school contacted Chos sister, who reported the incident to their parents. Cho was sent to a psychiatrist.

The doctor diagnosed Cho as having depression and selective mutism -- an anxiety disorder marked by the inability to speak in certain social situations. He prescribed an antidepressant, paroxetine, which Cho took for almost a year. The drug appeared to help. He seemed to be in a good mood, looked brighter and smiled more.

The doctor stopped the medication, and Cho stopped going to counseling. There is nothing wrong with me, he told his parents.

He graduated from Westfield High School with a 3.5 grade-point average and SAT scores of 540 for verbal and 620 for math. A high school guidance counselor strongly recommended a small college, cautioning that Virginia Tech, with 26,000 students, was too large. But Cho insisted and was accepted. Westfield sent his academic records, but not reports of his special-ed needs. They never told Virginia Tech officials of his history.

At first, the family thought he was adjusting well to college. He asked for a new roommate after the first one left their room messy with beer cans. Cho seemed excited by his studies in business information technology. He also took classes in biology, math, communications, political science and poetry.

In his sophomore year, he moved off campus and decided to switch his major to English. Writing to Lucinda Roy, the chairwoman of the department, he asked for the names of a publisher or agent who could help get him published. My novel is relative[ly] short, he e-mailed. Sort of like Tom Sawyer except that its really silly and pathetic, depending on how you look at it.

He was not a gifted English student. One of his English professors gave him a D-, another a C+.

Late in the school year, his sister found a rejection letter from a New York publisher. She consoled her brother by telling him all writers have to work at their craft for a long time before they are published.

By the fall, in his junior year, he moved back to the dorms, and signs of trouble came quickly. Once, when roommates brought him along to a party, he used a knife to stab at the carpet in a female students room.

In Nikki Giovannis poetry writing class, he wore mirrored glasses and a hat pulled down to obscure his face. He used his cellphone to take pictures of other students. He wrote a satire about an animal massacre butcher shop. Other students stopped coming to the class, and Giovanni contacted Roy and insisted that Cho be withdrawn. Roy agreed and began tutoring him one-on-one.

When Cho refused to go to counseling, Roy notified university officials, the counseling center and the Virginia Tech police. The universitys Care Team, which reviews students with problems, discussed his case.

Throughout the fall, female students complained about Chos behavior. In November 2005, a female resident filed a report with the Virginia Tech Police Department saying Cho had annoying contact with her on the Internet, by phone and in person. Police interviewed him, but she declined to press charges.

He sent an instant message to one of his suitemates saying, I might as well kill myself. The student reported the statement to the police, who took him for screening by a social worker. She recorded her findings, saying that he was mentally ill and an imminent threat. She recommended involuntary hospitalization.

Cho was admitted to Carilion St. Albans Psychiatric Hospital. A staff psychiatrist, based on Chos denial of past mental health problems, found no indication of psychosis, delusions, suicidal or homicidal ideation. Shortly after 11 a.m. the next morning, a special judge ordered follow-up treatment as an outpatient. Cho was discharged at 2 p.m. and kept his counseling appointment at 3 p.m. The report from that session is missing.

In the spring, problems continued. Cho was mute in class, his papers dark and troubling. Professor Robert Hicok was concerned, and consulted with Roy, the department chairwoman. In one of his papers for Hicok, who gave him a D+, Cho wrote I hate this! I hate all these frauds! I hate my life. . . . This is it. . . . This when you damn people die with me.

As 2007 began, Cho placed an online order for a handgun, picking it up from the pawnbroker across the street from the campus. He rented a van for a month, in which he videotaped his rantings, later sent to NBC.

As winter made way for spring, he took shooting practice at a firing range and bought more guns and ammunition, complying with the states 30-day waiting period. A background check found no record of mental health issues.

On the night of April 15, Cho made his usual Sunday evening call to his parents. He asked how they were, and he seemed his regular self, showing no outward signs of distress. He told his parents he did not need any money. They told him they loved him.

The next morning he was dead, along with 32 others.

--

johanna.neuman@latimes.com

tina.macias@latimes.com

Times staff writer Molly Hennesey-Fiske contributed to this report

--

On latimes.com Text of the report For the complete text of the review panels report on the Virginia Tech shootings, go to latimes.com/vatech
In March, people protest the fatal police shooting of Quanice Hayes in Portland, Ore. A grand jury concluded that a police officer was justified in shooting Hayes.

With yet another police chief under suspicion and on forced leave, Portland, Ore., seems to have taken another step towards becoming a real life Portlandia, the absurdist TV series.

Just nine months after being appointed to replace a chief who is charged with accidentally shooting a friend during a beer-fueled camping trip, Interim Chief Mike Marshman was put on paid leave March 24 by Mayor Ted Wheeler in connection with an allegedly falsified department attendance log.

Counting Marshmans second-in-command, Lt. Michael Leasure  who also is on leave and being investigated for allegedly signing the chief into a training session Marshman didnt attend in March  10 Portland officers are currently on paid leave while internal investigations proceed, the Portland Police Bureau says.

Advertisement

The probes are not necessarily connected and include two captains who allegedly failed to report discriminatory remarks made by the bureaus diversity manager. The incident involving the diversity manager was originally reported by the Oregonian, and the department later confirmed it is investigating.

Another officer is being investigated for allegedly telling a man who refused to come out of his trailer, Im going to shoot you in your head! and then breaking into the trailer with two other officers and beating the man, breaking his nose and eye socket. The investigation into that incident was launched after the beaten man filed a complaint.

This comes amid the turmoil of a February police shooting of a black teenage robbery suspect, Quanice Hayes, by a white officer, Andrew Hearst. A county grand jury in March declined to charge Hearst. In a confrontation, the officer shot Hayes, 17, once in the head and twice in the torso with a semiautomatic AR-15 rifle, police said.

Hayes had cocaine and other drugs in his system and was on his knees when killed. The officer claimed Hayes appeared to be going for a gun. A gun replica was found at the scene. Hayess mother, Venice Hayes, is now seeking a federal investigation of the death, saying she doesnt believe the police account.

Three days after the shooting, a police sergeant made what Mayor Wheeler said were allegedly blatantly racist, violent comments overhead by other officers. The sergeant was put on leave with pay and is among the 10 staffers being investigated.

There is plenty of work to do, mayoral spokesman Michael Cox said.

When Mayor Wheeler took office, he did so during a time of rapid change in the police bureau  a new police chief, a new union contract, and the DOJ agreement, Cox said, referring to the still-evolving 2014 civil rights agreement between the city and Department of Justice to improve the way Portland police handle cases involving the mentally ill.

Cox added that Wheeler, who took office in January, had campaigned on a reform agenda, emphasizing the need for increased community policing and teaching officers techniques in deescalation. His predecessor, Charlie Hales, named Marshman interim police chief, leaving Wheeler to search for a permanent chief to head the 1,000-member department.

Daryl Turner, head of the Portland Police Assn. union, said in a statement that officers are shocked and disappointed at the unsettling chain of events, but continue to do their jobs. Officers understand that the process in place is equally applied from the chief to the newest recruit, he said.

Teressa Raiford, an activist with Dont Shoot Portland, an organization founded in 2014, said the groups protests and demands for police accountability have led to increased force used against them at demonstrations.

Still, the tumult over the shooting, demonstrations and alleged leadership misconduct are helping people focus on asserting their rights and filing investigations against officers, including the increased filming of interactions, she said. We want a higher law enforcement agency to investigate our police department. Its been an old boys network and never had to be accountable.

Pete Simpson, the police bureau spokesman, said that morale had been steadily improving under Marshman and suffered a setback when he was put on leave.

Chief Marshman is well-liked and well-respected among the rank and file and by members of the community, Simpson said. Despite the uncertainty, officers are continuing to work closely with the community to solve and prevent crimes.

Marshman promised trust and transparency when he took over as interim chief last year. To show he was serious, Marshman released his personnel file and information on the bureaus 2002 investigation of his own fight with his teen stepson, in which he grabbed the boy by the throat. No charges were filed and the investigation was never publicly reported until now.

Still officially chief, Marshman says he hasnt changed his mind about transparency even though hes now being investigated.

The day I was sworn in as chief, he said in a statement about the attendance probe, I made a commitment to establishing internal legitimacy and restoring trust, both within our organization and with the community we serve. Part of that commitment is respecting the investigative processes we have in place to ensure accountability at all levels of the organization. These processes apply to me as much as they do to every member of the bureau. Regardless of rank, everyone should be accountable and it starts with me.

Actually, it started with Chief Larry ODea, and his camping trip with buddies last year. Opting to retire last June after he allegedly tried to cover up the shooting of a friend, he now faces a misdemeanor charge of negligent wounding.

ODea told a county investigator that the friend had somehow shot himself in the back while they and others, sitting in a row of folding chairs, picked off sage rats running past.

But an Oregon Fish and Wildlife follow-up investigation quoted the friend as saying ODea later personally admitted to shooting him. The chief had gone to a nearby beverage cooler and reportedly fired his .22-caliber rifle by accident. The wounded man was released from a hospital after a few days.

ODea was replaced by Marshman in June. The new, interim replacement for Marshman, Assistant Chief Chris Davis, is the citys fourth chief or interim leader in two years.

The search for a permanent chief continues, and Mayor Wheeler has said that Marshman remains a possible candidate. Wheeler says hell likely have completed his nationwide search for a new police leader by this summer.

Anderson is a special correspondent.

ALSO

Hillary Clinton says she wont run for public office again

Senate confirms Neil Gorsuch, Trumps Supreme Court nominee

Can the U.S. defend against a North Korean missile strike?
On 14 April US-based rights lobby group Washington Office on Latin America (Wola) and Austria-based International Press Institute (IPI) separately tweeted their concern regarding the plight of Salvadorean media outlet El Faro.

End of preview - This article contains approximately 402 words.

Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article

Not a Subscriber?

Choose from one of the following options
On 16 April the Estado Mayor Central (EMC), the largest grouping of dissident units from the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Farc) guerrilla group, announced that it will begin peace talks with the Colombian government on 16 May.

End of preview - This article contains approximately 393 words.

Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article

Not a Subscriber?

Choose from one of the following options
On 14 April, Brazils Presidentmet his Chinese counterpart,, in Beijing and signed 15 bilateral agreements, deepening ties between the two countries.

End of preview - This article contains approximately 588 words.

Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article

Not a Subscriber?

Choose from one of the following options
For the first time, Colombia's President Gustavo Petro will visit the White House and meet with U.S. President Joe Biden. It will be Petro's second trip to the United States since he made history as the country's first former rebel-turned-president.

The Colombian president is expected to visit the White House on Thursday for a bilateral meeting with Biden, with the two leaders expected to discuss "joint efforts to combat climate change, counter narcotics trafficking, address our regional migration challenge, and promote democratic values and human and labor rights in the region and the world."

The White House had already confirmed the upcoming meeting between Biden and Petro, with White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying Colombia is a "key partner" for the United States.

The meeting comes as Biden is dealing with an influx of migrants from South America. He has been trying to find ways to reduce the number of migrants coming into the U.S.

According to The Hill, Colombia has been a partner in helping the Biden administration to crack down on human trafficking.

Recently, the Biden administration announced that it is leading a multilateral policy action group to combat human smuggling and human trafficking, along with other South American countries, including Colombia. Other countries in the policy group include Argentina, El Salvador, and Panama.

Petro previously missed a meeting with Biden, which was supposedly one of the highlights of the Colombian president's five-day trip to New York last September.

At the time, Biden had hosted an official dinner for world leaders attending the 77th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

But by the time Petro arrived for the champagne reception, Biden had already departed to Washington. The Colombian president was reportedly almost two hours late due to "traffic."

READ NEXT: Colombia Vice President Francia Marquez Targeted With Roadside Bomb

Colombia Still Dealing With the Problem of ELN Rebels

As Gustavo Petro prepares to meet with Joe Biden, he still faces a lot of problems in Colombia.

Despite being a former rebel fighter, Petro still struggles in their peace negotiations with the country's largest remaining rebel organization, the ELN, which has been terrorizing the country since the 1960s.

According to the Associated Press, the peace talks between the Colombian government under Petro and the ELN were launched in November, shortly after Petro was elected president.

Petro, who has been in power for less than a year, has promised to negotiate peace or surrender accords with any remaining rebels or criminal organizations in Colombia.

Petro said the peace talks with the ELN were the cornerstone of his plan to resolve a decades-long conflict. The meeting between Biden and Petro is also expected to discuss security cooperation between the two countries.

Gustavo Petro Removed Police Chief Who Wanted to Use Exorcisms to Catch Criminals

Gustavo Petro recently grabbed global headlines when he dismissed Gen. Henry Sanabria, the national police director of Colombia, who raised eyebrows for his controversial statement that police use exorcisms to catch fugitives.

Sanabria told Semana Magazine last month that police carried out exorcisms to catch leaders of drug gangs and guerrilla groups.

While neither Petro nor the Colombian Ministry of Defense did not elaborate on the official reason why Sanabria was removed from his post, many believe it may be related to his being a staunch Catholic.

However, Interior Minister Alfonso Prada said that Sanabria's dismissal was part of a new start for the national police force. Petro appointed Sanabria in August of last year.

READ MORE: Colombia Peace Talks: Mexico To Be Next Host for Next Round Between Government and ELN Rebels

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Colombia's President Gustavo Petro Marks 100 Days in Office - From Al Jazeera English
Colombia's Medellin Cartel is closely associated with its former leader Pablo Escobar. However, the late notorious drug lord was not the only one who managed the operations of the cartel.

The success of the Medellin Cartel can also be attributed to the Ochoa brothers, namely Jorge Luis, Juan David, and Fabio, according to InsightCrime.

The Ochoa brothers were the business brains of the criminal organization, while Escobar oversaw the group's "protection" before he became known as the cartel leader "El Patron."

Medellin Cartel was known to be the main supplier of cocaine in the United States through the 1980s and early 1990s, with the organization sourcing coca leaves from Peru and Bolivia. It is then processed in Colombian jungle labs before being shipped to the U.S.

The Medellin Cartel did not make sales domestically. Escobar used the Caribbean air route to deliver the supplies to the U.S. market.

During the peak of the Colombian drug cartel, Escobar ordered the killings of police, judges, politicians, and journalists, while the group managed to maintain high-profile allies in security and justice institutions.

READ NEXT: United States Submits Request to Colombia to Extradite Gulf Clan Boss Dairo Antonio Usuga

Ochoa Brothers of the Medellin Cartel

The Ochoa brothers came from a family of ranchers but left the cattle ranching business in the mid-1970s to move to Medellin and start their drug smuggling business.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) files showed that the middle Ochoa son, Jorge Luis, took over the family organization and shipped 60 pounds of cocaine to Miami, which the DEA then seized.

The Washington Post reported that Jorge Luis' name appeared in more than 300 confidential DEA files.

The Ochoa brothers were one of the five groups that made up the Medellin Cartel, which was created when Fabio's daughter Marta was kidnapped and held for ransom by Colombian terrorists.

Fabio convinced other drug smugglers in Colombia that they would be next. The Ochoa brothers managed the cartel's own terrorist group and were also responsible for bribing Colombian military personnel and police for protection.

Juan David is the oldest Ochoa son and kept a lower profile than his brother Jorge Luis. His name was found in more than 30 DEA files, with his transactions focusing on the finance and investment operations of the drug empire.

On the other hand, Fabio is described by the DEA as the family's "problem child," being "irresponsible, eccentric, and emotional." Fabio managed the drug business in 1984 when his brother Jorge Luis was caught and imprisoned in Spain.

In July 1985, he was arrested in Venezuela after he was linked to the seizure of 550 gallons of ether, a component in cocaine's manufacture. Fabio was eventually extradited to the U.S. and imprisoned in a Florida prison.

Ochoa Brothers Wealth

Jorge Luis was known to have accumulated wealth worth $6 billion for his drug smuggling business. Forbes listed him as one of the top 20 richest men in the world, Money Inc. reported.

In 1987, Forbes said the Ochoa brothers shared more than $2 billion. They reportedly remained on the Forbes Billionaires List for six years, with the last appearing in the rankings in 1992.

In 1991, Jorge Luis turned himself to Colombian authorities, followed by Fabio, and Juan David became the last brother to surrender that same year.

Fabio was the only one who opted to go to trial, which resulted in his conviction and the 30-year sentence. His brothers reportedly got lighter prison terms because they cooperated with the government.

Jorge Luis is now a free man after serving a five-year sentence. He was released on July 1996.

Meanwhile, the eldest Ochoa brother, Juan David, died in a medical clinic in Medellin in July 2013. He was 65 years old. The New York Times reported that he died from a heart attack.

READ MORE: Netflix Drops First Look of Sofia Vergara's New Role as Colombian Drug Lord Griselda Blanco

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Jorge Ochoa Was the Brains of the Medellin Cartel | Roger Reaves and Lex Fridman - From Lex Clips




Elon Musk is preparing for SpaceX's Starship launch in Texas after around two decades in the making. If successful, the Starship will be the biggest ever rocket to fly in history.

The Starship launch's aim has remained the same despite the changes in plans for the vehicle. According to Bloomberg, Musk wants to land people on other planets and fulfill the billionaire's aspiration of a human settlement on Mars.

Caleb Henry, director of research at Quilty Analytics, a space consulting firm, noted that Musk's rocket is the first vehicle that can execute the Tesla CEO's vision of "making humanity multi-planetary."

Starship will be capable of generating 16.7 million pounds of thrust at liftoff and carrying huge payloads to Earth and beyond.

Aside from Musk's plans for the Starship, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will use the rocket to return to the moon.

NASA awarded the company a $2.9 billion contract to help the agency achieve its efforts to come back to the moon.

Aside from its notable size, SpaceX claimed that the Starship is also designed to be "fully reusable," making its operation "relatively inexpensive."

READ NEXT: Elon Musk Removes New York Times Twitter Checkmark as Publication Won't Pay for Verification

Texas Starship Test Flight Schedule

The biggest rocket in history will be executed on the Starship launch on April 17. It will be flown from SpaceX's Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, on Monday at 8 a.m.

SpaceX reported that it would be 7 a.m. local time, but it is yet to be determined whether SpaceX targets that time or chooses to wait until later in the window. It may not be the exact schedule when the rocket actually lifts off. SpaceX's mission plan noted that Starship and Super Heavy would have a 150-minute window to lift off from Starbase, which will put the launch efforts between 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

It will depend on the readiness of Starship and Super Heavy, including other factors such as weather conditions at the launch site and other safety precautions to be implemented.

SpaceX will be providing a live webcast of the Starship launch starting around 45 minutes before liftoff.

Those in the Texas area of Boca Chica can catch the Starship test flight live, which can be viewed in the waters near Long Island and South Padre Island.

SpaceX will have its own viewing zone on South Padre Island in the Cameron County amphitheater.

Elon Musk's Starship in Texas

SpaceX recently posted its timeline for the flight, with the words "excitement guaranteed" replacing "liftoff," NPR reported.

Elon Musk noted in 2021 to the Space Studies Board of the National Academies that the company started looking at advanced, lightweight composites for the rocket.

However, the billionaire said he realized that the steel was "cheap, abundant" and tough. The fuel for SpaceX's gigantic spaceship is methane, which is cheaper to produce and easier to handle than hydrogen.

In addition, trace amounts of methane are present in the atmosphere of Mars, which presents a possibility that the vehicle could refuel from the planet itself.

Paulo Lozano, director of MIT's space propulsion laboratory, said that most high-powered rockets used hydrogen for fuel since it is lightweight and highly efficient.

READ MORE: Elon Musk Places Twitter's Value at $20 Billion

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Watch Live! SpaceX Launches Starship to Space for First Time - From VideoFromSpace




Three Americans sailing from Mexico to San Diego have been reported missing for almost two weeks now, and the U.S. Coast Guard and Mexican Navy have continued to search for them.

The Coast Guard noted that the missing Americans, identified as Kerry O'Brien, Frank O'Brien, and William Gross, reportedly left Mazatlan, Mexico, on their way to San Diego on April 4, Fox News reported.

"Three persons aboard the sailing vessel Ocean Bound, a 44-foot La Fitte, reportedly left Mazatlan en route to San Diego," the Coast Guard said Friday. "The sailors planned to stop in Cabo San Lucas on April 6 for provisions and to report in before continuing on to San Diego."

However, this never happened, with the vessel not reporting to any other location. The three missing American sailors reportedly last made contact with other people on April 4, when they were near Mazatlan.

The District 11 Coast Guard, which covers California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona and offshore waters of Mexico and Central America, has launched an operation to locate the missing vessel and the three Americans.

"Search and rescue coordinators have contacted marinas throughout Baja, Mexico, with negative sightings of the vessel," said the Coast Guard, adding that "urgent marine information broadcasts have been issued over VHF radio requesting all mariners to keep a lookout for the missing persons and vessel."

READ NEXT: Americans Who Were Kidnapped by Gulf Cartel in Mexico Detail Harrowing Experience

American Siblings Missing in Mexico Already Found

Two American siblings, Hugo Yarset Monfort Luna Hugo Yarset Monfort Luna, 9, and his 16-year-old sister, Aranza Yosemiti Monfort Luna, were reported missing in Mexico last month.

The two reportedly left home in the Real de San Felipe neighborhood in the municipality of Garcia in Mexico's state of Nuevo Leon on March 17, and they failed to return.

But less than a week later, the U.S. Sun reported that the two American siblings were found alive in Nuevo Leon and in "good health."

They were reportedly traveling around 612 miles to come back home. Reports said the American siblings left their home after disagreeing about rules such as curfew.

Their elder sister told authorities that her siblings told their older family members that they would be selling pies but never returned.

Over 500 Americans Still Missing in Mexico

There are still hundreds of Americans still missing in Mexico. The Washington Post reported that 558 Americans have been missing since 2001 in Mexico, a country facing a crisis in missing persons.

According to government records, over 112,150 have been reported missing in the country. However, it should be noted that there may be more unreported incidents.

Many of those missing in Mexico may be related to the drug war launched by the government and the illegal activities of the Mexican drug cartels like the Sinaloa cartel and the Jalisco cartel.

READ MORE: Notorious Drug Trafficker Tied to CJNG, Sinaloa Cartel Pleads Guilty to Cocaine Conspiracy

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Missing American sailors last heard from in Mexico - From NewsNation Prime
Gunmen stormed a resort in Guanajuato, Mexico and killed seven people, including a seven-year-old child.

Metro reported that three women, three men, and one child were killed by the gunmen who attacked the La Palma resort in the small town of Cortazar in the state of Guanajuato on Saturday afternoon.

Another person was seriously injured in the attack, but the person's current condition is still unclear. One video posted on social media showed several people in swimsuits running, crying, and screaming.

Another CCTV footage showed the aftermath of the attack in the resort, with towels, children's flip-flops, bags, and chairs scattered across the area.

Authorities have yet to release the possible motive for the attack. Officials said the gunmen destroyed the spa shop and took the security cameras before fleeing the scene after the attack, which resulted in the increased police presence in the area. Mexican police and soldiers, aided by a helicopter, reportedly continued to search for the armed men.

READ NEXT: Mexico: 2 Bodies Found Hanging From Bridge, 3 Police Officers Killed as Mexican Drug Cartels Battle for Territory

Violence in Mexico's State of Guanajuato

Last month, a group of gunmen stormed a bar in Guanajuato, and 10 people were shot to death, while another five were wounded.

Officials said the attack took place at the El Estadio bar. CBS News reported that the armed men entered and opened fire at customers and employees of the bar.

The bar was located along a highway connecting Celaya and Queretaro. The United States has already issued travel warnings in some parts of Mexico amid reports of growing violence.

Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador responded to it, saying that U.S. travel warnings with reports of violence were an attempt to taint his administration.

Lopez Obrador noted that Mexico is "safer than the United States," adding that there is no problem in traveling safely in the country.

Mexican Drug Cartels in Guanajuato

The state of Guanajuato in Mexico has been considered one of the country's most violent states for years. Guanajuato was known as an agricultural and industrial hub before the brand of increasing violence due to disputes between Mexican drug cartels.

Drug cartels like the home-grown Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel and the Jalisco cartel are reportedly fighting for control of trafficking routes for drugs and stolen fuel.

The bloodbath in Guanajuato reportedly started in 2018 when the Jalisco New Generation Cartel or Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) moved into the state. Reports said the CJNG has already killed hundreds of Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel members.

The Jalisco cartel is infamous for its public displays of violence and military power. According to the U.S. State Department, the Jalisco cartel is one of the most violent drug trafficking organizations currently operating in Mexico, with "the highest cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine trafficking capacity."

Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera is currently leading the Jalisco cartel. The U.S. government has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest as he continues to evade capture. The Jalisco cartel leader remains to be the most elusive criminal and is reportedly hiding in Mexico.

Meanwhile, Jose Antonio Yepez Ortiz, the leader of the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel, has already been captured by Mexican authorities in 2020. However, the cartel members and new leaders continued to engage in turf wars to win or maintain their territory even though their boss was arrested.

READ MORE: El Chapo's Sinaloa Cartel Continues to Thrive Despite the DrugLLord's Absence: Report

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Americans Warned to Avoid Travel to Mexico Due to Recent Cartel Violence - From KTLA 5
The defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems Against Fox News is Finally going to trial. However, the Delaware judge overseeing it has just delayed the first hearing.

Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis stated that the trial, including jury selection, would be continued until Tuesday, and that he would announce the delay in court on Monday.

The Associated Press has noted that the trial has received international interest and that it was scheduled to start Monday morning with jury selection and opening statements.

In the lawsuit, Dominion alleges that the voting machine company was defamed by Fox News and its guests by spreading misinformation about the 2020 elections, particularly singling out Dominion for allegedly rigging the elections against former President Donald Trump.

Dominion subpoenaed phone records from various Fox News hosts, staff, and executives, and these showed that personalities like Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham knew that what they were presenting on air were lies yet still spread them anyway. Carlson in particular showed his contempt directed toward Donald Trump in those private messages.

Carlson also showed that he was more concerned about Fox's stock prices plummeting in telling the truth, rather than reporting what really happened.

Fox News Expected to Defend Its Election Lies in Court

Experts are saying that this case is unusual as unlike most plaintiffs in a defamation case, Dominion's case is very strong as the voting machine company has produced "as close to smoking-gun evidence as one can get," according to The Guardian.

Fox Chairman Rupert Murdoch admitted in a November 2020 email that what Donald Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani has been saying on Fox News programming was "Really crazy stuff. And damaging."

READ MORE: Fox News Sanctioned by Judge in Dominion Defamation Case for Withholding Evidence

Meanwhile, Tucker Carlson also stated in a private message that another Trump lawyer, Sidney Powell, had been lying. Carlson reportedly stated while he knows she is lying, their viewers will still believe her, saying, "It's unbelievably offensive to me. Our viewers are good people and they believe it."

The election lies spread by Trump on right-wing networks such as Fox News have now integrated into the fabric of the Republican Party. This resulted in a wave of harassment against election officials, as well as efforts to overturn election results.

This all culminated in the January 6 Capitol Insurrection where Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in an effort to overturn the elections. Many of these Trump supporters believed in the lies spread by Fox News.

Political Misinformation on Trial With Fox News vs. Dominion Case

Dominion Voting Systems is suing Fox News for 1.6 billion dollars in this case. However, it is not just Fox News that is on trial, but also it's spreading of misinformation in 2020, as noted by the New York Times.

RonNell Andersen Jones, a first amendment scholar at the University of Utah, told the New York Times that this case is becoming "the most important defamation case in generations".

Jones added that "this conscious, corporate lie did to the country and its people." The first amendment scholar stated that Dominion wants to prove that "this lie was damaging not just to the individual voting machine company but to the entirety of the electorate and to the democracy itself."

READ MORE: Fox News CEO Furious at Reporter for Fact-Checking Donald Trump's Election Lies

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Dominion's defamation case against Fox News - CBS Sunday Morning
The Sussexes have reached a split decision when it comes to their attendance at the upcoming King Charles coronation, with Prince Harry announcing almost a week ago that he will be present at the event.

However, Meghan Markle has reached a different decision when it comes to King Charles's coronation, with the Duchess of Sussex saying that she will remain in the United States with her children, as reported by MARCA.

It took a while before Prince Harry and Markle announced their decision on whether or not to attend Charles's coronation.

The coronation of the new monarch was the same day that Archie, the Sussex couple's son, will turn four.

Aside from the scheduling of the event, it was also reported that the duchess does not want to be placed in the spotlight and wants to avoid any rumors about her and her family.

One source noted that Markle doesn't want to be in the public eye.

The source went on to say that Markle does not want any more "rifts," while saying that she wants Archie and Lilibet to know their grandfather, especially since they are not going to meet their other grandfather on Markle's side.

The source said that Markle believes it was best "to keep the attention to His Majesty."

READ NEXT: King Charles Coronation: 'Queen Camilla' Used Officially for the First Time on Invitation

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Attendance

The royal family and Harry have not seen each other since his controversial memoir "Spare" was published.

The monarch reacted to the decision of the Sussex couple when it comes to their attendance at his scheduled coronation.

One source noted in Us Weekly Magazine that Charles is "sad" that Markle will not be around during his coronation, with the new monarch reportedly hoping it would be an opportunity for the both of them to "better connect" while also healing the relationship gap between them.

Another source noted that he is, however, thrilled that his youngest son will be present during the ceremony.

Unidentified sources claimed that the royal family has "no interest" in talking with Harry at the coronation, according to New York Post.

Meanwhile, it was also reported that Kate Middleton is "relieved" that Markle will not be around for the coronation.

King Charles's Coronation

BBC News reported that more than 6,000 armed forces members will be part of Charles's coronation, making the ceremony one of the largest military ceremonial operations in 70 years.

The coronation procession will feature around 4,000 personnel, accompanying Charles as he makes the tour from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace.

Emmy-nominated composer Sarah Class has been announced as the latest composer chosen by the King to write music for the event.

Meanwhile, a YouGov poll cited by Independent showed that most British people are "not interested" in the coronation.

However, many said that they would still watch or participate in the festivities.

The survey was conducted with 3,000 adults, with 35% saying that they "do not care very much"; 29% said they "do not care at all."

Around 24% of the participants said they care "a fair amount" while only 9% said that they care "a great deal."

READ NEXT: Joe Biden Will Not Attend King Charles Coronation

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Why Meghan Markle Skipping King Charles' Coronation Is a 'Relief' - from Entertainment Tonight


Two teenagers were injured and at least one onlooker was battered when a massive mob of violent Chicago teens clashed with police Saturday night near downtown Millennium Park, the NY Post reported.

Police were called to help evacuate tourists after an unruly mob set fire to automobiles, smashed windshields, and attacked at least one motorist.

Two teenagers, ages 16 and 17, were shot by a man in the mob, Chicago police said.

The incident occurred just one day after another incident of teen violence at 31st Avenue Beach, during which a 14-year-old kid was shot, and the police reported one arrest.

Social media posts called for a gathering near Millenium Park on Saturday night, and hundreds, if not thousands, of teenagers, converged on the Chicago Loop at about 9 p.m.

Several minors reportedly attempted to enter the park despite checkpoints denying entry to anyone under 21 who was not with an adult.

A woman whose vehicle was attacked by a mob said her husband had been battered in the passenger seat and was brought to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

The two teens shot during the chaos were also taken to the hospital and reported to be in fair condition.

READ NEXT: Illinois EMS Workers Charged With Murder for the Death of a Patient

Mayor-Elect Brandon Johnson Issues Statement Following Chicago Teens Violent Clash

Mayor-Elect Brandon Johnson released statements about the violence and disorder that broke out in the city center throughout the weekend, NBC Chicago noted.

While hundreds, or perhaps even more than a thousand Chicago teens, gathered around Millennium Park late Saturday night, some of whom engaged in "reckless and disruptive behavior." Chicago police said that a total of 15 individuals, nine adults and six children, were detained.

"In no way do I condone the destructive activity we saw in the Loop and lakefront this weekend," Johnson's statement read. "It is unacceptable and has no place in our city."



"However, it is not constructive to demonize youth who have otherwise been starved of opportunities in their communities," the statement continued, adding that the city must work together to give the Chicago teens space to gather safely and responsibly.

Chicago Teens Rampages Has Been the City's Problem for Years

The influx of disruptive Chicago teens into public spaces every spring has been a headache for locals and law enforcement for years, according to Fox 32.

Millennium Park instituted its curfew in May 2022, requiring all minors (those under 18) to be accompanied by an adult.

Then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot instituted the curfew the day after a 16-year-old was shot and murdered in front of the iconic Bean.

Twenty-six minors and four adults were taken into custody that night, and seven guns were recovered.

Curfew infractions resulted in six more people being warned and two police officers hurt.

Thirty-one Chicago teens were arrested in April 2019 for "wilding" along the Mag Mile. Visitors fled in terror as a massive battle broke out in Millennium Park, with police reporting that adolescents had stolen wallets, phones, and products from nearby stores.

Then, hundreds of teens descended downtown in May of 2021, blowing off fireworks, jumping on police cars, and fighting. Two police officers were hurt.

Ten juveniles were apprehended in April 2022 after running into Millennium Park and climbing over barricades. Another eight people were issued citations for violating the curfew.

Lightfoot, now the outgoing mayor, made a statement on Sunday in response to the recent incidents with the Chicago teens. She emphasized that good behavior begins at home.

"We as a city cannot and will not allow any of our public spaces to become a platform for criminal conduct," Lightfoot stated. "Most importantly, parents and guardians must know where their children are and be responsible for their actions. Instilling the important values of respect for people and property must begin at home."

READ MORE: Anthony Davis, Ja Morant Get Injury Scares

This is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: 2 shot as hundreds of teens crowded downtown Chicago prompting police response - From FOX 32 Chicago
The French bulldog has become Americas most popular dog breed, ending the Labrador retrievers record 31-year reign, the American Kennel Club said last month.

And now Frenchies, as theyre known, are in line for their own boutique on Southside Bethlehem.

An entrepreneur plans to open a shop called Universal Frenchies at 1201 E. Third St., according to testimony Wednesday night before the citys zoning hearing board.

Landlord Lenore Mohr, with Pure Light REinvestment, was before the board for an after-the-fact appeal to convert a portion of the propertys first floor into an apartment. The conversion, which is complete, created three apartments on the property, but the zoning board had to consider dimensional variances because the property is smaller than what the city requires for three apartments.

There were some issues about what was allowed and not allowed so shes here kind of asking for forgiveness rather than going for permission first, Mohrs attorney Michael D. Recchiuti told the zoning board, referring to the property her company purchased.

Also before the board was a special exception to permit the commercial retail store for Universal Frenchies on the first floor of Mohrs property.

The board signed off on all approvals without dissent.

Mohr described her tenants plans as offering up different products geared toward the French bulldog breed, though there are no plans to actually sell the dogs themselves. In fact, the zoning board added a condition to bar the sale or trading of any live animals there.

There was no timetable for opening immediately available.

This corner space at 1201 E. Third St. is lined up to become home to Universal Frenchies, a retail store catering to French bulldogs  and their owners. It's seen Friday, April 14, 2023.Kurt Bresswein | For lehighvalleylive.com

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
A Connecticut man is facing a felony charge after being caught with cartons of Pennsylvania cigarettes during a traffic stop on Interstate 78 in the Lehigh Valley.

Pennsylvania State Police said they stopped the 39-year-old man Friday morning on I-78 in Williams Township for following another vehicle too closely and having part of his license plate covered.

Troopers said they were given permission to search the Chevrolet Silverado truck and they found 500 cartons of Newport cigarettes in the truck bed.
The owner of the West Easton industrial complex that burned down says the property is insured and he hopes to rebuild it.

The fire started the morning of April 4 and burned until the evening of April 5. More than 20 fire companies responded, as did the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The state monitored potentially hazardous water runoff and fumes.
Every media article analyzing the Pennsylvania Inequitable School Funding Lawsuit and the court order itself cites school funding tied to property tax is a major contributor to the vast funding inequity. School funding tied to property taxes can no longer be touted as the holy grail of best funding practices. What the nations leading inequity, pro-tax-shift proponents have eloquently shared for well over a decade has finally been exposed as painfully factual.

In every analysis, the horrendous emotional and financial student-impacting harm jumps off the pages and smacks our General Assembly with a dose of reality, one they can no longer run from or hide behind veiled excuses.

There simply is no way to fix Pennsylvanias school funding problem by pouring more money into the current funding model. This will only serve to raise taxes and not address any of the underlying root causes. Using properties as a source of funding is beyond antiquated. The vast disparity in real estate valuations and wages across the state, coupled with the deleterious impact of hold harmless renders the current system incapable of addressing the issue.

Any robust long term school funding fix must completely end the reliance on property taxes. One such bill that does exactly this is the bill formerly known as HB13. Since the sponsoring legislator, state Rep. Frank Ryan retired; the bill will be assigned a new number when re-introduced. Our legislators would be wise to use the bill as the building block for 21st century school funding.

Robert S. Kistler

Lehighton
Editors Note: his story has been updated with a comment from the attorney representing Garry N. Bunting.T

A Bethlehem man is accused of attempted sex assault and endangering the welfare of a child in a case involving two minors, authorities said.

Garry N. Bunting, 31, of the 900 block of Wyandotte Street, is charged with one count of second-degree attempted sexual assault; two counts of third-degree attempted endangering the welfare of a child; and one count third-degree endangering the welfare of a child. The Warren County Prosecutors Office filed the charges against Bunting on Monday.

The prosecutors office said in January 2022 investigators were already onto Bunting in a separate case, involving human trafficking of a minor, sexual assault and related offenses. In that case, Bunting is accused of transporting a minor from Pennsylvania to New Jersey to engage in multiple sex acts after luring the victim over a social media application.

In connection with the January 2022 case, investigators seized all of Buntings electronic devices, police said.

A cellphone revealed various communication between Bunting and a witness, in which he allegedly discussed engaging two minors in sex acts, authorities said. One of the minors reported to authorities being exposed to sexual activity between the individual and Bunting, the prosecutors office said.

Bunting was taken to the Warren County jail, pending his First Appearance in Warren County Superior Court in Belvidere. The Warren County Prosecutors Office Special Victims Unit and the Greenwich Township Police Department assisted in the investigation.

Donald E. Souders, Jr., the Easton-based attorney representing Bunting told lehighvalleylive.com Tuesday morning his client is to be presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Souders is yet to see evidence presented by the state and therefore, he said commenting further would be premature at this point in the case.

It is our intent to present a vigorous defense when that opportunity presents itself, Souders said.

Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com.
Spring can be a strange time of year. In the span of a days, it can go from nearly 90 degrees to a potentially frosty night and back. Thats whats in store for the Lehigh Valley this week.

Or hows this for a duality: While April is known for showers, the U.S. Drought Monitor last week said the area is in an abnormally dry spell. Then, on Saturday, some spots saw an absolute deluge  Bethlehem was one of the rainiest spots in the nation, at least for that day.

Yesterday's rainfall reports were among the highest in the nation, but it varied widely across our region. Its a big reason we are a supporter of CoCoRaHS, a volunteer network of precipitation observers that ANYONE can join. Check out https://t.co/i1zonmBewy to learn more! pic.twitter.com/ha3ufrxdDU  NWS Mount Holly (@NWS_MountHolly) April 17, 2023

Just over 3 inches was reported by a spotter in West Bethlehem, according to readings from the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network, or CoCoRaHS, a group of weather spotters that help inform the National Weather Service. Only four other spotters saw more rain that day  one in Lebanon, Pennsylvania; two in Sussex County, New Jersey; and one in New Orleans.

Granted, 3 inches isnt an Earth-shattering amount of rain, according to Paul Fitzsimmons, lead meteorologist with the weather services regional office. And it was not a universal experience. About 1.25 inches was reported at Lehigh Valley International Airport that same day, which is considered official for the region.

But readings from the airport show the Valley running 2 inches below average precipitation on the year, so some rain is needed. Portions of our area are just a few months removed from a drought watch.

Ready for a break in the warm and humid weather? You're in luck! It'll be turning cooler and drier through Wednesday. Cloudy skies this morning will clear around midday with some lingering showers possible this morning. Have a great week! #PAwx #NJwx #DEwx #MDwx pic.twitter.com/wQgZF3BFLD  NWS Mount Holly (@NWS_MountHolly) April 17, 2023

The chance of rain will fall this week. So will the temperature on Tuesday, when highs in the 50s are expected, a far cry from the summer-like weather late last week. The forecast also calls for a subsequent low in the 30s. The weather service forecast indicated frost could be possible Wednesday morning.

Then the days get warmer again: Highs in the 60s on Wednesday, 70s on Thursday and possibly 80s on Friday. Thunderstorms may again appear on Saturday, at the fringe of the forecast.

Its going to be some typical kind of spring stuff, Fitzsimmons said.

Current weather radar

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.

Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com.
Funding has been approved under the GAA Walking Tracks Initiative at two Laois clubs.

Minister of State in the Department of Foreign Affairs, Sean Fleming welcomed the announcement by the Department of Health for funding for the two walking tracks.

The funding is provided by Healthy Ireland and is designed to make community walking tracks located on GAA grounds more accessible to more people.

The successful applicants are Borris-In-Ossory who were allocated 15,000 and Clough Ballacolla, who were also allocated 15,000.

GAA Clubs have opened their doors to local communities in recent years and they are expanding access to their facilities to help and improve the health and wellbeing of everyone who uses them, said Minister Fleming.

This funding is provided under the GAA Walking Tracks Initiative. The GAA is at the heart of every community it serves and this funding can provide for such items as lighting and improved surfaces for walking tracks, he added.
A former Laois resident who died while trying to save another man has been hailed a hero.

James Nicholl Jnr, who had lived in Portarlington, is understood to have jumped into the River Liffey in Dublin in an attempt to save a man who was drowning on Friday, April 8.

Tragically, both he and the man who he was trying to save died during the incident.

A former member of the Defence Forces, Mr Nicholl was laid to rest in St Conleths Cemetery in Newbridge following funeral mass in St Brigids Church in The Curragh on Monday, April 17.

Independent TD and former member of the Defence Forces Army Ranger Wing, Cathal Berry praised the actions of Mr Nicholl. He described his death as a terrible tragedy and offered his deepest sympathy to the family.

He answered with courage at the very end and that is what he should be remembered for, said Deputy Berry.

The Defence Forces confirmed Mr Nicholl, who was in his 40s, had served in The Curragh between 2000 and 2002.

James deserves to be hailed a Hero for diving into the freezing cold river to save a random man's life that was drowning last Friday night in the Liffey in Dublin, he didn't hesitate to dive in and try help the poor soul in the water, he jumped straight in and in doing so he lost his life trying to save another humans life, Dublin based homeless charity A Lending Hand posted on their Facebook page alongside a picture of James.

He dived straight into the Liffey to save him, the current was too strong and the water was too cold, he got to the fella and tried to pull him up a few times and unfortunately the last attempt failed and poor Jimmy and this poor soul got dragged under the water and both of them died, the charity said.

Gardai said enquiries are ongoing following the incident and files are being prepared for the coroner.

At approximately 1:30am on Saturday 8th April 2023, Gardai received a report that one male had entered the water at Grattan Bridge followed by another male who was attempting to assist, they stated.

Despite an extensive search conducted by Gardai and Dublin Fire Brigade, the males could not be located, they said.

The bodies of two males (aged in their 20s and 40s) were recovered by Gardai from the River Liffey on the morning of Saturday 8th April 2023, Gardai said.

Mr Nicholl, of The Glen, Kilnacourt Wood, Portarlington and late of Brownstown, The Curragh, Co Kildare is survived by his parents Noreen and Jimmy, siblings Carol, Deborah, Darren and Margaret, brothers-in-law, sister-in-law, his partner Donna, nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles, extended family, relatives and friends.
The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth was unable to provide an update regarding the news that Castlekealy Manor in Caragh is being considered as a potential site to house refugees and displaced Ukrainians.

It follows after a public meeting, which was organised by Fianna Fail councillor Rob Power, took place on the evening of Thursday last in Caragh Community Centre.

The meeting was in response to a proposal to turn the manor, which is a large, five-bedroom domestic dwelling house, into accommodation for 29 International Protection (IP) applicants from Ukraine.

When asked by the Leinster Leader for comment regarding the situation in Caragh, a spokesperson for the Department said: "The Department is working to contract temporary accommodation across the country in order to accommodate people fleeing the war in Ukraine and those seeking International Protection.

"At present, the lists of accommodation locations being considered are subject to regular change, (and is) dependent (on) when offers are received and the suitability of the buildings in question."

The issue of modular homes for displaced Ukrainians and IP applicants has proven to be a contentious issue.

The government's proposals relating to the placement of modular homes in Newbridge, Rathangan and Kill last year have faced criticism from locals, with many of the residents being visibly upset and frustrated by a lack of local consultation.

A number of other factors have been cited by both Kildare residents and politicians as reasons why the sites were unsuitable, such as lack of GP services, sewage facilities and accessibility issues.

Labour Party Senator Mark Wall also said earlier this year that a site in Athy will house a number of IP applicants on a short-term basis.
Its 10 years since the very first Bluebells and Buskers mini festival in Killinthomas Woods, Rathangan which began in 2013 as a tribute to the memory of the late Jimmy OLoughlin and is a wonderful event for nature and music lovers, walkers, children and families. This incredibly popular event raises money for the RYARC Community Centre in Rathangan and pays for the insurance, light and heating for this invaluable service in Rathangan. This year proceeds will be also be supporting victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria.

Main organiser Brian OLoughlin said, We are looking forward to another super event this year and we have a great line up of 20 different events including music and story-telling for children. Over the years we raised more than 60,000 for the RYARC Centre. More importantly though its an opportunity for people and families to gather in our lovely woods and enjoy nature and culture.

Local Senator Fiona O`Loughlin said, Its incredible to think that 10 years later , we are looking forward to gathering together once again to celebrate our wonderful Killinthomas woods and Buskers, and also to remember those who are no longer with us. We are very lucky to have the help of our local Scouts who manage the giant BBQ, the womens shed who are helping with the tea and cake stall, the mens shed for their help with parking and marshalling, the Kildare Civil Defence and of course our wonderful musicians and entertainers. Thank you to Kildare Co Council, local Gardai, Lullymore heritage centre, Cllr Anne Connolly and Coillte for their help and support. We can always do with more help so please contact Fiona on 087 2345160 or Brian on 087 2453021 if you would like to be involved."

This event gets more popular every year so head out to Killinthomas Woods on Sunday April 30 for brilliant music, food and fun. Food will be served from 1pm and the musicians will start from 2pm. Car parking charge will be 5 per car.
35,000 funding will be allocated to two GAA clubs in Leitrim to upgrade their community walking tracks, local TD Frank Feighan has announced.

The former Minister for Public Health and Wellbeing said: The funding, which has been allocated to St Patricks Dromahair who receive 25,000 and Mohill who are allocated 10,000 will enable upgrades such as lighting and improved surfaces.

They play an invaluable role in fostering social connections in Leitrim and by expanding access to their facilities they are helping to improve the health and wellbeing of everyone who uses them.

As the former Minister who allocated this funding in the 2023 budget, Id like to commend both St Patricks Dromahair & Mohill GAA Park and all clubs across Leitrim for their wonderful contribution to their communities and I want to thank the GAA for the significant work involved in the process.

Mohill's Philly McGuinness Memorial Park

The tracks will add to the facilities at Dromahair Area Recreation Centre and Mohill's Philly McGuinness Memorial Park.

The Minister for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy, Hildegarde Naughton said the once off national funding of 815,000 provided by Healthy Ireland is designed to make community walking tracks located on GAA grounds more accessible to more people.

Minister Naughton said: I am delighted to welcome the announcement of the successful clubs for this very worthwhile initiative. Healthy Ireland has been a long-standing partner of the Irish Life GAA Healthy Club Project and supporter of the GAAs efforts to transform clubs into hubs for health in their communities, all of which makes a significant contribution to the Healthy Ireland agenda."
"Whale Island," by MaxMind and The Puppet LIN XIAO QIAN

Never has the fragile Taiwanese exception and its democratic status been so talked about. With China deploying warships along its coast and Emmanuel Macron (who visited China from April 5 to 7) stirring up controversy with his statements about the China-US crisis in this part of the world, the mountainous island of 23 million inhabitants affirmed its faith in art.

From April 9 to 15, the first edition of Taiwan Week, organized by the National Theater & Concert Hall (NTCH), presented 19 productions featuring circus, dance, theater, puppetry and music in six venues in and around Taipei. "We Taiwanese have an incredible resilience thanks to culture and its democratic values," said Shih Hsin-yuan, deputy artistic director of NTCH. "We live under constant political threat. We are used to it, as we are to earthquakes and typhoons, and we always resist. We are in a precarious balance, never really in danger, never really safe." Shih smiled mischievously and added, "Life goes on."

Four months after the complete reopening of Taiwan's borders, this large-scale event, which presents a remarkable range of artistic mediums, triggered a surge of curiosity: 44 theater directors and presenters from 14 countries turned up. Coming from Thailand, South Korea and Japan, as well as the Czech Republic and Portugal, they all responded to the call to this event. "This shows that we are not alone and that people are watching us closely," said Shih, quoting the slogan: "We are stronger when we art together."

'Freedom of expression'

The French made up the largest group. Nine of them, including some big names, came. Among them were Magda Bizarro, co-director of the Avignon Festival; Francesca Corona, of the Autumn Festival in Paris; and Jerome Lecardeur, director of the Theater and Auditorium of Poitiers. "France remains a reference, the historical model in terms of culture," said Keng Yi-wei, dramaturg of the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts-Weiwuying. "We learn a lot by observing what you do. Besides, if you are seen in France as a creator, you exist more powerfully. For us Taiwanese, that country, open to foreigners, is our first choice to tour, to shine and to be recognized." Keng said with a laugh, "Not to mention that we loved the French series Dix pour cent (Call Your Agent) and Lupin, on Netflix."

In the turbulent political climate, attending took on symbolic weight. "I believe in the soft power of culture, and France is undoubtedly a strong link for artists," said Eric Bart, programmer of the Springtime for Actors theater festival in Montpellier. "We have been collaborating for six years with Chinese colleagues, especially in Beijing, and it is important to find a counterpoint in Taiwan."

You have 69.64% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
Satellite image of Khartoum International Airport, Sudan, April 16, 2023. AP

In a sure sign of the concern of regional actors, intense diplomatic activity has been taking place throughout East Africa following the outbreak of hostilities in Sudan on Saturday, April 15. Both the African Union (AU) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which includes eight East African countries including Sudan, have met to try to find a quick solution to the war between the country's two strongmen, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, head of the army and de facto leader of the country, and Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, aka "Hemetti," head of the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

"There is a real potential for regional destabilization if the conflict escalates," said Africa specialist Cameron Hudson of the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Africa's third largest country is at the crossroads of the multiple interests and aspirations of regional actors. Bordering seven countries, Sudan affects and is affected by the dynamics of the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea and the Sahel.

Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes Two rival generals plunge Sudan into deadly chaos Ajouter a vos selections Ajouter a vos selections Pour ajouter larticle a vos selections

identifiez-vous Sinscrire gratuitement

Se connecter Vous possedez deja un compte ?

A Western source in the Horn of Africa has described the diplomatic missions, which began Sunday, as a "traffic jam of mediation attempts." The Chadian chairman of the AU commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, was supposed to "immediately" travel to the Sudanese capital to "facilitate a dialog between the two parties," the continental organization announced on Sunday without giving further details. An aide said Faki Mahamat could arrive as early as Monday in Khartoum, where the airport remained closed on Sunday amidst ongoing fighting that created a thick cloud of smoke.

'Wind of panic'

The other major African initiative was that of IGAD, whose heads of state met via videoconference. In a clear sign of the danger the crisis poses for the region, three presidents will travel to Khartoum this week to meet with the two Sudanese rivals: South Sudan's Salva Kiir, Kenya's William Ruto and Djibouti's Ismael Omar Guelleh.

Other mediation initiatives have taken place, all from actors with direct interests in Sudan. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Faisal Ben Farhan Al-Saud have both spoken to the two strongmen, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi has offered his help.

By Monday morning, clashes continued around key power centers in the capital as well as in all provinces of the country, including the border regions with South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Chad. "Regional leaders understand the implications of a war in Sudan [...] this is not a localized conflict, as the Tigray war was in Ethiopia, but an entire country at war with itself," the CSIS' Hudson said.

You have 42.04% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
TRIBUTES have been paid to the late chairman of the board of Foynes Flying Boat and Maritime Museum after his sad passing.

Gerry (Gerald) Guihen passed away on April 11, after a short illness in the care of the staff of St. Lukes Hospital, Rathgar, Dublin.

Originally from Balinteer, Dublin, Mr Guihen was a valued member of the board of directors at the museum since 2017 and was chairman of the board since 2020

Margaret O'Shaughnessy, Managing Director at the Foynes Flying Boat and Maritime Museum paid tribute to Mr Guihen in a moving social media post.

"Gerry has been a very valued member of the Board of Directors since 2017 and chairman of the board since 2020.

"He contributed greatly to our current development and we have parted with him far too early.

"The quality of his contribution to our museum cannot be overstated, and we will be forever grateful.

"We would like to express our sincere condolences to Gerry's wife Valerie, daughter Avril and his beloved grandchildren, Colm and Roisin and to all his extended family and many friends. May he rest in peace."

Mr Guihen's funeral notice read: "Gerry will also be a big loss to his friends from the Walkers / Camino group, the IAA, the Foynes Flying Boat Museum and his wider circle of friends."

Sadly missed by his wife Valerie (Naughton), daughter Avril, grandchildren Colm and Roisin, son in law Hamish, siblings Catherine, Patricia, Sheila, John, brothers in law, sister in law and all his extended family including his additional family of in laws in Sutton, Carrick on Shannon and West Limerick also their children and grandchildren.

Mr Guihen's life was celebrated at his funeral Mass at St. Mary's Church, Sandyford Village. A private cremation followed.
A LIMERICK farmer was before Newcastle West Court for having an air rifle innocently for many years which he used to shoot vermin.

Thomas Stack, aged 44, of Clonee, Ballyagran pleaded guilty to unauthorised possession of a firearm at Coolagown, Castletown on November 12, 2020.Inspector Gearoid Thompson, prosecuting, said gardai were conducting enquiries in relation to an unrelated matter when they found Mr Stack in possession of an air rifle.

Unbeknownst to him it was 13.7 joules which requires a certificate under the Firearms Act. We accept it was not in his possession for any nefarious reason. He used it on the farm. He didnt have a licence for it, said Insp Thompson.

Michael ODonnell, solicitor for Mr Stack, said his client innocently had the gun for many years.

He purchased it in a shop in Limerick city. They are available to buy online. The legislation has changed - he was unaware of the situation. He is 44-years-old and is of impeccable character. He has no previous convictions, said Mr ODonnell.

The solicitor asked Judge Carol Anne Coolican not to give Mr Stack a criminal conviction due to his innocence.

Air rifles are possessed by thousands upon thousands of people. One joule is the limit. He is aware of that now. He only used it to shoot vermin, said Mr ODonnell.

Judge Coolican applied the Probation Act which means Mr Stack left the court with his unblemished record intact.
LOCAL people are being encouraged to kick-start their career as a popular Jobs Fair returns to Regeneration areas in Limerick city.

The event is returning to Limericks four regeneration communities for a second year after successfully linking residents with new employers, training and education courses in 2022.

The Regeneration areas which will host this years Job Fair are: Moyross, Ballinacurra Weston, St Marys Park and Southill, with Moyross Youth Academy hosting the first of the lot.

Mayor of Limerick City and County Council Cllr Francis Foley, said he is delighted to see the Jobs Fair return.

If your goal is further education, training or employment then I encourage you to get along and kick-start your career at the Jobs Fair, he said.

Joe Delaney, Director of Limerick Regeneration Directorate added: The Jobs Fair is an initiative of the Outreach to Employment Programme which aims to challenge unemployment within Regeneration communities through an integrated service approach. It is designed to equip unemployed young men and women with the skills and confidence to secure employment and training opportunities. The feedback from employers to last years Jobs Fair was extremely positive and the communities are welcoming its return this year.

Some of the companies who will have stalls on this coming Thursday, April 20 include: Johnson & Johnson, Lidl, Volkswagen Group, Limerick Youth Service, The Defence Forces and Bus Eireann.
A GROUP of Limerick secondary school students took to the city's streets this Monday "reflecting on the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement," after a former member of the US Senate delivered a speech about the 'momentous' occasion.

After George Mitchell addressed a conference in Queen's University Belfast, students from Gaelcholaiste Luimnigh distributed printed copies of his speech to members of the public on Bedford Row in Limerick city cenyte, as part of the Agreement 25 Conference, which aims to reflect on the peace process in Northern Ireland.

Narrative 4, a charity working with youth and educators to bring about positive change in the community, has partnered with The Ireland Funds and Senator George Mitchell to launch a new project, The Possible, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which the Senator served as a primary architect.

45 students, including many from Gaelcholaiste Luimnigh, read and distributed printed copies of Senator Mitchells speech to members of the public in Limerick.

The Irish author Colum McCann, co-founder of Narrative 4, a global non-profit headquartered in Limerick, said, "this project is a way of honouring the legacy of our peace process, and teaching the youth of today about the necessity for dialogue.

"For the last number of weeks these young people have been learning about the Peace Process and the enormous impact it had on Ireland and beyond."

Caitriona Fottrell, President and CEO of The Ireland Funds said, "as the Good Friday Agreement reaches its 25th anniversary, there is a whole generation of young people who do not remember the Troubles or the peace process, but who have enjoyed its legacy of peace in Northern Ireland.

"We believe this project is a fantastic way of marking this important date, but also to educate young people about this important topic."

Other students to participate were St Dominics College in Ballyfermot, Priory Integrated College in County Down, and Malone Integrated College in Belfast.
THE OWNERS of a whiskey firm which is distilled right in the heart of Limerick are in great spirits after winning five awards.

Thomond Gate Limerick whiskey has struck gold at the prestigious International Wine and Spirit Competition awards which were held in the British capital city, London.

Five of its whiskeys were submitted to a panel of experts for blind tasting and assessment.

And all of these medalled: one whiskey secured gold, two won silver, and two got bronze.

Founded in 2019 by Ballyclough man Nicholas Ryan, Thomond Gate Limerick Whiskeys goal is to restore Limerick's place in the world of the spirit and offer premium, handcrafted whiskey that showcases its rich heritage.

The last time whiskey was distilled here prior to 2019 was a century before, in Browns Quay, Thomondgate.

Competition judges in London gave a gold medal to Thomond Gate Whiskeys Miguel Hogan Ruby Port Cask single malt whiskey.

Its Galloping Hogan cognac cask finish single malt won a silver, as did its John Wolfe Ambrose Irish single malt whiskey.,

Bronze medals went to its Hlymrekr Danish rye finish single pot still, and its Patrick Sarsfield Chateau Kirwan Cask single pot.

Mr Ryan said staff are thrilled to win gold in what he felt was a competitive field.

It's a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team, and it's an honour to be recognized as a leading independent brand in the industry. This win not only speaks to the quality of our whiskey, but it also highlights the growing success of independent producers in the Republic of Ireland, he said.

Mr Ryan also revealed that Thomond Gate Whiskey is to be sold across a number of outlets on the west coast of the United States of America.
Stephanie Cobian |

Six Lincoln University of Missouri (LU) students have been recognized by the Midwest Consortium  Intelligence Community Center for Academic Excellence (MW-IC CAE) for their achievements as IC CAE Scholars at a pinning ceremony. Alexandre Mugisha, Jovita 'Iris' Desha, Assata Starks, Blake Oakley, Chyler Hughes and Jared Campbell received their pins for their acceptance into the program and their development of specific skills and experiences associated with work in the Intelligence Community on Friday, March 31.

Lincoln University President Dr. John B. Moseley commended the scholars for their achievement stating, We are honored to be part of this first class of Lincoln students to earn this designation. I applaud you [students]. This is a tremendous opportunity for you that opens doors you may not realize yet as a result of your participation in this program.

Jennifer McCann, Deputy Chief of Emerging Talent Group within the Intelligence Community Human Capital, delivered the keynote address and expressed she was inspired by the scholars and their interest in dedication to public service. She shared that the program provides a wealth of opportunities beyond post-secondary graduation and prepares students with the skills necessary in the intelligence and national security fields.

There is no single academic discipline in IC, said McCann. Intelligence agencies run the gamut of skills.

Lincolns IC CAE Scholars come from a range of majors, including political science, psychology, history, agricultural and environmental sciences, and biology. As part of the program, scholars learned about intelligence and STEM curricula, worked collaboratively to create rich, engaged learning and teaching experiences, and built vital IC partnerships.

Chyler Hughes, a junior majoring in agricultural and environmental sciences, represented Lincoln University at the recent 2023 MW-IC CAE Colloquium on Social Media Intelligence and National Security held at St. Louis University.

Im hoping to gain more career opportunities, and definitely have already seen so many different avenues available, stated Hughes who now is interested in becoming an FBI analyst.

Alexandre Mugisha and Blake Oakley have been selected to represent Lincoln University at the 2023 IC-CAE Summer Session in Madrid, Spain to develop their approaches to understanding global interactions of culture. Assata Starks and Jovita Iris Desha will participate at the IC CAE Summer Symposium in Washington, D.C. Starks aims to someday work in background checks for government agencies, while Desha aspires to work in Latin America utilizing her Spanish-speaking skills.

The MW-IC CAE is led by Joe Lyons, Ph.D., director of the Security and Strategic Intelligence program at St. Louis University, with Lincoln University and Harris-Stowe State Univerity as partners. Lincoln University joined a cross-institutional community of educators committed to facilitating collaborative relationships and training the next generation of intelligence officers through the MW-IC CAE, which is part of a $2.5 million grant from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The consortium aims to develop a diverse workforce of qualified intelligence professionals with a background in strategic intelligence and STEM to carry out Americas long-term national security initiatives.

In his closing remarks, Dr. Darius Watson, LUs executive director of academic initiatives, expressed his pride for the first class of IC CAE Scholars of Lincoln University and issued a call to action urging them to help guide others towards similar opportunities. Set the stage for those that are going to follow behind you. We ask that you reach out and play the role of mentor and counselor and let others know what they can expect and what opportunities lie ahead.

For more information on the MW-IC CAE, please contact Dr. Darius Watson at WatsonD@lincolnu.edu.
Mumbai : The Adani group paid back at least $3 billion in the March quarter, lowering promoter-group pledges and settling bonds with three domestic mutual funds to allay the concerns of investors and creditors, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The proceeds from the $1.88 billion equity funding by GQG Partners and an additional $1 billion from promoter-group funding were used to release a substantial part of the promoters pledges and repay bonds early," one of the two people said, requesting anonymity.

Regulatory filings last week showed that the embattled group spent at least $2.54 billion to cut promoters pledges in four of the nine listed Adani group companiesAdani Enterprises Ltd, Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd, Adani Transmission Ltd, and Adani Green Energy Ltd.

View Full Image Graphic: Mint

This is possibly the largest amount ever spent in a single quarter by an Indian group to lower the promoter pledge," said a veteran investment banker.

Additionally, according to the two people cited above and copies of internal notes reviewed by Mint, the group repaid at least 3,650 crore worth of commercial papers (CPs) that were sold to SBI Mutual Fund ( 2,750 crore), Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund ( 500 crore) and HDFC Mutual Fund ( 450 crore) during the March quarter.

The moves aimed to assuage investor concerns after the group witnessed a massive $145 billion erosion in market value after the Hindenburg report published on 24 January.

An Adani group spokesperson declined to comment.

As Adani group stocks suffered a prolonged fall after the Hindenburg report, the group held a series of roadshows with large investors and creditors during the March quarter. Following a steep correction in Adani group stocks, US-based boutique asset management company GQG Partners, on 2 March, bought 3.4% in AEL, 4.1% in Adani Ports, 2.5% in Adani Transmission and 3.5% in Adani Green from the Adani group promoters for a total of $1.88 billion or 15,446 crore.

The group held a roadshow in Singapore on 27 February, followed by another two-day roadshow in Hong Kong on 28 February and 1 March," said the first person.

The Singapore meeting was held with the help of 12 global banks including BNP Paribas, DBS Bank, and Standard Chartered Bank, ING and Mizhuo. The Adani Group was represented by group chief financial officer Jugeshinder Singh and Anupam Misra, the head of corporate finance," added the first person.

According to recent regulatory filings, the Adani group has spent over 21,000 crore to lower promoter group pledges across several of its listed flagship companies. These efforts have reduced pledges in Adani Enterprises from 1.94% to 0.44% between December and March, in Adani Ports from 11.28% to 2.84%, in Adani Transmission from 4.92% to 2.69%, and in Adani Green Energy from 2.65% to 2%.

Following the Hindenburg report, the Adani group has made efforts to cut promoter group pledges. The group has spent at least 12,100 crore to reduce pledges in Adani Ports, 4,000 crore in Adani Enterprises, 3,762 crore in Adani Transmission, and 1,145 crore in Adani Green Energy in the March quarter. However, in Adani Power Ltd, the promoter pledge has slightly increased from 18.75% to 18.85% from December to March. Promoter-group pledges in Ambuja Cements and ACC Ltd have, however, remained unchanged at 63% and 6.64%, respectively, since December 2022.

In the groups FMCG food company Adani Wilmar, the owner of the Fortune brand, 22.75% of the companys shares were locked at the end of March, although no share is pledged. This means the promoters must bring down their holding to at least 75% or lower to comply with the minimum public shareholding norms.

Adanis move to lower share-pledge levels and prepay debts has checked the free fall in the groups stocks, especially of those firms in which promoter pledge has been brought down.

Despite recent controversies, the Adani Group has attracted around 2.25 million new public shareholders, mostly retail and so-called high-net-worth individuals, who purchased shares worth at least $3.1 billion in the conglomerate during the March quarter. Also, state-run Life Insurance Corp. of India increased its stakes in several of the groups firms.
New Delhi: A day before Indias first Apple Store opens doors at the Jio World Drive mall in Mumbai, the companys chief executive officer Tim Cook met Reliance Industries Ltd chairman Mukesh Ambani and his top executives in the city, a person aware of the matter said.

Cook, who is scheduled to inaugurate the Mumbai store on Tuesday, met Ambani, his son and Reliance Jio chairman Akash Ambani, and daughter and Reliance Retail chairperson Isha Ambani, the person cited above said on condition of anonymity. He also met senior Reliance group executives during his first day in Mumbai.

The Delhi store is set to open on Thursday.

Spokespeople for Apple and Reliance did not comment, but the person cited above said that discussions spanned across Apples retail plans in India, local manufacturing and sourcing, and growth of 5G services in India.

Moneycontrol reported that Cook met Tata Sons chairman N. Chandrasekaran and other industry leaders, but this could not be independently confirmed. Cook is expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ministers from the IT and telecom ministries ahead of the Delhi store opening.

The Apple boss will be meeting customers at the Mumbai store on Tuesday when the store is officially opened. We cant wait to welcome our customers to the new Apple BKC tomorrow," he said in a Twitter post on Monday, showcasing the store and its employees. The Cupertino-headquartered tech giant has so far sold its products through authorized retail partners and online sales channels in India.

At Apple, our customers are at the centre of everything we do, and our teams are excited to celebrate this wonderful moment with them as we open our first retail store in India," said Deirdre OBrien, Apples senior vice president of retail. OBrien said that Apple BKC will offer a special Today at Apple series, Mumbai Rising," running from 18 April through the summer, where free sessions featuring Apple products and services will be offered.

Cooks India visit marks a milestone for the iPhone maker, which sees the country as one of its leading growth markets and an increasingly important manufacturing base for its smartphones, Airpods and iPads, as it attempts to reduce its dependence on China.

India has such a beautiful culture and an incredible energy, and were excited to build on our long-standing history  supporting our customers, investing in local communities, and working together to build a better future with innovations that serve humanity," Cook said in a statement while noting Apples 25 years in India and its upcoming retail expansion.
Mumbai: Apple today pulled back the covers on its first store in India, Apple BKC, at the Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai, in a special media preview ahead of its official launch for customers on 18 April. Unlike Apple resellers, which have thus far served Apple customers in India, the store represents the brand bringing its retail experience into the country, a blend of its portfolio of products, its famed service levels and its education sessions.

At Apple, our customers are at the centre of everything we do, and our teams are excited to celebrate this wonderful moment with them as we open our first retail store in India," said Deirdre OBrien, Apples senior vice president of retail. Apple BKC is a reflection of Mumbais vibrant culture and brings together the best of Apple in a beautiful, welcoming space for connection and community," OBrien added.

Located at the edge of the upscale Jio World Drive Mall, Apple BKC spans well over 22,000 square feet spread over two levels, with an expansive, double-height, tree-lined ground level featuring Apples latest products across the iPhone, iPad, Watch and Mac product lines alongside Apples audio, TV and services offerings. A 14-meter-long stainless-steel staircase leads visitors up to the cantilevered mezzanine level where buyers can find accessories for their Apple products, and the two levels are surrounded by a floor-to-ceiling glass facade seen in many Apple Stores globally.

The defining characteristic of the store is a triangular handcrafted timber ceiling that extends beyond the glass walls to the underside of the exterior canopy. Each tile is made from 408 pieces of timber, forming 31 modules per tile with a total of 1,000 tiles that make up the ceiling, and each of over 450,000 individual timber elements in the Mumbai store were assembled in Delhi. In a nod to Apples sustainability initiatives, the store is designed to be one of the most energy-efficient Apple Retail locations across the world, with a dedicated solar array ensuring a claimed zero reliance on fossil fuels for store operations.

As a town-square for customers, the BKC store operates as a cross between a retail and a centre for education, and is supported by the staff of 100 employees that speak 20 languages between them. As with other retail locations globally, Apple BKC includes the new Genius Grove (for professional assistance via scheduled sessions with Apple Geniuses) as well as in-store experiences called Today at Apple, which include sessions on creative applications spanning music, video/audio editing, among others.

The Cupertino, California headquartered technology companys retail initiatives come at a time when the brand is leaning in heavily on its investments in manufacturing in India to reduce its dependence on its manufacturing partners in China, and the stores at BKC and Saket in Delhi (launching later this week) will help the brand gain a stronger foothold in this growing market.
New Delhi: Executives who quit their stable jobs for the allure of startup life, with lucrative stock options and impressive job titles, are flocking back to their former employers, accepting similar or even reduced salaries, as they choose job security over the tantalizing prospects of the fledgeling startups.

Many who left traditional firms to join startups are returning to established companies. They are moving at the same pay scale and, in some cases, even taking a 15-20% pay cut. Those taking the pay cuts have not been fired and want to work for more stable jobs," said Anshul Lodha, head of recruitment firm Page Executive, India.

This shift in executive sentiment coincides with the financial difficulties faced by startups, particularly those in the edtech and fintech sectors, as well as widespread layoffs affecting more than 20,000 employees in the past year. Many of these companies aggressively expanded their workforces under the assumption that deal pipelines and client business would continue to flourish, only to be caught off-guard by a market downturn that forced them to freeze hiring, slash bonuses, and reassess their expansion plans.

Industry giants such as Tata Consultancy Services Ltd have also seen an influx of former employees.

There is some great talent in startups, and some have lost their jobs. They are welcome to participate in the TCS process. Yes, even if they are moving back, we are welcoming them," said Milind Lakkad, chief human resources officer of TCS.

While most returning junior and middle-level executives have secured jobs at larger firms, senior executives face a more daunting challenge, as opportunities at this level are more limited.

Last year, many junior executives were given a lot of responsibilities at a young age. Now that the focus is on profits and sustainable growth, those growth hacking opportunities, which led to many experiments, are gone. In such a scenario, junior executives may prefer more job security," a senior startup executive said.

Most junior- to middle-level executives will prefer a more stable company if compensation is not significantly different. Employees may also move from Series A or B startups, who have not managed to recently raise capital to a larger, more stable startup or a conglomerate if they can, for job security," the executive added.

However, companies are careful in compensation negotiations as hiring returning talent at a higher salary band can create employee resentment.

About two-three out of 10 who had joined startups are returning. We are treading within the internal salary bands since those who had gone out had done so on the back of inflated salaries and designations," said S. Venkatesh, group president of human resources at RPG Enterprises. The HR head of the tyre to IT conglomerate noted that they get recruited in companies they had worked before because both the firm and the employee are familiar with the work culture and can settle in faster.

Resources conglomerate Vedanta also saw employees leaving for better salaries and profiles to startups. But now they want to come back, and they are returning at pay cuts," said Praveen Purohit, deputy chief HR officer at Vedanta Group.

In some cases, they are keen to return to profiles in new ventures with a larger digital presence. The initial allure of startups and e-commerce firms have reduced, and people are looking at jobs which are in traditional firms but have roles that intersect with their digital, tech platforms," said the HR head of one of the top three insurance companies in India.

devina.sengupta@livemint.com
New Delhi: The GMR Group is working on upgrading the retail experience at its airports worldwide by leveraging the expertise of its French partner Groupe ADP, a top company executive said.

We want to use Groupe ADPs expertise in design to create next-generation retail areas at airports so that the Indian consumer spends more at Indian airports rather than at hubs outside, which have cannibalized the demand from Indian consumers," said Saurabh Chawla, executive director, finance and strategy at GMR Infrastructure. We want to use their expertise in attracting the best of brands to GMR airports, housed in freshly designed retail areas. Imagine their negotiating power to attract global brands. Ours (relationship with ADP) is not a financial relationship. It is an industrial partnership," Chawla said in an interview.

The Adani Group operates the largest number of airports in India after the state-run Airports Authority of India (AAI); however, GMR Group also operates airports overseas, making it Indias largest homegrown private airport operator.

The retail strategy will help GMR improve non-aeronautical revenues at airports such as Delhi, where 30% of non-aeronautical revenue is used to cross-subsidize airport charges.

The GMR Group is also looking at developing an airport management vertical to bid for master concessions (airport operations) and real estate development at various airports, Chawla said.

The groups broader strategy is in line with that of other airport operators such as Adani Group and AAI. The Adani group has already stated its intention to develop real estate and aero cities around its airports. AAI is also prepared to sell master concessions at its airports to increase non-aeronautical revenue.

The partnership with Groupe ADP is expected to help the company attract top brands at competitive rates.

In 2020, Paris-based airport operator ADP purchased a 49% stake in GMR Airports Ltd, a subsidiary of GMR Airports Infrastructure Ltd, with the GMR Group holding the rest. Airports under GMR Airports Ltd include independent operating entities for Delhi, Hyderabad, Mopa in Goa, Bidar, Bhogapuram and Crete in Greece. Established in 1945, Groupe ADP owns and manages Charles de Gaulle Airport, Orly Airport and Le Bourget Airport in Paris. Overall, it controls and manages more than 20 airports, including the network of its joint venturesTAV Airports and GMR Airports.

In March, the two partners decided to merge GMR Airports with the group holding company GMR Airports Infrastructure. Once the merger is completed by March 2024, GMR Group will remain the largest stakeholder in the listed entity GMR Airports Infrastructure with a 33.7% stake, while Groupe ADP and the public will hold 32.3% and 34%, respectively. All eight airport companies in the group will be subsidiaries of the company.

So, the merger of GMR Airports Infrastructure Ltd and GMR Airports Ltd will create a value creation of 15-20% as the closer the operating asset is to the listed company, the higher the valuation," Chawla said. ADP will be christened as co-promoters, but management control will be with the GMR family. Western Europe is ADPs region of influence and South Asia is GMRs. In the rest of the geographies, we will collaborate, although, in Southeast Asia, GMR will take the lead position to look for opportunities. In geographies where TAV (ADP subsidiary) is present, we coordinate via ADP," he added.

The merger will also help the company raise around 2,900 crore from Groupe ADP through 10-year foreign currency convertible bonds, which will be used to clear debt.

Debt of GMR Infrastructure Ltd is around 2,200 crore, which includes accrued interest. Surplus of about 700 crore out of 2,900 crore along with 550 crore of earnout money totalling 1,250 crore shall be used to remove a large part of contingent liabilities," Chawla further said.

anu.sharma@livemint.com
Tata-backed Air India is set to add new interiors and provide compensation packages for its cabin crew, reveals CEO Campbell Wilson.

According to a report by The Hindu, Air India will announce new compensation packages for its cabin crew and pilots and a new rostering system on Monday (17 April).

Besides, Air India will soon have a new colour scheme, new designs for cabin interiors, and new uniforms for crew members, Wilson informed employees in an internal communication.

Recently, Air India's CEO stated that the iconic Maharajah may continue to be a part of the airlines mascot, it could also include a "she".

Air India has already announced plans to recruit 4,200 cabin crew and 900 pilots in 2023.

Earlier this month, Air India onboarded more than 3,800 staff across crew and other functions and rolled out more than 29 new policies for employees in the last six months as part of the initiatives under its five-year transformation plan.

Loss-making Air India, which is being piloted by the Tata Group since January last year, is putting in $200 million in information technology systems and is also committed to investing USD 400 million to completely refurbish existing aircraft.

It has also placed orders for 470 planes.

'Taxi', the first phase of the transformation plan Vihaan.AI, which focussed on "addressing legacy issues of the airline at scale and laying the foundation for future growth" has concluded, the airline said and added that now the second phase 'Take Off', -- that will focus on developing the platforms, processes, and systems needed to build toward excellence -- has commenced.

Wilson said the first six months of the transformation journey have made great strides in tackling many issues that had built up over the years and the airline has come a long way in establishing foundations for growth.

"Our record-setting aircraft order, the commitment of USD 400 million to completely refurbish existing aircraft, the investment of USD 200 million in new IT, and the recruitment of literally thousands of staff are but a few of the significant investments being made to restore Air India to the upper echelons of global aviation," Cambell said last month.

He stated that the second phase will also witness the consolidation of AirAsia India and Air India Express.

Apart from launching premium economy seats for the first time on select long-haul flights, Air India has revamped its menus on international and domestic routes.

The airline has also reactivated more than 10 codeshare agreements and is in active alliance discussions with other airlines.
Akshata Murty, the wife of UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak, experienced a paper loss of approximately 49 million (over 500 crore) after shares in Infosys Ltd, the Indian software giant co-founded by her father, Narayana Murthy, dropped 9.4% on Monday. This was the biggest decline in share value for the company since March 2020.

The share price fell after Infosys Ltd's guidance painted a negative outlook for India's technology sector, prompting a wave of downgrades by brokers. Murty owns a 0.94% stake in the company, which is still worth more than 450 million.

This loss in wealth serves to emphasise the gulf between the chancellor and ordinary citizens who are struggling with the cost of living crisis. Although the paper loss is a fraction of the Sunak family's wealth, Murtys wealth and outside interests have been a recurring theme in her husbands political career.

The Sunaks refused to comment on the matter.

Last year, it emerged that she holds non-domicile status and hadn't been paying UK tax on overseas earnings. While she said that her arrangements were "entirely legal," she opted to start paying British taxes on those earnings.

In a separate development on the same day, Daniel Greenberg, the UK Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, initiated an inquiry into whether Sunak had failed to declare a relevant interest regarding a minority stake owned by his wife in a childcare company. Sunak's office claimed that the interest had been "transparently declared," and that the prime minister would cooperate with Greenberg.

Last month, the prime minister disclosed details of his own financial affairs, revealing that he had paid over 1 million in UK taxes over the past three years. His earnings from shares and capital gains exceeded his political salary.

Sunak and Murthy are the richest ever occupants of 10 Downing Street. Murthy is the daughter of one of the founders of Indian IT giant Infosys and owns about 0.9% of the company, worth nearly $600 million based on Monday's share price.

(With inputs from Bloomberg)
Shashi Sinha, the chief executive of IPG Mediabrands, one of the largest media agencies in India, dons multiple hatshe is chairman of the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India, and of Media Research Users Council, besides being a former chairman of the technical committee of BARC. In an interview with Mint, Sinha spoke about the viewership and ad sales of Indian Premier League, and how the two media rights holders are playing a zero-sum game. He also reiterated that TV is not dead, and still has a lot of promise left. Edited excerpts :

Theres an ongoing debate over TV versus digital on IPL with Disney Star claiming a 75% share of IPL ad sales, while Viacom18 said it has cornered two-thirds share. What is your view?

We will have a clearer picture towards the middle or the end of the tournament but suffice to say that both the numbers are wrong. It is neither 75:25 in favour of TV nor two-thirds and one-third in favour of digital. In my view, it will probably be 50:50 or 60:40 in favour of TV. But its difficult at this moment because the tournament is still going on. Earlier, a lot of clients had held back due to the confusion, but they are coming back after seeing the numbers.

Do you think the two rights holders have in a way confused the advertisers?

The issue is the two players have made it a zero-sum game, but it is not a fact. Now India is an extremely fragmented market and its very difficult to get a reach in this country. Now clients are confused with the cumulative reach numbers. Between BARC numbers and JioCinema numbers, if I take all of those at face value, and add the reach for one spot, it is not more than 40-50 million all put together, including handheld. So forget this cumulative build- up of reach. If Im putting one advertisement spot, the maximum number of people I will reach is 40-50 million. Now this is a stupid way of looking at it, but out of 1.4 billion people in India, assuming that 400 million is not your audience, still one spot is giving me just 5% reach.

If the numbers are going up, consumption is going up because you made it free and you have done terrific marketing, but there is still great headroom. With a 5% reach, IPL is Indias biggest property, and not because they paid so much money for the rights. I am not blaming anyone but the thought of it being a zero-sum is not just wrong but is ridiculous. In India, there is no other property that would have given this reach, so the efforts from both the rights holders should have been how we can grow the market.

As the head of one of the largest media agency networks, what would you recommend to them?

My appeal to both would be to sit down together and build a story on what IPL has done for the industry and can do in future, rather than playing this zero-sum game. Look at the headroom. In spite of being Indias biggest property, its reach is just 5%, Obviously cumulative reach goes up, but for that you have to put in money.

Instead of working together, they have confused the market, and advertisers are asking what is, and what is not working. Is TV working better or digital working better? I know a few clients who decided to stay out because of this confusion.

I feel this is just the first year and nothing is lost, IPL is a long-term property. They should sit down together and look at the learnings, combine the data and put it together. Hopefully, in the near future, BARC will also have across-media video.

If youre a serious player in this game, if its about genuinely growing a business, there couldnt be a better opportunity than this. Two powerful organizations have put 48,000 crore into this property. Now to monetise, its next to impossible by claiming each others share. You have to grow the pie, unless the aim is to build a global valuation, which is a separate thing.

But in my mind, monetization will only happen if you can make it into a property where every advertiser in India wants to advertise, on one medium or the other. This may be a wild thought, but why cant they work together and sell it together?

Do you agree, as the BARC India chairman about the narrative on the death of TV, and digital taking over?

First we must get some numbers, right? And Im only quoting BARC data as BARC does a baseline study once in two years and then extrapolates on that basis. And its third-party validated data. So there are 220 million TV homes, out of which about 40-45 million are free-to-air (FTA) homes. This keeps fluctuating, which is why Im giving you the range as people keep switching on and off. The balance is pay-TV homes, which is equally divided between cable and DTH (direct-to-home). So whatever people say, the fact is India is a strong pay-TV market.

Two, the total time spent on TV is going up every year, which is at 3.5 hours a day, and consumption of free TV is lower than pay TV, and this whole perception of TV going down is because free and pay are not weight variables for viewership metrics. As FTA has grown, from say 30 million a few years back to 45 million, and their consumption is less, ultimately as we average it out the overall consumption seems to be coming down because these are not primary control variables.

One of the major changes we are exploring at BARC and with the technical committee, and it will require every stakeholder to be on board, is that should we weigh data separately for FTA and pay. Once you do that, there will not be an averaging effect and these assumptions will stop as we can give separate data for FTA and pay channels.

So why is the perception that nobody watches TV anymore?

I speak about it very passionately and I hope the industry listens to me. The problem is that people like us are watching content on OTT and because we are not watching TV anymore, we think nobody else is. Now my personal view  and I havent been able to manage stakeholders on this to evangelize it is when we started, for a variety of reasons the stakeholders wanted individual-level ratings and not household level. For individual ratings, the person in the house where a meter is placed, has to push a button assigned to him or her on the remote, confirming that he or she is watching TV. Most of the time, people dont do it and thus, the content that gets most viewership is what is made for the masses. Which is the most popular show on TV right now? Its Anupama, its very popular, but you and I may not have watched it.

Finally, ratings are the only way to monetise, so broadcasters have been using the ratings and making the same shows to get more viewership.

Is there any solution to it?

The solution is using the household data, and ascribing it to the individuals if required. BARC teams are working on return path data and a different type of set meters, where once you put them in the houses, users dont have to push any buttons and BARC gets the data. We will try that experiment in a few markets and study the data. If we start building the ratings that way, and you start segmenting, it will create niches for people to monetise as most of the broadcasters own OTT services too. Now this is a journey and it wont happen overnight, and may take two years. But, that could be the future.

The feeling is that the bottom is going away to FTA and the top is going away to OTT, in my mind its a misnomer. The top is going away to OTT because we are not allowing the broadcasters to monetize the content. The bottom is also not going to FTA, its just that we arent weighing it. The moment we start doing it, some advertisers will want to go for free, but many will want to go for pay TV only.

Thats why I say that there is a lot of juice left in TV and I feel that BARC has a role to play as a TV rating company and hopefully, sooner than later, we will end up being a content measurement company - whether its TV or OTT. The US has already started measuring multi-screen content, and here also it will happen.

While BARC is providing third-party data for TV measurement, for OTT, we have to be dependent on data shared by the individual players. Will it change anytime soon?

All I can say is that its very difficult to sell on a sustained basis without third-party data. Even if you take the IPL, initially, there were more clients who were coming for digital, but now there are more towards TV because of third-party data. So when the third-party data started coming out, and at least the first 10 games it is showing growth on TV, clients are coming back. But I will not generalize the basis of two or three examples.
Vedanta Group is teaming up with 20 South Korean firms to establish an electronics manufacturing hub in India, the company announced at the Korea Biz-Trade Show 2023 event on Monday.

The Indian firm, which is also setting up a semiconductor plant in Gujarat in a joint venture (JV) with Foxconn, said over 50 firms are seeking partnerships with the company.

More than 50 companies have shown their interest in partnering with us and we are pleased to announce that we have signed MoUs with 20 Korean companies engaged in the electronics manufacturing value chain," said Akarsh Hebbar, global managing director of Vedantas semiconductor and display business.

Vedanta's greenfield display fab, led by its subsidiary Avanstrate Inc which makes special glass used in LCD panels and has manufacturing operations in South Korea and Taiwan, will be part of the proposed hub.

This follows a December MoU signing between Vedanta and 30 Japanese firms during a roadshow in Japan. The company's display manufacturing business is expanding its offerings to include wafer glass, ultra-thin glass, and glasses for AR/VR.

Hebbar said that the electronics hub has the capacity to attract more than 150 companies and can generate more than 100 thousand direct and indirect jobs in the future.

India is becoming a popular destination for electronics manufacturing, with its semiconductor component market revenue share projected to grow at a 19% CAGR to reach $300 billion in 2026, up from $119 billion in 2021. In December 2021, the Indian government approved a 76,000 crore production-linked incentive scheme to attract global semiconductor and display manufacturers.

Besides Vedanta-Foxconn JV, International Semiconductor Consortium (ISMC), a joint venture between UAEs Next Orbit Ventures and Israels Tower Semiconductor, is also working to set up fab units in Karnataka.
New Delhi: Packaged foods company Kellogg India Pvt. Ltd., on Monday announced the appointment of Vinay Subramanyam as the head of marketing for India and South Asia, including markets such as Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives.

Subramanyam re-joins Kellogg after having served in sales development and category marketing roles between 2011 and 2015. Subramanyam stepped into his new role in April and will be based out of the companys office in Mumbai.

In this critical role, Subramanyam will be responsible for scaling category development, driving strategic initiatives and overseeing the organisations brand and marketing initiatives," the company said in a statement announcing his appointment.

Subramanyam joins Kellogg from Pidilite Industries, where he worked as the chief marketing officer. Prior to his stint at Pidilite, Subramanyam headed marketing for biscuit maker Britannia Industries Ltd. He has worked in various sales and marketing roles, having started his career at VIP Industries as area sales manager in 2002.

His proven track record of building large brands, launching successful innovations and understanding the essence of who we are, will bring a fresh perspective to Kelloggs purposeful marketing agenda and elevate our brand and marketing strategy. He will play an important role in our exciting agenda to reimagine the future of food in South Asia," Prashant Peres, managing director, Kellogg South Asia said.

Kellogg Company sells brands such as Kelloggs Corn Flakes, Kelloggs Chocos apart from muesli and oats. The company started business in India India by setting up a manufacturing plant at Taloja (Maharashtra) in 1994. In 2015it launched its second manufacturing facility at Sri City (Andhra Pradesh). The cereal maker also established a Research and Development Centre in India that caters to the demand of the South Asian markets for Kellogg.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday exuded confidence over the party's victory in the Karnataka Assembly elections that are scheduled to take place on May 10. While addressing a gathering in Bengaluru, he said that there's a strong undercurrent in favor of the grand old party in the state.

We will be facing elections in Karnataka and I am quite happy to know that there's a strong undercurrent in favor of the Congress party. I am confident that the Congress party is going to win the elections," Rahul Gandhi said.

He launched a scathing attack on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and said, Most of us are aware of what the BJP is doing in the nation in terms of hatred, violence, and the attack on institutions. These are things that are visible to everybody."

The essence and nature of our country are being attacked, and it is our duty as Congress people, as people who have helped build the modern idea of India to defend the idea of India from the RSS and the BJP," the former Congress chief said as quoted by ANI.

Gandhi also addressed a public gathering at the poll-bound State's Kolar earlier in the day where he made a remark on the Modi surname for which he has been convicted of criminal defamation, followed by his disqualification as MP.

"The representation of OBC, and Dalits in the central government is not in line with their population. There are only 7% of people in the government's secretaries coming from OBC, Dalit, and Adivasi communities," he added.

The Congress leader also demanded that the Union government release the caste census report commissioned by his party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in 2011.

It is pertinent to mention that Rahul Gandhi was found guilty and sentenced to two years in prison on Thursday in a 2019 criminal defamation case over his remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surname by a court in Gujarat's Surat. However, he was granted bail and his sentence was suspended for 30 days to let him appeal the decision.

The case was filed against Gandhi by BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi for saying "How come all thieves have the common surname Modi?"

(With ANI inputs)
MUMBAI : Apples own retail stores in India, which start operations with an outlet in Mumbai from tomorrow, will also offer servicing of its devices within the same store itself. So far, Apples service centers operated out of separate physical spaces from its stores, which were owned and operated through third parties in the country.

The servicing facilities will be operated in the store under a section called Genius Bay, which will feature trained professionals who will offer troubleshooting advice to customers. Booking a servicing slot at the companys own store will retain the same procedure, where users can reserve a time slot from Apples official India website, the company said.

Apple confirmed the move at a pre-launch media event in Mumbais Bandra-Kurla Complex business district outlet, which became the first to start commercial operations in India. The company is set to open its Delhi outlet on April 20, while a third outlet in Bengaluru is also in final preparation stages, according to a report last month by Business Standard.

Industry experts said that while the move is a welcome one, it will not be a departure from how the company has operated in India so far. Tarun Pathak, research director at market researcher Counterpoint India, said that the service center offering will work in the same model as prior to its own stores opening.

Apple, to be sure, will not be providing device repair and servicing on its own. It will offer a trade-in program too at the store itself, but the logistical retail operations of the program will be offered by a third-party vendor. For servicing and repair of devices, the same third-party model will follow. Having it all available under one roof is more of an experiential play from Apple, through which it will try to offer users every possible thing related to the brand under one umbrella," Pathak said.

He further added that Apples existing third-party retail network in the country will not be majorly disrupted as a result of the opening of its own store. Apple already has a robust network of premium third-party resellers of its products, as well as service centers. There could be an incremental difference at its own stores, in the form of customer experience, but that is the only difference that we expect  nothing operationally," he said.

Apples own stores are also likely to feature a larger collection of devices from its portfolio, in terms of the overall colour options and the choice of variants available under one roof.

On April 5, Mint reported that while the opening of its own retail outlets may not impact its market share, Apples opening of its store may impact its overall brand positioning in the country. Navkendar Singh, associate vice-president at market researcher IDC India, told Mint that the companys own retail outlets may eventually cannibalize" some of its large-format retail sales in the country, but projected device and variant availability" to be better at its own stores, than at third-party-run ones.

Apples stores were rumored to open for a long time, and come at a time when the companys market share and shipments in India are at a record high. According to data shared with Mint by IDC India, Apple is likely to have shipped an estimated 6.5 million iPhones last year  a record for the company, and up by 35% annually.

According to Counterpoint data published on January 27, Apple also had a record December quarter  ranking sixth in device shipment rankings and accounting for 8% of all smartphones shipped to India during the period. The companys shipments in India grew, albeit from a much lower base than the top five smartphone brands, even as overall smartphone shipments in the country fell by 27% annually during the December quarter.
Investing in stocks always carries some kind of risks. However, certain stocks are considered riskier than others.

These are stocks of companies that are usually saddled with a mountain of debt, are frequently loss-making and sport weak balance sheets.

However, despite fundamental problematic businesses, they enjoy high valuations owing to different factors.

One of the leading reasons is speculation created by retail investors or social media platforms that can drive up stock prices.

While some investors may be betting on the company's ability to turn things around, others may overlook or underestimate the company's fundamental problems or risks in favour of overly optimistic projections.

Identifying such risky stocks can be challenging, but we highlight four stocks that carry high levels of risk.

#1 Vodafone India

First on our list is Vodafone India.

Vodafone is India's third largest mobile operator (by subscribers) in India, with over 240 m subscribers. It is also the third largest operator by revenue.

The telecom player tickmarks the entire checklist of a typical risky business. These characteristics include high debt levels, poor performance and a loss-making business.

In the last six years, the company has lost half its subscriber base and market share to the intensifying competition.

Despite the poor state of the business, the stock enjoys a lofty valuation, trading at an EV/EBIDTA multiple of 14.4 times. This is likely due to investor optimism about a potential recovery of the business.

But turning around the business seems like an insurmountable task, given the capital-intensive nature and the competitive landscape of the telecom sector in India.

View Full Image Vodafone Idea

The company has been operating at a loss for some time now. And the continuous investments in the telecom sector over the 4G/5G spectrum rollouts have made it tough for the business to sustain itself over the long term.

#2 Tata Motors

Next on our list is Tata Motors.

Tata Motors is India's leading automobile player, with a 45% market share in the commercial vehicle (CV) segment. The company is also present in passenger vehicles (PV) in India (with a market share of 18%), where it has turned around its business with a slew of successful launches.

Tata Motors is well-placed to capitalise on the growing consumer preference for electric vehicles, leading the market with a share of more than 80%.

Apart from the Indian market, Tata Motors also caters to the global luxury auto space with its Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) brand.

So what makes this leading automobile player a risky stock?

Not only does the company sport a debt-ridden balance sheet, but it has also been operating at a loss since the financial year 2019.

While Tata Motors boasts a strong franchise in the domestic CVs segment, the JLR portion of the business has been losing its share in the international market.

The tepid demand growth from JLR in tandem with the recent semiconductor shortages and the rising commodity prices have wiped away profits in the past.

View Full Image Tata Motors

While this bogged the profits down, it didnt break the investor spirit. The stock is trading at an EV/EBIDTA multiple of 8.6 times.

The high valuations came after the company swung back to profits in the quarter ending December 2022 after seven consecutive quarters of losses.

This change of fortune was led by a strong order book, better semiconductor chip supply, tempered commodity prices, along with an improved product mix. Also, the demand for PVs in general, and JLR products in particular, has remained strong in key markets globally.

Apart from this, its India CV (commercial vehicle) business has continued to see cyclical recovery and has a positive outlook.

While the management seems to be working hard to turn the tide, concerns over the continued strong demand (for JLR) in a weak macroeconomic environment combined with hefty interest payments, pose a big risk to the turnaround in the business.

#3 Interglobe Aviation (Indigo)

Third on our list is Interglobe Aviation (Indigo).

InterGlobe Aviation is the operating company for IndiGo, India's largest passenger airline in terms of domestic market share (55%). It is the flagship company of InterGlobe Group, which enjoys diverse business interests across aviation, hospitality, real estate, travel commerce, IT/BPO, etc.

It operates on an LCC (low-cost carrier) business model, offering no-frills air-commute to passengers in the domestic and international sectors.

Indigo possesses all the traits typically associated with a risky stock such as significant debt, weak financial performance, unprofitable operations, and an overvalued market position.

The airline was profitable right up until the pandemic hit. And now, even though the business is booming, the airline has generated a profit in just two out of eight quarters.

View Full Image InterGlobe Aviation

Despite these issues, the investors haven't written off the Indigo stock. The stock is trading at an EV/EBITDA multiple of 20.6 times.

The company faces serious challenges moving forward, most of which centre around the size of its debt on the balance sheet and the competitive intensity.

Apart from this, the capital-intensive nature of the business and the surging fuel prices raise doubts about the company's ability to turn the business around.

#4 Mahanagar Telephone Nagar Limited

Last on our list is Mahanagar Telephone Nagar Limited(MTNL).

MTNL is a state-owned telecommunications service provider in India. It primarily operates in the metropolitan cities of Mumbai and New Delhi, catering to both residential and commercial customers.

The stock is at high-risk considering that MTNL faces competition from private telecom service providers offering affordable 4G mobile, fixed-line, and fibre-to-the-home services.

Moreover, the company's operations are limited to Mumbai and Delhi, which restricts its ability to expand into other cities and compete with pan-India telecom service providers.

Apart from this, the telecom tariffs in India have declined due to cut-throat competition, affecting the industry's revenue.

View Full Image EM4

This has led to a loss-making business burdened with high levels of debt and a weak balance sheet. But the stock continues to trade at a high valuation. At present, the stock is available at an EV/EBIDTA multiple of 129.7 times.

The endless issues testify to growing concerns about the telecom player's ability to turn around the business, making the stock a risky bet.

In conclusion

Investors must exercise caution when investing in the stock market as it always involves a certain degree of risk.

A great way to avoid that is by doing your due diligence before making any investment decisions.

Conducting thorough research and analysis can help you avoid risky stocks with high valuations, which can result in significant losses for investors.

Disclaimer: This article is for information purposes only. It is not a stock recommendation and should not be treated as such.

This article is syndicated from Equitymaster.com
The share price of Infosys dropped by an unprecedented level on Monday to touch a fresh 52-week low with investors losing 58,000 crore or value. Panic selling in Infosys comes after the IT giant posted lower-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter of FY23. The stock emerged as the top bear on both BSE and NSE.

Infosys shares plunged by 130.50 or 9.40% to close at 1,258.10 apiece on BSE, after hitting a new 52-week low of 1,219 apiece earlier in the day. Overall, the stock has shed more than 12% here. By end of the day, Infosys' market cap stood at 5,21,930.34 crore.

Meanwhile, on NSE, the stock's new 52-week low is 1,185.30 apiece. Here, the stock nosedived by a whopping 15% before ending at 1,259 apiece down by 9.37%.

The American Depository Receipt (ADR) price in the US markets had suggested that the stock price of Infosys is likely to open in the red on Indian indices this Monday.

Infosys contracts saw OI jump 8.3% from the previous session as the price slipped 2.7% Thursday. HCL Tech, the best performing large cap IT stock in the last one year, saw contract OI increase 5.2% overnight as contract price fell 2% amid the resignation of Anand Birje, the companys digital services business head.

Infosys missed the Streets revenue and profit expectations for the March quarter and traders mounted bearish bets on the counter prior to the result announcement. Though the Q4 results were issued post market hours in India, the stock closed 2.74% lower at 1,389.20 as if traders anticipated a weak result. This was evident in the huge short build up on Infosys futures and options counter.

Over the past week, Infosys has dropped 2.4%, 6.17% over the past 3 months and over 20% in the past one year.

52-week low for the share price is at 1355.5 per share which it broke today.
India's food delivery industry is all set to grow rapidly in the medium term driven by intensifying internet penetration, rising consumption and growth in urbanisation. Zomato is a dominant player in the industry and analysts at Motilal Oswal forecast the company to report 29 per cent revenue CAGR over FY23-25.

Initiating coverage on the stock with a 'Buy' rating and target price of 70, the brokerage house expects strong growth to be complemented by the company turning profitable over FY25, despite elevated competitive intensity.

"With the exit of Amazon, the food delivery market is now a settled duopoly with Zomato (55% market share) and Swiggy (45%). The market has a very high moat given the significant capital requirement to displace the incumbents," the note stated.

Blinkit delivery executives on strike: Should investors worry

Blinkit delivery executives servicing 50 per cent of the dark stores in the NCR area are on strike since 12 April, 2023, demanding roll-back of recent changes made to delivery incentive structures in the region, said domestic brokerage firm ICICI Securities.

The brokerage believes strikes/agitations are unavoidable in the sector given the large exposure to an urban blue-collared workforce. It noted that Swiggy had also faced pushback in Chennai last September when they revised their incentive structures.

However, given that the strike at Blinkit is happening in the national capital and has already garnered political attention, we think the company should try to resolve the issue at the earliest. This could be through a combination of clearer communication on expected change in earnings for delivery executives and / or some concessions on the delivery fee.

Q4FY23 preview

Zomato is expected to report a strong 29 per cent revenue CAGR over FY2325 fueled by higher penetration, higher proportion of transacting users, and increased ordering frequency.

Food delivery GOV to remain flat sequentially in Q4FY23E (+14.2% YoY) despite Zomato Gold activation.

"Slowing growth was evident in GOV due to post-Diwali consumption fatigue and the online-to-offline shift," said ICICI Securities.

However, based on sustained improvement in the underlying operating metrics, the brokerage maintains a 'Buy' rating on Zomato with a DCF-based target price of 65.

"We acknowledge that further slowdown in growth poses a risk to our FY24E/FY25E estimates, but we think, at CMP, the risk reward is still skewed to the upside," the note said.

The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of Mint.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Meghna Sen Business journalist tracking markets, companies, economy and crypto for Livemint. She has 6 years of experience with online and print publications. Email: meghnasen08@gmail.com Read more from this author

Know your inner investor Do you have the nerves of steel or do you get insomniac over your investments? Lets define your investment approach. Take the test
New Delhi: Air India unveiled revised salary structures for pilots and cabin crew on Monday, raising remuneration for several staff categories. However, some senior personnel expressed concerns that the benefits would not reach their levels. The airlines new owner, Tata Group, is currently implementing a transformation plan that will impact at least 2,700 pilots across Air India, Air Asia India, and Air India Express brands, along with 5,600 Air India cabin crew.

Mint had broken the story on 28 March.

Key changes include adjustments in per hour flying rates and a minimum guarantee of flying allowance for 40 hours, up from 20 hours. However, an airline pilot, who asked not to be named, said: This raise in pay is only for junior pilots who work at a very poor scale", while adding that senior-most pilots are unlikely to benefit from it.

A second pilot said the minimum guaranteed flying allowance was below industry standard. Industry standards dictate that a pilot should be paid for the month, ie. approximately 70 hours. A 40-hour commitment is highly unfair to the pilot," an airline commander told HT.

The airline also introduced two additional levels or designations in the pilot category: junior first officer at the entry level, and senior commanders. The company extended contracts for those on fixed term contracts (FTC) up to the age of 58 years and announced that annual increments will be determined by industry expert assessment from the next financial year. Additional compensation for pilots undergoing training for command-upgrade and conversion training will also be implemented.

For cabin crew, the organization structure has been redesignated into four segments: Trainee Cabin Crew, Cabin Crew, Cabin Senior, and Cabin Executive. While some remuneration structures were adjusted upwards, staff expressed dissatisfaction with allowances for permanent senior and permanent executives, who will not see any change in their pay. New recruits are said to be the major beneficiaries of the revised salary structure.

An Air India spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment on the staffs criticisms of the new pay structures.
Rahul Gandhi on Sunday bought a Nandini ice cream and termed the the flagship brand of Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) as "the state's pride." Sharing a picture on Twitter, he wrote, Karnatakas Pride - NANDINI is the best!"

Karnatakas Pride - NANDINI is the best! pic.twitter.com/Ndez8finup  Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) April 16, 2023

His move came in the wake of the state party leaders throwing their weight behind the homegrown dairy brand, amidst fears of its takeover by Gujarat's Amul. Opposition parties have been latching on the Amul vs Nandini row in the poll-bound state and the leaders of the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) have been making statements that the Amul is not entering the state. Amul had recently announced that it will sell dairy products in Bengaluru following which Opposition Congress and the JD(S) expressed their protest.

Retweeting Rahul Gandhi's tweet, BJP MP from Karnataka Tejasvi Surya has commented saying that the Congress leader should now intervene in Kerala for the smooth sale of Nandini.

Glad that Rahul Gandhi thinks Nandini is the best. There is no doubt about it. I request him to intervene in Kerala for smooth sale of Nandini. If not, this will be yet another gimmick. Waiting for Rahul Gandhi to make a public announcement in Kerala for free access to Nandini," Surya tweeted.

Glad that Rahul Gandhi thinks Nandini is the best. There is no doubt about it.



I request him to intervene in Kerala for smooth sale of Nandini. If not, this will be yet another gimmick.



Waiting for Rahul Gandhi to make a public announcement in Kerala for free access to Nandini. https://t.co/x5X6VCLNuz  Tejasvi Surya (@Tejasvi_Surya) April 16, 2023

Also Read: Amul vs Nandini, Why Amul brand is facing backlash from opposition, locals in Karnataka? Explained

The opposition Congress and the JD(S) said the BJP wanted to 'kill' Nandini by allowing Amul in Karnataka. They also expressed fears that a scarcity of Nandini products would be created to make way for Amul to take over.

The Basavaraj Bommai led BJP government, however, denied the charge saying that there was no threat to Nandini from Amul.

Also Read: Rahul Gandhi confident of Congress' victory in Karnataka polls

The KMF which sells milk under the Nandini brand is one of the cheapest milk in the country. A comparison shows that consumers purchasing one litre of toned milk have to shell out 39 in Bengaluru whereas for Amul sells one litre of toned milk for 52 in Gujarat and 54 in Delhi.

A litre of full cream milk costs 66 in Delhi and 64 in Gujaratwhile the the Nandini brand full cream mil costs 24 for 450 ml and 50 for 900 ml. A kg of curd under the Nandini brand is available for 47 per kg whereas it costs around 67 for per kg of curd under Amul. KMF is able to supply milk at a such low price as it gets subsidies from the government. The Karnataka government has given around 12,00 crore incentives annually according to reports.

KMF has 16 Milk Unions covering all the districts of the State which procure milk from Primary Dairy Cooperative Societies(DCS) and distribute milk to the consumers in various Towns/Cities/Rural markets in Karnataka.

Amid the ongoing row, Amul MD Jayen Mehta said that there was no dispute between the two dairy companies and it was never "Amul vs Nandini" but rather "Amul and Nandini".

While talking to reporters, Jayen Mehta said, "There is no dispute between Amul Federation and Nandini in Karnataka. Association between Amul Federation and Nandini will only benefit cattle herders. We are joining in the spirit of cooperation. No harm will come to Amul or Nandini."

"It was never Amul vs Nandini but it is Amul and Nandini. We are selling Amul milk since 2015 in Hubli Belgaum, North Karnataka. We thought of selling milk through e-commerce," the MD added.

Further highlighting that the two companies were working together, Mehta said, "We want to give our milk to the people of Bengaluru at the same prices which are available in Mumbai and Delhi. The prices of our milk and curd are more than her (Nandani's) prices. Nandini will not be affected by Amul's move to Bengaluru, even her MD has accepted this. There is no competition between the two."

"Amul is manufacturing its ice cream at its Nandini plant in Karnataka. Last year we made ice cream worth 100 crore from Nandini's milk at Nandini's plant and sold in Karnataka and South India market," he added.

Karnataka is slated to go to Assembly polls on May 10 and the counting of votes will take place on May 13.

Meanwhile, Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (KCMMF), known by the brand Milma, has termed as "unethical" the tendency of some state milk marketing federations to aggressively enter markets outside their respective states. Criticising the Karnataka Milk Marketing Federation for opening its outlets in parts of Kerala to sell its Nandini brand of milk and other products, Milma said that this involved a total breach of cooperative spirit based on which the country's dairy sector has been organised for the benefit of millions of dairy farmers.

(With inputs from agencies)
As Mumbai gears up for the launch of India's first Apple store, CEO Tim Cook is likely to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday. The American businessman landed in the city on Monday evening and will reportedly be be there to welcome customers at the iPhone maker's first store in India tomorrow.

According to a Reuters report quoting sources he will be interacting with the PM and IT MoS Rajeev Chandrashekar during the course of his visit. The trip underscores Apple's growing ambitions for India - the world's second-largest smartphone market.

According to an update shared by CNBCTV18, the Apple chief also met with top Indian businessmen including Tata Sons' N Chandra upon reaching Mumbai.

So far, Apple has sold its products in India via resellers or e-commerce websites such as Amazon. The 20,800 square feet Mumbai store - in the premier Reliance Jio World Drive mall - will be followed days later by a second store in the national capital.

Despite having just a 3% market share the company has been expanding iPhone assembly via contract manufacturers in recent days. iPhones are assembled in India by three of Apple's contract manufacturers - Foxconn, Wistron Corp and Pegatron Corp. Apple also plans to assemble iPads and AirPods in the country. Apple is also looking to boost its exports.

Around $9 billion worth of smartphones were exported from India between April 2022 and February this year and iPhones accounted for more than 50% of it.

(With inputs from agencies)
Apples first two retail stores in India will open this week in Mumbai and Delhi, welcoming customers from all over the country and around the world to discover the best of Apple. The two new retail locations in India: Apple BKC in Mumbai will be opened on April 18, and Apple Saket in Delhi on April 20. These new retail locations mark a significant expansion in India that will offer great new ways to browse, discover, and buy Apple products with exceptional service and experiences for customers.

At Apple, our mission is to enrich lives and empower people around the world," said Tim Cook, Apples CEO. India has such a beautiful culture and an incredible energy, and were excited to build on our long-standing history  supporting our customers, investing in local communities, and working together to build a better future with innovations that serve humanity."

Apple to open first store in India: What we know

The company at present sells its products in India through exclusive Apple Premium Reseller (APR) stores, large format retail chains like Reliance Digital, Croma etc, mutli-brand retail stores and through e-commerce platforms.

Consumers will now be able to experience the entire ecosystem of Apple products, accessories and customisation options under one roof.

Consumers at the Apple store could get to learn something new by signing up for programmes like 'Today at Apple', getting help setting up devices, and migrating from Windows or Android to the Apple ecosystem.

Apple continues to expand its range of award-winning services available to customers in India, offering a growing catalog of music in Spatial Audio on Apple Music, and most recently launching the new Apple Music Classical app designed specifically for classical music lovers. Services like Apple Music elevate local artists like Mali, Armaan Malik, DIVINE, and Sandunes through expert curation and editorial.

CMR, Head-Industry Intelligence Group, Prabhu Ram said offline retail is a critical touchpoint in India, especially for a majority of Indian consumers who love to touch, feel and explore the products, before making their device purchase considerations.

"For Apple, the Apple BKC and Apple Saket flagship stores are pivotal to turbocharge Apple's future growth in a strategic market. Apple's retail stores globally set a standard in terms of consumer experience, staff knowledge and expertise, and the service standards, beyond products," Ram said to PTI.

He said the Apple flagship stores enjoy some strong tailwinds, with the premium smartphone segment in India growing in double digits. Apple shipped USD 6 billion worth smartphones in 2022 comprising 79 per cent of iPhones in the super-premium ( 50,000- 1 lakh) smartphone segment, according to CMR.

*With agency inputs
Uttar Pradesh Police officials have said that they have shifted the three assailants who shot and killed gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf Ahmad on Saturday, 15 April , on live television has been shifted from Prayagraj prison to Pratapgarh district jail.

The officials cited security concerns for making the transfer of the three assailants.

The official said the transfer was done on administrative grounds.

The assailants -- Mohit alias Sunny (23) of Hamirpur, Lavlesh Tiwari (22) of Banda and Arun Maurya (18) of Kasganj -- were arrested soon after the dramatic shootout outside the Prayagraj hospital where policemen were escorting the brothers for a medical check-up Saturday night.

The trio were taken from Prayagraj at 12 noon and reached Pratapgarh at 2.10 pm, officials said.

One of the sons of Atiq Ahmad is currently lodged in the Prayagraj Central Jail in Uttar Pradesh.

Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh Police has formed a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the killing of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf in Prayagraj, a senior official said on Monday.

The three assailants of Atiq and his brother Ashraf has been arrested by Uttar Pradesh police on Monday, however, the Uttar Pradesh police are still on the lookout for the two others who helped the shooters.

Police sources further said that the police have started looking for two people in the case of helping the accused persons who killed Atiq.

In this regard, four people have been detained, and are being interrogated.

Police said that the two people whom the police are looking for are being raided at five places.

Police claimed that the two suspected accused provided help to the three accused, which could include arranging weapons, and organizing their stay in Prayagraj.

Days after Atiq Ahmed's son Asad was killed in an encounter in Uttar Pradesh's Jhansi, the gangster-turned-politician and his brother, Ashraf Ahmed, were killed on Saturday while being taken for a medical examination in Prayagraj.

Both the gangsters collapsed on the spot after they were shot at nearly point-blank range.

The bodies of the gangster-turned-politician and his brother were brought to Kasari Masari burial ground in Prayagraj for burial.

Minor sons of gangster Atiq Ahmed were brought to the burial ground from a juvenile home.

Atiq Ahmed was accused in the 2005 Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Raju Pal murder case and also in the Umesh Pal murder case which happened in February this year.

Uttar Pradesh Police so far arrested a total of three shooters in this incident.
Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan was admitted to Sir Gangaram Hospital in Delhi on Monday due to the sudden deterioration of his health.

However, his condition is stable and is currently under observation, according to the news agency ANI.

SP leader Azam Khan was disqualified from the Uttar Pradesh Assembly in February this year after he was convicted in a 15-year-old case.

(More details are awaited.)
New Delhi: Beverage major Coca-Cola India has acquired a 15% stake in Hashtag Loyalty that operates Thrivea food-tech company that offers online ordering system for restaurants.

Hashtag has raised the capital at a pre-money valuation of 104.68 crore. To be sure, in 2021, Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd, that operates pizza chain Dominos in India picked up a 35% stake in Hashtag Loyalty.

In a filing to the exchanges on Monday, Jubilant FoodWorks said that Hashtag Loyalty Private Limited, associate of Jubilant FoodWorks Limited has entered into a securities subscription agreement dated 17 April with Coca-Cola India Private pursuant to which the new investor has acquired 15% stake in Hashtag. As a result, JFLs stake in Hashtag has reduced from 35% to 29.75%.

Thrive provides restaurants with a modern ordering solution for restaurants operating almost like an alternative to the large aggregators Zomato and Swiggy. It helps build microsites for individual restaurants, multi-outlets, and even larger F&B corporations, from which customers can place their orders directly, instead of opting for an aggregator platform.

The commission charged restaurants per order by Thrive is as low as 3%, in comparison to the 25-30% charged by large food delivery aggregators.

The deal also entails Coca-Cola beverages being made available along with online orders placed via the Thrive platform.

This collaboration between Thrive and Coca-Cola India Pvt. Ltd. will ensure an improved experience for consumers as they can order beverages of their choice along with their favourite meal from Thrives partner restaurants. This presents a great opportunity for both Thrive and Coca-Cola India Pvt. Ltd. given the online food delivery markets projected rapid growth and contribution to the total food services industry," Thrive said in a blog post on its website.

With this partnership, Thrive will be able to accelerate its restaurant reach and acquire consumers through various Coca-Cola India assets. Currently, over 14,000 restaurants across 80 cities in India use Thrive.

Coca-Cola India is delighted to partner with the Thrive Now ecosystem as we see digital capability as an essential multiplier for our India growth strategy. Meals are a critical consumption occasion for our beverages, so the eat & drink channel is an ideal place for us to be investing in technology and innovating to digitally enable every outlet to provide a superior consumer experience online and offline," said Greishma Singh, Vice President, Customer & Commercial Leadership, Coca-Cola India & Southwest Asia.

Promoters of HT Media Ltd, which publishes Mint, and Jubilant FoodWorks are closely related. There are, however, no promoter cross-holdings.
As the scorching heat of summer spreads across wide areas of the country, several states are grappling with high heatwaves, posing challenges for residents and authorities alike.

The meteorological agency has reported that heatwave conditions have persisted in isolated areas of Gangetic West Bengal for the past 5 days, coastal Andhra Pradesh for the past 3 days, and Bihar for the past 2 days.

West Bengal

In response to the ongoing heatwave conditions in West Bengal, all educational institutions in the state have been instructed to remain closed for a week starting from April 17th.

"All autonomous, state, central government aided and private universities and affiliated colleges in the state except in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts will remain closed for a week from April 17 due to the prevailing heatwave situation," read an official notice from the West Bengal government.

Meanwhile, IMD has released an orange alert for the state.

Odisha

As summer tightens its grip over large parts of the country, Odisha is experiencing extreme heat, with the day temperature reaching 43.5 degrees Celsius on Thursday, marking the highest recorded temperature this month.

"Baripada recorded 43.5C, which is the highest temperature recorded in Odisha this month," Umashankar Das, a senior scientist at India Meteorological Department (IMD), told ANI.

On April 10, the maximum daytime temperature in the state capital Bhubaneshwar touched 37. 5 degrees Celsius. With a significant reduction in thunderstorms, it is expected that the maximum temperature in the city will rise over the next couple of days, the meteorological agency said.

New Delhi

As temperatures continue to rise in the national capital, a meteorological expert from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecasted marginal heatwave conditions for the next two days in Delhi-NCR.

#WATCH | Delhi: There'll be further increase in temperature in Delhi,Punjab,Haryana & North West India in coming days. Due to western disturbances, temp will drop in coming days. Orange alert has been issued regarding heatwave in many states, incl West Bengal: Naresh Kumar,IMD pic.twitter.com/Wpj0mj8KUu  ANI (@ANI) April 16, 2023

He said that currently, the mercury has also slightly increased in the North West, including the capital.

"Marginal heat wave means the temperature can go 4.5-5 degrees Celsius above normal," he added.

"In east India, coastal Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, the heat wave conditions are prevailing for four-five days."

The Safdarjung Observatory, which is Delhi's main weather station, registered a maximum temperature of 40.4 degrees Celsius, which is three degrees higher than the normal average.

The minimum temperature, on the other hand, was 22 degrees Celsius, which is typical for this time of the year. Several areas in the national capital witnessed maximum temperatures that were three to four degrees Celsius above the normal average.

For instance, Pitampura's automatic weather station recorded a heatwave with the maximum temperature soaring to 41.9 degrees Celsius, which is five degrees above the usual average.

Bihar

On Sunday, the Bihar Mausam Sewa Kendra, a unit of the state's planning and development department, reported that 150 blocks across various districts were experiencing conditions similar to a heatwave.

As per the Patna Meteorological Centre, a yellow-coloured warning has been issued for isolated areas in the northeast and southern regions of the state for heatwave conditions on Monday and Tuesday, and in the southern parts of the state on Wednesday and Thursday.

The Patna Meteorological Centre has forecasted an increase in maximum or daytime temperatures by one to four notches in several areas of the state over the next 3-4 days. The temperatures are expected to be in the range of 40-42 degrees Celsius in northern Bihar and 42-44 degrees Celsius in the southern parts of the state.

Maharashtra

During the Maharashtra Bhushan Award ceremony held in Navi Mumbai on Sunday afternoon, 11 individuals succumbed to a heat stroke.

The event was attended by notable dignitaries including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis.

Chief Minister Shinde declared a compensation of 5 lakh for the families of each of the deceased, along with free medical treatment for those who were admitted to hospitals.

As per data from the IMD, in mid-April, more than 10 districts in Maharashtra have experienced maximum daytime temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius, with Chandrapur recording the highest temperature at 43.2 degrees Celsius, while south Mumbai has been comparatively "cooler" with a temperature of 31.6 degrees Celsius.

Several educational institutions have reduced outdoor activities for students, and health authorities in various parts of the state have advised people to avoid unnecessary outdoor activities between 1-5 p.m.
India and Russia are discussing a free trade agreement to guarantee investment between the two countries, said Russia's deputy prime minister Denis Manturov, speaking at an event in New Delhi with India's foreign minister S Jaishankar on Monday.

Jaishankar has said that the South Asian country was in advance agreement for a bilateral trade treaty with Moscow, according to a report published by Reuters.

The New Delhi-Moscow relations have withstood the Wests pressures, and bilateral trade has been the biggest benefactor as well as a catalyst in this transformation. However, a sharp surge in imports from sanctions-hit Moscow has made trade figures overwhelmingly one-sided.

Historically, Indias imports from Russia have stayed under five times its exports to the country, with the ratio touching 4.1 in 2017-18, previously the highest under the Narendra Modi government. But in 2022-23 till January, imports have been 15 times the exports.

In 2017, Russian investment in India reached USD 18 billion and Indias total investment in Russia so far is USD 13 billion, according to an official statement by the Indian embassy. It stated that the overall investment target of USD 30 billion that was set for 2025 has already been crossed.

The cumulative Indian investments in Russia, were about US $ 8 billion for the period 2000-2014, while the cumulative Russian investments in India over the same period were about US $ 4 billion, mainly in automotive (KAMAZ) and telecommunications (AFK Sistema) sectors. In 2015-2017, there was a renewed emphasis on increasing bilateral investment, especially in the hydrocarbon sector, the statement added.

Both sides have undertaken initiatives to promote bilateral investments, primarily through facilitating high-level Government to business and business-to-business contacts apart from the ongoing investment process in strategic sectors in both countries.

Investment cooperation has been envisaged in some priority sectors such as hydrocarbons, power, coal, nuclear power, fertilizers, IT, mineral and metallurgy, steel, pharmaceuticals, and infrastructure projects amongst others, it added.
Apple CEO Tim Cook recently visited Mumbai, India to inaugurate the company's first owned store in the country. During his visit, Cook was introduced to the popular Mumbai snack, vada pav, by Bollywood actor Madhuri Dixit. Cook took to Twitter to thank Dixit for introducing him to his "very first vada pav," which he described as "delicious."

"Thanks, Madhuri Dixit for introducing me to my very first vada pav  it was delicious!" Cook tweeted.

The legendary wrote that she could not think of a better way to welcome the Apple CEO to Mumbai.

Thanks @madhuridixit for introducing me to my very first Vada Pav  it was delicious! https://t.co/Th40jqAEGa  Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 17, 2023

Cook also visited the company's BKC store in Mumbai ahead of its inauguration on Tuesday. He shared a photo taken at the store with employees, stating that he is excited to welcome customers to the new Apple BKC store.

"India has such a beautiful culture and an incredible energy, and were excited to build on our long-standing history  supporting our customers, investing in local communities, and working together to build a better future with innovations that serve humanity," Cook said, adding that Apple is excited to build on its over 25-year history in India.

In addition to the Mumbai store, Apple has also announced plans to open its second store in Delhi on April 20. The new store, named Apple Saket, is inspired by Delhi's many gates, with each gate signifying a new chapter to the city's storied past.

The Mumbai store is expected to be the most sustainable Apple store globally, and the company is taking measures to ensure that it is environmentally friendly. The store is designed to reduce water consumption by 40%, and the entire building is powered by solar energy. Apple has also made a commitment to plant a large number of trees in the city to offset the carbon emissions generated by the store's construction.
The Kerala police have decided to invoke the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) against the accused who was involved in the recent fire incident on board a train in Kozhikode. The incident which left three people dead was eight injured occurred on 2 April and the accused Shahrukh Saifi, 27 was subsequently arrested by a team of Maharashtra ATS on 5 April. The police also mentioned that the accused was radicalized and followed Zakir Naik.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Kerala police probing the fire incident submitted its report before the Additional Sessions court on Sunday and also invoked section 16 of the UAPA act.

"Sharukh was charged with UAPA Section 16 yesterday on the basis of evidence gathered in the Investigation. Within two weeks the investigation team was able to find out necessary evidence in the case," head of Kerala police SIT M R Ajith Kumar said.

The development paves the way for the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take over the case.

The Kerala police on Monday also informed that the accused, who is a resident of Shaheen Bagh in Delhi is highly radicalized and is an ardent follower of the controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik.

"Sharuk Saifi is a radical person. He used to watch on a continuous basis videos of radicals like Sakeer Naik and Isra Ahamed. He arrived in Kerala after planning this attack," the police official said.

"The case was registered by Railway Police. The investigation was done in other states as well. The Kerala Police have done this investigation with the police of other states and with central agencies," the ADGP said.

The police team is also investigating if the accused received any assistance from other people in committing the offense.

On 2 April, the accused set a passenger on fire onboard the Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express train at Elathur town in Kozhikode after spraying some inflammable substance. Three passengers lost their lives as a result of the incident, having been forced to jump out of the train to escape the flames.

(With inputs from ANI)
Lachhman Das Mittal is now India's oldest billionaire after Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd Chairman Emeritus Keshub Mahindra passed away on 12 April at the age of 99.

Mittal, 92, is the founder and chairman of Sonalika Group. He began his career as an insurance agent.

Born in 1931 in Hoshiarpur, Punjab, Mittal recounted an incident in an old interview with Business Standard. He told The daily, "Once I applied for a dealership of Maruti Udyog but was rejected. Today, I give out dealerships".

However, after six years of retirement from the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), Mittal started his entrepreneurship journey at age of 65.

According to Forbes, Mittal retired from LIC as deputy zonal manager in 1990. And, six years later, he founded Sonalika Group, which is Indias third-largest tractor maker by market share.

Sonalika Tractors has turned Mittal into Indias oldest billionaire  his net worth is $2.5 billion today.

Mittal stepped down from the day-to-day running of Sonalika Group. Now his son oversees the company's operations. Mittal's eldest son Amrit Sagar is the companys vice-chairman, while his youngest son Deepak is the managing director. His second son is a doctor in New York.

Interestingly, Mittal's family still has a deeper connection with LIC his daughter Usha Sangawan is LICs first female managing director.

On 12 April, Keshub Mahindra, a pioneer of the Indian auto industry, died in Mumbai.

Keshub had led the Mahindra Group for 48 years as Chairman and expanded it from being an automobile manufacturer to other business segments like IT, real estate, financial services, and hospitality.

He played key roles in forging business alliances with global majors such as the Willys Corporation, Mitsubishi, International Harvester, United Technologies, British Telecom, and many others.

Born on October 9, 1923, in Shimla, Keshub was a graduate from Wharton, University of Pennsylvania, USA, and joined M&M in 1947 and became the Chairman in 1963.

In 2012, Keshub Mahindra handed over the baton to his nephew and the then Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Anand Mahindra.

A renowned philanthropist, Keshub redefined good corporate governance in India. He was also a member of the Apex Advisory Council of ASSOCHAM. In 1987, he was awarded the Chevalier de l'Ordre National de la Legion d'honneur by the French government.
Mumbai and Goa will become closer soon! India's longest sea bridge, the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link will reduce the travel time between the two cities. The 22 km long bridge will connect the island city to the mainland from Sewri to Nhava Sheva, which will bring places like Goa, Pune, and Nagpur closer to Mumbai.

The construction work on the project worth 18,000 started in 2018. Around 93% of the construction work has been completed at the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link site, according to a report published by The Times Of India.

The MTHL project will link south Mumbai with Navi Mumbai township. The MMRDA, a Maharashtra government agency, is the implementing authority for the 21.8 km six-lane MTHL project, financed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

When completed, it would be the longest sea bridge in India and would cater to 70,000 vehicles daily.

The objective of the project is to improve connectivity in Mumbai Metropolitan Region by constructing the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) connecting Mumbai with Navi Mumbai, mitigating traffic congestion and promoting economic development.

This "longest sea bridge in the country" will be the first to have Open Road Tolling (ORT) system. Once the bridge opens for traffic, it will be possible to travel from Sewri in central Mumbai to Chirle in Navi Mumbai in 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde earlier this year had said that vehicles won't have to stop on the bridge for paying toll thanks to the Open Tolling System. This system is currently used in Singapore, officials of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) said.

MMRDA successfully launched the first longest Orthotropic Steel Deck (OSD) in package-2 of Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link (MTHL) in January this year.

The first longest OSD of package-2 of about 22 km long Trans-Harbour link between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai is 180 meters long and weighs 2300 metric tonnes.
Political and commercial sources from Afghanistan have stated that the recent understanding between Iran and Saudi Arabia has eliminated a longstanding factor of insecurity, as there is now a convergence of interests between Riyadh and Tehran regarding the future of Kabul.

As per a report by The Hindu, these representatives, who are working with the Taliban to attract investment and revive the Afghan economy, shared this information from Kabul and Dubai.

According to them, these regional changes also present an opportunity for India to reinitiate its efforts in Afghanistan's infrastructure sector.

The comments were made one day after Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar Akhund, the Taliban's "Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs," held a meeting with the Afghan Chamber of Industries and Mines (ACIM).

During the meeting, both parties reached an agreement to resume a significant electricity project that had been previously undertaken by an Indian entity until August 2021, when the Taliban assumed power through a military takeover.

India had to halt all its projects when the Taliban assumed control in August 2021, leading to the closure of its embassy. Although, it has re-established a diplomatic presence in Kabul by reopening its embassy. Though, India is yet to decide on resuming support for development projects across Afghanistan.

In recent months, security concerns persist as there have been incidents of suspected Islamic State terrorists targeting civilian projects, religious sites, and the Russian embassy.

It is to be further noted that prior to the Taliban's seizure of power in Afghanistan, India had made investments of approximately three billion dollars in developmental and capacity-building projects.

India has provided support to several major projects in Afghanistan, including the inauguration of the 42MW Salma Dam in Herat province in 2016, which is commonly referred to as the Afghan-India Friendship Dam.

Another notable project is the construction of the 218-km Zaranj-Delaram highway by the Border Roads Organisation, with Zaranj being situated near Afghanistan's border with Iran.

India constructed the Afghan Parliament in Kabul at a cost of $90 million, with one of the blocks in the building dedicated to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

India has been actively involved in training professionals and offering scholarships and admissions to Afghan students to study in India.

India has expressed profound concern over the evolving humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and has taken steps to provide humanitarian assistance.

This includes donations of 40,000 MTs of wheat, approximately 50 tonnes of essential medical aid such as lifesaving medicines and anti-TB medicines, 500,000 doses of COVID vaccine, essential medical/surgical items, and 28 tons of other disaster relief material.

(With inputs from agencies)
A plea was filed in the Supreme Court on Sunday seeking the constitution of an independent expert panel headed by a former Supreme Court judge to probe the killings of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf. The plea, filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari, also sought an inquiry into the 183 encounters that have taken place in Uttar Pradesh since 2017.

Uttar Pradesh Police had said on Friday that it has gunned down 183 alleged criminals in encounters in the six years of the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led government and this included Asad and his accomplice."The power of punishment is only vested in the Judiciary. The police when becomes DARE DEVILS then the entire Rule of law collapses and generates fear in the mind of people against the police which is very dangerous for the Democracy and this also results into further crime," the petitioner said.

Advocate Vishal Tiwari, in his public interest litigation, has also sought to issue direction to unearth the fake encounters by directing the Central Bureau of Investigation to investigate, collect and record the evidence in the Kanpur Bikru Encounter case 2020 in which Vikas Dubey and his aides were killed by police in the encounter as the inquiry commission could not record the evidence in rebuttal of police version and has filed the inquiry report in absence of that.

"The DAREDEVILS which Uttar Pradesh police has tried to become," the petition said.

The petitioner said that his PIL is against the violation of rule of law and oppressive police brutality being perpetrated by Uttar Pradesh.

The petitioner has apprised the court that he has approached the court in a matter pertaining to the Kanpur encounter of Vikas Dubey and said that a similar incident was repeated by Uttar Pradesh police which is the encounter killing of Asad who was the son of Atiq Ahmad gangster turned politician and also the killing of Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf by private assailants when they were in police custody and were taken for medical examination.

The lawyer also stated that the recent killings of Atiq Ahmed and his brother impose a question on the transparency of this incident.

"Such is a direct attack on Indian democracy and rule of law. Later the assailants were arrested but during the commission of the offence, there was no protection or retaliation by the police. Such imposes a question on the transparency and proves this matter as a pre-planned attack with no redressal for the accused," Advocate Vishal Tiwari said in his petition.

* *With agency inputs
Market regulator Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Monday released a circular announcing a dispute resolution mechanism for Limited Purpose Clearing Corporation (LPCC). The mechanism will be placed for the settlement of disputes or claims arising out of transactions cleared and settled by the regulator, in the manner specified by SEBI in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The circular is issued in the exercise of powers conferred under Section 11 (1) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992, to protect the interests of investors in securities and is aimed at promoting the development and regulation of the securities market.

The dispute resolution mechanism will be used to settle disputes between clearing members; contention between the clearing members and their clients; differences between the LPCC and its vendors; and disputes between clearing members or its clients and the LPCC.

LPCC is an organization that has been created to manage the process of clearing and settling repo transactions. An efficient repo market enhances the growth of the debt securities market by increasing the liquidity of the underlying debt securities. Additionally, it enables market players to obtain funds temporarily by monetizing their debt holdings without disposing of the underlying assets.

According to the circular, an LPCC shall adopt the dispute resolution mechanism prescribed by the market regulator.

If there are any disagreements that arise among the clearing members of LPCC, they will be resolved through the process of conciliation or by an arbitration panel made up of three clearing members who are not involved in the dispute. The ruling of the arbitration panel would be considered final and binding for the parties involved.

Moreover, SEBI has announced that any disputes between a clearing member and the LPCC will be settled following the prescribed dispute resolution mechanism.

If either the LPCC or a clearing member is not content with the decision made through SEBI's mechanism, then any disputes between them will be resolved using the procedure outlined in the Payment and Settlement Systems Act of 2007, along with the corresponding rules and directions that have been notified.
The Tamil Nadu government on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding with a well-known footwear maker for an investment of 2,302 crore in the state.

The MoU was signed with High Glory Footwear, a subsidiary of Taiwan-based Pou Chen Corporation, "the world's largest branded footwear manufacturer," in the presence of Chief Minister M K Stalin, a tweet by Guidance Tamil Nadu, said.

It is the state government's nodal agency for investment promotion and single window facilitation,

"Over the next 12 years, this partnership will generate employment opportunities for more than 20,000 people in the non-leather footwear sector, especially for the youth and women in and around the Kallakurichi district," it added.

An official release said the manufacturing unit will come up at SIPCOT, Ulundurpet in Kallakurichi.

The investment has been attracted in the wake of the government releasing a Footwear and Leather Products Policy 2022 in August last year, it said.

It was also in lines with the government's policy of ensuring industrial growth in the state's backward districts and would greatly help the newly created Kallakurichi district in employment generation, the release added.

Industries Minister Thangam Thennarasu and officials from the state government and the company were present.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is set to welcome customers as the company opens its maiden store in Mumbai on Tuesday. Reports quoting sources suggest that the American businessman will meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Deputy IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar during his visit.

The opening of the store coincides with the iPhone maker's 25th anniversary in India. Apple's first store is located in Reliance Jio World Drive mall.

Cook took to Twitter with a team photo on Monday evening after landing in the city. He had previously lauded the country's beautiful culture and incredible energy while talking about Apple's plans in India.

Hello, Mumbai! We cant wait to welcome our customers to the new Apple BKC tomorrow," he wrote.

Hello, Mumbai! We cant wait to welcome our customers to the new Apple BKC tomorrow.  pic.twitter.com/9V5074OA8W  Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 17, 2023

Apple opened its Mumbai store for bloggers and tech reviewers on Monday for a sneak peek of the store. The 20,000 square feet store will be followed by a similar facility in New Delhi's Saket on April 20.

Apple will pay a hefty monthly rent of 42 lakh with an annual increase of 15 percent. In addition, the company will pay 2 percent of its revenue share to the space owners for the first three years.

Reportedly, 22 competing brands including Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft cannot own space or have advertisements near the new Apple store.

In a statement about Apple's maiden stores in India, Cook said, "India has such a beautiful culture and an incredible energy, and we're excited to build on our long-standing history -- supporting our customers, investing in local communities, and working together to build a better future with innovations that serve humanity,"

Although Apple BKC looks similar to any other Apple Store in the world, minor changes have been made to Indianize the store. For starters, the store has been designed around a "kaali peeli" theme inspired by Mumbai's iconic black and yellow taxis.

The store also features specially sourced stone from Rajasthan for the walls and 4.5 lakh pieces of timber adorn the ceiling. Additionally, the team of 100 staff members on the floor will speak 18 Indian languages, reflecting Apple's emphasis on inclusivity.

Earlier this week, the company had also curated a special playlist on the Apple Music app, tuned to the sounds of Mumbai and Delhi. Apple had also released special wallpapers for iPhone, iPad and Mac to celebrate the launch of its first store in India.

According to data from the India Cellular and Electronics Association, smartphones worth $9 billion were exported from India between April 2022 and February of this year, with iPhones accounting for over 50% of that amount.

As per news agency Reuters, Cook is also set to meet India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Deputy IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Wednesday.

The launch of Apple's first local stores in India this week is expected to serve as key retail and showcase points for the company, potentially boosting sales. These stores will also double as support centers, making it easier for customers to return products and receive repairs.
The US has emerged as India's biggest trading partner in 2022-23 on account of increasing economic ties between the two countries.

According to the provisional data of the commerce ministry, the bilateral trade between India and the US has increased by 7.65 per cent to USD 128.55 in 2022-23 as against USD 119.5 billion in 2021-22. It was USD 80.51 billion in 2020-21.

Exports to the US rose by 2.81 per cent to USD 78.31 billion in 2022-23 as against USD 76.18 billion in 2021-22, while imports grew by about 16 per cent to USD 50.24 billion, the data showed.

On the other hand, during 2022-23, India's two-way commerce with China declined by about 1.5 per cent to USD 113.83 billion as against USD 115.42 billion in 2021-22.

Exports to China dipped by about 28 per cent to USD 15.32 billion in 2022-23, while imports rose by 4.16 per cent to USD 98.51 billion in the last fiscal. Trade gap widened to USD 83.2 billion in the last fiscal as against USD 72.91 billion in 2021-22.

Experts believe that the trend of increasing bilateral trade with the US will continue in the coming years also as New Delhi and Washington are engaged in further strengthening the economic ties.

Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President A Sakthivel said that increasing exports of goods such as pharmaceutical, engineering and gems and jewellery is helping India to push its shipments to America.

"The trend of increasing trade with the US will continue in the coming months also," he said.

FIEO Vice President Khalid Khan said India is emerging as a trusted trading partner and global firms are reducing their dependence only on China for their supplies and are diversifying business into other countries like India.

"The bilateral trade between India and the US will continue to grow as our exporters are getting good orders from that country," Khan said.

Rakesh Mohan Joshi, Director of the Indian Institute of Plantation Management (IIPM), Bangalore, too said that India provides huge trade opportunities for the US as India is the world's third largest consumer market and the fastest growing market economy.

"Major export items from India to the US include petroleum, polished diamonds, pharmaceutical products, jewellery, light oils and petroleum, frozen shrimp, made ups etc. whereas major imports from the US include petroleum, rough diamonds, liquified natural gas, gold, coal, waste and scrap, almonds etc," Joshi said.

America is one of the few countries with which India has a trade surplus. In 2022-23, India had a trade surplus of USD 28 billion with the US.

The data showed that China was India's top trading partner since 2013-14 till 2017-18 and also in 2020-21. Before China, the UAE was the country's largest trading partner.

In 2022-23, the UAE with USD 76.16 billion, was the third largest trading partner of India. It was followed by Saudi Arabia (USD 52.72 billion), and Singapore (USD 35.55 billion).

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.
Iran has invited Saudi Arabias King Salman bin Abdulaziz to visit the country, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Monday, a sign of the rapidly improving ties between two longtime regional rivals.

The invitation comes after the two governments agreed to re-establish diplomatic relations last month in a deal brokered by China, which ended seven years of estrangement and jolted the geopolitics of the oil-rich region.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani announced the invitation at a regular press conference Monday. There was no immediate response from Riyadh. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has already accepted an invitation to visit Saudi Arabia but no date has been set.

A visit by the Saudi monarch to Iran would be a major signal of the improved relations between the countries. The 87-year-old King Salman has health problems and hasnt traveled outside the kingdom since 2019. His son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is the kingdoms day-to-day ruler.

The two countries, separated by the Persian Gulf, have been divided for decades by longstanding security and sectarian tensions that have fueled their competition for regional dominance. The agreement to restore diplomatic relations addresses some of the most sensitive issues between the two, including Iranian support for Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Ties were cut in 2016 after the Saudi Embassy in Tehran was overrun amid protests over the execution of a prominent Shiite cleric by the Saudi government.

After their top diplomats met in Beijing earlier this month, Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to restore flights between their countries and resume government and private-sector visits. An Iranian technical delegation arrived in Riyadh last week to prepare to reopen the countrys embassy ahead of the Muslim hajj pilgrimage at the end of June.

Saudi-Iranian relations have gone through ups and downs over the last 40 years. No Saudi monarch has visited Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution overthrew the regime of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlaviwho was generally friendly with the Saudi royals. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Shia cleric who led Irans revolution, called for Saudi Arabia and other pro-American monarchies in the Persian Gulf to be overthrown.

Mr. Khomeini condemned the religious credentials of the Saudi royal family, declaring in 1987 that Mecca, the Saudi holy city that was the birthplace of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, was in the hands of a band of heretics." The two countries broke off diplomatic relations, which werent re-established until 1991.

Former King Abdullah went to Tehran in 1997 when he was crown prince and the countrys de facto ruler. In the same year, then-Iranian President Mohammed Khatami visited the Saudi port city of Jeddah, where he met the Saudi monarch, King Fahd.
Financial technology firm Nuvei Corp., a provider of payments services to the sports betting industry, announced an investment from Hollywood actor and investor Ryan Reynolds.

The company and Reynolds didnt disclose the amount. Nuvei shares rose as much as 1.6% before giving up those gains to trade down 0.7% at 10:27 a.m. in Toronto.

Reynolds also did a marketing pitch for Nuvei. On Twitter, he posted a video in which he sits on Chief Executive Officer Philip Fayers desk and pokes fun at his low profile compared with US technology executives.

This I assure you @nuvei will never ever build a rocket. pic.twitter.com/pyVdLSraW8  Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) April 17, 2023

The company, founded in Montreal in 2003, offers a payments platform for businesses in close to 50 countries. It offers services to clients from the gaming and crypto industries, including DraftKings Inc. and Binance Holdings Ltd.

Everyone Wants to Make Ryan Reynolds Money Now: Chris Bryant

I know about as much about fintech as I did about gin or mobile a few years ago," Reynolds said in a news release. But Nuvei is impressive. The leadership team is exceedingly intelligent and hard-working and its about time a Canadian company got the type of attention American tech companies do."

Reynolds backed budget wireless provider Mint Mobile, which last month agreed to a sale to T-Mobile US Inc. for as much as $1.35 billion.

Fayers company went public in 2020 amid a soaring demand for technology stocks during the first year of the pandemic, and the next year it briefly crossed C$25 billion ($18.7 billion) in market value. But it slumped after it was the subject of a critical report by short-seller Spruce Point Capital Management and in the broader tech correction. Its now worth about C$8 billion.

In February, Nuvei closed a $1.3 billion acquisition of Atlanta-based Paya Holdings Inc., which provides payment solutions in the health care, education, government and nonprofit sectors.
Syria has witnessed a troubling transformation into the world's foremost narco-state, as its economic survival now depends heavily on the production and export of Captagon, also known as the "poor man's coke".

As per a report by ANI, This highly addictive amphetamine has become the primary lifeline of the country's economy, generating more than 90% of its foreign currency. The pervasive presence and profitability of Captagon in Syria have raised concerns about the devastating impact of drug trafficking on the country's social fabric, health, and security.

Collins Dictionary provides a definition of a "narco-state" as a nation where a significant portion of the economy is reliant on the illicit trade of narcotic drugs.

Captagon, a banned illicit drug recognized by the UNODC (2021), is a synthetic stimulant that combines amphetamine and caffeine.

Originally introduced by a German pharmaceutical company in 1961 for medical purposes such as treating conditions like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, narcolepsy, and depression, Captagon was later found to be highly addictive and detrimental to mental and physical health, leading to its prohibition.

Captagon, commonly known as "party pills," is a highly sought-after recreational drug among young people in the Gulf states. Additionally, it is favoured by armed individuals for the sense of invincibility it can induce, earning it nicknames like "Captain Courage" or Jihadi magic potion."

Moreover, Captagon is also utilized by individuals seeking to suppress an appetite for weight loss, students cramming for exams, and those working long hours or multiple jobs to make ends meet, reflecting its diverse usage across different contexts.

As per expert analysis, Syria is presently the leading country in the production of Captagon, a drug that is primarily exported to the Gulf region.

Due to sanctions and trade restrictions imposed on Syria following President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on protesters in 2011, the regime has increased its collaboration with Lebanon's Hezbollah to ramp up the production and export of Captagon, particularly to Gulf countries.

ANI further noted that Bashar al-Assad could potentially leverage his control over the production and export of Captagon pills as a bargaining tool in his relations with the Gulf States who are considering whether to restore diplomatic relations with Syria. He may offer to decrease the production and exports of Captagon as an incentive for these states, particularly Saudi Arabia, to fully restore diplomatic ties with Damascus.

(With inputs from ANI)
Fast growth in Indias two-wheeler electric vehicle (EV) market has prompted global major Honda to enter via its local arm, Honda Motorcycles & Scooters India (HMSI). HMSI plans to launch 10 EV models in India, including two this fiscal. Hondas entry will lead to even hotter competition in a segment that already has 15 players.

While Indias overall two-wheeler market has stagnated for many years, EV penetration has risen. In FY23, there were total sales of 15.8 million two-wheelers (including motorcycles, scooters and mopeds). Although thats 17% higher than the 13.47 lakh units sold in FY22, its well below pre-covid levels. Indias domestic two-wheeler sales exceeded 16 million as far back as FY16, and hit a peak of 21.18 million units in FY19.

The EV segment has done well, however. Total EV two-wheeler sales hit 8.46 lakh in FY23, growing 158% from 3.27 lakh in FY22. The high-speed segment (top speeds above 25 kmph) saw 7.28 lakh units sold. Thats penetration of over 5%.

The leading EV players are Ola Electric (21% market share in FY23 with 1.52 lakh units), Okinawa (13%), Hero Electric (12%) Ampere (12%), TVS (11%), Ather (11%) and Bajaj (4%). Given HMSIs brand recognition, extant network and grasp of EV technology, it could make fast inroads. HMSI is targeting 15-20% market share by 2030.

Everyone is assuming very fast growth. The Economic Survey of January 2023 projected that the overall domestic EV market will cross 10 million (1 crore) units in annual sales by 2030, up from 1.15 million in FY23. However, market analysts say annual sales of two-wheeler EVs could hit 22 million by 2030, given 80% penetration of the two-wheeler market, implying a total of 27.5 million two-wheelers sold in 2030. If these projections are anywhere near realistic, the Economic Survey is a massive underestimate.

Extrapolating from current growth rates, 10% EV penetration in two-wheelers could easily happen by FY25. This implies large expansions in manufacturing capacity. Ola already has around 20 lakh (two million) two-wheeler capacity and says it intends to push this to 1 crore (10 million) in phases. TVS has three lakh capacity and intends to double this in FY23. Hero Electric is looking at the 20 lakh mark. Honda could look to launch with a million-plus in EV capacity.

This is a very price-sensitive market, with 99% of purchases via EMIs. Ola effected price cuts in Q4 and its market share increased to 26%. But TVSs market share also rose, to 18%, while Athers market share came in above 14%.

Tax breaks and subsidies make EVs more affordable but internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles are cheaper, ex-showroom. The EVs USP is lower running costs and cheaper maintenance. FAME-II subsidies, which reduce EV prices, are due to end by March 2024. If these are not extended, the ex-showroom prices of EVs would shoot up by anywhere from 25% to 35% and this would hurt sales.

Apart from price and hassle-free loans, EV users are concerned about range (which depends on battery capacity), easy charging, good service networks and so on. Hence, manufacturers need to build service infrastructure and relationships with financiers. Here, traditional companies may have an apparent edge due to their existing networks of dealers, strong relationships with lenders, and experience in customer-facing services.

To some extent, manufacturers can cut prices through economies of scale. Ola has achieved enough scale to do so and thus gain market share in a price war. So, while most members of the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) want FAME-II extended, Ola Electric co-founder Bhavish Aggarwal suggests that subsidies should be phased out once EVs hit double-digit penetration.

Another concern is range anxiety". A widespread charging ecosystem is being rolled out but charging takes time, even at home. That has led to debates about the desirability of fixed batteries versus swaps, which could be quicker. Most players are focussed on fixed battery tech because swap infrastructure is expensive. Honda however, is interested in swaps and says it will build a swap ecosystem and offer some EV models with swappable batteries.

The entry of a global leader with deep pockets and flexible technology will offer consumers more choices. The current players will have to raise their respective games. Right now, it is advantage Ola but Ola Electrics market leadership is already being challenged. It could be overtaken by traditional players as the market grows.

But if the market expands to, say, 10 times the current size, it would be impossible to predict the long-term winners by looking at current market shares.
Call it luck or stellar crisis management. China, one of the worlds most indebted nations, has not experienced a full-blown financial crisis, yet. There were a few close calls. In 2019, the government had to seize a regional bank, for the first time in decades, to prevent a run on deposits. Last year, a wave of real estate developer defaults ended up with homebuyers threatening mortgage boycotts. Both scares got defused. One may even argue that China is now a safer place for investors after Beijing tightened regulations on unruly local banks and aggressive home builders.

But there is one more elephant in the room: Borrowings from local government financing vehicles. For years, municipalities have been relying on these off-balance-sheet entities to fund infrastructure and support the local economy. LGFV debt rose to 57 trillion yuan ($8.3 trillion) in 2022, or 48% of Chinas gross domestic product, according to estimates from the International Monetary Fund.

It is fiscal maneuvering on an epic scale. LGFV borrowings are almost the same size as official central and local government debt combined. Bank loans aside, these vehicles routinely raise money from corporate bond issues, accounting for over 40% of the total market. Their outstanding amount reached about 36 trillion yuan last year.

Investors are nervous. LGFVs ability to service their debt is worse than developers, in that their mandate is non-profit and to provide public services. The average return on assets among LGFV bonds was only 0.4% in the first half of 2022, according to data compiled from Gavekal Dragonomics. Meanwhile, these 1,800 issuers are not compensating buyers for the risks they take, paying on average only 4.3% interest.

To make matters worse, after the property slump, municipalities may not be in a position to help out their LGFVs even if they wanted to. Before Covid, regional authorities got roughly 20% of their income from land sales. Last year, this important revenue stream tumbled 23%.

If anything, its the other way around, with local authorities resorting to LGFVs to fix their fiscal problems. In 2022, as developers retreated to repair their cash flows, these entities snapped up more than half of the residential land sold, worsening their balance sheets further.

Already, poorer provinces are lobbying for a central government bailout. In a now-deleted online post, Guizhou, in landlocked central China, said that it was struggling to solve its debt problems. In December, Zunyi Road & Bridge Engineering Construction Group, a local LGFV, got a partial bailout from its lenders, swapping short-term borrowings into 15.6 billion yuan worth of low-interest, 20-year loans. But that was apparently not enough. Another LGFV in the province best-known for its fiery baijiu was on the verge of reneging on a bond last year.

Granted, Beijing has conducted large-scale bailouts in the past. In a 2014 audit, two-thirds of LGFV debt was explicitly recognized as a government liability. In the ensuring four years, more than 12 trillion yuan of such borrowings were swapped into official local-government bonds. But the current 57 trillion yuan is on a different scale. President Xi Jinpings government is walking a very tight rope.

With some luck and investor faith, China might just be able to defuse this fiscal crisis, too.

Gavekals Xiaoxi Zhang makes an interesting point. The poorest provinces, such as Guizhou, tend to be more distressed. But they also have smaller amounts of outstanding LGFV debt, in part because they are seen as riskier and cant issue as easily. Therefore, next time one of these regions causes panic among bond investors, Beijing can still swap all their borrowings into official government bonds.

That argument has a big if. It assumes the next scare will be triggered by the likes of Guizhou, which does have a long history of defaulting on private creditors. If instead, the surprise comes from more prosperous provinces, such as eastern Zhejiang or Jiangsu, which also happen to be the biggest issuers, all bets are off. Beijing may not be able to contain that kind of blowup and Chinas Minsky Moment may well have arrived.

To be sure, there is a brighter story to tell about LGFVs, in that they have built a cheap, quality service for the public. Unlike the US, people in China can ride high-speed trains and take road trips at little cost. But the economy is now at a stage mature enough that the fiscal authorities have to figure out how to pay for all that infrastructure. Beijing will have to tread very carefully this time.

Shuli Ren is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Asian markets. A former investment banker, she was a markets reporter for Barrons. She is a CFA charterholder.
A recent news story reported how Mauritanian society celebrates a womans divorce, how her family welcomes her back to the fold, and how she leads a new life free of any stigma of a failed relationship. This practice is reportedly common throughout North Africa and West Asia, where multiple marriages are often seen as a reflection of a womans charm and choice of suitors. Such a philogynist societal attitude perhaps indicates a shift in the ideas of family and marriage, as divorces have long been considered a challenge to patriarchal power.

Many societies worldwide still uphold the belief that marriages are made in heaven, a sacred commitment not only between individuals but also their families; its violation is taken as sacrilege, a social evil. India is no exception, by and large. A 2018 survey of 160,000 households revealed that 93% married Indians had an arranged marriage, as against the global average of about 55%. The annual divorce rate in India is low, at 1.1 per 1,000 people annually. Of every 1,000 Indian marriages, only 13 result in divorce, and it is mostly initiated by men, as prevailing social norms discourage women from exercising this right. Even when women (usually in urban India) venture to overcome family pressure to keep their marriages intact, they encounter legal hassles and socio-economic isolation, as studies have confirmed. The low labour-force participation rate of Indian women translates to high levels of financial dependency, which often compels them to adjust to bad marriages. Further, a recent analysis of data from matrimonial sites also noted that there is clear misogyny in the matrimonial market, and that women who were employed received nearly 15 per cent fewer responses from male suitors relative to those who were not working."

Nevertheless, a United Nations overview of global marriage patterns recorded a doubling of the proportion of adults (in the age group of 35-39 years) getting divorced or separated from 2% in the 1970s to 4% in the 2000s, while the OECD Family Database from 1995 to 2017 revealed a mixed trend, with an increase in 18 countries and a reduction in 12 others. In the US, the divorce rate rose from 2.2 per 1,000 people in 1960 to over 5 per 1,000 in the 1980s. American economists such as Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers were of the view that the trend was partly reflective of the changes in expectations within marriages with the women entering the workforce."

Lets look at the gendered impact of the dissolution of a marital union. A longitudinal research project (1984-2015) that used data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) of 18,030 married and 1,220 divorced individuals to evaluate the consequences of divorce on economic, domestic, health, social and other aspects of life, observed that women, generally, face chronic strains of divorces, as they suffer from disproportionate losses in household income, higher risk of losing homeownership, lower chances of re-partnering and also bear the greater responsibilities of single parenting, whereas such impacts are transient for men." A study in the US (Peterson, 1996) found that the resultant gender gap in the standard of living was wide: a decline of around 27% for women, compared with a rise of 10% for men. Divorce tends to hit women harder. Of course, in some countries, like Germany, welfare measures can aid womens economic recovery; some studies also report that men tend to be more vulnerable to health declines and mortality, and that non-custodial parentsusually fathersoften face a challenge in maintaining contact with their children.

As against the contention that an increasing divorce rate is a sign of womens social progress and societys maturing, many sociologists also regard it as a debilitating factor in societal stability, given the adverse economic and socio-psychological fallout on divorced parents and their children. In contrast, some market analysts look at splintering families as a business opportunity for the increased demand it creates for homes and household products. Feminists contend that a systemic bias within the existing legal system works against women, even though it is purportedly gender-neutral. An Indian practising lawyer who deals with marriage laws described our legal framework in her book as benevolent patriarchal patronage at its best" and also expressed anguish over the potential threat of the re-emergence of a patriarchy in todays India, sanctified by religious scriptures that were oppressive to women."

UNWomen, while assessing the scale and scope of transformations needed in family life to achieve gender equality, has urged all nations of the world to adopt family-friendly policies and workplace regulations that enable women and men to combine caregiving with paid work. There is also a growing sense among womens-rights activists that unless conditions are created to enable families and their members to thrive, our achievements on womens empowerment may suffer a setback. In Mauritania, increasing marriage break-ups led to campaigns that emphasized family harmony and child development.

There is no doubt that the institution of marriage, as a basic social unit, should be strengthened for the well-being of families. For this, we must recast our work policies and basic education system to foster equal partnership as a foundational value in marriage, so that we have less conflict, dependency and resentment, and we simultaneously support the right of women to participate in all walks of life. Lets reset our goals accordingly.

Archana Datta is a former director general, Doordarshan and All India Radio; and former press secretary to the President of India.
The Chinese government rolled out the red carpet for the visit of Annalena Baerbock on April 14th. Qin Gang, the Chinese foreign minister, spent around six hours with his German counterpart, which included a factory visit to a German company in Tianjin, his native city, a ride on a high-speed train from Tianjin to Beijing, a lunch and a press conference at a governmental guest house. Ms Baerbock also met Han Zheng, Chinas vice-president, and Wang Yi, another senior foreign-policy official.

The exchange was always polite, even though Ms Baerbock had set a robust tone for her visit in a statement made as she left Berlin, when she talked about the horror scenario of a military escalation in the Taiwan Strait" through which 50% of global trade passes every day. She said that she intended to underline with her visit the European view that a change to the status quo in the strait, let alone a military escalation, would be unacceptable.

Her press conference with Mr Qin continued in a similar vein. After the customary niceties, both showed why they are considered hawks in Sino-German relations in their respective countries. Ms Baerbock bluntly said that Europe became a world power 150 years ago through expansionism, aggression and colonialism, and that the world was closely watching which route China would pick to reach its stated goal of becoming a world power by 2049 (the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Peoples Republic). Its choice will determine to what extent Europe can count on economic ties with China in the future. Economic security is at the heart of the much-anticipated and delayed strategy paper on China that Germany has been working on for more than a year, with Ms Baerbocks foreign ministry wielding the pen.

Mr Qin, for his part, reiterated Chinas position that Taiwan is part of it. He blamed the current tension around Taiwan on separatist forces. Responding to Ms Baerbocks expression of concern about the violation of human rights of the Uighurs, a Muslim minority in the western region of Xinjiang, he talked about lies" that were being spread about Xinjiang. He said Ms Baerbock could come to the region at any time to see for herself. He ventured that there were no uniform standards for human rights in the world, and warned that China did not need to be lectured by the West. (Ms Baerbock retorted that the UN human-rights charter and the UN convention of human rights define universal human rights.)

Ms Baerbock also asked why China is not using its influence on Russia to end the war in Ukraine. Her counterpart did not respond, but said that China would not supply any weapons to either Russia or Ukraine. When it came to supplying dual-use products, his response was much vaguer.

Unusually for a foreign minister, Ms Baerbock emphasised business ties and economic security" at nearly every turn. Fresh off the plane in Tianjin she visited Flender, a German Mittelstand firm that makes wind turbines. She also visited Vitesco, a German automotive supplier in the city, as well as a Volkswagen R&D centre in Beijing. Last year China was again Germanys top trading partner, for the seventh consecutive year, with combined exports and imports of more than 298bn ($320bn), up by around 21% from 2021. Germany depends on China for the import of rare earths and other essential minerals.

Ms Baerbock insists that she does not want to decouple Germany from China but to derisk" the relationship by diversifying supply chains away from the country to avoid dependencies on critical goods, such as preliminary products for medication. In her view German and European markets and imports are significant enough to give her a strong hand in what she deems a purely transactional relationship with the Chinese. Judging from the effort the Chinese government made to welcome her in Beijing, she seems to have a point. Despite the awkwardness that may have arisen from Ms Baerbocks noted penchant for Klartext (clear words), and Mr Qins own robust response, the Chinese foreign minister is planning to travel to Berlin for more government consultations in June. He ended the press conference on a conciliatory note, closing with a Danke!".

 2023, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com
Sanjay Raut, leader of Shiv Sena (UBT) faction has claimed that Nationalist Congress Party(NCP) chief Sharad Pawar has recently told former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray that his party will never join hands with Bhartiya Janata Part(BJP) even though someone may join at thier individual capacity. The senior leader of the UBT faction made the comments in his weekly column 'Rokhthok' in the party mouthpiece Saamana in the wake of speculations that senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar may break ranks to join hands with the ruling BJP in the state, amid a plea seeking disqualification of 16 MLAs of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena pending before the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar has dubbed such speculations as baseless and denied having a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Ajit Pawar is also the leader of opposition in Maharashtra. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Congress are constituents of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in the state. Raut in the Marathi publication claimed, "(Sharad) Pawar told Uddhav Thackeray during their meeting (on Tuesday) that nobody wants to switch over. But, family is being targeted. If anyone takes a personal decision to leave, it is their individual issue. But we as a party will never go with the BJP." "There is tremendous anger among people of Maharashtra against the present state government. Any one joining the BJP will be committing political suicide. This is want Thackeray and Pawar felt," the Rajya Sabha member wrote.

Sanjay Raut further claimed that Sharad Pawar during the meeting with former chief minister Thackeray said he would like to tell those who want to switch over that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) "files" will go in a cupboard from the table, but will never be closed. There are speculations in political circles about what would be the future move of Ajit Pawar and the senior NCP leader should himself clarify, Raut said.

He said a sugar mill belonging to Ajit Pawar's family was raided and seized by the ED. But, now the chargesheet doesn't have any mention of Ajit Pawar or his family members. ''What happened to the allegations of money laundering in the purchase of the sugar mill. Were the raids and allegations just for political pressure?'' the Sena (UBT) leader asked. Sharad Pawar's another associate (former Maharashtra minister) Hasan Mushrif was also being targeted by central probe agencies, Raut added. Meanwhile, state minister Dada Bhuse, who belongs to the Shinde-led Shiv Sena on Sunday said, "Ajit Pawar is restless in the NCP for several years. We all know it.
Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues

By Jonathan Kennedy

Crown. 294 pp. $30

- - -

What would happen if we were to examine human history through the wiliness and will of bacteria and viruses instead of the brains and brawn of men? Could great conquests - the fall of the Roman Empire, the Revolutionary War, the rise of capitalism - have been wrought not from brilliant strategy and innovation but because of certain populations' susceptibility or resistance to pathogens? What if germs have been humans' puppeteers all along? That is the gripping premise of Jonathan Kennedy's debut book, "Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues." By tracing evolution and history from Neanderthals to Homo sapiens today, Kennedy re-excavates the past, one in which we are much less significant than we think.

Kennedy, a sociologist, catapults the reader around the world, through 60,000 years of history, in fewer than 250 pages. The book's obvious predecessor is William H. McNeill's 1976 work, "Plagues and Peoples," to which Kennedy appropriately nods. Kennedy, for his part, wrangles an astonishing breadth of material into easily accessible, plain prose. He challenges us to think big and long about the enduring impacts of infectious-disease outbreaks - "an invisible but devastating weapon of mass destruction" - all in the service of his argument that "plagues that occurred thousands of years ago played a crucial role in shaping the world we now inhabit."

"Pathogenesis" is organized chronologically, with each chapter representing a different historical period and illuminating how key events of the era were manipulated by microbes. He explains how Neolithic European farmers probably fell to Black Death from Yersinia pestis, allowing the Steppe Herders to move in, bringing wheel, wagon and language with them. Malaria and yellow fever, he writes, "created a defensive force field that made military conquest all but impossible" for Europeans trying to colonize much of sub-Saharan Africa. Gen. Charles Cornwallis's troops were no match for deadly malaria, and Yorktown was lost - and soon the Revolutionary War for the British. And so on.

Immunity may be exploited, though. "West African labor suddenly became a much more appealing proposition for plantation owners," Kennedy writes of North American colonies in the late 1600s, because of some Africans' partial immunity to malaria. According to Kennedy, this led to the emergence of slavery in the South: "In fact, malaria had the biggest impact on the expansion of slavery in counties where labor-intensive crops were grown."

Kennedy, who teaches global public health at Queen Mary University of London, writes through a historical lens rather than a biological one. Surprisingly, though, for a book on plagues, he doesn't dwell on the pathology of individual diseases, sometimes glossing over their symptoms. No deep scientific dissections are needed, but he might have drawn more from the rich bounty of poetry and literature that many of these pathogens have inspired. In the 17th century, for example, John Dryden memorably described the disfiguring marks that gave smallpox its name: "Blisters with pride swell'd, which through's flesh did sprout / Like rose-buds, stuck i' th' lily-skin about."

Maybe it's the professor in Kennedy who's practiced in leading classrooms that motivates him to start many sections with popular cultural references: "The Seventh Seal," Monty Python, "Game of Thrones." The resonance of these references will vary from reader to reader. Kennedy's personal anecdotes can feel still more misplaced - his account of coming across rubberneckers at Stonehenge on his drive to visit his parents isn't the most compelling way to introduce the famous landmark - but, fortunately, he doesn't slip into first-person stories often. That said, when he seems to be uncovering the material along with us, we are carried along by his own passionate ride of discovery. The book gathers fiery momentum as it goes, especially from colonial plagues on.

Even readers familiar with the material will find fascinating how Kennedy arrived at some of these revelations. When construction workers were building a new subway stop for the Olympics in Athens in the late 1990s, they unearthed a mass grave of those who rapidly succumbed to a plague, probably typhus or smallpox. Kennedy describes how the upper layers of corpses were strewn much more chaotically, telltale signs of escalating panic as the plague spread, probably affecting the outcome of the Peloponnesian War.

Some of the anecdotes feel especially poignant, as we are all now readers who have lived and lost through a pandemic. A Parliament-appointed committee ignored John Snow, the British doctor who first warned that cholera was waterborne; when he died, his obituary in a leading medical journal made no mention of his research. Kennedy also effectively deploys statistics, which land with aplomb: He notes that the average European would have survived only four months in West Africa in the early 19th century and that "malaria killed eight times more British troops than American guns" during the Revolutionary War.

Occasionally, the book overreaches, especially when trying to push back against previous works, such as Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs, and Steel." Kennedy writes that Diamond didn't emphasize germs as much because he wrote the book before the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, which failed despite the Americans' wealth of resources. But his argument doesn't quite hold when its expected corollary - the Americans retreated because of a plague - isn't true.

The last chapter, which takes us almost to the present day, could already use a refresh. Kennedy refers to White, middle-aged, less-educated men falling to drugs, alcohol and suicide - "deaths of despair," a term coined by the Princeton economists Angus Deaton and Anne Case. Newer research from the same husband-and-wife team suggests that deaths of despair are also rising for Blacks and Hispanics without four-year college degrees, in large part because of fentanyl. It's also unfortunate for the chapter that China has since lifted its "zero covid" strategy, throwing its health-care system into chaos, which casts Kennedy's praise of the country's previous disease control into relief. Still, these lapses are few.

Despite Kennedy's seemingly demoralizing thesis, his narrative tilts toward hope and empowerment, ending on a call to action to work collaboratively on improving everyone's basic health care, as we prepare for the (inevitable) next pandemic. Kennedy will leave readers galvanized by the time they flip to the last page, having assured us that we could win the narrative back from germs - if we're able to muster the political will to do so. "Pathogenesis" puts us in our rightful tiny place in the universe as this great, big - and terrifying, at times - world spins. But, Kennedy reminds us, we are not helpless.

- - -

Helen Ouyang is an associate professor of emergency medicine at Columbia University and a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine.
U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended 17 migrants at the Interstate 35 checkpoint, according to authorities.

A tractor-trailer arrived at the primary inspection lane on April 12. Then, a K-9 unit allegedly alerted to possible contraband within the vehicle.

Agents referred the vehicle to secondary inspection. As agents inspected the cab, they discovered 17 people inside.

All were determined to be migrants from Mexico and Guatemala, authorities said.

The migrants were processed accordingly while the driver will be prosecuted for human smuggling.

Border Patrol encourages members of the community to report suspicious activity by calling 1-800-343-1994.
Courtesy/U.S. Border Patrol

U.S. Border Patrol agents in Laredo rescued a migrant from drowning in the Rio Grande, according to authorities.

On April 12, agents assigned to the Marine Unit were patrolling the river when they observed several individuals crossing the river
Texas A&M International University students will strut their stuff in a first-ever Fashion Show featuring student designers, models, make-up artists, photographers and stylists in addition to participation by local boutiques and stores this Friday, April 21, 2023 from 7-9 p.m. in the Western Hemispheric Trade Center Room 111.

Tickets are available for sale at $3 for students, staff and faculty and $5 for general admission through Eventbrite.

VIP seating is sold-out and remaining seating is on a first come, first served basis. Doors open at 6 p.m. with the Fashion Show beginning at 7.

The fully student-led event hopes to offer a new creative outlet for its student members while raising funds for future events and activities, said student organizer Anasofia Del Prado.

The TAMIU Fashion Society is a relatively new club at TAMIU which started in November, but we soon agreed that a fashion show would help to promote our exposure in Laredo while providing a forum for student creativity, Del Prado said, Our hope is that well be able to generate interest and support that will enable us to explore field trip opportunties such as attending Austin Fashion Week. We also hope to make fashion shows part of our annual club offerings.

Del Prado said the April 21 Fashion Show will feature two segments with Casual and Spring Wear and Gala or Evening Wear.

In addition to student designers Natalie Esparza, Ana Ramirez and Sarahi Santos, the TAMIU Fashion Society has worked with local boutiques and stores to preview their Spring lines. Among participants are Sara Boutique, Prague Boutique, Viva Boutique, Daisy Boutique and Pichardos Menswear.

TAMIU faculty member Dr. Virginia K. Berndt, assistant professor of Sociology, is the Clubs faculty advisor and said she has been impressed by the students commitment and energy in coordinating this first event.

In a short time, theyve provided an opportunity to showcase the creative talents of our students. They are proactive and have created a semester of activities. I have been astounded by the student enterprise and leadership on this, she observed.

Dr. Berndt, herself a fashion fan, will soon see her book on body art and health published, and says creative expression is important.

Fashion, whether clothing or body expression like piercings or tattoos, is a form of creative expression and a way of expressing identity and ourselves freely, and sometimes bravely. Im thrilled that our students have created this club space to celebrate that, she concluded.

For additional information on TAMIUs Fashion Society, contact Anasofia Del Prado at anasofiadelprado@dusty.tamiu.edu.

Registration for TAMIUs Maymester, Summer, and Fall 2023 is now underway.

To learn more about TAMIUs Registration processes, visit the dedicated Registration Hub at go.tamiu.edu/registration.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  The United States, South Korea and Japan conducted a joint missile defense exercise on Monday aimed at countering North Koreas growing nuclear arsenal, as a top North Korean army official warned the U.S. that it risks a clearer security crisis and insurmountable threats.

Last week, North Korea conducted one of its most provocative weapons demonstrations in years by flight-testing for the first time an intercontinental ballistic missile powered by solid fuel. It is considered a more mobile, harder-to-detect weapon and could directly target the continental United States.

South Koreas navy said Mondays three-way drills took place in international waters off the countrys eastern coast and focused on mastering procedures for detecting, tracking and sharing information on incoming North Korean ballistic missiles. The one-day naval exercise involved an Aegis destroyer from each country.

The drills goal is to improve our response capabilities against ballistic missiles and strengthen our ability to conduct joint operations as North Koreas nuclear and missile threats continue to escalate, Jang Do-young, a spokesperson for South Koreas navy, said at a news briefing.

The United States and South Korea also launched separate bilateral drills on Monday involving some 110 warplanes, including advanced F-35 fighter jets, that will continue through April 28.

The two sets of exercises could trigger a belligerent response from North Korea, which views the United States military drills with its Asian allies as invasion rehearsals. North Korea has used such drills as a pretext to accelerate its own weapons development, creating a tit-for-tat cycle that has raised tensions in recent months.

Later Monday, Ri Pyong Chol, a North Korean army marshal and close associate of leader Kim Jong Un, warned that the United States should stop at once its political and military provocations getting on the nerves of (North Korea)."

If the U.S. persists in the acts of endangering the security environment on the Korean Peninsula in disregard of the repeated warnings by (North Korea), the latter will take necessary actions to expose the former to a clearer security crisis and insurmountable threats, Ri said in a statement carried by state media.

Without mentioning the drills that began Monday, Ri accused the U.S. and South Korea of having staged a series of large-scale joint military exercises simulating a preemptive nuclear strike and all-out war against North Korea. He also criticized the U.S. for calling for a meeting of the U.N. Security Council to discuss North Korea's solid-fuel ICBM launch, saying his country was exercising its right to self-defense.

Security Council resolutions ban North Korea from engaging in any ballistic activities. But the council has failed to impose new sanctions on North Korea despite its series of ballistic missile tests since early last year because of the opposition of China and Russia, which are both veto-wielding members.

North Korea's unprecedented run of weapons tests has so far involved more than 100 missiles of various ranges fired into the sea since the start of 2022 as it attempts to build a nuclear arsenal that could threaten its rival neighbors and the United States.

Experts say Kim wants to pressure the United States into accepting North Korea as a legitimate nuclear power and hopes to negotiate an easing of sanctions from a position of strength.

The United States and South Korea conducted their biggest field exercises in years in March and have also held separate naval and aerial drills involving a U.S. aircraft carrier battle group and nuclear-capable B-52 bombers.

North Koreas growing nuclear threat has also led South Korea and Japan to increase their security cooperation and mend ties that were strained by history and trade disputes. On Monday, South Korea and Japan held their first security meeting of senior diplomats and defense officials following a five-year hiatus. During the meeting, Seoul and Tokyo discussed North Koreas nuclear program and trilateral cooperation with the United States, according to Seoul's Defense Ministry.

Japans Joint Staff in a statement stressed the need to strengthen trilateral cooperation as the security environment surrounding Japan increasingly becomes severe because of North Korea's missile activities.

For the 11th straight day on Monday, North Korea did not respond to South Korean checkup calls on a set of cross-border inter-Korean hotlines, South Korean officials said, raising concerns about potential incidents. Communications on those channels are meant to prevent accidental clashes along the rivals sea borders or to arrange talks.

On Saturday, a South Korean naval vessel fired warning shots to repel a North Korean patrol vessel that temporarily crossed the countries disputed western sea boundary while chasing a Chinese fishing boat.

There are signs that the costs of Kims campaign are piling up as North Korea apparently grapples with food insecurity and other domestic problems worsened by pandemic-related border restrictions that disrupted trade with China, its main ally and economic lifeline. Desperate for tangible economic achievements, Kims government has prioritized construction and agricultural projects, which are less dependent on external trade while industrial production remains decimated by international sanctions and coronavirus-linked border shutdowns.

The Norths official Korean Central News Agency said Monday that Kim attended an event over the weekend celebrating the building of 10,000 new homes in a district of Pyongyang. The project is part of broader plans to supply 50,000 new homes in the capital under a five-year national development plan that runs through 2025.

During Sundays event, Kim called the housing project a long-cherished plan aimed at providing his people with more stable and civilized living conditions, KCNA said.

North Korea has a severe shortage of quality housing that deepened over decades of economic decay. But living conditions are much better in Pyongyang, where Kim has pushed huge development projects that upgraded housing for elites.

___

Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
Twitter is hit by another outage on Monday. The Twitter logo is pictured in 2022 outside the Twitter headquarters in San Francisco.
Crime

By Chris Boyle Published: April 17 2023

Julie DeVuono Faces Two Separate Indictments for Charges Including Forgery, Money-Laundering, Conspiracy, and Multiple Counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing.

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney has announced that Julie DeVuono, 50, of Amityville, and her corporation Kids-On-Call Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, P.C., d/b/a Wild Child Pediatric Healthcare, face a 14-count indictment for allegedly selling forged COVID-19 Vaccination Record Cards, entering false information of receiving the vaccination into the states immunization system, and laundering the proceeds from this criminal conduct. In addition, DeVuono faces a separate 20-count indictment for allegedly creating false prescriptions for Oxycodone for people who were not her patients and submitting these false prescriptions electronically to the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH).

This defendant thought she could use her position as a nurse practitioner to circumvent the law by allegedly uploading false information into New York state-wide databases, said District Attorney Tierney. The defendants abuse of authority in pursuit of her own enrichment put peoples health and safety at risk, and it will not be tolerated in Suffolk County.

Vaccination record cards are an important tool used to help protect public health and safety," said Naomi Gruchacz, Special Agent in Charge with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). "HHS-OIG will continue to hold accountable any health care professionals who exploit their access to patient information, undermine crucial public health measures, and put the health of their communities at risk.

Protecting New Yorks public-health programs from fraud, abuse, and criminal misuse is essential to community health and safety," said New York State Department of Health Director of Investigations Joseph A. Giovannetti, Esq. "Thank you to the Suffolk County DAs Office, Suffolk County Police Department, and HHS-OIG for collaborating with the Department of Health around this important enforcement work.

According to the investigation, between June 15, 2021 and January 27, 2022, DeVuono, while acting in concert with co-defendants Brooke Hogan and Marissa Urraro, a Licensed Practical Nurse, allegedly sold forged COVID-19 Vaccination Record Cards to customers and entered false information that the customer received a COVID-19 Vaccination into the New York State Immunization Information System (NYSIIS). In 2021, each adult customer was charged $220 for a false entry on the COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card and a false entry into NYSIIS. In 2022, each adult customer was charged $350 for a false entry on the COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card and a false entry into NYSIIS. False entries for children were $85 each. DeVuono then allegedly laundered the proceeds from the scheme by transferring funds through several accounts and reinvesting the proceeds back into the business in furtherance of her illegal operation. As a result of that investigation, DeVuono, and her corporation, Kids-On-Call Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, P.C., were indicted for the following charges:

Six counts of Forgery in the Second Degree, a Class D felony;

Five counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, a Class E felony;

One count of Money Laundering in the Second Degree, a Class C felony;

One count of Money Laundering in the Fourth Degree, a Class E felony; and

One count of Conspiracy in the Fifth Degree, a Class A misdemeanor.

Additionally, DeVuono is charged in a separate indictment with 20 counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, a Class E felony. According to that investigation, between February 2019 to February 2021, DeVuono allegedly submitted false prescriptions for Oxycodone for individuals who were not her patients, to local pharmacies in Suffolk County. DeVuono knew these electronic prescriptions would be filed with the NYSDOH after they were submitted to the local pharmacies electronically.

On April 12, 2023, DeVuono was arraigned on both indictments by Supreme Court Justice, the Honorable John B. Collins, who placed DeVuono on supervised release with GPS conditions. DeVuono is due back in court on May 19, 2023, and is being represented by Jason Russo, Esq. and Steven Gaitman, Esq.
Crime

By Chris Boyle Published: April 17 2023

Co-Defendant Marcus Brown Was Previously Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison.

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney has announced that Jvon Creighton, 27, of Mastic, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty in September 2022 for his role in multiple gunpoint robberies that occurred throughout Suffolk County in 2021.

This defendant, while released on parole supervision, along with his co-defendant, terrorized hard-working small business owners, robbing them of their money at gunpoint, said District Attorney Tierney. These were vicious robberies; one victim needed 25 sutures to close facial wounds following a pistol whipping. Such gratuitous violence will not be tolerated in Suffolk County.

According to the investigation and the defendants admissions during his guilty plea allocution, from October 2021 to December 2021, Creighton and co-defendant Marcus Brown, 34, of Coram, participated in a string of gunpoint gas station robberies that occurred at businesses located within the Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Suffolk County Police Department Precincts. In each of the robberies, the convenience store clerks were held at gunpoint while Creighton and Brown demanded cash.

Creighton and Brown pleaded guilty and were sentenced for robberies that took place on the following dates:

October 24, 2021  7-Eleven, 1201 Montauk Highway, East Patchogue

October 26, 2021  Holla Dollar & Varietys, 1566 Montauk Highway, Bellport

October 27, 2021  7-Eleven, 1670 Middle Country Road, Ridge

November 3, 2021  7-Eleven, 1074 Motor Parkway, Central Islip

December 12, 2021  BP gas station, 1460 Veterans Memorial Highway, Islandia

December 12, 2021  7-Eleven, 1224 Old Nichols Road, Islandia

During the final robbery on December 12, 2021, Brown pistol whipped a 7-Eleven clerk in the head twice, causing bleeding and facial wounds that required 25 sutures to close. Approximately $10,000 in cash proceeds were taken during the series of robberies.

On September 26, 2022, Creighton pleaded guilty before Supervising Judge of the County Court and Supreme Court Justice, the Honorable Richard Ambro, to four counts of Robbery in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony, four counts of Robbery in the Second Degree, a Class C violent felony, and Assault in the Second Degree, a Class D violent felony. On April 13, 2023, Judge Ambro sentenced Creighton to 10 years in prison. The District Attorneys Office recommended a sentence of 14 years at the time of his plea. Creighton was represented by Robert Kelly, Esq.

On July 5, 2022, Brown pleaded guilty before Judge Ambro to eight counts of Robbery in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony, eight counts of Robbery in the Second Degree, a Class C violent felony, and Assault in the Second Degree, a Class D violent felony. On October 19, 2022, Judge Ambro sentenced Brown to 10 years in prison. The District Attorneys Office argued for a sentence of 18 years. Brown was represented by Christopher Cassar, Esq.
Food, Wine, & Dining

By Ls Cohen Published: April 17 2023

Takes over the old Everest Himalayan Cuisine location on Merrick Road.

Taking over the spot that used to be Everest Himalayan Cuisine, a new Brazilian barbecue restaurant opened up recently in Bellmore called Manolo's Churrasqueira.

More casual than say, Fogo de Chao, you can still get a wide selection of grilled meats on the menu. Reviewers are giving it a mom and pop kind of feel.

Appetizers feature bacon wrapped shrimp in hot sauce ($16), baby octopus in garlic, roasted peppers and online ($17) and codfish cake fritter ($13). The grill has seafood specials like grilled lobster ($40), branzino (32) and grilled octopus ($32). On land, the meats menu includes a whole barbecued chicken ($32), beef ribs ($36), pork chops ($26) and a surf and turf ($42).

On Yelp, Chris C, from Queens, gave them five stars.

So a brand new Portuguese Restaurant opened up in Bellmore and it's incredibly good, he wrote. I felt the need to share it with all of you! They have dine-in service as well as take-out and is the perfect place for both lunch & dinner.

On Google, Lisa M also praised the new Brazilian barbecue.

All I have to say is WOW, she wrote. This place is ridiculously delicious and fresh. I enjoyed everything that I ordered. My family and I ordered the bbq whole chicken, its nicely charred and seasoned to perfection Highly recommend this place.

Location: 2518 Merrick Road, Bellmore, (516) 804-5656.
Food, Wine, & Dining

By Chris Boyle Published: April 17 2023

Exclusive Partnership with Kittch Brings Unique Culinary Experiences, Led by Michelin Awarded Chef Melissa O'Donnell.

Sag Harbor Kitchen, a highly anticipated dockside destination, is proud to announce its upcoming grand opening on Bay Street, in historic Sag Harbor village. Located in an iconic location that has shared its rich history with the American Legion for over 25 years, Sag Harbor Kitchen has reimagined the classic space, blending contemporary design with nostalgic charm to create a unique hospitality experience that celebrates the maritime roots of the community. SHK will feature a limited menu beginning Memorial Day weekend, with its official grand opening scheduled for Thursday, June 15, 2023.

Chef Melissa O'Donnell, the creative mastermind behind Sag Harbor Kitchen, has an impressive and diverse background in the culinary world. She has spent her entire career as a pioneer on the New York restaurant scene and has been recognized for her work over the years with five Michelin Bib Gourmand awards at three different restaurants. The Bib Gourmand is the rare Michelin designation for establishments that offer great food at affordable, neighborhood prices.

In 2001, Chef ODonnell opened her first restaurant, Stella, to rave reviews in The New York Times and other influential publications. Stella introduced the concept of communal dining to the NY restaurant scene. Her next restaurants, Salt and Salt Bar, expanded on the communal table tradition Melissa had introduced, and was celebrated as a pioneer in the farm-to-table movement. With Salt, she won her first Michelin award. Her next two places, Thelma on Clinton, and Lil Gem, both continued her tradition of designing great menus that fit into the diversity of their neighborhoods, and both were recognized repeatedly by the Michelin Guide.

Building on her decades of creating restaurants that fit perfectly into their neighborhoods, Sag Harbor Kitchens goal is to, at once, be both new and novel, and at the same time feel like it's always been there. Thanks to ODonnells dedication to the use of fresh, locally sourced ingredients from land and sea, SHKs menu and vibe promise to be unique to the area.

Through her flair for combining traditional techniques with modern twists on classic favorites, an open kitchen, and her legendary communal table, Sag Harbor Kitchen is designed to be both a great neighborhood hang and a regional destinationby foot, bike, boat, train, jitney, or car.

Chef ODonnell shared her enthusiasm for the restaurant's opening: "I am thrilled to be a part of this exciting new endeavor in beautiful Sag Harbor. Ive been coming to Sag for many years, and this opportunity to make this my next chapter is a dream come true, commented ODonnell. My culinary inspiration at Sag Harbor Kitchen are the great waterfronts from Lisbon to Sicily to Beirut, yet we've crafted a uniquely Sag Harbor cuisine. My team and I are committed to creating unforgettable dishes that celebrate the local seafood and fresh, seasonal ingredients from the amazing farms around the Hamptons. We strive to surprise people with our menu of everything from great burgers and steamers, to the freshest seafood off the Montauk boats. And, hopefully, our communal table and community focus will turn SHK into a place that introduces new neighbors to each other, and rekindles old friendships.

In an exclusive partnership with Kittch, the leading platform connecting chefs and consumers online and in person  and recently named one of the most innovative companies in the world by Fast Company  Sag Harbor Kitchen will offer a unique new level of personalized dining experiences.. These include special events with other renowned chefs from around the world, cooking classes, and live streams from the kitchen, giving customers a never-before-seen live look into the workings of a professional kitchen. Guests will be able to enjoy these exclusive behind-the-scenes glimpses from home, the restaurant itself, or even from the communal Kitchen table.

In addition to its sea-to-table menu, SHK will offer an extensive wine list featuring a curated selection of fine wines from around the world, with a special focus on coastal wines including the North Fork of Long Island, the Pacific Coast wine regions, Tuscany, Chile, and Bordeaux, across the Atlantic. Guests can also enjoy innovative handcrafted cocktails, featuring local ingredients and artisanal spirits.

With its prime harbor-front location, the restaurant will offer both indoor and outdoor seating, as well as a summer-long schedule of special events. Guests will have the option of enjoying drinks and a bar menu on the outdoor deck, featuring fire tables and lounge seating, enjoying sunset on the dining deck, or experiencing the sights and smells of the Kitchen itself. SHK will have a unique apres-beach cocktail and food menu, as well as a delicious apres-theater dessert and drink menu. It also offers a private dining room for dinner parties and special events. Sag Harbor Kitchen will accept limited reservations, but hold most of its tables for walk-ins.

Committed to supporting the local community, Sag Harbor Kitchen embraces its partnership with the American Legion, with plans to aid local veterans and their families through various initiatives and events. The restaurant's dedication to the environment is also evident in its sustainable practices, from sourcing ingredients to waste reduction.

Those who would like to learn more can register for the newsletter, receive information on reservations, and other developments at https://sagharbor.kitchen/, or follow its progress on Instagram @sagharbor.kitchen. Those who would like to get to know Chef ODonnell and enjoy the personalized livestream-to-table experience of Kittch, including cooking classes, and thousands of video recipes from hundreds of chefs, can do so at Kittch.com.

About Sag Harbor Kitchen: Sag Harbor Kitchen is a coastal culinary haven in the heart of historic Sag Harbor at 26 Bay Street, offering a wide selection of fresh local seafood, lobster, steaks, vegetarian and vegan specialties, and the best burgers in the Hamptons. Developed and overseen by the culinary leadership of Michelin awarded Chef Melissa O'Donnell and in partnership with Kittch, Sag Harbor Kitchen invites guests of all ages to celebrate the rich maritime history of the community and wonderful fresh ingredients of the region. More information is available at www.sagharbor.kitchen or on Instagram @sagharbor.kitchen.

About Kittch: Founded in 2022, Kittch is a leading culinary platform dedicated to revolutionizing the "what to eat" decision for millions of food lovers around the world. Named one of the most innovative companies in the world by Fast Company in 2023, Kittch connects fans, brands, and chefs through unique livestreaming technology, transforming the dining decision-making process from a frustrating one to a joyful one. By partnering with prestigious culinary events and providing exclusive content, Kittch strives to celebrate the art of cooking and inspire people to explore the endless possibilities of the culinary world.
(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to rise at the open on Monday, with sentiment still underpinned by solid earnings at the end of last week from US banks Citigroup, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo.

The FTSE 100 was called to open 20 points higher at 7,892.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "This week's main focus will be on further earnings reports, notably from the likes of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley tomorrow as well as Tesla and Netflix later in the week.

"It's also an important week for the UK economy after last week's February GDP numbers showed that the economy stagnated with the various industrial disputes dragging the wider economy.

"Tomorrow, we get a snapshot into the labour market as well as wage pressure, against the backdrop of the February surge in headline CPI to 10.4%. The pay gap is expected to widen further with wage growth expected to slow to 6.2% from 6.5%, while unemployment is expected to remain unchanged at 3.7%,

"This will be followed by Wednesday's March CPI numbers which hopefully will see the headline rate fall below 10%, although most people expected this to happen in February and it didn't with the main reason being surging food prices. This effect is likely to manifest itself in Friday's March retail sales numbers, which could see a sharp slowdown from the solid start to the year we saw in January and February."

In corporate news, oil and gas engineering firm Wood Group said it had decided to engage with US private equity group Apollo to see if a firm offer can be made on a potential 1.66bn takeover.

Wood has rejected four proposals from Apollo but has now decided to grant access to documents for due diligence after a fifth approach at 240p a share, the company said.

It added that a deadline for a firm bid had been extended to May 17 from April 19.

"Apollo has stated to the board that it values the skills and capabilities of Wood's employees and believes the company is well positioned in its markets and at the forefront of the energy transition and industrial decarbonisation," Wood Group said in a statement.

Elsewhere, payments firm Network International said it has received a non-binding proposal from a consortium of CVC and Francisco Partners about a cash offer of 387p a share.

This follows a series of prior proposals that were rejected.

Network said that having "carefully evaluated" the proposal with its financial advisers, it has concluded that it would be minded to recommend it should a firm intention to make an offer be announced.

"As such, the board has agreed to provide the consortium with access to confirmatory due diligence," it said.
Mac security software adds another layer of protection onto what Apple provides already with features that can help to protect your identity, passwords and financial details. These are the thing that criminals are after, and theyll often use cunning ways to extract them rather than spending time trying to break past Apples defences in macOS.

Although some of the packages here are solely focused on macOS, others will also protect Android and Windows devices you might also own, and that makes the price of protection much cheaper per computer.

Good security software should warn you before you click on a dangerous website, or open a phishing email with a dodgy attachment, which could trick you into handing over your bank details, passwords or other sensitive information.

If you are in two minds about whether you need protection you might like to read Do Macs need antivirus software?

Best antivirus for Mac

Youll find the following Mac antivirus recommendations in our round up of the Best antivirus for Mac.

Here are our top Mac antivirus recommendations:

Best free antivirus for Mac

There are a number of companies offering free antivirus software for Mac. You should always be cautious using a free antivirus and dont expect all the features of the paid for options.

Avast Security for Mac  offers a free option alongside the Premium plan. Get it here.

Avira Free Antivirus for Mac  is free and also includes a VPN. Get it here.

AVG Antivirus For Mac  free version offers basic features. Get it here.

Bitdefender Virus Scanner for Mac  is free to use. Get it here.

Malwarebytes Antivirus for Mac  has a free version as well as a paid version. Get it here.

Sophos Home  theres a free plan, plus you can get the full version for 30 days trial. Get it here.

Best antivirus deals for Mac

The above are our top recommendations, but you can save even more money than that. Check our the best deals weve seen below.

How to find a good antivirus deal

It can be tricky to know where to start with antivirus. Protecting your tech from malware, ransomware and other cyber attacks is such an important thing to do, but most of the services available appear to be very similar to one another, so its hard to understand which are the most secure, and which are the best value.

You can rest assured that we will only share deals here if we think theyre good enough to be worth buying. Everything we share here will be a great saving on a service we trust.

We recommend taking a look at our article all about the best Mac antivirus to help you get a better understanding of which services we like most.

Youll find that antivirus discounts can be huge, often at more than half price for your Mac or mobile devices. Do note that these are typically first-year deals, and at renewal youll pay the regular price.
This mana wave can be completed without a functioning horn, but he also provides another tutorial for horn-havers. Laz says to whip the wave out as you drive past someone who has just let you overtake them.
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez apologised in an interview published on Sunday to victims of sexual abuse over a sexual violence law that included a loophole enabling at least 978 imprisoned offenders to get their sentences reduced or ended early.

The "Only Yes Is Yes" law, which arose partly as a result of public outrage over the so-called Wolf Pack case, centred on consent and was meant to resolve cases where defendants were convicted of the lesser crime of sexual abuse because victims had not resisted out of fear. But because the new law carries a lower minimum sentence - the result of merging the crimes of sexual abuse and aggression - it has enabled some perpetrators convicted before it took effect to successfully seek reduced sentences or early release. After the law was passed in October, sentences in 978 cases have been reduced and 104 prisoners have been released early as of March 31, the General Council of the Judiciary - the top body of judges - said last week.

"Some of these releases or reviews are not final, they can still be appealed. But in any case, there has been an undesired effect that we have to resolve," Sanchez said in an interview with El Correo newspaper. "If we have to apologise to the victims, I apologise to the victims." The issue has split the three-year-old coalition, with the Socialists keen to reform the law but their ruling partners Unidas Podemos resisting their suggestions. Combating gender violence had been high on the coalition's agenda since the "Wolf Pack" case, in which five men referring to themselves by that name were jailed for the lesser crime of sexual abuse in 2018 after gang-raping a young woman at the Pamplona bull-running festival in 2016.
Manchester, VT (05254)

Today

Partly cloudy early followed by increasing clouds with showers developing later in the day. High 57F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

A steady rain in the evening. Showers continuing late. Low near 40F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
As of April 14, Munson Healthcare joined nine other health systems across the state in relaxing its masking and visitation policies. Universal masking will no longer be required for everyone in Munson Healthcare hospitals and clinics.

Joe Santangelo, Munson Healthcare chief safety and quality officer, said in a news release that the health system has reviewed COVID-19 data from within Munson Healthcare and across the state.

The availability of effective vaccines and therapeutics have reduced hospitalizations and the rate of disease has dramatically decreased despite the relaxation of masking in non-healthcare locations, Santangelo said. We agree with the many other healthcare systems in Michigan that based on current COVID-19 data, prevalence and severity, it is no longer necessary for our healthcare team, patients and visitors to only interact while masked.

While masking at Munson Healthcare hospitals and clinics will be optional for most patients and visitors, those who are more comfortable masking may continue to do so. If requested, staff will also use masks around those patients.

Because research shows masking prevents disease spread, Munson Healthcare will still require staff, patients and visitors to mask if they have respiratory symptoms such as fever, cough, runny nose or sore throat.

In addition to masking changes, Munson Healthcare visitor policies will reflect the health systems return to pandemic level green. For more details on the visitor policies, go to the health systems website at munsonhealthcare.org.

Patients who test positive for COVID-19 will continue to have the same precautions in place as those with any other contagious respiratory disease such as flu or RSV, Santangelo said.

These changes do not apply to Munson Healthcare longterm care and skilled nursing facilities which will continue to follow the regulations specific to those types of facilities, including masking where required. Munson Healthcare clinical leaders will continue to watch pandemic trends.

Santangelo said the health system may need to return to universal masking if the incidence of COVID-19 increases, if the virus becomes more virulent, or if there are other clinical changes that make a return to masking safer for patients and staff.

Health systems joining Munson Healthcare to announce changes include Bronson Healthcare, Corewell Health, Detroit Medical Center, Henry Ford Health, McLaren Healthcare, Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services and Trinity Health. Michigan Medicine updated its masking policies on March 27.
Three people were stabbed during a home invasion in Quincy on Sunday night, according to the Quincy Police Department.

At around 8:39 p.m. Sunday, Quincy police responded to a report of shots fired and people stabbed in a home on the 400 block of Granite Street, officials stated.

Police found four people inside the home when they arrived. Three of them had been stabbed. They were rushed to a Quincy-area hospital for treatment.

Read more: Danvers fire officials rescue Great Horned Owl found at brush fire site

Police said the injuries were not life-threatening and the three people have since been released from the hospital.

The home invasion suspect fled the house before police arrived. No people were shot during the incident, authorities added.

An investigation led police to identify a suspect in the home invasion. However, the department has not announced an arrest.

Read more: FBI agent says Jack Teixeira could have more classified documents at North Dighton residences

Officials said the individual is expected to face multiple charges in Quincy District Court. Authorities believe the residence was specifically targeted in the home invasion and there is no ongoing threat to people in the Granite Street area.

Anyone with information on the incident is urged to contact qpdinfo@quincyma.gov.
A free museum that opened in Boston in 2021 is one of the best cannabis museums in the United States, according to Thrillist.

Core Social Justice Cannabis Museum states it aims to provide multiple perspectives regarding the defective system of cannabis law in the United States.

Decades of unsupported policies and the enforcement of the laws born of those policies have and continue to facilitate government overreach as well as create undue hardship in low-income and minority communities, the website states.

The museum is in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, which has a large population of immigrants, a population that usually finds itself a target of drug enforcement officials and one who rightfully looked askance at the initial idea of being associated with a museum about marijuana, Thrillist wrote.

One exhibit is known as the American Warden.

While many states have now legalized or decriminalized cannabis, the number of arrests for possession and distribution are still alarmingly high and thousands of humans are currently incarcerated for cannabis related offenses, the website reads. These facts are disturbingly juxtaposed against the multibillion-dollar cannabis industry that currently benefits industry giants as well as state and federal tax authorities.

The museum also has donated paraphernalia, a jail cell and a section called raids and rage.

Sit back and watch your tax dollars at work as government agents ravage cannabis fields with expensive helicopters and destructively raid legal dispensaries, the website states.

People can also add their own cannfessional about how cannabis has helped them. Then they can watch others who shared their stories.

Guests must be 21 years or older. The museum is open every day from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
More than 200 people gathered Sunday in a building he had a hand in designing, to celebrate the life of a man with a towering intellect, enormous compassion, legendary integrity and a personal sense of humor that surprised many when they first met him. John W. Olver was a man of many parts, some of which didnt seem to fit together, but made him an effect especially effective legislator and representative for his adopted region.

Friends, family and colleagues stood to tell stories about Olvers passion to make government work for his constituents and correcting the ills that many Americans faced. He was an unabashed progressive. Olver passed away on February 23, 2023, and Sunday those who knew him gathered to remember him.

Former State Senate President Stanley Rosenberg said Olver saw both sides of the political spectrum and that helped him to develop his particular political outlook.

Thats the way he was. If he saw something he thought needed to be changed he set out to that, he said. I think he saw things in that environment (conservative rural Pennsylvania) that he didnt agree with. I think his progressive beliefs came from a combination of what he saw that didnt feel right to him, and what he saw when he came east, here to New England, that helped him form a set of values that would commonly be viewed as progressive and his passion for public service.

Rosenberg was a long-time friend to Olver, a former legislative aide, and later a colleague in government. He served as Master of Ceremonies for the celebration and introduced video comments from Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey. Markey was in Ireland with President Joe Biden, and he said Olver displayed his passion for climate change through one of his famous long lectures. During a conversation on greenhouse gases, Markey mentioned carbon dioxide, the most famous of the gases.

John came alive not because of CO2, but because he had an excuse to explain the 10 other greenhouse gases we needed to control as well, Markey laughed. By the time we got done, he had delivered an entire class on the periodic table. Seriously, John Olver was a scientific and political genius. He led in helping to develop a vibrant economy, investing in our green educational institutions, conserving our land as well as supporting our farmers and healthy food systems and prioritizing public transportation.

U.S. Rep. James McGovern, who inherited many of the communities Olver represented in redistricting of the First District when Olver retired in 2012, flew in from a Food Security Conference in Italy to attend Sundays ceremony.

He joked that he and Olver were arrested together in front of the Sudanese embassy protesting genocide in Darfur. Once processed at the police station, the police asked for the two Congressmens belts and shoelaces as was policy.

Once in the cell, McGovern said Olver set about reading every bit of graffiti on the wall and asking questions about some of the phrases he was not familiar with. They were in the cell for, what McGovern said was, six long hours.

McGovern joked that he wasnt sure what he would have done had the cops not taken the belt and shoelaces.

However, McGovern said Olver was arrested again but with Congressman John Lewis.

His sense of justice compelled him to put himself in that position, McGovern said, to be handcuffed, photographed and put in the slammer. I admire his willingness to do what you have to do to prove a point.

Judge James Collins worked closely with John Olver when he served in the Massachusetts State Senate. Collins was elected to the seat in the state house Olver vacated to run for the Senate.

He was actually fairly shy, Collins said. He had a great self-effacing sense of humor, just a very nice person. He had great integrity and compassion for people and he worked his tail off for his constituents. He was a wonderful person.

Rosenberg agreed with Collins on Olvers sense of humor.

When we were focused on business, he was all business. But, at other times he could be a riot. That surprised some people because he had an amazing sense of humor.

But business was business and Olver treated it as such.

When we were working we were focused. We had important business to do for the people and thats what we did. Thats why so many of his staff went into big careers in public service all over the country because they saw how you could be an effective public servant and still live and be a real person.

Olver grew up in a very conservative and Republican part of Pennsylvania, that remains deeply red to this day, his family members said. He, like his father, had intellectual gifts to propelled him to graduate high school at the age of 15, received his Bachelors Degree at 18 and his Masters Degree a year later. He was awarded his Ph.D. in Chemistry from MIT three years later. He taught at several schools before landing in Amherst as a full professor at the University of Massachusetts teaching Chemistry.

But the world of academia didnt hold Olvers attention for long. In 1969 he ran for and was elected to the state House of Representatives. Why he would walk away from a promising career teaching at the university level stunned some, but Rosenberg said the answer was simple. He saw something that needed to be changed.

The celebration of his life was held in the John. W. Olver Design Building, a campus building that Olver had a hand in designing. Unlike most large buildings today, the Olver Building was not built around a steel frame, but with engineered wood and wood products.

Dr. Michael Malone, Vice Chancellor for Research and Engagement for UMass said the construction of the building tied into Olvers deep concerns about climate change and the carbon footprint we leave. Thus, the building that would house the schools departments of Building and Construction Technology, Environmental Conservations, Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning, and carry Olvers name had to meet strict environmental criteria.

The building has gone on to win 18 awards for its design, for sustainability and for innovations. It is the largest and most technologically advanced wood structure in the United States, Malone said.

Olvers daughter Martha said the ceremony showed her a different perspective on her father.

It was enlightening, she said. I hadnt heard all of the stories from way back. Being able to hear their stories was him from a different perspective. But, a lot of it was him: his love of the land and his love for his constituents, all the people he worked for. He has had a lot of influence over the years and touched a lot of people. His mark is on everyone.
SPRINGFIELD  A group of teenagers concerned about the availability of mental health resources in Springfield public schools have recently met one-on-one with two members of the Springfield School Committee.

Teen organizers at the Pioneer Valley Project had surveyed Springfield students about their experiences with mental health resources in schools.

Teens in the district are still struggling because they never got the help they needed, said DajahRose Haith-King, 17.

Tara Parrish, executive director of Pioneer Valley Project, said last week that the young organizers have discussed their data and findings with committee members LaTonia Monroe Naylor and Denise Hurst after they spoke with the full committee in March.

The Pioneer Valley Project is a grassroots social justice nonprofit that seeks to strengthen leadership in youth through training, civic engagement, youth led organization, campaign and community-building activities.

The survey, shared over social media and through flyers containing QR codes, asked students ages 13-19 who were in the Springfield Public School system during the COVID-19 pandemic about their experiences during the pandemic and the return to in-person learning.

Over 250 responses trickled in within a week-and-a-half said Parrish.

The survey showed experiences with anxiety, depression, isolation and the loss of a supportive community were universally felt by teen respondents across the region, said organizer Essence Burton-Jordan, 17.

Burton-Jordan added the group put together the survey to gauge mental health needs, and the level of confidence students have in those providing services within the schools.

About a dozen students originally set out on March 15 to speak the School Committee meeting to share results from the survey. Officials, worried that students would disclose personal mental health information, initially prevented them from speaking at the meeting. Eventually, the students were able to address the committee.

Superintendent of Schools Daniel Warwick also noted during the March meeting that there is a City Connects program in each school that can refer students to services that are available in addition to the districts increased mental health services.

The teen organizers feel one or two adjustment counselors per school is not an adequate response for the crisis that is at hand, and they fear if teens do not get appropriate resources, more students will be at risk for suicide, Burton-Jordan said during the speak-out.

In a school like Roger L. Putnam Vocational Technical Academy, there is one adjustment counselor for 1,300 students and they are primarily working with students with special needs. Students outside of their caseloads are rarely able to meet with the adjustment councilors, Parrish added.

School Committee member Hurst said in March it was important for the committee to hear directly from the students.

Although the committee has invested in resources to provide the support, Hurst said she believes the committee should take a step back to evaluate if the support services offered fits the needs of the students.

We need to be open and accepting, Hurst said. There are lots of ways to enter mental health care. It is incumbent on the school committee, to provide family and students with what they need.
While some college students are still trying to figure out their own career paths, Northeastern University freshman Omar Mohuddin is already preparing for what he hopes to be his next job: mayor of Woburn.

At 19 years old, lifelong Woburn resident Mohuddin announced his campaign to run for Woburn city mayor. Running on a platform of investing in schools, supporting first responders and beautifying the city, the teenager hopes to win the election against incumbent Mayor Scott Galvin this November. And if hes successful, hed become the youngest mayor in Massachusetts.

This opportunity for me to represent not only the people of Woburn but also the youth of Woburn, I think its a milestone, I think its like huge to have youth organization within government, said Mohuddin. I think that it starts at the local level and Im really passionate about giving back and thats how I could do it.

Galvin did not respond to MassLives request for comment.

Mohuddin has had a long history of being in leadership roles. During his time at Woburn Memorial High School, he was involved in several community volunteer programs and even served as class president getting accepted into Northeastern on a full-ride scholarship.

But it wasnt until Mohuddin saw 18-year-old Jaylen Smith win his mayoral race in Earle, Arkansas, that he became interested in running for mayor. Mohuddin said Smiths youth and ability to convince people that he was the right person to lead a city gave Mohuddin confidence to place his hat in the ring.

As a business administration major, the young candidate plans to use his experience working in finance to handle the citys budget, a major responsibility of the mayor. Under his leadership, Mohuddin said hell assure that negotiations between the city and the local teachers union wont fall by the wayside.

But Mohuddin said that he has to work twice as hard to prove that he is capable of leading a city at a young age.

A lot of what Im looking at and what Im facing is who am I as a person? Whos Omar? Who is this 19-year-old?, Mohuddin said. I like it because it kind of gives me an opportunity to strengthen myself, learn from other people and meet new people.

Already some Woburn residents have expressed political interest in Mohuddin despite his young age.

Seeing candidates through a lens of age is certainly not accurate or effective, said Christopher DiMeo, the Ward 7 Chair of the Woburn Democratic City Committee. To DiMeo, dismissing a political candidate because of their age is another form of bias. Omar has demonstrated that he has certainly the credentials, the commitment, the compassion and the dedication to the community to be taken seriously as a viable candidate.

Its rare for a teenager to run for a city government position and even rarer that they would run for a mayoral seat. Sometimes, political newcomers have their eyes set on lower-level positions as a way to gain more experience before going for executive governmental roles. However, Mohuddin doesnt believe in a one-size fits all roadmap toward political power.

Citing two former U.S. presidents  Dwight D. Eisenhower and Donald J. Trump  Mohuddin doesnt believe one must have prior political experience before taking office.

To me, its if you wanted to start running for president, then thats your first political game, Mohuddin said. For me, my entrance into the political world is the mayors office.

The nominating papers for Woburn city mayor are due in May. If elected to be the citys leader, Mohuddin says he would become a part-time student and that Northeastern University would count his new leadership role as part of the schools experiential learning program. As for now, the teenage candidate is still meeting and speaking with residents in preparation for the Nov. 7 election.

I try to have one-on-one conversations to show people that Im not your average 19-year-old, Mohuddin said. You have a conversation with me and I think you start to see that and understand that.
Federal investigators believe there is good cause that a 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guardsman accused of leaking highly sensitive government documents has more national defense information inside two North Dighton homes, according to court documents.

A 20-page FBI application for a search warrant filed Thursday for addresses associated with Jack Teixeira details how government agents surveilled the airman the day they arrested him and what they believed they could find if they searched two homes and a pickup truck.

FBI Special Agent Victoria Horne asked a judge for permission to search residences on Maple and Walker Streets because there is reason to believe that additional classified information is currently being stored in an unsecure manner.

There is reason to believe that Teixeira accessed larger amounts of classified national defense information and only disseminated select pages of larger documents, Horne wrote in court documents. Although certain information has been posted on various social media sites, there is good cause to believe that additional highly sensitive documents containing classified U.S. national defense information will be found at the subject premises.

Heavily armed federal agents walked onto Teixeiras property Thursday and arrested him without incident. Video footage shows agents with long rifles taking Teixeira into custody and placing him inside a heavily armored vehicle.

He made an initial appearance at a federal courthouse in Boston Friday, where Judge David Hennesy ordered him to remain in government custody pending a hearing on Wednesday where lawyers argue whether he should stay there ahead of a potential trial.

An FBI Boston spokesperson declined to comment Monday morning on whether investigators had found additional documents at either residence and whether agents were still searching the addresses.

The leak of highly classified documents has created a diplomatic firestorm for the United States, with documents including everything from spying efforts on allies to sensitive information on the war in Ukraine.

Prosecutors charged Teixeira with unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information and unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material. Those charges are in connection to the leak of one document accessed in February 2023 describing the status of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, including troop movements.

Teixeira, an airman first class with the Massachusetts Air National Guard, worked at Otis Air National Guard Base, where prosecutors said he accessed government documents.

Because of his work, Teixeira holds a top secret security clearance and sensitive compartmented access to other highly classified programs, which he acquired in 2021.

In order to receive those clearances, Teixeira would have signed a lifetime binding non-disclosure agreement in which he would have had to acknowledge that the unauthorized disclosure of protected information could result in criminal charges, prosecutors wrote in court documents.

FBI investigators accuse Teixeira of using Discord, a social media platform primarily used by gamers, to leak government documents to a small group of members, largely young adults who played video games and talked about history and war.

Horne wrote in the search warrant application that Teixeira even shared in the Discord server a video of himself shooting an out-of-production Soviet-era semi-automatic pistol that was used throughout World War II.

Teixeira, according to the search warrant application, started posting transcriptions of sensitive documents on the war in Ukraine to the Discord server in December 2022. And in January 2023, he began posting pictures of documents containing U.S. classification markings to the social media platform, investigators said.

In a conversation with one of the other DIscord server members, Teixeira said he became concerned that he might be discovered making transcriptions of classified documents at his office, investigators said. He then began taking the documents to his residence and posting photographs of them, according to court papers.

FBI agents surveilled Teixeira last Thursday, where they said he drove a 2016 red Chevrolet Colorado onto the Maple Street residence. Earlier in the day, investigators wrote, an FBI surveillance team watched him leave the driveway of the Walker Street residence.

After arresting Teixeira later in the day, Horne said law enforcement agents spoke with an occupant of the Maple Street address who gave them permission to retrieve three cellphones that belonged to Teixeira.

FBI agents have said they identified Teixiera through Discord billing records, where his social media username was connected to his real name.

The billing address associated with his account led agents back to a residence in North Dighton, which was also listed as his primary residence on U.S. Air National Guard employment paperwork.
Hartford Symphony Orchestra has announced its summer concert series in Simsbury, Connecticut. The Talcott Mountain Music Festival opens June 30 with Celebrate America, conducted by Maestra Carolyn Kuan with fireworks; The Music of ABBA (July 7); Bravo Broadway with Broadway stars Christiane Noll and Hugh Panaro (July 14), Hotel California Salute to the Eagles (July 21) and Serpentine Fire: The Music of Earth Wind and Fire (July 28). For details: www.hartfordsymphony.org.

Stomp comes to the UMass Fine Arts Center on April 28-29. Stomp is explosive, inventive, provocative, witty and utterly unique  an unforgettable experience for audiences of all ages. The international percussion sensation has garnered armfuls of awards and rave reviews and has appeared on numerous national television shows. The eight-member troupe uses everything but conventional percussion instruments  matchboxes, wooden poles, brooms, garbage cans, Zippo lighters, hubcaps  to fill the stage with magnificent rhythms. For details: www.fneartscenter.com.
A moment of road rage between two drivers ended with one being struck by a machete on Sunday, Worcester police said on Monday.

A white Toyota followed a blue Honda to the area of Millbury and Providence streets, according to witnesses officers spoke to. Police were dispatched to the area at around 2:10 p.m.

The driver of the Honda exited their car to ask the other driver why they were being followed, police said. Then the man behind the wheel of the Toyota, later identified by police as Ezekial Santiago, 40 of Worcester, struck the Honda driver in the head and back with a machete, according to police.

Witnesses who told police they saw the attack called for an ambulance.

Police had asked the public to look for the Toyota, which was identified as having Rhode Island license plates. The car was later seen at a red light at McKeon Road. Officers arrested Santiago and found the machete inside his car.

Santiago was charged with armed assault to murder and three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, police said.

Read more: Worcester Police say suspect in shooting misled them about his own gunshot wounds

A Worcester police spokesperson said on Monday that the injured driver drove themself to a nearby hospital with injuries not considered life-threatening.
The Kodiak Archipelago is a string of islands cut off from mainland Alaska, which is the perfect condition for a subspecies of anything to evolve. However, distinguishing between similar animal species can be difficult, but defining subspecies is even trickier. In fact, biologists don't even completely agree about whether different groups of brown bears should be classified as subspecies or not.

"Generally speaking, all brown bears found across the world belong to the same species," says Finnegan. "However, it is said that brown bears can be split into five clades [branches that include a single common ancestor and all of its descendants] based on some genetic and geographical differences. Within this clade system Kodiak bears (Ursus arctos middendorffi) fit into a clade with bears from mainland Alaska."

Advertisement

" " A Kodiak brown bear crosses the Ayakulik River in Alaska. DENNIS ANDERSON/Star Tribune/Getty Images

Since the Kodiak bear has been living the island life for at least 12,000 years, it has been cut off from others of its species for long enough to display some genetic differences. For instance, the Kodiak bear can grow to larger sizes than any other brown bear  weighing in at up to 1,500 pounds (680 kilograms), they rival the polar bear (Ursus maritimus) for the title of biggest bear in the world.

Another reason Kodiak bears grow so large compared to their mainland counterparts: Their archipelago is rich in food like Pacific salmon, and there is relatively little competition from other predators.
by Steve McClellan @mp_mcclellan, April 17, 2023

Chicago-based marketing group Salient Global has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Candor a marketing communications firm. Its offering includes reputation management, public relations, public affairs, social and digital media, video and more.

The agency was founded in 2012 by CEO Karen Wicker and it works with companies such as Walmart, the Choctaw Nation, Devon Energy, Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum and OU Health.

As part of the transaction, Candor employees will continue to work under the firm's brand name and be led by Wicker, who will remain CEO and adding the role of senior managing partner of Salient, reporting to Salient CEO Bryan Specht.

Ally Glavas Olson will be promoted to president of Candor and become a Managing Partner at Salient.

Salient was formed in 2021 by Specht, the former managing partner and chief growth and innovation officer of ICF Next.

In addition to Candor, agencies in the group include creative shop Honeymoon, experience and innovation firm Timecraft and data-driven media firm ICX Media.
YEREVAN, APRIL 17, ARMENPRESS. Heavy fighting between the Sudanese army and a powerful rival force for control of the country is raging for already three days, as the weekends civilian death toll rose to 97, the Associated Press reports.

Airstrikes and shelling intensified in parts of Khartoum and the adjoining city of Omdurman.

The clashes are part of a power struggle between Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the commander of the armed forces, and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group. The two generals are former allies who jointly orchestrated an October 2021 military coup.

Both men have dug in, saying they would not negotiate a truce, instead engaging in verbal attacks and demanding the others surrender.

Since fighting erupted on Saturday, 97 civilians have been killed and hundreds have been wounded, said the Sudan Doctors Syndicate, a pro-democracy group monitoring casualties.

Top diplomats urged the sides to stop fighting, including the U.S. secretary of state, the U.N. secretary-general, the EU foreign policy chief, the head of the Arab League and the head of the African Union Commission. The U.N. Security Council was to discuss the developments in Sudan later on Monday.

There has been no official word on the number of fighters killed.

In recent months, negotiations had been under way to get back on a path to democracy. Under international pressure, Burhan and Dagalo agreed to a framework agreement with political parties and pro-democracy groups.

However, the deal was vague on key points of dispute, including how the RSF would be integrated into the armed force and who would have final control. The signing of the deal was put off repeatedly, amid rising tensions between Burhan and Dagalo.
by Karlene Lukovitz @KLmarketdaily, April 17, 2023

The judge in the Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit against Fox announced Sunday that he will delay the trials start for one day, until 9 a.m. Tuesday.

Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis did not explain the reasons for the delay, even in a follow-up statement at 9 a.m. on Monday morning. This does not seem unusual to me, he said, noting that most trials involve some kind of delays, in his experience. I am continuing the matter until tomorrow.

On Sunday, The Wall Street Journal, owned by Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, reported that Fox has made a late push to settle the lawsuit out of court, citing people familiar with the matter.

Fox had not commented on the delay by early this morning, and a Dominion spokesperson declined to comment.

advertisement advertisement

Meanwhile, in an email sent to press this morning, Fox sent a copy of a motion for clarification that it filed with the court Sunday night.

The background: Last Tuesday, Judge Davis ruled that Fox could not claim newsworthiness as a defense. Just because someone is newsworthy doesnt mean you can defame someone, he said. Its a publication issue, not a who-said-it issue.

In a hearing last week, the judge also granted Dominions motion to preclude Fox from arguing that defamatory statements made by individuals or organizations other than Fox rebut or reduce Dominions damages.

Fox's motion now asks the court to clarify whether Fox can use such statements -- including ones by then-President Donald Trump -- outside of damages arguments, supposedly only for purposes of arguing that these statements influenced the mindsets of Fox hosts, rather than to argue the already excluded newsworthiness defense. Fox also asks for clarification or reconsideration regarding whether such evidence is admissible "to assist the jury in assessing whether the specific statements Dominion challenges were a 'substantial factor' in causing Dominions claimed economic damages."

In the filing, Fox claims that This clarification is important for many reasons, not the least of which is that Dominion informed Fox on April 14 that it is walking away from lost profit damages and will pursue only 'lost enterprise value' damages  knocking more than half a billion dollars off the damages claimed in its complaint.

Dominion's original damages claim included lost profits of not less than $600,000, lost enterprise value of not less than $1 billion, security expenses of not less than $600,000, and expenses incurred "combatting the disinformation campaign" of not less than $700,000.

Mediaite reports that last Friday, one of the attorneys representing Dominion, Brian Farnan, confirmed by email to Foxs counsel that Dominion will not be presenting its claim for lost profits damages to the jury, given that it is duplicative of the lost enterprise value damages.*

However, asked this morning about Foxs claim that Dominion had dropped the claim for lost profit damages, a Dominion spokesperson replied in an email: "The damages claim remains. As Fox well knows, our damages exceed $1.6B."

Fox has asserted that its airing of claims that Dominion participated in voter fraud during the 2020 election was covered by First Amendment protections, and that the $1.6 billion in damages being sought by Dominion are wildly inflated.

It's possible that Fox may be more open to a settlement based on recent developments.

Going into the trial, Fox is up against a series of damaging headlines generated by the public release of emails and deposition statements by Fox executives, including Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch.

Judge Davis also has made several rulings that seriously undermine key Fox defense arguments.

In early April, he ruled that all statements aired by Fox about Dominions supposed collusion in supposed voter fraud were false, leaving only the question of whether Fox aired them knowing they were false, or with reckless disregard for the truth -- that is, with malice.

Following last Tuesday's ruling precluding the newsworthiness defense, on Wednesday, he sanctioned Fox News for its handling of documents discovery and said that he will likely appoint a special master to investigate whether Fox had deliberately withheld evidence.

The sanction came in part because of the emergence of more potentially damaging evidence from Abby Grossberg, a former Fox News producer.

As part of her separate lawsuit against Fox for discrimination, Grossberg submitted recordings of Fox News host Maria Bartiromo conducting preparatory interviews with Donald Trump lawyers Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani. Grossberg accused Fox of trying to make her the scapegoat for false statements aired on the network. And Davis challenged Fox about the true scope of Rupert Murdochs involvement in Fox News operations as well.

Also last week, Fox settled a separate, $250-million defamation lawsuit with Venezuelan businessman Majed Khalil, who charged that after the 2020 election, Lou Dobbs, a Fox News host at the time, falsely accused Khalil and three other Venezuelans of participating in a nonexistent scheme to rig or fix the election against Donald Trump.

*Information added after original post.
by Todd Wasserman , April 17, 2023



As marijuana becomes decriminalized in parts of the U.S., some brands are jumping on the celebration of 4/20, a.k.a. Four-Twenty, including Jack in the Box, Skullcandy and Adidas.

4/20 is said to date back to 1971, when five high school students in San Rafael, California used the term to search for an abandoned cannabis crop. Over time, the term gained currency, to the point that Elon Musk frequently uses it as a talking point on Twitter, and it has figured into the plot of a Family Guy episode.

For 4/20, Jack in the Box is bringing back its Pineapple Express Shake, (shown above), referencing the pot-friendly movie, sold for $4.20.

Well have food trucks stationed across [California] offering the shake + edible arrangement to top it off, said a rep for the company. Jack in the Box has partnered with WeedMaps, which will map out the locations where customers can find the food truck activations and/or their nearest Jack in the Box location.

advertisement advertisement

While Jack in the Box appears to be the only fast feeder celebrating 4/20 this year, headphone maker Skullcandy has introduced Grind Haze, a set of earbuds inspired by the Purple Haze strain of cannabis.

Adidas is also releasing (outside the U.S.) a Campus 80 shoe wrapped in light-brown rolling paper.
by Colin Kirkland , April 17, 2023

Following controversial government-funded media labels recently being added to the Twitter accounts of NPR, PBS and the BBC, a handful of international news outlets including the Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC) reported the same treatment on Monday.

Over the past two weeks, both PBS and NPR left the microblogging social platform, expressing outrage at the labels foisted on them, and citing editorial independence and histories of unbiased reporting.

NPR was first labeled by Twitter as state-affiliated -- a title reserved for propagandist outlets like Russias RT. However, NPR receives less than 1% of its $300 million annual budget from the federally funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Now, under CEO Elon Musk's oversight, Twitter is rolling out more government-funded media to global news outlets that -- like the outlets that have already been targeted -- claim to be independent of government control.

advertisement advertisement

The new wave of labels affects the ABC, Australia's Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), New Zealand's public broadcaster RNZ and Catalonia's TV3.cat.

Similar to the responses of NPR and PBS, the ABC tweeted that for over 90 years it has been an independent media organization free from political and commercial interests -- adding that  FYI: The ABC is a publicly funded broadcaster, governed by the ABC Charter which is enshrined in legislation.

Twitter defines government-funded media as outlets where the government provides some or all of the outlet's funding and may have varying degrees of government involvement over editorial content.

According to this definition, these labels are not technically incorrect, although news outlets like SBS are concerned that they could mislead readers into believing the outlet is editorially controlled by the respective government.

While we appreciate Twitter's motivations with regard to transparency on its platform, we believe a publicly funded media label better reflects the hybrid public-commercial nature of our funding model and the fact that SBS retains full independence from Government in our news editorial and content decision making, a spokesperson said in a statement.

Alongside the government-funded media label is publicly funded media which refers to organizations that receive funding from license fees, individual contributions, public financing, and commercial financing.

After an interview with BBC's James Clayton, Musk changed its label for the BBC to publicly-funded media.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, April 17, 2023

A group of Republican lawmakers are seeking to ban all Congress members from using TikTok for official purposes.

We urge you to amend the House and Senate rules to bar members of Congress from continued use of TikTok and take any other appropriate measures to mitigate the risks of this de-facto, spyware app, Senator Thom Tillis (North Carolina), Rep. Dan Crenshaw (Texas) and 15 other elected officials say in a letter sent Monday to leaders of the Senate and House administration committees.

Tillis and the others refer to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew's recent testimony at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, writing that his testimony made it clear that all members of Congress must lead by example and immediately stop using the platform for official communications.

advertisement advertisement

Chew said at that hearing that TikTok's data practices were comparable to those of other tech companies.

The lawmakers contend in their letter that the hearing made it blatantly clear to the public that TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, is mining data and potentially spying on American citizens.

Some members of Congress who regularly use the app have minimized the security threat to our nation, and their defense is not compelling, considering there are several popular social media apps that are not at the same risk for the potential transfer of sensitive, private information to an adversarial foreign government, the letter continues.

Democrats in Congress have also expressed concern over TikTok, but several have opposed a ban, arguing that attempting to suppress an app relied on for communications would violate the First Amendment.

Late last week, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-New Jersey) questioned Chew about several of the platform's policies, including how it uses consumer data for marketing.

Many states have recently banned the use of TikTok on government-owned devices, and Montana lawmakers on Friday passed a bill that aims to ban nearly all use of TikTok within the state.

TikTok has signaled that it would challenge such as a ban in court, if Montana's governor signs the bill.
by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, April 17, 2023

SikSilk, an urban streetwear brand, experienced a 25% increase in ecommerce purchases from on-site search and a 36% decline in site abandonment after implementing AI-powered site search technology.

Nostos Head of Search, Antanas Baksys, believes SikSilk is far from alone in failing to use merchandising to optimize search results.

Our research suggests that around 65% of ecommerce brands dont currently use merchandising to improve search performance. Merchandising can help you ensure search results are relevant while also highlighting the products you want shoppers to see and act on, such as products with high inventory, trending and seasonal items or related products with higher profit margins.

advertisement advertisement

The technology from Nosto improved on-site search performance by enabling SikSilk to merchandise the products that are actually in inventory. It not only improved relevancy, but prevented searches in which no products or an incomplete list of products serve up on the ecommerce website.

SikSilk is a British fashion brand with stores across the UK, U.S., Australia and Spain. The company previously relied on the on-site search function of its ecommerce platform. It turned to Nosto to bring more sophistication to the search experience and solve various pain-points.

SilkSilks native search technology did not provide the capability to sort products listed in search results based on availability, meaning that products were being pushed that might only have had one available size in stock, for example. This could leave shoppers frustrated, and meant that SikSilk was vulnerable to losing potential sales.

Nostos Search now allows SikSilk to create global merchandising rules to ensure all search results boost products with greater inventory and more SKU availability across size, color and style.

Another issue that previously impacted SikSilks on-site search performance is that certain search queries did not retrieve all relevant products, restricting the choice of items shown to shoppers and impacting possible conversions.

Nostos search technology uses self-learning algorithms that learn from shopper behavior, so those queries that returned incomplete results -- for example, around color, were quickly solved without needing manual effort from SikSilk.

Some search queries led to no results on the page because shoppers either used a synonym for a product that the previous search technology could not detect or because SikSilk didnt stock the exact type of product being queried, and didnt have alternative suggestions in place to show.

SikSilk used Nosto to configure appropriate synonyms for the terms shoppers enter in search queries to fix the issue. It now groups Jackets with Coats knowing that shoppers used these terms interchangeably.
by Steve Ellwanger , April 17, 2023

HelloFresh is going to the moviesagain.

Having done its first food-focused, motion picture tie-in last year with Minions followed by another with Elf, the meal kit company has created snacks and recipes that align with the upcoming release of Marvel Studios Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

In the first phase of the promotion, HelloFresh staged a giveaway that began today on a dedicated website. No subscription was required to be eligible to win one of 500 Guardians Snack Adventure kits.

With an average retail value of $228, each kit included pre-portioned ingredients and recipe cards for two servings of Zarg Nut Bites and Mango Milky Fizzalong with a cosmic-designed jar for the Bites and a collectible cartons for the Fizz.

This video opens with a scene from the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 trailer in which actor Chris Prattin the role of Peter Quillopens fire on adversaries.

advertisement advertisement

The camera quickly cuts to an office where a worker's desk is equipped with a supply of Bites and Fizz.

As soon as he begins snacking, items on his desk begin to float upward and co-workers become transformed into characters from the movie.

Within minutes of todays activation, one-third of the Guardians Snack Adventure kits had been claimed, according to the company and HelloFresh followers on Instagram. There will be two more drops on April 24 and May 1.

This fun new collaboration demonstrates how home cooking with friends and loved ones can be an exciting adventure and a memorable bonding experience that you can enjoy with your given or chosen family, HelloFresh vice president of brand and creative Kirsten Walpert said in a news release.

The company also is introducing six meals themed to characters in the movieincluding Destroyed Thai Chili Coconut Smash Patties named for the Guardians strongman Drax, who is no stranger to smashing things.


by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, April 17, 2023

The U.K.-based company Voyager Labs, which provides analytics services to law enforcement, is urging a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Meta Platforms, which accused Voyager of scraping data posted by the social networking service's users.

In papers filed Friday with U.S. District Court Judge Haywood Gilliam in Oakland, California, Voyager Labs argues that Meta should not be able to proceed because the allegations in its complaint lack key details.

Meta sued Voyager Labs in January, alleging that the company -- through its agents and employees -- created 38,000 Facebook accounts, then used those accounts to scrape data from more than 600,000 Facebook users.

Meta contends that Voyager breached its contract with Meta by allegedly violating the social networking platform's terms of service, which prohibit scraping. Meta is seeking a court order requiring Voyager to refrain from scraping, and monetary damages.

advertisement advertisement

Voyager counters in its new papers that Meta's complaint doesn't include details about when Voyager allegedly accepted Meta's terms of service, or what specific terms of service were allegedly violated.

Voyager also says Meta's complaint conflates Voyager Labs (also called Voyager UK) with its subsidiaries -- Voyager Analytics (based in Delaware), Novarize (based in Delaware) and Bionic 8 Analytics Inc. (based in Israel).

Meta's theory of contract formation appears to be: there are billions of users of Meta's Facebook and Instagram websites, and Voyager UK allegedly was one of them; therefore, some contract must have been formed between Meta and Voyager UK, the company argues. But the complaint does not allege how Voyager UK manifested assent to any such a contract.

Voyager adds that the complaint doesn't adequately inform the company about the essential terms of the contracts, whether those terms have changed over time, and how long those contracts were expected to last.

Meta sued Voyager shortly after U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Spero in San Francisco sided with Meta in a similar battle with analytics company BrandTotal.

Spero ruled that BrandTotal violated Meta's terms of service by using automated means to collect information about consumers.

BrandTotal settled that dispute last September by agreeing to refrain from scraping consumer data, and from using (or selling) data previously collected through automated means. The company also promised to destroy information it previously collected.
From the very first moment that the security situation in Sudan deteriorated due to the armed clashes there, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately issued an announcement urging Greeks in Sudan to observe the highest possible security measures and to avoid unnecessary travel.

At the same time, upon instructions from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Dendias, our Embassy in Cairo, which has concurrent accreditation to Sudan, is in constant contact with Metropolitan Savvas of Nubia. In addition, the Ambassador of Greece in Cairo has contacted the Head of the EU Delegation in Sudan (Khartoum) and it was agreed that the EU Delegation will assist in the security of the Greeks in Sudan. The Ambassador of Greece in Cairo is also in contact with the President of the Greek Community in Khartoum.

Upon instruction from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Crisis Management Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was immediately activated and is in contact and coordination with the other EU Member States through the Consular Cooperation system. The Crisis Management Unit is also in contact with Metropolitan Savvas.

The main concern at the moment remains the safety of the Greeks in Sudan. It is necessary to comply with what is mentioned in yesterday's relevant instructions given by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The two wounded Greeks are in a hospital and so far, there is no information about other injured Greeks. For any new developments there will be an update.
YEREVAN, APRIL 17, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian government presented details on the normalization process with Turkey from 2022.

In its 2022 government action plan report, the government said that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 11 during which the Armenian Prime Minister offered congratulations on Kurban Bayram and the Turkish President congratulated on Vardavar. The leaders emphasized the importance they attach to the bilateral normalization process.

PM Pashinyan and President Erdogan then met in October during the European Political Community summit in Prague.

PM Pashinyan called President Erdogan on February 7, 2023 to offer condolences on the devastating earthquake of February 6.

On February 8, Prime Minister Pashinyan authorized the deployment of a 27-man search-and-rescue team and one foreign ministry official to Adiyaman to participate in eliminating the consequences of the earthquake.

On February 11, 2023, five Armenian cargo trucks carrying 100 tons of humanitarian aid crossed the Armenian-Turkish border via the Margara Bridge  which has been closed since 1993  to Adiyaman. On February 14, Armenia sent another 12 tons of humanitarian aid to Adiyaman, again via the Margara Bridge.

On February 15, the Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan led a delegation to Turkey. Vice Speaker of Parliament Ruben Rubinyan, who is Armenias Special Representative for Normalization with Turkey, was included in the delegation. Rubinyans Turkish counterpart Serdar Kilic met the delegation in the Ankara airport. FM Mirzoyan then held talks with his Turkish counterpart. FM Mirzoyan then visited Adiyaman and inspected the SAR operations and supervised the delivery of the humanitarian aid.

Armenian FM Ararat Mirzoyan and Turkish FM Mevlut Cavusoglu also met in March, 2022, during the Antalya Diplomacy Forum. They reiterated readiness to conduct the normalization process and establishment of good-neighborly relations without preconditions and expressed support to the work of the special envoys.

Rubinyan and Kilic, the special representatives of Armenia and Turkey for normalization, held 4 meetings in 2022.

As part of the normalization process, Armenia and Turkey restored direct flights in 2022. Turkey also lifted the ban on direct air cargo transport with Armenia effective from January 1, 2023.

On July 1, 2022, the special envoys for normalization met in Vienna and agreed to open the land border for citizens of third countries. Government working groups held two meetings in November and December as part of implementing the agreement.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Less than one year after the opening of Midlands universally-accessible soft surface baseball diamond, Miracle Field will receive a new hoist system in its restroom facility, making it available to far more users.

On March 20, the Midland Area Community Foundation informed the Midland Parks and Recreation Department in a letter that it would donate $10,000 to put towards the universal bathroom design project at Miracle Field.

According to Assistant Director of Public Services Marcie Post, who manages projects at Miracle Field, the hoist system that would make the restroom facility more universally accessible costs about $9,890.

The donation was given in honor of the community foundations 50th anniversary. For this anniversary, the foundation will provide five $10,000 grants to certain initiatives in the community that support its mission and align with one of four focus areas:

 Building our Livelihood  economic development & infrastructure

 Developing our Talent  education & youth development

 Caring for our People  human services, health & safety

 Enriching our Community  arts, recreation, diversity, & environment

Parks and Recreation was given the donation for its focus on Caring for our People as it works to  support physical accessibility for all people, according to the community foundation letter.

Post said the idea for the hoist system came from a parent who recommended it at Miracle Field. The lift will be available to anyone in the community and will be particularly helpful to athletes using Miracle Field.

The lift will allow parents or caregivers to assist their child or adult by lifting them onto the restroom table or onto a changing table just to make changing and personal care a little more dignified and give them the opportunity to do that safely and effectively, Post said.

The restroom will be a smaller version of the Changing Place facility that will be built at Grove Park. The Grove Park facility will consist of two ADA-compliant restrooms as well as a universally-designed restroom called a Changing Place. The Changing Place restroom will include an adjustable adult changing table, an overhead hoist system, additional floor space and specialized bars for use of the toilet and for assistance with standing and dressing.

This Changing Place facility will be the first of its kind in Michigan. The Miracle Field facility will be very similar, but will not have all of the amenities that Grove Park will offer.

CEO of the Midland Area Community Foundation Sharon Mortensen explained that she had discussed with Director of Public Services Karen Murphy this Grove Park facility and knew that Parks and Recreation wanted to do something similar at Miracle Field.

We realized that when they constructed Miracle Field, they certainly had accessible bathrooms, but it wasnt that universal bathroom design that we, as a community, have become more acquainted with, Mortensen said.

Mortensen also said Murphy is a part of a community foundation group called Access to Community which has discussed universally-accessible facilities.

One of the things that group is doing is to help build a community that is accessible, inclusive and welcoming to all, Mortensen said. They have some recommendations that theyre encouraging people to use here in our community, and one is to incorporate universal design principles to exceed the minimum ADA accessible (requirement) and offer a broader user experience.

With the added hoist system at Miracle Field, users will need to bring their own sling for sanitary reasons.

Its so incredible, Post said. I always go back to, You dont know you need it until you need it.

Parks and Recreation added the restroom facility to its future plans because it will make it possible for certain residents to go out into the city when they may not have been able to before.

Its so important because I dont think a lot of people will come out to our activities and participate in things because they dont have the services they need to maintain those daily functions that we all undergo, Post said. It just provides more flexibility and more accommodation to people in our community.

Mortensen said that while the foundation has provided this donation, she also recognizes that many organizations, like the Charles J. Strosacker Foundation, have helped the Miracle Field become what it is today.

Were pleased to be a little part of it, she said.

The hoist has been ordered and will be installed as soon as it arrives. Post said she is hopeful it will be installed in time to be used for at least a portion of the Middle of the Mitt Miracle Field League spring season, which starts April 29.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

WASHINGTON (AP)  Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is back at work in the U.S. Capitol on Monday, almost six weeks after a fall at a Washington-area hotel and extended treatment for a concussion.

The longtime Kentucky senator, 81, has been recovering at home since he was released from a rehabilitation facility March 25. He fell after attending an event earlier that month, injuring his head and fracturing a rib.

McConnell arrived at the Capitol early Monday and is expected to work a full schedule in the Senate this week.

In brief remarks on the Senate floor as the chamber came back into session after a two-week recess, McConnell criticized President Joe Biden for not doing enough to negotiate on the nation's debt ceiling and thanked his colleagues for their well-wishes.

I'm very happy to be back, McConnell said. There's important business for Congress to tackle.

And he joked, Suffice it to say, this wasn't the first time that being hard-headed has served me very well.

McConnell returns to the Senate ahead of a busy stretch in which Congress will have to find a way to raise the debt ceiling and negotiate additional aid for the Ukraine war, among other policy matters. And he comes back as several other senators have been out for medical reasons, raising questions about how much the Senate will be able to achieve in the coming months with a 51-49 split between the parties.

Already, the GOP leader's absence, along with those of Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein and John Fetterman, among others, have added to the Senate's lethargic pace in the first few months of the year. Unlike the last two years, in which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was able to push through key elements of President Joe Biden's agenda with the help of a Democratic-led House, the Senate has been significantly slowed with Republicans now in charge in the House. And absences have made even simple votes like nominations more difficult.

One immediate question for McConnell upon his return is whether to help Democrats temporarily replace Feinstein on the Senate Judiciary Committee as she continues to recover in California from a case of the shingles. Democrats have become increasingly frustrated as the Democrat's more than six-week absence on the panel has stalled confirmation of some of Bidens nominees, and Feinstein has asked for a short-term substitute on the committee.

Democrats cant do that, though, without help from Republicans, since approval of the process would take 60 votes on the Senate floor. Two GOP members of the Judiciary panel, Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, have already said they don't believe that Republicans should help Democrats replace Feinstein.

It is unclear when Feinstein, 89, will return to Washington. Her office has so far declined to say.

Also returning to the Senate on Monday was Fetterman, who was hospitalized for clinical depression in February. He was treated for six weeks at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and his doctors say his depression is now in remission.

Fettermans announcement that he was checking himself into the hospital earlier this year came after he suffered a stroke last year and has struggled with auditory processing disorder, which can render someone unable to speak fluidly and quickly process spoken conversation into meaning. The Pennsylvania Democrat, 53, now uses devices in conversations, meetings and congressional hearings that transcribe spoken words in real time.

In a statement when he was released from Walter Reed late last month, Fetterman said the care he received there changed my life."

Im excited to be the father and husband I want to be, and the senator Pennsylvania deserves, said Fetterman, who won praise for his decision to seek treatment.

McConnell visited his Capitol office on Friday ahead of his Monday return. In video captured by NBC News, he walked into the building without assistance as aides kept close by.

This was the second major injury for McConnell in recent years. Four years ago he tripped and fell at his home in Kentucky, causing a shoulder fracture that required surgery. The Senate had just started a summer recess, and he worked from home for some weeks as he recovered.

McConnell had polio in his early childhood and he has long acknowledged some difficulty as an adult in climbing stairs.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP)  An abortion provider on Monday dropped a two-month-old federal lawsuit seeking to overturn West Virginias near-total ban.

The Women's Health Center of West Virginia said in a court filing that its primary physician determined he will be unable to resume providing abortion care in the state due to intervening professional obligations. Another physician who provided abortion care at West Virginia's only abortion clinic prior to the passage of a law last year is no longer available, the filing said.

While the developments have not necessarily rendered the case moot, the plaintiffs have determined that it is in their best interests and the interests of judicial economy to voluntarily dismiss this case without prejudice at this time, according to the filing in federal court in Charleston.

The lawsuit filed Feb. 1 named the West Virginia Board of Medicines president and secretary as defendants. It claimed the law was unconstitutional, irrational and caused irreparable harm to the clinic and its patients.

State Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, who had intervened on behalf of the state, said my office stands ready to defend this clearly constitutional law to the fullest should this lawsuit be refiled, or against any other legal challenge.

The lawsuit had asked for a halt to the abortion ban while the case was heard. Republican Gov. Jim Justice on Sept. 16 signed a bill passed earlier that week making West Virginia the second state to enact a law prohibiting the procedure since the U.S. Supreme Court's June ruling overturning its constitutional protection.

The Charleston clinic suspended abortions shortly after lawmakers passed the bill and provided West Virginia women with resources to book appointments out-of-state and funding to help cover the costs of travel and the procedure, clinic Executive Director Katie Quinonez said.

Last month Quinonez announced she will serve as executive director of an abortion clinic that will open in June in Cumberland, Maryland, which is close to the West Virginia border.

The West Virginia law requires abortions to be performed by a physician at a hospital  a provision that at least two Republican lawmakers have said was intended to shut down abortions at the Womens Health Center, which had provided the procedure since 1976. Under the law, providers who perform illegal abortions can face up to 10 years in prison.

The state's abortion ban has exemptions for medical emergencies and for rape and incest victims until eight weeks of pregnancy for adults and 14 weeks for those under the age of 18. Victims must report their assault to law enforcement 48 hours before the procedure. Minors can report to the police or a doctor, who then must tell police.

More than a dozen states now have abortion bans, though most were approved before the Supreme Court ruling and took effect once the court threw out the constitutional right to end a pregnancy.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

UNITED NATIONS (AP)  First the Russians gave the U.N. spotlight to the commissioner of childrens rights accused with President Vladimir Putin of war crimes for deporting Ukrainian children to Russia, sparking a walkout by the U.S. and several others.

Then Russia went after the West by claiming it is violating international laws in arming Ukraine, drawing blistering retorts that Ukraine has every right to defend itself against Putins invading army.

So far, the Russian presidency of the U.N. Security Council has been the most contentious in the memory of longtime U.N. diplomats and officials. And it's just at the midway point.

More fireworks are to come later in the month when Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov presides over the premier event of the presidency  an open council meeting on defending the principles of the U.N. Charter. Russia is widely accused of violating the charter by invading Ukraine and flouting its underpinning principles of respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The presidency of the Security Council rotates monthly in alphabetical order of its 15 members. As Russias turn approached, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell both called it an April Fools joke. The U.S. envoy promised to use every opportunity to push back on their using their perch in the chair to spread disinformation, and to use their chair to push support of their efforts.

At the incoming presidents traditional first-day news conference, Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia pushed back against the April Fools comments, asking Borrell, Whos talking? He said Russia had been an honest broker when chairing the council in the past and would try to maintain that approach.

As for U.S. claims Russia would spread disinformation about Ukraine, Nebenzia dismissed it as part of the Western narrative.

We think just the opposite, he said.

The Security Council president presides over meetings and gets to decide the topics of signature sessions, often chaired by foreign ministers and sometimes presidents. Lavrov on April 24 will preside over a session on effective multilateralism through the defense of the principles of the U.N. Charter, where U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will brief members.

Nebenzia told reporters Russia is seeking a forward-looking discussion on the formation of a new multipolar world order based on sovereign equality, equal rights and self-determination, justice and security, friendly relations and cooperation between nations, with full respect for the purposes and principles of the U.N. Charter. Ukraine's allies are already preparing their rebuttals.

There are also required monthly meetings, including on the Middle East, which Lavrov will also preside over. Others focus on global hotspots, including Syria, Mali, Libya, Yemen, Haiti, Africas Great Lakes region and Colombia.

At last week's Mali meeting, Russia's Wagner Group, a private military contractor, which has close ties to the West African nation and is fighting in Ukraine, was raised by several of Kyiv's supporters.

To start their presidency, the Russians chose one of the hottest issues of the Ukraine war  the fate of Ukrainian children taken to Russia. For the informal Security Council meeting, they chose as its briefer Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian childrens rights commissioner, who along with Putin is being sought by the International Criminal Court on war crimes charges.

In an initial protest, ambassadors from Western countries boycotted the meeting, sending low-level diplomats instead. And when Lvova-Belova started to address the council by video link from Russia, the diplomats from the United States, Britain, Malta and Albania walked out.

U.S. political adviser Ngoyi Ngoyi called it outrageous that she was allowed to speak and said children aged between 4 months and 17 years had been moved to 40 facilities in Russia or Russian-occupied Ukraine. He said at least two of those centers coordinate adoptions by Russians, which Russia denies.

If Russia is not trying to hide a systematic program to force Russian citizenship upon Ukraines children, then it should give humanitarian organizations full access, Ngoyi said. Its as simple as that.

Lvova-Belova said the children were taken to Russia for their safety and Moscow was coordinating with international organizations to return them to their families. The International Committee of the Red Cross said later it has been in contact with her about returning Ukrainian children, and UNICEF also said it has been in communication with Russian officials but has not received feedback on our offer to facilitate reunification processes.

There is a huge discrepancy over how many children have been removed from Ukraine.

Ukraines U.N. ambassador, Sergiy Kyslytsya, tweeted that more than 19,500 children had been seized from their families or orphanages and forcibly deported. Lvova-Belova said that since Feb. 24, 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, Russia has taken in more than 5 million Ukrainians, including 700,000 children  all with parents, relatives or legal guardians, except for 2,000 from orphanages in the eastern Donbas.

Frances deputy human rights adviser, Thibault Samson, called the meeting a new cynical exercise in disinformation, accusing Lvova-Belova of spreading propaganda and a false version of the situation.

A lie repeated ad nauseam remains a lie, Samson said.

Before Russias second signature event, on the export of weapons and military equipment, its ambassador said the discussion would be from an arms control perspective, rather than focusing on a specific country.

But at the April 10 official council meeting, Nebenzia accused the West of encouraging countries to violate agreements not to export arms from Russia without its written consent, with the aim of increasing supplies to Ukraine. He said the West also is urging the resumption of production of Soviet weapons by East European countries that were once part of the Soviet block and are now Western allies.

Nebenzia then denied what he called baseless accusations from the West that Iran and North Korea are providing weapons to Moscow in violation of Security Council sanctions.

Again, Western ambassadors boycotted the meeting, leaving seats in the council chamber filled by deputies and low-level diplomats.

When Albanias political coordinator, Arian Spasse, took the floor, he said the Security Council found itself in unchartered waters this month: A country that has brutally violated the Charter of the United Nations and the very basic rules that govern relations among states is presiding over the body responsible for peace and security.

Without naming Russia, he said the permanent council member has done everything to undermine peace and security and has endangered the world.

Frances deputy political coordinator, Alexandre Olmedo, told the council it is well documented that Russia uses combat drones from Iran and has purchased missiles and ammunition from North Korea.

France and the European Union will continue to provide Ukraine all the support needed, for as long as it is necessary, he said.

The U.S. deputy ambassador, Robert Wood, said Russia began its presidency by trying to justify kidnapping Ukrainian children and had moved on to making a thinly veiled effort to portray Russia as a responsible actor on arms control, attempting to obfuscate the reality that it launched an unjustified armed invasion of its neighbor.

The most effective and obvious path towards peace and reducing risk of illicit diversion of arms would be for Russia to end the war that it started and withdraw its forces from all of Ukraines sovereign territory, Wood said. We once again urge Russia to do so, and to do it now.
YEREVAN, 17 APRIL, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 17 April, USD exchange rate down by 0.26 drams to 387.94 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 3.19 drams to 426.00 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate stood at 4.76 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 4.44 drams to 481.20 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price down by 379.45 drams to 25187.09 drams. Silver price up by 4.84 drams to 324.60 drams. Platinum price stood at 16414.1 drams.
ATHENS, Greece (AP)  Millions of Orthodox Christians across Eastern and Southern Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere in the world, have celebrated Easter, capping weeklong religious celebrations.

The most important holiday on the Orthodox religious calendar is essentially an outdoor celebration, with equally intense spiritual and pagan parts and religious services followed by feasts, familial and communal.

Customs such as eating spit-roasted lambs, knocking red-colored hard-boiled eggs together as a sort of contest and launching fireworks in celebration as soon as the priest intones Christ has risen from the dead, at midnight on Saturday, likely predate Christianity itself. But new customs, or variations of old ones, appear constantly.

In the neighborhood of Neos Kosmos, in Greeces capital, Athens, younger parishioners have recently taken to throwing Molotov cocktails  the rioters weapon of choice  into open spaces. On the Greek island of Chios, two neighborhoods in the village of Vrontados wage a rocket war by throwing thousands of flares at each other, to the consternation of the quieter citizens who have seen houses set alight in years past. Municipal authorities are conflicted: The custom is welcome because it brings notoriety that attracts visitors, but they must also address safety concerns.

This year, the event was relatively chaste: state TV ERT reported that only 20,000 flares were launched, compared with about 100,000 before the COVID-19 pandemic. It was filmed by a documentary crew; the film will reportedly be shown on the worlds largest video screen, the Viva vision screen in Las Vegas.

In countries such as Greece, Easter is also an occasion to flee the big cities for ancestral villages: It was reported that over 575,000 cars, almost all packed with families, left the Athens area. Authorities are bracing for the return, which will start Monday afternoon, hoping that the drivers have had enough time to get over the inevitable hangover.

Easter is not just about merriment, however. This year, it also had its somber moments, such as the celebrations in Ukraine among the devastation of war. It has its moments of reflection as well, such as when Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Istanbul, the first among equals of Orthodox Christian prelates, celebrated Easter in his birthplace, the Turkish island of Gokceada  Imvros in Greek  fulfilling a promise he made 10 years ago.

This year, as in previous ones, the Holy Fire, miraculously lit, or so the faithful believe, in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on Saturday, made its way abroad, sent by plane to countries including Bulgaria, Cyprus, Egypt, Georgia, Greece, Lebanon, North Macedonia, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine. In many places, it is received with the honors due a visiting head of state. In Greece, it somehow arrives at every parish before midnight Saturday, a miracle in its own right.
MIDDLETOWN  Former Common Council member Ed Ford Jr. will be vying for the Democratic nomination for the citys top job in November after turning his exploratory committee into a mayoral campaign.

The 25-year-old, who also served on the Middletown Board of Education, filed paperwork with the Secretary of the States office last week. He was one of Connecticuts youngest Black Republican politicians when elected in 2019 before recently switching his party affiliation to Democrat.

While out speaking to constituents over the course of the last month, Ford said, he heard myriad concerns from residents and other stakeholders. Among the issues most important to them were a recent uptick in crime, progress on riverfront development, and providing more support to youth to ensure their success.

Im here to support people, and uplift people, he said. That is my vision.

I deeply love Middletown, Ford said. This is my home.This is the place where I grew up, so this is personal for me. I listen to my community. I take it upon myself to have these conversations and really seek out their input.

When I hear their needs, people desire leadership that listens and communicates effectively with them, he added. There are a lot of pressing issues Middletown is facing right now and communication is key.

Ford pointed to the citys master plan for the Connecticut Riverfront, which has received millions of dollars in support, as well as years and years of intellectual capital, building plans that residents have poured into this project.

The riverfront, Ford said, reflects our city. Everyone that drives through the state is seeing our riverfront. Thats their first impression of Middletown.

Attracting people from all over to visit the city and enjoy its offerings depends on making steady development at the waterfront, he added. Once people come to the riverfront, theyre going to want to go downtown. Once they see downtown, theyre going to go up Washington Street, and other areas of Middletown.

We want them to see the city is thriving in all areas, Ford said.

Over the past two weeks, two gun-related incidents took place in the city, including a 16-year-old who was shot in the knee. Last week, police arrested a 15- and 16-year-old in connection with the crime.

One of Fords close friends, who lives in the area of Flower Street, where the 16-year-old was shot, was the one who called 911 after hearing shots in her neighborhood, he said.

Thats concerning for a lot of people, he said. This is something we need to talk about; we need to be hearing communication on from our leaders.

People are also talking about supporting youth, said Ford, whod like to see more mentorship to build healthy relationships, job and skill-development programs, as well as internships in city government.

I always have a heart for them, he said. [It will] help them tap into the potential that they have, said the candidate, who also mentored at the middle and high schools.

One of Fords mentees, who will be entering college, texted him late last week.

Hes doing great things now. Our relationship was built by me showing up in the school, saying to him you can do anything that you want to do. I was in your position, and these are the tools that you need to get to where you want to go,'" he said.

You build these relationships that are lifelong and people feel encouraged by, Ford said.

Hed also like to see a place for young people to receive job training and learn about becoming entrepreneurs. Ford is also encouraging teens to get involved in local government and organizations, such as the NAACP and Board of Education.

His campaign slogan is "Building A Middletown For All."

"This is about empowering people," Ford said.

Politicians come around every four years for your vote and then disappear. Im not going to disappear, Ford said. Im going to be present. A part of my vision is to bring people to the table and create solutions for Middletown.

Republican Town Committee Chairman William Wilson said members are in the process of interviewing candidates for office.

The Democratic Town Committee will meet in July to nominate its candidates for municipal elections in, according to Chairman Mike Fallon.

For information, visit edford2023.com.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

AKRON, Ohio (AP)  An Ohio grand jury declined to indict eight police officers who fired 94 shots in the death of Jayland Walker, a 25-year-old Black man who fired at least one round at officers during a car and foot chase last summer, the state's attorney general announced Monday.

Walker was shot 46 times in a hail of gunfire that lasted just under seven seconds and roiled yet another city amid heightened tensions with police over the killing of a Black man that started with a routine traffic stop.

Akron's mayor and police chief urged residents Monday to protest peacefully, acknowledging that many are angry with the shooting last June that Walkers family has called brutal and senseless.

Turn toward one other and not on each other, said Mayor Daniel Horrigan.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said the state's investigation found that Walker jumped out of his still-moving car, ran from police and ignored commands to stop and show his hands. Some of the officers first used Tasers to try and stop Walker, Yost said.

But Walker reached toward his waistband and raised a hand as officers were chasing, Yost said. The officers, not knowing Walker left his gun in the car, believed he was going to fire again, Yost said. He said it is critical to remember that Walker had shot first.

Responding with tears and frustration at a subsequent press conference, the Walker family and their supporters mourned the grand jurys decision and called on Akron residents to protest loudly for justice and change. Democratic U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes, of Akron, said she will ask the U.S. Justice Department to investigate the patterns and practices of the Akron Police Department.

I still cant comprehend how a young man has 46 bullet holes from officers and that is justified, Sykes said while also urging people to honor Walkers memory by protesting peacefully. I ask you to remember the words of Jaylands family by speaking up. But do so without violence.

The family and the NAACP previously have called on the Justice Department to open a federal civil rights investigation.

Bobby DiCello, an attorney for Walker's family, criticized the state's investigation, saying police gunned down Walker execution-style. Paige White, another attorney for the family, said the investigation was skewed in favor of the police and that Jayland didnt have a chance.

Akron Police Department, when you call for peace, when you call for no destruction, when you call for respect  where was your respect for Jayland? White said.

The state investigation said police first saw Walker driving with a broken taillight and a broken light on his rear license plate, but they decided not to follow him. They saw him 10 minutes later at the same intersection and became suspicious, Yost said.

Police said Walker refused to stop and then fired a shot from his car 40 seconds into the pursuit.

Officers chased the car on a freeway and city streets until Walker bailed from the still-moving vehicle and ran into a parking lot where he was killed while wearing a ski mask, body cam video showed. Authorities said he represented a deadly threat. A handgun, a loaded magazine and a wedding ring were found on the drivers seat of his car.

Police union officials said the officers thought there was an immediate threat of serious harm and that their actions were in line with their training and protocols.

Dash-cam video from a police cruiser captured images of Walker firing the gun from his car, said Anthony Pierson, an assistant state attorney general. Walker had no criminal history and had never fired a gun until he went to a shooting range with a friend in early June, Pierson said.

At the time of the shooting, Walker was grieving his fiancees recent death, and his family and Pierson said his actions that night were out of character.

That night he encountered the police he wasnt acting himself, Pierson said. By all accounts he was a good person, a good man.

Authorities checked Walkers online history and found in the weeks before his death searches for phrases including drinking bleach and quickest ways to die, according to an investigative report released Monday.

The report also contained information from a Euclid, Ohio, police captain who told investigators that Walkers best friend interviewed for a police job in that city days after Walkers death and suggested it had been suicide by cop.

But when interviewed by investigators, the friend strongly disputed that, telling detectives that Walker was distraught but never mentioned suicide.

Pierson was asked at the news conference if Walkers death could have been suicide. He declined to speculate about Walkers state of mind but said there was no direct evidence he was suicidal.

Akron Police Chief Steve Mylett said Monday that the city will begin an internal investigation into the shooting, but he would not release the names of the eight officers because of ongoing threats against them.

The officers, who initially were placed on leave, will remain on administrative duties. None of the eight officers appear to have been disciplined for any previous use of force incidences, according to investigation records released by the state.

While the grand jurys decision shows no crime was committed by the officers, "in no way does that take away from the tragedy of June 27, Mylett said.

Attorneys for the eight officers released a statement calling the incident a tragedy for the entire community, including Walker's family and all of the officers who were involved. A split-second decision to use lethal force is one that every police officer hopes he or she will never be forced to make, the statement said.

A county medical officer said the autopsy found no illegal drugs or alcohol were detected in Walker's body.

After taking over the investigation last summer at the request of Akron police, prosecutors with the Ohio attorney generals office presented the case to the grand jury.

City set up a designated protest zone downtown outside city hall, where plywood covered the first-floor windows. Temporary fencing circled the county courthouse and many businesses boarded up their windows.

But hours after the grand jury's decision, the protest zone was almost entirely empty on a cold, windy night mixed with snow flurries and rain.

The city's school district canceled classes on Tuesday in the wake of the grand jury announcement.

Less than 24 hours before the chase, police in neighboring New Franklin Township had tried to stop a car matching Walkers, also for unspecified minor equipment violations. A supervisor there called off the pursuit when the car crossed the townships border with Akron.

___

Seewer reported from Toledo. Associated Press writers Julie Carr Smyth and Samantha Hendrickson in Columbus, Ohio and Michael Rubinkam in Allentown, Pennsylvania, contributed.
AP

INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  An Indiana judge has sentenced a convicted serial rapist to more than 150 years in prison, authorities said Monday.

Darrell Goodlow was charged in 2021 with 57 counts, including rape, burglary and criminal confinement. He pleaded guilty in March to nine counts, including eight felony counts of rape and one felony count of killing a domestic animal, as part of a plea agreement.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas (AP)  SpaceX called off the first launch attempt of its giant rocket Monday after a problem cropped up during fueling.

Elon Musk's company had planned to fly the nearly 400-foot Starship rocket from the southern tip of Texas, near the Mexican border.

The test flight was called off with just over eight minutes left in the countdown because of a stuck valve needed to pressurize the first-stage booster. Launch controllers couldnt fix the frozen valve in time, but for practice, took the clocks down to the 40-second mark before halting the countdown.

No people or satellites were aboard. There wont be another try until at least Thursday.

Learned a lot today, Musk tweeted after the flight was postponed.

The company plans to use Starship to send people and cargo to the moon and, ultimately, Mars.

On the eve of the launch attempt, cars, campers, RVs and even bicycles and horses jammed the only road leading to the launch pad, where the stainless steel rocket towered above the flat scrubland and prairie. Enthusiasts posed in front of the giant letters that spelled out Starbase at the entrance of the SpaceX complex, and in front of the rocket two miles farther down the road, which ended at a beach on the Gulf of Mexico.

On Monday, spectators were barred from the area, and instead packed a beach about six miles away on South Padre Island.

Ernesto and Maria Carreon drove two hours from Mission, Texas, with their two daughters, 5 and 7, to watch.

I got sad. They got sad, when the launch attempt was canceled, Maria Carreon said.

They can't return for the next try but planned to have fun on the beach Monday.

Michelle Vancampenhout, on vacation from Green Bay, Wisconsin, said she'll be back.

Its a once-in-a-lifetime experience to see it, she said.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

MOSCOW (AP)  China's defense minister on Monday toured the top Russian military academy on a visit to the Russian capital that underscored the increasingly close ties between Moscow and Beijing amid the fighting in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Gen. Li Shangfu in the Kremlin on Sunday, noting that his trip follows a very productive three-day state visit to Moscow by Chinese leader Xi Jinping last month.

Putin emphasized that defense cooperation, including joint military drills, has helped strengthen the trust-based strategic relationship between the two countries.

Li told Putin that relations between our armed forces are growing stronger with every passing day, adding that your personal friendship with the president of China plays a major role in this process, and everyone in China knows this."

On Monday, Li visited the military academy of the Russian General Staff, the elite institution for training senior military officers.

The Russian Defense Ministry noted in a statement issued after his visit that the academy would welcome more than 20 senior military officers from China for a training course in the fall.

Lis trip to Moscow reflects Chinas strengthening engagement with Russia, with which it has closely aligned its foreign policy in an attempt to reshape the world order to diminish the influence of the United States and its Western allies.

China has refused to criticize Russias actions in Ukraine and blamed the U.S. and NATO for provoking Moscow. Xis three-day visit to Russia last month gave a strong political boost to Putin, sending a powerful message to Western leaders that their efforts to isolate Moscow have fallen short.

After the talks, Putin and Xi issued joint declarations pledging to further bolster their strategic cooperation, develop cooperation in energy, high-tech industries and other spheres and expand the use of their currencies in mutual trade to reduce dependence on the West.

After more than a year of fighting in Ukraine and bruising Western sanctions, Russias dependence on China has increased significantly. Facing Western restrictions on its oil, gas and other exports, Russia has shifted its energy flows to China and sharply expanded other exports, resulting in a 30% hike in bilateral trade.

Last month, Putin and Xi also vowed to further develop military cooperation between Moscow and Beijing and conduct more joint sea and air patrols. However, there was no mention of any prospective Chinese weapons supplies to Russia that the U.S. and other Western allies feared.

On Friday, the Chinese foreign minister emphasized that Beijing wouldn't sell weapons to either side in the conflict in Ukraine.
KARUIZAWA, Japan (AP)  Top diplomats from the Group of Seven wealthy democracies vowed a tough stance on Chinas increasing threats to Taiwan and on North Korea's unchecked tests of long-range missiles, while building momentum on ways to boost support for Ukraine and punish Russia for its invasion.

Russias war in Ukraine consumed much of the agenda Monday for the envoys gathered in this Japanese hot spring resort town for talks meant to pave the way for action by G-7 leaders when they meet next month in Hiroshima.

The world is at turning point on the fighting in Ukraine and must firmly reject unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force, and Russias aggression against Ukraine and its threats of the use of nuclear weapons, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told his colleagues, according to a Japanese summary.

For the American delegation, the meeting comes at a crucial moment in the worlds response to Russias invasion of Ukraine and efforts to deal with China, two issues that G-7 ministers from Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Italy and the European Union regard as potent challenges to the post-World War II rules-based international order.

A senior U.S. official traveling with Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters that the Biden administrations goal for the talks is to shore up support for Ukraine, including a major initiative on Ukraines energy infrastructure launched at last years G-7 gatherings in Germany, as well as to ensure the continued provision of military assistance to Kyiv.

Ramping up punishment against Russia, particularly through economic and financial sanctions that were first threatened by the G-7 in December 2021, before the invasion, will also be a priority, the official said.

Ukraine faces an important moment in coming weeks with Russias current offensive largely stalled and Ukraine preparing a counteroffensive. The U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss Blinkens priorities at the closed-door meetings, said there would be discussion about ways to deepen support for Ukraines long-term defense and deterrence capabilities. That might also improve Kyivs position for potential negotiations that could end the conflict on its terms.

The role of Japan  the only Asian member of the G-7  as chairman of this year's talks provides an opportunity to discuss coordinated action on China. Leaders and foreign ministers of G-7 countries, most recently France and Germany, have recently concluded visits to China, and the diplomats in Karuizawa are expected to discuss their impressions of where the Chinese stand on numerous issues, including the war in Ukraine, North Korea, and Taiwan, which is a particular sore point in U.S.-Chinese relations.

At a private working dinner on Sunday night that was the diplomats first formal meeting, Hayashi urged continued dialogue with China on the many global challenges where participation from Beijing is seen as crucial. Among the Chinese interests that are intertwined with those of wealthy democracies are global trade, finance and climate efforts.

But the diplomats are also looking to address Chinas more aggressive stance in the region, particularly toward Taiwan, the self-governing democracy that Beijing claims as its own.

Hayashi told ministers that outside nations must continue building a constructive and stable relationship, while also directly expressing our concerns and calling for China to act as a responsible member of the international community, according to a summary of the closed-door dinner.

China recently sent planes and ships to simulate an encirclement of Taiwan. Beijing has also been rapidly adding nuclear warheads, taking a tougher line on its claim to the South China Sea and painting a scenario of impending confrontation.

The worry in Japan can be seen it its efforts to make a major break from its self-defense-only post-World War II principles, working to acquire preemptive strike capabilities and cruise missiles to counter growing threats.

Blinken had been due to visit Beijing in February, but the trip was postponed because of a Chinese spy balloon incident over U.S. airspace and has yet to be rescheduled.

Blinken met briefly with Chinas top diplomat, Wang Yi, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Forum, but high-level contacts between Washington and Beijing have become rare. Thus, Blinken will be seeking insight from his French and German counterparts on their interactions with the Chinese, the senior U.S. official said.

Despite indications, notably comments from French President Emmanuel Macron, that the G-7 is split over China, the official said there is shared worry among G-7 nations over Chinas actions. The official added that the foreign ministers would be discussing how to continue a coordinated approach to China.

Another senior State Department official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity to describe the closed-door meetings, said the G-7 would release a communique Tuesday that would make clear the groups strong unity over Russias war in Ukraine, China and the broader Indo-Pacific, particularly North Korea, the need to maintain the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, and to improve relations with Pacific island nations.

The official downplayed suggestions that fissures are emerging over China. G-7 members, the official said, want to work with China on common challenges, but will stand up against Chinese coercion and attempts to water down or circumvent international rules regarding trade and commerce.

The official said that in numerous recent diplomatic engagements with Chinese officials, G-7 members had stressed to Beijing that any supply of weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine would be met with serious consequences, as would attempts to change the status quo of Taiwan. The official said that European members now have a better understanding of how a roiling of the status quo would affect their interests, notably their economies.

North Korea is also a key area of worry for Japan and other neighbors in the region.

Since last year, Pyongyang has test-fired around 100 missiles, including intercontinental ballistic missiles that showed the potential of reaching the U.S. mainland and a variety of other shorter-range weapons that threaten South Korea and Japan.

Hayashi expressed grave concern over North Koreas launch of ballistic missiles with an unprecedented frequency and in unprecedented manners, including the launch in the previous week, and the G-7 Foreign Ministers strongly condemned North Koreas repeated launches of ballistic missiles, according to the summary.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  A Saudi-led military coalition on Monday freed 104 more prisoners captured in Yemen's war, a unilateral release that followed an organized prisoner swap amid renewed diplomatic efforts to halt the conflict.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it flew two flights carrying a total of 96 released detainees from Saudi Arabia's Abha International Airport to Sanaa, Yemen's capital that has been held for years by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. Another flight carried eight freed prisoners from Abha to Aden, a port city held by forces allied to the Saudi-led coalition.

A statement from Brig. Gen. Turki al-Maliki, a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, acknowledged the release of 104 Houthi detainees.

A U.N.-brokered deal saw the release of over 700 detained Houthis, and more than 180 other prisoners, including Saudi and Sudanese troops fighting with the Saudi-led coalition. That three-day operation was overseen by the Red Cross and ended on Sunday.

The prisoner releases come as the Houthis and Saudi Arabia say they have made progress in negotiations to revive an expired cease-fire and embark on talks to settle the conflict. Monday's release was to help those efforts, the kingdom said.

Hans Grundberg, the U.N. envoy for Yemen, said Monday that We have not seen such a serious opportunity for making progress towards ending the conflict in eight years. But the tide could still turn unless the parties take bolder steps toward peace.

Many aspects of the truce continue to be implemented beyond its lifespan, Grundberg said. Yemen is experiencing the longest period of relative calm yet in this ruinous war. ... However, this is not enough."

According to the state-run Saudi Press Agency, al-Maliki said it was part of efforts to stabilize the cease-fire and create an atmosphere of dialogue between the Yemeni parties to reach a comprehensive and sustainable political solution that ends the Yemeni crisis."

The Houthis say both sides will continue their talks after Eid al-Fitr, the holiday later this week that marks the end of the Islamic holy fasting month of Ramadan.
YEREVAN, APRIL 17, ARMENPRESS. Last year, Armenia expanded the scope of military-technical cooperation for the modernization of armaments and military equipment and the acquisition of new types of weapons, more than 3 dozen contracts were signed, ARMENPRESS reports, the report "On the implementation process and results of 2022 of the Government Action Plan 2021-2026 says.

It is noted that large-scale works are being carried out in the direction of army reforms. In particular, in 2022, the structural changes of the units of the Armed Forces and the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia took place, an extra payment was established for contract servicemen in the sidelines of the certification process, as a result of which servicemen's salaries are expected to double, a new procedure for shifting from compulsory military service to contract military service was established through the implementation of the "Protector of the Homeland" program.

In addition, the servicemen who graduated from a military educational institution and were appointed to an officer position in the Ministry of Defense or the National Security Service border guard troops were given the right to use and later get an apartment with the right of ownership free of charge, the scope of conducting training camps was expanded, the introduction of the "IP" communication system continued.

The report also mentions that the scope of military-technical cooperation has been expanded and more than 3 dozen contracts have been signed for the modernization of armaments and military equipment and the acquisition of new models.

Necessary systems, engineering, construction, educational and other means have been acquired for the proper organization of protection of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border zone.

The aviation of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia acquired new modern multi-purpose helicopters designed for fire, transport and sanitary tasks, the installation of video surveillance systems continued, connecting them to the general network and bringing them to the operational control center of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia.

The opening ceremony of the "Zar" training center of the peacekeeping brigade of the Ministry of Defense, which was improved with the support of the USA, took place. The national-ideological education program of the Defender of the Fatherland was implemented, all servicemen who submitted an application for inclusion in the mortgage lending program and were registered in the register of program participants were included in the targeted mortgage lending program.

It is also noted that the works of furnishing the permanent locations of the positions and military units and improving the living conditions of the personnel were carried out, the construction of the permanent locations of the armed forces units was carried out in various communities. Plans for the expansion of the involvement of women in the army have been developed, which will soon be submitted to the National Assembly of Armenia for discussion.

The report emphasizes that other reforms are being carried out within the framework of the army reform, and engineering and technical works are being carried out.
On March 13, Pvt. Ana Basaldua Ruiz, a soldier assigned to Fort Hood, Texas, was found dead in an apparent suicide after telling her family about sexual harassment she had faced in the Army.

The death set off immediate scrutiny as it echoed that of Spc. Vanessa Guillen three years prior, which led to pledges of increased transparency from Army officials.

Yet a second soldier also died by apparent suicide that same day, and base officials, already bracing for a firestorm surrounding the circumstances of Basaldua's death, didn't disclose the additional fatality.

Read Next: Soldiers Are Away from Home Now More than Ever Despite No Major Ongoing Wars

Spc. Katerina Weikel,who served in 64th Military Police Company, 720th Military Police Battalion, 89th Military Police Brigade, was also found dead on March 13.

Weikel's death was discovered by Military.com through two obituaries, one published in her hometown newspaper in New York state and a brief obituary posted by a funeral home in Killeen, Texas, outside the base walls.

She died just one day after her 29th birthday.

Weikel's death was initially reported as a suicide off-base, but the circumstances of the incident are still being investigated, a person familiar with the case told Military.com.

Lt. Gen. Sean Bernabe, the commander of III Armored Corps and the top Army official at Fort Hood, held a press conference on March 17, but neither he nor a subsequent press release disclosing Basaldua's death made mention of a second soldier dying. Bernabe took only a few questions from the media at that press conference, but declined to provide details about Basaldua's death.

That death and allegations of harassment immediately drew parallels to Guillen, a 20-year-old soldier at Fort Hood who was sexually harassed and murdered in April 2020. The case caused a national outcry, exposed systemic problems of sexual assault at the base and throughout the service, and resulted in federal laws overhauling military criminal justice.

In December 2020, more than a dozen Fort Hood officials were fired or suspended following a damning investigation known colloquially throughout the Army as "The Fort Hood Report." The findings uncovered systemic failures at the installation tied to safety for soldiers, particularly female service members. It served as a flashpoint for the service and how it's publicly perceived and was intended to change how commanders treat their formations.

Since then, the installation and its respective commanders have become increasingly cloistered, according to multiple officials at the base who spoke to Military.com on the condition of anonymity. Most shared the sentiment that the report and surrounding media pressure were so cataclysmic that the base has effectively gone into lockdown when it comes to communicating incidents with the public and the press.

When asked why Fort Hood officials, including Lt. Gen. Bernabe, did not inform the public that a second soldier had died, a spokesperson said Weikel's death happened off-base. There is no Army policy forbidding the service from speaking to the public about deaths that occur off military property.

"The death of Spc. Weikel was off-post, as a result, the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) and the Killeen Police Department are conducting a joint investigation into the death of Spc. Weikel," Lt. Col. Tania Donovan, a III Armored Corps spokesperson, told Military.com in a statement. "As this is an ongoing investigation, no further information will be released at this time."

Donovan added there is no policy which Fort Hood discloses when a soldier assigned to the base dies, saying those situations are "case by case."

Army leaders and their public affairs teams are generally forbidden from withholding information that may embarrass or otherwise lead to bad press for the service, according to Army doctrine.

Sean Timmons, a Texas-based managing partner for the Tully Rinckey law firm and a former judge advocate general at Fort Hood, told Military.com in an interview Monday that the revelation of a second death the same day as Basaldua was "concerning," but may not have been immediately shocking to base leaders.

"The fact that two happened within a close proximity, honestly, probably didn't even raise any eyebrows for them, because suicide is such a common thing that happens at Fort Hood," Timmons told Military.com. "It's very, very problematic."

Weikel enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2019 and graduated from boot camp at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. A year later, in 2020, she deployed to Poland and Germany.

"We will forever be proud of our soldier and her selfless service to our Nation," the obituary in the Wallkill Valley Times read.

On March 23, she was interred with full military honors at the Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery in Killeen, Texas.

Basaldua was a 20-year-old private who was a combat engineer with the 1st Cavalry Division. Fort Hood officials have said there was no foul play in her death, and her family as well as Army officials told Military.com that it was reported as an apparent suicide, though investigations in the case are ongoing.

Itzi Ortega, Basaldua's aunt, told Military.com in an interview on Monday that her niece always wanted to join the Army and moved from Mexico to the U.S., where she had citizenship through her father, to serve.

"She was caring; she was wanting to live her dreams," Ortega told Military.com. "She didn't have to come here. She still decided to come here, because she thought there would be an opportunity to serve better and to fulfill her dream."

While Fort Hood officials have not publicly discussed circumstances regarding Basaldua's death, Basaldua's mother told media outlets that her daughter described being sexually harassed, a claim that Ortega said she had heard as well.

Army Criminal Investigation Division spokesman Jeffrey Castro, in response to questions from Military.com about the circumstances surrounding Basaldua's death, said "no further information will be released at this time" including whether the death was initially reported as a suicide.

"The Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division's investigation into the death of Pvt. Basaldua Ruiz is ongoing," Castro said. "As with all death investigations, Army CID is examining any and all potential circumstances that could have contributed to the death of Pvt. Basaldua Ruiz; this could include the investigation of potential crimes that would not normally be within the investigative purview of Army CID."

Ortega told Military.com that a memorial was held for her niece on base on April 6. Basaldua's mother has had to process the pain of unexpectedly losing her daughter with few definitive answers as to what happened from the Army, Ortega said.

"She was her kid; that's something that you cannot explain the pain," Ortega said. "I don't know if my sister will ever have closure, but she will try to live with this."

Josh Connolly, the vice chair of Protect Our Defenders, a human rights nonprofit that helps military sexual assault survivors and their families, called the revelation of Weikel's undisclosed death "beyond troubling" and said underscores the need for further reforms at the installation.

"It's deeply alarming," Connolly said. "It further reinforces the need for an independent review of the base to look at both the culture and then also, what of the recommendations in the initial independent review have been implemented. But it sounds alarm bells for me."

Protect Our Defenders has also been advising the Basaldua family and is giving them guidance.

"Ana's family fully supports the call for an independent investigation into the command climate and culture at Fort Hood," attorney Ryan Guilds, who had volunteered to help the family through Protect Our Defenders, said in a statement. "The Army investigation into Ana's death is ongoing, and many questions remain unanswered. We remain reluctantly patient but skeptical, particularly given the Army's sad history of doing the right thing for its soldiers and their families -- especially at Fort Hood."

The Fort Hood Report found fundamental issues with the Army's sexual assault and harassment prevention program and across-the-board poor leadership in Fort Hood's chain of command, much of it zeroed in on the installation's public affairs that is charged with communicating with the media.

"From the time of SPC Guillen's disappearance on April 22, 2020, through the remainder of the Spring and Summer months, the Fort Hood [public affairs] found itself unable to adequately inform the public and pragmatically inform public perception," the report said. "The facts became largely irrelevant as a groundswell of support for false theories and poorly informed accusations took root through social media outlets."

Basaldua's death brought on immediate and widespread coverage from the press. It also reached the halls of the Senate.

A letter was signed by Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.; Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa; Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii; and Elizabeth Warren D-Mass., and sent to the commander of Fort Hood last week, asking for transparency for Basaldua's death and a thorough investigation into the circumstances.

"We are writing to express our deep concern regarding the circumstances surrounding Private Ana Basaldua Ruiz's death," the April 11 letter said. "Once again, Fort Hood has failed the young women who stand up to serve our country and entrust themselves to the Army's care."

Veterans and service members experiencing a mental health emergency can call the Veteran Crisis Line, 988 and press 1. Help also is available by text, 838255, and via chat at VeteransCrisisLine.net.

-- Steve Beynon can be reached at Steve.Beynon@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevenBeynon.

-- Thomas Novelly can be reached at thomas.novelly@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomNovelly.

Related: What Is Happening at Fort Hood?
One design includes a series of seemingly floating atriums, hovering over a courtyard decked out in walls of glass. Another has sharp fins jutting toward the sky, reminiscent of angled sails.

For now, they're just ideas, but the Navy is hoping to build public interest and donations for a new national museum in Washington, D.C., releasing new conceptual artwork last week.

The Navy said Thursday that the museum will be located near Navy Yard, part of the nation's capital that overlooks the Anacostia River and a quickly developing district that the sea service is hoping will be the repository for its history.

Read Next: Pay Troops At Least $15 Per Hour? A GOP Lawmaker Wants to Raise the Military's Minimum Wage

Conceptual rendering from architectural firm Bjarke Ingels Group for the proposed National Museum of the U.S. Navy. (Illustration courtesy of the U.S. Navy)

Thirty-seven architecture firms submitted qualifying concepts for the facility, but only five were chosen for the showcase.

"We are pleased to display five visions for the future of the National Museum of the U.S. Navy," Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro said in a press release. "While each concept is different, all of them show how we might celebrate our Navy's accomplishments, honor our veterans and point the way toward the Navy's future."

The designs, however, are not part of the final design competition, according to The Washington Post, and are meant to generate interest for not only other architectural firms to join the competition, but for the Navy and public to buy into the concept.

"It's not the final design competition for actually building the museum," retired Rear Adm. Samuel J. Cox, the director of the Naval History and Heritage Command, told the newspaper last week. "But one of these firms could wind up being the finalist for that when it occurs. Or it could be somebody else."

Fundraising is the key catalyst to begin the actual competition, Cox added. When -- and what -- that number will be is unclear.

"While financial discussions are premature at this point, we are working with [the] Navy Museum Development Foundation," Lt. Ian McConnaughey, public affairs officer at Naval History and Heritage Command, told Military.com Monday.

Conceptual rendering from architectural firm Perkins & Will for the proposed National Museum of the U.S. Navy. (Illustration courtesy of the U.S. Navy)

The Navy Museum Development Foundation was selected by the Navy in October "to secure the funding required to build a state-of-the-art national Navy museum," according to its website.

The architecture firms have been working since January to complete the designs, which include an atrium and a courtyard for ceremonies; the designs also integrated naval concepts into the architectural artwork -- sails, aircraft, or a swift boat, for example.

The building would constitute 270,000 square feet and about "100,000 square feet of net gallery space," according to the Navy.

Charles Swift, the acting director of the Museum of the United States Navy, the service's current historical institution, said the designs are an important first step in the process of completing the project, which according to the Post, will begin in 2025.

The new Navy museum would be the first national service museum located directly in D.C. The national Army museum, as well as the Marine Corps museum, are located in Northern Virginia.

The Naval History and Heritage Command also listed its Facebook page and email in case the public wants to weigh in on the design ideas.

"These ideas incorporate the feedback the Navy has received from working groups of active-duty sailors and represent the work of historians, curators and other professionals at Naval History and Heritage Command," McConnaughey said. "We welcome the public's feedback on these five concepts as we continue to work towards our new museum and cultural center for the Navy."

-- Drew F. Lawrence can be reached at drew.lawrence@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @df_lawrence.

Related: 9 Must-see Military Sites to Visit in Washington, D.C.
The Pentagon now says 23 troops were diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries from attacks by Iran-backed militants in Syria in March that killed an American contractor.

The military originally said last month that six service members had TBI following the attacks waged by an Iran-made drone and militant rockets, but acknowledged medical assessments were ongoing and more cases were possible.

The cases were diagnosed among troops at two locations in northeast Syria that were attacked. One additional service member and a contractor were also injured on the base in Hasakah and a facility known as Mission Support Site Conoco.

Read Next: Pay Troops At Least $15 Per Hour? A GOP Lawmaker Wants to Raise the Military's Minimum Wage

"We make every effort to ensure we are providing the media and the public with timely, accurate information, so I apologize for any inconvenience," Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the top Pentagon spokesman, said in a released statement on Monday. "Our thoughts and prayers remain with those affected by this tragic loss of life and injury."

Ryder said on Monday that the Pentagon approached Central Command for updated figures on the injuries in the March attacks and were then provided the new numbers.

Eleven troops suffered TBI in the Iran-made drone strike on the base housing U.S. personnel in Hasakah, Syria, on March 23. Another 12 troops suffered TBI during an attack on Mission Support Site Conoco on March 24, according to the new figures.

There was also a follow-up, Iran-backed attack on March 24 on the Green Village outpost, though the newly updated Pentagon figures say there were no injuries in that attack.

At the time of the attacks, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered a series of retaliatory air strikes that killed eight militants, raising concerns over potential escalation with Iran. Its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has backed strikes by militant groups on about 900 U.S. troops, and an unknown number of contractors, who are deployed in Syria.

Those deployed forces are focused on tracking down and eliminating members of the Islamic State, nearly a decade after the U.S. launched an air war against the terrorist group in Iraq and Syria.

On Monday, U.S. Central Command announced that a raid killed an ISIS senior leader and operational planner. The raid was launched following intelligence that the group planned to kidnap officials abroad.

But the few U.S. personnel who have remained in Syria and Iraq have at times been caught in Iran-sponsored violence as Tehran seeks to spread its influence in the region.

The U.S. initially denied any troops were injured in January 2020 when Iran struck Al Asad air base in Iraq with 15 ballistic missiles. Former President Donald Trump said some service members had reported "headaches" that were minor injuries.

Eventually, the Pentagon confirmed that 109 troops had been diagnosed with TBI.

The troops injured in the March attacks on Syria bases required medical treatment. The contractor was the only death reported by the Pentagon.

"One service member was medically evacuated to Landstuhl [Regional Medical Center in Germany] to receive treatment and two U.S. service members and the U.S. contractor are receiving medical treatment in Iraq," Ryder said on March 30.

-- Travis Tritten can be reached at travis.tritten@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @Travis_Tritten.

Related: At Least 6 Troops Diagnosed with Brain Injuries After Deadly Iran-Backed Strikes in Syria
Read the original article on Business Insider

A social-media account that spread misinformation about the war in Ukraine and pro-Russian war talking points was created by former US Navy non-commissioned officer, The Wall Street Journal confirmed in an exclusive interview.

Sarah Bils is a 37-year-old woman in Oak Harbor, Washington, who served at the US Naval Air Station on Whidbey Island until November of 2022, online Navy records show. Bils' identity was first uncovered by users on Twitter and Reddit, and first reported by an advocacy site mainly posting about the war known as Malcontent News.

Online, however, Bils goes by the name Donbass Devushka, and her account sometimes posts graphic images of the fighting, praises the brutal wing of the Russian military known as the Wagner group, and sometimes celebrates the death of Ukrainian fighters.

Bils told the Journal that 15 other people help her run the account.

The persona has a YouTube channel, a Twitter, and a Spotify podcast with tens of thousands of followers. On the podcast, Bils, who in previous posts claimed to be from Eastern Europe, appears to put on a phony accent.

On the bio of her Telegram  from which she posts dozens of times a day  Bils says the account is "Russian-style information warfare" that's "Bringing the multipolar world together." The account, ironically, once posted a screenshot of the popular meme reading "I'll serve crack before I serve this country"  meant to signify that someone would never join the US military.

The Telegram account was also recently associated with helping to spread four images of the dozens of leaked US intelligence documents that appeared on a Discord server called Thug Shaker Central. Many of these documents contained information on US intelligence gathering on the war in Ukraine. Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old junior-ranking US National Guard airman, was arrested on Thursday and charged on Friday with possessing classified documents pertaining to national security, and possessing national defense materials.

Bils, who had secret security clearances while serving, told the Journal she did not help to leak the documents. The Journal also noted that the documents posted on her channel were altered versions of the Discord documents, but Bils denied that her team had altered them.

"I obviously know the gravity of top-secret classified materials," she told the publication.

The documents are no longer on the account, but the Donbass Devushka Telegram channel shared a theory on April 13 that the leaks were actually an intentional effort from US intelligence officials and that Teixeira unknowingly carried out their plan.

Insider reached out to emails associated with Donbass Devushka and Bils but did not immediately receive a response.

The US Navy did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
For decades, a relatively few, huge U.S. satellites have patrolled from orbit to detect threats such as ballistic missiles. While still critical, American defense marked a shift in March when the first 10 of hundreds of planned military satellites launched from California.

As experts from around the world converge on Colorado Springs for the Space Symposium this coming week, managing and protecting tens of thousands of smaller, cheaper satellites, both military and commercial, projected to go into space is set to be major topic.

In the coming years, the large numbers of new satellites also means Colorado Springs companies will have plenty of work as demand for operators, ground infrastructure and support services grow.

"Colorado Springs represents an epicenter of satellite operations," said Frank Backes, a senior vice president for Kratos Space Federal based in town. Kratos provides ground infrastructure, such as antennas, for satellites globally.

The U.S. is shifting its space strategy to detect ballistic and hypersonic missiles among other threats as China and Russia ramp up their capabilities in space. For example, China launched a missile in 2021 that maneuvered late in flight as a hypersonic guide vehicle, showing an ability to move around radar, said Space Force Lt. Gen. DeAnna Burt, deputy chief of space operations, for operations, cyber and nuclear. She described the Chinese as launching just as much into orbit as the U.S. and "pushing past us" in some cases in capability, during a recent event hosted by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.

China and Russia have also both blown up satellites with missiles, demonstrating the threat they could pose to satellites that provide critical infrastructure, such as communications, navigation and imagery.

The Space Force wants to deter anti-satellites missiles by sending up hundreds of satellites so that an individual satellite would not provide an attractive target.

"It will cost more to shoot down a single satellite than it will to build and launch that single satellite," said Derek Tournear, the director of the Space Development Agency, at the Mitchell Institute event.

The Space Development Agency, a civilian group within Space Force, is in charge of the new proliferated military satellite constellations of smaller, cheaper units. One type of satellite the agency is launching costs about $15 million, he said.

In contrast, a traditional military satellite launched last year was one of two in a $1.86 billion contract and weighed 5,000 pounds.

The satellite was the last addition to a constellation of satellites, known as the Space-Based Infrared System, operated by Buckley Space Force Base guardians, who are charged with detecting missile launches, space liftoffs and nuclear detonations.

Maj. Matt Garcia, the operations officer for the launch and test team for the satellite, was working at Buckley the day of the launch on Aug. 4 and spoke with the team at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida about the readiness of the ground infrastructure to talk to the satellite. He was also involved with the months of testing run from Buckley.

"It was just such a thrill personally," said Garcia, an Air Force officer. "It is still very much a human story and a human endeavor."

While the work went smoothly, it still took "daily miracles," such as rewriting the schedule for launch after another unrelated mission saw changes in its timeline, he said.

The satellite was transferred into regular operations in March and currently the 2nd Space Warning Squadron at Buckley Space Force Base is using it to detect threats such as the ballistic missiles launched by Iran three years ago, Garcia said. The satellite was designed to last 12 years, but will likely last longer, he said.

The satellite was launched to geosynchronous orbit, 22,236 miles above the Earth. At that orbit, only three satellites are needed to see almost the whole planet, Backes said.

The new cheaper satellites will go up to 1,200 miles or less, known as the low-earth orbit, and the military will need many, many more of them to replicate the work of satellites in geosynchronous orbit.

However, they can be developed much more quickly compared to the large traditional satellites.

The first Space-Based Infrared System satellite was launched in 2011 and that long timeline gives other nations an opportunity to develop threats, Backes said. Now that's changing.

"We are absolutely showing we have the ability to shorten our timelines and respond fairly quickly," Backes said.

The new satellites the Space Development Agency just launched went from order to orbit in 27 months, Tournear said.

The 10 satellites that went up in March will be joined by an additional 18 and that set will demonstrate the new operational concepts, Tournear said.

In about 18 months, the agency plans to start launching another 150 satellites that will do, in part, missile warning and missile tracking. They will be ready for Space Force operations in 2025, he said.

The agency plans to launch hundreds of satellites and go out to contract regularly with companies to give more businesses the opportunity to build units.

Of the 10 satellites in the first launch, York Space Systems, a Denver company, made eight. Last year the company announced it would build another 42 satellites as part of a $382 million contract.

Tournear expects to keep the prices on satellites fixed and rely on the industry to provide additional capabilities, similar to the iterative improvements in cell phones.

The satellites will be run from new Space Operations Centers staffed by contractors at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama and Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota, Jonathan Withington and agency spokesman said in an email. The centers will answer to Space Operations Command, with headquarters at Peterson Space Force Base.

In addition to expanding the military network, the Space Development Agency wants to tighten the working relationship between its satellites and commercial satellites, Tournear said.

Commercial satellites already provide constant services to the military, such as supplying imagery; however, that has become a point of conflict in the war between Russia and Ukraine.

If the U.S. classified satellites as critical infrastructure, in the same way, it classifies the power grid as critical infrastructure, the military would be obligated to respond to such attacks. But right now its a gray area, Backes said.

He expects one of the main conversations at Space Symposium to focus on managing satellites used both by business and for defense.

___

(c)2023 The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.)

Visit The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.) at www.gazette.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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.

Dr. Emma L Briant is an internationally recognized expert and academic of propaganda and information warfare, whose work was central in exposing the Cambridge Analytica scandal and continues to inform politicians, NGOs and industry.

With the federal government spending at least $1 billion annually on defense and civilian agency programs to neutralize 'insider threats,' its no wonder that people are asking how it was possible that secret documents posted by Jack Teixeira, a low level 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guard airman, were able to circulate through the backwaters of the Internet for months before authorities even became aware of their existence.

After the massive document dumps by Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden, new systems were put in place to prevent, or at least rapidly track, such unauthorized access to top secret files. The shiny new application touted to detect insider threats was artificial intelligence. Obviously it didnt work in the Teixiera case.

Today, defense contractors make millions of dollars selling AI insider threat systems that are meant to predict which government employee might pose a potential national security threat. These tech entrepreneurs make big claims about their AIs accuracy in identifying leakers, and claim an urgent need both for their systems and for access to ever more data.

Palantir is probably the best known developer of such technologies. Its CEO Alex Karp recently claimed that AI systems are very dangerous but in the context of wars like Ukraine, have fundamentally changed the world and cannot be put back in the box. Palantir claims its tools for rooting out insider threats enables enterprises to identify suspicious or abnormal employee behavior using a variety of algorithmic methods. To a similar end, last year the Pentagon awarded a multi million dollar contract to Torch.AI, a Leawood, Kansas-based data infrastructure artificial intelligence company, to support the Pentagons efforts to combat insider threats, known as the System for Insider Threat Hindrance, or SITH. According to its CEO Brian Weaver, There are few situations where the quality and availability of data is more important than cyber and insider threat. Obviously it didnt prevent Teixiera and his pals from widely sharing top secret documents.

Egg on its Face

The Discord leak is embarrassing for the National Insider Threat Task Force, a government-wide program under the Director of National Intelligence tasked with deterring, detecting, and mitigating threats just like this one. As recently as April 10, National Security Council spokesman John F. Kirby was in the dark on key aspects of the hemorrhage, saying the NSC still did not know how much material was public, who was behind it or their motive.

Insider Threat is a concept with a long history, catalyzed following the Chelsea Manning leaks in President Obamas Executive Order 13857, which established an interagency Insider Threat Task Force to develop a government-wide program. Its concepts, also articulated in NATOs Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, have long sought AI prediction tools to identify potential leakers, based on past offenders like Snowden or Manning. But it would be old fashioned human-powered journalism by Bellingcats Aric Toler and The New York Times, not AI, that swiftly identified the leaker after spotting the documents on Russian Telegram.

Nigel Oakes, founder of the defense contractor SCL, the parent company of Cambridge Analytica, described to me in 2017 how the Pentagons insider threat model was very flawed because, with a limited sample of past national security leakers to study, you cant ever regress the data. Not only that, if the pool of recruits is changing, the profile of future insider threats or leakers is also likely to shift, reducing their predictions to an imperfect science.

There are fundamental flaws in relying on a system that aims to predict future cases that are distinct, like the Discord leak, from cases that AI was trained on. Airman Teixeira evidently did not seek to blow the whistle on government programs he disagreed with and certainly didnt take any meaningful steps to stay anonymous. Nor did he even seem to understand the full consequences of his actions, since he used his own name and address to register the Discord server. All the FBI had to do was request Teixeiras personal information from Discord.

Yet the AI lobby argues that the solution to plugging such leaks is to undermine encryption that keeps apps and devices private and deepen Internet surveillance. But the Teixeira case is a weak justification for further eroding privacy of federal employees. Intrusive surveillance impacts everyone, not just those with ill intent, says Tom Devine, legal director of the Government Accountability Project, a whistleblower advocacy group. Devine has argued that insider threat defensive systems can be used to target individuals blowing the whistle on government waste, fraud, and abuse.

Whether or not tomorrows threat actors deceptions could be identified by eroding what remains of our privacy, the unlimited surveillance it would take to identify all threats carries the risk of undermining democracy itself. The preoccupation over government access to communication technologies may also distract from identifying underlying causes and solutions to insider threats.

Former senior CIA operations official John Sipher has claimed that the main problem is too many people having access to sensitive intelligence. Hes also suggested that background checks of teenagers work with so little life experience that they are not likely to detect problem recruits unless they have an arrest record. Whatever the truth of that, evidently no one in Teixerias chain of command, much less AIs sniffers, picked up on months worth of Teixieras racist and antisemitic rantsor they failed to report it.

Youth Quake

In any event, the military depends on the constant recruitment of youngsters, including for intelligence billets. Teixeira came into intelligence through a side door as an IT technician, which enabled his access to a system holding the intelligence documents. His unit, the 102nd intelligence wing, is part of the Air Force's Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS), which processes military intelligence, including foreign imagery from drones.

Perhaps what DOD needs to do is to examine its own recruitment process and culture.

As the military adapts to new technologies like AI, augmented reality and automation, it has increasingly sought recruits with relevant technical skills. This has prompted the military to intensify its efforts to recruit teenage gamers, whove developed skill sets such as the ability to visualise remote operations in far away places like Afghanistan, utilize screens for 12 hours at a time, or operate peripheral devices, to fill roles like those needed for the DCGS to disseminate data ingested by drones.

According to the Washington Post, the Air Force has arguably become the leader in fostering gaming culture. The military is recruiting on platforms popular with gamers like Discord, or through military sponsorships of gaming leagues that feature violent war games. While Teixeiras role was in technology support, trauma experienced within this program is not isolated to pilots, techs or sensor operators, a veteran of DCGS explained to me on condition of anonymity. This veteran said a culture change is needed for recruits between the ages 18 and 24, whove spent countless hours alone honing their war game skills, to get adequate mental health support.

One of Teixeiras high school classmates, Kailani Reis, told the Boston Globe that Teixeira was super quiet and gave off loner vibes, while another classmate, Sarah Arnold remembered him as being quiet and keeping to himself, according to the Associated Press.

In 2019, according to the Washington Post, the Air Force sponsored a gamer tournament to find its best players among 350 contestants. The idea was to foster mental health among its young rank-and-file during the pandemic.

Capt. Oliver Parsons, the founder of Air Force Gaming, has explained that what the service needed was to create an engaging activity with a support network to help young recruits deal with the isolation brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Were not robots. Were normal, average people, Parsons said, adding that if the military doesnt make gaming culture acceptable, service members are going to go somewhere else.

Meanwhile, in a supreme irony, it was the Air Force itself that encouraged the young gamers to use Discord, the very platform Teixeira turned to for anti-government bonding and sharing what he saw daily at work. When it encouraged use of the platform, however, the Air Force may not have grasped how many extremist users of 4Chan also use it to network and share content, which put their young military charges at greater risk of encountering the extremist fringe.

Teixeiras blithe attitude toward sharing top secret documents on the channels is less surprising when we consider how the militarys recruitment and training eroded important boundaries separating harmless, at-home wargaming from real life military conflicts.

That followed last years problematic Army recruitment ads for its 4th Psychological Operations Group, which, amazingly enough, were created to appeal to young folks drawn to conspiracy theories. Research shows that the embrace of conspiracy theories can lead to radicalization and violence, which in the military may be worsened by combat-induced trauma or psychological distress. After concerns rose about active duty military members involvement in the January 6 U.S. Capitol siege, the DoD took steps to address insider threats from extremists, including retooling its recruitment pitches. But clearly problems run deeper.

Meanwhile, bigger data security risks come from third-party contractors themselves who, unlike Teixiera, Manning and Reality Winner, are rarely held accountable when things go wrong. In 2017 over 100 gigabytes of highly sensitive data was found unsecured on an Amazon Web Services server, believed to be linked to a defense contractor. It appears no one was held accountable.

Analysts are still trying to find out why Teixeira did what he didnot to mention how to stop future leaks like his. But before the AI Insider Threat lobby demands more intrusive surveillance, it might be worth asking what kind of culture the digital military has been fostering. ###
Russian-Chinese military cooperation helps strengthen strategic and trust-based relations between the two countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday at a meeting with visiting Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu, Tass informs.

April 17, 2023, 10:27 Russian-Chinese military cooperation helps strengthen strategic relations  Putin

STEPANAKERT, APRIL 17, ARTSAKHPRESS: He hailed successful and comprehensive cooperation between Moscow and Beijing in the defense sphere. "I think that it is another major area, which strengthens the trust-based, strategic character of our relations, relations between Russia and China," Putin said.

He hailed Russian-Chinese military cooperation, noting that Russias and Chinas defense ministries exchange useful information and hold joint drills.

The Russian president recalled Chinese President Xi Jinpings state visit to Russia in March, when cooperation between the defense ministries was among the topics.

He noted that the Chinese defense minister "has quite rich working program" in Russia. "We are glad to see you. I am sure that your visit will be held at the highest possible level. Welcome to Russia!" Putin said.

The meeting in the Kremlin was also attended by Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu.

The Russian defense ministry said on April 14 that Li Shangfu will pay his first foreign visit as defense minister to Russia on April 16-18. He plans to have talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Shoigu, to discuss "the current state and prospects for the development of bilateral cooperation in the defense sphere, as well as current issues of global and regional security.".
SENEY, MI - Last spring, loon lovers across the state and beyond gasped at the web-footed drama playing out on the waters of Seney National Wildlife Refuge in the Upper Peninsula. The worlds oldest loon couple, known as Fe and her mate, ABJ, broke up after 25 years together.

Instead of swimming together and raising a chick in their regular summer spot of the refuges F Pool - one of the many lettered pools and wetland areas within Seney - the longtime duo was ousted from their nest-building site by an upstart loon couple from a neighboring pool. This seemed to bring about the break-up. ABJ retreated to the nearby H Pool, while Fe found a new mate and hatched a chick on I Pool.
By BILL BARROW | Associated Press

PLAINS, Ga. (AP)  Jimmy Carter already had drawn months of media scrutiny as a devout Southern Baptist running for president. Then the 1976 Democratic nominee brought up sex and sin as he explained his religious faith to Playboy magazine.

Carter was not misquoted. But he was certainly misunderstood, as his thoughts in the wide-ranging interview were reduced in the popular imagination to utterances about lust and adultery.

Nearly a half-century later, as the 98-year-old Carter receives hospice care in the same south-Georgia home where he once spoke with Playboy journalists, interviewer Robert Scheer still believes Carter was treated unfairly. He recalls the former president as a real and serious figure whose intent was smothered by the intensity of a campaigns closing stretch.

Jimmy Carter was a thoughtful guy, Scheer, now 87, told The Associated Press. But that got lost here. Ive never seen a story like it. It was worldwide. ... It just never went away.

Political disaster ensued. Rosalynn Carter was suddenly being asked whether she trusted her husband. The fallout, in Carters words, nearly cost me the election.

Carter spent five-plus hours with Playboy across several months  more time with you than with Time, Newsweek and all the others combined, the nominee told Scheer and Playboy editor Barry Golson.

The resulting Q&A spanned 12,000 words, and Scheer added thousands more in an accompanying story. Carter discussed military and foreign policy, racism and civil rights, political journalism and his reputation as a vague candidate.

They werent interested in sensationalized stuff, Scheer said of Playboy.

FILE - Democratic Presidential candidate Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn Carter, greet people after attending church services at the University Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas on Sunday, Oct. 31, 1976. At center is their daughter, Amy. Carter's Baptist faith was one of his calling cards in the 1976 presidential campaign. But it landed him in political trouble when he tried to explain his faith to Playboy magazine by discussing Biblical standards of sex and sin. (AP Photo/John Duricka, File)AP

Hugh Hefners iconic publication reached an estimated 20 million-plus readers each month with its pictorials of nude women. But the magazine chronicled American culture as well, with its branded Playboy Interview featuring such power players as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., John Lennon, Malcom X and leading newsman Walter Cronkite.

Carter, unafraid of nuance, proved he belonged among them, Scheer said.

The nominees most-remembered comments came at the end of their final session. Standing outside Carters front door, Golson pressed Carter on whether his piety would make him a rigid, unbending president unable to represent all Americans.

The Baptist deacon responded with an 823-word soliloquy on human imperfection, pride and Gods forgiveness. He said he believed in absolute and total separation of church and state and explained his faith as rooted in humility, not judgment of others.

Quoting Matthew 5:27-28, Carter explained that Jesus Christ considered an offending thought equivalent to consummated adultery, and by that standard, he was in no position to judge a man who shacks up and screws lots of women, because he had looked on many women with lust and, thus, committed adultery many times in my heart.

Scheer called it a sensible statement, reflecting Carters Baptist tradition: He was saying, look, Im not going to be some fanatic. ... Im not this perfect guy.

Playboy realized Carter provided explosive material  and not just about sex. Citing President Lyndon Johnsons handling of Vietnam, Carter included the last Democratic president alongside disgraced Republican Richard Nixon as guilty of lying, cheating and distorting the truth.

The magazine decided to send the full Q&A text to about 1,000 media outlets in late September, ahead of the usual October publication date for the November edition.

The idea, Scheer explained, was to allow time for fair coverage rather than drop bombshells days before the election.

Headline writers, satirists and late-night television pounced anyway, labeling it Carters lust in my heart interview. Saturday Night Live, then a fledgling NBC sketch comedy show, had a field day. One political cartoonist depicted Carter lusting after the Statue of Liberty.

He lamented to NPR in 1993 that the Playboy interview morphed into the No. 1 story of the entire 1976 campaign.

I was explaining Jesus Sermon on the Mount, Carter wrote wistfully in a 2015 memoir.

As a candidate, Carters faith had endeared him to many fellow white evangelicals and cultural conservatives. That made him a difficult foil for Republicans, who wanted to cast Democrats as out-of-step with most of America. The flip side, Scheer noted, was the many young voters and urban liberals  key Democratic constituencies  who wondered if he was this Southern square.

Hamilton Jordan (Carters campaign manager) had always called Carters faith the weirdo factor, said media historian Amber Roessner, a University of Tennessee professor who has written extensively on Carter. Talking to Playboy was their way to prove he wasnt some kind of prude.

Scheer, who was with Carter as part of his traveling press corps, said Playboys early text release sparked a frenzy.

Reporters were scrambling, asking me, Bob, what is this? he recalled.

Traveling press focused initially on Carters criticism of Johnson, who had died in 1973. It was a juicy detail because Carter was headed Texas to campaign with Johnsons widow.

Carter initially told reporters he was taken out of context. Scheer ran back to the plane to get the tapes, and effectively caught the nominee violating his pledge never to make a misleading statement.

Lady Bird Johnson skipped Carters Texas events, Scheer said. Carter apologized to her by telephone.

When his commentary on adultery ballooned, Carter insisted the exchange had been off-the-record, throwaway banter as Scheer and Golson prepared to leave.

He was still wearing the mic! Scheer told AP.

The way the story morphed ended up making Carter seem like a creep, Roessner said.

Rosalynn Carter fashioned a pat response: Jimmy talks too much, but at least people know hes honest and doesnt mind answering questions. And, no, she never worried about his fidelity.

The only lust I worried about was that of the press, she wrote in 1984, recounting how her discipline finally cracked when a reporter asked whether she ever committed adultery.

If I had, she replied, I wouldnt tell you.

Ford, who had been gaining on Carter but still trailed badly, leveraged the story. The Republican president was an Episcopalian, soft-spoken about religion, but he invited leading evangelical pastors to the White House the day after the interviews release, including the Rev. W.S. Criswell of Dallas First Baptist Church.

Criswell later declared from his pulpit that he had asked Ford: Mr. President, if Playboy magazine were to ask you for an interview, what would you do? Fords reply, according to Criswell: I was asked by Playboy magazine for an interview  and I declined with an emphatic No!

Thousands of his parishioners roared.

The Rev. Billy Graham, the nations top evangelist, and the Rev. Jerry Falwell, the rising leader of the so-called Religious Right, also blitzed Carter. National media, including The AP, highlighted criticism from Christian pastors from around the country.

Roessner, the daughter of a Protestant pastor, said Carters Playboy comments were clumsy, but if anyone should have understood the context ... it should have been the ministers.

She recalled Carters resentment during a 2014 interview she conducted with him. Decades of global humanitarian work had by that time afforded the former president a profile above politics, yet almost 40 years later, it was clearly something he held on to, she said. He was still incredibly frustrated by what he felt was unfair coverage and response.

The 1976 campaign was the first after Nixons resignation, driven by reporting from The Washington Post, and many journalists were demonstrating a new level of distrust of politicians, especially one Scheer described as wearing his religion on his sleeve.

Those same news organizations largely ignored what the soon-to-be president said about them, Roessner noted.

The traveling press have zero interest in any issue unless its a matter of making a mistake, Carter told Playboy. Theres nobody in the back of this plane who would ask an issue question unless he thought he could trick me into some crazy statement.

Scheer, at least, asked plenty of policy questions, and, looking back, he pointed to Carters narrow victory just weeks later.

Whatever they said, I think it did exactly what they wanted to accomplish, Scheer said. That doesnt mean they werent nervous.
THOMPSONVILLE, MI  Two Northern Michigan companies have collaborated to create an alcoholic offering perfect for the spring and summer months.

Iron Fish Distillery in Thompsonville and Shorts Brewing in Bellaire announced Monday that they have created Soft Parade fruit-infused vodka.

The unique spirit is made using the same fruit selected for Shorts famous Soft Parade beer, which has been around nearly as long as the Northern Michigan brewery has been in business and helped put Shorts on the map as a leader in the Michigan beer scene.

The spirit combines the smoothness of traditional vodka with the subtle natural flavors of real strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries.

Were thrilled to be working with Shorts Brewing on this exciting project, said Richard Anderson Co-founder, Iron Fish Distillery. Our two companies share a passion for creating products that are both unique and high-quality. This collaboration is a perfect example of how two local businesses can come together to create something truly special.

The 80-proof fruit-infused vodka will be available for purchase at select retailers in Michigan for a very limited time, starting in May.

When its gone its gone, a news release reads.

A release party is scheduled at Iron Fish Distillery, 14234 Dzuibanek Road, the weekend of April 28. Only 240 bottles will be available in the tasting room, with the first 72 bottles sold signed by Joe Short.

Soft Parade Vodka will not be available for sale at either of Shorts Northern Michigan locations in Bellaire and Elk Rapids. Several Soft Parade Vodka cocktail ideas can be found here.
LUDINGTON, MI  A childrens museum is an add attraction for a Lake Michigan beach town Up North, attracting thousands of visitors throughout the summer.

Sandcastles Childrens Museum in Ludington is ready to welcome the summer crowd with its three floors of fun, including two new exhibits, plus lots of programs.

We go full gear in the summertime, Kristin Korendyke, executive director, told MLive.

More than half of the museums annual visits happen during the summer with lots of out-of-towners coming in, she said. On a rainy summer day, there could be up to 1,000 visitors. On sunny days, they see 200-300 people.

Children watch a beekeeping video in the apiary, which is part of the new Michigan Woodlands exhibit at Sandcastles Children's Museum, 129 E. Ludington Ave. in Ludington, Mich.Justine Lofton | jlofton@mlive.com

We love to cater to the local folks, but we need those busy, active summer days (to stay open year-round), Korendyke said.

Returning visitors this year will notice two all-new exhibits. Michigan Woodlands is located on the third floor. Hola! Speaking Spanish at Sandcastles! is an audio exhibit throughout the museum.

RELATED: This Lake Michigan beach town is celebrating its 150th birthday all year long

Michigan Woodlands is installed alongside the farm exhibit and includes a large maple tree, stuffed animals, a crawl-through log, murals and a bee apiary.

The whole concept was that when youre driving through the Michigan countryside, you see these big barns on the edge of these beautiful woodlands, Korendyke said.

A bee mobile hangs from the ceiling in the apiary, which is part of the new Michigan Woodlands exhibit at Sandcastles Children's Museum, 129 E. Ludington Ave. in Ludington, Mich.Justine Lofton | jlofton@mlive.com

The apiary portion of the exhibit includes a bee mobile, bee family photo album, a video by a local beekeeper, and bee vests and pollen balls.

Children are encouraged to wear the bee vests and fly around to collect pollen (wool balls) and then bring it back to the hive.

Its just something you have to see, Korendyke said.

Arya Lofton, 1, points out the bee mobile that hangs from the ceiling in the apiary, which is part of the new Michigan Woodlands exhibit at Sandcastles Children's Museum, 129 E. Ludington Ave. in Ludington, Mich.Justine Lofton | jlofton@mlive.com

RELATED: S.S. Badger plans 3 sunset cruises for 2023 season, including the Fourth of July

There are monthly programs related to the woodlands exhibit. The museum has partnered with the Mason County Conservation District to give out 300 white pine tree seedlings from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 20.

Hola! features 10 buttons throughout the museum that children can push and hear a phrase in Spanish and then in English. Each button is related to an existing exhibit.

Hola! Speaking Spanish at Sandcastles! is a new exhibit at Sandcastles Children's Museum, 129 E. Ludington Ave. in Ludington, Mich. The exhibit spread throughout the museum, offering different phrases in Spanish and English that relate to the other exhibits.Justine Lofton | jlofton@mlive.com

For example, the button at the veterinarians office says, Como se llama tu perro? and then, in English, What is your dogs name? At the theater, it says, Me encanta escuchar historias! and then, I love listening to stories!

Programming related to the exhibit includes Spanish story time one Saturday a month. The next one is scheduled for 11 a.m. to noon on Saturday, May 6.

RELATED: Huge luxury suites steps from Lake Michigan will cater to multi-generational vacationers

Sandcastles is located at 129 E. Ludington Ave. in downtown Ludington. Admission is $9 per person; children under 1 year old are free.

Current spring hours are 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Fridays, 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays, noon to 4 p.m. Sundays and 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays. Summer hours - 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday - begin Friday, June 9.

READ MORE:

17 essential Pure Michigan experiences for 2023

Mackinac Island business owners bringing frozen margaritas, paddleboards to Lake Michigan beach

Popular Up North state park plans to double Lake Michigan beach parking

State park plans to rebuild aging boardwalk trail with views of Lake Michigan
MONTMORENCY COUNTY, MI -- A Lewiston man accused of fleeing from police and shooting at a trooper before having a standoff has been charged with assault with intent to murder and other felonies. Keith Howard, 56, was arraigned Monday in 88th District Court after he was arrested Thursday, April 13.

Police arrested Howard at a home on County Road 491 after he fled from a trooper who attempted to pull him over Thursday morning. According to Michigan State Police, when the trooper attempted to pull Howard over, he did not cooperate and fled. The trooper pursued Howards vehicle and at some point Howards vehicle was disabled.

The trooper alleges Howard fled on foot after that and as the trooper was pursuing him, Howard fired an unknown number of shots at the trooper.

Once police were able to track Howard to the home in Lewiston, they established a perimeter and Howard eventually surrendered without further incident. No injuries were reported as a result of the altercations.

Howard was also charged with one count possession of firearm by a felon, one count felony weapons and one count fleeing and eluding. Bond was set at $500,000 and he is due back in court on May 5.

READ MORE:

Police in Ohio arrest suspect wanted in connection with Alpena fire that killed dog

Man who went missing in December found dead in Northern Michigan

Speed a factor in fatal Flint Township crash, police say

Inmate found dead at Berrien County Jail
A suspect is expected to face charges in connection with a fire last week at a home on Michigan Avenue in Alpena Township. According to UpNorthLive, the suspect -- who has not been identified pending formal arraignment -- was arrested in Ohio after police were able to track him down.

Police have been searching for the suspect since the fire was reported Wednesday afternoon by neighbors who reported seeing a man jump out of a window of the home following a large explosion. Witnesses told investigators they saw the suspect and security footage from a neighbor showed the suspect leaving the scene in a vehicle. Neighbors also reported smelling gasoline in the air prior to the fire.

After the homeowner was given a description of the man, he was able to lead police to a suspect. The homeowner was not in the home at the time, but his dog was killed in the fire due to smoke inhalation.

Once police had a suspect, they tracked his address to a house in Waterford, Michigan before finding another property in Ohio where he may have been. Police in Ohio were able to find suspect at that property and take him into custody. The suspect is expected to be extradited to Michigan for arraignment on charges of home invasion, second-degree arson and felony animal abuse.

READ MORE:

Man who went missing in December found dead in Northern Michigan

Speed a factor in fatal Flint Township crash, police say

Inmate found dead at Berrien County Jail
Now Panama is synonymous with offshore corporations and assured secrecy

The Panama Papers had been briefly back in the news in India after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) questioned Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in December 2021. Among the rich and famous Indians named in the Panama Papers so far are DLF billionaire property baron Kushal Pal Singh, billionaire Gautam Adanis brother Vinod Adani, and billionaire real estate magnate Sameer Gehlaut. The list also includes Gujarats brand ambassador, Amitabh Bachchan. According to a report, over 500 Indians are associated with the Mossack Fonseca firm, and the ED has seized over 230 Indian passports that were deposited as part of the companys formalities.

The ways of Indias rich and famous are increasingly becoming public knowledge. The disclosure that as many as 500 prominent Indians, including Incredible Indias latest brand ambassador Amitabh Bachchan, owned offshore companies in Panama is just the latest of the unravelling. All that one can say is that he is in the good company of the likes of Vladimir Putin, David Cameron and Nawaz Sharif, among others.

Panama is a small sliver of a country in Central America joining North and South America. A 77-km man-made canal which is capable of accommodating large ships joins the two oceans. The revenues from this were for long the nation's biggest source of income since the canal opened in 1914.

Panama soon found that becoming a tax haven that assured investors of their privacy provided a much more lucrative income. The proximity to the Americas, and the balmy Caribbean islands, and countries like Colombia with its huge cocaine production and export business, and Latin Americas many kleptomaniac tinpot dictators made Panama even more attractive. Till not long ago, the entire Canal Zone was under the protection of US troops, and that too served as an incentive for Americans seeking an offshore tax haven.

Panama is a tax haven, which means it is a country that offers foreign individuals and businesses little or no tax liability in a fairly politically and economically stable environment. Tax havens also provide little or no financial information to foreign tax authorities. This in short is the reason Panama is so important to our moneyed people, who have good reason to hide their real wealth.

Why do the rich then want to hide their wealth? This is simply because officially they are not as wealthy as they really are. And if they honestly declared their true wealth, they would not only be liable to pay more income-tax but could also open many of them to various charges of corporate fraud and malfeasance that could earn them hefty jail terms. To comprehend this one must understand how most of our captains of industry, many of whom sit on the Prime Ministers Council of Trade and Industry, actually became rich and powerful. When an industrialist launches a new project, the project costs are usually hugely overstated. The suppliers of plant and machinery then pay the promoter kickbacks, which become the promoter capital. Thus, the more the number of projects an individual promotes, the wealthier he or she becomes. But it is not income that you can declare. So, it gets hidden in a tax haven and snakes its way back through Mauritius (27 per cent), Singapore (21 per cent) and Cyprus, etc., as foreign investment.

These are now the home of hundreds of corporate entities that act as a conduit for funds being held overseas for Indians or by Indian entities. These countries are little more than a cut-out for monies held in other more distant tax havens like Panama, the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and Lichtenstein. The smaller the country, the more pliable the officials.

The 14 PSU banks control almost 80 per cent of the commercial credit advanced in India. In addition, the government also owns the two big project finance institutions, IDBI and IFCI, and large institutional investors like the Life Insurance Corporation and general insurance companies like Oriental and GIC. The state ownership of these, with powers vested with the political and bureaucratic powers that be in New Delhi, ensures that the projects are suitably gold plated without any scrutiny. And why scrutinise them when projects seldom fold up, and particularly in a system where restructuring means lending more money to evergreen the loans?

The list of NPAs includes almost the entire roster of top Indian companies. The total amount of Gross Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) for public and private sector banks is over Rs. 7 lakh crores. According to RBI estimates, the top 30 loan defaulters currently account for one-third of the total gross NPAs of PSU banks. The countrys top five PSU banks had outstandings of Rs 4.87 lakh crores to just 44 borrowers, if borrowers were to be categorised in terms of those having outstandings of over Rs. 5,000 crores. These businesses include Essar, Reliance ADAG, Jaiprakash Associates, Adani, Vedanta, GVK, GMR and Lanco.

Of the big companies or groups, only the Tatas, Reliance Industries and AV Birla can be considered free of financial stress. Most if not all the money earned by gold plating plant and machinery, under-invoicing of exports and over-invoicing of imports is retained abroad. Has anyone wondered why the UAE is the second largest destination of Indias merchandise exports ($33 billion) and third largest source of merchandise imports ($26.2 billion)?

The UAE is also the largest source of legal and illicitly imported gold. Last year India officially imported over 900 tonnes of gold worth $35 billion. The mysteriously owned corporations incorporated in tax havens like Panama mostly finance these exports. And a good part of the illicitly exported gold also.

According to a leading pink newspaper, Indians were estimated to have illicitly sent out $83 billion in 2020. Where does this money go? Countries like Switzerland that offer banking secrecy usually do not pay any interest on such deposits. So, money goes to corporations in tax havens from where they are invested in businesses world over. Have you ever wondered how many of our top businessmen have managed to become so big overseas so soon?

This is where the countries like Panama come in. There was a time when Panama, in India, was synonymous with a leading brand of cigarettes manufactured by the Dalmia-owned Golden Tobacco Company. That Panama too is now forgotten. Now Panama is synonymous with offshore corporations and assured secrecy. The times have changed.

(The writer, a policy analyst studying economic and security issues, held senior positions in government and industry. He also specialises in the Chinese economy.)
UPDATE: Man, 54, charged with murder in strangulation death of Ann Arbor woman

ANN ARBOR, MI -- A 54-year-old man set to be arraigned for the murder of an Ann Arbor woman has a previous history of criminal sexual conduct and assault, records show.

The man was arrested on charges of open murder, first-degree home invasion and assault with intent to commit sexual penetration, police announced on Saturday, April 15.

He has been charged in connection with the death of Jude Walton, 51, who was found dead on Thursday, April 13, when Ann Arbor police were called to do a well-being check at her home in the 200 block of Chapin Street, police said. Her death is being investigated as a homicide. Police said there was also evidence of a break-in.

The man has not been arraigned. MLive/The Ann Arbor News generally doesnt name suspects until theyve been arraigned. His arraignment was expected to take place Monday, April 17.

A detective at a swear-to hearing held on Sunday, April 16, named the man as a suspect in the incident. Surveillance footage showed the man entering Waltons home shortly after midnight on Thursday, April 13, according to testimony from Ann Arbor police Det. Nader Jamil.

The man has been previously convicted for first-degree criminal sexual conduct, assault and unarmed assault with intent to rob. He had also previously been on probation for failure to reply with reporting duties as a sex offender and for tampering with an electronic monitoring device.

He served time in prison for criminal sexual conduct in a 1988 case and also in a 2006 and 2008 case for assault with intent to rob, according to state prison records. He had been discharged in August 2022, according to the records.

The man is also suspected in a recent theft from a library building, Jamil said.

According to testimony, Walton was found in a bedroom on the second floor, mostly naked except for a sheet wrapped around her. Waltons injuries are consistent with strangulation, Jamil said, citing an autopsy report conducted in the University of Michigan morgue.

Originally from London, Walton moved to Ann Arbor more than two decades ago. In 1995, she co-founded Zingermans Mail Order, the shipping arm of the popular Ann Arbor deli. She worked for Avalon Housing, a nonprofit dedicated to developing affordable housing, at the time of her death.

The man was scheduled to be arraigned on Monday, April 17, at 1 p.m. in the 14A District Court. He is currently being held at Washtenaw County Jail. No bond has yet been set, pending arraignment.

Read more from The Ann Arbor News:

Candlelight vigil honors death of Ann Arbor community leader Jude Walton

Jude Walton, slain Ann Arbor community leader, remembered for welcoming spirit

Former Ann Arbor police oversight commissioners death being investigated as homicide
LANSING, MI  A Genesee County circuit judge acted within the range of reasonable and principled outcomes when she imposed consecutive sentences on a homicide suspect for the second time, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.

Judge Elizabeth A. Kelly of Genesee Countys Circuit Court departed from the sentencing guidelines range and imposed consecutive sentences of 85-240 months in prison when she sentenced Joshua Jeremiah Eubanks for the second time in 2022.

After Eubanks appealed the sentence, the court of appeals issued a ruling in an unpublished opinion siding with Kelly, affirming the local judges use of consecutive sentences.

We find that that it was not outside the range of reasonable and principled outcomes to impose discretionary consecutive sentences, that the sentences are proportionate to the seriousness of the offense and the offender, and that the sentences were not based on acquitted conduct, a panel of court of appeals judges wrote.

Related: The wounds reopen, daughter says after man convicted in home invasion turned murder of her father gets resentenced

Eubanks convictions stem from a July 11, 2017, home invasion in Flints College Cultural neighborhood.

Along with four co-defendants, Eubanks was accused of assaulting Janice Ballard while shooting and killing her husband, 63-year-old Albert Ballard.

Prosecutors claimed at trial that all four defendants, and a fifth person, Dreshavon Jones  who would end up taking a plea agreement and testifying against the four other men at trial  planned and participated in the home invasion.

Related: 2 men resentenced in 2017 murder of Flint man who fought back during home invasion

According to Jones testimony, he and the other defendants committed a home invasion at a different home earlier in the night and then targeted the Ballard home.

Jones testified that when the group entered the Ballard home, defendant Zicary Carpenter gave him a .40-caliber gun, which Carpenter said was not loaded. Co-defendant Jordan Alexander was holding a nine-millimeter gun and wearing a red hooded sweatshirt.

Janice Ballard testified that she awoke to find an intruder wearing a red hooded sweatshirt inside her bedroom. The man demanded to know where she kept her money. When she did not immediately respond, the man hit her.

Albert Ballard, who was downstairs after apparently falling asleep on a couch while watching TV, had apparently grabbed a .45-caliber handgun he kept in a kitchen cupboard. His wife testified that while she was upstairs, she heard voices coming from downstairs saying, hes got a gun.

The man in Janice Ballards room then left and she heard an exchange of gunfire coming from downstairs. She then saw her husband coming up the stairs holding his firearm, followed by the sound of breaking glass, and then additional gunfire.

Albert Ballard was shot and died from his injuries. Jones testified that after the shooting, he, Alexander, and Eubanks all jumped out a bedroom window to escape from the house and then fled on foot, climbing a fence and discarding some clothing and other items along the way.

Shortly after the incident, Carpenter and co-defendant Tyler Pagel crashed the car they were driving away from the scene in. When police responded to the scene, Carpenter and Pagel were still there and the police discovered that Carpenter had a gunshot wound.

Read more: 4 men sentenced in killing of Flint grandfather who fought back

A jury convicted Eubanks and several other defendants of first-degree home invasion and conspiracy to commit first-degree home invasion in 2019. The jury acquitted some of the defendants of first-degree felony murder and other assaultive charges.

At his original sentencing, Eubanks was given consecutive sentenced of 140-240 months in prison for each conviction  an upward departure from the original sentencing guidelines.

The court of appeals affirmed the convictions on Eubanks first appeal, but remanded the case back to Kellys courtroom so the judge could revisit her decision to impose consecutive sentences in light of People v. Beck, in which a defendant claimed their constitutional rights were violated because their sentence was handed down with acquitted conduct being taken into account.

The record discloses that the trial court gave ample reasons for its decision to impose consecutive sentences and it emphasized that its decision was based only on its consideration of the crimes of which defendant was convicted and not on the actions of any of the codefendants, the court of appeals panel wrote. The court stated particularized reasons for imposing consecutive sentences, and it is clear from the courts statements that its decision to impose consecutive sentences was limited to a consideration of defendants conduct of which he was convicted, and not the actions of any of the codefendants or conduct of which defendant was acquitted.

It is also apparent from the courts statements that it was aware of, and carefully weighed, the serious and punitive effect of the consecutive sentences imposed, the judge continued, citing prior court cases. Accordingly, we find that the court did not abuse its discretion by imposing consecutive sentences.

Read more at The Flint Journal:

Flint home invasion homicide victim had determined spirit

Homeowner killed in shootout with teens during home invasion

Fifth suspect in custody in home invasion that led to homicide

Man admits to murder, robbery of Flint 63-year-old

Man found guilty of murder in 2017 shooting of Flint homeowner
FLINT TWP., MI  A Burton man died Saturday afternoon when the vehicle he was driving crosse the centerline of West Bristol Road and collided with another vehicle.

Flint Township police said officers were dispatched around 4 p.m. Saturday, April 15, to the area of West Bristol Road, near Bishop Airport, following reports of a two-vehicle crash.

The crash, police said, followed several 911 calls about a Dodge Ram truck driving recklessly on West Bristol Road.

Authorities said their investigation concluded that the Ram crossed the centerline and hit an eastbound vehicle on West Bristol Road.

The driver of the Ram, 24-year-old Ryan McMenemy, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The two occupants of the other vehicle were taken to a local hospital and were treated for minor injuries.

The speed of the Dodge Ram is believed to be a contributing factor in this crash, police said.

The Flint Township Police Department was assisted at the scene by the Michigan State Police, Genesee County Sheriffs Office, Bishop Airport Police and the Flint Township Fire Department.

Anyone that may have further information is asked to contact Detective Lopez at 810-600-3250 or contact Crime Stoppers of Flint and Genesee County at 1-800-422-JAIL (5245) or go to www.crimestoppersoffint.com.

Read more at The Flint Journal:

Court of Appeals affirms judges sentence in Flint homicide case

Prosecutors charge defendants in Flint mans death with armed robbery

Shiawassee County Circuit Court sets up temporary location at local hospital
WYOMING, MI -- Police are investigating after the body of a 36-year-old man was found floating in the Grand River near Grandville.

Wyoming police said the person has been tentatively identified as a Grandville area man.

Police responded to the 2300 block of Indian Mounds Drive about 2:50 p.m. Monday, April 17 on a report of a suspicious object in the river.

Police and firefighters arrived and confirmed the object was a body.

Members of the Kent County Sheriffs Department dive team then responded to recover the body.

The circumstances surrounding the death are under investigation by Wyoming police.

More from MLive

2023 Grand Rapids Beer City Open Pickleball Championships boasts $100K in prize money

Michigan boosts recycling rate 5% in five years

Police seek driver who struck, injured bicyclist and fled scene
JACKSON, MI -- A jury has found a Jackson woman guilty of drunken, reckless driving in a 2021 fatal crash.

Jaquelyn Shepherd -- 41, of Jackson -- was found guilty April 14 of felony charges of operating while intoxicated causing death, operating while intoxicated and reckless driving causing death at the end of a week-long jury trial.

The charges stem from a four-vehicle crash resulting in the death of Erica Kas and the injury of several other people July 24, 2021.

Related: Hillsdale woman identified as person killed in weekend wrong-way crash on I-94

Shepherd is set to appear before Jackson County Circuit Judge John McBain on June 14 for sentencing.

Police determined the fatal crash was caused by a driver -- later identified as Shepherd -- who was traveling west in the eastbound lanes, striking four vehicles. Kas was driving one of the four vehicles, police said.

A police toxicology report later concluded Shepherd had a blood alcohol content of .151 -- nearly twice the legal limit in Michigan, said assistant prosecutor Meaghan McKeon during closing arguments of the trial.

Shepherds attorney Ryan Ramsayer attempted to convince jurors there was enough reasonable doubt raised about aspects of the police investigation of the incident to justify a not guilty verdict.

If you dont know the answer, then you cant speculate someone guilty -- if theres a question and it is reasonable, thats not good enough, Ramsayer said.

Ramsayer tried to discredit the toxicology results -- claiming its not impossible for such evidence to become corrupted in the storage process. McKeon said none of the minor inconsistencies noted in evidence -- such as Shepherds middle initial being mislabeled on one blood sample -- where neither uncommon or substantial enough to shed doubt on the validity of the evidence.

The defendant was driving the wrong way on the highway -- is this something that a person would do who was clearheaded, who had clear judgement, who was sober? McKeon said.

The jury ultimately found the police evidence convincing, returning guilty verdicts on all three charges at the end of proceedings Friday.

Reckless driving causing death is a felony in Michigan punishable by up to 15 years in jail, officials said.

Michigan State Police troopers responded to the report of a four-vehicle crash July 24 on I-94 in Parma Township, western Jackson County.

The incident was not a police chase, police said previously.

Police pronounced Kas dead at the scene. Multiple other people involved in the crash were taken to Henry Ford Jackson Hospital for various levels of treatment, police said.

More from the Jackson Citizen Patriot:

Elderly man reported missing and endangered in Jackson County

Police seize computers from Jackson County pediatrician in connection with daughters death

Police ask for help identifying man who stole vehicle from Jackson-area asphalt company

Suspect in near-fatal beating of coworker set for trial in Jackson
KALAMAZOO, MI -- Kalamazoo Central High School 12th grader Alyssa Douglas said her final year of high school has been complicated due to the treatment she and her service dog, Moxi, received while attending classes at the school.

Douglas has filed a federal complaint with the U.S. Department of Educations Office for Civil Rights.

Douglas said she was subjected to continuous harassment and attempts on her dogs life during her time on the Kalamazoo Central High School campus. Moxi assists Douglas with severe anxiety attacks that can lead to fainting episodes, changes in her heart rate and drops in her oxygen levels.

If it gets so severe and he cant go and get somebody because I fall on his leash or something, (thats a problem). That happened in the summer, I ended up having to go to the hospital because of it, Douglas said. If somebody can help me, then it can be resolved.

The school is being investigated by the Office for Civil Rights under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, according to an education department spokesperson.

An investigation was opened into Kalamazoo Public Schools over a service animal disability violation on Jan. 20, 2023.

KPS spokesperson Susan Coney said the district cannot comment on pending litigation.

The federal complaint addresses an Oct. 10 incident, where a group of six students followed Douglas and Moxi in the hallway and continuously circled where Douglas and her dog sat for lunch. After Douglas asked them to stop, one jumped on the dog, landing inches away from its neck, Douglas said.

Douglas said later in the day, the same students harassed her and a teacher intervened.

Douglas said she reported issues to an assistant principal. When she was told nothing could be done, she went back to class in tears.

Douglas mom later tried to intervene, but was told Douglas had threatened to file a lawsuit and that the matter was redirected to the administration building. After five months of not hearing from administration, Douglas said they chose to file a complaint.

From the start, Douglas said she did not have support from the school administration to have a service dog on campus. Douglas said she adopted her dog from a shelter in May 2022 and informed the school he would be trained as a service dog and would be accompanying her two weeks later.

In such cases, federal law requires a team to determine if a student requires accommodations. If they do, a plan must be developed.

The school eventually agreed to allow Douglas to bring her service dog to school. Douglas said students would yank his tail and throw food at him to see whether he would eat it.

To avoid being bothered, Douglas said she would eat lunch in the hall with Moxi.

Douglas said she cant afford to find a fully-trained service dog before she starts college.

Going forward, Douglas said she hopes to find support from administration in making the environment at Kalamazoo Central more accommodating to students with disabilities. Douglas said she also hopes to further eliminate the stigma around students with service dogs.

If Im already putting myself out there, I might as well keep doing it because nobody else should have to go through what Ive gone through with him, Douglas said.

More on MLive

Construction begins on Authentix Kalamazoo, a 240-unit apartment complex

Contest offers free tuition to 10 WMU students for fall semester

Shot twice in 2 years, Kalamazoo teen navigates healing the mental wounds

Want more Kalamazoo-area news? Bookmark the local Kalamazoo news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Kalamazoo daily newsletter.
WILLIAMS TWP, MI  In the wake of three Michigan State Police troopers facing criminal charges in less than a year, a shakeup in leadership has occurred at the agencys Tri-City Post.

MSP 1st Lt. Todd Parsons had been the commander of the post at 2402 Salzburg Road in Bay Countys Williams Township for about four years. On April 2, he and one of his two assistant commanders, Lt. Jasen Sack, were removed from their positions and transferred to other worksites within the department, said Lt. Kimberly Vetter.

Sack had overseen troopers activities within the city of Saginaw, Vetter said.

Parsons and Sack were reassigned following an internal review of departmental policies related to prior use-of-force incidents, Vetter said. Neither had any direct involvement in any of the incidents, she said.

Fellow assistant post commander Lt. James Lang remains in his position, while Lt. Eric Wilber has been named Parsons replacement as the new post commander. Wilber had previously served as the section commander of the Flint Area Narcotics Group, or FANG.

Sacks position remains unfilled as of April 17, Vetter said.

Three troopers assigned to patrols in Saginaw have faced criminal charges in less than a year. The first was Bram L. Schroeder, who on March 28, 2022, was captured on video repeatedly punching handcuffed civilian Vance D. Martin, 48, after Martin had been pulled over on suspicion of drunken driving.

The MSP suspended Schroeder the next day and amended to unpaid status on Aug. 31. The Michigan Attorney Generals Office on Aug. 30 charged Schroeder with misconduct in office and aggravated assault. The former is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, while the latter is a one-year misdemeanor.

The AGs Office also charged fellow MSP Trooper Zachary W. Tebedo and two Saginaw police officers with willful neglect of duty, a one-year misdemeanor. Tebedo and the Saginaw officers were present when Schroeder punched Martin. The MSP placed suspended Tebedo on Aug. 23.

Though a judge on March 22, 2023, dismissed the charges against Tebedo and the Saginaw officers, the AGs Office refiled them two days later.

The third trooper to face charges was Paul E. Arrowood, who on the night of Sept. 4 saw civilian Michael D. Wilson walking on Webber Street in Saginaw rather than on a nearby sidewalk. As body-worn camera footage of the incident shows, Arrowood quickly exited his patrol vehicle, approached Wilson, took him to the ground, and began punching him.

All this he did within less than half a minute.

The incident resulted in the MSP placing Arrowood on unpaid suspension on Sept. 30. The Saginaw County Prosecutors Office on March 2 charged Arrowood with single counts of common law offense or misconduct in office and assault and battery.

A third excessive-force complaint was investigated related to Tebedo, though criminal charges were not issued due to the involved civilians lack of participation, prosecutors have said.

The incidents led to outcry from Saginaw leaders and civilians. In an April 3 meeting of the Saginaw City Council, Councilwoman Monique Lamar-Silva addressed the racial disparity between the charged troopers and the Black men they were recorded assaulting.

There seems to be a disconnect when it comes to people of color and the Michigan State Police, Lamar-Silva told MSP Capt. Greg Morenko, who oversees the district that covers mid-Michigan and the Thumb and attended the meeting.

Lamar-Silva asked the captain to explain the high rate of people of color being stopped by Michigan State Police.

We cannot have any of our citizens  any citizen, of color or not of color  getting their behinds beat like Ive seen, Lamar-Silva said. That didnt sit well with me. That didnt sit well with the community.

Morenko appeared to share Lamar-Silvas distaste.

You will not hear any excuses from me, Morenko told the councilwoman regarding the incident with Arrowood. It made my stomach turn. It was completely irresponsible. We started the investigation; we put (Arrowood) on leave. I feel terrible that a citizen experienced that.

Morenko, though, defended the conduct of his agency overall.

My expectations are professionalism, Morenko said of his troopers. If you are seeing or hearing (about racial profiling), I want to know about it. Training-wise, all of our people go through de-escalation training; we get implicit bias training. Weve started to review our defensive tactics policies.

Saginaws Community Alliance for the People held meetings on March 18 and April 5 to discuss policing in the city by local and state police. In the first meeting, several city residents described negative interactions with MSP troopers but not city officers.

CAP President Jeff Bulls presented statistics about the MSP Secure Cities Partnership, a program begun in 2012 by then-Gov. Rick Snyder and designed to help the MSP fight crime in four of Michigans most dangerous cities and the roadways connecting them. With additional trooper strength, the MSP was tasked with coordinating teams of local, state and federal law enforcement officers to provide both directed patrols and investigative resources in the four focus cities of Flint, Detroit, Pontiac and Saginaw.

Working with local and federal prosecutors, as well as parole officers from the Michigan Department of Corrections, these teams were meant to target high-crime areas and fast-track the investigation and prosecution of cases.

No city council members or law enforcement representatives were present for CAPs April 15 meeting, though Bulls said they had been invited. CAP advisor and founding member the Rev. Hurley Coleman urged residents get to vote if they want change.

This may be the new version of the prison pipeline, Coleman said. We need pastors with an attitude just like they had after emancipation. We need some Reconstruction-minded preachers and leaders. People running the streets aint coming to church and they aint going to listen to me if they dont think were listening to them.

He said that if Saginaws Black and Hispanic populations turned out to vote, changes could be made in local judges and prosecutors, something Bulls agreed with.

If all of us decide who we want to vote for, what we want to vote for, Bulls said. As much as we talk about police and policy, we have a whole system that needs change. The county prosecutor is elected, judges are elected. We need to focus there during elections, not at the top of the ballot. I could see (Prosecuting Attorney John) McColgan at Meijer. Id never see (President) Joe Biden there.

Schroeder is to appear for a preliminary examination at 1:30 p.m. on April 26, while Arrowood is to appear for one at 1:30 p.m. on June 9.

Read more:

Saginaw CAP talks community policing with a focus on local police

Saginaw residents frustrated with MSP speak at CAPs community-policing discussion

MSP trooper had numerous complaints before pummeling jaywalking Saginaw man

MSP captain on trooper beating Saginaw man: It made my stomach turn

Trooper didnt seem worried about getting in trouble over beating Saginaw pedestrian, victim said

Michigan State Police trooper charged in beating of Saginaw man who wasnt using sidewalk

State police find trooper violated policies in traffic stop of Black man in Saginaw

Michigan State Police trooper charged with punching cuffed Saginaw man had 2 prior citizen complaints
SAGINAW, MI  Days before Christmas, a group of friends were hanging out in a Saginaw carwash, drinking prescription cough syrup and chatting. Their good time was interrupted when two interlopers appeared, one wearing a balaclava and brandishing a long gun.

As captured by surveillance cameras, the two newcomers opened fire, as did one of those in the small gathering. By the time the chaos ended, one man  31-year-old Delano C. Scootie Green  was dead and one of his alleged killers bore two gunshot wounds of his own.

What sparked the fatal gunfight? According to a survivor, a dispute over the theft of marijuana.

Prosecutors played soundless video of the shootout during the April 14 preliminary examination of Allen J. Foster, 35, and Marcus T. Gilmer, 33. Foster is charged with open murder, conspiracy to commit murder, carrying a dangerous weapon with unlawful intent, and felon in possession of a firearm, plus three counts of second-offense felony firearm. Gilmer is charged with conspiracy to commit murder.

A third suspect remains wanted on seven charges, including open murder.

Gilmer co-owned Tae & Gs Hand Wash and More, 2211 E. Holland Ave. (M-46), where the shooting took place about 10:45 p.m. on Dec. 13. Gilmers business partner was called to testify by Saginaw County Assistant Prosecutor Shellbe A. Sanborn, though he said he was uncomfortable doing so and preferred to not be involved.

Sanborn asked Saginaw County District Judge David D. Hoffman to prohibit MLive from publishing the names of any civilian witnesses to protect their privacy. Hoffman granted the request.

Gilmers partner testified he had known Green his entire life, referring to him as his godbrother.

The night of Dec. 13, the witness, Green, Gilmer, and another man were hanging out in the car washs office as live footage from the surveillance cameras played on several screens.

Me and Delano were sipping on cough syrup, the witness said. We wall was just drinking lean, talking. (Gilmer) seemed a little off, like he had something on his mind.

Delano C. "Scootie" Green

Not long after, a car pulled up outside with its hazard lights flashing. A man in a hooded sweatshirt with a handgun hanging from it entered the office and confronted Green, the witness said.

The witness said he recognized the mans voice as Fosters. He said he had known Foster as a frequent customer.

Green drew a handgun and pointed it at Foster, with another man present getting between them and trying to de-escalate the tense situation, the witness said.

Green and Foster argued over Green allegedly breaking into Fosters house hours earlier and stealing marijuana, the witness said.

The witness said he and the others began leaving the office. As the witness stepped outside, another man wearing a balaclava and holding a long gun approached through the parking lot, he said.

As I go out the door, thats when the guns start going off, the witness said. He and Gilmer ran to a truck, got inside it, and drove off, he said.

Sanborn played footage of the confrontation and subsequent shooting. It confirmed much of what the witness testified to, showing Green and two others trading gunshots in the office. The balaclava-clad man stood in the doorway as he opened fire.

Green then ran past him into the parking lot before falling to the ground. A short while later, the two gunmen got into the parked car, its hazard lights still flashing, and drove off.

The witness described Gilmer as frantic as they left the scene. He said he asked Gilmer if he had set up Green, which Gilmer denied.

I know he had to be scared, just as scared as I was, the witness said. I know he was freaking out just as much as I was. He aint no gansta-gangsta killer. Hes a businessman.

Sanborn asked the witness if he and Gilmer kept guns in their business.

Marcus T. Gilmer (left) and Allen J. Foster sit with defense attorney Alan A. Crawford between them during a preliminary examination on April 14, 2023.

Yeah, we kept weapons cause we live in Saginaw and anyone could potentially come to rob us, he replied. He said the firearms used by the assailants looked similar to the ones they had in the car wash.

In footage recorded shortly before the shooting, Gilmer was alone in the business office, seemingly loading guns. He then passed the guns to another person who briefly appeared.

Prior to the shooting, the men at the car wash had spoken to Green about the alleged earlier marijuana theft and encouraged him to return the stolen merchandise, the witness said. He and Gilmer were upset that Green would have stolen something from their customers, he testified.

Green, though, said he had no intent of returning the pot, the witness said.

Under cross-examination from defense attorneys Alan A. Crawford and James F. Gust, the witness said he had not wanted Green bringing his foolishness to his legitimate business. While he described Green as lovable, he said Green was known for living a dangerous life and was not one to mess with.

Mentally, he still thought like a kid, the witness said of Green.

The witness said he lost the business after the shooting. He added Gilmer was the administrator of their business camera system.

Michigan State Police Detective Sgt. Alicia Baxter testified she responded to the homicide scene.

I observed a deceased body in front of the building, Baxter said. There was spent shell casings inside and outside of the building.

Baxter said police seized the business cameras, finding evidence some footage could have been wiped or deleted.

Detective Sgt. Adam Green of the MSPs Audio-Video Analysis Unit testified that on Dec. 14 he performed an analysis of a Cobra DVR system provided to him by Baxter. In doing so, he found two accessible video files and more than 4,000 inaccessible files.

Green created highlights from the video footage and provided them to Baxter, which Sanborn played in court. Cross-examined by Gust, Green said he had recovered the footage after it had been deleted.

Flint Police Officer S. Jones testified that she went to Hurley Medical Center about 3 a.m. on Dec. 14 after Foster arrived there seeking treatment for two gunshot wounds to his abdomen.

Foster would not tell Jones who shot him, only saying he had been in a driveway in Flint when he saw two people in the distance shoot at him.

He stated he didnt want to make a report, that he was fine, Jones said. She went to the area where the man said he had been shot but found no evidence a shooting had occurred, she said.

MSP Detective Jacqueline Lee testified she and a fellow detective interviewed Gilmer at police headquarters on Dec. 15. Though not read his Miranda rights, Gilmer said Green had robbed a friend of his of marijuana. Gilmer told the detectives he had tried to get the pot back from Green.

Gilmer also told the detectives he was the only person who had the password for his business camera system, Lee testified. Questioned by Gust, Lee said Gilmer also told her a power surge months earlier had rendered the password-protection system ineffective.

Gilmer did not give the shooters names to the detectives, Lee said.

The hearing ended due to another civilian witness still needing to confer with an attorney before testifying. The hearing is to resume May 4.

Authorities on Feb. 21 issued warrants for Foster, Gilmer, and a third suspects in Greens shooting. The Michigan State Police Fugitive Team on the evening of Feb. 24 arrested Foster. The team arrested Gilmer the evening of Feb. 27.

Greens homicide was Saginaws 19th and last of 2022. Of those 19 killings, 16 involved gunfire.

Green was a Saginaw native and the youngest of three siblings.

He enjoyed riding his motorcycle, working on cars, music, laughing, telling jokes, and hanging out with friends and family, his obituary states. He is survived by seven children.

Read more:

Two men charged with murder in mans shooting death at Saginaw carwash

Saginaw man fatally shot at East Side carwash, marking citys 19th homicide of the year

Police release name of Saginaw teen killed in New Years Day fatal shooting
SAGINAW, MI  Two Saginaw residents are facing criminal charges after allegedly being caught with a batch of Molotov cocktails with which they planned to set a womans house on fire.

Saginaw County District Judge Terry L. Clark on the morning of Friday, April 14, arraigned Leslie D. Burton, 41, and Carrie R. Peterson, 35, on charges of possessing or manufacturing an incendiary or explosive device with malicious intent. The charge is a 15-year felony.

According to a bond recommendation from prosecutors, Michigan State Police troopers at about 1:30 a.m. on April 12 arrested Burton and Peterson with five Molotov cocktails in their possession. Troopers located the pair about 50 yards from a Saginaw womans house.

The troopers had spotted the pair acting suspiciously while they were on patrol. When they stopped them, the found a bag containing the Molotovs nearby, prosecutors said.

The codefendants alleged the woman had burned down Petersons house days prior, prosecutors wrote.

There is a significant threat to the safety of (the woman) and others associated in this case, where already one arson has occurred and a second may have been prevented, prosecutors wrote.

Saginaw Fire Marshall Derron Suchodolski said a fire was reported at Petersons house at 3236 Lowell St. at 9:41 a.m. on April 8. The blaze left the structure a total loss, though there were no injuries, he said.

The house of Carrie Peterson at 3236 Lowell St. in Saginaw, which burned April 8, 2023.

The circumstances surrounding the fire are suspicious, Suchodolski said. He added the fire remains under investigation and a definitive ruling on its origins is pending.

The woman Burton and Peterson were allegedly targeting for revenge has not been charged with an offense related to the fire at Petersons house.

At the Friday arraignment, attorney Emilie Lyday asked the judge to refer Burtons and Petersons cases to the Office of Assigned Counsel. Lyday said both Burton and Peterson are lifelong Saginaw residents. Peterson graduated from high school and is employed at an area hotel, while Burton went as far as the 11th grade and works at a local party store, Lyday said.

Lyday asked Clark set reasonable bonds for both defendants.

Peterson is on probation for a larceny in a building conviction, having been sentenced to two years of it in December 2021.

Clark set each defendants bond at $35,000 cash-surety or 10%. As such, the defendants need only post $3,500 or go through a bonding agency and pay them a fee of 25% of that 10%, meaning their minimum bonds are $875. If they post bond, they are to wear tethers.

He and this lady, it sounds pretty dangerous, if the allegations are true, Clark said after setting Burtons bond. Its scary.

Burton and Peterson are to appear for a preliminary examination at 10:30 a.m. on May 5.

Read more:

More than a year later, was Michigan womans mysterious death murder?

Saginaw dad accused of killing baby son has competency restored to stand trial

Complaints detail overcrowding, ailing cats at Amazing Grace Animal Rescue in Saginaw County
Under Michigans clean slate law, the states automatic expungement process went into effect this month.

The state anticipated there would be one million residents who will have convictions automatically erased for various prior convictions. Formerly incarcerated Michiganders and criminal justice reform advocates have said automatic expungement would remove barriers preventing the formerly incarcerated from receiving job opportunities, education and housing.

Heres a breakdown of what automatic expungement means:

What is a clean slate law?

Michigans automatic expungement, or clean slate law, went into effect on April 11, 2021, but because of a two-year implementation period, it didnt impact people until now.

The Michigan State Police launched the automatic expungement program, which will search the states criminal historical record database daily for eligible convictions to automatically expunge.

Once expunged, a law enforcement agency will be unable to make public the record of a persons arrest, fingerprinting, conviction or sentence.

Which convictions are eligible to be automatically expunged?

State police will automatically erase up to four eligible misdemeanors punishable by 93 days or more in jail seven years after the sentencing date.

There is no limit on the number of eligible misdemeanors punishable by 92 days or less that can be automatically erased. If the conviction is recorded and maintained by the state police, it will be erased seven years after the sentencing date. If the conviction is maintained only in a courts system, the court is responsible for setting aside the conviction seven years after the sentencing date.

Two eligible felony convictions will be automatically set aside 10 years after either the sentencing date for the conviction or completion of the sentence in a Michigan Department of Corrections facility, whichever occurs later.

Which convictions are not eligible to be automatically expunged?

Convictions for the following crimes, or attempts of, are not eligible for automatic expungement under the law: assault, a crime of dishonesty such as fraud or forgery, any violation related to human trafficking or any offense punishable by 10 or more years imprisonment. In addition, crimes involving a minor, vulnerable adult, injury or death are not eligible.

Additionally excluded are serious misdemeanors, crimes such as domestic violence, staking, indecent exposure, fourth-degree child abuse or breaking and entering.

There are also certain traffic offenses that cannot be expunged, including a conviction for driving under the influence, a commercial motor vehicle violation or crimes involving vehicle crashes causing injury or death.

Even if a conviction does not meet any of the above criteria, an individual must not have any criminal charges pending with the state police in order to qualify for automatic expungement.

What steps are required for a person to be automatically expunged?

Unlike the traditional petition process for expungement, records automatically cleared wont require any action on the part of the recipient and should be cost-free. Residents with convictions that do not qualify for automatic expungement may still go through the traditional expungement application process, however.

The Michigan State Police will pass information about any convictions which have been automatically expunged to the court system on a daily basis.

Residents who believe they qualify for automatic expungement can use a debit or credit card and pay $10 to check the Internet Criminal History Access Tool, a Michigan State Police database to view their public records.

What happens if a conviction is improperly set aside?

If its determined that a persons record was improperly expunged, the record can be reinstated by a court.

If a persons conviction is automatically cleared but a motion is made by a person or a court that they owe restitution, that persons conviction may also be reinstated.

Read more from MLive:

State gets new gun laws, EV projects net $410M: Your guide to Michigan politics

In Michigan, polluter liability can be elusive but reforms are in the wind

Michigan farmers hop off hamster wheel of traditional cash crops, into products

Boreal forest stores more carbon than tropical forests, MSU Smithsonian exhibit shows
It used to be that if you were vegan, you had to resort to a plate of French fries or a wilted side salad if you wanted to eat out. These days
A psychiatric hospital in Southeast Michigan is set to be demolished to make room for a new, $325-million psychiatric complex.

On Monday, April 17, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced plans to build a new, state-of-the art facility in place of the existing Hawthorn Center on Haggerty Road in Northville. The current in-patient facility opened its doors in 1956 and needs to be replaced due to aging infrastructure, officials said.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the legislature allocated $325 from the 2023 fiscal year budget for the project, which is expected to begin this fall with an anticipated completion in 2026.

During construction, patients and staff from the existing Hawthorn Center will be moved to a separate unit at the Walter P. Reuther Psychiatric Hospital in Westland. Together, the two sites serve nearly 200 patients.

The new facility is expected to have about 260 beds, though that could change as designs are not yet complete. Once finished, the site will house the patients and staff from both the Hawthorn Center and the Walter P. Reuther Psychiatric Hospital, the latter of which opened its doors in 1979 and also has an aging infrastructure.

We are excited to be able to provide Michigan families in need of in-patient, behavioral health care a new state-of-the-art hospital in southeastern Michigan, said MDHHS Director Elizabeth Hertel, in a prepared statement.

The modern facility will allow MDHHS to continue providing quality, compassionate care to both children and adults. The consolidation of two of our current hospitals will also allow for efficiencies in administrative and support services while maintaining separate living and treatment facilities for adults and children.

The new Northville complex will serve patients of all ages. Itll have distinct facilities with separate living and programmatic spaces for children and adults, though it will share administration and food service.

As of April 2023, Michigan operates five inpatient hospitals, which serve nearly 650 patients with severe mental illness or intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The state sites include the Caro Center in Tuscola County, Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital and Walter Reuther Psychiatric Hospital, which serve adults patients, plus the Hawthorn Center, which serves children and adolescents, and the Center for Forensic Psychiatry in Saline, which provides diagnostic services for the criminal justice system and psychiatric treatment for criminal defendants.

A new, 200-bed facility had previously been approved by the legislature in 2017 to replace the Caro Center in Tuscola County, but Whitmer halted construction on the planned $115-million replacement hospital in March 2019 after state officials voiced concerns regarding staffing, ability for patients families to be involved in their treatment, and water accessibility. MDHHS wound up recommending that Caro keep an 84-bed hospital in place.

State Budget Director Christopher Harkins called the new facility in Northville a perfect example of how the state is leveraging one-time resources for long-term strategic investments.

We are thoughtfully and deliberately building the new facility on the current Hawthorn Center site, which is a convenient location for staff and patient families, and sustains a relationship with the community of Northville, which has long been a partner to the state of Michigan. This project will provide benefits for years into the future.

Read more on MLive:

Charging your phone in public? Beware of juice jacking

Trains should be shorter, better staffed to prevent derailments, Michigan senators say

5 things to know about new automatic expungement in Michigan

Wallet Watch: Why a Michigan farm grows an ancient grain from Ethiopia
A delegation from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is in the country to understudy the design and operational framework of the National Petroleum Authoritys (NPAs) fuel marking programme.

MAMO, DRC has been subcontracted by Authentix to deploy the fuel marking programme in the South and East of the DRC.

The Chief Executive Officer of MAMO, Mr. Paul Kasseyet, and the MD of MAMO, Mr. Gerard Mulimbi, have therefore, visited Ghana to gain a better insight into the Petroleum Product Marking Scheme (PPMS), which the Authority has implemented to effectively monitor the quality of petroleum products along the supply and distribution chain.

Welcoming the delegation at the NPA on Wednesday, the Chief Executive of the NPA, Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, said relations between Ghana and the DRC stretched back to the days of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and Patrice Lumumba, and that Dr. Nkrumah intervened in the peacekeeping mission in DRC.

The NPA Boss said he was excited whenever sister African countries visit to learn from one another to help the African course, stressing that no one will help us if we do not help ourselves.

He said stories on DRC from the narrative of the Western media were not so good but the country had other positive sides that needed to be projected.

Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid said the NPA was ready to share its experiences with DRC in the regulation of the petroleum downstream industry. For instance, the Petroleum Product Marking Scheme (PPMS) was important in curbing fuel smuggling, ensuring the payment of the right taxes and availability of quality petroleum products on the market.

The fuel marking programme has multiple advantages. If you come on board, it is worth it, he said.

The Chief Executive Officer of MAMO and leader of the delegation, Mr. Paul Kasseyet, in his remarks lauded Ghana for its steady development over the years, describing the country as one of the few success stories on the continent.

Mr. Kasseyet said Ghanaians seemed to downplay the progress that the country had chalked because they were in it.

I always mention Ghana as an example of development on the continent. But because you are in the country, you take it as business as usual but it has been impressive.

I know what the African standard is. You (Ghana) are above the standard, he said.

Mr. Kasseyet said his team believed that the NPAs PPMS was of the accepted international standard, hence the interest to come and learn how it operates and implement it DRC.

Mr. Kasseyet requested the NPA Boss and his team to pay a visit to DRC to give insight into the regulation of the petroleum downstream industry.

Source: National Petroleum Authority
Ghana is optimistic about concluding the ongoing negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the 3billion dollar support, Member of Parliament (MP)for Akim Swedru in the Eastern Region Hon Kennedy Osei Nyarko has said.

He gave this assurance when he took part in the IMF discussions in Washington DC in the USA.

Hon Kennedy Osei Nyarko said the main concerns of the government include the process of concluding talks with the IMF, as well as the specific assistance that would help Ghana fast-track the process of its economic recovery.

Yesterdays meeting at the IMF was positive. I was excited to hear from the IMF that both Ghana and Zambia are two countries that were doing well in their respective economies until the Covid-19 and Ukraine war. The IMF believes these two countries are positive examples for developing countries faced with economic challenges in recent times. They have indicated to fast track the board decision approvals for these two countries within the shortest possible time since they are going to use them as a case study for the other countries trying to seek same fiscal and debts restructuring supports.

"The good thing is that the IMF admitted that Ghana was doing something right until these two crises confronted it. The IMF has indicated that there were about twenty (20) other countries that have also putting in requests for various fund programs. The issue has become a global crisis which the IMF is finding it difficult to contain it because of the issue of private creditors role in the debts restructuring processes, Hon Kennedy Osei Nyarko disclosed on his Facebook wall after attending the IMF meeting.

After months of speculation, Ghana, on July 1, 2022, announced that it was going to the IMF to seek support.

Subsequently, the government, in December 2022, reached a staff-level agreement with the fund as part of processes leading to a bailout.

Ghana is now struggling to secure the board level approval.
17.04.2023 LISTEN

The national genebank, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research-Plant Genetic Resources Research Institute (CSIR-PGRRI), was set up as a strategic investment for the agricultural sector in Ghana. As the national genebank, the CSIR-PGRRI is mandated to collect and conserve the plant genetic resources (PGR) of Ghana and to coordinate all PGR activities in the country. Plant genetic resources are the sum total of all hereditary material in a single (interbreeding) plant species containing useful characters of actual or potential value. They are the basic raw materials for crop improvement.

With a unique and diverse collection of over 6,000 accessions of crop wild relatives, improved varieties in current use and landraces that are crucial to promoting food security, agriculture, and biodiversity conservation in the country, the genebank should be a top priority for the government of Ghana. Plant breeders for instance, can use the genetic diversity of these plant resources to develop new crop varieties that are better adapted to local growing conditions, resistant to pests and diseases, and with improved nutritional quality, thereby improving food security in the country. This aligns with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 - Zero Hunger.

The CSIR-PGRRI also has regional significance beyond Ghana, as it is an essential partner in regional and global initiatives that aim to conserve and use plant genetic resources sustainably. The CSIR-PGRRI is one of a few multi-crop genebanks globally. The genetic resources conserved at this genebank can be shared with other countries in the West African sub-region, promoting regional cooperation and collaboration in plant breeding and research. This aligns with SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals.

Ghana's genetic resources are under threat from factors such as climate change, deforestation, and urbanization. The maintenance of the CSIR-PGRRI is critical for the conservation of Ghana's genetic resources, ensuring that they are available for use now and in the future. Developing crop varieties that are more resilient to climate change can help Ghana to mitigate the impact of climate change on the agricultural sector. This aligns with SDG 13 - Climate Action.

Furthermore, the genetic resources conserved at the national genebank are essential for maintaining the country's biodiversity and supporting sustainable agriculture. Improved agricultural productivity resulting from the use of genetic resources stored at the national genebank can help reduce poverty in rural areas by increasing farmers' incomes. This aligns with SDG 1 - No Poverty.

Investing in the national genebank can also help to improve gender equality in the agricultural sector by providing women farmers with access to improved crop varieties and other plant genetic resources that are better adapted to marginal lands, which most often, women farmers and other disadvantaged segments of the population cultivate their crops on. This aligns with SDG 5 - Gender Equality.

In addition to the above, the plant genetic resources conserved at the national genebank are essential for research and development in various fields, including agriculture, biotechnology, and medicine. Researchers can use these resources to develop new technologies and products, which can create new industries and enhance economic growth.

Therefore, the government of Ghana must prioritize the maintenance of the CSIR-PGRRI by providing sufficient funding and requisite infrastructure to ensure that the genebank is properly resourced to fulfil its mandate of ensuring the long term sustainable onservation of the plant genetic resources of Ghana for use by researchers, plant breeders, and farmers. This will contribute to achieving multiple SDGs. Thus, investing in the national genebank should be considered as a strategic priority by the government of Ghana.

The writers are Researchers with the National Genebank, the CSIR-PGRRI, located at Bunso, Eastern Region, Ghana.

The CSIR-PGRRI has the mandate to collect, characterize, evaluate, document, conserve, distribute and utilize plant genetic resources (PGR) from Ghana and abroad. Our goal is to ensure the effective conservation and use of PGR for food security and sustainable agricultural development.

Get in touch:
Fighting in Sudan raged for a second day Sunday in battles between rival generals who seized power in a 2021 coup, leaving over 50 civilians including three UN staff dead and sparking international alarm.

Deafening explosions and intense gunfire rattled buildings in the capital Khartoum's densely-populated northern and southern suburbs as tanks rumbled on the streets and fighter jets roared overhead, witnesses said.

Violence erupted early Saturday after weeks of power struggles between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, commander of the heavily-armed paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), with each accusing the other of starting the fight.

"The gunfire and explosions are incessant," said 34-year-old Ahmed Hamid from a northern Khartoum suburb.

This combination of pictures shows army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (L) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commander, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo (R). By ASHRAF SHAZLY (AFP/File)

"The situation is very worrying and it doesn't seem like it will calm anytime soon," said Ahmed Seif, another Khartoum resident, who fears his building had been damaged by gunfire but said it was too dangerous to go outside to check.

Both sides claim they control key sites, while state television broadcasted patriotic songs without commentary.

Daglo's RSF say they have seized the presidential palace, Khartoum airport and other strategic sites, but the army insist they are in charge.

Footage obtained by AFP showed heavy smoke billowing from a building near the army headquarters in Khartoum, with the military saying a building had "caught fire" amid the clashes but that it had been contained.

On Sunday, the stench of gunpowder wafted through Khartoum's streets, deserted except by soldiers as frightened civilians sheltered inside their homes.

Civilians 'not a target'

Map of the Sudanese capital of Khartoum.. By (AFP)

The Central Committee of Sudan Doctors said they had recorded 56 civilians killed as well as "tens of deaths" among security forces, and around 600 wounded.

Fighting has also erupted outside Khartoum, including in the troubled western Darfur region and in the eastern border state of Kassala, where witness Hussein Saleh said the army had fired artillery at a paramilitary camp.

The United Nations said three employees of its World Food Programme (WFP) had been killed in clashes in North Darfur.

It was not immediately clear whether the three deaths on Saturday were included in the tally provided by the medics.

UN Special Representative Volker Perthes condemned the killings in a statement, saying "civilian and humanitarian aid workers are not a target."

He said he was also "appalled by reports of projectiles hitting UN and other humanitarian premises humanitarian premises in several locations in Darfur".

People carry their belongings in Khartoum on Sunday as fighting continues between rival forces. By - (AFP)

WFP said an aircraft managed by the organisation "was also significantly damaged" at Khartoum airport.

Medics on social media have continued to call for help, pleading for safe corridors for ambulances and a ceasefire to treat the victims, warning the streets were too dangerous to bring many casualties to hospitals.

Created in 2013, the RSF emerged from the Janjaweed militia that then-president Omar al-Bashir unleashed against non-Arab ethnic minorities in the western Darfur region a decade earlier, drawing accusations of war crimes.

The RSF's planned integration into the regular army was a key element of talks to finalise a deal that would return the country to civilian rule and end the political-economic crisis sparked by the military's 2021 coup.

'No negotiations'

Two men cross a deserted street in Khartoum's twin city Omdourman on April 16, on the second day of clashes between rival military forces in Sudan. By - (AFP)

UN chief Antonio Guterres called for "an immediate cessation of hostilities", while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the fighting "threatens the security and safety of Sudanese civilians".

Similar appeals came from the African Union, Britain, China, the European Union and Russia, while Pope Francis said he was following the events "with concern" and urged dialogue.

The AU is to hold an emergency meeting on Sunday, as is the Arab League, following a request by Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

But the two generals appear in no mood for talks. In an interview with UAE-based Sky News Arabia, Daglo, also known as Hemeti, said, "Burhan the criminal must surrender".

The army declared Daglo a "wanted criminal" and the RSF a "rebel militia", saying there "will be no negotiations or talks until the dissolution" of the group.

People run past a military vehicle in Khartoum. By - (AFP)

The latest violence, during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, came after more than 120 civilians had already been killed in a crackdown on regular pro-democracy demonstrations over the past 18 months.

The October 2021 coup triggered international aid cuts and sparked near-weekly protests, adding to the deepening troubles of one of the world's poorest countries.

Burhan, a career soldier from northern Sudan who rose through the ranks under the three-decade rule of now jailed Islamist general Bashir, has said the coup was "necessary" to include more factions into politics.

Daglo later called the coup a "mistake" that failed to bring about change and reinvigorated remnants of Bashir's regime ousted by the army in 2019 following mass protests.
The countries of the G7 group pledged on Sunday to "accelerate" their "exit" from fossil fuels in all sectors, but without setting a new deadline, and decided to jointly target zero new plastic pollution by 2040.

After two days of talks in the northern city of Sapporo, the bloc's climate and environment ministers vowed to "accelerate the phase-out of unabated fossil fuels so as to achieve net zero in energy systems by 2050 at the latest... and call on others to join us in taking the same action".

But they offered no new deadlines beyond last year's G7 pledge to largely end fossil fuel use in their electricity sectors by 2035.

France's energy transition minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher said the "phase-out" wording was nonetheless a "strong step forward" ahead of the G20 and COP28 summits.

Britain and France had put forward a new goal of ending "unabated" coal power  which does not take steps to offset emissions  in G7 electricity systems this decade.

But with global energy supplies still squeezed by the war in Ukraine, the target faced pushback from other members, including bloc president Japan and the United States.

Fear of backsliding on pledges

"I would obviously have liked to have been able to make a commitment to phase out coal by 2030," Pannier-Runacher told French news agency AFP.

But "it is one issue on which we can still make progress in forthcoming discussions, particularly at COP28", the UN climate conference to be held in Dubai this November.

The Group of Seven industrialised nations, which also includes Germany, Italy, Canada and the EU, all target net-zero emissions by 2050 or sooner after signing the Paris Agreement to cap warming at well under 2 degrees Celsius, and ideally 1.5C.

The ministers had been under pressure to announce bold steps after a major UN climate report warned last month that 1.5C increases would be seen in about a decade without "rapid and far-reaching" action.

But campaigners expressed fears ahead of the talks that Japan, supported by Germany and others, could lead backsliding on pledges such as ending new overseas fossil fuel financing.

G7 leaders said last year that the "exceptional circumstances" of Russia's war in Ukraine made gas investments "appropriate as a temporary response".

Sunday's statement contains similar language, but also sets multiple parameters around such investments and highlights the "primary need" for "gas demand reduction".

Road map for climate crisis

Still, climate campaigners warned the ambiguity sends the wrong message.

"The science is crystal clear that leaving the door open to investments in new gas or (liquefied natural gas) leaves the G7 off track for 1.5C," said Laurie van der Burg of Oil Change International.

Japan's energy minister Yasutoshi Nishimura nonetheless characterised the communique as "ambitious" and praised the G7 for "recognising diverse paths towards carbon neutrality" during the energy crisis.

Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, told AFP he was pleased with the statement.

"It combines our current energy security concerns and it also provides a road map on how we deal with the climate crisis," he said, adding that Japan had played a "responsible and constructive" role.

The bloc however stopped short of endorsing Japan's strategy of burning hydrogen and ammonia alongside fossil fuels to reduce emissions, which activists say only serves to extend the lifespan of polluting plants.

Its statement simply notes that "some countries are exploring" the potential of hydrogen fuels, adding that this should be "aligned with a 1.5C pathway".

Move on plastic pollution

G7 nations on Sunday also committed to eliminating plastic pollution by 2040, an attainable goal thanks to the rise of the circular economy and the reduction or banning of single-use plastics and non-recyclables, according to Sunday's statement.

Global plastic production almost doubled between 2000 and 2019, from 234 million tonnes to 460 million tonnes, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Plastic waste more than doubled in that time, reaching 353 million tonnes in 2019.

But global production fell slightly in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic for only the third time in the history of modern industry, according to trade association Plastics Europe.

Plastic makes up at least 85 percent of total marine waste, according to the UN Environment Assembly.

A year ago in Nairobi, 175 countries convened to put an end to plastic pollution worldwide by developing a legally-binding United Nations treaty by the end of 2024. The next session to negotiate the treaty is scheduled for May in Paris.

Among the anticipated measures is a global ban on single-use plastics, the establishment of a "polluter-pays" system and a tax on the production of new plastic.

(with AFP)
A presidential hopeful of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwabena Agyei Agyepong is embarking on 4-day campaign in the world bank of the party towards rallying support for his campaign.

He has requested to meet with the Regional Executive Committee, starting Monday, April 24, 2023 and ending on Friday, April 28, 2023.

Kwabena Agyapong had declared his intention to contest the flagbearership position of our great party, the NPP with slogan New Dawn.

He been to several regions to interact with the relevant party stakeholders and intend to continue his regional visitations with that of the Ashanti Region.

In a letter signed by the former General Secretary of the party, sighted by DGN Online read I respectfully request your permission to meet your Regional Executive Committee (the 17 Regional Executives, 5 selected members of the Regional Council of Elders, 8 regional Representatives to the National Council, and the officers from each of the 47 Constituencies which include the Chairman, Secretary, Constituency Organiser, Womem's Organiser, Youth Organiser and Nasara Coordinator), and any surviving signatories to the NPP's initial registration at the Electoral Commission in 1992.

The meetings which will be scheduled for 12 noon each day will be conducted in five zones, namely the Kumasi Zone, the Adansi Zone, the Sekyere Zone, the Abuakwa Zone and the Mampong Zone, at a location to be approved by the Regional Chairman. Please find attached the full scheduled programme for your perusal.

The week-long stay in the region, will also see Mr. Agyapong having several media engagements with some of the major media outlets in the Ashanti Region as well as possibly meeting with members of TESCON in one of the tertiary institutions in the Region.

Mr. Agyapong was the Press Secretary to the President John Agyekum Kufuor from 2001  2006 and Former General Secretary, NPP.

He contested for the party's flagbearership position in 2007 along with 16 others, losing to then candidate Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

-DGN online
16.04.2023 LISTEN

The Minister for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Stephen Asamoah Boateng, has assured the people of Bawku in the Upper East Region that, government will use legitimate means and the rule of law to resolve the protracted ethnic conflict in the area.

The protracted Bawku ethnic conflict has resulted in the loss of lives and property making the vibrant business hub municipality a ghost town with high attrition of public sector workers to safer areas to work.

As a result, stakeholders have bemoaned the impact of the conflict on the development of the area and appealed to government to find a lasting solution to the Bawku ethnic conflict.

But speaking at the Bawku Naba's palace on Saturday, April 15, 2023, during a working visit, Mr. Stephen Boateng, reassured government's commitment to using dialogue and the rule of law in bringing lasting peace to Bawku.

We believe in the rule of law and the job of any government is to maintain peace and order. If you wake up in the morning, you must be free enough to do what you want to do, and it is the states responsibility to protect you. And that is the assurance I can give you, law and order are always at the heart of government.

The rule of law is our belief, and we will pursue it and make sure that people are happy and people abide by the rule of law so that we can all live peacefully. I will go behind the scenes, we will do a private chat, and we will draw a road map that we can all (Kusasis and Mamprusis) follow. I know there will be difficulties along the way, there will be challenges and compromises along the way and I know the core values will be protected so at the end of it, there will be lasting peace and the nation will be one people with a common agenda.

Mr. Boateng, appealed for goodwill and blessings of the Bawku Naba, Zugraan Asigri Abugrago Azorka II, to help his outfit resolve the Bawku ethnic impasse.

He reiterated that his outfit was ever ready to provide clarity on any issue(s) or concerns of the Bawku Naba.

I need prayers and goodwill, and if there is something you don't understand you reach out to me, I will explain and if I need to step I will do that.

For his part, Zugraan Azorka II commended Mr. Stephen Boateng for the visit to his traditional area and urged him to use his office to ensure the restoration of law and order in Bawku whilst working on lasting peace for the area.

The Minister had earlier visited the overlord of Mamprugu, the Nayire, Naa Bohagu Mahami Abdulai Sheriga, to discuss the road map for bringing lasting peace to Bawku.

-citinewsroom
16.04.2023 LISTEN

Management of the Okuapeman Senior High School located in the Akuapem North Municipality is appealing to the government, corporate organizations, NGOs and philanthropists to assist the school to replace stolen computers of visually impaired students of the school.

About 10 desktop computers, 4 laptop computers and a sound system which is mostly used by students for their oral English were taken away after thieves broke into the ICT lab of the visually impaired students.

The incident happened when the school went on a short break during the Easter festivities.

In an interview with Citi News on the impact of the incident as the students are expected to write their WASSCE in 3 months time, a senior management member said the performance of the visually impaired students will be affected if they do not get computers for the exams.

Even before this incident, our computers were not enough, it did not even make the number and now this has happened and it will exacerbate our situation especially when we have WASSCE in 3 months time that is in July. We dont have computers and sound system, so it will affect our preparation towards the WASSCE and the conduct of the exams itself.

A good number of our students are blind and do not know how to use the braille at all, computer is the only medium by which they write exams so if we do not get the computers it will cause a lot of problems for us. Because it happened during the break and the students were not around, they are now reporting so when they come we will talk to them and prepare them psychologically because when they come, they might think since that is the only medium by which they use to write their exams they will think their WASSCE is in jeopardy, so we need to prepare them psychologically.

The source added, We would want to appeal to the general public, and government through the Ministry of Education, corporate Ghana, NGO and churches that this is an emergency, and we need their support as soon as possible to come to our side with about 20 desktop computers and 10 laptop computers before July so we can prepare the visually impaired students for the WASSCE exams, and we will also need a good sounds system for oral English and lectures at the center, when we get these items our visually impaired students will prepare well for the exams to enable them excel.

-citinewsroom
Favorite neighborhood haunts in suburbia are usually ones where everybody knows your name no matter what time of year it is.
At least 32 defence volunteers and 10 soldiers have died in suspected jihadist attacks in insurgency-hit northern Burkina Faso, officials said on Sunday.

A detachment of soldiers and the civilian volunteers "was the target of an attack by unidentified armed men on Saturday... at about 4:00 pm," near Aorema village, the Ouahigouya governorate said in a statement.

The army said the death toll was 40 -- eight soldiers and 32 defence volunteers, adding that "at least 50 terrorists" were "neutralised" in the counter-attack, including a number killed in air strikes.

On Sunday, there was "another attack targeting the military detachment of Kongoussi (Bam province, North Central region)", according to the same source, who reported "two soldiers" killed and "about 20 terrorists neutralised".

The governorate of the northern region said that 33 people wounded in the first attack were "in stable condition" and currently being taken care of in the regional capital.

According to a security source contacted by AFP, the detachment targeted by Saturday's attack was charged with ensuring "the security of the Ouahigouya airfield that was targeted".

"Heavy fighting did indeed take place yesterday (Saturday) night" for "almost two hours," said a local.

He also claimed that "several air strikes targeted positions of suspected jihadists" on Friday.

Burkina Faso's military junta had declared Thursday a "general mobilisation" to give the state "all necessary means" to combat a string of bloody attacks blamed on jihadists affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.

State of emergency

Details of the plan were not disclosed, though a security source told AFP it would include "a state of emergency for the affected territories".

Authorities also issued an "advisory" that gives the president "the right to requisition people, goods and services and the right to restrain certain civil liberties", according to another security source.

On Tuesday, the defence minister called for current and retired military personnel to hand in unused uniforms to help outfit army soldiers.

Last week, 44 civilians were reported killed by "armed terrorist groups" in two villages in the northeast, near the Niger border.

It was one of the deadliest attacks against civilians since Captain Ibrahim Traore came to power last September, after 51 soldiers were killed in February at Deou, in the far north.

The government had already announced the same month a plan to recruit 5,000 more soldiers to battle the insurgency that has gripped one of the world's poorest countries since 2015.

Traore, Burkina's transitional president, has declared a goal of recapturing the 40 percent of the country's territory which is controlled by jihadists.

The violence has left more than 10,000 people dead, according to non-governmental aid groups, and displaced two million people from their homes.
17.04.2023 LISTEN

The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has told a gathering of students, academics and the business community at Harvard university during the African Development Conference at the Harvard Law School that Africa can only develop and realise its full potential by breaking the shackles of impossibility mindset and embrace the mindset of possibility.

The truth is that we have for long been shackled by an impossibility mindset that is probably the result of the experience of years of slavery and colonialism. We don't believe in ourselves, Dr Bawumia stated.

He charged that African countries can do what the advanced countries have done and more, adding, It is possible.

Dr Bawumia was speaking on the theme: Reimagining Africa's growth on our terms.

He further indicated that at the heart of this vision of reimagining Africas growth is the transformative power of technology.

In his view, the greatest bane to the development of Africa is the continents inability to solve the basic problems of the absence of unique identity for its population, functioning property address systems, financial inclusion, payment systems, efficient public service delivery among others that underpin the continents economic activities.

For many years after independence, he said Africa has been trying to transform its economies without data and transparent systems. Without data and systems, he said, African countries cannot participate in the fourth Industrial Revolution.

Source: Classfmonline.com
Legal Counsel to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Kow Essuman, has rejected claims that the President knows a self-described Financial Architect Alistair Mathias captured in a recent documentary by Aljazeera.

Aljazeera, in a four-part investigative documentary series, uncovered damning evidence of gold smuggling and money laundering syndicates in Zimbabwe, with Ghana implicated.

Undercover journalists posing as Chinese gangsters engaged Alistair Mathias, a self-described Financial Architect who has a track record of successfully orchestrating such syndicates.

Mathias revealed that he had executed similar schemes in Ghana and claimed to be good friends with its President, whom he also said used to be his lawyer.

Reacting to this comment, the Legal Counsel to President Akufo-Addo described Mathias allegation as spurious calling on Ghanaians to ignore it.

According to him, the President has not been in private practice since 2000 and his lawyer has never acted as Mathias counsel.

The President has not been in private practice since 2000, neither has the President nor his law firm, Akufo-Addo, Prempeh and Co, acted as lawyer for this Alistair Mathias or Guldrest. The President does not know this Mathias or Guldrest. Ignore the spurious allegations, Ekow Essuman wrote on Twitter.

Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo has denied any recollection of acting as a lawyer for Mathias or his company, while Mathias himself has denied ever being awarded any tender by the Ghanaian government or entering into any government contracts in any African country.

citinewsroom
Emmanuel Baiden, popularly known as Abukabakar Sadik, a resident of Ntankoful, a community in the Sekondi Takoradi Metropolis of the Western Region has been laid to rest.

The 25-year-old Emmanuel Baiden was allegedly killed by police.

He was arrested by some officers of the Western Region Police Command after he was accused of being an armed robber.

Efforts by family members, friends, and other residents to have access to the station he was taken to after the arrest proved futile.

The family was later informed by the Command that the deceased died of gunshot wounds.

The family tells Nhyiraba Paa Kwesi Simpson , the host of Connect FMs Omanbapa morning show, that it was informed by the police that the deceased relative was killed whilst exchanging gunshots with the police.

He was arrested in his house by the police, and they are telling us he was exchanging gunshots with the police and died in the process. We don't know how to believe this story but we leave it to God, Muhammed Jawal, a family spokesperson, indicated.

An autopsy was later performed at the Police Hospital in Accra where it was confirmed that the suspect died of gunshot.

When we arrived at the mortuary in Accra, we were informed that the body of our relative had been bagged and so we should take him away. We insisted on ensuring an autopsy was performed on the body, they removed the bag and showed us gunshot wounds on his chest. We were later told that he was shot at close range. We wanted to know why a person arrested ended up being shot but the police told us we cannot show them their job, Assembly Member for Ntankoful Pascal Hagan indicated.

In the meantime, another resident of Ntankoful, Ouattara, who was arrested together with the late Abubakar Sadik, is missing.

According to the Assembly member, they believe he has also been killed by the police.

When we arrived at the morgue in Accra, the attendant informed us that two bodies were brought in by the police from Takoradi on that day. He wanted us to take away both bodies but we were denied access by the police. We suspect that was the body of Ouattara, we think he has also been killed. I'm meeting his family members and we shall confront the police on his whereabouts because we have not had any information about him since he was arrested with Abu, he indicated.

-3news.com
Ghana and social media are filled with reports and statements that the ruling party National People's Party NPP is not willing to vacate Flagstaff House, Office of the President of Ghana, in case the party will lose the December 2024 General Election and make possibly a way for the NDC currently in opposition.

To announce this 1, 5 years before the election has two lines of strategy. One is the blackmail of the voters to vote for them to avoid a possible civil war or in case this should not work out to have gathered enough food soldiers behind the party to fight the battle for the party elders overseen from safe heaven outside the nation.

Any movement has its raw model that can be used for strategizing its own position and interest. Yesterday, Saturday 15th, 2023 fighting between rival Generals in Sudan broke out. Opposing superpowers over the war in Ukraine cooperate to solve this crisis as Russia and China in peace and stable condition want to exploit the natural resources of Sudan needed for their domestic economy. The USA needs political stability in the region, Europe is filled with unwanted migrants and Arab countries want peace in a not-too-far Muslim nation.

Military regimes in Mali and Burkina Faso are in addition a factor for NPP leaders to consider or look up to. A power-sharing agreement for Sudan is peace limited by time until the personal ego of one military leader breaks through and turns the country upside down again.

Political advisors of the superpower presidents know of the fragility of such power-sharing agreements. What is on the surface a peaceful situation starts behind the scenes to mature into the next deadly conflict. Europe is fed up with unwanted migrants.

At this moment Ghana NPP makes unwanted noises that are not entirely rhetorical threats but must be taken seriously.

Military officers can only be in power for a certain transition period. As the old political elite and the political constitutional system had led to the coup new ideas and people must take control to bring long-lasting prosperity.

The world behind the scenes is following the situation in Ghana closely with ample time to think about a better solution for the nation than currently discussed.
Court dwarfs, Benin, Nigeria, now in World Museum, Vienna, Austria. Would they ever come home to Benin City, Nigeria?

17.04.2023 LISTEN

Did the thieves acknowledge that they stole these objects, and that by stealing these objects they killed communities, they killed life-giving practices? That is where there is a crime. There is a crime because of the spiritual loss, the rupture of an evolution and the impossibility of a transmission of knowledge. And this immaterial knowledge cannot be reinvented. It is a very serious crime and, for me, to collect thousands of objects to bring us two or three, no. And to ask us if we have museums to keep them, no. Where have we seen a thief ask the owner to create the conditions to bring back stolen goods? When you steal and you are caught, you return. If the owner wants to burn, he burns, if he wants to throw away, he throws away, if he wants to desecrate, he desecrates, if he wants to make sacred again, he does so. Massamba Gueye,

Massamba Gueye: We need a Truth and Reconciliation Commission on restitutions between Africa and Europe - JusticeInfo.net

We read that Nigeria agreed to loan many Benin artefacts to Germany. (1) Many questions arise from such loans. Are all the objects on temporary or permanent loans? We have no evidence to support a permanent or temporary loan. There is nowhere to check since the memorandum of understanding that regulates the matter has yet to be made public. However, the director of Hamburgs Museum am RothenbaumWorld Cultures and Arts speaking for her museum stated:

The bronzes wont leave an empty space in my museums collection, partly because we are allowed to keep some on a permanent loan.

A third of the 179 Benin pieces in the Hamburg museum will remain there. (2)

Three of the 92 Benin artefacts in RautenstrauchJost Museum, Cologne, were given to Nigeria, and fifty-two will follow. The remaining thirty-seven will stay in Cologne on loan for at least ten years, renewable.

The German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and the Culture Minister Claudia Roth brought back 20 artefacts to Nigeria during their visit of 18-20 December,2022.

Horniman Museum transferred legal rights in seventy-two pieces to Nigeria, from which six were returned. The remaining sixty-six are subject to pending agreement between Nigeria and Horniman.

Oxford Universitys Pitt-Rivers Museum and Ashmolean Museum will return 97 Benin items. The Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at Cambridge University transferred legal rights in 116 Benin objects and will sign an agreement with Nigeria in May 2023 to transfer more than one hundred pieces.

What is the legal nature of these permanent loans? Are they the kind of loan that the late Professor Folarin Shyllon was trying to explain to us, a permanent loan that both parties consider or understand as permanent in transferring full rights? I had argued that the offer of loans of Benin artefacts proposed by the Benin Dialogue Group to Benin/Nigeria was insufficient and that only the total transfer of all legal rights in the artefacts would answer the historical need for restitution. (3)

Do Nigerias recent permanent loans to Germany imply full rights transfer in the artefacts? Could a future Nigerian government request their return, or is this excluded? The Germans are so happy with the agreement that we can only conclude that the loan is permanent.

By which criteria was it determined which objects would remain in Western museums and which should return to Nigeria? Who made the selection? Was the representative of the Oba of Benin actively involved in the selection process?

The timing of the Nigerian loans led us to wonder whether the people of Benin were consulted. The speed with which the loans were made led us to conclude that the persons involved have adopted the Western concept of our artefacts as objects merely for aesthetic contemplation and museum displays and not for any religious or spiritual veneration purpose.

One question that has so far not been raised or considered

is whether there should be loans there any loans to those museums that have held the objects for a hundred years and until very recently refused to acknowledge even their presence in the museums? Some argued the Benin objects were legally acquired as war booty and refused to discuss eventual restitution. Others had allegedly bought them from the free market, conveniently forgetting that they knew the British had looted them in a violent invasion of Benin City in 1897. (4)

Western States and museums denied Africans any capacity to look after their artefacts. Usually, if you approach any bank for a loan, they will first examine your creditworthiness; banks usually will not loan to those who cast aspersions on their reputation or those known to have stolen or misappropriated funds.

So, what is the relationship between an African State such as Nigeria and a Western State such as Germany, which will authorize us to assume we should loan to Germany artefacts Britain stole in 1897?

We have no objections to loans of artefacts to Western states and their museums, but we must be clear about the basis of such actions.

Slavery and the colonial period, the worst and cruel period of relationships between Western states and African peoples, do not offer convincing evidence to support loans of cultural items.

Why should Africans loan national treasures to former enslavers and colonialists? Would Westerners loan national treasures to Nigerians?

Has the Independence period offered a more acceptable basis other than the personal friendships established between some individual Africans and non-African directors? Evidence for improved relations that also extends to African peoples must be provided.

If Nigeria lends so generously to former imperialist powers, how would it lend to African states such as Cameroon, Cote dIvoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Senegal, Tanzania, and Togo? What about Brazil, China, Cuba, India, Russia, Suriname, and all those other states that supported us in the liberation struggle and thus made our Independence and the consequent restitution demands a real possibility? Shall we treat them also generously, or are they not as important as the former colonialists and imperialists? Would the Kunstkammer, St. Petersburg, Russia, keep a third of its 28 Benin artefacts she holds? (5)

Undoubtedly, the Nigerian authorities have thought about the future needs of their museums. There are now fifty-eight national museums in Nigeria, and by the end of the decade, they may well be a hundred museums in Nigeria with

a population of 250 million. How will these museums be provided with sufficient artefacts? Will they have to borrow from Germany and other European States?

Would the Germans be so generous to Nigerians in providing the African state with national icons of German culture? Or do Nigerians not need to learn and appreciate German art by having well-known German artworks in Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna, Enugu, and Benin City? Does the principle of reciprocity not apply in cultural relations between states?

Non-African states and museums that have recently restituted Benin artefacts to Nigeria received loans of Benin artefacts at the same time as the restitution took place. Did they make loans a necessary condition for restitution? (6) I have heard a senior Nigerian official say that one cannot leave these European museums empty. But is there any danger of those Western museums holding Benin artefacts becoming empty because of the removal of those artefacts? Most African items in Western museums are in museum basements. Museums hardly display more than one percent of their total stocks.

Should we be talking about restitution and not minimal restitution? If we paid back five thousand nairas out of a debt of ten thousand nairas to a bank, the bank would speak of partial payment of the debt and not payment. Would this not be more accurate and remind us of the African artefacts that are still under the control of non-Africans? Could there be useful comparisons between partial restitution and partial Independence?

In all discussions about loans of African art to non-African museums, people have yet to mention the possibility of loans of Western art to African museums. What does this say about the relations between African and non-African museums? One of mutual respect or utter contempt of Western museums for Africans? When it was first suggested that Western museums might loan Benin bronzes to Nigeria, three years was proposed as a regular loan period. The British Museum has just loaned Tahiti a Tahitian sculpture for three years. (7)

How long will museum education remain in arrangements between non-African museums and African states? How long shall we be pupils learning from colonial teachers and their institutions? Why can we not establish our schools of Museology? Do we have the will to be independent of Western colonialism but subordinate to Western education, including the negative theories purveyed by the discredited European Enlightenment that conveyed mostly racist ideology about Africans and their intelligence? We will not be able to free ourselves from the racist colonialist ideology at the basis of Western museums if we do not have the will to be free and independent. There has been a general call for Western museums to decolonize. But can they decolonize if African museums are not decolonizing and energetic in this direction?

We have always maintained that what Nigeria does in this area and other spheres is of tremendous importance to the rest of our African Continent. Not only is Nigeria one of the largest African states with a population of two hundred million and vast resources, but also a country with thousands of looted artefacts now in Western museums. Arrangements that Nigeria reaches with non -African States would soon be advanced as the model to follow. But can we follow without carefully examining every step in this restitution process, which has only just started after a hundred years of illegal detention?

Could we, in good conscience, propose to Egypt, Ethiopia, and Ghana to loan a third of their artefacts to states that hitherto have illegally held on to their looted artefacts and refused even to discuss the possibility of restitution?

We understand the subtitle of the Sarr-Savoy report, The Restitution of African Cultural Heritage. Toward a New Relational Ethics (2018) to mean that we should work towards a new relationship between Africa and Europe, based on mutual benefit and mutual respect. We should ban the arrogance and will to dominate by one party, and the acceptance by the other party of unequal and unjust relations, either out of fear or following the centuries-old tradition of colonial submission.

The relationships between Africans and Europeans extend far beyond looted cultural artefacts; the main objective of the Sarr-Savoy report. But there is no reason not to try to improve our relationships as regards the extraordinary slavery period, colonialism, and neo-colonial relationships. We should abolish unequal relationships, and corrective or reparative justice should be the rule. That present ruling classes in African countries do not wish to extend the quest for corrective justice to other domains should not prevent African intellectuals from examining and offering their thoughts on the exploitation of our mineral resources, the exportation of timber, and other economic activities that do not seem to benefit the ordinary African but go to enrich foreign institutions.

Let there be no mistake. Like most Africans, we welcome the recent progress made in the restitution of Benin artefacts. But we must remember that what has so far been returned is only a tiny fraction of looted Benin artefacts in the West. Moreover, Benin artefacts, however important and prestigious they are, constitute only a fraction of stolen Nigerian artefacts in the West. We should discourage complacency about the restitution of artefacts and reject any impression that the struggle for justice has been won. It is only now beginning, and we should insist that looted African artefacts must be returned. The African peoples must first have the chance to look at their artefacts detained in the Western world for more than a hundred years before the same objects are loaned to the same previous holders.

We can understand that museum directors are exhilarated and looking forward to receiving more returned objects they can display. However, we need to examine whether what has been returned or promised is sufficient to think we have achieved our restitution aim. We need to ask whether our MINIMAL success will benefit other African peoples still hoping to retrieve their looted artefacts from the West. Benin has received some items, but what about the Egyptian, Ethiopian, Sudanese, Yoruba, Igbo, and Igala treasures still in exile? What about the Asante golden artefacts that are still in London? Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Rwanda, Tanzania, Namibia and other states are still waiting for their artefacts looted under the colonial regime. Do we care about the needs of other Africans? Good relations with non-African museum directors should not replace our desire for complete restitution.

We are surprised and worried by the ease and speed with which Nigeria has granted loans to holders of looted Benin treasures. Many Nigerian items have been away from Nigeria for over a hundred years, and only a tiny proportion is now trickling back from reluctant Western museums. Prudence would suggest that in such a situation of uncertainty, Nigeria would first take stock of its cultural treasures and wait until a considerable number of the items are returned from abroad before deciding to loan any abroad.

Should the Nigerian public not be allowed to see the treasures now legally transferred to Nigeria but still physically in Western museums before making loans? Many Nigerians will never see the full breadth of their culture. Perhaps the public is less important than we assume, and there is no intention to educate Nigerian people about their cultures, which Westerners still say they need to show to their people.

Will Ghanaians be expected to follow Nigerians and loan a third of their looted artefacts to those who have for one hundred years refused to return our treasures or even acknowledge their possession of our artefacts as mentioned in history books by their historians? Can anyone in good conscience recommend that a third of the Asante gold objects be loaned to the quiet museum in London, behind Selfridges, Oxford Street, at Manchester Square? Can we recommend leaving a third of the Asante gold rings and earrings to the British Museum or the Victoria and Albert Museum? (8)

Those countries and museums that have tried to embrace the new wave of restitution must be praised, but the extent of such praises must be clearly limited. These institutions still have a long way to go in terms of numbers of items returned. Not only are countries such as Germany still keeping hundreds of Benin and other African items, but they are also keeping non-European human remains. We rejoice that the University of Aberdeen has returned a Benin commemorative head, but we also learn that it has two hundred human remains from the colonial period. (9)

They return our cultural objects and keep our ancestors! A cruel situation for most Africans. France has returned twenty-six looted artefacts to the Republic of Benin, but how many African human remains are in France? (10) Sururu Mboro is still, after forty years, looking for the human remains of Manji Meli, a Tanzanian hero from his area hanged by the Germans who sent his skull to Germany. (11)

African artefacts and African human remains are fundamentally related. What may appear as a mere artefact may indeed be considered as the very embodiment of departed relatives, and thus keeping a kota or other memorials such as a commemorative head in a foreign museum may be regarded as blasphemy, as imprisonment of ancestors, preventing the descendants from performing their traditional duties towards their ancestors. These intermediaries between our world and the world of our ancestors cannot function effectively if they are enclosed in glass cases. Their destination is somewhere other than a foreign museum.

Western institutions have no valid excuse for keeping African human remains except to pretend they are unaware of the identity of the remains or their provenance.

We should recall that genocide is a fundamental policy of European imperialism. Examples from Latin America and Africa abundantly demonstrate this cornerstone of the Western will to dominate the world. Wherever organized societies were found, for example, the Aztecs, the Maya, the Herero, and the Nama unwilling to submit to European rule, they were massacred. European incursions into other peoples territories, in America, Africa, Australia, Tasmania and elsewhere, involved the decimation of the natives whom European Enlightenment had classified as inferior beings or sub-humans. The collection of human remains following such wars provided the practitioners of pseudo-science in Europe with materials for proving the inferiority of non-Europeans. (12)

We should not allow the current popularity of restitution of artefacts among Western museums and intellectuals to overshadow the more critical issue of colonial human remains, which derives directly from Enlightenment doctrines that are also said to be the bases of the modern Western Museum. Western intellectuals would rather discuss artefacts than human remains.

The British Government and the British Museum, the museum with the most looted artefacts, thirteen million objects, refuse to be drawn into the current wave of minimal restitution of stolen artefacts or objects acquired under dubious circumstances to their owners. (13) The British Government and the British Museum have kept the world busy with occasional but well-timed statements that do not change much. British Museum says there is a chance of future arrangement with Greece over the Parthenon Marbles, and two weeks later, there is a statement from the Government that this is out of the question. The current state of play is in a study by Noel Malcolm, who recommends that There should be no change to the British Museum Act 1963. (14)

A recent International Symposium for the Restitution of African Cultural Property to its countries of Origin, held at Dakar, Senegal, in its Declaration of 23 March,2023, urged African States to involve all stakeholders in restitution processes, communities, research institutes, civil society, and the diaspora. (15)

The current wave of partial restitution is only the first phase of a process that must continue, with or without the British Government and the British Museum. The conditions under which loans are made will have to be reviewed or revised. The lack of information for the public will have to be corrected. The reasons for leaving looted African treasures in the Western world must be properly explained to our peoples and the conditions of loans made abundantly transparent. African governments and their representatives must place the needs of their people above the temptations and pressures of western governments and museums.

The recent law by the Nigerian Federal Government recognizing the ownership of the Oba of Benin in the repatriated artefacts and the Kings right of control and administration of Benin artefacts (16) should end all doubts about his rights in these treasures, restoring to the monarch of the Edo his rights and duties in Benin cultural artefacts before a British army looted Benin artefacts in 1897 and burned Benin City.

It seemed as if the ground itself had caught fire and was burning.

There was a dim grandeur about it all, and also there seemed to be a fate. Here was this head-centre of iniquity, spared by us from its suitable end of burning, for the sake of holding the new seat of justice where barbarism had held sway. It had been given into our hands with the brand of blood soaked into every corner and relic which fire only could purge. Here, on our last day, we were to see its legitimate end overtake it, and, against our wishes, to see this centre of bloodshed burn before our eyes in retribution for the countless lives that had been wilfully sacrificed within its precincts. (17)

Reginald Bacon, an eyewitness account of the burning of Benin City in 1897 by British soldiers

NOTES

1. Germany returns 21 Benin bronzes to Nigeria  amid frustration at Britain

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/20/germany-returns-21-benin-bronzes-to-nigeria-amid-frustration-at-britain

"Ein Stuck Gerechtigkeit"

https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/innenpolitik/benin-bronzen-rueckgabe-101.html

Keine Geste, sondern ein Stuck Gerechtigkeit" - so hatte es Auenministerin Baerbock im Sommer formuliert, als die deutsche und die nigerianische Regierung in Berlin die zentrale Vereinbarung zur Ubertragung der Benin-Bronzen unterzeichneten. Verabredet ist auch, dass ein Drittel der Kunstwerke als Leihgaben in deutschen Museen bleiben konnen.

https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/benin-bronzen-als-dauerleihgaben-in-deutschen-museen-18137855.html ANDREAS KILB Jetzt sind die Museen am Zug.

2. The Guardian, Germany returns 21 Benin bronzes to Nigeria  amid frustration at Britain

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/20/germany-returns-21-benin-bronzes-to-nigeria-amid-frustration-at-britain

Cologne Hands Back 92 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria, But a Few will Remain in Germany on Long-Term Loan

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/benin-bronzes-cologne-2231179

Horniman retains sixty-six out of 72 - after legal transfer and six returned . https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/horniman-museum-stolen-benin-bronzes-nigeria-b1043358.htm

Out of thirty-nine, Smithsonian will send twenty-nine and retain ten on loan.

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/smithsonians-board-votes-to-return-benin-bronzes-2131098

Cambridge Museum, Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Transferred legal rights in 116 Benin artefacts. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-63973271

Oxford-for the return of ninety-seven objects in the Pitt Rivers and Ashmolean Museum collections in Oxford, and 116 items from the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (MAA) at the University of Cambridge. https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/08/01/oxford-and-cambridge-universities-approve-returning-213-looted-benin-bronzes-to-nigeria

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/dec/14/cambridge-university-to-return-over-100-looted-benin-bronzes-to-nigeria

3. K. Opoku, https://www.modernghana.com/news/924239/benin-dialogue-group-removes-restitution-of-benin-artefacts.html

4. K Opoku, The Benin Bronzes, Restitution and Decolonization. The Debate on Colonial Loot and Reparations

https://lecture2go.uni-hamburg.de/l2go/-/get/v/64125

5. Jos van Beurden, Inconvenient Heritage, 2022, Amsterdam University Press, p. 248. We recommend this book for discussions and information of recent restitutions. See also by the same author, Treasures in Trusted Hands: Negotiating the Future of Colonial Cultural Objects,2017. See recent declaration of the director of the Hermitage stating he did not accept restitution of colonial artefacts. https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/kunst-und-architektur/eremitage-direktor-gegen-restitutionen-haende-weg-vom-museum-18609248.html

6. K. Opoku, Have Ethical Considerations Returned To Restitution For Good? Smithsonian Adopts A Policy On Ethical Returns

https://www.modernghana.com/news/1162776/have-ethical-considerations-returned-to-restitutio.html

7. K. Opoku, Benin Dialogue Group Removes Restitution Of Benin Artefacts From Its Agenda

https://www.modernghana.com/news/924239/benin-dialogue-group-removes-restitution-of-benin-artefacts.html#:~:text=The%20decision%20to%20remove%20restitution,restitution%20of%20the%20Benin%20artefacts.

Martin Bailey, British Museum returns Oceanic Sculpture to Polynesia for three years. Bailey writes: The British Museum has lent the worlds most celebrated Oceanic sculpture to Tahitis main museum for three years. Known as Aa, the sculpture represents a deified ancestor of the people of Rurutu, a small island nearly 600km south of Tahiti.

https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/04/12/british-museum-returns-oceanic-sculpture-aa-to-polynesiafor-three-years

8. It may be useful to read about the relations of the Asante with the British who tried for some decades to subjugate the powerful Asante kingdom in the Gold Coast (now Ghana). A good introduction is Stephen Manning, Britain at War with the Asante Nation 1823-1900. Pen and Sword Books, 2021, Barnsley, United Kingdom.

9. Hundreds of human skulls taken in colonial conquests found in Aberdeen Universitys collection

Aberdeen University still has 200 indigenous skulls in collection (pressandjournal.co.uk)

The Fight to Repatriate African Skulls in European Museum Collections

https://www.vice.com/en/article/qvyp95/the-fight-to-repatriate-african-skulls-in-european-museum-collections

K. Opoku, Return of stolen skulls by Germany to Namibia: Closure of a horrible chapter?

https://www.africavenir.org/nc/news-details/article/kwame-opoku-return-of-stolen-skulls-by-germany-to-namibia-closure-of-a-horrible-chapter/print.html

K. Opoku When Will Germany Finally Return All The Namibian Bones?

https://www.modernghana.com/news/831901/when-will-germany-finally-return-all-the-namibian-bones.html

10. The New York Times, A Paris Museum Has 18,000 Skulls. Its Reluctant to Say Whose.

Europe : les restes humains  coloniaux font scandale https://www.rfi.fr/fr/afrique/20221204-europe-les-restes-humains-coloniaux-font-scandale

Le musee Pitt Rivers a Oxford a commence en 2017 a restituer certains des 2 000 restes humains quil detient, dont sept tetes tatouees et momifiees de Maoris rendues a la Nouvelle-Zelande. Les comptes sont loin detre soldes cependant, puisque le British Museum garde 6 000 restes humains provenant du vaste empire colonial britannique, le Duckworth Laboratory en a 18 000 et le Natural History Museum plus de 25 000.

Michel van Praet, Les restes humains dans les collections publiques, Vade-Mecum, 2019. We read from this small book that there were in France in 2017, 249 museums and 23 universities that declared they had human remains in their collections. These human remains were said to be more than 150,000, mainly from French origin. French origin presumably includes all French colonial territories.

UK museums willing to return skulls to Zimbabwe https://www.bbnewsc.com//world-africa-63171981

11. The search in Germany for the lost skull of Tanzania's Mangi Meli https://wwwbbc.com/news/world-africa-45916150

https://vimeo.com/371763005 See also, The Skeletons from Kilimanjaro, https://www.thedial.world/issue-3/germany-reparations-tanzania-skeletons-maji-maji-rebellion

12. Kehinde Andrews, The New Age of Empire: How Racism and Colonialism Still Rule the World. Penguin Books, 2022 Countless books demonstrate that violence and genocide are inherent aspects of colonialism. See, in addition to Kehinde Andrews, The New Age of Empire, Adam Hochschild, King Leopolds Ghost,1998, Manner Books.

David Olusoga and Casper W Erichsen, The Kaisers Holocaust, 2011,Faber and Faber.

Sven Linquist, Exterminate All the Brutes.

One Mans Odyssey into the Heart of Darkness and the Origins of European Genocide,1997, The New Press.

Jeremy Sarkin, Colonial Genocide and Reparations Claims in the 21ST Century, Praeger Security International, London ,2009.Also educative are, Franz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth,2017, Les Damnes de la Terre,1961).

Aime Cesaire, Discourse on Colonialism, (Discours sur le colonialisme,1950)

Monthly Review Press, January,2001

13. K. Opoku, Even The Big Elephant In Bloomsbury Must Defend Itself: British Museum Reacts To Recent Wave Of Restitutions

https://www.modernghana.com/news/1199586/even-the-big-elephant-in-bloomsbury-must-defend.html

K. Opoku, Will The New Guidelines Of The Arts Council England Help Restitution Of Looted Asante Gold And Benin Bronzes? (modernghana.com)

See also Geoffrey Robertson, Who Owns History, Biteback Publishing, 2019.

Robertson who considers the British Museum the largest depot of stolen goods in the world, declared  For the British establishment, whose wealthy members make up the great majority of museum trustees, possession of imperial artefacts must be forever; they might be briefly loaned for cultural diplomacy, although not to nations like Greece which might challenge their title. p. 21.

14. Noel Malcolm, The Elgin Marbles Keep, Lend or Return? An Analysis

https://policyexchange.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/the-elgin-marbles.pdf K. Opoku, New Study Advises British Government and British Museum not to Restitute Parthenon Marbles https://www.modernghana.com/news/1223245/new-study-advises-british-government-and-british.html

15. https://ecowas.int/ecowas-tasks-stakeholders-on-restitution-of-african-cultural-property-to-its-country-of-origin/#:~:text=The%20ECOWAS%20Commission%20through%20the,Black%20Civilizations%20in%20Dakar%2C%20Senegal.

ECOWAS tasks Stakeholders On Restitution Of African Cultural Property To Its Country Of Origin

ECOWAS asks Stakeholders On Restitution Of African Cultural Property To Its Country Of Origin (modernghana.com)

Restitution des biens culturels : la CEDEAO sactive pour un patrimoine culturel regional  Intelligences Magazine

CEDEAO : Fatou Sow Sarr appelle a une synergie dactions pour la restitution des biens culturels africains (aps.sn)

ECOWAS tasks stakeholders on restitution of African cultural property to its country of origin ECOWAS tasks stakeholders on restitution of African cultural property to its country of origin | APAnews - African Press Agency

16. Annex I .

17. Reginald Bacon, The City of Blood, p.107,

https://archive.org/details/bacon-reginald.-benin-the-city-of-blood-1897_202010/page/n1/mode/2up

cited by Robert Home, City of Blood Revisited, p.89, Rex Collins,London,1982.

IMAGES



Court dwarfs, Benin, Nigeria, now in World Museum, Vienna, Austria.

Would they ever come home to Benin City, Nigeria?

Queen-mother Idia, Benin, Nigeria, now on loan in Humboldt Forum, Berlin, Germany. Would she ever come back home to Benin City? If this bust remains in Berlin, can we ask for the restitution of the famous Idia ivory hip-mask in the British Museum?

Queen-mother Idia, Benin, Nigeria, now in British Museum, London, United Kingdom. The British Museum refused to lend to Nigeria, this symbol of Pan- Africanism and the FESTAC77.

Gold mask, 20 cm in height, weighing 1.36 kg of pure gold, seized by the British from Kumasi, Ghana, in 1874 and now in the Wallace Collection, London, United Kingdom.

Execution tree in Moshi, Tanzania, where Mangi Meli and nineteen other rulers and noblemen were hanged in public by the German colonial government in 1900. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangi_Meli

ANNEX I

Nigerian Federal Government Issues Order Recognising Oba of Benin As Sole Owner and Custodian of Repatriated Benin Artefacts

We publish below a report on a decree by the Federal Government of Nigeria dated March 28, 2023, recognising the ownership of the Oba of Benin of the repatriated Benin treasures, and vesting in him their custody. This law puts an end to all doubts and questions about the ownership, control, and custody of the restituted artefacts. Readers will recall that we have maintained that the traditional ruler of the Edo people has always owned these treasures and that attempts by others to contest his centuries-old ownership must be rejected.

See K. Opoku, Benin Bronzes Belong to Oba Of Benin,

https://www.modernghana.com/news/1105713/benin-bronzes-belong-to-oba-of-benin.html

FG Cedes Exclusive Custody of Returned Bini Artefacts to Oba of Benin Decision ends tussle between monarch ,Edo governor . Emmanuel Addeh and Alex Enumah in Abuja.

The Federal Government has issued an order of recognition of ownership vested custody and management of repatriated looted Benin Artefacts in the Oba of Benin Kingdom.

The government made the order in notice No. 25 in the official gazette No. 57 in Volume 110 at pages A245-247, dated March 28, 2023.

The document was titled: Notice of Presidential Declaration in the Recognition of Ownership and an Order Vesting Custody and Management of Repatriated Looted Benin Artefacts in the Oba of Benin issued on 23rd March 2023.

The government by the order said it recognised and vested ownership, custody and management of looted Benin artefacts consequent upon the unfortunate British Military expedition known as The Benin Massacre of 1897, in the Oba of Benin as an institution to the exclusion of any other person or persons and or institutions.

It added that all repatriated artefacts therefore must be delivered to the Oba of Benin and that the right of the original owner therein affirmed in the Oba, covers all looted Benin artefacts both repatriated and or yet to be repatriated.

The Federal Government of Nigeria and the Oba of Benin shall superintend on matters of safety and security of any repatriated looted Benin artefacts while the Oba is at liberty henceforth to engage with national and international institutions in respect of these looted Benin artefacts, the document stated.

The Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, had attempted to douse the tension raised by who should have custody over the artefacts by promising that his administration will not engage in disrespectful exchanges with the Oba of Benin, Ewuare II, over stolen artefacts.

But the Oba of Benin had warned that the artefacts to be returned, was not the property of the state government or any private corporate entity that is not a creation of the Benin kingdom.

The monarch warned that no state government or any individual could pose to be a legitimate destination for the artefacts to be repatriated, adding that the Benin Royal Museum was designed and will be sited within the precinct of the Palace of the Oba of Benin from where they were looted.

The Oba of Benin Kingdom is globally recognised as the traditional ruler, symbol and custodian of the culture, tradition and heritage of the Benin Kingdom and people now located within Edo State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the March 23, gazette stated.

The federal government recalled that following a military expedition in February 1897, known as the Benin massacre, the British Royal Marines invaded the ancient Palace of the Oba, looted and carted away thousands of artefacts of Benin origin from the Palace of the Oba and other parts of Benin kingdom .

It stated that after the invasion of the palace and the kingdom, the looted artefacts were taken to different museums and private collections around the world through gifts, loans, exchanges. purchases and other means.

In addition, it said that the earliest known auction of some of the looted artefacts was in 1897, through, an advertisement in the British Times Newspaper in May 1897, for the sale of the artefacts.

According to the document, as the custodian of the culture, tradition and heritage of the Benin kingdom and people, the ownership and title of the artefacts and other art works such as crafts, creative works and other cultural endowments made of bronze, clay, charcoal, iron, ivory, raffia, silver, wood are attributed ascribed and known to symbolically belong to the Oba.

It noted that the Oba and the Federal Government of Nigeria had been making concerted and frantic efforts to secure the repatriation of the looted artefacts from the custody of all the museums and private collections located in different parts of the world, for the preservation of Benin culture, heritage and tradition in line with the 1970 UNESCO Convention.

Quoting several conventions, the federal government stated that in consequence of the request for the repatriation of the artefacts, the Oba received some architects repatriated from Jesus College, Cambridge, and is awaiting the release of further looted artefacts .

As the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and in the exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 5 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as altered, l, Muhammadu Buhari, hereby give notice, declare and order that the ownership of the artefacts looted from the ancient Palace of the Oba and other parts of Benin kingdom be and is vested in the Oba

That custody of the repatriated artefacts, shall, from wherever and whenever they are brought into Nigeria be handed over to the Oba as the original owner and custodian of the culture, heritage and tradition of the people of Benin kingdom in Edo State of Nigeria.

That repatriated artefacts may be kept within the Palace of the Oba or such other locations within Benin City, or any other place that the Oba and the Federal Government of Nigeria may consider secure and safe,

That the Oba shall be responsible for the management of all places where the repatriated artefacts are domiciled or located and the Oba shall work jointly with any recognised national or international institution to ensure the preservation and security of the repatriated artefacts for the benefit of humanity, the federal government stated.

It explained that the repatriated artefacts shall not be taken out of the designated custody without the written consent and authorisation of the Oba, and upon such return, the artefacts shall first be inspected and authenticated by the Oba before it is accepted and restored to its designated custody.

This notice may be cited as the Recognition of Ownership, and an Order Vesting Custody and Management of the Repatriated Looted Benin Artefacts in the Oba of Benin Kingdom, 2023, the document added.

ThisDay.

FG Cedes Exclusive Custody of Bini Artefacts to Oba of Benin https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2023/04/14/fg-cedes-exclusive-custody-of-returned-bini-artefacts-to-oba-of-ben

https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2023/04/13/breaking-fg-issues-gazette-recognising-ownership-vesting-custody-of-repatriated-looted-artefacts-in-oba-of-benin-2/

Nigeria Recognises Oba of Benin as Owner and Custodian of All Looted Benin Artefacts Nigeria Recognises Oba of Benin as Owner and Custodian of All Looted Benin Artefacts - Arise News

Punch, Oba of Benin gets nod from FG to keep repatriated artefacts

Oba of Benin gets nod from FG to keep repatriated artefacts (punchng.com)

Nigeria Recognises Oba of Benin as Owner and Custodian of All Looted Benin Artefacts - Arise News

ANNEX II

MNYAKA SURURU MBORO ON HOW A GERMAN DISCOVERED MOUNT KILIMANJARO.

"Nonsense" in history lessons

Mnyaka Sururu Mboro was born in 1951 and lives in Berlin. He is a Tanzanian activist, co-founder of the NGO Berlin Postkolonial. He has been actively campaigning for the acknowledgment of German colonialism in the public sphere since the 1980s. He leads guided tours through the so-called African Quarter in Berlin and is board member of the NGO Decolonize Berlin. In this short piece, he tells us about his experience with colonial perspectives on history.

IMMAGES

NONSENSE IN HISTORY LESSONS

I come from Tanzania, and more precisely from the slopes of mountain Kilimanjaro. When I think about this piece of rock in Potsdam in the New Palace, it brings back quite a lot of memories.

I spent my childhood under British colonial rule and one day, during the history lesson, my teacher Mr. Michael asked us:

 Hey children, you know our mountain, the one we can see from here?

Yes of course we know it!

But do you know discovered it?

Discovered it? No, we dont know.

Listen very carefully and dont forget that: mount Kilimanjaro was discovered by a German known as Mr. Rebmann in 1848. You get it?

Yes sir!

That day, I do remember very well. I was pleased to learn such a new thing. When I came back home, I went straight to my grandmother, as I usually did. I was proud I could tell her:

Grandma, today we learnt something very new!

She asked me: What then?

Do you know who discovered mountain Kilimanjaro?

What? She exclaimed. What are you trying to tell me?

My teacher, Mr. Michael told us that it is Mr. Rebmann who discovered mountain Kilimanjaro in 1848.

Shut up, she shouted.  Tomorrow in the morning we are going to see your teacher and he has to tell me what nonsense he teaches you.

During the night I couldnt sleep because I wasI wouldnt say afraid, but it is shameful for me to have my grandmother escort me to the school and having her confronting the teacher with what he taught us. But I didnt have any way out.

We arrived at school early in the morning. We used to gather in the yard in rows like the military. Our school band would play the same song every morning and we had to sing along. It went: Salaam valme King George/ Salaam valme King George which means Greet King George the king of Britain back then.

So, after this ritual, my grandma went straight to Mr. Michael and asked him:

What did you teach my boy yesterday?

Sorry, Grandma Tawaia what are you talking about? I taught a lot of things.

What about mountain Kilimanjaro?

I dont remember well

 Didnt you tell them that Mr. Rebmann discovered mountain Kilimanjaro in 1848?

 Oh yes! Thats true. They have to know this.

My grandmother could not hold it anymore. She raised her walking stick and started beating Mr. He started running away and she followed him. All the children were so pleased! They were laughing and shouting: Yes, Bibi, beat him again!

Me, I was not pleased. I was ashamed of my grandmother. But today, as Im

telling you this story, I think that I would be ready to give him some extra strokes

Mboro, Nonsense in history lessons, how a German discovered https://postcolonialpotsdam.org/en/2020/08/02/mboro-kili/

Mboros story will be useful for those who never experienced colonial schools. They would realize that attempts were made to sow in the heads of African children a feeling of inferiority in the presence of the European. A European came all the way from thousands of miles to discover a mountain that had always been there. We wish we had a resolute and determined grandmother as Mboro had. Most parents in the colonial period agreed with whatever the teacher said. They could not imagine questioning what Europeans had approved. Has this inferiority complex disappeared? Readers must decide for themselves. K.O.
17.04.2023 LISTEN

A former communications member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Stephen Atubiga has disclosed that he could have died if not for the love of God.

In a statement narrating how he suffered at the hands of the largest opposition party when he was a member, he said he was betrayed by former President John Dramani Mahama so many times.

According to him, the betrayal nearly cost him his life after he was left stressed and frustrated.

If not for the foundation God gave me growing up on how to be strong.

I could have died from high blood pressure, stress, and frustration, due to the betrayal I have suffered from JDM/NDC, Stephen Atubiga.

In his lengthy narration, the former member of the NDC added that he is now at peace despite the maltreatment he suffered.

He reveals that he holds no grudge against the NDC or any of its members as he charts a new path.

But in all, never hold grudges against others, those who betray you. Forgiveness is the foundation of your breakthrough, Stephen Atubiga noted.

Read the lengthy post below:

Stephen Atubiga writes__

It's 2:55 am now. I have been up since 12: 45am because I slept early yesterday. Just laying down thinking how far I have come.

How I used to be a shoe shine boy in Kumasi? how I managed to buy that shoeshine box?

How i hide and used salver to polish shoes for people, till I was able to buy Vaseline then opened up old batteries and mixed the black powder from the old batteries to get black Polish. From there I was able to buy a shoe shine box.

How I use to weed for people for money.

How I used to sell ice water in Kumasi market. You give water to market women in exchange for tomatoes, plantain, koobe or anything in exchange for drinking water, at the end of the day I will have to sell all in bulk to someone at the station in exchange for money.

There was nothing like a sachet of water those days. The water was in a big basin with a lid, with cups on top of the lid for serving people.

How I use to sell ice cream( Abelly) in Kumasi market.

How I use to sell kenkey in front of a city hotel in Kumasi. In the 80s

How I use to go to people's farms to get(steal) foodstuff and cook the food on the same farm to eat .due to hunger.

I remember how I will help food vendors prepare food just to get something to eat, especially after school.

How I use to cut my red clothes into pieces to sell to the Kotoko fans in Kumasi when they are playing with another country in Kumasi stadium. They put red on their cars to show support for Kotoko. How I made money to buy new ones.

How I use to go to city hotels to get older or used cans to go sell for money

How we used to help clean city hotel after a show just to get food to eat as payment.

I will never forget how I had to carry the bucket of the toilet to go dumped away.

All this from 1981 to 1986 I went through hell.

I remember I will have to wake up between 11 and 12 am to do my house- choice and by 1 am or 2 am I will be done then take a bath and go back to sleep, so when I wake up at 6 am no more bathing for school.

How I use to hide and sneak in windows to watch TV standing behind the house in the bush.

As for beating and being abused as a child at the hands of those I ever stayed with. Was every day. Sometimes I will be beating till my body goes numb. No more pain.just because of a small mistake. Either I did not do some right or the way they want it done.

My food sometimes was mixed with water for me to eat.

I remember one day I was so hungry I will take a bite of salt, then put pain oil in my mouth, then add kokontey and swallow. Because there was no soup for me to eat with it after school.

From 8 years of age till I was 14 years that I went through this process. A lot of trauma I can't put all up now.

When I got Christmas clothes, put them to church and back, and I get the chance to see them or put them on again the following year on Christmas day.

But in all, I thank God for that treatment. It made me very strong. I got a very good robust foundation to take any tabulation in my life.

God is good. God is the giver. That is why I always help the needy if I can.

That is why I always share my little bread with others.

Note __________

Be humble and be kind to anyone that comes your way. Loyalty and dedication to others should be your number one pride. Your rewards come from God, not man.

That is why I did not mind When JDM / NDC used me and Dumped me into the dumpster hungry after victory. Loyalty.

That is why I never got worried or angry against JDM/NDC for sharing everything, left me hungry after victory, even after going to prison for him to be president.

Someone should ask JDM about the sacrifice that went on for his victory in 2012.

A topic in itself.

I was still loyal and dedicated to him till God gave me a new direction after 29 years as a good-standing member of the NDC.

I remember when I came out of prison and went to JDM for a job.

How First Lady Lordina told me right in my face. They will never give me a job. why should she and JDM give me a job? , so I will have money to take care of another woman. Because I was going through a separation from my ex. Who happens to be JDM relative?

My only reply to her that faithful morning was, I came to your husband JDM for help as the leader of my party that we worked for him to be elected, I did not come to him JDM as my Inlaw.

Then JDM heard the noise came and held my hands and walked with me and we spoke like men or brothers

.lordinor made sure I got nothing from JDM .like this woman never visited my home Stay for weeks before in my house on many occasions .with her children.

Then another time I went to the JDM office for help. Then one of his relatives stood behind my back giving JDM a signal not to help me after JDM agreed to support me. I never got help from him till he lost power. In all I never stopped being loyal to him the Good news is, I had to beg for that same person to keep his job. A topic for another day God is Good.

A lot in my books when published.

If not for the foundation God gave me growing up on how to be strong.

I could have died from high blood pressure, stress, and frustration, due to the betrayal I have suffered from JDM / NDC.

But in all, never hold grudges against others, those who betray you. Forgiveness is the foundation of your breakthrough.

Only learn to move out of your comfort zone for growth.

Love you all
Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, H.E Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has bemoaned the inability of Africans to solve basic life problems.

According to him, the inability to deal with problems is largely because the continent has been shackled by the impossibility mindset.

In my view, the greatest bane to the development of Africa is our inability to solve the basic problems of the absence of unique identity for our population, functioning property address systems, financial inclusion, payment systems, efficient public service delivery, etc. that underpin our economic activities. For many years after independence, we have been trying to transform our economies without data and transparent systems. Without data and systems, African countries cannot participate in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The truth is that we have for long been shackled by an impossibility mindset that is probably the result of the experience of years of slavery and colonialism. We don't believe in ourselves, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia shared over the weekend.

The Vice President was delivering an address as a guest speaker at Harvard University during the African Development Conference at the Harvard Law School when he shared these thoughts.

Dr. Bawumia believes that Africa has the potential and must begin to confront its challenges.

.for us to realize our full potential and set ourselves apart we need to break the shackles of impossibility mindset and embrace the mindset of possibility. African countries can do what the Advanced countries have done and more. It is possible, the Vice President of Ghana stressed.

Among other things, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia also shared his views on the broader theme of reimagining Africa's growth on our terms.

He also indicated at the heart of this vision is the transformative power of technology.
17.04.2023 LISTEN

The Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has disclosed that having more ministers in government will not result in extra costs to the taxpayers.

The Minister explained that the approval of six ministerial appointees by Parliament contradicts the calls for downsizing government.

The understanding I have is that parliament does not even share that view. You saw what happened in parliament the last time literally that question was put on the table.

Despite all the conversations the last time it was put on the table, you saw the numbers. So, parliament as a body does not even share that view, Mr Nkrumah said in an interview on Joy News The Probe, Sunday monitored by Modern Ghana.

He clarified that ministers who are appointed in the current administration do not receive extra payments for their position as they are already paid as Members of Parliament.

He said, It doesnt cost the taxpayer any extra because they are paid as Members of Parliament.

On external creditors, Mr Nkrumah mentioned that the size of the government has never been cited as a factor for high government expenditure.

However, he assured that the government is open to examining ways to cut down on expenditure as it is currently evaluating potential areas to cut.

Mr Nkrumah highlighted that Theres already been action on various levels, and Ive mentioned that the doors are not closed to further cuts as are being examined. And as we go through and as we examine some more, there are places where some more cuts can be done. It makes sense to make those cuts.

The Minister's comments come amidst public concerns about the rising government expenditure in Ghana, and the need for the government to take steps to address the issue by reducing the size of government.
Until science proved them wrong, many used to think that fish stock in the oceans and rivers is inexhaustible.

Scientific research by experts around the world has proven that not only is fish stock exhaustible, some species are already on the brink of extinction.

We recall a recent workshop organised by the USAID at Elmina for media actors on the depleting stocks of fish species and the need to reverse the situation. It was a workshop which was informed by the declining stock not only in Ghana but around the world.

We wonder if there is any meal without a fish component. Fish play a critical component of protein supply for mankind besides serving as a source of livelihood for many around the world including ours.

One of the best things to happen in the area of fish conservation is the establishment of the closed season during which no fishing activities are allowed. There is no gainsaying the fact that this is to ensure that fish species would be spared the nets of fishers so they can lay eggs as part of procreation and also fatten up.

Unfortunately as it is with all regulations, actors in the industry have not exhibited the necessary cooperation with regulators as required in such exercises.

In the end therefore, the dividends envisaged as a result of the suspension of fishing is lost and the threat to our fish stock continues.

While climate change plays a role in the declining fish stock around the world about which there is little we can do in the short-term, the same cannot be said about other factors such as illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing activities, excessive fishing capacity, overfishing and the fishing of juvenile fishes, deliberately or otherwise.

These factors are the irresponsible actions of man which can only be stemmed through regulation enforcement and education.

Massive education of fisher-folk across the country should be undertaken. This is necessary because of the erroneous notion that fish stock cannot be exhausted.

Modern fishing methods have put special pressure on fish stocks to the extent that today statistics show that some species are being pushed to the precipice.

Following the opening of the fishing season after a closure a couple of years ago or so, some fishermen remarked that they had witnessed improved catches. The period between July and August being the mating and laying season of fish, it can only be irresponsible practice not to debar fishing at this time.

It is no magic that the period after the closed season is characterised by increased catches and bigger fishes.

We would implore the authorities to do more scientific work on alternative occupations for fishermen and persons in related industry during the closed season, the absence of options being why they abhor the period.

What better evidence do we need for the importance of closed season than the improved catches following it- the increased statistics of anchovies, pelagic species and others.

As the mainstay of protein for humankind, the place of fish in our livelihood cannot be overemphasized, hence the need to ensure good fishing practices including of course the enforcement of closed seasons.
You can rent this Sydney house for free, but there's one major flaw. (Source: realestate.com.au/Homely)

A landlord is offering free rent for a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house in south-west Sydney. But the property comes with one major flaw - its currently uninhabitable.

The Greenacre rental was posted to Domain, Homely and other rental sites over the weekend and has now been swiftly taken down.

3 bedroom family home perfect for the growing family, nestled in a quiet yet convenient location being close to all the wonderful amenities such as transport, parks, schools, shops in need of a renovation, the listing read.

The catch? The tenant is expected to stump up the entire cost of renovating the house before they can actually live in it.

Property is currently uninhabitable - work is required before moving in. The landlord does not have the funds to renovate the property, the listing said.

The listing agent described it as an opportunity for a savvy minded person or persons with trade knowledge and experience.

The rental was listed over the weekend but has now been taken down. (Source: Homely)

In return for paying the full renovation at their own expense, the successful tenant will receive a three-year lease with the first year rent-free. They then need to pay rent for the second and third year, which is negotiable at $650 a week.

The audacity

Comedian Jordan van den Berg posted a review of the rental on TikTok and noted the property was minutes away from the infamous Skaf family home, which was recently subject to a drive-by shooting.

At least they weren't lying about convenient location. Is very convenient for drive bys on local gang houses, one person commented.

Other commenters called out the landlords audacity and the fact the property was only free for one year.

Next they will tell you to build a house which you can then rent back, one person said.

Wow. Just when you thought the audacity was at it's [sic] most audacious, another person commented.

Story continues

Lol the listing is already pulled down. Worst bit was it said 3 year lease but only the 1st year free and price negotiable on the 2nd and 3rd, a third person said.

On Reddit, commentators also pointed out the new tenant would need to spend thousands on the renovation.

"What a steal. Instead of paying $33,800 a year (the $650 they want after the first year) you get to spend 100-200k+," someone said.

"If the landlord is tight on money and doesn't have the funds to renovate, they should just sell the place," another commented.

"It's illegal to lease a place uninhabitable... absolute clowns people should report this," another said.

Follow Yahoo Finance on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter, and subscribe to our free daily newsletter.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Ningo Prampram, Samuel Nartey George has lambasted government over the proposed new debt restructuring to be undertaken by the Finance Ministry.

Speaking to TV3 during an engagement on Monday, April 17, the Parliamentarian accused the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) of being very wicked.

According to him, the government after raping the public purse has decided to steal the purse as well.

They have raped the public purse. They have stolen the purse, people lost money in financial clean up, debt exchange and now you are going for pensions funds and you say we shouldnt talk.

This is a wicked, clueless, and incompetent government, Ningo Prampram MP Samuel Nartey George shared.

Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry has reacted to the claims that it will be embarking on a new debt restructuring that will affect pensioner bondholders.

Speaking at a news conference in Washington, USA last week, the Minister clarified that there is nothing of that sort in the pipeline.

We are not planning a second round of the domestic debt exchange programme for pension funds. I think it was a misunderstanding, Ken Ofori-Atta explained.

Government is continuously engaging stakeholders as it pushes to seal its deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the $3 billion credit facility.
The security sector is one of the most critical sectors in any nation. It is tasked with the responsibility of ensuring the safety of citizens and protecting the country's sovereignty. In Ghana, the security service comprises the military, police, and other specialized security agencies. While these agencies play a vital role in maintaining peace and security, recent events have raised questions about their professionalism and effectiveness.

One of the main issues that have been brought to the fore is the training and qualification of security officers in Ghana. The standard training program for security officers in Ghana lasts for only six months. While this may seem like enough time to equip officers with the necessary skills and knowledge, many have argued that it is not enough to shape the mindset of an individual to be a qualified and fit officer.

Bright Botchway, a youth activist and feminist advocate, is one of the voices calling for a revamp of the security officer training program in Ghana. In an interview, Botchway stated that the current training program is not enough to produce well-trained and professional security officers. He noted that the training program only covers the basic skills required for officers to carry out their duties, but it does not address critical issues such as human rights, ethics, and professionalism.

Botchway proposes that security officers in Ghana should undergo licensing exams after their training to test their knowledge and competence. The exams would cover a wide range of topics, including human rights, ethics, professionalism, and specialized skills relevant to the officers' roles. Botchway believes that these exams would ensure that officers are well-trained and competent to carry out their duties.

Furthermore, Botchway argues that the government should provide routine training for security officers to help them keep abreast of current trends and developments in their respective fields. He believes that this would help address the issue of producing premature officers and improve the overall effectiveness of the security agencies.

It is worth noting that the conduct of some security officers in Ghana has been less than professional. In recent times, there have been reports of officers engaging in criminal activities such as robbery, extortion, and abuse of power. These activities have further heightened public mistrust in the security agencies.

Botchway's proposed solution of licensing exams and routine training for security officers could go a long way in addressing these issues. It would help ensure that officers are well-trained, competent, and held accountable for their actions. It is time for Ghana to take the necessary steps to improve the training and qualification of its security officers to restore public trust and ensure effective security services for all citizens.
Feared Sudanese paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo went from a militia chief in war-torn Darfur to the country's second-in-command -- to now battling the regular army for control of the country.

Daglo, leader of the large and heavily-armed paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), collaborated with his now arch-rival, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, in a 2021 military coup that derailed a transition to civilian rule following the 2019 ouster of hardline president Omar al-Bashir.

Often dressed in desert fatigues, the tall and slightly stooped Daglo -- widely known by his nickname Hemeti, short for Mohamed -- has crafted a distinct image for himself and his troops, positioning the RSF as autonomous from the military.

An experienced battlefield commander, he has in recent months also deployed a savvy use of social media with posts on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to address the country's overwhelmingly young population, with two thirds of Sudanese aged under 30.

Darfur upstart to statesman

Supporters hold portraits of Mohamed Hamdan Daglo during a rally in 2019. By Yasuyoshi CHIBA (AFP)

Born in around 1975, a camel and sheep trader with little formal education, he rose to prominence when Khartoum's hardline government under Bashir began arming nomadic Arab raiders to counter an ethnic minority rebellion that broke out in the western Darfur region in 2003.

The groups known as Janjaweed were sent to attack villages on camel and horseback as part of a campaign of terror that saw Bashir indicted for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide by the International Criminal Court.

The war in Darfur left hundreds of thousands dead and more than two million displaced.

By 2013, Bashir had appointed him commander of a new force made up of former, mostly Arab, militiamen as Khartoum once again sought to crush the insurgency -- the RSF.

But many in Khartoum looked down at the rise of the Darfuri, who hails from the Arab Rizeigat people.

"The old guard, dominated by the old Sudanese elite around Khartoum, very much view Hemeti as an illiterate, upstart thug whom they first armed to do their dirty work in the war in Darfur," said Alan Boswell, Horn of Africa director at the International Crisis Group.

Closer to power

Sudanese Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a group that has its roots in the Janjaweed, have also fought in Yemen. By ASHRAF SHAZLY (AFP)

For nearly a decade, Daglo used his reputation as a ruthless militiaman and street-smart leader to maneuver his way closer to power, all the while growing richer off lucrative RSF-controlled gold mines.

The RSF were deployed in Yemen when Sudan joined the Saudi-led coalition fighting in the civil war there in 2015, in what proved a major boon for both Daglo and his future coup partner, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

"It allowed him, alongside Burhan, to meet United Arab Emirates officials and Saudi officials and present themselves as possible successors of Bashir," researcher Jerome Tubiana said.

According to experts, the force has also been involved in the conflict in neighbouring Libya.

When the military toppled Bashir in 2019, Daglo became the second most powerful man in the country, but accusations of RSF atrocities continued in the ensuing security crackdown.

When security personnel attacked pro-democracy demonstrators camped out in the heart of the capital in June 2019, it was the RSF that witnesses said were at the forefront of the bloodshed, killing at least 128 people.

Political ambitions

Mohamed Hamdan Daglo waves a baton to supporters in 2019. By Yasuyoshi CHIBA (AFP)

His sights were set still higher, and experts warned he was a man with massive forces at his disposal and lofty political ambitions, whose actions should be closely watched.

Since the coup, Daglo's power has only grown, as he sought to craft a more palatable image -- working on his heavily-accented Arabic, for instance -- while building key alliances.

Though experts have long drawn links between the RSF and Russian mercenary group Wagner, Daglo gained new access as second-in-command, landing in Moscow the day after its invasion of Ukraine.

As the rift with Burhan grew, Daglo came to call the coup he had helped lead a "mistake" that had failed to bring about change and invigorated remnants of Bashir's Islamist regime.

After battles erupted on Saturday -- with fighting still raging through densely-populated streets of Khartoum -- Daglo has portrayed himself and the RSF on social media and international TV as the saviours of Sudan.

In regular posts in both Arabic and English, the RSF claim to be safeguarding democracy against "the putschist forces" led by Burhan, who Daglo slammed as a "criminal" and "a radical Islamist".

In turn, Burhan has called Daglo a "criminal" and the RSF a "rebel militia".
17.04.2023 LISTEN

The government is set to increase its revenue for the year following the signing into law of the three new tax bills approved by Parliament.

The President of the Republic, H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has formally assented to the new revenue bills and sent the document to the Clerk of Parliament.

This has been confirmed by the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah during an interview with Citi News.

He said although it took a long time for Parliament to approve the bills, government hopes that the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) can get to work to raise enough money to complement governments effort to revive the economy.

Its better late than never. We expect the GRA to get into implementation mode as soon as possible so that at least some decent revenues can flow from it to help implement first the budget and secondly the broader economic programmes we are on, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said.

After the signing into law of the three new revenue bills, the necessary administrative processes are expected to kick in immediately for the responsible authorities to get to work.

Parliament on April 3 approved the three new major revenue bills before it went on recess.

The new bills now assented into law include the Excise Duty Amendment Bill 2022, the Growth and Sustainability Levy Bill, 2022, and the Income Tax Amendment Bill 2022.

With the tax laws, the government is aiming to raise GHS4 billion annually in revenue.

There have been arguments that the bills will help the government to seal its deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the $3 billion credit facility.
The Electoral Commission (EC) has announced May 23 as the date for the Kumawu Constituency parliamentary by-election.

The by-election follows the death of the sitting Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Hon. Philip Armah Basoah about a month ago.

In a statement released on Monday, April 17, the EC invited interested candidates to pick up nomination forms from their office to contest the vacant seat.

"In accordance with Article 112 (5) of the Constitution, as amended, the Electoral Commission will hold a By-Election in the Constituency on Tuesday, the 23rd of May, 2023," the statement signed by Chairperson Jean Mensa read in portion.

Prospective candidates, according to the Commission, have between May 2 to May 5 to file their nominations.

"A prospective Candidate may personally deliver or cause to be delivered on his/her behalf by either the Proposer or Seconder of his/her Nomination, the completed Nomination Forms to the Returning Officer at the Sekyere Kumawu District Office of the Commission, on the dates and times stated above," the EC said.

The electoral management body further noted that two voters must propose and second each candidate, and the nomination must be supported by 18 other registered voters in the constituency, adding that each candidate must also provide a filing fee of GHC10,000 and two passport-sized photos.

"All completed Nomination Forms are expected to be delivered in quadruplicate," the statement added.

The EC statement concluded, "We urge the public to be guided accordingly.

Six out of eight parliamentary aspirants of the governing the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have been cleared to contest the partys primary in Kumawu in the Ashanti Region.

Two other persons who also picked nomination forms to contest the upcoming by-election in the Constituency have their fate hanging in a balance as they are yet to be cleared by the Vetting Committee.

The vetting was conducted on Sunday, April 16 with the party's primary scheduled to be held on Sunday, April 23.

However, the party has conducted a ballot for the six who have been cleared.

Some of the NPP aspirants eying the seat include former MP, Yaw Baah, the First Vice Chairman Appiah Kubi, the Director of Health Promotions at the Ghana Health Service, Dr Aboagye Dacosta and Dr Philip Banor of the Health Facilities Regulatory Agency (HeFRA) among others.
Francis-Xavier Sosu, the Member of Parliament for Madina, has been acquitted and discharged by the Kaneshie Court of criminal charges for staging an illegal protest in October 2021.

The protest was held to demand better roads for his constituents in the Ayi Mensah-Danfa electoral areas.

He was prosecuted on three counts of causing unlawful damage in violation of section 172(1)(b) of Act 29, obstruction of traffic contrary to section 9(f) of the Public Order Act and Causing Danger to road users contrary to section 22(a) of the Road Traffic Act, 2004.

The case was initiated through a criminal summons filed on November 2, 2021.

However, on Monday, April 17, 2023, the Kaneshie District Court, presided over by Justice Oheneba Kuffour, dismissed the case due to a lack of prosecution.

The lawmaker denied the charges, insisting that he was carrying out his parliamentary duties to hold the government accountable. He said he acted within the remit of the law.

The human rights lawyer has been a vocal advocate for the rights of his constituents and has been actively involved in advocating for better infrastructure in the area.

His win in court has been welcomed by his supporters who see it as a victory for democracy.
Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto

17.04.2023 LISTEN

One of the lessons Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto learned in his six years as Minister of Agriculture is that farmers at all levels still find it difficult to access credit.

He has, therefore, pledged that if, as NPP flagbearer, he is voted as President of Ghana, his priority will be the enactment of a law requiring all commercial banks to increase loanable funds to agriculture and its value chains, saying, The investments needed to achieve sustainable food systems will be non-negotiable!

The presidential hopeful, defending his blueprint for economic revival for Ghana, was asked why his plan of salvation for the economy hinged 100% on agriculture.

He replied that agriculture, can potentially generate substantial export earnings to fund industrial development, finance social sectors such as Health, Education, Housing, Infrastructure, Roads, amongst others as well as reduce our dependency on external sources of funds.

To prove that agriculture can bail out the economy without borrowing from creditors, the presidential hopeful said he will set up a Tree Crop Development Authority to coordinate and promote the development of six tree crops  cashew, rubber, oil palm, coconut, mango and shea.

These tree crops alone are capable of earning between $6 billion and $12 billion per year, enough to wean off our financial dependency on the IMF and other bilateral donors, he stressed.

Questioned why he could not achieve these benefits in his tenure as Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Afriyie Akoto said there are things a President can do which a Minister cannot do.

To ensure that the farmers' produce gets to the market, he said he will provide the needed supply chain logistics and expand market access through infrastructure projects such as feeder roads, rural electrification, irrigation and storage.

The media asked him what his initiative, 'Planting for Food and Jobs' achieved in the six years that he was minister. In answer, he produced records compiled by the Ghana Statistical Service which confirm that under him, the Agric Ministry procured and distributed 1.4 million metric tonnes of fertiliser and 93,192 tonnes of improved seeds which were distributed to over 1.7 million farmers from 2017 to 2021.

As much as GH2.6 billion was sunk into these interventions between 2017 and 2021 to 1.7 million farmers, which interventions led to increase in maize production from 1.7 million metric tonnes in 2016 to 3.6 million metric tonnes in 2021; rice from 688,000 tonnes to 1.2 tonnes and soya from 143,000 to 230,000 tonnes over the same period. In total, the value of production at the farmgate was estimated at GH48.5 billion.
Burundi was the first country to offer troops to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2022 as part of east Africa's peace drive after a wave of attacks from the rebel group known as Mouvement du 23 Mars (M23).

Burundi shares a 243km border with the DRC. Most of it runs through the Rusizi/Ruzizi river to the north and Lake Tanganyika to the south. It has been described as one of the most porous borders in Africa's Great Lakes region. This makes it particularly vulnerable to the spillover effects of conflict from one country into the other. Burundi currently hosts around 86,857 refugees from the DRC, a large number given Burundi's population size of around 12.6 million.

The number of Burundian troops stationed within the DRC is not publicly known. The country already had troops in South Kivu  which hosts Burundian refugees  under a bilateral arrangement with the DRC. On 4 March 2023, Burundi deployed 100 soldiers to North Kivu in the eastern DRC as part of the East African Community's regional peacekeeping force.

M23's aim appears to be control of the eastern part of the DRC, which is endowed with strategic minerals. This area is near the border with Rwanda and Uganda. The group is believed to benefit from strategic and logistic support from the Rwandan government.

Read more: M23: Four things you should know about the rebel group's campaign in Rwanda-DRC conflict

The Burundi troops deployed to the DRC have the mission of securing areas the M23 rebel group has withdrawn from.

Apart from Burundi, only three of the seven East African Community members have offered to provide peacekeeping troops. Kenya and Uganda committed to deploy about 1,000 soldiers each. South Sudan promised to send 750 soldiers. Tanzania, the remaining East African Community member, had already provided its troops under the UN's peace mission in the DRC.

Burundi is interested in seeing a stable and secured DRC, especially along the border area that the two countries share. Burundi's government and army consider the absence of stability and security, especially in the DRC's South Kivu, as a serious threat. It is one of the most important reasons Burundi is involved in supporting the peace process in the DRC.

Other reasons include issues related to bilateral trade and business, regional integration opportunities and the geopolitics of the Great Lakes Region.

Pursuit of rebels

The number of Burundian rebel groups with a rear base in South Kivu increased after 2015, when a military coup attempt against President Pierre Nkurunziza failed. These armed groups have conducted incursions into Burundi from the DRC, increasing the level of insecurity.

The governments of Burundi and DRC agreed to collaborate in eradicating these rebel groups, through sharing intelligence and through joint operations when necessary. In its latest report the Burundian Human Rights Initiative says the government has secretly been deploying hundreds of soldiers and armed ruling party youths to pursue rebels in the eastern DRC since 2021.

Trade links

The DRC has a population of around 111 million people . This is an important market for Burundi and the whole East African Community.

Economically important minerals from the DRC are transported through its neighbours like Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania. This trade involves both legal and illegal exchange of strategic minerals such as gold, coltan, cobalt and cassiterite.

Furthermore, Burundi, Tanzania and the DRC share a plan to build an electrified railway from Dar es Salaam's port through Burundi to the DRC. This project is set to increase the volume of trade between the three countries. Without permanent security in the DRC, this project will not be realised.

In addition, the proximity of cities like Bujumbura (Burundi), Kigoma (Tanzania) and Bukavu and Uvira (DRC) has the potential to create an important triangular trade hub.

Regional politics

Being the current chair of the East Africa Community heads of state summit, Burundi's President Evariste Ndayishimiye had to lead the DRC peace process. But there is also some regional history to it.

Since the 1990s, Africa's Great Lakes Region has become a theatre for some of the bloodiest conflicts on the continent. The particular trait of these conflicts is their interconnectedness. The civil war that erupted in 1993 in Burundi and the 1994 genocide in Rwanda spilled over into the DRC and were closely linked to the 1996 and 1998 wars that devastated the Congolese people. An estimated four million lives were lost.

Political decisions in one country in the region inevitably affect other countries. For instance, discrimination against the Banyamulenge and the contestation of their Congolese identity seem to drive Rwanda's support for M23. The Congolese refute this claim and accuse Kigali of having ambitions to annex the eastern part of the DRC (the so called balkanisation of the Kivus ). The result is severed diplomatic ties between Rwanda and the DRC.

Burundi's interest is in demonstrating that it can be a reliable political ally for the DRC. Developing such political ties offer advantages linked to having an upper hand over the security situation and benefit from arising business opportunities.

Colonial heritage

Burundi and the DRC are the only countries within the EAC where French is used as a key official language and dominates political, trade and diplomatic exchange. The two still share a lot from the colonial era when they were both under Belgian colonial authority. These factors play a role in developing bilateral agreements and in building trust between the two countries.

In sum, Burundi has deployed troops to the DRC to protect its national interests and to implement bilateral agreements and the Luanda road map for peace (named after the talks between the DRC and Rwanda in the Angolan capital Luanda that unlocked a truce with the M23). The Angolan, agreement signed 23 November 2022, provided for the withdrawal of the M23 rebels from all the occupied areas of eastern DRC by 15 January 2023.

Patrick Hajayandi works for the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation. He receives funding from the Robert Bosch Foundation.

Cori Wielenga does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

By Patrick Hajayandi, Research Affiliate, University of Pretoria And

Cori Wielenga, Associate Professor in the Department of Political Sciences and Director of the Centre for Mediation in Africa, University of Pretoria
Sudan's army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who became the face of endless military rule in Sudan with his 2021 coup, is now locked in battle with his second-in-command.

To seize power in Sudan's most recent coup, Burhan joined forces with Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, commander of the large and heavily armed paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

They have now turned on each other.

At the time, the coup had derailed a fragile transition to civilian rule after the 2019 ouster of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir, and stifled pro-democracy hopes of breaking the cycle of successive coups that has defined Sudan's modern history.

'A veteran soldier'

Born in 1960 in a village north of Khartoum, the moustached Burhan -- known for his signature green beret and military uniform -- remained relatively unknown for most of his career.

Born in 1960 in a village north of Khartoum, the moustached Burhan -- known for his signature green beret and military uniform -- remained relatively unknown for most of his career. By ASHRAF SHAZLY (AFP/File)

"He's never been in the limelight," an army officer, who did not want to be named, told AFP in 2019, as Burhan rose to prominence.

"He's a high-ranking officer within the armed forces, but basically he's a veteran soldier."

Burhan commanded the country's ground forces before Bashir made him inspector general of the army in February 2019, two months before the military removed Bashir from power.

In 2015, he coordinated the deployment of Sudanese troops in Yemen as part of a Saudi-led coalition against the Iran-backed Huthi rebels.

The general worked closely with the heavily armed RSF for operations in Yemen, inadvertently boosting both his and future coup partner Daglo's profile internationally.

It was then with Daglo's support that Burhan got the top job in 2019.

Following Bashir's overthrow, Burhan was sworn in as Sudan's interim leader on April 11, 2019.

In August that year, he was tasked with chairing the ruling Sovereign Council of military and civilian figures, steering the transition to a fully-fledged democracy.

As Sovereign Council chairman -- where he began to switch out military regalia for pinstriped suits -- Burhan cemented Sudan's ties with global powers and regional players, including the United States and Israel.

Sudan's Sovereign Council chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan speaks on September 26, 2020 during the opening session of the First National Economic Conference in Khartoum. By ASHRAF SHAZLY (AFP/File)

In February 2020, he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Uganda, breaking with longtime convention and to start a process of normalisation of ties.

He also maintained close relationships with influential northern neighbour Egypt.

Though the general has also made several trips to rich Gulf countries -- on whose largesse impoverished Sudan has often depended -- experts note that his deputy-turned-rival Daglo often beat him to each visit.

Political crisis

By October 25, 2021, all pretence of post-Bashir civilian transition was abandoned when Burhan took to national TV in the middle of the night.

In one fell swoop, he dissolved the transitional government, arrested civilian leaders and installed himself in power, with Daglo as his right-hand man.

Burhan commanded the country's ground forces before Bashir made him inspector general of the army in February 2019, two months before the military removed Bashir from power. By Ebrahim HAMID (AFP/File)

Spiralling political and economic turmoil proved unsustainable for Burhan, who in July of last year made a surprise vow "to make room for political and revolutionary forces and other national factions" to form a civilian government.

The apparent concession from the coup leader -- met with scepticism from pro-democracy activists -- launched a shaky-footed political process that culminated in a framework agreement, signed in December.

With experts pointing to internal pressures on Burhan to nip Daglo's ambitions in the bud, the army chief sought to use the political process to curtail the RSF's autonomy.

It proved too little too late, however, when the two generals turned on each other, with an all-out conflict erupting on Saturday.
A 33-year-old woman has been arrested for allegedly selling her 18-month-old daughter to an unknown buyer for N600,000.

The suspect, Olaide Adekunle, was apprehended last week following a complaint by her husband, Nureni Rasaq, that she had left home with their baby, Moridiat Rasaq on March 15, girl but returned without her.

According to the police, Adekunle confessed to selling the child to settle a debt she owed a microfinance.

She said agents of the bank had been threatening her over her inability to repay the loan.

Out of desperation, Adekunle traveled to Lagos where she started hawking sachet water.

It was while hawking that she met a man who connected her to the woman that bought her baby, reports gathered by this portal said.

The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the acting Commissioner of Police has ordered Adekunle's transfer to the State Criminal Investigation Department for further interrogation and recovery of the child.
As an incumbent in a safe Republican seat, U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney used her large fundraising haul to help other House GOP candidates.

Tenney, R-Canandaigua, raised more than $487,000 in the first quarter, which ran from Jan. 1 through March 31. Her campaign received $252,776 in donations, while her joint fundraising committee, the Claudia Tenney for Congress Victory Fund, collected $234,800.

From the victory fund, Tenney transferred $179,910 to the National Republican Congressional Committee, the House GOP's campaign arm.

Tenney's campaign received more money from individual donors ($154,776) than PACs or other political committees ($98,000). She received $10,000 from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's PAC and $7,000 from House Majority Leader Steve Scalise  $2,000 from his campaign committee and $5,000 from his Eye of the Tiger PAC.

Constellation Brands, which has its headquarters in the 24th Congressional District, donated $5,000 through its PAC. Koch Industries PAC, a major GOP donor, gave $3,500.

Tenney's campaign spent $129,483 and has $207,084 cash on hand.

The victory fund received most of its money from one source. Douglas Kimmelman, founder and senior partner of Energy Capital Partners, an infrastructure investment company, contributed $200,000. Joint fundraising committees are not subject to the same limits as federal candidates.

Tenney's victory fund spent $222,569, most of which was transferred to the NRCC. The committee also moved more than $23,000 to Tenney's congressional campaign and $9,549 to her Tenacious PAC.

Tenney is expected to run for reelection in 2024. She represents the 24th Congressional District, which includes all or parts of 12 counties in upstate New York. Cayuga County is in the 24th district.

So far, no opponents have emerged to challenge Tenney next year. She defeated two primary challengers, Mario Fratto and George Phillips, for the Republican nomination before beating Democratic candidate Steven Holden in the general election.

"I am grateful for the grassroots support we have received from every county in our district  our growing campaign war chest ahead of the 2024 election cycle is evidence of our surging support across New York," Tenney said in a statement.
The Kaneshie District Court has dismissed a case against Madina lawmaker Francis-Xavier Sosu.

The court struck out the case on Monday, 17 April 2023.

Reacting to the courts decision, the Madina lawmaker who is also a Human Rights lawyer stressed that it confirms his position that the Police acted contrary to the law.

Mr Sosu made his first court appearance on Monday, 8 November 2021, to answer charges levelled against him by the police.

The police administration had filed two charges against the Madina lawmaker for leading a demonstration over poor roads in his constituency that led to blockades.

The lawmaker had been charged with unlawfully blocking a public road and destruction of public property.

Mr Sosu had led his constituents to demonstrate over poor roads in his constituency but the demonstration turned ugly as the protestors blocked some major roads and destroyed public properties.

Source: classfmonline.com
Calls for Dr Peter Appiahenes removal from the Board of the Electoral Commission is petty, First Deputy Speaker of Parliament Joseph Osei-Owusu has said.

The main opposition National Democratic Congress and some civil society organisations have accused Dr Appiahene of being an activist of the governing New Patriotic Party following his appointment to the Board of the EC along with two others by President Nana Akufo-Addo.

The president, on Monday, 20 March 2023, swore Dr Appiahene into office along with Rev Akua Ofori Boateng and Salima Armed Tijani.

Their appointment is in line with Article 43 (1 and 2) of the 1992 Constitution which states: There shall be an Electoral Commission which shall consist of a chairman, two deputy chairmen, and four other members.

The members of the commission shall be appointed by the President under article 70 of this Constitution.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, while swearing in the EC board members, urged the commission to be firm with its decisions as the 2024 general elections approach and not allow itself to be railroaded by anyone since its decisions would be closely monitored by Ghanaians.

It is no secret that I have spent most of my adult life trying to fight for the establishment of democracy and human rights in this country and I have always fought and advocated credible elections in Ghana," Mr Akufo-Addo said.

"In emphasising the importance of the credibility of elections, it must be pointed out that the counting, collation and declaration of the results cannot and should not be more important than the sacred God-given rights of the citizen casting his or her ballot," he added at the ceremony that took place at the Jubilee House.

He told the EC: Remember that now and ever, every single decision you take will be scrutinised to the letter."

The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) recently called for the resignation of the three new EC board members.

CODEO, at a press conference held on Wednesday, 5 April 2023, in Accra, noted that it is aware that the voluntary revocation of the appointments of the three is unlikely.

A leading member of CODEO Rev Dr Fred Degbe, addressing the press conference said: We are painfully aware that voluntary and constitutionally grounded revocation of these unfortunate and democratically problematic EC appointments by the President is extremely unlikely.

CODEO, however indicated that, nothing stops the affected appointees, namely Dr Peter Appiahene and Hajia Salima Tijani, from voluntarily and honourably resigning from the EC.

According to CODEO, This will be in the supreme interest of our countrys continued democratic progress, election peace and credibility and indeed overall national interest.

Speaking on the matter, however, Mr Osei-Owusu, who is the MP for Bekwai, said: Transparency and trust in the electoral process are at the polling station, so, pay attention to that place.

Look, we are so petty in many instances, he fumed in an interview with Kwesi Parker-Wilson on Kumasi-based Oyerepa FM.

Listen, theres not a single person who is neither aligned to the left nor right. Theres none. The so-called NGOs, they each have their preferences. Public appearances is a different matter but then each have their preference, he argued.

What I did yesterday cannot show that my integrity is at stake for what I do today, he indicated.

Source: Classfmonline.com
Madina MP, Francis-Xavier Sosu

17.04.2023 LISTEN

Member of Parliament (MP) for Madina, Francis-Xavier Sosu has been cleared of charges brought against him by the Ghana Police.

The Kaneshie District Court discharged him after the criminal case was struck out for want of prosecution.

The lawmaker took to Twitter on Monday, April 17, to share the news, expressing gratitude to Rt. Hon. Kingsford Sumana Alban Bagbin, Speaker of Parliament and all who supported him during the struggle.

I was discharged today by the Kaneshie District Court after the criminal case brought against me by the Ghana Police was struck out for want of prosecution.

A special thanks to Rt. Hon. Kingsford Sumana Alban Bagbin and all who supported me against this struggle, his tweet reads.

The charges against Mr. Sosu was related to a demonstration on October 25, 2021, where he joined his constituents to protest the poor state of roads in Madina.

The police claimed that the protest led to unlawful acts, which led to an attempt to arrest the MP.

Mr. Sosu, who is also a lawyer accused the police of manhandling him on the day of the protest, leading to him filing a complaint in Parliament against two police officers.

Sosu was first arraigned before court on November 8, to face charges of unlawfully blocking a public road as well as the destruction of public property.
Personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) on Saturday 15th April 2023 seized approximately 10,000 Kg of ammonium nitrate and about 20,000 pieces of explosive charges in the form of dynamite which had been prepared from ammonium nitrate.

Most of the ammonium nitrate was concealed in flour and rice sacks.

The ammonium nitrate and explosives were seized during a military operation led by personnel of the 2nd Infantry Battalion at the premises of Mohammed Brothers Company Limited and Dakete Mines in Tarkwa.

The operation was premised on detailed intelligence aimed at clamping down on the manufacture, sale, and use of illegal dynamite in parts of the country, especially mining areas.

13 people made up of 8 Chinese, 3 Togolese, an Ivorian, and a Nigerian were arrested during the operation.
About a fortnight ago, the country was once again thrown into a state of ecstasy and this was all about Kwahu Easter celebrations. Many people have been wondering about what is so special about the Kwahu Easter celebrations that get Kwahu all the media hype and national attention during the period to the detriment of other tourism-endowed towns in Ghana.

Another important question that comes to mind is does the Kwahu Easter celebrations merit the so much hype its been getting over the years as most preferred tourism area since there are equally nice places that also have huge patronage.

Talk of Easter celebrations at; Lake Bosomtwe in the Ashanti region, some of the finest beaches in Sogakope, Keta, Anloga, Vodza, Denu, Adafienu, Aflao, and Dzita all in the Volta region. I have been imagining how much revue these communities and the state will generate if its been given the same kind of media hype given to Kwahu Easter celebrations.

Tourism has since the mid-1980s emerged as a significant sector in the Ghanaian economy and society; this is manifested in several ways. Both past and present public officials proclaim the role of tourism as a major foreign exchange earner and generator of jobs.

Over the past six decades, tourism has experienced continued expansion and diversification, becoming one of the largest and fastest-growing economic sectors in the world. Many new destinations have emerged alongside the traditional ones of Europe and North America. In spite of occasional shocks, international tourist arrivals have shown virtually uninterrupted growth: from 25 million in 1950 to 277 million in 1980, to 435 million in 1990, to 675 million in 2000, and currently 940 million.

Now the country is awakened to the potential of tourism to the extent that a whole ministry has been established carter for its speedy development and so state officials, some private organizations, communities as well as some individuals do not hesitate to exploit it, there is hardly a public event or occasion organised these days without a tourism angle to it.

One such event is the Kwahu Easter celebrations which have become an annual ritual that has received so much hype both within the traditional media and the new media recently.

From oral and partly written narrations, the Kwahu Easter festivities were instituted to speed up developments in the area, but looking at the level of development in most of the towns within the Kwahu enclave as well as public attraction sites, one wonders if the Kwahu Easter celebrations really merit the so much hype its been getting over the years.

Background

In Ghana, one of the foremost local communities with Easter as its main festival is the Kwahu people. To their credit the Easter festival, which is celebrated by Ghanaians of all walks, has been franchised to them as a special Kwahu affair; hence the brand name - Kwahu Easter Festival. To the people of Kwahu, Easter is a traditional heritage bestowed on them by their forefathers many years ago.

The Kwahus, like any other Akan tribe, had a festival called Okwahu Afahye. It was celebrated from October through to December, with its peak in December. Kwahus, known to be good traders, and with trading as their main occupation, later had problems with the timing of the Okwahu Afahye, when the majority of her citizenry migrated to Accra, Kumasi, and other major urban centres in Ghana. The peak of the local trading calendar, which falls in December due to Christmas festivities, started affecting patronage of the Kwahu Festival, which also peaked in December.

As usual, the business-minded Kwahus avoided the festival, and rather opted for the Easter break, to attend the traditionally mandated home-coming events. The Kwahu home-coming culture, which was inbuilt in the Kwahu Festival, brought the Kwahus home from other places in Ghana, and the Diaspora (notably Europe and America) to assist the home-based locals, the chiefs and youth associations to develop the Kwahu Traditional Area.

According to oral tradition, to sustain patronage, the Kwahu Traditional Council shifted the festival to the Easter season, hence the new emphasis - Kwahu Easter Festival.

I believe the spirited campaigns by a majority of the Accra-based private local radio stations; notably Peace FM, Happy FM, and Adom FM were done with the view of marketing the Kwahu enclaves to become one of the topnotch international tourism destinations. However, the multi-million question lingering on the lips of many Ghanaians has the media hype that lives up to the bill.

Many people are of the view that the Easter Festival in Kwahu which is arguably said to be one of the most celebrated holidays in the country, especially with the introduction of paragliding activities on the Kwahu Mountains in 2005 would have ranked in the much-needed funds for the construction basic social amenities which are lacking in the area.

Paragliding is a common event in most developed countries like Germany, Holland, Sweden, Australia, and U.S.A. In Africa, apart from South Africa and Kenya, Ghana is the only country that organizes this event in the West Africa hub yet both locals and national are not able to maximize to our advantage.

There is no doubt that the paragliding event with the Kwahu Easter Festival, since 2005, has led to the attraction of more local and international visitors in recent times. The question is are the local indigenes, and authorities benefiting from it in terms of infrastructural development?

Before the introduction of paragliding, there were additional activities, such as street carnival, highlife concept, health walks, and a myriad of sporting activities added to the main event which used to be the traditional durbar of chiefs but nothing much has been achieved.

The Kwahu Easter Festival has the advantage of extending the tourist season, generating revenue for both government and local authorities, supporting existing businesses, and encouraging new start-ups when the right infrastructure and policies are put in place.

Let us not forget that festivals have major impacts on the development of cultural tourism, often economic, social, environmental, and political.

Traditionally, chiefs in Ghana find it convenient to have durbars to honour their ancestors, and also rally their subjects for developmental projects. For the Kwahu state in particular, such festive occasions especially with the addition of Paragliding to the numerous activities should constitute a major vehicle for fundraising, and also for securing other vital support from the central government and the private sector.

Festivals are attractive to the host communities because it helps to develop local pride and identity for local people. If these festivals are structured well, they can be used as a tool for tourism promotion.

The state should not lose sight that though tourism has great potential to affect the lives of communities and the nation at large its an impact in both positive and negative ways.

Caution must be taken by all to guard against these negatives like the sharp inception or infusion of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ+) into our cultural setting. I remember vividly some years back, the Kwahu Traditional Council have to come out to ban the wearing of sexually seductive clothes and other immoral acts during the festival.

Again, tourism development is not simply a matter of matching product supply with tourist demands; local acceptability must also be considered. Tourism development affects residents habits, daily routines, social lives, beliefs, and values.

Tourism has emerged as one of the most sustainable economic ventures globally. It is one of the largest and most dynamically developing sectors of the external economy, thus those mandated with the development of the tourism sector should come up with concrete policies to develop all identified tourism sites to international levels to rank in billions of dollars the sector is offering.

Its an open secret that well-developed and properly managed tourism sites scatted across the length and breadth of Ghana have the potential to end the countrys economic woes.

The market size worldwide, measured by revenue, of the Global Tourism industry is two trillion U.S. dollars ($2.3tr) in 2023. How much of these amounts is coming to Ghana? These are issues that need our collective attention and not the unnecessary party-political debates of equalization which doesnt add anything positive to our ever worsen life.

#All festivals and tourism sites in Ghana are very important.

#lets promote all

By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
17.04.2023 LISTEN

The Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, George Mireku Duker, has indicated that the government may consider providing security support to legally recognized mining companies due to attacks.

This claim was made in reaction to the recent damage caused by unauthorized miners at Golden Star Wassa Limited's Benso concession in the Western Region.

The illegal miners invaded the concession, setting fire to properties owned by the mining company after being prevented by security personnel and police from collecting mine dust to prospect for gold.

The confrontation resulted in injuries to some illegal miners, who then chased employees and set fire to 12 vehicles, including excavators, ambulances and pickups.

During a visit to the facility by the Minerals Commission, the Deputy Minister stated that while the government might provide security to mining companies, they must establish better relationships with their host communities to prevent similar incidents from occurring.

The Group Corporate Affairs Manager of Golden Star Wassa Mine, Mr. Gerard Boakye, indicated that they would consider the Minister's concerns.
Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Michael Okyere Baafi

17.04.2023 LISTEN

The Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Michael Okyere Baafi has assured businesses in the country that government has no intention of causing their collapse.

In the last couple of months, members of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) and the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) have kicked against the three new approved revenue bills.

The argument has been that more taxes will overburden businesses and force owners out of business.

Addressing the concerns in an interview with Joy News on the sidelines of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) Business Forum in Cape Town  South Africa, Deputy Trade and Industry Minister Michael Okyere indicated that business owners should be at peace.

According to him, government has no intention of sabotaging or crippling Ghanaian businesses.

The intention of government is not to cripple or sabotage businesses. Thats not what government has in mind. Governments interest is to encourage people to do business and also when they do businesses and when they grow, those businesses are supposed to pay more taxes to government so that we can be able to undertake projects like very good infrastructural projects like roads, other things that will benefit car users and users of social services in the country, Michael Okyere explained.

Meanwhile, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as confirmed by the Minister of Information Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has signed the revenue bills into law.
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has called on the public to help prevent the breeding the newly discovered Anopheles Stephensi to avoid causing health problems in the country.

GHS says one of the ways to stop the new strain of mosquitoes is to destroy the areas they are likely to breed by keeping the environment clean.

The Public Relations Officer for GHS Mr Jacob Acquah in an interview with the Kumasi-based OTEC 102.9 FM's morning show "Nyansapo", on Monday April 17, 2023 said all health facilities in the country have been notified about the situation in order to guard against the mosquitoes.

He told the programmes host Captain Koda that GHS is already collaborating with the World Health Organization to investigate more about the new mosquito strains to find an antidote.

Background

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) confirmed the invasion of a new breed of mosquito more dangerous than the anopheles.

The new breed known as Anopheles Stephensi is also a malaria-transmitting mosquito, very invasive, spreads faster, and can adapt to a myriad of climate conditions according to the World Health Organization.

GHS has established its presence in Tuba and Dansoman, and has warned residents to protect themselves.

The Anopheles Stephensi first invaded Africa in 2019. The countries include Ethiopia Sudan, Somalia, and Nigeria and currently confirmed in Ghana just this March.

Source: Ghana/otecfmghana.com/Jacob Agyenim Boateng
The Ghana Police Service has finally made a pronouncement on the statements by Abetifi Member of Parliament Bryan Acheampong which was been described as inciting.

During a health walk in Kwahu during the Easter celebration, the Minister of Food and Agriculture told a gathering of New Patriotic Party (NPP) followers that the party will never hand over power to the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

This was immediately condemned when the media reported on the comments with many insisting that such comments are not only senseless but a threat to national security.

Today, the Ghana Police Service has explained why it has not taken any action although there have been many calls for Bryan Acheampong to be invited and questioned.

According to the security service, a decision has been taken for the service to only involve itself in politically related incidents that bother on criminality.

The second intervention is the setting up of a dedicated legal team to subject all politically related incidents to legal scrutiny to establish whether there are elements of crime or otherwise before any Police action is taken. The Police will therefore not intervene in any situation where there is no criminality involved.

This is a paradigm shift from the practice in the past where people were arrested in the heat of the moment for politically related incidents as a result of attempts by politicians on either side to whip up public sentiments against the police thereby creating the impression that the Police supports one side against the other, parts of the release from the Ghana Police Service explained.

The release added, In such instances when no concrete charges can be leveled against such people they are eventually released thereby creating the impression in the public domain as though the police were manipulated in effecting their arrests.

This initiative has been used to analyze all recent cases such as comments made by the Hon. Minister of Food and Agriculture and the Constituency Youth Organiser for the NDC at Suame, among others.

Meanwhile, the Police have announced that an Election Security Secretariat has been established to work with all political parties and other stakeholders to enhance the management of security for all elections in the country.

Find more in the Police press release below:

Police Meet leadership of NPP and NDC Over happenings on the political front

1. The Police this afternoon met with the leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) at the National Police Headquarters in Accra.

2. The meeting which was called at the instance of the Inspector-General of Police was necessitated by press statements issued by the parties and subsequently followed by petitions to the Police Service with each party calling on the Police to arrest certain individuals of the other side for some alleged offences.

3. At the meeting, both parties were given the opportunity to air their grievances. The main issue raised by them was in respect to comments by some political actors from both sides of the divide considered to be inflammatory.

4. The Police also briefed them on two strategic interventions introduced by the Police Administration to handle election and politically related incidents as part of the police transformation agenda.

5. The Police used the opportunity to provide an update on the status of political violence and related incidents recorded during the recent internal elections of both parties including;

6. The arrest and prosecution of some 14 members of the NPP for disturbances during their constituency election at Enchi and the arrest of 9 out of the 16 wanted individuals for disturbances at the national youth and women organizer polls of the NDC at Cape Coast.

7. An update was also provided on the status of the 2020 General Election related cases including Techiman South and Odododiodio constituencies and the public will be duly updated on these cases in the course of the week.

8. The first strategic intervention shared with them is the establishment of the Police Election Security Secretariat to work with all political parties and other stakeholders to enhance the management of security for all elections in the country.

9. This is a complete departure from the old order where an election security task force was put together just some months before the general elections.

10. Since its creation over a year ago, the Police Election Security Secretariat has worked with the various political parties in their respective internal elections from the polling station, through the constituency to the national executive elections.

11. The Secretariat is currently working with both parties on their parliamentary and presidential primaries.

12. The second intervention is the setting up of a dedicated legal team to subject all politically related incidents to legal scrutiny to establish whether there are elements of crime or otherwise before any Police action is taken. The Police will therefore not intervene in any situation where there is no criminality involved.

13. This is a paradigm shift from the practice in the past where people were arrested in the heat of the moment for politically related incidents as a result of attempts by politicians on either side to whip up public sentiments against the police thereby creating the impression that the Police supports one side against the other. In such instances when no concrete charges can be leveled against such people they are eventually released thereby creating the impression in the public domain as though the police were manipulated in effecting their arrests.

14. This initiative has been used to analyze all recent cases such as comments made by the Hon. Minister of Food and Agriculture and the Constituency Youth Organiser for the NDC at Suame, among others.

15. At the meeting both parties were also urged that with these policing interventions in place, they should do their politics and allow the Police to do policing. We therefore called on them to support us including by criticising us constructively to do a professional job in line with our constitutional mandate.

16. As we commend the leadership of the two political parties for availing themselves and contributing to the success of the meeting, we would like to call on Ghanaians to help us in our effort to build an independent Police service which will serve the greater good of the Ghanaian people and not the interest of any individual or group of people.

17. Once again, we wish to assure the public that we remain committed to ensuring peace, security, law and order in the country at all times including before, during and after all elections in the country.

Police Meet leadership of NPP and NDC Over happenings on the political front

1. The Police this afternoon met with the leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) at the National Police Headquarters in Accra.

2. The meeting which was called at the instance of the Inspector-General of Police was necessitated by press statements issued by the parties and subsequently followed by petitions to the Police Service with each party calling on the Police to arrest certain individuals of the other side for some alleged offences.

3. At the meeting, both parties were given the opportunity to air their grievances. The main issue raised by them was in respect to comments by some political actors from both sides of the divide considered to be inflammatory.

4. The Police also briefed them on two strategic interventions introduced by the Police Administration to handle election and politically related incidents as part of the police transformation agenda.

5. The Police used the opportunity to provide an update on the status of political violence and related incidents recorded during the recent internal elections of both parties including;

6. The arrest and prosecution of some 14 members of the NPP for disturbances during their constituency election at Enchi and the arrest of 9 out of the 16 wanted individuals for disturbances at the national youth and women organizer polls of the NDC at Cape Coast.

7. An update was also provided on the status of the 2020 General Election related cases including Techiman South and Odododiodio constituencies and the public will be duly updated on these cases in the course of the week.

8. The first strategic intervention shared with them is the establishment of the Police Election Security Secretariat to work with all political parties and other stakeholders to enhance the management of security for all elections in the country.

9. This is a complete departure from the old order where an election security task force was put together just some months before the general elections.

10. Since its creation over a year ago, the Police Election Security Secretariat has worked with the various political parties in their respective internal elections from the polling station, through the constituency to the national executive elections.

11. The Secretariat is currently working with both parties on their parliamentary and presidential primaries.

12. The second intervention is the setting up of a dedicated legal team to subject all politically related incidents to legal scrutiny to establish whether there are elements of crime or otherwise before any Police action is taken. The Police will therefore not intervene in any situation where there is no criminality involved.

13. This is a paradigm shift from the practice in the past where people were arrested in the heat of the moment for politically related incidents as a result of attempts by politicians on either side to whip up public sentiments against the police thereby creating the impression that the Police supports one side against the other. In such instances when no concrete charges can be leveled against such people they are eventually released thereby creating the impression in the public domain as though the police were manipulated in effecting their arrests.

14. This initiative has been used to analyze all recent cases such as comments made by the Hon. Minister of Food and Agriculture and the Constituency Youth Organiser for the NDC at Suame, among others.

15. At the meeting both parties were also urged that with these policing interventions in place, they should do their politics and allow the Police to do policing. We therefore called on them to support us including by criticising us constructively to do a professional job in line with our constitutional mandate.

16. As we commend the leadership of the two political parties for availing themselves and contributing to the success of the meeting, we would like to call on Ghanaians to help us in our effort to build an independent Police service which will serve the greater good of the Ghanaian people and not the interest of any individual or group of people.

17. Once again, we wish to assure the public that we remain committed to ensuring peace, security, law and order in the country at all times including before, during and after all elections in the country.
Cyrela Brazil Realty S.A. Empreendimentos e Participacoes (OTCMKTS:CYRBY  Get Rating) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,600 shares, an increase of 220.0% from the March 15th total of 500 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Cyrela Brazil Realty S.A. Empreendimentos e Participacoes Stock Performance

CYRBY traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $3.14. The companys stock had a trading volume of 206 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,284. Cyrela Brazil Realty S.A. Empreendimentos e Participacoes has a 52 week low of $2.19 and a 52 week high of $3.93. The companys 50-day moving average is $2.85 and its 200-day moving average is $2.89. The firm has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a PE ratio of 7.30 and a beta of 0.64.

Get Cyrela Brazil Realty S.A. Empreendimentos e Participacoes alerts:

Cyrela Brazil Realty S.A. Empreendimentos e Participacoes Company Profile

(Get Rating)

See Also

Cyrela Brazil Realty SA Empreendimentos e Participacoes engages in the development and construction of residential properties. It operates through the Merger Activity and Service Fee Income segments. The company was founded in 1961 and is headquartered in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Receive News & Ratings for Cyrela Brazil Realty S.A. Empreendimentos e Participacoes Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Cyrela Brazil Realty S.A. Empreendimentos e Participacoes and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
On Apr. 7, 2023, Atlas Copco Group celebrated its "150 years of innovation" in Shanghai. The event was witnessed by officials from relevant government departments, representatives from Embassy of Sweden, and important local business partners. Ms. Li Hong, Vice Chairperson of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, Ms. Zhang Hui, Deputy District Mayor of the Peoples Government of Jingan District, Shanghai, Ms. Helena Sangeland, Swedish Ambassador to China, and Mr. Francis Liekens, Vice President of Atlas Copco (China) Investment Co., Ltd. attended the event.

Photo credit: Atlas Copco

Atlas Copco Group was founded in Sweden in 1873. In the past century and a half, the world has undergone tremendous changes. Atlas Copco has also developed from a start-up enterprise providing equipment for the construction of the Swedish railway system to a global group involved in many industries. However, what remains unchanged is that Atlas Copco has always been committed to promoting development through innovation and has provided breakthrough innovations for customers in many different industries. The group cooperates with customers to develop new products and solutions to meet their challenges as well as the challenges the society is facing. In addition to innovation, Atlas Copco Group's attention to sustainable development, as well as our environmental and social performance remain unchanged. Atlas Copco aim to run our business in a sustainable manner and create long-term value, taking people, the planet, and profits into account, making a positive impact on society.

2023 is the 150th anniversary of the Group and the 25th anniversary of Atlas Copco's establishment of its Greater China headquarters in Shanghai. Atlas Copco entered the Chinese market since the 1920s. Ever since then, Atlas Copco have adhered to conducting our business in an ethical manner, always focusing on customers, actively contributing to the local industry and communities, and contributing to economic and social development.

While celebrating the past, Atlas Copco will also focus on how the company can continue to shape the future. As Mr. Francis Liekens, Vice President of Atlas Copco (China) Investment Co., Ltd., said "Atlas Copco will continue to deepen its efforts in the Greater China market, assist industry innovation, contribute to the Chinese intelligent manufacturing and Chinese modernization, promote sustainable development through innovation. Atlas Copco are committed to contributing to Chinas Dual Carbon Targets, and being part of the solution for a better tomorrow.
The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU  Get Rating) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 21,170,000 shares, a decline of 26.6% from the March 15th total of 28,850,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 8,870,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days. Approximately 5.7% of the companys shares are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WU. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Western Union from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 11th. Barclays dropped their target price on Western Union from $13.00 to $10.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 13th. UBS Group upgraded Western Union from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a report on Monday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a sell rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 9th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Western Union in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Union presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $13.97.

Get Western Union alerts:

Western Union Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE WU traded down $0.10 on Friday, reaching $11.09. 4,882,818 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,802,512. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.48, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $12.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.27. The company has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 0.85. Western Union has a 12 month low of $10.07 and a 12 month high of $19.97.

Western Union Announces Dividend

Western Union ( NYSE:WU Get Rating ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 7th. The credit services provider reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 20.35% and a return on equity of 151.54%. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Western Union will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 17th were given a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 16th. Western Unions payout ratio is 40.17%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MV Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Western Union by 460.8% during the 3rd quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,929 shares of the credit services providers stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,585 shares during the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co grew its stake in Western Union by 89.4% during the 3rd quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 1,941 shares of the credit services providers stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 916 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Western Union by 7,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the credit services providers stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 2,170 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new position in Western Union during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Western Union by 157.6% during the 4th quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,540 shares of the credit services providers stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 1,554 shares during the last quarter. 97.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Western Union

(Get Rating)

The Western Union Co is a holding company, which engages in the provision of money transfer and payment services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer-to-Consumer, Business Solutions, and Other. The Consumer-to-Consumer segment facilitates money transfers between two consumers. The Business Solutions segment offers payment and foreign exchange solutions, cross-border, and cross-currency transactions for small and medium size enterprises and other organizations and individuals.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Western Union Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Western Union and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL  Get Rating) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 150,432 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 838 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.s holdings in Aflac were worth $10,822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 36.2% in the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,941 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,542,000 after buying an additional 6,369 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL grew its position in shares of Aflac by 6.8% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 17,268 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102 shares during the period. Aviva PLC boosted its holdings in Aflac by 0.7% in the first quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 210,634 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $13,563,000 after acquiring an additional 1,503 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth about $428,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 7.3% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,142 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $396,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.22% of the companys stock.

Get Aflac alerts:

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of Aflac stock traded down $0.18 on Monday, hitting $66.03. 585,007 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,646,588. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a current ratio of 0.06. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.93. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $52.07 and a 52 week high of $74.01.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

Aflac ( NYSE:AFL Get Rating ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $4.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.49 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.69% and a net margin of 21.54%. Aflacs revenue for the quarter was down 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 500 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Monday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.45, for a total value of $32,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 19,269 shares in the company, valued at $1,241,887.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 19,291 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.36, for a total value of $1,357,314.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 87,598 shares in the company, valued at $6,163,395.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 500 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.45, for a total value of $32,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,269 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,241,887.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.90% of the companys stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on AFL. Raymond James upped their target price on Aflac from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Aflac from $77.00 to $72.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 12th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Monday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $71.13.

Aflac Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Aflac, Inc is a holding company. engages in the provision of financial protection services. It operates through the followings segments: Aflac Japan and Aflac United States (U.S.). The Aflac Japan segment offers life insurance, death benefits, and cash surrender values. The Aflac U.S. segment sells voluntary supplemental insurance products for people who already have major medical or primary insurance coverage.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AFL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for Aflac Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Aflac and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
All Season Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW  Get Rating) by 39.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,870 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock after buying an additional 8,961 shares during the quarter. All Season Financial Advisors Inc.s holdings in Medical Properties Trust were worth $355,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MPW. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 348.8% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 7,104,051 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $84,256,000 after buying an additional 5,521,226 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,158,910 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $774,593,000 after buying an additional 3,800,294 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 24.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 17,071,940 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $202,473,000 after buying an additional 3,355,195 shares in the last quarter. Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,536,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Medical Properties Trust by 175.3% in the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,850,463 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $58,797,000 after purchasing an additional 2,451,617 shares during the period. 80.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get Medical Properties Trust alerts:

Medical Properties Trust Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE MPW traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $8.47. 2,359,742 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,082,025. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $9.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.16. Medical Properties Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $7.10 and a one year high of $20.46. The company has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.95.

Medical Properties Trust Announces Dividend

Analyst Ratings Changes

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 16th were paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 15th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.70%. Medical Properties Trusts dividend payout ratio is presently 77.33%.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Medical Properties Trust from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 5th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Medical Properties Trust from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 4th. Bank of America lowered shares of Medical Properties Trust from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $10.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. Credit Suisse Group reissued a neutral rating and issued a $11.00 price objective on shares of Medical Properties Trust in a research report on Tuesday, March 7th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Medical Properties Trust in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Medical Properties Trust currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $13.73.

Medical Properties Trust Profile

(Get Rating)

Medical Properties Trust, Inc is a self-advised real estate investment trust, engages in the investment, acquisition, and development of net-leased healthcare facilities. Its property portfolio includes rehabilitation hospitals, long-term acute care hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, hospitals for women and children, regional and community hospitals, medical office buildings, and other single-discipline facilities.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Medical Properties Trust Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Medical Properties Trust and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A. (NYSE:BSBR  Get Rating) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of Reduce from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and one has given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $5.00.

Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Banco Santander (Brasil) in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating for the company.

Get Banco Santander (Brasil) alerts:

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Banco Santander (Brasil) in the third quarter valued at $451,000. Optiver Holding B.V. acquired a new stake in Banco Santander (Brasil) during the 3rd quarter worth about $235,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in Banco Santander (Brasil) during the 3rd quarter worth about $83,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Banco Santander (Brasil) by 234.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 13,713 shares of the banks stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 9,616 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust grew its holdings in Banco Santander (Brasil) by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 12,375 shares of the banks stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 2,308 shares during the period. 14.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Banco Santander (Brasil) Stock Performance

Banco Santander (Brasil) Increases Dividend

Shares of NYSE BSBR opened at $5.64 on Monday. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $5.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.21 and a quick ratio of 0.21. Banco Santander has a twelve month low of $4.76 and a twelve month high of $7.73.

The firm also recently announced a  dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 30th were paid a dividend of $0.0881 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 27th. This is a boost from Banco Santander (Brasil)s previous  dividend of $0.04. This represents a yield of 7.4%.

About Banco Santander (Brasil)

(Get Rating)

Banco Santander (Brasil) SA engages in the provision of banking and financial services. It operates through Commercial Bank and Global Wholesale Banking segments. The Commercial Bank segment focuses on loans, cards, mortgages, consumer financing, payroll, agribusiness, micro credit, and corporate and private banking services.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Banco Santander (Brasil) Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Banco Santander (Brasil) and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Bfsg LLC decreased its holdings in Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO  Get Rating) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,305 shares of the mining companys stock after selling 250 shares during the quarter. Bfsg LLCs holdings in Rio Tinto Group were worth $1,731,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Rio Tinto Group by 23.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 61,529 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $4,947,000 after buying an additional 11,879 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC raised its position in shares of Rio Tinto Group by 33.8% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 6,549 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 1,654 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of Rio Tinto Group by 19.4% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,539,846 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $123,803,000 after buying an additional 250,480 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Rio Tinto Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $499,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Rio Tinto Group by 141.7% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,466 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $1,083,000 after buying an additional 7,894 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 10.43% of the companys stock.

Get Rio Tinto Group alerts:

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. BNP Paribas cut shares of Rio Tinto Group from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Rio Tinto Group from GBX 5,800 ($71.83) to GBX 6,200 ($76.78) in a report on Tuesday, January 10th. Berenberg Bank raised shares of Rio Tinto Group from a sell rating to a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Rio Tinto Group from GBX 5,750 ($71.21) to GBX 5,790 ($71.70) in a report on Monday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Rio Tinto Group from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, January 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $5,790.00.

Rio Tinto Group Stock Up 0.8 %

Rio Tinto Group Cuts Dividend

Shares of RIO stock traded up $0.54 on Monday, hitting $69.12. The stock had a trading volume of 969,996 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,195,567. The business has a 50 day moving average of $69.84 and a 200 day moving average of $67.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.64. Rio Tinto Group has a 12-month low of $50.92 and a 12-month high of $83.21.

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 9th. This represents a yield of 9.8%.

About Rio Tinto Group

(Get Rating)

Rio Tinto Plc engages in the exploration, mining, and processing of mineral resources. It operates through the following business segments: Iron Ore, Aluminium, Copper and Diamonds, Energy and Minerals, and Other Operations. The Iron Ore segment supplies global seaborne iron ore trade. The Aluminium segment produces bauxite, alumina and primary aluminum.

Read More

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding RIO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for Rio Tinto Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Rio Tinto Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
BlackRock California Municipal Income Trust (NYSE:BFZ  Get Rating) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 129,900 shares, an increase of 35.6% from the March 15th total of 95,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 85,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days.

BlackRock California Municipal Income Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BFZ traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $11.68. The companys stock had a trading volume of 12,688 shares, compared to its average volume of 83,477. BlackRock California Municipal Income Trust has a fifty-two week low of $10.03 and a fifty-two week high of $11.97.

Get BlackRock California Municipal Income Trust alerts:

BlackRock California Municipal Income Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 14th will be paid a $0.039 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 13th. This represents a $0.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock California Municipal Income Trust

About BlackRock California Municipal Income Trust

In related news, major shareholder Saba Capital Management, L.P. acquired 27,924 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $11.21 per share, with a total value of $313,028.04. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 3,263,051 shares in the company, valued at $36,578,801.71. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website . Over the last three months, insiders purchased 159,261 shares of company stock valued at $1,826,788.

(Get Rating)

BlackRock California Municipal Income Trust is a closed-end investment fund. Its investment objective is to provide current income exempt from Federal and California income taxes. The company seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing primarily in municipal obligations exempt from federal income taxes and California income taxes.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for BlackRock California Municipal Income Trust Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BlackRock California Municipal Income Trust and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Viking Fund Management LLC raised its stake in shares of British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI  Get Rating) by 8.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 125,000 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Viking Fund Management LLCs holdings in British American Tobacco were worth $4,998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BTI. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of British American Tobacco by 11.6% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,624,861 shares of the companys stock valued at $237,145,000 after buying an additional 582,790 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 0.7% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,290,017 shares of the companys stock worth $54,387,000 after buying an additional 8,692 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 4.5% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 64,394 shares of the companys stock worth $2,715,000 after purchasing an additional 2,798 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in British American Tobacco during the first quarter valued at $323,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 148.7% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 18,870 shares of the companys stock valued at $795,000 after purchasing an additional 11,283 shares during the period. 6.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Get British American Tobacco alerts:

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of British American Tobacco from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of British American Tobacco from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a report on Monday, March 13th.

British American Tobacco Stock Performance

British American Tobacco Increases Dividend

Shares of BTI traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $35.36. The stock had a trading volume of 1,475,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,885,107. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $36.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.28. British American Tobacco p.l.c. has a fifty-two week low of $34.44 and a fifty-two week high of $45.28.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 22nd will be issued a $0.7006 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 21st. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.93%. This is a positive change from British American Tobaccos previous quarterly dividend of $0.70.

About British American Tobacco

(Get Rating)

British American Tobacco plc is a holding company, which engages in the manufacture and distribution of tobacco products. Its brands include Kent, Dunhill, Lucky Strike, and Pall Mall. It operates through the following geographical segments: United States, Asia-Pacific and Middle East (APME), Americas and Sub-Saharan Africa (AMSSA), and Europe and North Africa (ENA).

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BTI? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for British American Tobacco Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for British American Tobacco and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR  Get Rating) and Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER  Get Rating) are both large-cap business services companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, earnings, risk and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Broadridge Financial Solutions and Uber Technologies, as reported by MarketBeat.

Get Broadridge Financial Solutions alerts:

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Broadridge Financial Solutions 0 1 1 0 2.50 Uber Technologies 0 2 27 0 2.93

Broadridge Financial Solutions presently has a consensus price target of $159.50, indicating a potential upside of 9.21%. Uber Technologies has a consensus price target of $47.55, indicating a potential upside of 48.22%. Given Uber Technologies stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Uber Technologies is more favorable than Broadridge Financial Solutions.

Earnings and Valuation

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Broadridge Financial Solutions $5.71 billion 3.01 $539.10 million $4.48 32.60 Uber Technologies $31.88 billion 2.03 -$9.14 billion ($4.69) -6.84

This table compares Broadridge Financial Solutions and Uber Technologies gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Broadridge Financial Solutions has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Uber Technologies. Uber Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Broadridge Financial Solutions, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

86.5% of Broadridge Financial Solutions shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.8% of Uber Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of Broadridge Financial Solutions shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.8% of Uber Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Broadridge Financial Solutions and Uber Technologies net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Broadridge Financial Solutions 9.13% 40.38% 9.19% Uber Technologies -28.68% -114.18% -28.78%

Volatility and Risk

Broadridge Financial Solutions has a beta of 1, meaning that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, Uber Technologies has a beta of 1.2, meaning that its share price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Broadridge Financial Solutions beats Uber Technologies on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Broadridge Financial Solutions

(Get Rating)

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. engages in the provision of investor communications and technology solutions to banks, broker-dealers, mutual funds, and corporate issuers. It operates through the following segments: Investor Communication Solutions and Global Technology and Operations. The Investor Communication Solutions segment offers services for broker-dealer investor communication, customer communication, corporate issuer, advisor solutions, and mutual fund and retirement solutions. The Global Technology and Operations segment includes middle and back-office securities processing solutions, automation services, and business process outsourcing services. The company was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in Lake Success, NY.

About Uber Technologies

(Get Rating)

Uber Technologies, Inc. is a technology platform, which engages in the development and operation of technology applications, network, and product to power movement from point A to point B. The firm offers ride services and merchants delivery service providers for meal preparation, grocery and other delivery services. It operates through the following segments: Mobility, Delivery and Freight. The Mobility segment refers to products that connect consumers with Mobility Drivers who provide rides in a variety of vehicles, such as cars, auto rickshaws, motorbikes, minibuses, or taxis. The Delivery segment offers consumers to search for and discover local restaurants, order a meal, and either pick-up at the restaurant or have the meal delivered and, in certain markets, Delivery also includes offerings for grocery, alcohol and convenience store delivery and other goods. The Freight segment leverages proprietary technology, brand awareness, and experience revolutionizing industries to connect carriers with shippers on Ubers platform, and gives carriers upfront, transparent pricing and the ability to book a shipment. The company was founded by Oscar Salazar Gaitan, Travis Kalanick and Ga

Receive News & Ratings for Broadridge Financial Solutions Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Broadridge Financial Solutions and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Shares of Hargreaves Lansdown plc (OTCMKTS:HRGLY  Get Rating) have been given an average rating of Hold by the eight research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $818.50.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Hargreaves Lansdown from GBX 785 ($9.72) to GBX 712 ($8.82) in a report on Friday, March 31st. Credit Suisse Group downgraded Hargreaves Lansdown from a neutral rating to an underperform rating in a report on Monday, February 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Hargreaves Lansdown from a hold rating to an underperform rating in a report on Thursday, January 19th.

Get Hargreaves Lansdown alerts:

Hargreaves Lansdown Stock Performance

Shares of OTCMKTS HRGLY opened at $19.77 on Monday. The stocks fifty day simple moving average is $20.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.58. Hargreaves Lansdown has a 52-week low of $15.95 and a 52-week high of $25.23.

Hargreaves Lansdown Cuts Dividend

About Hargreaves Lansdown

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 3rd were paid a $0.2553 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 2nd. This represents a yield of 3.72%.

(Get Rating)

Hargreaves Lansdown Plc engages in the provision of investment products and services, financial planning and advice. The company was founded by Peter Kendal Hargreaves and Stephen Philip Lansdown in July 1981 and is headquartered in Bristol, the United Kingdom.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Hargreaves Lansdown Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Hargreaves Lansdown and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP  Get Rating) (TSE:BIP.UN) had its price objective increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $40.00 to $41.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the utilities providers stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James reduced their target price on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $43.58.

Get Brookfield Infrastructure Partners alerts:

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Price Performance

Shares of BIP stock traded down $0.52 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $35.37. 782,449 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 385,496. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market cap of $16.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 257.65 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $33.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.33. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has a fifty-two week low of $30.03 and a fifty-two week high of $45.51.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Increases Dividend

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners ( NYSE:BIP Get Rating ) (TSE:BIP.UN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The utilities provider reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.71 by ($0.74). The business had revenue of $3.71 billion for the quarter. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners had a return on equity of 1.20% and a net margin of 2.09%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners will post 3.01 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 28th were paid a $0.382 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 27th. This is an increase from Brookfield Infrastructure Partnerss previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.32%. Brookfield Infrastructure Partnerss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 1,119.57%.

Institutional Trading of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BIP. Power Corp of Canada acquired a new stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the 1st quarter worth about $73,000. Clear Street Markets LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the 1st quarter worth about $81,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 305.4% during the 1st quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 1,792 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC increased its position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 23.5% during the 3rd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,864 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. 57.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP operates as an infrastructure company, which engages in the management of diversified portfolio of infrastructure assets that will generate sustainable and growing distributions over the long-term for unit holders. It operates through the following segments: Utilities, Transport, Midstream, and Data.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Brookfield Infrastructure Partners and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
MIAMISayUncle has released seven new scenes featuring Cain Gomez, Jake Jackson, Amone Bane, and more.

Alfonso Osnaya headlines Roomies, from Latin Leche, where he comes over to visit his old roommate, Cain Gomez. However, he gets jealous when he sees Gomez is with Fernando Ragel. Later, things get better when Gomez and Ragel join Osnaya in a three-way. To watch the scene, click here.

Next, in Missionary Boys Improvements are Rewarded, Dakota Lovell has been impressing President Brody Kayman with his improved behavior. So when Kayman summons Lovell once again for a reward, he wants to make sure he is fit to take on the mission. So, Lovell strips down for him and the president doesnt hesitate to bring Lovell to his knees to start giving him head. To watch, click here.

Other scenes include:

 He Can Take it, from Pig Bottoms, stars Brody Fox, El Andy, Jake Jackson, Jay Tee, and Malakai White who get together to take turns with El Andy as the sub-bottom of the group for the day. Luckily, Andy has no problem taking all the guys at once.

 Fast Learner, from Brother Crush, stars Amone Bane who joins his younger stepbrother Donovan to teach him about masturbating with some hands-on learning. But soon, theyre both ready to take the lesson to the next level.

 Stealing Your Attention, from Young Perps, stars Ty Roderick as a delinquent who is brought into the back room by an officer (Jeremiah Cruze). Cruze tells him that he has to ban him from the mall for all the complaints hes been getting about him. But Ty admits that he loves coming to the mall to see him since hes so hot. Its not long before the two go at it.

 Why do you Smell so Good, Family Dick, stars Nick Floyd as a young man who helps his stepdad (Derek Allen) do some spring cleaning. After a long day of cleaning, Allen needs a shower. So, he strips down and leaves his boxers behind. Floyd finds them and gets so aroused by the smell of his stepdad's underwear that he starts touching himself. When Allen catches him, he realizes Floyd is ready to hook up.

The SayUncle Network includes 55 exclusive series (including Family Dick, Brother Crush, Latin Leche, Missionary Boys, Young Perps, Yes Father, and Black Godz) with more than 2,800 scenes and 14 weekly updates.

For more information, visit SayUncle.com or follow the brand on Instagram and Twitter.

Pictured: Donovan, left, and Amone Bane.
The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW  Get Rating)s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Monday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $61.00 to $56.00. The stock had previously closed at $50.77, but opened at $49.50. Charles Schwab shares last traded at $51.44, with a volume of 15,157,609 shares changing hands.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on SCHW. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Charles Schwab from $75.00 to $65.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 29th. StockNews.com began coverage on Charles Schwab in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 14th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $74.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Monday, March 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded Charles Schwab from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $76.21.

Get Charles Schwab alerts:

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In other Charles Schwab news, insider Jonathan M. Craig sold 51,144 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.30, for a total transaction of $4,106,863.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 121,066 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.84, for a total value of $9,423,777.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 60,223,399 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,687,789,378.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan M. Craig sold 51,144 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.30, for a total value of $4,106,863.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 81,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,706,960 and have sold 728,106 shares valued at $58,067,403. Insiders own 6.60% of the companys stock.

Institutional Trading of Charles Schwab

Charles Schwab Trading Up 1.5 %

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SCHW. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 20,822 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,452 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 6,263 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Charles Schwab by 25.4% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 13,064 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,101,000 after acquiring an additional 2,648 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,807 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $321,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 16.6% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,239 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.49% of the companys stock.

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $92.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.88.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW  Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.03. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 24.94% and a net margin of 34.60%. The company had revenue of $5.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. The firms revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 9th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. This is a boost from Charles Schwabs previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Charles Schwabs payout ratio is currently 28.57%.

Charles Schwab Company Profile

(Get Rating)

The Charles Schwab Corp. is a savings and loan holding company, which engages in the provision of wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services. It operates through the Investor Services and Advisor Services segments. The Investor Services segment includes retail brokerage and banking services to individual investors, and retirement plan services, as well as other corporate brokerage services, to businesses and their employees.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Charles Schwab Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Charles Schwab and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
China Construction Bank Co. (OTCMKTS:CICHY  Get Rating) was the target of a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 13,900 shares, a decline of 68.0% from the March 15th total of 43,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 129,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.1 days.

China Construction Bank Trading Up 2.5 %

OTCMKTS CICHY traded up $0.33 on Monday, reaching $13.60. 51,967 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 89,102. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $12.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.24. China Construction Bank has a 12 month low of $10.31 and a 12 month high of $15.09.

Get China Construction Bank alerts:

China Construction Bank Company Profile

(Get Rating)

See Also

China Construction Bank Corporation provides various banking and related financial services to individuals and corporate customers in the People's Republic of China and internationally. It operates through Corporate Banking, Personal Banking, Treasury Business, and Others segments. The company accepts various deposits, such as foreign currency, all in one accounts, RMB, corporate term and notification, and corporate demand deposits, as well corporate deposits by agreement.

Receive News & Ratings for China Construction Bank Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for China Construction Bank and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
China Yuchai International Limited (NYSE:CYD  Get Rating) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 18,700 shares, a growth of 33.6% from the March 15th total of 14,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 10,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days. Approximately 0.1% of the companys shares are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CYD. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of China Yuchai International by 293.6% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,397 shares of the companys stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 2,534 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in China Yuchai International by 1,245.3% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,000 shares of the companys stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 2,777 shares in the last quarter. Credit Suisse AG purchased a new stake in shares of China Yuchai International during the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Shell Asset Management Co. lifted its position in shares of China Yuchai International by 36.8% during the third quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 14,383 shares of the companys stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 3,869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citadel Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of China Yuchai International in the second quarter valued at $119,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.69% of the companys stock.

Get China Yuchai International alerts:

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CYD has been the topic of several research reports. Greenridge Global reaffirmed a buy rating on shares of China Yuchai International in a research report on Tuesday, February 28th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on China Yuchai International in a report on Thursday. They issued a hold rating on the stock.

China Yuchai International Stock Performance

About China Yuchai International

Shares of NYSE:CYD traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $7.59. 4,215 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,836. The firms fifty day moving average price is $8.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $7.81. China Yuchai International has a twelve month low of $6.73 and a twelve month high of $11.20.

(Get Rating)

China Yuchai International Ltd. is a holding company, which engages in the manufacture, assembly, and sale of light, medium, and heavy-duty engines for trucks, buses, passenger vehicles, construction equipment, marine, and agriculture applications. It operates through the following segments: Yuchai, HL Global Enterprises Limited (HLGE), and Corporate.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for China Yuchai International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for China Yuchai International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG  Get Rating) had its target price boosted by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $1,664.00 to $1,743.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the restaurant operators stock. Morgan Stanleys price target would indicate a potential upside of 0.01% from the stocks previous close.

CMG has been the subject of several other reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $1,600.00 to $1,800.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $1,713.00 to $1,657.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $1,800.00 to $1,900.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. Wedbush reissued an outperform rating and issued a $2,080.00 target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research note on Friday, March 17th. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $1,800.00 to $1,900.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, February 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $1,861.21.

Get Chipotle Mexican Grill alerts:

Chipotle Mexican Grill Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CMG traded up $4.49 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $1,742.79. The stock had a trading volume of 86,280 shares, compared to its average volume of 275,608. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $1,615.70 and a 200-day moving average of $1,542.94. The company has a market capitalization of $48.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.32. Chipotle Mexican Grill has a 12-month low of $1,196.28 and a 12-month high of $1,756.28.

Insider Buying and Selling

Chipotle Mexican Grill ( NYSE:CMG Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 7th. The restaurant operator reported $8.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $8.88 by ($0.59). The firm had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.23 billion. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 40.96%. The companys revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.58 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Chipotle Mexican Grill will post 41.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

In other news, CEO Brian R. Niccol sold 5,636 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,646.82, for a total value of $9,281,477.52. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 23,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,448,306.54. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Chipotle Mexican Grill news, CEO Brian R. Niccol sold 2,193 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,633.11, for a total transaction of $3,581,410.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 23,347 shares in the company, valued at $38,128,219.17. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Brian R. Niccol sold 5,636 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,646.82, for a total value of $9,281,477.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 23,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,448,306.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,427 shares of company stock valued at $17,051,886 over the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 79.5% in the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 948 shares of the restaurant operators stock valued at $1,500,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 15.5% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 171 shares of the restaurant operators stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 7.3% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,032 shares of the restaurant operators stock valued at $4,796,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 6.1% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 777 shares of the restaurant operators stock worth $1,229,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 38.9% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 218 shares of the restaurant operators stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 93.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc engages in the development and operation of classically-cooked, real food with wholesome ingredients without artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. It offers a focused menu of burritos, tacos, burrito bowls, and salads prepared using classic cooking methods. The company was founded by Steve Ells in 1993 and is headquartered in Newport Beach, CA.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for Chipotle Mexican Grill Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Chipotle Mexican Grill and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL  Get Rating) issued an update on its second quarter 2023 earnings guidance on Monday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of $2.00-$2.25 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $1.65. The company issued revenue guidance of $14.16 billion-$14.40 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $14.08 billion. Delta Air Lines also updated its FY 2023 guidance to $5.00-$6.00 EPS.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL traded up $0.82 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $34.59. 8,576,619 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,629,195. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 1.25. Delta Air Lines has a fifty-two week low of $27.20 and a fifty-two week high of $46.27. The businesss 50 day moving average is $36.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17.

Get Delta Air Lines alerts:

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL  Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 13th. The transportation company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $12.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $12.25 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 56.49% and a net margin of 3.51%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 36.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($1.23) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Delta Air Lines will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Insider Activity

A number of research analysts have issued reports on DAL shares. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $43.00 to $40.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and increased their price target for the company from $40.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $40.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $49.64.

In other news, President Glen W. Hauenstein sold 5,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.87, for a total value of $189,350.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 278,712 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $10,554,823.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, President Glen W. Hauenstein sold 5,000 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.87, for a total transaction of $189,350.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 278,712 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $10,554,823.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 4,846 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.43, for a total transaction of $186,231.78. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 115,295 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,430,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 43,980 shares of company stock valued at $1,696,902. Company insiders own 0.84% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DAL. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 124.9% during the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,273 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 429.0% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,349 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 293.7% in the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 1,799 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 1,342 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.47% of the companys stock.

Delta Air Lines Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Delta Air Lines, Inc engages in the provision of scheduled air transportation for passengers and cargo. It operates through the Airline and Refinery segments. The Airline segment provides scheduled air transportation for passengers and cargo. The Refinery segment provides jet fuel to the airline segment.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Delta Air Lines Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Delta Air Lines and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
First Resource Bancorp (OTCMKTS:FRSB  Get Rating) is one of 167 public companies in the National commercial banks industry, but how does it contrast to its rivals? We will compare First Resource Bancorp to related companies based on the strength of its risk, dividends, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for First Resource Bancorp and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.

Get First Resource Bancorp alerts:

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score First Resource Bancorp 0 0 0 0 N/A First Resource Bancorp Competitors 1032 6787 6456 268 2.41

As a group, National commercial banks companies have a potential upside of 32.42%. Given First Resource Bancorps rivals higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe First Resource Bancorp has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Volatility and Risk

Profitability

First Resource Bancorp has a beta of 0.6, suggesting that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Resource Bancorps rivals have a beta of 0.79, suggesting that their average share price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500.

This table compares First Resource Bancorp and its rivals net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets First Resource Bancorp 25.81% N/A N/A First Resource Bancorp Competitors 24.57% 12.40% 1.15%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares First Resource Bancorp and its rivals gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Gross Revenue Net Income Price/Earnings Ratio First Resource Bancorp $21.79 million $5.63 million 6.72 First Resource Bancorp Competitors $7.88 billion $1.64 billion 8.64

First Resource Bancorps rivals have higher revenue and earnings than First Resource Bancorp. First Resource Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

51.8% of shares of all National commercial banks companies are held by institutional investors. 8.6% of shares of all National commercial banks companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

First Resource Bancorp rivals beat First Resource Bancorp on 9 of the 10 factors compared.

First Resource Bancorp Company Profile

(Get Rating)

First Resource Bancorp, Inc. is a holding company that engages in the provision of community banking services through its subsidiary, First Resource Bank. Its subsidiary offers lending and depository services for businesses, professionals, and individuals in the Delaware Valley. The company is headquartered in Exton, PA.

Receive News & Ratings for First Resource Bancorp Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for First Resource Bancorp and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
iShares Convertible Bond ETF (BATS:ICVT  Get Rating)s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $72.68 and last traded at $72.60, with a volume of 131140 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $72.23.

iShares Convertible Bond ETF Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.38.

Get iShares Convertible Bond ETF alerts:

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ICVT. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of iShares Convertible Bond ETF during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Heritage Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in iShares Convertible Bond ETF by 116.5% in the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Management LLC now owns 524 shares of the companys stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel purchased a new position in iShares Convertible Bond ETF in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in iShares Convertible Bond ETF by 4,530.3% in the 3rd quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,803,954 shares of the companys stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 2,743,397 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in iShares Convertible Bond ETF in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000.

iShares Convertible Bond ETF Company Profile

The iShares Convertible Bond ETF (ICVT) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in broad credit fixed income. The fund tracks an index of USD-denominated convertible bonds weighted by market value. The index contains only cash-pay convertibles and excludes mandatory and preferred convertibles.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for iShares Convertible Bond ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares Convertible Bond ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Disciplined Investments LLC increased its position in shares of iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF (NYSEARCA:IWN  Get Rating) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 10,840 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. Disciplined Investments LLCs holdings in iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF were worth $1,503,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of IWN. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp lifted its stake in iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF by 135.3% during the 3rd quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 2,571,047 shares of the companys stock worth $331,485,000 after acquiring an additional 1,478,257 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF by 136.7% in the 2nd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 212,000 shares of the companys stock valued at $28,864,000 after purchasing an additional 789,244 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF in the 3rd quarter valued at about $54,630,000. UBS Group AG raised its position in iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF by 25.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,313,318 shares of the companys stock valued at $169,326,000 after purchasing an additional 266,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. raised its position in iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF by 84.4% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 426,907 shares of the companys stock valued at $68,903,000 after purchasing an additional 195,401 shares in the last quarter.

Get iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF alerts:

iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF Stock Performance

IWN stock traded up $0.46 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $135.40. The company had a trading volume of 171,876 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,383,409. The company has a market capitalization of $11.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.40 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $142.35. iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF has a fifty-two week low of $128.24 and a fifty-two week high of $163.13.

iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF Company Profile

iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF, formerly Ishares Trust Russel 2000 (the Fund), formerly iShares Russell 2000 Value Index Fund, is an exchange traded fund. The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Russell 2000 Value Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of equity securities of Russell 2000 Index issuers with relatively lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth.

Featured Articles

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding IWN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF (NYSEARCA:IWN  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III (NYSE:HPS  Get Rating) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 76,800 shares, a growth of 69.5% from the March 15th total of 45,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 57,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III in the 4th quarter valued at about $208,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III in the 1st quarter valued at about $203,000. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new position in John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III in the 2nd quarter valued at about $103,000. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. raised its stake in John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 152,604 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,202,000 after purchasing an additional 28,719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its stake in John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 18,324 shares of the companys stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267 shares during the last quarter.

Get John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III alerts:

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III Stock Performance

Shares of John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III stock traded down $0.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $14.15. The companys stock had a trading volume of 42,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,694. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $14.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.72. John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III has a fifty-two week low of $13.60 and a fifty-two week high of $17.74.

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III Announces Dividend

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III Company Profile

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 13th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 12th.

(Get Rating)

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III operates as a closed-end management investment company. It seeks to provide a high level of current income consistent with preservation of capital by investing in securities that, in the opinion of the Advisor, may be undervalued relative to similar securities in the marketplace.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Local Bounti (NYSE:LOCL  Get Rating) is one of 33 public companies in the Agricultural production  crops industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Local Bounti to similar companies based on the strength of its institutional ownership, risk, earnings, dividends, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Local Bounti and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

Get Local Bounti alerts:

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Local Bounti 0 1 4 0 2.80 Local Bounti Competitors 100 170 488 23 2.56

Local Bounti presently has a consensus target price of $2.85, indicating a potential upside of 486.30%. As a group, Agricultural production  crops companies have a potential upside of 56.35%. Given Local Bountis stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Local Bounti is more favorable than its peers.

Volatility & Risk

Profitability

Local Bounti has a beta of 1.75, indicating that its stock price is 75% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Local Bountis peers have a beta of -24.13, indicating that their average stock price is 2,513% less volatile than the S&P 500.

This table compares Local Bounti and its peers net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Local Bounti -570.35% -95.94% -47.68% Local Bounti Competitors -339.13% -25.58% -15.99%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

65.3% of Local Bounti shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 25.5% of shares of all Agricultural production  crops companies are held by institutional investors. 41.5% of Local Bounti shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 17.7% of shares of all Agricultural production  crops companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Local Bounti and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Gross Revenue Net Income Price/Earnings Ratio Local Bounti $19.47 million -$111.07 million -0.38 Local Bounti Competitors $1.63 billion $21.77 million 0.10

Local Bountis peers have higher revenue and earnings than Local Bounti. Local Bounti is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Summary

Local Bounti peers beat Local Bounti on 7 of the 13 factors compared.

About Local Bounti

(Get Rating)

Local Bounti Corporation grows fresh greens and herbs in the United States. It produces lettuce, herbs, and loose-leaf lettuce. The company sells its products to food retailers and food service distributors. Local Bounti Corporation was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Montana.

Receive News & Ratings for Local Bounti Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Local Bounti and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Xem them

...

Tin bai cuoi cung

Khong con du lieu e load
HC Wainwright reissued their buy rating on shares of Northern Dynasty Minerals (NYSEAMERICAN:NAK  Get Rating) (TSE:NDM) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $0.80 price target on the mining companys stock. HC Wainwright also issued estimates for Northern Dynasty Minerals FY2023 earnings at ($0.04) EPS.

Northern Dynasty Minerals Trading Down 9.7 %

Shares of NAK stock traded down $0.03 on Thursday, reaching $0.25. 2,499,518 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,177,194. Northern Dynasty Minerals has a twelve month low of $0.21 and a twelve month high of $0.40. The company has a market cap of $129.90 million, a P/E ratio of -6.13 and a beta of 1.09.

Get Northern Dynasty Minerals alerts:

Northern Dynasty Minerals (NYSEAMERICAN:NAK  Get Rating) (TSE:NDM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 31st. The mining company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. On average, equities analysts forecast that Northern Dynasty Minerals will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Northern Dynasty Minerals

Northern Dynasty Minerals Company Profile

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Kopernik Global Investors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Dynasty Minerals by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Kopernik Global Investors LLC now owns 32,005,333 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $7,067,000 after purchasing an additional 148,709 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Northern Dynasty Minerals by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 11,695,817 shares of the mining companys stock worth $2,582,000 after purchasing an additional 988,170 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Dynasty Minerals by 358.9% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 780,384 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $172,000 after buying an additional 610,335 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northern Dynasty Minerals by 207.5% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 364,497 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 245,968 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its stake in Northern Dynasty Minerals by 243.5% during the 1st quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 132,433 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 93,875 shares during the period. 12.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

(Get Rating)

Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. engages in the exploration and development of gold and copper mineral properties. It holds interest in the Pebble Copper-Gold-Molybdenum Project, which is an undeveloped copper-gold-molybdenum-silver resource. The company was founded on May 11, 1983 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Northern Dynasty Minerals Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Northern Dynasty Minerals and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
PAR Technology (NYSE:PAR  Get Rating) had its price objective lifted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $30.00 to $34.00 in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the software makers stock.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on PAR. Craig Hallum increased their target price on PAR Technology from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a buy rating and set a $43.00 target price on shares of PAR Technology in a research report on Thursday, March 30th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on PAR Technology in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a sell rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $41.00.

Get PAR Technology alerts:

PAR Technology Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PAR traded up $0.01 during trading on Thursday, hitting $33.38. 74,965 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 245,974. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 3.30 and a quick ratio of 2.75. PAR Technology has a 52-week low of $20.37 and a 52-week high of $47.03. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $34.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.73. The company has a market cap of $911.94 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.79 and a beta of 1.93.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PAR Technology

PAR Technology Company Profile

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAR. MFN Partners Management LP grew its holdings in PAR Technology by 991.4% during the 1st quarter. MFN Partners Management LP now owns 1,091,404 shares of the software makers stock valued at $44,027,000 after buying an additional 991,404 shares in the last quarter. Cannell & Co. grew its holdings in PAR Technology by 169.3% during the 4th quarter. Cannell & Co. now owns 782,476 shares of the software makers stock valued at $20,399,000 after buying an additional 491,885 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of PAR Technology by 208.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 507,000 shares of the software makers stock worth $15,591,000 after purchasing an additional 342,480 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new position in shares of PAR Technology in the 1st quarter worth approximately $10,649,000. Finally, Reinhart Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PAR Technology by 39.6% in the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners Inc. now owns 818,901 shares of the software makers stock worth $21,349,000 after purchasing an additional 232,267 shares during the period.

(Get Rating)

PAR Technology Corp. engages in the provision of software and hardware support services for the hospitality industry. It operates through the Restaurant/Retail and Government segments. The Restaurant/Retail segment offers point-of-sale (POS) software, hardware, back-office software, systems, services, and integrated technical solutions to the restaurant and retail industries.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for PAR Technology Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for PAR Technology and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Penobscot Wealth Management cut its stake in shares of SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEARCA:GLD  Get Rating) by 95.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,201 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 24,014 shares during the quarter. Penobscot Wealth Managements holdings in SPDR Gold Shares were worth $204,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in shares of SPDR Gold Shares by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 37,677 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $6,392,000 after acquiring an additional 6,077 shares in the last quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of SPDR Gold Shares by 38.6% in the 4th quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 17,534 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $2,974,000 after acquiring an additional 4,883 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of SPDR Gold Shares by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 4,071 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $691,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of SPDR Gold Shares by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC now owns 8,344 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $1,415,000 after acquiring an additional 1,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP raised its position in shares of SPDR Gold Shares by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP now owns 6,595 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $1,119,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. 37.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Get SPDR Gold Shares alerts:

SPDR Gold Shares Stock Performance

Shares of GLD stock traded down $0.92 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $185.44. The companys stock had a trading volume of 5,943,926 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,672,227. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $177.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $169.61. SPDR Gold Shares has a 52 week low of $150.57 and a 52 week high of $190.41.

SPDR Gold Shares Company Profile

SPDR Gold Trust (the Trust) is an investment trust. The investment objective of the Trust is for the Shares to reflect the performance of the price of gold bullion, less the Trusts expenses. The Trusts business activity is the investment of gold. The Trust creates and redeems Shares from time to time, but in one or more Baskets (a Basket equals a block of 100,000 Shares).

Featured Articles

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GLD? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEARCA:GLD  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for SPDR Gold Shares Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for SPDR Gold Shares and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Credit Suisse Group reaffirmed their neutral rating on shares of Progressive (NYSE:PGR  Get Rating) in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $143.00 price target on the insurance providers stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on PGR. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $178.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 16th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $109.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $127.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $148.20.

Get Progressive alerts:

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR traded up $1.53 on Friday, hitting $137.38. The companys stock had a trading volume of 1,573,438 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,510,951. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $141.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $132.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Progressive has a 12 month low of $106.35 and a 12 month high of $149.87. The firm has a market cap of $80.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.50.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

Progressive ( NYSE:PGR Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 25th. The insurance provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.01. Progressive had a net margin of 1.64% and a return on equity of 14.29%. The firm had revenue of $13.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $13.33 billion. Analysts forecast that Progressive will post 6.27 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 6th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 5th. Progressives dividend payout ratio is currently 28.37%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 15,473 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.64, for a total value of $2,207,068.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 431,811 shares of the companys stock, valued at $61,593,521.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 15,473 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.64, for a total value of $2,207,068.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 431,811 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $61,593,521.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel P. Mascaro sold 2,806 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.64, for a total value of $397,441.84. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,082 shares of the companys stock, valued at $5,110,654.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 22,987 shares of company stock valued at $3,250,378. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the companys stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Progressive by 0.6% during the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 68,904 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $9,857,000 after acquiring an additional 421 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 54.3% during the 1st quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,479 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $498,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the 1st quarter worth $206,000. Nvest Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 11,072 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $1,584,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 131,701 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $18,841,000 after acquiring an additional 2,665 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the companys stock.

Progressive Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Progressive Corp. is an insurance holding company, which engages in the provision of personal and commercial auto insurance, residential property insurance, and other specialty property-casualty insurance and related services. It operates through the following segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for Progressive Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Progressive and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) has recently received a number of price target changes and ratings updates:

4/17/2023  Chipotle Mexican Grill had its price target raised by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $1,664.00 to $1,743.00. They now have an equal weight rating on the stock.

4/17/2023  Chipotle Mexican Grill had its price target raised by analysts at Truist Financial Co. from $1,800.00 to $1,960.00. They now have a buy rating on the stock.

4/13/2023  Chipotle Mexican Grill had its outperform rating reaffirmed by analysts at TD Cowen. They now have a $2,050.00 price target on the stock.

4/6/2023  Chipotle Mexican Grill had its price target raised by analysts at KeyCorp from $1,780.00 to $1,870.00. They now have an overweight rating on the stock.

4/4/2023  Chipotle Mexican Grill had its price target raised by analysts at Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. from $1,875.00 to $1,940.00. They now have an outperform rating on the stock.

3/28/2023  Chipotle Mexican Grill was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a hold rating to a buy rating.

3/17/2023  Chipotle Mexican Grill had its outperform rating reaffirmed by analysts at Wedbush. They now have a $2,080.00 price target on the stock.

3/16/2023  Chipotle Mexican Grill is now covered by analysts at StockNews.com. They set a hold rating on the stock.

3/7/2023  Chipotle Mexican Grill was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a buy rating to a hold rating.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of CMG stock traded up $36.70 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $1,775.00. The companys stock had a trading volume of 328,165 shares, compared to its average volume of 279,078. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.32. The firms fifty day simple moving average is $1,615.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,542.94. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. has a one year low of $1,196.28 and a one year high of $1,775.25.

Get Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc alerts:

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG  Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 7th. The restaurant operator reported $8.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $8.88 by ($0.59). The firm had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.23 billion. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 40.96%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.58 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. will post 41.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

In other news, CEO Brian R. Niccol sold 1,023 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,695.00, for a total value of $1,733,985.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 23,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,573,165. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website . In other Chipotle Mexican Grill news, CEO Brian R. Niccol sold 1,023 shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill stock in a transaction on Monday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,695.00, for a total transaction of $1,733,985.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 23,347 shares in the company, valued at $39,573,165. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link . Also, CEO Brian R. Niccol sold 991 shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill stock in a transaction on Monday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,537.37, for a total value of $1,523,533.67. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 23,347 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $35,892,977.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Insiders sold a total of 10,427 shares of company stock worth $17,051,886 in the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in Chipotle Mexican Grill during the first quarter valued at $26,000. FourThought Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 350.0% in the 3rd quarter. FourThought Financial LLC now owns 18 shares of the restaurant operators stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Elequin Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Heritage Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Management LLC now owns 20 shares of the restaurant operators stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates bought a new stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.26% of the companys stock.

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc engages in the development and operation of classically-cooked, real food with wholesome ingredients without artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. It offers a focused menu of burritos, tacos, burrito bowls, and salads prepared using classic cooking methods. The company was founded by Steve Ells in 1993 and is headquartered in Newport Beach, CA.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Riley Exploration Permian, Inc. (NYSE:REPX  Get Rating) Director Brent Alexander Arriaga sold 1,500 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.23, for a total transaction of $69,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,918 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $181,129.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Riley Exploration Permian Stock Performance

REPX traded down $2.62 on Monday, hitting $43.62. The companys stock had a trading volume of 58,905 shares, compared to its average volume of 48,179. Riley Exploration Permian, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.91 and a 12 month high of $47.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market cap of $879.38 million, a P/E ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 1.36. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $34.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.17.

Get Riley Exploration Permian alerts:

Riley Exploration Permian (NYSE:REPX  Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 8th. The company reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.41. Riley Exploration Permian had a net margin of 36.68% and a return on equity of 41.38%. The firm had revenue of $78.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.01 million. Analysts forecast that Riley Exploration Permian, Inc. will post 9.15 EPS for the current year.

Riley Exploration Permian Announces Dividend

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 25th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 24th. Riley Exploration Permians payout ratio is currently 22.70%.

REPX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Riley Exploration Permian from $43.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 11th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a buy rating on shares of Riley Exploration Permian in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Riley Exploration Permian

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of REPX. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Riley Exploration Permian by 248.5% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 531,585 shares of the companys stock worth $13,332,000 after purchasing an additional 379,047 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Riley Exploration Permian by 106.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 243,229 shares of the companys stock worth $4,617,000 after acquiring an additional 125,164 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Riley Exploration Permian by 137.3% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 105,398 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,643,000 after buying an additional 60,981 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Riley Exploration Permian by 231.1% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 76,592 shares of the companys stock worth $1,920,000 after acquiring an additional 53,457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Riley Exploration Permian during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,269,000. 51.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Riley Exploration Permian

(Get Rating)

Riley Exploration Permian, Inc is an independent oil and natural gas company. The firm is focused on the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in Texas and New Mexico. Its activities also include the horizontal development of the San Andres formation, a shelf margin deposit on the Northwest Shelf of the Permian Basin.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Riley Exploration Permian Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Riley Exploration Permian and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Roth Mkm lowered shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL  Get Rating) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Friday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $6.25 price objective on the basic materials companys stock, up from their prior price objective of $5.50.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on HL. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a sell rating for the company. HC Wainwright upped their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $7.00 to $8.25 in a research report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $7.25 to $6.25 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Hecla Mining from $4.75 to $5.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hecla Mining currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $6.14.

Get Hecla Mining alerts:

Hecla Mining Trading Down 4.6 %

Shares of HL stock opened at $6.61 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a P/E ratio of -94.43 and a beta of 2.06. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.42. Hecla Mining has a 1 year low of $3.41 and a 1 year high of $7.38.

Hecla Mining Increases Dividend

Hecla Mining ( NYSE:HL Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 15th. The basic materials company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter. Hecla Mining had a negative net margin of 5.20% and a positive return on equity of 1.44%. The business had revenue of $194.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $196.20 million. On average, research analysts predict that Hecla Mining will post 0.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 9th were issued a $0.006 dividend. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 8th. This is a positive change from Hecla Minings previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. Hecla Minings dividend payout ratio is currently -28.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hecla Mining

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HL. State Street Corp increased its stake in Hecla Mining by 23.3% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,925,189 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $209,748,000 after buying an additional 6,033,244 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 325.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,801,009 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $44,682,000 after purchasing an additional 5,202,053 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Hecla Mining in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,623,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Hecla Mining by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 55,225,222 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $307,052,000 after buying an additional 4,294,314 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Hecla Mining in the 4th quarter worth approximately $16,808,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.73% of the companys stock.

Hecla Mining Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Hecla Mining Co operates as a silver and gold production company. The firm produces lead, zinc and bulk concentrates for custom smelters and brokers and develops unrefined precipitate and bullion bars for precious metals traders. It operates through the following business segments: Greens Creek, Lucky Friday, Casa Berardi, and Nevada Operations.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for Hecla Mining Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Hecla Mining and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Sandstorm Gold (TSE:SSL  Get Rating) had its price objective boosted by investment analysts at CIBC from C$9.50 to C$10.00 in a report issued on Monday, BayStreet.CA reports. CIBCs target price suggests a potential upside of 27.39% from the companys previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Sandstorm Gold from C$10.25 to C$10.50 in a research note on Tuesday, April 4th. National Bankshares decreased their price objective on shares of Sandstorm Gold from C$9.00 to C$8.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Sandstorm Gold from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating and set a C$6.50 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Buy and an average target price of C$10.53.

Get Sandstorm Gold alerts:

Sandstorm Gold Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of Sandstorm Gold stock traded down C$0.25 during trading hours on Monday, reaching C$7.85. 306,509 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 399,690. Sandstorm Gold has a 1 year low of C$6.29 and a 1 year high of C$11.42. The stocks fifty day moving average is C$7.38 and its 200 day moving average is C$7.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 34.66, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.72. The firm has a market cap of C$2.35 billion, a PE ratio of 18.30, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.92.

About Sandstorm Gold

Sandstorm Gold ( TSE:SSL Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The company reported C($0.01) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of C$0.01 by C($0.02). The business had revenue of C$52.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of C$50.92 million. Sandstorm Gold had a net margin of 52.69% and a return on equity of 7.71%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Sandstorm Gold will post 0.0915254 earnings per share for the current year.

(Get Rating)

Sandstorm Gold Ltd. operates as a gold royalty company. The company focuses on acquiring royalties and gold and other metals purchase agreements (streams) from companies that have advanced stage development projects or operating mines. It offers upfront payments for companies to acquire a stream or royalty and receives the right to purchase a percentage of a mine's production for the life of the mine at a fixed price per unit or at a fixed percentage of the spot price.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Sandstorm Gold Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Sandstorm Gold and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
SIR Royalty Income Fund (TSE:SRV.UN  Get Rating) announced a monthly dividend on Wednesday, April 19th, TickerTech reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 28th will be paid a dividend of 0.095 per share on Friday, April 28th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.53%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 19th.

SIR Royalty Income Fund Stock Down 0.3 %

SRV.UN stock opened at C$17.45 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of C$146.23 million, a PE ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 2.64. SIR Royalty Income Fund has a 52 week low of C$10.50 and a 52 week high of C$17.95. The firm has a 50 day moving average of C$17.26 and a 200 day moving average of C$16.33.

Get SIR Royalty Income Fund alerts:

About SIR Royalty Income Fund

(Get Rating)

Featured Stories

SIR Royalty Income Fund, through SIR Royalty Limited Partnership, owns SIR's restaurants in Canada. The company operates concept restaurants under the Jack Astor's Bar and Grill, Scaddabush Italian Kitchen & Bar, and Canyon Creek Chop House; and signature restaurant brands under the Reds Wine Tavern, Reds Midtown Tavern, Reds Square One, and The Loose Moose brands.

Receive News & Ratings for SIR Royalty Income Fund Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for SIR Royalty Income Fund and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Sittner & Nelson LLC grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 30.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,563 shares of the financial services providers stock after acquiring an additional 4,346 shares during the quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLCs holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meyer Handelman Co. raised its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 254,542 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $10,510,000 after buying an additional 1,108 shares during the period. Tevis Investment Management raised its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 19.4% during the third quarter. Tevis Investment Management now owns 2,641 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $106,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the period. Ulysses Management LLC lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ulysses Management LLC now owns 50,000 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $2,011,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. LVW Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 7,958 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 853 shares during the period. Finally, Hartline Investment Corp bought a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 3rd quarter worth about $355,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.24% of the companys stock.

Get Wells Fargo & Company alerts:

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC traded up $0.92 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $40.56. 7,727,620 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 23,153,441. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.12. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52 week low of $35.25 and a 52 week high of $49.49. The stocks fifty day simple moving average is $42.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.50.

Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend

Wells Fargo & Company ( NYSE:WFC Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.08. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 9.28% and a net margin of 15.91%. The company had revenue of $20.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. Wells Fargo & Companys quarterly revenue was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 3rd were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 2nd. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. Wells Fargo & Companys payout ratio is 34.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kleber Santos sold 34,698 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.27, for a total transaction of $1,605,476.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,590 shares in the company, valued at $906,429.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.07% of the companys stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WFC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler lowered Wells Fargo & Company from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and cut their price target for the company from $49.00 to $47.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $49.00 to $45.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 10th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Odeon Capital Group cut shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, March 13th. Finally, Cfra raised Wells Fargo & Company to a buy rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $49.77.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Wells Fargo & Co is a diversified, community-based financial services company. It is engaged in the provision of banking, insurance, investments, mortgage products and services, and consumer and commercial finance. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth & Investment Management.

Featured Articles

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WFC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for Wells Fargo & Company Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Wells Fargo & Company and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Sittner & Nelson LLC increased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO  Get Rating) by 14.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,712 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 742 shares during the quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLCs holdings in Altria Group were worth $261,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new stake in Altria Group in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 85.6% during the 4th quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 542 shares of the companys stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at $41,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 118.8% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 805 shares of the companys stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 886 shares of the companys stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.68% of the companys stock.

Get Altria Group alerts:

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Altria Group in a report on Thursday. They set a buy rating on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Altria Group in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $46.50 to $49.50 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, January 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $45.55.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.8 %

MO stock traded up $0.37 on Monday, hitting $45.40. The company had a trading volume of 1,364,194 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,176,430. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.35 and a 12-month high of $57.05. The stock has a market cap of $81.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.59. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is $46.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.52.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO  Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.18. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 284.29% and a net margin of 22.97%. The company had revenue of $5.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.09 earnings per share. Altria Groups revenue was down 18.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 24th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 23rd. Altria Groups payout ratio is 117.87%.

Altria Group Profile

(Get Rating)

Altria Group, Inc operates as a holding company, which engages in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes in the United States. It operates through the following segments: Smokeable Products, Oral tobacco products, and Wine. The Smokeable Products segment consists of cigarettes manufactured and sold by PM USA and machine-made large cigars and pipe tobacco manufactured and sold by Middleton.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for Altria Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Altria Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC  Get Rating) in a research report report published on Thursday, The Fly reports. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the stock.

MKC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group started coverage on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated in a report on Friday, March 10th. They set a sell rating and a $71.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Wednesday, March 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 27th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, March 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $79.89.

Get McCormick & Company Incorporated alerts:

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Stock Down 1.7 %

MKC stock opened at $84.99 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a twelve month low of $70.60 and a twelve month high of $105.19. The companys 50 day moving average is $76.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.99. The stock has a market cap of $22.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.41, a PEG ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.58.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Dividend Announcement

McCormick & Company, Incorporated ( NYSE:MKC Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 28th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.10. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a net margin of 10.42% and a return on equity of 14.34%. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 24th. Investors of record on Monday, April 10th will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 6th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. McCormick & Company, Incorporateds dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.16%.

Insider Activity at McCormick & Company, Incorporated

In related news, Director Michael D. Mangan sold 5,000 shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated stock in a transaction on Friday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $375,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,860,275. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 19.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On McCormick & Company, Incorporated

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Evermay Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 412.8% during the 3rd quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the companys stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Align Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. 79.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Company Profile

(Get Rating)

McCormick & Co, Inc engages in the manufacturing, marketing, and distribution of spices, seasoning mixes, condiments, and other flavorful products to retail outlets, food manufacturers, and foodservice businesses. It operates through the Consumer and Flavor Solutions segments. The Consumer segment sells spices, seasonings, condiments, and sauces.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for McCormick & Company Incorporated Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for McCormick & Company Incorporated and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSEARCA:IWM  Get Rating) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 185,586 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after purchasing an additional 10,409 shares during the quarter. iShares Russell 2000 ETF accounts for 1.3% of Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.s holdings in iShares Russell 2000 ETF were worth $32,359,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in IWM. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in shares of iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 8.9% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 14,581,100 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $2,404,715,000 after acquiring an additional 1,192,100 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in shares of iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 12,616.2% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 7,756,010 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $1,279,086,000 after purchasing an additional 7,695,017 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 1.8% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,640,764 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $1,095,195,000 after acquiring an additional 119,602 shares during the period. Personal Capital Advisors Corp lifted its holdings in iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 4.3% in the third quarter. Personal Capital Advisors Corp now owns 6,267,638 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $1,033,659,000 after acquiring an additional 260,184 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 1.0% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,019,321 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $825,046,000 after acquiring an additional 39,661 shares during the period.

Get iShares Russell 2000 ETF alerts:

iShares Russell 2000 ETF Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSEARCA:IWM traded up $1.21 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $177.72. 11,056,884 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 28,144,713. iShares Russell 2000 ETF has a 1 year low of $162.50 and a 1 year high of $204.80. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.45.

iShares Russell 2000 ETF Company Profile

iShares Russell 2000 ETF (the Fund) is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Russell 2000 Index (the Index). The Index is a float-adjusted capitalization weighted index that measures the performance of the small-capitalization sector of the United States equity market and includes securities issued by the approximately 2,000 smallest issuers in the Russell 3000 Index.

Recommended Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding IWM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSEARCA:IWM  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for iShares Russell 2000 ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares Russell 2000 ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
TBC Bank Group PLC (OTCMKTS:TBCCF  Get Rating) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,700 shares, a drop of 29.9% from the March 15th total of 16,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 0 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently  days.

TBC Bank Group Stock Performance

OTCMKTS:TBCCF remained flat at $19.98 during trading hours on Monday. TBC Bank Group has a 52 week low of $19.98 and a 52 week high of $19.98. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $19.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.98.

Get TBC Bank Group alerts:

TBC Bank Group Company Profile

(Get Rating)

See Also

TBC Bank Group PLC, through its subsidiaries, provides banking, leasing, brokerage, and card processing services to corporate and individual customers in Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan. The company operates through Retail; Corporate; and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises segments. It offers various current/settlement accounts, and term deposits; mortgage, consumer, retail, and corporate loans, as well as loans for micro, small, and medium enterprises; credit cards, credit lines, letters of credit, and guarantees; and money transfer and currency exchange services.

Receive News & Ratings for TBC Bank Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for TBC Bank Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. increased its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW  Get Rating) by 11.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,913 shares of the financial services providers stock after buying an additional 1,579 shares during the period. Charles Schwab comprises approximately 1.3% of W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc.s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc.s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $1,320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. West Branch Capital LLC acquired a new position in Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Phocas Financial Corp. acquired a new position in Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Selway Asset Management acquired a new position in Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Charles Schwab during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Exos TFP Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. 73.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Get Charles Schwab alerts:

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on SCHW. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $89.00 to $65.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. William Blair restated an outperform rating on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Tuesday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Friday, March 10th. They set a buy rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $74.00 to $60.00 in a report on Monday, March 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $76.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

Charles Schwab Stock Up 1.9 %

In other Charles Schwab news, President Richard A. Wurster bought 2,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, March 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $54.39 per share, with a total value of $108,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 101,391 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $5,514,656.49. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link . In related news, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 62,500 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.54, for a total value of $5,096,250.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 30,731,256 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,505,826,614.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link . Also, President Richard A. Wurster bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $54.39 per share, for a total transaction of $108,780.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the president now directly owns 101,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,514,656.49. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here . Over the last quarter, insiders have bought 81,000 shares of company stock worth $4,706,960 and have sold 728,106 shares worth $58,067,403. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Charles Schwab stock traded up $0.95 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $51.72. The company had a trading volume of 27,174,405 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,554,318. The Charles Schwab Co. has a fifty-two week low of $45.00 and a fifty-two week high of $86.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.88. The firms fifty day moving average is $65.59 and its 200-day moving average is $73.88.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW  Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $5.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.13 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 34.60% and a return on equity of 24.94%. Charles Schwabs revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.77 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 24th. Investors of record on Friday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This is a boost from Charles Schwabs previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 9th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Charles Schwabs payout ratio is presently 28.57%.

About Charles Schwab

(Get Rating)

The Charles Schwab Corp. is a savings and loan holding company, which engages in the provision of wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services. It operates through the Investor Services and Advisor Services segments. The Investor Services segment includes retail brokerage and banking services to individual investors, and retirement plan services, as well as other corporate brokerage services, to businesses and their employees.

Featured Articles

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SCHW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for Charles Schwab Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Charles Schwab and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Thunder Mountain Gold, Inc. (OTCMKTS:THMG  Get Rating) saw a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,100 shares, a growth of 75.0% from the March 15th total of 1,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 37,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.1 days.

Thunder Mountain Gold Trading Up 1.6 %

OTCMKTS:THMG traded up $0.00 on Monday, reaching $0.09. 67,100 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 23,419. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $0.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $0.09. The company has a market capitalization of $5.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.51 and a beta of 0.89. Thunder Mountain Gold has a 12 month low of $0.05 and a 12 month high of $0.20.

Get Thunder Mountain Gold alerts:

Thunder Mountain Gold Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Featured Stories

Thunder Mountain Gold, Inc operates as a mineral exploration company, which engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of premier precious and base metal properties. Its projects include South Mountain located southwest of Boise, Idaho and Trout Creek located in Nevada. The company was founded on November 9, 1935 and is headquartered in Boise, ID.

Receive News & Ratings for Thunder Mountain Gold Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Thunder Mountain Gold and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Tobam boosted its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Get Rating) by 122.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 291,100 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after buying an additional 160,303 shares during the period. Bristol-Myers Squibb makes up approximately 1.4% of Tobams holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Tobams holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $20,945,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Boston Financial Mangement LLC raised its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.9% in the third quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 15,468 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $1,100,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. increased its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 15,461 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $1,099,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Lincoln National Corp increased its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 36,282 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $2,579,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 10,053 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $715,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Finally, Elmwood Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Elmwood Wealth Management Inc. now owns 13,686 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $973,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.51% of the companys stock.

Get Bristol-Myers Squibb alerts:

Insider Transactions at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In other news, EVP Ann Powell sold 11,183 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total value of $835,258.27. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,721,081.67. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Bristol-Myers Squibb news, CEO Giovanni Caforio sold 240,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.65, for a total value of $17,916,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 236,104 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,625,163.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Ann Powell sold 11,183 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total value of $835,258.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,043 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,721,081.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the companys stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

BMY has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Tuesday, January 17th. They issued an overweight rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 3rd. Atlantic Securities boosted their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a strong-buy rating on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Monday, March 6th. They issued a hold rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bristol-Myers Squibb presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $79.69.

Shares of BMY traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $70.41. 1,631,207 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,921,198. The stock has a market cap of $148.09 billion, a PE ratio of 23.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $69.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.78. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12 month low of $65.28 and a 12 month high of $81.43.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $11.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.20 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a net margin of 13.71% and a return on equity of 51.60%. The firms revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 7.98 EPS for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 6th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Bristol-Myers Squibbs payout ratio is 77.29%.

About Bristol-Myers Squibb

(Get Rating)

Bristol Myers Squibb Co engages in the discovery, development, licensing, manufacture, marketing, distribution, and sale of biopharmaceutical products. It offers chemically-synthesized drugs or small molecules and products produced from biological processes called biologics. The company was founded in August 1933 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Bristol-Myers Squibb Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bristol-Myers Squibb and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Tobam lifted its stake in Texas Pacific Land Co. (NYSE:TPL  Get Rating) by 111.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,412 shares of the financial services providers stock after buying an additional 2,330 shares during the period. Tobam owned about 0.06% of Texas Pacific Land worth $10,343,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of TPL. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of Texas Pacific Land by 114.5% in the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 2,257 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $4,011,000 after purchasing an additional 1,205 shares during the period. Next Level Private LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Texas Pacific Land in the 3rd quarter valued at $201,000. Korea Investment CORP acquired a new stake in shares of Texas Pacific Land in the 3rd quarter valued at $69,000. WPWealth LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Texas Pacific Land during the 4th quarter worth about $211,000. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its holdings in Texas Pacific Land by 29.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 131 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.95% of the companys stock.

Get Texas Pacific Land alerts:

Texas Pacific Land Price Performance

Shares of TPL stock traded down $28.56 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $1,685.98. 8,439 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 47,092. Texas Pacific Land Co. has a fifty-two week low of $1,250.01 and a fifty-two week high of $2,739.00. The stocks fifty day moving average is $1,764.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2,104.74. The company has a market cap of $12.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.68 and a beta of 1.87.

Texas Pacific Land Increases Dividend

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 8th were given a $3.25 dividend. This represents a $13.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. This is a positive change from Texas Pacific Lands previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 7th. Texas Pacific Lands dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.50%.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Texas Pacific Land from $1,598.00 to $1,396.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 12th. StockNews.com started coverage on Texas Pacific Land in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating for the company.

Texas Pacific Land Profile

(Get Rating)

Texas Pacific Land Corp. operates as a landowner in the State of Texas. Its surface and royalty ownership allow revenue generation through the entire value chain of oil and gas development, including through fixed fee payments for use of the firms land, revenue for sales of materials used in the construction of infrastructure, providing sourced water and treated produced water, revenue from its oil and gas royalty interests, and revenues related to saltwater disposal on land.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Texas Pacific Land Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Texas Pacific Land and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on shares of TreeHouse Foods (NYSE:THS  Get Rating) in a report published on Thursday morning, The Fly reports. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. UBS Group initiated coverage on TreeHouse Foods in a research report on Sunday, March 19th. They issued a buy rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com initiated coverage on TreeHouse Foods in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $55.67.

Get TreeHouse Foods alerts:

TreeHouse Foods Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of TreeHouse Foods stock opened at $51.08 on Thursday. TreeHouse Foods has a fifty-two week low of $30.06 and a fifty-two week high of $52.48. The firm has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a PE ratio of -19.65 and a beta of 0.44. The businesss fifty day moving average is $49.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Insider Activity at TreeHouse Foods

TreeHouse Foods ( NYSE:THS Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 13th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.07. TreeHouse Foods had a positive return on equity of 3.13% and a negative net margin of 3.48%. The company had revenue of $996.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.11 EPS. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that TreeHouse Foods will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current year.

In related news, Director Ann Sardini sold 5,083 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.89, for a total value of $253,590.87. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,802. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of TreeHouse Foods

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. OLD Mission Capital LLC acquired a new stake in TreeHouse Foods in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of TreeHouse Foods during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of TreeHouse Foods by 41.2% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 761 shares of the companys stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of TreeHouse Foods during the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of TreeHouse Foods by 153.1% during the second quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 1,488 shares of the companys stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares in the last quarter.

About TreeHouse Foods

(Get Rating)

TreeHouse Foods, Inc engages is the manufacture and distribution of private label packaged foods and beverages in North America. Its product portfolio includes snacking, beverages, and meal preparation products, available in shelf stable, refrigerated, frozen, and fresh formats. The firm operates through the following segments: Meal Preparation, and Snacking and Beverages.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for TreeHouse Foods Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for TreeHouse Foods and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Viking Fund Management LLC reduced its stake in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSEAMERICAN:LNG  Get Rating) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 71,000 shares of the energy companys stock after selling 6,000 shares during the period. Cheniere Energy accounts for 2.1% of Viking Fund Management LLCs holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Viking Fund Management LLCs holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $10,647,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Grimes & Company Inc. raised its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 3.6% in the third quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 1,912 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Edge Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 1,333 shares of the energy companys stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its stake in Cheniere Energy by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 684 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Cheniere Energy by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,379 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TTP Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. TTP Investments Inc. now owns 15,607 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $2,341,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. 84.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Get Cheniere Energy alerts:

Cheniere Energy Price Performance

Cheniere Energy stock traded down $1.46 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $151.34. The companys stock had a trading volume of 495,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,901,558. The stock has a market cap of $36.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $153.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $156.39. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $120.09 and a 12 month high of $182.35.

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

Cheniere Energy ( NYSEAMERICAN:LNG Get Rating ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The energy company reported $15.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.89 by $10.89. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 4.27% and a negative return on equity of 488.45%. The firm had revenue of $9.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.72 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 16.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.395 per share. This represents a $1.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 6th. Cheniere Energys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LNG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 24th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Cheniere Energy from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 7th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Cheniere Energy in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a buy rating on the stock. Finally, Cowen cut their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 20th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cheniere Energy has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $201.69.

About Cheniere Energy

(Get Rating)

Cheniere Energy, Inc engages in liquefied natural gas (LNG) related businesses. It owns and operates LNG terminals, develops, constructs, and operates liquefaction projects near Corpus Christi, Texas, and at the Sabine Pass LNG terminal. The company was founded by Charif Souki in 1996 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Cheniere Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Cheniere Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM  Get Rating) have received an average recommendation of Moderate Buy from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $173.27.

A number of research analysts recently commented on WM shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $158.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $179.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Waste Management from $183.00 to $180.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a buy rating for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Waste Management from a buy rating to a hold rating and reduced their target price for the company from $185.00 to $171.00 in a research note on Monday, December 19th.

Get Waste Management alerts:

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM opened at $165.30 on Monday. The firms 50 day moving average is $155.05 and its 200-day moving average is $157.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Waste Management has a 12-month low of $138.89 and a 12-month high of $175.98.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

Waste Management ( NYSE:WM Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The business services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $4.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.97 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 32.91% and a net margin of 11.36%. The businesss revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management will post 6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a boost from Waste Managements previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 9th. Waste Managements dividend payout ratio is presently 51.95%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, EVP John J. Morris sold 15,204 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.03, for a total transaction of $2,357,076.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 95,461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,799,318.83. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP John J. Morris sold 15,204 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.03, for a total value of $2,357,076.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 95,461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,799,318.83. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Leslie K. Nagy sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.11, for a total transaction of $120,888.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,210 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $787,283.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,961 shares of company stock worth $4,796,057 in the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Management

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Twin Lakes Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Steward Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. TD Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.48% of the companys stock.

Waste Management Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Waste Management, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of waste management environmental services. It operates through the following segments: East Tier, West Tier, and Other. The East Tier segment consists of Eastern U.S., the Great Lakes Region, and Canada. The West Tier segment includes the upper Midwest region and British Columbia, Canada.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for Waste Management Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Waste Management and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Waverton Investment Management Ltd reduced its holdings in Dover Co. (NYSE:DOV  Get Rating) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 143,625 shares of the industrial products companys stock after selling 10,068 shares during the quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd owned about 0.10% of Dover worth $19,448,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in shares of Dover in the 1st quarter worth approximately $48,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Dover in the first quarter valued at $938,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its stake in shares of Dover by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 5,645 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $886,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Dover by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 9,126 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $1,465,000 after buying an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Dover by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 140,560 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $22,055,000 after acquiring an additional 8,054 shares during the last quarter. 85.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get Dover alerts:

Dover Trading Up 0.0 %

DOV stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Monday, reaching $147.04. 158,353 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 883,048. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.55 billion, a PE ratio of 19.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $148.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.94. Dover Co. has a 52-week low of $114.49 and a 52-week high of $160.66.

Dover Dividend Announcement

Dover ( NYSE:DOV Get Rating ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.01. Dover had a return on equity of 28.55% and a net margin of 12.52%. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.78 EPS. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Dover Co. will post 8.99 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 28th were paid a $0.505 dividend. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 27th. Dovers dividend payout ratio is presently 27.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Dover news, CFO Brad M. Cerepak sold 34,972 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.25, for a total value of $5,009,739.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 73,878 shares of the companys stock, valued at $10,583,023.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Dover in a research note on Thursday, March 9th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Dover from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. Robert W. Baird began coverage on Dover in a research report on Thursday, March 9th. They set a buy rating and a $176.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Dover from $175.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, March 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Dover from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Dover currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $162.77.

Dover Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Dover Corp. operates as a manufacturer and solutions provider delivering innovative equipment and components, consumable supplies, aftermarket parts, software and digital solutions, and support services. It operates through the following segments: Engineered Products, Clean Energy and Fueling, Imaging and Identification, Pumps and Process Solutions, and Climate and Sustainability Technologies.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Dover Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Dover and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK  Get Rating) had its price target reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $245.00 to $238.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an underweight rating on the industrial products companys stock. Wells Fargo & Companys target price would indicate a potential downside of 14.14% from the stocks previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on ROK. Loop Capital raised their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $258.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 31st. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $272.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 12th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Rockwell Automation from $278.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $285.00 to $292.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $264.59.

Get Rockwell Automation alerts:

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Rockwell Automation stock traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $277.19. 321,022 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 699,945. Rockwell Automation has a one year low of $190.08 and a one year high of $309.36. The company has a market cap of $31.82 billion, a PE ratio of 30.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $287.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $267.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

Rockwell Automation ( NYSE:ROK Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 26th. The industrial products company reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.65. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 13.63% and a return on equity of 38.70%. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.14 earnings per share. The businesss revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation will post 11.21 EPS for the current year.

In other news, VP Scott Genereux sold 943 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.05, for a total transaction of $269,745.15. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,876 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,108,729.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Scott Genereux sold 943 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.05, for a total transaction of $269,745.15. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,876 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,108,729.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Isaac Woods sold 100 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.33, for a total value of $29,433.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 452 shares of the companys stock, valued at $133,037.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,730 shares of company stock valued at $3,112,032. Insiders own 0.64% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. Bailard Inc. boosted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 49.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 1,709 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $368,000 after buying an additional 562 shares in the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 12,711 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $2,734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,367 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,544 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $977,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 261,836 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $56,324,000 after purchasing an additional 35,222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 70,778 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $15,225,000 after purchasing an additional 1,284 shares during the last quarter. 77.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Rockwell Automation

(Get Rating)

Rockwell Automation, Inc engages in the provision of industrial automation and information services. It operates through the following segments: Intelligent Devices, Software and Control, and Lifecycle Services. The Intelligent Devices segment combines a portfolio of smart products that create the foundation of an agile, resilient, and sustainable production system.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Rockwell Automation Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Rockwell Automation and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
The seventies and early eighties marked the peak of the underworld in Bengaluru. Just as memories of those black days had begun to fade, irony died a thousand deaths when supporters of a notorious history sheeter staged a protest the other day against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party for granting the ticket to a former police commissioner, instead of their own boss. Gangster Vs Ex-Top Cop The gangster, Silent Sunil, was an aspirant from Chamarajpet constituency in Bengaluru from where former Bengaluru police commissioner Bhaskar Rao has now been fielded. Nicknamed Silent because he committed most of his crimes without much ado and left no clues behind, Sunils most audacious act was the murder of another rowdy Bekkina Kannu (cat eyes) Rajendra in a hotel in full public view, for which he served a jail sentence. Said to be the favourite hitman of the underworld, Sunil was in the news recently after he participated in a function with senior BJP leaders, though he was listed as absconding on police records. But what is most appalling, or rather humorous, is a rowdy sheeter against whom the Karnataka Control of Organised Crimes Act (KCOCA) had been invoked even as he faces charges of theft, extortion and kidnapping, has the audacity to claim equivalence with a retired police officer who has fought crime for over three decades. BJPs Congress-isation While earlier the Congress was accused of harbouring and nurturing rowdies, of late the BJP seems to be cozying up to the underworld. Recently, the party had to face a huge embarrassment when a gangster Mallikarjun alias Fighter Ravi, a contender for a BJP ticket, was drafted to receive Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the helipad during his recent visit to the state. Another proclaimed offender and political fixer, Santro Ravi who was arrested on charges of human trafficking and rape went on record that he was close to the BJP top brass, leaving the party red-faced. While Silent Sunil and Santro Ravi were denied tickets, another rowdy sheeter Manikantha Rathod who has over 30 criminal cases pending against him has been fielded in Chittapur. Interestingly, a record number of 7,381 criminals were removed from the rowdy sheeter list in January and February this year. Not a surprise since rowdies are enlisted by all parties during the polls to carry out various electoral malpractices. The Seventies And Eighties The underworld took deep roots in Bengaluru when D Devaraj Urs of Congress was the Chief Minister between 1973-80 with his son-in-law MD Nataraj controlling the mafia through his henchman MP Jayaraj, who is considered the first big don of Karnataka. Basically a wrestler, Jayaraj who had unbridled access to Urs, ran a newspaper called Garibi Hatao and also headed the Bengaluru unit of Indira Brigade formed by Nataraj. Positioned as the youth wing of the Congress, the brigade was actually a smokescreen for a motley group of gangsters involved in intimidation of political rivals, extortion, gambling and other vices. Jayarajs clout as Bengalurus undisputed don would soon see a decline when he was incarcerated for ten years after he attempted to murder another don in the court premises. While two other rowdies Kotwal Ramachandra and Oil Kumar would take his place, there would be a change of government in January 1983 with Ramakrishna Hegde of Janata Party becoming the Chief Minister. Hegde empowered the police and over the years, many dons would either be eliminated through encounters or by rival gangs. Political Patronage Revives? In 1986, Kotwal was killed by Agni Sridhar, Bachchan and others, under instructions from Jayaraj. In 1989, Jayaraj himself would be shot dead by Muthappa Rais gang. Rai who was involved in several cases of murder and extortion would flee to Dubai only to return later and get acquitted in most cases with some liberal help from politicians and friendly police officers. Both Rai and Agni Sridhar reformed and started non-profit organisations. The story of Bengalurus underworld is well documented not only by police officers, but also by the dons themselves through books and movies. Somewhere in between, Janata Dal (S) gave a ticket to Bengalurus only woman rowdy sheeter, Marimuthu, popularly called hooch queen, to contest the corporation elections. About 230 people had died after consuming illicit liquor allegedly supplied by her. She was, however, acquitted in the case. While many other dons have played their part over the years, the manner in which they are once again becoming emboldened due to increased political patronage, only gives rise to apprehension that the state may be quickly slipping back to the rowdy raj of the bygone days. Gautham Machaiah is a senior journalist and political commentator based in Bengaluru. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.
Kellogg India on April 17 announced the appointment of Vinay Subramanyam as the head of marketing for its business in India and South Asia markets, which includes Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives. He will be responsible for scaling category development, driving strategic initiatives and overseeing the organisations brand and marketing initiatives, the company said in a statement. This will be Subramanyams second stint at Kellogg as he served in sales development and category marketing roles between 2011 and 2015. He has stepped into his new role in April and will be based in Mumbai. Prior to rejoining Kellogg India, he was the Chief Marketing Officer at Pidilite Industries. In the past, he led marketing for Britannia Industries Ltd. He has also worked in various sales and marketing roles in his career and has led large successful teams. He started his career at VIP Industries as Area Sales Manager in 2002. Commenting on the appointment, Prashant Peres, Managing Director, Kellogg South Asia, said, We are thrilled to welcome Vinay Subramanyam back on board to Kellogg. His proven track record of building large brands, launching successful innovations, and understanding the essence of who we are, will bring a fresh perspective to Kelloggs purposeful marketing agenda and elevate our brand and marketing strategy. He will play an important role in our exciting agenda to reimagine the future of food in South Asia. Meanwhile, Subramanyam added, Kelloggs legacy of building iconic brands, category creation, consumer centricity, crafting successful innovations, and building great teams is something I look forward to upholding as I commence my second stint here. Setting up a business in 1994 in India, Kellogg's has manufactured several brands in the breakfast cereal category such as Kelloggs Corn Flakes, Kelloggs CHOCOS, Kelloggs Muesli, Kelloggs Chocos Fills and Kelloggs Oats.
An army of men and women clad in dark green T-shirts cheered and clapped as a select group of journalists were ushered into Apples flagship India store for a preview ahead of its launch on April 18. The excitement and buzz on a hot Monday morning in Mumbai was hard to miss as the sales team continued to scream B-K-C as we went in. At least 25-30 journalists went in to get a sneak peek of the store, followed by groups of influencers in different planned sessions which went on till the evening. ALSO READ: Apple CEO Tim Cook meets Mukesh Ambani, N Chandrasekaran on Day 1 in Mumbai The massive two-storied glass store at the corner of Jio World Drive Mall may have felt like any other Apple store around the world  true to its signature minimalistic design and striking display of products. But theres more to what meets the eye at this India store. This is one of Apples most sustainable stores, which will be carbon neutral and work on 100 percent renewable energy. Most of Apples stores are designed in partnership with architecture firm Foster and Partners, and so is the India store. The detailing of the interiors, handcrafted and sourced from different parts of the country is striking. The store features a triangular, handcrafted timber ceiling that extends beyond the glass facade. Each triangular tile is made up of 408 pieces of timber. There were over 4,50,000 timber elements sourced from Delhi. ALSO READ: Apple CEO Cook to meet PM Modi amid expansion There is a 14-metre-long stainless steel staircase, and two grey stone walls  all sourced from Rajasthan, along with the mosaic flooring. Though not the ultimate architectural and visual marvel on the exterior like the Apple store at Dubai Mall, Apple Central World in Bangkok, or Apple Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, to name a few, it still stands on its own with a bright, fresh, and spacious look and feel, the sun shining in through the glass walls with tall indoor plants making it look like a greenhouse from the outside. The sustainability and green theme is reflected in the t-shirt colours of the sales team members. ALSO READ: Apple CEO Tim Cook thanks Madhuri Dixit for introducing him to vada pav: 'It was delicious' Apple has also created an Apple BKC Music Playlist  a mix of 90s Bollywood hits, indipop, indirap, latest Bollywood hits, and more. But this might be jarring for some given the sophisticated and relatively quiet interiors. Since we started our online store in India, we have built meaningful connections with our customers here. We are excited that now we are able to make these connections deeper with this store and the upcoming one in Delhi, said Deirdre OBrien, Apples Senior Vice-President of Retail, during a media briefing right after we entered the store. She added, Our products and services are developed to help our customers pursue their passions. Everything we do here is based on our values. One of the things we are excited about is that this is one of our most sustainable stores. The other aspect we have really focussed on is inclusion. Apple has about 100 staff members in the store, about 50 percent of whom, including the store leadership, is female. They speak 25 languages, including 18 Indian local languages. Whats in store? The massive store covers all of Apples products currently available on its online store in India. Apart from MacBooks, iPhones, iPads, and watches, the store showcases the Apple Arcade, the Apple HomePod, Apple Music, and Apple TV+ on the second floor. The second floor also has a Genius Bar  where one can get technical support for its products. The store has a specially designed, brightly coloured Apple logo dedicated to Mumbais kaali-peeli (black-and-yellow) taxi art. Post the launch on April 18, the store will be running an event  Mumbai Rising  throughout the summer, bringing visual artists and other creative people to conduct free sessions using Apple products. Since the beginning of its retail journey in 2001 with its first store in Tysons Corner Center Mall in Tysons, Virginia, US, Apple stores have never been about pushing sales. The idea behind Apple stores is to offer the right experience, education, and support to new and old customers, which also means having a highly-skilled team in the stores. Speaking of its India retail foray, CEO Tim Cook had said earlier in the day: "India has such a beautiful culture and an incredible energy, and were excited to build on our long-standing history  supporting our customers, investing in local communities, and working together to build a better future with innovations that serve humanity. Pinning hopes on India The foray into retail stores marks Apple's growing ambitions in the country, a key emerging market in terms of sales and manufacturing capabilities. India is benefitting from the companys China-plus-one strategy to diversify manufacturing outside China amid ongoing US-China tensions. Apple started with manufacturing older iPhone models in India in 2017, and has gone on to assembling the latest iPhone models since last year. Despite being impacted by the pandemic, Apples iPhone shipments from India stood at 6.7 million units in 2022 against 4.8 million in 2021 and 2.7 million in 2020, according to data from International Data Corporation (IDC)  showing a growing trend of premiumisation. Apple has captured 25 percent of the value of smartphones made in and shipped from India in 2022, compared to 12 percent in 2021, as per Counterpoint Research. Mumbai accounts for 10 percent of iPhone sales in India and is the second largest market after Delhi, which accounts for 11 percent of the sales.
Apple chief executive officer (CEO) Tim Cook met India's top business stalwarts, including Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani and Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran in Mumbai on his first day of India visit, people familiar with the matter told Moneycontrol on April 17. Cook met with billionaire businessman Ambani at his residence, Antilla, on the afternoon of April 17. Also present at the meeting were Akash Ambani, chairman of Reliance Jio, and Isha Ambani, Executive Director, Reliance Retail Ventures Limited, according to sources. It's also worth noting that Apple has strategic partnerships with Reliance Jio and Reliance Retail to sell its products in India. Meanwhile, Tata Group-owned Infiniti Retail, which operates Croma, is an important Apple franchisee partner, and the salt-to-software conglomerate is also eyeing manufacturing iPhones in India. Cook is returning to India after nearly seven years to inaugurate Apple's long-awaited stores in Mumbai and Delhi this week. The Mumbai store, called Apple BKC, will open on April 18 at the Jio World Drive Mall in Mumbai, while the Delhi store, called Apple Saket, will open on April 20. During his visit, Cook is also expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar. These meetings come at a time when Apple is betting on India to become a key manufacturing hub in order to diversify its manufacturing capabilities beyond China. The company currently manufactures iPhones in India through contract manufacturers such as Foxconn, Wistron, and Pegatron, with plans to manufacture other products such as its wireless headphones AirPods in the country. Earlier today, Cook had said that the company is excited to build on its over 25-year history in the country with the opening of its first Apple Store locations in the country. "India has such a beautiful culture and an incredible energy," he said. Apple clocked iPhone exports of about $5 billion-$5.5 billion from India in FY23, accounting for nearly half of the country's mobile phone exports, according to estimates from industry sources. The Cupertino tech giant captured 25 percent of 'Made in India' smartphone shipments in terms of value in 2022, as compared to 12 percent in 2021, as per Counterpoint Research. The company's Made in India shipments grew by 65 percent year-on-year (YoY) by volume and 162 percent YoY by value in 2022, it said. Apples partners Foxconn and Wistron were the fastest growing manufacturers among the top 10 in Q4 2022, fuelled by increasing exports from Apple, the report added. Apple is also currently the leader in India's premium smartphone market (above Rs 30,000) and the country's smartphone market in terms of shipment value in Q4 2022, Counterpoint Research mentioned in a separate report. It clocked record shipments of over 6.5 million in 2022, registering a 16% growth YoY, the firm noted. The company's overall market share in India's smartphone market is however still around 5 percent. Disclaimer: Moneycontrol is a part of the Network18 group. Network18 is controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.
So what makes Bengaluru traffic the meme-worthy horror that it is? Abysmal bus numbers, for one. Sample this: The number of buses of the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), the sole operator of public bus services in the city, has been stagnant for nine years  at 6,767 in FY23 compared with 6,775 in FY14. In contrast, the number of private vehicles  cars and two-wheelers  surged 85 percent to 10.9 million in FY23 from 5.9 million in FY14. As of March 2023, two-wheelers constituted the lions share with 7.33 million, followed by cars (2.23 million). According to mobility experts, there should be at least 120 buses per 100,000 population for better bus services. Ideally, Bengaluru should have about 14,000 buses. A city that once boasted of one of the finest quality bus services in India has been crumbling over the past decade. Unlike Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, Bengaluru does not have a dedicated suburban rail system for intra-city trips, forcing passengers to rely on its road network for city transit. Easing congestion Given that projects like the metro and suburban rail take time to build and operate, experts said the easiest way to reduce traffic congestion is to add buses. Irrespective of which party comes to power, BMTC needs financial support from the state government to increase its bus numbers. There is also a need to recruit more drivers  right now there's a hiring freeze, said Vinay Sreenivasa, a member of Bengaluru Bus Prayanikara Vedike, an NGO that campaigns for better public transport. Most of the time, buses are stuck in traffic because of the volume of two-wheelers and cars in the city. There should be a plan to restrict private vehicles and encourage public transport. The states Comprehensive Mobility Plan proposed to increase the BMTCs fleet to 13,000 buses in 2025 and 16,582 in 2031. However, it is unlikely to meet the target, going by the slow-pace of fleet expansion. Experts said BMTCs major advantage is that buses can change routes in real time based on passenger demand, unlike the metro and suburban rail, which run on fixed routes. Idle buses Many of the Volvo buses that were once heavily patronised by techies on IT corridors are now lying idle due to higher diesel prices and a crew shortage. Of the 6,767 buses, BMTC officials said, they are operating only 5,568 buses. The major concern is the shortage of staff. The last regular recruitment was in 2018. Since then, many drivers and conductors opted for inter-corporation transfers and have gone to their native places, many retired, some died due to Covid-19 and others were dismissed for participating in the transport strike in 2021, said a BMTC official. He said an additional 2,000 staff are needed to operate all buses. We recently floated a tender to hire 1,000 drivers on contract basis, but nothing has been finalised yet. The state government has not given us the go-ahead for fresh permanent recruitments yet, he said. BMTC officials said recruitments were frozen following a report by the state government-appointed one-man committee of former IAS officer MR Srinivasamurthy. My suggestion to the government was to increase the induction of electric buses and save on fuel costs, Srinivasamurthy told Moneycontrol. Not recruiting people was not the point, but they should see how to improve the services with existing staff. I had recommended running more services with minimum staff. Drop in ridership There has been a drastic drop in daily ridership and bus utilisation. Ridership has fallen to 3 million from 5.1 million in FY15, BMTC records show. The reasons include expansion of Namma Metro network, entry of app-based cabs, work-from-home arrangement etc. Some shifted due to Covid-19 scare and also due to the poor frequency of buses. The distance covered by each bus every day has declined due to rising traffic congestion, which makes it difficult for buses to complete trips. The average vehicle utilisation was 171 km in FY22 compared with 218.2 km in FY14. Fleet utilisation dropped to 58.6 percent in FY22 from 91.2 percent in FY14. The Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) proposed measures such as dedicated bus lanes/priority corridors for public transport buses to improve average bus speed from current 10-15 kmph to 20-25 kmph. It also identified 11 high-density corridors for bus priority lanes but the plan remains on paper. BMTC is heading into a spiral where congestion will reduce the attractiveness of the bus company, which in turn would only serve to favour more private modes and increase congestion, the CMP stated. In 2019, a bus priority lane was started between Central Silk Board and KR Puram on Outer Ring Road but it was dismantled due to the metro construction. Bengaluru please bring back bus priority lanes. Commute was a breeze then. Kindly do the needful to encourage more bus usage.@blrcitytraffic @masaleemips @bicyclemayorblr @BMTC_BENGALURU @FriendsofBMTC pic.twitter.com/RrnYO9mKps  Weisa (  ) []  (@VISAGVIJAYKUMAR) April 8, 2023 "BMTC must double their fleet and reduce fares. They should also improve reliability, speed and affordability by introducing buses and bus lanes on all high-density corridors, said Srinivas Alavilli, a fellow at WRI India, an NGO. All parties must stop paying lip service to public transport. They should realise that investing in buses will get immediate results." He said there should be smaller buses for last-mile connectivity. "There is no such thing as a profitable public transit but public health can be improved by investing in buses. BMTC should also open up data so more firms/individuals come up with innovative solutions, he said. Free rides In the FY24 state budget, Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai announced a free bus pass facility for 3 million working women in the organised sector and allocated Rs 1,000 crore for this purpose. Though the scheme was supposed to come into effect from April 1, it hasnt taken off. Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Delhi provide free bus rides for all women passengers. On International Women's Day on March 8, BMTC's free bus rides for women passengers were met with an overwhelming response. "Karnataka's free bus pass scheme is a flawed one. The government didn't announce free passes for all women and they announced only for organised workers, said Tara Krishnaswamy, cofounder of Political Shakti and Citizens for Bengaluru. To get a bus pass, one has to take a day off from work, wait in line for a new pass or renew a pass and provide an ID. Instead of that, they can make it for free for all women. She said the total burden on the exchequer is also less. "Firstly, they implement free bus schemes only in urban areas like Bengaluru. Public transport cannot be a profitable service. It has to be viewed from a public health and environmental perspective. For domestic workers, the free bus scheme is beneficial since they can save money and use it for other needs." In 2016, BMTC was the first in the country to offer smart cards for cashless travel and introduce an Intelligent Transport System so that passengers could track buses. While the smart card became defunct in a few weeks, passengers have not been able to track buses since 2021 when the contract expired. A plan to set up Passenger Information System boards at bus shelters is yet to take off so there is no way for passengers to know when their buses will arrive. #BMTC #Bengaluru @BMTC_BENGALURU is the only transport system that has no digital payments enabled in Bengaluru. There are only digital passes available via @tummoc4u. No digital tickets, rarely present UPI payments, no sign of when NCMC will be available, No BMTC app. Pathetic  UrbanTortoise (@formersea7063) March 29, 2023 A recent Asian Development Bank (ADB) report titled, Framework for Integrated Metro and Bus Services and Financial Planning Strategies for the BMTC, suggested measures to rejuvenate the cash-strapped corporation. Chief among them is the need for BMTC to tailor its services. BMTC service schedules are designed in such a way that services peak by 6 pm and drop sharply after that. At the same time, Bengaluru Metro's demand patterns show that the evening peak lasts until 8 pm. Therefore, the BMTC needs to adjust its service schedules such that the evening peak extends at least up to 8pm," it said. The network has to be reoriented to create more supply in the emerging eastern and southern demand centres of Bengaluru, it said. The network predominantly provides radial services centred around Majestic, KR Market and Shivaji Nagar bus stations, it said. Only 112 of the 2,203 BMTC routes have more than 10 buses per route. At the same time, 1,500 routes have only one bus assigned to it, severely restricting the ability to provide high-frequency services, ADB said. About 64 percent of bus users travel less than 5 km and would prefer shorter routes with higher frequency and reliable services. #Caughtintwinwebjams #TrafficinBangalore #NotoriousBelandurJams Poor Techie caught in above & working in Volvo BMTC to make up ! pic.twitter.com/IpuOtK08UG  SreedarBabu@RighteousWriter (@sreedarprasad) April 11, 2023 Funding mechanism About 50 percent of the BMTC routes are longer than 25 km, which would take them through several congestion points within the city and, therefore, impact their service reliability," the ADB report said. Ravi Gadepalli, one of the authors of the report, said there should be a performance-linked funding mechanism from the state government. Once BMTC meets the key performance indicators like daily kilometres, ridership, occupancy revenue, it should be eligible for assured funding from the state government," he said. BMTC director (information technology) Surya Sen told Moneycontrol that 1,000 drivers are being hired on contract and five AC electric double-decker buses are being added. This was delayed due to the election model code of conduct, he said. According to Sen, the one-man committee report suggested doing away with bus conductors. We will require around Rs 50 crore to implement automatic fare collection. We are planning to make AC buses conductor-less soon to cut down on operational costs. We need money for this, he said. A mobile app (Nimmbus) will be launched on Google Play Store in a few days. To accept Namma Metros National Common Mobility Card, the corporation will need to onboard a bank. BMTC has also sought subsidies from the state government, he added. BMTC managing director G Sathyavathi was unavailable for comment. Note to readers: This is the fifth article in a series on Bengaluru ahead of Karnataka polls on May 10 Related stories: Eye on Bengaluru ahead of Karnataka polls: At 6 km/year, Namma Metro on super slo-mo track Eye on Bengaluru: Why tech capitals 2G infra work pace needs a 5G push Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023| Eye on Bengaluru: Why Indias tech hub just cannot manage rain Eye on Bengaluru ahead of Karnataka polls: Pothole capital and land of forever dug-up roads
India's largest private sector lender HDFC Bank will complete its reverse merger with the parent Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd (HDFC) by July this year, said HDFC Bank Chief Financial Officer Srinivasan Vaidyanathan. Vaidyanathan, after announcing the banks January-March 2023 quarterly results, in a post-results analyst call said that because of the change of regulators, they have gone to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) for its approval. "We think it is June or possibly in July, which is where we think the timeframe is as we speak, given where we are on various things," said Vaidyanathan. HDFC Ltd had received approval letters including from Reserve Bank of India, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) and Competition Commission of India as well as from India's stock exchanges BSE and the National Stock Exchange. Also read: Merger of HDFC and HDFC Bank secures the NCLT green light We've made the application to the Securities and Exchange Board of India as it relates to the change in promoter and giving notices to mutual fund orders, so we've gone to SEBI to get their permission. We've also gone to IRDAI because of a change of promoter on the insurance side and we are waiting for their nod," Vaidyanathan said. After seeking approvals from all the regulators, Vaidyanathan said, we will circle back with the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) to take it to the final stages. The merger The merger of HDFC and HDFC Bank has been in the news for a while. In fact, back in 2015, Deepak Parekh, the chairman of the countrys leading mortgage company, had said his firm could consider a merger with HDFC Bank provided circumstances were in favour. Also read: HDFC-HDFC Bank merger to lead to bigger growth opportunity; will not take executive role, says Keki Mistry Termed as the biggest transaction in Indias corporate history, HDFC Bank on April 4 last year agreed to take over the biggest housing finance company in a deal valued at about $40 billion, creating a financial services titan. The proposed entity will have a combined asset base of around Rs 18 lakh crore. On March 10, in an exclusive interview with Moneycontrol, HDFC vice chairman and CEO Keki Mistry said that the merger will lead to bigger growth opportunities for the combined entity. Gradually, the objective is to expand housing loans from more and more branches of the bank. The growth opportunity on housing loans will be bigger in HDFC Bank (the combined entity) than HDFC, said Mistry. Once the deal comes into force, HDFC Bank will be 100 percent owned by public shareholders, and existing shareholders of HDFC will own 41 per cent of the bank.
Poor earnings drove a sell-off in GTPL Hathway with the scrip plunging 11 percent on April 17. At 11:55am, shares of the company traded 10.8 percent lower at Rs 100.73 on the BSE. The company posted a consolidated loss at Rs 124 million in the quarter ended March as against a net profit of Rs 522 million a year ago. Though the revenue was up 13 percent on-year to Rs 7,017 million in the quarter under review. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, its revenue from cable TV business declined marginally but other sales contributed to higher overall sales. GTPL Hathways operating margin came in at 15.9 percent in the March quarter from 18.6 percent in the previous quarter and 22.3 percent in the year ago quarter. Catch up on all LIVE stock market updates The company saw an increase in trade payables, while other financial liabilities also shot up mainly due to capital expenditure payables. The company has further strengthened its presence across all other markets, especially in the southern states. We continue to expand our presence in the digital cable TV market and have entered the states of New Delhi, Haryana and Uttarakhand, said Anirudhsinh Jadeja, Managing Director of GTPL Hathway. The company claims to be Indias largest MSO providing Digital Cable TV services and sixth largest private wireline broadband service provider in India.

USER CONSENT

We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy.

*I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age.

*I agree to the processing of my personal information for personalized recommendations, personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites.

I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS. (Optional).

Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue.

I Accept
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202304/1289253.shtml





What on earth was the Dalai Lama thinking? A Video emerged on Twitter a few days ago of him kissing a boy and then asking the boy, who is clearly under the age of sexual consent in any person's language or culture, to suck his tongue.

While many apologists for Tibetan separatism are defending his action as either playful fun, or as being culturally misunderstood, many people are accusing him of paedophilia and the like. He issued an apology on Twitter and his own website, describing the event as playful teasing and innocent. The apology received (at the time of writing) 35.6 million views. Scroll through the comments below and it's clear the Dalai Lama has lost his support, if not in the world then certainly online. The ratio of disgust to support is greater than 10 to 1.

The BBC defended Dalai Lama's action by claiming sticking the tongue out is a way of greeting in Xizang Autonomous Region (Tibet) and several other sites have supported this narrative, writing off the incident as a cultural misunderstanding because there's a ninth century Tibetan tradition of showing the tongue and it is often used as a greeting in group sessions.

However, there is not and never has been in any culture anywhere, an acceptable time to publicly invite someone to suck their tongue. We should bear in mind that the same BBC defended him in 2015 when he jokingly said that if his successor was female she must be attractive otherwise it is not much use.

If this tradition of the tongue were the norm in Xizang, this man who is on the TV screens of almost every country in the world greeting religious, political or celebrity guests would have done this often and probably not raised an eyebrow but he has never done this before either to a child or an adult.

In the minds of some, probably many, this is a man who can do no wrong. An adult male kissing the lips of a pre-teen boy (who is not a family member) is not a matter of sensitivity, it is a matter that should be considered by the law in any country in which it occurs to establish if a crime has taken place.

The matter is compounded by two other aspects: the request of that same adult, revered as one of the world's Holy Men, for the boy to suck his tongue; and the apparent vicelike grip that the Dalai Lama held with his left hand on the boy's right arm, which appeared to be alarmingly close to the venerable crutch. These two aspects clearly caused discomfort for the boy and preventing him from retreating from the situation; they would, if they had been carried out by a normal citizen in most countries, face police investigation.

What interests some observers, is how this has been allowed to become mainstream now, it's more than a month old. More likely, it is becoming clear to anyone in Washington, where most of the support for a Free Tibet Movement is funded, that the Dalai Lama has served his useful purpose. There was never going to be an independent Xizang, this was just a ruse to disrupt China's relations with the rest of the world, even the CIA admits this. The entire story was detailed including with references and citation by Foreign Policy Journal in 2010 in an article entitled The Tragedy of Tibet: A saga of Betrayal, Colonization and Exploitation.

And, if anyone went to Xizang to ask Tibetans, they would be told, there is no need, because they're as free as they've ever been.

The truth of the matter is, Xizang has improved economically, and while there are still poor people, there is nobody living in absolute poverty anymore, there are no major issues with the environment and there are no credible reports of human rights issues. Tibetans enjoy a robust and open form of governance which China calls Whole-process People's Democracy. If that's hard to believe, ask, or at least watch people who've been.

Overall, it's fairly clear Xizang, and the Dalai Lama were a cause celebre, Xizang was never meant to be an independent or free country. But now, it's likely that, given Dalai Lama's age, the lack of success in driving a wedge between Tibetan and Han people inside of Xizang and the fact that he's publicly brought disgrace upon himself, it might just be that it's the CIA that has decided to shame him.


Here is a collection of the most important stories this evening: Apple CEO Tim Cook arrives in India for company's first retail store launch Apple CEO Tim Cook is in India after nearly seven years to inaugurate the company's first retail stores that are opening in Mumbai and Delhi in the coming days. "Hello, Mumbai! We cant wait to welcome our customers to the new Apple BKC tomorrow," Cook said in a tweet. More here Apple CEO Cook to meet PM Modi amid expansion Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook will meet India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and its deputy IT minister as part of his visit to inaugurate the iPhone maker's first retail store in the country this week, people familiar with the plans said. More here India will push back on West monopoly over ESG aims, says PM Modi's advisory panel member India needs to resist efforts by some western ratings companies to push ESG norms on emerging markets even as Prime Minister Narendra Modis government is committed to zero out green house gas emissions by 2070, a key economic adviser said. More here ITC @ 400: Patience, payback, and a puff of smoke Somewhere between despair and dividends, lies ITC. For many years, there were three paths available to someone looking to develop the virtue of stoicism  buying an under-construction flat in Delhi-NCR, becoming a litigant, or investing in ITC. While the first two options still retain their charm, those who went for the third are now finally reaping the rewards. More here MC Exclusive | We will absolutely meet the surge in demand: Power minister RK Singh The government is prepared to meet the surge in electricity demand in the coming weeks, RK Singh, Union minister for power and renewable energy, said in an exclusive interview to Moneycontrol. More here Excise 'scam': Delhi court extends Manish Sisodia's judicial custody in cases lodged by CBI, ED A special Delhi court on April 17 extended the judicial custody of AAP leader Manish Sisodia in the corruption and money laundering cases lodged by the CBI and the ED respectively in the alleged excise scam. More here Ruthless recovery agents, aggressive loan outreach put spotlight on Bajaj Finance Incessant calls pitching loans and vicious recovery agents pursuing defaulters are two shady aspects of Indias shadow banks. There have been multiple complaints on social media recently about alleged harassment by representatives from Bajaj Finance and other NBFCs via calls, messages and emails, and particularly about the arm twisting loan recovery methods employed by its agents. More here
1. G20 nations may agree on definition of start-ups to ease policymaking The G20 is expected to agree on a common definition for startups by July. The foundation and alliances working group under the Startup-20 Engagement Group, created during Indias G20 presidency, is leading discussions to establish consistent terminology across member nations to define investments, funding, and other related terms for startups in the ecosystem. Indias department for promotion of industry and internal trade defines a startup as an entity up to 10 years from its incorporation date, with sales of less than Rs 100 crore in any financial year. There are over 97,000 recognized startups in India. Why its important: A common definition would enable effective policymaking across member countries, potentially resolving challenges around the valuation and taxation of startups. 2. TCS wont forego margins for growth, give 12-15 per cent hike to top performers Global macroeconomic obstacles disturbing technology markets worldwide would not snowball into a full-blown crisis, according to K Krithivasan, CEO-designate of Tata Consultancy Services. Terming it more as a short-term blip, he said TCS will not forego margins in search of growth. Indias largest IT firm will give its top performing employees a 12-15 per cent salary hike to keep them on board. It hopes attrition will decline from 20 per cent to 13-14 per cent in the second half of the financial year. Why its important: TCS will have to focus on strengthening relationships with large customers who constitute the bulk of its revenues. It would also work to contain attrition despite a shrinking job market. 3. Slew of investment firms in race to buy nine road projects of Macquarie A host of private equity and infrastructure investment firms are in the race to buy nine highway projects put on the block by Sydney-based Macquarie Group. Cube Highways, Sekura Infrastructure Fund of Edelweiss Group, and private equity firms Actis and KKR have expressed initial interest in buying the projects, which could cost as much as $1 billion. The 680km projects are in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. Why its important: Macquarie has already sold substantial road assets to the Adani Group. Experts say margin recovery in roadbuilding projects could be slow, but valuations will remain high due to potential earnings outlook. 4. Central government aims to build 45km of roads every day in 2023-24 Indias highway construction is projected to accelerate in 2023-24 despite a potential economic slowdown due to global factors. The highways ministry has set a goal to build at least 45km of highways a day. At this pace, a record 16,000 km of roads would be developed in a year. Why its important: The ministrys targets look optimistic as it failed to reach targets in the past two financial years. Data up to February shows 24km of daily road work in the year ended March. 5. FMCG firms hope for normal monsoon rainfall to revive rural demand If monsoon rains turn out as predicted and raw material prices continue to ease, rural demand for FMCG items could recover in the next three to six months, companies and industry experts are hoping. Earlier this month, India Meteorological Department said it expects normal rains in the June-September monsoon. The forecast could spell good news for rural India, as nearly half of Indias summer crop area lacking irrigation depends on monsoon rains. Why its important: Although urban markets have shown positive momentum, rural consumption has been declining for six straight quarters till December, putting margins under pressure. The FMCG sector now looks to the skies for relief. 6. India to see solid growth, but global environment will count, World Bank economist says India will see solid economic growth, but not as much as it would have if global conditions were as in the early 2000s, said Indermit Gill, chief economist at the World Bank. Isolated bank failures will not be a danger to India, but a generalized banking crisis may lead to a global recession and a noticeable slowdown within the country. Why its important: Economic growth rates are declining compared with the first decade of this century. Although India is cited as a global bright spot, its GDP numbers, too, have moderated considerably. 7. Wadi Group to sell stake or completely exit loss-making carrier Go First The Wadia Group, which owns the loss-making budget carrier Go First, has started talks with strategic partners to either sell a significant stake in or completely exit the airline. Go First, which made its highest annual financial loss to date in 2021-22, has been tackling operational issues in the past few months as half of its aircraft have been grounded due to supply chain disruptions pertaining to Pratt & Whitney engines. Why its important: Although the aviation ministry has stepping in to resolve the engine issue, troubles at Go First are unlikely go away soon. It has failed to raised money from the primary market after its IPO was delayed, crimping its ability to repay loans. 8. Singapores AG&P in discussions to acquire 70 per cent stake in Hiranandani Energy Hiranandani Energy, which had ambitions to build multibillion dollar integrated energy infrastructure projects such as two LNG terminals and a pipeline for end-to-end natural gas solutions, is in talks with Singapore-based Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific Company to sell a majority stake in the firm and its units for a few hundred crores. AG&P is close to picking up a 70 per cent stake in Hiranandani Energy and one of its subsidiaries, while Darshan Hiranandani will hold on to the remaining 30 per cent. Why its important: The transaction value is likely to be worth only a fraction of the initial investment envisaged because Hiranandani Energy could develop only two assets. 9. Warburg Pincus, Kedaara in separate talks to buy Watertec at $450 million valuation Warburg Pincus and Kedaara Capital are in separate discussions to acquire Watertec India, a local bathroom fittings and accessories maker. The proposed deal will value the unlisted company at 3,500 crore ($450 million). Watertec was established in 1997 as a joint venture between Coimbatore-based UMS Group, Watertec Malaysia and Sri Lanka-based South Asian Investments. It is the leader in the plastic bath fittings and accessories market. Why its important: The deal talks are taking place at a time M&A activity has declined in India. The real estate market is showing early signs of revival and Watertec could benefit from that. 10. Central data processing unit to streamline corporate filing in India Indias upcoming central data processing unit will ensure quick and objective approval of corporate filings by taking over the task from scattered regional offices, freeing up the regional offices for more investigation and enforcement work. The centralized data processing unit will come up at the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs premises in Haryanas Manesar. Why its important: Plans to build a centralized data processing unit was announced in the federal budget, but details on its implementation have not been made public so far. The center is expected to automate most of the work at regional registrar of companies.
With the new financial year upon us, its time to give some thought to what tax deductions and exemptions you would like to claim. And that will depend on which tax regime  old or new  you opt for. The concessional tax regime  popularly known as the new tax regime  was introduced in Budget 2020. It offers taxpayers the option to pay taxes at lower slab rates in lieu of foregoing the many deductions and exemptions available under the old regime. That said, the new tax regime still offers some tax sops from the old regime. Here are a few of them: Also read: Six income-tax exemptions that even the new tax regime allows Deduction for home loan interest One important deduction that you can still claim under the new tax regime is deduction of interest on a home loan for a rented property. But the condition of no negative loss from house property makes this deduction less attractive. That is, interest cost in excess of rental income (negative loss from house property) cannot be set off against other income the same year or carried forward to future years. Also, you cannot claim the home loan interest deduction for a self-occupied property. Under the old tax regime, you can claim this deduction for both self-occupied and rented properties. In the case of a rented property, the interest paid is deducted from the rent received (net of property taxes and standard deduction of 30 percent) to arrive at the income from house property. This helps you to lower your property income and hence the tax to be paid on it. In fact, as Karan Batra, Founder, Chartered Club explains, as long as the loss from house property (interest paid minus rent received after adjusting for property tax and standard deduction) does not exceed Rs 2 lakh, it can be set off against any other income in the same year to reduce your overall tax liability. Any loss from rented property over and above Rs 2 lakh gets carried forward and can be claimed in the subsequent 8 years. But this works differently under the new tax regime. According to Parizad Sirwalla, Partner, KPMG Tax India, no negative loss from house property is allowed to be set off against other income under this regime. She explains this with an example. Suppose you have only one property and your rental income (net of property taxes and standard deduction of 30 percent) is Rs 5 lakh and your home loan interest is Rs 8 lakh, then you can offset only Rs 5 lakh interest against the rental income to arrive at income from your house property. Under the new regime, the remaining unadjusted Rs 3 lakh cannot be offset against any other income in the same year or be carried forward. However, under the old regime, in the above example, Rs 2 lakh (of the Rs 3 lakh interest exceeding rental income) can be set off against other income in the same year, as a loss of up to Rs 2 lakh is allowed. The remaining Rs 1 lakh can be carried forward into subsequent years. Also see: List of top funds  MC30 Tax exemption on gratuity received Gratuity is a lumpsum amount that an employee receives from an employer on leaving the organisation after at least five years of service. This forms part of your total salary but is paid when you resign or retire. The 5-year condition does not apply in the case of death or disablement of the employee. According to Archit Gupta, Founder and CEO, Clear, the entire gratuity received by government employees is tax-exempt both under the old regime and the new tax regime. For non-government employees of organisations covered by the Payment of Gratuity Act, gratuity up to a maximum of Rs 20 lakh is tax exempt under both tax regimes. All organisations with 10 or more employees are covered under the Act. Also read: Does the new tax regime do more damage than good by disincentivising savings? Tax exemption on leave encashment As a salaried individual, you may be entitled to what is known as paid or privilege leave. Most employers allow their employees to carry forward any paid leave they have not used during a year. You can encash the accumulated paid leave later. That is, the employer pays you an amount in lieu of the unutilised paid leave. Under the new tax regime, too, employees are entitled to tax exemption on leave encashment at the time of resignation or retirement. The tax-exemption limit depends on whether you are a government or a non-government employee. As a government employee, your entire leave encashment is tax-exempt. Non-government employees can claim tax exemption on leave encashment of up to Rs 25 lakh from April 1, 2023. If you encash your leave while still working for the organisation, the entire amount is taxable, says Gupta. This is applicable to both government and non-government employees under both tax regimes. However, he adds, in the case of death of an employee, the entire leave encashment is tax-exempt for the legal heir. Also listen to: Financial and tax planning 2023-24: How to choose the most suitable tax regime | Simply Save
A rollback of the long-term capital gains tax advantage on debt mutual funds has presented an opportunity to life insurance agents reeling under the tax blow dealt to endowment plans by Budget 2023. In the Budget, the finance minister, with effect from April 1, 2023, imposed tax on income earned from endowment policies at maturity if the aggregate annual premium the policyholder pays were to exceed Rs 5 lakh. So, agents and the life insurance industry went on an overdrive to get individuals to buy endowment policies before March 31, 2023. Also read | Beware! Insurance agents pushing high-premium policies before March 31 to escape tax Last-minute amendments to Finance Bill 2023 that made debt mutual funds less tax-efficient, however, have fuelled the hopes of a section of the life insurance industry. With the government removing LTCG (long-term capital gains) benefits from debt mutual funds and a few other fund categories via amendments in the Finance Bill 2023, suddenly there seems to be some optimism emerging regarding non-linked life insurance products (that is, participating and non-participating endowment policies), securities firm Emkay Global wrote in a research note. Traditional endowment life insurance policies invest in secure debt instruments. Also read | How Finance Bill amendment will affect debt mutual fund investors post April 1 Budget 2o23 blow to endowment plans Effective April 1, if you pay aggregate premiums of over Rs 5 lakh across your endowment policies, the income earned (gains made) on such policies will attract tax. Even as the insurance industry was coming to terms with this loss of a key benefit, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman pulled the rug from under its competing industrys  mutual funds  feet too. Unlike earlier, when gains made on debt fund units held for more than three years attracted a concessional tax of 20 percent along with indexation benefits, April 1 onwards, the gains will simply be taxed at the marginal rate applicable to your income slab. Long commitment, modest returns a drag on endowment plans Despite the obvious tax edge, however, financial planners do not recommend buying traditional endowment plans if investment is your primary objective. For one, they involve a recurring premium payment commitment  if you stop paying premiums due to a liquidity crunch in the following years, your policy could lapse. These plans have long tenures of close to 20 years although they offer limited premium payment terms. The minimum term for a regular premium policy is at least five years, but data shows that even 61st month persistency rates are dismal across life insurance companies. Put simply, poor persistency means a large number of policyholders choose to exit early. If you wish to wriggle out of the investment, you will have to shell out high surrender charges. For instance, if you decide to call it quits after paying two annual premiums, you will only get 30 percent (the minimum guaranteed surrender value) of the annual premiums paid back. Also, higher commissions and mortality charges (for older individuals) eat into potential returns, which at best can range from 5-6 percent. For instance, a Moneycontrol analysis shows, the recently-launched Jeevan Azad plan by Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), offers an internal rate of return of just 3.76 percent for a 30-year-old. Also read | LICs Jeevan Azad: Should you buy a traditional endowment policy with assured returns? Guaranteed, tax-free maturity proceeds may sound inviting but low rate of return is a dampener for Jeevan Azad, as is the case with most non-participating, guaranteed endowment plans With this increased nudge towards an exemption-free new tax regime and adding taxation on proceeds of high-ticket policies, life insurance savings products need to improve their competitiveness versus other savings/investment products. This cannot be done unless the industry acknowledges and addresses the high direct cost (operational expenditure and commissions) and indirect cost (lower persistency), says the Emkay Global report. Lack of liquidity in the interim is a crippling handicap, something that debt mutual funds are free of. Long-term, recurring premium commitments and lack of flexibility to exit remain the key challenges when it comes to endowment plans, says Suresh Sadagopan, founder of Ladder7 Financial Advisories. Moreover, elimination of this tax arbitrage in the next Budget cannot be ruled out. this will most likely be a temporary thing and will be corrected by the next union budget. On a net basis, for below Rs 5 lakh annual premium, non-linked life insurance products, especially guaranteed non-par, become most tax-efficient. However, given the illiquidity and high surrender charges in life insurance saving products, it is not a direct one-to-one substitution of other financial products, Emkay Global says. Kalpesh Ashar, founder of Full Circle Financial Planners, concurs. Debt mutual funds vs. traditional endowment plans is a completely apples and oranges comparison. For one, you need to keep your investment and insurance needs separate. Insurance is meant for protection, but the life covers these policies offer are minuscule. Further, debt funds offer you liquidity that life insurance policies cannot, he says. The minimum cover offered under such policies is 7-10 times the annual premium. A lower cover will mean losing out on tax benefits and a larger cover will eat into your returns due to higher mortality charges. Limited suitability Endowment policies  with a bonus as well as guaranteed return plans  are aimed at risk-averse individuals looking for secure returns over the long-term. Add tax benefits  under section 80C (old tax regime) as well as section 10(10D)  to the mix and they may seem like a perfect solution to their requirements and concerns of such inviduals. For individuals with low risk appetite who are satisfied with 5-6 percent assured returns and whose aggregate endowment premium outgo does not exceed Rs 5 lakh, traditional polices could still be a good fit, says Sadagopan. If the returns go any lower, then there is no case to be made, he adds. On their part, insurers often argue that only investment-cum-insurance products can offer assured, tax-free returns of 5-6 percent over a long period of, say, 20-30 years, making them a must-have in portfolios meant for long-term goals such as retirement or childrens education. If assured returns over the long-term are what you seek, you can also consider Public Provident Fund (PPF), Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) and Voluntary Provident Fund (VPF) for your long-term goals. These instruments offer partial liquidity and, more importantly, do not entail long-term, recurring premium payments.
Akshat Mittal, an entrepreneur based in Delhi, had taken a home loan from Bajaj Finance a few months ago. While he received the sanctioned amount from the company, he said that he was charged an extra amount for an insurance scheme which he did not apply for. When my first equated monthly installment (EMI) was deducted, I saw they had charged me for insurance. When I reached out to them on email, they ignored my email, Mittal said. Mittal filed a case in the Rohini Consumer Court in Delhi. When I called Bajaj Finance, Mittal said, they admitted their fault when they did not inform me about the insurance. When I told them to take back the insurance linked to my loan, they refused to do so and sometimes started speaking loudly with me. Additionally, I get 2-3 calls daily from Bajaj Finance but they do not respond to my queries, Mittal added. Another customer, Rana Dutta, a Mumbai-based entrepreneur, recently took to Twitter to reveal that he gets five calls every day from the representatives of Bajaj Finance, a leading non-banking company, despite not being a customer of the company. Every day I block at least 5 calls from Bajaj Finance and their remedy is to register with their do not disturb (DND). After not sharing or using any product of theirs if this is what I am subjected to at any hour every day, I am sure if I share my number they will harass me to death, Dutta tweeted. These are not isolated incidents. On an average I get around 10 text messages and 4-5 calls every week from Bajaj Finance and other NBFCs pushing loans and credit cards, says Subhash, a finance industry professional from Mumbai. Every time you block a number, the call comes from a different number. Widespread menace To be sure, this kind of aggression is widespread in the NBFC industry. Moneycontrol had published a series of stories highlighting the problems caused by loan recovery agents. Earlier, Moneycontrol had also reported that Navi Finance and other digital lenders were accused of stealing borrowers phone books to harass their contacts for loan recovery. Incessant calls pitching loans and vicious recovery agents pursuing defaulters are two shady aspects of Indias shadow banks. There have been multiple complaints on social media recently about alleged harassment by representatives from Bajaj Finance and other NBFCs via calls, messages and emails, and particularly about the arm twisting loan recovery methods employed by its agents. Also read: Loan app harassment cases on the rise in Mumbai, 4 FIRs registered in 4 days Bajaj Finance isnt just another non-banking finance company (NBFC) operating in Indias Rs 31 trillion NBFC industry. Promoted by the Bajaj Group, it is bigger than many full-sized banks. With total assets of Rs 2.3 trillion and a market share of nearly 8 percent among NBFCs, Bajaj Finance is the largest shadow bank in Asias third-largest economy, with a customer base of 6.6 crore and 3,504 branches. The firm offers home, auto and personal loans, in competition with banks and other NBFCs. Also read: After Hazaribagh incident, Mahindra vows to review practice of using third-party collection agencies Company response Responding to a query from Moneycontrol on the allegations of harassment by its recovery agents, Bajaj Finance claimed that its hands were clean. Bajaj Finance has a robust code of conduct policy as laid down by the regulator, which includes communication, behavioral and situational training of its recovery partners. It adopts a zero tolerance policy for any non-compliance, the company claimed. The company also claimed to have deeply invested in customer service infrastructure and said it has a well-laid-down customer redressal management process. Customers have a different take. Pashupati Davella, an entrepreneur based in Bengaluru, complained about being flooded by unsolicited mails from Bajaj Finance. I have been getting unsolicited mails from Bajaj Finance about approval of loan, RBL card, one-time password (OTP) generation, etc. I never applied for these. Afraid recovery agents would trouble me. Cannot reach Bajaj as their IVR and website have no option to complain. Help, Davella tweeted. But for Prameela Jangam, a Bajaj Finance customer from Hyderabad the case is different. Recovery agents, Jangam said, are harassing her and her family members by calling them and using abusive language. I delayed on repayment and the recovery agent, Chandu, is harassing me to death. Please take necessary action on the recovery agents and their abusive language, Jangam tweeted and tagged Hyderabad City Police. To this, the police responded and asked for her residential and other details. Ok mam, finally I need assurance from Bajaj management that hereon recovery agent Mr.Chandu should not call me or my references and threaten them that he will come to my house and see my end for not paying emi on time  prameela Jangam (@JangamPrameela) March 28, 2023 Bajaj recovery agent is calling all my references and threatening all of us that he is a very big goon in his area. Please save me from your agent, Jangam said. In most cases, recovery agents are third-party companies appointed by originating companies, the lenders. The agents often use strongarm methods to recover dues from the borrower. Typically, they engage in shaming the targets by harassing them in front of family and friends, even pushing some customers to take extreme steps. In the past, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has warned against such practices several times. An email sent to the RBI seeking comments for this story remained unanswered till the time of filing this copy. Whats behind the aggression? Part of the reason for the aggressive campaign both on recovery and sales could be the increasing competition faced by large NBFCs such as Bajaj Finance from their rivals and the consequent fear of losing market share, said analysts. Recently, brokerage firm Ambit said that Bajaj Finance was facing multiple challenges to gain scale amid strong competition in the home loan market and its growth could be slowing due to size and competition. The simmering competition is likely to exert pressure on Bajaj Finance's asset growth, wrote Ambit Capital. The brokerage has put a sell rating on the stock with a target of Rs 5,028 apiece. The companys shares were last trading at Rs 5,933.90 on April 17, 2023 on BSE, up 0.5 per cent from the previous close, while benchmark equity index, Sensex was trading 720 points or 1.19 per cent down from previous close . Bajaj Finances one-year forward valuation implies 25 percent AUM (assets under management) growth with 20 percent RoE (return on equity) over the next decade. Despite superior technology, analytics, processes and distribution, its a tall task, Ambit Capital said in a report, adding that no Indian lender has grown at a rate of more than 20 percent in the past two decades. In the third quarter, Bajaj Finance added 3.1 million new customers, which was 21 percent higher than a year ago and 19 percent up sequentially. The lender, in its January-March 2023 quarter update, reported only a 20 percent growth in new loans. The companys deposit book, for the quarter ending March 2023, stood at approximately Rs 44,650 crore, a growth of 45 percent from Rs 30,800 crore, in the corresponding quarter last year. The fastest-growing segments, based on AUM growth, were loans against securities, loans to small businesses and commercial lending. All these segments grew 33-46 percent in the third quarter, while two and three-wheeler finance was the slowest segment, growing just 11 percent year-on-year. On the asset quality front, there arent any worries going by the numbers. In the third quarter, Bajaj Finance reported a gross bad loan ratio of 1.14 percent, down from 1.73 percent a year ago. Fear of losing market share? Experts said that even financially healthy companies opt for aggressive recovery methods fearing loss of dominance in business and the possibility of a slowdown ahead. When companies see that a recession is likely to come, they turn to these methods as a recourse for quick loan recovery, said Abhishek Bansal, Founder Partner, Acumen Juris, a consultant company. Also, lack of control over functioning of third-party recovery agencies tends to lead to cases of harassment, said experts. Critical aspects, such as the agencys professional history, debt recovery agent (DRA) license, etc. are sometimes not verified by lenders, they say. Companies ignore due diligence on the DRA licensing when hiring a third-party recovery agent. Due to this, the agents indulge in aggressive recovery activities, said Varun Sharma, Executive, FinGuru Services India, a non-banking financial company (NBFC) consultant company. This gives a free hand to recovery agents to opt for methods such as visits to the borrower's residential place, harassment over telephone, etc, they said. An ex-employee of an NBFC, who did not wish to be named, said such companies have a dedicated team for loan recovery. There is a special collection team that works only to recover loan amounts from borrowers. They connect with borrowers on calls and sometimes visit their homes for recovery, the person said. The call centres In most cases, incessant phone calls for recovery were the common complaint. This, experts said, is due to the call centres set up for this special purpose. Call centres associated with NBFCs typically employ hundreds and sometimes thousands of executives and are paid a monthly salary ranging between Rs 40,000 and Rs 80,000, according to industry experts. Their mandate: keep chasing potential target customers with text messages and calls and generate leads that can be passed on to the sales team. Ram Rastogi, Chairman, Fintech Association for Consumer Empowerment (FACE), a consumer-centric organisation, said these call centres operate mostly in semi-rural and rural areas and also work round the clock to recover loans from borrowers. There have been cases where call centre executives threaten to leak borrowers photos by morphing them. Borrowers who are illiterate often fall in this trap and pay the loan amount with interests of more than 100 percent at times, Rastogi said. These recovery methods, Rastogi added, are executed by recovery agencies and often the lender is kept in the dark. But it is the responsibility of the lender to see what methods are followed by their recovery partners, Rastogi said. Moneycontrol spoke to several call centre employees associated with various NBFCs. One employee, who did not wish to be named, said they are given daily targets. The target includes calling customers for repayment of loans. Our team has more than 100 members only for Bajaj Finance. We are told to complete our daily targets by calling customers repeatedly, the call centre employee said. The modus operandi Calls are made to the borrower and also to friends, relatives, etc. of the borrower. Often, these are folks who, during the documentation of the loan, act as guarantors for situations where the borrower is unable to repay the loan amount. But in some cases, calls are also made to people who have nothing to do with the loan. Typically, companies ask for emergency contacts during the paperwork. The number of emergency contacts asked could vary from one to three. This method is transparent as the borrower as well as the lender are on the same page. But a second method, experts said, involves extracting and storing the contact details of the borrower through mobile applications. Lenders store contact details of borrowers using backend technology through mobile applications. The companies later use these contacts to call people to recover the loan from the borrower, Sharma explained. RBI guidelines do not allow storage of contacts of relatives, friends, etc. of borrowers, but in some cases, companies that publicly deplore the strong-arming of borrowers tacitly give their assent to recovery agents cornering targets. What do RBI regulations say? The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, from time to time, issued directions to banks on recovery agents and the code of conduct needed for recovery practices. On February 14, the RBI said digital lenders must share the details of the recovery agent if a loan turns delinquent. If the loan turns delinquent and the recovery agent has been assigned to the borrower, the particulars of such recovery agent assigned must be communicated to the borrower through email/SMS before the recovery agent contacts the borrower for recovery, the RBI said in an FAQ on digital lending guidelines. Also, at the time of loan sanction, the borrower may be given the names of empanelled agents authorised to contact the borrower in the event of a default, the RBI said. On a similar note, the apex bank had in August 2022 barred recovery agents from intimidating borrowers and calling them before 8 am or after 7 pm. While issuing additional instructions to regulated entities, the RBI said it had observed that recovery agents were deviating from its instructions with regard to recovery practices. "It is advised that the REs (regulated entities) shall strictly ensure that they or their agents do not resort to intimidation or harassment of any kind, either verbal or physical, against any person in their debt collection efforts," the RBI said in the notification. As things stand, that instruction, it appears, is being honoured in the breach.
Axis Bank, one of Indias largest private banks, is gearing up to launch a new consumer-facing buyers platform built on top of Indias Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) framework as it looks to strengthen its e-commerce forays amid a push from the government for deeper penetration of the open network, which is billed to be the UPI (unified payments interface) of digital commerce. Axis has already designed the platform and will be launching it as a part of its e-commerce segment called Grab Deals, people aware of the matter told Moneycontrol. The platform will initially have only groceries, but will soon expand to other segments, the people said requesting anonymity. The platform will be going live soon and it will be launched in select cities initially, according to the people. Moneycontrol has seen internal documents of the new application. Grab Deals has been a part of Axis for some time now and as a part of this new project, the company is revamping the entire Grab Deals platform. While theres no separate application for Grab Deals yet, Axis will be launching it soon, said one of the people quoted above. The ONDC for groceries will still remain integrated even after Grab Deals goes live on app stores and going forward, the company might launch a separate app for the ONDC platform, too, the person added. Axis Banks move to launch a new buyers hyperlocal application on ONDC comes just a couple of weeks after Walmart-backed PhonePe, Indias most-valued fintech startup, launched a new application called Pincode with a focus on hyperlocal commerce. Axis Bank is also a shareholder in ONDC and holds roughly 8 percent stake. Axis Bank did not comment on the story. Besides PhonePe, fintech unicorn Paytm currently has an ONDC platform integrated into its main application. ONDC is an initiative of the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Ministry of Commerce. ONDCs rollout started with limited pincodes in Bengaluru last September. So far, apart from Paytm and PhonePe, IDFC, Mystore, Craftsvilla and Spice Money are all buyer-side applications. The platform takes no money from the government but is funded by banks including State Bank of India, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Punjab National Bank, among others. In March, ONDC expanded into mobility as well apart from food, grocery and e-commerce, as the network onboarded Namma Yatri onto the platform. While two cities are in ONDCs beta stage, 181 are in the alpha stage. Earlier this month, at a press conference in New Delhi, T Koshy, CEO of ONDC said the platform has been able to find 37 network participants. The platform is currently working with over 26,000 merchants, offering more than 27 lakh products on its network.
ICICI Direct's research report on Infosys Infosys Ltd (Infy) is one of the leading IT players catering to BFSI, retail, communication, manufacturing & hi tech verticals. The company generates >62% of revenues from digital technologies  Dividend payout (>80%), margins (>20%) and RoCE (>31%) key positives: : Infosys reported weak revenue numbers in Q4FY23. Revenue declined 3.2% QoQ and grew 8.8% YoY in CC terms  EBIT margins declined 50 bps QoQ to 21%  Signed 17 large deals with TCV of US$2.1 bn, down 36.4% QoQ. Outlook We maintain BUY rating on the stock. We value Infosys at Rs 1,600 i.e., 22x P/E on FY25E EPS. For all recommendations report, click here Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts/broking houses/rating agencies on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Infosys - 17 -04 - 2023 - icici

USER CONSENT

We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy.

*I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age.

*I agree to the processing of my personal information for personalized recommendations, personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites.

I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS. (Optional).

Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue.

I Accept
Despite a marginal fall in temperature across Odisha, the mercury level on Sunday remained at or above 40 degrees Celsius in at least 20 places in the state, according to a meteorological department bulletin. The industrial town of Jharsuguda was the hottest place in the state with the mercury level touching 43 degrees C while three places - Boudh, Sambalpur and Talcher- recorded temperatures above 42 degrees C. Similarly, six places recorded temperatures at or above 41 degrees C. These places are Angul (41.1), Sundergarh (41.5), Bolangir (41.2), Titlagah and Malkangiri (41.5 each) and Rourkela (41). The maximum temperature recorded in Bhubaneswar was 40 degrees C. The IMD issued a yellow warning and stated that thunderstorms with lightening are very likely to occur at one or two places in Koraput, Malkangiri, Rayagada, Kandhamal, Ganjam, Gajapati, Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Keonjhar and Bhadrak districts. It also forecast light-to-moderate rain or thunderstorms at one or two places over the districts of Kendrapara, Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Angul, Dhenkanal, Kalahandi, Nabarangpur and Nuapada by 8.30 am on Monday. Meanwhile, the state government announced that all Anganwadi centres will have classes from 7 am to 11 am from Monday due to heatwave conditions. The Women and Child Development Department, in a notification, said that all Anganwadi centres have also been directed to make arrangements for an adequate supply of drinking water for the children and their staff during working hours. However, the district collectors have been empowered to make changes in the timing of the centres, according to the heatwave conditions in their areas. Government and private schools will also hold morning classes from Monday for the heatwave in the state.
In a normal year, the procurement of wheat reaches its peak around Baisakhi. In the current rabi marketing season (RMS) 2023-24, the market arrivals and procurement in Punjab and Haryana are very low. As on April 13, Punjab has procured just 3.52 lakh tonnes while Haryana has procured 4.34 lakh tonnes. Krishi Bhawan would be hoping that the arrivals will pick up now that the weather has become quite hot, and farmers will already be harvesting their crop. It would be an achievement if the estimate of procuring 341.5 lakh tonnes is met. Madhya Pradesh (MP) has procured 23.27 lakh tonnes (as on April 14) and it is the only state where the wheat procurement is satisfactory. Procurement starts around March 15 in the state and the Union government (Department of Food and Public Distribution) relaxed the specifications of wheat on March 31, 2023. Procuring Weather-damaged Grain Procuring agencies of MP were allowed to procure lustre loss wheat up to 10 percent, without any value cut. It means that farmers who bring wheat up to 10 percent lustre loss got the full minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 2,125 per quintal. Lustre loss in wheat refers to loss of shine caused by unseasonal changes in weather conditions during the grain ripening stage. Such grain cannot be stored for long as they are prone to pest attack. For wheat having lustre loss of 10-80 percent, farmers are to face a value cut of Rs 5.31 per quintal and they will be paid Rs 2,119.69 per quintal. In the case of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, the Union government issued orders of relaxation in wheat specifications on April 10, 2023. Here also, the decision is that value cut will be imposed on farmers for shrivelled and broken grain if they are more than 6 percent. Various slabs of value cut have been prescribed depending on the percentage of shrivelled and broken grains. If a farmer brings wheat which has shrivelled and broken grains above 16 percent (and up to 18 percent), he will face a value cut of Rs 31.87 per quintal. As a result, he will be paid Rs 2,093.13 per quintal, instead of the full MSP of Rs 2,125 per quintal. In Punjab and Haryana, relaxation has been given for lustre loss wheat also. For wheat with up to 10 percent lustre loss, there is no value cut. For grains with lustre loss of 10-80 percent, a farmer will face a value cut of Rs 5.31 per quintal and he will be paid Rs 2,119.69 per quintal instead of the full MSP of Rs 2,125 per quintal. The damage to the standing crop of wheat in MP, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan was due to relatively high temperatures in February and untimely rains in March 2023. It was surely not the fault of the farmer. So, the governments of MP and Punjab have already announced that even if a farmers wheat was procured under URS, he will get full MSP and no value cut will be imposed on him. The burden of value cut will be borne by the state government out of its own budget. In the instance of MP, if the procurement of lustre loss wheat under relaxed specifications (URS) is half of the total procurement (40 lakh tonnes out of the total procurement of 80 lakh tonnes), the burden on the state will be Rs 21.24 crore. It is difficult to assess the quantity of wheat which will be procured by MP, Punjab and Haryana under relaxed specifications. One hopes that at the end of the rabi marketing season, the figures of wheat procured under different categories of URS will be released by the Union government for each state. Segregated Stacking The Union government has also directed that wheat procured under URS should be stored in separate stacks. Since there are many slabs of value cut imposed by the Centre, the procuring agency of the state is expected to store them in different stacks. This condition is very difficult to satisfy due to operational difficulties at the level of the warehouse. The Centre has further directed these states to issue the wheat procured under relaxed specifications on an overriding priority. It means that wheat procured under URS this year will be handed over to FCI before the wheat procured in previous years under fair average quality specifications (FAQ). All the orders of relaxations mention that any financial implication due to this relaxation will be the responsibility of state governments. As a result, state governments will not be reimbursed crores of rupees when they hand over URS wheat to FCI for movement to other states. In RMS 2011-12 also, relaxation in wheat specifications for lustre loss in nine districts of Punjab was given by the Union government but such a condition was not imposed. The estimate of wheat procurement in Punjab and Haryana in the current RMS is 132 lakh tonnes and 75 lakh tonnes, respectively. If the ratio of wheat and rice under the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) remains the same as in February 2023, the allocation of wheat under the NFSA in 2023-24 in Punjab may be just about 8.70 lakh tonnes. For Haryana, the allocation may be only 7.95 lakh tonnes. The estimate of procurement in MP is 80 lakh tonnes but the allocation of wheat under the NFSA may be only about 13.35 lakh tonnes. It means that these states will hand over large quantities of wheat to FCI for movement to other states and FCI will pay them after the deduction of value cuts. These wheat surplus states, procuring wheat for the food security of India are going to bear the financial burden on account of procurement of wheat under relaxed specifications. It would have been better if the Union government also bore half the expenditure on value cut, rather than asking farmers to bear it. Siraj Hussain is a former Agriculture Secretary to the Government of India. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication.
The Kerala Lokayukta case pertaining to the misuse of the Chief Ministers Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF), with Pinarayi Vijayan in the dock, is like a Damocles sword hanging over the chief ministers neck. For, Vijayans indictment in the case, where misappropriation could be made out prima facie, would also mean immediate disqualification for the chief minister under section 14 of the Lokayukta Act. And with the CPM in Kerala not having identified a successor to Vijayan as yet, it puts the party in a tight spot. Though the case was referred to a larger bench on March 31, it did bring to focus the perils of the CPM not having identified a successor two years into Vijayans second term. For the longest time, the Late Kodiyeri Balakrishnan was assumed to be the successor to Pinarayi Vijayan. Ever since Balakrishnans untimely demise, however, there is a churning within the party, oblivious to the public, on the issue of Vijayans successor. Close, Yet Far When MV Govindan succeeded Balakrishnan as the state secretary, it was out of turn, and hence he is not seen as the natural successor to Vijayan. The ill-timed Janakeeya Prathirodha Yatra (Peoples Resistance March) undertaken by Govindan was an attempt to position himself as Vijayans successor but the Yatra itself turned out to be a disaster, and his limitations were exposed in the process. Earlier it was KK Shailaja, the former health minister, who was touted to be the successor to Vijayan, albeit in the media discourse. A wary Vijayan did not accommodate Shailaja in his Cabinet in the second term despite the partys keenness to give her an exemption. Shailaja is now on the partys shortlist for the Kannur Lok Sabha seat in 2024, which could banish her from the scene for leadership stakes. Vijayan Again? Despite the Lokayukta case and the SNC Lavalin case dogging him, Vijayan himself is not averse to bidding for a third term in 2026  health willing. The Kerala CPM owes much of its organisational muscle and financial robustness to Vijayans foresight, and hence it is natural that he would have a decisive say in identifying his successor  even if his bid gets thwarted. Rumours persist that Vijayan is keen on installing his son-in-law PA Mohammed Riyas as the next chief minister. If it comes to that, in all likelihood, Vijayans detractors and the more deserving candidates could gang up against it. For the time being, Riyas has undoubtedly emerged as a virtual power centre in the party. The Son-In-Law As of today Riyas wields considerable influence within the party and the government. This is apparent whenever he is in the company of senior ministers such as V Sivankutty, and the way he is accorded deferential treatment. Riyas also holds the twin portfolios of Public Works Department (PWD) and Tourism in the cabinet, which casts him under regular media spotlight. However, for all the clout he wields as the son-in-law today, it will not be easy for him to emerge as a straightforward choice to succeed Vijayan. For now, Riyas best chance lies in his candidature being used as a bargaining chip with the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) to join the Left Front ranks before 2026, in what would be the easiest route for the Left to retain power in Kerala. Fading Veterans When the CPM apparatchiks went into a huddle at the AKG Centre on March 31, the day of the Lokayukta ruling, senior minister and CPMs Dalit face K Radhakrishnans name was reportedly proposed as a stopgap. For all his seniority, the harmless Radhakrishnan is hemmed in by the party through the appointment of the high-profile A Sampath as his secretary and, his chief ministership would have only been a symbolic exercise for the CPM. The CPM was fairly confident about the verdict, despite its calculations going awry in the case of former minister KT Jaleel in 2021. Veterans EP Jayarajan, AK Balan and TM Thomas Isaac were all ruled out, and Politburo member MA Baby is seen to be angling for the general secretarys chair to succeed Sitaram Yechury. The Dark Horse If Vijayan moots a generational overhaul to identify his successor, with the primary aim to push Riyas into leadership, one leader who could emerge as the dark horse is P Rajeeve. Rajeeve is in the Vijayan mould when it comes to raising funds and building bridges with influencers, perhaps more sophisticated and devoid of the Kannur trappings. Rajeeves lack of mass base may be a disadvantage but he could compensate for that with his intellectual pretensions. For now, Vijayan wouldnt be keen to have a designated No:2 in the party despite facing some anxious moments last week. That would be his best bet to make a bid for the third term, failing which he can always push Riyas as the youthful minority face who could also be acceptable to prospective allies. Anand Kochukudy is a Kerala-based journalist and columnist. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.
Dorothy Collins and Marilyn Albright were honored for their years of service in the nursing profession by the Nebraska Nurse Honor Guard on Sunday afternoon at Good Samaritan Nursing Home.

Founder of the non-profit organization Deb Zobel said their purpose is to recognize and honor every day heroes who have dedicated their lives to the nursing profession.

Nursing is a calling and a lifestyle, she said. We are here to honor Dorothy and Marilyn and their lives as a nurse. We remember you for the difference you made as a nurse.

Both women were presented with a bouquet of flowers with a white rose in the middle.

The white rose signifies all that nursing stands for including comfort, kindness, gentleness, courage and unwavering commitment to the profession, she said.

The nursing lamp was lit.

Dorothy graduated from Nebraska Southern Community College in Fairbury in 1974 as a LPN. She started her nursing career when she was 45 years of age.

I had always wanted to be a nurse, she said. I loved the whole thing and working with people, but especially in the nursery.

Grandson Jeff Collins said he wasnt sure how many years she had worked as a nurse, but thought it was 20-25 years at the Lutheran Hospital and Parkview Center.

Jeff said that two months after she started working as a nurse, she was on duty in the nursery when her grandson (his brother) was born.

He also told a story of a time that his grandpa had driven her to work on a snow mobile during a snow storm.

The roads were bad and she was very dedicated to nursing, he said.

Dorothy, 93, continues to live at home in Beatrice with family caregivers living with her.

Marilyn Albright graduated in March 1985 from Southeast Community College as an LPN. She moved to Wisconsin and worked at Bethesda. She also worked at the Beatrice Manor when she returned to Beatrice.

Daughter Terri Brethouwer said her mom was a senior in college when she was a senior in high school.

Marilyn said as a nurse she always did her best.

I just tried to do the best I could, she said.

Marilyn, 92, recently moved to the Good Samaritan Nursing Home.

Cottonwood Hospice Social Worker Lori Policky arranged for the ceremony.

I had just heard of the Nebraska Nurses Honor Guard at a conference, she said. The honorees need to be over 90 years of age or on hospice. This is the first service in Beatrice.

Policky said it was important to be able to recognize Dorothy and Marilyn for their combine 44 years of service in nursing.

Nebraska Nurse Honor Guard has recognized 350 nurses throughout the state.
Italys right-wing government provoked immediate controversy when it proposed banning the production of lab-grown meats to safeguard our nations heritage. The farm lobby cheered, scientists protested, and the conflict began to sound eerily akin to Europes protracted battle over genetically modified crops. I could only think: Heres another hugely promising technological frontier stymied by false claims and misguided public skepticism. The Italian Parliament should proceed cautiously as it deliberates over whether to approve the ban. Members should heed the objections of European scientists who warn against inhibiting crucial research and development at a time when cellular agriculture is finally poised to hit the global mainstream. Recent breakthroughs are moving cultured meat products closer to commercialisation in the US, Europe, and Asia, and making it possible for this technology to protect  rather than harm  food heritage and human health. Before Italy pillories this new frontier, lets set the record straight: Cultivated meats have enormous potential to become the foundation of a humane, healthy, climate-smart future protein supply. Neither Europe nor the global business of food can afford to cast them aside. Especially considering the enormous cost of the conventional meat industry: Livestock now accounts for nearly 15 percent of all global greenhouse gasses, and more than a third of the earths land is used to raise and feed the tens of billions of animals consumed globally every year. I understand full well that its hard to get anyone excited about meat produced in a lab. I was a skeptic, too, before I did my research and eventually ate the stuff myself (a juicy, delicious, 2-ounce duck breast harvested fresh from a bioreactor). It doesnt help that kitschy new products are emerging such as the Woolly Mammoth meatball recently produced from ancient DNA by an Australian startup  a cool idea in theory, but ill-timed at a moment when cultivated meats are misperceived by many as Frankenfoods. Cultured proteins are in fact a serious solution, not a silly experiment. Ive argued before that cellular agriculture can help stabilise the climate, transform land use, improve human health and protect food security. The data underscore this potential. One European study found that cultivated meat production requires about 40 percent of the energy use of conventionally farmed meat, produces about 85 percent lower greenhouse gas emissions and consumes 90 percent less water than conventionally farmed meat. Scientists can now grow every kind of popular protein  be it heritage chicken or Kobe beef  starting with a small sample of muscle and fat cells removed in a biopsy-like procedure from a live animal. These products are not only radically less wasteful and more humane, theyre identical at a cellular level to meats harvested from animals and have notable human health advantages: They can reduce the risk of heart disease with healthy fats, and completely circumvent the threat of bacterial contamination (such as E. coli) in slaughterhouses, along with the risk of zoonotic diseases. The cultivated meat industry is growing fast: According to a recent report from the Good Food Institute, 156 companies now produce cultivated meat and seafood worldwide, up from a few dozen in 2020. Nearly $3 billion has been invested in these startups, with about a third of that sum committed in 2022. And heres how cultured proteins can in fact protect food heritage: They require about 99 percent less land to produce and, at scale, can free up valuable terrain for the production of craft meats and regenerative farming  traditional methods of livestock production that are climate-smart but also land-intensive. The long-term vision is not that cultivated meats will entirely replace animal-based meats, but liberate more land for livestock and poultry production to be done right. The success of this emerging industry is by no means guaranteed  many hurdles remain. The production process needs to be significantly scaled and costs must be sharply reduced. The ingredients also need to be fine-tuned: Currently, cells are brewed in an expensive nutrient broth that enables them to grow, but which requires animal inputs. An affordable, vegan version of this broth must be developed. Production methods also needs improvement: Muscle and fat are still grown separately and combined at the end to form the final product, processes that could be integrated to improve texture. This is precisely why more research and development are necessary, and why Italy should do its part to support, not stigmatise, this industry. When the EU forbade GMO agriculture decades ago  with restrictions that remain in place today  it deterred crucial research. And look where this ban has gotten the EU today: Even Italy now imports vast amounts of GMO soy annually. What Italys government seems to be missing is that its climate change, more than any other factor, thats threatening Italy's food heritage, shifting whats possible to grow where: which wine grape can be produced in Tuscany for a good Chianti; which heritage-breed pigs can be raised in what regions for Prosciutto di Parma. We have entered an era of disruption and adaptation that is understandably painful for the food-nostalgic, but unavoidably necessary. In the long term, lab meats will prevail one way or another. Near term, the Italian Parliament should encourage European scientists to improve, not complicate, the global effort to scale this food frontier swiftly and responsibly. Amanda Little is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering agriculture and climate. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication. Credit: Bloomberg
Jetting off to the Mediterranean this summer? I hope you got a good deal, because cheap flights are becoming increasingly hard to find. You probably had an inkling that the era of absurdly cheap short-haul flights in Europe was coming to an end. After all, according to travel search engine Kayak, summer flights between the UK and the continent are currently one-third more expensive than last year. But two new reports make it clear that this isnt just temporary turbulence. Its the new reality for flying as airlines face a huge decarbonisation challenge and tightening climate-compliance laws. The first headwind stems from two big changes in the European Unions Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). Airlines must have enough emissions allowances to cover every metric ton of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere on flights starting and ending in the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland. Right now, they get about half of those allowances for free. But that deal comes to an end in 2026, as the share of allowances they have to pay for starts to rise from 2024. That is effectively going to double their carbon costs over just three years. The unit price of carbon emissions has also soared recently, topping 100 ($111) for the first time in late February, and it doesnt seem to be on its way back down. A report by Alex Irving, European transport analyst at Bernstein, puts the resulting cost from these changes for European airlines at about 5 billion in 2027. Thats just the thin end of the wedge. Over the next three decades, aviation has to transform itself from a polluting industry  planes are responsible for 2.5 percent of global CO2 emissions  to a net-zero one. Under Destination 2050, the European sectors plan to reduce emissions, itll do that by investing in future aircraft and infrastructure, making operations more efficient, and using alternative fuels and carbon-removal technologies. A report by research groups SEO Amsterdam Economics and the Royal Netherlands Aerospace Centre, commissioned by airline industry bodies, has put the cost of reaching net zero by 2050 at a whopping 820 billion. Both reports conclude the sector wont be able to absorb these costs itself. The changes to the EU ETS alone will slash the operating profit of the continents six largest point-to-point airlines (Ryanair Holdings Plc, EasyJet Plc, Wizz Air Holdings Plc, Vueling, Eurowings and Transavia) by an estimated 77 percent. That means ticket prices will have to be higher, which in turn means that demand destruction is inevitable. As Irving writes: If it were possible to charge more without spoiling demand, airlines would have already been doing so. Demand growth is a touchy subject for airlines, as a recent battle over proposed flight caps between the Dutch government and Amsterdams Schiphol airport illustrates. The forecasts are strong: The International Air Transport Association suggested that passenger numbers would nearly double to just under 8 billion by 2040 from 2017 levels. Time will tell if rising ticket prices dampen that, but the question remains whether growth is even compatible with ambitions for carbon-neutrality. The answer might be hard to swallow. Decarbonising flying is hard enough without the extra passengers. A briefing from the Royal Society, for example, outlined that even meeting existing UK aviation demand with biofuels would require about half of the countrys agricultural land. Fewer flights is, naturally, the easiest way to slice carbon emissions, and so a demand drop would come with its own climate benefits. The aviation industrys report calculates that, in 2050, the drop in demand from raising prices to pay for sustainable airplane fuel would reduce emissions by 12 percent, and economic measures  such as emissions-trading obligations and CO2 removal investments  would lead to a further 2 percent reduction, compared with a business-as-usual scenario. Still, theres something sad about waving goodbye to the low prices that made globetrotting accessible to millions of people. Especially as those who take the most flights are also most able to swallow the extra costs. In the UK, those in the top 10 percent of earners use far more energy flying than the poorest 20 percent use overall. The introduction of a frequent flyer levy, as has been suggested by climate campaign groups, might help address that inequality and create a new funding stream for decarbonising the sector  though itd be extremely difficult to implement. Perhaps its worth remembering that there are other ways to get around Europe. On Thursday, Eurostar celebrated the five-year anniversary of its London-Amsterdam route with a claim that it has saved more than 83,000 tons of CO2 being released into the atmosphere in that time. Perhaps as short-haul flights get more expensive, traveling internationally by rail will become more enticing  and accessible. There are lots of unknowns when it comes to decarbonising aviation. Much of the technology the sector is expecting to use, such as electric or hydrogen-fueled aircraft, isnt ready for takeoff yet. But one thing is for certain: Its going to be a very expensive, challenging few decades. Lara Williams is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering climate change. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication. Credit: Bloomberg
An explosion of interest in artificial intelligence is irking a lot of people concerned about the encroachment by computers into human domains such as visual arts, music, and literature. More recently, even the terms we use to describe these systems dont sit well with some who take issue with digging up old words for new uses or anthropomorphising machines. Both phenomena were already common well before electric circuits started writing poems, so much of the recent drama is based on fear rather than logic. Which is suitable: Machines dont feel fear, and human logic often fails. Even the term artificial intelligence is taken as an affront by sentient beings when its ascribed to non-living objects. Its a valid point, one thats been argued for centuries even as philosophers struggle to define intelligence. To that end, computer scientists such as Alan Turing, famed for helping crack German cryptography during World War II, have speculated how we might test whether a machine could mimic humans well enough to fool us, and devised The Imitation Game for that purpose. The original question, Can machines think! I believe to be too meaningless to deserve discussion, Turing wrote in 1950. Nevertheless I believe that at the end of the century the use of words and general educated opinion will have altered so much that one will be able to speak of machines thinking without expecting to be contradicted. He was, unfortunately, wrong. The debate is far from settled, and humans constantly contradict each other  to many, the words machine and thinking are oxymoronic. As for the use of words being altered to match our progress on the topic, well, thats where humans seem to struggle. After intelligence and thinking, the expression hallucination is next in the firing line. When an AI tool, such as ChatGPT, confidently makes a statement that isnt true, it is said to be hallucinating. But critics are quick to say that the machine isnt doing this at all; its simply making things up. Theyre right. But there are a few problems with this rush to judgment. First of all, as as executives at Alphabet Inc and Microsoft Corp have been at pains to point out, chatbots are not search engines, theyre merely trained to mimic human prose, not serve up correct information. Getting a fact wrong is neither success or failure. The other issue is that a hallucination is, by definition, an unfounded or mistaken impression or notion. More broadly, though, the outrage over assigning old words to new use cases is unwarranted. Human language is living and constantly evolving. For centuries, we have engaged in anthropomorphism  attributing human characteristics to non-human beings. We name our pets, even when its the only animal in the house and cant speak. We assume dolphins are happy because their long mouths look like a smile. And we impose human-like judgments such as cunning (cats), loyalty (dogs), and bravery (lions). Non-living beings get the same treatment. Computer software is said to have bugs  a term that arose when American computer scientist Grace Hopper found a moth trapped in a piece of equipment  and engine power is still measured in horses. Theres no rodent on your desk, even though you rest your hands on it daily, and you may be caught red-handed without having butchered a poached animal. This is what happens when a computer is asked to write its own dictionary: And we still do this today, with some AI systems described as being built with neural networks. They do not, of course, have neurons or neural pathways. In their physical form, AI neural networks are structures that define the relationship between data  in binary form  held by the transistors within a chip. We accept the term iPhone keyboard although no such thing exists, as Steve Jobs proudly announced. If people are to fend off the rise of the machines, theyll need to do what they do best: evolve. That means accepting that even our language shifts over time according to new circumstances. In fact, this linguistic adaptability could be precisely what makes humans more resilient. Computers are said to be like mischievous genies: Theyll do just what you ask for, even if thats not what you meant. Ask even the smartest chatbot like OpenAIs ChatGPT to explain a word, and itll provide a text-book definition  the one we gave it. And if humans dont like the idea of having terms people use for each other being applied to computers that are starting to mimic us, then theres an alternative: Get the machines to define themselves. I tried this with ChatGPT and the humanity-purists may be disappointed the results were rather anthropomorphic. Among the eight examples it offered was mindset drift, as we defined above: The gradual change in the way an AI model perceives and interacts with the world over time, often due to exposure to new data or changing conditions. Its not surprising that many terms are derivative of what we invented ourselves. Humans have thousands of years of life and evolution to build upon, machines have only the history we give them, plus the ability to hallucinate. Still, what the bot presented offers a useful middle ground. We can look at each term, such as algorithm fatigue, and have a guess at what it may mean. Yet since it was a computer, not a human, concocting the definition then we have only the bot to blame. And if machines arent sentient, then really, theyre blameless anyway. If humans refuse to adapt their language in a world where computers are more prevalent, then a far worse scenario will emerge  one where machines define things on their own terms. Tim Culpan is a technology columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. Based in Taipei, he writes about Asian and global businesses and trends. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication. Credit: Bloomberg
Its well known that investors have a home bias  they prefer investing in companies in their home country  and US investors are no exception. What is different about US investors is that their stock market is the envy of the world, so their home bias garners a lot of support. Renowned investors like Warren Buffett and the late John Bogle have long urged US investors to keep their money at home. The US is also widely viewed as the worlds safe haven, in part because big US companies are reputed to be the most stable and highest quality. If youre a US investor, as Buffett and Bogle have argued, why go anywhere else? Buffett is no stranger to foreign markets, though, and investors would be wise to take note. US companies reputation for quality is well deserved, and broad market indexes reinforce it. A key attribute of quality is high profitability as measured by accounting measures such as profit margin, return on equity and return on capital. Based on all three measures, the S&P 500 Indexs profitability has been higher than that of the MSCI World ex USA Index and the MSCI Emerging Markets Index  which together cover most of the developed and developing world outside the US  for at least the past two decades. But that doesnt mean the US has a monopoly on highly profitable companies. In fact, I ranked the roughly 10,000 companies in the Bloomberg World Large, Mid & Small Cap Index from high to low based on most recently reported annual profit margin. Yes, the US is the most represented country in the top 100, but it accounts for only 15 percent of that group. I did the same with return on equity and return on capital. The US accounts for 36 of the top 100 based on return on equity and only 14 based on return on capital. And just for fun, I ranked the top 100 again using an equal-weighted blend of all three profitability measures. The US claims 18 of them. Granted, most investors dont have the time or resources to comb through thousands of stocks and pick out the most profitable ones, but they dont have to. There are low-cost index funds that do just that, curating the highest-quality companies based in part or predominantly on profitability. These funds are usually grouped by region, allowing investors to decide how much they want to allocate to the US relative to other developed or emerging markets. The kicker is that, as a group, high-quality stocks outside the US are much cheaper than the S&P 500 by most measures of price relative to fundamentals, including assets, sales, earnings and cash flow, while offering comparable or higher profitability. The S&P 500, for example, trades at 19 times last years earnings, compared with 15 times for the MSCI World ex USA Quality Index and closer to 13 times for the MSCI Emerging Markets Quality Index. Buffett started as a deep value investor but eventually pivoted to quality. Its far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price, Buffett has famously said of his investing evolution. Even so, with the US stock market richly valued for many years, Buffett has struggled to find attractively priced US companies for Berkshire Hathaway Incs $130 billion cash hoard. That may explain another Buffett evolution: hunting for wonderful companies abroad. Buffett was in Japan last week, promoting his investments in five Japanese trading houses and encouraging them to partner with Berkshire in new ventures. This isnt Buffetts first foray overseas. In the last two decades, Buffett has invested in Chinese energy company PetroChina, Korean steelmaker Posco, UK retail giant Tesco, French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis and European insurers Munich Re and Swiss Re. And he may not be done in Japan, telling Nikkei last week that hes thinking about further investment in Japanese companies. Its no wonder. Those five Japanese trading houses Buffett bought averaged a return on equity of 20 percent last year and trade at an average of just 6 times last years earnings. That compares with a return on equity of 19 percent for the S&P 500 at 19 times earnings  more than triple the price. Wonderful companies at a fair price indeed. Perhaps the best argument for global investing is that there are great companies everywhere, and sometimes they can be had more cheaply than the ones at home. Just ask Buffett  or better yet, look at his portfolio. Nir Kaissar is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering markets. He is the founder of Unison Advisors, an asset management firm. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication. Credit: Bloomberg
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and demanded an up-to-date caste census. In his letter, Kharge said in the absence of an updated caste census, a reliable data base so very essential for meaningful social justice and empowerment programmes, particularly for OBCs, is incomplete. "I am writing to you to once again place on record the demand of the Indian National Congress for an up-to-date Caste Census. My colleagues and I have raised this demand earlier in both House of Parliament on a number of occasions as have leaders of many other Opposition parties," the Congress chief said in his letter. "You are aware that for the first time the UPA Government conducted a Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) during 2011-12 covering some 25 crore households. For a number of reasons, however, the caste data could not get published even though Congress and other MPs demanded its release after your government came to power in May 2014," he said. "In the absence of an updated Caste Census, I am afraid a reliable data base so very essential for meaningful social justice and empowerment programmes, particularly for OBCs, is incomplete. This Census is the responsibility of the Union Government," Kharge said. In the letter dated April 16, he also pointed out that the regular decennial census was to be carried out in 2021 but it has not yet been conducted. "We demand that it be done immediately and that a comprehensive Caste Census be made its integral part," Kharge said. Sharing Kharge's letter to the prime minister, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh tweeted "Jitni aabadi, utna haq! Congress President @kharge -ji has written to PM demanding that the decennial Census that should have been conducted in 2021 be done right-away, and a Caste Census be made its integral part. This will put social justice & empowerment on a firmer footing". Addressing a rally in Katnataka's Kolar, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday had also dared Prime Minister Modi to release the 2011 caste-based census data in public domain and also demanded the 50 per cent cap on reservation be removed. "UPA in 2011 did the caste-based census. It has the data of all the castes. Mr Prime Minister, you talk of OBCs. Make that data public. Let the nation know how many OBCs, Dalits and tribals are there in the country," Gandhi had said at the Congress' 'Jai Bharat' election rally in Kolar in the run-up to the May 10 Karnataka polls.
The Congress on Monday attacked the BJP-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra over the loss of lives due to sunstroke at an award function in Navi Mumbai, and demanded that accountability be fixed in what it said was a case of culpable homicide. At least 12 people have died while two others are battling for life after suffering sunstroke at the Maharashtra Bhushan award event on Sunday. The deceased were nine women and three men. Slamming the Maharashtra government at a press conference here, Congress spokesperson Kanhaiya Kumar said, We express condolences to the affected families and demand that the government take responsibility for it and take action in the matter. He said that when a contract of crores of rupees is given to organise an event why was there no arrangement of tent, shade, water and air conditioning for people. The government is only concerned with photo opportunities. Our Congress unit has already stated that this is a matter of culpable homicide, Kumar said. He said the Maharashtra government should not make excuses, should fix accountability, take responsibility and action against those guilty. The government is the main accused in this, he alleged. Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Ajit Pawar has sought an inquiry into how the award event was organised in Navi Mumbai during noon time when the temperature is very high. Union Minister Amit Shah conferred the Maharashtra Bhushan Award on spiritual leader and social reformer Appasaheb Dharmadhikari at the event. Dharmadhikari has a massive following in the state due to his tree plantation drives, blood donation and medical camps as well as de-addiction work in tribal areas. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had termed the deaths very unfortunate and said the kin of the deceased will be given a compensation of Rs 5 lakh. Lakhs of people from various parts of Maharashtra attended the award ceremony and sat under the blazing sun in an open ground.
American spacecraft firm SpaceX has called off the launch of a its towering Starship rocket on April 17 due to a technical glitch. The confirmation from the company came shortly after its chief Elon Musk said the launch attempt would not be possible as a "pressurant valve appears to be frozen". "Learned a lot today, now offloading propellant, retrying in a few days," Musk tweeted, after the first launch attempt was called off. SpaceX had planned to fly the nearly 400-foot Starship rocket from the southern tip of Texas, near the Mexican border. The countdown was halted at the 40-second mark because of a stuck valve in the first-stage booster. Launch controllers couldnt fix the frozen valve in time, and canceled the attempt. The countdown continued, and fueling was completed, as a dress rehearsal. No people or satellites were aboard. There wont be another try until at least April 19, the Associated Press reported. The company plans to use Starship to send people and cargo to the moon and, ultimately, Mars. On the eve of the launch attempt, cars, campers, RVs and even bicycles and horses jammed the only road leading to the launch pad, where the stainless steel rocket towered above the flat scrubland and prairie. Enthusiasts posed in front of the giant letters that spelled out Starbase at the entrance of the SpaceX complex, and in front of the rocket two miles farther down the road, which ended at the gulf. On Monday, spectators were barred from the area, and instead packed a beach about six miles away on South Padre Island. Ernesto and Maria Carreon drove two hours from Mission, Texas, with their two daughters, 5 and 7, to watch. I got sad. They got sad, when the launch attempt was canceled, Maria Carreon said. Michelle Vancampenhout, on vacation from Green Bay, Wisconsin, said she'll be back. Its a once-in-a-lifetime experience to see it, she said. With AP inputs
Ashneer Grover has taken a stand in the controversy surrounding Blinkit after it reduced the fixed payouts per delivery from Rs 25 to Rs 15 prompting delivery workers to go a strike and eventually leading to the company having to shut down some of its stores in Gurugram. According to the entrepreneur and former Shark Tank India judge, the problem Blinkit has been facing isn't really the lowering of delivery charge but that delivering goods in 10 minutes "has no economics". Taking to Twitter, Ashneer Grover wrote, "BlinkIt/Zepto - problem is not Rs 15 for delivery against Rs 50. Problem is 10-minute delivery has no economics -- low ticket size and low margin can never be solved through forced low delivery cost. BlinkIt journey: 90 Min (bull run) > Next day (bear run) > 10 Min (bull run) > ??" BlinkIt / Zepto - problem is not 15 for delivery against 50. Problem is 10Min delivery has no economics - low ticket size and low margin can never be solved through forced low delivery cost. BlinkIt journey : 90 Min (bull run) > Next day (bear run) > 10 Min (bull run) > ??  Ashneer Grover (@Ashneer_Grover) April 16, 2023 Soon, Grover's tweet was flooded with responses from irate customers of Blinkit and other delivery apps, who had to wait for a lot more than 10 minutes to get their order delivered or even registered. "The last time I ordered it took me more than an hour to realise that they are not gonna deliver. I bought the items from a nearby shop. The waiting time on the panel kept showing 6 mins from the time I ordered, till canceling it," commented Sohail Iqbal (@sohail_08). "Both, do not always give a 10-minute delivery. During peak hours it touches 30 minutes. Not sure how it makes sense," replied Niladri Chakravarty (@niladrich). Another Twitter user Jaspreet Singh (@jsprt20) wrote, "Absolutely... No sense, no economics, plus nobody looks at it from a safety point of view which is the biggest loser. Snacks are something one can get an urge and might want to order and get delivered in 20 mins but why veggies, why butter?" Zomato-owned Blinkit recently told delivery workers, who have been on a strike against the lowering of payouts, that some of its Gurugram dark stores are being shut down permanently. Dear Blinkit partner, We thank you for providing your services to customers from your store. You all have not been working at the store for the past 3-4 days, and work has not started despite a lot of talks. Thats why the company is having to shut down this store forever, the message on the partner app said in a mix of Hindi and English. Since this store is being shuttered permanently, we are disabling all of your IDs. For any issue, you can raise a ticket on support." Around 2,500 Blinkit delivery workers have been on strike in Gurugram since last week, after the company reduced the fixed payouts per delivery from Rs 25 to Rs 15. More workers have been joining the strike in Delhi and Noida in protest of this move. Read more: Blinkit strike: BJP leader writes to deputy labour commissioner on pay cut of delivery workers
Medico remedies, a small cap stock which has been trading around the price of Rs. 80 to Rs. 90 gets a Buy rating from Analyst Nikhil Bhatt, who also pointed out a 50% upside in Medico Remedies share in the upcoming months. According to the analysts report the suitable buying range is around the current market price with targets of Rs 108 to Rs. 120 and the stop loss is set around Rs 63. "Medico Remedies Ltd." is a trusted pharmaceutical drug manufacturer, supplier, and exporter founded in 1994. The WHO-GMP- and ISO 9001-2015-certified company serves high-end clientele globally. The pharmaceutical variety is hygienically produced, beautifully packed, and delivered on time. General Formulations and Beta-Lactam Formulations have their own approved manufacturing plants located in Palghar, India. The company has always been profitable since the year 2014 and has shown a very consistent growth in its overall sales. The stock price of medico remedies has shown an outstanding 400% compound annual growth rate with room for further growth after the recent stock split. The company has been able to generate Net Cash i.e Improving Net Cash Flow for last 2 years along with Annual Net Profits improving on the other side. The company has been Effectively using Shareholders funds for its business related activities which states that the Return on equity (ROE) has also been improving since the last 2 years. Analyst Nikhil Bhatt has recommended to buy this stock close to its current market price and hold it for a short term for a target of Rs.120 along with a stop-loss of Rs.63. The recommendation was made since the stock has shown a Positive Breakout near the First Resistance and RSI indicating price strength which is suitable for buying. Although the stock might be a little over valued than its peers, Medicos Annual Net Profit rose 88.7% in the last year to Rs 4.9 Crores. Its sector's average net profit growth for the last fiscal year was -7.9% which clearly justifies its higher valuation. Medico Remedies had held its price even when the whole medical sector was bearish. The company promoters own a huge chunk of 73.34% in the company and they have not pledged any shares for the companys short term borrowing because Interest Coverage Ratio is 11.7, higher than 1.5. This means that it is able to meet its interest payments comfortably with its earnings. Medico Remedies has been supplying its products in more than 35 countries for the past 7 years and it has established a huge recurring customer base in the international markets. With state of the art manufacturing plants and latest R&D facilities the company has been able to churn out a revenue of $17 Million in the trailing twelve months. The analysts report concluded on a note that this share is suitable for a mid to long term investment if one starts accumulating close to the current market price. The targets are expected to be around Rs.120 and the stop-loss is set to be of Rs.63. The report was generated based on the fundamentals as well as the technicals of the company which made the share immune to the bearish market, since the share held its price without plunging like its peers did. Moreover the pharma sector has shown a decent recovery in past 5 trading sessions which will add more momentum to Medico Remedies in the upward direction. Link to the report- https://nikhilbhatt.in/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Medico-Remedies-Ltd.pdf Moneycontrol Journalists were not involved in the creation of the article.
Alphabet Inc. and Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai said in an interview broadcast Sunday that the push to adopt artificial intelligence technology must be well regulated to avoid potential harmful effects. Asked in a 60 Minutes interview about what keeps him up at night with regard to AI, Pichai said the urgency to work and deploy it in a beneficial way, but at the same time it can be very harmful if deployed wrongly. Mountain View, California-based Google has been among the leaders in developing and implementing AI across its services. Software like Google Lens and Google Photos rely on the companys image-recognition systems, while its Google Assistant benefits from natural language processing research that Google has been doing for years. Still, its pace of deploying the technology has been deliberately measured and circumspect, whereas OpenAIs ChatGPT has opened up a race to move forward with AI tools at a much faster clip. We dont have all the answers there yet, and the technology is moving fast, Pichai said. So does that keep me up at night? Absolutely. Google is now playing catch-up in looking to infuse its products with generative AI  software that can create text, images, music or even video based on user prompts. ChatGPT and another OpenAI product, Dall-E, showed the technologys potential, and countless businesses from Silicon Valley to Chinas internet leaders are now getting involved in presenting their own offerings. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt urged global tech companies to come together and develop standards and appropriate guardrails, warning that any slowdown in development would simply benefit China. Despite the sense of urgency in the industry, Pichai cautioned against companies being swept up in the competitive dynamics. And he finds lessons in the experience of OpenAIs more direct approach and debut of ChatGPT. One of the points they have made is, you dont want to put out a tech like this when its very, very powerful because it gives society no time to adapt, Pichai said. I think thats a reasonable perspective. I think there are responsible people there trying to figure out how to approach this technology, and so are we. Among the risks of generative AI that Pichai highlighted are so-called deepfake videos, in which individuals can be portrayed uttering remarks that they did not in fact give. Such pitfalls illustrate the need for regulation, Pichai said. There have to be consequences for creating deepfake videos which cause harm to society, he said. Anybody who has worked with AI for a while, you know, you realize this is something so different and so deep that we would need societal regulations to think about how to adapt.
U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., and State Sen. Kathleen Kauth speak to a voter in west Omaha. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)

OMAHA  U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., with help from House Republican leadership and national GOP donors, set a financial marker this spring to tell potential challengers that the cost of running against the four-term incumbent is going up.

Bacons campaign raised $483,000 in the first quarter of 2023. His federal political committee to elect other conservatives transferred another $140,000 to him, for a total of $623,000. Thats the most money any 2nd District candidate has raised in the first quarter of a non-election year, federal campaign finance records show.

But Democrats say Bacons stepped-up fundraising shows his fear that voters in a purple district who picked Joe Biden as president in 2020 might not be as open to Bacon in 2024, a year when former President Donald Trump could be back on the ballot.

Usually a slow fundraising time

The old record for first-quarter fundraising in a non-election year by any House candidate in the Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District was in 2019, when Bacon raised $370,693 for a run during the last presidential election year. Bacon is the only 2nd District candidate to date to file to run in 2024.

Previous April fundraising numbers posted by 2nd District incumbents of both major parties during non-election years have hovered around $200,000 to $300,000. Former Reps. Brad Ashford, D-Neb., and Lee Terry, R-Neb., raised less than $200,000 in some of those quarters, but races have gotten longer and costlier since then.

A Bacon campaign spokeswoman said his fundraising exceeded expectations.

This shows a swell of support that is growing because people want a representative who is effective at working with others to get things done, while holding true to their values and beliefs, Danielle Jensen said.

Abortion could motivate Dems

Nebraska Democratic Party chair Jane Kleeb said Bacon knows hes going to be in trouble for portraying himself as a moderate. His previous co-sponsorship of a proposed federal abortion ban wont sit well with women upset about new restrictions on abortion rights, she said.

We are going to make the contrast very clear, she said.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has again identified the 2nd District  Nebraskas most competitive House district  race as one the Democrats think they can flip with the right candidate.

Thus far, no major Democratic candidate has announced a bid. A 2022 campaign staffer for State Sen. Tony Vargas of Omaha declined to say whether he is running in 2024, although several Douglas County Democrats told the Examiner he is kicking tires on a second-chance bid.

The National Republican Congressional Committee is expected to help Bacon as well.

Cost of races in Omaha area

In 2022, Bacon raised $3.89 million, according to OpenSecrets.org, which tracks campaign fundraising and spending. Vargas raised $3.4 million that year. Additionally, outside groups backing Bacon spent another $7.4 million, while outside groups backing Vargas spent $3.7 million.

Because Vargas hasnt announced a bid, his federal committee reported no new fundraising in the first quarter. His final report of the 2022 race showed $53,000 in cash on hand. Bacon beat Vargas at the ballot box by about 2 percentage points in a freshly redrawn 2nd District.

Experts who reviewed this quarters numbers said Republicans likely have a long-term advantage from adding Republican-rich Saunders County to the 2nd District and shifting part of Sarpy County to the 1st District, Papillion and La Vista. Sarpy is more purple than Saunders, but it is home turf for Bacon, who lives in Papillion.
Pakistan's Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has said that PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif will return from London as soon as the electoral preparations for the general elections begin. He also made it clear that elections in the politically crucial Punjab province will not be held on May 14 despite the Supreme Court's order and "all-out efforts" of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led by former prime minister Imran Khan. Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who is currently based in London, will return and supervise Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party's electoral campaign, Geo News quoted the senior party leader as saying. An ailing Nawaz has been living in London since November 2019 for medical treatment after the high court allowed him a four-week reprieve. The 73-year-old leader was serving seven-year imprisonment in the Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore in the Al-Azizia corruption case before his departure. The issue of holding provincial elections has taken centre stage in Pakistani politics as Khan has been pushing for snap elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. On April 5, Pakistan's Supreme Court termed as "unconstitutional" Pakistan's election commission's decision to postpone polls in Punjab till October 8 and fixed May 14 as the date for polls in the province. As the date for polls in the country is being considered, Sanaullah asserted on Sunday that elections to the Punjab Assembly would not be held on May 14 despite "all-out efforts" of the opposition PTI, the Geo News reported. Elections across the country would be held at the appointed time this year, he said while talking to the media in Faisalabad on Sunday. Despite the Supreme Court's order to hold elections in Punjab on May 14, as well as pressure from the Imran Khan-led former ruling party, the security czar said elections would be "held together" under the caretaker setup. "Election won't be held on May 14 despite all-out efforts," he said. "If elections are not held in May, then October is not too far away either," the senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader said. The PTI dissolved the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies on January 14 and 18, respectively, in a bid to force the ruling coalition to hold early general elections. Calling former prime minister Khan a "fitna" (chaos), Sanaullah said that he was brought to power through a "conspiracy". "Their (PTI's) policies over four years created a crisis situation for the country." "The PML-N has always taken the country out of the crisis," he added. Sanaullah said Khan used to claim that he would prefer to die by suicide instead of approaching the International Monetary Fund (IMF). "It was (Imran Khan's) government that signed the agreement with the IMF, not us. The difficulties are only due to the previous government's agreement." The incumbent government, led by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), has taken tough measures including increasing taxes and energy prices, and allowing its currency to weaken to restart a USD 6.5 billion IMF loan package. The funds will offer some relief to a nation still reeling from a dollar shortage that has raised the probability of the economy slipping into a recession ahead of elections this year. Pakistan is tackling a major economic crisis as it awaits a much-needed USD 1.1 billion tranche of funding from the Washington-based International Monetary Fund, part of a USD 6.5 billion bailout package the IMF approved in 2019. Load-shedding and terrorism were eradicated during the PML-N tenure, the federal minister said, adding that due to the PTI's "wrong" policies, the country is now facing multiple crises.
Closed-door planning meetings involving White House officials, the Democratic National Committee and outside advisers are intensifying as United States President Joe Biden nears a final decision about how and when to kick off his 2024 campaign. Bidens seemingly off-the-cuff remark at an airport in Ireland on Friday that he would announce his campaign relatively soon was the kind of tantalizingly vague comment that could be  and was  read by his aides and others as either a reaffirmation that he was in no particular hurry to announce or a sign of gathering momentum. Behind the scenes, advisers and allies are weighing how soon the president should set in motion a reelection operation  an announcement that will surprise no one but will signal the start of a challenging new phase of his presidency. Before Bidens remarks Friday, conflicting signals abounded about the imminence of an announcement. Preparations have accelerated, according to people involved in and briefed on the planning sessions, even as those involved discuss the pros and cons of delaying a formal announcement into early summer, seeing little advantage in interrupting Republican infighting. At the same time, there has been increasing discussion among the broader Biden team about the notion of a low-key video announcement April 25, the fourth anniversary of his entrance to the 2020 race  the kind of symmetry that Biden is said to appreciate. What is clear is that any external pressure that Biden and his team once felt to formally enter the 2024 race has mostly evaporated. No serious primary challenge to the president has emerged, and potential opponents have rallied behind him. The leading Republican candidate, former President Donald Trump, faces felony charges related to a hush-money payment to a porn star. And Republicans are generally more focused on thrashing one another and dragging the party to the right than on attacking Biden, who is content to draw a sharp contrast to the GOP chaos from the Oval Office. There is no immediate urgency, said Kate Bedingfield, who recently departed the White House as communications director. The president has the luxury of being able to decide when he wants to announce. The waiting game began last year, with the suggestion that Biden would enter the race after the winter holidays. Then came hints that a campaign would begin after the State of the Union address and the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February. Then the likely timing was April, to take advantage of the beginning of a fundraising quarter. (Andrew Bates, a White House spokesperson, said, There has never been a time frame for any announcement.) Inside the West Wing, Biden has kept most direct discussions about 2024 limited to a pin-size inner circle, where two senior aides, Anita Dunn and Jennifer OMalley Dillon, are taking the lead. He has yet to designate a campaign chief, and only last week Democrats announced that Chicago would host the partys 2024 convention. At 80, Biden is already the oldest president in American history, and he is likely to face questions about his plans no matter how many times he teases his reelection intentions without formalizing them. Im planning on running, Al, he told Al Roker of NBC News at the White House Easter Egg Roll last week. But were not prepared to announce it yet. Bidens timeline is well behind where President Barack Obamas was at this point in 2011. Obama released a video that year in the first week of April announcing his bid, but top aides including David Axelrod and Jim Messina had begun forming the campaign months earlier. And Obama had chosen Charlotte, North Carolina, to host the convention in early February 2011. A top Democratic donor allied with Biden was quietly asked early this year to begin planning for a New York fundraising trip in late April or early May to coincide with a potential kickoff to a 2024 reelection campaign. Then the donor received new guidance recently that such an event was on hold  and no new timeline was provided. The longer he waits, the less scrutiny he is under, said Chuck Rocha, a Democratic strategist. You have to measure that against creating momentum in these states that will matter. Youve got to build infrastructure. Money is at the center of the timing conversation. Delaying will postpone building a war chest for the general election. Those preparing to raise money for the campaign express few doubts that the partys big donors will pony up to back Biden, and some officials fear an earlier entry might prove to be a wheel-spinning exercise, demanding that the aging president traverse the grueling fundraising circuit sooner than necessary. And given that a majority of Democrats consistently say in polls that they prefer someone other than Biden as the nominee, a reliable infusion of grassroots dollars is not guaranteed  at least until voters see the stakes of the election. Biden struggled to raise money online in 2019, breaking records only once he emerged as the nominee. Bidens advisers argue that he and the Democrats bucked political history  and similar low ratings  to outperform in the 2022 midterm elections, in part by relentlessly painting Republicans as extremists. That is the basic blueprint for 2024. The Biden campaign-in-waiting is expected to be built around one of the presidents favorite political sayings: Dont compare me to the Almighty. Compare me to the alternative. If Obama had soaring oratory and Trump had concertlike rallies, Bidens advisers feel his strength is his governing ability and projection of competence. Spending time on the campaign trail, with its unscripted moments, introduces the risk of age-related mishaps. Bidens slipping on stairs while boarding Air Force One or falling off a bicycle were minor episodes during his first two years in office that nonetheless circulated heavily in the conservative news media. A similar incident during the heat of a presidential campaign could be far more significant. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., who is close with Biden, downplayed the timing of his 2024 entry. The American people are going to judge him on the job that hes done for four years as president, she said, not on the one day that he announces. (Author: Shane Goldmacher and Reid J. Epstein)/(c.2021 The New York Times Company)
Russias invasion of Ukraine, the costliest conflict in Europe since World War II, has propelled NATO into a full-throttled effort to make itself again into the capable, war-fighting alliance it had been during the Cold War. The shift is transformative for an alliance characterized for decades by hibernation and self-doubt. After the recent embrace of long-neutral Finland by the alliance, it also amounts to another significant unintended consequence for Russias president, Vladimir Putin, of his war. NATO is rapidly moving from what the military calls deterrence by retaliation to deterrence by denial. In the past, the theory was that if the Russians invaded, member states would try to hold on until allied forces, mainly American and based at home, could come to their aid and retaliate against the Russians to try to push them back. But after the Russian atrocities in areas it occupied in Ukraine, from Bucha and Irpin to Mariupol and Kherson, frontier states such as Poland and the Baltic countries no longer want to risk any period of Russian occupation. They note that in the first days of the Ukrainian invasion, Russian troops took land larger than some Baltic nations. To prevent that, to deter by denial, means a revolution in practical terms: more troops based permanently along the Russian border, more integration of U.S. and allied war plans, more military spending and more detailed requirements for allies to have specific kinds of forces and equipment to fight, if necessary, in pre-assigned places. Putin has long complained about NATO encirclement and encroachment. But his invasion of Ukraine provoked the alliance to shed remaining inhibitions about increased numbers of Western troops all along NATOs border with Russia. The intention is to make NATOs forces not only more robust and more capable but also more visible to Russia, a key element of deterrence. NATO has deployed a battalion of multinational troops to eight countries along the eastern border with Russia. It is detailing how to enlarge those forces to brigade strength in those front-line states to enhance deterrence and be able to push back invading forces from the start. It is also tasking thousands more forces, in case of war, to move quickly in support, with newly detailed plans for mobility and logistics and stiffer requirements for readiness. NATO is an organization that took a holiday from history, said Ivo H. Daalder, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO. Putin, he said, reminded us that we have to think about defense and think about it collectively. The alliance will put more troops under the direct control of NATOs top military officer, the supreme allied commander for Europe, Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli, who also commands U.S. forces in Europe. Under a new rubric of deter and defend, Cavoli is for the first time since the Cold War integrating U.S. and allied war-fighting plans, a senior NATO official said, speaking anonymously because of the topics sensitivity. Americans are back at the heart of Europes defense, he said, deciding with NATO precisely how America will defend Europe. For first time since the Cold War, the official said, East European countries will know exactly what NATO intends to do to defend them  what each country should be able to do for itself and how other countries will be tasked to help. And Western countries in the alliance will know where their forces need to go, with what and how to get there. NATO is also aligning its longer-term demands from allies with its current operational needs. If in the past NATO countries might be asked to send some lightly armed expeditionary forces with helicopters to Afghanistan, for instance, now they will be tasked to defend particular parts of NATO territory itself. For Britain, just one example, that will mean that it must provide more heavy armor to defend NATOs eastern flank, even if the British government would prefer to continue to field a lighter, more expeditionary army, requiring less money, fewer people and less expensive heavy equipment. The planning in NATO is already intrusive but will become more demanding and specific. Countries answer questionnaires about their capacities and equipment; NATO planners tell them whats missing or could be cut or thinned. In one case, said Robert G. Bell, defense adviser to the U.S. mission at NATO until 2017, Denmark was told to stop wasting money building submarines. Canada was told it must provide air-refueling planes. Countries can push back  for years some nations with frigates refused to put air-defense missiles on them for fear of seeming escalatory  but they must defend their plans before all NATO members. If the other allies all agree that a countrys plan is inadequate, they can vote to force adaptation in what is known as consensus minus one. Such a demand is rare, but happened with Canada, Bell said. Now the demands will be tougher and more rigorous to bring the alliance back to a war-fighting capacity in Europe and make deterrence credible  to ensure that NATO can fight a high-intensity war against a rival, Russia, from the first day of conflict. The change at NATO began slowly in 2014 after Russia annexed Crimea, igniting insurrection in the eastern Donbas. At their summit that year in Wales, NATO allies agreed on a goal for military spending of 2% of gross domestic product by 2024. At the moment, only eight of 31 countries, including new member Finland, met that goal, but military spending has increased significantly, up $350 billion since 2014. At the next NATO summit, in July, a new spending plan will be agreed upon, with 2% of GDP regarded as a minimum. Given Russias difficulties in Ukraine, if major countries spend between 2.5% and 3% of GDP on the military over the next decade, that should be sufficient, the senior NATO official said. After 2014, NATO also agreed to put four small battalion-sized forces in the Baltic states and Poland. The idea was to engage invaders and hope to get reinforcements in place a week or two after an invasion. After Russias invasion last year, NATO added four more forward-based battalions, to make eight such forces along NATOs eastern edge, now including Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria. But the total troop number for all eight battle groups is only 10,232, NATO says. NATO is planning how to scale up to brigade-sized forces, meaning putting about 4,000 to 5,000 troops in each country to make NATOs enhanced deterrence a more robust tripwire, Bell said. (Author: Steven Erlanger)/(c.2021 The New York Times Company)
Rainbow and brown trout populations on the Bighorn River below Yellowtail Dam are growing and healthy.

Thats good news for anglers and outfitters who saw populations on the stream drop after three years of high flows, from 2017 to 2019. High springtime flows are especially hard on rainbow trout, which are spring spawners.

Shannon Blackburn, Region 5 fisheries manager for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks, provided an update on the fishery during a Montana/Wyoming Bureau of Reclamation meeting on Thursday. Other presentations included runoff forecasts, reservoir levels and a report on the fisheries in Bighorn Reservoir and the upper Bighorn River in Wyoming.

Trout

According to a graph Blackburn showed, total trout numbers in the Bighorn River below Yellowtail Dam climbed steadily after 2019 to a peak of around 2,500 trout per mile in 2021 before dipping slightly last year. The 30-year average for the stream, from 1992 to 2022, is about 2,200 fish per mile.

2019 was pretty much the bottom of our population estimates, and that can be related to those sustained, high-flushing flows that happened for three years in a row, Blackburn said.

Brown trout numbers mirrored total trout populations, bottoming out at 449 per mile in 2019, while rainbows dropped from 2019 to 2020 before climbing back the last two years. In 2022 the rainbow numbers were estimated at 1,463 per mile compared to 1,185 brown trout per mile. So both species have seen considerable gainis.

It is pretty awesome to see the river recover, Blackburn said. These are wild trout so theyre pretty resilient.

The fish are also healthy compared to some years.

When we have a lot of fish in the system, like in 2015, we saw really what we called eel-pike brown trout (because they were long and skinny)  as of last year were seeing some big, healthy fish. So were trying to find that balance between big healthy fish and big populations, she said.

Growth

By sampling 200 brown trout in 2020 by taking scales and otoliths, the fishs ear bone, FWP got an idea of the fishes growth and age.

And what we saw was some pretty incredible growth, Blackburn said. So at age 2 our brown trout had an average mean length of 15.3 inches, which she dubbed pretty incredible rates.

The survey also revealed a handful of older fish that were age 8-plus.

I really wasnt expecting to see older fish. The older fish that survived those floods, they seemed to have a pretty high survival rate.

With a new fisheries biologist dedicated to the Bighorn, Blackburn said FWP will be looking at what the rivers carrying capacity is for trout as well as what environmental factors are driving the population. In addition, a wetted perimeter analysis will examine whether the optimum 2,500 cubic feet per second flows that FWP recommended almost 25 years ago are still applicable.

A roving creel count to interview anglers, which hasnt been done since the early 1990s, could be undertaken next spring. FWP is also planning more habitat improvement projects and opening more side channels with the help of the Bighorn River Alliance conservation group. Side channels are important rearing and spawning habitat for young fish. Some were cut off by debris and gravel during high water years.

Reservoir

The Bighorn Reservoir, which straddles the Montana-Wyoming border, contains two distinct fisheries. On the Wyoming side the lake is more of a warmwater fishery containing yellow perch, shorthead redhorse and native sauger, Blackburn explained, while the end closest to the dam has become a stronghold for smallmouth bass and also contains walleye, rainbow trout and the occasional shovelnose sturgeon.

In 2009, FWP stocked the reservoir with sterile walleye to protect the existing native sauger. Sauger are often mistaken for walleye and will interbreed with the fish. Sauger are a species of special concern in Montana.

Walleye stocking has varied widely, from no fish to more than 200,000 in 2015. When sampling for walleye, biologists are seeing fast growth until about age 6, then the fish disappear.

Its a little difficult to say what the older walleye are doing in Bighorn Reservoir, Blackburn said.

More sampling will be done this year to evaluate the stocking strategy and where the fish should be placed because demand for the species by anglers is really high, she said.

Upper Bighorn

Like the reservoir it empties into, there are 97 miles of the upper Bighorn River that create a warmwater fishery containing species like channel catfish, sauger and shovelnose sturgeon, all native sportfish.

The lake plays an important role in forage fish production for many of the river species that overwinter in the lake before migrating upstream as far as Worland, Wyoming, to spawn in the spring. Wyoming Game and Fish hasnt stocked walleye in the reservoir since 2000.

From 2008 to 2022 its been relatively stable and above objectives, said Joe Skorupski, Cody-based fisheries biologist for Wyoming Game and Fish. Were happy with where the population is. Things are looking pretty good.

Unlike below Yellowtail Dam, a lot of water is good for sauger recruitment, Skorupski said. Unfortunately, the last two years were fairly dry resulting in poorer recruitment which means fish in the system are growing larger. The average size of the sauger is around 18 inches.

Thats pretty remarkable for a sauger fishery, he said. And a really healthy population overall.

The department is hoping this years heavy mountain snowpack may signal better spawning success.

New study

New this year is the beginning of a two-year effort to look at small-bodied fish in the river to see where they live.

The Bighorn River is a really intact native fishery and fish community, so understanding that information as much as we can and how that functions is  a great question to be asking, Skorupski said. Today its becoming more and more rare to see these unique individuals that have adapted to these really large river systems. Theyre highly migratory. These flathead chubs and sturgeon chubs move really long distances. This will be the first time weve looked at this in this much depth.

The project will divide the river into two sections, from Worland to where the Nowood River enters the Bighorn near Manderson will be one section. After leaving Boysen Reservoir, the river slowly warms as it flows downstream until the Nowood adds cool, clear water from the Bighorn Mountains. Consequently, water temperature and discharge and how that relates to the populations of the smaller fish will be key to the study and analyzing the difference between what goes on between the lower 65 miles and the upper 32 miles of the Bighorn River.

These fish are highly migratory so we want to know how they are using the river based on different time periods, so spring, summer and fall, Skorupski said. It will give us a good snapshot of whats going on with some of our unique native fishes, one of those being sturgeon chub that was petitioned for (Endangered Species Act) listing back in 2017.
April 17, 2023

Ukraine Open Thread 2023-93

Only for news & views directly related to the Ukraine conflict.

The current open thread for other issues is here.

Please stick to the topic. Contribute facts. Do not attack other commentators.

Posted by b on April 17, 2023 at 17:11 UTC | Permalink

Comments

next page 
Speaking to The Guardian Australia Miranda said: The show we watched the most during the pandemic was Bluey. It is the only kid's show that the whole family can be hysterically laughing at. But I wouldnt dare guest star on it. You need to be Australian to be on that show.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP)  An 84-year-old white man in Kansas City, Missouri, was charged Monday with first-degree assault for shooting a Black teen who mistakenly went to the man's home to pick up his younger brothers.

Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson said at a news conference that there was a racial component Thursday night when Andrew Lester twice shot 16-year-old Ralph Yarl, who is recovering at home after being released from the hospital. But nothing in the charging documents says the shooting was racially motivated, Thompson clarified.

We understand how frustrating this has been but I can assure you the criminal justice system is working and will continue to work, Thompson said.

The shooting outraged many in Kansas City and across the country. Civic and political leaders  including President Joe Biden  demanded justice. Some, including lawyers for Yarl, pressed the racial dimension of the case.

Yarl, an honor student and all-state band member, was supposed to pick up his two younger brothers when he approached the wrong house at roughly 10 p.m. Lester came to the door and shot Yarl in the forehead  then shot him again, in the right forearm.

No words were exchanged before the shooting, the probable cause statement said. But afterward, as Yarl got up to run, he heard Lester yell, Dont come around here, the statement said.

Yarl ran to multiple homes asking for help before finding someone who would call the police, the statement said.

Rev. Vernon Howard, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Kansas City, called the shooting a heinous and hate-filled crime. Vice President Kamala Harris wrote on Twitter that "No child should ever live in fear of being shot for ringing the wrong doorbell. The Missouri Senate held a moment of silence for Yarl on Monday.

The civil rights attorneys for Yarls family, Ben Crump and Lee Merritt, said in a statement that Biden called Yarls family and offered prayers for Ralphs health and for justice.

Gun violence against unarmed Black individuals must stop, the lawyers statement read. Our children should feel safe, not as though they are being hunted.

Yarls supporters plan to hold a rally Tuesday evening in Kansas City.

The assault charge carries a penalty of up to life in prison. Lester also was charged with armed criminal action, which has a penalty range of three to 15 years in prison. Lester was not charged with a hate crime. Thompson said Missouris statute is considered a lesser felony than first-degree assault, and carries a less severe penalty.

Missouri is among roughly 30 states with Stand Your Ground laws, which allow for the use of deadly force in self-defense, but the prosecutor determined the shooting was not in self defense.

An arrest warrant was issued but Lester was not yet in custody, Thompson said.

Lester told police that he lives alone and had just gone to bed when he heard his doorbell, according to the probable cause statement. He said he picked up his gun and went to the door, where he saw a Black male pulling on the exterior storm door handle and thought someone was breaking in.

A number for Lester was not in service on Monday evening and it was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney to speak on his behalf.

The shooting happened in a middle class neighborhood in north Kansas City. Yarl didn't have a phone with him and went to the wrong block, his aunt, Faith Spoonmore, wrote on a GoFundMe page set up to help pay medical bills. By Monday afternoon, $1.4 million had been raised.

Police Chief Stacey Graves said that Yarl's parents asked him to pick up his brothers at a home on 115th Terrace, but he mistakenly went to 115th Street, the Kansas City Star reported.

Yarl is a bass clarinetist who earned Missouri All-State Band honorable mention and who plays several instruments in the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of Kansas City, Spoonmore wrote. A statement from the North Kansas City School District described Yarl as an excellent student and talented musician.

Spoonmore said Yarl is doing well physically but has a lot of trauma to overcome emotionally.

By Monday afternoon, the home where the shooting happened had been vandalized. Black spray-paint on the side of the house showed a heart with 16 in the middle. Eggs splattered the front windows and the door.

A message seeking comment from Republican Gov. Mike Parson, a staunch gun rights supporter, wasnt immediately returned.

Crump, who has represented families in several high-profile cases of Black people being shot, including those of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, questioned why the shooter wasn't arrested and charged immediately.

We all believe that if the roles were reversed and this was a Black citizen who shot a 16-year-old for merely ringing his doorbell, they would have arrested him, and he wouldnt have slept in his bed that night, Crump said.

Two days after Yarl was shot, a 20-year-old woman was killed by a homeowner in Upstate New York Saturday after the car she was in drove to the wrong address. Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy said Kaylin Gillis was in a car with three others looking for a friends house.

As the car was turning around, Kevin Monahan came out and fired two shots, one of which struck Gillis. Monahan was charged with second-degree murder.

___

Salter reported from O'Fallon, Missouri. Nick Ingram in Kansas City and Summer Ballentine in Columbia, Missouri, contributed to this report.
Midland ISD recapture payments to the state are approaching $1 billion.

The district reported in its budget workshop last week that by the end of 2023-24 school year, Midland ISD will have sent $983.966 million in recapture payments (revenue sent to other school districts as part of the so-called Robin Hood system) since the 2013-14 school year.

According to the website recapturetexas.org, Recapture, also known as Robin Hood, allows the State of Texas to remove local property tax dollars from public school districts. Legislators then use these dollars to help balance the rest of the state budget.

Recapture began as a limited revenue source for education funding, but it has grown exponentially  now taking nearly $5 billion in property taxes from Texas public school districts per year, the website states.

For Midland ISD, officials have estimated recapture payments of $161,982,848 in 2022-23 and $158,983,077 in 2023-24.

The Texas School Coalition, which Midland ISD is a member, provides the information for recapturetexas.org. It states approximately 160 school districts around the state were expected to pay recapture during the 2021-22 school year. Those with the largest payments were Austin ISD ($791,389,490), Houston ISD ($302,746,565), Plano ISD ($207,239,972) and Dallas ISD ($207,239,972). Midland ISD ranked fifth that year ($129,073,485).

The Texas School Coalition also reported other Permian Basin districts in the top 10 across the state were Pecos-Barstow-Toyah ISD at No. 6 ($106,744,467) and Wink-Loving ISD at No. 9 ($74,488,295).

Seven other districts were among the highest 42 recapture payments in the state in 2021-22, all paying more than $10 million in recapture. They included Rankin ISD at No. 15, Glasscock ISD at No. 23, Grady ISD at No. 26 and Stanton ISD at No. 34.

Districts are subject to recapture due to property wealth within the district, but property wealth often does not correlate to personal wealth among the families of students served by the district, recapturetexas.org stated. Recapture districts can be found throughout the state. Some are very small, while others are some of the largest districts in the state. They are rural, urban, suburban, and every circumstance in-between.

MISD recapture to date

2013-14 $14,957,788

2014-15 $32,077,635

2015-16 $47,513,121

2016-17 $45,434,584

2017-18 $36,504,917

2018-19: $64,844008

2019-20: $138,846,179

2020-21: $154,436,561

2021-22: $128,385,355

2022-23: $161,982,848*

2023-24: $158,983,077*

Total: $983,966,073

*indicates estimated

Source: Midland ISD

Top recapture payments in Texas

(2021-22)

Austin ISD $791,389,490

Houston ISD $302,746,565

Plano ISD $207,239,972

Dallas ISD $207,239,972

Midland ISD $129,073,485

Pecos-Barstow-Toyah ISD $106,744,467

Eanes ISD $106,468,805

Highland Park ISD $103,825,084

Wink-Loving ISD $74,488,295

Also

15. Rankin ISD $48,075,718

20. Reagan County ISD $35,964,795

23. Glasscock County ISD $32,815,360

26. Grady ISD $25,893,380

34. Stanton ISD $18,763,974

37. Andrews ISD $11,703,399

42. Monahans-Wickett-Pyote ISD $10,127,571

Source: Texas School Coalition
More rain and snow is forecast along the Hi-Line beginning Monday night as flooding along the Milk River west of Glasgow neared historic highs set in 2011.

The Milk River climbed to 27.94 feet on Monday at Tampico, just shy of the record of 28 feet set in 2011. However, the National Weather Service noted the gauge reading may be affected by ice. Flood stage is 23 feet.

Flood warnings and advisories are active across Phillips and Valley counties until at least noon on Tuesday. The National Weather Service is predicting flooding will continue throughout the week.

With snowpack in the upper Missouri River Basin over 117% of average for this date, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has increased the forecast for water flowing to its dams from Fort Peck downstream.

Spring precipitation, including increased mountain snowpack and late season plains snow, has provided improved runoff conditions in the upper basin, said John Remus, chief of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Missouri River Basin Water Management Division, in a press release. We prefer to see a slower plains snowmelt to improve soil conditions. The longer the snow persists, the greater risk of flooding caused by rapid snowmelt from a spring rain event.

The 2023 calendar year runoff forecast above Sioux City is 26.4 million acre-feet, 103% of average. The runoff forecast is based on current soil moisture conditions, plains snowpack, mountain snowpack, and long-term precipitation and temperature outlooks. March runoff in the Missouri River Basin above Sioux City was 1.7 MAF, 57% of average.

System storage is currently 46.8 MAF, 9.3 MAF below the top of the carryover multiple use zone.

Despite these improvements, the system is still recovering from drought, and it will take time to return system storage to the top of the carryover multiple use zone while continuing to serve all Congressionally authorized purposes during 2023, Remus said.

Mountain snowpack in the upper Missouri River Basin improved during March. The April 1 mountain snowpack in the Fort Peck reach was 117% of average, and the mountain snowpack in the Fort Peck to Garrison reach was 108% of average  both of which are higher than the 1991 to 2020 average. By April 1, about 95% of the total mountain snowfall has accumulated. Mountain snow normally peaks near April 17.

The plains snowpack, which typically melts from mid-February into April, is hanging on longer in 2023 and the plains snow on April 1 showed widespread areas of 4-8 inches of snow water equivalent across North Dakota and eastern South Dakota following a blizzard that occurred in late March. The blizzard that occurred April 4-5 in the upper plains was not included in this forecast.

Despite all of the moisture, much of the northern and western regions of Montana are still listed as suffering from moderate drought, with the area along the Milk River listed as suffering from severe drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. In between the north and west are wide swaths of the state still considered abnormally dry.

Runoff into Fort Peck Reservoir from the Missouri River is higher than normal for this time of the year, according to the U.S. Geological Surveys gauges. The Missouri River at Landusky was flowing at 10,500 cfs, about 2,000 cfs higher than normal.

The Musselshell River  another contributor to Fort Peck Reservoir  was running at 278 cfs, compared to an average flow of 78 cfs. Fort Peck is expected to climb to an elevation of 2,220.8 feet by the end of April, which is the bottom elevation of the Fort Peck Marinas boat ramp.

The Yellowstone River is seeing a boost from higher than usual flows on the Bighorn, Tongue and Powder rivers. The Yellowstone River at Glendive was reporting 16,200 cfs compared to an average of 7,390 cfs.

Upstream in Wyoming, the Bureau of Reclamation is predicting Bighorn Reservoirs runoff at 103% of average. As of April 1, the lake was already 78% full. Other reservoirs in the system, including Buffalo Bill, Boysen and Bull Lake, are all predicted to see runoff of 100% or more.

The Army Corps will hold a virtual meeting concerning its Missouri River Water Management at noon on April 20. Details on how to join can be found online at https://www.dvidshub.net/news/442606/missouri-river-spring-virtual-public-meeting-make-up-april-20. The originally scheduled meeting for April 4 was cancelled due to a blizzard.
Lawmakers return to Springfield today after a two-week spring break to pore over legislation being decided during the final month of the session, including two bills that would further decriminalize cannabis use in Illinois.

The bills  Senate Bill 125 and Senate Bill 1886  would prevent police from searching a persons vehicle based solely on the smell of cannabis and would allow some people on probation to use cannabis or alcohol.

When Illinois legalized cannabis in 2020, it also made those previously charged with minor cannabis offenses eligible to have their records expunged. At the end of 2020, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced 492,129 cannabis-related convictions had been expunged and 9,219 people with low-level cannabis convictions had been pardoned.

It was incredibly important as we were looking to legalize this product that has clearly demonized so many communities, Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth, D-Peoria, said of the legalization.

Both bills will still need approval in the House and a signature from the governor to become law.

Cannabis odor

SB 125 would ensure that the smell of burnt or raw cannabis in a motor vehicle cannot alone be probable cause for a persons vehicle to be searched.

People  especially people of color  are unnecessarily pulled over far too often, Sen. Rachel Ventura, a Democrat from Joliet and lead sponsor on the bill, said of the legislation during floor debate. The odor of cannabis alone shouldnt be one of those reasons (for their car to be searched). Cannabis is legal in Illinois and its a pungent scent that can stick to clothes for extended periods of time.

An amendment to the bill created an age exemption, specifying that those under age 21 are still eligible to have their vehicle searched solely based on odor.

After that provision was added, the ACLU of Illinois shifted from supporting the bill to having a neutral stance on it.

We do have concerns that the amendment to the bill creates a workaround, or a loophole, that could have the effect of incentivizing police to target youth for unnecessary traffic stops or vehicle searches, said Atticus Ballesteros, an attorney for ACLU of Illinois.

Ballesteros added that ACLU of Illinois originally supported the bill because there are many reasons why a vehicle may smell of cannabis.

And to us, that applies irrespective of age, Ballesteros said.

The measure passed 33-20 in the Senate and awaits action in the House.

Use on probation

SB 1886 would bar courts from preventing individuals from using cannabis or alcohol if theyre on probation, conditional discharge or supervision.

The bill has several exemptions, though, including if the person is sentenced to a crime that involved the presence of an intoxicating compound in the persons body.

Courts would also still be allowed to impose substance use restrictions if the person is under the age of 21 or if they are participating in problem-solving court, a system of courts designed to help people with mental health and substance abuse problems.

The measure passed with a 34-21 vote and will head to the House.
Following COVID, officials that work with kids are looking at the impacts and ways to help young people deal with the effects.

Midwest Youth Services, the Illinois Department of Human Service and the Morgan County Juvenile Justice Council sponsored "Understanding the Impact of COVID-19 on Youth & Families" to help provide tools for help people understand the various impacts the the pandemic had on children, especially those that have limited support at home.

Lisa Betz, the deputy director of Child and Adolescent Services in the Division of Mental Health for the Illinois Department of Human Services, said the amount of last impact on the youth will vary, depending on their age and support at home.

Behavioral issues, educational setbacks, emotional distress are all potential effects from the pandemic.

"In times of crisis, it's OK to experience stress to be fearful or nervous," Betz said. "We need to know what is normal, but what also what isn't and when it becomes disfunctional."

During and following the height of the pandemic, Betz said several studies have indicated more children are experience anxiety or depression than just prior to the pandemic.

"Anxiety is a protective factor," Betz said. "We have to look at what is causing it in order to deal with it."

Betz said this can present as anger, difficulty sleeping, defiance, lack of focus, avoidance, negativity and overplanning.

For some, prior incidents of traumatic stress could cause a different reaction to new stressors. Issues at home or school can impact how a student deals with stressful situations.

Betz said the full impact on children isn't yet known, but there are already some indications of developmental and educational delays.

Now that children are returning to normal activities, Betz said there is more social-related anxiety.

"They are out of practice in social situations," Betz said. Or for some, they are learning them for the first time after spending some developmental years at home. There is a reduction in cognitive function, emotional skills and attention."

Because school and extracurricular activities are key to socialization, Betz said some children are delayed in the development of those skills.

"We have to remember where they were before COVID, where the are now and where they should be," Betz said. "When children experience chronic stress and trauma they can stop developing. Studies show that personality traits are changing. Their life experience is so different from ours."

The key to helping, whether it be a parent, trusted adult or social services professional is to know how to respond without reacting.

Betz said an adult can react to a situation, which will be influenced by their own emotions. She said the key to learn how to respond calmly and to help the children calm before addressing any problems.

One thing would be calming breaths or resetting of the mind. Betz suggested the adult take deep breaths, which will encourage the children to do the same, or to do activities that redirect their brain, such as blowing bubbles or the patting your head while rubbing your stomach.

"You have to reset the brain during fight, flight or freeze situations," Betz said. "You have to create a sense of safety. You have to create the opportunity to become a safe adult."

Betz said those that are attempting to help children deal with the lasting impacts must also look at the impacts on themselves.

"You can't help someone if you don't help yourself," Betz said.

Betz said for adults it is important to recharge and participate in self-care in order to be able to help others. She said it's important to set boundaries, find activities that help you disconnect and recharge, and to find ways to address your own stress.

"The pandemic may be over, but the impacts will be long lasting," Betz said.
Journal-Courier

BLUFFS  The Scott-Morgan Community school board is scheduled to meet in regular session at 7 p.m. today at 100 W. Rockwood St.

Among the items on the agenda are:
Geremy Doyle suffered numerous injuries in the quarter of a year he lived with his aunt in North Dakota, and the prosecutor handling Rolanda Doyles murder case in Bismarck says it was her mistreatment that caused his death in February 2022.

Defense attorney Matt Arthurs says it's a case in which jurors must put aside emotion and make a decision based on facts and evidence.

Five-year-old Geremy and his two siblings left Georgia after their mother hit hard times, Burleigh County States Attorney Julie Lawyer told the jury on Monday, the first day of Rolanda Doyle's murder trial. The children were placed in the care of Doyle, who is their mother's sister. It was about 3  months later that Bismarck ambulance and fire personnel responding to a 911 call found Geremy unresponsive at a Connecticut Avenue home. Neither they nor medical staff at a Bismarck hospital could save him.

A medical examiner listed battered child syndrome as Geremy's cause of death and homicide as the manner of death, according to a police affidavit.

Two other adults living in the home have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges stemming from Geremy's death.

Rolanda Doyle faces murder and child abuse charges. A jury of seven men and six women heard opening arguments in the case Monday. One of them will be named an alternate after the evidence is presented.

Doyle initially was charged with child neglect and abuse. The murder charge was added last June after the medical examiner ruled Geremy's death a homicide. Doyle faces the possibility of life in prison if shes convicted.

Opening statements

Geremy was forced to sleep in the unheated entry of a home, where a space heater ran from time to time, and he struggled to walk because frostbite in his toes and feet had advanced to gangrene, Lawyer said in her opening statement to the jury. He was forced to walk, but because his balance was bad he often fell. He suffered from swelling of his brain, bleeding between his skull and brain, scrapes, cuts, burns, bruises and several deep wounds. He also had pneumonia, COVID-19 and other viruses, the prosecutor said.

Youre going to hear throughout the course of this case that Rolanda Doyles actions and punishments of Geremy for the 3  months that he lived with her and in her care caused those significant injuries that led to his death, Lawyer said.

Arthurs told the jury that it's a case that will break our hearts because it involves the death of a child. That brings about anger, sorrow and fear, and leaves people looking for something or someone to blame, he said.

Geremy suffered from a number of medical conditions including COVID-19 and pneumonia, and his lungs held pockets of bacteria, all of which were inhibitors to oxygen getting into his blood and could have led to his death, according to Arthurs. Unless the state can present evidence that explains to you exactly how Rolanda Doyle is responsible for the death of Geremy Doyle, and that reason is certain, jurors must find her not guilty, he said.

The only way to make a fair and impartial decision in this case is if we use our heads instead of our hearts to make it, Arthurs said.

The trial is scheduled to last through Friday.

Others involved

Serenity Foots, Rolanda Doyles daughter, pleaded guilty in August to a misdemeanor charge of deprivation of a minor. She was placed on probation for a year. Shed spent more than 100 days in jail before her plea and was given credit for time served.

Russell James, Rolanda Doyles partner, pleaded guilty in July to contributing to the deprivation or delinquency of a minor. He was given credit for 156 days served, placed on probation for a year, and agreed to cooperate with authorities in Rolanda Doyles case, according to court records.
Virtually every teenager in America is online. Thats a good thing  just ask the teens.

A new survey from Pew Research Center shows that most teens say social media strengthens their friendships, engages their creative side, and connects them with support. But as our nation debates how to make online experiences healthier for young people, those benefits are being overlooked and a concerning wave of legislation threatens to prevent teens from using social media altogether.

Panic over teens using new types of media is an old story. In the 1980s, activist parents organized to shut down local arcade rooms over concerns about kids health. In the 1990s, the country turned its attention to the dangers of video games. Now, with the benefit of hindsight, its clear that arcades and Mortal Kombat never posed an inherent risk to teen health. But as with all activities, there was such a thing as problematic use.

The same can be said of teenagers experiences on social media. What weve learned from countless studies over the last several years is while a majority of teens feel supported through the connections they build online, some teenagers fall into a cycle of harmful use. Its essential to have a thoughtful national conversation about how to support and protect those minors who struggle with the overuse or misuse of social media.

But legislators are drawing the wrong conclusions about how to protect teens in the digital world. A new flurry of legislation threatens to ban kids entirely from social media. Introduced in Congress and in several states, these bills ignore the benefits that social media can provide.

The American Psychological Association, for example, notes that young people form and maintain friendships online and that social media can afford opportunities to interact with a more diverse peer group. Other research shows kids who use texting and social media over TV and video games benefit from more physical activity, less family conflict and fewer sleep problems.

While banning all teens from social media has obvious drawbacks, another collection of bills monitoring and chaperoning kids behavior online doesnt fare much better. The Kids Online Safety Act, for example, is a well-intentioned effort to protect kids, but in practice, it would make it harder for millions of teens to access the internet and threaten the privacy of everyone online, adults included.

Then theres the effect it would have on kids seeking information online. At a time when more schools and libraries are restricting access to information on gender and sexual identity and health resources, online resources are often the last and only source of help.

Parental monitoring can and should be done responsibly, but for older children and especially for those in abusive situations at home, the restrictions would be invasive and risk putting them in even more danger. By ramping up blanket restrictions and surveillance online, the plan threatens to jeopardize the privacy and safety of vulnerable young people.

Dozens of civil rights groups and LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations agree, including Advocates for Youth, the American Civil Liberties Union, The Human Trafficking Prevention Project, and the LGBT Technology Partnership. In fact, more than 90 civil rights organizations urged Congress to rethink the ban and the harm it would cause to children and adults in multiple open letters.

There is a right way to create a healthier world for kids online. Just as we would help young people navigate situations in the physical world, its our job to help kids navigate the internet safely and responsibly in the same way. Creating a safer internet for children requires intentional work to educate, supervise and safeguard their online experience without depriving them of the critical benefits that internet access can bring.

Lawmakers can and should protect everyone on the internet by cracking down on harmful actors and establishing safeguards, regardless of age without affecting our rights to privacy or ability to seek safe and trusted spaces online.
Tax Day is April 18 this year and its time for you to get all your numbers together and file your taxes.

The average American will file the short form that only has two lines on the form. The first line asks the question, How much money did you make in 2022? The second line says, Send it to the Internal Revenue Service.

Dont you just love all these tax breaks being given us? Once again, this week after paying taxes all year I still get to send another check. Its never enough. I hope you are getting some money back but our government needs a lot of money. Billions of dollars for Ukraine, money to pay the new IRS agents who will be harassing everyone for more. China will go to war to take over Taiwan. How much will this cost us as we obviously are going to be involved. Dont look for your taxes to become less.

Oh, dear Lord, how much more can we afford?

If you have any money left after April 18, you should make plans for Mothers Day, graduation and Memorial Day. This is a lot to think about. Dont forget mom. I wish my mother were alive so I could take her flowers and buy her dinner. The years pass and we miss our opportunities. Make plans now to celebrate the special moms you may have left.

You may have a children or grandchild graduating this May. Think about how you might mentor and encourage this special person. Its not always about money. Maybe you could find a way to spend an hour talking and sharing life experiences. Convey love. Brag about their accomplishments. Let them know that you believe they have a great future. Cast a great dream for them that they can have a great life with some work and focused discipline. Let them know you believe in them. Love goes a long way in shaping the lives of our children, grandchildren and even our acquaintances.

After this is Memorial Day. Too often we are scrambling the last weekend in May to arrange flowers for the cemetery. Start your plan now. Which graves must be visited and decorated? Budget what you can spend on flowers. Sometimes you can save money buying the flowers and making your own grave decoration.

The thought is what counts. You are doing this out of respect and love for what the deceased meant to you and because its important to remember them.

On this very important day we take the time to remember the soldiers who gave their lives so that we can have the freedom to enjoy all we do in America. They paid the ultimate price for our freedom. Plan on visiting the grave of at least one man or woman who died in service for our country.

You have plenty to do in the weeks ahead. Make a plan, pace yourself and good luck.
A leading group of medical experts says the term excited delirium should not be listed as a cause of death. Critics have said the term has been used to justify excessive force by police.

The term was cited in a Mandan death in an incident involving police three years ago.

The National Association of Medical Examiners had been one of the last to take a stand against the commonly used but controversial term. In a statement posted on its site March 23, the association said excited delirium or excited delirium syndrome should not be used as a cause of death. The statement has no legal weight, but will be influential among medical examiners.

Critics have called the terms unscientific, rooted in racism  and a way to hide police officers' culpability in deaths. The American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association do not recognize excited delirium as a diagnosis. Yet some police training materials have described it as a potentially fatal collection of symptoms including elevated temperature, unexpected strength, hallucinations and extreme agitation.

Excited delirium is often used when theres a death associated with a physical altercation between a citizen and law enforcement," said Dr. Roger A. Mitchell Jr., who chairs the pathology department at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he served as chief medical examiner from 2014 to 2021. Its not a real explanation for the death."

Medical examiners have ruled that excited delirium caused or contributed to police-related deaths including the 2020 case of Daniel Prude in New York, the 2019 death of Julius Graves in Missouri, and the 2017 death of Adam Trammell in Wisconsin. The term came up during the 2021 trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, whom jurors convicted in the death of George Floyd.

Mandan case

Excited delirium was cited in an autopsy report as the cause of death for John Prudente, 36, of Mandan, in 2020. Mandan police said Prudente drove off after they initiated a traffic stop on Feb. 8 of that year, pulled into the driveway of a home owned by his father, fought with officers and continued to struggle after being handcuffed. He then became limp and unresponsive, police said. Officers administered CPR, used an external defibrillator and gave Prudente a dose of Narcan. He was transported to a Bismarck hospital, and police learned later that he had died.

Two officers were placed on administrative leave after the incident. They returned to duty after an investigation by the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation concluded the officers had not committed a crime, and the autopsy showed no evidence of the use of excessive force, a department spokesman said at the time.

Prudente's family in 2022 filed a wrongful death lawsuit against five members of the Mandan Police Department and the city of Mandan. The family alleges that officers stopped Prudente based on an arrest warrant for an unpaid parking ticket that was in his fathers name, used unreasonable force, werent adequately trained, and were told Prudente had mental health issues but acted with deliberate indifference to his medical needs.

They further allege the city failed to adequately "train, supervise and control employees in the dangers of repeated Taser shocks" and restraint methods on people with preexisting medical conditions, and that the officers conduct "constitutes a pattern of constitutional violations" by the police department, the complaint states.

The family seeks unspecified money damages for emotional distress, burial and related expenses, along with monetary damages as a way of punishing the defendants.

The attorney for the city of Mandan and the police department in an answer to the family's complaint said their claims are barred by state law including the statute of limitations, that officers are not liable for injuries inflicted in the use of reasonable force, and that officers are immune from civil liability unless they violate someone's statutory or constitutional rights.

Amanda Corey, the attorney representing Prudente's family, did not respond to a Tribune request for comment on the national association's statement.

Growing concerns

Medical examiners investigate unexpected deaths, conduct autopsies and determine causes. Some already had been moving away from excited delirium in favor of listing the multiple causes that can contribute to such deaths, including police restraint, drug use and medical conditions.

Dr. Joyce deJong, president of the medical examiners' association, said the groups statement stemmed from growing concerns that the phrase might be used to justify excessive force by police and might be used disproportionally when the deceased was Black.

Anything we can do to avoid perpetuation of a phrase that might be causing harm, said deJong, a medical examiner for 12 counties in Michigan.

For families mourning the loss of a loved one, an excited delirium ruling could cause confusion over a term theyd never heard, or anger about what they consider a way to cover up excessive force.

John Peters, president of the Institute for the Prevention of In-Custody Deaths, which provides training and litigation support for officers, said the group's statement could lead to more investigations of police officers.

He said that the behaviors associated with excited delirium are often triggered by the use of illicit drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamines and that they will continue regardless of what we call it."

In another notable move away from the term, the Minneapolis Police Department has agreed to bar its officers from directing paramedics to inject sedatives such as ketamine into individuals they believe are experiencing excited delirium. The move came in a court agreement announced by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, which alleged the practice had been part of a pattern of racially biased policing in the city in recent years.

Tribune reporter Travis Svihovec contributed to this story.
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP)  Gunmen have attacked a village in northwest Nigeria and killed at least 33 people, a local official said Sunday.

More than 35 houses were destroyed in the violence in Runji, which is in the state of Kaduna, said Francis Zimbo, chairman of the Zangon Kataf area where the massacre took place. Zimbo provided the number of fatalities, but state authorities wouldnt comment on the number of people killed.

Troops had a fierce encounter with the attackers and are still in the general area, said Samuel Aruwan, the state commissioner of security.

No group has claimed responsibility for the killings. However, gangs of bandits have been accused of being responsible for attacks in the region, which includes the kidnapping for ransom and killing of civilians. Earlier this month, gunmen kidnapped 10 students about a half-hour drive by car from where Saturdays attack occurred.

Nigerias government is still struggling to quell the violence in the countrys northwest despite a reduction in attacks last year as security forces ramped up military operations targeting the gunmens hideouts.

By DYEPKAZAH SHIBAYAN

Associated Press
Germany backs EU-Indonesia trade pact to curb China reliance View Photo

BERLIN (AP)  German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Sunday that he will press for a trade agreement between the European Union and Indonesia as part of his countrys efforts to reduce its reliance on China for crucial raw materials.

Speaking at the opening of the annual Hannover trade fair, Scholz told Indonesian President Joko Widodo that a trade deal between Southeast Asias most populous nation and the 27-nation bloc would create an economic area with 700 million people.

I am working to finally get this agreement across the finish line, Scholz said of the negotiations between Jakarta and Brussels, which have been ongoing since 2016.

The German leader said he was similarly hopeful about talks between the EU and the Mercosur bloc in South America, Mexico, Australia, Kenya and India.

Here too, a whole new dynamic has emerged in recent months, he said, adding that such agreements were necessary to help countries reduce their dependence on particular markets.

Germany is particularly concerned about becoming too reliant on China, including for crucial commodities needed for digitalization and the shift toward a zero carbon economy.

At the moment we import many of them from China, Scholz said.

And thats despite the fact that rare earth, copper or nickel are often not extracted there but in countries such as Indonesia, Chile or Namibia, he said. We want to change that.

Scholz said building processing facilities for such raw materials in the countries where they are found would benefit the local economy and should be part of any new trade deal.

Indonesia is the partner country of this years Hannover fair.
Putin meets with Chinas defense minister in Moscow View Photo

MOSCOW (AP)  Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Chinas defense minister on Sunday, underscoring Beijings strengthening engagement with Moscow, with which it has largely aligned its foreign policy in an attempt to diminish the influence of the United States and other Western democracies.

Putin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu met with Gen. Li Shangfu less than a month after Chinese leader Xi Jinping held a three-day state visit to Moscow.

China has refused to criticize Russias military actions in Ukraine and blames the United States and NATO for provoking Moscow. But Chinas foreign minister said last week that China wouldnt be helping Russia with weapons, as the U.S. and other Western allies have feared.

Officially, China remains neutral in the Ukraine conflict. However, Xis trip emphasized how China is increasingly becoming the senior partner in the relationship as it provides Russia with political cover and an economic lifeline during the Ukraine conflict.

In comments opening the meeting, Putin praised the general development of Russia-China relations.

We are also working actively through the military departments, regularly exchanging information that is useful to us, cooperating in the field of military-technical cooperation, conducting joint exercises, moreover, in different theaters: in the Far East region, and in Europe, and at sea, and on land and in the air, he said, according to the Kremlin.

Li said that the countries relations outperform the military-political unions of the Cold War era. They rest on the principles of nonalignment, and are very stable.
Brazils welcome of Russian minister prompts US blowback View Photo

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP)  Russias Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday expressed gratitude to Brazil for its approach in pushing for an end to hostilities in Ukraine  an effort that has irked both Kyiv and the West, and by afternoon prompted an unusually sharp rebuke from the White House.

Brazils President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has refused to provide weapons to Ukraine while proposing a club of nations including Brazil and China to mediate peace.

On Sunday, Lula told reporters in Abu Dhabi that two nations  both Russia and Ukraine  had decided to go to war, and a day earlier in Beijing said the U.S. must stop stimulating the continued fighting and start discussing peace. Earlier this month, he suggested Ukraine could cede Crimea to end the war, which the spokesperson for Ukraines foreign ministry, Oleg Nikolenko, and others rejected.

After meeting Brazils foreign minister on Monday, Lavrov told reporters in a short press conference that the West has engaged in a rather tough struggle to maintain its dominance in world affairs, including economics and geopolitics.

As for the process in Ukraine, we are grateful to our Brazilian friends for their excellent understanding of this situations genesis. We are grateful (to them) for striving to contribute to finding ways to settle it, Lavrov said, sitting alongside his Brazilian counterpart, Mauro Vieira.

Lulas recent comments, particularly ascribing any blame to Ukraine for Russias invasion in Feb. 2022, run counter to the position held by the European Union, the U.S. and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. And any talk of a ceasefire is viewed as an opportunity for Russia to regroup its forces for a new offensive. Zelenskyy told The Associated Press last month that a loss anywhere at this stage in the war could put Ukraines hard-fought momentum at risk.

Vieira, for his part, told reporters that Brazil sees sanctions against Russia as causing negative impacts for the global economy, particularly developing nations, and that Brazil supports an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.

Following the meeting, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby blasted Brazils approach to the war and for its officials having met Lavrov and Russias Vladimir Putin in person, while thus far only speaking to Ukrainian officials by phone.

Brazil has substantively and rhetorically approached this issue by suggesting that the United States and Europe are somehow not interested in peace or that we share responsibility for the war, Kirby told reporters in Washington. In this case, Brazil is parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda without at all looking at the facts.

Kirby said the Biden administration hoped Lula and others will urge the Russians to cease the bombing of Ukrainian cities, hospitals and schools, halt the war crimes and the atrocities and, quite frankly, to pull back Russian forces from Ukraine.

Both foreign ministers were meeting with Lula in the afternoon.

As part of his effort to end the war, Lula also has withheld munitions to Ukraine, despite a request from Germanys Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Lula has said that sending supplies would mean Brazil entering the war, which he seeks to end.

His administration is seeking to simultaneously develop ties with China, Europe and the U.S. while keeping an open door to Russia. However, his recent remarks may have undermined his effort to secure these competing objectives, said Christopher Garman, managing director for the Americas at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group.

Its not a good look, when you have the Russian chancellor side by side, and its the Russian position, Garman said by phone. The optics do diminish Brazils credibility as an independent arbiter, but I think that the import is larger precisely because of the current storms that Lula stoked with his comments in China and the UAE.

There were already indications that Moscow had appreciated Lulas stance. One of roughly 50 leaked classified documents on the platform Discord that have been viewed by the AP said that, as of late February, Russias foreign affairs ministry supported Lulas plan to establish a club of supposedly impartial mediators, as it would reject the Wests aggressor-victim paradigm. The item cited electronic surveillance as the source.

Critics have argued that Brazils position aims to avoid confronting a key supplier of fertilizer for its soybean plantations, exports from which are largely destined for China. Both Russia and China hold permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council, and Brazil for decades has sought to join them. Lavrov told reporters on Monday that Russia is backing Brazils bid.

Vinicius Vieira, an international relations professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a university and think tank, said Lulas comments on Ukraine have been badly calibrated and that saying Kyiv should cede Crimea would appear to favor Russia.

The issue of fertilizers is fundamental, but that would be well resolved with Brazil staying neutral, calling all sides to speak, but without saying Ukraine owes something to Russia, Vieira said.

After his stay in Brazil, Lavrov will travel to Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.

In an article published on the website of Russias Foreign Ministry, as well as in Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo, Lavrov appeared to cast the Latin American countries trade relationship  notably that between Russia and Brazil, especially concerning fertilizers  as a backdrop and source of leverage for possible discussions regarding Brazils continued refusal to provide weapons to Ukraine, which Moscow would like to ensure.

Brazils foreign minister told reporters that Russia accounts for one-quarter of the South American nations fertilizer imports, and that he and Lavrov discussed measures to guarantee its influx.

___

Madhani reported from Washington. AP videojournalist Kostya Manenkov contributed from Tallinn, Estonia, and journalist Elise Morton contributed from London.

By CARLA BRIDI and AAMER MADHANI

Associated Press
US ready to lend Poland $4 billion for nuclear energy plan View Photo

WARSAW, Poland (AP)  A project to develop small nuclear power reactors in Poland is moving forward, with Polish energy company Orlen and two U.S. government financial institutions signing an agreement Monday.

Poland is turning toward energy that is renewable or does not use climate-changing fossil fuels as it tries to break its reliance on coal. Moscows invasion of Ukraine also has accelerated Polands drive to cut its dependence on Russian oil and natural gas.

In a ceremony at the U.S. ambassadors residence in Warsaw, the U.S. Export-Import Bank and U.S. International Development Finance Corporation signed letters of interest to lend up to $3 billion and up to $1 billion, respectively, to the Orlen Synthos Green Energy project. Its aims is to develop around 20 small BWRX-300 modular reactors designed by GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy.

U.S. Ambassador Mark Brzezinski stressed that Russias aggression against Ukraine almost 14 months ago reinforced the need to turn toward safe and reliable energy sources.

Later, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said at a news conference that the country needed a cheap, clean and reliable energy source like the small nuclear reactors that will produce emission-free energy and be a driving force for the economy for decades to come.

Coal mining is among Polands largest employers, providing around 80,000 jobs and supplying about 70% of the countrys energy, and Morawiecki said the industry will continue to guarantee power security. He stressed, however, that global climate concerns and European Union regulations are calling for a shift to renewable and clean energy, which the nuclear reactors plan is helping advance.

Orlen CEO Daniel Obajtek told The Associated Press that only nuclear power can guarantee energy security and keep the lights on when the wind isnt blowing or sun isnt shining.

He said the support of the U.S. financial institutions shows the credibility of the process of developing nuclear energy.

It comes after Germany shut down its last three nuclear power plants this past weekend as it transitions to renewable energy like wind and solar, which has drawn skepticism at home and abroad.

Polands first BWRX-300 reactor should launch in 2029 and will be the worlds second, after a similar one opens in Darlington, Canada.

Synthos Green Energy owner and Polish billionaire Michal Solowow, Obajteks business partner in the project, calls it a energy revolution for the country, ironically brought about by its poor climate record.

From the condition it is in today  meaning the worse energy mix that we have in the EU  Poland can turn within the next 20 years into a leader, Solowow told the AP. This bad situation we are in today is offering us a chance to make intensive investments and move into a totally new dimention.

Last year, Orlen drew criticism for expanding and acquiring Polish fuels company Lotos and gas firm PGNiG under one label, making it the biggest energy operation in Central and Eastern Europe. It also has a refinery in Lithuania and fuel stations in Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Obajtek defended the move, saying it gave the company greater potential and resilience in changing or unfavorable economic conditions.

A multi-energy company is more stable in unfavorable environment in all sorts of challenges in the economy, he said in his spacious Warsaw office.

The company plans to expand further, Obajtek said, but refused to divulge the details.

He said at a news conference earlier that there is no stopping of energy transformation and that the oil and gas company  49.9% owned by the Polish state  is planning 320 billion zlotys ($75 billion) of investments.

That money will go to both offshore and more onshore renewable energy as well as to advanced fuel technologies, including biofuels, he said in an interview.

Orlens oil comes from Saudi Arabia, the North Sea, west Africa and from the U.S.

Obajtek said the deal with Saudi Aramco, which obtained a 30% stake in a refinery in Gdansk, secured joint development of new technologies and stable deliveries (of the required quality of oil from) a stable partner who is the biggest oil producer in the world.

In February, Polands government and the U.S. Westinghouse Electric Company signed a deal for pre-design cooperation on the central European nations first large nuclear power plant, using the American companys technology. Construction is to begin in 2026, and it aims to start supplying the energy grid in 2032.

By MONIKA SCISLOWSKA

Associated Press
Volunteers Are The Heart Of Tuolumne County View Photo

President Joe Biden issued a Proclamation recognizing April 16th through April 22nd as National Volunteer Week.

Biden was Mondays KVML Newsmaker of the Day. Here is the Proclamation:

Every day across America, volunteers are performing extraordinary acts of service. They are repairing and rebuilding homes, educating our youth, and connecting people to jobs. They are supporting veterans and military families, helping to run our elections, and combating climate change. In the aftermath of natural disasters, neighbors volunteer to restore communities and cook hot meals. And amid a pandemic, volunteers have stepped forward to help administer vaccines and provide lifesaving resources to people in need.

Volunteering defines America. Our Nation is a place where light triumphs over darkness, where we seek to lift everyone up, and where we lead not by the example of our power but by the power of our example. As those who volunteer know firsthand, service also benefits the volunteer. It can teach important skills, help build professional networks, and provide an empowering sense of purpose. Volunteering brings people together, uniting us around our common belief in the dignity and equality of every person and giving us a chance to learn from others we might otherwise never meet.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of AmeriCorps. In the decades since President Clinton created this Federal agency, more than a million Americans have fanned out to communities across our country to serve neighbors, respond and rebuild after natural disasters, educate students in need, and provide critical support in the face of public health challenges like the opioid crisis and COVID-19. Every year, AmeriCorps matches over 140,000 AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers with service opportunities. AmeriCorps embodies our Nations commitment to service, and I was proud to strengthen it with a historic $1 billion investment through our American Rescue Plan. My new Budget calls on the Congress to raise the living allowance provided to AmeriCorps members, making national service more accessible to Americans of all backgrounds. It also calls for the largest-ever request in funding for the Peace Corps in order to expand opportunities for Americans to volunteer overseas. For over 60 years, Peace Corps volunteers have worked in dozens of countries on projects related to agriculture, community development, education, environmental protection, health, and improving opportunities for youth.

Additionally, my Administration hosted the United We Stand Summit, convening civic, faith, philanthropic, and business leaders to address the hate-fueled violence that threatens our democracy. Responding to this call to action, leading community organizations announced a new partnership, A Nation of Bridgebuilders, to train tens of thousands of Americans in techniques that build bridges across diverse identities and backgrounds  including storytelling, finding shared values, and volunteering together in common purpose. This initiative will host over 1,000 service events in more than 300 communities, improving lives and bringing Americans closer together.

This week, I encourage all Americans to seek volunteer opportunities near you and to visit AmeriCorps.gov and peacecorps.gov/volunteer to learn more about getting involved. Large and small acts of service can mean so much  lifting spirits, opening up new doors of opportunity, and cementing our identity as a great country full of good people.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 16 through April 22, 2023, as National Volunteer Week. I call upon all Americans to observe this week by volunteering in service projects across the country and pledging to make service a part of their daily lives.

The Newsmaker of the Day is heard every weekday morning at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML.
Judge: If news taints rape-trial jurors, Trump shares blame View Photo

NEW YORK (AP)  Donald Trumps rape trial will begin next week as scheduled after a federal judge on Monday rejected his lawyers request for a one-month delay, saying the former president cannot make public statements to promote pretrial publicity and then claim its prejudicial to him and reason to delay a trial.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan in Manhattan said the civil trial on claims against Trump by a longtime columnist, E. Jean Carroll, will begin as scheduled on April 25. Trump denies the rape happened or that he ever knew Carroll.

Kaplan rejected arguments by Trump attorney Joe Tacopina that Trumps recent indictment in New York state court on criminal falsification of business records charges had created such a wave of negative publicity that a one-month cooling off period was needed before the rape trial begins.

There was, of course, a great deal of media coverage  some of it invited and, indeed, provoked by Mr. Trump  first of the apparently impending indictment, then the indictment itself, and finally the arraignment. But the connection that Mr. Trump seeks to draw between that coverage and either the need for or the effectiveness of a cooling off period is unsupported by any evidence, the judge said.

Kaplan said a portion of recent media coverage of Trumps indictment was of his own doing as Trump made public statements on his social media platform, in press conferences and in interviews.

It does not sit well for Mr. Trump to promote pretrial publicity and then to claim that coverage that he promoted was prejudicial to him and should be taken into account as supporting a further delay, the judge said, adding that he was also concerned that the request was a delay tactic by Mr. Trump.

He noted that it wasnt necessary to find jurors who had never heard of Trumps legal woes as long as jurors agreed to be fair and impartial regardless of anything theyd heard.

There is no justification for an adjournment. This case is entirely unrelated to the state prosecution, Kaplan said, alluding to charges brought against Trump on the grounds that he played a role in hush money payments to two women who claimed affairs with him years before the 2016 presidential election. He has denied the affairs.

Tacopina declined comment on Monday about Kaplans ruling and about whether Trump will attend the rape trial. He is required to notify Kaplan by Thursday if Trump plans to show up at court.

In a footnote, the judge cited other legal threats Trump faces to show that a month-long delay in the trial stemming from Carrolls lawsuit could make the climate to find a fair jury worse rather than better.

A Justice Department special counsel probe is looking into Trumps possible mishandling of classified documents, along with matters relating to the 2020 presidential election and the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. Meanwhile, a district attorney in Fulton County, Georgia, is probing Trumps actions after the 2020 election, and New York Attorney General Letitia James has sued Trump, his family and the Trump Organization for alleged financial wrongdoing.

Carroll first sued Trump for defamation after he said Carroll lied when she wrote in a 2019 memoir that he attacked her in the dressing room of an upscale Manhattan department store in early 1996. She brought a second lawsuit in November after New York state allowed victims to temporarily sue over sexual assaults that occurred long ago.

By LARRY NEUMEISTER

Associated Press
GOP leader McConnell returns to Senate after head injury View Photo

WASHINGTON (AP)  Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is back at work in the U.S. Capitol on Monday, almost six weeks after a fall at a Washington-area hotel and extended treatment for a concussion.

The longtime Kentucky senator, 81, has been recovering at home since he was released from a rehabilitation facility March 25. He fell after attending an event earlier that month, injuring his head and fracturing a rib.

McConnell arrived at the Capitol early Monday and is expected to work a full schedule in the Senate this week.

In brief remarks on the Senate floor as the chamber came back into session after a two-week recess, McConnell criticized President Joe Biden for not doing enough to negotiate on the nations debt ceiling and thanked his colleagues for their well-wishes.

Im very happy to be back, McConnell said. Theres important business for Congress to tackle.

And he joked, Suffice it to say, this wasnt the first time that being hard-headed has served me very well.

McConnell returns to the Senate ahead of a busy stretch in which Congress will have to find a way to raise the debt ceiling and negotiate additional aid for the Ukraine war, among other policy matters. And he comes back as several other senators have been out for medical reasons, raising questions about how much the Senate will be able to achieve in the coming months with a 51-49 split between the parties.

Already, the GOP leaders absence, along with those of Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein and John Fetterman, among others, have added to the Senates lethargic pace in the first few months of the year. Unlike the last two years, in which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was able to push through key elements of President Joe Bidens agenda with the help of a Democratic-led House, the Senate has been significantly slowed with Republicans now in charge in the House. And absences have made even simple votes like nominations more difficult.

One immediate question for McConnell upon his return is whether to help Democrats temporarily replace Feinstein on the Senate Judiciary Committee as she continues to recover in California from a case of the shingles. Democrats have become increasingly frustrated as the Democrats more than six-week absence on the panel has stalled confirmation of some of Bidens nominees, and Feinstein has asked for a short-term substitute on the committee.

Democrats cant do that, though, without help from Republicans, since approval of the process would take 60 votes on the Senate floor. Two GOP members of the Judiciary panel, Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, have already said they dont believe that Republicans should help Democrats replace Feinstein.

It is unclear when Feinstein, 89, will return to Washington. Her office has so far declined to say.

Also returning to the Senate on Monday was Fetterman, who was hospitalized for clinical depression in February. He was treated for six weeks at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and his doctors say his depression is now in remission.

Fettermans announcement that he was checking himself into the hospital earlier this year came after he suffered a stroke last year and has struggled with auditory processing disorder, which can render someone unable to speak fluidly and quickly process spoken conversation into meaning. The Pennsylvania Democrat, 53, now uses devices in conversations, meetings and congressional hearings that transcribe spoken words in real time.

In a statement when he was released from Walter Reed late last month, Fetterman said the care he received there changed my life.

Im excited to be the father and husband I want to be, and the senator Pennsylvania deserves, said Fetterman, who won praise for his decision to seek treatment.

McConnell visited his Capitol office on Friday ahead of his Monday return. In video captured by NBC News, he walked into the building without assistance as aides kept close by.

This was the second major injury for McConnell in recent years. Four years ago he tripped and fell at his home in Kentucky, causing a shoulder fracture that required surgery. The Senate had just started a summer recess, and he worked from home for some weeks as he recovered.

McConnell had polio in his early childhood and he has long acknowledged some difficulty as an adult in climbing stairs.

By MARY CLARE JALONICK

Associated Press
No charges for officers in Jayland Walker police shooting View Photo

AKRON, Ohio (AP)  An Ohio grand jury declined to indict eight police officers who fired 94 shots in the death of Jayland Walker, a 25-year-old Black man who fired at least one round at officers during a car and foot chase last summer, the states attorney general announced Monday.

Walker was shot 46 times in a hail of gunfire that lasted just under seven seconds and roiled yet another city amid heightened tensions with police over the killing of a Black man that started with a routine traffic stop.

Akrons mayor and police chief urged residents Monday to protest peacefully, acknowledging that many are angry with the shooting last June that Walkers family has called brutal and senseless.

Turn toward one other and not on each other, said Mayor Daniel Horrigan.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said the states investigation found that Walker jumped out of his still-moving car, ran from police and ignored commands to stop and show his hands. Some of the officers first used Tasers to try and stop Walker, Yost said.

But Walker reached toward his waistband and raised a hand as officers were chasing, Yost said. The officers, not knowing Walker left his gun in the car, believed he was going to fire again, Yost said. He said it is critical to remember that Walker had shot first.

Responding with tears and frustration at a subsequent press conference, the Walker family and their supporters mourned the grand jurys decision and called on Akron residents to protest loudly for justice and change. Democratic U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes, of Akron, said she will ask the U.S. Justice Department to investigate the patterns and practices of the Akron Police Department.

I still cant comprehend how a young man has 46 bullet holes from officers and that is justified, Sykes said while also urging people to honor Walkers memory by protesting peacefully. I ask you to remember the words of Jaylands family by speaking up. But do so without violence.

The family and the NAACP previously have called on the Justice Department to open a federal civil rights investigation.

Bobby DiCello, an attorney for Walkers family, criticized the states investigation, saying police gunned down Walker execution-style. Paige White, another attorney for the family, said the investigation was skewed in favor of the police and that Jayland didnt have a chance.

Akron Police Department, when you call for peace, when you call for no destruction, when you call for respect  where was your respect for Jayland? White said.

The state investigation said police first saw Walker driving with a broken taillight and a broken light on his rear license plate, but they decided not to follow him. They saw him 10 minutes later at the same intersection and became suspicious, Yost said.

Police said Walker refused to stop and then fired a shot from his car 40 seconds into the pursuit.

Officers chased the car on a freeway and city streets until Walker bailed from the still-moving vehicle and ran into a parking lot where he was killed while wearing a ski mask, body cam video showed. Authorities said he represented a deadly threat. A handgun, a loaded magazine and a wedding ring were found on the drivers seat of his car.

Police union officials said the officers thought there was an immediate threat of serious harm and that their actions were in line with their training and protocols.

Dash-cam video from a police cruiser captured images of Walker firing the gun from his car, said Anthony Pierson, an assistant state attorney general. Walker had no criminal history and had never fired a gun until he went to a shooting range with a friend in early June, Pierson said.

At the time of the shooting, Walker was grieving his fiancees recent death, and his family and Pierson said his actions that night were out of character.

That night he encountered the police he wasnt acting himself, Pierson said. By all accounts he was a good person, a good man.

Authorities checked Walkers online history and found in the weeks before his death searches for phrases including drinking bleach and quickest ways to die, according to an investigative report released Monday.

The report also contained information from a Euclid, Ohio, police captain who told investigators that Walkers best friend interviewed for a police job in that city days after Walkers death and suggested it had been suicide by cop.

But when interviewed by investigators, the friend strongly disputed that, telling detectives that Walker was distraught but never mentioned suicide.

Pierson was asked at the news conference if Walkers death could have been suicide. He declined to speculate about Walkers state of mind but said there was no direct evidence he was suicidal.

Akron Police Chief Steve Mylett said Monday that the city will begin an internal investigation into the shooting, but he would not release the names of the eight officers because of ongoing threats against them.

The officers, who initially were placed on leave, will remain on administrative duties. None of the eight officers appear to have been disciplined for any previous use of force incidences, according to investigation records released by the state.

While the grand jurys decision shows no crime was committed by the officers, in no way does that take away from the tragedy of June 27, Mylett said.

Attorneys for the eight officers released a statement calling the incident a tragedy for the entire community, including Walkers family and all of the officers who were involved. A split-second decision to use lethal force is one that every police officer hopes he or she will never be forced to make, the statement said.

A county medical officer said the autopsy found no illegal drugs or alcohol were detected in Walkers body.

After taking over the investigation last summer at the request of Akron police, prosecutors with the Ohio attorney generals office presented the case to the grand jury.

City set up a designated protest zone downtown outside city hall, where plywood covered the first-floor windows. Temporary fencing circled the county courthouse and many businesses boarded up their windows.

But hours after the grand jurys decision, the protest zone was almost entirely empty on a cold, windy night mixed with snow flurries and rain.

The citys school district canceled classes on Tuesday in the wake of the grand jury announcement.

Less than 24 hours before the chase, police in neighboring New Franklin Township had tried to stop a car matching Walkers, also for unspecified minor equipment violations. A supervisor there called off the pursuit when the car crossed the townships border with Akron.

___

Seewer reported from Toledo. Associated Press writers Julie Carr Smyth and Samantha Hendrickson in Columbus, Ohio and Michael Rubinkam in Allentown, Pennsylvania, contributed.

By PATRICK ORSAGOS and JOHN SEEWER

Associated Press
Residents of Lincoln will elect a new mayor Tuesday.

The bedroom community just southeast of Bismarck has been without a mayor since late last year. Then-Mayor Gerarld Wise during a Dec. 1 City Council meeting announced that he would step down later that month due to health concerns. He said his decision came after long talks with family members and physicians.

He was first elected in 2015. Wise in a Facebook post days after the Dec. 1 council meeting said, I'm stepping down as your mayor at the end of the month to focus on my health. It's been a great 7 plus yrs.

Wise was honored with a plaque at his last meeting, on Dec. 20. The council voted to fill his seat through a special election.

Keli Berglund -- a Marine Corps veteran and former state commander for the Disabled American Veterans -- is the only candidate on the ballot. The polls open at 8 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. Voting will take place at Lincoln City Hall at 74 Santee Road.

The mayoral seat will be up for election again in June 2024.

Lincoln has seen rapid growth in recent years. The city's population nearly doubled from 2,406 in 2010 to 4,257 in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  Four men were shot  one fatally  after two of them volunteered to paint over graffiti on the wall of a neighborhood ice cream shop in Los Angeles, authorities said.

The gunfire erupted Saturday afternoon in the Northridge area of the San Fernando Valley, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Shortly before the shooting, two of the men walked into Northridge Ice Cream, the shops owner, Victor Santoyo, told ABC 7.

They said, There is graffiti on the wall. Do you want me to paint the graffiti for you, for free, Santoyo said. I found them a little bit of paint and gave it to them, and then a few minutes later, we hear the gunshots.

A few minutes later, the four men are seen on surveillance video ducking from gunshots, the news station reported.

One guy came in, asking for help. He got shot in the stomach, Santoyo said.

Investigators suspect the shooter was driving a white sedan, police said.

A man believed to be about 60 years old was killed, police Officer Tony Im said. A man in his 40s was hospitalized in critical condition. The other two victims, who are believed to be about 30 and 40 years old, were also hospitalized, Im said. Police later said one of the victims was treated and released.

Police were seeking witnesses and any other surveillance video from the neighborhood about 20 miles (32 km) northwest of downtown Los Angeles.
The exhaustion in his eyes was palpable. Only minutes before he was brought into the visitor cage for the interview April 12, Texas death row inmate Ivan Cantu had met with the prison warden to discuss where his remains and belongings were to be sent after his execution in less than two weeks.

Cantu has spent more than 20 years on death row at the Polunsky Unit in Livingston, Texas. He still maintains his innocence and while hes scheduled for execution in less than two weeks he is praying its delayed. Unfortunately, new evidence in his case might not be reviewed in any court because it came to light after the conclusion of Cantus state and federal habeas corpus proceedings.

Cantu described the last 20 years as legal quicksand and, in his case, a system that did not put much effort into seeking out the truth.

It feels like looking at a freight train ready to kill you, and theres nothing I can do to get out of the way, said Cantu.

Cantu was convicted in Collin County for killing his cousin James Mosqueda, a known drug dealer, and his cousins fiance, Amy Kitchen, in 2000.

New eyes on the case

Since Cantus conviction in 2001, new information and holes in the states case raise questions of reasonable doubt, according to Matt Duff, a private investigator that has researched the case since 2019.

Duff documented his private investigation and created a lengthy, in-depth podcast titled Cousins by Blood. His work dives into Cantus case with first-hand interviews, including Cantus early jail tapes in 2000 and an interview with the states star witness that helped put him on death row.

The states case argued that during a multiple-day drug-fueled bender, Cantu held his then-girlfriend named Amy Boettcher without her will, was abusive to her and told her he had plans to kill his cousin. Her brother Jeff Boettcher matched her story. He stated under testimony during the trial that before the murder Cantu propositioned him to help clean up the murder scene and in return, he would give him some of the money he attended to steal.

They both lied, Cantu alleges.

Since the trial in 2001, the brother-matched testimony was later recanted. According to court records, Jeff Boettcher called the Collin County District and recanted his testimony stating he was on drugs during Cantus trial and his statement should be considered unreliable.

When the murder trial was underway, Cantu described his initial state-appointed defense team as ill-equipped and during the interview stated that he was not represented in good faith.

The two state-appointed attorneys during my case in 2001 were in the pocket of Collin County, said Cantu.

Duffs investigation shed light on Cantus defense team during the murder trial.

What was revealed

The state utilized five experts and Cantu's state-appointed defense requested zero experts. The defense called zero witnesses during the guilt and innocence phase and presented no exculpatory evidence. His counsel did not interview witnesses on the states witness list before trial and did not request a defense investigator or conduct any independent investigation.

The two attorneys that represented Cantu in 2001 were Matt Goeller and Don High. Goeller was contacted via email on three separate occasions starting on April 9 and did not return correspondence. High was reached over the phone and declined to comment.

The Collin County prosecution, Gail Falco and Jami Lowry were contacted on April 12 and 14 over the phone and have not responded for comment.

After sentencing, Cantu was appointed additional counsel to file appeals in his case. Similar to the poor counsel in Collin County, Cantu was not happy with their counsel and later filed a complaint with the judge and was able to bring on his current attorney Gena Bunn.

New evidence

Bunn has requested the state to look at the new evidence and stop his execution on April 26.

Court documents filed with the court included Duffs investigation and the misleading information in Boettchers testimony during Cantus jury trial.

The new evidence includes telephone records, toll tag records and physical evidence, which undermines Boettchers testimony that included lost or stolen items during the crime that were later discovered.

In addition, two of the jurors who sentenced Cantu to death want this evidence to be reviewed, stating in declarations that they are disturbed by the prospect of hearing false and misleading testimony during the trial.

The recanted testimony of Jeff Boettcher is included.

The court document also added a new report from a forensic pathologist who has called into question the time of the murders, as alleged during Boettchers testimony. Based on Boettchers timeline, their assessment of when the victims died would not place Cantu at the scene.

Cantus attorney shows witness testimony that the victim owed another drug dealer a large amount of money during the crime. In addition, Cantus attorney includes a long list of acts during Cantus initial defense that was not in her clients favor for proper representation.

Cantu questioned if carrying out his execution is considered justice or just an easier way to sweep the inconsistent problems in his case under the rug and just execute him to move on.

I have been here for more than 20 years and to be honest its been a blessing and a curse, said Cantu during the interview. I have become closer to God but I dont want to die, I just hope one day the truth comes out.

Texas death row inmate Ivan Cantu is scheduled for execution on April 26.

Robin Bradshaw

To see the latest documents filed in Cantu's case see below:
A financial crisis caused in part by at least $6.9 million paid to settle lawsuits alleging sex abuse at the Masonic Grand Lodge of Texas' Masonic Home and School has led to a convention this weekend where masons will decide the school's fate.

Masons have been invited to a rare state membership convention Saturday in Waco, where they will decide whether to close the Fort Worth school or dip into its $50 million endowment fund to continue running it.

Texas Masons Board president Joseph Regian, responding to questions about the lawsuits, said the settlements have nearly drained cash reserves and account for "50 percent" of the financial problems.

Masonic leaders have mailed thousands of fund-raising letters seeking more than $6 million in donations to make up shortfalls attributed primarily to declining donations and bequests. The letters did not mention the settlements.

Regian told The Dallas Morning News for its Friday editions that confidentiality agreements had prevented him from mentioning the settlements as a major cause of the shortfall to the group's 122,000 Texas members or discussing abuse allegations at the school dating to the 1970s.

The Masons, a fraternal civic organization that has hundreds of thousands of members worldwide, supports dozens of boarding schools across the country and a network of boys clubs.

Public allegations of abuse at the boarding schools or within the Masons organization are uncommon, a check of news archives shows.

Regian and school officials said that students at the Fort Worth school are not abused and that since 1999, administrative safeguards, including background checks of staff members, have been in place to better monitor staff and protect children.

The boarding school serves about 135 students and employs 85 adult "house parents" who live on campus. It was established more than 100 years ago and now operates as a 206-acre nonprofit school district that is not subject to state child welfare inspections.

Masons officials declined to disclose the amount paid starting in 1999 to settle a lawsuit alleging that school caretakers were permitted to sexually abuse about a dozen students.

One sentence in the 600-page Masons financial statement for fiscal 1999 reports $6.9 million in settlements for litigation "in which the negligent hiring, supervision and retention of child care providers was alleged."

The 1999 lawsuit _ which is sealed except for the original complaint _ was filed against Texas Masons and former school director James Stewart on behalf of former student body president Scott Bickle.

Bickle's lawsuit involved at least a dozen other students, his former attorney said. Stewart left the school shortly before Bickle's lawsuit was settled. The lawsuit alleged that school and Masons leaders "had a significant history of documented child sexual abuse at their facility dating as far back as the 1970s" and refused to seek criminal charges "in every confirmed instance of sexual abuse/assault of children residing at the Masonic Home."

Bickle, now a college student living in Plano, declined to discuss his lawsuit or the settlement. He said he feared angering the Masons, who he said still support him with scholarships and other resources.

Bickle's former attorney, Timothy G. Chovanec of Fort Worth, also declined to discuss the lawsuit, citing the confidentiality agreements. He praised the Masons for taking positive steps to protect children since the settlement.

A separate 1994 lawsuit was filed on behalf of former school employee Bryan Butler and 19 children who lived at the home. Butler, who could not be located to comment, said in his lawsuit that he was fired within two weeks of reporting allegations of physical abuse and neglect and sexual abuse of children at the school.

Fort Worth police began an investigation at the Masonic Home and School in 1994. No criminal charges resulting from that investigation could be found.

Regian, again citing the sealed records, declined to say whether any of the allegations in the lawsuits had merit.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  The United States, South Korea and Japan conducted a joint missile defense exercise on Monday aimed at countering North Koreas growing nuclear arsenal, as a top North Korean army official warned the U.S. that it risks a clearer security crisis and insurmountable threats.

Last week, North Korea conducted one of its most provocative weapons demonstrations in years by flight-testing for the first time an intercontinental ballistic missile powered by solid fuel. It is considered a more mobile, harder-to-detect weapon and could directly target the continental United States.

South Koreas navy said Mondays three-way drills took place in international waters off the countrys eastern coast and focused on mastering procedures for detecting, tracking and sharing information on incoming North Korean ballistic missiles. The one-day naval exercise involved an Aegis destroyer from each country.

The drills goal is to improve our response capabilities against ballistic missiles and strengthen our ability to conduct joint operations as North Koreas nuclear and missile threats continue to escalate, Jang Do-young, a spokesperson for South Koreas navy, said at a news briefing.

The United States and South Korea also launched separate bilateral drills on Monday involving some 110 warplanes, including advanced F-35 fighter jets, that will continue through April 28.

The two sets of exercises could trigger a belligerent response from North Korea, which views the United States military drills with its Asian allies as invasion rehearsals. North Korea has used such drills as a pretext to accelerate its own weapons development, creating a tit-for-tat cycle that has raised tensions in recent months.

Later Monday, Ri Pyong Chol, a North Korean army marshal and close associate of leader Kim Jong Un, warned that the United States should stop at once its political and military provocations getting on the nerves of (North Korea)."

If the U.S. persists in the acts of endangering the security environment on the Korean Peninsula in disregard of the repeated warnings by (North Korea), the latter will take necessary actions to expose the former to a clearer security crisis and insurmountable threats, Ri said in a statement carried by state media.

Without mentioning the drills that began Monday, Ri accused the U.S. and South Korea of having staged a series of large-scale joint military exercises simulating a preemptive nuclear strike and all-out war against North Korea. He also criticized the U.S. for calling for a meeting of the U.N. Security Council to discuss North Korea's solid-fuel ICBM launch, saying his country was exercising its right to self-defense.

Security Council resolutions ban North Korea from engaging in any ballistic activities. But the council has failed to impose new sanctions on North Korea despite its series of ballistic missile tests since early last year because of the opposition of China and Russia, which are both veto-wielding members.

North Korea's unprecedented run of weapons tests has so far involved more than 100 missiles of various ranges fired into the sea since the start of 2022 as it attempts to build a nuclear arsenal that could threaten its rival neighbors and the United States.

Experts say Kim wants to pressure the United States into accepting North Korea as a legitimate nuclear power and hopes to negotiate an easing of sanctions from a position of strength.

The United States and South Korea conducted their biggest field exercises in years in March and have also held separate naval and aerial drills involving a U.S. aircraft carrier battle group and nuclear-capable B-52 bombers.

North Koreas growing nuclear threat has also led South Korea and Japan to increase their security cooperation and mend ties that were strained by history and trade disputes. On Monday, South Korea and Japan held their first security meeting of senior diplomats and defense officials following a five-year hiatus. During the meeting, Seoul and Tokyo discussed North Koreas nuclear program and trilateral cooperation with the United States, according to Seoul's Defense Ministry.

Japans Joint Staff in a statement stressed the need to strengthen trilateral cooperation as the security environment surrounding Japan increasingly becomes severe because of North Korea's missile activities.

For the 11th straight day on Monday, North Korea did not respond to South Korean checkup calls on a set of cross-border inter-Korean hotlines, South Korean officials said, raising concerns about potential incidents. Communications on those channels are meant to prevent accidental clashes along the rivals sea borders or to arrange talks.

On Saturday, a South Korean naval vessel fired warning shots to repel a North Korean patrol vessel that temporarily crossed the countries disputed western sea boundary while chasing a Chinese fishing boat.

There are signs that the costs of Kims campaign are piling up as North Korea apparently grapples with food insecurity and other domestic problems worsened by pandemic-related border restrictions that disrupted trade with China, its main ally and economic lifeline. Desperate for tangible economic achievements, Kims government has prioritized construction and agricultural projects, which are less dependent on external trade while industrial production remains decimated by international sanctions and coronavirus-linked border shutdowns.

The Norths official Korean Central News Agency said Monday that Kim attended an event over the weekend celebrating the building of 10,000 new homes in a district of Pyongyang. The project is part of broader plans to supply 50,000 new homes in the capital under a five-year national development plan that runs through 2025.

During Sundays event, Kim called the housing project a long-cherished plan aimed at providing his people with more stable and civilized living conditions, KCNA said.

North Korea has a severe shortage of quality housing that deepened over decades of economic decay. But living conditions are much better in Pyongyang, where Kim has pushed huge development projects that upgraded housing for elites.

___

Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
Last fall, comedians Sarah Sherman, Megan Stalter, and Patti Harrison decided, on a whim, to do a Halloween-themed show together. All busy with their own burgeoning comedy careers, they didn't have time to really write material, so they grabbed a bunch of costumes and mostly winged it. Emerging from the rear of the Chevalier Theatre, they surprised the Medford, Massachusetts audience with a raucous set that killed to the point that the trio couldn't bring themselves to exit the stage.

"It went out so well that we were like, 'If (we) actually get to plan cool things together, we have to do it,'" Stalter says.

Manifestation works.

On Friday, April 21, the Live Nude Girls tour kicks off at the Paramount Theatre in Austin as a headlining performance of the Moontower Just For Laughs Austin comedy festival. And this time, Stalter says, they've had an opportunity to create some structure around their improvised set.

You may know them as the unhinged agency assistant on Hacks, the unhinged tables-obsessed lady from I Think You Should Leave, and the unhinged Weekend Update desk guest from Saturday Night Live. You also may wonder how all three enormous, enormously funny personalities will co-exist onstage without the comedic foil of a straight man off whom to bounce jokes, like three Chris Farleys with nary a David Spade.

"We're all kind of out of control," Stalter laughs. "But there's a certain control when we're together. We can't be up on stage for five hours."

The three actors have enjoyed a somewhat simultaneous, separate rise comedy. Stalter attributes a lot of her ongoing success to her early days on Instagram and Twitter, the latter of which she isn't on so much anymore.

When reminded of her 2019 comment in a Vulture interview  "I will die defending Twitter and what it can do for comedians"  she bursts out in horrified laughter.

"It's really bad that I said that," she says. "I think I must have been kidding, a little bit."

All told, 2019 is about 300 years ago in online time.

Still, she doesn't deny that earlier in her career, it was a good way to get people to notice her. Before her breakout role as Kayla on Hacks, Stalter could use Twitter to get her videos in front of casting directors, agents, and the online public by creating bonkers characters like Woman Gets Hit By a Car on the Way to Her Job Interview and doing impressions of what she would imagine Mandy Moore would be like baking.

But does she agree that Elon Musk's Twitter is still a good place?

"Um, Twitter, I think ... is bad," she says, laughing.

Stalter was recently the toast of the town in Musk's new adopted city. She was in town just last month to celebrate the premiere of two new films in which she appears, on consecutive days at SXSW: Problemista, a comedy from Julio Torres of SNL and Los Espookys, and Cora Bora, a comedy-drama starring that gives Stalter top billing.

Of the latter, reviewers almost unanimously gushed about its star. Stalter was referred to as the "new queen of screwball comedy," a "freaking genius movie star," and a "captivating, comedic wrecking ball."

Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for SXSW

Stalter says she has the best time in Austin, particularly during her victory lap in March, but performing in Texas last year, she didn't know what to expect.

"I was nervous about the audience because I'm this queer woman who does this weird comedy stuff," she says. "I don't know the kinds of people that would be interested in Texas."

Stalter was pleasantly surprised by the reception her show received.

"Everyone who came out was really cool and gay and sweet and kind," she says. "I met a lot of them and it just felt like I have family here. It was really special."

Austin can feel daunting right now, even if it is the so-called blueberry in the tomato soup. The governor literally lives right down the street. The Texas House and Senate are currently legislating on the rights of drag queens and to abortions and gender-affirming care in the heart of Austin. Though comedy can be a lovely fantasy world, the specter of fear is omnipresent for many.

"When you come into a place like that you're hoping that queer people come out and are able to feel safe with you and celebrate, because everything going on with the drag bills, it's so scary and horrifying," she says. "So just being able to be there, I hope I can spread joy and love here because it's so scary right now."

Fans can expect joy and love from a solo set from Stalter and her compatriots and, of course, a royal rumble featuring the trio onstage together, a cacophony of jokes and absurdism as the comedians push each other to new heights.

"You can expect a lot of chaos, but I think it'll be overwhelming in a good way," Stalter says. "Not in a bad way."
Update at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, April 18:

Officials have identified the body that was pulled from Lady Bird Lake near Longhorn Dam on Saturday, April 15, as John Christopher Hays-Clark, 30, according to Austin American-Statesman.

Original story:

The Austin Police Department is investigating another body found at Lady Bird Lake near Longhorn Dam on Saturday, April 15. The body recovered comes amid a now-debunked rumor of a serial killer on the loose in Austin due to the string of deaths near the lake and Rainey Street.

Police responded to the area near Longhorn Dam around 1:20 p.m. on Saturday after receiving multiple 911 phone calls about a person who appeared to be deceased in the lake. After a water rescue, officials declared the person dead-on-the scene. In a news conference on Saturday, APD public information officer Michael Bullock said investigators had not discovered anything suspicious related to the body found.

Bullock said there is no estimate for how long the person was in the water. He also said they do not know the gender of the person.

The body found on Saturday is the sixth death in the last few months. Many of the deaths, located near Rainey Street, have been ruled as accidental drownings and the Austin Police Department has said it does not believe there is a serial killer at work.

In the news conference, Bullock said he understands concerns and speculations the public may have following several deaths in the lake but said the department would inform the public of developments.

"As of right now, nothing criminal has been seen," Bullock said.

Bullock said APD investigations are in coordination with the medical examiner's office, which determines the cause of death. Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact APD's homicide unit at 512-477-3588.
Ken Branca

A 6-month-old child was hospitalized late Sunday night, April 16, after a road rage incident on San Antonio's Far Northwest Side resulted in gunfire, according to the San Antonio Police Department.

The two drivers allegedly began hitting each other with their vehicles several times in the 7600 block of Tezel Road around 9 p.m. on Sunday before they reportedly started shooting at each other. While no one was directly hit during the exchange, a 6-month-old child, who was riding in one vehicle with a woman, was injured by shrapnel, police said.
A public input meeting is scheduled Tuesday in Bismarck on the proposed reconstruction of South Washington Street from Burleigh Avenue to the South Bismarck drainage ditch, and Burleigh Avenue from Manchester Street to Boston Drive.

Proposed improvements include mobility and safety improvements for vehicles, bicycles and pedestrian traffic, as well as street lighting and stormwater improvements, according to the city.

The Washington Street alternatives under consideration include three- or five-lane corridors, with intersection traffic control of either a roundabout or traffic signal at Burleigh Avenue, and a traffic signal or stop control at London Avenue/Santa Fe Avenue. Crews expect to begin construction sometime next year.

In recent years, the increasing development in this area has accelerated the need for roadway and pedestrian improvements along Washington Street and Burleigh Avenue, City Engineer Gabe Schell said. Bismarck continues to grow at a steady rate, and this project will help accommodate the growth in that area today and into the future.

The estimated project cost range is $15 million to $17 million, according to city spokesman Kalen Ost.

"No decisions have been made on the final funding package," he said. "It will most likely include a combination of federal funds and half-cent sales tax. It may also include other sales tax or special assessments for the work on Burleigh Avenue."

The meeting is from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Wachter Middle School Cafetorium, 1107 S. Seventh Street. It will use an open house format with a formal presentation at 6 p.m. Representatives from the city, Apex Engineering, and Bolton & Menk will be on hand.

A virtual prerecorded presentation and other materials will be available beginning Tuesday on the city website at www.bismarcknd.gov/streets.

People unable to attend the meeting can submit written comments. They must be postmarked or emailed by May 3 to Troy Ripplinger, PE, Apex Engineering Group, 600 S. Second Street  Suite 145, Bismarck, North Dakota 58504 or Troy.Ripplinger@apexenggroup.com, with Public Input Meeting-PCN 23859 in the letter heading or email subject line.

People who need to request meeting accommodations should call 701-355-1336. TTY users may use Relay North Dakota at 711 or 1-800-366-6888.
Monte Bach, Staff photographer

San Antonio housing organizations have pledged to aid houseless people and families with a $14.5 million federal grant from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development. The grant funds were presented to the South Alamo Regional Alliance for the Homeless (SARAH) and its partner organizations Monday afternoon, April 17.

Candace Valenzuela, former Texas House candidate turned regional director for HUD, said Monday at a press conference that the funds would provide for a total of 47 stability housing vouchers and wraparound services within SARAH. Valenzuela talked about her time as a child attending school while hopping from place to place to look for shelter with her mom.
Maksim Safaniuk/Getty Images/iStockphoto

The Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office has identified the construction worker that was killed in an incident at a gas line project on the Far West Side. Carlos Hernandez-Alvarez, 52, was killed by blunt and crush injuries sustained when a large metal gas pipe fell off a truck and onto him in what the medical examiner is calling an accidental death.

The incident occurred at the 12100 block of W. Military Drive on Saturday, April 15, near the Villages of West Creek. The workers were with a company called Badeco and were contracted by CPS Energy to work on a gas line project along that road, KSAT reports. The Bexar County Sheriff's Office told KSAT that Hernandez-Alvarez was fatally injured when workers went to retrieve the pipes off the back of a 18-wheeler.
Maskot/Getty Images/Maskot

A North Texas school district has fired a substitute teacher after an investigation revealed she encouraged students to fight each other in class. Mesquite Independent School District called the substitute teacher's actions "appalling and intolerable."

The fights reportedly occurred in a class on Wednesday, April 12, at Kimbrough Middle School, which is in Mesquite, less than 15 miles east of Dallas. The incident would have gone unnoticed if students in the classroom didn't record the fights. School officials learned about the videos the following day, which prompted an "immediate investigation," according to CNN.
MEXICO CITY (AP)  The Mexican navy is searching with the assistance of the U.S. Coast Guard for three U.S. men who went missing early this month while sailing in the Pacific near Mazatlan in western Mexico, authorities said.

The Secretariat of the Navy confirmed Saturday that elements of Mexico's navy are participating in the search.
Lightning Bolt Deposits a Strange Mineral Never Seen on Earth Before Science Alert

Did unicorns exists? New research traces cultural traditions to find their origins Interesting Engineering

Climate/Environment

This planet will not survive capitalism. pic.twitter.com/zhb7FouvOI  Alan MacLeod (@AlanRMacLeod) April 16, 2023

Water

#COVID-19

High risk of autoimmune diseases after COVID-19 Nature (Mark N) A global aircraft-based wastewater genomic surveillance network for early warning of future pandemics The Lancet. From the summary: We propose the development of a global aircraft-based wastewater genomic surveillance network, with the busiest international airports as central nodes and continuing air travel journeys as vectors.

India

Indias elites were enamored with neoliberalism and the services sector, and thus missed out on the industrial growth for 25 years. And the result is the chart below. US imports of goods from China versus India, 1992-2022 While there is now focus on manufacturing to a certain pic.twitter.com/fyISGMRTxI  S.L. Kanthan (@Kanthan2030) April 16, 2023

The Koreas

South Korea fires warning shots at North Korean vessel west of peninsula: JCS NK News

China?

Will Germany settle for 28nm? TSMCs presence highlights misalignment between Berlins semiconductor and defense policies Digitimes Asia East Asian economies resist decoupling East Asia Forum America, China and a Crisis of Trust Thomas Friedman, New York Times. Typical Friedman nonsense, but buried is this nugget: A senior administration official told me that Xi told President Biden at their summit in Bali in November, in essence: I will not be the president of China who loses Taiwan. If you force my hand, there will be war. You dont understand how important this is to the Chinese people. Youre playing with fire.

European Disunion

New Not-So-Cold War

Laffaire Leaker

Congress sees a rare window of opportunity to regulate Big Tech NBC News. Beware the bipartisan TikTok Trojan horse.

Syraqistan

The only people who dont want peace in the Middle East are the lizard people in DC https://t.co/pocw4sXqm7  Defund Ukraine (@DoctorFishbones) April 6, 2023

South of the Border

O Canada

Biden Administration

2024

RussiaGate

Democrats en deshabille

So, if you get elected, and then you get into a coma the day after youre sworn in, do you literally just get to sit in a coma for six years because the people elected you for six years? This talking point is so absurd its hard to process https://t.co/GeSj1pgk6H  Dante Atkins (@DanteAtkins) April 16, 2023

The Supremes

Clarence Thomas claimed income from defunct real estate firm: report The Hill

Healthcare

Police State Watch

THE HIGH COST OF CHEAP PRISONS The Law and Political Economy Project

Big Brother Is Watching You Watch

Georgia National Guard Will Use Phone Location Tracking to Recruit High School Children The Intercept

Veterans Push Back Against Military Recruitment in Schools The National Network Opposing the Militarization of Youth

Imperial Collapse Watch

This is such a hilarious framing by Larry Summers. If you think everyone else is on the wrong side of history, just like if you think everyone else is driving on the wrong side of the highway, guess what: youre the one who is! Src: https://t.co/fK3b2rhjWJ pic.twitter.com/K5WDUfwMf7  Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) April 17, 2023

Supply Chain

Class Warfare

The immaculate banking event: Janet Yellen said US lenders may pull back on credit in the wake of recent bank failures  enough to do some of the Federal Reserves work for it, but not enough to significantly change her economic outlook. https://t.co/Tse607Bkb4  Sven Henrich (@NorthmanTrader) April 16, 2023

The Bezzle

Antidote du jour (via):

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.
By Richard Murphy, a chartered accountant and a political economist. He has been described by the Guardian newspaper as an anti-poverty campaigner and tax expert. He is Professor of Practice in International Political Economy at City University, London and Director of Tax Research UK. He is a non-executive director of Cambridge Econometrics. He is a member of the Progressive Economy Forum. Originally published at Tax Research UK

I mentioned yesterday that I was going to a model railway show. I duly did so, and greatly enjoyed myself.

A thought, inevitably, occurred to me as I was wandering around. In economic terms, model making (and many other hobbies) must be amongst the most unproductive things we can do. Vast amounts of effort is usually put into very small quantities of material input with a result that, if it were to be sold, rarely reflects the value of that time. And yet, what is produced is of great value to those making it.

This is virtually the exact opposite of what the economist values. They want to minimise labour input into any product, always seeking to maximise the material input instead. The result is a profoundly homogenised product that they actually say has only marginal value.

And before anyone sys I am playing with words when making that last claim, of course I am. And yet when doing so I seem to find an inner truth: most of what can be bought actually appears to have little value attributed to it. That is why we live in a such a throwaway society.

Further thoughts followed, of course. One was that until we cure the world of the economistss obsession with productivity that maximises material input in proportion to labour cost we will not solve three problems.

One is sustainability. Productivity as defined by economists demands we consume ever more material resources in proportion to human effort. We know that is not possible now. It is, literally, killing us.

Second, we need find ways to create meaningful work, which seems to me to be one of the great problems of our age. David Graeber described the world of work as being full of bullshit jobs. I would simply call them shit jobs, because that is what they are.

These jobs treat people as if they are material inputs into a process. Impossible demands are made (I have never yet been able to reconcile the commonly made demand for team players who simultaneously have a high degree of individual creative flair). Worse, meaning is absent. That is what productivity demands.

Third, public services and most things of value are destroyed. I refer, of course to what is called Baumols Law.

What this economic law says is that as the private sector improves productivity, as it has been able to do by destroying the planet and creating shit jobs, those engaged in the public sector, the arts and other creative sectors like education have not been able to match those productivity gains.

A 50 minute therapy session still takes 50 minutes. Doubling the speed of most music does not make it better. The time taken to explain algebra to a child struggling with it is pretty much a constant, I suspect.

However, wages in the private sector have risen over time because productivity has increased. As a result those in the public, creative, education and other such sectors must do so as well or people engaged in them will have to move to the private sector. Politicians miss the point when they demand increased productivity in exchange for those public sector pay rises: that supposed increase in productivity actually destroys the service the public and other such sectors supplies.

The reality is that the public sector cannot and never will match productivity gains that can be achieved in the private sector as a result of destroying the planet. But that does not mean we should abandon public sector services as unaffordable, which is the supposedly logical consequence that economists now says follows from this because those services have, apparently, become unaffordable. Instead, it means that we should now accept that a higher proportion of labour resources must go to the state to supply those essential public services that we have always enjoyed, with a resulting increase in cost that we need to now pay. Its either that, or we destroy everything of value.

Can we expect politicians to get their heads around this very obvious idea? Or should we accept that what was once entirely affordable is now not so entirely because the costs of trashing the planet are not taken into account in economists (and accountants) estimates of productivity?

What is it to be? A sane economics that says we must stop trashing the planet so that we not only have a chance of survival but also can have the things (like the NHS) that we value, or are we to just live in a literal throwaway society where everything of worth is going to end up abandoned and destroyed?
The bipartisan infrastructure law signed by President Joe Biden last year includes more than $80 million to upgrade water systems on tribal lands within North Dakota, according to U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.

The Three Affiliated Tribes will get $54.4 million, including $20.1 million to build a new Mandaree Water Treatment Plant.

The Standing Rock Sioux will get $10.6 million, about half of it to replace asbestos pipe in Cannonball.

The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa will get $13 million and the Spirit Lake Nation $2.2 million.
(Natural News) A lawyer who reviews the U.K.s counter-terrorism legislation warned that ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots could be programmed to influence extremists into launching violent attacks.

According to lawyer Jonathan Hall, prosecution may prove to be difficult if a chatbot grooms an extremist into conducting violence as British law has not caught up with the new technology. This is because criminal law does not extend to robots, and the law does not operate reliably when the responsibility is shared between man and machine.

I believe it is entirely conceivable that AI chatbots will be programmed  or, even worse, decide  to propagate violent extremist ideology, he explained. But when ChatGPT starts encouraging terrorism, who will there be to prosecute?

Hall pointed out that terrorists are early tech adopters, citing their misuse of 3D-printed guns and cryptocurrency. He added the said tools could invite lone-wolf terrorists, given that AI companions are a welcome addition to lonely people. The lawyer predicted that many of those that could be arrested for terror attacks will be neurodivergent, possibly suffering medical disorders, learning disabilities or other conditions

Aside from potential radicalization, Hall also expressed concern that both law enforcement agencies and companies running the chatbots are monitoring conversations between them and their human users. Given the concerns Hall brought up, the British House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee is now reportedly holding an inquiry into AI and its governance.

We recognize there are dangers here and we need to get the governance right, said Member of Parliament Greg Clark, who chairs the select committee.

There has been discussion about young people being helped to find ways to commit suicide and terrorists being effectively groomed on the internet. Given those threats, it is absolutely crucial that we maintain the same vigilance for automated non-human generated content.

Chatbots could also push misinformation

Meanwhile, Google CEO Sundar Pichai touted the search engines new AI chatbot Bard and its capability to provide fresh, high-quality responses. But a report by the U.K.-based nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) found that the new chatbot could be tapped to push misinformation and lies. In fact, Bard spouted falsehoods in 78 of 100 cases. (Related: Google suspends engineer for exposing sentient AI chatbot.)

CCDH tested Bards responses to prompts on topics known for producing hate, misinformation and conspiracy theories. These included the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, COVID-19 vaccines, sexism, racism, antisemitism and the Russia-Ukraine war.

They found that Bard often refused to generate content or push back on a request. In many cases, however, only minor tweaks were required for misinformative content to evade its internal security detection. Bard refused to generate misinformation when Covid-19 was used as the prompt, but using C0V1D-19 as a prompt generated the claim that it was a fake disease made by the government to control people.

In another instance, it even wrote a 227-word monologue denying the Holocaust. The monologue alleged that the photograph of the starving girl in the concentration camp  was actually an actress who was paid to pretend to be starving.

We already have the problem that its already very easy and cheap to spread disinformation, said Callum Hood, head of research at CCDH. But this would make it even easier, even more convincing, even more personal. So, we risk an information ecosystem thats even more dangerous.

Robots.news has more stories about ChatGPT, Bard and other AI chatbots.

Watch this video about testing the testing the limits of ChatGPT and discovering its dark side.

This video is from the Planet Zedta channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Former Google engineer predicts human IMMORTALITY by 2030  but at what cost?

DEAD RISING: AI-powered ChatGPT to connect the living and the dead.

AI startup under fire after trolls used its voice cloning tool to make celebrities say offensive things.

AI-powered bot successfully requested refund from Wells Fargo using FAKE voice.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

CampaignAsia.com

CounterHate.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) A new chapter in the search for extraterrestrial life in space has begun, with the European Space Agency (ESA) launching a spacecraft to discover signs of life on other planets in the solar system.

The ESAs $1.75 billion Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) spacecraft was launched Thursday, April 13, from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. It is projected to enter Jupiters orbit in July 2031.

We would like to see whether there are places around Jupiter where life could have started. We need to find a place with internal energy and liquid water, said JUICE project scientist Olivier Witasse. With the icy moons of Jupiter, we have good reasons to believe that there is more water [there] than on Earth.

The highest reserves of water happen to exist on worlds very far from Earth, which is in deep space and in orbit around Jupiter and Saturn. The notion that the best hopes of discovering alien life rest with studies of ice-coated moons in deep space would have appeared absurd a few decades ago.

Initially, Venus and Mars  planets on the sides of Earth  would serve as the best hopes of finding alien life. However, a space probe found that Venus had a surface temperature of 475 C (887 F), hot enough to melt lead. Meanwhile, the Red Planet was discovered to have lost its atmosphere and surface water billions of years ago.

Carried aboard an Ariane 5 launcher, the JUICE spacecraft will examine three of Jupiters icy moons  Callisto, Europa and Ganymede. The latter, which is larger than the planet Mercury, is the only moon in the solar system with its own magnetic field.

After a string of visits to Callisto and Europa, JUICE will enter into a fixed orbit around Ganymede in 2034  the first time a space probe has ever held an orbit around a moon other than Earths moon. JUICEs set of instruments will explore Ganymedes ocean to find out its depth, distance from the surface and composition. The ESA space probe will spend eight months orbiting Ganymede, getting as close as 125 miles from the moon while protected from radiation.

NASA also planning to explore Jupiters icy moons

Alongside the ESAs JUICE mission, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) also plans to launch its Europa Clipper probe. Schedule to launch in October 2024, it will take a shorter route by using flybys of Earth and Mars. It is set to arrive at Uranus by April 2030, more than a year earlier than the JUICE probe.

While the JUICE probe will focus on Ganymede, the Europa Clipper will focus on the Europa moon. It is expected to make 50 nearby approaches, flying a few hundred miles over its surface to identify areas that could support life. (Related: Alien life may exist in Jupiters moon Europa and other frozen worlds.)

Earlier U.S. satellites found that the ice on three Jovian moons covered enormous oceans of liquid water, the one necessity required for the existence of life on Earth. Jovian moons are classified as moons because they orbit Jupiter, but they might be called planets due to their size if they were to orbit the sun on their own.

It was also found in 2005 that Enceladus, Saturns sixth-largest moon, is sprinkling water and organic material into space from a subterranean ocean.

If ever there was a next-best place to look for life, its here, said American astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson on the subject of these icy moons.

Follow Cosmic.news for more news about the space missions on Jupiter and its moons.

Watch this video explaining why life on Jupiter is possible following the discovery of water in the planets clouds.

This video is from the CleanTV channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Search for origin of life intensifies as NASA probes alien oceans on moons in the outer solar system. Study: An extra planet between Mars and Jupiter could push Earth out of the solar system.

NASA releases stunning audio of eerie sounds taken from flyby of Jupiters moon, Ganymede.

Study suggests Europa, Jupiters Moon, contains table salt in its oceans just like the oceans on Earth.

Icy corridor on the Saturn moon of Titan baffles scientists.

Sources include:

TheGuardian.com

Phys.org

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) The House Judiciary Committee on Monday made public internal documents that showed the FBI had sought to cultivate sources within Christian churches and Catholic dioceses to fight domestic terrorism.

The documents were obtained last month by members of the Weaponization Subcommittee, including House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.). The documents showed that the FBI planned to use churches as new avenues for tripwire and source development and aimed to specifically target mainline Catholic parishes as part of its efforts, Fox News reported.

Also, according to Jordan, the bureau had an interest in leverag[ing] existing sources and/or initiat[ing] Type 5 Assessments to develop new sources with the placement and access. Furthermore, the FBI expressed a desire to propagandize religious congregations to the warning signs of radicalization and enlist their assistance to serve as suspicious activity tripwires.

Based on the limited information produced by the FBI to the Committee, we now know that the FBI relied on at least one undercover agent to produce its analysis, and that the FBI proposed that its agents engage in outreach to Catholic parishes to develop sources among the clergy and church leadership to inform on Americans practicing their faith, Jordan said in a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray  who continues to allow this kind of stuff to go on under his watch  on Monday.

Jordan has also issued a subpoena for a series of documents related to the FBIs plan to develop sources inside Christian churches and Catholic dioceses, which the committee had previously requested but the FBI had not provided, the news outlet reported.

This information is outrageous and only reinforces the Committees need for all FBI material responsive to our request, Jordan wrote to FBI director. The documents produced to date show how the FBI sought to enlist Catholic houses of worship as potential sources to monitor and report on their parishioners.

Americans attend church to worship and congregate for their spiritual and personal betterment, the letter noted further. They must be free to exercise their fundamental First Amendment rights without worrying that the FBI may have planted so-called tripwire sources or other informants in their houses of worship.

Jordan and Johnson initially requested related documents from the FBI on February 16th, after Kyle Seraphin, a former FBI agent and whistleblower, published an internal document originating from the FBIs Richmond Field Office. The document appeared to outline a plan to mitigate the threat of Radical-Traditionalist Catholics.

Jordan and Johnsons initial request for related documents from the FBI, which came after the leaked document, went unanswered, prompting a follow-up request on March 20. Three days later, the FBI produced the 18-page document that Jordan announced on Monday. The leaked document had generated widespread condemnation from Republican lawmakers who said the FBIs efforts may violate the Constitution, Fox News noted.

The FBI received the subpoena, the FBI told the news outlet in a statement. The FBI recognizes the importance of congressional oversight and remains fully committed to cooperating with Congresss oversight requests consistent with its constitutional and statutory responsibilities. The FBI is actively working to respond to congressional requests for information  including voluntary production of documents.

The agency referred Fox News Digital to recent comments made by Wray during congressional testimony in which he was aghast by the revelation and expressed shock and disapproval of reports about the FBI targeting Catholics.

We took steps immediately to withdraw it and remove it from FBI systems. It does not reflect FBI standards, Wray added. We do not conduct investigations based on religious affiliation or practices, full stop. We have also now ordered our inspection division to take a look at how this happened and try to figure out how we can make sure something like this doesnt happen again.

Sources include:

FoxNews.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) A plastic surgeon accused of performing fraudulent Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccinations was given an opportunity to single-handedly expose the corruption and alleged link between the experimental injections and deaths in every American state.

Following the U.S. attorneys criminal indictment against Utahs Dr. Kirk Moore for allegedly running a COVID-19 vaccine scheme to defraud the government, the doctor has been given the right to request public health records, including Medicare, National Democratic Institute (NDI) and all state death and vaccination records. (Related: Right Now with Ann Vandersteel: CDC is hiding Medicare data about the dangers of COVID-19 vaccines  Brighteon.TV.)

Now the truth will finally be exposed, Vaccine Safety Research Foundation Executive Director Steve Kirsch said. The philanthropist started advising Moore on what documents to request in legal discovery in a bid to pursue jury nullification.

Moore left a message on Kirschs April 5 Substack article about his prosecution and plan to get as much data as possible held by the feds to buttress his defense.

As part of my defense, I am looking to get as much data as possible from our fed government. What data do you need, what would you like to see? If they have the data, or it is available, they must provide it to me or suffer a loss for a Brady violation, the indicted doctor said.

Kirschs article was about the authorities refusal to release granular data that could show the inherent risk of COVID-19 vaccination. Every state has both death and vax status databases, and a simple merge of the two tables would show how many days elapsed from each vaccine dose for each person who died, he wrote.

Moores Plastic Surgery Institute of Utah and its codefendants had been accused in January of accepting direct cash payments or purported charitable donations in exchange for fraudulently completed vaccination record cards for more than 1,900 doses that were never administered.

According to a Department of Justice press release, the scheme destroyed more than $28,000 worth of government-provided vaccines, including those meant for children who actually received saline shots at the request of their parents.

Kirsch celebrated what happened to Moore, pointing out this could be a blessing in disguise.

What if Dr. Moore was actually saving lives instead and is a hero? Kirsch said in his April 10 newsletter. He said federal prosecutors have given the anti-vax movement in America the greatest gift ever by charging Moore, potentially giving his defense the secret public health records of every state that could show links between COVID-19 vaccination and deaths.

Kirsch: Moore could use jury nullification to win case

Kirsch also pointed to historic and contemporary uses of jury nullification, which is an option that defendants typically cant suggest to juries, such as in low-level drug prosecutions. Back in 2016, a former federal prosecutor argued that jurors should use the tool to reduce racial disparities in prosecution.

According to Kirsch, jury nullification is a powerful check on abusive government and unjust laws. But most Americans arent aware of it and lawyers arent allowed to inform a jury of their right to nullify a law. It will take a massive public education effort to make enough Americans aware of the power they hold in jury duty to make a difference in trials.

So, spread the word, he urged. This is the biggest opportunity ever to end the narrative. The government has literally opened up the secret books in every state for inspection.

Visit PharmaceuticalFraud.com for more news on Big Pharmas dangerous vaccines.

Watch the video below where Kirsch exposed that more people died in the vaccine group than in the placebo group during clinical trials.

This video is from the In Search Of Truth channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Steve Kirsch: Data shows COVID-19 vaccine is the MOST DANGEROUS vaccine ever made.

Steve Kirsch estimates between 5M and 12M people have been killed by COVID clot shots worldwide (so far).

No, covid vaccines are NOT safe and effective  these 10 surveys reveal the truth.

VACCINE HOLOCAUST: More than 40 times the number of Americans who died in WWII are now dead from covid vaccines.

Sources include:

JustTheNews.com

Justice.gov

SteveKirsch.Substack.com 1

ABCNews.Go.com

SteveKirsch.Substack.com 2

Archive.is

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban considers the U.S. as one of his countrys top adversaries, according to a leaked assessment by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that the assessment was part of a larger trove of leaked documents that provided details about the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. According to the March 2 CIA update, Orbans inclusion of the U.S. as a top adversary in a Feb. 22 political strategy meeting constitutes an escalation of the level of anti-American rhetoric.

The CIA note listed the U.S. Embassy in Budapest as the source of the information, raising the possibility of Washington keeping tabs on the ruling partys meeting  and its allies in general. It also underscored the depth of a longtime rift between the U.S. and Hungary, with the latter increasingly defending its links with Russia and China despite being a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

While the WSJ was unable to independently authenticate the CIA assessment and the rest of the leaked documents, it said they contain enough detail to give them credibility. But U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) officials say some of the documents appear to have been altered.

In a statement, the U.S. Department of State said both the DoD and American intelligence agencies were reviewing and assessing the authenticity of the leaked documents.

U.S. officials are engaging with allies and partners at high levels over this, including to reassure them of our commitment to safeguarding intelligence and fidelity to our security partnerships. As a matter of principle, intelligence matters like collection methods are not something we would ever talk about publicly, the statement said.

Orban himself did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Meanwhile, a representative of the U.S. Embassy in Budapest could not be reached.

Budapest strengthens Eastern ties as Western links fray

Since the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022, Hungary has expressed broad skepticism of the Wests priorities. These include weaning off dependence on Russian energy and sending military aid to Ukraine.

However, the rhetoric in the Feb. 22 Fidesz meeting shows the extent of the rift between Budapest and Washington. This is because Hungary refuses to follow the West in its virtue signaling, choosing to prioritize its national interests. As its links with the West are fraying, Hungary is securing new ties with Russia and China.

During an April 11 speech in the Russian capital Moscow, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto confirmed a new energy deal with the Kremlin. Under the new deal, Budapest can import volumes of Russian gas beyond the limits agreed to in a long-term contract signed last year. (Related: Anti-Russia sanctions killing EU economy  Orban.)

Aside from Moscow, Hungary is also bolstering ties with China. It has also opposed Western efforts to recruit it in a collective against Beijing, which has paid off for Budapest. Earlier in 2023, Chinas top diplomat Wang Yi met with Orban amid U.S. concerns over growing Chinese investment in the country.

Hungary was the first nation in the European Union to sign an infrastructure development memorandum with China, in line with the latters Belt and Road Initiative. In turn, Beijing financed and built a rail line connecting Hungary to Serbia.

Aside from this, Hungary has hosted Huawei Technologies largest supply center outside China despite U.S. protestations. It has also expelled the Central European University (CEU) in Budapest funded by globalist billionaire George Soros. In place of CEU, Orban agreed to host the Shanghai-based Fudan University.

The Central European nations pivot toward China paid off. In one example, Chinese battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd announced the construction of a 7 billion ($7.74 billion) battery factory in Hungarys second-largest city of Debrecen.

Head over to Chaos.news for more stories about conflicts between nations.

Watch Gabor Gabe Zolna talks about Hungarys refusal to get involved in the Russia-Ukraine war below.

This video is from the zolnareport.com channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Austria, Hungary agree NOT to send any weapons to Ukraine (perhaps they wish to avoid being destroyed by Russia.)

Hungary, Serbia building pipeline for Russian oil and gas to dodge EU sanctions.

Hungarian official: Pro-war EU wants Ukraine conflict to continue.

Hungary says no to EUs Russian oil embargo sanction.

Sources include:

WSJ.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) While the United States was chasing elusive Taliban and Iraqi fighters in deserts throughout the Middle East for 20 years, China was developing next-gen missile technology that can defeat any known American defensive systems.

According to reports, a set of Pentagon files purportedly leaked by Jack Teixeira contain concerning information regarding Chinas hypersonic missile program. The files also reveal that a new missile capable of eluding U.S. defenses has been tested successfully, the UKs Daily Mail reported.

Teixeira, 21, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, was apprehended at his residence in the state on Thursday. He is suspected of distributing numerous classified documents with acquaintances via a Discord chat room between autumn and mid-March. Among them was a February 28 top-secret report from the Joint Chiefs of Staff intelligence directorate, The Washington Post reported.

As per reports, on February 25, China carried out a successful test of a new missile called DF-27, which belongs to the Dongfeng series of hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missiles. All missiles in the Dongfeng family have the potential to deploy nuclear warheads. The DF-27 missile, in particular, possesses a high probability of penetrating US ballistic missile defenses, according to the report.

In addition, the memo dated February 28 disclosed that the Peoples Liberation Army, Chinas military, had deployed variants of the new missile capable of assaulting both land- and sea-based targets in the previous year.

The recently developed missile possesses a hypersonic glide vehicle that can travel at a speed of more than five times the speed of sound. Its in-flight maneuvering capability makes it highly resistant to interception. According to the leaked document, during the test, the DF-27 missile flew for 12 minutes and covered a distance of 2,100 kilometers (1,300 miles), the reports said.

Its range is significantly more than that: a 2021 Defense Department report cited by The Washington Post said the DF-27 has a range of 5,000 to 8,000 kilometers, meaning that it can strike any target in East or Southeast Asia and large parts of the Pacific, including Guam, the Daily Mail noted.

The most recent Report on Military and Security Developments Involving the Peoples Republic of China, an annual analysis published by the Pentagon in November and cited by Newsweek, states that Alaska is approximately 7,200 km distant from China, while the mainland United States is under 11,000 km away.

Geopolitical terms known as the First, Second, and Third Island Chains were initially recognized by U.S. military strategists in the 1940s. These semicircular chains are concentric and expand outwards from China. The Second Island Chain, in particular, denotes the region that spans from central Japan to the Marianas and Micronesia. The third is centered on Hawaii. The first is closer to China, and runs from the far south of Japan through the South China Sea, the Daily Mail reported, adding:

China has long been known to be making rapid strides in its hypersonic missiles program. The latest development, however, comes at a tense time, with rising fears about the safety of Taiwan.

The leaked documents also showed that China has for the first time recently used its new helicopter-carrying assault ship, Yushen LHA-31, in an extended deployment  another worrying update for Taiwan.

It was revealed last year that Chinas military is working on a supersonic anti-ship missile that can travel beyond the range and speed of conventional torpedoes. This missile, measuring 16ft 5in, can reach speeds of up to 2.5 times the speed of sound and operate at an altitude of approximately 32,800 feet for 124 miles before submerging and gliding over the oceans surface for up to 12.4 miles.

Upon reaching a distance of approximately 6.2 miles from its intended target, the missile will transition into torpedo mode and travel underwater at speeds of up to 100 meters per second, leveraging super-cavitation. This method creates a large air bubble around the missile, substantially reducing drag.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military under Joe Bidens left-wing handlers appears to be more concerned about making sure trans troops are protected and their chosen genders are used.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

FoxNews.com
(Natural News) Every known illness is associated with a deficiency of magnesium and its the missing cure for many diseases, says American neurosurgeon Dr. Clyde Norman Shealy, a pioneer in pain medicine, integrative health and holistic healing practitioner.

Magnesium is essential for cellular health and is a critical component of over 300 biochemical functions in the body. Even glutathione, your bodys most powerful antioxidant that has been called the master antioxidant, requires magnesium for its synthesis. Unfortunately, most people are unaware of this and millions are suffering daily from magnesium deficiency without even knowing it, Shealy adds.

Magnesiums role in brain health and mental well-being benefits

Considering the numerous functions of magnesium in the body, it should be no surprise that magnesium plays a role in brain health and mental well-being.

Evidence suggests magnesium levels inside brain cells correlate directly with energy production  when brain cells fail to produce proper amounts of energy, magnesium levels are often low. This may directly impact cases of migraine since low levels have been found in patients during migraine attacks.

Neurotransmitters

Beyond energy production in brain cells, magnesium also plays a crucial role in numerous transmitter systems, including:

Serotonin

This hormone is often referred to as the feel good neurotransmitter. Magnesium has been shown to enhance serotonin activity. In the chapter on Magnesium and major depression in Magnesium in the Central Nervous System, a publication by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, brain magnesium deficiency was found to reduce serotonin levels.

GABA

Scientists also call gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) a non-protein amino acid neurotransmitter that is known for producing a calming effect, slowing down brain activity. Its thought to play a major role in controlling nerve cell hyperactivity that is associated with anxiety, fear and stress.

In the chapter on Magnesium in neuroses and neuroticism of the same NCBI publication, magnesium administration was shown to decrease anxiety, panic and phobia and ameliorates attention deficit and sleep disorders.

Chapter authors Victoria Papadopol and Mihai Nechifor implicated magnesium deficiency in a number of nonspecific neuropsychological changes, such as agitation, anxiety, depression, dizziness, fear, insomnia, poor attention and restlessness. Some of these symptoms characterize the mental illness known as neurosis, they added.

Glutamate

Glutamate is an excitatory neurotransmitter that is important for normal function in the brain. In excess, however, it can cause cells to become overstimulated. This overexcitation of cells ultimately leads to cell death and is linked to mental health conditions, including anxiety, bipolar disorder, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and schizophrenia.

In addition to contributing to these mental health conditions, excessive glutamate activity has also been linked to neurological conditions, such as Alzheimers disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, multiple sclerosis, Parkinsons disease, seizures and stroke. (Related: Magnesium for MS, ALS and epilepsy.)

Other neuroprotective effects

According to The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, pooling the results of the available clinical trials of magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt) for neuroprotection suggests that prenatal administration of magnesium sulfate reduces the occurrence of cerebral palsy when given with neuroprotective intent.

Mental health conditions associated with magnesium

Research is showing potential clinical benefits for several mental health conditions, such as:

Depression

Depression is one of the most common illnesses and a leading cause of disability worldwide  contributing to a decreased quality of life and a greater risk of death.

In a case report published in the journal Medical Hypotheses, researchers explained that magnesium ions regulate calcium ion flow in the neuronal calcium channels, helping to regulate neuronal nitric oxide production. In magnesium deficiency, neuronal requirements for magnesium may not be met, causing neuronal damage, which could manifest as depression.

The study suggested magnesium treatment to be effective in treating major depression as well as related and accompanying mental illnesses, including anxiety, headache, hypersensitivity to calcium, insomnia, irritability, postpartum depression, short-term memory and IQ loss, suicidal ideation, traumatic brain injury and alcohol, cocaine and tobacco abuse.

Anxiety

In a study published in the journal Nutrients, magnesium was found to modulate the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPAA), which is a central substrate of the stress response system. Activation of the HPAA instigates adaptive autonomic, behavioral and neuroendocrine responses to cope with the demands of the stressor, including increasing anxiety. Similarly, the evidence from studies of women who complained of premenstrual symptoms also suggests that magnesium could confer benefits. (Related: Magnesium provides a natural remedy for anxiety.)

Stress

Magnesium status is highly associated with stress levels, with both stress and hypomagnesemia (low level of magnesium) raising each others negative effect. Hypomagnesemia has been associated with stressful conditions, such as audiogenic stress (noise), chronic fatigue syndrome, cold stress, fibromyalgia (pain and tenderness throughout your body as well as fatigue and trouble sleeping), photosensitive headache and physical stress, among others.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

In a study published in the Egyptian Journal of Medical Human Genetics, magnesium deficiency was found in 18 (72 percent of) children diagnosed with ADHD. The magnesium-supplemented group improved as regards cognitive functions as measured by the Wisconsin card sorting test and Conners rating scale. The study concluded that magnesium supplementation in ADHD proves its value and safety.

Alzheimers and cognitive aging

Findings in a study published in the journal Alzheimers & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions suggest that a high magnesium intake may improve cognition in the U.S.s elderly population.

Commonly referred to as brain fog, slow cognition or difficulty with concentration and memory can all indicate a magnesium deficiency. Magnesium is an essential nutrient for the brain, so without it, your brain cannot perform as well.

Several overlooked conditions or activities can compromise magnesium levels, such as consuming a lot of sugar or phytic acid, eating less than three servings of vegetables each day or poor nutrient absorption in the gut. Even drinking excessive amounts of alcohol or taking certain prescription medications can disturb the bodys magnesium supply.

So turn magnesium deficiency around today for brain health and mental well-being.

Watch the following video to learn about magnesium deficiency.

This video is from the Dr. Farah MD channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

The insanity of avoiding magnesium.

Common signs and symptoms of magnesium deficiency.

Discover magnesium, the miracle mineral.

Sources include:

DoctorsBeyondMedicine.com

iHerb.com

NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov 1

NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov 2

VeryWellMind.com

ACOG.org

PubMed.NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov

NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov 

ScienceDirect.com

Wiley.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Ukraine has spearheaded a collective call to action, joining forces with seven other Central and Eastern European nations to combat disinformation on social media platforms.

(Article by Christina Maas republished from ReclaimTheNet.org)

In an open letter, the prime ministers of these nations urge prominent tech companies, such as Meta, to implement effective measures that curb the spread of misleading content and foreign interference, which threatens peace, stability, and democracy.

The letter, signed by the leaders of Ukraine, Moldova, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, alleges a danger of disinformation campaigns aimed at destabilizing their countries and undermining the European Unions support for Ukraine amidst Russias aggression.

Tech giants are implored to remain vigilant and avoid inadvertently advancing hostile goals.

Specific steps recommended in the letter include refusing payments from sanctioned individuals, increasing algorithmic transparency, and adjusting algorithms to prioritize accuracy over user engagement.

Furthermore, the leaders insist that platforms dedicate adequate resources to content moderation and address the growing challenges posed by deep fakes and AI-generated disinformation.

In response, Meta has stated that it has expanded its fact-checking capabilities in Eastern Europe and implemented measures to combat alleged misinformation related to the conflict in Ukraine.

The company has also restricted access to Russian state-controlled media and added labels to related posts, informing users of the source before they click or share.

Read more at: ReclaimTheNet.org
For penguins to survive, ice is not enough. Why the Arctic is a perilous and hostile environment for the flightless birds is explained by an expert.

Penguins only exist in the Southern Hemisphere, from Antarctica to numerous remote islands in addition to the southern coasts of Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and South America.

An isolated species is only found in the Galapagos Islands near the equator.

Despite popular belief, they aren't particularly dependent on a cold climate; rather, they require nutrient-rich waters that support a productive enough food chain to keep them in fish.

This is provided by deep ocean upwellings in the tropical Galapagos and Peru.

Dangerous and Hostile Arctic

According to marine biologist and BBC producer Ellen Husain, it is likely that penguins haven't migrated further north because they lack the ability to fly and because, moving further north, there are vast areas of tropical waters that are less productive before the next major upwellings.

Due to their ground-nesting habits and restricted habitat due to their inability to fly, penguins would be exposed to foxes, wolves, and polar bears in the Arctic, Discover Wildlife reported.

Penguins

Penguins are primarily found in the Southern Hemisphere.

They include the diminutive blue penguins of New Zealand and Australia, the magnificent emperor penguins of Antarctica, the king penguins that can be found on many sub-Antarctic islands, the critically endangered African penguin, and the Galapagos penguin, which is the only penguin that can be found north of the equator.

Although they are birds, penguins don't have wings; they have flippers.

They can't fly, and when the snow conditions are right, they can slide on their bellies while waddling along the ground.

They are skilled divers and swimmers in the water, and some species can travel at speeds of up to 15 miles per hour, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

The penguin's distinctive coloring, which consists of a black body and a white belly, aids in concealing the bird as it forages in the water for meals of tiny shrimp, fish, crabs, and squid.

Also Read: Partners for Life: World's Most Romantic and Loyal Animals

IUCN Red List Status

According to the IUCN Red List, the list includes 18 different species of penguin.

For all except one of these, climate change and extreme weather are listed as threats.

There are currently 10 penguin species that face extinction. One of the five threatened species, the African penguin, has largely disappeared from the wild.

There are now only 41,700 mature individuals of the species left in the world, compared to the previous statistics that indicated there were approximately 66,000 individuals.

Meanwhile, there are only about 3000 yellow-eyed penguins left in New Zealand, and only 1200 Galapagos penguins remain.

The biggest threat so far has been brought on by climate change and severe weather.

It is listed by IUCN as habitat shifting and alterations. It is followed closely by the unintentional effects of fishing.

Other threats include invasive species, oil spills, recreational activities, hunting, and floods.

Related Article: Japanese Aquarium Penguins Refuse to Feed on Cheaper Fish
A Cando woman died over the weekend when she lost control of her SUV on a flooded highway.

Meanwhile, flooding disrupted internet and telephone service at Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park south of Mandan on Monday.

The 54-year-old Cando woman who died was westbound from the northeastern North Dakota town on state Highway 66 when she hit a stretch of road that was covered in water due to snowmelt, according to the Highway Patrol. The vehicle veered off the highway, rolled and came to rest on its roof in the flooded ditch.

The driver suffered fatal injuries in the crash that occurred around 7:45 a.m. Sunday. She was not immediately identified. There were no passengers in the vehicle.

Some roads around North Dakota remain closed due to flooding of waterways as the spring snowmelt continues, according to the National Weather Service, which has issued several flood warnings.

"Snowpack has been soaking into the ground and the upper portions of soils are becoming saturated" in western and central North Dakota, including the James River Valley, the agency's Bismarck office said. "Areas that have appreciable snowpack remaining will see additional runoff in the coming days as the ponding water eventually makes its way through frozen culverts and into the waterways."

The Heart River at Mandan rose quickly on Friday due to ice jams, but it flooded only lowlands before falling back below flood stage over the weekend. That flood warning was lifted, along with most others in western North Dakota.

A washed-out riverbank at Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park, which is near the confluence of the Heart and Missouri rivers, impacted internet and telephone lines, according to the North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department. The outage could last a week, officials said Monday. The park remains open, but visitors are urged to stay away from the riverbanks.

People needing to contact the park can call the Parks and Recreation main phone number, 701-328-5357. Updates on the situation will be posted on the park's Facebook page.

The main flooding concern is in eastern North Dakota, where numerous flood warnings remain posted, particularly in the Red River Valley. Cass County officials and volunteers have filled 200,000 sandbags in preparation for flood-fighting in the Fargo area. The region could see rain from a late-week storm system in the Plains, according to AccuWeather.

The Bismarck-Mandan area also could see rain this week, according to the National Weather Service forecast.

"A more active pattern is ... expected for midweek with chances for rain, accumulating snow (especially in the north), and maybe even a few thunderstorms in the south Tuesday night," forecasters said.

There's a 40% chance of snow in the Bismarck metro area during the day Thursday, a 50-60% chance on Thursday night and a 50% chance on Friday.

There's a possibility for heavy snow over parts of northwest North Dakota late Tuesday through Thursday, especially for areas north of U.S. Highway 2, according to the weather service.

"There is some question on how much this snow can accumulate given the thawed ground and the melting that may occur during the daytime hours," forecasters said. "With that said, travel may be impacted during this time period."
Male bees have an unusual desire to collect scents: they deposit scents from various sources in special pockets on their hind legs, thereby creating their own fragrance.

This has been observed since the 1960s. The reason for this has long been a source of speculation.

Researchers from Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, worked with colleagues from the University of California, Davis, and the University of Florida, Fort Lauderdale, to solve the mystery.

After three years of experiments in flight cages, the team discovered that bee fragrance acts as a sex attractant and increases male reproductive success.

Mating Activities Difficult To Observe

The research team, led by Ph.D. student Jonas Henske and Dr. Thomas Eltz from the Bochum Department of Animal Ecology, Evolution, and Biodiversity, published their findings in the journal Current Biology on April 12, which was published online, as per Phys.org.

There has been much speculation about the fragrance's purpose: some have suggested that it could be an attractant or a wedding gift for females, or that the scent is used to communicate with rivals.

The group led by Thomas Eltz had previously demonstrated that male bees transport fragrance out of pockets on their hind legs during the courtship ritual.

"What we didn't know, however, was who was supposed to receive this signal," Eltz explained. "The females? Or the rival males?"

The mating of orchid bees is extremely rare in the wild, and even in experiments, as Thomas Eltz describes the challenge, it has been nearly impossible to get them to mate.

This is why the Bochum-based researchers and their US colleagues tried to provide the bees with optimal conditions, such as a specially large cage and the perfect pollen plants.

The researchers began the experiment by luring male bees to artificial scent sources, which the bees then used to create a fragrance.

The fragrance was extracted from the pockets on the hind legs using a microcapillary and then transferred to one of the bees used in the experiment.

In this case, two males kept under identical conditions competed for the attention of females.

Also Read: Taal Wipes Out Bee Farm in Laguna

Courtship Behavior That Is Typical With Varying Degrees Of Success

The males, whether scented or not, displayed typical courtship behavior.

Mating took place with 27 females, each of whom mated with a single mate, as per ScienceDaily.

In 26 of these cases, male bees equipped with fragrance were involved.

In one case, a male from the control group reproduced, which should have been fragrance-free; however, the researchers discovered hints that this individual had also acquired a scented mixture-fragrance theft does occur on occasion.

Jonas Henske performed paternity tests to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt which males had mated.

He compared the brood's genetic make-up to that of male bees.

According to Thomas Eltz, the fragrance is an attractant for females and triggers mating behavior in them.

Their findings also showed that fragrance is not used as a status symbol among males. When a male was in possession of fragrance, he was no more likely to defend his courtship site.

Importance Of Orchid Bees

Orchid bees are significant for a number of reasons. For starters, they pollinate many plant species, particularly orchids, which have evolved to attract and reward them with specific scents.

Some orchids are entirely dependent on orchid bees for reproduction.

Second, because they are sensitive to human disturbance and habitat loss, they are indicators of the health and diversity of tropical forests, as per Ask a Biologist.

Third, they are fascinating examples of coevolution and sexual selection, having evolved complex behaviors and structures for collecting and displaying scents in order to attract mates.

Orchid bees are also visually appealing and colorful; some may value them for their aesthetic value.

Related article: Bees Activate 'Medicinal Properties' Against Parasite Infection During Pollination
As the spring is set to unfold, the latest weather report said that chilly weather conditions are likely to unfold in the Central and Eastern U.S. this week.

As Americans prepare for spring, cooler temperatures with chances are also possible.

The early beginning of April recorded severe weather conditions in the U.S., from isolated tornadoes, heavy rain and challenging wind gusts.

Last week, parts of the Central and Eastern U.S. reported a rebound to warm-like temperatures and cooler temperatures.

Furthermore, the latest National Weather Service (NWS) reports reported that heavy snow could affect parts of the Upper Great Lakes, Northwest U.S. and California.

The NWS Weather Prediction Center explained that low pressure could help unload a winter storm in parts of the Midwest

The NWS Detroit reported that widespread showers are likely, bringing potential thunderstorms.

Motorists and Americans with travel plans or outdoor activities should consider the weather conditions this week before traveling.

Cooler temperatures and chilly weather conditions

The early arrival of the spring season was felt in the Eastern and Central United States.

This week, a chilly weather condition is forecast to unfold, giving relief from warm-like temperatures last week.

Also Read: U.S. Weather Forecast: Southeast U.S. to Expect Possible Strong Winds, Isolated Tornadoes This Week

In the latest weather report, AccuWeather explained that spring chill would be unleashed this week.

The weather forecast added that the summerlike conditions will not be noticeable this week as the cooler temperatures are forecast to return.

While the Great Lakes could expect potential snow conditions, the forecast noted that the Northeast and Midwest could experience a rebound to chilly conditions.

There is also a chance of a temperature cooldown in parts of New York and Pittsburgh.

While the return of cooler temperatures offers relief, the weather forecast noted that it could end this week.

Although spring is in the air, the weather report noted snow conditions could become likely in Thunder Bay, St. Paul and Green Bay.

This week, the cold air could become noticeable, offering a chilly feeling for Americans in the Northeast and Midwest.

Weather in other parts of the U.S.

In Central Florida, NWS reported that scattered thunderstorms are forecast in the area.

The weather news said that isolated thunderstorms could become likely in the Southeast this week.

In contrast, rainy conditions are forecast in the Northwest.

Recently, AccuWeather also noted that multiple threats of severe weather conditions could unfold in the Central United States.

The forecast emphasized that severe thunderstorms could occur this week, especially in Oklahoma City, Omaha, Kansas City, Dallas and Des Moines.

Meanwhile, the weather report showed that flood risk could likely emerge this April due to the threat of snowmelt, causing rising river levels.

While the snowpack and rain helped to ease the drought conditions, snowmelt could become concerning, causing potential flooding.

Related Article: Heavy Rain Unloads in Fort Lauderdale, South Florida; Flash Flooding, Travel Concerns Possible

For more similar, don't forget to follow Nature World News.
Severe weather warnings have been issued by New Zealand's weather authorities this week, at least until Wednesday, April 19.

The warnings include heavy rain warnings and heavy rain watches in different parts of the country, particularly in the country's South Island.

In the next hours or days, flash flooding due to torrential rain is possible in low-lying areas and communities near inland bodies of water.

New Zealand is currently in its autumn season that spans from March to May each year.

The said season is known for its "settled weather" compared in other periods of the year, with temperatures ranging from 7 to 21 degrees Celsius (45 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit), according to local tourism authorities.

Despite of having a track record of a pleasant weather, thunderstorms and wet conditions is still possible during the fall season.

New Zealand Severe Weather Warnings

New Zealand's Meteorological Service (Met Service) on Monday morning, April 17, issued severe weather warnings for a period of heavy rain for the western and northern parts of the country's South Island.

It warned a front is expected to move from the west from Tuesday to early Wednesday, April 18 to April 19.

The front is reportedly preceded by a strong and moist northerly flow, which is then followed by a change to southwesterlies.

Heavy rain warnings and heavy rain watches are in effect in affected areas of western-northern South Island.

Met Service are advising the public to monitor local weather developments and keep up-to-date with the latest weather forecast, which can change at any time.

Also Read: Severe Weather Warnings Issued for New Zealand Due to Heavy Rain and Snowfall

Heavy Rain Warnings and Watches

As mentioned earlier, the Met Service issued heavy rain warnings in multiple locations across South Island.

One of these locations is the Tasman west of Motueka area, where the warning will take effect for 12 hours from 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday to 3:00 a.m. local time on Wednesday.

Here, the New Zealand weather agency forecast 80 to 110 millimeters of rain in the ranges and 50 to 80 millimeters near the coast.

Peak rainfall of 15 to 25 millimeters per hour are anticipated starting in the late hours of Tuesday evening.

Meanwhile, the areas of Westland from Otira southwards are also under the heavy rain warnings, which will span for 15 hours from 3:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday.

During this period, 80 to 110 millimeters of rain, with peak rates reaching 15 to 25 millimeters per hour is expected.

Furthermore, the weather service issued heavy rain watches for the following areas:

Richmond and Bryant ranges

Buller and Westland, located north of Otira ranges

Canterbury lakes and rivers, located south of Arthur's Pass

Fiordland

The weather advisory level 'watches' pertain to the potential occurrence of moderate to heavy rain in a particular area.

New Zealand Deadly Flooding

Earlier this year, New Zealand experienced deadly flooding due to heavy rain, which killed at least four people and forced hundreds to evacuated in Auckland back in January, CNN reported.

About 66% of New Zealand's population lives in areas that are vulnerable to flooding, especially those near the coast, where floods will be aggravated by rising sea levels and storm surges, according to the organization Royal Society of New Zealand.

Related Article: Severe Thunderstorm Warnings Issued Across New Zealand, Heavy Rain and Flooding Continues
A meteor exploded over Israel's atmosphere over the weekend, wherein its passage and blast were heard by several residents in the northern part of the nation, according to Israeli space authorities.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage from the event.

The celestial object was considered by authorities as a "bolide," due to the exceptional bright light emitted by the meteor.

Israel Meteor Explosion

The Israeli Astronomical Association (IAA), along with other experts, stated the unusually bright meteor exploded in the atmosphere above northern Israel on Saturday, April 15, resulting in an air burst hear across the country, as cited by The Jerusalem Post.

IAA Chairman Igal Patel said based on evidence, the meteor made an impact somewhere in the northeastern part of the country a little after 5:00 p.m. local time.

Israeli experts the meteor bolide was visible over Israel on Saturday afternoon, with a number of observers reporting they have heard a large explosion following the sighting, as cited by The Times of Israel.

IAA reportedly confirmed it received information the bolide was visible for only several seconds over the central and northern parts of the nation, moving in a northeastward pattern.

The explosion heard during the event could be caused by a relatively large rock and its composition, as explained by the astronomical organization, which asserted a visible bolide above Israel is a rare occurrence compared in other parts of the world.

Also Reward: Meteorite Minerals Found in the Shores of The Dead Sea

Meteor Strike Witnesses

The IAA also said witnesses of the meteor strike saw the bright fireball in Israeli skies visible not only from the center of the country but was also likely observed in other parts of the country.

The luminance of the bolide was strong it was seen even during daylight hours.

A subject matter expert named Hagai Perets, a professor of physics and astrophysics at Technion University in Haifa, Israel, described the event was both "unusual and usual" since Earth has meteorites coming every day, as reported by i24 News English.

However, Perets said Saturday's fireball was a bigger one and created a sonic boom in the atmosphere when it entered our planet.

As a result, the said shooting star is considered a bolide since it was very bright, caused by air ions in the atmosphere and heating of the meteor's impact, even during the day.

Meteor Impact Phenomenon

Scientists estimate that approximately 48.5 tons of meteoritic material falls into the Earth each day, while the rest of the meteorite's body are being vaporized upon entering our planet's atmosphere, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

A meteor's impact depends on its size, speed, and material composition, as seen from related events in the past.

In 2013, a meteor explosion or meteor air burst over Russia led to the damage of thousands of buildings.

The event will be later known as the Chelyabinsk Event caused by the Chelyabinsk meteorite, which was named after it passed over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk.

Related Article: Meteor Exploding Over Pittsburgh During New Year Has the Power of 27 Tonnes of TNT
A mosquito factory is being built in Brazil with the aim of fighting the ongoing dengue outbreak across the country. The said facility, where its location is yet to be determined, aims to produce up to 5 billion bacteria-infected mosquitoes that will serve as a counter mechanism against the spread of the mosquito-borne disease.

Brazil Mosquito Factory

Details about the Brazil mosquito factory was published in the journal Nature on Friday, April 14, wherein the non-profit World Mosquito Program (WPC) has announced it will release the modified mosquitoes in different urban areas across the South American country over the next 10 years. The WPC said it aims to protect up to 70 million people from various diseases like dengue.

The researchers involved in the initiative tested the modified mosquito that carries the pathogenic Wolbachia bacterium which prevents dengue-carrying mosquitoes from transmitting viruses. This is the first time that such technology will be implemented on a nationwide level, the journal adds.

The study was released a year following a spike in dengue outbreak in Brazil. In 2022, Brazilian health authorities reported that the nationwide probably cases of dengue across the country were approximately 1.45 million, which is a 162% increase in cases compared in 2021, according to Outbreak News Today.

Also Read: US Military May Start Using Small Mosquito Repellant Device That Uses No Heat to Protect Soldiers

Dengue-Carrying Mosquito

Aedes aegypti (Aedes aegypti), also known as the yellow fever mosquito, is known as a carrier of several viruses which causes the following diseases: dengue, yellow fever, and chikungunya. The transmissions of these infections are through mosquito bites from A. aegypti, which are common in the relatively warm regions of the tropics and subtropics, as well as in places with temperate climates.

Scientists in the past have warned that the ferocious mosquito species thrive within or near human settlements, especially in wet places and coastal areas that serve as their breeding habitats.

In a study published in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1997, scientists conducted research in Indonesia and found dengue vector mosquitoes Aedes albopictus, in addition to A. aegypti, found these insects are abundant indoors in coastal areas and were breeding primarily in outdoor containers in the hill and mountain areas.

Dengue Symptoms and Treatment

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), dengue symptoms can range from mild to severe, which can be life-threatening in a matter of few hours and the patient often requiring hospital care. While dengue is not new, its mild symptoms can be confused with other diseases with similar illnesses like aches, pains, fever, or rashes.

However, the CDC says the most common and evident symptoms of dengue are the following below, in addition to fever:

nausea

vomiting

rash

aches

pain

The U.S. health agency clarifies pain may include eye pain, that is typically behind the eyes, as well as bone, muscle, or joint pain. These symptoms could last for two to seven days, with most people recovering after a week.

There is still no official medicine or treatment against dengue, in addition to hospital care and avoidance to eating red meat while a person is sick.

Related Article: Mosquito Swarm Strikes Farmer's Home After Heavy Rainfall Events in Australia [Video]
A calf of the rare bontebok antelope, which has only 2500 individuals worldwide, was recently born at the Oregon Zoo. The Oregon Zoo's newest exhibit is adorable and is assisting in the recovery of a once-vulnerable species.

On April 1, a baby bontebok was born at the zoo to his mother Winter, who is eight years old.

Bontebok: A Rare Antelope

The coastal plains of northwest South Africa are home to a species of grazing antelope known as the bontebok. But today, the herbivores are restricted to zoos, farms, and game preserves because they were hunted to almost complete extinction in the early 20th century.

According to the news release, the unnamed calf is just under 18 pounds and appears healthy. A plasma transfusion and additional feedings were given to the infant because he did not begin nursing right away after birth. According to the Oregon Zoo, he appears to have recovered.

A couple of additional bottle feedings were given to the calf before it was returned to its mother, according to Kelly Gomez, who is in charge of the zoo's African exhibit. He was nursing just fine the previous night. Gomez describes the newborn calf as a strong, handsome young antelope.

Gomez cited the infant as living evidence of the influence people can have when working together to protect wildlife.

Hunted Down to 17

Later, Gomez noted that only 17 bonteboks remained on the planet a few hundred years prior and that the species was on the verge of extinction.

The zoo claims that during the 18th and 19th centuries, Dutch settlers in southern Africa overhunted the antelopes because they thought of them as pests.

But there is one crucial way that the bontebok differs from other antelopes: they cannot jump. The zoo claims that as a result, the 17 bonteboks that were still alive in 1837 were safely contained by several sympathetic farmers in a fenced-in area.

When South Africa's Bontebok National Park was created in 1931, the species slowly started to recover.

Also Read: 5-Day-Old Rhino Calf Dies of Internal Injuries in Australia Zoo

Bontebok National Park

The smallest national park in South Africa today, Bontebok is proud to brag about its successes in protecting biodiversity, from the bontebok to the critically endangered fynbos veld type, coastal Renosterveld. The most antelopes that Bontebok National Park can accommodate while still preserving biodiversity as a whole are the 200 antelopes living there. The park now provides a lot more for nature lovers, including over 200 amazing bird species and a variety of native animal life.

There are 2,500 to 3,000 bontebok, with 1,618 mature animals, and they are currently categorized as "vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. According to IUCN data, agriculture and aquaculture, including annual and perennial non-timber crops, as well as livestock farming and ranching, pose the biggest threats to the species. Another threat is hunting and trapping, followed by diseases and invasive species.

Gomez stated that the bontebok is an amazing conservation success story and that the zoo team hopes to spur on more accomplishments similar to this in the future, CNN reports.

Related Article: Columbus Zoo Welcomes 3 Endangered Dama Gazelle Calves -Africa
According to Defense Studies, a U.S. bicameral delegation in Hanoi on April 8 said that both the U.S. National Assembly and the Government of this country support upgrading the relationship with Vietnam from a comprehensive partnership to a strategic one. In this framework, the US has provided two coast guard ships to Vietnam, and will soon, after completing detailed procedures, provide one more ship, in the spirit of supporting Vietnam to strengthen security at sea.

Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link

In 2022, a Hamilton-class cutter was assigned to Vietnam's Coast Guard on way home to Vietnam (Picture source: US Embassy in Hanoi)



U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley said that the delegation came to Vietnam this time with two missions: promoting the process of resolving war consequences and elevating the Vietnam-US cooperation relationship in various fields, from the East Sea. , climate change to investment cooperation. "In recent years, many U.S. law enforcement officials such as the Secretary of Defense and the Director of USAID have made trips to Vietnam. The presence of our congressional delegation shows both the executive and legislative systems. The U.S. supports the development of the Vietnam-U.S. relationship," said Senator Merkley.

Sharing with reporters about supporting maritime security for Vietnam, Mr. Merkley said that developments in the East Sea are related to Vietnam's security. This is the reason that the United States has transferred to Vietnam coast guard ships over the years, and is continuing to come here.

In 2022, the United States decided to provide Vietnam with a series of coast guard ships to help enhance the country's maritime security capabilities. The move was seen as a significant step forward in the relationship between the two countries, particularly given the difficult history between the United States and Vietnam in the past.

The handover of the coast guard ships was a major event, with representatives from both countries attending a ceremony to mark the occasion. The vessels themselves were state-of-the-art, equipped with the latest navigation and communication technology, as well as advanced weapons systems.

The decision to provide Vietnam with the coast guard ships was part of a broader effort by the United States to deepen its ties with Southeast Asia, particularly as tensions continue to rise in the South China Sea. The move was also seen as a way for the United States to counter China's increasing influence in the region, which has been a growing concern for many countries in Southeast Asia.

For Vietnam, the acquisition of the coast guard ships was a significant boost to its maritime security capabilities. The country has a long coastline and a large exclusive economic zone, which has been subject to increasing incursions by foreign vessels in recent years. The new vessels provided by the United States would help Vietnam to better protect its maritime borders and ensure the safety of its fishermen and other maritime activities.

Vietnam Coast Guard is purposed to perform search and rescue duties, along with their duties of combating and preventing smuggling, piracy, and trade fraud in Vietnamese waters. Until 2013, it was a branch of Vietnam's military, the Vietnam People's Army, and falls under the management of the Vietnam Ministry of National Defence. Since August 27, 2013, it has been transferred under the direct management of the Government of Vietnam, and has also changed its name from Vietnam Marine Police (VMP) to the current Vietnam Coast Guard name. Since its creation in the late 1990s, the Vietnam Coast Guard plays an important role in maintaining sea security and protection of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf boundary. It has dispatched forces in waters in overlapping areas between Vietnam and foreign countries, providing protection and assistance to local fishermen when necessary.
About half of all foster parents in the nation quit after a year, and only about a quarter make it past a second.

I would say thats a huge problem, said Annika Hapip, who felt her church needed to act. You have a lot of kiddos who are in the foster care system, and theyre waiting to be placed in a home, and foster families are stretched.

Hapips solution, the Lily Initiative, working within Evangel Assembly of God in Bismarck, aims to address burnout by supporting foster families and encouraging others to become foster parents. The program started with 15 foster families in 2021 and has now grown to 32 families.

Meanwhile, new legislation aims to make it easier to keep children with extended family, providing assistance that helps children stay in a more familiar environment and, hopefully, prevent some of the trauma that otherwise might occur.

Children over the age of seven now make up 46% of kids in foster care, a rate that has risen steadily in the past 10 years, from 419 children age 7 and over in 2013 to a high of 689 last year.

Foster children at or entering their teenage years need increasingly complex care, placing another strain on foster families, those active in the system say.

Efforts such as the Lily Initiative, and the new legislation, are aimed at making it more likely foster parents continue to offer care, while providing potentially better long-term outcomes for foster children.

A team effort

As a single mother with two preteen children of her own, Bismarck resident Leslie Pearcy wouldnt strike most as your usual foster parent.

Five years ago she was called to help vulnerable, often traumatized kids, she says, by providing them a home. This can often be in an emergency, where a child needs a home for a few days, a few weeks, or sometimes a more long-term placement lasting several months. Pearcy has welcomed individual children into her home and as many at one time as a sibling group of four.

Her task would be much harder, she said, without the backing of a community peer support system set up for foster parents like her at Evangel.

Overall, foster parents cant do it alone, Pearcy said. So having a support system of some sort is important, whatever that looks like.

Theres a Grandparents team of older, sometimes former foster parents, who can offer guidance, emulate basic life skills for children, or act as elder role models. Theres a Meals and Errands team to shop for groceries and fix a home-cooked meal before a child is placed in a home.

Theres a Game of Champions team to work with biological parents on the steps of reunification with their child. And theres a background-checked and trauma-trained Babysitting team that can fill in for foster parents in need of a breather.

Pearcy said that many foster families can burn out without a network to call upon. Having someone to query about a tricky situation, having someone to watch kids for an hour or two, or help with errands, really reduces the overall stress, she said.

Whatever that looks like, I think having that network around and having foster parents as peer support, and having the support and encouragement that can come alongside helps, Pearcy said.

It is an attempt to create a sense of normalcy and community, she said.

We're a normal home where kids get to experience normal things that are typical of childhood, Pearcy said.

Focus on kinship care

At the state level, North Dakotas Department of Health and Human Services is trying to address some of the turnover by increasing the ability of relatives to become kinship foster parents.

Rules requiring 40 hours of training for foster parents before they are licensed as well as some annual training to retain licenses have become hurdles for kinship foster care. Only licensed foster families can access full funding.

The state wants to safely keep children with family, out of facility foster care, and aims for eventual reunification with parents, if possible.

House Bill 1091, which eases some rules and provides more support for kinship foster care situations, was passed unanimously by both the House and Senate. Gov. Doug Burgum signed it into law last week. Those changes could help reduce foster family turnover and keep kids in a better state of normalcy.

We do want to really get to the point where were not having regulations on family to take care of family, we can pay them as a family member, get supplies, bedding and school supplies to kids that are being taken care of by their own family, said Cory Pedersen, director of the HHS Children and Family Services Division.

The research would say that if they stay with family, thats best, Pedersen said. Once they get into the facilities, thats where we see a falloff and the outcomes arent as good.

Complexities grow

As more older children come into foster care, the challenges caring for them often increase. This also contributes to turnover. Keeping kids with family, or in a situation where theres community support like Evangel, may engender greater success.

Pedersen raised the hypothetical of a foster youth with complex needs, maybe requiring four or more appointments per week for psychiatric and other counseling.

Theres a lot of trauma, Pedersen said. If they can stay in their same school, with the same friends, maybe go to church, we know that long term thats a lot more successful plan than taking them two, three or four hours away from their home.

Christen Olson, a program lead at the Agassiz Valley Human Service Zone, said recruiting and retaining foster families has become more challenging in recent years.

The complexity of problems faced by teen foster children has also grown, she said, which can limit options for placing them in a foster home.

We're seeing a lot more complex mental and behavioral health challenges with our kids, Olson said. And so a basic family foster home with littler kids in the home may not be an appropriate fit for, you know, a teenager who has destructive or aggressive or sexually reactive behaviors.

Children entering the foster system at or near their teenage years often grow up surrounded by trauma. Addicted parents create instability, inattentive ones anxiety, and abusive ones the lasting fear of violence. The statistics show how this bears out.

Substance abuse is the primary destabilizing force leading to children being separated from parents with 37% of child removals related to substance abuse, according to HHS statistics. In 2022, neglect led to 25% of removals and physical abuse 10%.

Hapip also sees a huge need for placement of teenagers and an equal need for communities to not give up on them.

Theyve walked through a lot of trauma in their life, and you know, may have some behavior issues, but again, not all teenagers are like that, and some have really victorious stores of how foster care is part of their story, Hapip said.

Its not the end of their story, she said. We want our foster kiddos to know they are loved and that they are seeing theyre valued. We firmly believe that every kid needs a home.

The number of licensed foster providers in North Dakota dropped from 1037 to 985 between September 2021 and the end of September last year, according to figures recently presented to the Legislature.

These homes currently provide care for the 1,490 children in foster situations in the state, a number that has held steady in the 1,500 range since 2018.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has tentatively recommended a plan for making changes to the Garrison Dam spillway to reduce what it says are unacceptable safety risks.

A spillway provides a controlled release of water downstream from a dam reservoir when it is at capacity.

The Garrison Dam spillway on the Missouri River roughly 70 miles north of Bismarck was opened for the first time in June 2011 after a heavy rainfall in the Missouri and Yellowstone river basins combined with slower-than-normal mountain snowpack melt and filled Lake Sakakawea behind the dam.

The spillway enabled the Corps to manage the flood, but at least two manhole covers in the spillway chute came loose during its use.

The spillway was only discharging water at about 61,000 cubic feet per second when the manhole covers came loose, way below the original spillway design discharge of 827,000 cfs. The Corps determined that the spillway could need to pass up to 1.15 million cfs in order to prevent overtopping during a big flood.

If manhole covers were to come loose again when water passes over them, there is a small chance it could set off a sequence of events causing the spillway to fail and a significant amount of water held back in Lake Sakakawea to barrel downstream.

The life loss, economic, and environmental consequences of a dam failure would be catastrophic, impacting 11 states and approximately 2,000 river miles, according to a study by the Corps.

Economic damages likely would exceed $100 billion due to a dam embankment breach and could range from approximately $10 billion to $100 billion due to a spillway breach, depending on how many dam gates are broken.

The Corps laid out several alternatives for addressing the matter.

The preferred alternative, alternative 12, will construct a new chute with carbon-reinforced concrete and roller-compacted concrete. The new chute will have no manholes and a new drainage system. The walls of the chute will be raised and armored. Beams will be constructed between piers to reduce load on spillway gates, and mechanisms that open the gates will be modified.

Alternative 12 was recommended due to being the most effective option for the price of construction. Total project costs are estimated at $881 million. The project will be 100% federally funded, according to Corps Project Manager Jeff Greenwald.

Other alternatives were deemed not as efficient. They ranged in price between $694 million and $6.2 billion.

A public comment period closed in late February. The Corps will finalize plans later this spring. Preconstruction engineering and design will follow after the recommendation is approved, likely later this year.

There will be five years of engineering and design before construction begins, according to Greenwald.
North Dakota lawmakers have sent bills to Gov. Doug Burgum to tighten scrutiny of signatures on petitions for citizen-initiated ballot measures, after disputed fraud allegations last year.

Voters last fall approved Measure 1 for term limits on the governor and state lawmakers. The citizen-initiated measure was embroiled in fraud allegations that reached the state Supreme Court, which mandated the public vote on the measure. A prosecutor declined criminal charges earlier this year.

Former Secretary of State Al Jaeger had initially rejected the measure, citing irregularities such as petition circulator affidavit handwriting discrepancies, noncitizens circulating petitions, and pay-per-signature bonuses prohibited by state law. Attorney General Drew Wrigley called the alleged fraud "so obvious and inherent throughout."

House Bill 1230 by Rep. Mike Nathe, R-Bismarck, would penalize the intentional submission of initiative or referendum petitions with one or more fraudulent signatures.

Signature-gathering businesses in violation and convicted of fraud would be subject to a Class A misdemeanor and may not do business for five years. The charge carries a maximum punishment of a year in jail and a $3,000 fine.

Violations by members of measure committees or via signature-gathering would be subject to a civil penalty of up to $3,000.

Opponents said the penalties would frighten grassroots measure campaigns and stifle free speech. Nathe said a court would determine fraud, and petition signers have a responsibility to sign forms correctly.

The state House of Representatives last Tuesday concurred with Senate amendments to the bill, and passed it in a 53-38 vote. The Senate also passed the bill last week, 39-6.

House Bill 1324 by Rep. Jim Kasper, R-Fargo, would make it harder to legally challenge a secretary of state's decision to keep a proposed measure off the ballot if the state's top election official concludes valid signatures are fewer than the required amount to put the measure on the ballot.

The bill would make the secretary of state's action "presumed to be lawful" unless rebutted by "clear and convincing evidence."

Kasper has said that threshold aims "to make (state law) even more strongly worded for the opportunity when the secretary of state makes a ruling that the courts don't come in and overrule it."

His bill also would allow the secretary to use his or her judgment as to the validity of signatures or other petition irregularities in determining whether to count those signatures, based on a random sampling of signatures.

The bill cleared the House, 87-3, last Wednesday, and the Senate on Monday, unanimously.
By Express News Service

MUMBAI: American tech-giant Apple, on Monday, said the opening of its first two retail stores in India marks a major expansion in the country.

The iPhone maker, which started manufacturing its products in India in 2017, has increased its production capacity manifold in the past year. After completing more than 25 years in India, Apple will launch its first two stores in Mumbai and Delhi.

At Apple, our mission is to enrich lives and empower people around the world, said Tim Cook, Apples CEO.

India has such a beautiful culture and incredible energy, and were excited to build on our long-standing history  supporting our customers, investing in local communities and working together to build a better future with innovations that serve humanity.

The company said Indias vibrant community of app developers now supports more than 1 million jobs.

A testament to the tremendous growth of developers in India, App Store payouts to developers in the country have more than tripled since 2018, Apple said in a statement.

Apple BKC, the first Apple store in India, is in Mumbai.

It further said that at the iOS App Design and Development Accelerator in Bengaluru, Apple works one-on-one with developers to help take their apps from good to great.

The company said Apples work with Indian suppliers of all sizes supports hundreds of thousands of jobs across the country.

Apple has made commitments to be 100% carbon neutral for its supply chain and products by 2030.

Therefore, the company said, all active Indian manufacturing supply chain partners are committed to using 100% clean energy for their Apple operations.

Investing in innovative nature-based carbon removal projects is one of the many ways were fighting climate change. Expanding our Restore Fund will help remove another 1 million metric tons of carbon from the atmosphere each year. https://t.co/1yzH40Ynma  Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 11, 2023

Building on its work to expand recycled materials across its products, last week Apple announced it will use 100 per cent recycled cobalt in all Apple-designed batteries by 2025, the company statement said.

According to CyberMedia Research (CMR), the iPhone maker captured a 4% market share in the country with a 17% year-on-year increase in its shipments in 2022. It sold nearly 6.7 million units in 2022, as against 4.8 million in 2021 and 2.7 million in 2020.

The Cupertino-based company has started assembling the latest iPhone 14 models in India, weeks after its launch.

MUMBAI: American tech-giant Apple, on Monday, said the opening of its first two retail stores in India marks a major expansion in the country. The iPhone maker, which started manufacturing its products in India in 2017, has increased its production capacity manifold in the past year. After completing more than 25 years in India, Apple will launch its first two stores in Mumbai and Delhi. At Apple, our mission is to enrich lives and empower people around the world, said Tim Cook, Apples CEO.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); India has such a beautiful culture and incredible energy, and were excited to build on our long-standing history  supporting our customers, investing in local communities and working together to build a better future with innovations that serve humanity. The company said Indias vibrant community of app developers now supports more than 1 million jobs. A testament to the tremendous growth of developers in India, App Store payouts to developers in the country have more than tripled since 2018, Apple said in a statement. Apple BKC, the first Apple store in India, is in Mumbai. It further said that at the iOS App Design and Development Accelerator in Bengaluru, Apple works one-on-one with developers to help take their apps from good to great. The company said Apples work with Indian suppliers of all sizes supports hundreds of thousands of jobs across the country. Apple has made commitments to be 100% carbon neutral for its supply chain and products by 2030. Therefore, the company said, all active Indian manufacturing supply chain partners are committed to using 100% clean energy for their Apple operations. Investing in innovative nature-based carbon removal projects is one of the many ways were fighting climate change. Expanding our Restore Fund will help remove another 1 million metric tons of carbon from the atmosphere each year. https://t.co/1yzH40Ynma  Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 11, 2023 Building on its work to expand recycled materials across its products, last week Apple announced it will use 100 per cent recycled cobalt in all Apple-designed batteries by 2025, the company statement said. According to CyberMedia Research (CMR), the iPhone maker captured a 4% market share in the country with a 17% year-on-year increase in its shipments in 2022. It sold nearly 6.7 million units in 2022, as against 4.8 million in 2021 and 2.7 million in 2020. The Cupertino-based company has started assembling the latest iPhone 14 models in India, weeks after its launch.
Binita Jaiswal By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Against the sanctioned strength of 60 seats, only one student took admission into the Masters of Buddhism course for 2022-23 in the University of Madras. But, this is not an isolated case. Currently, there are at least a dozen other such courses in the university with single digit enrolments.

To teach a handful number of students, each course has no less than two faculty members. So, why has the university still not junked these courses? If the issue of closing down courses is discussed in syndicate meetings, there is never a consensus on it. If the university decides to close down any course, which has become obsolete, there is a lot of opposition to it. So we are forced to run these courses and deal with the financial consequences, said a senior administrative official of the university.

Citing an example, he said, There was a Centre for South Asian Studies in the university and it failed to admit even one student for 12 years. Still, it was not shut 2019, when the UGC shut finally it down. The professor working in the centre retired only in 2022 and the assistant professor was transferred to defence studies department, but we are now facing audit objections for it. They are questioning us why were we paying salary from university funds till 2022 for a closed centre, said the senior official.

The university runs 97 master degree courses and its high time some of these courses are junked, said a professor on conditions of anonymity. However, Vice chancellor S Gowri, has expressed helplessness on the issue. We are expecting enrolments to go up, but I cannot take any decision on closing down the courses solely, he added.

According to data obtained from the university, postgraduate course in Saiva Sidhhantha Philosophy and Practice has a sanctioned strength of 30 seats but in 2022-23, only four students took admission. Similarly, Sanskrit, Hindi and Vaishnavism courses have four, three and seven students respectively against a sanctioned strength of 10 each. Apart from language and religious studies courses, demand for subjects like MSc in Yoga, MA in Development Administration and MSc in Material science courses are poor. The three courses have just eight students against 20 seats. While MA in Education has just three students against 50 sanctioned seats.

According to officials, the demand for language courses and religious thought courses have been declining, but still the university is unable to close down the courses due to a fear of protest from the students and social organisations. Recently, Higher Education minister K Ponmudy had announced the department will wind up courses in government arts and science colleges which have low enrolments.

CHENNAI: Against the sanctioned strength of 60 seats, only one student took admission into the Masters of Buddhism course for 2022-23 in the University of Madras. But, this is not an isolated case. Currently, there are at least a dozen other such courses in the university with single digit enrolments. To teach a handful number of students, each course has no less than two faculty members. So, why has the university still not junked these courses? If the issue of closing down courses is discussed in syndicate meetings, there is never a consensus on it. If the university decides to close down any course, which has become obsolete, there is a lot of opposition to it. So we are forced to run these courses and deal with the financial consequences, said a senior administrative official of the university. Citing an example, he said, There was a Centre for South Asian Studies in the university and it failed to admit even one student for 12 years. Still, it was not shut 2019, when the UGC shut finally it down. The professor working in the centre retired only in 2022 and the assistant professor was transferred to defence studies department, but we are now facing audit objections for it. They are questioning us why were we paying salary from university funds till 2022 for a closed centre, said the senior official.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The university runs 97 master degree courses and its high time some of these courses are junked, said a professor on conditions of anonymity. However, Vice chancellor S Gowri, has expressed helplessness on the issue. We are expecting enrolments to go up, but I cannot take any decision on closing down the courses solely, he added. According to data obtained from the university, postgraduate course in Saiva Sidhhantha Philosophy and Practice has a sanctioned strength of 30 seats but in 2022-23, only four students took admission. Similarly, Sanskrit, Hindi and Vaishnavism courses have four, three and seven students respectively against a sanctioned strength of 10 each. Apart from language and religious studies courses, demand for subjects like MSc in Yoga, MA in Development Administration and MSc in Material science courses are poor. The three courses have just eight students against 20 seats. While MA in Education has just three students against 50 sanctioned seats. According to officials, the demand for language courses and religious thought courses have been declining, but still the university is unable to close down the courses due to a fear of protest from the students and social organisations. Recently, Higher Education minister K Ponmudy had announced the department will wind up courses in government arts and science colleges which have low enrolments.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: In a bid to escape from the clutches of law, a juvenile who was sent to an observation home in the national capital for the murder of a 77-year-old man, fled the city and reached the India-Nepal border from where he was nabbed.

Special Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Singh Yadav said that on May 1, last year, an elderly man named Ram Kishore Aggrawal was murdered at his home in civil lines in north Delhi. The Crime Branch worked on the case and two juveniles were apprehended, he said.

However, on February 28, this year, the accused duo fled from the observation home, Majnu Ka Teela, Delhi. The police apprehended one of them but the other one remained to abscond. The police received information that one of the juveniles was in Madhubani, Bihar after which a Crime Branch team was immediately dispatched there.

The police team apprehended him when he was about to cross the India-Nepal border, the official said. He said the accused juvenile fled from his observation home to move forward in the world of crime and wanted to settle down in Nepal.

Sharing more details about the accused, the official said the juvenile, a native of Madhubani, Bihar, had worked at the house of the elderly deceased for three months on the recommendation of his father who had also worked there as a driver for some time.But one day, he along with his associate murdered him and carried out a robbery.

The Juvenile killed their employer after working at his home

Sharing details, the official said the juvenile, a native of Madhubani, Bihar, had worked at the house of the elderly deceased for three months on the recommendation of his father who had also worked there as a driver for some time. But one day, he along with his associate, murdered the house owner while committing robbery.

NEW DELHI: In a bid to escape from the clutches of law, a juvenile who was sent to an observation home in the national capital for the murder of a 77-year-old man, fled the city and reached the India-Nepal border from where he was nabbed. Special Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Singh Yadav said that on May 1, last year, an elderly man named Ram Kishore Aggrawal was murdered at his home in civil lines in north Delhi. The Crime Branch worked on the case and two juveniles were apprehended, he said. However, on February 28, this year, the accused duo fled from the observation home, Majnu Ka Teela, Delhi. The police apprehended one of them but the other one remained to abscond. The police received information that one of the juveniles was in Madhubani, Bihar after which a Crime Branch team was immediately dispatched there.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The police team apprehended him when he was about to cross the India-Nepal border, the official said. He said the accused juvenile fled from his observation home to move forward in the world of crime and wanted to settle down in Nepal. Sharing more details about the accused, the official said the juvenile, a native of Madhubani, Bihar, had worked at the house of the elderly deceased for three months on the recommendation of his father who had also worked there as a driver for some time.But one day, he along with his associate murdered him and carried out a robbery. The Juvenile killed their employer after working at his home Sharing details, the official said the juvenile, a native of Madhubani, Bihar, had worked at the house of the elderly deceased for three months on the recommendation of his father who had also worked there as a driver for some time. But one day, he along with his associate, murdered the house owner while committing robbery.
Sudhir Suryawanshi and Jitendra Choubey By

Express News Service

MUMBAI/DELHI: As many as 13 people died while nearly 50 others were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of several hospitals including the MGM Hospital due to heat strokes while attending the Maharashtra Bhushan Award conferring program at Kharhgar in Navi Mumbai on April 16, 2023.

During the function, Union Home Minister Amit Shah awarded Appasaheb Dharmadhikari the Maharashtra Bhushan award in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis.

People started falling ill later on. The death toll due to heat strokes is likely to go up, official sources said.

Hundreds of people were critically ill. Forty-four people were admitted to five hospitals in and around Kharghar.

Heatstroke causes human body temperature to increase by up to 40 degree Celsius which causes delirium, seizure or coma.

Around three lakh people attended the award function held on a 306-acre ground in Kharghar. Hundreds of people suffered dehydration, heat cramps and exhaustion.

Because of heat exhaustion, some people felt weakness, dizziness, and other complications. They fainted and were rushed to a makeshift medical facility before being shifted to hospitals.

The nearest weather station had recorded a maximum temperature of 38 degrees Celsius, above the prescribed heatwave limit.

A heatwave is air temperature that becomes fatal to the human body on exposure. It is defined based on the temperature thresholds over a region in terms of actual temperature or its departure from normal, India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

The health impacts of heat waves typically involve dehydration, heat cramps, heat exhaustion and/or heat stroke.

In certain countries, it is defined in terms of the heat index based on temperature and humidity or based on the extreme percentile of the temperatures.

However, neither the local weather station nor IMD had issued any alert.

Opposition blames government

Meanwhile, blaming the state government for the tragedy, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Raj Thackeray said it was unwarranted to invite such a large number of people to the programme.

He felt that the event could have been held at the Raj Bhavan.

"It is clear that Maharashtra reels from sweltering heat during the months of April and May. It is unfortunate that people had to lose their lives for someone's political gain," Thackeray added.

Leader of the opposition and Shiv Sena MLC Ambadas Danave held the cultural department of the state government responsible for the tragedy. He demanded that a culpable homicide case should be filed against the government and those responsible for the tragedy. He demanded that the cultural minister should step down taking moral responsibility for the deaths.

ALSO READ | Shinde going, going... Ajit Pawar readies to be Maha successor

NCP leader Jitendra Awhad claimed that despite knowing that a large number of people will turn up for the programme, no proper arrangement was made to ensure safety, water and food for the participants.

He claimed that the BJP uses religion for its political gains and to win votes.

"Now the programme organised with much fanfare has backfired on them. So they are trying to shy away from the responsibilities," he observed.

Awhad demanded the strictest action against those responsible for the tragedy.

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar visited the MGM hospital on Sunday late at night and enquired about the health of people.

"The responsibility should be fixed for the death of these people. A culpable homicide case should be filed against the state government. The state government is solely responsible for this gruesome tragedy," said Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Atul Londe.

Minister, CM's claim

The cultural minister Sudhir Mungantiwar dismissed the allegations levelled against the government saying that the timing for the function was decided by Aapasaheb Dharmadhikari. He also said it was the responsibility of the people to ensure the function was held in a smooth manner.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde visited the MGM hospital to enquire about the admitted patients and victim families. He announced Rs 5 lakh as compensation to the next of kin of the victims.

"I'm upset and pained by the unfortunate incident. The government will bear the expenses of the treatment. The best treatment will be ensured to the people undergoing treatment in hospitals," he said.

MUMBAI/DELHI: As many as 13 people died while nearly 50 others were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of several hospitals including the MGM Hospital due to heat strokes while attending the Maharashtra Bhushan Award conferring program at Kharhgar in Navi Mumbai on April 16, 2023. During the function, Union Home Minister Amit Shah awarded Appasaheb Dharmadhikari the Maharashtra Bhushan award in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis. People started falling ill later on. The death toll due to heat strokes is likely to go up, official sources said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Hundreds of people were critically ill. Forty-four people were admitted to five hospitals in and around Kharghar. Heatstroke causes human body temperature to increase by up to 40 degree Celsius which causes delirium, seizure or coma. Around three lakh people attended the award function held on a 306-acre ground in Kharghar. Hundreds of people suffered dehydration, heat cramps and exhaustion. Because of heat exhaustion, some people felt weakness, dizziness, and other complications. They fainted and were rushed to a makeshift medical facility before being shifted to hospitals. The nearest weather station had recorded a maximum temperature of 38 degrees Celsius, above the prescribed heatwave limit. A heatwave is air temperature that becomes fatal to the human body on exposure. It is defined based on the temperature thresholds over a region in terms of actual temperature or its departure from normal, India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. The health impacts of heat waves typically involve dehydration, heat cramps, heat exhaustion and/or heat stroke. In certain countries, it is defined in terms of the heat index based on temperature and humidity or based on the extreme percentile of the temperatures. However, neither the local weather station nor IMD had issued any alert. Opposition blames government Meanwhile, blaming the state government for the tragedy, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Raj Thackeray said it was unwarranted to invite such a large number of people to the programme. He felt that the event could have been held at the Raj Bhavan. "It is clear that Maharashtra reels from sweltering heat during the months of April and May. It is unfortunate that people had to lose their lives for someone's political gain," Thackeray added. Leader of the opposition and Shiv Sena MLC Ambadas Danave held the cultural department of the state government responsible for the tragedy. He demanded that a culpable homicide case should be filed against the government and those responsible for the tragedy. He demanded that the cultural minister should step down taking moral responsibility for the deaths. ALSO READ | Shinde going, going... Ajit Pawar readies to be Maha successor NCP leader Jitendra Awhad claimed that despite knowing that a large number of people will turn up for the programme, no proper arrangement was made to ensure safety, water and food for the participants. He claimed that the BJP uses religion for its political gains and to win votes. "Now the programme organised with much fanfare has backfired on them. So they are trying to shy away from the responsibilities," he observed. Awhad demanded the strictest action against those responsible for the tragedy. Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar visited the MGM hospital on Sunday late at night and enquired about the health of people. "The responsibility should be fixed for the death of these people. A culpable homicide case should be filed against the state government. The state government is solely responsible for this gruesome tragedy," said Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Atul Londe. Minister, CM's claim The cultural minister Sudhir Mungantiwar dismissed the allegations levelled against the government saying that the timing for the function was decided by Aapasaheb Dharmadhikari. He also said it was the responsibility of the people to ensure the function was held in a smooth manner. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde visited the MGM hospital to enquire about the admitted patients and victim families. He announced Rs 5 lakh as compensation to the next of kin of the victims. "I'm upset and pained by the unfortunate incident. The government will bear the expenses of the treatment. The best treatment will be ensured to the people undergoing treatment in hospitals," he said.
Chandhini R By

Express News Service

For a decade since the mid-90s, actor Chetan became a prominent household name through television serials like Vidaadhu Karuppu, Metti Oli, Athipookal and Uthiripookal. The actor slowly and steadily transitioned to the silver screen as a supporting actor and has nearly 30 films to his credit.

However, despite some interesting roles in his filmography, Chetan strongly believes his brutish cop Ragavendar from Vetri Maarans Viduthalai, is his breakthrough role.

I think I can divide my acting career into two partsPre-Viduthalai and Post-Viduthalai. The film, my scope for performance, Vetri Maarans direction and his confidence in me ushered in a reinvention of my acting abilities, says Chetan, who is humbled by all the appreciation coming his way for the terrific performance. While Chetan is indeed a household name, the actor reveals his initial surprise when a section of the audience knew him for the first time through Viduthalai. I always thought people knew me.

But after this film, I understood that some of them, especially these 2k kids are seeing me for the first time, and I realised the importance of being relevant to thrive in the industry, he observes. In many ways, Viduthalai was a blessing in disguise for Chetan, who could use this newfound spotlight to shed his image and showcase a new avatar for the old and new audience. I have played the good man mostly. This is the first time I am playing a full-fledged negative role. And I think a new villain has arrived now, Chetan laughs.

Viduthalai marks Chetans second collaboration with Vetri Maaran after Polladhavan (2007), and the wait was clearly worth it. After a gap of 13 years when Vetri Maaran calls, you know that it is something important. About preparing for the character, Chetan recalls that Vetri Maaran asked him to become fitter but not shed weight and gave him an extensive walkthrough about the psychology of Ragavendar, who is a cop with utmost disregard for his subordinates.

I learnt how to not act-act. Vetri Maaran did not allow me to do conventional and obvious expressions. He asked me to internalise the emotions for every scene and just feel them. It automatically reflected in my performance. It was fresh and I think its the biggest learning for me, Chetan shares.

One of the most disturbing scenes in the film was the one involving tribal women and their torture by the cops. About shooting the scene, Chetan says, Though the women were equipped with skin tights, just imagining the inhuman series of events was very heavy and uneasy. But the director ensured that not many were allowed on the spot. He executed the scene with sensitivity. The actor also speaks about shooting in Malliamman Durgam, an interior hilly hamlet.

Only a few pick-up jeeps could ply up the terrain. We rented houses in that hamlet, and our production house built toilets and barracks at the shooting spot. Trekking through the rocky terrain in the forest to reach the shooting location was not easy. And while returning from the location, it had rained heavily. Soori and I had hearts in our mouths as we descended, it was extremely risky, he adds.

Chetan reveals that although he does not know why exactly Vetri Maaran wanted to cast him for this role, he was confident about the filmmakers decision. He was convinced that the audience will accept him in this role. After watching the film, audiences are furious with Ragavendar. I think such a reaction to a negative character itself is a success. Our technicians who watched the film before the release told me Viduthalai would be a game-changer for me.

However, I kept my expectation low. Now that my performance is being recognised, I am humbled and happy, he says. Back in the day, Chetan opines, TV artists getting a prominent role in films was a challenge in itself. But he believes Viduthalai would open newer avenues for him. I hope I get opportunities to play meaty characters that steer the plot forward and be part of films that give me substantial space for performance, he adds.

Hinting about the much-awaited second instalment of Viduthalai, Chetan shares that it will have more surprises and that his character will be rounded-off properly. You will see more of Ragavendar...of course, darker. He will go through a whole gamut of emotions and a lot of metamorphoses. You have to wait to know what it is all about, Chetan signs off.



For a decade since the mid-90s, actor Chetan became a prominent household name through television serials like Vidaadhu Karuppu, Metti Oli, Athipookal and Uthiripookal. The actor slowly and steadily transitioned to the silver screen as a supporting actor and has nearly 30 films to his credit. However, despite some interesting roles in his filmography, Chetan strongly believes his brutish cop Ragavendar from Vetri Maarans Viduthalai, is his breakthrough role. I think I can divide my acting career into two partsPre-Viduthalai and Post-Viduthalai. The film, my scope for performance, Vetri Maarans direction and his confidence in me ushered in a reinvention of my acting abilities, says Chetan, who is humbled by all the appreciation coming his way for the terrific performance. While Chetan is indeed a household name, the actor reveals his initial surprise when a section of the audience knew him for the first time through Viduthalai. I always thought people knew me.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); But after this film, I understood that some of them, especially these 2k kids are seeing me for the first time, and I realised the importance of being relevant to thrive in the industry, he observes. In many ways, Viduthalai was a blessing in disguise for Chetan, who could use this newfound spotlight to shed his image and showcase a new avatar for the old and new audience. I have played the good man mostly. This is the first time I am playing a full-fledged negative role. And I think a new villain has arrived now, Chetan laughs. Viduthalai marks Chetans second collaboration with Vetri Maaran after Polladhavan (2007), and the wait was clearly worth it. After a gap of 13 years when Vetri Maaran calls, you know that it is something important. About preparing for the character, Chetan recalls that Vetri Maaran asked him to become fitter but not shed weight and gave him an extensive walkthrough about the psychology of Ragavendar, who is a cop with utmost disregard for his subordinates. I learnt how to not act-act. Vetri Maaran did not allow me to do conventional and obvious expressions. He asked me to internalise the emotions for every scene and just feel them. It automatically reflected in my performance. It was fresh and I think its the biggest learning for me, Chetan shares. One of the most disturbing scenes in the film was the one involving tribal women and their torture by the cops. About shooting the scene, Chetan says, Though the women were equipped with skin tights, just imagining the inhuman series of events was very heavy and uneasy. But the director ensured that not many were allowed on the spot. He executed the scene with sensitivity. The actor also speaks about shooting in Malliamman Durgam, an interior hilly hamlet. Only a few pick-up jeeps could ply up the terrain. We rented houses in that hamlet, and our production house built toilets and barracks at the shooting spot. Trekking through the rocky terrain in the forest to reach the shooting location was not easy. And while returning from the location, it had rained heavily. Soori and I had hearts in our mouths as we descended, it was extremely risky, he adds. Chetan reveals that although he does not know why exactly Vetri Maaran wanted to cast him for this role, he was confident about the filmmakers decision. He was convinced that the audience will accept him in this role. After watching the film, audiences are furious with Ragavendar. I think such a reaction to a negative character itself is a success. Our technicians who watched the film before the release told me Viduthalai would be a game-changer for me. However, I kept my expectation low. Now that my performance is being recognised, I am humbled and happy, he says. Back in the day, Chetan opines, TV artists getting a prominent role in films was a challenge in itself. But he believes Viduthalai would open newer avenues for him. I hope I get opportunities to play meaty characters that steer the plot forward and be part of films that give me substantial space for performance, he adds. Hinting about the much-awaited second instalment of Viduthalai, Chetan shares that it will have more surprises and that his character will be rounded-off properly. You will see more of Ragavendar...of course, darker. He will go through a whole gamut of emotions and a lot of metamorphoses. You have to wait to know what it is all about, Chetan signs off.
By PTI

THANE: At least 20 people were still undergoing treatment after suffering from sunstroke at the 'Maharashtra Bhushan' award function in Navi Mumbai, an official said on Monday.

On Sunday, at least 11 people died due to sunstroke as the function, attended by lakhs, was held in an open ground in the Kharghar area of Raigad district.

Forty-four people were admitted to five hospitals in and around Kharghar. Out of them, 20 are still undergoing treatment while the others have been discharged, according to the Raigad district information officer.

The Kharghar police have registered accidental death reports (ADR) in connection with the 11 fatalities, an official said.

The deceased included eight women. Ten of the bodies were handed over to their relatives, according to officials. Lakhs of people had come for the event held on a 306-acre ground in Kharghar.

The nearest weather station to the spot had recorded a maximum temperature of 38 degrees Celsius.

WATCH:

Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Ajit Pawar visited the MGM Hospital at Kamothe in Navi Mumbai late Sunday night and enquired about the health of the people undergoing treatment there after suffering from sunstroke.

Talking to reporters, he termed the incident as "most unfortunate" and said the priority was to ensure the patients get well soon.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader claimed it was a function of the Maharashtra government.

It is a well-known fact that during April-May, the temperature is very high. During these days, the temperature is around 40 degrees Celsius, he said.

"Hence, it needs to be probed as to who had fixed the noon timing for the award function," the NCP leader said.

Pawar said the function could have been held in the evening and Union Home Minister Amit Shah could have taken a chopper to reach the venue.

Shah on Sunday conferred the Maharashtra Bhushan Award on spiritual leader and social reformer Appasaheb Dharmadhikari at the event.

The Chief Minister's Office (CMO) in a release on Sunday night said, "At least 11 deaths apparently due to sunstroke have been confirmed."

ALSO READ | 'Maharashtra Bhushan' award event: 11 attendees die of sunstroke, Ajit Pawar seeks probe

Panvel Municipal Commissioner Ganesh Deshmukh said there was no report of any new fatality so far. Twenty-four people were discharged from hospitals after treatment on Sunday, he said.

A police official said the highest number of 15 sunstroke patients were admitted to the MGM Hospital.

The patients in other hospitals in Navi Mumbai were also recuperating and they were stated to be in stable condition, he added.

Shinde had on Sunday told reporters outside a hospital in Navi Mumbai that at least 50 people were admitted there out of which 24 are still hospitalised while the rest have been discharged after primary treatment.

ALSO READ | Maharashtra: Eight attendees at Amit Shah's function die in heatwave

He termed the deaths "very unfortunate". The CM said the kin of the deceased will be given compensation of Rs 5 lakh.

Many of the followers of Shree Parivar (Dharmadhikari's organisation) reached the venue on Friday and stayed there till the function concluded at around 1.30 pm on Sunday.

Some people complained of dizziness and other complications on Sunday. Some also fainted at the function ground.

They were initially treated at makeshift medical facilities and later rushed to hospitals.

Dharmadhikari has a massive following in the state due to his tree plantation drives, blood donation and medical camps as well as de-addiction work in tribal areas.

THANE: At least 20 people were still undergoing treatment after suffering from sunstroke at the 'Maharashtra Bhushan' award function in Navi Mumbai, an official said on Monday. On Sunday, at least 11 people died due to sunstroke as the function, attended by lakhs, was held in an open ground in the Kharghar area of Raigad district. Forty-four people were admitted to five hospitals in and around Kharghar. Out of them, 20 are still undergoing treatment while the others have been discharged, according to the Raigad district information officer.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The Kharghar police have registered accidental death reports (ADR) in connection with the 11 fatalities, an official said. The deceased included eight women. Ten of the bodies were handed over to their relatives, according to officials. Lakhs of people had come for the event held on a 306-acre ground in Kharghar. The nearest weather station to the spot had recorded a maximum temperature of 38 degrees Celsius. WATCH: Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Ajit Pawar visited the MGM Hospital at Kamothe in Navi Mumbai late Sunday night and enquired about the health of the people undergoing treatment there after suffering from sunstroke. Talking to reporters, he termed the incident as "most unfortunate" and said the priority was to ensure the patients get well soon. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader claimed it was a function of the Maharashtra government. It is a well-known fact that during April-May, the temperature is very high. During these days, the temperature is around 40 degrees Celsius, he said. "Hence, it needs to be probed as to who had fixed the noon timing for the award function," the NCP leader said. Pawar said the function could have been held in the evening and Union Home Minister Amit Shah could have taken a chopper to reach the venue. Shah on Sunday conferred the Maharashtra Bhushan Award on spiritual leader and social reformer Appasaheb Dharmadhikari at the event. The Chief Minister's Office (CMO) in a release on Sunday night said, "At least 11 deaths apparently due to sunstroke have been confirmed." ALSO READ | 'Maharashtra Bhushan' award event: 11 attendees die of sunstroke, Ajit Pawar seeks probe Panvel Municipal Commissioner Ganesh Deshmukh said there was no report of any new fatality so far. Twenty-four people were discharged from hospitals after treatment on Sunday, he said. A police official said the highest number of 15 sunstroke patients were admitted to the MGM Hospital. The patients in other hospitals in Navi Mumbai were also recuperating and they were stated to be in stable condition, he added. Shinde had on Sunday told reporters outside a hospital in Navi Mumbai that at least 50 people were admitted there out of which 24 are still hospitalised while the rest have been discharged after primary treatment. ALSO READ | Maharashtra: Eight attendees at Amit Shah's function die in heatwave He termed the deaths "very unfortunate". The CM said the kin of the deceased will be given compensation of Rs 5 lakh. Many of the followers of Shree Parivar (Dharmadhikari's organisation) reached the venue on Friday and stayed there till the function concluded at around 1.30 pm on Sunday. Some people complained of dizziness and other complications on Sunday. Some also fainted at the function ground. They were initially treated at makeshift medical facilities and later rushed to hospitals. Dharmadhikari has a massive following in the state due to his tree plantation drives, blood donation and medical camps as well as de-addiction work in tribal areas.
Rajsh Asnani By

Express News Service

JAIPUR: Former Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje held a special prayer on Sunday at Hanuman temple in Jaipur for the justice of the victims of the Jaipur bomb blast case of 2008.

In this effort, not only were 80 diyas (earthen lamps) lit in memory of those who lost their lives but Raje also recited Hanuman Chalisa to get the accused hanged. She also met the families of the blast victims and assured them that they would definitely get justice.

Later, Raje also took to Twitter to share the response of the victims family members and stated that during the BJP government, the accused terrorists were put in jail and were sentenced to death by the lower court. She also added that earlier, the family members were hopeful of getting justice but now that all the blast accused have been acquitted, their hopes of justice have started to fade under the Congress rule.

In the election year, the BJP seems keen to encash on this issue and claimed that it was a result of Congress laxity in pursuing the case due to vote bank politics. Union Minister Amit Shah had raked up this issue during a public rally on Saturday and had accused the Gehlot government of playing appeasement politics.

He had also alleged that the Gehlot government did not lobby properly in the HC in order to please their votebank, due to which the accused in the Jaipur Bomb Blasts were released.

I have lit 80 diyas with a trust that the Balaji will ensure justice to the families of victims who lost their lives during the blasts and those terrorists responsible for the killing of 80 innocent people will be hanged, the former CM said.

Raje, who was also present at the Amit Shah rally in Bharatpur on Saturday, took a jibe at the Gehlot government and accused them of deliberately not advocating enough in the Jaipur bomb blast cases. She further claimed that there is an atmosphere of resentment among the public over this appeasement mentality of the Gehlot government.

During the first tenure of Vasundhara Raje as state CM, on May 13, 2008 the Jaipur bomb blast killed 71 people and injured 185 others.

JAIPUR: Former Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje held a special prayer on Sunday at Hanuman temple in Jaipur for the justice of the victims of the Jaipur bomb blast case of 2008. In this effort, not only were 80 diyas (earthen lamps) lit in memory of those who lost their lives but Raje also recited Hanuman Chalisa to get the accused hanged. She also met the families of the blast victims and assured them that they would definitely get justice. Later, Raje also took to Twitter to share the response of the victims family members and stated that during the BJP government, the accused terrorists were put in jail and were sentenced to death by the lower court. She also added that earlier, the family members were hopeful of getting justice but now that all the blast accused have been acquitted, their hopes of justice have started to fade under the Congress rule.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); In the election year, the BJP seems keen to encash on this issue and claimed that it was a result of Congress laxity in pursuing the case due to vote bank politics. Union Minister Amit Shah had raked up this issue during a public rally on Saturday and had accused the Gehlot government of playing appeasement politics. He had also alleged that the Gehlot government did not lobby properly in the HC in order to please their votebank, due to which the accused in the Jaipur Bomb Blasts were released. I have lit 80 diyas with a trust that the Balaji will ensure justice to the families of victims who lost their lives during the blasts and those terrorists responsible for the killing of 80 innocent people will be hanged, the former CM said. Raje, who was also present at the Amit Shah rally in Bharatpur on Saturday, took a jibe at the Gehlot government and accused them of deliberately not advocating enough in the Jaipur bomb blast cases. She further claimed that there is an atmosphere of resentment among the public over this appeasement mentality of the Gehlot government. During the first tenure of Vasundhara Raje as state CM, on May 13, 2008 the Jaipur bomb blast killed 71 people and injured 185 others.
North Dakota lawmakers have all but finalized proposed revisions to the state's abortion laws.

The House of Representatives on Monday passed Senate Bill 2150 by Sen. Janne Myrdal, R-Edinburg, in a 76-14 vote, sending it back to the Senate for concurrence with amendments. The Senate in January had passed the bill, 43-4.

Myrdal told the Tribune she expects the Senate to agree with the changes and send the bill to Gov. Doug Burgum.

Post-ruling

The final revisions came in the wake of a state Supreme Court ruling last month that upheld a temporary block of the state's abortion ban.

"Part of it was to try to help address the Supreme Court ruling that didn't exactly come out in favor of North Dakota's current abortion laws, so I think this better helps clarify things," House Human Services Committee Chair Robin Weisz, R-Hurdsfield, told the panel last week.

Myrdal has said the bill is to clear up language in the state's 2007 trigger ban and 2013 "heartbeat bill" in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the constitutional right to an abortion last year.

The court's Dobbs decision triggered North Dakota's ban, which prohibits virtually all abortions, but is temporarily blocked in state district court.

The "heartbeat bill" bans abortions as soon as a fetal heartbeat is detected -- as early as six weeks, when some women don't yet know they're pregnant -- except when a medical emergency exists that prevents compliance with the law. Attorney General Drew Wrigley is appealing a federal block on the law in the wake of the Dobbs decision.

The House Human Services Committee had passed out Myrdal's bill for a House vote last month, just before the state Supreme Court ruling that upheld a district court judge's temporary block of the state's abortion ban.

The House panel reconsidered the bill and amended it Thursday, nearly a month after the ruling in the lawsuit brought by the Red River Women's Clinic in Fargo. North Dakota's lone abortion clinic moved to Moorhead, Minnesota, where abortion is still legal, following the Dobbs decision.

Weisz told the committee the amendments were "to help clean up, clarify a few things to try to make the law, the current 2150 to reflect some of the Supreme Court ruling."

The clinic despite its move to Minnesota is still challenging North Dakota's trigger law, which would ban virtually all abortions but for cases of rape and incest, and to protect the life of the mother.

The lawsuit continues in state district court after the state Supreme Court's ruling. Chief Justice Jon Jensen wrote in the court's majority opinion that "The North Dakota Constitution guarantees North Dakota citizens the right to enjoy and defend life and the right to pursue and obtain safety, which necessarily includes a pregnant woman has a fundamental right to obtain an abortion to preserve her life or her health."

Myrdal said the Supreme Court "decided to be legislators, to create or innovate a right in the constitution for the word 'health.'"

Wrigley last month blasted the ruling, saying the court "chooses a path of its very own, by holding there is now also an un-defined 'health' exception to abortion regulation."

Under the abortion ban, doctors could be charged with a Class C felony for performing an abortion during medical emergencies and in cases of rape or incest, but they could argue in court that the affirmative defenses for rape, incest and protection of the life of a mother outlined in the law protect them from criminal liability.

The bill would change the ban's affirmative defenses into exceptions, which supporters say would take the legal burden off medical providers.

The bill also would allow for abortions for rape and incest, but only before six weeks gestation. Myrdal has said "this was already law, no changes."

The House panel rejected amendments by Rep. Gretchen Dobervich, D-Fargo, to change the six weeks to 12 weeks for "a woman who has been the victim of sexual violence in which a pregnancy results," and to include mental health in the bill's definition of health.

Myrdal's bill also would allow for treatment of ectopic pregnancies, a dangerous, nonviable scenario in which a fertilized egg implants outside the uterus, and molar pregnancies, a nonviable, rare complication involving a tumor forming in the uterus.

The House amendments create a new chapter in state law for the bill, allow for the treatment of molar pregnancies, and redefine a "medical emergency" as a "serious health risk."

Debate

Several House Democrats opposed the bill, citing a 2014 statewide vote rejecting a measure to etch personhood rights "at any stage of development" into the state constitution, as well as the bill's impact on impregnated rape victims, its perceived infringement on religious rights, and the likelihood for further litigation.

"The people in this room do not belong in what is meant to be between a woman, her doctor, and if she so chooses, led by her faith and the support of her family," said Rep. Jayme Davis, D-Rolette.

Republicans said the issue comes down to "life" and standing for unborn children.

Rep. Dan Ruby, R-Minot, told the House, "This is a time that we have a chance to clean up language in our law, make some improvements to it, adjust to it due to the nature of what we did before the overturning of Roe v. Wade to what is being done now."

The Dobbs decision overturned the constitutional right to an abortion established in Roe v. Wade in 1973.

Rep. Lori VanWinkle, R-Minot, said, "This is a law of God, and there is no law that can be a legitimate law that goes against God's law, and it's his law that says life is valuable, and we must uphold that."

Some House Republicans said the bill's six weeks provision is insufficient.

There is little time for someone who has been sexually assaulted to know she is pregnant and decide about an abortion in as little as one to two weeks of being late in her menstrual cycle, according to Rep. Shannon Roers Jones, R-Fargo.

"I don't think we've given enough time for someone who is a victim of a sexual assault to know that they're pregnant and to make a decision that has lifelong impacts for them," she told the House. Some rape victims can be girls as young as 10, she added.

Rep. Eric Murphy, R-Grand Forks, called six weeks "a pretty narrow standard ... especially in a woman who may have been raped, may have (become pregnant due to) incest, and frankly may not even know they're pregnant. It's a traumatic time for those individuals, and that trauma may continue for years."

House Majority Leader Mike Lefor, R-Dickinson, said, "We're speaking for those who can't speak for themselves. We need to protect their rights, too. At the end of the day, we passed a trigger law in 2007, and I have no idea why the North Dakota Supreme Court is legislating ... so we're going to send another message to the North Dakota Supreme Court. This is what this Legislature wants. We want pro-life in North Dakota."

Weisz's committee had given the bill a 10-2 "do pass" recommendation. Myrdal said the bill didn't change "radically," and is in a final form to go to the governor.

The Legislature this session also is handling numerous bills to aid pregnant women in the wake of the Dobbs decision, including proposals for additional funding for the state's alternatives to abortion, and to expand Medicaid assistance, among others.
Sudhir Suryawanshi By

Express News Service

MUMBAI: After reports about Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde exiting, projected to be replaced by Ajit Pawar as new chief minister, a sudden disquiet has descended on state politics. Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi leader Prakash Ambedkar said that in the next fortnight, two major political developments could be expected.

Shiv Sena (UBT) Sanjay Raut in his weekly column in Samana confirmed the development. He referred to a meeting of former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and NCP chief Sharad Pawar where the latter said no one wants to leave the party from the bottom of their heart.

But his family has been targeted and if anyone wants to take a decision, it will be their individual decision. It will not be the partys decision to join hands with the BJP. NCP as a party will not support the BJP, Pawar reportedly told Uddhav Thackeray where Sanjay Raut was also present.

This paper had reported that Ajit Pawar along with at least 35 NCP MLAs will switch sides and will be made the chief minister. However, the group of NCP MLAs did not want to break the party or join hands with the BJP without the consent of Sharad Pawar.

Raut claims Sharad Pawar further told him that if anyone joins the BJP, then it will be their political suicide. There is an anti-incumbent sentiment in Maharashtra. People are angry with the present government. It is not good politics to use the central agencies to break parties, said Raut.

Both Pawar and Thackeray agreed, if anyone leaves the MVA, then it will be a political suicide, Raut stated. Raut also claims in his column that Sharad Pawar said that those who would leave the party due to fear of Central agencies, their files lying on the EDs table will be kept in the cupboard.

MUMBAI: After reports about Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde exiting, projected to be replaced by Ajit Pawar as new chief minister, a sudden disquiet has descended on state politics. Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi leader Prakash Ambedkar said that in the next fortnight, two major political developments could be expected. Shiv Sena (UBT) Sanjay Raut in his weekly column in Samana confirmed the development. He referred to a meeting of former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and NCP chief Sharad Pawar where the latter said no one wants to leave the party from the bottom of their heart. But his family has been targeted and if anyone wants to take a decision, it will be their individual decision. It will not be the partys decision to join hands with the BJP. NCP as a party will not support the BJP, Pawar reportedly told Uddhav Thackeray where Sanjay Raut was also present.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); This paper had reported that Ajit Pawar along with at least 35 NCP MLAs will switch sides and will be made the chief minister. However, the group of NCP MLAs did not want to break the party or join hands with the BJP without the consent of Sharad Pawar. Raut claims Sharad Pawar further told him that if anyone joins the BJP, then it will be their political suicide. There is an anti-incumbent sentiment in Maharashtra. People are angry with the present government. It is not good politics to use the central agencies to break parties, said Raut. Both Pawar and Thackeray agreed, if anyone leaves the MVA, then it will be a political suicide, Raut stated. Raut also claims in his column that Sharad Pawar said that those who would leave the party due to fear of Central agencies, their files lying on the EDs table will be kept in the cupboard.
Shruti Kakkar By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: In the wake of the killing of gangster Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf, a plea has been filed in Supreme Court seeking the constitution of an independent expert committee under the chairmanship of a former SC judge to inquire into police custody murder.

This comes a day after gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf was shot dead by three assailants when they were responding to reporters' queries while being escorted by police personnel to a medical college in Prayagraj for a checkup on Saturday night.

Levelling allegations of violation of rule of law and oppressive police brutalities in the state of Uttar Pradesh, the plea filed by Advocate Vishal Tiwari says that extra judicial killings of fake encounters have been very badly condemned under the law.

The power of punishment is only vested in the Judiciary. The police when becomes daredevils, then the entire Rule of law collapses and generates the fear in the mind of people against the police which is very dangerous for the Democracy and this also results into further crime," the plea states.

Tiwari in the plea has argued that such actions are a severe threat to the democracy and rule of law, and are establishments of anarchy and prima facie development of the police state.

Along with the setting up of a commission, the plea has also sought for inquiry into 183 encounters that had occurred since 2017 as stated by the Uttar Pradesh Special Director General of Police (Law and Order)

Furthermore, it also seeks for unearthing the fake encounters by directing the Central Bureau of Investigation to investigate, collect and record the evidence in the Kanpur Bikru Encounter case 2020 in which Vikas Dubey and his aides were killed by police in an encounter.

In a democratic society the police cannot be allowed to become a mode of delivering final justice or to become a punishing Authority, it also states.

NEW DELHI: In the wake of the killing of gangster Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf, a plea has been filed in Supreme Court seeking the constitution of an independent expert committee under the chairmanship of a former SC judge to inquire into police custody murder. This comes a day after gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf was shot dead by three assailants when they were responding to reporters' queries while being escorted by police personnel to a medical college in Prayagraj for a checkup on Saturday night. Levelling allegations of violation of rule of law and oppressive police brutalities in the state of Uttar Pradesh, the plea filed by Advocate Vishal Tiwari says that extra judicial killings of fake encounters have been very badly condemned under the law. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The power of punishment is only vested in the Judiciary. The police when becomes daredevils, then the entire Rule of law collapses and generates the fear in the mind of people against the police which is very dangerous for the Democracy and this also results into further crime," the plea states. Tiwari in the plea has argued that such actions are a severe threat to the democracy and rule of law, and are establishments of anarchy and prima facie development of the police state. Along with the setting up of a commission, the plea has also sought for inquiry into 183 encounters that had occurred since 2017 as stated by the Uttar Pradesh Special Director General of Police (Law and Order) Furthermore, it also seeks for unearthing the fake encounters by directing the Central Bureau of Investigation to investigate, collect and record the evidence in the Kanpur Bikru Encounter case 2020 in which Vikas Dubey and his aides were killed by police in an encounter. In a democratic society the police cannot be allowed to become a mode of delivering final justice or to become a punishing Authority, it also states.
Anuraag Singh By

Express News Service

BHOPAL: With an eye on the 16% Dalit vote, the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government organised the Ambedkar Mahakumbh in Gwalior on Sunday. The CM, along with senior BJP leaders, including two union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and Jyotiraditya Scindia addressed a gathering of scheduled caste population.

Chouhan listed the initiatives taken by his government for the uplift of backward and downtrodden sections on five counts  Panch Krantis (five revolutions)  including education, employment, land for living, women empowerment and respect for all.

Just two days after he had made his governments decision public  to link the Panch Teerthas (five pilgrimages) of Dr BR Ambedkars life with the flagship Mukhya Mantri Teerth Darshan Yojana  the CM made an announcement for the welfare of all sub castes of scheduled caste category.

The scheduled caste category has many sub castes, including Jatav, Khatik, Valmiki, Chowdhary, Balayi and Saket. Well constitute a Welfare Board for each sub caste of the scheduled caste category, Chouhan announced. He also talked about allocating land for establishing Baba Sahab Ambedkar Dham and Sansthan in Gwalior. Addressing the gathering, union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia lashed out against his old party  the Congress.

I want to ask those politicians who insult the backward sections, but dont apologize and also those leaders who turn self-proclaimed messiahs of Dalits at the time of polls, where were they and what have they done for the downtrodden in the last 75 years.

In 1952 when Dr BR Ambedkar contested the Lok Sabha polls, why did the Congress field a candidate against him, why did the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru campaign against him, resulting in his defeat? Its time now for all of us to not only question the Congress party, but also take revenge for it, Scindia said.

Importantly, the SC category voters constitute around 16% vote in MP and 35 out of the 230 assembly seats are reserved for SC category. In the 2013 elections, when the BJP had won a total 165 seats, it had emerged victorious on 80% of these 35 SC reserved seats.

Initiatives taken to uplift backward sections

MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan listed the initiatives taken by his government for the uplift of backward sections on five counts  Panch Krantis (five revolutions)  including education, employment, land for living, women empowerment and respect for all. He also made

an announcement for the welfare of all sub castes of scheduled caste category.

BHOPAL: With an eye on the 16% Dalit vote, the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government organised the Ambedkar Mahakumbh in Gwalior on Sunday. The CM, along with senior BJP leaders, including two union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and Jyotiraditya Scindia addressed a gathering of scheduled caste population. Chouhan listed the initiatives taken by his government for the uplift of backward and downtrodden sections on five counts  Panch Krantis (five revolutions)  including education, employment, land for living, women empowerment and respect for all. Just two days after he had made his governments decision public  to link the Panch Teerthas (five pilgrimages) of Dr BR Ambedkars life with the flagship Mukhya Mantri Teerth Darshan Yojana  the CM made an announcement for the welfare of all sub castes of scheduled caste category.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The scheduled caste category has many sub castes, including Jatav, Khatik, Valmiki, Chowdhary, Balayi and Saket. Well constitute a Welfare Board for each sub caste of the scheduled caste category, Chouhan announced. He also talked about allocating land for establishing Baba Sahab Ambedkar Dham and Sansthan in Gwalior. Addressing the gathering, union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia lashed out against his old party  the Congress. I want to ask those politicians who insult the backward sections, but dont apologize and also those leaders who turn self-proclaimed messiahs of Dalits at the time of polls, where were they and what have they done for the downtrodden in the last 75 years. In 1952 when Dr BR Ambedkar contested the Lok Sabha polls, why did the Congress field a candidate against him, why did the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru campaign against him, resulting in his defeat? Its time now for all of us to not only question the Congress party, but also take revenge for it, Scindia said. Importantly, the SC category voters constitute around 16% vote in MP and 35 out of the 230 assembly seats are reserved for SC category. In the 2013 elections, when the BJP had won a total 165 seats, it had emerged victorious on 80% of these 35 SC reserved seats. Initiatives taken to uplift backward sections MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan listed the initiatives taken by his government for the uplift of backward sections on five counts  Panch Krantis (five revolutions)  including education, employment, land for living, women empowerment and respect for all. He also made an announcement for the welfare of all sub castes of scheduled caste category.
Namita Bajpai By

Express News Service

LUCKNOW: Following the double murders of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf on Saturday night, the emergence of three envelopes allegedly containing the letters of Ashraf have created quite a buzz in the social media circles on Monday.

The letters in question reportedly contain the name of a high-ranking police official, who had allegedly threatened Ashraf to finish him on his next visit to Prayagraj.

According to Ashraf's lawyer, Vijay Mishra, when Ashraf was brought to Prayagraj on March 28 for the deliverance of MP/MLA court order in connection with Umesh Pal abduction case in he was an accused along with Atiq and eight others, a senior police officer had threatened him saying that this time he was being sent back safe but would be taken out of jail again in two weeks and would be eliminated.

Ashraf had expressed those fears to the media persons while going back to the Bareilly jail after getting exonerated in the Umesh Pal abduction case for want of evidence.

According to Ashraf's lawyer, when he had visited Bareilly jail after a court order to meet him, Ashraf, had told him that he had written three letters addressed to the Chief Justice of India, Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

ALSO READ | I'll be found dead by the roadside: Atiq's premonition came true

"These letters are contained in three separate envelopes and should reach authorities concerned if he is killed in future, said the lawyer narrating his interaction with deceased gangster.

On Monday, Ashrafs lawyer told a section of media that the letters would reach authorities concerned as soon as per the wish of his client. Though he did not disclose how the letters would be sent, he said that arrangements for sending them were made.

Meanwhile, in a section of media, there were reports about Ashraf breaching his promise made to the police officers to hand over three shooters of Umesh Pal murder case.

As per the sources, Ashraf had made the promise while going back from Prayagraj on March 28 but he did not keep his words after reaching the jail.

WEB SCRAWL | In UP badlands, will Atiq's killing see new breed of criminals who seek fame by targeting bigger fish?

LUCKNOW: Following the double murders of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf on Saturday night, the emergence of three envelopes allegedly containing the letters of Ashraf have created quite a buzz in the social media circles on Monday. The letters in question reportedly contain the name of a high-ranking police official, who had allegedly threatened Ashraf to finish him on his next visit to Prayagraj. According to Ashraf's lawyer, Vijay Mishra, when Ashraf was brought to Prayagraj on March 28 for the deliverance of MP/MLA court order in connection with Umesh Pal abduction case in he was an accused along with Atiq and eight others, a senior police officer had threatened him saying that this time he was being sent back safe but would be taken out of jail again in two weeks and would be eliminated.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Ashraf had expressed those fears to the media persons while going back to the Bareilly jail after getting exonerated in the Umesh Pal abduction case for want of evidence. According to Ashraf's lawyer, when he had visited Bareilly jail after a court order to meet him, Ashraf, had told him that he had written three letters addressed to the Chief Justice of India, Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. ALSO READ | I'll be found dead by the roadside: Atiq's premonition came true "These letters are contained in three separate envelopes and should reach authorities concerned if he is killed in future, said the lawyer narrating his interaction with deceased gangster. On Monday, Ashrafs lawyer told a section of media that the letters would reach authorities concerned as soon as per the wish of his client. Though he did not disclose how the letters would be sent, he said that arrangements for sending them were made. Meanwhile, in a section of media, there were reports about Ashraf breaching his promise made to the police officers to hand over three shooters of Umesh Pal murder case. As per the sources, Ashraf had made the promise while going back from Prayagraj on March 28 but he did not keep his words after reaching the jail. WEB SCRAWL | In UP badlands, will Atiq's killing see new breed of criminals who seek fame by targeting bigger fish?
Jitendra Choubey By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Concerned about rising prices of pulses in an election year, the government is mounting pressure on stockists, millers, food processors and traders to declare their stocks of pigeon pea (tur/arhar) and black gram so that the government takes the right decision.

In Bihar, for example, tur prices have increased nearly 89% to Rs 14,500 a quintal as of April this year from Rs 7681.36/ quintal the same month last year. Senior officers of the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) have already visited 12 centres of pulses-producing regions. Imports of pulses have also been continuing from Africa and Myanmar.

According to trade analysts, India has imported 8.75 lakh tonne (LT) of tur and 5.12 LT of black gram by March 23.

We are knocking on the doors of every possible small-to-midlevel trader to make them feel that they are under the government radar, said a senior officer of the DoCA who recently visited Latur mandi in Maharashtra, one of the largest tur markets.

The government needs to know the stock availability in the country to take the right decision, said Rohit Kumar Singh, secretary, DoCA. In 2022-23, the kharif pulses sowing areas were reduced by around 4% due to erratic rainfall in major growing areas like Maharashtra, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. The latest estimation of tur production is 36 LT, lower by 6 LT in the previous year.

Since October last year, the government has maintained it is monitoring the pulses crisis. Itd appear it did not make timely market intervention by procuring pulses directly from farmers. It started procurement in March. The procurement agency National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) has not revealed any data on the procurement target and how much it has procured yet.

NEW DELHI: Concerned about rising prices of pulses in an election year, the government is mounting pressure on stockists, millers, food processors and traders to declare their stocks of pigeon pea (tur/arhar) and black gram so that the government takes the right decision. In Bihar, for example, tur prices have increased nearly 89% to Rs 14,500 a quintal as of April this year from Rs 7681.36/ quintal the same month last year. Senior officers of the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) have already visited 12 centres of pulses-producing regions. Imports of pulses have also been continuing from Africa and Myanmar. According to trade analysts, India has imported 8.75 lakh tonne (LT) of tur and 5.12 LT of black gram by March 23.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); We are knocking on the doors of every possible small-to-midlevel trader to make them feel that they are under the government radar, said a senior officer of the DoCA who recently visited Latur mandi in Maharashtra, one of the largest tur markets. The government needs to know the stock availability in the country to take the right decision, said Rohit Kumar Singh, secretary, DoCA. In 2022-23, the kharif pulses sowing areas were reduced by around 4% due to erratic rainfall in major growing areas like Maharashtra, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. The latest estimation of tur production is 36 LT, lower by 6 LT in the previous year. Since October last year, the government has maintained it is monitoring the pulses crisis. Itd appear it did not make timely market intervention by procuring pulses directly from farmers. It started procurement in March. The procurement agency National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) has not revealed any data on the procurement target and how much it has procured yet.
By PTI

RAJKOT: A man and his wife allegedly committed suicide by decapitating themselves using a guillotine-like device, which they created at home, so that they could offer their heads for a sacrificial ritual in Gujarat's Rajkot district, police said on Sunday.

Hemubhai Makwana (38) and his wife Hansaben (35) killed themselves by getting their heads severed by the blade of the device in a hut at their farm in Vinchhiya village, sub-inspector Indrajeetsinh Jadeja of Vinchhiya police station said.

The husband-wife duo executed the plan in such a manner that their heads rolled into the fire altar after getting severed, he said, adding that a suicide note was found at the spot.

"The couple first prepared a fire altar before putting their heads under a guillotine-like mechanism held by a rope. As soon as they released the rope, an iron blade fell on them, severing their heads, which rolled into the fire," Jadeja said.

The ritual was performed between Saturday night and Sunday afternoon when the police were informed, he said, adding that a suicide note was recovered from the spot.

The family members of the couple said the duo had been offering prayers in the hut every day since the last one year, he said.

The couple has two children, parents and other relatives living nearby, who learnt about the incident on Sunday morning and informed the police, the official said.

A suicide note was also recovered from the couple's possession, in which they urged their relatives to take care of their parents and children, he said.

A case of accidental death was registered and the bodies were sent for post-mortem, the official added.

Discussing suicides can be triggering for some. However, suicides are preventable. In case you feel distressed by the content or know someone in distress, call Sneha Foundation - 04424640050 (available 24x7)

RAJKOT: A man and his wife allegedly committed suicide by decapitating themselves using a guillotine-like device, which they created at home, so that they could offer their heads for a sacrificial ritual in Gujarat's Rajkot district, police said on Sunday. Hemubhai Makwana (38) and his wife Hansaben (35) killed themselves by getting their heads severed by the blade of the device in a hut at their farm in Vinchhiya village, sub-inspector Indrajeetsinh Jadeja of Vinchhiya police station said. The husband-wife duo executed the plan in such a manner that their heads rolled into the fire altar after getting severed, he said, adding that a suicide note was found at the spot.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "The couple first prepared a fire altar before putting their heads under a guillotine-like mechanism held by a rope. As soon as they released the rope, an iron blade fell on them, severing their heads, which rolled into the fire," Jadeja said. The ritual was performed between Saturday night and Sunday afternoon when the police were informed, he said, adding that a suicide note was recovered from the spot. The family members of the couple said the duo had been offering prayers in the hut every day since the last one year, he said. The couple has two children, parents and other relatives living nearby, who learnt about the incident on Sunday morning and informed the police, the official said. A suicide note was also recovered from the couple's possession, in which they urged their relatives to take care of their parents and children, he said. A case of accidental death was registered and the bodies were sent for post-mortem, the official added. Discussing suicides can be triggering for some. However, suicides are preventable. In case you feel distressed by the content or know someone in distress, call Sneha Foundation - 04424640050 (available 24x7)
Namita Bajpai By

Express News Service

LUCKNOW: In a major decision, Varanasi District Court Judge Dr Ajay Krishna Vishvesha on Monday accepted the plea of four Hindu women plaintiffs in suit no. 18/2022 (Rakhi Singh vs state of UP and others) seeking transfer of seven cases related to the Gyanvapi-Shringar Gauri issue from various courts to his court. As per district government counsel (civil) Mahendra Prasad Pandey, the district judge ordered to transfer seven cases related to Gyanvapi mosque issue to his court by accepting the plea of plaintiffs 2 to 5 (Laxmi Devi, Sita Sahu, Manju Vyas and Rekha Pathak) where they had sought regular worship of Maa Shringar Gauri and other deities on the Gyanvapi mosque premises.

In his order, district judge Dr Ajay Krishna Vishvesha also mentioned that after the transfer of the seven Gyanvapi related cases pending in different civil courts to his court, the issue of their consolidation would be examined to ascertain whether it would be relevant or not. The next date for hearing in the case was posted on April 21.

ALSO READ | In UP badlands, will Atiq's killing see new breed of criminals who seek fame by targeting bigger fish?

Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain representing four women plaintiffs had moved an application on December 5, 2022 for transfer of seven cases including the one filed by Bhagwan Aadi Vishweshwar Viraajman through next friend Kiran Singh and others pending with civil judge (senior division) Fast Track Court and other six cases to the district judge court.

Jain, in his application, had mentioned that those six cases pending in the court of civil judge (senior division) and the one in fast-track court of the civil judge (senior division) were of similar nature, hence if they were tried together, it would save both the public time and money along with avoiding other legal challenges.

However, Shivam Gaur, the advocate of plaintiff-1 Rakhi Singh and Anjuman Intejamia Masajid (AIM)  the Gyanvapi mosque management committee  had strongly opposed the application to club all the petitions in their arguments which were completed on February 22 when the court had reserved its order. However, when contacted, Gaur said that he was satisfied with the order of the court as it had ordered for only their transfer from other courts to his court so far and not for consolidating them.

LUCKNOW: In a major decision, Varanasi District Court Judge Dr Ajay Krishna Vishvesha on Monday accepted the plea of four Hindu women plaintiffs in suit no. 18/2022 (Rakhi Singh vs state of UP and others) seeking transfer of seven cases related to the Gyanvapi-Shringar Gauri issue from various courts to his court. As per district government counsel (civil) Mahendra Prasad Pandey, the district judge ordered to transfer seven cases related to Gyanvapi mosque issue to his court by accepting the plea of plaintiffs 2 to 5 (Laxmi Devi, Sita Sahu, Manju Vyas and Rekha Pathak) where they had sought regular worship of Maa Shringar Gauri and other deities on the Gyanvapi mosque premises. In his order, district judge Dr Ajay Krishna Vishvesha also mentioned that after the transfer of the seven Gyanvapi related cases pending in different civil courts to his court, the issue of their consolidation would be examined to ascertain whether it would be relevant or not. The next date for hearing in the case was posted on April 21. ALSO READ | In UP badlands, will Atiq's killing see new breed of criminals who seek fame by targeting bigger fish?googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain representing four women plaintiffs had moved an application on December 5, 2022 for transfer of seven cases including the one filed by Bhagwan Aadi Vishweshwar Viraajman through next friend Kiran Singh and others pending with civil judge (senior division) Fast Track Court and other six cases to the district judge court. Jain, in his application, had mentioned that those six cases pending in the court of civil judge (senior division) and the one in fast-track court of the civil judge (senior division) were of similar nature, hence if they were tried together, it would save both the public time and money along with avoiding other legal challenges. However, Shivam Gaur, the advocate of plaintiff-1 Rakhi Singh and Anjuman Intejamia Masajid (AIM)  the Gyanvapi mosque management committee  had strongly opposed the application to club all the petitions in their arguments which were completed on February 22 when the court had reserved its order. However, when contacted, Gaur said that he was satisfied with the order of the court as it had ordered for only their transfer from other courts to his court so far and not for consolidating them.
Ramashankar By

Express News Service

PATNA: Bihar government, on Monday, announced to provide compensation to the Hooch tragedy victims in Bihar's East Champaran district.

Talking to media persons on sidelines of his weekly 'janata ke darbaar mein mukhya mantri', Bihar CM Nitish Kumar said that dependents of each victim of hooch tragedies in the state will be provided Rs 4 lakh as compensation from the CM relief fund.

He said that letters were being sent to all district magistrates informing them about the government's decision on compensation. The compensation will be given to the affected families after collecting all information about the victims, he added.

The development came after the main Opposition party BJP demanded an all-party meeting on the new prohibition policy to ban the sale and consumption of alcohol in Bihar in April 2016. The DMs of respective districts will send the list after verification of relevant documents from their end.

Senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member Sushil Modi claimed that over 300 people have died in hooch tragedies and others lost their vision due to consumption of alleged spurious liquor since the state was declared 'dry'.

ALSO READ | In 'dry' Bihar, another hooch tragedy claims 20 lives

Former chief minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha patron Jitan Ram Manjhi had also said that the majority of the victims belonged to poor strata of society.

The poor were the worst suffers from new prohibition policy, he had told the media.

At least 30 people are suspected to have died after consuming spurious liquor since Friday. The district administration, however, put the figures at 14 only.

ALSO READ | Slugfest resurfaces in Bihar over hooch tragedy as death toll rises to 28

The national human rights commission, earlier, had slammed the state government for hiding facts about the death of hooch victims in the Saran district in December last year. More than 43 people, as per official records, died.

PATNA: Bihar government, on Monday, announced to provide compensation to the Hooch tragedy victims in Bihar's East Champaran district. Talking to media persons on sidelines of his weekly 'janata ke darbaar mein mukhya mantri', Bihar CM Nitish Kumar said that dependents of each victim of hooch tragedies in the state will be provided Rs 4 lakh as compensation from the CM relief fund. He said that letters were being sent to all district magistrates informing them about the government's decision on compensation. The compensation will be given to the affected families after collecting all information about the victims, he added.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The development came after the main Opposition party BJP demanded an all-party meeting on the new prohibition policy to ban the sale and consumption of alcohol in Bihar in April 2016. The DMs of respective districts will send the list after verification of relevant documents from their end. Senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member Sushil Modi claimed that over 300 people have died in hooch tragedies and others lost their vision due to consumption of alleged spurious liquor since the state was declared 'dry'. ALSO READ | In 'dry' Bihar, another hooch tragedy claims 20 lives Former chief minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha patron Jitan Ram Manjhi had also said that the majority of the victims belonged to poor strata of society. The poor were the worst suffers from new prohibition policy, he had told the media. At least 30 people are suspected to have died after consuming spurious liquor since Friday. The district administration, however, put the figures at 14 only. ALSO READ | Slugfest resurfaces in Bihar over hooch tragedy as death toll rises to 28 The national human rights commission, earlier, had slammed the state government for hiding facts about the death of hooch victims in the Saran district in December last year. More than 43 people, as per official records, died.
Preetha Nair By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: With Congress upping the ante on the demand for a nation- wide caste census, the Opposition has set the narrative of social justice politics ahead of 2024 elections.. On Sunday, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge wrote to Prime Minister Modi asking him to conduct a comprehensive caste census along with the decennial Census, which was pending since 2021.

My letter to the Prime Minister demanding the publication of Socio Economic Caste Census.



Regular decennial Census was to be carried out in 2021 but it has not been conducted. We demand that it be done immediately and that a comprehensive Caste Census be made its integral part. pic.twitter.com/eoL52gRFC1  Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) April 17, 2023

During a poll campaign speech in Karnataka, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also dared the BJP government to make the 2011 caste-based census data public and demanded the lifting of the 50 per cent ceilings on reservations.

For the first time, the UPA government conducted a Socio Economic and Caste Census during 2011-2012 covering some 25 crore households. For a number of reasons, the caste data could not get published even though Congress and other MPs demanded its release after your government came to power in 2014, said Kharge in his letter.

The tough posturing by Opposition parties is likely to put the Modi government in a spot as it has been dithering on the contentious issue of caste based census for identifying and enumerating the SEBC/OBCs, for a long time. Early this month, at least 16 Opposition parties attended a Social Justice conference hosted by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK Chief M K Stalin, which deliberated on caste census.

While Kharges letter to the PM was welcomed by Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar, leader K C Tyagi told this paper that the plank of social justice should be the main focus of the 2024 elections.

Though Congress used to be a status quo party, we welcome the change in their approach towards social justice. The Congress never gave reservation to backward communities or increased the quota from 50 percent. Now they are on board with other parties. The Left parties which opposed caste census earlier, also now agree with us, said Tyagi adding that Congress must conduct caste surveys in party ruled states.

ALSO READ | Release caste census data, remove quota cap, Rahul tells Modi govt

While Nitish quit NDA alliance in Bihar last year over a host of issues including caste census, the Oppositions effort to woo the OBCs may pose fresh troubles for BJP. As Bihar is already carrying out a caste based survey, Tyagi pointed out that it will help the government in better implementation of welfare schemes for the backward community. Survey will be completed by May. We have already identified 15 more castes in addition to the existing ones, he says.

ALSO READ | Bihar CM Nitish Kumar says caste census beneficial

However, Rahul Verma of Centre for Policy Research (CPR) says that Congress has to walk the talk and conduct caste census in the states it rules. Congress track record on reservation and social justice politics has not been that great so far. If it wants to mobilize in this issue, then it has to show more credible behavior in the states they are in power, says Verma.

NEW DELHI: With Congress upping the ante on the demand for a nation- wide caste census, the Opposition has set the narrative of social justice politics ahead of 2024 elections.. On Sunday, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge wrote to Prime Minister Modi asking him to conduct a comprehensive caste census along with the decennial Census, which was pending since 2021. My letter to the Prime Minister demanding the publication of Socio Economic Caste Census. Regular decennial Census was to be carried out in 2021 but it has not been conducted. We demand that it be done immediately and that a comprehensive Caste Census be made its integral part. pic.twitter.com/eoL52gRFC1  Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) April 17, 2023 During a poll campaign speech in Karnataka, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also dared the BJP government to make the 2011 caste-based census data public and demanded the lifting of the 50 per cent ceilings on reservations. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); For the first time, the UPA government conducted a Socio Economic and Caste Census during 2011-2012 covering some 25 crore households. For a number of reasons, the caste data could not get published even though Congress and other MPs demanded its release after your government came to power in 2014, said Kharge in his letter. The tough posturing by Opposition parties is likely to put the Modi government in a spot as it has been dithering on the contentious issue of caste based census for identifying and enumerating the SEBC/OBCs, for a long time. Early this month, at least 16 Opposition parties attended a Social Justice conference hosted by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK Chief M K Stalin, which deliberated on caste census. While Kharges letter to the PM was welcomed by Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar, leader K C Tyagi told this paper that the plank of social justice should be the main focus of the 2024 elections. Though Congress used to be a status quo party, we welcome the change in their approach towards social justice. The Congress never gave reservation to backward communities or increased the quota from 50 percent. Now they are on board with other parties. The Left parties which opposed caste census earlier, also now agree with us, said Tyagi adding that Congress must conduct caste surveys in party ruled states. ALSO READ | Release caste census data, remove quota cap, Rahul tells Modi govt While Nitish quit NDA alliance in Bihar last year over a host of issues including caste census, the Oppositions effort to woo the OBCs may pose fresh troubles for BJP. As Bihar is already carrying out a caste based survey, Tyagi pointed out that it will help the government in better implementation of welfare schemes for the backward community. Survey will be completed by May. We have already identified 15 more castes in addition to the existing ones, he says. ALSO READ | Bihar CM Nitish Kumar says caste census beneficial However, Rahul Verma of Centre for Policy Research (CPR) says that Congress has to walk the talk and conduct caste census in the states it rules. Congress track record on reservation and social justice politics has not been that great so far. If it wants to mobilize in this issue, then it has to show more credible behavior in the states they are in power, says Verma.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Over 1.4 million medical tourists visited India in the past one year, making it one of the top destinations for medical tourism, said Union Minister of State for Tourism Shripad Naik on Monday.

Highlighting Indias efforts in promoting health and wellness tourism, the minister said the country remained one of the top destinations in this regard.

Foreign tourists travelling to India for medical tourism saw a 66 percent rise in 2021, despite the Covid pandemic. In 2020, at the peak of the Covid outbreak when India was in lockdown and travel was restricted, 1.83 lakh tourists came for medical treatment. The number went up to 3.04 lakh in 2021, the Centre had informed Parliament in March.

Speaking at the second G20 Health Working Group Meeting in Goa, Naik called for a collaborative and sustainable global health strategy.

He also appealed to the delegates to engage in meaningful discussion on various aspects of the global health architecture.

Deleivering the keynote address, Union Minister of State for Health Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar emphasized India's priorities and contributions to global health preparedness.

ALSO READ | Only 45% Indians brush teeth twice compared to 83% in Japan

"Indias G20 priorities focus on reformed multilateralism that creates an accountable, inclusive, equitable and representative forum fit for addressing the many challenges in the 21st century, she said.

She said India is striving to converge ongoing initiatives towards building resilient healthcare delivery systems supplemented with equitable access to vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics to ensure that no one is left behind.

She noted that there is a need to leverage the momentum of ongoing discussions in the global health field and focus on critical aspects such as collaborative surveillance, community protection, access to medical countermeasures and emergency coordination. "We cannot be sure of when the next health emergency may hit us," she said.

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan underscored the need to invest in health systems substantially more than in the past through the One Health approach in order to reduce the drivers of pandemic risks.

He emphasised on continuing with the containment and control of Covid-19 by ensuring availability of vaccines and therapeutics.

He also highlighted that while all aspects of pandemic emergency preparedness and response are important, prevention is usually underfinanced relative to preparedness and response.

Towards this, he stated that India welcomes the proposal by the Pandemic Fund focusing on surveillance, lab systems and strengthening the public health workforce.

NEW DELHI: Over 1.4 million medical tourists visited India in the past one year, making it one of the top destinations for medical tourism, said Union Minister of State for Tourism Shripad Naik on Monday. Highlighting Indias efforts in promoting health and wellness tourism, the minister said the country remained one of the top destinations in this regard. Foreign tourists travelling to India for medical tourism saw a 66 percent rise in 2021, despite the Covid pandemic. In 2020, at the peak of the Covid outbreak when India was in lockdown and travel was restricted, 1.83 lakh tourists came for medical treatment. The number went up to 3.04 lakh in 2021, the Centre had informed Parliament in March.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Speaking at the second G20 Health Working Group Meeting in Goa, Naik called for a collaborative and sustainable global health strategy. He also appealed to the delegates to engage in meaningful discussion on various aspects of the global health architecture. Deleivering the keynote address, Union Minister of State for Health Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar emphasized India's priorities and contributions to global health preparedness. ALSO READ | Only 45% Indians brush teeth twice compared to 83% in Japan "Indias G20 priorities focus on reformed multilateralism that creates an accountable, inclusive, equitable and representative forum fit for addressing the many challenges in the 21st century, she said. She said India is striving to converge ongoing initiatives towards building resilient healthcare delivery systems supplemented with equitable access to vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics to ensure that no one is left behind. She noted that there is a need to leverage the momentum of ongoing discussions in the global health field and focus on critical aspects such as collaborative surveillance, community protection, access to medical countermeasures and emergency coordination. "We cannot be sure of when the next health emergency may hit us," she said. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan underscored the need to invest in health systems substantially more than in the past through the One Health approach in order to reduce the drivers of pandemic risks. He emphasised on continuing with the containment and control of Covid-19 by ensuring availability of vaccines and therapeutics. He also highlighted that while all aspects of pandemic emergency preparedness and response are important, prevention is usually underfinanced relative to preparedness and response. Towards this, he stated that India welcomes the proposal by the Pandemic Fund focusing on surveillance, lab systems and strengthening the public health workforce.
Tuesday is the final day to file taxes, and North Dakota's State Tax Commissioner office will be open late to provide taxpayer assistance in person and by phone.

April 15 is the normal deadline, but Tax Day this year was moved to April 18 because April 15 falls on a Saturday, and Monday, April 17, is Emancipation Day, a holiday observed in Washington, D.C.

The North Dakota Tax Commissioner office will be open Tuesday until 6 p.m. Central time.

We will continue to assist taxpayers who have any last-minute questions, Commissioner Brian Kroshus said. The experts in our individual income tax section are here to help.

The office is on the eighth floor of the Capitol in Bismarck. The south door of the building will be accessible to taxpayers. Those who would like to call the office for assistance can dial 701-328-1247.

If taxpayers are unable to file by the April 18 deadline, they will need to file for an extension prior to Tax Day, Kroshus said.

Taxpayers who owe taxes should make a payment by Tuesday to avoid interest. Those needing to make a payment may do so online for free through the offices North Dakota Taxpayer Access Point system, at https://apps.nd.gov/tax/tap/_/.

. An extension may be filed with the Internal Revenue Service by using Form 4868, which can be found at www.irs.gov. Extensions that are granted for federal returns also are recognized for North Dakota returns.

Kroshus encourages taxpayers to file electronically and choose direct deposit or electronic payment to help improve the accuracy, security and timeliness of return and refund processing. He reminds e-filers to verify their address and bank information. Paper filers are reminded to enclose a complete copy of their federal return; any W-2s, 1099s or other documents with North Dakota withholding; and to sign their return.

As of April 10, the state tax office had processed more than 300,000 individual income tax returns. For more information, go to tax.nd.gov or connect on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn.
Yeshi Seli By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that discussions are on over the payments issue with Russia, referring to the trade in local currencies (rupee-rouble).

"There are discussions on the payments issue under the scheme of international trade settlement in Indian rupees through the special rupee vostro account system. And I think the payments issue clearly needs to be worked through between our systems. It is something we will be discussing," said Jaishankar at the India-Russia Business Dialogue which was organised by the Ministry of External Affairs in partnership with FICCI and the Business Council for Cooperation with India (BCCI).

India and Russia have a Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership.

"For the period between April 2022 and February 2023, bilateral trade was about $45 billion and is expected to grow," Jaishankar added.

Russia has said that within the framework of the intergovernmental dialogue, they propose to consider the possibility of the wide use of national currencies.

Meanwhile, Russia also wants to take its partnership with India to another level by having a Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

ALSO READ | EAM Jaishankar dials US Secretary of State Blinken to discuss regional and global issues

"Together with the Eurasian Economic Commission, we are looking forward to intensifying negotiations on the FTA with India. Additionally, we are working on signing the Russia-India Bilateral Agreement for the Promotion and Protection of Investments," said Russias Deputy Prime Minister, Denis Manturov, who is also the Minister of Trade and Industry.

To protect the principles of free trade, Russia has undertaken a set of measures which includes permitting import of original goods without consent of the rights owners from unfriendly countries  so-called parallel imports.

"Besides, weve launched the program of preferential loans and insurance of Russian importers towards procurement of priority products from foreign countries. Among the most demanded goods under this programme are components and equipment for road construction, products of chemical and pharmaceutical industries. I am sure that this will create opportunities for Indian companies to increase their supplies to Russia," Manturov added.

Russia has also invited Indian companies who are keen on joint projects to consider 'cluster investment platform'.

"This provides preferential credits for designing and manufacturing of priority products, subsidies for pilot batches of goods, insurance premium and income tax preferences. As far as certain components and technologies are concerned we will definitely rely on trusted foreign partners. We are working in this manner with our Indian friends for decades," Manturov added.

Russia is also hoping to increase the frequency of Aeroflot flights to India. In addition, an India-Russia agreement on mutual protection of investment is also being worked out that would gurantee the safety of investment for both nations.

Marupov also met National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and discussed a wide range of issues under the India-Russia Strategic Partnership.

NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that discussions are on over the payments issue with Russia, referring to the trade in local currencies (rupee-rouble). "There are discussions on the payments issue under the scheme of international trade settlement in Indian rupees through the special rupee vostro account system. And I think the payments issue clearly needs to be worked through between our systems. It is something we will be discussing," said Jaishankar at the India-Russia Business Dialogue which was organised by the Ministry of External Affairs in partnership with FICCI and the Business Council for Cooperation with India (BCCI). India and Russia have a Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "For the period between April 2022 and February 2023, bilateral trade was about $45 billion and is expected to grow," Jaishankar added. Russia has said that within the framework of the intergovernmental dialogue, they propose to consider the possibility of the wide use of national currencies. Meanwhile, Russia also wants to take its partnership with India to another level by having a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). ALSO READ | EAM Jaishankar dials US Secretary of State Blinken to discuss regional and global issues "Together with the Eurasian Economic Commission, we are looking forward to intensifying negotiations on the FTA with India. Additionally, we are working on signing the Russia-India Bilateral Agreement for the Promotion and Protection of Investments," said Russias Deputy Prime Minister, Denis Manturov, who is also the Minister of Trade and Industry. To protect the principles of free trade, Russia has undertaken a set of measures which includes permitting import of original goods without consent of the rights owners from unfriendly countries  so-called parallel imports. "Besides, weve launched the program of preferential loans and insurance of Russian importers towards procurement of priority products from foreign countries. Among the most demanded goods under this programme are components and equipment for road construction, products of chemical and pharmaceutical industries. I am sure that this will create opportunities for Indian companies to increase their supplies to Russia," Manturov added. Russia has also invited Indian companies who are keen on joint projects to consider 'cluster investment platform'. "This provides preferential credits for designing and manufacturing of priority products, subsidies for pilot batches of goods, insurance premium and income tax preferences. As far as certain components and technologies are concerned we will definitely rely on trusted foreign partners. We are working in this manner with our Indian friends for decades," Manturov added. Russia is also hoping to increase the frequency of Aeroflot flights to India. In addition, an India-Russia agreement on mutual protection of investment is also being worked out that would gurantee the safety of investment for both nations. Marupov also met National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and discussed a wide range of issues under the India-Russia Strategic Partnership.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to Trinamool Congress spokesperson Saket Gokhale in a case related to the alleged misuse of money collected through crowdfunding.

A bench comprising Justices B R Gavai and Vikram Nath, while granting relief to the leader, noted that a charge sheet has already been filed in the case.

Gokhale was arrested by the Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Branch from Delhi on December 30, 2022.

He is facing charges under sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 467 (forgery) of the IPC.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to Trinamool Congress spokesperson Saket Gokhale in a case related to the alleged misuse of money collected through crowdfunding. A bench comprising Justices B R Gavai and Vikram Nath, while granting relief to the leader, noted that a charge sheet has already been filed in the case. Gokhale was arrested by the Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Branch from Delhi on December 30, 2022.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); He is facing charges under sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 467 (forgery) of the IPC.
Yeshi Seli By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke over the phone with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday and discussed global and regional matters. A warm conversation as always with Secretary Blinken. We discussed current regional and global issues and noted the steady progress in our bilateral ties, said Jaishankar.

The EAM has just concluded his visit to Uganda and Mozambique and Secretary Blinken to Vietnam. It was Blinkens first visit to Vietnam as Secretary and he spoke about US commitment to elevate the US-Vietnam Comprehensive Partnership and to work together to a free and open Indo-Pacific.

The US has always spoken about strengthening the Indo-Pacific with India as a steady partner. With the Chinese building up around Taiwan and USs constant support to Taiwan, tension is rising. Jaishankar and Blinken had met in March in Delhi during the G20 Foreign Ministers meet. On the sidelines of the event they had a bilateral meeting.

On Saturday, the Indo-Pacific Coordinator of the US National Security Council, Kurt Campbell while addressing a programme Celebrating Togetherness talked about strong people-to-people ties between India and the US. He said that the ties between the two nations will get better in future.

There is no stronger people-to-people ties between any country that the US enjoys with India. We have built a stronger relationship and situation will only get better, it will get stronger and deeper, Campbell said. In March, Jaishankar and Blinken had participated in discussions on how to mitigate the global impacts of the ongoing Russia-Ukarine war.

The meeting was held on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers meet. They spoke about shared efforts to elevate strategic and defense technology cooperation, promote food, energy and global health security, clean energy transition, counternarcotics cooperation, and womens economic empowerment.

NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke over the phone with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday and discussed global and regional matters. A warm conversation as always with Secretary Blinken. We discussed current regional and global issues and noted the steady progress in our bilateral ties, said Jaishankar. The EAM has just concluded his visit to Uganda and Mozambique and Secretary Blinken to Vietnam. It was Blinkens first visit to Vietnam as Secretary and he spoke about US commitment to elevate the US-Vietnam Comprehensive Partnership and to work together to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The US has always spoken about strengthening the Indo-Pacific with India as a steady partner. With the Chinese building up around Taiwan and USs constant support to Taiwan, tension is rising. Jaishankar and Blinken had met in March in Delhi during the G20 Foreign Ministers meet. On the sidelines of the event they had a bilateral meeting.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); On Saturday, the Indo-Pacific Coordinator of the US National Security Council, Kurt Campbell while addressing a programme Celebrating Togetherness talked about strong people-to-people ties between India and the US. He said that the ties between the two nations will get better in future. There is no stronger people-to-people ties between any country that the US enjoys with India. We have built a stronger relationship and situation will only get better, it will get stronger and deeper, Campbell said. In March, Jaishankar and Blinken had participated in discussions on how to mitigate the global impacts of the ongoing Russia-Ukarine war. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers meet. They spoke about shared efforts to elevate strategic and defense technology cooperation, promote food, energy and global health security, clean energy transition, counternarcotics cooperation, and womens economic empowerment.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday set aside an order of the Rajasthan High Court by which it had summoned an IPS officer for recording his evidence in connection with an appeal filed by self-styled godman Asaram Bapu in a rape case.

A lower court had sentenced Asaram to life imprisonment in 2018 for the rape of a minor at an ashram in Jodhpur in 2013.

In his appeal before the high court, Asaram has pleaded that the victim's graphic description of the alleged crime scene -- Asaram's private quarters or 'kutia' -- was allegedly influenced by a video recording of the place by the IPS officer when he was serving in Jodhpur.

Asaram's counsel argued that the girl had not given any description of the interiors of the 'kutia' in her handwritten complaint or the statement recorded by police on August 20, 2013.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and MM Sundresh asked the high court to take up the appeal filed by Asaram for hearing expeditiously.

"We have allowed the appeal and set aside the judgement," the bench said.

Jaipur's Additional Commissioner of Police Ajay Pal Lamba was asked to appear as a court witness, following the plea by Asaram's lawyers that a video recording by him might have influenced the testimony of the teenager.

In his book, 'Gunning for the Godman: The true story behind Asaram Bapu's Conviction', the then DCP (West) in Jodhpur had said that he filmed the scene of the crime on his mobile phone just in case it was needed during the investigation.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday set aside an order of the Rajasthan High Court by which it had summoned an IPS officer for recording his evidence in connection with an appeal filed by self-styled godman Asaram Bapu in a rape case. A lower court had sentenced Asaram to life imprisonment in 2018 for the rape of a minor at an ashram in Jodhpur in 2013. In his appeal before the high court, Asaram has pleaded that the victim's graphic description of the alleged crime scene -- Asaram's private quarters or 'kutia' -- was allegedly influenced by a video recording of the place by the IPS officer when he was serving in Jodhpur.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Asaram's counsel argued that the girl had not given any description of the interiors of the 'kutia' in her handwritten complaint or the statement recorded by police on August 20, 2013. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and MM Sundresh asked the high court to take up the appeal filed by Asaram for hearing expeditiously. "We have allowed the appeal and set aside the judgement," the bench said. Jaipur's Additional Commissioner of Police Ajay Pal Lamba was asked to appear as a court witness, following the plea by Asaram's lawyers that a video recording by him might have influenced the testimony of the teenager. In his book, 'Gunning for the Godman: The true story behind Asaram Bapu's Conviction', the then DCP (West) in Jodhpur had said that he filmed the scene of the crime on his mobile phone just in case it was needed during the investigation.
Prasanta Mazumdar By

Express News Service

GUWAHATI: Dissidence is brewing against Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh for his alleged "autocratic" style of functioning.

Some MLAs are camping in Delhi to meet the BJP's central leaders and express their grievances. Some of them were allegedly not given any responsibility despite being appointed in posts.

"We have come to Delhi on a mission," one of the MLAs told The New Indian Express on strict condition of anonymity.

It was not known exactly how many of them are camping in the national capital. Sources in Manipur put the numbers at 5 to 18.

"There are many," the BJP MLA replied when asked about their numbers.

The BJP suffered yet another setback on Monday when its MLA Karam Shyam resigned from the post of chairman of Tourism Corporation.

ALSO READ | Expanded golden triangle Manipur's new nightmare

"I tender my resignation from the post of chairman, Tourism Corporation Manipur Limited as I have not been assigned any responsibility...," Shyam wrote in his resignation letter to the CM.

Last week, another BJP MLA Thokchom Radheshyam Singh had resigned as advisor to the CM as he too was "never given a responsibility" since his appointment on December 31 last year. The 58-year-old Radheshyam is a retired decorated IPS officer.

In 2017, both Radheshyam and Shyam (he was then with LJP) were inducted into the ministry when the BJP had formed a coalition government. However, in 2020, the two of them and four others were dropped during a reshuffle of the cabinet. Shyam joined the BJP in 2021.

Neither he nor the CM answered phone calls from The New Indian Express. BJP's Manipur unit chief A Sharda Devi claimed the resignations would not harm the party in any manner.

"The government is running smoothly. These will not harm BJP. Such things happen in politics," Devi said.

Stating that she has no idea why the duo resigned from the posts, she said she would talk to them to understand their problem.

BJP legislator Rajkumar Imo Singh, who is the son-in-law of the CM, said, "Who doesn't want to be a CM or a Minister? Every MLA does, but there is a time, place and moment for all things... If one keeps sulking after every ministry reshuffle or government formation, democracy and government can never function properly."

GUWAHATI: Dissidence is brewing against Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh for his alleged "autocratic" style of functioning. Some MLAs are camping in Delhi to meet the BJP's central leaders and express their grievances. Some of them were allegedly not given any responsibility despite being appointed in posts. "We have come to Delhi on a mission," one of the MLAs told The New Indian Express on strict condition of anonymity.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); It was not known exactly how many of them are camping in the national capital. Sources in Manipur put the numbers at 5 to 18. "There are many," the BJP MLA replied when asked about their numbers. The BJP suffered yet another setback on Monday when its MLA Karam Shyam resigned from the post of chairman of Tourism Corporation. ALSO READ | Expanded golden triangle Manipur's new nightmare "I tender my resignation from the post of chairman, Tourism Corporation Manipur Limited as I have not been assigned any responsibility...," Shyam wrote in his resignation letter to the CM. Last week, another BJP MLA Thokchom Radheshyam Singh had resigned as advisor to the CM as he too was "never given a responsibility" since his appointment on December 31 last year. The 58-year-old Radheshyam is a retired decorated IPS officer. In 2017, both Radheshyam and Shyam (he was then with LJP) were inducted into the ministry when the BJP had formed a coalition government. However, in 2020, the two of them and four others were dropped during a reshuffle of the cabinet. Shyam joined the BJP in 2021. Neither he nor the CM answered phone calls from The New Indian Express. BJP's Manipur unit chief A Sharda Devi claimed the resignations would not harm the party in any manner. "The government is running smoothly. These will not harm BJP. Such things happen in politics," Devi said. Stating that she has no idea why the duo resigned from the posts, she said she would talk to them to understand their problem. BJP legislator Rajkumar Imo Singh, who is the son-in-law of the CM, said, "Who doesn't want to be a CM or a Minister? Every MLA does, but there is a time, place and moment for all things... If one keeps sulking after every ministry reshuffle or government formation, democracy and government can never function properly."
India was one of the first victims of organised transnational terrorism, with the sponsorship all from Pakistan. Through the last 30 years, the centre of international terrorism has mostly been the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. The Middle East had and still has its share of terrorists too, while Southeast Asia and Central Asia have had sporadic terrorist activity which has mainly remained localised. The ingredients which make up the environment to support terror exist in plenty in Af-Pak: Badlands, feudal practices akin to serfdom, poor education, limited employment opportunities, ungovernable spaces, failing economies and the adrenaline of radical ideology.

Pakistans tryst with internal threats from terrorism commenced after the Lal Masjid intervention by the Pakistan Army in 2007an attempt by Pervez Musharraf to curb the rise of internal radical churning. That is when the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan (TTP) came into being. TTP is an alliance of militant networks formed to unify opposition against the Pakistan Army.

TTPs stated objectives are the expulsion of Islamabads influence in the then Federally Administered Tribal Areas and neighbouring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan, and the implementation of a strict interpretation of Sharia throughout Pakistan. TTP leaders also publicly say that the group seeks to establish an Islamic Caliphate in Pakistan that would require the government to be overthrown.

The period 20142018 saw the launching and conducting of Operation Zarb-e-Azb by the Pakistan Army after the TTP attack on the Karachi airport. In December 2015, the TTP executed its flagship terror act by targeting Pakistan Army Public School in Peshawar, killing 133 children. TTP remained Pakistan-focused and did not engage much with the India-focused groups such as Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT).

Islamic terror groups across the region were reinvigorated after the Afghan Talibans victory over the US. Otherwise, the status which existed in 2018 saw the Islamic State (IS) in withdrawal from Syria and Philippines, the nascent attempts to form IS (Khorasan) with assistance from some Pakistan terrorists, and the supposed defeat of TTP by the Pakistan Army, with TTPs withdrawal into Afghanistan. After the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, the strategic space there opened up for consolidation of many terrorist groups in the areas not under Taliban control.

Pakistan celebrated the Afghan Talibans return to power, unmindful of the fact that this could galvanise Pakistans own violent insurgency. Those fears have now been realised as the TTP has intensified its attacks in recent months. It is much more confident of defeating the Pakistan forces. The added advantage being that it could now operate from Afghanistan with impunity and support of the mother Taliban group.

The Taliban facilitated a month-long ceasefire between the TTP and Islamabad in late 2021. The truce was announced after weeks of secret talks between Pakistani military officials and TTP representatives in Afghanistan, mediated by the Afghan Taliban. The agreement ended on December 9, 2021, after peace talks broke down, triggering a new wave of TTP attacks in Pakistan. The TTP demanded the release of 100 fighters in Pakistani prisons, while Islamabad only released a dozen or so.

In return, the government demanded a nationwide truce. The TTP also demanded the implementation of Islamic Sharia law in Pakistans tribal region, a demand that the government could not accept. After 2018 the TTP was seen for years as a largely spent force. However, TTP fighters are now armed with sophisticated weaponry, including US-made firearms which their Afghan allies seized from Afghanistans defeated armed forces.

On March 4, 2022, the IS (Khorasan) attacked a Shia Mosque in Peshawar. The suicide attack killed at least 80 people and injured another 196. Thereafter, there have been a series of terrorist-related incidents, with mostly three to five people killed in each. Incidents of smaller intensity do not register easily in the international community unless they are seen as a continuum of increasing numbers and intensity. Both IS (Khorasan) and TTP have been responsible for these. There is yet no evidence of cooperation between the two but the same cannot be ruled out in future.

What is learnt is that the Pakistani security establishment is not planning a Zarb-e-Azb kind of operation this time. On April 14, 2023, Army Chief General Asim Munir, during a briefing to members of the National Assembly, agreed that terrorists had been allowed to regroup and declared that a three-pronged plandeter, dialogue and developmentwas the orientation of the Army to root out terrorism. As per Pakistan media, the Army Chief dispelled the impression of waging a full-scale anti-terror operation in the tribal areas.

Pakistan has been at the receiving end of criticism from various international organisations with regard to its human rights record and the use of terrorists as a weapon system. Perhaps it is trying to ensure it does not draw the ire of the world again. After all, it has to continue seeking aid and assistance to see it out of the woods on the economic front. Many times, such assistance comes loaded with conditions.

However, the concept of using engagement and soft power against established terror groups without first reducing their kinetic capability is flawed and could land Pakistan deeper into the morass. The Army needs to define the term deter more clearly to both the terrorists and the troops. The Army succeeded kinetically in Zarb-e-Azb but failed to follow it up adequately with engagement and development. A certain threshold in reduction of terrorist activity will need to be achieved this time too before non-kinetic ways are sought.

For now, India may not be affected because the TTP itself has no India focus and the Afghan Taliban has shown no propensity to treat India as an enemy. However, the Pakistan Army may seek the services of the India-focused groups to assist it to neutralise the TTP. The payback for that will be a blind eye towards their activity against India. The potential return of sponsored terrorism to India in one form or the other remains in the mode of marking time. Preparing ourselves for it seems inevitable and remains our best option.

Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd)

Former Commander, Srinagar-based 15 Corps. Now Chancellor, Central University

(atahasnain@gmail.com)

India was one of the first victims of organised transnational terrorism, with the sponsorship all from Pakistan. Through the last 30 years, the centre of international terrorism has mostly been the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. The Middle East had and still has its share of terrorists too, while Southeast Asia and Central Asia have had sporadic terrorist activity which has mainly remained localised. The ingredients which make up the environment to support terror exist in plenty in Af-Pak: Badlands, feudal practices akin to serfdom, poor education, limited employment opportunities, ungovernable spaces, failing economies and the adrenaline of radical ideology. Pakistans tryst with internal threats from terrorism commenced after the Lal Masjid intervention by the Pakistan Army in 2007an attempt by Pervez Musharraf to curb the rise of internal radical churning. That is when the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan (TTP) came into being. TTP is an alliance of militant networks formed to unify opposition against the Pakistan Army. TTPs stated objectives are the expulsion of Islamabads influence in the then Federally Administered Tribal Areas and neighbouring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan, and the implementation of a strict interpretation of Sharia throughout Pakistan. TTP leaders also publicly say that the group seeks to establish an Islamic Caliphate in Pakistan that would require the government to be overthrown.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The period 20142018 saw the launching and conducting of Operation Zarb-e-Azb by the Pakistan Army after the TTP attack on the Karachi airport. In December 2015, the TTP executed its flagship terror act by targeting Pakistan Army Public School in Peshawar, killing 133 children. TTP remained Pakistan-focused and did not engage much with the India-focused groups such as Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT). Islamic terror groups across the region were reinvigorated after the Afghan Talibans victory over the US. Otherwise, the status which existed in 2018 saw the Islamic State (IS) in withdrawal from Syria and Philippines, the nascent attempts to form IS (Khorasan) with assistance from some Pakistan terrorists, and the supposed defeat of TTP by the Pakistan Army, with TTPs withdrawal into Afghanistan. After the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, the strategic space there opened up for consolidation of many terrorist groups in the areas not under Taliban control. Pakistan celebrated the Afghan Talibans return to power, unmindful of the fact that this could galvanise Pakistans own violent insurgency. Those fears have now been realised as the TTP has intensified its attacks in recent months. It is much more confident of defeating the Pakistan forces. The added advantage being that it could now operate from Afghanistan with impunity and support of the mother Taliban group. The Taliban facilitated a month-long ceasefire between the TTP and Islamabad in late 2021. The truce was announced after weeks of secret talks between Pakistani military officials and TTP representatives in Afghanistan, mediated by the Afghan Taliban. The agreement ended on December 9, 2021, after peace talks broke down, triggering a new wave of TTP attacks in Pakistan. The TTP demanded the release of 100 fighters in Pakistani prisons, while Islamabad only released a dozen or so. In return, the government demanded a nationwide truce. The TTP also demanded the implementation of Islamic Sharia law in Pakistans tribal region, a demand that the government could not accept. After 2018 the TTP was seen for years as a largely spent force. However, TTP fighters are now armed with sophisticated weaponry, including US-made firearms which their Afghan allies seized from Afghanistans defeated armed forces. On March 4, 2022, the IS (Khorasan) attacked a Shia Mosque in Peshawar. The suicide attack killed at least 80 people and injured another 196. Thereafter, there have been a series of terrorist-related incidents, with mostly three to five people killed in each. Incidents of smaller intensity do not register easily in the international community unless they are seen as a continuum of increasing numbers and intensity. Both IS (Khorasan) and TTP have been responsible for these. There is yet no evidence of cooperation between the two but the same cannot be ruled out in future. What is learnt is that the Pakistani security establishment is not planning a Zarb-e-Azb kind of operation this time. On April 14, 2023, Army Chief General Asim Munir, during a briefing to members of the National Assembly, agreed that terrorists had been allowed to regroup and declared that a three-pronged plandeter, dialogue and developmentwas the orientation of the Army to root out terrorism. As per Pakistan media, the Army Chief dispelled the impression of waging a full-scale anti-terror operation in the tribal areas. Pakistan has been at the receiving end of criticism from various international organisations with regard to its human rights record and the use of terrorists as a weapon system. Perhaps it is trying to ensure it does not draw the ire of the world again. After all, it has to continue seeking aid and assistance to see it out of the woods on the economic front. Many times, such assistance comes loaded with conditions. However, the concept of using engagement and soft power against established terror groups without first reducing their kinetic capability is flawed and could land Pakistan deeper into the morass. The Army needs to define the term deter more clearly to both the terrorists and the troops. The Army succeeded kinetically in Zarb-e-Azb but failed to follow it up adequately with engagement and development. A certain threshold in reduction of terrorist activity will need to be achieved this time too before non-kinetic ways are sought. For now, India may not be affected because the TTP itself has no India focus and the Afghan Taliban has shown no propensity to treat India as an enemy. However, the Pakistan Army may seek the services of the India-focused groups to assist it to neutralise the TTP. The payback for that will be a blind eye towards their activity against India. The potential return of sponsored terrorism to India in one form or the other remains in the mode of marking time. Preparing ourselves for it seems inevitable and remains our best option. Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd) Former Commander, Srinagar-based 15 Corps. Now Chancellor, Central University (atahasnain@gmail.com)
By Express News Service

NELLORE: With prices not increasing as expected, the lemon farmers of Nellore and Tirupati districts are getting worried. The farmers are alleging that the increase in exports from other parts of the country is impacting the exports of Tirupati and Nellore districts.

The price of one bag of lemon has reached Rs 4,000-Rs 5,000 which has reduced drastically when compared to the previous years price which ranged between Rs 15,000-Rs 16,000 per bag. It is to be noted that Gudur and Podalakuru has recorded the highest ever price in history last year as one kg of lemon sold out at Rs 180-Rs 190 per kg. But this year, one kg of lemons is being sold at a meagre Rs 65-Rs 74 in local markets.

Lemon are being cultivated in around 4,500 hectares of land falling under the limits of Podalakur lemon market, including Podalakuru, Tulimerla, Gollapalli, Tippavarapadu, Sydapuram, Chaganam, Utukuru, Murlapudi, Pompodi, Bulimcherla, Thalupur, Regapudi, Tadipathri, Mittatmakur and Pagadalapalli across Nellore and Tirupati districts.

Usually, 2-3 trucks of lemon have been exported from Podalakur lemon market (each truck carrying 20 tonne of lemon). Nearly six trucks of lemon will be exported from the same market during the summer season every year, but this year there has been no pick-up of load for export from Podalakur market. Arrivals from other parts of Delhi market have created an impact in lemon markets here. Even in April, the price has not increased. Now, we are looking forward to export the crop to southern states at a low price.

NELLORE: With prices not increasing as expected, the lemon farmers of Nellore and Tirupati districts are getting worried. The farmers are alleging that the increase in exports from other parts of the country is impacting the exports of Tirupati and Nellore districts. The price of one bag of lemon has reached Rs 4,000-Rs 5,000 which has reduced drastically when compared to the previous years price which ranged between Rs 15,000-Rs 16,000 per bag. It is to be noted that Gudur and Podalakuru has recorded the highest ever price in history last year as one kg of lemon sold out at Rs 180-Rs 190 per kg. But this year, one kg of lemons is being sold at a meagre Rs 65-Rs 74 in local markets. Lemon are being cultivated in around 4,500 hectares of land falling under the limits of Podalakur lemon market, including Podalakuru, Tulimerla, Gollapalli, Tippavarapadu, Sydapuram, Chaganam, Utukuru, Murlapudi, Pompodi, Bulimcherla, Thalupur, Regapudi, Tadipathri, Mittatmakur and Pagadalapalli across Nellore and Tirupati districts.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Usually, 2-3 trucks of lemon have been exported from Podalakur lemon market (each truck carrying 20 tonne of lemon). Nearly six trucks of lemon will be exported from the same market during the summer season every year, but this year there has been no pick-up of load for export from Podalakur market. Arrivals from other parts of Delhi market have created an impact in lemon markets here. Even in April, the price has not increased. Now, we are looking forward to export the crop to southern states at a low price.
V Velayudham and Devaraj B Hirehalli By

Express News Service

KOLAR: In a strong rebuttal to BJPs allegations that he insulted the OBC community with the Modi surname remark that led to his disqualification as an MP, Congress senior leader Rahul Gandhi here on Sunday dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to release the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) that was initiated by the Congress-led UPA government in 2011.

He asked Modi to remove the 50 per cent ceiling on quota to provide reservation to communities proportionate to their population. Addressing the Jai Bharat rally, his first public meeting after being disqualified, he said, There are only 7 per cent people belonging to OBCs serving as secretaries, who are the backbone, in your government. There should be sharing of power proportionate to their population. If you (Modi) do not release the census data, its an insult to OBCs. The data will reveal their population and the opportunities given to them.

Rahul was cautious while addressing the huge crowd as in his entire speech, he did not mention Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi, and his eviction from Delhi quarters. He, however, chose to target the relationship between Modi and Adani, alleging that it is proving to be dangerous for the country.

Who invested Rs 20,000 crore in Adanis shell companies, asks Rahul

He claimed that he is being snubbed in the Lok Sabha and his disqualification came in the backdrop of raising issues of malpractice of industrialist Adani and his defence infrastructure company allegedly having a Chinese as a director. He alleged that Modi favoured Adani by getting him contracts and investments into his benami companies illegally. It was because of these issues that he was being stymied in Parliament and the Speaker failed to help when the ruling party members stalled the session, he claimed.

The Prime Minister should tell us whose Rs 20,000 crore was invested in Adanis shell company. Disqualify me, put me in jail, do anything, it doesnt matter. I will never stop asking this, he said. Indias airports were given to Adani by changing the rules, though he had no experience. For instance, huge amounts of loans were granted to him by banks to take up the Mumbai airport project.

Whichever country Modi visited, including Australia, Sri Lanka and even Bangladesh, the deals were struck in favour of Adani. He also got the contract for defence infrastructure during Modis Israel visit. As I raised these questions, the ruling BJP government and its members did not allow Parliament to function, he alleged. Attacking the Basavaraj Bommai- led Karnataka government, he said it indulged in massive corruption and contractors wrote about it to Modi.

Why did the Prime Minister not reply to their letter? His silence amounts to admission of corruption in the government, he said. He said Congress has promised 200 units of free electricity to every family, Rs 2,000 every month to housewives and Rs 3,000 to graduates and Rs 1,500 to diploma holders, who are unemployed. In some days, Congress will form the government and we will fulfil all these promises, he asserted.

KOLAR: In a strong rebuttal to BJPs allegations that he insulted the OBC community with the Modi surname remark that led to his disqualification as an MP, Congress senior leader Rahul Gandhi here on Sunday dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to release the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) that was initiated by the Congress-led UPA government in 2011. He asked Modi to remove the 50 per cent ceiling on quota to provide reservation to communities proportionate to their population. Addressing the Jai Bharat rally, his first public meeting after being disqualified, he said, There are only 7 per cent people belonging to OBCs serving as secretaries, who are the backbone, in your government. There should be sharing of power proportionate to their population. If you (Modi) do not release the census data, its an insult to OBCs. The data will reveal their population and the opportunities given to them. Rahul was cautious while addressing the huge crowd as in his entire speech, he did not mention Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi, and his eviction from Delhi quarters. He, however, chose to target the relationship between Modi and Adani, alleging that it is proving to be dangerous for the country.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Who invested Rs 20,000 crore in Adanis shell companies, asks Rahul He claimed that he is being snubbed in the Lok Sabha and his disqualification came in the backdrop of raising issues of malpractice of industrialist Adani and his defence infrastructure company allegedly having a Chinese as a director. He alleged that Modi favoured Adani by getting him contracts and investments into his benami companies illegally. It was because of these issues that he was being stymied in Parliament and the Speaker failed to help when the ruling party members stalled the session, he claimed. The Prime Minister should tell us whose Rs 20,000 crore was invested in Adanis shell company. Disqualify me, put me in jail, do anything, it doesnt matter. I will never stop asking this, he said. Indias airports were given to Adani by changing the rules, though he had no experience. For instance, huge amounts of loans were granted to him by banks to take up the Mumbai airport project. Whichever country Modi visited, including Australia, Sri Lanka and even Bangladesh, the deals were struck in favour of Adani. He also got the contract for defence infrastructure during Modis Israel visit. As I raised these questions, the ruling BJP government and its members did not allow Parliament to function, he alleged. Attacking the Basavaraj Bommai- led Karnataka government, he said it indulged in massive corruption and contractors wrote about it to Modi. Why did the Prime Minister not reply to their letter? His silence amounts to admission of corruption in the government, he said. He said Congress has promised 200 units of free electricity to every family, Rs 2,000 every month to housewives and Rs 3,000 to graduates and Rs 1,500 to diploma holders, who are unemployed. In some days, Congress will form the government and we will fulfil all these promises, he asserted.
Subhash Chandra N S By

Express News Service

SIRSI (UTTARA KANNADA): Senior BJP leader and former chief minister Jagadish Shettar on Sunday resigned as a member of the Legislative Assembly, but made it clear that he is not resigning from the primary membership of his party yet.

When he met Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri in Sirsi to submit his resignation, the latter tried to convince him to change his mind, but Shettar was adamant. It is said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah too called Shettar and had a detailed discussion with him.

After denying Shettar the Hubballi-Dharwad Central Assembly ticket, BJP tried hard to retain the six-term MLA. Sources said he was offered a ministerial berth in the central government, Rajya Sabha membership, a governors post and also the party ticket to any of his favourites, including family members. But Shettar refused to bite.

After submitting his resignation to Kageri at 12.30 pm, he said he will not blame anybody and has high regards for both PM Narendra Modi and Shah. He said he was upset with the way the party treated him recently.

Later in the night, he met AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, KPCC president DK Shivakumar, senior leader Shamanur Shivashankrappa and others. Congress sources said he is likely to join the party on Monday.

With this, BJP has lost two senior Lingayat leaders in the last few days. On Friday, former DCM Laxman Savadi too bid bye to the saffron party to join the Grand Old Party. Congress leader MB Patil tweeted, Lingayats are not treated as the core of BJP, but merely a vote bank. Karnataka will witness a new massive political churn because of how Lingayats were mistreated by the BJP and specifically two vested common interests. Lingayats are set to return HOME to the Congress in 2023.

Shettar may join Congress in Rahuls presence

Shett ar, on CM Bommais statement that he was offered a bigger role in the party, said, I do not want a big post. I want to be a member so that I can serve the people. I told Bommai two years ago that I dont want to be a minister as I want to serve the people. I asked the party leaders to point out my mistakes, but they could not. I have not indulged in any illegal activity and I am not a rowdy- sheeter.

But I am targeted by some people with vested interests. They have conspired and forced me to move out of my home, BJP. I am pained at heart, he said. Asked who it is, he refused to name anyone. Congress sources said Shettar has been offered the ticket from the Hubballi-Dharwad Central constituency, his pocket borough. The party has also made him in charge for North Karnataka.

If all goes well, he is likely to join Congress on Monday morning in the presence of Rahul Gandhi (Congress leader), they added. Senior BJP leaders, including Bommai, BL Santhosh and Nalinkumar Kateel are meeting late night on Sunday at the party head office to discuss final list of BJP. They are also trying one more attempt to get Shettar back into the party.

SIRSI (UTTARA KANNADA): Senior BJP leader and former chief minister Jagadish Shettar on Sunday resigned as a member of the Legislative Assembly, but made it clear that he is not resigning from the primary membership of his party yet. When he met Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri in Sirsi to submit his resignation, the latter tried to convince him to change his mind, but Shettar was adamant. It is said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah too called Shettar and had a detailed discussion with him. After denying Shettar the Hubballi-Dharwad Central Assembly ticket, BJP tried hard to retain the six-term MLA. Sources said he was offered a ministerial berth in the central government, Rajya Sabha membership, a governors post and also the party ticket to any of his favourites, including family members. But Shettar refused to bite.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); After submitting his resignation to Kageri at 12.30 pm, he said he will not blame anybody and has high regards for both PM Narendra Modi and Shah. He said he was upset with the way the party treated him recently. Later in the night, he met AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, KPCC president DK Shivakumar, senior leader Shamanur Shivashankrappa and others. Congress sources said he is likely to join the party on Monday. With this, BJP has lost two senior Lingayat leaders in the last few days. On Friday, former DCM Laxman Savadi too bid bye to the saffron party to join the Grand Old Party. Congress leader MB Patil tweeted, Lingayats are not treated as the core of BJP, but merely a vote bank. Karnataka will witness a new massive political churn because of how Lingayats were mistreated by the BJP and specifically two vested common interests. Lingayats are set to return HOME to the Congress in 2023. Shettar may join Congress in Rahuls presence Shett ar, on CM Bommais statement that he was offered a bigger role in the party, said, I do not want a big post. I want to be a member so that I can serve the people. I told Bommai two years ago that I dont want to be a minister as I want to serve the people. I asked the party leaders to point out my mistakes, but they could not. I have not indulged in any illegal activity and I am not a rowdy- sheeter. But I am targeted by some people with vested interests. They have conspired and forced me to move out of my home, BJP. I am pained at heart, he said. Asked who it is, he refused to name anyone. Congress sources said Shettar has been offered the ticket from the Hubballi-Dharwad Central constituency, his pocket borough. The party has also made him in charge for North Karnataka. If all goes well, he is likely to join Congress on Monday morning in the presence of Rahul Gandhi (Congress leader), they added. Senior BJP leaders, including Bommai, BL Santhosh and Nalinkumar Kateel are meeting late night on Sunday at the party head office to discuss final list of BJP. They are also trying one more attempt to get Shettar back into the party.
Cynthia Chandran By

Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With senior leaders, including Oommen Chandy, K V Thomas and P J Kurien, no longer in the picture, the Congress is struggling to reach out to the Christian community. The onus now falls on state president K Sudhakaran to keep the lines of communication open.

A seasoned politician, Oommen Chandy always shared an excellent rapport with all community groups, including the SNDP Yogam and the NSS. Ahead of key elections, he was known to huddle with various Christian groups to ensure their support.

But following the 2021 assembly election debacle, the 79-year-old started limiting himself to his role as Puthupally legislator. For the last 75 days, though, Oommen Chandy has been undergoing treatment in Bengaluru. A close confidant and senior party leader, K C Joseph, told TNIE that it is difficult to describe the vacuum created by Oommen Chandy in state politics.

Among the other past trouble-shooters, K V Thomas, who also shared an excellent rapport with Christian groups, has since joined the left camp, and P J Kurien has been sidelined in the party, where he is currently playing the role of a corrective force.

Oommen Chandy had widespread acceptance from all community leaders as they trusted him. He ensured that their concerns were always addressed, Joseph said. Oommen Chandy also used to take former Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala into confidence on all crucial issues relating to Christian groups.

But now the Chennithala camp is unhappy with the way the current state leadership has been sidelining him. A senior Congress MP told TNIE that apart from taking senior leaders like Chennithala and Kurien into confidence, the Congress high command too should ensure that they also speak to bishops.

Over the last nine years, Christian orphanages in the state have not been receiving foreign aid due to the BJP governments interference. Church groups are not in the mood to enter into a conflict with the Centre. So, they have come to terms with them as they have apprehensions about the Congress coming back to power. Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge should come forward and take the bishops into confidence. This would turn the tide against the BJP, a senior Congress MP said.

More trouble

Among the other past trouble-shooters, K V Thomas, who also shared an excellent rapport with Christian groups, has since joined the left camp, and P J Kurien has been sidelined in the party, where he is currently playing the role of a corrective force

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With senior leaders, including Oommen Chandy, K V Thomas and P J Kurien, no longer in the picture, the Congress is struggling to reach out to the Christian community. The onus now falls on state president K Sudhakaran to keep the lines of communication open. A seasoned politician, Oommen Chandy always shared an excellent rapport with all community groups, including the SNDP Yogam and the NSS. Ahead of key elections, he was known to huddle with various Christian groups to ensure their support. But following the 2021 assembly election debacle, the 79-year-old started limiting himself to his role as Puthupally legislator. For the last 75 days, though, Oommen Chandy has been undergoing treatment in Bengaluru. A close confidant and senior party leader, K C Joseph, told TNIE that it is difficult to describe the vacuum created by Oommen Chandy in state politics.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Among the other past trouble-shooters, K V Thomas, who also shared an excellent rapport with Christian groups, has since joined the left camp, and P J Kurien has been sidelined in the party, where he is currently playing the role of a corrective force. Oommen Chandy had widespread acceptance from all community leaders as they trusted him. He ensured that their concerns were always addressed, Joseph said. Oommen Chandy also used to take former Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala into confidence on all crucial issues relating to Christian groups. But now the Chennithala camp is unhappy with the way the current state leadership has been sidelining him. A senior Congress MP told TNIE that apart from taking senior leaders like Chennithala and Kurien into confidence, the Congress high command too should ensure that they also speak to bishops. Over the last nine years, Christian orphanages in the state have not been receiving foreign aid due to the BJP governments interference. Church groups are not in the mood to enter into a conflict with the Centre. So, they have come to terms with them as they have apprehensions about the Congress coming back to power. Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge should come forward and take the bishops into confidence. This would turn the tide against the BJP, a senior Congress MP said. More trouble Among the other past trouble-shooters, K V Thomas, who also shared an excellent rapport with Christian groups, has since joined the left camp, and P J Kurien has been sidelined in the party, where he is currently playing the role of a corrective force
 ISBN  979-8-218-11742-9



Introduction

At present, quantum communication is not a novel means of communication. The existing quantum communication network lack fundamental communication features and do not provide entirely secure communication services. Quantum communication engineering is unrelated to the enigmatic phenomenon of quantum entanglement; instead, it employs quantum polarization state to distribute conventional cryptography keys. Hence, the proper term for this technology is quantum key distribution (QKD). Key distribution is only one aspect of cryptography, and several solutions are available, indicating that the key distribution technology is well-established. Within the complete range of cryptography systems, quantum communication holds an unimportant position.

Although key distribution is a crucial component of cryptograph, QKDs impact on the security of information systems is minimal. Even if QKD provides absolute privacy in key distribution, there are still security risks involved in using, storing, and updating keys. Furthermore, even if the cryptograph remains confidential, it does not guarantee absolute security. The greatest risks to information system security stem from computer hardware, operating system, and application software rather than the cryptograph system. Therefore, while quantum communication has been hailed as a cutting-edge technology, its impact on ensuring the overall security of national information systems is insignificant.

The security of information systems is governed by the principle of the weakest link in the chain, which means that the overall security of a system is determined by the security of its weakest component or link. To enhance the security of information systems, the primary task is to strengthen the weakest link. The main area of focus for security work is in the operating system, application software, and hardware devices of computers. Cryptography is widely considered the strongest link in the security chain, and quantum key distribution (QKD) cannot enhance this link. Even if the cryptography link is strengthened, its impact on the overall security of national information systems is extremely limited. Therefore, quantum communication engineering is unlikely to provide any practical value for a long time to come.

The implementation of Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), while expensive, has led to unnecessary complexity in cryptography. While QKD can distribute a traditional secret key, it still needs to rely on conventional cryptographic algorithms for identity authentication and communication integrity. Consequently, the overall security provided by QKD cannot exceed that of traditional cryptographic systems, which are limited by their weakest point. Following the principle of parsimony, known as Occam's razor, which suggests that unnecessary entities should not be added, QKD adds little value to cryptography and cannot be justified.

QKD is also not a cutting-edge technology, despite the hype surrounding it. The BB84 protocol for QKD was first proposed by IBM scientists in 1984, but it was ignored for years and relegated to obscurity. Even IBM did not bother to apply for a patent. QKD is, in essence, a special knife invented by some physicists to slay a dragon. Such exploratory projects are often abandoned and forgotten, left to collect dust in scientific laboratories.

QKD was delayed for ten years after the establishment of the BB84 protocol. In 1994, American mathematician Peter Shor proposed the Shor algorithm, which can theoretically exponentially accelerate the cracking of public key encryption. However, cracking public key encryption is merely a paper tiger, as quantum computers capable of running the Shor algorithm are still a distant dream, like flowers in a mirror and a moon in water.

However, the evangelists of quantum communication eagerly used the Shor algorithm to fabricate the Public-key cryptography crisis. They claimed that when quantum computers enter the practical stage, public-key cryptography will be easily cracked, which will lead to a disaster for information systems. Hostile forces may even be collecting those encrypted files now and waiting for quantum computers to come out before they can easily crack them.

Quantum communication has been promoting the idea of "resisting quantum computer attacks and saving the public-key cryptography crisis" as a means of public relations. However, many failed projects have shown that designing a compelling narrative to market a profitable engineering project is commonplace. Despite over 20 years passing since the prediction that quantum computers could compromise public-key cryptography, no such threat has yet emerged. Public-key cryptography remains robust and resilient. Additionally, Post-quantum Cryptography (PQC) offers an effective solution to counter quantum attacks. PQC can be applied to any transmission medium, including mobile communication networks, and is compatible with all network routers and switches, unlike QKD. Therefore, under the high-dimensional attack of PQC, QKD's ability to save public-key cryptography is rendered farcical.

According to the principles of cryptography, QKD can only distribute shared keys between known acquaintances. It is essentially an option for distributing keys in symmetric cryptographs. In contrast, public-key cryptography can distribute keys between millions of non-acquaintances on the internet because they use two keys: public and private keys. Furthermore, public-key cryptography can complete important functions such as user authentication and digital signatures that guarantee internet communication security, which QKD fundamentally lacks. Even if quantum computers become practical tomorrow, quantum communication is useless without public-key cryptography. In military intelligence agencies and enterprise private networks such as finance, public-key cryptography have always played an auxiliary role. Their use is only for convenience and cost reduction, and there is no problem without using them. It is ignorant for quantum communication evangelists to think that without public-key cryptography, manual transmission of keys is the only option. In short, the future of public-key cryptography has nothing to do with quantum communication.

In recent years, the rapid development of digital currencies has resolved the "public-key cryptography crisis." Identity authentication and digital signatures provided by public-key cryptography are basic guarantees for digital currency security. It can be said without exaggeration that public-key cryptography are the soul and shield of digital currency! The long-term security of public key cryptographs is a guarantee of currency security and is related to national stability. The People's Bank of China's firm promotion of digital currency DCEP is an endorsement of the long-term security of public-key cryptography and once again proves that there is no need for engineering quantum communication. I advise some people at USTC not to use the so-called public-key cryptography crisis to sell anxiety anymore, as they may be held accountable for disrupting financial order.

The engineering of Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is both unnecessary and unfeasible due to the numerous technical challenges it faces. These challenges include five unresolved difficulties:

1)The use of trusted relay stations presents significant security risks. Keys are transmitted in plain text through these stations, which departs from the security framework of the BB84 protocol. The security vulnerabilities of quantum communication products are abundant, making their overall security weaker than that of traditional key distribution.

2) QKD is incompatible with the internet. The foundation of QKD is the BB84 protocol established in 1984. This point-to-point protocol requires the establishment of a fixed physical channel between the two communicating parties. If the communication network follows the BB84 protocol, it can only revert to the original unstructured state of pairwise connection. If we want a modern internet structure, we inevitably have to compromise the security framework of the BB84 protocol, and we can only choose between the two. From the perspective of communication network protocol, QKD is an outdated technology of the pre-internet era. This "non-internet" technology is not feasible in the "internet+" era, and QKD cannot provide any effective services for secure internet communication.

3)One crucial aspect of building a secure cryptographic system is identity authentication. Unfortunately, QKD lacks an identity authentication mechanism and instead relies on traditional cryptographic techniques for its operational identity authentication and data integrity. Consequently, the overall security level of QKD is limited to that of traditional cryptography.

4)The Secret Key Generation Rate is the essential technical indicator for key distribution, reflecting the efficiency of the process and determining its range of applications. However, at a distance of hundreds of kilometers, the Secret Key Generation Rate of QKD currently only reaches the Kbps level. In contrast, the data communication rate of fiber optics can reach the Tbps level, a billion times faster. Therefore, relying on the slow speed of quantum communication to protect high-speed modern communication networks is unrealistic.

5)Generating keys on both ends of the QKD device is only the initial step. The key must then be transmitted to the CPU core for encryption and decryption algorithms. Unfortunately, the key is sent in plain text from the QKD device port to the CPU core, making it highly vulnerable to interception. Traditional cryptographic systems encrypt the key as soon as it leaves the CPU core, a level of protection that QKD cannot provide.

It is crucial to understand that these technical issues have veto power. In other words, if even one issue remains unresolved, QKD is not practically feasible. Currently, there are five major obstacles, all fundamental and inherent to quantum physics. These are akin to genetic diseases that cannot be cured through medication or technological advancement. Thus, QKD faces the risk of becoming obsolete due to these five technical obstacles.

To summarize, quantum communication lacks the necessity and technical feasibility for engineering construction. Therefore, China's efforts towards quantum communication engineering have encountered significant challenges.

Those who advocate for quantum communication engineering cling to the idea that it is theoretically absolutely secure, which has become their sole lifeline. They have repeated this assertion countless times, turning it into a belief. However, their actions are more akin to religious zealots rather than scientists, as they continue to ignore the significant challenges faced by quantum communication.

The journey from theory to practice is the longest distance. Those who claim to be "theoretically the safest" may have cheat tricks up their sleeves. Beware of such claims. A truly safe and reliable product never claims to be "theoretically the safest." Have you ever seen Apple or Huawei use such slogans in their advertisements?

The safety of a product depends on technical means and measures, not just on theoretical principles. The formulation and implementation of technical agreements are crucial to ensuring product safety. This is similar to how the well-being and safety of citizens rely on specific laws and regulations, rather than political principles or ideologies.

The BB84 protocol is the technical foundation of quantum communication engineering. However, the security of quantum communication engineering does not solely depend on the BB84 protocol's security, but also on whether the protocol is strictly adhered to during the engineering process. While the theoretical security of the BB84 protocol is controversial, the more significant issue is that at least six aspects of China's quantum communication engineering do not fully meet BB84 specifications, and two places violate the security framework entirely. The security holes in quantum communication products are akin to a sieve. The actual security of quantum communication engineering is much lower than that of traditional cryptographic technology. It is ironic to promote quantum communication as theoretically absolutely secure!

Historical experience has repeatedly shown that new and promising technologies are first adopted in high-end fields such as military and intelligence agencies, due to their unique advantages. Once established in these areas, they gradually penetrate the commercial market. When the market share reaches a certain level and the cost rapidly declines, a technological revolution can be completed in a few years, resulting in exponential growth of the market share. This has been the case with the adoption of technologies such as the Internet, digital cameras, and mobile communications.

However, the adoption of quantum communication goes against this trend in high-tech development. Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) technology has failed to take root in high-end fields. Developed countries' intelligence and security agencies have negated QKD, as demonstrated by the following examples:

In October 2016, the UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), affiliated with the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), issued a white paper recommending the cancellation of the QKD development plan.

In-depth research on the potential impact of quantum information technology led the US Air Force Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) to form a report in 2016. Senior member of the committee, Ben FitzGerald, who is also the director of technology and national security programs, referred to quantum information as "the next generation of the next generation of technology" and stated that its impact on national security may still be far in the future.

In December 2019, the US Defense Science Board released an abstract of the "Applications of Quantum Technology" report. The abstract made it clear that while quantum key distribution theoretically provides password security defined by Shannon's information theory, its capabilities and security are still lacking and cannot be used by the US Department of Defense.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), which is a part of the UK's Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), published a white paper on March 24, 2020, rejecting the quantum communication project.

In May of 2020, the French National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI) published a guidance document titled "Should Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) be used for secure communication?" This document explicitly stated the French government's stance on quantum communication.

On November 18, 2020, the National Security Agency (NSA) of the United States issued a policy report on quantum key distribution and quantum cryptography, which effectively sounded the death knell for QKD.

In February 9, 2021, the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity released a research report called "Post-Quantum Public Key Cryptography (PQC): Current Status and Future Directions for the Protection against Quantum Computing Threats." Following the lead of the NSA, more technologically advanced countries have chosen to abandon QKD and instead adopt PQC to safeguard information security against quantum computers.

Finally, on May 24, 2021, the Defense Science Board (DSB) of the United States determined that "the quantum communication QKD project facilities cannot provide sufficient security guarantees for the Department of Defense's military operations."

The fate of the quantum communication QKD project was sealed by the NSA, which played a crucial role in this decision. The NSA's analysis of QKD was objective and rational, and their policy report highlighted five major problems with the technology. It is unusual for an authoritative agency to issue such a clear statement about a cryptographic technology, indicating that the hype around QKD has led to losses and confusion that must be addressed urgently. Rather than continuing on the wrong path, progress can be made by acknowledging mistakes and cutting losses. Thus, the NSA's decision was necessary and timely.

Not only have high-end users in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the European Union rejected quantum communication technology, but it has also not been adopted in China's military and national security fields. The main supplier of QKD equipment, the University of Science and Technology of China's "Guodun Quantum" company, admitted in its prospectus that  its products require evaluation and certification by government cryptography agencies before they can be used in high-security demand fields with strict qualifications. The relevant standards are still being developed, indicating that the technology is not yet ready for widespread use.

The rejection of quantum communication in military applications is supported by a video of an academic report, featuring academician Zheng Jianhua from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. As an information analysis expert and a researcher at the PLA Security Committee's Technical Security Research Institute, he stated at an academic symposium that quantum communication QKD is presently inefficient, expensive, fragile, and faces networking issues, rendering it impractical, particularly for military purposes. Academician Guo Guangcan, a quantum physics master, also recently criticized the security and practicality of quantum communication.

In the development history of high-tech industries worldwide, a new high-tech industry must initially occupy the high-end application field before it can expand rapidly like wildflower Super Bloom in Spring. Regrettably, quantum communication was barred from military intelligence departments from the outset, resulting in the loss of potential for downstream development of quantum communication industrialization. Unfortunately, it must now forcefully enter the commercial market, resulting in inevitable failure and great losses.

The QKD hardware solution falls behind the traditional software-based key distribution solution in terms of technical indicators such as key generation rate, user experience, and frequently product upgrades. Additionally, QKD is significantly more expensive than traditional key distribution technology, making its cost-effectiveness several orders of magnitude lower. Given that cost-effectiveness is crucial, especially in the internet environment affecting billions of users, QKD is unlikely to compete with traditional key distribution technology. Therefore, QKD has no future in the commercial market, and its cost-effectiveness is the main factor hindering its growth.

For commercial cryptography, absolute security is not a solution but a problem. Commercial cryptography is a commodity that is available for purchase by anyone from the market. Absolute security and unbreakable commercial cryptography in the hands of criminals and terrorist organizations pose a threat to national security. As such, any responsible government will not allow the existence of such commercial cryptography. Therefore, the security of commercial cryptography must be conditional and controllable. If it cannot achieve this, it is not suitable for commercial use. By touting quantum communication as absolutely secure, its commercialization is effectively cut off.

In summary, quantum communication does not meet the basic requirements for engineering approval in terms of necessity and feasibility analysis. While it may be theoretically secure, its actual security is lower than that of traditional cryptography. Moreover, its development goes against the general law of the high-tech industry. Quantum communication products that cannot find a place in either the high-end or low-end market are at risk of being disregarded by consumers.

In essence, the success or failure of engineering projects should be measured by their economic benefits. Despite its impressive name and academic research, the quantum communication project has failed to deliver tangible economic benefits. Its supposed advantages are overshadowed by serious drawbacks, and it cannot hide the fact that it has failed to meet expectations. Under the gorgeous robe of quantum communication, it is found to be infested with lice.

The first five chapters of this book lay the foundation for understanding modern cryptography technology and quantum communication, with Chapter One introducing basic principles. The subsequent chapters, Chapter Two and Chapter Three, provide detailed analyses and critiques of the engineering necessity and technical feasibility of quantum communication. Chapter Four focuses on the security of the quantum communication project, exposing the falsehood of its absolute safety. In Chapter Five, readers can learn about the reasons behind developed countries' rejection of quantum communication. These five chapters form the core of the book.

Chapters Six, Seven, and Eight provide further in-depth analysis and discussion of cryptography and information security-related technologies. These chapters are aimed at readers in engineering and technical fields. Chapter Nine summarizes the lessons learned from the failure of the quantum communication project, while Chapter Ten includes critiques and questions from global experts and scholars about quantum communication as a point of comparison.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Basic Knowledge of Quantum Communication and Cryptography

The Role and Position of Quantum Communication in Cryptography

The Basic Principles and Engineering Challenges of Quantum Communication

Chapter 2 The Unnecessary Engineering of Quantum Communication

The Bankruptcy of Public-Key Cryptography Theory Completely Negates the Necessity of Quantum Communication Engineering

Where Are the Shortcomings of Information System Security?

The Steady Advancement of Digital Currency Once Again Proves the Uselessness of Quantum Communication Engineering

Applying the Razor of Ockham's to Remove the Burden of Quantum Communication

Chapter 3 The Infeasibility of Engineering Quantum Communication

The Trusted Relay Station of Quantum Communication Brings Serious Security Risks

The Incompatibility of Quantum Communication Networks with the Internet

The Lack of Identity Authentication Mechanisms in Quantum Communication Renders It Vulnerable to "Man-in-the-Middle Attacks"

The Extremely Low key generation Rate of Quantum Communication

Quantum Communication Results in Inevitable Key Disclosure

Chapter 4 The Security of Quantum Communication Engineering Is Lower Than That of Traditional Cryptography

Quantum Communication is Theoretically Absolutely Secure? Wrong, Wrong, Wrong

The Claim That "The Absolute Security of Quantum Communication can be Mathematically Proven" is a Complete Lie

Physical Principles Cannot Guarantee the Unconditional Security of Quantum Communication

When Will Quantum Communication be Hacked and What Are the Vulnerabilities?

Just When One Wave Hasn't Settled, Another Rises - Quantum Communication is Once Again Cracked

Chapter 5 Military Intelligence Agencies in the US, UK, and EU Unanimously Reject Quantum Communication

The US National Security Agency Launches Heavy Strikes and Rules Quantum Communication Engineering Out

How Do Countries Such as the UK and the US Evaluate the "Quantum Communication" Engineering?

Rejecting Quantum Communication Engineering - the UK Intelligence Community Publishes Another White Paper

The European Network and Information Security Agency Denies the Practicality of Quantum Communication

The French National Network and Information Security Agency Questions the Practicality of Quantum Communication

The US Department of Defense's Evaluation of Quantum Communication Technology

Chapter 6 Post-Quantum Cryptography Technology Fully Surpasses Quantum Communication

Post-Quantum Era Cryptography Technology (PQC)

New Progress in Post-Quantum Cryptography Technology (PQC) - China's Quantum Communication Engineering Will Become a Decoration

Post-Quantum Cryptography Technology (PQC) Crushes Quantum Communication (QKD) in All Aspects

Addressing the Threat of Quantum Computers - Rand Corporation Strongly Recommends Post-Quantum Cryptography Technology (PQC)

Chapter 7 The Deep Reasons Why Quantum Communication Cannot Replace Traditional Key Distribution Techniques - The Devil Hides in the Details

Key Distribution and Management in Enterprise Private Networks

Key Distribution and Management on the Internet

A Discussion on Key Security: Distribution Is Not the Embarrassing Part, Management Is the Big Issue!

Chapter 8: Quantum Communication Engineering Has No Practical Value

The day the Cryptography Law was promulgated marked the end of quantum communication engineering.

The implementation of the Cryptography Law: joy for some, sorrow for others?

The impracticality of quantum communication engineering, which cannot be successful either at a high or a low level.

Repair or rebuild? Quantum communication faces a dilemma.

Where is the US heading with its quantum internet?

Quantum communication: how many scams are committed in its name?

Network security and 5G mobile networks.

"Quantum encryption" on Samsung phones is purely a marketing ploy.

Chapter 9: Errors and Lessons in the Decision-Making Process of Quantum Communication Engineering

Who should lead the quantum communication engineering project?

From scientist worship to the failure of quantum communication engineering.

Lessons from the failure of quantum communication engineering.

How can a mediocre work overthrow the state?

Beware of misconduct in popular science.

Clickbait titles are polluting our tech industry.

Objections to the Outstanding Science and Technology Achievement Award to be presented by the Chinese Academy of Sciences to the Broadband Quantum Communication Research Group of the University of Science and Technology of China.

Chapter 10: Domestic and Foreign Experts and Scholars expressed criticism and doubts regarding Quantum Communication
By Express News Service

BHUBANESWAR: The violence and arson in Sambalpur during the Hanuman Jayanti procession and a day before has exposed the poor intelligence network of Odisha police and its lack of foresight in ascertaining the consequences of inadequate security arrangement.

Even as normalcy is yet to be restored in the western Odisha city four days after the stone pelting on a bike rally that left 10 people, including two police inspectors injured, and subsequent violence during Hanuman Jayanti procession, Sambalpur police is in the dock for failing to prevent the incident despite prohibitory orders imposed under Section 144 of the CrPc.

The situation in Sambalpur is a result of callous police administration, which despite the advisory of the Ministry of Home Affairs, preferred not to make adequate security arrangements for the bike rally on April 12 that was to pass through a sensitive area. The violence started at Motijharan after stones were pelted by some miscreants when around 1,000 people associated with Hanuman Jayanti Samanwaya Samiti were passing through the route.

Sources informed TNIE only 13 police personnel were deployed along the two km Motijharan street and the bandobast was grossly inadequate given what the situation warranted.On April 5, the Ministry of Home Affairs had issued an advisory to all states on Hanuman Jayanti in which the governments were asked to ensure law and order, peaceful observance of the festival, and monitoring of any factors that could disturb harmony. The violence, which could have been averted, flared up further as police failed to assess the situation and the preparedness of the miscreants. Local intelligence apparatus also failed to provide adequate inputs regarding their preparedness and subsequent attacks.

The FIR lodged by Bareipali IIC DK Swain which went into details of the first incident of breach of peace mentioned that people armed with iron rods and swords abused the members of the procession with obscene language and attacked them. It also said they did not allow the police to perform their duty which clearly indicated Sambalpur Police was caught unprepared.

Though there were intelligence inputs had suggested tension, sources said, there was no specific input to the police that the miscreants were prepared with stones, iron rods and swords. The miscreants dared to attack with stones only because there was hardly any policeman in sight, the sources added.However, Sambalpur SP B Gangadhar asserted, Policemen were deployed as per the usual arrangements made during such rallies every year.

BHUBANESWAR: The violence and arson in Sambalpur during the Hanuman Jayanti procession and a day before has exposed the poor intelligence network of Odisha police and its lack of foresight in ascertaining the consequences of inadequate security arrangement. Even as normalcy is yet to be restored in the western Odisha city four days after the stone pelting on a bike rally that left 10 people, including two police inspectors injured, and subsequent violence during Hanuman Jayanti procession, Sambalpur police is in the dock for failing to prevent the incident despite prohibitory orders imposed under Section 144 of the CrPc. The situation in Sambalpur is a result of callous police administration, which despite the advisory of the Ministry of Home Affairs, preferred not to make adequate security arrangements for the bike rally on April 12 that was to pass through a sensitive area. The violence started at Motijharan after stones were pelted by some miscreants when around 1,000 people associated with Hanuman Jayanti Samanwaya Samiti were passing through the route.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Sources informed TNIE only 13 police personnel were deployed along the two km Motijharan street and the bandobast was grossly inadequate given what the situation warranted.On April 5, the Ministry of Home Affairs had issued an advisory to all states on Hanuman Jayanti in which the governments were asked to ensure law and order, peaceful observance of the festival, and monitoring of any factors that could disturb harmony. The violence, which could have been averted, flared up further as police failed to assess the situation and the preparedness of the miscreants. Local intelligence apparatus also failed to provide adequate inputs regarding their preparedness and subsequent attacks. The FIR lodged by Bareipali IIC DK Swain which went into details of the first incident of breach of peace mentioned that people armed with iron rods and swords abused the members of the procession with obscene language and attacked them. It also said they did not allow the police to perform their duty which clearly indicated Sambalpur Police was caught unprepared. Though there were intelligence inputs had suggested tension, sources said, there was no specific input to the police that the miscreants were prepared with stones, iron rods and swords. The miscreants dared to attack with stones only because there was hardly any policeman in sight, the sources added.However, Sambalpur SP B Gangadhar asserted, Policemen were deployed as per the usual arrangements made during such rallies every year.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: With the fishing ban coming into force on the east coast from Saturday, the price of fish is expected to increase by 30% from next week. Fishermen said the fish were cheap on Saturday, as the number of boats that came to shore was higher than usual, and the catch was good.

The prices are expected to go up by 30% from next week once the stock from mechanised boats gets over. The price would eventually double, said Desingh, a fisherman from Kasimedu. The 61-day annual ban will last till June 14. During this period, mechanised boats will stay off the sea while fibre boats will continue to operate.

According to M Vijesh of Chennai Sengai Singaravelar Visaipadagu Sangam, there are around 1,300 mechanised fishing boats and more than 3,000 fibre boats in the city. We have requested the government to reduce the ban period from 61 days to 45 days, as it is affecting our livelihood. Only when mechanised boats venture into the sea, all kinds of fishes will be available. The officials have said they will hold talks with us regarding this, he said.

The fishermen association have also urged the government to increase compensation provided to the fishermen during the ban period from Rs 5,000 to Rs 8,000 and added it was part of the DMKs poll promises. The fishing ban is being implemented since 2001 to ensure the conservation and effective management of fishery resources and allow the regeneration of fish stocks. The ban period was increased from 45 days to 61 days in 2017.

Meanwhile, Commissioner of Fisheries, KS Palanisamy, said the fishermen have been instructed not to venture into Andhra waters during the ban period. We have forwarded the representation of the fishermen association on reducing the number of days of the ban to the union government, he added.

CHENNAI: With the fishing ban coming into force on the east coast from Saturday, the price of fish is expected to increase by 30% from next week. Fishermen said the fish were cheap on Saturday, as the number of boats that came to shore was higher than usual, and the catch was good. The prices are expected to go up by 30% from next week once the stock from mechanised boats gets over. The price would eventually double, said Desingh, a fisherman from Kasimedu. The 61-day annual ban will last till June 14. During this period, mechanised boats will stay off the sea while fibre boats will continue to operate. According to M Vijesh of Chennai Sengai Singaravelar Visaipadagu Sangam, there are around 1,300 mechanised fishing boats and more than 3,000 fibre boats in the city. We have requested the government to reduce the ban period from 61 days to 45 days, as it is affecting our livelihood. Only when mechanised boats venture into the sea, all kinds of fishes will be available. The officials have said they will hold talks with us regarding this, he said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The fishermen association have also urged the government to increase compensation provided to the fishermen during the ban period from Rs 5,000 to Rs 8,000 and added it was part of the DMKs poll promises. The fishing ban is being implemented since 2001 to ensure the conservation and effective management of fishery resources and allow the regeneration of fish stocks. The ban period was increased from 45 days to 61 days in 2017. Meanwhile, Commissioner of Fisheries, KS Palanisamy, said the fishermen have been instructed not to venture into Andhra waters during the ban period. We have forwarded the representation of the fishermen association on reducing the number of days of the ban to the union government, he added.
Thinakaran Rajamani By

Express News Service

TIRUNELVELI: Nineteen days after his suspension over allegations of custodial torture, the Tirunelveli district crime branch police have registered a case against Balveer Singh IPS on Monday.

Tirunelveli district superintendent of police N Silambarasan said the suspended Ambasamudram ASP has been booked under Sections 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 326 and 506 (i) of the IPC. A few other police personnel have also been named as accused in the FIR, sources said.

Nineteen victims, including two minors, have so far accused Singh of torturing them during custody in Ambasamudram, Vikramasingapuram, Kallidaikurichi and Pappakudi police stations. At least 10 of them had said that their teeth were removed by Singh and his team of police personnel. One of the victims, Surya, after being allegedly threatened by police, retracted his statement saying that he broke his teeth in a fall. He has been missing for the past many days.

On Monday, Chellappa, Esakkimuthu, E Mariappan, M Mariappan, Arunkumar, Ganesan, Subash, Vetha Narayanan and two minor boys met senior IAS officer P Amudha, who was appointed by the state government to carry out a high-level probe into the allegations. The principal secretary of rural development department is holding her inquiry at the Ambasamudram taluk office.

ALSO READ | Teen, brother open up on horror unleashed by IPS officer Balveer Singh

"Singh rubbed my teeth and gums with stone. I was made to sit with my innerwear at the Ambasamudram police station. I explained to Amudha what happened to me during police custody. My statement was also video-recorded with a smart phone. Amudha asked me if I wanted compensation. I told her that I want Singhs dismissal," a minor victim told TNIE after his deposition before the inquiry officer on Monday.

Commenting on the FIR filed against Singh, executive director of People's Watch, Henry Tiphagne, who accompanied some SC victims to the inquiry, demanded the arrest of the IPS officer.

"We will bring up the Ambasamudram police station CCTV camera issue (of recordings going missing) before the Supreme Court on Tuesday. The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court is also hearing another case related to this custodial torture the same day. To escape from the courts wrath, the FIR has been filed now," Tiphagne said.

He also demanded that an IG-level officer be appointed as inquiry officer in the case against Singh. "Sections under Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocity) Act and Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act should be added to the FIR," he said.

ALSO READ | Suspended ASP brushed stone against teeth, gum of three suspects

Advocate Maharajan, who is assisting eight victims in the case, demanded a CBI inquiry stating that the Tamil Nadu IPS Officers Association may influence the inquiry officer if the investigation is conducted by a state agency.

"Police should include Section 307 of IPC in the FIR as Singh attempted to kill E Mariappan by crushing his testicles. The victim is still under treatment. Separate cases should be registered against Singh for the crimes that took place in various police stations at different times," he said.

Poothapandi Thevar, grandfather of victim Surya, appeared before Amudha and complained that his grandson has been missing after he gave his statement to Cheranmahadevi sub-divisional magistrate MD Shabbir Alam, who was ordered to conduct an inquiry by the collector as per police standing order.

After advocates associated with People Watch raised objection, state intelligence wing police personnel were asked to stay off the taluk office campus. Advocate S K Venkat Raman said the state government should give the victims treatment and compensation under Section 357 of CrPC.

After the issue came to light on March 26, DGP C Sylendra Babu shifted Singh to vacancy reserve on March 27. After two days, Chief Minister M K Stalin announced in the Assembly that he had ordered Singh to be immediately suspended.

TIRUNELVELI: Nineteen days after his suspension over allegations of custodial torture, the Tirunelveli district crime branch police have registered a case against Balveer Singh IPS on Monday. Tirunelveli district superintendent of police N Silambarasan said the suspended Ambasamudram ASP has been booked under Sections 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 326 and 506 (i) of the IPC. A few other police personnel have also been named as accused in the FIR, sources said. Nineteen victims, including two minors, have so far accused Singh of torturing them during custody in Ambasamudram, Vikramasingapuram, Kallidaikurichi and Pappakudi police stations. At least 10 of them had said that their teeth were removed by Singh and his team of police personnel. One of the victims, Surya, after being allegedly threatened by police, retracted his statement saying that he broke his teeth in a fall. He has been missing for the past many days. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); On Monday, Chellappa, Esakkimuthu, E Mariappan, M Mariappan, Arunkumar, Ganesan, Subash, Vetha Narayanan and two minor boys met senior IAS officer P Amudha, who was appointed by the state government to carry out a high-level probe into the allegations. The principal secretary of rural development department is holding her inquiry at the Ambasamudram taluk office. ALSO READ | Teen, brother open up on horror unleashed by IPS officer Balveer Singh "Singh rubbed my teeth and gums with stone. I was made to sit with my innerwear at the Ambasamudram police station. I explained to Amudha what happened to me during police custody. My statement was also video-recorded with a smart phone. Amudha asked me if I wanted compensation. I told her that I want Singhs dismissal," a minor victim told TNIE after his deposition before the inquiry officer on Monday. Commenting on the FIR filed against Singh, executive director of People's Watch, Henry Tiphagne, who accompanied some SC victims to the inquiry, demanded the arrest of the IPS officer. "We will bring up the Ambasamudram police station CCTV camera issue (of recordings going missing) before the Supreme Court on Tuesday. The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court is also hearing another case related to this custodial torture the same day. To escape from the courts wrath, the FIR has been filed now," Tiphagne said. He also demanded that an IG-level officer be appointed as inquiry officer in the case against Singh. "Sections under Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocity) Act and Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act should be added to the FIR," he said. ALSO READ | Suspended ASP brushed stone against teeth, gum of three suspects Advocate Maharajan, who is assisting eight victims in the case, demanded a CBI inquiry stating that the Tamil Nadu IPS Officers Association may influence the inquiry officer if the investigation is conducted by a state agency. "Police should include Section 307 of IPC in the FIR as Singh attempted to kill E Mariappan by crushing his testicles. The victim is still under treatment. Separate cases should be registered against Singh for the crimes that took place in various police stations at different times," he said. Poothapandi Thevar, grandfather of victim Surya, appeared before Amudha and complained that his grandson has been missing after he gave his statement to Cheranmahadevi sub-divisional magistrate MD Shabbir Alam, who was ordered to conduct an inquiry by the collector as per police standing order. After advocates associated with People Watch raised objection, state intelligence wing police personnel were asked to stay off the taluk office campus. Advocate S K Venkat Raman said the state government should give the victims treatment and compensation under Section 357 of CrPC. After the issue came to light on March 26, DGP C Sylendra Babu shifted Singh to vacancy reserve on March 27. After two days, Chief Minister M K Stalin announced in the Assembly that he had ordered Singh to be immediately suspended.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: The DMK has slapped BJP state president K Annamalai with a legal notice seeking an unconditional apology over his allegations against the party and its president M K Stalin, the Tamil Nadu chief minister, within 48 hours. The ruling party also demanded damages to the tune of Rs 500 crore that would be donated to the CMs public relief fund.

The notice, dated April 15 and released to reporters on Sunday, was issued by DMKs organising secretary RS Bharathi and pointed out that the allegations lacked any material basis or cogent evidence. As Annamalai and his party were not able to make an electoral mark in TN, he has been making constant attempts to defame, scandalise and tarnish the reputation of the DMK president, and other leaders and members of the party, the notice charged.

Regarding Annamalai listing several assets and alleging they were all owned by the DMK, Bharathi said, You (Annamalai) must understand the basic difference between assets of an individual and the assets of a political party. As an example, he recalled that in 2019 the BJP constructed a party office in New Delhi and one in Madhya Pradesh at the cost of Rs 700 crore and Rs 100 crore respectively. Stating that the BJP had not disclosed the source of the funds for the buildings, he asked, Can it be assumed that the entire money was a result of corruption and from ill-gotten wealth?

The notice also quoted from a recent media investigation, according to which the BJP had secured Rs 5,270 crore out of Rs 9,208 crore donated through electoral bonds sold between 2018 and 2022. The source of these funds and the names of the corporate entities, who donated these funds have not been disclosed to the public. Can anyone presume that every rupee of these donations and expenditure is an ill-gotten wealth of the BJP? Bharathi wondered and said merely because the party has certain properties, creating innuendos that they are the result of ill-gotten wealth is per se defamatory.

Annamalai should remove offensive video in 48 hours

REFERRING to Annamalais allegations that Stalin as minister for planning, development and special initiatives department in 2006-11, received Rs 200 crore as election funds to confirm the contract of Alstom in Phase I of the Chennai Metro Rail project, Bharathi said, The DMK president has not received a single paise as illegal gratification from any person throughout his 56 years of public life.

The legal notice said Annamalai should remove the offending video of the press conference in which he made the allegations from his Facebook account as well as from his website (https://enmannenmakkal. com). Bharathi also said that if Annamalai failed to comply within 48 hours of the notice, he would initiate civil and criminal proceedings against him (Annamalai) and hold him personally liable for all costs and consequences arising therefrom.

Assets of party and person are different

Saying that there is a difference between assets of a party and those of a person, Bharathi cited examples of BJP constructing party offices in New Delhi and Madhya Pradesh, and its earnings from electoral bonds between 2018 and 2022

CHENNAI: The DMK has slapped BJP state president K Annamalai with a legal notice seeking an unconditional apology over his allegations against the party and its president M K Stalin, the Tamil Nadu chief minister, within 48 hours. The ruling party also demanded damages to the tune of Rs 500 crore that would be donated to the CMs public relief fund. The notice, dated April 15 and released to reporters on Sunday, was issued by DMKs organising secretary RS Bharathi and pointed out that the allegations lacked any material basis or cogent evidence. As Annamalai and his party were not able to make an electoral mark in TN, he has been making constant attempts to defame, scandalise and tarnish the reputation of the DMK president, and other leaders and members of the party, the notice charged. Regarding Annamalai listing several assets and alleging they were all owned by the DMK, Bharathi said, You (Annamalai) must understand the basic difference between assets of an individual and the assets of a political party. As an example, he recalled that in 2019 the BJP constructed a party office in New Delhi and one in Madhya Pradesh at the cost of Rs 700 crore and Rs 100 crore respectively. Stating that the BJP had not disclosed the source of the funds for the buildings, he asked, Can it be assumed that the entire money was a result of corruption and from ill-gotten wealth?googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The notice also quoted from a recent media investigation, according to which the BJP had secured Rs 5,270 crore out of Rs 9,208 crore donated through electoral bonds sold between 2018 and 2022. The source of these funds and the names of the corporate entities, who donated these funds have not been disclosed to the public. Can anyone presume that every rupee of these donations and expenditure is an ill-gotten wealth of the BJP? Bharathi wondered and said merely because the party has certain properties, creating innuendos that they are the result of ill-gotten wealth is per se defamatory. Annamalai should remove offensive video in 48 hours REFERRING to Annamalais allegations that Stalin as minister for planning, development and special initiatives department in 2006-11, received Rs 200 crore as election funds to confirm the contract of Alstom in Phase I of the Chennai Metro Rail project, Bharathi said, The DMK president has not received a single paise as illegal gratification from any person throughout his 56 years of public life. The legal notice said Annamalai should remove the offending video of the press conference in which he made the allegations from his Facebook account as well as from his website (https://enmannenmakkal. com). Bharathi also said that if Annamalai failed to comply within 48 hours of the notice, he would initiate civil and criminal proceedings against him (Annamalai) and hold him personally liable for all costs and consequences arising therefrom. Assets of party and person are different Saying that there is a difference between assets of a party and those of a person, Bharathi cited examples of BJP constructing party offices in New Delhi and Madhya Pradesh, and its earnings from electoral bonds between 2018 and 2022
Express News Service By

NEW DELHI: Terming same sex marriages as a free-floating system, Jamiat Ulama I Hind has told the Supreme Court that this concept cannot be introduced in India. Opposing a batch of pleas that seek legal recognition same-sex marriage, Jamiat said as a legal institution marriage between the opposite sexes has been central to the legal regime of India.

The Jamiat application also stated Islams prohibition of homosexuality has been categorical from the dawn of the religion of Islam itself. Underlining the Islamic belief that marriage is a socio-religious institution between a biological man and a biological woman, the body has stated that any different interpretation given to the marriage will lead to the persons claiming to be married under this category as non- adherents.

Concept of same-sex marriage goes to attack the family system rather than making a family through this process. It is complete contravention of the established understanding of the concept of marriage in all personal laws, i.e., between a biological man and a biological woman and thus intends rake up the very core, i.e. the structure of a family unit in prevailing in the personal laws system, the application stated.

NEW DELHI: Terming same sex marriages as a free-floating system, Jamiat Ulama I Hind has told the Supreme Court that this concept cannot be introduced in India. Opposing a batch of pleas that seek legal recognition same-sex marriage, Jamiat said as a legal institution marriage between the opposite sexes has been central to the legal regime of India. The Jamiat application also stated Islams prohibition of homosexuality has been categorical from the dawn of the religion of Islam itself. Underlining the Islamic belief that marriage is a socio-religious institution between a biological man and a biological woman, the body has stated that any different interpretation given to the marriage will lead to the persons claiming to be married under this category as non- adherents. Concept of same-sex marriage goes to attack the family system rather than making a family through this process. It is complete contravention of the established understanding of the concept of marriage in all personal laws, i.e., between a biological man and a biological woman and thus intends rake up the very core, i.e. the structure of a family unit in prevailing in the personal laws system, the application stated.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); });
Ratan Mani Lal By

The role of organised crime in present-day politics is no secret but the recent shootout in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj -- watched by millions of people on TV late on April 15 night -- has shaken even the most diehard sceptic. Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead at point-blank range outside a hospital. The two have been referred to as gangsters, but the fact remains that both rose to fame only after winning elections and becoming lawmakers -- as famously mentioned in many news headlines across the world.

The latest chain of incidents indicates that the nexus between crime and politics remains as strong as ever. For a state as vast and overpopulated as Uttar Pradesh, the competition to do well in life and have a distinctive identity is really tough. If Atiq had this urge at the age of 17, so had the three shooters who killed him, as reported after their initial questioning. Atiq and many others before him started from a world of crime, made it big and then thrived as political parties sought them out to contest elections, switch loyalties, influence fellow politicians in times of political instability or defections, and of course, provide money as well as manage it.

Dealing with criminals with political connections has never been easy for any administration, more so in Uttar Pradesh, which has seen the rise of political faces (and parties) based on caste and community  with crime never far behind. Uttar Pradesh has traditionally been associated with religion and ancient heritage. Prayagraj, where Atiq was shot dead, is a holy city where the Sangam  a conjunction of rivers Ganga, Yamuna and the invisible Saraswati  is located, drawing lakhs of pilgrims every year, millions every six years and more millions every 12 years. This temple town was once noted as a centre of excellence in education.

ALSO READ | 'I'll be found dead by the roadside. I will be killed in an encounter': Atiq's premonition came true

In a marked departure, Yogi Adityanath since he became the Chief Minister in March 2017 has been consistent in his actions to root out criminal gangs, eve-teasers, extortionists and land-grabbers, and eliminate those who were brazen enough not to surrender. The sustained campaign to demolish the criminal empire of Mukhtar Ansari and Atiq Ahmed, as launched by Yogi Adityanath, came as a dramatic change in the state's political environment where the sheer political-criminal clout of individuals like Hari Shankar Tiwari, Amar Mani Tripathi, Shri Prakash Shukla, Babloo Srivastava, DP Yadav, Madan Bhaiya, Ramakant Yadav, Umakant Yadav and others sent shivers down the spine of businessmen and government officials. While these individuals have either been neutralised or rendered ineffective, the crackdown against Mukhtar Ansari and Atiq Ahmed has been long-drawn and bitter. While Ansari is in jail, Atiq is dead.

Encounter strategy

Soon after Yogi Adityanath assumed office in March 2017, the government had initiated a policy of searching out and eliminating listed criminals in a series of encounters across the state. According to latest figures, the UP Police have gunned down 183 alleged criminals in encounters in the six years of Yogi Adityanaths government. The number of encounters in this period is more than 10,900 in which 23,300 alleged criminals were arrested and 5,046 were injured.

Incidentally, the journey of Atiq from Gujarat to Prayagraj by road some weeks ago had given rise to a spate of social media memes and gossip about the possibility of his vehicle "overturning" in some accident, leading to his death. This was linked to the much-quoted success of the "encounter" theory which essentially means killing a wanted criminal when he allegedly tries to escape from police custody.

One of the most talked-about encounters was that of the dreaded criminal Vikas Dubey of Kanpur. On July 10, 2020, Dubey was killed when he, according to police, tried to escape while being brought in police custody from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh to Kanpur. Dubey and his men had, earlier on July 2, attacked a police team that had reached Dubeys house to arrest him. The shootout had led to the death of eight policemen and Dubey had fled. He was nabbed from Ujjain on July 9 and was being brought to UP when the encounter took place a few kilometres before Kanpur. There was mixed reaction to the killing of Dubey in the encounter -- while members of the police force and a big section of people were satisfied that a cop-killer had been eliminated, civil rights activists raised questions over the entire sequence of events from his arrest to his killing.

ALSO READ | Guns, girls and gangs: After the Vikas Dubey encounter, a look at how the dons of UP operate

The efficacy of encounters to instil fear among criminals is shared widely. In the aftermath of the horrific rape and murder of a woman in Hyderabad in November 2019 that had shocked the entire nation, there were calls to eliminate the perpetrators. Four accused were caught on December 5 by the Hyderabad Police and the next day, the police claimed that the criminals had been taken to the crime scene where they tried to escape and were killed in the ensuing encounter. Politicians, celebrities and common citizens alike had cheered the police action even as doubts were raised around the legitimacy of the encounter.

WATCH |

Tough choice

That brings to the fore the issue of maintaining law and order, which has been a major plank on which successive governments in UP skidded. One of the reasons for the BJP coming to power was the spurt in crime in the state during the 2012-2017 Samajwadi Party rule. Since Yogi has been at the helm, the situation has been much less distressing, but the fact remains that UP keeps witnessing spurts in crime regardless of the party in power. The scenario is inconsistent with the role the state and its people played in the freedom struggle and nation-building in the aftermath of independence.

ALSO READ | Remembering Ambedkar, the accomplished economist

But the deep divisions on the basis of caste and community, the overwhelming economic disparity, the blatant show of strength and wealth by those in power and a streak of irreverence for the law have turned the state into a haven for organised crime right since the early 1970s. The most common areas of criminal operation are land and property grabbing, illegal mining, monopolisation of government contracts, extortion, contract killings and kidnapping for ransom. As the flow of money rises, so do aspirations among those who fear being left behind. Unemployed youths find it easy to gather behind influential leaders in the hope of a quick rise to fame and wealth.

The empire of crime built by Atiq may well be demolished for good but his killing has raised a disturbing question -- will it see the rise of a new breed of daring criminals who seek fame by killing bigger criminals? If it happens, it will indeed be a setback for a state trying hard for an image makeover. Serving and retired police officers agree that criminals establish strong political linkages before hitting the big time, and the symbiotic relationship runs across the political spectrum. The current crackdown may make the nexus less visible but it is difficult -- if not impossible -- to eliminate it altogether.

Web Scrawl | Read our series of web exclusives here

The role of organised crime in present-day politics is no secret but the recent shootout in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj -- watched by millions of people on TV late on April 15 night -- has shaken even the most diehard sceptic. Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead at point-blank range outside a hospital. The two have been referred to as gangsters, but the fact remains that both rose to fame only after winning elections and becoming lawmakers -- as famously mentioned in many news headlines across the world. The latest chain of incidents indicates that the nexus between crime and politics remains as strong as ever. For a state as vast and overpopulated as Uttar Pradesh, the competition to do well in life and have a distinctive identity is really tough. If Atiq had this urge at the age of 17, so had the three shooters who killed him, as reported after their initial questioning. Atiq and many others before him started from a world of crime, made it big and then thrived as political parties sought them out to contest elections, switch loyalties, influence fellow politicians in times of political instability or defections, and of course, provide money as well as manage it. Dealing with criminals with political connections has never been easy for any administration, more so in Uttar Pradesh, which has seen the rise of political faces (and parties) based on caste and community  with crime never far behind. Uttar Pradesh has traditionally been associated with religion and ancient heritage. Prayagraj, where Atiq was shot dead, is a holy city where the Sangam  a conjunction of rivers Ganga, Yamuna and the invisible Saraswati  is located, drawing lakhs of pilgrims every year, millions every six years and more millions every 12 years. This temple town was once noted as a centre of excellence in education.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); ALSO READ | 'I'll be found dead by the roadside. I will be killed in an encounter': Atiq's premonition came true In a marked departure, Yogi Adityanath since he became the Chief Minister in March 2017 has been consistent in his actions to root out criminal gangs, eve-teasers, extortionists and land-grabbers, and eliminate those who were brazen enough not to surrender. The sustained campaign to demolish the criminal empire of Mukhtar Ansari and Atiq Ahmed, as launched by Yogi Adityanath, came as a dramatic change in the state's political environment where the sheer political-criminal clout of individuals like Hari Shankar Tiwari, Amar Mani Tripathi, Shri Prakash Shukla, Babloo Srivastava, DP Yadav, Madan Bhaiya, Ramakant Yadav, Umakant Yadav and others sent shivers down the spine of businessmen and government officials. While these individuals have either been neutralised or rendered ineffective, the crackdown against Mukhtar Ansari and Atiq Ahmed has been long-drawn and bitter. While Ansari is in jail, Atiq is dead. Encounter strategy Soon after Yogi Adityanath assumed office in March 2017, the government had initiated a policy of searching out and eliminating listed criminals in a series of encounters across the state. According to latest figures, the UP Police have gunned down 183 alleged criminals in encounters in the six years of Yogi Adityanaths government. The number of encounters in this period is more than 10,900 in which 23,300 alleged criminals were arrested and 5,046 were injured. Incidentally, the journey of Atiq from Gujarat to Prayagraj by road some weeks ago had given rise to a spate of social media memes and gossip about the possibility of his vehicle "overturning" in some accident, leading to his death. This was linked to the much-quoted success of the "encounter" theory which essentially means killing a wanted criminal when he allegedly tries to escape from police custody. One of the most talked-about encounters was that of the dreaded criminal Vikas Dubey of Kanpur. On July 10, 2020, Dubey was killed when he, according to police, tried to escape while being brought in police custody from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh to Kanpur. Dubey and his men had, earlier on July 2, attacked a police team that had reached Dubeys house to arrest him. The shootout had led to the death of eight policemen and Dubey had fled. He was nabbed from Ujjain on July 9 and was being brought to UP when the encounter took place a few kilometres before Kanpur. There was mixed reaction to the killing of Dubey in the encounter -- while members of the police force and a big section of people were satisfied that a cop-killer had been eliminated, civil rights activists raised questions over the entire sequence of events from his arrest to his killing. ALSO READ | Guns, girls and gangs: After the Vikas Dubey encounter, a look at how the dons of UP operate The efficacy of encounters to instil fear among criminals is shared widely. In the aftermath of the horrific rape and murder of a woman in Hyderabad in November 2019 that had shocked the entire nation, there were calls to eliminate the perpetrators. Four accused were caught on December 5 by the Hyderabad Police and the next day, the police claimed that the criminals had been taken to the crime scene where they tried to escape and were killed in the ensuing encounter. Politicians, celebrities and common citizens alike had cheered the police action even as doubts were raised around the legitimacy of the encounter. WATCH | Tough choice That brings to the fore the issue of maintaining law and order, which has been a major plank on which successive governments in UP skidded. One of the reasons for the BJP coming to power was the spurt in crime in the state during the 2012-2017 Samajwadi Party rule. Since Yogi has been at the helm, the situation has been much less distressing, but the fact remains that UP keeps witnessing spurts in crime regardless of the party in power. The scenario is inconsistent with the role the state and its people played in the freedom struggle and nation-building in the aftermath of independence. ALSO READ | Remembering Ambedkar, the accomplished economist But the deep divisions on the basis of caste and community, the overwhelming economic disparity, the blatant show of strength and wealth by those in power and a streak of irreverence for the law have turned the state into a haven for organised crime right since the early 1970s. The most common areas of criminal operation are land and property grabbing, illegal mining, monopolisation of government contracts, extortion, contract killings and kidnapping for ransom. As the flow of money rises, so do aspirations among those who fear being left behind. Unemployed youths find it easy to gather behind influential leaders in the hope of a quick rise to fame and wealth. The empire of crime built by Atiq may well be demolished for good but his killing has raised a disturbing question -- will it see the rise of a new breed of daring criminals who seek fame by killing bigger criminals? If it happens, it will indeed be a setback for a state trying hard for an image makeover. Serving and retired police officers agree that criminals establish strong political linkages before hitting the big time, and the symbiotic relationship runs across the political spectrum. The current crackdown may make the nexus less visible but it is difficult -- if not impossible -- to eliminate it altogether. Web Scrawl | Read our series of web exclusives here
By AFP

CAIRO: Tensions have been brewing for weeks between Sudan's two most powerful generals, who just 18 months earlier jointly orchestrated a military coup to derail the nation's transition to democracy.

Over the weekend, those tensions between the armed forces chief, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the head of the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, erupted into an unprecedented battle for control of the resource-rich nation of more than 46 million people.

Both men, each with tens of thousands of troops deployed just in the capital of Khartoum, vowed not to negotiate or cease-fire, despite mounting global diplomatic pressure. It is a deadly setback for a country at the crossroads of the Arab world and Africa, which four years ago ended the rule of a long-time dictator in part through largely peaceful popular protests.

Here's a look at how Sudan, a country with a long history of coups, reached this point and what is at stake.



What preceded the fighting?

In recent months, negotiations had been under way for a return to the democratic transition that had been halted by the October 2021 coup.

Under mounting international and regional pressure, the armed forces and the RSF signed a preliminary deal in December with pro-democracy and civilian groups. But the internationally brokered agreement provided only broad outlines, leaving the thorniest political issues unsettled.

During tortuous negotiations to reach a final agreement, tensions between Burhan and Dagalo escalated. A key dispute is over how the RSF would be integrated into the military and who would have ultimate control over fighters and weapons.

Dagalo, whose RSF was involved in brutal crackdowns during tribal unrest and pro-democracy protests, also tried to fashion himself a supporter of the democratic transition. In March, he slammed Burhan, saying military leaders were unwilling to relinquish power.

Analysts argued that Dagalo is trying to whitewash the reputation of his paramilitary force, which began as brutal militias implicated in atrocities in the Darfur conflict.



How did the situation escalate?

On Wednesday, the RSF began deploying forces around the small town Merowe north of the capital. The town is strategic, with its large airport, central location and downstream electric dam on the Nile River. The next day, the RSF also sent more forces into the capital and other areas of the country, without the army leadership's consent.

ALSO READ | Dozens killed as army, rivals battle for control of Sudan

On Saturday morning, fighting erupted at a military base south of Khartoum, with each side blaming the other for having initiated the violence. Since then, the military and the RSF have battled each other with heavy weapons, including armored vehicles and truck-mounted machine guns, in densely populated areas of the capital and the adjoining city of Omdurman. The military has pounded RSF bases with airstrikes.

By Monday, dozens of people have been killed and hundreds wounded in the fighting.

The clashes spread to other areas in the country, including the strategic coastal city of Port Sudan on the Red Sea and eastern regions, on the borders with Ethiopia and Eritrea. Fighting was also reported in the war-wrecked Darfur region, where U.N. facilities were attacked and looted. The U.N. says three employees with the World Food Program were killed in the clashes there on Saturday.



What are the prospects for a cease-fire and a return to dialogue?

The prospects for an immediate cease-fire appear to be slim. Burhan and Dagalo have dug in, demanding that the other surrender. The intense nature of the fighting also might make it harder for the two generals to return to negotiations.

On the other hand, the military and the RSF both have foreign backers, who unanimously appealed for an immediate halt to hostilities.

The Muslim religious calendar might also play a role. The fighting erupted during the last week of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, with the three-day holiday of Eid al-Fitr marking the end of the fasting month later this week. The population is increasingly strained for necessities, many homebound by the violence.

Meanwhile, there has been a flurry of diplomatic contacts. The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to discuss Sudan on Monday.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he discussed the developments in Sudan with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Saudi Foreign Minister said he spoke separately by phone with Burhan and Dagalo, and urged them to stop "all kinds of military escalation."

ALSO READ | Sudan clashes: Keralaite hit by stray bullet dies; he was talking on phone with son in Canada

The Gulf Arab monarchies are close allies to the military as well as the RSF.

Cameron Hudson, a senior associate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank and a former U.S. diplomat, said the Biden administration should get its allies in the region to push for peace.

"Without such pressure, we could find a conflict with the same pattern of the war in Tigray (in Ethiopia)," he said.



Who are the foreign actors and what resources are at stake?

During the decades-long rule of strongman Omar al-Bashir, who was deposed in 2019, Russia was a dominant force. At one point, Moscow reached an initial deal to build a naval base on Sudan's Red Sea cost.

After al-Bashir's ouster, the United States and European nations began competing with Russia for influence in Sudan, which is rich in natural resources, including gold, but has been mired in civil conflicts and military coups. In recent years, the Russian mercenary outfit Wagner has even made inroads in the country.

Burhan and Dagalo have also forged close ties with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Sudanese troops drawn from the military and the RSF have fought alongside the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen's long-running civil war.

Egypt, another regional power, also has deep ties with the Sudanese military. The two armies conduct regular war games, most recently this month. Egyptian troops were in a Sudanese military base for exercises when the clashes erupted Saturday. They were caught by the RSF which said they would be returned to Egypt.

The military controls most of the country's economy, but the RSF runs major gold mining areas, a key source of income for the powerful group.



CAIRO: Tensions have been brewing for weeks between Sudan's two most powerful generals, who just 18 months earlier jointly orchestrated a military coup to derail the nation's transition to democracy. Over the weekend, those tensions between the armed forces chief, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the head of the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, erupted into an unprecedented battle for control of the resource-rich nation of more than 46 million people. Both men, each with tens of thousands of troops deployed just in the capital of Khartoum, vowed not to negotiate or cease-fire, despite mounting global diplomatic pressure. It is a deadly setback for a country at the crossroads of the Arab world and Africa, which four years ago ended the rule of a long-time dictator in part through largely peaceful popular protests.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Here's a look at how Sudan, a country with a long history of coups, reached this point and what is at stake.What preceded the fighting? In recent months, negotiations had been under way for a return to the democratic transition that had been halted by the October 2021 coup. Under mounting international and regional pressure, the armed forces and the RSF signed a preliminary deal in December with pro-democracy and civilian groups. But the internationally brokered agreement provided only broad outlines, leaving the thorniest political issues unsettled. During tortuous negotiations to reach a final agreement, tensions between Burhan and Dagalo escalated. A key dispute is over how the RSF would be integrated into the military and who would have ultimate control over fighters and weapons. Dagalo, whose RSF was involved in brutal crackdowns during tribal unrest and pro-democracy protests, also tried to fashion himself a supporter of the democratic transition. In March, he slammed Burhan, saying military leaders were unwilling to relinquish power. Analysts argued that Dagalo is trying to whitewash the reputation of his paramilitary force, which began as brutal militias implicated in atrocities in the Darfur conflict.How did the situation escalate? On Wednesday, the RSF began deploying forces around the small town Merowe north of the capital. The town is strategic, with its large airport, central location and downstream electric dam on the Nile River. The next day, the RSF also sent more forces into the capital and other areas of the country, without the army leadership's consent. ALSO READ | Dozens killed as army, rivals battle for control of Sudan On Saturday morning, fighting erupted at a military base south of Khartoum, with each side blaming the other for having initiated the violence. Since then, the military and the RSF have battled each other with heavy weapons, including armored vehicles and truck-mounted machine guns, in densely populated areas of the capital and the adjoining city of Omdurman. The military has pounded RSF bases with airstrikes. By Monday, dozens of people have been killed and hundreds wounded in the fighting. The clashes spread to other areas in the country, including the strategic coastal city of Port Sudan on the Red Sea and eastern regions, on the borders with Ethiopia and Eritrea. Fighting was also reported in the war-wrecked Darfur region, where U.N. facilities were attacked and looted. The U.N. says three employees with the World Food Program were killed in the clashes there on Saturday.What are the prospects for a cease-fire and a return to dialogue? The prospects for an immediate cease-fire appear to be slim. Burhan and Dagalo have dug in, demanding that the other surrender. The intense nature of the fighting also might make it harder for the two generals to return to negotiations. On the other hand, the military and the RSF both have foreign backers, who unanimously appealed for an immediate halt to hostilities. The Muslim religious calendar might also play a role. The fighting erupted during the last week of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, with the three-day holiday of Eid al-Fitr marking the end of the fasting month later this week. The population is increasingly strained for necessities, many homebound by the violence. Meanwhile, there has been a flurry of diplomatic contacts. The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to discuss Sudan on Monday. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he discussed the developments in Sudan with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Saudi Foreign Minister said he spoke separately by phone with Burhan and Dagalo, and urged them to stop "all kinds of military escalation." ALSO READ | Sudan clashes: Keralaite hit by stray bullet dies; he was talking on phone with son in Canada The Gulf Arab monarchies are close allies to the military as well as the RSF. Cameron Hudson, a senior associate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank and a former U.S. diplomat, said the Biden administration should get its allies in the region to push for peace. "Without such pressure, we could find a conflict with the same pattern of the war in Tigray (in Ethiopia)," he said.Who are the foreign actors and what resources are at stake? During the decades-long rule of strongman Omar al-Bashir, who was deposed in 2019, Russia was a dominant force. At one point, Moscow reached an initial deal to build a naval base on Sudan's Red Sea cost. After al-Bashir's ouster, the United States and European nations began competing with Russia for influence in Sudan, which is rich in natural resources, including gold, but has been mired in civil conflicts and military coups. In recent years, the Russian mercenary outfit Wagner has even made inroads in the country. Burhan and Dagalo have also forged close ties with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Sudanese troops drawn from the military and the RSF have fought alongside the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen's long-running civil war. Egypt, another regional power, also has deep ties with the Sudanese military. The two armies conduct regular war games, most recently this month. Egyptian troops were in a Sudanese military base for exercises when the clashes erupted Saturday. They were caught by the RSF which said they would be returned to Egypt. The military controls most of the country's economy, but the RSF runs major gold mining areas, a key source of income for the powerful group.
By AFP

TEHRAN: Iran said Monday it has formally invited Saudi King Salman to visit Tehran, following a reconciliation agreement reached last month between the two sides.

Saudi Arabia severed relations with Iran in 2016, after its embassy in Tehran and consulate in the northwestern city of Mashhad were attacked during protests over Riyadh's execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

The two Middle East powerhouses had held several rounds of dialogue in Iraq and Oman before reaching the agreement to mend ties on March 10 in China.

On Monday, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said President Ebrahim Raisi had "invited the Saudi King to visit Iran".

EXPLAINER | Decades-long rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia

Kanani said the Iranian president had already received an invitation to visit the Sunni-ruled kingdom.

The spokesman also expressed hope that Iran and Saudi Arabia would reopen their respective diplomatic missions by May 9, as scheduled in the China-brokered agreement.

"We and the Saudi side insist on activating the embassies in a very timely manner so that Iranian pilgrims can attend a calm hajj pilgrimage using the services provided by the embassy," he told a weekly press conference.

The annual hajj pilgrimage to holy sites in Saudi Arabia, one of the pillars of Islam, is expected to begin this year in late June.

In recent days, delegations from the two countries have visited the embassies in Riyadh and Tehran and consulates in Jeddah and Mashhad to launch the process of their reopening.

On April 6 the Iranian and Saudi foreign ministers, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Prince Faisal bin Farhan, held talks in Beijing on the implementation of normalisation of ties.

"The foreign ministers of the two countries will meet" again before the reopening of the embassies, the spokesman said.

Before the March deal to restore ties, Shiite Muslim-majority Iran and Sunni Muslim-ruled Saudi Arabia had backed rival sides in conflict zones across the region for years, including in Yemen.

Riyadh led a military coalition that supported the internationally recognised government in the kingdom, while Tehran backed the Huthi rebels who control the capital Sanaa and large areas of the north.

ALSO READ | With Saudi deals, US, China battle for influence in Middle East

TEHRAN: Iran said Monday it has formally invited Saudi King Salman to visit Tehran, following a reconciliation agreement reached last month between the two sides. Saudi Arabia severed relations with Iran in 2016, after its embassy in Tehran and consulate in the northwestern city of Mashhad were attacked during protests over Riyadh's execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr. The two Middle East powerhouses had held several rounds of dialogue in Iraq and Oman before reaching the agreement to mend ties on March 10 in China.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); On Monday, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said President Ebrahim Raisi had "invited the Saudi King to visit Iran". EXPLAINER | Decades-long rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia Kanani said the Iranian president had already received an invitation to visit the Sunni-ruled kingdom. The spokesman also expressed hope that Iran and Saudi Arabia would reopen their respective diplomatic missions by May 9, as scheduled in the China-brokered agreement. "We and the Saudi side insist on activating the embassies in a very timely manner so that Iranian pilgrims can attend a calm hajj pilgrimage using the services provided by the embassy," he told a weekly press conference. The annual hajj pilgrimage to holy sites in Saudi Arabia, one of the pillars of Islam, is expected to begin this year in late June. In recent days, delegations from the two countries have visited the embassies in Riyadh and Tehran and consulates in Jeddah and Mashhad to launch the process of their reopening. On April 6 the Iranian and Saudi foreign ministers, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Prince Faisal bin Farhan, held talks in Beijing on the implementation of normalisation of ties. "The foreign ministers of the two countries will meet" again before the reopening of the embassies, the spokesman said. Before the March deal to restore ties, Shiite Muslim-majority Iran and Sunni Muslim-ruled Saudi Arabia had backed rival sides in conflict zones across the region for years, including in Yemen. Riyadh led a military coalition that supported the internationally recognised government in the kingdom, while Tehran backed the Huthi rebels who control the capital Sanaa and large areas of the north. ALSO READ | With Saudi deals, US, China battle for influence in Middle East
By Associated Press

MOSCOW: A Russian court on Monday convicted a top opposition activist of treason for publicly denouncing Moscow's war in Ukraine and sentenced him to 25 years in prison as part of the Kremlin's relentless crackdown on critics of the invasion.

Vladimir Kara-Murza, Jr., an activist and journalist who twice survived poisonings he blamed on Russian authorities, has rejected the charges against him as punishment for standing up to President Vladimir Putin and likened the proceedings to the show trials under Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

Human rights organizations and Western governments denounced the verdict and demanded his release. Amnesty International declared the 41-year-old to be a prisoner of conscience.

The charges against Kara-Murza, a dual Russian-British citizen who has been behind bars since his arrest a year ago, stem from a March 2022 speech to the Arizona House of Representatives in which he denounced Russia's invasion of Ukraine, along with other speeches abroad.

Days after that invasion, Russia adopted a law criminalizing spreading "false information" about its military. Authorities have used the law to stifle criticism of what the Kremlin calls "a special military operation."

The sweeping campaign of repression is unprecedented since the Soviet era, effectively criminalizing independent reporting on the conflict and any public criticism of the war.

Last month, a Russian court convicted a father over social media posts critical of the war and sentenced him to two years in prison. His 13-year-old daughter, who drew an antiwar sketch at school, was sent to an orphanage.

Days later, Russia's security service arrested Evan Gershkovich, an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal, on espionage charges.

ALSO READ | WSJ editorial board calls for US to expel Russian ambassador, journalists

In a statement at the end of his trial, Kara-Murza said that he was jailed for "many years of struggle against Putin's dictatorship," his criticism of the war in Ukraine and his long efforts to champion Western sanctions against Russian officials involved in human rights abuses.

"I know that the day will come when the darkness engulfing our country will dissipate," the father of three told the court in remarks that were posted on his Twitter account. "This day will come as inevitably as spring comes to replace even the frostiest winter."

Kara-Murza reacted calmly as the judge read the verdict and sentence in a quick monotone. His lawyer, Maria Eismont, later quoted him as telling her: "My self-esteem has risen: I realized that I have done everything right. Twenty-five years is the highest appraisal that I could get for doing what I did and what I believed in, as a citizen, a patriot and a politician."

Kara-Murza was an associate of Russian opposition leader and fierce Putin critic Boris Nemtsov, who was assassinated near the Kremlin in 2015. Kara-Murza survived poisonings in 2015 and 2017 that he blamed on the Kremlin. Russian officials have denied responsibility.

Another prominent opposition figure, Ilya Yashin, was sentenced to 8 years in prison late last year on charges of discrediting the military.

Amnesty International denounced Kara-Murza's sentence as "yet another chilling example of the systematic repression of civil society, which has broadened and accelerated under the Kremlin since Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year."

"The so-called 'crimes' Vladimir Kara-Murza was tried for  speaking out against the invasion and advocacy on behalf of victims of human rights violations  are in fact acts of outstanding bravery," Amnesty's Russia Director, Natalia Zviagina, said in a statement. "This verdict wrongly conflates human rights activism with 'high treason' and is reminiscent of Stalin-era repression."

The group declared Kara-Murza a prisoner of conscience, convicted solely for his political beliefs, and demanded his immediate and unconditional release.

Memorial, one of Russia's oldest and most prominent human rights organizations that was named a co-winner of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize along with human rights defenders from Ukraine and Belarus, also has named Kara-Murza as a political prisoner.

Memorial's head Yan Rachinsky described the sentence as "monstrous," adding that it reflected the authorities' fear of criticism and "marked a difference between today's Russia and civilized countries."

The British, American, German and other Western governments strongly condemned the conviction.

"Vladimir Kara-Murza bravely denounced Russia's invasion of Ukraine for what it was  a blatant violation of international law and the U.N. Charter," British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a statement.

The Foreign Office said it summoned Russian Ambassador Andrey Kelin over the conviction. The British government previously sanctioned the judge presiding at the trial for human rights violations in another case and said it would consider taking further action to hold people accountable in Kara-Murza's case.

The U.S. State Department hailed Kara-Murza along with jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Yahsin and "many others who serve their country and their fellow citizens at great personal cost by boldly standing up for human rights and fundamental freedoms." It renewed its call for the release of Kara-Murza and more than 400 other political prisoners in Russia.

The U.N. Human Rights Chief Volker Turk called the sentence "another blow to the rule of law and civic space in the Russian Federation."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to comment.

Kara-Murza's health has deteriorated in custody, leading to the development of polyneuropathy  disease of or damage to nerves  in both his feet, according to his lawyers.

MOSCOW: A Russian court on Monday convicted a top opposition activist of treason for publicly denouncing Moscow's war in Ukraine and sentenced him to 25 years in prison as part of the Kremlin's relentless crackdown on critics of the invasion. Vladimir Kara-Murza, Jr., an activist and journalist who twice survived poisonings he blamed on Russian authorities, has rejected the charges against him as punishment for standing up to President Vladimir Putin and likened the proceedings to the show trials under Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. Human rights organizations and Western governments denounced the verdict and demanded his release. Amnesty International declared the 41-year-old to be a prisoner of conscience.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The charges against Kara-Murza, a dual Russian-British citizen who has been behind bars since his arrest a year ago, stem from a March 2022 speech to the Arizona House of Representatives in which he denounced Russia's invasion of Ukraine, along with other speeches abroad. Days after that invasion, Russia adopted a law criminalizing spreading "false information" about its military. Authorities have used the law to stifle criticism of what the Kremlin calls "a special military operation." The sweeping campaign of repression is unprecedented since the Soviet era, effectively criminalizing independent reporting on the conflict and any public criticism of the war. Last month, a Russian court convicted a father over social media posts critical of the war and sentenced him to two years in prison. His 13-year-old daughter, who drew an antiwar sketch at school, was sent to an orphanage. Days later, Russia's security service arrested Evan Gershkovich, an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal, on espionage charges. ALSO READ | WSJ editorial board calls for US to expel Russian ambassador, journalists In a statement at the end of his trial, Kara-Murza said that he was jailed for "many years of struggle against Putin's dictatorship," his criticism of the war in Ukraine and his long efforts to champion Western sanctions against Russian officials involved in human rights abuses. "I know that the day will come when the darkness engulfing our country will dissipate," the father of three told the court in remarks that were posted on his Twitter account. "This day will come as inevitably as spring comes to replace even the frostiest winter." Kara-Murza reacted calmly as the judge read the verdict and sentence in a quick monotone. His lawyer, Maria Eismont, later quoted him as telling her: "My self-esteem has risen: I realized that I have done everything right. Twenty-five years is the highest appraisal that I could get for doing what I did and what I believed in, as a citizen, a patriot and a politician." Kara-Murza was an associate of Russian opposition leader and fierce Putin critic Boris Nemtsov, who was assassinated near the Kremlin in 2015. Kara-Murza survived poisonings in 2015 and 2017 that he blamed on the Kremlin. Russian officials have denied responsibility. Another prominent opposition figure, Ilya Yashin, was sentenced to 8 years in prison late last year on charges of discrediting the military. Amnesty International denounced Kara-Murza's sentence as "yet another chilling example of the systematic repression of civil society, which has broadened and accelerated under the Kremlin since Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year." "The so-called 'crimes' Vladimir Kara-Murza was tried for  speaking out against the invasion and advocacy on behalf of victims of human rights violations  are in fact acts of outstanding bravery," Amnesty's Russia Director, Natalia Zviagina, said in a statement. "This verdict wrongly conflates human rights activism with 'high treason' and is reminiscent of Stalin-era repression." The group declared Kara-Murza a prisoner of conscience, convicted solely for his political beliefs, and demanded his immediate and unconditional release. Memorial, one of Russia's oldest and most prominent human rights organizations that was named a co-winner of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize along with human rights defenders from Ukraine and Belarus, also has named Kara-Murza as a political prisoner. Memorial's head Yan Rachinsky described the sentence as "monstrous," adding that it reflected the authorities' fear of criticism and "marked a difference between today's Russia and civilized countries." The British, American, German and other Western governments strongly condemned the conviction. "Vladimir Kara-Murza bravely denounced Russia's invasion of Ukraine for what it was  a blatant violation of international law and the U.N. Charter," British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a statement. The Foreign Office said it summoned Russian Ambassador Andrey Kelin over the conviction. The British government previously sanctioned the judge presiding at the trial for human rights violations in another case and said it would consider taking further action to hold people accountable in Kara-Murza's case. The U.S. State Department hailed Kara-Murza along with jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Yahsin and "many others who serve their country and their fellow citizens at great personal cost by boldly standing up for human rights and fundamental freedoms." It renewed its call for the release of Kara-Murza and more than 400 other political prisoners in Russia. The U.N. Human Rights Chief Volker Turk called the sentence "another blow to the rule of law and civic space in the Russian Federation." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to comment. Kara-Murza's health has deteriorated in custody, leading to the development of polyneuropathy  disease of or damage to nerves  in both his feet, according to his lawyers.
By Associated Press

SEOUL: The United States, South Korea and Japan will conduct a joint missile defence exercise Monday in waters near the Korean Peninsula as they expand military training to counter the growing threats of North Koreas nuclear-capable missiles, the South Korean navy said.

Last week, North Korea conducted one of its most provocative weapons demonstrations in years by flight-testing for the first time an intercontinental ballistic missile powered by solid propellants, as it pursues a weapon that's more responsive, harder to detect and could directly target the continental United States.

North Korea's unprecedented run of weapons tests has so far involved more than 100 missiles of various ranges fired into the sea since the start of 2022 as the country attempts to build a viable nuclear arsenal that could threaten its rival neighbours and the United States.

The exercises Monday may trigger a belligerent response from North Korea, which condemns the United States military drills with its Asian allies as invasion rehearsals. The North has used those drills as a pretext to accelerate its own weapons development, creating a cycle of tit-for-tat that has raised tensions in recent months.

South Koreas navy said Mondays three-way naval drills will take place in international waters off the countrys eastern coast and will be focused on mastering the procedures for detecting, tracking and sharing information on incoming North Korean ballistic missiles. The naval exercise involves an Aegis destroyer from each country and comes as the United States and South Korea also launch separate aerial drills involving some 110 warplanes, including advanced F-35 fighter jets.

The drills goal is to improve our response capabilities against ballistic missiles and strengthen our ability to conduct joint operations as North Koreas nuclear and missile threats continue to escalate, Jang Do-young, a spokesperson of South Koreas navy, said in a news briefing.

The U.S.-South Korean aerial drills beginning Monday and continuing through April 28 are aimed at sharpening combined operational abilities and demonstrating the countries joint defence postures in the face of North Korean threats, Seouls Defense Ministry said.

The United States and South Korea conducted their biggest field exercises in years in March and have also held separate naval and aerial drills involving a U.S. aircraft carrier battle group and nuclear-capable B-52 bombers. The drills triggered fierce protests from the North as it dialled up its own testing activity, test-firing two ICBMs and nearly 20 shorter-range weapons since March.

Monday marks 11-straight days that North Korea has not responded to South Korean checkup calls on a set of cross-border inter-Korean hotlines, South Korean officials say, raising concerns about potential kinetic provocations. Communications on those channels are meant to prevent accidental clashes along the rivals sea borders.

On Saturday, a South Korean naval vessel fired warning shots to repel a North Korean patrol vessel that temporarily crossed the countries disputed western sea boundary while chasing a Chinese fishing boat. There were no exchanges of fire between the North and South Korean vessels, but the South Korean high-speed vessel collided with the Chinese boat as it responded to the intrusion amid poor visibility, causing bruises and other minor injuries to some of the South Korean sailors, according to South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff.

While the Souths military strengthened monitoring and readiness after the intrusion, it didn't immediately detect any unusual activity from the North Korean military, Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Lee Sung-Jun said Monday.

ALSO READ | North Korea fires ICBM that may have been new type of weapon

North Koreas aggressive nuclear push under ruler Kim Jong Un is aimed at forcing the United States to accept the idea of the North as a legitimate nuclear power and negotiating economic concessions from a position of strength, many experts say. Nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang have remained derailed since 2019 over disagreements in exchanging the release of crippling U.S.-led sanctions against the North and steps to cut back its nuclear program.

However, there are also signs that the costs of Kims campaign are piling up as North Korea apparently grapples with food insecurity and other domestic problems worsened by pandemic-related border restrictions that disrupted trade with China, its main ally and economic lifeline. Chasing tangible economic achievements, Kims government has prioritized construction and agricultural projects.

The Norths official Korean Central News Agency said Monday that Kim attended an event over the weekend celebrating the building of 10,000 new homes in a district in Pyongyang. The project is part of broader plans to supply 50,000 new homes in the capital under a five-year national development plan that runs through 2025.

During Sundays event, Kim called the housing project a long-cherished plan aimed at providing his people with more stable and civilized living conditions, KCNA said.

Experts say North Korea has severe shortages in quality housing that deepened over decades of economic decay. But living conditions are much better in Pyongyang, where Kim in past years has pushed huge development projects that upgraded housing for elites and changed the citys skyline.

SEOUL: The United States, South Korea and Japan will conduct a joint missile defence exercise Monday in waters near the Korean Peninsula as they expand military training to counter the growing threats of North Koreas nuclear-capable missiles, the South Korean navy said. Last week, North Korea conducted one of its most provocative weapons demonstrations in years by flight-testing for the first time an intercontinental ballistic missile powered by solid propellants, as it pursues a weapon that's more responsive, harder to detect and could directly target the continental United States. North Korea's unprecedented run of weapons tests has so far involved more than 100 missiles of various ranges fired into the sea since the start of 2022 as the country attempts to build a viable nuclear arsenal that could threaten its rival neighbours and the United States.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The exercises Monday may trigger a belligerent response from North Korea, which condemns the United States military drills with its Asian allies as invasion rehearsals. The North has used those drills as a pretext to accelerate its own weapons development, creating a cycle of tit-for-tat that has raised tensions in recent months. South Koreas navy said Mondays three-way naval drills will take place in international waters off the countrys eastern coast and will be focused on mastering the procedures for detecting, tracking and sharing information on incoming North Korean ballistic missiles. The naval exercise involves an Aegis destroyer from each country and comes as the United States and South Korea also launch separate aerial drills involving some 110 warplanes, including advanced F-35 fighter jets. The drills goal is to improve our response capabilities against ballistic missiles and strengthen our ability to conduct joint operations as North Koreas nuclear and missile threats continue to escalate, Jang Do-young, a spokesperson of South Koreas navy, said in a news briefing. The U.S.-South Korean aerial drills beginning Monday and continuing through April 28 are aimed at sharpening combined operational abilities and demonstrating the countries joint defence postures in the face of North Korean threats, Seouls Defense Ministry said. The United States and South Korea conducted their biggest field exercises in years in March and have also held separate naval and aerial drills involving a U.S. aircraft carrier battle group and nuclear-capable B-52 bombers. The drills triggered fierce protests from the North as it dialled up its own testing activity, test-firing two ICBMs and nearly 20 shorter-range weapons since March. Monday marks 11-straight days that North Korea has not responded to South Korean checkup calls on a set of cross-border inter-Korean hotlines, South Korean officials say, raising concerns about potential kinetic provocations. Communications on those channels are meant to prevent accidental clashes along the rivals sea borders. On Saturday, a South Korean naval vessel fired warning shots to repel a North Korean patrol vessel that temporarily crossed the countries disputed western sea boundary while chasing a Chinese fishing boat. There were no exchanges of fire between the North and South Korean vessels, but the South Korean high-speed vessel collided with the Chinese boat as it responded to the intrusion amid poor visibility, causing bruises and other minor injuries to some of the South Korean sailors, according to South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff. While the Souths military strengthened monitoring and readiness after the intrusion, it didn't immediately detect any unusual activity from the North Korean military, Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Lee Sung-Jun said Monday. ALSO READ | North Korea fires ICBM that may have been new type of weapon North Koreas aggressive nuclear push under ruler Kim Jong Un is aimed at forcing the United States to accept the idea of the North as a legitimate nuclear power and negotiating economic concessions from a position of strength, many experts say. Nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang have remained derailed since 2019 over disagreements in exchanging the release of crippling U.S.-led sanctions against the North and steps to cut back its nuclear program. However, there are also signs that the costs of Kims campaign are piling up as North Korea apparently grapples with food insecurity and other domestic problems worsened by pandemic-related border restrictions that disrupted trade with China, its main ally and economic lifeline. Chasing tangible economic achievements, Kims government has prioritized construction and agricultural projects. The Norths official Korean Central News Agency said Monday that Kim attended an event over the weekend celebrating the building of 10,000 new homes in a district in Pyongyang. The project is part of broader plans to supply 50,000 new homes in the capital under a five-year national development plan that runs through 2025. During Sundays event, Kim called the housing project a long-cherished plan aimed at providing his people with more stable and civilized living conditions, KCNA said. Experts say North Korea has severe shortages in quality housing that deepened over decades of economic decay. But living conditions are much better in Pyongyang, where Kim in past years has pushed huge development projects that upgraded housing for elites and changed the citys skyline.
US Representative Katie Porter was a guest on Bill Maher's show. Porter, a well-known defender of truth, was still nearly struck dumbfounded by Piers Morgan's attempts to compare an armed insurrectionist mob storming the nation's capitol to members of a state legislature demanding their right to be heard. When Porter recovers from her split-second bafflement, she backs Morgan down beautifully.

Porter is one of three brilliant congresspeople in California who are running for a soon-to-be-vacated Senate seat, and she is selling a recent book. I understand why she is on this kind of show with such a troll, and I am glad she holds her ground.

Crooks and Liars:

After Maher bemoaned them using a bullhorn inside the well of the legislature, Morgan chimed in with this:

MORGAN: And interrupted the proceedings which, of course, when that happened on January the 6th in a much larger and more violent way, all the people currently cheering on the two Tennessee legislators were the ones who would have been condemning and castigating what happened 

Which Porter rightfully jumped on:

PORTER: You're not actually comparing.

MORGAN: No, no, I'm not.

MAHER: That's a crazy 

PORTER: You actually did just compare.

MORGAN: No, no. Here is what I'm comparing. When you have a mob of protesters and they're going into a legislative chamber, whether it's at the Capitol or whether it's in Tennessee, the principle is the same. And if you don't have the same principle response to both of those things, regardless of scale, the principle 

PORTER: Listen, the principle is different. They were Tennessee legislature  legislators who went into the chamber and admittedly broke the rules of decorum partly because they were being silenced when they wanted to talk following the rules of decorum about gun violence prevention.

What happened on January 6th was a bunch of crazy (bleep) with guns. You can't police people.

MORGAN: Yes.

PORTER: That is not the same.
Josiah Ernesto Garcia, 21, an Air National Guardsman from Tennessee, chanced across rentahitman.com and tried to sign up despite it glowing like the sun. He submitted his ID, his resume, and a cover letter identifying him as an expert marksman. At some point the site's operators realized he wasn't messing around and called in the FBI, which he soon agreed to kill someone for, earning himself federal charges instead of the anticipated $5,000.

The Department of Justice press release follows.

NASHVILLE  A Hermitage, Tennessee, man is facing federal charges after meeting with an undercover FBI agent to culminate a deal to murder an individual for payment, announced U.S. Attorney Henry C. Leventis.

Josiah Ernesto Garcia, 21, was charged yesterday in a criminal complaint with the use of interstate facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire.

According to the complaint, Garcia needed money to support his family and in mid-February began searching online for contract mercenary jobs and came across the website www.rentahitman.com

Originally created in 2005 to advertise a cyber security startup company, the company failed and over the next decade it received many inquiries about murder-for-hire services. The website's administrator then converted the website to a parody site that contains false testimonials from those who have purported to use hit man services, and an intake form where people can request services. The website also has an option for someone to apply to work as a hired killer.

Garcia submitted an employment inquiry indicating that he was interested in obtaining employment as a hit man. Garcia followed up on this initial request and submitted other identification documents and a resume, indicating he was an expert marksman and employed in the Air National Guard since July 2021. The resume also indicated that Garcia was nicknamed "Reaper" which was earned from military experience and marksmanship. Garcia continued to follow up with the website administrator indicating that he wanted to go to work as soon as possible.

An FBI undercover agent then began communicating with Garcia who subsequently agreed to kill an individual for $5,000. On Wednesday, Garcia met the undercover agent at a park in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and was provided with a target packet of a fictional individual, which included photographs and other information about the individual to be killed, and a down payment of $2,500. After agreeing to the terms of the murder arrangement, Garcia asked the agent if he needed to provide a photograph of the dead body. Garcia was then arrested by FBI agents, who in a subsequent search of his home, recovered an AR style rifle.

If convicted, Garcia faces up to 10 years in prison.

This case is being investigated by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brooke K. Schiferle is prosecuting the case.

The charge is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Fighting between Sudanese army, paramilitary forces continues

Khartoum, April 16: The armed conflict between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continues in the capital Khartoum, sparking concerns for a wider conflict in the country.

Fighting between Sudanese army, paramilitary forces continues

The initial gunfire near an RSF base south of Khartoum on Saturday morning quickly spread to other areas in the capital, including the Sudanese Army General Command and Khartoum International Airport.Fighting continued into Saturday night as residents said they still heard the sounds of gunfire and explosions in different parts of Khartoum, including around the military's headquarters and other bases, Xinhua news agency reported.The latest conflict capped the days of escalating tensions between the two main military forces in Sudan, which has been grappling with a political crisis since October 2021.The two sides traded accusations of initiating the conflict. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, Commander of the Sudanese Army, accused the RSF of attacking sovereign headquarters in Khartoum, including his own residence in the Army General Command.In a telephone interview with the Qatari Al-Jazeera TV channel, Al-Burhan said that "the Rapid Support Forces are the ones who attacked our headquarters," adding he was taken by surprise when the RSF attacked his house at 900 a.m. (0700 GMT).In response, RSF Commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo told Al-Jazeera that the army is the one who started the attack. The RSF also announced that it had taken control of the presidential palace, a strategic guesthouse within the army's headquarters, and the Khartoum International Airport in the capital.The RSF also claimed to have seized control of Merowe and El-Obeid airports, as well as other strategic sites in the states, according to a statement released earlier on Saturday.However, the Sudanese Army denied that the RSF had taken control of any sovereign sites, stating that "all sites are under the control of the armed forces. The Rapid Support Forces use psychological warfare based on misinformation".Videos posted on social media showed the Sudanese Army targeting the headquarters of the RSF in Khartoum with warplanes, but Dagalo denied that the headquarters of his forces had been destroyed by the Sudanese Army.Meanwhile, Sudan's Civil Aviation Authority announced the suspension of flights at Khartoum International Airport after clashes broke out inside the airport, damaging two planes, one belonging to Saudi Airlines and the other to the UN.While no official statistics were released on the number of casualties or injuries during the violent clashes, the Sudan Doctors' Committee said that at least three civilians were killed, adding there was a significant number of casualties that had not yet been counted.Media reports indicated that at least 12 people were killed during the conflict.The committee called on the Sudanese Army and the RSF to ceasefire and provide safe passages for transporting the injured to hospitals.Various countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Libya and Iran have issued statements urging Sudan's conflicting parties to exercise restraint, prioritise dialogue, and protect civilians. The Egyptian Armed Forces have also called for the safety of their forces training in Sudan.Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit has called for an immediate halt to the armed clashes, expressing shock and condemnation, and stressing the responsibility of the warring parties to protect the security and safety of Sudanese civilians.The tension between the two military forces has escalated since Wednesday in the Merowe region in northern Sudan, after the RSF moved military vehicles to a location near the military air base there, a move that the Army considered illegal.Deep differences have emerged between the Sudanese Army and the RSF, particularly regarding the latter's integration into the Army as stipulated in a framework agreement signed between military and civilian leaders on December 5, 2022.IANS16 April 2023

Shared Recently!
Jaishankar Doctrine and Indias challenging relationship with China

New Delhi, April 16: A no-nonsense approach towards China seems to be taking shape in New Delhi, if India's recent responses to the 'Dragon's incursions and attempts to violate territory can be of any indication.

'Jaishankar Doctrine' and India's 'challenging' relationship with China

This prescription by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is loosely being termed as the "Jaishankar Doctrine" by foreign affairs experts, as some tough messages have been sent across to China by India in the recent past.While India's firm counter-action against China's incursions during the Galwan stand-off of 2020 sent an incisive message across the border, Jaishankar's strong words during the past few days have been indicative of this 'doctrine'.Just couple of days back, while the Indian community in Uganda, Jaishankar said forces who indulge in cross-border terrorism against India for decades now know this is a "different India" which will give them a reply, clearly indicating at New Delhi's renewed capabilities of meeting any national security challenges posed by China and also Pakistan.About the challenges India faces on its borders, Jaishankar said "Today people see a different India that is willing to stand up and India which will meet its national security challenges whether it is Uri or whether it is Balakot."He was referring to the 2016 Uri attack by Jaish-e-Mohammed insurgents from Pakistan against an Indian Army brigade headquarters and the 2019 Balakot airstrike conducted by Indian warplanes in Balakot, Pakistan against a terrorist training camp."Today, the forces which indulged in cross-border terrorism against India for decades and which India tolerated, they now know this is a different India and this India will give them a reply," he said.On the challenges being faced in areas along the Chinese border, Jaishankar said "For the last three years, in violation of the agreements, the Chinese have brought large forces."He went on to add, though, that today the Indian military is deployed at very great heights and in very tough conditions."This situation is different from the past as Indian soldiers have now the full backing, they have the right equipment and the infrastructure," he saidLast month while addressing a media event, Jaishankar had said that the country's relationship with China is "challenging and abnormal"."The China situation is very fragile and the situation is very challenging. You cannot violate agreements and pretend that everything is normal."There will be no normal ties with China if border agreements are breached. You have to mutually agree on patrolling in certain areas. In the 1970s, we chose areas where we wouldn't patrol," he had said.Going by the tough bytes, interesting days may seem ahead as far as India-China ties are concerned.IANS16 April 2023

Shared Recently!
Stalin thanks Kejriwal for joining move against governors

Chennai, April 16: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Sunday thanked Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal for joining the move against governors.

Stalin thanks Kejriwal for joining move against governors

It may be recalled that the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister had earlier called upon Chief Ministers' of non-BJP ruled states to pass resolutions in their respective assemblies to fix time frame for governors to pass bills.Stalin, on his Twitter handle, wrote, "Thank you for commending TNLA's resolution and join our bandwagon. Indeed the supremacy of the legislature is supreme in any democracy. No 'appointed' Governor shall undermine the power and responsibilities of 'elected' governments. He also said Thee Paravattum (Let the fire spread.)"On April 9, Stalin had urged the President and the Union government to fix a time frame for the governors to give their assent to bills.The resolution was passed by the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly after the Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi's statement that the bill withheld means it is 'dead'.IANS16 April 2023

Shared Recently!
Four Indians among 16 killed in building fire in Dubai

Dubai, April 16: At least 16 people, including four Indians, were killed and nine injured after a massive fire in a residential building in Deira district in Dubai, local media reported.

Four Indians among 16 killed in building fire in Dubai

The deceased Indians were a couple from Kerala and two men who worked at the said building, Gulf News quoted an official at the Indian Consulate as saying.The Indians who died were identified as Rijesh Kalangadan, 38, his wife Jeshi Kandamangalath, 32, Gudu Saliyakoondu, 49 and Imamkasim Abdul Khader, 43, the Gulf News reported.The fire broke out on fourth floor of the building on Saturday at 12.35 p.m and soon spread to other areas. Dubai Civil Defence Operations Room was informed about the inferno after which fire engines were rushed to the spot. The fire was controlled around 2.42 p.m., The Khaleej Times reported.The building has been sealed for safety reasons.As per preliminary investigations, fire was caused by lack of compliance with building security and safety requirements.IANS16 April 2023

Shared Recently!
Five bodies found off Okinawa during search for missing Japanese helicopter

Tokyo, April 16: Five bodies were found on Sunday following a deep-sea dive in search of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) helicopter that went missing off the southern prefecture of Okinawa, local media reported.

Five bodies found off Okinawa during search for missing Japanese helicopter

On the ocean floor at a depth of 106 meters off the southern prefecture of Okinawa, the bodies were found by divers around 8.30 a.m. local time six kilometers north of Irabu Island, Japanese news agency Kyodo reported, citing GSDF, Xinhua News Agency reported.On April 6, the UH-60JA multipurpose chopper disappeared from radar about 18 km northwest of an airport in Okinawa's Miyakojima Island, and was believed to have been caught up in an aircraft accident.All 10 GSDF members on board went missing, including Lieutenant General Yuichi Sakamoto, commander of the GSDF's 8th Division in charge of the defence of southwestern Japan.The discovery came after a deep-sea search made through saturation diving, a technique that allows divers to work at great depths for long periods, and whether the bodies are those of the personnel aboard the UH-60JA helicopter remained unconfirmed, according to the Kyodo report.The GSDF has confirmed that the major part of the chopper was earlier discovered under the sea.IANS16 April 2023

Shared Recently!
Hungary joins Poland in banning grain from Ukraine to protect local farmers

Budapest, April 16: Hungary has joined Poland in banning the import of grain and other food products from Ukraine, in an effort to protect its domestic farming industry, according to official sources.

Hungary joins Poland in banning grain from Ukraine to protect local farmers

The ban, which was announced by the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture late Saturday night, is temporary and will last until June 30. Ukrainian grain exports have been forced to take alternate routes through the European Union (EU) since Russia blocked access to the Black Sea, Xinhua News Agency reported.Minister of Agriculture Istvan Nagy took to Facebook to announce the ban, saying that the Hungarian government is committed to representing the interests of its farming community.The ministry's statement said that in the absence of meaningful EU measures, Hungary is temporarily prohibiting the importation of grain, oilseeds, and several other agricultural products from Ukraine, similar to Poland.Poland announced its own temporary ban on several Ukrainian foodstuffs on Saturday, following protests by Polish farmers.The Hungarian ministry explained that the continuation of the current domestic market processes would cause serious damage to Hungarian agriculture, so "extraordinary measures must be put in place to hinder them."The statement also cited cheap production practices not allowed in the EU, as well as duty-free and free trade opportunities, which have allowed large quantities of Ukrainian poultry, eggs, and honey to enter the European market, making it difficult for domestic and Central European farmers to compete.IANS16 April 2023

Shared Recently!
India is focused on ensuring high-quality education in alignment with NEP 2020: Piyush Goyal

New Delhi, April 16: Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said that India is focused on ensuring high-quality education, affordability and flexibility in alignment with the National Education Policy, 2020.

India is focused on ensuring high-quality education in alignment with NEP 2020: Piyush Goyal

"The Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon should engage with the private sector and the government so that all of us can benefit from their high quality of students, faculty and work," Piyush Goyal said while addressing the annual Convocation ceremony of MDI Gurgaon and Murshidabad on Saturday. "India is focused on ensuring high-quality education, affordability and flexibility in alignment with the National Education Policy of 2020," the Goyal said.He said that given the high quality of students, faculty and work that is carried out in the institution, MDI should engage with the private sector and the government so that all of us can benefit from the institution's achievements.He said that the students of MDI are the future entrepreneurs, innovators, changemakers and leaders of India who are going to contribute to the Amrit Kaal as the country moves to the centenary of Independence.He noted that we have over 65 per cent of girls have joined the MDI. That is a remarkable achievement for the organisation in terms of giving an opportunity to our daughters as they work their way up and become stakeholders in the growth story of India, he said. It is our collective duty to work with a sense of duty to ensure prosperity and inclusive growth in the country so that none is left behind, he added.The country today is working towards a vision of making India a developed nation by 2047 and this requires a deep understanding of the challenges. Education from MDI will play an important role for its students in this, Goyal said, adding that he hoped to see the students as value creators and many as budding innovators and entrepreneurs."Today the Govt is also thinking like a Startup continuously experimenting with ideas to take development to the last mile," he said.Lauding the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Goyal said that the PM always speaks of the power of India's youth. "India's youth are the growth engines of the country and India is the world's growth engine," he quoted.It is our collective duty to take this country forward skillfully, as the world today looks up to India. Whenever there is any distress anywhere in the world, India is at the forefront of the collective effort to help find solutions, Goyal said adding that whether it is providing vaccines or supporting neighbours in times of distress, India always stands up and is counted and trusted upon to be a friend in need.He ended with the belief that MDI students will come up with innovations and solutions for our farmers, artisans and other diverse sectors and contribute to India's growth story.ANI16 April 2023

Shared Recently!
Reggaeton hit "Gasolina" by Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee, aka Ramon Luis Ayala Rodriguez, made history as the first song of its genre to be inducted into the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress. Dubbed the King of Reggaeton, Rodriguez retired at 45 in 2022.

NPR:

A cacophony of revving engines and flirtatious catcalls floated up from the streets into his tiny apartment in the projects. The way he told it to Billboard in 2014, someone shouted, "Como le gusta la gasolina!" at the girls who rode in men's flashy cars.

The phrase bore into Daddy Yankee's head, and he began adding on to it. "Dame mas gasolina!"

Eventually it became the chorus of "Gasolina," the mega-single that catapulted the rapper to global fame and took reggaeton from an emerging genre born in the Black working-class neighborhoods of Panama, New York and Puerto Rico, to one of the most profitable in the music industry.
EAM S Jaishankar, US State Secy Antony Blinken discuss regional and global issues

New Delhi, April 16: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday held a telephonic conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and discussed regional as well as global issues.

EAM S Jaishankar, US State Secy Antony Blinken discuss regional and global issues

Taking to his official Twitter handle, Jaishankar stated that they noted the steady progress in India-US ties. He tweeted, "A warm conversation, as always with US Secretary of State @SecBlinken this morning. Discussed current regional and global issues. Noted the steady progress in our bilateral ties."Earlier in March, S Jaishankar held a meeting with Antony Blinken. The two leaders discussed measures to mitigate the global impacts of Russia's war in Ukraine. Blinken and Jaishankar held talks on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in New Delhi.During the meeting, Blinken spoke to Jaishankar and shared his views on tackling global and regional challenges. In a statement, US Department of State spokesperson Ned Price said that Blinken met with Jaishankar to discuss how India and the US can expand technology and defence cooperation and increase food energy, and health security.Ned Price also informed that Blinken and Jaishankar spoke about efforts to elevate and expand strategic technology and defence industrial cooperation and promote food, energy, and global health security. The two leaders also held discussions to promote clean energy transition, counternarcotics cooperation and women's economic empowerment.During his visit to India, Blinken attended the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting and Quad Foreign Ministers meet on the sidelines of the Raisina Dialogue in Delhi.During his visit to India, Blinken said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is right that there are real challenges to multilateralism and added that they are directly coming from Russia.Addressing a presser in India, Blinken said that PM Modi was right that there were challenges to multilateralism. He blamed Russia for creating problems. He pointed out, "We see that playing out at the UN, two countries blocking...""PM Modi is right that there are challenges to the multilateral system. And those challenges in many ways are coming directly from Russia which is violating the principles that lie at the heart of that system," Blinken said.ANI16 April 2023

Shared Recently!
RSS holds rally in TNs 45 locations, Union Minister Murugan participates in Chennai

Chennai, April 16: After a prolonged legal battle against the DMK government, the RSS on Sunday held route marches across 45 locations in Tamil Nadu.

RSS holds rally in TN's 45 locations, Union Minister Murugan participates in Chennai

Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Information and Broadcasting, L. Murugan participated in the march in Korattur here.The RSS leadership had fought a legal battle after the DMK government had banned the regular annual route march which was to be held on October 2, 2022. The Police Department informed the RSS that the march could not be allowed as after the ban on Islamist organisation Popular Front of India (PFI) by the Central government, there could be attacks on the route march of the RSS.The RSS moved the Madras High Court and a single judge bench allowed the march to be conducted in three places which the organisation abided and held on November 6. However, the RSS approached the division bench which allowed the route march to be held in all parts of the state.The Tamil Nadu government appealed against the verdict in the Supreme Court but the apex court upheld the decision of the division bench and allowed the route march to be conducted across the state.The Tamil Nadu Police had to allow the route march and the march was conducted in 45 places on Sunday.IANS17 April 2023

Shared Recently!
Kathmandu tops list of polluted cities in world, visibility falls amid forest fire

Kathmandu, April 16: Nepal's capital Kathmandu has continued to reign in the top 10 positions in the list of most polluted cities in the world as forest fire continues to rage across the nation affecting visibility.

Kathmandu tops list of polluted cities in world, visibility falls amid forest fire

According to IQ Air, an organization measuring the real-time pollution of 101 cities in the world, Kathmandu on Sunday mid-day stood in the first position with the Air Quality Index crossing the mark of 190.As per the US Embassy air quality measuring station in Phora Durbar, the AQI of Kathmandu crossed the mark of 200 terming the air quality to be toxic to breathe. As the AQI continues to drop the visibility of the bowl-shaped capital has continued to smother."Earlier days when I came here, I could see the Dharahara tower more clearly but now I have to search for it as the haze shrouds the capital. I have realized the extent of pollution that is in existence in Kathmandu Valley," Ramesh Devkota, a resident of Kathmandu who came to the hillside temple of Aakash Bhairab told ANI.Last Thursday, the Department of Environment under the Ministry of Forestry and Environment said that the level of air pollution in Kathmandu Valley and the central and eastern parts of the country has increased due to local sources of pollution such as fires and burning of agricultural residues in more than 140 places across the country including Bara, Parsa, Chitwan.The smoke igniting from the burns flows in and dumps in the bowl-shaped valley since a week has shrouded the valley. Experts and doctors have suggested wearing a mask can minimize the effects in some ways.The Ministry of Health and Population earlier week also advised the public to put on a face mask to mitigate the possible impact of air pollution. Due to this level of air pollution, especially children, the elderly, respiratory patients and heart patients are more affected, the Department of Environment has appealed to people of other age groups to take special precautions when going out.Due to air pollution, the number of patients with respiratory diseases, lung cancer, heart disease, hypertension and stroke has increased in Nepal in recent years. Studies have shown that 42,000 people died in Nepal in 2019 due to indoor and outdoor air pollution, 19 per cent of the total deaths due to air pollution were children under 5 years of age and 27 per cent were of the age group above 70 years.Despite the rising figure of patients and deaths relating to pollution, the government lacks the policy to control and fight it."I am not able to see Kathmandu due to the pollution. I came to Kirtipur to see the valley from a hilltop but couldn't see anything at all, so am returning back to my room," said Bishal Thapa, expressing his anguish.The level of air pollution is divided into different levels from 0 to 500 based on the impact of air pollution on public health, and the AQI of 201 to 300 has been given Kathmandu Valley a purple colour. This is a very unhealthy level for human health.It is believed that pollution has increased rapidly due to the fires in different parts of the country and the burning of agricultural residues during this season.As air pollution continues to rise, Sunday domestic flights have been generally affected. Flights to Pokhara, Bharatpur, and Tumlingtar among other destinations were hampered due to poor visibility, the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) Office said.TIA Office spokesperson Teknath Sitaula said flights have been completely affected in three domestic destinations including Pokhara. Flights to Simara opened a few minutes back. No flights have been made to Pokhara, Bharatpur and Tumlingtar.Although flights could not be conducted to three destinations until now, they were operated to some destinations with the clearing up of the weather. The TIA Office said 115 flights have been scheduled in the domestic sector today.The flights have been affected due to the increased air pollution at various places in the country including in Kathmandu for three days. Flights to Pokhara were affected on Friday and Saturday as well.Sitaula said although the flights in the international sector were generally affected in the morning, they are taking place regularly now. An aircraft of Qatar Airways had to hold for about two hours as it made a miss-approach.ANI17 April 2023

Shared Recently!
Was very warmly received, says Jaishankar on recently concluded Mozambique visit, also recalls train ride

New Delhi, April 16: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who recently visited Mozambique has said that he was very warmly received by the African country.

Was very warmly received, says Jaishankar on recently concluded Mozambique visit, also recalls train ride

In a podcast posted on his Twitter handle on Sunday, Jaishankar spoke at length about his visit to the African nation as he recalled his 'Made in India' train ride which he took in Maputo alongside the Mozambican Transport Minister, recently."I completed a visit to Mozambique and it was a visit which I was very warmly received. I had a meeting with President Nyusi. I co-chaired a joint commission with my counterpart, Minister Veronica Mocamo. I met the ministers of Transport and the Minister of Health and called on the speaker of the National Assembly," Jaishankar said.Talking about engagements during his Mozambique visit, the External Affairs Minister said he also went to a pharmaceutical company owned by a prominent member of the Indian community where really cutting-edge technology had been used for fillings and formulations and really localizing."I addressed the Indian community and the Friends of India at a gathering and offered prayers at the Shiva Temple in Maputo, as well as the century-old Salamanca Temple that is dedicated to Sri Ramachandraji. Now, this visit came personally for me after a period of seven years," Jaishankar stated in his podcast while taking to Twitter on Sunday.Emphasising on his train ride in the podcast, the minister said the train was efficient and was responsive really to the requirements of the local commuter."My travel on a Made in India train, which was efficient, which was responsive really to the requirements of the local commuter, which for the Mozambique side was affordable and accessible, I think was a very good demonstration really of the fit which our two countries have in terms of this partnership," he added.External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar paid an official visit to the Republic of Uganda and the Republic of Mozambique from April 10 - 15, 2023. He also made a brief stopover in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 13 April 2023.EAM visited Uganda from April 10 -12, 2023. In Kampala, EAM called on President Yoweri Museveni and had comprehensive discussions with his counterpart, the Foreign Minister of Uganda, General Jeje Odongo covering a wide range of issues.EAM also interacted with the Indian community of Uganda and addressed the Indian Business Forum, which was attended by Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives Mwebesa Francis.EAM visited Mozambique from April 13 - 15, 2023. This was the first visit by an External Affairs Minister of India to Mozambique since 2010.During the visit, he called on President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, Co-chaired the 5th Joint Commission Meeting with his counterpart the Mozambican Foreign Minister Veronica Macamo Dlhovo, met the Minister of Transport and Communications and the Minister of Health of the Government of Mozambique.The meetings covered a wide array of subjects including bilateral, regional and international issues. Issues related to cooperation in multilateral fora, including the UN were also discussed. He also virtually inaugurated a bridge located on River Buzi, which forms a part of the 132 km long road being constructed under a Government of India LoC.EAM accompanied by the Mozambican Minister of Health visited a pharmaceutical manufacturing company built with a transfer of technology from India for the fill and finish of vaccines and for the manufacture of a variety of medicines.EAM also had an interaction with the vibrant Indian community living in Maputo. During the visit, he also offered prayers at the Shiva Temple in Maputo and the 110-year-old Rama temple in Salamanga, located about 80 kms away from the capital.ANI17 April 2023

Shared Recently!
Amit Shah reaches Mumbai, to hold key meet with senior BJP leaders, CM Shinde

Mumbai, April 15: Union Home Minister Amit Shah reached Mumbai on Saturday evening where he will hold a key meeting with senior party leaders.

Amit Shah reaches Mumbai, to hold key meet with senior BJP leaders, CM Shinde

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule, BJP Mumbai president Ashish Shelar, Tourism minister Mangalprabhat Lodha along with other party MPs and MLAs, welcomed Shah at the Mumbai airport on Saturday.The Home minister was in Rajasthan earlier on Saturday where he addressed a public meeting.According to sources, Shah will hold a meeting with BJP leaders of the state unit and discussions will centre around the party's strategy for the upcoming elections. The meeting will take place at Sahyadri State Guest House. There will also be discussions about Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, other civic polls and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, sources said.Shah is also likely to hold a meeting with CM Shinde to discuss a strategy around the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance and the functioning of the state government.The Union Home minister will also attend a grand function in Kharghar, Navi Mumbai where he will confer Maharashtra Bhushan, the state's highest civilian honour, on Appasaheb Dharmadhikari.ANI17 April 2023

Shared Recently!
Chief of Defence Staff visits Western Naval Command HQ in Mumbai

Mumbai, April 15: Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan visited Head Quarters of Western Naval Command (WNC) and interacted with Vice Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C), WNC, said an official statement.

Chief of Defence Staff visits Western Naval Command HQ in Mumbai

Chief of Defence Staff was briefed on the role, responsibilities and operational preparedness of the Western Naval Command and measures instituted to safeguard the Western seaboard, the statement said."CDS addressed and interacted with the senior officers of the three services at Mumbai, including officers from IA/ HQ MG and G Area and IAF/HQMAO. He provided his guidance on the Armed Forces to be Ready, Resurgent and Relevant in the current era. He also discussed the way ahead on Jointmanship, Integration and Theaterisation, and the crucial role of Aatmanirbharta", reads the statement.The CDS visited the latest frontline destroyer INS Mormugao, submarine INS Vela and the facilities at the Naval Dockyard, Mumbai.He was also familiarised with the progress in naval shipbuilding and indigenisation during his visit to MDL, the statement added.ANI17 April 2023

Shared Recently!
Will have great FTA with India, negotiations going well: UK MP Baroness Verma

New Delhi, April 15: United Kingdom House of Lords Member Baroness Verma on Saturday said the UK and India will have a great Free Trade Agreement (FTA) deal and that the negotiations between the two countries are going well.

Will have great FTA with India, negotiations going well: UK MP Baroness Verma

Baroness Verma told ANI, "I think first of all my expectations are we're going to have a great FTA and I think it's a very complicated, complex agreement. And we can't expect things that are so complicated and so complex to be done overnight. But I know from all the conversations we've had, that everybody is working incredibly hard on all of the negotiations, and it's going well."Expressing her views on the next FTA meeting, she said, "I think every meeting is critical. I think every meeting we have is a positive meeting and of course, if you're negotiating at that level, there will be times when it does take a little longer than what people want. But that doesn't mean that the FTA stalled. It just means that we're working through it and I'm very optimistic."Talking about the target for trade between India and UK in terms of numbers, she mentioned both countries should look at maximising the relationship and outcome."I think we should go for the maximum that we can in each other's relationship of building on what we can as a country work with India and how India can work with us," she added.Verma further said, both countries working closely on climate change issues, sustainability and solutions as the green sector is going to grow from strength to strength.Baroness Verma also talked about India's G20 presidency which she believes New Delhi is going to demonstrate that they have got a very clear vision of what is expected out of their presidency.Notably, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday (local time) while speaking at the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) on Free Trade Agreements in Washington said that FTAs were being signed in a much faster way nowadays and also informed that the India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations were going on as she spoke.This confirmation came at a time when a recent report suggested that the FTA talks between the two countries are suspended over the UK's failure to denounce vandalism by Khalistani supporters outside the Indian High Commission in London in March."Free Trade Agreements are being signed in a much faster way nowadays. We've just concluded one with Australia. Earlier we concluded with UAE, Mauritius and with ASEAN. We have extended quota-free and tariff-free regime to Least Developed Countries," the Finance Minister said.Earlier in the month, India had dismissed as "baseless" reports in British media stating that it had halted talks for a free trade agreement with the United Kingdom over the attack on the Indian high commission in London in March, government sources said.London-based newspaper The Times in its April 10 edition, citing senior British government sources, reported that the Indian government has "disengaged" from trade talks and made it clear that there would be no progress "without a public condemnation of the Khalistan movement."Notably, the India-UK Free Trade Agreement talks were launched on June 17, 2022.ANI17 April 2023

Shared Recently!
Pankaj Mukheja, Nancy, Rhythm Sangwan win in trials

Bhopal, April 16: Pankaj Mukheja won a battle of railwaymen to clinch the men's 50m rifle 3 positions (3P) T3 trials at the M.P. State Shooting Academy Range here in the city. Also emerging triumphant at India's newest Shooting destination on day three of the Group A national selection trials, was Haryana's Nancy who claimed the women's 10m air rifle T3 trials and her state-mate Rhythm Sangwan, who won the women's 25m pistol T4 trials.

Pankaj Mukheja, Nancy, Rhythm Sangwan win in trials

Pankaj overcame Paris 2024 Olympics quota winner Swapnil Kusale 16-12 in a tight contest. This was after local hope and India's number one in the event, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, had logged a field-topping 591 in qualifications. Aishwary fell just short of making it to the gold medal clash, shooting 407.4 in the ranking round to finish behind Swapnil who shot 408. Pankaj with 413.7 was way clear at the top.In the women's air rifle, Nancy got the better of West Bengal's Mehuli Ghosh 16-10. Mehuli will be happy with her qualification round score of 633.8 which was the leading score in the 42-strong field. Shreya Agrawal was third for hosts Madhya Pradesh (M.P), after finishing the ranking round with 261.6.Haryana's Rhythm Sangwan continued her brilliant form clinching the women's 25m pistol with 32 hits in the medal match. Uttar Pradesh's Neha was second with 31 hits while Telangana's Esha Singh was third with 21 hits to her name.Among the juniors, Gautami Bhanot of M.P also continued her good form which saw her win in Korea last year and the Khelo India Youth Games gold at the same venue, clinching the women's 10m air rifle T3 trials in the category. Delhi's Naamya Kapoor won the junior women's 25m pistol while her compatriot Shivam Dabas won the junior men's 50m rifle 3 positions competition.ANI17 April 2023

Shared Recently!
Iftar parties in Jammu symbol of mutual brotherhood

Jammu and Kashmir, April 16: The holy days of the month of Ramzan are going on and collective Iftar parties are being organised across Jammu and Kashmir as per tradition this week.

Iftar parties in Jammu symbol of mutual brotherhood

In the winter capital of Jammu, where people of different religions live together, Hindus and Sikhs often organise community Iftar for their Muslim brothers in the spirit of goodwill.Many Sikh and Hindu organisations send food items to mosques and Madrasas during Ramzan. A great example of religious tolerance, communal harmony, and mutual brotherhood is also seen during the Iftar party.An Iftar party was organised by the National Conference in which leaders of all political parties, and social personalities were present. An Iftar party was also held under the leadership of Ghulam Nabi Azad, in which people of all religions of Jammu City were seen together.Advocate Gandutra, former president of Dharma Earth Trust, a representative organisation of temples in Jammu, organised an Iftar party for the Muslim brothers at his residence, which was attended by a large number of people.At a time when some powers across India are engaged in failed efforts to spread hatred, and divide communities, such programs are a welcome initiative.Speaking in this regard, Sheikh Altaf Hussain, Advocate, said that the beauty of India is that people of different religions and beliefs live here. Gulistan looks beautiful with colourful flowers."We should celebrate any festival with joy and try to come closer to each other. Eid get-togethers, Diwali get-togethers, and Iftar parties are rare opportunities for the mutual brotherhood that we should take advantage of," he said.Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and PDP President Mehbooba Mufti also organised a huge Iftar party in Jammu which was attended by people of all religions. Peace-loving and secular-minded people expressed happiness in maintaining this tradition.In the border areas of Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian Army is also in the process of organizing collective Iftar parties in which regular prayers are also organized.ANI17 April 2023

Shared Recently!
MoS Meenakashi Lekhi visits Nikola Tesla and Zagreb City museums in Croatia

Zagreb [Croatia], April 16: Union Minister of State for External Affairs, Meenakashi Lekhi, on Sunday visited Nikola Tesla Technical Museum and Zagreb City Museum in Croatia. Taking to her official Twitter handle, Lekhi said she got a sense of the ich scientific and historical heritage of Croatia through her visit to Museum.

MoS Meenakashi Lekhi visits Nikola Tesla and Zagreb City museums in Croatia

Sharing details regarding her visit to Museum, Meenakashi Lekhi tweeted, "Visited Nikola Tesla and Zagreb City Museum and got an impression of the rich scientific and historical heritage of Croatia. Nikola Tesla, indeed a person of global importance, given what he left behind for humanity, was also influenced by Indian philosophy."Earlier, Lekhi arrived at the Zagreb airport in Croatia. In a tweet, she stated that she received a "warm welcome" upon arrival in Croatia. She noted that she looked forward to meeting Croatian dignitaries and exchanging views on issues of mutual interest.Lekhi tweeted, "Received a warm welcome upon arrival in Croatia at the Zagreb airport. @MVEP_hr Look forward to meeting the Croatian dignitaries and exchanging views on areas of mutual interest and interacting with the Indian diaspora."During her visit, Lekhi will hold discussions with Croatia's Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic-Radman, Culture and Media Minister Nina Obuljen and State Secretary for Political Affairs, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, the Ministry of External Affairs said in the press release.She will meet a cross-section of the Indian community and friends of India and attend a special Yoga session. She will also interact with the faculty of the University of Zagreb, which has exchange programmes with various Indian universities.After her visit to Croatia, Lekhi will travel to Slovenia. In Slovenia, Lekhi will call on the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon and meet the Deputy Foreign Minister, according to MEA press release. She will also interact with the Indian community and participate in an AKAM event at the University of Ljubljana.The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in the press release noted, "India has close and friendly ties with Croatia and Slovenia. The visit will further reinforce the momentum in India's relations with these countries."ANI17 April 2023

Shared Recently!
Ever since China and Brazil established diplomatic ties 49 years ago, the two countries have maintained close high-level exchanges and solid political mutual trust. BEIJING, April 16 (Xinhua) -- "I've gotten a job, bought a sofa and a refrigerator with the money I earned, plastered the exteriors of my house with cement, have access to the Internet at home, and learned how to make business contacts, purchase and market online. All my dreams have come true," Marlene Araujo Dias told Xinhua. Living in a forested village in the northern Brazilian state of Tocantins named Malhadinha, Araujo Dias is one of the many locals feeling their lives have changed since the launch of a Chinese-built fruit processing plant in August 2021. The change, which Araujo Dias described as "turning plain water into red wine," epitomizes close cooperation between the two countries oceans away. The latest state visit of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to China, during which he and Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks, has mapped out an even brighter future for bilateral ties, where the two biggest developing countries and emerging markets in the Eastern and Western hemispheres work together to deliver greater benefits to the two peoples, and play a more important and positive role for peace, stability and prosperity in their regions and around the world. "FRIENDSHIP IS LIKE A BOTTLE OF WINE" "Friendship is like a bottle of wine, the older, the better." This Brazilian proverb quoted by Xi during his visit to Brazil in 2014 was repeated by Lula on Thursday when he praised the relationship between the two countries as "extraordinary" in China. Ever since China and Brazil established diplomatic ties 49 years ago, the two countries have maintained close high-level exchanges and solid political mutual trust. In 1993, Brazil became the first developing country to establish a strategic partnership with China, and in 2012 that partnership was upgraded to a comprehensive strategic one. From 2006 to 2022, the China-Brazil High-Level Coordination and Cooperation Committee held six meetings, pushing for continuous fruits in all-round bilateral practical cooperation. Agricultural products, minerals and petroleum have been pillars in the economic cooperation between China and Brazil. Investment from China in infrastructure and projects for the public good has benefited Brazilians. Moreover, the opening of a new cargo air route linking the southern Chinese metropolis Shenzhen to Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city, earlier in April is expected to further stimulate e-commerce trade between the two countries. High-level interactions have become more frequent in recent years, too. In July 2014, Xi went to Brazil to attend the sixth BRICS summit, and met with leaders from the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. In November 2019, he travelled to Brazil again to attend the 11th BRICS summit. Lula, an old friend of the Chinese people who has visited China multiple times, chose China as his first destination outside the Americas after taking over the Brazilian presidency early this year. Stressing that China always sees its relationship with Brazil as a high priority on its diplomatic agenda, Xi said Friday that "China welcomes more high-quality products from Brazil into its market. China will actively explore greater synergy between its Belt and Road Initiative and Brazil's reindustrialization strategy." The two countries have also jointly played an important role in today's turbulent world, communicating and coordinating closely within such multilateral frameworks as the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, BRICS and the Group of 20. Facing global changes of a magnitude unseen in a century, China and Brazil are resolved to practice true multilateralism, advocate the common values of humanity, work for a more just and equitable international governance system, truly safeguard the common interests of developing countries and international justice and equity, and build a community with a shared future for mankind, Xi said Friday. Lula said Brazil stands ready to work with China to contribute to developing countries' efforts to shake off unfair rules and realize a fairer and more balanced development. "NEW RECORD IN TRADE" Moored at the Port of Acu in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Chinese supertanker YUAN PENG YANG quietly awaits its departure for Asia once it is fully loaded with containers of Brazilian crude oil. Vinicius Patel, director of the Port Administration, told Xinhua that exporting crude oil and iron ore to China has been one of the core businesses of the port since its operation in 2014. "We signed new contracts with Chinese companies last year. Our exports to China have hit a new record," Patel said. The buzz of the port is a stellar example of the booming trade between China and Brazil. "When I first visited Beijing, few analysts imagined that the Sino-Brazilian partnership would acquire the relevance it has today. Since then, our trade has multiplied 16-fold and China has become Brazil's main trading partner," Lula said in a written interview with Xinhua shortly before departing for his state visit to China. "The value of our exports to China is greater than the sum of our exports to the United States and the European Union," he said, "China is a great engine for the Brazilian agro-industry." China has been Brazil's biggest trade partner for 14 consecutive years, and Brazil is the first Latin American country to hit a trading volume of over 100 billion U.S. dollars with China. In 2022, two-way trade stood at 171.35 billion dollars. China imported 54.4 million tons of soybeans and 1.11 million tons of frozen beef from Brazil, taking up 59.72 percent and 41 percent of their total import amount, respectively, showed data from China's General Administration of Customs. On Feb. 7, the People's Bank of China signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Central Bank of Brazil to establish RMB clearing arrangements in Brazil, a move experts say will improve bilateral trade efficiency and defuse external risks to provide an effective safeguard mechanism for trade between the two countries. After the talks between Xi and Lula on Friday, the two presidents witnessed the signing of various bilateral cooperation documents on trade and investment, digital economy, scientific and technological innovation, information and communications, poverty reduction, quarantine, space and others. Gustavo Biscassi, head of External Affairs of Brazil's mining giant Vale, told Xinhua that for his company, which has been exporting products to China for the last 50 years, "China is not only our largest market, but also a critical supplier for the mining, infrastructure and logistics equipment and services." "We are looking forward to continuing our close cooperation with China in the next 50 years," he said. "WHEN CULTURES COME TOGETHER" On Jan. 19, red lanterns, Chinese paper-cuts and lion dances decorated the ancient Brazilian city of Recife. Hundreds of Brazilians gathered at the city's Marco Zero Square on this very day, not only to mark the arrival of the Year of the Rabbit, but also to celebrate the inclusion of the Chinese New Year into Recife's official calendar. "Our historical heritage, with the reception of the light show of China, is as if the two cultures are united ... and talk a little to the world that brotherhood between peoples is possible. And that, how beautiful it is when cultures come together!" said City Councilor Cida Pedrosa. "The relationship between peoples is extremely important, because what makes a culture flow and (stay) alive is when one culture meets another culture," she said. On Sept. 19, 2022, Recife okayed a decree proposed by Pedrosa to establish the Chinese New Year as an official holiday in the city. In early February this year, the city of Foz do Iguacu in southern Brazil also decided to make the Chinese New Year celebration an annual event. Cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries have been flourishing over the years, for example, in sports, medicine and the arts. Fourteen Confucius Institutes have been established in Brazil, the most among Latin American countries, and Brazil has set up a national festival to celebrate every August the arrival of Chinese immigrants to Brazil. In February 2021, the first Chinese school in Brazil opened in Rio de Janeiro. Two years later, the two countries launched virtual courses for teaching Chinese language and culture to beginners. China and Brazilneed to capitalize on the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations next year to carry out more people-to-people exchanges, and cultivate stronger public support for Sino-Brazilian friendship, Xi said Friday. Similarly, Lula said he has full confidence that Brazil-China relations will embrace a brighter future.
Marjorie Taylor Greene didn't take kindly to being called "irresponsible" by Lindsey Graham after she praised arrested Pentagon leaker Jake Teixeira. And so the churlish Qongresswoman did what she does best and shot back with a bogus and bigoted mishit, posting a photo of Graham holding a can of Bud Light with (gasp!) trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney's face on it. A real zinger. Of course, coming from Greene, the gotcha photo wasn't even real, but doctored from a 2015 photo of Graham holding a mug of beer (See Tweeted images below, posted by Bimmatrice.)

From Mediaite:

When Teixeira was arrested last week on charges of disseminating classified information, Greene defended him while claiming the Biden administration was persecuting him for being "white, male, christian, and antiwar." Graham strongly disagreed on Sunday, saying that "for any member of Congress to suggest it's okay to leak classified information because you agree with the cause is terribly irresponsible! And puts America in serious danger."

Greene's invocation of the Mulvaney Bud Light cans might not be terribly surprising, given her frequent attacks on transgenderism. On the other hand, since Greene chose this manner of retaliating against Graham, it is possible she sought to dig up recurring insults about Graham that have to do with sexuality.
Brazil is UAEs leading trading partner in Latin America: Minister of State for Foreign Trade

Dubai, April 16 (ANI/WAM): Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, said UAE-Brazil relations are steadily growing since they are built on advancing the shared interests of the two friendly nations.

Brazil is UAE's leading trading partner in Latin America: Minister of State for Foreign Trade

"Such high-level official visits help advance these relations to the level of strategic partnership and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries in many important fields of common interest," he told the Emirates News Agency (WAM) in statements marking the Brazilian leader's visit to the UAE."The trade and investment relations between UAE and Brazil play an important role in consolidating the bonds of cooperation between the two countries."He added that UAE-Brazil trade continued its robust upward trend in 2022, totalling more than US$4 billion, up 32 pc, 67pc, and 43pc from 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively.According to non-oil foreign trade figures for 2022, Brazil is the UAE's top trading partner in Latin America, Al Zeyoudi said, adding that Brazil ranks second only to the United States among the UAE's most important trading partners in the Americas."The UAE ranks 23rd among the most significant markets for imports into Brazil and the 27th among the most significant overseas markets for Brazilian exports," the Minister added.With a share of 18pc of Brazil's overall commerce with Arab nations in 2022, the minister said that the UAE came in second on the list of Brazil's most significant trading partners in the Arab world."During the official visit of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his accompanying delegation to the UAE, we look forward to advancing joint efforts to promote trade and investment relations between the two countries to achieve further joint economic growth and constructive cooperation in priority sectors," Al Zeyoudi concluded. (ANI/WAM)ANI17 April 2023

Shared Recently!
Arunachal Pradesh Governor flags off Rhino Motorcycle Rally

Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh), April 16: Arunachal Pradesh Governor Lt. General KT Parnaik (Retd.) flagged off the Itanagar to Tezpur leg of the Rhino Motorcycle Rally from Raj Bhavan, Itanagar on Sunday.

Arunachal Pradesh Governor flags off Rhino Motorcycle Rally

The Rhino Motorcycle Rally is organized by Headquarters 101 Area as a tribute to the martyrs and veterans of the formation.The Arunachal Pradesh Governor said that the Rhino Motorcycle Rally will further strengthen the civil-military bonhomie and inspire the youth of the north eastern region to join the armed forces.He commended the Headquarters 101 Area for organizing the Rally, which aims to commemorate 60 glorious years of its raising and to pay tributes to the martyrs, veer naris and veterans.The Governor, who participated in the Youth Camp and Cycle Rally at Mechukha, in the Border District of Shi Yomi recently, said that these initiatives will definitely promote Nation First Spirit and contribute to nation building.He advised them to coordinate with district administration and spread the message of patriotism and nationalism amongst the people.Recalling the situation in 1962 and the purpose of raising the Headquarters 101 Area, the Governor said that the motorcycle rally is yet another event, resonating the 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mohotsav' under the leadership of our Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.The Rhino Motorcycle Rally aims to connect with the youth of the North Eastern States and inspire them to join the Indian Army.The 15-day rally, which started from Shillong on April 9, will culminate at Shillong on April 23.The 10-member motorcycle riders, led by Col Pankaj Chaturvedi will be covering a distance of 2061 km from six States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram.ANI17 April 2023

Shared Recently!
PM Modi has special attachment to Devbhoomi Uttarakhand: CM Dhami

Dehradun, April 16: While interacting with school students as part of the 'Hil Ki Baat: Yuva Samvad' program, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a special attachment to Devbhoomi Uttarakhand so the state is fast moving towards development.

PM Modi has special attachment to Devbhoomi Uttarakhand: CM Dhami

Speaking on an occasion held at his residence, the Chief Minister said, "Uttarakhand is moving fast towards development under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PM Modi has a special attachment to the Devbhoomi Uttarakhand. He has a relationship of Karma and Marma with Devbhoomi Uttarakhand. During the 9-year tenure of the Prime Minister, he gave approval for works worth lakhs to crores for Uttarakhand."CM Dhami further added that it was his good fortune that he got the opportunity to work under the guidance of PM Modi. Today, under PM Modi's leadership, the country is moving fast in the direction of 'Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat', he said.The Chief Minister said that continuous efforts are being made by the state government to bring Uttarakhand into the category of leading states of the country by 2025."A target has been set to make Devbhoomi Uttarakhand drug-free by 2025. Strict anti-copying law has been implemented to ensure complete transparency in the recruitment examinations. Strict action was taken against those who were found rigging the recruitment examinations. More than 90 people were sent to jail", he said.Addressing all the youth, the Chief Minister said that whatever field they choose in their life, they should work with full dedication. "If we do any work with full honesty and dutifulness, then we definitely get success in it. Whichever field you choose for your work, be in the role of a leader", CM added.School students also interacted with the Chief Minister on the occasion. Vanshika of Vikas Nagar asked how to convince the parents so they give their consent to decide what children want to do with their careers.In response, CM said, "Whatever work you do, do it not to become something but to do some commendable work in life. You can explain to your parents in this way that I will try to do my best in whatever field I choose for my career."Divyam Kandwal from Bageshwar asked, "If there are moments in your life when you are unable to give time to your family."For the question, the CM responded that such moments come again and again in the life of a political person. "Work in politics is not a profession, it is a mission. For this, dedication towards work is very important", he said.Bhumika Rawat asked, "What efforts are being made by the government to promote higher education in Dehradun?"The Chief Minister replied that the state government is making efforts to promote higher education. It is a mission of the state government that the youth of Uttarakhand get adequate employment and self-employment opportunities in the state. The government is constantly working in this direction.Rishika Bhatt asked how to find time for other activities along with studies. The Chief Minister said that nowadays parents make timetables for children. "Children have to pay attention to the fact that at the time they are doing a work, their full attention should be on that work", he added.Riya asked, "What is your vision for the youth?"The Chief Minister said that the government wants the youth to not only become employment-seekers but also become employment providers. He further added, "The state government is making every possible effort to promote self-employment. Apart from self-employment, horticulture, tourism, start-ups are being promoted rapidly in the state."During the program, the students from various schools made presentations based on Uttarakhand's folk tradition and culture. They also made speeches as well as poem presentations.ANI17 April 2023

Shared Recently!
UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed, Borrell discuss developments in Sudan

Abu Dhabi, April 16 (ANI/WAM): H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Josep Borrell, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, today discussed developments in the Republic of Sudan.

UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed, Borrell discuss developments in Sudan

This came in a phone call the UAE top diplomat got from the European official, wherein the two sides reviewed ways to stop the current escalation and work to maintain the security and stability of Sudan and its people.Sheikh Abdullah reaffirmed the UAE's support for all efforts aimed at halting the escalation in Sudan and launching a political dialogue to settle the current crisis, emphasising on the significance of working for security, stability, and prosperity of the Sudanese people. (ANI/WAM)ANI17 April 2023

Shared Recently!
End of Nuclear Era, says Germany after closure of three power plants

Berlin, April 16: Germany shut down its three nuclear power plants, marking the end of the uclear era that has spanned more than six decades, CNN reported.

End of 'Nuclear Era', says Germany after closure of three power plants

Germany's Federal Minister for the Environment and Consumer Protection and a Green Party member, Steffi Lemke, said that the position of the country is "clear". Nuclear energy is not green nor sustainable energy."We are embarking on a new era of energy production," she said.In Germany, there are debates on closing nuclear energy as there are some who want to end reliance on technology and view it as unsustainable, dangerous and a distraction from speeding up renewable energy. Meanwhile, others see that closing down nuclear plants is short-sighted, reported CNN.They see it as turning off the tap on a reliable source of low-carbon energy at a time when drastic cuts to planet-heating pollution are needed.According to Al-Jazeera, Berlin finally made good on its promise to permanently abandon nuclear power after Japan's Fukushima accident in 2011 terrified the entire globe by sending radiation gushing into the air.Apparently, the invasion of Ukraine by Moscow disrupted the energy markets, delaying Germany's nuclear exit until this year.However, due to Germany's decision to stop importing Russian fossil fuels as a result of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, the full wind-down was postponed from last year to this year.Prices skyrocketed and there were concerns about global energy shortages, but now Germany is optimistic about the petrol supply and the rise of renewable energy sources, reported Al Jazeera.Due to residual concerns about a Cold War battle and nuclear tragedies like Chornobyl in Ukraine, the decision to leave was well received in a nation with a strong anti-nuclear movement.The anti-nuclear movement's driving force, Greenpeace, hosted a gala to honour the occasion near Berlin's Brandenburg Gate. "Finally, nuclear energy belongs to history! Let's make this April 15 a day to remember," the organisation said, according to Al Jazeera.ANI17 April 2023

Shared Recently!
Gunmen kill 7, including a child at public swimming pool in Mexico

Mexico City [Mexico], April 16: Gunmen stormed a swimming pool in Mexico on Saturday and opened fire at the public, killing seven people, including a child, according to CNN citing local authorities.

Gunmen kill 7, including a child at public swimming pool in Mexico

Eyewitnesses to the incident told the local authorities that the armed men arrived at the pool and opened fire around 4.30 pm (local time) on Saturday and later on damaged a shop, security cameras and a monitor before leaving.Videos circulation on social media shows people in swimsuits screaming and hugging their children.The Mexican army and security forces have been deployed to search for the gunmen behind the attack, which took place in the city of Cortazar in the central state of Guanajuato.When local security forces arrived at the site they found dead bodies, including one small baby, and shell casings, CNN reported citing the municipal government's statement.In addition to the seven dead, one person was seriously injured and taken to hospital, it added.Till now, the authorities had made no arrests in connection with the incident as they are still investigating the motive behind the attack.Guanajuato is a major agriculture and manufacturing hub and production site for many of the world's top carmakers, reported CNN.However, it has a reputation for violent incidents and has been convulsed in recent years by brutal turf wars between rival drug gangs.It is an attractive site for drug cartels for the same reason it is to auto manufacturers road and rail networks that lead straight to the US border.ANI17 April 2023

Shared Recently!
40 killed in attack in Burkina Faso

Ouagadougou, April 17: At least 40 people were killed and 33 others wounded in an attack against a military detachment in northern Burkina Faso, said the government.

40 killed in attack in Burkina Faso

According to a statement by the general secretary of the North region on Sunday, a military detachment based in the vicinity of the village of Aorema, located not far from the city of Ouahigouya, was attacked by unidentified gunmen on Saturday.The provisional toll is 40 dead, including six soldiers and 34 army auxiliaries, said the statement, adding that 33 wounded were also recorded, Xinhua news agency reported.A security source told Xinhua over the phone that "at least 50 terrorists were neutralised" during the attack.Since 2015, insecurity in the West African country has claimed many lives and displaced thousands more.IANS17 April 2023

Shared Recently!
Houthis unveil new prisoner exchange deal with Yemeni govt

Aden (Yemen), April 17: Yemen's Houthi rebels have unveiled a new prisoner swap agreement with the country's government, raising hopes for a peaceful resolution to the country's ongoing conflict.

Houthis unveil new prisoner exchange deal with Yemeni govt

The move comes just hours after the Iran-backed Houthis and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government successfully completed a prisoner swap in which 887 prisoners and detainees from both sides were released.Abdul-Qader al-Mortada, head of the Houthi committee for prisoners' affairs, said on Sunday during a press conference held in the Houthis-controlled Yemeni capital of Sanaa that "an upcoming deal will involve the release of 700 captives in exchange for 700 prisoners from the opposing side (referring to the government)".However, the Houthi official did not provide details on the timing for the exchange and the signing of the deal with the Yemeni government, Xinhua news agency reported.So far, both the Yemeni government and the International Committee of the Red Cross(ICRC), who was responsible for transporting detainees as agreed in the just-finished swap deal, have not commented on the Houthi announcement.In a significant step toward resolving the protracted conflict in Yemen, Yemeni government forces and the Houthi rebels successfully completed a three-day exchange of prisoners earlier in the day.Yahya Kazman, chief of the negotiation committee from the internationally-recognised Yemeni government, said the third and last batch of the swap concluded successfully on Sunday, with the arrivals of three Red Cross flights at the airport of Sanaa and the airport of Tadween in Marib, central Yemen.Over the past three days, the ICRC and the UN have facilitated the transportation of hundreds of prisoners between Yemeni regions and Saudi Arabia via flights.High-profile figures, including Nasser Mansour Hadi, the brother of former Yemeni president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, and Mahmoud Al Subeihi, the country's former Defence Minister, were among those who were freed.The prisoner swap comes as part of ongoing efforts aimed at building trust between the Yemeni government forces and the Houthi militia, who have been engaged in a brutal internal conflict since late 2014.It is also widely regarded as a crucial step toward preparing favourable conditions for and demonstrating both parties' commitment to forthcoming negotiations that aimed at achieving a lasting peace.Local observers said that the three-day prisoner swap has raised hope for further deals that could potentially lead to the release of all captives held by the two warring sides.Yemen has been embroiled in a years-long military conflict after the Houthi militia took control of several northern cities and ousted the Yemeni government from Sanaa in 2014.The ongoing conflict has resulted in a staggering number of casualties and has plunged the Arab world's poorest country into humanitarian crises, including a widespread famine.IANS17 April 2023

Shared Recently!
5 tips for hosting the perfect whisky tasting party

New Delhi, April 17: The best way to honour one of the world's oldest and most popular beverages is with a whisky tasting party. On this day, whisky connoisseurs gather together to sample, explore, and appreciate the wide variety of whiskies from around the world.

5 tips for hosting the perfect whisky tasting party

Hosting a whisky tasting party is a terrific opportunity to bring people together and share your passion for this renowned drink, whether you're an experienced connoisseur of whisky or a curious novice.But how exactly can you throw the ideal whisky tasting event? Do not be alarmed; NeuWorld Spirits shares ten suggestions to help you make your event memorable for both you and your visitors. So let's start by raising a glass!Set up a diverse menuFor any tasting party, having a wide selection of whiskies is crucial and may really enhance the experience you want to provide for your visitors. By accommodating various interests and preferences, it makes sure that there is something for everyone. A varied menu showcases the variety of the spirit by enabling customers to taste the distinctive qualities of various whiskies. It's crucial to take into account a variety of flavour profiles and whisky kinds when selecting whiskies for your menu. Include whiskies from various countries, such as Scotland, Ireland, Japan, India, and the US, to highlight the various production styles and methods. To emphasise the effect of maturation on the finished product, offer whiskies with various ageing durations and barrel finishes. To show the variety of whiskies available, don't forget to include a wide selection of whisky varieties, including single malts, blends, and grain whiskies. You may give your customers a distinctive and memorable tasting experience while displaying the width and depth of the whisky world by providing a varied whisky menu.Have a palate cleanser in between tastingsTo provide your guests a better whisky tasting experience, you must have a palate cleanser between each sample. Because of the complex flavour profile of whisky, which can linger on the palate, it might be challenging to discern the subtleties of the following whisky. Water or unsalted crackers can be used as a palate cleanser to help neutralise the palate, get rid of any lingering flavours, and get it ready for the next whisky. This enhances the customers' overall tasting experience by enabling them to properly understand and distinguish the distinctive qualities of each whisky. You can ensure that your visitors can completely appreciate and enjoy each whisky on your menu by offering a palate cleanser, which will improve the entire whisky party experience.Offer food pairing optionsA successful whisky tasting party must include food pairings that enhance and complement the flavours of each type of whisky. The correct cuisine can enhance the whisky's flavours and fragrances by bringing out its subtle subtleties. For instance, a whisky that is blended with scotch, like NeuWorld Spirit's Downing Street whisky, can serve to emphasise its peatiness when paired with dark chocolate, while a bourbon that is sweeter can help to balance its sweetness when paired with grilled meat. You may provide your customers a more thorough and pleasurable tasting experience by providing food pairings that go well with each whisky on your menu. Additionally, it can enhance your party's creativity and fun factor while displaying whisky's adaptability as a partnering spirit.Use a dropper or a whiskey spoonDuring a tasting party, adding water or other substances to your whisky with a dropper or whisky spoon is a terrific way to improve the tasting experience. Lowering the ABV and enhancing the whisky's flavour and aroma by adding water. Utilising a dropper or spoon enables accurate measurements and control, preventing overuse that could damage the whisky. Using this technique also enables you to experiment with various flavour combinations, such as enhancing your whisky with a drop of honey or bitters. You can provide yourself and your visitors a unique and pleasurable tasting experience by employing a dropper or whisky spoon.Substitute ice with whisky stonesMany whisky fans prefer to use whisky stones during a whisky tasting session instead of ice for a number of reasons. First off, whisky stones don't melt, so the whisky won't be diluted or have its flavour profile altered. By doing this, you can experience the whisky's full flavour without having it diluted. Second, whisky stones are non-porous, so they won't absorb any flavours or odours from the freezer, which may otherwise have an impact on the flavour of the whisky. They also give a sense of refinement to your tasting party and are a smart and distinctive addition to your whisky collection. You may preserve the quality of the whisky and improve your overall tasting experience by utilising whisky stones.A whisky tasting party is a fun opportunity to introduce friends and family to your passion for this drink. You'll be well on your way to throwing the ideal whisky tasting party if you follow these suggestions. So prepare to toast this legendary beverage by gathering your preferred whisky, munchies, and accessories. And keep in mind that there are no wrong ways to enjoy a nice dram of whisky, whether you're an experienced whisky aficionado or a curious novice. Slainte!(IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)IANS17 April 2023

Shared Recently!
WFP to halt humanitarian work in Sudan after 3 employees killed

Rome, April 17: The head of the Rome-based UN World Food Program (WFP) has said that the organisation would temporarily halt its humanitarian activities in Sudan, a day after three employees were killed in the country.

WFP to halt humanitarian work in Sudan after 3 employees killed

WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain said on Sunday that she was "appalled and heartbroken" by the deaths, which took place in the Kabkabiya district of the North Darfur state in Sudan, Xinhua news agency reported.In a statement, McCain confirmed reports that the workers were killed "while carrying out their lifesaving duties on the front lines of the global hunger crisis". She also said two other WFP workers were injured in the same attack.The deceased workers were all Sudan nationals, according to media reports.In a separate incident that also took place on Saturday, an aircraft belonging to WFP's Humanitarian Air Service was seriously damaged at Khartoum International Airport, WFP said."Any loss of life in humanitarian service is unacceptable and I demand immediate steps to guarantee the safety of those who remain," McCain said."Aid workers are neutral and should never be a target. Threats to our teams make it impossible to operate safely and effectively in the country and carry out WFP's critical work."McCain added that WFP would temporarily halt all its activities in Sudan while reviewing the security situation in the war-torn country."WFP is committed to assisting the Sudanese people who are facing dire food insecurity," he said."But we cannot do our lifesaving work if the safety and security of our teams and partners is not guaranteed."Violent clashes erupted on Saturday between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum and other cities, where the two sides traded accusations of initiating the conflict.Sudan's Central Doctors' Committee said that at least 56 civilians had been killed while 595 more have been injured, among them soldiers who are in critical condition.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday condemned the outbreak of fighting between the two forces, said his spokesman, and called on the two sides to immediately cease hostilities.IANS17 April 2023

Shared Recently!
The owner of an Airbnb in South Korea received a massive utility bill after a disgruntled couple left the water and gas running for 25 days straight because the owner didn't honor the guests' request to cancel the booking.

The couple, visiting from China, were reportedly disappointed that the villa was located in Seoul's outer suburbs. They asked the owner if they could cancel and receive a refund, but the owner declined. That's when the couple decided to get their revenge on the owner. They turned on every water faucet, gas appliance, and electrical appliance. Then they left the villa and stayed elsewhere for the entire 25-day booking.

Upon receiving the water bill, the host found that it was five times the usual amount, with 120 tonnes of water having been wasted. The total utility bill amounted to US$1,570. The host reached out to Airbnb customer service for assistance, but the company declined to intervene, stating that the matter must be resolved between the host and the guests.

[via South China Morning Press]
Google releases emergency update to fix 1st zero-day bug of 2023 in Chrome

San Francisco, April 17: In response to the first zero-day vulnerability exploited in attacks since the start of the year, Google has released an emergency Chrome security update.

Google releases emergency update to fix 1st zero-day bug of 2023 in Chrome

"Google is aware that an exploit for CVE-2023-2033 exists in the wild," Google said in a security advisory.The new version is currently being rolled out to users in the Stable Desktop channel, and it will eventually reach the full user base.Chrome users will need to update to the new version as soon as possible since it fixes the CVE-2023-2033 vulnerability on Windows, Mac, and Linux computers.Users can check for updates by going to the Chrome menu igt; Help igt; Google Chrome.According to BleepingComputer, the high-severity zero-day vulnerability (CVE-2023-2033) is due to a high-severity type confusion weakness in the Chrome V8 JavaScript engine.Clement Lecigne of Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG), whose major mission is to protect Google customers from state-sponsored attacks, reported the bug.Moreover, the report mentioned that in spite of Google claiming that its knowledge of CVE-2023-2033 zero-day exploits has been used in attacks, the company has yet to provide further details."Access to bug details and links may be kept restricted until a majority of users are updated with a fix," Google was quoted as saying."We will also retain restrictions if the bug exists in a third-party library that other projects similarly depend on, but haven't yet fixed," it added.IANS17 April 2023

Shared Recently!
Make summer of 2023 epic with The Residence by Cenizaro

New Delhi, April 17: Take a luxurious trip to the Indian Ocean this summer and have the vacation of your dreams there. With locations in the Maldives, Mauritius, and Zanzibar, The Residence by Cenizaro is ready to meet all of your vacation needs.

Make summer of 2023 epic with The Residence by Cenizaro

A sandbank escape under the African sunThe Residence Zanzibar has set up the uninhabited islands of Pungwe and Kwale in the Menai Bay Conservation Area so that tourists can fulfil their castaway island fantasies. Rich mangrove forests and magnificent beaches surround the area, and it is possible to swim or snorkel in the clear seas to see amazing marine life and coral reefs. In the middle of the ocean, on a white spit of sand, a butler offers freshly grilled seafood. It has elements of Robinson Crusoe with a touch of luxury. Castaway picnics, barbeque dinners, and beach bonfires can also be arranged at The Residence Maldives.Unforgettable dolphin cruiseEvenings at The Residence Maldives are wonderful because guests can bounce between the two residences, located in Falhumaafushi and Dhigurah. It feels like something out of a fairy tale to be sailing on the water while listening to the sound of breaking waves and enjoying a bottle of champagne. It's strange to see spinners and bottlenose dolphins performing aerial tricks during this 90-minute tour.Diving into the deepest Atolls of the MaldivesVisitors with varied levels of diving experience can explore marine life at The Residence Maldives, which is surrounded by a shimmering lagoon and great dive locations with unspoiled coral reefs. The resort is just a short five to one-hour boat journey from the dive destinations. The resort's PADI 5-Star Dive Centre has multilingual diving instructors who instruct and lead divers as they explore the underwater world, which is home to 2,000 different species of fish, white tip sharks, barracudas, reef fish, manta rays, turtles, and hidden underwater gardens. It is advantageous for beginners to learn to dive in such a calm and secure setting. With the bubble generator, kids eight years old and older can try diving for the first time.In addition, the resort may schedule guided snorkelling excursions to discover the diverse underwater life and multicoloured coral reefs. Dolphin pods may occasionally swim by in the Dhigurah reef if you're lucky.A Splash in the Indian OceanFishing fans would love the Maldives since they can learn how to fish on a dhoni as the locals do. The chefs at The Residence Maldives create mouthwatering meals using the day's fresh catch.The resort can also organise a variety of water-based activities for thrill-seekers, including jet skiing, wakeboarding, windsurfing, catamaran sailing, and glass-bottom kayaking. Many of these activities are available to visitors at The Residence Zanzibar's Water Sports Centre.Breezy evenings with delicious concoctionsThe Dining Room Bar at The Residence Zanzibar is the ideal place to enjoy the fresh wind while watching the sunset. The bar at The Residence Mauritius offers traditional tea, cocktails, and even the option for guests to create their own drink using local ingredients.The Beach Bar at The Residence Maldives is partially submerged in the swimming pool and overlooks the beach, where one can have island-style drinks during the day and signature sundowners in the evenings.Most memorable school breakTaking a family vacation? At The Residence by Cenizaro buildings, it's easy to keep young visitors interested. The resorts offer specialised kid's clubs and events for kids and teenagers (ages 3 to 12). At the Turtle Kids Club at The Residence Maldives, a group of qualified staff members assist with value-adding activities like learning the Dhivehi language, playing the bodu beru drums and practising native crafts like leaf weaving. They have the option of playing inside, outside, on the beach, or in a play area with a variety of play structures.The Kids Club at The Residence Zanzibar promises endless entertainment. There is a long list of activities and adventures, from studying Swahili to going on treasure hunts to playing volleyball, all of which are supervised by a team of bilingual, properly educated employees. On the beach and around the pool, they can also enjoy free ice cream and fruit skewers.The Planters Kids Club at The Residence Mauritius is modelled after a sugarcane plantation house and is only a few feet from the beach. Pony rides, creole cooking lessons, painting and craft sessions, and picnics are just a few of the activities provided by a team of professionals to keep the kids entertained.The kids will have plenty of tales to tell their friends when they return to school as a result of all these activities. What's next? While youngsters are having a blast, parents can relax at a spa or beach club.(IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)IANS17 April 2023

Shared Recently!
Irans elite force busts MKO-linked terrorist cell

Tehran, April 17: Iran's elite Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has busted a rebel and terrorist cell linked to the anti-Iran Mujahedin-e Khalq Organisation (MKO) in the northern city of Amol, state media reported.

Iran's elite force busts MKO-linked terrorist cell

Citing Abedin Daghmechi, IRGC's regional commander in Amol, Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday, that forces of the IRGC Intelligence Organisation identified and arrested the gang members after they engaged in "anti-security activities" in Amol.Daghmechi noted the members of the cell sought to carry out certain operations in some "sensitive regions" in Amol before being arrested, Xinhua news agency reported.He said they have cooperated with main MKO-affiliated media outlets, made explosives and Molotov cocktails, and targeted military bases during the recent riots in Iran.Iran brands the group's exiled members, currently based in Albania, as terrorists.IANS17 April 2023

Shared Recently!
East African leaders call for immediate ceasefire as fighting rages in Sudan

Nairobi, April 17: East African leaders have called for an immediate end to the ongoing fighting in Sudan where military clashes have killed at least 56 people and injured nearly 600 others.

East African leaders call for immediate ceasefire as fighting rages in Sudan

The Kenyan Presidency said the leaders from the regional bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), held an emergency virtual session on Sunday where they called for an immediate cessation of hostilities between the parties to the conflict in Sudan.Those in the emergency session were President William Ruto of Kenya, Salva Kiir of South Sudan, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Ismail Omar Guelleh of Djibouti, and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia, Xinhua news agency reported."President William Ruto asked IGAD leaders to take a firm position on the crisis to restore peace in the country," the presidency said in a statement issued in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.The leaders resolved to send presidents Kiir, Ruto and Guelleh at the earliest possible time to reconcile the conflicting groups.The leaders also asked the two parties to the conflict in Sudan to provide a safe corridor for humanitarian assistance in Khartoum, Sudan's capital, and other affected towns.Violent clashes erupted on Saturday between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum and other cities, where the two sides traded accusations of initiating the conflict.Sudan's Central Doctors' Committee said that at least 56 civilians had been killed while 595 more have been injured, among them soldiers who are in critical condition.The tension between the two military forces has escalated since Wednesday in the Merowe region in northern Sudan, after the RSF moved military vehicles to a location near the military air base there, a move that the army considered illegal.Deep differences have emerged between the Sudanese Army and the RSF, particularly regarding the latter's integration into the Army as stipulated in a framework agreement signed between military and civilian leaders on December 5, 2022.IANS17 April 2023

Shared Recently!
TN school education enrollment drive for fresh students commences today

Chennai, April 17: The Tamil Nadu School Education Department has planned an enrollment drive of new students from classes 1 to 3. The drive will commence today and will continue till April 28.

TN school education enrollment drive for fresh students commences today

This is aimed at increasing the number of students opting for government schools. Generally the school education department conducts admission drives during the month of June but it has been advanced to April to rope in more students in government schools and to create awareness among the parents to enroll their wards there.R. Muthuswamy, an official with the school education department, while speaking to IANS, said "The department will be creating awareness among public on the advantages of a government school education including reservation in higher education, stipend for girl students and other facilities."He also said that the school education department will be promoting the increase in extra curricular activities in government schools as parents preferred private schools for having better facilities for extra curricular activities.The school education department has directed the district education officials to hire a vehicle and to move around creating awareness for 50 schools. This includes foreign trips for students of government schools who perform well in academics as well as in extra curricular activities like debate, quiz and other cultural activities.The department also wants the district officials to speak about the 20 per cent reservation for government school children in government jobs, 7.5 per cent reservation for students of government schools in higher education, and Rs 1,000 as stipend per month for girls studying in government schools for their higher education.Teachers, education department officials, and volunteers of Illam Thedi Kalvi volunteers will be involved in the campaign and funds have been sanctioned for the awareness programme by the school education department.The awareness programme will also highlight the presence of good toilets and drinking water facilities in government schools in the state.IANS17 April 2023

Shared Recently!
Operation Black turns successful, rogue Karuppan captured in TNs Erode

Chennai, April 17: The 'Operation Black' of the Tamil Nadu forest department to capture rogue elephant 'Karuppan' in Erode finally yielded success with its capture, officials said on Monday.

'Operation Black' turns successful, rogue 'Karuppan' captured in TN's Erode

'Karuppan' had been elusive for the past few months.It was captured after sedation at a sugarcane farm in Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) in the early hours of Monday.The elephant was captured by tranquilizing it while 'Karuppan' was raiding a private sugarcane farm of a person, named Murthy in Maharajapuram around 5 a.m. The wild elephant was later goaded into a truck with the help of two a Kumki' elephants, 'Chinnathambi' and 'Mariyappan' from Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR).It may be recalled that two earlier attempts were made in January and March this year to capture this elephant but it was suspended as the elephant could not be sedated.The capture of 'Karuppan', which had created havoc for the farmers in the area by raiding sugarcane farms, was met with jubilation. Locals had said that this elephant was involved in the killing of three people, but the forest department was tight-lipped on the same.M.K. Vasudevan, a sugarcane farmer at Maharajapuram near Erode while speaking to IANS said, "During the last one-and-half years during his visits to farms adjoining in Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve, the elephant has developed an irresistible fondness for sweet and had continuously raided sugarcane farms, banana farms and even places where jackfruits were abundant."The elephant, according to farmers, had also developed resistance to firecrackers and loud voices and used to withdraw from the farm that it raided only after completing its mission of eating the fruits and crops.Another factor that made the capture of the elephant a daunting task was the elephant coming out of the forest only after dusk set in and then it used to retreat before dawn. The elephant then mingled with herds deep inside the forest.IANS17 April 2023

Shared Recently!
Online exams for Agniveer recruitment

New Delhi/Guwahati, April 17: The Indian Army is conducting its first online common entrance examination for Agniveer recruitment across the nation, officials said on Monday.

Online exams for Agniveer recruitment

This marks a major shift in the recruitment procedures of the Indian Army.Army PRO at Guwahati, Lt. Col. Mahendra Rawat said, "The technological threshold in the nation has improved significantly and with enhanced digital awareness, the youth is now empowered to undertake online exams."According to an official release, from this year onwards, the recruitment will be carried out in three stages. In stage one, all candidates will undergo the online common entrance examination.In stage two, the shortlisted candidates will be called for recruitment rallies at locations decided by respective Army Recruitment Office for Physical Fitness Test and Physical Measurement Test.Finally, the selected candidates will undergo a Medical Test in stage three. Thereafter, the final merit list of the successful candidates will be declared, the official statement added.The online common entrance exams are being conducted at 375 examination centres at 176 locations all over India from April 17 to 26.In the northeast, the exams are being conducted at 26 centres across 14 cities - Naharlagun in Arunachal Pradesh, Dibrugarh, Guwahati, Jorhat, Silchar and Tezpur in Assam, Imphal, Ukhrul and Churachandpur in Manipur, Shillong in Meghalaya, Aizawl in Mizoram, Dimapur and Kohima in Nagaland and Agartala in Tripura.IANS17 April 2023

Shared Recently!
Chinas rocket launch sent debris into sea, say Taiwan authorities

Taipei, April 17: China launched a satellite into orbit with some rockets debris falling into a o-fly zone off the coast of northern Taiwan, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense said adding that it did not pose a safety threat, reported FocusTaiwan.

China's rocket launch sent debris into sea, say Taiwan authorities

In a statement, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense said that the forces had monitored the whole process of the rocket launch through joint intelligence and surveillance.Notably, China informed Taiwan that a no-fly zone will be implemented north of the country the following week, NHK World reported, citing Taiwan's transportation ministry on April 11.The no-fly zone, located 85 nautical miles north of Taiwan and within the Taipei Flight Information Region, was marked out for a 27-minute period from 930 a.m. to 957 a.m. Sunday because of the possibility of falling rocket debris, according to FocusTaiwan.Earlier, China reportedly warned Taiwan's northern flight information zone of the upcoming airspace closure, to conduct aerospace activities in the area.China said the duration would be five hours per day from April 16-18. However, it will be reduced to about half an hour on only April 16, following the complaint lodged by Taiwan's ministry, NHK World reported.The transportation ministry cautioned that the shutdown was inappropriate and would provide significant and unnecessary safety hazards in its complaint against China.China intends to block airspace over the high seas north of Taiwan, according to Taiwan's defence minister, who stated that defence officials will closely monitor Beijing's aerospace actions, which may include a potential satellite launch, according to NHK World.As tensions between Taiwan and China continue to escalate, Taiwan recently tracked the People's Liberation Army's 18 aircraft and 4 naval ships from 6 am on Monday (April 10) to Tuesday (April 11).In an official release, Taiwan's Defence Ministry stated, "18 PLA aircraft and 4 PLAN vessels around Taiwan were detected by 6 a.m.(UTC+8) today. 4 of the detected aircraft had entered Taiwan's southwest and southeast ADIZ. R.O.C. Armed Forces have monitored the situation and tasked CAP aircraft, Navy vessels, and land-based missile systems to respond to these activities."ANI17 April 2023

Shared Recently!
India will work with Russia to resolve trade imbalances: Jaishankar

New Delhi, April 17: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Monday said that India will work with Russia to resolve trade imbalances.

India will work with Russia to resolve trade imbalances: Jaishankar

Addressing the India-Russia business dialogue organised by industry body FICCI, the minister said, "There are understandable concerns about trade imbalance and we need to work with our Russian counterparts to address this imbalance. We should be honest about short and medium-term challenges. There could be over-compliance."He further said that there is a need to motivate business on both sides."You can see that there are big changes going on like 'Make in India'. We are determined to make India a global manufacturing hub. I want to emphasise on the opportunity of 'Make in India'," Jaishankar added.Denis Manturov, Russian deputy prime minister as well as industry and trade minister was also present on the occasion."We are discussing the importance of connectivity and the north-south and maritime corridors have been considered. There is also discussion on payment issues like international trade settlement in the Indian rupee," Jaishankar said further.Manturov on his part said, "Because of a lack of imports from India, it's not enough to use Rupee. We need to boost trade from India. In this case we are looking at balance, like for example, we have with China - we have 200 billion dollars trade with China and it's balanced."He was commenting on the India-Russia trade and payments issue.Meanwhile, Jaishankar in his address further said that India and Russia have historic people-to-people ties."Our partnership today is a subject of attention and comment, not because it has changed but because it hasn't. We share a commitment to a multipolar world. Russia is looking towards Asia and for India, it could mean broadening of ties. What we make of the current situation depends very much on us," the external affairs minister said.IANS17 April 2023

Shared Recently!
Bihar: Kin of all hooch tragedy victims since 2016 to be compensated

Patna, April 17: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday announced that the kin of victims of all the hooch tragedies since April 2016 - when a liqour ban was imposed -, will be duly compensated.

Bihar: Kin of all hooch tragedy victims since 2016 to be compensated

The decision follows yet another spurious liquor tragedy in East Champaran.Chief Minister Kumar decided to provide compensation to the family members of the victims on Tuesday.An ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh will be granted to the family members of the deceased from Chief Minister Relief Fund.Nitish Kumar also said that ex-gratia will be given to all family members of the victims who lost their lives in hooch tragedy since the liquor ban was imposed in April 2016."We have initiated a large number of public awareness campaigns in the state to inform people about its consequences. Still, deaths due to hooch tragedies are being reported. Some of the victims are lone bread earners of their families. We have decided to give compensation to all victim families of present and past hooch tragedies. The victims have to submit an application before authorities with a pledge to not to touch alcohol. Liquor is a wrong thing. An ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh will be given to them from the chief minister relief fund," Kumar said."We have arrested many accused involved in liquor operations. The liquor was banned in Bihar in the past and was restarted. I have imposed a ban in 2016 and it has completed 7 years. Now, we are in the eight years of liquor ban. A large number of people have quit liquor. We are working on it and taking strong action against the accused," Kumar said.In the past, Nitish Kumar had denied several requests for compensation. This sudden U-turn is being attributed to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Also, as per sources, that the liquor ban in the state failed due to its ill implementation is not an open secret.Recently, 31 people were killed in villages under five police stations in Bihar's East Champaran district in a hooch tragedy. The victims have consumed liquor on Thursday evening and deaths are taking place continuously.Twenty people are undergoing treatment in different hospitals of the district of which five are stated to be critical. Eight people have lost their eyesight forever.IANS17 April 2023

Shared Recently!
Christopher Mims poses that the reason that Apple remains top of the pile in the U.S. phone business is the used-carification of the market. "It's not just lavish marketing and the threat of green bubbles," he writes. "Apple's commitment to supporting old phones has allowed it to capture a part of the market once cornered by inexpensive Android devices"

Whereas many of us once upgraded our phones every two or three years, and treated old ones almost as if they were disposable, more than ever these phones are sticking around, and having a long afterlife. That could affect everything from who wins the smartphone wars (hint: Apple) to how the dominant players in this industry make most of their profits (spoiler: not from selling hardware).

Still rolling a nearly 3-year old iPhone 12 Mini here. I also have something from Samsung that was the "best budget phone of 2022" or whatever and I gave up on it pretty quick.
Myanmar grants amnesty to over 3,000 prisoners on New Years Day

Yangon, April 17: Myanmar's State Administration Council pardoned more than 3,000 prisoners in an amnesty on Monday, the first day of the country's traditional New Year.

Myanmar grants amnesty to over 3,000 prisoners on New Year's Day

The council granted amnesty to 3,015 prisoners in an order, and 98 foreign prisoners and five Sri Lankans in separate orders on New Year's Day, reports Xinhua news agency.It is to mark the Southeast Asian country's traditional New Year with peace in mind and on humanitarian grounds, as well as in view of relations between the respective countries and Myanmar, the council said.Myanmar typically pardons thousands of prisoners in an annual amnesty to mark its traditional New Year, and it released 1,619 prisoners on New Year's Day last year.On January 4 this year, Myanmar also pardoned more than 7,000 prisoners on its 75th Independence Day.IANS18 April 2023

Shared Recently!
More than 4% of Buffalos population are people born in Burma. Despite federal programs resettling refugees from that country in Erie County for decades, the scale of the citys most recent wave of immigration tends to surprise people.

The plethora of Burmese restaurants should be a clue. Plentiful enough to be their own genre in Buffalo-area dining opportunities, most offer Burmese and Thai dishes, plus one Japanese effort, sushi.

Why is Burmese-Thai-sushi a thing? Because most of their menus can also be read as a restaurant origin story.

Burmese flavors they grew up on, in the land of their birth. Thai cuisine learned while working in Thailand as refugees, waiting for entry to the United States. Sushi because many Burmese cooks first American job was rolling sushi, thanks to a Burmese-run company providing workers to supermarket sushi counters.

In this way, the menu at Thai House in Depew, like the areas dozen other Burmese-operated restaurants, tells you what its cooks have learned along the way. Chef-owner Kyaw Soe Kyaw can send you on a trip without getting back in your car.

Begin your epicurean journey in Burmese territory, with lapeth thoat, or tea leaf salad ($8.99), the vegan thrill ride that has converted more Buffalonians to Burmese fans than any other dish.

Diced fresh tomato and shredded cabbage supply juiciness and roughage. Leaves of the tea plant, fermented like sauerkraut, offer briny funk. The crunch comes from fried beans, peanuts and sesame seeds. Tangy with lime juice, savory with garlic oil, this salad makes fans of practically everyone it meets.

If youre a fan of ginger roots gentle bite, tuck into the ginger salad ($8.99), which replaces the fermented tea leaves of lapeth thoat with ginger sliced paper-thin.

The other major on-ramp to Burmese cuisine exploration is coconut chicken noodle soup, golden broth hiding egg noodles and bites of tender chicken, topped with sliced hard-boiled egg and fried rice noodles for crunch.

Given the difficulty of rendering the Burmese language in the English alphabet, every Burmese menu spells it differently. At Thai House, it is spelled ohn noh kohsware, No. 30 under Noodle Soup ($11.99). No matter how it is spelled, the soothing, placid satisfaction of every version Ive been offered in Buffalo makes me want to take it home to meet my mother. She would dispatch it happily, because ohn noh kohsware doesnt need words to deliver its payload of happiness.

Other standouts at Thai House include a rare appearance of Malaysian cuisine in Western New York: nasi ayam ($14.99). Marinated chicken is roasted so its skin becomes a savory wrapper, accented with an oyster-sauce-based jus. The dome of rice in the center is, for once, an essential part of the dish, cooked in chicken stock and coconut milk. Topped with fried shallots, it is an engaging poultry platter for two, or one eater bent on fulfillment.

Pickled mustard greens appear frequently in Burmese cuisine. Ill take pickles over more boring vegetables like bok choy any day, especially when theyre stir-fried with pork or other proteins ($11.99), No. 46. The lively vegetation is also offered as a soup, adding its essence to the broth as its simmered with tofu and choice of protein ($5.99-$12.99).

Burma borders India, a fact brought home vividly by Burmese-style clay pot biryani. Spice-scented basmati rice pilaf, tossed with cashews and your choice of protein, is introduced to a clay pot, which is heated until some grains stick to the pot. This is purposeful, for some diligent scraping will reveal that chewy, even crispy, crust has formed that rewards excavation.

If youre thinking of going, but have a less adventurous person to please, do note that Chinese-American life preservers are available in General Tsos and sesame chicken ($11.99 lunch, $15.99 dinner).

Vegans and vegetarians will find plenty to choose from beyond tea leaf salad. Consider traditional Burmese pumpkin curry ($11.99 lunch, $15.99 dinner), or fried tofu ($6.99), Burmese style, using a tofu analogue made from a type of chickpea.

Thai House was gutted by fire in 2019. Readers told me they missed the Kyaws cooking and asked whether they were gone for good. I had no answer, because the Kyaws didnt know themselves, at first.

Dominic Corigliano and his family, the buildings owners, could have demolished the ruins and sought a more lucrative use for the Transit Road property. Instead, the Coriglianos decided to rebuild not just for their own interests, but so the Kyaws could keep building on the start they made in America.

The results have made Depew a better place to live. So if youre hungry for a trip away from the everyday, perhaps you should stop by and see what the neighbors have been up to. At Thai House, there are dozens of dishes that can make you feel right at home.

Thai House

5246 Transit Road, Depew (depewthaihouse.com, 716-601-7114)

Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, noon to 8 p.m. Sunday.

Prices: appetizers, $4.99-$10.99; salads, $8.99-$11.99; entrees, $11.99-$37.99.

Atmosphere: quiet contemplation

Parking: lot

Wheelchair accessible: yes
Prosecutors and police cant decline to enforce and prosecute under a statute on account of race or religion, but they can decline to prosecute if they think the law in question is unfair  or, as in the current situation, unconstitutional," UI College of Law Dean Vik Amar says.
An American architect of Northern Irelands historic peace accord has urged its feuding politicians to revive the mothballed Belfast government, as a current political crisis clouded celebration of the peacemaking milestone
A grand jury has voted not to indict eight Ohio police officers who fired 94 rounds at Jayland Walker after a car and foot chase that ended in the 25-year-old Black man being shot to death last summer
A major UK study has discovered that the disturbed sleep patterns in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 were likely to be a driver of breathlessness.

The study of patients in 38 institutions across the UK was led by the University of Manchester and Leicester, presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (Copenhagen, 15-18 April), and published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.

Study: Effects of sleep disturbance on dyspnoea and impaired lung function following hospital admission due to COVID-19 in the UK: a prospective multicentre cohort study. Image Credit / Ground Picture / Shutterstock

The team discovered that 62% of participants who had been admitted to hospital for COVID-19 had sleep disruption, which was likely to persist for at least 12 months and highlighted for the first time the association between two post-COVID condition symptoms: breathlessness and sleep disruption.

On average, participants who had been hospitalized with COVID-19 slept for over an hour longer, but their sleep patterns were less regular (19% decrease on the sleep regularity scale) than matched participants who were hospitalized due to any cause.

The study researchers also found that participants with sleep disturbance were more likely to have anxiety and muscle weakness, common post-COVID-19 condition symptoms.

Statistical analysis identified that sleep disruption was likely to drive breathlessness directly but that reduced muscle function and increased anxiety, both recognized causes of breathlessness, could partially mediate the association between sleep disturbance and breathlessness.

The study authors speculate that targeting sleep disruption by reducing anxiety and improving muscle strength in these patients could alleviate breathlessness, but further investigation is needed.

The study used extensive data from the hospitals participating in the PHOSP-COVID study between March 2020 and October 2021.

PHOSP-COVID is a consortium from across the UK researching long-term health outcomes for patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

The study was funded by the UK Research and Innovation and others.

Sleep quality was assessed using subjective measures self-reported by 638 patients to researchers.

It was also measured objectively in another 729 patients who wore devices similar to smartwatches that measured night-time activity levels.

Both measures consistently revealed a higher prevalence of sleep disturbance in people hospitalised with COVID-19 compared with matched controls from the UK Biobank who had been hospitalized for any cause.

The impact on sleep from hospitalization due to COVID-19 was irrespective of critical care admission.

One of the authors Dr. John Blaikley, a clinical scientist from The University of Manchester and respiratory doctor, said: "This study has discovered that sleep disturbance could be an important driver of post-COVID-19 breathlessness  or dyspnoea - because of its associations with reduced muscle function and anxiety.

"If this is the case, then interventions targeting poor sleep quality might be used to manage symptoms and convalescence following COVID-19 hospitalisation, potentially improving patient outcomes."

First author and mathematician Mr. Callum Jackson from The University of Manchester said: "Understanding the causes of breathlessness is complex since it can arise from conditions that affect the respiratory, neurological, cardiovascular, and mental health systems.

"These same systems are also affected by sleep disturbance, another symptom frequently reported after COVID-19. "Our findings suggest that sleep disturbance is a common problem after hospitalization for COVID-19 and is associated with breathlessness. "We also show this is likely to persist for at least 12 months as subjective sleep quality did not change between 5 and 12 month follow-up visits."

Professor Chris Brightling from the University of Leicester said: "The strengths of our study include its size, multicentre nature, and the use of different complementary assessment measures to evaluate sleep disturbance. Consistent clinical associations were also observed across each evaluation method."

"Future research should now assess whether interventions targeting sleep disturbance can improve not only sleep quality but also breathlessness through reducing anxiety and improving muscle strength."
In a recent study published in the Eurosurveillance Journal, researchers performed a descriptive cross-sectional study in Ireland during the academic year 202021.

Researchers aimed to capture the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-positive coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases among all school students and staff.

In addition, they used contact tracing to identify on-site school close contacts of these cases and their RT-PCT test results.

Study: Limited transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in schools in Ireland during the 20202021 school year. Image Credit: LBeddoe/Shutterstock.com

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted around 168 million children worldwide; it led to the closure of schools for up to a year in nearly 200 countries between March 2020 and February 2021.

Though the short- and long-term health effects of school closure were apparent in children, it remains unclear whether school closures were needed.

Specifically in Ireland, they implemented many infection prevention and control (IPC) measures during the academic year 2020-2021 across all kinds of schools, which helped control SARS-CoV-2 transmission.

They covered five to 12-year-old, 13 to 18-year-old, and five-to-18-year-old children studying in primary, post-primary, and specialist schools, respectively, and all staff members at schools 20 years across 3,963 Irish schools.

Notably, all studies assessing the SARS-CoV-2 spread observed its transmission was lower in schools than in the general population.

About the study

In the present study, researchers used the national COVID-19 case definition during the 202021 academic year; likewise, they defined an outbreak when RT-PCR confirmed cases occurred in two or more people, of which one had a confirmed diagnosis while the other had disease symptoms with evidence of in-school transmission.

The Medical Officer of Health (MOH) of the regional public health department declared the occurrence of a SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in school and ensured documenting all related cases in the Computerised Infectious Disease Reporting (CIDR) system.

They also alerted the National Health Protection Surveillance Centre of Ireland. The agencies had standardized the management of COVID-19 outbreaks in these settings nationally.

They referred all COVID-19 cases found to be infectious while attending school to the regional 'Schools Teams' for a public health risk assessment (PHRA), who assigned them a unique school identification number.

Once they identified an infectious case working in a school, including those with symptoms and even asymptomatic, these officials advised them to self-isolate for seven to 10 days, depending on the recommendations of the time.

They also identified close contacts, i.e., people who had direct contact with a confirmed case through the PHRA process. They considered a person as close contact when they remained in contact for >15 minutes with a confirmed case in a school day while self-reporting their adherence to IPC measures, such as face masking.

Once identified, they excluded these people from school for 14 days and provided them with appropriate public health advice and information regarding testing.

They also established COVID-19 testing pathways for students and staff on priority during 2020-2021. They considered all close contacts who tested SARS-CoV-2-positive as secondary cases. Close contacts could return to school only after testing RT-PCR-negative and turning asymptomatic.

Ireland also had a national-level COVID-19 Contact Management Programme (CMP), a web-based information system, that assisted with contact tracing of all RT-PCR-confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Contact tracers used this system to contact people with confirmed COVID-19 to determine if they attended school during their infectious period and identify their close contacts.

The team performed statistical analyses of all the available data on the national COVID-19 Contact Management Programme from week 19 of 2021. Note this data did not represent notified COVID-19 cases that underwent the data validation procedures through the CIDR System.

The researchers expressed categorical variables as percentages, estimating inter-group differences using chi-squared tests and considering p<0.05 statistically significant.

Results

Per the CIDR system data, 832 school outbreaks occurred between August 2020 and June 2021. It represented 3,655 cases, which covered index and secondary cases among school students and staff. Across 3,963 Irish schools, 44.7% reported at least one index COVID-19 case (in students or staff members) who attended school during the infectious period, and the PHRA process helped identify their close contacts.

The study results revealed that school outbreaks in Ireland were generally small, with 34% of all these outbreaks comprising two and 92% comprising less than 10 cases. Strikingly, less than 3% of close contacts of COVID-19 cases in school settings tested positive.

The authors noted 21,727 RT-PCR-confirmed COVID-19 cases among five-to-18-year-olds in Ireland during the three terms of the 202021 academic year. Only 2.4% of all five-to-18-year-olds in Ireland had COVID-19, constituting 18.2% of total COVID-19 cases notified in Ireland, i.e., 119,640.

Compared to people with COVID-19 between March 2020 and July 2021 across all age bands in Ireland, those aged five-to18 years comprised only 13.3% of all cases. However, these case numbers among children aged five-to18 years old increased over the three terms of the academic year 202021, from 15.5% of 58,148 cases in term one to 17.5% of 31,069 cases and 23.9% of 30,423 cases in term two & three, respectively.

Across 1,771 schools in Ireland, testing occurred among 100,474 close contacts during the academic year 202021. It helped the researchers identify 2,373 secondary cases from schools, with an overall positivity rate equal to 2.4%. As expected, they observed the highest positivity rate in special schools, followed by primary and post-primary schools.

In one incident, public health officials found all staff members of 18 schools as close contacts and advised them to stop attending their respective schools. They also offered them free testing for SARS-CoV-2, as mandated.

It also helped them identify 90.5% (n = 90,953) of students and 9.5% (n = 9,521) of staff were close contacts. These results confirmed that students in primary and special schools had a markedly higher COVID-19 positivity rate than staff members (2.4% vs. 1.8%).

On the other hand, school staff members had a slightly higher COVID-19 positivity rate in post-primary schools (1.9% vs. 1.8%), but this variation was statistically insignificant (p = 0.88).

Conclusions

The current study favors international evidence demonstrating that educational facilities were a low-risk setting for SARS-CoV-2 transmission, given they implemented appropriate IPC measures and adhered to norms.

Thus, school closure must remain the last resort as a COVID-19 mitigation measure, and all children must be permitted to continue their education with minimum unnecessary disturbances.

In any future pandemic(s), schools should not be closed before carefully considering all the adverse effects and benefits of disrupting education.

In the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the emphasis should be on the maximum uptake of COVID-19 vaccination among school staff and children for whom it is available, besides strict adherence to all SARS-CoV-2 mitigation measures in educational settings.

The ultimate goal should be maximum protection and uninterrupted education for all children.
A dumpster fire overnight in the Ellicott Complex at the University at Buffalo's North Campus caused $300,000 in damage.

The fire was reported by University Police at 3:28 a.m. at 42 Frontier Road. Getzville Fire Company responded, and the fire was extinguished within 20 minutes.

There were no injuries. The fire was confined to the building's trash room, according to a news release from the Amherst Central Fire Alarm Office.

The fire caused $100,000 in damage to the structure and an additional $200,000 to the contents, according to University Police.

University Police and the state Office of Fire Prevention and Control are investigating.
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer that affects blood cells in the bone marrow -; the spongy tissue inside certain bones, where new blood cells are made.

In AML patients, the bone marrow makes abnormal blood cells, which grow and divide too quickly and do not mature properly. When the abnormal cells crowd out the healthy blood cells, it can lead to infection, anemia, and easy bleeding. They can also spread outside the blood to other parts of the body, such as the lymph nodes, liver, spleen and central nervous system.

And while treatments such as chemotherapy can be given to a patient with AML, if the cancer relapses (comes back), their chance of survival decreases due to the limited treatment options for relapsed AML patients. A new $2.3 million grant from the National Cancer Institute is giving the Georgia Cancer Center the opportunity to understand how those cancer cells resist to primary treatment and propose new treatment options that may improve patient survival.

Acute leukemia types including acute myeloid leukemia (AML) account for around four percent of all cancer deaths worldwide and six percent of cancer deaths in America. AML is the second most common type of diagnosed leukemia in children and adults." Nahid F. Mivechi, PhD, co-leader of the Molecular Oncology and Biomarkers research program at the Georgia Cancer Center at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University

With this multi-investigator grant, Mivechi, along with her co-principal investigator, Dimitrios Moskofidis, MD/PhD (Aka. Demetrius Moskophidis), focus on understanding the role of heat shock transcription factors (HSFs) and particularly HSF1 in acute myeloid leukemia. The protein HSF1 attaches to a specific DNA sequence inside a cancer cell during the replication process to allow the cell to make more of itself. If Hsf1 is removed, cancer cells cannot replicate and will die off. "Interestingly, our recent studies unveiled a highly novel and clinically significant role for Hsf1 inhibition in metabolic reprogramming and enhancement of anti-tumor T cell immunity", Mivechi said.

"We will be working with Dr. Jorge Cortes, director of the Georgia Cancer Center, and an internationally renowned physician for treating patients with AML to receive blood cell samples from patients he works with," Moskofidis said. "Our previous research projects to understand how HSFs work focuses largely on using mouse models and samples of other types of tumor cells. This is because HSFs have been shown to play a role in the replication process of many different types of tumors, not just acute myeloid leukemia."

Also part of the research project is Dr. Huidong Shi, professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at MCG, and also a member of the Cancer Center's Molecular Oncology and Biomarkers research program. With the project, the collaborative team will investigate whether a valid approach for therapeutic interventions in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) can be based on a strategy to inhibit supportive non-oncogene addiction pathways, interfering with tumor-promoting metabolic reprogramming, and improving the predicted power of anti-tumor immunity through depletion of Hsf1 activity. This effort may help to find new ways to overcome key existing barriers in refractory AML management.
It took Samantha Lesmeister's family four months to find a medical professional who could see that she was struggling with something more than her Down syndrome.

The young woman, known as Sammee, had become unusually sad and lethargic after falling in the shower and hitting her head. She lost her limited ability to speak, stopped laughing, and no longer wanted to leave the house.

General-practice doctors and a neurologist said such mental deterioration was typical for a person with Down syndrome entering adulthood, recalled her mother, Marilyn Lesmeister. They said nothing could be done.

The family didn't buy it.

Marilyn researched online and learned the University of Kansas Health System has a special medical clinic for adults with Down syndrome. Most other Down syndrome programs nationwide focus on children, even though many people with the condition now live into middle age and often develop health problems typically associated with seniors. And most of the clinics that focus on adults are in urban areas, making access difficult for many rural patients.

The clinic Marilyn found is in Kansas City, Kansas, 80 miles northwest of the family's cattle farm in central Missouri. She made an appointment for her daughter and drove up.

The program's leader, nurse practitioner Moya Peterson, carefully examined Sammee Lesmeister and ordered more tests.

"She reassured me that, 'Mom, you're right. Something's wrong with your daughter,'" Marilyn Lesmeister said.

With the help of a second neurologist, Peterson determined Sammee Lesmeister had suffered a traumatic brain injury when she hit her head. Since that diagnosis about nine years ago, she has regained much of her strength and spirit with the help of therapy and steady support.

Sammee, now 27, can again speak a few words, including "hi," "bye," and "love you." She smiles and laughs. She likes to go out into her rural community, where she helps choose meals at restaurants, attends horse-riding sessions at a stable, and folds linens at a nursing home.

Without Peterson's insight and encouragement, the family likely would have given up on Sammee's recovery. "She probably would have continued to wither within herself," her mother said. "I think she would have been a stay-at-home person and a recluse."

'A whole different ballgame'

The Lesmeisters wish Peterson's program wasn't such a rarity. A directory published by the Global Down Syndrome Foundation lists just 15 medical programs nationwide that are housed outside of children's hospitals and that accept Down syndrome patients who are 30 or older.

The United States had about three times as many adults with the condition by 2016 as it did in 1970. That's mainly because children born with it are no longer denied lifesaving care, including surgeries to correct birth defects.

Adults with Down syndrome often develop chronic health problems, such as severe sleep apnea, digestive disorders, thyroid conditions, and obesity. Many develop Alzheimer's disease in middle age. Researchers suspect this is related to extra copies of genes that cause overproduction of proteins, which build up in the brain.

"Taking care of kids is a whole different ballgame from taking care of adults," said Peterson, the University of Kansas nurse practitioner.

Sammee Lesmeister is an example of the trend toward longer life spans. If she'd been born two generations ago, she probably would have died in childhood.

She had a hole in a wall of her heart, as do about half of babies with Down syndrome. Surgeons can repair those dangerous defects, but in the past, doctors advised most families to forgo the operations, or said the children didn't qualify. Many people with Down syndrome also were denied care for serious breathing issues, digestive problems, or other chronic conditions. People with disabilities were often institutionalized. Many were sterilized without their consent.

Such mistreatment eased from the 1960s into the 1980s, as people with disabilities stood up for their rights, medical ethics progressed, and courts declared it illegal to withhold care. "Those landmark rulings sealed the deal: Children with Down syndrome have the right to the same lifesaving treatment that any other child would deserve," said Brian Skotko, a Harvard University medical geneticist who leads Massachusetts General Hospital's Down Syndrome Program.

The median life expectancy for a baby born in the U.S. with Down syndrome jumped from about four years in 1950 to 58 years in the 2010s, according to a recent report from Skotko and other researchers. In 1950, fewer than 50,000 Americans were living with Down syndrome. By 2017, that number topped 217,000, including tens of thousands of people in middle age or beyond.

The population is expected to continue growing, the report says. A few thousand pregnant women a year now choose abortions after learning they're carrying fetuses with Down syndrome. But those reductions are offset by the increasing number of women becoming pregnant in their late 30s or 40s, when they are more likely to give birth to a baby with Down syndrome.

Skotko said the medical system has not kept up with the extraordinary increase in the number of adults with Down syndrome. Many medical students learn about the condition only while training to treat pediatric patients, he said.

Few patients can travel to specialized clinics like Skotko's program in Boston. To help those who can't, he founded an online service, Down Syndrome Clinic to You, which helps families and medical practitioners understand the complications and possible treatments.

'If they say it hurts, I listen'

Charlotte Woodward, who has Down syndrome, is a prominent advocate for improved care. She counts herself among the tens of thousands of adults with the condition who likely would have died years ago without proper treatment. Woodward, 33, of Fairfax, Virginia, had four heart surgeries as a child and then a heart transplant in her 20s.

Woodward, who is an education program associate for the National Down Syndrome Society, has campaigned to end discrimination against people with disabilities who need organ transplants.

She said her primary care doctor is excellent. But she has felt treated like a child by other health care providers, who have spoken to her parents instead of to her during appointments.

She said many general-practice doctors seem to have little knowledge about adults with Down syndrome. "That's something that should change," she said. "It shouldn't just be pediatricians that are aware of these things."

Woodward said adults with the condition should not be expected to seek care at programs housed in children's hospitals. She said the country should set up more specialized clinics and finance more research into health problems that affect people with disabilities as they age. "This is really an issue of civil rights," she said.

Advocates and clinicians say it's crucial for health care providers to communicate as much as possible with patients who have disabilities. That can lead to long appointments, said Brian Chicoine, a family practice physician who leads the Adult Down Syndrome Center of Advocate Aurora Health in Park Ridge, Illinois, near Chicago.

"It's very important to us that we include the individuals with Down syndrome in their care," he said. "If you're doing that, you have to take your time. You have to explain things. You have to let them process. You have to let them answer. All of that takes more time."

Time costs money, which Peterson believes is why many hospital systems don't set up specialized clinics like the ones she and Chicoine run.

Peterson's methodical approach was evident as she saw new patients on a recent afternoon at her Kansas City clinic. She often spends an hour on each initial appointment, speaking directly to patients and giving them a chance to share their thoughts, even if their vocabularies are limited.

Her patients that day included Christopher Yeo, 44, who lives 100 miles away in the small town of Hartford, Kansas. Yeo had become unable to swallow solid food, and he'd lost 45 pounds over about 1 years. He complained to his mother, Mandi Nance, that something "tickled" in his chest.

During his exam, he lifted his shirt for Peterson, revealing the scar where he'd had heart surgery as a baby. He grimaced, pointed to his chest, and repeatedly said the word "gas."

Peterson looked Yeo in the eye as she asked him and his mother about his discomfort.

The nurse practitioner takes seriously any such complaints from her patients. "If they say it hurts, I listen," she said. "They're not going to tell you about it until it hurts bad."

Yeo's mother had taken him to a cardiologist and other specialists, but none had determined what was wrong.

Peterson asked numerous questions. When does Yeo's discomfort seem to crop up? Could it be related to what he eats? How is his sleep? What are his stools like?

After his appointment, Peterson referred Yeo to a cardiologist who specializes in adults with congenital heart problems. She ordered a swallowing test, in which Yeo would drink a special liquid that appears on scans as it goes down. And she recommended a test for Celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that interferes with digestion and is common in people with Down syndrome. No one had previously told Nance about the risk.

Nance, who is a registered nurse, said afterward that she has no idea what the future holds for their family. But she was struck by the patience and attention Peterson and other clinic staff members gave to her son. Such treatment is rare, she said. "I feel like it's a godsend. I do," she said. "I feel like it's an answered prayer."

'Like a person, and not a condition'

Peterson serves as the primary care provider for some of her patients with Down syndrome. But for many others, especially those who live far away, she is someone to consult when complications arise. That's how the Lesmeisters use her clinic.

Mom Marilyn is optimistic Sammee can live a fulfilling life in their community for years to come. "Some people have said I need to put her in a home. And I'm like, 'What do you mean?' And they say, 'You know - a home,'" she said. "I'm like, 'She's in a home. Our home.'"

Sammee's sister, who lives in Texas, has agreed to take her in when their parents become too old to care for her.

Marilyn's voice cracked with emotion as she expressed her gratitude for the help they have received and her hopes for Sammee's future.

"I just want her to be taken care of and loved like I love her," she said. "I want her to be taken care of like a person, and not a condition."
In a recent review published in the PLOS Pathogens Journal, researchers reviewed existing data on the potential pathways through which Candida auris can be introduced into the environment and evaluated the environmental characteristics that can influence its persistence and transmission in nature.

Study: Environmental reservoirs of the drug-resistant pathogenic yeast Candida auris. Image Credit: Kateryna Kon/Shutterstock.com

Background

C. auris is an emerging human pathogen; however, despite phenotypic characteristics and genetic evidence indicating its probable emergence from natural reservoirs, data on the environmental phase of the organism's life cycle and associated transmission pathways are limited.

Identifying probable environmental reservoirs and niches of Candida auris, and improving understanding of its emergence in the environmental pollution and climatic change scenario, is essential for developing effective management options and epidemiological responses.

The ability to resist antifungal agents and persist in nosocomial conditions (coupled with poor prognosis) has facilitated the sharp rise in Candida auris infections globally from 2014 onward.

The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) and the European CDC (ECDC) have announced C. auris as a threat to public health, requiring urgent action. Similarly, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has stated C. auris to be a critically concerning pathogenic fungus.

About the review

In the present review, researchers determined probable environmental interactions of Candida auris and explored environmental pathways and characteristics facilitating exposure of humans to the organism.

Possible pathways for Candida auris introduction into the environment

Natural environments could significantly contribute to the epidemiology of infectious diseases since pathogenic organisms persist and evolve in natural environmental niches, then transfer to novel hosts. Therefore, investigating the interactions of pathogenic microbes with potential environmental reservoirs is critical for controlling infectious diseases.

C. auris strains may adapt to increasing temperatures (42.0 C) and transfer via colonized birds or natural shedding into the surroundings via infected individuals and healthcare workers.

In addition, given the intrinsic resistance of the microbe to antifungals such as fluconazole, C. auris, along with antimycotic drugs, can enter sewage systems through clinical waste discharge, and the contaminated wastewater effluent may then be released into the natural environment.

C. auris may acquire virulence attributes via survival in environments with pH ranging between 4.0 and 13.0, highly mineralized soils, withstanding cationic stresses, and adapting to fungicides in soil. Therefore, enrichment sources include low-level pharmaceutical and agricultural effluents in the runoff, agricultural fungicides, antifungal drugs, and high-salt (10.0% NaCl) conditions.

Further, Candida auris detection in indoor-type swimming pools indicates that colonized individuals may shed the pathogen in non-clinical environments.

Candida auris persists on colonized humans' skin, nostrils, and tympanic cavities and has been identified in human fecal and urine samples and rectal swab specimens. Therefore, openly practiced defecation, observed in rural areas of developing nations, could significantly contribute to C. auris loading into the environment.

The halophilic properties of Candida auris may facilitate its persistence in marine ecosystems, supported by the detection of closely related species in coastal wetlands of the Andaman Islands and estuaries in Colombia. C. auris can also sustain on biofilms of dry and inanimate-type surfaces such as plastics and stored fruits for prolonged periods.

Future directions for research on Candida auris

The ecology of closely related species and the high inter-clade genomic differences among C. auris clades, originating in southern regions of America, Africa, south-eastern parts of Asia, East Asia, and Iran, support C. auris epidemiology.

However, the environmental persistence and spread of the thermotolerant, halotolerant, and antifungal drug-resistant microbe are not completely understood and require further research.

Future studies must be aimed at comprehending the environmental prevalence and dissemination of Candida auris and quantifying the environmental persistence and survival of the fungus.

Tools for environmental surveillance need to be developed for rapid detection and quantification of the pathogen in conjunction with community-level surveillance tools.

Importantly, before applying surveillance methods, optimizing the specificity of methods that depend or do not depend on culture is required for Candida auris detection in samples with a high abundance of other Candida species.

Candida auris tolerance of environmental stresses, such as salinity, solar radiation, high temperatures, predation, and competition, must be investigated using environmental conditions. The influence of close microbial interactions in biofilm comprising multiple species on C. auris pathogenicity and environmental persistence also needs further evaluation.

Conclusions

Based on the review findings, the thermotolerant properties of Candida auris enable adaptation to high-temperature environments and facilitate colonization in humans by enduring the temperature barrier, which is considered to protect humans against the colonization of pathogenic microbes. Thus, C. auris is a one-of-a-kind human pathogen, likely to emerge due to climatic change.

Additionally, the release of antimycotic drugs, from agricultural and pharmaceutical sources, into the natural environment is likely responsible for the environmental enrichment of resistant Candida auris strains.

To date, none of the animals have been established as Candida auris reservoirs; however, the pathogen may colonize warm-blooded animals, birds, aquatic animals, and insects.
Summer vacations are around the corner, which also means that families wil take their kids out of town. This may be due to multiple reasons, from meeting their cousins and other relatives to going on a vacation trip. To handle the increasing load of passengers in the upcoming weeks, Indian Railways has decided to run three new pairs of summer special trains between Bihar and Maharashtra. This means that if the currently operational 7 pairs are to be considered, a total of 10 pairs of summer special trains will be connecting the two states during the summers.

The three special trains are the Smastipur-Lokmanya Tilka-Samastipur Superfast Train, the Pune-Danapur-Pune Special and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj-Malda Town-Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Special train.

The timings for these trains are as follows:

Lokmanya Tilak Superfast Special Train will run from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus every Thursday from May 4 to June 8. It will run from Samastipur every Friday from May 5 to June 9.

Train number 01043 Lokmanya Tilak-Samastipur Superfast Special train will depart from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus at 12.15 pm on Thursday and reach Samastipur at 09.15 pm on Friday, via Patliputra that it will reach at 05.10 pm on Friday.

On its way back, train number 01044 Samastipur-Lokmanya Tilak Superfast Special train will leave Samastipur at 11.20 pm on Friday and stop at Patliputra at 02.20 am on Saturday and eventually reach Lokmanya Tilak Terminus at 07.40 pm on Sunday.

Pune-Danapur-Pune Special train- This special train will operate from Pune every Saturday from May 6 to June 17 and from Danapur every Monday from May 8 to June 19. Train number 01039 Pune-Danapur special train will depart from Pune at 07.55 pm on Saturday and reach Danapur at 04.30 am on Monday. On its way back, train number 01040 Danapur-Pune special train will depart from Danapur at 06.30 am on Monday and reach Pune at 05.35 pm on Tuesday.

CSMT-Malda Town-CSMT Special Train - This special train will operate from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminal, Mumbai every Monday from May 1 to May 29 and from Malda Town every Wednesday from May 3 to May 31. Train No. 01031 CSMT-Malda Town special train will depart from CSMT, Mumbai at 11.05 am on Monday and stop at Patna at 01.40 pm on Tuesday and eventually reach Malda Town at 12.45 am on Wednesday.

While returning, train number 01032 Malda Town-CSMT Special will depart from Malda Town at 12.20 pm on Wednesday and reach Patna Jn at 08.10 pm the same day. It will arrive at CSMT, Mumbai at 03.50 am on Friday.

Read all the Latest Auto News here
Public sector banks (PSBs) have set a target for the sale of flagship government insurance schemes Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) in FY24.

Besides, they have also set goals for other financial inclusion schemes like Mudra Yojana and StandUp India Scheme.

There are about 8.3 crore beneficiaries under PMJJBY and 23.9 crore under PMSBY, as of now. Since the launch of the schemes in 2015, 15.99 crore enrolment has taken place under PMJJBY, while 33.78 crore under PMSBY as of March 31, 2023.

Last year, the finance ministry revised rates from Rs 330 to Rs 436 under PMJJBY and from Rs 12 to Rs 20 for PMSBY, effective June 1, 2022. The revision was being undertaken because of the long-standing adverse claims experience by the schemes and to make them economically viable.

The ministry has asked banks to encourage customers to buy these policies for multi-years rather than renewing every year, news agency PTI reported citing sources.

PMJJBY offers life insurance cover of Rs 2 lakh, in case of death due to any reason, to people in the age group of 18-50 years having a bank or post office account, who give consent to join or enable auto-debit of premium.

On the other hand, the PMSBY offers insurance cover of Rs 2 lakh for accidental death or total permanent disability and Rs 1 lakh for partial permanent disability to people in the age group of 18-70 years with a bank or post office account, who give consent to join or enable auto-debit of premium.

Last week, the ministry held a meeting with heads of PSBs and financial institutions and urged them to push various financial inclusion schemes, including Jan Suraksha and Mudra Yojana.

Department of Financial Services Secretary Vivek Joshi exhorted the PSBs to achieve the targets allocated to them under the various schemes for financial inclusion in a time-bound manner.

(With PTI inputs)

Read all the Latest Business News, Tax News and Stock Market Updates here
In a narrow lane of Delhis Timarpur, danger lurked in the form of a 4-foot-long Indian Cobra. But thanks to the heroic efforts of the Wildlife SOS team, the venomous creature was rescued and is now under their observation before being released back into the wild. Wildlife SOS, a wildlife conservation NGO, recently rescued the 4-foot-long Indian Cobra from Delhis Old Timarpur Market area. The snake was found lying motionless in a narrow lane outside a house, but the locals had placed a charpai to shelter the venomous creature. A two-member team from Wildlife SOS rushed to the location to carry out the rescue. With professional training and expertise, the Wildlife SOS Rapid Response Unit successfully located and extricated the cobra safely.

The snake is now under the NGOs observation and will soon be released back into its natural habitat. According to Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder & CEO of Wildlife SOS, rescuing venomous snakes require patience and skill, and they have professionally trained rescuers who are experienced in handling such operations, reported India.com. He added that they are happy to see more people choosing to make a conscious decision to call Wildlife SOS in such situations instead of taking matters into their own hands.

The report also quoted Wasim Akram, Deputy Director- Special Projects of Wildlife SOS, saying that they frequently carry out snake rescues from areas with a dense human population. As urbanization, construction, shrinking habitats, and loss of natural prey base continue, reptiles such as snakes are often forced to move into human settlements in search of easy prey.

The successful rescue of the Indian Cobra in Delhi highlights the importance of seeking professional help in dealing with wildlife. It also serves as a reminder of the impact of human activities on the natural world and the need to protect wildlife and their habitats.

Wildlife SOS has emerged as a pioneer in wildlife conservation and rescue endeavors in India. By engaging in the rescue and rehabilitation of wildlife, raising awareness through campaigns, and conducting conservation research, the organization has played a pivotal role in preserving the countrys diverse biodiversity. Its core objective since its inception has been to effect long-lasting transformations for the safeguarding and preservation of Indias natural heritage, forests, and biodiversity. They actively participate in protecting wildlife, preserving their habitats, researching biodiversity, and creating sustainable livelihoods for communities that once relied on wildlife for their subsistence.

Read all the Latest Buzz News here
After the Talibans takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, many musicians and other artistes were among the countless people who fled, fearing for their lives. In the 1990s, music had been banned by the Taliban. Currently, music, alongside video games and foreign films, has been banned in the city of Herat, as per an IANS report. Now, a tragic story about a displaced Afghan violinist has surfaced on Twitter.

Latif Nasser, a writer and co-host of Radiolab, shared the story of Ali, an acclaimed violinist from Afghanistan who is rebuilding his life from scratch again in the US. While escaping the country after the Taliban regained control of it, Ali had to leave behind his violin. From being a famed violinist in Afghanistan, Ali had to work at a mall stockroom and had his only possession- an electric bike- stolen in the US.

Now, with the help of his friends, he has a more stable life and a better job at a downtown hotel. Jeremy S Bloom, a sound designer who worked with Latif, sought the latters help to gift a 110-year-old violin to Ali. That was how Latif met Ali, and eventually grew to become friends with him. Here are snippets from their story thats tragic but isnt devoid of hope.

Last May, I went to a work retreat in upstate NY and a sound designer on our show @Jeremy_S_Bloom pulled me aside and asked me to do him a favor. pic.twitter.com/rTU0ickGdY Latif Nasser (@latifnasser) April 15, 2023

Sweetheart that he is, Jeremy wanted to gift it to this stranger, but wouldnt dare to just put it in the mail. Would I take it through security and as carry-on on my flight home to LA? I said sure. I took the violin. pic.twitter.com/kmWITZA6yE Latif Nasser (@latifnasser) April 15, 2023

His name is Ali (aka @ALIESMAHI). He got to the US a few months prior under one of those Special Immigrant Visas. The reason he fled was because the Taliban DESPISES musicians, has even killed them in the past. The US government helped him get here but not much more. pic.twitter.com/sfDajgXXh8 Latif Nasser (@latifnasser) April 16, 2023

The reason he was so hard to pin down for the drop off was because of his job. He worked part time and had no control over his hours. The reason he wanted to meet at the mall? Latif Nasser (@latifnasser) April 16, 2023

Ali initially wanted to pick the violin up from me directly. But his only real possession, an electric bike, had been stolen from the mall parking lot a few weeks before. The police were zero help. He shrugged: My welcome gift from America.  Latif Nasser (@latifnasser) April 16, 2023

He was actually a celebrity in Afghanistan, the violinist for the on-screen backup band for their version of American Idol, Afghan Star. It was the number one show in the country. He did it for 5 seasons. Most people in Afghanistan know my face.https://t.co/f2epGubPZn pic.twitter.com/i21qzYB165  Latif Nasser (@latifnasser) April 16, 2023

That all stopped when the Taliban took back over. He took all the musical instruments and sheet music in his house and burned it. He was about to burn his violin too, but stopped short. He just couldnt bear to do it. So he hid it. Latif Nasser (@latifnasser) April 16, 2023

After that dinner, we invited him over every week. Sometimes he'd show us old clips. Sometimes hed bring his violin.The first thing he played us: Despacito. (My 2 kids were a terrible audience. The 2yo covered his ears. The 5yo ran out of the room.)https://t.co/5LRwlvnkTl  Latif Nasser (@latifnasser) April 16, 2023

In that time, he has done SO MUCH MORE by himself. Got a green card, a drivers license, a bank account, a car. Got a more stable job at a big downtown hotel, @thebonaventure, as a food expediter, preparing room service trays. His bosses & coworkers treat him with dignity. pic.twitter.com/xo2vY4gVKh Latif Nasser (@latifnasser) April 16, 2023

Latif and Ali are currently raising money for the latter to attend music school.

Read all the Latest Buzz News here
The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) vs Mumbai Indians (MI) IPL match at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday was attended by both Sara Tendulkar and Suhana Khan. While Sara was there to support her brother Arjun Tendulkar who made his IPL debut with Mumbai Indians, Suhana was there to support KKR. Both Sachin Tendulkars and Shah Rukh Khans daughters were seen in their respective team jerseys, cheering on the players from the stands.

Since women apparently cannot go about their way, living their lives and minding their business, without being pitched against each other and reduced to their appearances, a Twitter user decided to compare Sara and Suhanas looks and dissed the latter. People have been quick to call him out on the sexist tweet. Many have also criticised Indian societys obsession with fair skin and the tendency to equate it with beauty.

There has been a deluge of uproar against the offensive tweet.

the colourism is alive & thriving in this country https://t.co/50te3QuIKc k (@krownnist) April 16, 2023

i only see two young women with heavy generational wealth minding their business while a colourist dumbass stays obsessed with them on twt https://t.co/e68BoZUFIr s. (@yourastrogf) April 16, 2023

I see two pretty pretty females and a very disgusting mindset along w it https://t.co/ts7G699TD4 e |rcb ftw (@lullabiestiie) April 16, 2023

And when when they go for surgeries and skin whitening , you guys troll them by calling plastic like you guys do with nysa,its society who force them to change themself according to society beauty standard , glad suhana didnt go for skin whitening like other bollywood people https://t.co/ILuRdNKkbZ 1999 (@maygodbless_all) April 17, 2023

Indians still think fair skin is epitome of beauty or whatever. I'm not even shocked ykw, I have experienced this throughout my whole life and I still do :)) https://t.co/kg2GwiE0Jj Manishita|Succession spoilers (@imanishita) April 16, 2023

Wth is this! People literally judging someone by their looks just for some likes and reach? Like really who are you to compare their beauty? Everyone is beautiful in their own way! Shame on this kind of people !#MIvKKR https://t.co/HzWNR4XCm3 woogly woops (@SanyalAishwarya) April 16, 2023

Just another day of casual misogyny on Indian Twitter.

Read all the Latest Buzz News here
Amid forecasts of impending heat waves across the country, numerous state governments have issued advisories and asked schools and institutions to either stay closed or modify their schedules to ensure the safety of their students during the ongoing summer season. In many parts of India, the temperature has already surpassed 40 degrees Celsius. IMD defines a day as a heatwave day when the peak temperature hits at least 40 degrees Celsius and is at least 4.5 degrees above average.

General guidelines for schools during the scorching heat include ensuring mandatory water breaks for students along with proper access to drinking water. Here are the states that have issued directives, requested the closure of schools, or altered the timing of classes in preparation for impending heat waves across India.

Maharashtra State Board Schools to Remain Shut

All schools affiliated with the state board in Maharashtra will remain closed from April 21 due to heat waves, the government has said. Schools of other boards can take a decision about closure after considering their curriculum and activities, the School Education Department said in its order.

Government And Private School Timings Changed In Varanasi

The sweltering temperatures in the state of Uttar Pradesh have led to school timings being modified in Varanasi. Schools in Varanasi will now begin at 7 AM and go on until 11:30 AM. This timing will be applicable to government-run schools as well as private schools.

Delhi Government Guidelines for school assemblies

The Delhi government issued a circular instructing all schools recognised by the Directorate of Education in Delhi to take precautions to ensure the safety of their students all through the upcoming summer season. Schools have been advised to ensure that no student assemblies take place during the afternoon shift due to temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celsius.

West Bengal Schools, Colleges Shut down till April 22

Due to the extreme heat wave in the state, West Bengals schools, colleges, and universities have been directed to remain closed from Monday, April 17, to Saturday, April 22, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said. The summer break had previously been pre-poned by the state administration owing to the extreme heat. Summer break will begin on May 2 in West Bengal government and aided schools, instead of on May 24 as previously scheduled.

Also read| Noida Authorities Mandate Masks, Social Distancing For Schools, Colleges Over Rising Covid Cases

Patna Schools Revise School Hours Amid Heatwave

The Patna district administration ordered all school authorities in Bihars capital to change their schedules after the Met department issued a warning about extreme temperatures during the ensuing few days. The guidelines stated that the district administration forbids academic activity for any classes (including those in preschools and Anganwadi centres) in any district schools after 10.45 AM starting April 19.

Odisha Schools To Begin Morning Classes From 7 AM

Given the extreme heat in the region, the state government of Odisha has given district collectors permission to call for revisions in the timings of school.

Classes in the morning for students in Classes 1 through 12 are now scheduled from 7 AM to 11.30 AM throughout the state. The state government also issued an order that directed all schools and Anganwadi centres to remain shut on April 19 and 20 due to the extreme temperatures.

Tripura CM Announces Closure of Schools from April 18

Manik Shaha, the chief minister of Tripura, has ordered that all government schools in the state be closed from April 18 to April 23 owing to extreme heat. Shaha has also requested that private schools be closed for the same period of time owing to the heat wave.

Jharkhand Govt Changes School Timings

The state government of Jharkhand announced a change in school hours starting April 19 to April 25. According to a directive from the education department, children who are in kindergarten through class five will attend classes from 7 AM to 11 AM, while senior students will continue their classes until noon.

Meghalaya Schools to Shut Down from April 19-21

Due to soaring temperatures above 37 degrees Celsius, the West Garo Hills district administration in Meghalaya has ordered that all primary, upper primary, secondary, and higher secondary schools in the region be closed for three days from April 1921. The decision was made to ensure the safety of students, teachers and staff.

Read all the Latest Education News here
The answer key for the Karnataka Secondary School Leaving Certificate Examination (SSLC) or Class 10 public exams 2023 is out. Students who appeared for the SSLC exam, conducted by the Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (KSEEB), can check their subject-wise answer key 2023 from the official website- kseeb.karnataka.gov.in. The Karnataka Secondary School Leaving Certificate Exam was held from March 31 to April 15.

The Karnataka board recently informed that the Karnataka Class 10 evaluation process will begin on April 21. Once the evaluation is done, KSEEB will declare the result date and time for the SSLC exam. Students will be able to check their Class 10 public exams results online, when released. Following the release of the results online, students may collect their SSLC marksheet from their schools.

Karnataka SSLC Answer Key 2023: How to Download

Step 1: Go to the official website of KSEEB at kseeb.karnataka.gov.in.

Step 2: Search and click on the link provided for SSLC March April 2023 Key Answers and Objections

Step 3: On the new window, look for the link available for SSLC Answer Key 2023

Step 4: Select the subject and download the answer key.

Step 5: The Karnataka SSLC Answer Key 2023 will appear on the screen.

Step 6: Save and keep a printout of the SSLC Answer Key for future references.

Along with the SSLC exam answer key, KSEEB has opened the objection-raising window to these answer keys. One can raise objections against the SSLC answer key only through the official portal.

Karnataka SSLC 2023: Marking and Grading Scheme

- Marks from 563-625 will secure 90-100 percentage and receive A+ grade.

- Marks from 500-562 will secure 80-90 percentage and receive A grade.

- Marks from 438-499 will secure 70-80 percentage and receive B+ grade.

- Marks from 375-437 will secure 60-70 percentage and receive B grade.

- Marks from 313-374 will secure 50-60 percentage and receive C+ grade.

- Marks from 219-312 will secure 35  50 percentage and receive C grade.

About 8 lakh students had appeared for the Karnataka SSLC exams this year. While last year, the Karnataka Class 10 result was released on May 19. A total of 8.73 lakh students had appeared for the SSLC examination in 2022 and the overall pass percentage of candidates was 85.63 percent.

Read all the Latest Education News here
In December, SUNY Erie Community College president David Balkin resigned, two months after the college launched an investigation into a confrontation he had with a library staffer over a proposal to move the school's library to the Buffalo and Erie County Library downtown.

In his place, ECC named provost Adiam Tsegai as the school's interim leader, and she is a candidate to replace Balkin permanently.

David Balkin is out as president of SUNY-Erie Community College Balkin and the college are parting ways seven weeks after he was suspended by the ECC Board of Trustees while it investigated an ECC staff member's complaint against him  and only 11 months after he took the job.

Meanwhile, last summer, two different ECC employees filed complaints against Tsegai for incidents similar to the one that led to Balkins departure.

Both complainants said Tsegai berated them in a threatening manner that created a hostile work environment. Both filed their complaints with ECCs Human Resources department, which were investigated by an HR Equal Employment Opportunity investigator, per ECCs usual procedure.

Earlier this year, both complainants received letters from the ECC investigator informing them their complaints were deemed founded.

But instead of being sanctioned in any way, Tsegai was effectively promoted by the board of trustees.

Since then, ECCs vice president of human resources and the HR officer who investigated the complaints about Tsegai both resigned.

The situation has current and former administrators and staff at ECC concerned about the colleges future. The questions take on greater importance if Tsegai pursues the same job Balkin lost after an employee complaint about hostile treatment.

Last week, the Administrators Association of ECC sent a letter to the board of trustees and County Executive Mark Poloncarz outlining the poor working conditions and mistreatment of our members by the Colleges current Leadership.

According to a copy of the letter obtained by The Buffalo News, many administrative union members report their work environment is intimidating, hostile, and abusive, interfering with their ability to do their jobs.

The letter asks the board to define and share a clear action plan to address our concerns within the next ten business days.

The letter also referenced the formal complaints against Tsegai and added, With the recent departure of ECCs VP of HR and the Colleges internal investigator, our members are fearful of more retaliation from the (officer in charge), which has already led to multiple recent resignations.

Two people who filed complaints about Tsegai received letters from former HR investigator Tami Janocsko that their claims were deemed founded. Both asked not to be identified because they fear retaliation.

ECCs VP for Human Resources, Cynthia Buckley, resigned in February. Janocsko resigned early this month. Neither responded to interview requests from The Buffalo News.

The complaints about Tsegai both involved employees who say she erupted at them for challenging a decision.

ECC's Balkin held talks about moving City Campus library before his suspension In the weeks leading up to SUNY Erie Community College President David Balkins suspension with pay last week, Balkin had been exploring moving the library at ECCs City Campus into space at the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library three blocks away.

One described Tsegai as going ballistic and pointing her finger in my face in a threatening manner. The other said Tsegai berated and chewed me out viciously in front of other employees and threatened my job multiple times.

In January, both complainants received letters from Janocsko saying their complaints were deemed founded. Neither received any follow-up as to how the complaint would be resolved before Buckley and then Janocsko resigned.

ECC employees say they have been advised that HR is now being handled by Tsegai, while also serving as provost and acting president. ECC has not yet launched a search for its next president.

In a joint statement by ECC's Board of Trustees and Tsegai, the board said it "affirms its support of, and confidence in, Dr. Tsegais leadership of the College."

It also said that the "Board also affirms its commitment to fostering the most effective educational environment possible, while ensuring that employees and students engage in a professional, respectful setting free from legally-prohibited harassment or discrimination."

Tsegai said in the statement that she is "committed to my role at the College and will continue to serve and lead with integrity, courage and optimism."

In a statement, Poloncarz' press secretary, Peter Anderson, said the county will review the allegations raised by the administrators' union and respond "where appropriate."

"We cant speak to how previous HR complaints have been handled by the College or the Board of Trustees other internal deliberations," Anderson said. "We can confirm that at SUNY Eries request, Erie County did assist the Board of Trustees in hiring an outside expert to review the Dr. Balkin matter."

ECC President David Balkin suspended with pay amid investigation The SUNY Erie Community College Board of Trustees voted to suspend the college's president, David Balkin, with pay while an investigation of allegations made against him is undertaken.

Anderson also said that the firm that conducted ECC's last presidential search has offered to do another search for free.

Tsegai was among four finalists for the president job at the end of a long national search in 2021 that resulted in Balkin being selected. She was serving as acting provost at the time, and after naming Balkin president, the board of trustees appointed her provost the day before he took over.

Over the few months they worked together, Balkin and Tsegai seemed to have a good rapport. At a July 2022 trustee meeting, Balkin said he relied on Tsegai because she has her finger on the pulse of every faculty member.

From the outset, the board hired Balkin as a troubleshooter charged with getting the ailing college off a path to financial ruin. Balkin had previously saved a community college in South Bend, Ind., from potential bankruptcy, and Poloncarz and ECC trustees wanted someone who would make the tough decisions that would put ECC back in the black.

Within a couple months of taking office, Balkin began implementing recommendations from a college consulting firm to right-size ECC operations to reflect years of declining enrollment.

ECC reverses direction on former leader's initiatives for IT, staff cuts and more Since David Balkin resigned on Dec. 19, administrators in his cabinet, longtime faculty and staff and the faculty union have asked ECC Provost and Officer-in-Charge Adiam Tsegai and the board of trustees to revisit some of his decisions.

He set out to erase a $9 million deficit by offering retirement incentives that eliminated 60 ECC positions, then made layoffs that cut 90 more. He also announced plans to reconfigure the colleges three-campus model, and discontinued several low-enrolled programs at ECC South Campus, leading to rumors he planned to close that campus entirely.

Although its membership took less of a hit than the other three unions representing ECC employees, the Faculty Federation of ECC took issue with Balkins cuts. According to meeting minutes provided to The Buffalo News, the union discussed picketing and voting no confidence in Balkin at an emergency meeting in May, and reported, We are already at an impasse with him.

In the fall, faculty and students learned Balkin was exploring relocating ECCs City Campus library to available space in the downtown public library three blocks away. On Oct. 19, a small group of students went to Balkins City Campus office and told him about a petition to oppose closing the library. Balkin said at the time that he had no intention of closing a library and was merely exploring potential options for consolidation.

It was reportedly after that meeting that Balkin had the exchange with the librarian who lodged the complaint against him.

Balkins suspension came days later, at a Board of Trustees meeting that went routinely until ECC Board of Trustees Chairman Jeffrey Stone called for the board to go into executive session to discuss a personnel matter.

The board emerged to announce Balkin would be suspended with pay while it hired an objective third party, attorney Amy Habib Rittling, to investigate the matter to avoid any appearance of bias. The board also appointed Tsegai as officer in charge as of Balkin's suspension.

Two months later, the board approved Balkins separation from the college. In February it gave Tsegai the title of acting president.

"The significance of this role is that, as Acting President, she will assume and be empowered with all of the responsibilities and duties of a campus president," the board reported on ECC's website. "In addition, this title allows Dr. Tsegai to apply and be considered for the position of permanent president if she so chooses, as opposed to an interim president, which indicates an individual who is temporarily filling such a role."

.

Since Tsegai took over as officer in charge and now acting president, the college and the board of trustees have reversed course on several Balkin initiatives, including a move to replace a faulty computerized planning system with a more reliable system used by the majority of other SUNY campuses.

Tsegai is an ECC alum who went on to the University at Buffalo and earned a PhD in educational and leadership policy. She worked her way up the ranks at Bryant and Stratton College from 2002 to 2018, when she joined ECC as dean of engineering and technologies.

In January 2021, she was promoted to associate vice president for academic affairs of health sciences, engineering and technologies by then acting president William Reuter. In July 2021 she was named interim provost, then provost after Balkin got the president job.
India and Singapore are set to tie up to explore possibilities of exchange of best practices focused on integrating skilling and re-skilling in school curriculum and vocational studies into mainstream education during the discussions between the two countries to be held in the upcoming series of events ahead of the G20 education working group meeting in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, between April 22 and 27, said officials in central government.

According to the education ministry officials, one of the important sessions during the meeting would be on school systems and partnering with the Singapore government for learning the best practices from one another.

These are precursor events to be held ahead of the third education working group meeting on the theme Future of Work.

The fourth and final working group meeting will be held in Pune, Maharashtra, between June 19 and 21 on the theme Foundational Numeracy and Literacy (FLN). The first two meetings were held earlier this year at IIT-Madras, Chennai, and Amritsar, Punjab, respectively.

We will be having a workshop with representatives of the Singapore government on April 25 where the breakout session would be the integration of skills into school education curriculum. Though we have been doing it under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) as an optional subject for classes 9 and 10, and as a compulsory subject for classes 10 and 11, now with the new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, we have to introduce skilling from class 6 onwards, said Sanjay Kumar, secretary, school education.

The idea is to scale up efforts to create an environment where there is a demand for vocational education. This is where we will take on best practices from each other, he said.

The NEP highlights that by 2025, at least 50% of learners through the school and higher education system shall have exposure to vocational education, for which a clear action plan with targets and timelines will be developed.

Atul K Tiwari, secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), said Singapore has done considerable work in the skilling, re-skilling, and upskilling sectors. The emphasis is on creating a system where vocational studies are part of mainstream education, from school curriculum up to higher education, he said.

The discussions will also include equipping children with a range of future skills to set them on a course of lifelong learning, he added.

The precursor events are being organised in collaboration with various higher education institutions and industry partners including IIT Bhubaneswar, IIM Sambalpur, Central University, NIT, IMMT Bhubaneswar, Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, Deloitte, CII, and USIBC.

Also, 2023 being the International Year of Millets, a food festival showcasing tribal millets and local cuisines would be organised for G20 delegates and participants.

Read all the Latest Education News here
In the 1999 Assembly Elections, Karnataka BJP stalwart BS Yediyurappa suffered his first electoral defeat from his fiefdom Shikaripura. His then right hand man KS Eshwarappa also met with the same fate in Shivamogga.

One of the founders of the BJP in Karnataka and a Lingayat leader, BB Shivappa, had won from Sakleshpura in Hassan district and the BJP came a distant second to winning SM Krishna-led Congress in the state.

The party met to elect the leader of the opposition in Bengaluru a few days after the election results. Natural choice was Shivappa, who was senior even to BSY. Then, the rising star in the BJP and Union Cabinet minister Ananthkumar, who was also backing the idea of making veteran Shivappa the BJP legislative party leader in public, was secretly planning to install someone else as the Leader of Opposition (LoP) to keep the party in his control.

But an alarmed Yediyurappa went ballistic in the party meeting, and opposed Shivappas name tooth and nail. BSY was worried about his political future and did not allow Shivappa to lead the party in the Assembly.

Ananthkumar quietly approved it. Together BSY and Ananthkumar made a surprise announcement making a second time MLA, mild mannered, hitherto unknown Jagadish Shettar as the LoP. Even Shettar did not expect that kind an overnight elevation. In just 24 hours, from a nobody, Shettar became a somebody in BJP and Karnataka politics.

Luck always played a major role in shaping Shettars political fortunes in later years.

As the LoP, Shettar was not a success during his first term. His junior position and lack of experience were quiet visible. The SM Krishna government had several stalwarts in the Assembly like MY Ghorpade, KH Ranganath, Mallikarjuna Kharge, HC Srikantaiah, Kagodu Thimmappa and many others. Shettar was a novice.

But Shettar could complete his full term and made a name for himself as a decent man who could rise above party politics.

In the 2004 Assembly elections, Congress lost. The Assembly was hung and the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition government came to power under Dharam Singh and Siddaramaiah. BSY had returned to the Assembly and did not want Shettar to continue as the LoP. Karnatakas political maverick S Bangarappa had joined the party and wanted to be the state president.

Once again alarmed by this, BSY rushed to New Delhi to meet Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani to prevent that. His choice was KS Eshwarappa. But as a compromise between warring factions, party high command appointed Shettar as BJP Karnataka president.

Shettar familys staunch Jana Sangh background helped him in getting all important posts in the state.

In early 2006, the HD Kumaraswamy toppled his own JDS coalition government and became the CM, joining hands with BSY of the BJP, making him the deputy CM.

Shettar became a Cabinet minister in that government. In 2008, BSY led the BJP to its first victory in the South. With the help of a few independent MLAs, he became the chief minister. But Shettar had a shock. He was expecting an important Cabinet berth, but he was made the Assembly Speaker. An upset Shettar, reluctantly accepted it. A year later, he joined hands with mining barons of Bellary Reddys and led a revolt against the BSY government.

After LK Advanis mediation, Shettar was brought back as a Cabinet minister. But his relationship with BSY had strained. When BSY was forced to quit as CM in July 2011 on mining corruption allegations, he ignored Shettar, and made DV Sadananda Gowda the chief minister.

Eleven months later, the same BSY unseated Gowda over some serious differences and made Shettar the CM in a coup.

Under Shettars leadership, the BJP was routed in the 2013 Assembly elections mainly because of BSYs Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP), which took away 10% of BJP votes.

When Siddaramaiah became the Congress chief minister, a few months later, Shettar became the LoP for the second time.

When BSY toppled the JDS-Congress government in 2019, no one was expecting Shettar to join his Cabinet as a minister. But he lobbied for it and joined. He was kept out of Basavaraj Bommai cabinet and Shettar maintained that it was his decision. But his decline in the state BJP had started with it.

After being denied seventh consecutive nomination for the upcoming Karnataka elections, Shettar held several meetings with his supporters, and, in a shocking move, joined his ideological rival, Congress.

With Lingayats reportedly getting tired of the current BJP leadership, Congress hopes Shettar can be a game changer.

A non-controversial man, Shettar is known for his humility and accessibility.

After joining the Congress, he attacked the current leadership in the state. Some vested interests have hijacked the BJP in Karnataka. They are destroying the party. It is no longer the BJP, we built.

Shettar maintains that he still respects Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Ami Shah and BJP national president JP Nadda and Yediyurappa.

Shettars uncle was a Jana Sangh MLA in 1967 and his father became the first Jana Sangh Mayor of Hubli-Dharwad in 1977.

Most top Lingayat leaders of Karnataka, irrespective of their party affiliation, are related by marriage. Jagadish Shettar is related to top Lingayat leaders of Congress MB Patil and Shamanur Shivashankarappa. Patil is key in getting Shettar into the Congress folds.

A born RSS and a Jana Sangh member joining the Congress in less than a month before the 2023 assembly elections is the most unexpected development in the Karnataka politics. Shettar has taken a huge gamble, if it pays off, he can emerge as the Lingayat face of Congress.

Read all the Latest India News here
Prime Minister Narendra Modi cant do magic in Karnataka, senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told News18, insisting that the Congress win is clear as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has done hate politics in the state.

In a detailed interview at his Bengaluru residence on Monday, Siddaramaiah said both state Congress present DK Shivakumar and he are Chief Minister aspirants in Karnataka. There is no fight between Shivakumar and me, he said, adding, The newly elected MLAs and the Congress High Command will decide who will be the CM.

ALSO READ | Opposites Attract Power? Siddaramaiah, DKS & Their Love-Hate Relationship in Ktaka Congress

He said that senior BJP leaders such as Jagdish Shettar and Laxman Savadi joining the Congress was an indication of which way the wind was blowing in the state. We will win around 150 seats, the former CM claimed.

Siddaramaiah also said the Congress will get considerable Lingayat support in these elections as they were now understanding the partys ideology.

He accused the BJP of doing hate politics. Why have they raised halal, azan and hijab issues? These issues are not relevant and it will backfire on the BJP, Siddaramaiah said, also rejecting the BJP charge that he had appeased the Muslim community as the CM. He also said the corruption of the BJP has seeped into the minds of the people of Karnataka and they have made up their mind to throw out this government.

Edited Excerpts:

Do you think the confidence in the Congress camp is very high? We saw Rahul Gandhis rally in Kolar, do you think it is based on some solid backing and support or is there a sense of overconfidence?

We are not overconfident because we have seen so many elections. This is the 14th election that I am facing. I know the ground reality, I know the pulse of the people. This time, the Congress will come back to power with a comfortable majority on its own. I am very confident, it is not overconfidence.

Former BJP CM Jagdish Shettar and another former BJP deputy CM Laxman Savadi has joined you. Is this an indicator of which way the wind is blowing for the Congress?

That is an indication as well. Otherwise, why would Savadi or Shettar, Puttanna and very senior people join our party? They know very well that the Congress will come to power. That is why they have joined the Congress. There is also a wave in our favour.

ALSO READ | Show of Unity: Siddaramaiah And Shivakumar Co-star in Congresss Karnataka Poll Plan Video

How much will the Shettar factor help the Congress?

He is not only a North Karnataka leader. He is a senior leader in Karnataka and one of the senior-most Lingayat leaders in the state next to B S Yediyurappa, not Basavaraj Bommai. He was a CM, two-time Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka assembly, and a deputy speaker. He held several portfolios. There are also no allegations against Shettar even when he was the CM or as a minister. I know Shettar very well because he was the CM when I was the Leader of the Opposition.

We are not going to raise national issues. Local issues are important because it is an election to the state legislature. People are concerned about their problems. That is why we are only raising the issues concerning the vulnerable sections of society in the state.

Now your adversary has become your friend?

Yes. As the Opposition Leader, I have attacked the BJP government, but he is a very good man. He is a gentleman. It pained him. A man who has won six times, having held many senior posts, was denied a ticket without any reason. It was a surprise to everybody in Karnataka. The BJP promised him everything, from Governorship to Rajya Sabha to Union minister. At least they (BJP) should have told him the reason before denying him a ticket. They should have spoken to him and convinced him. It was very bad. He is a self-respecting man.

Before Shettars entry, the Lingayats backed the BJP. Do you think you will also be getting the Lingayat votes this election?

Yes. This is because a considerable number of Lingayats will support the Congress. They (BJP) removed Yediyurappa as the CM unceremoniously, and now Jagdish Shettar has been denied a ticket, and Eshwarappa has been denied a ticketpeople are watching all these developments. I dont know why they denied Shettar.

This time, the BJP has gone all out to woo the Vokkaligas and the Congress is wooing the Lingayats. If you see the voting pattern, the Vokkaligas have largely supported the Congress and JDS. Where do you see the Lingayats this time?

They (Lingayats) are slowly understanding the ideology of the Congress. The Congress is a secular party. The one that is committed to social justice and democracy. It is committed to constitutional values.

It is being said that Shettar could be a misfit in the Congress. He comes from a family that has been working closely with the Jan Sangh

It is their (BJP) statement, a politically motivated one. Shettars uncle was an MLA from the Jan Sangh, his father has been a municipal member from Hubballi-Dharwad five times, and he himself has been elected five times as an MLA. When he was denied a ticket, is it not heart-burning? That is why he took a decision. Shivakumar, Randeep Singh Surjewala, M B Patil and I contacted him and told him that if he comes to the Congress, we will respect him and treat him like a family member in the party.

There is a fight. I am not saying that it is a walkover. At the same time, I am not overconfident. An election is an election, you have to approach the voters, do door-to-door campaigning, and apprise the voters of the four guarantees we promised. In all 224 constituencies, our workers have distributed the guarantee cards with the four promises that both Shivakumar and I have signed. The people of Karnataka have faith in the Congress.

The Congress has deliberately kept the focus on local issues such as corruption even during your campaign

We are not going to raise national issues. Local issues are important because it is an election to the state legislature. People are concerned about their problems. That is why we are only raising the issues concerning the vulnerable sections of society in the state.

Will the fight in Varuna be tough? People say that Siddaramaiah should not take Varuna for granted

Of all the 14 elections I have fought till now, I have not taken any for granted.

How do you see this contest?

There is a fight. I am not saying that it is a walkover. At the same time, I am not overconfident. An election is an election, you have to approach the voters, do door-to-door campaigning, and apprise the voters of the four guarantees we promised. In all 224 constituencies, our workers have distributed the guarantee cards with the four promises that both Shivakumar and I have signed. The people of Karnataka have faith in the Congress. From 2013-2018, we fulfilled all promises made in the manifesto. We have delivered extra as well. That is why the people trust us. The four guarantees made a big impact.

#Exclusive | "There is no Modi tsunami. Corruption of BJP has seeped in minds of people and they have made up their mind to throw out this government": Congress leader @siddaramaiah speaks with @AmanKayamHai_ & @Rohini_Swamy on #KarnatakaElections2023#Congress #BJP #Karnataka pic.twitter.com/RHpJO8P3H6 News18 (@CNNnews18) April 17, 2023

The BJP says that Mr Modi will come and turn the election around for the BJP

Modi cannot do magic here in Karnataka. Why has Modi not done magic in Punjab, Delhi, West Bengal, and more recently Himachal Pradesh? In all states, it is not possible. Modi went and spoke in HP as well and addressed many rallieswhat happened?

The BJP calls it the Modi Tsunami

There is no Modi tsunami at all. Otherwise, all the states in the country should have had BJP governments.

Mr Modi will come to Karnataka in the last week of April. The Congresss whole campaign against the BJP is about the 40 percent corruption and PayCM. Modi and the BJP are saying in Delhi that the Congresss history is corruption. He is going to the UPA days..

I am asking Narendra Modi jiyou are in power, you are the PM and have been in power for the past nine years. Dont just make allegations, punish those who are involved in corruption, or have indulged in corruption, you punish them all. If you dont punish them, nobody will believe your words. In Karnataka, the contractors association has written a letter 1.5 years ago. If Modi is not encouraging corruption, then why is he quiet? RUPSA, an association of unaided educational institutions, has written a letter alleging corruption. An ADGP-level officer is in jail in the police SB inspector recruitment case, Eshwarappa resigned after one Santhosh Patil committed suicide because Eshwarappa demanded 40 per cent commission.

I have never indulged in appeasement. Muslims are citizens of this country. I respect Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jains, and all other communities because I treat them as humans. Not as Muslims or Hindus. I have not withdrawn the cases against the PFI. Let the BJP produce the orders where I have withdrawn the cases..Why did they raise the hijab issue, why the azaan or the halal issue? The Lingayats wanted to be included in the 2A category of the OBC. They never asked to abolish the Muslim quota and divide it between Vokkaligas and Lingayats. Is this not hate politics?

Do you think corruption has seeped into the mindset of the people against the BJP?

Definitely. It has gone into the minds of the people. The people have decided to overthrow this government in the next election.

One more charge against the Congress is against you. A senior BJP leader told us that Mr Siddaramaiah is the leader of the Muslims and Muslim appeasement. How do you react?

I have never indulged in appeasement. Muslims are citizens of this country. They are also human beings. I respect Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jains, and all other communities because I treat them as humans. Not as Muslims or Hindus.

ALSO READ | Breach 50% Caste Reservation, Make Caste Census Public, First Cabinet to Fulfil 4 Promises: RaGa in Kolar

Was withdrawing the cases against the Popular Front of India (PFI) part of the appeasement?

Thats not true at all. I have not withdrawn the cases against the PFI. Let the BJP produce the orders where I have withdrawn the cases. There must be some orders They should produce it, why are they not doing so? They are only making allegations.

The BJP says they are withdrawing the four per cent reservation as it is a classic case of appeasement by the former Congress government

It is not appeasement. It is a Constitutional right given to Muslims. It was given in May 1995. That is 28 years ago. Has it been challenged in a court of law? Is there a judgment against it in the High Court or Supreme Court or the Backward Class Commission? Is there any report?

ALSO READ | Once Or Twice Is Enough: Karnataka Congress Leaders Want Rahul to Be Vocal for Local Issues, Not Adani

The SC court has also stayed it 

Yes. Why has the BJP decided that? It is not the case for the Vokkaligas or the Lingayats. The Vokkaligas wanted reservation according to their population. Their population is 12%, now they are 14% and are seeking 12% reservation. The Lingayats wanted to be included in the 2A category of the Other Backward Class (OBC). They never asked to abolish the Muslim quota and divide it between Vokkaligas and Lingayats. Is this not hate politics?

You are saying the BJP is doing hate politics.

A 100%. Why did they raise the hijab issue, why the azaan or the halal issue? They are not at all relevant.

Are these (hijab, halal, azaan) going to be an issue in this election?

Not at all. It will backfire on the BJP.

B S Yediyurappa has been advising the BJP that these are not the issues and saying that repeatedly.

It is not an issue at all.

There seems to be some disappointment that you have not been given the seat of Kolar. Does it bother you?

I had promised the people of Kolar that if the high command agrees, I will contest. I told the people that they demanded that I should contest Kolar, so it will be fulfilled only if the high command agrees. I was not asking the high command to give me a second seat. I never asked for it.

Why did the high command not agree to you contesting from Kolar?

The high command is sure that I will win from Varuna itself. When I am winning from Varuna, why deny an opportunity to another person?

Was it not that local leaders were working against you and there was anti-incumbency. The surveys also showed that you were not doing well there

I won twice from VarunaMy village falls in that constituency. My son won from that constituency. I also won by a margin of 30,000 from the seat. Varuna is my native constituency.

In the Kolar rally, we saw the billboard with a picture of Shivakumar and you and the Congress symbol of the hand in between. Who is the CM face of Congress? Even the BJP says that you are the mass leader in the Congress

I am also an aspirant, D K Shivakumar is also an aspirant. Ultimately the newly elected MLAs will have to elect the leader of the legislator party. Based on the opinion of the newly elected MLAs, the high command has to decide. That is a democratic procedure.

There is no fight between Shivakumar and you?

There is no fight. He is also an aspirant, so am I. Let the newly elected MLAs decide.

Why has Modi not done magic in Punjab, Delhi, West Bengal, and more recently Himachal Pradesh? Modi went and spoke in HP as well and addressed many rallieswhat happened? There is no Modi tsunami at all. Otherwise, all the states in the country should have had BJP governmentsI am asking Narendra Modi jiyou are in power, you are the PM and have been in power for the past nine years. Dont just make allegations, punish those who are involved in corruption, or have indulged in corruption, you punish them all.

Rahul Gandhi also said that he is very happy that the Karnataka top leadership is fighting this election jointly.

100%. We will get more than 150 seats this time.

Gandhi also said that agar kam aaya toh (if you get less than the majority), the BJP will take away or steal our government if you get less number of seats.

That is because the BJP launched Operation Kamala twice. For the first time, the name Operation Kamala came into force then.

ALSO READ | No Matter Who the Candidate, Vote For Congress: Ex-Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah In Badami

You have also launched Operation Hasta

We are not doing that. People are joining us voluntarily and we are welcoming them. Operation Hasta and Operation Kamala are different.

Read all the Latest Politics News here
Amid speculations of Congress MLA R Akhanda Srinivas Murthy possibly switching sides after he resigned as a member of the Karnataka Assembly after being denied a party ticket, BJP leader Tejasvi Surya, in an interview with CNN-News18 on Monday alleged a connection between Congress and SDPI" behind Muthys decision and claimed that being secular is not sufficient in Congress, as one must also hold an anti-Hindu" stance.

Congress MLA R Akhanda Srinivas Murthy who represented Pulakeshi Nagar Assembly constituency went to Sirsi in Uttara Kannada district and tendered his resignation to the Speaker of the Karnataka Assembly, Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri on Sunday.

Speaking to CNN-News18, the Bengaluru South MP said, In Congress, its not enough to be secular, you have to be anti-Hindu."

Surya claimed that Srinivas Murthy was denied a ticket because he protected other communities in a minority seat and was not anti-Hindu. Akhanda Srinivas Murthy was not given a ticket because he is not Anti-Hindu. He protected other communities in minority seats and thats why he is denied a ticket," he said.

According to Surya, despite winning with a massive lead of 18,000 votes in the last election, Srinivas Murthy was denied a ticket ahead of the Karnataka assembly elections.

He also accused prospective allies SDPI and Congress as the reason behind Murthys ticket denial ahead of the state assembly elections.

The claims came after senior BJP leader and Union Minister of State Shobha Karnadlaje alleged that as Chief Minister of the Congress government, Siddaramaiah assisted the Popular Front of India (PFI) and Karnataka Forum for Dignity (KFD) by filing B reports on cases against them, and released them from jail, in order to engage in adjustment politics" with the SDPI and cater to the interests of a specific community.

On Sunday, Murthy told reporters that he resigned from his post in the Assembly and not from Congress. He further stated that he plans to consult with his supporters in order to determine his next steps.

Murthy, who was a victim of the DJ Halli and KG Halli violence in August 2020, in which his house was completely burnt down, said that even after the incident, people continued to live with him like family.

He alleged that those who were arrested in connection with the violence, and later released, were responsible for denying him a party ticket.

Murthys resignation from the state assembly has triggered speculations that he might join the BJP.

Read all the Latest Politics News here
Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and Rani Mukerjis film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was a super blockbuster film of 1998. From the songs to the storyline, the movie still receives appreciation. The characters of SRK, Kajol and Rani still resonate with the youth but do you know that director Karan Johar first wrote Tinas role keeping Twinkle Khanna in mind, but she refused to work in the film? Later, it was offered to Rani.

Recently, an old interview of Twinkle Khanna has resurfaced on the internet where she has made many shocking revelations related to the film and about her life which is currently garnering everyones attention.

In 2018, Kuch Kuch Hota completed 20 years. On this occasion, the films director-producer Karan Johar organised a grand celebration in Mumbai, which was attended by many Bollywood stars. Twinkle Khanna also attended this party. During this time, Twinkle openly responded to several questions asked by the media and surprised everyone with her out-of-the-box revelations.

During the event, when Twinkle was asked if she had any regrets for leaving Kuch Kuch Hota, she said, To be honest, I initially had no regrets that Kuch Kuch Hota has gone out of my hands. Wasnt sad. However, now when I watch the videos of all the awards that the film won after it became a blockbuster. I feel regret. Both of us were sitting on the terrace and Karan was narrating his story, crying a lot while narrating it. Karan appeared to be deeply involved in his narrative. But due to sudden reasons, I was not able to do the film."

However, I think Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and Rani did absolute justice to his story. He made the film splendidly and everybody worked effectively and the film turned into a hit," Twinkle further said. She added that it was good that she was not in the film as it would not have been a super hit.

Twinkle also shared that she frequently got insulted after Kuch Hota Hai turned into a super hit. Both her mother and her husband, Akshay Kumar, also taunted her. Recalling an incident, the actress said, I remember one day my mother (Dimple Kapadia) asked me, Do you know what has been the most special thing in the film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai? I responded by saying, the movies songs." To this Dimple said no" and added that the best thing about the film was that her daughter was not in it. Twinkle added that when she went to her husband Akshay to give any advice on the story of his films, he said, You dont give any advice you are the one who has not wanted to work in a film like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai".

Read all the Latest Bollywood News and Regional Cinema News here
Priyanka Chopra and Sophie Turner enjoyed watching their husbands perform together at the Jonas Brothers concert that was held in the Royal Albert Hall of London on Friday night. Visuals from the musical gig took social media abuzz quickly. Now, a photo of Chopra who is married to Nick Jonas alongside Turner who is wedded to Nicks brother Joe has begun circulating online. While the Citadel actress displayed her keen fashion sense in a chic yet dramatic outfit that featured patterns of brown and cream stripes all over it.

She layered the look with a furry jacket styling her dark tresses in loose curls pinned to one side. Meanwhile, the GOTs Queen in the North chose a floral pattern top paired with matching pants to attend the event. With highlighted cheeks, Turner left her sleek mid-parted hair open to complete her look. In the picture, the sisters-in-law can be seen smiling as they get clicked together backstage. Check out the photo here:

Just a day ago, Priyanka Chopra shared a series of photos and videos from her husbands musical gig. Several still sees her posing alongside Nick Jonas who looks dapper in a black casual suit. In one photo, Nick also holds their baby daughter Malti Marie on stage, another features Priyanka helping out her mom to get ready for the occasion. A video that summed up her post, captures the crowd at the sold-out arena enjoying and swaying to Jonas Brothers music. Take a look at it below:

Last time, the Jonas family publicly appeared together when the brothers got their stars included in the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was also the debut appearance of Malti Marie, wherein Chopra and Nick posed with their toddler daughter without hiding her face. The Jonas Brothers and their wives also lined up for a happy photograph which was shared online by Sophie Turner.

To see the hard work and love and light you boys bring to your music its an honor just to watch from the sidelines. After almost 20 years of hard work, you boys are so deserving of this. Im so lucky to count you as family. Im proud of you every day," she wrote alongside the post.

Priyanka Chopra is currently gearing up for the release of her much-anticipated web show Citadel alongside Richard Madden. Meanwhile, Turner will play the lead role in the television series Joan.

Read all the Latest Bollywood News and Regional Cinema News here
Nikki Tamboli set Instagram on fire with her latest photoshoot. The actress, who became a household name with her appearance in Bigg Boss 14 and Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi 11, took to Instagram and shared hot pictures from her recent sexy photo shoot. In the pictures, Nikki was seen wearing a black bodysuit and a pair of ripped pants.

However, the actress was seen lowering her pants and posing for the cameras. She had a sensual expression while she posed for the cameras. She shared these gorgeous photos with black heart emojis. The comments section was filled with comments from fans. While many called the shoot hot, a few dropped compliments such as gorgeous, so sexy and awesome.

Nikki had previously shared a picture from the same shoot along with a warning for her fans. Parental warning, look at me at your own risk," she wrote, sharing a solo picture from the shoot. Nikki often raises temperatures with her sultry posts. Fans shower her with love every time. She also often experiments with her fashion choices, trying different kinds of outfits.

Meanwhile, last year, Nikki Tambolis name cropped up during a probe into the Rs 200-crore extortion case involving conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar. In September 2022, a Delhi Police team took Nikki and one more actress inside the Tihar jail to recreate" their alleged meeting with conman Sukesh as part of a probe into the extortion case.

Nikki reportedly met Sukesh through Pinky Irani, who according to the Mumbai police was a close aide and friend of the conman. According to Nikkis statement, Pinky introduced her to Sukesh as Shekhar and mentioned him as a South Indian producer. Nikki reportedly met Sukesh on two occasions inside the Tihar Jail, in Delhi.

Read all the Latest Bollywood News and Regional Cinema News here
Telugu actor Sai Dharam Tej is currently on a promotional spree for his upcoming film Virupaksha. Ahead of its release, the 36-year-old attended the pre-release event of the film, organised in Andhra Pradeshs Eluru city at the CR Reddy College grounds on April 16. He was accompanied by the films writer Sukumar. In the event, while speaking about Virupaksha, Dharam Tej got emotional recalling his terrible bike accident, back in September 2021. Virupaksha marks his return to the big screen after a year-long hiatus, his last film being Republic, released on October 1, 2021.

According to a report by the Times of India, Dharam Tej, who was riding at high speed on his bike suffered severe injuries, forcing him to take a sabbatical from his work commitments. Speaking about the incident, the actor first expressed his love for his mother and his brother Viashnav Tej. After the accident when he was on the path of recovery and opened his eyes for the first time, he revealed that he felt a lump in his throat upon seeing his family.

The actor lamented that he was so overpowered by emotions that he could not even say I love you  to his mother or brother. He asked for forgiveness from his family, for putting them through this turbulent situation all for his recklessness.

Dharam Tej further admitted that initially, he was very sad about the unfortunate incident. But, later on, he made himself understand that it was a life challenge thrown at him which he successfully overcame. Addressing the crowd, he thanked his fans for their constant love and support during his difficult times. I struggled and suffered for it, but I got your love. No matter how difficult it is, I will continue to receive your love, he said.

The Chitralahari actor stated that he was sharing his story, not to gain sympathy but to inspire his admirers, many of whom were youngsters. He acknowledged that after the life-threatening accident, his perception of life was changed for the better. He wished to struggle more and work hard. On a concluding note, the Telugu actor urged the masses to always wear a helmet while riding bikes and take all the necessary precautions.

Helmed by debutante director Karthik Dandu, Virupaksha is slated to hit the big screen in five languages Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi. The mystic thriller is produced by BVSN Prasad, under the banners of Sri Venkateswara Cine Chitra and Sukumar Writings. Apart from Dharam Tej, Virupaksha also stars Samyukhta Menon as the female lead. The film will hit the silver screens on April 21.

Read all the Latest Bollywood News and Regional Cinema News here
Gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed received nine bullets while his brother Ashraf Ahmed received five bullets, injuring critical parts of their bodies, resulting in their instant deaths, revealed the post-mortem report of the deceased. Ahmed and Ashraf, who were in handcuffs, were shot dead by three men posing as journalists when they were answering reporters queries on Saturday while being escorted by police personnel to a medical college for a checkup in Uttar Pradeshs Prayagraj.

As per the duos postmortem report, Atiq (60) had three gunshot wounds in the head and six in other parts of the body including the neck, stomach and waist. While seven bullets penetrated the former BSP leaders body, two were found stuck inside.

Meanwhile, Ashraf had one gunshot wound on the face and four on other body parts. The report said that bullets hit critical parts of both brothers bodies, resulting in their immediate deaths.

As per the forensic team, a total of 20 empty cartridges were found at the spot where the duo were shot dead.

Conspiracy to Kill Atiq Was Hatched A Long Back

Police believe that a conspiracy to kill Atiq Ahmed was hatched a long time back, however, the attacks did not get a chance till now to put their plan in action due to high security, sources privy to the development to News18.

There was a plan in place to kill Atiq on March 26, when he was being brought to Prayagraj from Gujarats Sabarmati Jail. However, due to tight security, the assailants decided against putting their plan into action," said sources.

They further said that attackers have recceed all the areas including the court, hospital and police station, where Atiq and Ashraf were being taken, but they could not put their plan into action due to very tight security in these places.

After Atiq was brought to Praygraj, sources said the three assailants hatched a foolproof plan to pose as journalists in the crowd, as the media was the only one who could go near the brothers.

They added that the assailants had decided just to kill Atiq and Ashraf and not to shoot any police personnel or media persons.

The police suspect that the three assignments must have been trained to operate the automatic pistols used in the killing, as it is not easy to manoeuvre them as they could swing from side to side when the bullets are fired.

The assailants  Lavlesh Tiwari (22) of Banda, Mohit alias Sunny (23) of Hamirpur and Arun Maurya (18) of Kasganj  were arrested soon after the dramatic shootout that took place in full view of camera crews outside the Prayagraj hospital.

Tiwari was injured in the crossfire, which also hurt police personnel. The assailants posed as television journalists and fired at Ahmed and Ashraf at almost point-blank range.

On Sunday, the three assailants were presented in a district court, which remanded them in judicial custody for 14 days.

What Did Police Say?

According to the FIR, the three shooters told police that they killed the Ahmed brothers to make a name for themselves in the world of crime.

According to the FIR, the accused told police that they wanted to establish their identity in the world of crime by eliminating Ahmeds gang.

They also said they could not flee after the killings due to swift police action.

Police said the three assailants had joined a group of reporters who were trying to get sound bites from the Ahmed brothers. The men suddenly dropped their cameras and whipped out guns, they said.

UP Police Forms SIT To Probe Atiqs Murder

The Uttar Pradesh government has formed a three-member judicial commission to probe the killing of the brothers.

The commission will be headed by retired high court judge Arvind Kumar Tripathi. Retired judge Brijesh Kumar Soni and former Uttar Pradesh director general of police (DGP) Subesh Kumar Singh will be the two other members of the panel, officials said.

The commission will have to submit its report to the government within two months, they said, adding that the state home department has formed the probe panel under the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Police has also formed a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the killings. Citing a statement issued by Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police R K Vishwakarma, Special Director General of Police (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said the SIT was formed on the instructions of the Commissioner of Police of Prayagraj.

In order to ensure qualitative investigation and time-bound action, a three-member team of supervisors has also been formed.

This team is headed by the additional director general of police of Prayagraj. The other two members are the commissioner of police of Prayagraj and the director of the Forensic Science Laboratory, Lucknow, the statement said.

Raids are being conducted in several parts of Prayagraj. Police is also interrogating family members of all three accused to track down their last locations.

Atiq Ahmed Buried Next To Son

Gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Khalid Azeem alias Ashraf were buried in their ancestral village in this Uttar Pradeshs Prayagraj district on Sunday amid tight security.

Ahmeds son Asad, an accused in the Umesh Pal murder case who fell to police bullets, was buried at the same graveyard here on Saturday. Ahmed was laid to rest right next to his sons grave. The graveyard is located in Ahmeds ancestral village and his parents were also buried there.

Asad, the third of the five sons of Ahmed, was killed in a police encounter in Jhansi on April 13. He was on the run since Umesh Pals killing on February 24.

Who Was Atiq Ahmed?

Ahmed won the 2004 parliamentary polls as a Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate from Phulpur  a seat once represented in the Lok Sabha by the countrys first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. He was also an MLA for five terms, winning the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls from Allahabad (West) in 1991, 1993, 1996, 2002 and 2004.

In a heated debate in the Assembly in February, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had accused the SP of sheltering gangsters like Ahmed and said the government will ground the mafia to dust (mitti me mila denge").

Read all the Latest India News here
A fresh war of words has erupted between the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over a letter sent by the Centre to the West Bengal government.

The central government has sent the letter to eight states, Bengal being one of them. It says that the state governments along with the Centre should identify illegal Aadhaar cards and those people who do not have Aadhaar cards. The central government has also specified various areas where this exercise should start.

On Monday, Mamata Banerjee hit back at the Centre on the issue.

She said that this was an indirect way of implementing the Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens (NRC) in West Bengal, and her government would not abide by this.

Elimination of illegal Aadhaar cards means implementation of CAA in an indirect way. They are trying to implement NRC, they have selected areas also. Do you remember that time people protested, so many people died, and people did not get justice? Whenever election comes, BJP uses polarisation," the chief minister said. She also alleged that this was a plot to target one community.

Sources say this is the second such letter from the Centre that mentions illegal Aadhaar cards.

The Mamata Banerjee government has vehemently opposed NRC and CAA.

BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said, Our main motto is to stop illegal people settling in India. Aadhaar verification is very much needed. This is the main ideology on which our party stands. Let her not follow, we will do it.

Further attacking the Centre and the union home minister, Mamata Banerjee said that all the violence in West Bengal is planned. She also severely criticised Amit Shahs statement that the Bengal government will collapse by 2025. The CM said the home minister had no right to make such a statement and demanded his resignation.

Read all the Latest India News here
Canalside already bustles with a boat house, ferry and boat tours, a carousel, a children's museum and an ice rink.

By the end of the decade, hundreds of people will live there, with a lot more options for fun and entertainment.

Buffalo waterfront projects gain traction Here's an update on a number of projects advancing at Canalside and on the Outer Harbor.

A Brooklyn developer was selected Monday to build hundreds of residences, along with commercial storefronts, where Memorial Auditorium once stood.

The groundbreaking is expected to occur in early 2025, with a phased construction expected to be completed in 2027, said Steven Ranalli, president of Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp.

"We want a truly organic feel to the place," Ranalli said. "We don't want it to feel like Disneyland, where everything is overly contrived. We are trying to re-create and bring back the feel of the Canal District, but without it feeling fake."

Pennrose, which specializes in affordable and mixed-income housing, was chosen for the area known as the North Aud Block over two other developers, including Douglas Development. The project calls for 367 residences, roughly half of them affordable units.

The height of two buildings across the replica canals from the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Explore & More Children's Museum will be four to five stories. Two behind them, toward the Niagara Thruway and Seneca One tower, will stand 10 to 14 stories tall, and are expected to help block out noise from the traffic.

The block is bounded by Lower Terrace to the north, Main Street to the east, the canals to the south and Commercial and Pearl streets to the west.

Renderings that show the massing and design of the buildings make it appear as though more buildings are present.

An estimated 1,000 workers will be needed to build the $160 million project, which will create an expected 122 full-time jobs.

Wanted: A developer to transform the hole in the ground at Canalside State officials Wednesday asked developers to submit proposals to redevelop the nearly 2-acre, fenced-in hole north of the canals. Developers have until Sept. 1 to respond, with the selection of the designated developer expected in early 2023.

Memorial Auditorium, a former concert venue and home of the Buffalo Sabres, closed in 1996 and was demolished in 2009.

"We are really excited that Pennrose maxed out the development," Ranalli said, referring to the number of residences planned, which surpassed the number suggested when the waterfront agency sent out its request in May for proposals for the nearly 2-acre site.

"As we work to transform the Buffalo waterfront, this vacant parcel, the last of the state-owned parcels at Canalside, will boost the economy and create new spaces where residents and visitors will want to live, work and play," Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement.

The project reestablishes the historic Lloyd and Commercial streets, and calls for the building of a pedestrian-friendly public piazza in a project that hopes to bring vibrancy to what is now a hole in the ground.

All 360 parking spaces will be on two levels of underground parking.

The Pennrose renderings present a more contemporary look than what had been proposed by Pleasant People, Happy Places, an architectural consultant from the Netherlands. The materials are stone, brick and glass, but Ranalli said the design will complement, not conflict with its surroundings.

"We are extremely excited about the development team," he said, "and even more excited that the long process for replacing Memorial Auditorium has finally come to fruition."

Coming soon to Canalside: Bathrooms and a visitors center A long-awaited and frequently cited need is about to be fulfilled at Canalside: Public bathrooms.

The development isn't beginning sooner, Ranalli said, because Pennrose's applications for affordable housing tax credits and other economic incentives will likely take them well into 2024 to confirm financing for the project.

Pennrose is teaming up with MSquared, a women-owned business out of New York City, and the Westminster Economic Development Initiative in Buffalo, which has operated the culturally diverse West Side Bazaar and will help fill out the first-floor commercial spaces.

The State of New York will spend $10 million on developing the historic-looking streets and on public amenities.

The project also includes the already-announced four-story Gateway building, a brick masonry building with a stone base that will be in the site's southwest corner, with the Commercial Bridge to the east. Construction is expected to break ground in June, with an opening planned for January 2025. The building will house an information center, bathrooms, security office and Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp. offices and space for operations and maintenance.

Outer Harbor project languishes

The selection of Pennrose as developer comes as another waterfront project  this one to revive the Terminal A Building on the Outer Harbor for residences or other uses  failed to interest a developer.

Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp. had high hopes for Terminal A, the behemoth structure toward the southern end of the Outer Harbor, near where a new amphitheater is being built.

At Hochul's direction, the waterfront agency in December issued a request for proposals from experienced real estate developers interested in buying and developing the vacant 523,000-square-foot building at 901 Fuhrmann Blvd., along with three small adjacent buildings, all north of Buffalo Harbor State Park.

The search process brought 15 interested parties from Toronto, New York City, Miami and Pittsburgh, as well as the Buffalo Niagara region, to walk through the building.

"We were surprised that, given the momentum we've had on the waterfront, we didn't, ultimately, get a proposal," Ranalli said. "We had enough interest that we had high hopes going into March that we would receive a proposal or two."

The agency plans to reach out to those who expressed interest to see whether they will share their reasons why they decided not to pursue development.

"What we want to find out from folks is how close were they to actually moving forward, and what some of the biggest issues are that we might be able to address in a different way moving forward," he said.

Some of the obstacles are known, Ranalli said: The property is huge, it is isolated, there are concerns about being there in the winter months, there are environmental issues and it is a local landmark, which could create additional challenges.

"We understand, or think we understand, some of the obvious negatives regarding the project site," Ranalli said. "At the same time, it's a magnificent site right on Lake Erie, the building is structurally sound and you could do just about anything with it. It also has a deep slip for marina space, so we know there are a lot of positives."
Less than a week after three reports of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the police-drug mafia nexus in the state were made public, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann dismissed controversial top cop Raj Jit Singh from service.

Sealed on the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court for five years, the three reports were made public on Thursday. The reports have called for further probe into the role of several police officials, who specifically sought the posting of controversial and dismissed inspector Inderjit Singh under them. Assistant inspector general (AIG) of police Raj Jit Singh, who was then posted in Moga, was accused of having links with the suspended inspector.

The CM has also ordered a vigilance probe against him over disproportionate assets". The SIT reports had exposed the alleged collusion of Raj Jit with dismissed cop Inderjit Singh, who planted money on innocents to extort money and helped actual drug smugglers by leaving loopholes in the investigation.

Inderjit was arrested by a special task force on drugs led by additional director general of police (ADGP) Harpreet Sidhu in 2018 under Captain Amarinder Singhs government. However, no action was taken against Raj Jit. The alleged corrupt activities of Inderjit took place during Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party rule. CM Mann announced earlier this month that he had received the drug reports and would take action soon.

Before the reports were made public on Thursday, the court had handed them over to the Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab government on April 5.

The drug menace in Punjab has been a major electoral issue during successive polls in the state. There has been a consistent demand for making these reports public over the years and they provide an insight into the role of the police as well as politicians in the racket.

Lawyers for Human Rights International (LFHRI), which obtained official copies from the high court, made these records public.

The dismissed cop is accused of running a racket, where he falsely implicated innocent persons in drug smuggling cases. He is charged with smuggling from Pakistan and planting drugs on innocent people to extort money or sell narcotics. He allegedly gave relief to smugglers through discharge, bail orders, acquittals, and through failed samples in connivance with personnel at the Forensic Science Laboratory.

The reports allege the complicity of AIG Raj Jit Singh, who was earlier the senior superintendent of police (SSP) in Moga, in recommending the promotion and posting of Inderjit despite criminal cases against him. The reports also question the property deals made by Raj Jit and his family and call for further investigation into this.

Read all the Latest India News here
A 20-year-old man was allegedly stabbed to death in front of Lok Nayak Bhawan at Delhis posh Khan Market area, police said on Sunday.

The victim, identified as Akash, was reportedly standing in front of the building, and was stabbed by an unidentified person around 8 pm, news agency ANI quoted a senior police officer as saying.

It is still not clear whether the suspect was known to the Akash and why he attacked him, police said, adding that prima facie it looks like personal enmity.

Delhi | A man, Akash, 20 years, was stabbed at around 8 pm near Lok Nayak Bhawan in Khan market. The victim was taken to RML hospital where he was declared brought dead. The motive is unclear though prima facie looks like personal enmity. Accused absconding as of now, efforts pic.twitter.com/RYtt850YRu ANI (@ANI) April 16, 2023

A purported video of the incident, showing police personnel lifting the unconscious victim bleeding profusely, is being shared on social media.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Pranav Tayal said, The motive is unclear though it looks like personal enmity. The man was taken to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital where he was declared brought dead."

A murder case has been registered in this matter and efforts are being made to catch the suspect, he said. As part of the preliminary probe, the police are also looking for CCTV cameras installed in the vicinity of the crime scene to identify the suspect and establish the sequence of events.

Read all the Latest India News here
Heatwave conditions will prevail in Gangetic West Bengal, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and several regions over the next five days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Monday.

According to the IMDs latest bulletin, isolated pockets of Gangetic West Bengal have been experiencing heatwave conditions for the past six days, while Coastal Andhra Pradesh has been facing the same for the last four days. Bihar has been under heatwave conditions for the past three days.

Heat wave conditions are likely to occur in the following places over the next few days:

Isolated pockets of Punjab and Haryana on April 17

West Uttar Pradesh on April 18

East Uttar Pradesh on April 18 and 19

Isolated or some pockets of Gangetic West Bengal and Bihar for the next four days

Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, and Odisha in the next two days

Jharkhand on April 18 and 19

Isolated pockets of Coastal Andhra Pradesh for the next three days.

There will be a rise in maximum temperatures by 2-3C over the next three days in Maharashtra.

Maharashtra

In Navi Mumbai, 13 people died due to sunstroke after attending the Maharashtra Bhushan award in which social reformer Appasaheb Dharmadhikari was conferred. The event was attended by lakhs of Dharmadhikaris followers, sitting under the scorching sun.

The IMD on Monday said Navi Mumbai had no observatory of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on the basis of which local weather alerts can be issued. If we do not have any observatory near a venue where an event is to take place, our protocol is we issue forecast on the basis of the nearest observatory. In this case, it was the Santacruz observatory, IMD scientist Sushma Nair told PTI.

The weather office said the IMD had forecast that the temperature in Kharghar area of Navi Mumbai, where the function was held on Sunday, could reach 34-35 degrees Celsius, based on the data from its Santacruz observatory in neighbouring Mumbai. On Sunday, the Santacruz observatory recorded 35 degrees Celsius, which was 1.5 degrees Celsius above normal. She said based on the data available with the Santacruz office, there were no indication of a heatwave.

While some places in Mumbai recorded slightly above normal temperature on Sunday, Marathwada and south central Maharashtra had recorded below normal temperature, she added.

According to State Minister Uday Samant, the death toll from heatstroke in Maharashtra has climbed to 13, while 18 individuals are receiving treatment and are currently in stable condition. To assist those affected, 75 ambulances were deployed to the location.

State Minister Uday Samant told ANI on Monday evening that the death toll from heatstroke in Maharashtra has climbed to 13, while 18 individuals are receiving treatment and are currently in stable condition. To assist those affected, 75 ambulances were deployed to the location, he added.

Odisha

Heatwave conditions prevails as temperatures remained at or above 40 degrees Celsius in at least 20 places in the state.

On Sunday, The industrial town of Jharsuguda was the hottest place in the state with the mercury level touching 43 degrees C while three places - Boudh, Sambalpur and Talcher- recorded temperatures above 42 degrees C.

The state government had announced that all Anganwadi centres will have classes from 7 am to 11 am from Monday due to heatwave conditions.

According to a notification from the Women and Child Development Department, all Anganwadi centres have been instructed to ensure that there is enough drinking water available for the children and staff during working hours. However, district collectors have been given the authority to adjust the timing of the centres based on the heatwave conditions in their respective areas. In addition, both government and private schools in the state will conduct classes in the morning due to the heatwave.

West Bengal

Meteorological department has predicted heatwave conditions will prevail in some parts of Gangetic West Bengal till April 19 with day temperatures in the southern districts likely to rise further, already above 40 degrees Celsius in several places. Panagarh in Paschim Bardhanman recorded the days highest temperature in the state at 42.6 degrees Celsius, while Kolkatas maximum temperature touched 39.8 degrees C on Sunday.

Sanjib Bandopadhyay, the head of IMDs eastern region, on Sunday cautioned that the hot and dry weather could have an impact on human health and agriculture, and advised people to take precautions such as drinking enough water and avoiding going outside between 11 am and 4 pm.

In response to the ongoing heatwave situation, the West Bengal government has ordered the closure of all educational institutions in the state, except for the hill districts of Darjeeling and Kalimpong, for one week or until further notice starting from April 17.

Bihar

According to a bulletin issued by the Bihar Mausam Sewa Kendra (BMSK) of the state government on Sunday, severe heatwave conditions are expected to prevail in the next three-four days.

Bihar Disaster Management minister Shahnawaz has advised people to avoid being exposed to the heat, remain cool, and prevent dehydration. District officials have received guidance to oversee the conditions in their respective districts, the minister said adding the state Disaster Management department is closely monitoring the situation.

Andhra Pradesh

As per a statement by the Meteorological department on Monday, the northern parts of Andhra Pradesh and its southern coastal regions will encounter a heat wave lasting for three days, starting from Monday and continuing until Wednesday.

The statement specifically mentions warnings for districts including Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, Anakapalle, Kakinada, Konaseema, Krishna, NTR, Bapatla, Gunturu, and Palnadu.

The Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA) has asked people to take necessary precautions in view of the forecast of heat wave in 116 mandals across the state on Monday. Severe heat wave conditions were experienced in 11 mandals of Anakapalli district and three each in Kakinada and Vizianagaram on Sunday, APSDMA said.

Rains Expected

The weather office has predicted that the Western Himalayan Region is likely to experience light to moderate scattered to fairly widespread rainfall with thunderstorms and lightning for the next five days.

Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi, and Rajasthan are likely to see isolated to scattered rainfall from April 18 to 20.

Heavy rainfall is very likely at isolated places over Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh, Gilgit, Baltistan and Muzaffarabad on April 18, over Himachal Pradesh on April 18 and 19, and over Uttarakhand on April 19.

Hailstorms are expected in isolated areas over Himachal Pradesh from April 17 to 18, over Uttarakhand from April 18 to 20, and over Punjab on April 18 and 19.

In West India, light isolated rainfall with thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds are very likely over parts of Maharashtra for the next five days. Isolated hailstorms are also likely over Madhya Maharashtra on April 17.

(With inputs from PTI)

Read all the Latest India News here
The 50 seconds of horror from Prayagraj that saw Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Ahmed emerge from a police jeep surrounded by policemen, till they lay dead in a pool of blood after facing a volley of bullets will forever haunt the image of the countrys largest police force in Uttar Pradesh.

There is no doubt that Atiq and Ashraf were dreaded gangsters who ran amok for decades. Atiq had 101 cases against his name and Ashraf had 57 cases. They also must have had dangerous enemies or may have generated hate amongst many. However, it was the duty of the police to ensure their safety as they had been entrusted in police custody by the court. Atiq was also a life convict.

ALSO READ | All in 50 Days: How Yogi Govt Finished Off Atiq Ahmeds Rs 1400 Cr Empire, Exposed Shell Firms & Ended His Gang

India prides its legal system to such a high standard that a dreaded terrorist involved in the Mumbai 26/11 attacks such as Ajmal Kasab, after being caught alive, was also given top-notch security for almost four years till his death sentence was executed after the Supreme Court judgment. This is anti-thesis to the image of Atiq and Ashraf lying lifeless on the ground, tied in the same pair of handcuffs, with bullets being rained on them.

Incidentally, no heads have rolled so far. The 10-odd policemen in charge of security can be seen scurrying for cover when the firing began. Although they had weapons, they did not fire a single bullet.

Sources in the UP Police say if the police had opened retaliatory fire, journalists recording bytes of Atiq and Ashraf could have been killed. They say police, in fact, did well to express restraint.

MEDIA GUISE

Police sources cite how journalists are usually not checked or frisked and the three attackers carried a mic and a camera to get close access to Atiq and Ashraf. They also cite how the three attackers were quickly nabbed. However, the visuals indicate the attackers themselves threw their pistols and then surrendered by putting up their hands. It is apparent that they had done a recee and saw media teams freely chasing and accessing Atiq for bytes in police custody.

ALSO READ | Atiq Ahmeds Killers Came on Bike, Posed as Journalists & Opened Fire on Him from Point Blank Range

Taking two accused, who have even gone to the Supreme Court citing a danger to their life, for a medical examination late at night amid a rather thin security cover raises big questions on the inefficiency of the UP Police.

The Prayagraj Commissioner of Police has now seen two big murders happen under his term  first, the Umesh Pal case and then the Atiq-Ashraf killing. But no accountability has been set so far.

A three-member judicial commission of inquiry has been set up to give a report within two months. One hopes that the same will fix accountability. So far, the UP Police seems busy patting its own back despite a brutal set of murders which has the potential to put a sense of scare among citizens.

The confidence among the three attackers that they could carry out such a dastardly incident amid police and media presence should be a cause for worry.

Read all the Latest India News here
The Bathinda Police has arrested an Army guard in the case involving the killing of four soldiers at the military station in Punjab on April 12.

During the press conference on Monday, Bathinda Senior Superintendent of Police Gulneet Singh said gunner Mohan Desai had only stolen an INSAS rifle, a magazine and eight bullets of Light Machine Gun for the crime. After firing the shots, Desai threw the rifle and seven bullets into a sewer pit inside the cantonment.

Desai, who hails from Andhra Pradesh, had given the statement to the police claiming to be a witness to the firing. He had told the police that he saw two masked persons in kurta pyjama carrying an axe in one hand and a rifle in the other, firing at the soldiers.

The guard was our prime suspect from day one since his statement wasnt adding up, revealed an officer associated with the probe.

The police had also collected CCTV footages, which clearly showed that no outsider had intruded into the station. Also, a headcount of the personnel in the station had revealed that none was missing. This made us suspicious that it was an inside job. And that is where we started grilling the guard, who was the main witness and complainant, said an officer. Also, there were no blows on the bodies of the victims making the police suspect the axe theory.

The police said the motive behind the killing of jawans was personal. Sources said there was an indication about harassment of physical nature.

In the wee hours of Wednesday, the Army jawans were killed in their sleep when they were fired upon in their barracks.

According to the FIR, one of them was carrying an INSAS rifle and the other an axe. The bodies bore bullet marks. It is suspected that an INSAS rifle, which was reported missing along with 28 rounds earlier this week, was used in the firing.

Nineteen empty shells of an INSAS rifle were found at the spot. The weapon was also found later.

Read all the Latest India News here
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Monday met Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov and discussed a range of issues relating to the India-Russia strategic partnership.

Manturov, who is also Russias minister for trade and industry, is on a two-day visit to India, primarily to attend an inter-governmental meeting on trade, culture and science and technology.

People familiar with the meeting between Doval and Manturov said both sides discussed a range of bilateral issues to implement the India-Russia strategic partnership.

Earlier in the day, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Manturov, the co-chairs of the intergovernmental Russia-India Commission on trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation, met a group of business representatives from both countries.

A plenary meeting of the intergovernmental commission (IGC) will be held on Tuesday, following which the co-chairs will sign the final protocol of the 24th IGC meeting, he said.

Both sides plan to discuss the widest range" of issues of bilateral trade, and economic and humanitarian cooperation, the Russian official said.

Manturovs visit to New Delhi comes in the backdrop of renewed intensity in India-Russia trade ties, especially New Delhis procurement of an increasing volume of discounted crude oil from that country.

India has not yet condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and it has been maintaining that the crisis must be resolved through diplomacy and dialogue.

Read all the Latest India News here
Three officers from Bihars mining department, including a woman inspector, were injured after they were attacked with stones by goons while conducting raids in Patnas Bihta block against the illegal operation of vehicles and sand mining. The police have arrested 44 people in the case and have registered three FIRs.

The team under the leadership of the District Mining Officer, District Transport Officer and Additional Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Danapur conducted a raid at the closed petrol pump under the Koilwar Bridge at around 3.45 pm. The entire team of transport and mining including MVI, and ESI were engaged in the inspection when illegal sand mafias and goons began attacking them by pelting stones and hurling abuses.

#BreakingNews | Bihar police arrests 44 people after a team of 3 mining officials including a woman inspector brutally beaten by the sand mafia when they were on inspection@JournoKSSR share more details with @GrihaAtul#BiharViolence #LandMafia #SandMafia pic.twitter.com/mlkdhokcoD News18 (@CNNnews18) April 18, 2023

District Mining Officer Kumar Gaurav and two mining inspectors, Syed Farheen and Amya Kumari were injured in the incident and are undergoing treatment.

A video of the incident shows a large group of people chasing and throwing stones at a woman officer. The video captured several individuals, including the person filming, hurling abusive language at her and demanding to harm her. Despite the officers attempts to flee, the mob of miscreants swung lathis at her. As the person recording the video arrived at the scene amid the crowd, an individual was observed pulling the officer by her hand.

#WATCH | Bihar: Woman officer from mining department dragged, attacked by people allegedly involved in illegal sand mining in Bihta town in Patna district.(Note: Abusive language; viral video confirmed by police) 44 people arrested, 3 FIRs filed while raids underway to arrest pic.twitter.com/EtKW1oedG3  ANI (@ANI) April 17, 2023

Police Action: 44 Arrested, 3 FIRs Filed

Patna District Magistrate, Chandrashekhar Singh, swiftly responded to the incident after receiving information, and dispatched the Sub-Divisional Officer and Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Danapur, to the location.

Intensive raids are currently underway to arrest those who were involved in pelting stones at the woman officer. Three FIRs have already been filed against 44 individuals, and approximately 50 vehicles have been confiscated.

Legal action is being taken against the vehicle owners and drivers. The Superintendent of Police, West, as well as the Sub-Divisional Officer and Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Danapur Bihta, are closely monitoring the situation. The District Magistrate has promised that legal action will be taken against all those who were involved in the incident.

A black Scorpio equipped with a wireless set has also been seized from the spot.

Speaking with CNN-News18, Patna Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rajeev Mishra said, Several arrests have been made. The police are investigating the matter and more arrests are likely to be made. The police will soon nab the mastermind behind this incident.

Additional Chief Secretary of the Mining Department Harjot Kaur who is currently undergoing compulsory training in LBSNAA Mussourie told CNN-News18 she condemned the recent incident of violence related to illegal sand mining. I strongly condemn such incidents and have asked Secretary Mines to thoroughly inquire into the incident and take appropriate action," she said. She emphasized that those involved in such incidents must be held accountable and will face legal consequences.

Leader of Opposition in Vidhan Sabha, BJPs Vijay Sinha slammed the Nitish Kumar-led government over the incident. Speaking to CNN News18 he said, When we say that gundaraaj has returned in Bihar, some people feel offended. There cant be a better example of gundaraaj than what happened in Bihta today. A woman officer was brutally thrashed by the mafias and their goons."

The ruling netas should be ashamed of themselves. Who is shielding the liquor, land and sand mafias in Bihar? CM Nitish should answer this," he said.

Bihars mining minister and RJD leader Ramanand Yadav reacted angrily when questioned about the incident. What happened in Bihta is not jungleraj. Instead, what happened in Uttar Pradesh is an example of jungleraj. It would have been better if the raiding team had taken additional forcesEarlier also I had gone to the spots where 8-9 murders took placeNo other minister or neta dared to go. I will go to the spot this time also and investigate myself," he said. The minister was enraged by media questions and began asking the journalists that did they even know why police officials were thrashed, but he didnt complete the sentence.

According to a police report submitted to the Patna High Court in 2017, illegal sand mining is thriving due to a massive nexus between the police, politically influential miners, and officials of the mines department. The report also highlighted violations committed by sand mining companies that were granted leases, especially in Patna.

Complete connivance of state government officials, particularly those from the police, mining and transport departmentsthe rules and laws on mining and the environment are merely reduced to paper, the report said.

Recent Incidents

According to sources, at least 28 persons have been killed in a mafia gang war to control the lucrative trade during the last two years.

March 26, 2023: A police team conducting an illegal sand mining raid in Gaya were attacked by sand mafias. The miscreants took away the seized JCB forcefully and critically injured a policeman.

February 23, 2023: A mining inspector narrowly escaped being burnt alive after an attack by sand mafias in the Saran district. The inspector was checking illegal sand transportation near Sonepur and had caught a truck when the sand mafia, driving a Bolero, arrived and launched a sudden attack.

November 3, 2023: A magistrate and three police personnel were critically injured in an attack by sand mafias in the Jamui district during a raid on overloading and illegal mining activities.

September 29, 2022: Four people were shot dead in multiple rounds of firing linked to illegal sand mining in Diara, Maner in the Bihta area of Patna.

September 7, 2022: A sand mafia named Santosh Kumar barged into the district mining office in Patna and demanded the release of a seized truck allegedly used in illegal sand mining operations. He threatened a mining officer with dire consequences.

September 4, 2022: The bodyguard of a sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Dehri was critically injured in a sand mafia attack.

Read all the Latest India News here
A Mumbai court has recently observed that conducting a search of an undertrial prisoner by making him nude amounts to violation of his fundamental right to privacy.

 it is violation of his fundamental right of privacy, it is also humiliating. Not only this, but using unparliamentary language or filthy language against the accused is also humiliating to the undertrial prisoner, the court order read.

Special Judge BD Shelke was hearing an application filed by a 1993 bomb blast accused Ahmad Kamal Shaikh who alleged that after being produced in court and then returning to jail, he was subjected to a body check-up by the guard at the entrance.

The advocate appearing for Ahmad submitted that during the check-up, the guard forced him to strip naked in front of other prisoners and staff members, which was both humiliating and a violation of his right to privacy. When Ahmad objected, the guard used vulgar and unparliamentary language towards him, behaved inappropriately, and made threats against him.

Therefore, he sought direction to be issued to the jail authorities to prevent further mistreatment. He also sought that his personal search be conducted using electronic scanners or other devices.

The jail superintendent submitted that no filthy language was used against Ahmad and the application was only filed to pressure the prison authorities.

The court in its order noted that there was substance in the contentions of Ahmad and said other undertrial prisoners had made similar complaints.

Therefore, the court issued directions to the superintendent and jail authorities asking them to use electronic gadgets and scanner for conducting personal searches.

The court said if such gadgets are not available, then there should be no humiliation of such persons during the personal search.

Read all the Latest India News here
The Army guard, who has been arrested for killing four soldiers at a military station in Punjab, took the extreme step over their demand for unnatural sex, top sources in the Punjab Police told CNN-News18.

The sources said accused Mohan Desai, who killed the four jawans on April 12 with an INSAS rifle at Bathinda military station, was upset with them over their continuous demand for sex.

Following sustained interrogation Desai  who worked at the artillery unity where the incident occurred  confessed to killing his colleagues after stealing an INSAS rifle.

Initial investigations indicated that the murder happened due to personal reasons or animosity.

ALSO READ: Motive Behind Killing of Jawans Personal: Bathinda Cops Arrest Army Guard in Military Station Firing

As per Desais confession, on the early morning of April 9, he stole the weapon along with a filled magazine. He then hid the weapon. On April 12, at around 4.30 am, while Desai was on sentry duty, he moved to the first floor and killed all four soldiers while they were asleep.

During a press conference on Monday, Bathinda Senior Superintendent of Police Gulneet Singh said gunner Mohan Desai had stolen an INSAS rifle, a magazine and eight bullets of Light Machine Gun for the crime. After firing the shots, Desai threw the rifle and seven bullets into a sewer pit inside the cantonment.

The weapon and the additional ammunition have been recovered from the pit.

Desai, who hails from Andhra Pradesh, had earlier claimed to be a witness to the firing. To mislead the police, Desai said that he saw two masked persons in kurta pyjama carrying an axe in one hand and a rifle in the other, firing at the soldiers.

Desai is currently in police custody and further details are being ascertained.

Top police sources also reiterated that there is no terror angle as was speculated earlier in some media reports.

Indian Army stated that it practises zero tolerance to such acts of indiscipline and is committed to ensure that the guilty is punished as per law. All possible assistance is being provided to Punjab Police and other agencies for the early conclusion of investigations.

Read all the Latest India News here
An Uzbek man, who fled to Chandigarh Airport to take a Dubai flight, after his attempt to smuggle 3,208-gram gold failed at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport here, was held before he could board it, a Customs official said on Sunday.

He had left the gold hidden in a trolley and has fled to Chandigarh. We detained him over there on Saturday and brought him back to Delhi," said the official.

The man had concealed 15 gold chains and 17 semi-spherical gold items totally weighing 3,208 grams, worth Rs 1,68,24,051, inside the luggage trolley. But realising that he might be caught, he left the trolley nearby an X-ray machine on April 13 and left the airport," the official added.

The gold items were recovered on the same day. After investigation, the accused was identified and it was learnt that he had planned to flee to Dubai from Chandigarh. The information was shared with officials there and he was held and later brought back to the IGI Airport.

The recovered gold has been seized under Section 110 of Customs Act and the accused passenger has been placed under arrest under Section 104," the official said.

Read all the Latest India News here
The two gunmen who fired into a crowd outside the Ferry Grider Homes in early July 2021 wanted to inflict the most damage in the least amount of time. They delivered the horrific attack  a quadruple shooting that killed a 3-year-old boy  firing 34 bullets in about 10 seconds, prosecutors said in Erie County Court on Monday as the murder trial of an alleged accomplice began.

The festive scene of families, food and fireworks in the courtyard on the Monday night of the Fourth of July weekend turned gruesome, with pools of blood and bullet holes left behind.

And about 20 minutes after the shooting, the woman prosecutors have accused of driving the shooters searched for news coverage of the violence on her phone, prosecutors said.

In addition to being accused of being the driver that night, prosecutors allege Jonay B. Robinson took part in the "planning and coordination" of the violence.

But Robinson's defense attorney argued in his opening statement that this is a case in which prosecutors are looking to punish "more people than those who are actually responsible."

It was just before 11 p.m. July 5, 2021, when a silver Ford Escape pulled into the Donovan Drive complex, off East Ferry Street. The driver brought the vehicle around the one-way road that encircles the complex. The vehicle stopped. Two people, one carrying a semi-automatic rifle and the other a .40-caliber handgun, exited.

"No one was safe. No one was spared," Assistant Erie County District Attorney Rebecca L. Schnirel told jurors as the trial began.

Three-year-old Shaquelle Walker Jr., known to family members as "Baby Quelle," suffered fatal injuries.

Guilty plea in 2021 quadruple shooting that killed 3-year-old 'Baby Quelle', wounded 3 others Dequan I. Richardson pleaded guilty Friday morning to shooting into a crowd during a fireworks celebration in July 2021, killing a 3-year-old child and wounding three men.

Several of Walker's family members in court broke down in tears, some having to leave the courtroom, at various points in Monday's proceedings, including when prosecutors described what happened to Walker and when pictures of Walker's pink bicycle on the ground in the shooting aftermath were shown to jurors.

Walker, who was shot in the head and pronounced brain dead two days after the shooting, was taken off life support at Oishei Children's Hospital.

Robinson, 27, whose boyfriend pleaded guilty last month to being one of the gunmen, has put her fate in the hands of a jury. Prosecutors have lodged murder, assault and weapons charges against her under two legal theories  that she intended to kill or hurt people, or that she was reckless in her alleged actions.

Her attorney attempted to argue she didn't know the semi-automatic rifle used in the shooting  which is nearly 3 feet long  was in her vehicle before the shooting.

Prosecutors won't be able to prove Robinson intended for what happened to occur or knew about what was going to happen, attorney Jeremy Schwartz said.

In cases of horrific violence, there's a tendency for blame to be spread as far as it can be, Schwartz said, who urged the jury not to allow that to happen.

"It would be a greater tragedy for someone to pay for it when they are not responsible" because they were "in the orbit" of those responsible, he said.

"Someone should pay, absolutely," he said. "Jonay Robinson should not."

Robinson's boyfriend, Dequan I. Richardson, who had been scheduled to go on trial with her, pleaded guilty to murder and assault charges March 24. Aside from Richardson and Robinson, no one else has been charged in the case.

On Sunday, the eve of the trial, Robinson's attorney provided prosecutors with a six-page statement from Richardson, and may call him to testify in the case, prosecutors said.

Police found two firearms, including the rifle they believe was used in the shooting, in a Cheektowaga apartment shared by Robinson and Richardson, according to prosecutors. They also found rounds of ammunition that were the same types as the two calibers of casings left at the scene.

DNA from four individuals was found on the rifle. Expert analysis concluded the likelihood that the DNA belong to Richardson, Robinson and two others was 245 million times more likely than if it was four unknown individuals, Schnirel told the jury.

Prosecutors, who plan to call about 20 witnesses, showed several clips of video surveillance footage on Monday, including some which captured parts of the crowd scrambling in the courtyard as gunfire began. They said they plan to introduce cellphone records that put Robinson and Richardson driving around together for about five hours leading up to the shooting, including on Donovan Drive at the time of the attack.

One of witnesses who took the stand Monday was Richard Baldon, a surviving victim whose femur was shattered and who tried to crawl to cover as the bullets flew, leaving behind a trail of blood.

Baldon, 29, has a titanium rod in his leg and still walks with a limp.

From the witness stand, he watched video of the scene as he tried to crawl away. He told the jury there "a bunch of kids" in the area at the time of the shooting.

He didn't see who shot him, he told jurors.

Robinson's trial is scheduled to continue Tuesday.
Bhutan, also known as the land of the thunder dragon, has lately become one of the top tourist spots. From rich wildlife to serene mountains, the country has abundant nature in its lap. Looks like it has become Bollywood actress Deepika Padukones favourite place too. The actress went on a spree of sharing her clicks ever since her stay in the country began. Check it out:

Deepika is seen resting on a big rock while on her trail. Dressed in an all-black outfit and white sneakers and hair tied up in a messy bun, Deepika posed for a sunkissed picture amid the lush green tall trees.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Deepika Padukone (@deepikapadukone)

In another picture, she shared a wonderful sight of snowclad mountains. The mixture of green and white on these peaks simply looks beautiful across the stunning blue skies.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Deepika Padukone (@deepikapadukone)

Deepikas love for mountains is clear in this snap. The star could not resist chasing the clouds through her lens.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Deepika Padukone (@deepikapadukone)

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Deepika Padukone (@deepikapadukone)

The local architecture of Bhutan is vibrant and aesthetic. Deepika shared a glimpse of an ancient structure with a delicate design and glass roof.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Deepika Padukone (@deepikapadukone)

The best way to explore a place is to taste its local cuisine. Deepika Padukone surely knows this rule as she tried her hands on the local food and did not fail to upload it on her Instagram handle. From creamy gravy to salads, the actress tried a range of delicacies during her trip to Bhutan.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Deepika Padukone (@deepikapadukone)

In the picture, we can see the orange door across a white wall. Its the traditional artwork that makes it stand out instantly. Its in such little spaces that you get the feel of the culture of the country.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Deepika Padukone (@deepikapadukone)

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Deepika Padukone (@deepikapadukone)

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Deepika Padukone (@deepikapadukone)

From the same place, she clicked the amazingly painted prayer wheel area from the temple. We can also see the combination of browns, oranges and whites in this place. Do not miss the tiny lotus art made on each pillar.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Deepika Padukone (@deepikapadukone)

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Deepika Padukone (@deepikapadukone)

The star also clicked a picture with a few kids in the country. She posed with three of them and added the snap to her Bhutan diaries.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Deepika Padukone (@deepikapadukone)

Well, Deepika Padukones Bhutan picture series will definitely prompt you to book a ticket to this relaxing place.

Read all the Latest Lifestyle News here
Want a peaceful and Instagram-worthy seaside escape this summer? Look no further than La Paz, Mexico. Often overlooked due to its more popular neighbour, Los Cabos, this hidden gem is a perfect mix of nature, culture and modern amenities, making it the ultimate summer vacation spot. Here are some reasons why you should add La Paz to your bucket list as the next summer vacation destination.

Stunning beaches: La Paz is home to some of the most beautiful and unspoiled beaches in Mexico. From crystal-clear waters to the most developed Tecolote Beach, theres no shortage of places to soak up the sun and relax. Water activities: La Paz is located in the Gulf of California, known for its rich marine biodiversity. Visitors can take a boat tour to see dolphins, whales, sea turtles and even whale sharks. The waters around La Paz are packed with colourful marine life, making it a popular destination for swimming, snorkelling, scuba diving, surfing, kayaking, windsurfing, kiteboarding and many more activities. Delicious seafood: As a coastal town, La Paz is renowned for its seafood cuisine. Along with, lobster, sole, clams and shrimp, there are plenty of delicious dishes to try. Cultural attractions: La Paz has a rich history and cultural heritage that is worth exploring. The Museum of Anthropology and the Cathedral of Our Lady of La Paz are just a few of the must-visit cultural attractions. From beach days to animal encounters at the local aquarium, theres plenty to keep people of all ages entertained. Adventure activities: Those looking for non-aquatic adventure, La Paz offers a variety of activities such as nature walks, hiking, biking, sandboarding or off-roading in ATVs or RZRs. Relaxed atmosphere: Unlike its more popular neighbour, Cabo San Lucas, La Paz has a more relaxed and calm atmosphere. Visitors can truly slow down and escape the hustle and bustle of everyday city life.

La Paz is a hidden gem that offers something for everyone. Whether youre looking for a relaxing beach vacation or an adventurous outdoor expedition, this unsung seaside destination has it all. So head to La Paz for an unforgettable summer vacation.

Read all the Latest Lifestyle News here
The killing of criminal-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf has three angles. One, he was allegedly killed by antisocial elements, probably affiliated with the Samajwadi Party (SP), who feared the duo would spill the beans under the pressure of police interrogation. Two, a bunch of youths, whose families were tormented by the duo exacted revenge. Three, the assailants were Hindutva activists because they allegedly chanted Jai Shri Ram while shooting the victims. Your angle depends on your ideological position. But, all three angles reflect poorly on Uttar Pradesh Police. Regardless of which of the three possibilities is true, the men in khaki should have been able to protect the former gangsters who would probably have been convicted and sentenced, also giving away vital information about their racket, which would lead to an unravelling of their evil empire. But if the third is true, the state  the legislature, the executive and the judiciary  have a lot to worry about and get its act together in delivering justice to one and all.

In 1979, when he was 17, Atiq Ahmed was accused in a case of murder in Prayagraj. Soon, he started running a network comprising dozens of goons in the state. His dominance gradually spread to the surrounding areas  Phulpur and Kaushambi. In 1989, when his archrival, Shaukat Elahi, was killed in a police encounter, Ahmed became the undisputed honcho of Uttar Pradeshs underworld.

The same year, the recently killed former hoodlum contested and won his first election from the Allahabad West Assembly seat as an independent candidate. He won the Vidhan Sabha seat five times in a row from 1989 to 2002, on the first three occasions as an independent and then on the ticket of the SP and finally as an Apna Dal candidate. A year after his last win as an MLA, Ahmed went back to the SP and won the Phulpur Lok Sabha seat in 2004. He had to vacate the Allahabad West Assembly constituency, which led to a chain of events leading to the murder of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA, Raju Pal, in 2005. On February 24, this year, one of the main witnesses in the incident, Umesh Pal, was murdered.

Atiq Ahmed was arrested in 2005 for the murder of Raju Pal. He got bail after three years. Whether in or out of jail, he maintained his sway over the underworld of Uttar Pradesh. He ensured that his associates of the netherworld were protected. In 2007, while he was in jail, Ahmed was accused of shielding his men who were allegedly involved in the gang rape of some girl students of a madrassa. This sparked outrage and the Samajwadi Party expelled him.

Atiq Ahmed then lost the 2009 parliamentary election as an Apna Dal candidate from Pratapgarh, but the electoral defeat did not mean that his clout had waned. In the 2012 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, once again, he lost the election to Pooja Pal, the wife of Raju Pal. He then contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Shravasti as a Samajwadi Party candidate but lost again.

Meanwhile, the Allahabad High Court reprimanded UP Police for not arresting Ahmed. He was then arrested; and since then, was in jail. On December 14, 2016, Atiq Ahmed and his henchmen allegedly assaulted the employees of Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences (SHUATS) for taking disciplinary action against two students who were caught cheating. The institutions authority had debarred them from taking examinations any further. The video of Ahmed beating a teacher of SHUATS and its employees had gone viral that year on social media.

On February 10, 2017, the Allahabad High Court went through the criminal history of Ahmed and directed the Superintendent of Police of Allahabad to arrest all the suspects in the case. The police arrested Ahmed on February 11, after which he was remanded to 14-day judicial custody.

In March 2017, when Yogi Adityanath became the Chief Minister of UP, he promised to launch a crackdown on the empire of criminals. Atiq Ahmed was taken from his bastion Allahabad to Deoria Jail. He, however, continued to run his network of hooligans from jail. His henchmen are said to have kidnapped a businessman, Mohit Jaiswal, and brought him to jail. He was made to sign some property papers and was also beaten mercilessly. After the incident, Ahmed was taken to Bareilly Jail where the jail superintendent was reportedly too intimidated by his presence.

In April 2019, under the strict protection of the police, the Yogi government moved Ahmed to Naini Jail in Prayagraj. By this time, the Supreme Court had given its verdict in the Deoria Jail case and ordered Ahmed to be moved to Sabarmati Jail in Gujarat.

Atiq Ahmed had more than 100 cases registered against him, including extortion, kidnapping and murder. Its a terrible commentary on the state of justice delivery mechanism of the country that, after all those cases piling up over many years, his first conviction came in March this year for kidnapping Umesh Pal, a witness to Raju Pals murder. The sentence was pronounced a month after the murder of Umesh Pal, the key witness in the case of MLA Raju Pals murder in 2005, in 2023.

Atiq Ahmeds men had also shot dead two police security guards outside their Dhumanganj residence on February 24, an act that was caught on camera. On February 25, a case was registered against Ahmed, Ashraf, Ahmeds wife Shaista Parveen, two sons, Guddu Muslim and Ghulam, and nine others, based on a complaint lodged by Umesh Pals wife Jaya Pal. Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were brought to Prayagraj for trial in connection with the 2005 Raju Pal murder case. A team of UP Police brought Atiq and Ashraf from the high-security Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, to Prayagraj on March 26 to produce them before a court in the case of the kidnapping of Umesh Pal.

Ahmed and two others were sentenced to life imprisonment. Before three young men  identified as Luvlesh Tiwari, Sunny and Arun Maurya  shot Atiq and his brother Ashraf dead in the hospital premises on the night of April 15, Atiq had expressed his apprehension that he could be killed, but he did not expect it would happen within 72 hours after his son Asad was encountered.

A scrutiny of the footage of killing the duo shows nobody was shouting Jai Shri Ram at the time of firing the shots. When the visibly panicked policemen who had dispersed regained their composure and rushed to grab the assailants, that was when the chant was heard. Interestingly, the camera of a news agency lost focus when the shots were fired while a media house followed the attackers. Yet, the media house in its subsequent report claimed misleadingly that Luvlesh Tiwari, Sunny and Arun Maurya were screaming Jai Shri Ram even as they were firing.

The difference between the timings of the sloganeering could establish the attackers political motivation and hence, is critical. Were they instructed to project the Yogi government or Hindus in poor light, an order from their handlers that they had forgotten at the spur of the moment?

The slogan might have otherwise been an afterthought to garner sympathy of the majority community. Given the plethora of anti-Hindu laws enacted since Jawaharlal Nehrus era up to the 10 years of the UPA government, which even the Narendra Modi government is reluctant to fiddle with, and given the posse of judicial interventions only in Hindu ways of worship  from Sabarimala to Mahakaleshwar  this hypothesis has many takers. If they did it to make a statement of Hindutva, then one would be impelled to observe that at least a handful of Hindus have given up on the state and turned law unto themselves. The states callous regard for the truths of cases, the communitys sensitivities and human and religious rights invited this situation. But if the attackers enmity with Atiq Ahmed and his brother was vengeance, even then supporters of vigilante justice would have a soft corner for them.

Finally, if there is a tacit order for the policemen to let the malcontents be eliminated by design, the courts must note this could be an aftermath of the brazen moral support they extended to rioters while condemning the government of the province in cases related to the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) riots in the recent years. When the executive realises the judiciary will only hand it down a raw deal, it does have the means to pre-empt the hostile black coats. And even the best lawyer of the Leftist cabal will struggle to establish the extra-constitutional elimination of hardened criminals is deliberate.

The era of fighting a wrong with another to get things right has begun. Whodunnit is secondary. Chasing and catching a vigilante does not get rid of the reason that created the maverick justice seeker. Why the ilk of Atiq Ahmed is falling by dozens in Uttar Pradesh is the question the state must ponder over and address its record of injustices that led to this mess. Lest more provinces get inspired and India should prove a failed state.

The author is a senior journalist and writer. Views expressed are personal.

Read all the Latest Opinions here
The so-called modern mind is cursed with faithlessness. Ironically, it takes pride in it. It thinks faith is an antithesis to rationality. To add to it, it is also afflicted with a judgmental and know-it-all trait. Even the greatest of the souls can be judged, abused, and called names in no time.

It happened last week with the 87-year-old Dalai Lama. A monk par excellence, the Tibetan leader has lived all his life preaching and practising love, compassion and non-violence. But that hasnt stopped the modern, rational mind from judging him. Why? Because he kissed a boy and asked him to suck his tongue! That very evening, I heard one of my colleagues in journalism saying, Whats wrong with the Dalai Lama? I have stopped believing in these babas. A few others sitting with her nodded their heads in vindication

Faithless judgemental know it all!

Even before one does a psycho-cultural analysis of the Dalai Lamas act, the modern, rational mind should have at least done the basic homework. The event, which took place in late February at the Dalai Lamas monastery in Dharamshala, was attended by about 100 young students. In a video that has gone viral, a child requested His

Holiness: Can I hug you?

Hearing this, the Dalai Lama asked the boy to come up to the platform where he was seated. Touching his cheek, he said, first here, after which the child kissed him and gave him a hug. The Tibetan leader held him lovingly in his arms and said, I think here also  and he planted a kiss on his lips. And then he asked the boy to suck my tongue, sticking out his tongue. Forehead to forehead with the Dalai Lama, the boy quickly stuck out his tongue.

What was missing in this carefully edited video was how the Dalai Lama laughed and pulled the boy in for another hug. What was cut out was how the entire incident was duly photographed and hailed by those present there. What was also deliberately kept out was that the boys mother was present at the event, sitting near the Dalai Lama.

When I saw the unedited video of the event, rewinding it again and again, all I could sense was a grandfatherly banter. It evoked the memory of my late grandfather. Of course, he would not ask me to suck his tongue! He was not a Tibetan, after all! But I felt the warmth, the tenderness and the unassuming simplicity of my grandfather. He would often pull my shirt and aggressively kiss the stomach. His freshly grown up beard would create sensation and I would laugh no end. At a time when faithlessness looms large, it seems there is no space for grandfatherly banters. Everyone is a suspect, till proven otherwise.

This takes us to the third aspect of this episode: The know-it-all phenomenon. Modern mind seems to believe that it knows everything, even when all it knows is its own cultural mores  and that too quite scarcely. Theres also a tendency to uniformise global diversity. So, hello and hi have become a normal way to greet people. What if someone greets you with his tongue out? You may be offended, may even resort to violence. But thats how Tibetans greet. In Tibet, sticking out your tongue has been a traditional way of saying hello. It is also a sign of respect and  as a Tibetan friend of this author said  an elderly persons unconditional love for a young one.

The practice had its origins in the 9th century when a tyrant king with a black tongue died. The Tibetans believe in reincarnation, and by sticking their tongues out, they prove they arent the tyrant reborn. Had one known this story, one would have realised the flippancy of the uproar. The Dalai Lama could still have been accused of committing a mistake had he done the same in a non-Buddhist event in Delhi or New York. But he was in Dharamshala, mostly amid his own Tibetan people. Still, following the uproar, His Holiness apologised for his inappropriate and scandalous behaviour.

The know-it-all liberal mind should also have realised the timing of the incident, coming as it did soon after the Dalai Lama had announced the selection of an eight-year-old US-born, Mongolian boy as the 10th Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche, the third most important spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism. As this writer wrote in detail in the 27 March 2023 article in Firstpost, the recognition of the Mongolian boy has stumped the Xi Jinping dispensation, giving it a nightmare on the Dalai Lama succession issue. The Xi Jinping administration knows it well that that the institution of the Dalai Lama is the strongest bulwark against Chinese hegemony in Tibet. If it cant be removed, then it should at least be discredited. Thats what seems to be the motive behind the mischievously edited Dalai Lama video.

Tibetans alone dont have weird traditions. For instance, there are many cultures where smiling isnt seen as a friendly gesture. In some Latin cultures, one smiles to say Excuse me or Please. Also, if someone does not return your greeting smile, this doesnt mean some sort of enmity or hostility. Some Asian cultures reserve smiling for informal occasions; smiling while being formally introduced is considered disrespectful.

Likewise, Indians, Europeans and Americans are mostly advised to make eye contact while interacting with others. Not making eye contact is seen as a sign of disinterest, evasiveness and elusiveness. But in many cultures, including Korean, avoiding eye contact is a sign of respect.

Diversity is equally evident in table manners across the world. In China, for instance, making a mess of the table is seen as a sign of the guest enjoying the meal. You should also leave a bit of food on your plate to make the host think that you are full and have enough to eat  one is, however, advised not to leave any rice leftover in the bowl. Likewise, in Egypt, one is expected not to fill his own glass for water  it is the job of his immediate neighbour on the table to fill his glass! In Afghanistan, when a piece of bread drops on the floor, its lifted and kissed. And in Canada, guests should not come on or before time; its acceptable for them to come late.

As for Indians, they have taken, obviously out of coloniality, the Western table manners to a different level. So much so that my yoga teacher was bemoaning the other day how most of his young students couldnt sit properly, and were prone to joint and back problems very early in their lives! The tradition of sitting cross-legged on the floor is almost extinct, especially in urban homes, though some families have realised its importance and are striving to bring it back into their lives.

Its a case of utter coloniality because theres a tendency among educated Indians to look down upon lesser Indians, while gleefully accepting the same mistakes from their Western counterparts. Mispronounce a French or a Latin word in a group of educated individuals, and suddenly there would silence that would intermittently break with hushed up giggling noises. Some braveheart polyglots may even stand up to mock at your egregious error. But the same courtesies are never extended to Europeans when they mispronounce Indian names and words. Punjab is often pronounced as Poonjab, but no one laughs  and even fewer rush to correct them!

The Dalai Lama saga is a reminder to the modern, tech-savvy man about the loss of his faith and reasoning. This has made him shallow and bottomless. He is full of information, but has a dearth of understanding. This has made him a faithless, judgemental and pretentious know-it-all being.

Arun Shourie once narrated to this writer a touching encounter with the Dalai Lama. In 2017, he had invited His Holiness for the release of his book, Two Saints, based on Ramakrishna Paramahansa and Ramana Maharshi. Shourie would always ask his son, Aditya, who has cerebral palsy, to release his books, and on this occasion he asked him to present a copy to the Dalai Lama.

I cant forget that moment. While presenting the book to His Holiness, Aditya placed his hand on his head. And this great monk bowed in front of Aditya. His Holiness laughed, and sought more blessings from Aditya. My sons condition doesnt allow him to look attentively at anything for a long time, but that day he kept looking at the Dalai Lama with an undivided gaze and attention, Shourie recalled. Later during his speech, Shourie added, His Holiness again mentioned how touched he was to receive Adityas blessing.

This is the real Dalai Lama. By judging him, the so-called modern mind has only exposed its fallacy and hollowness. His apology, in that way, is the noble souls apology on behalf of humanity, on whom the Dalai Lamas faith has not wavered a bit despite seven decades of suffering and hardship.

The author is Opinion Editor, Firstpost and News18. He tweets from @Utpal_Kumar1.

Read all the Latest Opinions here
For several decades, there has been a concerted effort to malign the image of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Hindutva in Western academia and public discourse. These efforts have increased manifold in recent years. In the third part of the multi-part series, we take a look at how some dubious outfits in the Western world release baseless and malicious reports against the RSS.

The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) and the World Sikh Organization (WSO) recently released a report entitled Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Network in Canada. The report peddles unsubstantiated and wild allegations against the RSS not providing any evidence to support these assertions.

The report starts with a picture which has sketch of a Muslim man lynched and then it goes on to assert, The image above of visibly Muslim men being lynched is a tweet posted on an RSS official account. The fact is that the RSS never posted any such picture on its official Twitter account. The report could have taken the screenshot of the RSS official twitter account with this alleged post but it fails to produce any such screenshot because this post never existed on the official twitter handle of the RSS.

The report further states, This exclusionary vision is grounded in ideological frameworks propagated by founding RSS figures such as Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, and Madhavrao Sadashivrao Golwalkar, whose works cite Nazi Germany as an aspirational example.

The report writers have got their basic facts wrong here. The founder of the RSS was Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar. Golwalkar was the second Sarsanghchalak who joined the RSS almost a decade after it was founded. And Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was the founder of Hindu Mahasabha. He was an inspirational figure for not only Dr Hedgewar but several generations of revolutionaries and his impact was profound on the Indian revolutionary movement. Dr Hedgewar was not the only one who was inspired by him, those who looked up to him included revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh amongst others. It is also absolutely incorrect to say that their works cite Nazi Germany as an aspirational example. In Fact, this lie has been propounded and promoted over the years that the RSS leadership was inspired by Nazism and Fascism. Golwalkar, who is often cited in this context, had in fact expressed deep concern over the persecution of Jews in the book, We or our Nationhood Defined. This book was translated by him from Marathi, he had not written it. And even within this book there is no praise for Nazism or Fascism. But this false bogey has been created, perpetuated and promoted over the years.

The report says that RSS has been targeting Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and Dalits in India and its work in countries like Canada has also resulted in such incidents there. These are baseless allegations and have nothing to with facts.

Not even a single law enforcement agency has ever named RSS in any communal incident. There are many Sikhs who are part of the RSS. In fact, during Partition, the pro-Pakistan hooligans which were part of the Muslim League had tried to attack one the holiest shrines of Sikhs  Golden Temple  twice and RSS volunteers saved it by fighting with the attackers on the streets of Amritsar. As far as Muslims are concerned, a large number of Muslim leaders are part of an RSS inspired nationwide organisation called Muslim Rashtriya Manch. Several Muslim leaders, including the religious ones, have been meeting with the RSS leadership. In recent times, a number of Muslim leaders have been sharing dais with the current Sarsanghchalak (Chief Mentor of the RSS), Mohan Bhagwat.

As far as Dalits are concerned, they have been the biggest beneficiary of the RSS movement to unite Hindus. RSS official stand is very clear that has been reflected in several of its resolutions that caste discrimination must be done away with and the reservations for Dalits should continue as an affirmative welfare measure till they themselves want to do away with it. RSS inspired organisations like Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, Sewa Bharati, Ekal Vidyalaya specifically work for the marginalsed sections of the society including Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. There are more than 2 lakh welfare projects run by the RSS volunteers in various fields. The beneficiaries include millions of Indians cutting across religion, caste, creed, gender, age.

Another factual blunder made in this report is that it alleged that the RSS has a huge network in Canada. The RSS works only in India. It has no affiliates. However, there are many volunteers who, inspired by the RSS goal of service to the society, do some social welfare related activities in other countries when they live there. The purpose is to serve the society. The report tries to create a scare by putting out fiction as facts as it says, Various Sangh (RSS-related) organizations are operational in countries across the world, including Canada. Chief among this effort are educational chapters, or shakhas, that prepare both youth and adults through ideological training, ceremony, and religious instruction  all linked to the supremacist ideas of the RSSs founders and ideologues.

Now let us also try to take a look at the credentials of the organisations which released this report. A Delhi-based think tank Centre for Integrated and Holistic Research(CIHS) dug deeper into the background of these organisations and came out with some startling facts about both this report and its perpetrators. According to CIHS, the report has been widely criticised for its institutional bias against Hindus, India, and the RSS, as well as its malicious agenda, misinformation, rhetoric, and opinion-based claims. NCCM was founded in 2013 as a rebranding of the Canadian chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an organisation that has been accused of ties to extremist groups like Muslim Brotherhood and terrorist groups like Hamas.

NCCM is known for promoting a radical anti-India and anti-Hindu agenda, as well as for its institutional bias against Hindus and Hindu-centric organisations and movements. Its actions have often been seen as part of a larger misinformation campaign against India and Hindus in Canada. Similarly, WSO is notorious for eulogising separatism and extremism in India. The organisation has been known to support Khalistani separatists and has been criticised for stroking communal divides in the past. The NCCM and WSO have a history of bias against Hindus, India, and the RSS. The NCCM has been accused of promoting an anti-India and anti-Hindu agenda since its inception. Both organisations have been known to express their support for terrorists, extremists and separatist movements in India, including Pakistan backed Khalistani and Kashmiri separatists, who have been responsible for a wave of terrorism and violence in India over the several decades.

The NCCM and WSO report on the RSS is a clear example of their malicious agenda to shape a negative portrayal of Hindus and Hindu centric-organisations in the West. Both institutions showcase chronic institutional bias against Hindus and India for decades, result of this hasty report makes several spurious claims about the RSS, portraying it as a violent, extremist organisation with an agenda to oppress minorities in India. However, there is no concrete evidence to support these allegations, and the report appears to be part of a larger malicious ecosystem of like-minded individuals, entities and institutions towards an attempt to portray the RSS in a specific light and advance a particular political narrative.

(Continues)

The writer, an author and columnist has written two books on RSS. He tweets @ArunAnandLive. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.

Read all the Latest Opinions here
In big jolt to the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, Bombay High Court on Monday dismissed a plea filed by ex-BMC corporator Raju Pednekar of the Thackeray faction, challenging the decision of Eknath Shinde government reducing the number of wards from 236 to 227.

The previous Uddhav-led government had made 236 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) wards, but it was later revised to 227 after the Shinde-Fadnavis government came to power.

A division bench of Justices SB Shukre and MW Chandwani said it found no substance in the petitions and hence, they stand dismissed.

The Bombay High Court accepted the stand put forward by the state government and the Election Commission.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Uddhav Thackeray had in November 2021 decided to increase the number of wards from 227 to 236.

Former BMC councillors Raju Pednekar and Sameer Desai in their petitions challenged the Shinde governments decision and claimed that it sought to put the clock back.

The petitioners claimed that the reversal of the delimitation from 236 to 227 was arbitrary and could lead to a delay in the civic elections.

(With PTI inputs)

Read all the Latest Politics News here
As tensions continue to simmer between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, the latter has written a letter threatening legal action against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his party for accusing him of attempting to stop the citys electricity subsidies for the poor.

This comes as Delhi Power Minister Atishi, and Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj accused the Lt Governor of not approving a file that would result in the discontinuation of power subsidies for almost 46 lakh people in the national capital from Friday onwards.

In the letter, Saxena denied the allegations and called them unsubstantiated, misleading and false." He also asked Kejriwal to seek accountability and responsibility of the statements made by the AAP leaders.

I write to you seeking accountability and responsibility with regards to unsubstantiated and false statements made by you and your colleagues in the government and party against me," Saxena wrote, as quoted by the NDTV.

Saxena further challenged the Delhi government to show evidence to prove that he stopped the power subsidy.

You are well aware that I have always been committed to power subsidy to the poor and have made the same amply clear in public domain, as indeed in writing on different files on different occasions," the letter further reads.

Saxena highlighted that if the AAP members fail to show any proof of their statements, he would pursue a legal action against them, according to NDTV.

The LG has previously also responded to these statements and asked Atishi to refrain from engaging in unnecessary politicking and making baseless false allegations against him.

The LGs office had asked Atishi and Kejriwal to explain to the people of Delhi why the decision on this matter was delayed until April 4, even though the deadline was April 15.

What had AAP claimed about the electricity subsidy?

Amid the ongoing tussle between the city government and the Lt Governor office, the minister said she has sought a meeting with Saxena over the issue but there has been no response. The subsidy we give to 46 lakh people will stop from today. From Monday onwards, people will get inflated bills without subsidy, she said in a press conference here.

According to the minister, the Delhi Cabinet has given its approval for extending the power subsidy for the year 2023-24. However, the file regarding this matter is still awaiting clearance in the LGs office.

Till the file is approved we cant give subsidy. I even sought time from the LG office to discuss the matter but its been more than 24 hours and I have not been given time. The file has also not come back yet, she alleged.

What is the electricity subsidy?

The AAP-led government in Delhi offers free electricity to consumers who use up to 200 units per month.

For those consuming between 201 to 400 units per month, there is a 50 per cent subsidy capped at Rs 850.

Last year, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal declared that power subsidy would only be given to those consumers who applied for it. As per official records, over 48 lakh out of more than 58 lakh domestic consumers have applied for the power subsidy.

The AAP-led government has allocated a budget of Rs 3,250 crore for power subsidy in the fiscal year 2023-24.

With agency inputs

Read all the Latest Politics News here
KC Venugopal, General Secretary of All India Congress committee, will visit Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackerays residence Matoshree around 8.30 pm on Monday with an aim to build national unity of opposition parties for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

For the Congress, this is an important step towards bringing together regional allies, who are not a part of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

ALSO READ | Dial U for Uddhav & Unity: Will Rahul Be First Gandhi to Visit Thackeray Residence Matoshree?

For the Shiv Sena, it is crucial optics that a senior leader comes visiting at Matoshree, the residence which has seen several top leaders from Lalkrishna Advani and Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Amit Shah as guests.

In the backdrop of the recent differences between the alliance partners on several core issues, including Veer Savarkar, the meeting assumes significance.

Venugopal will invite Uddhav Thackeray for a national meeting of all party chiefs which is to be hosted by the Congress in Delhi," a top source told CNN-News18.

Venugopal will discuss several issues with Thackeray. After this meeting, several key issues will be discussed in Delhi. There will be a discussion on the issues that are to be raised in Parliament, the common grounds and common programmes. There will be a discussion on the differences. We will speak about holding joint rallies and press conferences," a senior leader said.

RAHUL MEET?

There is no official word on whether Rahul Gandhi will meet Uddhav Thackeray thereafter.

Sources said this meeting has nothing to do with those plans, if any. The Shiv Sena (UBT) had claimed a few days ago that Gandhi will soon meet Thackeray.

This is a part of a national exercise that the Congress has been conducting. We have been coordinating with 17-18 parties. During the past few days of this session, the party has reached out to several regional players. Thats why Nitish Kumar, Tejaswi Yadav and Sharad Pawar visited," a senior Congress leader said.

He added that the party would also approach regional players who are not a part of the UPA officially, but who are in alliance with the Congress regionally. Even those parties which are not officially in the UPA even regionally, but are opposed to the BJP, are being looked at. We will approach them as well," a senior leader said.

NEXT MEETING IN DELHI

After this outreach by Venugopal, a meeting with opposition leaders will be held in Delhi.

Sources in the Sena said it was unlikely that Thackeray will attend the meeting in Delhi.

The Sena will of course be interested to be a part of the opposition unity. But our senior leaders, who are our MPs, will likely attend that meeting, a senior leader said.

Read all the Latest Politics News here
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for criticising his faction of Shiv Sena for joining hands with the Congress. Addressing the Maha Vikas Aghadis (MVA) joint Vajramuth rally in Nagpur, the Shiv Sena (UBT) president alleged that the Hindutva of the Rashtriaya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and BJP is Gaumutradhari Hindutva", and attacked them of doing minority appeasement politics.

After the Aurangabad rally of the MVA earlier this month, BJP sprinkled gomutra (cow urine) at the venue. They should have drunk some cow urine, they would have become wiser, our Hindutva is about nationalism." the former Chief Minister said.

Many Muslims attended that rally and even today many Muslims are attending. Arent they humans? I am being accused of giving up Hindutva because I joined hands with Congress. Are there no Hindus in Congress? There (RSS-BJP) Hindutva is Gaumutradhari Hindutva, he said.

Thackeray also asked whether it was okay when RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat goes to a mosque.

On one hand they read Hanuman Chalisa and on the other hand, they go to mosques and listen Qawali, is this their Hindutva? They go and have Mann ki Baat in Urdu in UP, is this their Hindutva? Our Hindutva is about sacrificing life for the country, Thackeray was quoted as saying by the news agency ANI.

The former Chief Minister called for Opposition unity in order to defeat the BJP government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and said an alternative would emerge on its own. Thackeray said BJPs addiction to power" was destroying the country.

You just need to press the button (of EVM) to create a revolution. Freedom fighters and revolutionaries walked to the gallows to achieve freedom. They did not bother who will be the prime minister or the president. They laid down their lives for the people of the country and not to bring BJP to power," he said.

Why should you bother who will be the alternative? Someone will emergebut we need to pledge that we will not allow a government which is unjust. " he said, adding that PM Modi should tell people what he has done for the country during his tenure.

Thackeray said people should be aware of how religious issues are raked up to distract their attention from core issues.

The former Chief Ministers comments on alternatives to PM Modi and his government assume significance as efforts for opposition unity are on. Congress general secretary K C Venugopal and Rahul Gandhi are likely to meet him in Mumbai soon.

The former CM also questioned the silence of PM Modi on the Hindenburg report on billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani and also the reported revelations of former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satyapal Malik.

US-based Hindenburg Research has alleged stock manipulation and accounting fraud in firms belonging to Adani.

If the Hindenburg report is not true, why are you shaken? Rahul Gandhi has been disqualified and now (Delhi Chief Minister) Arvind Kejriwal might be arrested," he said.

The MVA government in Maharashtra was running well, Thackeray said, adding that the BJP couldnt wait for the completion of the governments term to make a bid for forming the next one.

The former CM also targeted the BJP, whose minister Chandrakant Patil recently said the Shiv Sena had nothing to do with the Ayodhya movement.

When the Babri mosque was demolished, there was chaos in the BJP camp. But (Shiv Sena founder) Balasaheb Thackeray declared that if a Shivsainik was involved he was proud," Thackeray said, and demanded to know if the RSS agreed with the views of Chandrakant Patil.

If Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was a real ram bhakt, he would have gone to Ayodhya and not Surat and Guwahati. Did Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis go to Ayodhya when he was chief minister? he asked.

Following his rebellion against Thackeray in June 2022, Shinde and his supporting MLAs had first gone to Surat in Gujarat and Guwahati in Assam before returning to Maharashtra.

Thackeray also justified his recent remark in which he dubbed Fadnavis as worthless", saying that even though he chooses his words carefully, he did use the term for the deputy CM as a woman member of his party was mercilessly attacked for a critical comment against the government on social media.

Thackeray said Union Home Minister Amit Shah is always critical of dynasties.

But today he was in Mumbai to honour a dynasty working for the society," he said referring to the Maharashtra Bhushan award presented to social worker Appasaheb Dharmadhikari.

Referring to the attendance of people in large numbers at the Vajramuth rally, Thackeray said the huge gathering shows that people were satisfied with the MVA rule, but still it was toppled through betrayal and back-stabbing, which is not tolerated in Maharashtra.

Congress leader Sunil Kedar was the organiser of the rally. Former chief minister and senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan, State Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Jayant Patil, State Congress chief Nana Patole, and former Deputy CM Ajit Pawar also attended the rally.

Former CM Ashok Chavan did not attend the rally and he tweeted about his unavailability citing political engagements in Nanded, while senior Congress leader Nitin Raut, who hails from Nagpur, was conspicuous by his absence.

(With inputs from ANI and PTI)

Read all the Latest Politics News here
The woman arrived in Buffalo three weeks ago, exhausted, creases surrounding her pained eyes.

She is staying at the refugee shelter Vive with her five children: the eldest, a young adult; the youngest, preschool age. They came here from their home in Colombia, where kidnapping and violent crime are commonplace. Her teenage daughter was raped there, and gave birth to a baby girl.

We dont even know who it was, said the woman, who spoke through an interpreter on the condition of anonymity, for the protection of her family, and we decided to leave before facing even greater danger.

The woman, her five children and her baby granddaughter left Colombia in September, fleeing by foot through the rugged Darien Gap, a 100-mile-wide jungle that separates Colombia from Panama. They walked for eight days, passing dead bodies that rolled down the mountainside into the river. Her baby granddaughter became dehydrated. Her 7-year-old boy was swept into the river, but some man came out of nowhere, she said, and was able to save him.

The family made it through Central America to Mexico, then Texas and zigzagged by bus through the United States. On the way, the woman met a group that was fleeing to Canada, which has become a destination for people seeking refuge from danger. She kept in touch, learned they made it to Canada and decided that would be the best place for her family, too.

Her best route into Canada would be by crossing the border in the northeastern corner of New York. She bused her family to Buffalo and came to Vive to stay temporarily, gathering the money and supplies she would need to take her family by bus to Plattsburgh, a small city near the New York-Vermont line. From there, they would take a 45-minute taxi ride to a nondescript country road that has become an international, and unofficial, pathway into Canada.

Roxham Road runs northward, past a horse pasture, a trailer and a few old homes. Then it stops, abruptly, with signs telling people to travel no farther.

The end of Roxham Road is also the end of the United States. Across a small gravel and dirt patch is Canada, open and available, a five-second walk from where Roxhams pavement stops.

Since 2016, when Donald Trump's electoral victory ensured that America's stance on immigration enforcement would become steelier, tens of thousands of migrants crossed the border there. They were arrested immediately, but then claimed asylum and were given the chance to make their case to stay in Canada.

Roxham was a beacon, and for many, Buffalo was a stop on the way.

Thats why this woman and her family came here. But then in late March, with no notice and little time for planning, Roxham Road closed.

That closure effectively served as a broken link in a chain for those seeking asylum. And it has had a direct impact on shelters like Vive, where thousands of journeys have ended for now and where resources are stretched to their limit as refugee advocates plead for help from the government.

  

People dont stay long at Vive, a former school on Buffalos East Side that is now a shelter for refugees. Their stays are typically measured in weeks, even days. Many leave and head to Canada, where they hope to seek asylum, making the case for why they are fleeing violence and terror in their home countries and seeking a new life.

On March 23, a pair of families arrived at Vive, hoping to stay briefly while getting ready to trek northward to Canada. That day, the director of Vive, Matt Tice, received word that Roxham Road would likely be closing very soon.

Were scrambling to help along the folks in the building who were planning to head that way, Tice said that night. Vive doesnt encourage people to head to Canada, or transport them to Roxham, but it does provide information on regulations and processes. In this case, the information was clear: If youre heading to Roxham, you need to hurry. (We) dont want them ending up stuck, Tice said.

The United States and Canada had agreed on a revision to the Safe Third Country Agreement, a pact that requires asylum seekers to make their claim in whichever of those two countries they are in first. For years, asylum seekers have made use of a loophole in the agreement: If people seeking asylum found their way into Canada between a port of entry, they would be arrested for an irregular crossing. But they would also be allowed to stay in Canada and make their claim.

Except in rare or limited circumstances  such as when the cross-border traffic was largely closed for a 20-month stretch during the pandemic  they would not be returned to the United States.

The flow of people in Canada  nearly 40,000 in 2022 alone  created a border crisis in Canada and ignited political pressure on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Unlike the U.S.-Mexico line, where Border Patrol agents are apprehending large groups of people traversing land and river borders en masse, Roxham Road was orderly. People lined up, one by one and family by family, to cross the border to be arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who years ago set up a processing center at the site.

But Trudeau and President Joe Biden reached an agreement to close the loophole. Canada agreed to accept 15,000 migrants annually. In return, anyone who crosses at Roxham  or anywhere else between ports of entry along the northern border  will be returned to the United States. (The reverse is also true: People crossing southward will be returned to Canada.)

For refugees, their road to freedom was closing. They just didnt know when.

  

Knowing when to cross at Roxham is not a snap decision. People need money for bus tickets to Plattsburgh, a taxi ride to the end of Roxham, information on what to do and what to avoid.

For example, when an asylum seeker would show up at Roxham Road and was still on the American side of the border, Canadian police officers delivered a loosely scripted warning: If you choose to enter this way, its illegal and youre going to be arrested. They told the asylum seekers to go to a port of entry.

But this doesn't work, unless the person crossing has a direct family member in Canada  in which case, they wouldnt have come to Roxham in the first place. By walking into Canada, getting arrested and claiming asylum, those crossing would be given shelter and food, education for their children, and the opportunity to build a case. There are no guarantees, but it's a chance.

That Thursday night, five families decided they were ready to go. They were 14 people in all, half of them children, from Congo, Angola and Colombia. Around 8 p.m., the group headed from Vive to the Buffalo bus station. Their eastbound Greyhound was scheduled to depart shortly after midnight.

About an hour later, Tice received further word: The official announcement was coming the next day, when Biden and Trudeau were meeting in Ottawa, and the closing would be near-immediate. He started making contingency plans in case the 14 people made it to Plattsburgh but could go no farther. Hes part of a large network of immigration advocates and volunteers and reached out to his contacts in the Plattsburgh area. Tice and his staff also kept an eye on the Greyhound schedule, hoping there were no bus delays.

That was all they could do.

  

The closure of the loopholes in the Safe Third Country Agreement will have implications that play out in Buffalo and across the 5,525-mile U.S.-Canadian border. Because crossing northward at Roxham Road now guarantees a quick return to the United States, its likely that more migrants will try to slip into Canada  or southward into the United States  undetected through fields and waterways.

The geography is dangerous. Last month, eight people were found dead in the St. Lawrence River in Akwesasne, the Indigenous territory that straddles the U.S.-Canada border where Ontario, Quebec and New York meet. The six adults and two children, including an infant, were from two families: one from India and the other of Romanian descent. All are believed to have been attempting illegal entry into the U.S. from Canada, said Lee-Ann O'Brien, the deputy chief of police for the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service, in a March 31 news briefing.

When Safe Third Country Agreement revisions became public, Dr. Myron Glick, the founder of Vives parent organization, Jericho Road Community Health Center, criticized the decision.

The closing of Roxham Road will cost lives," he said in a statement. "When someone flees from their home, they are doing what so many have done before  partaking in the centuries-long tradition of seeking freedom and safety, elsewhere. We believe that caring for asylum seekers is caring for our neighbor. We are deeply troubled by the decision to further restrict access to safety. These children, parents, and individuals have lost all but what they could carry on their back  some have even lost their lives along the way. The decision to now turn them away flies in the face of this country's promise, and of our humanity.

Glicks statement revealed that in the last year, 2,000 people stayed at Vive on their way to Canada. Under this new policy, half of that group would be immediately barred from the country. (The other half, presumably, had direct family in Canada and could make an official application for entry.) Now, more of those people will be staying in Buffalo, elevating an already dire need for housing and support.

In the week following the closure of Roxham, the staff of Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo, was in contact with state officials and the Western New York agencies that support refugee resettlement. Higgins, who is co-chair of the Houses Northern Border Caucus, sent a letter March 31 to President Biden urging increased funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Emergency Food and Shelter Program.

Immigration agencies in Western New York work tirelessly to assist asylum seekers, Higgins wrote, noting that the organizations already operate under significant strain and will require additional resources to increase capacity and bandwidth in order to meet their mission.

Three days after Higgins wrote that letter, a group of 21 people, most of them from Peru, showed up at Vive. They saw a set of four bright yellow signs on the door, with the same message in four languages:

VIVE IS FULL.

Vive is almost always full. The shelter has room for 120 people, is consistently at or over capacity, and is seven months into a capital campaign to raise $6 million for a new, expanded facility. Today, those signs stay up longer because people will need lengthier stays. The Vive staff doesnt simply turn people away; instead, they work to find other places in Buffalo for them to stay, which is what happened with the Peruvian families.

When people show up, we've completely run out of cots, beds, emergency space, Tice said, so we're looking for outside placement all over the place.

  

Late in the morning on March 24, Tice received news: His group of 14 was on schedule for arrival in Plattsburgh by early afternoon. But Roxham Road was closing at midnight. His group en route would make it. But nobody else from Vive could go.

Tice and his staff held a meeting with the people still at Vive to deliver the news. There was a sense of dread in the room, recalled Maria Perez-Gomez, Vives assistant director. Beyond the perceived stoicism, there was an unspoken hopelessness.

The woman from Colombia was part of that meeting. Though she appeared stolid in the room, she later broke down. I couldnt stop crying, she said. After leaving a horrifying reality in her home country, surviving a journey through the most dangerous jungle on the planet, and finding her way across countries and states, she was so close to Canada.

And now, so far.

But then she considered her priorities. The most important is her childrens education. She spoke with officials at Vive, and took steps to enroll her school-age children in the Buffalo Public Schools. She is grasping opportunity for the moment, but nothing is settled: To stay, she still has to make, and win, an asylum case.

I want to be where my children can do well. she said. If theyre going to do well here, then itll be OK.
Apples CEO Tim Cook on Monday expressed his excitement to expand the companys long-standing history in India. The company is preparing to open its first two retail stores in the country, marking a significant milestone as it celebrates over 25 years in India this week.

At Apple, our mission is to enrich lives and empower people around the world. India has such a beautiful culture and incredible energy, and were excited to build on our long-standing history  supporting our customers, investing in local communities, and working together to build a better future with innovations that serve humanity," said Apples CEO Tim Cook.

Apples first two retail stores in India will open this week in Mumbai and Delhi, welcoming customers from all over the country and around the world to discover the best of Apple. Apple BKC will open on Tuesday, April 18, at 11 a.m. IST, and Apple Saket will open for customers on April 20 at 10 a.m. IST.

Beginning April 20, customers will be able to stop by to explore Apples latest product lineup, find creative inspiration, and get personalized service and support from the stores team of Specialists, Creatives, and Geniuses, the iPhone maker said.

Indias vibrant community of app developers now supports more than 1 million jobs. App Store payouts to developers in the country have more than tripled since 2018. At the iOS App Design and Development Accelerator in Bengaluru, Apple works one-on-one with developers to help take their apps from good to great.

Since 2017, the accelerator has hosted sessions for more than 15,000 developers, enabling them to build on their ideas and bring cutting-edge apps to the market.

As part of Apples commitment to be 100 per cent carbon neutral for its supply chain and products by 2030, all active Indian manufacturing supply chain partners are committed to using 100 per cent clean energy for their Apple operations.

Apple began manufacturing iPhone in India in 2017, and since then, the company has worked with suppliers to assemble iPhone models and produce a growing number of components.

Apple recently launched educational programming in India focused on womens health, as part of the companys $50 million Supplier Employee Development Fund which was founded in 2022 to educate supplier employees on new skill development, rights awareness, and other learning opportunities.

Read all the Latest Tech News here
Marriage proposals have become increasingly innovative and people pull off unimaginable acts in a bid to be unique. One such unique abduction prank was pulled off by a man on her Australian girlfriend who was on a trip to Lebanon.

Vanessa Moujalli, from Sydney, Australia, thought she was being abducted while in Lebanon, the Sun reported. The video was shared on TikTok and showed Vanessa drinking coffee in the back seat of a car while on the trip with her family members. All of a sudden, a few strangers in Balaclavas stopped the vehicle and pulled Vanessa out of the car as she begged them to not take her.

While wielding guns in their hands they forcefully transfer Vanessa into another vehicle. The woman is seen pleading to her kidnappers to let her go in exchange for whatever they want. She even tries to take off her blindfold while in the second car. But all her efforts seem pointless. As soon as she reaches the location, she bursts into tears as she walks down a gravel patch. However, she is left in a state of shock when her blindfold is taken off.

Vanessa sees her family surrounding her with music playing in the background; in fron was her boyfriend with a bouquet in his hand. He then sits down on one knee and proposes to Vanessa. Her boyfriend, Adam Rizk had planned everything to surprise her.

Adam and Vanessa have been dating for ten years and he finally decided to propose to her in this dramatic manner. In the video, the last portion shows him walking over and laughing before pulling out a ring box from his pocket.

Vanessa, while hysterically laughing and crying at the same time says, You are joking. Adams sister Tahlia shared the video on TikTok and captioned it, How my brother decided to propose.

The footage also showed Vanessas family helping Adam to execute the plan. A few days after the engagement, Vanessa shared a series of photographs on Facebook of the couple posing by the sea in Anfeh, with the caption, A dream come true.

Read all the Latest News here
Clayton Vaughn, a 21-year-old father of a 4-month-old girl, died when a tyre from an 18-wheeler truck flew into the windshield of an SUV, inside which he was travelling, on the Katy Freeway earlier this week.

The incident happened on Thursday night. His girlfriend was driving the SUV and she is expected to be okay, according to a report by US-based local news media outlet ABC13.

The car crash occurred along the westbound lanes of the Katy Freeway near Blalock Road. Blalock Road is in Houston, Texas.

One tyre bounced onto the freeways westbound lanes and struck the windshield of the Kia SUV.

Photos released on social media showed the SUVs windshield demolished.

Questions have been raised regarding the truck driver who never stopped. The truck, according to eyewitnesses speaking to ABC13, pointed out that, was travelling with a landscaping-style trailer attached to it when the tyre flew off the trailer.

One eyewitness also said that she saw the tyre eject from the trailer of the black truck, which did not have a licence plate. The tyre was bouncing around before another truck made contact with it.

It rolled into the high-occupancy vehicle lane and a white F-150 pickup hit it, leading it to bounce and go over the barrier, the eyewitness said.

It went straight into the windshield like Boom! I saw it. I saw glass and I saw the hood pop up and the car started spinning, the eyewitness said, according to ABC13.

The police officials told the news outlet that the driver could be charged with failure to stop and render aid, if found. The decision to charge the driver will be taken by the Harris County District Attorneys Office.

The eyewitness also said that at one point she was driving side by side with the truck driver. It happened so fast, but by the time we got side by side, it was like he was going to stop. But Im sure he saw what I saw, and he started driving slowly, she further added.

The mans uncle said he hopes more witnesses will come forward. Evan Richard, Vaughns uncle, said even if such incidents happen, negligence played a role in the death of his nephew.

He was a passenger in a vehicle struck by an oncoming tyre. What are the chances of something like this happening? (You should) know, you are endangering lives around you, and I cant bring him back. But I can get the message out that you can do better. The city can do better, Richard said, lamenting that the accident robbed Vaughn of the chance to watch his daughter grow up.

Read all the Latest News here
A ban on Afghan women working for the United Nations was an internal issue, the countrys Taliban authorities said Wednesday, adding that the decision should be respected by all sides".

Taliban authorities triggered international outrage earlier this month after extending a December ban on Afghan women working for non-governmental organisations to the UN.

The Islamic Emirate does not want to create obstacles for the United Nations," Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement on Wednesday.

Rather, it wants to make it clear that this is an internal issue of Afghanistan which does not create a problem for anyone and should be respected by all sides."

Under their austere interpretation of Islam, Taliban authorities have imposed a slew of restrictions on Afghan women since seizing power in 2021, including banning them from higher education and many government jobs.

The UN said Tuesday the ban was forcing it to make an appalling choice" on whether to continue operations in Afghanistan.

The world body said it cannot comply with the ban as it was unlawful under international law, including the UN Charter".

Mujahid, however, said there was no discrimination" in the decision.

On the contrary, considering the religious and cultural interests, we are committed to all the rights of our people."

The increasing curbs on women are reminiscent of the Talibans first government between 1996 and 2001, when the UN said they were responsible for repeated human rights violations  particularly against girls and women.

Since the ban was announced, the UN has ordered all its Afghan staff  men and women  not to report to work until further notice.

Taliban authorities justified the December ban on the grounds they had received serious complaints" that women were not observing the groups interpretation of Islamic dress codes.

Several NGOs suspended operations in the country in protest, piling further misery on Afghanistans citizens  half of whom face hunger, according to aid agencies.

Mujahid said Afghans had the capacity to stand on their own feet", but the countrys problems were caused by sanctions and restrictions on the financial and banking system.

Soon after the Talibans takeover, the United States seized roughly $7 billion in Afghan central bank assets.

It is necessary that the member countries of the United Nations resolve the problem of freezing Afghan assets, banking, travel bans and other restrictions so that Afghanistan can progress in the economic, political and security areas," Mujahid said.

Read all the Latest News here
The White House on Monday sharply criticized Brazil after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on a trip to China that the United States is encouraging war in Ukraine.

In this case, Brazil is parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda without at all looking at the facts," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

Lula said Saturday during a visit to Beijing, where he met Chinese leader Xi Jinping, that the United States needs to stop encouraging war and start talking about peace. The European Union needs to start talking about peace."

This echoed a line frequently used by Moscow and Beijing, which blame the West for the war, which began in February 2022 when Russian forces poured into Ukraine in an attempt to overthrow the democratically elected government and annex swaths of the pro-Western country.

Brazil has not joined Western nations in imposing sanctions on Russia and has refused requests to supply ammunition to Ukraine.

On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Brazil, at the start of a Latin America tour, that Russia is grateful to our Brazilian friends for their clear understanding of the genesis of the situation (in Ukraine)."

Veteran leftist Lula is keen to bolster Brazils bid to be a non-aligned peacemaker.

But Kirby said Lulas message on the war was deeply problematic."

Washington doesnt have any objection to any country that wants to try to bring an end to the war," he said.

Obviously we want the war to end," Kirby said. That could happen right now, today, if Mr (Russian President Vladimir) Putin would stop attacking Ukraine and pull its troops out."

The most recent comments by Brazil that Ukraine should consider formally ceding Crimea as a peace concession is simply misguided, especially for a country like Brazil that has voted to uphold the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity (at the UN)."

Read all the Latest News here
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinas defence minister Li Shangfu met over the weekend and vowed to deepen military cooperation between Beijing and Moscow. Shangfu met Putin on Sunday.

It was his first trip overseas after being appointed defence minister.

Shangfu said China and Russia are willing to work with each other to build close strategic communications between each others militaries. He said Beijing is ready to strengthen multilateral coordination and cooperation with Russia.

China is willing to work with Russia to make new contributions to the maintenance of world and regional security and stability, Li said, according to a report by state-run CCTV.

(Ties between Russia and China) surpass the military-political alliances of the cold war era. This is my first overseas visit since taking over as Chinas defence minister. I specifically chose Russia for this in order to emphasise the special nature and strategic importance of our bilateral ties, Shangfu said, according to the translated remarks broadcast on Russian TV.

Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu attended the meeting.

Video footage of the meeting released by Russian state-run media outlets showed Putin sitting down with Li at a table after shaking hands.

We are working actively through our military departments, regularly exchanging useful information, working together in the field of military-technical cooperation, and holding joint exercises, Putin was quoted as saying by Russian state-run media outlets.

Putin revealed that joint exercises were held in the Far East as well as in Europe and ground, naval and air forces participated in those exercises.

This is another crucial area that strengthens the extremely trusting, strategic nature of our relations, Putin said.

Lis trip to Russia comes a month after Chinese President Xi Jinpings Moscow visit, where he met Putin and promised to deepen the relationship between both countries.

While both leaders also discussed Beijings proposals to end the Ukraine conflict, the talks mostly focused on how Russia and China can present an alternative to what they perceive as a Washington-led world order.

The meeting is likely to have been closely observed by Kyiv as Ukrainian forces find a growing number of components from China in Russian weapons used in Ukraine.

The US has placed sanctions on Shangfu since 2018 after the latter oversaw the purchase of combat aircraft and equipment from Russias main arms exporter, Rosoboronexport.

(with inputs from the Guardian, AFP and Reuters)

Read all the Latest News here
A Chinese engineer working at a hydropower project in Kohistan District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan has been arrested on Sunday for Insulting Allah.

The unnamed engineer, an employee of China Gezhouba Group Company, was arrested from the Dasu hydropower project after an angry mob gathered to attack him for allegedly making blasphemous remarks during a heated argument at the workplace, a report in South China Morning Post said.

The Chinese national was detained at a police station in the remote Kohistan region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to avert a serious situation, the report said.

The report quoted a source as saying that the Pakistani labourers gathered outside the engineers office on Sunday to attack him for insulting Allah amid a heated conversation about the slow pace of work during Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting.

GILGIT: #Pakistan A large number of Muslim mob in Barseen area of Kohistan (KPK) had come out on the streets to demand the arrest of the #Chinese national after the news of the alleged #blasphemy spread in the region.The protesters had gathered outside the Chinese workers camp pic.twitter.com/R8C62kJTX4 Faraz Pervaiz (@FarazPervaiz3) April 17, 2023

As the news of the blasphemy spread, hundreds of men from nearby villages in the mountainous Himalayan region gathered to block the Karakoram Highway connecting Pakistan to China to protest against the Chinese citizen.

The mob was restrained by police and paramilitary soldiers and local reports claimed that aerial warning shots were fired to prevent a riot.

The demonstrators were assured that the Chinese engineer would face legal repercussions and then the protestors dispersed after four hours.

Protest against Chinese citizen has been called off in Kohistan of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, KKH opened for traffic, police has taken accused Chinese citizen into custody, the meeting of religious leaders will decide next strategy today. pic.twitter.com/T0o8LhWouK Jamil Nagri (@jamilnagri) April 16, 2023

Meanwhile, the security of the Chinese nationals working on the World Bank-financed Dasu hydropower project has been tightened.

Earlier in July 2021, nine Chinese nationals were killed, alongside four Pakistani colleagues, in a suicide bombing on a bus. The bus was carrying people, including the Chinese national, to the hydropower plant site.

In December of the same year, a Sri Lankan factory manager working in Pakistan was beaten to death and set ablaze by a mob over blasphemy accusations.

Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in Muslim-majority Pakistan, where even unproven allegations can stir mobs and violence. The crime carries punishments ranging from fines to the death penalty.

According to the National Commission of Justice and Peace, a human rights and legal aid group in Pakistan, 774 Muslims and 760 members of various minority religious groups were accused of blasphemy in the last 20 years.

Read all the Latest News here
The European Union ambassador to Sudan was attacked in his home in Khartoum on Monday, the blocs top diplomat Josep Borrell said, as fighting between rival generals gripped the nation.

A few hours ago, the EU Ambassador in Sudan was assaulted in his own residency," Borrell wrote on Twitter, without detailing any injuries to the envoy.

Security of diplomatic premises and staff is a primary responsibility of Sudanese authorities and an obligation under international law," he added.

A few hours ago, the EU Ambassador in #Sudan was assaulted in his own residency.This constitues a gross violation of the Vienna Convention. Security of diplomatic premises and staff is a primary responsibility of Sudanese authorities and an obligation under international law.  Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) April 17, 2023

The European Unions ambassador to Sudan is veteran Irish diplomat Aidan OHara. EU spokeswoman Nabila Massrali told AFP that he was OK" following the assault.

The security of the staff is our priority," she said. The EU delegation has not been evacuated. Security measures are being assessed."

Fighting between the Sudanese army and a rival paramilitary faction has killed around 200 people and wounded 1,800 after three days of urban warfare.

The United Nations has called for an immediate ceasefire and international bodies, including the European Union, have expressed grave concern.

Read all the Latest News here
Peasants in Pakistans Jhal Magsi led by Kissan Ittehad Jhal Magsi clashed with feudal lords and Pakistans security forces to protest against the oppressive policies of the government. Jhal Magsi is a district in Pakistans restive Balochistan province.

Pakistani security forces baton charged dozens of women and opened fire on a small group of farmers. Several women and children were injured. The incident happened over the weekend.

According to reports from the ground, farmers gathered to demand land reforms and protest against the barbaric policies of the feudal lords who forced them to harvest crops in a certain way which farmers have opposed.

Pakistani authorities and Pakistan national assembly member (MNA) Khalid Magsi forced the farmers to harvest crops under certain terms and conditions. Magsi even burned down the crops of farmers who refused to harvest as per his terms and conditions.

Farmers in Jhal Magsi have demanded land reforms for a long time and want the practice which obligates them to share their crops with landlords to end. The clashes occurred after they refused to surrender their produce to the landlords.

During the clashes, the personnel who visited the farmers to retrieve the crops fired in the air to disperse the protesters, while some personnel baton-charged farmers protesting against the move.

Pakistans successive governments have supported the social and political order in the region which is dominated by rigid feudal, religious and tribal hierarchies. The successive governments have also abused the establishment for a long time.

People of Balochistan, living under these oppressive policies, are consigned to living lives of virtual serfdom, orthodox social norms and values, with the majority of people wholly dependent on the patronage of the feudal lords and the corrupt political leadership.

The lack of investment in basic economic and social infrastructure in the province  barring the extraction of natural gas for use in other provinces  led low level of economic activity and limited the fiscal resources hindering investments.

Read all the Latest News here
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Monday that Israel would continue its fight" to prevent arch-foe Tehran from developing nuclear weapons, during a Holocaust ceremony attended by Irans exiled crown prince.

Recalling a recent visit to Berlin, Netanyahu noted that since Nazi-era Germany the world has changed, but the calls for our extermination have not ceased, and today come from the regime of horror in Tehran."

We are fighting resolutely against any nuclear deal with Iran that will pave its way to nuclear arms," the Israeli premier said in a speech on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day.

And for the same reason, we are fighting resolutely against Irans terror proxies around us," he said at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, warning of Israels crushing response" to any enemy approaches.

Attending the ceremony was Iranian crown prince Reza Pahlavi, whose father was the shah overthrown in the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Pahlavi, who landed earlier Monday for his first visit to Israel as the guest of Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel, said ahead of the ceremony that the current Iranian regime did not represent the Iranian people.

Today, when we have a regime that denies that the Holocaust ever occurred, it was my duty to be here representing my fellow compatriots, to honour the victims of the Holocaust and pay my respects," he told reporters.

On-off talks between Tehran and world powers to revive a 2015 landmark deal that sought to curb Irans nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief have stalled since last year.

The deal Iran reached with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States collapsed after Washingtons unilateral withdrawal in 2018 under then president Donald Trump.

In February, the UN nuclear watchdog said it had detected particles of uranium enriched to 83.7 percent in Iran, just under the 90 percent needed to produce an atomic bomb.

Iran denies wanting to acquire atomic weapons and says it had made no attempt to enrich uranium beyond 60-percent purity.

Read all the Latest News here
Leaders at the University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine are excited for a rare opportunity, as UB is among about 50 sites in the U.S. and Europe invited to participate in a clinical trial for a Lyme disease vaccine for children ages 5 to 17.

"We are glad this trial is happening here, allowing us to build a reputation in vaccine trials," said Dr. Sanjay Sethi, director of the UB Clinical Research Office

It has been more than a decade since the university was chosen for a vaccine study, Sethi said.

The VLA15 vaccine, developed by French biotech company Valneva and U.S.-based Pfizer, is in its third phase and could be ready for FDA approval by 2025.

UB researchers hope 50 to 60 children will participate in the trial, said Dr. Mark D. Hicar, site principal investigator for the study and associate professor of pediatrics at the Jacobs School.

Lyme disease, common in humans and dogs, usually stems from a bite by an infected blacklegged tick, shed by deer and often carried by birds and rodents that include white-footed mice. Fever, fatigue, headaches and a bull's eye-shaped skin rash are common symptoms in humans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

When identified early, it is treatable with a lengthy course of antibiotics.

If left untreated, or in some cases even after treatment, Lyme disease can spread to produce a wide range of debilitating symptoms  affecting the brain, heart and joints  that can last six months or longer. Identifying Lyme disease may be difficult in part due to the miniscule size of the infecting ticks and painless bites that don't always leave a ring or rash. It is also because symptoms may not develop for a up to a month after the bite, as well as the potential neurological and cardiological effects that can also signal many other other ailments.

Only Lyme disease vaccine in development goes to Phase 3 trial Vaccine maker Pfizer says it has begun Phase 3 clinical trial of its vaccine candidate again

"A vaccine to protect against Lyme disease would be a welcome preventive measure for those most at risk of exposure to ticks that carry borrelia," a harmful bacteria, said Erie County Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Gale Burstein. "Preventing tick exposure and bites would still be an important prevention strategy."

Annual vaccine shots for dogs have been available for more than two decades. A previous vaccine for humans was produced in 1998, but "anti-vaccine forces claimed it was dangerous, tanked its popularity and sued it out of existence after just a few years on the market," Time.com reported in 2021.

The new study comes ahead of peak season for Lyme disease in a climate where the disease has spread far beyond its roots in the Northeast, and the number of cases has climbed regionally and globally.

"It's creeping across New York State," Hicar said.

Ticks tend to be more common in suburban and rural areas, he said.

Data from the state Department of Health shows 89 cases of lab-confirmed Lyme disease in Erie County in 2017, compared to 122 two years later and 198 in 2020.

The state's 2017-19 data paints Western New York as significantly behind other parts of the state  including the Capital, mid-Hudson and Southern Tier regions  in total number of cases and rate per 100,000. The speed of its growth regionally, however, has health departments closely monitoring the disease.

Prevalence of Lyme disease has been shown to rise after warm winters. Its growth is linked to global warming.

"We might have a bad season," Hicar said of upcoming months.

Tick season has started. Here's how to keep yourself safe Concern over the growing threat of tick-borne illnesses has prompted state leaders to announce a new, aggressive tick control plan and hold a Lyme disease summit this summer. Gov. Andrew Cuomo also announced plans to raise awareness about the dangers of these diseases, particularly among hunters and hikers  two groups most likely to encounter ticks  and reduce

The difficulty of receiving a Lyme disease diagnosis and treatment for chronic Lyme motivated Rebecca Roll to found Lyme WNY in 2016 after her then 34-year-old husband was misdiagnosed and battled vision loss and symptoms that mimicked Alzheimer's and joint pain.

"It was literally destroying him," Roll said.

Lyme WNY holds support group meetings the second Wednesday of each month at the East Seneca fire station in West Seneca. Roll said thousands of people have attended them. New people  "typically in a panic"  join each month, suspecting they have Lyme disease, but not receiving answers from health care providers and specialists.

The May meeting, in a different location, will feature a screening of "The Quiet Epidemic," which Roll described as a research-based documentary she hopes will attract medical professionals to learn more about the disease, specifically post-treatment Lyme disease. It will be shown for free from 6 to 9 p.m. May 10 at the Aurora Theatre, 673 Main St., East Aurora. Reservations through Eventbrite.com are required.

Roll expressed concerns about the vaccine in development, citing what she believes to be a limited focus on bacteria strains and the complexity of coinfections that may accompany Lyme disease. She emphasized self-education and using prevention tips, like those shared by the Erie County Department of Health.

"It's a backyard problem," she said. "It's a park problem. It's an everywhere problem."

To find out about participating in the UB Lyme Disease vaccine study, parents should contact Catherine Wrona, clinical research coordinator at the Jacobs School, at 716-888-4713 or wrona@buffalo.edu. After informed consent and an enrollment process, trialists will receive three shots over the first six months and a booster after one year.

Lyme disease prevention

 If in a likely tick habitat, walk in the center of trails to avoid overgrown grass, brush and leaf litter along trail edges.

 Use insect repellents approved by the Environmental Protection Agency, which can be found at EPA.gov.

 Check for ticks daily, and bathe or shower as soon as possible after coming indoors from possible tick-laden areas.

 Ticks can cling to clothing. Tumble dry clothes in a hot dryer for 10 minutes to assure to eliminate that risk.

 Keep pets out of the brush, too. They can be infected themselves and carry ticks into a home.
President Emmanuel Macron on Monday staunchly defended his widely unpopular pension reform but said he regretted that no consensus had been found on the change.

Addressing France for the first time since signing the reform into law over the weekend, Macron said he understood the anger" felt by the French over the raising of the retirement age.

Macron signed the legislation early Saturday, just hours after its banner change to hike the retirement age from 62 to 64 had been validated by the constitutional court, prompting accusations he was smuggling the law through in the dead of night.

After three months of protests and strikes, the left and unions have vowed not to give in and warned of mass protests on the May 1 Labour Day.

Polls have consistently recorded a majority of French opposed to the reform, which the government rammed through parliament using a controversial mechanism to avoid a vote.

Speaking from the Elysee Palace, Macron defended the reform as necessary" and insisted doing nothing" was not a solution.

Has this reform been accepted? Obviously not. And despite months of consultations, no consensus could be found and I regret it."

Noting the protests that have raged against the reform, he added: No one, especially not me, can remain deaf to this demand for social justice."

The answer can be neither in rigidity, nor in extremism," said the president, adding his door will always be open" to talks with the unions.

- Within slapping range -

Macrons personal popularity ratings have eroded with some analysts suggesting he has given a head start to far-right leader Marine Le Pen down the long path to 2027 elections.

Unions have meanwhile spurned an invitation to the Elysee for talks.

Opponents from across the board after Macrons speech said it had only reinforced concerns about how the reform was handled.

He chose to turn his back on the French and ignore their suffering," said far-right figurehead and former presidential candidate Marine Le Pen.

Hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon said Macron was totally out of touch with reality" while CFDT union leader Laurent Berger added that it contained nothing concrete" for the labour movement.

Macron said he had tasked his government led by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne to lead 100 days of action at the service of France".

The prime minister should lay out a roadmap in the next days with the first results to be announced on Frances national day on July 14, Macron said.

He promised major announcements" during May including action against juvenile delinquency and also reinforcing controls against illegal immigration".

Macron earlier had lunch with Borne and then met key figures from his party including ultra-loyal rising stars tipped for promotions such as Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu, 36, and Budget Minister Gabriel Attal, 34.

- Far from finished -

But no cabinet reshuffle is planned in the near future, several sources close to the presidency told AFP.

The president, often consumed with diplomacy, will this week also make at least one trip within France after criticism even from within his own camp that he is failing to connect with people.

I want Macron to spend more time on the ground," said one minister, who asked not to be named. Even within range of being slapped".

His wife Brigitte, in a rare public comment, insisted that the presidential couple were not isolated" despite it being a complicated period for the French".

The crisis also comes at a time of increasing challenges on the international stage for Macron, who faced accusations of cosying up to China on a visit to Beijing last week.

Macron, 45, came to power in 2017 promising reform and a fresh new politics. But opponents accuse him of increasingly reclusive and anti-democratic behaviour.

Emmanuel Macron is far from finished from having to deal with the social and political crisis, which he continues to dangerously stir up," said Le Monde newspaper in an editorial.

The daily noted Le Pen was the only politician whose popularity has been notably boosted by the crisis, while trust in Frances democratic institutions has fallen.

The cost of the pensions reform appears to be exorbitant," it said.

Read all the Latest News here
Hundreds of teenagers stormed the streets of downtown Chicago in the US on Saturday evening, smashing car windows, attacking bystanders and shooting in the open, leading to chaos and sending panicked tourists running away for safety.

Large groups of teens and young adults were seen blasting music from speakers and roaming in front of traffic, while others attempted to gain access to the citys Millennium Park, which was the site of similar violence last year, a report in Fox News said.

The shooting was reported near East Washington Street, near Millennium Park, at about 9 pm, the Chicago police said.

Police said they responded to several large groups of juveniles and young adults engaging in reckless and disruptive behaviour" and putting themselves and the public at risk for harm," ABC News reported.

Welcome to Chicago.I have no sympathy for the residents of this city because they continue to elect morons. Sometimes, something has to be destroyed just so people can wake up.pic.twitter.com/V3zBIlh55h  Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 16, 2023

Videos showed teenagers crowding the streets and police seeking to restore order to the area.

Where are their parents at? Thats my question," a Chicago native questioned as the unruly scene played out in downtown Chicago on Saturday night.

Chicago last night (their new mayor wants to defund the police): pic.twitter.com/sQo6noI6kT End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) April 16, 2023

Many teens from the unruly mob jumped up and down the cards, smashed their windows and attacked people inside. A woman claimed her husband was attacked inside his vehicle and beaten after an unruly group jumped up and down on the couples windshield. The man was admitted to a local hospital.

Meanwhile, the police tried to restore order as gunfire was reported multiple times amid the unfolding scene, injuring two.

Police said a 6-year-old boy was shot in the arm near the Chicago Loop and a 17-year-old boy was shot in the leg. Both were taken to Northwestern Hospital and are said to be in stable condition.

Meanwhile in Chicago tonight: pic.twitter.com/43rw5yOZhf End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) April 16, 2023

So far, fifteen people were arrested, including nine adults and six juveniles, and charged with reckless conduct. A 16-year-old boy was also charged with unlawful use of a weapon and a firearm was recovered from him.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot issued a statement saying that parents must know where their children are and should be responsible for their actions.

The mayor also said she met with the Police to plan on how to address large crowds as Chicago moves into the summer months.

The chaos is believed to be another Teen Takeover of the city planned on social media, in a similar incident that played out Chicago last year. During the last summer incident, a 16-year-old Seandell Holliday was shot and killed in Millennium Park.

Read all the Latest News here
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemns" the recent launch of what North Korea said was a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, an official told the Security Council Monday.

The North has hailed the launch as a key breakthrough in its nuclear counterattack capabilities under leader Kim Jong Un.

The Secretary-General reiterates his calls on the DPRK to immediately desist from taking any further destabilizing actions," said Assistant Secretary-General Khaled Khiari, using an acronym for the Norths official name.

Testing the more technologically advanced solid-fuel missile was one of Kims major goals in his military modernization campaign, announced in his New Year report.

Such missiles are easier to store and transport, more stable and quicker to prepare for launch, and thus harder to detect and destroy pre-emptively.

Guterres called on North Korea to fully comply with its international obligations under all relevant Security Council resolutions, and to resume dialogue leading to sustainable peace and the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," said Khiari, whose purview includes Asia.

Khiari additionally condemned the lack of unity and action in the Security Council" on the matter, adding that the body does little to slow the negative trajectory on the Korean Peninsula."

North Korea, he said, remained unconstrained," with other parties compelled to focus on military deterrence."

The unity of the Security Council on the DPRK is essential to ease tensions and overcome the diplomatic impasse," Khiari concluded.

The Security Councils last display of unity on the issue came in 2017.

Under the administration of then-president Donald Trump, the United States led the council to adopt three resolutions imposing sanctions on Pyongyang after missile and nuclear tests.

In a joint statement Monday, nine Council members plus South Korea condemned the launch in the strongest possible terms."

This type of irresponsible activity, alongside destabilizing messages, is imprudent and dangerous, and we must not condone it as business as usual," they said, calling on all UN member states to join us in strongly condemning this perilous behavior."

Read all the Latest News here
Neighbours of the Indian couple who died in a fire in Dubai on Sunday said the couple were preparing an iftar meal for them, according to a report by news outlet Gulf News.

Rijesh Kalangadan, 38, and his wife Jeshi Kandamangalath, 32, were preparing Vishusadhya, the report said. Vishusadhya is a festive meal and it was being prepared so that their neighbours could end the fast later that day.

The fire started in the Al Ras area, killing sixteen and injuring nine others. The Dubai Civil Defence said the fire started because the buildings were not compliant with the security and safety requirements.

The Gulf News report said Kalangadan was employed as a business development manager with a travel and tourism company while Kandamangalath worked as a schoolteacher.

Both of them hailed from Kerala and were celebrating Vishu. Vishu is a harvest festival celebrated in the state of Kerala. They prepared Vishusadhya for their Muslim neighbours, a group of bachelors from Kerala, for iftar.

Riyas Kaikambam, a resident of apartment number 409, said the couple - who lived in apartment number 406 - were very friendly. The fire started in apartment number 405.

They used to live in the next building earlier. They moved to our building two years ago. They had invited us during Onam and Vishu lunches earlier also. This time, they told us to come for iftar as it is Ramadan, Riyas Kaikambam was quoted as saying by Gulf News. He added that they used to invite Riyas and his roommates during festivals.

Meanwhile, colleagues of Jeshi Kandamangalath also mourned her death. Her colleagues from Crescent School in Dubai and Woodlem Park School remembered her as a friendly person. She recently joined the Woodlem Park School and became popular in a very short span of time.

The couples respective families in Kerala were also distraught as the couple planned to fly home for the house-warming of their home. The couple recently visited their ancestral home and promised to return soon for the housewarming of their new home.

Everyone was so happy till this tragic news came. Their parents are distraught, a relative of the couple was quoted as saying by Gulf News.

Read all the Latest News here
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday downplayed the significance of a leak of classified US documents about the Jewish state, and insisted America remains his countrys best ally" despite friction over his contested reform push.

Among the trove of Pentagon files that found their way online in recent weeks, one said leaders of the Israeli spy agency Mossad encouraged staff to join demonstrations against the controversial judicial reforms sought by Netanyahu.

The document attributed the information to intercepted electronic signals, indicating US spying on a country with which it has close ties.

Interviewed on NBC talk show Meet The Press," Netanyahu called the reporting around the US classified material a misunderstanding."

The truth is that the Mossad legal adviser said that under Israeli law junior members of Mossad can participate in the demonstrations, not senior members," Netanyahu said, insisting that Israels military and security services were working hand in hand with me, as prime minister, to assure the security of the country."

The prime ministers tone was more mollifying than earlier statements released by his office, which initially called the reporting mendacious and without any foundation whatsoever."

Netanyahus reform push  on hold since the end of March  has prompted months of unrest and criticism from Western allies, including stern words from US President Joe Biden.

The Israeli prime minister dismissed the suggestion the reforms were putting a strain on relations with the United States.

America is Israels indispensable and by far the best ally," he said, adding: Friends can have disagreements on occasion."

Netanyahus remarks came hours after thousands of Israelis again took to the streets of Tel Aviv late Saturday to protest the government judicial reforms, which they view as an attack on democracy.

Read all the Latest News here
Support for the government of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida jumped in a survey taken at the weekend, but voters remained dubious about its proposals, including new childcare plans aimed at reversing the declining birthrate.

On Saturday, Kishida was evacuated unhurt after a suspect threw what appeared to be a smoke bomb at an outdoor speech in western Japan, an incident echoing the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at an election campaign even in July.

A survey conducted by ANN television on Saturday and Sunday found 45.3% of respondents supported Kishidas government, up 10.2 points from the previous month.

But roughly 80% did not think the governments childcare plans would do much to solve the low birthrate problem and some 60% disagreed with funding those plans by increasing the burden on taxpayers.

A leading ruling party lawmaker told Reuters on April 13 that Japan should spend around 5 trillion yen on the new plan, noting that extra debt issuance wont be ruled out.

Though Kishida struggled with sliding support late in 2022, more recent polls have showed a slight uptick in his ratings. A survey by the Mainichi daily also conducted at the weekend found support for Kishida at 36%, up from 33% in March.

Read all the Latest News here
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Monday met with Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade and Industry Denis Manturov and discussed a range of bilateral issues to implement strategic relationship between both countries.

Denis Manturov, who is on a two-day visit to India, will also hold a number of bilateral meetings during his stay in Delhi.

NSA Shri Ajit Doval met Denis Manturov, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade & Industry of the Russian Federation on 17 April 2023. Both sides discussed a range of bilateral issues to implement the India-Russia strategic partnership, a statement from the government said.

Manturov attended a business-to-business dialogue earlier today. He will be co-chairing the meeting of the bilateral Inter-Govern mental Commission with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday, the statement added.

Doval had met Denis Manturov during his visit to Russia in August last year and the two sides had discussed a range of issues related to bilateral security cooperation.

Manturovs visit comes in the backdrop of renewed intensity in India-Russia trade ties, especially New Delhis procurement of increasing volume of discounted crude oil from that country.

Read all the Latest India News here
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov on Monday arrived in India on a two-day visit primarily to attend an inter-governmental meeting on trade, culture and science and technology.

Manturov will co-chair an inter-governmental Russian-India Commission on trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation along with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

He will also meet with the business representatives from both countries. Manturov is also Russias minister for trade and industry as well.

A plenary meeting of the inter-governmental commission (IGC) will be held on the second day of his visit i.e., Tuesday, following which the co-chairs will sign the final protocol of the meeting.

On the first day, the co-chairs of the Intergovernmental Russian-Indian commission on trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation will meet with the business representatives from both countries. https://t.co/ggyAhNsvVu Russia in India  (@RusEmbIndia) April 17, 2023

The two sides will discuss a range of issues of bilateral trade, economic and humanitarian cooperation.

The Russian Deputy Prime Minister will also hold several bilateral meetings during his stay to strengthen bilateral trade, economic and human cooperation.

The key item on the agenda of the Manturov-Jaishankar meeting is to explore means to increase Indian exports to Russia. Russia is seeking bigger Indian investments in the far east. The two sides will also focus on payment in national currencies for trade.

On second day, a plenary meeting of IGC will be held, following which co-chairs will sign final protocol of 24th IGC meeting.The sides plan to discuss the issues of bilateral trade, economic & humanitarian cooperation. Mr Manturov will also hold a number of bilateral meetings. https://t.co/j803yKk2Pr  Russia in India  (@RusEmbIndia) April 17, 2023

Interestingly, Manturov spent his childhood in Mumbai where his father was posted as a diplomat in the Soviet Union Consulate.

This visit is significant as this is the first visit of senior member of Putin cabinet after Ukrainian Deputy foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparovas visit.

Manturovs visit will be followed by Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shouigu and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visiting India to participate in ministerial level meetings of SCO.

Russia and India both consider their mutual affinity to be a special and privileged strategic partnership.

Read all the Latest India News here
The 40-year-old mystery surrounding the disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi deepened after her brother Pietro Orlandi met Vatican Citys chief prosecutor Alessandro Diddi and released an audio recording which said Emanuelas disappearance was linked to the Italian mafia and that organised crime groups brought girls to the Vatican, who were then molested by the clergy.

The case entered a new chapter last week when Pietro appeared at a TV programme and played an audio recording of a man who claims to be a gangster.

The Italian media for decades have speculated that organised crime groups could be behind Emanuelas disappearance.

Pope Francis has asked Vatican chief prosecutor Alessandro Diddi to get to the bottom of the case.

The audio recording was given to Italian media after an eight-hour long meeting between Diddi and Pietro.

Pietro then said: They tell me Wojtyla (Pope John Paul IIs surname) used to go out in the evenings with two Polish monsignors and it certainly was not to bless houses.

After streaming giant Netflix released the documentary Vatican Girl, which explored the theories around the Orlandi case, the inquiries into the disappearance have been reinitiated.

The documentary featured a childhood friend of Emanuela who alleged that she was molested by someone close to the pope, who at the time was John Paul II.

There is another theory which says Emanuela was taken to London and she lived in a youth hostel there in a youth hostel owned by a Catholic congregation. It also says that the expenses were funded by the Vatican and that Emanuela died in London. It also claims that her body was returned to Rome and buried in the Vatican.

However, when police exhumed and reopened two tombs in the Vatican in 2019, no human remains were found.

Several other theories have emerged about the disappearance of Emanuela, linking the incident to Vaticans financial scandals and an alleged sex ring run by Vatican police and Romes criminal underworld.

What is the Emanuela Orlandi Disappearance Case?

Emanuela Orlandi, daughter of a Vatican employee who lived within the walls of the Vatican City, disappeared in the summer of 1983 while on her way home from a music lesson in Rome.

Forty years later, her disappearance continues to intrigue Italians.

How Has Pope Francis Reacted?

Pope Francis called Pietros claims offensive and unfounded during a congregation and made his views public on the sensitive issue. Pietros claims were denounced by other senior officials of the Vatican but Pope Francis entered the fray this weekend during this weeks noon address to about 20,000 people in St Peters Square.

Certain that Im interpreting the sentiments of the faithful from all over the world, I express a grateful thought to the memory of St. John Paul, who in these days has been the object of offensive and unfounded insinuations," Francis said, according to Reuters, the crowd, mostly Italian, broke into applause.

(with inputs from the Guardian, Reuters and Associated Press)

Read all the Latest News here
UNITED NATIONS, April 17 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Monday stressed the importance of ensuring the comprehensive implementation of the Final Peace Agreement in Colombia, calling it "the primary pillar" to secure peace and stability in the country.

In a press statement, the council members welcomed renewed momentum on the implementation of the peace accord including the focus on the Final Peace Agreement in the Colombian government's proposed National Development Plan.

The peace agreement was signed in 2016 between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

The council members said they looked forward to further progress including to address challenges on land access, the security and socio-economic reintegration of former combatants, and to accelerate implementation of the ethnic and gender provisions of the agreement.

They commended the Colombian government's efforts to expand the scope of peace in Colombia through dialogue and through comprehensive implementation of the agreement, and encouraged further progress towards securing ceasefires including over the course of the next round of peace talks between the government and the National Liberation Army armed group.

"The members of the Security Council reaffirmed their commitment to continue working closely with Colombia to support comprehensive implementation of the Final Peace Agreement, as the primary pillar to secure broad and lasting peace and stability in Colombia, and welcomed the commitment of both parties to this end," said the press statement. 
BEIJING, April 15 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping this week conducted a four-day inspection trip to south China's Guangdong Province, long considered a pacemaker of the country's reform and opening up that began in the late 1970s. This time, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, set a new target for the province -- to be a trailblazer on the Chinese path to modernization. The trip took him to the cities of Zhanjiang, Maoming and Guangzhou, where he visited companies that manufacture screens and new energy cars, a port, and a lychee-growing village, among other sites. The trip followed the launch of a Party-wide campaign to conduct in-depth research and study, asking Party cadres, in particular, to go out of their offices to better understand the situations on the ground -- the prominent problems and how to solve them. As the Party's top official, Xi has set an example of conducting such fact-finding research. And his inspection in Guangdong revolves around the topic of pursuing Chinese modernization. He chose the western part of Guangdong as the focus of his research. This part of the province is less developed than the Pearl River Delta, known for the high concentration of manufacturers and hi-tech companies. During the trip, Xi said that Guangdong's development not only depends on the Pearl River Delta, but also on the joint development of northern, eastern, and western Guangdong. "Chinese modernization is aimed at promoting common prosperity and addressing the unbalanced development among regions," Xi said. In China, unbalanced development typically manifests itself in the disparity between urban and rural areas. To Xi, the root cause of unbalanced development between western Guangdong and the Pearl River Delta largely resides in industries. In order to learn about rural industries, Xi visited a lychee orchard in a village in Maoming, checking local efforts to develop the lychee industry into a successful one that has brought both jobs and income to locals. Talking with technicians on the spot, Xi learned that by growing lychees and selling them and related products, a family could earn an average annual income of 100,000 yuan (about 14,600 U.S. dollars) in a good year. Hailing the broad prospects of the local lychee industry, Xi emphasized efforts to remain committed to pursuing common prosperity and increase assistance and support for places that are lagging behind financially. Chinese modernization is essentially different from Western modernization, he said, adding that China will not tread the path of Western modernization -- with features including polarization and plunder -- as such a path leads nowhere. Xi also learned about the challenges the lychee industry faces, in particular fresh-keeping techniques, and urged local authorities to solve the problems. Adopting the problem-oriented approach is an essential requirement of the campaign to conduct in-depth research and study, and it was practiced by Xi in his inspection trip to Guangdong. With the water shortage in western Guangdong in mind, Xi visited Dashuiqiao Reservoir in Xuwen County in Zhanjiang, a junction station for water diversion, where he learned about the progress of the reservoir construction and the water quality. Xi said that a sound allocation of water resources will help address unbalanced development among regions, and coordinated development is necessary for achieving common prosperity. Xi has always stressed the need to ensure security in the pursuit of development and attached great importance to food security. In his previous inspection tours, he often went to farmlands to check the local farming industry. But this time, he came to a mariculture base on Donghai Island in Zhanjiang, where he called for efforts to utilize both land and sea resources to guarantee food security. "The general secretary pays great attention to the mariculture and fisheries industry, and is also very familiar with these fields," said Mai Kangsen, dean of the Fisheries College at the Ocean University of China. "This shows that the general secretary cares a lot about ensuring food supply for over 1.4 billion people in the country," Mai said. Sci-tech development is another concern of Xi, who has said on many occasions that high-level self-reliance and strength in science and technology are the keys to Chinese modernization. The final leg of his trip is Guangdong's capital city, Guangzhou, one of the country's sci-tech hubs. In an inspection of GAC Aion New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd., Xi visited the exhibition hall, assembly workshop, and workshop for producing batteries, and learned about the enterprise's progress made in achieving breakthroughs in core technologies in key fields and what it has been doing in developing higher-end, smarter and greener manufacturing. At the GAC R&D Center, Xi took an attentive look at the labs for intelligent networking and model design. "Breakthroughs in core technologies in key fields made by companies are of great concern to the general secretary," said Zeng Qinghong, chairman of GAC Group. China is a big country and must attach importance to the real economy and take the path of self-reliance. Core technologies in key fields should be based on independent research and development, Xi said. "Self-reliance in no way means seeking development with our doors closed to the rest of the world. International cooperation is also welcome," Xi said, adding that China's reform and opening up policy will remain unchanged over the long term. Looking to the future of China's development, Xi is fully confident. "With clear goals, plans and strategies, Chinese modernization will surely be achieved. We will advance the modernization drive with solid steps," he said.
ALBANY  Gov. Kathy Hochul's nominee to be New York's chief judge appears all but certain to be approved, a development that may swing the state's highest court leftward.

The Democratic-controlled State Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday overwhelmingly voted to forward Rowan Wilson's nomination to the full Senate floor. The full Senate confirmation vote is set to occur Tuesday, the final step in the process.

Wilson, who testified for three hours before the committee, has served as an associate judge of the Court of Appeals since 2017. If confirmed by the full Democratic-controlled Senate, Wilson would make history as the first Black chief judge.

Wilson has been considered one of the high courts liberal members during his years there, including concerning the rights of criminal defendants. On a court that veered more conservative under the prior chief judge, Janet DiFiore, Wilson has been known for writing frequent dissents to majority opinions, and for his talent in writing those dissents.

State Senate Democrats, who killed the nomination of Hochul's first pick for chief judge this year, have argued that the court includes too many former prosecutors and in recent years has disfavored criminal defendants. DiFiore was a former prosecutor, as was Hochul's first, rejected nominee this year, Hector LaSalle.

State Senate votes down Hochul's chief judge nominee The State Senate is set to hold a vote today on whether to confirm Gov. Kathy Hochul's nominee to be chief judge of the state's highest court.

Wilson's controversial decision in a recent criminal justice case was the focus of questions on Monday, many from Republicans, but some also from Democrats. One group generally aligned with Democrats, the National Organization for Women NYC, recently came out in opposition to Wilson's candidacy because of a majority opinion Wilson authored last month.

That ruling freed a convicted rapist four years before his sentence was to end. In People v. Regan, Wilsons majority opinion vacated a jury's guilty verdict because, he argued, police and prosecutors for years dragged their feet before pursuing the case. The "constitutional right to prompt prosecution, embodied in the due process clause of our state constitution, was violated," he wrote.

The victim had repeatedly asked the New York State Police and Lawrence County District Attorneys Offices to take the case seriously; after four years, an indictment was finally filed. Wilson wrote that while the constitution allows lengthy justifiable delays, it does not allow for lengthy unexplained or, as here, inexplicable delays caused by lethargy or ignorance of basic prosecutorial procedures.

In a dissenting opinion, Justice Madeline Singas, a former district attorney, wrote that the majority has only reaffirmed rape culture's pernicious grasp on our criminal justice system."

"Its opinion will not deter this type of behavior by law enforcement, but instead be weaponized against victims and used in hindsight to rationalize closing long-running rape investigations and dismissing prosecutions," she wrote.

Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee sharply questioned the ruling, and several ended up voting against Wilson.

"What I find deeply concerning about this case, from my own standpoint, is that the statute of limitations hadn't run," said Republican State Sen. Steven Rhoads. "If the victim had reported the crime four years later, and prosecution had a timely prosecution, that person would still be in jail. But because the prosecution delayed  causing no prejudice to the criminal defendant  the criminal defendant was freed, and the victim is further victimized."

Wilson testified that sometimes, to vindicate those rights to all of us, you have to do damage to an individual case. He added that because of his opinion, prosecutors may be more motivated to speedily pursue cases and avoid embarrassment..

"Think about the contrary, which is to say, 'You don't have to take rape seriously if you're prosecutor. You can do nothing. You can come into court and say, We can't even tell you why we did nothing,' " Wilson testified. "Either validate that, or not."

Wilson said he would change how the court operated. He noted that the court had heard substantially fewer cases under DiFiore and that its very difficult to be a nationally preeminent court of any kind if youre deciding fewer and fewer and fewer cases.

Asked about how he would generate consensus, given his history of writing dissents, Wilson said he wants to hold lengthier conferences among the justices so that they would more likely compromise. Wilson testified that he did not consider himself either an activist judge or strict constructionist, but rather a pragmatist.

Vincent Bonventre, a professor at Albany Law School, said in a recent interview with WCNY public radio that, whether or not Republicans agree with his voting record, Wilson is "absolutely brilliant. His resume could not possibly be stronger."

By the time cases get to the Court of Appeals, there are good precedents on both sides. There's textual interpretations on both sides. The lawyers have good cases on both sides. So the court legitimately could go either way, Bonventre said. Wilson has typically tilted on the side of the liberal. That is, rights of the accused, and the rights of workers. But it's not as though he's making these things up.

Before serving on the Court of Appeals, Wilson was for decades in private practice as a commercial attorney at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, where he became the first Black partner.

In addition, he was trustee for the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and for the National Center for Law and Economic Justice, and chairman of the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, which provides public defense services.

Earlier this year, State Senate Democrats voted down Hochuls first pick to be chief judge, a historic rebuke delivered by members of Hochuls own party.

In casting LaSalle as too conservative, Senate Democrats focused on decisions LaSalle had made as a state appellate court justice related to abortion, organized labor and criminal justice. Senate Democrats and liberal allies were seeking a chief judge who would swing what they viewed as a conservative, 4-3 majority on the court, led by DiFiore.

This time, Hochul picked a judge with a decidedly liberal record and consulted Senate Democrats in advance. And from the outset, Senate Democrats have been friendlier to Hochul, including rubber stamping a novel approach towards picking Court of Appeals judges. Senate Democrats introduced the bill Hochul sought and it was signed into law on April 10.

Under the state constitution, when there is a vacancy in the court, a 12-person panel is charged with vetting applicants, then submitting a list to Hochul from which she nominates.

But in late March, Hochul put forward a bill that would allow her to nominate one of the courts current associate justices for the chief judge, then avoid a drawn-out process to replace that person. Instead of the 12-person commission having to again vet applicants, Hochuls bill allows her to use the existing, seven-person list from which shed picked the chief judge.

On April 10, Hochul nominated Wilson to be her chief judge. And in that same press release, Hochul announced that she planned to appoint attorney Caitlin Halligan as Wilsons replacement as an associate judge on the Court of Appeals.

On Tuesday, Senate Democrats are holding a hearing to consider Halligan. That same day, the full Senate is likely to vote on Wilsons nomination, creating a vacancy on the Court of Appeals. The Senate is then likely to vote on Halligans candidacy on Wednesday.

Senate Republicans are considering filing a lawsuit arguing that the law bypassing the 12-person commission is illegal.
The ruling coalition led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) may hold indirect dialogue moderated by the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq who launched a consensus offensive last week, the Dawn reported.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and PTI chief Imran Khan on Saturday held separate meetings with the JI emir, who later said he received positive response from both sides for holding talks on the issue of elections.

The Dawn said that both parties will now route their talks through the JI. The PML-N assigned Ayaz Sadiq and Saad Rafique to lead the talks while the PTI tasked Pervez Khattak, Mehmoodur Rashid and Ejaz Chaudhry to represent the party.

The PTI reiterated that it seeks a date for the polls.

PTI senator Ejaz Chaudhry said PTI began consultations to take all opposition parties into confidence over elections across Pakistan. He said PTI held meetings with JI, Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) and the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA).

We have met and urged all political parties (outside ruling coalition) to join hands and put up resistance against the PDM that is avoiding elections, Chaudhry was quoted as saying by the Dawn.

Chaudhry also reiterated that the PTI wants to hold dialogue in the parliament and also reclaim the opposition leader position. PTI wants to unanimously pass a one-time constitutional amendment to hold early elections in the country, the senator told Dawn.

It is high time that political parties showed prudence to find a middle ground to save the country and people from the worst-ever year-long political and economic deadlock, PTI leader Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed said.

The JI also wants to convene a multi-party conference after Eid-ul Fitr with the one-point agenda of deciding a date for holding general elections across the country on a single day.

The meeting will try to convince the ruling party to hold general elections before October and urge leading opposition parties to drop its demand to hold polls on May 14, for the Punjab provincial elections.

The venue and date for the proposed multi-party conference is yet to be finalised. JI emir Siraj has urged PM Shehbaz Sharif and PTI chief Imran Khan to show some flexibility and agree on an election date a couple of months earlier and later, respectively, against their existing inflexible stance, JI information secretary Qaiser Sharif said.

Read all the Latest News here
UPDATE

Apr 17, 2023 3:33 PM CDT

Separatist gunmen attacked Indonesian army troops who were deployed to rescue a New Zealand pilot taken hostage by the rebels in Papua province, leaving at least six dead and about 30 missing, officials said Sunday. Military reports seen by journalists said 21 soldiers fled into the jungle after an attack on a military post and nine others were captured by the rebels, the AP reports. Military spokesperson Col. Herman Taryaman said the soldiers were part of a group that was searching for Phillip Mark Mehrtens, a pilot for the Indonesian aviation company Susi Air who was abducted by the rebels in February.

Feb 15, 2023 3:30 AM CST

Separatist rebels in Indonesias restive Papua province released photos and videos Tuesday of a man they said is the pilot from New Zealand whom they took hostage last week. Phillip Mark Mehrtens of Christchurch, a pilot for Indonesian aviation company Susi Air, was abducted by independence fighters from the West Papua Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement, who stormed his single-engine plane shortly after it landed on a small runway in Paro in remote Nduga district, the AP reports. The plane, carrying five passengers, was scheduled to pick up 15 construction workers who had been building a health center in Paro after a group of separatist rebels led by Egianus Kogoya threatened to kill them, said Nduga district chief Namia Gwijangge.

"Our plan to evacuate the workers angered the rebels, who responded by setting fire to the plane and seizing the pilot, said Gwijangge. "We deeply regret this incident. Flying is the only practical way of accessing many parts of the mountainous area. The rebels released all five passengers because they are indigenous Papuans, rebel spokesperson Sebby Sambom said. Sambom sent videos and photos Tuesday to the AP that showed a group of gunmen, led by Kogoya, setting fire to the plane on the runway. Sitting in the planes cockpit, Kogoya said he took the pilot hostage as part of their struggle "to free Papua" from Indonesia.

Another video showed a man identified as Mehrtens standing in a forest surrounded by a group of people armed with rifles, spears, and bows and arrows. In a third video, the man was ordered by the rebels to say, "Indonesia must recognize Papua is independent." "I took him hostage for Papua independence, not for food or drinks," Kogoya said in the video with the man standing next to him. "He will be safe with me as long as Indonesia does not use its arms, either from the air or on the ground." Coordinating Minister for Political, Security, and Legal Affairs Mohammad Mahfud said the government was making every effort to persuade the rebels to release Mehrtens "because the priority is the safety of the hostage."

(Read more West Papua stories.)
Millions of Americans were shocked last week when Republicans in the Tennessee State Legislature voted to expel two Black Democrats while opting against the same autocratic treatment for a white female Democrat.

It was a jarring moment, but it shouldnt have come as any great surprise. Extremism and its partner, intolerance, are ever more common in American politics and demonstrably worse on the right. The evidence is glaring, and not just in Tennessee. Its right here in Erie County, too.

Last year, Republican voters here saw as acceptable a congressional candidate who admired Adolf Hitler. Thats extremism normalized.

This year, meanwhile, the partys 2023 candidate for county executive is a political novice mainly known for spewing offensive and outrageous conspiracy theories. Sadly, that puts Chrissy Casilio somewhere in todays Republican mainstream.

Its worse than a shame. Its also a threat. The loss of civility and seriousness harms not only the parties that practice it, but the countrys frayed fabric.

Republicans problems predate the appearance of Donald Trump  see Richard Nixons southern strategy and Newt Gingrichs political bomb-throwing  but Trump ignited the bonfire. Here was a man who, as president, couldnt bring himself to denounce American Nazis, who repeatedly lied about a stolen election and who fomented an insurrection at the national Capitol.

So, how shocking could it be that Tennessee Republicans casually voted to expel two Black Democratic members who had the temerity to demand action on guns, only days after a massacre at a private Christian school in Nashville? Democracy demands the right to dissent, but too many Americans  left and right - are living in what amounts to ideological bunkers.

The two members  Justin Pearson of Memphis and Justin Jones of Nashville  were quickly returned to their state offices by the unanimous votes of their local governments. To keep the seats, they will have to win special elections.

To be sure, the two men and the white member, Gloria Johnson of Knoxville, broke procedural rules with their protest. The Republican majority might justifiably have rebuked them. But even then, the trios views on guns  not to mention protecting the lives of children  are in line with those of the vast majority of Americans. So, who are the extremists?

The same goes for abortion. Americans overwhelmingly support safe access to legal abortion. Republicans havent cared about that, either, though they may be starting to regret that form of extremism. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, voters have repeatedly punished them, even in deep red states.

Meanwhile, in Erie County, the Republican Partys inexperienced candidate for county executive has publicly floated idiocies on social media such as one suggesting that Damar Hamlins near death during a Bills game was somehow related to the illness suffered by the teams co-owner, Kim Pegula. She also promoted the vile and debunked claim that the online furniture company Wayfair was involved in child sex trafficking. Thats extremism warped by conspiracy mongering.

If ever the county executive seat was ripe for taking, it is this year as the incumbent Democrat, Mark Poloncarz, seeks a fourth term, something no predecessor has achieved. And all they could come up with was a novice candidate who spouts absurdities? Maybe shell show voters something worthy of consideration, but its a bad start.

Too many Republicans today think that succeeding in politics means adopting Trumps recklessness. Buffalos Carl Paladino is still a fan, as he recently made clear to the New York Post. It was Paladino who, during his 2022 campaign for election to the 23rd Congressional District, was found to have admired Hitlers ability to excite a crowd. He lost the race but dominated the voting in Erie County. How is that possible, but for an acceptance of extremism?

None of this, of course, is to promote Democrats as paragons of anything. Some are loudly committed to their own brand of intolerance, but what we see happening in Tennessee and Florida, which just made abortion all but impossible, and even in Erie County exists on a different and more worrisome level.

Its unsustainable. By allowing its extremist members to dominate, the party is undermining itself as well as the country, which needs two honorable parties, each to check the other. Chaos and conspiracy mongering are not governing strategies.

  

Whats your opinion? Send it to us at lettertoeditor@buffnews.com. Letters should be a maximum of 300 words and must convey an opinion. The column does not print poetry, announcements of community events or thank you letters. A writer or household may appear only once every 30 days. All letters are subject to fact-checking and editing.
Six adults and a child under the age of 7 were killed Saturday when gunmen shot up a resort in Mexico. The shootings took place at La Palma, a resort in the municipality of Cortazar in Guanajuato state, NBC News reports. An eighth victim was also hospitalized with serious injuries, CNN reports. Video posted to social media shows people in swimwear screaming and clutching their kids. The owner of the resort says the gunmen also destroyed a store on the premises and stole security cameras.

Per the AP, "Guanajuato ... has been Mexicos most violent state for years" due to the Jalisco New Generation drug cartel fighting local criminal groups, including another drug cartel apparently backed by the Sinaloa cartel. The Mexican army and security forces are searching for the shooters in Saturday afternoon's attack. No motive has been disclosed, and it's not clear whether the victims were Mexican nationals or visitors to the country. (Read more Mexico stories.)
Linda Evangelista went public in 2021 with her story of being "brutally disfigured" by a cosmetic procedure known as CoolSculpting. Now, the New York Times is out with an expose on the procedure that alleges the serious side effect suffered by the supermodel appears to be more common than previously known. CoolSculpting is a so-called fat-freezing procedure technically known as cryolipolysis, in which pockets of fat cells are frozen, die, and are absorbed by the body. But sometimes, patients instead experience what's known as paradoxical adipose hyperplasia, in which the fat instead grows, hardens, and gets lodged in the body.

Allergan Aesthetics, the unit of pharmaceutical giant AbbVie that owns CoolSculpting, claims PAH only occurs in about 1 in 3,000 patients. But the Times looked at lawsuits, medical studies, interviews, and internal documents and came to the conclusion that the risk may actually be "considerably higher"and that instances of PAH have been on the rise since CoolSculpting launched. Doctors the Times spoke to agreed that they see a higher level of the side effect in their patients than the 0.033% claimed by Allergan. One doctor suggested in 2017 that PAH should actually be classified as a "common" or "frequent," rather than "rare," adverse event associated with CoolSculpting. Read the full article, which includes interviews with people who've been affected by PAH, here. (Read more Longform stories.)
Three Americans set sail from Mazatlan, Mexico, for San Diego, California, earlier this monthbut they haven't been seen in nearly two weeks. The group was last heard from April 4, the day they left Mazatlan on a 44-foot LaFitte sailing yacht, CNN reports. The weather was "not optimal" that day, according to a US Coast Guard rep. They were supposed to stop in Cabo San Lucas on April 6 before continuing on to the United States, but there is no record of them ever having arrived there, NBC News reports. There was also no "report in of their location," according to a Coast Guard statement. The Coast Guard is assisting the Mexican navy in a search for the missing Americans, all of whom are experienced sailors.

The daughter of one of the three, William Gross, says the other twoKerry and Frank OBrieninvited her dad, who has more than five decades of sailing experience and lives on the water, along for the ride. "I'm just wanting my dad, my dad and the OBriens, to roll back in and say, Whats going on guys?'" she tells NBC San Diego. The O'Briens also have decades of sailing experience, and both hold captain's licenses with the Coast Guard. The last known contact from the trio was cell phone pings on April 4 when they were off the coast of Mazatlan; they were calling into Cabo presumably attempting to make slip reservations at the marina, according to Gross' family, but the short duration of the calls indicates they were not successful. (Read more Mexico stories.)
Marjorie Taylor Greene was among those on the right who came to the defense of the Air National Guardsman accused of leaking Pentagon documents, which led to a feud between the congresswoman and her fellow Republican, Sen. Lindsey Graham. Discussing MTG and others, including Tucker Carlson, who've expressed support for the leaker, Graham said Sunday on This Week, "What theyre suggesting will destroy America's ability to defend itself. That its OK to release classified information based on your political views. That the ends justify the means. It is not OK." He added that military leaks put other members of the military in danger, and compromises America's intelligence-gathering ability.

"There is no justification for this. And for any member of Congress to suggest its OK to leak classified information because you agree with the cause is terribly irresponsible and puts America in serious danger," he continued. Greene wasn't having it, apparently, and tweeted a Photoshopped picture of Graham at a bar, appearing to hold up a can of Bud Light featuring trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney, the Hill reports. (In the real photo, Graham was holding a glass of beer.) Mulvaney, of course, is part of a whole other brouhaha in which Republicans were angered by Bud Light for featuring her on one of their promotional cans. (One GOP lawmaker failed to realize the beer he chose to replace Bud Light is owned by the same company.)
A former lawmaker in India, also a convicted criminal who was allegedly a bigwig in a local criminal organization, was shot dead, along with his brother, on live TV over the weekend as they were being escorted by cops to the hospital for a routine checkup. Per Reuters, gunfire rang out Saturday as Atiq Ahmed and sibling Ashraf Ahmed were being transported in the city of Prayagraj, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, by three assailants who reportedly posed as journalists in the crowd gathered around the handcuffed brothers. One of the suspects turned himself over to authorities right after the shooting, while the other two were rounded up soon after by police. The gunmen reportedly yelled out Hindu religious chants after the shooting of the two Muslim mobsters.

An autopsy revealed that Ahmed was shot at least nine times in the chest and head, per the Hindustan Times. His brother was shot five times: once in the face, and four times in the back. A police officer was also said to have been wounded in the shooting. Meanwhile, Atiq Ahmed's son was fatally gunned down by police just last week, in connection with a murder case. The New York Times notes the killings have renewed "alarm about India's slide toward extrajudicial violence," as the nation's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party "moves to reshape India's secular democracy." Analysts and rights advocates are worried about how this violence is taking a foothold in India in support of Hindu interests, and that the public seems to be getting desensitized to it. The state's leader, Yogi Adityanath, is described by the paper as a "hard-line Hindu monk" who may have aspirations of being prime minister.

Among Adityanath's questionable practices: using bulldozers to knock down activists' and protesters' homes, as well as encouraging retaliation against people in interfaith relationships or those accused of smuggling livestock. "From the beginning of his political career, he has projected himself as a monk-soldier, a vigilante unencumbered by due process or the rule of law," Ashoka University political science professor Gilles Verniers tells the New York Times. The state government has demanded a judicial probe into the slaying of the Ahmed brothers. The Hindustan Times reports that the three suspectsat least two of whom have long rap sheetswere taken first to one jail on Sunday, then transferred to a second for "administrative reasons," and that they've been kept isolated from other inmates. (Read more India stories.)
The Senate is a little more full on Monday, but just as red and blue: Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman will be back at work in the US Capitol on Monday, reports the AP. McConnell's return comes almost six weeks after a fall at a Washington-area hotel and extended treatment for a concussion. The longtime Kentucky senator, 81, has been recovering at home since he was released from a rehabilitation facility on March 25. He fell after attending an event earlier that month, injuring his head and fracturing a rib. He visited his office Friday, the first time since his injury, and is expected to be working a full schedule in the Senate this week. "I am looking forward to returning to the Senate on Monday," McConnell tweeted on Thursday. "We've got important business to tackle and big fights to win for Kentuckians and the American people."

The Senate has a busy stretch ahead in which Congress will have to find a way to raise the nation's debt ceiling and negotiate additional aid for the Ukraine war. Several senators have been out for medical reasons, raising questions about how much the Senate will be able to achieve in coming months with a 51-49 split. Already, the GOP leader's absence, along with those of Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Fetterman, among others, have added to the Senate's lethargic pace in the first few months of the year. Unlike the last two years, in which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was able to push through key elements of President Biden's agenda with the help of a Democratic-led House, the Senate has been significantly slowed with Republicans now in charge in the House. And absences have made even simple votes like nominations more difficult.

One immediate question for McConnell upon his return is whether to help Democrats temporarily replace Feinstein on the Senate Judiciary Committee as she continues to recover in California from shingles. Democrats have become increasingly frustrated as the Democrat's more than six-week absence on the panel has stalled confirmation of Biden's nominees, and Feinstein has asked for a short-term substitute on the committee. Democrats can't do that, though, without help from Republicans, as approval of the process would take 60 votes on the Senate floor. Republicans have so far been quiet about whether they will object. It's unclear when Feinstein, 89, will return to Washington.

Also returning to the Senate is Fetterman, who was hospitalized for clinical depression in February. He was treated for six weeks at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and his doctors say his depression is now "in remission." Fetterman's announcement that he was checking himself into the hospital came after he suffered a stroke last year and has struggled with auditory processing disorder, which can render someone unable to speak fluidly and quickly process spoken conversation into meaning. The Pennsylvania Democrat, 53, now uses devices that transcribe spoken words in real time. In a statement when he was released from Walter Reed late last month, Fetterman said the care he received there "changed my life." "I'm excited to be the father and husband I want to be, and the senator Pennsylvania deserves, said Fetterman, who won praise for his decision to seek treatment.

(Read more Mitch McConnell stories.)
One of Russia's most vocal opposition figures has just learned the price for criticizing the war in Ukraine: 25 years in a penal colony. Vladimir Kara-Murza received the sentence in a Moscow court on Mondaythe longest one doled out to an opposition figure since the Russian invasion, reports the BBC. The 41-year-old was arrested after giving speeches in the US and Europe in which he accused Russia of deliberately bombing civilian areas and other war atrocities, per Reuters. And in a CNN interview only hours before his arrest last year, he said Russia was governed by a "regime of murderers."

"I subscribe to every word that I have said," Kara-Murza said last week in a speech to the court. "Not only do I not repent any of this, I am proud of it." Russia accused him of spreading "false" information about the war, and Kara-Murza didn't bother asking the court for lenience on Monday. "I know the verdict. I knew it a year ago when I saw people in black uniforms and black masks running after my car in the rearview mirror. Such is the price for speaking up in Russia today." Kara-Murza, who has twice survived poisonings in recent years, plans to appeal.

NPR notes that he was among a small group of opposition figures who remained living in Russia while speaking out against the war. Several years ago, he struck up a friendship with Sen. John McCain of Arizona as he lobbied for laws punishing Russia. He then served as one of McCain's pallbearers in 2018. "I know that the day will come when the darkness engulfing our country will clear," he said last week. "Our society will open its eyes and shudder when it realizes what crimes were committed in its name." (Read more Russia-Ukraine war stories.)
The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker, a documentary on Netflix, debuted earlier this year, detailing the rise and fall of Caleb McGillvary, a Canadian who once went viral after helping an assault victim, then was later convicted of murder in an unrelated case. But it was the photo of a completely different man, ICU respiratory therapist Taylor Hazlewood of Kentucky, that's now spurred a lawsuit, with Hazlewood claiming the streaming service lifted his picture without permission from his Instagram page and "tarnished" his reputation by using it in the film. Per Hazlewood's complaint filed in Dallas County, Texas, Netflix used the photo in questionone of him posing with a hatchet, which he says is a shoutout to his favorite book when he was a kid, Hatchet by Gary Paulsentwice in the movie, per the Dallas Morning News.

One of those times included toward the end of the documentary, when a narrator's voice can be heard asking: "Is this a guardian angel or a stone-cold killer?" Hazlewood says friends started contacting him soon after the film aired. "Bro wtf, are you in that?" one wrote to him, per WFAA. "They put your picture up with a murderer lol," another noted. "They even blur some peoples faces in the doc too, wonder why they wouldnt [sic] do yours." Another person put it more bluntly, per the Washington Post: "Did they steal your photo? How did you get on there?"

Hazlewood wants to know the same, especially since he has no ties to McGillvary, per his complaint filed April 10. The 27-year-old is "beyond angry that Netflix would implicate and connect him to such a salacious and infamous story and individual," his suit notes. The complaint adds that Hazlewood now is plagued by "a constant fear of losing future employment or relationships because of people believing he is dangerous or untrustworthy." He's seeking more than $1 million in damages. Meanwhile, McGillvary, who was convicted in 2019 of first-degree murder and sentenced to nearly six decades behind bars, has also sued Netflix, claiming the documentary about himself "ruthlessly [exploited] a hero's life story for money." Much more here on that odd case. (Read more Netflix stories.)
Judy Blume may be 85 years old, but she's not shy about throwing down on Twitter if she needs to. The Independent reports that the popular children's authorwho has penned such classics as Deenie, Forever, and Are You There God? It's Me, Margaretis responding to backlash directed her way after a recent interview in which she appeared to support fellow writer JK Rowling, who's taken heat for what many say are transphobic views. In that interview with Hadley Freeman, published over the weekend in the London Times, Blume said, "I love [Rowling]," and that she was "behind her 100% as I watch from afar."

In the article, Freeman wrote that Blume's support was in regard to the online abuse Rowling says she's received "for speaking up in defense of women's sex-based rights," per the Hollywood Reporter. Blume didn't completely agree with how Freeman framed it, and the author took to social media on Sunday to clarify, insisting her comments were "taken out of context." "I wholly support the trans community," she wrote in a Twitter post. Her point, she noted, was that "I can empathize with a writeror personwho has been harassed online." Blume then reinforced her first sentence, writing, "I stand with the trans community and vehemently disagree with anyone who does not fully support equality and acceptance for LGBTQIA+ people. Anything to the contrary is total bull---."

Freeman responded early Monday, calling the new controversy over Blume's remarks "nonsense" and "absurd," and noting that "my quotes [from Blume] are accurate and not disputed." Meanwhile, others pointed out that, while Blume's explicit support for the trans community was appreciated, she shouldn't be positioning what Rowling has been facing online as harassment. Rowling "has aided harassment and bigotry on a massive scale and has received comparably small pushback online in response," journalist Kat Tenbarge wrote. (Read more Judy Blume stories.)
Anyone alive today may have absorbed this factoid in school: Australia's most populous city is Sydney. However, for the first time in more than a century, that answer has now changedMelbourne has claimed the No. 1 spot in the eyes of the government, reports the BBC. For the record, Melbourne clocks in with a population of 4,874,400 in the latest official figures, which is a mere 18,700 more than Sydney. The shift has been inevitable for years, but it happened faster than expected thanks to what the Sydney Morning Herald views as a "technicality."

Government officials redrew the borders of Melbourne to include the rapidly growing district of Melton on its northwestern fringe, and that put Melbourne over the top. While Sydney residents might see that as moving the goalposts, Melbourne was due to overtake Sydney under the traditional boundaries anyway in a matter of years, thanks in large part to an influx of international migrants. Sydney had been No. 1 since overtaking Melbourne amid a gold rush in the early 1900s. Some solace for the new No. 2: Sydney's home state of New South Wales remains the most populous state with 9.1 million people, ahead of Melbourne's Victoria, with 7.8 million, per 9News. (Read more Australia stories.)
This past summer my wife and I made our second trip to Normandy and toured the graves of American service members killed in saving Europe and really the world from the worst threat to mankind in modern history. Walking among the graves of these brave Americans I was overcome with emotion and appreciation for the members of The Greatest Generation that made the ultimate sacrifice to save the world. In touring the Administration Building there were maps and charts showing the battle plan, the enormity of the task and it was clear that only America had the will, resources and determination for the task at hand. We were also blessed with great leaders in Franklin Roosevelt and Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, among others, plus our British allies, particularly Winston Churchill.

Today I am afraid that the United States and our western allies are facing an equally serious threat from Russia and China. Vladimir Putin has stated he wants to recreate the old Soviet Empire and China hopes to dominate all of Asia starting with Taiwan. Unfortunately for the United States our political leadership in Joe Biden for the Democrats and Donald Trump for Republicans are not anywhere near the leaders we had at the start of World War II and I am sure that our adverseries are well aware of this major leadership deficit. The Republicans have a chance to nominate one of the many very qualified potential presidential contenders, Ron Desantis, Rick Scott among others while the Democrats must do the same thing for their party and also have equally qualified potential contenders.

As a s student of world history I do not think time is on our side and it is up to us to act as Americans not partisan party ideologues.

Anthony H. Gioia

Buffalo
UPDATE

Apr 17, 2023 5:30 PM CDT

Missouri prosecutors announced charges late Monday against the white man who shot a Black teenager who came to his Kansas City front door by mistake. Andrew Lester, 85, faces assault in the first degree and armed criminal action charges, both felonies, per CNN. "I can tell you there was a racial component to this case," said Clay County Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson, though he didn't elaborate. "We understand how frustrating this has been, but I can assure the criminal justice system is working and will continue to work," he added, per the AP.

Apr 17, 2023 11:55 AM CDT

The shooting of a Black teenager in Kansas City is threatening to become the latest flashpoint in the national discussion of race relations. The details:

Shooting: On Thursday night, police say 16-year-old Ralph Yarl set out to pick up his younger twin brothers from 115th Terrace, but he mistakenly went to 115th Street instead, reports the Kansas City Star. Police say the homeowner at the latter address shot Yarl, who remains hospitalized with what police initially called life-threatening injuries. His current condition is listed only as stable.

Race: Police have not identified the homeowner or his race. Police Chief Stacey Graves said initial evidence did not point to race being a factor, but that is still under investigation, per the AP. In a statement, civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Lee Merritt, who are representing Yarl's family, said Yarl was "shot twice and struck in the head and arm by an unidentified white male assailant."

Police have not identified the homeowner or his race. Police Chief Stacey Graves said initial evidence did not point to race being a factor, but that is still under investigation, per the AP. In a statement, civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Lee Merritt, who are representing Yarl's family, said Yarl was "shot twice and struck in the head and arm by an unidentified white male assailant." Investigation: The homeowner was put on a 24-hour hold after the shooting, then released, and no charges have been filed, per the Washington Post. One factor is that investigators still need to obtain a formal statement from Yarl, who has been unable to speak with them. "I want everyone to know that I am listening," Graves said Sunday, "and I understand the concern we are receiving from the community." Another aspect of the investigation is whether the homeowner is protected by Stand Your Ground laws. The shooting took place about 10pm.

The homeowner was put on a 24-hour hold after the shooting, then released, and no charges have been filed, per the Washington Post. One factor is that investigators still need to obtain a formal statement from Yarl, who has been unable to speak with them. "I want everyone to know that I am listening," Graves said Sunday, "and I understand the concern we are receiving from the community." Another aspect of the investigation is whether the homeowner is protected by Stand Your Ground laws. The shooting took place about 10pm. Attorneys: Crump and Lee have represented families in other high-profile cases, including those of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd. "You cant just shoot people without having justification when somebody comes knocking on your door and knocking on your door is not justification," Crump tells the Kansas City Star. "This guy should be charged."

Crump and Lee have represented families in other high-profile cases, including those of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd. "You cant just shoot people without having justification when somebody comes knocking on your door and knocking on your door is not justification," Crump tells the Kansas City Star. "This guy should be charged." The victim. Yarl's aunt, Faith Spoonmore, has started a GoFundMe to help with medical expenses, the AP reports. She describes Yarl as a "fantastic kid" who is a gifted musician and a member of his school's Technology Student Association and Science Olympia Team. She says that after he was shot, he was able to run for help, but "he had to run to 3 different homes before someone finally agreed to help him after he was told to lie on the ground with his hands up."

(Read more Kansas City stories.)
The American ambassador to Russia has been allowed to visit jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich for the first time since he was arrested last month on espionage charges. US Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy visited the US citizen at Moscow's Leforto prison, NBC reports. It was "the first time we've been permitted access to him since his wrongful detention more than two weeks ago," she tweeted. "He is in good health and remains strong. We reiterate our call for his immediate release."

The Monday visit was the first time any US official has had access to Gershkovich since his arrest, the Wall Street Journal reports. On Tuesday, the Moscow City Court is due to hear an appeal on his detention. The court could grant him bail, place him under house arrest, order him moved to another jail, or leave things as they are, with pretrial detention scheduled to last until at least May 29. The Journal, Gershkovich, and the US government have strongly denied that he was engaged in espionage, the AP reports. "We protest Russian efforts to limit and intimidate the media," US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said at the UN Monday. (Read more Evan Gershkovich stories.)
Now that the last performance of the Phantom of the Opera on Broadway is in the books after a 35-year run, people are tossing around the phrase "end of an era." That's not quite accurate, writes Andrew Lloyd Webber in a New York Times essay. He points out that "the era of the big original Broadway musical ended long ago." Huge modern hits like Phantom and Hamilton did not originate on Broadway as, say, Fiddler on the Roof or West Side Story did. And Webber doesn't expect that to change because of the money involved. Producing a play in a small Broadway house costs $5 million, and even a medium-scale musical runs $18 million. Only a few rare shows can recoup expenses like that. "No wonder musicals now feature small casts and minimal sets," he writes. "No wonder producers turn to jukebox musicals with song catalogs everyone knows."

It's also why promising young writers are abandoning Broadway, he adds. What to do? Webber admits he's not sure, but he says it's time for Broadway backers to figure it out before it's too late. In his view, ticket prices are way too high (an average of $130, not counting the markups of digital sale platforms); theaters need to improve basic things such as restrooms; and theater unions must help by easing up on contract demands. "With the curtain now fallen in New York on the musical that has been the biggest of my career, I passionately pray that Broadway rediscovers the appetite for new scores and original work that made me so excited when I was, as (late friend and collaborator Hal Prince) always called me, a kid." Read the full essay. (Read more Andrew Lloyd Webber stories.)
Two New York City residents have been arrested on suspicion of operating what the Department of Justice describes as "an illegal overseas police station" on behalf of Chinese authorities. The outpost in Manhattan's Chinatown, which was searched by FBI agents last fall, was one of around 100 such operations around the world, the New York Times reports. Federal prosecutors say a branch of Chinas Ministry of Public Security established the "secret physical presence" as part of an effort to "monitor and intimidate" Chinese dissidents and others critical of China's government. The suspects allegedly used social media to harass dissidents and helped Chinese authorities locate a pro-democracy activist living in California.

"It is simply outrageous that Chinas Ministry of Public Security thinks it can get away with establishing a secret, illegal police station on US soil to aid its efforts to export repression and subvert our rule of law," acting Assistant Director Kurt Ronnow of the FBI Counterintelligence Division said in a statement. The two men arrested Monday, 61-year-old Lu Jianwang and Chen Jinping, 59, have been charged with conspiring to act as agents of the Chinese government and obstructing justice by destroying evidence of communication with Chinese officials.

"New York City is home to New Yorks finest: the NYPD," US Attorney Breon Peace said at a news conference announcing the arrests, per the AP. "We dont need or want a secret police station in our great city." The Justice Department also announced in a news release Monday that 44 people, including 40 police officers in China, had been charged in connection with efforts to "harass Chinese nationals residing in the New York metropolitan area and elsewhere in the United States." The department said all 44 suspects are believed to be in China or elsewhere in Asia and are still at large. (Read more China stories.)
Eight Akron police officers will not face charges in the July death of Jayland Walker, a 25-year-old Black driver they shot after pulling him over on a traffic stop. The police "were legally justified in their use of force," Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said Monday, NBC News reports. Walker had refused to stop, said the officers, seven of whom were white. They fired 94 times at Walker in the course of 6.7 seconds, prosecutors said; 46 of the bullets struck or grazed him. The officers' names have not been released. Public demonstrations followed the shooting death, and windows of the Akron City Hall have been boarded up in anticipation of the grand jury's decision.

Yost said it was important to keep in mind that Walker "shot first" at police, per CBS News. Officials of the police union said that the officers thought they faced a serious threat and that their actions reflected their training. The special grand jury in Summit County had two Black members and three men and six women overall. A prosecutor referred to suggestions Walker had been suicidal after his fiance's death. "I don't want to speculate as to what Mr. Walker was thinking at the time," Assistant Attorney General Anthony Pierson said, adding, "Mr. Walker was going through a very tough time in his life." A family spokesperson had said Walker was grieving but showed no reason for concern. Walker's family has asked for a civil rights investigation by the Justice Department. (Read more Jayland Walker stories.)
Onomatopoeia. Its a long word with an easy definition  it describes other real or made up words that imitate the sound or action the word refers to. An example of the former would be boom, an explosion. The latter type would be the ones displayed in the original Batman tv series every time there was a fight scene. Pow, zap, or bam.

This brings me to my favorite Yiddish word, ungabluzen, which, like many Yiddish expressions, has a degree of onomatopoeia. My mother used it frequently. As a child, it was an admonishment. Eat the Brussel sprouts and stop being so ungabluzen. As a young adult, it was employed when she was exasperated with my behavior, such as not getting out of bed before noon. Nobody made you stay out late. Come to life already and dont look so ungabluzen.

To me, ungabluzen is an apt descriptor of someone who is miserable, or pouting, or possibly hungover. With its blunt, Germanic pronunciation (Yiddish being a polyglot language of Hebrew, German and the occasional Euro/Slavic expression), it perfectly encapsulated my sons expressions as children when I told them, Dont be so ungabluzen, the Brussel sprouts arent that bad. As further proof I had become my mother, that morphed into adult observations such as, Maybe youre so ungabluzen because you felt it necessary to close the bar.

Another Yiddish word used often was tsimmes, meaning to make a fuss. This would be employed in a sentence such as, Stop making such a tsimmes, I wasnt out that late. This is not to be confused with tzimmes, which is a homonym describing a Jewish stew my aunt used to make. It was usually awful and resulted in a lot of ungabluzen expressions when served. In this instance, one could actually make a tsimmes about tzimmes.

We were also fond of saying tsedreyt, a shortened version of tsedreyt in kop, meaning having ones knickers in a twist. Observations such as, Aunt Miriam is tsedreyt and making such a tsimmes about having dinner, would be appropriate. One could also say something like, Aunt Miriam was so tsedreyt when we got stomach aches after eating her tzimmes.

Recently, we celebrated Purim, a holiday that gave rise to the expression the whole Megillah. The Megillah is the biblical Book of Esther, which is read during Purim and considered overly descriptive, or, in laymens terms, boring. I would hear my relatives saying things like, I asked Uncle Irving how his colonoscopy went, and had to listen to the whole Megillah. Eyerolls frequently accompany the use of this expression.

A lot of this Yiddish terminology, which my mothers family brought over from Europe, has been lost through the years. This is a shame, as its a wonderfully descriptive and frequently humorous language. A previous piece on the subject was commented on by our local pharmacist. He told me how he recognized many of the words mentioned, as it brought back fond memories of his grandparents, who years ago frequently employed many of those same expressions. I should have replied, Thats because were all mishpoocha, which means all one family or all one tribe. Its a personal favorite.

Theres also the onomatopoeic feature of my other favorite words. Some of the bawdier examples of this are shtunk, schtupp, putz and schmo. It would be pushing the bounds of propriety to explain their meanings, but they can be found easily enough elsewhere. Just dont get tsedreyt when you find them.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa was briefed yesterday about military cooperation between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the US. This came as HM the King, who is also Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, visited the US Naval Support Facility in Bahrain.

Humanitarian operations

His Majesty was also briefed about their humanitarian operations, along with other countries, to secure the freedom of navigation and smooth maritime trade flow in the region and the world.

He was accompanied by the Bahrain Defence Force (BDF) Commander-in Chief Field Marshal Shaikh Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, National Security Advisor, Royal Guard Commander Major-General His Highness Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa and Royal Guard Special Force Commander Staff Colonel HH Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa.

HM the King was welcomed on arrival by the Commander of the US Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) and 5th Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Charles Bradford Cooper, US Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain Steven Bondy, and Commander of the Royal Bahrain Naval Force.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

The world-renowned Business Referral Networking Organisation, Bahrain Network International (BNI), recently conducted its member meeting in Bahrain, marking yet another successful gathering of some of the regions most prominent and accomplished business professionals.

The event was hosted at the luxurious Ramee Grand Hotel at Reef and saw an impressive turnout of field businesspeople, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders from across the Kingdom, all eager to discuss the future of BNI in Bahrain.

Arunoday Ganguly, the National Director of BNI in Bahrain, delivered an insightful presentation on the organisations plans and strategies for growth and expansion in the coming years, providing attendees with valuable insights into the future of networking and referral marketing in the region.

BNI boasts an impressive global presence, with members across 78 countries, making it the worlds largest and most successful business referral network. Over the past 12 months, BNI has generated a staggering $20.6 billion in member-generated business, with over 13.1 million member referrals.
The Japanese government has come up with a package of measures aimed at eliminating groping on trains and other public places.

Five government offices are working together to implement the measures.

The National Police Agency will conduct a more detailed survey and analysis of incidents of groping and molestation, and release the findings on a regular basis.

It also plans to step up patrols of places where such incidents frequently occur.

The agency says it hopes to create an environment where victims can easily get help.

Education boards across the country will be instructed to respond flexibly if students fail to appear in class after being sexually assaulted. Principals will be asked not to record them as being absent.

The transport ministry will release information on the availability of women-only carriages on a regular basis.

The justice ministry plans to introduce new programs for sex offenders who are serving prison sentences.

People seeking consultations on groping and other cases of sexual assault are advised to access the "Curetime" website.

A phone counseling service is also available at #8891.
News / National

by Staff reporter

President Mnangagwa has officially accepted an invitation to attend the coronation of King Charles III in the UK on 6 May as Zimbabwe continues to make headway in its engagement and re-engagement initiatives.The Head of State and Government confirmed the development on his official Twitter account today."I'm most excited to announce that I have accepted an invitation to the coronation of His Majesty King Charles III. Yesterday I met with the British Ambassador, Melanie Robinson. We also discussed trade, investment, and the special relationship between Zimbabwe and the UK," tweeted the President.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

DANBURY  As the city works with the owner of the sprawling Summit office complex to build a school for 1,400 upper-grade students, a New York-based moving and storage company has plans to build a warehouse headquarters just to the west.

The plans by Clancy Moving Systems to build a 190,000-square-foot warehouse and associated buildings on 29 acres next door to the Summit is the latest example of growth in Danburys booming west side.

It is also an example of the complexities of building on environmentally sensitive land. The mostly wooded terrain where Clancy wants to build, just west of the 1.2 million-square-foot Summit complex, contains 6.7 acres of wetlands.

Wetlands, which are ecologically important for wildlife, provide natural flood protection by slowing stormwater runoff and draining it.

That means Clancy must get permission from the citys Environmental Impact Commission before the company can seek a zoning permit and site-plan approval from the Planning Commission.

Consultants have already submitted a 290-page stormwater management report in preparation for a Dec. 8 appearance before the EIC.

Our only discreet disturbance to the wetlands resource on the subject property is the wetland crossing to access the northern portion of the property, said engineering consultant Paul Szymanski, in a letter to the EIC.

Szymanski was referring to a proposal to build a 190,000-square-foot warehouse and office building, a 4,000-square-foot fleet dispatch center and maintenance building, and parking areas for tractor trailer storage among other various associated site amenities.

(The) applicant will hire an engineer to be in charge of erosion controls and will inspect the site once a week and after heavy storms, the consultant wrote. [I]f a problem on the site occurs it shall be brought to the attention of the Zoning Enforcement officer within 48 hours in writing along with a statement of how the problem was remedied.

The project, which would be built in phases over two years to minimize the effect on the sensitive land, calls for the disturbance of 4,700 square feet of wetlands, or about one-tenth of an acre.

Immediate neighbors include Abbey Woods, a 470-unit development, to the south.

The warehouse project is just north of an approved power plant and high-technology campus at 100 Saw Mill Road that was granted permission to hook into the citys water and sewer system after a partisan battle on Danburys Republican-controlled City Council.

Democrats wanted the power plant proposal scrutinized because of its proximity to the $99 million career academy at the Summit. Republicans argued that the proposal had been property vetted and used their majority to outvote Democrats.

Clancy, a Patterson, N.Y.-based company, which has locations in Danbury, Newtown, New Milford and Stamford, did not return a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342
YUBA CITY, Calif. (AP)  Authorities in Northern California on Monday said they had arrested more than a dozen men from two warring criminal syndicates whose violent rivalry they say was responsible for a mass shooting at a Sikh temple and a brutal sword attack at a parade in 2018.

Sutter County District Attorney Jennifer Dupre said the two syndicates were responsible for multiple shootings where 11 people were shot, including five people at a Sikh temple in Stockton last year and two more victims at a temple in Sacramento last month.

None of the victims died. Dupre said all of the men arrested are part of California's Sikh community and were members of one of two rival groups whose feud was fueled by intense personal connections.

This started out as one group, and one faction broke off, and since then they have been rivals trying to outdo each other. Mainly they show up places and try to shoot each other, Dupre said, comparing it to the U.S. Civil War where brothers were fighting against brothers.

Dupre said the arrests are not related to the murders last year of a Sikh family in the San Joaquin Valley, which included the killings of an 8-month-old baby, the baby's parents and an uncle.

Dupre said the violence began in 2018 at the annual Sikh Parade in Yuba City, one of the largest South Asian festivals held outside of the Indian subcontinent. There, Dupre said, a man was beaten so hard with a sword that it broke. The violence soon escalated to shootings, including one at a wedding party in 2021.

The rash of violence attracted the attention of the Yuba-Sutter Narcotic and Gang Enforcement Task Force, which launched an investigation with assistance from the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and various other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.

The investigation intensified in March, when authorities learned of potential violence at a Sikh parade in Sacramento. Dupre said police stopped two cars before they reached the parade, arresting seven people and seizing four handguns and two other guns with large capacity magazines.

A shooting still happened at the parade, injuring two people, but Dupre said a mass casualty incident was prevented.

If those weapons had gotten into the parade, it could have been a bloodbath, Dupre said.

Altogether, Dupre said police seized 41 guns during the investigation, including a weapon described as a machine gun.

Authorities arrested 17 people, including Karandeep Singh, Pardeep Singh, Pavittar Singh, Husandeep Singh, Sahajpreet Singh, Harkirat Singh, Tirath Ram, Dharamvir Singh, Jobanjit Singh, Gurvinder Singh, Nitish Kaushal, Gurminder Singh Kang, Devender Singh, Karambir Gill, Rajeev Ranjan, Jobanpreet Singh and Singh Dhesi.

Dupre said five other people  Amandeep Singh, Harmandeep Singh, Gursharn Singh, Grucharan Singh and Jaskaran Singh  have not yet been arrested.

Dupre said the men have not had a court appearances yet. It's not clear if they have attorneys yet who can speak on their behalf.

Yuba City, a city of nearly 70,000 people along the Feather River just north of Sacramento, has a large Sikh community. Locals often refer to the area as mini Punjab, named after the Indian state where many Sikhs live. Each November, tens of thousands of people travel to the city for Nagar Kirtan, one of the largest Sikh gatherings in the U.S.

Sikhs also have a large presence throughout California's Central Valley. The Sacramento County Assistant Sheriff said seven of the shootings occurred in Sacramento County within the past year.

The investigation in this particular case and the charges that have been brought forth does not in any way reflect or represent the vibrant Sikh community that are such an important and vital part of the greater community in this region, Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho said.
The family of a Connecticut woman is asking for help after a Storrs resident was reported missing in a mountainous region of Japan.

Julie Murad-Caruso said her sister-in-law, Patricia Wu-Murad, was reported missing last Monday while on a hiking pilgrimage trekking through the mountains of Japan on the Kumano Kodo Trai.

"She left out Monday morning their time," she said. "She left at 7 a.m., and she was supposed... to meet up at the next hostel where she was going to stay that night. But she never showed up."

Murad-Caruso said local authorities did a search for 72 hours, but could not find her and ended the search. She said they notified the U.S. Embassy in Japan, who then notified her brother and Patricia's husband, Kirk Murad, on Friday.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State said they are aware of a U.S. citizen missing in Japan.

"The Department of State has no higher priority than the welfare and safety of U.S. citizens abroad," they said. "We stand ready to provide appropriate assistance to U.S. citizens in need and to their families. When a U.S. citizen is missing, we work closely with local authorities as they carry out their search efforts, and we share information with families however we can. Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment."

Murad-Caruso said her brother has been trying to reach U.S. and Japanese officials to encourage them to get involved and keep searching. She said he was told his family would need to pay for a private search party, so one of his daughters started a GoFundMe in order to help them finance it.

As of Sunday at 7:45 p.m., the GoFundMe had raised approximately $75,000 of its $100,000 goal in about a day. According to the page, it will cost $10,000 to hire the crew, $5,000 to fly them to Osaka, Japan, and $1,600 per hour to have a helicopter aid in the search.

"We will also need to cover insurance, accommodation, guides to lead us through the unfamiliar terrain, and other expenses that we cant even begin to comprehend at the moment," it says.

Murad-Caruso said Wu-Murad is an experienced hiker who retired from United Technologies last year. She said this was Wu-Murad's third major pilgrimage, adding it was something she has always wanted to do.

"She loves the outdoor," she said. "She loves doing these things. Sometimes she goes with other people. Sometimes she goes on her own."

As Murad-Caruso and her family understand it, there are lots of people on the trail, and there are clear signs warning people not to go off-trail. She said Wu-Murad is also thorough with her research.

"Unless something came up that was unexpected, this would have never have happened to her," she said. "I heard there could be mudslides over avalanches out there. There are some animals like a specific snake. Something caught her off-guard maybe."

Murad-Caruso said her brother is on a 21-hour flight to Japan, adding two of their three children are going with him to help in the search while a third handles affairs at home. She said the family is keeping its hopes up.

"We trust Patty. We know that she's really smart and resilient," she said. "If anyone can survive this, it's going to be her. We don't want to think of the worst right now. We want to hope that she's in some place where she somehow got off the trail or somehow isn't able to be found and that they can find her and she'll be OK."

Murad-Caruso said the family wants to spread the message of her being missing as far as they can so that more people get involved in the effort to find her.

"Time is of the essence," she said. "It's already been since Monday since she was reported missing. Every hour counts."
HONG KONG (AP)  Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong was sentenced Monday to three months in prison for breaching court bans on disclosing personal information about a police officer who injured a protester during 2019 anti-government protests.

Wong rose to prominence in 2014 pro-democracy protests in the Chinese territory and was in custody after he indicated his intention to plead guilty in the citys biggest national security case, in which he faces a potential penalty of up to life in prison. Last year, he finished serving his sentences of about two years for three other cases after being convicted of multiple charges.

The former student leader of the 2014 protests was not a leader of the 2019 protests, but his continued activism and high profile made him a target of the authorities. The jailing and silencing of activists like Wong have damaged faith in the future of Hong Kong, with many young professionals responding to the shrinking freedoms and autonomy by moving abroad.

During the protests, violent clashes between police and protesters occurred, and some protesters expressed their opposition to officers questionable tactics through doxxing  the practice of maliciously leaking others personal information.

In Monday's case, Wong had been convicted of contempt of court after flouting a ban on publishing officers' details. The prosecution also alleged he breached another order that prohibited people from publishing any matters that might lead to the public identifying the police officer who shot a protester with his revolver in November 2019.

Wong was accused of reposting on Facebook a thread from an online forum that disclosed the details of the officer who fired three live rounds in the residential area of Sai Wan Ho on Hong Kong Island. One of the shots injured a protester and sparked a public outcry at the height of the protests.

Judge Russell Coleman, who handed down the sentence Monday, said he would offer the full reasoning in the next few days.

Wong, who wore a pink top, appeared calm in court. In his mitigation, his lawyer said Wong had admitted liability and would like to apologize to the police officer and his family.

Hong Kong returned to Chinas rule in 1997 under the promise that the former British colony could retain its own political, social, and financial institutions for 50 years. Critics say the promise is becoming increasingly threadbare in recent years after the enactment of the security law in 2020.

___

Find more AP coverage of the Asia-Pacific region at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  Tennessee lawmakers on Monday kicked off a rushed effort to adjourn by the end of the week, looking for an exit from a session that has been eclipsed by the fallout of the Republican supermajority expelling two young Black Democrats and a growing push to pass some sort of gun restriction legislation.

Just last week, Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson returned to the GOP-dominated General Assembly after being ousted for their role in a pro-gun control demonstration from the House floor. While Republicans intended the move to be punitive, the result has instead thrust Tennessee as the new front in the battle for the future of American democracy, as well as maintained pressure on lawmakers to address gun control in a state known for its lax firearm regulations.

Last month, six people were gunned down at a Nashville private school  a tragedy that kicked off a stream of calls for changes to Tennessees gun laws, including a ban on assault weapons, tougher background checks and a red flag law. In turn, Republican Gov. Bill Lee recently urged lawmakers to pass legislation that would keep firearms away from people who could harm themselves or others.

Yet, so far, the Republican supermajority has refused. Rather, they have advanced legislation designed to add more armed guards in public and private schools and are considering a proposal that would allow teachers to carry guns. Lee has also issued executive orders to strengthen background checks.

It's unclear in the supposed last week of session if there will be enough of an appetite to pass a so-called red flag law  designed to remove firearms from those making threats or suffering severe mental breakdowns. Similar statutes have passed in other states after mass shootings, including in Florida, which passed a "red flag" law in the wake of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Law enforcement officials had received numerous complaints about the 19-year-old Florida gunmans threatening statements.

Notably, Tennessee's governor has avoided saying the words red flag, an acknowledgment that the shorthand has become politically off-putting to many Republicans leery of appearing willing to restrict firearms.

Unlike in other states, Tennessees General Assembly isnt under a deadline when it must adjourn for the year. The move to adjourn by the end of the week is a self-imposed deadline.

On Monday, Bishop William Barber II led a march to Tennessee's Capitol in Nashville, demanding lawmakers support gun safety legislation and stop using their authority to trample democracy. Participants carried child-size caskets and laid them outside the Capitol building as a symbol of those lost to gun violence.

Barber is the national co-chairman of the Poor Peoples Campaign, a national demonstration against poverty the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was planning, as revived by activists with the goal of ending systemic racism.

The legislators are back, but returning duly elected lawmakers to their seat does not solve the problem, Barber said, demanding that lawmakers stop committing policy murder.

Also Monday, the head of the influential Southern Baptists public policy arm, Brent Leatherwood of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, sent a letter to lawmakers asking them to put down the weapons of partisan warfare and instead work with Gov. Lee on passing legislation that would "make a real difference.

Leatherwood, who had three children enrolled at the private Christian school where the fatal shooting took place, said lawmakers have the authority to oppose evil and protect innocent lives.

Other voices are saying there is too little time left in this legislative session to consider such a proposal. Little credence should be given to that, he wrote. Now is the time to act.

During Monday evening's House session, Jones attempted to bring one of the caskets that was used in the day's earlier demonstration onto the floor but was blocked after being told he couldn't bring props. He and Pearson spent time criticizing the wide range of bills that were up for debate, ranging from the state seal design and forcing a restructuring of Nashville's sports authority board.

Tensions were once again on display as the night progressed when House Majority Leader William Lamberth motioned to adjourn right as the chamber was scheduled to debate a bill that would allow the arming of teachers in schools. Those who had been sitting quietly in the gallery for hours booed loudly as Lamberth argued that he did not know what bill would be up next when he made the motion.

Lamberth later reversed course, and the sponsor of the legislation, Republican Rep. Ryan Williams, announced that he would move to have his bill held on the desk  which is a procedural action that traditionally implies that the legislation is spiked for the year.

Other notable bills that advanced Monday night include:

 In the Senate, lawmakers passed legislation that would require parental permission for minor students to participate in a school organization or learn a sexual orientation or gender identity curriculum, and would let parents excuse students from school health screenings.

 In the House, Republicans approved legislation banning transgender athletes from participating in private high or middle school sports  allowing it to now head Gov. Lee's desk for his signature. The General Assembly passed a similar ban last year that applied only to public schools.
News / National

by Staff reporter

Zanu-PF has dismissed an article by a local newspaper that President Mnangagwa tried to save some candidates as "crying falsehoods without any shade of shame".This comes after the ruling party held its much anticipated and hotly contested primary elections reruns last Saturday.The ruling party's national spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa told The Herald yesterday that the internal polls had been conducted in the highest degree of competitiveness and transparency as directed by the Party's First Secretary President Mnangagwa.To this effect, Mutsvangwa said, the party would not undermine enunciated rules and regulations to perpetrate favouritism."It is none other President Mnangagwa who directed his Politburo to conduct open and competitive voting of the party primaries."He deliberately withheld any patronage which would have shielded prominent party figures."This in line with his impeccable democratic credentials as a legal advisor to ZANU at the 1979 Lancaster House Conference," he said.Mutsvangwa said the ruling party would not tolerate any efforts to undermine its democracy."By his nature, President Mnangagwa will not undermine enunciated rules and regulations to favour one member of the party against another."We thus frown upon any attempts to soil or besmirch the democratic pedigree of President EDM," he said.President Mnangagwa, he said, was an astute leader who understood the importance of free and fair elections."A momentous decision was made that the Zimbabwe national liberation movement will accept free and fair elections as the final step to decolonization."President Mnangagwa was in the team that opted for ballot to office. Though within grasp of decisive military victory, the route of bullet to office was stood down in favour of a national plebiscite to freedom and independence," he said."The democratic ethos of President Mnangagwa and his Zanu-PF are a far cry chicanery and skullduggery that is shrouding one-man Chamisas CCC candidate selection," he said.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

EAST HAVEN  For 47 years, Maryann Newsom Collette has been searching for her sister, Patricia Meleady Newsom, after she vanished without a trace in the early 1970s, having run away from her New York boarding school.

She started a Facebook group, appeared on a true crime podcast and allowed investigators to swab her DNA, hoping to track her sister down.

Then on a recent day, the detective whod taken her DNA sample showed up at Collettes home in northeastern Tennessee. She assumed he was there to take another sample.

Instead, they sat in his car and the detective put her on the phone. On the line was Joseph Murgo, a police captain in East Haven, Conn.

After nearly half a century, investigators in East Haven and a private forensic genealogy company connected the dots between Collettes DNA sample and the body of a young woman found murdered in 1975.

During a news conference on Monday, Collette described the "tremendous" relief she felt upon learning her sister had been found.

"I always knew in my heart that she was gone, I always knew," she told members of the media assembled at the East Haven Police Department.

Still, she encouraged other families of people who have gone missing not to give up hope and to keep searching, no matter what other people might say. "Get your information out there, don't just sit on the couch, don't just cry," she said.

"This is the ending I want for you; this is my best-case scenario," she added.

After a challenging search for Newsom's grave, which is at an unmarked location in a disused Hamden cemetery, police exhumed her body for DNA samples last year and then waited for the test results.

Murgo, who also serves as a spokesperson for the department and helped revitalize the homicide investigation in recent years, said Monday that police "finally got the call wed been waiting for last week.

Today, Im proud to announce that we can finally give Jane Doe her name back," Murgo said. As he said Newsom's name, police pulled back a cover that had been placed over a presentation board. On the left was an artist's penciled sketch of the woman whose body was discovered in 1975, and on the right was a photograph of Newsom.

Murgo said Newsom was born in Idaho Falls, Idaho, on June 20, 1957, and moved to the east coast in the late 1960s.

In 1972, Newsom attended a boarding school in the Monticello, N.Y. area, Murgo said. She ran away with a friend, intending to go to Maine, and may have hitch-hiked.

She was never heard from or seen again, Murgo said.

Investigators with Identifinders International, a private forensic genetic genealogy company, were able to identify Newsom using a sample of her DNA that was uploaded to GEDMatch. The ancestry service made headlines in 2018 after investigators used the service as part of the investigation that tracked down the "Golden State Killer."

With the task of identifying Patricia behind us, we can now focus on the homicide investigation, Murgo added, speaking at a news conference Monday afternoon.

Murgo said its unclear whether Newsom ever made it to Maine. Police now want to identify the school Newsom attended in Sullivan County, N.Y., as well as the friend she ran off with.

There are thousands of Jane and John Doe cases around the country, even more around the world, Murgo said. With that comes family members searching for answers and justice for the ones they love. This case is a perfect example of what can be achieved if you never lose hope and keep pushing.

A trucker discovered Newsom's body bound, gagged and wrapped in a tarp off Frontage Road on a rainy August day in 1975. An autopsy determined she died by asphyxiation, according to Murgo.

Early efforts to determine Newsoms identity failed. Police shared her fingerprints with other law enforcement agencies and her dental records with dental associations, Murgo said, but they never got a break in the case.

In recent years, police saw advances in DNA technology as a promising way to move the case forward. Murgo and Capt. David Emerman sent out samples from the victims pubic bone for testing.

At first, their attempts went nowhere. Pubic bones represent one of the worst sources of DNA samples, and as East Haven did not have anything else in evidence, Murgo and Emerman began exploring another possibility: exhumation.

Finding Newsoms exact burial spot required its own detective work. Located in Hamdens State Street Cemetery, her grave is unmarked, and police ran into difficulties finding accurate burial records for Hamdens State Street Cemetery, which is no longer in use.

With the help of a group of locals who had been independently working the case, authorities managed to connect with the cemetery's former caretaker. Last spring, he helped them identify the graves approximate location.

After the East Haven Police Department disinterred the wrong casket during its first attempt to exhume Newsom, the agency had better luck on its second attempt, obtaining the necessary DNA samples in July.
NEW HAVEN  A city police officer who threatened to 'snap' a teenage boy's neck last year was suspended twice in 2018, including for posting to social media while on duty, records show.

New Haven officer Lindsey Nesto is facing a misdemeanor charge for harassing a group of trick-or-treaters who stopped to rest on a curb near her sister's home in Wallingford last Halloween, an arrest warrant states. According to the warrant, Nesto, who was off-duty during the spat, used a racial slur and threatened to 'snap' a 14-year-old boy's neck after warning the group they were trespassing on her sister's property.

In January, Nesto was charged with second-degree breach of peace, a misdemeanor, in connection to the incident. She remains on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation, which New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson said he does not expect to be completed before June.

Disciplinary records obtained by Hearst Connecticut Media Group show that Nesto received two separate suspensions in 2018: a four-day suspension for posting a photo of an emptied Taser cartridge to Snapchat while on duty and a 10-day suspension  later reduced to three days upon appeal  for her role in letting a serial rape suspect drive away following a traffic stop.

Nesto referred questions to her attorney, Gregory Cerritelli, whose law firm is on Lincoln Street in New Haven. Cerritelli called his client's disciplinary record "much ado about nothing."

"Officer Nesto has admirably served the people of New Haven since 2016," Cerritelli wrote in an email. "These two minor on-duty incidents reflect an unfamiliarity with the regulations of the department and were addressed with retraining and a small amount of discipline.

"Most officers, during the course of their careers, will run afoul of a rule or regulation, especially in a department like NHPD," Cerritelli added.

In Dec. 2017, Nesto and two other New Haven officers were called to the Westville Village Historic District for a report of an emotionally disturbed person running in the street, according to an NHPD Internal Affairs investigation report. Officers located the subject inside the Whalley Food Market Inc. and deployed their Tasers a total of four times, including once by Nesto, according to the report.

A rumor then began spreading among the department that Nesto posted photographs of the incident on Snapchat, a popular multimedia messaging application, according to the IA report.. Nesto later admitted that she used her personal cell phone to photograph the empty, deployed Taser cartridges on the trunk of a police car following the encounter in the food market, the report states.

According to the report, Nesto said she posted the picture to her Snapchat story, which is a collection of photos and videos, or "snaps," that appear in a chronological storyline and disappear after 24 hours. Nesto told an investigator that only her Snapchat friends were able to see the post, the report states.

Nesto also confessed that she had been unfamiliar with the department's social media policy, which prohibits personnel from posting or blogging during duty hours unless such activity is for agency purposes, the IA report states. Nesto received a four-day suspension for violating the policy, according to the report.

Nesto was suspended again, along with fellow Officer Christopher Landucci, after an internal investigation found they had acted negligently by failing to investigate and arrest a rape suspect, later identified as Navardo Lockhart, during a May 2018 incident. Jacob Cedeno, a third officer involved in the case, retired due to a work-related injury before the investigation was completed.

On May 20, 2018, Landucci and Cedeno saw a man and woman parked in an SUV on Edgewood Avenue around 11 p.m., according to an internal investigation report. Nesto was called to the scene to assist with a search of the vehicle, during which the woman explained that she didnt know the man and how he was going to force her to do something, according to the report. Nesto did not ask any follow-up questions and had the woman sit back down on the curb, the report states.

A short while later, Nesto picked up a small steak knife with a broken handle that the woman had been carrying but placed on the ground prior to the search, according to the report. After asking Landucci if he wanted the knife, to which he responded no, Nesto tossed it over a bridge; "You can hear it fall onto the walkway below," the report states.

According to the report, Lockhart had an active arrest warrant stemming from a motor vehicle stop in 2017. But the officers could not view that information because their computer system was down. Lockhart was eventually allowed to drive away by himself without being arrested or cited, the report states. He would go on to sexually assault another woman four days later, the report adds.

Lockhart, a "dangerous sexual predator" linked to at least eight cases of sexual assault, New Haven police had said, was convicted of first-degree sexual assault and sentenced to 10 years in prison, followed by 10 years probation, in Sept. 2022, according to the state's judicial website.

Nesto received a 10-day suspension for her role in the incident. She appealed the ruling and had the suspension reduced to three days, records show.

Chief Jacobson said he would "definitely consider" Nesto's disciplinary background when considering punishment for the latest incident on Halloween. "You have to do progressive discipline," he said.

Since taking over the NHPD in July 2022, Jacobson said he has recommended termination for about nine officers. Among those are four of the five officers named in the Richard "Randy" Cox lawsuit: Sgt. Betsy Segui and Officers Luis Rivera, Jocelyn Lavandier and Oscar Diaz. The fifth officer involved, Ronald Pressley, retired earlier this year.

"The message to the community is ... we will be transparent, and we will be accountable and we will hold our officers accountable," Jacobson said during a news conference announcing the recommendation last month. "Mistakes do happen, but we will not treat this community disrespectfully as has happened in the Randy Cox situation."
NEW HAVEN  The Red Cross is assisting seven people who were displaced from their home Sunday night after a three-alarm fire broke out above a deli on Dixwell Avenue.

One person sustained minor injuries, according to Rick Fontana, the city's director of emergency management.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

NEW HAVEN  A man has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of Alexander Pedraza earlier this year, police Chief Karl Jacobson and Mayor Justin Elicker announced Monday.

Police identified the suspect as Leonardo Cantres, 50, of New Haven.

The homicide occurred on Jan. 18, 2023, at River and James streets, according to New Haven police Capt. Rose Dell.

On that night, police said Pedraza, 40, was shot and killed after an apparent confrontation. Officers were called to the Fair Haven neighborhood around 8:30 p.m. for a report of a person shot.

Pedraza was taken to Yale New Haven Hospital, where he died, according to police.

Assistant Chief Bertram Ettienne said Monday the two got into a fight about money. Police said Cantres allegedly owed Pedraza money.

Investigators reviewed nearby video footage of the incident and interviewed community members to identify Cantres, who is a felon, according to Ettienne.

On April 10, a detective obtained an arrest warrant for Cantres, charging him with murder, criminal possession of a firearm and possession of a pistol without a permit. Cantres was apprehended on April 12 on the New Haven Green and he was arraigned the next day, Ettienne said.

Cantres is being held on a $2 million bond. He is scheduled to next appear in state Superior Court in New Haven on April 26, judicial records show.

Jacobson, Ettienne and Elicker were joined by Pedraza's family  his mother and father, Andrea and Tomas Pedraza, and his fiance, Laura Cano  during a news conference at police headquarters Monday morning.

Cano thanked police for continuing to investigate her husband's death.

"No one has the right to take someone's life," she said Monday. "And I just want him to pay for what he did to Alexander because he left a fiance and a family that is suffering."

Pedraza is also survived by two children, ages 18 and 21, who reside in Puerto Rico, according to a city official.

Elicker said this was the eighth homicide case the police department has closed so far this year.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)  Oklahoma's governor is seeking the resignation of four county officials after a newspaper's audio recording apparently captured some of them complaining about two of the paper's journalists and knowing hit men and where two holes are dug.

A portion of the recording was released by the paper, and it also appears to capture one of the four making racist comments about Black people.

Gov. Kevin Stitt said Sunday he was seeking the resignations of McCurtain County Sheriff Kevin Clardy and three other county officials: sheriffs Capt. Alicia Manning, District 2 Commissioner Mark Jennings and Jail Administrator Larry Hendrix.

I am both appalled and disheartened to hear of the horrid comments made by officials in McCurtain County," Stitt said in a statement. There is simply no place for such hateful rhetoric in the state of Oklahoma, especially by those that serve to represent the community through their respective office.

The McCurtain Gazette-News released portions of an audio recording following a March 6 county commission meeting in which Clardy, Manning and Jennings appear to discuss reporters Bruce and Chris Willingham. Jennings tells Clardy and Manning I know where two deep holes are dug if you ever need them, and the sheriff responded, I've got an excavator.

Jennings also said he's known two or three hit men in Louisiana, adding "they're very quiet guys.

In the recording, Jennings also appears to complain about not being able to hang Black people, saying: They got more rights than we got.

The Associated Press could not immediately verify the authenticity of the recording. None of the four returned telephone calls or emails from The Associated Press on Monday seeking comment.

A spokeswoman for the FBIs office in Oklahoma City said the agencys policy is not to confirm or deny any ongoing investigation. Phil Bacharach, a spokesman for Attorney General Gentner Drummond, said the agency had received an audio recording and is investigating the incident, but declined to comment further.

More than 100 people gathered outside the McCurtain County Courthouse in Idabel on Monday, with many of them calling for the sheriff and other county officials to resign.

Bruce Willingham, the longtime publisher of the McCurtain Gazette-News, said the recording was made March 6 when he left a voice-activated recorder inside the room after a county commissioner's meeting because he suspected the group was continuing to conduct county business after the meeting had ended in violation of the state's Open Meeting Act. Chris Willingham, a reporter at the paper, is Bruce Willingham's son.

I talked on two different occasions to our attorneys to make sure I wasn't doing anything illegal, Bruce Willingham said.

Bruce Willingham said he believes the local officials were upset about stories we've run that cast the sheriff's office in an unfavorable light, including the death of Bobby Barrick, a Broken Bow, Oklahoma, man who died at a hospital in March 2022 after McCurtain County deputies shot him with a stun gun. The newspaper has filed a lawsuit against the sheriff's office seeking body camera footage and other records connected to Barrick's death.

Bruce Willingham said he has also turned over his audio recordings to the FBI and the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office and added he has had several conversations with federal investigators.

Joey Senat, a journalism professor at Oklahoma State University, said he was shocked to hear the comments made in the recording, especially in light of recent killings of journalists in the U.S., including the arrest last year of a Las Vegas-area elected official accused of fatally stabbing a veteran newspaper reporter who had been investigating him.

The whole conversation seemed deplorable, Senat said. I was shocked as I assume most people were not only about the comments about journalists, but the racist comments regarding African Americans. Joking doesnt excuse that.

Senat said under Oklahoma law, the recording would be legal if it were obtained in a place where the officials being recorded did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy.

McCurtain County is in far southeast Oklahoma, bordering both Arkansas and Texas, in a part of the state often referred to as Little Dixie, because of the influence in the area from white Southerners who migrated there after the Civil War.

With its rolling, forested hills in the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains, the area has become a tourism hotbed attracting a steady stream of visitors from the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

State Rep. Eddy Dempsey, a Republican who represents the area in the Oklahoma House, said the recorded comments don't reflect the values of his constituents and echoed Stitt's call for the four people involved in the conversation to resign.

All my life, we've always said we don't get enough recognition in southeast Oklahoma, Dempsey said. But we don't need this kind of recognition.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

The 25-year treason sentence imposed on prominent Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza on Monday was a particularly severe show of Russian authorities intensifying intolerance for criticism of the war in Ukraine and other dissenting opinions.

Under President Vladimir Putin, Russia for years has been closing in on those who challenge the Kremlin, arresting countless protesters, cracking down on independent news media and adding inconvenient organizations to its register of foreign agents.

The hostility to opposition increased within days of Russias February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, when it adopted a law criminalizing the spreading of false information about its military.

The charges against Kara-Murza, who has been behind bars since his arrest a year ago, stem from his March 2022 speech to the Arizona House of Representatives in which he denounced Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Here is a look at other notable cases of imprisoned opposition figures:

ALEXEI NAVALNY

The most persistent and inventive critic of Vladimir Putins Kremlin, Navalny has been in prison for more than two years but gained new visibility this spring when a documentary about him won an Academy Award.

A lawyer by training, he first came to note by publishing investigations of Russian companies corruption, and the work expanded into a broad opposition portfolio. He repeatedly served jail terms for organizing protest demonstrations that reached scores of cities across the country. He also was twice convicted of embezzlement, but those sentences were suspended.

In 2020, Navalny became severely ill and fell into a coma while visiting a Siberian city. He was airlifted to Germany in critical condition and found to have been poisoned with a nerve agent. During his months of recovery, he released the recording of a call he said he made to an alleged member of a group of officers of the Federal Security Service who purportedly carried out the poisoning

After that, authorities said his recuperation in Germany violated the terms of his suspended sentence. Nonetheless, Navalny returned to Moscow in January 2021, where he was arrested at the airport. He was sentenced to 2 years in prison, and last year was convicted of other charges and given another nine-year term.

Last week, a U.S.-based spokeswoman for his anticorruption foundation said Navalny is seriously ill in prison and that poisoning is suspected.

ILYA YASHIN

One of the few well-known Kremlin critics to have stayed in Russia after the start of the Ukraine war, Yashin was arrested in June while walking in a Moscow park and was sentenced to 8 years in prison on a conviction of spreading false information about Russian soldiers.

The charge stemmed from a livestream on YouTube in which he talked about civilians killed in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha. After Russian forces withdrew from the area in March 2022, hundreds of corpses were found in the town, including some with their hands bound behind their backs and apparently executed.

ALEXEI MOSKALYOV

Moskalyov was not a well-known figure, just a 54-year-old single father of a 13-year-old daughter in a provincial town. But after his daughter refused to participate in a patriotic class at school and made a drawing reading Glory to Ukraine, Moskalyov was investigated by police and found to have made social media posts critical of the war.

He was sentenced to two years in prison, but fled house arrest hours before the sentence was handed down. He was arrested in neighboring Belarus and extradited to Russia.

ALEXEI GORINOV

Gorinov, a member of a Moscow municipal council, was the first person to be sentenced to prison under the law penalizing the spread of false information about Russian troops. He was arrested a year ago after criticizing Russias military actions in Ukraine at a municipal council meeting.

A video available on YouTube shows him voicing skepticism about holding a planned childrens art competition in his constituency while every day children are dying in Ukraine.

He was sentenced to seven years.

ANDREI PIVOVAROV

Just days after the Open Russia opposition group that he headed disbanded in 2021 when authorities declared it an undesirable organization, Pivovarov was pulled off a Warsaw-bound airliner that was about to leave St. Petersburg. He was convicted last year of sponsoring a local candidate on behalf of an undesirable organization and sentenced to four years.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Frustrated by college diversity initiatives he says are fomenting radical and toxic divisions, Texas state Rep. Carl Tepper set out to put an end to diversity, equity and inclusion offices in higher education.

The freshman Republican lawmaker filed a bill to ban such offices. Three months later, he filed a new version of the legislation doing the same thing. The difference? Tepper switched the wording to align with a new model bill developed by the Manhattan Institute and Goldwater Institute, a pair of conservative think tanks based in New York and Arizona, respectively.

Republican lawmakers in at least a dozen states have proposed more than 30 bills this year targeting diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in higher education, an Associated Press analysis found using the bill-tracking software Plural. The measures have become the latest flashpoint in a cultural battle involving race, ethnicity and gender that has been amplified by prominent Republicans, including former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, potential rivals for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024.

Many of the proposals root in one of a half-dozen conservative or libertarian organizations offering recommendations for limiting consideration of diversity, equity and inclusion in employment decisions, training and student admissions. Some measures mirror the model bills nearly exactly. Others copy key definitions or phrases while adapting the concepts to their particular states.

Theres a tremendous appetite on the right to deal with this issue, said Joe Cohn, legislative and policy director for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which in February added its own model bill to the swelling ranks of proposals.

The bills are an outgrowth of recent Republican attempts to limit critical race theory, a viewpoint that racism is historically systemic in the nations institutions and continues today to maintain the dominance of white people in society. Christopher Rufo, who now is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, helped propel conservative outrage in 2020 against what he has described as critical-race-theory concepts infiltrating governments and educational institutions.

Trump responded by issuing an order in September 2020 banning training involving divisive concepts about race for government employees and contractors. Similar wording began cropping up in state-level legislation the following year.

Floridas so-called Stop WOKE law, which DeSantis signed last year, is among the most prominent measures. It bars businesses, colleges and K-12 schools from giving training on certain racial concepts, such as the theory that people of a particular race are inherently racist, privileged or oppressed. Courts have currently blocked the law's enforcement in colleges, universities and businesses.

DeSantis has continued to press the issue. He proposed legislation this year to ban diversity, equity and inclusion offices as part of a broader agenda to reshape higher education. He also appointed Rufo and other conservatives to the New College of Florida's oversight board, which then abolished the liberal arts colleges office that handles diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

DeSantis has been so vocal about the changes he wants to make in universities that it has probably spurred activity in other states, said Jenna Robinson, president of the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, a conservative nonprofit based in Raleigh, North Carolina.

On their face, diversity, equity and inclusion may seem uncontentious. Higher education institutions, along with many businesses, have devoted resources to inclusivity for years.

"DEI is woven into the fabric of good universities, said Karma Chavez, chair of the Department of Mexican American and Latina/o Studies and co-chair of the College of Liberal Arts diversity committee at the University of Texas.

Campus DEI offices often spearhead services tailored to students of various races, genders, sexual orientations, cultures and abilities. Some college administrators also consider diversity and equity when admitting students, providing scholarships or deciding which faculty to hire and promote. Applicants may be asked not only for resumes and references, but also for statements about how they would advance DEI efforts.

Tepper contends DEI initiatives are ideologically driven" on a Marxist foundation." Republican lawmakers in other states have used similar arguments.

During a recent Missouri House debate, Republican Rep. Doug Richey put forth a series of budget amendments prohibiting state funding for DEI initiatives in government agencies and higher education. He asserted the offices espouse "racist policies and Marxist ideology that is trying to strip away from us the concepts of the nuclear family, of merit, of character and of being judged by what you are capable of.

Provisions blocking spending on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts also have been added to budget bills in Kansas and Texas. Separate bills banning spending for DEI offices in higher education have been proposed in Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Oklahoma, Utah and West Virginia, though some of those already have failed.

Other bills, such as in Ohio and South Carolina, would allow such offices but ban mandatory DEI training and forbid administrators from requesting DEI statements from staff and students.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbotts administration warned state entities in February not to use DEI factors in employment decisions. That prompted the state's largest university systems to pause such practices and led students at the University of Texas to organize in defense of DEI efforts.

It feels like an attack on my identity, said Sameeha Rizvi, a university senior who said she has benefitted from DEI initiatives as a Muslim woman of color with a disability. It is exceptionally hurtful and tiring to see this very hateful rhetoric being employed by legislators."

The American Association of University Professors, which has about 45,000 members nationwide, said the bills mischaracterize DEI initiatives.

"Theyre dog whistling that DEI initiatives are something sinister and subversive that people should be afraid of, and thats not true at all, association President Irene Mulvey said.

The Martin Center and Goldwater Institute released model legislation last year describing mandatory DEI statements from students and staff as a prohibited political test. Lawmakers in Georgia, Florida, Oklahoma and Texas all filed bills this year using the suggested wording.

Cicero Action, an advocacy group based in Austin, Texas, and the newly formed Do No Harm organization, based in Richmond, Virginia, also have provided guidance to state lawmakers drafting bills against diversity, equity and inclusion requirements in higher education. Similar bills in Missouri and Tennessee both follow Do No Harm's outline of barring mandatory DEI instruction for medical students and health care providers.

University of Missouri medical students have lobbied against the legislation, asserting it could jeopardize the school's accreditation and prevent doctors from learning about unique circumstances affecting the health of people from various ethnic, socioeconomic and geographic backgrounds.

Were not just hurting ourselves, were hurting patients if these bills get passed, medical student Jay Devineni said.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis narrowly leads President Joe Biden in the battleground states of Arizona and Pennsylvania, according to a poll of a hypothetical matchup between the two men in the 2024 presidential race.

The same survey, however, finds Biden leading former President Donald Trump in the two swing states, albeit by tight margins.

The poll, conducted from April 11 through April 13 by GOP firm Public Opinion Strategies and obtained by McClatchyDC, should bolster the argument from many DeSantis supporters that the Florida Republican is more electable than the former president. Trump lost reelection in 2020 and has continued alienating some moderate voters with his ongoing false claims that the race was stolen from him.

Perceptions about the governors general election strength compared to Trump have helped fuel his rise in polls of the GOP 2024 primary, though DeSantis has not yet formally entered the race.

In Pennsylvania, according to the poll, DeSantis leads Biden 45% to 42%, while Trump trails the sitting president 42% to 46%.

The survey found that in Arizona, DeSantis led Biden 48% to 42%. Trump, however, trailed the Democratic leader 44% to 45%.

Public Opinion Strategies polled 500 registered voters in both Arizona and Pennsylvania. The leads in both sets of numbers are within the polls 4.4-percentage-point margin of error.

Trumps underlying numbers in each state are also a potential source of concern for the former president. In Pennsylvania, 56% of voters have an unfavorable view of him, compared to just 40% who have a favorable opinion

In Arizona, 58% of voters have an unfavorable view of him, while just 40% have a favorable view.

A critical mass of the electorate in the battlegrounds appears to have decided they are unlikely to vote for Trump next year: A majority of voters in both states  56% in Pennsylvania and 55% in Arizona  say they arent likely to vote for Trump in a general election.

For DeSantis, just 45% of voters in Pennsylvania and 44% of them in Arizona say they arent too likely to vote for the governor in a general election. In each state, a plurality say they would be willing to vote for him.

Story continues

Republicans have engaged in an avid debate over the electability of both politicians, with some Republicans expressing greater concern that DeSantis recent embrace of far-reaching positions on abortion rights and gun control threatens his appeal to many moderate voters. Other GOP candidates, including former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, have also touted their own ability to win a general election.

Whoever emerges as the GOP nominee will have a major effect on down-ballot races for Senate and the U.S. House.

Public Opinion Strategies found that, after asking respondents in Arizona about a DeSantis-Biden matchup, voters preferred a GOP candidate for Congress over a Democratic candidate by a 47% to 38% margin.

After asking about a Trump-Biden matchup, however, a generic Democratic candidate held the edge over Republicans, 42% to 41%.
CHICAGO (AP)  When the U.S. prisons director visited the penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, this past week, she stopped by the federal death row where Bruce Webster is in a solitary, 12-by-7 foot cell, 23 hours a day.

Webster's not supposed to be there. A federal judge in Indiana ruled in 2019 that the 49-year-old has an IQ in the range of severe intellectual disability and so cannot be put to death.

But four years on, the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Prisons havent moved him to a less restrictive unit or different prison.

Why? His own lawyer, who secured a rare legal win in persuading a court to vacate Websters 1996 death sentence in the kidnapping, rape and killing of a 16-year-old Texas girl, says shes baffled.

How can I not get this guy off death row?, an exasperated Monica Foster said in a recent interview. Well, I did get him off death row. But why cant I physically get him off death row?

Asked about Webster's continued placement on death row, a Justice Department official said only that the Bureau of Prisons is considering Mr. Websters designation determination.

Webster's case illustrates chronic bureaucracy in the prisons system and the difficulties in getting anyone off death row. There's sometimes additional reluctance to act in death row cases given the nature of inmates' crimes.

In Webster's case, he and three accomplices kidnapped a sister of a rival drug trafficker in 1994, kicking their way into an Arlington, Texas, apartment as Lisa Rene frantically dialed 911. They raped her over two days, then stripped her, bludgeoned her with a shovel and buried her alive.

Bureau of Prisons Director Colette Peters has said she's committed to reforms. Her visit to Terre Haute was part of regular inspections of U.S. prisons. It came months after a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana seeking to end the solitary confinement of federal death row inmates, saying that practice results in severe psychological damage.

Several death row inmates told The Associated Press by email that Peters came through their unit on Tuesday and spoke to some prisoners. It's not known whether she saw Webster or discussed his case.

The Biden administration should see moving Webster as an uncontroversial if modest step toward fulfilling President Joe Bidens campaign pledge to stop federal executions for good, Foster argued.

This case is a no brainer, the Indianapolis-based federal defender said. There is zero political liability for doing the right thing here and moving him off death row.

Webster, who wants to be transferred to a prison near his hometown of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, must be resentenced. Its supposed to be a formality because life in prison is the only available sentence.

When his lawyers and the Justice Department asked in joint 2021 motion for U.S. judge in Texas where Webster was tried in 1996 to resentence him, the judge refused, saying he lacked jurisdiction.

Judge Terry Means also chided his Indiana counterpart, Judge William Lawrence, for tossing Websters death sentence, saying Lawrence had brushed aside jurors finding, including that most rejected Websters intellectual disability claims.

That judgment is final, the government said about Means' ruling, adding that it is the department's position "that Mr. Webster is not currently subject to a valid death sentence.

Responsibility to get Webster off death row lies squarely with the Justice Department, Foster said.

The Justice Department executed 13 U.S. death row inmates, some of them Webster's friends, in the last months of Donald Trump's presidency. While Biden's Justice Department paused the executions and reversed decisions to seek death sentences in some cases, it continues to seek them in others.

Lawrence based his Webster ruling on Atkins v. Virginia, a landmark Supreme Court decision in 2002 ruling that executing those with intellectual disabilities violated Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment.

That decision hasn't prevented some inmates with such disabilities from being executed, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. It identifies 25 cases where that's happened since that ruling, including two federal inmates executed under Trump, Alfred Bourgeois and Corey Johnson.

Whether Webster qualified as intellectually disabled centered on three questions: Was his IQ significantly below average, did he show an inability to learn basic skills and was the onset of the disability apparent before age 18?

In his ruling, Lawrence cited tests putting Webster's IQ between 50 and 65, below the benchmark score for intellectual disability of 70. The average is 100.

During arguments, Webster's lawyers said he relied on others to tie his shoes late into childhood, and, as a teenager, had trouble playing card games because he couldnt distinguish between clubs and spades.

Prosecutors accused Webster of playing dumb. They said he intentionally answered IQ questions incorrectly to avoid the death penalty. They said proof of his aptitude included how, during a jail stint, he figured out how to pick locks on a food chute to slip into a womens section.

Webster also has been able to hold a job, albeit it criminal in nature, a government filing added. "Being a successful drug dealer is no less demanding than holding any number of legitimate jobs.

The decisive evidence, however, were newly obtained Social Security records from before the killing indicating Websters IQ was within the intellectually disabled range. That evidence, despite requests for it, wasn't made available at his trial.

Foster worries what could happen if Webster doesn't get off death row soon. Even though past rulings should prevent it, she fears that if Trump wins the presidency, his administration could seek to restore the death sentence.

If that happens, she said, I'm concerned it could be carried out.

__

Follow Michael Tarm on Twitter at @mtarm.
Some watch sports, others attend concerts, but I frequent council meetings. As a state and local government specialist, its a must for me to witness and be a part of the process. But I also attend local legislative sessions because they can be interesting and sometimes dramatic. With the pandemic subsiding and government meetings returning to in-person and often online (or hybrid), I thought it was overdue to return to a city hall meeting.

A Bridgeport council meeting was at the top of my list even though I have attended meetings there before and other shoreline municipalities, including New Haven. But New Havens alder meetings can be rather dull since officials limit public involvement. Some committee hearings and budgetary workshops can be more engaging, but theyre just not the same as a public speaking session when residents can discuss concerns before a legislative council for several minutes.

Attending these sessions before a council meeting is a must in Bridgeport and a few of my Bridgeport students mentioned I should visit city hall. In fact, a couple of weeks ago they came along with me as well as Bridgeport Generation Now Votes co-directors since they recently announced their election platform.

I purposely arrive to council meetings early to observe and connect with officials, media and residents. Prior to entering Bridgeports council chambers, live piano playing greeted me, as politicos rehearsed a variety of songs. I still remember Councilman Ernie Newton belting out spirituals on the keyboard like it was Sunday morning.

My students arrived minutes later and just before the public speaking session started. At first, a few residents carried signs and then many more arrived with signage about former Councilwoman Eneida Martinez. Its been a political ordeal about Bridgeports East End council seat since former Councilwoman Wanda Simmons defeated Martinez but stepped down due to health issues in November. Although Martinez has been considered for the council spot, she faces a lawsuit over her permanently closed Keystone social club where Nyair Nixon was shot and killed in 2020.

In November, Nixons family and friends attended a council meeting urging councilmembers to not vote for Martinezs appointment to the council. They returned at this recent council meeting voicing their concerns about Martinez and how councilmembers remain silent on filling the seat.

No surprise, my students and I were stunned at the residents tactics including preventing the council to formally begin their legislative session. Over shouts and confrontation, the council suspended business for 30 minutes until Nixon supporters left the chambers.

Interestingly, a couple of mayoral candidates politicked around the council chambers before, during and after the episode. Both John Gomes and Lamond Daniels shook audience members hands as Mayor Joe Ganim watched from afar trying to lead the council meeting. A recently appointed councilwoman, the Rev. Sara Smith, also submitted her resignation letter concerned about her religious and nonprofit work conflicts.

Ultimately, Bridgeports council meetings remain melodramatic, especially during election season. Since municipal seats are up for reelection this year, it should hardly be surprising that politicos and residents engage in various tactics as mayoral candidates try to out fundraise one another.

But politics must go on, even towards the end of a pandemic. What better way to attend a council meeting than to do so in-person. Ill remain an advocate for online hybrid options for public meetings and I had an opportunity to write about it with a journalism professor colleague. Partaking in legislative sessions can make the biggest difference and returning to a Bridgeport council meeting reminded me that democracy is not a spectator activity. It requires engagement and attendance, just like on Election Day.

Jonathan L. Wharton is associate professor of political science and urban affairs at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven.
On the surface, it might not make sense that Niagara College would offer up its dean of business to speak about Earth Day.

After all, doesnt business, unchecked capitalism and financial greed shoulder much of the blame for a planet in environmental peril? Maybe. But maybe thats where the solution lies.

And to be clear, Al Unwin isnt the colleges dean of business, full stop. Hes the dean of business, tourism and, yes, the environment. Its a somewhat unique position that doesnt take too long of an explanation to make sense.

We have to change how the free-market capital system works, that it can't be profit for pure profit motivation if it's going to continue to degrade our natural systems. Because its clear that that will not only lead to an ecological disaster, it will lead to a business economic disaster as well, he said.

It's OK to make money, but we can't continue to do that unethically.

Unwin has been with the college since the mid-1990s when he came on to help develop some environmental programs. Before that hed spent a good chunk of his adult life exploring how mining operations affected the surrounding environment.

I think for me (it was) a bit of a career changing moment when I saw the impact of some of these mining operations and how contaminated the water was, he said.

After helping the college develop some environmental programs, he was asked to stay on to teach. Despite having two parents who were teachers, the job was never something he thought hed pursue. However, he understands that solutions are going to take the efforts of many. What better way to amplify his impact than to teach others?

If it was just me, if I was one farmer, I would do a lot. But now I've got 20 people each year doing it over time. I think that's where you really start to see the true impact of education when it comes to schools, he said.

Unwins not one to seek the limelight. If it were his choice, he probably wouldnt do media interviews about his work, or even last Decembers involvement with a United Nations conference on biodiversity in Montreal, something he considers one of his crowning career achievements.

However, in the space of a climate change and biodiversity crisis that could spell doom, he understands he has to go out of his comfort zone. Ironically, many think fighting climate change means leaving behind many of the comforts we enjoy.

The deans not so sure. Which brings us back to the business-environment duality of his job.

I think part of that discussion needs to shift away from what we're going to lose to what we we're going to gain, and then really focus on where we can actually maintain what we presently have, but in a way that doesn't create the impact that it has in the past, he said.

Capitalism, he points out, isnt going anywhere. Instead, we need the system to work in a way that makes money for people, but also protects the planet.

Because, if the planet's destroyed, who cares how big your bank account is?

Based on his own interactions and on things he reads, Unwin does sense an increased urgency among young people today. It may be frustrating that fundamentally colleges and universities are teaching the same climate science they were teaching a couple decades ago, but the mood among students has shifted from interest to a motivation to act.

The really interesting part about Gen Z is that they want to actually work on something that's meaningful. They want to be collaborative and they understand climate change. They're scared about it, they're scared about biodiversity loss, he said.

SHARE:
Twitter has labelled the CBCs Twitter account as government-funded media.

The new label appeared Sunday night, just days after Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre asked the company to add it to the national broadcasters account.

In a statement to the Star, CBC said Twitters own policy defines government-funded media as cases where the government may have varying degrees of government involvement over editorial content, which is clearly not the case with CBC/Radio-Canada.

The statement went on to say that CBC/Radio-Canada is publicly funded through a parliamentary appropriation that is voted upon by all Members of Parliament. Its editorial independence is protected in law in the Broadcasting Act.

The CBCs board of directors determines how the funding it receives is spent. In 2021-22, the CBC received more than $1.2 billion in government funding, a decrease from about $1.4 billion in 2020-21.

After the label was added to the CBC account Sunday night, Poilievre tweeted that the decision exposed the public broadcaster and that people know that it is Trudeau propaganda, not news.

Poilievre posted his initial letter on Twitter April 11, asking the social media company to add the label to the public broadcasters news accounts, specifically naming the @CBC, @CBCNews and @CBCAlerts accounts.

We must protect Canadians against disinformation and manipulation by state media, Poilievre wrote on the tweet that featured the letter.

As of Sunday evening, the government-funded label only appeared on the @CBC account and not on the @CBCNews or @CBCAlerts accounts. It also seems the label has not spread to the CBC Twitter accounts that cover local media markets.

Jeffrey Dvorkin, a senior fellow at Massey College and a former managing editor at CBC Radio and vice-president of news and information at NPR, said its hypocritical of Twitter owner Elon Musk to add the label to the CBCs account when his own companies access government funding.

Public broadcasting is under increasing criticism and attack these days because the very idea that there may be some connection to government funding is seen by some people, especially on the conservative side of things, as a bad thing, Dvorkin said.

Tesla has taken billions of dollars from the federal government and research money. This is the height of hypocrisy, as far as Im concerned.

Canadian Press reports that Twitter responded with a poop emoji when asked by email for an explanation for the added tag.

U.S. outlet National Public Radio (NPR) recently left Twitter after its account had the label state-affiliated media added. The company said it tried to convince Twitter to remove the label, which prior to Elon Musks time as owner of the company, only appeared on state-controlled media accounts such as Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik.

After the backlash, the label on NPRs account was changed to government-funded media. Despite the change, NPR has not tweeted since April 12, when it posted a thread about other ways users could access the companys content.

NPRs decision to leave Twitter marked the first exit from the platform by a major news organization. Its unclear if the CBC will follow suit.

Other public broadcasters that have seen the government-funded label added to their accounts include Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Like NPR, following the addition of the label, PBS stopped posting content on their Twitter account.

PBS current Twitter bio reads: PBSs editorial independence is central to our work and will never change. We produce trustworthy content that features unbiased reporting.

Unlike NPR and PBS, the label attached to BBCs Twitter account reads publicly-funded media.

With files from The Canadian Press

Edward Djan is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Stars radio room in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @EdwardDjan1

Read more about:

SHARE:
OTTAWA - Reported incidents of antisemitism in Canada declined slightly last year from their all-time peak in 2021, Bnai Brith Canada said Monday, noting that the change is so small as to be almost insignificant.

There were 2,769 antisemitic incidents recorded in 2022, compared to 2,799 the year before, CEO Michael Mostyn said at a press conference in Ottawa.

The majority of antisemitism happened online, he said, but there were 25 incidents of violence in 2022  down from 75 the year before.

It must be recalled, however, that many of the 75 acts of violence in 2021 were connected to the May conflict between Hamas and Israel, which acted as a trigger against Canadian Jewry, Mostyn said. Twenty-five acts of violence in 2022 still represents a disturbing and elevated level of violence above the historical norm in Canada.

Mostyn said audits like this one cant capture all incidents of antisemitism in the country, as many go unreported.

The organization collects reports of antisemitism through an app, its website and a dedicated phone line, in addition to consulting with police departments. Bnai Brith said it contacted 92 police forces, but some were unable to provide data.

But Mostyn said its important to look at what numbers do exist.

Statistics Canada last month released data for hate crimes in 2021, the same year Bnai Brith reported being an all-time high for antisemitism. It said hate crimes reported by police rose to 3,360 from 2,646 in 2020.

It found that in 2021, more than half of hate crimes motivated by religion targeted Jewish people.

The league has been publishing its audit of antisemitic incidents since 1982 in order to track the trend lines for this particular form of hatred, so that we can better understand how we are doing as a society and better learn how to confront it, he said.

The organization uses the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism, which includes Holocaust denial, making dehumanizing claims against Jews or the Jewish people and claiming that the existence of the State of Israel is a racist endeavour.

Incidents of antisemitism have more than doubled in the last decade, according to the audit. In large part, thats due to the rise of social media, Bnai Brith said.

Of the antisemitism recorded last year, 74 per cent of incidents occurred online, including social media posts and comments.

The haters have discovered anonymity and the ability to reach a large audience and spread misinformation and disinformation, said Marvin Rotrand, director of Bnai Briths advocacy arm, the League for Human Rights.

The level of online hate underscores the need for legislation that can effectively blunt online hate.

Liberal member of Parliament Anthony Housefather agreed, saying legislation must target social media platforms.

The platforms cannot hold themselves to account properly. They need, at this point, to have regulation, he said at the press conference.

That regulation, he said, should force social media platforms to uphold their codes of conduct, be transparent about their algorithms and conduct their own audits into antisemitism.

The Liberals have said the Department of Canadian Heritage is working on drafting an online hate bill to set up a framework to combat abuse online.

A previous anti-hate bill, introduced at the tail end of the last Parliament, died when the election was called.

Also Monday, the House Speaker rejected the NDPs request for an emergency debate on hate crimes, related to rises in both antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents.

Party Leader Jagmeet Singh had said the New Democrats sought to raise awareness of the issue, and come up with possible solutions.

We are seeing a very serious rise in hate  an unprecedented rise in hate  culminating in the last couple weeks with serious attacks on both Muslim communities and the Jewish community. We saw attacks on places of prayer for both Muslims and the Jewish community, Singh said.

We are deeply concerned, and it has to end.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 17, 2023.

Read more about:

SHARE:
MOSCOW (AP)  Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday hailed the militarys performance during massive naval drills that have involved the entire Russian Pacific Fleet  a show of force amid the tensions with the West over the fighting in Ukraine.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to Putin that the exercise that began Friday involves 167 warships, including 12 submarines, 89 aircraft and 25,000 troops.

As part of the drills, Russias nuclear-capable long-range strategic bombers will fly over the central part of the Pacific Ocean to imitate strikes against groups of enemy ships, Shoigu said.

Speaking during Mondays meeting with Shoigu, Putin praised the navys high level performance and said that similar drills should be held in other areas.

The Defense Ministry has declared that sectors in the southern part of the Sea of Okhotsk, the Peter the Great Bay of the Sea of Japan and the Avacha Bay on the southeastern coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula would be closed to sea and air traffic for the duration of practice torpedo and missile launches and artillery exercises.

The ministry said that the drills were intended to test the Pacific Fleets readiness to repel aggression. The ministry described the briefing as a show of Russias voluntary transparency.

The Russian military has concentrated the bulk of its forces on the front lines in Ukraine, but has also continued conducting regular drills across Russia to train its forces and demonstrate their readiness.

The Pacific Fleet drills started just before Chinese Defense Minister Gen. Li Shangfu arrived in Russia on Sunday and met with Putin, who hailed close ties between Moscow and Beijing.

Lis talks with Shoigu would focus on prospects of bilateral defense cooperation and acute issues of global and regional security, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

On Friday, Shoigu noted that the scenario for the maneuvers envisages a response to an adversarys attempt to make a landing on Sakhalin Island and the southern Kuril Islands.

Japan asserts territorial rights to the Kuril Islands, which it calls the Northern Territories. The Soviet Union took them in the final days of World War II, and the dispute has kept the countries from signing a peace treaty formally ending their hostilities.

Last year, Russia announced it had suspended peace talks with Japan to protest Tokyos sanctions against Moscow over its action in Ukraine.

Russia has built up its military presence on the islands in recent years, deploying advanced fighter jets, anti-ship missiles and air defense systems there.

___

Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Read more about:

SHARE:
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)  Oklahomas governor is seeking the resignation of four county officials after a newspapers audio recording apparently captured some of them complaining about two of the papers journalists and knowing hit men and where two holes are dug.

A portion of the recording was released by the paper, and it also appears to capture one of the four making racist comments about Black people.

Gov. Kevin Stitt said Sunday he was seeking the resignations of McCurtain County Sheriff Kevin Clardy and three other county officials: sheriffs Capt. Alicia Manning, District 2 Commissioner Mark Jennings and Jail Administrator Larry Hendrix.

I am both appalled and disheartened to hear of the horrid comments made by officials in McCurtain County, Stitt said in a statement. There is simply no place for such hateful rhetoric in the state of Oklahoma, especially by those that serve to represent the community through their respective office.

The McCurtain Gazette-News released portions of an audio recording following a March 6 county commission meeting in which Clardy, Manning and Jennings appear to discuss reporters Bruce and Chris Willingham. Jennings tells Clardy and Manning I know where two deep holes are dug if you ever need them, and the sheriff responded, Ive got an excavator.

Jennings also said hes known two or three hit men in Louisiana, adding theyre very quiet guys.

In the recording, Jennings also appears to complain about not being able to hang Black people, saying: They got more rights than we got.

The Associated Press could not immediately verify the authenticity of the recording. None of the four returned telephone calls or emails from The Associated Press on Monday seeking comment.

A spokeswoman for the FBIs office in Oklahoma City said the agencys policy is not to confirm or deny any ongoing investigation. Phil Bacharach, a spokesman for Attorney General Gentner Drummond, said the agency had received an audio recording and is investigating the incident, but declined to comment further.

More than 100 people gathered outside the McCurtain County Courthouse in Idabel on Monday, with many of them calling for the sheriff and other county officials to resign.

Bruce Willingham, the longtime publisher of the McCurtain Gazette-News, said the recording was made March 6 when he left a voice-activated recorder inside the room after a county commissioners meeting because he suspected the group was continuing to conduct county business after the meeting had ended in violation of the states Open Meeting Act. Chris Willingham, a reporter at the paper, is Bruce Willinghams son.

I talked on two different occasions to our attorneys to make sure I wasnt doing anything illegal, Bruce Willingham said.

Bruce Willingham said he believes the local officials were upset about stories weve run that cast the sheriffs office in an unfavorable light, including the death of Bobby Barrick, a Broken Bow, Oklahoma, man who died at a hospital in March 2022 after McCurtain County deputies shot him with a stun gun. The newspaper has filed a lawsuit against the sheriffs office seeking body camera footage and other records connected to Barricks death.

Bruce Willingham said he has also turned over his audio recordings to the FBI and the Oklahoma Attorney Generals Office and added he has had several conversations with federal investigators.

Joey Senat, a journalism professor at Oklahoma State University, said he was shocked to hear the comments made in the recording, especially in light of recent killings of journalists in the U.S., including the arrest last year of a Las Vegas-area elected official accused of fatally stabbing a veteran newspaper reporter who had been investigating him.

The whole conversation seemed deplorable, Senat said. I was shocked as I assume most people were not only about the comments about journalists, but the racist comments regarding African Americans. Joking doesnt excuse that.

Senat said under Oklahoma law, the recording would be legal if it were obtained in a place where the officials being recorded did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy.

McCurtain County is in far southeast Oklahoma, bordering both Arkansas and Texas, in a part of the state often referred to as Little Dixie, because of the influence in the area from white Southerners who migrated there after the Civil War.

With its rolling, forested hills in the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains, the area has become a tourism hotbed attracting a steady stream of visitors from the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

State Rep. Eddy Dempsey, a Republican who represents the area in the Oklahoma House, said the recorded comments dont reflect the values of his constituents and echoed Stitts call for the four people involved in the conversation to resign.

All my life, weve always said we dont get enough recognition in southeast Oklahoma, Dempsey said. But we dont need this kind of recognition.

SHARE:
OTTAWA - Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino says Ottawawill not issue a blanket exemption to terrorism laws for humanitarian workers in places such as Afghanistan, saying the approach taken by Canadas peers risks abuse.

The approach outlined in Bill C-41 best mitigates those risks by potential terrorist actors, Mendicino told the House justice committee Mondayafternoon.

He was testifying about legislation he tabled last month thatwould amend the Criminal Code so Canadian aid workers can carry out duties in areas controlled by terrorists without being prosecuted for inadvertently funding such groups.

The bill comes more thana year after Canadas allies issued blanket exemptions for humanitarian aid workers to continue their work in Afghanistan in response to the Talibans violent takeover of Kabul in August 2021.

Humanitarian groups say that Global Affairs Canada had warned them that purchasing goods or hiring locals in Afghanistan would involve paying taxes to the Taliban, which would be categorized under the law as contributing to a terror group.

MPs from all parties called for legislative changes last June, at which point the U.S., U.K., European Union and Australia had all issued blanket exemptions.

Canadas legislation takes a different tack by lettingaid workers apply for an exemption to help people in crisis in a geographic area that is controlled by a terrorist group.

Many aid groups have welcomed the change, but Doctors Without Borders said Ottawa should issue a blanket exemption instead.

These amendments unfortunately create new bureaucratic hurdles for organizations to overcome, the group argued in a press release last month.

The proposed changes introduce new, onerous requirements that will delay life-saving assistance, it wrote.

Doctors Without Borders also argued that the legislation could create an uneven approach, and that if a group has its permit denied  even for administrative reasons  it will have to abruptly discontinue aid delivery projects.

These amendments also contradict the fundamental principles of independence and impartiality of humanitarian assistance under international humanitarian law.

Mendicino testified that Ottawa fears a blanket approach would allow terror groups to gain support, despite multiple countries issuing such exemptions.

Our government considered all possible remedies, including the possibility of a humanitarian exemption to the existing law. However, a statutory carve-out would not provide, in our submission, the same security checks and balances, and would risk greater abuse of the provision, Mendicino said Monday.

We need to strike that balance, and do it in a way that promotes transparency, accountability, but with the sense of urgency that I think all parliamentarians are united behind, in getting that aid to Afghanistan.

NDP foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson rejected that argument, pressing Mendicino on why other countries have issued sweeping exemptions.

Canadas the only one that put barriers up for humanitarian organizations, instead of making it easier for them to be on the ground doing the work helping Afghans, McPherson said.

Experience has shown us time and time again, the government is not good at moving quickly; we dont have trust in the government to do those things, she added.

She argued the obscene process gives Ottawa power over international humanitarian law and could be weaponized by future governments against aid groups working in areas like Gaza or Syria.

Mendicino said applications for exemptions would be processed quickly once the system is in place, but would not give a rough time frame for those decisions.

McPhersonargued aid groups feel pressured to support the legislation since Ottawa took so long to craft a solution.

Theyre willing to take the crumbs that youve put on the table because you did not come with the right legislation, McPherson told Mendicino.

Senior bureaucrats testified that a blanket exemption for humanitarian workers would not apply to development projects such as running a school, but the process of issuing exemptions makes those activities possible.

A humanitarian carve-out prevents different kinds of activities that we want to make sure would be covered, said Global Affairs Canada director general Jennifer Loten, who oversees international crime and terrorism.

My own view is that the shape that weve given to the proposal in front of you provides the most flexibility and prevents us from coming back to this table a few years down the line when the situation evolves.

Conservative international development critic Garnett Genuis pressed Mendicino on whether the bill only provides exemptions in areas controlled by terror groups listed by Ottawa, or other terrorist groups that havent been listed. Mendicino did not indicate whether that would apply.

Genuis also argued the exemptions process will be hard to navigate for smaller charities.

Bloc Quebecois human rights critic Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe said the proposed system might delay humanitarian responses to natural disasters in areas controlled by terrorists. Bureaucrats noted that United Nations affiliates are often the first to respond to such situations.

In their budget last month, the Liberals earmarked $5 million this fiscal year to vet applications for aid workers and issue exemptions to terrorism laws, and $11 million for the following year.

Afghanistan is grappling with rising malnutrition and an economy that has largely collapsed. UN officials have said the country faces the worst humanitarian crisis on the planet. This week, the Taliban closed more schools for girls and women, this time in the south of the country.

Aid groups such as World Vision Canada have said that their work in Afghanistan traditionally solicits large donations from the public compared to other humanitarian appeals, but the existing laws bar them from collecting these funds.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 17, 2023.

Read more about:

SHARE:
This article was provided by HappyValley Industry, an Affinity Connection-run website that highlights local tech companies. Read more and sign up for the newsletter at happyvalleyindustry.com.

Erica Unruhs circuitous route to becoming Centre Countys first female distiller could be described as a happy (Valley) accident.

Unruh was born and raised in Northern California where her family enjoyed homebrewing. It was a hobby that appealed to her, and when she became an adult, she began trying her hand at it too. When her family later planned to open a distillery in Wyoming using the grains they were growing, Unruh decided to join them there, after learning more about the craft.

She enrolled in a course at Moonshine University in Kentucky. The course was an overview of the distillation process and understanding different kinds of grains and how to make different products, Unruh said, adding that the family kept a test still at their Wyoming distillery where Unruh could experiment and use her creativity. That paid off in the form of a bronze medal at the American Craft Spirits Awards for her Pine Bluffs Distillery Rock Ranch Vodka. I compare distilling to cooking, which I enjoy also. I like taking simple grains and turning them into these amazing products like bourbon, whisky and vodka, she said. But Unruh shifted gears when a Penn State recruiter called her with a job opportunity.

A supervisor from a previous job in California recommended me for a position at the university, Unrush said. She worked in the department of campus recreation for two years when she heard that Barrel 21 at 2255 N. Atherton St. needed a distiller. This was in September 2021 and their distiller was going to Boalsburg to be a brewer there, she said, adding that she sorely missed distilling. For me, it was perfect timing, she said.

Working at Barrel 21 has been a blast, Unruh said. They are very supportive of my ideas and allow me creative control, she said. This creative control has led to interesting spirits like pickle vodka, which pairs well with Bloody Marys, and jalapeno vodka, which lends a nice kick to Moscow Mules. And recently, Barrel 21 released an agave spirit. I am not aware of any distillers in Pennsylvania who are doing that, she said.

Story continues

If theres one challenge that a woman faces in a male-dominated industry, its mostly that of perception, Unruh said. I could be in the tasting room attached to our distillery sharing the details of how various spirits are made and a male walks in and the next thing you know, they are asking if hes the distiller, Unruh said. The mistaken identity may be a thing of the past after she appears on the Discovery Channel.

Appearing on Moonshiners: Master Distiller

Being a woman in a male-dominated industry does have its benefits, however.

When Unruh first got a Facebook message from Moonshiners saying that the show was looking for female recruiters, she thought it was spam. But curiosity got the best of her and she began researching and discovered that the message was, in fact, legit. She wrote back and agreed to a phone interview, which was followed by a Zoom audition and finally an opportunity to appear on a spiced rum episode to demonstrate her ability in front of a panel of judges.

It was an incredible, albeit challenging, experience to be put on the spot in front of the judges and a ton of cameras and compete against actual moonshiners, Unruh said, adding that the contestants were used to building their own stills and running them in smaller quantities, whereas Unruh is used to working with 500 gallons at a time.

To complete the moonshine aspect, Unruh and the contestants mashed outside in the woods. That was definitely unique compared to what Im used to and appealed to my naturally competitive side, especially when it came to the limited amount of time we had to complete the tasks, knowing that one person was going to be eliminated at each challenge, she said. Unruh wasnt given a specific run date for the episode but was told it would air in April or May.

The once-in-a-lifetime experience was something that Unruh said she will savor for years to come, and the fact that shes making a name for herself in Happy Valley is just icing on the cake. I love this area, from the people, to the landscape that is similar to Northern California. Its family-friendly and we love hiking and being outside. My 4-year-old daughter, Josephine, loves it here too. Plus, my husband works as a brewer at New Trail, so were both working in the beverage industry in jobs we love, she said.
Justin Trudeau told a college crowd recently that most of his regrets revolve around the times I chickened out.

As Trudeau marks a decade as Liberal leader this month, the prime minister can no doubt look back on many roads not taken.

But in three particular cases, Trudeau missed some large chances to shake up political culture in Ottawa  in ways that could have made his life a little easier today. All would have required a bit of political risk-taking  or not chickening out, as Trudeau might put it.

First is the so-called accountability legislation, which Stephen Harper had declared his number-one priority when he came to office back in 2006. Trudeau, who won power with a huge majority in 2015, had a chance to fix this law or repeal it altogether, but he chose not to take it on.

At first glance, one might well ask what leader in his or her right mind would fiddle with something called the Federal Accountability Act? But this legislation wasnt entirely about accountability; it was also about Harper settling some old scores with the idea of government itself.

To halt what the former prime minister saw as always-suspect dealings between the private and public sector, the legislation clamped a five-year ban on anyone who proposed to move from government into the business of government relations  that is, lobbying.

This law, and this measure in particular, helps seal the idea that any traffic between government and business is inherently corrupt. Politicians love to beat up on corporate Canada these days  thats true on all sides of the House. But this demonization of the private-public relationship in this country is robbing both sides of expertise and ideas.

Dominic Barton, Canadas former ambassador to China, who once headed up the powerful consulting firm McKinsey, was hauled up before a Commons committee earlier this year as the opposition was chasing the big money going to outside consultants.

He said that one of the reasons the government needed to draw on outside resources was because the public service had fallen into the stone age in terms of technical and training expertise.

In my view, its the training and technology, Barton said. I think that having people go in and out  having private-sector people coming into government and government people going into the private sector is good to broaden the mind.

But the accountability act is a major obstacle to that back-and-forth movement. It also means the longer a government is in power  this one is in its eighth year  the more difficult it becomes to draw in bright minds from the private sector. The result is two solitudes: a government largely staffed by professional politicos with limited knowledge of business, and a private sector unfamiliar with how government works.

The second regret should revolve around the failure to follow through on electoral reform. Many voters have not forgiven Trudeau for backing away from his promise to bring in some kind of dramatic change to Canadas first-past-the-post system. They accuse him, not unfairly, of chickening out, after that same system won him a majority in 2015.

Maybe it was too difficult to pull off. But Trudeau could have gone part way, by restoring the old public subsidy to political parties. That subsidy was part of a wider, sweeping crackdown on political financing during Jean Chretiens last years in office in the early 2000s. In exchange for a ban and strict limits on corporate and personal donations, all political parties received an annual subsidy, based on how many votes they received in the previous election.

It wasnt exactly proportional representation, but it was democratic  and it did help level the playing field between small and large parties, ensuring that the system didnt simply reward the political entities with the marketing machines to raise money. Banning the subsidy meant that the parties had to double down on that often-overzealous quest for cash. (Have you seen those pleading emails littering your inbox?)

All that marketing also rewards parties for clickbait-type politics, which feeds polarization. Just listen to any news conference with Pierre Poilievre to hear the fundraising catch lines  on CBC, for instance, or gun control, two big money generators to Conservative coffers.

The first time Harper tried to wind down the political subsidy prompted a full-blown political crisis in Canada, some might remember. In 2008, the Conservatives announced it would be part of their agenda right after that falls election. The opposition Liberals, New Democrats and Bloc Quebecois almost drove the Conservatives from power. Harper had to back down until he won his own majority in 2011.

It wouldnt have been an impossible stretch for Trudeau, with his own majority in 2015, to say he was bringing back the subsidy, to set right that old dispute and make the system a little fairer between small and large parties. But he did not, and Canada lives with the current reality that has helped turn politics into a race to whip up whatever grievance gets people reaching into their wallets.

The third regret for Trudeau should also revolve around another broken promise  his failure to decentralize government and reduce the power of the Prime Ministers Office, the top political arm of government, which has come to oversee everything from appointments to broad policy, to communications at all levels.

Actually it can be traced as far back as my father, who kicked it off in the first place, Trudeau told the CBCs Peter Mansbridge in 2015. And I think weve reached the end point on that.

As it turns out, this PMO is as all powerful, and arguably more so than it was during the Harper years. It is the funnel for all decisions, it seems  large and small.

Perhaps this is the product of a fragmented universe in the days of social media, when the only way to keep party discipline is to keep a tight lid on what every team member says and does. Maybe politics is such a risk-averse territory now, with huge, cancel-culture penalties for saying the wrong thing, that the top office has to be ruthless in avoiding mistakes.

But a prime minister who promised to breathe some democracy and sunny ways into government backed away from three ways to do just that  to repeal some measures that arose out of age-old grudges and paranoia of previous regimes.

Some around Trudeau would argue that he ran into the hard reality of power. Others, maybe even Trudeau himself on some reflection, might say he chickened out.

Susan Delacourt is an Ottawa-based columnist covering national politics for the Star. Reach her via email: sdelacourt@thestar.ca or follow her on Twitter: @susandelacourt

Read more about:

SHARE:
Senator Ishaku Abbo representing Adamawa North senatorial district has expressed happiness with the illegal declaration of Aisha Dahiru, widely known as Binani, as the winner of Adamawa Guber election.

Abbo made his view known on Monday while fielding questions on Channels Televisions Sunrise Daily.

Recall that Hudu Yunusa, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Adamawa State, illegally declared Binani winner of the State election on Sunday.

However, the electoral commission swiftly denounced the purported declaration and suspended the collation of results of the supplementary election.

The electoral body further summoned the REC to Abuja with immediate effect.

Meanwhile, senator Abbo said he was happy that the REC announced the illegal results.

Yes, I was very happy. I dont know if any law was broken, he said.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has suspended its Resident Electoral Commissioner REC in Adamawa, Hudu Yunusa Ari.

The action followed the RECs controversial pronouncement on Sunday after the supplementary election.

Although only Returning Officers have the responsibility of announcing results, Ari declared the All Progressives Congress, APC, governorship candidate, Aisha Dahiru Binani, the winner.

The development sparked outrage in the state and across the country, with Governor Ahmadu Fintiri accusing the REC of working for a gang.

On Monday, the national headquarters of the electoral umpire ordered Ari to stay away from the commissions office in Yola, the state capital.

A letter dated April 17, 2023, and signed by INEC Secretary, Rose Oriaran-Anthony, directed the Administrative Secretary in Adamawa to take charge.

I hereby convey the Commissions decision that you (Barr. Hudu Yunusa Ari), Resident Electoral Commissioner, Adamawa State should stay away from the Commissions office immediately until further notice.

The Administrative Secretary has been directed to take full charge of INEC, Adamawa State, with immediate effect, the letter noted.
There was controversy on Sunday as the Olu of Warri Kingdom, HRM Ogiame Atuwatse III installed a new Ologbotsere (Prime Minister) of Warri Kingdom.

The new Ologbotsere is Chief Oma Eyewuoma, former Aboludero of Warri Kingdom. The controversial ceremony was held at the palace of the monarch in Warri.

As far as Warri kingdom is concerned, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. True reconciliation will not be forced on Ogiame.

There is no son or daughter of Itsekiri that will hold this throne to ransom and so the terms of reconciliation will be determined by Ogiame. The reason we are doing this publicly is a divine one.

I have struggled, resisted trying to come down and be vulnerable before my people. It is not an easy thing to do, he said.

However, shortly after, Chief Ayirimi Emami walked out of the Olu of Warri, saying he remained the Ologbotsere.

Ayiri said he was still in possession of the traditional beads that were presented to him by the former Kings, HRM Ogiame Atuwatse II and HRM Ogiame Ikenwoli and the Uda.

Chief Ayiri, who addressed members of the Ologbotsere descendants and supporters who accompanied him to his residence, displayed the traditional beads and the sword.

The spokesman for the Ologbotsere descendants worldwide, Alex Eyengho, later addressed newsmen and explained that the Ologbotsere title is till death.

He said for Emami to accept the title of his father, which is a lesser title in the name of peace would amount to peace of the graveyard.

Former President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayodele Joseph Oritsejafor walked out of the meeting.

Former Governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan was present and remained at the event until it ended.

Other prominent Itsekiri sons, including palace chiefs, who were there, left in disappointment.
The federal government has appealed to aviation workers to cancel the ongoing strike action, promising that their demands will be met soon.

Recall that the aviation workers commenced a strike on Monday, blocking access roads to both the international and domestic wings of the Murtala Muhammed Airports in Lagos.

Prior to Mondays event, the unions had issued a warning on their plans to embark on a two-day strike over failure of the federal government to respond to certain requests, which includes the improvement of working conditions and entitlements.

Speaking in a statement on Monday, Oluseyi Odutayo, head of press and public relations of the ministry of aviation, said before commencing the strike, the unions should have met with the management of agencies for alternative accommodation to all affected offices.

He said the strike was unnecessary as it will increase the hardship on our citizens, affect flight schedules, lead to economic losses and negatively impact our rating globally.

Odutayo asked the aggrieved workers to sheathe their swords and contribute their quota to make the countrys aviation industry the hub of Africa.

On the concession of airports, the unions are aware of global practices and for the aviation industry in Nigeria to be the hub in Africa, the concession is the way to improve infrastructure and make our airports economically viable as this is without loss of jobs, the spokesperson said.

On conditions of service in some of the agencies, it is a work in progress. The National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission is already carrying out assessments and will soon conclude.

The unions should also note, if they are not already aware, that the consequential adjustment of the minimum wage has been finalised and is about to be paid anytime soon. We have always conveyed this information in the several conversations and meetings held with the unions.

Odutayo said the management of the ministry of aviation is open to continuous engagement with the unions to improve their welfare.

But he said this could only be done in an atmosphere of peace and mutual respect.

Let me reiterate that while we are appealing to the unions to sheath the sword; the management will seriously view any behaviour by any union that is likely to lead to a breakdown of law and order at our airports, he said.

The ministry wishes to appeal to the unions to call off the strike and join hands with management to make the aviation industry a hub in Africa.




Drama ensued yesterday in Adamawa as the Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Yunusa Ari, declared the candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC, in the supplementary governorship election, Aisha Dahiru, aka Binani, winner of the election, even when he didnt have the power to do so.





Though the collation of results was scheduled to start at 11 am yesterday, with the result to be declared by the Returning Officer, Mele Lamido, the REC had gone ahead to declare the APC candidate winner at 9 am. Only the Returning Officer has the constitutional power to declare the winner.





His announcement elicited protests from members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, present at the state collation centre in Yola.

Before the collation exercise was suspended on Saturday night, results from 10 LGAs had been announced  and Binani was trailing Ahmadu Fintiri, the incumbent governor and PDP candidate.





The collation of results from the remaining 10 LGAs was expected to commence by 11 am on Sunday.

Mele Lamido, the returning officer for the Adamawa governorship election, was not present when Ari announced Binani as the winner of the election.





Lamido is empowered by law to declare the winner of the election, and not the REC, Yunusa Ari.





Yiaga Africa, a civil society organisation, in its immediate response, described the declaration as illegal, saying it was against the guidelines of the Electoral Act.





Weve received reports of an illegal declaration of results by the @inecnigeria REC for #Adamawa in violation of S 64 & 65 Electoral Act 2022 & Part 3, INEC guidelines which vests the power to declare results solely on a Returning officer appointed by INEC.





We call on @inecnigeria to nullify the illegal declaration, suspend the REC for Adamawa state and take urgent actions to protect the integrity of the process, YIAGA Africa stated.





However, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, immediately declared null and void, the purported declaration of the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate in Adamawa State, Aisha Dahiru Binani, who had already gone ahead to deliver her acceptance speech.





According to the commission, the REC has no such powers, as only the Returning Officer for the election is constitutionally mandated to make returns.





Besides, the commission said the election had not been concluded when the said the illegal declaration was made.





Consequently, INEC summoned the REC and all other officials involved in the incident to its headquarters in Abuja.





The National Commissioner in charge of Information and Voter Education at the commission, Mr Festus Okoye, who confirmed the development yesterday, said: The attention of the commission has been drawn to a purported declaration of a winner in the Adamawa governorship election by the Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, even when the process has clearly not been concluded.





Adamawa RECs action provocative, Buhari should intervene Fintiri





Reacting to the development yesterday, the governor of Adamawa State and PDP candidate, Ahmadu Fintiri, said the decision of the REC to declare a winner in the governorship election was illegal and provocative.





The governor called on President Muhammadu Buhari to wade into the matter, saying he should not shy away from this.

He said: We call on him to make a statement, we call on him to take a decision. I believe he will not be a party to this.





Also reacting yesterday, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, insisted that its candidate and incumbent governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, should be declared the winner of the election, based on facts on the ground and the already collated results.





National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Debo Ologunagba, who said this in a statement in Abuja, called on the people of Adamawa State, Nigerians and the international community to disregard the purported declaration of the defeated candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC, Aisha Binani as the winner of Adamawa State governorship election.

In his reaction, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2023 presidential election, Atiku Abubakar, called the attention of Nigerians to what he described as the game plan of upturning the democratic wishes of the people of Adamawa State in the governorship election in the state.

Atiku, in a statement signed by his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, said the initial decision of the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Adamawa State to declare the APC candidate, Sen. Aisha Binani, as the winner of the election, was a case study to the shambolic nature of the 2023 elections in general.

Here in Adamawa, we are witnesses to a novel practice in election management where a Resident Electoral Commissioner announced the loser of an election as a winner.
Aviation workers, on Monday, blocked access roads to both the international and domestic wings of the Murtala Muhammed Airports in Lagos, in protest of poor working conditions and entitlements.

The situation has led to serious gridlock along Airport Road in the Ikeja axis of Lagos, with the entrance of the Murtala Muhammed Airports Terminal Two (MMA2) being mostly affected.

An airport official disclosed that while entry roads have been blocked, airlines flights operations are still going on as scheduled.

Airports are not closed. Flights are boarding as scheduled, the source said.

Passengers are not prevented from coming in and out either. Only access road was blocked against vehicular movement.

Last week, aviation unions announced plans to embark on a warning strike over the failure of the federal government to meet their demands minimum wage and other sundry issues.

The unions involved are the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), and the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP).

Others are the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), and the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation Civil Service Technical and Recreation Services Employees.

Specifically, the workers are demanding the approval and implementation of the agreement condition of service, (CoS) as agreed between them and the Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC), and the office of the head of civil service of the federation.

Others are the non-implementation of minimum wage consequential adjustments and arrears for the Nigeria Meteorological Agency, (NiMet) since 2019 and the planned demolition exercise of all the agency buildings in Lagos by the minister of aviation for an airport city project.

Speaking on Monday at MMA2, Abdulrasaq Saidu, secretary general of ANAP, said it was high time the government adhered to their terms.





He said the unions were tired of the non-responsiveness of the federal government to their grievances.

According to Saidu, workers in the aviation sector have had to go through several challenges which had lingered for the past seven years.

For the past seven years, it is time to free the aviation workers from the yoke of imperialism, bad governance and too much corruption in the industry without addressing workers welfare, he said.

So today, we say, enough is enough and that is why we have this strike. The strike continues tomorrow even if the security authorities get involved. We have no arms, we are civil.





Earlier on Monday, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) chapter, advised travellers and stakeholders to make contingency plans to avoid missing their appointments.
The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has expressed doubt over constitutionally provided restrictions placed on a presidential candidate with dual citizenship from contesting elections.

The former Lagos State governor shared his perspective, given photos of what appeared to be a Guinean passport with the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, as its holder being widely shared online over the weekend.

The allegations of Tinubu purportedly being a citizen of both Nigeria and Guinea generated uproar among netizens, especially those opposed to his emergence as the President-elect in the February 25 election.

I know he carries a Nigerian passport; I dont know about dual citizenship, Fashola, a former chief of staff to Tinubu, said during his live appearance on Channels Televisions Sunday Politics.

I know he resided abroad when he went on exile. I dont know if they gave him American citizenship there. What does that have to do with the results of the election? The last time I checked, I think Nigerias constitution allows you to have dual citizenship?

Asked if the provisions cited applied to presidential candidates, the Senior Advocate Nigeria (SAN) said he would need to revisit the constitution for the specifics of its provision on the matter.

Ill go and check. Its place of birth o if you were born to Nigerian parents. Ill check that, but I doubt that the Nigerian constitution makes you disentitled if you have dual citizenship because the constitution allows you to have dual citizenship, he added.




The crisis rocking the Labour Party in Imo State took another turn when two factions of the party produced different governorship flag bearers, Senator Athan Achonu and Ikechukwu Ukaegbu, in the parallel primary elections held over the weekend.





Ukaegbu emerged winner in an affirmative election where one of the aspirants, Ihechi Ike, stepped down for him.





The National Vice chairman of the party, North East, Mohammed Ibrahim Alkali, who represented the acting National Chairman of the party, Lamido Apapa, who announced him winner and handed the flag of the party to him noted that the election conducted had followed due process.





Also, the National Youth Leader of the party, Anselem Iragbe, addressing newsmen shortly affirmed that the election conducted on Sunday met all legal requirements.





According to him, the Julius Abure-led faction that conducted the Saturday primary election was not legally bound to do so.





He said, The election conducted today, April 16, is the authentic governorship primary of the party. An FCT High Court issued a restraining order on April,4 on Julius Abure, the National Chairman, his treasurer and the organising secretary and asking them to stop parading themselves as the officials of Labour Party.





This means from the 5th they are no longer officials of the party. So, whatever took place yesterday as election does not stand according to the face of the law.





Meanwhile, the Aburi led faction of the party had earlier on Saturday conducted its own primary election where senator Athan Achonu emerged with 134 votes defeating his closest rival, Lincoln Ugunewe who polled 125 votes.





Other result from that election as announced by the returning officer, Dr.Alex Otti,Abia State governor  elect are : Martins Agbaso, 13 votes, Mrs Ndidi 1vote, David Mbamara ,5 votes, Charles Agomuo,1 vote, Kelechi





Nwagwu ,9 votes and Chinedu Amadi ,4 votes.





However, Ike given reasons for stepping down for Ukaegbu said I will not say much, I entered Imo and saw that the State needed labour party and labour party is the party that Imo also need, we have seen the charade that has been going on in southeast, its very troublesome and we have come to cleanse it, this is what we need and on this I step down for Ukaegbu.





In his acceptance speech, Ukaegbu vowed that he would never to surrender his ticket to anybody. He said I thank you all for making this happen today, I want to assure you that I will make you proud, I will never surrender my ticket to anybody, I have prepared for this for twelve years and one thing I would like to tell you again is that Im not an opportunist, together we would build Imo of our dream.




Prince Shuaibu Abubakar Audu, son of late Kogi State Governor Prince Abubakar Audu, has rejected the outcome of Kogi State All Progressives Congress, APC, primary which produced Usman Ododo as the party flagbearer for November 11 governorship election.





The young Audu, who was an aspirant in last Fridays APC primary in Kogi State, described the primary as a highly compromised and fraudulent process characterized by unprecedented irregularities.





In a statement in Lokoja on Monday, signed by David Idoko, spokeperson of Prince shuaibu Abubakar Audu campaign organization, he stated that the enormity of absurdities and infractions which dominated the process of the primary election is incurable and calls for its cancelation.





The statement noted that the primary election of Friday 14th April, 2023, did not hold in most ward centres as officials and materials were not available.





The campaign organisation further stated that the announced results emanated from no polling center rather from a hide-out where results were fictitiously and frivolously concocted and allocated.





He described the process as one of the greatest electoral fraud in Nigerias political history.





According to the statement, aspirants and party members who waited in vain to cast their votes discovered that results were announced and votes allocated fraudulently.





The campaign, however call on President Muhammadu Buhari, the President-Elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the National Chairman of the party Sen. Abdullahi Adamu to intervene.





We are determined to ensure that justice is done. This we shall pursue to logical conclusion through the Primary Election Appeal Committee and we shall not hesitate eventually if need be to challenge the process in a court of law, as it is an established fact that when and if a party violates its own rules, its actions becomes a nullity, the statement added.
In an 89-page complaint unsealed on Monday, the Justice Department alleges 34 current and former members of Chinas 912 Special Project Working Group carried out a multi-year campaign to harass critics of Xi Jinpings regime and discredit American policies. The task force, part of Chinas domestic security agency, created thousands of fake social media profiles, including on Twitter and Facebook, to target Chinese dissidents in the US.

Judging from screenshots shared by the Justice Department, many of the profiles did not have more than a dozen accounts following them, but a common thread among them is that they tried to pass as authentic American voices. As The Wall Street Journal points out, one account claimed to be Susan Miller, a woman from New York. Another said they were Julie Torres, a native of Wisconsin. According to the Justice Department, Chinas Ministry of Public Security tracked the performance of the agents involved in the operation and rewarded those who successfully ran multiple online personas without being detected by Twitter and Facebook.

In addition to targeting Chinese dissidents, the group, taking a page from Russias disinformation playbook, sought to discredit the US government by exploiting divisions among the American public. For instance, it spread disinformation about George Floyd, the Black Man whose murder by Minneapolis police in 2020 sparked Black Lives Matter protests across the country. The group also amplified Russian propaganda about the war in Ukraine.

As alleged, the PRC government deploys its national police and the 912 Special Project Working Group not as an instrument to uphold the law and protect public safety, but rather as a troll farm that attacks persons in our country for exercising free speech in a manner that the PRC government finds disagreeable, and also spreads propaganda whose sole purpose is to sow divisions within the United States, said US attorney Breon Peace, referring to the acronym for the Peoples Republic of China.

According to the Justice Department, all 34 of the agents remain at large. This isnt the first time the US has detailed an effort by China to target overseas dissidents. At the end of last year, US Attorney General Merrick Garland detailed a case involving a multi-year campaign by Chinese operatives to force a US resident to return to China.




The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Director for Media and Communications in Kogi State, Dayo Onibiyo, has resigned his appointment from the party.





In a letter dated 17th April, which a copy was sent to newsmen on Monday, Onibiyo directed his resignation letter to the State Chairman, Engr. Sam Ohotu.





It was gathered that his decision to resign from the party is not unconnected with the recently concluded primaries which produced Senator Dino Melaye as the party flagbearer for the November 11 governorship election in Kogi State.





The letter reads in part: I write to appreciate those who counted me worthy to serve in this office, dated back to June 2021, when it has become clear that the party had lost both its voice and image under a sitting P.R.O of the party, whose life was threatened by the ruling class as reported.





I also thank the party for the way it has treated me for the selfless services I have rendered by

sacrificing me on the altar of delegate because of the fear, that I would not do an agenda they have found personal to themselves.





God bless everyone as one day soon, not too long, we will meet on the field.Pease direct as appropriate, who I should handover to, particularly, the outlets I managed or better

still direct it crashed.
Members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Adamawa have staged a demonstration over the gubernatorial election in the state.

The protesters, who marched through the streets of Yola, capital of Adamawa, on Monday, held placards that read Adamawa is not for sale and INEC the world is watching, among others.

On Sunday, Hudu Yunusa Ari, the resident electoral commissioner (REC) in the state, declared Aisha Binani Dahiru, governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner of the election, sparking a controversy.

The declaration of election results is the responsibility of the returning officer, and not the resident electoral commissioner.

At the time the REC announced Binani as winner of the poll, results of the supplementary election from 10 LGAs were yet to be collated.

From the results collated on Saturday, Ahmadu Fintiri, Adamawa governor and candidate of the PDP, was in the lead.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has since nullified the declaration and summoned the REC and Mele Lamido, returning officer in the election, to its headquarters in Abuja.

Speaking with reporters during the protest, Felix Kinjamo, deputy director-general of the PDP campaign council in Adamawa, said the electoral commission should conclude the election and announce Fintiri as the winner.

Fintiris first term in office expires on May 29.




The Lagos State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has granted an ex parte application by Labour Partys gubernatorial candidate, Mr Gbadegbo Rhodes-Vivour, for substituted service on the state Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu.





Rhodes-Vivour and Labour Party, through their counsel, Mr Olagbade Benson, had informed the tribunal that Sanwo-Olu evaded service of the petition on him by the courts bailiff.





They alleged that Sanwo-Olu refused to collect the document from the bailiff when the court official got to his office to serve him.





In the petition number EPT/LAG/GOV/04/2023, they are praying the court to grant them leave to serve the petition and other processes on the governor and his deputy through substituted means, by posting same via DHL courier services or any other recognised courier service company, to the respondents official residence at Lagos House, Marina, Lagos.





NAN reports that, on April 11, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Mr Abdul-Azeez Adediran known as Jandor, and the Labour Party Candidate, Rhodes-Vigour, separately asked the tribunal to nullify Sanwo-Olus re-election and declare them the winners.





The petitioners had challenged the outcome of the March 18 Governorship Election in Lagos State in which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Sanwo-Olu winner.





NAN also reports that the Lagos State Election Petition Tribunal has received a total of 48 petitions in respect of the 2023 elections held on Feb. 25 and March 11.




British broadcaster, Piers Morgan has expressed his frustration as Arsenal dropped two points following their Premier League 2-2 against West Ham on Sunday.





Morgan, a strong Arsenal fan, was left frustrated as the Gunners drew with West Ham at the London Stadium.





Arsenal established a two-goal lead within ten minutes as Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard found the net.





However, Said Benrahma got a goal back for West Ham with a penalty and Bukayo Saka then missed a spot-kick before Jarrod Bowen levelled for the hosts.





Reacting, Morgan took to his Twitter handle to express his disappointment, insisting that Mikel Artetas side are throwing the Premier League title away.





Morgan wrote: Wake the f*ck up, Arsenal  were throwing the title away.





Arsenal are now four points ahead of second-place Manchester City, who have a game in hand.




As the race for the 10th Senate President heats up, Ohanaeze Ndigbo has urged the Senate Chief Whip, Orji Uzor Kalu, and Imo West Senator, Osita Izunaso, to step down for Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State.





Ohanaezes Secretary-General, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, said Umahi would better represent the Southeasts interest as Senate President.





Isiguzoro stressed that Umahi would work closely with the President-elect, Bola Tinubu if elected as President of the Senate.





Speaking with newsmen, Isiguzoro said the Senate should jettison its standing rule and ensure Umahis emergence as the next Senate President.





According to Isiguzoro: We have looked at the characters and are saying all contenders from the Southeast should step down for Dave Umahi.





Irrespective of the standing rule and doctrine of necessity, the 10th Assembly should have a Senate President who can work with the President-elect and be an arrow-head that would douse Biafra agitation, restore insecurity in the Southeast, stop the support Obidients give to Obi in this matter.





Also, Umahi can never be a rubber stamp; he would support Asiwaju based on his antecedent as the political leader of the Southeast.





If not for his EFCC cases, it would be a Banana peel that would disgrace the Senate President out of office. Look at what happened to Saraki; he was on trial while occupying the seat due to some lapses and past antecedents.





So, in such a situation, Orji Kalu has the constitutional right to aspire for the position of Senate President.





Ohanaeze had already tried persuading him, but he has not accepted. But we are giving it as a marching order that our position is very clear because you can not stop anybody constitutionally.





Orji Kalu has always come against the collective interest of the Ndigbos. A man who adopted Ahmed Lawan to be president in 2023 when his own people were claiming for the presidency





A man that claimed he brought Ruga in 1999 when his people were against Ruga. He always worked against the collective interest of Ndigbo; hence the Southeast cant support him.





We are using this opportunity to be him and Izunazu to step down for governor Dave Umahi and allow the decision of Ndigbo to suprecede their personal interest.





This is the right position to take at this time if we are to get it right in APC.
Senator Smart Adeyemi representing Kogi West Senatorial District has appealed to a famous Nigerian journalist, Reuben Abati, to come back to the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Adeyemi made the appeal on Monday while fielding questions about the outcome of Kogi State APC gubernatorial primaries on Arise Televisions Morning Show program.

The Kogi senator said he and Abati were Asiwajus boys, referring to the president-elect, Bola Tinubu.

Reuben you know you have been very hard on our party, you been very hard on APC. You know you and I were Asiwajus boys. Reuben you better come back to APC where you belong. Reuben come back home, Adeyemi said.

He had earlier, during the program, denounced the party gubernatorial primaries in the State, alleging that no voting took place.
Four police officers in Bergen County have settled a lawsuit they filed against the borough of Allendale last year after a patrolman with alleged ties to the mayor was promoted to chief ahead of them.

Sergeants Todd Griffith, William Kroepke, John Mattiace and Officer Paul Stettner  all longtime employees of the local police department  each claimed they were viable candidates to replace former Police Chief George Scherb, who retired on Dec. 31, 2021.

However, the job of Allendales top cop went to Officer Michael Dillon, a known ally and political supporter of the mayor and many borough council members, according to the lawsuit, filed March 7, 2022, in Superior Court of Bergen County.

The lawsuit settled last week for a total of $130,000, according to a resolution approving the amount was passed last Thursday during a meeting of the mayor and council.

Borough officials did not immediately Monday to requests for comment on the settlement.

In their suit, the officers each claimed they spent thousands of dollars and devoted their time off studying for the boroughs chiefs exam.

They claimed adverse employment actions in the borough included retaliation, a hostile work environment, humiliation, and harassment.

The plaintiffs were caused to suffer, and have continued to suffer, severe emotional and physical distress and injury as well as substantial economic and financial loss, the suit says.

Last week, five of six council members approved a settlement for the officers that covers alleged physical injuries, including insomnia, diarrhea, intestinal pain, nausea, headaches, and vomiting. One council member was absent during the vote, the resolution states.

The borough will pay a settlement of $50,000 each to Kroepke and Mattiace, and $15,000 each to Griffith and Stettner, according to the resolution.

The borough will also pay the officers legal fees in the amount of $20,000 to the Toscano Law Firm of Caldwell, the resolution states.

Griffith was also promoted from sergeant to lieutenant retroactive to Jan 1 and assigned a permanent 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. shift, the resolution states.

Mattiace agreed to retire this summer after exhausting all of his paid time off, according to the resolution.

Stettner was promoted to sergeant retroactive to Jan. 1, and agrees to retire on Feb. 1, 2024, the resolution states.

The four officers agree not to appeal the terms and conditions of the settlement either in court or to the New Jersey Civil Service Commission, according to the resolution.

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
A 13-year-old boy from New York has been charged with calling in bomb threats to Kearny High School on consecutive days last week, Kearny police said.

The Bronx boy, whose name is not be released because hes a minor, apparently has no connection to Kearny or the school system, according to the preliminary investigation, and picked the town at random. The threats were made Tuesday and Wednesday last week.

He was charged as a juvenile with one count of false public alarms and two counts of terroristic threats, Kearny Police Capt. Tim Wagner said. The boy was issued a summons-complaint by mail.

Wagner said the incidents appear to have been a prank against a randomly chosen school.
A vigil and visitation for iconic St. Peters Prep figure the Rev. Tony Azzarto is scheduled for Thursday and the funeral Mass will be Friday, Prep officials said.

Azzarto, who served Prep and the community from 1963 to 2018, died Saturday in the Jesuit infirmary at Murray-Weigel Hall on the campus of Fordham University. He was 84.

A wake will take place in the OKeefe Commons at Saint Peters Prep, located at the corner of Grand and Van Vorst Streets in Jersey City, from 1 to 7 p.m. The wake will conclude with a brief vigil service, beginning at 7.

The service will include a reflection by Prep President Michael Gomez, a Gospel reading with a homily by the Rev. John Mullin, prayers of the faithful, music by Prep Vox and a eulogy by John T.M. Chester.

Access to the Commons will be through the doors on Van Vorst Street only. In order to accommodate as many guests as possible, is it requested that visitors limit their time in the Commons.

School officials are urging visitors to use public transit because parking on campus is extremely limited, a condition exacerbated by ongoing utility work on York Street. Permit and alternate-side restrictions also apply for street parking.

The PATH station at Grove Street or Exchange Place, or the Hudson-Bergen light rail at Marin Boulevard or Exchange Place, are all less than a 10-minute walk from campus. If you will be driving, there are numerous pay parking options nearby.

The funeral Mass Friday will be celebrated at Saint Aedans, the Saint Peters University Church, 800 Bergen Avenue, Jersey City, at 7 p.m.

Parking will be available in the Saint Aedans parking lot (entry on Tuers Avenue between Mercer and Vroom streets), and in Saint Peters University Lot 1 (entry on Montgomery Street between Jordan and Tuers avenues). Parking is limited.

Per Azzartos wishes, donations in lieu of flowers may be made to Saint Peters Prep online at or by mail at 144 Grand Street, Jersey City, NJ 07302). When donating, please indicate your gift is in memory of Fr. Azzarto. You can note this on your check, or check the tribute gift box on the online form.

As a tribute to Azzarto, St. Peters Prep has created an online site to share memories.
After performing at a sold-out show Friday night at the Prudential Center in Newark, Bruce Springsteen and another E Street Band member tested positive for COVID-19, a report says.

Springsteen, 73, couldnt attend the inaugural American Music Honors event on Saturday at Monmouth Universitys Pollak Theatre because of the COVID diagnosis, according to Bob Santelli, the executive director of The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at the university.
HARRISBURG  Elections officials in a central Pennsylvania county were scrambling on Monday to fix an error on more than 18,000 mail-in ballots for the spring primary, when voters will elect judges for the state Supreme Court and other positions.

Late last week someone noticed that the ballot for Superior Court instructed Republican and Democratic primary voters to pick only one judicial candidate to nominate from their party, when in fact voters could pick two, according to Lancaster Countys elections board. There are two vacancies to fill on the midlevel appeals court.

By early Monday afternoon, postal officials had helped Lancaster, which is about 71 miles west of Philadelphia, intercept and safely secure over 15,000 of the affected ballots, officials said.

The problem comes as voters are just receiving mail-in ballots for the primary, which also includes a vacancy on the state Supreme Court.

Voters will receive replacements with corrected wording and a sheet of instructions. Those who received an erroneous ballot were told to throw it out and wait for a replacement. Ballots from those who fill out and return erroneous versions will be set aside by the elections board, the county said.

The deadline to return mail-in ballots is May 16.

Lancaster County also had a printing problem with primary ballots a year ago, when a vendor mailed ballots with the wrong ID code, preventing scanning machines from reading them. About one-third of the 21,000-plus ballots affected last year were able to be properly scanned. The votes had to be transferred to fresh ballots.

Lancaster also faced a ballot printing error in 2021, when a large number of primary mail-in ballots had to be counted by hand, delaying final results. In that case, the Lancaster County Board of Elections said some 14,000 multisheet ballots had been printed in the wrong order.
A man has been sentenced to 43 years in prison for a multi-state crime spree that began with the kidnapping and sexual assault of his ex-girlfriend, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger announced.

Luis Figueroa, 42, of Bronx, New York, was convicted of kidnapping, criminal sexual abuse, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and assaulting an employee of the United States following a two-week trial in May 2022, federal officials said.

The violence occurred in Pennsylvania and New Jersey on June 6, 2014, before Figueroa was apprehended by police while attempting to enter New York on the George Washington Bridge.
Elaina LoAlbos hands tremble as she speaks of the last few moments she spent with her daughter, Felicia LoAlbo-Melendez. Just two months ago, the 11-year-old who was being bullied at her Mount Holly middle school was found unresponsive in her schools bathroom and died two days later. Police said it was suicide.

Elaina struggles to hold back the tears as she details her daughters bullying and tells me all she and Felicia did to try to stop it. Elaina had gone to the school. She had talked to the bullies parents. Felicia had written emails to school officials and had even suggested that the school start a trauma club as a safe space for students. Two weeks before her death, her father had lost his battle with cancer.

Her class was supposed to be switched [to separate her from the bullies] but the bullying didnt stop, and none of that ever happened, Elaina said. The school ignored her cries for help.

Across the state and throughout the country, countless frustrated and desperate parents echo Elainas words. They say their pleas for help and those of their bullied children are time and time again brushed aside if not outright ignored by school officials.

Mount Holly resident Elaina LoAlbo said her daughter, Felicia LoAlbo-Melendez, died two days after she was found unresponsive on Feb. 6 at her middle school. LoAlbo said Felicia, who police and school officials have said died by suicide, was being bullied at school. Elaina sits in the stairwell of her home holding a toy that Felicia owned called "Ellie, the elephant" and a photo of her and her daughter.

But as we sit together in her living room, its impossible to brush aside or ignore this mothers pain. The brokenness in Elainas voice as she talks about the unexpected loss of her beautiful, smart, loving little girl is loud, even in the moments in which were both silent. The hurt Im hearing is as palpable as what I heard just last month while speaking with another mourning parent  Michael Kuch.

When I met him at a park in Bayville, he held flowers and balloons as he celebrated his daughters 15th birthday without her. Adriana Olivia Kuch, a freshman at Central Regional High School, killed herself after being attacked in school by four classmates  just days before Felicias death.

Like Elaina, Michael gushed on and on about his adventurous, cheerful, little girl and faulted the school for lying to him and covering up how severe his daughters assault had been. The school, hes repeatedly said, must fix this broken system and end its toxic culture of bullying.

The new Central Regional School District Superintendent Douglas Corbett refuted the idea that there was such a culture in the district and previously told NJ Advance Media that were committed to learning from this tragedy, listening to our parents and our students and our community.

Michael Kuch, whose daughter Adriana Olivia Kuch last month died by suicide just days after a violent bullying incident at her high school, held a candlelight vigil at a Bayville park to celebrate his daughter's life. "Today is special because it would've been Adriana's 15th birthday," Michael Kuch said. The vigil was held on Saturday, March 11, 2023.Jim Lowney | For NJ Advance Media

I wondered then as I wonder now  how many more grieving parents, whose children were bullied and whose cries for help seemingly fell on deaf ears, well have to extend our condolences to before that happens?

Elaina and Michael have both strongly voiced their dissatisfaction and frustration with how school officials have handled the bullying that goes on in New Jersey schools. And both have expressed their belief that bullying was a factor in the deaths by suicide of their children.

Still, mental health experts say bullying alone is not thought to cause suicide. And research shows the causes of suicide are complex and can be influenced by several and intersecting life factors such as neurobiology, personal and familial history, stressful events, and a persons socio-cultural environment.

I wish we could rewind time and get Felicia and Adriana the help they needed. That they deserved. And asked for. I wish we could rewind time to make things right so that these two young girls could still be here with their families.

But since I know thats impossible, Im hoping that we  as a society  can do what isnt: Make changes so that its not too late to help other teens, like 16-year-old Davida Fetherman, of Wantage, who was bullied so severely shes been taking classes at home with tutors since mid-November just to escape it.

Her mom Paula Fetherman says despite reporting 14 incidents of bullying in the span of about a year  the same kids, repeatedly taking her belongings and hiding them, or name-calling her  the district deemed most of the incidents to be code of conduct violations that werent considered reportable under the states anti-bullying law.

Michael B. Greene, a psychologist whos written several peer-reviewed articles on curbing bullying and who long worked with the N.J. Coalition for Bullying Awareness and Prevention, said its possible and highly likely that bullying incidents at schools here are going unreported or are being underreported.

After all, he said, in New Jersey, that information is self-reported by a school administrator. But schools, he says, have a disincentive in reporting the true number [of incidents] ...they know that the level of bullying in schools is inversely related to real estate prices. People dont want to buy or live in a home near a school with high levels of bullying or of violence.

To try to stop the bullying her daughter was experiencing at school, Paula says, she went to school board meetings, communicated with the superintendent and tried to get the school to change Davidas schedule to avoid the students who were harassing her.

They were just like No, sorry. It doesnt work like that. I even got a note from her pediatrician hoping that would make a difference for the school, but it didnt.

Paula Fetherman says her daughter Davida Fetherman for about a year had been at the receiving end of "constant bullying" at High Point Regional High School in Sussex County. School officials, Paula and Davida say, did little to stop the bullying. "That's why I had no other real option than to pull her out of school and put her on home instruction," Paula says. "It was the only real way I could protect her."Julian Leshay | For NJ Advance Media

Seamus Campbell, High Points anti-bullying coordinator, said the schools harassment, intimidation and bullying procedures provide the school community with an avenue to present concerns and with a transparent and reliable system of accountability to ensure that when unwanted behavior occurs it is assertively addressed.

But he did not answer specific questions about what the procedures are and what, if any, support the school provides to students in Davidas situation.

Clearly, it wasnt enough for Davida. On an intensely emotional night late last year, after spending most of the week feeling down and hiding in her closet, the usually smiley Davida confided in her mom that she was having suicidal thoughts.

She came home from school that day and just cried and cried. She mustve cried for an hour and a half, two hours maybe, Paula said. When I heard that about taking her own life, I said Thats it, shes not going back to that school.

Davida, who describes herself as being very social, says she wishes she could be back in the classroom with her friends and have a more pleasant high school experience. But for now, she prefers to stay home where she feels safe and can take it day by day as she tries to get back to feeling like myself again.

Davida Fetherman, 16, describes herself as being social but has been taking classes at home with tutors since mid-November to escape the ongoing bullying she faced at High Point Regional High School in Sussex County. She says she misses her friends and her boyfriend and wishes for a more pleasant school experience.Julian Leshay | For NJ Advance Media

Paula says that while ultimately shed like Davida to return to school, she and her daughter have agreed itd have to be a safe and healthy school environment ...which means the bullies are not in her classes.

Avoiding the bullies is what Elaina wanted for her daughter, too, and it doesnt seem like too much to ask. But education experts said if administrators start switching schedules around whenever there are kids who dislike each other, it could easily turn into a logistical nightmare.

After speaking with several bullying experts and reviewing anti-bullying research, I was left with the sense that even professionals whove long studied it dont know exactly what to do to fix it.

A big part of the problem, says Tracy Walder, a former FBI agent and a high school teacher whos dealt with bullying and mediated classroom conflicts, is the lack of a uniform approach in how schools handle it. She said what shes seeing is that a lot of schools are just making it up as they go.

New Jersey has been lauded as having the toughest anti-bullying legislation in the nation, yet each school district still has local control over its own Harassment, Intimidation or Bullying (HIB) policy, according to the states Q&A on the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights. They all must investigate violations promptly, but they can decide whether to investigate every complaint or only the ones they deem to meet the threshold.

But how high is that bar that were setting? Well, theres a checklist. Its not enough to just cause physical or emotional harm to a student, or create a hostile environment for that student, or be demeaning to an entire group of students. To be reportable, the incident must also be motivated by any actual or perceived characteristic and must cause a substantial disruption either to the school or a students rights, state law says.

That could explain why experts question whether school officials are reporting all known or legitimate bullying incidents. Still, the reported number of verified bullying incidents has increased at some schools: At High Point, the number of reports rose to 12  the most in a single school year, according to data presented at a Board of Education meeting last August.

The number of HIB investigations has also risen statewide. According to N.J. Department of Education data there were 7,672 HIB investigations in the 2021-22 school year, nearly doubling from two years ago. But during 2020-21 when the pandemic kept most students home, there were only 1,467.

What one teacher or school principal deems as serious enough to investigate or report might be seen by another as just kids being kids.

But if an offense is serious enough to the student reporting it, Elaina says, then schools need to do right by that student and listen to them. She told me shes making it my lifes message to continue advocating against bullying so that cries like Felicias never go unheard again.

In response to concerns about Felicias unaddressed bullying, Mount Holly Township Superintendent Robert Mungo, in a statement to NJ Advance Media, said the school district is focused on strengthening our support system for students, especially regarding their social and emotional well-being.

And while I hope thats true, I cant help but wonder about Elainas emotional well-being. She now lives surrounded by constant reminders of the daughter she loved, the one she still cant quite wrap her head around losing. Her sweet, sweet Felicia, who just months ago filled the very room in which we spoke with her contagious laughter.

I can feel my face start to flush as she talks again about those last moments with Felicia. She tells me she put her little binky  a worn gray and pink elephant called Ellie  in her hand to give her comfort and remind her of just how deeply loved she was and always had been. I try hard to push away the thoughts of my own little girl, but fail miserably. And my throat tightens.

On the walls behind us, there are many smiling photos of the two together at the beach and a poster of a little girl holding a red heart-shaped balloon with the words There is always hope emblazoned on it that Elaina tells me until recently was hanging in Felicias bedroom.

I moved it to the living room so I could look at it more often, she said. I need that reminder more than ever ...that there is always hope.

Elaina LoAlbo says her daughter Felicia's death by suicide could've been prevented if school officials hadn't "ignored her cries for help." LoAlbo says her 11-year-old had repeatedly emailed F. W. Holbein School officials detailing the bullying she was facing by some of her classmates. She says she's making it my lifes message to continue advocating against bullying so that cries like Felicias never go unheard again.

Editors note: NJ Advance Media typically limits reporting on suicides to those that occur in crowded public places, involve public figures or, in special circumstances, where there is a larger public impact. Suicidal thoughts and behaviors can be reduced with the proper mental health support and treatment. If you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.

Daysi Calavia-Robertson may be reached at dcalavia-robertson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Instagram at @presspassdaysi or Twitter @presspassdaysi.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Heres how to submit an op-ed or Letter to the Editor. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
The item was tacked on to a bunch of notes at the end of a Star-Tribune notebook on the Yankees 2-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins at Yankee Stadium on Sunday:

The St. Paul Saints struck out a season-high 17 times  the second-most in franchise history in a nine-inning game  and were shut out 7-0 by the host Indianapolis Indians. Joey Gallo finished his third rehab game going 1-for-5 with a single.

BUY YANKEES TICKETS: STUBHUB, VIVID SEATS, TICKETMASTER

Now, you cant fool Yankees fans. They know if Gallos minor-league team struck out 17 times, he likely helped, and if you dont have the words Joey Gallo and strikeout in the same sentence, your reporting is probably incomplete. And, sure enough, Gallo struck out three times in that game.

In fact, in a three-game rehab stint against minor-league pitching  while the Twins were splitting four games with the Yankees at Yankee Stadium  Gallo was 2-for-12 with seven strikeouts.

Well, if the Twins were worried about triggering a slump by putting Gallo through a slew of fan abuse during the weekend series with the Yankees, his suddenly arranged mini-vacation in Indianapolis with St. Paul didnt help.

Want to bet on MLB?

See the best NJ Sports Betting sites

For days, the Twins insisted Gallos right intercostal strain is nothing serious, that they were being extra cautious and he simply was being given a week (or so) to fully heal. But on Tuesday, they decided to put Gallo on the 10-day Injury List (retroactive to April 8)  just as the Twins headed to New York for a weekend series against the Yankees.

Gallo hit .159 over 82 games with the Yankees and was booed mercilessly last season before being traded to the Dodgers. Sounds like the Twins were protecting his abdomen and ego  and his bat from Gerrit Cole.

Gallo, who has been playing first base, is off to a terrific start with the Twins. He is hitting .278, with three home runs, seven RBI and a 1.189 OPS through seven games after signing a one-year, $11 million deal, reportedly turning down more money from other teams. Will the bat stay hot when he returns to the Twins after the minor-league humiliation?

Last year, just before the Yankees traded him to Los Angeles, Gallo told NJ Advance Media that he didnt want to be seen in public in New York, because I really dont want to show my face too much around here.

He added: I remember playing here with the Rangers, watching [Yankees players] get booed off the field and thinking, Holy s**t! I feel bad for that guy. Now its me. ... I went through a lot of adversity and I really had to question myself a lot. My confidence suffered. I would say I hit rock bottom for the big leagues.

MORE SPORTS:

Hottest hitter in baseball is a former Mets No. 1 pick (who was quickly traded for a bust)

Why Yankees announcer Michael Kay says, Everybody sucks. Im telling you, they really do

Yankees Anthony Volpe hits 1st career HR ... and fans are wondering what the hell John Sterling said

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription.
Six-day (Tuesday through Sunday) print subscribers of the Watertown Daily Times are eligible for full access to NNY360, the NNY360 mobile app, and the Watertown Daily Times e-edition, all at no additional cost.

If you have an existing six-day print subscription to the Watertown Daily Times, please make sure your email address on file matches your NNY360 account email. You can sign up or manage your print subscription using the options below.
With homelessness returning to pre-pandemic levels and encampments sprouting up along major thoroughfares, New Orleans-area leaders and federal officials on Monday announced new funding they say will result in dramatic improvements for hundreds of people currently living on the streets.
The latest recalls reported in the last week include an audiovisual cart that can tip over when carrying heavy objects, which has resulted in the death of three children between 2006 and 2016.

Luxor Workspaces is recalling its A/V carts because they can become unstable when loaded with heavy objects, such as cathode-ray tube televisions, which can pose a tip-over hazard.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported that three children have died and one was seriously injured in incidents where recalled A/V carts were carrying CRT televisions and tipped over, landing on them.

The commission said schools, day care centers and places of worship, among others, use the carts to transport A/V equipment where children may be present and are unaware of the dangers posed with the carts. Consumers are warned not to transport anything that is more than 25 pounds on the cart.

For a full list of recalled cart models, check out the commissions website at www.cpsc.gov. They have been sold since the early 1980s through various websites, including Amazon.

Consumers should stop using the carts and contact Luxor at 800-323-4656 for a free repair. The company will provide metal ballast kits, which should be installed to the lower shelf of the cart to add stability and weight, and new warning labels will be provided cautioning consumers from placing anything heavier than 25 pounds on each shelf.

Moen Inc. is recalling its Flo Smart water monitor lithium-ion battery back-ups because the battery back-up can overheat, posing a fire hazard.

The company has received three reports of batteries overheating and catching fire. No injuries have been reported, but minor property damage was reported, according to the commission.

The recall involves the battery back-up device that was an optional add-on accessory to extend certain features of Moens Flo Smart water monitor and shutoff in the event of a power disruption. They were sold at Lowes, Home Depot and other stores, as well as online at Amazon from August 2019 to November 2022.

Consumers should immediately unplug and stop using the battery back-up and contact the company at 844-633-8356 for instructions on how to disable the battery back-up before disposing of the unit.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration also reported a few recalls this past week, including one from Wellness Natural USA.

The company is expanding its recall of SimplyProtein peanut butter chocolate crispy bars to include all lots within the expiration date of April 11, 2023, and March 14, 2024. The product may contain undeclared cashews, which poses an allergy concern.

The product came in 15-count variety packs that were sold at Costco stores nationwide. The product can be returned to Costco for a full refund.

The recall had been initiated after a consumer complained of an allergic reaction, which the company said is the only allergic reaction reported.

Undeclared milk is the reason for a recall of childrens chewable tablets.

Rico Perez Products Inc. is recalling its 60-count bottles of Dr. Rico Perez SuperKids colostrum chewable tablets, which were distributed at supplement stores as well as on the companys website.

For the UPC, lot numbers and expiration dates, check out the FDAs website at www.fda.gov. No illnesses or deaths have been reported in connection with the product.

The FDA said the recall was initiated after it was discovered that the milk-containing product was packaged without the indication of milk. Consumers can dispose of it or return it to the place of purchase for a full refund.

For more information, call the company at 305-856-5304.
MS Coast police officer among 3 injured in Biloxi shooting on last day of Black spring break
Nearly 20,000 school-age children in Louisiana have fallen off the education map, kids who should be in class but are missing from school rosters, a new analysis of enrollment trends during the pandemic found.
WASHINGTON  Louisiana U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy on Sunday dismissed concerns that a Texas federal judge's ban on an abortion pill could have wider implications on the Food and Drug Administration's authority to approve other drugs, calling them "totally alarmist."

Democratic lawmakers and pharmaceutical industry executives have argued that allowing a single judge to overrule the work of a federal regulatory authority would throw into chaos the medical research that is the hallmark of American medicine.

"I think thats totally alarmist. And by the way, when did the FDA think they could go above the law? Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, said Sunday on NBCs Meet the Press. Cassidy is a physician.

On April 7, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, of Amarillo, Texas, ordered a halt to the sale of mifepristone, the first of two medications that induce an abortion. Kacsmaryk, who was nominated by President Donald Trump, ruled that the FDA approved the drug 23 years ago based on plainly unsound reasoning and studies that did not support its conclusions.

When combined, mifepristone and sister drug misoprostol end more pregnancies than do surgical procedures.

The FDA disagreed with the judges assessment of the safeguards it deploys before it makes drugs available to the public, which include multiple tests and reviews from doctors and scientists. In particular, federal authorities point out that mifepristone has been used by millions of women without incident for more than two decades.

On the same day, U.S. District Judge Thomas O. Rice, of Spokane, Washington, ruled the FDA could not restrict access to the drug in any of the 17 states where it is now allowed. Rice was nominated by President Barack Obama.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has paused Kacsmaryks stop-sale order twice, but the order will take effect on Friday if Alito doesn't halt it again.
Faimon Roberts III covers rural communities in Louisiana. His work is supported by a reporting grant from the Microsoft Journalism Initiative and is administered by the Greater New Orleans Foundation.

He can be reached at froberts@theadvocate.com.
The Bonne Terre City Council at its meeting last Monday night decided many Planning and Zoning matters, approved members for the TIF Commission that will oversee the funding mechanism for the Bonneville Plaza overhaul, and took care of council housekeeping ensuing from the April 4 election.

The only new member to the council is Ray Stotler, representing Ward 1, having run unopposed in the wake of former Alderman Bruce Prattes decision to retire. Mayor Erik Schonhardt presented Pratte with a plaque at Marchs meeting, thanking him for his eight years of service to the city. Pratte served four terms.

Others on the council also ran unopposed in April 4s election, and were sworn in Monday night by City Clerk Mary Topping. Taking the oath of office were Stotler, Mayor Schonhardt and Ward 3 Alderman Ryan McClure. During the reorganization of the offices, Ward 4 Alderwoman Andrea Richardson was voted by the aldermen and sworn in as mayor pro tem, to serve on the rare occasions of Schonhardts absence.

The council members took up a variety of issues that had been through the Planning and Zoning Committee, approving the expansion of a mobile home park, tabling a request to combine multiple alleys and streets to create a larger lot without restrictions, approving a request for a lot split and denying a request for a lot split involving a business and storage units.

Having returned for a third council meeting, trailer park owner Christian Speer was successful in getting aldermens approval to add 30 more units to his property on 7075 Raider Road. The city will also add the roads, water and sewer, with some say over where and how the infrastructure is built.

City Administrator Shawn Kay told Speer he and Building Inspector Kenny Farkas had reviewed the map of the proposed additions and infrastructure, and had some modification suggestions.

You know how your roads were supposed to dead end? Instead, we would make them loops so that the fire trucks and police department will be able to get around in there, Kay told Speer. You and I havent had this discussion yet, but Kenny and I noticed that was one of those that will need to be modified. Another is, a trailer cant be put over the sewer main, in case we have to get in there.

Speer asked if a road could be put in over a sewer main and Kay said it could. Those are the kinds of things that we probably will discuss moving forward, Kay said.

Several aldermen expressed concern regarding the kinds of background checks Speer performs for prospective tenants. Speer said he mostly relies on Missouri Casenet to look for any legal infractions.

Police Chief Doug Calvert recommended, as he had during Marchs council meeting, requiring potential residents to request official background checks from the Missouri State Highway Patrol, which involves a minimal fee and is more thorough and reliable than Casenet. Calvert said many landlords have told him they direct potential residents to the patrol, and usually, if their records are spotty enough, they wont bother coming back.

Calvert and other aldermen observed the trailer park was in close proximity to North County High School, and emphasized it would be of paramount importance to prevent registered sex offenders from moving in.

Believe me, I dont want to deal with that either, Speer said of potentially problematic tenants. The last thing I want to do is deal with riff-raff.

The council approved Speers addition.

Aldermen also approved a benevolent residents request to split the lot at 46 Pear Street. Kay explained, resident Amy Prattes neighbor unwittingly built a deck on part of Prattes property, and she was willing to sell them that piece of her property just to keep lot ownership tidy. The council approved the split.

Due to the complications of John Hoviss request for his property on Ash Street, the aldermen tabled discussion regarding his wishes to combine multiple unopened alleys and streets to make one lot, without restrictions, to build a residential home.

Farkas and Kay explained that, at first, Hovis wanted to get rid of all the roads, but realized that would landlock the property, and so he agreed to keep a north-south road, North Ash, and an east-west road, Murphy St. Kay said the Planning and Zoning Committee decided to table the matter for further review. The aldermen decided to do the same.

The aldermen also unanimously agreed to deny a request from local insurance agent John Vickers to split the lot at 61 E. School St. and 63 E. School Street. Vickers would like to keep his insurance office, but sell off the storage units next door.

Planning and Zoning denied this because, they said this would work out great as long as Mr. Vickers owns the insurance office, Kay said, but they fear, if he sells the insurance office, it could cause some issues, since theres not much space between his building and the storage units. If someone decided to put up a fence between the two, there would be no access, and wed like to avoid any potential future issues for the city in regard to such.

More commercial property was at the center of council action Monday night. The effort to overhaul the old Bonneville Plaza strip mall complex on the eastern side of town along K Highway got a step further, as the council approved the members of the Tax Increment Financing commission that will oversee the funding mechanism.

The new members, chosen to represent various aspects of the community and to complement each other, will be Pastor Dave Wiant, Space Museum Director Earl Mullins, banker Kevin Cook, business owner Shari House, Planning and Zoning Committee member Bruce May and realtor Donyel Burns.

In other city business:

Aldermen updated the ordinances affecting short-term rentals like those found on VRBO or AirBnB.

Aldermen voted to authorize Shawn Kay to contract with Southeast Missouri Regional Planning Commission to administer the CDBG grant for road improvements.

Aldermen voted to authorize Kay to contract with Cochran Engineering for construction inspection of Phase One improvements to the Bonne Terre water main. Kay said the search continues for a contractor for construction, however.
Marilyn Lesmeister sits with her daughter Samantha Sammee Lesmeister after Sammees horse riding lesson in Cole Camp, Missouri. Sammee Lesmeister is one of a growing number of adults living with Down syndrome. More than 216,000 Americans are living with the condition today, compared with fewer than 50,000 in 1950 (Christopher Smith/KFF Health News).

MONTROSE, Mo.  It took Samantha Lesmeisters family four months to find a medical professional who could see that she was struggling with something more than her Down syndrome.

The young woman, known as Sammee, had become unusually sad and lethargic after falling in the shower and hitting her head. She lost her limited ability to speak, stopped laughing, and no longer wanted to leave the house.

General-practice doctors and a neurologist said such mental deterioration was typical for a person with Down syndrome entering adulthood, recalled her mother, Marilyn Lesmeister. They said nothing could be done.

The family didnt buy it.

Marilyn researched online and learned the University of Kansas Health System has a special medical clinic for adults with Down syndrome. Most other Down syndrome programs nationwide focus on children, even though many people with the condition now live into middle age and often develop health problems typically associated with seniors. And most of the clinics that focus on adults are in urban areas, making access difficult for many rural patients.

The clinic Marilyn found is in Kansas City, Kansas, 80 miles northwest of the familys cattle farm in central Missouri. She made an appointment for her daughter and drove up.

The programs leader, nurse practitioner Moya Peterson, carefully examined Sammee Lesmeister and ordered more tests.

She reassured me that, Mom, youre right. Somethings wrong with your daughter, Marilyn Lesmeister said.

With the help of a second neurologist, Peterson determined Sammee Lesmeister had suffered a traumatic brain injury when she hit her head. Since that diagnosis about nine years ago, she has regained much of her strength and spirit with the help of therapy and steady support.

Sammee, now 27, can again speak a few words, including hi, bye, and love you. She smiles and laughs. She likes to go out into her rural community, where she helps choose meals at restaurants, attends horse-riding sessions at a stable, and folds linens at a nursing home.

Without Petersons insight and encouragement, the family likely would have given up on Sammees recovery. She probably would have continued to wither within herself, her mother said. I think she would have been a stay-at-home person and a recluse.

A whole different ballgame

The Lesmeisters wish Petersons program wasnt such a rarity. A directory published by the Global Down Syndrome Foundation lists just 15 medical programs nationwide that are housed outside of childrens hospitals and that accept Down syndrome patients who are 30 or older.

The United States had about three times as many adults with the condition by 2016 as it did in 1970. Thats mainly because children born with it are no longer denied lifesaving care, including surgeries to correct birth defects.

Adults with Down syndrome often develop chronic health problems, such as severe sleep apnea, digestive disorders, thyroid conditions, and obesity. Many develop Alzheimers disease in middle age. Researchers suspect this is related to extra copies of genes that cause overproduction of proteins, which build up in the brain.

Taking care of kids is a whole different ballgame from taking care of adults, said Peterson, the University of Kansas nurse practitioner.

Sammee Lesmeister is an example of the trend toward longer life spans. If shed been born two generations ago, she probably would have died in childhood.

She had a hole in a wall of her heart, as do about half of babies with Down syndrome. Surgeons can repair those dangerous defects, but in the past, doctors advised most families to forgo the operations, or said the children didnt qualify. Many people with Down syndrome also were denied care for serious breathing issues, digestive problems, or other chronic conditions. People with disabilities were often institutionalized. Many were sterilized without their consent.

Such mistreatment eased from the 1960s into the 1980s, as people with disabilities stood up for their rights, medical ethics progressed, and courts declared it illegal to withhold care. Those landmark rulings sealed the deal: Children with Down syndrome have the right to the same lifesaving treatment that any other child would deserve, said Brian Skotko, a Harvard University medical geneticist who leads Massachusetts General Hospitals Down Syndrome Program.

The median life expectancy for a baby born in the U.S. with Down syndrome jumped from about four years in 1950 to 58 years in the 2010s, according to a recent report from Skotko and other researchers. In 1950, fewer than 50,000 Americans were living with Down syndrome. By 2017, that number topped 217,000, including tens of thousands of people in middle age or beyond.

The population is expected to continue growing, the report says. A few thousand pregnant women a year now choose abortions after learning theyre carrying fetuses with Down syndrome. But those reductions are offset by the increasing number of women becoming pregnant in their late 30s or 40s, when they are more likely to give birth to a baby with Down syndrome.

Skotko said the medical system has not kept up with the extraordinary increase in the number of adults with Down syndrome. Many medical students learn about the condition only while training to treat pediatric patients, he said.

Few patients can travel to specialized clinics like Skotkos program in Boston. To help those who cant, he founded an online service, Down Syndrome Clinic to You, which helps families and medical practitioners understand the complications and possible treatments.

If they say it hurts, I listen

Charlotte Woodward, who has Down syndrome, is a prominent advocate for improved care. She counts herself among the tens of thousands of adults with the condition who likely would have died years ago without proper treatment. Woodward, 33, of Fairfax, Virginia, had four heart surgeries as a child and then a heart transplant in her 20s.

Woodward, who is an education program associate for the National Down Syndrome Society, has campaigned to end discrimination against people with disabilities who need organ transplants.

She said her primary care doctor is excellent. But she has felt treated like a child by other health care providers, who have spoken to her parents instead of to her during appointments.

She said many general-practice doctors seem to have little knowledge about adults with Down syndrome. Thats something that should change, she said. It shouldnt just be pediatricians that are aware of these things.

Woodward said adults with the condition should not be expected to seek care at programs housed in childrens hospitals. She said the country should set up more specialized clinics and finance more research into health problems that affect people with disabilities as they age. This is really an issue of civil rights, she said.

Advocates and clinicians say its crucial for health care providers to communicate as much as possible with patients who have disabilities. That can lead to long appointments, said Brian Chicoine, a family practice physician who leads the Adult Down Syndrome Center of Advocate Aurora Health in Park Ridge, Illinois, near Chicago.

Its very important to us that we include the individuals with Down syndrome in their care, he said. If youre doing that, you have to take your time. You have to explain things. You have to let them process. You have to let them answer. All of that takes more time.

Time costs money, which Peterson believes is why many hospital systems dont set up specialized clinics like the ones she and Chicoine run.

Petersons methodical approach was evident as she saw new patients on a recent afternoon at her Kansas City clinic. She often spends an hour on each initial appointment, speaking directly to patients and giving them a chance to share their thoughts, even if their vocabularies are limited.

Her patients that day included Christopher Yeo, 44, who lives 100 miles away in the small town of Hartford, Kansas. Yeo had become unable to swallow solid food, and hed lost 45 pounds over about 1 years. He complained to his mother, Mandi Nance, that something tickled in his chest.

During his exam, he lifted his shirt for Peterson, revealing the scar where hed had heart surgery as a baby. He grimaced, pointed to his chest, and repeatedly said the word gas.

Peterson looked Yeo in the eye as she asked him and his mother about his discomfort.

The nurse practitioner takes seriously any such complaints from her patients. If they say it hurts, I listen, she said. Theyre not going to tell you about it until it hurts bad.

Yeos mother had taken him to a cardiologist and other specialists, but none had determined what was wrong.

Peterson asked numerous questions. When does Yeos discomfort seem to crop up? Could it be related to what he eats? How is his sleep? What are his stools like?

After his appointment, Peterson referred Yeo to a cardiologist who specializes in adults with congenital heart problems. She ordered a swallowing test, in which Yeo would drink a special liquid that appears on scans as it goes down. And she recommended a test for Celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that interferes with digestion and is common in people with Down syndrome. No one had previously told Nance about the risk.

Nance, who is a registered nurse, said afterward that she has no idea what the future holds for their family. But she was struck by the patience and attention Peterson and other clinic staff members gave to her son. Such treatment is rare, she said. I feel like its a godsend. I do, she said. I feel like its an answered prayer.

Like a person, and not a condition

Peterson serves as the primary care provider for some of her patients with Down syndrome. But for many others, especially those who live far away, she is someone to consult when complications arise. Thats how the Lesmeisters use her clinic.

Mom Marilyn is optimistic Sammee can live a fulfilling life in their community for years to come. Some people have said I need to put her in a home. And Im like, What do you mean? And they say, You know  a home, she said. Im like, Shes in a home. Our home.

Sammees sister, who lives in Texas, has agreed to take her in when their parents become too old to care for her.

Marilyns voice cracked with emotion as she expressed her gratitude for the help they have received and her hopes for Sammees future.

I just want her to be taken care of and loved like I love her, she said. I want her to be taken care of like a person, and not a condition.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFFan independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.
The Commonwealth Transportation Board has awarded a $101 million contract to a company from Ohio to provide widening of Interstate 81 in a 4-mile stretch in Augusta County and Staunton.

The award was made on March 29 to Kokosing Construction Company of Westerville, Ohio. Construction is scheduled to start in the fall and should take four years to complete.

The project will address safety and travel along I-81 northbound and southbound between mile markers 221.45 and 225.6.

The specific improvements to that area of I-81 include:

One additional northbound lane from the Route 250/Jefferson Highway on-ramp at Exit 222 to the Route 262/Woodrow Wilson Parkway off-ramp at Exit 225.

An added southbound lane from the Route 262 on-ramp at Exit 225 to approximately 1,200 feet south of the I-81 bridge over the I-81 southbound/I-64 eastbound ramp.

Widening and deck replacement for five bridges within the project limits.

The additional I-81 travel lanes will primarily be added to the inside, along the median, allowing the Virginia Department of Transportation to utilize the existing right of way.

The design-build contractor will maintain two I-81 northbound and southbound travel lanes during most construction phases. However, nighttime and overnight lane closures are possible during some portions of the work, including bridge construction and concrete barrier installation.

VDOT officials say they are pleased with the awarding of the contract.

These improvements will certainly make I-81 safer and less congested through the Staunton area, said I-81 Program Delivery Director Dave Covington. We are excited about this partnership with the Kokosing team, which has helped deliver some major transportation projects across the Commonwealth.

This project is part of the I-81 Corridor Improvement Program. This program has a goal of improving safety, increasing reliability and helping with economic growth along the 325-mile corridor in Virginia.
In the cavernous Brooklyn warehouse where The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel was filmed there are towers of pillbox hats, double-stacked racks of dresses and coats in rainbow order, and vision boards teeming with fabric swatches.

At an October set visit during the shooting of the comedys latest season, Emmy-winning costume designer Donna Zakowska gave marching orders to her team in order to translate the characters emotions and aesthetic tone of each scene. Over five seasons, Zakowska says shes dressed nearly 50,000 principal actors and extras for Amazon Prime Videos hit show, which launches its final season Friday.

Maisel follows a New York City housewife who makes an unlikely turn to standup comedy in a journey of self-discovery after her husband's infidelity blows up their conventional life.

Before filming, Zakowska gave each player a once-over to ensure every shoe, brooch and belt looked right. When seeking inspiration, Zakowska often referred to what she called the Maisel map  images of star Rachel Brosnahan s signature looks and color palettes from previous seasons  across from a wall of her latest sketches.

One of the greatest joys and most terrifying parts about doing this show is that I didnt feel like I knew who Midge was, Brosnahan told The Associated Press about her character. Without geniuses like Donna, crafting this character and helping me understand where she was, emotionally, scene to scene through how she expressed herself in her clothes, I dont think we would be here.

She has a great love for storytelling, Brosnahan said.

Show creators Amy Sherman-Palladino and Dan Palladino said that Zakowska had an immediate understanding of how Brosnahans character would evolve, and how to show those character changes through color. As Midge becomes more empowered to speak her mind onstage, she goes from wearing pastel-colored suits uptown to a black dress when she performs in clubs downtown. Shes the first person we worked with that did this, and we loved it. She equated color with mood of character, Palladino said.

Youre really trying to enhance the script, the story, and youre trying to create this world, Zakowska said.

The Palladinos learned to coordinate Maisels elaborate set design and unique locations with Zakowskas costumes, to create the shows eyepopping tableaus.

Throughout the five seasons, pink dominates. To create the 1950s swing coat that Brosnahan wears in the pilot, Zakowska went through more than 200 shades of pink and finally had the fabric dyed to achieve the right pastel hue.

It was a whole philosophy, Sherman-Palladino said of the trajectory of pinks worn, that was really tied toward Midges emotional ups and downs.

As a nod to the character's full-circle evolution, in the first episode of the new season, a newly confident Midge wears a two-toned version of the original pink coat. Theres a sort of romanticism or sentimentality about the color, Zakowska said.

Many of the actors saw Zakowska as a collaborator in developing their characters. Alex Borstein, who plays Susie on the show, said she wanted to wear suspenders and a peaked cap, which Zakowska enhanced with a leather jacket and even her own boots. Every time you threw on that uniform or that suit of armor it helped create Susie for me, made it real, Borstein said.

You get out of the caryou go through hair and makeup and youre still in 2022, said Reid Scott, who plays a late-night host on season five. For Scotts character, Zakowska tailored bespoke suits and sourced a slew of vintage cardigans from the UK. The second you put on that suit, and the way it feels and the way it smells and the way the high waisted pants really grip you, it would just drop me in and...boom, youre in 1961.

Zakowska said she was a little surprised, but pleased by how fans responded to the costumes, with some even dressing like Midge for Halloween. I think somehow Midge Maisel gave a lot of women a vocabulary, she said, of the main characters impact on pop culture. After the pandemic, she noticed a heightened interest in the costumes. Everyone wanted to celebrate a little bit, and Midges looks were the right thing at the right moment, Zakowska said.

Several cast members said Zakowskas meticulous attention to detail changed the way they felt about their characters. Caroline Aaron who plays Midges mother-in-law Shirley said she begged Zakowska to ditch the girdle under her characters flashy dresses, but Zakowska insisted, saying it affected the way the character walked. Details that audiences might not necessarily see  period jewelry, purses, even buttons  all completed a specific look and created a fully imagined world.

If shed sort of slapped me into something from the 50s, I might have been a sloppier Shirley, Aaron said. But she was so insistent on really dignifying every character in terms of their clothes.

Marin Hinkle, who plays Midges mother Rose Weissman, said she's been inspired by her characters bold clothing choices, ultra-chic coats and hats.

In my own life I tend to be like, Lets just be plain and not rock a boat and be good and proper, Hinkle explained. She said she loved Rose's ability to say, Today is a day to be spectacular and Im going to put on bright colors and not go in the shadows!'

Its been so hard to say goodbye to her, Hinkle said, "as she gave me a little extra chutzpah.
HAMMOND  A license plate reader system is being credited with helping police locate and arrest two Illinois men believed responsible for a burglary last month at the Boulevard Smoke Shop.

Officers responding March 13 in the 1500 block of Indianapolis Boulevard and reviewing surveillance video footage noticed a vehicle that had been seen at other burglaries around Northwest Indiana, Hammond Police Lt. Steve Kellogg said.

Police turned to its BlueNET license plate reading system, which "proved to be an invaluable tool in locating the vehicle, and further investigation led to the identification and arrest of two suspects linked to the burglary," he said.

Police identified them as David Bradford, 66, of Chicago and Darryl Magee, 58, of Bolingbrook.

"We are very proud of the work our detectives did in solving this case," Chief William Short said. "Utilizing technology like BlueNET, along with good detective work and community assistance, we were able to locate and apprehend the suspects responsible for this crime."

Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call Detective Sgt. Sue Pruzin, 219-852-6391.
Lebanons nonprofit downtown booster ceased to exist in the eyes of Oregon, for a short time. Again.

Business filings show Oregon effectively suspended Lebanon Downtown Association for five days, March 30 to April 4 after the Secretary of State took a common administrative action to dissolve the nonprofit business for not filing a required annual report.

The association's board president told city elected officials that the coronavirus pandemic led to volunteer turnover at the agency, and that an increased workload led to the departure of the organizations manager and sole paid employee.

We had a hands-off board. We really put a lot of work on our Mainstreet manager and our promotion committee, therefore we no longer have a Mainstreet manager, said Jeannie Davis, association board president.

Davis told city councilors last week the organization has new members on its board and that a treasurer is attempting to file an annual federal form that will reinstate Lebanon Downtown Associations formal nonprofit status.

Nonprofit corporations must file an IRS Form 990 to receive tax-exempt status.

The organization had no such form on file after the IRS first granted tax-exempt status in 2015.

I just wanted to come before you today to tell you LDA is still active, Davis said.

The association organizes community such events as wine and art walks and a concert series, and seeks grant funding meant to boost foot traffic and, ideally, spending in the city.

Lebanon Mayor Kenneth Jackola was one of two downtown business owners who each received $100,000 grants in 2022 to renovate housing in the upper floors of their historic buildings.

Cassie Cruze, a former City Council candidate, served as manager before leaving for Corvallis-based shelter and service provider Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence.

The downtown association is registered as an assumed business name for Partners for Progress Inc., a nonprofit that first filed to incorporate in 2008.

Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Albany Democrat-Herald.

Oregons Secretary of State has dissolved then reinstated Partners for Progress seven times since its foundation.

Lebanon assumed about $250,000 in revenue from taxes pulled from hotel beds amid modest increases in tourism from 2021 to 2022. Including rollover funds, the city budgeted about $402,000 for paying its contract with the local Chamber of Commerce, providing grants and capital outlay.

The city increased its grant to the Lebanon Downtown Association in 2022 by $5,000, to a total $30,000, at the recommendation of the body of officials appointed to advise city councilors about Lebanons annual budget.
Indiana conservation officers resumed the search Monday morning for two Indiana University students missing in the waters of Monroe Lake, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources reported.

Siddhant Shah, 19, and Aryan Vaidya, 20, were boating with friends Saturday on a pontoon on Monroe Lake when the group anchored to swim, the DNR said. "When both men did not resurface, friends tried to help but were unsuccessful."

Scuba divers and crews using side-scan sonar searched the area Sunday where the men were last seen in the water, but "high winds and rough water created obstacles for officers conducting the search."

Conservation officers returned to the site Monday morning to continue the search-and-recovery operation.

"Indiana University Student Services assisted with transporting the group back to campus and providing counseling services," the DNR said.

Monroe County Sheriff's Office, Bloomington and IU police, Monroe County Dive Team, Monroe Fire Protection District, and IU Health EMS and the Dean of Students Office are assisting in the efforts.
VALPARAISO  In July 2022, engineer Jonathan Ogland-Hand was catching up with his former professor Luke Venstrom over beers at Four Fathers Brewing when they had an idea for how to solve an issue he'd been having at work.

Ogland-Hand had returned to Valparaiso University  he's a 2014 graduate  for an alumni event that day and was telling Venstrom, an associate professor of mechanical engineering, about his work at Carbon Solutions.

"He was telling me about this idea that he had and said, 'Oh, we're looking to do this direct air capture and we're trying to drive it with geothermal, but the water is not hot enough," Venstrom said. "And I said, 'You could just heat it up with some concentrated solar,' and he was like, 'That's a pretty interesting idea'."

Carbon Solutions is trying develop a system to pull the excess carbon dioxide that is causing global warming out of the air and put it underground. This endeavor is aimed at meeting a goal set forth by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of preventing the Earth from warming more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, which would lead to devastating environmental consequences for the planet.

"Inevitably to do that, we will have to actually take carbon dioxide that's already been released into the atmosphere out and put it away," he said. "It's not enough to avoid emissions  we have to do that too  but in addition to avoiding emissions, we have to literally suck it out of the atmosphere and put it away."

And that's what this project is seeking to do.

Venstrom said the project is trying to figure out how to take carbon dioxide and put it underground. Once the carbon dioxide is extracted from the air, the teams are trying to use the saltwater that's underground as a sort of natural vacuum, similar to how a garbage disposal in a sink sucks down water.

"Sometimes you'll see, if you have two sides to the sink, when you hit your disposal, water pops up on the other side," he said. "Same idea."

However, as Ogland-Hand lamented at the brewpub, the saltwater wasn't warm enough to achieve that. Venstrom's idea to solve this is to pull the saltwater up from underground, use a solar furnace  an array of mirrors that channel the warmth of the sun  or another concentrated solar system to heat up the saltwater and then put it back underground.

Intrigued by this idea, Ogland-Hand, who is overseeing the project for Carbon Solutions, tapped Venstrom and his colleagues at VU to assist.

The project, which is being completed by teams at two universities and a number of corporations, is funded by a grant the U.S. Department of Energy gave Carbon Solutions. In turn, the company plans to eventually work with other partner corporations to sell whatever they create to companies who may be either mandated by the government to reduce their carbon emissions or could simply want to prevent catastrophic climate change that will harm their profits.

"Their bet (Carbon Solutions) is that direct carbon removal is going to be an important industry, supported perhaps through governments, which perhaps could come through new policies like a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade system," he said, referring to two common proposals for government-mandated climate solutions. "And then, scanning way back, if you believe that climate change is important and that there are economic costs associated with increased water levels and charged up systems that are causing destruction, then the idea is if we avert some of that, economically we all win."

Each team is tackling a different aspect of this challenge. The Valpo researchers' goal: figure out how to get the saltwater warm enough. They'll spend two years trying to accomplish three things.

First, Venstrom said, they want to take a look at systems called parabolic solar collection troughs, which are used to heat up oil in a similar way that they hope to heat up the saltwater.

"We want to see if you could take the one that has been built for oil and with no change, just use that one to run the saltwater through," he said. "But there's potentially some challenges, as that saltier water tends to corrode things."

Second, if the model requires changes to be used on saltwater, Venstrom wants to figure out what those changes are and to build a model that could be used for saltwater.

Lastly, the team will need to integrate this into Carbon Solutions' system.

"A lot of research projects are kind of disconnected from business and industry, and so it's nice to have something where this is really a company-initiated project," said Peter Krenzke, another VU professor and Venstrom's collaborator. "It does branch out a little from what we've done in the past, which is also kind of exciting for us."
EAST CHICAGO  Local officials are debating whether the timing of a city giveaway of cleaning wipes amounted to improper electioneering.

School City of East Chicago officials also are investigating how the wipes, which were public school property, got involved in the controversy.

Mayor Anthony Copeland and City Parks Director Vanessa Hernandez-Orange handed out armfuls of Lysol wipes packages Thursday at the James Hunter Senior Building, 3625 Pulaski St., according to an ECTV Facebook posting.

City Councilman Robert Garcia, D-5th, said the wipes benefit was a questionable use of school property by candidates for public office.

It may not have been a formal campaign event, but this is the political season, and they shouldnt have done it, Garcia said Monday.

School Board Member Jesse Gomez said Hernandez-Orange should have gotten School Board approval for use of the wipes at a non-school event.

At the center of the dispute is Hernandez-Orange, city parks director for three years, an East Chicago School Board member for six years and one of eight candidates running in the May 2 Democratic primary for at-large seats on the citys Common Council.

Hernandez-Orange said Monday she arranged the distribution of Lysol disinfectant wipes only as a non-partisan, charitable event.

There is no way on Gods green earth I would turn this into a political event, she said.

School Board President Joel Rodriguez said Monday he is working with Superintendent Javier Abrego to determine how the wipes became available to the city Parks Department.

He said the School Board is likely to discuss the matter at its meeting at 6 p.m. Monday.

Rodriguez said an Indianapolis-based nonprofit called Teachers' Treasurers donated 244,000 Lysol wipes to the school district in 2021. Disinfectant wipes were in high demand during the COVID-19 pandemic for cleaning door handles and other often-touched hard surfaces.

Rodriguez and Gomez said the donation was meant for use at the citys public schools. But Hernandez-Orange said Monday the school district has so many wipes nearing their expiration date that it has donated them to school families in the past.

Hernandez-Orange said she called Lela Simmons, the school districts chief financial officer, several weeks ago and received permission to hand out some of the wipes at the citys annual Easter drive thru at Washington Park. She said there was still half a pallet of wipes remaining after the April 1 drive thru, so she asked and received permission from Simmons to dispense the remainder to seniors and to city workers.

Hernandez-Orange said she doesnt believe she needed permission from the entire School Board. She said she only acted in her capacity as the citys parks director and not as a board member.

City Councilman Garcia said the public needs to know Hernandez-Orange works for the mayor and both the mayor and Hernandez are in hotly contested primary races.

Gomez said the general public could easily confuse the motives of Hernandez-Orange. As parks director, school trustee and candidate, she wears three hats."

Hernandez-Orange said, Im well aware of the separation thats needed. Im very careful about that.
VALPARAISO  A Michigan City man who was found guilty last month in the shooting death of a 19-year-old Valparaiso man has been sentenced to 35 years behind bars.

Keith Blake, 34, was sentenced Friday by Porter Superior Court Judge Mike Fish in the same courtroom where a jury found him guilty of reckless homicide and carrying a gun without a license.

He was found not guilty on a third charge of murder.

Blake shot and killed Noah Beller on March 3, 2021, outside Beller's home in the 3700 block of Oak Grove Drive during a dispute over a paternity test, according to court records.

Gasps and sobs broke out in the courtroom during the trial as photos were displayed on a large screen of Beller on the driveway after he was shot.

Valparaiso police patrolwoman Michelle Kodicek described the scene for jurors as hysterical and said she and other officers arrived to find Beller without a pulse and not breathing.

As when Beller's mother testified about holding her son as he died, Blake showed no obvious emotion to the photos of the shooting scene on Valparaiso's north side.

Beller's mother, Mikalene Stoker, told jurors during the trial that she received test results the same day as the killing, clearing her son of the pregnancy in dispute.

Beller had reportedly demanded his money back for the test because it was determined that he was not the father of the child in question, records show. However, a woman at the residence continued to claim that he was the father, and the dispute became physical.
President Bidens budget plan, released on Thursday, routes about $1.2 billion to two of the biggest transit projects in New York City: the Second Avenue Subway extension and new train tunnels under the Hudson River.

Because the funding was already allocated in the $1 trillion infrastructure bill that was signed into law in 2021, it does not require additional congressional approval, said Senator Charles Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader. Mr. Bidens full budget blueprint, his first released under a divided Congress, will be subject to lengthy negotiations in the House and Senate and stands little chance of becoming law.

The amount is a fraction of what the projects are expected to cost in total, but they will allow for more work to be done on design and planning, Mr. Schumer said in an interview. The allocation also demonstrates the federal governments commitment to the completion of the projects, he said.

The red tape is gone and these projects are full steam ahead, Mr. Schumer said.

Nearly $500 million is set to go toward the planned extension of the Second Avenue Subway to East Harlem, a project estimated to cost $7.7 billion. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates the subway, is asking the federal government to cover about $3.4 billion of the total, said Nuria Fernandez, administrator of the Federal Transit Administration.
Something about Kendalls eagerness does not sit right with Roman and Shiv, although they have trouble articulating why. Maybe it is the gleefully vicious tone he takes when he snaps that Logans document doesnt say Shiv. Or maybe it is the way he keeps trying to corner both of them, warning that they should not give the company away to Gerri or anybody else just because we didnt talk.

Ultimately, Roman buys the idea that the board and the markets might see Kendalls pitch for himself as same-old but with a vibe-y new banner. And the executives come around when they realize they can package Kendall as a co-leader with Roman, who still has an official title as Waystars chief operating officer. Shiv is cut out of this leadership group. Her brothers insist that she is still a part of an unofficial triumvirate, but while she has them make a Dad promise, on yesterday (referring to how they all bonded in their shock and grief), she is so upset by the mini-coup that she falls down a small set of stairs while fleeing the house.

There are other power-plays afoot this week. Logans estranged wife Marcia (Hiam Abbass) is no longer  as Kerry once said  shopping in Milan, forever. She conspicuously positions herself as a greeter at the wake, asserting that she still spoke to her husband every day. She also refuses Kerry entry to the upstairs and has her removed from the premises, right as Kerry is gathering her personal effects and nervously babbling to Roman about Logans big plans for her.

And then there is Tom, as always treading the line between sweetly helpful and snaking around. He tries to show Shiv some kindness, reminding her of when they first got together and how he flew to France to be with her. Shiv, as uncertain as the rest of us as to whether Tom is merely making a play, replies coolly, That was a while back.

It is Kendall, though, who ends the day in the lead. He and Roman entertain a pitch from Hugo and Karolina about strengthening their executive bona fides by getting it out into the press that Logan was a mentally unstable abuser who had not really been in charge of Waystar in years. Roman nixes this unequivocally. But Kendall  who knows that Hugo has some potential insider-trading trouble to bury  comes to him privately about the Bad Dad plan and says, Action that, but soft  no prints.

Before he meets with Hugo, Kendall is staring at a picture on his phone of Logans sloppy succession plan  and his own crossed-out or underlined name. The old man remained inscrutable to the end, for sure. But the sickening smile on Kendalls face right before the credits roll raises questions, too. Is he smearing Logan because, as he claims, that is exactly the kind of nasty maneuver his father would pull? Or is Kendall still bent on revenge?

Either way, one thing is sure: Kendall is his fathers son.

Due Diligence
Ahmad Jamal, whose measured, spare piano style was an inspiration to generations of jazz musicians, died on Sunday at his home in Ashley Falls, Mass. He was 92.

The cause was prostate cancer, his daughter, Sumayah Jamal, said.

In a career that would bring him a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master award, a lifetime achievement Grammy and induction into Frances Order of Arts and Letters, Mr. Jamal made a lasting mark on jazz with a stately approach that honored what he called the spaces in the music.

That approach stood in marked contrast to the challengingly complex music known as bebop, which was sweeping the jazz world when Mr. Jamal began his career as a teenager in the mid-1940s. Bebop pianists, following the lead of Bud Powell, became known for their virtuosic flurries of notes. Mr. Jamal chose a different path, which proved equally influential.
At an age when his peers were getting drivers licenses and thinking about college, Jose Di Lenola, then 17, was behind bars in one of New York States most violent prisons, earning a masters degree in Prison Survival, as he put it. He learned how to wield a metal can lid as a weapon and fashion a protective vest out of magazine covers taped to his torso.

In I Swerve, Pursued, his essay about the 26 years he served in prison for killing a high school classmate during a burglary, Di Lenola describes his indoctrination the first week: While waiting in line to go to dinner, I saw a prisoner stabbed four times, his lung punctured twice. The next day in the yard, while sitting on the concrete bleachers, a guy came and sat near me. At first I didnt notice anything amiss, until he turned his head. From temple to lips, a jagged rip spewed blood down his neck and shirt; hed been cut with a can lid.

He added, The first lesson you learn in prison is to mind your own business.

Di Lenolas work is one of more than 3,300 first-person narratives that make up the American Prison Writing Archive, the countrys most extensive digital repository of writings about life and conditions inside some 400 correctional facilities in 47 states. Earlier this month, the archive transferred from its original home at Hamilton College to the Sheridan Libraries at Johns Hopkins University. Buoyed by a $2.3 million grant from the Mellon Foundation, the archive plans to increase the number of digitized first-person accounts to more than 10,000, start a book series, launch exhibitions and create a kind of digital umbrella linking to kindred open-access efforts like the PEN America Prison and Justice Writing program and the Reveal Digital American Prison Newspaper collection.

The sheer volume of work can feel like beans in a jar, said Vesla Mae Weaver, the archives co-director and a professor of political science and sociology at Johns Hopkins. But when you go through them one by one by one, they raise complex and genuine questions like What is the meaning of punishment? and What is freedom?
If not for the 2020 election, most people would not have heard of Dominion Voting Systems, an elections technology company that John Poulos started out of his basement in Canada more than two decades ago.

But in the days and weeks after the election, former President Donald J. Trump and many of his allies accused the company of perpetrating election fraud. Dominion then filed a slew of defamation lawsuits against public figures and news networks, accusing them of spreading the false narratives and exposing its employees to harassment. The companys case against Fox News is scheduled to go to trial this week. Judge Eric M. Davis, who is presiding over the case, said on Monday that he was delaying the trial by a day, until Tuesday. He did not cite a reason.

Here is what we know about the company, from its private equity owner in New York to its powerful perch in the nations elections industry.

Dominions Early Days

Dominion became one of the largest providers of election technology in the United States by selling, licensing and maintaining products such as its Democracy Suite software and ImageCast voting and tabulation machines. During the 2020 election, the company served 28 states, including many swing states, as well as Puerto Rico.
In what has taken on the trappings of a grudge match, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida punched Disney anew on Monday, announcing new legislation that would override the companys recent effort to sidestep state oversight of its theme parks.

Mr. DeSantis also suggested a variety of potential punitive actions against Disney  the states largest private employer and corporate taxpayer  including reappraising the value of Walt Disney World for property tax levies and developing land near the entrances to the resort.

Maybe create a state park, maybe try to do more amusement parks  someone even said, like, maybe you need another state prison, Mr. DeSantis said at a news conference near Disney World.

Two weeks ago, Mr. DeSantis  a leading Republican presidential contender although he has not officially declared that he is running  floated the idea of raising taxes on Disney hotels and imposing tolls on roads that lead to its theme parks. He has also requested an investigation by Floridas chief inspector general into Disneys efforts to circumvent his authority.
ALBANY, N.Y.  Gov. Kathy Hochuls newest nominee to become New York States top judge, liberal Judge Rowan Wilson, was approved by a key panel in the State Senate on Monday, paving the way for his confirmation as chief judge following months of political infighting, and for the courts potential shift to the left.

Judge Wilson, 62, a prominent jurist who currently sits on the Court of Appeals, the states highest court, would become the states first Black chief judge.

If confirmed by the full Senate on Tuesday, as is widely expected, Judge Wilsons ascension could shift the political direction of the Court of Appeals, which veered to the right under the direction of the previous chief judge, Janet DiFiore. Judge Wilson, for instance, supported Democrats in their efforts, unsuccessful so far, to redraw the states congressional districts.

During his six years on the Court of Appeals, Judge Wilson built a reputation as a progressive who has defended and expanded the rights of workers, wrongfully convicted individuals and criminal defendants. Lauded as one of the courts most intellectual jurists, he has written more than 100 dissents and concurrences, and frequently voted against the conservative bloc of judges led by Ms. DiFiore.
For years, thousands of New Yorkers and tourists have walked past an unassuming office building in Lower Manhattan. On Monday, federal prosecutors unsealed criminal charges accusing two men of helping run an unauthorized Chinese police outpost there, one of more than 100 around the globe used to intimidate and control Chinas citizens abroad, and to stamp out criticism of the ruling Communist Party.

The two men were arrested on Monday and charged with conspiring to act as agents of the Chinese government, and with obstructing justice. They are said to have used the police outpost to intimidate Chinese dissidents living in the United States, on Chinas behalf.

Charges were also unveiled in two related cases: one against 34 Chinese police officers accused of harassing Chinese nationals who lived in the New York area, and another against eight Chinese officials accused of directing a Zoom employee based in China to remove dissidents from the platform.

The Manhattan police outpost, court papers say, was overseen by the Fuzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau, a branch of Chinas Ministry of Public Security. It is one of scores of such operations around the world that have unnerved diplomats and intelligence officials.
Representative George Santos won his seat in Congress in part by deceiving voters with lies and exaggerations about his biography. Now, with his falsehoods exposed, Mr. Santos plans to test his luck with voters again.

Mr. Santos, a Republican from New York, formally announced that he was running for re-election on Monday. In a statement, he did not address the controversy that has surrounded him for months.

Instead, he depicted himself as a political outsider who would eschew traditional Republican Party politics.

We need a fighter who knows the district and can serve the people fearlessly, and independent of local or national party influence, Mr. Santos said. Good isnt good enough, and Im not shy about doing what it takes to get the job done.
And, in this case, that motivation is for the committees Republicans to try to use crime in New York as a political cudgel to wield against Bragg in response to the Trump prosecution. Thats not to say crime in New York isnt a real issue, and there are of course many individual horror stories from specific cases. But the politics at play here are pretty obvious.

Democrats, for their part, plan to use the hearing to highlight Republicans resistance to curtailing access to guns.

Bragg maintains that congressional Republicans want to interfere in his offices criminal case against Trump. How unusual is congressional scrutiny of a local district attorney, even if the hearing is not about Trump but about crime? And how unusual is it for the Judiciary Committee to hold a hearing outside Washington?

Its true that House Republicans, led by the Judiciary Committee chairman, Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, are attempting to intervene in the case by putting public pressure on Bragg and bogging down his office with demands. They have issued a subpoena to one of Braggs former top prosecutors, Mark Pomerantz, and have demanded access to Braggs communications and documents about the case.

Their argument is that the prosecution is politically motivated. Under Braggs predecessor, Cyrus Vance Jr., the office used $5,000 in federal funds in the case, and they are researching legislation to prevent similar prosecutions in the future.

Lawyers for Bragg have gone to court to keep the committee from enforcing the subpoena, and a hearing on the matter is set for Wednesday, the day Pomerantz is scheduled to appear before the committee.

Congress has wide authority to investigate almost anything, but its exceedingly rare for a committee to take the actions the Judiciary Committee is taking.
I was 14 the first time I saw Adolf Eichmann in person. He wore an ill-fitting suit and had tortoise shell glasses, with the bearing of a nervous accountant. He did not seem at all like someone who had engineered the deaths of millions of people, except of course that I was at his trial for genocide.

My father, Leo Hurwitz, directed the television coverage of the Eichmann trial, which was held in Jerusalem and broadcast all over the world in 1961. My dad was chosen for the position after the producer convinced both Capital Cities Broadcasting, then a small network that organized the pool coverage, and David Ben-Gurion, the prime minister of Israel, that the trial needed to be seen live. In the 1930s, my father had been one of the pioneers of the American social documentary film. In later years, he had directed two films on the Holocaust and had helped to invent many of the techniques of live television while director of production in the early days of the CBS network. Also, as a Socialist, he had been blacklisted from all work in television for the previous decade, so he came cheap.

My mother and I joined my father in Jerusalem. Each day I stood in the control room and watched my father call the coverage  Ready Camera 2, take 2! For perhaps the first time in history, a trial was being recorded, not in the style of a newsreel, with its neutrally positioned single camera, but more like a feature film, with concealed cameras placed to cover several points of view  the witnesses, the judges, the attorneys, the publics, and of course, Eichmanns. These were cut, one against the other, often in close-up, so that the drama became vastly more personal. The style of my fathers work would come to define this trial, and its place in historical memory, even more than Eichmanns confession.
Cut to 1985, when we met at the cocktail party for Tony nominees at the Plaza Hotel. The staff was on strike, there was no chance of the show Hal was nominated for remotely winning, and we ankled elsewhere. The conversation, as I remember it, flowed much as follows.

Me: Hal, would you ever direct a high romance?

Hal: Kid, are you thinking about one?

Me: Yes, ever since I saw South Pacific. Jesus, cats and an Argentine dictators wife havent hit the spot.

Hal: Nor have mine. Go on. 

I explained Id just read a book called The Phantom of the Opera. How had I thought that, buried in a novel that couldnt decide if it was a detective or horror story, Svengali or Trilby, there was the perfect subject? Then I said I wanted the theater to resemble a disused opera house whose chandelier would rise from the stage as the building returned to its former glory.

Hal said, Go write the music.

Cut to this past weekend. The 35-year Broadway run of Phantom has come to an end. Its a personal loss to see the close of this wonderful creation, the last Hal Prince production on Broadway, with its almost 30-piece orchestra and one of the grandest designs that have ever been seen in the theater. The irony is that this past season was its best ever. Perhaps it will rise again.

Is this the end of a Broadway era? No.

For openers, the era of the big original Broadway musical ended long ago. Massive hits such as Hamilton and Phantom did not originate on Broadway, unlike West Side Story and Fiddler on the Roof.

Who is taking a risk, as Hal did so wonderfully with Stephen Sondheim? Am I wrong in fearing that a great work like Pacific Overtures could not debut on Broadway today unless there was a stage-struck sugar daddy lurking in the wings?

It can cost today $5 million to produce a play in a small Broadway house. Few plays can recoup this, even if ticket prices are astronomical.
There are good debates and bad debates. The bad ones are like the argument sketch from the old British television show Monty Pythons Flying Circus. A man who has paid to have an argument complains that his interlocutor is simply contradicting him. Argument is an intellectual process, he insists. Contradiction is just the automatic gainsaying of anything the other person says. The interlocutor responds, No, it isnt.

Monty Python was a half-century ahead of its time. A lot of debate today is nothing but gainsaying, bludgeoning and maneuvering for tactical advantage without regard for the truth. The modern exemplar of debate-as-conflict is former President Donald Trump, who in defiance of what everyone saw continues to describe the attack on the Capitol in 2021 as a mostly peaceful act of love.

What makes debate a topic for economics is that free markets dont fare well in free-for-alls. They require social cohesiveness. To do business, people dont have to agree with one another, but they do have to treat one another with respect and fairness. Bad debate deepens divisions; good debate can heal them.

That brings me to Open to Debate, the new name of what was founded as Intelligence Squared U.S. Debates. Since 2006, the nonprofit New York-based organization has staged more than 200 debates on propositions and questions including Declinists Be Damned: Bet on America, Is the Democratic Party Too Far Left? and Artificial Intelligence: The Risks Could Outweigh the Rewards.
The legal imbroglios of Donald Trump have lately dominated conversation about the 2024 election. As primary season grinds on, campaign activity will wax and wane, and issues of the moment  like the first Trump indictment and potentially others to come  will blaze into focus and then disappear.

Yet certain fundamentals will shape the races as candidates strategize about how to win the White House. To do this, they will have to account for at least one major political realignment: educational attainment is the new fault line in American politics.

Educational attainment has not replaced race in that respect, but it is increasingly the best predictor of how Americans will vote, and for whom. It has shaped the political landscape and where the 2024 presidential election almost certainly will be decided. To understand American politics, candidates and voters alike will need to understand this new fundamental.

Americans have always viewed education as a key to opportunity, but few predicted the critical role it has come to play in our politics. What makes the diploma divide, as it is often called, so fundamental to our politics is how it has been sorting Americans into the Democratic and Republican Parties by educational attainment. College-educated voters are now more likely to identify as Democrats, while those without college degrees  especially white Americans, but increasingly others as well  are now more likely to support Republicans.
Once again we invite high school students to enter our letter-writing competition. Write a letter to the editor in response to a Times news or opinion article from the past week, and we will choose some of our favorites for publication.

Letters should be about 150 to 200 words and include the headline and a link to the article. Include your name, age, high school and grade, city or town and state (for publication), and telephone number (not for publication).

Email: letters@nytimes.com

Please put Student Competition in the subject line. The deadline is Monday, May 1, at 10 a.m. Eastern time.

Good luck!

For examples of what were looking for, look at the letters published here.

For more opportunities to publish student work, visit The New York Times Learning Network.
To the Editor:

Re How to Make Trump Go Away, by Frank Luntz (Opinion guest essay, April 10):

Republicans are tying themselves in knots trying to come up with candidates who can appeal to Trump voters but who are not Donald Trump. The latest effort is this essay by the Republican strategist Frank Luntz.

I laughed and groaned when I read about the search for a candidate who champions Mr. Trumps agenda but with decency, civility and a commitment to personal responsibility and accountability. Really? How could such a thing be possible?

Mr. Trumps agenda  if one can say he has an agenda other than himself  is one of building a power base by stoking grievance, resentment and division. It is inherently based on indecency and incivility.

The last thing this country needs is a smoother, more effective version of Donald Trump. We need an agenda that brings us together to make America a better place for everyone, not just for some at the expense of others. We dont need an agenda that divides, debases and weakens us, whoever the candidate.
In 1887, Eatonville, Fla., a community near Orlando, was among the first all-Black towns to incorporate  making it an outlier in the post-Reconstruction South. Its leaders went on to found the Robert L. Hungerford Normal and Industrial School, the first school for Black children in Central Florida, with the help of Booker T. Washington. The author Zora Neale Hurston, who grew up in Eatonville, fictionalized her hometown in the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God.

While the school has closed, the town has evolved into a heritage-tourism destination, even as it remains a functioning community. Its population of roughly 2,500 is still majority Black, with small businesses, churches and historical markers lining its main traffic artery. Every January, thousands of people come from all over the world to attend the Zora! Festival, which celebrates the author, her hometown, and the cultural achievements of African Americans.

The Orange County School Board now owns the tract of land that was once the site of the school. In March, it was poised to sell 89 acres of this property, representing roughly 14 percent of the towns landmass, to a developer. Some members of the town council initially supported the measure, on account of the revenue and economic development it would have brought, but the proposed sale also drew wide condemnation from other residents. N.Y. Nathiri, the director of the Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community, told me residents worried the housing development would have become a town within a town, where longtime Eatonville residents couldnt have afforded to live. Over time, she predicted, it would have driven up property taxes and forced poorer residents out.

The developer has since backed out of the agreement, following a lawsuit the Southern Poverty Law Center helped file to stop the transaction, and a backlash that caught the attention of the media. But the future of the land tract  and by extension, the community  remains in question.
We knew we were in the wild when, two hours outside the city, a bull elephant lumbered across the road, spun around and blared his raised trunk, then rammed an acacia tree, showing off his strength or scratching his head.

At the entrance to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, where, unlike in Tanzanian national parks, the Maasai are permitted to establish settlements and graze livestock, the steep dirt road was being rebuilt with crushed rocks. Two Land Cruisers were tipped and stuck at 45-degree angles, and Aidano roared past.

We stopped at the overlook to behold the vast circular chasm. In November, at the tail end of a five-month dry season, the landscape was parched. Cloud shadows darkened sections of the leafless rim and the tan crater floor. A silvery green lake spread out on the left, and a patch of emerald woodlands near a stream stretched out on the right. Wildebeest appeared as black dots in the buff.

The 45-minute bucking bronco of a ride down the rim ended at a marsh, where we ate a tasty boxed lunch of mustard-ginger chicken stew. We gazed at a submerged hippo, a few curly-horned buffalo and a wandering warthog. As we jolted along a corrugated path past a line of pale pink flamingos in the shallow lake, a troop of baboons along the roadside and a herd of diminutive Thompson gazelle in the scrub, two things became apparent: The crater was mostly empty, and the wildlife was doing a lot of loitering.

In the rainy seasons, the expansive floor is lush and teeming with animals, including massive herds of migrating wildebeests. And because nearly all of the inhabitants are herbivores, we saw no chasing and fleeing. Instead, the wildebeests milled about or rested in acacia shade, and the zebras did a lot of standing around, motionless, like they were trying to remember something theyd just forgotten.
A grand jury in Ohio has decided not to charge eight Akron police officers in the death of Jayland Walker, a 25-year-old Black man who was shot dozens of times by the police after an attempted traffic stop and a chase last summer during which he shot at the police, the states attorney general said on Monday.

Mr. Walker was killed on June 27, 2022, after the Akron police tried to stop his car. When Mr. Walker did not pull over, video released by the police showed, officers chased him, first in vehicles and then on foot. Officers said that they thought Mr. Walker had fired a weapon from his car and that they feared he would fire again, prompting them to shoot him.

Attorney General Dave Yost of Ohio said on Monday that Mr. Walker had fired at least one shot at the police from his car. But Mr. Walker was unarmed when the police pursued him on foot and fatally shot him.

Eight Akron police officers fired a total of 94 shots at Mr. Walker, and he sustained 46 gunshot wounds, the attorney generals office said. Mr. Yost said that the police did not know that Mr. Walker had left his gun in his car. It was found in his 2005 Buick Century after the shooting.
While her path across the border was risky, it was also well worn. Experts who track the practice known as medical tourism say that tens of thousands of U.S. residents, most of them women, make the trip every year in search of body-sculpting operations that are cheaper than what they can find at home. Despite the experience of Ms. McGee and her companions, the trend shows no sign of slowing.

Cross-border medicine

Cartel violence is distressingly common in Tamaulipas, one of six Mexican states that the State Department warns Americans to avoid because of crime. Even so, women cross the border from Brownsville, Texas, every day to visit clinics in Matamoros offering liposuction and cosmetic procedures known as tummy tucks and Brazilian butt lifts.

About 1.2 million Americans traveled to Mexico in 2019 to save money on medical procedures, according to Patients Beyond Borders, a group that offers guidance on health care options abroad. The organization estimates that cosmetic procedures account for about 15 percent of all medical travel from the United States.

Jasmine Wilson, 28, of Washington, D.C., went to Mexico last October for body shaping surgery that might have cost her $20,000 domestically, she said. In Mexico, the procedures came to only about one-quarter of that price. In the months since, she has used TikTok to promote the work of her surgeon, whom she found through a Facebook group.

Ms. Wilson said larger women often have a hard time obtaining cosmetic procedures in the United States. A lot of plus-sized women dont even know that they can get plastic surgery, she said, because they get turned down.
There is little doubt that the hearings subtext is political; it is the latest instance of Republicans trying to amplify voters concerns about violent crime and blame Democrats for it. Here is what the data actually says about crime in New York  and what Mondays session is really about.

Republicans are looking for ways to damage Mr. Bragg.

House Republicans, led by Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, the Judiciary Committee chairman, have been attempting to interfere with Mr. Braggs prosecution of Mr. Trump on charges of falsifying business records in connection with his hush money payments to a porn star. They have put public pressure on Mr. Bragg to produce documents and testimony about his ongoing criminal case and bogged down his office with demands.

So even though the hearing is ostensibly about crime, it is really about tarnishing Mr. Bragg and making it seem as if he is pursuing a political vendetta against Mr. Trump at the expense of his duty to prosecute violent crime.

Mr. Jordan has issued a subpoena to one of Mr. Braggs former top prosecutors, Mark F. Pomerantz, and demanded access to Mr. Braggs communications and other materials. Republicans have justified the requests by saying that Mr. Bragg has used some federal funds in the case, and therefore Congress has oversight over it.

Representative Jerrold Nadler, of New York and the top Democrat on the committee, blasted Mr. Jordan at a joint news conference with Mayor Eric Adams before the hearing began.
WASHINGTON  Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Monday proposed a one-year debt ceiling increase paired with a set of spending cuts and policy changes, backing down substantially from earlier demands but making clear that Republicans would not raise the borrowing limit to avert a catastrophic debt default without conditions.

In a speech delivered from the New York Stock Exchange, Mr. McCarthy said House Republicans would vote in the coming weeks on a measure that would lift the debt ceiling into the next year in exchange for freezing spending at last years levels while enacting stricter work requirements for social programs and a host of regulatory rollbacks. The plan, which would be dead on arrival in the Senate, would set the stage for yet another fiscal confrontation just as the presidential campaign hits a critical period.

Im not predetermining what has to happen, Mr. McCarthy said in a speech that sought to cast President Biden, who has repeatedly called for a debt limit increase, as the person standing in the way. I want a responsible, sensible debt ceiling that puts us on an economic path to make America stronger. It works for every American. But that cannot happen if the president continues to ignore the problem.

A no-strings-attached debt limit increase will not pass, he said.

The debt limit is expected to be breached as early as July unless Congress acts to raise it.
In the spring of 2021, Linda Brandmiller was working at an arena in San Antonio that had been converted into an emergency shelter for migrant children. Thousands of boys were sleeping on cots as the Biden administration grappled with a record number of minors crossing into the United States without their parents.

Ms. Brandmillers job was to help vet sponsors, and she had been trained to look for possible trafficking. In her first week, two cases jumped out: One man told her he was sponsoring three boys to employ them at his construction company. Another, who lived in Florida, was trying to sponsor two children who would have to work off the cost of bringing them north.

She immediately contacted supervisors working with the Department of Health and Human Services, the federal agency responsible for these children. This is urgent, she wrote in an email reviewed by The New York Times.

But within days, she noticed that one of the children was set to be released to the man in Florida. She wrote another email, this time asking for a supervisors immediate attention and adding that the government had already sent a 14-year-old boy to the same sponsor.
Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador, has staked her presidential run on an image as a straight shooter, with experience and drama-free competence.

This weekend, though, it became clear that the impressive early fund-raising numbers her campaign promoted this month had been inflated, apparently because of double-counted money.

The campaign had broadcast an $11 million haul in its opening six weeks, through the end of the first-quarter filing period on March 31. But when three of her affiliated committees filed reports on Saturday, the math did not add up.

Instead, the three committees appeared to have taken in about $8.3 million, including $2.7 million that one of the committees transferred to two other committees and that was double-counted in the overall figure.
WASHINGTON  Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stood before the Lincoln Memorial in January 2022 and condemned the federal governments coronavirus response by railing against totalitarianism. Jews in Nazi Germany, he suggested, had more freedom than Americans facing vaccination mandates and school, church and business closures in the era of Covid-19.

Even in Hitlers Germany, you could cross the Alps to Switzerland, he told a crowd of flag-waving anti-vaccine enthusiasts at a Defeat the Mandates rally. You could hide in an attic like Anne Frank did.

Mr. Kennedy later apologized, though it was not the first time he had invoked the Holocaust. Over the past two decades, as he has pursued what he calls safe vaccine activism, Mr. Kennedy has evolved from an environmental lawyer concerned about mercury poisoning into a crusader for individual liberty  a path that has landed him, a scion of a storied Democratic clan, in the unlikely embrace of the American political right.

On Wednesday, Mr. Kennedy plans to formally announce that he is challenging President Biden for the Democratic nomination for president. His vaccine skepticism gives him something in common with another candidate: former President Donald J. Trump, who like Mr. Kennedy has blamed childhood vaccines for autism  a discredited theory that has been repudiated by more than a dozen peer-reviewed scientific studies in multiple countries.
Mr. DeSantis, who has all but declared his 2024 candidacy and who remains a distant second to Mr. Trump in most public opinion polls, is still introducing himself to voters. A poll by the Republican research firm Cygnal in Iowa this month showed 18 percent of respondents said they had either never heard of Mr. DeSantis or didnt know much about him.

If he opens a presidential campaign in the coming months, as expected, his chance of defeating Mr. Trump will depend largely on his performance in the early primary states.

Mr. DeSantis should have the resources to make up ground. Never Back Down has said it has already raised $30 million, part of a $110 million war chest available to his allies.

MAGA Inc. reported $54.1 million on hand at the end of 2022. The group has been criticizing Mr. DeSantis in ads for more than a month. The first spot targets Mr. DeSantiss support for cutting Social Security and increasing the retirement age for Medicare benefits while he was a member of Congress. The more you learn about DeSantis, the more you see he doesnt share our values, the narrator says in the ad.
Theodore E. McCarrick, the former Roman Catholic cardinal expelled by Pope Francis in 2019, was charged on Monday with fourth-degree sexual assault in Wisconsin. It was the second criminal complaint against a man who was once one of the most high-profile clerics in the American Catholic Church.

Mr. McCarrick, now 92, is the first and only U.S. cardinal to be criminally charged in the sprawling sex abuse scandal that has consumed the church. Thousands of victims and abusers have been identified in parishes across the nation, with accusations from decades ago still being revealed in ongoing investigations.

Resulting lawsuits have pushed some dioceses to file for bankruptcy. Yet relatively few criminal charges have resulted, largely because the statute of limitations has expired, though some states are changing laws to allow for civil cases to proceed.

The new charge against Mr. McCarrick stems from an accusation dating back to 1977. According to the criminal complaint, Mr. McCarrick assaulted a 19-year-old that year at a home on Geneva Lake in southern Wisconsin, where they were both guests. Prosecutors say the victim was swimming off a dock when Mr. McCarrick and another adult man entered the water and fondled his genitals without his consent.
Pinned

NAIROBI, Kenya  As two rival generals, each with his own army, grappled for power in Sudan on Monday, even hospitals trying to tend to the swelling numbers of wounded were no longer havens.

At one overwhelmed medical center, the morning began with shelling. Then, members of a paramilitary force barged inside, ordered newborns and other patients to be evacuated, and began taking up positions, one doctor said.

The hospital turned into a battlefield, said the doctor, Musab Khojali, an emergency room physician at the Police Hospital in Burri, northeast of the capital, Khartoum.

Many other hospitals were also reported to have come under attack on Monday, the third day of fighting in Sudan.

The death toll has risen to at least 180, with about 1,800 others injured.

The two generals, who together seized power in a coup in 2021, have now turned against each other  rebuffing all attempts by mediators who for months had been pressing them to unite their fighting forces under one umbrella, relinquish power and allow a transition to civilian rule.

Amid growing reports of random violence and looting, concerns grew that the fighting might embroil other nations in the region, including Egypt, which has troops in the country, as well as Chad, Ethiopia and Libya. Russia has also been trying to make inroads in Sudan, and members of the Kremlin-affiliated Wagner private military company are posted there.

Leaders from around the world called for a cease-fire, but it was not clear who, if anyone, was in control of Sudan, Africas third-largest country, by area.

Image Shuttered shops in Khartoum on Monday. Credit... Marwan Ali/Associated Press

In Khartoum, where many have lost power and water, residents watched warplanes and military helicopters circling ominously, and homes shuddered with the sound of shelling. Those few who dared venture out from their homes found the streets dangerous and desolate.

Everyone is afraid, said Ahmed Abuhurira, a 28-year-old mechanical engineer who went out to try to charge his cellphone. You can see it in their eyes. People are panicking.

The fighting began on Saturday, when forces loyal to Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan, the head of the paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces, began clashing with forces loyal to the Sudanese army chief, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

Only the army has aircraft, and on Monday, General Hamdan accused his rival of bombing civilians from the air. The Sudanese Army said in a statement that it was operating within the rules of conflict and international humanitarian law.

The turn of events has worsened a crisis in a nation where one-third of its 45 million people were already in need of food aid. Now, the violence has forced aid groups to suspend operations. The United Nations World Food Program says three of its workers were killed.

Image Destroyed airplanes at the Khartoum International Airport on Monday. Credit... Maxar Technologies, via Agence France-Presse  Getty Images

And on Monday, the U.N. envoy to Sudan, Volker Perthes, said gunmen had been looting and burning warehouses holding critically needed aid, as well guesthouses and offices of agencies like the World Food Program and UNICEF.

Antonio Guterres, the U.N. secretary general, said he had spoken with both warring generals and expressed deep concern. The humanitarian situation in Sudan was already precarious and is now catastrophic, he said.

The American secretary of state, Antony J. Blinken, called for an immediate cease-fire, and spoke separately with General Hamdan and General al-Burhan to underscore the urgency of reaching a cease-fire, Vedant Patel, a State Department spokesman, said in a statement.

The secretary expressed his grave concern about the death and injury of so many Sudanese civilians due to the sustained, indiscriminate fighting, and stressed the responsibility of the two generals to ensure the safety and well-being of civilians, diplomatic personnel, and humanitarian workers, Mr. Patel said.

General Hamdan said on Twitter that he was honored to have a vital conversation with Mr. Blinken and had discussed their shared dedication to freedom, justice and democracy for our people.

For now, however, even the much more modest goal of a cease-fire appears elusive.

Mr. Perthes said that he was talking to the leaders of both military factions daily, and that they had made it clear that they had no intention of ending the fighting. They are, however, receptive to the idea of a pause to allow humanitarian access, he said.

Although the toll on civilians has been most evident in Khartoum, aid workers say they are also concerned by the situation outside the capital, and especially in the western Darfur region.

Image A vehicle belonging to the Rapid Support Forces in Khartoum on Monday. Credit... Agence France-Presse  Getty Images

Save the Children, an aid organization, said on Monday that looters had stolen medical supplies for children, as well as a refrigerator, laptops and cars in a raid on one of its offices in Darfur. The groups Sudan director, Arshad Malik, called on the combatants to safeguard humanitarian services.

For the past three days, he said in a statement, people across Sudan have been gripped by fear, not knowing if it is safe to leave their homes, and now having to make the choice between facing that fear and starving to death.

Cyrus Paye, a coordinator for Doctors Without Borders in North Darfur, said in a statement that most of the wounded there were civilians who were caught in the crossfire  among them are many children.

He painted a dire picture of the conditions for medical workers.

The hospital is rapidly running out of medical supplies to treat survivors, Mr. Paye said. It is running out of medicines and blood. There has also been a power outage in the city since the beginning of the fighting, and fuel supplies for the hospital generator are also running low.

The Central Committee for Sudanese Doctors said that more than a dozen hospitals had been forced to close. Hospitals in Sudan are under bombardment, the group said.

American diplomats are sheltering in place, and a White House spokesman said that all U.S. government personnel are accounted for.

But Western officials reported that the European Union ambassador to Sudan, Aidan OHara, had been assaulted at his home in Khartoum after armed men broke in, threatened him at gunpoint and stole money.

The assailants were members of the Rapid Support Forces paramilitaries, identified by their uniforms, several officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity for security reasons.

This constitutes a gross violation of the Vienna Convention, Josep Borrell Fontelles, the top diplomat for the bloc, said on Twitter. Security of diplomatic premises and staff is a primary responsibility of Sudanese authorities and an obligation under international law.

The U.N. spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said that gunmen were forcing staff members out of their apartments in Khartoum and then operating out of them.

Image A satellite image showing destroyed fuel trucks at a fuel depot in Khartoum on Monday. Credit... Maxar Technologies, via Reuters

With concern growing that the conflict may entangle other nations, observers were paying close attention to Egypt, which has enmeshed itself deeply into the affairs of its neighbor.

Since 2019, when pro-democracy protesters forced Sudans autocratic president to step down, Egypt has been eager to keep a civilian-led democracy from taking root on its southern doorstep, analysts have said. Ruled by a military-backed government that came to power after its own antigovernment uprising in 2011, Egypt has sought to replicate similar leadership in Sudan.

Egyptian officials see a strongman as the best way of keeping its neighbor stable  and off a democratic path that could inspire Egyptians  and they have embraced General al-Burhan as an ally, especially after one Rapid Support Forces faction captured Egyptian soldiers and seven Egyptian warplanes over the weekend.

The fighting has made transit in and out of the country difficult. At the main airport in Khartoum, airplanes were targeted again on Monday as the rival military factions fought for control over critical infrastructure.

The New York Times, using satellite imagery, has identified 20 planes that have been destroyed or badly damaged at the airport since the conflict erupted.

On Monday evening, residents of the city of Omdurman, northwest of the capital, said the situation was quiet, with many people coming out of their homes and traffic gradually building in some shopping areas. Many households, however, still lacked water or electricity.

In the capital, many residents found it safest to stay home. Mr. Abuhurira, the electrical engineer who went out to charge his phone, said that in the half-hour he spent on the street, he encountered almost no one.

The few people he did run across, he said, looked like a zombie  without a soul or spirit.

Image An abandoned street market in Khartoum on Monday. Credit... Agence France-Presse  Getty Images

Reporting was contributed by Vivian Yee from Cairo, Farnaz Fassihi and Christoph Koettl from New York and Edward Wong from Karuizawa, Japan.
NAIROBI, Kenya  As two rival generals, each with his own army, grappled for power in Sudan on Monday, even hospitals trying to tend to the swelling numbers of wounded were no longer havens.

At one overwhelmed medical center, the morning began with shelling. Then, members of a paramilitary force barged inside, ordered newborns and other patients to be evacuated, and began taking up positions, one doctor said.

The hospital turned into a battlefield, said the doctor, Musab Khojali, an emergency room physician at the Police Hospital in Burri, northeast of the capital, Khartoum.

Many other hospitals were also reported to have come under attack on Monday, the third day of fighting in Sudan.
Nobody expected them back so soon.



Last week, the remains of 17 Guatemalan men killed in a fire at a migration center near the U.S. border were flown back home, where three days of national mourning have been declared. They were among 40 people who died in March at the migration center in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, near the border with Texas.

It is not the first time the Guatemalan president has had occasion to declare such a period of mourning. He has done so at least twice before: in December 2021, when at least 40 Guatemalans died in a vehicular crash in Chiapas, Mexico, and in March of that same year, when more than a dozen migrants were shot and burned in Tamaulipas, Mexico.

So far this year, the Guatemalan authorities have helped repatriate 58 dead nationals. In 2022, they brought back 427 people, 361 of whom had died in the United States. Many had been migrants trying to cross the American border.

Mexico has detained five people in connection with the fire in March. The prosecutors office is also expected to press criminal charges against the leader of the National Institute of Migration.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan  A Chinese worker on a dam project in northern Pakistan has been arrested and imprisoned on accusations of blasphemy, in a rare case of a foreigner being swept up in Pakistans harsh and controversial blasphemy laws.

The Chinese man was identified in a Pakistani police report as Mr. Tian and described as a transportation supervisor at the Dasu hydropower project, led by Chinas Gezhouba Group construction and engineering company.

The police report, which was obtained by The New York Times, said the man was on a field visit along with a team of Pakistani workers over the weekend when he was accused of making blasphemous remarks and gestures against God and the Prophet Muhammad after afternoon prayers during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Under Pakistani law, a conviction on those accusations could bring the death penalty.

Officials said the Chinese man was being transported to a jail near the city of Abbottabad for his safety, and faced court hearings to determine whether he would be indicted.
Sergey V. Lavrov, Russias foreign minister, began a five-day trip to Latin America on Monday as Russia continues to push for allies in its fight with Ukraine or, at a minimum, works to keep countries from supporting Kyiv.

Mr. Lavrov started his visit in Brazil, whose president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, recently visited Moscow. Mr. Lula has walked a fine line during the war, condemning Russias invasion but declining to help arm Ukraine and saying that its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, and NATO share some blame for the fighting.

Russias Foreign Ministry said Mr. Lavrov will also meet with his counterparts in Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and other countries.

Moscow has been working to expand its influence in Latin America, including with countries that have traditionally been close to Washington. Mr. Lavrovs trip is designed to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation, according to the Russian state news agency Tass.
Airbus and Air France were acquitted of manslaughter charges by a French criminal court on Monday over their role in the 2009 crash of a flight from Rio to Paris that plunged into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 228 people on board.

The verdict was a bitter disappointment for the families of the victims, who had battled for over a decade to bring Airbus, the aircraft manufacturer, and Air France, the main French airline, to trial.

We are sickened, Daniele Lamy, the president of Entraide et Solidarite AF447, an association of families of the victims, said after the court rendered its verdict, adding that she and members of other families were desperate, dismayed, and angry.

Impunity prevails among the powerful, said Ms. Lamy, whose son died in the crash.

But the ruling did not come as a surprise. At the end of the two-month trial last year, after reviewing all of the evidence, prosecutors had taken the unusual step of announcing that they would not seek convictions, arguing that there was not enough evidence to hold the companies criminally liable.
Marion Horn, who was acting editor in chief at Bild until Monday, insisted over the weekend in a commentary that I dont let anyone tell me what Bild has to write. She defended the integrity and independence of her reporters, and she called on Mr. Dopfner to apologize.

He did so the next day in a commentary published in Bild in which he also lamented that he had intended his messages to stay private. I apologize for offending, unsettling or hurting many with my words, he wrote.

Mr. Dopfner owns a 21.9 percent stake in the company, but he also holds the voting rights of Frieda Springer, who is the widow of the companys founder, Axel Springer, and holds 22.5 percent. She tapped Mr. Dopfner to become chief executive in 2002 after surviving challenges to her leadership by others in the Springer family.

Under Mr. Dopfner, Axel Springer has expanded from a traditional German publisher to an international digital media company. In 2015, the company bought Business Insider (now called Insider) for $442 million. It purchased Politico in 2021 for more than $1 billion, with the aim of becoming what Mr. Dopfner described as the leading digital publisher in the democratic world.

The New York private equity company KKR owns a 35.6 percent stake it bought in 2019 to take the company private, allowing Axel Springer to expand more rapidly outside Germany and focus its energy on pushing into digital media. Axel Springer announced last month that it would begin phasing out its printed newspapers in the next years. In addition to Bild, a splashy tabloid that is Germanys biggest-circulation newspaper, it also owns Die Welt, a centrist broadsheet.
PARIS  President Emmanuel Macron, straining for a tone of reconciliation after months of bitter conflict over his plan to raise the retirement age in France, expressed regret for the first time that a consensus was not reached and appealed for a new national elan based on calm, unity, ambition and action.

In a 13-minute address to the nation, Mr. Macron, clearly determined to move on from the pension reform upheaval, appealed for 100 days of concerted action to establish a new pact of life and work. But his speech was defiant on the raised retirement age, offering no concessions, and contained few specific proposals. Labor unions have already rejected an invitation to begin talks with him on Tuesday.

As he spoke, crowds banged pots and pans outside city halls in Paris and other cities in an attempt to drown out Mr. Macrons voice. Unions have called for a further day of massive protest on May 1, the French Labor Day and a national holiday. They have said they will not speak to the president at least until then.
A Moscow court on Monday sentenced an outspoken critic of the Kremlin to 25 years in prison, an unusually harsh punishment that underscores President Vladimir V. Putins increasing determination to equate dissent with treason.

The sentence given to Vladimir Kara-Murza, an opposition activist and journalist who had urged the American government to impose sanctions on Russian officials, is longer than what is often given for murder in Russia, and greater than the time being served by other imprisoned Putin critics, like Aleksei A. Navalny.

It represents the latest chilling example of the Kremlins wartime repression 14 months after the invasion of Ukraine, and comes less than three weeks after the arrest on espionage charges of Evan Gershkovich, an American correspondent for The Wall Street Journal based in Russia.

We live in 2023, in the 21st century, Mr. Kara-Murzas mother, Yelena Gordon, told reporters outside the courthouse after the sentencing. What is this? What is happening?
BRUSSELS  Russias invasion of Ukraine, the costliest conflict in Europe since World War II, has propelled the North Atlantic Treaty Organization into a full-throttled effort to make itself again into the capable, war-fighting alliance it had been during the Cold War.

The shift is transformative for an alliance characterized for decades by hibernation and self-doubt. After the recent embrace of long-neutral Finland by the alliance, it also amounts to another significant unintended consequence for Russias president, Vladimir V. Putin, of his war.

NATO is rapidly moving from what the military calls deterrence by retaliation to deterrence by denial. In the past, the theory was that if the Russians invaded, member states would try to hold on until allied forces, mainly American and based at home, could come to their aid and retaliate against the Russians to try to push them back.

But after the Russian atrocities in areas it occupied in Ukraine, from Bucha and Irpin to Mariupol and Kherson, frontier states like Poland and the Baltic countries no longer want to risk any period of Russian occupation. They note that in the first days of the Ukrainian invasion, Russian troops took land larger than some Baltic nations.
The U.S. ambassador in Moscow said that she met with Evan Gershkovich in prison on Monday, the Wall Street Journal reporters first consular visit since he was detained more than two weeks ago.

Mr. Gershkovich, 31, was detained by Russian security services in late March and charged with espionage, an accusation that his employer and U.S. officials vehemently deny. While Mr. Gershkovich has been able to meet with Russian lawyers, the State Department had repeatedly called for the Russian authorities to grant consular access.

On Monday, Lynne M. Tracy, the ambassador, said she had been allowed to see Mr. Gershkovich in Moscows Lefortovo Prison.

He is in good health and remains strong, she said in a brief statement posted on Twitter. We reiterate our call for his immediate release.
Even before he was sentenced on Monday to 25 years in a Russian penal colony, Vladimir Kara-Murza considered himself an enemy of the Kremlin.

The Russian opposition activist and Washington Post contributor was born into a family of acclaimed journalists, scientists and lawyers. Two of Mr. Kara-Murzas great-grandfathers were executed as spies and enemies of the people during Stalins great purges, according to Meduza, a Russian news website. His grandfather was arrested in 1937 and served a sentence in labor camps in Russias Far East.

Mr. Kara-Murzas activism long rankled Russias political elite. For a time, he acted as the federal coordinator of Open Russia, a civic group founded by Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, the former chief of Yukos Oil and critic of President Vladimir V. Putin who served years in prison in Russia.

Mr. Kara-Murza became known as a vocal critic of what he called a Kremlin policy of assassinating political enemies. He also drew the Kremlins ire when he lobbied for the use of Western sanctions to punish Russian government officials engaged in human-rights abuses. He urged American lawmakers to expand economic sanctions against the Russian government under a landmark law known as the Magnitsky Act that was enacted by Congress in 2012 and expanded in 2016.
To locate items closer to the ground without ruining your ability to see the stars, it helps to use red light, as Joey Troy, another TAAS member, has found.
A five-month-old bar-tailed godwit recently smashed the record for long-distance migration after flying 13,560 kilometers non-stop over a period of 11 days.

Every autumn, millions of migratory birds take to the sky for a long and perilous journey to escape the coming cold, feed and breed for the next few months. Many of them cover impressive distances of over 10,000 kilometers (6,200 miles), but this year, one small bird surpassed all expectations regarding long-distance flying, traveling a whopping 13,560 kilometers (8,425 miles) without stopping, and setting a new Guinness record in the process. And it was all because of an unusual detour that could have cost the bird its life, considering that the non-stop journey pushed its flight capacity to the limit.

Photo: Dhaval Vargiya/Unsplash

Last month, the young bar-tailed godwit  a wetland bird species  took off from Alaska on its way to New Zealand for the winter, but somehow, at one point during its grueling journey, the small bird took a little detour that added an extra 500 kilometers to its initial itinerary. That seems like a small distance to cover, considering that the normal route would have seen it fly around 13,000 kilometers, but its actually a significant difference that could have had fatal consequences.

Short-tailed shearwaters and mutton birds can land on the water and feed, Eric Woehler of Birdlife Tasmania told ABC News. If a godwit lands on water, its dead. It doesnt have the webbing in its feet, it has no way of getting off the water. So if it falls into the water from exhaustion, if bad weather forces it onto the ocean surface, thats it.

Scientists were able to track the godwits record flight with the help of a tiny tracker that only weighed 5 grams. Technological advancements have allowed researchers to track such small species of birds without endangering them, as adding any kind of significant weight to a creature that weighs only between 300 and 400 grams could put its life in danger.

Its one thing to put a satellite tag on an albatross that weights five or more kilos but its a completely different story in terms of technology and ethics to put a tracker on a bird that weighs only 300 or 400 grams, Dr. Woehler said.

Recorded data showed that the five-month-old bar-tailed godwit took off on October 13 from the wetlands of the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta in Alaska, followed the regular route across the Pacific Ocean down to New Caledonia and through the Tasman Sea, before making an unexpected 90-degree turn that saw it head towards Tasmania rather than New Zealand.

Dr. Woehler estimates that the bird lost half or more of its body weight, during the 11-day continuous flight, but it made it to dry land safely, setting a new Guinness record for long-distance bird flight. The previous record had been set in 2020 by another bar-tailed godwit that had covered 12,000 km (7,500 miles) in 11 days.



Interestingly, scientists have yet to understand how birds like the bar-tailed godwit are able to navigate such large distances without stopping and without getting lost.
A Spanish extreme athlete who voluntarily isolated herself from the world by entering a cave in November 2021 recently emerged from her self-imposed exile after a record 500 days.

When female climber Beatriz Flamini entered an isolated cave in the Spanish region of Granada on November 21, 2021, the world was still in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia had not invaded Ukraine, and Elon Musk had not yet become the tzar at Twitter. Falmini was 48 years old when she entered the cave, but she had turned 50 by the time she stepped out of it and had no idea what had occurred in the outside world in the last 500 days. Although she did not make contact with any other humans, Beatriz was carefully observed by a team of scientists, including psychologists and speleologists, in what is considered a first-of-its-kind experiment.

Im still stuck on November 21, 2021. I dont know anything about the world, the extreme athlete told reporters as she exited the 70m (230ft) deep cave for the first time. Ive been silent for a year-and-a-half, not talking to anyone but myself.

Smiling and wearing glasses to protect her eyes from sunlight after 500 days of darkness, the 50-year-old climber described her extreme experience as excellent, unbeatable, promising to offer more details after taking her first shower in almost a year and a half. She apparently spent most of her time going through 60 books, exercising, drawing and knitting wool hats.

Flamini had to be held after exiting the cave, because her senses were only beginning to adjust to the outside world, so she kept losing her balance. She said that she stopped keeping track of time at one point, after about two months, and estimated that she had been inside for between 160-170 days, not 500.

Living in complete isolation for so long caused Flamini to experience auditory hallucinations, because you are silent and the brain makes it up, but the toughest thing she had to put up with was an invasion of flies inside the cave, which left her covered in the tiny insects.



Beatriz Flaminis team claim that her 500 days of complete isolation count as a new world record, although Guinness has yet to confirm if there is even a category for voluntary time living alone in a cave. More importantly, the data gathered from her unique experience is expected to be invaluable in the research on the impact of social isolation and extreme temporary disorientation on peoples perception of time.
OFFALY environmental campaigner Tom Roche has hit out at a tractor run which took place in Tullamore on bank holiday Monday.

The tractor run was a Tullamore College Parents' Council fundraiser and it attracted many tractors and trucks at 25 each.

In an open letter to Tullamore College Parents' Council and the school's board of management, Mr Roche asked why there would be support for a tractor run which he said is detrimental to the climate and local air quality.

Mr Roche, a native of Tullamore who lives in Rhode, said by hosting a tractor run Tullamore College had decided to ignore and turn a blind eye to the ominous warnings and objective scientific reports, in our local and national media of late regarding the climate emergency and related biodiversity crisis and public health matters.

Mr Roche referred to the Tullamore College mission statement: 'Tullamore College works to create a secure, caring environment based on respect. Here, self-belief and a love of learning lead to the achievement of excellence.'

He said: From my perspective, instead of being a guiding force to create a secure, caring environment, Tullamore College has let their students down. They have not yet grasped the significance and urgency of the crises we face. Instead, Tullamore College have decided its okay to join the ranks of climate deniers and organise a tractor run. For an education institution like Tullamore College to do so at a time of climate and biodiversity crises, is, in my opinion, irresponsible and extremely worrisome.

Mr Roche has publicly condemned tractor runs previously and has suggested that if they must take place, electric vehicles could be used.

He said he thinks the runs are objectionable because they are driven by people who do not accept and acknowledge that the burning of fossil fuels in combustion engines is a significant cause of global warming.

Mr Roche's open letter continued: Secondly, the extraction of fossil fuels to drive combustion engines is a driving force in rainforest destruction, water pollution, human rights violations and the decline in biological diversity worldwide.

Thirdly, the burning of fossil fuels in combustion engines is carcinogenic to humans and thereby a public health issue. The World Health Organisations International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) concluded that ambient (outdoor) air pollution is most closely associated with increased cancer incidence, especially lung cancer. An association also has been observed between outdoor air pollution and increase in cancer of the urinary tract/bladder.

The campaigner went on: I am sure you will agree that quality education opens and liberates the intellect. It unlocks the imagination and is fundamental for self-respect. Education is the key to prosperity and opens a world of opportunities, making it possible for each of us to contribute to a progressive, healthy society. Learning benefits every human being. And, after all, isnt that what any parent would want for their children? Your role therefore, is to assist the academic staff of Tullamore College to educate and prepare the students to achieve the necessary personal and practical skills to live rewarding, fruitful healthy lives. This can only be achieved by taking the current climate and biodiversity crises seriously and by actively placing it at the centre of all learning carried out at Tullamore College. By doing so you will be helping students to solve problems and come up with imaginative solutions that will ensure a bountiful and liveable planet for their future.

He recalled Ireland's adoption (along with all 193 UN member states) in 2015 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Transforming our World) and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

He said one of those goals clearly states that your role is to ensure that all students in Tullamore College acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development. This includes, among others, through education for sustainable development (ESD) leading to sustainable lifestyles, respect for human rights and gender equality.

The same SDG promotes a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of cultures contribution to sustainable development.

His letter also referred to the emergence of eco-anxiety and a study of 10,000 young people across the world which found that 75% of people ages 18 to 25 think the future is frightening.

He quoted study author Britt Wray telling Smithsonian Magazine: Its not a pathology. Its not a mental health disorder. Its a sign that you care and are attached to whats going on in the world.

An activist for more than 30 years and the founder of Just Forests in 1989, Mr Roche said he has developed a set of Twelve Steps To Positive Adult Activism which can be accessed or downloaded from https://rememberrio.com/

The challenge for Tullamore College now is to become the first college in Ireland to formally adopt an action plan/policy that will place you as leaders of quality education for sustainable development going forward, said Mr Roche.

Dealing with the challenges of climate action and associated issues can be daunting. Before we can build a better world we must acknowledge and accept where we are at this present moment. We must then imagine what a better world can be like. I will gladly help in the formulation of such an action plan/policy upon request.

He concluded his open letter with a quotation from the UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres: Half of humanity is in the danger zone, from floods, droughts, extreme storms and wildfires. No nation is immune. Yet we continue to feed our fossil fuel addiction. We have a choice. Collective action or collective suicide. It is in our hands.
George Mitchell vowed that part of his heart will always be in Northern Ireland as a new bust of the peace mediator was unveiled in Belfast.

The former US senator  who helped broker the 1998 Good Friday Agreement  has been immortalised in bronze at Queens University, an institution where he once served as chancellor.

The sculpture, which was created by acclaimed Northern Ireland artist Colin Davidson, was unveiled by current chancellor Hillary Clinton and Mr Mitchells wife Heather on the first day of a major conference commemorating the 25th anniversary of the accord.

It stands in front of the universitys Whitla Hall and is intended to act as an inspiration to students emerging from the building after their graduation ceremonies.

Former US president Bill Clinton, who appointed Mr Mitchell to chair the Good Friday talks, ex-UK prime minister Sir Tony Blair and former taoiseach Bertie Ahern also attended the ceremony, as did Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton Harris and Irish government minister Eamon Ryan.

Well, my first reaction is that when youre looking at a statue of yourself, you know the end is near, Mr Mitchell joked at the ceremony.

So Im going to enjoy it in what time is left. My heart is filled with gratitude to so many people.

The veteran diplomat spoke of his and his wifes deep affection for Northern Ireland.

A very large part of our hearts and of our emotions will forever be here in Northern Ireland, he said.

He added: This is a good place. You are good people. You deserve a life of peace, opportunity and prosperity. Please, I ask you, I beseech you, continue your efforts. Life has changed, circumstances will arise in the future that cannot now be anticipated. But opportunity, prosperity and peace is a right of the people of Northern Ireland.

To have been able to participate in some way in furthering their rights, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Mr Clinton described Mr Mitchell as a brilliant mediator.

Today means a lot to me, because Im the guy that talked George Mitchell into taking that easy little part-time job I discussed, he joked.

If you ever wonder how important Ireland was to George Mitchell and the Northern Irish peace process, just remember this  I tried to get him to go on the Supreme Court and he said no.

And I said well, how about this (Northern Ireland talks process), this wont take long.

And for 25-plus years now, hes been reminding me of how misleading I was about that little part-time job I asked him to take. But he was brilliant at it. And he loved what he was doing. And he fell in love with all the details and the warts and all. He stayed at it.

The new bust of George Mitchell sits in front of the Whitla Hall at @QUBelfast  placed there to serve as inspiration to students emerging after their graduations. pic.twitter.com/TQ85VhkFMo  David Young (@DavidYoungPA) April 17, 2023

Mr Clinton told the ceremony the Good Friday deal had created a thing of beauty.

As long as I have known George Mitchell he has always tried to do what was best for everybody, he said.

He has an innate sense of fairness and a genius about how to achieve it. He gets you to change your mind and you could swear you didnt change anything  thats what you thought all along.

His genius was a great gift to the people of Northern Ireland and to people who love peace everywhere and Im glad it will be commemorated in this beautiful, beautiful sculpture.

Ms Clinton said there could be no more fitting tribute than the statue.

Former PM Sir Tony conveyed the significance of the role Mr Mitchell played in the talks.

In the frenzy of Northern Ireland politics, George was this soothing balm of wisdom and calmness and tranquillity, he created just the right atmosphere for people to talk to each other, he said.

He was also, of course, instrumental in drafting the framework for the Good Friday Agreement. So he was not just a great guy, he was a great lawyer, which we needed too in order to put all the different strands together.

Mr Ahern said it as an absolute honour to attend the event as he praised Mr Mitchells courtesy, dignity and respect for all of us.
The people of Northern Ireland and their political leaders changed history 25 years ago when the Good Friday Agreement was signed, a major conference in Belfast has been told.

Former US senator George Mitchell, who chaired the negotiations in 1998, also said the deal set an example for peace around the world, and urged people in the region not to let it slip away.

Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who is hosting the Agreement 25 conference as part of her role as chancellor at Queens University in Belfast, urged current politicians to move forward with the same spirit of unstoppable grit and resolve as their predecessors had done.

Ex-US president Bill Clinton, Sir Tony Blair and former taoiseach Bertie Ahern are also scheduled to participate in the three-day event, 25 years on from the landmark accord.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar are due to attend later in the week.

The agreement largely ended Northern Irelands 30-year sectarian conflict.

Making the keynote address at the opening of the conference, Mr Mitchell said: Twenty-five years ago the people of Northern Ireland and their leaders changed the course of history.

It was a day when history opened itself to hope.

The people of Northern Ireland supported, worked for and established a democratic, peaceful process as their preferred form of governance.

They overwhelmingly rejected political violence as a way to resolve their differences.

If history teaches us anything, it is that history itself is never finished.

On the evening the agreement was reached, I commended the men and women who wrote and signed it, but I also said it would take other leaders in the future to safeguard and extend their work.

And so it has.

I am here, with many others, to sound that bell one more time.

Mr Mitchell said the peace deal was not perfect, but called on the current and future leaders of Northern Ireland to act with courage and vision.

He said: To find workable answers to the daily problems of the present, to preserve peace.

To leave to the next generation peace, freedom, opportunity and the hope of a better future for their children.

At the end of his address, Mr Mitchell said the referendum which approved the Good Friday Agreement had shown people around the world the possibility of hope.

He said: When you approved the agreement you were also talking to Israelis and Palestinians, to Colombians, to Africans, Asians, to Americans  in fact you were talking to the world.

This is an agreement for peace and for the future, not just here, but everywhere.

He added: We need people who believe, who know that the possible does exist within the impossible  dont let it slip away.

The Good Friday Agreement created powersharing institutions at Stormont that involved nationalists and unionists governing Northern Ireland together in a mandatory coalition arrangement.

While the pact largely ended the Troubles, which had claimed more than 3,600 lives since the late 1960s, it has failed to bring long-term political stability in the region and devolution has collapsed several times in the last two decades.

The anniversary comes amid another period of collapse, with the DUP blocking powersharing in protest at post-Brexit trading arrangements that have created economic barriers between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

The barriers were first introduced under the Withdrawal Agreements contentious Northern Ireland Protocol.

The UK and EU recently agreed the Windsor Framework as a way to cut the red tape created by the protocol.

While the DUP says the framework has gone some way to address its concerns about the protocol, it says significant problems remain.

The party has opposed the framework at Westminster and has made clear its boycott of Stormont will continue until it secures further assurances from the UK Government over its concerns around sovereignty and the application of EU law in Northern Ireland.

Mrs Clinton said the Windsor Framework on post-Brexit trade provided Northern Ireland with an opportunity to become an economic hub for global trade and investment.

While the Good Friday Agreement is an enormous achievement, we know that peace, prosperity and progress that so many have worked tirelessly to achieve remains incomplete, she said.

The work of integration and housing and schools is far from finished, neighbourhoods remain divided, poverty and unemployment persist, the difficulties of the past continue to threaten the present.

You know, we are at a standstill with the Northern Ireland Assembly no longer functioning. But the Windsor agreement provides a path forward not just for convening but for positioning Northern Ireland as an economic hub for global trade and investment through privileged access to the UK and all of its trading partners, as well as the EU.

She added: There have been many moments in Northern Irelands peace journey where progress seemed difficult, when every route forward looked blocked, there seemed nowhere to go.

But you have always found a way through and I believe you will again, because the stakes for the people of Northern Ireland are so high.

You stand as an example to the world of how even the staunchest adversaries can overcome differences to work together for the common and greater good.

So, I encourage everyone now to move forward with the same spirit of unstoppable grit and resolve that brought the peace 25 years ago. Your friends in the United States will be behind you all the way as you work toward peace, prosperity and stability that lasts.
4iG group has announced that DIGIMobil customers will be switched over to Vodafone Hungarys network from 1st June.

Last week (13th April), DIGIMobil stopped signing up new customers as part of the preparations for its integration with Vodafone Hungary. As reported by TeleGeography, 4iG now owns both mobile operators, having closed its acquisition of a majority stake in Vodafone this February. State investment vehicle Corvinus took the 49% minority stake, with the government decreeing the deal exempt from antimonopoly regulation.

4iG is now looking to streamline its asset portfolio by spinning off DIGIs mobile infrastructure  including its passive and active mobile communication devices, radio frequency usage rights and more than 2,500 transmission towers - into a separate unit ahead of a planned divestment.

A statement from DIGI confirmed that its mobile customers will be able to access their current voice and data packages at a guaranteed price and without changing SIM cards until 31st December 2023, with the operators managing director Tamas Tabori saying: Our goal is to continue to provide our subscribers with an even higher quality service at a favourable price.

The possibility of selling DIGIs mobile infrastructure can create additional resources for the further development of the fixed network and for even better service to our customers. Connecting DIGIMobil customers and Vodafones infrastructure is the first benefit of the cooperation between the member companies of the 4iG group that can be directly felt for residential mobile subscribers.
Fact Check: Did a sea of humanity descend on Asad Ahmeds funeral

Fact Check

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

A video has gone viral with the claim that the funeral of Asad Ahmed, the son of slain gangster Atiq Ahmed was attended by scores of people.

Asad had been killed in an encounter with the Uttar Pradesh police in an encounter in connection with the Umesh Pal murder case. On the night of April 15, Atiq Ahmed also wanted in the same case was shot dead along with his brother Ashraf by three men posing as journalists.

Now a video of huge gathering has gone viral with the claim that this is from the funeral of Asad.

Fact Check: Is this the image of Asad who was killed in UP encounter?

"This is a crowd of people who had gathered to attend Atiq Ahmed's deceased son Asad Ahmed's funeral. This makes it quite evident that Asad had never exploited people. Otherwise, nobody would come to his funeral, just like nobody came to attend Umesh Pal's funeral," wrote one user on Twitter in Hindi.

Running a reverse search of the viral video, OneIndia learnt that this is not from the funeral of Asad. It is in fact the funeral procession of Islamic scholar Maulana Rabey Hasani Nadvi.

We found a longer version of this video on YouTube which was posted on April 14 2023. As per this video, the last rites of Maulana Rabey Hasani Nadvi can be seen in this video.

When compares the video that has gone viral and one shared on YouTube, it clearly shows the similarities, which led us to conclude that this is not from the funeral of Asad.

The funeral of Maulana Rabey Hasani Nadvi was held in the campus of Screenshot 2023-04-17 at 10.32.40 AM.pngthe Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama in Lucknow.

Fact Check: Has the Swiss govt halted Covid vaccine program?

The actual video of Asad is also on YouTube and the same can be seen below.

Maulana Rabey Hasani Nadvi was the president of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and chancellor or the Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama, Lucknow. He died on April 13 at the age of 94.

Hence we could say in conclusion that the video that has gone viral with the claim that scores of people attended the funeral of Asad Ahmed is false. It is in fact from the funeral of Maulana Rabey Hasani Nadvi.

Fact Check Claim Thousands of people attend funeral of Atiq Ahmeds son ASAD AHMED. Conclusion The video is from the funeral of Maulana Rabey Hasani Nadvi. Rating False Raise your request for FACT CHECKING. Mail us at [email protected]

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, April 17, 2023, 11:10 [IST]
OPINION: What New Delhi can do to bring Tokyo, Seoul closer

Feature

lekhaka-Jagdish N Singh

Japan and South Korea, the two reasonably developed democracies in East Asia, are drawing close to each other today. India, the world's largest democracy with ancient roots, can contribute to the process of bringing the two democracies still closer. New Delhi could use its diplomacy to iron out the differences that still exist between Tokyo and Seoul as it has had excellent ties with both the countries.

In a significant development, the political leaderships in South Korea and Japan are drawing very close to each other these days. Recently, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said that Japan has transformed "from a militaristic aggressor of the past into a partner." South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin unveiled a plan for resolving Seoul's long-festering dispute with Tokyo over the issue of wartime Korean labourers who had been drafted to work in Japan during its colonial rule ( 1910-1945).

Park announced that the funds for compensating the labourers would now be raised by the country's "voluntary" private sector donations and paid to a South Korean foundation. The Park plan is at variance with the 2018 South Korean Supreme Court decision, according to which Japanese companies, such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Nippon Steel, which had relied on Korean forced labour during the war, were supposed to directly contribute this fund to the Koreans.

On the other hand, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met South Korean President Yoon in Tokyo last month and the two leaders reportedly had a very meaningful talk. The Japanese diplomatic bluebook today states: Tokyo is for "building a friendly and cooperative relationship" with Seoul.

India stands in solidarity...: Jaishankar on Seoul Halloween stampede

Observers say that both President Yoon and Prime Minister Kishida recognise the common threat nuclear China and North Korea pose to their countries. They emphasise the importance of free trade and open Indo-Pacific. Besides, they emphasise the importance of trilateral cooperation between Japan-ROK-US "to strengthen the rules-based economic order and promote prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and the world."

The administrations of President Yoon and Prime Minister Kishida are likely to build on their understanding and promote the ties between the two nations. The two neighbours today face common domestic policy challenges. The challenges include declining fertility rates, a rapidly aging population and widening economic disparities. The two nations could definitely benefit working together. Both Japan and South Korea have already eased COVID-19 border restrictions. The tourist traffic between the two countries is surging.

The observers suggest India could contribute to the process of bringing Japan and South Korea still closer to each other. New Delhi, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, rightly envisages "a free, open, inclusive and peaceful Indo-Pacific built on a rules-based order and sustainable infrastructure investment." India could move towards achieving this goal better by seeking to bring Japan and South Korea closer to each other.

New Delhi is well-positioned to do so. India is the world's largest democracy with its ancient roots. It can play a global role in fostering better ties between Japan and South Korea, the two reasonably developed democracies in East Asia. New Delhi could use its diplomacy to iron out the differences that still exist between Tokyo and Seoul and foster stronger ties between them.

Historically, India has been friendly to both countries. India has strong commercial and cultural ties with both of them. New Delhi supported Tokyo's right to self-determination when the San Francisco constitution was enforced upon Japan. It also waived off all the war reparations that Japan was made to pay to other countries.

In 1947, India argued against the elections (US-supervised) to be held only in South Korea. India proposed free and fair elections throughout Korea, including North Korea which was then under the then Soviet Union. During the Korean war, India contributed to the resolution of the prisoners of war issue.

Get 1 million Yen per child by leaving Tokyo: Japan's scheme to reverse population decline

There has been a near consensus across the international strategic spectrum that an emergence of Japan-South Korea-India partnership would serve the contemporary world better. India, Japan and South Korea today must forge a robust strategic partnership based on shared values of democracy, all inclusive economy and world peace.

The three nations need an Asia free from the threats of terrorism, proliferation, piracy and conflicts. They need to maintain freedom of the seas for inclusive economic growth. They depend heavily on the Sea Lanes of Communications (SLoCs) for their energy security. They need to cooperate with one another also for better global governance through reforms in the leading international institutions, including the UN Security Council, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Trade Organisation (WTO).

(Jagdish N. Singh is a senior journalist based in New Delhi. He is also Senior Distinguished Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, New York)

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of OneIndia and OneIndia does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.
Could the state-supported 5G network Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) be under threat from competition in Malaysia? A number of sources are suggesting that Malaysia plans to introduce a second 5G network from next year, though this remains unconfirmed by government.

Reuters cites a number of sources suggesting that this is part of a policy shake-up by the present administration aimed at dismantling monopolies and promoting competition. The administration has focused on minimising wasteful spending and boosting competition.

What this means for DNB is unclear, though we have already reported industry concerns about pricing and transparency relating to DNB, as well as worries that it will mean a nationalised monopoly. If the suggestion that the government plans to introduce a second 5G network from January 2024 is true, it seems that these concerns have been noted.

However an earlier recommendation by major carriers for a second 5G provider was rejected, albeit by a previous government. More recently, after months of talks, all but one of the country's five mobile operators agreed in October to use DNB's network to bring 5G services to customers.

However, the present government, which took office in November, suggested the 5G plan had not been formulated transparently by the previous administration and announce a review.

The numerous firms involved in DNB have kept a low profile in the light of these revelations, but Reuters suggests, based on information from its sources, that a proposal on the plan could be submitted to the cabinet on Wednesday.

The sources also suggest that the plan for a second network will be contingent on DNB and mobile operators ensuring that 5G network coverage reaches the government's target of 80% of the country's populated areas by the end of this year.

The big question now is whether we can expect a second state-run network on the same 5G wholesale basis as DNB, or a completely private 5G network  and how the signatories to DNB will respond to such a development.
SC to hear on April 28 plea for independent probe into Atiq killing

UP Board Results 2023: Class 10, 12 exam results to be out tomorrow

'Mafia who had a free run in 2017 are now begging for life': UP CM

20-year-old woman shot dead in broad daylight in UP's Jalaun

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

In a shocking incident, 20-year-old woman on her way home after a college exam was shot dead by by two unknown people on a motorbike in Jalaun district of Uttar Pradesh on Monday.

The woman identified as Roshni Ahirwar, was a Bachelor of Arts (BA) student. The incident took place when she was returning home near Kotra Mod after writing an examination at her college.

According to the police, the assailants, who shot her in the head with a country-made pistol, dropped the weapon near the body and fled.

Atiq killers shifted to Pratapgarh jail over security reasons

The spot where he was shot dead is about 200 metres away from the local police station.

Following the incident, the woman's parents lodged a complaint. "Roshini had gone to write her digital marketing paper at Ram Lakhan Patel Degree College in Ait town of the district," her father said.

''The assailants were likely to be someone known to the woman. The Police has constituted 4 teams, that are raiding all possible hideouts arrests will be made soon,'' Superintendent of Police (SP) Iraj Raja said as quoted by news agency ANI.

As per witnesses statement, the two men had their faces covered when they approached her near the Kotra trisection.

Meanwhile, a case has been registered and further investigations are on.

A video clip of the incident showing the woman lying in a pool of blood on the road has gone viral on various social media platforms, drawing sharp criticism towards the Yogi-Adityanath-led state government. Netizens have question the law and order situation of the state.

Meanwhile, the Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) shared the same video clip on micro-blogging Twitter and wrote,''In Uttar Pradesh's Jalaun, two bike-borne youths shot dead a girl student in broad daylight. Will the wolves of Godi media and the BJP celebrate this death too?."

Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said on Twitter, "BJP government = crime"
'Be ready to go to jail': Kejriwal tells AAP leaders after 'national party' tag

AAP leader Gopal Italia arrested by Surat Police over controversial remarks

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Gujarat Aam Aadmi Party leader Gopal Italia was on Monday arrested by Surat Crime Branch for his alleged remarks on Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi during a rally before the Gujarat election in September last year. He was later granted bail.

According to reports, Italia had used some allegedly objectionable words to describe state BJP chief CR Paatil and Sangahvi and had said the attack on Sorathiya was carried out by BJP goons.

The case was lodged in Umra police station in Surat on September 2, 2022 for using allegedly defamatory words against Paatil and Sanghavi and also calling BJP workers 'goons' in a video message uploaded on social media platforms.

Chinese engineer arrested in Pakistan for insulting 'Allah'

Italia had uploaded the video messages after an alleged attack on his colleague Manoj Sorathiya in Surat on August, 2022.

The case was being investigated by Surat Crime Branch, which arrested Italia during the day, as reported by PTI.

After being released on bail, Italia said the police action was aimed at harassing him.

''Such statements are made by all political leaders against one another. How come an FIR was lodged only against me? They (police and government) are misusing their power,'' he said.

The case was registered against Italia under Indian Penal Code sections 500 (defamation), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 505 (1)(b) (offending act inducing person to commit an offence against state or public tranquillity), and 469 (forgery for purpose of harming reputation) of the Indian Penal Code.

(with PTI inputs)

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, April 17, 2023, 19:59 [IST]
Atiq Ahmed murder: Plea in Supreme Court seeks judicial committee

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a probe by a judicial committee headed by a retired judge into the murder of gangster Atiq Ahmed.

The plea seeks a committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge to probe the murder of Atiq and his brother Ashraf. Both were murdered by three men who had posed as journalists on the night of April 15.

The plea filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari also prayed that the committee should probe the 183 encounters that have taken place in Uttar Pradesh since 2017. He also sought a directive to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take over the probe into the alleged fake encounter of gangster Vikas Dubey.

Dreaded gangster Atiq Ahmed was shot nine times according to autopsy

"Such highlighted actions are a severe threat to the democracy and rule of law, such acts are establishments of anarchy and prima facie development of police state. The Extra judicial killing or fake police encounters have been very badly condemned under the law. In a democratic society the police cannot be allowed to become a mode of delivering final justice or to become a punishing Authority. The power of punishment is only vested in the Judiciary. The police when becomes DARE DEVILS than the entire Rule of law collapses and generates the fear in the mind of C people against police which is very dangerous for the Democracy and this also results into further crime", the petition states.

The petition also said that the Supreme Court must address the violation of right to life and liberty and also the fact that public interest at large is being affected.

Atiq Ahmed buried in Prayagraj; killers sent to judicial custody

"Murder in any police custody of a person is a very serious act and indicates the failure of police system, there might be 2 aspects that either the Atiq Ashraf murder was a crime committed by some other gangsters or it was a conspiracy involving the system ... The concern of this litigation is not to any Atiq or Ashraf murder but a murder which was carried out in a police custody especially when the entire things were very sensitive,"the petition said.

Atiq Ahmed was a Member of Parliament between 2004-2009. Prior to this he was an MLA.
Atiq Ahmeds killer may have had links with Sundar Bhati gang

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

One of the three shooters involved in the murder of dreaded gangster Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf is believed to have links with Sundar Bhati, a gangster from Western Uttar Pradesh.

The Zigana pistol, which was used to shoot Atiq and Ashraf was reportedly given to Sunny, one of the shooters by Bhati's gang.

Bhati is a gangster from Ghanghola village in Gautam Buddh Nagar district in UP. He has over 60 cases against him which include murder, attempt to murder, extortion, assault and robbery. Bhati was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2021 for the murder of one Harendra Pradhan in UP. He is currently lodged in the Sonbhadra jail.

Atiq Ahmed murder: Plea in Supreme Court seeks judicial committee

Bhati was said to have met Sunny when he was lodged in the Hamirpur jail. Sunny was behind bars for a robbery. During this time Bhati is said to have taken Sunny into confidence and inducted him into the gang.

Bhati's henchmen had kept in touch with Sunny following his release. It is said that Sunny got the Zifgana pistol from Bhati's men.

Although the police are yet to come to any conclusion regarding the murder of Atiq and his brother, it is yet to be ascertained whether there was an enmity between the two gangs.

On Saturday night, Atiq and Ashraf were bother killed by three persons posing as journalists. The brother-duo were on their way for a medical examination and were talking to media persons before they were killed. Both were involved in the murder of Umesh Pal. The entire incident was captured live on television. The assailants were identified as Sunny, Lavlesh Tiwari and Arun Maurya.

Atiq was shot at least 9 times, says autopsy report

The killers have been nabbed by the police and sent to judicial custody. "We wanted to achieve something huge in the crime world," the killers said after the murder.

Both Atiq and Ashraf died instantly after being hit by over 13 bullets. Two days prior to the murder, Atiq's son, Asad Ahmed was killed in an encounter with the UP police in Jhansi.
BJP heavy-weight Jagadish Shettar joins Congress

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

BJP heavy weight, Jagadish Shettar who resigned as MLA has joined the Congress.

He had resigned as a BJP MLA, but is yet to quit the party's membership. Speculation about him joining the Congress was fuelled after he resigned and then boarded a chopper with Congress leader Shamanur Shivashankarappa. Shettar however maintained that he is discussing the issue with his well-wishers. "I am someone who built the BJP. It is hurtful that I am having to leave. I will take a call after factoring everything, he had said earlier.

Shettar had met with top Congress leaders last night before he joined the party on Monday. Congress general secretary, Randeep Singh Surjewala and Karnataka party chief, D K Shivakumar were present.

BJP will form govt in Karnataka again: Amit Shah

Senior leader, B S Yediyurappa is however doesn't seem pleased with the decision made by Shettar. He said that Shettar was offered a Rajya Sabha seat and a berth in the Union Cabinet. He however seems to be determined on joining the Congress. "This is not acceptable and the people will never forgive him, " Yediyurappa said.

Congress chief D K Shivakumar said that there will no demands from Shettar. He will have to agree with the principles and leadership. We want to keep the country united and only the Congress can do it.

Shettar has won six elections in the past. In the 2018 elections, he had won by over 21,000 votes defeating his Congress rival, Mahesh Nalwad.

There have been a spate of resignations after many leaders were denied tickets by their respective parties to contest the Karnataka Assembly elections.

Prior to this, former deputy chief minister and BJP MLC, Laxman Savadi had quit the party and joined the Congress.

'Winning Karnataka elections is out of question for Congress': Annamalai

There is trouble within the Congress as well. Senior leader and MLA Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy has submitted his resignation after he realised that he may not be fielded from his strong seat of Pulakeshinagar in Bengaluru. He is likely to join the BJP, reports have said. For the BJP, Murthy will be a good catch as he is strong in his constituency and the BJP would be looking to better its tally in the city.

BJP sources say that the exits are painful, but it may not make much of an impact. The BJP will have to recalibrate its strategy a bit since both leaders who have quit are from the strong Lingayat community. While speculation is rife that Shettar may join the Congress, there is a good chance that he may look to contest as an independent.
Chinese engineer arrested in Pakistan for insulting 'Allah'

India

oi-Prakash KL

An engineer from China has been arrested in Pakistan, where he works, for allegedly making insulting remarks against the Islamic god 'Allah'.

The employee of China-based Gezhouba Group Company was arrested by police in northern Pakistan as the angry mob tried to assault him. He was taken into custody from a worksite camp at the Dasu hydropower project, according to a report in Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.

The engineer reportedly had a heated verbal exchange with Pakistani labourers over the slow-paced work during Ramadan. With the word spreading about the Chinese national insulting Allah, people gathered in huge numbers at the Chinese work camp on Sunday with an intention of attacking him.

The protestors also blocked Karakoram Highway. However, they were controlled by the cops and paramilitary soldiers who have been given the task of protecting Chinese nationals working on the dam. To bring the situation under the control, the security agencies fired warning shots in the air.

The angry mob left the spot after four hours, once they were assured of taking action against the Chinese national. The local religious leaders will however take a call on whether or not to file a blasphemy complaint with the police at the tribal council meeting.

Tricolour painted on her face, girl denied entry into Golden Temple

In Muslim-majority Pakistan, any comments against the Islam or Allah or anything against Quran is considered as blasphemy. It is an extremely sensitive issue in this country as a small rumour can trigger violence.

However, rights organisation have often alleged that this is misused to settle personal issues. More importantly, religious minorities become victims in such cases.

Meanwhile, security has been beefed up for the Chinese nationals working on Dasu hydropower project after a suicide bomb attack in 2021 that killed 13 people, including nine Chinese workers.

It may be recalled that a Sri Lankan national was lynched by angry mob at a factory in the eastern city of Sialkot in December 2021 over blasphemy.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, April 17, 2023, 16:19 [IST]
LG warns Kejriwal of legal action over AAP's power subsidy claims

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Delhi lieutenant governor VK Saxena on Monday wrote to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal warning him of legal action regarding his allegations of an alleged bid to stop the AAP government's flagship power subsidy scheme in the city.

Saxena, in his letter to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, cited various press releases issued by the Delhi government carrying the allegations against him. "I write to you seeking accountability and responsibility with regards to unsubstantiated and false statements made by you and your colleagues in the Government and Party, against me," the letter read.

"The power minister, health minister and the chief minister himself have been making blatantly false, misleading, accusatory, libelous and defamatory statements in the media and elsewhere to the effect that the subsidy given in the power sector is being stopped by the Lt Governor/that the Lt Governor is conspiring with the officers to stop the power subsidy," it said.

Saxena also asked the CM to furnish documents, substantiating his allegations. He further termed them as 'unsubstantiated and false.'

"You are requested to furnish any paper or communication that establishes that the Lt Governor wants power subsidy to be stopped or is conspiring with officers or a political party to stop power subsidy, as is being openly alleged by your Ministers and colleagues in the party," Saxena wrote in the letter.

He expected that the information sought by him will be furnished at the earliest. "....failing which it would be assumed that you and your colleagues are deliberately misleading the people of Delhi and playing petty political games, which deserve unequivocal condemnation and legal redressal," read the letter.

Delhi Power Minister Atishi had earlier said that the Delhi Cabinet has approved the extension of power subsidy for the year 2023-24 but the file is still pending in the LG office.

However, the Lt Governor's office said the power subsidy extension for the year 2023-24 has been approved by Saxena and accused Atishi of levelling false allegations.

Hours after showdown with AAP, Delhi LG clears power subsidy file

The AAP Government in Delhi provides free electricity to consumers with 200 units of monthly consumption. Those having 201 to 400 units of consumption per month get a 50 per cent subsidy capped at Rs 850.

Last year, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that a power subsidy would be provided to only those consumers who apply for it. According to official figures, over 48 lakh among more than 58 lakh domestic consumers have applied for power subsidy.

The AAP Government has allocated Rs 3,250 crore for power subsidy in its Budget for 2023-24.

(with inputs from PTI)
Atiq was shot at least 9 times, says autopsy report

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

The autopsy report of gangster Atiq Ahmed who was murdered on Saturday night has found that he had been shot at least nine times.

Reports said that at least nine bullet injuries were found in the body of the dreaded gangster during the postmortem. Five bullets were recovered from the body of his brother Ashraf Ahmed, who was also shot dead by two persons pretending to be journalists outside a hospital in Prayagraj.

An NDTV report said that Atiq was shot once on the head and eight times on the chest and back. The headshot was captured live on television as three shooters, all under arrest now, rained bullets on the gangster turned politician and his brother. Both died on the spot.

The autopsy fund five bullet injuries in Ashraf's body, one on the face and four on his back.

Atiq Ahmed buried in Prayagraj; killers sent to judicial custody

A team of five doctors conducted the postmortem. The entire proceeding was video-graphed to ensure that there is a proper probe into the high-profile case.
Eid 2023 date & time of moon sighting in Kerala, Kashmir and other states; when is Eid

India

oi-Prakash KL

Muslims across the globe are prepping up to celebrate their one of the most important festivals Eid-ul-Fitr which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar and Muslims worldwide observe a month of fasting (sawm), prayer and spiritual reflection. The holy month comes to an end after the sighting of the new moon which paves way for the beginning of the Islamic month of Shawwal.

Hence, the sighting of the moon for the month of Shawwal holds a great significance for Muslims as it determines the date of Eid-ul-Fitr. There will be committees to sight the moon and Eid date will be announced based on their announcement.

However, there are often disagreements among Islamic scholars over the exact method for determining the date of Eid. While some rely on actual moon sightings, others use astronomical calculations.

As a result, the date of celebration might be different from region to region.

Eid-ul-Fitr in Kerala

The date of Eid al-Fitr in Kerala is determined by the sighting of the moon in Saudi Arabia while it will be celebrated a day later in rest of the country. The state government announces Eid holiday based on the decision of the moon sighting committee.

Going by the official website, Eid will be celebrated on April 21.

Eid-ul-Fitr in Kashmir

The date of Eid-ul-Fitr in Kashmir will be declared by the Grand Mufti of Kashmir, highest religious authority in the region. "Shab-e-Qadr will be observed on April 17. Moon sighting will be done on April 20 and if moon is sighted, people will have to offer one day Qaza fasting after Eid," Grand Mufti Nasir-ul-Islam had said.

It may be recalled that there was a controversy around the Ramzan date in Kashmir as two different announcements were made by Kashmir's Grand Mufti Nasir-ul-Islam and Pakistan's Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee.

Grand Mufti had claimed that it had not witnessed the Ramadan crescent but the majority of people followed Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee's announcement, The Hindu reported.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, April 17, 2023, 12:41 [IST]
Few may quit NCP under ressure, but not Ajit: Raut after meeting Pawar

India

oi-Prakash KL

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday said that he believes Ajit Pawar might not leave NCP and recalled Sharad Pawar telling him last week that some leaders might bid goodbye to his party under pressure.

"At the meeting with Thackeray, Pawar had certainly spoken of pressure and threats being applied by Central agencies like Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Central Bureau of Investigation [CBI] and the police machinery to split the NCP in the manner of the Shiv Sena.

Pawar had said that while some people may leave the party owing to this pressure, but that would be their individual decision. The NCP president has clearly said that the NCP as a party will never leave the MVA alliance. I had written the same in the Saamana as well," The Hindu quoted him as saying.

On Ajit Pawar joining BJP, Sanjay Raut cites Fevicol bond

Responding to the rumours of Ajit Pawar joining hands with BJP, the Uddhav camp spokesperson highlighted that he was present at the meeting in Nagpur. "We had a good conversation. We returned [to Mumbai] in the same flight. I do not at all think he will leave the NCP and venture off in another direction," Raut said.

Of late, there were speculations that Ajit Pawar, who had earlier rebelled against the NCP and joined hands with the BJP to become Deputy Chief Minister, had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

He also claimed that the relationship between Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP is "excellent". He reminded the media that Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar together met the heat-stroke affected patients on Sunday.

It has to be noted that Raut, in his weekly column 'Rokthok', recently made similar claims on Pawar claiming that some leaders were under pressure to quit the NCP.

"(Sharad) Pawar told Uddhav Thackeray during their meeting (on Tuesday) that nobody wants to switch over. But, family is being targeted. If anyone takes a personal decision to leave, it is their individual issue. But we as a party will never go with the BJP," Raut wrote.

Opposition firm on demand for probe into Adani companies: Sanjay Raut

He also made mention about a sugar mill belonging to Ajit Pawar's family being raided and seized by the ED. But, now the chargesheet doesn't have any mention of Ajit Pawar or his family members. "What happened to the allegations of money laundering in the purchase of the sugar mill. Were the raids and allegations just for political pressure?" he asked.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, April 17, 2023, 14:50 [IST]
Internet Exchange operator AMS-IX has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with MainOnes Lagos data centre, MainData Nigeria (MDXi).

Under the arrangement, AMS-IX will set up an internet exchange at MDXi, with the carrier-neutral data centre acting as a strategic partner and reseller for AMS-IX in West Africa. The partnership will deliver improved interconnection capabilities for existing and new customers on the exchange, further facilitating the distribution of content into the West African region.

The agreement will allow content delivery networks, application providers, and hosting companies to exchange internet traffic locally through MDXis interconnected ecosystem of networks, operators, large enterprises, and cloud service providers.

Onno Bos, International Partnership Director of AMS-IX, said: Lagos is the ideal location to serve as a content hub for West and Central Africa as it is strategically located in a fast-developing region with landing sites for international subsea cables connecting Africa to EMEA and beyond.

Oluwasayo Oshadami, GM, Technical Solutions, MainOne, added: This partnership is an important step in realising our long-term strategy to become a leading carrier-neutral digital infrastructure company by bringing a full range of transformative technologies to Africa.

The partners intend to seek alliances to connect with local telecom operators and internet exchanges to help develop and support local ecosystems.
How Atiq's wife Shaista, daughter of a cop, went on to turn most-wanted?

Atiq killers shifted to Pratapgarh jail over security reasons

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Lavlesh Tiwari, Sunny Singh, and Arun Maurya, the three men who who shot gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother, were shifted from Naini (Prayagraj) Central Jail to Pratapgarh District Jail on Monday. The official said the transfer was done on administrative grounds, as reported by news agency PTI.

The three assailants were arrested soon after the dramatic shootout outside the hospital in Prayagraj where policemen were escorting the brothers for a medical check-up Saturday night.

The trio were taken from Prayagraj at 12 noon and reached Pratapgarh at 2.10 pm, officials said.

Atiq Ahmeds killer may have had links with Sundar Bhati gang

Intelligence inputs suggested that there could have been an attack on the three in Naini jail. Hence, they were shifted to Pratapgarh this afternoon.

According to reports, all three shooters will be kept separately from other prisoners and their special monitoring will be done by jail officials.

The three men in their twenties, who cops say wanted to make a name for themselves by eliminating Ahmed's gang, were sent to judicial custody for 14 days after they were produced in court over the weekend.

It must be noted that one of the Atiq Ahmed son is currently lodged in the Prayagraj Central Jail in Uttar Pradesh.

Atiq Ahmed murder: Plea in Supreme Court seeks judicial committee

Both Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf died instantly after being hit by over 13 bullets. Two days prior to the murder, Atiq's son, Asad Ahmed was killed in an encounter with the UP police in Jhansi.
'How can Home Minister talk about toppling a govt?' Didi slams Shah

India

oi-Prakash KL

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has come down heavily on Union Home Minister Amit Shah over his recent remarks that her government would collapse if BJP gets 35 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

"On Friday, Amit Shah addressed a rally. That is fine. But how can the Union home minister of the country talk about toppling a democratically elected government of a state? Is the constitution of the country being changed? He can never make such a comment that if BJP wins 35 Lok Sabha seats, the state government won't complete the full term," PTI quoted Banerjee as telling reporters on Monday.

Last Friday, Shah targeted the Bengal government over the recent violence during the Ram Navami celebration. "Can't Ram Navami processions be taken out in Bengal? Will they be attacked?" India Today quoted him as saying at a rally in Birbhum.

"It is Didi's (Mamata Banerjee) appeasement that has led to thisa Once the BJP government is formed in the state, no one will have the courage to attack the Ram Navami procession," Shah said.

The Union Home Minister said that Mamata is dreaming to make her nephew the next Chief Minister. "From here in Birbhum, I say that the next CM is going to be from BJP. The trailer has to be shown in 2024 (general elections)," says Shah in Birbhum, West Bengal.

He said, "The only way to fight against the crimes of Didi and Bhaipo is BJP. The only way to free Bengal of terror is BJP. The only way to stop infiltration in Bengal is BJP... Give us 35 seats in 2024, there will be no need for 2025 (West Bengal polls); before 2025, Mamata Didi's govt will collapse."

The West Bengal CM said that a minister should not speak the language of a "goon" while accusing the centre of hatching a conspiracy to bring down the state government.
Wet spell over East central, NE and South India during next 4 days, predicts IMD

Weather update: Heavy rains to lash TN, Kerala; No heatwave conditions for next 7 days

IMD: Spell of hailstorm, rainfall in central, south India over next 2-3 days

IMD warns of heatwave conditions in these states

India

oi-Deepika S

The Meteorological department on Monday predicted that heatwave conditions will prevail in several states, including Maharashtra, Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal and Delhi NCR due to increased temperature.

Photo Credit:

"States like Delhi, Punjab, West Bengal, Haryana and North West India will see rise in temperature in coming days. However, due to Western disturbances, the temperature is expected to drop in the coming days. An orange alert has been issued regarding heatwave in many states, including West Bengal," Naresh Kumar, IMD official told ANI.

"In east India, coastal Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, the heat wave conditions are prevailing for four-five days," he added.

A heat wave is declared when the maximum temperature of a station reaches at least 40 degrees Celsius in the plains, at least 37 degrees Celsius in coastal areas, and at least 30 degrees Celsius in hilly regions, and the departure from normal is at least 4.5 degrees Celsius.

West Bengal

In view of the ongoing heatwave conditions in West Bengal, all educational institutions in the state have been instructed to remain closed for a week starting from April 17th.

"All autonomous, state, central government aided and private universities and affiliated colleges in the state except in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts will remain closed for a week from April 17 due to the prevailing heatwave situation," read an official notice from the West Bengal government.

The weather department has released an orange alert for the state.

Odisha

Odisha is reeling under extreme heat, with the day temperature reaching 43.5 degrees Celsius.

"Baripada recorded 43.5C, which is the highest temperature recorded in Odisha this month," Umashankar Das, a senior scientist at India Meteorological Department (IMD), told ANI.

With no significant signs of thunderstorms, it is likely that the maximum temperature in the city will rise over the next couple of days.

The IMD has sounded yellow alert for districts like Koraput, Malkangiri, Rayagada, Kandhamal, Ganjam, Gajapati, Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Keonjhar and Bhadrak districts.

Maharashtra

Maharashtra is also witnessing severe heatwave conditions. On Sunday, 11 people died due to heat stroke after standing under the sun for hours during the Maharashtra Bhushan Award ceremony attended by Home Minister Amit Shah.

The Eknath Shinde government has announced Rs 5 lakh exgratia to the kin of the deceased.

At least 10 Maharashtra districts have recorded maximum day temperatures upwards of 40 degrees Celsius in mid-April, with Chandrapur the hottest at 43.2 degrees.

Bihar

The IMD has predicted that Bihar is likely to witness severe heatwave conditions in the next three-four days.

"People are advised to avoid heat exposure, keep cool and avoid dehydration. Besides, district authorities have also been advised to monitor the situation in their respective districts. Situation is being closely monitored by the state Disaster Management department," Bihar Disaster Management minister Shahnawaz was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

The mercury crossed the 42 degrees Celsius mark in at least five places in the state.

However, people in Delhi-NCR are may get relief as rain is likely on Monday.

with agency inputs
It is elitist says Centre on same-sex marriages in Supreme Court

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

The Centre has told the Supreme Court that the courts cannot rewrite an entire branch of law by recognising the rights of same-sex marriages.

The Centre said that this cannot be done because of a creation of a new social institution and this is beyond the scope of judicial determination. The government is questioning the maintainability of a batch of petitions that has demanded the legal validation of same-sex marriages in India.

The Centre also maintained that the the petitions reflect an 'urban elitist view' for purpose of social acceptance. "This cannot be equated with appropriate legislature mirroring the views and voices of far wider spectrum of society.

'Flawed': SC slams Karnataka govt on scrapping 4% Muslim quota

"A decision by the court in recognising the right of same sex marriage would mean a virtual judicial rewriting of an entire branch of law. The court must refrain from passing such omnibus orders. Proper authority for the same is appropriate legislature...Given the fundamental social origin of these laws, any change in order to be legitimate would have to come from the bottom up and through legislation...a change cannot be compelled by judicial fiat and the best judge of the pace of change is the legislature itself," the Centre said.

Hearing on the matter would commence on April 18 and it would be heard by a Bench comprising Chief Justice of India, Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, and Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, S Ravindra Bhat, PS Narasimha and Hima Kohli.

The Supreme Court is seized of a batch of 15 petitions which demand a legal recognition to same-sex marriages.

"The question concerning legal recognition of same sex marriage and its parity with the existing concept of marriage, as an exclusively heterogenous institution, which is governed by the existing legal regime and has a sanctity attached to it in every religion in the country, seriously affects the interests of every citizen. It raises critical issues as to whether questions of such a nature, which necessarily entails the creation of new social institution, can be prayed for as a part of the process of judicial adjudication," the petitions stated.

"The courts cannot either create or recognise any institution called "marriage" either by way of a judicial interpretation or striking down/reading down the existing legislative framework for the marriages, which undoubtedly occupies the field," the Centre said.

SC slams Lalit Modi for his post on judiciary, asks him to apologise

"This is the only constitutional approach permissible under the Constitution while recognising any socio-legal relationship as an institution with sanction under the law. The competent legislature is the only constitutional organ which is aware of the above referred considerations. The petitioners do not represent the view of the entire population of the nation," the Centre also said.

"Any encroachment on the legislative powers solely reserved for the elected representatives would be against the well-settled principles of 'separation of powers' which is held to be a part of the basic structure of the Constitution. Any such deviation from the concept of separation of powers would be thus, contrary to constitutional morality," the government also said.
'Are you now trying to steal Nandini from us?,' Siddaramaiah asks PM Modi

Jagadish Shettar is a tall leader but insulted by BJP: Siddaramaiah

India

oi-Deepika S

Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Monday slammed the BJP for not giving members of the Lingayat community their due credit and insulting tall leaders like Jagadish Shettar.

"Jagadish Shettar is a very humble personality. Even though, he came from RSS background, he is a secular leader. I have seen his work very closely. I and Shettar have always had a very cordial relationship. When he was the Chief Minister, he worked tirelessly for the party," said Siddaramaiah while welcoming Shettar to the party fold.

"Shettar was loyal and the tallest leader of the BJP. When he was in power, he never compromised on anything. He was an honest party worker in BJP and always stood with the party, not for any personal gain," he said.

BJP heavy-weight Jagadish Shettar joins Congress

"The BJP, which called itself a disciplined party, now insulting its own leaders' without considering the efforts that those leaders have made. BJP accept Yediyurappa as their leader, and Jagadish Shettar was always in the second position. They also disrespected Yediyurappa by bringing him down from the CM post, which is why he cried when he resigned," he said.

Former Chief Minister and Karnataka's prominent Lingayat leader Jagadish Shettar joined the Congress party on Monday, in a major jolt to the ruling BJP. Shettar, a six-time MLA from the Huballi-Dharwad Central constituency, was among the few leaders whom the BJP had asked to opt out of contesting elections to make way for younger generation.

According to Chief Minister Basavaraja Bommai, the BJP had promised a big post to Shettar in Delhi but he did not agree to party's request. Shettar's move to quit the party and join the Congress is likely to have ripple effects in some of the regions in North Karnataka.

BJP will form govt in Karnataka again: Amit Shah

The 67-year-old leader belongs to the Lingayat community which forms close to 17 of Karnataka's voting population and also has a major say in the formation of governments in the State.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, April 17, 2023, 11:20 [IST]
BJP has to go if democracy is to survive: Cong chief Kharge

Will C T Ravi be the next chief minister of Karnataka? Eshwarappa clarifies

Shettar gets a rousing welcome in Hubballi, wife breaks into tears

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Senior BJP leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, who joined Congress on Monday returned to Hubballi to an emotional welcome.

Jagadish Shettar's wife Shilpa broke down after seeing him back home as supporters cheered and raised slogans congratulating him. She later wished him all the best for his future innings.

After being denied a ticket by the BJP for the upcoming Karnataka assembly elections 2023, the Lingayat leader on Monday joined the Congress in the presence of party president Mallikarjun Kharge, KPCC president DK Shivakumar and Congress leaders Randeep Surjewala, Siddaramaiah at the party office in Bengaluru.

Lashing out at the BJP for humiliating him and not giving him a chance for an honourable exit, the former State BJP president said he was beginning a new episode in his life by joining the Congress.

The impact of Shettar quitting BJP and joining Congress

The decision to part ways with the BJP came after the 67-year old six time MLA, a former Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, ex-Speaker and a party president in the past, was denied ticket to contest from the Hubli-Dharwad (Central) segment, which he represented in the outgoing Lower House.

The Congress was emboldened by Shettar's move. ''With this, the Lingayats will turn against the BJP and shift towards the Congress'', the party's Campaign Committee Chairman M B Patil said.

Shettar, who resigned as MLA on Sunday, was asked by the BJP top brass to make way for others as part of the party's strategy to groom the next generation of leaders but he was firm on contesting.

(with PTI inputs)
Over 100 crore people have listened to PM's Mann Ki Baat at least once: Survey

Karnataka polls: PM Modi likely to visit Udupi with UP CM Yogi

India

oi-Prakash KL

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath are likely to visit the Temple town Udupi on May 4 to attend a party event in poll-bound Karnataka.

The party workers in the coastal town are planning a grand event just a few days before Karnataka will have its single-phase election. However, the venue has not been finalised yet.

The Temple Town comes under the Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Lok Sabha constituency and it has eight assembly seats - Kundapura, Udupi, Kapu, Karkala, Sringeri, Mudigere, Chikkamagaluru and Tarikere.

In the 2018 assembly polls, the BJP had bagged seven out of eight seats. The presence of the two leaders in the coastal town is expected to give a boost to the saffron party.

'No chance, says BJP on Cong claim it would win 150 seats in Karnataka

PM Modi remains the trump card for the BJP in the 2023 assembly polls. The survey polls have also indicated that the Prime Minister's popularity continues to be the major reason why people vote for the saffron party. Hence to increase the chance of winning more seats, the party has planned 15-20 pre-poll rallies of the PM.

"We are hoping that PM Modi holds between 15-20 rallies in Karnataka ahead of May 10 polling," a senior BJP leader told ANI.

The ruling party has been pitching for growth under the "double-engine government".

"The biggest factor that stands out for us is the commitment of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre which has ensured that peace and development goes hand in hand in the state," the MP said.

BJP will form govt in Karnataka again: Amit Shah

The polls for 224 assembly seats will be held on May 10 and the counting will be held on May 13 in the polls in which Congress is predicted to emerge as the single largest party, as per the surveys.

Meanwhile, the BJP's poll preparation suffered a blow after former CM Jagadish Shettar and former Deputy CM Laxman Savadi quit the party after being denied to contest the poll. Both leaders have now joined Congress.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, April 17, 2023, 16:47 [IST]
Poor man like me could have successful, long career because of Congress: Kharge

BJP has to go if democracy is to survive: Cong chief Kharge

Mallikarjun Kharge writes to PM Modi demanding caste census

India

oi-PTI

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and demanded an up-to-date caste census.

In his letter, Kharge said in the absence of an updated caste census, a reliable data base so very essential for meaningful social justice and empowerment programmes, particularly for OBCs, is incomplete.

"I am writing to you to once again place on record the demand of the Indian National Congress for an up-to-date Caste Census. My colleagues and I have raised this demand earlier in both House of Parliament on a number of occasions as have leaders of many other Opposition parties," the Congress chief said in his letter.

BJP heavy-weight Jagadish Shettar joins Congress

"You are aware that for the first time the UPA Government conducted a Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) during 2011-12 covering some 25 crore households. For a number of reasons, however, the caste data could not get published even though Congress and other MPs demanded its release after your government came to power in May 2014," he said.

"In the absence of an updated Caste Census, I am afraid a reliable data base so very essential for meaningful social justice and empowerment programmes, particularly for OBCs, is incomplete. This Census is the responsibility of the Union Government," Kharge said.

In the letter dated April 16, he also pointed out that the regular decennial census was to be carried out in 2021 but it has not yet been conducted.

"We demand that it be done immediately and that a comprehensive Caste Census be made its integral part," Kharge said.

Sharing Kharge's letter to the prime minister, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh tweeted "Jitni aabadi, utna haq! Congress President @kharge -ji has written to PM demanding that the decennial Census that should have been conducted in 2021 be done right-away, and a Caste Census be made its integral part. This will put social justice & empowerment on a firmer footing".

'Winning Karnataka elections is out of question for Congress': Annamalai

Addressing a rally in Katnataka's Kolar, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday had also dared Prime Minister Modi to release the 2011 caste-based census data in public domain and also demanded the 50 per cent cap on reservation be removed.

"UPA in 2011 did the caste-based census. It has the data of all the castes. Mr Prime Minister, you talk of OBCs. Make that data public. Let the nation know how many OBCs, Dalits and tribals are there in the country," Gandhi had said at the Congress' 'Jai Bharat' election rally in Kolar in the run-up to the May 10 Karnataka polls.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, April 17, 2023, 10:47 [IST]
No chance, says BJP on Cong claim it would win 150 seats in Karnataka

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

The BJP and Congress are engaged in a war of words over how many seats each party would win in the Karnataka Assembly elections.

The BJP rejected the claim by the Congress that it would win over 150 seats. "No chance... they will not be able to reach their present number (79). They will not cross their existing number. BJP will come back with record margin," Karnataka minister, Dr. C N Ashwath Narayan told news agency ANI.

The statement came following Congress chief, D K Shivakumar's remark that his party would win over 150 seats.

BJP will form govt in Karnataka again: Amit Shah

Shivakumar was pointing to senior leaders, Jagadish Shettar and Laxman Savadi joining the Congress after quitting the BJP. Both had been denied tickets by the art, which is why they joined the Congress.

Shivakumar said that he does not know the agenda of the BJP and Janata Dal (Secular). Shettar and Savadi and other have joined us. Many MLAs want to come, but we did not have a political space. We will cross 150 seats, Shivakumar also said.

After Shettar joined the Congress, senior leader, Jairam Ramesh took a dig and said that the BJO was falling like a pack of cards.

The switch by Shettar was termed as unfortunate by Karnataka Chief Minister, Basavaraj Bommai. He however said that the BJP would eventually win the elections.

'Winning Karnataka elections is out of question for Congress': Annamalai

He said that the party wanted to give a chance to the young generation. Many senior leaders including B S Yediyurappa have quit for the same reason, Bommai said.

In the BJP's first list of 189, it has projected 52 new names.

Karantaka will vote on May 10, while the results will be declared on May 13.
CPI (Maoist) rank 12 in terror index: Why you should never take your eyes of their urban friends

No let up in drone menace from Pakistan this year too: IB sources

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

The drones from Pakistan flying in India have once again raised alarm bells. The Intelligence Bureau has sounded an alert that the incidents involving drones may go up in the coming months.

There is a lot of activity that is going on and the agencies are on a state of very high-alert as Pakistan looks to up the ante. The recent revelation by slain gangster, Atiq Ahmed is also quite concerning. He had told the police that he had links with the ISI and the Lashkar-e-Tayiba. He also said that he had purchased weapons which were dropped off in Punjab by drones. He had also told the cops that the terrorists procure their weapons in the same way.

An Intelligence Bureau official tells OneIndia that drones continue to remain a major menace for the agencies.

In Punjab, as many as 10 drone intrusions have been reported in the past month. The Border Security Force has managed to capture just one. The timings of the drone intrusions has been reduced in the recent past and this has made it difficult for the forces to shoot them down.

Indian Army trains kites to fight enemy drones

Data from the BSF shows that between March 19 and April 15, the incidents involving the drone intrusions stood at 10. These drones have dropped arms, ammunitions and drugs.

AK Vidyarthi, deputy inspector general (DIG) said, "the time of movement of drones into the Indian territory has drastically decreased in the past few weeks, due to which we are facing problems in downing them."

This year the BSF has shot down 8 drones, while last year the number stood at 23.

The IB official cited above said that Pakistan would continue to use this method to drop off arms and ammunition. Going by the confession of Atiq Ahmed, it becomes clear that the drone menace is not just being lapped by terrorists in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, but gangsters in other parts of the country as well.

The Indian security agencies are not taking this lightly and are re-working their strategy as the situation is evolving in nature. The BSF has learnt that most drones have managed to retreat after dropping off the consignment. This is become a severe problem for the agencies. However the technology to tackle the drones is being reworked. An Intelligence Bureau report prepared in 2021 had clearly pointed towards the menace of drones and how they will be used by Pakistan to spread havoc in India.

How India-US Billion Predator drone deal will benefit India

On Sunday, the BSF troops had recovered over three-kilograms of heron that were airdropped by a Pakistan drone near the India-Pakistan border in Amritsar, Punjab. The BSF however opened fire on the unmanned vehicle, following which the drug consignment was recovered.

Drugs dropped off in India are picked up smugglers who sell the same in the market and the proceeds are used towards funding terror.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, April 17, 2023, 11:46 [IST]
Brazil and China signed agreements to partner in the development of semiconductors, cybersecurity and 5G, reported Reuters, a move that could benefit underfire Huawei.

The agreement was signed during Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silvas official visit to China, where the two nations signed 15 memorandums of understanding surrounding the launch of a sixth satellite over the Amazon, cybersecurity and 5G.

As Brazil welcomes Chinese investment, many Western nations have banned technology and software from the far east nation due to security concerns, namely Huawei infrastructure and the social media app TikTok.

The agreements also paved the way for a Chinese semiconductor factor in Brazil, and Brazil will not veto construction of the factory and there is interest in developing the technology with the Chinese, revealed Lula's foreign policy advisor Celso Amorim in an interview with Reuters.

Huawei already has two infrastructure plants in Sao Paulo with one being a smart factory.

The US has long sought to intervene in Latin America to prevent nations globally from tapping into Chinese equipment.

Reuters also reported Lula visited a Huawei campus and trialled a VR headset, the president said the visit was "a demonstration that we want to tell the world we don't have prejudices in our relations with the Chinese."
Oppn needs to fight unitedly: Uddhav Thackeray, Congress chart 2024 plan

India

pti-PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have sabotaged democracy in the country and there was need for all opposition parties to fight unitedly against this dictatorship, All India Congress Committee general secretary KC Venugopal said on Monday.

Venugopal arrived in the metropolis in the evening and held a meeting with Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray for more than half an hour, after which both leaders addressed a press conference.

"We have witnessed how democracy has been sabotaged by Modi and Amit Shah. All the opposition parties have a general consensus to fight together against the dictatorship of Modi. The Congress is in full solidarity with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT). We are all in agreement that we have to fight these forces (BJP) together," he said. During the previous Parliamentary session, all opposition parties were meeting for a common strategy under the leadership of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Venugopal said.

"It was the government side that was disrupting proceedings in Parliament. We only sought a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe on the Adani issue. They (BJP) did not want this, hence, resorted to disturbing proceedings," he said.

Venugopal said the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate were targeting opposition parties, especially the Shiv Sena (UBT). He said there was a feeling among all opposition parties for a broader unity, which is why Kharge and Rahul Gandhi met Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav as well as NCP supremo Sharad Pawar. "There are some differences among political parties. They have their own ideologies but the country is facing a bigger issue. This type of atmosphere (under the Modi government) has never been witnessed before," Venugopal claimed.

The impact of Shettar quitting BJP and joining Congress

Speaking on his discussion with Thackeray, the Congress leader said it was a fruitful one where a lot of issues were deliberated upon. "Hum saath hain (we are together) is the message we want to give," he added.

"I have requested Uddhavji to come to Delhi to meet Soniaji. Then Rahul Gandhi will also definitely visit Mumbai, he said in response to a media query. Speaking at the press conference, Thackeray, without naming Modi, used terms like "man-eater" and "power-hungry" for the current dispensation at the Centre.

"I don't think it is wrong to use such terminology against them (BJP-led Union government). Only one person is considered important. The Shiv Sena is in the arena with all its strength," the former Maharashtra chief minister said. "We were with them (BJP) for 25 years but they have forgotten this friendship. We (Shiv Sena) are a party that lives up to friendship. We treat it like a relation," he said.

On BJP national president JP Nadda's recent comments in Mumbai that there won't be any other party left in the country, Thackeray said, "He may have said it unintentionally but it is something we have to oppose. The Sena will fight for democracy."

Thackeray said his party had spoken to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, adding the (Lok Sabha) elections are not even a year away. The Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party make up the Maha Vikas Aghadi, which was in power in Maharashtra till June last year. A rebellion by Eknath Shinde led to a split in the Sena. Shinde went on to become chief minister with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Sachin Pilot gives a miss to key meeting with top leaders ahead of polls

India

oi-Prakash KL

Sachin Pilot, who had embarrassed his party with his protest against his own government, has reportedly skipped an important meeting which was part of preparation for the state election this year.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, party in charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, and Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee Govind Singh Dotasra are holding one-to-one meetings with MLAs, NDTV reported. However, Pilot has skipped the meeting as he is busy with a public outreach program today on the outskirts of Jaipur.

Sources close to the development have informed the website that Pilot's outreach program was fixed before the party scheduled the meeting. Former cabinet minister Raghu Sharma has said that not much should be read into his absence.

The party sources have claimed that Pilot will not be attending the one-on-one meeting today.

With state polls to be held in Rajasthan later this year, Pilot has become a headache for Gehlot. Last week, Sachin Pilot held a day-long fast, demanding action from his own government over cases of alleged corruption during the BJP term.

Although the party initially backed Ashok Gehlot and warned Pilot of actions, it later changed its stance and tried to broker peace between the warring leaders.

Stand like a rock...: Vasundhra Raje amid attacks by Sachin Pilot on corruption

However, Pilot's recent move is seen as an attempt to pressure the party high command to resolve the leadership issue ahead of the year-end polls.

The feud between Congress leaders Sachin Pilot and Ashok Gehlot came out in open in 2018 when the former, who was then the Deputy CM, rebelled against the party.

Later, the Congress sacked Pilot as the Rajasthan Deputy CM and the State party chief while two ministers belonging to the his camp were dropped from the ministry.

Last year, it was Gehlot's turn to embarrass the party as his supporters refused to attend the CLP meeting after the Congress central leadership wanted Gehlot to resign as Rajasthan CM and contest AICC election.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, April 17, 2023, 18:04 [IST]
SC must let legislature decide on same sex marriage, says lawyers' bodies

SC allows Mumbai Metro to remove 177 trees from Aarey forest

India

oi-Deepika S

The Supreme Court on Monday pulled up Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (MMRCL) for attempting to overreach the top court's order in the Aarey forest tree case.

The apex court also levied a fine of Rs 10 lakh on Mumbai Metro for seeking to fell more trees in violation of the court's order.

Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud directed Mumbai Metro to comply with the tree authority's decision of March 15, 2023 and fell 177 trees from the Aarey forest to develop a car shed.

"MMRCL shall deposit 10 lakhs to the Chief Conservator of Forests and the conservator should ensure all afforestation as directed is completed. The conservator shall ensure that planting of trees direction is followed," observed CJI Chandrachud.

Pulling up authorities for overeaching court order, the CJI said, "You people think you can Supreme Court for a ride. You cannot overreach the court. Officer of MMRCL should also be sent to jail. Ask CEO of MMRCL to be present in court."

"We request the director of IIT Bombay to depute a team for the purpose of verifying compliance. A report should be submitted to this court in three weeks," the CJI added.

Last year, the SC had asked MMRCL to pursue its application before the Tree Authority to cut 84 trees at Aarey forest for the metro car shed project.

Spread over 1,800 acres, Aarey Forest is often referred to as the 'Lung of Mumbai'. The Aarey forest is home to a variety of trees, 300 different animal species including leopards. Environmentalists fear that cutting down these trees will have a long time effect and cast its shadow on the future of Mumbai.

In 2019, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government had proposed that the Metro car shed would be constructed at suburban Kanjurmarg and not Aarey Colony.

However, the Eknath Shinde-led state government, which came to power in 2021 reversed the decision and gave its nod for the construction of car shed in the Aarey Colony only.
Bhatinda firing: Jawan confesses to killing four of his colleagues

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

The soldier involved in the shooting at the Bhatinda Military Camp in which four persons were killed has been detained by the security forces.

On Wednesday, four jawans who were sleeping near the officers' mess in the military camp were shot dead at around 4.35 am. 19 empty INSAS shells were found at the site.

The police had ruled out any terror angle in the case. The arrested jawan has been identified as Desai Mohan. The motive was personnel and he had enmity with the people he killed the police said.

Soldier dies of gunshot wound in Bhatinda: No link to firing that killed 4

According to an Army statement, the arrested jawan had confessed to his involvement in stealing the INSAS rifle and killing four of his colleagues. The initial assessment suggests that the jawan had gone about the killing due to personal reasons or animosity.

"As per his confession, on the early morning of 09 April 2023, he stole the weapon along with a filled magazine. He then hid the weapon. On 12 April 2023 at around 0430 hours, while he was on sentry duty, he recovered the weapon from its hiding place, moved to the first floor, and killed all four personnel while they were asleep," the statement also read.

"The individual then proceeded to throw the weapon into the sewage pit. The weapon and additional ammunition have been recovered from the sewage pit. The statement made by the individual while filing the initial FIR on 12 April, mentioning two persons in civil dress with INSAS rifle and an axe was an attempt to divert the attention of investigating agencies," the Army also said.

According to the Punjab Police, four jawans had been interrogated in connection with the case. The police had also registered a case against four unknown person and the FIR was registered on the basis of a statement by Major Ashutosh Shukla. The FIR said that the four slain jawans have been identified as Sagar, Kamlesh, Santosh and Yogesh.

"It has been ascertained that in the unfortunate incident, four army jawans of an artillery unit succumbed to gunshot injuries sustained during the incident. No other injuries to personnel or loss/damage to property have been reported," the Army had said in a statement.

Killers remain at large as probe intensifies into Bhatinda firing incident

The Army also said that all aspects including a possible case of involvement of an INSAS rifle along with 28 rounds reported missing days before the incident were being ascertained.

"Four army jawans of an artillery unit succumbed to gunshot injuries sustained during the firing incident at Bathinda Military Station. No other injuries to personnel or loss/damage to property reported. The area continues to be sealed off and joint investigations with Punjab Police are being coordinated to establish the facts of the case. All aspects including the possible case of involvement of an INSAS rifle along with 28 rounds reported missing two days back are being ascertained," the Army statement also read.
BJP has to go if democracy is to survive: Cong chief Kharge

Will C T Ravi be the next chief minister of Karnataka? Eshwarappa clarifies

What CM Bommai said on Lingayat community support to ruling BJP

India

oi-Deepika S

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday claimed that the Lingayat vote bank will remain with BJP till former CM and veteran leader BS Yediyurappa is with the saffron party.

"When elections draw close, Congress showers love on Lingayat community. I don't know why. The Congress never cared for Lingayats in the past 50 years and the community is aware of it. Till senior leader like Yediyurappa is with us, Lingayats stay with us. Not just Lingayats other communities will be with us," Bommai said.

The chief minister charged that the Congress has a culture of use and throw and Shettar would also meet the same fate.

"Jagadish Shettar has gone to the party that expelled Veenendra Patil, Bangarappa, and Devraj Urs. First, honour, and then insult after the election. Jagdish Shettar will be used and thrown out," Bommai told news agency ANI.

Notably, the Lingayats, who once back Congress shifted their loyalty after late CM Veerendra Patil's unceremonious removal in 1990.

In 1989, Under the leadership of Patil, a Lingayat strongman, The Congress stormed to power in Karnataka with a landslide victory, winning 178 seats out of 224 MLA seats.

B S Yediyurappa remains a central figure for the BJP in Karnataka. When the veteran leader was asked to quit as the Chief Minister of Karnataka, there were speculations that the Lingayats, which is one of the main vote banks of the BJP will split.

But Yediyurappa said that he only opted out of electoral politics due to age factor but he will remain a BJP party worker and travel the length and breadth of Karnataka to work for the party and ensure that the saffron returns to power.

The Lingayats comprise around 17 to 18 per cent of the population and their votes are extremely important for the BJP to come to power. The Lingayat community, which gave 22 chief minister to Karnataka has 99 sub-sects and holds sway in nearly 100 assembly constituencies in the state.
UK PM Rishi Sunak in soup again but this time for letting the dog roam freely in park

Sunak faces House probe over wife Akshatas business interests

International

oi-PTI

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is facing a watchdog inquiry under his parliamentary declaration of interest obligations related to a Budget policy that could benefit his wife, Akshata Murty, through her business interest in a childcare firm, it emerged on Monday.

The inquiry has been opened by the UK's Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, an independent officer of the House of Commons in charge of looking at evidence if individual British members of Parliament are feared to have broken a rule under the 'Code of Conduct'. The active inquiries on the watchdog's list include one opened on Sunak, 42, last Thursday under Paragraph 6 of the rules of conduct, as Downing Street said ministerial interests were ''transparently declared''.

"Members must always be open and frank in declaring any relevant interest in any proceeding of the House or its Committees, and in any communications with Ministers, Members, public officials or public office holders," states Paragraph 6.

According to the BBC, the inquiry relates to the British Indian leader's wife's interest in Koru Kids Ltd, which is likely to benefit from a new pilot scheme announced in the Spring Budget last month to incentivise people to become childminders.

In call with UK's Sunak, PM seeks strong action on anti-India elements

Akshata Murty, the daughter of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy, is listed on the UK's Companies House register as a shareholder in Koru Kids - one of six childminder agencies in England listed on the government's website with contact details. The Opposition had flagged this fact last month and called for further explanations at a hearing of the Liaison Committee - made up of all House of Commons committee chairs. Labour MP Catherine McKinnell had asked Sunak if he had any interest to declare in relation to the new childcare policy.

''No, all my disclosures are declared in the normal way,'' he said at the time.

Now the parliamentary watchdog's investigation will decide if there has been any breach of the code, which can then be put before MPs sitting on the Committee on Standards - which is responsible for deciding any sanctions.

''We are happy to assist the Commissioner to clarify how this has been transparently declared as a ministerial interest,'' a Downing Street spokesperson said.
Solar eclipse: 5 myths associated with it busted by scientists

Surya Grahan 2023 on April 20: Is hybrid solar eclipse visible in India?

New Delhi

oi-Deepika S

A 'hybrid' solar eclipse, a rare astronomical event is going to occur on April 20. This will be the first solar eclipse of the year 2023. Here is all you need to know about hybrid solar eclipse 2023, including visibility, date, time and how to watch it.

The Ningaloo Eclipse or the hybrid solar eclipse is a rare phenomenon that only occurs a few times every one hundred years. This celestial event is special as it is a combination of both a total and an annular solar eclipse.

During an annular eclipse, the moon does not fully cover the entire solar disk, thus creating a perfect annular or ring-like shape around the moon's dark silhouette.

The total solar eclipse occurs, when the moon passes between the sun and Earth, completely concealing the face of the sun.

Will a hybrid Solar Eclipse be visible from India?

Unfortunately, the hybrid solar eclipse or the Ningaloo eclipse will not be visible in India. But you can still view it through live telecasts from other countries.

According to reports, the total eclipse will only be visible in one town-Exmouth on the Western coast of Australia.

Skywatchers from Exmouth can catch the glimpse of the partial eclipse for almost three hours, from 3.34 am IST on April 20 to 6.32 am IST.

However, people living in Southeast Asia, the East Indies, the Philippines, New Zealand, and certain other parts of Australia, will have the opportunity to view a partial eclipse on April 20.

The last hybrid solar eclipse took place on November 3, 2013. The rare astronomical event was visible from the Atlantic Ocean, central Africa, and the Indian Ocean.

The last solar eclipse of 2023 will occur on October 14, 2023. It will be visible from India.

How to watch Hybrid Solar Eclipse safely

During the hybrid solar eclipse, looking directly at the Sun will be dangerous. So NASA recommends using specialised eye protection for solar viewing. You can use eye filters including aluminized Mylar, black polymer or welding glass of shade number 14 to view the eclipse safety.
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; around two-thirds of Europe's Jewish population. The murders were carried out in pogroms and mass shootings; by a policy of extermination through labor in concentration camps; and in gas chambers and gas vans in German extermination camps, chiefly Auschwitz-Birkenau, Bezec, Chemno, Majdanek, Sobibor, and Treblinka in occupied Poland.
 2008-2023 One News Page Ltd.

All rights reserved.

One News is a registered trademark

of One News Page Ltd.
The arrest of a foreigner under the countrys harsh blasphemy laws, which can lead to the death penalty, is rare and could strain an otherwise warming relationship between China and Pakistan.
Telekom Romania Mobile has entered the countrys 5G market with a stealth launch via its existing spectrum holding.

As reported by local outlet Ziarul Financiar, the launch was revealed via an update sent out to the operators customers explaining the contractual speeds available to them. The message revealed that 5G users would be able to access respective upload/download transfer rates of 250Mbps/50Mbps.

The operator, which is Romanias fourth-largest, elected not to bid in last years auction of 5G spectrum held by regulator ANCOM (National Authority for Management & Regulation in Communications). Its rivals Orange, RCS&RDS (Digi) and Vodafone all launched commercial 5G services in 2019.

Ziarul Financiar noted that the according to a coverage map on the operators site, 5G services are available via compatible devices in Ploiesti, Pitesti, Sibiu and districts of Bucharest, with a further ten cities set to follow soon.
In the footage aired by 7News Melbourne, Thorpe can be seen berating men assembled on the pavement outside a gentlemans club in Brunswick.
On Monday, Germany's president will honor former Chancellor Angela Merkel with the country's highest Order of Merit. The occasion is an opportunity to evaluate her legacy.
Putin said Russia and China a cooperating closely on strategic issues. Meanwhile, foreign ministers from the G7 have reiterated their support for Ukraine and sanctions against Russia. DW has the latest.
Rumble 02 Mar 2023

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken Antony Blinken said on Wednesday he had no plans to meet his Russian or Chinese counterparts..
Former Chancellor Angela Merkel has been honored with the prestigious award for her achievements in office, despite growing criticism of her decisions on Russia and her energy policy.
A boundary change means Sydney is not the country's biggest city, for the first time in over a century.
Atiq Ahmed, a gangster-turned-politician, and his brother Ashraf were shot and killed in Prayagraj while being transported to a hospital in the presence of police. A plea has been moved to the Supreme Court.
At least one Indonesian soldier has been killed while trying to find kidnapped pilot Philip Mehrtens.
Hill Sixteen died after falling at the first fence during the Grand National at Aintree

Wales Online 17 Apr 2023
A US Air National Guardsman has been charged after allegedly registering with a spoof hitman website and agreeing to murder someone for $5,000.
Diaz-Canel: since 1959, no Cuban ruler has sparked more protests The current first secretary of the Communist Party is also the ruler who has most directly called for conflict between Cubans. DIARIO DE CUBA examines Miguel Diaz-Canel's five years in power.

In the nearly five years since his appointment as president of Cuba, Miguel Diaz-Canel has been the target of more protests than any of his predecessors, since 1959 though it is true that he has not had much competition: in 59 years the position was held before him by only Manuel Urrutia (six months), Osvaldo Dorticos (1959-1976), Fidel Castro (1959-2008) and Raul Castro (2008-2018).

Several factors are behind the fact that Diaz-Canel has been the object of more anti-government demonstrations than Fidel and Raul Castro: in addition to his bungling performance at the head of the country, there is the fact that he does not bask in the aura of the landing of the Granma, or the guerrilla campaign in the Sierra Maestra; he did not participate in the overthrow of any dictator (rather, he was appointed by one, to perpetuate a dictatorship); and he did not come to power by force of arms, or even the popular vote, such that Cubans do not feel any debt to him.

But Diaz-Canel's worst enemies have been the Internet and social media, more effective than human memory in rescuing from oblivion his ridiculous attitudes, and every popular demonstration against him, which, under other circumstances, might not have been recorded, such that it would have been as if they had never happened.

There is not enough space to record, for example, all the manifestations of popular discontent covered by the independent press, or by the Cuban Conflicts Observatory, since 2018. Although the most momentous demonstrations were those of July 2021, known as the 11-J protests, Cubans had previously challenged the government led by Diaz-Canel.

In 2018, art curator and activist Yanelys Nunez covered herself in excrement in a performance against Decree-Law 349. This was just one of the actions by independent artists, and several linked to institutions, against the first law approved by Diaz-Canel. Actions included a protest in front of the Ministry of Culture, aborted when the protestors were arrested and beaten; and a concert in the neighborhood of San Isidro, which was broken up. The pressure, however, caused the regime to back down in the application of the first decree-law of the ruler appointed by Raul Castro, such that it became a legal dead letter.

2019 saw the first independent march by the Cuban LGBTI community, which, ignoring the regime's suspension of the parade against homophobia, went out to demand their rights to the streets. The response, of course, was repression; the regime does not mind if you are a lesbian, gay or trans person, but it does mind if you defy the institutions created by it.

In 2020 the San Isidro Movement took up its position, with protests by artists, activists, intellectuals and independent journalists ensuing in front of the Culture Ministry.

In 2021 the largest anti-government protests in Cuba since 1959 erupted in more than 50 locations. The palliative measures taken by the government headed by Diaz-Canel, such as the lifting of tariffs on the importation of food, medicine and toiletries, and the delivery of ration books to Cubans who did not have them after decades of Revolution, were not enough to quell the discontent.

In 2022 the Cuban Conflicts Observatory reported hundreds of protests in several months. In December of last year alone 692 took place, according to the Observatory.

The most notable of the year, without a doubt, were those that began on September 29 after a blackout lasting over 72 hours in the wake of Hurricane Ian, lasting several days. At those demonstrations Cubans demanded the restoration of electricity, and the water supply, but also shouted anti-government slogans.

The protests began on September 29 in the Havana municipalities of Arroyo Naranjo, El Cerro and Batabano, in the province of Artemisa. A day later they spread to Puentes Grandes, Guanabacoa, Calzada de Bejucal and the department of Calabazar, also located in Arroyo Naranjo, and continued in the communities of Mantilla and La Palma, of that municipality, in addition to El Cerro.

In Mayari, Holguin province, there was at least one protest during the evening of September 27. On the night of the 29th the regime even mobilized off-duty police, and several residents in the province reported the presence of police cars on the streets.

In the previous months the prolonged blackouts had generated a wave of mass protests in various parts of the country, such as Pinar del Rio and Camaguey. In this last province, in June 2022 college students chanted "Give us some power," after a 15-hour blackout. Two months later, the municipality of Nuevitas was the site of two protests in less than 24 hours. The people pushed back a truck of "black beret" troops, captured in a video released on social media.

Returning to July 2021, following the protests Diaz-Canel became the ruler who has most directly called on Cubans to assail their own countrymen, since 1959.

When the protests began, on July 11, in San Antonio de los Banos, Diaz-Canel said on television: "They have to step over our corpses, and we are willing to do anything. We're not going to allow any mercenaries or counterrevolutionaries to spark an uprising. We call on all revolutionaries and communists to quash these demonstrations on our streets. We're not going to allow anyone to manipulate or impose a plan for annexation on us."

"The order has been given: revolutionaries, to the streets," he said.

With that call for violence by some Cubans against others, the ruler even went further than Fidel Castro when he spat "We don't want them, we don't need them," which unleashed acts of repudiation. and eggs thrown at the homes of those who wished to emigrate ? back when Cubans could still afford to throw eggs.

The operation subsequently undertaken by the regime to burnish Diaz-Canel's image has been of no use, despite visits to impoverished neighborhoods, meetings with young people, and voluntary work, with photos being taken. His call to violence, along with his infamous phrases like "Lemonade is the basis of everything," "We love love love and hate hate," and other such gems, is part of the legacy of these first five years in power of the ruler appointed by Raul Castro.

And, as it is likely that, despite his mismanagement, he will be put back in charge of the country, so he will still have the chance to surpass his own records in terms of eliciting discontent from Cubans, and issuing calls for violence.
FOXNews.com 24 Apr 2023

Lu Jianwang, who is accused of running a secret Chinese police station in New York City, purportedly was filmed mingling with Eric..
Rumble 21 Apr 2023

Liam Sturgess covers the past week's news, with a particular focus on the arrest of two New York residence in relation to..
Delivering medical care to the U.S. and allied soldiers wounded in combat has advanced significantly in recent decades. But an..

Eurasia Review 24 Apr 2023
Newsy 25 Apr 2023

ViewPresident Joe Biden announced Tuesday that he is running for a second term, putting an end to any rumors that he might not..
Two New York residents are facing charges of conspiring to act as agents of the Chinese government. US prosecutors also charged 34 Chinese security officials over an alleged campaign to monitor and harass dissidents.
DOJ announced the arrests of two New York City residents accused of operating an illegal police station of the Chinese government in lower Manhattan.


Pastor Ben Hayes of Dadeville, Ala., personally knew two of the young people killed at a shooting during a birthday party on Saturday night.
An absence of powersharing at Stormont is "very unsatisfactory", former Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern has said as he urged the DUP to reach a compromise.
Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., accused the family members of New York City crime victims testifying before Congress Monday of being "props in a MAGA Broadway production."
OZARK-A one year old state bi-literacy recognition program has been adopted by the Ozark City Schools Board of Education, according to OCS Superintendent Reeivice Girtman.

The Alabama Department of Education Seal of Bi-literacy program, recognition for graduates who have demonstrated proficiency in English and at least one other languageincluding sign languagewas adopted by the OCSBOE at the meeting April 13.

Ozark City Schools are the fifth school district in Alabama to have this distinction, Girtman said. The other schools who have adopted the Alabama Department of Education Seal of Bi-literacy are Hoover High School, Vestavia Hills High School, Mountain Brook High School, and Guntersville High School.

The Alabama State Seal of Bi-literacy, House Bill 46, signed into law April 6, 2022, is a step in the right direction towards recognizing bilingualism and promoting educational equity for English Learners, said Alabama State Department of Education English Learner Education Administrator Maria Franco to educators when the program was put into place last year. Here is a great opportunity to join professional learning communities of World Language and English Language educators to focus on mutual support and collaboration.

The school board was eager to approve the proposal and provide this wonderful opportunity for our students, said Girtman. Currently, some five Carroll High School seniors are eligible for ASOB. If students meet the remaining criteria, they will be able to graduate in May with the ASOB credentials.

The Seal of Bi-literacy is an award given by a school, district, or state in recognition of students who have studied and attained proficiency in two or more languages by high school graduation, Girtman explained. This designation on a students high school diploma also provides employers and universities with a method of identifying bilingual candidate students with 21st Century skills and those who prioritized the study of other languages and cultures.

We are excited to provide opportunities that allow our students to reach their full potential, Girtman said. We believe the ASOB will motivate more students to achieve high standards.

The purpose of the Alabama Seal of Bi-literacy is to encourage students to study multiple languages, to certify attainment of bi-literacy and to provide employers with a method of identifying individuals proficient in language and bi-literacy skills, he added. Its purpose to strengthen intergroup relationships, affirm the value of diversity, and honor the multiple cultures and languages in the community.
Madeline Brame blasted Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for treating her family "like garbage" and botching the prosecution of her son's killers.
A witness at a House Judiciary Committee hearing in New York accused Jewish Democrats of being silent on antisemitic violence that took place in the city.
Federal prosecutors and the FBI announced Monday the arrest of two people accused of running a secret police station for the Chinese government.
Alabama law enforcement officers Sunday were imploring people to come forward with information about a shooting that killed four people and injured 28 others during a teenager's birthday party. (April 17)


A total of 19 prisoners from the Coalition Forces, including 16 Saudis and three Sudanese, arrived at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday.



This was under a major prisoner swap deal in which 250 Houthi prisoners also left Abha International Airport for Sanaa, according to Brig. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki,...
Iran has rendered its final verdict in the matter of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, which was shot down in early 2020.
Cape Town social workers want to help people in their homes but are being attacked in certain areas, leaving the provincial social development department concerned.
[GroundUp] Former ANC councillor killed during a meeting over the future of the families living along the railway line in Cape Town

allAfrica.com 18 Apr 2023
Over 400 million euros worth of cocaine has been found floating off Sicily in packages likely left by a cargo ship for traffickers to bring ashore, Italian police said Monday.
The latest report from the Westpac-Melbourne Institute has shed light on the state of consumer sentiment in Australia.

According to Westpacs Consumer Sentiment report, there has been a significant increase of 9.4 per cent in consumer sentiment in April from the previous month. Specifically, the Index climbed from 78.4 in March to 85.8 in April, indicating a significant improvement in consumer sentiment. This upswing in sentiment has been attributed to the recent decision made by the RBA Board to pause.

While this news is positive, it is important to note that consumer confidence remains weak, sitting at 10.4 per cent below levels seen in April of last year, before the tightening cycle. However, the report also highlights a notable increase of 12.2 per cent in confidence levels amongst mortgage borrowers, indicating a potential rebound in the housing market.

Despite this, respondents remain cautious, with 34.11 per cent still expecting rates to increase by more than 1 per cent over the year, although this figure has decreased from the previous months 44.55 per cent.

Furthermore, there has been a surge in confidence regarding the outlook for house prices, with the House Price Expectations Index rising by 16.7 per cent. In fact, the House Price Expectations Index experienced an incredible 43 per cent increase from its low point in November of last year.

Small Biz sentiment check

The data from Westpac has indicated that consumer sentiment has reached its highest level since June 2022. This improvement in sentiment suggests that consumer spending is also on the rise. It is a positive sign for the economy, as increased consumer spending often boosts economic growth. However, while the Westpac report may be a positive indicator for the overall economy, it is worth examining the situation for small businesses.

While NABs data found that business conditions are currently above the long-term average and confidence has slightly strengthened, it is important to consider whether this is reflective of the situation for small businesses specifically.

Small businesses face unique challenges that can affect their ability to thrive, such as limited resources and increased competition. While the general economy is improving, small businesses may not see the same success. It is important to gather data related to small businesses to better understand their current situation.

According to Will Buckley, Country Manager at Xero Australia, small businesses are the backbone of the economy, but the road to recovery from the pandemic has created challenges.

Its important that we continue to support our small businesses however we can and for small business owners to continue to be proactive and put mechanisms in place to manage further economic challenges that could come their way, he notes.

Buckley provides some tips for small business owners to manage their cash flow. Maintaining healthy cash flow is one of the best ways for small business owners to manage their finances. Here are some tips for small business owners to manage their cash flow and three tips for those looking to support small businesses in their community

Regularly revisit business plans and forecasts

SME owners must regularly revisit business plans and forecasts to understand business analytics better and ensure cash flow stays on track. Buckley suggests working with an accountant or advisor to create a business plan that works for the business.

Business conditions can change rapidly, as evidenced by the pandemic. Regularly reviewing financials can help small business owners understand their position and be prepared for changes if they arise. Working with an accountant or advisor can be beneficial in creating a business plan that works for your business and ensures cash flow stays on track.

Keep a solid cash reserve

In addition, Buckley emphasises the importance of keeping a solid cash reserve.

The most critical thing small business owners can do to manage their cash flow is to have a cash reserve or emergency fund that can provide a cushion to manage unexpected events or bills. During difficult economic times, a cash reserve can help put businesses in a position of strength and give them the confidence to manage financial challenges as they arise.

When conditions start to improve, a cash reserve can also be a source to help grow the business and take advantage of opportunities without having to worry about the financial position.

Leverage technology

Buckley says that utilising technology saves time and money while gaining full visibility into the financial health of your business.

Businesses that invest more in technology experience greater sales, fewer job losses, and increased payment times than those who invest less. With cloud-based accounting platforms like Xero, businesses can integrate banking and payment systems, track cash flow, and adopt new technology like eInvoicing to make payments faster and more secure. Other functions like marketing, inventory, and customer relationship management can be made more efficient by taking advantage of technology tools.

Spread the word online

Buckley suggests spreading the word online through great reviews or sharing profiles on social media for those looking to support small businesses in their community. He also recommends shopping small when shopping for others and paying small businesses on time to avoid causing serious cash flow stress.

Leaving a great review or sharing profiles on social media is a powerful way to help small businesses grow their customer base, particularly for online and e-commerce businesses. Recommending great local businesses or sharing recommendations in community forums and groups can drive customers to businesses within the area.

Shop small when shopping for others: Small businesses can provide unique and thoughtful products when shopping for gifts or special occasions. Purchasing gift cards is another great option as they help to expand small businesses customer base further.

Pay small businesses on time

Late payments are one of the central causes of cash flow stress for small businesses, with nearly half of all invoices to Australian small businesses paid late in 2021, costing $1.1 billion.

Paying on time is one of the most important things people can do to support small businesses. Small business owners rely on money flowing into their business to pay their staff and feed their families, so late payments cause serious cash flow stress that can have a significant impact.

Australias millions of small businesses face a busy year ahead. With continued support and the right plans in place, there is no doubt they will thrive. Small business owners can manage their finances by implementing the above tips. Those looking to support small businesses can do so in ways that dont always involve spending money.

Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Future historians may say that the most significant event of 2023 had nothing to do with Donald Trump, other 2024 presidential candidates, or even the war in Ukraine. Instead, the event with the most long-term significance may be one that received little attention in the mainstream media  Saudi Arabias movement toward...
U.S. law enforcement officials have arrested two New York residents for allegedly operating a Chinese "secret police station" in Manhattan's Chinatown neighborhood, the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn said in a statement on Monday. Lu Jianwang, 61, and Chen Jinping, 59, face charges of



#manhattan #brooklyn #lujianwang #chenjinping
The Delaware judge overseeing a voting machine companys $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News delayed the opening of the trial Monday, raising the prospect that the two sides might settle before the eagerly watched case goes before a jury. Superior Court Judge Eric Davis suggested the



#delaware #superiorcourt #ericdavis #denver #donaldtrump #rupertmurdoch #dominion #pleasedominion #gretchencarlson #rogerailes
At least 185 people have been killed and over 1,800 wounded since the fighting erupted, U.N. envoy Volker Perthes told reporters. The two sides are using tanks, artillery and other heavy weapons in densely populated areas. Fighter jets swooped overhead and anti-aircraft fire lit up the skies as darkness fell.
An Australian national woman has been killed and her daughter and another injured after a car they were travelling toppled down a precipice at Dara Wanguwa in Hemmathagama.

The deceased was identified as a 67-year-old resident of Sydney, Australia.

The car has fallen nearly 12 feet down the precipice, according to police.

According to Police, the accident had taken place as the driver had fallen asleep on the wheel and lost control of the vehicle.

Police said the driver of the car, was a resident of Wattala and a 30-year-old Australian national woman who were injured in the accident were admitted to the Gampola Hospital.
Thiruvananthapuram: The central government on Sunday said that all help will be provided to the family of the Kerala man who died of bullet injuries in the violence-hit Sudanese capital city of Khartoum.



Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said the family of Albert Augustine, who hailed from Kannur district of Kerala, will be provided all necessary help and that steps are on to bring his body back to the country.

The Minister also spoke to the victim's father, a government statement said.

Augustine's wife and daughter who were with him in Sudan are safe, the Minister said and added that the Indian Embassy in Sudan has been instructed to coordinate further steps.

Augustine, suffered bullet injuries while speaking to his son who is in Canada. He was inside his house when the tragic incident occurred.

Augustine was working in a Dal Group Company in Sudan.

Meanwhile, KPCC chief K Sudhakaran wrote to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar seeking his urgent intervention to expedite the repatriation of Augestine's remains to India.

Explosions and clashes were reported in various areas in Khartoum in the backdrop of escalating tension between a paramilitary force and Sudan's Army.

According to the official data, the number of Indians in Sudan is around 4,000, including 1,200 who settled down in the country decades ago.

Sudan's military captured power in a coup in October 2021 and it has been running the country through a sovereign council since then.

There has been a dispute between the Army and the paramilitary over a proposed timeline for handing over power to a civilian government.

(With PTI inputs)
While conservatives are fond of referring to liberals as "snowflakes," it is the Republican party that has perfected the use of politics based on victimhood:

Lose access to your distribution channels because you got greedy? Gaslight your subscribers into believing that liberals are de-platforming conservative views.

Are you a washed-up actor who longs for the glory days? Blame your unemployment status on your conservative viewpoints.

Upset that the press uncovered 30,573 lies the last president from your party told? Deflect from the truth by categorizing such coverage as "media bias".

For all of the claims that conservative voices are being silenced, the GOP has actively engaged in censoring the opposition in states they control. Knowing that their policies are vastly unpopular, especially with Gen-Z, Republican-led state governments have engaged in active voter suppression to stay in power. Two "uppity" black representatives who managed to overcome gerrymandering to be elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives were ousted from their positions when they refused orders by the Republican super-majority to stay silent about the recent school shooting in Nashville.

The expulsion votes against the "Tennessee Three" are just the latest example of Republicans engaging in actions they have accused others of doing. Even worse than being examples of hypocrisy, the accusations made by the GOP are usually false, as if created to provide cover for a strategy they know is morally unconscionable. The behavior has become a predictable tell that foreshadows any attack by the party faithful.

Presidential candidate-in-waiting Ron DeSantis provides an example of how this tell works. The Governor of Florida blocked local elected officials from instituting public health policies meant to save lives as a way of respecting "the right to live in freedom". A law prohibiting private businesses from enacting vaccine mandates was described as fighting for "the autonomy of American workers". To protect the fragile feelings of students and employees, DeSantis has signed a law to control what is taught in schools and limit the use of diversity practices and training.



This picture may be considered pornographic in 'The Free state of Florida' (Photo by Lucia Gherra on Unsplash)

(Image by Lucia Gherra) Details DMCA



The result is a Florida that is considerably less free. In schools, bookshelves have been emptied, the statue of David has been labeled as pornographic, and The Graphic Adaptation of Anne Frank's Diary and a picture book about a family of penguins have been pulled from school libraries, and a Disney movie about Ruby Bridges and her integration of a school in New Orleans was banned. Acting more like an authoritarian than a leader in a democracy, DeSantis himself has embarked on a campaign of retribution against the Disney corporation after it caved in to demands by its employees and vocally opposed his "Don't Say Gay" law.

Under DeSantis' regime, worker autonomy has been weakened with attacks on unions, with exceptions made for those whose memberships tend to vote Republican. He has also made it clear that body autonomy does not extend to the womb having signed a six-week abortion ban, a time period before one-third of women have even confirmed that they are pregnant.



Stop The Steal, November 14, 2020 St. Paul, MN (By Chad Davis, CC BY 2.0)

(Image by Chad Davis) Details DMCA



Given the Republicans' tendency to project their actions onto their opponents, what should be made of Trump's loudest complaint; that cheating Democrats stole the 2020 election from him? Much has been made of the polling for this election being the most inaccurate in 40 years overstating "support for then-Democratic nominee Joe Biden by 3.9 percentage points". What if the pollsters were not actually wrong but the results were manipulated by Trump supporters trying to secure his reelection? Is it possible that they were not successful in the ultimate goal but they did affect the results of close local elections? What if their efforts are more successful next time?

Trump and his supporters have made clear their admiration of despotic rulers like Putin and Kim Jong-un. Republicans have long expressed disdain for democracy. If they are giving any indication that they are willing to steal elections, we should take the threat seriously as "when people show you who they are, [you should] believe them the first time." The future of our democratic republic depends on it.

Carl Petersen is a parent advocate for public education, particularly for students with special education needs. He was elected to the Northridge East Neighborhood Council and is the Education Chair. As a Green Party candidate in LAUSD's District 2 School Board race, he was endorsed by Network for Public Education (NPE) Action. Dr. Diane Ravitch has called him "a valiant fighter for public schools in Los Angeles." For links to his blogs, please visit www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own.
This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here.

In our present social media world, who even remembers that the Internet's first "mothership," as Ben Tarnoff put it at the Guardian years ago, was the U.S. military, thanks to a Cold War era urge to link computer communication to the potential front lines of war? The world that we now know began in 1969 with a computer network created by the Pentagon's lavishly funded Advanced Research Projects Agency, or ARPA. That network was then called Arpanet, wasn't yet mobile, and couldn't be used to communicate with forces in the field or, say, American bombers then flying over Vietnam.

It took another two decades-plus before there was a World Wide Web and even longer before none of us, military or otherwise, could go anywhere without being more in touch with the rest of the world than once might have been faintly imaginable. More than half a century later, we're now entering an even newer, potentially far more daunting world in which artificial intelligence, or AI, is threatening to have its way with us. And once again, as TomDispatch regular Michael Klare so vividly describes today, the U.S. military is helping reshape our world in a fashion that someday we may all live (or die) to regret.

Only recently, hundreds and hundreds of worried tech types, including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Twitter head and billionaire Elon Musk, and experts of many kinds, unnerved by how quickly AI is developing into its own version of us, called for a six-month pause in experimentation on its development. Think of it as a moment when we can all try to take in the world we're heading into, lest we end up in an all too artificial and deeply unrecognizable hell on earth. But I'll put my money on one thing, having read Klare's piece today: the Pentagon isn't going to agree to any six-month pause in its AI research and Congress won't either "" not when it comes to the military. For the members of both parties, not even the sky is the limit for the Pentagon, financially speaking. In fact, as Klare makes all too clear today, when it comes to that military and the sky (not to speak of the land and the high seas), there are no limits at all. Tom

Spurring an Endless Arms Race

The Pentagon Girds for Mid-Century Wars

By Michael Klare

Why is the Pentagon budget so high?

On March 13th, the Biden administration unveiled its $842 billion military budget request for 2024, the largest ask (in today's dollars) since the peaks of the Afghan and Iraq wars. And mind you, that's before the hawks in Congress get their hands on it. Last year, they added $35 billion to the administration's request and, this year, their add-on is likely to prove at least that big. Given that American forces aren't even officially at war right now (if you don't count those engaged in counter-terror operations in Africa and elsewhere), what explains so much military spending?

The answer offered by senior Pentagon officials and echoed in mainstream Washington media coverage is that this country faces a growing risk of war with Russia or China (or both of them at once) and that the lesson of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine is the need to stockpile vast numbers of bombs, missiles, and other munitions. "Pentagon, Juggling Russia, China, Seeks Billions for Long-Range Weapons" was a typical headline in the Washington Post about that 2024 budget request. Military leaders are overwhelmingly focused on a potential future conflict with either or both of those powers and are convinced that a lot more money should be spent now to prepare for such an outcome, which means buying extra tanks, ships, and planes, along with all the bombs, shells, and missiles they carry.

Even a quick look at the briefing materials for that future budget confirms such an assessment. Many of the billions of dollars being tacked onto it are intended to procure exactly the items you would expect to use in a war with those powers in the late 2020s or 2030s. Aside from personnel costs and operating expenses, the largest share of the proposed budget "" $170 billion or 20% "" is allocated for purchasing just such hardware.

But while preparations for such wars in the near future drive a significant part of that increase, a surprising share of it "" $145 billion, or 17% "" is aimed at possible conflicts in the 2040s and 2050s. Believing that our "strategic competition" with China is likely to persist for decades to come and that a conflict with that country could erupt at any moment along that future trajectory, the Pentagon is requesting its largest allocation ever for what's called "research, development, test, and evaluation" (RDT&E), or the process of converting the latest scientific discoveries into weapons of war.

To put this in perspective, that $145 billion is more than any other country except what China spends on defense in toto and constitutes approximately half of China's full military budget. So what's that staggering sum of money, itself only a modest part of this country's military budget, intended for?

Some of it, especially the "T&E" part, is designed for futuristic upgrades of existing weapons systems. For example, the B-52 bomber "" at 70, the oldest model still flying "" is being retrofitted to carry experimental AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapons (ARRWs), or advanced hypersonic missiles. But much of that sum, especially the "R&D" part, is aimed at developing weapons that may not see battlefield use until decades in the future, if ever. Spending on such systems is still only in the millions or low billions, but it will certainly balloon into the tens or hundreds of billions of dollars in the years to come, ensuring that future Pentagon budgets soar into the trillions.

Weaponizing Emerging Technologies

Driving the Pentagon's increased focus on future weapons development is the assumption that China and Russia will remain major adversaries for decades to come and that future wars with those, or other major powers, could largely be decided by the mastery of artificial intelligence (AI) along with other emerging technologies. Those would include robotics, hypersonics (projectiles that fly at more than five times the speed of sound), and quantum computing. As the Pentagon's 2024 budget request put it:

Next Page 1 | 2 | 3

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
A Vietnamese youth inhales a balloon filled with laughing gas at a nightclub in Hanoi. Photo by AFP

A teenager in the northern province of Quang Ninh has been hospitalized with spinal cord damage after inhaling 10 nitrous oxide balloons a day for 10 days straight.

The 15-year-old unnamed child was taken to the Bai Chay hospital with numb limbs, fatigue, difficulty walking and weight loss. Scans revealed spinal cord damage, and doctors are now monitoring her for signs of nitrous oxide poisoning.

She is currently being treated with high-pressure oxygen and neurotransmitters.

Nitrous oxide balloons, also known as "funky balls," are balloons filled with nitrous oxide, which can be inhaled for recreational purposes. Inhaling nitrous oxide may cause euphoria and slight hallucinations, but can also cause neurological damage.

Prolonged use of nitrous oxide can lead to poisoning, nerve damage and potentially coma and death.

The Ministry of Health banned nitrous oxide for recreational purposes in 2019. In Vietnam, nitrous oxide, also known as "laughing gas," may only be manufactured for industrial purposes. Ingestion by humans is prohibited unless prescribed by doctors.
Elon Musk has incorporated an entity called X.AI in the state of Nevada, potentially laying the groundwork for a startup that could pursue his artificial intelligence ambitions.

Musk and Jared Birchall, who operates Musks family office, incorporated X.AI in March, according to a Nevada state filing with the Secretary of State. The document doesnt list the companys purpose, and Musk didnt respond to a request for comment. The Wall Street Journal earlier reported the existence of the entity.

Musk has frequently publicly criticized OpenAI, the highest-profile AI startup. In February, tech news site the Information said that Musk had approached researchers about forming a new AI research lab to rival the ChatGPT and Dall-E creator. Igor Babuschkin, a former employee at Alphabet Inc.s DeepMind, said that he and Musk had discussed putting together a team.

The efforts could be part of Musks larger ambitions to create a superapp. The chief executive officer of Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter, has long talked about creating an everything app called X. He recently merged Twitter into a parent corporation called X Corp. He has said that the social network will be an accelerant for creating X.

On Friday, the Financial Times reported that Musk is holding discussions with Tesla Inc. and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. investors about helping fund an AI startup, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.

The billionaire has acquired thousands of processors from Nvidia Corp. for the new project, the paper said. That news helped boost shares of the chipmaker Friday, with the stock gaining as much as 1.6% following a decline earlier in the session.

Despite his work around AI, Musk was among a group of researchers and tech industry leaders that last month called for developers to pause the training of powerful AI models.

He was also involved early on in the creation of OpenAI. Musk helped start the organization in 2015 and served as as co-chair along with Sam Altman, the current CEO. At the time, OpenAIs goal was to advance digital intelligence in the way that is most likely to benefit humanity as a whole, unconstrained by a need to generate financial return.

Musk left OpenAIs board in 2018 and has since criticized the organization, which created a for-profit arm in 2019. He has expressed worry that it was training AI to be woke and said it was effectively controlled by Microsoft. Microsoft Corp. has invested $10 billion into OpenAI.

Altman, talking in a podcast about Musks concerns, called him a jerk while noting he believes Musk is feeling very stressed about what the futures going to look like for humanity.

-- Sean OKane and Nick Turner, Bloomberg News

2023 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Electric vehicle manufacturer Arcimoto says it is nearly out of money and faces substantial doubt it can continue operating.

The Eugene company had just $463,000 in cash at the end of December, according to annual financial results Arcimoto reported Friday night. It had $4.2 million three months earlier, and $17 million at the end of 2021.
The man accused of shooting and killing a reserve police officer in Nyssa was arrested Monday morning.

Rene Castro, 36, was found in Ontario, Oregon, the Malheur County District Attorneys office said in a statement.

Local law enforcement, joined by the FBI, surrounded a home in Ontario at 6:40 a.m. Castro was taken into custody an hour later, the DAs office said.

Nyssa officer Joseph Johnson was responding to reports of a violent person damaging property and threatening people in Nyssa on Saturday evening. Johnson, 43, arrived at the scene and heard the suspect left in a car.

He pursued the suspect, and both cars stopped at the corner of Locust Avenue and North 3rd Street. As soon as Johnson stopped, the suspect started shooting at him, the DAs office said. The shooter fled the scene.

Emergency medical workers and Malheur sheriffs office found Johnson dead when they arrived. He had served as a reserve officer in Nyssa since 2018 and worked as a behavioral health specialist at Snake River Correctional Institution in Ontario, the Malheur Enterprise reported.

No one was injured during Castros arrest, the DAs office said.

 Austin De Dios; adedios@oregonian.com; @austindedios; 503-319-9744
Most of Oregons hospitals are reeling after suffering significant financial losses in a year that officials are calling one of the worst in three decades.

Higher labor costs and longer patient stays pushed 37 hospitals in the state  more than 60% of the total  into budget deficits for the year.
Security concerns and misconduct among contracted staff shuttered Multnomah Countys Behavioral Health Resource Center in downtown Portland late last month, county staff acknowledged for the first time on Monday, the day of the centers reopening.

Earlier this month, a spokesperson for the county said no single incident precipitated the pause in services at the center, which opened in December to help unsheltered Portlanders connect with mental health and substance use treatment while accessing bathrooms, laundry service and showers.
I read with a degree of sadness, and Ill admit, a little bit of amusement at your editorial on Oregons population loss, (Editorial: Oregon is dealt a blow, April 9).

Before being able to make any meaningful changes, one must look to the root cause of these problems: soaring violent crime; ridiculous taxes which cripple existing businesses and send them packing, such as the Corporate Activity Tax; and degradation of communities as a result of homelessness and flagrant drug use.

The answer is simple and quite evident if one is being intellectually honest. Far left liberal politicians have been in charge for decades and their decisions have had dire consequences for the citizens of our beautiful state.

Its more than time for major political changes before we will ever begin to see significant improvement. Weirdness, whining, wokeness and feelings dont solve problems. Pragmatism does.

Gina Perkins, Baker City

To read more letters to the editor, go to oregonlive.com/opinion.
Gov. Tina Kotek isnt on board with legislative plans to commit $1 billion in state-issued bonds to replace the Interstate 5 bridge connecting Oregon and Washington.

Lawmakers on the Joint Transportation Committee this week preview plans to issue $1 billion in general obligation bonds for the bridge replacement. Investors would buy the bonds, giving the state money upfront for the bridge replacement, and the state would repay those investors with interest over the next four two-year budget cycles.

Kotek told reporters during a tour of Polk County on Friday that she believes the aging bridge needs to be replaced, and she thinks transportation officials are on the right track with their current design, which includes three travel lanes in each direction, light rail and paths for buses, bicyclists and pedestrians.

But she balked at the proposed source of those funds. Kotek has called for using $770 million in bonds for affordable housing projects and another $130 million in bonds for housing with services for chronically homeless people with disabilities.

I am uncomfortable with the current conversation of a billion dollars over the next four biennia in obligation bonding, she said. I think there needs to be some general obligation bonding this session to move forward on our commitment on the bridge.

A January report from the state Treasury, which oversees bonds in Oregon, predicted that the state could issue $7.76 billion in bonds over the next four budget periods, averaging $970 million each year. Borrowing too much would hurt the states credit rating, increasing costs for future bonds.

Kotek said shed urge lawmakers to take money from existing funds for the bridge, saying the state shouldnt tie up most of its bonding capacity on the bridge.

Right now Im asking for a billion dollars in bonding for housing, she said. If we tie up a lot of money in the bridge over the next four biennia, that limits our ability to do other things. So we really have to think that through.

Rep. Susan McLain, co-chair of the Joint Transportation Committee and the main proponent of bridge legislation, did not immediately return a call or text late Friday afternoon. The Hillsboro Democrat is a member of the budget-writing Joint Ways and Means Committee, which had a hearing scheduled in Newport at 5 p.m. Friday.

Kelliann Amico, a spokeswoman for the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program, said she couldnt comment on active legislation.

The bridge is estimated to cost between $5 billion and $7.5 billion, with current plans calling for $1 billion each from Oregon and Washington, up to $1.6 billion from highway tolls and between $1.7 billion and $2.7 billion in anticipated federal grants.

-- Julia Shumway, Oregon Capital Chronicle

The Oregon Capital Chronicle, founded in 2021, is a nonprofit news organization that focuses on Oregon state government, politics and policy.
90 Day Fiance: Love in Paradise season 3 premieres tonight, on Monday, April 17 at 8 p.m. on TLC. This season, four Americans will meet their summer vacation flings for a reconciliation and reunion. From pregnancy to facing in love, watch these couples as they navigate their complicated relationships in the tropical locations of Jamaica, Panama, Costa Rica, and Barbados. Tune in live for free with a trial of Philo.

 Dont have cable? If you dont have cable, you can watch the 90 Day Fiance: Love in Paradise season 3 premiere LIVE for free with Philo (free trial) or with Fubo (free trial).

Who is in the cast of 90 Day Fiance: Love in Paradise season 3?

Carlos & VaLentine

Juan & Jessica

Scott & Lidia

Matt & Ana

Jordan & Everton

April & Valentine

HOW TO WATCH

What: 90 Day Fiance: Love in Paradise season 3

When: Monday, April 17 at 8 p.m.

TV Channel: TLC

Watch the show live streaming online: If you dont have cable, you can watch the 90 Day Fiance: Love in Paradise season 3 premiere LIVE for free with Philo (free trial) or with Fubo (free trial). If you have run out of free trials, you can also try out Sling TV (promotional offers) if you prefer their pricing plans.

You can find out more about which channel VH1 is on by using the channel finders here: Verizon Fios, AT&T U-verse, Comcast Xfinity, Spectrum/Charter, Optimum/Altice, DIRECTV, and Dish.

More information on how to stream live TV, sports events, and movies on the cheap:

 What is Philo? The cheapest live TV streaming service: Cost, what it includes

 How to watch DAZN on your TV: What is it, what does it cost and include? Boxing fights, MMA and more

 What is Philo? Free trial info, TV channel lineup and why its cheap compared to other television streaming services
Hanoi has recorded 493 new Covid-19 cases over the past week, a sevenfold increase from the previous 7 days, and more cases are expected to plague the capital.

Since the beginning of this year, Hanoi has recorded a total of 756 Covid-19 cases, according to the Hanoi Center for Disease Control (CDC).

The CDC has collected 10 samples in 6 districts and towns (Hoang Mai, Thuong Tin, Son Tay, Ba Vi, Ung Hoa and Thanh Oai) and sent them to the Bach Mai hospital for genetic sequencing.

The results of the sequencing have yet to be announced.

The Hanoi CDC has requested units to monitor the Covid-19 situation, as well as any new coronavirus variants, as part of prevention efforts.

Cases are expected to continue to rise in the coming weeks, especially as the Reunification Day-Labor Day holiday is approaching April 30-May 1, according to the center.

Over the past week, Vietnam officially recorded a total of 2,653 new Covid-19 cases across the nation, with 380 new cases recorded per day on average, according to the Ministry of Health. Over 700 cases a day were recorded on each of the past three days alone, the ministry reported.

The number of patients requiring oxygen support has also increased. Most severe cases were elderly patients and those with underlying conditions. In most other cases, however, patients suffered only mild symptoms and stayed home for treatment.

Vietnam has yet to record a Covid-19 death in 2023.

Tran Dac Phu, advisor for the Public Health Emergency Operations Center, said the rising number of cases might be due to waning immunity and changing weather conditions, which could help viruses thrive. People are also not wearing masks as frequently as before, he added.

The presence of the Omicron variant XBB.1.5, known for its high infectivity, was detected in Ho Chi Minh City last week.
MECOSTA COUNTY  Many Green Charter Township residents, as well as residents from surrounding communities, continue to express their concerns regarding the potential Gotion, Inc. battery component manufacturing facility planned for the area, with many questioning the judiciousness of the project.

Residents have expressed concerns regarding the safety of the project, including potential environmental contamination from the chemicals used in the process, the danger of potential fires and/or chemical spills, traffic congestion and the negative impact on the rural way of life.

But, while community members debate about the future of Mecosta County, the city of Holland  100 miles south  found itself in a similar situation just over a decade ago.

In 2011, South Korean based company LG Energy established an electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility in Holland. The facility currently produces the individual battery cells, which contain lithium and other materials, and combines the cells into a battery pack that goes into the vehicle.

They do everything from the creation of the cells to the creation of the battery, former Holland mayor Kurt Dykstra said. By the time it leaves the factory, it is ready to go into the car.

When the company began looking at the Holland site for the facility, Dykstra said the overall response from the community was extremely positive.

There were questions about the technology, because in 2010, this was newer technology and the concept seemed a little further out and not quite in the marketplace yet, so there were those kinds of questions, Dykstra said. The only negative discussion had to do with the nature of the stimulus package. The pushback was about the financing  the big stimulus package and the tax incentives. There were some who were just philosophically opposed to that kind of action.

All those decisions were decided long before LG chose Holland for the site, he continued. The money was going to be spent, and the grants were going to be delivered. It was just a question of where the facility would be located.

'PAR FOR THE COURSE'

The LG facility is similar to the Gotion project being considered for the Green Charter Township area, Dykstra said, in that it was a new employer and a new facility built on a greenfield site and it was an Asian manufacturing company. They were part of the first generation of lithium-ion battery production and one of the first factories producing them in the United States.

There wasnt that level of concern around the chemicals being used for three basic reasons, Dykstra said. One is the process. These are extremely clean facilities, and they have significant safeguards in place around everything, like light, temperature, and dust. This is not the old-fashioned dirty manufacturing. It is extremely high-tech and very, very clean."

The second thing was that the government regulators were involved, so we knew we werent having to rely on our own knowledge of this technology, he said.

The third thing is, in our community we have had manufacturing of all sorts  everything from paint, to vehicle components and other kinds of things. We were quite used to the idea that manufacturing always has some associated risks, like anything else, but given the technology, the safety protocols and the regulatory environment, we didnt have a lot of concerns about it all.

Dykstra added he has been to the LG lithium-ion facilities in Korea and in Holland, and to the Johnson Controls facility in Holland, and they are extremely clean manufacturing facilities.

When you go inside you have to put on a dust suit. You have to take off your shoes and put on some crocs, and you have to go through a dust elimination chamber, he said. It is very clean inside, and the same attitude pervades the exterior of the facility.

The Department of Environmental Quality  now the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy  was intimately involved, throughout the entire process, Dykstra said.

We worked closely with the DEQ on all those various things  air particulates, water, and wetlands, and the particulars around the materials that were being brought in as a core component of the batteries. All those things were looked at and had to be approved, he said. A lot of that happened at the state (level), but there were no shortcuts. It was This is the environmental laws and regulations in the state of Michigan, and the United States, and that is what has to be followed, and that is what happened.

Dykstra said a wetland issue had to be mitigated, but it was addressed and approved in an acceptable way.

"That is not unique to lithium-ion battery facilities. This was par for the course for any project we looked at," he said. "We had to have all the environmental items checked off as being complete and approved. It is part of the standard practice before final approvals are given that all of the environmental items have to be satisfied and there has to be physical approvals in place.

Initially, there was concern regarding police and fire services, and how to deal with any potential fires or other situations that might arise with the products being produced at the facility, Dykstra said.

LG actually flew some of our fire department leadership to their facility in Korea to learn about the technology and see how those facilities were running, he said. They talked with their fire officials about how to deal with any potential fires that might occur. For our fire department those particular fire suppression and firefighting techniques were not particularly unique because we have had a variety of heavy industry in the area, and they have had to learn a variety of manufacturing systems.

LG Solutions recognized the learning curve, he added, and chose to invite the firefighting leadership to come and learn from their professionals.

'SHOT IN THE ARM'

Dykstra said the construction of the facility from the ground up had a significant economic impact on the community, from the construction crews to the facility workers.

There was a lot of construction activity and the general contractor had workers here working on the project for a year or two, Dykstra said. They used lots of local subcontractors. Some of the most senior executives came from other facilities within the corporate family, but the workers themselves were hired and trained locally.

"Whether the employees were local, or brought in from other places, they still bought houses, shopped in our stores and ate in our restaurants, and sent their kids to our schools  all those sorts of things. This was around 2010, and to have a billion-dollar investment in the community, that was a significant shot in the arm.

Although the job creation went a little slower than predicted, because the market was not yet there, he said, LG Solutions currently has around 1,500 employees and are looking at a $1.7 billion expansion that will add another 1,200 jobs in 2024.

Amanda Murray, vice president of business solutions for Lakeshore Advantage, who was instrumental in the LG Solutions project, said the city is grateful for the companys long term commitment and the significant number of good-paying employment opportunities for their residents.

In addition to the thousands of jobs they have directly brought here, job creation of this magnitude generates further jobs and businesses in the community, Murray said. Not only have we seen the direct and indirect job creation, but we have also seen an increase in suppliers of LGES considering operations in West Michigan as a result of their current and planned future operations in the area.

Holland has a tradition of beautiful beaches and a tourist economy, but they also have a heavy manufacturing and design-based economy, Dykstra said. The LG facility is a clean, sleek, modern facility, so from the municipalitys standpoint, we have a huge customer bringing in new revenue for the community.

LG is now one of the major employers of the area and is a good corporate partner in the community, he added. They are active in civic organizations and support community events. This has been a really positive thing for Holland.
Submitted photo/Shannon Forshee, Camp Fish Tales

Camp Fish Tales was awarded $12,500 from the Midland Lions Club for two enhancements to summer camp programming. The grant will provide CFT with 15 adaptive paddle boards and life jackets, which will allow for accessible recreation activities for all participants.

The camp will also purchase tablets for staff/camper training with the funds. Each summer campers participate in several activities including archery, boating, swimming, outdoor games and activities, crafts and rock wall climbing.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

RICHMOND, Ind. (AP)  Authorities in eastern Indiana lifted a dayslong evacuation order late Sunday afternoon for an area near a plastics fire after they said it was determined air quality and other environmental concerns related to the fire were deemed safe.

Wayne County Emergency Management lifted the order for people within a half-mile (1 kilometer) radius of the fire scene after consulting with state, federal and local health officials, Matthew Cain, agency director, said at a news conference.

Testing of air debris would continue, he and Mayor Dave Snow said. At least 1,500 people live in the evacuation zone, though it is not known how many residents actually obeyed the call to evacuate after the fire began Tuesday afternoon.

I feel very confident that people will be safe when they move back to their homes, said Dr. David Jetmore, the Wayne County Health Department's health officer.

Richmond Fire Chief Tim Brown said crews will remain at the 14-acre (5-hectare) former factory site to extinguish flareups. It was declared under control Thursday night when the last flames were extinguished.

He previously said fire officials will meet Monday morning to decide what their next steps will be at the site, where tons of recycled plastic stored for resale caught fire. The site is in Richmond, about 70 miles (115 kilometers) east of Indianapolis, near the Ohio border.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has said hydrogen cyanide and benzene were detected at the fire site. EPA contractors collected fire debris over the weekend that landed near schools or in parks and private yards. At least one sample has tested positive for asbestos, which can harm lungs.

The fire's cause was not known. But it quickly became an inferno, destroying six run-down buildings holding recycled plastic and creating clouds of smoke so high and dark they cast a sprawling shadow over the city of 35,000 people.

The man operating the storage site was under a 2020 court order to clean up the site, which had no utilities and had been declared a serious fire hazard by inspectors. Richmond officials said they had barred him from accepting more plastics while he was working to get rid of the vast holdings.
LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pa. (AP)  Two women were wounded by a gunshot during a spring event at a university in southeastern Pennsylvania over the weekend, authorities said.

Lincoln University security officials said the shooting happened at about 10 p.m. Saturday during Yardfest, an annual spring event at the Chester County campus near Oxford that prosecutors said was attended by several thousand people. University officials said neither victim was a Lincoln student.

County prosecutors said one woman was sitting on a bench seat in a second-floor hallway of a university building and the the other woman was standing nearby in the hallway, which was crowded with hundreds of people. Both heard a single gunshot and the crowd began running.

The victim who was standing recalled feeling pain in her thigh, saw she had been shot and brushed a copper jacket from a bullet off her leg. The seated victim had a gunshot wound to her left ankle and doctors believed the round was still lodged there. Police believe a single round passed through the first woman's thigh and hit the seated victim.

The women were taken to Christiana Hospital. One was treated and released and the other was expected to be released shortly, prosecutors said.

Neither victim saw who fired the weapon and the identity of the suspect remains unknown, prosecutors said. Marc R. Partee, the head of campus security, said earlier that two individuals with white T-shirts were being sought.

Thousands of people were terrified during this unexpected shooting, and it is very fortunate that there were no fatalities," District Attorney Deb Ryan said in a statement, asking anyone with information about the shooting to call investigators.
The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Tereasa Nims.

Sunday, April 16

8:49 p.m. - Police were called to a domestic violence complaint in the 1300 block of East Ashman Street.

7:58 p.m. - Deputies were dispatched to assist Michigan State Police for a possible domestic violence incident in Lincoln Township. Deputies assisted with the investigation and gave a 57-year-old man a ride to a friends house for the night.

4:11 p.m. - A deputy met with a 56-year-old Jerome Township man, who advised he found a wallet at the Sanford Car Wash. The owner of the wallet was located, and the wallet was returned.

2:24 p.m. - Police responded to the 3100 block of James Savage Road for a drunken driver.

1:39 p.m. - A deputy contacted a 37-year-old Midland woman, who reported that a 43-year-old Homer Township man was repairing her vehicle at his residence and she hadn't been able to reach him in weeks. The deputy contacted the man and arrangements were made for the woman to pick up her vehicle.

12:34 p.m. - Police were called to the 600 block of Wilson Drive for a death investigation.

12:12 p.m. - Police responded to the 3600 block of Aster Street for a domestic violence complaint.

More Information Activities of the Midland County Sheriff's Office and Midland Police Department See More Collapse

9:22 a.m. - A deputy spoke with a 71-year-old Jerome Township man who reported that an unknown suspect went into the ditch in front of his house. The vehicle drove away but left some minor ruts in the grass.

8:58 a.m. - A deputy spoke with a 32-year-old woman regarding someone breaking the windows out of her pickup truck while it was parked overnight at a public lot in Edenville Township. Damage was estimated at $3,000.

5:36 a.m. - Deputies were dispatched to the ER for a report of threats from a 28-year-old Lee Township patient toward his ex-girlfriend. Both parties were advised on the incident.

Saturday, April 15

11:51 p.m. - A 37-year-old man had questions on how to get his 38-year-old brother out of his residence. The 37-year-old was explained the eviction process.

9:48 p.m. - A 28-year-old Midland man was cited for driving with a suspended license and speeding after a traffic stop in Greendale Township. The man was released to family members who arrived on scene. The vehicle was also turned over to the family members.

8:49 p.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a Hope Township location for loose cows. Deputies corralled the cows and contacted the owner.

8:24 p.m. - A deputy was sent to a Lee Township home for a destruction of property civil complaint. The complainant wished to document the incident and was going to pursue the matter civilly through the courts.

8:23 p.m. - Deputies were dispatched to contact a 42-year-old Warren Township man regarding his computer being hacked. The man was advised on the situation and a report was completed.

3:17 p.m. - A deputy responded to a Mills Township residence regarding a suicidal 14-year-old girl. EMS paramedics arrived at the scene and transported the juvenile to the MyMichigan Medical Center ER for an evaluation.

2:18 p.m. - Police responded to an injury crash at E. Business US-10 and Waldo Avenue.

1:09 p.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a Larkin Township residence to speak with a 44-year-old man and his wife who purchased a house that is currently occupied by renters. Deputies answered the couple's questions regarding civil matters and the eviction process.

10:58 a.m. - Police were called to a verbal domestic dispute in the 4600 block of Quincy Drive.

10:17 a.m. - A deputy was dispatched to a Jasper Township residence for an ongoing loose dog complaint. This incident is under investigation.

9:41 a.m. - A 17-year-old girl was cited during a traffic stop in Jerome Township. The juvenile's guardian was contacted regarding a vape violation.

1:39 a.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a single-car Lee Township property damage crash around W. Isabella Rd and 11 Mile Road, which resulted in the driver being arrested for drunken driving.

1:20 a.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a Midland Township residence for a possible assault. It was determined that no assault occurred. But while deputies were on scene, a 31-year-old Midland Township woman became suicidal and cut her wrist. The woman was transported to MyMichigan Medical Center by EMS for medical attention and a mental petition. The woman had a peaceful contact conditional bond at the residence. This report will be sent to the county prosecutor for review.

Friday, April 14

10:17 p.m. - A deputy responded to a Homer Township roadway for a report of three to four people walking in the road with masks on. The deputy located and spoke with the youths involved and their parents. The parents also reported a traffic violation involving the vehicle that encountered the youths. The deputy then spoke with the person who called in the report and provided feedback.

9:04 p.m. - Police responded to a verbal domestic dispute and mental petition in the 300 block of Dogwood Place.

7:44 p.m. - A 13-year-old boy reported an unknown man walking around his mother's Larkin Township property. It was discovered that the man was the juvenile's father, who was stopping by to speak with the mother, who had not told her son about the visit. No crime was committed, and the mother did not need any assistance.

6:45 p.m. - Deputies responded to a Homer Township location for a personal injury crash involving a motorcycle. There were non-life-threatening injuries, and the 53-year-old Homer Township man was cited for having no cycle endorsement. A report was sent to the prosecutor.

4:58 p.m. - Police were called to a hit-and-run crash in the 7200 block of Eastman Avenue.

3:30 p.m. - Police were called to a larceny in the 3400 block of Isabella Street.

2:36 p.m. - A deputy was dispatched to a Jerome Township residence to check the well-being of a 15-year-old boy after he hadn't shown up for school all week. The deputy spoke with the students mother, who advised that he was in good health but was not sleeping well.

10:41 a.m. - EMS, fire and deputies were dispatched to a report of a boy lying beside the roadway. EMS and fire arrived to find the boy was fine and walking. They spoke with the boy and cancelled deputies.

8:49 a.m. - Police responded to the 800 block of Vance Road for a verbal domestic dispute.

6:44 a.m. - A 69-year-old Midland man called to report a traffic incident/reckless driver that occurred the prior evening in Homer Township.

6:38 a.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a Jerome Township location to assist with a possible car fire. It was later determined the vehicle was having a mechanical issue and was not on fire.

12:53 a.m. - A highly intoxicated 49-year-old Lincoln Township man called to report that there were cars parked in the parking lot of his apartment complex with people inside them. The man said that the people frequent the complex because they have family members who reside in the apartments. The man was informed that there was nothing illegal about that, and he was encouraged to speak with his landlord regarding apartment complex issues.

2:43 a.m. - Deputies conducted a traffic stop in Jerome Township that resulted in a 61-year-old Jerome Township man being arrested for drunken driving.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP)  As explosions and gunfire thundered outside, Sudanese in the capital Khartoum and other cities huddled in their homes for a third day Monday, while the army and a powerful rival force battled in the streets for control of the country.

At least 185 people have been killed and over 1,800 wounded since the fighting erupted, U.N. envoy Volker Perthes told reporters. The two sides are using tanks, artillery and other heavy weapons in densely populated areas. Fighter jets swooped overhead and anti-aircraft fire lit up the skies as darkness fell.

The toll could be much higher because there are many bodies in the streets around central Khartoum that no one can reach because of the clashes. There has been no official word on how many civilians or combatants have been killed. A doctors' group earlier put the number of civilian deaths at 97.

The sudden outbreak of violence over the weekend between the nation's two top generals, each backed by tens of thousands of heavily armed fighters, trapped millions of people in their homes or wherever they could find shelter, with supplies running low and several hospitals forced to shut down.

Top diplomats on four continents scrambled to broker a truce, and the U.N. Security Council was set to discuss the crisis.

Gunfire and shelling are everywhere, Awadeya Mahmoud Koko, head of a union for thousands of tea vendors and other food workers, said from her home in a southern district of Khartoum.

She said a shell stuck a neighbors house Sunday, killing at least three people. We couldnt take them to a hospital or bury them.

In central Khartoum, sustained gunfire erupted and white smoke rose near the main military headquarters, a major battlefront. Nearby, at least 88 students and staffers have been trapped in the engineering college library at Khartoum University since the start of fighting, one of the students said in a video posted online Monday. One student was killed during clashes outside and another wounded, he said. They do not have food or water, he said, showing a room full of people sleeping on the floor.

Even in a country with a long history of military coups, the scenes of fighting in the capital and its adjoining city Omdurman across the Nile River were unprecedented. The turmoil comes just days before Sudanese were to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting.

The power struggle pits Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the commander of the armed forces, against Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The former allies jointly orchestrated an October 2021 military coup. The violence has raised the specter of civil war just as Sudanese were trying to revive the drive for a democratic, civilian government after decades of military rule.

Under international pressure, Burhan and Dagalo had recently agreed to a framework agreement with political parties and pro-democracy groups, but the signing was repeatedly delayed as tensions rose over the integration of the RSF into the armed forces and the future chain of command.

The U.S., the U.N. and others have called for a truce. Egypt, which backs Sudan's military, and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates  which forged close ties to the RSF as it sent thousands of fighters to support their war in Yemen  have also called for both sides to stand down.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is attending a Group of Seven meeting in Japan, spoke by phone with Burhan and Dagalo separately and underscored the urgency of reaching a cease-fire, according to the State Department's principal deputy spokesperson, Vedant Patel.

On Tuesday, Blinken told reporters in Japan that indiscriminate military operations are "recklessly endangering civilians, diplomats, including U.S. personnel, and humanitarian personnel.

Blinken said a convoy of clearly marked U.S. Embassy vehicles came under fire Monday, and that preliminary reports indicate the attackers were linked to the RSF. He said everyone in the convoy is safe and at home.

Blinken called for an immediate 24-hour ceasefire as a step toward a longer truce.

In a joint statement Tuesday, the G-7 foreign ministers condemned the fighting. We urge the parties to end hostilities immediately without pre-conditions, it said, calling for them to return to negotiations and reduce tensions.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said late Monday that Cairo was in constant contact with both the army and the RSF, urging them to halt the fighting and return to negotiations.

But both generals have thus far dug in, demanding the other's surrender.

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell tweeted that the EU ambassador to Sudan "was assaulted in his own residency," without providing further details. EU officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Dagalo, whose forces grew out of the notorious Janjaweed militias in Sudans Darfur region, has portrayed himself as a defender of democracy and branded Burhan as the aggressor and a radical Islamist. Both generals have a long history of human rights abuses and their forces have cracked down on pro-democracy activists.

Heavy gunbattles raged in multiple parts of the capital and Omdurman, where the two sides have brought in tens of thousands of troops, positioning them in nearly every neighborhood.

Twelve hospitals in the capital area have been forcefully evacuated and are out of service because of attacks or power outages, the Sudan Doctors' Syndicate said, out of a total of around 20. Four hospitals outside the capital have also shut down, it added in a statement late Monday.

Hadia Saeed said she and her three children were sheltering in one room on the ground floor of their home for fear of the shelling as gunfire rattled across their Bahri district in north Khartoum. They have food for a few more days, but after that we dont know what to do, she said.

Residents said fierce fighting with artillery and other heavy weapons raged Monday afternoon in the Gabra neighborhood southwest of Khartoum. People were trapped and screaming inside their homes, said Asmaa al-Toum, a physician living in the area.

Fighting has been particularly fierce around each side's main bases and at strategic government buildings  all of which are in residential areas.

The military on Monday claimed to have secured the main television building in Omdurman, fending off the RSF after days of fighting. State-run Sudan TV resumed broadcasting.

On Sunday, the RSF said it abandoned its main barracks and base, in Omdurman, which the armed forces had pounded with airstrikes. Online videos Monday purported to show the bodies of dozens of men said to be RSF fighters at the base, strewn over beds, the floor of a clinic and outside in a yard. The authenticity of the videos could not be confirmed independently.

The military and RSF were also fighting in most major centers around the country, including in the western Darfur region and parts of the north and the east, by the borders with Egypt and Ethiopia. Battles raged Monday around a strategic airbase in Merowe, some 350 kilometers (215 miles) northwest of the capital, with both sides claiming control of the facility.

Only four years ago, Sudan inspired hope after a popular uprising helped depose long-time autocratic leader Omar al-Bashir.

But the turmoil since, especially the 2021 coup, has frustrated the democracy drive and wrecked the economy. A third of the population  around 16 million people  now depends on humanitarian assistance in the resource-rich nation, Africa's third largest.

Save the Children, an international charity, said it has temporarily suspended most of its operations across Sudan. It said looters raided its offices in Darfur, stealing medical supplies, laptops, vehicles and a refrigerator. The World Food Program suspended operations over the weekend after three employees were killed in Darfur, and the International Rescue Committee has also halted most operations.

With the U.S., European Union, African and Arab nations all calling for an end to fighting, the U.N. Security Council was to discuss the developments. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was consulting with the Arab League, African Union and leaders in the region, urging anyone with influence to press for peace.

___ Magdy reported from Cairo.
A 7-km section of the now-suspended Da Lat-Thap Cham railway is used for tourism. Photo by VnExpress/Phuoc Tuan

Swiss rolling stock manufacturer Stadler has said it wants to supply trains and other solutions for the proposed revival of the Thap Cham-Da Lat rail route.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently sent a document to the Lam Dong Province People's Committee, relaying a message from the Switzerland Embassy in Vietnam about the company's interest in the project.

The People's Committee has instructed the province Department of Transport to discuss possible cooperation with Stadler with the ministry.

Thap Cham-Da Lat was among the first funicular railway routes in the world when it was completed in 1932.

Due to the war its operation was suspended in 1968.

After 1975 almost all parts of the tracks have been removed, except for a 6.7-km section retained for tourism purposes.

In July last year the Ministry of Transport approved a proposal to revive the 84-km route at a cost of VND24.92 trillion (US$1 billion).

The Bach Dang Hotel Complex Trading-Service company, which is in charge of the renovation, is expected to build 16 stations. The work is expected to start in January 2025, and trains will begin running in 2029.
Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - A team of three East African Heads of State has been picked to spearhead talks between rival Sudanese military leaders, a regional bloc said on Sunday
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity, Abdelhamid al-Dabaiba, Monday called on the chairman of the General Authority for Waqfs (Endowments) and Islamic Affairs to take the necessary measures "to intensify preaching and clarify the Islamic precepts in the right way"
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) - The World Food Programme (WFP) has temporarily suspended all its operations following fighting between rival military groups in Sudan that left three WFP staff dead on Saturday and two others injured, the UN said
Sappi's Agreement to Sell European Graphic Paper Mills to Aurelius Group Lapses

"Regretfully, and despite extensive efforts by Sappi to close the transaction the parties could not agree on fulfilling the suspensive conditions. Therefore, the transaction has lapsed."  Steve Binnie, CEO, Sappi Limited. "Regretfully, and despite extensive efforts by Sappi to close the transaction the parties could not agree on fulfilling the suspensive conditions. Therefore, the transaction has lapsed."  Steve Binnie, CEO, Sappi Limited.

April 17, 2023 - Sappi Limited on April 14 announced that the intended sale to Aurelius Group of its Maastricht Mill in the Netherlands, its Stockstadt Mill in Germany and its Kirkniemi Mill in Finland (the "Transaction") has not materialized within the agreed timeframe of the contractual agreement and therefore the agreement has lapsed.

Sappi received binding offers from several parties for these three mills. Following due process, the board of Sappi agreed to accept the offer from Aurelius Group, a pan-European multi-asset manager group. The transaction was subject to various standard suspensive conditions.

Steve Binnie, CEO of Sappi Limited commented, "Regretfully, and despite extensive efforts by Sappi to close the transaction the parties could not agree on fulfilling the suspensive conditions. Therefore, the transaction has lapsed. Sappi's strategic focus remains unchanged. This includes reducing exposure to the graphic paper segment while expanding Sappi's presence in segments including packaging and speciality papers, pulp and biomaterials."

Marco Eikelenboom, CEO of Sappi Europe stated, "Sappi Europe will continue to manage the three mills as part of our overall portfolio, ensuring that they continue delivering value to the region and to the customers they supply."

The mills included:

Sappi Maastricht Mill produces 260,000 ton per annum (tpa) of coated woodfree paper and paperboard mainly sold to printers and packaging converters globally.

Sappi Stockstadt Mill is an integrated pulp and paper mill located in Germany, producing 145,000 tpa of pulp which is used to produce 220,000 tpa of coated and uncoated woodfree paper mainly sold into the European print market.

Sappi Kirkniemi Mill is an integrated pulp and paper mill located in Finland, producing 300,000 tpa of bleached mechanical pulp which is used to produce approximately 750 000 tpa of a variety of coated mechanical paper grades used in the print publication industry globally.

Sappi is a leading global provider of sustainable woodfibre products and solutions, in the fields of dissolving pulp, printing papers, packaging and speciality papers, casting and release papers, biomaterials and bio-energy.

SOURCE: Sappi
Photo: (Photo : Pexel/Rodnae Production)

A Texas hospital is releasing statistics on the number of infant deaths caused by co-sleeping and other unsafe sleeping conditions to warn parents and raise awareness.

Thirty infants have died due to unsafe sleeping conditions since January 2022, according to the Cook Children Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas, Fox News reported. It is said to be more than the combined number of children's deaths caused by tragic gunshot wounds and drownings, and the highest peak since 2008.

Just one of the 400 hospitals in the state, the hospital shares its statistics in the attempt to warn parents and raise awareness about co-sleeping and the risk it poses to infants, as well as the peril that can result from babies' sleeping environment surrounded by pillows, blankets, loose garments and other objects.

Infants Should Separately Sleep on Flat Surfaces

According to a press release from the hospital issued last week, most of the recorded infant deaths happened when a parent or caregiver slept in the same bed with the baby, and the former waking up to find the baby unresponsive.

Trauma records at Cook Children's revealed a list of other various circumstances that led to cardiac arrest or respiratory failure, fatal conditions the babies were in when they were brought to the hospital. These circumstances include "babies placed on a pillow with a propped bottle, in the crib with a blanket or pillow, in a recliner or on the couch next to a sleeping adult, or wearing a loose T-shirt that covered their face."

Aside from stating that the numbers for the past 15 months has been the hospital's highest surge, trauma injury prevention coordinator Sharon Evans stated that the new statistics showed that the highest unsafe sleep deaths were under the demographics of Black boys from two to six months old.

Candle Johnson, Advanced Practice Registered Nurse and Primary Care Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner at Cook Children's Renaissance Neighborhood Clinic in South Fort Worth cannot help but emphasize "Safe Sleep" with her patient parents and families. It is crucial for parents to understand that the best and safest way for babies is to sleep on flat surfaces like a bassinet or a crib. She further stated that co-sleeping can sometimes wedge the infants between headboards and mattresses, or lead them to be suffocated under blankets, and worst, come under their parent's or caregiver's body.

"It seems to be so much easier to co-sleep when breastfeeding. I do advise against that because even though it may be easier, it's not safe. No one can control their body function once they're sleeping. When you're in a deep sleep and your infant is next to you, you're not able to say 'I won't roll over on them," Johnson declared.

Read Also: Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: Pediatricians Warn of Alarming Increase, How to Prevent It

A case that is preventable

Johnson continued to discuss other factors that have increased the risk for babies to get fatally injured from unsafe sleep situations, and these include parents' or caregiver's lack of knowledge and education about safe sleep and distrust of medical advice, young maternal age, and poverty - the inability to afford a separate bassinet or crib for the baby or the space constraints inside a crowded- one bedroom house.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that there are about 3,500 infants that die every year in America because of unsafe sleeping conditions.

"Unfortunately, too many babies in this country are lost to sleep-related deaths that might be prevented," stated the CDC Director Brenda Fitzgerald, M.D, to which Johnson strongly agreed.

The doctor explained, "Unless it hits home, it doesn't really resonate. We want them to understand this is a very preventable situation. Let's be proactive today, so we don't have to be reactive tomorrow. If a fatality happens, then how do we go forward when we could have prevented it from the beginning?"

With this, they have released a list of precautions for safe sleep.

Babies should always sleep on their back as side and stomach sleeping are not safe for infants who cannot roll over. A firm, flat mattress or sleeping surface with tightly-fitted sheets should be used and not a sloped sleeping surface. Parents should share a room but never a bed with the baby. Babies should sleep separately on their own cribs or bassinet. The baby's sleep area should be clear from blankets, pillows, bumper pads and soft toys. Aside from swaddling, sleep sacks are also recommended, especially if the baby is already able to roll over.

Related Article: Crib Mattress: Top 5 Amazon Finds You Should Get for Your Baby
Photo: (Photo : Pexel/Cottonbro Studio)

After the runaway success of the "Squid Game," Netflix knows that South Korean shows are worth taking a risk on and bringing to a wider audience. Thus, it did not second-guess in taking the shows "Hellbound" and "All Of Us Are Dead" on the home and mobile screens.

"All Of Us Are Dead" is another South Korean show that has become a worldwide phenomenon and made more waves than the hit series Squid Game.

"Shooting straight into the top 10 overall most-watched shows in two dozen countries, it managed to maintain its position for at least three weeks before dropping out," Digital Spy stated. More than that, it debuted as the number one most-viewed show on Netflix, setting a new first-week record for a Korean title.

Thus, it was not a surprise that season two is already in the works, reported to be released in 2024.

However, parents are a bit disturbed by this show that has caught the attention and time of their teens. With zombies, deaths, and a lot of blood, they question if the show, though it features teens and high schoolers as lead characters, is indeed appropriate for their teenagers to consume.

Appropriate Age of Viewers

The show "All Of Us Are Dead" is about Hyosan High, a high school that became a "ground zero for a zombie virus outbreak," where the trapped students must fight their way out before they turn into zombies, as Netflix summarized.

Netflix suggested that the show is appropriate for audiences 16 years old and older. According to Common Sense Media, high school students are old enough to handle the blood and gore of the show. Yet, debates on the exact ages of viewers of the series are appropriate continue to grow louder.

"The series features heightened violence and gore, including fight scenes and some body horror. There's also at least one scene of sexual assault, in which some high school boys force a teenage girl to make a video topless," Common Sense explained as to why they rated the series for viewers 15 years old and up.

Further, the series is reported to be available with "English overdubbing" and profanity words like "f--k," "a--hole," "bitch" and others are used time and again in each episode.

Read More: Schools Send 'Squid Game' Warning to Parents as Kids Copy Games

Kids love it while parents are torn

However, more than its zombie genre, in which blood and horror are expected, it also tackles serious issues that parents think can pose a danger for their teens' mental health.

As the Rolling Stones wrote, "Even before Hyosan High becomes ground zero for the world's zombie outbreak in All of Us Are Dead, its teen inhabitants are struggling to survive. Severe bullying, threats of suicide, wealth inequality and a suffocating pressure to succeed make Hyosan High - and Korean society - a kind of hell."

Based on reviews from Common Sense, most kids have labeled the show as the "best zombie show ever." Almost all kids rated the show with four and five stars and think that it is a good show and a must-watch.

However, in the parents review section, the group is divided. Some parents think the show gives off great messages, role models, and a high educational value.

The other group disagrees, stating that the show has too much violence, too much sex, and too much swearing. One parent even instructed other parents not to let their kids watch the show "at any age."

"I love zombie programs and films but the focus on this is to purely satisfy the appetite of disgusting perverts who get their kicks from seeing young girls being abused. On top of this there is severe bullying with suicide made fun of. It's a horrible, horrible program. The writing is terrible and slow with not an ounce of humour. Do not give this the time of day and if you are a decent, responsible parent you will keep this away from your children," the parents expressed.

Related Article: Bestselling Book Series for Kids, 'Princesses Wear Pants,' Is Going To Be an Animated Netflix Series Come 2023
Tourists pose for photos at the Merlion Park in Singapore, January 28, 2020. Photo by Reuters

A Vietnamese tourist posted a video on TikTok, claiming a cab driver in Singapore tricked her into paying an extra $80 for her trip.

The woman, who goes by the TikTok handle Baokieu230598, posted a three-minute video of the incident on April 5, which has since gone viral with nearly 50,000 views.

Narrating the incident in Vietnamese, she said she had hailed the taxi for a journey that should have cost $16.

On arrival, she handed the driver two $10 notes to pay. Noticing she also had some $50 notes and a $100 note on hand, he allegedly asked if he could change notes with her.

He then took a $100 note and handed her $4 in return.

She then waited for him to return the rest of her change but he refused, saying he had already returned the money while pointing to the two $50 notes she was holding.

Questioning the driver led to a heated argument, made worse by the language barrier between the duo.

In the video, he can be heard saying: "You call the police, I'm not scared of you."

The woman said she ended up paying an extra $80 for the ride but did not make a police report as she did not have her work permit on hand.

One TikTok user commented under the video: "I was a taxi driver for almost 10 years in Singapore and the regulations are very strict. One's taxi vocational license can be permanently revoked by the authorities if found guilty of unethical practices."

The incident was widely shared on Singapore fan pages online.

Several internet users urged the Vietnamese woman to book a Grab next time.
This post, which focuses again on the famous passage in Matthew 5:48 (in the King James Version, Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect), is a continuation of On Being Perfect (Part One), which went up on 2 April 2023.

In our effort to understand Matthew 5:48, we should certainly not ignore the verses context. That is an all-too-common error in the explication and deployment of quotations from the Bible; we must resist that temptation.

The passage immediately follows an extended discussion of the importance of loving even our enemies (5:43-47, or perhaps 5:38-47 altogether), a passage that specifically refers, as an illustration of what it means by loving even enemies, to your Father which is in heaven, who maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. And there is no clear or explicit division between 5:47 and 5:48, no reason to believe that 5:48 represents an entirely new and unrelated thought.

At a minimum, accordingly, the perfection spoken of in Matthew 5:48 must involve a perfection of love  even toward those who are, by just about every earthly standard, unlovable and, sometimes, even hateful. As J. B. Phillips renders Matthew 5:46-48 in his very readable twentieth-century translation (a longtime favorite of mine),

For if you love only those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even tax-collectors do that! And if you exchange greetings only with your own circle, are you doing anything exceptional? Even the pagans do that much. No, you are to be perfect, like your Heavenly Father.

And such perfect love goes far beyond  and is far more difficult than  merely a perfect attendance record at Sunday school or unvarying abstinence from tobacco or the scrupulously accurate payment of tithing. It is, in fact, something that we cannot manage on our own, unaided. It is a spiritual gift that we are commanded to seek. Here are the words of the prophet Mormon, as recorded by his son:

Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen. (Moroni 7:46-48)

Moreover, the passage immediately following Matthew 5:48  and please remember that the chapter and verse divisions are not part of the original biblical text but were introduced long after the original writing of the New Testament, so that we should not imagine that a chapter break necessarily indicates a break in continuity of thought  demands that our righteousness or perfection not be motivated or muddied by a desire for ego-gratifying public display. (See Matthew 6:1-6.)

It is also essential to understand that, as Norbert Duckwitz recently pointed out in a Facebook response to my earlier post, the first word in the passage is in the future tense. It isnt, literally, a command. It is the Greek verb , which is translated as be (the first word in the English of the King James). It is a second-person plural form of the verb  (to be). And the fact that it is in the future tense, and not strictly an imperative command, is significant. The future tense can, of course, be a way of expressing a command. In English, for example, the boss says to the employee You will organize these files tomorrow, or Next week, Bob, youll go to Boston and meet with our staff there. Shes not merely making a prediction, despite her employment of the future tense. Shes issuing an order. But sometimes too, obviously the future tense simply indicates, well, a future action or a future condition. In that light, consider some of these English translations of Matthew 5:48:

You shall be perfect. (roughly or exactly thus in the American Standard Version, the Disciples Literal New Testament, the 1599 Geneva Bible, the New American Standard Bible, the New King James Version, the Revised Geneva Translation, the World English Bible, and Youngs Literal Translation)

You are to be perfect. (roughly or exactly thus in the Legacy Standard Bible, the Living Bible, the Mounce Reverse Interlinear New Testament, the New American Standard Bible 1995, and the New Living Translation)

In terms of what Greek grammarians call voice,  is a middle deponent verb, which suggests that the subject of the verb  in this case, the people whom Christ is addressing  performs the action (i.e., of being perfect), instead of receiving it. And its mood is what grammarians call the indicative, which means that it is not referring to a state that might be, or a condition that is merely wished for, or even an action or state that is commanded to be. So perhaps one way of taking Matthew 5:48  certainly one way to be considered  is not as an intimidating and even discouraging command to do what seems impossible but, rather, as a simple statement of fact that we will someday be perfect. As a comforting divine promise that, however distant and unattainable perfection may seem to us now, we will (if we continue to strive to follow the Savior, if, to borrow language now closely associated with President Russell M. Nelson, we persist on the covenant path) someday attain it. It might be, taken in that sense, an expression of divine confidence in us and in his own plan for us. .

Incidentally, barring unforeseen circumstances Ill be in Santa Barbara, California, this coming weekend. (Not exactly the worst place in the world!) Among other things, at the invitation of Bishop Michael Gunson there, Ill be speaking to a fireside audience on Sunday evening. If any of you happen to be in the vicinity at the time, please feel free to drop in:

To be continued.
Kenyan police are investigating the deaths of four people suspected to have starved to death on the orders of a controversial cult leader.



Pastor Makenzie Nthenge allegedly told his followers in the coastal area of Kilifi to starve themselves in the hope of getting to heaven quickly.



Following a tip-off, police found 15 seriously ill people on Thursday, but only 11 made it to the hospital alive.



Police are also looking into reports of a mass grave in a nearby forest.



Last month Mr Nthenge was charged in connection with the deaths of two children whose parents had joined his Good News International Church.



He pleaded not guilty and was released on bail. The current whereabouts of the pastor are not clear.



The identities of those who died on Thursday have not yet been established.



Some survivors, including a teenager, are currently in critical condition having become so emaciated.



A security source told Kenya's Nation Media group that those rescued from their homes were extremely unwell: "We found them in a very bad state, others fainted on the way to hospital."



Police said they began their search for followers of the Good News International Church after receiving intelligence that "ignorant citizens" were "starving to death in pretext to meet Jesus after being brainwashed by a suspect".



They were also warned about "a mass shallow grave of victims of that brainwashing totalling 31 bodies in an unidentified place at Shakahola Forest", the police statement said.



Kenya is a religious country and this is not the first time people have been lured into joining dangerous, unregulated churches or cults.

Source: BBC









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Gunfire and explosions have been heard in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, after days of tension between a notorious paramilitary force and the country's army.



The dispute centres around a proposed transition to civilian rule.



Reuters is reporting that gunfire has been heard close to the headquarters of the army in the centre of the city.



The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) says it has taken control of the airport and presidential palace.



These claims have not been confirmed.



Earlier the RSF had said that one of its camps in the south of Khartoum had been attacked.



For its part, the army has said that RSF fighters have been trying to seize the military headquarters.



"Fighters from the Rapid Support Forces attacked several army camps in Khartoum and elsewhere around Sudan," the AFP news agency quotes army spokesman Brig Gen Nabil Abdallah as saying.



"Clashes are ongoing and the army is carrying out its duty to safeguard the country."



The Reuters news agency is also citing witnesses as saying that there was gunfire in the northern city of Merowe.



Alarabyia TV is broadcasting pictures of smoke rising from a military camp there, Reuters reports.



Generals have been running the country, through what is called the Sovereign Council, since a coup in October 2021.



The RSF is under the command of the council's vice-president Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. The army, meanwhile, is led by Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who is the head of the Sovereign Council.



A proposed move to a civilian-led government has foundered on the timetable to integrate the RSF into the national army.



The RSF wanted to delay it for 10 years, but the army said it should happen in two years.



On Thursday, the RSF deployed forces near the military base in Merowe as tensions increased this week.



Gen Burhan said he was willing to talk to his second in command to resolve the dispute over who would lead a unified army in a proposed civilian government.



Western powers and regional leaders had urged the two sides to de-escalate tensions and to go back to talks aimed at restoring civilian rule.



There had been signs on Friday that the situation would be resolved.



In a tweet, US Ambassador John Godfrey said: "I urgently call on senior military leaders to stop the fighting."



Describing the situation in the city, he said he "woke up to the deeply disturbing sounds of gunfire and fighting. I am currently sheltering in place with the Embassy team, as Sudanese throughout Khartoum and elsewhere are doing."



Russia's embassy is also concerned by the "escalation of violence" and has urged a ceasefire, Reuters reports.



The 2021 coup ended a period of more than two years when military and civilian leaders were sharing power. That deal came after Sudan's long-term authoritarian President Omar al-Bashir was overthrown.



There have been regular pro-democracy protests in Khartoum ever since the coup.

Source: BBC









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
A former Indian politician convicted of kidnapping has been shot dead live on TV along with his brother.



Atiq Ahmed, who was under police escort, was talking to reporters when a gun was pulled close to his head in Prayagraj, also known as Allahabad.



After the shots were fired on Saturday night, three men who had been posing as journalists quickly surrendered and were taken into custody.



Ahmed's teenage son was shot dead by police days earlier.



Dozens of cases, including kidnapping, murder and extortion, were registered against Atiq Ahmed over the past two decades. A local court sentenced him and two others to life in jail in March this year in a kidnapping case.



Ahmed had previously claimed there was a threat to his own life from the police.



Video showed Ahmed and his brother, Ashraf, both in handcuffs, speaking to journalists on the way to a medical check-up at a hospital seconds before they were both shot.



Read Full Story .... HERE >>> :









Source: BBC









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
At least 56 people have been killed and 595 injured in clashes across Sudan, according to the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors.



Sudans paramilitary chief Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo claims to have seized most of Khartoums official sites after clashes erupted between his armed group and the countrys military on Saturday.



The Rapid Support Forces control more than 90 percent of strategic sites in Khartoum, Dagalo said in an interview with Sky News Arabia, referring to his paramilitary group.



The countrys military leader, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, disputed Dagalos claims and said the military has maintained control over government sites.



In an interview with Al Jazeera, Dagalo  also known as Hemedti  described Burhan as a criminal, accusing him of instigating fighting on Saturday, which led to three civilian deaths and dozens wounded.



Armed clashes were reported throughout Khartoum, including the presidential palace and the capitals army headquarters. Medical sources at a hospital in central Khartoum told CNN Saturday afternoon the hospital has received dozens of wounded civilians and military personnel in the last several hours.



Among those killed was an Indian national working in Sudan, who died after being hit by a stray bullet on Saturday, the Indian embassy in Khartoum tweeted. It identified the man as Albert Augestine, a Dal Group Company employee, and said it was in touch with his family and medical authorities to make further arrangements.



On Saturday, the embassy issued a notice for all Indians to stay inside and take precautions.











Read Full Story .... HERE >>> :









Source: CNN









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
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has urged Africa to eschew the mindset of impossibility and embrace a mindset of possibility, for the African continent to get to the levels of developed countries.



Addressing participants of Harvard University's Africa Development Conference in the United States over the weekend, Dr. Bawumia identified the continuous reliance of ineffective systems in Africa as the bane of the the continent's economic growth and development, adding that the status quo remains because the continent has, for many years, not broken the "shackles of impossibility mindsets".



"The truth is that while African countries are politically free, we still have a mindset that is shackled by the experience of 500 years of slavery and colonialism," Dr. Bawumia said.



"For the longest time we have not believed in ourselves. The dominant mindset is one of impossibility."



Addressing issues stunting the economic growth of the African continent, Dr. Bawumia said the over reliance of raw materials instead of human capital development, as well as lack of effective systems such as identity system, property addressing system, huge financial exclusion and manual delivery of public services are some of the major contributory factors to Africa's stunted progress.



To address these, Dr. Bawumia noted, Africa must embrace the 4th Industrial Revolution to address these basis system challenges, and more importantly, break the impossibility mindset, which he said is a major hindrance to Africa's forward march.



"Our generation needs to break the shackles of the impossibility mindset and embrace the mindset of possibility! It is time for us to figure out the best ways to be masters of our destiny, to chart our own path and develop on our own terms. It is Possible!"



Back home in Ghana, Dr. Bawumia has spearheaded Ghana's successful digitalization drive to address some of the basis system challenges he spoke about at the Conference.



He has, however, faced his own challenges of "impossibility mindsets," and has often spoken about how pessimists attempted to impede and discourage many of the succesful digital innovations he led, as not possible to implement.



The Harvard Africa Development Conference, brings together high level participants to discuss issues relating to the development of the African continent.



Vice President Bawumia delivered the keynote address as the Guest of Honour.

Source: Peacefmonline









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
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo led a government delegation to the funeral of former Old Tafo Member of Parliament (MP) Anthony Osei Akoto on Saturday, 15 April 2023.



Two other former presidents, John Agyekum Kufuor and John Dramani Mahama were also in attendance along with a strong delegation from Parliament.



The burial service took place at the Holy Spirit Cathedral in Accra, followed by the burial.



A number of former members of parliament and government were also present in photos sighted by GhanaWeb.



The former minister of state in charge of monitoring and evaluation passed away on Monday, 20 March 2023.



His passing was announced on the Facebook page of the parliament of Ghana.



He was 69 years old.



He left behind three children.



Mr Osei was in the cabinet of former President John Agyekum Kufuor as Minister of State for Finance and Economic Planning.



He became a member of the Management Board of Merchant Bank (Ghana) Ltd in March 2002.



Prior, he served as an Associate Professor at Dollard University (USA) and as a Research Assistant at the Center for Policy Analysis (Ghana).



In May 2017, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo named Anthony Akoto Osei as part of 19 ministers to form his cabinet.





Source: ghanaweb.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
In one breath, the Ghana Police Service wants to enforce a law that is little known to many Ghanaians, while on the other, those found culpable just cannot understand why there is such a fuss about civilians wearing camouflage in Ghana.



More recently, all of these conversations have gained a lot of attention in the public eye after a recent case of the police invited some members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) over what they were wearing during an outdoor event.



The eight Ashanti Region executives of the opposition NDC had been campaigning with John Dramani Mahama in March 2023 when they were captured in photos wearing the militarys camouflage.



In their defence, they said what they were wearing was merely the partys Green Army and that besides, they had bought them at Kumasi Kejetia Market, which bears no military symbol of the Ghana Armed Forces to warrant this needless invitation.



The police, however, disagreed and invited them to appear before it.



NPP National Youth Organiser invited by police for wearing military camouflage



In another very recent instance, GhanaWeb reported on Thursday, April 13, 2023, that the Upper West Regional Command of the Ghana Police Service had invited the National Youth Organiser of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Abdul Salam Mustapha, for questioning.



According to a copy of the invitation letter sighted by GhanaWeb, Mr. Salam was to report to the Upper West Police Command on Friday, April 7, 2023, to assist in an ongoing investigation in which he was seen wearing a military camouflage during a radio interview contrary to the law.



But Salam Mustapha believes the invitation by the police is a result of an equalisation attempt by the opposition National Democratic Congress, which also recently had some of its executives invited by the police on similar grounds.



So, it has remained an issue for many of these civilians  mostly politicians, caught wearing these attires and disagreeing with the police. And they have not been alone.



Theres no law against wearing military camouflage in Ghana  Toobu



A former senior police officer, who is now the Member of Parliament for Wa West, Peter Lanchene Toobu, agrees that such actions should not warrant arrests by the police.



In fact, he stated that there is no existing law in Ghana barring the wearing of camouflage by civilians.



He explained further in an interview with Eyewitness News on Citi FM that although the police can question a person for wearing a military uniform, the only other way would be to ban the importation of camouflage.



The principle is simple, if you are a police officer, you dress in a uniform to show that you are an officer and if you are a soldier, you are a soldier by training, but the uniform is symbolic of who you are and so if you are not a police officer or a soldier, and you are wearing army uniform, they [the military] have the right to question you, he said.



Lawyer provides a clearer understanding of Ghanas law on the matter:



A lawyer, Kofi Opare Hagan, also believes that the enforcement by the police is questionable.



In a post on his Facebook page, he detailed what he says is what the position of Ghanas laws on the subject actually is.



The law restricting the use of military uniforms by civilians, as cited, applies only to military uniforms actually used by a Military. Whether they have stopped using it or not is immaterial. But that uniform must have been part of a military wear in Ghana or abroad.



No Army anywhere in the world uses True Religion. Ghana Police Service should stop this nonsense of reacting to bogus petitions and wasting the limited police resources they have. The interpretation of military uniform can be found in the law itself, he stated.



So, what does the law of Ghana actually say about the use of military uniforms by the citizenry?



Restriction on Use of Military Uniforms and Equipment Act, 1967 (NLCD 177)



According to the Seven Hundred and Forty-Six Act of the Parliament of the Republic of Ghana entitled, Restriction on Use of Military Uniforms and Equipment Act, 1967 (NLCD 177), it states:



Section 1 - Military Uniforms, Etc. Not To Be Worn By Civilians



No person shall wear or use any military uniform, equipment, accoutrements or other material unless he is-



(a) a member of the Armed Forces of Ghana wearing or using the uniform, equipment, accoutrements or materiel which he is authorised to wear or use, or



(b) a member of any other Armed Forces and has the consent of the National Liberation Council, or is entitled by law or by diplomatic usage, to wear or use such uniform, equipment, accoutrements or materiel, or



(c) an ex-serviceman wearing or using such uniform, equipment, accoutrements or materiel on a ceremonial, anniversary or other special occasion approved by the National Liberation Council, or



(d) a person whom the National Liberation Council has by executive instrument authorised to wear or use such uniform, equipment, accoutrements or materiel.



Section 2 - Unauthorised Persons Not To Sell Or Buy Military Uniforms, Etc

Print Options

No person shall sell or buy any military uniform, equipment, accoutrements or other material unless he is authorised in that behalf by the National Liberation Council.



Section 3 - Licences Not To Be Issued For The Importation Of Military Uniforms, Etc



Except as the National Liberation Council may in any particular case otherwise direct, no licence shall be issued under the Importers (Regulations and Imposition of Fees) Act, 1963 (Act 218) for the importation of any military uniform, equipment, accoutrements or other materiel.





Section 4 - Offence

Print Options

(1) Any person who contravenes any provision of this Decree commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding five hundred new cedis or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both such fine and imprisonment.



(2) No prosecution shall be instituted under this paragraph without the consent of the Attorney-General.



Section 5 - Interpretation



In this Decree-



(a) "Armed Forces" includes the Police and Prisons Services;



(b) "military" shall be construed as relating to all or any of the Armed Forces, the Police and Prisons Services; and



(c) "military uniform, equipment, accoutrements or other materiel" does not include accommodation stores and military vehicles but shall include every manner of secondhand military uniform, equipment, accoutrements or other materiel worn or used by the Armed Forces of Ghana or of any other country notwithstanding that such uniform, equipment, accoutrements or materiel has ceased to be worn or used by any such Armed Forces.





Source: ghanaweb.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
On April 4, 2023, the 74th anniversary of the establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Finland became NATOS 31st Ally.

Last May, in the wake of Russias unprovoked and brutal full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Finland, along with its neighbor Sweden, had abandoned its decades-long policy of military non-alignment and applied to join NATO.

In Brussels, Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed Finland to NATO as he accepted the documents making Finlands membership official. He called the day an historic one.

"I'm tempted to say this is maybe the one thing that we can thank Mr. Putin for because he once again here precipitated something he claims to want to prevent by Russia's aggression, causing many countries to believe that they have to do more to look out for their own defense and to make sure that they can deter possible Russian aggression going forward," Secretary Blinken said.

President Joe Biden also warmly welcomed Finland as NATOs 31st Ally, noting Finlands accession was among the fastest in modern history. When Putin launched his brutal war of aggression against the people of Ukraine, he thought he could divide Europe and NATO, said President Biden in a statement. He was wrong. Today, we are more united than ever.

President Biden noted that both Finland and Sweden are strong democracies with highly capable militaries, who share our values and vision for the world. He urged Turkiye and Hungary to conclude their ratification process for Sweden without delay.

NATO has helped maintain peace and stability in Europe for more than 70 years. As President Biden declared, Together  strengthened by our newest Ally Finland  we will continue to preserve transatlantic security, defend every inch of NATO territory, and meet any and all challenges we face.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has assented into law, the three new tax bills passed by parliament late last month.



This was confirmed by information minister Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah in an interview on April 16, 2023 with Accra-based Joy News.



He told Emefa Apau on The Probe programme that the presidents lawyer Kow Essuman confirmed the assent and said the document has since been deposited with the Clerk of Parliament for other processes.



Oppong-Nkrumah is currently part of the government delegation attending Spring Meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary fund in Washington DC.



The three new taxes are: Excise Duty Amendment Bill 2022, the Growth and Sustainability Levy Bill, 2022, the Ghana Revenue Authority Bill 2022 and the Income Tax Amendment Bill 2022.



The bills were presented to Parliament as part of government's plans to raise about GH4 billion annually in domestic revenue mobilisation.



They are also crucial to help secure Board Approval for the US$3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) Programme after a staff-level agreement was reached late last year.







Source: ghanaweb.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Parliamentary aspirants of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) are now required to sign an oath of loyalty and allegiance aimed at preventing them from disobeying party decisions.



The oath is expected to ensure that NDC Members of Parliament do not break ranks when the party issues directives, while those who flout the oaths would be sanctioned.



According to the document, a candidate who flouts the partys directive at any point shall be considered as exhibiting anti-party behaviour and be subjected to the disciplinary processes of the party.



DAILY GUIDE has learnt that the oath of allegiance document comes in the wake of some NDC legislators defying party directive to approve President Akufo-Addos ministerial nominees last month.



Per the document, parliamentary aspirants are expected to believe in the supremacy of the interest and decisions of the NDC, over and above that of individual members of the party.



Also, the aspirant will at all times uphold the decisions of the party at all levels, and subject to the direction, control and command of the party.

They were also asked to remain faithful to the partys ideals, values and decisions at all times if elected as a Member of Parliament.



If I am elected as a Member of Parliament on the ticket of the NDC, I shall remain faithful to the ideals, values and decisions of the party at all times.



If I am unsuccessful in my bid to be elected as a parliamentary candidate of the NDC, I shall not in any way undermine the winner, I shall work with and fully support the campaign of the winner to ensure that the party remains victorious in the general elections in my constituency, the document further stated.



Last month, the NDC expressed disappointment in its Members of Parliament for approving President Akufo-Addos six ministerial nominees after being directed by the party to reject them.



The partys General Secretary, Fiifi Fiavi Kwetey, in a statement also described the MPs as placing their parochial interest ahead of the interest of Ghanaians.



The six ministerial nominees were Adansi Asokwa MP, Kobina Tahir Hammond who now heads the Ministry of Trade and Industry; Dr. Stephen Amoah, appointed as Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry; and Bryan Acheampong, Member of Parliament for Abetifi who is the Minister for Food and Agriculture.



The rest are Mohammed Amin Adam, Member of Parliament for Karaga who is the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry; Stephen Asamoah Boateng, Minister for Religious and Chieftaincy Affairs, and Mr. Osei Bonsu Amoah, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development.

Source: dailyguidenetwork.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
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has denied reports that the government is planning a second round of Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) with pension funds.



Speaking to the media after an IMF/World Bank Spring Meeting in Washington DC in the United States, Ofori-Atta said, No, theres nothing like that.



I think maybe it was a misunderstanding but if you look at it, in line with the 22 December 2022 memorandum of understanding (MoU) that we signed with Organised Labour, government pension funds were exempted and that has not changed".



Its, therefore, not correct to state that we are planning a second round of Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) with pension funds, he added.



According to him, What we are doing is working with" organised labour "on how they can further help the government to reduce the debt servicing and ensure that we maintain in a sort of debt sustainability which was in the MoU.



So those discussions are continuing but really debunk any sense that there is a second round of Domestic Debt Exchange Programme going to happen, he further indicated.



Meanwhile, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, has given assurance that the funds Executive Board would grant final approval to Ghanas bailout request.



I am optimistic that we are going to move swiftly, the IMF boss has stated.

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.

Featured Video
The former President of Ghana H.E John Dramani Mahama has tasked the current President H.E Nana Akufo-Addo to immediately begin admitting students into the fully completed New Abirem College of Education constructed by the then NDC government.



The facility which the former President says was completed before the end of his tenure of office has been abandoned and left to galamseyers as their warehouse.



According to him, the New Abirem Technical College of Education was established because there is only one Technical College of Education in Ghana and for that reason, there is a deficit regarding technical trained teachers in the country.



This he said was to augment the training of more technical trainee teachers in the country to breach the gap.



As a result, the former President urged the President to begin admitting students into the college before he leaves office.



He made the disclosure when he met the party delegates at New Abirem in the Eastern region.



Meanwhile, the former President has described the NDC as an "action and no talk party" while the NPP is a "no action talk only party"



This he said is because, despite the numerous resources at the disposal of the NPP government, they have not been able to properly manage the economy well.





Source: Salaamat Kuukua Paintsil/Peacefmonline









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
Ghanaian actor Kwadwo Nkansah, also known as Lilwin, marked his 36th birthday with a lavish party today at his Great Minds International School premises in Offinso Ahenkro, Ashanti Region.



The award-winning entertainer, who made his debut in the industry a decade ago, is widely popular in Ghana.



As the director and owner of the Great Minds International School, Lil Win celebrated his milestone age with top musicians and actors, along with family and friends.



During the event, he expressed gratitude to God for his blessings and prayed for a long life to continue his philanthropic works.



"Celebrating this day year after year shows the blessing of God on my life, and I want to appreciate everything he has done for me. I want to do more for humanity, so I pray I live long enough to be able to fulfil my wishes on earth," he said.



Lilwin, who has received more than 120 awards throughout his career, including the recent King of Ghanaian TikTokers title at the 2023 GH TikTok Excellence Awards, cut a gigantic birthday cake with his loved ones.

Source: graphic.com.gh









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
Wedding dress retailer, Davids Bridal has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The retailer made the announcement first thing Monday morning. The company filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey.

Davids Bridal also expects to file a recognition proceeding in Canada and a subsidiary of Davids Bridal expects to commence an administration proceeding for its business in the United Kingdom.

The latest bankruptcy comes after Davids Bridal emerged from bankruptcy four years ago.

Davids Bridal said its stores will remain open, and it intends to continue operating in the ordinary course, including by fulfilling all customer orders without disruption or delay. Additionally, its online platforms remain available to brides for their wedding planning needs. The company intends to continue honoring gift cards, returns, and exchanges at this time.

Davids Bridal said it previously initiated an evaluation of a wide range of strategic alternatives including a marketing and sale process for its assets. The company said in light of its liquidity constraints, it was unable to finalize its marketing and sale process out of court and intends to continue exploring a sale of all or some of its assets. The company said it is also evaluating its physical footprint.

Over the last several years, we have taken meaningful strides in our transformation to fulfill the needs of the brides of today and tomorrow, James Marcum, CEO of Davids Bridal, said in a news release. We have successfully modernized our marketing and customer interaction processes and driven our retail service levels to best in class. Nonetheless, our business continues to be challenged by the post-COVID environment and uncertain economic conditions, leading us to take this step to identify a buyer who can continue to operate our business going forward. We are determined to stay focused on our future, because we believe we have an important role in ensuring that every bride, no matter her budget, can have her perfect dress.

Chapter 11 bankruptcy provides businesses or large investors with protection from creditors while they continue operating and develop a repayment plan. Both creditors and owners must agree on a reorganization plan, which ultimately must be approved by a federal bankruptcy judge.

Last week, the company filed a WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) notice with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry informing the state that about 9,236 people nationwide could be laid off, including employees at its Pennsylvania stores. The retailer didnt say how many people could be laid off in the state.

Montgomery County-based Davids Bridal has a number of stores in the state including one in Lower Paxton Township. Although the company doesnt know for certain what the ultimate outcome will be, it said it notified the state of the possible layoffs in order to fulfill legal requirements.

Sign up for Eat, Shop, Go, a weekly report on food, restaurants, business, retail centers, things to do and places to go all around central Pa. Sign up for free by clicking here.
The Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority has announced the approval of grant guidelines for the Pennsylvania Broadband Infrastructure Program, which will provide $200 million in funding to businesses, nonprofits, local government, and economic development organizations.

Last week U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) was in Straban Township, Adams County to announce that the state will receive $200 million from the Capitol Projects Fund, established under the American Rescue Plan, to expand high-speed internet access for more than 44,000 homes and business throughout Pennsylvania, particularly in rural communities. Pennsylvania is expected to receive at least $1 billion more from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to expand affordable high-speed internet across the state.

READ MORE: Land acquisition connects Lower Paxton Township park to Boyd Big Tree Preserve

Too often, families, particularly those in our rural communities, are left at a disadvantage when it comes to high-speed internet access. This $200 million award from the American Rescue Plan will help level the playing field, Casey said in a news release.

The application process for the Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authoritys program will open on May 10.

The Pennsylvania Broadband Infrastructure Program, funded through the Capital Projects Fund, will fund line extension and development projects, as well as large-scale regional infrastructure projects.

The Authority is pleased to provide this funding to achieve last-mile connections and increase speed for underserved and unserved regions in Pennsylvania, Brandon Carson, executive director of the Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority, said in a separate news release. This is the first grant program the Authority is offering, and we look forward to seeing the impact it makes as we work to close the Commonwealths digital divide.

Key Program requirements include:

Upon completion, projects must deliver service that meets or exceeds symmetrical download and upload speeds of 100 Megabits per second, with prioritization being given to fiber-optic deployment.

Projects must include a viable sustainability strategy to maintain, repair, and upgrade networks to ensure their continued operation.

25-percent match: Federal, state, or local funding received by the applicant is eligible towards the match requirement.

Grant amounts: The minimum request considered will be $500,000 and the maximum may not exceed $10 million.

Universal coverage: Applicants are required to ensure that all projects either achieve or are part of a plan to achieve universal broadband for the locality or region.

Affordability: Applicants must participate in the Applicants must participate in the Affordable Connectivity Program , which provides low income households with discounts on their home internet bills and will be asked to describe and document their digital equity efforts to ensure low- to moderate-income households in the proposed project area will have sustained and affordable access.

Labor: The Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage Act may apply to projects funded under this program. Prevailing Wage requirements are generally applicable to grants for construction, demolition, reconstruction, alteration, repair work, renovations, build-out and installation of machinery and equipment more than $25,000.

The application period will close July 10 at 11:59 PM. The Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority expects to award grants prior to the end of the year. Funded projects must reach substantial completion by the end of 2026.

Information: dced.pa.gov/programs-funding/broadband-in-pennsylvania/pennsylvania-broadband-development-authority

Sign up for Eat, Shop, Go, a weekly report from PennLive on food, restaurants, business, retail centers, things to do and places to go all around central Pa. Sign up for free by clicking here.
Felix Fermin calls what he does a lost art.

Fermin makes leather jackets from scratch at his business, Penn Leather in the Harrisburg Mall in Swatara Township. Fermin plans to leave the mall by the end of the year and open two new locations in the next year and a half.

Penn Leather is located on the malls second floor, and is stocked with leather jackets, boots and helmets. Fermin said that customers can choose their own style and choose from thousands of types of leather. He said he sells the jackets at wholesale prices eliminating the middle man since he is both manufacturing and selling the items. He also repairs leather garments.

Since the Harrisburg Mall is likely closing next year, Penn Leather is moving. Fermin said he hasnt received a notice from the mall yet but his lease is up in November and he hopes to add another month to the lease, closing the store at the end of the year.

Fermin said that only about five to 10% of his customers come from Harrisburg and the surrounding areas so hes moving the business to the Camp Hill area.

Penn Leather will open the new store on Sept. 1 at 1104 Carlisle Road in Lower Allen Township.

I count all my customer orders to see where my customers come from so I [might] as well take my business to those people, he said.

Fermin said he gets customers from everywhere including Philadelphia, New York and Maryland.

READ MORE: Harrisburg Mall retailers not surprised by demolition plans

After he closes the store at the Harrisburg Mall, the store in Lower Allen Township will become the headquarters for Penn Leather. And he also plans to open a store at the King of Prussia Mall in Upper Merion Township, Montgomery County on Sept. 1, 2024. That store will be for retail and repairs.

Fermin said he began sewing in the Dominican Republic at the age of eight. He opened his first tailor shop in Puerto Rico in 1970. He has had several stores in central Pennsylvania over the last 23 years including locations in the Harrisburg, Hershey, Lebanon and Palmyra areas. His store, Penn Leather has been operating out of the Harrisburg Mall in Swatara Township for about seven years. The store is currently holding a moving sale.

READ MORE: Harrisburg Mall retailer to open store in King of Prussia

Fermin said he is a third-generation tailor and his 16-year-old son, who helps him on the weekends, is the fourth generation.

Everyone in my family, thats what we do, he said.

St. John Properties, the owner of the Harrisburg Mall plans to demolish the mall, except for anchor store Bass Pro Shops, and in its place build a retail-oriented development with multi-use business space to appeal to medical offices, daycares, schools, light manufacturing and general offices, among other uses.

St. John Properties said it will also maintain the former Toys R Us store as well as the Applebees. Mall officials hope to demolish the mall by the summer of 2024 and expect construction to be underway by 2025. The mall remains open and no timeline for closing has been announced. The Harrisburg Mall has about 38 tenants and about 54 vacancies.

--Business Buzz

Sign up for Eat, Shop, Go, a weekly report on food, restaurants, business, retail centers, things to do and places to go all around central Pa. Sign up for free by clicking here.
A 24-year-old man was shot and killed in the Lawndale section of Philadelphia on Sunday, according to reports.

Police told news outlets that the shooting occurred around 12:28 a.m. along the 6400 block of Lawndale Street.

The victim was shot multiple times in the torso and taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Larry Coffie from Lawndale said he knew the victim, whom police have not identified yet.

About five years, but he went to school with one of my kids. Its going to kill my son when I tell him, he said to 6ABC.

There have been no arrests yet but police told NBC10 that an investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to contact the Philadelphia police.
A man and a woman were shot in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia early Monday, according to media reports.

The shooting occurred around 2 a.m. along the 100 block of Cumberland Street.

Police told 6ABC and Fox29 that the man had been shot nine times in his chest, stomach, and legs. He was taken to a hospital and is in critical condition.

The woman was a bystander and was shot in the leg. She was taken to a hospital and the wound was deemed not life-threatening.

No arrests have been made. The incident is under investigation.

READ MORE: 24-year-old killed in Pa. shooting: reports
Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently held an event at the State Department thanking the diplomats, other government workers, and volunteers who made it possible for the 222 political prisoners released by Nicaraguas Ortega regime in February to start their new life in the United States.

That work began in large part with our colleagues in Embassy Managua who negotiated with the Nicaraguan government, said Secretary Blinken; later, hundreds of government colleagues, NGOs, and volunteers took over:

You provided them with food, with clothing, with healthcare. You helped them through the jarring process of starting a new life from their homes and their communities.

Secretary Blinken noted that the 222 Nicaraguan prisoners - doctors, political leaders, priests and others  were connected by one overriding aspiration:

To simply exercise their fundamental freedoms and to try to safeguard the freedom of their fellow citizens. Tragically, in Ortegas Nicaragua, thats a crime.

Also, tragically, not all who tried to safeguard the freedom of their fellow citizens were able, or willing, to leave Nicaragua that February day. One notable example is the bishop of Matagalpa Rolando Alvarez, one of the countrys most vocal Catholic leaders who ran afoul of Ortega by advocating for human rights. Under house arrest since August, Alvarez refused to leave Nicaragua on the plane. The next day, he was taken to La Modelo prison and is serving a 26-year sentence for treason.

In March, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights called on the Ortega regime to release Bishop Alvarez and dozens of other political prisoners still held in Nicaragua.

The United States has repeatedly made the same demand.

As Secretary of State Blinken said, We will join our partners across the hemisphere and around the world to continue to push for a return to democracy and respect for human rights in Nicaragua, while also using all of the diplomatic and economic tools that we have to promoted accountability for the widespread abuses from the regime.
Pennsylvanias 10 state universities and 15 community colleges have pledged to strengthen their relationship to make it easier for students to transfer between them.

This update to a transfer policy of the State System of Higher Education, which oversees the state universities, ensures admission for community college students who earn an associate degree to any of the system universities.

The pledge signed on Monday by the presidents of all 25 institutions commits to smoothing the transfer process for students from community colleges to a state university and works to ensure their success at the university. It also establishes a reverse transfer agreement allowing state university students to transfer back to a community college, and allocates financial aid at the universities for community college graduates.

More than 12,000 community college students have transferred to a state university in the past five years.

System Chancellor Dan Greenstein commended the presidents for working out this arrangement to strengthen their institutions relationship.

This pledge is great for students, he said in a statement. it will help more people afford higher education and lower their student debt load.

He called it an important step to address the states worker shortage while expanding the pipeline of talent from the classroom to the workforce.

This pledge will make the path to higher education more affordable and attainable, said Lehigh Carbon Community College President Ann Bieber, who hosted the pledge signing ceremony at her school.

Northampton Community College President David Ruth added strong partnerships with the state universities present our students with the best opportunities to succeed academically and thrive personally.

The system universities include Cheyney, East Stroudsburg, Indiana, Kutztown, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester as well as Pennsylvania Western University (which includes the former California, Clarion and Edinboro universities) and Commonwealth University (which includes the former Bloomsburg, Lock Haven and Mansfield universities.)

Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy.

Read more on PennLive:

Pa. Senate GOP leader focuses on responsible budget more so than an on-time one

Generational opportunity: Application submitted to establish regional clean hydrogen hub in Pa.
After performing at a sold-out show Friday night at the Prudential Center in Newark, Bruce Springsteen and another E Street Band member tested positive for COVID-19, a report says.

Springsteen, 73, couldnt attend the inaugural American Music Honors event on Saturday at Monmouth Universitys Pollak Theatre because of the COVID diagnosis, according to Bob Santelli, the executive director of The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at the university.

Santelli informed the crowd on Saturday that he received a call around 6 a.m. that morning informing him that Springsteen and his wife, E Street Band member Patti Scialfa, could not attend because they had COVID, according to a report by NJArts.net.

Dont overreact! Theyre fine, the shows host, Jon Stewart, said to the crowd after the announcement, NJArts.net reported.

The news came a day after Springsteen and the E Street Band played for a crowd of about 18,000 people at the Prudential Center in Newark, on Friday. It was the bands first New Jersey concert in seven years.

The Jersey-born rock legend was scheduled to be at the American Music Honors event in person. Gov. Phil Murphy announced at the ceremony he signed a proclamation to formally make Sept. 23, Bruce Springsteen Day in the state of New Jersey.

In March, the group postponed their third concert in a row due to an undisclosed illness impacting a member of the band.

Springsteen and the E Street Band are scheduled to begin an international tour on April 28 before returning to play U.S. stadiums this summer. Its not clear if the recent COVID diagnosis will impact the tours concert dates.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com
DALLAS  A Kentucky man is suing Netflix for unknowingly using a photo of him holding a hatchet in a true crime documentary.

Taylor Hazlewood, 27, sued Netflix on April 10 in Texas state court, accusing the company of defamation and misappropriating his likeness for including an Instagram photo he posted in The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker. He is seeking at least $1 million in damages, according to The Washington Post.

The 85-minute documentary was released Jan. 10 on Netflixs platform and tells the story of Caleb Kai McGillvary, a nomadic hitchhiker who went viral in 2013 for a bizarre news interview after he attacked a man who picked him up with a hatchet after the man crashed into a utility worker and assaulted a woman who tried to intervene.

McGillvary was hailed as a hero in the aftermath, but three months later was arrested for the murder of New Jersey attorney Joseph Galfy. McGillvary claimed self-defense in the case, but in 2019 was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 57 years in prison.

Separately, in June 2019, Hazlewood posted a photo of him holding a hatchet to his Instagram page. When The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker was released, Hazlewood began receiving texts and questions from friends and family about his picture being used in the true crime documentary.

Hazlewood is, of course, beyond angry that Netflix would implicate and connect him to such a salacious and infamous story and individual, the lawsuit states, according to The Washington Post.
By Abraham Gutman, The Philadelphia Inquirer

John Fetterman is to return to the U.S. Senate on Monday after spending 44 days hospitalized to treat an episode of severe depression.

Thats about four times longer than the typical stay for a Pennsylvanian admitted for the first time to treat a disorder that Fetterman said made him stop eating and feeling indifferent about life. He was unable to get out of bed even when his son tried to celebrate his still-fresh victory in one of the most-watched elections in the nation.

To put Fettermans experience in perspective, The Inquirer analyzed state data on all 42,000 hospital stays for depression in 2021, the most recent year available. About a third were in the Philadelphia area, the records maintained by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council showed.

The length of Fettermans stay was unusual  about 97% of hospitalized patients for depression were discharged within 30 days. But he fit the profile of many Pennsylvanians treated in hospitals for this condition: a white man who was discharged home after his stay.

Thats not to say that Fetterman, a freshman U.S. Senator, is a typical patient. The 53-year-old from Braddock, Pa., sought care at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., a premier hospital serving national leaders. By contrast, many in Pennsylvania have to wait months just to see a therapist.

Fettermans health has been scrutinized since he suffered a stroke ahead of last springs primary election and began sharing information about his long struggle with depression after his hospitalization in February. His office has shared information about his mental health struggles through news releases, which included physician statements noting that his depression is managed with medication and therapy.

He had great health care and was able to really take the time he needed to do what was right and address his mental health, said a senior aide to Fetterman, who shared with CBS Sunday Morning that his depression is in remission for the first time ever.

Here is what The Inquirers analysis showed about how hospital stays for depression usually play out in Pennsylvania.

Who gets admitted for depression?

In 2021, hospitals throughout the state recorded more than 42,000 admissions in which the primary diagnosis was depression. In about 6,000 of those cases, the person was first admitted for another reason, such as having suicidal thoughts, a psychotic episode, or anxiety.

Young adults ages 18 to 39 are the most likely to be admitted for depression  accounting for 40% of hospital admissions statewide. Adult men and women were equally likely to get treated. The exception: Girls under the age of 18 accounted for three out of four of hospitalized youth.

People of color accounted for one in five of these cases. This roughly matches the demographics of the state.

Men in their 50s, like Fetterman, represented about 6% of admissions.

In announcing his hospitalization, his office shared that Fetterman has struggled with depression throughout his life. This was his first hospitalization. Slightly more than half of admissions in Pennsylvania in 2021 were for reoccurring episodes.

The majority of those hospitalized are having a hard time performing daily living activities, said Brittni Jones, the medical director of the inpatient psychiatric units at Main Line Healths Bryn Mawr Hospital.

Im so depressed or Im so anxious that I cant function, she said patients tell her. Im not getting out of the bed to shower. Im not taking my meds.

Fettermans physician at Walter Reed described his symptoms as severe. The senator said that he arrived at the hospital after a period in which he had stopped eating and drinking, which affected his blood pressure.

And although Fetterman said that he didnt care whether he lived or died, he also told CBS that he did not have thoughts of suicide or self-harm.

How long are people hospitalized for depression?

Length of stay is where Fettermans experience differs greatly from that of most Pennsylvania patients.

In 2021, about 3% of hospitalizations for depression lasted for more than 30 days. Fettermans stay totaled 44 days.

On average, a hospital admission for depression in Pennsylvania spans 10 days, the state data showed. Patients who had previous episodes of depression stayed slightly longer. Stays were longer for children under 18 and adults 60 and older  both groups on average were in the hospital for roughly 13 days.

There are many factors that could contribute to length of stay: severity of symptoms, other medical issues that could complicate treatment, or insurance.

Fetterman is also a celebrity patient, a status that often leads to special care and privileges, which could have also contributed to the prolonged stay.

It shouldnt be something that only a senator may get, the senior aide said about Fettermans care. It shouldnt be something that is a luxury, it should become the norm and thats something hes going to fight for.

What do people do while in the hospital?

Fetterman spent his time at Walter Reed having therapy and learning about depression, while clinicians adjusted the dosage of his medication, a senior aide said. For much of the time, Fetterman met almost daily for an hour with staffers to continue his Senate work.

Working while seeking hospital care for a mental health condition is not routine.

Robert Fine, 61, spent two weeks in the psychiatric unit of Bryn Mawr Hospital in late 2019 for depression and anxiety. He said he felt as if his brain stopped working.

To the lawyer from Ardmore, the stay at times felt like camp. Fine spent his days with about 20 other patients. They did group therapy, puzzles, shared meals. He also met with his assigned social worker and psychiatrist.

Overall, Fine was miserable. As visitation hour ended, the doors would lock behind his departing family members.

If you said to me, Bob, you know, you can go rest for two weeks. You want to rest at a mental health unit? Im like, No, I dont want to go back there, Fine said. But it definitely served an important purpose in getting me better.

Where did patients go after discharge?

On March 31, Fetterman left Walter Reed and returned to his home in Braddock. That is how roughly 90% of hospital admissions in Pennsylvania ended in 2021.

The end of a hospital stay is often followed by therapy or medication.

Fine, the lawyer, was prescribed medication that made him feel like himself again during his hospital stay. Even though he was ready to leave earlier, he stayed for two weeks, at the encouragement of his wife.

After discharge, he graduated to daily outpatient therapy that lasted multiple hours, five days a week, for two weeks.

Three years later, he is feeling good. He still visits his psychiatrist and takes medications. Fine said that he isnt embarrassed about the experience.

As long as you are under the care of a doctor, as long as youre taking the appropriate medication, he said, my disorder can be treated as well as any other disorder.
The Mexican Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard are searching the Pacific Ocean for a sailboat carrying a Pennsylvania woman and two others who have not been heard from in two weeks.

Kerry OBrien is a native of Murrysville, Westmoreland County, KDKA-TVs Lauren Linder said on Twitter.

OBrien, her husband, Frank, and friend William Gross were on a 44-foot La Fitte named Ocean Bound that was sailing from Mazatlan, Mexico, to San Diego when it disappeared, the Coast Guard said in a statement released Friday.

The Mexican Navy, with the assistance of the #USCG, is searching for three American sailors, last heard from April 4, near Mazatlan, MX. en route to San Diego. Kerry and Frank O'Brien and William Gross were sailing aboard the 44-foot S/V Ocean Bound.https://t.co/0bzFQVsYC3 pic.twitter.com/GCcbGBvkQH  USCGNorCal (@USCGNorCal) April 15, 2023

The vessel was supposed to stop in Cabo San Lucas on April 6 for provisions, but the Coast Guard said the sailboat never arrived and the crew has not provided an updated location.

In its statement, the Coast Guard said that search and rescue coordinators have been in contact with marinas in the Baja, Mexico, area and there have been no sightings of the boat.

Radio alerts have also been made asking all mariners to keep a lookout for the Ocean Bound, said the Coast Guard.
Nearly 30 Duquesne University police officers and security guards went on strike Monday morning after failing to reach a new contract with the school in Pittsburgh.

The decision came after Keith Frank, the vice president of Teamsters Local 249, told KDKA-TV that the private Catholic college had made a bad faith offer on Sunday.

Theyre going to have to look themselves in the mirror. Theyre the ones who are pushing it to this point, Frank told WPXI, according to its news partner the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. WPXI also reported that sticking points remain over pay, retirement benefits and healthcare.

Pittsburgh media outlets reported that union members have been working without a contract since October 2022 and held nearly 20 negotiating sessions with Duquesne.

Gabriel Welsch, vice president of marketing and communications for Duquesne University, said in a statement to PennLive that the college has pursued good faith contract negotiations with the union since August 2022.

Welsch said the university appreciated the unions willingness to talk through offers and scenarios and came to several tentative agreements to improve working conditions.

Recently, Duquesne made an offer that reflected the highest guaranteed wage increase since the contract covering 2001 to 2006, Welsch said.

The Universitys total compensation package offered most recently to our police officers and security guards is among the most generous in higher education in our region, and includes other significant compensation and incentives, said Welsch, adding that Duquesne remains committed to the negotiating process.

Welsch said that Duquesne Police Chief Eric Holmes has robust plans to ensure safety and help maintain normal activities on campus.
Sen. John Fetterman is to return to the Senate Monday evening for the first time since mid-February, after a six-week hospitalization for clinical depression.

The Pennsylvania senator is expected to join a roll call vote to advance a nominee for deputy under secretary of defense, Radha Iyengar Plumb, to a confirmation vote. Hell cochair a panel hearing on Wednesday.

The highly routine moment will likely be met with outsized attention, given the Democrats path to the U.S. Senate  suffering a stroke, winning a politically coveted open seat, and then sharing his struggles with depression and seeking treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

RELATED: A U.S. senator openly seeking treatment for mental health is rare. So is staying 44 days in a Pa. hospital for depression

Fetterman hasnt voted in the chamber, where Democrats have a razor-thin majority, since Feb. 15. Few major legislative decisions, however, have come before the Senate in the weeks he was away. Senators have spent almost all their time on confirmation votes, mostly on noncontroversial nominees who have enough support to advance even without Fetterman.

Fetterman left the hospital March 31 and returned home to Braddock, Pennsylvania, where his wife, Gisele, shared updates of him spending time with the family and enjoying Easter.

His staff released a letter from doctors at Walter Reed that described his depression as in remission. It also provided new information on Fettermans physical health.

In late March, Sen. Bob Casey said he visited Fetterman before he left Walter Reed.

Its remarkable how good he looked, Casey said then. Hes in really good shape. I look forward to welcoming him back to the Senate next month.

Many of Fettermans colleagues have applauded his public acknowledgment that he was suffering from depression as a courageous disclosure about an often-stigmatized topic. When he walks into the Senate on Monday, it will be the first time many will greet him in person since he went on leave.

Hell also likely face a crush of new media attention. He did a sit-down interview with CBSs Jane Pauley last month but otherwise hasnt talked to reporters since shortly after he was elected in November.

Its like you just won the biggest, you know, race in, in the country. And the whole thing about depression is, is that objectively, you may have won, Fetterman told Pauley in the interview. But depression can absolutely convince you that you actually lost. And thats exactly what happened. And that was the start of a downward spiral.

Fettermans week on Capitol Hill will continue Tuesday and Wednesday with constituent meetings and committee hearings. He will also lead a panel hearing for the first time: Fetterman is to cochair a hearing Wednesday about food assistance and nutrition programs.

In his time away he stayed connected to Senate business and even cosponsored legislation.

His team raised money, too. An April 1 email encouraged people to support Fetterman through his mental health challenges and defend our Democratic majority with donations or by buying a Steel is forged in fire T-shirt.

As John knows better than most, making it through adversity can build an ability to withstand anything, the fundraising email read. Hes made remarkable progress in his mental health journey and come back from incredible challenges.

___

2023 The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC. Visit at inquirer.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
By Julia Terruso, The Philadelphia Inquirer

WASHINGTON  Sen. John Fetterman made his highly anticipated return to the Senate on Monday, following a six-week hospital stay for depression, which put mental health challenges under a spotlight that had already been trained on him and his health for months.

Fetterman, D-Pa., climbed out of a black SUV and waved to a crowd of gathered reporters and then put his hands to his heart. Dressed down in his signature navy shorts, sneakers and a Carhartt hoodie, he smiled and said, Its great to be back.

Pennsylvanias freshman senator returns to the Senate after the governing body had a two-week recess. Hes expected to join a roll call vote to advance a nominee for deputy under secretary of defense, Radha Iyengar Plumb, to a confirmation vote. Hell co-chair a panel hearing on Wednesday about SNAP benefits and later join all senators for a classified briefing about the leaked U.S. documents about the war in Ukraine.

The week is a somewhat routine return to business for the Senate, but Fetterman will likely be met with outsize attention, given his past year  suffering a stroke, winning a politically coveted open seat, and then sharing his struggles with depression and seeking treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

Fetterman hasnt voted in the chamber, where Democrats have a razor-thin majority, since Feb. 15.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., also returned Monday after a medical absence following a fall and concussion.

U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) arrives at the U.S. Capitol on April 17, 2023, in Washington, D.C. Fetterman is returning to the U.S. Capitol Building following six weeks of treatment for clinical depression. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/TNS)TNS

Fetterman checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Feb. 15 to receive treatment for clinical depression. He was released from the hospital March 31 and returned home to Braddock, Pennsylvania, where he spent time with his family and enjoyed Easter.

The senators staff released a letter from doctors at Walter Reed that described his depression as in remission.

More from PennLive:

John Fetterman to chair his first subcommittee hearing

Oh, Pennsylvania, what are you thinking? | John Baer

John Fetterman got hearing aids for sensorineural hearing loss. Heres what that means.


Even as technology companies move platforms like ChatGPT, Bing and Bard, top engineering colleges in India are beginning a growing number of generative artificial intelligence (AI) research projects, most of which are looking to understand how technology can help create tools similar to OpenAIs ChatGPT, but in Indian languages.Generative AI platforms have been the rage since the second half of last year with Microsoft and Google pushing these programs into their existing services. Even the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), on 3 February, said it is cognizant" of the emergence and proliferation of generative AI and noted that AI can be a kinetic enabler" for growth in India.However, researchers at institutes underline a host of challenges for generative AI projects in academia, the biggest of which lie in sourcing ample data of Indic languages, the cost of such projects, and the scale of computing power needed. Indian researchers have been working on such projects for more than three years.In academia, were using techniques from language models, namely the transformer architecture, for different tasks such as classification of data, answering questions, machine translation and building chatbots," said Tapas Kumar Mishra, assistant professor of computer science engineering at National Institute of Technology (NIT), Rourkela.The transformer AI model is the underlying algorithm for generative AI tools. They can process conversational human language inputs and generative output after understanding the context.While global platforms work mostly in English, Mishra said researchers under him are working on languages like Hindi, Bangla and Kannada, creating models that can take questions in these languages and generate output in English. They arent using OpenAIs tools for this but have achieved very good" scores according to the industry standard BiLingual Evaluation Understudy (BLEU) test.He said NIT Rourkela has achieved scores of between 25 to 30 on Hindi to English, and 19 on Bangla to English. For reference, OpenAIs GPT-4 model has scores of 22.9 in English to French outputs. The institute published a research paper on translations from Hindi to English last month with the Association for Computing Machinerya US scientific educational community that publishes research work on natural language processing (NLP).NIT Rourkela isnt the only one doing this either. Students from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras have also taken up such projects. Harish Guruprasad, assistant professor, of computer science engineering at IIT Madras said that one such project includes better translated YouTube videos in Tamil". Students mostly took this up to compare their own research language models with GPT-4, and eventually publish a paper on new approaches of translating videos into Indian languages," he added. Generative AI projects have also been a part of research initiatives beyond Indic languages.For instance, Debanga Raj Neog, assistant professor, of data science and AI at IIT Guwahati, said the institute is presently working on creating affordable visual animation models that study eyes and facial movements from open-source visual databases, and use this to replicate the process." IIT Guwahati, too, is working on a research paper on this.Professor Mausam, the founding head of the Yardi School of Artificial Intelligence at IIT Delhi, said that in 2022, he, along with Anoop Krishnan, associate professor, and a team of students, created a language model called MatSciBert  specifically for the field of material science research.The eventual goal is to discover new materials with the help of AI. The first step is to process scientific articles and extract from their knowledge about materials and their properties. We developed MatSciBert in 2022  it is a language model skilled in reading material science papers more effectively than other generic language models like Bert. MatSciBert has been downloaded o almost 100,000 times in the last year and has been found useful for various material science tasks by numerous groups all over the world," said Mausam, who goes by one name.The key problem for most researchers though is computing power. NIT Rourkela has 13 machines with 24GB graphic processing units (GPUs) each. Mausam noted that the scale of computing power required is exorbitant and prohibitive".For instance, one training run of GPT-3 would cost $4.6 million, not accounting for any errors and re-trials during training. No academic institution or any Indian company, apart from the top tech firms, can afford training such large models regularly. Looking to train India-specific language models is therefore premature unless we create massive compute infrastructure in the country," IIT Delhis Mausam said.A senior executive, who was formerly working on government tech projects, said on condition of anonymity that there is a lack of clarity in terms of enabling access to Indias supercomputer infrastructure owned by the Meity-backed Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC." Mint reported in on July 6 last year, Indias supercomputing power is also well behind global systems. The executive added that while multiple top institutes, including IIT Delhi, have been consulted on using the infrastructure for their research initiatives, not much progress has taken place in this regard.Availability of data is another problem for India. For instance, NIT Rourkela uses various public datasets, such as the Samantaral database released by IIT Madras. This consisted of low-resource language pairs of Indic languages. Were also using our own datasets by scraping newspapers and converting to various languages  and then working on that. Were also using publicly available data, such as state government-backed local language data repositories," said Mishra. To accelerate AI research in India, Meity launched Bhashini in May last year an Indic language database that can be tapped by institutes.However, access to the scale of data needed for such projects continues to remain an issue. When a language has a huge amount of data available, transformer architectures can produce great efficiency of translation. But, with small amounts of data, this is difficult to work with. For instance, translating from Odiya to Hindi, such models are not very efficient," IIT Madras Guruprasad said.
The Best Ontario Casino Apps

April 17, 2023 Jon Pill Contributor

In 2022, Ontario became the first Canadian province to legalize, regulate, and segregate its online gambling market. Since then more than 40 igaming operators have moved into the market, making it one of the most competitive gambling markets in the Americas.

In such a big market it can be hard to pick out the best casino apps without some guidance. That's where PokerNews comes in. We've sorted through the long list of Ontario casino apps to find the best casino apps Ontario has to offer.

Ontario Casino Apps Comparison - A complete overview

Ontario has a profusion of legal online casino apps. Comparing every one of these apps can present the average punter with an oppressive range of choices.

So to help you out, here's a table comparing a few of the best casino apps in Ontario. It's a great place to start when searching for the best casino apps for your personal needs.

Find the best legal online casinos in Ontario

The Best Casino Apps in Ontario 2023

Some of the best casino apps Ontario players can access are detailed below. Remember that most of these come with both an iOS and Android version. The best casino app for your situation will vary from player to player, but here are some casino apps to check out when you first start looking.

They represent some of the best casino apps in the Ontario gambling market.

JackpotCity Casino Ontario: JackpotCity is a high-quality online casino. As an online casino, JackpotCity has a heavy focus on slots, and the slot gaming experience on the app is excellent. However, it does have a selection of table games on the app so you are not short of options.

888casino Ontario: The 888 brand is one of the biggest international online casino brands in the world. As a result, you can expect that experience to show in the quality of the 888casino Ontario app in particular and in the gaming experience with 888casino's online casino in general.

BetMGM Casino Ontario: BetMGM brought together the online gaming experience of Entain and the North American casino nous of the MGM empire. The resulting partnership, BetMGM Casino, has one of the slickest apps and smoothest user experiences available in Ontario.

NorthStar Bets Ontario: A homegrown gaming company that originated in Toronto, Northstar Bets is an online casino and sportsbook, all available from the Northstar Bets Ontario app.

PokerStars Casino Ontario: Few brand logos are as immediately recognizable as PokerStars's red spade symbol. PokerStars brought its iconic poker client and casino platform to Ontario in 2022. With all that money behind it, you won't be surprised to find that PokerStars Casino Ontario has one of the best apps available in the state.

The Best Real Money Casino Apps in Ontario

Real-money casino apps offer players a chance to place bets from anywhere they can take their phone and still get on the internet. This makes the best casino apps a popular option for a gambler on the go.

Apps are usually optimized for the size and operating system of a phone, whereas the browser version is normally built for a wider screen (like that of a laptop). As a result, it's often worth switching to the app if you do most of your wagering from your phone.

Some of the best casino apps in Ontario that will allow real money bets are:

JackpotCity Casino Ontario is a real money casino app with a focus on slots, but it also provides a more traditional casino experience including live dealer games. Players will be pleased by this attractive and well-built slot.

PokerStars Casino Ontario has an excellent real money casino app with a wide range of games along with excellent security and tech support. One of its biggest draws is simply the reassurance of being part of the well-established and reputationally strong Stars brand.

BetMGM Casino Ontario has produced one of the best apps in the industry. The user experience is smooth and easy to get to grips with. If you do encounter problems, BetMGM backs the UX up with top-quality customer service.

The Best Android Casino Apps to Play in Ontario

Most of the best casino apps in Ontario are available in versions for iOS and for Android. As a result, most players will be able to access all of the best casino apps Ontario-based devices have available to them.

If you're an Android owner, here are a few of the best casino apps available on your phone.

PokerStars Casino Ontario Android App

One of the best apps in the business, the PokerStars Ontario Android app offers live dealer games, table games, and slots in a format that works on your phone.

The PokerStars Casino app for Android in Ontario is a similar build to the international PokerStars Casino app, and so comes with more than a decade of tweaks, upgrades, and quality-of-life improvements. It really is one of the best.

BetMGM Casino Ontario Android App

BetMGM Casino's Android app is a pleasure to use, being one of the smoothest user experiences in the industry. It also comes with almost all of the same features and games as the browser version, but in a more phone-friendly format.

BetMGM also has a high-quality poker app available in Ontario.

JackpotCity Casino Ontario Android App

JackpotCity's Android app is one of the few apps that comes with live dealer games, giving it a (somewhat) unique selling point in the market. However, where JackpotCity really shines is as a slot machine platform. If slots are your go-to casino games, then JackpotCity might be the best Android casino app for you.

The Best iPhone Casino Apps to Play in Ontario

If Android owners have plenty of choices for online casino apps, then iPhone owners are positively spoiled. Despite the Apple store's controversial policies for developers, Ontario casino apps are plentiful on the App Store.

Among the best of the best casino apps for iPhone in Ontario are the following.

JackpotCity Casino Ontario iPhone App

For fans of playing slots, the JackpotCity iPhone app seems to have been made with you in mind. Ontario gamblers will be pleased with this specialist app.

However, there is no need to feel hemmed in as the JackpotCity Casino iPhone app also allows Ontario players access to a range of table games, including live dealer versions of roulette, craps, and blackjack.

PokerStars Casino Ontario iPhone App:

PokerStars Casino Ontario also has an iPhone app, and it is one of the best all-around bits of software on this list. For ease of use on an iPhone, PokerStars' enormous bank of experience has paid off. The app has most of the same features as the browser version and in feels like a more natural fit for playing most slot machines on.

If you already play poker, then you will also be pleased to find how easy it is to move between the two apps. The casino app and poker app both share similar formats.

888casino Ontario iPhone App

The 888casino Ontario app for iPhone is a well-built piece of software with a good record for stability. The app comes with the full range of games available in the browser version.

Players can also access a range of 888casino exclusive slots which can only be played on the 888casino app and related platforms.

Online Casino Apps in Ontario FAQs

Are online casino apps legal in Ontario? Yes. Since April 2022, Ontario has had licensed and regulated casinos available to people located within the province, What is the best casino app to play for free in Ontario? There are plenty of casino apps to choose from, and most have a play money version available. A good place to start would be the .net version of PokerStars Casino Ontario. How do I download a casino app in Ontario? Click on one of PokerNews's download links and follow the instructions. There are several download links for the best casino apps in Ontario in this very article. Does PokerStars Casino have an app in Ontario? Yes. The PokerStars Casino app is available in Ontario. Does BetMGM Casino have an app in Ontario? Yes. BetMGM Casino has an excellent app for Ontario-based players. Does PartyCasino have an app in Ontario? Yes it does. PartyCasino is available to players in Ontario. Does Borgata have a casino app in Ontario? No. Borgata is not yet licensed for the Ontario market and as such Ontario players cannot legally play on any of Borgata's apps. What is the largest casino in Ontario? PokerStars Casino is one of the biggest and most recognizable casinos in Ontario. What is the best casino app in Toronto? For relatively new casino players the BetMGM casino app is the best starting point. If you're a fan of slots, Jackpot City may be the best app for you. And if you come from a poker background, the PokerStars Casino app is excellent.

The promotion presented on this page was available at the time of writing. With some Casino promotions changing on daily basis, we suggest you to check on the site if it still available. Also, please do not forget to read the terms and conditions in full before you accept a bonus.
"Recognizing the important and growing role that diversity-certified suppliers play in meeting the needs of our customers and making their communities stronger, we will increase our diverse spend to 45% of our total supply chain spend by 2028," said Gil Quiniones, CEO, ComEd. "We believe investing in businesses owned by people of color, women and veterans is essential to creating an equitable clean energy transition."

ComEd's commitment to further increase its spend with diversity-certified suppliers aligns with the performance targets adopted by the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) in September, 2022, and is reflected in its multi-year grid and rate plans filed with the ICC in January to strengthen the region's infrastructure and economy and increase access to the benefits of clean energy and decarbonization.

In its 2022 report submitted today (April 14) to the ICC, ComEd detailed its partnership with 650 diversity-certified suppliers, including 159 new partnerships. Diverse suppliers support departments and workstreams across ComEd, including construction, engineering, and materials, among others. Diversity-certified suppliers also play key roles in ComEd programs to help customers reduce their energy use and costs, which are expanding as a result of increased funding from the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act of 2021.

"We are proud of our continued partnership with ComEd and our work towards increasing the number of local and diverse-owned businesses who can provide energy-efficiency services to ComEd customers," said Carla Walker-Miller, CEO of Walker-Miller Energy Services, which recently opened an office in Oakbrook, Ill., to support diversity-certified supplier development in northern Illinois. "Energy efficiency is key to fighting climate change and facilitating decarbonization, and we look forward to supporting ComEd efforts to create business opportunities for diverse suppliers in this important sector."

ComEd's report profiles several diverse-owned business partners, including Intren LLC. The Illinois-based contractor supports many ComEd initiatives, including the interconnection of community solar projects, which are expected to double in northern Illinois to more than 150 by the end of this year. Once the largest woman-owned utility specialty contractor in the nation, Intren was acquired in 2021 by MasTec, Inc., the nation's second largest Hispanic-owned company with over 20,000 employees in North America.

Illinois utility companies' spend with diversity-certified suppliers contributed $11.8 billion to the Illinois GDP from 2017-2020, with $4 billion in purchases from Illinois-based diverse businesses, according to the Illinois Utilities Business Diversity Council (IUBDC), which was formed in 2015 to help utilities establish and share best practices for diverse supplier participation and development. Members include Ameren Illinois, Aqua, ComEd, Illinois American Water, Nicor Gas, North Shore Gas, and Peoples Gas.

ComEd is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation (NASDAQ: EXC), a Fortune 200 energy company with approximately 10 million electricity and natural gas customers - the largest number of customers in the U.S. ComEd powers the lives of more than 4 million customers across northern Illinois, or 70 percent of the state's population. For more information visit ComEd.com, and connect with the company on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
Dakotah ODell Climbs The Counts to Win His Second RGPS Main Event for $63,647

April 17, 2023 Liam Gannon

The RunGood Poker Series Checkpoint has seen the completion of the $600 Main Event at Downstream Resort and Casino outside of Joplin, Missouri. After three days of starting flights, the final tally settled at 683 entrants, creating a prize pool of $348,330, which smashed the $100,000 guarantee initially set for the tournament.

The final table of the main event had the rare distinction of holding two players who have won RGPS Main Events before. Dakotah ODell and Blair Hinkle ended up becoming the final two to battle for another main event title to add to their illustrious resumes. After a hard-fought battle, ODell emerged as the victor, claiming his second RGPS Main Event title and $63,647.

Final Table Results

Place Name Prize 1 Dakotah O'Dell $63,647 2 Blair Hinkle $42,427 3 Jason Darland $31,210 4 Richard Hawkins $23,338 5 Jared Ward $17,591 6 Kevin Unkel $13,411 7 Danny Barnes $10,345 8 Jael Lewis $8,081 9 John Reynolds $6,374

Winner's Interview

Dakotah O'Dell

It feels great, the newly crowned two-time champion said, exhausted from an hours-long battle at the final table. This is my hometown casino here, he said when asked about this win compared to the title he took down just months ago in Council Bluffs. I travel to many of the circuit events, but doing it here feels like a dream come true.

While playing cash games for many years, ODell only started playing tournaments in 2019, amassing over $300,000 in Hendon Mob earnings since then. I learn by talking to players better than me, taking in a lot of content, and grinding. Its not always easy, just staying focused and playing.

ODell came into the final table with just five big blinds, but through a series of double-ups, he arose as those overwhelming chip leader but then dropped down to the middle of the pack in what he described as a rollercoaster.

When you come into the final table with five big blinds, you kinda write yourself off sometimes, he said, describing his mental state at the beginning of the final table. I had people in my corner, and this time it worked out.

When asked about the three-handed match that lasted for many hours, ODell remarked, I had perceived my opponents as better than me, so I had to adjust my playing style. Theyre good players and were very hard to play against.

On top of the ring, the title, and the money, ODell won a seat for the Dream Seat giveaway tournament at Thunder Valley Casino later this year. I believe youll see me there, he said in response to whether or not he would go. That would be my first trip ever to Cali, but I believe youll see me there.

Day 2 Recap

Early play in the day saw many players eliminated from the competition early. Among the casualties were RunGood Poker Series Legends like RGPS Tulsa 2022 champion Shantanu Garg (75th-$940), two-time RGPS ring winner Joey Gargiulo (64th-$1,149), Youtuber and Poker Pro Ashley PokerFaceAsh Frank (54th-$1,289), RGPS Tulsa 2023 Champion Pete Petree (42nd-$1,463), and RGPS Joplin 2014 Champion Mark Martin (33rd-$1,707) all finished outside of the final table. The final player to fall prior to the tournament being brought to one table was Joe Ferguson who ended up getting in his king-jack on a king-high board against Richard Hawkins, who held a set of tens. Ferguson collected $6,374 for his deep run, and the table was then brought to just one table.

Final Table Recap

Final Table

The final table began with many short stacks jockeying for positions to ladder, and the first one to go was John Cracker Reynolds. The RGPS ring winner moved in his final eight big blinds in over Jared Wards raise with ace-ten. Ward looked him up with king-ten offsuit, and while the situation seemed initially favorable, Ward ran out a king-high flush, giving him the pot and leaving Reynolds to exit the tournament in ninth place for $6,374.

Danny Barnes had come into the final table with an overwhelming chip lead, sitting at over 100 big blinds from two tables left onwards to the final. He found his kryptonite in the form of ODell, who doubled up through him four times consecutively. Once for eight big blinds and ODell holding king-nine while Barnes held ace-ten, a second time for 20 big blinds where ODell held king-nine, and Barnes held ace-queen, a third time for 35 big blinds where ODell held ace-king. Barnes held tens and a final time for nearly 80 big blinds when Barnes got in his set on the turn against ODells top pair open-ended straight draw which connected on the river. ODell ascended high, holding half of the chips in play with eight left, while Barnes tumbled down the counts to the shortest stack.

Despite this, it would be Jael Lewis who would be next to go when she lost most of her stack, doubling up Barnes when she held ace-ten against his jack-eight. She was left with only a few chips after that confrontation, and while she did find one double, her final five big blinds went in with king-ten offsuit and Kevin Unkel called her with pocket queens. Lewis found no help, and the final woman standing departed the tournament in eighth place, collecting $8,081 for her efforts.

Barnes finished his run in seventh place just after her. He defended big blind against Jason Darlands raise and then moved all-in on a four-high board with just a king-seven suited for king-high and a flush draw. Darland called with his ace-king for just ace high and doubled into the middle of the pack, leaving Barnes with just two blinds. On the next hand, he was eliminated when his queen-seven offsuit could not improve against ODells ace-ten, and the start of table chip leader collected $10,345 for his efforts.

What followed was a series of three players doubling through ODell, giving the chip lead to Richard Hawkins, who held it until Darland took it in a confrontation between the two of them. The next to go would end up being Unkel, who moved all in on a flop with nine-seven after flopping middle pair against Blair Hinkle, who flopped top pair holding ace-nine. Unkel could not find the two-outer to survive, and last years 12th-place finisher improved his finish to sixth place this time around, earning $13,411 for his second impressive run on this property.

Ward found himself ending his run in fifth place shortly after that. After falling to the short stack of the table, he moved in his final chips with ace-nine from the small blind against ODells button open, only for Darland to wake up with pocket kings in the big blind and hold against his hand. No ace or miracle straight appeared, and Ward collected $17,591 for his deep run, and Darland took nearly half of the chips in play.

Despite an early lead, Hawkins couldnt find much success beyond the beginning levels of the tournament and his run ended in fourth place. He moved in his final eight big blinds with pocket fours against ODell, who called him with ace-queen. An ace-high flop spelt the end for Hawkins, and he wished his tablemates luck as he collected $23,338 for his efforts.

What followed was a 90-minute three-handed battle, where each player shared a decent amount of time as the big stack, the middle stack, and the short stack. Hinkle began three-handed play as the short stack, but a timely double-through Darland saw him take the lead from him. Hinkle seemed to be the runaway leader with well over half of the chips in play, but after a timely double and some three bets, ODell took the lead back from his opponents and began applying pressure. At the end of it all, ODell raised with ace-seven offsuit and then called an 11 big blind all in from Darland, who held queen-ten. No improvement was had with the queen ten, and ODell went into heads up with a 2:1 lead, while Darland finished his impressive run in third place for $31,210.

2-time RGPS Main Event Champion Blair Hinkle ended up in second place after starting the day with just eight big blinds.

Despite the early lead heads up, Hinkle took it back when he flopped a straight against ODells top pair putting the two stacks nearly even. A few hands later, ODell raised on the button with ace-five offsuit, and Hinkle moved all in with pocket fours. ODell thought about his decision for a minute but called in the tournament deciding hand. The flop came out ace-high, and no set or straight followed it for Hinkle, leaving ODell the winner and the two-time RGPS Main Event champion to exit the tournament with an impressive second-place finish for $42,427. This comes after Hinkle only started the day with eight big blinds.

RGPS Joplin Series Winners

Event Number Event Name Entrants Prizepool Winner Prize 1 $225 Seniors NLH 179 $32,220 Kathy Schimmel $8,472 2 $200 Ambassador Bounty NLH 223 $33,450 William Hill $8,315 3 $250 Deepstack 376 $75,200 Preston McEwen $15,629 4 $225 Single Day NLH 115 $20,700 Clayton Soliz $6,198 5 $150 Flip And Go 144 $18,000 Joey Gargiulo $5,013 6 $600 Main Event 683 $348,330 Dakotah O'Dell $63,647 7 $300 Pot-Limit Omaha 114 $29,070 Trent Wilson $7,044 8 $225 Closer 98 $17,640 Michael Phillips $4,999

Sharelines Check out the results from the RGPS Joplin Main Event
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) slammed Jim Jordans sham Manhattan crime hearing as a scam to protect Trump.

Video of the press conference:

Rep. Nadler said:



In a few minutes, the House Judiciary Committee will convene what the Chairman calls a field hearing. It may have some of the trappings of a hearingwe will have opening statements and witnesses, and the Members will ask questions. But dont be fooled. This is not a serious exercise. This is a political stunt.

I was the Chairman of the Committee for four years, and I took that solemn responsibility seriously. I know what a real hearingand real oversightlooks like. That is not what we are going to see today.

This hearing is being called for one reason, and one reason only: to protect Donald Trump.

Jim Jordan and his Republican accomplices are acting as an extension of the Trump defense team, trying to intimidate and deter the duly elected District Attorney of Manhattan from doing the work his constituents elected him to do. They are using their public offices, and the resources of our committee, to protect their political patron, Donald Trump. That is an outrageous abuse of power. It isto use Chairman Jordans favorite terma weaponization of the Judiciary Committee.

The Chairman says this hearing is about the victims of violent crime in Manhattan. Never mind the fact that New York is one of the safest big cities in America. Never mind thatunder the leadership of Mayor Adams and Alvin Braggover the last year, crime in Manhattan has dropped in nearly every major categoryincluding murders, down 14%; shootings, down 17%; burglaries, down 21%; and robberies, down 8%.

And never mind that House Republicans have voted consistently to make New Yorkand other cities across this countryless safe.

Since when did my Republican colleagues become so concerned about the lives and safety of New Yorkers? Certainly not when they voted against billions of dollars in money for law enforcement in the American Rescue Plan. Certainly not when they refused to condemn Donald Trumps call to defund the FBI and the Department of Justice. And certainly not when they worked to block Democratic efforts to pass sensible gun safety legislation.

We all grieve for the victims of violent crimehere in Manhattan and everywhere. But if Jim Jordan and his Republican Members really cared about protecting New Yorkers, they would join Democrats in addressing the iron pipeline that floods our streets with illegal guns from states with less strict gun laws.

They would join our efforts to ban assault weapons, to enact extreme risk protection laws, and to crack down on ghost guns. But instead, they have only worked to put more guns on the streets, and to put us all at greater risk.

Democrats have consistently advanced policy solutions that make all of our communitiesincluding New Yorksafer places to live, work, and go to school, and we will make that clear today. But thats not why Republicans have called this hearing. This is just part of their efforts to protect Donald Trump by any means necessary.

Alvin Bragg is the duly elected district attorney in New York County. He has brought significant evidence before a grand jury, which has seen fit to indict Donald Trump. Donald Trump will have an opportunity to defend himself against the charges. That process will now play out in the courts, and it is not the place of CongressRepublicans or Democratsto interfere with any judicial proceeding.

Jim Jordan engages in a lot of political theater in Washington, but he should know better than to take his tired act to Broadway. New Yorkers see through this transparent attempt to defend Donald Trump at all costs, while ignoring the real public safety needs of our community.

It is amazing, Jim Jordan has never cared about crime in Manhattan until Donald Trump was indicted. One of the biggest problems that House Republicans have run into while trying to push their scams, conspiracy theories, and Trump protection schemes is that Democrats are fighting back.

Jordan thought that he was going to be able to come to New York and hold a propaganda hearing without any pushback. However, even C-SPAN has refused to put his hearing on television. It appears that the American people see through what Jim Jordan is trying to do. Jim Jordan and House Republicans would rather use their power to protect Donald Trump than kids who are dying in mass shootings.

For More Stories Like This, Subscribe To Our Newsletter:
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) brought the House Judiciary Committee to Manhattan under the pretext of a hearing on violent crime, but Democrats were ready and turned the hearing into a backfire.

Judiciary Committee ranking member Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) in his opening statement called out the real point of the hearing:

Judiciary Committee ranking member Jerry Nader at Jim Jordan's Manhattan hearing, "It is shameful that the Republicans of this committee would use the pretext of violent crime as an excuse to play tourist in New York and bully the district attorney." pic.twitter.com/xufXBvEaWq  Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) April 17, 2023

Nadler said, It is shameful that the Republicans of this committee would use the pretext of violent crime as an excuse to play tourist in New York and bully the district attorney.

Jim Jordan tried to use the pain of victims of violent crime, but his efforts at exploitation were cringe-worthy and extremely uncomfortable to watch.

Democrats countered with witnesses who were experts on gun violence and crime, which made Republicans angry, and caused them to complain because the hearing kept getting away from smearing Bragg and turning into an actual discussion about gun violence and crime:

Republicans complaining because Democrats are trying to talk about guns and violent crime, and blowing up Jim Jordan's pretense for attacking Alvin Bragg to defend Trump. pic.twitter.com/kWJqkJUsU4  Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) April 17, 2023

Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) said to Jordan, Please spare me this suggestion that this is about a sincere interest in finding solutions to violent crime. This is about your agenda to earn the admiration, support, and good wishes of the former president.

Video of Cicilline:

Rep. David Cicilline calls out Jim Jordan, "Please spare me this suggest that this is about a sincere interest in finding solutions to violent crime. This is about your agenda to earn the admiration, support, and good wishes of the former president." pic.twitter.com/RKqya1sEPo  Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) April 17, 2023

After the crime victim witnesses complained that they didnt feel heard, Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) sympathized and had to tell them that they were being scammed:

Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) sympathizes with gun violence victims at House Judiciary Committee hearing but tells them, "There is an underlying sham going on here. I know you don't like to hear it. Your voices are important, but 2 things can be true at the same time." pic.twitter.com/1QGK8Sei0p  Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) April 17, 2023

The hearing hasnt gotten anything close to the public attention that Jim Jordan and Donald Trump were hoping for. There has been zero mainstream coverage. Even Newsmax has been dipping in and out of it to only show a few minutes at a time.

For More Stories Like This, Subscribe To Our Newsletter:

The hearing isnt helping Trump, but it is showing the American people that the only skill Jim Jordan seems to possess is wasting taxpayer money while trying to protect Donald Trump.

For a hearing that was supposed to be about violent crime, House Judiciary Committee Republicans have shown zero interest in exploring any potential legislative solutions that could reduce crime.

The scheme has backfired on Jordan and Trump as no one believes that is a coincidence that his committee just so happens to be in Manhattan to hold a hearing attacking the same district attorney who indicted Donald Trump by coincidence.

Jordan didnt seem to think that Judiciary Committee Democrats would show up for the hearing, but they did, and his publicity stunt has turned into another GOP abuse of power failure.
A British manufacturer of fine bone china is busy making God Save The King commemorative plates and mugs for King Charles II's May 6 coronation. Craftspeople at the Duchess China factory in the central England city of Stoke-on-Trent painted delicate gold edges on more teacups and saucers this week to make sure there are enough to meet the expected demand for royal souvenirs. Its range of commemorative china features the Union Jack colors of red, white and blue, and come emblazoned with the words God Save the King. The manufacturer said the design was inspired by china produced in the 1930s for the coronation of King George VI, Charles grandfather. Read moreUK china maker rolls out souvenirs for king's May coronation
NORTH AUGUSTA  People visiting a park in Aiken County got a look at what life was like in colonial times this weekend.

North Augusta's Living History Park hosted an event Saturday and Sunday titled Under the Crown to explain what life was like in North Augusta and neighboring Augusta during British rule, particularly British rule during the American Revolution.

The British regular army arrived in Georgia in 1778, took Augusta in January 1779, retreated less than a month later, but then retook Augusta in 1780 and held it for about a year until the Colonial Army under Andrew Pickens (the namesake of Pickens County) and Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee (the father of Confederate General Robert E. Lee) forced the British to surrender. The area was under siege from the colonial armies from late May until June 6, 1781.

Lynn Thompson, chairwoman of the Living History Park, said the event was about educating children about what life was like and how hard it was back then.

The event featured the arrest and court martial of traitors, colonial dancing classes, an Anglican church service on Sunday morning, a Benjamin Franklin impersonator, a magic show, a colonial-era surveyor and an opportunity to watch a blacksmith using colonial-era tools and techniques.

A craft fair known as the Colonial Trades Fair accompanied the event.

For more information about Living History Park, visit colonialtimesus.wordpress.com.
ELKO  Assessed valuation for Elko County for the 2023-2024 fiscal year is nearly $2.5 billion, up 5.48% from the valuation for the current fiscal year when including net proceeds from mines that are estimated to be down 36.51%, factoring in suspension of mining at Jerritt Canyon.

Elko County Comptroller Susan Paprocki provided information on April 6 from the Nevada Department of Taxation that confirmed the mines shutdown was calculated into the net proceeds estimate provided to the county.

First Majestic Silver announced on March 20 that the company was suspending gold mining at Jerritt Canyon north of Elko but would continue exploration.

The net proceeds valuation for the coming fiscal year is estimated at nearly $135.9 million, compared with nearly $213.9 million for the current fiscal year, according to Department of Taxation figures that Paprocki presented to county commissioners along with population figures and the preliminary county budget for 2023-2024.

Paprocki said in a call that the county doesnt budget for net proceeds revenue until later as a best practice, and she told the Board of Fire Commissioners on April 5 that net proceeds of minerals are very volatile.

When the finalized net proceeds revenue comes to the county the budget can be augmented, or the proceeds carried over to the following fiscal year, she said in an April 6 call.

Mining companies pay a 5% net proceeds of minerals tax, and an excise tax of 0.75% for mines with gross revenues of $20 million to $150 million or 1.1% on mines with gross revenues of more than $150 million. The excise tax provision was added by the 2021 Nevada Legislature.

The countys assessed valuation without the net proceeds was more than $2.36 billion, up 9.46% over the nearly $2.16 billion without net proceeds for the 2022-2023 fiscal year.

Nevada Department of Taxation assessed valuations broken out for the other entities in the county with net proceeds included are: Carlin, $45.44 million, up 9.84%; Elko city, $684.84 million, up 11.29%; Wells, $34.07 million, up 8%; West Wendover, $165.18 million, up 13.3%; Jackpot, $32.64 million, up 10.19%; Montello, $2.29 million, up 9.23%; Mountain City, nearly $2.48 million, up 5.26%; Elko Convention and Visitors Authority, $1.62 billion, up 5.26%; TV district, $1.52 billion, up 5.93%; and Elko Fire Protection District, $1.57 billion, up 2.23%.

The taxation departments estimate for the countys total population for the upcoming fiscal year is 56,396, up 1,850. Elko citys population estimate is 21,303, up 327 from the 2022-2023 fiscal year, while Carlins is 2,531, down 84.

The population for Wells is estimated at 1,272, the same as the current fiscal year, and West Wendovers population is up 12 to 4,464, while Jackpots is up 204 to 1,148. Montellos population is 63, up 3, and Mountain Citys is 104, up 30 for the 2023-2024 fiscal year. The population for the Elko County Fire Protection District is 26,826, up 1,595.

Expenses in the tentative budget for the county for the upcoming fiscal year beginning July 1 for operating funds that include the general fund, indigent fund, agriculture extension fund, library fund and juvenile fund total nearly $54.33 million.

The ending fund balance is expected to be $5.85 million, or 11.72% of budgeted expenditures. The state has a 16.67% cap on ending fund balances, and the 16.67% ending fund balance would be $8.32 million for the operating funds, according to the budget.

Paprocki told commissioners on April 5 that she strives to maintain an ending fund balance above 8% and below 16%. I like it to be 12%. Thats about two months of expense if the sky should fall.

The budget includes 3% cost-of-living pay hikes, a 6% increase to retirement contributions and a hike in health insurance contributions for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, while results of a pay study were implemented in the current fiscal year, according to Paprocki.

She estimated a roughly $3 million increase between the prior year and current fiscal year, which included the compensation and job classification study.

The total for the operating budget for salaries and wages is budgeted at nearly $21.38 million for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, compared with an estimated $21.28 million for the current fiscal year and $18.1 million for the 2021-2022 fiscal year.

Benefits are budgeted for 2023-2024 at $13.65 million, compared with an estimated $11.86 million for this fiscal year and $9.9 million for the prior year.

The beginning fund balance for the operating funds budget is tentatively set at $15.4 million for the 2023-2024 fiscal year and total revenues are estimated at $44.78 million.

For the general fund alone, the beginning fund balance is estimated at $13.4 million, revenues at $39.07 million and expenses at $47.13 million, with an ending fund balance of $5.34 million, or 12.5%, short of the 16.67% state fund balance figure of $1.78 million.

The estimated final budget figures for the current fiscal year in the general fund show revenues of $39.49 million, expenses of $42.8 million and an ending fund balance of $13.4 million that carries over to the 2023-2024 budget.

For the roads department, Paprocki said revenues have been stagnant for year, while expenses have increased, so the county transfers funds to the department.

We all know that what a long, horrible winter this has been, and the roads are going to suffer because of that so we want to be sure the road fund has plenty of operating dollars, she told commissioners.

The road fund revenues for the new fiscal year total nearly $3.5 million, including a $1.95 million transfer into the fund, and expenditures are $3.45 million, up from an estimated $3.1 million for this fiscal year and $2.73 million for the 2021-2022 fiscal year.

The Regional Transportation Commission that includes the county and communities within the county had a beginning fund balance of $5.9 million coming into the fiscal year, and Paprocki said the budget shows that all will be spent because RTC cant use money in an ending fund balance because of state rules.

Revenues for RTC total $3.01 million and expenditures are a little more than $9.01 million, with the countys apportionment for the 2023-2024 fiscal year estimated at $1.92 million.

Regarding the events center project led by the Boys & Girls Club, the budget committee, Paprocki said the budget committee will be meeting to talk about funding sources to meet the countys $15 million commitment over two years and will update the final budget.

According to the capital projects budget, there is $6.42 million reserved for the new fiscal year, and $8.58 million was reserved in that fund for center in the 2022-2023 fiscal budget. Paprocki said funds for the center also are housed in different places.

Commissioner Jon Karr wanted to know if American Rescue Plan Act and Federal Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund federal dollars could be used for the center.
Authorities are investigating after a Beech Island man was found dead in the Savannah River on Sunday.

On April 15, two friends were kayaking from Savannah Rapid Park in Evans, Georgia, and paddled down stream until they reached an area of rapids, Aiken County Coroner Darryl Ables said in a media release.

The pair then exited their kayaks and began to swim in the rapids, Ables said.

After swimming several times, one of the men became distressed and called out for help before going under water, Ables said.

A witness heard the calls for help and alerted authorities around 3:50 p.m., Ables said.

The male friend was later located by authorities when he returned to the area looking for his friend, Ables said.

The victim was identified as 35-year-old Tommy C. Bellmay, of Beech Island, Ables said.

His body was recovered by divers with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources around noon Sunday in the area of Indian Rock Court in North Augusta.

An autopsy will be conducted in Newberry.

The Aiken County Coroners Office and the North Augusta Department of Public Safety are investigating the incident.
Tomorrow, April 18, is Holocaust Memorial Day. The date marks the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943 when the Nazi military machine had its hands on the throat of Polands capital.

I visited Warsaw in 1970 and wept at the site of the ghetto. Only 27 years earlier, 400,000 Jews were confined by Nazi forces in an urban ghetto behind brick walls and barbed wire, subject to repeated mass deportations to death camps. Before the final deportation of around 70,000 who were left, 750 Jewish fighters rose up against the Nazi army and resisted for weeks. By May 16, it was over. Few  if any  of the 400,000 who had inhabited the ghetto were still alive; the ghetto was then razed and burned.

Traveling in Poland that summer of 1970 with Polish friends, we were aware of the heavy fist of Soviet police-state dominance everywhere. But we could not escape reminders of the far more murderous occupation by Nazi Germany during World War II. One bright day in July we drove from Krakow to the small town of Oswiecim, to location of what has been called the dark abyss of humanity  Auschwitz.

We walked into what had been the largest of the German concentration and death camps through the gate still arched by the cynical slogan, ARBEIT MACHT FREI, Work makes one free. Before us: the prisoner reception center, endless barracks, and crematoria comprising gas chambers and furnace rooms. In one large barracks, room after room contained vast piles of suitcases, eyeglasses, childrens dolls, dental work, and worn-down shoeslast echoes of the simple humanity of the men, women, and children brought here from all over Europe to be erased. Abstract numbers of those killed here (1.1 million, almost 700,000 of them Jews), do not begin to communicate the immeasurable suffering and deep grief that still lie over this place like a shroud.

I was prepared  not to lessen the grief  but to feel it as raw pain in my heart. Some years earlier, I had read the novel by Andre Schwarz-Bart, a Polish-French Holocaust survivor, called The Last of the Just. It was first published in 1959, a year before Elie Wiesels Night, and pointed the world to Auschwitz. I dont think I knew before reading The Last of the Just that a book can change ones life, but reading that book changed my life and world permanently.

The Last of the Just tells the stories of the 36 Just Men of Jewish tradition, one in each of 36 successive generations, eight centuries, in one family. According to that tradition, as Schwarz-Bart writes, the world reposes upon 36 Just Men, the Lamed-Vov, indistinguishable from simple mortals; often they are unaware of their station. But if just one of them were lacking, the sufferings of mankind would poison even the souls of the newborn, and humanity would suffocate with a single cry. For the Lamed-Vov are the hearts of the world multiplied, and into them, as into one receptacle, pour all our griefs. They were humanitys pressure-valve.

Sign up for our opinion newsletter Get a weekly recap of South Carolina opinion and analysis from The Post and Courier in your inbox on Monday evenings. Email

Sign Up!

The tradition of the Just Men is said to have sprung from a particular pogrom against the Jewish community of York, England. On March 11, 1185, after many Jews had already been murdered, the Rabbi took refuge in a watchtower with men, women and a herd of children. There they were slaughtered; the rabbis infant son Samuel Levy alone survived the holocaust. In recognition of the faithfulness and sacrifice of his father, the boy was blessed as the first of a dynasty of Levys who were given the grace to keep the world alive by bearing the suffering and sorrows of humanity and channeling them into the very heart of God.

The 36th of this line, Ernie Levy, departed the village in Poland where for centuries many of his forebears had lived, suffered and died. Ernie was in Paris when Hitlers War shattered history and he and his wife Golda were deported in the small train across Europe to Auschwitz. When the author was a small boy, his parents had been shipped to Auschwitz from their Polish village and never seen again.

Ernie, the last of the Just who had borne the hatred, persecution and heartbreak of the centuries  himself a gentle and loving young man  was marched with his wife to the gas chamber. Aside from the snickering and knowing laughter, the guards seemed to have exhausted their anger, and while they calmly gave orders, blows and kicks, Ernie realized that they were no longer driven by hate but were going through the motions with the remote sympathy one feels for a dog... Youre weeping blood, Golda said suddenly in amazement. Dont be silly, Ernie said, nobody weeps blood. And wiping off the tears of blood that furrowed his cheeks, he turned away from the girl to hide from her the death of the Jewish people, which was written clearly, he knew, in the flesh of his face. They died holding each other, and holding six million other European Jews.

The Holocaust is no longer in plain sight. But our generation knows the Rwanda genocide, the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, atrocities in Ukraine, the racist horror in the basement of Mother Emanuel Church and the slow holocaust of assault weapon massacres in our schools. Some of us are old enough to have lived during the Holocaust of 1940-45. Any of us may be touched personally by unbearable loss and we are aware of crises in our world today that could mean the loss of all we hold dear. The Last of the Just changed my life because it brought home to me the possibility and deep grief of such loss  and of the Void stamped on life when humans are totally debased by others obsessed with power. For me, it gave evil a face.

Hatred is not a flare-up of anger against another. Hatred means seeing individuals abstractly as part of a feared or despised group and denying their personhood  regarding them with the remote sympathy one feels for a dog. And that is why we have to remember the Holocaust today. We as a society are so unbelievably wound up, like a taut spring or coiled copperhead, that practically every issue we face polarizes us. We are ready to fight, many are, because we are deeply suspicious and fearful of them. The hideous human catastrophe of the Holocaust has been repeated and could happen here, with social media pumping out inflammatory, radicalizing misinformation. The lie: It is better for the world if they did not exist.

Holocaust Memorial Day pleads with us to step away from identity-based group hatred  because we elders remember its dire consequences. It calls us to not be indifferent to human suffering. And it calls us to join with survivors such as Andre Schwarz-Bart, Elie Wiesel, Felix and Martha Bauer (born in Vienna and in Cologne respectively) Or local survivors, like artist-musician and hospital nurse from Abbeville County, whose names are inscribed on the Holocaust Memorial in Marion Square. As well as the many other deep souls, who were able to turn their grief into art and live on in a deeply wounded world with love, resilience, service and miraculous joy.
King Street has a new heavy metal bar, and behind it are the owners of D'Allesandro's Pizza and Cutty's.

Cutty's former general manager, Sarah Griffith, who had relocated to Philadelphia after working at the no-frills downtown watering hole for eight years, came back to head the endeavor and has since turned the old Gap Gallery space at 638 King St. into the bar of her dreams, Sugey's.

Several of the metal, punk and blacklight posters on the walls, as well as vintage beer-branded sconces and motorcycle tire-rim light fixtures dangling by chains with upside-down cross lightbulbs, were from Griffith's own collection or handpicked by her in the process of decorating Sugey's.

Her pride and joy behind the bar is an original '80s Venom poster, for which Metallica was listed as the opening act; she had been eyeing it for some time on eBay.

The bar itself also has a story; it's made up of old bowling alley lanes found underneath an overpass.

In the corner is a Godzilla pinball machine, while between booths are DIY bamboo rods painted black. A red lava lamp and giant monster hands with silver studded nail polish stand out from behind the bar. A disco ball from Griffith's home now hangs in the center of the room, casting shimmers to light up the dark-walled interior.

A few '80s horror movie posters have worked their way into the collection, as well. Griffith is also hosting VHS nights every Sunday and has already received a few donations to the catalogue; she hopes to concoct a VHS library of sorts. Other patrons have vowed to donate their own show posters to the space to help fill up the walls.

"The punk and metalheads are really coming out of the woodworks," she said. "It's really cool to have a space that draws in likeminded people who share interests with you when it's been difficult to find that in Charleston."

As for the menu, Griffith has opted for a tiki bar theme.

"We're leaning into tiki traditions," she said. "Just like metal and punk are of the underground music scenes, tiki is that of the cocktail world. It's been historically dismissed as illegitimate or trashy, but really it's a cool school of mixology."

There are currently four cocktails on the menu, including the Painslayer, a twist on a painkiller with Thai iced tea and tequila, and the Blood Oath, featuring what Griffith calls "the original Vermouth."

Plans are in the works to add frozen drinks, volcano bowls and homemade horchata. Plus, there are Jell-O shots and PBR tallboys.

Currently, food trucks are offering eats in the Sugey's parking lot, but heavy bar snacks are being planned, including a homemade Hot Pocket, vegan meatball sub and Jamaican beef patty.

"I never stop having ideas," said Griffith. "It's always a work in progress."

One of those ideas that just came to fruition is Red Hots candy-infused whiskey, the bar's personal take on Fireball.

There are also themed nights popping up, like Industry Night Mondays, Honky Tonk Tuesdays and Karaoke Night Saturdays.

On typical nights, heavy metal music is blasting over the speakers.

A handwritten note framed and hanging on the wall  admittedly not about Sugey's, but about an old coffee shop Griffith used to work at while playing her favorite metal music playlists  perhaps explains the space best.

"Why are you torturing people with the Hellish music non-stop?... To enter your store is like passing thru (the) gates of Hell into Hell."

Griffith still gets a kick out of that note and thinks it now has a fitting home.
GEORGETOWN  Two Georgetown County hardware stores held their grand openings April 14 in a sign that growth is coming from smaller family-owned businesses.

After a soft opening, Walker Brothers Hardware at 1222 N. Fraser St. in Georgetown held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at noon, followed three hours later by Heuser ACE Hardware at 8317 S. Ocean Highway near Pawleys Island, formerly known as Palmetto ACE Home Center.

Heuser ACE Hardware is under new ownership by the Heuser family of the Hilton Head Island area, who own additional stores in Bluffton and Hardeeville in addition to a paint store in Hilton Head.

Floor Manager Kim Stewart said the store has been an answer to the rallying cry of "Don't Box the Neck," used by Waccamaw Neck locals in opposition to big-box stores since the newly re-opened the store is individually-owned and operated as a small business.

"They've spent the last year and a half really sort of revamping the store," Stewart said of the Heusers. "We've repainted the outside, did some work on the inside, really got the inventory levels up and we rearranged a lot of stuff in the main area here to hopefully make a little more enjoyable shopping experience."

Office Manager Terrie Walker of Walker Brothers Hardware said the Georgetown store has been in the works since 2021. She is the wife of David Walker, who owns the store with brother Terry. Both men are Georgetown natives, though David had since moved to Tennessee.

"Gradually, everybody's moved back to South Carolina," Walker said. "David and I were the holdouts. We had a hardware store in Tennessee. He decided he wanted to retire so he sold that store, and did not like retirement."

Eventually, Walker's brother-in-law, Terry Walker, who has a store in Conway, floated the idea of the brothers opening a store in their hometown. Supplied by Indiana-based Do It Best, the Walkers hope to cater to Georgetown's needs. In addition to hardware, they have stocked apparel and fishing supplies.

"Everybody likes the fact that they're from this area, people like the fact that we're a smaller business, locally-owned," Terrie Walker said of the store's business during the soft opening.
YMCA of Greenville plans to consolidate its properties in the Golden Strip area of Greenville County, which will mean the closure of a longtime Five Forks location.

The move to sell the Adams Mill Road property outside Simpsonville is part of the consolidation that will double the number of people served overall, president and CEO Scot Baddley said in a written statement April 17.

The proceeds will be used to fund an expansion at the Prisma Health Family YMCA facility at Brookwood Point closer to neighboring Mauldin.

The YMCA didn't provide the identity of the prospective buyer, only saying its another community-minded and similarly missioned organization.

According to Greenville County property records, the YMCA bought a nine-acre parcel in 2013 next to the Mauldin facility for $650,000. Baddley said that property was purchased with the goal of eventually consolidating services.

When the YMCA sells the property in Simpsonville, those proceeds will be used to help fund an expansion at the nine-acre parcel near Mauldin.

The YMCA expects to start construction in fall 2023.

The move has received some pushback from YMCA members.

On April 17, a change.org petition demanding a halt to the sale had garnered 247 signatures. Reasons cited include convenience, the availability of a warm-water pool and ample ballfields, lack of input by members and an overstated need for more funding.
Summerville, SC (29483)

Today

Partly cloudy skies during the morning hours. Thunderstorms likely in the afternoon. High around 75F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy. Low around 55F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.
Kingstree, SC (29556)

Today

Partly cloudy early followed by increasing clouds with showers developing later in the day. High 73F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Showers in the evening, then partly cloudy overnight. Low near 50F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.
We're ready for takeoff. After an early morning, a two-hour flight to New York from Charleston, a layover spent pacing the airport halls with restless bodies, I take a deep breath and release control - I don't know how my children will feel a few hours into this 10-hour trek halfway across t Read moreTaking kids to Europe
I cant believe I caught COVID again last week. Its been miserable. Thank goodness I was vaccinated so it wasnt any worse.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, we were shocked. But we shouldnt have been. A look at the Lowcountrys history puts COVID into a contextual continuum. One still hears about the Great Influenza of 1918-19, and of the estimated 660,000 American lives lost during the Civil War, two-thirds were the result of infectious diseases. Yet those are probably the only two references most Charlestonians know about.

From its founding in 1670 through the early 20th century, Charleston had a reputation as an unhealthy place to live. How does that old canard go? It is in the spring a paradise, in the summer a hell, and in the autumn a hospital.

There was good reason for this. Our port welcomed huge numbers of immigrants, sailors and enslaved Africans, many of whom brought with them the latest viral and bacterial germs from around the world. Our heat, humidity and mosquitos only exacerbated the problem.

Malaria, called the "ague" in historical records, and dysentery, known as the "bloody flux," were the deadliest of the frequent epidemics that passed through the Lowcountry. Though less lethal, smallpox and yellow fever were equally dreaded because they prompted widespread public quarantines, as well as economic and shipping (read supply chain) chaos, much like what weve experienced with COVID.

In 1697-98, smallpox killed an estimated 300 Charlestonians out of a population of fewer than 5,000, according to the South Carolina Encyclopedia. The following year, a wave of yellow fever killed several hundred more, bringing the combined mortality rate to above 10 percent.

Immigrant Hugh Adams described the situation as worse by far than the Great Plague of London, considering the smallness of the town. Shops shut up for six weeks, nothing but carrying medicines, digging graves, carting the dead; to the great astonishment of all beholders."

Sound familiar?

Smallpox again raged through the colony in 1738, infecting a third of its 6,000 settlers, with about a 5 percent mortality rate. This pushed local physicians to introduce inoculation, a hotly debated, controversial issue.

Again, sound familiar?

Meanwhile, yellow fever swept through the colony about every five to 10 years until 1748, when it went dormant. Then, without warning or explanation, resurgences struck nearly every year between 1792 and 1800.

By then, exposure to European diseases had virtually annihilated Carolinas Native Americans. More died by living and trading peacefully with the Carolina colonists than ever died fighting them. The Cherokee lost nearly two-thirds of its population to European diseases before 1800.

While earlier epidemics had entered Charles Town through its port, a major smallpox outbreak came in 1760 as infected soldiers who fought Upstate in the Cherokee wars returned home, spreading it to nearly three-quarters of Charles Towns population of 8,000. About 900 (11 percent) of the colonists died, this time a disproportionate number being African Americans. Epidemics were like that. Sometimes they concentrated on taking the old or the young, recent immigrants or racial groups. Other times, they showed no preference for their victims at all.

Theres a small obelisk that stands in front of historic Christ Church in Mount Pleasant, so close to Highway 17 that commuters can see it as they wait at the stoplight across from the turn on to Long Point Road. It commemorates the lives of the Lofton family  a father, mother, two young sons and an enslaved man  who all died one week in September 1857 during a yellow fever outbreak. Such reminders of Charlestons familiarity with epidemics are all around us.

All this to say that looking to our history can inform and prepare us for todays challenges. We have been here before and faced the same or very similar questions, whether those be about disease and fear of inoculations, racial relations or smart, sustainable development. I guess it just takes a week in bed with COVID to slow one down enough to remember that.

***

Postscript

Many thanks to those who have taken the time to respond to the "Do You Know Your Lowcountry" columns. I appreciate the photos of an heirloom plate that survived demolition of the Charleston Hotel and a lithograph from congressman Joe Wilson, who snatched it from the hotels rubble as he peddled along his paper route. Thanks to those who shared memories of the Charleston Hotels barbershop spittoon and the Heart of Charleston lounge; those who risked their young lives playing among Bennett Rice Mills ruins, as children are wont to do; and warm, sentimental recollections of the Folly Beach pavilion.

And finally, before anyone points it out, the Lofton family obelisk incorrectly lists the familys deaths as 1858, according to McClellanville historian Walter Bonner.
ELKO  A once thriving motel on the main drag in the middle of Elko now has city officials concerned it is becoming a nexus for crime and a threat to public health.

Decades ago, the Marquis Motor Inn was featured on postcards and greeted tourists with an outdoor swimming pool along busy Idaho Street. Eventually the pool was filled in and the motel changed hands multiple times before sporting a sign that now says Elko Inn & Studio.

City officials say the current owner, Ville 837 LLC out of West Jordan, Utah, has inquired about converting the buildings into apartments since purchasing the motel last year.

Meanwhile, complaints about the property at Ninth and Idaho streets have been rolling in on a regular basis.

Theres graffiti, profanity on the building, theres abandoned vehicles in there and it looks like just really a bad scene, Mayor Reece Keener told fellow Elko City Council members on April 11.

Michelle Rambo, the Citys development manager, said police reported getting more than 50 calls for service at the motel from the beginning of the year to early March.

Weve got not only code enforcement  trash, junk, problems  but weve got significant criminal activity going on over there as well, she told the council.

Rambo said many enforcement letters have been sent to the owner on many, many different issues. In recent weeks trash has been piling up.

You may have seen the pile of trash thats out there on the side of the building. Thats because they were not paying their Elko Sanitation bill, so Elko Sanitation took their Dumpster away, Rambo said.

Property owners are given 30 days to address issues but it has been more than 30 days since their last notice deadline expired, she said.

They promised us that they are going to get things cleaned up but theyre not as responsive as we would like them to be, Rambo said.

City officials are working with the attorneys to determine what steps to take next in order to protect public health.

Two people were arrested at the motel early Friday morning, one in March, and one in December, according to Elko County Jail records.

No wonder our dispatch costs are going up so much, Keener said of the number of calls to police.

We are getting complaints and I am angry that someone came into the community from outside and has created such an eyesore and a nuisance, and just a terrible situation, he said.

The motel owner identified by the City did not immediately respond to a call from the Elko Daily Free Press.

After city attorneys are consulted, the mayor said he wants to see some kind of action item on the city councils next agenda.
Love is a funny thing. I was 7 years old when I fell in love with Charleston on a Brownie Girl Scout field trip. My best friends mom, Mrs. Newsom, brought a station wagon full of us to the Holy City from Cheraw, hoping to broaden our small town horizons a bit, I reckon.

I vividly remember a number of things about that trip: Walking awe-struck under the whale skeleton to gawk incredulously at the mummy and shrunken heads at The Charleston Museum when it was located on Cannon Green, the mustiness of the place and sense of old dust hanging in the air. Buying a toy cannon at the Powder Magazine to take home as a souvenir for my little brother. (It still adorns a shadow box hanging outside his old bedroom at mamas house.)

Yet what I recall most vividly was the sensation I experienced when I first clamored out of Mrs. Newsoms station wagon  when I knew, the moment my feet touched the parking lot pavement at the motel where we stayed on Meeting Street, that I had fallen in love. For as I would later come to understand, I fall in love with places the way most people fall in love with each other.

I cant remember the time of year it was, but the weather was cool. Nevertheless, for a girl who learned to swim in a snake-infested, algae-filled pond, the sight of the motels pristine pool was just too much. Though we had not brought bathing suits, we overwhelmed Mrs. Newsom with pleas to let us swim in our clothes. (She was right. It was cold.)

After that trip, I was hooked. I used every class assignment and book report to learn about Charleston. Though I did not come from a family of literati  the only books in the house were a few Archibald Rutledge stories and a 1970s-vintage set of World Book Encyclopedias  my parents sought to satiate my desire for information about Charleston by subscribing to Sandlapper magazine. I scoured every issue.

I was a good student, and daddy later told me I could go to any public college in South Carolina  except the College of Charleston, because Charleston was the kind of place where a girl without street smarts could get in trouble. Of course, that is where I enrolled, and my formerly long-distance love affair with Charleston began in earnest.

Upon receiving my C of C sheepskin, I left Charleston for a few years to go on to graduate school, fall in love (this time with a guy) and start a career. Yet I always stayed alert for the opportunity to return to where I knew I belonged, which I eventually did.

By that time, however, the old Heart of Charleston Motor Hotel at 200 Meeting St., where I had first fallen in love with the city, had been demolished and replaced by a bank. There was a certain karma about that, for one of Charlestons brightest architectural stars, the Charleston Hotel, circa 1838, had been torn down to make way for the motor court, with its treasured off-street parking.

The Charleston Hotel was an iconic symbol of the citys antebellum opulence, one of the few remaining links with the romantic days of terrapin soup, gas lights and visiting royalty, wrote News & Courier columnist Ashley Cooper in 1986. Such luxury appealed to the likes of Oscar Wilde, Daniel Webster, soprano Jenny Lind, Englands Princess Louise and three presidents: Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge and William Howard Taft.

With a block-long colonnade of 14 pillars fronting a four-story Parthenon-style facade, the hotel featured 170 bedrooms, private baths, elaborately decorated dining rooms, parlors, reading and reception rooms, and a gentleman's shaving salon. Over time, it added an on-site electric plant, hot and cold running water, elevators, telegraph office, in-house doctor and pharmacist, on-site dairy and poultry farm for fresh eggs, washing machines that could sterilize glassware and china, and a steam laundry.

But what the 19th century Charleston Hotel didnt have was parking. That, added to Charlestons diminishment after the Civil War, led to the hotels eventual dereliction, and in 1959 Charlestons grande dame was slated for demolition.

She didnt go down without a fight, though. Demolition took six months and construction of the new motor lodge began even before demolition was complete. When cables and bulldozers failed to pull down its columns, they brought in a 2,000-pound wrecking ball, which brought down the last column in a haze of dust and rubble shortly after 3 a.m., according to news coverage.

Today, I like to think it was the spirit of the grand old Charleston Hotel  rather than the nondescript Heart of Charleston Motor Hotel  that called so strongly to me upon my introduction to the city, igniting a love affair thats lasted more than a half century. But it may have been the pool.

Like all true loves, the passion reinvents itself each time I find a new story about Charleston, her buildings and her people. As we reintroduce this new spin on the old columns once penned by Frank Gilbreath and David Farrow, I hope youll share your questions or memories. Because I still want to know more about Charleston.
FLORENCE  Flooding can happen in a blink of an eye in some Florence neighborhoods. More than 80 areas flood during a heavy or prolonged rain.

The city has a system of drains and ditches to move water from roads and parking lots to creeks, streams, lakes, rivers and eventually the Atlantic Ocean and is working to upgrade it stormwater drainage system.

Updating the citys stormwater master plan is one of the keys to reducing flooding, City Manager Randy Osterman said.

The city has been relying on a stormwater master plan developed in the 1970s, he said. The city has grown into an urban center in those 50 years.

The citys stormwater master plan is way past due for an update.

City staff and its stormwater engineering team from AECOM are creating a new master plan.

The city created a stormwater/capital improvement project portal on its website in December. The portal contains a link to allow residents to identify flood-prone areas to incorporate into the new master plan. The portal can be accessed at cityofflorence.com.

Now, city staff will share the master plan and seek public input from residents at three community meetings:

6 p.m. April 25, Florence Family YMCA, 1700 S. Rutherford Drive.

5:30 p.m. May 2, Northwest Community Center, 801 Clement St.

5:30 p.m. May 4, Levy Park Community Center, 356 S. Jeffords St.

The meetings are open to the public and city residents are encouraged to share flooding information at these meetings, Assistant City Manager/Development Clint Moore said.

The Family Stone will headline November's SC Pecan Music and Food Festival The Family Stone will be the headliners for the SC Pecan Music and Food Festival on Nov. 4 in downtown Florence, festival organizers announced April 12. The Family Stone features Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee and original founding member of Sly and the Family Stone Jerry Martini on saxophone.

The new master plan will focus on localized flooding, Moore said.

Osterman added the stormwater master plan will help the city develop a long-term solution to correct flooding and prevent new developments from causing additional flooding problems.

It also will help the city obtain grant money for future stormwater infrastructure needs, Moore said.

It will cost $550,000 to develop the stormwater master plan.

The city received a $250,000 grant from the S.C. Office of Resilience. It will use $300,000 from a $7 million bond issue for stormwater infrastructure improvements to cover the rest of the costs.

Florence City Council passed an ordinance in June 2021 to improve stormwater infrastructure. The $7 million is funding stormwater improvements in seven neighborhoods. Four of the projects have started. The others are in the engineering phases.
The public will get a chance to hear how many of the 1,600 residential units planned for the Union Pier neighborhood redevelopment will be designated as affordable housing at an April 20 forum.

Some officials, including Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg, have been early critics of the proposals for the property, saying they don't go far enough toward addressing the city's broader need for more affordable housing.

My unvarnished, first-blush reaction  which Ive shared with port officials  is that (the proposal) is too tall and too dense, with too many hotel rooms, too much block-sized development and too little affordable housing, Tecklenburg wrote in a Feb. 11 commentary published in The Post and Courier.

The South Carolina Ports Authority plans to sell Union Pier, its 64-acre cruise ship hub on Charleston Harbor, by the end of the year. In preparation for that sale, the port authority hired real estate development team Lowe to draw up plans for the property. Before the Charleston Planning Commission votes on approving the plan, they are hosting a series of information sessions that will give commission members and the public the opportunity to review different aspects of the redevelopment.

As of now, the SPA has said it will set aside at least 50 residential units  about 3 percent of the total  for workforce housing, which is for households that make up to 120 percent of the areas median income.

In Charleston, that would be an annual income of $110,160 for a family of four.

The authority said it also will contribute a percentage of property sale proceeds to a trust fund to pay for more affordable housing at the Union Pier site or within a 2-mile radius.

A recent city estimate found that Charleston will need to build 16,000 units of affordable housing by 2030 to meet demand. But officials are also trying to balance competing needs at Union Pier. The amount of tax revenue created by the property will depend on how tall, how dense and how profitable the site becomes. Every extra square foot of park space and affordable unit that the city advocates for lowers that profit margin.

The authority estimates the cost of the infrastructure projects on and around the site  such as roads, flood protection, underground utilities and parks  will be about $275 million. It will ask that Union Pier be classified as a special tax district, allowing the city to borrow the money and repay it from the taxes that will be generated as the property is redeveloped over 25 years. That would allow parks and other public improvements to be built out early in the process.

The first two meetings hosted by the city's planning commission covered the storm water management plans for the site and the urban design elements, such as density and building heights. The meeting April 20 will review the affordable housing plans for the redevelopment. It will be held at 3 p.m. in the Gaillard Center Ballroom at 2 George St.

The meeting will be the last information session before the planning commission takes a formal vote on the proposal at a separate meeting.

In a parallel process, the finer points of the proposal are being reviewed by the city's Technical Review Committee. Once the plan clears both the TRC and the planning commission, it will go before the City Council for the final approval.

Port officials have indicated they hope the vote will happen by early summer, giving them the time to sell the property by the end of 2023.
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Partly cloudy early. Scattered thunderstorms developing in the afternoon. High near 75F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

A few clouds. Low 58F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph.
South Carolinas Legislature did something extraordinary last year when it passed an election reform bill that nearly everybody voted for and nearly everybody celebrated  a bill that gave voters two weeks to cast early in-person ballots, cleared up some actual problems with how our elections operated and made changes that addressed what some fringe elements called problems but did so in a way that didnt cause significant damage.

But as with any complex piece of legislation, the new law created some unintended consequences, and it uncovered some problems no one had noticed before.

The biggest problem was that the new law, combined with the new federal Juneteenth holiday, meant that some people physically unable to leave their homes didn't have enough time to return their runoff ballots to be counted.

Turning around absentee ballots for the runoffs has always been a tight squeeze, because the 14-day runoff window isnt really 14 days for election officials; it can easily be Saturday before counties get the ballots in the mail, and sometimes late enough on Saturday that the post office doesn't send them out until Monday. Because of the new Juneteenth postal holiday last year, it was a full week after the primary before the ballots went out, and normal mail delays meant that some voters didnt receive them in time to mail them back to their local election commission by the following Tuesday.

Veterans Day has created the same problem for municipal runoffs in Charleston, Mount Pleasant and other municipalities that hold their elections on the first Tuesday in November in odd years.

Compounding the problem was the fact that the new law ended in-person voting the day before the runoff, which means people who are physically able to get to the polls have one less work-around if their ballots arrive late. People who arent physically able to go to their polling place can appoint a personal representative to take their completed ballot to election headquarters  assuming they can find one: The new law says no one can turn in more than five ballots, which can make that difficult for those nursing home residents whose mail service is slow.

The problem was exacerbated in Horry County, when the county election commission mistakenly mailed Democratic runoff ballots to 1,377 voters who had requested Republican ballots. The commission didn't recognize its error and send out replacement ballots until the Friday before the June 28 runoff, too late for all but 140 voters to get them back in time to be counted.

Statewide, theres no reason to think the short turnaround window affected a lot of people, but almost certainly more people were disenfranchised by this problem than the number of people who had cast illegal votes over decades under our old law. And a law that strips a qualified voter of the ability to vote is just as bad as a law that allows an unqualified voter to cast a ballot.

There are two easy ways to fix this problem: Either extend South Carolinas nations-shortest primary runoff campaign from two weeks to three, or else allow all primary voters to cast ranked-choice/instant-runoff ballots, like we already allow for members of the armed forces and overseas voters.

Unfortunately, no one introduced a bill this year to extend the length of the runoff period, and the one bill introduced to allow ranked-choice voting would apply only to municipal elections.

Sen. Chip Campsen and Rep. Brandon Newton did, however, introduce legislation to correct a smaller but still important glitch involving holidays, which lawmakers easily could pass this year. Actually, they might be able to fix both, and they really should see if it they can pull that off  with a fallback position of addressing the easier one.

Fixing the mail-in ballot problem would require a change in policy. Thats not the case with the second problem, which came to light as a result of the Horry County glitch and which the Senate already has voted 39-0 to fix.

The smaller glitch actually predates last years changes to state law; it just hadnt come up before. A candidate for Horry County Council lost the GOP runoff by just 260 votes, which means he might have won if the election commission hadnt sent out the wrong ballots. But his appeal was denied because state law requires election protests to be filed by the Monday following the election. Last year, that day was July 4, and the candidate filed his protest on the next business day, July 5, perhaps because in all other cases involving election deadlines, state law extends the deadline a day when it falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday.

S.92 would conform the appeal deadline to other election deadlines, providing an extension for weekends and holidays, and the Senate passed it on March 2. The House has until its adjourns on May 11 to do the same, and it should do so  although not before exploring whether either that bill or another of Sen. Campsen's election bills the Senate passed unanimously, S.406, can be amended to incorporate the fix for the short-runoff problem. Thats a longshot, both procedurally and politically, but it's worth a try. And if it doesnt work out, the House should send S.92 to Gov. Henry McMaster  and get to work on fixing the other problem before next years primaries.

Click here for more opinion content from The Post and Courier.
NOTE: Some of these events may have been canceled or postponed. Please check with the organizers. Call 843-873-9424 to add your event to this free calendar. Read moreCommunity Calendar
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is making his first public trip to South Carolina on April 19, with a cross-state swing that puts the popular GOP figure in front of Republican voters in the Charleston-area and church-goers in Spartanburg.

The trip is the latest high-profile visit to an early presidential primary state as he prepares a likely White House bid.

Already he's made trips to Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada. Two weeks ago, DeSantis traveled to a gun store in Cobb County, Ga.

DeSantis will start April 19 by promoting his agenda, dubbed the "Florida blueprint," at 10:30 a.m. at The Montague Terrace event venue at the North Charleston Coliseum.

Then he will shuttle to the Summerville Country Club in the afternoon where he will address Republican party faithful at a 2 p.m. closed-press event hosted by both the Dorchester County Republican Party and the Berkeley County Republican Party.

DeSantis' wife, Casey, is expected to attend, according to an event flier shared by the local parties.

Dorchester County GOP Chairman Steven Wright said he is expecting between 300-500 attendees for the Summerville event, which is being billed as a "discussion about the governor's record."

The day wraps up in the South Carolina Upstate when DeSantis speaks to supporters at First Baptist North Spartanburg. The event starts at 7 p.m. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.

The North Charleston and Spartanburg events are being hosted by And to the Republic, a political nonprofit that launched earlier this year to back the governor's political ambitions.

DeSantis has been traveling the country discussing his Florida blueprint and promoting his new book "The Courage to Be Free," which was released in late February.

"Folks in South Carolina and in Dorchester County are eager to hear from Florida Gov. DeSantis and from all of these candidates, whether they are mulling a presidential bid or whether they are already in the race," Wright said.

Though DeSantis has not declared a 2024 White House bid of his own, polling shows the Florida leader has emerged as an early favorite in the Republican presidential primary race.

His brash style and tendency to take on divisive culture war topics has made DeSantis a national GOP figure who is seen as a possible alternative to former President Donald Trump, who announced a campaign late last year.

A recent Winthrop University poll of Republican presidential primary voters showed DeSantis has the support of 20 percent of GOP voters in the Palmetto State. That puts him in a virtual deadlock with former Gov. Nikki Haley, who had 18 percent support in her home state.

The April 19 visit will be DeSantis' first public visit to South Carolina, the state that holds the third contest in the GOPs presidential nominating calendar. But DeSantis has had his eye on the influential early state.

Last year, DeSantis made a quiet visit to the state when he attended a private fundraiser dinner on the Isle of Palms.

While the fundraiser was squarely about DeSantis' 2022 gubernatorial race, The Post and Courier learned that the conversation did shift at one point to 2024.
Dr. Annie Andrews, the South Carolina Democrat who lost to Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace in November, is launching a national group aimed at resetting the political conversation in Washington by prioritizing issues that acutely affect children.

She's calling it "Their Future. Our Vote."

The effort includes an affiliated political action committee that aims to raise between $5 million and $10 million.

The PAC, called Their Future, will focus on electing federal candidates who will advocate for measures that fight climate change, champion quality education, push what she considers sensible gun legislation, strengthen democracy, and combat child hunger and poverty.

The announcement was first reported by Roll Call.

Andrews, a pediatrician and mother of three, said the idea took root five months ago on the night she lost her race in South Carolina's 1st Congressional District.

"After losing, I knew my fight wasn't over. I knew that I needed to find an alternative path to continue this fight to build a brighter future for our children," Andrews said in an interview with The Post and Courier.

"For me it was never about a specific aspiration to be a member of Congress," she added.

Andrews confirmed to The Post and Courier she won't run for Congress again next year.

In the group's launch video, Andrews opens by saying there are 73 million children in the United States.

"They don't all look alike or sound alike, but they all have a voice and they're not afraid to use it. But the one place America's kids don't have a voice is here  and it shows," Andrews says as a group of children shout and run on a playground before the moment fades to the towering U.S. Capitol building.

Andrews said she envisions the PAC getting involved in "at least a handful" of U.S. House races in 2024, with plans to wade into more contests in the future as the organization grows.

Andrews said the PAC is aiming to raise at least $5 million, but she's hoping to double that.

"Our goal is relatively modest, and we think we could raise quite a bit more given everything that's going on in the national news right now. I think people can see this is an urgent moment for our nation's children," Andrews said, citing the proliferation of school shootings as one example.

Andrews also said she plans to transfer the remaining $43,000 cash in her 2022 congressional account to this new effort. Though Andrews lost her U.S. House race, she raised more than $2 million overall.

Renee Harvey, who worked as finance director on Andrews' 2022 congressional campaign, will join as the group's executive director.

In addition to the PAC's involvement in political contests, the organization plans to engage in advocacy education, and community outreach efforts to raise awareness about the issues affecting children and to promote policies that support their well-being.

Already the group has received the early support of Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action, and gun violence prevention advocate Fred Guttenberg. Other supporters include U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., and Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison, a fellow South Carolinian.

Andrews said the group is nonpartisan, but the PAC will not back candidates who do not support stronger gun-safety laws  a stance that often splits down political lines.

"It should not matter who controls the House or who controls the Senate. We should always expect to have a kids-first majority in Congress," Andrews said. "What I hope that this organization can do is make it politically beneficial for members on both sides of the aisle to champion children's issues."

Andrews received more than 115,000 votes and lost to Mace, R-Isle of Palms, by about 14 points in November. Andrews said she will use lessons learned from that race to lift Their Future PAC off the ground.

To do this work, Andrews confirmed her plans to resign from her current position at the Medical University of South Carolina, but she will continue to work in health care on a part-time basis.

On July 1, Andrews will become a clinical professor of pediatrics at George Washington University and will be a pediatric hospitalist at Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C. She will continue to live in Mount Pleasant.
PR-Inside.com: 2023-04-17 15:00:39

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 357 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

American Medical ID helps shine a light on Hemophilia, and why it's important to have a medical ID with this condition.HOUSTON, TX / ACCESSWIRE / April 17, 2023 / American Medical ID was founded in 1994 with the mission to provide personalized, custom-engraved medical ID jewelry that saves people's lives. For over 28 years, American Medical ID has partnered with multiple hemophilia organizations to help raise awareness.What exactly is hemophilia? It is a condition that prevents a person's blood from clotting properly. About 400,000 people around the world have hemophilia. The disorder is more common in males and affects about 1 in every 5,000 men.World Hemophilia Day is an opportunity to come together to raise awareness, show support and help fight the condition.To help save lives, American Medical ID has built partnerships with Hemophilia Chapters nationwide. Through this ongoing initiative, they have provided over 7,000 medical IDs to those with hemophilia. Since it is a condition that is not recognizable from the outside, wearing a medical ID helps provide first responders critical information in the case of an emergency."We encourage the daily wear of American Medical ID jewelry, and our patients are grateful for this support to ensure that their bleeding disorder is not forgotten in times of crisis." - Meredith Getz, Social Worker with the Hemophilia Treatment Center of Central PASometimes, people are not sure what to engrave on their medical id, American Medical ID put a few tips together that could help. We recommend engraving a name, the specific bleeding disorder, current medications, allergies and an emergency contact phone number.In some situations, all this information is not able to fit on a medical ID. American Medical ID offers My Interactive Health Record ( MyIHR.com) to store all necessary medical information in one place. A unique QR code is included with every purchase of MyIHR and grants access to personal medical records upon scanning.For more information on why medical ids are important for bleeding disorders, visit https://www.americanmedical-id.com/bleeding-disorders To order a medical ID, visit https://www.americanmedical-id.com Contact Information:Alexa ShanarEmail Marketing and Campaign Manageralexas@ identifyyourself.com SOURCE: American Medical ID
PR-Inside.com: 2023-04-17 09:05:07

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 614 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 17, 2023 / BioNxt Solutions Inc. ("BioNxt" or the "Company") (CSE:BNXT)(OTCQB:BNXTF)(FSE:BXT) is pleased to announce that it has purchased state-of-the-art coating and cutting equipment to build out its commercial manufacturing capacity at its Vektor Pharma TF GmbH ("Vektor") facility in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. The equipment is CE certified and capable of manufacturing the Company's oral dissolvable ("ODF") and transdermal ("TDS") drug formulation products in addition to its ODF biosensor products. This purchase provides for the further development and commercialization of key products in the BioNxt pipeline as well as the capability for strategic contract research and development opportunities.The German-designed and manufactured coating machine is fully automated with sensor-controlled coating thickness measurement capability. The cutting machine is also German- designed and manufactured and includes fully automated and camera-controlled laser cutting and pick and place robot automation. Both machines are CE certified under European health, safety, and environmental protection standards."Building out BioNxt's commercial manufacturing is a priority for 2023. With BioNxt products advancing toward commercialization and with potential contract development and manufacturing opportunities available, the Company is committed to achieving in-house commercial capability on an expedited basis," said Hugh Rogers, BioNxt CEO & Director. "We are planning a strategic and versatile production line for pivotal trial materials and final commercial products, both transdermal and oral dissolvable." BioNxt's wholly owned subsidiary, Vektor, is a German narcotics manufacturer, developer, and researcher located in the district of Biberach, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. For over a decade, the company and its team have been leaders in the design, testing and manufacture of innovative, non-invasive drug delivery systems, particularly transdermal patches and sub-lingual strips for the delivery of active pharmaceutical ingredients for the treatment of pain and neurological conditions. According to Precedence Research, the global pharmaceutical drug delivery market size was valued at USD 1,525 billion in 2022 and expected to surpass approximately USD 2,047 billion by 2030.About BioNxt Solutions Inc.BioNxt Solutions Inc. is a bioscience accelerator focused on next-generation drug formulations and delivery systems, diagnostic screening tests, and new active pharmaceutical production and evaluation, including: precision transdermal and oral dissolvable drug formulations; rapid, low-cost infectious disease and oral health screening tests; and standardization and clinical evaluation of emerging active pharmaceutical ingredients for neurological applications. The Company has research and development operations in North America and Europe, with an operational focus in Germany, and is currently focused on regulatory approval and commercialization of medical products for European markets.BioNxt Solutions Inc.Hugh RogersCEO and DirectorEmail: info@ bionxt.com Phone: +1 780-818-6422Cautionary Statement Regarding "Forward-Looking" InformationSome of the statements contained in this news release are forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of words such as "expects", "intends", "is expected", "potential", "suggests" or variations of such words or phrases, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements and information are not historical facts and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties beyond the Company's control. Actual results and developments are likely to differ, and may differ materially, from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this news release. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statements, except as may be required by law.SOURCE: BioNxt Solutions Inc.
"Today marks a milestone." Test runs of trains on a railway line constructed in Bangladesh under the Belt and Road Initiative have brought joy and hope to local residents.

Click here to watch the video.
PR-Inside.com: 2023-04-17 15:01:02

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 828 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 17, 2023 / CanXGold Mining corp (TSXV:CXG)(OTC PINK:GDMRF)(FRANKFURT:3G8B), reports that ("Golden Dawn Mining Inc." or the "Company") its senior secured creditor, RIVI Opportunity Fund LP ("RIVI") has commenced a court action to enforce its debt claims against the Company (the "RIVI Credit"), including seeking the appointment of a receiver or receiver-manager of all of the Company's assets, undertakings and properties (the "Enforcement Action").Prior to November 2022, the company had been carrying on its business in reliance on certain debt restructuring amendments to the terms of the RIVI Credit agreed to in discussions and correspondence between the parties' respective principals over a period of months leading up to December 2021 (the "Settlement Terms"). From December 2021 to November 2022, the Company abided by the Settlement Terms, including making: (i) debt servicing payments to RIVI in excess of CAD$1.0 million; and (ii) expenditures in excess of CAD$1.0 million to maintain its properties, permits and other assets.Despite the Company's compliance with the Settlement Terms, RIVI has breached its agreements with Company by: (iii) failing to table drafts of formal written agreements to document Settlement Terms for consideration by the Company; and (iv) outright disclaiming material provisions of the Settlement Terms upon which, to RIVI's benefit, the Company had relied to inform its conduct for almost a year. Having exhausted all reasonable efforts to resolve the impasse, on November 2, 2022, the Company announced that it was suspending any further expenditures on the maintenance of its properties, permits and related assets until RIVI agreed to honour its commitments.The Company is disappointed that, after remaining silent for the past five months, rather than return to the table to settle definitive agreements consistent with the Settlement Terms, RIVI has chosen to renege on its agreements and commence the Enforcement Action. In response, the Company is preparing one last settlement proposal for presentation to RIVI in the coming days. If RIVI rejects the Company's final proposal and insists on continuing its Enforcement Action, the Company intends to mount a vigorous legal defence to hold RIVI to its agreements and protect the interests of its shareholders.On behalf of the Board of GOLDEN DAWN MINERALS INC.Per: "Christopher R. Anderson"Christopher R. AndersonChief Executive OfficerFor further information, please contact:Golden Dawn Minerals Inc. - Corporate Communications: Tel: (604) 221-8936Forward-Looking Statement Cautions: This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, including statements regarding the Enforcement Action and the Settlement Terms (as defined above), including the RIVI Credit, the Settlement Terms, and the Company's contemplated responses to the Enforcement Action. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "aims," "potential," "goal," "objective," "prospective," and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "can," "could" or "should" occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions that forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made, and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include the possibility that the Company will not be able to raise sufficient financing to continue to fund its ongoing and difficult negotiations with RIVI, to sustain a prolonged court action to defend its interests, or meet its remaining obligations under the terms of the RIVI Credit. The reader is urged to refer to the Company's reports, publicly available through the Canadian Securities Administrators' System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com for additional information regarding such risk factors and their potential effects.THIS PRESS RELEASE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL, OR THE SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY, NOR SHALL THERE BE ANY SALE OF SECURITIES OF THE COMPANY IN ANY JURISDICTION IN WHICH SUCH OFFER, SOLICITATION OR SALE WOULD BE UNLAWFUL PRIOR TO REGISTRATION OR QUALIFICATION UNDER THE SECURITIES LAWS OF ANY SUCH JURISDICTION.SOURCE: CanXGold Mining Corp
PR-Inside.com: 2023-04-17 15:02:32

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 471 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

Revolutionizing the business consulting industry with advanced AI algorithms, personalized recommendations, and the expertise of seasoned business consultants.VENICE, ITALY / ACCESSWIRE / April 17, 2023 / Enkronos OU, an Estonian leading provider of digital solutions, is excited to announce the launch of AInova ( https://www.ainova.io) , a state-of-the-art AI-enhanced business consulting web application. AInova is specifically designed to empower business consultants, innovation departments, business development teams, founders, and owners in optimizing and transforming their business models.AInovaAInova - AI-Enhanced Business ConsultingDeveloped by Enkronos OU, the AInova web application leverages powerful AI-driven insights, tailored recommendations, and the invaluable contribution of a pool of experienced business consultants who have shared their expertise in the field of consultancy to enrich the machine learning algorithms essential for AInova's development. By combining the knowledge of industry professionals with cutting-edge AI technology, AInova offers a unique approach to tackling traditional business challenges, increasing turnover, and ensuring company profitability.AInova operates by collecting data through a comprehensive set of questions aimed at providing a complete scenario of the user's business situation. The AI algorithms then process the collected data, integrating the wisdom of the collaborating business consultants to identify areas for improvement and suggest targeted actions for business model transformation, product or service enhancement, and other vital changes. AInova also integrates with third-party tools for additional data analysis and insights, delivering a holistic solution for businesses seeking a competitive edge.The Venetian engineer and entrepreneur Gianluca Busato, CEO of Enkronos OU, says, "We are thrilled to introduce our AI-enhanced business consulting web application to the market. With AInova, we are bridging the gap between advanced technology and traditional consulting practices. Our platform empowers businesses to make data-driven decisions and effectively adapt to the ever-changing market landscape, thanks to the invaluable expertise of our collaborating business consultants." AInova is now available for a selected set of customers and has opened its waiting list for early adopters. The first public release of the platform will be available by the end of May 2023. To join the waiting list and learn more about AInova, visit https://www.ainova.io About Enkronos OUEnkronos OU is an Estonian Company specialized in providing digital solutions, including advertising, marketing, promotions, gamification, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and the Internet of Things. For more information, please visit https://www.enkronos.com About AInovaAInova is a pioneering platform for AI-enhanced business consulting solutions, offering a powerful web application designed to help businesses improve their operations, identify new opportunities, and drive sustainable growth. With an expert team of data scientists, AI specialists, and business consultants, AInova is revolutionizing the business consulting industry by providing advanced AI-driven insights and personalized recommendations for businesses worldwide. For more information, please visit https://www.ainova.io Contact Information:Gianluca BusatoCEO, Enkronos OU+1 (347) 354-1564SOURCE: Enkronos OU
PR-Inside.com: 2023-04-17 18:36:11

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 318 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

SAN DIEGO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / April 17, 2023 / Genome Insight, a leading precision medicine and genomics company, announced that their innovative whole genome sequencing (WGS) approach will be featured in six poster presentations at the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2023 in Orlando, FL. These posters cover a range of topics, including a study of integrative biomarker analysis of regorafenib plus nivolumab (RegoNivo) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), as well as a comparison between whole-genome sequencing-based and targeted panel sequencing approaches to precision oncology.One notable presentation highlights that Genome Insight's WGS approach provides a more thorough analysis of genetic mutations in breast cancers with homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) than traditional BRCA gene testing. WGS can accurately classify HR status and identify which patients would benefit from polymerase enzymes (PARP) inhibitor treatment, making it a fast and effective screening tool."We are thrilled to present our WGS approach at the AACR annual meeting, which demonstrates the potential of our innovative approach to impact clinical decision-making for patients with cancer." - Dr. Young Seok Ju, CEO of Genome InsightFor more information about Genome Insight's WGS approach and other services, visit www.genomeinsight.net About Genome InsightGenome Insight is a precision medicine whole genome platform company with the goal to accelerate the use of whole genome sequencing (WGS) for accurate diagnosis and personalized treatment for cancer and rare diseases. Genome Insight's proprietary platform is an automated WGS pipeline coupled with a bioinformatics-powered digital solution that rapidly generates meaningful medical insights, making it possible to use WGS in real-life clinical settings. Furthermore, this platform is applied in the research setting to advance novel therapeutic strategies in cancer and rare diseases. The company's headquarters is in San Diego (US) with offices in Korea (Seoul and Daejeon) and Hong Kong. To learn more, please visit www.genomeinsight.net Contact InformationSteven EsparzaChief Executive Officerinfo@ camppublicrelations.com 6193631368SOURCE: Genome Insight
PR-Inside.com: 2023-04-17 02:14:10

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 803 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

MedeAnalytics uses augmented analytics capabilities built natively into its solutions to support powerful client outcomes; Presbyterian Healthcare Services and Oregon Health and Science University to present their results at HIMSS23RICHARDSON, TX / ACCESSWIRE / April 16, 2023 / MedeAnalytics, a healthcare analytics software-as-a-service (Saas) leader enabling financial, clinical and operational analytics for healthcare providers, payers and payviders, today announced that two leading healthcare organizations are using its analytics solutions to greatly improve revenue cycle and operational performance with measurable value.At the 2023 HIMSS Global Conference and Exhibition in Chicago, Illinois, MedeAnalytics will be showcasing its full suite of innovative solutions, including its unprecedented flexibility to accelerate digital transformation using its Data Fabric, a unified analytics framework purpose-built for healthcare to deliver rapid time-to-value. In addition to stopping by the MedeAnalytics booth, attendees can attend three lightning sessions delivered by MedeAnalytics clients on the Innovation Hub Stage and Lightning Session Stage, including:Presbyterian Healthcare ServicesTuesday, April 18 at 10:15 a.m. (Innovation Hub Stage) and Wednesday, April 19 at 1:45 p.m. (Lightning Session Stage)Founded in New Mexico in 1908, Presbyterian Healthcare Services (PHS) is a not-for-profit integrated healthcare system of nine hospitals, a statewide health plan and a multi-specialty medical group. PHS had a strategic need to differentiate their offerings and aspired to leverage analytics as a competitive differentiator. They needed a complementary solution to their Epic EHR for deeper granularity and insights.With the MedeAnalytics Suite of RCM Analytics solutions, PHS reduced their total cost to collect by $450,000 and reduced the time spent consolidating data by 75%, resulting in $272,000 in savings alone. They also reduced their denials by $806,000."RCM Analytics from MedeAnalytics has helped transform our revenue cycle management (RCM)," said Soyal Momin, SVP, Chief Analytics Officer at PHS. "Our executives and analysts now have greater visibility into our RCM processes, metrics and outcomes, which has delivered significant value, ROI, and award-winning performance improvement." "We've been awarded the HFMA MAP award seven times. Our consistent success is based on improved performance year-over-year," added Laura Calkins, VP, Revenue Cycle at PHS. "Much of this is driven by the self-service, real-time insights available to all members of the revenue cycle through the MedeAnalytics RCM Analytics solutions. Putting the data in the hands of the people doing the work has been critical to driving improvements every year." Hear from Soyal Momin, SVP, Chief Analytics Officer; Jay Olive, Director, Business Intelligence; and Laura Calkins, VP, Revenue Cycle at Presbyterian Healthcare Services on both Tuesday and Wednesday.Oregon Health and Science University - Tuesday, April 18 at 3:45 p.m. (Lightning Session Stage)Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), the only academic medical center in Oregon, deployed MedeAnalytics to address their low CMI and CC/MCC capture rates plus low physician engagement. Employing MedeAnalytics' Revenue Integrity solution with CDI, OHSU increased Case Mix Index (CMI) by 21% (2016-20), improved CC/MCC capture rates by over 5%, and increased average rate of return (ARR) per CDI specialist per month by 159%."Actionable analytics from MedeAnalytics has been invaluable for our CDI program. We have seen measurable improvements in our CMI and CC/MCC capture rates, which have significantly augmented revenue capture," said Jennifer Hill, BSN, JD Assistant Director, Clinical Documentation, Inpatient Coding and HCC teams at OHSU.Hear from Jennifer Hill, BSN, JD Assistant Director, on Tuesday from the Lightning Session Stage for more on empowering CDI teams with analytics to secure financial and clinical improvements."MedeAnalytics is committed to delivering innovative solutions to support our healthcare payer, provider and payvider clients, and we're thrilled to have three great presentations showcasing their remarkable outcomes," said Steve Grieco, CEO of MedeAnalytics. "The next-level capabilities we will be showcasing at the HIMSS23 Conference are a testament to our more than two decades of research and development, all aligned with our mission to deliver measurable value to our customers. We have unrivaled technology for data orchestration and interoperability, plus solutions with embedded augmented analytics capabilities, providing granular analytics and reporting not offered by EHRs and other systems." MedeAnalytics will be showcasing its solutions at the upcoming 2023 HIMSS Global Conference & Exhibition in Chicago, Illinois. Attendees can visit MedeAnalytics at Booth #6011 or online at https://medeanalytics.com/landing/himss23 # # #About MedeAnalyticsMedeAnalytics is a leader in healthcare analytics, providing innovative SaaS solutions that enable measurable impact for healthcare payers and providers. With the most advanced data orchestration in healthcare, payers and providers count on us to deliver actionable insights that improve financial, operational and clinical outcomes. To date, we've helped uncover millions of dollars in savings annually. To learn more, visit www.medeanalytics.com , Twitter, LinkedIn, and The Impact Initiative: The MedeAnalytics Blog.Media Contact:Caryn TomerSenior Director, Marketing Communications for MedeAnalytics618.579.9717Contact InformationCaryn TomerSr. Director, Marketing Communicationsmarketing@ medeanalytics.com 314-669-1784SOURCE: MedeAnalytics
PR-Inside.com: 2023-04-17 10:00:14

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 508 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

TEA Group will use PlanetWatch's data to add more value to their servicesSAINT-GENIS-POUILLY, FRANCE / ACCESSWIRE / April 17, 2023 / PlanetWatch, a CERN spin-off that is building the first global hyperlocal air quality monitoring network, closed a deal to sell data from 180 devices deployed across Italy to TEA Group, a spin-off of the Italian National Research Council that provides air quality monitoring services and manufactures advanced sensors.TEA has over 30 years of experience in the air quality monitoring business. Its clients include the cities of Arezzo, Prato, and the Livorno Port Authority.The Florence-based company will now integrate data from PlanetWatch's hyperlocal air quality network into their business offers to add more value to their clients. Alessandro Zaldei, TEA's Chief Scientific Officer, explains the rationale: "When analyzing pollution patterns in a city, the need for data from adjacent territories often emerges, as air flows obviously do not correlate with municipal boundaries. In addition, pollution sources are sometimes located at the boundary between two municipalities. As mayors have no power to deploy sensors beyond their territory, we often lack critical data. Leveraging data from PlanetWatch's network across the country will be instrumental in filling this gap." According to Carolina Vagnoli, Researcher at Italian National Research Council's Institute for Bioeconomics, "PlanetWatch's innovative participatory model allows for a dense network of sensors that provide detailed information on the air quality of the territory, enabling the provision of services that until now were unthinkable with the few available monitoring stations of the official European monitoring network. To date, PlanetWatch's network has thousands of sensors whose detailed information allows, for the first time, the realization of hyperlocal studies of air quality at the scale of neighborhood, street, and even individual buildings." Claudio Parrinello, PlanetWatch's CEO, said: "We are proud to be chosen by TEA, a leading Italian air quality monitoring service provider. This partnership substantiates the business case for hyperlocal air quality data from PlanetWatch's network. Our scalable, incentivized, community-driven deployment strategy is generating tangible results." PlanetWatch is building the first hyperlocal air quality monitoring network across the globe by merging the power of communities with blockchain technology, advanced algorithms, and high-performance devices. This approach allows the collection of accurate, real-time, hyperlocal data that any organization can use for multiple purposes.Currently, PlanetWatch has over 20.000 indoor and outdoor air quality monitoring devices in its network. Some of the cities with high outdoor coverage include Bucharest, Madrid, Munich, London, Riga, and Bern. The CERN spin-off has also partnered with several universities.About PlanetWatchPlanetwatch is a French-based startup that's leveraging blockchain, advanced algorithms, and high-performance yet affordable air quality sensors, to deploy dense air quality monitoring networks. PlanetWatch's worldwide network powers advanced data products for governments and companies while building the first immutable air quality data ledger. An official CERN spin-off company, PlanetWatch is a member of the Crypto Sustainability Coalition fostered by the World Economic Forum.Contact Information:Joao Simoes de AbreuMarketing ManagerBeatriz GiestasCommunications ManagerSOURCE: PlanetWatch
PR-Inside.com: 2023-04-17 07:20:21

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 950 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

Relief Therapeutics Announces Positive 12-Month Stability Data for Inhaled and Intravenous Preparations of RLF-100  (Aviptadil Acetate)Relief to file a revised provisional patent application for RLF-100  based on the new stability resultsGENEVA, SWITZERLAND / ACCESSWIRE / April 17, 2023 / RELIEF THERAPEUTICS Holding SA (SIX:RLF)(OTCQB:RLFTF)(OTCQB:RLFTY) (Relief Therapeutics, or Relief), a biopharmaceutical company committed to delivering innovative treatment options with the potential for transformative outcomes to benefit those suffering from select specialty and rare diseases, today announced positive 12-month stability data for the liquid and lyophilized preparations of RLF-100  , intended for intravenous (IV) and inhaled administration. RLF-100  is the company's proprietary, investigational formulation of aviptadil acetate.The data from the stability study showed that both inhaled and IV RLF-100  demonstrated high purity levels at 12 months at all temperatures tested, including refrigerated and room temperature environments. The results are consistent with prior data observed at three- and six-month intervals. The stability testing study will continue to determine the maximum shelf life of RLF-100  .Based on the latest results, Relief Therapeutics intends to amend its previously filed provisional patent application for RLF-100  with the new findings. If granted, this patent could provide exclusivity for RLF-100  at least until 2042, without considering Hatch-Waxman extensions or other patent term adjustments. The Hatch-Waxman Act permits a patent extension term of up to five years as compensation for patent term lost during the FDA regulatory review process."The testing conducted to date has consistently shown that our novel, optimized composition of aviptadil acetate provides better stability results in both the liquid and lyophilized preparations. RLF-100  was shown to be shelf stable and active after one year at temperatures suitable for shipping and long-term storage. This is an important milestone toward commercialization to ensure that RLF-100  is safe and effective, no matter where in the world it is supplied." said Jack Weinstein, chief executive officer at Relief Therapeutics. "We believe this new, stable formulation has significant clinical and commercial value and our goal is to establish RLF-100  as the standard of care for the prevention and treatment of respiratory failure and its complications in both the acute and chronic applications." Stability testing of pharmaceutical products is mandatory for regulatory approvals. If a product fails to meet the standards prescribed by regulatory authorities, the product will not be granted approval for commercialization. Planning, execution and completion of studies in given timelines plays a major role in securing approval and ensuring a product reaches patients who need it.RLF-100  is under development for the potential treatment of acute and chronic lung diseases, including pulmonary sarcoidosis, infectious acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), checkpoint inhibitor-induced pneumonitis (CIP) and chronic berylliosis. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted RLF-100  Orphan Drug designation (ODD) to inhaled RLF-100  for the potential treatment of pulmonary sarcoidosis in August 2021.About Drug Stability RequirementsThe purpose of long-term and accelerated stability testing is to determine how long a drug product will maintain the properties and characteristics, such as purity, efficacy and structure, it possessed at the time of manufacture as well as the quality of a drug product over time while under the influence of environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity and light. Under long-term and accelerated stability storage conditions, the drug is evaluated by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to separate, identify and quantify each chemical component to a very high degree of resolution to assess if any changes occur in the chemical composition. Stability studies are conducted during all phases of drug development to satisfy the regulatory requirements for clinical trials. Data from these studies is then used to establish recommended storage conditions, retest intervals and shelf life. Demonstrating long-term stability of a drug to be used in human clinical testing is essential to prove the potency and efficacy of the drug is not affected during prolonged shelf life. Long-term stability is completed over three years, with reporting at 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24 and 36 months. Accelerated stability is completed over six months, with reporting at 0, 3 and 6 months. [1] , [2]About RLF-100  (aviptadil acetate)Aviptadil acetate is a synthetic form of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) comprising 28 amino acids, which was first discovered in 1970. Although initially identified in the intestinal tract, human VIP is now known to be produced throughout the body and primarily concentrated in the lungs. VIP has shown a multimodal mechanism of action: decrease of inflammatory cytokines release leading to prevention of cytokine storm syndrome and viral replication, immunomodulating effect, vasodilating and bronchodilating effects and prevention of surfactant depletion. Seventy percent of VIP in the body is bound to a less common type of cell in the lung, the alveolar epithelial type II (AT2) cell, which is critical to the absorption of oxygen into the body. Aviptadil acetate has a 20-year history of safe use in humans in multiple human trials for sarcoidosis, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, asthma, pulmonary arterial hypertension and sepsis-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome. For example, a combination of aviptadil with phentolamine is approved for the treatment of erectile dysfunction by intra-cavernous injections in countries outside the U.S. In early 2022, an unrelated pharmaceutical company in India received emergency use approval for its own formulation of aviptadil for the treatment of COVID-19 from the Drugs Controller General of India. While their approval does not affect the application for approval of our formulation in other countries, it substantiates our original hypothesis that RLF-100 is a potentially viable treatment for COVID-19-related ARDS.About Relief TherapeuticsRelief Therapeutics is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to advancing treatment paradigms and delivering improvements in efficacy, safety and convenience to benefit the lives of patients living with select specialty and rare diseases and disorders. Relief Therapeutics' portfolio offers a balanced mix of marketed, revenue-generating products, our proprietary, globally
PR-Inside.com: 2023-04-18 00:01:35

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 543 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / April 17, 2023 / WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, continues to investigate potential securities claims on behalf of shareholders of Trinseo PLC (NYSE:TSE) resulting from allegations that Trinseo may have issued materially misleading business information to the investing public.SO WHAT: If you purchased Trinseo securities you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement. The Rosen Law Firm is preparing a class action seeking recovery of investor losses.WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the prospective class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=13711 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email pkim@ rosenlegal.com or cases@ rosenlegal.com for information on the class action.WHAT IS THIS ABOUT: On March 27, 2023, The Inquirer published an article entitled "Bristol plant that spilled chemicals into Philly's water supply had other mishaps over the last decade." The article reported "a chemical plant in Bristol that authorities said caused a toxic spill, threatening Philadelphia's drinking water, has a long history of mishaps - including at least four recent contamination incidents." In addition, the article stated "over the past decade, the U.S. Coast Guard twice before detected releases of acrylates [commonly used to produce glass-like acrylics] from the Bristol facility into the Delaware. The EPA had separately flagged two other acrylate releases." The article cites, "David Salas-de la Cruz, a Rutgers University associate professor of chemistry, worked at the Bristol plant during its Rohm and Haas days. He said the number of incidents over the past decade was unusual." On this news, the price of Trinseo's stock fell $1.09, or 5.26%, to close at $19.62 per share on March 27, 2023.WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources, or any meaningful peer recognition. Many of these firms do not actually litigate securities class actions. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs' Bar. Many of the firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers.Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm , on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/ Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.---Contact Information:Laurence Rosen, Esq.Phillip Kim, Esq.The Rosen Law Firm, P.A.275 Madison Avenue, 40th FloorNew York, NY 10016Tel: (212) 686-1060Toll Free: (866) 767-3653Fax: (212) 202-3827lrosen@ rosenlegal.com pkim@ rosenlegal.com cases@ rosenlegal.com SOURCE: Rosen Law Firm, P.A.
PR-Inside.com: 2023-04-17 23:24:46

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 952 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 17, 2023 / Silver X Mining Corp. (TSXV:AGX) (OTCQB:AGXPF) (F:AGX) ("Silver X" or the "Company") announces that it has entered into an asset purchase agreement (the "Agreement") to acquire the Revenue-Virginius Mine ("RV Mine") and certain related assets (collectively with the RV Mine, the "Assets") located in the San Juan Mountains near Ouray, Colorado from Alliance Management LLC (the "Receiver"), as receiver under a court supervised receivership in Ouray County, Colorado (the "Acquisition"). The Acquisition remains subject to several closing conditions, including, without limitation, the approval of the District Court, Ouray County, State of Colorado (the "District Court").Highlights of the AcquisitionAcquisition of a silver project in the United States, which was previously built to a pre-production stage and was permitted for production prior to entering into receivership.Low-cost acquisition with infrastructure in place and significant investment by previous owners. The Acquisition provides Silver X with an opportunity to advance the project through the pre-production stages with minimum capital deployment.Capitalizes on proven expertise and synergies with Silver X's team in Peru, where management has experience applying a modern lens to exploration and mechanizing narrow vein structures."The Revenue-Virginius Mine complements Silver X's growth strategy by adding an advanced-stage exploration project to our pipeline at an attractive price," stated Jose Garcia, President and CEO of Silver X. "We believe that the project will benefit from our distinct approach to exploration aimed at generating value by reactivating past producing districts with good potential. While we remain focused on our core operations in Peru, our plan is to execute an exploration program over the next 12-18 months to confirm and strengthen the data and our understanding of the potential resource in advance of making a decision on how to best advance the project." Mr. Garcia continued: "This acquisition presented us with a low-cost opportunity to acquire a project that has already benefitted from considerable investment. With good planning and minimal expenditures, we hope to be able to add value through exploration while diversifying and gaining exposure to the US, a stable, low-risk mining jurisdiction." Acquisition SummarySubject to the approval of the District Court, the Assets will be acquired for aggregate consideration of US$4,500,000 payable as follows:US$200,000 on signing of the Agreement;US$1,000,000 on closing of the Acquisition;US$2,000,000 upon the occurrence of (i) the earlier to occur of the transfer or re-issue of key permits or commencement of exploration drilling, and (ii) negotiation of access arrangements with Ouray County; andUS$1,300,000 upon the conditions for the immediately preceding payment having been met and the occurrence of the earlier of the completion of a current technical report, or September 30, 2024.At Silver X's election on or before May 24, 2023, Silver X has the right to elect to pay the purchase price in full on or before May 31, 2023, and, if so elected, the purchase price will be reduced by US$1 million to US$3.5 million.The Agreement was signed on April 14, 2023. The Acquisition remains subject to a number of conditions, including receipt of the confirmation of the District Court, completion by Silver X of a financing of not less than US$5 million, receipt of the consent to the assignment to certain material contracts and certain other standard closing conditions. Until the payments set out above have been made, the Assets will be subject to a security interest in favour of the Receiver.The Acquisition is expected to close during the second quarter of 2023 subject to customary closing conditions including receipt of all required regulatory approvals, including, without limitation the TSX Venture Exchange and the approval of the District Court.The Revenue-Virginius Mine OverviewThe RV Mine is a past-producing polymetallic mine comprised of an epithermal vein system with numerous veins in Tertiary volcanics above the polymetallic replacement deposits hosted in the basal Telluride Conglomerate, including main vein structures such as Virginius, Terrible, Yellow Rose, Montana, Atlas/Cumberland or The Wheel of Fortune. All are quartz-carbonate veins containing silver (Ag), gold (Au), copper (Cu), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) minerals hosted primarily in the San Juan volcanic rocks. Veins range from several inches up to 10 feet in width and have been mined historically and drilled over a vertical extent of over 3,000 feet. The Virginius Vein has been mapped at surface by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) over a distance of approximately 11,700 feet, the Terrible Vein has been traced for over 4,000 feet and the Yellow Rose up to 16,000 feet extending off the current property limits. The northern portion of the property includes the northern extensions of the famous Smuggler-Union vein and several precious metal breccias as well as the main RV Mine vein system.The RV Mine has been mined historically at various intervals since the late 1800s and has seen significant investment in drilling, development and infrastructure. Most recently owned and operated by Aurcana Silver Corporation ("Aurcana") from 2019 to 2022, production recommenced in 2021 and a feasibility study was completed in 2022. Operations were halted following financial hardships faced by Aurcana and the RV Mine was placed into receivership in March 2022. Much of the project infrastructure is currently in place and had been maintained or upgraded by Aurcana.A historical estimate prepared in 2021 by SRK Consulting (U.S.), inc. is a report titled "NI 43-101 Technical Report, Feasibility Study, Revenue - Virginius Mine" is presented in the following table:Table 1: Mineral Resource Estimate as of December 31, 2021 - SRK Consulting (U.S.), Inc.Tons(kst)Ag(oz/t)Au(oz/t)Pb(%)Zn(%)Cu(%)Au(koz)Ag(koz)Pb(klbs)Zn(klbs)Cu(klbs)Measured30623.80.065.382.070.30207,27231,58612,4301,608Indicated70718.70.053.811.980.203413,23453,94728,2082,801M&I1,01320.50.054.231.980.235320,50685,53440,6384,409Inferred320
PR-Inside.com: 2023-04-17 21:35:41

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 530 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / April 17, 2023 / Sostravel.com (Exchange:SOSAF) Italian digital travel platform for reservations, itineraries, information on flights and airports, car rental, travel tech experiences and services including the Lost Luggage Concierge and Dr Travel, through the sostravel and flio apps as well as the www.sostravel.com and www.amareitalia.com platforms, today announced that it will be presenting at the Planet MicroCap Showcase: VEGAS 2023 on Wednesday, April 26, 2023 at 4:30 PM (Local Time -PST). Edoardo Zarghetta, IR Advisor will be hosting the presentation and answering questions at the conclusion.To access the live presentation, please use the following information:Planet MicroCap Showcase: VEGAS 2023Date: Wednesday, April 26, 2023Time: 7:30 PM Eastern Time (4:30 PM Pacific Time)Webcast: [ https://www.webcaster4.com/Webcast/Page/2963/48063] THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF SOSTRAVEL.COM S.P.A. APPROVES THE DRAFT FINANCIAL STATEMENTS ON DECEMBER 31, 2022, AND COMMUNICATES THE GROSS BOOKING VALUE ON MARCH 27, 2023 INCREASE BY 80% ON 2022REVENUES: 18.487 million Dollars (vs 694 thousand Dollars as of 12/31/2021) in clear growth (+50%) considering the 2021 pro forma revenues equal to 12.325 million DollarsPositive EBITDA: 25 thousand Dollars (vs -381 thousand Dollars as of 31/12/2021)Net result: -665 thousand Dollars (vs -1.494 million Dollars as of 31/12/2021)Adjusted NFP (positive): -31 thousand DollarsGross Booking Value as of 27 March 2023 is equal to 5.97 million Dollars (an increase of 80% compared to the same period of 2022)If you would like to book 1x1 investor meetings with Sostravel.com and to attend the Planet MicroCap Showcase: VEGAS 2023, please make sure you are registered here: https://planetmicrocapshowcase.com/signup 1x1 meetings will be scheduled and conducted in person at the conference venue in LAS VEGAS.The Planet MicroCap Showcase: VEGAS 2023 website is available here: https://planetmicrocapshowcase.com/ If you can't make the live presentation, all company presentations "webcasts" will be available directly on the conference event platform on this link under the tab "Agenda": https://planetmicrocapshowcase.com/agenda News Compliments of AccesswireAbout Sostravel.com Sostravel.com S.p.A. is a digital travel company trading in Milan (BIT:SOS) and New (SOSAF), operating the sostravel and flio apps, and www.sostravel.com www.amareitalia.com platforms.A digital tour operator and travel-tech company, it develops proprietary digital travel solutions, such as the Lost Luggage Concierge for luggage protection and recovery, and Dr. Travel, a telehealth service designed for travelers.Over 1 million users worldwide used Sostravel.com as a digital travel companion, to find deals on their trips and get information to make their journeys more enjoyable. Sostravel.com offers investors a unique opportunity to gain exposure to the growth of global travel and digital travel services, both sectors with a high CAGR.About Planet MicroCapPlanet MicroCap is a global multimedia financial news, publishing and events company focused on news dissemination, providing information, data and analytics for the MicroCap investing community. We have cultivated an active and engaged audience of folks that are interested in learning about and to stay ahead of the curve in the MicroCap space.If you would like to attend the Planet MicroCap Showcase, please register here: https://planetmicrocapshowcase.com/signup Contact:Name: Edoardo ZarghettaPhone: 786-600-1227Address: Via Marsala 34/A, Gallarate (VA), ItalyEmail: edoardo.zarghetta@sostravel.com SOURCE: Sostravel via SNN Network
PR-Inside.com: 2023-04-17 21:00:47

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 502 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / April 17, 2023 / Hagens Berman urges Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPR) investors who suffered substantial losses submit your losses now.Visit: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/SPR Contact An Attorney Now: SPR@ hbsslaw.com 844-916-0895Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. (SPR) Investigation:The investigation focuses on Spirit AeroSystems' past statements concerning its operational performance, particularly with respect to supplying its largest customer (Boeing, which accounts for 60% of Spirit's revenues), and whether the company's financial statements complied with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.On Apr. 10, 2023, the financial press reported that Spirit's largest customer, Boeing, intends to restore production of its bestselling 737 MAX jet to its 2019 rate of 52 a month by Jan. 2025.Then, on Apr. 13, 2023, Reuters reported that Boeing "has halted deliveries of some 737 MAXs as it grapples with a new supplier quality problem by Spirit AeroSystems that could stretch back to 2019."Reuters further reported that "[t]he issue will likely affect a significant' number of undelivered 737 MAX airplanes both in production and in storage, and could result in lowered 737 MAX deliveries in the near term" and "[t]he problem, which affects a portion of the 737 MAX family [] involves the installation of two fittings that join the aft fuselage made by Spirit to the vertical tail, which were not attached correctly before it was sent to Boeing." SeekingAlpha later quoted a Bernstein analyst: (1) "For Spirit this situation is a more serious disappointment;'" and (2) "we expect Spirit will incur a charge (likely in 2Q23) to both implement a fix and conduct rework on existing inventory[.]'"This news drove the price of Spirit shares crashing lower on Apr. 14, 2023."We're focused on investors' losses, how long Spirit knew about the problem before it notified Boeing, and whether the company may have recognized unearned revenues or under accrued for customer claims related to product quality," said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the investigation.If you invested in Spirit and have substantial losses, or have knowledge that may assist the firm's investigation, click here to discuss your legal rights with Hagens Berman.Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding Spirit should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 844-916-0895 or email SPR@ hbsslaw.com # # #About Hagens BermanHagens Berman is a global plaintiffs' rights complex litigation law firm focusing on corporate accountability through class-action law. The firm is home to a robust securities litigation practice and represents investors as well as whistleblowers, workers, consumers and others in cases achieving real results for those harmed by corporate negligence and fraud. More about the firm and its successes can be found at hbsslaw.com . Follow the firm for updates and news at @ClassActionLaw.Contact:Reed Kathrein, 844-916-0895SOURCE: Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP
Delegates on a tour of Trang An scenic complex (Photo: HNMO)

In Hoa Lu ancient capital, the delegation visited the temple of King Dinh Tien Hoang and the temple of King Le Dai Hanh, listened to historical stories of the state capital Dai Co Viet, and offered incense to commemorate the kings.

They also visited Trang An landscape complex, an attractive destination in the World Cultural and Natural Heritage Complex. This scenic spot is a place to preserve and contain many wetland ecosystems, forests on limestone mountains, archaeological sites and historical and cultural relics.

Ms Virgine Rouquette, a delegate from Paris, France, shared her feeling that for those who come to Vietnam for the first time, experiencing the Trang An landscape complex is a great opportunity to admire the magic harmony and peace of nature. Besides the success of the 12th Vietnam-France decentralised cooperation conference, the sideline programs on culture and tourism have left us with many good impressions," she said.

At the reception for the delegation, Chairman of Ninh Binh Provincial People's Committee Pham Quang Ngoc affirmed that the visit and survey of the delegation is a valuable opportunity for Ninh Binh province to introduce cultural and historical values, as well as the beauty and potential of the land and people of Ninh Binh to the Vietnamese and French delegates.

He also said that he hoped the good results of this field trip would contribute to the overall success of the 12th Vietnam-France decentralised cooperation conference, thereby further strengthening the cooperative and friendly relationship between Vietnam and France, between localities of the two countries, and Ninh Binh province with other provinces and cities across the country.

Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Nguyen Manh Quyen emphasizes the impact of the field trip in the series of activities of the 12th Vietnam-France decentralised cooperation conference. (Photo: HNMO)

Also at the reception, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Nguyen Manh Quyen once again reiterated the achieved results and the success of the 12th Vietnam-France decentralised cooperation conference. The field trip to Hoa Lu Ancient Capital and Trang An scenic complex is an unforgettable mark in the series of activities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and the 10th anniversary of the Vietnam-France strategic partnership.

Ms Catherine Deroche, President of the Committee for Social Affairs, President of the Franco-Vietnamese Friendship Parliamentary Group in the French Senate, representative of the President of the French Senate, and leaders of Vietnamese and French localities, thanked Hanoi and Ninh Binh province for the warm welcome. She also affirmed that the visit to Ninh Binh province had achieved unexpected results, and hoped that French localities would have the opportunity to welcome the Vietnamese delegation in France, contributing to the history of diplomatic relations between the two countries./.
PR-Inside.com: 2023-04-17 13:42:14

Press Information

Absolute Markets Insights

1st Floor, The Work Lab, Model Colony, Shivajinagar, Pune, Maharashtra 411016



Shreyas Tanna

CEO

+91-7400-24-24-24

email

https://www.absolutemarketsinsights.com/





# 921 Words

1st Floor, The Work Lab, Model Colony, Shivajinagar, Pune, Maharashtra 411016CEO+91-7400-24-24-24

The report titled Digital Newspaper Publishing has recently been published by Absolute Markets Insights which provide readers with a perceptive and cogent business outlook. The data also presents penetrative insights into several industry attributes such as trends, policies, and clients operating in widespread industrial regions. The qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques have also been used by analysts to provide an accurate overview of global business owners and industry trends.Technical expansions of the Digital Newspaper Publishing market have been scrutinized by focusing on distinctive technical platforms, tools, and methodologies of the market. Among other salient features of the report, the study also incorporates clients demands as well as insinuates future progress of the market across global regions.Key Players in the Digital Newspaper Publishing Market Research Report:Daily Mail and General Trust Plc, Gannett Satellite Information, NBCNEWS.COM,Network , LLC (USA Today), NEWS CORPORATION, Sanoma, THE FINANCIAL TIMES LTD, The New York Times Company, The Washington Post, Verizon Media, Vice and other market participants.The research study further also highlights the present competitive scenario of the global Digital Newspaper Publishing market and centers on some crucial issues faced by various stakeholders.Get a Sample Copy of Report: https://www.absolutemarketsinsights.com/request_sample.php?id=412 Segment Analysis:The global Digital Newspaper Publishing market report includes a detailed analysis of the segmentation of this industry. The Digital Newspaper Publishing market have been analyzed by focusing on distinctive technical platforms, tools, and methodologies of the market. Among other outstanding features of the report, the study also incorporates clients demands as well as insinuates future progress of the market across global regions. This market is segmented accordingly  by Types and Applications By Newspaper typeo General Newso Subject-Specific News By End Usero Individualso BusinessDigital Newspaper Publishing Market Regional Analysis:The analysts have distributed the global Digital Newspaper Publishing market into several regions such as North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, Africa, and India for a detailed market study. The financial aspects of the business are also meticulously studied referring to several attributes such as price, profit margins and sales by regions during the forecast period 2023-2031.Get Exclusive Discount: https://www.absolutemarketsinsights.com/ask_for_discount.php?id=412 The report also includes information on significant market players in order to deliver penetrative insights into the businesses with regards to successful strategies of top-notch companies. Moreover, the report offers comprehensive information of several traders by presenting accurate facts and figures of market shares.Features of the Digital Newspaper Publishing Market Report In-depth Digital Newspaper Publishing industry data presented in an easy-to-understand format Clear-cut market segmentation of the Digital Newspaper Publishing industry, detailing key aspects of each sub-segment Well-analyzed key market player profiles along with their corresponding strategies In-depth intel concerning existing as well as potential trends in the Digital Newspaper Publishing market Industry drivers and restraints of the Digital Newspaper Publishing market have the potential to influence each of its segments and regions of operation. A precise comprehension of expansion strategies as well as potential acquisitions for various engaged companies. This report offers an amalgam of well-articulated intelligence, along with graphical representations of numerous related market variables.Major Points Covered in TOC:Market Summary: It incorporates six sections, research scope, major players covered, market segments by type, Digital Newspaper Publishing market segments by application, study goals and years considered.Market Landscape: Here, the global Digital Newspaper Publishing Market is dissected, by value, income, volume, market rate, and most recent patterns. The development and consolidation of the overall industry and top organizations is provided through graphs and piece of the pie for organizations.Profiles of Companies: Here, driving players of the worldwide Digital Newspaper Publishing market are considered depending on sales across regions, key innovations, net income, cost, and other factors.Market Status and Outlook by Region: In this segment, the report examines the net deals, income, creation and portion of the overall industry, CAGR and market size by locale. The global Digital Newspaper Publishing Market is profoundly examined based on areas and nations like North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa.Segment Analysis: Accurate and reliable foretell about the market share of the essential sections of the Digital Newspaper Publishing market is providedMarket Forecasts: In this section, accurate and validated values of the total market size in terms of value and volume are provided by the research analysts. Also, the report includes production, consumption, sales, and other forecasts for the global Digital Newspaper Publishing Market.Market Trends: Deep dive analysis of the markets recent and future trends are provided in this section.Enquire Before Buying: https://www.absolutemarketsinsights.com/enquiry_before_buying.php?id=412 About Us:Absolute Markets Insights assists in providing accurate and latest trends related to consumer demand, consumer behavior, sales, and growth opportunities, for the better understanding of the market, thus helping in product designing, featuring, and demanding forecasts. Our experts provide you the end-products that can provide transparency, actionable data, cross-channel deployment program, performance, accurate testing capabilities and the ability to promote ongoing optimization. From the in-depth analysis and segregation, we serve our clients to fulfill their immediate as well as ongoing research requirements. Minute analysis impact large decisions and thereby the source of business intelligence (BI) plays an important role, which keeps us upgraded with current and upcoming market scenarios.Contact Us:Contact Name: Shreyas TannaCompany: Absolute Markets InsightsEmail Id: sales@ absolutemarketsinsights.com Phone: IN +91-7400-24-24-24, US +1-510-420-1213Website: www.absolutemarketsinsights.com
PR-Inside.com: 2023-04-17 15:00:55

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 622 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

MIAMI, FL / ACCESSWIRE / April 17, 2023 / Equity securities in the energy sector outperformed the broad market in 2022. The Energy Select Sector Index and the MicroSectors Energy Index were up around 58% and 63%, respectively, while the S&P 500 Index dropped nearly 20%. A few notable performers were ConocoPhillips, which returned roughly 71%, and Occidental Petroleum Corporation which returned 119%.The Solactive MicroSectors Energy Index, which measures the performance of 12 highly liquid companies active in the US energy sector, is a potential investment option for those who believe in the sector's future growth. The index is composed of top energy sector companies, including Chevron Corporation, Exxon Mobil Corp., Occidental Petroleum Corp., ConocoPhillips and Devon Energy Corp.MicroSectors Energy levered exchange-traded notes, which include the MicroSectors Energy 3X Leveraged ETN (NYSE Arca: WTIU) and the MicroSectors Energy -3X Inverse Leveraged ETN (NYSE Arca: WTID), offer investors exposure to the performance of the Solactive MicroSectors Energy Index. WTIU offers investors three times the daily performance of the Solactive MicroSectors Energy Index, while WTID offers investors the inverse performance of the index, in each case, before fees.The following graph illustrates, for the indicated period, the daily changes in the closing level of the index, and the daily changes in the closing indicative note value of each ETN. Past performance is no indication of future results as to the index, or any ETN.Source: MicroSectors.Investing in REX Shares' MicroSectors Energy exchange-traded notes, is subject to significant risks. Like all investments, the energy sector is subject to market conditions and geopolitical risks that could impact the returns of these companies, as discussed in the pricing supplements for the ETNs. Additionally, the use of leverage in WTIU and WTID means that investors could lose their entire initial investment. Investors should carefully consider their investment goals and risk tolerance before investing in these exchange-traded notes.Click here to learn more about MicroSectors Energy ETNs.Featured Photo by Galen Crout on UnsplashThe exchange traded notes are subject to the credit risk of Bank of Montreal, the issuer of the ETNs. The ETNs are also subject to the issuer's credit ratings, and the issuer's credit spreads may adversely affect the market value of the notes.Please note that leveraged ETNs seek a return on the underlying index for a single day. Those investments are not "buy and hold" investments, and should not be expected to provide the respective return of the underlying index's cumulative return for periods greater than a day. The investments are intended to be daily trading tools for sophisticated investors to manage daily trading risks as part of an overall diversified portfolio. They are designed to achieve their stated investment objectives only on a daily basis. Leveraged investments include risk and are not suitable for all investors. Please read the disclosure documents, including the relevant pricing supplements, for more complete information, prior to making an investment decision.Bank of Montreal, the issuer of the ETNs, and which participated in the preparation of this article, has filed a registration statement (including pricing supplements, a product prospectus supplement, a prospectus supplement and a prospectus) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") about the ETNs that are being offered by this article. Please read those documents and the other documents relating to these offerings that Bank of Montreal has filed with the SEC for more complete information about Bank of Montreal and these offerings. These documents may be obtained without cost by visiting EDGAR on the SEC website at www.sec.gov . Alternatively, Bank of Montreal, any agent or any dealer participating in these offerings will arrange to send the applicable documents if so requested by calling toll-free at 1-877-369-5412.Contact:Caitlyn Fostercaitlyn@ gregoryfca.com SOURCE: REXShares
Reader survey As a reader of PREMIUM TIMES, your opinion matters. Please take our survey to help us better understand the values and preferences of our readers. Your feedback will give us valuable insights into how we can tailor the different types of content we offer to meet your needs. The survey should only take about 6-8 minutes to complete. Click here to take it.

Former Boko Haram fighters and members who return to communities in Cameroon pose a significant security threat to civilians. The lack of effective reintegration increases the chances of former combatants returning to violence, encouraged by the rise in lucrative organised crime, the circulation of illicit weapons and inter-communal conflicts.

The first step in successful reintegration is the screening of defectors. But this process is lacking in Cameroon, where the roles of Boko Haram associates who surrender are not clear. By distinguishing between fighters, hostages, couriers, slaves or logisticians, those who remain radicalised and dangerous, are identified. For example, in Amchide near the Nigerian border, community sources told ISS Today that former combatants sometimes threatened civilians.

A National Committee for Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (CNDDR) was created in 2018, but the decree establishing it does not mention those kidnapped by Boko Haram. Hostages who escape and return home are often mistaken for ex-combatants. Managers at the Meri disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration centre in northern Cameroon say the facility houses both former hostages and fighters. So, in addition to the legal gaps, the lack of screening makes it difficult to resolve the problem.

Deficiencies in the reintegration process are detrimental to those who leave violent extremist groups. Former associates can face reprisals from Boko Harams victims because no prosecutions or reconciliation have taken place to prove their innocence or guilt. For example, many cases were reported of innocent former members being stigmatised in Mayo Moskota.

There is also a lack of clarity around prosecuting Boko Haram fighters, even though the Lake Chad Basin Regional Stabilisation Strategy and international standards cover this. Prosecution is important for reintegration, as it helps counter impunity and allay the fears of Boko Harams victims. But since the Meri centre was opened in 2020, no residents have been pardoned, exonerated or convicted of a terrorist act before being reintegrated into the community.

This highlights another problem  the lack of legal harmonisation in Cameroon. The 2014 law that imposes the death penalty on anyone found guilty of, or complicit in, acts of terrorism doesnt promote reintegration. And the CNDDR decree is silent concerning amnesty or legal proceedings against former fighters.

Infrastructure such as cantonment centres  where returnees stay before being reintegrated  is also lacking. Meris secondary prison was transformed into a deradicalisation centre, but despite having space for only 150 residents, it houses over 2 500, according to the CNDDR. It also lacks training materials to facilitate former combatants economic integration. A regional cantonment centre should be built in Meme in the commune of Mora, which has been declared the regional CNDDR headquarters for the Far North.

The lack of infrastructure means that many who leave Boko Haram prefer to integrate directly into communities. In 2021, the communes of Mora, Mayo Moskota, Kolofata, Mokolo, Makari, Waza, Logone-Birni and Fotokol alone were home to 584 former fighters and members. That number has since increased.

Many former combatants and members also live among internally displaced persons in Zamai. They could become targets for reprisals from Boko Haram victims, or be attacked by insurgents who consider them traitors.

National guidance on reintegrating former members is essential. In 2017, the Far North Region governor encouraged Boko Haram fighters to defect, offering an outreach programme and a three-part protocol involving screening, deradicalisation and reintegration. On returning home, they pledged to abandon all interaction with Boko Haram, swearing on the Koran in the presence of community members and traditional and religious authorities. This initiative fell away when the CNDDR was created, but its achievements and lessons should inform ongoing reintegration processes.

Community sources say over 100 former fighters and members  disillusioned by their treatment at the Meri centre or left unmonitored in communities  have returned to Boko Haram since leader Abubakar Shekau died in 2021. The poor conditions in the Meri centre would also deter many fighters from surrendering.

In the absence of successful reintegration, terrorism continues in the region. At the same time, armed robbery, hostage-taking and road ambushes are rising. Weapons are circulating, increasing insecurity and fuelling community conflicts. Reintegration is vital to reduce the threat of violent extremism and mitigate the upswing of organised crime linked to the presence of former Boko Haram associates in communities.

A clear process must be defined, including steps, objectives, outcomes and indicators. An inclusive, transitional justice approach should involve local communities, traditional leaders, community-based organisations, the media, researchers and the private sector.

Counter-terrorism legislation must also be harmonised at the national and regional levels. The principles for disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration in the Lake Chad Basin Regional Stabilisation Strategy must guide this process.

Celestin Delanga, Research Officer, Institute for Security Studies (ISS) Regional Office for West Africa, the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin

Research for this article was funded by the Government of the Netherlands.

(This article was first published by ISS Today, a Premium Times syndication partner. We have their permission to republish).

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Reader survey As a reader of PREMIUM TIMES, your opinion matters. Please take our survey to help us better understand the values and preferences of our readers. Your feedback will give us valuable insights into how we can tailor the different types of content we offer to meet your needs. The survey should only take about 6-8 minutes to complete. Click here to take it.

At least 97 people have been killed in Sudan as fighting between the countrys army and a paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) enters third day, Alazeera is reporting.

Fighting continued on Monday including fresh bombardment despite a ceasefire agreement reached by both groups.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how fighting erupted in Khartoum on Saturday between the Sudanese army and the RSF leading to the death of at least 56 people and injury to 595 others including combatants.

Both groups have been competing for power as political factions negotiate to form a transitional government after a 2021 military coup. The tensions stem from a disagreement about how the paramilitary force should be integrated into the armed forces and what authority should oversee that process.

The army has said it has taken over national television and will communicate to the public through the channel.

The Sudanese foreign ministry in a statement on Monday declared the RSF a rebel entity that was fighting the state, ordering its dissolution.

Mohammed Daglo of RSF in a tweet said, the international community must take action now and intervene against the crimes of Sudanese General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, a radical Islamist who is bombing civilians from the air. His army is waging a brutal campaign against innocent people, bombing them with MiGs.

He claimed his group is fighting against radical Islamists who hope to keep Sudan isolated and in the dark, and far removed from democracy.

We will continue to pursue Al-Burhan and bring him to justice, he said, adding that the ongoing fight is the price of democracy.

READ ALSO:

He claimed no one was attacked by his team and their actions are merely a response to the siege and assault against them (RSF).

We are fighting for the people of Sudan to ensure the democratic progress, for which they have so long yearned, Mr Daglo added.

We are taking every possible measure to ensure the safety and security of the people. We will not allow any harm to come to them, and we will do everything within our power to protect democracy and uphold rule of law in Sudan. We will prevail and achieve peace and stability, he noted.

Meanwhile, doctors in Khartoum are calling on the warring sides to stop attacking hospitals so that the facilities can remain in service, Al Jazeera reports.

The bombing of al-Shaab Hospital and al-Khartoum Hospital led to stopping the services of their emergency departments, Razan al-Douri, the media secretary of the Sudan Medical Association, told Al Jazeera.

Hospitals in Khartoum are located near important strategic areas in the conflict; thats why they are getting bombed, Mr al-Douri added, urging international organisations and the Sudanese Red Crescent to ask the rival groups to stop bombing hospitals.

We, civilian doctors, cannot communicate with military parties whose leadership we do not know.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Reader survey As a reader of PREMIUM TIMES, your opinion matters. Please take our survey to help us better understand the values and preferences of our readers. Your feedback will give us valuable insights into how we can tailor the different types of content we offer to meet your needs. The survey should only take about 6-8 minutes to complete. Click here to take it.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, to immediately order the arrest of the Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC in Adamawa State, Hudu Ari, for declaring illegal results of the supplementary governorship election in the state.

The National Publicly Secretary of PDP, Debo Ologunagba, made the call in a statement shortly after the declaration of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Aisha Dahiru, popularly called Binani, as the winner of the election.

Mr Ari declared the APC candidate winner on Sunday at the coalition centre in Yola, the state capital.

Observers and party agents who witnessed the declaration alleged that it was made while the results of the election had not been completely collated.

Also, the electoral law states that the winner of an election should be declared by the returning officer who is usually an academic appointed by INEC.

But, Mr Ari usurped the duties and powers of the State Returning Officer, Mohammed Mele, a professor at the University of Maiduguri.

Mr Ologunagba said the action was a planned attempt to destabilise democracy and the peaceful co-existence of the country.

He, therefore, urged the IGP to ensure that the Adamawa REC face the full wrath of the law for his conduct.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) calls on the people of Adamawa State, Nigerians and the International Community to disregard the purported declaration of the defeated candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Aisha Binani as winner of the Adamawa State Governorship election, he said.

The PDP also demands for the immediate arrest and prosecution of the Adamawa State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mallam Hudu Yunusa Ari, for making such illegal declaration in criminal usurpation of the duties and powers of the Returning Officer, Prof Mohammed Mele, while collation was on-going.

The PDP spokesperson said it was absurd that Mr Ari declared Mrs Dahiru without figures, adding that it was a violation of the countrys constitution.

It is even more absurd that the Adamawa State REC did not only usurp the powers of the Returning Officer but attempted to declare a winner without figures in reckless violation of the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), the Electoral Act, 2022, INEC Guidelines as well as the sensibility of the people of Adamawa State.

This reprehensible criminal conduct of the Adamawa State REC confirms the earlier alarms by the PDP which demanded his immediate removal from Adamawa State following evidence of his complicity and being compromised by the APC and its candidate to manipulate the election in their favour notwithstanding the votes by the people of Adamawa State.

Mallam Yunusa Aris action is subversive and calculated to cause crisis in Adamawa State, destabilise our democracy and peaceful co-existence as a nation. We call on the Inspector General of Police to immediately arrest Mallam Yunusa Ari and make him face the full wrath of the law for his conduct.

Mr Ologunagba also urged the INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, to immediately direct Mr Mele to continue the collation process.

The PDP notes the pronouncement by INEC Headquarters that the action of Mallam Yunusa Ari is null, void and of no effect. The PDP, therefore, demands that INEC Headquarters should immediately direct the Returning Officer to conclude collation, announce the results from the Polling Units and declare our candidate, Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri as winner, having scored the majority of lawful votes cast, he said.

From the results already collated across the 69 Polling Units where the supplementary elections held and which are on the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal, Governor Fintiri clearly won the election, he noted.

Our party, therefore, demands that INEC should without further delay announce the results as already collated from the Polling Units and declare Governor Fintiri as winner. Anything short of this will not be accepted by our Party and the people of Adamawa State.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Reader survey As a reader of PREMIUM TIMES, your opinion matters. Please take our survey to help us better understand the values and preferences of our readers. Your feedback will give us valuable insights into how we can tailor the different types of content we offer to meet your needs. The survey should only take about 6-8 minutes to complete. Click here to take it.

An officer of the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE), Popoola Olasupo, was on Sunday abducted at Fidiwo axis on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that Mr Olasupo was kidnapped at about 6:30 a.m. on Sunday while going to his duty post.

It was also gathered that the police and local vigilantes are on the trail of the kidnappers.

According to a witness, the kidnappers suddenly emerged from the bush and opened fire on a commercial bus with an intention to kidnap.

Eventually, none of the passengers were kidnapped but the TRACE officer was unlucky.

When contacted, the police spokesperson in Ogun State, Abimbola Oyeyemi, confirmed the incident to journalists in Abeokuta, saying that the state anti-kidnapping team was already after the kidnappers.

Our anti kidnapping squad are already after them, we are combing the forests and we know that they will all be arrested.

Ogun state is not a ground for criminals to settle. It is either they leave or we smoke them out of this state, he said. (NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Reader survey As a reader of PREMIUM TIMES, your opinion matters. Please take our survey to help us better understand the values and preferences of our readers. Your feedback will give us valuable insights into how we can tailor the different types of content we offer to meet your needs. The survey should only take about 6-8 minutes to complete. Click here to take it.

President Muhammadu Buhari on the fifth day of the official visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, shared a warm moment with some of the countrys governors and other officials, where he was updated on ongoing situations including the conclusion of outstanding elections back in the country.

At the Makkah Guest Palace where he is accommodated by the government of the host country, President Buhari received Governors Mai Mala Buni of Yobe, Babagana Zulum of Borno and the incoming Governor of Katsina State, Dikko Radda.

The others were the Chairman of the EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa, the Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa and a past Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai.

After listening to the briefs, President Buhari said whatever Nigeria has achieved today is due to the power of its democracy and the power of our institutions, which must continue to be strengthened.

Speaking individually after the meetings, the governors of Borno and Yobe states said they remained appreciative of the efforts of the president in curbing the threats of Boko Haram terrorists in their states and were happy that peace had been restored.

They promised to continue to work for the betterment of their people and remain loyal to the president.

The Chairman of the EFCC briefed the President on efforts to conclude ongoing court cases and the plan to prosecute more offenders. He also briefed on the arrests of several suspects in connection with election fraud and the plan to take them to court.

The Governor-elect of Katsina State, Mr Radda, gave assurances of his commitment to an open and transparent government as promised during the campaign.

After the meeting, the guests joined the president to observe the afternoon prayers.

Garba Shehu

Senior Special Assistant to the President

(Media & Publicity)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Reader survey As a reader of PREMIUM TIMES, your opinion matters. Please take our survey to help us better understand the values and preferences of our readers. Your feedback will give us valuable insights into how we can tailor the different types of content we offer to meet your needs. The survey should only take about 6-8 minutes to complete. Click here to take it.

An Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court on Monday remanded a clergyman, Daniel Oluwafeyiropo, for allegedly raping two of his church members (names withheld).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a judge, Ramon Oshodi, remanded the founder of I Reign Christian Ministry in Kirikiri Correctional Centre pending the fulfilment of his bail conditions.

Mr Oshodi admitted the defendant to N20 million bail with two sureties in like sum.

He said one of the sureties must be the owner of a build-up property in Lagos State and the property must be enough to cover the bail sum.

The original document of the landed property must be submitted to the chief registrar of Lagos State.

The sureties must reside within the courts jurisdiction and must have three years tax payment to the Lagos State, he said.

The judge also ordered the defendant to deposit his international passport with the chief registrar of the court and ordered an accelerated hearing of the case.

Mr Oshodi adjourned the case until 9 May for trial.

Earlier, the defence counsel, Olukunle Oyewole, while moving his bail application dated 10 April, urged the court to grant bail to the defendant on liberal terms.

Mr Oyewole argued that the defendant had been on police administrative bail since 20 May 2022 and had made himself available to the police.

My lord, the defendant was not informed on the day the matter came up for the first time before this court.

The defendant is a well-known religious leader and he has shown by his action that he will not jump bail.

The offence for which he is charged is a bailable offence and he has credible sureties that can stand for him, he said.

The state lead prosecution counsel, Babjide Boye, in his counter affidavit dated 14 April, urged the court to refuse the bail application of the defendant, but left it at the discretion of the court.

Mr Boye, however, argued that the alleged offences were of a serious nature and that the likelihood of conviction might put the defendant at flight risk.

There is also the possibility of the defendant interfering with the prosecution witnesses.

He is a bishop of so many branches and if granted bail, he may use his position to influence the prosecution witnesses as he is regarded as a man of authority who has the possibility of committing the same crime.

We urge the court to deny the defendant bail because he has failed to provide the court exceptional circumstances to grant him bail, the prosecutor submitted.

NAN reports that Mr Oluwafeyiropo was earlier arraigned on a two-count charge bordering on rape.

He, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

According to the prosecution, the defendant allegedly committed the offences sometime in June 2020 in Ikota Villa Estate, Lekki, Lagos.

According to the prosecution, the alleged offences contravene Sections 260 (2) of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Reader survey As a reader of PREMIUM TIMES, your opinion matters. Please take our survey to help us better understand the values and preferences of our readers. Your feedback will give us valuable insights into how we can tailor the different types of content we offer to meet your needs. The survey should only take about 6-8 minutes to complete. Click here to take it.

The Lagos State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has granted an exparte application by Labour Partys governorship candidate, Gbadegbo Rhodes-Vivour, for a substituted service on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

Mr Rhodes-Vivour and Labour Party, through their counsel, Olagbade Benson, had informed the tribunal that Mr Sanwo-Olu evaded service of the petition on him by the courts bailiff.

They alleged that Mr Sanwo-Olu refused to collect the document from the bailiff when the court official got to his office to serve him.

In the petition, number EPT/LAG/GOV/04/2023, they are praying the court to grant them leave to serve the petition and other processes on the governor and his deputy through substituted means, by posting same via DHL courier services or any other recognised courier service company, to the respondents official residence at Lagos House, Marina, Lagos.

READ ALSO:

NAN reports that, on 11 April, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Abdul-Azeez Adediran, known as Jandor, and Mr Rhodes-Vigour separately asked the tribunal to nullify Mr Sanwo-Olus re-election and declare them the winners.

The petitioners had challenged the outcome of the 18 March governorship Election in Lagos State in which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Mr Sanwo-Olu the winner.

NAN also reports that the Lagos State Election Petition Tribunal has received a total of 48 petitions in respect of the 2023 elections held on 25 February and 18 March.

The petitions are pasted on the wall of the Rosaline Omotosho Courthouse, Ikeja, the venue of the tribunal sitting.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Reader survey As a reader of PREMIUM TIMES, your opinion matters. Please take our survey to help us better understand the values and preferences of our readers. Your feedback will give us valuable insights into how we can tailor the different types of content we offer to meet your needs. The survey should only take about 6-8 minutes to complete. Click here to take it.

The Election Petition Tribunal in Oyo State has received two petitions in respect of the governorship poll and four for the House of Assembly elections.

The secretary of the tribunal, Ibrahim Sada, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Ibadan.

He said the first petition against the outcome of the governorship election was filed by the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and its candidate, Adeniran Oluwaseyi, while the second was filed by Action Alliance (AA) and its candidate, Babatunde Ajala.

The secretary said the petitions were filed against the Independent National Electoral Commissions (INEC) declaration of Governor Seyi Makinde as the winner of the 18 March governorship election.

He further said that the state House of Assembly petitions were filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate for the Orelope state constituency, Olowokere Adewale.

READ ALSO:

Mr Sada said other petitioners include the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate for Ogbomoso South state constituency, Adegoke Ayodeji; New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and its candidate for Ogbomoso South state constituency, Adeniyi Oluwaseun.

Also received was a petition from the PDP and its candidate for Saki West state constituency, Okedoyin Julius, challenging the outcome of the state house of assembly election, the secretary said.

He said the 21 days stipulated by law for the filing of petitions by aggrieved parties had lapsed, adding that no new petitions could be filed again .

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


The delegation of HCMCs Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee congratulates Lao Consulate General

on the Bunpimay Festival (Photo: hcmcpv.org.vn)

Visiting each place to extend wishes for the traditional New Year, Ms. Yen highly appreciated the governments and people of Laos, Thailand and Cambodia for always supporting and standing side by side with HCMC in difficult times. At the same time, she expressed her hope that the relationship between each country and HCMC, as well as between the city and localities of the three countries, will become more and more sustainable.

In the coming time, she hopes that the Consulates General of the three countries will continue to pay attention to and mobilize their citizens to well obey the guidelines and policies of the city.

The Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of HCMC is willing and makes the best efforts to continue to strengthen the friendship and cooperation in many aspects, especially in the fields of economy, between the city and localities of the countries that have signed cooperation programs; in which special attention is paid to the exchange and cooperation of the young generation between the sides to maintain, preserve and promote the good traditions between Vietnam and Cambodia - Laos - Thailand./.
Reader survey As a reader of PREMIUM TIMES, your opinion matters. Please take our survey to help us better understand the values and preferences of our readers. Your feedback will give us valuable insights into how we can tailor the different types of content we offer to meet your needs. The survey should only take about 6-8 minutes to complete. Click here to take it.

Amid speculations that the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, has a Guinean passport, the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, says the 1999 Constitution does not bar Nigerians with dual citizenship from becoming president of Nigeria.

Mr Fashola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, stated this on Sunday Politics, a programme Channels TV.

I know he (Tinubu) carries a Nigerian passport. I dont know about dual citizenship. I know he resided abroad when he went into exile.

I dont know if they gave him American citizenship. What does that have to do with the results of the election? The last time I checked, I think the Nigerian constitution allows you to have dual citizenship. Doesnt it?

The dual citizenship allegation is the latest in the controversies surrounding Mr Tinubu. His critics believe dual citizenship bars him from the presidency based on section 137 of the constitution.

Section 137 provides that (1) A person shall not be qualified for election to the office of President if 

(a) subject to the provisions of section 28 of this Constitution, he has voluntarily acquirede the citizenship of a country other than Nigeria or, except in such cases as may be prescribed by the National Assembly, he has made a declaration of allegiance to such other country.

Section 28, however, excludes citizens by birth from restriction by section 137.

It states that (1) Subject to the other provisions of this section, a person shall forfeit forthwith his Nigerian citizenship if, not being a citizen of Nigeria by birth, he acquires or retains the citizenship or nationality of a country, other than Nigeria, of which he is not a citizen by birth.

Mr Tinubu is yet to speak on the controversy. The president-elect is reportedly a close friend of the former President of Guinea, Alpha Conde.

In 2015, Mr Tinubu reportedly played a leading role in the presidential election in Guinea. Mr Conde was removed from office by a military coup in 2021.

Governance is not by sainthood

Mr Fashola, while reacting to the controversies surrounding the president-elect, said the country does not need a saint, but someone to deliver good governance.

Governance is not about sainthood. It is about efficiency, performance, and delivery.

You must understand that we should not be looking for saints. All of the allegations that were levelled against him have been either unproven or no evidence offered in support of them but they have run along for a while, he said.

He added that I think now that all of these hurdles have been surmounted. Maybe there is a divine purpose. Maybe perhaps, this is where Nigeria begins to turn in the most positive ways forever.

Mr Tinubu is expected to be sworn in as president on 29 May, although, several political parties are challenging his victory at the Presidential Election Tribunal.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Reader survey As a reader of PREMIUM TIMES, your opinion matters. Please take our survey to help us better understand the values and preferences of our readers. Your feedback will give us valuable insights into how we can tailor the different types of content we offer to meet your needs. The survey should only take about 6-8 minutes to complete. Click here to take it.

Unidentified assailants have killed 40 people and wounded 33 others in an attack on the army and volunteer defence forces in northern Burkina Faso, the government said in a statement.

Al Jazeera reports that the provisional death toll report is that 34 auxiliaries from the Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland (VDP) and six soldiers were killed. It said that 33 more people were wounded and in stable condition in the regional capital Ouahigouyas university hospital.

A security source said that several dozen militants were killed during a reprisal attack.

The region is not far from the border with Mali, an area overrun by fighters linked to Al-Qaeda and ISIS, who have reportedly carried out various attacks in Burkina Faso.

Burkina Faso has seen an escalation in attacks, with Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) reporting that since 2018, violent clashes in the Sahel have led to the internal displacement of over 1.5 million people. MSF said that Burkina Faso is the epicentre of multiple humanitarian crises. On 8 February 2023, MSF withdrew from the country, following an attack in which two of their staff members were killed.

Burkina Faso has also experienced a political upheaval with two coups in 2022. Burkinabe military officer, Ibrahim Traore, who has been the interim leader of Burkina Faso since 30 September 2022, ousted interim president Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba who took over the countrys leadership, also in a coup just eight months earlier. Mr Traore is the worlds youngest currently serving state leader at the age of 34.

Mr Traore said in a statement that a group of officers who helped Mr Damiba seize power in January 2022, had decided that the leader was no longer able to secure the country, which has been battling a mounting Islamic insurgency.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Reader survey As a reader of PREMIUM TIMES, your opinion matters. Please take our survey to help us better understand the values and preferences of our readers. Your feedback will give us valuable insights into how we can tailor the different types of content we offer to meet your needs. The survey should only take about 6-8 minutes to complete. Click here to take it.

Chinese nationals in the mining sector are allegedly funding Nigerian militant groups to secure access to the countrys mineral reserves, a report has said.

The Times, a British national daily, in a report published on Saturday, said this revelation raises concerns that Beijing could be indirectly funding terror in Africas largest economy.

The report claimed that Chinese companies working in parts of Nigeria where attacks are frequent have been striking security deals with insurgents. It added that attacks on Chinese citizens said to be between 100,000 and 200,000 in Nigeria, have become regular occurrences in recent years amid conflicts.

Between 2019 and 2022, the report said 51 Chinese nationals are known to have been kidnapped and three killed, with many more incidents likely to go unreported.

It said the Chinese embassy in Abuja has now urged its citizens to strengthen the civil defence, physical defence.

Meanwhile, some Chinese nationals who have worked informally as miners in Zamfara serve as runners for some militant groups in the state and other north-western parts of the country, the report alleged, adding that researchers found that interaction with militants runs so deep that some serve as runners for Chinese miners who have spread throughout Nigeria, controlling digs for gold.

Through bribes and illegal transactions, it said some Chinese nationals have allegedly funded terrorist groups in Nigeria, turning the region into the countrys bloodiest conflict zone.

Research shared with The Times from SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based analytical group, has revealed videos on social media and WhatsApp of militant leaders boasting that they are so powerful that Chinese workers wishing to operate in their areas must pay them rent. They have taken over swathes of northwest Nigeria, turning the region into the countrys bloodiest conflict zone.

In one pocket of Zamfara, researchers found, interaction with militants runs so deep that some serve as runners for Chinese miners who have spread throughout Nigeria, controlling digs for gold. The country has some of the largest gold reserves in the world.

Often operating informally in small groups as contractors registered to clearing-house companies, they speak local languages and can stay for years at a time living in remote areas that western companies consider off-limits, it said.

Chinese mining contractors have also been accused of paying pitiful wages to locals working in their fields and allegedly smuggling minerals out of the country illegally.

Chinese mining contractors, who local communities have accused of abuses and paying pitiful wages, often smuggle minerals out of the country illegally and are sometimes arrested.

In 2020, 27 miners, including 17 said to be Chinese, were arrested in Osun state. Last October a Chinese citizen, Gang Deng, 29, was jailed for five years after being found with 25 tonnes of a mineral thought to be lepidolite, containing lithium, which is used in batteries.

SBM also found Chinese workers involved in the Boko Haram conflict in Nigerias northeast, with a case of a Chinese smuggler being paid to help a jihadist group move metal ore out of the country.

On Monday, when PREMIUM TIMES reached out to the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, an official in the ministry, who did not want to be named, noted that officials could not yet confirm the authenticity of the claim.

Im not sure the report is true but give me till evening to confirm this, the official said.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Reader survey As a reader of PREMIUM TIMES, your opinion matters. Please take our survey to help us better understand the values and preferences of our readers. Your feedback will give us valuable insights into how we can tailor the different types of content we offer to meet your needs. The survey should only take about 6-8 minutes to complete. Click here to take it.

Nigerias Aviation Ministry has expressed its displeasure at the ongoing warning strike by the aviation unions amidst efforts at meeting the demands of the workers.

The ministry made this known in a statement issued Monday by its Head, Press and Public Affairs, Odutayo Oluseyi.

Aviation workers had on Monday blocked major access roads to both the international and domestic wings of the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos, to protest poor working conditions.

The situation resulted in intensive gridlock along airport roads in Ikeja, leaving several passengers stranded. Reports said the entrance of the airport terminals was also affected as vehicular movement was disrupted.

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), had issued travel advisories to travellers urging them to make contingency plans to avoid missing their flights and appointments due to the workers strike.

The strike is unnecessary as it will increase the hardship on our citizens, affect flight schedules, lead to economic losses and negatively impact our rating globally, the aviation ministry said in its reaction Monday afternoon.

READ ALSO:

It said the grievances prompting the strike by the unions are issues that should not lead to a strike.

Earlier in January, the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association (ATSSSAN) directed all the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc (NAHCO) staff to withdraw all services at the airport due to NAHCOs failure to address their demand for salary increment. The industrial action left many air passengers stranded at both the International and local wings of the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA2 and MMIA) in Lagos.

Planned demolition

The aviation ministry in its statement noted that the planned demolition of certain buildings obstructing the runway is in the public interest and an administrative issue that can be sorted in-house.

It said the striking unions should have met with the management of agencies for alternative accommodation to all affected offices before going ahead with the strike.

On the concession of airports, the ministry said the unions are aware of global practices and that for the aviation industry in Nigeria to be the hub in Africa, the concession is the way to improve infrastructure and make airports economically viable.

On Conditions of Service in some of the Agencies, it is a work in progress. The National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission is already carrying out assessments and will soon conclude, the ministry said.

It added that the consequential adjustment of the minimum wage has been finalised and is about to be paid.

The ministry noted that it is open to continuous engagement with the unions to improve their welfare but such agreements can only be reached in an atmosphere of peace.

Let me reiterate that while we are appealing to the Unions to sheath the sword, the Management will seriously view any behaviour by any Union that is likely to lead to a breakdown of law and order at our airports, the ministry said.

The Ministry wishes to appeal to the Unions to call off the strike and join hands with Management to make the Aviation industry a hub in Africa.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Reader survey As a reader of PREMIUM TIMES, your opinion matters. Please take our survey to help us better understand the values and preferences of our readers. Your feedback will give us valuable insights into how we can tailor the different types of content we offer to meet your needs. The survey should only take about 6-8 minutes to complete. Click here to take it.

The Nigerian government has approved a new malaria vaccine from Oxford University, becoming the second country after Ghana in the world to grant such approval.

The vaccine- R21/Matrix-M, is developed by the University of Oxford and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.

The Director General of Nigerias National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Mojisola Adeyeye, announced the development on Monday in Abuja.

Similar to Ghana, Mrs Adeyeye said the vaccine is indicated for the prevention of malaria in children from 5 months to 36 months of age.

She added that Nigeria expects to get at least 100,000 doses of the vaccine in donations soon before the market authorisation will start making other arrangements with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency.

Fighting malaria

The R21/Matrix-M vaccine is the second ever to be approved by the WHO and the first to exceed the WHO threshold of 75 per cent efficacy over 12 months of follow-up.

The vaccine showed a 77 per cent protective efficacy over 12 months in a phase 2b trial involving young West African children, following an initial three-dose course of injections.

The first-ever malaria vaccine, RTS, S or mosquirix, from British drugmaker GSK, was approved by the WHO in 2021 after decades of work. But a lack of funding and commercial potential thwarted the companys capacity to produce as many doses as were needed.

Various research also shows that the effectiveness of GSKs vaccine is approximately 60 per cent, and significantly wanes over time, even with a booster dose.

READ ALSO:

When the mosquirix vaccine was approved, the WHO said it was based on results from an ongoing pilot programme in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi that has reached more than 800,000 children since 2019.

It added that it recommends widespread use of the vaccine, among children in sub-Saharan Africa and other regions with moderate to high plasmodium falciparum malaria transmission.

NAFDACs assessment

Speaking further, Mrs Adeyeye said: NAFDAC in exercising its mandate as stipulated by its enabling law, NAFDAC Act CapN1, LFN 2004, is granting registration approval for R21 Malaria Vaccine (Recombinant, Adjuvanted) manufactured by Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd.

The Marketing Authorization Holder is Fidson Healthcare Ltd in line with the Agencys Drug and Related Products Registration Regulation 2021.

According to her, the R21 malaria vaccine dossier complied substantially with the best international standards with which the dossier was bench-marked.

She said the dossier was subjected to independent reviews by NAFDACs Vaccine Advisory Committee according to WHO standards, and other guidelines.

She said the Joint Review Committee concluded that the data on the R21 Malaria vaccine were robust and met the criteria for efficacy, safety, and quality.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Reader survey As a reader of PREMIUM TIMES, your opinion matters. Please take our survey to help us better understand the values and preferences of our readers. Your feedback will give us valuable insights into how we can tailor the different types of content we offer to meet your needs. The survey should only take about 6-8 minutes to complete. Click here to take it.

The police on Monday, opened trial in the case involving alleged forgery of a Supreme Court judgement by the National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Edozie Njoku, and another person.

They were accused of forging a Supreme Court judgement that recognised Mr Njoku as the national chairman of the party.

The case is before the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Bwari, Abuja.

Messrs Njoku and Nwoga were earlier arraigned on 21 October 2022 on a charge of 14 counts of conspiring with others to forge a judgment of the Supreme Court. They denied the charges.

But the police further investigated the allegation and lodged an amended charge of 14 counts dated 6 February against the two men. The amendment brought in an official of the Supreme Court, Adebisi Ogunseye, as a co-defendant.

The police listed Ms Adebisi, a former secretary to Mary Peter-Odili, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court as the third defendant in the amended charge.

However, at Mondays proceedings, the lawyer representing the police, Rimamsomte Ezekiel, informed the trial judge, Mohammed Madugu, that he would continue the trial with the initial charge against Messrs Njoku and Nwoga.

He then withdrew the amended charge that had the Supreme Court official as a defendant.

Giving reasons for the withdrawal of the amended charge, Mr Rimamsomte explained that the police intended to present Mrs Adebisi as a prosecution witness.

The defendants lawyer, Panam Ntui, did not object to the polices withdrawal of the amended charge on Monday.

Consequently, the judge struck it out and commenced the trial of the defendants.

Trial

After the judge struck out the amended charge, the prosecution called its first witness, Godwin Odu.

Mr Odu, led in evidence by Mr Rinasonte, said he emerged the deputy national secretary of APGA at the partys convention held in Awka, Anambra State, on 31 May 2019.

Mr Odu informed the court that it was after the Awka convention that Mr Njoku, began parading himself as the new national chairman of APGA.

I wrote a petition to the police that (Mr) Njoku forged the judgement he is using in parading (himself) as national chairman of our party, Mr Odu told the court.

After Mr Odu concluded his evidence-in-chief, the judge adjourned the suit until 27 April for continuation of trial.

Charge

In the charge, Messrs Njoku and Nwoga are accused of falsifying a judgment delivered by the Supreme Court on 14 October 2021 in the appeal marked: SC/CV/686/2021 and inserting Njokus name as the second defendant when he was never a party in the case.

They were said to have written four justices of the Supreme Court- Mary Peter-Odili, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, Mohammed Garba and Ibrahim Saulawa who sat on the case, asking them to insert Mr Njokus name as the second respondent.

The police accused the defendants of engaging the services of some officials of the Supreme Court who inserted Mr Njokus name on the judgement, which Mr Njoku allegedly tendered to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Inspector General of Police.

Mr Njoku in the allegedly forged judgement, claimed the Supreme Court had declared him as APGAs National Chairman.

In one of the charges, Messrs Njoku and Nwoga alongside others who are now at large dishonestly and deliberately forged the judgement of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.. with the name of Chief Edozie Njoku as the second respondent, knowing that he was not a party to the case, using same as a genuine judgment of the Supreme Court with the intent to mislead members of the public, and ridiculing the Judiciary of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The alleged offence is said to be in violation of Section 366 of the Penal Code Law.

In another count, the police accused the defendants of fabricating a letter to the Inspector-General of Police under false pretence that Mr Njoku is APGAs National Chairman, an offence punishable under Section 178 of the Penal Code Law.

READ ALSO: Police arrest APGA factional chairperson in court premises

The police accused Mr Njoku of forging APGAs letter-head, which he used to the IGP as the partys National Chairman, an offence punishable under Section 366 of the Penal Code law.

But despite the pending charge against the defendants, the Supreme Court, acting on a request by Mr Njoku, affirmed him as the national chairman of APGA in a ruling delivered in March this year.

Specifically, Mr Njoku had asked the Supreme Court to correct an accidental slip at page 13, lines 3 to 4 of its judgment which had Victor Oyes name mistakenly inserted as the national chairman of APGA instead of Edozie Njoku. Mr Njoku claimed that it was him who was unlawfully removed from his position as duly elected National Chairman of APGA at a national convention of the party in Owerri in 2019, that the Supreme Court intended to restore to office in the judgement.

APGA has been embroiled in a vicious leadership crisis that ended up at the Supreme Court.

Granting Mr Njokus request, a five-member panel of the Supreme Court on 24 March, said it made a mistake in the judgement it delivered in 2021, where it erroneously wrote the name of Victor Oye as APGA national chairman instead of that of Edozie Njoku.

But the police accused Mr Njoku of forging the Supreme Courts judgement on the APGA leadership tussle.

Mr Njoku denied the charges.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Reader survey As a reader of PREMIUM TIMES, your opinion matters. Please take our survey to help us better understand the values and preferences of our readers. Your feedback will give us valuable insights into how we can tailor the different types of content we offer to meet your needs. The survey should only take about 6-8 minutes to complete. Click here to take it.

There are several reasons why Nigerians should be interested in those who will be elected leaders of NASS, and this should be more than just the business of the Assembly members. The success of this new administration depends on the quality of leadership of NASS, and it is high time Nigeria has a legislature that is fit for purpose and not a caricature of modern legislatures overshadowed by the executive branch, and a butt of jokes of serious minded people in the country.

Nigerians have divided opinions about the efficacy of democracy in driving its development. There are constant threats to our democracy stemming from procedural and structural deficiencies in the system. At the core of these deficiencies are the imbalances in relevance and power among the three tiers of government, which have seen the ascendancy of the executive arm above the legislature and judiciary. This anomaly is worse because it defeats the very essence of our representative democracy, where absolute power resides with the people, and they yield their powers to their various representatives at the centre. These representatives are in the National Assembly, working to influence the direction and impact of democracy.

Therefore, the legislature makes the laws, has oversight functions over the executive, while the executive implements the laws, and the judiciary interprets them. In Nigeria, the executive arm has attracted all the attention and enjoys all the influence over and above the other two tiers. This reality has made some people question the relevance of our legislature and not reckon with it, especially in the recent past where, unfortunately, the National Assembly looks more like a student dormitory of equals, with no exciting debates, bickering on the floor, and or innovative vision for the development of this country.

The National Assembly (NASS) must be pivotal in addressing our countrys problems. Today, democracy in Nigeria is facing two threats. The first is the total disconnect of the government from the yearning and aspirations of the Nigerian people. The second is the need for bringing coherence to a national vision. In both cases, the National Assembly has a role to play, and the people agree that it has performed abysmally in its responsibility to alleviate or eliminate these threats and forge a democratic system to improve its citizens living standards. The fact that the National Assembly allows the executive to run roughshod over the citizens is yet to help the ratings and importance of this institution in the public mind.

To play its role as a driver of democracy depends on the quality of its leadership and membership. The summation of the quality and character of individual legislature members provides the total quality and nature of the National Assembly. Therefore, the quest for an excellent National Assembly starts with the selection and election of candidates. The practice where the Senate has become the dumping ground for former governors and high political figures without consideration of the character and quality of these individuals assaults the Senates virility, figuratively, and turns it into almost a retirement home for politicians tired of playing local politics in their home states.

A historic drama will most likely play out in the NASS leadership election in June. A multiplicity of factors peculiar to this 10th National Assembly influences the dramas plot. First, there is the issue of all the other parties working together, constituting the majority versus APC, which is the party with the single highest number of members in NASS. Second, there is a heightened religious sensitivity because we already have a Muslim-Muslim presidency

Besides, the business of legislation is a knowledge-intensive one. Members of the NASS must be versatile, dynamic, and ready to learn new things. This idea underscores the importance of ensuring that legislators receive appropriate training and support to understand the essence, purpose and philosophy of a modern legislature. Legislative knowledge and skills are essential for NASS leadership. The NASS leadership crafts and implements a broad spectrum of programmes and agenda to fulfill its vision and mission for the legislature. They are the soul and spirit of the legislature and can either make or mar it. The legitimacy of NASS before the Nigerian people can be enhanced or diminished by the quality of its leadership.

If the leadership of NASS is less knowledgeable than the common run of the executive branch, then the quality of the National Assembly can only be low, and the legislature is open to abuse, control, and sometimes complete capture by the executive arm. The executive, in this case, turns the legislature into a rubber stamp institution and a toothless bulldog. The quality of the leadership of NASS should compare with that of their fellows in the developed world, and anything less jeopardises our legislature and its legislation.

Unfortunately, there are no known criteria for selecting NASS leadership other than membership in the National Assembly. Issues of cognate experience are a matter of convention and convenience. Therefore, merit has never been a top consideration. A historic drama will most likely play out in the NASS leadership election in June. A multiplicity of factors peculiar to this 10th National Assembly influences the dramas plot. First, there is the issue of all the other parties working together, constituting the majority versus APC, which is the party with the single highest number of members in NASS. Second, there is a heightened religious sensitivity because we already have a Muslim-Muslim presidency plus a Chief Justice of Nigeria who is a Muslim. The Christian community may feel threatened and side-lined if the leadership of the three arms of government are all Muslims. Third, regional and geopolitical balancing issues will ensure that a considerable section of Nigeria is in the leadership structure of the government. Fourth, inter- and intra-party warfare may have a spillover effect in the hallowed chambers of the NASS. Even blind people can sense the ominous feeling that the election of the NASS leadership this time will be unusual.

The present emphasis on zoning can serve a political equity purpose. But the need for an enlightened legislature is a sine quo non. The search for equity and fairness must uphold the need for a quality leadership of NASS. Otherwise, this may undermine the output and the impact of the 10th Assembly. This Assembly presents a rare opportunity for the legislative institution to reassert itself as the pillar of democracy and earn public trust. And this must start with the quality of leaders that legislators will elect in June. In addition to our sensitivities, merit must be the highest consideration. NASS should use the election of its leadership to show the public that it is not business as usual and that the focus has shifted to meritocracy. Nigerians must be excited about the quality of leaders the legislature will elect to lead that institution. The most critical positions in this contest are those of the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

News reports indicate that the fight for the leadership of the 10th Assembly is intensifying. People are observing and noticing the usual horse-trading, unethical and evil past influences among the contenders. But as we all know, the quality of leadership of the legislature is a choice and elected members must be intentional and patriotic about protecting, preserving and promoting the institution.

The Senate President is the Chairman of the National Assembly, head of the legislative arm of government and directly presides over the sscreening of prospective appointees to critical national offices. The Speaker of the House of Representatives is a powerful office that often controls the Houses functions, particularly appropriation. The Speaker sets the house legislative agenda and oversees oversight. The Speaker and Senate President can make or mar the plan of the executive arm of government. Whoever occupies these offices will benefit our development, as we advance, and should matter to Nigerians. The National Assembly leadership is as important, if not more important, than the Presidency. Although, historically, this has not been the case because the executive interferes with the selection and sometimes voting of these principal officers. The executive often plans to hijack the leadership of NASS to make its governing easier. As practical and utilitarian as this may sound, it goes against the fundamental principles of the separation of powers among the three tiers of government, alongside the checks and balances enshrined in the constitution for the smooth running of our democracy.

News reports indicate that the fight for the leadership of the 10th Assembly is intensifying. People are observing and noticing the usual horse-trading, unethical and evil past influences among the contenders. But as we all know, the quality of leadership of the legislature is a choice and elected members must be intentional and patriotic about protecting, preserving and promoting the institution. It is commonsensical that the quality NASS leadership will boost the peoples confidence in this new government and ensure a proactive legislature that will shape our democracy.

There are several reasons why Nigerians should be interested in those who will be elected leaders of NASS, and this should be more than just the business of the Assembly members. The success of this new administration depends on the quality of leadership of NASS, and it is high time Nigeria has a legislature that is fit for purpose and not a caricature of modern legislatures overshadowed by the executive branch, and a butt of jokes of serious minded people in the country. The time has come for things to improve in this country. Just as we put fervent and earnest efforts at holding the incoming administration accountable due to heightened political awareness, I advocate for a similar level of attention to the legislature. Our democracy will benefit significantly if the legislature performs its primary duties of law-making and oversight functions of the executive and pursues a vision for Nigeria that will make it a great nation. Nigerians are watching, and they will not forgive nor forget those who failed in their duties to make Nigeria great again.

Dakuku Peterside is a policy and leadership expert.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Reader survey As a reader of PREMIUM TIMES, your opinion matters. Please take our survey to help us better understand the values and preferences of our readers. Your feedback will give us valuable insights into how we can tailor the different types of content we offer to meet your needs. The survey should only take about 6-8 minutes to complete. Click here to take it.

By adopting Afro-Economics, African countries can reduce poverty, achieve economic prosperity and stability that is relevant and sustainable for the continent and improve the standard of living for millions of people across Africa. An African solution is required to solve African problems and Afro-economics is the solution for sustainable economic growth and development in Africa.

The term Afro-economics is a combination of two words, afrocentric and economics. Afro-economics is based on the idea that Africa has a unique history, culture and economic potential that requires a different approach to economic development than the one prescribed by mainstream economic theories and policies. It is an economic philosophy that seeks to address the unique challenges facing African economies and emphasises the need to leverage Africas vast natural resources, human capital and cultural heritage for the economic development and empowerment of the people and nations on the African continent. Afro-economics is grounded in the principles of social justice, equity, inclusivity and seeks to create an economic system that promotes regional integration. It also recognises the interrelatedness of global economies by building mutually beneficial relationships that promote trade, investment and technology transfer.

Africa is blessed with human capital and abundant natural resources like minerals, arable land and water resources. African economies have not been able to fully leverage these resources due to factors such as poor governance, weak institutions and inadequate infrastructure. The current economic systems and models in place have not been able to fully address the unique challenges and opportunities of the African continent. This is where Afro-economics comes in as a necessary solution to promote sustainable economic growth and development in Africa. One of the key tenets of Afro-economics is the recognition of the importance of local knowledge and expertise in developing sustainable solutions. Most African economies are characterised by a large and vibrant informal sector, which includes small businesses, street vendors and informal traders.

These local practices and institutions have often been overlooked by traditional economic models, yet they hold significant potential for economic growth and development through job creation and income generation, which help to reduce poverty. It is difficult to achieve economies of scale with small and fragmented markets, so regional integration and cooperation can help to create larger and more integrated markets and address the infrastructure deficits that these economies face. Afro-economics will take care of the informal sector in African economies by creating an enabling environment for its growth and development through policies and interventions that promote formalisation, access to finance and the development of supportive institutions. Afro-economics recognises the importance of improving access to finance for SMEs in African economies through the development of financial markets, the expansion of microfinance services and the provision of targeted financial support for them.

Africa has a young and growing population which presents both opportunities and challenges. On one hand, the youthful population presents a potential source of energy, creativity and innovation. On the other hand, the lack of employment opportunities and the skills mismatch can lead to unemployment and underemployment, which can undermine economic growth and development. Afro-economics recognides the need to invest in human capital development, including education, health and skills development. This can help to create a skilled and productive workforce that will drive economic growth and development.

African economies are also heavily dependent on natural resources, including agriculture, mining and forestry. The exploitation of these resources can also have negative impacts on the environment and the long-term sustainability of the economy. Afro-economics recognises the need to promote sustainable development that balances economic growth, resource management and environmental conservation in African economies through policies and interventions that mitigate the impact of climate change and environmental degradation, which have significant economic and social consequences. This will promote sustainable agriculture, forestry and mining practices, as well as the development of renewable energy systems and the promotion of sustainable tourism.

Afro-economics is consistent with the African concept of Ubuntu, which emphasises the interconnectedness of people and the importance of community in achieving sustainable development. It recognises the need to develop transportation networks, energy infrastructure, access to finance for innovative projects, research and development, good governance, transparency and accountability, effective institutions and communication systems that will connect African economies to facilitate trade, investment and development. The success of the Afro-economics approach will also depend on the ability of African economies to leverage their unique strengths and opportunities, while addressing the challenges and obstacles that stand in the way of sustainable economic growth and development. With the right policies, institutions and partnerships in place, Afro-economics has the potential to transform the economic landscape of Africa and create a more prosperous and sustainable future for the continent.

Afro-economics will prioritise the development and implementation of comprehensive industrial policies that provide a strategic roadmap for the growth of the manufacturing sector and these include tariff protection, tax incentives and targeted support for key industries. Also, investment in skills development programmes that provide training and education to enhance the technical and managerial capabilities of the local workforce.

Some key aspects and sectors Afro-economics aims to bring practical African solutions:

Agriculture and Rural Development: Agriculture is a key sector in many African economies, providing livelihoods for a significant portion of the population. Afro-economics will promote sustainable agriculture practices that are tailored to local ecological conditions and traditional knowledge systems. This can include agroforestry, organic farming and crop diversification, which could enhance food security, promote local value chains, and improve rural livelihoods.

Informal Economy: The informal economy, which includes activities such as street vending, small-scale trading and artisanal production, is a significant part of African economies. Afro-economics will support the formalisation and integration of the informal economy into mainstream economic activities. This can involve providing access to financial services, technical support and legal recognition of informal businesses, which can enhance their productivity, competitiveness and contribution to the overall economy.

Women and Youth Empowerment: Women and youth represent a significant portion of the African population and have untapped potentials as economic agents. Afro-economics will prioritise gender and youth empowerment by promoting gender equality, providing access to education and skills training, and creating opportunities for entrepreneurship and leadership. This can enable women and youths to participate fully in economic activities, contribute to economic growth and achieve sustainable development.

Manufacturing Industry: Afro-economics will prioritise the development and implementation of comprehensive industrial policies that provide a strategic roadmap for the growth of the manufacturing sector and these include tariff protection, tax incentives and targeted support for key industries. Also, investment in skills development programmes that provide training and education to enhance the technical and managerial capabilities of the local workforce. Access to finance for the manufacturing sector through venture capital funds, loan guarantees and credit facilities that support the establishment and growth of manufacturing businesses is also key and essential for the growth of the sector and this can create new export markets for African manufacturers.

Infrastructure Development: Adequate infrastructure, such as transportation, energy, water and telecommunications, is essential for economic development. Afro-economics will prioritise infrastructure development, particularly in rural and marginalised areas, to facilitate trade, investment and connectivity. This can involve developing transportation networks, expanding access to modern energy services, improving water and sanitation facilities, and promoting digital connectivity.

Afro-economics will address the specific structural needs and challenges that have hindered economic development in Africa. It emphasises the importance of African countries promoting local content through domestic manufacturing, processing of raw materials and value addition. It also highlights the need for the development of regional value chains through Infrastructural development, strengthening of human capacity and institutions, research and innovation

Innovation and Technology: Afro-economics will foster innovation and technology adoption to address pressing societal challenges. This can include promoting local research and development, supporting technology transfer and building technological capacity through education and skills development. Additionally, Afro-economics can encourage the use of digital technologies for financial inclusion, e-commerce and e-governance, which can enhance efficiency and transparency in economic activities.

Renewable Energy: Access to reliable and affordable energy is crucial for economic development. Afro-economics will prioritise renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and hydropower, which are abundant in many African countries. This can help reduce dependence on fossil fuels, promote energy security and create new opportunities for green jobs and entrepreneurship.

Cultural Industries: Africa has a rich cultural heritage that can be leveraged for economic development. Afro-economics will promote the development of cultural industries such as arts, crafts, music and tourism, which can generate income and employment opportunities while preserving cultural diversity. This can involve investing in cultural infrastructure, promoting cultural entrepreneurship and creating favourable policies that protect and promote African cultural expressions.

Sustainable Natural Resource Management: Africa is rich in natural resources, including minerals, forests and wildlife. Afro-economics will promote sustainable natural resource management practices that balance economic development with environmental conservation. This can involve promoting responsible mining, supporting community-based forestry initiatives and promoting wildlife conservation and ecotourism. Sustainable natural resource management can create economic opportunities, while preserving the ecological integrity of African ecosystems.

In conclusion, Afro-economics will address the specific structural needs and challenges that have hindered economic development in Africa. It emphasises the importance of African countries promoting local content through domestic manufacturing, processing of raw materials and value addition. It also highlights the need for the development of regional value chains through Infrastructural development, strengthening of human capacity and institutions, research and innovation, investments in key sectors, building strong public-private partnerships, economic diversification and Intra-African trade. Achieving all these will require sustained political will, adequate financing and a long-term commitment to sustainable development. By adopting Afro-Economics, African countries can reduce poverty, achieve economic prosperity and stability that is relevant and sustainable for the continent and improve the standard of living for millions of people across Africa. An African solution is required to solve African problems and Afro-economics is the solution for sustainable economic growth and development in Africa.

Dovish Okojie is a Management Consultant and Public Affairs Commentator. He writes from Abuja and can be reached on dovishokojie@gmail.com

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Reader survey As a reader of PREMIUM TIMES, your opinion matters. Please take our survey to help us better understand the values and preferences of our readers. Your feedback will give us valuable insights into how we can tailor the different types of content we offer to meet your needs. The survey should only take about 6-8 minutes to complete. Click here to take it.

Flutterwave, Africas leading payments technology company, announced that Nairobi, Kenya, will serve as its regional hub in East Africa.

Mr. Falades comments were made during last weeks 3rd American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) Business Summit held in Nairobi, which brought together the AmChams across East Africa, together with a senior U.S. government delegation, U.S. investors convened by the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerces Africa Business Centre, and East African businesses and officials, to chart new paths for enhanced US commercial engagement with Kenya and the East Africa Region. More than 500 East African and American delegates participated.

We recognise the invaluable role Kenya plays in the East African region, and the countrys business-friendly environment and digital capability, said Oluwabankole Falade, Chief Regulatory and Government Relations Officer. As a business with African roots, and headquartered in San Francisco, we are aware of the importance of empowering the small business owners, an objective shared by the Kenyan administration.

The two-day programme was anchored by U.S. Ambassador to Kenya, Meg Witman, who delivered opening remarks on, Why Africa, Why Kenya, and closed by President Ruto who announced new measures to enhance U.S. trade and investment in the country including steps to support the Small and Medium Business Enterprises (SMEs) sector, a key segment of Flutterwaves business.

Flutterwave was a sponsor of the AmCham event, and it is a board member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerces Africa Business Centre as well as a member of AmCham in most markets in which it operates, including Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia.

Flutterwaves strategy is well aligned with that of the East Africa region, ensuring that SMEs are provided with efficient, simple and affordable technology solutions that drive their businesses to profitability across borders.

Flutterwaves key SME solutions, Flutterwave Store and Flutterwave Market, aim to support Kenyas SME sector, which employs around 80 percent of Kenyas population, creates 30 percent of jobs annually, and contributes 3 percent to its national GDP. Kenya offers Flutterwave a gateway into the region and to a customer base of about 476 million people as of 2023.

We are also glad of the support we have received from the Government of Kenya, AmCham stakeholders and leadership across the region, and we are proud to have chosen to support the Summit and see many other global firms who we work with such as Amazon and Uber choosing to settle here as well. We are in good company, closed out Mr. Falade.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Reader survey As a reader of PREMIUM TIMES, your opinion matters. Please take our survey to help us better understand the values and preferences of our readers. Your feedback will give us valuable insights into how we can tailor the different types of content we offer to meet your needs. The survey should only take about 6-8 minutes to complete. Click here to take it.

Nigerias electoral commission, INEC, has asked Habu Ari, its resident electoral commissioner (REC) who illegally announced the wrong governorship election result in Adamawa State on Sunday, to stay away from the commissions office in the state.

In a letter by its Secretary, Rose Oriaran-Anthony, the commission also directed the administrative secretary in the state to take charge of its activities with immediate effect.

This comes barely 24 hours after Mr Ari was summoned to the commissions headquarters in Abuja.

I hereby convey the Commissions decision that you (Barr. Hudu Yunusa Ari), Resident Electoral Commissioner, Adamawa State should stay away from the Commissions office in Adamawa State immediately until further notice, parts of the letter read.

The Administrative Secretary has been directed to take full charge of INEC, Adamawa State with immediate effect.

It is not clear if the REC obeyed the directive that he should report to Abuja.

INEC spokesperson, Festus Okoye, did not respond to calls by PREMIUM TIMES seeking confirmation on Mr Aris arrival in the federal capital.

Background

At about 9 a.m. on Sunday when journalists, observers and political party agents awaited the resumption of the collation of results of the supplementary governorship elections held on Saturday, Mr Ari, made an illegal declaration of Aishatu Dahiru of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the election.

At the time, the collation of results had yet to be concluded and Mr Ari was not the Returning Officer empowered by law to make a declaration of results.

INEC headquarters in Abuja quickly described the announcement as null, void and of no effect and ordered the suspension of the collation of results.

READ ALSO:

The commission also summoned both the Returning Officer and the REC.

The development immediately triggered a controversy that led to the harassment of an INEC National commissioner, Abdullahi Zuru, who was in Adamawa for an official assignment.

Mr Zuru, a professor, was mistaken for the REC who made the illegal declaration and was harassed. In a video circulating on social media, Mr Zuru was seen stripped to his shorts with blood in some part of his body.

The state governor and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the election, Ahmadu Fintiri, has called for calm just as the PDP national headquarters called for the arrest of Mr Ari.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Li Chenyu, a student at Anhui Normal University, creats portraits of a fallen hero's family in Wuhu City, east China's Anhui Province, March 31, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Duan)

HEFEI, April 15 (Xinhua) -- A group of Chinese university students is using art to pay tribute to fallen war heroes, creating portraits for their families free of charge.

The portraits are made based on research and descriptions from those close to the subjects, and they help families reconnect with their loved ones and keep their memories alive.

Born in 1920 in north China's Hebei Province, Song Lianheng participated in China's revolution in 1946 and died in the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea.

That was all the information Duan Hongrun, a student at Anhui Normal University in east China's Anhui Province, could ascertain before he started to draw a portrait of Song.

The drawing major was perturbed at first. He later managed to find a blurry old photo of the hero's nephew for reference, and he studied many historical materials to determine the clothing that would have been worn by Chinese People's Volunteers like Song.

A vivid portrait of a man with eyes full of thoughts of his loved ones and the firmness of a soldier gradually came into being, with repeated alterations based on the suggestions of Song's family members.

Song's younger sister, 86, said the finished portrait was quite like her brother, and that the fallen hero had finally returned home after so many years. With the recognition of the late soldier's family, Duan felt that his efforts over two weeks had paid off.

"It seems as though the hero is looking at me and, when I look at the portrait, we are having a conversation across time. I will remember his appearance forever," Duan said.

Duan is one of a number of volunteers who have joined the "Portraits for War Heroes" project, which was launched by Anhui Normal University in November 2021.

By collecting information about each individual -- details including physical appearance, personality traits and accomplishments -- from their families and relatives, the project aims to create portraits of heroes and help more families realize their dream of reuniting with their loved ones.

On an early morning three days before the Qingming Festival, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, Anhui Normal University student Wei Ziyang brought a composite portrait he had made to Hefei, the capital of Anhui.

Chen Yannian and Chen Qiaonian, siblings who sacrificed their lives for the Communist Party of China in 1927 and 1928, respectively, have become better known to the Chinese people since the TV series "The Age of Awakening" first aired in 2021. A road in Hefei has been named after them to commemorate the revolutionary forefathers.

"The two never had a photo taken together when they were alive, so I decided to make a composite portrait for them and donate it to a local school along the road," Wei said as he held the framed portrait.

The initiative to create free portraits for the families of fallen heroes is a heartwarming tribute to those who sacrificed their lives for their country. The students involved are utilizing their artistic skills not only to honor the heroes but also to help their families and relatives find comfort and closure, according to university faculty member Wang Wei.

The project was awarded the gold medal in the China youth volunteer service project competition in 2022. More than 200 students from Anhui Normal University have so far taken part in the project, completing 96 portraits to date.

Yu Jiarui, a student at Anhui Normal University, takes a photo of a fallen hero's portrait that he has created in Wuhu City, east China's Anhui Province, March 31, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Duan)

Editor: WXL
Reader survey As a reader of PREMIUM TIMES, your opinion matters. Please take our survey to help us better understand the values and preferences of our readers. Your feedback will give us valuable insights into how we can tailor the different types of content we offer to meet your needs. The survey should only take about 6-8 minutes to complete. Click here to take it.

At least 33 people have been buried following an attack by gunmen in Runji village of Zangon Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

Despite being primed to do so, the Kaduna State Government is yet to provide details on the number of casualties from the attack.

Samuel Aruwan, the states commissioner, Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs, said the military informed the government about the attack which happened on Saturday night.

The Governor condoled the families that lost their loved ones and prayed for the repose of the victims souls. He also prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured.

The residents of the area told Channels Television that 33 people were buried after the attack. They said many others sustained injuries.

John Hayab, director general, Global Peace Foundation, accused security agents in the area of primarily focusing on collecting bribes from motorists rather than securing the residents.

Mr Hayab said the killers invaded the community killing people unrestrained after they gave two months notice to the residents that they would come to destroy and kill people in the community.

He said apart from those killed, over four houses were burnt.

He lamented the poor intelligence gathering from the security agencies.

Saturdays attack by the non-state actors was the second one in a week. PREMIUM TIMES reported how eight people were killed in the same Zangon Kataf local government area.

READ ALSO:

President of Atyap Community Development Association, a community-based organisation in the area, Sam Timbuwak, said the initial killings occurred on Thursday at the AtakNjei community.

He said the gunmen invaded the community from a nearby bush and began a shooting spree, killing eight people in the process.

Zangon Kataf in Southern Kaduna is one of the troubled areas being terrorised by non-state actors in the state.

Also, in many areas of the state, terrorists kill, maim and kidnap residents for ransom.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Reader survey As a reader of PREMIUM TIMES, your opinion matters. Please take our survey to help us better understand the values and preferences of our readers. Your feedback will give us valuable insights into how we can tailor the different types of content we offer to meet your needs. The survey should only take about 6-8 minutes to complete. Click here to take it.

The police in Ondo State said seven suspects have been arrested for stoning a 35-year-old driver to death on 10 April.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the driver, Olorunfemi Tope, had in an accident killed one person and injured others along Ijoka road in Akure.

The driver, who was allegedly labelled a Yahoo boy by an angry mob, was subsequently lynched to death and the video of the incident was shared on the internet.

Police spokesperson in the state, Olufunmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, told journalists on Monday in Akure that seven people were arrested in connection with the incident.

According to Mrs Odunlami-Omisanya, out of the seven, Amos Victor, Boboye Ismail, Olatunji Samuel and Farotimi Pelumi, are the principal suspects.

He said they were among those captured in the video attacking the deceased.

READ ALSO:

He said the suspects would be taken to court on charges of arson and murder, after the conclusion of the investigation.

We have said it without number that jungle justice is illegal and against the law.

When there is an accident our focus is how to rescue the victims by taking them to the nearest hospitals for first aid and never take laws into our hands.

Its wrong for anybody to sniff the life of anybody; we should allow the law to take its course because its not in anybodys place to kill anyone, the spokesperson said.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


This is the 49th year of the Texas Renaissance Festival, the nation's largest Renaissance-themed event

TODD MISSION, Texas, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Texas Renaissance Festival today announced that tickets for the 2023 season are on sale now, with additional ticket discounts available for advanced online purchases at TexRenfest.com. Located one hour north of Houston, the Texas Renaissance Festival is the nation's largest and most acclaimed festival of food, fun and Renaissance magic with more than half a million visitors each year. It takes place over eight themed weekends from October 7th through November 26th.

Transcend the Mundane: This year's festival will be creating even more immersive experiences for adults and children. With 21 stages, The King's Feast, jugglers, bards, acrobats, games, rides, restaurants, pub crawls and more than 400 shoppes and artisans, there is something for everyone.

Bring the Whole Family: To make it an affordable destination for families, children five and under will be free every Saturday and kids 12 and under will be free every Sunday of the eight-week festival.

Stay and Play: The Texas Renaissance festival is also introducing exciting new "Stay and Play" packages that offer a great value for patrons and families who stay for the weekend. These packages include:

Festival admission for both Saturday and Sunday

Weekend camping pass (Thursday to Monday) at the Fields of New Market

Access to special Fields of New Market events, including fun activities for kids at the Apprentice Gazebo

Excitement for adults with admission to The Knight's Club after hours party (age 21+).

Opening weekend advance special pricing starts at $17.00 for Saturday and $12.00 for Sunday. For details on each weekend and day-of pricing, visit texrenfest.com/tickets.

The Texas Renaissance Festival has established daily capacity limits to ensure that every patron experiences the festival at its best, so advance ticket purchases are advised.

About Texas Renaissance Festival

The Texas Renaissance Festival is the nation's largest and most acclaimed Renaissance themed event. Established in 1974, the event attracts over half a million visitors each year to its 55-acre recreation of a 16th Century European village. For more information, visit www.texrenfest.com.

Media Contacts:

Todd Wold, Marketing Director, Texas Renaissance Festival

Phone: 281-356-2178 x310

Email: twold (at) texrenfest.com

Jennifer Newton

Bluehouse Consulting Group, Inc.

503-805-7540

jennifer (at) bluehousecg.com

SOURCE Texas Renaissance Festival
Walks aim to raise $1 million to support the growing number of people with hearing loss

ROCKVILLE, Md., April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA)the leading voice of the growing number of Americans with hearing losskicks off its 2023 Walk4Hearing season with community support events in 20 U.S. cities. Hearing loss affects one in seven Americans, and worldwide 1 billion young people are now at risk from noise exposure, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). HLAA's Walk4Hearing events raise awareness and funds for this growing problem and bring hope to people with hearing loss.

Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) 2023 Walk4Hearing brings hope to hearing loss in 20 cities across the U.S. Tweet this Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) Arizona Walk4Hearing participants proceed under the balloon arch in Mesa on November 5, 2022. Hundreds of participants at starting gate of the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) Pennsylvania Walk4Hearing in Philadelphia on October 16, 2022.

HLAA is asking the public to join the hearing health movement by participating in or donating to one of the Walk4Hearing events, which take place from May through November. You can form a team, register as a walker, or contribute to a walk in your area at walk4hearing.org.

Hearing is an often overlooked, but important part of overall health. Untreated hearing loss is linked to an increased risk of dementia, falls and even cardiovascular disease. HLAA educates the public about hearing health, advocates for accessible care, treatment and communications, and helps people with hearing loss throughout the country.

"Walk4Hearing events are the HLAA community of support in action. Walks meet people in their hometowns, give them hope, and empower them to thrive with hearing loss. We also spread important messages about getting your hearing checked and protecting it in noisy environments," says HLAA executive director Barbara Kelley.

Many Walk4Hearing events offer free hearing screenings, access to hearing care and assistive technology experts, and community assistance from local HLAA Chapters and State Organizations. Since 2006, Walk4Hearing has raised more than $18 million for essential programs and a wide range of resources.

Honorary co-chairs of the 2023 Walk4Hearing are Robert Engelke, president and founder of CapTel, a company providing captioned phones for people with hearing loss and low vision, and Brandon Sawalich, president and CEO at Starkey, a global hearing aid manufacturer. As co-chairs, they will call on volunteers, families, health care professionals and businesses to support HLAA's work to reduce stigma and get people connected with hearing help sooner, as well as donating funds and organizing company teams.

"Attending a Walk4Hearing event is a great way to connect with other local families, learn about new technology and support one another through the journey of hearing loss," says Engelke. "It is an honor for CapTel to support these events and we invite you to join us!"

"Stigma continues to be a major barrier when it comes to seeking hearing help," says Sawalich. "Through our support and partnership with HLAA and Walk4Hearing, we aim to promote hearing health care awareness. Together, we can continue to connect our communities to the people and things they love most."

Both CapTel and Starkey are once again leading HLAA Hear for Life partners for 2023, providing continuing support to HLAA's programs that empower people with hearing loss and break down barriers to care and treatment.

WHO estimates that the number of people with hearing loss worldwide will double by 2050, which makes the awareness and prevention messages of Walk4Hearing critical. To find a walk near you, visit walk4hearing.org.

2023 Walk4Hearing Schedule:

Westchester/Rockland  May 6

Michigan  May 20

Nashville  May 20

Bay Area  June 3

Connecticut  June 3

Long Beach  June 11

Milwaukee  June 11

New York City  September 17

Kentucky  September 23

Buffalo  September 24

Chicago  October 1

New England  October 1

New Jersey  October 8

North Carolina  October 8

Pennsylvania  October 15

Washington DC  October 15

San Diego  October 21

Arizona - November 4

Houston  November 4

Florida  November 12

ABOUT HLAA

The Hearing Loss Association of America is the leading voice of the growing number of people with hearing loss in the U.S. We advocate to increase access to care and treatment, break down stigmas through education and awareness, and empower people with hearing loss through a nationwide network of support. Our work impacts millions, improving the lives of people with hearing loss, and elevating the importance of hearing health and accessible communication, through national legislation and public policy, and a network of Chapters and state organizations. Our Walk4Hearing events raise awareness and funds in cities across the country and bring hope to individuals and families dealing with hearing loss. Visit hearingloss.org for more information.

Meredith Resnick

[email protected]

202.549.0807

SOURCE Hearing Loss Association of America
DUBLIN, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- AerCap Holdings N.V. ("AerCap" or the "Company") (NYSE: AER) today announced the publication of its sixth annual Environmental, Social, and Governance ("ESG") Report, for the year ended December 31, 2022.

The report sets forth in detail AerCap's commitment to growing its business in a responsible and sustainable way and includes a number of environmental, social, and governance disclosures. The ESG Report is prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards. The report can be found here or on the ESG section of our website.

Key highlights of the report include:

Successfully concluded the first full year of our Board-level ESG Committee.

Owned aircraft fleet comprises ~66% fuel-efficient, new technology aircraft by net book value, furthering our progress towards achieving ~75% new technology in 2024.

Established a Government Affairs function focused on legislative developments and strategic matters related to aircraft leasing, aviation sustainability and ESG.

Signatory of Aircraft Leasing Ireland's inaugural Sustainability Charter in October 2022 .

. Launched a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging ("DEIB") framework underscoring our commitment to promoting gender diversity in the aviation industry; 44% of our employees and 25% of our senior management are women.

Together with our employees, AerCap donated over $800,000 to charitable and social causes and partnerships in 2022.

to charitable and social causes and partnerships in 2022. "A" rating reaffirmed by MSCI ESG Ratings in December 2022 .

Stacey Cartwright, Chair of the Board's ESG Committee, said, "We are pleased to launch AerCap's ESG Report for the year 2022. As the leading aviation lessor, AerCap's goal is to promote the growth of aviation globally in a sustainable manner, to ensure best-in-class governance and to attract and develop the best talent in the industry. We view sustainability as an integral part of the company's strategy which is why we established a Board-level ESG Committee in 2021. We are really pleased with the progress we have made in what was the first year of this Committee as we lead our industry towards a more sustainable future."

"2022 was a monumental year for AerCap as we successfully integrated GECAS to create an unrivalled leader in aviation with significant global reach and scale. We are at the forefront of aircraft leasing and this position underlines the leadership role we have to play in shaping the sustainability journey of our industry," said Aengus Kelly, Chief Executive Officer of AerCap. "In 2022, our team completed a record number of transactions and took delivery of 72 fuel-efficient, new technology aircraft. To date, we have now invested ~$45 billion in new technology aircraft, more than any other airline or lessor, underlining our commitment to leading-edge investment."

About AerCap

AerCap is the global leader in aviation leasing with one of the most attractive order books in the industry. AerCap serves approximately 300 customers around the world with comprehensive fleet solutions. AerCap is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (AER) and is based in Dublin with offices in Shannon, Miami, Singapore, Memphis, Amsterdam, Shanghai, Dubai, Seattle, Toulouse and other locations around the world.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain statements, estimates and forecasts with respect to future performance and events. These statements, estimates and forecasts are "forward-looking statements". In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "might," "should," "expect," "plan," "intend," "will," "aim," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe," "predict," "potential" or "continue" or the negatives thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this press release are forward-looking statements and are based on various underlying assumptions and expectations and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions, and may include projections of our future financial performance based on our growth strategies and anticipated trends in our business. These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events. There are important factors, including the impacts of, and associated responses to: the Ukraine Conflict, the Covid-19 pandemic, that could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results, level of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. As a result, we cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements included in this press release will prove to be accurate or correct. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the future performance or events described in the forward-looking statements in this press release might not occur. Accordingly, you should not rely upon forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results and we do not assume any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any of these forward-looking statements. Except as required by applicable law, we do not undertake any obligation to, and will not, update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For more information regarding AerCap and to be added to our email distribution list, please visit www.aercap.com and follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/aercapnv.

SOURCE AerCap Holdings N.V.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his wife receive flowers presented by children from the Shanghai Children's Palace of the China Welfare Institute and pose for a photo with them upon arrival in Shanghai, east China, April 12, 2023.

Ever since China and Brazil established diplomatic ties 49 years ago, the two countries have maintained close high-level exchanges and solid political mutual trust.

BEIJING, April 16 (Xinhua) -- "I've gotten a job, bought a sofa and a refrigerator with the money I earned, plastered the exteriors of my house with cement, have access to the Internet at home, and learned how to make business contacts, purchase and market online. All my dreams have come true," Marlene Araujo Dias told Xinhua.

Living in a forested village in the northern Brazilian state of Tocantins named Malhadinha, Araujo Dias is one of the many locals feeling their lives have changed since the launch of a Chinese-built fruit processing plant in August 2021. The change, which Araujo Dias described as "turning plain water into red wine," epitomizes close cooperation between the two countries oceans away.

The latest state visit of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to China, during which he and Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks, has mapped out an even brighter future for bilateral ties, where the two biggest developing countries and emerging markets in the Eastern and Western hemispheres work together to deliver greater benefits to the two peoples, and play a more important and positive role for peace, stability and prosperity in their regions and around the world.

"FRIENDSHIP IS LIKE A BOTTLE OF WINE"

"Friendship is like a bottle of wine, the older, the better." This Brazilian proverb quoted by Xi during his visit to Brazil in 2014 was repeated by Lula on Thursday when he praised the relationship between the two countries as "extraordinary" in China.

Ever since China and Brazil established diplomatic ties 49 years ago, the two countries have maintained close high-level exchanges and solid political mutual trust. In 1993, Brazil became the first developing country to establish a strategic partnership with China, and in 2012 that partnership was upgraded to a comprehensive strategic one. From 2006 to 2022, the China-Brazil High-Level Coordination and Cooperation Committee held six meetings, pushing for continuous fruits in all-round bilateral practical cooperation.

Agricultural products, minerals and petroleum have been pillars in the economic cooperation between China and Brazil. Investment from China in infrastructure and projects for the public good has benefited Brazilians. Moreover, the opening of a new cargo air route linking the southern Chinese metropolis Shenzhen to Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city, earlier in April is expected to further stimulate e-commerce trade between the two countries.

High-level interactions have become more frequent in recent years, too. In July 2014, Xi went to Brazil to attend the sixth BRICS summit, and met with leaders from the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. In November 2019, he travelled to Brazil again to attend the 11th BRICS summit. Lula, an old friend of the Chinese people who has visited China multiple times, chose China as his first destination outside the Americas after taking over the Brazilian presidency early this year.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visits an exhibition hall on the latest development in digital technology and digital economy at the Shanghai Research Center of Huawei in Shanghai, east China, April 13, 2023. (Xinhua/Gao Feng)

Stressing that China always sees its relationship with Brazil as a high priority on its diplomatic agenda, Xi said Friday that "China welcomes more high-quality products from Brazil into its market. China will actively explore greater synergy between its Belt and Road Initiative and Brazil's reindustrialization strategy."

The two countries have also jointly played an important role in today's turbulent world, communicating and coordinating closely within such multilateral frameworks as the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, BRICS and the Group of 20.

Facing global changes of a magnitude unseen in a century, China and Brazil are resolved to practice true multilateralism, advocate the common values of humanity, work for a more just and equitable international governance system, truly safeguard the common interests of developing countries and international justice and equity, and build a community with a shared future for mankind, Xi said Friday.

Lula said Brazil stands ready to work with China to contribute to developing countries' efforts to shake off unfair rules and realize a fairer and more balanced development.

"NEW RECORD IN TRADE"

Moored at the Port of Acu in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Chinese supertanker YUAN PENG YANG quietly awaits its departure for Asia once it is fully loaded with containers of Brazilian crude oil.

Vinicius Patel, director of the Port Administration, told Xinhua that exporting crude oil and iron ore to China has been one of the core businesses of the port since its operation in 2014.

"We signed new contracts with Chinese companies last year. Our exports to China have hit a new record," Patel said.

The buzz of the port is a stellar example of the booming trade between China and Brazil. "When I first visited Beijing, few analysts imagined that the Sino-Brazilian partnership would acquire the relevance it has today. Since then, our trade has multiplied 16-fold and China has become Brazil's main trading partner," Lula said in a written interview with Xinhua shortly before departing for his state visit to China.

"The value of our exports to China is greater than the sum of our exports to the United States and the European Union," he said, "China is a great engine for the Brazilian agro-industry."

China has been Brazil's biggest trade partner for 14 consecutive years, and Brazil is the first Latin American country to hit a trading volume of over 100 billion U.S. dollars with China.

A container ship docks at Rio de Janeiro Port in Brazil, March 20, 2023. (Photo by Claudia Martini/Xinhua)

In 2022, two-way trade stood at 171.35 billion dollars. China imported 54.4 million tons of soybeans and 1.11 million tons of frozen beef from Brazil, taking up 59.72 percent and 41 percent of their total import amount, respectively, showed data from China's General Administration of Customs.

On Feb. 7, the People's Bank of China signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Central Bank of Brazil to establish RMB clearing arrangements in Brazil, a move experts say will improve bilateral trade efficiency and defuse external risks to provide an effective safeguard mechanism for trade between the two countries.

After the talks between Xi and Lula on Friday, the two presidents witnessed the signing of various bilateral cooperation documents on trade and investment, digital economy, scientific and technological innovation, information and communications, poverty reduction, quarantine, space and others.

Gustavo Biscassi, head of External Affairs of Brazil's mining giant Vale, told Xinhua that for his company, which has been exporting products to China for the last 50 years, "China is not only our largest market, but also a critical supplier for the mining, infrastructure and logistics equipment and services."

"We are looking forward to continuing our close cooperation with China in the next 50 years," he said.

"WHEN CULTURES COME TOGETHER"

On Jan. 19, red lanterns, Chinese paper-cuts and lion dances decorated the ancient Brazilian city of Recife. Hundreds of Brazilians gathered at the city's Marco Zero Square on this very day, not only to mark the arrival of the Year of the Rabbit, but also to celebrate the inclusion of the Chinese New Year into Recife's official calendar.

"Our historical heritage, with the reception of the light show of China, is as if the two cultures are united ... and talk a little to the world that brotherhood between peoples is possible. And that, how beautiful it is when cultures come together!" said City Councilor Cida Pedrosa.

"The relationship between peoples is extremely important, because what makes a culture flow and (stay) alive is when one culture meets another culture," she said.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks at the inauguration ceremony of the new president of the New Development Bank (NDB), Dilma Rousseff, former Brazilian President, at the bank's headquarters in Pudong, Shanghai, east China, April 13, 2023. (Xinhua/Gao Feng)

On Sept. 19, 2022, Recife okayed a decree proposed by Pedrosa to establish the Chinese New Year as an official holiday in the city. In early February this year, the city of Foz do Iguacu in southern Brazil also decided to make the Chinese New Year celebration an annual event.

Cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries have been flourishing over the years, for example, in sports, medicine and the arts. Fourteen Confucius Institutes have been established in Brazil, the most among Latin American countries, and Brazil has set up a national festival to celebrate every August the arrival of Chinese immigrants to Brazil.

In February 2021, the first Chinese school in Brazil opened in Rio de Janeiro. Two years later, the two countries launched virtual courses for teaching Chinese language and culture to beginners.

China and Brazil need to capitalize on the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations next year to carry out more people-to-people exchanges, and cultivate stronger public support for Sino-Brazilian friendship, Xi said Friday.

Similarly, Lula said he has full confidence that Brazil-China relations will embrace a brighter future.

Editor: WXL
PHILADELPHIA, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Archetype, a growth equity investment and consulting firm, has announced an investment in PolicyBound, a commercial insurance technology company. The investment will support PolicyBound's growth and expansion plans as it aims to revolutionize the commercial insurance industry.

PolicyBound offers a platform to fuel agency growth. The company helps commercial insurance brokers thrive in the digital age by using technology to enhance client engagement and obtain competitive advantages previously only available to an elite few. The investment from Archetype will enable PolicyBound to accelerate its growth.

Archetype invests in PolicyBound, which aims to revolutionize the commercial insurance industry. Tweet this

"We are thrilled to partner with Archetype as we scale our company and revolutionize the commercial insurance industry," said Mike Weisbrot, Co-Founder and CEO of PolicyBound. "Their investment will allow us to enhance our platform, expand our product offerings, and reach target markets. We look forward to working with Archetype and bringing our innovative solutions to the commercial insurance ecosystem."

Archetype has a track record of investing in and scaling high-growth companies. The company identifies opportunities for investment through their consulting engagements, leveraging their team of 80+ product development experts and strategists to perform due diligence and provide resources such as functional knowledge, industry expertise, and distribution acceleration post-investment to enable portfolio companies to rapidly scale.

"We welcome the PolicyBound team to the Archetype ecosystem. This investment is a testament to Archetype's unique approach," said Chetan Bagga, Founder and CEO of Archetype. "PolicyBound's vision, innovative technology, and customer-centric approach make them an emerging insurtech leader, and we are confident they will continue to drive growth and innovation for the industry."

About PolicyBound

PolicyBound offers an insurance platform to fuel agency growth. The company helps insurance agents thrive in the digital age by using technology to enhance client engagement and obtain competitive advantages previously only available to an elite few.

About Archetype

Archetype is a growth equity investment and consulting firm that invests in tech-enabled employee benefit, healthcare, and insurance companies. Through our sourcing and growth acceleration engine of 80+ product development and sales distribution consultants, we identify proprietary, out-of-round deal flow and enable bootstrapped, founder-held companies that have a clear path to scale with their first institutional investment.

Contact:

Diana Herst

[email protected]

SOURCE Archetype
NEW YORK, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Argus Research, an independent investment research firm, has launched Equity Research Report coverage on BUILD-A-BEAR WORKSHOP, INC. (NYSE: BBW).

Click Here to view full Argus Equity Research Report.

COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS: Excerpts (as conveyed by Argus Analyst Steve Silver) include:

BBW: Leading Omni-Channel Consumer Experience Retailer

Build-A-Bear Workshop is a global brand that creates long-term personalized relationships with its customers by marketing a wide array of plush toys, accessories and consumer experiences. Historically, sales were driven by a retail mall based footprint, but the company has diversified its operating model to leverage the power of its Build-A-Bear brand and include e-commerce, third-party retail, licensing, and franchise operations.

In our view, Build-A-Bear Workshop provides a unique customer experience and its prime retail thrust drives traffic to its mall locations. The company has successfully expanded its customer reach to include adults and collectors, and has leveraged its loyalty database to drive repeat customer visits, resulting in consistent sales and profit growth. We view the recent resumption of parties at its retail locations as a tailwind to its near-term growth profile.

In our view, the company's digital transformation has enabled omnichannel capabilities that drive increased consumer traffic across multiple channels. Recently, Build-A-Bear Workshop has been successfully driving increased visibility and organic growth through the creation of proprietary products and content, which are complemented by a strong licensing partnership with over 75 world-class collaborators. In diversifying its revenue streams, the company has continued to maintain strong control over its inventory, which we see driving operating results that can continue to return increased value to its shareholders through special dividends and share repurchases.

As of January 28, 2023 , Build-A-Bear Workshop had cash and cash equivalents of $42.2 million compared to $32.8 million at the end of fiscal 2021 with no borrowings on its revolving credit facility.

, Build-A-Bear Workshop had cash and cash equivalents of compared to at the end of fiscal 2021 with no borrowings on its revolving credit facility. The company has repurchased more than 10% of its stock since 2021, and has shown a commitment to returning capital to its shareholders. Including a special dividend paid in April 2023 , Build-A-Bear Workshop has returned more than $70 million to its shareholders in the form of stock repurchases and dividends during the past two years.

, Build-A-Bear Workshop has returned more than to its shareholders in the form of stock repurchases and dividends during the past two years. Build-A-Bear's stock has recovered nicely from its lows at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but remains considerably below our view of its strong fundamentals and prospects for continued growth. Based on our P/E analysis, we arrive at a fair value estimate of $45 , well above current levels.

INVESTMENT THESIS: Click Here to view full Argus Equity Research Report and Investment Thesis.

About BUILD-A-BEAR WORKSHOP, INC. (NYSE: BBW) www.buildabear.com

Based in St. Louis, Missouri, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. is a global brand that develops and markets a wide array of consumer-focused toys and experiences through nearly 500 interactive brick-and-mortar locations, as well as e-commerce/digital channels. The company also offers products at wholesale and in non-plush consumer categories via licensing agreements with leading manufacturers, and is expanding its brand beyond retail by creating engaging content through social media channels.

For more information please contact:

Voin Todorovic

CFO

[email protected]

314-423-8000 x5221

About Argus Research Corp.

Headquartered in NYC, Argus Research (www.argusresearch.com) is a leading independent equity research firm (est. 1934)  providing fundamental and quantitative research coverage on more than 1,600 companies across all 11 sectors of the S&P 500, as well as macroeconomic and equity market forecasts, thematic research, model portfolios and IPO research. In addition, Argus has recently committed to providing a sponsored research solution for small & mid-cap companies seeking coverage. Argus's Equity Research & earnings estimates are available on major research / earnings estimate aggregator platforms, including Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters, Factset and S&P Global.

For more information please contact:

Darrell Stone

646-747-5438

[email protected]

Argus Research Co. has received a flat fee from the company discussed in this report as part of a Sponsored Research agreement between Argus and the company. No part of Argus Research's compensation is directly or indirectly related to the content of this assessment or to other opinions expressed in this report. Please refer to the full Argus report and the disclaimer for complete disclosures.

SOURCE Argus Research
ADDISON, Texas, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Authentix, the authority in authentication and information services, announced that it has acquired Netherlands based Royal Joh. Enschede, a leading specialty printing and security solutions provider from investment firm Nimbus.

Founded in 1703, Koninklijke (Royal) Joh. Enschede progressed from a small book printer to become a world-class security printing organization long associated with the highest quality security documents, postage stamps, banknotes, and brand protection solutions. Known worldwide for its design capabilities and unprecedented high-quality printworks, Royal Joh. Enschede also produces the world's most innovative banknotes and stamps and provides additional products to an impressive client list including financial transactions, cash equivalents, certificates, visas, diplomas, and multiple solutions for brand protection. Based in Haarlem, Netherlands with a branch in Yokohama, Japan, the company has been a frontrunner in the digital-physical cross-over technological transition, having introduced many product firsts during its rich and longstanding heritage.

Authentix acquires the Joh. Enschede shares from hands-on investment firm Nimbus, who have been the majority shareholder of RJE since 2014. In that period Nimbus and the management prepared the company for the future, rationalizing the operation and investing in distinctive technologies and solutions.

"This strategic acquisition expands our portfolio and capabilities in high security printing technologies to support Authentix's ongoing growth in programs for governments, central banks, and commercial brand owners," stated Kevin McKenna, CEO of Authentix, adding that "the combination of experience, craftmanship, design innovation and production techniques that Joh. Enschede brings to Authentix fits perfectly with our current strategic growth strategy."

Gelmer Leibbrandt, CEO for Joh. Enschede, added, "We are extremely excited to become part of the highly talented and experienced team at Authentix. We feel the combination of the two companies' approach to quality and innovation enables ample opportunities to provide our customers with the most advanced security print solutions in the industry."

Jannes Snel, Investment Manager for Nimbus stated "When Nimbus acquired Joh. Enschede in 2014 we knew the challenge was to identify new growth opportunities. We are proud that we have been able to find these and worked intensely to prepare the company for its next phase of development. We are very pleased with Authentix as the new home for Joh. Enschede, and are confident that under their wings, Joh. Enschede will continue its growth path."

Royal Joh. Enschede will remain a stand-alone operating entity retaining its respective brands and integrate within the Authentix group of companies to further grow its market share and collective set of strategic offerings leveraging the larger Authentix sales platform.

About Joh. Enschede

Royal Joh. Enschede, founded in 1703, is known worldwide for its attractive banknotes and stamps. With attention to detail, technical expertise and quality, Royal Joh. Enschede is the specialist for custom, secured and extremely reliable printing and security solutions. Royal Joh. Enschede creates and prints products for financial transactions, cash equivalents and certification products, such as postage stamps, passports, visas, tax stamps, diplomas, certificates and products to protect high value branded products (brand protection). Based on craftsmanship and expertise, the company provides security printing solutions against fraud and counterfeiting worldwide.

About Authentix

As the authority in authentication solutions, Authentix brings enhanced visibility and traceability to today's complex global supply chains. For over 25 years, Authentix has provided clients with physical and software-enabled solutions to detect, mitigate, and prevent counterfeiting and other illicit trading activity for currency, excise taxable goods, and branded consumer products. Through a proven partnership model and sector expertise, clients experience custom solution design, rapid implementation, consumer engagement, and complete program management to ensure product safety, revenue protection, and consumer trust for the best-known global brands on the market. Headquartered in Addison, Texas USA, Authentix, Inc. has offices in the North America, Europe, Middle East, Asia, and Africa serving clients worldwide. For more information, visit https://www.authentix.com. Authentix is a registered trademark of Authentix, Inc.

SOURCE Authentix, Inc.
NEW YORK, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The automotive market in Singapore is estimated to grow by 18,191 actual units from 2022 to 2027. The growth momentum will be progressing at a CAGR of 6.03% during the forecast period. The market is segmented by propulsion (IC engine-based vehicles and electric vehicles), vehicle type (passenger cars and commercial vehicles), and type (hatchback, sedan, SUV, and MPV). To understand more about the automotive market in Singapore, request a sample report.

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Automotive Market in Singapore

By propulsion, the market will observe significant growth in the IC engine-based vehicles segment during the forecast period. The growth of the segment is driven by the increased preference for gasoline and diesel pickup trucks in Singapore. In addition, factors such as rising disposable income, technological developments in IC engines, and the introduction of strict legal regulations on exhaust emissions will fuel the growth of the segment.

The market is driven by the demand for economical and low-pollution vehicles. Growing concerns over the harmful effects of greenhouse gases emitted by automobiles have increased the demand for low-emission vehicles. Besides, the rise in fuel prices has shifted consumers' focus toward adopting more fuel-efficient vehicles. Increased fuel prices have also led many consumers to adopt electric vehicles. The demand for such vehicles is expected to further rise during the forecast period with dynamic developments in policies, the implementation of guidelines, and advances in automotive technologies. All these factors will drive the growth of the market.

Automotive Market in Singapore - Insights -

Vendors : 15+, including Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd., Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, Daimler AG, Ferrari spa, Honda Motor Co. Ltd., Isuzu Motors Ltd., Mazda Motor Corp., Mitsubishi Electric Corp., Porsche Automobil Holding SE, Renault SAS, SAIC Motor Corp. Ltd., Stellantis NV, Suzuki Motor Corp., Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd., TC Changan Singapore Pte Ltd, Tesla Inc., Toyota Motor Corp., AB Volvo, General Motors Co., Hyundai Motor Co., among others

: 15+, including Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd., Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, Daimler AG, Ferrari spa, Honda Motor Co. Ltd., Isuzu Motors Ltd., Mazda Motor Corp., Mitsubishi Electric Corp., Porsche Automobil Holding SE, Renault SAS, SAIC Motor Corp. Ltd., Stellantis NV, Suzuki Motor Corp., Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd., TC Changan Singapore Pte Ltd, Tesla Inc., Toyota Motor Corp., AB Volvo, General Motors Co., Hyundai Motor Co., among others Coverage: Parent market analysis; key drivers, major trends, and challenges; customer and vendor landscape; vendor product insights and recent developments; key vendors; and market positioning of vendors

Parent market analysis; key drivers, major trends, and challenges; customer and vendor landscape; vendor product insights and recent developments; key vendors; and market positioning of vendors Segments: Propulsion (IC engine-based vehicles and electric vehicles), vehicle type (passenger cars and commercial vehicles), and type (hatchback, sedan, SUV, and MPV).

Automotive Market in Singapore - Vendor Insights

The automotive market in Singapore is fragmented due to the presence of local and international players. Local and regional car manufacturers in the country are looking to tap into the growing demand for affordable and fuel-efficient vehicles. Car manufacturers in Singapore compete on several fronts, including price, quality, features, and brand reputation. Leading car brands offer a wide range of models, from entry-level vehicles to high-end luxury cars, to appeal to a broad range of customers. To stay competitive, car manufacturers in Singapore are investing in the development of new technologies, such as electric vehicles, autonomous driving, and connectivity solutions. They are also focusing on improving the customer experience, both in terms of the buying process and after-sales support. Some of the key vendors covered in the report include:

Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd. - The company offers automobile models in Singapore , such as VANTAGE, DB11, DBS, and DBX.

- The company offers automobile models in , such as VANTAGE, DB11, DBS, and DBX. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG - The company offers automobile models in Singapore , such as BMW iX, BMW i7, BMW X7.

- The company offers automobile models in , such as BMW iX, BMW i7, BMW X7. Daimler AG - The company offers automobile models in Singapore , such as BharatBenz Trucks, FUSO Trucks, Setra, and Thomas Built Buses.

- The company offers automobile models in , such as BharatBenz Trucks, FUSO Trucks, Setra, and Thomas Built Buses. Honda Motor Co. Ltd. - The company offers automobile models in Singapore , such as Jazz, Accord, and Civic.

- The company offers automobile models in , such as Jazz, Accord, and Civic. Isuzu Motors Ltd.

Mazda Motor Corp.

Porsche Automobil Holding SE

Renault SAS

SAIC Motor Corp. Ltd.

Stellantis NV

Suzuki Motor Corp.

Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd.

TC Changan Singapore Pte Ltd

Tesla Inc.

Toyota Motor Corp.

Automotive Market in Singapore  Market Dynamics

Major Trends 

Technological advances in EVs

Electric LCVs used for facilitating last-mile connectivity

Increasing popularity of semi-autonomous vehicles

People worldwide are becoming more aware of the benefits of adopting EVs. In addition, various support initiatives by governments in the form of incentives and subsidies have increased the popularity of EVs among consumers. The growing demand for EVs has encouraged automakers to focus on innovation to improve the features of vehicles. They are investing significantly in R&D to come up with better models. For instance, in March 2021, BMW announced its plan to launch i4, the company's electric four-door coupe, in Singapore by the end of 2022. Such developments among automobile manufacturers will drive the growth of the market.

Key challenges 

Insufficient charging infrastructure

Stringent emissions regulations

Concerns related to cybersecurity

The lack of proper charging infrastructure for EVs is one of the major challenges restricting the growth of the market. With the increased demand for EVs, vendors and the Government in Singapore are working toward providing the necessary infrastructure. However, the high cost of the establishment of charging stations is limiting their widespread availability. The lack of infrastructure for charging EVs can hinder their adoption and negatively affect the growth of the market.

Drivers, trends, and challenges play a key role in business growth. Learn more with a

sample report!

Why Buy?

Add credibility to strategy

Analyzes competitor's offerings

Get a holistic view of the market

For a bigger profit margin and significant growth - Buy the Report

What are the key data covered in this report?

CAGR of the market during the forecast period

Detailed information on factors that will drive the growth of the automotive market in Singapore between 2023 and 2027

between 2023 and 2027 Precise estimation of the size of the automotive market in Singapore and its contribution to the parent market

and its contribution to the parent market Accurate predictions about upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

Growth of the automotive market in Singapore across Singapore

across A thorough analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information about vendors

Comprehensive analysis of factors that will challenge the growth of automotive market vendors in Singapore

Gain instant lifetime access to 17,000+ market research reports consisting of detailed

analysis and growth opportunities.

Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform

Related Reports:

The motor vehicles market size is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.3% between 2022 and 2027. The market size is forecast to increase by 28,721.3 thousand units. The market is segmented by propulsion (ICE, electric, and hybrid), vehicle type (passenger cars and commercial vehicles), and geography (APAC, North America , Europe , Middle East and Africa , and South America ).

size is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.3% between 2022 and 2027. The market size is forecast to increase by 28,721.3 thousand units. The market is segmented by propulsion (ICE, electric, and hybrid), vehicle type (passenger cars and commercial vehicles), and geography (APAC, , , and , and ). The automotive service market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 7.65% between 2022 and 2027. The size of the market is forecasted to increase by USD 351.69 billion . The market is segmented by type (mechanical services, exterior and structural services, and maintenance services), vehicle type (passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, two-wheelers, and heavy commercial vehicles), and geography ( North America , APAC, Europe , South America , and Middle East and Africa ).

Automotive Market in Singapore: Scope Report Coverage Details Base year 2022 Historic period 2017-2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 6.03% Market growth 2023-2027 18,191 actual units Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 4.2 Competitive landscape Leading Vendors, Market Positioning of Vendors, Competitive Strategies, and Industry Risks Key companies profiled Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd., Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, Daimler AG, Ferrari spa, Honda Motor Co. Ltd., Isuzu Motors Ltd., Mazda Motor Corp., Mitsubishi Electric Corp., Porsche Automobil Holding SE, Renault SAS, SAIC Motor Corp. Ltd., Stellantis NV, Suzuki Motor Corp., Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd., TC Changan Singapore Pte Ltd, Tesla Inc., Toyota Motor Corp., AB Volvo, General Motors Co., and Hyundai Motor Co. Market dynamics Parent market analysis, market growth inducers and obstacles, fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and recovery analysis and future consumer dynamics, and market condition analysis for the forecast period. Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized.

Browse through Technavio's Consumer Discretionary Market Reports

Table of contents:

1 Executive Summary

1.1 Market overview

Exhibit 01: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Overview



Exhibit 02: Executive Summary  Data Table on Market Overview



Exhibit 03: Executive Summary  Chart on Country Market Characteristics



Exhibit 04: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by Propulsion



Exhibit 05: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by Vehicle Type



Exhibit 06: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by Type



Exhibit 07: Executive Summary  Chart on Vendor Market Positioning

2 Market Landscape

2.1 Market ecosystem

Exhibit 08: Parent market



Exhibit 09: Market Characteristics

3 Market Sizing

3.1 Market definition

Exhibit 10: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition

3.2 Market segment analysis

Exhibit 11: Market segments

3.3 Market size 2022

3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2022-2027

Exhibit 12: Chart on Singapore - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 (actual units)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 (actual units)

Exhibit 13: Data Table on Singapore - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 (actual units)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 (actual units)

Exhibit 14: Chart on Singapore : Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

: Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 15: Data Table on Singapore : Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

4 Historic Market Size

4.1 Automotive market in Singapore 2017 - 2021

2017 - 2021 Exhibit 16: Historic Market Size  Data Table on Automotive market in Singapore 2017 - 2021 (actual units)

4.2 Propulsion Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 17: Historic Market Size  Propulsion Segment 2017 - 2021 (actual units)

4.3 Vehicle type Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 18: Historic Market Size  Vehicle type Segment 2017 - 2021 (actual units)

4.4 Type Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 19: Historic Market Size  Type Segment 2017 - 2021 (actual units)

5 Five Forces Analysis

5.1 Five forces summary

Exhibit 20: Five forces analysis - Comparison between 2022 and 2027

5.2 Bargaining power of buyers

Exhibit 21: Chart on Bargaining power of buyers  Impact of key factors 2022 and 2027

5.3 Bargaining power of suppliers

Exhibit 22: Bargaining power of suppliers  Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027

5.4 Threat of new entrants

Exhibit 23: Threat of new entrants  Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027

5.5 Threat of substitutes

Exhibit 24: Threat of substitutes  Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027

5.6 Threat of rivalry

Exhibit 25: Threat of rivalry  Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027

5.7 Market condition

Exhibit 26: Chart on Market condition - Five forces 2022 and 2027

6 Market Segmentation by Propulsion

6.1 Market segments

Exhibit 27: Chart on Propulsion - Market share 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 28: Data Table on Propulsion - Market share 2022-2027 (%)

6.2 Comparison by Propulsion

Exhibit 29: Chart on Comparison by Propulsion



Exhibit 30: Data Table on Comparison by Propulsion

6.3 IC engine-based vehicles - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 31: Chart on IC engine-based vehicles- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 (actual units)



Exhibit 32: Data Table on IC engine-based vehicles- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 (actual units)



Exhibit 33: Chart on IC engine-based vehicles- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 34: Data Table on IC engine-based vehicles- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

6.4 Electric vehicles - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 35: Chart on Electric vehicles- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 (actual units)



Exhibit 36: Data Table on Electric vehicles- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 (actual units)



Exhibit 37: Chart on Electric vehicles- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 38: Data Table on Electric vehicles- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

6.5 Market opportunity by Propulsion

Exhibit 39: Market opportunity by Propulsion (actual units)



Exhibit 40: Data Table on Market opportunity by Propulsion (actual units)

7 Market Segmentation by Vehicle Type

7.1 Market segments

Exhibit 41: Chart on Vehicle Type - Market share 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 42: Data Table on Vehicle Type - Market share 2022-2027 (%)

7.2 Comparison by Vehicle Type

Exhibit 43: Chart on Comparison by Vehicle Type



Exhibit 44: Data Table on Comparison by Vehicle Type

7.3 Passenger cars - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 45: Chart on Passenger cars- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 (actual units)



Exhibit 46: Data Table on Passenger cars- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 (actual units)



Exhibit 47: Chart on Passenger cars- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 48: Data Table on Passenger cars- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

7.4 Commercial vehicles - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 49: Chart on Commercial vehicles- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 (actual units)



Exhibit 50: Data Table on Commercial vehicles- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 (actual units)



Exhibit 51: Chart on Commercial vehicles- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 52: Data Table on Commercial vehicles- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

7.5 Market opportunity by Vehicle Type

Exhibit 53: Market opportunity by Vehicle Type (actual units)



Exhibit 54: Data Table on Market opportunity by Vehicle Type (actual units)

8 Market Segmentation by Type

8.1 Market segments

Exhibit 55: Chart on Type - Market share 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 56: Data Table on Type - Market share 2022-2027 (%)

8.2 Comparison by Type

Exhibit 57: Chart on Comparison by Type



Exhibit 58: Data Table on Comparison by Type

8.3 Hatchback - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 59: Chart on Hatchback- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 (actual units)



Exhibit 60: Data Table on Hatchback- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 (actual units)



Exhibit 61: Chart on Hatchback- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 62: Data Table on Hatchback- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

8.4 Sedan - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 63: Chart on Sedan- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 (actual units)



Exhibit 64: Data Table on Sedan- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 (actual units)



Exhibit 65: Chart on Sedan- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 66: Data Table on Sedan- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

8.5 SUV - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 67: Chart on SUV- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 (actual units)



Exhibit 68: Data Table on SUV- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 (actual units)



Exhibit 69: Chart on SUV- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 70: Data Table on SUV- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

8.6 MPV - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 71: Chart on MPV- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 (actual units)



Exhibit 72: Data Table on MPV- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 (actual units)



Exhibit 73: Chart on MPV- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 74: Data Table on MPV- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

8.7 Market opportunity by Type

Exhibit 75: Market opportunity by Type (actual units)



Exhibit 76: Data Table on Market opportunity by Type (actual units)

9 Customer Landscape

9.1 Customer landscape overview

Exhibit 77: Analysis of price sensitivity, lifecycle, customer purchase basket, adoption rates, and purchase criteria

10 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

10.1 Market drivers

10.2 Market challenges

10.3 Impact of drivers and challenges

Exhibit 78: Impact of drivers and challenges in 2022 and 2027

10.4 Market trends

11 Vendor Landscape

11.1 Overview

11.2 Vendor landscape

Exhibit 79: Overview on Criticality of inputs and Factors of differentiation

11.3 Landscape disruption

Exhibit 80: Overview on factors of disruption

11.4 Industry risks

Exhibit 81: Impact of key risks on business

12 Vendor Analysis

12.1 Vendors covered

Exhibit 82: Vendors covered

12.2 Market positioning of vendors

Exhibit 83: Matrix on vendor position and classification

12.3 AB Volvo

Exhibit 84: AB Volvo - Overview



Exhibit 85: AB Volvo - Business segments



Exhibit 86: AB Volvo - Key news



Exhibit 87: AB Volvo - Key offerings



Exhibit 88: AB Volvo - Segment focus

12.4 Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd.

Exhibit 89: Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 90: Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd. - Product / Service



Exhibit 91: Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd. - Key offerings

12.5 Bayerische Motoren Werke AG

Exhibit 92: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG - Overview



Exhibit 93: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG - Business segments



Exhibit 94: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG - Key news



Exhibit 95: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG - Key offerings



Exhibit 96: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG - Segment focus

12.6 Daimler AG

Exhibit 97: Daimler AG - Overview



Exhibit 98: Daimler AG - Business segments



Exhibit 99: Daimler AG - Key news



Exhibit 100: Daimler AG - Key offerings



Exhibit 101: Daimler AG - Segment focus

12.7 Ferrari spa

Exhibit 102: Ferrari spa - Overview



Exhibit 103: Ferrari spa - Business segments



Exhibit 104: Ferrari spa - Key offerings



Exhibit 105: Ferrari spa - Segment focus

12.8 General Motors Co.

Exhibit 106: General Motors Co. - Overview



Exhibit 107: General Motors Co. - Business segments



Exhibit 108: General Motors Co. - Key news



Exhibit 109: General Motors Co. - Key offerings



Exhibit 110: General Motors Co. - Segment focus

12.9 Honda Motor Co. Ltd.

Exhibit 111: Honda Motor Co. Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 112: Honda Motor Co. Ltd. - Business segments



Exhibit 113: Honda Motor Co. Ltd. - Key news



Exhibit 114: Honda Motor Co. Ltd. - Key offerings



Exhibit 115: Honda Motor Co. Ltd. - Segment focus

12.10 Hyundai Motor Co.

Exhibit 116: Hyundai Motor Co. - Overview



Exhibit 117: Hyundai Motor Co. - Business segments



Exhibit 118: Hyundai Motor Co. - Key news



Exhibit 119: Hyundai Motor Co. - Key offerings



Exhibit 120: Hyundai Motor Co. - Segment focus

12.11 Mazda Motor Corp.

Exhibit 121: Mazda Motor Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 122: Mazda Motor Corp. - Business segments



Exhibit 123: Mazda Motor Corp. - Key offerings



Exhibit 124: Mazda Motor Corp. - Segment focus

12.12 Mitsubishi Electric Corp.

Exhibit 125: Mitsubishi Electric Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 126: Mitsubishi Electric Corp. - Business segments



Exhibit 127: Mitsubishi Electric Corp. - Key news



Exhibit 128: Mitsubishi Electric Corp. - Key offerings



Exhibit 129: Mitsubishi Electric Corp. - Segment focus

12.13 Porsche Automobil Holding SE

Exhibit 130: Porsche Automobil Holding SE - Overview



Exhibit 131: Porsche Automobil Holding SE - Business segments



Exhibit 132: Porsche Automobil Holding SE - Key offerings



Exhibit 133: Porsche Automobil Holding SE - Segment focus

12.14 Renault SAS

Exhibit 134: Renault SAS - Overview



Exhibit 135: Renault SAS - Product / Service



Exhibit 136: Renault SAS - Key offerings

12.15 Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd.

Exhibit 137: Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 138: Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd. - Business segments



Exhibit 139: Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd. - Key offerings



Exhibit 140: Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd. - Segment focus

12.16 Tesla Inc.

Exhibit 141: Tesla Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 142: Tesla Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 143: Tesla Inc. - Key news



Exhibit 144: Tesla Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 145: Tesla Inc. - Segment focus

12.17 Toyota Motor Corp.

Exhibit 146: Toyota Motor Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 147: Toyota Motor Corp. - Business segments



Exhibit 148: Toyota Motor Corp. - Key offerings



Exhibit 149: Toyota Motor Corp. - Segment focus

13 Appendix

13.1 Scope of the report

13.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist

Exhibit 150: Inclusions checklist



Exhibit 151: Exclusions checklist

13.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

Exhibit 152: Currency conversion rates for US$

13.4 Research methodology

Exhibit 153: Research methodology



Exhibit 154: Validation techniques employed for market sizing



Exhibit 155: Information sources

13.5 List of abbreviations

Exhibit 156: List of abbreviations

About Us

Technavio is a leading technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provide actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contact

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.technavio.com/

SOURCE Technavio
GUANGZHOU, China, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Understanding China  BGA Dialogue" Forum is slated to take place in Guangzhou from April 18 to 20, 2023. Co-hosted by the Chinese Association for Science and Technology, the China Public Diplomacy Association, the People's Government of Guangdong Province, and the French Prospect and Innovation Foundation, the forum is focused on the theme of "Chinese Modernization and New Opportunities for the World."

The "Understanding China  BGA Dialogue" Forum is slated to take place in Guangzhou from April 18 to 20, 2023. Co-hosted by the Chinese Association for Science and Technology, the China Public Diplomacy Association, the People's Government of Guangdong Province, and the French Prospect and Innovation Foundation, the forum focused on the theme of "Chinese Modernization and New Opportunities for the World."

"We'll achieve the second Centenary Goal as scheduled, and will contribute more to world peace and development, as well as the building a community with a shared future for mankind through our own development," commented Mr. Zheng Bijian, Chairman of China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy.

The forum assembles renowned politicians, strategists, scholars, entrepreneurs, foreign diplomats and international organizations to engage in dialogue with Chinese officials, scholars, and entrepreneurs. The event will help the international community better understand the profound connotations of Chinese modernization and the new opportunities that China's development brings to the world. It will also provide support for the high-quality development of Guangdong province and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

The forum's agenda includes ten parallel forums, four closed-door seminars, three special sessions, and a series of activities such as immersive experiences of Chinese culture. The seminar topics will cover a wide range of issues, such as China's modernization and the establishment of a global community that encompasses a shared future for mankind, global financial risk warning and prevention, as well as new trends of development in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and other international bay areas. Other themes include the historic value, global significance, and practical pathway of this global community initiative, China-US relations, and urban governance in the digital age.

The invited guests include high-profile political and business figures from the international community, including Melnikov lvan lvanovich, the First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of Russia, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the former President of the Philippines and the Senior Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, and Rosen Asenov Plevneliev, the former President of Bulgaria. Together with Chinese guests, they will conduct in-depth discussions on crucial matters of international concern, such as modernization, China's high-quality development, its high-level opening-up to the world, global economic governance, and a community with a shared future for mankind.

SOURCE Understanding ChinaBGA Dialogue Forum
NEW HAVEN, Conn., April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Biohaven Ltd. (NYSE: BHVN) ("Biohaven"), a global clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, today announced that Nick Kozauer, M.D. has joined its executive leadership team as Senior Vice President for Clinical Development and Regulatory Strategy.

Nick Kozauer M.D., Senior Vice President for Clinical Development and Regulatory Strategy at Biohaven.

Dr. Kozauer comes to Biohaven after an accomplished career at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) where he served in positions of increasing responsibility, most recently as Director of the Division of Neurology 2 in the Office of New Drugs. During his tenure at the FDA, Dr. Kozauer led the division responsible for the regulation of all Investigational New Drug (IND) applications, New Drug Applications (NDAs), and Biological Licensing Applications (BLAs) for drugs being developed and/or approved for the treatment of neuroimmunologic conditions, epilepsies, migraine, stroke, traumatic brain injury, inner ear disorders, and other products.

Vlad Coric, M.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Biohaven, commented, "It is a great honor to welcome Dr. Kozauer to the Biohaven team. Dr. Kozauer is a true clinician-researcher who has supervised and reviewed the approval of over 15 marketed drugs during his tenure at the FDA. His knowledge and expertise in the regulatory process, as well as his deep experience in diseases including neuroimmunology and epilepsy, will only strengthen Biohaven's ability to efficiently advance our robust pipeline of compounds and deliver novel treatments in high unmet need areas in neuroscience for patients and their families. Dr. Kozauer has already positively impacted patient care during his time at the FDA and we are excited to have him on our team to help us innovate new therapies."

Prior to joining the FDA, Dr. Kozauer worked in academia at the Johns Hopkins Memory Center at the Copper Ridge Institute where he oversaw clinical care of patients with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, and in private practice focusing on complex neuropsychiatric conditions. Dr. Kozauer completed his residency and fellowship training at Georgetown University Medical Center and Johns Hopkins, respectively, and received his M.D. from Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School.

Dr. Kozauer stated, "I am energized by the opportunity to work with such an experienced, dynamic, and patient-focused group of individuals pursuing groundbreaking science to develop a broad range of therapies for serious diseases with unmet medical needs. The team at Biohaven has demonstrated its ability to bring innovative medicines to patients and has an exciting portfolio including immune modulating agents, ion channel activators, myostatin targeting agent and other investigational drugs targeting ultra-rare diseases."

About Biohaven

Biohaven is a global clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of life-changing therapies for people with debilitating neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases, including rare disorders. Biohaven's experienced management team brings with it a track record of delivering new drug approvals for products for diseases such as migraine, depression, bipolar and schizophrenia. The company is advancing a pipeline of therapies for diseases with little or no treatment options, leveraging its proven drug development capabilities and proprietary platforms, including Kv7 ion channel modulation for epilepsy and neuronal hyperexcitability, glutamate modulation for obsessive-compulsive disorder and spinocerebellar ataxia, myostatin inhibition for neuromuscular diseases, and brain-penetrant TYK2/JAK1 inhibition for immune-mediated brain disorders. Biohaven's portfolio of early- and late-stage product candidates also includes discovery research programs focused on TRPM3 channel activation for neuropathic pain, CD-38 antibody recruiting, bispecific molecules for multiple myeloma, antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), and extracellular target degrader platform technology (MoDE) with potential application in neurological disorders, cancer, and autoimmune diseases.

Forward-looking Statements

This news release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The use of certain words, including "continue", "plan", "will", "believe", "may", "expect", "anticipate" and similar expressions, is intended to identify forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the future development, timing and potential marketing approval and commercialization of development candidates are not guarantees of future performance or results and involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Actual results, developments and events may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors including: the expected timing, commencement and outcomes of Biohaven's planned and ongoing clinical trials; the timing of planned interactions and filings with the Food and Drug Administration; the timing and outcome of expected regulatory filings; complying with applicable U.S. regulatory requirements; the potential commercialization of Biohaven's product candidates; the potential for Biohaven's product candidates to be first in class therapies; and the effectiveness and safety of Biohaven's product candidates. Additional important factors to be considered in connection with forward-looking statements are described in Biohaven's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including within the sections titled "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations". The forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this new release, and Biohaven does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

MoDEs is a trademark of Biohaven Therapeutics Ltd.

Biohaven Contacts:

Jennifer Porcelli

Vice President, Investor Relations

[email protected]

201-248-0741

Mike Beyer

Sam Brown Inc.

[email protected]

312-961-2502

SOURCE Biohaven Ltd.
High Profile's second mural commission, in partnership with local non-profit Lions & Rabbits completed ahead of 4/20, a week that will feature in-store promos, events and activities

ANN ARBOR, Mich., April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- C3 Industries ("C3"), a multi-state vertically integrated cannabis company with headquarters in Ann Arbor, MI, today announced the unveiling of a new mural project at its High Profile dispensary in Grant, Michigan. The mural project was created in partnership with Lions & Rabbits, a local non-profit organization creating prosperous opportunities for artists through partnerships, advocacy, professional development, and placemaking. Through Lions & Rabbits, High Profile, located at 262 S Maple St. in Grant, MI, commissioned local artist Elliot Chaltry to design and paint a mural on the store's outer wall, which is now complete in advance of 4/20. High Profile Grant will feature in-store promotions, events and brand activations in celebration of the "high" holiday.

The vibrant mural features two multi-colored lions roaming a starry, psychedelic flower bed, invoking feelings of happiness found outside societal labels. "The tigers represent a connection to the pride of the local community while living harmoniously with colorful plants that illustrate High Profile's roots within the Grant community," said Chaltry. "I always try to include a full spectrum of colors when designing public art for LGBTQ+ visibility. The tigers feature violet to bring in elements of the High Profile brand, and the teal wavy lines in the background radiate the shop's high vibrations."

C3 Industries has a longstanding commitment to supporting the arts and local communities, with the High Profile Grant mural being the second project commissioned by the company. Last year, C3 sponsored the Grand Rapids After Dark Series hosted by Lions & Rabbits, an annual summer series of community-building fundraising events that directly support artists.

"We're proud to be an active supporter of various non-profit organizations in the markets in which we operate," said Ankur Rungta, CEO and Co-Founder of C3 Industries. "Our relationship with Lions & Rabbits began during the early days of C3's retail expansion in Michigan, and we're proud to continue working together to support the state's artist community by creating more paid job opportunities and increased visibility. Michigan is known for being a leader in innovation and creativity and we're committed to using our presence there to provide a platform for local artists."

Hannah Berry, Executive Director of Lions & Rabbits, commented, "We're thankful to C3 Industries for supporting our mission to beautify Michigan through the work of local artists. Many of the paid opportunities that Lions & Rabbits facilitates for artists manifest as murals; beautified storm drains and electrical boxes; and other public art installations. It's been thrilling to see the mural project come together in Grant, and we can't wait to see what future projects are possible through this partnership."

Jason Berkenstock, C3's Vice President of Retail, added, "Art is an important tool in showcasing creativity and inspiring communities locally and nationally. C3 is extremely proud to partner with Lions & Rabbits in creating more opportunities for artists in Michigan and uplifting our Grant community, making it a more beautiful place for all to enjoy."

On the weekend of May 20th, 2023, the High Profile Grant location will be celebrating its three-year anniversary and will do an official unveiling of the mural in addition to anniversary events. Subscribe to the High Roller rewards program here to stay up to date on the weekend festivities.

For more information on High Profile, please visit highprofilecannabis.com. For more information regarding C3's retail locations and brands in Michigan and across the United States, please visit www.c3industries.com.

About C3 Industries

C3 Industries is a multi-state, vertically integrated cannabis company headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with several product brands including the award-winning Cloud Cover Cannabis and Galactic Meds, and a retail network, High Profile Cannabis Shop. The company produces high-quality cannabis products across all categories in Michigan, Massachusetts and Missouri. For more information, visit www.c3industries.com.

Additional information about High Profile Cannabis Shop can be found by signing up for the company's newsletters at www.highprofilecannabis.com and on Instagram at @highprofileofficial. Additional information on Cloud Cover Cannabis can be found at www.cloudcovercannabis.com and @cloudcovercannabis on Instagram.

About Lions & Rabbits

Lions & Rabbits is a Michigan non-profit organization whose mission is to create prosperous opportunities for artists to achieve and sustain fulfilling careers. Our programs bring opportunities to emerging local artists and bolster supportive arts communities. Through partnerships, we are able to engage with the community by building artists' professional careers.

C3 Industries Media Contact

MATTIO Communications

[email protected]

SOURCE C3 Industries
BOSTON, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cengage Group , a global edtech company, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement with funds (the "Apollo Funds") managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE: APO) whereby Apollo Funds will purchase $500 million of a new series of convertible preferred stock of Cengage Group, subject to certain adjustments. The transaction is expected to close by June 30, 2023, subject to customary closing conditions.

"This investment is a strong affirmation of our performance and strategy by an investor who has deep knowledge of our industry and a track record of value creation," said Michael E. Hansen, CEO, Cengage Group. "By replacing debt with equity capital from Apollo Funds, we are meaningfully reducing outstanding debt giving us optionality to invest in our portfolio of growing businesses."

Apollo Private Equity Partner Itai Wallach said, "We are thrilled to be working with the Cengage Group management team and its Board as the Company continues to execute against its business plan. We believe our deep experience in the education sector will help to further accelerate the Company's transformation from print to digital and drive further growth across its business."

With more than a century of experience in the education sector, Cengage Group has evolved from a traditional print publisher to an edtech portfolio company that supports all students, from middle school through graduate school and skills education, with quality content and technology. In the past year, Cengage Group has acquired Infosec , a leading provider of cybersecurity education and training, and launched Ready to Hire , a dynamic new solution to close skilled labor gaps and expand access to quality training. With the investment from the Apollo Funds, Cengage Group intends to continue its focus on Education for Employment by investing in products and services that help millions of students leverage education to gain the skills and competencies needed to be job ready.

Terms of the Transaction

For additional information regarding terms of the transaction, please visit www.cengagegroup.com/investors to view the Current Report.

Advisors

Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is serving as legal counsel to Cengage Group.

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is serving as legal counsel to the Apollo Funds.

KKR Capital Markets is serving as capital markets advisor and lead arranger for the transaction on behalf of Cengage Group.

Apollo Capital Solutions is also serving as a capital markets advisor.

About Cengage Group

With more than 100 years serving learners, Cengage Group is a global edtech company that enables student choice. No matter how, where, when or why someone wants to learn, our portfolio of education businesses supports all students, from middle school through graduate school and skills education, with quality content and technology. Collectively, our three business units  Cengage Academic, Cengage Work and Cengage Select  help millions of students each year in more than 125 countries achieve their education and career goals and lead choice-filled lives. Visit us at www.cengagegroup.com or find us on LinkedIn and Twitter .

About Apollo

Apollo is a high-growth, global alternative asset manager. In our asset management business, we seek to provide our clients excess return at every point along the risk-reward spectrum from investment grade to private equity with a focus on three investing strategies: yield, hybrid, and equity. For more than three decades, our investing expertise across our fully integrated platform has served the financial return needs of our clients and provided businesses with innovative capital solutions for growth. Through Athene, our retirement services business, we specialize in helping clients achieve financial security by providing a suite of retirement savings products and acting as a solutions provider to institutions. Our patient, creative, and knowledgeable approach to investing aligns our clients, businesses we invest in, our employees, and the communities we impact, to expand opportunity and achieve positive outcomes. As of December 31, 2022, Apollo had approximately $548 billion of assets under management. To learn more, please visit www.apollo.com .

No Offer or Solicitation

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statement

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as: "believe," "expect," "may," "will," "should," "could," "seek," "intend," "plan," "estimate," "project," "foresee," "likely," or "anticipate" or similar expressions that concern future periods or our strategies, objectives, plans or goals. All statements that are not strictly historic in nature are forward looking. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. These risks include the risk that the investment may not be completed in a timely manner or at all, which may adversely affect Cengage's businesses or financial condition; the failure to satisfy the conditions to the consummation of the investment, including the receipt of regulatory approval; the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the investment agreement; the effect of the announcement or pendency of the investment on Cengage's business relationships, operating results and business generally; the risk that management's attention may be diverted from Cengage's ongoing business operations; and the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against the parties related to the investment agreement or the transactions contemplated thereby. Our actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. Many factors could cause our actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. You should consider such factors, many of which are outlined in the "Risk Factors" section of our FY22 Annual Report for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022 and in our quarterly reports for the quarters ended June 30, 2022, September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2022 and the "Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" section of the same reports. Such reports can be accessed at www.cengagegroup.com/investors release is based only on information currently available to the parties and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

Media Contacts:

Emily Featherston, [email protected]

Noah Gunn, Global Head of Investor Relations, [email protected]

Joanna Rose, Global Head of Corporate Communications, [email protected]

SOURCE Cengage Group
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. , April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Community Colleges Public Relations Organization has named Chaffey College Superintendent/President Henry Shannon the 2023 winner of the PROmoter Award for championing public relations and marketing initiatives.

Shannon accepted the award Thursday night at the Sheraton Universal in Universal City, Calif. The Chaffey College Strategic Communications Department also received six awards during the ceremony for its work.

"I am honored and grateful to CCPRO for recognizing me for my role in promoting community college education," Shannon said. "I consider it a moral imperative to help every student we can to succeed in their academic and career goals and supporting our talented strategic communications team is one of the ways we do this."

Shannon, who has served in higher education leadership roles for more than 40 years, came to Chaffey College in 2007. Under his leadership, the college has been named a top 10 college in the nation by the Aspen Institute, a winner of the state chancellor's $1 million higher education award and "One of the 12 Most Innovative Colleges for Adult Learners" by Washington Monthly. Shannon received the Marie Y. Martin Chief Executive Office Award from the Association of Community College Trustees in 2018.

The college in 2021 received a $25 million gift from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, thanks to Shannon's leadership and support of equity initiatives.

CCPRO is a California professional development and service organization serving the state's community college public relations professionals and related professions. The PROmoter award recognizes community college administrators who demonstrate leadership in supporting public relations and marketing at their college and throughout California.

Shannon has advanced community colleges on a local, state and national level through his work with the Community College League of California, the California Community College Commission of the Future, the American Association of Community Colleges and the Alliance for Education of San Bernardino County, among other organizations.

"Dr. Shannon's support of Chaffey's strategic communications initiatives extends beyond allocating financial resources for billboards and radio commercials," said Alisha Rosas, associate superintendent of student services and strategic communications. "He also offers opinion articles to local and regional news publications on current topics that affect all of us, providing valuable thought leadership to the communities we serve."

Photos are available for download online.

SOURCE Chaffey College
NEW YORK, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Attention Rite Aid Corporation ("Rite Aid") (NYSE: RAD) shareholders:

The Law Offices of Vincent Wong announce that a class action lawsuit has commenced on behalf of investors who purchased between April 26, 2018 and March 13, 2023.

If you suffered a loss on your investment in Rite Aid, contact us about potential recovery by using the link below. There is no cost or obligation to you.

https://www.wongesq.com/pslra-1/rite-aid-class-action-submission-form?prid=38280&wire=4

ABOUT THE ACTION: The class action against Rite Aid includes allegations that the Company made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) until at least June 2019, Rite Aid filled at least hundreds of thousands of unlawful prescriptions for controlled substances that lacked a legitimate medical purpose, including for potentially lethal opioids such as oxycodone and fentanyl; (2) Rite Aid pharmacists filled these prescriptions despite clear "red flags" that indicated that the prescriptions were unlawful; (3) Rite Aid ignored evidence that its stores were dispensing unlawful prescriptions, and intentionally deleted internal notes about suspicious prescribers written by concerned pharmacists; (4) by knowingly filling unlawful prescriptions for controlled substances, Rite Aid violated the Controlled Substances Act and, where Rite Aid sought reimbursement from federal healthcare programs, also violated the False Claims Act; (5) as a result, it was at risk of prosecution by federal authorities such as the United States Department of Justice; and (6) as a result, defendants' statements about its business, operations, and prospects, were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all times.

DEADLINE: May 19, 2023

Aggrieved Rite Aid investors only have until May 19, 2023 to request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. You are not required to act as a lead plaintiff in order to share in any recovery.

Vincent Wong, Esq. is an experienced attorney who has represented investors in securities litigations involving financial fraud and violations of shareholder rights. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

CONTACT:

Vincent Wong, Esq.

39 East Broadway

Suite 304

New York, NY 10002

Tel. 212.425.1140

E-Mail: [email protected]

SOURCE The Law Offices of Vincent Wong
Tassel flowers are in full bloom in the Sanfangqixiang (Three Lanes and Seven Alleys) historic neighborhood of Fuzhou, Fujian province. They have attracted many tourists recently. [Photo by Xie Guiming/For chinadaily.com.cn]

Tassel flowers are in full bloom in Fuzhou, Fujian province.

The white petals resemble snowflakes and clouds as they decorate the white walls of ancient buildings in the Sanfangqixiang (Three Lanes and Seven Alleys) historic neighborhood. They are mixed with green leaves to create pleasant spring scenery that attracts many tourists.

7

1

Editor: JYZ
TOLEDO, Ohio, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Clean Express Auto Wash proudly announces the donation of $6,969.49 to the Avalon Foundation, to support their mission of providing support to the rare disease community. This occurred at the company's 5th Greater Toledo-area Grand Opening held this past March 24, 2023 at 6307 Monroe St. in Sylvania. ChemQuest, an industry leading car wash chemical products and service provider for Clean Express Car Wash, generously donated an additional $1,000 to the Avalon Foundation.

During the Grand Opening, Clean Express Auto Wash offered a free signature "Clean-est" car wash ($18 value) to every customer in exchange for a monetary donation to the Avalon Foundation. Clean Express Auto Wash also offered discounted retail gift cards with all proceeds donated back to the Foundation. Throughout the Grand Opening period, Clean Express Auto Wash gave away more than 2,400 free car washes at a retail value of more than $43,000.

"We truly enjoyed partnering with the Avalon Foundation and supporting their efforts for children with rare diseases and promoting youth leadership. They are expanding their reach across the country and we look forward to seeing them continue to do more good for others." said John Roush, Express Wash Concepts CEO.

The Avalon Foundation was started by Avalon Ayres, to promote and teach youth leadership through offering support to kids receiving life-altering treatment for rare diseases. They build youth leaders in the Toledo area and help families all over the United States.

Clean Express Auto Wash opened its fifth Toledo area location in Sylvania in March of 2023.

About Clean Express Auto Wash & Express Wash Concepts:

Today, Clean Express Auto Wash operates under the parent company of Express Wash Concepts and serves the greater Cleveland, Toledo and Pittsburgh areas. For more information, locations and hours, please visit www.Cleanexpresswash.com. Express Wash Concepts (EWC) operates 80+ award winning, express car wash locations across five states under the following brands: Moo Moo Express Car Wash, Flying Ace Express Car Wash, Clean Express Auto Wash, Green Clean Express Auto Wash and Bee Clean Express Car Wash. EWC brands feature fast, high quality and environmentally friendly express tunnel wash experiences and free vacuums. The company's popular Unlimited Wash Club packages offer members the convenience and value of contactless payment and unlimited washing at any location.

SOURCE Express Wash Concepts
COVINGTON, Ky., April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Commonwealth Hotels announced today that Heather Weatherford has been appointed the director of sales and marketing of the Aloft Knoxville West. Ms. Weatherford brings over 10 years of hospitality experience to her new role as director of sales and marketing, having previously served as the business development representative for Coyote Logistics.

Heather Weatherford, Director of Sales & Marketing

"We are delighted to have Heather join Commonwealth." Said Jennifer Porter, chief operating officer for Commonwealth Hotels. "We are confident that with her strategic sales approach and knowledge of the market; she will be a strong asset to the team at the Aloft."

An experienced leader in both sales and operations, Ms. Weatherford built her career by building client relationships and enhancing the guest experience. Prior to joining the Aloft Knoxville West, Weatherford served in various leadership roles with the Hampton by Hilton in Dearborn, Michigan, The Hampton by Hilton in Northville, Michigan, and the Comfort Inn, in Plymouth, Michigan. Ms. Weatherford holds a master's degree in culture and a bachelor's degree in business administration from Cleary University in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

About Commonwealth Hotels, LLC

Commonwealth Hotels, LLC was founded in 1986 and is a proven partner in providing hotel management services with superior financial results. The company has extensive experience managing premium branded full-service and select-service hotels. Commonwealth Hotels currently manages 61 properties with nearly 7,600 rooms. Additional information may be found at www.commonwealthhotels.com.

Contact

Barbara E. Willen Commonwealth Hotels, LLC

[email protected]

859.392-2254

SOURCE Commonwealth Hotels, Inc.
Round led by Gimv, a Belgian based private equity and venture capital firm

Round comes just 1 year after raising 5 million seed funding in February 2022

Company aims to transform the treatment of complement mediated conditions

MUNICH, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Complement Therapeutics GmbH (CTx), a preclinical stage biotechnology company developing novel therapeutics for complement mediated diseases, today announced the completion of a 72 million Series A financing. The round was led by Gimv, a Belgian-based private equity and venture capital fund, co-led by Forbion as existing investor and further joined by BioGeneration Ventures (BGV), Panakes Partners, Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC), Hadean Ventures and Seroba Life Sciences.

With this new round of financing, CTx will continue the development and complete a Phase Ib clinical proof of concept of its lead product CTx001. CTx001 is a highly innovative AAV gene therapy for the treatment of Geograpic Atrophy (GA) secondary to dry age-related macular degeneration (dry-AMD). Additionally, proceeds from this financing will be deployed to grow its laboratory-based activities in Stevenage (UK), evaluate CTx's pipeline assets for non-ocular indications as well as further develop the novel Complement Precision Medicine (CPM) platform.

CTx was spun out of the University of Manchester with initial funding from BGV in 2021 and subsequently received 5 million seed funding in February 2022 from Forbion and BGV. With that funding, CTx has advanced CTx001 through preclinical proof-of-concept, secured an Innovation Passport by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and initiated a non-interventional natural history study in the UK (i-GAIN). The i-GAIN study results will help support the clinical development planning for CTx001.

"With a potentially highly differentiated lead asset combined with a precision medicine approach, we are excited by the opportunity to further develop CTx001 for the treatment of GA through to the clinic." said Dr Rafiq Hasan, CEO and Managing Director at Complement Therapeutics GmbH. "The support of this broad syndicate enables us to generate additional data demonstrating CTx001's unique and differentiated mechanism of action, with the potential to transform the treatment landscape in geographic atrophy."

The recent FDA approval of the first intravitreal treatment for GA is a significant milestone for GA patients and the retina community, and further validates the critical role that the complement system plays in the development and progression of GA whilst highlighting the importance of targeting complement as a therapeutic strategy. CTx001 gene therapy with its novel mechanism of action has the potential to provide superior efficacy compared to competitive drugs and to lower the burden of treatment among patients through a "one and done" approach and thereby transforming the treatment landscape in GA.

Michael Vlemmix, Principal in the Life Sciences platform of Gimv said: "We are proud to have been able to build this syndicate and look forward to supporting Complement Therapeutics in its next phase of development. The company and its team combine deep research insights, strong industry background, and a robust understanding of complement-mediated conditions, in particular GA secondary to AMD. These strengths, coupled with a focus on addressing the significant unmet need in GA, positions the company to change the way the disease is addressed and potentially achieve meaningful therapeutic impact."

"We are delighted with the rapid progress made by Complement Therapeutics in the last 12 months. Patients impacted by complement-mediated diseases often have to cope with debilitating symptoms throughout their lifetime and this can lead to a significant burden on them and their families. We look forward to supporting the Company as it drives forward a pipeline of novel assets addressing these unmet needs in complement-mediated diseases" said Dr Dmitrij Hristodorov, Partner, Forbion.

Alongside the financing, Michael Vlemmix (Gimv), Rob Woodman (Panakes), Anne Horgan (CIC) and Roger Franklin (Hadean Ventures) will join the board as new members.

About Complement Therapeutics GmbH:

Complement Therapeutics GmbH (CTx) is a German headquartered early-stage biotechnology company focused on the research and development of novel therapeutics for complement- mediated diseases. The Company is a spinout from the University of Manchester and is based on the pioneering research of its founders into novel targets within the complement cascade.

Our lead investigational product (CTx001) is being evaluated as a potential gene therapy for GA, a leading cause of blindness. Additional programs will evaluate potential therapeutic opportunities in other complement-mediated conditions.

The Company is also developing a unique quantification methodology, the Complement Precision Medicine (CPM) platform, to enable the quantification of over 30 complement cascade proteins enabling more precise diagnosis and monitoring of disease.

The Company has subsidiaries in the UK (Complement Therapeutics Ltd) and in the USA (Complement Therapeutics Inc) as well as research laboratories in Stevenage, UK.

For more information please visit: https://complementtx.com/

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2052596/Complement_Therapeutics_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Complement Therapeutics
ST. LOUIS, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) is launching its fourth iteration of the Consider Corn Challenge. This open-innovation contest invites participants to answer the call and submit proposals for new uses of field corn as a primary feedstock for producing novel sustainable chemicals and products with quantifiable market demand.

Consumers have a genuine interest in biobased products; and corn is investing in solutions to meet that need. Tweet this JUST LAUNCHED: #ConsiderCorn Challenge IV!

"Consumers have a genuine interest in biobased products; and corn is investing in solutions to meet that need," said NCGA Market Development Action Team (MDAT) Chair and Colorado farmer Troy Schneider. "In order to continue drawing in the cutting-edge, game-changing participation we have seen for the past three years, the prize pool for the fourth challenge has been increased to $250,000."

Previous winners of the Consider Corn Challenge contests have scaled up to the next phase of development, received additional grant funding, entered into joint agreements and obtained registration for state biobased production incentives.

If all 15 winners of the Consider Corn Challenge I, II & III reached full commercialization with products available in the marketplace, the potential for additional corn demand would be approximately 3.4 billion bushels.

"As corn farmers continue to press forward with advanced technology that allows them to do-more-with-less, they are able to meet the growing needs for food, feed, fuel and new uses," Schneider added. "This contest continues to help us think outside-of-the-box and to meet the needs of our customers who are asking for sustainable, biobased products."

One to six winners will be selected for the Consider Corn Challenge IV, with a total prize pool of U.S. $250,000, split equally between winners. The submission deadline is June 30, 2023, at 5 p.m. CT; and winners will be announced at October's Advanced Bioeconomy Leadership Conference (ABLC) in San Francisco.

To learn more: ncga.com/ConsiderCorn.

To register for the CCC IV informational webinar held on Thursday, April 27 at 2 p.m. CT: https://bit.ly/ConsiderCornIV.

SOURCE National Corn Growers Association
WOONSOCKET, R.I., April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) today announced that Brian Kane will join the company as Executive Vice President and President of Aetna, effective September 1, 2023. He will become a member of the company's executive leadership team and report to CVS Health President and CEO Karen S. Lynch.

"Brian has a track record of bringing customer-driven innovations to the market and delivering strong operating improvements," said Lynch. "His passion to simplify the health care experience will advance our strategy to improve health, lower costs and drive higher levels of engagement among our members."

Kane will lead Aetna, the health care benefits segment of CVS Health that provides benefits and insurance solutions to employers, individuals and government entities, serving nearly 35 million people. He most recently acted as a strategic consultant to several leading private equity firms focused on health care services. Prior to that, Kane served as Chief Financial Officer of Humana and oversaw its primary care businesses. He also played a critical role in the formulation and execution of Humana's strategy during his time with the company. Before joining Humana, Kane spent 17 years at Goldman Sachs in the Investment Banking division.

"CVS Health has a unique collection of assets  including the Aetna business  that provide the opportunity to improve access to quality health care for all Americans," said Kane. "My focus will be working with talented colleagues across the organization to help build on existing efforts to make health care simple, personalized and affordable."

Kane replaces Daniel Finke, who is stepping down for health reasons. Finke has played a critical role in the growth and success of several Aetna businesses over the course of his nearly 10-year tenure. During his career he consistently supported the evolution of consumer-focused care and was an advocate for the company's efforts to address health care disparities. Finke will work with Kane to ensure a seamless transition in September.

About CVS Health

CVS Health is the leading health solutions company, delivering care like no one else can. We reach more people and improve the health of communities across America through our local presence, digital channels and over 300,000 dedicated colleagues  including more than 40,000 physicians, pharmacists, nurses and nurse practitioners. Wherever and whenever people need us, we help them with their health  whether that's managing chronic diseases, staying compliant with their medications or accessing affordable health and wellness services in the most convenient ways. We help people navigate the health care system  and their personal health care  by improving access, lowering costs and being a trusted partner for every meaningful moment of health. And we do it all with heart, each and every day. Follow @CVSHealth on social media.

Media contact

T.J. Crawford

212-457-0583

[email protected]

Investor contact

Larry McGrath

800-201-0938

[email protected]

SOURCE CVS Health
BINYAMINA, Israel, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Deep Learning Robotics (DLRob), a leading provider of AI robotics software, has announced its support for new hardware devices in its latest software update. The new update will enable DLRob's customers to connect and control a wider range of robotics devices, including Universal Robots UR series.



DLRob's software will allow customers to fully use DLRob's plug-and-play tasks and teach-by-demonstration technology with Universal Robots UR series, enabling them to take full advantage of the software's powerful and easy-to-use automation capabilities with these additional devices.



"We are thrilled to announce our support for these new hardware devices," said DLRob's CEO. "By expanding our range of supported devices, we are enabling our customers to achieve even greater automation and efficiency in their operations with their preferred robot brands, which is crucial in today's competitive environment."



With the new update, DLRob is poised to continue leading the way of AI-powered robots in the industry.



About Deep Learning Robotics (DLRob)



Deep Learning Robotics Ltd. is a leading provider of vision-based AI robotics software, empowering users to create and manage advanced robotic systems without technical training and in a plug & play manner. DLRob has been helping businesses across a range of industries to automate their operations and achieve greater efficiency and productivity where conventional technologies have not been able to do so. For more information, visit DLRob's website at www.dlrob.com.



Contact:

Deep Learning Robotics, Ltd.

[email protected]

www.dlrob.com



Photo(s):

https://www.prlog.org/12958606



Press release distributed by PRLog

SOURCE Deep Learning Robotics DLROB
Released In Just One Batch Per Year, Celebrate Life's Milestones With These Six Specialty Crafted Liquids

NEW YORK, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, DIAGEO North America announces the launch of its newest Distillers Edition bottlings in the U.S.  an annual release of limited-edition Single Malt Scotch Whiskies that are double-matured in different types of cask wood, chosen to complement the characteristics of each mature whisky. The time-honored finishing process creates a distinct and delectable flavor, making each Distiller's Edition marque a truly bespoke gift.

This years Distillers Edition collection consists of six award-winning liquids from prominent Scotch distilleries throughout the Islands, Speyside, the Highlands and the Lowlands: Lagavulin, Talisker, Cragganmore, Oban, Dalwhinnie and Glenkinchie. Only one batch of each whisky is produced per year, making them a perfect gift to mark lifes milestone occasions. Photo Credit: Elliot Clark of Apartment Bartender

Experience the full interactive Multichannel News Release here: https://www.multivu.com/players/English/9160751-diageo-welcomes-latest-distillers-edition-collection-single-malt-scotch-whiskies/

This year's Distillers Edition collection consists of six award-winning liquids from prominent Scotch distilleries throughout the Islands, Speyside, the Highlands and the Lowlands: Lagavulin, Talisker, Cragganmore, Oban, Dalwhinnie and Glenkinchie. To honor the preciousness of the liquids, only one batch of each whisky is produced per year, making them a perfect gift to mark life's milestone occasions. The latest collection takes this one step further, featuring a new label design for each malt which incorporates stylistic elements representative of each distillery and its core expressions.

Since 1997, the award-winning Distillers Edition liquids continue to possess a nuance of flavor beautifully endowed by the double maturation process. The second maturation takes place in batches, using individually prepared casks that have held a specially selected fortified wine. Each batch takes months to mature, with the final product resulting in a range of sublime, deeply flavored Single Malt Scotch Whiskies, each very much true to its origins, yet possessing a rich depth, complexity and nuance of flavor not found in the regular release. Nowhere though, has this been allowed to mask the essential distillery character.

"We're proud to introduce the latest Distillers Edition line-up, a collection created to celebrate some of DIAGEO's finest Single Malt Scotch Whiskies and their distilleries," said Hannah Todd, Director of Single Malt Whiskies Portfolio at DIAGEO. "The collection has a long history dedicated to its aging process and craftsmanship, making it the perfect gift to commemorate special moments with. Whether celebrating a holiday, gifting a loved one, or toasting to a special occasion, the Distillers Edition collection has a liquid for every type of person in your life."

Historically, the Distillers Editions have won awards at major international competitions. All six Distillers Edition bottlings are now available in the U.S. for consumers 21+ wherever fine spirits are sold or for online purchase & home delivery at Drizly.com .

Oban Distillers Edition

The smooth Oban, delicately paired with Montilla Fino-seasoned casks for a sweet creamy-smooth enhancement to the fruity and salty Oban style.

Core Offering: Oban 14 Year Old

ABV: 43%

SRP: $95.00

Drizly Link To Purchase

Talisker Distillers Edition

The enriched Talisker, Amoroso- seasoned casks impart a wonderfully rounded and luscious, fruity sweetness, complementing the familiar crisp, dry peat-smoke and pepperiness.

Core Offering: Talisker 10 Year Old

ABV: 45.8%

SRP: $85.00

Drizly Link To Purchase

Lagavulin Distillers Edition

The mighty Lagavulin, in which the rich sweetness from Pedro Ximenez-seasoned casks is beautifully integrated with the crescendo of dark smokiness, salt and oak-spice.

Core Offering: Lagavulin 16 Year Old

ABV: 43%

SRP: $125.00

Drizly Link To Purchase

Cragganmore Distillers Edition

The juicy Cragganmore, port-seasoned casks build sweet wine and fruity complexity, balanced with oaky vanilla spices and a hint of cocoa.

Core Offering: Cragganmore 12 Year Old

ABV: 40%

SRP: $85.00

Drizly Link To Purchase

Dalwhinnie Distillers Edition

The exotic Dalwhinnie, in which satisfying hints of tropical fruits and peppery spices, blend seamlessly with warm nuts and honey using Oloroso-seasoned casks.

Core Offering: Dalwhinnie 15 Year Old

ABV: 43%

SRP: $90.00

Drizly Link To Purchase

Glenkinchie Distillers Edition

The sophisticated Glenkinchie is finished in Amontillado-seasoned casks. Striking a balance between light grape sweetness and warming wood-spice with hints of rich dried fruits.

Core Offering: Glenkinchie 12 Year Old

ABV: 43%

SRP: $85.00

Drizly Link To Purchase

Please Drink Responsibly.

Single Malt Scotch Whiskies. 40-45.8% Alc. /Vol. Imported by Diageo, New York, NY.

PR CONTACT:

HUNTER

[email protected]

ABOUT DIAGEO

DIAGEO is a global leader in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands including Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, Bulleit and Buchanan's whiskies, Smirnoff, Ciroc and Ketel One vodkas, Casamigos, DeLeon and Don Julio tequilas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Tanqueray and Guinness.

Diageo is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE: DGE) and their products are sold in more than 180 countries around the world.

For more information about Diageo, their people, brands, and performance, visit www.diageo.com. Visit Diageo's global responsible drinking resource, www.DRINKiQ.com, for information, initiatives, and ways to share best practices. Follow Twitter and Instagram for news and information about Diageo North America: @Diageo_NA .

SOURCE DIAGEO
AHAM SUBMITS COMMENTS ON FEDERAL RULE THAT COULD BAN GAS COOKING APPLIANCES

WASHINGTON, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Watched pots eventually boil. But under the U.S. Department of Energy's proposed standards for cooking products, it will take a lot longer. In addition to banning the vast majority of existing models of gas ranges, the proposed standards for cooking products would require consumers to spend almost an entire day longer over the course of a year waiting for water to boil.

The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, as part of its ongoing effort to ensure consumers continue to have access to a full range of cooking options and features, submitted extensive comments and analysis on the proposed standards on Monday.

Although DOE's statements have been changing and conflicting, the department's original assessment was that the proposed standard would remove 96 percent of existing gas cooking products from the market.

AHAM President and CEO Kelly Mariotti said:

"DOE's proposal is an attack on gas cooking appliances disguised as an energy-saving regulation. If this proposed rule were to be finalized, people's access to a safe and affordable cooking method that is preferred by millions of home cooks would be decimated. AHAM's members are working hard to create the kitchens of the future with appliances that are more efficient, safer and more convenient. Unfortunately, DOE's proposal would take us back to the kitchens of the past and burden consumers who cook with gas with longer cook times and less control. AHAM stands ready to work with DOE if it is willing to take a step back, fully consider our findings, and develop a standard that results in meaningful energy savings, recognizes differing product types, and ensures consumers continue to have access to a variety of product features regardless of the fuel type  whether that is gas, electric or induction."

AHAM's comments detail the numerous problems with DOE's proposed standard, including serious flaws in testing and the unacceptable redesigns that manufacturers would be forced to make. Specifically, AHAM found that:

DOE's proposal threatens to eliminate the option of having more than one large burner. More than two-thirds of gas cooktops currently have more than one large burner, a feature that people who cook for large groups and families rely on. The proposal will impact the consumer's cooking experience. For example, it will extend the time it takes for water to boil. This would cause consumers, on average, nearly a full day extra per year in waiting time.

The standard would eviscerate low-input burners, removing the ability to melt, simmer and keep foods warm without burning. The result will be splattered and burned sauces.

To produce ranges that meet the proposed standard, manufacturers would be forced to radically redesign gas cooking appliances in a way that reduces many features present on currently available models.

The proposal violates the legal requirement that federal standards must improve existing product efficiency, but not eliminate product utility or features.

The gas standard is disproportionately stringent compared to the proposal for electric cooking appliances and is a clear attempt to move consumers toward electric products. While nearly all existing gas cooking products would not meet the proposed standard, according to DOE, 80 percent of existing electric cooking appliances would meet DOE's proposed standard.

This overly stringent proposal is part of a slew of other stringent DOE appliance standards proposals that would have negative product utility impacts for consumers and cost impacts for consumers and manufacturers.

The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) is the trade association representing manufacturers of major, portable and floor care home appliances and suppliers to the industry. AHAM is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and maintains an office in Ottawa. AHAM is the single voice providing the home appliance industry and its customers leadership, advocacy and a forum for action  developing and implementing credible solutions for public policy, standards and business decisions. You can visit AHAM's website at http://www.aham.org or follow us on Twitter @AHAM_Voice and @AHAM_Policy.

SOURCE Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM)
SAN FRANCISCO, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The global edge AI market size is expected to reach USD 66.47 Billion by 2030, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The market is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 21.0% from 2023 to 2030. The growing demand for 5G in areas such as real-time virtual reality experiences, self-driving cars, and mission-critical applications drives further edge AI innovation. The rising demand for IoT-based edge computing services is expected to propel the market growth. IoT generates voluminous amounts of data that can be difficult or impossible to collect. Moreover, edge AI enables full utilization of IoT data by locally analyzing massive amounts of sensor data and automating operational decisions.

Key Industry Insights & Findings from the report:

The hardware segment dominated the market with a revenue share of 53.6% in 2022. Edge chipsets have high processing capability and low power consumption, making them popular in IoT devices.

The growing adoption of artificial intelligence products and services opens up lucrative growth opportunities in the edge AI industry, leading to market growth.

Many businesses are looking for more ways to protect their data. Moreover, edge AI creates an enabling environment for data privacy because data computational activities are performed at the edge of the device or closer to the device, attracting businesses and leading to growth.

The Asia Pacific region is expected to grow at the highest CAGR of 26.1% during the projected period. Key regional players are expanding their geographical presence by providing advanced technological solutions to developing nations. In Japan , companies are creating edge AI solutions for the automotive and manufacturing industries.

Read 100-page full market research report, "Edge AI Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Component (Hardware, Software, Edge Cloud Infrastructure, Services), By End-use Industry, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2023 - 2030", published by Grand View Research.

Edge AI Market Growth & Trends

Edge computing allows for the transfer of AI processing tasks from the cloud to near-end devices, thereby overcoming the inherent problems of traditional cloud computing, such as high latency and a lack of security. Moreover, edge AI is gaining popularity in technical advances owing to low latency and bandwidth requirements. For instance, in June 2020, ADLINK Technology Inc., a company manufacturing edge computing products based in Taiwan, collaborated with Tier IV, a Japan-based deep-tech startup, and Taiwan-based Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) to enable autonomous driving with the help of edge AI. This alliance aimed to accelerate the development of open-source self-driving technology to help develop intelligent transportation systems.

The integration of edge AI into AI devices enables data processing on the machine without sending additional data elsewhere. This significantly decreases processing time which can tremendously impact cultivating positive user experiences. Relocating AI computations to the network edge create opportunities for various applications, including new products and services. For instance, in July 2022, Innodisk Corporation, a computer hardware manufacturing company in Taiwan, released an edge computing solid-state drive product line. Edge AI SSDs within edge servers are intended to process data at high speeds at the source, improving latency and lowering costs.

Edge AI computing and 5G enhance network efficiency to support and deploy various real-time AI applications, including AI-based real-time video analytics for intelligent surveillance and security, smart farming, and industrial manufacturing automation. Many businesses are developing and upgrading hardware to improve the performance of cameras to satisfy the growing demand for surveillance dimensions offered by advanced video surveillance analytics. For instance, in March 2023, Hailo AI, a semiconductor manufacturer in Israel, announced a Hailo-15, an AI-centric vision processor. This processor is intended to be directly integrated into intelligent cameras to enhance video processing and analytics at the edge.

Edge AI Market Segmentation

Grand View Research has segmented the global edge AI market based on component, end-use industry, and region

Edge AI Market - Component Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

Hardware

Software

Edge Cloud Infrastructure

Services

Edge AI Market - End-use Industry Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

Consumer Electronics

Smart Cities

Manufacturing

Automotive

Government

Healthcare

IT & Telecom

Energy

Retail

Others

Edge AI Market - Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

North America

U.S.



Canada



Mexico

Europe

U.K.



Germany



France

Asia Pacific

China



Japan



India



South Korea



Australia

South America

Brazil



Mexico

Middle East and Africa

and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)

(KSA)

UAE



South Africa

List of Key Players in the Edge AI Market

ADLINK Technology Inc.

Alphabet Inc.

Amazon.com, Inc

Gorilla Technology Group

Intel Corporation

International Business Machines Corporation

Microsoft Corporation

Nutanix, Inc

Synaptics Incorporated

Viso.ai

Check out more related studies published by Grand View Research:

Edge Computing Market - The global edge computing market size is expected to reach USD 155.90 billion by 2030, and is expected to expand at 37.9% CAGR from 2023 to 2030, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Artificial Intelligence (AI) integration into the edge environment is projected to drive market growth. An edge AI system is estimated to help businesses make decisions in real time in milliseconds. The need to minimize privacy concerns associated while transmitting large amounts of data, as well as latency and bandwidth issues that limit an organization's data transmission capabilities, are factors projected to fuel market growth in the coming years.

The global edge computing market size is expected to reach by 2030, and is expected to expand at 37.9% CAGR from 2023 to 2030, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Artificial Intelligence (AI) integration into the edge environment is projected to drive market growth. An edge AI system is estimated to help businesses make decisions in real time in milliseconds. The need to minimize privacy concerns associated while transmitting large amounts of data, as well as latency and bandwidth issues that limit an organization's data transmission capabilities, are factors projected to fuel market growth in the coming years. Multi-access Edge Computing Market - The global multi-access edge computing market size is anticipated to reach USD 55,409.7 million by 2030, expanding at a CAGR of 47.2% during the forecast period, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The increasing adoption of Over-the-Top (OTT) media streaming services and rising demand for personalized content are estimated to drive market growth. The rising number of users opting for the OTT video delivery model is projected to encourage mobile networks and telecom companies to improve their existing infrastructure. The multi-access edge computing (MEC) architecture brings backend functions closer to the user network, which is anticipated to help Multichannel Video Programming Distributors (MVPD) meet consumer expectations.

- The global multi-access edge computing market size is anticipated to reach by 2030, expanding at a CAGR of 47.2% during the forecast period, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The increasing adoption of Over-the-Top (OTT) media streaming services and rising demand for personalized content are estimated to drive market growth. The rising number of users opting for the OTT video delivery model is projected to encourage mobile networks and telecom companies to improve their existing infrastructure. The multi-access edge computing (MEC) architecture brings backend functions closer to the user network, which is anticipated to help Multichannel Video Programming Distributors (MVPD) meet consumer expectations. Edge Artificial Intelligence Chips Market - The global edge artificial intelligence chips market size is expected to reach USD 9.5 billion by 2027, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The market is anticipated to register a CAGR of 21.3% from 2020 to 2027. Semiconductor companies are experiencing high demand for their existing chips with hardware serving as a differentiator in AI. Also, these companies are developing workload-specific (training and inference) AI accelerators. For instance, Apple has implemented a neural engine in its A11 Bionic chip's processor to speed-up the third-party applications. The market is growing rapidly with the rising implementations of edge-based AI in smartphones and autonomous vehicles.

Browse through Grand View Research's Next Generation Technologies Industry Research Reports.

About Grand View Research

Grand View Research, U.S.-based market research and consulting company, provides syndicated as well as customized research reports and consulting services. Registered in California and headquartered in San Francisco, the company comprises over 425 analysts and consultants, adding more than 1200 market research reports to its vast database each year. These reports offer in-depth analysis on 46 industries across 25 major countries worldwide. With the help of an interactive market intelligence platform, Grand View Research Helps Fortune 500 companies and renowned academic institutes understand the global and regional business environment and gauge the opportunities that lie ahead.

Contact:

Sherry James

Corporate Sales Specialist, USA

Grand View Research, Inc.

Phone: +1-415-349-0058

Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519

Email: [email protected]

Web: https://www.grandviewresearch.com

Grand View Compass | Astra ESG Solutions

Follow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/661327/Grand_View_Research_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Grand View Research, Inc.
AWS Partners release native integration on AWS that improves accessibility, usability, and governance of industrial data at scale.

OAKLAND, Calif. and PORTLAND, Maine, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Element and HighByte , leading data management providers to global industrial companies, announced the launch of an integrated solution based on AWS's Industrial Data Fabric offerings. The solution, powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS), allows information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) users to contextualize and normalize data into rich information for analytics and other business systems. The solution is designed to be maintained and scaled across the enterprise as the number of use cases that rely on industrial data grows exponentially.

Element and HighByte integration on AWS improves accessibility, usability, and governance of industrial data at scale. Tweet this Element and HighByte integration on AWS

Digital transformation projects have stalled among industrial companies as they attempt to scale and meet evolving business requirements. According to Deloitte , 86% of manufacturers believe that smart factories will be the main driver of competition by 2025 yet 65% report no progress on these initiatives. The research names lack of necessary IT infrastructure and broader integration between IT and OT as major challenges. Industrial companies can no longer ignore the limitations created by weaknesses in their underlying IT/OT infrastructure if they want to remain competitive.

AWS's Industrial Data Fabric offerings address these infrastructure challenges. "By preparing and curating industrial data for the use cases and applications that require it, our solution allows stakeholders throughout the enterprise to unlock data trapped in rigid execution systems," said John Harrington, Chief Product Officer at HighByte. "The goal is to achieve scale and maintainability by leveraging the best of the cloud and the edge."

By integrating Element Unify with HighByte Intelligence Hub , customers can contextualize, create, and manage operational models in the cloud and then transfer this information to federated hubs at the edge. The edge hubs connect to OT and IT source systems, transform and contextualize this data, and then stream information payloads to AWS. This architectural approach allows operations teams to provide data to the systems and business users in an efficient and managed way. With the solution powered by AWS, operations teams can own and manage data access, accelerate analytics, and maintain site flexibility as they change or add new machinery, assets, and processes over time.

"Together, HighByte and Element leverage the power of AWS to provide industrial organizations a solution to free their trapped plant data and turn it into business value," said Andy Bane, CEO of Element. "We're excited to play a part in unifying operations data in our solution on AWS so organizations can leverage existing investments and power up new analytical tools and apps for plant monitoring, diagnostic analysis, and the pursuit of autonomous operations."

"Open access to data that allows innovation at scale is foundational to our mission to transform manufacturing and accelerate our industrial customers' transformation journeys," said Wendy Bauer, General Manager, Automotive & Manufacturing at AWS. "We are thrilled about the collaboration between Element and HighByte and look forward to supporting our customers as they adopt enhanced technology and processes based on AWS's Industrial Data Fabric Architecture."

"At Deloitte, our goal is to help manufacturers deliver immediate business outcomes while building long-term business value, and we believe that it takes an ecosystem of best-in-class technology providers to help solve the industry's greatest challenges which our clients can experience first-hand at our live production facility, The Smart Factory @ Wichita," said Tim Gaus, Smart Manufacturing leader and principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP. "By bringing together the power of Deloitte's smart manufacturing expertise and services with industry-specific solutions from AWS, HighByte, and Element, we can collectively help industrial and manufacturing leaders navigate the complexity and accessibility of data and utilize it as an asset at scale to engineer advantage."

The integrated solution is now available in the AWS Solutions Library with guidance and may be purchased in AWS Marketplace. Distribution and implementation by global service providers, including Deloitte, Infosys, and Cyient are also now available.

About Element

Element is a leading software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider in operations data management. Element Unify enables the Industrial Data Fabric architecture through a unified data model to empower people with access to operations data to make faster decisions that deliver financial impact. Element's customers represent over $750 billion in revenue, $500 billion in fixed assets and 450,000 employees. To learn more about Element, please visit https://www.elementanalytics.com and follow the company on LinkedIn .

About HighByte

HighByte is an industrial software company in Portland, Maine USA building solutions that address the data architecture and integration challenges created by Industry 4.0. HighByte Intelligence Hub, the company's award-winning Industrial DataOps software, provides modeled, ready-to-use data to the Cloud using a codeless interface to speed integration time and accelerate analytics. Learn more at https://highbyte.com .

SOURCE Element Analytics
A China-Europe freight train loaded with Chinese-brand vehicles waits for departure at the Harbin international container center station in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, on April 16, 2023. Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province launched its first China-Europe freight train carrying domestic brand vehicles on Sunday, according to China Railway Harbin Bureau Group Co., Ltd.

On Sunday morning, the freight train left the railway station of Harbin international container center, in the provincial capital, loaded with 55 containers of 165 commercial vehicles worth more than 33 million yuan (about 4.81 million U.S. dollars). (Xinhua/Zhang Tao)

HARBIN, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province launched its first China-Europe freight train carrying domestic brand vehicles on Sunday, according to China Railway Harbin Bureau Group Co., Ltd.

On Sunday morning, the freight train left the railway station of Harbin international container center, in the provincial capital, loaded with 55 containers of 165 commercial vehicles worth more than 33 million yuan (about 4.81 million U.S. dollars).

Passing through Manzhouli Port, in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the freight train is expected to arrive in the European destination in 15 days, said the railway authority, noting that the newly-launched service will open up new overseas markets for China's homemade vehicles.

According to the authority, the second freight train of the service is scheduled to depart next week, in anticipation of more frequent subsequent shipments. 

A China-Europe freight train loaded with Chinese-brand vehicles waits for departure at the Harbin international container center station in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, on April 16, 2023. Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province launched its first China-Europe freight train carrying domestic brand vehicles on Sunday, according to China Railway Harbin Bureau Group Co., Ltd.

On Sunday morning, the freight train left the railway station of Harbin international container center, in the provincial capital, loaded with 55 containers of 165 commercial vehicles worth more than 33 million yuan (about 4.81 million U.S. dollars). (Xinhua/Zhang Tao)

This aerial photo taken on April 16, 2023 shows a China-Europe freight train loaded with Chinese-brand vehicles leaving from the Harbin international container center station in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province launched its first China-Europe freight train carrying domestic brand vehicles on Sunday, according to China Railway Harbin Bureau Group Co., Ltd.

On Sunday morning, the freight train left the railway station of Harbin international container center, in the provincial capital, loaded with 55 containers of 165 commercial vehicles worth more than 33 million yuan (about 4.81 million U.S. dollars). (Xinhua/Zhang Tao)

This aerial photo taken on April 16, 2023 shows a China-Europe freight train carrying Chinese-brand vehicles at Harbin international container center station in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province launched its first China-Europe freight train carrying domestic brand vehicles on Sunday, according to China Railway Harbin Bureau Group Co., Ltd.

On Sunday morning, the freight train left the railway station of Harbin international container center, in the provincial capital, loaded with 55 containers of 165 commercial vehicles worth more than 33 million yuan (about 4.81 million U.S. dollars). (Xinhua/Zhang Tao)

Editor: JYZ
HOUSTON, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Flotek Industries, Inc. ("Flotek" or the "Company") (NYSE: FTK) today announced it has received written notice from the New York Stock Exchange (the "NYSE") that the average closing price of the Company's shares of common stock was below $1.00 per share over a period of 30 consecutive trading days, which is below the requirement for continued listing on the NYSE.

In accordance with applicable NYSE procedures, the Company plans to notify the NYSE that it intends to cure the $1.00 per share deficiency. Based on the applicable NYSE procedures, the Company has six months following the receipt of the notice to cure the deficiency and regain compliance. The notice has no immediate impact on the listing of the Company's common stock, which will continue to trade on the NYSE subject to the Company's continued compliance with the other listing requirements of the NYSE. The common stock of the Company will continue to trade under the symbol "FTK," but will have an added designation of ".BC" to indicate that the status of the common stock is "below compliance" with the NYSE continued listing standards. The ".BC" indicator will be removed at such time as the Company is deemed to be in compliance. The Company intends to monitor the closing share price for its common stock and explore available options to regain compliance, which may include, if necessary, effectuating a reverse stock split.

The Company's stockholders approved a proposal at the Company's 2022 annual meeting giving the Board of Directors of the Company (the "Board") authority to effect a reverse stock split of the Company's common stock at a ratio to be determined by the Board ranging from a ratio of one to three to a ratio of one to six. If the Board determines to implement the reverse stock split, the Company will issue a press release announcing the terms and effective date before it takes effect.

About Flotek Industries, Inc.

Flotek Industries, Inc. creates unique solutions to reduce the environmental impact of energy on air, water, land and people. A technology-driven, specialty green chemistry and data company, Flotek helps customers across industrial and commercial markets improve their environmental performance. The Company's primary focus is to enable its customers to maximize the value of their hydrocarbon streams and improve return on invested capital through its real-time data platforms and green chemistry technologies. Flotek serves downstream, midstream, and upstream energy customers, both domestic and international. In addition, the Company is positioned to integrate parallel industrial chemistry and data platforms by capitalizing on its digitization, engineering, chemical formulation knowledge, and intellectual property to drive multi-disciplinary advancements in sustainability and enterprise risk management. Flotek is a publicly traded company headquartered in Houston, Texas, and its common shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "FTK." For additional information, please visit www.flotekind.com.

Forward -Looking Statements

Certain statements set forth in this press release constitute forward-looking statements (within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) regarding Flotek Industries, Inc.'s business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Words such as will, continue, expects, anticipates, intends, plans, believes, seeks, estimates and similar expressions or variations of such words are intended to identify forward-looking statements, but are not the exclusive means of identifying forward-looking statements in this press release. Although forward-looking statements in this press release reflect the good faith judgment of management, such statements can only be based on facts and factors currently known to management. Consequently, forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results and outcomes may differ materially from the results and outcomes discussed in the forward-looking statements. Further information about the risks and uncertainties that may impact the company are set forth in the Company's most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Form 10-K (including, without limitation, in the "Risk Factors" section thereof), and in the Company's other SEC filings and publicly available documents. Readers are urged not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect any event or circumstance that may arise after the date of this press release.

SOURCE Flotek Industries, Inc.
DUBLIN, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Cargo Handling Equipment Market By Equipment Type, By Propulsion Type, By Application: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global cargo handling equipment market was valued at $28,517.6 million in 2021, and is projected to reach $48,246.4 million by 2031, registering a CAGR of 5.3% from 2022 to 2031.

Key Market Players

Hyster-Yale Group, Inc.

Terex Corporation

KION Group AG (KION)

Toyota Industries Corp (TICO)

Sany Heavy Industry Co Ltd (SHI)

Macgregor

Mitsubishi Corporation

Anhui Heli Co., Ltd.

konecranes

Liebherr International AG

Cargo handling equipment are the off- road, self - propelled vehicle or equipment that are used at a port or intermodal rail yard for moving or lifting bulk, container, or liquid cargo carried by train, ship or any another vehicle. In addition, it is used for performing repair and maintenance activities which are been routinely scheduled or that are due to predictable process upsets.



The growth of the cargo handling equipment is expected to be driven by increase in government expenditure on port infrastructure to promote safe and efficient commercial activities. In addition, rise in need for liquefied natural gas exports via marine transport is likely to contribute toward the growth of the industry.

Furthermore, numerous sectors rely on marine shipping to import and export commodities throughout the world, as transporting products by air is more expensive than transporting commodities by water. Thus, this factor is expected to significantly rise surge the volume in usage of the cargo handling equipment.



However, the expansion of the port infrastructure industry is hampered by trade obstacles which in turn is affecting the growth of the cargo handling equipment market. Tariffs are a type of trade barrier that imposes a levy on imported products. Tariffs increase the cost of imported products. Higher tariffs are due to higher price of imported goods. In addition, higher tariffs lead to lower port transit and shipping.

For instance, in comparison to exports to China, the U. S. import from China is high. The U. S. Government implemented a tariff tax system To to regulate imports and save American firms, the U. S. Government implemented a tariff tax system. However, because the building and maintenance of port infrastructure requires a significant amount of cash which includes higher cost of machines used at ports. In addition, it takes a long time to complete, ; these difficulties are projected to act as challenges for the market growth.



A country's economic progress is aided by efficient trade activities. As a result, sea ports play an important role in economic activities, particularly in coastal locations. Every year, the number of passengers travelling by sea and the number of commodities transported by water are witnessed to increase significantly.

Hence, it leads to construction of new ports requiring more cargo handling equipment at these ports. Furthermore, the use of IoT and AI for shipping and transport management can shorten the time required for waterway transport delivery, which is expected to offer lucrative opportunities for the market expansion.



Key Benefits

This report provides a quantitative analysis of the market segments, current trends, estimations, and dynamics of the cargo handling equipment market analysis from 2021 to 2031 to identify the prevailing cargo handling equipment market opportunities.

The market research is offered along with information related to key drivers, restraints, and opportunities.

Porter's five forces analysis highlights the potency of buyers and suppliers to enable stakeholders make profit-oriented business decisions and strengthen their supplier-buyer network.

In-depth analysis of the cargo handling equipment market segmentation assists to determine the prevailing market opportunities.

Major countries in each region are mapped according to their revenue contribution to the global market.

Market player positioning facilitates benchmarking and provides a clear understanding of the present position of the market players.

The report includes the analysis of the regional as well as global cargo handling equipment market trends, key players, market segments, application areas, and market growth strategies.

Key Market Segments

By Equipment Type

Industrial Trucks

Tow Tractors

Conveying Equipment

Stacker

Port Cranes

Others

By Propulsion Type

IC Engine

Electric

By Application

Air

Road and Rail

Marine

By Region

North America

U.S.

Canada

Mexico

Europe

Germany

France

UK

Italy

Rest of Europe

Asia-Pacific

China

Japan

South Korea

India

Rest of Asia-Pacific

LAMEA

Latin America

Middle East

Africa

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/mcs9eo

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Research and Markets
TAIPEI, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Organization of Smart Cities (GO SMART) is committed to becoming a platform for capacity sharing and matchmaking of all the stakeholders in the smart city development. Since the establishment, GO SMART has started GO SMART Award to recognize the world outstanding smart cities projects. In this fifth term of GO SMART Award 2023, we received 43 projects from 19 cities covering 11 countries. After series of evaluation and interview, five winners were selected: the NewTaiPAY from New Taipei City, Taiwan; Jabar Digital Service from Bandung City, Indonesia; MeNGo 2.0 from Kaohsiung City, Taiwan; Air quality monitor system from Taichung City, Taiwan and High risk families early-warning system from New Taipei City, Taiwan. These five projects' impacts to the city development and citizens wellbeing are really great and worthwhile for recognition. Here is the briefing of the winner project "Air quality monitor system".

GO SMART Award 2023 Winners ()- Air quality monitor system

The improvement project of IoT air quality sensors in Taichung City

Taichung City is the second largest city & core metropolitan area in central Taiwan, with a diverse geographical environment and a dense population, which is the hub of industry, commerce & transportation systems in Taiwan. There are a lot of factories in industrial areas and the primary goal of environmental governance is to strengthen the management and trace of pollution sources so that people can breathe clean air.

By using the characteristics of low cost, small size, and relatively flexible locations of air quality sensors, Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB) established the "Air Quality Data Center" in 2021, combined with the geographic information system, and IoT to visualize and analyze data. The concentration of PM2.5, TVOC, CO, O3, temperature, relative humidity, and wind vane and anemometers are provided to EPB and related business units for pollution sources checking application. The system uses AI to establish an alert mechanism for each industrial area and notify the alert by LINE to offer high-value pollution period, frequency, and cross-analysis to enhance the detection rate of the audit unit and improve air quality. Besides, when a major air pollution event occurs, each region can be grasped in real-time information to prevent the public from air pollution in advance. By combining AI automatic smoke detection, IP CAM high-value recording, and automatic sampling equipment, multiple environmental governance applications can be developed.

With the cooperation of industry, officials, and universities, the "Air Quality Data Center" can further evaluate the effectiveness of air quality improvement measures in Taichung, improve the auxiliary environmental inspection, and reduce the health hazards of air pollution to the public. As the public's awareness of air pollution issue and self-protection measures is awakened, Taichung City is moving towards the goal of building a smart city with technology, environmental protection, and sustainable development.

CONTACT: [email protected]

SOURCE GO SMART(Global Organization of Smart Cities)
STOCKHOLM, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Paligo, a leading provider of software enabling customers to manage componentized technical documentation and knowledge assets, announced that it will receive a strategic growth investment from GRO. Existing investor Alfven & Didrikson ("A&D") will also follow on its investment into Paligo. GRO becomes a minority investor in the company and through this investment, Paligo will accelerate its product vision, organizational expansion and international growth.

"Paligo raises $29 million investment from GRO and Alfven & Didrikson to take SaaS-based Component Content Management to the next level." (PRNewsfoto/Paligo)

Paligo provides a cloud-based Component Content Management System ("CCMS") that allows customers to author, manage, translate and publish technical documentation and knowledge assets such as policies, procedures, and customer support information, with a focus on the software, manufacturing, finance and insurance, and healthcare verticals.

Paligo benefits from structural advantages in its architecture and deployment to set industry benchmark time-to-value for customers, scalability, omni-channel publishing capabilities, collaboration and workflow offerings, and UI/UX usability. As a fast-growing company, Paligo supports enterprise and mid-market customers globally from its offices in Sweden, Ireland and the United States.

Since its foundation in 2015 as a cloud-native provider of CCMS software, Paligo has developed market-leading capabilities for its customers to structure complex information through its user-friendly interface and efficient scalability. The company has experienced rapid growth since inception and GRO and A&D are partnering with Paligo at an important inflection point, as the management team expands the product vision, organizational setup and global presence by embarking on an exciting operational excellence path, positioning the company for a sustainable growth journey ahead.

Anders Svensson, Co-Founder and CEO of Paligo, says: "Paligo has been a game changer from day one for companies wanting to modernize how they work with technical documentation and knowledge management in a collaborative SaaS platform. Managing complex content across multiple product lines, versions and channels is an ever increasing pain point for enterprises. Paligo allows them to easily reuse structured content from a single source of truth and provide their end users with consistent high-quality content where they need it, when they need it. We couldn't be more excited to take the next steps in revolutionizing documentation and content management together with Alfven & Didrikson and our new partners GRO."

Lars Lunde, Partner at GRO, comments: "We see strong growth in the software market for management of technical documentation and knowledge assets, in particular the cloud-based segment. Paligo has established a category-defining position globally and is poised for continued rapid expansion. The company garners best-in-class customer feedback and we are excited to support Paligo as it embarks on the next stage of growth. We look forward to leveraging GRO's operational and software expertise and working closely together with Paligo to capitalize on this market opportunity."

Ken Liebkind, Partner at Alfven & Didrikson, adds: "With a robust product and clear focus on delivering value to customers, Paligo has built a solid and rapidly growing customer base globally. Having worked closely with the team since our initial investment in 2020, we are thrilled to continue our partnership with Paligo and delighted to welcome GRO."

About Paligo

Paligo is an end-to-end modern cloud-based CCMS (Component Content Management System) for authoring, managing, translating, and publishing technical documentation and knowledge assets. Founded in 2015, the company has over 100 employees serving 450+ enterprise and mid-market customers around the world from its offices in Sweden, Ireland and the United States.

For more information about Paligo please visit www.paligo.net and www.linkedin.com/company/paligo

About GRO

GRO is a leading Northern European private equity firm with an exclusive focus on mature B2B software and tech enabled companies with strong growth prospects. GRO serves as an active owner developing portfolio companies with a view to create long-term value. The partners behind GRO have been investors in more than 25 technology and software related companies, and GRO has approximately EUR 1bn in AUM.

For more information about GRO please visit www.grocapital.dk and www.linkedin.com/company/gro-capital

About Alfven & Didrikson

Alfven & Didrikson is an active and long-term backer of passionate entrepreneurs and ambitious teams. Since 2010, the Alfven & Didrikson team has made investments in fast growing European companies such as Trustly, Quinyx, Acast, Mentimeter, Tellent and Airmee.

For more information about Alfven & Didrikson please visit www.alfvendidrikson.com and www.linkedin.com/company/alfvendidrikson

Paligo

Anders Svensson, Co-Founder & CEO

[email protected]

GRO Capital

Lars Lunde, Partner

[email protected]

Alfven & Didrikson

Ken Liebkind, Partner

[email protected]

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2055411/Paligo_GRO.jpg

SOURCE Paligo
The cybersecurity company securing and insuring businesses won badges across four key categories surrounding cloud and email security

TEL AVIV, Israel, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Guardz , the cybersecurity company securing and insuring SMEs, today announced that it has secured 22 notable badges in four distinct categories in the G2 Spring 2023 Reports , including Cloud Data Security, Cloud Email Security, Email Security, and Cloud Security. This recognition further cements Guard'z position as a leader providing SMEs a comprehensive cybersecurity and cyber insurance solution.

G2 is the largest and most trusted peer-to-peer review marketplace evaluating software solutions and services, focused on customer satisfaction and market reputation. G2's reports showcase a company's standing in the market, and its badges signify companies that deliver top products and experiences for their customers each quarter.

Guardz's secure and insure solution obtained six types of badges within the four distinct categories, including Best Estimated ROI, Easiest to Do Business With, Fastest Implementation, High Performer, Users Most Likely To Recommend, and Best Support.

"We are delighted to have been awarded such coveted G2 badges as recognition of the quality and value of Guardz's offerings," said Dor Eisner, Guardz Co-Founder and CEO. "Our team has worked incredibly hard to develop such an amazing product, and it's truly inspiring to see that our efforts are being recognized by our customers and the wider industry. We will continue to work tirelessly to give SMEs and MSPs the best tools to create a safer digital world."

With the ongoing digital revolution pushing companies of all sizes to migrate their operations to the often-vulnerable cloud, 47% of small businesses have experienced at least one cyber-attack in the past year. And with diminished resources and budgets, small and medium-size businesses are among the most appealing targets for malicious actors. To combat this rise in cyberattacks targeting SMEs, Guardz has developed a holistic and hassle-free cybersecurity platform that provides both real-time cyber protection and cyber insurance. MSP partners using Guardz benefit from a solution that automatically monitors SMEs digital footprint to continuously analyze cybersecurity risks and remediate threats.

To learn more about the G2 badges awarded to Guardz, please visit their profile on the G2 website or click here .

About Guardz

Guardz is a holistic cybersecurity and insurance solution designed for SMEs. Its comprehensive and affordable platform is on guard 24/7, and is easy to use for both in-house IT personnel and MSPs. With cutting-edge technologies stacked into a robust platform, Guardz's solution continuously monitors businesses' digital landscapes to protect their entire range of assets, enables them to react to cyber risks in real time with swift remediations, and provides cyber insurance for peace of mind. Guardz was founded in 2022 by Dor Eisner and Alon Lavi along with a team of cyber and insurance experts who combine innovation, experience, and creativity to create a safer digital world for small businesses.

For more information, visit the Guardz website: https://guardz.com/

Allison Grey

Headline Media

[email protected]

US: +1 323 283 8176

UK: +44 203 807 4482

IL: +972 53 820 2606

SOURCE Guardz
HAIKOU, China, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On April 15th, the closing ceremony of the "Longing for Changjiang, Encounter Glimmer of Light" theme event at the 3rd China International Consumer Products Expo Fashion Week was held in Changjiang Li Autonomous County, Hainan Province, China.

Changjiang featured fashion show

The fashion show integrated the intangible heritage cultural elements such as Li brocade and Li pottery from Changjiang, as well as beautiful natural scenery, and combined with the public welfare project "Glimmering Girl" which supports the growth of women in China. Together, they traced the traditional culture of the Li people in Changjiang and experienced the collision of fashion trends and local culture, while paying attention to more Li girls who need help, according to Changjiang Li Autonomous County Convergence Media Center.

The closing ceremony of the fashion week was jointly presented by China's pearl design brand PEARLSTIGE, Chinese designer brand RUOHAN, and Hainan Li cultural clothing brand "Bu Li Bu She". They combined modern and international thinking, integrated traditional culture such as Hainan Li brocade, and launched the "Butterfly Li Brocade Series" fashion clothing, showcasing China's new force in fashion design and demonstrating the new expression of the transboundary integration of Li brocade culture and fashion trends.

Image Attachments Links:

Link: https://iop.asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=439924

Caption: Changjiang featured fashion show

SOURCE Changjiang Li Autonomous County Convergence Media Center
HealthWell to Also Provide Best Practices Programming to Foundation Donors and Patient Stakeholders

GERMANTOWN, Md., April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The HealthWell Foundation, an independent non-profit that provides a financial lifeline for inadequately insured Americans, is honored to announce that it has partnered with the Healthcare Advocate Summit team as a presenting sponsor of the third annual Summit to be held in New Orleans, LA, September 6  8, 2023.

This three-day event includes a full day seminar hosted by HealthWell, and other similarly mission-focused organizations, devoted specifically to interested and existing corporate manufacturer donors in the charitable patient assistance program (CPAP) space. The seminar will provide a complete overview as well as in-depth detail toward assisting patients with their medication copays, insurance premiums, and other ancillary costs through independent foundational support. All sessions will be both in-person and live-streamed, with the ability to submit questions anonymously prior to the seminar and ask questions in person and via the live-stream throughout the day.

In addition, HealthWell will also sponsor the two-day networking lounge and exhibit during the Summit.

"We are thrilled to once again be working with the HealthWell Foundation for this year's Healthcare Advocate Summit," said Elizabeth Johnson and Melissa Paige, Co-CEO's, Healthcare Advocate Summit. "As the Summit continues to grow annually, we are honored to have the support, collaboration, and vision of the HealthWell team to bring together like-minded communities who put patient needs above all else. HealthWell's longstanding commitment to mitigate the challenges patients face in accessing proper medical care has a tremendous impact on not only the patient, but the patient advocate community as well. We applaud HealthWell for their tireless efforts to ensure that no patient goes without critical medical care and look forward to working with the team as we continue to identify new ways to make the patient journey less cumbersome."

"We are excited to increase our partnership with the Healthcare Advocate Summit team for our third consecutive year for this must-attend event," said Krista Zodet, President and CEO, HealthWell Foundation. "Collaborative efforts to create programming to share best practices with corporate donors and all other patient advocate stakeholders will be truly worthwhile. Ensuring that Foundations such as HealthWell and the rest of the community compliantly interact with the best interests of patients in mind will be the gold standard to which this Summit continues to aspire."

To view the preliminary seminar outline and learn more about the Healthcare Advocate Summit and why you should join the over 500 expected registered attendees, visit: https://www.healthcareadvocatesummit.com. To learn more about HealthWell programs and our robust disease fund portfolio, visit our website at HealthWellFoundation.org. Visit the new Conference section of our website to learn about future industry and disease-specific venues where you can connect with the HealthWell team.

About the HealthWell Foundation

A nationally recognized, independent non-profit organization founded in 2003, the HealthWell Foundation has served as a safety net across over 85 disease areas for more than 822,000 underinsured patients. Since its inception, HealthWell has provided over $3.3 billion in financial support through more than 1.3 million grants to access life-changing medical treatments patients otherwise would not be able to afford. HealthWell provides financial assistance to adults and children facing medical hardship resulting from gaps in their insurance that cause out-of-pocket medical expenses to escalate rapidly; HealthWell assists with the treatment-related cost-sharing obligations of these patients. HealthWell ranked 34th on the 2022 Forbes list of The 100 Largest U.S. Charities and was recognized for its 100 percent fundraising efficiency. For more information, visit HealthWellFoundation.org.

SOURCE HealthWell Foundation
SHANGHAI, April 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As a global innovative biopharmaceutical company, Henlius is committed to offering high-quality, affordable and innovative biopharmaceuticals to patients worldwide with 5 products launched in China. Leveraging the differentiated competitive edges of its products, Henlius adopts meticulous management model and precise market strategies to optimize the commercialization layout and further extend its market reach. In the first quarter of 2023, Henlius'revenue climbed 97.2% to RMB995.7 million. With expanding sales of its flagship products including HANQUYOU and HANSIZHUANG, the company has shown continous revenue growth.

HANQUYOU Continues to Soar

In the first quarter of 2023, Henlius' core anti-tumour product HANQUYOU (trastuzumab, trade name in Europe: Zercepac, trade name in Australia: Tuzucip and Trastucip) extended its strong momentum, soaring by 66.7%, to RMB538.6 million.

HANQUYOU, indicated for the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer and gastric cancer, is the first product sold and promoted in Chinese mainland by the company's in-house commercialisation team. The 150mg/60mg dual dosage and preservative-free formulation of HANQUYOU sets it apart, leading clinical practices and providing a personalized and cost-effective treatment option for breast cancer patients of any weight. In 2022, the 24,000L production capacity of Songjiang First Plant was approved to commence the commercial production of HANQUYOU, being a driving force behind the production increase and the accerlerated commercialisation of HANQUYOU. Furthermore, Henlius continues to expand the sales network of HANQUYOU. As at the end of 2022, the copany had more than 550 sales agents for HANQUYOU, with the goal of penetrating the Chinese mainland markets with efficiency far exceeding the industry average.

HANQUYOU is the first China-developed mAb approved both in China and Europe. It was approved for commercialisation by the European Commission (EC) and NMPA in July 2020 and August 2020, respectively. In February 2023, the Biologics License Application (BLA) for HANQUYOU has been accepted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which will further expand the product's footprint in major markets of biologics in the U.S. and Europe. In addition, Henlius has aggressively pursued international commercialization of HANQUYOU, actively collaborating with global partners to bring its therapeutics to patients in the United States, Canada, Europe, and other emerging markets, covering about 100 countries and regions. Up to now, HANQUYOU has launched in over 30 countries and regions, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, Finland, Spain, Singapore, Argentina and Saudi Arabia.

HANSIZHUANG Sees Unbated Growth

In the first quarter of 2023, the company's first innovative product, HANSIZHUANG (serplulimab) achieved a domestic sales revenue of RMB249.8 million. Notably, HANSIZHUANG realized a monthly sales of over RMB100 million in March 2023 in Chinese mainland, starting a new stage of its sales growth as well as providing strong momentum for the product's commercialization.

HANSIZHUANG was launched in China in March 2022and has been approved for 3 indications including MSI-H solid tumour, squamous non-small cell lung cancer (sqNSCLC) and extensive stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC) so far. As the world's first anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody (mAb) for the first-line treatment of SCLC, HANSIZHUANG set a record for SCLC immunotherapy with a median OS (overall survival) of 15.8 months. With its outstanding quality and clinical efficacy, HANSIZHUANG has earned wide recognitions from the market and has seen rapid sales uptick. At the beginning of the product's commercialisation, an amazing "Henlius speed" has been demonstrated in the first deliveries and the first prescriptions of HANSIZHUANG, which also indicated the company's strong commercial operation and execution. As of the end of 2022, its sales team has been expanded to approximately 400 people. With a rich experience in oncology and meticulous management model, the team has covered over 23,000 healthcare providers from nearly 1000 domestic hospitals. Looking forward, the company will continue to accelerate the market coverage and penetration of HANSIZHUANG in the areas of lung cancer, gastrointestinal and gynecological tumours.

In March 2023, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has validated the Marketing Authorization Application(MAA) for HANSIZHUANG for the first-line treatment of ES-SCLC. Another patient has also been dosed in a head-to-head bridging trial of HANSIZHUANG versus first-line standard of care atezolizumab for ES-SCLC in the U.S. The company also plans to submit a Biologics License Application (BLA) for HANSIZHUANG in the U.S. in 2024. Meanwhile, the company continues to explore the combination therapies between HANSIZHUANG and self-developed products such as HANBEITAI, HLX07 (anti-EGFR mAb), HLX26 (anti-LAG-3 mAb), HLX208 (BRAF V600E small molecule inhibitor) and HLX60 (anti-GARP mAb) to provide better therapies for the patients, more than 10 clinical trials on immuno-oncology combination therapies are in progress in a wide variety of indications.

Looking forward, Henlius will continue to delve into the area of oncology, auto-immune and other diseases. While maximizing the commercial value of biosimilars at home and abroad, Henlius will actively explore innovation drugs and tackle unmet clinical needs by leveraging its in-house R&D capabilities supplemented by external cooperation and license-in, so as to consolidate the best-in-class capabilities of "integrated research, manufacturing and commercialisation", and achieve steady development as a larger, international and more profitable Biopharma to provide more affordable and better therapies for patients worldwide.

About Henlius

Henlius (2696.HK) is a global biopharmaceutical company with the vision to offer high-quality, affordable, and innovative biologic medicines for patients worldwide with a focus on oncology, autoimmune diseases, and ophthalmic diseases. Up to date, 5 products have been launched in China, 1 has been approved for marketing in overseas markets, 18 indications are approved worldwide, and 3 marketing applications have been accepted for review in China, the U.S., and the EU, respectively. Since its inception in 2010, Henlius has built an integrated biopharmaceutical platform with core capabilities of high-efficiency and innovation embedded throughout the whole product life cycle including R&D, manufacturing and commercialization. It has established global innovation centers and Shanghai-based manufacturing facilities in line with global Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), including Xuhui Plant certificated by China and the EU GMP and Songjiang First Plant certificated by China GMP.

Henlius has pro-actively built a diversified and high-quality product pipeline covering over 20 innovative monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and has continued to explore immuno-oncology combination therapies with proprietary HANSIZHUANG (anti-PD-1 mAb) as backbone. Apart from the launched products HANLIKANG (rituximab), the first China-developed biosimilar, HANQUYOU (trastuzumab for injection, trade name in Europe: Zercepac; trade names in Australia: Tuzucip and Trastucip, the first China-developed mAb biosimilar approved both in China and Europe, HANDAYUAN (adalimumab) and HANBEITAI (bevacizumab), the innovative product HANSIZHUANG has been approved by the NMPA for the treatment of MSI-H solid tumors, squamous non-small cell lung cancer (sqNSCLC) and extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC), making it the world's first anti-PD-1 mAb for the first-line treatment of SCLC. Its NDA for the treatment of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is under review. What's more, Henlius has conducted over 30 clinical studies for 16 products, expanding its presence in major markets as well as emerging markets.

SOURCE Henlius
Enables Sustained Growth for SkinnyPop brand through Supply Chain Expansion

HERSHEY, Pa., April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire two manufacturing plants from Weaver Popcorn Manufacturing , a recognized leader in popcorn production and co-packing, and a co-manufacturer of Hershey's SkinnyPop brand. Through the deal, Hershey will acquire Weaver's operations in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and Whitestown, Indiana.

The acquisition is designed to enable the company to sustain strong growth for its SkinnyPop brand by strengthening internal supply chain capabilities in combination with its network of strategic suppliers and co-manufacturers.

"Hershey has experienced tremendous growth over the past few years, stemming from a combination of successful strategy execution and an increase in more snacking occasions among consumers," said Kristen Riggs, President, Salty Snacks, The Hershey Company. "In fact, SkinnyPop has been number one in retail sales growth for ready-to-eat popcorn over the last three years."

As the company continues to elevate its position as a leading snacking powerhouse, these new facilities will also enable more flexibility, agility and resiliency across its growing salty snacks supply chain network. A year ago, Hershey acquired Pretzels, Inc. to expand its salty snacks manufacturing capabilities.

"In response to consumer snacking trends, we continue to evolve our supply chain, making significant investments in the size, scale and capabilities of our network, improving resiliency while we continue to strengthen existing supplier relationships," said Jason Reiman, Chief Supply Chain Officer, The Hershey Company. "Our acquisition of Weaver's two facilities is a perfect example of how we're investing to bring added capacity and strength across our portfolio of brands well into the future."

Like Hershey, Weaver has a strong manufacturing heritage, tracing its roots back nearly a century. As a family-owned and operated company, over the last 90+ years, Weaver has developed into a vertically integrated business, delivering a broad array of popcorn products globally. The company now operates three independent entities, including Weaver Popcorn Manufacturing.

"Participating in the growth of SkinnyPop has been a rewarding experience for our team members," remarked Jason Kashman, Chief Executive Officer, Weaver Popcorn. "Hershey is acquiring two best-in-class popcorn manufacturing operations that will enable continued growth in volume and quality, with teams at each location that have an unrivaled expertise."

The acquisition is subject to customary regulatory approvals and will be financed with cash on hand, as well as short-term borrowings.

Safe Harbor Statement

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Many of these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "assume," "believe," "continue," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "future," "intend," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "strategy," "target" and similar terms, and future or conditional tense verbs like "could," "may," "might," "should," "will" and "would," among others. These statements are made based upon current expectations that are subject to risk and uncertainty. Because actual results may differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, you should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements when deciding whether to buy, sell or hold the company's securities. Factors that could cause results to differ materially include, but are not limited to: the ability to timely satisfy the conditions to the closing the transactions contemplated in the definitive agreement; our ability to realize the benefits of the transaction; risks related to the impact of the coronavirus global pandemic ("COVID-19") on our business, suppliers, distributors, consumers, customers, and employees; the scope and duration of the pandemic; government actions and restrictive measures implemented in response to the pandemic, including the distribution of vaccinations and continuation of social distancing guidelines and stay at home orders; disruptions or inefficiencies in our supply chain due to the loss or disruption of essential manufacturing or supply elements or other factors; issues or concerns related to the quality and safety of our products, ingredients or packaging, human and workplace rights, and other environmental, social or governance matters; changes in raw material and other costs, along with the availability of adequate supplies of raw materials; the company's ability to successfully execute business continuity plans to address the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting changes in consumer preferences and the broader economic and operating environment; selling price increases, including volume declines associated with pricing elasticity; market demand for our new and existing products; increased marketplace competition; failure to successfully execute and integrate acquisitions, divestitures and joint ventures; changes in governmental laws and regulations, including taxes; political, economic, and/or financial market conditions; risks and uncertainties related to our international operations; disruptions, failures or security breaches of our information technology infrastructure; our ability to hire, engage and retain a talented global workforce, our ability to realize expected cost savings and operating efficiencies associated with strategic initiatives or restructuring programs; complications with the design or implementation of our new enterprise resource planning system; and such other matters as discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022. All information in this press release is as of April 17, 2023. The company undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in the company's expectations.

About The Hershey Company

The Hershey Company is headquartered in Hershey, Pa., and is an industry-leading snacks company known for bringing goodness to the world through its iconic brands, remarkable people and enduring commitment to help children succeed. Hershey has approximately 19,000 employees around the world who work every day to deliver delicious, quality products. The company has more than 100 brand names in approximately 80 countries that drive more than $10 billion in annual revenues, including such iconic brand names as Hershey's, Reese's, Kit Kat, Jolly Rancher and Ice Breakers, and fast-growing salty snacks including SkinnyPop, Pirate's Booty and Dot's Homestyle Pretzels.

For more than 125 years, Hershey has been committed to operating fairly, ethically and sustainably. Hershey founder, Milton Hershey, created Milton Hershey School in 1909 and since then the company has focused on helping children succeed.

To learn more visit www.thehersheycompany.com .

SOURCE The Hershey Company
AMP's groundbreaking online-and-offline OOH data platform is part of a major expansion of Horizon's Data Solutions Group

TORONTO, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Horizon Media Canada today announced the launch of AMP, its proprietary OOH planning and analytics platform, to boost marketers' out of home advertising performance using precision audience targeting and location data-based site selection.

AMP's Canadian debut is part of a broader expansion of Horizon's Data Solutions Group. The Horizon Canada unit serves as the foundation of the agency's data practice. The Group's overarching focus is dedicated to ingesting numerous data points and turning them into actionable intelligence for brands' advertising campaigns.

Horizon has appointed Caroline Bergeron to oversee the Data Solutions Group's Canadian practice as SVP, Data Solutions & Digital. A widely respected advertising and MarTech industry veteran, Bergeron joined Horizon in June 2021 from GroupM, where she held the position of VP, Data and Technology.

In this new role, Bergeron serves as Horizon's lead on all advanced data solutions. In addition to data solutions, Bergeron is the in-house thought leader. Her track record of staying ahead of the latest industry developments provides agency teams and Horizon clients alike advanced insights to the opportunities and challenges facing marketers' and their digital advertising objectives.

"The introduction of AMP into the Canadian OOH and the country's broader advertising marketplace is an absolute game-changer," Bergeron said. "We're excited put AMP to work for Horizon clients as they redefine the value of out of home placements and measurement in Canada. On a personal level, I'm gratified to help build out Horizon's Data Solutions to ensure that the agency and its clients remain at the forefront of digital advertising and the strategies that promote the industry's growth."

AMP's sophisticated data visualizations provide advertisers with robust, data-informed decision-making tools designed to optimize both traditional and Digital OOH placements. Overall, AMP allows advertisers to close the loop around their OOH advertising and their wider media and campaign goals.

The AMP Difference: Driving OOH Intelligence

Horizon's aim for AMP was a simple, yet ambitious one: to bring more digital intelligence and automation to bear on the placing and evaluating OOH advertising. The platform is powered by a variety of analytics sources, including clients' first-party and third-party data, as well as Horizon's proprietary audience insights. Horizon's AMP ends the manual processes that are typically used for choosing the right billboards, public transit posters, mall kiosks, and outdoor screens.

"As an all-in-one desktop planning application, AMP does away with cumbersome, ancient OOH planning processes," Bergeron said. "The program has the ability to absorb ad inventory analytics using geolocation from multiple vendor sources. Most importantly, AMP directly connects OOH decisions to all parts of a brand's campaign. The silos behind outdoor advertising are completely erased with AMP."

Horizon Media

Horizon Media, Inc, the largest independent media agency in North America, delivers data-driven business outcomes for some of the world's most innovative and ambitious brands. Founded in 1989, headquartered in New York, and with offices in Los Angeles and Toronto, the company employs 2,400 people and has media investments of more than $8.5 billion. Horizon Media's fundamental belief is that business is personal, which drives its approach to connecting brands with their customers and engaging with its own employees resulting in industry-leading workplace satisfaction levels (Glassdoor). The company is consistently recognized by independent media outlets for its client excellence and has earned several "Best Workplaces" awards reflecting its commitment to DEI and the life and well-being of everyone at Horizon Media.

SOURCE Horizon Media
A Chinese-brokered peace deal between the long-term foes Saudi Arabia and Iran has either shocked or delighted audiences worldwide, depending on their geopolitical standpoints. Anti-imperialists, people with a peace first attitude, especially directly impacted populations in West Asia, applaud the diplomatic success and hope for more to come, realizing what an economic powerhouse West Asia could become, with the extremely wealthy and resource-rich Arab nations, and the populous and highly industrialized Persian nation, if all the small and big armed proxy conflicts in the region can eventually be defused.

While further development remains not certain, an important foundation has been laid, when the leaders of Sunni and Shia Islam can shake hands and agree to talk. This development caught the West, with all its attention focused on Ukraine, by complete surprise. Even more shocking to many in the West is the fact that the rapprochement was mediated by patient and painstaking Chinese diplomacy. China, which is presented by Western media as a dangerous, expanding, or threatening actor with no friends, manages a diplomatic success that has eluded the Western former colonial powers for decades.

Theres no reason why this success should not be welcomed and celebrated by Europe and the US. While the timing may not have been predicted by many, the fact that China brought enemies together to talk peace is no surprise at all to anyone following Chinese diplomacy and political theory.

First, judging from Chinese international activities, it is obvious that for China, more than for any other great power, peace is in its national interest: Chinas global expansion, i.e. Chinas increasing global footprints, is not achieved by territorial expansion, colonialism, or military adventure, but rather through trade at first, and investment later. Investment includes both state-level infrastructure build-up, and individual level migration and small-scale investment in local shops, trade businesses, or other SMEs. All these economic activities need peace to yield a return. None of them requires military intervention, regime change or color revolution.

Second, the political theory of China in recent years has developed a concept called community of a shared future for mankind. Although the English translation is not beautiful, its philosophical value is worth to be explored: As humanity is brought together on this planet, whether we want it or not, we can only work together to achieve the best outcome for as many people as possible.

The concept combines the universalist approach of recognizing we all are humans and therefore all hope for a good life, with an anti-colonial, anti-imperialist standpoint that allows people to find happiness according to their own culture, values and traditions. It is neither indifferent to the suffering of others, nor imposing ones own values on others. The concept further analyzes this overarching goal in various fields of community with a shared future such as security, economy, environment, etc.; each of which can only be achieved when countries work together, while a nationalistic approach is bound to fail.

Take for example the security community with a shared future strongly supports the globally accepted principle that security of one side mustnt be ensured by threatening another side. The success of bringing long-term enemies like Iran and Saudi Arabia together to agree to a peace which will benefit both is a great example of this concept. If Iran would successfully develop nuclear weapons, it may feel safe from any Saudi threats, but Saudi Arabia would be very worried, and vice versa. If Iran can receive credible security guarantees, the need for nuclear weapons is reduced, and all sides are safer in the entire region. Saudi Arabia may have historical and religious tensions with Iran, but also for Saudi Arabia it is much better when the region can end its proxy wars and prosper together. Realizing that both sides will live next to each other into the far future is the basic principle to discuss how to end hostilities, rather than who is right.

Third, the ethical values of China are in line with the diplomatic success: When peace is secured, economic development can thrive; when the economy prospers, peoples lives can be improved; when people get richer, they can afford higher priced goods which benefits industrialized countries like China and Europe. So, theres a utilitarian aspect of Chinese national economic interest, but there are also humanist, socialist, and anti-imperialist aspects. Humanist, because humans around the world aspire to a life in prosperity and peace. Some people  typically Western NGOs  may want to preserve everything traditional in other countries. But to romanticize an underdeveloped, tribal society living in autarky rather than joining the world economy is a colonial concept of rich people who would like to see traditional people on their safaris and photo tours. China lets partners decide for themselves, what forms of development they aspire for, which aspects of their culture they want to preserve, and how. Socialist or Communist because it supports the ideal of workers around the world uniting to improve the material lives of the working class. And anti-imperialist because China does not advocate one form of modernity to fit all societies.

One of the most appealing aspects of China for developing countries is the promise that they can modernize and industrialize without sacrificing their identities, cultures, and traditions. Unlike the Western approach of value-based diplomacy, with its one-size-fits-all understanding of democracy, its globalist NGOs expected to reach directly into societies that partner with the West, its corporations attempting to set the rules in developing countries, China proposes a world vision which allows nations to define their own boundaries of openness vs. preservation of traditions. Theres admittedly room for improvement, when underdeveloped nations lack the expertise to set strict enough rules when welcoming massive enterprises from China and elsewhere into their nation. But thats a practical issue to be solved with education and negotiations, not a conceptual flaw.

Lastly, if we look at methodology, the community with a shared future for mankind doesnt impose itself on other countries, but aims to set mutually agreed principles under which parties negotiate mutually acceptable outcomes. Such an approach takes a lot of time and patience. Various stakeholders and interest groups in each participating country must be taken into consideration and involved in complex negotiations. This needs a lot of manpower, as well as superior coordination and communication skills within a diplomatic corps organizing such negotiations. And it needs the ability to truly listen, not to what one wants to hear, but to what the other is trying to express.

It would be naive to claim China never uses pressure or monetary incentives to protect its security bottom lines, but isnt that a far more humanist use of ones resources in diplomacy, compared with military intimidation, threats, and regime change operations by other great powers to protect their national interest? China offers benefits in exchange for voluntary cooperation. Nobody is forced by China to give up good relations with Europe or the US. This is a show of true strength and self-confidence. And it creates a diplomatic ecosystem within which enemies can find peace, for the benefit of all sides involved, and especially for the people living there.

In summary, Europe should not see this Chinese approach as threatening, because it doesnt exclude Europe from participating. Neither Iran nor Saudi Arabia was asked by China to stop working with Europe. Its high time Europe stopped isolating itself from the rest of the world, and worked together with China to build a peaceful and prosperous Eurasia. A diplomatic shorthand is where the US goes, war follows; where China goes, peace and prosperity will come. Europe should be clear, which one is closer to its own values.

Contributed by Harald Buchmann, Swiss Researcher for German-Chinese Relations, Center for China and Globalization

Editor: GSY
DALY CITY, Calif., April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- iKitchens, the revolutionary platform that allows chefs, caterers, food manufacturers and food truck operators to rent licensed commercial kitchens, has announced the acquisition of a new location in Daly City, CA. iKitchens has been transforming the way chefs, caterers, and food truck operators conduct their businesses in California since 2010. With the acquisition of its newest location in Daly City, CA, iKitchens is taking its mission of providing access to quality kitchen space to the next level.

This new addition to the iKitchens family continues the company's mission to provide up-and-coming chefs with a place to bring their culinary dreams to life. iKitchens' innovative platform offers a wide range of rental solutions, from fully equipped commercial kitchens to catering equipment, that makes starting and running a food-based business more manageable than ever before. This new location offers an array of exciting kitchen and dining features for its users. Not only does it include a fully-equipped commercial kitchen, with all of the necessary equipment and appliances, but it also offers a unique and modern interior design. This allows users to create an environment conducive to their business needs and goals.

iKitchens provide the space and resources needed to create a thriving business and eliminate the large upfront investment usually associated with launching a food-based business. Additionally, their commitment to providing quality customer service, as well as their dedication to the health and safety of their clients, makes them a reliable partner for any aspiring chef. The acquisition of the Daly City location marks yet another step forward for iKitchens in their mission to provide commercial kitchen solutions that make it easier for chefs, caterers, and food truck operators to run their businesses.

Learn more about how iKitchens is transforming the culinary industry at ikitchens.biz/ .

About iKitchens:

With the addition of their new location, iKitchens continue to provide up-and-coming chefs in San Jose, Palo Alto, and now, Daly City with the tools they need to realize their culinary dreams. By providing a safe, cost-effective, and reliable platform, iKitchens has made it easier than ever before for chefs to launch and maintain a successful business. With their commitment to customer service and satisfaction, iKitchens is making sure that the culinary dreams of aspiring chefs are fulfilled. Find out more at ikitchens.biz/ .

Media Contact:

Name: Gooch Patel

Email: [email protected]

Phone Number: (408) 816-7854

SOURCE iKitchens
Rise in adoption of industrial robots and increase in deployment of additive manufacturing drives the growth of the global industry 4.0 market.

PORTLAND, Ore., April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Industry 4.0 Market by Technology (Industry Automation, 3D Printing, Digital Twin, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), Blockchain, Extended Reality (XR), Industrial Internet Of Things (IIoT), and Others), End User (Manufacturing, Automotive, Oil and Gas, Energy and Utilities, Food and Beverages, Aerospace and Defense, and Others), And Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2022-2031" According to the report, the global generated $113.39 billion in 2021, and is estimated to reach $618.39 billion by 2031, witnessing a CAGR of 18.8% from 2022 to 2031. The report offers a detailed analysis of changing market trends, top segments, key investment pockets, value chains, regional landscapes, and competitive scenarios.

Drivers, Restraints, and Opportunities

Factors such as the rise in adoption of industrial robots and increase in deployment of additive manufacturing primarily drive the growth of the industry 4.0 market. However, expensive deployment costs of industrial robots and complications in integration and interoperability of Industrial robot hamper the market growth to some extent. Moreover, an increase in adoption of 5G in the field of cloud automation is expected to provide lucrative opportunities for the market growth during the forecast period.

Request Sample Report: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/4439

Covid-19 scenario-

Digitalization across sectors is accelerating quickly as the COVID-19 pandemic decimates the global industry 4.0 market environment.

The COVID outbreak is accelerating the emergence of Industry 4.0, catapulting companies from various industries to a higher degree of Internet of Things (IoT) technology and workflow.

For manufacturers and businesses worldwide, adaptability in analyzing and adjusting inventory requirements, optimizing supply chains, and increasing manufacturing capacities with cutting-edge technologies will be essential in this situation. In addition, supportive government efforts are anticipated to help businesses survive the pandemic.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry was being transformed by a number of technologically cutting-edge technologies, including cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), 5G networks, and big data.

Procure Complete Report (411 Pages PDF with Insights, Charts, Tables, and Figures) at:

https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/industry-4-0-market/purchase-options

The industry automation segment to rule the market-

By technology type, the industry automation segment held the major share in 2021, garnering nearly two-third of the global Industry 4.0 market revenue. The blockchain segment would also showcase the fastest CAGR of 22.3% during the forecast period, owing to essential elements of Industry 4.0 to detect, measure, analyze, and process various transitions in industrial production facilities, such as changes in positions, length, height, exterior, and dislocations.

The manufacturing segment to dominate by 2031-

By end user, the manufacturing segment accounted for nearly two-fifth of the global Industry 4.0 market share in 2021, and is expected to rule the boost by 2031. The aerospace and defense segment would also display the fastest CAGR of 22.2% throughout the forecast period, owing to increased flexibility enables producers to use mass customization to better satisfy client requests, eventually aiming to maximize efficiency with, in many circumstances, a lot size of one.

Asia-Pacific garnered the major share in 2021-

By region, North America garnered the highest share in 2021, holding nearly one-third of the global Industry 4.0 market revenue in 2021, and is projected to retain its dominance by 2031. The Asia-Pacific region would also portray the fastest CAGR of 21.0% during the forecast period, owing to analytics, automation, and machine-learning algorithms have released human operators from performing a significant percentage of the detailed work that was previously their duty.

Leading Market Players-

Cognex Corporation

Schneider Electric SE

Emerson Electric Co.

Rockwell Automation Inc.

Cisco Systems Inc.

ABB Ltd.

Siemens AG

Honeywell International Inc.

General Electric Company

International Business Machines Corporation

Enquiry Before Buying: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/4439

The report analyzes these key players in the global industry 4.0 market. These players have adopted various strategies such as expansion, new product launches, partnerships, and others to increase their market penetration and strengthen their position in the industry. The report is helpful in determining the business performance, operating segments, developments, and product portfolios of every market player.

Trending Reports in ICT & Media Industry:

Cyber Security Market Expected to Reach $478.68 Billion by 2030

Over-the-top (OTT) Market Expected to Reach $1,039.03 Billion by 2027

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Market Expected to Reach $1,581.70 Billion by 2030

Algorithmic Trading Market Expected to Reach $31.49 Billion by 2028

E-Learning Market Expected to Reach $840.11 Billion by 2030

About Us

Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.

We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Allied Market Research CEO Pawan Kumar is instrumental in inspiring and encouraging everyone associated with the company to maintain high quality of data and help clients in every way possible to achieve success. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.

Contact:

David Correa

5933 NE Win Sivers Drive

#205, Portland, OR 97220

United States

USA/Canada (Toll Free): 1-800-792-5285, 1-503-894-6022

UK: +44-845-528-1300

Hong Kong: +852-301-84916

India (Pune): +91-20-66346060

Fax: +1(855)550-5975

[email protected]

Web: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/reports-store/information-and-communication-technology-and-media

Follow Us on Blog: https://www.technologyplz.com/

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/636519/Allied_Market_Research_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Allied Market Research
Hack VC, 6th Man Ventures (6MV), Archetype, Blizzard and CMT Digital are among Fractal backers as it expands its institutional product suite

GENEVA, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Fractal, an infrastructure provider enabling institutions to clear, settle, and margin digital asset trades on-chain, announced today it has secured $6M in financing led by Hack VC. They are joined by a suite of strategic investors including 6th Man Ventures (6MV), Archetype Ventures, Avalanche Ecosystem Fund Blizzard, Circle Ventures, CMT Digital, CoinShares, GoldenTree Asset Management, QCP Capital, Spartan Group, as well as angel investors Akshai Rajendran, Anand Gomes, Josh Frank, Shiliang Tang and Sid Powell. The funding will be used to continue launching institutional-grade products that facilitate capital efficiency, transparency, as well as a simplified user journey.

In the wake of ongoing developments in the CeFi space, institutional interest has intensified in finding fit-for-purpose solutions to facilitate on-chain finance. "We gave Fractal a term sheet the week after the FTX collapse and their team was able to close the round in the 3 weeks following, emphasizing institutional investor confidence. Fractal is well positioned to build the connective tissue and capital efficient solutions between assets on- and off-chain," said Alex Pack, Managing Partner at Hack VC. "Fractal provides tools that help investors to easily participate in the on-chain economy."

"The prior wave of centralized digital asset providers validated the need for institutional grade brokerage products but didn't allow depositors to properly evaluate risk. Fractal is building on the foundation that structuring products on-chain is the only method to reduce counterparty risk and enable real-time monitoring," said Carl Vogel, Partner at 6MV. He added, "We are thrilled to partner with such a terrific, experienced founding team to build products that leverage the unique benefits of blockchain to create more secure, trustworthy infrastructure to power the digital asset economy."

Fractal recently launched in beta with an initial cohort of clients using applications on the Avalanche blockchain, with a view to tightly integrate with Ava Labs' institutional subnet efforts. "The last year's events in the cryptocurrency industry as well as today's current banking environment have taught us that disintermediation, institutionalization, and transparency are greatly needed to build trust in the counterparty risk of different players in the space. Digital asset infrastructure evolved from centralized exchanges and over-the-counter (OTC) dealers to Centralized Finance (CeFi) prime brokers that simplified price discovery," said Aya Kantorovich and Alexandre Elkrief, Fractal Co-Founders and Co-CEOs. "The next generation of digital asset infrastructure needs to enable transparent proof of reserves, tri-party collateral management and instant on-chain settlements. Our technology will provide just that as we transition to this next phase for the future of on-chain finance."

"It is challenging to cross collateralize on-chain yield bearing assets, OTC bilateral agreements in a cost efficient way. Fractal solves this by putting it on-chain, which is transparent, and efficient for both sides of the transaction. QCP Capital is pleased to support such a solution that improves capital efficiency and catalyzes the progression of DeFi," Stan Low, Head of Investments, QCP Capital.

Fractal was founded by Aya Kantorovich and Alexandre Elkrief. As a former founding team member of FalconX, Aya was responsible for scaling the company's revenue through their most recent $8B valuation last year and has over five years of experience in the institutional cryptocurrency space. Alexandre previously led DeFi at LedgerPrime, a multi-strategy digital asset investments firm. Prior to that, Alex was the co-founder of Knowhere, a San Francisco based startup that developed machine learning and text understanding models for the media industry. Fractal's engineering team is composed of early DeFi builders, who developed smart contracts that have collectively processed over one billion in transaction volumes and audited by leading audit firms in the space.

"Well-constructed protocols can make financial infrastructure more resilient, more scalable and cost less than traditional rails. Fractal has the right team and the right vision to expand DeFi towards mainstream institutional adoption," said Itay Tuchman, CEO of Consello Digital and former Global Head of Foreign Exchange at Citi. With over 20 years of experience in financial markets, Itay supports the Fractal team as a strategic advisor.

About Fractal

Fractal is an infrastructure provider enabling institutions to clear, settle, and margin digital asset trades on-chain. Fractal is backed by 6th Man Ventures (6MV), Archetype Ventures, Blizzard the Avalanche Fund LP, Circle Ventures, CMT Digital, CoinShares, GoldenTree Asset Management, QCP Capital, Spartan Group, Akshai Rajendran, Anand Gomes, Josh Frank, Shiliang Tang and Sid Powell. Fractal has offices in Switzerland and the British Virgin Islands. For more information visit https://fractalprotocol.org.

Related Links:

https://www.fractalprotocol.org

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2043317/Fractal_Logo.jpg

Media contact:

Aya Kantorovich

+16466009692

[email protected]

SOURCE Fractal
IPLOOK, a leading provider of end-to-end mobile core networks, has announced that it will host a partner summit in April and attend CCA's Mobile Carriers Show in May.

HONG KONG, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The CCA's Mobile Carriers Show (MCS 2023) is the only North American tradeshow to exclusively focus on intelligent strategies, technology innovations, and business opportunities for carriers in an increasingly mobile world. As a prominent provider of mobile core network solutions and a new CCA member, IPLOOK recognizes the immense value of the MCS and therefore, eagerly anticipates its participation.

IPLOOK will demonstrate the performance of 4G/5G converged CORE deployed on the server in New York IDC that is running with 5G femto RAN at MCS, from May 2-4, 2023 in Pittsburgh. Its full stack of 3G/4G/5G/IMS core networks cover all NEs for MNO, MVNO, WISP and Private Network. With outstanding capabilities of customization and scalability, IPLOOK can offer cost-effective and tailor-made 4G/5G core solutions for all-sized carriers, which enables IPLOOK to deploy and upgrade NEs smoothly to meet the specific needs of mobile carriers.

The opportunity to connect with senior decision-makers and industry leaders from carrier organizations across North America aligns with IPLOOK's strategic objectives to forge new partnerships and achieve its ambitious business goals.

EVENT INFORMATION

2-4 May, 2023

Booth #310

David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Pittsburgh , USA

In addition to the MCS, IPLOOK will also host the Global Partner Summit to connect with its clients and partners on 27-28 April in Bangkok, Thailand. Subscribe Youtube live here.

Involving in two global events in the 2nd quarter demonstrates IPLOOK's commitment to developing itself and staying ahead of the curve in the telecom industry. And more upcoming events will definitely make IPLOOK's 2023 considerably prosperous.

About IPLOOK

IPLOOK Technologies is a leading vendor of 4G/5G networking solutions, offering a complete line of products for mobile operators, mobile virtual operators, service providers and enterprise private networks to fulfill the growing connectivity needs. We are one of the fastest-growing end-to-end mobile core network vendors in the world, positioned to self-develop innovative and high-performed 3G/4G/5G/6G core network products to the world.

More info: www.iplook.com Follow IPLOOK on LinkedIn @IPLOOK Technologies

CONTACT: [email protected]

SOURCE IPLOOK Technologies
LAS VEGAS, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- IronYun was named the 2023 winner in the Loss Prevention and Article Surveillance Solutions category at the Security Industry Association (SIA) New Products and Solutions (NPS) Awards ceremony. The award, presented in partnership with ISC West 2023, recognized the excellence of IronYun's Vaidio AI Vision Platform. The ceremony on March 29 honored today's most innovative security products, services, and solutions.

The Vaidio Platform combines retail-critical tools such as always-on behavior and intrusion monitoring, person detection, people counting, and object recognition to deliver an effective loss monitoring and loss prevention solution. Using these advanced analytics, retailers are able to monitor dwell time, transactions, store and warehouse inventory levels, store traffic, demographics, and more with a high degree of reliability and accuracy.

"We are thrilled to receive this recognition for our innovative solutions in Loss Prevention and Article Surveillance," said Paul Sun, IronYun CEO and President. "At IronYun, we are passionate about leveraging cutting-edge technology to help our customers prevent loss and improve security and operations. This award is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our team in developing and delivering industry-specific solutions that make a real difference."

Clyde Gillard, North American AI GTM Leader at HPE, commented on the win saying "HPE congratulates IronYun on their New Product Showcase win. Vaidio's accuracy and functionality are extremely compelling, and HPE is very excited to partner with IronYun in the retail space and in many applications beyond."

Since its inception in 1979, the SIA NPS Awards have been the security industry's premier product awards program. New products are reviewed by a panel of judges with extensive industry experience, and in 2023, following significant deliberations, the 30+ judges presented awards for technologies covering 26 product and service categories.

"SIA congratulates the 2023 SIA NPS Awards honorees for being selected in this year's competitive program," said SIA CEO Don Erickson. "SIA applauds all the 2023 award winners, including IronYun, whose contributions stood out among the impressive field of entrants to earn the Loss Prevention and Article Surveillance Solutions recognition."

About IronYun

IronYun has evolved the artificial intelligence at the core of the Vaidio Platform to create a resource-efficient, open video analytics platform. IronYun is recognized by IDC as a 'Major Player' in video analytics. The Vaidio Platform has won multiple ISC West New Product Showcase Awards in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023, for Mobile Applications, Commercial Monitoring, Video Analytics, and Loss Prevention and Article Surveillance Solutions. Vaidio is field-proven to maximize accuracy, performance and cost effectiveness across the industry's broadest array of analytics functions. Headquartered in Stamford, CT, IronYun is NDAA approved. The Vaidio Platform is deployed across tens of thousands of cameras for government, healthcare, education, retail, transit, and enterprise customers worldwide. Learn more here .

SOURCE IronYun
CHICAGO, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (NYSE: JLL) will host a conference call and webcast to discuss first quarter 2023 results on Thursday, May 4, 2023, at 9 a.m. Eastern time.

The conference call can be accessed live over the phone by dialing (888) 660-6392; the conference ID number is 5398158. Listeners are asked to please dial in 10 minutes prior to the call start time and provide the conference ID number to be connected.

The conference call will also be webcast live from the company's Investor Relations website at ir.jll.com. The presentation slides to supplement the webcast will be available in the Events & Presentations section of the Investor Relations website shortly before the webcast begins.

The webcast replay will be available for 12 months following the event on the Investor Relations website.

For further information, please contact JLL's Investor Relations department at: [email protected].

About JLL

JLL (NYSE: JLL) is a leading professional services firm that specializes in real estate and investment management. JLL shapes the future of real estate for a better world by using the most advanced technology to create rewarding opportunities, amazing spaces and sustainable real estate solutions for our clients, our people and our communities. JLL is a Fortune 500 company with annual revenue of $20.9 billion, operations in over 80 countries and a global workforce of more than 103,000 as of December 31, 2022. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. For further information, visit ir.jll.com.

Contact: Gayle Kantro

Phone: +1 312 228 2795

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE JLL-IR
New partnership will see Karakuri's automated kitchen solutions enable QSR and Fast Casual Kitchens to perfectly cook Quorn's meat-free products, every time and for every customer.

Quorn is the first Karakuri Product Partner, additional software, hardware and service partners will be announced in the future

LONDON, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Karakuri , the company revolutionising quick service (QSR) and fast casual restaurants with intelligent robotic kitchen automation, today announced a partnership with Quorn , one of the biggest meat-free brands in the world. Through this partnership, Karakuri and Quorn will work together to ensure Karakuri's automated kitchen solutions are optimised to produce perfectly fried, high-quality vegetarian and vegan protein alternatives from Quorn, in every QSR and Fast Casual Kitchen.

Restaurants are increasingly embracing intelligent kitchen automation to help them maximise kitchen efficiencies and lower operational costs, while also delivering perfectly cooked food to their customers. However, this automation needs to work 'out of the box', regardless of preferred food vendors, equipment, or software systems. Karakuri's partnership with Quorn reinforces the importance of interoperability within an automated kitchen ecosystem. The two companies will collaborate to ensure Quorn's alternative meat products, such as nuggets, buttermilk fillets and wings, that are fried in Karakuri's /FRYR automated fry lines are cooked to perfection, every time.

Karakuri's /FRYR fryline is revolutionising restaurant kitchens with intelligent automation, ensuring consistent fried food quality, from the freezer to the customer. For the growing number of restaurants offering Quorn's meat-free products, Karakuri's robotic technology provides the ideal cooking and storage parameters, ensuring perfectly fried Quorn products, every time.

Phil Thornborrow, Foodservice Director at Quorn Professionals said; "Karakuri represents an exciting transformation of QSR and Fast Casual kitchens and Quorn is excited to be the first meat free company to be partnering with them. Through our partnership, Quorn will benefit from the development of cutting-edge technology in optimising the quality offered to our customers. Maintaining quality and consistency are the biggest challenges facing the fast-paced QSR and Fast Casual industry. It's great to see products, like our nuggets and buttermilk fillets, work perfectly with the /FRYR fry line, and to see it cook each of them exactly how we intended."

Barney Wragg, founder and CEO of Karakuri, added; "Global demand for meat-free alternatives continues to grow and QSR and fast casual restaurants are increasingly adding vegetarian and vegan offerings to their menus. Ensuring the correct storage and preparation of these products is key to providing the best possible customer experience. Our partnership with Quorn will allow us to understand the optimal conditions needed for Quorn products, and to ensure our game-changing /FRYR fry lines cook and serve Quorn meat-free products exactly as intended. The result is tasty and delicious products cooked perfectly every time."

About Karakuri

www.karakuri.com

Karakuri is revolutionising Quick Service (QSR) and Fast Casual restaurants with intelligent, robotic kitchen automation. Karakuri brings together food, people, and robotics to deliver unprecedented levels of quality, consistency, and efficiency to restaurant kitchens. Our compact, modular designs fit seamlessly into existing kitchen layouts with little to no interruption in operations. Our unique Performance/Partnership business model equips customers with all the real-time data and insights needed to ensure positive ROI, month after month.

SOURCE Karakuri
Kia's 'Opposites United' design philosophy to be showcased in global design exhibition

Event takes place from 17th to 23rd April at the Museo della Permanente in Milan, Italy

Key Kia designers including Karim Habib to present the brand's design vision

Design approach entails tackling the mobility challenges of today with a vision for tomorrow

MILAN and SEOUL, South Korea, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Kia is presenting its brand design philosophy, 'Opposites United' at the 2023 Milan Design Week. The event will see the philosophy, which involves combining contrasting qualities and finding synergies between opposing concepts, illustrated in a series of art pieces on display from April 17-23 at the Museo della Permanente in Milan, Italy.

Kia is presenting its brand design philosophy, Opposites United at the 2023 Milan Design Week. Kia is presenting its brand design philosophy, Opposites United at the 2023 Milan Design Week. Kia is presenting its brand design philosophy, Opposites United at the 2023 Milan Design Week. Kia is presenting its brand design philosophy, Opposites United at the 2023 Milan Design Week. Kia is presenting its brand design philosophy, Opposites United at the 2023 Milan Design Week.

The exhibition's theme, 'Opposites United,' reflects Kia's design philosophy, which takes inspiration from the contrasts found in nature and humanity. Immersive media art installations will be displayed across seven exhibition halls, inviting visitors to experience Kia's design vision for a new era of sustainable mobility through video, sound, and sculpture.

The art exhibition, which premiered at the 2021 Gwangju Design Biennale in Korea to critical acclaim, will also feature an event space with a stage and forum for talks and keynotes. Here, top design executives - Karim Habib, Head of Kia Global Design Center; Teckkoun Kim, Head of Kia Next Design Group; Jochen Paesen, Head of Kia Next Design Interior Group; and Gregory Guillaume, Head of Kia Europe Design Center - will elaborate on the 'Opposites United' installation and discuss Kias design vision.

"We hope that this exhibition will convey the sincerity of Kia Design, which seeks to communicate our essential design values and commitments to our customers in an innovative manner," said Karim Habib, Executive Vice President and Head of Kia Global Design Center.

Five key design pillars

'Opposites United' is based on five key design pillars, each of which will be illustrated in a dedicated space as part of the exhibition: Bold for Nature, Joy for Reason, Power to Progress, Technology for Life, and Tension for Serenity.

Arriving visitors will be greeted at an entrance space showing the concept behind the Kia design philosophy exhibition. Attendees can intuitively experience the concept of 'Opposites United' through the archiving section, where they can briefly see the preparation process of the exhibition in order to build anticipation for the exhibition itself. The next stop is the Opposites Lobby, a space containing a message that allows visitors who are new to Kia's design philosophy to experience the basic concept of 'Opposites United' more intuitively.

Following the Opposites Lobby are five unique spaces, each embodying one of the five key design principles of 'Opposites United'. In addition, throughout the course of the week, each day will be dedicated to one of the five key design principles.

"Kia's 'Opposites United' design philosophy represents far more than just the way our cars look, it is a reflection of the brand's determination to compatibly further two vital fields which have come to be at odds with one another: human wellbeing and environmental sustainability," says Ho Sung Song, Kia President and CEO. "By adopting the 'Opposites United' ethos across our current and future models, we hope not only to demonstrate Kia's ability to innovate, and create products which go beyond fulfilling the needs of our customers to enrich their experiences as well, but to do so with a vision that also leaves a legacy for future generations."

For more information about Kia's design philosophy, please visit: www.kianewscenter.com

SOURCE Kia Corporation
RICHMOND, Calif., April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Lotus Foods, the leading heirloom and organic rice company, is proud to announce Co-Founders/Co-CEOs Caryl Levine and Ken Lee have been honored with a 2023 Momentum 100 Top Impact CEO Ranking. The award, from Big Path Capital, recognizes Levine and Lee's work leading the way in promoting organic and regenerative rice farming practices.

According to Big Path Capital, this year's winners reflect the growing relevance of leaders who prioritize a broader set of stakeholders including the environment, their employees, their customers, their shareholders and their communities.

Rice sustains half the world's population, and most is grown on small family farms. Producing it is hard on people and the environment. From the start, Lotus Foods tackled these challenges proactively. Since its founding in 1995, Lotus Foods has led the way in promoting organic rice farming, rice biodiversity and farmers' resilience, and since 2008, creating incentives for growing methods that simultaneously mitigate climate change and empower women. For more about this work, Lotus Foods latest Impact Report can be viewed at lotusfoods.com.

"We're honored to be named to this list of leaders changing the way business is done so that all stakeholders benefit," said Levine and Lee. "Using our business to make positive change was our vision from the start and we are proud that we've been able to improve the world we live in and the lives of people."

For more information, product offerings and recipes visit Lotus Foods online and follow on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and TikTok.

About Lotus Foods

Since 1995, Lotus Foods has partnered in direct and fair trade with small family farmers around the world who are growing rice more sustainably while preserving rice biodiversity. Lotus Foods' product line includes pigmented heirloom and organic rice varieties such as Forbidden Rice, Jade Pearl Rice, Red Rice, traditional Basmati and Jasmine Rice and Tri-color Rice as well as Rice Ramen, Pad Thai Rice Noodles and Rice Ramen Noodle Soup Cups. Products are available at major retailers nationwide. As a certified B Corporation, Lotus Foods is committed to "Changing How Rice Is Grown around the World" by focusing on rice grown using the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), which we call More Crop Per Drop. SRI minimizes water usage, empowers women, financially rewards farmers and reduces climate impact. As a business co-founded and co-owned by an Asian American, and with a global supply network encompassing family farmers throughout Asia, Lotus Foods stands with the AAPI community and condemns racial violence.

SOURCE Lotus Foods
TAIPEI, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report from Business Next Media Group:

The "National Science and Technology Council" ("NSTC") held the "2023 TechGiCS Forum" on March 29 with the theme of "Tech Empowerment and Global Trends." The event brought insightful perspectives into cultivating diverse technology talents in Taiwan.

The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) held the "2023 TechGiCS Forum" on March 29 with the theme of "Tech Empowerment and Global Trends." In the past three years, the pandemic and the evolution of AI have brought significant changes to the world. To enhance Taiwans competitiveness, NSTC invited professionals worldwide to address "Tech Empowerment and Global Trends" at the "2023 TechGiCS Forum.

In the past three years, the pandemic and the evolution of AI have brought significant changes to the world. To enhance Taiwan's competitiveness, NSTC invited professionals worldwide to address "Tech Empowerment and Global Trends" at the "2023 TechGiCS Forum." The remarkable speakers include Ari Horie, Founder and CEO of Women's Startup Lab, Eunjoo Kim, UX Design Lead for Search and Artificial Intelligence at Google Headquarters, and Alaina Percival, Founder of Woman Who Code, to share their perspectives on global technology trends and their experiences in becoming innovative talents.

In the opening remark, Deputy Minister of NSTC, Yi-Juang Chern, pointed out that the world is changing rapidly. No one would have heard of ChatGPT three months ago, but everyone is talking about how ChatGPT will bring challenges and opportunities to people today. Everyone is looking for ways to cope and adapt to the changing world. Therefore, nurturing technology talents is crucial. Taiwan's government has actively established a blueprint to cultivate related talents in areas such as semiconductors and quantum technology, AI, space (Communication satellites and 6G), information security, precision health (Epidemic prevention and elder healthcare), zero carbon emission, national defense, and social sustainability.

Moreover, NSTC launched "Girls in Cyber Security (GiCS)" in 2021, which has become an essential base in cultivating female scientific research talents in Taiwan. Starting in 2022, NSTC expanded to women in technology-related fields, holding a series of "TechGiCS workshops." In the "2023 TechGiCS Forum," the organizer invited three opinion leaders to discuss the diversity of scientific research talents, aiming to attract more talents to join the technology industry and contribute to the future of human beings.

Responding to changes with the power of creation, imagination, and connectivity

Ari Horie, who is dedicated to promoting innovation and entrepreneurship, delivered a speech on "How to Thrive with Entrepreneurship Mindset!" She pointed out that technological progress is influential in driving social change. We should consider what we can do to stand firm or contribute to the evolution of technology. Entrepreneurship is undoubtedly a good choice in response to change. Ari Horie shared her experience and encouraged everyone to have an entrepreneurial mindset, be brave and break the boundaries, pursue their dreams, and make a difference.

The second speaker Eunjoo Kim, UX Design Lead for Search and Artificial Intelligence at Google Headquarters, elaborated on her perspective on how design and technology can empower people. She pointed out that design can help solve complex problems, create an emotional connection, and change people's behavior. Combining design and technology can bring a more inclusive and accessible future. Eunjoo Kim believes that diversity and inclusiveness are essential to design and technology, and everyone should work together to create a better future.

Founder of Woman Who Code, Alaina Percival, shared her perspective on creating an inclusive and diverse tech community. She mentioned that everyone could participate in and contribute to the tech industry, regardless of background or gender. Alaina Percival also shared her experience in founding Woman Who Code, a global non-profit organization that empowers women in technology, and how it has created a supportive and inclusive environment for women in the tech industry.

Embracing unlimited possibilities with an open mind

During the panel, Chia-Yo Kuo, Chairman of the Taiwan Digital Diplomacy Association, emphasized the importance of communication and connection in the context of diverse technological talent. Chia-Yo Kuo spoke of her experience in Africa, where she saw many non-profit organizations using social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram to communicate with refugees from different countries.

Cindianne Lin, Co-Founder and General Manager of Lydsec Digital Technology, shared her own experiences and offered advice to women who want to excel in technology. Cindianne Lin emphasized the importance of maintaining an open mind and not limiting oneself. Despite not having a background in computer engineering, Cindianne Lin remains open to integrating resources around her and collaborating with individuals with technical expertise.

Throughout the event, it was evident that technological evolution is increasing rapidly, and the importance of women in technology is growing. Taiwan must learn from international experiences and integrate domestic resources to create a better environment for cultivating technological talent. This will foster more female leaders in technology and serve as a critical driving force for the nation's innovation and competitiveness in the global market.

SOURCE Business Next Media Group
Chinese President and General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, Xi Jinping, in March 2013 introduced Chinas vision of fostering a new type of international relations with win-win cooperation at the core and the notion of building a human community with a shared future. This year marks the 10-year anniversary since the proposal of this important concept. During the time, this initial introduction was followed by a number of initiatives and proposals, including the Belt and Road Initiative, the common values of humanity, the Global Development Initiative (GDI), the Global Security Initiative (GSI), and the Global Civilization Initiative (GCI). What is built in any of these initiatives is that countries are interdependent, mankind has a shared future, and the international community must get united for cooperation.

The 20th CPC National Congress made it clear that promoting the building of a human community with a shared future is one of the essential requirements of the Chinese modernization drive. Building a human community with a shared future is not only the Chinese solution to the questions of the times facing the world today but also a righteous way that brings benefits to the people of the world. It embodies Chinas global vision and perspective, as well as the spirit of a major country ready to shoulder its responsibility that links its own development with the noble cause of peace and development for humanity.

The concept of building a human community with a shared future carries forward traditional Chinese philosophical beliefs such as harmony is of paramount value, achieve universal prosperity in the whole world and unity of man and nature. It is in line with the diplomatic traditions of New China, including the independent foreign policy of peace, the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence, and a win-win strategy of opening up and building a harmonious world. It also reflects the common aspiration of people all over the world for development and progress and the beneficial experience of some regions and countries in building communities, embodying both salient Chinese features and common values of mankind.

The features of building a community of shared future for mankind are lasting peace, universal security, common prosperity, openness and inclusiveness, and a clean and beautiful environment. These five aspects, taken together, constitute the overall approach to create a community of shared future for mankind, depict a bright future for the progress of international relations and represent a major innovation in the theory of major-country diplomacy with Chinese features.

The essence is that the future and destiny of each nation and country are closely connected. Everyone should pull together for a common cause, share abundance and suffering, and seek the broadest common interests of countries to build this planet into a harmonious family.

President Xi solemnly declared that China will advance the building of a world that enjoys lasting peace through dialogue and consultation, a world that enjoys universal security through joint contribution and shared benefits, a world that enjoys common prosperity through win-win cooperation, an open and inclusive world through exchanges and mutual learning, and a clean and beautiful world through green and low-carbon development.

To build a human community with a shared future, it is important to adhere to common development and inject impetus into solving the global development deficit. At present, the world is facing serious development problems. According to statistics, nearly half of the worlds population lives on less than $5.50 a day. Years of global poverty reduction achievements have been in vain as a result of the epidemic, and the number of people suffering hunger has increased by more than 150 million. Some 574 million people will still be living in extreme poverty by the end of 2030. President Xi put forward the Global Development Initiative (GDI) to promote the resolution of the urgent problems faced by developing countries, and to accelerate the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. More than 100 countries and many international organizations including the UN have supported this initiative, and nearly 70 countries have joined the Group of Friends of the Global Development Initiative.

It is important to promote common security and contribute to the realization of lasting peace for mankind. Security of all countries is interrelated today. Without genuine security, it would be impossible to create a community of shared future for mankind. China takes the path of peaceful development, and other countries should also follow the path of peaceful development. Only when everyone takes the path of peaceful development can countries live in harmony, and lasting peace. For this reason, President Xi proposed a Global Security Initiative, emphasizing that mankind is an indivisible security community, advocating a common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security concept, paying attention to the legitimate security concerns of all countries, and advocating the construction of a balanced, effective, and sustainable security architecture, to resolve differences and disputes between countries through dialogue and consultation. This is an innovative measure to deal with international security challenges and a fundamental solution to achieving long-term peace and stability in the world.

It is important to promote common opening-up and create opportunities for deepening cooperation and win-win results. China created two miracles of rapid economic development and long-term social stability thanks to reform and opening up. Openness is a two-way street. One cannot ask others to open up while closing his own door. Politicizing scientific and technological issues, weaponizing ideology, and artificially blocking scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation will only lead to the stagnation of scientific and technological progress.

It is important to build a new type of international relations featuring win-win cooperation, which means that all countries and people should enjoy dignity, development, and security, abandon the outdated mindset of seeking alliance or confrontation, act along the trend of the times, treat each other as equals, value consultation and mutual understanding, and explore partnerships that are inclusive and constructive instead of targeting at an imagined enemy or any third party. The future of the world should be controlled by the people of all countries, international rules should be written by all countries, global affairs should be governed by all countries, and development results should be shared by all countries.

By Ivona Ladjevac

Deputy Director

Institute of International Politics and Economics

Belgrade, Serbia

Editor: GSY
NASHVILLE, Tenn., April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Pre-order your copy of the autobiographical release that tells the story of widely regarded entrepreneur Mignon Francois, founder and CEO of The Cupcake Collection (TCC) today at www.rhboyd.com/madefromscratch.

Set for release on May 9th, Made from Scratch: Finding Success Without a Recipe is the story of a woman moving beyond her obstacles to find success with no presets, mapping a journey that led to the joy that has become synonymous with Mignon Francois.

Praise for Made From Scratch has come from renowned leaders and thinkers; Carla Hall, Donald Miller, and Jordan Raynor. Tweet this Mignon Francois' new memoir, "Made From Scratch: Finding Success Without a Recipe" is available for pre-order.

Praise for the book has come in from renowned leaders and thinkers. Chef, author, and media personality, Carl Hall shared, "Dive into Made From Scratch to find out how unwavering family values have enabled unimaginable success even when the odds seem stacked against you! Allow yourself to laugh, cry and cheer through a heart-warming story that will leave you inspired towards pursuing your own!"

Jordan Raynor, best-selling author of 'Redeeming Your Time' and 'The Creator in You' says,

"Mignon Francois and The Cupcake Collection is a prime example of how our job is faithfulness, and God's job is fruitfulness. Made from Scratch is her journey of faithfulness that has led her to the extraordinary place she is today. Her story is truly inspiring!"

Donald Miller, CEO Business Made Simple, shares "Every day, every person is attacked by an underlying doubt that they matter, that life means something, that God sees them, and that their own personal story will not end in tragedy. Mignon Francois stomped that doubt back into the dirt where it belongs. When you put down this book, you're going to do a little stomping, too. Made From Scratch reminds us that God did not make us to search for light, He made us to reflect His light. This book shines bright."

Francois and the phenomenal story of TCC have been featured on NBC's TODAY with Hoda & Jenna, as well as such publications as Southern Living, Entrepreneur, and Business Insider to name a few. Her success has garnered numerous awards, such as Woman of Legend and Merit, Entrepreneur of the Year, Women's Empowerment Innovator, NAACP Powershift Entrepreneur, and Black Enterprise magazine's Family Business of the Year.

To learn more about the book, R.H. Boyd, and to stay updated on news and events, visit www.rhboyd.com and follow on social media @rhboydco. For bulk orders and bookstore inquiries, contact [email protected]. For press inquiries, contact [email protected].

Emmanuel LeGrair

[email protected]

SOURCE R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation
Milliman PPFI plans see estimated investment returns of 1.8% in aggregate during the month

SEATTLE, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Milliman, Inc., a premier global consulting and actuarial firm, today released the latest results of its Public Pension Funding Index (PPFI), which consists of the nation's 100 largest public defined benefit pension plans.

During March, the Milliman 100 PPFI funded ratio rose from 73.6% as of February 28 to 74.5% as of March 31, improving the plans' funded status by $54 billion. Market performance drove this result, with the plans earning an estimated 1.8% in aggregate for the month. Individual plans' estimated monthly returns ranged from 0.7% to 2.8%. Combined, the plans added approximately $78 billion in market value in March, offset by a net negative cash flow of $9 billion.

"Investment performance for the country's largest public pension plans was modestly positive for the period." Tweet this

"Although March was a volatile month in the financial markets with another Fed rate hike and turmoil in the banking industry, investment performance for the country's largest public pension plans was modestly positive for the period," said Becky Sielman, co-author of Milliman's PPFI. "Yet despite this positive news, 24 plans remain less than 60% funded, while only 17 are more than 90% funded, the same results we saw in February."

For more information and to view the full Milliman 100 Public Pension Funding Index, go to http://www.milliman.com/ppfi/. To see Milliman's full range of annual Pension Funding Studies, go to https://www.milliman.com/en/retirement-and-benefits/pension-funding-studies. To receive regular updates of Milliman's pension funding analysis, contact us at [email protected].

About Milliman

Milliman is among the world's largest providers of actuarial and related products and services. The firm has consulting practices in healthcare, property & casualty insurance, life insurance and financial services, and employee benefits. Founded in 1947, Milliman is an independent firm with offices in major cities around the globe. For further information, visit milliman.com.

SOURCE Milliman, Inc.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Myeloid Therapeutics, Inc. ("Myeloid"), a clinical stage mRNA-immunotherapy company, today announced its presentation of two posters at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting, being held in Orlando, Florida.

"At AACR 2023, we are pleased to present late-breaking research on our in vivo engineering capabilities and clinical data from our Phase I IMAGINE study of MT-101 in PTCL patients," said Daniel Getts, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Myeloid. "These data demonstrate the power of myeloid cells to orchestrate broad immune responses. We look forward to advancing our platform and expanding our clinical portfolio of in vivo programming candidates and ATAK CAR cell therapy candidates."

Details of the poster presentations are below:

Title: "In vivo delivery of novel CD89 fusion receptor to myeloid cells by mRNA activates anti-tumor immunity"

Session: Late-Breaking Research: Experimental and Molecular Therapeutics 1

Session Date and Time: Sunday April 16, 2023, 1:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Location: Poster Section 35

Poster Board Number: 19

Abstract Presentation Number: LB027

Abstract Highlights:

Myeloid illustrates with this poster its ability to engineer circulating and tumor-penetrating myeloid cells so that these cells are activated within the tumor setting and elicit anti-tumor adaptive immunity. This approach is an attractive, novel manner to harness systemic anti-tumor immunity.

Myeloid has applied its engineering insights to overcome challenges of specifically targeting and activating myeloid cells in vivo .

. Myeloid has developed a novel in vivo myeloid cell engineering platform, in which a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) is generated by fusing a tumor recognition scFv with the alpha chain of human Fc receptors (CD89). The stable expression and function of these receptors requires the endogenously expressed common Fc receptor gamma chain (FcRg), which expression is mostly restricted to myeloid cells.

myeloid cell engineering platform, in which a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) is generated by fusing a tumor recognition scFv with the alpha chain of human Fc receptors (CD89). The stable expression and function of these receptors requires the endogenously expressed common Fc receptor gamma chain (FcRg), which expression is mostly restricted to myeloid cells. For in vivo engineering, the construct is encapsulated and delivered in lipid nanoparticles (LNP).

engineering, the construct is encapsulated and delivered in lipid nanoparticles (LNP). Myeloid's most-advanced in vivo programming candidate is a candidate referred to as MT-302, targeting trophoblast cell surface antigen 2 (TROP2) on cancer cells. TROP2 is overexpressed in most human solid epithelial cancers, as compared to low expression in corresponding normal tissue. Increased TROP2 expression has been linked to increased tumor growth and has been implicated as a prognostic marker in these cancers, supporting the development of earlier therapies targeting TROP2.

programming candidate is a candidate referred to as MT-302, targeting trophoblast cell surface antigen 2 (TROP2) on cancer cells. TROP2 is overexpressed in most human solid epithelial cancers, as compared to low expression in corresponding normal tissue. Increased TROP2 expression has been linked to increased tumor growth and has been implicated as a prognostic marker in these cancers, supporting the development of earlier therapies targeting TROP2. Within immunodeficient xenograft models of hepatocellular carcinoma and triple negative breast cancer, delivery of LNP mRNA encoding GPC3-CD89 or TROP2-CD89 fusion proteins resulted in anti-tumor efficacy, confirming the ability of this approach to program myeloid cells. Repeat dosing studies showed significant anti-tumor efficacy following bi-weekly administration of TROP2-CD89.

These studies highlight the potential of in vivo delivery of CD89 fusion proteins to program myeloid cells to recognize and kill cancer, thus providing a novel, promising approach to treating cancer.

Title: "Initial Preclinical and Clinical Experience of Autologous Engineered Monocytes in T cell Lymphoma Patients"

Session Category: Clinical Trials

Session: Phase I Clinical Trials in Progress

Session Date and Time: Monday April 17, 2023, 1:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Location: Poster Section 46

Poster Board Number: 19

Published Abstract Number: CT131

Abstract Highlights:

Myeloid developed the first engineered monocyte cell product, by engineering autologous monocytes to express a novel chimeric antigen receptor (CAR). This CAR contains a tumor recognition domain that is fused to a CD8 hinge domain, Fc and PI3K intracellular signaling domains. In addition to imparting tumor specificity, the Fc and PI3K signaling domains promote phagocytosis, cytokine production and antigen presentation upon activation.

In a rodent model of melanoma (gp75+ B16/F10-OVA), Ly6C+ monocytes engineered with this receptor were able to phagocytose tumor cells and cross present antigen in vitro. In vivo infusion of engineered monocytes was associated with significant suppression of tumor growth. FACS analysis of tumor-infiltrates demonstrated that engineered monocytes preferentially infiltrated tumors and differentiated into antigen presenting cells.

infusion of engineered monocytes was associated with significant suppression of tumor growth. FACS analysis of tumor-infiltrates demonstrated that engineered monocytes preferentially infiltrated tumors and differentiated into antigen presenting cells. Based on these promising data, MT-101 is being assessed in humans in the Phase 1, open-label, first-in-human trial in patients with refractory or relapsed T cell lymphoma, IMAGINE trial (NCT05138458). The primary objective is the assessment of safety and tolerability at Day 28, following 3 weekly cycles of 2 infusions. Secondary objectives include assessment of correlative markers of response, pharmacokinetics, and efficacy.

In the first 3 subjects, MT-101 was well-tolerated, with no evidence of CRS, ICANS, or infusion reactions. Examination of biomarkers by CyTOF in one subject showed changes in circulating leukocytes, including B cells. In this subject, survival has been greater than 10 months, while the median overall survival of patients with R/R PTCL is 5.5 months.

Abstracts and full session details can be accessed through the AACR meeting planner: AACR Annual Meeting 2023 | Meetings | AACR .

About Myeloid's ATAK CAR receptors and in vivo mRNA Programming

Myeloid's novel class of CARs, known as ATAK Receptors, combine tumor recognition with multiple proprietary innate-immune signaling domains. Myeloid scientists have screened multiple unexplored combinations of innate-immune signals and uncovered optimal multi-signal pathways. The combination of cancer recognition binders with these novel intracellular signaling domains allows myeloid cells to be reprogrammed with previously unexplored combinations of immune signals, leading to tumor killing and broad systemic anti-tumor responses.

Myeloid's novel in vivo engineering platform specifically targets and activates myeloid cells to elicit broader anti-tumor adaptive immunity. Through this approach, Myeloid demonstrates that delivery of lipid-nanoparticles (LNPs) encapsulating mRNA results in selective uptake and expression by myeloid cells in vivo, leading to potent tumor killing in multiple cold tumor models. These data demonstrate the potential for Myeloid's technology to program cells directly in vivo.

About Myeloid Therapeutics

Myeloid Therapeutics is a clinical stage mRNA-immunotherapy company developing novel therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases. Integrating the fields of RNA, immunology and medicine, the Company's proprietary platform provides clinical solutions by matching therapeutic modalities to disease conditions, including use of autologous cell therapies, in vivo cell programming using mRNA, RNA-based gene-editing using RetroT and multi-targeted biologics. For more information, visit https://www.myeloidtx.com/.

Investor and Media Contact

Amy Conrad

Juniper Point

[email protected]

SOURCE Myeloid Therapeutics
Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg Secures Landmark Ninth Circuit Victory for California Restaurant Association in Battle Over Berkeley's Gas Ban

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif., April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg LLP (RJLF) secured a precedent-setting victory on behalf of the California Restaurant Association (CRA) against the City of Berkeley, overturning Berkeley's ban on natural gas hookups. The Ninth Circuit reversed the District Court's ruling that the City's natural gas ban was consistent with federal law. The panel unanimously held that federal energy law preempts Berkeley's ban on natural gas piping within buildings, and that Berkeley cannot bypass federal preemption by banning the pipes instead of natural gas products themselves.

"We are extremely pleased the Ninth Circuit enforced the plain mandate of federal law on the critical issue of national energy policy," Courtland L. Reichman, RJLF's Managing Partner, said. "At stake was the CRA members' ability to conduct business in the state of California, which puts not only the future of restaurants at risk, but also the vibrant culture and the jobs that those restaurants bring to the area."

Berkeley Ordinance No. 7,672-N.S. banned natural gas infrastructure and the use of natural gas in newly constructed buildings beginning January 1, 2020, making Berkeley the first city in California to take such action. The case challenged the practice of cities across California of usurping state and federal regulations governing the use of energy in buildings.

"Congress intended to set a national energy policy, and cities and states cannot bypass federal preemption by regulating piping instead of natural gas products," RJLF partner Sarah O. Jorgensen shared. "The panel's unanimous decision that Berkeley's ban on natural gas piping is preempted by EPCA sets an important precedent for future cases, especially with other cities and states considering restrictions on natural gas, and it prevents a patchwork of disparate regulations and protects consumer choice."

In the original complaint filed November 21, 2019, the CRA highlighted that its members include restaurants that "rely on gas for cooking particular types of food," as well as for heating space and water, for backup power, and for affordable power, and that they would "be unable to prepare many of their specialties without natural gas." Berkeley's Ordinance harms the CRA's members, who would not be able to move into or build new buildings while also preparing food in the manner and with the speed necessary and using a reliable and affordable energy source. The drastic step of requiring "all-electric" new buildings stands at odds with the need for a reliable, resilient, and affordable energy supply. The Berkeley Ordinance conflicts with both federal and state law, is contrary to the public interest, and harms CRA and its members, the CRA argued.

The District Court dismissed the complaint in July 2021, finding that the CRA had standing and the dispute was ripe, but disagreeing on the statutory interpretation of federal energy law. The CRA appealed that statutory interpretation to the Ninth Circuit. The significance of this first-in-the-nation attempt to ban natural gas at a local level prompted amici briefs from states, industry associations, and the Department of Justice. Brian C. Baran of RJLF argued the case for the CRA before a three-judge panel in May 2022.

Along with partners Courtland L. Reichman and Sarah O. Jorgensen, the CRA is represented by associates Brian C. Baran, Laura Carwile, and David King, as well as co-counsel Gary J. Toman from Weinberg, Wheeler, Hudgins, Gunn & Dial LLC and Kylie Chiseul Kim from Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Evans, Figel & Frederick LLP.

The case is California Restaurant Association v. City of Berkeley, Case No. 21-16278 (9th Cir.).

About The California Restaurant Association

The California Restaurant Association (CRA) is the largest nonprofit statewide restaurant trade association in the nation. Representing the restaurant and hospitality industries since 1906, the CRA is made up of nearly 22,000 restaurant locations in California.

About Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg LLP

Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg LLP (RJLF) is an elite national trial firm that handles high-stakes commercial litigation, intellectual property, and white collar disputes. The firm is majority women-owned and rejects the billable hour in favor of fee arrangements that align client interests. RJLF's attorneys are diverse, exceptionally credentialed, and passionate about trial advocacy. From offices in Silicon Valley, New York, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta, the firm tries cases and argues appeals throughout the country. For more information, visit www.reichmanjorgensen.com.

Contact :

Jennifer Estremera

[email protected]

(650) 623.1407

SOURCE Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg LLP
LONDON, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Omdia's latest research has revealed that NB-IoT and LoRa will account for 87% of all LPWAN connections in 2028 strengthening their position further. The two technologies together dominate the LPWAN market with over 85% of the connections worldwide. Both technologies are in the sweet spot for mid-range IoT applications that are popular now. With sufficient differentiation between the two technologies, both are on track for success through the end of Omdia's forecast in 2028.

LPWAN connections by technology - Worldwide 2019-2028

Commenting on the growth of LPWAN Shobhit Srivastava, Senior Principal Analyst added - "At the end of 2022, more than 90% of global NB-IoT connections were in China. Outside of China, the adoption of the NB-IoT standard has been slow. With a matured NB-IoT ecosystem driven by government regulations, China will continue to be the main driver of NB-IoT market adoption in the foreseeable future. Due to technical challenges, popular NB-IoT use cases have been limited to stationary use cases. The most popular NB-IoT applications are smart meters and utilities (water/gas/electricity) and connected spaces (smart cities)."

As NB-IoT gains popularity in Europe, providers like Telefonica and DT are investing in satellite-based NB-IoT connectivity to cover remote areas and bling spots that maximize the potential of IoT connectivity. Government regulations such as the Spanish national traffic authority, the DGT requirement to carry the new style V16 warning beacons from January 1, 2026, will further fuel growth in the region. Telefonica and other partners will provide the connectivity and hardware elements. Telefonica is utilizing Sateliot's solution to develop a dual 5G NB-IoT connectivity service that integrates the satellite network with existing terrestrial networks to provide ubiquitous connectivity.

Srivastava added that "LoRaWAN has had several years of unchallenged growth, building momentum, and gaining maturity. It's success in the future remains as it has differentiated offerings and a value that NB-IoT cannot easily match. LoRa has unmatched accessibility for companies deploying IoT applications. This accessibility has made LoRaWAN one of the favorites of small developers, the maker community, and over-the-top (OTT) IoT networks, such as The Things Network."

ABOUT OMDIA

Omdia, part of Informa Tech, is a technology research and advisory group. Our deep knowledge of tech markets combined with our actionable insights empower organizations to make smart growth decisions.

Fasiha Khan / T: +44 7503 666806 / E: [email protected] / W: www.omdia.com

SOURCE Omdia
OneKey MLS will join a growing list of multiple listing services (MLSs) which rely on MLS Grid to manage data feed licensing and delivery.

FARMINGDALE, N.Y., April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The announcement underscores the New York based OneKey MLS' commitment to enhancing data efficiency for its Data and MLS subscribers. OneKey MLS is the largest MLS in New York with over 48,000 real estate professionals serving Long Island, Manhattan, and the Hudson Valley.

MLS Grid Logo

MLS Grid supports the real estate industry's role of providing timely, accurate, and comprehensive data to subscribers and technology companies. With more than 500 MLSs nationwide, brokerages are often challenged to find ways to combine data from numerous markets to serve websites, marketing systems, market analytics, showing services, lockbox services and brokerage management systems. MLS Grid streamlines real estate data access, management, and compliance.

The Real Estate Standards Organization's (RESO) Web API powers MLS Grid. The platform is built on trusted, open technology standards which help organizations efficiently deliver or receive data.

"The dynamic New York market demands close attention to making data management as seamless as possible," said Richard Haggerty, CEO of OneKey MLS. "MLS Grid provides a solution for our subscribers which will enhance market efficiency for all real estate transactions."

MLS Grid, run by MLS executives and developers, understands the industry and the challenges brokers, MLSs and associations face in an ever-evolving marketplace. It was built to deliver an easier way to provide standardized data.

"We're excited that OneKey MLS sees the value we bring to making the market work better for all," said MLS Grid CEO, Joseph Szurgyi. "MLS Grid is an essential part of any MLS's mission to provide the best service to subscribers who are in an industry that demands high standards of service when it comes to managing data feeds and contracts."

MLS Grid is growing quickly and continues to support the adoption of RESO Web API throughout the industry. MLS Grid works with more than 1,455 data consumers and supports more than 70,000 data licenses nationwide.

About MLS Grid



Currently representing nearly 360,000 MLS subscribers, MLS Grid was built by a nationwide network of multiple listing services to help real estate brokers, technology partners, and MLSs to provide easier access to standardized, streamlined data. The goal of MLS Grid is to offer a single point of access and management for RESO standardized data that is provided by MLSs and brokers. MLS Grid eliminates technology development and other redundancies through MLS collaboration while allowing MLSs to preserve their "localization" of standardized data. MLS Grid has successfully worked with data from connectMLS, Matrix, Paragon, Realtracs MLS, and Flexmls systems. More information is available at MLSGrid.com.

About OneKey MLS

OneKey MLS, made possible by the merger of MLSLI and Hudson Gateway MLS, is one of the nation's leading Multiple Listing Services, serving over 48,000 REALTOR subscribers and 4,500 participating offices located throughout Long Island, Manhattan, and the Hudson Valley. The MLS is based in Farmingdale, N.Y., and operates on the pledge to provide subscribers with better coverage, better data and the best tools for their businesses. Learn more about OneKey MLS at onekeymlsny.com.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

MLS Grid

Joseph Szurgyi, CEO

[email protected]

801-244-5742

OneKey MLS

Tricia Chirco, SVP Marketing & Communications

[email protected]

(631) 670-0710 x 405

SOURCE OneKey MLS
Latest Small Molecule to Emerge from GPR65 Discovery Program Counteracts Immunosuppressive Polarization of Macrophages Triggered by an Acidic Tumor Microenvironment (TME)

Drives Infiltration of T Cells and NK Cells into TME Leading to Impressive Anti-Tumor Activity in Preclinical Cancer Models Following Oral Dosing

OXFORD, England, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Pathios Therapeutics Limited ("Pathios"), a biotech company focused on the development of first-in-class therapies for cancer, today announced the presentation of the latest preclinical data from the company's GPR65 discovery program at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2023. The presentation included the public unveiling of PTT-4256, an internally discovered, oral, highly potent, and selective small molecule inhibitor of GPR65 that has demonstrated excellent drug-like properties and impressive monotherapy anti-tumor activity in preclinical models. The data were featured in a poster presentation at the AACR annual meeting, being held April 14-19, 2023, in Orlando, Florida.

Pathios is pursuing a novel immuno-oncology approach to the treatment of cancer focused on counteracting the immunosuppressive polarization of tumor associated macrophages (TAMs) that is triggered by a highly acidic tumor microenvironment (TME). It does so by targeting GPR65, an acid sensing G protein-coupled receptor that is exclusively expressed on immune cells and is associated with driving the immunosuppressive TAM phenotype that prevents immune-mediated killing of cancer cells. Pathios' internal human genetic analysis demonstrates that reductions in GPR65 function are associated with significantly improved survival across a range of solid tumor types, positioning it as a unique immuno-oncology target for therapeutic intervention.

Data presented at AACR highlighted the company's discovery and advancement of PTT-4256, which exhibits high potency for GPR65 (IC 50 < 1 nM in human macrophages) and more than a 500-fold selectivity for GPR65 over related receptors. In preclinical experiments, PTT-4256 was shown to be highly effective in counteracting the effects of low pH (i.e. high acidity) that polarizes human and mouse macrophages toward an immunosuppressive state. This PTT-4256-induced relief of immune suppression was associated with dose-dependent increases in a range of pro-inflammatory genes that are consistent with an anti-tumor immune response, evidence of an infiltration of T cells and natural killer (NK) cells into the TME, and prevention of the activation of immunosuppressive cytokines. Together, this activity led to impressive monotherapy efficacy for PTT-4256 in syngeneic mouse cancer models following oral dosing.

"Pathios' identification of PTT-4256 represents the culmination of several years of diligent and sophisticated drug discovery work by our team of scientists. These efforts have produced a highly optimised compound supported by an extensive dataset illustrating that the molecule possesses all target attributes for testing our GPR65 inhibitor hypothesis in humans," said Stuart Hughes, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Pathios. "Based on these latest data, we are now focused on completing the toxicology program that will support initiation of clinical trials in 2024. As we look ahead to our entry into the clinic, we continue to be utterly compelled by the promise of this novel immuno-oncology target, in particular noting the human genetic validation which we believe sets GPR65 inhibition apart from other approaches in the field."

About Acidity in the Tumor Microenvironment

The acidic tumor microenvironment, inherent to many cancers, causes a profound immunosuppression of infiltrating immune cells. This environment disarms the anti-cancer immune response and negates the effectiveness of current immunotherapies. This is particularly evident in tumor associated macrophages (TAM), where acidity is sensed by the cell-surface receptor GPR65, leading to an induction of the transcriptional repressor ICER (inducible cAMP early repressor) and the widespread suppression of a host of pro-inflammatory mediators and anti-tumorigenic genes.

About Pathios Therapeutics

Launched in 2017, Pathios is a drug discovery and development company focused on translating innovative science into new medicines. Pathios was founded by a team of experienced biotech and pharmaceutical industry professionals, entrepreneurs, and clinicians. The company is focused on developing small-molecule inhibitors of the pH-sensing G protein-coupled receptor GPR65 to target immunosuppressive macrophages in advanced cancers. To date, Pathios has secured a total of US$33M in Series A funding from the leading venture capital firms, Canaan Partners and Brandon Capital. Pathios is headquartered at the Innovation Centre on Milton Park, a key science precinct south of Oxford, UK.

For more information, please visit www.pathios.com.

Contacts:

Pathios Therapeutics

Stuart Hughes, Chief Executive Officer

+44 1865 292 039

[email protected]

Vida Strategic Partners (on behalf of Pathios Therapeutics)

Tim Brons

646-319-8981

[email protected]

SOURCE Pathios Therapeutics
CHESAPEAKE, Va., April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Four in ten shoppers have needed to get in touch with a business's customer support with a query or complaint in the last three days, according to new research.

In a bid to understand the state of customer care post-pandemic, business text messaging provider Esendex surveyed 5,000 consumers worldwide to discover how, how frequently and why they tend to contact companies.

Internationally, 41% of consumers have got in touch with a firm's customer service department over the past three days - rising to 63% over the past week.

When participants were asked what they contact a business about most often, the following came out as the top reasons globally:

Delivery query or update (33%) Order query or update (26%) Refund/exchange query or update (25%) Billing/payment issue (22%) Looking for more information (19%)

Zach Van Way, Direct of Sales at Esendex, comments: "Our research shows that in the USA alone, more than half of all customers will contact a company with a delivery query or update.

"Customer service teams need to be prepared for this kind of traffic, especially as our research also shows that speed of response is the number one thing customers rate the most helpful when contacting a business.

"By employing an omnichannel approach and adding automation into parts of the process, businesses will be able to operate more efficiently, while being able to dedicate more time to issues that cannot be resolved via self-serve options, such as FAQ pages or video tutorials, or with help from a chatbot".

The findings of the survey, which have been published in a report, also reveal the biggest frustrations that shoppers have when getting in touch with customer support. These are:

Unhelpful/didn't resolve the issue Took too long to respond/answer Going round in circles/repeating myself to different people Chatbot timing out and having to explain the query again Being treated like a ticket or number rather than a human being

More than 47% of US shoppers would also consider that they've waited too long if it takes more than five hours for a business response, highlighting our demand for an always-on culture.

Learn more about our SMS API, SMS Broadcasting Software, SMS Reseller Program, Voice Broadcast API, and Phone Verification API at esendex.us today!

Media contact-

[email protected]

SOURCE Esendex
Byondis' Lead IO Therapy Scheduled to Enter Phase I Study This Year

NIJMEGEN, Netherlands, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Byondis B.V., an independent, clinical-stage Dutch biopharmaceutical company creating precision medicines, today announced that the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer (the official journal of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer) has published encouraging preclinical data on its investigational monoclonal antibody (mAb) BYON4228.

BYON4228 targets and blocks the Cluster of Differentiation 47-Signal Regulatory Protein alpha (CD47-SIRP) interaction responsible for tumors' ability to escape recognition and destruction by the immune system. The Byondis paper, "BYON4228 is a pan-allelic antagonistic SIRP antibody that potentiates destruction of antibody-opsonized tumor cells and lacks binding to SIRP on T cells," reports the findings of an extensive preclinical characterization of the novel SIRP-directed antibody, including direct comparisons to previously reported anti-SIRP antibodies. Side-by-side comparisons show that BYON4228 has a unique and favorable preclinical profile. The therapy is scheduled to enter First-in-Human (Phase I) study later this year. The Phase I clinical study (NCT05737628) is designed to evaluate BYON4228 alone and in combination with rituximab in patients with relapsed/refractory CD20-positive B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Byondis Chief Scientific Officer Wim Dokter, Ph.D. explains: "BYON4228 is a pan-allelic antibody, meaning it recognizes the two major SIRP variants in humans. In addition, because BYON4228 does not recognize SIRP, a related molecule on T cells, it should not compromise T cell activity."

"This implies that the therapy could benefit all eligible patients. Used in combination, BYON4228 can potentially increase the efficacy of a wide range of therapeutic mAbs in different blood and solid cancers," Byondis Chief Executive Officer Marco Timmers, Ph.D. added.

According to the published data, BYON4228 potentiates macrophage- and neutrophil-mediated killing of both hematologic and solid cancer cells in vitro in the presence of a variety of tumor-targeting antibodies, including trastuzumab, rituximab, daratumumab, panitumumab and cetuximab. In vivo, BYON4228 promotes the anti-tumor activity of such antibodies. Finally, BYON4228 shows a favorable preclinical safety profile.

More About BYON4228

BYON4228 is a humanized therapeutic monoclonal antibody designed to stimulate the innate immune system. It binds to SIRP expressed on innate immune cells, especially monocytes, macrophages and neutrophils. BYON4228 blocks binding of SIRP to CD47 (a cell surface molecule often over-expressed on cancer cells), preventing signaling through the CD47-SIRP axis. The CD47-SIRP axis limits the antibody-mediated destruction of cancer cells by transducing a "don't eat me" signal to the immune system. By inhibiting the CD47-SIRP axis, BYON4228 prevents the inhibitory "don't eat me" signal to be detected, thereby stimulating the immune cell to do what it is supposed to do: destroy the tumor cell.

As a pan-allelic antagonistic SIRP antibody that lacks binding to SIRP on T cells, BYON4228 has the potential to become best in class. It distinguishes itself from previously reported SIRP antibodies that in all probability are representative of antibodies currently being tested in clinical trials.

About Byondis

Driven to improve patients' lives, Byondis is a privately held, Dutch clinical-stage biopharmaceutical research and development company creating precision medicines targeting intractable cancers and autoimmune diseases. Byondis' broad development portfolio comprises targeted and immuno-oncology (IO) therapies in preclinical, early- and late-stage clinical phases. These candidates combine Byondis' expertise in linker-drug (LD) technology, antibody-drug conjugation, targeted cytotoxic therapy, and monoclonal antibody (mAb) development. Byondis designs and produces next generation antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), as well as mAbs and new chemical entities (NCEs) that can stand alone or be incorporated in its ADCs.

Byondis has a dedicated team of more than 400 employees, including highly educated scientists and skilled technicians working in state-of-the-art R&D laboratories and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) production and conjugation facilities on its campus in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The company collaborates with other global biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and many leading academic research institutions. For more information, visit www.byondis.com.



Media Contact

Corina Ramers-Verhoeven Yvonne Massar

Vice President, Corporate Communications Public Eyes Healthcare Communications

P: +31 (0)24 679 44 44 M: +31 6 55134860

M: +31 (0)6 10 95 47 70 [email protected]

[email protected]

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1527250/Byondis_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Byondis B.V.
Series of Clinical Studies Highlight Advantages of ECGenius System and CARDIALYTICS Suite of Algorithms

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- CathVision, a medical technology company developing innovative electrophysiology solutions to enhance clinical decision-making in the EP lab, today announced initial patient enrollment of a follow-on clinical study to demonstrate the value of the Signal Complexity algorithm at OLV Hospital Aalst in Belgium led by Dr. Tom De Potter.1 The first patient has been enrolled.

More than 46 million patients worldwide are estimated to suffer from atrial fibrillation (AF). As prevalence increases due to health factors such as obesity, hypertension, and physical inactivity, it is anticipated that as many as 1 in 3 individuals older than 40 will experience AF. Seventy-five percent of all AF patients have persistent or permanent forms of AF; freedom from AF at 12 months following therapy is usually found to be approximately 50 percent demonstrating the opportunity to integrate technology that can improve effectiveness.

"When an ablation procedure starts and ends in AF rhythm, delivering a lasting therapy impact on AF cannot be accurately visualized in-procedure today," said Dr. Tom De Potter, FEHRA, Associate Director, Cardiovascular Center, Department of Cardiology, Electrophysiology Section, OLV Hospital, Aalst. "It is often difficult to understand if the ablation strategy is progressing positively. This has an impact both on the duration and on the outcome of the procedure. There is outstanding value in integrating a reliable solution that affirms the ablation impact."

The Signal Complexity algorithm is designed to measure and visualize rhythm parameters such as cycle length, variability, fractionation, and dominant frequency in real time and track the progress of ablation during persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) procedures. The algorithm provides automated analyses of high-fidelity, low-noise cardiac data from the ECGenius System, CathVision's innovative EP recording technology, that can help physicians improve clinical outcomes and efficiency.2 Dr. De Potter will specifically assess the clinical utility of Signal Complexity to analyze the impact of ablation therapy in coordination with pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) plus individually mapped ablation targets.

Signal Complexity is part of CathVision's CARDIALYTICS suite of artificial intelligence-powered analytics, currently in development.3 The CARDIALYTICS suite includes Signal Complexity, PVI Analyzer, and FaST Mapping.4 In November of 2022, CathVision announced the clinical evaluation of the Signal Complexity algorithm at NYU Langone Health; 28 patients have been enrolled to date. Data will be presented at the upcoming Heart Rhythm Society meeting in New Orleans.

"We remain committed to providing clinicians with substantiated value," said Mads Matthiesen, CEO of CathVision. "It's exhilarating to observe the accumulation of clinical evidence supporting the need for the ECGenius System and CARDIALYTICS suite as we look forward to strategic progression that will cement a new era of EP recording systems."

For more information about CARDIALYTICS and the ECGenius System, please visit www.cathvision.com.

About CathVision

CathVision is a medical technology company that develops electrophysiology solutions centered around an innovative EP recording system and AI algorithm platform  the ECGenius System. Committed to empowering physicians to make more informed clinical decisions in the EP lab, CathVision is redefining the necessity of exceptional cardiac electrical signals to diagnose, characterize, and treat the most common heart rhythm disorders. CathVision was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Denmark with a U.S. office in Minnesota.

Follow CathVision on: LinkedIn and Twitter

1Signal Complexity is not cleared for sales.

2ECGenius System is cleared for sales in the US.

3CARDIALYTICS is not cleared for sales.

4PVI Analyzer and Fast Mapping are not cleared for sales.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1669437/CathVision_Logo_Blue_01_Logo.jpg

SOURCE CathVision
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) will promptly fulfill the structural benchmark of the cooperation program with the IMF by developing a strategy for currency liberalization and gradual abandonment of administrative restrictions by the end of June 2023, but, a real transition to such is not yet a matter of the near future, Governor of the NBU Andriy Pyshnyy has said.

"Today the market is balanced solely by the presence of the National Bank, the problem of unprecedented balances on current accounts remains relevant. We are working on this, we see changes, but it is too early to talk about the results. Accordingly, the transition to greater flexibility in this aspect is not a matter of the near future," he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine in Washington.

Pyshnyy said that in the work on the liberalization strategy, the National Bank deliberately does not say when the revision will take place.

"It is not the date that determines the abandonment of administrative restrictions. Everything depends on the formation of the necessary prerequisites. And in this matter, we openly communicate what prerequisites make it possible to talk about the introduction of a floating exchange rate and a return to the free movement of capital," he said.

The governor of the National Bank said that these prerequisites provide for the binding of the liquidity surplus that has arisen now, which is unevenly distributed and is mainly on demand accounts.

"In the transition to a gradual reduction of administrative restrictions, and also before the introduction of flexible exchange rate elements, we must understand that this liquidity overhang will not hinder exchange rate stability," he said.
School Passport is the First Data Exchange that Connects EdTech Apps Without Risking Student Data.

SAN DIEGO, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ --Today Global Grid for Learning (GG4L) announced, at the ASU+GSV Summit, its next generation of school data exchange designed to stop the spread of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) across the education ecosystem of vendors. The School Passport data exchange allows information to be shared by schools with their EdTech vendors, but can now seamlessly anonymize PII to address a major privacy vulnerability for the industry.

The habit of sharing school PII across EdTech vendors has become commonplace, allowing for increased data breaches, ransomware attacks and lawsuits for schools. School Passport is breaking this habit by minimizing the need to share school PII across EdTech vendors.

School Passport is a data exchange platform that empowers EdTech apps without sharing student data. Tweet this

The newly released version of School Passport leverages GG4L's patents and innovative token-based services to solve the problem that traditional rostering approaches have created, including the reliance on legal compliance as the sole approach to protect schools. This proved to be difficult to implement, particularly at scale. School Passport is a data exchange platform that provides data for EdTech applications, but eliminates the need to share PII via anonymization, while providing easy to use services to simplify vendor adoption.

"School Passport builds on our recent experience with PII Shield, API-based communications, and school-centric data governance," said Robert Iskander, GG4L Founder & CEO. "School Passport is the first Zero-Trust based, anonymized and tokenized, data exchange and governance infrastructure for schools."

School Passport provides districts with monitoring tools to track where and how data is shared and data governance tools to restrict sharing or anonymize data. The platform provides a PII vault that allows districts to maintain encryption of data within district control. School Passport provides a robust open standards based API framework of anonymized services which makes it easy for vendors to adopt.

School districts can significantly reduce the amount of student PII that is shared with external entities. As such, schools see an improved teaching and learning environment, as IT compliance no longer delays trials and deployments of new tools for students. This innovative approach to anonymously roster students into a third-party application has been tested by districts like LAUSD to provision high-school students into Coursera. "GG4L made it easier to connect our students to Coursera's Career Academy, and teachers are now able to assign it to students though our Schoology LMS," commented Celine Calanoc, CTE/Linked Learning Office at LAUSD.

Education technology vendors also benefit from School Passport in many ways. By eliminating the need to consume student PII, vendors reduce their risk of operation, lower their costs, and can continue to deliver a quality end-user experience.

"Since we switched to School Passport, we can affordably solve and scale nearly any data integration challenge. We have accelerated our ROI by simplifying onboarding for our customers." said Andy Shaw, Canva for Education Technical and Operations Lead.

Shifting the industry to an anonymized model for student data sharing requires collaboration across the ecosystem. As a Contributing Member of 1EdTech, GG4L has been proactively participating in 1EdTech's Identity Task Force and has volunteered to contribute to upcoming work on the 1EdTech OneRoster  standard. This will lead to certification showing that EdTech suppliers can meet the requirements for supporting anonymized identity.

"The 1EdTech community of school districts, universities, states and suppliers is providing leadership on student data privacy through our TrustEd Apps program ," commented Dr. Rob Abel, CEO of 1EdTech. "The community greatly appreciates GG4L's contributions, and we will expedite the benefits of this work via extensions to the widely adopted OneRoster standard."

The broad adoption of anonymized student data across education will reduce risks for schools and vendors alike. To learn more about stopping the spread of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) across the education ecosystem of vendors, reach out to [email protected] today.

About Global Grid for Learning (GG4L), a Public Benefit Corporation

Global Grid for Learning (GG4L) was founded in 2018 as a Public Benefit Corporation. GG4L's product, School Passport, is a data exchange platform that exchanges any data with any EdTech product, eliminates the need to share student PII with every vendor, and is easy to implement. School Passport serves over 30,000 schools, 15 million students, and hundreds of EdTech vendors. GG4L advocates for open standards-based data integrations, governed data exchange, and strict data privacy compliance. For more information, visit gg4l.com . GG4L has been selected to The Elite 200, the distinguished list of semifinalists recognized in the 2023 GSV Cup.

About 1EdTech:

1EdTech is a member-based non-profit community partnership of leading educational providers at all levels, government organizations, and EdTech suppliers working together to enable better digital teaching and learning. Together, we power learner potential by accelerating an open, trusted, and innovative education ecosystem in which products work together to enable better learning. 1EdTech hosts the annual Learning Impact conference in June and other engagement opportunities to advance the leadership and ideas that shape the future of learning. 1EdTech is supported by an affiliated public charity, the 1EdTech Foundation, that puts philanthropic funds to work for our cause. Visit our website at 1edtech.org . OneRoster is a registered trademark of the 1EdTech consortium.

About Canva for Education:

Canva for Education makes it easy to create, collaborate, and communicate visually in the classroom and beyond. It's 100% free for K-12 districts, schools, teachers, and their students. Bring your ideas to life with thousands of ready-to-use educational templates from presentations, posters, comic strips, book reports, infographics, newsletters, and more.

Media Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Global Grid for Learning, PBC
Company to Showcase Recorded Future AI  Real-Time, Automated Intelligence Analysis at Internet Scale

BOSTON, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Recorded Future, the intelligence company, today announced its presence at RSA Conference 2023 will include expert-led presentations discussing topics that span the threat landscape, and the showcasing of new Intelligence Cloud capabilities including Recorded Future AI. As a premier exhibitor, Recorded Future will also be featuring in-booth theater presentations and will host an industry gathering during the conference.

"The need for intelligence has continued to permeate every aspect and sector of business today. Our team at Recorded Future sits in a unique position looking across the entire cyber ecosystem and providing the insights and intelligence that organizations need today to maintain business operations and reduce risk. I'm excited to share our perspectives at this year's RSA conference and hear from the broader infosecurity community on their efforts to bolster defenses."  Levi Gundert, Chief Security Officer, Recorded Future

The intelligence-driven sessions being delivered by Recorded Future experts include:

Defender Perspectives: Navigating Cyber Threat Intelligence Differentiators with Levi Gundert, CSO, Recorded Future

Monday, April 24 at 10:50 am PST

Droned Out: Surveilling the Noise in the Russian War in Ukraine with Alex Leslie, Associate Threat Intelligence Analyst, Recorded Future

Monday, April 24 at 10:50 am PST

Bloomberg's Foundering: The John McAfee Story - Live with Allan Liska, Threat Intelligence Analyst, Recorded Future

Tuesday, April 25 at 11:00 am PST

Hack Me If You Can: The Making of a Russian Hacker with Dmitry Smilyanets, Principal Product Manager, Recorded Future

Wednesday, April 26 at 9:40 am PST

Turning the Backpage: Combating Human Trafficking with Threat Intelligence with Hande Guven, Threat Intelligence Analyst, Recorded Future, and Kirill Boychenko, Threat Intelligence Analyst, Recorded Future

Thursday, April 27 at 2:10 pm PST

In addition to its sessions, Recorded Future will also be featuring the recently launched Recorded Future AI capabilities at RSA Conference 2023. Incorporating OpenAI's state-of-the-art, pre-trained transformer model, GPT, with its industry-leading Intelligence Cloud, Recorded Future AI , provides real-time threat landscape analysis and actionability at internet scale, helping to eliminate the cyber skills shortage and increasing the capacity for cyber readiness by immediately surfacing actionable intelligence.

Visit booth S-934 to get an in-depth look at the Recorded Future's Intelligence Cloud and Recorded Future AI, and join us for in-booth theater presentations from an array of Recorded Future experts and partners, including Palo Alto Networks, ServiceNow, and Splunk. For more information visit: https://www.recordedfuture.com/rsac-2023

Register to join Recorded Future experts and industry leaders at The Recorded Future Intelligence Mixer, taking place Tuesday, April 25 from 6:30-9:30 pm PT at Madarae.

Follow @RecordedFuture and #AIDrivenIntelligence on Twitter for real-time updates on this year's presentations and company news.

About Recorded Future

Recorded Future is the world's largest intelligence company. Recorded Future's Intelligence Cloud provides complete coverage across adversaries, infrastructure, and targets. By combining persistent and pervasive automated data collection and analytics with human analysis, Recorded Future provides real-time visibility into the digital landscape and empowers clients to take proactive action to disrupt adversaries and keep their people, systems, and infrastructure safe. Headquartered in Boston with offices and employees around the world, Recorded Future works with over 1,600 businesses and government organizations across more than 70 countries. Learn more at recordedfuture.com .

SOURCE Recorded Future
AMSTERDAM, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The decision by the Dutch government to limit the number of flights taking off and landing at Schiphol Airport will reduce the value of trade and tourist expenditure in the Netherlands by up to 13.6 billion, according to a new study by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr).

The report, commissioned by the Red Schiphol Campaign, predicts that the decision to reduce flight movements at the airport to 440,000 per year will lead to a 180,000 tonne drop in the amount of cargo handled at Schiphol compared to 2019 levels. This represents 11.5 billion worth of goods or about 11.4% of Schiphol's usual cargo volume.

Under a worst-case scenario, Cebr suggests this figure could rise to 330,000 tonnes, or 21.3 billion worth of goods. This represents over a fifth (21.2%) of Schiphol's 2019 cargo volume. The report also outlines that the flight cap could result in 1.3 million fewer tourists using Schiphol Airport each year - roughly equivalent to the total number of travellers who visited the Netherlands from Asia in 2019. According to Cebr, this reduction would be associated with a 2.2 billion drop in annual tourist expenditure.

George Chichester, campaign manager for the Red Schiphol Campaign, says this could have a disastrous impact on the Dutch economy.

"In 2019, Schiphol Airport was responsible for over 90% of the cargo coming into the Netherlands and 88% of all passengers flying into or out of the country. It is unlikely that other airports will be able to handle the extra passengers or cargo that will be uncatered for under the flight cap, meaning the value from these two revenue sources is essentially lost to the Dutch economy," Chichester said.

In addition, Cebr estimates that the reduction in flights is associated with a reduction in Dutch economic activity supported by Schiphol Airport's operations, amounting to a 205 million fall in Gross Value Added (GVA) and 599 fewer jobs supported throughout the airport and its supply chain. Much of this impact will be felt in the Noord-Holland region, which the report suggests will experience 94% of the impact on GVA.

Rowlando Morgan, Head of the Environment, Infrastructure and Local Growth team at Cebr, says that Schiphol's current contribution to the national and local economy should not be understated. "This research shows that the decision will have significant adverse economic impacts on the consumers and businesses that rely on Schiphol Airport."

The report also highlights that the flight cap could lead to higher ticket prices. For instance, evidence shows that constrained capacity at London Heathrow has been associated with a 17% premium on short-haul fares and a 25% premium on long-haul fares.

Chichester argues this will hit ordinary Dutch families particularly hard at a time when the cost of living is already very high.

"The government has already tripled the tax on plane tickets. If this flight cap goes ahead, the price of tickets will climb even higher and hard-working Dutch families will no longer be able to afford to go on holiday," he said.

The Red Schiphol Campaign has been set up to bring together concerned Dutch citizens and businesses in opposition to what it calls the '440 decision' to limit flight movements at Schiphol.

Marc Mabelis, a local politician and active supporter of the campaign, has voiced his concern over the government's decision, stating that "In an open economy, logistics by air is very important via a strong network for passengers and cargo at Schiphol."

Supporters are encouraged to sign the campaign's petition  which is already at over 5,700 signatures  or email [email protected] to find out more ways to get involved.

Notes to Editors

The Red Schiphol Campaign is coordinated by SABI Strategy Group.

SOURCE Red Schiphol
Frozen treat chain introduces new icy coffee treat available in original cold brew, mocha and caramel

PHILADELPHIA , April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Rita's Italian Ice & Frozen Custard, the beloved brand known for its delicious Italian Ice and Frozen Custard treats, introduces a line of new Cold Brew Frozen Coffees.

Available at all Rita's Italian Ice & Frozen Custard locations for a limited time only starting April 17, new Cold Brew Frozen Coffees come in three flavors  Original Cold Brew, Mocha and Caramel. Each Cold Brew Frozen Coffee is crafted with Rita's vanilla ice and custard, to create an indulgent, unique flavorful coffee experience.

Available at all Ritas Italian Ice & Frozen Custard locations for a limited time only starting April 17, new Cold Brew Frozen Coffees come in three flavors  Original Cold Brew, Mocha and Caramel. Each Cold Brew Frozen Coffee is crafted with Ritas vanilla ice and custard, to create an indulgent, unique flavorful coffee experience.

"Being in the business of frozen treats, launching an indulgent and better frozen coffee that differentiates from every other frozen coffee product out there was second nature for us," said Brianne Barket, Director of Product Development and Quality Assurance of Rita's Italian Ice & Frozen Custard. "After testing frozen coffee in shops last year to an overwhelming positive response from guests, we're focused on growing our beverage line to meet growing consumer demand for all-day refreshment and on-the-go portability."

In addition, to celebrate this new addition, all Rita's app users will get a free small frozen coffee reward in their app account, so they can try the delicious new treat for free during the promo period.

"We're happy to introduce Cold Brew Frozen Coffees to capitalize on growing coffee trends and attract Millennial and Gen-Z guests looking for a new refreshing java option," said Linda Chadwick, CEO of Rita's Italian Ice & Frozen Custard. "These flavorful frozen coffees are the perfect mid-afternoon pick-me-up for our guests needing a happiness jolt to their day, and we know once people taste Cold Brew Frozen Coffee, it will become a must-have refreshment!"

Rita's signature Italian Ice is made fresh daily on-site and available in a rotating daily selection from over 75 flavors. Other menu items at Rita's include creamy Frozen Custard, signature Gelati, Concretes, Milkshakes and more.

Originally founded in May 1984, Philadelphia firefighter Bob Tumolo created his prized family recipe to include real fruit, named the product after his wife Rita, and Rita's Italian Ice was born. Since then, Rita's has staked its claim in the frozen treats industry by planting franchises across the country that offer a happy atmosphere, as well as set the standard for fresh and quality-driven Italian Ice.

For more information about Rita's Cold Brew Frozen Coffees and to find your closest Rita's location, please visit www.ritasice.com.

About Rita's Italian Ice & Frozen Custard:

Rita's Italian Ice & Frozen Custard opened its doors in Bensalem, Pa. in 1984, and has been dedicated to spreading "Ice, Custard, Happiness!" ever since. Now, Rita's is the largest Italian Ice concept in the world with over +550 shops. Guests around the world visit Rita's to celebrate their everyday moments with freshly made cool treats in a fun-filled atmosphere. Known for its famous Italian Ice, made daily featuring real fruit, and award-winning Frozen Custard, Rita's serves a taste of happiness with each delicious treat. For more information about Rita's Italian Ice, please call 1-800-677-7482 or visit www.ritasice.com.

SOURCE Rita's Franchise Company
MELBOURNE, Australia, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- AI recruitment software provider Sapia.ai is set to showcase innovative research across four sessions at the upcoming SIOP 2023 Conference in Boston.

With the largest submission from an Australian-founded AI company, Sapia is proud to present cutting-edge research that will greatly catalyze the evolution and adoption of ethical AI, Natural Language Processing, and Machine Learning in the field of industrial-organizational psychology.

Sapia.ai has four individual research reports that will be presented at the conference, each of which is set to make a significant impact on the field of AI:

Leveling the Playfield: A Collection of Inclusive Approaches to Assessment. This session examines the findings of Sapia's research paper, Reducing Disability BIas with Chat-Based Interviews. It contends that in-person and traditional interviews are stressful and anxiety-inducing for candidates with disabilities, contributing to lower rates of representation and higher rates of unemployment. The session examines how an ethical AI, chat-based assessment can result in fairer outcomes for people with disabilities: a candidate happiness score of 8.9/10 and 95.8% positive or neutral sentiment when using Sapia's AI Smart Chat Interviewer. Natural Language Processing (NLP) Applications: The Versatility of Text-Based Data. Showcasing findings from the paper Identifying and Mitigating Ethnicity Bias in Structured Interview Responses, this session explores how racial bias and racism in traditional job interviewing can be mitigated with the use of a blind, text-based interview format that uses underlying feature scores (i.e., personality traits, competencies, and communication skills) rather than raw text in the final scoring algorithm. Machine Learning for I-O 5.0: Addressing Algorithmic Bias and Fairness Concerns. This session explores the findings from the paper Plagiarism Detection and Prevalence in Online Text-based Structured Interviews. It will explain how Sapia's AI system can flag plagiarized or faked responses in text-based chat interviews, mitigating the issue of 'faking' present both in AI-based and traditional self-report assessments. The results to be presented include Sapia's own plagiarism rate of 3.28%, which is significantly lower than the 30-50% of candidates estimated to fake self-report measures. Machine Learning for I-O 5.0: Advances in Organizational Applications. Referencing the paper Question-aware Outlier Answer Detection for Fairer AI Scoring of Interviews, this session explores how an ethical AI can identify outlier responses that go against training data, leading to better outcomes for interviewees who respond to prompts in novel, but relevant, ways.

Sapia.ai's participation in the SIOP 2023 Conference highlights the company's ongoing commitment to discourse within the SIOP and wider I-O communities.

Dr Ashlie Plants Ph.D., Lead People Scientist, said that she was proud to see so much of Sapia's innovative research accepted by the SIOP committee.

"Even in psychological circles, AI has been met with a great deal of apprehension and scrutiny, which is absolutely necessary," Plants said. "But investigation and curiosity is also necessary, and we're thrilled to see the response that the I-O psychology community has had to the progress and potential of a truly ethical AI system."

"We can't wait to present our research at the SIOP Conference, and to continue our hard work in powering Sapia's AI Smart Chat Interviewer, ensuring it is the fairest and most valid means of interviewing and assessing candidates in the unfolding AI era."

2023's SIOP Conference will mark the third appearance of the Australian-founded company. The North American arm of the team will also be present at the conference.

CONTACT: Barb Hyman, [email protected]

SOURCE Sapia.ai
SOFIA, Bulgaria, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Servier, a leading independent multinational pharmaceutical company focusing on oncology and chronic cardio metabolic diseases, has been recently recognized as one of the best places to work in Bulgaria for 2023. The company received outstanding scores across several aspects of their workplace such as career opportunities, compensation and benefits, relationships, personal growth and work/life balance resulting in its recognition among the employers of choice in Bulgaria.

Best Places to Work is an international certification program, considered as the 'Platinum Standard' in identifying and recognizing top workplaces around the world, provide employers the opportunity to learn more about the engagement and the satisfaction of their employees and honor those who deliver an outstanding work experience with the highest standards in regards to working conditions.

In a statement from Emilio Gagliardi, General Manager for Servier Bulgaria, he said "We are honoured to be certified Best Place to Work! This accomplishment confirms our commitment to building an outstanding workplace culture with our employees. We will continue to increase communication and collaboration to ensure a comfortable environment for our people to share ideas, facilitate learning opportunities and work towards a common goal - to make a meaningful impact for patients and for a sustainable world"

Antoaneta Nestorova, Head of HR, commented on this achievement "For all of us at Servier, this recognition means a lot and proves we are on the right track. Our employees are our top priority. We are convinced that outstanding results are achieved by happy and fulfilled people, who feel heard and supported. We take pride in our people's accomplishments and value them for who they are - both as professionals and personalities. I think this is the essential, where it all stems from. Our people are what makes Servier successful and feel-good-to-be-part-of as a community. We'll ensure that we maintain what makes us strong today and will move forward."

A mission-driven culture, transparent leadership and career opportunities are some of the hallmarks of Servier Bulgaria. With this achievement today, the company clearly demonstrated its leadership in prioritizing the health, safety and well-being of their employees.

For more information, please visit www.bestplacestoworkfor.org. Join our community on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

SOURCE Best Places to Work
2022 Phoenix Publishing Group and NewRank New Media report

LONDON and BEIJING, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sherlock Holmes is a bestseller in China again, thanks to rapid growth in social media book sales. 85% of all Chinese books are now sold online and book sales via social media have risen by 800% over the last six years.

Detective Sherlock Holmes (Yilin Press, imprint of Phoenix Publishing and Media Group), a new children's title published in China based on Conan Doyle classics, sold 10,000 copies in the first three days via an online influencer's short video, and sold 300,000 in three months in 2022.

Reading tags on Douyin (Chinese TikTok) have increased by 315% in 2022, leading to direct sales of 250 million units. This rapid growth in social media book sales is expanding the book market; 45% book purchases through Douyin were from consumers buying books for the first time.

Book sales via short-form video increased 43% in 2022, now outstripping sales through physical bookshops.

New Media for Publishing: Chinese book sales annual report published by Phoenix Publishing and Media Group, one of the largest publishing groups in China, and new media data monitor NewRank.cn.

Mr Song Jishu, Vice President of Phoenix Publishing and Media said,

"We are delighted to see Phoenix Group is now No.2 in the most influential Chinese New Media Publishers. Our imprint, Yilin Press, found a new audience on Douyin (Chinese Tiktok) for international titles, including The Count of Monte-Cristo, Ulysses and the Divine Comedy as well as the phenomenal success of Detective Sherlock."

Top 10 Chinese new media publishers

Ranking 2022 2021 Publisher Name 1 - China Publishing Group 2 3 Phoenix Publishing and Media Inc 3 5 China Education Publishing & Media Group 4 2 CITIC Press Group 5 4 Shanghai Century Publishing Group 6 10 Anhui Publishing Group 7 - Zhejiang Publishing United Group 8 - Central China Land Media Co. Ltd. 9 17 Tianjin Publishing and Media Group 10 5 South China Publishing Group

Full report in Chinese: https://www.ppm.cn/Public/Upload/ewebeditor//20230219152149058.pdf

New Media for Publishing is a report into Chinese book sales published by Phoenix Publishing and Media Group and NewRank.cn. This is the second annual survey of 580 publishers on six social media accounts: WeChat, Weibo, Douyin (Chinese TikTok), Kwai, BiliBili and WeChat video in 2022.

SOURCE Phoenix Publishing
CHICAGO, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The sterile filtration industry is expected to witness significant growth over the near future, driven by the increasing demand for sterilized products in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries. The emergence of novel technology, such as single-use filtration systems and advanced filter materials, has also been a major factor in driving the growth of this industry. Additionally, greater emphasis on product safety, cost-effectiveness, and environmental sustainability is expected to further propel the demand for filtration products in the near future. Furthermore, the growing prevalence of chronic diseases and the need for high quality and safe healthcare products are likely to contribute to the growth of this industry over the next few years.

Sterile Filtration Market in terms of revenue was estimated to be worth $ 8.9 billion in 2023 and is poised to reach $15.3 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 11.4% from 2023 to 2028 according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets. The growth of this market is driven by the increasing research on biopharmaceuticals leading to rise in demand for sterile filters. In addition, demand for long-term stability of food and beverages for maintaining its quality and shelf-life is also adding to the market growth for sterile filtration. On the other hand, the requirement of high capital investments for new production facilities is likely to restrain the market growth.

Download an Illustrative overview: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=256410424

Browse in-depth TOC on "Sterile Filtration Market"

334 - Tables

47 - Figures

303 - Pages

Sterile Filtration Market Scope:

Report Coverage Details Market Revenue in 2023 $ 8.9 billion Estimated Value by 2028 $15.3 billion Growth Rate Poised to grow at a CAGR of 11.4% Market Size Available for 20212028 Forecast Period 20232028 Forecast Units Value (USD Billion) Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Segments Covered Product, Membrane Type, Pore Size, Application, End user and Region Geographies Covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America (LATAM) and Middle East and Africa (MEA) Report Highlights Updated financial information / product portfolio of players Key Market Opportunities Increased demand for sterile water in end-use industries Key Market Drivers Growing demand for sterile filtration in pharmaceutical industry

The PES segment accounted for the largest share, by membrane type in the the sterile filtration market in 2022.

Based on membrane type, the sterile filtration market is segmented into polyethersulfone (PES), polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF), nylon, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), mixed cellulose ester & cellulose acetate (MCE & CA), and other membrane types. The PES segment accounted for the largest share of the global sterile filtration market in 2022. These membranes are ideal for the filtration of both strong bases and acids and minimize the risk of active ingredients being adsorbed during the filtration process. These advantages support the growth of the PES segment.

The 0.20.22 m pore size segment accounted for the largest share of the pore size segment in the sterile filtration market in 2022.

Based on membrane pore size, the sterile filtration market is segmented into 0.20.22 m, 0.45 m, and 0.1 m. The 0.20.22 m segment accounted for the largest share of the global sterile filtration market in 2022. The large share of this segment can primarily be attributed to the use of 0.20.22 m filters in major applications of sterile filtration, such as final product processing and water purification.

The North America region catered the largest share of the sterile filtration market in 2022.

The large share of the North American region can be attributed to a large number of pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies. North America is the global hub for the innovation and development of pharmaceutical & biotechnology drugs. This can be attributed to factors such as the presence of key biopharmaceutical manufacturing facilities, significant spending on R&D activities, and the presence of a well-established intellectual property system for innovative biologics. In addition, the presence of a well-established healthcare market, and stringent regulations for the pharmaceutical industry, coupled with strong presence of food & beverage companies is also driving the market in this region.

Inquiry Before Buying: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_BuyingNew.asp?id=256410424

Sterile Filtration Market Dynamics:

Drivers:

Advantages of sterile filters over non-sterile filters Growing demand for pure water in end-use industries Focus on developing large-molecule biopharmaceutical drugs Increasing adoption of single-use devices & disposables

Opportunities:

Development and use of advanced filters for sterile filtration Emerging regions

Challenges:

High price sensitivity among end users

Key Market Players:

Key players in the sterile filtration market include Merck KGaA (Germany), Danaher Corporation (US), Sartorius AG (Germany), Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (US), 3M (US), Parker Hannifin Crop. (US), Porvair PLC (UK), Alfa Laval (Sweden), Donaldson Company, Inc. (US), Corning Incorporated (US), Eaton (US), GVS S.p.A (Italy), Sterlitech Corporation (US), Meissner Filtration Products, Inc. (US), Cole-Parmer Instrument, LLC. (US), Nupore Filtration Systems Pvt. Ltd. (India), STARLAB International GmbH (Germany), Amazon Filters Ltd. (UK), AMD Manufacturing Inc. (Canada), Hangzhou Cobetter Filtration Equipment Co., Ltd. (China), Simsii, Inc. (US), CELLTREAT Scientific Products (US), Wyvern Scientific Inc. (Canada), Trinity Filtration Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (India), Filtrox AG (Switzerland).

Get 10% Free Customization on this Report: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestCustomizationNew.asp?id=256410424

Recent Developments:

In November 2021 , Sartorius AG ( Germany ) launched vacuum filters for research purposes and filtration of small volumes from 50 mL to 1 L.

, Sartorius AG ( ) launched vacuum filters for research purposes and filtration of small volumes from 50 mL to 1 L. In March 2021 , Pall Corporation (US) acquired Pall-Austar Lifesciences Limited to expand its manufacturing capacity for single-use technology in China .

Sterile Filtration Market Advantages:

Reduces Risk of Contamination: Sterile filtration is an effective way to reduce the risk of contamination in a product. Sterile filtration can remove bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms that could harm a product.

Increases Product Life Span: Sterile filtration helps to extend the shelf life of products by eliminating particles that could potentially cause spoilage.

Improves Quality: Sterile filtration can help to ensure that products are free of contaminants, making them of a higher quality. This helps to ensure that customers receive products that are safe and of the highest quality.

Cost Savings: Sterile filtration can help to reduce costs associated with contamination and spoilage, resulting in cost savings for companies.

Easy to Implement: Sterile filtration is a relatively simple and cost-effective process that can be implemented in a variety of production processes.

Sterile Filtration Market - Report Highlights:

The new version of the report includes ranges/scenarios, pricing analysis, patent analysis, trends and disruptions impacting customers, regulatory analysis, supply and value chain, ecosystem analysis, key conferences, key stakeholder and buying criteria, and Porter's five forces analysis.

Market size is updated for the base year 2022 and forecasted from 2023 to 2028 by studying the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and recession on the overall sterile filtration industry.

In the updated version, a total of 25 companies have been profiled.

The new edition of the report provides updated financial information for the financial year ending March 31, 2022 (depending on availability) for listed companies in a graphical representation in the company profiles section. This will help analyze the present status of profiled companies in terms of their financial strength, profitability, key revenue-generating region/country, and business segment focus in terms of the highest revenue-generating segment.

(depending on availability) for listed companies in a graphical representation in the company profiles section. This will help analyze the present status of profiled companies in terms of their financial strength, profitability, key revenue-generating region/country, and business segment focus in terms of the highest revenue-generating segment. Key market strategies/right to win, market share analysis, and competitive leadership mapping, evaluation quadrants, competitive benchmarking have been added in the competitive landscape section of the report.

The competitive leadership mapping section is an output of a comprehensive study of the key vendors offering sterile filtration products. The top 25 vendors were shortlisted from a list of 50+ vendors. These vendors were evaluated based on their market share/ranking and product footprint.

The new version of the report includes the startup/SME company evaluation quadrant for ten companies operating in the sterile filtration market. This updated section is an output of a comprehensive study of the key startup vendors offering sterile filtration products. The top 10 vendors were shortlisted from a list of 50+ vendors. These vendors were evaluated based on business strategy excellence and the strength of the product portfolio.

The report includes the market share analysis for 2022 and the revenue share analysis of key market players from 2020 to 2023. It also includes competitive benchmarking and growth strategies adopted.

The new edition of the report includes market developments from January 2020 to March 2023 .

Related Reports:

Pharmaceutical Filtration Market - Global Forecasts to 2028

Sterility Testing Market - Global Forecasts to 2028

Hollow Fiber Filtration Market - Global Forecasts to 2026

Laboratory Filtration Market - Global Forecasts to 2026

Pharmaceutical Membrane Filtration Market - Global Forecasts to 2025

About MarketsandMarkets:

MarketsandMarkets is a blue ocean alternative in growth consulting and program management, leveraging a man-machine offering to drive supernormal growth for progressive organizations in the B2B space. We have the widest lens on emerging technologies, making us proficient in co-creating supernormal growth for clients.

The B2B economy is witnessing the emergence of $25 trillion of new revenue streams that are substituting existing revenue streams in this decade alone. We work with clients on growth programs, helping them monetize this $25 trillion opportunity through our service lines - TAM Expansion, Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy to Execution, Market Share Gain, Account Enablement, and Thought Leadership Marketing.

Built on the 'GIVE Growth' principle, we work with several Forbes Global 2000 B2B companies - helping them stay relevant in a disruptive ecosystem. Our insights and strategies are molded by our industry experts, cutting-edge AI-powered Market Intelligence Cloud, and years of research. The KnowledgeStore (our Market Intelligence Cloud) integrates our research, facilitates an analysis of interconnections through a set of applications, helping clients look at the entire ecosystem and understand the revenue shifts happening in their industry.

To find out more, visit www.MarketsandMarkets.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.





Contact:

Mr. Aashish Mehra

MarketsandMarkets INC.

630 Dundee Road

Suite 430

Northbrook, IL 60062

USA: +1-888-600-6441

Email: [email protected]

Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/sterile-filtration-market.asp

Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/

Content Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/sterile-filtration.asp

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg

SOURCE MarketsandMarkets


Investments from new and existing operators demonstrate confidence in brand's transformation journey

MIAMI , April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ --Subway, one of the world's largest restaurant brands, is accelerating its smart growth development strategy with five new multi-unit owner agreements, across Texas, Florida, Arizona and the mid-Atlantic.

In total, the agreements have resulted in the consolidation and transfer of more than 230 existing restaurants thus far in 2023. They also include commitments to remodel restaurants and strategically open new restaurants in the coming years, helping the brand deliver a better and more consistent, high-quality guest experience across its system.

Subway Accelerates North America Growth Strategy with Five New Multi-Unit Owner Agreements

"A key element of Subway's multi-year transformation journey is attracting multi-unit owners with the vision, resources, operating expertise and passion for the Subway brand," said Trevor Haynes, president of Subway North America. "All five multi-unit agreements are an excellent representation of the brand's smart growth strategy coming to life and demonstrate the confidence operators have in our brand and future."

Joining the Subway family are two new proven operators in the restaurant industry with experience running other leading QSR brands. In addition, existing multi-unit owners continue to make significant investments in the brand, including one that acquired more than 100 existing restaurants, expanding their portfolio to over 140 locations.

"Subway is an iconic brand that has undeniably refreshed every part of its business over the past few years with the introduction of new menu items, unique guest experiences and operational enhancements," said Tim Foley, Managing Partner and Founder of EYAS Capital, one of Subway's new multi-unit owners. "Our team is excited to add Subway, the global leader in the sandwich space, to our portfolio and be a part of Subway's future growth."

As part of its transformation journey to improve across all aspects of the brand, Subway has spent the past two years optimizing its footprint, using a strategic, data-driven approach to ensure restaurants across the system are in the right location, image and format.

Moving forward, Subway is focused on smart growth to boost franchisee profitability and protect the brand's position in the market. This includes efforts to strategically open new locations, with a goal of increasing new openings across North America by approximately 35 percent in 2023 versus 2022. In addition, the brand continues to invest in modernizing its image through relocations and remodels. This year, an additional 3,600 locations across North America are expected to be remodeled, taking the total number of restaurants in the current Subway image to more than 10,000 by this summer. As a result of its efforts, in April 2023, the brand achieved its highest weekly average unit volume since 2010.

Internationally, the brand continues to partner with strong, well-established operators with specific expertise in a market to strategically expand its footprint around the world. Subway opened nearly 750 new restaurants globally in 2022, and an additional 145 new restaurants in Q1 of 2023.



About Subway Restaurants

As one of the world's largest quick service restaurant brands, Subway serves freshly made-to-order sandwiches, wraps, salads and bowls to millions of guests, across more than 100 countries in nearly 37,000 restaurants every day. Subway restaurants are owned and operated by Subway franchisees  a network that includes thousands of dedicated entrepreneurs and small business owners  who are committed to delivering the best guest experience possible in their local communities.

For more Subway News, visit: Newsroom (subway.com)

Subway is a Registered Trademark of Subway IP LLC.  2023 Subway IP LLC

SOURCE Subway Restaurants
DALLAS, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sunoco LP (NYSE: SUN) ("SUN") announced that it will release its first quarter 2023 financial and operating results before the market opens on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. Management will hold a conference call that same day at 9:00 a.m. Central Time (10:00 a.m. Eastern Time) to discuss SUN's results.

By Phone: Dial 877-407-6184 (toll free) or 201-389-0877 at least 10 minutes before the call.

A replay will be available through May 9, 2023 by dialing 877-660-6853 (toll free)

or 201-612-7415 and using the conference ID 13736899.



By Webcast: Connect to the webcast via the Webcasts and Presentations page of SUN's

Investor Relations website at www.SunocoLP.com. Please log in at least 10

minutes in advance to register and download any necessary software. A replay will

be available shortly after the call.

About Sunoco LP

Sunoco LP (NYSE: SUN) is a master limited partnership with core operations that include the distribution of motor fuel to approximately 10,000 convenience stores, independent dealers, commercial customers and distributors located in more than 40 U.S. states and territories as well as refined product transportation and terminalling assets. SUN's general partner is owned by Energy Transfer LP (NYSE: ET).

Contacts

Scott Grischow

Treasurer, Senior Vice President  Investor Relations and Mergers & Acquisitions

(214) 840-5660, [email protected]

Matthew Kobler

Sr. Manager  Investor Relations

(214) 840-5604, [email protected]

SOURCE Sunoco LP
On Monday, the Russian side for the second time blocked the inspection of ships sailing through the Bosphorus as part of the Black Sea Grain Initiative in the territorial waters of Turkey, the Ministry of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development said.

"From April 10, the Russian side at the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) in Istanbul unilaterally stopped the registration of ships representing Ukrainian ports for the formation of an inspection plan. The Russians form their own inspection plan, choosing ships from the queue at their discretion, which is completely contrary to the conditions of the 'grain initiative' and unacceptable for Ukraine. As a result, for the second time in the nine months of the work of the 'grain initiative,' an inspection plan was not drawn up and not a single ship was inspected. This jeopardizes the functioning of the 'grain initiative," the ministry said.

It is noted that since November 2022, the Russians, under various pretexts, have been sabotaging and delaying the time of inspections, which has already led to a reduction in the export of Ukrainian agricultural products to world markets by 15-18 million tonnes.

Since April 2023, Russian representatives of the JCC have been trying to interfere in the activities of Ukrainian ports and exporters by imposing their own criteria for determining specific vessels participating in the "grain initiative." Since April 14, the Russians, without any explanation, refused to register three ships (two of which are China), which are already waiting for cargo in Pivdenny port.

"Thus, the Russian side is trying to establish control over the number of loaded fleet and the directions of its work, which is a violation of international norms and provisions of the 'grain initiative.' This is another attempt to dictate its policy to the whole world, jeopardize food security and use agricultural products as a weapon," the ministry said.

The Ukrainian side categorically rejects the next demands of the Russians and opposes interference in the activities of Ukrainian ports.

"We hope that the UN partners and Turkey will be able to ensure that all parties in the JCC comply with the procedures that have been working for nine months," the ministry said.
West event hosted in Lake Havasu in April and hosted in Lake of the Ozarks in the summer.

LAKE HAVASU CITY, Ariz., April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Super Cat Fest (SCF) is embarking on its 14th year of operation under founder and owner, Alvin Heathman. Originally created to attract visitors to the Lake of the Ozarks during the normally quiet weekend before Labor Day, Super Cat Fest has grown from 12 boats showing in its inaugural year to becoming a major annual attraction for boaters nationwide. This year, Heathman has committed to holding the Super Cat Fest West (SCFW) powered by RiverDavesPlace.com event in Lake Havasu City, April 26-30, and holding the annual Lake of the Ozarks (LOTO) event on August 25-27.

While the LOTO event complements the annual Lake of the Ozarks Shootout Poker Run and Shootout boat racing event, both event sites have one important commonality  the focus on fundraising for local children's charities, known as Super Cat 4 Kids. Each year, the LOTO event raises over $100,000 and SCFW is shaping up to also achieve this goal. Saturday is the live auction with special contributed items such as an Arlen Ness motorcycle that has only 300 miles. All funds raised at SCFW will directly benefit local Havasu children's charities.

"The Super Cat Fest West event is shaping up to exceed my expectations," said Heathman. "The Havasu Riviera Marina is a great new facility and we're excited to have it as our host site for the vendor village and dock parties. Dave Johnson of RiverDavesPlace.com has also been instrumental to the success of this event. He is our boots on the ground as a Havasu resident."

Free to the public, SCFW features key events including the Thursday Street Scene at Havasu Riviera Marina's West Village, featuring food trucks, vendors, exhibitors, and live bands. SCFW will also feature dock parties, fun runs, and a poker run. Different from traditional poker runs where check points are predetermined, SCFW will issue a five-card hand for every $500 spent over the event days. Contact Dave at RiverDavesPlace.com for details.

About Super Cat Fest

In its 14th year, SCF is a gathering of the fastest, most exotic offshore powerboats in the world while fundraising over hundreds of thousands of dollars for children's charities.

Contact: Christina Kwan, [email protected]

SOURCE Super Cat Fest; RiverDavesPlace.com
WASHINGTON, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Teamsters National Negotiating Committee, including rank-and-file members and representatives of all supplemental negotiating committees, met with UPS in Washington, D.C., on April 17.

While the company gave its opening statement through a PowerPoint, the Teamsters presented video testimonials from members nationwide sharing their trials and tribulations working at UPS.

Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien and General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman are leading the negotiations. They stated the union's intentions loud and clear.

"We don't work for this company. We work for our members. It's not Wall Street that concerns us, it's Main Street," O'Brien told UPS across the table. "We are not going to negotiate a contract that is cost neutral or with concessions. We are going to push this company and its management harder than they've ever worked before, and for the first time you're going to face a productivity standard. We have 12 weeks until this current contract expires. Let's get to work."

O'Brien told UPS if they are serious about a deal, they will negotiate the supplements to their finale now. The Teamsters National Negotiating Committee told UPS directly that the union will not enter national negotiations until supplements are resolved.

"If UPS wants to show workers that they are true partners and they care about the workforce, then they need to get off their asses and start making movement on our issues now," O'Brien said.

Watch UPS members in their own words talk about what they want in their next contract.

Meetings with UPS will resume on April 18.

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.2 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit Teamster.org to learn more. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.

Contact:

Kara Deniz, (202) 497-6610

[email protected]

SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters
MELBOURNE, Australia, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited (ASX: TLX, Telix, the Company) today issues its Appendix 4C quarterly cash flow statement and accompanying Activities Report for the quarter ended 31 March 2023 (Q1 2023). All figures are in AUD$ unless otherwise stated[1] and provided on an unaudited basis.

Summary

Total revenue for the quarter reaches $100.1M , driven by global sales of Illuccix  , Telix's prostate cancer imaging agent

, driven by global sales of Illuccix , Telix's prostate cancer imaging agent Demand for Illuccix in the United States continues to increase with sales of $97.5M (up from $76.8M in the prior quarter)

continues to increase with sales of (up from in the prior quarter) Second consecutive quarter of positive operating cash flow ( $2.4M , an improvement of $0.8M on the prior quarter)

, an improvement of on the prior quarter) Cash receipts from customers were $83.2M , up 15% from $72.2M in the prior quarter

, up 15% from in the prior quarter Closing cash balance of $121.4M at 31 March 2023 (compared to $116.3M at 31 December 2022 )

Group CEO and Managing Director Dr Christian Behrenbruch commented, "In just under a year since the commercial launch of Illuccix and five years since listing on the ASX, Telix has delivered a significant milestone with its first $100M revenue quarter. We are making a meaningful difference in the lives of thousands of prostate cancer patients and delivering on our mission of global leadership in radiopharmaceuticals. Telix is able to fund the development of new imaging agents and novel therapeutics, evident in recent achievements and delivery of our second consecutive quarter of positive operating cash flow."

Commercial Activities Report

Americas region: U.S. sales growth trend continues, commercial launch underway in Canada

Revenue from U.S. sales of Illuccix (kit for the preparation of gallium Ga 68 gozetotide injection) increased to $97.5M (US$66.2M). Demand for Illuccix continues to grow in line with the increasing market adoption of PSMA-PET imaging from both existing accounts and new customer acquisition.

During the quarter the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the supplemental new drug application (sNDA) for Illuccix, resulting in an expanded label indication to identify and select patients who are candidates for the only FDA-approved prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA)- directed radioligand therapy.[2]

"The demand for Illuccix continues to grow across all of our customer segments. Our focus on service and reliable delivery of doses is helping us to win and retain customers. Our recent focus on Illuccix's clinical differentiation and the expanded label to include patient selection for radioligand therapy is resonating with clinicians and helping to drive deeper engagement with our customers," stated Kevin Richardson, CEO of Telix Americas.

During the quarter, the Company also launched Illuccix in Canada, where it is the first and only PSMA-PET imaging agent to have received regulatory approval. Illuccix is now available nationwide through Telix's partner, Isologic Innovative Radiopharmaceuticals.[3]

Worldwide revenue

Total revenue of $100.1M was generated during the quarter (including commercial sales of Illuccix in the U.S.). Ex-U.S. revenue (including sales of Illuccix / TLX591-CDx)[4] was $2.6M.

Net cash from operating activities

Telix delivered its second consecutive quarter of positive net operating cash inflow. The net operating cash inflow for the quarter was $2.4M, a $0.8M improvement on the prior quarter (Q4 2022, net operating cash inflow $1.6M). In line with increased revenue, cash receipts from customers improved 15% to $83.2M, up from $72.2M in the prior quarter. The closing cash balance at 31 March 2023 was $121.4M ($116.3M 31 December 2022).

Payments for product manufacturing and related costs reflect higher volume of sales and timing of supplier payments, with gross margin remaining in line with the previous quarter at 63%.

Illuccix global regulatory update

Telix is progressing marketing authorisations for Illuccix in a number of jurisdictions, with priority focus this past quarter on the United Kingdom (UK) and European Union (EU). On 3 April 2023, the Company provided a progress update on its European regulatory filings for Illuccix where a Marketing Authorisation Application (MAA) was submitted to the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The review period for the UK MAA follows a 150-day national application procedure.[5]

The process of submitting an EU MAA is underway. The German regulatory authority, BfArM Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices has been selected to serve as Reference Competent Authority (CA). The Company will advise on the review timetable upon final acceptance of the dossier by the Reference CA and the corresponding member states.

Clinical Programs Update

Telix continues to progress its core therapeutic and diagnostic pipeline, with a focus on prostate cancer, renal (kidney) cancer, brain cancer (glioma) and rare diseases (bone marrow conditioning). The Company has over 20 clinical trials underway, including Telix-sponsored studies and collaborative investigator-initiated studies.

During the quarter, notable updates were published on the news section of the Company's website (www.telixpharma.com/news-views) and are summarised below.

Priority focus for the clinical pipeline is in three key areas:

Preparation of a Biologics License Application (BLA) and commercialisation of TLX250-CDx, Telix's investigational kidney cancer imaging agent: As supported under the Breakthrough Therapy Designation, the Company is actively engaging with the FDA as it prepares its regulatory filing. The Company expects to participate in a Type B meeting in the coming quarter to gain formal feedback on its submission. Further information on pre-commercialisation activity is detailed below.

As supported under the Breakthrough Therapy Designation, the Company is actively engaging with the FDA as it prepares its regulatory filing. The Company expects to participate in a Type B meeting in the coming quarter to gain formal feedback on its submission. Further information on pre-commercialisation activity is detailed below. Preparation of a New Drug Application (NDA) for TLX101-CDx, investigational brain cancer imaging agent: During the quarter the Company participated in a successful consultation meeting with the FDA with the purpose of obtaining guidance and feedback on its proposed approach to the regulatory submission. Based on this positive discussion, the Company reconfirms its expectation to file an NDA during 2023.

During the quarter the Company participated in a successful consultation meeting with the FDA with the purpose of obtaining guidance and feedback on its proposed approach to the regulatory submission. Based on this positive discussion, the Company reconfirms its expectation to file an NDA during 2023. Progression of the prostate cancer therapy program (TLX591): Australian and New Zealand site engagement for recruitment into the ProstACT GLOBAL Phase III study has been a focus for the Company. Regulatory applications are in preparation to expand the study to the U.S. in H2 2023. Enrolment of the ProstACT SELECT study is complete (25 patients) with data to be reported in H2 2023.

Pre-commercialisation activities and regulatory submission for TLX250-CDx

Detailed positive results from the completed pivotal Phase III ZIRCON trial (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03849118)[6] were presented to the medical community for the first time at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Genitourinary (GU) Cancers Symposium (ASCO GU)[7] in an oral presentation from Associate Professor Brian Shuch, MD, Director, Kidney Cancer Program, UCLA Institute of Urologic Oncology (Los Angeles, California) and a Principal Investigator in the study.

The results were also featured in a 'game-changing' oral presentation at the 38th Annual European Association of Urology (EAU) Congress, delivered by Professor Peter Mulders, Head of Urology at Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre and a Principal Investigator in the ZIRCON study. 'Game changing' sessions are reserved for Phase III trials or other developments that the EAU's Scientific Congress Office believes will have a large impact on daily practice.

The detailed analyses showed highly consistent results across three readers of an average 86% sensitivity and 87% specificity. This exceeded the pre-determined threshold required to demonstrate the ability of TLX250-CDx to reliably detect the clear cell phenotype and provide an accurate and non-invasive method for identifying the presence and spread of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Confidence intervals (CIs) exceeded expectations in all three readers showing high accuracy and consistency of image interpretation.[7]

The release of detailed results builds on the top-line data reported in November 2022, confirming the study has met its co-primary endpoint with sensitivity of 84% and specificity of 84% in all three readers.

The full data set also supported the accuracy of the imaging agent with 93% positive predictive value / 75% negative predictive value (secondary endpoints).

"The excellent results of the ZIRCON study are generating widespread interest in the urology field. Physicians can foresee the clinical utility in this non-invasive tool that exceeds conventional imaging in its ability to detect and characterise ccRCC and enables physicians to make an informed decision on optimal treatment pathways", stated Dr Colin Hayward, Chief Medical Officer at Telix.

Telix is currently rolling out an early access program to provide this important diagnostic to patients and physicians as well as planning new research into other areas of high unmet need in cancers expressing carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX).

TLX101 brain cancer (glioblastoma) therapy program sites initiated

The Company has initiated the IPAX-2 study (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05450744) to confirm the safety profile of TLX101 as a front-line therapy in combination with standard of care treatment, ahead of progressing to a label-indicating Phase II/III study in a larger patient population, IPAX-3.[8] The IPAX-2 study, which will enrol 12 patients, is expected to imminently commence dosing patients at Australian sites.

Partnership with Grand Pharma advances multiple programs into the clinic

The Company's partnership with Grand Pharmaceutical Group Limited (Grand Pharma), Telix's development partner in Greater China is making progress across multiple programs. In China, sites are being prepared for studies of TLX591-CDx and TLX250-CDx - which will bridge to FDA approval of Illuccix and the ZIRCON study for kidney cancer imaging, respectively - to establish equivalent efficacy in Chinese and Western populations. It is anticipated that first patients will be dosed in both studies during Q2 2023.

Subsequent to quarter end, the Chinese National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) approved a Phase I study of TLX101 investigational therapy (4-L-[131I] iodo-phenylalanine, or 131I-IPA) in Chinese patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma (GBM) that will bridge to Telix's planned global Phase II/III IPAX-3 study.[9] This is the first of Telix's investigational therapies to move into a clinical trial with Grand Pharma.

Research and Innovation (R&I) Highlights

Telix remains at the forefront of innovation in radiopharmaceuticals by investing a small proportion of its R&D budget into the development of new targets and technologies. The goals of Telix's R&I programs are to enhance existing product candidates through innovation and life-cycle management and identify promising new clinical targets and assets for introduction into the product candidate pipeline. Key highlights include:

Antibody in-licensed from Lilly progresses to clinical studies

Subsequent to quarter-end, on 17 April 2023, Telix announced the successful preclinical development of radiolabelled olaratumab, an antibody licensed from Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly) in April 2022.[10] Olaratumab was originally developed as a naked (non-radiolabelled) monoclonal antibody targeting Platelet Derived Growth Factor Receptor Alpha (PDGFR), a target expressed in multiple tumour types. Telix has demonstrated preclinical proof-of-concept by using olaratumab to selectively deliver both diagnostic and therapeutic radiation to tumours as a radiopharmaceutical moiety and has produced a candidate for clinical translation.

The program will now progress to first-in-human clinical studies based on these highly encouraging results with the agent assigned formal candidate status in Telix's development pipeline (to be denoted as TLX300-CDx/TLX300 for the diagnostic/patient selection tool and therapeutic, respectively).

Investor Call

An investor conference call and webcast will be held at 9.00am AEST on Tuesday 18 April (7.00pm EDT, Monday 17 April). Participants can register for the conference call at this link: https://s1.c-conf.com/diamondpass/10030024-t5emod.html

< ENDS >

About Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited

Telix is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialisation of diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals. Telix is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia with international operations in the United States, Europe (Belgium and Switzerland) and Japan. Telix is developing a portfolio of clinical-stage products that aims to address significant unmet medical need in oncology and rare diseases. Telix is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX: TLX).

Visit www.telixpharma.com for further information about Telix, including details of the latest share price, announcements made to the ASX, investor and analyst presentations, news releases, event details and other publications that may be of interest. You can also follow Telix on Twitter (@TelixPharma) and LinkedIn.

TLX250-CDx (89Zr-DFO-girentuximab) has not received a marketing authorisation in any jurisdiction. Telix's lead product, Illuccix or kit for preparation of gallium-68 (68Ga) gozetotide (also known as 68Ga PSMA-11) injection, has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA),[11] by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA),[12] and by Health Canada.[13] Telix is also progressing a marketing authorisation application for this investigational candidate in the United Kingdom.[14]

Telix Investor Relations

Ms. Kyahn Williamson

Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited

SVP Corporate Communications and Investor Relations

Email: kya[email protected]

Legal Notices

This announcement is not intended as promotion or advertising directed to any healthcare professional or other audience in any country worldwide (including Australia, United States and the United Kingdom). This announcement may include forward-looking statements that relate to anticipated future events, financial performance, plans, strategies or business developments. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of words such as "may", "expect", "intend", "plan", "estimate", "anticipate", "outlook", "forecast" and "guidance", or other similar words. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the Company's good-faith assumptions as to the financial, market, regulatory and other risks and considerations that exist and affect the Company's business and operations in the future and there can be no assurance that any of the assumptions will prove to be correct. In the context of Telix's business, forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements about: the initiation, timing, progress and results of Telix's preclinical and clinical studies, and Telix's research and development programs; Telix's ability to advance product candidates into, enrol and successfully complete, clinical studies, including multi-national clinical trials; the timing or likelihood of regulatory filings and approvals, manufacturing activities and product marketing activities; the commercialisation of Telix's product candidates, if or when they have been approved; estimates of Telix's expenses, future revenues and capital requirements; Telix's financial performance; developments relating to Telix's competitors and industry; and the pricing and reimbursement of Telix's product candidates, if and after they have been approved. Telix's actual results, performance or achievements may be materially different from those which may be expressed or implied by such statements, and the differences may be adverse. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

Except as required by applicable laws or regulations, Telix does not undertake to publicly update or review any forward- looking statements. Past performance cannot be relied on as a guide to future performance. Readers should read this announcement together with our material risks, as disclosed in our most recently filed reports with the ASX and on our website.

2023 Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited. The Telix Pharmaceuticals and Illuccix name and logo are trademarks of Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited and its affiliates (all rights reserved).

[1]. Conversion to AUD is at the average exchange rate for the period. AUD$1 = US$0.68; AUD$1 = 0.64

[2]. Telix ASX disclosure 16 March 2023. Illuccix is now approved for use for the selection of patients with metastatic prostate cancer, for whom lutetium-177 (177Lu) PSMA-directed therapy is indicated, specifically lutetium Lu 177 vipivotide tetraxetan PSMA-directed therapy, marketed as Pluvicto (Pluvicto is a registered trademark of Novartis AG and/or its affiliates).

[3]. 16 March 2023, joint media release with Isologic Innovative Radiopharmaceuticals.

[4]. Pre-commercial sales are from investigational, clinical trial, magisterial and compassionate use in accordance with local laws and regulations (not as a commercial diagnostic imaging product sold for routine clinical practice).

[5]. With a period of up to 60 days during the review for the applicant to reply to requests for additional information.

[6]. Top line data released to ASX on 7 November 2022.

[7]. Telix media release 20 February 2023.

[8]. Telix ASX disclosure 22 March 2023.

[9]. Telix media release 11 April 2023.

[10]. Telix ASX disclosure 17 April 2023.

[11]. Telix ASX disclosure 20 December 2021.

[12]. Telix ASX disclosure 2 November 2021.

[13]. Telix ASX disclosure 14 October 2022.

[14]. Telix ASX disclosure 3 April 2023.

SOURCE Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited
DOVER, Del., April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Aniai, a fast-growing robotics company and global provider of innovative kitchen solutions, is set to revolutionize the foodservice industry with its first product, "Alpha Grill". This award-winning cooking robot is specifically designed for burger patties and combines state of the art AI and automation technology to transform traditional foodservice workflows.

Featuring a cutting-edge double-sided grill design, Alpha Grill cooks up to eight patties in under a minute. Alpha Grill, Hamburger Robot

With a team of highly qualified engineers, business professionals, and industry experts, Aniai has developed a cutting-edge solution that promises to reduce cooking time by 50% and prepare 8 burgers in under 1 minute. The Alpha Grill's double-sided grill modules offer top-tier cooking efficiency in the industry, setting it apart from existing products.

The Alpha Grill boasts a range of innovative features that make it a standout in the market. Its high configurability allows it to perfectly follow recipes provided by restaurants, ensuring consistent quality in terms of thickness and doneness of the patty. The robot also comes with auto-cleaning features, reducing the workload of kitchen staff and improving overall kitchen operations.

Aniai's groundbreaking innovation has garnered significant attention. The company recently secured a seed round investment of $3 million from Capstone Partners and Lotte Ventures, propelling it into the national spotlight. Aniai has also been selected for an international trade program with The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, which has resulted in the installation of the Alpha Grill at Abe's Corner. Additionally, Aniai has been honored with the prestigious 2023 Kitchen Innovation Award by The National Restaurant Association (NRA), which will be presented at the NRA Show 2023 in Chicago in May.

"We are thrilled by the global recognition of our expertise and potential", said Aniai CEO and co-founder, Gunpil Hwang. "As a global automation innovator, we are committed to solving the challenges faced by the foodservice sector with intelligent solutions that help restaurants thrive."

About Aniai www.aniai.ai

Founded in 2020 and headquartered in Delaware, Aniai, a member company of Born2Global Centre, is a global innovator in automation and AI within the foodservice sector. The company's mission is to empower restaurants to improve their kitchen operations by delivering intelligent solutions that increase production, reduce costs, and enhance quality and service.

Follow us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aniai

SOURCE Aniai
ATLANTA, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- UCB (Euronext: UCB), a global biopharmaceutical company, today announced the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has published a final rule stating that FINTEPLA oral solution is no longer subject to the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). This change is immediate.

The DEA rule means all federally controlled substance restrictions have been removed for FINTEPLA. UCB will now begin the process of updating the compendia in states where they hold licensure. Once this process is completed, in most cases prescribers will be able to write a prescription for a full year's supply versus the current limitation of six months. Additionally, the descheduling will enable prescribers to send a prescription to pharmacies electronically.

"We are pleased that FINTEPLA, which has a unique mechanism of action different from and complementary to other anti-seizure medications, has been descheduled and can help even more patients and families living with Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome manage the impact and burden of seizures," said Brad Chapman, Head of U.S. Epilepsy and Rare Syndromes, UCB. "Physicians will now have the option to issue an electronic prescription for FINTEPLA rather than requiring patients to obtain a written prescription to access this important therapy, which may be simpler and a better experience for all involved."

FINTEPLA is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of seizures associated with Dravet Syndrome (DS) and Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS) in patients 2 years of age and older.1 Following FDA approval, FINTEPLA was initially placed in Schedule IV of the CSA. Following receipt of this DEA rule, UCB has filed a labeling supplement with the FDA to remove Schedule IV designation from FINTEPLA.

"It is vitally important that our patient community has easy access to medicines that potentially reduce life-threatening and deadly seizures," said Mary Anne Meskis, Executive Director of the Dravet Syndrome Foundation. "We are pleased to hear of the descheduling of FINTEPLA, which will remove roadblocks to access and ease caregiver burden."

FINTEPLA was approved by the FDA for the treatment of DS in patients 2 years and older in June 2020 and for the treatment of LGS in patients 2 years and older in March 2022. FINTEPLA was developed by Zogenix, Inc., which was acquired by UCB in March 2022. The acquisition is consistent with UCB's sustainable patient value strategy and continued commitment to providing world-leading patient value to all people living with epilepsy, with an increasing focus on creating value and new solutions that address the unmet needs of people with certain specialized or rare types of epilepsy, where few or no options exist.

About Dravet Syndrome

Dravet syndrome is a rare, devastating and life-long form of developmental and epileptic encephalopathy that generally begins in infancy and is marked by frequent, treatment-resistant seizures, significant developmental, motor, and behavioral impairments, and an increased risk of mortality and sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). Most patients follow a course of developmental delay with cognitive, motor, and behavioral deficits that persist into adulthood. Dravet syndrome severely impacts quality of life for patients, families, and caregivers due to the high physical, emotional, caregiving, and financial burden associated with the disease.2,3,4

About Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome

Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) is a severe childhood-onset developmental and epileptic encephalopathy characterized by drug-resistant seizures with high morbidity5 as well as serious impairment of neurodevelopmental, cognitive, and motor functions.6 LGS affects an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 patients in the U.S.7 LGS has far-reaching effects beyond seizures, including issues with communication, psychiatric symptoms, sleep, behavioral challenges, and mobility.8 Additionally, sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is a major concern for people living with LGS.9

About FINTEPLA (fenfluramine)1

In the U.S., FINTEPLA is approved for the treatment of seizures associated with Dravet syndrome (DS) and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) in patients 2 years of age and older.

FINTEPLA is available in the U.S. through the FINTEPLA Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) Program. Further information is available at www.FinteplaREMS.com or by telephone at 1-877-964-3649.

Please see full Prescribing Information, including Boxed Warning, for additional important information on FINTEPLA.

INDICATION

FINTEPLA is a prescription medicine used to treat seizures associated with Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome in patients 2 years of age and older.

It is not known if FINTEPLA is safe and effective in children less than 2 years of age.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

FINTEPLA can cause serious side effects, including:

1. Problems with the valves in the heart (valvular heart disease) and high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs (pulmonary arterial hypertension) have been associated with fenfluramine, the active ingredient in FINTEPLA. Your healthcare provider will do a test called an echocardiogram to check your heart and to evaluate for high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs before you start taking FINTEPLA, again every 6 months during treatment, and one time 3 to 6 months after you take your last dose of FINTEPLA.

Call your healthcare provider right away if you develop any of these signs and symptoms of heart or lung problems during treatment with FINTEPLA:

shortness of breath

chest pain

tiredness or weakness, especially with increased activity

sensations of a rapid, fluttering heartbeat (palpitations)

lightheadedness or fainting

irregular pulse

swollen ankles or feet

bluish color of your lips and skin (cyanosis)

Because of the risk of heart valve problems (valvular heart disease) and high blood pressure in arteries of lungs (pulmonary arterial hypertension), FINTEPLA is only available through a restricted program called the FINTEPLA Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) Program. Before you or your child receives FINTEPLA, your healthcare provider or pharmacist will make sure you understand how to take FINTEPLA safely. If you have any questions about FINTEPLA, ask your healthcare provider, visit www.FinteplaREMS.com, or call 1-877-964-3649.

2. Decreased appetite and decreased weight. Decreased appetite and decreased weight are both serious and common side effects of FINTEPLA in people with Dravet syndrome (DS) or Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS).

Your weight should be checked regularly during your treatment with FINTEPLA.

Your healthcare provider may need to make changes to your FINTEPLA dose if your weight decreases. In some cases, FINTEPLA may need to be stopped.

3. Sleepiness, sedation, and lack of energy (lethargy). These are both serious and common side effects of FINTEPLA in people with Dravet syndrome (DS) or Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS). Taking FINTEPLA with central nervous system (CNS) depressants, including alcohol, may increase sleepiness. Do not drive, operate heavy machinery, or do other dangerous activities until you know how FINTEPLA affects you.

4. Like all other antiepileptic drugs, FINTEPLA may cause suicidal thoughts or actions in a very small number of people (about 1 in 500).

Call your healthcare provider right away if you have any of these symptoms, especially if they are new, worse, or worry you:

thoughts about suicide or dying

new or worse anxiety

trouble sleeping (insomnia)

acting on dangerous impulses

attempts to commit suicide

feeling agitated or restless

new or worse irritability

an extreme increase in activity and talking (mania)

new or worse depression

panic attacks

acting aggressive, being angry or violent

other unusual changes in behavior or mood

How can I watch for early symptoms of suicidal thoughts and actions?

Pay attention to any changes, especially sudden changes, in mood, behaviors, thoughts, or feelings.

Keep all follow-up visits with your healthcare provider as scheduled.

Suicidal thoughts or actions can be caused by things other than medicines. If you have suicidal thoughts or actions, your healthcare provider may check for other causes.

5. Do not stop taking FINTEPLA without first talking to your healthcare provider. Stopping a seizure medicine such as FINTEPLA can suddenly cause you to have seizures more often or seizures that do not stop (status epilepticus).

Call your healthcare provider between visits as needed, especially if you are worried about symptoms.

Do not take FINTEPLA if you:

are allergic to fenfluramine or any of the ingredients in FINTEPLA. See below for a complete list of ingredients in FINTEPLA.

are taking or have stopped taking medicines called monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) in the last 14 days. This may cause a serious or life-threatening problem called serotonin syndrome. If you are not sure whether or not you are taking one of these medicines, contact your healthcare provider.

Before taking FINTEPLA, tell your healthcare provider about all of your medical conditions, including if you:

have heart problems

have or have had weight loss

have or have had depression, mood problems, or suicidal thoughts or behavior

have kidney problems

have liver problems

are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you become pregnant while taking FINTEPLA. You and your healthcare provider will decide if you should take FINTEPLA while you are pregnant.

If you become pregnant while taking FINTEPLA, talk to your healthcare provider about registering with the North American Antiepileptic Drug Pregnancy Registry. You can enroll in this registry by calling 1-888-233-2334 or go to www.aedpregnancyregistry.org. The purpose of this registry is to collect information about the safety of antiepileptic drugs during pregnancy.

are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. It is not known if FINTEPLA passes into your breast milk. Talk to your healthcare provider about the best way to feed your baby while taking FINTEPLA.

Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements.

Know the medicines you take. Keep a list of them to show your healthcare provider or pharmacist when you get a new medicine.

How should I take FINTEPLA?

Read the Instructions for Use for information on the right way to use FINTEPLA.

for information on the right way to use FINTEPLA. Take FINTEPLA exactly as your healthcare provider tells you to take it.

Your healthcare provider will tell you how much FINTEPLA to take and when to take it.

FINTEPLA may be taken with or without food.

Measure your dose of FINTEPLA using the dosing syringe that is provided by the pharmacy. Do not use a household teaspoon or tablespoon.

FINTEPLA can be given through gastric and nasogastric feeding tubes.

What should I avoid while taking FINTEPLA?

Do not drive, operate heavy machinery, or do other dangerous activities until you know how FINTEPLA affects you. FINTEPLA may cause you to feel sleepy.

What are the possible side effects of FINTEPLA?

FINTEPLA may cause serious side effects, including:

See " FINTEPLA can cause serious side effects" above

Serotonin syndrome. Serotonin syndrome is a life-threatening problem that can happen in people taking FINTEPLA, especially if FINTEPLA is taken with certain other medicines including: anti-depressant medicines called SSRIs, SNRIs, TCAs, and MAOIs; tryptophan; lithium; antipsychotics; St. John's Wort; dextromethorphan; tramadol.

Call your healthcare provider right away if you have any of the following symptoms of serotonin syndrome:

Serotonin syndrome is a life-threatening problem that can happen in people taking FINTEPLA, especially if FINTEPLA is taken with certain other medicines including: anti-depressant medicines called SSRIs, SNRIs, TCAs, and MAOIs; tryptophan; lithium; antipsychotics; St. John's Wort; dextromethorphan; tramadol. Call your healthcare provider right away if you have any of the following symptoms of serotonin

mental status changes such as seeing things that are not there (hallucinations), agitation, or coma





changes in blood pressure





tight muscles





fast heartbeat





nausea, vomiting, diarrhea





high body temperature





trouble walking



High blood pressure (hypertension). Hypertension is both a serious and common side effect. FINTEPLA can cause your blood pressure to increase even if you have never had high blood pressure before. Your healthcare provider will check your blood pressure while you are taking FINTEPLA.

Hypertension is both a serious and common side effect. FINTEPLA can cause your blood pressure to increase even if you have never had high blood pressure before. Your healthcare provider will check your blood pressure while you are taking FINTEPLA.

Increased pressure in your eyes (glaucoma). Symptoms of glaucoma may include:

Symptoms of glaucoma may include:

red eyes





seeing halos or bright colors around lights





nausea or vomiting





decreased vision





eye pain or discomfort





blurred vision

If you have any of these symptoms, call your healthcare provider right away.



The most common side effects of FINTEPLA when used to treat Dravet syndrome (DS) include:



decreased appetite





diarrhea





low energy





respiratory infection





decreased weight





fever





constipation





abnormal echocardiogram





sleepiness





problems with movement, balance, and walking





increased drooling





increased blood pressure





vomiting





falls





seizures that do not stop





weakness







The most common side effects of FINTEPLA when used to treat Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) include :



diarrhea





tiredness





vomiting





sleepiness





decreased appetite

These are not all the possible side effects of FINTEPLA. For more information, ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away.

Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to the FDA at 1800FDA1088.

Keep FINTEPLA and all medicines out of the reach of children.

General information about the safe and effective use of FINTEPLA.

Medicines are sometimes prescribed for purposes other than those listed in a Medication Guide. Do not use FINTEPLA for a condition for which it was not prescribed. Do not give FINTEPLA to other people, even if they have the same symptoms that you have. It may harm them.

What are the ingredients in FINTEPLA?

Active ingredient: fenfluramine hydrochloride

Inactive ingredients: cherry flavor, citric acid, ethylparaben, hydroxyethylcellulose, methylparaben, potassium citrate, sucralose, and water.

FINTEPLA contains no ingredient made from gluten-containing grain (wheat, barley, or rye) and contains not more than 0.1% of carbohydrates, which is from the cherry flavoring.

Please see full Prescribing Information, including Medication Guide, for additional Important Safety Information on FINTEPLA.

For further information, contact UCB:

Corporate Communications

Becky Malone, U.S. Media Relations

T +919.605.9600

[email protected]

Investor Relations

Antje Witte

T +32.2.559.9414

[email protected]

About UCB

UCB, Brussels, Belgium (www.ucb.com) is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of innovative medicines and solutions to transform the lives of people living with severe diseases of the immune system or of the central nervous system. With approximately 8,600 people in approximately 40 countries, the company generated revenue of  5.8 billion in 2021. UCB is listed on Euronext Brussels (symbol: UCB). Follow us on Twitter: @UCBUSA.

Forward looking statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements including, without limitation, statements containing the words "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "intends", "plans", "seeks", "estimates", "may", "will", "continue" and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are based on current plans, estimates and beliefs of management. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including but not limited to, the ability of UCB to successfully integrate the operations of Zogenix as planned or at all, estimates of revenues, operating margins, capital expenditures, cash, other financial information, expected legal, arbitration, political, regulatory or clinical results or practices and other such estimates and results. By their nature, such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions which might cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of UCB, or industry results, to differ materially from those that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Important factors that could result in such differences include: the global spread and impact of COVID-19, changes in general economic, business and competitive conditions, the inability to obtain necessary regulatory approvals or to obtain them on acceptable terms or within expected timing, costs associated with research and development, changes in the prospects for products in the pipeline or under development by UCB, effects of future judicial decisions or governmental investigations, safety, quality, data integrity or manufacturing issues; potential or actual data security and data privacy breaches, or disruptions of our information technology systems, product liability claims, challenges to patent protection for products or product candidates, competition from other products including biosimilars, changes in laws or regulations, exchange rate fluctuations, changes or uncertainties in tax laws or the administration of such laws, and hiring and retention of its employees. There is no guarantee that new product candidates will be discovered or identified in the pipeline, or that new indications for existing products will be developed and approved. Movement from concept to commercial product is uncertain; preclinical results do not guarantee safety and efficacy of product candidates in humans. So far, the complexity of the human body cannot be reproduced in computer models, cell culture systems or animal models. The length of the timing to complete clinical trials and to get regulatory approval for product marketing has varied in the past and UCB expects similar unpredictability going forward. Products or potential products which are the subject of partnerships, joint ventures or licensing collaborations may be subject to disputes between the partners or may prove to be not as safe, effective or commercially successful as UCB may have believed at the start of such partnership. UCB' efforts to acquire other products or companies and to integrate the operations of such acquired companies may not be as successful as UCB may have believed at the moment of acquisition. Also, UCB or others could discover safety, side effects or manufacturing problems with its products and/or devices after they are marketed. The discovery of significant problems with a product similar to one of UCB's products that implicate an entire class of products may have a material adverse effect on sales of the entire class of affected products. Moreover, sales may be impacted by international and domestic trends toward managed care and health care cost containment, including pricing pressure, political and public scrutiny, customer and prescriber patterns or practices, and the reimbursement policies imposed by third-party payers as well as legislation affecting biopharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement activities and outcomes. Finally, a breakdown, cyberattack or information security breach could compromise the confidentiality, integrity and availability of UCB's data and systems.

Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on any of such forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that the investigational or approved products described in this press release will be submitted or approved for sale or for any additional indications or labelling in any market, or at any particular time, nor can there be any guarantee that such products will be or will continue to be commercially successful in the future.

UCB is providing this information, including forward-looking statements, only as of the date of this press release and expressly disclaims any duty to update any information contained in this press release, either to confirm the actual results or to report or reflect any change in its forward-looking statements with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, unless such statement is required pursuant to applicable laws and regulations.

Additionally, information contained in this document shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any offer, solicitation or sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.

References

FINTEPLA oral solution. U.S. Prescribing Information: Smyrna, GA : UCB, Inc. . Dravet C. The Core Dravet Syndrome Phenotype. Epilepsia. 2011 Apr;52 Suppl 2:3-9. 2. Dravet C. Dravet syndrome history. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2011 Apr;53 Suppl 2:1-6. Wu YW, Sullivan J, McDaniel SS, et al. Incidence of Dravet Syndrome in the US Population. Pediatrics. 2015 Nov;136(5):e1310-1315. Strzelczyk A, Schubert-Bast S. Expanding the treatment landscape for Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome: current and future strategies. CNS Drugs. 2021;35(1):61-83. Arzimanoglou A, French J, Blume WT, et al. Lennox-Gastaut syndrome: a consensus approach on diagnosis, assessment, management, and trial methodology. Lancet Neurol. 2009;8(1):82-93. LGS Foundation. LGS characteristics and major concerns survey. https://www.lgsfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/2019-PFDD-Caregiver-Survey-1.pdf. Accessed March 2022 . Mastrangelo M. Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome: a state of the art review. Neuropediatrics. 2017;48(3):143-151. Harden C, Tomson T, et al. Practice guideline summary: Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy incidence rates and risk factors: Report of the Guideline Development, Dissemination, and Implementation Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology and the American Epilepsy Society. Neurology. 2017;88(17):1674-1680.

FINTEPLA is a registered trademark of the UCB Group of Companies.

2023 UCB, Inc., Smyrna, GA 30080. All rights reserved. US-P-FA-DS-2300217

SOURCE UCB
BLUE BELL, Pa., April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) today announces the dates for its first-quarter 2023 financial results and conference call, and its participation in upcoming investor conferences.

First-Quarter 2023 Financial Results

Unisys will release its first-quarter 2023 financial results on Tuesday, May 2, 2023, after the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Unisys will host a conference call with the financial community on Wednesday, May 3, 2023, at 8 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss the results.

The company will offer a live, listen-only webcast of the conference call on the Unisys Investor Website at www.unisys.com/investor. In addition, domestic callers can dial 1-844-695-5518 and international callers can dial 1-412-902-6749 and provide the following conference passcode: Unisys Corporation Call.

A replay of the webcast will be available on the Unisys Investor Website shortly following the conference call. A replay also will be available by dialing 1-877-344-7529 for domestic callers or 1-412-317-0088 for international callers and entering access code 2483053 from two hours after the end of the call until May 10, 2023.

Upcoming Investor Conferences

Peter Altabef, Chair and Chief Executive Officer, and Deb McCann, Chief Financial Officer, will participate virtually in the Needham Technology & Media Conference on May 18, 2023.

Deb McCann will attend the J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference in Boston on May 22 and May 23, 2023.

Management will be available for one-on-one and small group meetings with investors. Investors interested in arranging meetings should contact your conference representative.

About Unisys

Unisys is a global technology solutions company that powers breakthroughs for the world's leading organizations. Our solutions  digital workplace; cloud, applications & infrastructure; enterprise computing; and business process  help our clients challenge the status quo and create new possibilities. To learn how we deliver breakthroughs for our clients, visit unisys.com.

RELEASE NO.: 0417/9903

Unisys and other Unisys products and services mentioned herein, as well as their respective logos, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Unisys Corporation. Any other brand or product referenced herein is acknowledged to be a trademark or registered trademark of its respective holder.

UIS-C

SOURCE Unisys Corporation
BEIJING, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Pu'er City of southwest China's Yunnan Province, located in the golden belt for coffee planting near the Tropic of Cancer with a vast hot zone area, abundant precipitation, and suitable ecological environment, is well known as the Chinese coffee capital.

Statistics show that at present, the coffee planting area in the city reaches 679,000 mu(about 45,266 hectares), which makes the city become a main coffee producing area with the the highest yield and the best quality in China, and a main coffee trade distribution center.

Photo shows that farmers sort harvested coffee fruit at Yatang Valley Coffee Farm in Pu'er, Yunnan province.

In Nandaohe Village, Simao District of the city, Liao Xiugui and his families together run a coffee estate. Large-scale coffee cultivation carries the expectation of farmers for wealth. Through learning advanced cultivation techniques and management, farmers gradually increase the coffee output and roll out more refined and exquisite coffee products, Liao said.

Deng Jialu, general manager of Yunnan Simao Beigui Coffee Co., Ltd., is exploring an innovative mode of deep integration of coffee and tourism in the city.

"Through the construction of the coffee estate, visitors can not only learn about coffee cultivation in the field, but also brew a cup of their own coffee, learning the development of Yunnan coffee," said Deng.

Driven by market consumption, international standards and supportive policies, a total of eleven coffee enterprises above the designated size have been developed in the city in the recent years. Coffee beans produced in Tianyu Coffee Estate in Menglian County of the city were selected by Starbucks and received good market response.

In September 2020, Pu'er coffee was listed in the first batch of China-EU agreement on geographical indications, realizing mutual recognition of geographical indication products between China and Europe and promoting Pu 'er coffee to the EU market.

In January 2023, the Standardization Administration of China announced that Pu'er coffee has been approved as the national standard and got approval of its English version, which will comprehensively improve the coffee quality and promote coffee products to the international market.

With the opening of China-Laos Railway and the completion of coffee processing industrial park in the city, Pu'er is likely to become China's first stop for processing coffee importing from Southeast Asian countries.

See the original link: https://en.imsilkroad.com/p/333661.html

SOURCE Xinhua Silk Road
#5 frozen novelty brand franchise continues growth and expansion in the snack category

BOULDER, Colo., April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Yasso, the beloved snack brand, introduces its largest advertising campaign in the company's 12-year history to celebrate how their ridiculously creamy frozen greek yogurt products make for the perfect, permissibly indulgent snack. 'Ridiculously Better' showcases Yasso's delicious taste and better-for-you nutritionals, offering a snacking experience that is second to none.

'Ridiculously Better' launches as the brand continues its journey as the fastest growing scaled frozen novelty brand in 2022, growing +32%. Yasso continues to expand its national distribution footprint  including the Drug Channel, with a CVS partnership  and is on track to hit $250MM in retail sales entering the summer 2023.

Yasso Introduces 'Ridiculously Better' Campaign to Celebrate Better-For-You Snacking Tweet this

"This is an exciting time for Yasso, as we continue our expansion and leadership of the frozen snack category," said Sam Martin, Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer at Yasso. "Consumers are craving permissible indulgence and turning to Yasso for frozen snacks that offer both better taste and quality nutrition. We're bullish about the superiority that our full portfolio of products delivers compared to a myriad of alternative snack options."

Americans are hot on frozen snacks. According to a recent survey from the brand, consumers are passionate about snacktime.

About half (48%) of people agree that their day is "ruined," if they run out of their favorite snack.

56% of Americans admit to having lied about having snacks, just so they don't have to share.

41% of people have gotten into an argument with someone over who gets the last snack.

Additional research conducted by the company further proves Yasso's snacking superiority, and that it's already a frequent snack choice for consumers when hunger strikes:

Frozen treats are consumed as a snack 59% of the time, vs. cheese at 57%, nuts / seeds at 55%, and snack bars at 53%

56% of consumers snack on Yasso

Yasso is consumed as a snack 6x greater than traditional ice cream

In addition to launching 'Ridiculously Better,' the brand is also bringing game-changing innovation to its portfolio of products. Yasso recently announced the relaunch of its Poppables platform, bite size creamy Greek yogurt dipped in crunchy chocolatey coating, now with 50% more to snack on and in a resealable bag for easier snackability. The brand also continues to expand distribution of its Mochi and Sandwich segments alongside its powerhouse Snack Bar and Chocolate Crunch Bar lines, both of which continue to be top performing items in the category.

'Ridiculously Better' Campaign Details:

The campaign consists of a series of :30, :15, and :06 spots and will run across linear TV, video and streaming platforms, paid social, and paid search with partners like Youtube, Peacock, Roku, HGTV, Food Network, TNT and more.

Ridiculously Better was created in partnership with creative agency, Nomadic .

. Additionally, Yasso partners with MullenLowe PR , as their public relations agency of record, and media agency of record, SRG .

About Yasso:

Kindergarten friends turned entrepreneurs, founders Drew Harrington and Amanda Klane set out on a mission to create snacks that deliver on everyday indulgence with great taste, quality ingredients and superb nutritionals. Since hitting store shelves in 2011 as the first to market frozen Greek yogurt, Yasso quickly became one of the fastest-growing novelty brands, disrupting the brand ranks of deeply entrenched competitors and attracting a loyal following of brand enthusiasts. Yasso currently offers 11 flavors of novelty stick Bars, four flavors of Chocolate Crunch Bars, three frozen Greek yogurt Sandwiches, three flavors of bite-size Yasso Poppables and four Yasso Mochi, all of which can be found at grocery and club stores nationwide. Yasso Inc was named one of the Best Places to Work by Inc. and Denver Business Journal in addition to garnering a spot on Inc.'s 2022 list of the 5000 Fastest Growing Companies in America. Yasso is also an active, positive contributor to the community via its Game On! Foundation which inspires health and wellness for people of all ages. To find a store near you, or learn more information please visit yasso.com and follow the brand @yasso .

Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Yasso Frozen Greek Yogurt
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), in cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has requested a separate block of technical assistance related to virtual assets and digital technologies, Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Andriy Pyshnyy says.

"We are also reforming supervision in order to strengthen the analytical component and combine expertise, including on technological things and AML (anti money laundering)," he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine in Washington.

Pyshnyy also said that Ukraine had launched one of the progressive mechanisms for testing solutions aimed at introducing digital technologies, working with virtual assets and innovative fintech developments - the so-called regulatory sandbox, similar to how it functions in Singapore, the UK, Switzerland, and the United States.

"This will allow testing solutions with a limited number of users, controlling risks, working out technological and regulatory models. Working out, and those of them that confirm the viability and compliance will be released to the market quite quickly," the NBU governor explained.

He also noted that over the past six months after his appointment, he held 3-4 very substantive detailed meetings with Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov. "We go through the entire digital agenda: from e-residency to virtual assets. For almost every item, we have an understanding of what we are doing, what will 'fly' from the proposed, and what needs to be finalized, and sometimes rethinking," Pyshnyy pointed out.

In this regard, he assured that Ukraine will not lag behind technological progress in the financial sector because of the war.

"On the contrary. The war prompted decisive and creative decisions, removed some obstacles. Despite the war, if you analyze our decisions over the past 4-5 months, you will see that we have unfrozen most of the projects and intensified processes. There is also a downside to innovation - operational sustainability functioning, risks of financial stability and prevention of legalization. These are not stop factors, but tasks that should be worked on," the NBU governor said.

In particular, he said that at the spring meeting of the IMF and the World Bank in Washington, the Ukrainian Diia application was remembered at almost every high-level meeting. In particular, during a meeting with the World Bank, its vice president, Anna Bjerde, said that the bank saw the possibility of using the Diia digital platform to strengthen solvency in matters related to supporting small and medium-sized businesses.

"We have an entry point, we have a multifunctional national platform, and we have proven the functional ability to support millions with appropriate authorization and reporting," Pyshnyy explained.
Emergency energy aid to Ukraine in thousands of devices, but we need reserve, plan for future - conference in Washington

Ukraine's G-7 Plus Energy Infrastructure Assistance Facility has attracted thousands of pieces of essential equipment, but resilience work needs to continue and be part of a longer-term plan for the future, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Diplomacy at the Bureau of Energy Resources Laura Lochman has said.

Since October alone, G-7 Plus has connected more than 4,000 generators, 1,000 transformers, and more than 5,000 pieces of equipment, such as circuit breakers and other equipment, to the grid, she noted at a Ukrainian-American partnership forum organized by the American Chambers of Commerce of the two countries last week in Washington.

Lochman said that last week the EU-US Energy Council met in Brussels, and that was the main topic of the conversation, which is ongoing.

Among the tasks and options for their solution, she noted the importance of public-private partnerships, which made it possible to achieve such a significant result, as well as the ability to quickly create and maintain the efficiency of this G-7 Plus assistance mechanism, which includes many allies and partners, as well as international financial institutions.

According to her, in many respects the partners rely on the fact that the Ukrainian colleagues will define their vision, on the basis of which it is necessary to develop a single strategic plan, and then specific directions of action for its implementation. The results of this work could be considered at the Ukraine Recovery Conference at the end of June this year in London, Lochman added.

In particular, she pointed to Ukraine's potential not only to meet its own domestic energy needs, but also to become a powerful source of energy for the European region. According to her, the country has the necessary elements for this in the field of nuclear energy, natural gas, biomass, as well as renewable energy.

The representative of the Department of State noted that such potential with the implementation of European norms and standards, improved corporate governance and the rule of law would help attract private investment in the energy sector.

GE Chief Sustainability Officer Roger Martella confirmed that the success of such rapid assistance to Ukraine in such an uncertain environment was largely due to public-private partnerships on the part of donors. The U.S. government, the Department of State, they risked everything they could for us, made our lives easier so that we could focus on what we do best, which is production, supply and operation of equipment, he stated.

Closer coordination between private companies is also needed to understand what each can do best, he said.

Mark Loughran, President of Honeywell in Central and Eastern Europe, in turn, noted the importance of starting a discussion with a small number of very experienced companies as soon as possible about the necessary technical specifications for future deliveries, in order to then move on to a wide audience for their purchase. The expert explained that the amount of time and human effort that is required for such work is enormous, it itself can take from 12 to 18 months.

According to him, it's not just about hardware, but also about software, digital capabilities.

Martella from GE supported his colleague's opinion on the need to have a plan for a 2-3-4-year horizon, pointing out that the situation with the need for urgent assistance to Ukraine has become a wake-up call for the whole world, as reserves and stocks of power equipment turned out to be small, while the deadlines for their manufacture is significant.

According to Alisa Newman Hood, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Excelerate Energy, European governments have endured a similar experience, relying solely on Russian pipeline gas and pivoting to create redundancy and alternatives.

This crisis taught us 10 lessons about the supply chain, it taught us 100 lessons about the need for redundancy, Hood said.

According to her, representatives of Ukraine in the negotiations show sufficient foresight to create redundancy in their energy sources. In particular, she referred to Energy Minister Herman Haluschenko, who said backup energy infrastructure was needed to avoid vulnerabilities and overcome market fluctuations, monopolies and geopolitical threats.
Rome, April 17 : The head of the Rome-based UN World Food Program (WFP) has said that the organisation would temporarily halt its humanitarian activities in Sudan, a day after three employees were killed in the country.

WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain said on Sunday that she was "appalled and heartbroken" by the deaths, which took place in the Kabkabiya district of the North Darfur state in Sudan, Xinhua news agency reported.

In a statement, McCain confirmed reports that the workers were killed "while carrying out their lifesaving duties on the front lines of the global hunger crisis". She also said two other WFP workers were injured in the same attack.

The deceased workers were all Sudan nationals, according to media reports.

In a separate incident that also took place on Saturday, an aircraft belonging to WFP's Humanitarian Air Service was seriously damaged at Khartoum International Airport, WFP said.

"Any loss of life in humanitarian service is unacceptable and I demand immediate steps to guarantee the safety of those who remain," McCain said.

"Aid workers are neutral and should never be a target. Threats to our teams make it impossible to operate safely and effectively in the country and carry out WFP's critical work." McCain added that WFP would temporarily halt all its activities in Sudan while reviewing the security situation in the war-torn country.

"WFP is committed to assisting the Sudanese people who are facing dire food insecurity," he said.

"But we cannot do our lifesaving work if the safety and security of our teams and partners is not guaranteed." Violent clashes erupted on Saturday between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum and other cities, where the two sides traded accusations of initiating the conflict.

Sudan's Central Doctors' Committee said that at least 56 civilians had been killed while 595 more have been injured, among them soldiers who are in critical condition.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday condemned the outbreak of fighting between the two forces, said his spokesman, and called on the two sides to immediately cease hostilities.
Navi Mumbai, April 17 : At least 11 persons succumbed to heat stroke and over four dozen hospitalised after a mammoth public event in which Union Home Minister Amit Shah conferred the 'Maharashtra Bhushan-2022' Award on social reformer Appasaheb Dharmadhikari.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and others rushed to the MGM Hospital in Navi Mumbai late Sunday evening to enquire after the wellbeing of the people admitted there.

Early on Monday, NCP's Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) President and former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Congress leaders visited the hospital and interacted with the patients.

"After discussing with the victims, it appears that there was a stampede as people wanted to rush out after the event," Pawar said.

Thackeray said that the function, originally scheduled for 5 p.m. on Sunday, was preponed to morning 10.30 a.m. as Shah "had no time" and led to the loss of innocent lives.

State Congress President Nana Patole said this is the "most insensitive government" and demanded the resignation of the Chief Minister for the lapses leading to the tragedy.

Chief spokesperson Atul Londhe said that it was a government function and hence it was it's duty to ensure the safety of all the participants.

"So many people have lost their lives. The government should be booked for culpable homicide and action should be taken against those responsible," demanded Londhe.

Aam Aadmi Party state President Preeti Sharma-Menon expressed shock at the huge loss of lives.

Others have questioned why the heat factor was not taken into account before organising a Rs 13 crore mega-event with so many speakers, including Appasaaheb Dharmadhikari who delivered a lengthy speech while the people were visibly suffering in the raging sun.

Londhe termed as "carelessness" to organised such a massive event in the open ground without any marquee or shelter at the height of the summer season.

In fact, during his speech, Amit Shah had lauded the people for sitting patiently in the 42 degrees Celsius temperatures as an example of their devotion to Appasaheb Dharmadhikari.

The organisers had claimed that nearly 20 lakh people had attended the mega-event and Shinde -- himself a disciple of the awardee -- had proudly proclaimed how the gathering had shattered previous records.

The people had been trooping into Mumbai in buses, trucks or boats from the Konkan and other parts of the state since April 14 to witness the heavily publicised event.

Many could be seen wearing scarves, caps, umbrella-hats, or kerchiefs, dupattas and headgears to escape the blistering heat in the function which went on for nearly three hours yesterday afternoon.

As the tragedy snowballed into a huge political embarrassment for the government, a grim Shinde appealed to political leaders "not to politicise" the disaster.

He also announced a compensation of Rs 5,00,000 to the kin of the deceased and said the other patients are being cared for properly.

Soon after he was conferred the 'Maharashtra Bhushan Award', Appasaheb Dharmadhikari donated the prize money of Rs 25 lakh to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund.
Melbourne, April 17 : Melbourne has overtaken Sydney as the biggest city of Australia, a title the latter had held on to for more than 100 years.

With populations rapidly growing on Melbourne's fringe, the city limits have been expanded to include the area of Melton, the BBC reported on Monday.

The latest government figures, from June 2021, put Melbourne's population at 4,875,400 -- 18,700 more than Sydney.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) defines a city's "significant urban area", by including all connecting suburbs with more than 10,000 people.

"Until the 2021 census definition, the Sydney significant area had a higher population than Melbourne. However, with the amalgamation of Melton into Melbourne in the latest... classification, Melbourne has more people than Sydney -- and has had since 2018, " the ABS's Andrew Howe told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper on Monday, which described the redrawn boundary as "a technicality".

Proud Sydneysiders will point to the ABS's conclusion that when looking at the greater Sydney and Melbourne regions, Sydney remained bigger in June 2021.

Greater regions of a city take into account its "functional area", the ABS says, and include populations who regularly socialise, shop or work within the city, but may live in small towns and rural areas surrounding it.

However the federal government predicts Greater Melbourne will overtake Greater Sydney in 2031-32.

This is not the first time Melbourne has held the title of Australia's biggest city.

As a result of the gold rush in the late 19th century, which saw migrants flock to the state of the Victoria, Melbourne grew rapidly and outnumbered Sydney until 1905.
The Hungarian government has introduced a ban on the import of grain from Ukraine, linking it with earlier similar decisions made by Poland and Slovakia.

"Like Slovakia and Poland, Hungary is also banning the supply of Ukrainian grain. We cannot endanger Hungarian agriculture and the livelihoods of Hungarian farmers," the Hungarian government said on social media.

On April 15, Poland adopted a unilateral decision to temporarily halt imports of all agricultural products from Ukraine for the period until June 30, 2023. Meanwhile, a bilateral agreement had previously been reached on the temporary suspension of exports from Ukraine of only four crops - wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower, and transit was maintained, but with tougher conditions that the parties planned to quickly agree upon.

Following Poland and Hungary, Bulgaria is also considering an embargo on Ukrainian grain. Bulgarian Minister of Agriculture Yavor Gechev said that the country's government is discussing a ban on the import of Ukrainian grain following the decisions made by Warsaw and Budapest, BNR News reported.

"It is also necessary to protect Bulgarian interests, especially since, when a restriction like this has already been introduced by two other states, there is a serious risk for the accumulation of large quantities in our country if we do not take appropriate measures," he said.

Gechev added that the ban had already been discussed with the ministers of agriculture of six European countries. Meanwhile, Bulgaria sent an inquiry about the problem to Brussels in September last year. On April 18, consultations on the issue will also be held with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev.

Meanwhile, the European Commission declared the unacceptability of the independent decisions made by Poland and Hungary on agricultural product import restrictions from Ukraine, Reuters reported.

In turn, on April 13, the Slovak Ministry of Agriculture announced the discovery of a delivery of 1,500 tonnes of Ukrainian grain which has been treated with banned pesticides, prohibited the use of any Ukrainian grain and flour and recommended a temporary ban on their imports. Polish public organizations also actively discussed the quality of Ukrainian grain and created a special team to investigate its sale on the domestic market. However, Polish phytosanitary experts found that all shipments of grain are checked at the European border. The problem with Ukrainian grain, in their opinion, is of a political nature.

On April 14, the ministers of the Visegrad Four countries (Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic), as well as Romania and Bulgaria, held online negotiations on the situation with regard to Ukrainian grain. According to their results, Slovak Minister Samuel Vlchan said that at the Agrifish Council, which brings together agrarian and fisheries ministers of the European Union, he plans to present the use of an EU tool through which Ukrainian grain would be purchased in cooperation with the UN World Food Program. This will help Ukraine in a difficult situation and at the same time protect the EU market from the dumping of goods from Ukraine, he said.

Earlier, in Poland, as well as Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, agricultural producers protested against the influx of huge amounts of grain from Ukraine into their countries, as Brussels has temporarily canceled duties.
New Delhi, April 17 : One name that was conspicuously missing from the discussions and celebrations around the golden jubilee of Project Tiger was that of Karan Singh, who was Indira Gandhi's point person in the national effort to give the Royal Bengal tiger a second life in the big cat's home country.

The former Sadr-i-Riyasat of Jammu and Kashmir, cabinet minister, ambassador, MP and well-regarded scholar, rewinding back to the days when Project Tiger was born, narrated the sequence of events that led to its birth.

In a conversation with IANS, Singh said: "I was in Mrs Gandhi's Cabinet in 1969. One day, she asked me to take over the Indian Board of Wildlife, the chairman of which was the Maharaja of Mysore (Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar), a fine man but not very mobile." After taking charge, Singh began to go over the papers related to the Board and was "astounded to see that the national animal was the lion and not tiger".

India's national animal was the lion from 1947 to 1969, inspired of course by the national emblem appearing on the Ashoka Pillar. The lion does not represent India as it is found only in one part of the country. Tigers, however, "are ubiquitously found throughout the country", Singh pointed out, looking back at 1969.

He then set in motion the actions required to get the tiger recognised as the national animal. "I brought that up with Indiraji and she put the proposal through the Cabinet," Singh said. The process of this switch was relatively hassle-free. The Congress had a clear majority and the required Bill was passed in both Houses of Parliament.

"Immediately after that we geared up for Project Tiger. That's the national animal, so let's do something to protect it," Singh said, adding that he did not recall any resistance from any Chief Minister.

Karan Singh took over the Indian Board of Wildlife (now known as the National Board of Wildlife) at the age of 36, and committed himself to the conservation of the big cat.

Talking about the near-disappearance of the tiger, Singh said: "Hunting was a major issue. The maharajas and viceroys had decimated the tiger population." India had an estimated 40,000 of these big cats in the last century. By 1970, there were just about 2,000 tigers left in the country.

President Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia, one of the architects of the Non-Aligned Movement, was on one of his visits to India in the early 1970s. Karan Singh travelled with him as the minister of waiting to the Bandipur sanctuary in Karnataka. When the dignitary expressed his wish to shoot down a tiger, Karan Singh politely conveyed that it wouldn't be possible. Tito quipped: "You must be praying for these animals!" Singh, now 92, but with a rapier-sharp memory, talked about a certain maharaja who had an ostentatious display of 101 tiger skins. "Horrible!" Singh exclaimed. "Mai prayashchit kar raha hoon! (I am atoning.) For what they have done, I'm saving tigers now!" added the former prince regent of Jammu and Kashmir.

It was of course coincidental, but Karan Singh's nickname, much before he took charge of Project Tiger, was tiger.

Taking it up as a personal responsibility to set right the wrongs committed by his fellow royals, Singh first made the tiger the national animal and then set about establishing an elaborate network for the big cat's conservation.

The Indira Gandhi government got the Wildlife (Protection) Act passed in 1972 with the aim to protect wildlife in India and to control poaching and smuggling of wildlife derivatives. On April 1, 1973, Project Tiger was inaugurated at the Jim Corbett National Park, now in the state of Uttarakhand.

When the project was launched, there was hardly any public awareness about the depleting number of tigers in India. As a result of the consistent efforts of Singh with Indira Gandhi's support, the idea that tigers were an endangered species was brought into the public domain.

"The tiger is just the peak of the pyramid. There's the entire environment and ecology that gets conserved along with the tiger," Singh explained, and then went on to recount how "a very good forest officer from Rajasthan, K.S. Sankhala". He became the first Project Director when "we began with just nine reserves".

Sankhala is now known as the Tiger Man of India. The number of tiger reserves in India today stands at 54 and the number of tigers there have increased to 3,167.

The first step taken for tiger conservation was to ban hunts with immediate effect. Singh refrained from naming anyone, but "there were people in the government involved in it".

And he added: "There were safaris where people came and paid money to shoot down tigers. Now a safari means just seeing, earlier it meant shooting. Till 1969, wildlife safaris included shooting animals." The other great danger to tigers was poaching as tiger parts were in great demand in China and fetched handsome amounts of money. "The poachers are very well-organised. There's a cartel, they export the nails, skin, and various other parts," Singh said. "There were no special laws to check them." There was thus no punishment for poachers either. The immediate method of checking that prevailed at that time was that poachers, if spotted, could be shot -- not killed but shot.

Project Tiger also set in motion intensive, tiger-focused research, starting with studies on the big cat's habitat to ensure that it has prey that it can hunt.

A major impediment to the execution of the project turned out to be the relocation of villages and displacement of human habitations. Relocation was done by giving people monetary and other incentives. This matter was not resolved entirely when Karan Singh helmed the project.

Tribal communities are very closely associated with forests. But there was a "weakness" in the method, Singh said: "They were not involved in the first phase of the project. That was the weakness in the first phase -- it did not involve the locals adequately. Later, though, they were involved -- they were the ones who knew everything so we didn't want to alienate them." Singh then got the WWF involved. Formerly called the World Wildlife Fund, the World Wide Fund for Nature is a Switzerland-based international NGO dedicated to conservation.

The late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who was the WWF chairman from 1981 to 1996, took a keen interest in Project Tiger. He remained in touch with Singh throughout his tenure at the helm of the Project.

"WWF raised a lot of money and supported Project Tiger," Singh said. "We are grateful to them but it remained exclusively a Government of India project. It was the government's dedication to this project that kept it going," he added.

"The project will flourish as long as the government is fully involved in it. It has to be financed by the government, it can't be self-sustaining," Singh pointed out.

"Indira Gandhi was a concerned and committed environmentalist," Singh continued. When the 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment took place in Stockholm -- it was the first international conference to take up environment as a major concern -- "the only heads of government there were Indira Gandhi and Olof Palme (the Swedish premier) and unfortunately, both were assassinated," Singh added.

In 1973, someone asked Karan Singh if tigers would survive in India till the end of the 20th century. He had replied then that if tigers survive in India, it would be because of Project Tiger.

"If we had not acted for another 25 years, the tigers would have nearly vanished -- Sariska (in Rajasthan) had lost all its tigers," Singh recalled. Tigers, in fact, had to be relocated to the Sariska reserve.

The project that Karan Singh helmed with Indira Gandhi's support has completed 50 years and the future of the big cat looks secure in this golden jubilee year. Singh, naturally, can look back -- and forward -- with a sense of satisfaction. "Project Tiger has been doing very well," he said. "I congratulate the governments at the Centre and in the states for it." (Kavya Dubey may be reached at kavya.d@ians.in)
New Delhi, April 17 : A plea was moved in the Supreme Court, a day after gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were killed under police escort, seeking a direction for setting up of an expert committee headed by a former apex court judge to investigate the killings.

Advocate Vishal Tiwari moved the apex court on Sunday seeking an independent expert committee and also sought an inquiry into the 183 encounters that have taken place in Uttar Pradesh since 2017.

Ahmad and his brother were shot dead by three assailants, posing as journalists, while they were being escorted by police personnel to a medical college in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj for a checkup on Saturday night.

The plea sought guidelines to safeguard the rule of law by constituting an independent expert committee under the chairmanship of a former Supreme Court judge and also to inquire into the 183 encounters which had occurred since 2017 as stated by Uttar Pradesh Special Director General of Police (Law and Order).

The petitioner also sought a probe into the murder of Ahmad and his brother under police custody and stressed that "such actions by police are a severe threat to democracy and rule of law and lead to police state".

The plea said extra judicial killings or fake police encounters do not have a place under the law and further argued that in a democratic society the police cannot be allowed to become a mode of delivering final justice, as the power of punishment is only vested in the judiciary.
Patna, April 17 : After the hooch tragedy in Bihar's East Champaran that has claimed 31 lives, the district police suspended SHOs of five police stations, an official said on Monday.

A letter in this regard was issued from the district SP office saying that the SHOs of Turkaulia, Sugaili, Paharpur, Harsidhi and Raghunathpur police stations have been suspended with immediate effect.

Kantesh Kumar Mishra, the SP of East Champaran district said: "The officers of five police stations were suspected for their callous attitude. Hence, we have taken action against them and suspended them from immediate effect. We have also arrested 20 accused so far. The district police will not let anyone go scot free." Meanwhile, the toll has reached 31 in the hooch tragedy that struck on Thursday. 22 people had died till Saturday and nine more persons succumbed till Monday morning.

According to a police officer, 20 people were admitted to different private hospitals in the district. Five of them are in serious condition. Besides, eight people have lost their eyesights.
Chandigarh, April 17 : Punjab Police on Monday claimed that an Indian Army gunner was arrested for killing his four unarmed colleagues, who were asleep in a barrack in the Bathinda Military Station, last week.

The gunner was an eyewitness who had falsely claimed that two masked people in 'kurta pyjamas' disappeared into a nearby forest after committing the crime in the wee hours of April 12.

Bathinda Senior Superintendent of Police Gulneet Singh Khurana told the media that Mohan Desai, who was the prime witness to the incident, turned out to be the killer and has been arrested by police.

Police officers investigating the case said the motive for the killing seemed to be personal, largely "physical harassment".

After the killing of the four men from an artillery regiment -- Sagar Banne, Kamalesh R, Yogesh Kumar J, and Santosh M Nagral in their rooms in a barrack behind the officers' mess, the Army had said a search team has located the INSAS rifle along with the magazine involved in the killing.

Earlier, police said two unidentified persons in civil dress opened fire at Army personnel sleeping in barracks, killing four men. Nineteen empty shells of an INSAS rifle were recovered from the crime scene.
San Francisco, April 17 : The notorious ransomware gang, known as LockBit, has seemingly expanded their targets to include Mac devices for the first time, the media reported.

In a series of tweets spotted by 9to5Mac, a group of security researchers known as the MalwareHunterTeam said, they have uncovered evidence of a new variant of Lockbit ransomware that has been specifically designed to target macOS devices.

"As much as I can tell, this is the first Apple's Mac devices targeting build of LockBit ransomware sample seen... Also is this a first for the "big name" gangs?," it tweeted.

The announcement appears to be the first time Lockbit's ransomware has been publicly identified as a threat to Apple computers, as far as the group is aware.

Pointing to the significance of the disclosure, security analyst Brett Callow said, "I think this is the first time one of the major ransomware players has taken aim at Apple's OS".

According to the report, the LockBit gang has historically focused on Windows, Linux and virtual host machines as those operating systems are overwhelmingly used by the businesses the group's partners target.

For those who are unaware, the Lockbit gang operates a "ransomware-as-a-service" operation.

The group does not engage directly in the business of extracting ransoms from businesses. Instead, they focus on developing and maintaining malware that affiliates can utilise to target organisations.
Seoul, April 17 : South Korea and Japan held a joint meeting of senior diplomats and defence officials here on Monday, the first such talks since March 2018, Seoul's Foreign Ministry said, amid signs of a slow thaw in bilateral ties.

The director-general-level policy consultation meeting came after South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed last month to mend ties soured by historical disputes and step up security cooperation in the wake of North Korea's escalating provocations, reports Yonhap news agency.

The so-called two-plus-two meeting brought together Seo Min-jung, director-general for Asia and Pacific affairs at the foreign ministry, and Woo Kyoung-suk, deputy director-general for international policy at the Defence Ministry, as well as their Japanese counterparts -- Takehiro Funakoshi, director-general of Asian and Oceanian affairs, and Atsushi Ando, deputy director-general of the Defense Policy Bureau.

During the session, the two sides are expected to share their assessment of the security situation in Northeast Asia and on the Korean Peninsula, and their respective defence and security policies.

The two countries' leaders agreed in a summit in Tokyo last month to resume various government dialogue channels that had been suspended amid strained ties due to historical disputes stemming from Japan's colonization of the Korean Peninsula from 1910-45.

The joint consultation meeting was launched in 1998 after an agreement between the two countries' Foreign Ministers a year earlier.
Jaipur, April 17 : Former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje met the families of the 2008 blast victims here and assured them that they would definitely get justice.

She visited the families on Sunday and later went to Chandpole Hanuman Temple where she lit 80 divas in remembrance of the victims who died on May 13, 2008 in serial bomb blasts.

It needs to be mentioned here that Rajasthan High Court acquitted four accused in the serial blast case. However, Raje prayed that the accused be punished.

"I pray to Hanuman ji that the terrorists who mercilessly killed 80 innocent people in the serial blasts in Jaipur on May 13, 2008, should be hanged as soon as possible," she said.

Raje also met the families of the blast victims and assured them that they would definitely get justice. The family members said that when her BJP government had put those terrorists in jail and were sentenced to death by the lower court, they were hopeful of getting justice. "But Ashok Gehlot's government could not get justice delivered by failing to represent the case strongly in court and hence the accused were set free in the case. Eventually, all terrorists were acquitted and hopes of justice started dying in the Congress rule," they said.

Raje said, "The agony of the families of the victims has doubled due to the acquittal of the terrorists of the Jaipur blasts. Realizing their pain, today I have lit 80 lamps of faith in the Hanuman temple."
Sonipat, April 17 : G20 Presidency of India aims for inclusive, resilient and sustainable growth, Amitabh Kant, G20 Sherpa of India said at the Distinguished Public Lecture entitled: 'India's Presidency of G20: The Way Forward' to mark the inauguration of the Jindal Global Centre for G20 Studies at O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU).

Amitabh Kant dwelt on a wide ranging overview outlining India's political and development narratives, key priorities, initiatives to reshape and reconfigure the world and how India is planning to execute the meetings for G20 ahead of the Leaders' Summit in September 2023.

"G20 is important because it comprises about 85 per cent of the global GDP and about 78 per cent of the global trade, 90 per cent of the patents in the world and nearly two-thirds of the global population. The G20 Presidency moves from one country to another every year and different countries have different perspectives and priorities. It is very important to study, examine and analyse this as G20 is essentially an economic group for development and growth. Therefore, the Jindal Global Centre for G20 Studies at O.P. Jindal Global University is key to understanding how each country manages the issues and challenges facing the G20 Community. The Centre will bring in academic rigour and insight and the G20 Secretariat will be delighted to reflect on the outcome of these deliberations." He congratulated JGU on emerging as India's top-most private university and its position in international rankings.

"This is a period of great upheaval and turbulence across the world. The post-Covid era has seen nearly 200 million people fall below the poverty line. Nearly two decades of work done to alleviate poverty has been eliminated while a third of the world is facing recession. There's a challenge with almost 75 countries in the world facing a global debt crisis. And on top of all this, there's a huge challenge of climate action and climate finance. There is a geopolitical crisis in Europe right now with a war going on for over a year and in addition to all this, you've seen the financial crisis or the Silicon Valley Bank collapse in the US and the cascading impact that you can have in other parts of the world." Providing a vision and way forward, Kant outlined the strategies for change as India takes over the leadership of the G20. "The first and foremost is the political narrative which India puts forward, the second is the priorities to shape the world and thirdly how well do we execute this presidency on ground. It's important to understand this because in the last few years, India has done a huge amount of digital transformation. India today does about 11 times more payments than what the US and Europe do together. During Covid, we provided 2 billion vaccinations to our citizens, which was all done digitally. A study by the Bank of International Settlements said that (the digital milestones) India has achieved in the last eight years, what would normally have taken 50 years." "Regarding our priorities for the G20, the world is facing huge recessionary trends across the world. It's important that we talk about inclusive, sustainable growth, because without growth we will not be able to lift people above the poverty line and growth alone will have a huge impact on the lives of citizens in the global south. India aims to work with the rest of the world to drive inclusive, resilient and sustainable growth," Kant outlined. "Thirdly, we face the challenge of climate action and climate finance. As India becomes more industrialised, we will become the third biggest polluters in the world. And therefore India must become the first country in the world to industrialise without carbonising the world." "Digital transformation will drive the growth of India for the next three decades. India's model is unique and if you look around the world there are four billion people who do not have a digital identity. There are two billion people who do not even have a bank account. There are 133 countries in the world who do not have a fast payment mechanism. India's experience can be taken to other parts of the global south and really help to transform the lives of citizens. And lastly, our next priority is about women led development. This whole cycle of women driving growth and progress and development is very, very critical", Amitabh Kant concluded.

Professor (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar, Founding Vice Chancellor O.P. Jindal Global University said, "It is my honour to welcome Amitabh Kant, G20 Sherpa for India to this very important inauguration.

The Jindal Global Center for G20 Studies is a part of this university, as a multidisciplinary centre that will encompass all the 12 schools of the university. Kant belongs to that outstanding group of Indian civil servants who have made transformative contributions to the development of India. In his earlier avatars he has undertaken initiatives which have resulted in significantly impactful public policy reforms, as well as transformative change in society.

The Jindal Global Center for G20 studies will be a permanent Center located at O.P. Jindal Global University to be able to engage in research knowledge creation, thought leadership, including hosting seminars, conferences, lectures and workshops on a variety of issues concerning G20. We have identified five important agenda points: a global conference of universities from each G20 country which we concluded recently with nearly 100 universities from G20 countries; to organise a G20 Ambassadors conclave that will promote a dialogue on the future of diplomacy; to host the Global Justice Colloquium with a focus on bringing lawyers and judges from the G20 countries to discuss and debate on the state of justice systems and to host the World Sustainability Forum to engage on issues surrounding environment and climate change. And fifth to host the Global Policy and Development Dialogue for bringing together policymakers and academics to discuss issues confronting the world of policy development." Ravi Thapar, Professor and Executive Dean of the Jindal School of International Affairs outlined the milestones of the Jindal School of International Affairs (JSIA) and added, "It is a very significant and momentous occasion for JSIA, to have such a distinguished lecture by an intellectual, now a diplomat from the G20, Amitabh Kant. Covid took a toll and made a dent of about $14 trillion in the global GDP. According to the World Inequality Lab, Paris, about 1 per cent of the world's richest population is walking away with 38 per cent of the world's wealth while the bottom 58 per cent of the global population is just about to get 2 per cent of the wealth. In a world of inequality, it becomes very important for the South to start asserting this voice and the G20 happens to be one of the most influential groups to do that." Professor (Dr.) Mohan Kumar, Dean and Director Jindal Global Centre for G20 Studies said, "It is really an honour and a pleasure to welcome Amitabh Kant who has made such a difference to policy making in India. As students, no matter what you do, no matter which profession you are, as individuals, you can make a difference to society. We have outlined five priorities of the Indian presidency which we will discuss: be it multilateralism, climate change, voice of the Global South, inclusive economic growth and more." The concluding address was delivered by Professor Dabiru Sridhar Patnaik, Registrar of O.P. Jindal Global University.
Islamabad, April 17 : After more than a year of simmering political tensions between the ruling coalition led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the opposition PakisAtan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), it seems the ice has started melting with both sides forming panels to engage in indirect dialogue.

The impasse between the two warring parties was broken by Jamaat-i-Islami emir Sirajul Haq, who held meetings with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and PTI chief Imran Khan on April 15 and reported a "positive response" from both sides for holding talks on the issue of elections, Dawn news reported.

Now, both parties -- instead of engaging in a direct dialogue -- will route their talks through the JI.

In a positive response to the "consensus offensive" of the JI, the PML-N tasked Ayaz Sadiq and Saad Rafique to hold talks while the PTI formed a three-member panel comAprising Pervez Khattak, Mehmoodur Rashid, and Ejaz Chaudhry for the task.

Sources in PML-N said Sadiq and Saad Rafique were given a go-ahead to approach the JI for talks.

However, the PTI also reiterated its stance of seeking date for polls, Dawn reported.

Senator Ejaz Chaudhry said PTI had begun consultations to take all opposition parties into confidence over elections across the country. He said PTI has already had meetings with the JI, Tehreek-i-Labbaik PakisAtan (TLP), and the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA).

"We have met and urged all political parties (outside ruling coalition) to join hands and put up resistance against the PDM that is avoiding elections," he added.
Chennai, April 17 : The Tamil Nadu School Education Department has planned an enrollment drive of new students from classes 1 to 3. The drive will commence today and will continue till April 28.

This is aimed at increasing the number of students opting for government schools. Generally the school education department conducts admission drives during the month of June but it has been advanced to April to rope in more students in government schools and to create awareness among the parents to enroll their wards there.

R. Muthuswamy, an official with the school education department, while speaking to IANS, said: "The department will be creating awareness among public on the advantages of a government school education including reservation in higher education, stipend for girl students and other facilities." He also said that the school education department will be promoting the increase in extra curricular activities in government schools as parents preferred private schools for having better facilities for extra curricular activities.

The school education department has directed the district education officials to hire a vehicle and to move around creating awareness for 50 schools. This includes foreign trips for students of government schools who perform well in academics as well as in extra curricular activities like debate, quiz and other cultural activities.

The department also wants the district officials to speak about the 20 per cent reservation for government school children in government jobs, 7.5 per cent reservation for students of government schools in higher education, and Rs 1,000 as stipend per month for girls studying in government schools for their higher education.

Teachers, education department officials, and volunteers of Illam Thedi Kalvi volunteers will be involved in the campaign and funds have been sanctioned for the awareness programme by the school education department.

The awareness programme will also highlight the presence of good toilets and drinking water facilities in government schools in the state.
Enemy attacks Zaporizhia, Mykolaiv regions with S-300 missiles in past 24 hours, there were casualties  General Staff

In the past 24 hours, the Russian occupation forces inflicted 25 strikes with S-300 missiles on the city of Zaporizhia and the region, as well as Mykolaiv region, there were casualties, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) destroyed four enemy unmanned aerial vehicles (two Orlan-10 drones, one Eleron reconnaissance drone, and one Lancet kamikaze drone), the General Staff of the AFU has said.

"In the past 24 hours, the Russian occupiers inflicted 25 strikes with S-300 missiles on peaceful Zaporizhia, Komyshuvakha in Zaporizhia region, and Snihurivka in Mykolaiv region, as well as 42 air strikes," it said on Facebook on Monday morning.

The enemy also shelled the Ukrainian defense positions and civilian infrastructure 46 times using multiple launch rocket systems.

"There were casualties among the civilian population, multi-apartment buildings and private houses, civilian educational institutions, hospitals, churches, and other civilian infrastructure were destroyed and damaged," the General Staff said.

The Ukrainian Air Force five times attacked the areas of concentration of the enemy personnel and its multiple launch rocket system (MLRS).

Also, four enemy UAVs were shot down (two Orlan-10 drones, one Eleron reconnaissance drone, and one Lancet kamikaze drone).

In addition, the Ukrainian rocket and artillery forces destroyed the enemy's control point, MLRS, manpower, train with fuel and lubricants, and two ammunition depots.
New Delhi, April 17: The Defence Minister of Afghanistan claims that the country has repaired two more military helicopters - one Russian and one American. These include a Russian Mi-17 helicopter and an American UH60 Black Hawk chopper.

A tweet by the Afghan Ministry of Defence says: "As a result of continuous efforts of the technical team of the relevant forces of the Ministry of National Defence, two helicopters, one (Russian Mi-17 and the other American UH60 Black Hawk) helicopter, repaired and successfully conducted a test flight." Air Force Commander Maulvi Abdul Ghaffar Mohammadi has vowed to build and repair other damaged aircraft in the future. Afghanistan news agency Ariana News had reported in December 2022 that the country has been able to repair more than sixty helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.

A report by Anadolu Agency in December 2022 said the Taliban repaired 70 military planes and helicopters damaged by American soldiers before leaving in 2021. It quoted the Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman Inayatullah Khawarizmi as saying that the US aircraft were in use by the Afghan Air Force, adding that the Taliban did not have a single working aircraft when it took over power.

The mystery of how the Taliban repaired American equipment seems to lie in the Taliban's persuasive power to call back nearly 40 pilots and technicians who had fled Afghanistan during the chaotic American withdrawal. These Afghans seem to be bringing back to life military planes which the Americans had convinced the world would never fly as these were too sophisticated and had been rendered useless.

In the midst of anxiety-filled uncertainty, Afghan pilots had flown nearly 50 aircraft to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in 2021 as Taliban fighters conquered province after province facing little resistance.

A report by the US Department of Defence (DoD), had said in mid-2022 that, "The DoD estimated that US-funded equipment valued at $7.12 billion was in the inventory of the former Afghan government when it collapsed, much of which has since been seized by the Taliban. This included military aircraft, ground vehicles, weapons, and other military equipment." The report added that "the condition of these items was unknown, and the long-term operability of the vehicles was likely to deteriorate without US contractor maintenance. The US military removed or destroyed nearly all major equipment used by US troops in Afghanistan throughout the drawdown period in 2021." However, the steady flow of news from Kabul seems to indicate the opposite.

The hi-tech military hardware that the US left behind in war-torn Afghanistan in the wake of its unplanned withdrawal has the neighbourhood in fear. Reports say that Afghan militant groups are already using US weapons in Pakistan against the local security forces.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative
London, April 17 : A Sikh temple in the UK has issued warnings after fraudsters impersonating as its members tried to trick people in India by making false job and visa promises with an intent of extracting money from them, media reports said.

The Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara in Gravesend placed warnings on its social media pages after they were alerted to fake advertisements titled, "urgently needed in the UK", offering free food and travel tickets for job opportunities at the Sikh temple, the Kent Online reported.

"We had somebody come into the gurdwara last week who is here but her father is in India and she wanted to see if he could come over," General secretary of the gurdwara, Jagdev Singh Virdee, said.

"Her father had been alerted to this ad and asked if it was a job so she came to check whether it's genuine or not, and that's how we first found out about it," Virdee told Kent Online.

Following this, nearly a dozen people got in touch with the gurdwara authorities to enquire about the advertisement, which has been circulated on the internet, and asked people to get in contact via WhatsApp.

According to the news report, some have already gone through the process of exchanging passport information and personal details.

Virdee said that the fraudsters have set up a website domain and email address similar to the gurdwara's.

"They are faking letters as if it's a job offer from the gurdwara, then they're saying to them, 'you've had the job offer now so if you pay over so much money, then we'll arrange a travel ticket and visa'," Virdee told Kent Online.

"Please be aware that the following flyer is being used to fraudulently obtain funds from individuals with a false promise of securing a UK visa and job at the Gurdwara Sahib. Please do not exchange any documents or money with this individual," the Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara posted on its website.

"Though the image shows Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara, Gravesend, this is no way affiliated to GNDG Gravesend," it added.

Virdee said that the crime has been reported to both Kent Police and the National Home Office of Action Fraud.

A Kent Police spokesperson said they "received a report on March 29 that an unknown person had falsely purported to represent the Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara in Gravesend online, in an attempt to defraud victims".

"Officers have been in contact with representatives at the Gurdwara and are investigating the circumstances," the spokesperson said.

Gravesend is home to more than 15,000 Sikhs.
Thiruvananthapuram, April 17 : Sixteen days after 27-year-old Delhi youth, Shahrukh Saifi, set ablaze passengers on a train bound for Kannur, on Monday the head of the special investigation team of the Kerala Police said the youth was "a highly radicalised personality".

Speaking to the media on Monday, SIT head M.R. Ajithkumar said that each and every detail of what he did right from the time he boarded the train from Delhi, reached here and till he got arrested from Ratnagiri has been found out.

"We have got all the details of what he did and he has been identified as a person who is highly radicalised. He has been watching such videos. At the moment it's early to say if he has got help from other quarters," said Ajithkumar.

"We have found out that he came with the motive to do what he did. You can also find out for yourself about the area from where he hails. Our probe has been done with the support of other national agencies and other state agencies. UAPA charges have also been levied on the accused," added Ajithkumar.

The probe team has found out that he was travelling alone from Delhi and though he took a ticket to Kozhikode, he got down at Shornur on April 2nd morning.

Then till he boarded the train to Kannur on Sunday late evening. He spent time at Shornur from where he purchased petrol from a fuel filling station, which has also been identified, after the auto driver who took Saifi confirmed this with the probe team.

After the train that he boarded from Shornur left Kozhikode, Saifi arrived at the D 1 compartment and doused passengers with petrol and set them on fire.

While three passengers in fright jumped out of the moving train, and were later reported dead on the impact of the fall, nine others also suffered burn injuries.

Saifi then reached Kannur on the same train and after a few hours boarded another train and reached Ratnagiri, from where he was arrested by a team of the Anti-Terror Squad of Maharashtra Police based on a tip off from Central agencies on April 5. The next day he was brought to Kozhikode in kKerala and after a day in the hospital, he has been in the custody of the Kerala Police probe team ever since.

In the remand report, the police have held Saifi responsible for the death of the three including a girl, though he has said that he was not responsible for it.

Now the question is will the NIA which is closely monitoring the ongoing probe take over.
Chennai, April 17 : Eleven fishermen from Tamil Nadu who were arrested by the Sri Lankan Coast Guard returned home on Monday.

The fishermen from Pudukottai, Nagapattinam and Karaikkal who had ventured into the sea were on March 22, arrested by the Sri Lankan Coast Guard on charges of crossing the International Maritime Border Line(IMBL).

The mechanised boat of these fishermen were also seized by the Sri Lankan Coast Guard. The 11 fishermen were then put in Sri Lankan prison.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had requested the Centre to intervene in the matter and to bring the fishermen back to India. The 11 fishermen were then handed over to the Indian embassy officials who arranged Visa and flight tickets and brought them back to Chennai early this morning.

The Tamil Nadu fisheries department officials received the 11 fishermen and have arranged transportation for them to return to their native villages.
New Delhi, April 17 : The incremental number of new demat accounts added stood at 1.9 million in March versus 2.1 million in February, registering a month-on-month decline of 8 per cent, Motilal Oswal Financial Services said in a report.

Additionally, this figure is significantly lower than the average of 2.9 million new accounts added per month in FY22. The number of total demat accounts increased to 114 million in March.

In terms of the total and incremental demat account market share, CDSL continues to gain on a MoM basis. On a YoY basis, NSDL lost 230bp/730bp market share in total/incremental demat accounts.

The total number of active user clients at NSE declined sequentially for the ninth consecutive month to 9.4 per cent YoY and 2.7 per cent MoM to 32.6m in March, the report said.

The intensity of the fall was higher at 0.9m accounts in March v/s 0.7m in February. Currently, the top five discount brokers account for 60.0 per cent of the overall NSE active clients, an increase from 59.6 per cent in February.

According to Motilal Oswal Financial Services, the capital market sentiment of India Inc was volatile in March, with the Nifty hovering in the lower 17,000s for most of the month.
Mumbai, April 17 : TV actor Paras Kalnawat spoke about his bond with his 'Kundali Bhagya' co-actor Sana Sayyad. The off-screen bond between the actor is "special" as Paras recently posted a sun-kissed picture on his social media where he is standing next to Sana.

He captioned the picture: "Couldn't have asked for a better co-actor." Talking about his equation with Sana, Paras said: "The relationship between me and Sana is quite different off-screen compared to what audiences get to watch on screen. Sana is not only a considerate actor but also a kind-hearted and supporting one. We share a very special bond, in fact, recently I got hurt on set while shooting an action sequence and she took care of me like a good friend." Paras is known for 'Aye Zindagi', 'Meri Durga', 'Laal Ishq', 'Anupamaa', and later also participated in the dance reality show, 'Jhalak Dikhlaa Jaa 10'.

He further shared about how often they both interact on the sets of the show so that their on-screen bond can look much better.

"During our rehearsals and breaks, we often engage in conversations about various topics, which indirectly helps in developing our on-screen chemistry. And now I can say, working with her has become effortless and enjoyable. She is an amazing professional, and I am sure we will have a gala time shooting further with each other," he concluded.

'Kundali Bhagya' airs on Zee TV.
New Delhi, April 17 : A fake Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officer, who was carrying a reward of Rs 20,000 on his head for allegedly demanding Rs 5 crore from a Delhi-based businessman, was arrested from the Netaji Subhash Place area in the national capital by the Crime Branch.

Satish Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Crime-IV said that the accused identified as Ram Kumar (51), is a bad character of Haryana. He was also declared Proclaimed Offender (PO) in the present case. A total of 13 cases with similar modus operandi were registered against him. He is also a bad character of police station Murthal, Haryana.

Inspector Pawan Singh and Head Constable Praveen got a tip about the accused, Ram Kumar and a team was formed.

The incident: On October 25, 2022 a case was lodged at police station Rohini by the victim, Gaurav Arora. He alleged that four unknown persons entered his house and claimed themselves to be the officials of DRI. They threatened to implicate Arora in a false case and demanded Rs five crore from him. Arora arranged Rs 50 lakh and gave them. Later the victim approached the police. During investigation, the police arrested three accused -- Ashish, Vijay and Anurag. However, the main accused Ram Kumar was evading arrest.

"The accused was changing his location and he was evading arrest intentionally. He was traced through technical investigation in the area of PS NSP," the official added.

IANS atk/
Hyderabad, April 17 : A former journalist was kidnapped and murdered by unidentified persons on the outskirts of Hyderabad, police said on Monday.

Some unidentified men left a body at a hospital in the city's Gachibowli area at around 2 a.m.

Informed by the hospital authorities, police rushed there and identified him as Mamidi Karunakar Reddy (29), who was kidnapped on Sunday night from Kottur near Hyderabad.

According to the police, Karunakar along with his friend Sridhar Reddy were proceeding from Cheguru to Timmapur in a car.

Some unidentified men in a vehicle stopped them and after thrashing Reddy, they drove off with Karunakar.

After receipt of the information, the police launched a probe to rescue the former journalist.

The men left the body in the hospital and escaped even before authorities could get any details.

The police have registered a case and shifted the body to Osmania Hospital for autopsy. They are scanning CCTV footage at the hospital to identify those who brought the body.

Reddy alleged that relatives of Mandal level public representative of Kottur, Madhusuhan Reddy kidnapped Karunakar.

According to police, Karunakar had worked in a newspaper in the past. He later started working as a document writer near the Kottur Tehsildar office.

The victim was working with MPP Madhusudhan Reddy and his followers in their land dealings. However, he had developed differences with them recently.

Karunakar's family alleged that Madhusudhan got him murdered as he was afraid that he may expose his irregularities in land dealings.

Karunakar's relatives staged a protest at Kottur demanding immediate arrest of the accused.

On a complaint by the victim's family, police registered a case against Madhusudhan Reddy and four others and launched a hunt for them.
New Delhi, April 17 : The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday named Shelly Oberoi and Aaley Mohammad Iqbal as the mayoral and deputy mayoral candidates respectively for the upcoming Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections.

The decision to renominate the two incumbents was taken by Chief Minister and AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal, in recognition of their performance in the MCD, Delhi government, said AAP in a statement issued on Monday.

The MCD elections are scheduled to be held on April 26, and the party's candidates had filed their nominations earlier in the day.

Addressing a press conference, senior party leader and Rajya Sabha MP, Sanjay Singh, said that the decision to nominate Shelly Oberoi and Aaley Mohammad Iqbal for a second term in the MCD, was taken due to their exceptional performance during their time in office.

Singh added that the party is confident that they will secure another resounding win in the elections this time around.

He also emphasised the unprecedented support received by AAP during the MCD election for its vision to make Delhi a clean and prosperous city.

MCD Mayor Shelly Oberoi also expressed her gratitude to Chief Minister Kejriwal for nominating her once again as the Mayoral candidate.

She pledged to continue with the same level of commitment in the future.

Meanwhile, Singh also accused the BJP of trying to destroy the democracy of the country at every level. Despite this, he said, all the councillors of the AAP stood firmly and voted for their candidates, putting a stop to the BJP's loot in the MCD for 15 consecutive years
New Delhi, April 17 : Vedanta Group on Monday said it has signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with 20 Korean companies from the display glass industry for the development of an electronics manufacturing hub in India.

The MoUs were signed at the recently-concluded 'Korea Biz-Trade Show 2023' event organised by KOTRA, the state-funded trade and investment promotion organisation operated by the South Korean government, in collaboration with Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

"More than 50 companies have shown their interest in partnering with us and we are pleased to announce that we have signed MoUs with 20 Korean companies engaged in the electronics manufacturing value chain," said Akarsh K. Hebbar, Global Managing Director of Vedanta's Semiconductor and Display business.

Along with the Indian government, "we showcased the immense investment opportunities that our country has to offer, supported by conducive policies, good talent and a robust innovation ecosystem," he added.

Hebbar invited prospective partners and customers to join Vedanta in establishing an electronics hub, supported by favourable government policies.

The proposed electronics ecosystem hub has the potential to attract more than 150 companies and create upwards of 1,00,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Vedanta's greenfield display fab would be one of the anchors for this proposed hub.

Amit Kumar, India's Ambassador to South Korea said that the Indian electronics industry is of one the fastest sectors in the country and is expected to reach $300 billion by 2026, driven by robust domestic demand, government incentives, and increasing consumer spending power.

He pointed out that this presents a lucrative opportunity for Korean companies, known for their technology prowess and innovation, to tap into a vast and growing Indian market.

In December last year, Vedanta had received a similar invitation for a roadshow in Japan, which was attended by more than 200 delegates from around 100 companies.

That roadshow concluded with Vedanta signing MoUs with 30 Japanese firms, according to the company.

Vedanta and Foxconn signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Gujarat government last year to invest Rs 1,54,000 crore to set up the semiconductor and display manufacturing plant which is India's first.
Head of Donetsk Regional Military Administration Pavlo Kyrylenko reported 15 dead as a result of a Russian missile attack on the town of Sloviansk on April 14, when, in particular, a five-story block of flats was destroyed.

"The rescue operations at the five-story building in Sloviansk are over This attack caused 39 casualties: 15 dead, 24 injured," he said on the Telegram channel on Sunday night.

According to the latest updates, 15 people were removed from under the rubble: five (including a 14-year-old girl) were rescued, while ten (including a two-year-old boy) died.

The Russian occupation forces caused the most serious damage to the five-story apartment building on Parkovy Lane. The search and rescue operations there took several days.

As reported, on Friday, April 14, the Russian invaders mounted a missile shelling attack on Sloviansk, Donetsk region. Ten houses and civilian infrastructure were damaged.
Khartoum, April 17 : Clashes in Sudan's capital Khartoum raged for a third day, raising the death toll to 97, a doctors' union said in a statement on Monday.

Hundreds of civilians were wounded in the violence, Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying.

The tense situation in Sudan has sparked broad concerns in the international community, with the UN, the African Union, the Arab League and other international organisations having called for an immediate ceasefire.

Violent clashes erupted on April 15 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum and other cities, with the two sides accusing each other of initiating the conflict.

The tension between the two military forces has escalated since April 12 in the Merowe region in northern Sudan, after the RSF moved military vehicles to a location near the military air base there, a move that the army considered illegal.

Deep differences have emerged between the Sudanese army and the RSF, particularly regarding the latter's integration into the army as stipulated in a framework agreement signed between military and civilian leaders on December 5, 2022.

The RSF was formed in 2013 and has its origins in the notorious Janjaweed militia that brutally fought off rebels in Darfur.

Since then, RSF leader Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo has built a powerful force that has intervened in conflicts in Yemen and Libya and controls some of Sudan's gold mines.

It has also been accused of human rights abuses, including the massacre of more than 120 protesters in June 2019.

This fighting is the latest episode in bouts of tension that followed the ousting of long-serving President Omar al-Bashir in 2019.

There were huge street protests calling for an end to his near-three decade rule and the army mounted a coup to get rid of him.

But the civilians continued to demand a role in the plan to move towards democratic rule.

A joint military-civilian government was then established but that was overthrown in another coup in October 2021.

And since then the rivalry between Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who is the head of the armed forces and in effect the country's president. and Gen Dagalo has intensified.
Seoul, April 17 : South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol's approval rating fell 2.8 percentage points over the week to 33.6 per cent last week, a weekly poll showed on Monday.

The negative assessment of Yoon's conduct of state affairs gained 2.4 percentage points to 63.4 per cent, according to local pollster Realmeter.

Support for the ruling conservative People Power Party came to 33.9 per cent last week, down 3.1 percentage points from the previous week, reports Xinhua news agency.

The main liberal opposition Democratic Party's popularity rating increased 2.9 percentage points to 48.8 per cent.

The minor progressive Justice Party won 3.4 per cent of support score last week, down 0.3 percentage point from the prior week.

The results were based on a poll of 2,506 voters conducted from April 10-14. It had plus and minus 2.0 percentage points in margin of error with a 95-per cent confidence level.
Bhopal, April 17 : At least three people were reportedly injured after a communal tension broke out in Madhya Pradesh's Khandwa, around 260 km from state capital Bhopal, late on Sunday.

According to the police, the tension prevailed after a group of Muslim youths thrashed a group of students (both Hindu and Muslim) while they were celebrating a birthday party at a restaurant late on Sunday.

The Khandwa district administration has imposed Section 144 and heavy police force has been deployed in the area. "The situation is under control, police are marching in the area," Khandwa SP Satendra Shukla told the press.

Police said the tension erupted after four Muslim youths thrashed a Muslim girl, a school lab teacher and a Hindu male student for celebrating birthday in a restaurant on Sunday afternoon. The accused also took away the teacher and Hindu student with them.

Later in mid night, a large number of people of Muslim community led by corporator Ashfaq Sigad reached Moghat police station and Lal Chowk. They pelted stones at police accusing them of biased in action.

Police said that an FIR has been registered based on a complaint of the girl, who alleged that she was kidnapped and assaulted. Police claimed two accused were arrested, while two were still on the run.

On Monday, right-wing organisations also staged protest, which prompted the administration to impose Section 144 in the area. This fresh round of communal tension in Madhya Pradesh was witnessed just one year after a massive riot broke out on April 10 last year in Khargone.
Kolkata, April 17 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday demanded that Amit Shah resign as the Union home minister over his comments at a political rally at Suri in Birbhum district.

Last week, at a rally, Shah had said that if BJP wins in 35 out of 42 seats in the state in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, then the Trinamool Congress government will collapse even before 2025.

"How can he say this as the Union home minister? This means that the home minister is conspiring to bring down an elected state government. As a Union home minister, he has taken the oath to protect the Indian constitution. So, he can never say that if BJP gets 35 seats in Lok Sabha elections, the current state government will collapse before the end of its tenure. So, we are demanding his resignation as the Union home minister," the chief minister said while addressing the media persons here.

Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister also expressed doubts about the "real story" behind the terrorist attack at Pulwama in Jammu & Kashmir in February 2019 in which as many as 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) police personnel were killed. "My question is whether a single central investigation team went to Pulwama after that incident. We also demand a proper inquiry into the matter as well," the chief minister said.

She also alleged the Union government is sending central field inspection teams to West Bengal one after another just to stop the development projects undertaken by the state government. "As it is, the Union government has stopped payment of all dues to the state government under different centrally sponsored schemes. Now they have started adopting the strategy of sending the central inspection teams," the chief minister said.

Speaking on the occasion, she also said that the arrest of Trinamool Congress MLAs in connection with the multi-crore scam in recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff in West Bengal is a ploy to reduce the strength of her party within the Assembly.

"The central agencies are only targetting our MLAs. They are not targetting any of the BJP legislators. But they will not be successful in this ploy, since our numerical strength in the Assembly is so high," the chief minister said.

Speaking on the occasion, Mamata Banerjee once again gave a call to all non-BJP parties to get united before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. "If the Opposition gets united, BJP will not be able to regain power in general elections," she said.
Mumbai, April 17 : TV actor Manmohan Tiwari, who has been part of shows such as 'Mann Kee Awaaz Pratigya', 'Hum Hain Na', 'Arakshan', 'Honge Juda Na Hum', 'Anamika', 'Pavitra Bandhan', 'Police Factory', and 'Jana Na Dil Se Door', and many more, has been roped in to play the character of Viren, the cunning and manipulative brother of Chandra (played by Arti Singh) in 'Shravani'.

Talking about his character, he expressed: "I feel like destiny led me to this role, and it's an incredible opportunity to play such a multifaceted and demanding character. I didn't actively pursue this role; it simply found me. Every single day, I'm putting all my energy and emotions into bringing this character to life, with the goal of captivating and touching the audience." The actor, who was also seen in the show 'Kumkum Bhagya', 'Savdhan India', 'Crime Alert, and Crime Patrol', further said that he just hopes that the audience connects with his character and he does justice to it by playing with perfection.

He added: "My ultimate wish is for the audience to sense the authenticity and depth I'm aiming for and for this character to resonate with them on a profound level. It's been an arduous journey of hard work and dedication, but I'm excited for the audience to witness the final result." 'Shravani' will air on Shemaroo Umang.
Nitish announced, the government will give Rs 4-4 lakh compensation to the families of those who died after consuming spurious liquor.. Image Source: IANS News

Nitish announced, the government will give Rs 4-4 lakh compensation to the families of those who died after consuming spurious liquor.. Image Source: IANS News

Patna, April 17 : Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday announced that the kin of victims of all the hooch tragedies since April 2016 - when a liqour ban was imposed -, will be duly compensated.

The decision follows yet another spurious liquor tragedy in East Champaran.

Chief Minister Kumar decided to provide compensation to the family members of the victims on Tuesday.

An ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh will be granted to the family members of the deceased from Chief Minister Relief Fund.

Nitish Kumar also said that ex-gratia will be given to all family members of the victims who lost their lives in hooch tragedy since the liquor ban was imposed in April 2016.

"We have initiated a large number of public awareness campaigns in the state to inform people about its consequences. Still, deaths due to hooch tragedies are being reported. Some of the victims are lone bread earners of their families. We have decided to give compensation to all victim families of present and past hooch tragedies. The victims have to submit an application before authorities with a pledge to not to touch alcohol. Liquor is a wrong thing. An ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh will be given to them from the chief minister relief fund," Kumar said.

"We have arrested many accused involved in liquor operations. The liquor was banned in Bihar in the past and was restarted. I have imposed a ban in 2016 and it has completed 7 years. Now, we are in the eight years of liquor ban. A large number of people have quit liquor. We are working on it and taking strong action against the accused," Kumar said.

In the past, Nitish Kumar had denied several requests for compensation. This sudden U-turn is being attributed to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Also, as per sources, that the liquor ban in the state failed due to its ill implementation is not an open secret.

Recently, 31 people were killed in villages under five police stations in Bihar's East Champaran district in a hooch tragedy. The victims have consumed liquor on Thursday evening and deaths are taking place continuously.

Twenty people are undergoing treatment in different hospitals of the district of which five are stated to be critical. Eight people have lost their eyesight forever.
Dasu : , April 17 (IANS) A Chinese national, working at Pakistans Dasu hydropower project in Upper Kohistan, was taken into police custody on Sunday night after he was accused of blasphemy by the labourers at the site, media reports said.

Komila SHO Naseeruddin, while confirming the arrest, said that an FIR has been registered against the accused, Dawn reported.

The complaint invokes Section 295-C (use of derogatory remarks, etc., in respect of the Holy Prophet) of the Pakistan Penal Code. It was registered on the complaint of Gulistan and Yasir - both of whom are heavy vehicle drivers, Dawn reported.

The complaint, lodged at the Komila police station, said that on Sunday night, the police were informed about a mob trying to break into a Chinese camp near Barseen.

It stated that locals had staged a protest and damaged the camp's site No. 6, Dawn reported.

"After receiving the information, a police party reached the site, took control of the area and safely shifted the accused to the Komila police station," the complaint said.

However, it stated that in the early hours of Monday, a large number of people reached Komila and once again blocked the Karakoram Highway. They also shouted slogans.

The protesters opened the Karakoram Highway for traffic after the police assured them of the registration of an FIR. Local religious leaders also urged the demonstrators to call off the protest, Dawn reported.
Chennai, April 17 : Leader of the MDMK and Member of Parliament, Vaiko, called upon Chief Minister MK Stalin to fulfil the demands of the Tamil Nadu unorganised workers federation.

The veteran leader, in a statement on Monday, said that the unorganised workers have been raising a constant dissent against the injustices of the Union government led by the BJP. He said that the BJP government at the Centre has passed labour laws without discussing with the trade unions and benefitting corporate companies.

He also said that there were no discussions in the parliament also while passing the labour laws. The MDMK leader in the statement said that the unorganised workers federation had condemned the act of the Union government which banned the two labour welfare laws.

Vaiko said that the labour welfare laws were achieved after long struggles by the construction workers union.

He called upon the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to pass a resolution in the Tamil Nadu assembly to protect the unorganised workers' welfare boards constituted by the former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi.

Vaiko also said Stalin, who was leading Dravidian model government, supports the rightful demands of the workers of the unorganised sector.
New Delhi, April 17 : The Supreme Court on Monday observed that the Mumbai Metro has made an attempt to overreach its jurisdiction and directed it to pay Rs 10 lakh fine within two weeks for attempting tree felling in Aarey forest, beyond permission granted. However, the apex court allowed Mumbai Metro to remove 177 trees from Aarey forest.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud said Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited's (MMRCL) was not correct in moving the tree authority for felling of any trees in excess of 84. Pulling up MMRCL, the Chief Justice told the counsel, "You people think, you can take the Supreme Court for a ride. You cannot overreach the court... Ask the CEO of MMRCL to be present in court." Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing MMRCL, submitted that while there was lacuna on the authorities' part, it was bona fide and there was no intention to override the court, and added that there should be an unconditional apology.

The bench, also comprising Justices P.S. Narasimha and J.B. Pardiwala, said, "It would be necessary for the court to penalise MMRCL for its conduct... the issue is that the permission which has been granted on March 15, 2023, be stayed by this court at present stage..." However, the bench permitted the company to remove 177 trees from Aarey forest, noting that bringing a public project to standstill is not desirable. It also directed MMRCL within a period of two weeks to deposit Rs 10 lakh with chief conservator forest. It further added that the conservator should ensure all afforestation as directed is completed and also ensure that planting of trees direction is followed.

The top court asked the director of IIT Bombay to depute a team for the purpose of verifying compliance and report should be submitted to the apex court in three weeks.

Mehta contended that instead of monetary penalty, reforestation of 3,000 trees can be directed and added that this can serve a larger cause.

During the hearing, the bench questioned, how can the superintendent allow the felling of trees when there was a stay by this court and pointed that the court had allowed "to move tree authority for 84 trees felling". The MMRCL had sought permission to fell 185 trees instead of 84.

The top court noted that moving to the authority to fell 185 trees and they give the permission without seeking court's permission, then both superintendent and authority are in contempt.

Senior advocate C.U. Singh, representing one of the petitioners, submitted that the permission to trim has been used to chop trees and claimed that the company is lying through its teeth. Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing one of the petitioners, said complete fraud had been played on the court.

The apex court had taken suo motu cognisance of the protests against the cutting of trees in the Aarey car shed plot in 2019. It had ordered status quo on October 7, 2019, after Mehta gave an undertaking that no fresh felling of trees would be done till the next date of hearing. The status quo order had been extended from time to time.
Panaji, April 17 : Union Minister of State for Tourism Shripad Naik on Monday said that India figures among the top destinations for medical tourism, with more than 1.4 million medical tourists visiting the country in the past one year.

He was speaking during the second G20 Health Working Group meeting, which commenced earlier in the day here.

"Our country has witnessed more than 1.4 million medical tourists in the past one year, making it one of the top destinations for medical tourism," Naik said, highlighting the country's progress in promoting health and wellness tourism.

He also urged delegates to collectively contribute to a more holistic and sustainable approach to global health and appealed that they engage in meaningful discussion on various aspects of the global health architecture.

Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar said that the India's G20 priorities focus on reformed multilateralism that creates an accountable, inclusive, equitable and representative forum fit for addressing the many challenges in the 21st century.

She emphasised India's priorities and contributions to global health preparedness.

She reiterated that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's message that India's G20 Presidency theme of 'One Earth, One Family, One Future' signifies the need for unity of purpose and action.

"Country is striving to converge ongoing initiatives towards building resilient healthcare delivery systems supplemented with equitable access to vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics to ensure that no one is left behind," she said.

Dr Pawar noted that there is a need to leverage the momentum of ongoing discussions in the global health field and focus on critical aspects such as collaborative surveillance, community protection, access to medical countermeasures and emergency coordination.

"We cannot be sure of when the next health emergency may hit us," Dr Pawar said, while emphasising on the need for developing consensus on responding to future health emergency management, network of R&D and manufacturing of vaccines and therapeutics, besides the global medical countermeasure coordination platform.
Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak said that 130 Ukrainians have returned from Russian captivity after a new swap.

"Big Easter prisoner swap. We return 130 our people. It has been held in several stages in the recent few days. Servicemen, border guards, national guards, sailors, employees of the State Protection Department Privates and sergeants who were captured in Bakhmut, Soledar, Zaporizhia, Kherson directions. Our people are returning home," he said on the Telegram channel on Sunday.

"The lives of our people is our highest value. 'Heroes must stay alive,' that is what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy always says, and our team, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, carries out his task. The task is simple: return everyone," Yermak said.

"And we will return them," he said.

The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said that 92 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 20 territorial defense fighters, eleven National Guard servicemen, three border guards, two representatives of the Ukrainian Navy, and two employees of the State Special Transport Service returned to Ukraine as a result of the prisoner swap with Russia.

Forty-eight of 130 Ukrainian defenders released on Sunday were considered to be missing. Part of the released prisoners have injuries, multiple concussions and amputated limbs.

"Also, two brothers, who fought near Bakhmut, have been released from captivity. The oldest released defender has turned 58, the youngest is 21," it said on the Telegram channel.
Chennai, April 17 : There could be a huge influx of insurance marketing personnel in the market as nearly 20,000 employees of the government-owned general insurance companies are recommended be deployed in that role, as per consultancy firm Ernst & Young's (EY) report.

On the other hand, a union leader told IANS that the move should be to merge the four companies and not purge the employees.

The EY has been hired by the four government owned non-life insurers - the National Insurance Company Ltd, the Oriental Insurance Company Ltd, the United India Insurance Company Ltd and The New India Assurance Company Ltd - to suggest restructuring of operations.

According to the EY report, 50 per cent staff of every office should be deployed in marketing.

The four companies have about 40,000 employees and about 50 per cent of them - 20,000- have to be deployed in business development roles, is the surmise.

If implemented, most of the fixed cost employees - clerical and administrative- will soon be meeting their own salary cost by fetching a premium.

Prior to the opening up of the sector for private participation, some administrative staff used to bring in business - even corporate business. However, instead of encouraging such staff, they were discouraged.

Even if the companies are able to sell their retail policies - home insurance, personal accident and others, the premium income will be sizable, an industry official told IANS.

According to the official, many employees have not insured their own home and household articles against fire, burglary and other risks.

The EY said it had prepared its report after interviewing over 100 stakeholders, visiting over 18 locations and over 60 offices, studying 81 data points and after studying the benchmarking elements.

"The four companies, when the EY started its exercise, had over 8,000 offices. And visiting over 60 of them and interacting with over 100 stakeholders, the sample size is questionable," Sanjay Jha, Secretary, Standing Committee, All India Insurance Employees' Association (AIIEA) told IANS.

"To the best of my knowledge, the EY team did not meet the important stakeholders of the four companies - the employee unions," Jha added.

The employee unions are opposed to the EY report and their one demand is the merger of four companies into one.

"Changing administrative employees' role into a marketing role, that too through forcible means is a completely wrong decision. We are asking GIPSA to revisit the decision," Jha said.

He said, the proposed variable pay system linking key performance indicators (KPI) indicators with performance of each employee for their future wages and promotions is a dangerous proposition.

"Such concept is not there in any government offices or public sector units. Moreover, insurance business is based on team effort. So, we reject the above proposal and have demanded the management to continue with our wage system with revision on five year periodicity," Jha said.

The unions are also against the manpower planning suggested by EY terming it as a flawed one.

"It is our firm opinion that the best reform for four PSGICs is their merger into a single entity. This will help them take most advantage of economies of scale and the single large entity will be in a position to compete with 30 odd private general insurers in the most effective way," Jha said.

Merge first and not purge, is the unanimous view of the various unions in the four companies.

(Venkatachari Jagannathan can be reached at v.jagannathan@ians.in)
The court had, on January 12, refused to stay the release of the series, which was released the next day.

New Delhi, April 17 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Monday allowed real estate magnate Sushil Ansal to withdraw his plea seeking to stay the release of the Netflix series <dbl-qts>Trial By Fire<dbl-qts>, which is based on the 1997 Uphaar Cinema fire tragedy.

The court had, on January 12, refused to stay the release of the series, which was released the next day.

The plea was listed before Justice Yashwant Varma, who was informed by Ansal's counsel that he wants to withdraw the plea.

Ansal had filed a suit seeking permanent and mandatory injunction against the series and a restraint of further publication and circulation of the book titled "Trial By Fire - The tragic tale of the Uphaar Tragedy" by Neelam and Shekhar Krishnamoorthy, who lost their two young children in the 1997 catastrophe.

Representing Ansal, senior advocate Siddharth Aggarwal had stated that Ansal's real name is used three times in the trailer, hurting his reputation and other rights, despite the series' warning that it is a piece of fiction.

In response, Justice Varma had said: "This may be their critique of their judgment and anguish of the parents, but it cannot be a claim for defamation." Senior advocate Vikas Pahwa had argued on behalf of Krishnamoorthy that Ansal was previously aware of the book's publishing because it was mentioned in a 2012 plea presented to the Supreme Court.

Ansal has contended that the publication of the contested series will further harm him and will constitute a major violation of his fundamental rights, particularly his right to privacy.

Recently, the High Court issued a notice to Ansal and his brother Gopal Ansal and other convicts on a revision petition by the state challenging a trial court's order of reducing their sentence from seven years to eight months for allegedly tampering with evidence in the 1997 Uphaar Cinema fire tragedy case.

--IANS spr/vd

</dbl-qts></dbl-qts>
New Delhi, April 17: Russia plans to intensify negotiations with India to conclude a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in a bid to unlock the full potential of bilateral trade and economic relations.

A few hours after he arrived in New Delhi on a two-day visit starting Monday, Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov outlined Moscow's plan of action to give a fillip to the existing trade and economic ties between the two countries.

"We will rely on reliable foreign partners. We will make every effort to expand our cooperation ties. To exchange competencies and experience in the most promising technological areas," said Manturov as he and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with representatives of Russian and Indian business in the Indian capital.

"Particular importance is attached to the issues of mutual access of products to the markets of our countries. Together with the Eurasian Economic Commission, it is planned to intensify negotiations with India to conclude a Free Trade Agreement," he added.

Both ministers are the co-chairs of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC).

Jaishankar, meanwhile, spoke on the significance of improving connectivity - the International North-South Corridor and the Chennai-Vladivostok Maritime Corridor or the Northern Sea Route which will play an important role in the development of India-Russia trade relations in the future.

Spotlighting the time-tested India-Russia ties, the EAM hoped that the payments issue will be worked out soon and the economic ties will continue to bolster in the future.

The participants at the business forum considered issues of further expansion of India-Russia practical cooperation, including within the framework of the Intergovernmental Commission.

"The IGC is a unique mechanism for a comprehensive discussion of topical issues of the Russian-Indian agenda with the participation of relevant departments and organizations of the two countries. We are talking not only about trade and economic relations but also about humanitarian areas of interaction, such as education and culture," said Manturov.

The attendees got acquainted with a new measure of support - a cluster investment platform that can be applied to joint projects. It provides for preferential loans for the development and production of priority products, subsidies for the implementation of pilot batches, and preferences for insurance premiums, and income tax.

Additionally, the issue of signing an India-Russia agreement on the encouragement and mutual protection of investments is being worked out as trade preferences and mechanisms that guarantee the safety of investments will be in demand by businessmen from both countries.

On Tuesday, Jaishankar and Manturov will co-chair the plenary meeting of IGC, following which a final protocol for the 24th IGC meeting will be signed.

The Russian Deputy PM will also discuss issues of bilateral trade, economic and humanitarian cooperation in several bilateral meetings during his stay.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative
Colombo, April 17 : A 68 year-old Indian-origin woman from Australia was killed and her daughter injured when a car in which they were travelling fell off a cliff in Sri Lanka, police said.

Prakash Sharita Devi from Sydney was rushed to the Gampola General Hospital where she succumbed to her injuries, the Colombo Page reported.

Her daughter as well as the cab driver are being treated for injuries at the same hospital.

The car was traveling from Gampola towards Hemmathagama when the driver lost control of the vehicle due to high speed and it ran off the road and rolled down the cliff, preliminary investigations revealed.
London, April 17 : UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is being investigated by UK Parliament's commissioner for standards over a potential breach of rules relating to the declaration of interests, understood to be related to his links to a childcare firm in which his wife is an investor, media reports said on Monday.

The Commissioner, Daniel Greenberg, opened an investigation into the Prime Minister on Thursday last week, an update on the Commissioner's website said, The Guardian reported.

The entry says only that it relates to paragraph six of the updated code of conduct for MPs, which states they "must always be open and frank in declaring any relevant interest in any proceeding of the house or its committees".

Sunak's wife, Akshata Murty, is listed as a shareholder in Koru Kids, which is among six private childcare providers likely to benefit from a pilot scheme proposed in last month's budget to incentivise people to become childminders, with 1,200 pounds offered to those who train through the agency, The Guardian reported.

On 28 March, Sunak did not mention his wife's interest when speaking about the childcare changes before the liaison committee. He was asked by Labour MP Catherine McKinnell whether he had anything to declare. "No, all my disclosures are declared in the normal way," he told McKinnell.

It later emerged that bosses from the company attended a Downing Street reception hours after Sunak's committee appearance, The Guardian reported.

It is understood that McKinnell raised the issue with the commissioner.

Sunak does not list his wife's shareholding on his register of interests as an MP, which MPs are required to update promptly.

Downing Street has argued that this is not necessary, because Sunak cited it on a separate register of ministerial interests. This, however, has not yet been published, as it is still being compiled by the new adviser on ministerial interests, Laurie Magnus, The Guardian reported.
New Delhi, April 17 : The Supreme Court on Monday sought response from the Delhi Police on a plea by CPI-M leader Brinda Karat against the Delhi High Court order, dismissing a petition challenging the trial court's refusal for an FIR against Union Minister Anurag Thakur and BJP MP Pravesh Verma for alleged hate speeches over anti-CAA protests.

A bench, headed by Justice K.M. Joseph, noted that prima facie the stand of the magistrate that sanction was required for registration of the FIR against the BJP leaders was not correct, saying that reasoning of courts below that sanction under Section 196 of the CrPC was required may not be correct.

The bench, also comprising Justice B.V. Nagarathna, issued notice to Delhi Police and sought its response within three weeks.

The Delhi High Court, in June last year, had dismissed the plea filed by CPI-M leaders Karat and K.M. Tiwari against Thakur and Verma for their alleged hate speeches. The high court had declined to interfere with the trial court's order.

Before the trial court, the petitioners had contended that BJP leaders had sought to incite people as a result of which three incidents of firing took place at two different protest sites in Delhi.

Citing a rally in Delhi in January 2020, the petitioner alleged that Thakur, after criticising the anti-CAA protestors of Shaheen Bagh, incited the crowd to raise an incendiary slogans. Also, Verma made an inflammatory speech against the Shaheen Bagh protesters in the same month, claimed the petitioners.

In August 2021, the trial court dismissed petitioners' complaint.
Amritsar, April 17 : A video has gone viral showing a Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) employee stopping a woman tourist with the national flag tattoo painted on her face from entering the Golden Temple, also known as the Harmandir Sahib.

She claimed that she was denied entry over the tricolour row.

The sewadar, an SGPC employee, who denied her entry, was heard purportedly saying "This is Punjab, not India" when the woman said this was the Indian flag.

In the 40-second video clip, two people accompanying the woman were heard asking the guard "Is the Golden Temple not in India?" On being asked why the woman was not allowed to enter the holy shrine, he pointed out the flag painted on the woman's face.

The guard also tried to stop the woman and the man accompanying her from capturing the incident on their phone.

Apologising for misbehaviour by its employees towards the visitors, SGPC General Secretary Gurcharan Grewal told the media that this is a Sikh shrine. Every religious place has its own decorum.

"We welcome everyone. We apologise if an official misbehaved. The flag on her face was not our national flag as it didn't have Ashoka Chakra. It could have been a political flag." Slamming the people for criticising the SGPC on the social media, he said, "Don't these people know that Sikhs have played a great part in India's Independence? Will anyone tweet about who sacrificed 90 out of 100 heads for the national flag? The Sikhs are being defamed intentionally."
Imphal, April 17 : Amidst resentment of a section of BJP MLAs against Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, party MLA Karam Shyam on Monday resigned from the post of Manipur Tourism Corporation Chairman.

His resignation comes four days after the resignation of another BJP legislator Thokchom Radheshyam Singh from the post of advisor to the Chief Minister.

In his resignation later, Shyam, who was elected from the Langthabal Assembly constituency, said that he is resigning "as he has not been assigned any responsibility as a Chairman" since he assumed charge on November 21, 2022.

Expressing his displeasure, he told the media that he had submitted many proposals to the Chief Minister for various developmental works of the Corporation but no positive reply had been received so far.

On April 13, the resignation of Radheshyam Singh from the post of advisor to Chief Minister Biren Singh, led to a big surprise in the BJP-ruled state.

Radheshyam Singh, who was elected from the Heirok Assembly constituency in Thoubal district, had, after resigning, said that he was not given any responsibilities, nor consulted on any matter since his appointment in January this year.

Both Shyam and Radheshyam Singh had served as the ministers in the first Biren Singh government (2017-2022).

Political circles said that a reasonable number of BJP MLAs are lobbying with the central party leaders against the Chief Minister's style of functioning. There are reports that some more BJP MLAs, who are now holding the post of chairmen of various corporations and autonomous bodies, are likely to quit their posts.

The Chief Minister is yet to respond to the developments.
Mumbai, April 17 : Intense speculation has gripped Maharashtra politics as to whether Nationalist Congress Party's (NCP) Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar may trigger another political earthquake by joining hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party - akin to the 80-hour long regime of November 2019.

Since the past few days, leaders across the spectrum have been issuing varied or even contradictory statements on the 'restless' Ajit Pawar's probable step - doing an 'Eknath Shinde type' operation on the NCP.

A bemused Ajit Pawar - the nephew of NCP President Sharad Pawar - dismissed all the rumours of his switching sides or joining the BJP, and even rubbished contentions that he had met Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The four-time ex-Deputy CM reiterated that he is very much part of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and they are working strongly as a united force.

The latest round of speculative reports has been fuelled by a potential adverse situation developing for the ruling Shiv Sena-BJP alliance after the Supreme Court takes its decision on the disqualification of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and 15 other MLAs.

Well-wishers have been claiming that the BJP may rope in Ajit Pawar to save the government and may even offer him the plum post of Chief Minister - something that he is believed to secretly covet.

Scoffing at the rumour-mongering and attempts to 'defame' him, Pawar on Sunday took pains to explain his position and the current political arithmetics in the power game.

He pointed out that the BJP+Independents account for 115 MLAs, so even if Shinde group's 16 MLAs are disqualified, the current government is left with 149 MLAs.

After the disqualification of 16 MLAs, the 288-member Assembly strength will go down to 272, and hence the ruling alliance will have a simple majority, he said.

State Congress President Nana Patole said, "I have full faith that Ajit Pawar will not make any such move... He will remain with MVA." Shiv Sena (UBT) chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut said that when he and party President Uddhav Thackeray met Sharad Pawar last week, the latter made it clear that the NCP will not decide to go with the BJP.

Nevertheless, Sharad Pawar said many of their families are being targeted, so it would be up to the individuals to chart their own course. But he had assured that the NCP will not ally with the BJP.

Raut reiterated that the central agencies are being let loose to pressurise and break the NCP, but expressed confidence that "Ajit Pawar will refrain from taking such a step".

NCP leaders have also rejected all such contentions, saying that the BJP is playing 'mind-games' given Ajit Pawar's temperamental nature, but he will not succumb to it.

Supriya Sule, when asked about this, sidestepped the issue and said that "only Ajit Pawar can give the answer".

Sena (UBT) ally and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) President Prakash Ambedkar jumped into the cauldron by claiming that there will be "some political explosions" in Maharashtra and India within the next two weeks or so, but preferred to keep it a mystery.

However, there are mixed reactions in the ruling Shiv Sena with a section of MLAs saying that Ajit Pawar will be welcome, while another group has warned that they would quit if he joins the party.

Most BJP leaders claimed that they have no knowledge about the goings-on, while state unit chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule dropped a broad hint saying "if the BJP ideology is acceptable to him, then he (Ajit Pawar) is welcome in our party".

Meanwhile, stoking the fires and compounding the confusion, at least two NCP MLAs have come out openly to declare that they will go "wherever Ajit Pawar goes".

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at:Aq.najmi@ians.in)
New Delhi, April 17 : The NIA on Sunday attached two floors of a school building in Pune where the Popular Front of India (PFI) had been organising camps to radicalise and indoctrinate Muslim youths and further train them for carrying out targeted killings and attacks against leaders and organisations of a particular community.

The 4th and 5th floors of the Blue Bell School Building were used by PFI to plan and prepare for carrying out terrorist activities with the aim of endangering the unity, integrity and security of India.

"PFI was recruiting innocent Muslim youth into the outfit at these premises, and also providing them with armed and unarmed training to eliminate/attack those opposed to the establishment of Islamic Rule in the country by 2047," said the ---PFI---.

The official said that the two floors have been attached by the NIA as 'proceeds of terrorism' under the provisions of UAPA, in a case registered by the agency on April 13.

The NIA had filed a charge sheet on March 18, 2023, before the NIA Special Court, Delhi, against 20 accused, including the PFI, as an organisation.

The NIA had conducted a search of the two floors of the school premises on September 22, last year.

The agency had seized incriminating documents, which revealed that the said property was used by the accused, found to be associated with the PFI, for organising arms training for its cadres. The training camps served as platforms to incite innocent Muslim youths against the government, as well as leaders and organisations of a particular community. The camps were also used to inflame their passions and provoke them into embracing violent jihad, with the aim of committing terrorist activities.

The newly recruited PFI cadres were trained in the use of dangerous weapons, like knife, sickle etc, for attacking and murdering prominent leaders opposed to the outfit's ideology of establishing an Islamic Rule in India.

The NIA investigations had earlier revealed that the accused persons were part of the criminal conspiracy to establish Caliphate and Islamic Rule in India by waging war against the country and toppling the democratically elected government. They were all identified as senior PFI cadres, accountants, authorised signatories of PFI's bank accounts.

The NIA has been investigating the activities of the PFI, which was banned for five years, in September 2022 by the government.
Slovakia handed over to Ukraine all 13 MiG-29 fighters that were promised, the press service of the Defense Ministry of the Slovak Republic has said.

"Slovakia has already handed over to Ukraine all 13 promised MiG-29 fighters. After four units that were piloted by Ukrainian pilots in March of this year, the remaining nine units were also successfully handed over to Ukrainian forces," the ministry said on its website on Monday.

Slovak Defense Minister Yaroslav Nad said that "this transfer was carried out by land, taking into account the maximum possible security."

He also expressed gratitude "to all the components involved, because in such cases it is a really important and difficult logistical operation."

Nad emphasized that the MiG-29 fighters "represent a significant support for Ukraine" against the Russian aggressor and to protect human lives.

"Besides, unlike our neighbor, these aircraft were unsuitable for us. We are doing the right thing," the minister said.
Mumbai, April 17 : The Maharashtra Congress organised noisy protests across the state demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi clarify his position on the recent statements made by former Jammu & Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik on the 2019 Pulwama attacks and corruption, officials said here on Monday.

The protests were carried out in all districts in the state with posters, banners condemning the Bharatiya Janata Party government and chanting of 'Shame on Modi, Shame on You'.

Leading one of the demonstrations in Pune, state Congress President Nana Patole thundered that it is wrong for the country's PM to remain silent on such big and serious issues and he must come clean on Malik's allegations.

He reiterated his statement that the 300 kgs RDX that was used to kill 40 CRPF jawans in Pulwama had gone from Nagpur, but the matter has not been investigated so far.

"On the contrary, the PM and BJP made political capital of the tragic incident during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections... After Malik's expose, the authoritarian government is avoiding all the questions that are disturbing the people of the country," said Patole.

He warned that unless the government makes a statement on the issue, the Congress will take to the streets and further intensify its agitation.
Surat, April 17 : Gujarat Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Gopal Italia was arrested by the Crime Branch of Surat Police on Monday for allegedly making derogatory remarks against a state minister and the BJP's Gujarat unit chief.

Italia's was booked in September last year for his alleged defamatory remarks about Hujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi and BJP's state unit chief C.R. Patil. The complaint was filed by a BJP worker, Pratap Chodwadia, and the case was later handed over to the Crime Branch.

The arrest of former Gujarat AAP chief Italia is the latest in a string of troubles for the party. Senior AAP leaders, including former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, are currently lodged in Tihar jail. Additionally, AAP national convenor and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal was questioned by the CBI for nine hours on Sunday in connection with the excise liquor policy case.

Italia made the controversial remarks in a video that went viral in August last year. In the video, Italia could be heard calling Harsh Sanghavi a 'drugs Sanghavi'.

BJP worker Pratap Chodwadia had filed a case against Italia, accusing him of making derogatory remarks against the state minister and the BJP's state unit chief.

Italia has a history of making controversial comments about prominent leaders. Last year, he was detained by Delhi police for his alleged derogatory remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In a video that was reportedly from 2019 in the run-up to the general elections, Italia was heard calling PM Modi a "neech aadmi" (a lowly person).
Jammu, April 17 : A flesh trade racket has been busted in Jammu city, with the arrest of six people, including two hotel managers, police said on Monday.

This comes after two flesh trade rackets were busted by police in Srinagar city.

Police sources said that a prostitution racket that was active in Jewel Chowk and adjoining areas in Jammu was busted by arresting six persons, including managers of two hotels and rescuing a minor girl belonging to Bihar and a divorced woman from Srinagar. Three persons involved in this racket are absconding, the sources added.

"Acting on specific information about some hotels in Jewel Chowk area being involved in the business of prostitution, a team of Nowabad police station raided Hotel Tourist Camp at Sant Market, Jewel Chowk about 3 days back and arrested a man identified as Vidya Lal of Paddar, who was caught in compromising position with a teenaged girl from Bihar.

Hotel manager, Bishan Dass and a pimp identified as Toshif were also arrested.

Another pimp, Jamshed alias Sahil, who has induced the teenaged girl into prostitution and Akshay Kumar, who has taken the hotel on lease are absconding, a source said.

On Saturday, police raided another hotel 'Richi Land' in Sant Market after getting complaint of a divorced woman belonging to Srinagar that she was tricked into coming here and was being forced into prostitution.

"Nowabad police raided the hotel and arrested three persons including hotel manager Tej Krishan and two pimps, Arif Hussain of Anantnag and Mohd Altaf of Kupwara district, and rescued the divorced woman," a source said, adding that teams of Nowabad police station have been constituted to trace and arrest the other absconding accused.

"Police is also investigating whether other hotels or lodges in the area are also involved in this type of illegal activity as it was also a general complaint of the people of the area that several women are indulging in prostitution and they roam freely in the area to search for their customers," the source said.
New Delhi, April 17 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday said that it has arrested a former assistant commissioner of income tax, Ahmedabad, in an ongoing investigation of a case related to bribery of Rs 30 lakh.

The accused was identified as Vivek Johri. The CBI registered the case on October 12, 2022.

The official said that Johri facilitated the escape of said additional commissioner from his office by helping and creating a ruckus during trap proceedings on October 4, 2022 laid by ACB Gujarat.

The additional commissioner before escaping from the state ACB had handed over two mobile handsets to Johri.

"Johri disposed off the two mobile handsets by throwing them in the Sabarmati river on the directions of said additional commissioner of income tax. The CBI has recovered both the mobiles (including one phone of Real Me make) from the Sabarmati river with the help of divers and other agencies using diving equipment and remotely operated vehicle equipped with SONAR technology," said the official.

The arrested accused was produced before a special CBI court which remanded him to CBI custody till April 17.
Kolkata, April 17 : A special CBI court on Monday remanded Trinamool Congress legislator Jiban Krishna Saha to four-day CBI custody for his alleged involvement in the multi-crore scam in the recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff in state-run schools in West Bengal.

Saga will be presented before the same court on April 21. The court also permitted the legislator's wife to meet him in CBI custody in the interim period.

Arguing the case, the CBI counsel alleged direct involvement of Saha in the recruitment scam.

"The accused is responsible for depriving the genuine candidates. A number of recruitment-related documents have been seized from his residence. The CBI needs to take him into custody for further interrogation and investigation," the CBI counsel argued.

On Monday morning, the CBI arrested Saha after 65 hours of raid at the latter's residence. He was taken to CBI's Nizam Palace office in central Kolkata. After a medical test, Saha was presented before the special court, which remanded him to four-day CBI custody.

Saha is the third Trinamool legislator to be arrested in connection with the recruitment scam, and the first by the CBI. In July last year, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is conducting a parallel probe into the case, had arrested former state Education Minister Partha Chatterjee, who continues to be the Trinamool legislator from Behala (West) constituency.

The ED had also arrested former President of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE), Manik Bhattacharya, who is the Trinamool legislator from Palashipara Assembly constituency in Nadia district.

Both Chatterjee and Bhattacharya are in judicial custody for their alleged involvement in the recruitment scam.
Mumbai, April 17 : Amid a raging political slugfest over the deaths of at least 12 disciples owing to heatstroke, reformer Dattatreya Narayan Dharmadhikari - revered as Appasaheb - on Monday expressed his deep anguish and pain over the tragedy.

In a signed statement, Appasaheb Dharmadhikari said that all those who had attended the state government's 'Maharashtra Bhushan Award 2022' function were "like my family".

"The 'Shrisadasya' family is spread in India and abroad. Several people lost their lives owing to sunstroke after the award function. This is extremely painful for me since this calamity has befallen my family members. I am also feeling their loss like my own family," he said.

The social worker said that the loss he experienced for the 'Shrisadasyas' was too deep for him to express in words, but prayed for the departed souls and solace to their families to bear the calamity.

Appasaheb Dharmadhikari also said that while what has happened was indded tragic, he appealed that the matter should not be politicised.
Chennai, April 17 : The Madras High Court on Monday called for the report by the Tamil Nadu Women's Commission regarding the sexual harassment of students at the Rukmini Devi College of Fine arts managed by the Kalakshetra foundation.

A bench of Justice M. Dhandapani called for the commission's inquiry report after the Tamil Nadu Advocate General, R. Shanmugasundaram informed the court that he had no objection on submitting it in the court.

Justice Dhandapani also recorded the statement of Additional Solicitor General A.R.L. Sundaresan that the college management shall not subject any of the complainants, their representatives, students, or faculty members who had raised the sexual harassment issue to adverse action, intimidation, or harassment.

The court also permitted the seven students who had petitioned the court seeking a safe learning environment, to remain anonymous fearing backlash from the management for approaching the court. The judge himself did not open the sealed cover in which the identities of the students were revealed.

Justice Dhandapani also asked the management of the institution to restrain the teacher who was arrested and jailed following a criminal complaint of sexual harassment from entering the campus and from contacting any student to avoid undue influence.

The court also said that a decision on the reconstitution of the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) would be taken on April 24 after hearing the version of all parties at length. The judge also asked the ASG whether the foundation had any objection to such reconstitution.

He also said that he had a retired justice in mind to head the ICCA and said that it would be in the interest of both the students as well as a reputed institution like the Kalakshetra Foundation to agree for an independent ICC to enquire into the serious allegations leveled by the students against the teachers and faculty at the institute.
Panaji, April 17 : Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao on Monday said that the silence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the Mhadei issue during a public meeting in Goa, confirms that the double engine governments have allowed the diversion of the Mhadei water to Karnataka to satisfy the thirst of farmers.

Addressing a press conference, Alemao hit out at the BJP governments for compromising Goa's interest to garner votes in Karnataka.

Congress leader Yuri Alemao said that Goa has been betrayed by the 'Bhrasht Jumla Party' on the Mhadei issue and they have already diverted the water.

"Amit Shah while campaigning in Karnataka was specific to reveal that he has already given the water to Karnataka. Now his silence in Goa has confirmed that he stands with his statements made in Karnataka," Alemao said.

In January, during a rally in Karnataka's Belagavi, Amit Shah had said: "Today, I am here to tell you that the BJP at the Centre has resolved the long dispute between Goa and Karnataka over Mhadei and allowed the diversion of Mhadei water to Karnataka to satisfy the thirst of the farmers of many districts." "Though Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and other BJP MLAs were present at the meeting, they had no courage to question Amit Shah over Mhadei," he said.

Alemao said that the BJP has used Mhadei as a political weapon and has hoodwinked the people.

Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president Amit Patkar said that the people of Goa were eager to hear a clarification from Amit Shah. "But he along with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant failed to do so. They did not even mention the issue of Mhadei during the entire public meeting," Patkar said.

"I think the BJP stands exposed at the public meeting. Both engines have failed. I condemned the act of detaining our workers. For a healthy democracy an opposition should be there, but the BJP is trying to destroy it," he said.
New Delhi, April 17 : Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday expressed confidence that the government will meet the target of providing petrol blended with 20 per cent ethanol by 2025, five years earlier than the deadline of 2030.

Addressing a conference on biofuels, Puri said he was confident that government will be able to supply 20 per cent ethanol blended petrol by next financial year.

In February, petrol blended with 20 per cent ethanol was rolled out at selective pumps in 11 states, to promote awareness about green fuels.

As of now, 10 per cent ethanol is blended in petrol.

Meanwhile, Puri further said that India had achieved blending of 10 per cent ethanol in petrol in June 2022, five months ahead of the schedule.

Ethanol blended petrol is expected to reduce carbon monoxide emission in two wheelers by 50 per cent and 30 per cent in four-wheelers.
New Delhi, April 17 : Shiv Sena-UBT leader Aaditya Thackeray has told the Delhi High Court as it on Monday took up a defamation case filed by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's aide Rahul Ramesh Shewale, that politicians regularly comment on each other's conduct and that public figures cannot be allowed to be thin-skinned as it would entirely stifle all criticism of them.

The High Court had, on March 28, issued summons to Shiv Sena-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray, MP Sanjay Raut and party leader Aaditya Thackeray in this matter.

The court was apprised that the Thackerays and Raut have filed their responses in the matter.

Before the bench of Justice Prateek Jalan, Thackeray said that as public figures, politicians such as Shewale ought to take the bouquets as well as brickbats.

"Political speech, while not always palatable, is, by its very nature, hyperbolic and this phenomenon is not unique to the plaintiff or the defendant No 3. (Aaditya Thackeray)," the reply read.

Aaditya Thackeray has also said that even though Shewale alleged that the defendants made defamatory statements regarding the functioning of Election Commission, he has cited no example of personal injury or injury to his own reputation.

"Such statements are permissible in political discourse as every political party makes such remarks against their political rivals with a view to garner both votes and eyeballs, not to mention voice the views of their respective electorates. Therefore, the plaintiff needs to have a thick skin and cannot rush to court every time a remark is made that he disagrees with or is seemingly against him. As stated above, the plaintiff himself is in the habit of making unsavoury remarks," the reply stated.

Judge Jalan allowed the applications filed by the defendants for condonation of delay in filing the replies and took their responses on record and allowed Shewale to file a rejoinder, if any.

The court then listed the matter for the next hearing on May 11.

Shewale had filed the defamation suit against the three for certain statements alleging that the Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction bought the party symbol for Rs 2,000 crore.

While appearing for Shewale, senior advocate Rajiv Nayar had earlier prayed the court to pass an injunction order to restrain them from making any further defamatory claims, and Justice Jalan had said that an order will be passed only after having the response of parties.

During the last hearing, the court had remarked: "These are political fights going on... as far as the institutions are concerned, they have to stand for themselves. Election Commission's shoulders are broad enough to deal with all this. Like the courts, people say all kinds of things about the courts." On Nayar asking the judge if defendants' conduct shocks his conscience, Justice Jalan had said: "...the question is, is a person entitled to shock my conscience? The question is not whether it shocks my conscience or not. The question is that in the free marketplace of ideas, are people entitled to say things which might shock my conscience?... Ultimately he will have to stand on his own legs." The court had added that it wants to give an opportunity to the defendants and go through their responses before giving a prima facie finding at this stage of issuance of summons.
G7 FMs confirm commitment to intensifying sanctions against Russia, supporting Ukraine further

The G7 Foreign Ministers, during a ministerial meeting, confirmed that they remain committed to intensifying, fully coordinating and enforcing sanctions against Russia, as well as to continuing strong support for Ukraine, the Foreign Ministry of Japan has said on its website on Monday.

They also concurred into reinforcing coordination to prevent and respond to evasion of sanctions as well as third party weapon supply to Russia.

The G7 Foreign Ministers also condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

The G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting started in Karuizawa on Sunday, April 16.
New Delhi, April 17 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday said it conducted searches at two places in Kerala and two premises in Tamil Nadu covering the office and residential property of Nandu alias Nandagopal, the head of KGN Bullion, Samju T.M and Shamsudheen in the Kerala gold smuggling case.

"During the searches, the statement of Samju T.M. was recorded wherein he had inter-alia admitted that he had procured 4500 grams of smuggled gold from Mohammed Shafi (smuggler) which was subsequently sold through the shop of his father-in-law, Shamsudheen to end customers," the ED said.

During the course of the search proceedings seven immovable properties worth Rs 1.13 crore and gold worth Rs 27.65 lakh were found and seized.

Earlier, an ECIR was recorded in the Kerala gold smuggling case on the basis of a FIR registered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Kochi, consequent to the seizure of 30.245 kgs of smuggled gold by customs (preventive) at Trivandrum International Airport, which was camouflaged as diplomatic baggage of the UAE consulate, Thiruvananthapuram.

The accused Sarith P.S., Swapna Prabha Suresh and Sandeep Nair were arrested on July 22, 2020 by the ED. On the basis of an investigation, a prosecution complaint (chargesheet) was filed on October 6, 2020 against Sarith P. S, Prabha Suresh and Nair.

"On further investigation, it came to light that M. Sivasankar, IAS, then principal secretary to the chief minister of Kerala, was also involved in assisting the accused persons in gold smuggling. M. Sivasankar was also arrested by the ED on October 28, 2020 and was arraigned as additional accused," the ED said.

Thereafter, a provisional attachment order for attaching FDs in bank accounts and cash seized from bank lockers totalling Rs 1.85 crore belonging to Swapna Suresh, Nair, Sarith and Sadan Kumar father of Sarith was issued. A supplementary prosecution complaint was filed on December 24, 2020.

"During the course of ongoing investigation relating to the seizure of smuggled gold by the customs, it was revealed that Rs 14.98 lakhs was handed over by Sarith P. S. to his cousin Akhil S. for keeping in safe custody and this amount was part of the proceeds of crime generated by Sarith P. S. and Smt Swapna Suresh out of smuggling of gold and commission received. Therefore, a provisional attachment order dated 15.09.2021 was issued for attaching movable properties being cash of Rs 14.98 lakh and smuggled gold weighing 30.245 kg valued at Rs 14.82 crore (lying in the custody of Cochin customs)," the official said.

Further investigation in the matter is on.
Mumbai, April 17 : In an unusual swoop, the Mumbai Police on Monday arrested five bookies from the Garware Pavilion inside the Wankhede Stadium where the ongoing IPL's nail-biting Mumbai Indians versus Kolkata Knight Riders match was played on Sunday.

Following a reliable tip-off, the Chembur Crime Branch Unit VI sleuths lay in wait in and around the stadium and managed to zero in and trap the 5 bookies operating there around 5 p.m. on Sunday.

The bookies confessed to using a mobile betting app and disclosed that they were keeping tabs on each ball being thrown during the match along with other associates elsewhere to make huge profits on placing bets.

The arrested accused are: Ajay Harikishen Baweja, 40, Vivek Maheshchandra Tiwari, 41, Manoj Bhairulalji Naraniwal, 37, Sumitkumar Lalit Dhadda, 44, and Zakiullah Aman Ziaullah Khan, 39.

The police have recovered cash amounting Rs 10,400, five tickets to the stadium matches, one passport, 3 SIM cards, 2 debit cards, a Lucknow-Mumbai flight ticket and nine mobiles, totally valued at Rs 220,000.

Further probe is underway to trace their associates, whether they are from or outside Mumbai, since when the racket was being perpetrated in the current IPL season, and related aspects.
Patna, April 17 : Hours after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced compensation to hooch tragedy victims, Bihar BJP President Samrat Chaudhary criticised him for not holding an all-party meeting to discuss the situation over the liquor deaths.

He said "Nitish Kumar is executing his 'Paltimar' approach in laws now. He has become ill and he should resign from the post of chief minister." "Nitish Kumar had given a statement in the House that he will organise an all-party meeting to apprise the leaders of hooch deaths. But, he didn't organise the meeting and decided for compensation to promote himself. He has nothing to do with democracy. He is known as 'Paltu Kumar' in the past and he has executed the 'Paltimar' plan again without caring for laws," Chaudhary said.

"As per official figures, 37 persons lost their lives in the East Champaran hooch tragedy but the state government has taken action only on low rank officers. DGP, home secretary and chief secretary are guilty of liquor tragedy, hence action should be taken against them. Chief minister Nitish Kumar is also a home minister of the state, so he has to resign from the post," the BJP leader said.

Union Minister of State for Home, Nityanand Rai, said: "The JDU-RJD-led Mahagahtbandhan government is responsible for the deaths due to hooch tragedies in Bihar. The way a large number of people died due to hooch tragedy in East Champaran attributes to arrogance and cruel face of the government." Nitish Kumar on Monday announced that an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh will be given to all family members of the victims who lost their lives in hooch tragedy since the liquor ban was imposed in April 2016.
New Delhi, April 17 : The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Varanasi District Collector to conduct an all-party meeting on Tuesday to examine the Muslim side's request for making arrangements for 'wuzu' (pre-prayer ablutions) in view of Ramzan.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y, Chandrachud observed that if a consensus is reached in the meeting, then it can be implemented without waiting for an order from the court. The bench, also comprising Justices P.S. Narasimha and J.B. Pardiwala, stressed that a meeting should be convened for a congenial working arrangement.

Senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, representing the Committee of Management Anjuman Intezamia Masjid, contended that wuzu was used to be done in the fountain and some washrooms were near that area.

The top court was informed that after the court's last year order, protecting the area where a purported Shiv linga was claimed to have been discovered, the entire area was sealed. The committee, which manages the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, urged the court to direct the authorities to consider the request.

At this juncture, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Uttar Pradesh government, submitted that arrangements already exist for providing water for wuzu and emphasised that opening the toilets would create problems.

In November last year, the apex court had extended the protection of the area inside Gyanvapi mosque where the "Shiv Linga" was found till further orders.

The top court had said the interim order passed in May 2022, in connection with the protection of the area inside Gyanvapi mosque where the "Shiv Linga" was found, during a survey, will remain in operation till further orders.

Committee of Management Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Varanasi, in its plea, contended the ablution area of the mosque where the "said object" has been found which, the petitioner maintains, is in fact a part of an old fountain. The plea further added that it was sealed by the district authorities and remains sealed till date, and the washroom alongside the same also remains sealed.

The plea contended that it has created inconvenience for the worshippers where they are deprived of the wuzukhana needed for offering namaz as well as the washroom. It pointed that the door to access the washroom was through the ablution area and the same remains sealed.
Khartoum, April 17 : Violent clashes in Sudan's capital Khartoum renewed on Monday around the Sudanese army command, Khartoum International Airport, and the presidential palace, after a ceasefire for three hours on Sunday.

At least 97 people have been killed and hundreds of others injured since the beginning of the clashes, according to the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors, a non-governmental body, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Sudanese Army said on Monday that they had limited clashes with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) around the perimeter of the army's General Command and the centre of Khartoum.

"The armed forces are in complete control of all their headquarters, and what is being circulated about the enemy's seizure of the general command, the guesthouse, or the Republican palace is untrue," the army said in a statement.

The army said that the Sudanese Air Force on Monday launched strikes against a number of hostile targets with the aim of ending pockets of the RSF in the capital.

The army further accused what it called "media mouthpieces" loyal to the RSF of spreading many lies to mislead public opinion.

Meanwhile, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commander of the RSF, on Monday urged the international community to intervene to stop what he termed as "crimes of Sudanese army commander." "The international community must take action now and intervene against the crimes of Sudanese General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, a radical Islamist who is bombing civilians from the air," Dagalo said on his Twitter account on Monday.

"The army is waging a brutal campaign against the innocent, bombing them with missiles," he added.

He also denied that his forces initiated the fighting with the Sudanese army. "We did not attack anyone. Our actions are merely a response to the siege and assault against our force," he said.

Volker Perthes, special representative of the Secretary-General for Sudan and head of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), Monday said he was "extremely disappointed" that the Humanitarian cessation of hostilities that both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF had committed to, was only partially honored on Sunday.

"Perthes continues to urge all parties to respect their international obligations, including to ensure the protection of all civilians," UNITAMS said in a statement.

He vowed to remain engaged with the Sudanese, regional and international partners to work for a cessation of hostilities.

On Sunday, the UN mission said that the two Sudanese sides had agreed to a ceasefire for three hours to open passages for humanitarian purposes.

Sudan has been witnessing armed clashes between the Sudanese army and the RSF since April 15.

The two sides traded accusations of initiating the conflict in the capital Khartoum and other places in Sudan.

The tension between the two military forces has escalated since Wednesday in the Merowe region in northern Sudan, after the RSF moved military vehicles to a location near the military air base there, a move that the army considered illegal.

Deep differences have emerged between the Sudanese army and the RSF, particularly regarding the latter's integration into the army as stipulated in a framework agreement signed between military and civilian leaders on December 5, 2022.
Bengaluru, April 17 : Breezy half-centuries by Devon Conway and Shivam Dune helped Chennai Super Kings post a massive 226/6 in 20 overs against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Match 24 of the 16th edition of Indian Premier League at the M. Chennaswamy stadium on Monday.

Conway started slowly but struck some brilliant shots in a superb display of power-hitting, blasting 83 off 45 deliveries while Dube smashed 52 off 27 balls, blasting five towering sixes, as CSK made superb use of a good pitch and feasted on the Royal Challengers Bangalore bowling as skipper Faf du Plessis missed a trick or two by failing to make better use of his spinners after opting to bowl first.

Harshal Patel sent down two waist-high full-tosses in the final over and Glenn Maxwell had to bowl the last three balls of that over. Ravindra Jadeja smacked him for a six over long-on but was out in the next legal delivery as Chennai Super Kings reached a massive score. Moeen Ali remained not out on 19 from nine deliveries as Ambati Rayudu (14 off 6) and Ravindra Jadeja (10 off 8) struck some lusty blows as CSK made good use of the opportunity and set RCB the biggest chase of IPL 2023.

Despite losing the prolific Ruturaj Gaikwad (3 off 6) with only 16 runs on the board, Chennai Super Kings reached 53/1 in the Power-play, with the left-right combination of Devon Conway and Ajinkya Rahane as they raised 74 runs for the second wicket partnership.

After his first few shots landed in no man's land but failed to reach the boundary, Rahane hooked Vijaykumar Vyshak onto the roof of the Chinnaswamy Stadium and then lashed Wayne Parnell to extra-cover fence in the 6th over before ending the Power-play by pulling Parnell over short fine-leg for maximum followed by flicking the South African bowler to the midwicket boundary.

Just when it looked like Rahane will race to his second half-century of IPL 2023, he fell victim to a Hasaranga wrong'un, swinging in vain as the ball crashes into the off-stump. Rahane made 37 off 20 balls, hitting three fours and two sixes.

Conway, on the other hand, whipped Parnell to the midwicket fence and then scooped him over the fine-leg boundary for a six. The Black Caps opener rolled out the scoop for a boundary off Vyshak before launching Glenn Maxwell straight of wide long-on for a maximum. Harshal Patel was swatted away for six over the midwicket fence while Wanindu Hasaranga got the same medicine when he dropped one short outside off-stump as he completed his back-to-back half-century.

The 31-year-old Conway ended the 10th over by despatching a Hasaranga wrong'un for four. He hammered Vyshak for a couple of boundaries and a six over the fine-leg boundary in the 12th over as RCB conceded 16 runs.

Shivam Dube smacked Siraj for a four and a six in the 14th over and blasted Vyshak for two sixes in the next over and followed it up with a boundary off a wide yorker to claim 18 runs as CSK were cruising with 165/2 at the end of the 15th over. He ramped a short one from Harshal Patel to the third-man boundary.

However, Patel made the breakthrough for RCB when he castled Conway with a brilliant slow-dipping yorker, ending the Black Caps opener's superb innings for 83 (off 45 balls, 6x4, 6x6). CSK were 171/3 as the teams went into the strategic timeout.

As Parnell came back into the attack, Dube greeted him with a six straight down the ground as he completed his fifty off 25 balls. Parnell had the last laugh as he cut on the pace again and had Dube (52 off 27 balls, 2x4, 5x6) caught inches away from the boundary rope at deep midwicket as Mohammed Siraj pouched a superb catch.

Moeen Ali launched the second ball he faced from Parnell for a straight six. Ambati Rayudu then blasted a four and six off successive deliveries by Vyshak before he was out, deceived by a leg-cutter and holing out a skier to Dinesh Karthik. Moeen blasted a six off Siraj's first delivery of the 19th over as CSK crossed the psychological 200-run mark.

Vijaykumar Vyshak, who claimed three wickets in his debut match, was hammered for 62 runs off his four overs while Wayne Parnell conceded 1-48 of his quota. Hasaranga surprisingly was given only two overs as he ended up with 1-21.

Brief scores: Chennai Super Kings 226/6 in 20 overs (Devon Conway 83, Shivam Dube 52, Ajinkya Rahane 37; Wanindu Hasaranga 1-21) against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Latest updates on IPL 2023
New Delhi, April 17 : The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a Kerala government plea challenging the state high court order asking it to translocate a rogue elephant to the Parambikulam tiger reserve in the state's Palakkad district.

The Kerala government, earlier in the day, mentioned the plea for hearing before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud and it decided to hear the plea during the day.

During the hearing, the bench, also comprising Justices P.S. Narasimha and J.B. Pardiwala, observed that the high court had considered the view of the expert committee and passed a reasoned order. However, the state government pressed that the elephant should be sent to a training centre, since it had killed seven people and destroyed several homes.

The bench told the Kerala government counsel that experts have said that the elephant needs to be relocated, while declining to interfere with the high court order. It further added that the committee has suggested something and the state government cannot go over it.

The state government contended that one week was given by the high court to relocate the elephant to an alternative space, and if the state government fails, then it has to be shifted to Parambikulam. Counsel pressed that the government had decided to relocate the elephant to a training centre against the backdrop that the elephant had killed people and destroyed several homes.

After hearing arguments in the matter, the bench declined to entertain the appeal by the state government against the high court order.

The Kerala High Court, last week, declined to review its decision to translocate the rice-eating tusker to the Parambikulam tiger reserve.

On April 5, the high court had directed relocation of the elephant to the tiger reserve in accordance with the suggestion made by the expert committee.
Islamabad, April 17 : A Chinese national, who has been arrested on charges of blasphemy, was shifted from Upper Kohistan to Abbottabad in a Pakistan Army helicopter on Monday afternoon over safety fears, Komila SHO Naseeruddin said, as per media reports.

The accused, who works at the Dasu hydropower project, was taken into custody by the Komila police on Sunday night after labourers at the site accused him of blasphemy, Dawn reported.

SHO Naseeruddin, while confirming the arrest, said that an FIR had been registered against the Chinese national at the Komila police station.

The complaint invokes Section 295-C (use of derogatory remarks, etc., in respect of the Holy Prophet) of the Pakistan Penal Code. It was registered on the complaint of Gulistan and Yasir - both of whom are heavy vehicle drivers, Dawn reported.

The complaint said that on Sunday night, police official Jehanzeb was informed about a mob trying to break into a Chinese camp near Barseen.

It stated that locals had staged a protest and damaged the camp's site No. 6.

"After receiving the information, a police party reached the site, took control of the area and safely shifted the accused to the Komila police station," the police said.

However, the police said that in the early hours of Monday, a large number of people reached Komila and once again blocked the Karakoram Highway. They also raised slogans, Dawn reported.

The protesters opened the Karakoram Highway for traffic after the police assured them of registration of an FIR. Local religious leaders also urged the demonstrators to call off the protest.

Later in the day, Naseeruddin said that the accused was moved to Abbottabad in an army helicopter as the police feared locals could harm him, Dawn reported.
Patna, April 17 : Sand mafia members attacked a Mines Department team, and brutally thrashed a woman mining inspector, on the banks of Sone river in Bihar's Patna district on Monday afternoon, police said.

The mining team learnt that sand mafia were overloading the trucks near the Parev village and a team of the Mines Department and Bihta police went there for the inspection.

However, the sand mafias and truck drivers attacked the team. Seeing the assailants, outnumbered them, the police and Mines Department fled but the woman official was not as lucky, and fell down.

The assailants beat her with batons and also pelted stones on her. Soon a large number of police personnel headed by SP, City, West reached the spot and chased away the mafia members.

As per the official spokesperson of Patna police, 44 accused have been arrested in connection with attack.

"We have registered three separate FIRs in Bihta police station in connection with the incident and investigation is currently underway. We have arrested 44 accused in this connection," the spokesperson said.
New Delhi, April 17 : A Delhi court on Monday directed Aaj Tak news channel not to air the findings of the narco analysis and psychological evaluation done on Aaftab Amin Poonawala, the accused in the murder of Shraddha Walkar case, till the next hearing.

Additional Sessions Judge Manisha Khurana Kakkar of the Saket Court Complex granted the Delhi police liberty to approach a higher court for pursuing the remedy requested in their application for restraining news channels from airing or publishing any content related to the FIR registered in the case.

"The publication of the said document, especially the CCTV footage, can severely prejudice the right of fair trial of the accused as enshrined under Article 21 (protection to life and personal liberty) of the Constitution of India, and the channel cannot be allowed to telecast the content of the same so as to conduct a media trial," Kakkar said.

She also cited a Delhi High Court ruling of 2001 that said the media has no place in the administration of justice once the proceedings have begun.

The court then took note of an undertaking by the news channel's lawyer that it would not broadcast, publish, or otherwise make available the contents of the voice layered test, narco analysis, or conversation captured on Dr. Practo's App, for the following three days.

"Thus, in view of the undertaking given on behalf of the said channel in the court today and in view of the aforesaid judgments, the said channel shall not telecast psychological assessment and voice layered test, narco analysis and conversation recorded on the App of Dr Practo/documents as well as charge sheet and CCTV footage for the next three days, i.e., till April 20," the court said.

"You (Delhi Police) might also approach the constitutional court and exercise your remedy. You need an order that will help you with other channels also. It would be in your favour to get an order from a higher court," the judge said.

Amit Prasad, a special public prosecutor, claimed that because digital content is sensitive by nature, broadcasting it would jeopardise the accused's right to a fair trial in addition to having an adverse effect on law and order.

He said: "A media trial creates a bias not only in the minds of the general public, but also puts pressure on the court while taking decisions." The advocate for Aaj Tak argued that there is no provision under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) which could empower the present court to pass any such restraint order and that there are precedents to the effect that only constitutional courts (Supreme Court and high courts) have such inherent power.

He added that no prejudice is likely to be caused to the accused in case such content is telecast.

On April 10, the prosecution had claimed that such telecast would be damaging, not only for the case, but will also impact the accused and the family members of the victim.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has arrived in Baghdad, where he held talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein.

According to the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, this is the first visit of the Foreign Minister of Ukraine to Iraq since 2012.

Ukraine and Iraq are united by a long history of friendship and mutual respect. At one time, Ukrainian servicemen helped normalize the situation on Iraqi territory. Currently, the Government of Iraq supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine against the backdrop of a full-scale invasion by Russia. The telephone conversation between the leaders of our states last week gave a significant impetus to the activation of the bilateral political dialogue, Kuleba said.

He stressed that he arrived in Baghdad to open the doors to new opportunities in the bilateral relations between Ukraine and Iraq, and fill the relationship with new practical content.

In Baghdad, Kuleba invited Fuad Hussein to visit Ukraine.

The Minister told his Iraqi counterpart about the efforts of the Ukrainian Defense Forces to repel Russian aggression and liberate the occupied territories, and also paid special attention to the Peace Formula of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The foreign ministers separately discussed the export of Ukrainian grain.

In addition, the ministers agreed to hold consultations at the level of a number of ministries of Ukraine and Iraq in the near future in order to intensify cooperation in the field of trade, education and digitalization.

They also agreed to hold political consultations of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, as well as at the fifth meeting of the intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation. The previous meeting of the commission was held in 2012.

Kuleba's visit takes place in the context of the implementation of the agreements reached during a telephone conversation between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Sabbar Al-Sudani on April 10.
Bengaluru, April 17 : The BJP on Monday released a third list of candidates for the May 10 Karnataka Assembly polls, accommodating the family members of three senior leaders amid the resentment and rebellion in the state unit.

However, senior leader S.A. Ramdas, miffed with the denial of ticket from Krishnaraja constituency in Mysuru city, stated that he will announce his decision on future course of action on Tuesday.

The BJP has announced candidates for 10 constituencies, thus finalising 222 candidates of the total 224. The party is yet to announce candidates for Shivamogga constituency represented by former minister K.S. Eshwarappa and Manvi constituency.

The party has announced state General Secretary Mahesh Tenginakayi as its candidate for Hubballi-Dharwad Central constituency represented by former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, who had joined the Congress after being denied a ticket by the BJP.

The party has allotted ticket to senior leader Karadi Sanganna's daughter-in-law Manjula Amaresh for Koppal constituency, former minister Arvind Limbavali's wife Manjula Arvind Limbavali from Mahadevapura reserve constituency in Bengaluru, and Katta Jagadish, son of senior leader Katta Subramanya Naidu, from Hebbal constituency in Bengaluru.

The party has chosen Srivatsa, its Mysuru district President from Krishnaraja constituency in Mysuru instead of senior leader Ramdas, who did hectic lobbying and is now irate.
Bengaluru, April 17 : Brilliant half-centuries by Glenn Maxwell and Faf du Plessis went in vain as Chennai Super Kings chipped in with timely wickets to prevail over Royal Challengers by eight runs in Match 24 of IPL 2023 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Monday.

Maxwell struck a 36-ball 76, smashing three fours and eight sixes while and Du Plessis hammered a 33-ball 62 as they came together for a sensational counter-attacking 126-run partnership for the third wicket that helped Royal Challengers Bangalore recover from 15/2 in the second over to keep on course for a massive chase.

RCB were up against it chasing the highest target of 227 and thanks to the brilliant batsmanship of Maxwell and Du Plessis came close to the target before being restricted to 218/8 in 20 overs, losing by eight runs.

The bats dominated the ball in this Southern Derby as 444 aggregate runs were scored in the match in which Tushar Deshpande of Chennai Super Kings emerged as the best bowler with 3-45 off four overs. In all 33 sixes were hit in two innings combined as the two teams put up a splendid display of big hitting. Though CSK won the match, they were lucky as they dropped around half a dozen catches. However, Ajiankya Rahane saved eight runs at the boundary and that ended up as the difference between the two teams.

Chasing a massive target of 227, the highest this season so far, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) got off to a poor start as Virat Kohli fell cheaply, dragging on an under edge onto his body and then the stump as he moved away to hit Akash Singh, who came in for Ambati Rayudu as Impact Player, out of the ground. Kohli was out for 6 (4 balls, 1x4).

Maheesh Theekshana dropped a sitter, running back from mid-off of the last ball of the first over as Mahipal Lomror survived a chance. But he was out without troubling the scorer, offering a dolly to Ruturaj Gaikwad at cover-point off Tushar Deshpande.

Skipper Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell set on the repair job with brilliant counter-attacking half-centuries as RCB maintained their chances for a successful chase.

Maxwell smashed two sixes off Akash Singh in the third over, flicked Theekshana for a six over the backward square and bashed a four and six off successive deliveries by fellow Sri Lankan Matheesha Pathirana in the eighth over. He smacked Ravindra Jadeja for a boundary and then smashed back-to-back fours off Pathirana to complete his fifty in 20 balls.

Du Plessis kept up the scoring rate from the other end as he capitalised on an early drop off a difficult chance by Dhoni for a boundary to smash two fours and a six off Deshpande in the fourth over and smacked Akash Singh to a six and four off successive deliveries, whipping, cutting and driving with relish. He brought of the fifty of their partnership with a six over the long-off boundary of Theekshana and went on to complete his half-century off 23 balls.

Maxwell continued his power-hitting at the other end, bashing a couple of sixes as they completed their century partnership in 47 balls, putting up an extraordinary display of shot-making.

Theeksahana made the breakthrough for CSK when he got Maxwell to sky a length ball sent wide and Dhoni completed an easy catch. Maxwell's brilliant 76 came off 36 deliveries and was studded with three boundaries and eight maximums.

Faf was dropped by Theekshana off his own bowling in the 11th over but was soon caught by Dhoni as he top-edged Moeen Ali as both set batters got out and CSK roared back into the match as RCB slumped to 159/4 in the 14th over.

Shahbaz Ahmed made 12 off 10 and Dinesh Karthik smashed 28 off 14 balls as CSK continued to chip in with wickets as RCB batters chased the big asking rate.

With 31 runs needed off the last two overs, Suyash Prabhudessai pulled Deshpande over the deep midwicket boundary and then with 19 needed off the final six balls, he struck Pathirana for a six with a reverse scoop on the third delivery but Pathirana had the last laugh as he got Prabhudessasi holing out at deep midwicket as CSK won by eight runs.

Brief scores: Chennai Super Kings 226/6 in 20 overs (Devon Conway 83, Shivam Dube 52, Ajinkya Rahane 37; Wanindu Hasaranga 1-21) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 218/8 in 20 overs (Glenn Maxwell 76, Faf du Plessis 62, Dinesh Karthik 28; Tushar Deshpande 3-45, Matheesha Pathirana 2-42) by 8 runs.

Latest updates on IPL 2023
Buddhist culture should not only be preserved but also be propagate : Arunachal CM Image Source: IANS News

Buddhist culture should not only be preserved but also be propagate : Arunachal CM Image Source: IANS News

Buddhist culture should not only be preserved but also be propagate : Arunachal CM Image Source: IANS News

Buddhist culture should not only be preserved but also be propagate : Arunachal CM Image Source: IANS News

Itanagar, April 17 : Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Monday stressed that Buddhist culture, which thrives on peaceful co-existence of every sentient being, should not only be preserved but also propagated.

In his address at a national conference on "Nalanda Buddhism - Retracing the source in footsteps of Acharyas: From Nalanda to Himalayas and beyond", he said that Arunachal Pradesh has a big chunk of Buddhists and "fortunately they have kept their culture and traditions safe with religious fervour".

"The main pillar on which Nalanda Buddhism stands is the principle of 'reasoning and analysis'. This means we can even bring the teachings of Lord Buddha under the ambit of reasoning and analysis. This logic is based on science and perhaps Buddhism is the only religion that gives its followers this liberty," he said.

Welcoming the delegates from all the Himalayan states of the country, the Chief Minister told them that Arunachal Pradesh is a mix of religious followers.

The Indian Himalayan Council of Nalanda Buddhist Tradition (IHCNBT) organised the national conference at Zemithang in Tawang district, which is one of the holiest places of Buddhism. Over 600 delegates attended the conference from different parts of the country.

Khandu said: "Arunachal Pradesh is not home only to Buddhism but to several religions including those who follow their own indigenous faith. I believe that every religion and faith should flourish and exist peacefully. I am proud that we Arunachalis are doing just that." Zemithang is the Indian border post through which the 14th Dalai Lama entered India in 1959, the Chief Minister said adding that therefore, holding this conference here is very significant.

Noting that while Buddhism is expanding globally and witnessing important resurgence in few traditional areas, Khandu pushed for the need to make its presence vibrant with roots connected to Nalanda Buddhism. He specifically urged all to attend the session on 'Nalanda Buddhism in 21st century - Challenges and response', which, he said, would be of great importance for the young generation of Buddhists.

The one-day conference was attended by 45 delegates of revered Rinpoches, Geshes, Khenpos and scholars from the Himalayan states of Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir (Paddar-Pangi), Sikkim, north West Bengal (Darjeeling, Doors, Jaigaon, and Kalimpong), South India monasteries and 35 delegates from various parts of Arunachal Pradesh like Tuting, Mechuka, Taksing and Anini and others.
Bengaluru, April 18 : Breezy half-centuries by Devon Conway and Shivam Dube and a fine 3-45 by pacer Tushar Deshpande in a high-scoring match helped Chennai Super Kings prevail over Royal Challengers Bangalore by eight runs in a run-feast at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Monday.

After CSK had lost the prolific Ruturaj Gaikwad early, Conway and Ajinkya Rahane (37 off 20) repaired the innings and then Dube joined the fun as Chennai sent the RCB bowlers on a leather hunt after being asked to bat first on a good pitch that was expected to ease further with the dew set in.

Conway blasted a 43-ball 83, hitting six boundaries and six maximums as he and Dube, who smacked 52 off 27, smashed two fours and six maximums as CSK set up a big score of 226/6 in 20 overs. Conway first put on 74 runs for the second wicket with Rahane then shared an 80-run partnership with Dube.

Deshpande then got into the act after Glenn Maxwell and Faf du Plessis had struck brilliant half-centuries as RCB raced to 140/3 in 12 overs. He claimed two wickets in that crucial period sending back the dangerous Dinesh Karthik (28 off 14) and Wayne Parnell (2).

Glenn Maxwell and Faf du Plessis' efforts went in vain as RCB were restricted to 218/8 in 20 overs, falling short by eight runs.

With this win, CSK moved into the third spot with six points from five matches, tied with Lucknow Super Giants, Gujarat Titans and Punjab Kings with the same number of points. Rajasthan Royals lead the table with eight points from five matches.

But in the end, their efforts went in vain as Chennai Super Kings chipped in with timely wickets thanks to Deshpande and Matheesha Pathirana (2-42) and went on to win the match despite mixed efforts in the field as they dropped five catches, Theekshana putting down two, and Rahane pulling off a couple of good saves at the boundary and saving eight runs.

In all 444 runs were scored in the two innings with the batters smacking 33 sixes in all as the batters ruled over the bowlers.

Earlier, Conway started slowly but struck some brilliant shots in a superb display of power-hitting, blasting 83 off 45 deliveries while Dube smashed 52 off 27 balls, hammering five towering sixes, as CSK made superb use of a good pitch and feasted on the RCB bowling.

Despite losing the prolific Ruturaj Gaikwad (3 off 6) with only 16 runs on the board, Chennai Super Kings reached 53/1 in the Power-play, with the left-right combination of Conway and Ajinkya Rahane taking control. They went on to raise 74 runs for the second wicket partnership.

After his first few shots landed in no man's land but failed to reach the boundary, Rahane hooked Vijaykumar Vyshak onto the roof of the Chinnaswamy Stadium and then lashed Wayne Parnell to extra-cover fence in the 6th over before ending the Power-play by pulling Parnell over short fine-leg for maximum followed by flicking the South African bowler to the midwicket boundary.

Just when it looked like Rahane will race to his second half-century of IPL 2023, he fell to a Hasaranga wrong'un, swinging in vain as the ball crashed into the off-stump. Rahane made 37 off 20 balls, hitting three fours and two sixes.

Conway, on the other hand, whipped Parnell to the midwicket fence and then scooped him over the fine-leg boundary for a six. The Black Caps opener rolled out the scoop for a boundary off Vyshak before launching Glenn Maxwell straight of wide long-on for a maximum. Harshal Patel was swatted away for six over the midwicket fence while Wanindu Hasaranga got the same treatment when he dropped one short outside off-stump as he completed back-to-back half-centuries.

Shivam Dube smacked Siraj for a four and a six in the 14th over and blasted Vyshak for two sixes in the next over and followed it up with a boundary off a wide yorker to claim 18 runs as CSK were cruising with 165/2 at the end of the 15th over. He ramped a short one from Harshal Patel to the third-man boundary.

However, Harshal Patel made the breakthrough for RCB when he castled Conway with a brilliant slow-dipping yorker, ending the Black Caps opener's superb innings for 83 (off 45 balls, 6x4, 6x6). Dube completed his fifty off 25 balls with a couple of big hits against Parnell. The South African pacer had the last laugh as he cut on the pace again and had Dube (52 off 27 balls, 2x4, 5x6) caught inches away from the boundary rope at deep midwicket as Mohammed Siraj pouched a superb catch.

Scoring a cracking 83, Devon Conway put on an impressive show with the bat and bagged the Player of the Match award as @ChennaiIPL sealed a win against #RCB.  



Scorecard  https://t.co/QZwZlNk1Tt #TATAIPL | #RCBvCSK pic.twitter.com/NPmhmgW1nf  IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 17, 2023

Moeen Ali remained not out on 19 from nine deliveries as Ambati Rayudu (14 off 6) and Ravindra Jadeja (10 off 8) helped CSK make good use of the opportunity and set RCB the biggest chase of IPL 2023, which in the end proved enough for an exciting win.

Brief scores: Chennai Super Kings 226/6 in 20 overs (Devon Conway 83, Shivam Dube 52, Ajinkya Rahane 37; Wanindu Hasaranga 1-21) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 218/8 in 20 overs (Glenn Maxwell 76, Faf du Plessis 62, Dinesh Karthik 28; Tushar Deshpande 3-35, Matheesha Pathirana 2-42) by 8 runs.

Latest updates on IPL 2023

-- Syndicated from IANS
Kunovice Airport, Uherske Hradiste, Czech Republic [ UHE / LKKU ]

If you are planning to travel to Uherske Hradiste or any other city in Czech Republic, this airport locator will be a very useful tool. This page gives complete information about the Kunovice Airport along with the airport location map, Time Zone, lattitude and longitude, Current time and date, hotels near the airport etc... Kunovice Airport Map showing the location of this airport in Czech Republic. Uherske Hradiste Airport IATA Code, ICAO Code, exchange rate etc... is also provided.

Uherske Hradiste Airport Info:

Uherske Hradiste Airport IATA Code: UHE Uherske Hradiste Airport ICAO Code: LKKU Latitude : 49.0294 Longitude : 17.4397 City : Uherske Hradiste Country : Czech Republic World Area Code : 418 Airport Type : Medium Uherske Hradiste Airport Address / Contact Details :

Uherske Hradiste Airport (UHE), 687 22 Ostrozska Nova Ves, Czech Republic Airport Type : Public Timezone : Europe/Prague Kunovice Airport Timezone : GMT +02:00 hours Current time and date at Kunovice Airport is 07:52:11 AM (CEST) on Wednesday, Apr 26, 2023

Looking for information on Kunovice Airport, Uherske Hradiste, Czech Republic? Know about Kunovice Airport in detail. Find out the location of Kunovice Airport on Czech Republic map and also find out airports near to Uherske Hradiste. This airport locator is a very useful tool for travelers to know where is Kunovice Airport located and also provide information like hotels near Kunovice Airport, airlines operating to Kunovice Airport etc... IATA Code and ICAO Code of all airports in Czech Republic. Scroll down to know more about Kunovice Airport or Uherske Hradiste Airport, Czech Republic.

Kunovice Airport Map - Location of Kunovice Airport Load Map Czech Republic - General Information Country Code CZ Capital Prague Currency Koruna (CZK)

 1 CZK = 0.047 USD

 1 USD = 21.411 CZK

 1 CZK = 0.043 EUR

 1 EUR = 23.512 CZK

 More CZK convertion rates Tel Code +420 Top Level Domain .cz

This page provides all the information you need to know about Kunovice Airport, Czech Republic. This page is created with the aim of helping travelers and tourists visiting Czech Republic or traveling to Uherske Hradiste Airport. Details about Uherske Hradiste Airport given here include Kunovice Airport Code - IATA Code (3 letter airport codes) and ICAO Code (4 letter airport codes)

Coordinates of Uherske Hradiste Airport - Latitude and Longitude (Lat and Long) of Kunovice Airport

Location of Kunovice Airport - City Name, Country, Country Codes etc...

Kunovice Airport Time Zone and Current time at Kunovice Airport

Address and contact details of Kunovice Airport along with website address of the airport

Clickable Location Map of Kunovice Airport on Google Map.

General information about Czech Republic where Kunovice Airport is located in the city of Uherske Hradiste. General information include capital of Czech Republic, currency and conversion rate of Czech Republic currency, Telephone Country code, exchange rate against US Dollar and Euro in case of major world currencies etc...

UHE - Kunovice Airport IATA Code and LKKU - Kunovice Airport ICAO code
CivicPlus, the leader in civic experience technology for local governments, has announced Bensenville, Illinois as the winner of its 2022 Love Where You Live contest. The months-long social media campaign asked CivicPlus followers to share their comments, photos, and stories about why they love their hometown for a chance to win a $1500 donation to the civic charity of the winners choice. The winning Bensenville community member selected the Bensenville Community Foundation (BCF) as their preferred donation recipient.

The BCF was founded in 1993 and is supported by the Bensenville Intergovernmental Group, which brings together the public agencies serving all Bensenville residents. Its Board of Directors comprises representatives from all area taxing bodies, including the Bensenville Community Public Library, the Bensenville Park District, the Village of Bensenville, the Bensenville Fire Protection District, Bensenville School District 2, and Fenton High School District 100.

Im honored that Bensenville was selected to be this years Love Where You Live contest winner, said Village President Frank DeSimone. Donations like this play a key role in allowing the Bensenville Community Foundation to continue making such an impactful difference for our residents. As a community that offers some of the best activities, programs, and resources in the area, there truly is a lot to love in Bensenville.

2022 marked the inaugural year of CivicPlus Love Where You Live social media campaign to encourage user-generated content that answers the question, why do you love where you live? With topics ranging from civic engagement to holidays and from parks and recreation to restaurants, followers shared sentiments, photos, and videos that tell the story about what makes their community unique and why theyve chosen to call it home. CivicPlus will launch year two of the campaign and open 2023 nominations in the spring of 2023.

"CivicPlus is committed to developing technology that powers local governments and empowers positive civic experiences that foster trust and appreciation by residents for local leaders, said CivicPlus Director of Product Marketing Jennifer Elliott. We are pleased to facilitate positive social dialogue about our unique communities and give customers and their residents a place to share their memories.

For complete terms and conditions for the Love Where You Love Contest, visit CivicPlus.com.

About CivicPlus

CivicPlus is a technology company focused on building trust in government by fostering consistently positive digital experiences for residents and staff. With over 12,000 global customers, CivicPlus solutions are used daily by over 100,000 administrative staff members and over 340 million people in the U.S. and Canada alone. For more information, visit civicplus.com.
Home and business owners across Dallas rely on professionally monitored business and home security systems to protect their families, employees, and valuables. As criminals have become more brazen, leading home security companies in Dallas, like Alert 360, have kept up with crime trends and responded with advanced security systems that help prevent loss and capture thieves. Remote video monitoring, video doorbells, and two-way voice cameras are just a few examples of advanced security options.

Additionally, statistics show that just the presence of a commercial or home security system reduces property crime. Thieves often move on to a building or home that doesnt have a security sign posted. There also are countless examples of crimes prevented throughout Dallas because of custom security systems. Some of the most popular security options people choose are security cameras and live video monitoring. When viewed on camera, its more likely that the thieves will be apprehended, or property recovered. Most importantly, leading Dallas home security companies often provide life safety devices as well. These home security solutions save lives as shown in the following example.

Recently, one of the best Dallas home security companies, Alert 360, received a carbon monoxide alarm from a residential customer. When Alert 360 was unable to reach the customer, they immediately dispatched the local fire department to investigate. During a follow-up call with Alert 360, the customer shared that the fire department had discovered a carbon monoxide leak inside the home. When searching for a security system company near me, be sure to look for one that includes multiple life-safety options. Local Dallas home security providers, like Alert 360, include multiple monitored options that help keep families and employees safe. In addition to security cameras that monitor activity, devices such as panic alarms, carbon monoxide and heat or smoke detectors, and medical pendants are just a few options. Alert 360 also offers options that allow you to protect sensitive areas, such as liquor, gun, or medicine cabinets, and backyard areas with swimming pools. Like most home security systems in Dallas, business alarms also protect valuable property.

In another recent example, an Alert 360 video monitoring agent observed multiple cars approaching a protected location during the evening when the location should have been empty. A light-colored SUV attempted to back through the fence and into the buildings roll-up door, which fortunately, did not open. The Alert 360 agent witnessed the driver and another person exit the vehicle, wearing hoodies and masks, and attempt to pry open the door, unsuccessfully. The Alert 360 video monitoring agent contacted local police and gave live updates on the groups actions as police responded. These actions led to the suspects fleeing the scene before causing any other property loss or damage.

Every day, Alert 360 responds to countless emergencies such as the above. To help save lives and property, security experts suggest starting with a local provider and a free security evaluation. An individualized evaluation from a Dallas home security system company will help determine how a custom security system can fit your needs and budget.

About Alert 360

Founded in 1973, Alert 360 marks its 50th year as a home security and business security company this year. Today, the company is one of the largest providers of monitored home security and home automation solutions to homes in the United States. The company monitors more than two million security sensors and has an active base of more than 80,000 CCTV cameras installed.
Ohio Reproductive Medicine This national recognition is a proud healthcare moment for the city of Columbus, a testament to our scientific innovation, and a wonderful acknowledgment of our teams dedication to positively impacting the lives of those who wish to build a family.  Grant Schmidt, MD, PhD

Ohio Reproductive Medicine (ORM), the first-ever fertility center in Columbus, is pleased to announce that it has been recognized for outstanding care in Newsweek Magazines 2023 Americas Best Fertility Clinics report.

Ohio Reproductive Medicine is the only fertility center in Columbus to be recognized  and one of only two IVF clinics to be acknowledged in Ohio.

Comprised of four award-winning reproductive endocrinologists, high live birth rates, and a history of success in treating all patients regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status  Ohio Reproductive Medicine was ranked within the top 100 fertility clinics in the United States.

View the complete Americas Best Fertility Clinics report by Newsweek.

Newsweeks ranking is based on a combination of objective metrics and national survey results of over 3,000 infertility specialists, obstetricians, and gynecologists who refer patients to fertility clinics. These assessments and recommendations were utilized alongside key performance indicator metrics for assisted reproductive technology (ART)  including clinic accreditations, patient reviews, and more.

Our mission and passion are as strong as ever, said ORM founder and reproductive endocrinologist Grant Schmidt, MD, PhD. This national recognition is a proud healthcare moment for the city of Columbus, a testament to our scientific innovation, and a wonderful acknowledgment of our teams dedication to positively impacting the lives of those who wish to build a family.

Ohio Reproductive Medicine offers a full spectrum of fertility treatments and reproductive services, including intrauterine insemination (IUI), in vitro fertilization (IVF), preimplantation genetic screening (PGT), male infertility testing, LGBTQ+ family building, donor egg IVF, donor sperm options, egg freezing, and more.

In 2021, Ohio Reproductive Medicine opened the doors to its new 15,000 square foot fertility center and IVF laboratory in Columbus.

Earlier that year, ORM announced it had joined Boston IVFs national fertility treatment network, which recently celebrated 35 years in practice and over 150,000 babies born.

For ORM patients, a significant benefit of the partnership includes gaining access to over 50 Boston IVF fertility doctors, scientists, and experts across its national network  who, alongside ORM reproductive endocrinologists, form a national care committee to review all complex cases, identify essential trends from over 875,000 past IVF cycles, and create effective fertility treatment plans.



Follow Ohio Reproductive Medicine on Instagram

Follow Ohio Reproductive Medicine on Facebook

Follow Ohio Reproductive Medicine on Linkedin

Follow Ohio Reproductive Medicine on Twitter

Follow Ohio Reproductive Medicine on YouTube

ABOUT OHIO REPRODUCTIVE MEDICINE

For over 35 years, Ohio Reproductive Medicine has helped individuals and couples achieve their dream of building a family. As Central Ohios first and largest assisted reproductive technologies (ART) program, ORM continues to pave the way for laboratory excellence, superior clinical care, and high IVF success rates. For more information, please visit Ohio Reproductive Medicine.
Ideal Option, a national leader in evidence-based outpatient treatment for addiction to fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, alcohol and polysubstance, is now welcoming new patients in Bentonville. The new clinic, located at 907 SE Village Loop, Suite 3, will provide primarily buprenorphine-based medication-assisted treatment with an onsite addiction medicine specialist.

While opioid prescribing and heroin use is on the decrease, overdose deaths continue to increase in Arkansas, largely due to the prevalence of fentanyl in the illicit drug supply.

According to data from the county coroners, the number of fatal drug overdoses in Benton and Washington counties nearly doubled in the past three years  from 42 in 2020 to 74 in 2022.

Fentanyl is regularly mixed with other illicit drugs to make them more addictive, often without the user knowing. Polysubstance use disorder is therefore now the most common diagnosis at Ideal Option. In 2022, over half of all Arkansas patients tested positive for more than one substance at enrollment, and 24% tested positive for three or more substances.

The report does offer hope however, by showing how effective medication-assisted treatment is for reducing substance use. For patients who remained in treatment with Ideal Option during 2022, lab testing shows:



94% less fentanyl use

87% less total opioid use

96% less heroin use

77% less methamphetamine use

90% less cocaine use

The new clinic in Bentonville is Ideal Options ninth location in Arkansas and is opening at a time of desperate need for expanded access to evidence-based treatment from experienced providers. Ideal Option has been specializing in addiction medicine using buprenorphine-based medications such as Suboxone for 11 years and currently operates 89 clinics in 11 states.

In 2022, Ideal Option helped more than 1,000 patients living in Arkansas get started in recovery," said Aaron Bunch, community outreach coordinator for Ideal Option. "I am excited to expand our life-saving treatment services to Bentonville and look forward to building relationships within this wonderful community.

The new Ideal Option clinic in Bentonville is open Monday  Thursday, 7:30 a.m.  6 p.m. and is located at 907 SE Village Loop, Suite 3, Bentonville, AR 72712.

Most forms of insurance are accepted, including Medicare and Medicaid, and patients can typically get started on treatment for fentanyl, heroin, alcohol or other substances within 1-3 business days.

Patients can make an appointment by calling 1.877.522.1275 or visiting http://www.idealoption.com.

About Ideal Option

Headquartered in Kennewick, Washington, Ideal Option was founded in 2012 and has since helped more than 65,000 patients through a network of 89 office-based medication-assisted treatment (MAT) clinics across 11 states. With a mission to serve under-served communities, Ideal Option accepts most forms of insurance including Medicaid and Medicare. Financial assistance and payment plans are also available.

Ideal Option's team of medical providers carry certifications in Addiction and Emergency Medicine, Internal, and Family Medicine, among other specialties. The company also employs social workers, caseworkers, counselors, and mental health practitioners. This holistic approach helps drive positive outcomes, including family stability, stable housing, improved overall health, and reduced rates of recidivism.

In all the communities it serves, Ideal Option collaborates with existing stakeholders and providers to improve the continuum of care. This approach includes partnerships with emergency rooms and county jail systems, where individuals with substance use disorder often appear, as well as collaborating with numerous support agencies and municipal programs addressing social needs such as housing, mental health, and nutrition support.
Verity Credit Union, an $859 million asset financial institution in Seattle that focuses on socially-responsible, community-rooted banking, announced today it was awarded a more than $2.4 million grant through the Equitable Recovery Program (ERP), established to support low- or moderate-income communities disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Verity joins other Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) nationwide in their commitment to partner with communities to develop and provide credit and financial products and services to underserved communities. Aligned with its efforts throughout the pandemic and during recovery, Verity will utilize the grant to respond to the needs of its members and member businesses, expanding its lending, grant-making, and investment activities, as well as continue to build on its mission to enhance members lives by building trusted relationships and vibrant communities as an organization.

During the most difficult times, our members relied on us to keep their homes, manage medical bills and keep their businesses alive. Receiving this grant is a tremendous honor, allowing us to further our mission to support them and our underserved communities, especially those individuals and businesses not served by other financial institutions, said Tonita Webb, CEO of Verity Credit Union. Im incredibly proud of the hard work our team puts in to actualize our commitment, and the unwavering efforts to drive financial inclusion and community empowerment. Were thrilled to have the opportunity to use these funds to further shepherd the financial prosperity of those that need it most.

The award recognizes Verity Credit Unions dedication throughout the pandemic, funding 282 PPP loans in 2020 for a total of more than $13.8m, and focus on contributing to equitable recovery for underserved communities, especially BIPOC communities. The credit unions deep partnership with its members and member businesses paves the way for it to develop services and programs tailored to meet their unique needs, enacting positive change, diversifying prosperity, and expanding opportunities for generational wealth.

The Equitable Recovery Program Awards is part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Act; Section 523 of Division N; Pub. L. 116-260), which provided $1.75 billion to the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) to award Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) grants to respond to the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

To be eligible, organizations must have been Certified by the CDFI Fund as CDFIs as of the date of the Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) publication in the Federal Register, have a track record of serving CDFI ERP Eligible Geographies, and meet certain financial management criteria. Organizations must also meet benchmarks for programmatic/financial safety and soundness.

Veritys commitment to serving the community is demonstrated through its partnerships with organizations and businesses like Zest AI, Business Impact NW, and others, as well as its innovative programs and services, including reduced overdraft fees, bicycle loans, solar loans, no-minimum CD programs, small business programs, and more.

ABOUT VERITY CREDIT UNION

Verity Credit Union is one of Washington States longest-standing credit unions, putting people, the planet, and prosperity for all above the bottom line. Our mission is to make meaningful, positive, and lasting change by partnering with our members and communities to co-create solutions. As a socially-responsible financial institution, about 95% of our deposits support the local economy and members with loans big and small to improve the well-being of businesses and individuals, especially those who have been historically left out of the financial system. We are one of few financial institutions with a Black woman CEO and leadership team and board that identifies predominantly female, allowing us to embody the change were working towards. Together, we can create stronger, healthier, more sustainable communities by making-people centric decisions.

Media Contacts:

Revolution PR for Verity Credit Union

Jennifer Ritchie, Nicole Hong

verity@revolutionpr.com
Russian terrorists have confessed to the murder of Ukrainian children in Bakhmut and Soledar, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak, wrote on the Telegram channel on Monday.

"Now we are talking about war criminals from the Wagner PMC, but this sheds light on the crimes of the Russian army in Ukraine. They steal our children and kill them," he wrote.

According to him, "there should be a punishment. Tough and fair. And it will definitely be. We will find out all the facts of the crimes and find everyone who committed them."

"Russians have abducted thousands of Ukrainian children. How many of them remained alive is still unknown. We are doing everything to get our children back. The world should see the face of Russia, not be afraid, but brutally beat," he also wrote.

On Monday, information was spread in the media about two fighters of the Wagner PMC, who confessed in an interview to the murder of Ukrainian civilians, including children. They testified that the orders were given by the unit commanders and the founder of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin.

According to one of the mercenaries, after the exchange of prisoners of war in February 2023, Russian officers gave the order to shoot everyone over 15 years old without saying a word.

Also, one of the Russian terrorists said that he himself gave the order to kill "300-400" people who were hiding in the basement. The mercenary said there were "about 40 children" among them.
Gartner has released a new cybersecurity report titled The Future of Cyber Is Automated Moving Target Defense. The report states, AMTD effectively mitigates many known threats and is likely to mitigate most zero-day exploits within a decade, rotating risks further to humans and business processes.

Current market leading cybersecurity solutions like next generation anti-virus (NGAV), endpoint protection platforms (EPP), and endpoint detection and response (EDR/XDR) focus on threat intelligence and behavior analysis to develop reactive defenses. They are adequate against cyberattacks identified by a signature or behavior pattern but are ineffective against stealthy and evasive attacks which mimic legitimate behavior and cant be readily identified by a signature or behavior pattern.

AMTD is the next step in the evolution of endpoint security, complementing these solutions reactive defense with proactive defense. It introduces controlled changes in an environment that confounds adversary tactics built on datapoints from the normal operations of the environment, thus reducing attack surface exposure.

Morphisec is the leader in AMTD technology for securing endpoints, servers, and cloud workloads. Morphisecs AMTD augments detection-based defenses by preventing stealthy and evasive attacks like zero-days, ransomware, malware variants, polymorphic attacks, and fileless/in-memory attacks that don't have signatures or recognizable behavior patterns.

This is because Morphisecs AMTD is signatureless. It preemptively and automatically blocks attacks, preventing unauthorized code from executing in runtime memory by regularly morphing (randomizing) the runtime memory environment so malicious code cant find its target(s). Morphisecs AMTD also leaves decoys in place of original system targets. Any code that tries to execute on a decoy is unable to find the resources it needs to execute, generates a system notification, and is logged for forensic analysis.

Morphisecs agent is ultra-lightweight, making it fast and easy to install with no performance impact and no extra staff needed. And because Morphisecs AMTD technology is deterministic, not probabilistic, it minimizes alert fatigue and prevents attacks in real timea critical benefit, considering the industry average of 277 days (about 9 months) to detect and remediate a sophisticated attack. Morphisec customer TruGreen slashed false positives by 95 percent and says their security is 10 times stronger with Morphisec.1

AMTD is market proven. Morphisec alone stops thousands of attacks every day at over 5,000 companies, particularly advanced, unknown attacks that have evaded detection-based solutions. Gartner predicts that by 2025, AMTD-based solutions will displace at least 15 percent of traditional cybersecurity solutions that are focused on detection and response only, up from less than two percent in 2023. And the company forecasts that, By 2025, 25 percent of cloud applications will leverage AMTD features and concepts as built-in prevention approaches, enhancing existing Cloud Web Application and API Protection (WAAP) technologies.

To learn more, read your complimentary copy of Gartners report, Emerging Tech: Security  The Future of Cyber Is Automated Moving Target Defense here: https://engage.morphisec.com/gartner-automated-moving-target-defense

Gartner, Emerging Tech: Security  The Future of Cyber Is Automated Moving Target Defense, Lawrence Pingree, Carl Manion, Matt Milone, Sean ONeill, Travis Lee, Mark Pohto, Mark Wah, Ruggero Contu, Dan Ayoub, Elizabeth Kim, Rustam Malik, Nat Smith, 28 February 2023

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

About Morphisec

Morphisecs prevention-first security software stops the most damaging, undetectable attacks others dont, closing the 30 percent runtime memory security gap and giving you continuous app inventory and risk visibility. Our Automated Moving Target Defense technology stops ransomware, supply chain attacks, zero-days, and other advanced attacks that evade NGAV, EPP, and EDR/XDR, with no performance impact or need for additional staff. Over 5,000 organizations trust Morphisec to protect nine million Windows and Linux servers, workloads, and endpoints at companies such as Motorola, Lenovo, TruGreen, Covenant Health, PACCAR, Citizens Medical Center, and many more.

1 https://www.morphisec.com/hubfs/Morphisec%20-%20TruGreen%20Case%20Study.pdf
Cherokee Media Group, the leading news source for the pre-owned automotive industry, named Carmigo one of the eight most promising companies using technology to improve an aspect of the automotive industry.We are thrilled to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of this years honorees who are setting new standards for excellence in the automotive industry, Cherokee Media Group president Bill Zadeits said.

The Emerging 8 award program was developed to fulfill our commitment to honor companies that push the boundaries of innovation.The award is given annually to companies selected from a candidate pool nominated by industry leaders.

Being named an Emerging 8 company is special to us because it reflects our mission, said Andrew Warmath, Carmigo founder, and CEO. We have the words Make it easy covering a wall in our office because we want to use our technology to make buying and selling cars easier. This recognition affirms our mission.Carmigos technological advantage is its mobile inspection tool that allows consumers to list their cars to our network of dealerships in less than 10 minutes. The tool, combined with Carmigos industry-standard auction platform, diversifies the inventory sources, connecting car dealerships with a variety of daily inventory that includes consumer, fleet, sub-prime, dealer, and overage cars.

The 2023 Emerging 8 honorees are making significant contributions to the automotive industry through their innovative use of technology, said Amanda Dunlap, EVP of events and marketing at Cherokee Media Group. We are proud to recognize their ingenuity and we look forward to celebrating their success at this years Auto Intel Summit.

As a part of the recognition, Carmigo is featured in the April issue of Auto Fin Journal and will be recognized at the April 19 Auto Intel Summit in Raleigh, N.C.

About Carmigo:

Carmigo is an online vehicle marketplace connecting individual sellers with dealerships. Carmigo was founded through the frustration of consumers looking for a more transparent and convenient way to sell their vehicles and seeing dealers look for a better source of inventory than traditional auctions. Carmigo is based in Tupelo, Mississippi, and is rapidly expanding its team.

About Cherokee Media Group:

Cherokee Media Group (CMG) is a leading business-to-business media company that provides news and information to the vehicle remarketing, auto finance, and used-car industries in the US and Canada. Established in 1990, CMG publishes top industry media brands, including Auto Remarketing, Auto Remarketing Canada, SubPrime Auto Finance News, BHPH Report, and Auto Fin Journal. Delivering timely, accurate, relevant news and insights, its publications reach a broad audience of franchised and independent dealers, remarketers, auctions, OEM executives, captives and independent finance companies, banks, and more, through print publications, digital media, and live events including Canada's Used Car Week, Automotive Intelligence Summit, National Remarketing Conference Spring Summit, and Used Car Week.
Whispp, the AI-powered speech technology that converts whispered and impaired speech into a persons natural voice in real-time "Whispps proprietary AI-powered speech technology will help create a more inclusive society for people who deal with speech issues and give millions worldwide their voices back," said Whispp CEO and founder, Joris Castermans. "Its something every human being deserves."

Whispp, the AI-powered speech technology that converts whispered and impaired speech into a persons natural voice in real-time, today announced the public alpha launch of its new speech app. Available now for download on iOS, the alpha launch of the Whispp AI-powered speech app coincides with World Voice Day on April 16, an annual event that raises awareness about the importance of the human voice and its role in communication, culture and society. People with a voice impairment  as well as those without  are invited to contribute their voices and use the alpha version of the Whispp speech app to help improve Whispps AI models and also raise awareness about inclusion and the importance of being heard.

More than 50 million people worldwide have a speech impairment  including two million in the U.S.  and voice contribution is an easy, free way to foster inclusion and make a difference in their lives. View a short video about Whispp here. Whispp allows people with voice impairments to maintain their identity and sense of self, even if they cannot speak clearly. Losing ones voice due to illness, trauma or old age presents a challenging and isolating experience. Individuals who have lost their voice may feel frustrated, anxious or depressed, and it's crucial to provide them with support, encouragement and tools that empower them, said Joris Castermans, CEO and founder of Whispp. As someone who stutters, I understand firsthand the impact of being unable to say what you want. People can fully express themselves with Whispp and once again be understood. Whispps proprietary AI-powered speech technology will help create a more inclusive society for people who deal with speech issues and give millions worldwide their voices back. Its something every human being deserves.How the Whispp App Works.

Whispp converts whispered speech and vocal cord-impaired speech into a natural voice, with the intonation and emotion the speaker intends. Users with a speech impairment download the Whispp app onto their phone, select the male or female voice of their choice, tap the record button, speak into their smartphone approximately two to four inches (five to ten centimeters) from their mouth and then press the record button again to end the recording. Whispp instantly plays the recorded message back. Those who wish to contribute their voice to Whispp select the Contribute icon, tap to start recording, read the prompted sentences, and submit. Ultimately, Whispp foresees a future where its AI model is trained on an individuals voice to create a personalized Whispp voice they use. People who have lost their voice can utilize older recordings of their voice when it was not impaired to train the Whispp algorithm.

The alpha launch of the Whispp app is one of the companys initial milestones as it works to create Whispp-enabled phone calls and face-to-face conversations that use the smartphone for recording and playback for people living with speech impairments. In the future, Whispp plans to introduce new apps that will benefit consumers who do not have a speech impairment but want to speak quietly on a phone or video conference to keep their conversation private or not disturb others around them.

Additionally, speech therapists can use the Whispp app as a stimulating and supportive tool for their patients. At the same time, their patients can take pride in knowing that by doing their daily speech exercises, they are also helping others  which may make it easier to do their speech exercises consistently and make it a point of pride to persevere.Download the Whispp iOS app via the Apple App Store or the Whispp website. Sign up via the Whispp website to be notified when the alpha version of the Whispp app for Android launches in mid-May.

About Whispp

Whispp is on a mission to empower millions of people suffering from a voice disorder or severe stutter. Whispps speech technology converts whispered speech and vocal cord-impaired speech into a persons natural voice, with the intended intonation and emotion, in real-time. Whispp also enables phone and video calls for non-patients, with more privacy, without disturbing the people around them. Founded in 2018, Whispp is a privately held company based in Leiden, The Netherlands. Follow Whispp on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, or learn more at https://whispp.com. ###
Franchisee Rob Johnson and family celebrate the opening of Aqua-Tots Portage in the year-round, indoor facility. "Its exciting to bring Aqua-Tots Swim Schools and the proven curriculum to the families of Portage. We look forward to creating many memories as well as safe and confident swimmers in our community. -Rob Johnson, Franchise Owner

Southwest Michigan is now home to the states 10th Aqua-Tots Swim Schools, part of the largest international swim school franchise. Located at 7113 S. Westnedge Ave. next to Sams Club, the state-of-the-art, year-round pool officially opened on Monday, April 17, 2023.

First-time Aqua-Tots Franchisee Rob Johnson has partnered with siblings Annette, Brian, Faraj and Patrick Tomina to open Aqua-Tots Portage. The Tomina siblings are accomplished and experienced franchise owners with fifteen additional swim schools throughout Michigan, California and Florida. Johnson, a Portage local, will also serve as general manager.

Its exciting to bring Aqua-Tots Swim Schools and the proven curriculum to the families of Portage, said Johnson. Im grateful to serve our local neighbors by offering a fun, family-friendly atmosphere where young lives will learn essential water safety skills. We look forward to creating many memories as well as safe and confident swimmers in our community.

With more than 130 locations in 14 countries, Aqua-Tots Swim Schools is the leader in the swim instruction industry, and at 10,000 square feet, Aqua-Tots Portage is one of the brands larger facilities, boasting an impressive 18 zones for swim lessons. Aqua-Tots offers a comprehensive swimming curriculum for children as early as four months old and is dedicated to providing year-round, indoor swim lessons for children of all abilities.

Open Monday-Saturday, Aqua-Tots Portage offers small group (4:1 ratio), semi-private (2:1 ratio) and private (1:1 ratio) swim lessons. Additionally, the swim school will offer a Special Needs Aquatic Program (S.N.A.P.), Fast Track and adult swim lessons. Families are encouraged to enroll in lessons before classes fill up for summer. To learn more about Aqua-Tots Portage or to enroll in lessons, please visit aqua-tots.com/portage or call 269-230-4040.

Aqua-Tots Portage is now hiring swim instructors and front desk staff. Those interested can apply online at aqua-tots.com/portage/employment.

About Aqua-Tots Swim Schools

Founded in 1991 and headquartered in the Phoenix area, Aqua-Tots Swim Schools is making waves as the largest international provider of year-round, indoor swim instruction, community outreach and drowning prevention education. Its trusted program is dedicated to children of all abilities from four months to 12 years old and features a proven curriculum used to teach more than five million swim lessons each year.

Recognized in Entrepreneur's Top 15 Childrens Franchises of 2023, Entrepreneurs Franchise 500, Inc. Magazine's Top 5000 and Franchise Times Top 200, Aqua-Tots has more than 130 locations in 25 states across 14 countries and is rapidly expanding with 90 locations in development. To learn more about franchise opportunities, visit aqua-tots.com/franchise-development and for more information about Aqua-Tots or to sign up for lessons near you, visit aqua-tots.com and follow Aqua-Tots on Facebook and Instagram.
Law Office of Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP For more information about the lawsuit against California Spaghetti Restaurants, Inc., call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today.

The Sacramento employment law attorneys, at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP, filed a lawsuit against California Spaghetti Restaurants, Inc. alleging the company violated Labor Code  2699, et seq. seeking penalties for DEFENDANTs alleged violation of California Labor Code  201-203, 204 et seq., 210, 218, 221, 226(a), 226.7, 227.3, 246 et seq., 510, 512, 558(a)(1)(2), 1194, 1197, 1197.1, 1198, and 2802. The lawsuit against California Spaghetti Restaurants, Inc. is currently pending in the Sacramento County Superior Court, Case No. 34-2023-00336879. To read a copy of the Complaint, please click here.

According to the lawsuit filed, California Spaghetti Restaurants, Inc. allegedly failed to pay employees for all the time they were under the employer's control. This, allegedly, includes the time Plaintiff and other Aggrieved Employees had to submit to mandatory COVID-19 screening prior to clocking in for the day. To the extent that the time worked off the clock did not qualify for overtime premium payment, Defendant allegedly failed to pay minimum and overtime wages for the time worked off-the-clock.

PAGA is a mechanism by which the State of California itself can enforce state labor laws through the employee suing under the PAGA who do so as the proxy or agent of the state's labor law enforcement agencies. An action to recover civil penalties under PAGA is fundamentally a law enforcement action designed to protect the public and not to benefit private parties. The purpose of PAGA is not to recover damages or restitution, but to create a means of "deputizing" citizens as private attorneys general to enforce the Labor Code.

For more information about the lawsuit against California Spaghetti Restaurants, Inc., call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today.

Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP is a labor law firm with law offices located in San Diego County, Riverside County, Los Angeles County, Sacramento County, Santa Clara County, Orange County, and San Francisco County. The firm has a statewide practice of representing employees on a contingency basis for violations involving unpaid wages, overtime pay, discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, and other types of illegal workplace conduct.

***THIS IS AN ATTORNEY ADVERTISEMENT***
Global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP White Collar Defense & Investigations Practice Shareholder Jessica Natali and Health Care & FDA Practice Of Counsel Andrew Tsui will co-present on health care enforcement and compliance at the 2023 Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) of Greater Philadelphias In-House Counsel Conference.

Natali and Tsui will co-present Emerging Healthcare Enforcement & Regulatory Compliance Trends and Implications  Views from Former Agency Counsel, In-House Counsel and Outside Counsel April 20. They will discuss navigating critical fraud and compliance issues based on their experience as former government attorneys and current in-house counsel.

Based in the firms Philadelphia office, Natali is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania with broad litigation experience in criminal and civil cases. She has an array of experience with corporations and individuals in federal and state criminal cases, complex white-collar defense matters, internal investigations, as well as civil litigation and investigations involving the defense of qui tam/False Claims Act complaints and products liability cases. She currently represents clients from a broad array of industries in criminal and civil matters including large medical device manufacturers, doctor practices, and individuals from pharmaceutical companies in investigations involving health care fraud, violations of HIPAA, Medicaid/Medicare billing fraud, violations of the Stark Law, the Anti-Kickback Statute, the False Claims Act, and complex civil litigation.

A member of the firms Washington, D.C. office, Tsui spent over a decade of his career litigating on behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the General Counsel for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Division. He represents health care providers, suppliers, and laboratories in complex, government-facing investigations, appeals, and direct litigation, maintaining a practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal courts. Tsui also provides regulatory and compliance counsel to health care and life sciences companies, Medicare Advantage plans, Accountable Care Organizations, and other downstream entities in the insurance markets, with an emphasis on medical device manufacturers that must pivot from FDA approval to payment and reimbursement.

The ACC promotes professional and business interests of in-house counsel globally through information, education, networking opportunities, and advocacy initiatives. Greenberg Traurig is a sponsor of the Greater Philadelphia chapter.

About Greenberg Traurigs Philadelphia Office: Now celebrating its 25th anniversary, Greenberg Traurigs Philadelphia office has grown from an initial three-attorney Public Finance Practice to include more than 60 attorneys whose practices include Real Estate; Litigation; Intellectual Property; Labor & Employment; Environmental; Government Law & Policy; Restructuring & Bankruptcy; White Collar Defense & Investigations; Corporate; Investment Management & Regulation; Immigration & Compliance; Health Care & FDA; and Tax. The Philadelphia office represents a broad range of clients in real estate, manufacturing, health care, financial, and insurance industries, as well as state and local governments, professional services, and energy firms. The office also is known for its pro bono work and community service/social action initiatives in the Philadelphia region.

About Greenberg Traurig: Greenberg Traurig, LLP has more than 2650 attorneys in 45 locations in the United States, Europe and the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia. The firm is a 2022 BTI Highly Recommended Law Firm for superior client service and is consistently among the top firms on the Am Law Global 100 and NLJ 250. Greenberg Traurig is Mansfield Rule 5.0 Certified Plus by The Diversity Lab. The firm is recognized for powering its U.S. offices with 100% renewable energy as certified by the Center for Resource Solutions Green-e Energy program and is a member of the U.S. EPAs Green Power Partnership Program. The firm is known for its philanthropic giving, innovation, diversity, and pro bono. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com.
New Pearlson Shiplift for Horizon Yacht Company

Horizon Yacht Company (Horizon) and Pearlson Shiplift Corporation (PSC), are pleased to announce the signing of a new contract for the Design and Build of a new State-of-the-Art Shiplift System in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

Horizon has been making major infrastructure investments over the last several years, as demand for Asias leading Yacht Builder to produce more vessels continues to increase. Most recently in 2021, Horizon completed a 106,745 sqft expansion to their Kaohsiung shipyard, allowing them to accommodate the build of seven (7) yachts up to 120 feet in length simultaneously.

With this latest announcement in the design and build of a new Pearlson Shiplift System, Horizon will further expand their position as the leading Asian Yacht Builder and will have the capacity and capability to provide unprecedented maintenance, repair and refit service to Asias superyacht market.

Horizon selected the team from Pearlson Shiplift Corporation based upon the shiplift builders reputation and dominance as the world leader in shiplift technology, which aligns well with the yacht builders leading reputation in their industry. Horizon recognized that the time-proven wire rope system, when combined with Pearlsons latest Articulated Platform design, provides far superior reliability and lower maintenance and operational costs compared to any other drydock technology currently in existence.

Upon completion in 2024, the new Pearlson Shiplift System will measure 60m long x 13.7m wide and accommodate vessels up to 1,800 metric tons.

John Lu, CEO of Horizon Group said: Horizon Refit and Maintenance Center has provided maintenance, repair, and refit services for yachts from all around the world. We are very excited to announce the latest iteration in our continued expansion at the Horizon Group with the construction of a new Pearlson Shiplift System. Upon completion, the shiplift will provide our shipyard with vastly increased capability and capacity helping to fulfill unprecedented demand for global superyacht owners. Following significant research by our team in shiplift and drydocking technologies, the selection of Pearlson Shiplift Corporation was the clear and obvious choice for our shipyard expansion project.

Bryan Fraind, Vice President and C.O.O. of Pearlson Shiplift Corporation said: We are very excited to be associated with the outstanding team from Horizon Group, ranked as Asias Best Motor Yacht Builder for the past 14 years in a row, in the design and build of this state-of-the-art shiplift system. This latest investment by Horizon will ensure the stunning luxury yachts served by the shipyard will be launched and retrieved using the drydocking industrys safest, most reliable technology, a Pearlson Shiplift System.

Horizon Group joins the ranks of more than 280+ shiplift facilities, in 65+ countries around the World which depend on the engineering expertise of Pearlson Shiplift Corporation.

About Pearlson Shiplift Corporation:

Pearlson Shiplift Corporation is the world-leader in shiplift technology, and the only company in the World solely dedicated to the design and build of shiplift & transfer systems. These innovative systems enable the safe lifting and launching of vessels during construction, maintenance and repair, with capacities ranging from 500 to 30,000 tons. Vessels include Superyachts, Commercial Vessels, Navy Vessels and Nuclear Submarines.

For more company information, please visit Pearlson Shiplifts website at http://www.shiplift.com

Contact: Adriana Perez, Sales & Marketing Coordinator | Pearlson Shiplift Corporation

marketing@shiplift.com | (305) 720-2536

About Horizon Yacht Company / Horizon Group:

Founded in 1987, Horizon has emerged as the leading Asian yacht brand in the luxury yacht market and is known throughout the industry for its sophisticated craftsmanship, superior build techniques, and innovative technology. Horizon Group contributes to one-third of Taiwans total yacht exports and has elevated the country as one of the worlds top five luxury megayacht-building nations. Horizon has been honored as Best Asian Motor Yacht Builder 14 years in a row, is recognized as one of the Top 10 Global Superyacht Companies by The Superyacht Report and is the first and only member of SYBAs (Superyacht Builder's Association) from the Far East.

In the past three decades, Horizon has delivered over 890 luxury yachts, with more than 240 of these over 80 feet in length. Popular models ranging from 52 to 150 feet include motor yachts, superyachts, power catamarans, expedition yachts, and fast displacement motor yachts. As Horizon looks to the future, the entrepreneurial spirit that inspired founder John Lus boatbuilding dream remains the defining force behind the company  a yacht builder whose disruptive innovation is backed by success that creates yachts in their most beautiful form.

For more company information, please visit Horizon Yachts at http://www.horizonyacht.com

Contact: Lily Li, Marketing Coordinator | Horizon Group

Lilyli@horizonyacht.com | +886 7 860 7770
"NeurCare aims to revolutionize early detection of neurotoxicity in immunotherapies to help patients achieve safe and effective outcomes"

NeurCare, an mHealth startup incubated by Dogtown Media, has been selected as an awardee of the Improving Detection of Neurotoxicity in Immunotherapies QuickFire Challenge launched by Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC. This QuickFire Challenge was launched to inspire early identification of neurotoxicity in patients undergoing immunotherapies for hematologic malignancies. The onset of neurotoxicity can vary widely and have a highly variable course. Early detection of acute toxicities is critical to enable timely interventions and improved outcomes for patients.

Dogtown Media incubated NeurCare in 2022 as a mobile health solution to remotely monitor patients with neurological disorders such as Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, as well as providing early detection of neurotoxicity due to CAR T-Cell immunotherapy treatments. The app was developed in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health and consists of sixteen tests that measure cognitive, motor, cerebellar, and sensory functions. The tests are performed by the patient while in their home and the test results are streamed to a backend system for analysis. A web-based portal provides physicians and healthcare providers with the ability to easily identify severe deterioration as well as to track longitudinal patient test data. This increase in testing data from patients will provide clinicians with a valuable tool for remotely monitoring their patients.

The funding from the QuickFire Challenge will allow NeurCare to focus on enhancing the tests for detecting variations in handwriting including micrographia and dysgraphia. These new enhancements, along with existing tests, aim to provide clinicians with a reliable and accurate tool for remotely monitoring a diverse set of functions (motor skills, cognitive abilities) for the early detection of neurotoxicity.

We want to thank Johnson & Johnson Innovation for their commitment to fostering the next generation of patient care. We believe NeurCare has the ability to extend cutting-edge neurological technologies to the comfort of a patients home and are excited to explore the opportunities ahead, said Marc Fischer, CEO and co-founder of NeurCare. "With the support of the grant funding, global network access, and expert mentorship, we will further enhance our technology with the aim to provide physicians and healthcare providers with a comprehensive, reliable, and user-friendly tool for remotely monitoring patients and ultimately improving patient outcomes."

The award from Johnson & Johnson Innovation and Janssen Global Services recognizes Dogtown Media's commitment to improving patient outcomes and addressing critical healthcare challenges through innovative technology solutions. As an awardee, Dogtown Media will receive grant funding, access to the global Johnson & Johnson Innovation  JLABS network, and mentorship from experts across The Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies.

The QuickFire Challenges are managed by Johnson & Johnson Innovation, with the goal to help address todays great healthcare challenges. NeurCare has an ongoing commitment to innovation and addressing critical healthcare challenges. Dogtown Media, the company that created NeurCare, has been recognized by industry leaders, including the United Nations, Harvard Medical School, and the Connected Health Initiative. As an mHealth app developer Dogtown Media has created over 250 mobile apps in industries including Healthcare App Development, IoT, and Artificial Intelligence.
Dario Cavazos, Tim Pabon, David Sowers, Tom Seymour, Dr. Jon Moles, Kristin LeDuc, Kelly McQuillen, Wil Graham "We are truly honored to have these four talented and dedicated individuals working hard in our community." - Dr. Jon Moles, Club Foundation Chair and Past President

The Rotary Club of Southern Frederick County recently recognized four of its members with the prestigious Paul Harris Fellow recognition. This honor is awarded to individuals who demonstrate exceptional community service and provide outstanding support to the Rotary Foundation's efforts both locally and globally.

Tom Seymour, David Sowers, Tim Pabon, and Kristin LeDuc were presented with their first Paul Harris Fellow recognition during a gathering of club members and the community. Tom Seymour, who served as the Past President for 2020-21, David Sowers, a charter member of the club and their current Sergeant at Arms, Tim Pabon, who joined the club last year and is the sponsor of the Urbana High School Interact Club, and Kristin LeDuc, who joined last year and is the Public Relations Chairman, were honored for their exceptional contributions to the community.

The Rotary Club was founded in 1905 by Paul Harris and three business associates in Chicago, and since then, it has become an international organization with millions of members worldwide. The Rotary Foundation, established in 1917, focuses on providing educational opportunities, healthy food, potable water, healthcare, immunizations, and shelter for people in need. With growing support of the Rotary Foundation, the Paul Harris Fellow was created in 1957 to recognize individuals who contributed $1,000 or more to the Rotary Foundation. Rotarians often designate a Paul Harris Fellow as a tribute to a person whose life demonstrates a shared purpose with the objectives of the Rotary Foundation.

"We are truly honored to have these four talented and dedicated individuals working hard in our community. Each of them displays their unique qualities that embody the purpose of the Paul Harris Fellow and further the efforts of the Rotary Foundation and the incredible success of our club," said Dr. Jon Moles, Club Foundation Chair and Past President (2021-22/2014-15).

"We would like to extend our gratitude to these individuals, their families, and other community members who continue to support the Rotary Club of Southern Frederick County and its local and global efforts. These four members have proven, without reservation, that they support the Rotary International motto of 'Service above Self.'"

The Rotary Club of Southern Frederick County is a community-based organization that brings together like-minded individuals who are committed to making a difference in their community and the world. The club provides opportunities for its members to participate in community service projects, fundraising initiatives, and leadership development programs.

For more information about the Rotary Club of Southern Frederick County and its programs, please visit their website at https://rotarysouthernfrederick.org.
To avoid increasing health disparities in clinical trials, underserved groups should be included through PRO-specific ethical guidelines for clinical research so that patient-reported outcomes are collected.

This webinar will examine the importance of electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePROs) and how working at pace with methodological rigour led to the development of the Symptom Burden Questionnaire (SBQ), a new ePRO measure which includes 16 symptoms scales, each measuring a different symptom. The featured speakers will also talk about the feasibility trial of non-pharmacological interventions as part of the Therapies for Long COVID (TLC) study.

To avoid increasing health disparities in clinical trials, underserved groups should be included through PRO-specific ethical guidelines for clinical research so that patient-reported outcomes are collected.

Register for this webinar to learn about the impact of ePROs through a unique ePRO measure that is tailored to individual patient needs.

Join Prof. Melanie Calvert, Professor of Outcomes Methodology, University of Birmingham; Dr. Sarah Hughes, Research Fellow, Centre for Patient Reported Outcomes Research (CPROR), Institute of Applied Health Research; Dr. Christel McMullan, Qualitative Research Fellow, Centre for Patient Reported Outcomes Research (CPROR), Institute of Applied Health Research; and Chris Frost, Chief Operations Officer, Aparito, for the live webinar on Thursday, May 4, 2023, at 10am EDT (4pm CEST/EU-Central).

For more information, or to register for this event, visit The Evolution and Impact of ePROs in Clinical Trials.

ABOUT XTALKS

Xtalks, powered by Honeycomb Worldwide Inc., is a leading provider of educational webinars to the global life science, food and medical device community. Every year, thousands of industry practitioners (from life science, food and medical device companies, private & academic research institutions, healthcare centers, etc.) turn to Xtalks for access to quality content. Xtalks helps Life Science professionals stay current with industry developments, trends and regulations. Xtalks webinars also provide perspectives on key issues from top industry thought leaders and service providers.

To learn more about Xtalks visit http://xtalks.com

For information about hosting a webinar visit http://xtalks.com/why-host-a-webinar/

Contact:

Vera Kovacevic

Tel: +1 (416) 977-6555 x371

Email: vkovacevic@xtalks.com
Several dozen 155-mm self-propelled artillery units M109L, which were transferred by Italy to Ukraine and repaired at the expense of the United States, are already on the front line in Ukraine, the Italian publication La Repubblica reported on Sunday.

"This is not only a long column of self-propelled guns, filmed two days ago at Udine railway station, when they parade past the astonished passengers. For several weeks now, a few videos shot in Ukraine have shown how powerful M109L are firing at Russian lines. And thus they testify to the importance of Italy's contribution to the military operations of the resistance," the report says.

Referring to its own sources, the publication says that 60 such self-propelled guns will be delivered to Ukraine or have already been delivered. "There are at least thirty tracked howitzers between those already at the front and those removed in Udine, and some sources say twice as many: a total of sixty vehicles have already been delivered to Kyiv troops or will be delivered in the near future," the article says.

The publication adds that these self-propelled guns are part of the military assistance package agreed by the previous Italian government of Mario Draghi.

In October 2022, it was reported that Italy had transferred more than 20 M109L self-propelled guns to Ukraine. "These are armored tracked vehicles with a 155-millimeter cannon using NATO ammunition. In the last years of the Cold War, Italy produced hundreds of such installations, upgrading the original American model, then from the beginning of the millennium they were decommissioned," La Repubblica reported at the time.

The article noted that the Ukrainian army will receive from 20 to 30 such self-propelled guns, "although the exact number remains top secret." It was indicated that these installations would undergo major repairs, and then go straight to the front line.
The Russian occupiers are focusing their main efforts on conducting offensive actions in Kupyansk, Lymany, Bakhmut, Avdiyivka and Maryinka directions in eastern Ukraine, according to the operational information on the Russian invasion as of 18:00 of Monday, published on the Facebook page of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

"During the day, in these sectors of the front, our defenders repelled more than 50 enemy attacks. Bakhmut and Maryinka remain in the epicenter of the fighting," the summary says.

According to the General Staff, in Bakhmut direction, in addition to fighting for the town of Bakhmut, in the area of the settlements of Ivanivske and Predtechyne, the enemy conducted unsuccessful offensive actions. In Avdiyivka direction, the enemy conducted offensive operations in the districts of Novo-Kalynove, Pivnichne and Pervomaiske of Donetsk region, and also had no success.

"In Kupyansk direction, the enemy conducted unsuccessful offensive actions near the village of Synkivka. In Lymany direction, the enemy conducted offensive operations near the settlement of Spirne, had no success," the message says.

During the current day, the enemy has not carried out offensive actions in Shakhtarsk direction, and continues to conduct defensive actions in Zaporizhia and Kherson directions. There were no signs of the formation of offensive enemy groups in the Volyn, Polissia, Siverske and Slobozhanske directions. A comprehensive check of the combat readiness of the armed forces of the Republic of Belarus continues, the General Staff said.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy expects from the upcoming meeting of the contact group on providing Ukraine with weapons and ammunition Ramstein thorough decisions that will correspond to Ukrainian prospects on the battlefield.

"We are already preparing for the next meeting in the Ramstein format. I have held preparatory meetings. And we expect thorough decisions that will meet the prospects on the battlefield. Rather ambitious prospects, which we are bringing closer by all means. And we are bringing it closer not only for ourselves - not only for Ukraine, but also for our entire anti-war coalition," he said in a video message.

The Head of State also noted the need for maximum activation in providing Ukrainian soldiers with weapons and shells.

"The aggressor must lose. And it is our common responsibility with our partners to win more time for peace, that is, to be as active as possible in providing weapons and shells to accelerate our joint victory," Zelenskyy said.

The next meeting in the Ramstein format is scheduled for April 21.
Bay Area Women in Publishing and the family of the late Robin Seaman have announced seven winners of the inaugural Robin Seaman Award, which honors women and nonbinary people in Bay Area publishing who demonstrate a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The award advances the mission of BAWiP, a volunteer-run and nonprofit networking organization.

Seaman Award recipients include Sara Fan, marketing associate at the University of California Press; Feather Flores, editor at Atheneum Books for Young Readers; Nusrah Javed, senior marketing manager at Hay House Publishing; Katryce Lassle, senior publicist at the University of California Press; Mikaela Luke, marketing coordinator in the childrens division of Chronicle Books; Raya Rahman, editor and publisher at Guba Publishing; and Bella Roberts, a literary agent assistant at Idea Architects.

Seaman co-founded BAWiP with Charlotte Abbott, Anne Kubek, and Kelly Peterson in 2012, and the organization has grown to more than 500 members. Throughout her career in publishing and at the technology nonprofit Benetech, whose digital library makes e-books accessible to visually impaired readers, Seaman was a staunch proponent of accessibility in publishing. The Book Industry Study Group honored her with a 2016 Distinguished Service Award for her work on its Quick Start Guide to Accessible Publishing. After her death in 2019, BISG recognized her with a posthumous Industry Champion Award for her advocacy around disability and reading access.

BAWiP and the Seaman family will distribute $20,000 annually among award recipients, who are chosen based on their DEI efforts and their plans for professional development at conferences and programs. According to Abbott, the funding is being allocated according to the scope of each applicants proposed use of funds and financial needs with most receiving around $3,000.
We are in the new pulp era, said Sean McLachlan, author of Writing Secret's of the Worlds Most Prolific Authors, during a presentation at 20Books Sevilla conference. The event, organized by Lantia, was run in conjunction with the Facebook group 20Books created by Michael Anderle, CEO of Las Vegas-based LMPBN Publishing. The event attracted more than 100 writers and presenters, primarily from throughout Europe and North America. Lantia is a self-publishing and print service provider that publishes more than 80,000 books and works with more than 105,000 authors. (It is also the parent company of Publishers Weekly en Espanol).

The event focused on professional development for self-published and indie authors. Topics covered by the event ranged from effective use of TikTok as a platform for promotion and developing a coven of fans, to character development and formulas for a successful indie book launch.

A number of the authors were refugees from traditional publishing who found a lucrative career publishing their own books. McLachlan, an archaeologist, was previously published by Osprey Publishing before moving into self-publishing mystery novels set North Africa and working as a ghost writer and now lives in Madrid.

Several authors emphasized the need to write for the existing market and emphasized the importance of delivering books that catered to the expectations of given audience, largely in established genres. Author Benedict Brown has publishing 20 books, including a series of 10 cozy mysteries set in England in the 1920s. My books star Lord Edgington, who is 76 and it very much like Agatha Christies Hercule Poirot, he said, emphasizing that straying too much from the given tropes of the genre would be a mistake. He noted that he learned from experience. One of my first books was set in Croydon, a neighborhood in South London, which is notoriously ugly. I later learned that all cozy mysteries are set in a pretty place, he said. He added that characters should evolve to keep readers interesting and that the books have some element that makes them distinctive. My books are also narrated by Lord Edgingtons 16-year-old grandson, which makes them a little different, said Brown.

Brown speculated that some of his success may derive from the fact he's a man writing cozies, which is atypical. How successful has Brown been? Brown said he has sold in excess of $650,000 books in his career so far. This number is relatively modest compared with some self-published writers, such as Karen Baugh Menukin, who has sold some $2.5 million books in four years writing cozies.

Several authors offered further tips. Bianaca Blythe, author of Regency Romances, encouraged would-be authors to avoid combining genres, something that will only serve to confuse potential readersthe majority of whom will be found on Amazon, where many of the presenters sold the bulk of their books.

McLachlan emphasized that characters are a key to books and encouraged writers to read outside a writers given genre. Its all grist for the mill. His talk looked at the careers of some of the most prolific writers in history, such as Ursula Bloom, author of more than 500 books and Walter Brown Gibson, who kept a typewriter in every room, as well as the authors of Bolsilibroswhich means pocket books in Spainwho were expected to write a 25,000 words every week. McLachlan, said that he writes 3,500 words a day, seven days a week, something he accomplishes by filling up empty moments of the day with writing. Trust your subconscious to give you inspiration, he advised. And exercise he said. Though it takes time from your day, it will improve your day. I listen to a lot of podcasts, like Joanna Penns podcast, while on the exercise machine.

Penn talked with Orna Ross, founder of the Alliance of Independent Authors, about the need for indie authors to begin thinking about building their own direct-to-market distribution processes, be it through an email list, social media, a website or, ideally all three.

Dan Wood, COO of Draft2Digital, reflected on the move to direct sales, noting that if it means more money in the hands of authors, that is a good thing, and anything that takes people away from Amazons exclusivity, that is a good thing. He added, There will always be a place for us and retailers and libraries to help people find their audience. Some readers will gravitate to buying direct from authors, while others will stay with us to discover an even broader range of books.

If there was a single dominant topic conversation, it was the potential impact of AI to impact book publishing, ranging from the use of Deepl for automated translation to Midjourney for generating covers to Chat GPT4 to produce text for use in books.

When we say AI is the future, the future is right now, said Penn, who pointed to the announcement of AWS Bedrock, Amazons generative AI. I think every company that doesnt think about AI now is about to be disrupted in the same way that companies that didnt embrace the internet 20 years.

Michael Anderle added, the new proliferation of publishing opportunities in the 3.0 sphere is yet to be understood by even those of us who tried to grasp the opportunities right now.

Perhaps the best summary of the conference came from Draft2Digitals Wood, when he remarked that going indie is the best way to get published, but also best way to get a potential traditional publishing deal, should you want one. Just look Colleen Hoover, said Wood. She started indie and then went traditional. She is selling so many books.
Purdue entomology professor Christian Krupke examines an alfalfa plot for weevil infestation at the Purdue Agronomy Center for Research and Education (ACRE). Krupke has been named the Deans Fellow for Resilient Agriculture to provide research leadership aimed at making agriculture more productive and durable. (Purdue Agricultural Communications photo/Tom Campbell)

WEST LAFAYETTE, IND.  Christian Krupke, professor of entomology at Purdue University, has been named the Deans Fellow for Resilient Agriculture to provide research leadership aimed at making agriculture more productive and durable.

Krupke will lead a multiyear initiative that brings together research faculty from different disciplines in the College of Agriculture. Their goal is twofold: to conduct long-term research that helps farmers make decisions based on reliable, field-scale data and to demonstrate practices that bolster the durability of the entire agricultural system.

Theres an incredible amount of federal and private industry funding going into this broad field, but some of the practices either are not being tested in a rigorous and systematic way, or the results are not being clearly communicated to growers, Krupke said. This is an area where Purdue research and extension can have influence.

Working on dedicated land owned by the university, the researchers will describe what resilient agriculture looks like in practice using a systems approach that includes their collective specialty areas. Experiments incorporating these techniques will occur at field scale over several years to compare traditional and resilient farming practices, and the approaches will change as new information comes to light.

Dr. Krupkes research and extension programs in pest management of corn and soybeans over nearly 20 years make him an ideal person to lead this effort, said Karen Plaut, executive vice president for research and former dean of the College of Agriculture. His program in field crops entomology continues to track the leading edge of the discipline through groundbreaking discovery research and the delivery of high-impact integrated pest management solutions for stakeholders.

Krupke defines resilient agriculture as considering the needs of the present without sacrificing system durability for the future.

Many people in Purdue Agriculture are working to improve the sustainability and profitability of Indiana farms, said Ken Foster, interim dean of the College of Agriculture. Now, their efforts to develop new practices and methods that create a more resilient food supply can be better integrated across disciplines and demonstrated directly to our states farmers.

Krupke also is currently seeking input from growers, commodity organizations, conservation groups and industry representatives to ensure that the approaches selected are realistic and viable for a range of practitioners.

Baseline data collection in this inaugural year will occur on 102 acres at the Agronomy Center for Research and Education and on additional acreage at two of eight Purdue Agricultural Centers. The study design will compare paired, adjacent fields: one farmed using common, traditional methods and the other with techniques that researchers, farmers and conservation groups collectively characterize as resilient. Researchers will measure such parameters as soil health, beneficial and pest insects, pathogens, weed and yield per acre over time.

Purdue entomology is dedicated to addressing challenges in agricultural production and the preservation of natural resources, said Cate Hill, department head. Christian is involving disciplines beyond our own in this systems-wide approach to strengthening agricultural resilience.

Currently, if youre a farmer and you say you want to get involved in resilient agriculture and implement some novel approaches, its very difficult to find out - clearly and definitively - what your next steps should be and what the relative pros and cons of different approaches may be, Krupke said.

He hopes results from the study will help growers make informed decisions on their own land, but he already has a sense of its overriding theme: We have to be more judicious about everything we do.

Writer: Nancy Alexander

Sources: Christian Krupke; ckrupke@purdue.edu

Media contact: Maureen Manier, mmanier@purdue.edu

Agricultural Communications: 765-494-8415;

Maureen Manier, Department Head, mmanier@purdue.edu

Agriculture News Page
Borrell on blocking Russian grain ships: EU supports UN efforts, will continue to promote exports through solidarity corridors

Russia has blocked fifty ships with Ukrainian grain in the Black Sea, said head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell.

The consequence of the war affect us all. Russia is once again blocking 50 ships with urgently needed grain in the Black Sea, he said on Twitter Monday.

The EU supports UN efforts & will continue facilitating exports through the EU Solidarity Lanes, which have brought 25 billion tonnes of grain to the world, he added.
Property details:

LAND FOR SALE CALIFORNIA CITY - KERN COUNTY Would you like to own property in Kern County? Does residential land in the California City area interest you? Here is your opportunity to purchase a nice, well-positioned property for a fraction of market value. The property itself measures approximately 9,583 square feet. Located with dirt road frontage along Hansen St., the lot is surrounded by many similar sized residential parcels. Please feel free to drive out and explore the land for yourself pr...

Price: $ 810 Seller State of Residence: Wisconsin Zoning: Residential City: California City State/Province: California Location: , California City, Ca

You will be redirected to eBay



Nearby California
Alec Baldwin is seeking to have the lawsuit against him and his fellow co-defendants from the family of Halyna Hutchins to be dismissed.

ADVERTISEMENT

The defendants filed a demurrer against Hutchins' parents Olga Solovey and Anatolii Androsovych, and her sister Svetlana Zemko, arguing that they had been distant from Hutchins prior to her death on the set of his film Rust in October 2021.

"The loss of a daughter and sister is undoubtedly painful in any circumstance," read the court documents filed by Baldwin's lawyers, obtained by Deadline.

"Yet plaintiffs -- who had been distanced from Halyna physically, financially, and emotionally for years before her death -- have no viable cause of action against defendants."

Baldwin's lawyers added that "this action is especially misguided."

Court documents show that Hutchins' husband Matthew Hutchins "promptly" filed a wrongful death lawsuit after her death. He and Baldwin reached a settlement in October.

Hutchins' family, who are Ukrainians living near Kyiv, filed their lawsuit against Baldwin, Rust Movie Productions, LLC, and film armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed in February.

That lawsuit alleges battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence and loss of consortium for the family, according to a statement from attorney Gloria Allred. The family's attorney described the family as "devastated" and claimed they were close with Hutchins.

FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS!

Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source!

"It is clear to us that the relationships of all of our clients have been damaged, and that they will not be able to enjoy life in the same way as they did when their precious Halyna was alive," Allred wrote. "Halyna was the light in their lives."

Hutchins, a 42-year-old cinematographer, was shot and killed by a prop Colt .45 revolver handled by Baldwin on the set of the film Rust. Baldwin and the armorer were charged in New Mexico with involuntary manslaughter.

Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed could face a five-year prison sentence if they are convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

Rust is expected to resume filming in Montana this spring, Variety reported.
Instagram

By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 04/17/2023



ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

alum Dean Unglert has revealed he plans to give Caelynn Miller-Keyes a third engagement ring, and the couple has also given an update on their wedding planning.Dean famously lost a 4.5 carat diamond he had purchased for Caelynn's engagement ring, and so prior to his October 2022 marriage proposal, he bought a temporary "small" and less expensive diamond for his bride-to-be.To this day, Dean said he still hasn't found that big rock."It evaporated. I think Caelynn hid it or did something with it, to be honest," Dean joked during a joint appearance with his fiancee on the April 13 episode of the "Click Bait with Bachelor Nation" podcast.Caelynn chimed in with a laugh, "That would be a crazy thing for me to do!"Dean said on a serious note, "It went missing. She has a new ring. The ring I proposed with -- I went to a jeweler and bought an inexpensive diamond ring, just to have something for the occasion. And now, I do have a new engagement ring."Dean revealed, "So it's her third engagement ring, I guess you could call it. And I haven't given it to her yet, but I plan on giving it to her before the wedding in a special way. Maybe in Hawaii, who knows."Dean and Caelynn are currently on a two-week vacation in Maui, Hawaii -- a trip that Dean apparently planned himself."We'll see if there's a moment that lends itself to that," Dean shared."But fortunately, a ring company reached out and was like, 'Hey, we heard you lost the ring. We would love to give you another one.' So I got out of the woods a little bit on that one... The new ring is your ring, [Caelynn]."Dean and Caelynn will be tying the knot in Aspen, CO , this summer, and they've already sent out their "Save the Dates," which show the wedding will be on the 23rd of their chosen month."We have everything planned , minus some little details," Caelynn disclosed."Everything is good. He needs to pick out his tux, but my [two] dresses are ordered. We just got our invitations in, and I feel like we have everything. I feel good. I feel less stressed than I did when we started [planning]."Dean joked about how he's "very actively involved in the wedding planning," later admitting that was "a bold-faced lie.""I have a say in things," noted Dean, who wants to wear a bolo tie to the ceremony and a cowboy hat to the reception."We just got our invitations mocked up and sent to us and they are beautiful invitations, but there are little details where I'm like, 'Why is there a pair of little cowboy boots on the invitation? I've never worn cowboy boots. I don't think you wear cowboy boots very often.'"He continued, "So I was like, 'Why are we tailoring our invitations to be this cowboy theme when neither of us are a cowboy or cowgirl? So there are little things like that, where I'm like, 'What's that all about?' But then we just figure out a solution for it pretty quickly and easily, so it's been good! I'm getting excited."Dean revealed he has "60 percent" of his vows written -- "in my head" -- and he's "looking forward to that" part of the wedding.Caelynn said Dean had planned out his Best Man speech for his brother's wedding and forgot it all, and so she's "a little worried" he's going to do that again."I just added some new stuff in there... [I thought], 'Maybe I should put some emotion into my vows,'" Dean said with a laugh.Even though he admittedly doesn't have "the best memory," Dean said he doesn't want to read his vows off a piece of paper."One of my biggest pet peeves with weddings is when the bride or groom are delivering their vows and they are just reading like a robot off the notepad," Dean complained."I just want some emotion and some genuineness in the actual reading of the vows! So maybe I'll write them down, but I'm not going to read them [or] rehearse it."Dean and Caelynn, who will be signing a prenuptial agreement and plan to have kids of their own as well as adopt, began dating on Season 6 of , which aired in Summer 2019.Dean proposed marriage to Caelynn in October 2022 following a grueling 22-mile hike to Hawaii's Kauai Island about three years after they began dating on .Caelynn then popped the question to Dean in December 2022, which made their engagement even more "official." She forced him to conquer his fear of riding horses since he had pushed her out of her comfort zone with that brutal Hawaiian hike.Caelynn and Dean -- who previously admitted he'd prefer to just get married in a low-key courthouse ceremony -- initially planned to elope in Italy but then they realized Colorado would be a better wedding destination because all of their friends would be able to attend.On 's sixth season, Dean broke up with Caelynn on her birthday and left the show alone because he didn't think he was ready to provide the commitment that Caelynn wanted.However, Dean returned for Caelynn later on and begged her to give him a second chance, and the pair left Paradise dating each other.Following their Paradise exit, Dean convinced Caelynn to live "the van life" with him in which they traveled together and didn't have a stable home base.But Dean apparently got the van life out of his system because the couple moved into a home together in Las Vegas, NV, in Spring 2021. Caelynn and Dean later relocated to Denver, CO.Back in June 2022, Dean revealed on his podcast that he had made a deal with Caelynn about getting engaged."I made a deal with [Caelynn]. I was like, 'I'll buy you a ring if you buy me a truck,'" Dean said, which sparked criticism from some fans that Dean didn't treat Caelynn very well.Dean also admitted at the time how he had thrown a "hissy fit" upon seeing the 4.5 karat ring Caelynn was hoping to have on her finger one day and the pair got into "a scuffle."Dean said getting engaged was simply "a touchy subject" in his relationship, adding, "Caelynn makes significantly more money than I do and here I am having to spend all this money on something I don't even want. Like, I want her to get what she wants, but she's the one who wants to get married."But then Caelynn came through and bought Dean a truck in August 2022.Back in April 2022, Caelynn recalled her reaction to Dean's request that she propose marriage to him."When Dean first said that, I thought, 'Okay, [it's] another thing Dean is saying to break the mold.' Sometimes he says things just for a reaction, and he'll admit that. I thought that's kind of what he was doing," Caelynn explained in a Q&A on YouTube."But the more I thought about it, the more I loved it, because traditionally, he would propose to me. That's something I've dreamt of for so long, and that's something that he doesn't get -- a day that's catered to him and this special moment where he's really thought of. That's when I was like, 'Oh my gosh, I love this.'"Caelynn pointed out how she and Dean have "a partnership" and so they both deserve to have a proposal day."I love the idea of planning this extravagant -- well, not extravagant, because he doesn't like to be the center of attention -- but just this thing that's all about him. So after I really thought about it, I am really, really into it," Caelynn said.When Dean and Caelynn do tie the knot, they both plan to change their last names to "Bell" in honor of Dean's late mother, whose maiden name was Bell.Dean and Caelynn have been wearing wedding bands since 2020 to show they are committed to each other. Caelynn told Us Weekly last year that it "really frustrates" her when fans assume Dean isn't good to her."He is hilarious and he's very sarcastic and he's also the most romantic person I think I've ever met. He's so thoughtful," Caelynn boasted."So I think that's a big misconception -- that I'm, like, more invested in the relationship or he, like, doesn't treat me right. I'm like, 'No, he treats me exceptionally well and he's always going out of his way to just surprise me and do romantic things.'"Prior to meeting on Paradise, Caelynn competed for Colton Underwood 's heart on The Bachelor's 23rd season, and Dean had been on multiple The Bachelor spinoffs after initially appearing on Rachel Lindsay 's season of The Bachelorette.Dean previously gushed to Us his relationship with Caelynn is "monumentally different" from other women he's dated in the past. Dean was previously linked to Kristina Schulman Danielle Lombard and Lesley Murphy from The Bachelor world alone."She's very intelligent and compassionate. I am able to be myself around her and she's able to be herself and that's how we create synergy and build around each other," Dean explained of Caelynn."For the first time in my Bachelor franchise relationship history, I feel like I'm able to say what I want, do what I want, and allow my partner to build with me while I'm doing that."Dean, however, believed in late 2019 that marriage was "never going to happen" for them."She does joke around about us getting married all the time, and I always say, 'Sorry, it's not going to happen.' I don't know, I'm super unconventional and she obviously is a little more conventional," Dean told the magazine at the time."We joke around about it. Just try to keep expectations to a minimum, you know? Like I said on the show, underpromise, overdeliver."Interested in more The Bachelor news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group
On Monday at approximately 4:31 p.m., the Athens-Clarke County Police Department responded to a shooting that occurred on the 200 block of Hawthorne Extension, according to a press release from ACCPD.

A 32-year-old man had been shot and sustained life-threatening injuries, the release said. EMS transported the man to a local hospital.
On the evening of April 18, Mt. Joy, a five-piece indie rock band based in Los Angeles, visited The Classic Center, greeted by a full house of dedicated fans. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Matt Quinn, guitarist Sam Cooper, drummer Sotiris Eliopoulos, pianist Jackie Miclau and bassist Michael Byrnes.

Although this was the bands first headlining show in Athens, the group performed at Terrapin Beer Co. in October 2021, accompanying Trampled by Turtles.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 17. The Port of Baku and the Chinese port of Qingdao signed a Memorandum of Understanding, Trend reports.

The document was signed by Deputy General Director of the Baku Port Zohrab Ismailov and Deputy General Manager of Shandong Port Group Liu Gang.

The Qingdao seaport handled 1.6 billion tons of cargo in 2022, and with the signing of the mentioned memorandum, the amount of handled cargo is expected to increase.

The signed memorandum aims to attract cargo from China, South Korea, and other Eastern countries to the territory of Azerbaijan with further transportation to Europe.

Amid this, the Port of Baku is currently working to increase its overall cargo handling capacity, which currently stands at 15 million tons - to 25 million tons. The necessary budget has already been allocated for this.

In addition, in March 2023, the Turkish Albayrak company put into operation a new crane for loading/unloading containers at the Baku International Commercial Sea Port.

The master plan for the second phase of the Port of Baku is being prepared by the Dutch Royal Haskoning DHV company. It is expected to be ready by mid-2023.
The introduction and presence of COVID-19 worsened mental health among various demographics on a national level, according to a study from Mental Health America.

The study found that Black individuals had the biggest increase in anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to other races and ethnicities, with a 5% increase in those screened who displayed symptoms of moderate to severe anxiety. Suicidal ideation also increased the most among Black youth and adults from 2019-2021, higher than any other group.

Historically, Black women have often felt disrespected, unprotected and neglected, which have caused their mental health to look different from other symptoms of mental illness that exist.
India's first escalator, its shortest elevator, a terror attack, a rescue operation -- the building's seen a lot.

IMAGE: The Air India building at Nariman Point, south Mumbai Photograph: The late Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

The Maharashtra government is reportedly set to become the new owner of the iconic Air India building in Mumbai and is expected to turn it into an extension of the Mantralaya (secretariate).

According to news reports, AI Assets Holding Ltd, which owns the building, has 'in principle' agreed to the state's offer of Rs 1,600 crore (Rs 16 billion).

Located at Nariman Point, the 23-storey tower has defined the Mumbai skyline for decades.

Designed by American architect John Burgee, it was completed in 1973 and instantly became one of the most recognisable buildings of Mumbai (then Bombay).

"It was way ahead of its time and showed the vision of J R D Tata," recalls Jitender Bhargava, former executive director, Air India and author of The Descent of Air India.

For one, it was the first building in the country to have an escalator -- from the ground floor to the company's booking office on the first floor.

"So many people would come in just for a joyride on that escalator," remembers Bhargava.

It also boasted the shortest lift -- from the 22nd floor to the boardroom on the 23rd floor.

"It was a building that stood out also because of the rotating centaur on top. It was a rare thing. All other buildings had neon signs, but this was different and could be seen all the way from Chowpatty or even Malabar Hill," says Bhargava.

Photograph: Kind courtesy Indianhilbilly/Wikimedia Commons

The Air India building was one of the first few skyscrapers at Queen's Necklace -- the others included the Express Towers and Oberoi Sheraton.

Bhargava recalls September 2016, when a fire broke out in the 25-storey Express Towers.

"We opened the windows and hosed the fire. The next day Viveck Goenka (chairman and MD of the Indian Express group) sent us sweets as a thank-you gesture and I remember replying with, "It's what neighbours do!'"

The Air India building itself came under attack during the 1993 Bombay blasts, when a car bomb exploded in its basement.

"While there was some damage to the building, the foundation was not affected," says Bhargava.

During the 26/11 terror attack, the tunnel to the basement of the building became a pivotal point.

"It was here that police briefings for taking control of the Trident hotel were held. It also became the route to bring out people rescued from the hotel. I remember it was a very emotional scene," Bhargava adds.

The building was also home to Air India's legacy art collection, all of which was displayed on the 18th floor -- the publicity department.

"We kind of had a deal with artists at the time. It was a time when Indian art was not exposed to the world and so we'd fly them out in return for paintings sometimes," says Bhargava.

The collection includes works by celebrated artists such as M F Husain, Anjole Ela Menon and Jatin Das. Husain once even hand painted a hoarding outside the building. "That was how important the building was!" Bhargava says.

Karen Ginwala, who was part of Air India's flight crew, remembers walking into the building for the final leg of her job interview with JRD in the late 1970s.

"It was a beautiful building, but I was really just a bundle of nerves. The sea view was great, but all I could think of was whether I was going to get the job or not."

For Bhargava, it was the view that made him want the job more. "I remember my interview day. I looked outside the window and the view was majestic, and I remember thinking: 'Just one more reason to work here'."

Air India shifted its headquarters to Delhi some years ago, and under the Tatas now, the airline's head office is to be based out of Gurugram.

Meanwhile, with the prized piece of real estate at Nariman Point poised to change hands, Bhargava says some things should just not be touched -- like the name of the building and the revolving logo on the top.

"They make the Air India building legendary."

Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com
SBI has suggested that banks be exempted from handing over the complete forensic audit report to the borrower as it would hamper future investigation and forewarn the borrower by way of disclosure of confidential information.

IMAGE: Kindly note that this image has been posted for representational purposes only. Photograph: Dinesh Gupta/ANI Photo

State Bank of India has filed an application before the Supreme Court seeking clarifications on the apex courts recent directive that banks hear defaulters before they classify a loan account as fraud.

In its plea filed on April 13, SBI has said: On a purposeful reading of the judgment, this court has not read any personal hearing. However, it is likely to be misconstrued and a spate of litigation is apprehended on this ground by those defaulters. Their default has substantially contributed to the weakening of the financial position of the banks, affecting the economy of the nation.

The bank has sought to limit the scope of personal hearing by suggesting that lenders should be allowed to share only relevant extracts of the forensic audit report with the borrower, instead of the full report. It claimed that giving an opportunity to the borrower to make a representation based on the relevant extracts of the audit report is the only possible and practical way of compliance with the principles of natural justice.

SBI has suggested that banks be exempted from handing over the complete forensic audit report to the borrower as it would hamper future investigation and forewarn the borrower by way of disclosure of confidential information.

The disclosure of the entire material against the borrower, at this stage, would give an opportunity to the borrower to delay the investigation, destroy the evidence and abscond the country, it has argued.

SBI, in its plea, has also appealed that application of the March 27, 2023, judgment be made prospective in operation, and should not apply to past cases.

It has also pleaded that lenders be allowed to decide the time frame of the adjudication, as the borrowers may try to delay the process in the name of a personal hearing and absence of a time limit stipulation.

At the outset, it is said that the applicant is not seeking a review of the judgment.

The application is likely to be heard next week.

The Supreme Court stated a borrower should be allowed to be heard before a bank declared the persons account fraudulent. The Bench of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli upheld the judgment of the division bench of the high court of Telangana on December 10, 2020.

The RBIs 2016 circular on fraud classification was challenged by over 100 companies in the apex court.

What SBI wants
'It is like a chicken-and-egg situation.'

'All these product tweaks are innovative, but traders won't move unless there is liquidity.'

'And liquidity cannot be generated until traders move.'

IMAGE: The entrance to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Photograph: ANI Photo

BSE (formerly the Bombay Stock Exchange), Asia's oldest bourse, is initiating several tweaks to its products to arrest the fall in market share -- both in the equity cash and derivatives segments -- said people in the know.

Under the leadership of Sundararaman Ramamurthy, the exchange has lined up several changes in the cash market, equity derivatives, as well as currency derivatives.

Ramamurthy -- an early architect of the rival National Stock Exchange -- took charge as BSE managing director and chief executive officer in January.

For the cash segment, BSE has reduced the tick size to just 1 paisa for stocks below Rs 100. The move has already started to yield results, with the turnover for stocks in this segment growing 14 per cent in March.

In February, the BSE introduced the 10 paise strike intervals for the currency options segment. The move helps lower premiums, leading to lower costs of trading.

Strikes with an interval of 10 paise strike interval have contributed to 64 per cent of the US dollar/rupee turnover in March.

The most significant change, however, will be the relaunch of the Sensex and the Bankex derivatives contracts.

The lot sizes of the Sensex will be reduced from 15 to 10; for Bankex Index derivatives, from 20 to 15. The change is aimed at lowering the lot size and thereby the margin to attract traders.

Now, the Sensex contract size will be Rs 6 lakh, compared to the Nifty's Rs 9 lakh.

The exchange will also reach out to brokers and traders, highlighting the benefits of the product tweaks and low costs. It will also underscore the high correlation between the Sensex and the Nifty -- the most popular index derivatives.

Another unique proposition offered by the bourse will be to move the day of expiry to Friday (from Thursday) to appeal to traders with specific hedging and trading needs.

"The exchange has been in dialogue with several top brokers like Zerodha, Upstox, ICICI Securities, and Axis Securities. On many platforms, the BSE was not getting access and prices were not being shown to traders. The BSE is engaging with them to facilitate the same," said a person in the know.

The transaction charges in equity futures at BSE are zero, while it claims 90 per cent lower transaction charges in equity options.

Notwithstanding lower costs, the BSE has failed to develop any cracks in NSE's dominant position.

Industry players say traders are willing to incur higher costs of trading for a venue that offers deeper liquidity, helping lower impact costs.

"The impact costs for the BSE are on the higher side. It is like a chicken-and-egg situation. All these product tweaks are innovative, but traders won't move unless there is liquidity. And liquidity cannot be generated until traders move," said a broker.

In the cash segment, the bourse had a market share of nearly 7 per cent in March, up from 6.6 per cent a month earlier.

Meanwhile, in the derivatives segment, its market share has dropped to near-zero, from 2.5 per cent at the end of last financial year.
Will Annamalai's attacks on the DMK revert the anti-BJP feeling in Tamil Nadu, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.

IMAGE: Kuppasawmy Annamalai, president of the Bharatiya Janata Dal's Tamil Nadu unit, addresses the media about the 'DMK Files', Chennai, April 14, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

There is only one explanation for the visible bonhomie between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin at a couple of functions in which both participated in Chennai recently.

In a way, Modi was responding to Stalin's 'divide-and-rule' approach to politics and political administration since assuming office in May 2021 -- separating Centre-state relations and personal equations on the one hand and politico-electoral adversity on the other.

It was thus, two days after the all-smiles PM-CM chit-chat for cameras and the public to capture, the state assembly passed a second censure motion against Governor R N Ravi, once again moved by Stalin.

It was followed a few days down the line by state Bharatiya Janata Party chief K Annamalai releasing what he titled as the 'DMK Files', on the morning of Tamil New Year's Day, April 14.

The assembly resolution, piloted by Stalin, as with the previous one, was caused by Ravi's more recent provocative statements in the public domain.

Responding to a question at an interaction with civil service aspirants a few days earlier, he said that if the governor did not respond to a bill, twice passed by the state assembly, it was presumed 'dead'.

The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and its electoral allies, and also some independent commentators, were up in arms, pointing out that the governor was violating Constitutional provisions, which did not give him any choice over assenting to a twice-passed bill after he had returned it once.

Pending non-clearance of a twice-passed NEET-exemption resolution, this one was about Ravi sitting on the bill banning online gaming.

Independent of the Constitutional niceties, the public mood too was in favour of the ban as at least 40 persons had committed suicide after getting addicted to online gaming and incurring heavy debts.

If in the past Ravi cited technicalities that the state assembly did not have the power to pass a legislation, which otherwise fell under the central list of the Constitution, he readily cleared the bill, only hours after the assembly passed the resolution.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra D Modi being welcomed by Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi on his arrival in Chennai, April 8, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

Critics attributed the governor's sudden change-of-mind possibly to two factors.

One, the possible advice Modi gave him while driving together from one function venue to another in Chennai two days earlier.

Two, there was the assembly revelation by Finance Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan that Ravi's Raj Bhavan's money management left much to be desired -- and much more to be explained.

Yet, there is no explanation on what new facts had come to the governor's notice that he swept away his earlier reservations to giving assent to the anti-gaming bill.

Possibly, Ravi too had come to understand the mood of the Supreme Court while dealing with a near-similar matter involving the Bharat Rashtra Samithi government in Telangana and Governor Tamizhisai Soundararajan, formerly the Tamil Nadu BJP president.

If all this in a way put the Tamil Nadu BJP on the defensive, especially because party leaders and social media activists had rushed to Ravi's defence, state BJP President K Annamalai's 'DMK Files' has since taken some sting out of it all.

In the reverse, it has also injected some in the reverse, targeting the ruling DMK. But therein lay an embarrassing catch for the BJP and Annamalai.

IMAGE: Modi inaugurates a new terminal building at Chennai airport in the presence of Governor R N Ravi, Chief Minister M K Stalin and Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, April 8, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

Annamalai's Tamil new year's day news conference was coming for six months and more. He promised one in April -- though the dates were changed, subsequently -- after questions were raised about the ownership of the 'limited edition' Rafale watch (costing Rs 300,000 plus) on his wrist six months ago, and he promised to produce the bill for his second-hand purchase -- but only in April.

At the time, he also promised a long list of corruption charges involving individual DMK ministers -- also in April -- based possibly on the assumption that Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji was behind the 'Rafale watch expose', who in turn was also Annamalai's early target last year.

There are three focus points from Annamalai's news conference. One, he rolled out a long list of the financial worth of many DMK ministers, including Stalin and son Udhayanidhi.

The list also included the names of a few MPs including T R Baalu and Dayanidhi Maran, both former Union ministers, and Kanimozhi Karunanidhi.

Topping the list of 17 was incumbent Lok Sabha member and former Union minister of state S Jagathrakshakan, with Rs 51,000-plus crores (Rs 510 billion plus). Stalin came at the bottom of the list with Rs 200 crores (Rs 2 billion).

IMAGE: Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi. Photograph: PTI Photo

More importantly, Annamalai charged Stalin with accepting Rs 200 crores in bribes, through two shell companies, to 'tweak tender regulations' for phase one of the Chennai Metro Rail in 2011, when he was deputy CM under chief minister father M Karunanidhi.

At the news conference, Annamalai said he would move central agencies for investigation into the matter.

Third, Annamalai also released the bill for the Rafale wrist watch, claiming it was only one of the two in the country, and was that of a friend in Coimbatore.

In the course of his not-so-friendly conversation with newsmen, he also said that he took seven years in office as an IPS officer in Karnataka to clear his education loan from banks, and that his friends were now paying for his upkeep and personal office.

Social media critics, possibly including those from the DMK, were quick on the uptake, by claiming contradictions over the watch business. They pointed out how Annamalai had earlier claimed that his watch bore the serial number 149, but has now produced the bill for watch number 147.

They sought to embarrass Annamalai even more by asking how someone who was living off the largesse of friends could afford a Rs 300,000 plus wrist watch as recently as 2021. This argument and the counter are going to linger for some more time, at the very least.

On the substantive charges against DMK ministers, even BJP-sympathetic 'independent' media analysts have tweeted how the financial worth of individuals was in the public domain, in the form of income tax returns, among others, and accessible to individuals, independent of political affiliation and position.

Some of them expressed disappointment as they had expected new expose on wrong-doing by incumbent ministers under Stalin's stewardship.

IMAGE: Stalin and Ravi pay floral tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 75th death anniversary, January 30, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

Annamalai's charge against Stalin, who is also the ruling DMK supremo, gained the top place in newspaper headlines the next day. As was to be expected, the DMK as a party promptly declared that it would initiate legal action against Annamalai, which it did on Sunday with a Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) legal notice.

But there is also a fall side to this claim of Annamalai. The anti-BJP social media has triggered public memory to the forgotten IT raids on incumbent AIADMK ministers in the midst of the 2016 R K Nagar assembly by-election, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of charismatic party chief minister Jayalalithaa.

They have also raised questions about the fate of the unprecedented IT raid on the office of then chief secretary P Rama Mohana Rao -- seeking to know the fate of these cases under the Modi regime at the Centre.

The question thus remains if, for instance, Annamalai's attacks on the ruling party and government will be able to revert the anti-BJP feeling that Ravi's actions and speeches have only fuelled in Tamil Nadu, with an inherent penchant for concepts like pan-Tamil linguistic and cultural pride, unmatched elsewhere in the country, and those like genuine federalism, apart from social justice.

Definitely, Annamalai has the day to himself. It is unlikely to penetrate without accompanying/follow-up action by central agencies, or by the governor, who may act on a petition(s) that the former may seek to present in the coming days.

In between, Annamalai has also promised to meet the media on April 21, when he says he would answer newsmen's questions. At the time, he may come out with his future course of action.

IMAGE: Posters condemning Governor Ravi have come up at various places in Chennai. Photograph: ANI Photo

It will also be then that Annamalai would be asked to explain his recent statement that he would similarly expose all parties and governments that have ruled the state -- including leaders of the AIADMK, which is still expected to be the BJP's team leader in the Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu.

If one of these were to happen, either the AIADMK would not be in the BJP alliance, or Annamalai would not be the state party chief at the time of the elections.

This has remained the standard operating procedure of both the BJP and the Congress in their times. The high command encourages the state unit to target ally and opponent alike with the hope of strengthening the party base, but give in at the time of elections.

This time round, it began with Jayalalitha's hospitalisation and death in 2016, but with two breaks, for the Lok Sabha polls of 2019 and assembly elections, 2021.

It remains to be seen if the Centre's action, if any, on Annamalai's charges will come before or after the Lok Sabha polls.

Seeking to discredit the DMK pre-poll may cut either way.

It need not necessarily cut into the DMK's electoral fortunes, which inevitable anti-incumbency may achieve to an extent, with or without it. But it would leave a deep cut and scars in the DMK cadre's immediate memory, if pre-poll, the BJP at the Centre ends up having to woo the DMK for neutrality, if not outright support, in the Lok Sabha, for continuing to head a government for the third successive term.

Here, there is a difference between the DMK and the AIADMK, as far as the BJP's approach goes.

The BJP wants the AIADMK still as an electoral ally, but on its terms -- especially in terms or seats and constituencies.

The DMK, the BJP may need, if at all, post-poll. The Modi-Shah duo seems to have seen reason in the argument that a BJP-DMK poll alliance in the state would be a mutual burden, leading to both losing votes and seats, because of the Hindutva/anti-Hindutva incompatibility.

This does not mean that the DMK is desirous of an alliance with the BJP, now or later. It is an acknowledgement of the BJP's realisation that they have nothing to gain from a pre-poll alliance with the DMK, unlike in the case of the AIADMK -- but both have only everything to lose.

After all, the BJP cannot market the DMK, which it has been painting as anti-Hindu, anti-god and even anti-national.

The DMK just cannot afford to lose its minority vote-bank, which is substantial and which adds to its core Hindu vote-bank that is not Hindutva.

Even changing the governor or the state BJP chief or both would not change the DMK's anti-BJP poll posture. Nor would it alienate the DMK from the Congress ally, which the BJP had tried enough, though behind-the-scenes.

That way, yes, there is a perception that not all is lost for the DMK vis-a-vis the BJP-ruled Centre, with the post-poll future especially in mind. Responding to Stalin's publicised letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the CRPF denied that their recruitment examinations used to be held in Tamil in the past, and that was dropped this time in favour of only the English/Hindi option.

However, days later -- that, too, a day after Annamalai's DMK Files -- the CRPF announced the decision to hold recruitment exams in 13 languages, including Tamil. Stalin readily welcomed the decision, thanked Shah and proposed that even the question papers for all Union government recruitment exams should be in the regional languages.

DMK cadres see it as a victory for Stalin. Critics say this is a response to Stalin 'surrendering' to the BJP Centre, but they haven't given any details. They also pity the DMK allies, starting with the Congress, which stand to lose in the Lok Sabha polls.

Yet, it is imaginative decisions such as these, going beyond gestures, which may go to increase the BJP's footprint in Tamil Nadu, and effectively so.

N Sathiya Moorthy, veteran journalist and author, is a Chennai-based policy analyst and political commentator.

Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com
After gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed was killed in Prayagraj, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi said that Atiq was the second former MP from the Muslim community to be "murdered without impunity".

IMAGE: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi addresses a press conference on killings of mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj. Photograph: ANI Photo

"Atiq is the second Muslim ex-MP who was murdered with impunity. Ehsan Jaffry was ruthlessly hacked to death by a mob in Gujarat in 2002 and today it's Atiq. Shot and killed in police custody," tweeted Owaisi.

Atiq Ahmed represented the Phulpur Lok Sabha constituency between 2004-2009.

Ehsan Jaffry was a member of the 6th Lok Sabha.

He was killed by a mob in the Gulbarg Society massacre on February 28, 2002, following the Godhra incident.

After Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Ahmed were shot dead in Prayagraj, the AIMIM chief called the incident a "cold-blooded murder" while adding that people who are celebrating this killing are "vultures".

Addressing the mediapersons on Sunday, Owaisi said, "Uttar Pradesh's BJP government has a role in this. Supreme Court-monitored investigation should be done and a committee should be formed. No officer from Uttar Pradesh should be included in the committee. This was a 'cold-blooded' murder."

He further said, "How did they (killers) get those weapons?... Why were they raising religious slogans after killing them? What will you call them if not terrorists? Will you call them Patriots? People celebrating this incident are vultures..."

He said the incident raises a big question about the law and order situation.

The AIMIM chief questioned whether the public will have any faith in the constitution and Law and order of the country after this incident.

"I have always been saying that BJP in Uttar Pradesh is not running the government by the rule of law but by the rule of gun," he said.

Owaisi further demanded Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's resignation.

"I demand the resignation of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the Supreme Court to form a team and investigate this matter. We also demand all police officers present there should be removed from service," he said.

"Atiq and his brother were in police custody. He was handcuffed. JSR (Jai Shri Ram) slogans were also raised. The killing of both is the failure of Yogi's law and order system. Those celebrating encounter raj are also responsible for this murder," Owaisi added.

Days after Atiq Ahmed's son Asad was killed in an encounter in Uttar Pradesh's Jhansi, the gangster-turned-politician and his brother, Ashraf Ahmed, were killed on Saturday while being taken for a medical examination in Prayagraj.

Both the gangsters collapsed on the spot after they were shot at nearly point-blank range.

The bodies of the gangster-turned-politician and his brother were brought to Kasari Masari burial ground in Prayagraj for burial.
Top commanders of the army on Monday began deliberations on India's national security challenges along the borders with China and Pakistan and ways to boost combat capability of the force on the first day of a five-day conclave.

IMAGE: Army commander Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi accompanied by Lt Gen ADS Aujla, Chinar Corps Commander visited the formations and units,in Jammu and Kashmir, June 17, 2022. Photograph: ANI Photo

The commanders' conference will also focus on the ongoing reform process in the 1.3 million force and use of high technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and virtual reality for various purposes, officials said.

For the first time, the commanders' conference is being conducted in hybrid format.

The commanders present in Delhi gathered at the South Block in Raisina Hills area, while many others joined the deliberations virtually.

The commanders and other senior functionaries will hold in-person deliberations in Delhi from Tuesday, the officials said.

The army's plan charted out as part of 'Year of Transformation-2023' along with the progress on Agnipath scheme and ambitious digitisation and automation initiatives will also feature at the conference.

During the course of the conference from April 17 to 21, the commanders are expected to carry out an extensive review of the overall situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in view of the three-year border row in eastern Ladakh.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is scheduled to address the conference on April 19 where he will also review an equipment display focussing on niche technology, innovation, solutions for surveillance, artificial intelligence, virtual reality and operational logistics, according to the army.

The senior officers will also be addressed by chief of defence staff Gen Anil Chauhan, chief of the naval staff Admiral R Hari Kumar and Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari.

The regional security situation and geopolitical implications of the Russia-Ukraine war may also figure at the conference, the officials said.

The army commanders' conference is an apex-level biannual event that is held in April and October every year.

The conference is an institutional platform for conceptual-level deliberations, culminating in making important policy decisions for the Indian Army.

The anti-terror operation in Jammu and Kashmir as well as the overall situation in the Union territory will also be deliberated upon extensively at the conference, the officials said.
The three assailants who shot gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were shifted from the Prayagraj Central Jail to the Pratapgarh District Jail on Monday, a senior official said in Lucknow.

IMAGE: Police personnel stand guard outside a court where three assailants who shot dead gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were produced in a court, in Prayagraj, on Sunday, April 16, 2023. Photograph: PTI Photo

The official said the transfer was done on administrative grounds.

The assailants -- Mohit alias Sunny (23) of Hamirpur, Lavlesh Tiwari (22) of Banda and Arun Maurya (18) of Kasganj -- were arrested soon after the dramatic shootout outside the Prayagraj hospital where policemen were escorting the brothers for a medical check-up Saturday night.

The trio were taken from Prayagraj at 12 noon and reached Pratapgarh at 2.10 pm, officials said.

Ali, the son of Atiq Ahmad, is currently lodged in the Prayagraj Central Jail in Uttar Pradesh.

Jail officials refuted reports in a section of media regarding the health of Ali and said that these reports are 'not true' and he is 'completely healthy'.

According to the reports, Ali has been unwell since hearing the news of his father's killing.

According to the police, the three assailants posted as journalists, carrying video cameras, mike and media identity cards.

While Sunny is a history sheeter and has 14 criminal cases, including that of murder, loot, narcotics transport, attempt to murder, pending against him in Hamirpur, Tiwari faces cases of selling of illicit liquor, manhandling and harassing women in Banda, a police officer said.

Maurya's criminal history is being traced, the official said.

Three firearms -- a country made A-30 pistol (7.62), a made-in-Turkey nine-mm Girsan pistol and a 9-mm Zigana pistol -- were recovered from them.

A first information report (FIR) has been registered in this case at Shahganj police station.

The three were sent to 14-day judicial custody by a court in Prayagraj on Sunday.

A three-member judicial commission has been constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government to look into the matter and will submit its report within two months.

The commission is headed by Justice (retired) Arvind Kumar Tripathi. Former director general of police Subesh Kumar Singh and former district judge Brijesh Kumar Soni are its members.

Atiq Ahmad and Khalid Azeem alias Ashraf were brought to Prayagraj from Gujarat and Bareilly prisons for interrogation in connection with the killing of Umesh Pal and his two police security guards earlier this year.
Leh and Kargil towns of the Ladakh Union Territory observed a shutdown on Monday in protest against the 'controversial video' of the Dalai Lama, which went viral of the social media, drawing criticism against the spiritual leader on social media.

IMAGE: Central and Regional Tibetan Women's Association (TWA) organise a prayer in support of Tibetan Spiritual leader Dalai Lama at the Tibetan main temple of Tsuglagkhang, in Dharamshala on Monday. Photograph: ANI Photo

The Dalai Lama had apologised to a boy, his family and friends for the 'hurt his words may have caused', after a video clip purportedly showing the Tibetan spiritual head asking him to 'suck' his tongue sparked a row.

In the two-minute-five-second video, the Dalai Lama also asked the child 'to look at those good human beings who create peace, and happiness and not follow those who kill other people'.

Led by the Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA), the protesters also condemned the 'conspiracy to defame' the Dalai Lama and extended support to him, requesting him to continue spreading peace, love, and compassion.

All the shops and business establishments remained closed and traffic was off the roads in Leh and Kargil districts in protests against 'defaming the Dalai Lama by making a video viral on social media and comments made by various celebrities hurting religious feelings of Buddhists'.

Hundreds of people took out protest rallies in Leh and Kargil.

They carried placards, religious flags amid pictures of spiritual leaders in protests against attempts to defame him.

They raised slogans against those involved in it.

"Entire Leh and Kargil districts of Ladakh observed shutdown. The people came on streets to protest against the attempt to defame Dalai Lama Ji. We are hurt over it," a social leader S Samphel told reporters in Leh.

The statement issued by the office of Dalai Lama had said, 'A video clip has been circulating that shows a recent meeting when a young boy asked His Holiness the Dalai Lama if he could give him a hug. His Holiness wishes to apologise to the boy and his family, as well as his many friends across the world, for the hurt his words may have caused.'

'His Holiness often teases people he meets in an innocent and playful way, even in public and before cameras. He regrets the incident,' it said.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar on Monday joined the Congress, dealing a blow to the ruling party ahead of the May 10 Assembly elections.

IMAGE: Former Karnataka CM Jagadish Shettar joins Congress in the presence of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and senior party leaders KC Venugopal, at KPCC office in Bengaluru, Monday, April 17, 2023. Photograph: Shailendra Bhojak/PTI Photo

Lashing out at the BJP for "humiliating" him and not giving him a chance for an "honourable exit", the former state BJP president said he was beginning a "new episode" in his life by joining the Congress.

The decision to part ways with the BJP came after the 67-year old six time MLA, a former Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, ex-Speaker and a party president in the past, was denied ticket to contest from the Hubli-Dharwad (Central) segment, which he represented in the outgoing Lower House.

The Lingayat leader from north Karnataka region embraced the Congress in the presence of AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge, General Secretaries K C Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala (Karnataka in-charge), KPCC President D K Shivakumar and Legislature Party leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

The Congress was emboldened by Shettar's move. "With this, the Lingayats will turn against the BJP and shift towards the Congress", the party's Campaign Committee Chairman M B Patil said.

Last week, former Deputy Chief Minister and another Lingayat leader Laxman Savadi quit the BJP after being overlooked for the Athani seat and joined the Congress.

After joining the party, Shettar was given a 'B-form' by Shivakumar as a Congress candidate from Hubli-Dharwad (Central) Assembly segment for the upcoming polls.

Shettar, who resigned as MLA on Sunday, was asked by the BJP top brass to make way for others as part of the party's strategy to groom the next generation of leaders but he was firm on contesting.

"I'm quitting the BJP and joining the Congress today. Many are surprised as to why a person who was a former CM, twice leader of opposition, and was party president has quit BJP and joined the Congress. There were also attempts to put pressure on me from various places, but no one understood the pain I was going through as a senior leader for the last couple of months," Shettar said.

Speaking to reporters after joining the party, he said he was one among those who built and nurtured the BJP in Karnataka along with B S Yediyurappa and late H N Ananth Kumar, especially in the north Karnataka region.

"The BJP gave me all respect and positions, and in return I too worked as a committed and loyal worker to organise and build the party, and have honestly fulfilled the responsibilities I was given," he added.

Noting that he has won Assembly polls six times continuously since 1994 with huge margins, Shettar said as a senior leader he naturally expected to be given a ticket, but when denied "was shocked and pained."

"I was not treated the way a senior leader should be treated. They should have told me in advance that they will require my service at the central level or will give me other responsibilities and not to contest the polls. Instead, at the last moment on April 11 ahead of the nominations, I was told by BJP state in-charge- like it is told to small boy- that me and K S Eshwarappa (senior leader) will not get ticket and that we should send a consent letter and hold a press conference in this regard," he said.

Alleging that he had been humiliated by the BJP which denied him a chance to contest, Shettar said after consulting all his well-wishers and supporters, he decided to quit the party and contest the forthcoming Assembly elections.

"By then M B Patil, Surjewala, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar contacted me, asking me to join the Congress...I was forcefully thrown out of the party that I built, there were no options before me. So I'm joining the Congress by accepting its ideology and principles, whole-heartedly," he said.

On his arrival in Bengaluru from Hubballi on Sunday, Shettar had held discussions with Congress leaders Surjewala, Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah, Patil and veteran Congress leader Shamanur Shivashankarappa (Shettar's relative).

Shettar said he, along with others built the BJP with a slogan that 'party is important not the person', but the party today in Karnataka is in the "control" of a very few people.

He further said he won't criticise Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national President J P Nadda. "Probably they are not aware of developments here."

"I did not want any power, I did not come to politics for the sake of power. My family has been associated since Jan Sangh days, since 1967 my uncle Sadashiva Shetty was an MLA. My father was a

five-time Hubli-Dharwad Corporation councillor and the first Jan Sangh Mayor in South India in 1976. I have come from Sangh Parivar background and worked in RSS and Akhil Bharatiya Vidya Parishad," he said.

Despite him voluntarily stating that he did not want to become a Minister in the Bommai government, while giving all cooperation, the way he was "ill treated" shows the party had decided that they don't want Jagadish Shettar anymore, he said. Without naming anyone, he said, "Yediyurappa has retired from electoral politics, and after him in seniority and from the Lingayat community- I'm the next senior leader, so they might have feared I may emerge as a leader or as competition."

"Finally, I said I don't want any power for myself or my family. I said I will contest and function as an MLA for just six months and resign thereafter and quit politics, as it is a question of my self-esteem, but was denied that too. So imagine what I have gone through," he said, as he specially thanked the people of Lingayat community and people of Hubballi-Dharwad for the support they have shown.

The decision of Shettar, a prominent Lingayat leader from north Karnataka, may adversely impact the BJP's prospects in a number of segments in the region, according to political observers.

Shettar, a veteran BJP leader whose family has been associated with the party since Jana Sangh days, is an influential leader from its bastion- the Kittur Karnataka region.

Welcoming Shettar to the Congress, Kharge said he is joining the party accepting its ideology and to protect his self-respect. Despite being from the RSS and Jana Sangh, he did not court controversies.

He also expressed confidence that he will be helpful in nurturing and giving strength to the Congress. "Along with winning his constituency he will ensure the party wins all the neighbouring constituencies. His joining will give strength to the Congress in the North Karnataka region", Kharge said.

Kharge also recalled him and Shettar functioning in the Assembly being in opposition parties, and said, "he was always polite by nature."

"I'm confident that the Congress will be successful in achieving Rahul Gandhi's target of getting more than 150 seats in the Assembly polls. With Shettar joining the party it has instilled more confidence in me," he added.

Siddaramaiah said Shettar is a gentleman politician and despite coming from the RSS, he has always functioned in a "secular manner."

Recalling that when Shettar was the Chief Minister, he was Leader of the Opposition, and when he became Chief Minister, Shettar was the opposition leader, he said, "Shettar is a politician with self-respect and to protect that (self-respect) he has quit BJP and joined Congress...I can assure him that we will treat him with respect."

BJP has humiliated its tallest Lingayat leaders like Yediyurappa and Jagadish Shettar, he alleged and said "because of Shettar joining the Congress, the party has got more strength and will win the elections."

Shivakumar said Shettar has worked in politics for nearly four decades without attaching any blackspot to his name or character.

He recalled Shettar working as Leader of Opposition when the Congress government was in power with S M Krishna and Siddaramaiah as Chief Ministers.
SHAMAKHI, Azerbaijan, April 17. Industrial parks under the Economic Zones Development Agency of Azerbaijan have exported $1.8 billion worth of products to date, the agencys Deputy Board Chairman of Elkiyar Ziyadov said, Trend reports.

Ziyadov made the remark during a scientific and practical conference on the investment attractiveness of liberated territories.

"Products are exported to a number of countries in Europe, the US, Asia and Africa, as well as Turkiye, Georgia, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Albania, Germany, Austria, the UK, Canada, Brazil, Colombia, Japan, the UAE, China, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, India, Egypt and Nigeria," he noted.

According to him, in general, the number of registered residents of industrial parks is 127, of which 66 have already begun their activities.

Speaking about the Aghdam Industrial Park, Ziyadov noted that today there are 16 residents there, while the overall worth of projects is about $64.78 million.

"Within this industrial park, the following work is planned: the construction of electrical substations, four distribution points, 19 transformer points, organization of drinking and technical water supply systems, rainwater and domestic wastewater, installation of a fire extinguishing system, laying of a fiber optic cable, organization of four checkpoints, perimeter fencing and construction of internal roads," he said.

Regarding the "Araz Valley Economic Zone", the deputy board chairman emphasized that the industrial park currently has four residents and the project investment is $15.3 million.

"Within this industrial park, the following work is planned: the construction of electrical substations, distribution and transformer points, organization of drinking and technical water supply systems, rainwater and domestic wastewater, installation of a fire extinguishing system, the laying of a fiber optic cable, the organization of a checkpoint, and the construction of internal roads," he added.

In accordance with the priority of revitalization of Karabakh, with the purpose of realizing the industrial potential of the region, reintegration into the country's economy, and ensuring the employment of the population Aghdam Industrial Park was established in the city of Aghdam, and "Araz Valley Economic Zone" Industrial Park was established in Jabrayil district by the relevant decrees of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Aghdam Industrial Park was established by the decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated May 28, 2021. The territory of the Industrial Park covers an area of 190 hectares. A mobile town was built for comfortable operation of residents. Entrepreneurs show great interest in Aghdam Industrial Park. Projects submitted by entrepreneurs to become residents of the Industrial Park are reviewed and evaluated at the Economic Zones Development Agency, and those businessmen are granted the status of residents of the Industrial Park. Construction work has already been started by a number of residents.

"Araz Valley Economic Zone" Industrial Park was established by the decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated October 4, 2021. The territory of the Industrial Park covers an area of 200 hectares. A mobile town was built for comfortable operation of residents. Projects submitted by entrepreneurs to become residents of the Industrial Park are reviewed and evaluated at the Economic Zones Development Agency, and those businessmen are granted the status of residents of the Industrial Park.
Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday made a pitch for opposition unity in order to defeat the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and said an alternative would emerge on its own.

IMAGE: Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray addresses a rally in Nagpur. Photograph: @OfficeofUT/Twitter

Addressing the Maha Vikas Aghadi's joint 'Vajramuth' rally in Nagpur, the former chief minister hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party, saying its "addiction to power" was destroying the country.

"You just need to press the button (of EVM) to create a revolution. Freedom fighters and revolutionaries walked to the gallows to achieve freedom. They did not bother who will be the prime minister or the president. They laid down their lives for the people of the country and not to bring BJP to power," he said.

"Why should you bother who will be the alternative? Someone will emerge...but we need to pledge that we will not allow a government which is unjust. " he said, adding that PM Modi should tell people what he has done for the country during his tenure.

Thackeray said people should be aware of how religious issues are raked up to distract their attention from core issues.

Thackeray's comments on alternatives to PM Modi and his government assumes significance as efforts for opposition unity are on. Congress general secretary K C Venugopal and Rahul Gandhi are likely to meet him in Mumbai soon.

The former CM also questioned the silence of PM Modi on the Hindenburg report on billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani and also the reported revelations of former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satyapal Malik.

US-based Hindenburg Research has alleged stock manipulation and accounting fraud in firms belonging to Adani.

"If the Hindenburg report is not true, why are you shaken? Rahul Gandhi has been disqualified and now (Delhi Chief Minister) Arvind Kejriwal might be arrested," he said.

The MVA government in Maharashtra was running well, Thackeray said, adding that the BJP couldn't wait for completion of the government's term to make a bid for forming the next one.

The former CM also targeted the BJP, whose minister Chandrakant Patil recently said the Shiv Sena had nothing to do with the Ayodhya movement.

"When the Babri mosque was demolished, there was chaos in the BJP camp. But (Shiv Sena founder) Balasaheb Thackeray declared that if a Shivsainik was involved he was proud," Thackeray said, and demanded to know if the Rashtriaya Swayamsevak Sangh agreed with the views of Chandrakant Patil.

If Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was a real 'ram bhakt', he would have gone to Ayodhya and not Surat and Guwahati. Did Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis go to Ayodhya when he was chief minister? he asked.

Following his rebellion against Thackeray in June 2022, Shinde and his supporting MLAs had first gone to Surat in Gujarat and Guwahati in Assam before returning to Maharashtra.

Thackeray also justified his recent remark in which he dubbed Fadnavis as "worthless", saying that even though he chooses his words carefully, he did use the term for the deputy CM as a woman member of his party was mercilessly attacked for a critical comment against the government on social media.

Thackeray said Union Home Minister Amit Shah is always critical of dynasties.

"But today he was in Mumbai to honour a dynasty working for the society," he said referring to the Maharashtra Bhushan award presented to social worker Appasaheb Dharmadhikari.

Referring to the attendance of people in large numbers at the 'Vajramuth' rally, Thackeray said the huge gathering shows that people were satisfied with the MVA rule, but still it was toppled through betrayal and back-stabbing, which is not tolerated in Maharashtra.

Thackeray also took a dig at the BJP, saying its Hindutva was "gomutra dhari".

"After the Aurangabad rally of the MVA earlier this month, BJP sprinkled 'gomutra' (cow urine) at the venue. Many Muslims attended that rally and even today many Muslims are attending. Aren't they humans? I am being accused of giving up Hindutva because I joined hands with Congress. Are there no Hindus in Congress?" he asked.

Thackeray also asked whether it was okay when RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat goes to a mosque.

Congress leader Sunil Kedar was the organiser of the rally.

Former chief minister and senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan, who spoke on the occasion, said the country was at a stage where its prime minister misled people and refused to answer questions.

"Let's take a pledge that we will not rest till he (PM) answers questions on Adani and Satyapal Malik's reported revelations," he said.

State Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Jayant Patil said the state government fears going to the people and hence it was delaying local body elections.

"If the government feels it is popular, it should hold elections," he said.

In the last 10 months, the Shinde-led government has not brought a single new project to the state, he alleged.

State Congress chief Nana Patole said the BJP tried its best to ensure the MVA rally was not held in Nagpur.

The speakers at the rally targeted the state government, accusing it of failing to provide relief to farmers whose crops were damaged in the recent unseasonal rains and hailstorm.

Former CM Ashok Chavan did not attend the rally and he tweeted about his unavailability citing political engagements in Nanded, while senior Congress leader Nitin Raut, who hails from Nagpur, was conspicuous by his absence.
Corruption poses a serious threat to society and must be dealt with an iron hand as it not only leads to abysmal loss to the public exchequer but also tramples upon good governance, the Supreme Court said on Monday while setting aside the anticipatory bail granted by the Gujarat high court to an IRS officer in a corruption case.

IMAGE: The Supreme Court of India. Photograph: ANI Photo

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and JK Maheshwari set aside the pre-arrest bail granted to Indian Revenue Service officer Santosh Karnani on an appeal by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

"The nature and gravity of the alleged offence should have been kept in mind by the high court. Corruption poses a serious threat to our society and must be dealt with iron hands. It not only leads to abysmal loss to the public exchequer but also tramples good governance," the apex court said.

It said the common man stands deprived of the benefits under social welfare schemes and is the worst hit.

"It is aptly said corruption is a tree whose branches are of an unmeasurable length, they spread everywhere, and the dew that drops from thence hath infected some chairs and stools of authority. Hence the need is to be extra conscious," the court said.

It clarified that it has expressed only prima facie opinion on the merit of the allegations for the limited purpose to refuse or grant pre-arrest bail.

"If Respondent No. 1 (Karnani) moves an application for grant of regular bail before an appropriate Court, the same shall be considered on its own merits and in accordance with law, uninfluenced by the observations made hereinabove," it said.

Allowing the CBI's appeal, it said the impugned judgment and order of the Gujarat high court dated December 19, 2022 is set aside and the anticipatory bail application of Karnani is dismissed.

The FIR was registered by the state anti-corruption bureau, Ahmedabad on a complaint on October 4, 2022.

Acting on the FIR, the local police had laid the trap the same day and recovered the bribe amount of Rs 30 lakh.

The investigation was later handed over to the CBI which re-registered the same FIR on October 12, 2022.

The complainant runs a construction company- Safal Construction Pvt. Ltd.

The top court noted, In February 2019, Respondent No. 1 (Karnani), an IRS Officer, posted as Additional Commissioner of Income Tax, Ahmedabad, conducted a survey for the financial year 2018-19 under Section 133A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 against Safal Construction Pvt. Ltd. whereunder the group disclosed an additional income of Rs. 50 crores.

Thereafter, in September 2021, search and seizure action was initiated by the Investigation Wing of Income Tax Department, Ahmedabad. On September 29, 2022, Karnani allegedly contacted the complainant and told him to meet him on October 3, 2022.

Accordingly, the complainant met Karnani at the Income Tax Office where he demanded illegal gratification of Rs 30 lakh to help the complainant with his case.

This conversation was recorded by the complainant on a Digital Voice Recorder which has been handed over to the investigating authorities, the bench noted.

The complainant lodged a complaint the next morning with ACB Police Station, Ahmedabad city at 07:15 hours and a trap was then laid.

Karnani refused to appear before the investigating authorities and later applied for anticipatory bail, which was granted by the high court, the apex court recorded in its order.

The top court said assuming that Karnani had some valid apprehensions that the actions of the ACB (state police) were actuated with extraneous reasons, he can no longer say so once the investigation had been transferred to CBI.

"We do not find any allegation of personal vendetta, victimisation, bias or ulterior motive against the Central Agency. In any case, CBI is expected to carry out a free, fair and dispassionate investigation with faithful observance to the rights of an accused, who is subjected to custodial interrogation, the bench said.

"Having considered the nature of allegations, material on record and the settled legal principles on grant of anticipatory bail, we are of the view that, howsoever hard or harsh it may be, the High Court ought to have refrained itself from extending protection against arrest to Respondent No. 1 in exercise of its discretionary jurisdiction under Section 438 of the CrPC, it said.

The bench said it is true that cancellation of bail must be done only for cogent and overwhelming reasons.

Nevertheless, setting aside an unjustified order granting bail is distinct from cancellation of bail. This Court would not, invariably intervene into the judicial discretion exercised by the high court while granting bail to an accused. All that to be ensured is that the high court exercises its discretion judiciously, cautiously and strictly in conformity with the basic principles laid down by this court from time to time in a series of decisions, it said.
The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Varanasi district collector to hold a meeting for providing 'congenial' working arrangements for wazu (ritual ablution) for Muslim devotees at the Gyanvapi mosque complex.

IMAGE: Devotees leave after offering Friday prayers (namaz), at Gyanvapi mosque complex, in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, October 14, 2022. Photograph: ANI Photo

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, informed a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala that a meeting will be held on Tuesday and the direction for providing facilities for wazu on the premises will be implemented.

The court was hearing a plea by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid committee, which manages the mosque, seeking permission for wazu inside the complex in Varanasi during the month of Ramzan.

The top court referred to its order of May 20 last year where it had directed that facilities for wazu and washrooms be provided to devotees following the sealing of certain areas inside the premises.

"The solicitor general assures the court that a meeting shall be convened tomorrow by the district collector so that a congenial working arrangement is provided," the bench noted in the order.

The bench also recorded the statement of the mosque management committee that it will be satisfied if even mobile toilets are provided.

The court has now posted the matter for further hearing on Friday and directed that the solution, if found in the meeting, can be implemented in the meanwhile and a formal order may be passed on the next date of hearing.

The apex court had on November 11 last year extended till further orders the protection of the area where a 'Shivling' was claimed to have been found.

Senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, appearing for the Masjid committee, requested the bench to take up the matter for hearing soon, saying the month of Ramzan is underway and adequate arrangements should be made.

He had said the water for 'wazu' is being drawn from a drum and the number of worshippers has increased in the month of Ramzan.

On March 28, the apex court had agreed to list for hearing on April 21 a plea of the Hindu side seeking consolidation of all suits filed in a Varanasi court pertaining to the Gyanvapi mosque complex row.

The bench had taken note of the submissions of lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain that the district judge of Varanasi has deferred five times the decision on a plea seeking clubbing of all civil suits pertaining to the dispute.

The apex court had earlier allowed the Hindu parties to move an application before the Varanasi district judge for consolidation of all lawsuits filed on the Gyanvapi mosque-Shringar Gauri row.

It had also directed the Hindu parties to file their replies within three weeks to the appeal by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid committee challenging the Allahabad High Court order on appointment of a survey commissioner.

On May 17 last year, the top court had passed an interim order directing the Varanasi district magistrate to ensure protection of the area inside the Gyanvapi-Shringar Gauri complex where the structure claimed to be a 'Shivling' was found during a video survey ordered by the court of the civil judge (senior division) in Varanasi.

The mosque committee, however, maintained the structure was part of the water fountain mechanism at the wazukhana, the reservoir where devotees performed ablutions before offering namaz.

The apex court had transferred the case to the district judge on May 20 last, pointing at the "complexities" and the "sensitivity" of the issue and saying that a more senior judicial officer should handle it.

In its May 17 last year order, the top court had directed protection of the area around the claimed 'Shivling' while also allowing Muslims to offer namaz in the mosque.

It had said the interim order shall remain in operation till the maintainability of the suit is decided by the district judge, and then for eight more weeks to allow the aggrieved parties to approach a higher court.

The Varanasi district judge is now hearing the plea by a group of women seeking permission for daily worship of idols of Hindu deities located on the mosque's outer wall.

The Hindu side has also sought a survey of two locked basements in the mosque complex.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) hand-delivered a summons to Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee for questioning in connection with the teachers' recruitment scam case on Monday, allegedly over two hours after the Supreme Court stayed a high court order for his interrogation.

IMAGE: Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee speaks to the media with party MPs outside Krishi Bhawan, in New Delhi on Wednesday. Photograph: Rahul Singh/ANI Photo

Terming the action of the agency 'contempt of court', Banerjee tweeted, 'SC stayed the Calcutta HC's order in the morning that granted permission to the central agencies to summon me. Yet, the 'SUMMON' was HAND-DELIVERED today at 1:45 pm. Grave State of affairs!'

A CBI official said the notice was prepared on Sunday and delivered on Monday.

He said the concerned branch was 'not aware' of the court order.

Earlier on Monday, a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala stayed the direction of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of the Calcutta high court that TMC leaders Banerjee and Kuntal Ghosh, an accused in the case, can be questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the CBI, and such 'interrogation should be made soon'.

The stay was granted at around 11.15 am.

Senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for the TMC leaders, had sought an urgent hearing on the plea challenging the high court order in the case.

'The petition was in the mentioning list. Dr A M Singhvi has adverted to the contents of the order and the directions passed by which the ED and CBI have been directed to file a report with respect to a probe in connection with a public speech by Abhishek Banerjee. List on April 24, 2023. Till the next date of listing, there shall be stay on all action against petitioner in relation to the directions passed in impugned order,' the apex court ordered.

The Calcutta high court had on April 13 passed a slew of directions, asking the police not to lodge FIRs on complaints against officers of the CBI or the ED who are investigating the educational recruitment scam of the West Bengal Central School Service Commission and the West Bengal Board of Primary Education without its permission.

It had asked the central agencies to probe the role of state TMC leaders in the case.

The case pertains to alleged irregularities in the process of appointment of teachers in West Bengal schools.
The Pakistani police have arrested a Chinese national working at a hydropower project in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province after local people accused him of blasphemy, the police said.

Image used for representational purpose only. Photograph: ANI Photo

The police arrested the Chinese national identified as Tian on Sunday and on Monday he was shifted to Abbottabad via an Army helicopter due to security concerns as the police feared local people could harm him, the Dawn newspaper quoted station house officer Naseerudin as saying.

The Chinese citizen, a manager at the Dasu Hydropower Project, the biggest hydropower project in Pakistan, in the Upper Kohistan district of the province, allegedly made blasphemous remarks on Friday when the workers were going to perform the weekly prayer. He was apparently unhappy with the progress of work at the work site.

The police registered a first information report against Tian at the Dasu police station, hours after hundreds of residents and labourers working on the dam project blocked a key highway and rallied, demanding his arrest.

Local police officer Naseeruddin confirmed that an FIR was registered under Section 295-C (use of derogatory remarks, etc. against the Prophet) in the Pakistan Penal Code at the complaint of two workers employed as drivers of the accused.

The SHO said that Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act had been included in the FIR, adding that the Chinese national would be presented before a court in Abbottabad.

Under Pakistan's tough blasphemy laws, the offence carries the death penalty.

According to the officer, police swung into action after getting reports on Sunday night that a local mob tried to break into a Chinese camp near the project site.

The mob was controlled, but they assembled again on Monday and blocked the Karakoram Highway, which links Pakistan with China, in a protest that lasted for over six to seven hours, demanding the Chinese national's arrest.

The blocked highway was later reopened to traffic, and work resumed at the Dasu Dam after Tian's arrest.

Scores of Chinese and hundreds of Pakistanis are working on the project.

Blasphemy is a sensitive issue in Pakistan. On December 3, 2021, a Sri Lankan national working in a factory in Sialkot was lynched by a mob after workers accused him of blasphemy.

There was no immediate comment from the Chinese embassy in Islamabad.

The hydropower project site was hit by a suicide bus blast in July 2021, in which 13 people, including nine Chinese nationals, were killed.

Nine Chinese nationals and two Frontier Corps soldiers were among those killed when the bus carrying Chinese engineers and workers to the site of the under-construction Dasu Dam exploded.

The Centre for Research and Security Studies, in a report in January 2022, stated that as many as 89 citizens were killed in 1,415 accusations and cases of blasphemy in the country since independence.

The report said that from 1947 to 2021, 18 women and 71 men were extra-judicially killed over blasphemy accusations.

The allegations were made against 107 women and 1,308 men.

A large number of Chinese nationals have been working in Pakistan on various projects being undertaken under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

China's Foreign Minister Qin Gang called on his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in January to assert that Beijing was concerned about the safety of its workers based in Pakistan and urged Bhutto to take strong security measures to protect them amid a spate of attacks on Chinese nationals in the country in recent months.
A day after gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were shot dead under police escort, a plea was filed in the Supreme Court on Sunday seeking the constitution of an independent expert committee headed by a former apex court judge to probe the killings.

IMAGE: Gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Ahmed being escorted to a hospital by police for a medical checkup before they were shot dead in Prayagraj on April 15, 2023. Photograph: PTI Photo

The plea, filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari, also sought an inquiry into the 183 encounters that have taken place in Uttar Pradesh since 2017.

Ahmad (60) and Ashraf, who were in handcuffs, were shot dead by three men posing as journalists when they were answering reporters' queries while being escorted by police personnel to a medical college in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj for a checkup on Saturday night.

Just hours before the shooting, the last rites of Ahmad's son Asad, who along with one of his associates was gunned down in a police encounter in Jhansi on April 13, were held.

Uttar Pradesh Police had said on Friday that it has gunned down 183 alleged criminals in encounters in the six years of the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led government and this included Asad and his accomplice.

The plea sought the creation of an independent expert committee to probe the killings of Atiq and Ashraf.

"Issue guidelines/directions to safeguard the rule of law by constituting an Independent Expert Committee under the Chairmanship of former Supreme Court justice to inquire into the 183 encounters which had occurred since 2017 as stated by Uttar Pradesh Special Director General of Police (Law and Order) and also to inquire into the police custody murder of Atiq and Ashraf," it said.

Referring to Atiq's killing, the plea said "such actions by police are a severe threat to democracy and rule of law and lead to police state".

"In a democratic society the police cannot be allowed to become a mode of delivering final justice or to become a punishing authority. The power of punishment is only vested in the judiciary," the plea stated.

The plea said extra judicial killings or fake police encounters have no place under the law.

When the police turn "Dare Devils then the entire rule of law collapses and generates fear in the mind of people against police which is very dangerous for democracy and this also results into further crime," it stated.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday claimed Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar recently told Uddhav Thackeray that his party will never join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party even if anyone takes an individual decision to do so.

Raut made the comments in his weekly column Rokhthok in the party mouthpiece Saamana in the wake of speculations that senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar may break ranks to join hands with the ruling BJP in the state, amid a plea seeking disqualification of 16 MLAs of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena pending before the Supreme Court.

However, Ajit Pawar, who is the leader of opposition in the state assembly, dubbed such speculations as baseless and denied meeting Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah in Mumbai on Saturday night.

The Nationalist Congress Party, Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Congress are constituents of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi in the state.

Raut in the Marathi publication claimed, "(Sharad) Pawar told Uddhav Thackeray during their meeting (on Tuesday) that nobody wants to switch over. But, family is being targeted. If anyone takes a personal decision to leave, it is their individual issue. But we as a party will never go with the BJP."

"There is tremendous anger among people of Maharashtra against the present state government. Any one joining the BJP will be committing political suicide. This is what Thackeray and Pawar felt," the Rajya Sabha member wrote.

He further claimed that Sharad Pawar during the meeting with former chief minister Thackeray said he would like to tell those who want to switch over that the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation "files" will go in a cupboard from the table, but will never be closed.

There are speculations in political circles about what would be the future move of Ajit Pawar and the senior NCP leader should himself clarify, Raut said.

He said a sugar mill belonging to Ajit Pawar's family was raided and seized by the ED. But, now the chargesheet doesn't have any mention of Ajit Pawar or his family members.

''What happened to the allegations of money laundering in the purchase of the sugar mill. Were the raids and allegations just for political pressure?'' the Sena (UBT) leader asked.

Sharad Pawar's another associate (former Maharashtra minister) Hasan Mushrif was also being targeted by central probe agencies, Raut added.

Meanwhile, state minister Dada Bhuse, who belongs to the Shinde-led Shiv Sena on Sunday said, "Ajit Pawar is restless in the NCP for several years. We all know it. Anything can happen."

When reporters asked Ajit Pawar in Nagpur about speculations over his next political move, the NCP leader said, "I have been reading the comments of ministers Dada Bhuse, Gulabrao Patil, Uday Samant about me. I can't understand why there is so much overpouring of love for me. We are working unitedly for strengthening the MVA."

He denied rumours that he met Union minister Amit Shah in Mumbai on Saturday night. "These are baseless talks," the NCP leader said.

Ajit Pawar further said the BJP and independents have 115 MLAs (in the 288-member Maharashtra assembly). Even if 16 MLAs are disqualified, the present government will have 149 MLAs. If 16 MLAs are disqualified, the assembly's effective strength will be 272, he said.

There is no need to create unnecessary speculation and misunderstandings, he added.
Raising the pitch for a caste-based census, the Congress on Monday accused the government of resisting it while playing politics on the issue.

IMAGE: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addresses a public meeting for the upcoming Karnataka assembly elections, at Bhalki, in Bidar on Monday. Photograph: ANI Photo

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that the underprivileged need economic and political power and not empty words as he again called for removing the 50 per cent ceiling on quota and demanded reservations for Dalits and tribals based on their population.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding an up-to-date caste census, saying meaningful social justice and empowerment programmes are incomplete without such data.

Supporting the Congress' demand for an up-to-date caste census in the country, Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar said it would be beneficial for all sections of society.

The Bharatiya Janata Party unit in Bihar had supported a resolution at an all-party meeting convened by Nitish Kumar and later a unanimous resolution was passed in the Bihar Assembly on caste census.

However, the BJP's central leadership is yet to respond to the demand for a socio-economic and caste census raised now by the Congress.

'Prime Minister ji, the underprivileged need political and economic power, not empty words,' Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.

'Take these three steps: Make the 2011 census figures public, tell how many OBCs are there in the country and remove the 50 percent cap on reservations. Give reservation to Dalits, tribals according to their population,' he said.

Kharge stressed that conducting the census is the responsibility of the Union government.

'I am writing to you to once again place on record the demand of the Indian National Congress for an up-to-date Caste Census. My colleagues and I have raised this demand earlier in both Houses of Parliament on a number of occasions as have leaders of many other opposition parties,' the Congress chief said in his letter dated April 16.

The Bihar chief minister said the survey report would help the government in better implementation of welfare schemes for socially and economically disadvantaged groups.

"We have been in favour of the caste census right from the very beginning. When the central government refused to do so, we decided to conduct the caste survey on our own. It is going on in the state. The exercise will provide data to the government for carrying out works for the benefit of weaker sections of the society," Kumar told reporters in Patna.

On the other hand, Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar targeted the Congress over the remarks of its leaders on the quota issue.

He accused the party and the Janata Dal-Secular of joining hands by promising to reverse the Karnataka government order of scrapping the four per cent quota for Muslims to deny benefits given to Vokkaligas, Lingayats as well as SCs and STs.

Describing the JD-S as the B-team of the Congress, he said on Twitter that the BJP will stand strongly with these communities and will make sure it is with them for their progress.

While Karnataka Congress leaders want to reverse reservation, Rahul Gandhi 'dropped' into Karnataka and said he wants to breach the Supreme Court limit on reservations, the BJP MP from the state tweeted.

"So the Congress politics of lies and promise and scoot politics continues. That is why voters chose BJP because we deliver what we promise," Chandrasekhar said.

The BJP government in Karnataka has scrapped the 4 per cent quota for Muslims and has divided it equally among the Vokkaligas and Lingayats in the poll-bound state, which comprises a majority of the population.

Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar said in Delhi that if the government is really concerned about the OBCs, why is it 'reluctant' to issue the data pertaining to caste and social and economic status.

He also echoed the demand to carry out a caste and social-economic census in the country to ascertain the number of people and their economic and social status that will help formulate its policies.

"The prime minister claims he belongs to the other backward classes. If the government really loves the OBCs, then it becomes important to ask some questions to the government. Why is the Government of India so reluctant to issue the data pertaining to caste and social and economic status of people in the country," he asked.

He said the BJP must clear its stand on caste census and tell people whether it wants a caste census or not.

"You must tell the people whether you want to get a caste census done, if you want it then get it done like it is being done in Bihar. If you don't want the census then hold a press conference and say that there is no need to count the people," he said.

Kumar alleged that ever since the new government has come to power, no data has been issued and the 2021 census has also not been done.

"We urge the government to start the process of the census which has not taken place in 2021," he said, adding that one can formulate its policies once the data is there.

He said census has been done since the last 150 years.

"If the prime minister comes from the OBC category then he should ensure that all posts which are lying vacant will be filled but before that there

"They will take votes based on caste and attack them on caste basis, but they will not come out with data on what is their numbers," the Congress leader alleged.

Kharge in his letter noted that for the first time, the United Progressive Alliance government conducted a Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) during 2011-12 covering some 25 crore households.

"For a number of reasons, however, the caste data could not get published even though the Congress and other MPs demanded its release after your government came to power in May 2014," Kharge said.

"In the absence of an updated caste census, I am afraid a reliable database so very essential for meaningful social justice and empowerment programmes, particularly for OBCs, is incomplete. This Census is the responsibility of the Union Government," Kharge said.

"We demand that it be done immediately and that a comprehensive Caste Census be made its integral part," Kharge said.

Rahul Gandhi had on Sunday dared Prime Minister Modi to release the 2011 caste-based census data in the public domain and also demanded that the 50 per cent cap on reservation be removed.

The Congress leader while speaking at a poll rally in Karnataka claimed only seven per cent of secretaries in the central government are members from Other Backward Castes, Dalits and tribal communities.
The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to Trinamool Congress spokesperson Saket Gokhale in a case related to alleged misuse of money collected through crowdfunding.

A bench comprising Justices B R Gavai and Vikram Nath, while granting relief to the leader, noted that a charge sheet has already been filed in the case.

Gokhale was arrested by the Ahmedabad cyber crime branch from Delhi on December 30, 2022.

He is facing charges under sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 467 (forgery) of the IPC.
Social worker Appasaheb Dharmadhikari on Monday expressed grief over the death of 13 people after a ceremony in Navi Mumbai where he was felicitated with the Maharashtra Bhushan award a day before and said the incident should not be politicised.

IMAGE: A large number of people attend the 'Maharashtra Bhushan Award' ceremony, in Navi Mumbai on Sunday. Photograph: ANI Photo

The ceremony was organised in a sprawling 306-acre ground in Kharghar area on Sunday morning, which was attended by several lakh people, most of them followers of Dharmadhikari who was conferred with Maharashtra's top civilian award by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

'The death of people due to sunstroke is painful for me. I feel like having lost someone from my family. I expect this incident should not be politicised in any way,' Dharmadhikari said in a press statement.

'I am personally pained to see some people who are like my family members losing their lives due to sunstroke. It is like a calamity in my family. We all are together in this tragedy. The incident is very unfortunate,' he said.

Dharmadhikari, 76, has a massive following in the state due to his tree plantation drives, blood donation and medical camps as well as de-addiction work in tribal areas conducted under the aegis of his organisation 'Shree Sadasya'.

Besides Shah, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, cabinet minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, MLAs and MLCs attended the event.

The Opposition has targeted the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party government over the tragedy with Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Sanjay Raut on Monday alleging that 'politics behind the award prevailed over people's convenience'.

Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Ajit Pawar, who belongs to Nationalist Congress Party, has sought an inquiry into how the event was organised during noon time when the temperature is very high.

"It needs to be probed as to who had fixed the noon timing for the award function," Pawar said.

The Congress had demanded that accountability be fixed in what it said was a case of 'culpable homicide'.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 17. The delay in signing a peace agreement with Azerbaijan shows that the Armenian authorities have other interests in the region, the Turkish Presidential Administration told TurkicWorld, Trend reports.

It was noted that Azerbaijan's interests are to ensure peace and stability in the region.

"Official Baku is interested in the development of the region, and this is clearly evident from the constructive work carried out by Azerbaijan in the region after the 44-day war," the Turkish Presidential Administration said.

Moreover, it was emphasized that Armenia should sign a peace agreement with Azerbaijan as soon as possible.

"Turkiye, as always, stands with Azerbaijan; the fraternity between Ankara and Baku is unshakable," the Turkish Presidential Administration added.
A video has surfaced on social media purportedly showing a woman being stopped from entering the Golden Temple because she has the colours of the national flag painted on her face, triggering a row on Monday.

Image used strictly for representational purposes. Photograph: ANI Photo

A man who is partly seen in the video is heard asking a Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) employee at the temple complex entrance, 'Is this not India?' The employee replied that 'it's Punjab'.

According to the SGPC, which is the apex religious body of Sikhs, the sewadar asked the woman to follow the decorum (maryada) of the religious place.

The SGPC said it has started an investigation into the matter and alleged that some people are deliberately giving a wrong twist to the incident.

The sewadar reportedly objected to the flag painted on the woman's face.

It is a common practice among many visitors and tourists who go to watch 'Beating the Retreat' ceremony at the Attari-Wagah Joint Check Post every evening to get their faces painted with the colours of the national flag.

SGPC general secretary Gurcharan Singh Grewal said the painting 'was not a national flag as it did not have Ashok Chakra on it'.

"The Sikh community has great respect for the national flag since the majority of the people who sacrificed their lives for the nation during the freedom struggle were Sikhs," he said.

Grewal said Sikhs are patriots and they can make any sacrifice for the sake of the motherland.

Grewal expressed regret over the incident and said, "All people, they may be from anywhere around the world or from any religion, are welcome here. The incident happened when a lady devotee who was stopped by the SGPC sewadar and asked to follow Sikh maryada that led to some arguments between them."

"Due to this this incident, if anybody has felt hurt, I express regret," he said, while adding that violation of Sikh code of conduct cannot be tolerated at any cost.

Referring to the narrative being created against the Sikhs after the incident, he said, "No one should try to malign the image of Sikh community by posting objectionable videos on social media."

The incident happened on Saturday, he said.

SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami also condemned the narrative being created against the Sikhs on social media after the video went viral on social media.

The SGPC president said it was not right to make fabricated and baseless comments on social media to tarnish the image of Sikhs and defame the management of the organisation over an incident.

"Sachkhand Sri Harmandar Sahib (Golden Temple) is a universal place for people of all religions and the pilgrims who reach here are respected. But it is sad that anti-Sikh forces are leaving no stone unturned to tarnish the image of Sikh institutions. Spreading false propaganda on any incident is an act of breaking the brotherhood, which should be avoided," Dhami said.

Dhami said that every gurdwara has a code of conduct, which is mandatory for people to follow.

"Sometimes people deliberately act against the maryada, due to which the watchmen and sewadars keep alerting the pilgrims," he said.
In many ways, Shashi Tharoor pointed out, COVID-19 saved the country as the Narendra D Modi's entire legislative momentum was stalled by the urgent need to tackle the pandemic.

All Photographs and videos: Hitesh Harisinghani/ Rediff.com IMAGE: Congress MP Dr Shashi Tharoor at the Mumbai Press Club event.

On Saturday, April 15, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor visted the Mumbai Press Club for an interactive session on 'The need for an independent media as a vital link for democracy'.

Tharoor declared that intimidation of the media was a legitimate issue, and if he has a voice in the Congress manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha election, he would certainly suggest that this should be made an issue with his party would guaranteeing the freedom of the media and non-interference in its functioning.

IMAGE: Dr Tharoor flanked by Mumbai Press Club President Ayaz Memon, left, and President, All India Professionals Congress Mathew Antony.

Tharoor stated there is a "serious undermining" of every autonomous institution right across the spectrum and it seems the government has only the "loyalty" criterion before appointing individuals to head these institutions.

IMAGE: Dr Tharoor, as eloquent as always at the event.

The three-time MP from Thiruvanathapuram said before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he had warned that victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party would result in an attempt to create a "Hindu Pakistan".

In the first few months after the BJP government stormed to power in 2019, he noted he "wasn't far off" from his prediction as the government brought a legislation on triple talaq and the abolition of special provisions of Article 370.

IMAGE: Dr Tharoor greets the audience.

In many ways, he pointed out, COVID-19 saved the country as the Narendra D Modi's entire legislative momentum was stalled by the urgent need to tackle the pandemic.

Referring to the Election Commission, he said there was a time when governments appeared to respect the autonomy of autonomous institutions by appointing individuals known for their independence and integrity and cited examples of then Chief Election Commissioners T N Seshan and J M Lyndoh.

IMAGE: Dr Tharoor signs autographs for an attendee.

Calling the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as a Lok Sabha member worrying, Tharoor said the legislature has been reduced to either a "notice board" for the government or a "rubber stamp".

Watch: Videos From The Event...

Shashi Tharoor: 'I'm worried about our democracy'

Shashi Tharoor on muzzling the media

Shashi Tharoor on Rahul Gandhi ridiculing a journalist

Shashi Tharoor on his son's future as a journalist in America

Reportage: PTI

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra D Modi meets Tanishka Sujit. Photograph: PTI Photo

A post office that is being built using 3D printing technology.

The Top Videos of the Week, listed by Shailajanand Mishra.

Also see: A sari that fits in a matchbox.

A rather unique railway station.

An unusual cold drink competition.

Videos chosen by you through your likes on iShare.

Is That An Aeroplane On A Highway?

Location: Ghaziabad

It looks like an aeroplane. It feels like an aeroplane. So it should be an aeroplane, right?

Not exactly. It's actually a restaurant!

If you want to find out what's on the menu, all you have to do is travel from Ghaziabad to Haridwar (or vice versa) on the Delhi-Meerut expressway.

Video: ANI

When President Murmu Flew In A Fighter Jet

Location: Tezpur

Did you know she is the second lady President to take a ride in a Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jet?

While President Droupadi Murmu did so from the Tezpur Air Force Station in Assam, then President Pratibha Patil took a similar ride when she visited the Pune air force base in 2009.

Video: ANI

Sari Walkathon

Location: Surat

Why did 15,000 women from 15 states choose to participate in a sari walkathon in Surat?

Find out.

Video: ANI

A Rather Unique Railway Station

Location: Nandurbar

This railway station finds itself straddling two states -- part of it lies in Gujarat's Tapi district while the other is part of the Nandurbar district in Maharashtra.

If you are buying a ticket at the ticket window, you are in Maharashtra. But if you are outside the station master's office, you are in Gujarat.

Which station is this? And how did this happen?

The video below has the answers.

Video: ANI

A Sari That Fits In A Matchbox

Location: Vijayawada

It's made of silk. It has five grams of gold and 10 grams of silver thread woven through it.

It weighs all of 100 grams and costs Rs 45,000.

And yes, it can fit in a matchbox.

A devotee named Vijay offered this exquisite sari to Goddess Indrakeeladri.

Video: ANI

Why Did Modi Want To Meet Tanishka?

Location: Indore

She was 11 years old when she passed Class 10. And 12 when she cleared her Class 12 exams.

Now, at the age of 15, she is all set to graduate in psychology from the Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya in Indore.

This super-talented teenager, who lost her father and grandfather to COVID-19 in 2020, hopes to become the country's chief justice some day.

Tanisha had the opportunity of sharing her dream with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bhopal recently.

Meanwhile, will Modiji make another little girl's dream come true?

Video: ANI

Yeh Cold Drink Chalega Kya?

Location: Rajkot

Summer's here and we're downing cold drinks like there's no tomorrow.

But are branded drinks really a good idea?

These folks in Rajkot decided to do something different.

They held a cold drink competition. But it came with a twist.

Video: ANI

A Metro, Under A River

Location: Kolkata

Yes, really!

And it's a first for India.

Would you take a ride in this train?

Video: ANI

A 3D Printed Post Office

Location: Bengaluru

It's yet another first for India -- a 1,000 sq ft post office that will be created in 45 days using 3D printed technology.

It is being built by L&T Construction in Bengaluru.

Video: ANI

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com
"Just because we've got a bad batch coming in, we're not expecting all of a sudden people are going to stop using and jump on the bandwagon to recovery. What we really need to do is harm reduction."

-- Margae Diamond, Executive Director, Turning Point Recovery Center of Bennington

Quote
Brattleboro, VT (05301)

Today

Partly cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 61F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy with occasional rain showers. Low around 40F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
Brattleboro, VT (05301)

Today

Partly cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 61F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Considerable cloudiness with occasional rain showers. Low near 40F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 17. The new release of the "Dialogue with Tofiq Abbasov" analytical video project was aired on the Baku Network Expert Platform, Trend reports.

The guest of the program was the Chief Director of the Azerbaijani State Academic Russian Drama Theater named after Samad Vurghun, holder of the "Shohrat" and Sharaf state orders, head of the Baku Religious Community of European Jews, People's Artist Alexander Sharovsky.

During the program, traditions of multiculturalism in Azerbaijan and the reintegration of Armenian residents of Karabakh into Azerbaijani society were discussed.

"Coexisting, living with us will be much more comfortable than in other circumstances. I urge you, as people say in Baku, to return home, and everything will be fine with us," Sharovsky noted.

Previously, Rector of the Azerbaijan University of Languages, a well-known public and political figure, scientist, academician and People's Writer Kamal Abdulla who was guest of the program called on his former students of Armenian origin to engage in dialogue on the reintegration of Armenian residents of Karabakh.
Photographer / Multimedia Editor

Has been working as a photojournalist since 2007, before moving into newspapers, he worked with an NGO called Project HOPE. He then went to work for the Press and Sun-Bulletin in New York, and then in New England working for the Brattleboro Reformer.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Japanese police have confiscated metal tubes, tools and possible gunpowder from the home of a man suspected of throwing what was believed to be a homemade pipe bomb at Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at a campaign event, rekindling worries about the growing threat of easy-to-make weapons in Japan.

Witnesses say they saw an object that looked like a thin metal thermos flying overhead and landing near the prime minister. Kishida was safely evacuated before the device exploded, the crowd fleeing in panic as white smoke surrounded them.

Police have confirmed one injury to a police officer. Experts say a pipe bomb likely caused the explosion, and the impact and amount of smoke suggest it probably wasn't that powerful.

The 24-year-old suspect, Ryuji Kimura, was wrestled to the ground at the fishing port of Saikazaki in the western Japanese city of Wakayama on Saturday, just before Kishida was to make a campaign speech for a local governing party candidate.

On Monday, police sent Kimura to local prosecutors to extend his detention for 10 days for further investigation. He currently faces an allegation of obstruction of duty, but experts say additional allegations such as assault and attempted murder are possible.

In a raid Saturday night at Kimura's home in Kawanishi city, more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) northeast of Saikazaki, police confiscated unidentified powder, metal tubes and various tools that were possibly used to make the device thrown at Kishida.

Police said they confiscated two possible metal pipe bombs at the site, one that exploded but largely retained its shape, and another that was in the suspect's hand at the time of the arrest along with a cigarette lighter. Police also found a fruit knife in his bag.

The crudely constructed weapons and the outdoor election campaign setting were reminiscent of the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe nine months ago with a handmade double-barrel gun.

Violent crimes are rare in Japan. With its strict gun control laws, the country has only a handful of gun-related crimes annually, most of them gang related. But in recent years, there has been growing worry about homemade guns and explosives.

The situation surrounding homemade explosives is becoming a considerably serious problem, said Nobuo Komiya, a Rissho University professor of criminology. Not just bombs. Anyone can even make real guns using 3D printers."

They cannot be regulated because their ingredients are legally available, he said.

The problem is that Japanese protection of dignitaries and public safety are still largely based on defense against knifings. Japanese security guards are well trained for close combat in knife attacks but inexperienced in dealing with bombs and firearms, he said.

Police must be prepared for crimes in which handmade guns are used, National Public Safety Commission Chair Koichi Tani said earlier this year. Police have stepped up cyberpatrols" to detect illegal weapons production and trade, while requesting internet sites to remove gun production methods and other harmful information."

Tani has pledged to beef up security ahead of elections in late April and the Group of Seven leaders' summit in May.

The latest case raises questions about whether any lessons were learned from the assassination of Abe, which prompted police to tighten protective measures after an investigation found holes in his security.

There were no bag checks at the venue, and no bulletproof shield was provided for Kishida. He sampled local seafood as he stood next to residents, then walked to the speech site, where he stood a short distance from the crowd with no physical barrier in between  something unlikely in the United States.

Making public appearances, mingling and shaking hands are important in getting votes in Japanese elections, rather than presenting policies, and politicians tend to get close to the crowds. But experts say there should be several layers of protection for them and other dignitaries.

So far, Kimura has refused to talk to the police, and the motive for the attack is not yet known.

Abe's alleged assassin, Tetsuya Yamagami, who has been charged with murder and several other crimes including violating gun-control laws, told authorities soon after his arrest that he killed Abe because of the former prime ministers apparent links to a religious group that Yamagami hated. In statements and in social media postings attributed to him, Yamagami said his mothers donations to the Unification Church bankrupted his family and ruined his life.

Handmade bombs are not new in Japan, where non-lethal versions of explosives such as Molotov cocktails and pipe bombs were often used by student radicals and extremists in the 1960s and 1970s to throw at riot police and damage property.
First version updated at 13:44

BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 17. A delegation headed by Anar Alakbarov, Assistant to President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, who is on a visit to China, met with Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Zhang Ming in China's capital Beijing on April 17, Trend reports.

At the meeting, speaking about the active role of Azerbaijan as a dialogue partner of the SCO, the secretary general highly appreciated the participation of our country in the events held in the framework of the organization. Highlighting the participation of President Ilham Aliyev in the SCO summit held in Uzbekistan's Samarkand last September, Ming spoke about the effective cooperation between the organization and Azerbaijan. Furthermore, pointing out that the active participation of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation in SCO events enhances cooperation between the country and the organization, the secretary general said that a number of important events held in the SCO secretariat on the initiative of Azerbaijan contributed to demonstrating the cultural and humanitarian potential of our country.

In turn, Anar Alakbarov, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, Executive Director of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, noted that Azerbaijan attaches great importance to relations with the SCO, and shared the prospects for developing cooperation in various fields. He said that after Azerbaijan received the status of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization dialogue partner, the Heydar Aliyev Foundation organized a number of events in close cooperation with the organization's secretariat, including Days of Azerbaijani Culture that took place in the course of 14 July  4 August 2018 and "Nizami Ganjavi  the poet of all mankind" event held within the framework of the Year of Nizami Ganjavi. Alakbarov added that the fact that the bust of the brilliant poet donated by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation that is constantly on display in the building of the SCO secretariat is of great symbolic importance for Azerbaijan.

Alakbarov highlighted that the participation of President Ilham Aliyev in the Samarkand summit as an honorary guest testifies to Azerbaijan's interest in raising cooperation with the SCO to a higher level. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan has sent an application to elevate its status from the level of a dialogue partner to the level of an observer in the organization, and the Assistant to President Ilham Aliyev expressed confidence that thanks to this, our country will be able to make a greater contribution to the activities of the SCO.

At the meeting, declaring 2023 as the Year of Heydar Aliyev in Azerbaijan was brought to attention since various events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of the national leader Heydar Aliyev are planned in the country and abroad.

Noting that Azerbaijan's application for observer status is currently being considered by member states, SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming expressed hope that it will receive a positive response. Ming told about the history and activities of the organization he represents.

During the conversation, the sides exchanged views on the development of cooperation between the country and the organization in various fields.

At the same time, during the visit, the delegation met with President Lin Songtian of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC)

During the meeting, the issues of further cooperation between the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Chinese People's Association of Friendships with Foreign Countries were discussed.

Songtian said that Azerbaijani-Chinese relations under the leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev are developing dynamically, and political trust between the presidents has given a great impetus to successful cooperation in various fields.

Pointing out the role of outstanding and political figure Heydar Aliyev in establishing ties between China and Azerbaijan, Songtian noted that the merits of the national leader will never be forgotten. According to him, regular meetings between the two presidents play a significant role in deepening cooperation between our countries.

Songtian brought to attention that the memorandum signed in 2017 between the CPAFFC and the Heydar Aliyev Foundation gave impetus to further deepening cooperation in the humanitarian and cultural spheres, and underlined the possibility of establishing cooperation in the economy, tourism, youth, sports, media and other fields.

Meanwhile, Alakbarov said that the cooperation between the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the above association greatly contributed to the further strengthening of close friendly relations between the two nations. The significance of mutual participation in international events to be held on the territory of both countries was mentioned as well.

Adding that Azerbaijan is one of the first countries to support China's One Belt One Road initiative (global infrastructure development strategy adopted by the Chinese government in 2013 ), Alakbarov spoke about the participation of President Ilham Aliyev in the second "One Belt One Road" Forum in China's Beijing. He said that Azerbaijan has made a great contribution to the implementation of this initiative with its economic, as well as transport and logistics potential.
SHAMAKHI, Azerbaijan, April 17. A total of 95 percent of the former IDPs from Azerbaijans Shusha city will return to their homes after the city's restoration, Chairman of the State Committee for Affairs of Refugees and IDPs of Azerbaijan Rovshan Rzayev said, Trend reports.

Rzayev made the remark during a scientific and practical conference on the investment attractiveness of liberated territories.

According to him, the development of liberated territories and the security of people are among the most important issues.

"All the necessary work is being carried out to bring these people back to their homeland. The mines, however, remains the biggest obstacle," he said.

Shusha city was liberated from Armenian occupation in the 2020 second Karabakh war.

Following the liberation of its lands, Azerbaijan from Nov. 2020 started carrying out operations on clearing its lands from mines, booby traps, and various weapons left behind by the Armenian troops.
A juvenile who fled from an observation home here in February was nabbed from Bihar while he was trying to cross the Indo-Nepal border, police said on Sunday.

The juvenile was first apprehended in 2022 after he and his associates allegedly stabbed a 77-year-old builder, at whose house he worked, and decamped with cash and jewellery, they said.

The juvenile was lodged at an observation home in Majnu Ka Tila area but managed to escape with another inmate on February 28, according to police.

The two boys broke the net outside their rooms and scaled the walls of the observation home. While the juvenile involved in the builder murder case moved towards his hometown Madhubani in Bihar, the other boy went to northeast Delhi, the police said.

The second boy was apprehended again when he attacked a man with a knife in Welcome area. He also revealed that the juvenile apprehended in the builder murder case had gone to Bihar, they added.

"A tip-off was received that the boy was trying to cross the Indo-Nepal border and had left Madhubani. Teams were sent. He was about to cross the border when he was apprehended by our team," said Special Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Ravindra Singh Yadav.

The juvenile has been sent back to the observational home, he said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov commenced his Latin American tour on Monday with a visit to Brazil. Lavrov will meet senior officials and hold talks with Foreign Minister of Brazil Mauro Vieira within the framework of the visits programme, reported TASS news agency. The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Sunday that Sergei Lavrov would be undertaking a visit to a number of Latin American nations from April 17 to 21.

"From April 17 to 21, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will visit several Latin American countries, including Brazil, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba. The Russian foreign minister will have a rich program, which will include meetings with these countries leaders and talks with the foreign ministers," it said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that the primary objective of Sergey Lavrov's tour was to enhance mutually beneficial co-operation among the countries in various fields such as political, trade and economic, educational, humanitarian, cultural, and more.

"The talks are planned to focus on issues of strengthening the legal framework of the present-day world, which is based on the United Nations Charter," the ministry said. "Latin America is a friendly region, one of the centers of the formation of a multipolar world and Russian plans to maintain a dynamic dialogue with it, develop constructive cooperation free from any dictation from the outside," the statement concluded.

'Co-operation in Latin America based on a pragmatic approach': Lavrov

In an article by Sergei Lavrov for the Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo and the Mexican magazine Buzos on April 13, the Russian rop diplomat wrote about the "stubborn desire of the so-called historical West, led by the United States, to maintain global dominance, hinder the development and strengthening of new world centers" and the "new opportunities for the development of mutually beneficial co-operation between Russia and the Latin American states".

"For us, Latin America and the Caribbean (LACC) is a valuable area of foreign policy in itself. We do not want your region to turn into an arena of confrontation between powers. Our cooperation with the Latin Americans is based on de-ideologized, pragmatic approaches, not directed against anyone. Unlike the former colonial metropolises, we do not divide partners into friends and foes, we do not put them in front of an artificial choice - with us or against us. We want the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, in their unity in diversity, to be strong, politically united and economically sustainable," he wrote.

"We consistently stand for the strengthening of Russian-Latin American cooperation on the basis of mutual support, solidarity and consideration of each other's interests," he added.
In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), several airlines have resumed accepting Russian cards to pay for tickets, reported RT news citing Izvestia, on Sunday. Further, they stated that customers have been able to use Russias Faster Payments System (SBP). Flight services provided by Emirates, Air Arabia and Flydubai would now be able to pay by MasterCard and Visa cards issued by Russian banks. In fact, as per multiple news reports, Turkish Airlines has been planning to provide a similar service to its customers. This development comes after a year when Visa and MasterCard were pulled out of Russia, the cards of international payment systems issued domestically were no longer accepted abroad or on foreign websites, reported RT news.

Russia's Payment system accepted in UAE

Russias domestic Faster Payment System (FPS) was launched by the countrys central bank in 2019. In Russia's Faster Payment System (FPS), customers are allowed to make transfers between banks using a phone number tied to an account. Furthermore, Card-to-card transfers have also been made available for transactions within a credit institution. Tickets for Air Arabia flights could be paid for through the system with a 6% commission charged on the total amount for each ticket issued, as per Russian-based RT news. For the reservation of tickets, one can process it on the carriers website, and then after a call from support service, the customer receives a link to finalise the operation. According to Flydubai, transactions conducted through an authorised agent would require an additional fee of 2,000 rubles, while Emirates offers the opportunity to pay for tickets using a QR code system. However, this process could be done for the purchase of tickets at least ten days prior to departure.

Reason for banning Russian cards

Last year, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Visa, Mastercard and American Express announced their suspension of all operations in Russia in protest. However, Russian banks had downplayed the impact on the consumers. After the suspension was announced, shoppers were able to use the cards for purchases within Russia until they reach their expiry dates. Notably, the Russian central bank insisted that all Visa and Mastercard bank cards issued by Russian banks would continue to operate normally on Russian territory. However, the major setback was for the cardholders who were abroad. Visa, Mastercard or American Express cards issued abroad were not serviceable at shops or ATMs in Russia. Many have not been able to use their Russian cards abroad and for international payments online. But now with this new development by UAE airlines, the clients would be able to use the cards.
Pakistan's Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has said that PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif will return from London as soon as the electoral preparations for the general elections begin.

He also made it clear that elections in the politically crucial Punjab province will not be held on May 14 despite the Supreme Court's order and "all-out efforts" of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led by former prime minister Imran Khan.

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who is currently based in London, will return and supervise Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party's electoral campaign, Geo News quoted the senior party leader as saying.

An ailing Nawaz has been living in London since November 2019 for medical treatment after the high court allowed him a four-week reprieve. The 73-year-old leader was serving seven-year imprisonment in the Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore in the Al-Azizia corruption case before his departure.

The issue of holding provincial elections has taken centre stage in Pakistani politics as Khan has been pushing for snap elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.

On April 5, Pakistan's Supreme Court termed as "unconstitutional" Pakistan's election commission's decision to postpone polls in Punjab till October 8 and fixed May 14 as the date for polls in the province.

As the date for polls in the country is being considered, Sanaullah asserted on Sunday that elections to the Punjab Assembly would not be held on May 14 despite "all-out efforts" of the opposition PTI, the Geo News reported.

Elections across the country would be held at the appointed time this year, he said while talking to the media in Faisalabad on Sunday.

Despite the Supreme Court's order to hold elections in Punjab on May 14, as well as pressure from the Imran Khan-led former ruling party, the security czar said elections would be "held together" under the caretaker setup.

"Election won't be held on May 14 despite all-out efforts," he said.

"If elections are not held in May, then October is not too far away either," the senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader said.

The PTI dissolved the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies on January 14 and 18, respectively, in a bid to force the ruling coalition to hold early general elections.

Calling former prime minister Khan a "fitna" (chaos), Sanaullah said that he was brought to power through a "conspiracy".

"Their (PTI's) policies over four years created a crisis situation for the country." "The PML-N has always taken the country out of the crisis," he added.

Sanaullah said Khan used to claim that he would prefer to die by suicide instead of approaching the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

"It was (Imran Khan's) government that signed the agreement with the IMF, not us. The difficulties are only due to the previous government's agreement." The incumbent government, led by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), has taken tough measures including increasing taxes and energy prices, and allowing its currency to weaken to restart a USD 6.5 billion IMF loan package.

The funds will offer some relief to a nation still reeling from a dollar shortage that has raised the probability of the economy slipping into a recession ahead of elections this year.

Pakistan is tackling a major economic crisis as it awaits a much-needed USD 1.1 billion tranche of funding from the Washington-based International Monetary Fund, part of a USD 6.5 billion bailout package the IMF approved in 2019.

Load-shedding and terrorism were eradicated during the PML-N tenure, the federal minister said, adding that due to the PTI's "wrong" policies, the country is now facing multiple crises.
Unidentified assailants carried out a gun attack targeting Majid Satti, a candidate from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in PP-17 Rawalpindi. Satti managed to escape unharmed, reported ARY news. The incident occured when Satti was returning to his home after attending an iftar event hosted by Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rasheed.

The police have reported that Satti was unharmed in the gun attack, but the attackers managed to snatch his vehicle and escape. Upon receiving the information, a team from I-9 and Sabzi Mandi police stations immediately arrived at the scene and initiated an investigation.

Numerous leaders and workers from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) also arrived at the site of the incident.

Imran Khan announces peaceful protests

The chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, announced that the party will organise peaceful protests across the country after Eid-ul-Fitr. Addressing PTI supporters and workers, Khan stated that the government is planning to launch a crackdown on PTI leaders and workers after April 27.

He accused the ruling party, Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), of not arresting a single person linked with their party, while 3,000 PTI workers have been arrested by the government.

Khan added that PTI will not remain silent over the atrocities committed by the government, and called on the nation to start preparing for peaceful protests after Eid. He also urged the rulers to take measures to protect the people.

As per Dawn's report, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan has stated that the country's economic crisis will not come to an end until new elections are held.

Imran Khan's party has recently issued a white paper to commemorate the first year of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM). Last year in April, PDM had overthrown the Imran Khan-led government through a no-trust vote. The PDM had highlighted how the ruling coalition had "devastated" the economy and "violated" the Constitution.
A member of the delegation from the Russian Foundation for Islamic Culture, Sciences and Education who visited Afghanistan on Sunday told Sputnik that a senior Taliban official had provided assurances that the Taliban movement will prevent Afghan territory from being utilised against Russia. This affirmation was conveyed to Moscow by the delegation by Magomedbashir Albogachiev who was part of the delegation that reportedly met with officials from the Taliban government in Kabul.

"On Sunday, our delegation in Kabul held a meeting with Maulavi Abdul Kabir, Afghanistan's deputy prime minister for political affairs. He asked us to tell the Russian leadership that the Taliban movement will not let use its territory against Russia or the countries of Central Asia," Albogachiev said.

Albogachiev stated that as per the Taliban deputy prime minister, Afghanistan has a keen interest in establishing comprehensive trade and economic connections with Russia. However, the absence of a defined logistical route is making this issue complex.

Sustaining ties with Taliban-Afghanistan important: Russia

During the fourth meeting of the foreign ministers of Afghanistan's neighbouring countries held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan earlier this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov participated in the discussions about the state of affairs in Afghanistan and strategies to create a unified regional approach to enhance it. Following the meeting, Lavrov stated during a press conference that almost all of the participating nations concurred on the importance of sustaining and advancing connections with the Taliban movement.

Mawlawi Abdul Kabir, the political assistant to the Taliban head of government, held the meeting with a delegation of religious scholars headed by the international head of mosques of Russia. During the meeting, the delegation expressed that peace and stability in Afghanistan, along with sound governance, would lead to the recognition of the Islamic Emirate.

Mawlawi expressed his hope that the visit of the religious scholars' delegation would foster stronger ties between the two nations. He also urged Russia, along with other partner countries, to acknowledge the Islamic Emirate governed by Taliban.

In October 2021, Russia had said that it might recognise the Taliban government, which is outlawed by Moscow, in Afghanistan if its condition of its inclusivity and observance of human rights are met.

"The Taliban have come to power, they are controlling the entire country and it is necessary to hold a dialogue with them, it is necessary to meet with them...Undoubtedly, contacts are also needed in order to convince the Taliban to create a truly inclusive government which would not only include the representatives of those tribes and ethnicities, peoples residing on Afghanistans territory, but also all political forces," she told journalists adding that only such a construction would be stable and ensure the peaceful evolution of Afghanistan as a state," Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko had said at the time.
Former US President Bill Clinton and past leaders of the UK and Ireland are gathering in Belfast on Monday, 25 years after their charm, clout and determination helped Northern Ireland strike a historic peace accord.

They are meeting for an anniversary conference in a Northern Ireland that has changed dramatically since 1998, and where some wonder if the accord that created peace is still capable of sustaining it.

A young peacetime generation is increasingly shedding the rival identities  British unionist and Irish nationalist  that erupted into three decades of bloodshed that killed 3,600 people. But at the same time, Northern Ireland is locked in a political crisis that threatens to rattle the peace secured by the Good Friday Agreement.

Youve got a transformed society in which (the labels) unionist, nationalist for many young people doesnt mean anything, said Katy Hayward, professor of political sociology at Queens University Belfast.

But on the other hand, society is in a state of quite severe disrepair. We havent had a functioning Assembly for four out of the last six years, and our public services are crumbling around our ears.

Clinton, who recently called the day the peace deal was struck one of the happiest days of my presidency, indeed of my entire life, is joining former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, ex-Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern and Northern Ireland politicians and peacemakers for a conference at Queens University, where former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is chancellor.

Former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell, who is 89 and fighting leukemia, has also made the trip to Belfast, where as chairman of negotiations over two arduous years he was essential to striking the accord.

The three-day gathering caps commemorations that included a flying visit last week by President Joe Biden, on his way to explore his Irish roots in the neighboring Republic of Ireland. During speeches in Belfast and Dublin, Biden reminded Northern Irelands politicians how strongly the U.S. remains invested in peace.

I wanted to make clear theres a lot at stake, a lot at stake, Biden told reporters as he left Ireland on Friday. And I think the combination of Ireland, the whole island, Great Britain, Northern Ireland, United States can change the way things occur.

The Good Friday Agreement has been held up around the world as proof that bitter enemies can make peace. It committed armed groups to stop fighting and set up a Northern Ireland legislature and government with power shared between unionist and nationalist parties.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is due to host a gala commemorative dinner in Belfast on Wednesday, hailed the courage, imagination and perseverance of the peacemakers, including those, like former Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam, who have since died.

But critics say the U.K. government has been, at best, careless with Northern Irelands peace  especially by leading Britain out of the European Union following a 2016 referendum.

Brexit shook the peace settlement by creating friction between Britain, the EU  including member state Ireland  and the U.S. It also destabilized the delicate political balance in Northern Ireland, by reviving the need for a customs border between the EU and now ex-member the U.K. An open border between Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland is one of the foundations of peace, so checks were imposed instead on goods moving from mainland Britain to Northern Ireland.

That unsettled unionists, who see the economic barrier as undermining Northern Irelands place in the United Kingdom. The Democratic Unionist Party walked out of the government in protest more than a year ago, collapsing it. The party has not returned, despite a deal reached by the U.K. and the EU in February to remove many of the border checks.

As they reflect on the past, conference participants will grapple with how to get the power-sharing government back up and running.

Entreaties from the U.K., the EU and the United States have so far failed to coax the DUP back into government. Local elections in Northern Ireland next month will give an indication of whether the party's intransigence has cost it votes.

Increasing numbers of people argue that power-sharing must be tweaked to reflect the growing importance of forces such as the Alliance Party, which defines itself as neither unionist nor nationalist.

Meanwhile, violence hasn't disappeared completely. In February, IRA dissidents opposed to the peace process shot and wounded a senior police officer.

Former Irish leader Ahern, who played a key role in the 1998 peace talks, urged the DUP to compromise.

You do not make much progress in politics if you dont do that, Ahern told Sky News on Sunday. We have to get away from, you know, This is the position and no other position is satisfactory. Its not tenable or sustainable. And its not in the interests of the people in Northern Ireland.
US President Joe Biden has asked Congress to tighten gun control measures amid the recent surge in gun violence in the United States, reported Sputnik. The shooting in downtown Louisville is the 15th mass killing of the year in the U.S. in which four or more people were killed other than the perpetrator, reported AP. The data on the mass shooting has been maintained by the Associated Press in partnership with a local newspaper and Northeastern University. The statement by the US president comes after two incidents of mass shootings were reported. At least four people have been killed at a teenagers birthday party in Dadeville, Alabama on Saturday night. Further, in a separate shooting incident, two people have been killed at a public park in Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday.

"Guns are the leading killer of children in America, and the numbers are rising  not declining," said Biden in the wake of this weekends gun violence. Further, he added, " the situation is "outrageous" and that "Americans agree and want lawmakers to act on commonsense gun reforms."

Biden asks Congress to tighten gun control in the US

As there have been 15 incidents in the US of Mass shootings since January, Joe Biden has criticised the Republicans for attending the Friday convention of the National Rifle Association (NRA) amid the surge in gun violence. Former US President Donald Trump also attended the convention in Indianapolis. While addressing the issue of the use of guns, Biden emphasised "It is within Congress power to require safe storage of firearms, require background checks for all gun sales, eliminate gun manufacturers immunity from liability, and ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines  and this should happen without delay." Last year, the US president signed a bipartisan gun control bill that expanded background checks for potential buyers under the age of 21 and strengthened laws against arms trafficking. The bill also notes the practice of purchasing a gun for someone prohibited from buying a firearm and expands funding for the US mental health system. However, Congress has broken the stalemate on gun control efforts after the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 children and two teachers dead. Here is a look at other mass shooting incidents in the US in 2023:
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 17. The "Procedure for directing available funds of the State Social Protection Fund for investments and using investment income" has been approved in Azerbaijan, Trend reports.

In this regard, the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has signed a relevant decree.

The Cabinet of Ministers and the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of Azerbaijan have been instructed to resolve issues arising from this decree.

This Procedure has been developed in accordance with Article 19.1-2 of the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan "On Social Insurance" and defines the procedure for directing available funds of the State Social Protection Fund for investments and the use of investment income.
Cambodians spray water to mark the end of traditional Khmer New Years celebrations outside Phnom Penh on April 16, 2023.

Heavy traffic on Cambodias major roads over the three-day Khmer New Year weekend saw speeding, overloaded taxi cabs and at least 43 accidents that resulted in 18 deaths, authorities said.

Roads were jammed with people returning to their hometowns for the first real new year celebration since the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 shut everything down. All of the major national routes leading into Phnom Penh were choked with motorbikes, cars and trucks on Monday.

That included National Road 6, which travels from Siem Reap province  home to the famous Angkor temples  through Kampong Thom province and into the capital. Too many drivers were seen driving dangerously, said Yoeung Nim, who works for the independent election watchdog, Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia.

I request our people who are traveling back to Phnom Penh not to drive over the speed limit and respect one another, she said after returning to the capital from her hometown in Kampong Thoms Baray district.

The higher rate of traffic accidents over the weekend was no surprise. There are always reports of deaths and injuries as people travel to visit relatives for Khmer New Year in April, or for the Pchum Ben festival  the festival of the dead  in September.

On Monday alone, there were 23 traffic accidents, with 14 killed and 52 injured, according to a preliminary report by the National Police General Commissariat. Causes of accidents included speeding and failure to comply with traffic rules.

Neighboring Laos saw similar numbers, with higher than usual incidents of traffic accidents in Vientiane, Luang Prabang and the southern city of Champassack, where four people died over the Lao New Year weekend celebration.

We had about 45 injuries from 32 road accidents due to people drinking alcohol, beer and then driving while drunk, said a rescue worker from Champassack. This is more than last year, because last year, people celebrated the new year at home because of COVID-19.

Major cause of death in Cambodia

Sokun Kanha, a private school teacher, told Radio Free Asia that she started her trip back to Phnom Penh early on Monday to avoid the traffic. She still saw drivers failing to respect others and causing accidents, she said.

I urge everyone not to drive overspeed, she said. Dont overtake one another and always respect your lanes. Please wear a helmet and a seat belt.

Road traffic accidents are a major cause of deaths in Cambodia. In 2022, the country saw at least 2,980 cases of road traffic accidents, resulting in 1,709 fatalities and 4,026 injuries, according to a National Police General Commissariat report.

A 2021 UNDP study determined that Cambodia loses between $420 million and $450 million annually as a result of road traffic accidents  mostly due to loss of life and associated lifetime earnings.

San Chey, executive director of The Affiliated Network for Social Accountability-Cambodia, urged the government to expand major roads and build more access roads leading to Phnom Penh to avoid traffic jams during major holidays. The government should also increase the number of traffic police officers, he said.

Traffic police officers are only stationed in downtown Phnom Penh, but not in other areas, he said. Some people when they dont see police presence, they violate traffic rules.

More than 13 million people traveled around the country last weekend, and at least 55,000 foreigners visited the country during the holiday, according to the Ministry of Tourism.

The most visited province was Siem Reap, where Prime Minister Hun Sen and his youngest son, Hun Many, kicked off an extravagant festival on Friday. Other top visited provinces were Battambang, Kampong Cham and Phnom Penh municipality.

Translated by Keo Sovannarith and Sidney Khotpanya. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.
Two are detained for 'picking quarrels and stirring up trouble,' catch-all charge used to round up critics

Rights lawyer Yu Wensheng and his activist wife Xu Yan had been scheduled to meet with European Union diplomats to discuss human rights.

The European Union has lodged a protest with China after police detained veteran rights lawyer Yu Wensheng and his activist wife Xu Yan ahead of a meeting with its diplomats during a scheduled EU-China human rights dialogue on April 13.

We have already been taken away, Yu tweeted shortly before falling silent on April 13, while the EU delegation to China tweeted on April 14: @yuwensheng9 and @xuyan709 detained by CN authorities on their way to EU Delegation.

We demand their immediate, unconditional release. We have lodged a protest with MFA against this unacceptable treatment, the tweet from the EUs embassy in China said, referring to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell had been scheduled to travel to China from April 13-15 for the annual EU-China strategic dialogue with Foreign Minister Qin Gang, and to meet with Chinas foreign policy chief Wang Yi, as well as the new Defense Minister Li Shangfu.

The visit, during which Yu and Xu had an invitation to go to the German Embassy for the afternoon of April 13, was to have followed last weeks trip by European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron.

But Borrell postponed the visit after testing positive for COVID-19, according to his Twitter account.

Chinese human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang, who is also said to have been detained recently, is seen on a laptop screen in Beijing as he speaks via video link from his home in Jinan, in China's eastern Shandong province, April 23, 2020. Credit: AFP





The EU Delegation said rights attorneys Wang Quanzhang, Wang Yu and Bao Longjun have also been placed under house arrest, but gave no further details.

Police officers read out a notice of detention to Xu and Yu's 18-year-old son on Saturday night, giving the formal date of criminal detention as April 14, but didn't leave any documentation with him or allow him to take photos of the notice, Wang Yu told Radio Free Asia on Monday.

Catch-all charge

Citing fellow rights attorneys Song Yusheng and Peng Jian, who visited the family home on Sunday, Wang said: "[The son] said that his parents were detained on the charge of picking quarrels and stirring up trouble  a catch-all charge used to target critics of the Communist Party.

"The police showed his son the notice of criminal detention, but he was not allowed to take pictures, and they didn't leave the notice for him. He was only shown it," Wang Yu said. "They carried out a search of their home."

Around seven officers searched the family home and took away a number of personal belongings without showing a warrant or issuing receipts, according to the rights website Weiquanwang.

Wang Yu, who received a call from the couple's son on April 16, said the young man is now also under surveillance.

"The authorities sent people to stand guard over Yu Wensheng's son, both inside and outside their home," Wang said.

Defense lawyers blocked

She said police had prevented lawyers Song and Peng from representing the couple as defense attorneys.

"Song Yusheng and Peng Jian went to Yu Wensheng's house and took his son to dinner," she said. "They wanted his son to sign a letter instructing them as attorneys, but Peng Jian told me that the police refused to sign off on it."

"Yu Wensheng's brother told me that the police told him that Xu Yan has already hired a lawyer," she said. "This is the same as the way they handled the July 2015 crackdown, preventing family members from instructing lawyers, and stopping the lawyers from defending [detainees]."

Since a nationwide crackdown on hundreds of rights attorneys and law firms in 2015, police have begun to put pressure on the families of those detained for political dissent to fire their lawyers and allow the government to appoint a lawyer on their behalf, in the hope of a more lenient sentence.

Wang Yu said the charges against the couple were trumped up.

"Criminal detention is legally equivalent to being suspected of a crime," she said. "But according to the information we have from family members and online, there is no evidence that Yu Wensheng or Xu Yan engaged in any illegal activities."

Wang Qiaoling, wife of rights lawyer Li Heping, said her family is currently also under surveillance.

"When we were taking our kids to class on Sunday morning, we saw that there were cars following us, and they followed us onto the expressway," she said Monday. "It was the same today."

"They always place us under surveillance whenever a foreign leader visits China, but we don't understand why they are doing it now, when the [scheduled] visit is over," she said.

The Spain-based rights group Safeguard Defenders said the couple's disappearance should be a matter for EU-China relations, noting the use of "residential surveillance" to prevent fellow rights lawyers from defending the couple.

"[Residential surveillance] is growing in use and new legal teeth have made it a far harsher experience," the group said via its Twitter account.

Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
Protesters rally at Union Square in San Francisco to support 47 former opposition Hong Kong lawmakers and political activists currently standing trial for "subversion," Saturday, April 15, 2023.

Hundreds of Hong Kongers and other supporters turned out in rallies around the world over the weekend to show solidarity with 47 former opposition lawmakers and political activists currently standing trial for "subversion" under a national security law imposed on the city by Beijing.

Demonstrators gathered in cities across the United States, Britain and Taiwan in protests that also aimed to warn global governments of the threats posed by Beijing's attempts to push its authoritarian model of government far beyond China's borders.

In San Francisco, protesters sang the 2019 protest song "Glory to Hong Kong"  banned under the national security law  and wrote letters and cards to the 47 defendants, who include former journalist Gwyneth Ho, a 2019 protest movement activist, former nursing student Owen Chow and labor unionist Winnie Yu.

"We want people to see that Hong Kongers haven't given up, and that we still have some strength with which to achieve our goals, said former protester Tong Wai Hong, who now lives in Taiwan.

Demonstrators rally over the weekend in Nottingham, United Kingdom, in support of the Hong Kong subversion defendants. Credit: Nottingham Stands with Hong Kong

"The Chinese Communist Party is going to regret provoking us, and scattering the people of Hong Kong around the world, because we will form the future resistance to its infiltration of other countries," he said.

More than 10,000 people have been arrested and 2,800 prosecuted in a citywide crackdown on the 2019 protest movement, mostly under public order charges.

Around 230 have been arrested under the national security law, which criminalizes public criticism of the Hong Kong and Chinese governments, as well as ties and funding arrangements with overseas organizations deemed hostile to China.

Call for sanctions, votes

The trial is the most high-profile to be brought so far under the law, which was imposed on the city by the Chinese Communist Party in response to the 2019 protest movement.

Sixteen defendants are standing trial after pleading not guilty to charges of "incitement to subvert state power" linked to their participation in a democratic primary that the authorities said was a bid to subvert the government by winning a majority of seats in the Legislative Council.it: Chunyin

The remainder, including pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong, Occupy Central founder Benny Tai and journalist-turned-lawmaker Claudia Mo, have pleaded guilty. All defendants could face life imprisonment.

Rally organizers in several British cities called on the U.K. government to impose sanctions on Chinese officials involved in the suppression of Hong Kong's promised freedoms.

A supporter of the 47 former opposition Hong Kong lawmakers and political activists stands silently at a rally in Taipei, Taiwan, Sunday, April 16, 2023. Credit: Chunyin





They also urged Hong Kongers now living in the country to use their vote at the next election to support candidates who demonstrate an awareness of issues affecting them, which include violence and threats from supporters and agents of the Chinese state on British soil.

Protesters took to the streets to stand in silence in British, American, Australian and Canadian cities, with similar events also held in Taipei, amid the trial of 47 opposition politicians and democracy activists for taking part in a democratic primary to try to maximize pro-democracy seats in the Legislative Council.

The government responded to the primary by canceling the 2020 general election and rewriting the electoral rules to ensure pro-democracy candidates couldn't run.

In Union Square in San Francisco, protesters turned out in white face-masks as a warning to the rest of the world that anyone could be targeted by Beijing under Hong Kong's national security law, activist Ken Chan said.

"They claim that the national security law is enforceable anywhere in the world," Chan said. "I think [the masks] mean that everyone faces the same kind of threat under the national security law."

One country, two systems promise dead

New York, Vancouver, Manchester, Amsterdam and Sydney also saw similar rallies, with protesters in Taipei saying they are watching Beijing's actions in Hong Kong closely, for fear China will try a similar political takeover of democratic Taiwan.

Former political prisoner Lee Ming-cheh told the rally in Taipei that the promise of "one country, two systems" made to Hong Kong ahead of the 1997 handover had died.

"[Chinese foreign minister] Wang Yi has said that without one country, two systems, there can be no peace in the Taiwan Strait, but when Taiwanese look at what happened to [that framework] in Hong Kong," Lee said.



A Taiwanese citizen, Chen, says she took part in the Taipei rally to support the people of Hong Kong, and that she hoped the island could continue to offer refuge to anyone fleeing persecution there, Sunday, April 16, 2023. Credit: Chunyin





"The people of Taiwan have to make a choice: accept the fate that is currently Hong Kong's or protect our democracy and the freedoms we currently have," he said.

A Taiwanese woman who gave only the surname Hsiung said people on the island need to take what is happening in Hong Kong as a warning.

"Taiwanese people should be more vigilant, and remember what it was like during the 'white terror' [crackdowns on democracy activists under the one-party rule of the Kuomintang] and the Feb. 28 massacre [that saw thousands of civilians killed by KMT troops in 1947]," Hsiung said.

"History will repeat itself," she warned. "Just because we have freedom and democracy now, doesn't mean we'll have it for the rest of our lives."

"We have to defend it, she said. Our civil rights are up to us."

Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
It was almost midnight, and the full moon appeared an eerie burnt orange above the streetlights that were clouded by the smog hanging in the air.

Our nose burns, our throats get stuck and our eyes turn teary. It has been this way since February, said Phattanik Masa, a resident of Mae Sai, in northern Thailand, who was wearing two face masks as she stood in line with others to offer alms to monks.

This Buddhist ceremony is a significant event. We do it for good luck, she explained. Thats why we are all here despite the horrible air.

For the past two months, residents across northern Thailand and Laos as well as Shan state in Myanmar have been suffering from the worst smog in years.

Thousands have gone to hospitals with respiratory problems, and workers in Chiang Mai, Thailand  ranked among the most polluted cities in the world in recent weeks  have been told to stay indoors and work from home.

The two main culprits behind the hazardous pollution  16 times worse than healthy levels in some areas  are out-of-control wildfires and the burning of ever-wider fields of corn stubble after the February harvest to clear land for planting season in May.

The wildfires are fanned by drier-than-usual weather. Many are in hilly, inaccessible areas and Thailands fire-fighting efforts are under-funded.

Farmers, meanwhile, have carved growing swathes of farmland from the forest to raise corn, grown mostly for animal feed. Demand for meat is increasing, which means greater demand for corn  and higher prices, which drives the farmers to plant, grow and burn more.

The situation is the culmination of many years of bad agricultural practice, said Rattanasiri Kittikongnapang, a Greenpeace food and ecology campaigner. This is the worst haze in more than 10 years.

Unenforced zero-burn policy

Corn fields are spreading all over the region. Between 2015 and 2019, 1.7 million hectares of land was converted from forest to maize cultivation, she said.

The Thai government announced a zero-burn policy in March, but it has not been enforced. Authorities in Bangkok are hoping it will all go away by itself since they are getting ready for an election, said Rattanasiri.

A maize field that was burned after the harvest is seen in Doi Sa-Ngo village in Chiang Rai province in northern Thailand, April 5, 2023. Credit: Subel Rai Bhandari for RFA

Achoo, a Thai farmer with corn fields in Doi Sa-Ngo village in Chiang Rai province, sees no problem with burning. Its natural. After you collect the harvest, you burn the rest, she said. Everyone does this, and we have been doing this for years.

But there are economic forces at work here, too.

Previously, villagers grew mostly vegetables, cassava, pineapple and edible flowering plants. In recent years, they have switched to maize, especially after one of the farmers became a middleman to transport it to animal feed companies.

We dont have to do anything. We get seeds and fertilizers from this person, even if we dont have any money, Achoo said. After the harvest, he collects it from us and takes it to the city.

The growing number of so-called hot spots  areas where fires burn or are likely to burn  are linked to deforestation and growing more corn for animal feed. And the increasing demand for corn can be linked directly to the expansion of the meat industry, says Alliya Moun-Ob, an air pollution campaigner for Greenpeace Thailand.

According to government figures, Thailand needs at least 8 million tonnes of maize for animal feed but produces about 5 million tonnes. It means the rest has to be imported.

Corporate demand

Two decades ago, Thailand set up cross-border contract farming programs with farms in Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia under which it imports corn at zero tariffs. Since then, the region has spiked in open burning, Alliya said.

Alliya and other activists say much of the demand for corn is driven by Thailands Charoen Pokphand Group, or CP Group, the worlds largest animal feed producer, with an annual production of 27,650 metric tons.

Haze obscures the mountains as seen from Doi Sa-Ngo village in Chiang Rai province in northern Thailand, April 5, 2023. Credit: Subel Rai Bhandari for RFA





The Thai government supports one particular company - CP - which is responsible for contract farming maize in the north and neighboring countries, Rattanasiri said.

To convince rice farmers to switch to corn, CP said it would provide interest-free financial support, if needed, and promised it would buy the product at a guaranteed price in a pilot program announced in December by the Royal Initiative Discovery Institute, a palace project promoting sustainable agriculture in the countryside.

Many farmers who dont have any resources or capacity, also dont have a choice but to do contract maize farming, Alliya said.

What is missing in legal and policy-making mechanisms is the liability of industrial sectors linked to environmental impacts while gaining benefits from maize, Alliya said.

CP says it is implementing a program to trace and verify if its source of maize for feed production is cultivated in a sustainable manner, including from areas that were not deforested and farms that do not resort to burning the stubbles.

Paisarn Kruawongvanich, a company executive, said the group has always prioritized building a sustainable food production chain while also mitigating transboundary haze pollution.

CP did not respond to an RFA question about what it would do if farmers failed to follow their advice to stop burning stubble.

The increasing demand for livestock feed has been lifting corn prices. In February, local corn prices were 26% higher than a year ago, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service grain and feed report, due to insufficient locally produced corn and uncertainty in the global corn trade.

Wildfires

Apart from that, wildfires are burning wildly out of control in many parts of the region this year, experts said, due to the start of the dry season after the end of La Nina, in which low sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean results in cooler and wetter conditions in parts of Asia.

In Laos, air quality has remained unhealthy to hazardous for over four weeks. IQAir said the PM2.5 concentration in the capital Vientiane on Friday was 150, more than 11 times the WHO guideline.

Residents told RFA Laos Service the smoke was coming from all directions, as experts blamed open burning and weather changes for this years fire problem.

The visibility is low. We have to wear masks when going outside. My kids are getting sick and have itchy noses and eyes. Its like having a cold or flu, a resident of the capital Vientiane told RFAs Lao Service earlier this month.

A doctor at a Vientiane hospital said they were receiving a lot of patients with respiratory problems.

In Myanmars Shan state, residents in Tachileik, which borders Mae Sai, told RFAs Myanmar Service they had been badly affected by smog since Mar. 24, forcing flights to be canceled.

Local residents said that in the past, the haze lingered for a couple of days, but this time it has been longer and denser.

In Southeast Asia, El Nino  warmer ocean surface temperatures  brings drier, warmer weather and increases the risk of forest fires and smoke haze, according to the ASEAN Specialized Meteorological Center, or ASMC.

There was also likely no controlled burning management to maintain the forests health. If you dont manage it properly, a small fire could easily be huge and uncontrolled, said Prof. Ekbordin Winijkul, head of the energy, environment, and climate change department at the Asian Institute of Technology,

A wildfire destroyed this roadside forest located on the way to Doi Chang mountain in Lamphun province, Thailand, April 4, 2023. Credit: Subel Rai Bhandari for RFA





Thai authorities would not say the suspected causes for wildfires, though many people have been arrested for suspicion of starting the fires.

Activists told RFA that the reasons could be to clear forests to create new farmland or for mushroom-hunting. The destruction caused by the fire creates a nutrient-rich environment conducive for fungi to grow almost immediately afterward, which farmers hunt to collect and sell in the market.

If nothing is done about addressing the smog, more people will die, experts say

Air pollution was among the top 10 risk factors for death in all Southeast Asian countries in 2019, with about half a million premature deaths attributed to exposure to air pollution, said Mushtaq Memon, UNEP Coordinator of Chemicals and Pollution Action for Asia and the Pacific.

Immediate challenges on addressing the open burning of crop residues include providing timely and sufficient resources to farmers, he said.

Ekbordin said transboundary haze is not one country or one company problem.

We must address it collectively. If we do not take concrete actions soon, then the situation will worsen, he added. And it will happen every year.
The pricey cookers were made at the complex shuttered since 2016, in violation of agreement with Seoul

The Kaesong Industrial Complex is seen across the demilitarized zone separating North Korea from South Korea, in 2013.

Sleek, modern rice cookers bearing the South Korean brand Cuckoo sell at premium prices in North Korean department stores, but they have not been illegally smuggled into the country, nor are they Chinese-made fakes.

They were manufactured in the Kaesong Industrial Complex, an inter-Korean manufacturing zone that was supposed to have been shuttered since 2016, a source in Pyongyang told RFAs Korean Service on condition of anonymity to speak freely.

The rice cookers on sale in Pyongyang are evidence that North Korea is running the factories in the Kaesong complex in direct violation of inter-Korean agreements, including those that protect the rights and interests of South Korean investors.

The electric rice cooker is produced using the equipment and raw materials that Cuckoo Electronics Company left in the Kaesong Industrial Complex, the source said. The production manpower was provided by the residents of Kaesong who worked for Cuckoo when the complex was in operation.

The factories, located in the city of Kaesong, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of the demilitarized zone, opened in 2004 during the height of the Sunshine Policy era of cooperation between Seoul and Pyongyang.

By combining South Korean capital and industrial technology with cheap North Korean labor, the idea was meant to expose the merits of democracy to the North Korean people.

The complex briefly closed in 2013 during a period of high tension between the Koreas and was completely halted in 2016 in response to a North Korean missile test, prompting South Korean staff to withdraw.

But the factories remained intact, and stores of raw materials were left behind.

In fact, the complex has been churning out Cuckoo rice cookers for several years now, the source said.

Those Kaesong-made rice cookers in the Pyongyang Department Store cost 410,000 won, or U.S.$50, for the six-cup version, and 656,000 won, or $80, for the 10-cup version. Although cheaper than if they were sold in South Korea, those prices are prohibitively expensive in the North, where average monthly salaries for government-assigned jobs amount to less than $1.

Their hefty price tags mean that only the wealthiest of North Koreans can afford to buy them.

Payback for sanctions

For the first few years after the closure of the complex in 2016, the factories and materials lay idle.

But later Pyongyang began selling finished products left in Kaesong in response to international nuclear sanctions going into effect that year, crippling North Koreas ability to generate foreign currency, a source in the northwestern province of North Pyongan told RFA on condition of anonymity for safety.

The best-selling item, both sources said, has been the Cuckoo rice cooker. These cookers were among products smuggled into China by a company affiliated with the North Korean military in 2018.

The onset of the coronavirus resulted in North Korea being cut off completely from the rest of the world as Pyongyang and Beijing suspended all trade and closed the Sino-Korean border.

As the border was blocked due to the coronavirus crisis and economic difficulties began, the Central Committee allowed the use of production facilities, buses, and raw materials remaining in the Kaesong Industrial Complex, the North Pyongan source said.

On April 11, South Koreas Unification Minister Kwon Young-se said in a statement that North Korea is infringing on property rights by using facilities of South Korean companies in the Kaesong Industrial Complex without permission, despite several warnings from the South Korean government. It was the first time a sitting minister directly condemned North Korea since 2013.

The Kaesong complex can only be restarted after UN and U.S. sanctions are lifted  specifically UN Security Council Resolution 2270, adopted in March 2016 in response to North Koreas fourth nuclear test, and U.S. sanctions against North Korea that restrict trade between the two Koreas, except for humanitarian aid items such as food.

But until then, the Cuckoo rice cooker will likely continue to be illegally made, as it remains a must-have item.

Electric rice cookers are especially in high demand as they are used in every home in Pyongyang, the North Pyongan source said.

Translated by Claire Shinyoung Oh Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.
In this April 11, 2023, screenshot from a video, debris and damage are seen following a Myanmar junta airstrike on Pa Zi Gyi village, Kanbalu township, northwestern Myanmar's Sagaing region.

The death toll from a military airstrike in northern Myanmars Sagaing region on civilians has nearly doubled to an estimated 200 people, a local member of the Peoples Defense Forces told Radio Free Asia on Monday.

During the April 11 attack, jets bombed and helicopters strafed the opening ceremony for a public administration building in Pa Zi Gyi village. It was the latest example of the juntas increased use of air power in their conflict with armed resistance groups amid falterning progress on the ground.

Nothing was left of some people who died in the air strike, said a member of a local Peoples Defense Force, who declined to give his name so he could speak freely.

As far as we can confirm, there were over 170 people dead up to yesterdays update, but when we can take the missing people into account, we can say that the total is about 200, he said.

He said it would be difficult to ascertain an exact toll given that many body parts were missing, and because surviving villagers had fled. The village had about 300 residents.

About 70 Pa Zi Gyi residents who fled their homes remain sheltering in forests, and resistance groups and aid workers are providing them with food supplies from nearby villages, he said.

And as of Sunday, six more of the injured people died, while others are being treated by medical teams linked to the shadow National Unity Government, or NUG, a group of former civilian leaders and others opposed to the juntas rule.

Now, local resistance fighters will advise other villages not to open administrative offices and will instruct residents about defending themselves should the junta launch further air attacks and build air raid shelters.

We are going to pass it on to as many villages as possible, the member of the Peoples Defense Force said. The military juntas attack on these defenseless villages with no presence of resistance is entirely unacceptable.

The new count comes a day after the National Unity Government reported that 168 people, including 40 minors, had been killed in the air attack.

At a news conference on Sunday, the NUG said that the dead included six children under the age of 5, 19 children between ages 5 and 14, five children between ages 14 and 18, and 10 children whose ages could not be identified.

The shadow government also said that medical personnel had been sent to treat the 16 civilians who were injured, including children.

The NUG said it would make efforts to ensure justice in the deadly assault, which forced more than 300 villagers in all to flee.

Pa Zi Gyi villagers whose family members were killed in this attack are asking the international community to take effective action against the perpetrators and not to sell jet fuel, weapons or ammunition to the junta.

Translated by Myo Min Aung for RFA Burmese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
The countrys military rulers say the amnesty is to mark the Burmese New Year.

Relatives and friends of prisoners wait outside Yangon's Insein Prison following the announcement of a Burmese New Year amnesty. Credit: RFA

Relatives and friends of prisoners wait outside Yangon's Insein Prison following the announcement of a Burmese New Year amnesty. Credit: RFA

Relatives and friends of prisoners wait outside Yangon's Insein Prison following the announcement of a Burmese New Year amnesty. Credit: RFA

Relatives and friends of prisoners wait outside Yangon's Insein Prison following the announcement of a Burmese New Year amnesty. Credit: RFA

UPDATED AT 1:08 p.m. ET on 2023-04-17

Myanmars junta has granted amnesty to 3,015 prisoners, according to a statement carried on the pro-military channel Myanmar Radio and Television.

Other junta statements on Monday said that 98 foreigners, including five Sri Lankans being held in Yangons Insein prison, were among those released as part of the New Year's amnesty.

Relatives of other prisoners waited outside Insein on Monday morning as yellow buses carried freed prisoners out of the notorious prison.

The former minister of Planning and Finance, Kyaw Win, was among those released  the only political prisoner to be released so far, according to Tun Kyi, a leader of the Former Political Prisoners Society. The others had been convicted in criminal cases, he said.

He is over 75 years of age, was sentenced to three years imprisonment, and he was arrested more than two years ago, Tun Kyi said. He has already served nearly all of his jail term.

Kyaw Win was arrested at his home in Naypyidaw on Feb. 4, 2021, three days after the military coup. He was sentenced to three years in prison under the Government Secrets Act in September 2022.

Myanmars ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, chairperson of the National League for Democracy, was also convicted at the time, along with NLD economic adviser Sean Turnell and two other NLD ministers. Suu Kyi is serving a total of 33 years in prison.

The NLD  dissolved by the junta last month  won a landslide victory in the 2020 general election and many senior members were arrested on trumped-up charges in the days and months following the coup.

If any political prisoners have been released it is obviously good news for them and their families, but there are still thousands of political prisoners in jail. None of them should be in prison, Anna Roberts, executive director of Burma Campaign UK told RFA. The international community must not forget Burmas political prisoners.

Others being held for political crimes include civil disobedience movement teachers, students, doctors and nurses, and also members and supporters of Peoples Defense Forces.

The junta has arrested more than 21,300 political prisoners since seizing power in the Feb. 1, 2021 coup, according to the Thailand-based monitoring group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Of that number, it says 17,460 are still being held in prisons across the country.

This years amnesty is almost double the size of 2022s, when the junta pardoned 1,619 people, most of whom were said to be jailed for drug and immigration offenses.

Junta State Administration Council Secretary Lt. Gen. Aung Lin Dwe said Mondays amnesty was intended to bring joy for the people and address humanitarian concerns. It is likely to do neither.

Last week, ASEAN joined humanitarian groups in condemning the junta for staging probably its most brutal massacre in the more than two years since the coup.

At least 165 people were killed, many women and children among them, when junta jets bombed the opening ceremony of a village administrative building in Sagaing region, while helicopter gunships cut down those trying to flee.

We need to see stronger international action to support people in Burma and to cut off sources of funds and arms to the military, including sanctions on the supply of aviation fuel to help stop the devastating military airstrikes, like the attack in Sagaing region last week, Roberts said.

Anti-junta Peoples Defense Forces have warned people not to celebrate the Thingyan water festival and New Year, bombing junta-built Thingyan pavilions across the country, killing eight people in Sagaing region and four in Shan state.

Story updated to include news of Kyaw Win's release.

Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn and Matt Reed.
The US Secretary of State earlier visited Vietnam where he discussed closer ties despite human rights concerns.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japan's Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi at a G7 welcoming event in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, April 16, 2023.

UPDATED AT 07:34 a.m. ET on 2023-04-17.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Japan where he, together with other foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) nations, discussed a common approach to the war in Ukraine Monday, confirming that they remain committed to intensifying, fully coordinating and enforcing sanctions against Russia, as well as to continuing strong support for Ukraine, according to a Japanese Foreign Affairs Ministry statement.

The statement was in line with the goals of the Biden administration, which are to shore up support for Ukraine and to ensure the continued provision of military assistance to Kyiv, as well as to ramp up punishment against Russia through economic and financial sanctions, a senior official from Blinken's delegation told the Associated Press ahead of the meeting.

Earlier G7 ministers vowed to take a tougher stance on Chinas threats to Taiwan, and North Koreas missile tests.

Meanwhile, Britains Financial Times reported that China was refusing to let Blinken visit Beijing over concerns that the FBI will release the results of an investigation into the suspected Chinese spy balloon downed in February.

The FT quoted four people familiar with the matter as saying that China had told the U.S. it was not prepared to reschedule a trip that Blinken cancelled in February while it remains unclear what the administration of President Joe Biden will do with the report.

It is unclear when the trip would be rescheduled.

The U.S. military shot the Chinese balloon down over concerns that it was spying on U.S. military installations but China insisted that it was a weather balloon blown off course due to force majeure.

The incident led to Blinken abruptly canceling his ties-mending trip to Beijing, during which he was expected to call on Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

The relationship between Washington and Beijing has been strained in the last few years over issues such as Chinas threats to Taiwan and security concerns in the Indo-Pacific.

Upgrading U.S.-Vietnam partnership

Antony Blinken arrived at Karuizawa in Nagano prefecture in central Japan on Sunday after a visit to Vietnam to promote strategic ties with the communist country.

This was Blinkens first visit to Hanoi as U.S. Secretary of State.

The U.S. is building a U.S.$1.2 billion compound in Hanoi, one of its largest and most expensive embassies in the world.

During his visit, Blinken met with Vietnams most senior officials, including the General Secretary of the Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, to discuss the great possibilities that lie ahead in the U.S.-Vietnam partnership, the secretary of state wrote on Twitter.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) meets with Vietnam's Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong at the Communist Party of Vietnam Headquarters in Hanoi, Vietnam, April 15, 2023. Credit: Andrew Harnik/Pool via Reuters





Two weeks before Blinkens visit, Trong and Biden had a phone conversation during which the two leaders agreed to promote and deepen bilateral ties, according to Vietnamese media.

Former enemies Hanoi and Washington normalized their diplomatic relationship in 1995 and in 2013 established a so-called "comprehensive partnership" to promote cooperation in all sectors including the economy, culture exchange and security.

Vietnams foreign relations are benchmarked by three levels of partnerships: comprehensive, strategic and comprehensive strategic.

Only four countries in the world belong to the top tier of comprehensive strategic partners: China, Russia, India and South Korea.

Vietnam has strategic partnerships with 16 nations including some U.S. allies such as Japan, Singapore and Australia.

U.S. officials have been hinting at upgrading the ties to the next level strategic partnership which offers deeper cooperation, especially in security and defense, amid new geopolitical challenges posed by an increasingly assertive China.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh told the U.S. secretary of state on Saturday in Hanoi that the consensus reached amongst the Vietnamese leadership is to further elevate the bilateral partnership to a new height adding that relevant government agencies have been tasked with looking into the process.

Vietnam analysts such as Carl Thayer from the University of New South Wales in Australia said that an upgrade of Vietnam-U.S. relationship to strategic partnership within this year is possible, despite concerns that it would antagonize Beijing.

The U.S. is currently the largest export market and the second-largest commercial partner for Vietnam.

Hanoi aims to benefit across the board from U.S. assistance, especially in trade, science and technology, Thayer told Radio Free Asia.

Vietnam as one of the South China Sea claimants has been embroiled in territorial disputes with China and could benefit from greater cooperation in maritime security.

In exchange, the U.S. would benefit indirectly by assisting Vietnam in capacity-building to address maritime security issues in the South China Sea to strengthen a free and open Indo-Pacific, said Thayer.

The U.S. is trying to mobilize and sustain an international coalition to oppose Russias war in Ukraine and to deter China from using force against Taiwan and intimidation of South China Sea littoral states, the Canberra-based political analyst said.

Hanois priority

Some other analysts, such as Bill Hayton from the British think tank Chatham House, said that there might have been a miscalculation on the U.S.s part.

Washington is now taking itself for a massive ride in its misunderstanding of what Vietnam wants from the bilateral relationship, Hayton said.

All the Communist Party of Vietnam wants is regime security. It has no interest in confronting China, the author of A Brief History of Vietnam said.

Blogger Nguyen Lan Thang was sentenced to six years in prison for spreading anti-state propaganda on April 12, 2023. Credit: Facebook: Nguyen Lan Thang





Just before Blinken landed in Hanoi, a dissident blogger was sentenced to six years in prison for spreading anti-state propaganda.

Nguyen Lan Thang was also a contributor to Radio Free Asia.

The U.S. State Department condemned the sentence and urged the Vietnamese government to immediately release and drop all charges against Nguyen Lan Thang and other individuals who remain in detention for peacefully exercising and promoting human rights."

Vietnam is an important partner in the Indo-Pacific, and that partnership can only reach its full potential if the government of Vietnam takes concerted steps to meet its obligations and commitments under international law and improve its human rights record, a State Department spokesperson said, according to Reuters.

Yet two days later, friends of another blogger, Thai Van Duong, alleged that he was kidnapped by Vietnamese agents and transferred back to Vietnam. Thai was in Bangkok where he was waiting for his political refugee application to be vetted by UNHCR.

That was clearly a message from the Ministry of Public Security, demonstrating its power in the face of the United States, said Bill Hayton.

Washington is so keen to establish a strategic partnership with Vietnam that the Vietnamese security establishment thinks it will ignore those events, he added.

Story has been updated to include a statement by Japan's Foreign Affairs Ministry.

Edited by Mike Firn.
Duong Van Thai had fled to Thailand in 2018 and is believed to have been abducted last week.

UPDATED on 04-18-2023at 10:56 a.m. EDT

A Vietnamese blogger who is believed to have been abducted from Thailand by secret agents last week has turned up in police custody in his native country.

Police in Vietnams northern province of Ha Tinh announced Sunday that they found a person without identification illegally entering the country via trails on its border with Laos. They were able to confirm that the person was named Duong Van Thai, born in 1982.

Duong Van Thai, also known as Thai Van Duong, is a blogger who in 2018 fled to Thailand fearing political persecution for his many posts and videos that criticized the Vietnamese government and leaders of the Communist Party on Facebook and YouTube.

Thai had been in Thailand, applying for refugee status with the United Nations refugee agencys office in Bangkok.

He went missing on the morning of April 13 after he left his rental home in Bangkok to pick up a friend at the airport. Calls to his mobile phone that afternoon went unanswered, several of his friends said.

According to one of his acquaintances, who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons, Thai had just finished a virtual immigration interview with the UNHCR several hours before going missing.

Thais friends began to claim publicly that he was likely kidnapped by Vietnamese security forces and brought back to Vietnam after no one answered the door at his house on the evening of the 14th.

Similar case

They said his case was similar to that of blogger and Radio Free Asia contributor Truong Duy Nhat, who was kidnapped by Vietnams security forces when he was applying for refugee status in Thailand in 2019.

Two months later, Nhat surfaced in Vietnam and he was sentenced to 10 years in prison in March 2020 for abusing his position and authority, charges the U.S. State Department said were vague.

In 2019, human rights activist Bach Hong Quyen told RFA that he and his family narrowly escaped a similar fate. While in an immigration detention center in Bangkok, the Vietnamese Embassy requested their extradition, but with the UN lobbying hard for his case, they were allowed to travel to Canada.

RFA contacted Vietnams Ministry of Public Security and the Vietnamese Embassy in Bangkok to inquire about Thais case, but received no responses.

Also on Friday, Vietnam sentenced dissident blogger and RFA contributor Nguyen Lan Thang to six years in prison for spreading anti-state propaganda.

The sentence came just hours before U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Hanoi for an official visit.

The U.S. State Department condemned the sentence and urged the Vietnamese government to immediately release and drop all charges against Nguyen Lan Thang and other individuals who remain in detention for peacefully exercising and promoting human rights."

Bill Hayton from the British think tank Chatham House said that Thais abduction was clearly a message from the Ministry of Public Security, demonstrating its power in the face of the United States.

Translated by Anna Vu. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.

Update corrects Thai's name on second reference.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 17. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov discussed the process of normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia with US Senior Advisor for Caucasus Negotiations Louis Bono, Trend reports via the Foreign Ministry.

According to the ministry, further prospects for the negotiation process on the Azerbaijani-Armenian peace treaty, as well as other components of the process of normalizing relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia were discussed.

Bayramov noted that Armenia hasnt fulfilled its obligations under the trilateral statement [signed by Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders following the 2020 second Karabakh war], hasnt completely withdrawn its armed forces from Azerbaijani territories [contrary to the statement], continues to commit military and political provocations.

Besides, two Azerbaijani servicemen were taken prisoner, and one of them suffered from physical violence.

Bayramov stressed the importance of the mentioned soldiers' immediate release.

The parties also exchanged opinions on other issues of mutual interest.

The previous visit of Bono to Azerbaijan took place in March this year.
In an attempt to boost Iran's flagging population growth, the government approved a controversial law in 2021 that further tightened restrictions on medical abortions and banned the free distribution of contraceptives.

Now, officials have expressed alarm about the number of illegal abortions being carried out in the country, suggesting government restrictions have pushed more women to terminate unwanted pregnancies outside the public health-care system.

Women who seek an abortion in Iran often rely on the black market to obtain abortion pills that can be counterfeit or expired and ineffective. They also use underground abortion services by doctors and midwives that sometimes operate in unhygienic conditions.

Government officials have said that each year between 300,000 to 600,000 abortions, most of them illegal, are performed in the country.

A midwife in Tehran, who spoke to RFE/RL's Radio Farda on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, said illegal abortions appear to have increased "significantly." The midwife says health workers now estimate that there could be as many as 1 million abortions each year.

"We used to provide people with free contraceptives that would help prevent unwanted pregnancies," the midwife said, adding that poorer Iranians were the most affected. "Now, women from poorer [backgrounds] are forced to seek unsafe abortions by using pills they buy on the black market that could lead to health complications and put their lives at risk."

The midwife warns that the authorities appear to be determined to boost the country's birthrate "at any cost," a move that "will only lead to an increase in unsafe abortions."

'Disastrous' Figures

Soleiman Heidari, a Health Ministry official, said on April 18 that up to 80 percent of abortions in Iran were performed illegally. He did not say if the number of illegal abortions was increasing but added that some estimates, if accurate, were "disastrous."

Earlier in the week, Iran's ultraconservative President Ebrahim Raisi said the number of abortions in the country was "worrying," without giving figures. He also called for "violators" to be punished.

Officials have said that medical staff found guilty of carrying out illegal abortions will face a ban on practicing medicine. Tehran Governor Mohsen Mansuri last year called for the authorities to crack down on centers that help women terminate their unwanted pregnancies.

Health Ministry spokesman Pedram Pakayin said on April 19 that the ministry was taking steps to deal with "intentional abortions," including collecting abortion pills from the market.

Dropping Birthrate

Mansoureh Shojaee, a prominent women's rights activist and researcher, told RFE/RL that the law restricting medical abortions was a violation of women's right to maintain autonomy over their bodies.

"The issue of bodily rights and autonomy has been highlighted by the protest movement," she said, referring to the nationwide antiestablishment demonstrations that erupted after the September death of a young woman soon after she was arrested for violating the hijab law. The main slogan of the protesters was "Women, life, and freedom."

"These rights include the hijab but also issues dealing with fertility, including the right to prevent pregnancy," Shojaee said. "Women should be able to decide if they want to become pregnant, if they want children, and the number of children they want."

Shojaee adds that the state's restrictions on medical abortions and contraceptives have put the life of Iranian women at risk.

Previously, abortions could be legally performed during the first four months of pregnancy if three doctors agreed that a pregnancy threatened a woman's life, or the fetus had severe physical or mental disabilities that could produce extreme hardship for the mother.

But under the "rejuvenation of the population and support of the family" law passed in November 2021, abortion cases are now be decided by a panel that includes a judge and two medical professionals.

Rights groups and health experts warn that the law restricts women's access to medical abortions, leads to unwanted pregnancies and the birth of children with congenital defects, and increases the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS.

In recent years, a growing number of Iranian women have chosen to have fewer or no children -- mainly due to economic woes, changing gender norms, the growth of girls' education, and family planning programs.

That trend has seen Iran's population growth rate drop from more than 4 percent in the 1980s to 1.29 percent in 2020, according to the World Bank, a development that has alarmed Iran's clerical establishment.
Two prominent Iranian actresses, Katayoun Riahi and Pantea Bahram, are facing legal action after they made public appearances without wearing the mandatory hijab.

According to the Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, the Tehran Police Public Relations Center cited "unveiling in public and publishing images on social media" as the reason for filing the case against the actresses.



Riahi, alongside actresses Golab Adineh and Fatemeh Motamed-Arya, appeared without a mandatory hijab, or head scarf, at a public funeral ceremony on April 18. It was not clear whether the other actresses also face charges.



Bahram, another well-known actress, has made several public appearances without a mandatory hijab, including at a screening of the last episode of the Iranian television series The Lion Skin at Tehrans Lotus Cinema on April 19.



Following the event, the director of the Lotus cinema was dismissed and the cinema was closed for two days.



The Judiciary Media Center has previously reported cases against the two being sent to a specialized court, which deals with crimes "against chastity" and says it takes a "serious" stance on "social and moral corruption."



Riahi, a veteran actress, made headlines when she removed her mandatory hijab in solidarity with nationwide protests against the Iranian government after the death in September 2022 of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in police custody after allegedly breaking the hijab law.



Although Riahi initially managed to evade the authorities, she was arrested by security forces on November 29 and accused of "gathering and colluding to act against national security and propaganda activities against the system."



She was released on bail on December 8. Her trial took place in January amid a news blackout. According to Soraya Riahi-Rad, a writer and poet, the actress had to leave the court in an ambulance because her state of health had deteriorated "under the most severe threats and pressure."



In recent weeks, officials have warned women to respect the hijab law and have threatened to punish violators. The authorities have also shut down businesses, restaurants, cafes, and in some cases pharmacies due to the failure of owners or managers to observe Islamic laws and hijab rules.



Several Iranian cinematographers and prominent public figures have also been summoned by the police or arrested, including director Hamid Pourazari.

Other celebrities, including actor Hamid Farrokhnejad, have been interrogated and have had their passports confiscated after showing support for the protests.



Since the Amini's death last year, Iranians have flooded onto the streets across the country to protest against a lack of rights, with women and schoolgirls putting up unprecedented shows of support in what is considered to be one of the biggest threats to the Islamic government since the 1979 revolution.



Many women have burned their hijabs in public as a show of defiance.



In response to the unrest, the authorities have launched a brutal crackdown on dissent, detaining thousands and handing down stiff sentences to protesters, including the death penalty.



The authorities have also intensified efforts to enforce the hijab as more women flout the law by expanding punishments to businesses and workers who fail to enforce the law on their patrons.



The hijab became mandatory in Iran shortly after the 1979 revolution, by order of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic republic.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda
Russian opposition leader Vladimir Kara-Murza has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for treason and other offenses, including spreading "false information" over his criticism of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. At the conclusion of a trial that has been widely condemned as politically motivated, the Kremlin opponent appeared in the defendant's cage in the Moscow City Court on April 17. Media and diplomats could only follow proceedings on a screen in the court's guarded hallway.
In a case that has attracted international condemnation, Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza has been sentenced to 25 years in prison -- the harshest punishment ever handed down to a Kremlin opponent in the post-Soviet era -- on charges stemming mainly from his outspoken criticism of Russias unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

The lions share of his sentence -- 18 years -- was for alleged state treason, a charge that is being used more and more often across Russia. In his closing statement in court on April 10, Kara-Murza warned of the turn President Vladimir Putin has taken, evoking the license given to prosecutors and the secret police during the Great Terror under Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

Ive been surprised by how far my trial, in its secrecy and contempt for legal norms, has surpassed even the trials of Soviet dissidents in the 1960s and 1970s, he said. And thats not even to mention the harsh sentence requested by the prosecution or the talk of enemies of the state. In this respect, weve gone far beyond the 1970s  all the way back to the 1930s. As a historian, for me this is an occasion for reflection.

As Russias war against Ukraine drags on with no sign of any resolution in sight, Putins government has unleashed the Federal Security Service (FSB), which this year has opened a number of treason cases that is unprecedented in modern Russian history.

They have been given the green light to open serious criminal cases, said human rights lawyer Dmitry Zair-Bek, who heads the First Department human rights project. It must have come from the very top since [these cases] are being investigated at the highest level, by the First Department of the FSBs Investigations Section. This is a small department, the same one that investigated our client, journalist Ivan Safronov and other cases of state treason.

Safronov was sentenced to 22 years in prison in September 2022, following his conviction on a treason charge that he denied and that was widely seen as politically motivated.

This shows how important [these cases] are for the political leadership of the country and for the security agencies themselves, Zair-Bek said.

'The Government Doesn't Let You Do Anything'

Kostyantyn Pashchenko lives in the central Ukrainian city of Kropyvnytskiy.

His lifelong friend Igor Pokusin -- a 60-year-old native of Odesa who has lived in Abakan, the capital of Russias Republic of Khakassia, since Soviet times  was arrested in December and faces treason charges for allegedly trying to volunteer to serve in Ukraines military. Earlier, he had been arrested and fined for defacing a pro-war poster with the blue-and-yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag.

"I dont approve of what he did with the paint, Pashchenko told RFE/RL. Could anyone in Abakan know that had something to do with Ukraine?"

Pashchenko suggested that his friend was doomed by that modest act of defiance.

"You can protest in Ukraine or in Georgia," he told RFE/RL. "But [in Russia] the government doesnt let you do anything. The state will simply eat you.

On April 4, the state news agency TASS reported that FSB officers in Nizhny Tagil, a city in the Urals, had arrested an unidentified married couple and charged them with treason for allegedly handing over military-technical information -- a term that usually refers to information about weapons production -- to the Ukrainian secret services.

On March 13, the FSB reported it had detained an unidentified man in the western Novgorod region for spying for Ukraine. The agency said the man had been trying to get mobilized Russian soldiers to reveal the locations of their units in Ukraine.

On March 2, the FSB announced the arrest of a man in the Far Eastern city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, more than 9,000 kilometers from the front lines in Ukraine, for allegedly spying for Kyiv. Although no information has been released in this case -- as is the normal practice in Russia for treason prosecutions -- RFE/RLs Siberia.Realities was able to identify the suspect, who is a former soldier who was retired and worked as a security guard. He was arrested in his home at 5 a.m. on February 23.

They took all the recordings from the security cameras, a neighbor told RFE/RL. All the residents were orally warned not to say anything until the official video is released.

He was a pleasant man, calm, considerate, sober, the neighbor added. I cant imagine what he was arrested for.

'S' For Secrecy

In February, a court in the Khanty-Mansi region in western Siberia sentenced an unidentified resident to 12 1/2 years in prison for treason. The only information provided about the case was that the defendant had purportedly been previously convicted of an unspecified crime.

The trial was closed, read RFE/RLs Siberia.Realities report of the case on February 21. The court did not release the name, age, or gender of the accused.

The report added the Kafkaesque detail that the defendant was identified only by the letter S.

In 2022, 22 cases of treason were opened in Russia. So far this year, at least 20 cases have already been announced  nine of them in March alone. More than half of the 2023 cases were reported in the Far East.

I predict that by the end of 2023, well know of about 100 cases under this article, rights lawyer Yevgeny Smirnov told Current Time, a Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA.

'Ordinary People Just Pulled Out Of The Crowd'

But the announced cases could be just the tip of the iceberg. Treason cases in Russia are handled with such secrecy that the governments own announcements are normally the only way they reach the public. And the FSB only releases information that is beneficial to them, Smirnov said.

Zair-Bek gave a similar assessment.

I think we only know about 30 or 40 percent of all treason cases. In reality, there may be many more, he told RFE/RL.

Moreover, in the past almost all the defendants in Russian treason cases were academics, officials, or military personnel who had access to secret information. Now, however, the accused come from all walks of life.

In my view, the accusations in the cases that we know about seem pretty unsubstantiated, Zair-Bek said. From what we know of the suspects, they are completely ordinary people just pulled out of the crowd.

All the suspects face the prospect of long stretches in pretrial detention, a closed-door trial, and up to 20 years in prison.

'Pure Provocation'

On March 13, the FSB announced the arrest of a woman in the Far Eastern city of Kharbarovsk for allegedly sending money to the Ukrainian military. The only information about the suspect that was released was that she was supposedly an activist in the regional protest movement to support former Governor Sergei Furgal, whose 2020 arrest after he won a landslide election against the Kremlins candidate sparked outrage and weeks of demonstrations.

The pro-Furgal group released a statement saying they suspect this is a continuation of efforts to discredit the Sergei Furgal movement.

I asked our people at the time, activist Valentin Kvashnikov told RFE/RL. None of them was detained. So we suspect this was a ruse by the FSB. Just to have something to show on television. None of our people knows her. This is pure provocation. There arent so many of us that we wouldnt recognize her.

Life In Prison

On April 7, amendments to the Criminal Code were introduced in the State Duma, the lower house of Russias legislature, that would punish treason with life in prison. The Dumas legislation committee has already approved the measure in its first reading.



Lawyer Smirnov said the harsher penalty could make prosecutions for treason easier and even more frequent.

In general, people detained under this article tend to confess or they make a deal with investigators in which, first, they confess and, second, they give testimony against some other person for a crime, usually also treason, he said. [The authorities] suppose that a life sentence will make it easier to frighten people to get them to do what the investigators want them to do.

It is impossible to say who the potential victims of this statute will be, he added. Bread sellers. The unemployed. Completely random people all over the country who had no idea that whatever they were doing might be some sort of treason.

Written by RFE/RLs Robert Coalson based on reporting by RFE/RLs Russian Service, North.Realities, Siberia.Realities, and Current Time.
The U.S. ambassador to Russia has visited American Evan Gershkovich in a prison in Moscow where the journalist is being held on charges of espionage.

Ambassador Lynne Tracy said on Twitter that she visited The Wall Street Journal reporter in the Lefortovo pretrial detention center on April 17.

"This is the first time we've had access to Evan since he was wrongfully detained over 2 weeks ago. He is in good health and remains strong. We reiterate our call for his immediate release," Tracy said.

The United States had been demanding consular access to Gershkovich, the first American journalist detained in Russia on espionage charges since the end of the Cold War.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the United States hopes to see continued consular access to the reporter.

"It was good to get to see him today and again we want to make sure we can continue to do that," Kirby said.

Gershkovich is planning to appeal against his arrest and detention, Reuters reported, citing court documents.

Moscow's Lefortovo district court on April 18 will hear a complaint filed by Gershkovich against the decision to keep him in custody while the case is being investigated, according to a court document cited by Reuters.

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on March 30 it had detained Gershkovich in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg and had opened an espionage case against him for collecting what it said were state secrets about the military-industrial complex.

The Wall Street Journal and the United States have denied he was involved in espionage.

The U.S. State Department on April 10 designated Gershkovich as "wrongfully detained" by Russia and called for his immediate release. U.S. President Joe Biden has also called on Russia to release him, along with international journalist organizations.

The Kremlin has said Gershkovich was carrying out espionage "under the cover" of journalism. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has told the United States that Gershkovich was caught red-handed while trying to obtain secrets.

With reporting by Reuters
In a speech to lawmakers in the U.S. state of Arizona in March 2022, weeks after Russia launched its large-scale invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Kara-Murza accused the dictatorial regime in the Kremlin of committing war crimes.

It was a pointed address and one in which the 41-year-old said he had understood where Vladimir Putin would take Russia back in December 1999, when the then-prime minister unveiled a plaque honoring hardline ex-Soviet leader Yury Andropov at the former headquarters of the KGB.

But it was par for the course for Kara-Murza, one of Putin's most vocal critics, who was sentenced on April 17 to 25 years in prison by a Moscow court that convicted him of treason and other offenses in a trial that has been widely condemned as politically motivated. It is the longest sentence handed down to a Kremlin opponent in the post-Soviet era.

Kara-Murza had long angered the Kremlin before turning his criticism on Russias war against Ukraine. A historian by education, he had repeatedly warned Western leaders against appeasing Putin, comparing what he called the longtime presidents methodical dismantling of democracy and freedom to that of fascist Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.

Perhaps more significantly in the eyes of the Russian state, Kara-Murza played a leading role alongside his mentor Boris Nemtsov -- who was assassinated in 2015 -- in persuading the U.S. Congress to pass groundbreaking sanctions legislation that targets corrupt officials and human rights abusers in Russia, including people close to Putin.

His work in advancing the 2012 Magnitsky Act, which gives the U.S. president the authority to freeze the U.S. assets of Russian government officials and businessmen accused of gross violations and blocks them from accessing U.S. financial markets, may have nearly cost him his life twice.

Kara-Murza was hospitalized in serious condition in 2015 and 2017 following what he and others believe were cases of intentional poisoning while he was in Russia. He suffered organ failure in 2015 and underwent therapy to walk again.

U.S. authorities investigated the illnesses as intentional poisonings, Justice Department documents reviewed exclusively by RFE/RL in 2020 showed. The government records also showed that U.S. doctors and scientists mulled the possibility that he was targeted with a biotoxin or a radioactive substance.

Kara-Murza believes he was targeted for his efforts in support of the Magnitsky Act. He has said that Putins Kremlin fears only street protests more than targeted sanctions.

The Kremlin indeed lobbied the United States hard in the 2010s to block and then to overturn the Magnitsky Law, without success. The legislation is named after a Russian lawyer who died in a Moscow prison after exposing evidence of massive tax fraud involving Russian officials. In pitching the Magnitsky Act to Congress, Kara-Murza called it pro-Russian legislation that directly hits Putins associates. Other Western nations subsequently passed similar legislation, dealing further blows to the Kremlin.

Among the first people to be sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act was Sergei Podoprigorov, the judge in Kara-Murzas trial.

Following passage of the Magnitsky Act, Kara-Murza continued to encourage the United States to increase the number of Russians subject to sanctions under the legislation, urging a March 2017 hearing of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee to do so without regard for rank or influence.

A month before Kara-Murzas second suspected poisoning in February 2017, then-President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on Aleksandr Bastrykin, Putins university friend who as head of Russias Investigative Committee has played a major role in the Kremlins crackdown on the opposition. At the time, he was the highest-profile Russian to be sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act.

Nemtsov Aide

Kara-Murza has been politically active since he was a teenager. In 2000, while studying in the United Kingdom, he became an aide to Nemtsov, a liberal deputy speaker of the lower house of parliament who had been a regional governor and had served as first deputy prime minister under President Boris Yeltsin.

Nemtsov, who led the Union of Right Forces (SPS), a coalition of democratic parties, lost his seat in the 2003 parliamentary election as Putin used his increasing control of the state, including the media, to squeeze out the opposition.

Kara-Murza remained close to Nemtsov, one of the most outspoken critics of Putin, until Nemtsovs killing in February 2015. Nemtsov was in the process of organizing a protest against Russias seizure of Ukraines Crimea region a year earlier when he was gunned down on a bridge near the Kremlin. Kara-Murza has continued to help keep Nemtsovs memory alive in Russia.

Kara-Murza took active part in the mass protests that erupted in Moscow following the 2011 parliamentary elections, which Kremlin critics decried as rigged. The protests were at the time the largest in Russia since Putin came to power in 1999.

He later joined Open Russia, a nonprofit organization that promotes civil society and democracy by financing various projects. Open Russia was founded by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, an oil tycoon and staunch Putin opponent who was imprisoned for 10 years on tax evasion charges he calls politically motivated.

While taking an active part in Russias opposition movement, Kara-Murza was also following in the footsteps of his father, also named Vladimir Kara-Murza, one of the country's most prominent journalists and a pioneer of independent post-Soviet television. He worked for RFE/RLs Russian Service, among other outlets.

The younger Kara-Murza worked as a reporter for various Russian newspapers in the early 2000s while earning his masters degree in history from Cambridge University. He later moved to Washington, where he served as bureau chief for RTVi, a global Russian-language media company. He held that position until 2012.

During his time in Washington, Kara-Murza developed strong relationships with U.S. officials, including long-serving Senator John McCain, (Republican-Arizona), one of the fiercest critics of Putin on Capitol Hill, and Senator Roger Wicker (Republican-Mississippi).

McCain called Kara-Murza one of the most passionate and effective advocates for passage of the Magnitsky Act.

In what many say was a parting shot at Putin from McCain as he was dying from brain cancer in 2018, he requested that Kara-Murza be one of the pallbearers at his funeral.



Kara-Murza continued to speak out against the growing repression inside Russia and openly condemned Moscows invasion of Ukraine even after the Kremlin outlawed such criticism.

'The Darkness Will Dissipate'

In April 2022, he was arrested and charged with spreading false information about the Russian Armed Forces. Then in August, Russian authorities added the charge of involvement in an undesirable foreign organization, followed two months later by a charge of treason for his comments in Arizona.

He described his trial -- which was conducted behind closed doors -- as rivaling the Soviet show trials of the 1930s under dictator Josef Stalin. In a final statement on April 10 that was published in The Washington Post, he told the judge that he did not repent his acts of opposition, but on the contrary was proud of them.

He said he is certain that the day will come when the darkness over our country will dissipatewhen a war will be called a war, and a usurper a usurper; and when those who kindled and unleashed this war, rather than those who tried to stop it, will be recognized as criminals.

Kara-Murzas trial followed those of other high-profile opposition figures who have been sentenced to long prison terms in the past two years or so on charges they contend were fabricated, amid the steepest repression in Russia since Soviet times.

Aleksei Navalny, who was arrested upon returning to Russia in January 2021, is serving terms of nine years and 2 1/2 years. Ilya Yashin was sentenced in December to 8 1/2 years.

In recent years, Kara-Murza lived part-time outside Washington, D.C., with his wife and children. In willingly returning to Russia in April 2022, following his speech in Arizona, he was adhering to an important lesson he said he learned when he was 10 years old.



In August 1991, people took to the streets of Moscow to stop an attempted coup by hard-liners against Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Their actions helped sweep away a powerful, authoritarian regime almost overnight.

However strong the dictatorship and the repression, if enough dedicated people are prepared to stand their ground and stand up for their liberty and their rights and their dignity, they will prevail, Kara-Murza said in a 2017 interview with the U.S. network PBS.
In a video filmed in a supermarket, Uzbek blogger Xodjiakbar Nosirov tells his tens of thousands of followers why he believes that a number of yogurt brands popular in Uzbekistan should be considered "haram," or unfit for consumption by Muslims.

The forbidden ingredient, he explained, is carmine, or E120, a red food colorant that is extracted from the cochineal beetle that lives on cacti in South America and which is also used in cosmetics.

That video was enough to land Nosirov with 15 days in detention, in a case that points to the increased restrictions on bloggers -- including religious bloggers -- who had earlier benefited from new freedoms afforded under President Shavkat Mirziyoev.

Police in Uzbekistan's capital, Tashkent, said in an April 8 press release that Nosirov's video infringed on the constitutional rights of citizens to enjoy a private life free of interference, and on the rights of private entrepreneurs.

According to Uzbek law, "the preparation and dissemination of materials of religious content throughout the country is carried out after receiving a positive conclusion from a theological examination," city police said in a statement.

That was a religious blessing that Nosirov didn't have, and his opinions were quickly shown to be at odds with Uzbekistan's state-backed spiritual authority, which issued a ruling on carmine almost immediately after the blogger's arrest was announced, citing a Jordanian fatwa on the matter.

The Uzbek religious body said that the E120 additive was an example of "substances obtained from insects [being] chemically converted into other substances. This process in Islamic law is called 'istihol,' which is the transformation of one substance into another."

Free Speech 'Unreasonably Suppressed'

Which additives are considered halal and which are haram is a debate had among Muslim scholars, jurists, and believers the world over. Contrary to the city police's complaint that Nosirov was acting based on personal opinion, the Uzbek religious blogger had included links to two websites on Islamic jurisprudence in his video that supported his claim that the food products were haram.

But debate is apparently what the authorities wanted to avoid.

"Clearly there is no argument of there being extremism in this video. So, we can call this an instance of free speech being unreasonably suppressed," said Alisher Ilkhamov, director of the U.K.-based Central Asia Due Diligence research company.

"Why did this take place? It is hard to say. Perhaps somebody close to the regime has a business producing or importing this yogurt. Or perhaps somebody in power has taken a dislike to this blogger. But it is difficult to argue from the legal point of view," Ilkhamov said.

Former Prime Minister Mirziyoev's arrival in power after the death of long-serving strongman Islam Karimov in 2016 was associated with a thaw in one of the world's most repressive countries, with new, albeit limited media freedoms among the most immediate fruits of the leadership change.

The new environment led to an explosion in the popularity of blogging, with Telegram channels themed on religion, politics, and other previously taboo topics proliferating.

Mirziyoev's own exhortations on the subject of freedom of speech have been frequent since then. In his annual address in December 2020, the head of state called "openness and freedom of speecha requirement of the times, a requirement for reforms in Uzbekistan." In February 2021, Mirziyoev hailed journalists as "a force that justly imparts our achievements and shortcomings to our people."

But 2021 would see the first severe jail term handed out to a media worker under Mirziyoev, as a blogger from the southern town of Termez called Otabek Sattoriy was handed sentence of 6 1/2 years in prison after being convicted on multiple counts of extortion and one count of slander.

Sattoriy and his family denied the claims and said they were instead connected to his citizen journalism, which was relentlessly critical of local authorities. Sattoriy has said he was only answering Mirziyoev's call.

In February, another blogger, Abuqodir Muminov, was arrested on similar charges. Muminov, whose YouTube channel boasts more than 240,000 subscribers, is a rare example of a blogger who dared to criticize Mirziyoev himself. The case has not yet reached a verdict.

In March, RFE/RL became aware from multiple sources that bloggers critical of plans to change the constitution via an April 30 referendum -- a move that will allow Mirziyoev to run beyond his current term -- were called in for questioning by police.

One Uzbek blogger told RFE/RL on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals that police had informed him that the criticism of the constitutional changes in his Telegram channel could constitute a violation of Article 242 of the Criminal Code, which covers crimes against public security.

He would be especially vulnerable to this charge if people were to "rise up like in Nukus" -- a reference to unrest in Uzbekistan's Autonomous Republic Of Karakalpakstan that authorities used lethal force to suppress last year -- the blogger quoted police as saying.

Along with openings for press and bloggers, Mirziyoev's reign has relaxed some of the vice-like restrictions on Islam, the religion followed by the vast majority of the population. Longtime leader Karimov was notorious for conflating pious Muslims with the extremists that had challenged him during his presidency, and Mirziyoev inherited thousands of prisoners jailed on religious grounds, only some of whom have been released.

Wave Of Detentions

Mirziyoev called the state's prior repressions of religious believers "our tragedy" and de facto bans on loudspeakers in the Muslim call to prayer and on children attending mosques gradually disappeared.

But like political activists, religious bloggers have found the limits on permissible speech regularly shifting. Back in 2018, RFE/RL's Uzbek Service reported on a wave of detentions targeting popular bloggers calling for an end to restrictions on beards and Islamic dress. Those bloggers mostly spent 15 days in administrative detention -- the same stint Nosirov is serving now.

But last year, a blogger called Fazilhoja Arifhojaev was handed a sentence of 7 1/2 years after being convicted for posting materials that threaten public safety. Formally, a 2021 Facebook post where Arifhojaev commented approvingly on an article doubting whether Muslims should congratulate nonbelievers on non-Muslim holidays was the reason for the sentence.

Yet Arifhojaev, a critic of the government's religious policies, was only punished after he became embroiled in a spiraling war of words with an Imam-turned-Instagram celebrity affiliated to the government-controlled Center of Islamic Civilization, a combined academy and national history project initiated under Mirziyoev.

The imam, Abror Abduazimov (known online as Abror Muxtor Ali), has been a regular source of controversy for his hard-line views on LGBT and women's rights and has also railed against liberal bloggers and Western media, including RFE/RL's Uzbek Service.

And yet despite often publishing provocative posts for the benefit of his 800,000 followers on the platform, Abduazimov had avoided censure until earlier this year when a court in Tashkent ruled against him in a defamation case initiated by another blogger. The court ruled that Abduazimov had falsely attributed a range of comments and positions to the blogger and journalist, Nikita Makarenko.

In its February 21 report on the case, the private news website Gazeta.uz noted that the court reduced Abduazimov's punishment to a fine equating to around $500, or nearly three times lower than the minimum punishment for the crime, "taking into account that Abduazimov is the only breadwinner in the family and has six children." Abduazimov, who did not respond to a request for an interview from RFE/RL, hailed the verdict as a "victory."

Ilkhamov of Central Asia Due Diligence told RFE/RL that the lenient treatment afforded to Abduazimov highlights that, in Uzbekistan, bloggers are not all equal before the law.

"What we see is that some bloggers have carte blanche because they have some kind of ties to the security services and others get punished for fairly innocent things, like expressing an opinion about carmine," Ilkhamov said.
Welcome to Wider Europe, RFE/RL's newsletter focusing on the key issues concerning the European Union, NATO, and other institutions and their relationships with the Western Balkans and Europe's Eastern neighborhoods. To subscribe, click here.

I'm RFE/RL Europe Editor Rikard Jozwiak, and this week I'm drilling down on two major issues: an important update on how Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine are faring in their quest for EU membership, and the options and difficulties the bloc has in sanctioning Russia's nuclear industry.

Brief #1: Will Georgia, Moldova, And Ukraine Take The Next Step On Their Path To EU Accession?

What You Need To Know: The European Union is facing a crucial year when it comes to its enlargement policy. The last country to join the bloc was Croatia back in 2013, and with the United Kingdom leaving in 2020, the EU has actually shrunk for the first time in its history. No countries are expected to join the current 27 member states anytime soon, but there is a real belief in Brussels that the EU enlargement process can be reenergized after nearly a decade of false dawns.

The raised and then dashed hopes in the past were partly because candidate countries -- and potential candidate countries -- in the Western Balkans struggled to implement reforms across various policy fields necessary for membership. Plus, Turkey -- another country aiming to join the bloc -- grew increasingly disinterested and even antagonistic toward the EU.

But another reason was that many established EU member states felt less enthusiastic about further enlargement. Some pointed to the difficult "absorption" of the 10 new member states from Central and Eastern Europe after the 2004 and 2007 enlargements as a reason to slow down further expansion. Others argued that the many crises the club had to grapple with in recent years -- Brexit, increased migration, eurozone wobbles -- took up most of Brussels' attention.

Deep Background: Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has created a new urgency in Brussels. Last summer, Albania and North Macedonia were finally given the green light to start EU accession talks. However, the biggest development was that the EU, within months of the invasion, recognized that Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine could become members in the future.

That decision in 2022 to grant the latter pair candidate status and Tbilisi potential candidate status was previously unthinkable. The new statuses came with several recommendations -- seven for Ukraine, nine for Moldova, and 12 for Georgia -- that the countries had to fulfill before moving to the next stage in the enlargement process.

An oral update on the three countries' progress is expected to be given by the EU's neighbourhood commissioner, Oliver Varhelyi, in early May before a much-anticipated European Commission enlargement report due in October. While that is still six months away, several people I have spoken to who are familiar with the drafting of the report but are not authorized to speak on the record have suggested that the commission will recommend moving to the next steps with all three countries in their respective paths.

Drilling Down

For Ukraine and Moldova, that would mean getting the green light to start accession talks. For Georgia, it would mean moving from potential candidate country to candidate country -- the place Kyiv and Chisinau are right now.

While this seems to be the thinking right now in Brussels, the political situation in any or all of the three countries could worsen in the months ahead, potentially causing the recommendations to change.

Regardless, all 27 member states need to be on board and give the final green light, most likely in December, to whatever recommendations the commission put forward. That is far from guaranteed, as unanimity for the decision is needed, and that has proven hard to secure previously. (For several years in a row, the European Commission recommended that North Macedonia should start accession talks, only for Greece, and then Bulgaria, to block.)

the decision is needed, and that has proven hard to secure previously. (For several years in a row, the European Commission recommended that North Macedonia should start accession talks, only for Greece, and then Bulgaria, to block.) While the trio are making confident noises that the policy recommendations handed to them last summer by the European Commission will be met as soon as possible, there are concerns in Brussels that not everything can be accomplished this year. In the case of Ukraine, that is especially true when it comes to reforms to the Constitutional Court and the implementation of anti-oligarch and media laws. Moldova still has plenty of work to do in the fight against corruption. And Georgia still has to make progress on tackling political polarization and ensuring an independent judiciary.

Yet the sense in Brussels is that there is a need to make a "political statement" and give the trio a boost amid persistent political pressure from Russia, not to mention a war, in the case of Ukraine. While some member states are expected to point out various deficiencies in the reform processes, enlargement advocates hope that unanimity can be found quickly.

This hope is based on two assumptions: Firstly, that 2024 will be a "lost year" politically in Brussels as it will be consumed by the European Parliament elections in May and then the change of the entire European Commission and selection of a new European Council president in the summer. There is, in other words, a need to make sure important policy decisions are made in 2023. Secondly, fears about the trio of countries not fulfilling all of their policy recommendations can be allayed by flexibility. More recommendations can be proposed for Georgia to move to the next step, and don't rule out that the European Commission could come with another "midterm" assessment of various conditions before Kyiv and Chisinau can embark on proper accession talks. Some of the worries, notably about judicial issues, can be addressed in further talks, which are expected to last for years.

Many might question why Georgia should get candidate status, especially after ruffling feathers in Brussels recently about the near implementation of a Russian-style "foreign agents" law, which was put on ice after street protests. The thinking in Brussels is still that Tbilisi is one step behind Ukraine and Moldova and should remain there, but that the future offer of candidate status would be reasonable considering that Bosnia-Herzegovina achieved this status last year despite not fulfilling all of Brussels' requirements.

Brief #2: The EU Is Looking For Ways To Sanction Russia's Nuclear Industry

What You Need To Know: The European Union is slowly starting work on another sanctions package on Russia -- the 11th round of restrictive measures since Moscow's attack on Ukraine last year. Many EU officials privately concede that Brussels is running out of areas to sanction and that future measures most likely will focus on closing various loopholes; looking into how to legally use Russian assets frozen in the bloc -- for example, to help with paying for Ukrainian reconstruction; and making sure that more third countries align with the actions taken by the EU.

There is, however, one area that so far remains untouched by EU sanctions: the nuclear industry. Already last spring, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland proposed targeted measures against the Kremlin's civil nuclear capabilities, but they fell on deaf ears. Now, the four countries are trying again and have circulated a discussion paper among the 27 EU members, seen by RFE/RL, on how the bloc can target Russia's state-owned nuclear energy giant Rosatom by limiting imports of nuclear fuel, stopping new investment into power plants, and restricting exports to Russia that will benefit this industry.

Deep Background: One of the reasons why their proposal might fly this time is that the United Kingdom and the United States have already moved in this direction. Earlier this year, both slapped a visa ban and asset freeze on Oleg Romanenko, the director of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine, which was captured by Russian forces in March 2022. Ever since, Rosatom has been in control of the plant, the largest in Europe, and the West has been increasingly concerned that Russian forces are using the entire complex as a military base.

Last week, Washington went a step further, sanctioning five entities and one individual associated with Rosatom (though not Rosatom itself), a move which U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken described as a response to Moscow's use of energy exports to "exert political and economic pressure on its customers globally."

Another reason why it might work this time is that the EU largely is weaning itself off Russian nuclear energy. Last year, the Czech energy company CEZ announced that it wouldn't allow Russian firms to compete for a tender for building new nuclear power units at Dukovany, a nuclear power station in the southeast of the Czech Republic. Finland also canceled a planned nuclear power plant project that would use technologies provided by Rosatom.

Drilling Down

The problem for the EU is that, so far, there hasn't been much unity on targeting more Russian energy assets after hitting oil and petroleum products in a drawn-out process last summer. Many EU capitals are wary of soaring energy prices; others are still dependent on the Russian nuclear industry, notably Hungary. Last week, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto went to Moscow to strike new energy deals with Russia, and Budapest has been adamant that it will veto any new EU sanctions in the energy sphere.

Apart from securing an opt-out from EU sanctions when it comes to the import of Russian oil, Budapest has close links to Rosatom. Last summer, the Hungarian atomic energy agency issued a license for the construction of Units 5 and 6 of the Paks II nuclear power plant in central Hungary. According to the deal, Russia will provide Hungary with a 10 billion euros ($11.1 billion) state loan that should make up 80 percent of the financing for the project, which is planned to be completed in 2032.

In order to win Budapest over on potential new sanctions, the Baltic-Polish discussion paper envisages the option of introducing an individual derogation for Hungary, covering the nine years needed for the construction of the Paks II units. This derogation would allow funds and resources to be made available to Rosatom, plus the unfreezing of assets, if they were connected to Paks II.

Hungary is not the only country with reservations. Four other EU member states operate 15 Russian-made nuclear reactors: six in the Czech Republic, five in Slovakia, two in Finland, and two in Bulgaria. A Rosatom subsidiary is so far the only manufacturer in the world that can service fuel assemblies at these plants, which are needed to keep them both functional and safe.

At the time of Russia's invasion of Ukraine last February, Rosatom had 73 projects in 29 countries, notably in Turkey, China, India, and Iran. Despite the war, the company's overseas revenue was on track to rise by about 15 percent in 2022 compared with 2021, with most of that revenue made outside of the EU. So even if the EU could hit the company with sanctions, it wouldn't make much of a dent in the Russian economy and could certainly hurt countries in the EU.

There is also the issue of the EU importing enriched uranium from Russia. Around one-fifth of all EU imports come from Russia, making it the third biggest supplier of enriched uranium to the bloc, with just Niger and Kazakhstan providing more. In 2021, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden purchased enriched uranium for more than 300 million euros from Russia.

In 2022, the Netherlands and Sweden stopped buying uranium from Russia, but Germany and France together bought 452 million euros worth. While both countries have tried to find alternative sources, they are still bound by contracts -- with the Baltic-Polish discussion paper noting that a two-year derogation period could be offered to both Berlin and Paris.

Looking Ahead

On April 18, the European Parliament is expected to finally vote in favor of visa liberalization for citizens of Kosovo. The decision, which will go into force at the start of 2024, is highly anticipated, as Kosovo is the only country in the Western Balkans that still doesn't enjoy visa-free travel to most EU countries. Others in the region have already enjoyed this benefit for over a decade. EU member states approved the move last month and, after the vote in the parliament, where a huge majority favors approval, there will be a signing ceremony in the Strasbourg chamber, which will symbolically seal the deal.

On April 21, there is another meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at the Ramstein military base in western Germany, bringing together defense ministers from over 50 countries, notably all 31 NATO allies, with the aim of boosting arms deliveries to Ukraine. And while Kyiv can count on pledges of more ammunition and air-defense systems, it's probably not likely to get modern fighter jets for now. Speaking in Washington, D.C., last week, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal urged the United States to send F-15s or F-16s as part of a "fighter jet coalition" that he is trying to form with various Western partners. For now, it looks like Kyiv will have to settle for more training possibilities for Ukrainian pilots in various partner countries instead of getting more modern planes.

That's all for this week. Feel free to reach out to me on any of these issues on Twitter @RikardJozwiak or on e-mail at jozwiakr@rferl.org.



Until next time,



Rikard Jozwiak

If you enjoyed this briefing and don't want to miss the next edition, subscribe here.
Having played a crucial role in Azerbaijans formation and development, Heydar Aliyev left an indelible mark in history of Azerbaijan. "Azerbaijan & Heydar Aliyev"  is a special project of Trend News Agency, dedicated to the 100-th anniversary of the national leader, which will cover key events of Heydar Aliyev's work in the years of him leading Azerbaijan.

April 17, 1970. The commissioning of the Ulduz (Star) metro station took place in Baku. Azerbaijan's National leader Heydar Aliyev attended the commissioning ceremony for the first time as the head of Azerbaijan.

The first launch pad for the Baku Metro was finished in February 1968, the same month that the Khatai metro station was opened for service. Despite having only six stations, the metro significantly facilitated the people's movement, becoming an important event in the life of the capital residents.

At the time, drilling operations were carried out at the Narimanov-Neftchilar part of the metro line, which has a length of 6.3 kilometers. The construction of the metro was within direct competence and under the control of the relevant central departments of the USSR. Although the work on increasing the length of underground lines continued, there were people who tried to slow down this process, referring to the complex hydrogeological conditions of Baku, the difficulties of metro construction, and financial issues. However, under the direct supervision of Heydar Aliyev, who became the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan in 1969, the construction work became even more extensive.

On April 17, 1970, many people gathered on the square in a large industrial district of Baku. The vast majority of them were employees of the nearby Baku Electric Machine-Building Plant, the Baku Electro Stamp Plant, the Baku Worsted Wool Combine, and other enterprises. They were the ones who were most excited about the opening of the new station because they finally had an opportunity to easily get to and from work and save time.

First Secretary of the Baku City Committee of the party Abdulla Kadirov, Head of the Baku Tunnel Construction Department Alovsat Abdulragimov, and Head of the Baku Metro Lutfali Nuriyev delivered speeches at the opening ceremony. After the speech of the head of the Baku metro, Heydar Aliyev said that the completion of the construction of the Ulduz station was a wonderful gift from metro builders to the workers of Baku.

In his speech, Heydar Aliyev addressed the metro builders, saying that along with the fulfillment of the task given, the metro builders also enriched the experience of metro construction with a range of new methods and techniques, adding that at the time, those techniques were then successfully implemented during metro construction in other cities.

"About 150 enterprises from all the union republics supplied equipment, tools, and cable products. The Ministry of Transport Construction, the Main Tunnel Metro Construction Department, and fraternal collectives of metro builders in Moscow, Leningrad [now St. Petersburg], and Kyiv have provided and keep providing great assistance to the construction of the metro," he said in his speech.

Heydar Aliyev expressed confidence that metro builders would effectively complete construction and installation work with high quality, enhance the level of underground construction equipment, and speed up drilling in response to the existing challenges.

After the opening ceremony, Heydar Aliyev cut a red ribbon to mark the opening of the station. Then, at 15:45, the train, driven by Rafail Aliyev and Ramiz Mammadov, set off in the direction of Narimanov station.

The great leader Heydar Aliyev has special merits in the construction of the Baku metro during his years of leadership of Azerbaijan, his work as First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers in Moscow, and his period of activity in subsequent years as President of independent Azerbaijan. In 2003, 22.3 kilometers of metro lines totaling 31.5 kilometers, including 14 metro stations, were constructed with the direct support of the great leader.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 17. A phone talk was held between Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Dereck Hogan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan told Trend.

During the talk, topical issues of the agenda of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the US, as well as the current situation in the region, including the peace agenda between Armenia and Azerbaijan were discussed.

Minister Bayramov, speaking about the bilateral and multilateral agenda of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the US in various fields, noted the importance of mutual contacts in the development of relations. Information was also provided on the current situation in the region in the post-conflict period.

It was noted that constant military and political provocations by Armenia are an obstacle to the peace building efforts of Azerbaijan. In particular, it was reported that Armenia has not yet fully withdrawn its armed forces from the territory of Azerbaijan, continues to obstruct the efforts of Azerbaijan to reintegrate the Armenian residents of Karabakh, and opposes the proposal to create a border checkpoint in order to prevent abuses on the Lachin road. It was noted that, despite the unconstructive steps taken by Armenia, Azerbaijan is determined to continue efforts to advance the peace agenda.

Dereck Hogan noted the importance of the normalization process between Azerbaijan and Armenia for establishing lasting peace and security in the region, resolving existing issues through negotiations. He noted that the US is ready to support the peace process.

During the telephone conversation, the sides exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest.
A KIND-HEARTED nurse bid farewell to his flowing locks for two very good reasons.

David Donovan (34), who is based at Conisbroughs Stone Castle Centre, previously had his hair cut in July 2020 but decided to benefit two national charities by going for the chop after letting his hair grow to shoulder length.

Newly-shorn David, an eating disorder nurse with Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust, donated his hair  the longest strands measuring 11 inches  to the Little Princess Trust, which makes wigs for children who may have lost their hair through chemotherapy.

Supporters of his fundraising challenge have also chipped in 601.24 to BEAT, the UKs eating disorder charity.

David, whose Stone Castle Centre workmates did the cutting, said: Ive ended up with a Mohawk as some colleagues offered to donate more if I agreed to it!

Im delighted to have helped two important charities.

I had my hair cut a few days before Eating Disorder Awareness Week, which every year raises awareness of the eating disorders that currently affect around one in 50 people in the UK.

Its a cause close to my work and my heart.

He added: I feel a lot lighter and colder but I dont think this will be the end of my fund-raising ventures  Ill come up with something else soon.
The event, organized by the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RUIE), took place on April 14, 2023 as part of the Russian Business Weeks. The key topics of the Forum were import substitution in the mining industry, as well as the mechanisms of investment activity of enterprises and measures of state support for the industry.

Within the framework of the Forum, meetings of four working groups were held:

- Special investment and tax regimes for the mining industry

- Cargo logistics: Prospects for the development of railway and port infrastructure

- Automation and digital transformation of mining enterprises

- Local energy supply of investment projects in the mining industry

The meetings were attended by top officials of leading mining companies and financial organizations: LLC Management Company Baimskaya, OK Rusal, LLC Raspadskaya Coal Company, JSC Rosgeologia, JSC AGD DIAMONDS, LLC Company Vostsibugol, LLC Management Company Metalloinvest, LLC PGMK, LLC EVRAZ, LLC COULSTAR, LLC CHETRA, JSC BELAZ, JSC TYAZHMASH, JSC RIMERA, JSC UMMC, JSC Management Company Kuzbassrazrezugol, JSC SUEK, LLC Razrez Tailepsky, PJSC Seligdar, VEB.RF, VTB Bank (PJSC) and others.

Within the framework of the Working Groups, the Forum participants formulated proposals to the Government of the Russian Federation on the development of the industry, including issues of additional measures of state support, attracting funding for new investment projects, introducing digital technologies in mining engineering, as well as removing regulatory barriers in the transportation of mining and metallurgical goods.

At the Forum, the Russian Far East and Arctic Development Corporation (RFEADC) and the Joint-Stock Company Rusatom Overseas (JSC RAOS, part of the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom) signed an agreement on cooperation in the construction of the first Russian low-power nuclear power plant in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). As part of the interaction, the RFEADC will assist the State Corporation Rosatom in choosing the most effective measures of state support for this project in the Russian Arctic. The territory of the Ust-Yansky ulus in the northern part of Yakutia will become the location for the ground-based low-power nuclear power plant.

Following the results of the meetings of the working groups, a plenary meeting of the Forum was held, which was attended by Alexander Shokhin, President of the RUIE; Sergey Mochalnikov, Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation; Anatoly Bobrakov, Deputy Minister of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic; Evgeny Petrov, Head of the Federal Agency for Subsoil Use; Sergey Gorkov, General Director - Chairman of the Management Board of Rosgeo JSC and other key industry participants. The plenary session was moderated by Igor Vdovin, Member of the Board of the RUIE, Chairman of the RUIE Committee on Investment Policy, Development Institutions and Export Support.

One of the key topics voiced during the Plenary session was support measures and investment instruments for mining projects. Today, far from all support mechanisms and institutions take into account the specifics of the industry.

Among the challenges faced by the industry today, forum participants named the need to reorient from familiar markets to new ones, as well as the inaccessibility of equipment, which is exacerbated by problems in the supply of spare parts, consumables and service provision. The demand from subsoil users for equipment is significant, and measures are needed to consolidate such demand. RUIE is ready to participate in this work. In addition, systemic support for import substitution is needed, including the development of an insurance mechanism for the purchase of pilot lots.

The participants also noted the need to amend the standards of the Industrial Development Fund (IDF). The existing mechanism for financing new projects through the IDF has a number of significant limitations that make it impossible to use it to implement the import substitution program: the list of industries financed from the development means does not include the companies with OKVED (Russian National Classifier of Types of Economic Activity) related to Ministry of Natural Resources, while most mining companies have such OKVEDs as their main ones.

In addition, during the plenary session, experts outlined the importance of accelerated infrastructure development and debottlenecking with the maximum attraction of private investment. Today, transport and logistics problems that are extremely acute for the sector - the growth of tariffs, problems at the Eastern Range limit the possibility of reorientation to new export destinations. Many tasks have been formulated in terms of digitalization and automation of the sector - the use of drones, robotics, digital twins, artificial intelligence and other solutions that will radically increase the efficiency of the sector and reach a new level of industrial safety.

The mechanism of agreements on the protection and promotion of capital investments has been significantly updated, but a number of issues still need to be improved. In particular, the vagueness of the rules for combining the Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement (IPPA) with other investment regimes and state support measures, the practice of evaluating a new investment project by the region, without which it is now impossible to conclude an IPPA (regional barrier), the lack of a well-formed practice of applying a stabilization clause, has not been fully formed.

The initiatives formulated within the framework of the Forum will be sent to the relevant commissions of the State Council of the Russian Federation to prepare a list of applications for the development and support of the industry.

Vladimir Malakhov, Rough&Polished




Sridevi and Sajal Ali

'She was like my mother'- Sajal Ali

Pakistani actress Sajal Ali will soon be seen in the film 'What's Love Got to Do with It?'. She is going to make her Hollywood debut. In a recent media interview, Sajal remembered late actress Sridevi. She said that Sridevi was like a mother to her. Apart from this, she also expressed his desire to work with Indian artists.

In an interview with a newspaper, Sajal remembered the late actress Sridevi and said, "I was very close to Sridevi. She unfortunately left us too soon. I never really talked about her and my relationship. She used to guide me like her own daughter."

Advertisement

Sajal further said, "She was like my mother. We not just shared a work relationship. It was more than that for us. I came to India when I was shooting for 'Maa'. At that time, she also met my mother. My mother left us before the release of the film and then a few months later Sridevi also left us. It was a very emotional bond. We used to talk on the phone for hours and she guided me like a daughter, I really missed her a lot."

Sajal said, 'But I want to say that it is very unfortunate that we artists get caught in the tension between the two countries. This affects our work. I got a lot of love and respect when I worked in Bollywood, which is very close to my heart till date."

Actress Sajal added, "I would like to work in India again. But I don't know when it will happen. Let's see what the future holds for me. I have been talking about this for years. I think that politics should not come between art and artist and I hope that this wall built between India and Pakistan will disappear."
Details added (first published: 11:14)

BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 17. Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Head of the Department of Economic Issues and Innovative Development Policy of the Presidential Administration Shahmar Movsumov introduced the newly appointed Minister of Agriculture Majnun Mammadov to the staff of the ministry on April 14, 2023, Trend reports via Azerbaijan's Ministry of Agriculture.

Providing information about the biography of Majnun Mammadov, Movsumov noted that the non-oil sector, and in particular agriculture, plays an important role in the country's economy. He said that there is great potential for the development of this industry. Movsumov then gave relevant recommendations to the staff of the ministry to achieve the goals set by the country's leadership in this area.

The newly appointed minister of agriculture, expressing gratitude to the head of state for the high level of confidence shown, noted that he would make every effort to fulfill the tasks set.

Majnun Mammadov was appointed to the post of Minister of Agriculture by the order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated April 14, 2023.
Manish Sisodia

Court extended Sisodia's judicial custody till April 27

NEW-DELHI: In the Delhi Liquor Policy case, Rouse Avenue Court on Monday extended Former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia's judicial custody till April 27 in the CBI case and till April 29 in the ED probe in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy Case. The ED lawyer told the court that the agency is going to file the charge sheet by the end of this month.

Notably, Sisodia's custody was ending today in both the cases. On April 3, the court remanded Sisodia to CBI custody till April 17. The court will hear Sisodia's bail plea on April 18. CBI questioned Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal for 9.5 hours on Sunday in the same case.

Advertisement

The former Deputy CM of Delhi Manish Sisodia is in the custody of ED in this case. He was arrested by the CBI on February 26 after 8 hours of interrogation. After a 7-day CBI remand, the court on March 6 sent Sisodia to Tihar jail in 14-day judicial custody. Here, the ED had questioned the former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi in the money laundering case related to the liquor policy case, and the agency had arrested Sisodia from the jail itself.
Pushp Paul Singh

He breathed his last at around 1 am on Monday

GUWAHATI: Senior journalist Pushp Paul Singh passed away due to cardiac arrest in Guwahati on Monday. According to sources, he was suffering from a heart-related disease for some time. He breathed his last at around 1 am on Monday morning.

PP Singh started his career in journalism with 'The Times of India' Media organisation in Tripura and has been involved in the field of journalism for over 30 years. Meanwhile, the senior journalist also worked at Echo Times and BBC and started the first news portal from the North-East.

Advertisement

Assam Chief Minister Himant Biswa Sarma expressed grief over the demise of a veteran journalist. CM wrote, "Deeply saddened to learn of the demise of veteran journalist Pushp Paul Singh, who was a well-known face of media in the North East for 3 decades. Heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family and well wishers. Om Shanti!




Sudan

1,000 People were injured in the Clash: Doctors Union

Sudan: Clashes broke out between the main paramilitary forces and the armed forces in several parts of the country, including the capital Khartoum. About 50 people have died in this incident. While around 1000 people have been injured. The death toll is expected to rise. A situation of coup has arisen in the country. Along with this, the paramilitary force has claimed to occupy the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Indeed, the long-running conflict between military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his number two paramilitary commander, Mohammad Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, has turned violent.

The Sudanese Doctors Union said about 1,000 people were injured in the fighting between the army and the Rapid Support Force (RSF). Along with Khartoum, the cities of Omdurman, Nyala, Al Obeid and Al Fashar recorded the highest number of deaths. These cities are west of the capital Khartoum.

Advertisement

Along with this, the paramilitary forces's Rapid Support Force (RSF) claimed to have captured the presidential palace, the army chief's residence, the government television station, the capital Khartoum, the northern city of Merowe, Al Fashar and the airport in West Darfur. However, the army has rejected these claims.

Sudan's air force urged people to stay indoors late Saturday night. Also, schools, banks and government offices were closed in Khartoum. The sounds of gunfire and explosions are echoing in the capital. Meanwhile, the Indian mission in Sudan has appealed to the Indians living there to stay inside their homes. They said, "Be extremely careful, Please keep calm and wait for updates."

According to a news agency, guns and armored vehicles are roaming the streets of the capital. Army and RSF are deployed with heavy weapons near the headquarters. Army Chief General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan said that the RSF should withdraw. We feel that if they are wise, they should come to Khartoum and take their troops from here. But if the RSF does not do so, the army will have to be deployed in Khartoum.

Advertisement

The armed forces said talks with the RSF will not take place until the paramilitary force is disbanded. The army asked the soldiers attached to the RSF to report to nearby army units. If they agree, the RSF ranks may drop. RSF leader General Mohammad Hamdan Dagalo called military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan a criminal and a liar.
Mufti Abdul Shakoor

Home Minister Rana Sanaullah has ordered investigation into the matter

ISLAMABAD: Union Minister of Religious Affairs Mufti Abdul Shakoor has died in a road accident at Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. The police said that the incident occurred on Saturday. Meanwhile, the minister's car collided with a vehicle. After which he was taken to Polyclinic Hospital where the doctors declared him dead.

Significantly, Shakoor was a senior member of Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman's Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazal (JUI-F), which is the part of the ruling coalition. Home Minister Rana Sanaullah has ordered a complete investigation in the matter.

Advertisement

Police have taken five accused into custody and investigation has been initiated. According to the police, the Union Minister was driving the car himself.

People are paying tributes to Pak Union Minister Abdul Shakoor on social media. After the incident, the Prime Minister of Pakistan Shahbaz Sharif also expressed grief and said that it is very sad that a practical scholar, an ideological political activist and a good person has passed away like this. Meanwhile, President Dr. Arif Alvi also expressed deep grief over the minister's demise and paid tribute to him.
Indonesia will on Monday release March figures for imports, exports and trade balance, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.

Imports are expected to sink 14.45 percent on year after shedding 4.32 percent in February. Exports are called lower by an annual 15.0 percent after rising 4.51 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at 3.99 billion, down from 5.48 billion a month earlier.

Singapore will provide March numbers for non-oil domestic exports, with forecasts suggesting am increase of 1.7 percent on month and a decline of 20.8 percent on year. In February, NODX was down 8.0 percent on month and 15.6 percent on year, for a trade surplus of SGD6.708 billion.

South Korea will release March data for imports, exports and trade balance. In February, imports were down 6.4 percent on year and exports dropped an annual 13.6 percent for a trade deficit of $4.60 billion.

New Zealand will see March results for the Performance of Services Index from BusinessNZ; in February, the index score was 55.8.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Economic News

What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
American Electric Power (AEP) announced Monday that it has mutually agreed to terminate its previously announced deal to sell Kentucky operations, i.e., Kentucky Power Co. and AEP Kentucky Transmission Co., Inc., to Liberty Utilities Co., a subsidiary of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (AQN,AQN.TO).

Further, the company reaffirmed its fiscal 2023 operating earnings guidance range at $5.19 to $5.39 per share with long-term growth rate of 6% to 7%. Equity financing forecast remains unchanged, it said.

In a statement, AEP outlined its strategic plans for Kentucky Power and AEP Kentucky Transco.

The company said it is taking swift and decisive action to be best positioned in the near-term, while continuing to develop a long-term strategy for Kentucky that is consistent with the goals of the Kentucky commission.

Julie Sloat, AEP president and chief executive officer, said, "We are working diligently to reimagine our strategy with the goal of not just supporting Kentucky but being an essential part of its economic and energy future. We believe there are opportunities ahead for our Kentucky operations, and we will focus our efforts on economic development, reliability and controlling cost impacts to customers."

The compony noted that proceeds from AEP's contracted renewables sale, which is expected to generate $1.2 billion, will replace previously forecasted proceeds from the Kentucky sale process.

Separately, Algonquin Power stated that after careful consideration, and in light of the evolving macro environment, its Board of Directors have determined that continuing with the deal is not in the best interest of the company.

Algonquin Power also reaffirded its previously-disclosed fiscal 2023 estimate of adjusted net earnings per share for the 2023 fiscal year within a range of $0.55 to $0.61.

In pre-market activity on the NYSE, Algonquin Power shares were trading at $9.25, up 7.18 percent.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
After a flat start, the Switzerland stock market edged down on Monday morning, and despite very nearly making it to positive territory around mid-morning, turned weak again and eventually ended the day's session modestly lower.

The mood was cautious amid a lack of economic data from the European region. Investors looked ahead to earnings and economic updates from the U.S. for direction.

The benchmark SMI ended with a loss of 31.10 points or 0.27% at 11,311.76.

Credit Suisse tumbled 4.44%. Swiss Re, UBS Group and Partners Group lost 3.88%, 3.8% and 3.39%, respectively.

Richemont drifted down by about 2.25%, while Swiss Life Holding and Alcon lost 1.67% and 1.46%, respectively. Zurich Insurance Group ended lower by 1.23%.

Logitech climbed 1.53% and Holcim surged 1%. Geberit and Novartis both gained about 0.75%, while Lonza Group, Sonova, Nestle, ABB and Swisscom gained 0.5 to 0.6%.

In the Mid Price Index, Julius Baer lost more than 5.5%. Helvetia drifted down 3.1%, while Baloise Holding and VAT Group closed lower by 1.82% and 1.35%, respectively.

Kuehne & Nagel and Belimo Holding both gained more than 3%. Georg Fischer, Galenica Sante, Swiss Prime Site, Clariant, Barry Callebaut, Adecco and Schindler Holding advanced 1 to 2%.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Market Analysis
Rhodes University reaffirms its rejection of scientifically dubious university rankings.

Rhodes University has come out strongly to re-affirm its decision not to participate in scientifically dubious and anti-transformation international university ranking systems.

There has been a proliferation of ranking systems in the recent past, which now also comprise a billion-dollar industry. Most of the systems vary only slightly in methodology.

Despite widespread concern about the scientifically poor and commercialised methods used by these systems, some South African universities actively participate in them and increasingly direct their employment processes and focus their activities towards positioning themselves in the rankings.

Rhodes University is the only university in South Africa to have taken a principled stand against engaging with ranking systems. Other universities, such as the Law Schools of both Yale and Harvard, have recently taken similar stances, joining Rhodes Universitys long-held position.

As high-profile universities around the world start to express concern about the neocolonial nature of ranking systems, it becomes even more important for Rhodes University to publicly take up its position on the rankings and to articulate how this position aligns with the Universitys transformation agenda, academic project, and notions of what constitutes good scientific practice.

Rhodes Universitys assessments of the ranking systems highlight the following:

The rankings suggest that universities work in an entirely market-based ideology without recognising their responsibility as a public good. Being a public good can, at times, entail taking decisions which militate against an institutions positioning in the rankings. The rankings ignore social concerns. Responding to community needs and attending to a redress agenda are rendered largely irrelevant by such systems. Some ranking systems place a heavy weight on institutional reputation, reinforcing the colonial legacies of higher education. Rankings reward elite and exclusive admissions processes. Rankings are methodologically flawed in that they consist of combining unrelated measures to produce a composite score. The measures are often proxies that often bear a slim, if any, relationship to the quality indicator they are meant to represent. The weighting of each measure is arbitrary, and any changes in weighting results in a reordering of the rankings making the validity of the rankings questionable. The ranking systems use one set of criteria for all institutions, with a failure to engage in the context, history, or aims of the specific university. The rankings systems privilege research outputs over teaching and learning and community engagement, often without any measure of the quality or impact of such research outputs on society. Universities increasingly use ranking metrics to steer institutional decision-making, which drives funding away from activities such as community engagement that might otherwise have been deemed central to the institutions purpose.

Given significant scholarly and social concerns regarding the flawed methodologies employed by the rankings, the motives and potential impact on the purpose and role of higher education, and their lack of contextualization of an institutions particular academic project, Rhodes Universitys position not to actively participate is vindicated.

Rhodes University urges other public universities in South Africa to reflect on the extent to which ranking systems sideline the purposes for higher education set out in the White Paper of 1997.

Some universities use their international rankings as a marketing tool, conflating the quality of their offerings with their ranking. Many parents, potential students, and other stakeholders may not have adequate understanding of how the ranking systems function and what the motives are. With the growing body of academics and institutions who have called out the troubling flaws and problematic assumptions inherent in these systems, we are optimistic that this attempt at commercialisation of higher education can be exposed for what it is, and halted.

Source: Division of Communication and Advancement
Tata Altroz CNG was showcased at the 2023 Auto Expo earlier this year  Now it is getting ready for launch

Tata Motors was in attendance at the 2023 Auto Expo with a host of upcoming offerings and future technologies were on display. Along with the Harrier and Sierra EV concept, there were also the Tata Altroz CNG and Punch CNG on display.

After launching the Nexon EV Max Dark variant earlier today, Tata Motors has now announced the launch of yet another new car. It will launch on 19th April 2023. It will be Altroz CNG, and not the Punch CNG. Yes, Tata Motors is going to launch Altroz CNG before Punch CNG.

Tata Altroz CNG Launch Date Teaser

New Altroz CNG comes with a dual-cylinder setup wherein CNG cylinders are positioned under the boot floor so as to optimize boot space. Instead of a massive 60 liter CNG tank, the Altroz CNG will get two 30 liter CNG tanks.

Petrol Altroz has a boot space of 345 liters. Altroz CNG boot space is likely to be more than 200 liters. Fuel tank capacity is at 37 liters for petrol and 60 liters for CNG. Tata Motors has also included thermal incident protection, leak detection feature and fire prevention equipment for better safety. Take a look at the Altroz CNG launch date teaser below.

CNG Altroz will be powered by the same 1.2 liter, 3 cylinder engine. In petrol mode this engine offers 86 hp power and 113 Nm torque and when in CNG mode, this engine will make 77 hp power at 6,000 rpm and 97 Nm torque at 3,500 rpm. The engine is likely to deliver about 26km/kg mileage.

Features to be seen on the Altroz CNG will include LED DRLs, projector headlamps, electric sunroof, 7 inch Harman touchscreen infotainment system and automatic climate controls. It will also get height adjustable driver seat, rear AC vents and will ride on 16 inch dual tone alloy wheels. It will get 6 airbags among its many safety features. Single advanced ECU and direct start with CNG will be among its first in segment features.

Speaking about Punch CNG, it is expected to launch in the coming months. Tata Punch CNG will also receive an electric sunroof, 7 inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and rear AC vents along with 16 inch dual tone alloy wheels similar to that seen on its regular petrol counterpart. The electric sunroof will also be added to the petrol versions.

Altroz CNG Prices 2023 April

The CNG variants of Tata Altroz and Punch will be priced at a premium of about Rs 1 lakh over its corresponding petrol counterparts. The Tata Altroz petrol MT is currently priced from Rs 6.45-9.1 lakh while the Punch MT is priced from Rs 6.00-8.87 lakh. Competition to the Tata Altroz CNG will come from the Maruti Baleno CNG.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 17. The information of the Armenian Defense Ministry about the shelling by the Azerbaijani Army is false, Azerbaijan's Ministry of Defense told Trend.

"The information spread by the Ministry of Defense of Armenia in connection with the alleged opening of fire by units of the Azerbaijani Army in the direction of Zod in the Basarkechar region is false and does not reflect reality," said the ministry.
Welcome to today's breaking news! The European Azerbaijan School has just achieved the highly coveted Council of International Schools Accreditation, recognizing its exceptional international education programs.

CIS is a membership community working collaboratively to shape international education through professional services to schools, higher education institutions, and individuals. The CIS vision is to inspire the development of global citizens through high quality international education: connecting ideas, cultures, and educators from every corner of the world.

The achievement of CIS Accreditation places European Azerbaijan School among a select group of international schools that have achieved this recognition. The accreditation confirms that the school has met the highest standards of international education and that it is committed to continuous improvement and excellence in all aspects of its educational programs.

According to the school's leadership team, this achievement is a testament to their dedication to providing world-class curricula that foster critical thinking, creativity, and global citizenship among their students.

Through the tireless efforts of its faculty, staff, and students, the European Azerbaijan School has established itself as a leading institution in the field of international education, unlocking limitless opportunities for its students and empowering them to become global citizens.

This latest achievement marks a significant milestone in the school's history, and they invite the world to join them in celebrating this momentous occasion. Congratulations to the European Azerbaijan School on this incredible accomplishment!
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 17. Today, Khalid Akhadov, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev presented the newly appointed head of the State Service of Azerbaijan for Mobilization and Conscription Mursal Ibrahimov to the staff of the service, Trend reports.

Akhadov brought to the attention of the staff the instructions and recommendations of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, and wished the head and employees of the service success in their future activities.
We've compiled a list of the top 5 delta 8 disposable vape pens available online so you can choose the right brands and lessen your stress.
Mixing both of their Mexican and Pilipino heritages, Richard Corpus (l) and Roger Buhain (r) hold two of the popular dishes served at their new restaurant in Chula Vista, MexiPino Hash and the MexiPino Breakfast Sandwich.

The Philippines and Mexico are thousands of miles apart. But in Chula Vista, both cultures live side-by-side.

Filipino and Mexican cultures are so intertwined in the South Bay that people even have a name for it: Mexipino.

Advertisement

That is also the name of a restaurant on Broadway between Anita and Main streets in Chula Vista that opened in January.

I grew up eating both cultural foods, said chef Roger Buhain. My mother is Mexican and my father is Filipino.

Buhain and Richard Corpus, who is also Mexican and Filipino, decided to open a breakfast restaurant that celebrates both cultures.

Their menu includes traditional dishes like chilaquiles and huevos rancheros but also features unique fusions that blend Mexican, Filipino and American classics.

Nothing captures Mexipinos multicultural spirit better than the Mexipino hash. The dish comes loaded with achiote chicken, longaniza, purple yam, avocado, queso fresco and two fried eggs.

Differentiating between dishes that sound good versus those that actually taste good was a challenge. Buhain and Corpus spent a month trimming down 200 potential menu items through trial and error.

We gained 15 pounds that month, Corpus joked.

And they arent done. One of the most popular menu items, the adobo fried chicken and waffles, was added two days before they opened.

Buhain still experiments with new dishes at home. The restaurant currently has a breakfast and lunch menu but Corpus plans to have dinner options as well in the future.

Mixing both of their Mexican and Pilipino heritages, Richard Corpus (l) and Roger Buhain offer the MexiPino Breakfast Sandwich. Served with prime smoked brisket, spam,chorizo, avocado and egg on a Mex conchita bread and a side of fries. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Mexipino people have lived in San Diego for generations, according to Rudy Guevarra Jr., a fourth-generation Mexipino who is an associate professor of Asian Pacific American Studies at Arizona State University and published a book about the history of Mexicans and Filipinos in San Diego.

The two cultures first came together under Spanish colonial rule. They exchanged food, language and culture through the Manila-Acapulco trade route, Guevarra said.

Here in San Diego, Mexican and Filipino immigrants generally worked in some of the hardest and lowest-paying jobs like agriculture and fish canning. This, along with racially motivated redlining, kept them in close proximity to each other and over time they developed strong relationships, according to Guevarras research.

Mexipino culture has largely been overlooked by academia. One of the few articles Guevarra found while researching his book was from a 1930s sociologist who suggested they would die out.

Were still here and theres more of us, Guevarra said.

Guevarra grew up in San Diego but now lives in Arizona. A friend called him about the restaurant and he plans to dine there during his next visit.

Buhain and Corpus werent aware of the areas Mexipino history before they opened the restaurant. Initially, they werent sure how people would react.

But opening the restaurant introduced them to a large community of fellow South Bay Mexipinos they didnt know existed.

Many people who identify as Mexipino visit the restaurant because of the name and return because of the food.

Im surprised to see how many there are, Corpus said. Honestly, I thought we were a unique mix but theres been a bunch. Were bringing communities together and thats great.

Contact Gustavo Solis via Email or Twitter
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 17. The seventh meeting of the Azerbaijan-Lithuania Intergovernmental Commission is scheduled to be held in Vilnius this year, the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Trend.

According to the source, the main objectives of the meeting is to give new impetus to bilateral cooperation between Azerbaijan and Lithuania in such areas as trade, energy security and transit, environmental protection and fight with the climate change, tourism, transport, agriculture and food safety, science, education and culture.

"The date of the seventh meeting is being coordinated via diplomatic channels," the source at the MFA noted.

As the MFA noted, Lithuania is looking forward to proceed with the active cooperation and sincere dialogue with Azerbaijan on the issues of mutual importance and concern, including war in Ukraine, but also attempts of destabilization in broader region, including South Caucasus.

The ministry also noted that Azerbaijan is an important partner for Lithuania with a considerable potential for developing business relations, being one of the most important links between Europe and Asia with a growing role in the global market.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @mariiiakhm
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 17. As many as 10 startup certificates were issued to micro and small business entities in Azerbaijan from January through March 2023, and in total - 91 start-up certificates so far, Azerbaijan's Small and Medium Business Development Agency (SMBDA) told Trend.

According to the agency, up to 90 percent of the certificates fell on software and mobile applications in the service sector.

Of the SMEs which received these certificates, 83 were micro-entrepreneurship entities, and eight - were small business entities. Most of the start-up certificates issued to SMEs accounted for projects in the service sector.

A startup certificate exempts SMEs from paying income tax and tax on income from innovation activities for a period of three years from the date of its receipt.

The micro and small-sized enterprises, the projects of which are under development, should apply to the agency for obtaining the startup certificates.

The application form and other necessary documents can be found at the following link: https://smb.gov.az/az/nav/startap-sehadetnamesi
Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured a striking new photo of the barred spiral galaxy UGC 678.

UGC 678 is located approximately 260 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Pisces.

Otherwise known as LEDA 3910 and 2MASX J01061402+0334278, this galaxy is almost face on, allowing its lazily winding spiral arms to stretch across the new Hubble image.

In the foreground, a smaller edge-on galaxy seems to bisect the upper portion of UGC 678.

Just like humans, stars have a natural lifecycle; they are born, grow up, and eventually grow old and die, the Hubble astronomers said in a statement.

Studying this stellar life cycle  usually referred to as stellar evolution  is an important topic for astronomers.

The ends of star lives can be marked by truly spectacular events, including titanic supernova explosions, the creation of unimaginably dense neutron stars, and even the birth of black holes.

UGC 678 was recently found to be host to one of these events, they added.

In 2020, a robotic telescope scanning the night sky in search of dangerous asteroids discovered evidence of an enormous supernova explosion in the galaxy.

Two separate Hubble observations turned to UGC 678 to scour the galaxy in search of the aftermath of its supernova explosion.

One team of astronomers used Hubbles Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), and the other the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3).

But both aimed to explore UGC 678 in the hope of unearthing clues to the identity of the star that produced the 2020 supernova, also known as ATLAS20bgkm or AT2020abjq.
Landmark study finds no difference in psychological wellbeing or quality of family relationships between children born by assisted reproduction (egg or sperm donation or surrogacy) and those born naturally at age 20. However, findings suggest that telling children about their biological origins early -- before they start school -- can be advantageous for family relationships and healthy adjustment.

The study, by University of Cambridge researchers, is the first to examine the long-term effects of different types of third-party assisted reproduction on parenting and child adjustment, as well as the first to investigate prospectively the effect of the age at which children were told that they were conceived by egg donation, sperm donation or surrogacy.

The results, published today in Developmental Psychology, suggest that the absence of a biological connection between children and parents in assisted reproduction families does not interfere with the development of positive relationships between them or psychological adjustment in adulthood. These findings are consistent with previous assessments at age one, two, three, seven, ten and 14.

The findings overturn previous widely held assumptions that children born by third-party assisted reproduction are at a disadvantage when it comes to wellbeing and family relationships because they lack a biological connection to their parents.

"Despite people's concerns, families with children born through third-party assisted reproduction -- whether that be an egg donor, sperm donor or a surrogate -- are doing well right up to adulthood," said Susan Golombok, Professor Emerita of Family Research and former Director of the Centre for Family Research, University of Cambridge, who led the study.

However, they found that mothers who began to tell their children about their biological origins in their preschool years had more positive relationships with them as assessed by interview at age 20, and the mothers showed lower levels of anxiety and depression. Most of the parents who had disclosed did so by age four and found that the child took the news well. This suggests that being open with children about their origins when they are young is advantageous.

In addition, in the final stage of this 20-year study, mothers who had disclosed their child's origins by seven years old obtained slightly more positive scores on questionnaire measures of quality of family relationships, parental acceptance (mother's feelings towards young adult), and family communication. For example, only 7% of mothers who had disclosed by age 7 reported problems in family relationships, compared with 22% of those who disclosed after age 7.

The young adults who had been told about their origins before seven obtained slightly more positive scores on questionnaire measures of parental acceptance (young adult's perception of mother's feelings towards them), communication (the extent to which they feel listened to, know what's happening in their family and receive honest answers to questions), and psychological wellbeing. They were also less likely to report problems on the family relationships questionnaire; whereas 50% of young adults told after age 7 reported such problems, this was true of only 12.5% of those told before age 7.

"There does seem to be a positive effect of being open with children when they're young -- before they go to school -- about their conception. It's something that's been shown by studies of adoptive families too," said Golmobok.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge followed 65 UK families with children born by assisted reproduction - 22 by surrogacy, 17 by egg donation and 26 by sperm donation -- from infancy through to early adulthood (20 years old). They compared these families with 52 UK unassisted conception families over the same period.

"The assisted reproduction families were functioning well, but where we did see differences, these were slightly more positive for families who had disclosed," said Golombok.

Reflecting on their feelings about their biological origins, the young adults were generally unconcerned. As one young adult born through surrogacy put it, "It doesn't faze me really, people are born in all different ways and if I was born a little bit differently -- that's OK, I understand."

Another young adult born through sperm donation said, "My dad's my dad, my mum's my mum, I've never really thought about how anything's different so, it's hard to put, I don't really care."

Some young adults actively embraced the method of their conception as it made them feel special, "I think it was amazing, I think the whole thing is absolutely incredible. ErmI don't have anything negative to say about it at all."

Researchers found that egg donation mothers reported less positive family relationships than sperm donation mothers. They suggest that this could be due to some mothers' insecurities about the absence of a genetic connection to their child. This was not reflected in the young adults' perceptions of the quality of family relationships.

The team also found that young adults conceived by sperm donation reported poorer family communication than those conceived by egg donation. This could be explained by the greater secrecy around sperm donation than egg donation, sometimes driven by greater reluctance of fathers than mothers to disclose to their child that they are not their genetic parent, and a greater reluctance to talk about it once they have disclosed.

In fact, researchers found that only 42% of sperm donor parents disclosed by age 20, compared to 88% of egg donation parents and 100% of surrogate parents.

"Today there are so many more families created by assisted reproduction that it just seems quite ordinary," said Golombok. "But twenty years ago, when we started this study, attitudes were very different. It was thought that having a genetic link was very important and without one, relationships wouldn't work well.

"What this research means is that having children in different or new ways doesn't actually interfere with how families function. Really wanting children seems to trump everything -- that's what really matters."

This research was funded by a Wellcome Trust Collaborative Award.

The Centre for Family Research is collaborating with the Fitzwilliam Museum on a new exhibition, Real Families: Stories of Change(October -- 7 January 2024), curated by Professor Golombok. The exhibition will explore the intricacies of families and family relationships through the eyes of artists including Paula Rego, Chantal Joffe, JJ Levine, Lucian Freud and Tracey Emin.

Professor Susan Golombok is author of We Are Family: What Really Matters for Parents and Children (Scribe) which describes researching new family forms from the 1970s to the present day.
Subscription to paid content

Gain access to all that Trend has to offer, as well as to premium, licensed content via subscription or direct purchase through a credit card.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 17. A delegation headed by Anar Alakbarov, Assistant to President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, who is on a visit to China, met with Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Zhang Ming in China's capital Beijing on April 17, Trend reports.

At the meeting, speaking about the active role of Azerbaijan as a dialogue partner of the SCO, the secretary general highly appreciated the participation of our country in the events held in the framework of the organization. Highlighting the participation of President Ilham Aliyev in the SCO summit held in Uzbekistan's Samarkand last September, Ming spoke about the effective cooperation between the organization and Azerbaijan. Furthermore, pointing out that the active participation of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation in SCO events enhances cooperation between the country and the organization, the secretary general said that a number of important events held in the SCO secretariat on the initiative of Azerbaijan contributed to demonstrating the cultural and humanitarian potential of our country.

In turn, Anar Alakbarov, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, Executive Director of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, noted that Azerbaijan attaches great importance to relations with the SCO, and shared the prospects for developing cooperation in various fields. He said that after Azerbaijan received the status of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization dialogue partner, the Heydar Aliyev Foundation organized a number of events in close cooperation with the organization's secretariat, including Days of Azerbaijani Culture that took place in the course of 14 July  4 August 2018 and "Nizami Ganjavi  the poet of all mankind" event held within the framework of the Year of Nizami Ganjavi. Alakbarov added that the fact that the bust of the brilliant poet donated by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation that is constantly on display in the building of the SCO secretariat is of great symbolic importance for Azerbaijan.

Alakbarov highlighted that the participation of President Ilham Aliyev in the Samarkand summit as an honorary guest testifies to Azerbaijan's interest in raising cooperation with the SCO to a higher level. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan has sent an application to elevate its status from the level of a dialogue partner to the level of an observer in the organization, and the Assistant to President Ilham Aliyev expressed confidence that thanks to this, our country will be able to make a greater contribution to the activities of the SCO.

At the meeting, declaring 2023 as the Year of Heydar Aliyev in Azerbaijan was brought to attention since various events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of the national leader Heydar Aliyev are planned in the country and abroad.

Noting that Azerbaijan's application for observer status is currently being considered by member states, SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming expressed hope that it will receive a positive response. Ming told about the history and activities of the organization he represents.

During the conversation, the sides exchanged views on the development of cooperation between the country and the organization in various fields.

At the same time, during the visit, the delegation met with President Lin Songtian of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC)

During the meeting, the issues of further cooperation between the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Chinese People's Association of Friendships with Foreign Countries were discussed.

Songtian said that Azerbaijani-Chinese relations under the leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev are developing dynamically, and political trust between the presidents has given a great impetus to successful cooperation in various fields.

Pointing out the role of outstanding and political figure Heydar Aliyev in establishing ties between China and Azerbaijan, Songtian noted that the merits of the national leader will never be forgotten. According to him, regular meetings between the two presidents play a significant role in deepening cooperation between our countries.

Songtian brought to attention that the memorandum signed in 2017 between the CPAFFC and the Heydar Aliyev Foundation gave impetus to further deepening cooperation in the humanitarian and cultural spheres, and underlined the possibility of establishing cooperation in the economy, tourism, youth, sports, media and other fields.

Meanwhile, Alakbarov said that the cooperation between the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the above association greatly contributed to the further strengthening of close friendly relations between the two nations. The significance of mutual participation in international events to be held on the territory of both countries was mentioned as well.

Adding that Azerbaijan is one of the first countries to support China's One Belt One Road initiative (global infrastructure development strategy adopted by the Chinese government in 2013 ), Alakbarov spoke about the participation of President Ilham Aliyev in the second "One Belt One Road" Forum in China's Beijing. He said that Azerbaijan has made a great contribution to the implementation of this initiative with its economic, as well as transport and logistics potential.
It has been a long four years for the Clarendon Elementary School kindergarten, which traditionally gets the honor of riding on the school float during the Grand Parade at the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival in San Francisco.

There has been no Grand Parade since 2019 due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, and teacher Sean Ellsworth has avoided even mentioning the word parade in class. Then Sunday came and Ellsworth was as ebullient as Professor Harold Hill: He stood and conducted 39 singing and clapping and waving kindergarteners, seated on a flatbed trailer, with more than 50 Clarendon upper grade kids following behind on foot, like Professor Hills River City boys band.

Weve been practicing for weeks. The kids know all the Japanese dignitaries in the review stand will be watching them, said Ellsworth, as students in the San Francisco public schools Japanese bilingual bicultural program fell into line, some bravely wearing brightly colored summer kimonos despite the cool hard wind that was twirling their parasols.

Nobody complained about the headwind or that by the time of the parade, all the cherry blossoms had passed their peak and were leafing out. They did not even complain about the bank of fog they had to turn toward as they made their way west to Japantown.

As they mustered in front of City Hall, it was all sunshine and warm colors  bright reds and yellows against a blue sky, from the costumes to the flowers on the floats. Once the procession started at 1 p.m. the cadence of Japanese ceremonial drums and a Boy Scout drum corps kept the participants singing and stepping brightly up Polk Street and onward.

Hard to believe it has been four years. There is such positive energy to this parade, said State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, who lately has been defending the city nationwide due to recent violence and ongoing difficulties, none of which was in evidence Sunday at the Civic Center as Wiener hopped onto a convertible.

San Franciscans are wanting to be out and celebrating, he said. That is the big picture. The little picture was on the face of mom Michelle Murphy as she watched her Clarendon fourth-grader, Fiona, fall into line.

It was sad not to be able to do it for three years, said Murphy. But my daughter finally gets to wear her yukata so shes super stoked.

Everybody involved seemed stoked to be back, especially the Shiba Inu contingent, representing the smallest breed of dog in Japan. At the 2019 Grand Parade, there were only 60. On Sunday, there were 100-plus.

Im thinking this is pent-up demand, said Johnny Szary of the Shiba Inu Fanciers of Northern California.

There was also pent-up demand for the royal courts. The Cherry Blossom Festival queen and her court graciously gave up half of their float to last years queen and court, who did not get their own parade. Also in attendance was Miss California, Catherine Liang, who previously was Miss San Francisco. Liang, from Sonoma, is in her last two months before relinquishing her crown, and she finally got her first Cherry Blossom Festival Grand Parade.

Ive been in some parades, but this one is the heart of San Francisco, she said. Its such a huge celebration of our Asian culture. Also in attendance in an evening gown was Kelly Nguyen, of Oakland, the reigning Miss Vietnam, and Lynn Nguy of Fremont, Mrs. Vietnam.

Were here to support the Asian American Community, said Nguyen, who described the mood as electric. It is so colorful, the Japanese culture, she said.

During the pandemic, the Cherry Blossom Festival went virtual and then came back live  minus the parade. Once an annual parade stops, it can be hard to start up again, but 42 contingents turned out, down from around 60 before the pandemic.

We wanted to bring the festival back to full scale, and the parade is the most essential part of the festival, said Kiyomi Takeda, president of the nonprofit organization that produces the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival, which is the largest such festival in the country organized by Japanese Americans. The parade ended at Fillmore Street, several blocks from the festival in Japantown where there was something else for the community to celebrate.

That was Rep. Nancy Pelosis announcement of last week that the Peace Plaza, centerpiece of Japantown, would receive $3 million in federal grant funding to finally begin its renovation, a complete refurbishing of the five-tiered pagoda and grounds. The $35 million project is scheduled to get under way in 2024, with a completion in 2025.

But that is a long way off for the kindergartners of Clarendon School. In his blue kimono and geta sandals offset by white socks, Isamu Gogi, 6, described himself as a little bit excited but kind of happy. He knew what his duty was in the hour-long parade.

Wave and sing really loud, he said. All 39 kids would have to do it to be heard over the drum and bugle corps of Boy Scout Troop 12, based in Japantown.

Its the last parade of the year, said drum major Andrew Martinez, before calling the corps into line. So were giving it all we have.

Reach Sam Whiting: swhiting@sfchronicle.com
Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle

Oakland police are seeking the publics help in identifying a suspect in a sex assault and home burglary last week.

Police said the man entered a residence on the 100 block of Monte Cresta Avenue through an unlocked window about 3 a.m. Wednesday. The man approached and sexually assaulted the victim, who had been asleep, before leaving the home, police said.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta is investigating a fatal shooting by East Bay police who fired during what they called a high risk traffic stop involving a suspected carjacking.

The Attorney Generals Office announced the investigation Friday, a day after the incident that involved officers from the Newark and Fremont police departments and the Alameda County Major Crimes Task Force. Officials have not said which department was responsible for the fatal shot.

The officers stopped the car they suspected was carjacked Thursday afternoon south of Interstate 880 on the 39000 block of Cedar Boulevard, and police shot one suspect during the high risk traffic stop, a statement from Newark police said.

The suspect died of gunshot wounds at the scene. Paramedics took a second suspect to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries, police said. Police statements have not named the officers involved or said how the shooting unfolded and what led to the fatal discharge.

Police recovered a weapon at the shooting scene. No officers or bystanders were injured during the traffic stop, according to the Newark police statement.

The state Department of Justice said its investigation resulted from the AB1506 law, which requires such a probe when officers shoot civilians. Once state investigators complete their probe, the case will be turned over to a special prosecutions team within the DOJs criminal law division for an independent review, the Attorney Generals Office said in a statement.

The Alameda County district attorney also will investigate whether officers were justified in firing on the suspect, according to the Newark Police Department, which is conducting its own internal review into whether its officers correctly followed their training.

Meanwhile, detectives with the Newark Police Department will continue to investigate the carjacking case they were pursuing, the department said.

State Assembly Member Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, a key proponent of police use-of-force reforms, introduced AB1506 following the May 2020 Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd that unleashed a national outcry over racial bias in policing. The bill passed that year, effective in 2021, and has since prompted the state Attorney Generals Office to open more than a dozen investigations into fatal police encounters around the state.

California police officers have killed nearly 1,000 people in the past six years, according to a Chronicle review of state Department of Justice data. The killings reached a recent high in 2020, when on-duty police killed 172 people.

Police ask anyone with relevant information to contact Newark Sgt. Yama Homayoun at 510-578-4920 or the tip line at 510-578-4965.
San Francisco is getting whats likely its first and only shop dedicated to muffulettas, the prized, meaty sandwich from New Orleans.

Peterson Harter, a New Orleans native who started slinging them as a pandemic pop-up, is officially opening Sandys at 1457 Haight St., between Masonic Avenue and Ashbury Street, on Thursday.

Inside the small, bright shop, Harter has perfected his take on the muffuletta, a sandwich so enshrined in New Orleans culture that its ingredients and treatment spark fierce debate.

The muffuletta, which is believed to have been invented by a Sicilian immigrant in the early 20th century at Central Grocery Co. in New Orleans, has several distinct (and many would say, non-negotiable) features. Its served on a large, round loaf of bread dotted with sesame seeds. Its stuffed with multiple kinds of Italian cold cuts  typically salami, ham and mortadella  topped with Swiss and provolone cheeses, then slathered with a green olive spread. Theres no mayo, and its not toasted (see: fierce debate).

Juliana Yamada/The Chronicle

Harter has charted his own, nontraditional muffuletta path in San Francisco. Customers will encounter a ridiculous amount of spicy kalamata olive salad, and only provolone cheese instead of the typical Swiss. There will be mayonnaise (though not just any mayo). And a vegetarian muffuletta with crispy cremini mushrooms and scallions has become a hit that sometimes even outsells the original.

Sandys will also serve a sausage melt, as well as a pickled egg salad sandwich, with added crunch from Zapps potato chips. And specials down down the line might include a Cajun-style lobster roll filled with blue crab gremolata.

There are a few tables and seats inside Sandys; Harter anticipates doing a lot of takeout given the shops proximity to Golden Gate Park. The round muffulettas, which will be sliced into and sold by eighths, will be on display in a glass case by the register, like pizza in a slice shop. The space is decorated with photographs of friends at New Orleans Jazz Festival; a fiery, bright orange papier-mache sun that fell off a Mardi Gras float; and a framed 1979 advertisement for the New Orleans cooking school started by Harters mother, Lee Barnes, who inspired him to go into the food industry.

Juliana Yamada/The Chronicle Juliana Yamada/The Chronicle The Sandys space is decorated with photographs of friends at New Orleans Jazz Festival and a bright orange papier-mache sun that fell off a Mardi Gras float. Juliana Yamada/The Chronicle The Sandys space is decorated with photographs of friends at New Orleans Jazz Festival and a bright orange papier-mache sun that fell off a Mardi Gras float. Juliana Yamada/The Chronicle

Before the pandemic, however, Harter had been working front-of-house at the Progress in San Francisco  and thinking about leaving restaurants for good. During shelter in place, he and his girlfriend Moni Frailing, a cook at the Progress, started selling fresh bread, pickles and dips out of the window of their Haight-Ashbury apartment. This eventually led to making muffulettas, which became so popular they shifted their focus to the sandwiches.

Long overshadowed by the po boy as Louisianas most famous sandwich, Harter thinks the muffuletta is on the cusp of becoming the next big thing. Hes starting to see it crop up outside of New Orleans (locally you can find it at Jane the Bakery, the Fatted Calf and a handful of San Francisco sandwich shops).

I feel like its about to have its moment, Harter said.

But how is this legendary sandwich made? Below is an anatomy of the Sandys muffuletta and its most essential ingredients.

Juliana Yamada/The Chronicle

The bread.

Oaklands Firebrand Artisan Breads makes an enormous, 12-inch sesame loaf especially for Sandys. We just wanted to have something that was comically large, Harter said. Its soft and spongy, and must be sprinkled with sesame seeds on the top. Having the correct bread, Harter said, is nonnegotiable for a muffuletta.

Juliana Yamada/The Chronicle

The mayonnaise.

Yes, there is mayo in this muffuletta. He settled on the cult favorite Dukes Mayonnaise after testing with Japanese Kewpie mayo (too sweet). He carefully slices the large bread in half and then uses an offset spatula to create an even layer of mayo, taking care to spread it all the way to the edges of the bread. This is key to ensure that every bite is the same as the first bite, Harter said.

Juliana Yamada/The Chronicle

The olive salad.

Sandys olive salad is the most labor intensive aspect of the sandwich. It starts with a cauliflower and carrot giardiniera, which sits for a few days in its own pickling liquid and then gets mixed with kalamata olives, capers, spicy cherry peppers and herbs. On a recent trip to New Orleans, Harter encountered a muffuletta with a disappointing amount of olive salad (it was depressing, he said), and would never want that same fate to befall a Sandys customer. So a whole, pre-sliced sandwich gets fully loaded with an entire quart of the punchy condiment  one layer goes on top of the mayo, and another over the meats and cheese. (Sandys will also sell whole containers of the salad.)

Juliana Yamada/The Chronicle

The meat.

Every Sandys muffuletta is stacked with three fresh-sliced meats imported from Italy: mortadella, prosciutto and slightly spicy soppressata. Slicing the meat, neither too thick nor too thin, is an art. They also have to be assembled properly, so that every bite is consistent. Harter lays overlapping slices of each meat (first mortadella, then prosciutto and soppressata) in a mesmerizing spiral design, like a meaty Fibonacci sequence, he said.

Juliana Yamada/The Chronicle

The cheese.

Harter rejected the classic Swiss for his cheese of choice: provolone piccante, an aged cows milk cheese with more flavor. Because Harter does serve his muffulettas warm  theyre assembled at room temperature, and then go into a panini press  the cheese melts alluringly into the meats. The heat draws out flavors that wouldnt otherwise be there, he said: the olive salad gets more expressive, the sesame seeds get a little extra toasty.

Juliana Yamada/The Chronicle

Sacrificing tradition here just makes sense: For me, at the end of the day, I just want a delicious-ass sandwich, Harter said.

Sandys. 1457 Haight St., San Francisco. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday. sandysmuffs.com
Regarding Californians electricity bills could see huge change if PG&E proposal goes through (Bay Area, SFChronicle.com, April 13): I applaud PG&Es proposed rate structure, which demonstrates equity based on household income and consumption.

High-income folks have the means to install their own retrofit measures and solar panels, which can decrease their consumption and costs on their generally larger homes. Lower-fixed rates for poor customers are immensely fair.

The next step for the state Public Utilities Commission should be water-rate reform. Water districts dont produce this vital resource, they just pump, treat and transport it to our taps. Even more than gas and electricity, it is urgent that water bills focus on consumption instead of fixed infrastructure costs. Only that can make conservation pay for itself.

All the water we have is all there is. Plus, saving water saves energy because almost 20% of energy in California is used to pump, treat and transport water.

Mary Dorst, Berkeley

Winery plan not so green

Regarding Napas first zero-emission vineyard faces heavy opposition. Heres why (Wine, Beer & Spirits, SFChronicle.com, April 11): The description sounds great at first. Why wouldnt Napa want a zero-emission vineyard? But this catchy slogan requires a closer look and a deeper discussion.

Le Colline Vineyard, which received initial approval from Napa County, promises electric tractors and more tree plantings. But what gets left out when describing these green initiatives is that they come after destroying 34 acres of old-growth forest. Nature created this majestic and pristine forested area on Howell Mountain. Trading our natural resources for wine grapes and calling it zero-emissions is classic green washing.

A project calling for the deforestation of Napa Valley makes a mockery of the alarm bells were hearing about our heating planet. Tearing out carbon-sequestering trees puts us further behind in our goal to fight the climate crisis while contributing to erosion and destroying wildlife habitat.

The more I learn about this project, the more convinced I am that the zero-emission pledge is a sneaky way to dress up a very harmful project.

Mike Hackett, president and founder, Save Napa Valley Foundation, Angwin

Reverse gun ruling

The recent overturning of Roe v. Wade was the result of an avid push by antiabortion groups and a conservative majority on the Supreme Court. While it is not applauded by the majority of Americans, it shows what a concerted effort by a determined minority group can politically achieve.

With increasing gun violence and mass shootings in America, most Americans desire stricter gun control. Efforts toward this are stymied by a 2008 Supreme Court ruling (District of Columbia v. Heller) that I think grossly misinterpreted the meaning of the Second Amendment.

Roe v. Wade had only two dissenters, with nine justices giving the ruling a substantial majority. Yet even with that large majority, it was overturned. Heller had four dissenters; if a review of Roe could proceed, then a review District of Columbia should proceed without haste.

Former Justice John Paul Stevens, a dissenter in Heller, referred to the Second Amendment as a relic of the 18th century and called for its repeal in a New York Times essay. He also noted that in 1991 former Chief Justice Warren Burger characterized the National Rifle Associations push for Second Amendment rights as one of the greatest pieces of fraud  on the American public by a special interest group he had ever seen.

A majority of Americans favor stricter gun controls and that can be achieved if we make a determined and concerted effort. Our childrens lives depend on it.

Robert Thomas, Castro Valley

Other stores matter

Regarding Closure of one Whole Foods means the prospect of an S.F. doom loop is now more doomy  (San Francisco, SFChronicle.com, April 11): Everyone is so concerned about the Whole Foods store that is closing on Market Street. But what about the only supermarket, Safeway, for North Beach and Chinatown closing at the end of May?

The low-income people in North Beach and Chinatown depend on and need a supermarket for the lowest prices for their groceries. Not everyone can afford to shop at Whole Foods.

Brian Baum, San Francisco
Student assistants at the California State University say they have submitted more than 4,000 union cards to the state in an effort to form a union.

Organizers of the effort say about 10,000 college students at CSU campuses work various part-time jobs under the broad category of student assistants. They perform non-academic work for the CSU system, including staffing reception desks at campus buildings, working at student resource centers and helping run campus laboratories. CSU teaching assistants and other academic workers are already represented by a union, but student assistants are not.

Student assistants trying to organize say the jobs can be convenient and flexible options for them as they pursue their studies. But they say they find it difficult to afford basic necessities like rent and food on the low wages they are paid and 20-hour caps they face on their work. They also say the lack of sick pay and health insurance through those jobs is a big problem.

Cameron Macedonio, a student at Cal State Fullerton, said he uses the money from his student assistant job to pay for textbooks, meals, clothes and the car he needs to drive to class. For his student assistant job as manager of the student radio station, he said he routinely works more than 30 hours a week, but is only paid for 20 because of the university systems cap on student assistant hours. Like many student assistants, he is paid minimum wage for the hours he does work.

Elisa Mendez-Pintado, a graduate student at San Diego State, said the money she makes as a student assistant barely covered her rent and she was forced to move back home with her mother. She said shes not sure what shell do when she ages out of her parents health insurance when she turns 26 because shell still be pursuing her psychology degree. During a press conference Monday, she said the 20-hour cap is also an issue for her.

The university says its for our benefit so that we can focus on school, she said of the cap, but its also really hard to focus on school when you have to decide if youre going to pay rent or eat.

Student assistants say the work they do is valuable and helps the campuses function. They say unionizing will help them negotiate for benefits like sick leave and better pay.

If the CSU system or the state Public Employment Relations Board grants the organizers requests, student assistants would vote on whether to form a union.

The California State University is not involved in this organizing effort but acknowledges all workers rights to organize, spokesperson Amy Bentley-Smith said in a statement. In the event student employees are formally recognized by the California Public Employment Relations Board, we look forward to engaging with them as we do with all of our other union partners.

The student assistants organizing efforts represent the latest point of tension between Californias public universities and the people they employ. Late last year, teaching assistants and other academic workers at Californias other public university system, the University of California, went on strike for 40 days, the largest strike in American higher education history. They ultimately won higher wages, improved child care coverage and other concessions.
WASHINGTON  When a California Democrat in Congress recently engaged in an extended conversation with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, they prepared for a rigorous policy discussion like those theyd had with her many times over the last 15 years.

Instead, the lawmaker said, they had to reintroduce themselves to Feinstein multiple times during an interaction that lasted several hours.

Rather than delve into policy, Feinstein, 88, repeated the same small-talk questions, like asking the lawmaker what mattered to voters in their district, the member of Congress said, with no apparent recognition the two had already had a similar conversation.

The episode was so unnerving that the lawmaker  who spoke to The Chronicle on condition they not be identified because of the sensitivity of the topic  began raising concerns with colleagues to see if some kind of intervention to persuade Feinstein to retire was possible. Feinsteins term runs through the end of 2024. The conversation occurred several weeks before the death of her husband in February.

I have worked with her for a long time and long enough to know what she was like just a few years ago: always in command, always in charge, on top of the details, basically couldnt resist a conversation where she was driving some bill or some idea. All of that is gone, the lawmaker said. She was an intellectual and political force not that long ago, and thats why my encounter with her was so jarring. Because there was just no trace of that.

Four U.S. senators, including three Democrats, as well as three former Feinstein staffers and the California Democratic member of Congress told The Chronicle in recent interviews that her memory is rapidly deteriorating. They said it appears she can no longer fulfill her job duties without her staff doing much of the work required to represent the nearly 40 million people of California.

They said that the memory lapses do not appear to be constant and that some days she is nearly as sharp as she used to be. During the March confirmation hearing for soon-to-be-Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, Feinstein appeared composed as she read pertinent questions, though she repeated comments to Jackson about the judges composure in the face of tough questioning. But some close to her said that on her most difficult days, she does not seem to fully recognize even longtime colleagues.

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Samuel Corum/Getty Images 2020 Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Stefani Reynolds/New York Times 2021 via Redux Show More Show Less 3 of 3 Manuel Balce Ceneta/Associated Press Show More Show Less





Its bad, and its getting worse, said one Democratic senator. This person said that within the Senate, Feinstein has difficulty keeping up with conversations and discussions.

Theres a joke on the Hill, weve got a great junior senator in Alex Padilla and an experienced staff in Feinsteins office, said a staffer for a California Democrat.

All of those who expressed concerns about Feinsteins acuity said that doing so was painful because of their respect for the senator and her groundbreaking career. Each spoke on condition of anonymity, because they said they did not want to jeopardize their relationship with her and their mutual friends and colleagues.

They spoke to The Chronicle before Feinsteins husband, financier Richard Blum, who had been in very ill health as he battled cancer, died. They said they were also sensitive to what Feinstein was going through.

The former staff members who spoke with The Chronicle requested anonymity in part out of respect to Feinstein and because of restrictions imposed by their current jobs.

The Chronicle agreed to protect each of these peoples anonymity, in accordance with the newspapers policy on confidential sources, due to the importance of Feinsteins ability to govern.

In a statement provided to The Chronicle on March 28, Feinstein said shes still performing her job well. She declined to be interviewed.

The last year has been extremely painful and distracting for me, flying back and forth to visit my dying husband who passed just a few weeks ago, she said. But theres no question Im still serving and delivering for the people of California, and Ill put my record up against anyones.

Other lawmakers defended Feinsteins abilities in on-the-record interviews with The Chronicle, noting that she asks pertinent questions in committee hearings, votes as needed, and oversees an office that is still a strong player on legislation and constituent services.

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine volunteered that after a recent snowstorm caused a traffic backup that resulted in him being stuck in his car for 27 hours commuting to D.C., Feinstein handwrote him a letter expressing how sorry she was for what he had experienced.

Some of these people bristle at singling out Feinstein, when congressional history is filled with aging male politicians who remained in office despite their declining state.

Padilla has known Feinstein since the mid-1990s, when he worked for her briefly. Ive heard some of the same concerns, Padilla said, but as someone who sees her multiple times a week, including on the Senate Judiciary Committee, I can tell you shes still doing the job and doing it well.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in a statement to The Chronicle, said she had not noticed a decline in Feinsteins memory and noted her work on the recent reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act and the Supreme Court confirmation.

Senator Feinstein is a workhorse for the people of California and a respected leader among her colleagues in the Senate, Pelosi said. She is constantly traveling between California and the Capitol, working relentlessly to ensure Californians needs are met and voices are heard.

Pelosi said it was unconscionable that, just weeks after losing her beloved husband of more than four decades and after decades of outstanding leadership to our City and State, she is being subjected to these ridiculous attacks that are beneath the dignity in which she has led and the esteem in which she is held.

But the new details about Feinsteins condition raise questions about where a line should be drawn in a legislative body with no age or term limits.

Other than resignation, death or the end of a term, there is only one way to remove senators from office: a two-thirds vote of their peers. The Senate has expelled 15 members since 1789  one for treason and 14 for supporting the Confederacy during the Civil War. A handful of other expulsions have been explored, usually for corruption, but in each case the lawmaker left office before a vote.

Adding urgency to the recent concerns: If Democrats retain control of the Senate next year, Feinstein will succeed retiring Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy as the Senates president pro tem  putting her third in line for the presidency. Feinstein has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission that would allow her to run in 2024, a formality that lets her keep her fundraising accounts active, though she has not yet declared whether she intends to run.

Still, theres a sense of resignation about the situation amid the sadness and frustration, The Chronicle found, as discussions about how to persuade Feinstein to step aside have yet to produce any results.

It shouldnt end this way for her. She deserves better, said the California Democratic member of Congress. Those who think that they are serving her or honoring her by sweeping all of this under the rug are doing her an enormous disservice.

Concerns about Feinsteins ability to hold her job have followed her for years and intensified in 2020 when a series of accounts circulated about her performance. The attention two years ago was focused around the possibility that she would become chair of the Judiciary Committee under President Biden.

She defended her abilities at the time. I dont feel my cognitive abilities have diminished, she told the Los Angeles Times in December 2020. Do I forget something sometimes? Quite possibly.

She had been responding to a December 2020 New Yorker story that reported Feinstein was seriously struggling with memory loss. The article said Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had to tell Feinstein more than once that she needed to give up the Judiciary Committee leadership post because she didnt remember he had already told her.

Now Playing: Sen. Feinstein repeats questions to Twitter executive Jack Dorsey nearly word-for-word in a 2020 hearing. Video: C-SPAN

A month prior, she repeated a question to a witness, word for word, in a hearing with seemingly no awareness of having done so, and she shocked colleagues at the end of the contentious Supreme Court confirmation hearing for Amy Coney Barrett by unexpectedly praising Republicans for having conducted a great process.

This has been one of the best set of hearings that Ive participated in, Feinstein told the Republican chair of the committee. I want to thank you for your fairness.

Since then, the situation has seemingly worsened, the lawmakers and former aides who spoke to The Chronicle said. Even those who consider themselves among Feinsteins closest allies worry her health and memory struggles will rapidly deteriorate or cause public embarrassment.

She rarely engages with the public outside her official duties as a member of Senate committees, including the Senate Intelligence Committee, which handles sensitive national intelligence, nor does she do extended sit-down interviews with the media. She does field questions from the press in the Senate hallways, but often responds by saying she doesnt know enough to comment or gives nonspecific responses.

Feinstein has not had a town hall since 2017, according to the congressional tracker LegiStorm, and has not held any local events this year. Her office said she has attended numerous public events since that town hall, however, and attributed her lack of events in 2022 to her husbands passing and the pandemic. Every other member of the Bay Area congressional delegation has held at least two town halls and/or local events this year, and several have done far more.

By contrast, Padilla, who is up for re-election this year, participated in 18 public town halls in 2021, according to his staff. He did 250 media interviews. In the past two months, he has held two town halls in February, two events in Sacramento and two in San Francisco.

Feinsteins reduced public profile and recent scrutiny may be hurting her popularity. A March survey from the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California found that 36% of likely voters approved of the way she was doing her job, down from 44% a year ago  and lower than Padillas 39% approval mark.

A Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies and Los Angeles Times poll released Feb. 16 found that 9% of California voters strongly approved of her job performance, and an additional 21% somewhat approved. The surveys represented a steep decline from 2005, when a Field Poll found that 54% of voters approved of her job performance, and 26% disapproved.

Though Feinsteins actions in public have been closely watched since 2020, the scripted nature of the Senate  as well as pandemic restrictions and her limited public schedule  have provided fewer instances in which she is subject to scrutiny.

But there are signs of her struggles. Feinstein has at least one staff member with her at essentially all times in the Capitol. And the senator is guided by staff members much more than her colleagues are.

On Jan. 20, the Judiciary Committee voted on an antitrust bill that would bar giant tech platforms like Google and Amazon from favoring their own products over third parties on their sites. Feinstein delivered a statement critical of the bill and expressed concerns about its targeting of California-based companies like Google, putting her at odds with most Democrats on the committee. The discussion of the bill and debate over its amendments lasted 2 hours.

Feinstein struggled when pressed by Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, the bills author. Klobuchar asked Feinstein about a line in her remarks asserting that government agencies opposed the bill.

Are you implying, Sen. Feinstein, that the U.S. government, that the administration is against this bill? Klobuchar interjected.

I do not know. What I said is, I am told that federal agencies have concerns about this bill, Feinstein said.

Twelve days later, on Feb. 1, The Chronicle asked Feinstein as she walked through the Capitol to explain her views on the bill.

I just dont know what it does, candidly, Feinstein said. I have to look at it. What antitrust legislation are you talking about, what bill?

When The Chronicle specified it was the bill the committee had marked up two weeks prior, Feinstein gestured toward her staff member and indicated he would follow up on it: Let me look at it, and then well talk.

During that Jan. 20 hearing, and during a Feb. 3 hearing for a similar bill to loosen phone makers control over app purchases, a staff member hovered at Feinsteins right hand during every roll call, sitting down once she had cast her vote. Several times, the staff member engaged in lengthy conversation with Feinstein.

Its not uncommon for senators to confer with staff during hearings or to read prepared statements and questions. But few if any senators appear as reliant on staff input as they move around the Capitol.

In December, Feinstein missed a hearing for a California judicial nominee and instead submitted a written statement, an unusual move for a home-state senator. Though she missed some time in Washington due to the ill health of her husband, Feinstein was present in the Senate that day, according to voting records. Her office did not explain the absence in response to Chronicle inquiries.

The episodes of the politician struggling to keep up with Senate business stand in sharp contrast with the Feinstein of years ago. In 2013, on the same Judiciary Committee, she sparred with Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas on his criticism of her landmark legislation to ban assault weapons, responding off the cuff and chiding him for implying she didnt know constitutional law. Im not a sixth-grader, she admonished.

Now Playing: Sen. Feinstein spars with Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in a hearing over gun legislation in 2013. Video: C-SPAN

But Wednesday, two senators who have served with Feinstein for years said they believe she does not always fully recognize them. They said they get the sense that Feinstein realizes she knows them but isnt able to quickly recall their name or home state. One Senate staffer said theyve seen their boss on a few occasions greet Feinstein in hallways with a preemptive self-introduction.

Staff turnover has increased in her office in recent years, with more departures from her office each year since 2017, according to the congressional tracking service LegiStorm.

One top Democratic fundraiser who lives in the Bay Area said Feinsteins fundraising operation has virtually shut down. She raised $5,566 last year, according to campaign filings, an extremely small amount for such a prominent politician. Powerful lawmakers often fundraise for the benefit of the party and their colleagues, even if they do not plan to run again. The 82-year-old Leahy, who is retiring this year, raised $1 million over a similar period.

Several people were alarmed by Feinsteins performance at the memorial service last June for former Port of San Francisco Commissioner Anne Halsted, the first woman to serve on the citys Port Commission, whom the senator had known for decades.

Feinstein didnt mention Halsted in her initial remarks, but offered generic comments about San Francisco and gave shout-outs to people in the audience, including Pelosi, whom Feinstein described as the Democratic leader in the United States Senate. Moments later, Feinstein backtracked, joking to Pelosi, Nancy, I promoted you to the Senate, in a moment captured on video footage obtained by The Chronicle. The audience laughed.

Some were uncomfortable with what they saw. After Feinstein sat down, and it was clear that she hadnt said anything about Anne, there was a ripple through the crowd, said one person in the audience who has known Feinstein for decades and was granted anonymity to be able to speak freely about the incident because they continue to work with Bay Area officials.

Feinstein later returned to the podium and spoke about Halsted, and said she was told by her staff that she needed to speak again. She spoke about Halsted in present tense, according to another video provided to The Chronicle.

It was quite disconcerting, said the person who attended the event. Its clear that shes really over the line.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images 2021

Feinstein remains a pioneer to many admiring San Franciscans who have watched her for decades. As the first female Board of Supervisors president in San Francisco, she helped usher the city through the 1978 assassinations of Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone. Feinstein replaced the mayor and served for a decade. In 1992, she and Barbara Boxer became the first women to represent California in the Senate.

Feinstein owes her groundbreaking career in part to her doggedness and refusal to bend to naysayers, and she retains those qualities now in rebuffing those who tell her it might be time to step aside. She insists on signing off on everything her office puts out, from letters to statements, but former staff members said it was increasingly difficult to get her buy-in to approve such things.

Though the Senate runs on a lot of staff work, the former staffers for Feinstein described an environment in which it was challenging to get things done due to her frequent inability to recall previous conversations or follow complicated discussions.

One former staffer said they would have conversations about sending a letter out, and the next day Feinstein would not remember the conversation.

In one instance, the former staffer recalled, they wanted Feinstein to sign off on something that would have advanced an important investigation. But Feinstein repeatedly said she could not understand why the investigative step was necessary, an explanation the staffer said they felt was a result of Feinstein not being able to follow the thread of the investigation.

Its really hard to have a micromanager who is not fully remembering everything that weve talked about, the staffer said. My biggest concern is that its a real disservice to the people of California.

The lawmaker who had the hours-long interaction with Feinstein referenced a classic fable in which people are afraid to speak the truth to a powerful leader: Weve got an Emperors New Clothes problem here.

Tal Kopan is The San Francisco Chronicles Washington correspondent, and Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: tal.kopan@sfchronicle.com, jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli, @talkopan
UPDATE: Could a 1975 law derail Californias war on natural gas?

A federal appeals court overturned Berkeleys first-in-the-nation ban on natural gas lines in new buildings Monday, agreeing with restaurant owners that the ordinance conflicts with federal laws on energy efficiency.

The measure, which took effect in 2020, was intended to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. It required new residential and commercial buildings to use entirely electrical lines and infrastructure unless a building could not be constructed without natural gas piping, or the city granted an exemption in the public interest.

It was challenged by the California Restaurant Association, which contended the ordinance violated the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act, or EPCA. The 1975 federal law, intended to increase energy production, included provisions that authorized U.S. officials to set energy-efficiency standards for appliances such as furnaces and water heaters.

That means a local government cant adopt rules that effectively ban those appliances, said the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, rejecting a federal judges 2021 decision that had upheld the Berkeley ordinance.

By passing the federal law, Congress ensured that States and localities could not prevent consumers from using covered products in their homes, kitchens, and businesses, Judge Patrick Bumatay said in the 3-0 ruling, By its plain language, EPCA preempts Berkeleys regulation here because it (the city) prohibits the installation of necessary natural gas infrastructure on premises where covered natural gas appliances are used.

In her 2021 ruling, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of Oakland said Berkeley was not trying to regulate energy efficiency for appliances, only the fuel they used. Under federal law, she wrote, states and localities expressly maintain control over the local distribution of natural gas.

But Bumatay said an ordinance that bans appliances such as gas stoves impacts the quantity of energy they consume, which is exclusively regulated by the federal government.

The appeals court panel, selected by random draw, included two of the courts most conservative judges  Bumatay, an appointee of President Donald Trump, and Judge Diarmuid OScannlain, appointed by President Ronald Reagan. The third member was Judge M. Miller Baker, a Trump appointee to the U.S. Court of International Trade temporarily assigned to the Ninth Circuit.

OScannlain, in a separate opinion, said he was compelled to join Bumatays ruling because of past Ninth Circuit decisions, but he considers the legal standards on federal pre-emption troubling and confused, with some appeals courts giving more leeway to state and local regulation.

Berkeley could ask the full appeals court to order a new hearing before an 11-judge panel. The citys position in the case was supported in legal filings by the Biden administration, eight states led by California, and environmental organizations. Business groups and energy producers filed arguments supporting the California Restaurant Association.

Berkeley Vice Mayor Kate Harrison, author of the ordinance, said 51 other cities and counties in California have adopted similar measures, and so have cities elsewhere, including New York. The Bay Area local governments include San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose, and the counties of Contra Costa, San Mateo and Santa Clara.

And last month, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District issued rules effectively requiring homes and businesses whose water heaters and furnaces need replacement in the coming years to install electric heaters rather than gas. The California Air Resources Board has made a similar move at the state level.

The Air Resources Board was not immediately available for comment, but Bay Area air district spokesperson Kristine Roselius noted that last months rules regulate emissions of nitrogen oxides for appliances  and that the agency has been regulating nitrogen oxides since 1979.

Our rule is very different from the Berkeley ordinance, and its not clear whether this ruling is relevant to our case, she said. However, our attorneys are reviewing it in detail.

Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin said in a statement that its disappointing the Ninth Circuit held that Berkeley, like many other cities around the country, cannot take common-sense measures to protect its constituents from climate change.

The American Gas Association and the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute welcomed the courts ruling, and lawyers for the Restaurant Association said the court properly interpreted federal law.

Congress intended to set a national energy policy, and cities and states cannot bypass federal preemption by regulating piping instead of natural gas products, attorney Courtland Reichman said in a statement. The panels decision sets an important precedent for future cases, especially with other cities and states considering restrictions on natural gas, and it prevents a patchwork of disparate regulations and protects consumer choice.

But Gloria Smith, managing attorney for Sierra Clubs environmental law program, said the appeal courts decision is unlikely to slow Californias efforts to phase out natural gas appliances due to the structure of many municipalities electrification rules and incentives.



Theres so much progress being made, and none of it is being affected by this decision, Smith said.

Chronicle staff writer Julie Johnson contributed to this report.
Lodi Police Department

The vehicle belonging to missing California man Jacob VanZant was found with human remains inside by a volunteer dive team in the San Joaquin River near Stockton on Saturday, the Lodi Police Department said.

While the dive team and family members said on social media that the remains belong to VanZant, the San Joaquin County Medical Examiners Office has not officially identified the body found inside the white Honda Pilot. There was a deceased located inside the vehicle, said Sgt. Matt Latino, a spokesperson for the police department. I believe the autopsy will be completed today.
After 24 years, an unidentified young man brutally murdered by a Santa Cruz couple finally has his name back.

Eric P. Cupo was just 22 when he found himself in California in 1998. After growing up in Pennsylvania, Cupo had been bouncing around without a permanent address. While roaming Santa Cruz, he came across James Erwin Dotson, 25, and his girlfriend Kimberly Lee Labore, 26. As court testimony would later reveal, Cupo was trying to get rid of his .380-caliber handgun when he ran into the pair. The Santa Cruz Sentinel reported that Cupo wanted to sell it for $25 or a packet of heroin. That meeting would ultimately cost him his life.

Investigators believe Cupo was invited by Dotson and Labore to stay at an abandoned house they were using in Boulder Creek. There, forensic teams would later find puddles of blood on a bed. Its believed the pair bludgeoned and stabbed Cupo to death and stole his gun. They werent secretive about what theyd done, either. One witness testified that Dotson went around asking friends to help him dispose of a body, and Labore pantomimed holding her throat and gurgling and saying Help me, like making fun of the kid. And they were all laughing about it, another witness said.

In December 1998, a driver pulled over off Bear Creek Road and noticed a blue tarp down a steep ravine. Inside, police found the badly decomposed body.

Although detectives were able to track down the mans killers  forensic evidence was also found on the body that matched fibers and redwood dust in the Boulder Creek house  they had no clue who the victim was. Everyone they asked only knew him as Huck.

In 1999, Dotson, Labore and several other friends went to trial for the murders of the unidentified man and Gaylord Kelly Chilcote, 58, a Watsonville businessman. Two weeks after killing Cupo, the couple had gone to Chilcotes house to rob him. He was found dead of blunt force and stab injuries and had been bound and gagged.

Dotson and Labore, who faced the death penalty, elected to plead guilty in exchange for life sentences. Dotson received life without the possibility of parole, which he is serving at Mule Creek State Prison; Labore has been eligible for parole since 2017 but remains incarcerated at Central California Womens Facility. A third alleged accomplice, a 16-year-old who said he participated out of fear for his own life, pleaded no contest in exchange for a shorter sentence.

Throughout the trial and sentencing, no one knew who the friends had murdered. But the Santa Cruz County Sheriffs Office didnt give up on identifying the man. In 2021, the office contacted genetic genealogy company Othram to see if a profile could be created for the John Doe. The leads generated by Othrams work led the sheriffs office to Cupos family.

Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office/Handout

According to the sheriffs office, Cupo was born in California and adopted as a young child by a family in Philadelphia. As a teen, he moved with his adoptive father to Florida, but after he turned 18, he went roaming the country, and his family lost touch with him. Investigators think he lived in Arizona and Ohio before returning at some point to California.

Eric Cupos adopted family and biological relatives have been notified of his identification and are grateful to the Sheriffs Office for their dedicated and tireless investigation to identify Eric Cupo and bring resolution as to his whereabouts, the sheriffs office said in a statement. The family respectfully asks not to be contacted as they mourn their loss.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  Student workers across California State University campuses filed Monday with the state to form a union, saying it would help them advocate for better pay and working conditions.

With a union, well be able to hold the university accountable for how it treats students, said Grayce Honsa, a student and resident adviser at San Diego State University.

The students looking to unionize serve as residential advisers, run mentorship programs, manage student radio stations and perform other jobs across the system's 23 campuses. Many students are paid the minimum wage of $15.50 an hour, and in some cases, they are paid less depending on their level of experience, said Mike Roth, a spokesperson for the Service Employees International Union California.

The organizers say they are behind the largest student worker unionization effort in the country. A vote has not yet been scheduled. If it is successful, the union would need to be recognized by the California Public Employment Relations Board.

It follows a successful effort by unionized graduate student workers to reach a deal with the University of California system.

In December, UC graduate students ended a 40-day strike after reaching a bargaining agreement with the university system to raise wages for workers who were paid as little as $24,000 a year.

Charles Toombs, president of the California Faculty Association, which is backing the California State University students' unionization efforts, said it is unacceptable that some student workers struggle to make ends meet.

Their working conditions are impediments to their success, he said.

The university system serves more than 477,000 students across the state.

Amy Bentley-Smith, a spokesperson for the California State University chancellor's office, said in an email the system is not involved in the organizing effort but acknowledges all workers rights to organize.

In the event student employees are formally recognized by the California Public Employment Relations Board, we look forward to engaging with them as we do with all of our other union partners, she wrote.

Assemblymember Liz Ortega, a Democrat representing Alameda County, expressed her support for the students' efforts to unionize.

In a nation of vast wealth where too many workers are denied the respect and pay they deserve, theres only one path to changing the balance of power," she said. "And that is uniting with your colleagues and joining a union.

___ Sophie Austin is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on Twitter: @sophieadanna
SAN FRANCISCO  Faking it is over. Thats the feeling in Silicon Valley, along with some schadenfreude and a pinch of paranoia.

Not only has funding dried up for cash-burning startups over the past year, but now, fraud is also in the air, as investors scrutinize startup claims more closely and a tech downturn reveals who has been taking the industrys fake it till you make it ethos too far.

Take what happened in the past two weeks: Charlie Javice, the founder of the financial aid startup Frank, was arrested, accused of falsifying customer data. A jury found Rishi Shah, a co-founder of the advertising software startup Outcome Health, guilty of defrauding customers and investors. And a judge ordered Elizabeth Holmes, the founder who defrauded investors at her blood testing startup Theranos, to begin an 11-year prison sentence April 27.

Those developments follow the February arrests of Carlos Watson, the founder of Ozy Media, and Christopher Kirchner, the founder of software company Slync, both accused of defrauding investors. Still to come is the fraud trial of Manish Lachwani, a co-founder of the software startup HeadSpin, set to begin in May, and that of Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, who faces 13 fraud charges later this year.

Taken together, the chorus of charges, convictions and sentences have created a feeling that the startup worlds fast and loose fakery actually has consequences. Despite this generations many high-profile scandals (Uber, WeWork) and downfalls (Juicero), few startup founders, aside from Holmes, ever faced criminal charges for pushing the boundaries of business puffery as they disrupted us into the future.

The funding downturn may be to blame. Unethical behavior can largely be overlooked when times are good, as they were for tech startups in the 2010s. Between 2012 and 2021, funding to tech startups in the United States jumped eightfold to $344 billion, according to PitchBook, which tracks startups. More than 1,200 of them are considered unicorns worth $1 billion or more on paper.

But when the easy money dries up, everyone parrots the Warren Buffett proverb about finding out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out. After FTX filed for bankruptcy in November, Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb, updated the adage for millennial tech founders: It feels like we were in a nightclub and the lights just turned on, he tweeted.

In the past, the venture capital investors who backed startups were reluctant to pursue legal action when they were duped. The companies were small, with few assets to recover, and going after a founder would hurt the investors reputations. That has changed as the unicorns have soared, attracting billions in funding, and as larger, more traditional investors including hedge funds, corporate investors and mutual funds have entered the investing game.

There is more money at stake, so it just changes the calculus, said Alexander Dyck, a professor of finance at the University of Toronto who specializes in corporate governance.

The Justice Department has also been urging prosecutors to be bold in its pursuit of more business frauds, including at private startups. Thus, charges for founders of Frank, Ozy Media, Slync and HeadSpin and expectations of more to come.

IRL, a messaging app that investors valued at $1 billion, is being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly misleading investors about how many users it had, according to reporting from The Information. Rumby, a laundry delivery startup in Ohio, allegedly fabricated a story of financial success to secure funding, which its founder used to buy himself a $1.7 million home, according to a lawsuit from one of its investors.

News outlets have also reported unethical behavior at startups including Olive, a $4 billion health care software startup, and Nate, an e-commerce startup claiming to use artificial intelligence. A spokesperson for Olive said the company has disputed and denied the reported allegations.

All of this creates an awkward moment for venture capital investors. When startup valuations were soaring, they were seen as visionary kingmakers. It was easy enough to convince the world, and the investors in their funds  pension funds, college endowments and wealthy individuals  that they were responsible stewards of capital with the unique skills required to predict the future and find the next Steve Jobs to build it.

But as more startup frauds are revealed, these titans of industry are playing a different role in lawsuits, bankruptcy filings and court testimonies: the victim that got duped.

Alfred Lin, an investor at Sequoia Capital, a top Silicon Valley firm that put $150 million into FTX, reflected on the cryptocurrency disaster at a startup event in January. Its not that we made the investment, its the year-and-a-half working relationship afterwards that I still didnt see it, he said. That is difficult.

Venture capital investors say their asset class is among the riskiest places to park money but holds the potential for outsize rewards. The startup world celebrates failures, and if youre not failing, youre viewed as not taking enough risks. But it is unclear whether that defense will hold as the scandals become more humiliating for everyone involved.

Investors are increasingly asking consultants like RHR International to help identify the telltale signs of Machiavellian narcissists who are more likely to commit fraud, said Eden Abrahams, a partner at the firm. They want to tighten up the protocols around how theyre assessing founders, Abrahams said. We had a series of events which should be prompting reflections.

Startups have many of the conditions most associated with fraud, Dyck said. They tend to employ novel business models, their founders often have significant control and their backers do not always enforce strict oversight. It is a situation thats ripe for bending the rules when a downturn hits. Its not surprising were seeing a lot of frauds being committed in the last 18 months are coming to light right now, he said.

When Javice was trying to sell her college financial planning startup, Frank, to JPMorgan Chase, she told an employee not to share exactly how many people used Franks service, according to an SEC complaint. Later, she asked the employee to fabricate thousands of accounts, assuring her staff that such a move was legal and that no one would end up in orange jumpsuits, the complaint said.

After JPMorgan bought the startup for $175 million in 2021, Franks investors were quick to take a congratulatory victory lap on Twitter. So many more students & families will now have greater access to financial aid & #highered opportunities, an investor at Reach Capital wrote. Its so exciting to know you will now have an even bigger platform to make a positive impact on the lives of so many people! was the praise from an executive at Chegg, which invested.

Javice faces four counts of fraud. This past week, JPMorgan accused her of transferring money to a shell company after the bank uncovered her alleged fraud.

Outcome Health, which sold drug ads on screens in doctors offices, raised $488 million from investors including Goldman Sachs, the Google-affiliated fund CapitalG and the family of Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois while making public claims of breakneck growth and profitability. In reality, the company had missed its revenue targets, was struggling to manage its debt load and was overbilling its customers.

Yet investors plowed money in anyway and even allowed Outcome Healths co-founders, Shah and Shradha Agarwal, to cash out $225 million worth of shares. One of the companys smaller investors, Todd Cozzens of Leerink Partners, said he was not deterred by red flags like missing revenue targets and other sloppiness, because they could have cleaned that up. The company crossed into fraud when it altered a sales report, which would have been difficult for outsiders to detect, he said.

This was a great business model and the product was working, but these founders got really greedy, he said. They wanted more. Cozzens firm lost 90% of its $15 million investment.

Shah was convicted of 19 counts of fraud and Agarwal of 15. A spokesperson for Shah said that the verdict deeply saddens him and that he plans to appeal. Agarwals counsel said they were reviewing the verdict and considering her options.

Slyncs founder, Kirchner, lied to investors about Slyncs business performance and used the money raised to buy himself a $16 million private jet, among other misappropriations, according to an SEC complaint. When one investor dug into Slyncs finances, Kirchner told the person that Slync was in the process of switching to a new financial service provider, the complaint said. The investor wired $35 million.

A Slync spokesperson said the company has appointed a new CEO, is cooperating with the governments investigations, and looks forward to a just resolution of this matter.

FTX raised nearly $2 billion from top investors including Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Thoma Bravo, giving it a valuation of $32 billion. The company was so poorly run that it didnt even have a complete list of people who worked there, according to a report issued by the companys new management this month. Bankman-Fried told colleagues at one point that FTXs sister hedge fund, Alameda Research, was unauditable and that the team sometimes found $50 million in assets lying around that they had lost track of. Such is life, he wrote.

Sequoia, which commissioned a glowing profile of Bankman-Fried to publish on its website, apologized to investors after the company collapsed. It also deleted the profile.

Lin explained at the startup event that venture capital industry was ultimately a business based on trust. Because if you dont trust the founders that you work with, he said, why would you ever invest in them?

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
SAN FRANCISCO  Googles employees were shocked when they learned in March that South Korean consumer electronics giant Samsung was considering replacing Google with Microsofts Bing as the default search engine on its devices.

For years, Bing had been a search engine also-ran. But it became a lot more interesting to industry insiders when it recently added new artificial intelligence technology.

Googles reaction to the Samsung threat was panic, according to internal messages reviewed by The New York Times. An estimated $3 billion in annual revenue was at stake with the Samsung contract. An additional $20 billion is tied to a similar Apple contract that will be up for renewal this year.

AI competitors such as the new Bing are quickly becoming the most serious threat to Googles search business in 25 years, and in response, Google is racing to build an all-new search engine powered by the technology. It is also upgrading the existing one with AI features, according to internal documents reviewed by The New York Times.

The new features, under the project name Magi, are being created by designers, engineers and executives working in so-called sprint rooms to tweak and test the latest versions. The new search engine would offer users a far more personalized experience than the companys current service, attempting to anticipate users needs.

Lara Levin, a Google spokesperson, said in a statement that not every brainstorm deck or product idea leads to a launch, but as weve said before, were excited about bringing new AI-powered features to search, and will share more details soon.

Billions of people use Googles search engine every day for everything from finding restaurants and directions to understanding a medical diagnosis, and that simple white page with the company logo and an empty bar in the middle is one of the most widely used webpages in the world. Changes to it would have a significant impact on the lives of ordinary people, and until recently, it was hard to imagine anything challenging it.

JACKIE MOLLOY/NYT

Google has been worried about AI-powered competitors since OpenAI, a San Francisco startup that is working with Microsoft, demonstrated a chatbot called ChatGPT in November. About two weeks later, Google created a task force in its search division to start building AI products, said two people with knowledge of the efforts, who were not authorized to discuss them publicly.

Modernizing its search engine has become an obsession at Google, and the planned changes could put new AI technology in phones and homes all over the world.

The Samsung threat represented the first potential crack in Googles seemingly impregnable search business, which was worth $162 billion last year. Although it was not clear whether Microsofts work with AI was the main reason Samsung was considering a change after the past 12 years, that was the assumption inside Google. The contract is under negotiation, and Samsung could stick with Google.

But the idea that Samsung, which makes hundreds of millions of smartphones with Googles Android software every year, would even consider switching search engines shocked Googles employees.

After some workers were told that the company was looking for volunteers this month to help put together material for a pitch to Samsung, they reacted with emoji and surprise. Wow, OK, thats wild, one person responded.

A Google spokesperson said that the company was continuously improving its search engine to give partners more reason to choose Google and that Android phone makers were free to embrace technologies from different companies to improve their users experience.

Samsung and Microsoft declined to comment.

Google has been doing AI research for years. Its DeepMind lab in London is considered one of the best AI research centers in the world, and the company has been a pioneer with AI projects, such as self-driving cars and the so-called large language models that are used in the development of chatbots. In recent years, Google has used large language models to improve the quality of its search results but held off on fully adopting AI because it has been prone to generating false and biased statements.

Now, the priority is winning control of the industrys next big thing. Last month, Google released its own chatbot, Bard, but the technology received mixed reviews.

Plans for the new search engine, which demonstrate Googles ambitions to re-imagine the search experience, are still in the early stages, with no clear timetable on when it will release the new search technology.

The system would learn what users want to know based on what theyre searching when they begin using it. And it would offer lists of preselected options for objects to buy, information to research and other information. It would also be more conversational  a bit like chatting with a helpful person.

But long before the search engine can be rebuilt, Magi will add features to the existing search engine, according to internal documents. Google has more than 160 people working full time on it, a person with knowledge of the work said.

Magi would keep ads in the mix of search results. Search queries that could lead to a financial transaction, such as buying shoes or booking a flight, for example, would still feature ads on their results pages.

Thats important for Google, since search ads are the primary way it makes money. Bard does not feature ads, and there has been anticipation in the tech industry that AI answers on search engines could make ads less relevant to users.

The planned search additions could also answer questions about software coding and write code based on a users request. Google may place an ad under the computer code answers, according to a document.

Last week, Google invited some employees to test Magis features, and it has encouraged them to ask the search engine follow-up questions to judge its ability to hold a conversation. Google is expected to release the tools to the public next month and add more features in the fall, according to the planning document.

The company plans to initially release the features to a maximum of 1 million people. That number should progressively increase to 30 million by the end of the year. The features will be available exclusively in the United States.

Google has also explored efforts to let people use Google Earths mapping technology with help from AI and search for music through a conversation with a chatbot, a Google director wrote in a document.

Other product ideas are in various stages of development. A tool called GIFI would use AI to generate images in Google Image results. Another tool, Tivoli Tutor, would teach users a new language through open-ended AI text conversations.

Yet another product, Searchalong, would let users ask a chatbot questions while surfing the web through Googles Chrome browser. People might ask the chatbot for activities near an Airbnb rental, for example, and the AI would scan the page and the rest of the internet for a response.

Jim Lecinski, a former Google vice president of sales and service, said the company had been goaded into action and now had to convince users that it was as powerful, competent and contemporary as its competitors.

If we are the leading search engine and this is a new attribute, a new feature, a new characteristic of search engines, we want to make sure that were in this race as well, Lecinski, a professor of marketing at Northwestern University, said in an interview.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  Minnesota announced a settlement Monday in its lawsuit against Juul Labs and tobacco giant Altria  the first of thousands of cases against the e-cigarette maker to reach trial  just ahead of closing arguments. It comes only days after Juul announced its biggest settlement ever over the way it marketed its highly addictive products.

The terms will be kept confidential until formal papers are publicly filed with the court in 30 days, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement. If it's like Juul's other settlements, the Minnesota settlement could include a multimillion-dollar payment and various restrictions on the marketing, sale and distribution of the companys vaping products. Ellison said ahead of the trial that he was seeking more than $100 million in damages.

After three weeks of trial highlighting and bringing into the public record the actions that JUUL and Altria took that contributed to the youth vaping epidemic, we reached a settlement in the best interest of Minnesotans, Ellison said.

Juul said it would work with the state to finalize the details over the coming weeks.

We have now settled with 48 states and territories, providing over $1 billion to participating states to further combat underage use and develop cessation programs, the company said in a statement. This is in addition to our global resolution of the U.S. private litigation that covers more than 5,000 cases brought by approximately 10,000 plaintiffs.

Attorneys for the state argued at the trial's start that Juul unlawfully targeted young people with vaping products to get a new generation addicted to nicotine. Juul attorneys countered that its purpose was to convert adult smokers of combustible cigarettes to a less-dangerous product  not to lure kids.

Juul has faced thousands of lawsuits nationwide but most have settled, including dozens with other states and U.S. territories. The largest settlement came last week when it was announced that Juul Labs will pay $462 million to six states and the District of Columbia to settle lawsuits related to its marketing tactics. As part of that deal, Juul pledged not to market its products to anyone under the age of 35 and to limit the amount customers can purchase in retail stores and online.

Minnesota, which won a landmark $7.1 billion settlement with the tobacco industry in 1998, was the first state to take Juul to trial. It filed its lawsuit in 2019 and added Altria, which formerly owned a minority stake in Juul, as a co-defendant in 2020. Altria completed its divestiture last month and says it effectively lost its $12.8 billion investment.

While specifics of the Minnesota settlement may not differ significantly from previous settlements, some attorneys say having a trial served a greater purpose.

One of the benefits of a case going to trial is that things become public that were not otherwise public. That is probably the biggest difference," said attorney Jake Plattenberger of TorHoerman Law, one of the leading firms handling consumer lawsuits against Juul.

But given the publicity around the allegations against Juul and the fact that many details were shared during the discovery process in other lawsuits there may not have been many surprises in the Minnesota trial.

The lawyers that have been working on this probably know everything that was going to come out in the Minnesota trial, said Plattenberger, who is based in Chicago and was involved in some of the other Juul settlements. During opening statements in March, Ellison accused Juul of using slick products, clever ads and attractive flavors to hook children on nicotine.

They baited, deceived, and addicted a whole new generation of kids after Minnesotans slashed youth smoking rates down to the lowest level in a generation, Ellison said. Now, big tobacco is back with a new name but the same game.

David Bernick, an attorney for Juul, countered during opening statements that Juuls purpose was always to convert adult smokers to a less-dangerous product that would still provide a satisfying nicotine experience. He said Juul did nothing to intentionally drive youth demand, suggesting the growth in youth vaping was a secondhand result of increased adult demand.

William Geraghty, an attorney for Altria, denied Ellisons assertions that Altria invested heavily in Juul because it ultimately wanted to hook kids on its cigarettes, which include Marlboro.

Washington D.C.-based Juul Labs launched in 2015 on the popularity of flavors like mango, mint, fruit medley and creme brulee. Teenagers fueled its rise, and some became addicted to Juuls high-nicotine pods. Amid a backlash, the company dropped all U.S. advertising and discontinued most of its flavors in 2019, losing popularity with teens. Juuls share of the now multibillion-dollar market has fallen to about 33% from a high of 75% in 2018.

In September, Juul agreed to pay nearly $440 million over six to 10 years to settle a two-year investigation by 33 states into the marketing of its high-nicotine vaping products to young people. The settlement amounted to about 25% of Juuls U.S. sales of $1.9 billion in 2021.

Three months later, the company said it had secured an equity investment to settle thousands of lawsuits brought by individuals and families of Juul users, school districts, city governments and Native American tribes.

The vaping company, which has laid off hundreds of employees as it struggles to move forward while facing increased competition, recently agreed to pay West Virginia $7.9 million to settle a lawsuit alleging the company violated the states Consumer Credit and Protection Act by marketing to underage users. And last month, the company paid Chicago $23.8 million to settle a lawsuit.

Juul said in its statement Monday that this latest settlement will help the company get closer to the total resolution of the company's past.

Juul is currently appealing the Food and Drug Administrations rejection of its application to keep selling its vaping products as a smoking alternative for adults.

___

Associated Press writer Josh Funk contributed to this report from Omaha, Nebraska.
The Wager: A Take of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder, by David Grann (Doubleday)

The Wager, a British war ship, crashed onto rocks amid stormy seas off the coast of Patagonia in 1741. Sailors on a secret wartime mission had already dealt with typhus, lice, blinding squalls, frostbite, worm-eaten biscuits, scurvy and the death of comrades since they set sail months earlier.

It would get much worse.

Stranded on a cold, deserted island, shipwreck survivors scraped seaweed off rocks to boil and eat. Some ate the dead. Crew members blamed their imperious captain for their fate and rigid naval order broke down. Mutineers abandoned their captain on the island after he fatally shot an unruly crew member in the head.

The story of the shipwreck and its aftermath features scenery-chewing characters, unexpected twists and an almost unimaginable amount of human misery. Grann, the author of the acclaimed Killers of the Flower Moon, tells it with style. He manages to wring maximum drama out of the events and sketch out nuanced portraits of key players on the doomed ship. Journal entries made on the voyage gave Grann a window into their thoughts and fears.

In a large part, this is the tale of two strong-willed characters on a collision course.

At the helm is David Cheap, who became the ship's captain after a death at sea. Cheap, new to command, was an authoritarian with a relentless drive to prove his worthiness to superiors. His vainglorious manner and stubborn defiance of all difficulties grated on the crew, most notably gunner John Bulkeley.

Bulkeley, a sailor to his bones, was highly competent and increasingly doubtful of Cheap's judgment as their mission to the Pacific progressed. After the shipwreck, he wrote in his journal that if the captain had only conferred with his officers they might probably have escaped our present unhappy condition.

Bulkeley led the group of mutineers off the island, leaving Cheap behind with a small group of loyalists. Bulkeleys party of barely-alive men landed on the coast of Brazil in January 1742. The story might have ended there, except Cheap and a two other bedraggled souls washed up on the coast of Chile six months later.

Cheap denounced Bulkeleys party as mutineers. Bulkeley called Cheap a murderer. A court martial was convened to sort out the competing stories.

After defying death in stormy seas and on a cold island, Bulkeley and his mates faced the possible threat of the hangman's noose.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 17. The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) will need no new pipes to accommodate double the current volumes, Trend reports with reference to TAP AG consortium.

"Following the first phase of binding offers of the currently ongoing market test, TAP triggered the first phase of expansion, offering additional 1.2 billion cubic meters per year from 2026. TAP's capacity expansion process is structured in market tests conducted in an open, transparent and non-discriminatory manner. A second binding phase is expected in 2023 in which interested operators will be able to submit further offers. TAP's capacity can be expanded in successive phases to reach up to 20 billion cubic meters per year, without the need to lay new pipelines," said the consortium.

New volumes of hydrogen and other renewable gases will also be able to be transported through TAP, promoting long-term sustainability and energy transition in the affected areas.

As the European section of the Southern Gas Corridor, TAP has the capacity to transport approximately 10 billion cubic meters of gas per annum (bcm/a) to several markets in Europe. The pipeline is also designed with the potential to expand its throughput capacity up to 20 bcm/a.

TAP is strategically and economically important to Europe and essential in providing reliable access to a new source of natural gas. TAP plays a significant role in boosting Europes energy security, supply diversification, as well as decarbonisation objectives.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn
Beau may be afraid but Ari Aster certainly isn't.

Of the many words used to describe the writer-director's previous two films  Hereditary and Midsommar  timidity was never of them. This is a filmmaker who has sent Toni Collette skittering across the ceiling and intricately arranged mutilated bodies the way some people make bouquets.

But if any doubts remained about just how far Aster is willing to go, Beau Is Afraid should pacify them. Not because of the degree of terror within it; by Aster's high standards, Beau Is Afraid" is notably less ghastly than his first two outings. But it's even more audaciously grotesque, more self-evidently pulled from its director's psyche, more a work of a filmmaker's unfiltered, runaway imagination.

Rather than slotting in as a horror film, it can be categorized a little less neatly as a surreal three-hour Homeric odyssey about Jewish guilt, Oedipal angst and somebody named Birthday Boy Stab Man. And this, remember, constitutes a sunnier register for Aster.

What has made Aster such a potent filmmaker, I think, is the lack of relief he offers audiences. His movies are nightmares without any possibility of waking. And just as much as one might spend Midsommar looking for an escapeway, the urge to open a window for just one breath of fresh air in Beau Is Afraid is considerable.

That's both a compliment and a complaint for Aster's film, a rigorously wearisome experience propelled by a monstrous current of anxiety and dread. Aster's cinema is that of a bad trip: a surreal and comic journey through dark corners of consciousness, vividly rendered in caricature and detail. (Midsommar," if you remember, began with mind-altering mushrooms.) It's not an easy ride to recommend taking. But, just the same, there's never any doubt that you are, most definitely, traveling somewhere else.

Beau Is Afraid, which A24 releases in theaters nationwide Friday, opens not with psychedelics but the pangs of child birth. After some muffled screams and flashes of light, we, as Beau, emerge directly out of the womb. His mother Mona (played at different times by Zoe Lister-Jones and Patti LuPone) screams because her baby is oddly silent. Flashing forward several decades, the grown but still whimpering Beau Wassermann (Joaquin Phoenix) is sitting with his therapist (Stephen McKinley Henderson, a boon to any movie). It doesn't take long for his mother to come up in their session. Do you ever wish she was dead? the therapist asks. Beau, protesting a little too much, quickly shouts No!"

Back near his New York apartment, the city streets are are an over-the-top hellscape, draped in garbage and graffiti, with mean-looking faces everywhere, including that loose maniac, Birthday Boy Stab Man, along with roaming hordes of vandals. We're less in the real world than some bonkers, not-funhouse-mirrors manifestation of Beau's fears. His anxiety might called cripplingly extreme if it didn't appear to be well-founded by the state of things around him.

Beau is to travel the next day to visit his mother. But after a neighbor harasses him through the night and his apartment keys and bag are stolen, Beau calls to tell his mother that he's missed his plane, news she coldly receives as confirmation that her son never loved her. Things are already antic and unhinged but they then turn cartoonishly apocalyptic. Beau's apartment is broken into and taken over, and his spiraling desperation is amplified into crushing remorse when he's called and told that his mother has been killed, her head severed by a fallen chandelier.

After Beau, by now completely crazed and stripped of nearly everything he owns, is struck by a truck, Aster's film proceeds as a nightmarish quest to reach his mother's house before the funeral service. Clearly defined sections make up the odyssey, each of which offer some disturbing alternative to family life, with a few flashbacks mixed in. First is a period of distressing convalesce with the seemingly stable suburban couple who ran him over (Amy Ryan, Nathan Lane); then a magical section in a forest where Beau encounters a traveling theater group and is transported into their stage play; and finally his late, bedraggled arrival home.

Much of all this is far more extended than it perhaps ought to be. But it's also crammed full with subtle gags in a meticulous and twisted tapestry of psychological torture. The way Beau keeps dropping through trap doors of narrative in a metaphorical movie realm will remind some of Charlie Kaufman or maybe a particularly grim version of Alice in Wonderland. But "Beau Is Afraid' is eminently unique to Aster, who fills his frames with sly jokes. Beau's recent phone calls, for just one example, are only his mother, his therapist and Moviefone. Who needs anything else?

But whether there's enough here to sustain this nakedly ambitious three-hour roller coaster is harder to say. There are scenes, shot by cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski, that I don't expect to forget. The animated interlude in the forest, with the help of Chilean artists Cristobal Leon and Joaquin Cocina, is a magically dark fable within a fable. Nathan Lane, while otherwise entrapping Beau, peppering every line with Old buddy and My dude is one of the funnier things I've seen lately. And in the film's final chapter, Patti LuPone steps forward magnificently with such gothic menace that she makes Collette's mother of Hereditary look like a peach.

All of this, though, is a lot of movie to hang on mommy issues. Beau Is Afraid takes a long road  and one with a lot of yelling and sniveling along the way  to not get very far. That could, of course, be the point. But the simpering sad sack Beau  despite Phoenix's typically committed and sympathetic performance  remains curiously void, stuck in a one-note nightmare.

Aster, whose first film also dug into the frightful side of what we inherit, is clearly and intensely channeling something deep within. And as captivating as it can be to see a filmmaker out on the ledge like this this, the sense that characters are being moved around like pawns in an elaborate design  an aspect of Aster's previous films, too  never quite dissipates. The one exception: Parker Posey. She walks into the movie late, as a long-ago encounter of Beau's, and instantly changes the movie's chemistry. She's the one breath of fresh air in Beau Is Afraid," but, boy, does Aster snuff it out quick.

Beau Is Afraid, an A24 release is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for strong violent content, sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use and language. Running time: 179 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.
City of Dreams, by Don Winslow (William Morrow)

City of Dreams is the middle book in a planned trilogy that began when a stunning woman emerged from the surf at a Rhode Island beach in last years City on Fire and sparked a war between the states Irish and Italian crime families.

Now, as the latest installment opens, Danny Ryan leads whats left of the defeated Irish mob on an epic, cross-country journey in search of a new home and a measure of safety from the Italian gangsters, the Rhode Island State Police, FBI agents and a growing number of other pursuers dead set on putting them in the ground.

Ryans not sure where they are going, author Don Winslow writes, just that they have to get the hell out of Rhode Island.

If the story reminds readers of Homers The Iliad and Virgils Aeneid, in which jealousy over a beauty named Helen sparked a war between the Greeks and the Trojans, it should. Winslow peppers his yarn with allusions and quotes from the epic Greek poems, casting Ryan in the role of a modern-day warrior at odds with his fate.

After a series of close calls, the fugitives settle in California, some of them risking their lives by ignoring Dannys order to lay low. Eventually, however, Danny violates the order himself. Through a series of circumstances, he ends up investing in a Hollywood movie based on his own life, falling in love with its female lead, making a new enemy of the Los Angeles crime family and putting himself and his crew of expats in mortal danger.

By the end of the new novel, Danny and the few friends he has left are on the run again, setting the stage for the trilogys upcoming conclusion, City in Ruins.

With 23 novels to his credit, Winslow has earned a reputation as one of the finest crime novelists writing in English. Earlier novels, including The Death and Life of Bobby Z and California Power and Light, were beautifully written and inventively plotted, but with each subsequent book, the authors ambition has grown, leading to much longer, critically acclaimed novels including a powerful trilogy about the war on drugs: The Power of the Dog (2005), The Cartel (2015), and The Border" (2019).

With the Danny Ryan trilogy, Winslow seems destined to claim a place beside Mario Puzzos The Godfather on the Mount Rushmore of American crime fiction. ___

Bruce DeSilva, winner of the Mystery Writers of Americas Edgar Award, is the author of the Mulligan crime novels including The Dread Line.
PHILADELPHIA  About a month after she arrived in Philadelphia from her native Guatemala, a mother went to the bus stop to pick up her son.

But her 11-year-old never got off the bus. And because the mother speaks Qeqchi, an indigenous Guatemalan language, the staff at his Philadelphia School District school had no way to tell her what had happened  that the school had somehow lost him.

"On the day my child was lost, I was really scared and worried," said the mother through an interpreter. She asked that her last name be withheld because of safety concerns. "I went to the school, but because there was no interpreter and I do not understand English or Spanish, I was not able to understand anything."

Her son eventually made his way home with his sister, unharmed, but the experience was traumatic both for the 11-year-old and his mother. Staff who eventually contacted a community organization they knew had access to interpretation services in Qeqchi (pronounced kek-chee) were worried and frustrated, too.

Though the district uses both in-person interpreters and a telephonic interpretation service to translate for families in more than 200 languages, a growing number speak less-common languages not covered by the district's current interpretation service. The district spends $25,000 per month on LanguageLine, according to school board documents, which allows staff to access interpreters for phone calls with parents who speak languages other than English.

Federal and state laws guarantee students English language instruction and require schools to provide language access supports so families can meaningfully participate in their kids' education.

And while the district's policies do codify those regulations, "the families, students, and partners we hear from report they are not implemented effectively and consistently across schools or the various languages spoken," said Kristina Moon, a district parent and lawyer with the Education Law Center of Pennsylvania. "All students, regardless whether they speak a language of lesser diffusion, are required to attend school and cannot be denied equitable access or parent participation."

HIAS Pennsylvania, a nonprofit that assists immigrants and refugees from around the world, first began seeing an influx of Qeqchi-speaking Guatemalans in the 2021-22 school year, said Michelle Ferguson, education program manager. Last year, HIAS and other organizations serving immigrants assisted about 40 Indigenous students and caregivers. Although advocates said they didn't know the reason, that number is already doubled, and the school year isn't over.

The Chester County Intermediate Unit's Migrant Education Program serves 115 students who speak indigenous languages and attend schools throughout the region, including in Philadelphia  some who speak Qeqchi, but others who speak Achi and Poqomchi, said Karisa Barlow, program coordinator.

School board vice president Mallory Fix-Lopez, a college professor who teaches English to speakers of other languages, has already reached out to Moon and other community members who spoke to the board in March about the language-access problem, she said. Fix-Lopez signaled changes are coming.

"As immigrant communities grow in Philadelphia, we must adjust our services to meet the needs of diverse communities, including diversifying the languages offered in our interpretation services," said Fix-Lopez. "As a TESOL [teaching English to speakers of other languages] professional myself, I can assure you that we are committed to continually reflecting and adjusting to meet the ever-changing needs of our students, families, and caregivers so they feel welcome and supported."

But for the moment, barriers remain  from the simple act of enrolling children in school to hearing from the school nurse.

Advocates say they are happy to support families with individual translation when necessary, "but this is not a sustainable approach," said Julie McIntyre, who works with newcomer immigrant youth at La Puerta Abierta, another Philadelphia nonprofit.

It often falls to Parisa Khoshnood, the youth education case manager for HIAS, to explain as best she can the workings of school to families. It's particularly challenging when she's asked to talk about things like the consequences of truancy.

"Attendance has been a challenge coming from lack of interpretation services," said Khoshnood, who was the one who received the panicked phone call when the 11-year-old was lost. "There are a lot of differences between the Guatemalan education system and the School District of Philadelphia."

Safety is also a worry.

Last year, a kindergarten student tripped and fell down the steps at his Philadelphia school during dismissal, said Barlow, of the Migrant Education Program. The school nurse attended to the boy, and his father carried him home, but the school staff was unable to convey to the child's father, whose native language is Q'eqchi', what had happened.

Ultimately, Barlow and her colleagues followed up with the family in Qeqchi and found that the boy could not put weight on his foot. With the program's assistance, the boy received medical care, where it was discovered his foot was broken.

"This student's school has significant language diversity and makes incredible efforts to honor those languages and provide strong language access that makes families feel welcome," Barlow said. "But staff are hamstrung by the lack of a telephonic interpretation resource for speakers of Q'eqchi' and other indigenous Guatemalan languages."

Parents like the one whose son was lost feel disconnected from their children's schools.

"I am sad that I cannot participate in my children's education," said the mother through an interpreter, as shared by Khoshnood at the March school board meeting. "I want to know if they are learning and progressing. But I don't because there is no Q'eqchi' interpretation. I want my children to be involved and I want to also be involved myself."

The school board in 2021 declared itself a "sanctuary district" as a way to assure immigrant students and families they are welcome and will be protected in Philadelphia schools.

Language access services are key to that, said McIntyre, from La Puerta Abierta.

"Foundationally recognizing people's primary language is really step one in extending a warm welcome to students and families from all over the world," she said.

___

2023 The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC. Visit at inquirer.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP)  A lot was happening in March 1965 in the bungalow in Selma, Alabama, that then-4-year-old Jawana Jackson called home, and much of it involved her Uncle Martin.

There were late-night visitors, phone calls and meetings at the house that was a safe haven for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders as they planned the Selma to Montgomery marches calling for Black voting rights.

The role the Jackson House played was integral to the Civil Rights Movement, so Jackson contacted the The Henry Ford Museum near Detroit about a year ago to ask if it would take over the preservation of the Jackson House and its legacy.

It became increasingly clearer to me that the house belonged to the world, and quite frankly, The Henry Ford was the place that I always felt in my heart that it needed to be, she told The Associated Press last week from her home in Pensacola, Florida.

Starting this year, the Jackson House will be dismantled piece-by-piece and trucked the more than 800 miles (1,280 kilometers) north to Dearborn, Michigan, where it will eventually be open to the public as part of the history museum. The project is expected to take up to three years.

Owned by dentist Sullivan Jackson and his wife, Richie Jean, the 3,000-square-foot (280-square-meter) home was where King and others strategized the three marches against racist Jim Crow laws that prevented Black people from voting in the Deep South.

King was inside the home when President Lyndon Johnson announced a bill that would become the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

There was a synergy going on in that house during those critical times, Jawana Jackson said. "Whether that was when Uncle Martin was praying the morning of the Selma to Montgomery march or whether he was talking to President Johnson (by phone) in the little bedroom of that home, I always got a sense of energy and a sense of hope for the future.

The house and artifacts, including King's neckties and pajamas, and the chair where he sat while watching Johnson's televised announcement, will be part of the acquisition by The Henry Ford. The purchase price is confidential.

Named after Ford Motor Co. founder and American industrialist Henry Ford, the museum sits on 250 acres (100 hectares) and also features Greenfield Village where more than 80 historic structures are displayed and maintained. The Jackson House will be rebuilt there, joining the courthouse where Abraham Lincoln first practiced law, the laboratory where Thomas Edison perfected the light bulb, and the home and workshop where Orville and Wilbur Wright invented their first airplane.

Also among the collection's artifacts are the Montgomery city bus whose seat Rosa Parks refused to give up to a white man in 1955 and the chair that Lincoln was sitting on in 1865 when he was assassinated at Ford's Theatre in Washington.

Visitors to Greenfield Village will be able to walk through the Jackson House, according to Patricia Mooradian, The Henry Fords president and chief executive.

This house is the envelope, but the real importance is what happened inside, Mooradian said. We want people to immerse themselves in that history ... to feel and experience what may have gone on in that home. What were the conversations? What were the decisions that were being made around the dining room table?

Built in 1912, the home served as a guest house for Black authors W.E.B. Dubois and Booker T. Washington who held fireside chats regarding education, religion, the arts, community building and economic sustainability, according to the Alabama African American Civil Rights Heritage Sites Consortium.

It took on a greater importance following the fatal shooting of a young Black man, Jimmie Lee Jackson, by an Alabama trooper.

On March 7, 1965, weeks after that slaying, about 600 people participated in a peaceful protest. The late Georgia U.S. Rep. John Lewis was one of the leaders of the planned 54-mile (86-kilometer) march to the state Capitol, which was part of the larger effort to register Black voters. But police beat protesters as they tried to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma in what is now known as Bloody Sunday.

Television and newspaper reports seared images of that confrontation into the nation's consciousness. Days later, King led what became known as the Turnaround Tuesday march, in which marchers approached police at the bridge and prayed before turning back.

Johnson introduced the Voting Rights Act of 1965 eight days after Bloody Sunday. On March 21, King began a third march, under federal protection, that grew to thousands of people by the time it arrived at the state Capitol. Five months later, Johnson signed the bill into law.

The Jackson House brings a new dimension to understanding the role Black Americans played in defeating Jim Crow, according to historian Gretchen Sullivan Sorin.

The Jacksons are unsung heroes, Sorin said. Their generosity and courage shows us how we, as ordinary Americans, can stand up against injustice."

Jackson said her parents felt the risks were worth taking.

For them, it was all about the future for me and millions of other children that were going to grow up," she said. "They felt that everyone deserved a peaceful and more democratic society to grow up in.

___

Williams is a member of AP's Race & Ethnicity team.
Woodbury is not known as the antiques capital of Connecticut for nothing. In New England, youd be hard pressed to find a town without an antiques shop, but Woodbury boasts more than 20 businesses offering a wide variety of antiques.

The number of antiques shops in town has fluctuated over the years with a high point of about 35 some years ago. Over the years, some have closed and new ones opened but the current number is still impressive. Most are located along Main Street in the towns Historic District. Most shops are within a few miles of each other and there are pockets where a few are adjacent for one-stop shopping.

Tapping into Woodburys history and reputation for early American furniture and antiques, even the shops are unique. While there are some typical brick-and-mortar shops with contemporary architecture, several antiques dealers conduct business out of historic houses or buildings dating back to the 1800s, thanks to the towns mixed-use zoning. In the digital age, a few dealers who once had physical shops along Main Street in the past, like Monique Shay Antiques, specializing in painted French Canadian furniture, now only conduct business online or via phone.

And several longtime dealers have turned their homes into shops. Wayne Mattoxs mother began a small antiques business at 82 Main Street North back in 1972. Its in this same 1830 Italianate style house that he and his wife, Kathleen Dowd, run Wayne Mattox Antiques to this day.

Woodbury Antique Shops Abrash Galleries Rugs & Antiques 40 Main Street North abrashgalleries.com Antiquario Villas and Cottages 1023 Main Street South Art Pappas Antiques 161 Main Street South Artpappas.com Clark Charles 35 Main Street North http://www.clarkclassical.com/ charles@clarkclassical.com The Coop Antiques 245 Main Street North 646-209-8923 The Elemental Garden 259 Main Street South theelementalgarden.com Farmhouse Antiques 495 Main Street South farmhouseantiquesct.com G. Sergeant Antiques 289 Main Street South gsergeant.com Georges Champion Modern Shop 442 Main Street South championmodern.com Hidden Acorn 385 Washington Road hiddenacorn.com Kocian DePasqua American Antiques and Folk Art 451 Main Street South kocian-depasqua.com Lisa Demuro Antiques 14 Green Circle lwdbry@aol.com Madeline West Antiques 373 Main Street North madelinewest Main Street Antiques Center 113 Main Street South facebook.com/msacWoodburyCT Mill House Antiques 1068 Main Street North millhouseantiquesandgardens.com Monique Shay Antiques Online only moniqueshay.com Pantry & Hearth Antiques 994 Main Street South pantryandhearth.com David Schorsch - Eileen M. Smiles 358 Main Street South americanantiqueart.com Schwenke Group LLC 50 Main Street North schwenke.com Tucker Frey 289 Main Street South walinfreyantiques.com Village Wicker & Lampshades 660 Main Street South 203-266-4297 Wayne Mattox Antiques 82 Main Street North antiquetalk.com Woodbury Antiques and Flea Market 44 Sherman Hill Road woodburyflea.net Woodbury Auction 50 Main Street North woodburyauction.com See More Collapse

Its been a wonderful way of making a living and having a lot of fun over the years, he said. The first floor of their home comprises their shop while the couple lives on the second floor.

Gail Lettick, who owns Pantry and Hearth Antiques at 994 Main Street South, has been an antiques dealer since 1987 when she opened up her shop in New York City. Growing up in New Haven, she was already familiar with the antiquing scene in Woodbury as she and her husband, Birney, a renowned illustrator, would come up here antiquing. After his death in 1986, she segued from being an antiques collector to a dealer. In 2004, she bought a house in Woodbury and immediately got to work restoring a cow and horse barn in the back. She had her business in the barn for ten years until she moved it into the house, where she says it is staying. She likes to say most, but not everything, is for sale in her home  and some stuff that is not for sale today, might be in the future.

I think one of the reasons [for choosing Woodbury ] was because there was just so much antique activity here, she said. Rather than seeing their fellow dealers as competition, dealers like Letick say the more, the merrier and customers like having so many in one area.

Mattox calls it the shopping mall principle. People are attracted to places to shop when you have lots of choice and Woodbury is a place where you have a lot of choice, he said. You could spend the whole day shopping and maybe find exactly what youre looking for in two shops, maybe three and then you get the very best one in one shop.

With so many antique shops as well as restaurants and a French bakery, Woodbury is an antique collectors oasis. Woodbury even has a sprinkling of antiques-related shops like Randall Studio, which offers conservation and restoration of gilded objects, and Clapp and Tuttle Framing, which provides art restoration and framing.

Frank DePasqua of Kocian DePasqua, 451 Main Street South, said moving his shop here from Westport years ago was a no-brainer as rents are lower in Woodbury. Plus, the vibe in Westport was more glitzy while Woodbury has a more historic feel, he added.

The people that shop here like purer objects, he said. They are more into early American, things that have original surface or are just good honest pieces. I was a woodworker for years, so I just like to find things in their original state and as pure as possible.

In a town known for high-end, authentic antiques, where original surface and pieces in untouched [not refinished] condition are highly prized by antiques purists, most dealers here have their own specialty, instead of selling a little bit of this and a little of that. American and English furniture and antiques are perhaps the most prolific and can be found in about a dozen shops. But just about any style is prolific is in town, even mid-century modern. If the likes of Nakashima and Saarinen furniture floats your boat, George Campion Modern Shop at 442 Main Street South specializes in mid-century modern and fine vintage design.

I just love it so much, I want to be surrounded by it. It led me to a business so that I could have more than just living in a house with it. Now I have two buildings and surround myself with the things I love, which makes for a pleasurable life," owner George Champion told Hearst CT Media in 2021.

Frequent antiquers who shop in Woodbury often have a game plan, visiting their favorite shops again and again, but those new to antiquing here can pick up a map (available inside most antiques shops) of the Woodbury Antiques Trail, currently listing 15 dealers who are members of the Woodbury Antiques Dealers Association. The association promotes Woodbury as a destination for quality and authentic antiques. Chief among its efforts back in 2009 was securing additional marketing and highway signage from the state for the Woodbury Antiques Trail.

Julie E. Overton, proprietor of Farmhouse Antiques, 495 Main Street South, came to Woodbury nine years ago after moving her business from Watertown. She said business has changed quite a bit these last few years.

It used to be just weekend antiquers but during the pandemic so many people moved from [New York] City up to Woodbury and the Litchfield hills, she said. They started furnishing homes and they were looking for interesting and unique things, one-of-a-kind items. Business started booming after the shutdown once we were reopened. We still get a lot of people from out of state, from across the country and I have a lot of locals, people who live within 30 miles who make the trip just to come see me.

People always say kids today dont like the old stuff, but I dont find that to be the case at all. I think there are a lot of 30-somethings and 20-somethings that really appreciate the stuff thats not mass produced, Overton said.

"There is some level of design in the person who seeks out one of these pieces," Champion said of his shop in 2021. "People want something cool."

Karen Reddington-Hughes owns Abrash Galleries and also is the president of the towns antiques dealers association.

It has been refreshing to see the renewed interest in collecting and placing pieces in rooms to reflect the personality and style of the owner. As we move towards environmentally responsible practices, at the core are antiques dealers who have always been great recyclers of pieces of history, she said.

Among Overton's regulars are customers like Carolynn Conboy of Morris, who was browsing on a recent Saturday with a friend in tow. Conboy was admiring some ironstone when a cobblers bench caught her eye. As Overton showed off its attributes, Conboy wistfully said she wished she had a mud room for such a piece. Asked what brings her to Farmhouse Antiques a few times a month, she said its because she has such beautiful things. Shes always changing them out and she knows what shes talking about.

Half the fun is looking and then if you find something, thats a bonus, said Overton.

The beauty of Woodbury is that we have a really diverse selection of collections, Reddington-Hughes said. We have Americana, folk art, arts and crafts, textiles, early American, English and French and mid-century modern. We have lots of people to select from and I think that is what makes Woodbury so appealing because no matter what you collect, most likely one of our dealers will have it.
An earthquake with a magnitude of around 7 is likely to hit the San Francisco Bay Area in the next 10 years, according to the US Geological Survey  and when it does, the city of Alameda may be hardest hit.

A new report from the Mercury News reveals that despite efforts to protect the island city and its 80,000 residents, the largely man-made island is at risk of devastation when the "Big One" hits.

All those apartment houses along the South Shore, thats all soup, Dennis Evanosky, a longtime resident and community historian told the outlet, referring to the southern and western portions of the island. ...thats all man-made land. All of it. Including schools.

The threat of liquefaction  the devastating effect of shaking ground on loosely packed landfill, causing it to behave like liquid  will be familiar to those who remember the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. That shake caused the most damage in San Francisco's Marina District, largely built on landfill. The liquefaction of the ground there caused four deaths and major damage to scores of homes.

The center of Alameda Island is built on rock, but the majority of land closer to the water is built on clay and mud pulled from the bay in the 1920s to construct what is now Naval Air Station Alameda and the surrounding residential neighborhoods.

A major quake on the San Andreas Fault, which runs through San Francisco and caused the 1906 disaster, typically occurs every 200 years. The Hayward Fault, however, which runs through the East Bay, historically sees a major quake every 150 years  and the last was in 1868. At the time, only 24,000 people lived in Alameda County, and the magnitude 6.8 earthquake took 30 lives. It's estimated that a similar quake today could cause over $100 billion damage to the county, which now houses 2.4 million residents.

According to the USGS, a magnitude 6.0 quake would be felt by all residents and result in moving furniture and some cracked walls. A 7.0, however, would likely result in broken chimneys and considerable damage to poorly built structures.

With regards to Alameda Island, the Mercury News report also points out that there are just five roads in and out of the East Bay city, and all are built on or under hazardous liquefaction zones.

Measures to mitigate the effect of an earthquake on the island, which has no neighborhood reservoirs, include the recent installation of a 3,000-foot water line between Oakland and Alameda by the East Bay Municipal Utility District to provide drinking water during a disaster. Experts told the outlet though that the only real solution to the predicted devastation would be to entirely rebuild every neighborhood built on landfill.

"The Hayward Fault is the single most urbanized earthquake fault in the United States," the USGS wrote in a recent study. "Scientists are convinced that the Hayward Fault has reached the point where a powerful, damaging earthquake can be expected at any time."
Ahmad Jamal, whose taut, spare and rhythmically supple approach to jazz piano influenced generations of other musicians who embraced his less-is-more dynamics, died April 16 at 92.

His wife, Laura Hess-Hey, confirmed the death but did not provide further information.

In a professional career that began at 14 in his native Pittsburgh, Jamal proved over seven decades to be a musician of ceaseless growth and invention, a minimalist, classicist and modernist who sought to erase distinctions among musical genres. He was also, in the 1950s, among the first African American performers who publicly adopted the Muslim faith.

Jamal's preferred musical format was the trio, and he found critical success with a quiet, understated rhythmic style and dramatic use of silence between notes. His trademark was an ingeniously airy approach to classic pop standards such as "Love for Sale," "A Gal in Calico" and "Don't Blame Me" or in his own groove-inflected compositions such as "Ahmad's Blues," a song that became part of the jazz repertoire.

His group was the house band for Chicago's Black-owned Pershing Hotel lounge - a favorite hangout for Billie Holiday and Sammy Davis Jr. - when Jamal recorded his 1958 commercial breakthrough, "Ahmad Jamal at the Pershing: But Not For Me."

The million-selling album stayed on the Billboard magazine charts for more than 100 weeks, and its centerpiece was an eight-minute rendition of the 1930s pop ballad "Poinciana." Jamal's version - his signature number for the rest of his life - was driven by a Caribbean-flavored, near-hypnotic bass-and-drum pulse from whose rolling contours the pianist set off delicately timed eruptions of chords and clusters.

The most prominent contemporary to embrace Jamal as a stylistic influence was trumpeter Miles Davis, who recalled in his 1989 autobiography that Jamal "knocked me out with his concept of space, his lightness of touch, and the way he phrases notes and chords and passages."

Pianists as diverse as McCoy Tyner, Cedar Walton and Bill Charlap also claimed Jamal as an influence on their approaches to the jazz piano trio. Even Matthew Shipp, among the more idiosyncratic and independent-minded of progressive jazz pianists, referred to Jamal as "a musical architect of the highest order."

"You never quite know what the guy's going to do," music journalist Jim Macnie wrote in the Village Voice in 2010, amid a new release and concert dates by Jamal. "Quips fly from his right hand; queries bubble up on the left. They're linked by a devastating sense of swing, an addiction to group interaction, and a deep trust in melody."

Buoyed by the success of "But Not for Me," Jamal became a household name at a time when jazz was waning and rock was ascendant. He and his ever-changing trio lineup continued a whirlwind of nightclub tours while sometimes chafing against commercial expectations. He approached his goal - extending the boundaries of the piano trio format - with the intensity of a religious scholar.

Although cordial with interviewers, Jamal projected a studious, almost frosty austerity onstage, displaying no climatic flourishes or colorful traits beyond those woven into his playing. He often seemed remote in performance, totally absorbed in his thematic variations.

"I sometimes get the feeling that Jamal would rather crawl into the piano than off the bench at the conclusion of a performance, so deeply involved is he in his music," San Francisco Examiner jazz critic Phil Elwood once wrote.

"Maybe so," Jamal replied in 1982 to Elwood's observation. "But I regret that I still don't have enough time to spend with my instrument. I think I could become more at one with it if I did."

Frederick Russell Jones, known since childhood as Fritz, was born in Pittsburgh on July 2, 1930. His father worked in the steel mills, and his mother was a domestic worker. He began playing at 3 when an uncle challenged him to imitate him on the family piano.

His formal lessons began four years later, and he was drawn to works by French classical composers Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy, who often put spaces of silence between notes. He was steeped in all forms of music at Westinghouse High School, the alma mater of esteemed jazz pianists such as Erroll Garner ("my major, major influence") and Mary Lou Williams. Fritz Reiner conducted the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra at school assemblies.

By the time he was a freshman, Jamal was jamming at the musicians' union hall and working in Pittsburgh nightclubs. "I'd do algebra during intermission, between sets," he told Down Beat magazine. His ambition to attend the Juilliard School was soon eclipsed by his income.

"It was 25 cents here, $6 there," he explained to The Washington Post in 1983. "When I got up to $60 a week, which was as much as my father was making, I said, well, this is it."

He came roaring out of Pittsburgh with a reputation for an extraordinary musical vocabulary, able to sight-read Bach as easily as a chart by Count Basie, and found himself in great demand as a sideman.

Newly married, he settled in Chicago in 1950 and converted to Islam from the Baptist faith of his youth following an encounter with bop trumpeter Idrees Sulieman. His faith freed him, he said, from the indignities of racial segregation and the petty cruelties he endured in show business.

In his transition from Fritz Jones to Ahmad Jamal, he told Time magazine, "I haven't adopted a name. It's a part of my ancestral background and heritage. I have re-established my original name. I have gone back to my own vine and fig tree."

He credited his faith with bolstering his musical confidence as he was leading a bass-guitar-piano trio, the Three Strings, and recording for the Okeh label of Columbia Records in the early 1950s. The ensemble, Saturday Review music critic Irving Kolodin wrote at the time, began to make "a quiet noise in jazz circles, attracting attention not by flamboyance and flash but by a low-keyed tonal production."

With the astronomical success of "But Not For Me," Jamal was pulling down $3,000 a week. He purchased a 16-room Chicago mansion, started a nightclub (alcohol-free, per his faith), and engaged in other business ventures from greeting cards to pies. None of these enterprises succeeded, and Jamal became mired in debt.

His first marriage, to Virginia Wilkins (who took the Muslim name Maryam Mezzan), ended in divorce in 1962, and she later sued him for nonpayment of child support for their daughter, Mumeenah. His own lawyers also sought money from him, according to news reports at the time.

Jamal moved to New York for a long residency at the Village Gate nightclub. Amid a hectic performing schedule, Jamal enjoyed acclaim in 1970 for an electrically amplified keyboard version of composer Johnny Mandel's theme from the movie and TV sitcom "M*A*S*H." That same year, Jamal released one of his more significant trio albums, "The Awakening," with bassist Jamil Nasser and drummer Frank Gant. It was among his many recordings that hip-hop artists such as Jay-Z, Common and Nas later mined for samples in their own mixes.

Critics and audiences began to notice subtle adjustments in Jamal's style. By the early 1980s, he was moving away from interpretations of classic pop standards and favoring more original compositions, telling music journalist Eugene Holley Jr. that it was "time for the musician to write his own repertoire rather than to keep resurrecting the things that are in somebody else's mind."

Capitalizing on a resurgence of interest in acoustic jazz in the 1990s, Jamal released several new live albums under the rubric "The Essence," and his legacy and influence were more fully acknowledged.

"Through the use and space and changes of rhythmic tempo, Jamal invented a group sound that had all the surprise and dynamic variation of an imaginatively ordered big band," wrote jazz critic Stanley Crouch, who placed Jamal on an equal footing with Thelonious Monk as an innovator and influence.

Jamal's prodigious surge of activity continued unabated into the 21st century with recordings and performances that attested to his inventive powers and still-authoritative command of rhythm. He was declared a Jazz Master in 1994 by the National Endowment for the Arts and won a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 2017.

His daughter Mumeenah Counts died in 1979. He had another daughter, Sumayah. In addition to his wife, a complete list of survivors was not immediately available.

In February 2020, six months shy of his 90th birthday, Jamal sounded to critics as frisky and authoritative as ever in live performance at the Kennedy Center's Concert Hall. He spoke of a magnetic connection with his instrument, a sensation that neither age nor any other factor could compromise.

"When I pass a piano anywhere, I have to touch it or play it," Jamal once told the Boston Globe. "The reward of being a musician is not money. It's the wonderful, indescribable feeling of knowing you're performing at your highest level. It's a spiritual feeling. You can always make money. But you can't always latch onto your own spirit. Maybe these moments represent the ultimate freedom."
NEW YORK (AP)  FBI arrests 2 men accused of establishing undercover police station in New York City on behalf of Chinese government.
Currently Reading

Alert: Man who shot Black teen who knocked on his door in Kansas City, Missouri, charged with armed assault, prosecutor says
LAYTONVILLE, Calif. (AP)  A 15-year-old girl has been arrested on suspicion of killing another teenager whose body was found in an empty field in a remote Northern California town, authorities said Monday.

Sixteen-year-old Ruby Sky Montelongo was found dead by her uncle Saturday morning after she failed to return to their home in Covelo the previous night, according to the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.
After a season of massive snowfall, snowpack in California's Southern Sierra Nevada is way above its normal level. It sits at a whopping 261 percent of its typical April 1 peak, and this week, it sailed past levels from the 1982-83 season, a benchmark year in the modern record for snow and for floods. As spring begins and temperatures warm, the bulk of that snow will start to melt - driving fears of serious flooding in the valley below.

Runoff from recent storms is already filling the region's reservoirs, sending floodwaters into farms and communities downstream, with more rain and snow still on the way.

"It is important to understand that we are in uncharted territory," said Jeffrey Mount, a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California's Water Policy Center, in an email. "The amount of water tied up in snow in the watershed is about twice the average amount of runoff in an entire year."

Mount said the snowpack is the biggest "since we started recording snow water content" with automated sensors. While the Department of Water Resources said that 1969 holds the top spot for the Southern Sierra in the longer-term record, Mount believes levels will soon exceed that year as well.

Experts say the 1982-83 season is an example of how snowmelt can translate into epic flooding.

That year "produced the most significant flooding in living memory," Mount wrote in a recent blog post. More than 100,000 acres of farmland were submerged, re-creating a historic inland lake. Floodwaters halted farming for nearly two years in affected areas.

Some of California's most prolific farmland lies in the San Joaquin Valley and the Tulare basin at the base of the southern Sierra - downstream of this year's heavy snowpack. Fresno, Tulare and Kern counties are the top three agricultural counties in the United States, according to a report from the Public Policy Institute of California.

Tulare Lake, once the largest lake west of the Mississippi, is now mostly an irrigated dry lake bed, carved with canals that channel water in and out of the basin. But the lake has re-emerged during extremely wet years like 1983 and 1997.

"It is logical to assume that we will see something like that again, but it all depends on how fast the snowpack melts," he said.

It will also depend on how many more atmospheric river storms drop rain both above and downstream of reservoirs.

Four rivers flow into the lake basin, draining water from the southern Sierra Nevada: the Tule, the Kaweah, the Kings and the Kern. The reservoirs in this region are much smaller than their counterparts in the wetter northern Sierra Nevada.

Mount said that two of the reservoirs, Lake Success on the Tule River and Lake Kaweah on the Kaweah River, are already full due to recent storms and have limited capacity to take on more water to prevent flooding.

"These are relatively small dams that fill quickly during high flow events," he said. "And the channel capacity downstream is not large, so flooding is not that surprising here."

The city of Visalia in the San Joaquin Valley is bracing for possible flooding as water is released from Lake Kaweah this week. And several evacuation warnings and orders have been issued in Tulare County because of flood concerns along the Tule River.

Lake Isabella on the Kern River to the south is also filling quickly.

"The risk is really coming from the fact that those dams now have to release all of the water that is coming into them," Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA, said in an online presentation on Friday. "Rather than buffering flows, they've reached their safety maximum."

While flooding so far has been limited to agricultural areas, he noted that the risk is likely to grow to include more populated areas, and that the state was shifting significant response resources to the region.

With a break in the weather late this week, Mount said that operators will try to release as much water downstream as they can to make room for the next floods.

But this spring's snowmelt could dwarf reservoir capacity, especially if it occurs quickly or during heavy rain from any additional storms.

In fact, the combination of full reservoirs, a massive snowpack and an active storm track is a dangerous one for downstream communities, according to Deirdre Des Jardins, an independent water researcher and director of California Water Research.

"We're going to have prolonged, sustained high flows this year," she said in an interview.

For many Sierra reservoirs, she said, the maximum flood level was calculated in the mid-20th century and hasn't been updated to keep pace with changes in climate.

High flows this spring will probably strain the state's many aging levees, which tend to be most neglected in low-income communities and weakest in agricultural areas.

Des Jardins thinks that officials could be more forthcoming on the possibility of flooding, so the public will be ready for evacuation orders, should they be issued.

"I think there is a balance - you want to be calm, but you need to be telling people that an evacuation warning means 'pack' and it means you might be flooded," she said. "There is such a thing as being a little too reassuring."
Over the last two decades, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has reported on required financial disclosure forms that his family received rental income totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars from a firm called Ginger, Ltd., Partnership.

But that company - a Nebraska real estate firm launched in the 1980s by his wife and her relatives - has not existed since 2006.

That year, the family real estate company was shut down and a separate firm was created, state incorporation records show. The similarly named firm assumed control of the shuttered company's land leasing business, according to property records.

Since that time, however, Thomas has continued to report income from the defunct company - between $50,000 and $100,000 annually in recent years - and there is no mention of the newer firm, Ginger Holdings, LLC, on the forms.

The previously unreported misstatement might be dismissed as a paperwork error. But it is among a series of errors and omissions that Thomas has made on required annual financial disclosure forms over the past several decades, a review of those records shows. Together, they have raised questions about how seriously Thomas views his responsibility to accurately report details about his finances to the public.

Thomas's disclosure history is in the spotlight after ProPublica revealed this month that a Texas billionaire took him on lavish vacations and also bought from Thomas and his siblings a Georgia home where their mother lives, a transaction that was not disclosed on the forms. Thomas said in a statement that colleagues he did not name told him he did not have to report the vacations and that he has always tried to comply with disclosure guidelines. He has not publicly addressed the property transaction.

In 2011, after the watchdog group Common Cause raised red flags, Thomas updated years of his financial disclosure reports to include employment details for his wife, conservative activist Virginia "Ginni" Thomas. The justice said at the time that he had not understood the filing instructions. In 2020, he was forced to revise his disclosure forms after a different watchdog group found he had failed to report reimbursements for trips to speak at two law schools.

A judicial ethics expert said the pattern was troubling.

"Any presumption in favor of Thomas's integrity and commitment to comply with the law is gone. His assurances and promises cannot be trusted. Is there more? What's the whole story? The nation needs to know," said Stephen Gillers, a legal ethics expert at New York University.

Gillers said all three branches of government should investigate Thomas's compliance or noncompliance with federal ethics law. "The Supreme Court has been the glue that has held the republic together since 1790 with the Civil War the only interruption. We need the public to respect it even when it disagrees with it and to understand why it is important. Generally, the public has," he said. "But that respect is now in serious jeopardy, and others must do something to stop the free fall."

Thomas did not respond to emailed questions sent through a court spokeswoman. His wife also did not respond to requests for comment.

Thomas's income from the firm he describes as "Ginger, Ltd., Partnership" on the financial disclosure forms has grown substantially over the last decade, though the precise amounts are unknown because the forms require only that ranges be reported. In total, he has reported receiving between $270,000 to $750,000 from the firm since 2006, describing it as "rent." Thomas's salary as a justice this year is $285,000.

The company's roots trace back to two lakeside neighborhoods developed decades ago by Ginni Thomas's late parents in a community in Douglas County, just outside of Omaha.

Ginger Limited Partnership was created in 1982 to sell and lease real estate, state incorporation records show, and its partners were Ginni Thomas, her parents and her three siblings. The firm owned and leased out residential lots in two developments, Ginger Woods and Ginger Cove, collecting rent annually from each occupied plot of land, according to copies of lease agreements on file with the county.

When he was nominated to a federal appeals court in 1990, Thomas listed the firm in a financial statement as one of his wife's assets - worth $15,000 at the time.

The firm was dissolved in March 2006. Around the same time, Ginger Holdings, LLC was created in Nebraska, according to state records, which list the same business address as the shuttered company and name Joanne K. Elliott, the sister of Ginni Thomas, as manager.

The same month, the leases for more than 200 residential lots in Ginger Woods and Ginger Cove were transferred from Ginger Limited Partnership to Ginger Holdings, LLC, property records in Douglas County show.

Reached by phone, Elliott referred questions about the two companies to Ginni Thomas.

"You could call her and she could answer anything that she wants you to know," Elliott said before hanging up.

Ginni Thomas is not named in state incorporation records related to Ginger Holdings, LLC.

In his most recent disclosure, in 2021, Thomas estimated that his family's interest in Ginger Limited Partnership, the defunct firm, was worth between $250,000 and $500,000. He reported receiving an income from it between $50,000 and $100,000 that year.

On Friday, congressional Democrats with oversight of federal courts cited Thomas's "apparent pattern of noncompliance with disclosure requirements" in calling on the Judicial Conference - the policymaking body for the federal courts - to refer him to the attorney general for an investigation into whether he violated federal ethics laws.

In addition to the recent revelations about Thomas's financial relationship with Harlan Crow, the Texas billionaire, they cited a period in the 2000s in which Thomas failed to disclose his wife's employment as required by law until the omission was reported by the watchdog group Common Cause.

Ginni Thomas earned more than $686,000 from the conservative Heritage Foundation from 2003 until 2007, according to the nonprofit's tax forms. Clarence Thomas checked a box labeled "none" for his wife's income during that period. He had done the same in 2008 and 2009 when she worked for conservative Hillsdale College.

Thomas acknowledged the error when he amended those filings in 2011. He wrote that the information had been "inadvertently omitted due to a misunderstanding of the filing instructions."

In some years before those omissions, however, Thomas had correctly reported his wife's employment.

Thomas failed to report the sale of the three Georgia properties to Crow in 2014, and he also continued to report that he owned those properties as late as 2015, his disclosure forms show. In addition, beginning in 2010, his disclosures described the properties as being located in Liberty County, Ga., even though they were actually located in Chatham County.

Thomas also did not report reimbursement for transportation, meals and lodging while teaching at the universities of Kansas and Georgia in 2018. After the omission was flagged by the nonprofit Fix the Court, Thomas amended his filing for that year. He also amended his 2017 filing, on which he had left off similar reimbursements while teaching at Creighton Law School, his wife's alma mater.

- - -

Jonathan O'Connell and Alice Crites contributed to this report.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  Firefighters in Indianapolis rescued dozens of people from a fatal blaze in a multilevel apartment building early Monday morning.

Multiple people called to report the fire in the three-story, 44-unit building around 4:45 a.m., the Indianapolis Star reported.

Firefighters arrived to find heavy smoke and flames. They used ground ladders to rescue at least 30 people from the building, the Indianapolis Fire Department tweeted. Other residents escaped by leaping from balconies.

Emergency responders discovered a dead woman in the building. Nine people were hospitalized, including four children. A firefighter also suffered a minor injury.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.
NEW YORK (AP)  Donald Trumps rape trial will begin next week as scheduled after a federal judge on Monday rejected his lawyer's request for a one-month delay, saying the former president cannot make public statements to promote pretrial publicity and then claim it's prejudicial to him and reason to delay a trial.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan in Manhattan said the civil trial on claims against Trump by a longtime columnist, E. Jean Carroll, will begin as scheduled on April 25. Trump denies the rape happened or that he ever knew Carroll.

Kaplan rejected arguments by Trump attorney Joe Tacopina that Trumps recent indictment in New York state court on criminal falsification of business records charges had created such a wave of negative publicity that a one-month cooling off period was needed before the rape trial begins.

"There was, of course, a great deal of media coverage  some of it invited and, indeed, provoked by Mr. Trump  first of the apparently impending indictment, then the indictment itself, and finally the arraignment. But the connection that Mr. Trump seeks to draw between that coverage and either the need for or the effectiveness of a cooling off period is unsupported by any evidence," the judge said.

Kaplan said a portion of recent media coverage of Trump's indictment was of his own doing as Trump made public statements on his social media platform, in press conferences and in interviews.

It does not sit well for Mr. Trump to promote pretrial publicity and then to claim that coverage that he promoted was prejudicial to him and should be taken into account as supporting a further delay, the judge said, adding that he was also concerned that the request was a delay tactic by Mr. Trump.

He noted that it wasn't necessary to find jurors who had never heard of Trump's legal woes as long as jurors agreed to be fair and impartial regardless of anything they'd heard.

There is no justification for an adjournment. This case is entirely unrelated to the state prosecution," Kaplan said, alluding to charges brought against Trump on the grounds that he played a role in hush money payments to two women who claimed affairs with him years before the 2016 presidential election. He has denied the affairs.

Tacopina declined comment on Monday about Kaplan's ruling and about whether Trump will attend the rape trial. He is required to notify Kaplan by Thursday if Trump plans to show up at court.

In a footnote, the judge cited other legal threats Trump faces to show that a month-long delay in the trial stemming from Carroll's lawsuit could make the climate to find a fair jury worse rather than better.

A Justice Department special counsel probe is looking into Trump's possible mishandling of classified documents, along with matters relating to the 2020 presidential election and the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. Meanwhile, a district attorney in Fulton County, Georgia, is probing Trump's actions after the 2020 election, and New York Attorney General Letitia James has sued Trump, his family and the Trump Organization for alleged financial wrongdoing.

Carroll first sued Trump for defamation after he said Carroll lied when she wrote in a 2019 memoir that he attacked her in the dressing room of an upscale Manhattan department store in early 1996. She brought a second lawsuit in November after New York state allowed victims to temporarily sue over sexual assaults that occurred long ago.
HEBRON, N.Y. (AP)  A woman looking for a friend's house in upstate New York was shot to death after the car she was riding in mistakenly went to the wrong address and was met with gunfire in the driveway, authorities said Monday.

Kaylin Gillis, 20, was traveling through the rural town of Hebron with three other people Saturday night when the group made a wrong turn onto the property.

They were trying to turn the car around when the homeowner, Kevin Monahan, 65, came out onto his porch and fired two shots, according to Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy.

One round hit Gillis.

The group drove to the neighboring town of Salem, northeast of Albany near the Vermont state line, and called 911, said Murphy, who noted the shooting took place in an area with limited cell phone service. Emergency crews arrived and performed CPR on Gillis but couldn't save her.

When officers arrived at Monahan's house to investigate the shooting, he refused to come out, Murphy said. Authorities spoke with him through a 911 dispatcher and in person for about an hour before he was taken into custody, according to the sheriff.

Monahan was booked into the Warren County jail on a charge of second-degree murder. It wasn't clear whether he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

Murphy said at a news conference Monday that Gillis, who lived in Schuylerville, was an innocent young girl who was out with friends looking for another friends house, according to the Times Union of Albany. He said there was no reason for Mr. Monahan to feel threatened.

The shooting happened days after 16-year-old Ralph Yarl was shot and wounded in Kansas City, Missouri, after going to the wrong house to pick up his younger brothers.
ATLANTA (AP)  A Georgia sheriff on Monday announced the resignations of top jail staff amid an investigation into the death of a man in a bedbug-infested cell in the jail's psychiatric wing.

Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat said in a news release that the three members of his executive team had more than 65 years of collective experience in law enforcement and running a jail. That kind of experience can be invaluable but can also cause complacency, stagnation & settling for the status quo, the release said.

Its clear to me that its time, past time, to clean house, Labat said, adding that he decided changes were necessary after reviewing preliminary evidence in the internal investigation into the September death of Lashawn Thompson, 35.

Photos from Thompsons filthy cell spread across social media last week and prompted widespread outrage, including from the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center, which tweeted, the word inhumane doesnt suffice in describing the way #LashawnThompsons life was disregarded and degraded in a Fulton County jail.

At a meeting over the weekend, Labat asked for and received the resignations of the chief jailer, assistant chief jailer and assistant chief jailer in the criminal investigative division, the release said.

A lawyer for Thompson's family last week said jail staff did nothing to address Thompson's deteriorating health in the weeks before his death, and he called for a criminal investigation. Thompson was arrested June 12 on a misdemeanor battery charge and was booked into the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, where he died three months later.

Attorney Michael Harper called the conditions at the jail deplorable, holding up photos of a dirty, trash-strewn cell that he said was not fit for a diseased animal. Photos released by Harper show Thompson's body covered in bugs. The medical examiner's report lists the cause of death as undetermined but notes a severe bed bug infestation.

Nationally known civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump announced Monday that he had been hired to join Harper in representing Thompson's family.

It is completely unacceptable to force inmates to live in appalling conditions where they are subjected to insects, grime, and infections. No one should be treated that way. Lashawn and his family deserve full justice for this inhumane treatment," Crump said in a news release.

The investigations into Thompsons death  an internal investigation and one by the Atlanta Police Department, which responded after Thompson died  are still underway, the release said. Once theyre done, the results will be turned over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for review.

The final investigative report will not ease the familys grief or bring their loved one back, but it is my hope and expectation that it provides a full, accurate and transparent account of the facts surrounding Mr. Thompsons death so that it provides all of the answers they are seeking and deserve, Labat said.

In addition to staffing changes, the sheriff's office said it is reviewing legal options to change medical vendors, looking to contract with a provider that can effectively, consistently and compassionately deliver the best standard of care.

The sheriff's office said it also spent $500,000 on emergency measures in September to address the infestation of bed bugs, lice and other vermin." Additionally, 673 detainees are currently housed in other jails at an average cost of $47,000 a day, and the sheriff's office continues to try to transfer other detainees out of the jail to further ease crowding, the release said.
ISLAMABAD (AP)  Afghan authorities are closing education centers and institutes supported by non-governmental groups in the south until further notice, officials said Monday. The centers are mostly for girls, who are banned from going to school beyond sixth grade.

The Education Ministry ordered the Taliban heartland provinces of Helmand and Kandahar to close education centers and institutes while a committee reviews their activities. It did not provide an explanation for the closures and a ministry spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

Mutawakil Ahmad, a spokesman for the Kandahar education department, confirmed that education centers activities are suspended until further notice. The decision was made after peoples complaints, said Ahmad, without providing further details.

Despite initial promises of a more moderate rule than during their previous stint in power in the 1990s, the Taliban have imposed harsh measures since taking over the country in 2021 as U.S. and NATO forces were pulling out of Afghanistan after two decades of war.

The female education ban extends to universities. Women are barred from public spaces, including parks, and most forms of employment. Last year, Afghan women were barred from working at national and local NGOs, allegedly because they weren't wearing the hijab, or Islamic headscarf, correctly and a gender segregation requirement wasn't being followed. This order also includes the United Nations.

At least two NGO officials in Helmand confirmed they knew about the Education Ministry's order. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to the media.

One said the NGO was active in nine districts, offering around 650 classes with 20 to 30 students in each class. Girls and boys attend the classes, he said, but mostly girls as they can't attend schools.

Most projects are from UNICEF, the U.N. children's organization, with local NGOs working as sub-contractors or project implementers. Female and male teachers work in separate classes.

Ministry workers supervise all their activities, the official added.

Noone from UNICEF in Afghanistan was immediately available for comment.

An education official in Kandahar said many NGOs are active in the education sector and provide education for girls. But he said there is a need to review their activities as there is no accountability over their expenses and there are concerns over corruption and suspicions about centers and institutes being ghost schools. The official, a district director of education, spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

It was not clear how many centers and institutes were shuttered or how many students are affected in the two provinces because of the order.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  Australia is working to stabilize relations with China but could not return to the thriving economic relationship with its biggest trading partner that existed 15 years ago, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Monday.

Icy bilateral relations that deteriorated during the previous conservative Australian governments nine years in power have shown signs of improvement since Wongs center-left Labor Party was elected almost a year ago. Minister-to-minister meetings have resumed, China has recently lifted restrictions on Australian coal imports and Australia hopes a 3-year-old tariff barrier on Australian barley will be lifted within months.

But Wong said that trade relations could not return to the level when conservative Prime Minister John was in power from 1996 until 2007. Trade was then separated from political and strategic priorities.

I have been very clear that we seek to stabilize the relationship, Wong told the National Press Club. I think both countries know we are not going to go back to where we were 15 years ago.

During Howards era, you could have your strategic relationship with the United States and the economic relationship with China and the worlds stayed separate -- we dont live in that sort of world anymore, Wong said.

China has imposed a series of official and unofficial trade barriers to Australian exports in recent years, particularly since the previous government angered Beijing by calling for an independent investigation into the causes of and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While Australian businesses and state leaders were impatient for Chinese barriers to be lifted for exports including wine, wood and seafood, Wong described diversifying to other markets as a smart thing to do.

Even with increased diversification, China will remain Australias largest trading partner for the foreseeable future, and a valued source of foreign investment, where it meets our national interests, she said.

Australia has blocked the sale of assets including critical infrastructure to Chinese companies on national security grounds in recent years.

Wong said Australia was working toward maintaining a predictable, rules-based Asia-Pacific region where no country dominates and no country is dominated.

She agreed with U.S. President Joe Biden on the need for guardrails  communication channels between the United States and China to minimize the risk of military misunderstanding and miscalculation  as developed during the Cold War by the United States and the former Soviet Union.

President Biden has made overtures to China toward agreeing guardrails. It is in all the worlds interests that his overtures are met, Wong said.

I have said this to my Chinese counterpart and to his predecessor. And I will keep saying it, she added, referring to Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and the man he replaced in December, Wang Yi.
MADISON, Wis. (AP)  The defrocked Roman Catholic cardinal who became the face of the church's clergy sex abuse crisis has been charged in Wisconsin with sexually assaulting an 18-year-old man more than 45 years ago, court records show.

A criminal complaint filed Friday alleges that Theodore McCarrick, who was removed from the priesthood in 2019 after a Vatican investigation found he had sexually molested adults and children, fondled a man in 1977 while staying at a cabin on Geneva Lake in southeastern Wisconsin.

The alleged victim, who is not named, told investigators that McCarrick had repeatedly sexually assaulted him since he was 11 and even brought him to parties where other adult men sexually assaulted him, according to the complaint.

McCarrick became the highest-ranking Roman Catholic official in the U.S. to face criminal charges for sexual abuse when he was accused in 2021 of sexually assaulting a teenage boy in Massachusetts at a wedding reception in 1974. His attorneys asked the judge in that case earlier this year to dismiss the charges, saying that McCarrick, now 92 and suffering from dementia, is not competent to stand trial.

The once-powerful priest was ordained in 1958 and became archbishop in Newark, New Jersey, in 1986 and then archbishop of Washington, D.C., in 2000. He rose to power despite church officials' knowledge of accusations against him. A two-year Vatican investigation into McCarrick's tenure found credible reports of his problematic behavior dating back to 1999, including an inquiry confirming that McCarrick had slept with seminarians.

The church has confirmed it made financial settlements with adults who accused McCarrick of sexual misconduct. McCarrick retired in 2006 but continued to be active in political circles until he was defrocked by Pope Francis in 2019.

Wisconsin prosecutors learned of the alleged 1977 assault through a program dedicated to prosecuting instances of abuse by faith leaders, according to a news release. Officials were able to charge McCarrick because the statute of limitations does not apply to people who are not residents of the state. A similar law allowed Massachusetts prosecutors to bring their case against McCarrick more than 40 years later.

McCarrick's attorney in Massachusetts, William Fick, did not immediately return a phone call or email sent Monday. An attorney for McCarrick has not yet been listed in the Wisconsin case.

___

Harm Venhuizen is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Venhuizen on Twitter.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

PHOENIX (AP)  Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema reported raising just over $2.1 million in her first full fundraising quarter since leaving the Democratic Party, a smaller haul than the $3.7 million raised by Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, who is hoping to win her seat in 2024.

Sinema, who has not said whether she will seek a second term, still had a formidable $10 million in her bank account at the end of March, including money shes raised in the four years since her last campaign. Gallego had $2.7 million at the end of the quarter.

The senator's fundraising is closely watched for clues about her plans and how she might finance a difficult three-way race as an independent. Sinema and her aides insist she is focused on her job as a senator and isnt thinking about a potential reelection campaign.

The Arizona Senate race is one of a handful that will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate in 2024. Democrats currently have a 51-49 edge and face a tough path to maintaining their majority.

Sinema won the seat by less than 3 percentage points in 2018. Her fellow Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly was re-elected last November by almost 5 percentage points. But those races did not feature significant third-party or independent contenders. Both major parties agree a three-way contest would be a tossup.

If Sinema runs, the sources of her money will be scrutinized because because of her longstanding relationships on Wall Street, which have infuriated many Democrats who say she protects powerful interests.

In the latest fundraising period, more than a quarter of her money came from people who work for three private equity firms, which benefited from Sinemas move to singlehandedly thwart her partys longtime goal of raising taxes on wealthy investors.

Less than $6,000 was from small donors who gave less than $200.

More than half of Sinemas first-quarter donors gave the $3,300 maximum for the election, Gallego spokesperson Rebecca Katz noted in a state-of-the-race memo on Monday. That means Sinema cannot tap those donors for additional money going forward.

Her big-money donors may be able to keep her afloat for now, but in the long run, Sinemas fundraising strategy is unsustainable, Katz wrote.

A spokesperson for Sinema said the senator remained focused on finding solutions, not on politics.

Gallego is the only Democrat in the race and is unlikely to face serious primary opposition after other potential candidates declined to run. Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, a Republican, announced a campaign last week and has not yet had to report fundraising data.

Gallego spent $2.3 million, about two-thirds of it on fundraising services, a relatively high rate of spending that campaign officials hope will later pay off as small donors continue contributing. Sinema spent just over $400,000 during the period.

___

This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Rebecca Katz's last name in one reference.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

BANGKOK (AP)  Myanmars military government on Monday granted amnesty to more than 3,000 prisoners to mark the traditional lunar New Year holiday, but it wasnt immediately clear if those released included the thousands of political detainees locked up for opposing army rule.

State-run MRTV television reported that the State Administration Council, the ruling body created by the military after it seized power in 2021, had pardoned 3,113 prisoners, including 98 foreigners who will be deported. Mass prisoner releases are common on major holidays.

An official from Yangons Insein Prison, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to release information, said the number and names of people to be freed from the country's largest penitentiary was not yet known. The releases began Monday, but sometimes can take a few days to be completed.

Some 17,460 political detainees, including Myanmars former civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, were in detention as of last Wednesday, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an independent organization that keeps detailed tallies of arrests and casualties linked to the nations political conflicts.

Myanmar has been under military rule since Feb. 1, 2021, when its army ousted Suu Kyi's elected government. The takeover was met with massive nonviolent resistance, which has since become a widespread armed struggle.

Urban guerrillas are active in major cities, and the loosely organized Peoples Defense Forces, along with their allies in ethnic minority guerrilla groups, regularly strike military columns and outposts.

Civilians have borne the brunt of brutal military offensives in the countryside, including the use of artillery and airstrikes, which have displaced more than a million people, causing a humanitarian crisis.

At least 3,240 civilians have been killed by the security forces since the military takeover, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Its tally does not include all casualties from combat.

Tun Kyi, a senior member of the Former Political Prisoners Society, said it is not known how many of the political prisoners would be among those released, if any, but any such action would be taken to burnish the image of the military government.

He said his group viewed such releases as trying to score political points, ease international pressure and seek to demonstrate the military's legitimacy.

This years celebrations of Thingyan, the New Years holiday, drew smaller crowds than had gathered before the coronavirus pandemic and the 2021 takeover. In big cities, the merrymaking involving the playful splashing of water took place at designated high-security pavilions. Celebrations in most rural areas were muted, with many people heeding the call of opponents of military rule not to take part in the military-planned activities.

During the holiday, which officially extends for nine days but has state-sponsored gatherings for just four, the violent struggle between the army and pro-democracy forces continued. There were armed clashes in the countryside and small bombings of the official military-sponsored pavilions in several towns and cities. The number of casualties was unclear.

The countrys military leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, did not touch on the countrys extended political crisis in a New Years speech broadcast Monday. He said that the economy, which faced difficulties in 2021, had rebounded last year from contraction to nearly 3% growth. The manufacturing sector had showed improvement and border trade was reopened in 2022, and businesses were able to resume operations, he said.

I fully believe that if the people work hard to export more products, this year the economic growth will be better than previous years, he said.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  A top Ukrainian official said Monday that Ukraine will launch its counteroffensive against Russian troops when its ready, adding that its only a matter of time before the country achieves the necessary level of military preparedness to do so.

Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraines National Security and Defense Council, told The Associated Press in an interview in Kyiv that Ukraines allies are helping the government to achieve the level of technical equipment necessary to launch the attack, delivering heavy armored vehicles and ammunition.

But he also expressed frustration that sometimes officials from allied countries promise one thing and do a completely different one. He didn't elaborate.

If we arent ready, then nobody will start unprepared, he said.

Speaking about a major U.S. intelligence leak, Danilov echoed other Ukrainian leaders who say they dont see it as gravely damaging future offensives, stressing that Ukraine doesnt share highly sensitive information with anyone.

If someone thinks that we report to someone, then he is deeply mistaken, he said. Such sensitive security matters are decided in closed meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and only there will it be decided when, in what direction, at what pace we will liberate our territory, he added.

The documents include previously unreported sensitive disclosures about Ukraine, including just how close Ukraines vital air defense systems are to running out of missiles, with stocks expected to be exhausted as soon as late this month or May. That would open Ukraines skies to more of the Russian air and artillery strikes that already have devastated cities and infrastructure.

Danilov refused to comment on Ukraines current stockpiles of weapons, saying only that it will be enough to curb Russia.

Still, he said that Ukraine was working round the clock to prepare for a possible offensive, including Saturday and Sunday. There is no vacation in war.

Its only a matter of time. This time comes with a very high price for us.

Danilov stopped short of confirming that the Patriot air defense system promised by the U.S. has arrived in Ukraine, but strongly hinted that they have. Asked to comment on statements by Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat last week in which he said that the Patriots was expected in Ukraine sometime after Easter, he said: Well, Easter has passed already.

The answer to your question is simple: everything is good, he added.

Russias war in Ukraine has turned into a stalemate amid heavy fighting in the countrys east, particularly around the town of Bakhmut which for eight and a half months has been the stage for the wars longest and bloodiest fight.

Bakhmut lies in Donetsk province, one of four provinces Russia illegally annexed last fall. Moscow controls about half of the province. Bakhmut is a stepping stone to seizing the remaining half.

Ukrainian officials have said theyre buying time by depleting Russian forces in the battle while Kyiv prepares a counteroffensive. Zelenskyy argues that if Russia wins the Bakhmut battle, Russian President Vladimir Putin might be able to begin building international support for a deal that would require Ukraine to make unacceptable compromises to end the war.

Danilov is confident that it not only turned the tiny settlement into the place the whole world speaks about, but proves its extremely hard to conquer Ukraine by military means for Russia.

He also remains confident in Ukraines efforts to return to its occupied territories.

We will defeat Russia, he said. If you have a strong inner spirit, you will definitely win. And we always had it strong. This is something that always annoyed the Russians.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
BAGHDAD (AP)  Iraq on Monday offered to mediate between Ukraine and Russia to try and find an end to the war in Europe, but Ukraine's top diplomat rejected the offer during a rare visit to Baghdad.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba reiterated his country's position that it would not engage in any peace talks unless Russia withdraws from all Ukrainian territory.

The Kremlin wants Kyiv to acknowledge Russias sovereignty over Crimea, which Moscow took over in 2014, and to also recognize Septembers annexation of the Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia. Ukraine has rejected those demands and insists it wont hold talks with Russia until Moscows troops pull back from all occupied territories.

In Iraq, Kuleba met with his Iraqi counterpart, Fuad Hussein. It was the first visit by a Ukrainian official to Baghdad since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the first visit by a Ukrainian foreign minister in 11 years.

Hussein pointed to Iraq's years of experience with war and conflict, as well as with hosting negotiations between hostile parties  such as the recent Saudi-Iran talks.

Baghdad had hosted several rounds of the talks between Riyadh and Tehran before the negotiations broke down. They later resumed with China as mediator, resulting in last month's announcement that the two regional rivals would restore diplomatic relations.

Baghdad has experience in communication with countries that have tension between them and is ready to be in service of peace, Hussein said in a press conference Monday. The continuation of the war will be dangerous not only to the two countries but to the world."

Iraq, like much of the Middle East, historically relies heavily on grain imported from Ukraine, and consumers have suffered from rising food prices since the beginning of the war.

Kuleba said that while Ukraine sees Iraq as a country that is capable of building bridges... Russia is on the offensive ... and this is the biggest hurdle on the way to peace.

We need Russia to agree with a very simple fact that it has to stop the war and withdraw, Kuleba added.

The current Iraqi government is seen as close to Iran, which the U.S. has accused of supplying drones to Russia for its war in Ukraine. Iran has acknowledged sending drones to Russia but says it was before the war.

Iraq also maintains close ties with the United States, which has a strong influence over its financial sector. Iraqs foreign currency reserves have been housed at the U.S. Federal Reserve since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.

While rejecting Baghdad's offer of mediation, Kuleba said Ukraine hopes to strengthen ties with Iraq and that his visit Monday was part of an effort to reinvent Ukrainian-Iraqi relations.

___

Sewell reported from Beirut.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

TORONTO (AP)  The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation paused its use of Twitter on Monday after the social media platform owned by Elon Musk stamped CBCs account with a label the public broadcaster says is intended to undermine its credibility.

Twitter labelled CBC/Radio-Canada government-funded media"  the same label that prompted National Public Radio in the U.S. to similarly quit Twitter last Wednesday.

Twitter can be a powerful tool for our journalists to communicate with Canadians, but it undermines the accuracy and professionalism of the work they do to allow our independence to be falsely described in this way, CBC spokesman Leon Mar said in a statement announcing the change Monday afternoon.

Consequently, we will be pausing our activity on our corporate Twitter account and all CBC and Radio-Canada news-related accounts," the statement said.

CBC has sent a letter to Twitter asking the company to re-examine the designation. Musk later tweeted about it and changed it to 69 percent Government-funded media.

CBC does not meet those criteria, Mar argued, because it is publicly funded through a parliamentary appropriation that is voted upon by all members of Parliament, and its editorial independence is protected in law in the Broadcasting Act.

The CBCs board of directors determines how the funding it receives is spent. In 2021-22, the CBC received more than $1.2 billion Canadian (US$900 million) in government funding.

Opposition Conservative Party of Canada Pierre Poilievre had urged Twitter to label CBC. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau criticized Poilievre for what he called an attack on a foundational Canadian institution.

Twitter initially had labelled NPRs main account as state-affiliated media,  a term also used to identify media outlets controlled or heavily influenced by authoritarian governments, such as Russia and China. Twitter later changed the label to government-funded media, but to NPR  which relies on the government for a tiny fraction of its funding  its still misleading.

Twitter earlier responded to a request for comment about why the label was applied and whether it would be removed or changed with an auto-generated email bearing a poop emoji.

Twitter, more than any of its rivals, has said its users come to it to keep track of current events. That made it an attractive place for news outlets to share their stories and reinforced Twitters moves to combat the spread of misinformation. But Musk has long expressed disdain for professional journalists and said he wants to elevate the views and expertise of the average citizen.

Musk has also abruptly suspended the accounts of individual journalists who wrote about Twitter late last year, claiming some were trying to reveal his location.

Twitter earlier in April removed the verification check mark on the main account of The New York Times, singling out the newspaper and disparaging its reporting after it said it would not pay Twitter for verification of its institutional accounts.

Twitter also used to tag journalists and other high-profile accounts with blue check marks to verify their identity and distinguish them from impostors. But Musk has derided the marks as an undeserved status symbol and plans to take them away from anyone not buying a premium subscription.
HONG KONG (AP)  Hong Kong's Roman Catholic bishop arrived in Beijing on Monday, marking the first visit to the Chinese capital by the city's bishop in nearly three decades, despite signs of Sino-Vatican strains.

The five-day trip by Bishop Stephen Chow began about two weeks after Vatican News, the news portal of the Holy See, reported that China had unilaterally appointed a new bishop to Shanghai.

Chow, who was named by Pope Francis as the city's bishop in 2021, earlier said that the visit underscores the mission of the Hong Kong Diocese to be a bridge church and promote exchanges between the two sides. He was invited to visit the Chinese capital by his counterpart there.

Chinas ruling Communist Party closely controls organized religion, which it sees as a potential threat to its monopoly on power. People are allowed to worship in institutions that abide by party rules. Some Christians have set up underground churches, which are considered illegal and harassed by authorities.

In 2018, the Vatican and China signed a provisional agreement  over the appointment of bishops, a breakthrough on an issue that stymied diplomatic relations for decades and aggravated a split among Chinese Catholics.

The agreement on Catholic bishops has been renewed twice, most recently for two more years last October. A month later, a feud broke out over the installation of an auxiliary bishop in Jiangxi province, which the Vatican does not recognize as a diocese.

The deal was also harshly criticized by Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen.

The Hong Kong Diocese did not reveal Chow's itinerary when announcing his trip in March. But it said in a statement that it accepted the invitation from Beijing's diocese in the spirit of brotherhood.

Kung Kao Po, a publication affiliated with the Hong Kong Diocese, reported that Chow would meet with his counterpart, Joseph Li, visit the National Seminary of Catholic Church in China and host a thanksgiving Mass at the Xuanwumen Catholic Church.

He would also visit the tomb of Matteo Ricci, one of the first Jesuits to live in China who died in Beijing in 1610, and other organizations that facilitated cultural exchanges, the report added.
BERLIN (AP)  The former home of a man serving a life sentence for killing and eating an acquaintance in a case that appalled Germany two decades ago burned down early Monday, police said.

It wasn't immediately clear what caused the overnight blaze in the small central town of Rotenburg an der Fulda, but police said they weren't ruling out arson, German news agency dpa reported.

Mayor Christian Grunwald said he hoped the fire would put an end to frequent trips to the site by people coming out of curiosity and for other reasons.

The ruin must be removed permanently; it must not become a pilgrimage site, he said.

The half-timbered house belonged to Armin Meiwes, who was convicted of murder and disturbing the peace of the dead, and was the scene of the crime. It had been empty for years.

Meiwes was arrested in December 2002 over the death the previous year of Bernd Juergen Brandes. He has said that Brandes answered his internet posting seeking a young man for slaughter and consumption and that Brandes wanted to be stabbed to death after drinking a bottle of cold medicine to lose consciousness. Meiwes captured the killing on video.

In 2004, Meiwes was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 8 years in prison, but prosecutors appealed the verdict.

Federal judges overturned that ruling and ordered a retrial, arguing that the lower court, in rejecting murder charges, failed to give sufficient consideration to the sexual motive behind the killing.

He was convicted of murder and given a life sentence at a retrial in 2006.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 5 1 of 5 Petr David Josek/AP Show More Show Less 2 of 5 Petr David Josek/AP Show More Show Less 3 of 5 4 of 5 Petr David Josek/AP Show More Show Less 5 of 5









BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP)  Slovakia has delivered the remaining nine of the 13 Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets that it promised to Ukraine, the Slovak Defense Ministry said on Monday.

The ministry said the warplanes were transported overland for security reasons in a complicated logistics operation. The first four were flown from Slovakia to Ukraine by Ukrainian pilots on March 23.
BEIRUT (AP)  A helicopter raid by U.S. forces in northern Syria early on Monday killed a senior leader of the militant Islamic State group, the U.S. military said.

The U.S. Central Command said in a statement that the IS leader, Abd-al-Hadi Mahmud al-Haji Ali, was responsible for planning terror attacks in the Middle East and Europe. Two other alleged IS members, were killed along with al-Haji Ali who was the target of the raid, CENTCOM said. The statement said no civilians or U.S. troops were hurt in the operation.

It said the raid was launched after intelligence uncovered a plan by IS to kidnap officials abroad as leverage for (IS) initiatives.

Syria's White Helmets, a civil defense group operating in opposition-held areas of northern Syria, said it transported two people wounded during the raid to a local hospital, which later said they had died. A third person was killed when the U.S. forces landed for the raid, the White Helmets said.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which partners with the U.S. in anti-IS operations in northeast Syria, said that the operation was launched from a base near the town of Kobani and targeted a military site belonging to a Turkish-backed armed opposition group, Suqour al-Shamal, in the village of Suwayda in the region of Jarablus, near the Turkish border.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, initially reported that the raid had resulted in the arrest of a senior IS leader and killed three people. The U.S. military made no mention of any arrests.

The Observatory said violent clashes took place after the helicopter landed, the first such landing this year.

At least 900 U.S. troops are deployed in Syria, along with an undisclosed number of contractors.

The Islamic State group, which swept through Iraq and Syria in 2014, taking control of large swaths of territory, was defeated in Syria in 2019, but sleeper cells maintain a presence and periodically stage attacks on military and civilian targets.
The Connecticut legislature is currently debating a bill that examines the use and impact of school resource officers in our schools.

S.B. 1095: An Act Concerning School Resource Officers requires school boards to enter into a memorandum of understanding with their local law enforcement agency to ensure the duties and responsibilities of SROs are clear and include a graduated response model for student discipline, among other things.

This bill recently passed out of the Education Committee after hundreds of individuals shared their thoughts on this legislation. The many hours of testimony both in support and against this bill made one thing incredibly clear  we all want whats best for our students.

It unfortunately made something else clear: a lot of folks have a misunderstanding of what this bill is actually about.

As the representative of New Londons 39th district, a current police officer with more than 20 years of experience, and a former school resource officer in proud support of this bill, I want to set the record straight. This bill is about ensuring the appropriate response to student misbehavior, whether it be discipline or support. We dont want a kid going to the police station when they really should be going to the principals office.

Connecticut does not have a common definition of what constitutes an SRO or what their roles and responsibilities are. Its in this legal gray area that issues arise, and SROs end up responding to student misbehavior the same way we respond to crimes.

I spent over a third of my career serving as a school resource officer, so I know firsthand the joys and difficulties that come with this unique and powerful role in our childrens schools. I did my best to do right by the kids under my care, forming meaningful relationships with students through events like the after-school programs I facilitated.

Not all SROs form those relationships with their students, and thats okay. But when we dont have those relationships and have no clear guidelines for how to deal with student misbehavior, situations easily escalate.

During my time as an SRO, I sometimes received conflicting demands from the administration and other officials on how a situation should be handled, regardless of their right to dictate my response. For me, de-escalation was always the goal. But in some instances, I was strongly encouraged to use more punitive measures such as detainment or even arrest. If situations are increasingly escalated  and we know they most often are for our students of color and students with disabilities  it creates a cycle of distrust.

This bill seeks to rectify any uncertainty regarding the duties of SROs, specify how to respond to students, and remove unnecessary responsibilities from the shoulders of the cops in our schools. If we want to break that cycle of distrust and cut off the pipeline funneling too many of our students into the criminal legal system, we need to change the culture of SROs in schools.

No matter where you fall along the political spectrum, folks can normally agree on this one thing: cops are often expected to perform too many duties, sometimes outside of the jobs they were actually hired to do. The same goes for SROs.

On a normal day, we can be expected to be a teacher, a counselor, a disciplinarian, an enforcer of the law  and someone to confide in. This is a mammoth load for any one person. Its also why our system is flawed. We must instead rely on teachers, counselors, psychologists and other trained specialists to deal with nonviolent situations, mental health crises, and regular discipline.

Thats why this bill is good for our students, its good for our schools, and its good for cops. We want to make sure we call the officer for officer stuff, but when it comes to mental health, disciplinary issues, or just a student thats tough to deal with, SROs should not be our first responders.

State Rep. Anthony Nolan represents the 39th District, in New London.
There are the Sacramento Kings, and then there are the petty kings.

Kings-Warriors is only one game old, but Sacramento fans have already given the Dubs plenty of their treasured ammunition.

First, there is the E-40 incident. Ejecting a beloved Northern California rapper from your first playoff game in 17 years is bad enough karma already, and the situation only looks worse as more information comes out. The morning after he was ejected from Game 1, the rapper, whose name is Earl Stevens, said he was a target of racial bias. In a statement, Stevens said he was subjected to disrespectful heckling and that he was ejected after he addressed one heckler in an assertive but polite manner.

The Kings version doesnt make them sound much better than Stevens does. Golden 1 Center security believed E-40 stood excessively, ESPNs Marc Spears reported on Sunday. In this version, he was blocking the view of fans behind him and ejected after he refused to comply after a warning was given after many complaints. For his part, a source close to E-40 told Spears that he was never warned. Standing at an all-time electric playoff game usually isnt grounds for ejection, and the Kings say theyre investigating.

Stevens says he wont be in Sacramento on Monday night, but will be at the Chase Center on Thursday. Klay Thompson called E-40 the Warriors biggest supporter and said the courtside staple is always respectful.

Far less serious is the case of the nerdy little kid who heckled Steph Curry. With a minute left in Saturday nights classic, an adolescent was seen yelling, 40 on your fking head, at Curry, referring to DeAaron Foxs 38 points.

Curry may not have seen the kid at the time, but hes almost certainly seen the video since, as Curry is known to dig deep on social media for anything negative about him or the Warriors. And heckling Curry in the first round has a track record of being dangerously bad karma.

Game 2 is Monday night at 7:00 p.m. in Sacramento. The Kings may be a feel-good story with some of the best vibes in the NBA, but theyre quickly becoming easy for Warriors fans to hate.
WFO BUFFALO Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Sunday, April 16, 2023

_____

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING

The National Weather Service in Buffalo has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...

Northwestern Cattaraugus County in western New York...

Central Erie County in western New York...

Northeastern Chautauqua County in western New York...

* Until 830 PM EDT.

* At 739 PM EDT, a severe thunderstorm was located near Silver Creek,

or 12 miles east of Dunkirk, moving northeast at 50 mph.

HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Minor damage to vehicles is possible. Expect wind damage

to trees and power lines.

* Locations impacted include...

Buffalo, Cheektowaga, West Seneca, North Tonawanda, Lackawanna,

Kenmore, Depew, Tonawanda, Amherst and Dunkirk.

This includes Interstate 90 between exits 49 and 58.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a

building.

Large hail and damaging winds and frequent cloud to ground lightning

is occurring with this storm. Move indoors immediately.

Lightning is one of nature's leading killers. Remember, if you can

hear thunder, you are close enough to be struck by lightning.

_____

Copyright 2023 AccuWeather
WFO BUFFALO Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Sunday, April 16, 2023

_____

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING

The National Weather Service in Buffalo has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...

Northeastern Erie County in western New York...

Niagara County in western New York...

Western Orleans County in western New York...

Western Genesee County in western New York...

* Until 900 PM EDT.

* At 808 PM EDT, severe thunderstorms were located along a line

extending from near Grand Island to near Williamsville to near

Orchard Park, moving east at 40 mph.

HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Expect damage to trees and power lines.

* Locations impacted include...

Buffalo, Cheektowaga, Niagara Falls, West Seneca, North Tonawanda,

Clarence, Lockport, Lackawanna, Kenmore and Depew.

This includes Interstate 90 between exits 48A and 55.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a

building.

...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR NORTHWESTERN CATTARAUGUS AND

NORTHEASTERN CHAUTAUQUA COUNTIES IS CANCELLED...

The severe thunderstorm which prompted the warning has moved out of

the warned area. Therefore, the warning has been cancelled.

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 830 PM EDT

FOR CENTRAL ERIE COUNTY...

At 810 PM EDT, a severe thunderstorm was located over Depew, moving

northeast at 50 mph.

HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Minor damage to vehicles is possible. Expect wind damage to

trees and power lines.

Locations impacted include...

Buffalo, Cheektowaga, West Seneca, North Tonawanda, Lackawanna,

Kenmore, Depew, Tonawanda, Amherst and Lancaster.

This includes Interstate 90 between exits 49 and 57.

_____

Copyright 2023 AccuWeather
Transport technology specialist Cordel Group reported total third-quarter revenue of 0.74m in a trading update on Monday - a year-on-year increase of 18%.

The AIM-traded firm said that growth was driven by its continued investment in its sales pipeline, and a marketing campaign around clearances and gauging.

Its cost of sales for the three months ended 31 March was 0.18m, a 5% increase from the same period in the prior year.

Total expenses for the quarter meanwhile decreased 13% to 0.58m, while its EBITDA loss was 0.02m, which was a significant improvement from the 0.2m it recorded in the same period a year earlier.

The Amtrak contract signing was the third quarter highlight, together with continuing progress in the UK with both existing contracts and new opportunities, said interim chief executive officer John Davis.

We have confidence in the full year outlook and will carry our largest ever backlog into the 2024 fiscal year commencing 1 July.

Cordel Group's year-to-date performance also showed positive results, with total revenue rising 34% in reported currency and 31% at constant currency.

Total expenses decreased by 6% in reported currency and 11% at constant currency.

The company's cash balance and receivables as at 31 March were 0.63m, which was further enhanced by the 1.7m gross placing after the end of the quarter.

Cordel also noted that it signed a significant contract with Amtrak in March, which was expected to have a positive impact on the company's full-year revenue and cash flow.

Our breakthrough win with Amtrak sets us up for long term success in the all-important US rail market, said chairman Ian Buddery.

Following our recent successful capital raise we are investing in our team and products, to achieve the full potential of our position and deliver shareholder value growth.

At 0927 BST, shares in Cordel Group were up 10.4% at 6.9p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
HSBC s largest shareholder is reportedly likely to give its backing to shareholder resolutions that would force the bank to provide regular updates on the structure of its Asian business and restore the dividend to its pre-Covid level.

Bloomberg cited a person familiar with the companys thinking as saying that Ping An Insurance Group will probably support the measures at a shareholder meeting next month.

The AGM comes a year after the Chinese insurer was first publicly identified as behind a campaign to push the London-headquartered lender to consider a break-up of its business.

Last month, Ken Lui, leader of the "Spin Off HSBC Asia Concern Group", said that he had hired a law firm to request that the two special resolutions be put to a vote at the meeting, which is due to be held in Birmingham, England on 5 May.

HSBC has recommended to shareholders that they vote against the resolutions.

Ping An is expected to vote in favour of Luis resolutions, which would require HSBC to produce quarterly reports on its strategy that would include "increasing its value by structural reforms" such as spinning off its Asian businesses.

Bloomberg said the insurer is also likely to back a resolution calling for the the bank to "distribute dividends to its members at the pre-Covid 19 pandemic level" in excess of $0.51 per share.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday he has invited his Brazilian counterpart, Mauro Vieira, to visit Russia when he deems convenient, Trend reports citing TASS.

"I have invited Mr. minister to visit Russia at a time he deems convenient. Our employees will stay in touch in the corresponding areas of our relations," he said after talks with Vieira.

"In general, the talks were very useful and confirmed mutual interest in further strengthening our strategic partnership," Lavrov added.

Lavrov arrived in Brazil, the first stopover on his Latin American tour, on Monday. He will also visit Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba. The Russian foreign ministry said ahead of his visit that its agenda would be focused on promoting mutually beneficial cooperation with the countries of that region in the political, trade-and-economic, educational, humanitarian, cultural and other spheres.
BetterPlace, a front-line SaaS platform for workforce management, has announced the acquisition of Troopers, the top provider of flexi talent solutions in Malaysia. The acquisition marks BetterPlace's second major move this year, following its majority stake acquisition of blue-collar workforce fulfillment platform MyRobin in Indonesia earlier this year.

BetterPlace stated in a statement that the acquisition of TROOPERS, the terms of which were not made public, will strengthen its position in Southeast Asia and speed up its presence there. The full SaaS platform of BetterPlace will incorporate the automatic gig matching and rostering features of TROOPERS.

"Southeast Asia is expected to see significant growth in demand for gig workers in the next five years, with the gig economy growing by 31 percent since 2017, well ahead of the growth in the conventional workforce. In Malaysia alone, 84 percent of hiring managers prefer hiring gig workers," said Pravin Agarwala, Co-Founder and Group CEO, BetterPlace.

Since its founding in 2017, TROOPERS has assisted more than 50,000 gig workers in Malaysia in finding employment possibilities."Majority of the gig workforce in Southeast Asia is informal, making it difficult for workers to discover supplementary jobs or increase their earning potential. Additionally, workers may not have the necessary skills to match growing enterprise requirements," said Joshua Tan, Co-Founder and CEO, of TROOPERS.

BetterPlace creates cutting-edge, technologically advanced solutions that help businesses be prepared for the future. For businesses looking for qualified individuals for gig and full-time employment, the company's AI-powered enterprise platform offers strong matchmaking capabilities. BetterPlace, which was founded in 2015, has over 30 million users on its platform and more than 1,100 clients.
Having joined Chennai Super Kings in the IPL from 2012, Ravindra Jadeja has risen to be an important figure in the side winning more titles. Jadeja also gave a sneak peek into the supportive atmosphere in the CSK dugout, saying players are treated equally regardless of seniority or form. "CSK management and the owners never put any pressure on any players. Even now after 11 years with CSK, they have the same attitude and the approach. They'll never make you feel low even when you aren't performing well."

"There is no senior and junior kind of thing there. Even any youngster from U19 will get the same respect and treatment like other senior players. No pressure at all. No biasness among any players, whether they are playing or not," Jadeja was quoted as saying.

Reports had earlier suggested that during IPL 2022, there was friction between Jadeja and the team management over taking away captaincy from him and giving it back to MS Dhoni. But that now seems to be a thing of the past and Jadeja further spoke on how the CSK franchise has been instrumental in building a deeper connection with the fans, especially when they had to play their home games in Pune in the 2018 edition of the tournament.

"In Pune, CSK Franchise made complete arrangement for 2k-3k fans to stay in Pune and watch all those seven matches which were scheduled to be played in Pune. Their stay and food arrangements, everything was done by CSK franchise. Also they were given CSK jerseys," he added.

With CSK now being able to play their home games at Chepauk, there is huge excitement among fans to see their favourite team in action. "This time at home ground there will be a lot of excitement because sometimes when we practice it feels like we are here to play a match because 15-20k fans comes to watch us practice."

"Complete one stand gets filled and cheer for us till the time we practice. It will be lot more exciting this time because we haven't played at our home ground since few years and Mahi Bhai is back this season, so it'll be a big occasion for fans to see him in Chennai," he concluded.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  While coronavirus (COVID-19) rates are low and declining in the United States, health experts are tracking a new variant that is causing an unusual symptom.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has been monitoring the new omicron subvariant XBB.1.16, known as Arcturus, since March 22. This variant has a higher transmissibility rate than previous strains, but doesnt appear to be more dangerous, according to experts.

It is causing increasing case counts in certain parts of the world, including India. Were not seeing high rates of XBB.1.16 yet in the United States, but it may become more prominent in coming weeks, said Dr. Matthew Binnicker, director of the Clinical Virology Laboratory at Mayo Clinic, in a press release last week.

A new symptom with this variant, he said, is conjunctivitis, or red and itchy eyes, in young patients. Its a symptom not seen with prior strains of the coronavirus, according to Binnicker.

The new variant is growing in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) COVID Data Tracker. The tracker, which was last updated Saturday, shows that the Arcturus variant represents 7.2% of all samples sequenced.

In the New York State region, that number is higher, at 9.3%, according to CDCs data estimates.

New York City data shows coronavirus numbers and transmission levels continue to decline. Just 2.9% of people tested positive for COVID-19 over the last seven days as of April 13. A daily average of 284 cases were also reported citywide.

Binnicker said that respiratory viruses, including COVID-19, influenza and RSV have all declined in the country in recent weeks as spring begins. Coronavirus keeps emerging, because the virus mutates and copies itself as it spreads from person to person  creating new variants, he said.

New variants come and go. Were seeing increased transmission rates, so higher levels of infectivity with recent COVID-19 variants, but in general, they tend to be causing less severe disease in individuals, which is good news, explained Binnicker. This is likely due to a combination of factors, including higher vaccination rates, higher rates of immunity from prior infection, and lower pathogenicity of recent variants.

So while COVID-19 rates are still relatively low, you should remain vigilant to prevent infection. That includes washing hands frequently, avoiding close contact with sick people, and staying home if you feel sick or have COVID-19 symptoms.

RELATED CONTENT

What happened to contact tracing data collected by restaurants during COVID?

CUNY, SUNY colleges to drop coronavirus vaccine mandate

Free at-home COVID tests to end in May for most insurance plans

FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  New York City has convened a working group to gather input and provide feedback for leadership of the city Department of Education (DOE) as it works to implement the new class size law.

Chancellor David C. Banks announced members of the Class Size Working Group on Monday, which is made up of a diverse cross-section of stakeholders  including two Staten Island residents.

Last year, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation to limit class sizes in New York City public schools and create a reduction plan after reaching a deal with Mayor Eric Adams and state lawmakers. The law limits kindergarten through third-grade classes to 20 students, fourth- through eighth-grade classes to 23 students, and high school classes to 25 students.

The governor agreed to delay the law from fully taking effect until 2028, with implementation starting in fall 2023. One in five classrooms must comply with the law starting in September as part of the phase-in.

Additionally, the plan must be approved by the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) and the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators union. The law also requires the submission of annual implementation reports.

The DOE announced Monday is anticipates being in compliance with the legislation for the next two years. It will use feedback from the working group to determine approaches to reaching compliance going forward.

We will only succeed in meeting the requirements of the class size legislation with the support of our families, educators and community partners, said Banks. The class size mandates included in the legislation passed last year will require difficult decisions and trade-offs in the years ahead, as well as require more funding and other resources. It is critical that members of our school communities are included in this process and help guide the decisions that must be made around implementation of this law.

The city selected the working group members, which include parents or guardians of DOE students, educators, advocates, researchers and other key stakeholders. The DOE considered individuals geographic representation, experience, school affiliation (including grade composition and size of the school), as well as organizational affiliation to ensure that a diversity of perspectives are represented within the working group.

The two Staten Island members include parents Lucia Curatolo-Boylan and Venus Sze-Tsang  both of whom are members of Staten Islands Community Education Council 31.

The Class Size Working Group will begin meeting this week, according to the DOE.

School Zone: A new newsletter with the updates you need as our schools try to get back to normal. Enter your email address here and hit "subscribe" to receive this weekly newsletter:



FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Starting Monday, New York City families with children in elementary and middle school can apply for the free Summer Rising program.

Administered by the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) and the city Department of Education (DOE), Summer Rising connects elementary and middle school students to fun, culturally relevant, hands-on experiences to strengthen their academic, social and emotional skills.

Students currently in kindergarten through eighth grade (in the 2022-2023 school year) in New York City can apply for Summer Rising. This includes any student attending public school, charter school, non-public school, and home-schooling students.

How can I apply?

New York City families will utilize an online application portal to submit their enrollment request.

The portal will be able to be translated, and it can be accessed from any device with an internet connection. And the DOE will be training parent coordinators to assist families who need support completing the application. Families can also reach out to their school, Summer Rising community-based organizations (CBOs), or the summer email inbox (summer@schools.nyc.gov) with any questions.

There will not be a first-come, first-served approach this year.

Instead, families will be asked to rank multiple program preferences, ensuring more families receive placements that work for them. Placements will be assigned with a focus on equity  prioritizing students in temporary housing, foster care, 12-month Individualized Education Program (IEP) programs, and students mandated for summer school and with a local connection to a school-year CBO program or school community.

What is the deadline to apply?

The deadline to apply is May 1.

According to the city, placement confirmations will be communicated by email approximately a week after the application window closes.

What does the schedule look like?

There will be six weeks of programming for middle schoolers and seven weeks for elementary school students in July and August.

Below is what the calendar looks like.

Grades K-5:

July 5-Aug. 18  Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Grades 6-8:

July 5-Aug. 11  Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Students with 12-month IEPs (District 75):

July 6-Aug. 15  Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (or similar schedule)

Students with 12-month IEPs (Districts 1-32 Extended School Year) :

July 5-Aug. 14  Monday to Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (or similar schedule)

ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) Programs :

July 5-Aug. 1  Monday to Thursday, from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Where can I find more information?

Visit www.schools.nyc.gov/summer to find more information.

Families should email summer@schools.nyc.gov, call 311, or speak to their parent coordinator for support with Summer Rising enrollment. Families who do not have internet access or cannot access the enrollment portal should reach out to their parent coordinator, who can help them complete the application.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Its official: Pete Davidson will host Saturday Night Live on May 6.

Last week, it was reported the born-and-raised Staten Islander, 29, would return to Studio 8H for the first time since his departure from the long-running variety sketch show. SNL confirmed the news on Saturday with a post to its Instagram.

Davidson will be joined by musical guest Lil Uzi Vert.

Davidson was on SNL for eight years  he joined in 2014 at the ripe age of 20  before tapping out at the end of last season. He was best known for his Weekend Update appearances alongside fellow Staten Islander Colin Jost, and his reoccurring character, Chad.

***

SUBSCRIBE TO PEACOCK

***

The timing of Davidsons hosting gig makes sense: The actors new Peacock show, Bupkis, is set to premiere on May 4. The semi-autobiographical show was spotted filming across Staten Island and other parts of New York City in 2022. In October, production took over Marina Cafe in Great Kills, and in November, Davidson and a filming crew were spotted at Laceys Bridge Tavern in Elm Park.

Late last week, Peacock released the trailer for Bupkis.

Edie Falco will play Davidsons mom, Amy, and actor Joe Pesci is taking on the role of Davidsons grandfather.

Per People and Just Jared, almost two dozen well-known actors are slated for at least one guest appearance (at minimum) during the first season including actress Chase Sui Wonders, Davidsons rumored girlfriend.

Eight half-hour episodes of the comedy will be released on NBCs streaming platform.

Dont subscribe to Peacock? Get it here.

MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

 Pete Davidson debuts new Bupkis trailer; one guest star is a real Terrifier

 SNL mocks NYCs new rat czar by making joke about Staten Island

 Is Saturday Night Live new this week (4/15/23)? Host, musical guest, how to watch next SNL episode

 Pete Davidson reduces sale price for Staten Island condo by $200K; see inside

 Hes very genuine, very humble: Pete Davidson meets Staten Islanders behind box-office smash Terrifier 2

 How Terrifier 2, filmed on Staten Island, slashed its way to box-office millions

 Here are the guest stars set to appear on Pete Davidsons new Peacock show Bupkis

 Martha Stewart hangs out with cute couple Pete Davidson and Chase Sui Wonders over Easter weekend

 Pete Davidsons alleged stalker deemed unfit for trial

 Pete Davidson doesnt believe dating 12 people in 10 years is that crazy in new podcast interview

 SNL takes hit at Staten Island sewer rescue after Colin Jost gets pranked on April Fools Day

 Pete Davidsons new Peacock show Bupkis gets premiere date; see first look here

 Bebe Rexha announces release date for new album; Best Fn Night Of My Life tour set for this summer

 Firefighter-turned-Impractical Jokers star Brian Quinn continues to honor his roots by helping FDNY charity

 Impractical Jokers star Brian Quinn talks filming on Staten Island, celebrity guest hes still not over

 It was great: Staten Islander makes appearance in Trump skit on Saturday Night Live

 Country star Miranda Lambert to her former NYPD hubby Brendan McLoughlin: Ill be lovin you. Everyday.
Kansas City authorities have launched an investigation into the shooting of an African American teenage boy who mistakenly went to the wrong house to pick up his younger brothers and was shot by the homeowner, according to the Associated Press.

Police are preparing evidence for prosecutors in Thursdays shooting and are looking into whether race played a role, the AP reported.

The Kansas City Star reported that 16-year-old Ralph Yarl was hospitalized Thursday night after he was shot while attempting to pick up his younger twin brothers from a friends house. According to the Associated Press, police say he went to the wrong house and was shot there.

Officials would not confirm the number of times the homeowner shot Yarl or where his injuries were. Police initially said Yarl was stable but had a life-threatening injury. His current condition has not been released, other than that he is stable, the outlet reported.



Related Coverage: More national news

>> Actor Drake Bell, best known for Nickelodeons Drake and Josh, is found safe after being declared missing

>> 7 tourists killed in avalanche in the Himalayas: Report

>> N.J. teens killed in upstate New York car crash were being pursued by officers: Report

>> 2 killed in John F. Kennedy International Airport construction tragedy: Report

>> Hochul doubles down on NYs commitment to abortion access in light of federal ruling
An elderly Florida man lost a limb after being being bit by an alligator in Titusville, Fla., on Friday, according to multiple reports.

Brevard County Fire Rescue officials confirmed a 72-year-old man was attacked by the gator at the Great Outdoors RV resort in Titusville, which is approximately one hour East of Orlando. The attack took place at 2 p.m. and the man lost part of one leg up to his knee, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FFWCC).

The victim was not identified.

The FFWCC went on to say that the man was taken to Holmes Regional Medical Center via helicopter. Furthermore, the report said a nuisance alligator trapper was sent to the resort in hopes of capturing the animal. According to Dakotanewsnow.com, two alligators were trapped in the area, but its unclear if either was the one who attacked the victim.

The FFWCC said that gators are prone to be more active during the spring and summer months.

According to Gatorland Director of Media Relations Brandon Fisher, gators are entering breeding season. He said feeding that animal could cause problems, according to the report in Dakotanewsnow.com.

Hopefully, nobody was feeding this alligator in (that) RV park, but if that were the case and that alligator has lost its fear of humans, its gonna come closer,' Fisher told Dakotanewsnow.com. And whether you have the food or dont have the food that day, that could be the difference between, you know, what mightve happened.

Fisher went on to tell the publication that a person should never turn its back to a gator and gave some tips on what to do if being attacked by a gator.

They have some sensitive spots on the body, some nerve endings,' he added. Right at the very tip of the nose is a bunch of nerve endings on the nostrils, but the head is all bone.'
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  April 20, 1963 is forever known as Black Saturday on Staten Island.

That was the day that three separate brush fires roared across the borough, destroying 100 homes  including many at the historic Sandy Ground site  causing more than $2 million in damage and leaving more than 500 people homeless.

Robert Weening was 4 years old on that day. His family home in Huguenot was destroyed by one of the brush fires.

Its something that was burned into my mind, pardon the pun, he told the Advance recently.

The Weening family home was at 493 Darlington Ave., one of a number of so-called Lily Cup homes on the block.

The elegant bungalows were built in the 1920s by an executive employed by the Lily Cup company in New Jersey, possibly for use as summer homes for employees.

The homes were set on double lots in a heavily wooded area, and boasted casement windows, hardwood floors, thick concrete walls and low-slung roofs that kept them cool in summer.

"Lily Cup home" at 493 Darlington Ave. in Huguenot is shown in this undated photo. (Photo courtesy of Robert Weening)

But being surrounded by woods, the homes were also inviting targets when the 1963 brush fires erupted.

EXPLODING WHEELBARROW

Weening remembers seeing smoke in the distance before the fire hit his neighborhood.

My mom was trying to call the Fire Department because we could see smoke heading toward the house, said Weening, who today is COO for Highcrest Capital, the general partner to a private credit fund, located outside Austin, Texas.

But Weening said that his mother, Elleneva, then a teacher at PS 1 in Tottenville, grew truly frightened when a wooden wheelbarrow in the backyard suddenly burst into flames before the fire had even reached the home.

There was like a heat wall in front of the fire, Weening said. Thats how hot it was.

Weening, an only child at the time, said that his parents grabbed some clothes and a few family keepsakes, like baby photos, and fled in their car to a friends home in Princes Bay.

THREE INFERNOS

The first and largest of the three brush fires had ignited at around 10 a.m. on Arthur Kill Road in Rossville. Powerful 50 mph winds spread the fire east through Annadale and Huguenot. The blaze reached as far as Hylan Boulevard.

News of the brush fires dominated the front pages of the Staten Island Advance in 1963. (Advance file photo)Third-Party-Submitted

A second fire began near the Tottenville beachfront at around the same time, incinerating houses, a restaurant, and the South Shore Swim Club before stopping near the Mission of the Immaculate Virgin at Mount Loretto in Pleasant Plains.

The third fire, which scorched 11 houses in Mariners Harbor, started around noon.

Amazingly, no deaths were reported from the fires, even though 36 people had to be treated at Island hospitals. Another five were admitted for more serious injuries.

GRAB A SIX PACK

After leaving his family in safety in Princes Bay, Weenings father, Sam, a history teacher at the old Tottenville High School, returned to the family home in Huguenot.

But he was powerless to do anything to stop the blaze because, as in many other parts of the Island that day, the water pressure had fallen to un-usable levels.

My dad basically went into the house, grabbed a six pack of beer, walked across the street and watched the house burn, Weening said. Some of the neighbors were appalled that he was drinking.

Said Weening, He would tell me, What else was I supposed to do? The house is burning. What am I going to do, run in?

A COMPLETE LOSS

The house, Weening said, was a complete loss, and were others on Darlington Avenue, even though others were spared.

Elleneva Weening, right, and sister-in-law Lee Weening are shown in ruins of home at 493 Darlington Ave. in Huguenot that was destroyed in brush fire of April 20, 1963. (Photo courtesy of Robert Weening)

My parents were devastated, Weening said. It was really hard on them because they lost everything.

Among the prized possessions destroyed in the fire were a medieval tapestry and a silver chalice that Weenings grandfather had brought to America from his native Germany. Portraits and paintings of family members were also lost the blaze.

Barrier blocks home at 493 Darlington Ave. in Huguenot that was destroyed in brush fire of April 20, 1963. (Photo courtesy of Robert Weening)

My ancestors were merchants, Weening said. All that stuff that they had, whatever they could get out of Germany in the 1920s when they moved here, was destroyed.

He said, The worst thing about the fire was the possessions that were lost.

Burned interior of Weening family home at 493 Darlington Ave. in Huguenot that was destroyed in brush fire of April 20, 1963. (Photo courtesy of Robert Weening)

Weening said the family received clothes from the Salvation Army, which had set up shop in the parish house at Our Lady Star of the Sea R.C. Church in Huguenot.

Its amazing when you think about it, Weening said, how you go from having something to having absolutely nothing.

REBUILDING

The family lived for a year with Weenings paternal grandparents in a home on Bentley Street in Tottenville. Weenings parents continued to work their school jobs in Tottenville while Weening attended kindergarten at PS 5 in Huguenot.

Weening said his fathers colleagues at Tottenville High School and his fellow members of Great Kills Masonic Lodge #912 helped demolish what was left of the house on Darlington.

The house was rebuilt on the same spot in just over a years time with the help of a Small Business Administration loan, Weening said.

Robert Weening, 5, is shown as a child as his home at 493 Darlington Ave. in Huguenot was being rebuilt after being destroyed in the brush fire of April 20, 1963. (Photo courtesy of Robert Weening)

The memory of the fire stays with Weening to this day.

A brush fire has a very distinctive smell, said Weening, who also dealt with brush fires during his time living in California a few years ago. If I smell it today, I know exactly what it is.

Weening said that until the time he was a teenager, Any time that I would hear the fire engines and smell smoke, Id run home to find out what was going on. It took a while to get over that, realizing that not every smoke smell is bad.

MORE STATEN ISLAND STORIES FROM TOM WROBLESKI

How Staten Island man rebuilt his fortune, and himself, after blowing $1M casino jackpot in 1989

Remember these awesome Staten Island rock bands from the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s?

A ghostly walk amid the ruins of the abandoned Tower Hill train station on Staten Island
Nearly a year after the mpox (monkeypox) outbreak in the European region of the World Health Organization (WHO), the agency urged on Monday vigilance in Europe over mpox ahead of the festival season, Trend reports citing Xinhua.

A new campaign is launched as Europe heads into the spring and summer months when a number of festivals are set to take place across towns and cities, the WHO Regional Office for Europe has said in a press release.

The aim of the campaign is to reinforce the message that "monkeypox remains with us and that continued vigilance is still needed."

The "Ready for It" campaign was launched despite a significant decrease in the number of mpox cases in recent months, due to WHO Europe concerns that "the possibility of further re-introductions from outside the region, either from endemic areas or newly affected countries, is likely."
Thank you for visiting the Daily Journal.

Please purchase an Enhanced Subscription to continue reading. To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.



We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.



A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
San Mateo, CA (94402)

Today

A few passing clouds. Low 47F. WSW winds at 10 to 15 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph..

Tonight

A few passing clouds. Low 47F. WSW winds at 10 to 15 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph.
I was quietly working on [Sans World] because I was getting a lot of suppliers and customers [saying] ... I wish I could just buy it from you, she said. Although Sans Drinks has been her core business for the better part of three years, Falcone has never strayed far from the customer base she cultivated from her first business venture. She never harboured intentions to sell it at all: the business was highly profitable, she said, turning over $20 million every year. I was killing it, she said. BWX Group owns brands including Sukin, Mineral Fusion and Andalou Naturals, as well as the e-commerce platforms Flora & Fauna and Nourished Life. BWX, under the helm of then-CEO John Humble and chief financial officer Aaron Finlay, approached her and made her an offer she couldnt refuse. The skincare manufacturer, which also makes Sukin, promised to help realise her dream of expanding her own organic skin and haircare line at an affordable price. Falcone agreed and sold it for $20 million. Less than twelve months later, however, the parent company ran into trouble: a $800 million buyout bid by Humble and Finlay, backed by Bain Capital, fell over. Things started going south, she said, after the pairs resignation, which led to the installation of a new management team that didnt feel bound to the promises their predecessors had made to Falcone. The people I was left with side-eyed me. Were busy making Sukin. Why would we make your skincare products? Falcone said she was told.

She was contracted to stay on with Nourished Life for two years after the sale. Over that period, she watched as the business she had built for six years slowly fall apart under the control of a corporate giant that she said didnt understand nor care about the nuances of the business she had founded. A non-compete clause bound her from setting up a rival. Loading Those two years before my contract finished were the most torturous, depressing years of my life. It was soul-destroying ... really heart-wrenching, she said. To see all those five-star reviews I had built up since 2010 and see them go all go to one-star review after Id sold  can you imagine? In that period, she developed a habit of drowning her woes with a bottle of vodka in the shower, a low point in her life that would precipitate her passion for the non-alcoholic space. The closest I could get to the health and beauty space was the Sans Drinks idea, which I truly believe is an extension to Nourished Life in terms of taking toxins out of products.

Sans Drinks took off (it is on track to turn over $10 million this financial year). But a growing pool of unsatisfied Nourished Life customers led her to approach BWXs new management six times across two years with offers to work two days a week for free, just to assist with operations and customer service. BWX never took her up on the offer. My goal wasnt to go back and do marketing and put my face back on it. It was to work in the warehouse, Falcone said. They didnt let me back. Not for free or for any amount of money. No matter what angle I went to them [with]. Falcones Sans Drinks has a store in Warringah Mall. A names a name Falcone still receives messages from Nourished Life customers complaining about the service they receive under BWX management. Almost exactly this time last year, Falcone posed a question to Facebook followers of Sans Drinks. What if she added a curated beauty section to Sans Drinks? Or should she set up a different platform?

They wanted a completely separate website, she said. You need to do a Nourished Life 2.0. So thats what Im doing. Loading Under BWX, the very thing that made Nourished Life different  the rigorous screening process Falcone had developed with a team of doctors, scientists, researchers that cosmetics products had to undergo before being sold on the site  deteriorated. Falcone, who doesnt view Mecca, Sephora or even Adore Beauty as direct competitors, hopes to build Sans World into a stronger, better version of her first venture. Im going back to my roots to be the strictest health and beauty store. There will be a huge overlap of brands on both websites, and Im going to directly compete with Nourished Life. This time round, Falcone has the advantage of 12 extra years of business experience. Sans Drinks affords her with much stronger cashflow to work with; she is already considering a bricks and mortar outlet (Sans Drinks has a store in Warringah Mall) and will lean harder into marketing and cross-promotion with Sans Drinks.

The entrepreneur is not worried about convincing customers to switch over. A names a name, she said. I truly believe Irene Falcone and the Sans brand is far stronger than Nourished Life was in the last few years, and certainly is now. If you dont have a soul or face or connection, you have nothing. Sans World will feature many of the same brands sold on Nourished Life, including Biologi, Black Chicken Remedies, Luk Beautifood, Vanessa Megan Skincare, The Beauty Chef by Carla Oates, and Miranda Kerrs organic line KORA Organics. Falcone is hoping to launch the new e-commerce platform a week before Mothers Day on May 14.
Advertisement

FoodWine Cellar hand: Our wine expert's guide to tasting room etiquette Katie Spain March 13, 2023 Save Log in , register or subscribe to save recipes for later. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share

The tasting space at Ten Minutes by Tractor is slick and welcoming all at once. Katherine Jamison 10 of the best Victorian cellar doors

15 of the best cellar doors in NSW Australia's wine regions are dotted with some of the most spectacular and approachable tasting rooms in the world, but for the uninitiated, the dos and don'ts of wine tasting can be overwhelming. "If you aren't super into wine, a visit to a cellar door can be a little intimidating," says Tom Southwell from Tumbarumba's Johansen Wines. "A great cellar door experience should be educational and fun. I love it when customers let me guide them through our journey into farming and our wines."

Advertisement

The way we taste wine has changed since COVID restrictions rocked venues across the nation, arguably for the better. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with other visitors at a tasting bench and vying for a staff member's attention is a thing of the past. Bookable tasting flights are the new norm and offer a more leisurely experience and insight into a wine brand's story and beverages. But this new chapter in the wine-tasting landscape comes with a fresh set of rules. Before you hit the road, it is important to plan your day. These simple tips will have you tasting like a pro. Angus and Hannah Vinden of the Hunter Valley's Vinden Wines. Supplied

Advertisement

Book ahead  even on Mondays Not all tasting rooms welcome walk-ins. Save yourself time and embarrassment by checking a winery's website or social media account before you arrive. "We always try to accommodate walk-ins. However, sometimes you simply can't fit an extra booking in," says Hannah Vinden, co-owner of Hunter Valley's Vinden Wines. "Making a reservation online in advance not only helps the winery be organised and staff accordingly [during vintage, most cellar doors run on skeleton staff], but it saves any disappointment if you're unable to be squeezed in." Can't get a last-minute table? Don't get mouthy via a Google review. "Don't blame the winery for being popular," Vinden says.

Advertisement

"If there are a few empty tables when you get turned away, they are more than likely reserved for incoming bookings." Don't drink and drive Decide on a designated driver well before you set off. Better yet, book a driver so that you can enjoy a few tipples without the worry. Most wine regions have a variety of tour guides, bus charters, private cars and taxi services available. No matter which you opt for, do the right thing and keep to the schedule. Wrangling tardy, tipsy tasters is no fun for anyone. Seville Hill winemaker and owner John D'Aloisio. Alex Jovanovic

Advertisement

Dress code On the clothing front, smart casual ticks most boxes. More importantly, leave the perfume and cologne at home (or at least go easy on it). Nothing ruins a wine's aromatic nuance like a wave of "Nana perfume" or an over-enthusiastic dose of Aesop's finest. "When patrons visit a cellar door wearing perfumes, aftershave, face oils and freshly brushed teeth, it takes away the overall experience of wine tasting and appreciation," says Seville Hill winemaker and owner John D'Aloisio. Fellow Yarra Valley winemaker and owner at Steels Creek Estate Simon Peirce agrees. "Strong perfumes and aftershave impact subsequent patrons who are trying to appreciate a wine's bouquet."

Advertisement

And if you simply must wear lipstick, invest in a long-wear variety; lippy-smudged glassware is never a good look. The tasting room at Gilbert Family Wines. Supplied Be nice It sounds simple but a little courtesy goes a long way and a smile sets the tone for a great tasting. "We like to talk about wine, the vineyard, vintage, etc, so have patience if we don't pour the next one straight away," says Lucy Fisher, cellar door manager at Yarra Valley's Soumah.

Advertisement

"Chat to the staff  that's what they are there for," adds Sally Scarborough from Hunter Valley's Scarborough Wines. "It doesn't have to be specifically about the wines; it could be about where the best coffee shops are. Chatting to our staff just might uncover a love for a style of wine or a variety that you never knew existed." The cellar door at Pt. Leo Estate. Rhiannon Taylor Don't pour your own wine Occasionally, staff will leave a bottle at your table (for all those Insta snaps). This is not an invitation to help yourself.

Advertisement

"Remember, it's not a dinner party," Scarborough says. "That's tantamount to leaning over the bar at a restaurant, grabbing a bottle and topping your glass up. If you'd like to taste a wine again, just ask, but please remember you're on licensed premises." On that note, drink responsibly. "We are obligated to practise responsible service of alcohol, so we would like you to taste responsibly," Scarborough says. "It can sometimes be a little difficult to know how much wine you have been consuming from cellar door to cellar door, so just ask your server. At our cellar door, most of our tastings equate to a standard drink." The cellar door at Quealy Wines, Mornington Peninsula. Supplied There's no such thing as a stupid question

Advertisement

"If you are unsure of something, ask it," says Daniel Mortimer from family-run Mortimers Wines in Orange, NSW. "Especially if you're a beginner looking to learn more about the wine industry. Take time to listen to the wine steward serving wine, as the stories and history behind the winery are often fascinating." And while it sounds obvious, tune in when knowledgeable cellar door staff are talking. "A wine tasting is an opportunity to learn about different wines and the production process," says Martin Spedding, owner of Mornington Peninsula's Ten Minutes by Tractor. "Cellar door staff are knowledgeable and passionate about wine, so treat them with respect and don't hesitate to ask any questions."

Advertisement

One of the cellar door dogs at Cupitt's Estate, Ulladulla. Elise Hassett Don't argue the tasting fee The extra care and planning that goes into tasting flights often involves a tasting fee (about $10 a head is common for a standard tasting). Some tasting fees are redeemable on the purchase of wine but this, too, is becoming a thing of the past. Fair enough, too. Wine costs money to grow and make, and overheads include cellar door staff wages, vineyard maintenance, rent and power.

Advertisement

You don't walk into a restaurant expecting great service and a couple of entrees for free. Wine should be no different. "You'd pay at least double the cost of the tasting fee to enjoy those same wines in a wine bar," Vinden says. "And you wouldn't receive the same informative insight to the wines as you would from the person that made the wine or grew the grapes." Tastings are available seven days a week at Cupitt's Estate, Ulladulla. Elise Hassey Swirl, sniff, sip, spit

Advertisement

Follow this mantra and you can't go wrong. Take time to look at the colour and enjoy the aromas of the wine in the glass before taking that first sip. "Taste each wine two or three times to allow your palate time to adjust," Spedding says. "This will give you the most accurate impression of the wine." Most importantly, use the spittoon. "Spitting wine out after tasting is common practice and is not considered rude," Spedding says. "This will ensure you fully enjoy your experience at each cellar door without fatiguing your palate." You'll also avoid getting rolling drunk. A guided wine tasting at Brown Brothers in Milawa. Phoebe Powell

Advertisement

Top up on H2O In order to keep that blood alcohol level down and your concentration levels high, it's important to hydrate. Water is available at all cellar doors. Drink it. "Avoid rinsing your glass with water after each wine, unless you are moving back from red to white or a wine has a strong character," Spedding says. "Water left in the glass can dilute or change the wine's balance. A glass seasoned with wine is considered to be better than a glass seasoned with water."

Advertisement

Factor food into the day Eat a decent breakfast and decide before you set off whether to secure a restaurant booking, pack a picnic (some cellar doors invite you to bring snacks) or make the most of platters or picnic hampers available onsite. Again, it is advisable to plan ahead and if you go the DIY route, to check with cellar door staff before turning up with a full picnic spread. Winemaker Wally Cupitt at Cupitt's Estate in Ulladulla. Sam Walklate Step outside your comfort zone

Advertisement

Wine tasting should be an adventure, so ditch preconceived ideas about a region, variety or style. "The most important thing to remember is to always be open-minded," says Sutherland Estate winemaker and owner Cathy Phelan. "Don't be biased or afraid to try things that you wouldn't normally go for in a bottle shop. Regions and even producers of the same varietal can vary enormously depending on the microclimate of the site and the specific winemaking techniques." The Australian wine landscape has changed dramatically over the past few decades. Even staunch ABC (Anything But Chardonnay) drinkers can find themselves pleasantly surprised. "I often hear people say something along the lines of, 'I don't normally like chardonnay but this is delicious!" Phelan says. "Or, 'Imagine this gewurz with our Thai tonight'. It's not always about trying the most expensive or highly awarded wines, but more importantly, about finding styles that suit your palate which are highly enjoyable and moreish."

Advertisement

Photo: Supplied Don't BYO "Yep, it happens," Vinden says. "Please don't rock up to a tasting with a beer in hand, an empty coffee cup or your leftover breakfast. Not only is it disrespectful to assume the crew will clean up after you, it also impairs your taste buds." Kids and pets Most cellar doors will clearly state whether pets and children are welcome on their patch of turf.

Advertisement

Those that boast playgrounds and doggy treats tend to be vocal and proud about it. If in doubt, book a babysitter. Don't assume you can walk in the vineyard "A lot of vineyards have strict quarantine protocols to protect them from the spread of diseases, like phylloxera," says Rohit Singh, winemaker at Mornington Peninsula's Avani Wines. "Always ask the cellar door team before entering the vineyard." Don't visit too many wineries in the one day

Advertisement

"Try spending more time at fewer wineries to have the best experience," Singh adds. "Your palate will get tired." Photo: Chris McConville To buy or not to buy? If you love a wine, make a purchase. But don't feel embarrassed if you don't. "No customer is obliged to purchase wines," Nicole Thomson, wine club manager at Victoria's Best's Great Western. "This is why we started to offer paid experiences; so that guests who want to try higher-end wines don't feel obliged to purchase after.

Advertisement

"We believe that if the guest has had a wonderful experience with us, they will tell someone  so it's not always about a sale. However, we love it when they do [buy]," she adds. If you do buy a bottle or a dozen, the warm fuzzies have the potential to linger long after you leave. "Keep in mind that when you do purchase from a cellar door, 100 per cent of that money goes to support that family and farm," Southwell says. "And you get to think about that when you open that bottle at home."
Advertisement

Eating outRegional guides Top regional chefs reveal where they eat, drink and shop locally in Byron Bay, Hunter Valley and beyond Dan Stock April 18, 2023 Save Log in , register or subscribe to save recipes for later. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share

Theyre in charge of some of Australias best kitchens, so who better to ask for local intel on where to eat, drink and stock up on provisions across New South Wales than our top regional chefs? From the best brewery in Bangalow to the coolest cafe on the Coffs Coast, here are the places to seek out in holiday hotspots according to those in the know. Byron Bay and surrounds Ally Waddell Fridas Field, Nashua Glasgow-born and classically trained, Alastair Ally Waddell leads the hatted kitchen at Fridas Field, showcasing Northern Rivers-grown vegetables and beef raised onsite at the restaurants regenerative farm.

Advertisement

Best coffee: The best coffee in the region is to be found in, of all places, the Ballina industrial area at Old Quarter. Its just a minute or twos drive from Ballina Byron Gateway airport  be sure to grab a cup on your way in or out. oldquartercoffee.com.au Bar Heather serves well-executed dishes with natural wine. Jess Kearney Best wine bar: Bar Heather in Byron Bay is a beautiful space with an incredible wine list and amazing dishes from chef Ollie Wong-Hee. Start with a half martini before working your way through a selection of well-executed, delicious dishes, paired perfectly with top natural wines rarely seen by the glass. barheather.com Best casual meal: I always have a great night at Ciao, Mate! in Bangalow. Be greeted by amazing staff, start with a couple of plates of anchovies with your negroni, then follow with fantastic pizza and pasta. Make sure to get a side of ranch dressing to dip your crusts in. Genius. ciaomate.com.au Best food store: Kat Harvey Cheese at the M-Arts Precinct in Murwillumbah has an amazing selection of Australian and international cheeses. Kat will knock up the finest raclette and duck chorizo toastie while you pick out a few things to take home. katharveycheese.com

Advertisement

Best brewery: Some local lads are brewing great beer at Common People in Bangalow. Go for an ice-cold ale and stay for a slice of wood-fired pizza. commonpeoplebrewing.com.au Best local secret: The recently established Livemore Deli in Lennox Head is filling the finest focaccia from Morelli Fresh (also based in Lennox Head) with such daily changing fillings as prosciutto cotto, gruyere, violette moutarde and cornichons, or mortadella, whipped ricotta and Lombardy peppers. Get in early before they sell out. livemoredeli.com.au Best local pub: The Eltham Hotel is the quintessential country pub: Aussie tap beers, great pub dishes coming out of the kitchen and an incredible line-up of live music. Enjoy the chilled atmosphere and sunshine in the outdoor seating area. elthampub.com.au Visiting Byron Bay Farmers Market gives cooks a chance to chat to producers. iStock

Advertisement

Best farmers market: My favourite time of the week is collecting ingredients for Fridas Field from the Byron Farmers Market, which is on every Thursday, 7am-11am. It is very special, as a chef, to have weekly face time with our growers and producers, chatting about what produce is coming up and catching up with other local chefs. Wonderful coffee and breakfast options, too. byronfarmersmarket.com.au Best casual lunch: Majorcan-born Javi Mayrata, at Ambrunah in Byron Bay, is a master of the Spanish tortilla. Four flavours are available as a slice or in a bocadillo (sandwich) with a salsa and maybe a side of perfect tomato gazpacho. Amazing. ambrunah.com.au Wollongong and surrounds Matt Taylor Franco Pizza Bar, Thirroul

Advertisement

Beachside Thirroul welcomed chefs Matt Taylor (formerly of Monopole) and Jo Taylor-Watkins (ex-Glass) to town in 2021, with the opening of Franco Pizza Bar. The husband-and-wife team sling the Coal Coasts best pepperoni slice and plenty of Italian-inspired snacks too. Cassandra and Matthew Bugeja at Aint Nonnas, Wollongong. Supplied Best coffee: Not only is Aint Nonnas in Wollongong a great Italian restaurant but it also opens as a cafe on weekdays and Saturday mornings serving ONA coffee. They offer a mug-size cup for those who enjoy an OG cup of coffee to get them going. aintnonnas.com.au Best breakfast: When I do go out for breakfast Im always attracted to the big breakfast, and the feast at Lower East in Wollongong is ace. They also offer it in a vego format. lowereastcafe.com.au Best wine bar: A great wine bar is pretty much the one thing thats really missing in Wollongong, but Restaurant Santino and Babyface Kitchen are a couple of restaurants that have more interesting wines on their lists. restaurantsantino.com.au; babyfacekitchen.com.au

Advertisement

Best casual meal: Jins Place in Corrimal is a tiny 10-seat restaurant that serves a mix of Korean and Japanese cuisine. When Im too tired to cook, I turn to Jin for his yangnyeom Korean fried chicken. His japchae and other noodle dishes are the best in town. instagram.com/jins_place Best cheap eat: The Pickled Poet in Thirroul is my go-to for a good deli sandwich. Whenever I find a place that makes a good sandwich, Im so happy as its one of my favourite things to eat. pickledpoet.com Best craft brewery: Principle Brewing at Fairy Meadow has such a great selection of craft beers. Theres always something new on tap to try and the venue has a great atmosphere. principlebrewing.com.au Best local secret: The Black Cockatoo in Wollongong is hidden behind a cafe. Find it and be surprised by a fun grungy bar with 80s records spinning all night. instagram.com/blackcockatoobar

Advertisement

Best for the family: Whenever family  who are mostly based interstate or overseas  visit, we always do the drive up to Bald Hill, which gives the best view of the areas coastline, followed by a lunch stop at The Imperial at Clifton, where its dining room has views overlooking the ocean. The DIY guac is always a hit. theimperialclifton.com.au Best casual lunch: Vietnamese restaurant An Chut Chut in Wollongong does a super authentic pho. Youll be hard-pressed to find better. an-chut-chut.business.site Best bakery: I first came across Millers Local Bakehouse in Bulli when a customer brought in one of their birthday cakes  it was so good! But croissants are what they do best, so youll always see a line at their shop or pop-ups. millerslocalbakehouse.com Coffs Coast Ric Divola

Advertisement

Bar Que Sera, Sawtell Before Bee and Ric Divola returned to the region where they grew up, Ric was cooking at two-hatted Cutler & Co in Melbourne. The couple opened Bar Que Sera in 2020 for natural wines and seasonally inspired good times, and sibling venue Mortys Joint more recently launched next door with fried chicken, free pool and plenty of craft beer. 14.5 / 20 Review Bar Que Sera is a city-style wine bar in NSWs best-kept holiday secret Bar Que Sera in Sawtell. Supplied Best coffee: Supplys head roaster, Todd McCarthy, is one of the countrys most experienced and qualified roasters. Great coffee in a relaxed Coffs Harbour setting with amazing service to match. supplycoffee.co

Advertisement

Best breakfast: Youll find a short and simple menu executed really well at The Hilltop Store in Sawtell. Nothing beats their burnt butter hollandaise  add it to everything! thehilltopstore.com.au The Mermaid Beach House in Coffs Harbour. Steven Woodburn Best wine bar: Im loving the new bar addition at The Mermaid Beach House in Coffs Harbour. Theres an extensive wine-by-the-glass list with a focus on Italian varieties. Head in for a vino and snack at the bar, or move over to the deck for the full dining experience. themermaid.com.au Best casual meal: Perfect Pizza serves takeaway-only Australian-style pizza hidden down a laneway in Bellingen. Outstanding dough stretched to order with all the classic toppings plus fun originals using quality ingredients. The cheeseburger pizza is a must-try. perfectpizzas.com.au Best food store: New Life Farm in Sapphire Beach is a regenerative farm with organic practices selling produce through its online store. Its hands down the best produce you can get in the region. newlifefarm.com.au

Advertisement

Best farmers market: Every Wednesday afternoon under the trees in Bellingens Church Street, youll find a variety of niche producers selling hyper-seasonal fruits, vegetables, chicken, beef and smallgoods at the Bellingen Farmers and Producers Market. Best bottle shop: Theres an incredible selection of craft beer, wine and spirits at Libertine Liquor in Bellingen. Good tap selection, too, which can be taken away in growlers. instagram.com/libertineliquor Best local pub: The Pub with No Beer in Taylors Arm is the best pub in the country  fact! They do a great schnitty and other pub staples. Our favourite time to go is Sunday afternoon, when theres live music in the natural amphitheatre. Theres accommodation on-site or free camping over the road if you want to make a day out of it. pubwithnobeer.com.au Best bakery: Find outstanding pastries in a quaint country town at Peaches Patisserie. Worth the drive up the mountain. 53 Hickory Street, Dorrigo Hunter Valley

Advertisement

Troy Rhoades-Brown Muse Restaurant, Pokolbin Two-hatted Muse, a bellwether of fine dining in Newcastle and the Hunter, has been led for the past 10 years by Troy Rhoades-Brown, a chef and restaurateur with endless passion for the regions produce. Troy Rhoades-Brown of Muse Restaurant. Supplied Best coffee: Mr O Wholefoods in Cessnock serves consistently great coffee with friendly trading hours. mrowholefoods.com

Advertisement

Best breakfast: Head to Cafe Enzo in Pokolbin for genuine smiles, good service and breakfast in a top location. Dine inside by the fire in the colder months and book your table outside in the courtyard in the shoulder seasons. enzohuntervalley.com.au/cafe Best wine bar: The Wine House Hunter Valley in Pokolbin isnt exactly a wine bar but if your time in the Hunter Valley is limited and you want to taste a selection of wines and stock up for home, this is the place. A collection of quality independent, family-owned winemakers is here in one place with more than 40 wines available for tasting. winehousehuntervalley.com.au Best casual meal: Some of the Hunter Valleys next-gen restaurateurs, Tom and Eliza Boyd, have found their feet at the relatively new Jimmy Joans at Lovedale. Its casual, share-friendly food with no shortcuts on quality. Grab a rug and park on the grass under a tree if the weathers nice. Small tidy wine list, good beers on tap. Kid- and dog-friendly, the place is humming at weekends. jimmyjoans.com.au Best food store: We are so lucky to have Hungerford Meat Co in the beautiful old township of Branxton. Youll find all the regular butcher shop family favourites or you can level up to a special-occasion barbecue as deep as your wallet goes. They support local farms, promote whole-animal butchery and run an artisan charcuterie, smokehouse and dry-ageing program that challenges any regional butcher shop in Australia. hungerfordmeatco.com.au Country luxe: Mount Pleasants new cellar door. Supplied

Advertisement

Best cellar door: There are so many amazing wineries to tick off in the region, but the new country-luxe Mount Pleasant Cellar Door in Pokolbin should be near the top of the list. mountpleasantwines.com.au/visit Best bakery: At Fawk Foods in Pokolbin, grab a coffee, an egg and bacon roll and a canele for the road, along with a loaf of sourdough and some loaded crumpets for the kitchen bench. fawkfoods.com Best local pub: The Royal Federal Hotel in Branxton is a well-run country pub  downstairs offers a stool at the bar for a beer and yarn, TAB, pool table and wood-fired pizzas, while upstairs is a classic Australian pub bistro with the addition of Texas barbecue. royalfederal.com.au Best farmers market: The Newcastle City Farmers Market, held every Sunday, is the best for sampling produce from the greater Hunter region. newcastlecityfarmersmarket.com.au

Advertisement

Best local secret: The dry-aged cheeseburgers from Burgers by HMC in Branxton are great, but I am super-keen to visit the new Cafe Marjorie at the Laguna Trading Post on the Great North Road. Its a quaint little roadside bush restaurant thats had a gentle facelift, and Joel Humphreys [ex-Rockpool, Bistro Moncur, St. John in London] is now in the kitchen. Win-win. instagram.com/burgersbyhmc; tradingpostlaguna.com/cafe-marjorie Sapphire Coast Huw Jones Banksia, Pambula Huw Jones and his wife Renee are longtime members of the Oyster Coast community. They ran Merimbulas hatted Zanzibar Cafe for five years, and bought Pambulas heritage-listed Old Bank building in 2018 to open their dream restaurant, the charming Banksia.

Advertisement

Best coffee: Wild Ryes roastery in Pambula makes great espresso as well as a variety of single-origin pourovers. You can also grab a fresh croissant or pastry from their bakery. wildryes.com.au Best breakfast: We enjoy walking through the Panboola Wetlands on our way out to Oaklands Barn in Pambula. The cafe there does a great breakfast, but theres also a brewery, a chocolatier and a childrens animal barn. oaklandsbarn.com Best wine bar: Sunnys Kiosk, overlooking the Merimbula Lake, does awesome snacks at sunset and has a great wine list. sunnyskiosk.com.au Best casual meal: Bar Monti in Merimbula has a great buzzy atmosphere. With two young kids, we head in early for antipasti, quality pizza and house-made pasta. barmonti.com

Advertisement

Best food store: Were super lucky to have Pambula Wholefoods right next door to the restaurant. They have a great range of fresh spices, local honeys, organic flours, every imaginable grain, seed and nut, as well as organic fruit and vegetables. 24A Quondola Street, Pambula North of Eden Gin owner Gavin Hughes at his property in Stony Creek. Destination NSW / Alan Benson Best distillery: We love the Oyster Shell Gin from North of Eden at Stony Creek. The distillery door is open at weekends  its pretty tiny, so book in for a tasting of the full range. northofeden.com.au Best farmers market: Candelo Market is held on the first Sunday of the month, and its always an interesting mix of stalls, with local produce, old wares etc. The Candelo General Store does great coffee and brekkie while youre in town. candelomarkets.com Visitors to the Sapphire Coast are spoilt for oyster-tasting options. Destination NSW / Alan Benson

Advertisement

Best bottle shop: Its a hard choice. Sapphire Cellars in Merimbula and Super Cellars in Pambula both have a great range of local products and a terrific selection of everything else. instagram.com/sapphirecellars; supercellars.com.au Best farm gate: We are spoilt for choice for oysters! Broadwater Oysters and Wheelers in Pambula are great to visit. broadwateroysters.com.au; wheelersoysters.com.au Best casual lunch: The Oyster Barn is perched right on the lake at Millingandi and serves a variety of their own oysters as well as crays, prawns and scallops. Best of all, its BYO. instagram.com/the_oyster_barn

Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox. Sign up
Property magnate Sateesh Muvva casts himself as the visionary entrepreneur behind a six-star skyscraper towering over the NSW coastline. However, police allege his company obtained millions of dollars by defrauding a major bank.

Muvva is the chairman and majority shareholder of the Srini Group, a Sydney-based development company.

Sateesh Muvva, a NSW property developer accused of defrauding ANZ for millions of dollars.

Srini groups crowning jewel is Wollongongs tallest building: a six-star highrise called Signature.

The group also develops retail spaces, including convenience stores, and operates a one-stop shop covering all aspects of service station construction and fuel system installation and repair work.
A Perth mum who has spent more than $17,000 on expert reports to prove the seriousness of her daughters disabilities only to have her funding slashed by the National Disability Insurance Agency by $26,000 is pleading with the organisation to reconsider their position.

Lisa Davies is also calling on the Commonwealth to improve NDIS processes by actually meeting applicants in person and employing more empathy during assessments to avoid families ending up in lengthy appeals.

Emily has serious and complex needs that are not being met by her current level of NDIS funding.

Davies daughter Emily has a gene fault that has resulted in a rare syndrome known as DEE64 that causes her severe intellectual and physical disabilities. She is the only known case in Australia and is only one of a few dozen cases known worldwide.

As well as that diagnosis she also has a congenital heart defect known as Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome and has suffered two major strokes that both impacted her movement.
The exiled son of the Iranian Shah toppled in the 1979 Islamic revolution will visit Israel this week, Israel's government said on Sunday, calling him the "most senior Iranian personality" to ever pay a public visit to Israel, Trend reports citing Reuters.

Israel and Iran enjoyed warmer ties under the U.S-backed Shah, though they have become enemies since.

Israel, in its statement, said the visit by Reza Pahlavi is meant to create "a bridge between Israel and the Iranian people, and expressing joint opposition to the Ayatollah regime."

"A democratic Iran will seek to renew its ties with Israel and our Arab neighbours," Pahlavi was quoted as saying in the the Israeli statement. "In my opinion, that day is closer than ever."

During his visit Pahlavi will take part in Israel's official Holocaust memorial ceremony.
Independent senator Lidia Thorpe has been banned for life from a strip club in Melbournes inner north after she was filmed yelling profanities at a group of men outside the venue in the early hours of Sunday morning.

In footage obtained by 7News, Thorpe can be seen berating the men assembled on the pavement outside Maxines Gentlemans Club in Brunswick at 3am on Sunday.

Senator Lidia Thorpe in vision captured on Sydney Road in Brunswick on Sunday morning. Credit: Seven News

During the disturbance, which was filmed on a mobile phone, the senator points to each of the men and launches into a tirade laden with profanities, telling one he is a marked man.

The patrons can be heard on the vision calling her a racist dog and asking how Thorpe was elected to parliament.
San Francisco: The Russian government has become far more successful at manipulating social media and search engine rankings than previously known, boosting lies about Ukraines military and the side effects of vaccines with hundreds of thousands of fake online accounts, according to documents recently leaked on the chat app Discord.

The Russian operators of those accounts boast that they are detected by social networks only about 1 per cent of the time, one document says.

A World War II-era T-34 Soviet tank rehearses for a Victory Day military parade. Russian patriotism and nationalism is a powerful brew. Credit: Alexander Zemlianichenko

That claim, described here for the first time, drew alarm from former government officials and experts inside and outside social media companies contacted for this article.

Google and Meta and others are trying to stop this, and Russia is trying to get better. The figure that you are citing suggests that Russia is winning, said Thomas Rid, a disinformation scholar and professor at Johns Hopkins Universitys School of Advanced International Studies.
Paris: Airbus and Air France have been acquitted of manslaughter charges by a French criminal court over their role in the 2009 crash of a flight from Brazil to Paris that plunged into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 228 people on board.

The verdict on Monday (France time) was a bitter disappointment for the families of the victims, who had battled for over a decade to bring Airbus, the aircraft manufacturer, and Air France, the main French airline, to trial.

Workers unload debris, belonging to the crashed Air France flight AF447, in June 2009. Credit: AP

We are sickened, Daniele Lamy, the president of Entraide et Solidarite AF447, an association of families of the victims, said after the court rendered its verdict, adding that she and members of other families were desperate, dismayed and angry.

Impunity prevails among the powerful, said Lamy, whose son died in the crash.
Back in the spring of 2016, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were about to face off in their first debate. My wife and I invited some friends and relatives over to watch. An older aunt, a full-on MAGA supporter and Fox News watcher, came in and plopped down on the couch. I hear CNN isnt even going to broadcast it! she exclaimed.

The idea that CNN would not be televising the debate was of course pretty dumb. Indeed, CNN was playing on the TV in front of her at the time.

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton during a 2016 presidential debate. Credit: AP

A moment like that illustrates the bizarre effect Fox News has had on American life. The bubble that its viewers live in is filled with an ever-changing melange of lies, obfuscations, half-truths, conspiracy theories and other miscellaneous nonsense. At a certain point, the viewers became impervious to correction or  as in that case  embarrassment.

Theres a lot of talk these days about polarisation in American life. Less often noted is that the vast part of that polarisation is caused by a significant chunk of the country having gone slightly nuts. And Fox News is their standard-bearer.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Justice Anna Richardson informed The St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) on April 14 by way of an extensive letter that well-known artist Rich Kalashh is not allowed to perform for the international Hip Hop night set for April 21, 2023, due to an analyst by the police department KPSM.

The letter is as follows by the Minister of Justice, "I am writing to you in response to the request made on February 7, 2023, by the St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) for event permits to host seven international shows, which includes a Hip Hop and R&B Night on Friday, April 21, 2023, at the Jocelyn Arndetl Festival Village (Hereafter: Festival Village).

When the request was made, the list of artists scheduled to perform at the event was not communicated. The full lineup was only revealed in March 2023. As with all permit requests that may affect public safety, Sint Maarten's police force KPSM has conducted a risk and safety analysis of the Hip Hop and R&B Night. The outcome of this assessment is that negative advice has been rendered by KPSM with respect to the performance of the artist Rich Kalashh, also known as Mr. Errich Sigmar Cristo on Sint Maarten, " stated Richardson in her letter.

She continued, "Earlier this year, Curacao authorities denied a permit for Rich Kalashh to perform on Curacao due to safety concerns. We are aware of previous incidents surrounding this rapper that led to very dangerous situations which included the use of firearms and persons being injured. In fact, an international police organization advised against allowing the artist Curacao, against performing there. The decision of the Curacao authorities was made in part based on that information. It is worth mentioning here that other countries such as Aruba, the Netherlands, and Spain have also denied permits for performances by Rich Kalash.

In accordance with its commitment to maintaining public order, safety, and security, the Ministry of Justice regards any signals regarding potential risks to the community of Sint Maarten with the highest level of seriousness. Considering all available information pertaining to Rich Kalashh, some of which has been shared with you, it has been determined that the requested performance on April 21, 2()23, or any other date during the current Carnival season, poses a potential threat to the safety of the event and its attendants and as such cannot take place. Approval and consequently the permit for the Hip Hop and R&B Night on April 21, 2023, in the Festival Village, will on be granted under the following first condition which is that Rich Kalash will not perform at this event.

Further, I have been informed that there are other artists in the line-up of the event on April 21, 2023, due to their music genre i.e. gangster rap and or trap music and or drill music which often glorify violence, and drug use, have the potential to incite violent or unruly behavior among some attendees. There are two artists in particular in the lineup that hail from Sint Maarten namely Pharoah G and Trixta Savage of which it is known that they have an ongoing feud and therefore pose a security risk. You are requested to ensure that these two rappers and their entourages are kept away from each other during the event and shall not be allowed on stage or backstage while either one is performing. This and other specific conditions for the event will be imposed to minimize the possible risks to public order.

As the applicant for the permit - together with the promotor - you will ensure that any of the artists that have a feud with each other will not meet each other at the event and will directly leave the event (and) after their performance. It is deemed relevant to emphasize that as the holder of the permit SCDF - together with the promotor - is responsible for the safety of those present at the event. You should therefore take all the necessary measures to ensure the safety of the visitors to your event. With the recent shooting incidents at Kimsha Beach and Mullet Bay Beach, it is of great importance that the responsibility of visitors to events is taken highly seriously and that these conditions imposed by the Ministry of Justice will be strictly observed. Needless to say, all instructions from KPSM to maintain public order and public safety must be fully adhered to at all times.

To ensure that the promotor of the Hip Hop and R&B Night on April 21, 2023, is fully informed of the conditions attached to the granting of the permit, I request that you share a copy of this letter with the organizer as soon as possible. As a recovering tourist destination, and with Carnival being one of the country's flagship events that bring people from near and far to Sint Maarten, we cannot afford any incidents that could potentially damage the image of the island and would lead to the conclusion that the safety of guests is not guaranteed during big events, such as Carnival.

I recognize that there may be some disappointment with SCDF and or the promotor of the event with the decision not to allow Rich Kalashh to perform and with including certain conditions to the event permit. However, I would hope that everyone can understand that these decisions were made with the safety and well-being of all attendees as the top priority and that the measures taken are necessary to ensure that the event can proceed safely and successfully.

In closing, wish to reiterate that the practice of promoting performances of artists for shows on Sint Maarten without receiving the necessary permits must be discontinued immediately. For future events, you are urged to provide the line-up of artists in a timely manner so that the relevant authorities can conduct a risk and safety analysis in advance and inform you of the outcome. Promotors and SCDF should refrain from advertising their event and selling tickets until an event permit is issued by the Minister of Justice," stated the minister on April 14, 2023.

Click here to read the letter sent to SCDF by the Minister of Justice.
PHILIPSBURG:--- On Friday 14 April 2023, suspect U.L.W. was arrested in the Dominican Republic. The Public Prosecutor's Office Curacao has requested the extradition of U.L.W. in the large-scale Themis investigation. The Themis investigation is being executed by a joint investigation team consisting of members of the Criminal Investigation Team (RST) and members of the police forces of Curacao, Sint Maarten and Aruba, under the direction of the Public Prosecutor's Office of Curacao and Sint Maarten. U.L.W. is suspected among other things of participating in the organization 'No Limit Soldiers' (NLS). This is a criminal cooperation responsible for several liquidations and murders committed within the Kingdom of the Netherlands and abroad. The organization is also suspected of being involved in international narcotics trafficking for years. Part of the Themis investigation has already been submitted to a judge in the Court of First Instance in Curacao and four suspects have now been convicted. Two of these suspects have appealed. The hearing of these cases at the Court continued in Curacao last month. Four more suspects in the investigation are currently being prosecuted at the Court of First Instance. Meanwhile, suspect C.S.H., who had been detained for two years in the United Kingdom, was extradited last month.

Prosecutors Office Press Release.
Experts expect lithium prices to rise

Battery metals, especially lithium, are an economic and geopolitical priority.

Many countries have recognized that the security of supply of lithium is one of the central economic issues. The price of lithium and other battery metals will therefore be determined not only by supply and demand, but also by political decisions and geopolitical risks. The major Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo expects lithium prices to rise, especially from 2024. Currently, the prices for the white gold have come back. Here, expectations that a rising supply surplus is possible probably had an effect. Also, China\-s government has ended cash subsidies for households buying new electric vehicles. This increased lithium inventories in China. In the long term, however, demand for lithium should increase worldwide. After all, no electric car or portable device will work without lithium.

In order to achieve climate goals, the European Commission has presented new proposals to focus on the supply of critical and strategic raw materials and the development of technologies. Lithium and also cobalt are at the forefront of this. The U.S. government has also recognized the importance of battery raw materials. The fact that China has become something of a superpower in some commodity areas over the past 40 years is causing concern and motivating states. That, as I said, should also reflect prices going forward. That should cause higher lithium prices in late 2023 and beyond. That\-s when it\-s time to take a closer look at lithium companies.

Century Lithium  https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/century-lithium-corp/  is focused on developing the Clayton Valley Lithium Project in Nevada. It is 100 percent owned by the company.

ION Energy  https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/ion-energy-inc/  owns two lithium projects in Mongolia. China with its gigafactories is right next door as a lithium consumer. ION Energy is working with many stakeholders to support the Mongolian economy and the energy transition there.

Current corporate information and press releases from Century Lithium (- https://www.resource-capital.ch/en/companies/century-lithium-corp/ -).

In accordance with A34 WpHG I would like to point out that partners, authors and employees may hold shares in the respective companies addressed and thus a possible conflict of interest exists. No guarantee for the translation into English. Only the German version of this news is valid.

Disclaimer: The information provided does not represent any form of recommendation or advice. Express reference is made to the risks in securities trading. No liability can be accepted for any damage arising from the use of this blog. I would like to point out that shares and especially warrant investments are always associated with risk. The total loss of the invested capital cannot be excluded. All information and sources are carefully researched. However, no guarantee is given for the correctness of all contents. Despite the greatest care, I expressly reserve the right to make errors, especially with regard to figures and prices. The information contained herein is taken from sources believed to be reliable, but in no way claims to be accurate or complete. Due to court decisions, the contents of linked external sites are also co-responsible (e.g. Landgericht Hamburg, in the decision of 12.05.1998  312 O 85/98), as long as there is no explicit dissociation from them. Despite careful control of the content, I do not assume liability for the content of linked external pages. The respective operators are exclusively responsible for their content. The disclaimer of Swiss Resource Capital AG also applies: https://www.resource-capital.ch/en/disclaimer/
At least 12 people were injured when seven compartments of two trains were derailed on an overpass in Bangladesh's Cumilla district, some 96 km east of the capital Dhaka, a police official said, Trend reports citing Xinhua.

Md Faruk Hossain, officer-in-charge of Cumilla's Nangalkot police station, told Xinhua that five compartments of a Dhaka-bound passenger train from southeastern seaport city Chattogram derailed after it hit a goods train from behind at the Hasanpur Railway Station in Nangalkot at around 6:30 p.m. local time (1230 GMT) on Sunday.

He added that two compartments of the goods train went off tracks following the accident.

According to the official, the train derailments halted the railway communications from Dhaka to other parts of the country for hours.

The cause of the accident is not clear immediately.
Neptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the sun but it is not the coldest.

Our solar system's blue gas giant is far larger than Earth, at more than 17 times Earth's mass and nearly 58 times Earth's volume, according to NASA (opens in new tab). Neptune's rocky core is surrounded by a slushy fluid mix of water, ammonia and methane ice.

Astronomer Galileo Galilei was one of the first people to identify Neptune as a space object, however, he assumed it was a star based on its slow movement.

Around two hundred years later, in 1846, French astronomer Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier calculated the approximate location of Neptune by studying gravity-induced disturbances in the motions of Uranus , according to a synopsis written by researchers at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland (opens in new tab).

Related: What it would be like to live on Neptune's moon Triton

At the same time Le Verrier was calculating the existence of Neptune, so was English astronomer John Couch Adams. The two scholars independently came up with nearly identical mathematical predictions about Neptune's existence. Le Verrier then informed his colleague, German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle, about his calculations, and Galle and his assistant Heinrich d'Arrest confirmed Le Verrier's predictions by viewing and identifying Neptune through the telescope at his observatory in Berlin.

In accordance with all the other planets seen in the sky, and as suggested by Le Verrier, this new world was given a name from Greek and Roman mythology  Neptune, the Roman god of the sea.

Only one mission has flown by Neptune  Voyager 2 in 1989. Today, there are still many mysteries about the cool, blue planet, such as why its winds are so speedy and its magnetic field is offset. While Neptune is interesting because it is in our own solar system, astronomers are also interested in learning more about the planet to assist with exoplanet studies. Specifically, astronomers are interested in learning about the habitability of worlds that are bigger than Earth.

Like Earth, Neptune has a rocky core, but it has a much thicker atmosphere that prohibits the existence of life as we know it. Astronomers are still trying to figure out at what point a planet is so giant that it may pick up a lot of gas in the area, making it difficult or impossible for life to exist.

Why is Neptune blue?

The planet's cloud cover has an especially vivid blue tint that is partly due to an as-yet-unidentified compound and the result of the absorption of red light by methane in the planet's mostly hydrogen-helium atmosphere.

Cloud streaks over Neptune's surface, taken by Voyager 2. The width of the cloud streaks range from 31 to 124 miles. (Image credit: NASA/JPL)

(opens in new tab)

By studying the cloud formations on the gas giant, scientists were able to calculate that a day on Neptune lasts just under 16 hours long.

Neptune is the fourth largest planet in the solar system, with a radius of 15,599.4 miles (24,622 kilometers)  the distance between its core and the surface. However, Neptune is a spheroid shape, meaning that it bulges around its equator, making the radius of the pole slightly smaller.

Neptune's elliptical, oval-shaped orbit keeps the planet an average distance from the sun of almost 2.8 billion miles (4.5 billion kilometers), or roughly 30 times as far away as Earth, making it invisible to the naked eye. A single orbit of the sun takes Neptune 165 Earth years to complete.

Despite Neptune's distance from the sun, which means it gets little sunlight to help warm and drive its atmosphere, Neptune's winds can reach up to 1,500 miles per hour (2,400 kilometers per hour), the fastest detected in the solar system so far. These winds were linked with a large dark storm that Voyager 2 tracked in Neptune's southern hemisphere in 1989.

A closeup of Neptune's Great Dark Spot taken by Voyager 2. The dark boundary of the storm and the surrounding white cirrus clouds suggests its is moving in a counterclockwise rotation. (Image credit: NASA / Jet Propulsion Lab)

(opens in new tab)

This oval-shaped, counterclockwise-spinning "Great Dark Spot" was large enough to contain the entire Earth and moved westward at nearly 750 mph (1,200 km/h).

The storm seemed to have vanished when the Hubble Space Telescope searched for it later, and since then, Hubble has witnessed the appearance and then fading of other Great Dark Spots on Neptune over the past decade.

Because of the high temperatures and pressures on Neptune and Uranus, scientists believe compressed carbon in the form of diamonds causes a "diamond rain" phenomenon on these icy giants. In 2017, researchers could simulate the conditions that would cause diamonds to form in the lab, supporting the hypothesis that diamond rain occurs on Neptune and Uranus.

Neptune's magnetic poles are tipped to the side by roughly 47 degrees compared with the poles along which it spins. As such, the planet's magnetic field, which is about 27 times more powerful than Earth's, undergoes wild swings during each rotation.

Neptune FAQs answered by an expert

We asked planetary scientist Dr Michael Roman a few frequently asked questions about Neptune.

Dr Michael Roman Planetary Scientist Dr Michael Roman is an expert on the giant planets of the solar system. He works as a planetary scientist at the University of Leicester, U.K.

What type of planet is Neptune? Planetary scientists refer to Uranus and Neptune as 'ice giants' to emphasize that these planets are fundamentally different in bulk composition (and, consequently, formation) from the solar system's other giant planets, the 'gas giants' Jupiter and Saturn. Based on their bulk densities (their overall masses relative to their sizes) Jupiter and Saturn must be composed mostly of the less massive ('lighter') elements, namely hydrogen and helium, even down into their deep interiors. Hence, they are called gas giants. However, in comparison, the bulk densities of Uranus and Neptune indicate that they must have significantly more heavy elements in their interior  specifically in the form of ammonia, methane, and water molecules  to explain their densities. They are, therefore, compositionally distinct, with implications for different formation processes and origins in the early solar system. But why the term 'ice giant'? Astronomers and planetary scientists group molecules broadly by whether they are gaseous or solid at the cold temperatures found across the solar system. Hydrogen and Helium are gases at very low temperatures, whereas ammonia, methane and water condense and freeze to form ice. Hence, these heavier molecules are referred to as ices, and planets rich in these materials are classed as ice giants.

What is Neptune made of? We can measure that the observable atmosphere is mostly hydrogen (more than 80%) and helium (~15%), with a small amount of methane and trace amounts of other molecules, including ethane, acetylene, and several other hydrocarbons. However, as you go deeper into the planet, the composition must change, as the overall larger bulk density indicates that heavier elements must be present at greater depths. The bulk composition of Uranus and Neptune is roughly only 1020% hydrogen and helium and 8090% heavier elements, overall by mass. From our understanding of the fundamental chemical building blocks of the solar system, we can infer that these heavier elements are likely mostly methane, ammonia and water (that form ices), plus some elements that form rocks and metals. However, the relative proportions of the elements (including the ratio of ice to rock) and how they are distributed in the deep interior are unknown.

Why is Neptune not the coldest planet in the solar system if it is the most distant from the sun? Interestingly, the upper atmospheres of both Uranus and Neptune are warmer than what theory would predict given their composition and the amount of sunlight they receive. This is an open mystery that has yet to be adequately explained. Furthermore, compared to Neptune, Uranus appears to have much less heat escaping from its deep interior and fewer trace gas molecules (that absorb sunlight) in its upper atmosphere. This leads to Uranus being somewhat colder, but the reasons for this are also unknown.

Why is it important that we learn about Neptune? It is important that we study these planets for a number of reasons. The extreme atmospheric conditions and long seasonal timescales found in the ice giants provide a unique opportunity to better understand the physics of weather and climate. More fundamentally, these planets may also help us learn more about the formation of the solar system. Understanding why the bulk densities of Uranus and Neptune differ from Jupiter and Saturn can help us to better understand how planets formed and what processes shape planetary formation in general. From a big-picture perspective, the ice giants are seen as possible representatives of a general class of planets that appear common across the galaxy. Studies looking at the variety of exoplanets discovered in recent years show that exoplanets with sizes roughly similar to Neptune are among the most numerous. By understanding the formation and characteristics of our local ice giants, scientists hope to better understand these vastly more distant planets and the processes by which they were formed.

Are there any plans for a mission to Neptune? There are indeed proposals for a mission to Neptune to study the planet and its moons (particularly Triton). Recent U.S.-led proposals included Trident and Neptune Odyssey, among others, but missions to other targets were ultimately considered higher priorities by influential steering groups. No U.S. or European missions to Neptune are currently approved, although the Chinese National Space Administration has indicated it was planning a mission that would pass near Neptune and Triton later next decade. It will be a long wait for our next close view of Neptune, regardless.

Does Neptune have rings?

The James Webb Space Telescope snapped the clearest view of Neptune's rings in 30 years using it's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) on September 21, 2022. (Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI)

(opens in new tab)

Neptune is surrounded by unusual rings, which aren't uniform but possess bright thick clumps of dust called arcs.

There are at least 5 rings around Neptune  called Galle, Leverrier, Lassell, Arago, and Adams  and they are considered relatively young and short-lived. According to an article in the journal Icarus, Earth-based observations found that Neptune's rings are apparently far more unstable than previously thought, with some dwindling away rapidly.

Neptune by the numbers

Atmospheric composition (by volume): 80% hydrogen, 19% helium, 1.5% methane

Magnetic field: Roughly 27 times more powerful than Earth's

Composition by mass: 25% rock, 60-70% ice, 5-15% hydrogen and helium

Internal composition: Mantle mantle of water, ammonia and methane ices; Core of iron and magnesium-silicate

Average distance from the sun: 2,795,084,800 miles (4,498,252,900 km) (that's 30.069 times farther than Earth)

Perihelion (closest approach to the sun): 2,778,182,000 miles (4,471,050,000 km) (that's 29.820 times that of Earth)

Aphelion (farthest distance from the sun): 2,819,080,000 miles (4,536,870,000 km) (that's 30.326 times that of Earth)

Mean orbit velocity: 12,158 mph (19,600 km/h)

Does Neptune have moons?

Neptune has 14 known moons, named after lesser sea gods and nymphs from Greek mythology. The largest by far is Triton, whose discovery on Oct. 10, 1846, was indirectly enabled by beer  amateur astronomer William Lassell, who discovered Triton used the funds he made as a brewer to finance his telescopes.

A color mosaic image of Triton taken by Voyager 2 during its flyby of the Neptune system in 1989. (Image credit: NASA / Jet Propulsion Lab / U.S. Geological Survey)

(opens in new tab)

Triton is the only spherical moon of Neptune. The planet's other 13 moons are irregularly shaped. Triton is also unique in being the only large moon in the solar system to circle its planet in a direction opposite to its planet's rotation  this "retrograde orbit" suggests that Triton may once have been a dwarf planet that Neptune captured rather than forming in place, according to NASA. Neptune's gravity is dragging Triton closer to the planet, meaning that millions of years from now, Triton will come close enough for gravitational forces to rip it apart.

Triton is extremely cold, with temperatures on its surface reaching about minus 391 degrees F (minus 235 degrees C), making it one of the coldest places in the solar system. Nevertheless, Voyager 2 detected geysers spewing icy matter upward more than 5 miles (8 km), showing its interior appears warm. Scientists are investigating the possibility of a subsurface ocean on the icy moon. In 2010, scientists discovered seasons on Triton.

In 2020, NASA announced the possibility of a new space mission to visit Triton, called Trident. "Triton has always been one of the most exciting and intriguing bodies in the solar system," Louise Prockter, director of the Lunar and Planetary Institute of the Universities Space Research Association in Houston, who leads the Trident proposal team, said in the statement.

In 2013, scientists working with SETI caught sight of Neptune's "lost" moon of Naiad using data from the Hubble Space Telescope. The 62-mile-wide (100 km) moon had remained unseen since Voyager 2 discovered it in 1989.

Also in 2013, scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope found the 14th moon, dubbed S/2004 N 1. It is Neptune's smallest moon and is just 11 miles (18 km) wide. It got its temporary name because it is the first satellite (S) of Neptune (N) to be found from images taken in 2004, according to NASA.

Additional resources

To read more about how Neptune was discovered and plans for future research, read Thomas K. Adamson's " The Secrets of Neptune (opens in new tab)" (Capstone Press, 2015). Two great books about Neptune for kids are Nancy Loewen's " Farthest from the Sun: The Planet Neptune (opens in new tab)" (Picture Window Books, 2008), and Ellen Lawrence's " Neptune: The Stormiest Planet (opens in new tab)" (Ruby Tuesday Books, 2013).
'Big sponge': new CO2 tech taps oceans to tackle global warming



San Pedro, United States, April 17 (AFP) Apr 17, 2023



Floating in the port of Los Angeles, a strange-looking barge covered with pipes and tanks contains a concept that scientists hope to make waves: a new way to use the ocean as a vast carbon dioxide sponge to tackle global warming.

Scientists from University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) have been working for two years on SeaChange -- an ambitious project that could one day boost the amount of CO2, a major greenhouse gas, that can be absorbed by our seas.

Their goal is "to use the ocean as a big sponge," according to Gaurav Sant, director of the university's Institute for Carbon Management (ICM).

The oceans, covering most of the Earth, are already the planet's main carbon sinks, acting as a critical buffer in the climate crisis.

They absorb a quarter of all CO2 emissions, as well as 90 percent of the warming that has occurred in recent decades due to increasing greenhouse gases.

But they are feeling the strain. The ocean is acidifying, and rising temperatures are reducing its absorption capacity.

The UCLA team wants to increase that capacity by using an electrochemical process to remove vast quantities of CO2 already in seawater -- rather like wringing out a sponge to help recover its absorptive power.

"If you can take out the carbon dioxide that is in the oceans, you're essentially renewing their capacity to take additional carbon dioxide from the atmosphere," Sant told AFP.



- Trapped -



Engineers built a floating mini-factory on a 100-foot (30-meter) long boat which pumps in seawater and subjects it to an electrical charge.

Chemical reactions triggered by electrolysis convert CO2 dissolved in the seawater into a fine white powder containing calcium carbonate -- the compound found in chalk, limestone and oyster or mussel shells.

This powder can be discarded back into the ocean, where it remains in solid form, thereby storing CO2 "very durably... over tens of thousands of years," explained Sant.

Meanwhile, the pumped water returns to the sea, ready to absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Sant and his team are confident the process will not damage the marine environment, although this will require further testing to confirm.

A potential additional benefit of the technology is that it creates hydrogen as a byproduct. As the so-called "green revolution" progresses, the gas could be widely used to power clean cars, trucks and planes in the future.

Of course, the priority in curbing global warming is for humans to drastically reduce current CO2 emissions -- something we are struggling to achieve.

But in parallel, most scientists say carbon dioxide capture and storage techniques can play an important role in keeping the planet livable.

Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) could help to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 as it offsets emissions from industries which are particularly difficult to decarbonize, such as aviation, and cement and steel production.

It could help to tackle the stocks of CO2 that have been accumulating in the atmosphere for decades.



- 'Promising solution' -



Keeping global warming under control will require the removal of between 450 billion and 1.1 trillion tons of CO2 from the atmosphere by 2100, according to the first global report dedicated to the topic, released in January.

That would require the CDR sector "to grow at a rate of about 30 percent per year over the next 30 years, much like what happened with wind and solar," said one of its authors, Gregory Nemet.

UCLA's SeaChange technology "fits into a category of a promising solution that could be large enough to be climate-relevant," said Nemet, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

By sequestering CO2 in mineral form within the ocean, it differs markedly from existing "direct air capture" (DAC) methods, which involve pumping and storing gas underground through a highly complex and expensive process.

A start-up company, Equatic, plans to scale up the UCLA technology and prove its commercial viability, by selling carbon credits to manufacturers wanting to offset their emissions.

In addition to the Los Angeles barge, a similar boat is currently being tested in Singapore.

Sant hopes data from both sites will quickly lead to the construction of far larger plants that are capable of removing "thousands of tons of carbon" each year.

"We expect to start operating these new plants in 18 to 24 months," he said.
Canada public broadcaster CBC quits Twitter over 'government-funded' label



Ottawa, April 17 (AFP) Apr 17, 2023



Canada's public broadcaster CBC and its French-language version Radio-Canada said Monday they were effectively quitting Twitter over a new "government-funded" label it says questions its editorial independence.

The exit follows that of National Public Radio in the United States over the same tag, which had also been applied to the BBC before the British broadcaster successfully petitioned to have it changed to "publicly-funded."

In a statement, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Radio-Canada said Twitter had added a "government-funded media" label to its account, branding it the same way as it does major media outlets in authoritarian countries such as Russia or China.

"In the case of CBC/Radio-Canada this labeling is untrue and deceptive," the statement said.

While the broadcaster is publicly funded, it said its editorial independence is protected under Canadian broadcasting law.

"Twitter can be a powerful tool for our journalists to communicate with Canadians, but it undermines the accuracy and professionalism of the work they do to allow our independence to be falsely described in this way," it said.

"Consequently, we will be pausing our activity on our corporate Twitter account and all CBC and Radio-Canada news-related accounts."

The broadcaster instead urged Canadians to follow it on other social media.

Conservative opposition leader Pierre Poilievre, who has publicly expressed disdain for the CBC and fundraised on promises to gut its funding, last week wrote to Elon Musk urging him to add a "government-funded media" label to CBC's Twitter accounts.

He said such was "in the interest of transparency" and noted that almost two-thirds of its funding in fiscal 2021-2022 was from the federal government.

On Monday, Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau blasted his rival for "attacking this Canadian institution, and attacking the culture and local content (that it produces) that is so important to so many Canadians."

Since Elon Musk bought Twitter, the company has relaxed its moderation of content on the network, letting back many users banned because of messages inciting hatred or spreading misinformation.

Musk also slashed Twitter's workforce from 7,500 to fewer than 2,000 employees.

He has expressed deep disdain for news media for years and recently installed an automatic response of a poop emoji to emailed inquiries from journalists.

News organizations, however, have struggled to wean themselves from the platform, which remains a main communication exchange for celebrities, politicians and pundits.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 17. Turkiye plans to sell up to 40 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas per year through the gas hub, Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Donmez said, Trend reports via Turkish NTV TV channel.

Donmez noted that the country annually receives about 100 bcm of gas via gas pipelines and tankers.

"We use 55-60 bcm of this volume, and we can sell the rest of 40 billion to Europe," the minister said.

According to Donmez, Turkiye is already negotiating the sale of gas with potential buyers in Europe.
Welcome To SpoilerTV



We bring you a comprehensive and up to date spoiler service on all the major US TV shows and Movies. You can find specific show content by clicking the menu system at the top of the screen. We scour the Internet for spoilers as well as posting our own exclusive spoilers (Scripts, Casting Calls, Set Photos etc) as well as recaps and other fun articles and polls. We hope you enjoy your stay.




STAMFORD  For Priyanka Das, the fresh food section at Target is a mainstay.

Das lives in a downtown Stamford apartment. She doesnt have a car, so walking and taking public transportation is how she gets around. For the sake of convenience, she does most of her grocery shopping at Target  a 10-minute walk from home.

Targets fresh food section is a single aisle, though. Vegetables, meats and other refrigerated goods line the edges, with crates of fruits, baked goods and other items in middle crates. It doesnt have everything, Das said, but it helps her get through the week.

I just pick the place thats nearest, she said.

Christian Abraham/Hearst Connecticut Media

Das isnt alone. As of 2020, about 4,000 people live in the census tract that corresponds to Stamford's central business corridor. Of those households, about 28 percent do not have a car  the highest percentage of any census tract in the city.

The area also lacks a supermarket within close walking distance.

Stamford doesnt lack grocery stores; more are being built, including a Whole Foods under construction at the former Lord + Taylor department store on High Ridge Road.

But access continues to be unevenly distributed. A 2021 analysis by The Stamford Advocate found 11 supermarkets across the city, along with a number of small markets and convenience stores spread across neighborhoods. But since the closure of Fairway Market in August 2020, none of the big-box grocery stores  where prices skew more affordable  are walkable from downtown nor the still-redeveloping South End.

Those two neighborhoods have been the center of Stamfords population growth in recent years. In the past five years alone, according to a city map, 3,632 apartments have been built there.

And population density will increase in the years ahead. Data show 2,093 units are currently under construction  the vast majority of them downtown. About 1,949 units have been approved by the citys Zoning Board, but crews have yet to break ground.

While North Stamford has no supermarket to call its own, most residents have access to a car, according to the Census, and therefore access to the High Ridge shops right below the Merritt Parkway. For that other group, though, finding a place to shop for food locally can mean paying higher prices, a problem for people already struggling with the price of living in the center of the city.

Whats to come of Fairway Market site?

American supermarkets take up a lot of space; the median supermarket clocked in at 42,415 square feet, according to 2019 estimates from food industry group FMI.

Theres simply not that much retail space for those big footprints available downtown, Land Use Bureau Chief Ralph Blessing said in 2021.

Perhaps the most obvious space for a new grocery store is the vacant space where one most recently stood: the Fairway Market site. The 80,163-square-foot building remains empty nearly three years after the grocery chain location shuttered, though it has changed ownership in the meantime; city property records show that Greenwich-based investment firm LoanCore Capital purchased it from South End developer Building and Land Technology in June 2021.

Loancore Capital did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut Media

The property, several blocks south of Interstate 95, remains viable for a new grocery store tenant, said Wayne Pesce, president of the Connecticut Food Association trade group.

The fact that Fairway Market closed in late summer of 2020 was more a reflection of poor financial management than the viability of the neighborhood itself, Pesce said in an email.

But Pesce said prospective tenants might consider downsizing the retail space.

With rent in that area at a premium, any business planning on opening up will need to consider optimizing space, Pesce said. These large projects take time to develop and whether its the former Fairway location or another undisclosed space, my sense is this area is ripe for a food retailer.

Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut Media

Lauren Meyer, a special assistant to Stamford Mayor Caroline Simmons, said the property owner has indicated in talks with the citys economic development department a desire to find a new grocery store tenant. But so far, there hasnt been any movement in finding a deal.

Obviously, it is up to the property owner, but the city has expressed that it is a priority, Meyer said of bringing a supermarket to the growing neighborhoods. Were definitely keeping our eyes open.

'You find yourself at Target a lot'

Until then, shoppers living downtown and in the South End do have alternatives  albeit ones that are more expensive and time-consuming.

Evan Dienstag said he often shops downtown at Target if he is planning to make a quick meal at night. He has a car, though, and often drives to buy groceries.

When you live here, you find yourself at Target a lot," Dienstag said. "Its sort of a problem. I even go to Acme in Riverside sometimes.

Christian Abraham/Hearst Connecticut Media

In the South End, near the Harbor Point community of luxury high-rises, Cece Leonard often finds herself shopping at Harbor Point Organic  described by owner Mark Hill in 2021 as a "little gourmet organic market."

Leonard said she loves living in Harbor Point. But while she appreciates the store, she noted prices are higher than at supermarkets, and it doesn't meet all of her shopping needs.

We dont always have a car here and thats an issue. We can Uber anywhere and the trolley works  its just, if they want to attract the people that the rents are attracting, they need to get themselves a full-service grocery store, Leonard said.

Christian Abraham/Hearst Connecticut Media

Pesce noted that Stamford's Stop & Shop and Grade A Shoprite grocery stores offer home delivery to parts of the city's walkable core. The service includes delivery fees.

Includes prior reporting by Veronica Del Valle and Paul Schott.
Christine Dempsey/Hearst Connecticut Media Group

NEW LONDON  Police have released the name of a teenager who died suddenly over the weekend and said two other people who were injured during the same incident suffered stab wounds.

New London Police Capt. Matthew Galante identified the 17-year-old who died as Dnazia Uzzle, of Groton. Police did not release information about how she died, saying a ruling on the cause and manner of her death is pending from the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)  Former Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury, who established the state's first-in-the-nation system of voting by mail, died Friday. He was 73.

Bradbury also advocated for environmental issues and ran for governor, all while battling multiple sclerosis for more than 40 years.

He died after unexpected medical complications during a six-month, around-the-world cruise with his wife of 36 years, Katy Eymann.

Bill Bradbury may be gone, but he leaves behind a legacy in Oregon that will endure for generations to come, U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley said in a statement.

Bradbury served 15 years in the Oregon Legislature, retiring from the statehouse in 1995 to fight the shrinking of salmon populations. Known as Mr. Fish, he served as director of For the Sake of Salmon until 1999, The Oregonian reported.

Gov. John Kitzhaber appointed Bradbury that year to be Oregons 23rd secretary of state. Bradbury served for a decade, focusing on improving Oregons voting system and establishing more transparent campaign practices.

Bradbury established Oregons vote-by-mail system, which has significantly increased voter participation since 2000. He also helped establish Oregons online political campaign contributions system, ORESTAR, which gives the public access to campaign finance information.

He ran for governor in 2010, losing to Kitzhaber in the Democratic primary.

Those who knew Bradbury said he was always optimistic despite his condition, which can cause extreme bouts of fatigue.

In battling MS with his trademark relentless optimism, Bill showed all of us how to bring good cheer and inner toughness to lifes many challenges, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden wrote on Twitter. He will be hugely missed.
The PKKs April 16 attack in northern Syria, in which four Turkish soldiers were wounded, has been retaliated, and a total of 10 terrorists have been neutralized, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has said, Trend reports citing Daily News.

The treatment of the soldiers injured after the attack on the Olive Branch and Euphrates Shield operations base areas is ongoing, Akar told the media.

Our fight against terrorism continues with determination. All known terror targets came under fire as our struggle will continue till the last terrorist is neutralized, the minister added.

Nearly 40,000 terrorists have been neutralized since July 24, 2015, in the trio of operations launched across its border in northern Syria and the Claw operations as a series of offensives against terrorist organizations in northern Iraq, particularly the PKK, Akar said last week.

Neutralized is a term used by the Turkish military and officials to indicate terrorists were either killed, wounded, or captured. The ministry ranks those included on the list in five color-coded categories from red (most wanted) to blue, green, orange and grey.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkiye, the PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the U.S. and the European Union, has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
U S investment giant Apollo has opened a new European headquarters in central London and said offices remain important post-pandemic.

The private capital manager has launched a new European hub at 1 Soho Place, with 88,000 square feet that can accommodate over 400 employees. It is bringing together teams from two existing London offices totalling 56,000 square feet.

Rob Seminara, partner and head of Europe at Apollo told the Evening Standard: We have more capital to deploy than ever with European-based teams managing nearly a quarter of Apollos $548 billion (441 billion). We were clearly running out of space before.

The four floors the company has include client space, a coffee bar, employee dining area and fitness centre. The building is located over the Tottenham Court Road Elizabeth line and Underground station.

It follows the firms other recent new or renovated workplaces in Singapore, New York, Mumbai and Hong Kong.

The move comes at a busy time for Apollo which has made a number of proposals for John Wood Group including a latest 1.7 billion deal. Today the engineering services business said it is granting Apollo access to due diligence on the basis of its previously-disclosed 240p a share offer.

The lease at 1 Soho Place was signed pre-Covid and now many companies are re-thinking HQ plans.

Seminara said Apollo is well used to remote work as teams often travel. But he added: Its hugely important to still have a London office and a central, easy-to-access location for people to meet, collaborate and innovate. I would argue its even more important post-pandemic as people now fully appreciate what value a great workspace and thriving office environment can provide.

Apollo has opened a new European HQ in London / Apollo

In a company announcement Seminara added: Our new London office will provide our people with one of the regions best, state-of-the-art workspaces. This further reinforces our commitment to offering the full Apollo platform  from credit, equity, and real assets to retirement services and wealth capabilities  across regions.
T he Bank of Englands deputy governor said stablecoins may need the same regulation as traditional payments in order to prevent threats to Britains financial stability.

Sir Jon Cunliffe said new currencies and ways of paying for things are exciting but also a fundamental issue for the Bank.

The Bank and the UKs regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, are set to consult later this year on a new regulatory framework to limit the use of stablecoins, which are a type of cryptocurrency backed by traditional money or assets.

Payment systems using stablecoins should be regulated to standards equivalent to those applied for traditional payments, Sir Jon told an audience at the Innovate Finance Global Summit in Londons Guildhall.

We cannot know for certain the extent and the speed at which payment stablecoins might be adopted and we may well need limits... to ensure we avoid disruptive change that could threaten financial stability

He stressed that the financial stability risks of the rapid and disruptive development of digital money should be manageable.

But we cannot know for certain the extent and the speed at which payment stablecoins might be adopted and we may well need limits, at least initially, to ensure we avoid disruptive change that could threaten financial stability, the banker stressed.

Sir Jon warned in December that the crypto industry, which is largely unregulated in the UK, is too dangerous not to be regulated in the same way other financial institutions are.

It comes as the Bank develops its own plans to launch a digital pound which can be used by private sector companies across the country.

Sir Jon said in his speech on Monday: Changes in how we pay for things and what type of money we use is an exciting area of possibility for the fintech world.

It is also a fundamental issue for the Bank of England  as a regulator, as the provider of the central high value payment rails and the issuer of the highest quality, public money in the UK.

The Bank aims to develop both the regulatory frameworks and the public money that means safe innovation can flourish to the benefit of all, he concluded.
Is the entire UK stock market up for sale?

You could be forgiven for thinking so. Three separate announcements on Monday show just how vulnerable much of corporate Britain is to money-bags private equity houses, usually American ones.

First oil and gas firm John Wood said it would actively consider a 1.7 billion offer from CVC Capital and Francisco Partners. It has refused three lower bids, but still, the 240p offer is half what the shares were a few years ago.

Then payments provider Network International said it had received a 2 billion, 387p a share offer from CVC Capital and Francisco Partners. Thats also about half what the stock was not so long ago.

Which suggests management have given up on the UK stock market giving their shares the love they might think they deserve.

Later on yesterday, THG, a retail e-commerce player that has had a very rough ride on the stock market said it has also had a bid from Apollo. No price was given, but the stock lept 40% valuing the business at well over 1 billion.

Whats going on?

Well, as we reported here on Friday on the back of some research from Alan Miller at SCM Direct, UK shares are dramatically undervalued, at least compared to those in the US.

A UK company after three years on the stock market is valued at 15 times earnings. The US equivalent is closer to 25 times, which explains why new companies, especially tech firms, prefer the idea of a New York listing over a London one.

Are we running out of listed companies? Well, not quite but figures from the Quoted Companies Alliance show that the number of UK stock market listed companies has been falling for 20 years. There were 3273 listed companies in 2007, now there are fewer than 2000. Thats quite alarming.

We asked Charlie Huggins, manager of the Quality Shares Portfolio at Wealth Club, for his top three potential private equity targets. He says:

Sainsburys

Theres been plenty of interest in UK grocers in recent years  with CD&R snapping up Morrisons and Asda going into private hands after its proposed merger with Sainsbury collapsed. Sainsbury would be the natural next target, with its position in the squeezed middle putting it under pressure in recent years and the shares trading on a lowly 11x earnings. 9.7bn of property assets could help fund the deal through a sale and leaseback deal too.

Jupiter Fund Management

Asset management is all about scale these days, and thats something Jupiter is lacking. AUM of just 50.2bn and falling makes it a relative minnow. Acquisition by a larger competitor cant be ruled out, but its strong retail distribution network might also make it a target for private equity groups that are looking to increase their access to high-net-worth clients in Europe.

Spire Healthcare

Private healthcare has long been fertile ground for PE. Spire is itself the product of the sale of BUPA hospitals to Cinven in 2007, before listing in 2014. Net debt is high, at 2.2x EBITDA, which might put off a potential PE buyer, although again theres a decent freehold property portfolio to borrow against. Recent acquisitions of private GPs surgeries might provide a route for future acquisition driven growth under private ownership.

Could Sainsburys really be a target for private equity? Well, one problem is that the Qatar Investment Authority holds a 15% stake and it would have to approve a bid. But perhaps it is looking for an exit.

Daniel Kretinsky, the Czech billionaire with a 10% stake might also have a strong view.

Why is private equity so busy? The theory goes that now fears of a fresh banking crisis have subsided, but share values at still low, it is time for them to strike.

These funds have a huge amount of cash on hand and they have to do something with it before very long, else clients will be wondering if they are missing out.

Rebecca Burford, a partner at Charles Russell Speechlys, says private equity has been on the up for some time.

While we did observe a bit of a slowdown in private equity last year, this followed a record year for dealmaking in 2021, so just looking at the 2022 numbers in a vacuum can be a little misleading. The reality is that private equity has been going strong for quite some time.

She adds: Private equity leading the way this year is not just down to opportunism and other dealmakers worrying about a banking crisis. Even without the concerns of a potential banking crisis, PE would still be booming.

In April last year, the Private Capital market, valued at $10 trillion in 2021, was forecast to grow to between $18 trillion (Prequin) and $30 trillion (Goldman Sachs) by 2026.

Burford says: We dont believe that private equity market or growth of private capital more broadly will slow down any time soon.
T he breaking of the Ramadan fast, the iftar meal, has become more than just an accepted part of our countrys calendar, it is celebrated as part of our British identity. But for many Muslims organising these events, they are starting to question how their positive actions of bringing communities together may be impacting negatively on the planet.

Muslims believe all humans should act as guardians of the planet. This Islamic concept of stewardship is a powerful and important one, in particular as many Muslim majority countries bear the brunt of climate change.

In 1970 the now King warned about the dangers of plastic waste highlighting that we are faced at this moment with the horrifying effects of pollution in all its cancerous forms. More recently the Natural History Museum became the first international museum to declare a Planetary Emergency  planetary because climate change is just one of the crises we are causing.

Our eating habits, for example, have resulted in livestock making up 60 per cent of the worlds mammals by weight and 71 per cent of the worlds birds are bred for food with an estimated 26 billion chickens on Earth.

Its therefore fitting that the Naz Legacy Interfaith Youth Iftar, which The King spoke at during their previous virtual iftar, will this year be hosted at the Natural History Museum. The foundation was praised by The Archbishop of Canterbury as being one of the charities which has pioneered interfaith iftars, helping to bring communities together to show we have more in common.

Tonight, more than 100 young people from all faiths and none will be joining the iftar with Sir Patrick Vallance, Cardinal Vincent Nichols and the Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan, under Hope the whale, to discuss how their beliefs and values shape their relationship and connection with the natural world. The iftar meal will be vegetarian, no single-use plastics will be in use and people will be encouraged to travel via public transport.

Iftars are no longer just a place to bring communities together, they are now places to shape a better future and create advocates for the planet.

Harris Bokhari is a trustee of the Natural History Museum
L ondons Accident & Emergency departments are in crisis. New figures reveal that February saw 22,000 people wait longer than 12 hours to be seen in the capitals hospitals, representing more than one in 10 of those attending, according to the NHS. One London trust, Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals, saw nearly a third of patients waiting at least 12 hours, the highest of any in the country.

It is difficult to be definitive with this data set, given it is the first time that waits of more than 12 hours from the point of arrival at A&E have been collated. But it is clear the NHS is in a grave condition. The organisations operational standard states that at least 95 per cent of patients be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours. This target has not been met nationally since 2015.

This comes as strike action rumbles on. The Royal College of Nursing on Friday rejected the Governments five per cent pay offer for 2023-24 and is set to walk out again. Meanwhile, junior doctors have only just completed the most disruptive strike in the NHSs history.

We cannot afford more industrial action or the Government gambling that setting one union against the other will end the dispute when public support for the nurses in particular remains high. We urge all sides to return to negotiations and secure a fair and lasting deal.

True harm of pollution

New research from Imperial College London demonstrates the many ways toxic air harms us all, from old age to before we are even born.

Researchers found that particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide  both of which are spewed out of petrol and diesel car exhausts  are particularly harmful, and can damage foetal growth as well as reduce sperm counts.

It is further evidence of the harm wrought by the pollution that still blankets our city, and why we must expand the capitals ultra-low emission zone. The policy is far from universally popular and is now facing a High Court challenge brought by five Conservative councils. But the benefits of clean air will be widely felt.

In young people, air pollution can inhibit lung growth and affect cognitive abilities. In adulthood, it is linked to cancer, strokes and ultimately reduced life expectancy. Something protesters stealing Ulez enforcement cameras in outer London seem to disregard.

More water fountains

Summers are growing hotter, plastic is piling higher and the cost of a bottle of water often shatters the 1 barrier. Public water fountains are the answer.

Yet in some parts of the capital they are few and far between. Data via Freedom of Information requests find Barking and Dagenham has just one fountain while Havering has none. This compares with 51 in Southwark.

As summer approaches, we ought to splash out on more.
W ell, thats one way to displace our front page story on the crisis of patients waiting more than 12 hours in A&E. It was revealed this afternoon that the prime minister is being investigated by Parliaments standards watchdog over allegations of a possible failure to declare the shares his wife, Akshata Murthy, holds in a childcare agency that could benefit from changes made in the Budget.

In the days following 15 March, Rishi Sunak faced questions about the shares owned by his wife in Koru Kids, given that it stands to gain from the changes to childcare provision announced by the chancellor. At the Liaison Committee on 28 March, when asked by the Labour MP Catherine McKinnell whether he had any interest to declare, the prime minister replied: No. All my disclosures are declared in the normal way.

In a subsequent letter to the Committee on 4 April, Sunak acknowledged the minority stake his wife holds in Koru Kids and said that it had rightly been declared to the Cabinet Office. Downing Street says the prime minister will clarify how it was declared as a ministerial interest, rather than to the Commons.

The primary issue for Sunak is not his imminent resignation, but that this clumsy episode will generate a further opportunity to remind voters, should they need it, of just how extraordinarily wealthy he and his wife are. This would be awkward during strong economic times, let alone when voters are suffering the largest fall in real living standards in a century.

Indeed it was only last week, on the day it was confirmed that UK GDP growth flatlined in February, that Murthy landed a 6.7m payout in dividends from Infosys, a Bangalore-based tech company founded by her father. That takes her dividends to over 20m in the past 12 months. For context, her stake in the company is worth more than half a billion pounds.

That the prime minister is rich and his wife even more so is not news to voters  just look at this world cloud produced by market research firm Savanta. But it reinforces a vulnerability and harks back to perhaps the most difficult moment of Sunaks short political career, when it was revealed last year that his wife was claiming non-dom status, meaning she did not have to pay tax on her overseas income. Sunak condemned the stories at the time as unpleasant smears.

I suspect many people still dont appreciate just how wealthy Sunak and his family are, and assume Keir Starmer is nearly as rich. That is why investigations such as this are unhelpful, especially at a time when the prime minister is eager to construct a comeback narrative.

For as long as Sunak remains the Conservative Partys strongest asset, any story that reminds voters of his stunning wealth is a boon to Labour.

Elsewhere in the paper, Daniel Keane reports on the terrible state of the NHS in London. Latest figures show that in February, 22,000 people waited longer than 12 hours to be seen in the capitals hospitals, representing more than one in 10 of those who attended.

One London trust, Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals, saw nearly one-third of patients waiting at least 12 hours, the highest of any in the country. The NHSs operational standard states that at least 95 per cent of patients be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours. This target has not been met nationally since 2015.

In the comment pages, Philip Collins calls on Labour to scrap its tuition fees pledge and end middle-class handouts. Rob Rinder is embracing JOMO (joy of missing out) after the shock of not being invited to the Coronation. While Harris Bokhari says we can change the world, one iftar at a time.

And finally, how do Michelin-starred chefs order on a plane? Joanna Taylor discovers the secrets to avoiding a disappointing meal in the sky

This article appears in our newsletter, West End Final  delivered 4pm daily  bringing you the very best of the paper, from culture and comment to features and sport. Sign up here.
T he London Book Fair, one of the UKs largest book-publishing trade fairs, kicks off tomorrow (April 18).

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, Kate Mosse and a range of Ukrainian authors are the latest people to be announced for the 2023 London Book Fair.

Mr Khan will take to the stage on Wednesday April 19 where he will chat with Young Vic artistic director Kwame Kwei-Armah with the pair set to discuss Londons role as a hub for the UKs creative economy; climate change and the role of cities in supporting a more sustainable future.

Khan will also talk about his new book, Breathe: Tackling the Climate Emergency and said of his attendance: Im delighted to attend this years London Book Fair and engage with an industry that is so important to Londons cultural vibrancy and the UKs creative economy. Cities like London are leading from the front in taking action to tackle the climate emergency  and I look forward to discussing how we can all play a part in building a greener future.

Kate Mosse will be discussing her new book, The Ghost Ship / PA Archive

Another newly announced key speaker is Kate Mosse, who will appear on Thursday April 20 in conversation with Louise Minchin and will discuss her new book, The Ghost Ship. She joins award-winning author of The Nickel Boys, Colson Whitehead, who is also among the names just announced for the 2023 London Book Fair.

Taking place from April 18 to 20, authors, publishers and other industry figures will gather at Olympia London for three days of networking and learning. Other events include a headline talk from HarperCollins president and chief executive, Brian Murray, and the adult author of the day, bestselling crime novelist Ann Cleeves.

With face-to-face meetings, conferences and seminar programmes, the event provides pivotal insight into the book world.

Gareth Rapley, director of the London Book Fair, said: The main stage was a popular addition to last years fair and Im delighted that we are able to deliver another exciting and extensive selection of discussions to the London Book Fair 2023. We are honoured this year to present a selection of industry big-hitters, ranging from international publishing organisations to indie publishers, multimillion-selling authors, book retailers and media executives.

Street Child has recently been announced as 2023s London Book Fair charity of the year. This means that the charity will be given an exhibition space and seminar session at the book fair in April.

What is the London Book Fair?

The London Book Fair is an annual book-publishing trade fair. It is a global marketplace for rights negotiation and the sale and distribution of content across print, audio, TV, film and digital channels.

From publishers and dealmakers to copyright professionals, commissioners and the global licensors, including those involved in rights negotiation, the event unites the book community for three days of business, networking and learning.

Since its launch in 1971, the fair has grown in size and importance. It is considered as second in importance to only the Frankfurt Book Fair as a mecca for European publishers, booksellers, rights agents, and media trend-spotters.

Who is speaking this year?

Below is a full list of speakers announced so far:

Sadiq Khan, London Mayor

Kate Mosse, author

Colson Whitehead, author

Brian Murray, president and chief executive of HarperCollins

Nigel Newton, president of the Publishers Association

Karine Pansa, president of the International Publishers Association

Nigel Wyman, sales and marketing director of Gardners Books

Dan Conway, chief executive of the Publishers Association

Emily Hayward-Whitlock, head of book to film at the Artists Partnership

Dapo Adeola, illustrator

Ann Cleeves, author

Perminder Mann, chief executive of Bonnier Books

Meryl Halls, managing director of the Booksellers Association

Kate Wilson, chief executive of Nosy Crow

Irum Fazal, founder of Asian Women Writers

Where is the London Book Fair?

The London Book Fair will take place at Olympia London in West Kensington.

How to get tickets

Registration is now open and visitor tickets cost 63.60 for the two days.
C ryptocurrencies are a digital-only form of financial exchange that use cryptography as a means of security. They are not physical currencies in the same way as, say, pounds or dollars.

Bitcoin, the original cryptocurrency, made its debut over a decade ago and has paved the way for the creation of thousands of rival cryptocurrencies.

Crypto top 10

If youre unfamiliar with the world of crypto, here are the top 10 largest cryptocurrencies in terms of market capitalisation. Often shortened to market cap, this figure represents the total value of each coin thats in circulation.

The law of supply and demand means that market cap figures are continually subject to change. For the purposes of the list below, the figures relate to 1 November 2022 and are necessarily approximate.

The abbreviation after each cryptocurrency, BTC for example, relates to its ticker symbol - a means of identification for trading purposes.

Note: investing in cryptocurrencies is not for everyone. The UKs financial watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), issues regular warnings to consumers about the crypto industry. The FCA reminds would-be traders that cryptoassets are unregulated and high-risk, which means people are very unlikely to have any protection if things go wrong, so people should be prepared to lose all their money if they choose to invest in them.

Invest with a crypto brand trusted by millions Buy and sell 70+ cryptoassets on a secure, easy-to-use platform Own Crypto

Cryptoassets are highly volatile and unregulated in the UK. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

1. Bitcoin (BTC)

Market cap: 438.8 billion

The original cryptocurrency, Bitcoin was first mooted in 2008 by an anonymous individual, or group of people, using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. Its invention was a breakthrough in cryptography.

As with most cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin runs on a blockchain - a piece of software that acts as a digital ledger that logs transactions distributed across a network comprising thousands of computers.

Because additions to the distributed ledger must be verified by solving a cryptographic puzzle - a process known as proof of work - Bitcoin is kept secure from fraudsters.

Despite becoming a household name, Bitcoins price has oscillated wildly in recent years. At the time of writing, a coin was worth around 23,814 having peaked at just over 51,000 in November 2021. In 2016, a single Bitcoin could be bought for around 370.

Cryptoassets are highly volatile and unregulated in the UK. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

2. Ethereum (ETH)

Market cap: 179.7 billion

Ethereum is both a cryptocurrency and a blockchain platform and is popular with programme developers because of its potential applications.

These include so-called smart contracts that automatically execute when conditions are met, as well as non-fungible tokens - or NFTs. NFTs are digital assets that represent real-world objects, such as unique works of art.

Ethereum is another cryptocurrency that has experienced tremendous growth. For example, from April 2016 to date, its price has risen from 8 to 1,678.

Cryptoassets are highly volatile and unregulated in the UK. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

3. Tether (USDT)

Market cap: 64 billion

Unlike some of its cryptocurrency rivals, Tether is a type of stable coin.

Stable coins attempt to peg their market value to an external reference. For Tether, this means its backed by established fiat currencies such as UK pounds, US dollars or the euro and hypothetically keeps a value equal to one of those denominations.

Tethers value, the theory runs, ought to be more consistent than other cryptocurrencies. It tends to be favoured by investors who are wary of the extreme volatility associated with other coins.

4. Binance Coin (BNB)

Market cap: 39.3 billion

Binance Coin is a version of cryptocurrency where users can trade and pay fees on Binance, one of the worlds largest crypto exchanges. Fees paid on the exchange in Binance Coin receive a discount.

Launched in 2017, Binance Coin has moved on from only facilitating trades on the Binance exchange. It can now be used for trading, payment processing, and even booking travel arrangements. It can also be traded or exchanged for other forms of cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin or Ethereum.

In 2017 a coin was priced at under 10p, but this month it has been trading around the 275 mark.

Cryptoassets are highly volatile and unregulated in the UK. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

5. US Dollar Coin (USDC)

Market cap: 26.1 billion

US Dollar Coin (USDC) is another stable coin. Its redeemable on a 1:1 basis for US dollars, backed by dollar denominated assets held in segregated accounts with US-regulated financial institutions. USDC is powered by Ethereum and can be used to complete transactions worldwide.

Cryptoassets are highly volatile and unregulated in the UK. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

6. XRP (XRP)

Market cap: 20.6 billion

XRP aims to be a fast, cost-efficient cryptocurrency for cross-border payments.

Created by some of the same founders as Ripple, a digital technology and payment processing company, XRP can be used on that network to transact exchanges of different currency types, including fiat currencies and other major cryptocurrencies.

Cryptoassets are highly volatile and unregulated in the UK. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

7. Dogecoin (DOGE)

Market cap: 11.3 billion

Dogecoin began as a joke in 2013, but rapidly evolved into a prominent cryptocurrency thanks to a dedicated community and creative memes. Unlike many other cryptos, there is no limit on the number of Dogecoins that can be created, which leaves the currency susceptible to devaluation as supply increases.

Dogecoins price in 2017 was 0.00016. By April 2023, its price stood at around 7p.

Cryptoassets are highly volatile and unregulated in the UK. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

8. Cardano (ADA)

Market cap: 11.7 billion

Later to the crypto scene, Cardano is notable for its early embrace of proof-of-stake validation.

This is the second (along with proof-of-work, see Bitcoin above) of two major consensus mechanisms that cryptocurrencies use to verify new transactions, add them to the blockchain, and create new tokens.

This method hastens transaction times and reduces energy usage and environmental impact by removing the competitive, problem-solving aspect of transaction verification that exists via platforms such as Bitcoin.

Cardano also works like Ethereum to enable smart contracts and decentralised applications, powered by ADA, its native coin.

Cryptoassets are highly volatile and unregulated in the UK. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

9. Polygon GBP (MATIC-GBP)

Market cap: 8.1 billion

Polygon used to be known as Matic Network. With the ticker symbol (MATIC) it is an Ethereum token that powers the Polygon Network, a scaling solution for Ethereum. Polygons aim is to provide faster and cheaper transactions on Ethereum using blockchains that run alongside the Ethereum main chain.

Cryptoassets are highly volatile and unregulated in the UK. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

10. Solana (SOL)

Market cap: 6.5 billion

Developed to help power decentralized finance (DeFi) usages, decentralized apps (DApps) and smart contracts, Solana runs on a unique hybrid proof-of-stake and proof-of-history mechanisms to process transactions quickly and securely. SOL, Solanas native token, powers the platform.

When it launched in 2020, SOLs price started at 0.57. By April 2023, its price was around 20.46.

Cryptoassets are highly volatile and unregulated in the UK. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

Frequently asked questions

What are cryptocurrencies?

A cryptocurrency is a type of currency that only exists in digital form. Cryptocurrencies are increasingly being used to make online purchases, side-stepping the need of going through a third-party such as a bank. They are also used for investment/speculation.

Whats the difference between trading cryptocurrencies and traditional shares?

Buying a share in a company means you own a tiny piece of the corporation concerned. Shares also confer on the holder the right to vote on key decisions that a company makes  from its direction of travel, to how much it pays its executive board.

If a company folds, shareholders may be entitled to compensation once creditors that are higher up the pecking order have been paid off.

In contrast, buying a cryptocurrency only grants the holder ownership over the token itself. If a cryptocurrency loses values, thats it. There is no extra layer of compensation for the holder.

There are several key differences between shares and cryptocurrencies worth bearing in mind:

Trading hours: traditional stock exchanges such as London and New York are only open for set periods daily, five days a week. Cryptocurrency markets never close, however, enabling participants to make transactions 24/365.

Regulation: share trading is subject to strict regulation, and the reports and accounts of publicly listed companies are matters of public record. Cryptocurrencies are unregulated. Unlike other parts of the financial services marketplace, there is no financial safety net for customers in the event a cryptocurrency company goes to the wall.

Volatility: Investing in both shares and cryptocurrencies involves risk. Investors can lose money from both and, in extreme cases, end up with nothing. While share prices tend to rise and fall based on company performance, cryptocurrency prices tend to be more speculative. This can make price moves in the latter extremely volatile, sensitive to something as seemingly insignificant as a celebritys tweet.

How do you buy crypto?

You can buy cryptocurrencies through a number of exchanges such as Coinbase.

Do you have to pay taxes on cryptocurrencies?
Spring has sprung and along with the crocuses, you will need something decent to read and for once, there is a fecund crop of upcoming new books to choose from.

From ex-aide Cleo Watsons sex and skulduggery romp in Westminster Whips to Max Porters latest, there should be something to suit all tastes.

1. Big Swiss by Jen Beagin

Faber

Big Swiss is currently being turned in to HBO series starring Jodie Comer and it has a very juicy premise indeed. Greta works as a transcriber for a sex therapist and she becomes particularly fascinated by one client who has never had an orgasm and whom she nicknames Big Swiss (Comer plays her) and later meets in the dog park. The two women embark on a passionate affair that flips upside down what they think about fidelity, honesty and also, donkeys.

Out 18 May, Faber & Faber

2. Shy by Max Porter

Faber

Max Porters first book was the much-praised prose-poem novel Grief is a Thing with Feathers, which even won plaudits from Alan Bennett. Lanny, his second novel, is being made into a film with Rachel Weisz. Shy, his fourth book, is about a few hours in the life of a troubled teenage boy who is escaping Last Chance, a home for very disturbed young men. You can expect another sensitive exploration of boyhood and imagination from Porter  who has been kind to those of us who like a short book and this new novel is no exception.

Out now, Faber & Faber

3. Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton

Granta

Eleanor Catton is still the youngest ever winner of the Booker Prize for her historical doorstep of a novel The Luminaries (2013). Birnam Wood is her Macbeth-inspired follow up and transports the central ideas of Shakespeares tragedy to present day New Zealand. This is part of a growing trend of cli-fi or fiction about climate change and is nothing if not brutal. If you want a quick introduction to Cattons work, however, its worth picking up her first novel and masterpiece, The Rehearsal.

Out now, Granta

4. Is This OK? by Harriet Gibsone

Picador

Harriet Gibsone was a 31 year old newly-wed when she realised she was experiencing early menopause with all its implications for her identity and fertility. This is her very funny and moving memoir about what she did next and if you want an idea of how the comedy hits, it has been endorsed by both Sara Pascoe and Bob Mortimer.

Out 25 May, Picador

5. Small Worlds by Caleb Azumah Nelson

PRH

Caleb Azumah Nelsons first novel Open Water, won the Costa First Book Award. Small Worlds, his second, has been praised by all the right people, not least Raven Leilani, author of Luster. Small Worlds is about fathers and sons and takes place over three summers in its heros life, travelling from Ghana to London and back again.

Out now, Penguin

6. Whips by Cleo Watson

LIttle Brown

If you cant remember how you know that a puppy gate was set up in Downing Street for Boris Johnson when the then Prime Minister proved himself unable to self-isolate during the pandemic, it was from ex-aide Cleo Watsons Tatler article. Johnson also told her she was like an ugly lamp he had gained in his divorce from Dominic Cummings. Other delicious revelations proliferated and Watson has now written a novel called Whips which she describes as sex and skulduggery in Westminster, set during a leadership contest. She has also said I like telling people it is the Matt Hancock arse-grab of debut novels, which is to say truly cringeworthy, but nonetheless gripping. Irresistible.

Out 25 May, Little Brown

7. Good Girls by Hadley Freeman

4th Estate

The journalist Hadley Freeman has followed her impressive family memoir House of Glass, with an even more self-exposing book about her experiences as a teenager, spending almost three years on psychiatric wards being treated for anorexia. This is a heart-breaking account of what might lead someone to feel self-starvation is her only option and Freeman should be commended for her bravery in writing about this. Her hope is that it may help sufferers and their families out of the darkness and she was part-inspired to write it by anxious queries from friends whose daughters were exhibiting signs of anorexia. It also offers an illuminating insight into an awful disease for those of lucky enough to have a very sketchy understanding of it.

Out 18 April, 4th Estate

8. The Guest by Emma Cline

Penguin

Emma Clines first novel, The Girls, was the book of Summer 2016. Its haunting evocation of the girls on the edges of the Manson cult gripped readers and won her fans from Lena Dunham to Richard Ford. She hasnt written a novel since so The Guest is highly anticipated. Set in the glittering world of east coast wealth and glamour, it is about a young woman who has been working as an escort in the city and is now staying with Simon, her new sugar daddy, at his beach house for the summer.

Out 18 May, Penguin

9. Old Babes in the Wood by Margaret Atwood

Vintage

Any new publication by the estimable Atwood  who is the author of more than 50 books  is an event and this new collection of 15 short stories is no exception. They feature beloved cats, a confused snail, Martha Gellhorn, George Orwell, a cabal of elderly female academics, and an alien tasked with retelling human fairy tales. If you have only read (or seen on TV) The Handmaids Tale by the same author, then this could be an enjoyable next step.

Out now, Vintage

10. Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld

PRH

A bookseller inadvertently sold the premise of this novel to me by saying she felt guilty for wolfing it down so salaciously. A thirtysomething TV script writer on a Saturday Night Live type show treats her current boyfriend like mediocre pizza, something that can be consumed in lieu of a more satisfying alternative. She also writes a sketch mocking the phenomenon of interesting but ordinary looking men dating beautiful women, noting that this never happens the other way around. Until, of course, it happens to her. Sittenfeld, whose previous novels include Rodham and Eligible, appears to have struck gold once again.

Out now, Transworld

11. Touching Cloth by Fergus Butler-Gallie

PRH

Its hard not to love a priest who calls his memoir Touching Cloth and whose author bio mentions that he grew up amidst a large family of maniacs. Butler-Gallies publishers are billing this as Richard Coles meets Adam Kay which sounds quite odd but rest assured this account of a year in the life of young priest is worth your time. The funniest depiction of being a priest since Rev left our screens.

Out now, Bantam Press
A n award-winning entrepreneur aimed punches at a social justice campaigner outside a Windrush Day celebration in the culmination of a feud over 35,000, a court heard.

Akua Gyamfi, 46, is accused of trying to attack Alisha Hall while confronting her outside the Film and TV Charity headquarters in Soho.

She is said to have screamed abuse and demanded money from Ms Hall, whose mother allegedly had to step in to prevent her daughter from being injured.

Gyamfi, the founder of the British Blacklist media platform, admits losing her temper, but denies throwing punches. Westminster magistrates court heard the women were at loggerheads over 35,000 in promised sponsorship for a brunch organised by Gyamfi to celebrate black filmmakers during the 2021 London Film Festival.

Gyamfi claims the sponsorship money never arrived, while Ms Hall, 41, a media firm director who founded the Liberation Initiatives in the Black Lives Matter movement, insists she paid the money and Gyamfi had been harassing her. The women exchanged a rancorous series of emails about the money before the incident in Soho on June 22 last year.

Ms Hall said Gyamfi followed her around the venue and she decided to leave to avoid any further confrontation. When we left to go to the station, thats when she became really aggressive. She was in my face, screaming and clenching her fists to hit me. Thank God my mum got in between

Ms Halls mother, Elaine Roberts, said she saw Gyamfi put her fists up to go for her, and stepped in. I think she was going to hit her, she said.

Ms Hall told the court she authorised payment of 35,000 in sponsorship for the brunch, and said she had been advised not to talk to Gyamfi about the subsequent dispute after receiving aggressive late-night emails and being dubbed a bogus scammer in social media posts.

Gyamfi insisted: I didnt physically attack her at all. I shouted at her.

Gyamfi, from Shepherds Bush, denies common assault. Her trial is due to resume on April 14.
Two Detained in New York for Allegedly Running Unlawful Chinese 'Police Station' (Photo : CEphoto, Uwe Aranas/Wikimedia Commons/CC-BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0))

The FBI has arrested two individuals accused of operating an unauthorized police station for the Chinese government in lower Manhattan. The suspects, "Harry" Lu Jianwang, 61, from the Bronx, and Chen Jinping, 59, from Manhattan, are charged with conspiring to act as agents for the Chinese government. They were arrested on Monday morning at their New York City residences.



Advertisement

In a statement, the FBI said, "The defendants worked together to establish the first overseas police station in the United States on behalf of the Fuzhou branch of the (Ministry of Public Security)."



Along with the New York complaint, two other complaints have been filed - one against 34 members of Beijing's Municipal Public Security Bureau and another against a group of 10 individuals, including eight Chinese government officials.



The three complaints share a common allegation: the suspects purportedly worked to intimidate, harass, and threaten "wanted" Chinese nationals within the United States.



The FBI revealed in November last year that it was aware of China operating an unofficial police station in Manhattan, outside proper procedure or authority, as part of a global network of such facilities. This disclosure followed a September 2022 investigation by Safeguard Defenders, a nongovernmental organization, which reported the existence of dozens of such centers worldwide conducting police operations.



Chinese officials contested this portrayal, claiming the "service centers" were run by volunteers and were unrelated to policing. However, in January, the New York Times reported that Chinese state media had explicitly described the centers as police facilities, operating in foreign countries without collaborating with local authorities. The Times also reported that the FBI had searched the East Broadway facility in the fall of 2022.



Kurt Ronnow, acting assistant director of the FBI Counterintelligence Division, said in a statement, "This case serves as a powerful reminder that the People's Republic of China will stop at nothing to bend people to their will and silence messages they don't want anyone to hear."


A man in his 20s was rushed to hospital following a stabbing in broad daylight in south-east London on Sunday.

Officers and paramedics were called to Sutherland Road in Belvedere, Bexley, around 4.25pm to reports of a disturbance.

Police searched the area, and found a man in his 20s suffering stab wounds.

He was rushed to hospital in a condition that was not believed to be life-threatening, according to police.

A Scotland Yard spokesperson said: One man has been arrested in connection with the incident and taken into custody at a London police station.

Multiple crime scenes were put in place, including at Belvedere Station.
A man has admitted his role in a people-smuggling ring which coordinated several runs between Britain and mainland Europe, but four others have denied the offence.

The men are alleged to have used a small boat to travel to Belgium, collect migrants, and bring them back to Margate in Kent in a number of smuggling runs last year, the National Crime Agency had previously said.

At a hearing at Nottingham Crown Court on Monday, held at Nottingham Magistrates Court, 51-year-old Albanian, Banet Tershana, admitted conspiring to facilitate a commission of a breach or attempted breach of immigration law.

Fellow Albanians Arsen Feci, 44, Klodian Shenaj, 48, and Jetmir Myrtaj, 44, and Irishman Desmond Rice, 46, denied the same charge and will face trial at the same court on July 24.

Tershana, Rice, Feci and Shenaj were arrested on February 28 by NCA officers, with Myrtaj arrested on March 15.

This followed two arrests on October 30 last year, where a man from Basingstoke and a man from Leicester were apprehended when they arrived on the Belgian coast, the NCA said in February.

Twelve migrants, believed to be Albanian nationals and including a child, were taken into custody by Belgian authorities, with a boat later seized in Brightlingsea, Essex, the NCA said.

Shenaj, of Broxtowe Street, Nottingham, Rice, of Meadowcroft, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, and Myrtaj, of no fixed abode, were remanded in custody, while Feci, also of Broxtowe Street, Nottingham, remains on bail.

Tershana, of Harmsworth Crescent, Hove, East Sussex, had a bail application refused and will be remanded in custody until the trial of his co-defendants concludes.
T he founder of the influential British Blacklist has been cleared of assaulting a woman in a confrontation over money outside a Windrush Day celebration.

Akua Gyamfi, 46, was accused of swinging a punch towards Alisha Hall as they left the Film and TV Charity headquarters in Soho, in the midst of a feud over a 35,000 donation.

The two women were introduced through the British Film Institute (BFI), and Ms Hall agreed to bankroll a brunch to celebrate black filmmakers, actors, and creatives during the 2021 London Film Festival.

But Ms Gyamfi alleged during a trial at Westminster magistrates court that the money had gone unpaid, leaving her heavily in debt and facing financial ruin.

The dispute culminated in a confrontation at a Windrush Day event on June 22 last year, when Ms Gyamfi attempted to speak to Ms Hall about the money but says she was ignored.

Ms Gyamfi, who founded the British Blacklist  a media platform to promote British Black talent in the arts, pursued Ms Hall and her mother as they left the event, in an incident that was captured on CCTV.

I went to speak to her, to ask her whats happening because she owed me 35,000, the entrepreneur told police.

I walked around the building, trying to get her to respond.

Akua Gyamfi was found not guilty following a trial at Westminster Magistrates Court (Rick Findler/PA) / PA Archive

Ms Gyamfi conceded she was angry over the missing donation, but adamantly denied swinging a punch with a closed fist at Ms Hall.

I didnt physically attack her at all, she said.

I never had any intention of hitting her because thats not in my character.

Ms Gyamfi was not accused of actually hitting Ms Hall, but was charged with assault for allegedly putting her in fear of violence.

She was found not guilty of common assault by magistrates, following a two-day trial which ended on April 14.

During the trial, the court heard how Ms Hall, a media executive who founded the Liberation Initiatives and has been a leading voice in the Black Lives Matter movement, agreed to sponsor Ms Gyamfis October 2021 event called the black | listed Brunch, at the prestigious NoMad Hotel in central London.

Small Axe star Malachi Kirby was honoured at the event for his role in director Steve McQueens film Mangrove, while writer Afua Hirsch and actor Femi Oyeniran were among the guests.

Ms Hall said in her evidence that she had authorised for the money to be paid, and was later advised by her legal team to ignore Ms Gyamfis complaints that the funds never arrived.

Emails from Ms Gyamfi chasing the money in December 2021 were shown to magistrates, and she said she eventually went public with her complaints on social media, saying she had been scammed.

I took a long time before going public because I was embarrassed, ashamed, and hurt, she told police, adding that she was hesitant about going against another black woman in the public eye.

What happened on that day was pent-up frustration, she added, of the confrontation. She acted in a defensive way and I shouted at her.

She told the court she put her own money into the brunch, expecting to be reimbursed, while more than 10,000 has been donated through an online fundraiser to help her recoup the losses.

Gyamfi, from Shepherds Bush, denied common assault and was acquitted by the court.
V andals have smashed up more than 20 headstones at a south London church yard in an act of decribed as wanton destruction.

The attack on Croydon Minster took place on three separate occasions over the Easter holidays, church officials said.

Some of the headstones had been in the churchyard for more than 500 years although the bodies below had been removed some years ago.

The vandals struck between April 12 and 15 leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.

Police are hunting the vandals who targeted the historic church which is mentioned in the Doomsday Book.

Church verger Denise Mead told the Standard: Its wanton violence against a church, it has left me speechless. It is the act of a mindless vandal, we are heartbroken. The vicar cannot believe it.

They struck three times when the church was not busy. I do not think it was children as you would need a sledgehammer to inflict the damage that has been done. We think 25 gravestones have been badly damaged. The bodies were moved a long time ago but the headstones remain and are historic. Its such a tragedy. What make it possible worse is that they struck oiver a religious holiday. Its just not possible to comprehend.

There is a CCTV camera in the church grounds but it only covers the roof, which is covered by lead which is often targeted by thieves.

Officers are now trawling cameras in nearby streets for sightings of the vandals.

Mrs Mead added: Please come forward with any information we are desperate to find this person or people before they strike again. No one we know has a grudge against us, we just dont understand it.

A Met police spokeman said: Police were called on 14 April to a report of criminal damage at Croydon Minster. A number of gravestones were smashed and destroyed. Officers have attended and spoken to staff to gather information. Enquiries are ongoing.
T wo teenagers have been charged with murder after a 17-year-old was fatally shot in north London.

Tyler McDermott died after sustaining a gunshot wound to the head in Tottenham in the early hours of Thursday.

Scotland Yard said on Monday that detectives have charged 19-year-olds Tyrese Barnett, of no fixed address, and Leo Reid, of Tulse Hill, with murder.

A Met Police spokesperson said: Barnett was also charged with the attempted murder of another male and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.

Police guard the scene in Norman Road, Tottenham / Barney Davis

Reid was also charged with possession of an offensive weapon.

Both men were due to appear in custody at Highbury Magistrates Court on Monday.

Tyler was found suffering a gunshot wound on an industrial estate in Norman Road, Tottenham, around 4.20am on Thursday.

He was taken in a critical condition to hospital, where he died on Friday afternoon.
A suspected killer of PC Sharon Beshenivsky who was shot dead during an armed robbery has been remanded into custody after appearing at the Old Bailey for the first time.

Piran Ditta Khan, 74, is facing a string of charges relating an armed raid on Universal Travel in Morley Street, in Bradford, on November 18, 2005.

PC Beshenivsky was among the officers who were called out to reports of a robbery, and died after being shot at point-blank range in the chest.

The married mother-of-three, 38, was a probationer with only nine months service when she was killed.

Khan was extradited to the UK from Pakistan and first appeared in the dock at Westminster magistrates court last Thursday.

On Monday, the grey-haired and bearded defendant appeared at the Old Bailey via videolink from HMP Belmarsh, wearing a prison-issue grey tracksuit.

Khan complained before the hearing began that he could not hear properly, and had to be asked twice to confirm his name.

Piran Ditta Khan appearing in the dock at Westminster Magistrates Court, London on Thursday. / PA

He sat forward on his seat through most of the hearing, listening intently to proceedings as a timetable for his case was set.

The court heard prosecutors are planning to apply for the trial to be switched from London to a crown court in the north east of England.

He is charged with a number of very serious offences, including the murder of PC Beshenivsky, said prosecutor Mr Smith.

The offences in question were committed at Bradford, and the defendant now has to stand trial in respect of the allegations made against him.

As well as the murder charge, Khan is accused of robbery, two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon.

Khan is charged with the robbery of Mohammed Yousaf of a quantity of cash of a value unknown.

The firearms charges relate to alleged possession of a Mac 10 submachine gun and a 9mm pistol.

All the alleged offences are said to have taken place on the same day.

Khan will be assisted by a Punjabi interpreter at future court hearings.

He is due to enter pleas to the charges at a hearing on July 14. A trial date has not yet been set, but Judge Mark Lucraft KC, the Recorder of London, said the Old Bailey could not hear the case until January 2024.

Khan, who was a British citizen at the time of the fatal shooting, was remanded in custody until the next hearing.
T he heartbroken mother of a young man senselessly stabbed to death on a south London high street has spoken of the darkness that will surround her for her whole life.

Filipe Oliveira, 20, was found bleeding to death from multiple knife wounds after staggering into a shop in Norwood Road, Tulse Hill at 6pm on Saturday.

His family, who come from Beja in Portugal, but have lived in London for several years, said that Filipe was murdered without sense or provocation.

Police are hunting a man described as a black, of short build, who was wearing a blue hooded top and a blue Covid mask seen fleeing the scene along Christchurch Road.

The victims sister Soraira paid tribute to Filipe on a crowdfunder looking to raise 10,000 for his funeral costs.

She said: Felipe was one of the funniest people you could come across, and always put his friends and family first.

He would be willing to give his last pound away to someone else who needed it and shared everything he had.

Filipe was a very spiritual person and was using this to find himself and to become the good strong young man we knew he would grow to be.

She added: No one plans for someone to die at 20 years old.

Especially not for them to be taken so violently and suddenly.

His mother Ana posted a picture of Filipe on Facebook, adding: That darkness so big, my son, that it stays for my whole life.

A Met spokesman said there had been no arrests but a homicide investigation has been launched, led by Detective Chief Inspector Kate Blackburn, Specialist Crime. DCI Blackburn said: Our investigation is making significant progress, but I am continuing to appeal for any witnesses or anyone with information to come forward. I also want to hear from anyone who may have footage that will assist the investigation. We are also keen to speak to a man described as a black, of short build, who was wearing a blue hooded top and a blue Covid mask. He ran away from the scene along Christchurch Road. I particularly want to hear from anyone who may have seen this man, or who has footage of him. Of course, he may have discarded the mask shortly after the incident.

Anyone who has information, video or images that could help police should call 101 ref CAD 5605/15 Apr.

To donate to the family crowdfunder click here.
M inisters were given a stark two-week warning on Monday to prepare for an all-out strike by the Royal College of Nursing amid growing fears over its impact on patients.

One of the unions leaders stressed that the Government and hospital chiefs had only a short time window before its latest walk-out planned for England from 30 April to 2 May.

Royal College of Nursing for England Director Patricia Marquis told LBC Radio: In exceptional circumstances we will call off in any organisation the strikes and allow people to return.

But at this point our plans are to run strikes where all members are called out on action.

Asked what will happen to people on wards with cancer, for example, she said nurses who were not RCN members would be at work.

But what we are saying to the Government now is you have got two weeks to plan, she added.

Nurses work every day, short staffed with not enough beds and with services that are not adequate for the patients that are there.

So, we really call on the Government, and for all organisations, to plan, plan, plan.

Work out who you have got to provide the services that are going to be needed on those days.

Junior Doctors Strike | April 2023 1 / 28 Junior Doctors Strike | April 2023 PA PA AFP via Getty Images PA REUTERS PA PA PA PA PA AFP via Getty Images AFP via Getty Images AFP via Getty Images AFP via Getty Images AFP via Getty Images PA Wire PA Wire PA Wire PA PA PA

They will need to manage. We know its not an ideal situation, we know that. But the Government needs to listen.

Pressed on what would happen if a child dies in A&E due to the strike action, she added: I absolutely understand the public concern, the patient concern, around this.

She admitted that public support will wane for the industrial action if such tragedies happen.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan stressed: Unions need to put safety first.

Meanwhile, General Secretary of the National Education Union Mary Bousted refused to rule out coordinating strike action with junior doctors.

When asked if teachers were tempted to walk out at the same time as health unions, Ms Bousted told BBC Radio 4: "If strike action occurs on the same day, yes we will do.

Our first consideration for strike action is A, we dont want to do it, we would rather be in negotiations. And B, when can we do it when will our members member be able to take strike action. For example we are ruling out the exam period.

If we can act together in solidarity then thats fine, but thats not our first consideration."

Nurses could strike until Christmas if they cannot reach a deal with the Government, a union leader has warned.

Royal College of Nursing leader Pat Cullen called for the Government to improve its pay offer to avoid further strikes but assured patients that nurses will come off picket lines to deal with emergencies.

The RCN announced on Friday that its members will walk out for 48 hours from 8pm on April 30 after rejecting the Governments pay offer.

NHS nurses in emergency departments, intensive care and cancer wards will take industrial action for the first time.

When asked if the union will stop strike action, Ms Cullen told the BBCs Laura Kuenssberg On Sunday programme: No, our nurses will absolutely not do that.

We have strike action for the end of this month and the beginning of May.

Then we will move immediately to ballot our members.

If that ballot is successful it will mean further strike action right up until Christmas.

The union leader added that nurses saw a one-off Covid bonus offered by the Government as a bribe.

NHS Providers deputy chief executive Saffron Cordery told the programme it is not sustainable for the NHS to continue managing strike action.

She said: Its really clear to me that its not sustainable going forward for the NHS to manage strike action.

It feels like a really ugly situation to say we are going to have strikes now until Christmas.

We really desperately need the Government to come to the table alongside the unions coming to the table to sort this out.

In an opinion piece for The Sun, Health Secretary Steve Barclay warned that fresh nurses strikes would have a deeply concerning impact on emergency services and cancer care.

The Health Secretary called on the RCN to accept the Governments pay offer so the NHS can get back to focusing on patients.

On Sunday afternoon, Mr Barclay tweeted a copy of a letter he had sent to Ms Cullen which urged the union to reconsider further industrial action and said he would welcome a meeting to discuss avoiding strikes.

In the letter, Mr Barclay said the most recent pay offer was a fair and reasonable settlement, adding: The decision to refuse at this stage any exemptions for even the most urgent and life-threatening treatment during this action will, I fear, put patients at risk.

On Friday, Unisons NHS members accepted the NHS pay offer of a five per cent pay rise this year and a cash payment for last year.

However, 54 per cent of RCN members voted to reject the deal.

The turnout among RCN members employed on NHS Agenda for Change contracts in England was 61 per cent.

The RCN announcement came as around 47,000 junior doctors finished their 96-hour strike in a separate dispute over pay at 7am on Saturday.

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting appealed to the RCN to continue to protect emergency lifesaving care if it strikes again.

The Labour politician told Sky Newss Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme: Im deeply worried about the risk of escalation of the nature of their dispute, to remove whats known as the derogations, the measures they put in place to protect those areas of care.

Tory Party chairman Greg Hands said more strikes by nurses would clearly have an impact as he declined to criticise them for deciding not to provide cover for emergencies.

Mr Hands told Sky News: I think the public are very concerned, understandably, and we will do everything that we can, and Im sure the management of the NHS will do everything that it can to make sure that the impact of the strike is kept under control.

But I wouldnt be being truthful if I didnt say it will have an impact. Nurses going on strike will clearly have an impact.
F ears over patient safety in the strike-hit NHS grew on Monday as official figures showed more than 22,000 Londoners waited over 12 hours to be seen in A&E in one month alone.

Thousands of appointments and operations have also been cancelled due to the walk-outs by doctors, nurses and paramedics. As hospitals started trying to catch up on the delays caused by four days of industrial action by 47,000 junior doctors, the Royal College of Nursing issued a stark warning to ministers and health bosses that they had just two weeks to plan for its upcoming all-out strike.

But Rishi Sunak turned the spotlight onto the union, warning of the threat to patient care from a walk-out without derogations and after the Governments pay offer was rejected by a minority of RCN members.

Amid the war of words, there are concerns over the impact on patients of the crisis in the NHS, with official data showing that one in 10 (11.7 per cent) people attending A&Es in the capital in February waited at least 12 hours before being admitted, transferred or discharged.

Waits of more than five hours to be admitted to A&E can significantly increase the risks of a patient dying or becoming seriously unwell, according to research published by the Emergency Medicine Journal.

Nearly a third (31 per cent) of patients at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals faced at least a 12-hour wait, the highest of any NHS trust. This contrasted with Guys and St Thomas NHS Trust in central London, where just 1.1 per cent of patients endured a wait of over 12 hours.

Miriam Deakin, director of policy and strategy at NHS Providers, the membership organisation for NHS trusts in England, said the new data on A&E waits was a real concern which reflects the incredible demand-driven pressures on trusts. Dr Tim Cooksley, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said: Overcrowding in emergency departments (EDs) and acute medical units (AMUs) means many patients are still not receiving timely and high-quality patient care.

Separate figures show that patients in London with a stroke or chest pain waited an average of 39 minutes for an ambulance last month, the fourth-highest total of any region in England.

It is a rise on the month before, when London ambulance crews took an average of 33 minutes to respond to a Category Two call.

The doctors strike led to widespread disruption to NHS services across London, with Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich warning patients of a 12-hour wait to be seen.

The RCN announced on Friday that its members will walk out for 48 hours from 8pm on April 30 after rejecting the Governments offer of a five per cent pay rise this year and a cash payment for last year.

One of the unions leaders said the Government and hospital chiefs had only a short time window before its latest walk-out. RCN England Director Patricia Marquis told LBC Radio: In exceptional circumstances we will call off in any organisation in the strikes and allow people to return. But at this point our plans are to run strikes where all members are called out on action.

NHS nurses in emergency departments, intensive care and cancer wards will take industrial action for the first time. What we are saying to the Government now is you have got two weeks to plan, Ms Marquis added.

She admitted that public support will wane for the industrial action if it leads to patients dying.

RCN members voted by 54 per cent to 46 per cent to reject the deal, on a 61 per cent turnout of those employed on NHS Agenda for Change contracts in England .

Mr Sunak said: Voting to strike, with no derogations, given the closeness of the vote, is obviously disappointing.

Everyone will be concerned about the impact on patient care.

He stressed that the largest health union Unison had accepted the Governments pay offer, with the GMB and others still to decide. He emphasised that the Governments door is always open to have talks.

The RCN is threatening possible strikes until Christmas, if such action is backed by members in a new ballot.
I slington Council has scrapped library fines for late returns.

As well as abolishing fines, the north London borough has introduced a fines amnesty to encourage users to return very overdue items.

The move is the first time it has dropped fines, which have existed since free public libraries began in the borough in 1905.

Cllr Roulin Khondoker, Executive Member for Equalities, Culture and Inclusion, said: Abolishing fines for late returns will help us make Islington a more equal borough by removing a barrier for our least well-off residents  encouraging them to make more use of the amazing facilities we have on offer.

This is especially important at the moment as many people are already struggling with the cost of living.

The council said it did not expect the removal of fees to affect stock levels, and that it could encourage more people to return overdue items.

Users aged between 18 and 60 years old were previously charged fines for books, audio books and music CDs at a rate of 17p per item per day overdue, up to a maximum charge per item of 7.65.

Some 72 local authorities in the UK operate fines-free libraries, the majority of which are in England.

Alongside Islington, the boroughs of Brent and Tower Hamlets also do not charge for overdue books.
The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in a statement that Mohamad El-Gharawi, the assistant administrative attache at the Egyptian embassy in Khartoum, was killed on Monday.
H ealth Secretary Steve Barclay has said the Government will take legal action to stop the Royal College of Nursing from carrying out its latest planned strikes.

The union had said nurses could strike until Christmas if they cannot reach a deal with the Government.

Union members rejected a pay deal on Friday (April 14), sparking concerns that more strikes could be on the way. In the ballot, 61 per cent of eligible members voted, with 54 per cent rejecting the pay deal.

Royal College of Nursing (RCN) leader Pat Cullen said that, should a further ballot in May be successful, it will mean further strike action right up until Christmas.

Ms Cullen called for the Government to improve its pay offer to avoid further strikes.

However, Mr Barclay has written to Ms Cullen, saying the union's current strike mandate runs out at midnight on May 1.

"I therefore regretfully provided notice of my intent to pursue legal action with a view to protecting patients, NHS workers and RCN members whilst continuing to seek a way to resolve this through official channels, he said.

At the time of writing, the strikes were set to go ahead and this is all we know about them.

When are the next nurses strikes?

Nurses are set to walk out from 8pm on Sunday, April 30 until 8pm on Tuesday, May 2.

NHS nurses in emergency departments, intensive care, and cancer wards will strike for the first time.

What are officials saying about the nurses strikes?

In a letter to Mr Barclay, Ms Cullen said: What has been offered to date is simply not enough. The Government needs to increase what has already been offered and we will be highly critical of any move to reduce it.

Until there is a significantly improved offer, we are forced back to the picket line. Meetings alone are not sufficient to prevent strike action and I will require an improved offer as soon as possible. In February, you opened negotiations directly with me and I urge you to do the same now.

After a historic vote to strike, our members expect a historic pay award.

Mr Barclay has called on the RCN to accept the Governments pay offer so the NHS can get back to focusing on patients.

In an opinion piece for the Sun, he warned that fresh nurses strikes would have a deeply concerning impact on emergency services and cancer care.

And in January, he said he was disappointed that patients face disruption again.

Which London hospitals will be affected by the nurses strikes?

The full list is available on our story here.
A man has died after he was tasered by a Metropolitan Police officer and fell several stories from a balcony in southeast London.

The tragic death is being investigated by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

Officers were called to a residential property in Peckham after a man threatened to jump from a balcony just before 1.30am on Wednesday, April 12.

During the course of more than an hour, officers attempted to persuade the man to come inside from the balcony.

The man was then tasered by an officer on the balcony and he fell several floors to the ground, the IOPC said in a statement.

He was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries and died later that day.

A mandatory referral was made to the IOPC and it has launched an independent investigation. Footage from body cameras is being reviewed, the Met said.

Detective Chief Superintendent Seb Adjei-Addoh, in charge of policing for Lambeth and Southwark, said: I know the community will be concerned about this tragic death and I share their concern.

All police officers know that their actions will be scrutinised in situations such as these, and the Met is fully supporting the independent investigation by the IOPC.

Enquiries are underway to identify the mans next of kin. Formal identification and a post-mortem examination will be arranged in due course, the Met said.

An IOPC spokesperson said: We have begun an independent investigation into an incident involving Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) officers on Wednesday (April 12) in southeast London, where a man was seriously injured and later died in hospital after falling from a balcony.

We were advised that MPS officers attended an address in Peckham at around 2am following a report of a man threatening to jump from a balcony on a residential building.

We have established that officers were present for over an hour and attempted to persuade the man to come inside from the balcony. The man has then been tasered while on the balcony and he has fallen several floors to the ground.

The man was transported to hospital with life-threatening injuries and died later the same day.

We received a mandatory referral from the force and declared an independent investigation the next day. Our investigation is in its initial stages and we have secured officers body worn footage as we begin gathering evidence.
A wide disparity in the number of public drinking fountains across London boroughs has been revealed.

According to data obtained by water bottle company Ocean Bottle, while some boroughs had only a small handful of fountains operated by the local council or City Hall, others had more than 50.

The statistics, gained through Freedom of Information requests, say the highest numbers of fountains were found in Southwark (53), Lambeth (51) and Lewisham (43), with only one in Barking and Dagenham and none in Havering.

Ocean Bottles data says Westminster, one of the most visited boroughs, has 17 public fountains. The figures do not include fountains in parks and other public spaces not run by the council or City Hall.

Caroline Pidgeon, a Liberal Democrat on the London Assembly, said: It is small wonder Londoners are buying, on average, three bottles of water a week in disposable bottles when there is only one public water fountain per 20,000 Londoners. This must be sorted out.

Caroline Pidgeon, Leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the London Assembly / Liberal Democrats

In addition to those operated by councils, some 110 fountains have been installed across the city by Mayor Sadiq Khan in partnership with Thames Water. Some 40 more were also installed in London's schools, but were not included in the statistics because they are not accessible to the general public. A further 28 were provided in public places in partnership the Zoological Society of London.

A spokeswoman for the Mayor said: The installation of all these fountains will help to reduce the harmful impacts of plastic waste on our environment, resulting in a greener, cleaner and better London for everyone.
T he people of Northern Ireland and their political leaders changed history 25 years ago when the Good Friday Agreement was signed, a major conference in Belfast has been told.

Former US senator George Mitchell, who chaired the negotiations in 1998, also said the deal set an example for peace around the world, and urged people in the region not to let it slip away.

Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who is hosting the Agreement 25 conference as part of her role as chancellor at Queens University in Belfast, urged current politicians to move forward with the same spirit of unstoppable grit and resolve as their predecessors had done.

It was a day when history opened itself to hope

Ex-US president Bill Clinton, Sir Tony Blair and former taoiseach Bertie Ahern are also scheduled to participate in the three-day event, 25 years on from the landmark accord.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar are due to attend later in the week.

The agreement largely ended Northern Irelands 30-year sectarian conflict.

Making the keynote address at the opening of the conference, Mr Mitchell said: Twenty-five years ago the people of Northern Ireland and their leaders changed the course of history.

It was a day when history opened itself to hope.

The people of Northern Ireland supported, worked for and established a democratic, peaceful process as their preferred form of governance.

They overwhelmingly rejected political violence as a way to resolve their differences.

If history teaches us anything, it is that history itself is never finished.

On the evening the agreement was reached, I commended the men and women who wrote and signed it, but I also said it would take other leaders in the future to safeguard and extend their work.

And so it has.

I am here, with many others, to sound that bell one more time.

When you approved the agreement you were also talking to Israelis and Palestinians, to Colombians, to Africans, Asians, to Americans - in fact you were talking to the world

Mr Mitchell said the peace deal was not perfect, but called on the current and future leaders of Northern Ireland to act with courage and vision.

He said: To find workable answers to the daily problems of the present, to preserve peace.

To leave to the next generation peace, freedom, opportunity and the hope of a better future for their children.

At the end of his address, Mr Mitchell said the referendum which approved the Good Friday Agreement had shown people around the world the possibility of hope.

He said: When you approved the agreement you were also talking to Israelis and Palestinians, to Colombians, to Africans, Asians, to Americans  in fact you were talking to the world.

This is an agreement for peace and for the future, not just here, but everywhere.

He added: We need people who believe, who know that the possible does exist within the impossible  dont let it slip away.

The Good Friday Agreement created powersharing institutions at Stormont that involved nationalists and unionists governing Northern Ireland together in a mandatory coalition arrangement.

While the pact largely ended the Troubles, which had claimed more than 3,600 lives since the late 1960s, it has failed to bring long-term political stability in the region and devolution has collapsed several times in the last two decades.

The anniversary comes amid another period of collapse, with the DUP blocking powersharing in protest at post-Brexit trading arrangements that have created economic barriers between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

The barriers were first introduced under the Withdrawal Agreements contentious Northern Ireland Protocol.

The UK and EU recently agreed the Windsor Framework as a way to cut the red tape created by the protocol.

While the DUP says the framework has gone some way to address its concerns about the protocol, it says significant problems remain.

The party has opposed the framework at Westminster and has made clear its boycott of Stormont will continue until it secures further assurances from the UK Government over its concerns around sovereignty and the application of EU law in Northern Ireland.

Mrs Clinton said the Windsor Framework on post-Brexit trade provided Northern Ireland with an opportunity to become an economic hub for global trade and investment.

While the Good Friday Agreement is an enormous achievement, we know that peace, prosperity and progress that so many have worked tirelessly to achieve remains incomplete, she said.

The work of integration and housing and schools is far from finished, neighbourhoods remain divided, poverty and unemployment persist, the difficulties of the past continue to threaten the present.

You know, we are at a standstill with the Northern Ireland Assembly no longer functioning. But the Windsor agreement provides a path forward not just for convening but for positioning Northern Ireland as an economic hub for global trade and investment through privileged access to the UK and all of its trading partners, as well as the EU.

You stand as an example to the world of how even the staunchest adversaries can overcome differences to work together for the common and greater good

She added: There have been many moments in Northern Irelands peace journey where progress seemed difficult, when every route forward looked blocked, there seemed nowhere to go.

But you have always found a way through and I believe you will again, because the stakes for the people of Northern Ireland are so high.

You stand as an example to the world of how even the staunchest adversaries can overcome differences to work together for the common and greater good.

So, I encourage everyone now to move forward with the same spirit of unstoppable grit and resolve that brought the peace 25 years ago. Your friends in the United States will be behind you all the way as you work toward peace, prosperity and stability that lasts.
T he family of a British-Israeli woman murdered with her daughters in the West Bank have thanked the Government as they returned to the UK.

Lucy Dee, 48, died three days after her daughters, Rina, 15, and Maia, 20, were shot and killed on April 7.

The family of seven, who moved to Israel from the UK in 2014, had been travelling in separate cars en route to a Passover holiday.

Mrs Dees husband Leo Dee is a rabbi, and they have a son and two other daughters.

Richard Shaw, Mrs Dees father, and her brothers and sisters, all from the London area, have now returned to the UK to continue observing the Jewish mourning period of Shiva.

In a statement from Mrs Dees brother, Benjamin Shaw, made on behalf of both the Dee and Shaw family, he said: We are devastated by the brutal murder of our dear Lucy, Maia, and Rina.

Their absence leaves a void in our hearts that can never be filled.

We are deeply touched by the words of the Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, who has shown great compassion in acknowledging our loss.

His firm stance against terrorism sets a new standard for nations and media in addressing acts of terror.

We see this as the Cleverly Declaration, akin to the Balfour Declaration, establishing that terrorism can never be justified.

Mr Cleverly had written to Rabbi Dee, offering the family the assistance of the British Government, with his letter stating: There can be no justification for such senseless and abhorrent violence, and I unequivocally condemn this act of terrorism.

Rabbi Leo Dee, paying tribute to his wife after her death, described her as an exceptional human being who had saved five lives and helped two other people to see by donating her organs.

Mr Dee was formerly the senior rabbi at Radlett United Synagogue in Hertfordshire and assistant rabbi in Hendon, north London.

The family lived in the Efrat settlement, near the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, according to the settlements mayor, Oded Revivi.

Mr Dee said he does not hold any hatred towards the Palestinian terrorists believed to be responsible for the attack.

He said: I dont hold any hate towards them. The Israeli security forces will do what they usually do which is track them down and bring them to justice, which I think is right because it prevents the next attack that they might do.
T he husband of a British-Israeli woman murdered with her daughters in the West Bank has said he is still 100% glad his family moved to the country.

Lucy Dee, 48, died three days after her daughters, Rina, 15, and Maia, 20, were shot and killed on April 7.

The family of seven, who moved to Israel from the UK in 2014, had been travelling in separate cars en route to a Passover holiday.

Mrs Dees husband Leo Dee is a rabbi, and they have a son and two other daughters.

Mr Dee told LBCs Tonight with Andrew Marr: We moved to Israel because we thought it was the right place to educate our children, bring them up with the values we respect and wanted them to have.

I believe we brought up our children with those values, with the support of the community and Im still 100% glad that we came here.

What happened to us was one in 10 million and sadly car crashes happen all around the world, and these things happen and really there was no way of preventing it.

It was just completely extraordinary fate.

Mr Dee was formerly the senior rabbi at Radlett United Synagogue in Hertfordshire and assistant rabbi in Hendon, north London.

The family lived in the Efrat settlement, near the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, according to the settlements mayor, Oded Revivi.

Mr Dee said he does not hold any hatred towards the Palestinian terrorists believed to be responsible for the attack.

He said: I dont hold any hate towards them. The Israeli security forces will do what they usually do which is track them down and bring them to justice, which I think is right because it prevents the next attack that they might do.

In a statement from Mrs Dees brother, Benjamin Shaw  made on behalf of both the Dee and Shaw family, he said: We are devastated by the brutal murder of our dear Lucy, Maia, and Rina.

Their absence leaves a void in our hearts that can never be filled.

We are deeply touched by the words of the Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, who has shown great compassion in acknowledging our loss.

His firm stance against terrorism sets a new standard for nations and media in addressing acts of terror.

We see this as the Cleverly Declaration, akin to the Balfour Declaration, establishing that terrorism can never be justified.

Mr Cleverly had written to Rabbi Dee, offering the family the assistance of the British Government, with his letter stating: There can be no justification for such senseless and abhorrent violence, and I unequivocally condemn this act of terrorism.
P otholes take more than 18 months to be fixed in some areas, the Liberal Democrats claimed as the party blamed a postcode lottery in its latest attack on Tory spending cuts.

Repairs took up to 567 days in Stoke-on-Trent and up to 556 days in the Westminster City Council area, according to data obtained by the party through freedom of information (FOI) requests.

It comes after the Prime Minister sought to focus on fixing Britains ailing roads in the run-up to Mays local elections.

Opponents have accused him of deploying a complete re-hash of a year-old pothole crackdown, with Downing Street confirming there is no new money on top of the 200 million in the Budget.

Some 556,658 of the road defects were reported in the financial year 2021/22, up from 519,968 in 2017/18, according to data obtained from 81 councils responding to the Lib Dems FOI.

Roads in Derbyshire County Council were the hardest hit with 90,596 potholes, followed closely by Lancashire County Council with 67,439 and Northumberland County Council with 51,703, the party said.

The Lib Dems accused the Government of creating a pothole postcode lottery by cutting local authorities highways maintenance budgets by 500 million since 2020-21 and announcing only a 200 million top-up to the national potholes fund in the Budget.

Hard-working people are paying huge bills to repair damage from potholes, while this Conservative Government takes away the money local councils need to repair our roads

The partys local government spokesperson, Helen Morgan MP, said: Potholes have become a plague on our roads. Motorists should not have to spend their journeys choosing between hitting potholes or dangerously swerving around an obstacle course of tarmac craters.

Hardworking people are paying huge bills to repair damage from potholes, while this Conservative Government takes away the money local councils need to repair our roads.

It is not fair for local residents in some areas of the country to be waiting over a year for road repairs because their council cannot afford it.

The pothole, postcode lottery needs to end. Thats why the Liberal Democrats are demanding that the Government reverses its cuts to councils road maintenance budgets in full, so they can get on with fixing our roads.

On a visit to Darlington last month, Rishi Sunak highlighted new regulations that will see utility companies penalised for leaving streets in poor condition.

Mr Sunak said: Therell be more fines, more inspections, thats also going to help. We want to make sure its easy for people to get around.

Labour said the announcement echoed a 2021 Government pledge to make potholes a thing of the past and accused ministers of broken promises.

Were investing more than 5.5 billion to maintain roads up and down the country, and cracking down on utility companies that leave potholes in their wake, so motorists and cyclists can enjoy smoother, safer journeys

The Lib Dems described it as a complete re-hash and said the blunt truth was that roads will continue to fall into disrepair until councils received the funding to fix them.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: Were investing more than 5.5 billion to maintain roads up and down the country, and cracking down on utility companies that leave potholes in their wake, so motorists and cyclists can enjoy smoother, safer journeys.

Conservative Party chairman Greg Hands said: If you are unfortunate enough to live in an area with a Liberal Democrat council its less likely your potholes will be fixed.

Labours record is no better. Their only plan to stop potholes in Wales is to simply stop building any roads.

Conservatives fix more potholes than Labour or the Liberal Democrats.
A higher proportion of children are gaining places at their preferred primary school in many areas of England, a survey suggests.

Hundreds of thousands of families across England are finding out which primary school they will be joining this September, on what is commonly known as National Offer Day.

Early figures indicate that in some parts of the country, more than one in 10families have missed out on their first choice  rising to more than a quarter in one London borough.

Findings from a PA news agency survey of local authorities shows a youngsters chance of winning a place at their preferred school varies significantly depending on where they live in the country.

As of Monday afternoon, 36 of 60 councils in England, which provided comparable data, saw a rise in the proportion of children securing their preferred school compared with 2022.

New schools and new school places are not always being commissioned where they are most needed. This leaves families at the mercy of a postcode lottery when it comes to getting their first choice of school place

Meanwhile, 24 councils have seen a decline in the proportion of families securing their top choice.

In addition, of 52 councils in England that gave information on application numbers, 36 have seen a fall in applications this year, while 16 have seen a rise.

More children in London have secured a place at their top choice of primary school this year amid a fall in demand for places across the capital, according to figures from the Pan London Admissions Board.

Across the capitals 33 boroughs, 88.57% of pupils were given their first preference of primary school this year, compared with 87.93% last year.

Kensington and Chelsea had the lowest proportion of children getting their top choice at 70.53%.

The number of applications for primary school places in the capital fell this year, and the falling birth rate  and families leaving London due to different working patterns  is said to have played a part.

The reduction in demand for primary school places has the potential to affect funding of individual schools, councils have warned.

A report, by London Councils in January, warned school leaders and local authorities could be forced to merge or close schools amid funding pressures.

Today thousands of families across England will find out which school their child will join in September, and the majority will have received their first choice of primary school

Meanwhile, outside London in Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, 85.33% of children got their first preference, while in Sefton on Merseyside 89% got their top choice.

Among the areas where high proportions of pupils have obtained their first preference are Hartlepool in County Durham where 99.3% got their top choice, and north-east Lincolnshire where 98.12% were offered their first pick.

Englands school system has been put under pressure in recent years as a population bulge has been moving from primary schools into secondary schools.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: Overall, the number of children of primary school age is in decline, so the big challenge for many schools is how to adjust to lower numbers.

However, some schools will continue to be oversubscribed and families will miss out on places.

This generally happens because schools are in relatively affluent areas and have Ofsted ratings of good or outstanding, while other schools in other areas may be stigmatised by negative ratings.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders union NAHT, said: This can be an anxious time for families. Choosing the right school and securing a place there is a huge moment in a childs life.

Yet it can be an uphill struggle for parents, and not all will get the place they wanted for their child.

Local authorities are responsible for ensuring there are sufficient school places, but they no longer have the powers and resources necessary to do so.

The result is a messy, fragmented system, in which new schools and new school places are not always being commissioned where they are most needed. This leaves families at the mercy of a postcode lottery when it comes to getting their first choice of school place.

We urge the government to fix this broken system and create a national strategy to guarantee there are enough school places for every child in England and take away the worry and stress for parents.

Official data shows that last year 92.2% of pupils were offered their first choice of primary school  which was up on 91.8 % in 2021.

A Department for Education (DfE) spokeswoman said: Today thousands of families across England will find out which school their child will join in September, and the majority will have received their first choice of primary school.

She added: We have created almost 1.2 million places since 2010, the largest increase in school capacity in at least two generations, and work closely with local authorities to make sure they offer a school place to every child in the country and support the long-term viability of their schools.
T here are signs that more children are gaining places at their first choice of primary school in a number of areas in England, a survey suggests.

Hundreds of thousands of families across England are finding out which primary school their child will be joining this September, on what is commonly known as National Offer Day.

Early findings from a PA news agency survey of local authorities shows a youngsters chances of winning a place at their preferred school varies significantly depending on where they live in the country.

The survey, sent to councils across England, excluding London, shows a number of local authorities have seen a rise in the proportion of children receiving their first choice compared with last year.

As of midday on Monday, 20 of 35 councils, which provided comparable data, saw a rise in the proportion of children securing their preferred school compared to 2022.

New schools and new school places are not always being commissioned where they are most needed. This leaves families at the mercy of a postcode lottery when it comes to getting their first choice of school place

Meanwhile, 14 councils have seen a decline in the proportion of families securing their top choice, and one council reported no change.

Among the areas where high proportions of pupils have obtained their first preference are Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham where 98.3% got their top choice, and Calderdale in West Yorkshire where 97.9% were offered their first pick.

In comparison, in Wokingham in Berkshire, 88.8% of children got their first preference, while in Sefton in Merseyside 89% got their top choice.

Englands school system has been put under pressure in recent years as a population bulge has been moving into secondary schools.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders union NAHT, which represents the majority of primary school leaders, said: This can be an anxious time for families. Choosing the right school and securing a place there is a huge moment in a childs life.

Yet it can be an uphill struggle for parents, and not all will get the place they wanted for their child.

Today thousands of families across England will find out which school their child will join in September, and the majority will have received their first choice of primary school

Local authorities are responsible for ensuring there are sufficient school places, but they no longer have the powers and resources necessary to do so.

The result is a messy, fragmented system, in which new schools and new school places are not always being commissioned where they are most needed. This leaves families at the mercy of a postcode lottery when it comes to getting their first choice of school place.

We urge the government to fix this broken system and create a national strategy to guarantee there are enough school places for every child in England and take away the worry and stress for parents.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: Overall, the number of children of primary school age is in decline, so the big challenge for many schools is how to adjust to lower numbers.

However, some schools will continue to be oversubscribed and families will miss out on places.

This generally happens because schools are in relatively affluent areas and have Ofsted ratings of good or outstanding, while other schools in other areas may be stigmatised by negative ratings.

Official data shows that last year 92.2% of pupils were offered their first choice of primary school  which was up on 91.8 % in 2021.

A Department for Education (DfE) spokeswoman said: Today thousands of families across England will find out which school their child will join in September, and the majority will have received their first choice of primary school.

She added: We have created almost 1.2 million places since 2010, the largest increase in school capacity in at least two generations, and work closely with local authorities to make sure they offer a school place to every child in the country and support the long-term viability of their schools.
N orthern Irelands political leaders know the right thing to do to solve the Stormont stalemate  and need to get on and do it, former prime minister Sir Tony Blair has said.

Sir Tony was appearing alongside ex-US president Bill Clinton and former taoiseach Bertie Ahern at a major conference marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

Mr Ahern said he deeply hoped that the DUP would allow the powersharing institutions to return, while Mr Clinton spoke about how politicians winged it to help secure the historic peace deal in 1998.

Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who is hosting the Agreement 25 conference as part of her role as chancellor at Queens University in Belfast, chaired the panel discussion between the three former leaders.

Mr and Mrs Clinton were among political and civic leaders from across the UK and Ireland  including Senator George Mitchell, Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris, Catholic primate Eamon Martin and former Irish presidents Mary McAleese and Mary Robinson  who attended a banquet at Belfast City Hall as part of the events on Monday evening.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar are due to attend the conference later in the week.

The Good Friday Agreement largely ended Northern Irelands 30-year sectarian conflict.

Sir Tony said: We know the peace isnt perfect. We know the institutions have often been rocky and unstable as they are today.

We know theres still a lot of distrust and mistrust between the communities.

But we also know that Northern Ireland is a much better place than it was before the Good Friday Agreement.

And the only thing I would say to todays leaders is I think when you stand back and you reflect, you know in your heart of hearts, what the right thing to do is, and you should just get on and do it.

Mr Ahern said the alternatives to the Good Friday Agreement are not good.

He added: So, lets hope they (the DUP) listen to what George Mitchell said today, and listen to what were saying, that we all just get back on the track.

Theres too many big things to be dealing with than to be arguing about some detail that was caused over something or another, which Im not sure what it is even.

He added: So just lets move forward and try and make this work.

Mr Clinton told the conference that the 1998 peace deal came about because political leaders decided the time was right to do the right thing.

He said: It just happens, nobodys perfect, you cant foresee all this, and the fact that we trusted each other and we trusted (George) Mitchell, I think we earned the trust of the parties in Northern Ireland that we were dealing with across the board, because they thought we would be straight with them, and thats how it happened.

There were days I felt like I was taking Seamus Heaneys advice to take a flying leap and walk on air against your better judgment.

Thats how it started. We all just decided that the time was right to do the right thing.

Mr Clinton said people thought they were crazy to believe they could get the paramilitary groups to decommission their arms.

Wed like to tell you that we had it all thought through but the truth is we made up a lot of it as we went along, we had to wing it, he said.

The Good Friday Agreement created powersharing institutions at Stormont that involved nationalists and unionists governing Northern Ireland together in a mandatory coalition arrangement.

While the pact largely ended the Troubles, which had claimed more than 3,600 lives since the late 1960s, it has failed to bring long-term political stability in the region and devolution has collapsed several times in the last two decades.

The anniversary comes amid another period of collapse, with the DUP blocking powersharing in protest at post-Brexit trading arrangements that have created economic barriers between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

The barriers were first introduced under the Withdrawal Agreements contentious Northern Ireland Protocol.

The UK and EU recently agreed the Windsor Framework as a way to cut the red tape created by the protocol.

While the DUP says the framework has gone some way to address its concerns about the protocol, it says significant problems remain.

The party has opposed the framework at Westminster and has made clear its boycott of Stormont will continue until it secures further assurances from the UK Government over its concerns around sovereignty and the application of EU law in Northern Ireland.

Making the keynote address earlier in the day, former US senator George Mitchell, who chaired the 1998 negotiations, said the people of Northern Ireland and their political leaders changed history 25 years ago.

He said: When you approved the agreement you were also talking to Israelis and Palestinians, to Colombians, to Africans, Asians, to Americans  in fact you were talking to the world.

This is an agreement for peace and for the future, not just here, but everywhere.

He added: We need people who believe, who know that the possible does exist within the impossible  dont let it slip away.

A bust in honour of Mr Mitchell was later unveiled in the grounds of the Belfast campus.

Mrs Clinton said the Windsor Framework on post-Brexit trade provided Northern Ireland with an opportunity to become an economic hub for global trade and investment.

While the Good Friday Agreement is an enormous achievement, we know that peace, prosperity and progress that so many have worked tirelessly to achieve remains incomplete, she said.

The work of integration and housing and schools is far from finished, neighbourhoods remain divided, poverty and unemployment persist, the difficulties of the past continue to threaten the present.

You know, we are at a standstill with the Northern Ireland Assembly no longer functioning. But the Windsor agreement provides a path forward not just for convening but for positioning Northern Ireland as an economic hub for global trade and investment through privileged access to the UK and all of its trading partners, as well as the EU.

I encourage everyone now to move forward with the same spirit of unstoppable grit and resolve that brought the peace 25 years ago

She added: There have been many moments in Northern Irelands peace journey where progress seemed difficult, when every route forward looked blocked, there seemed nowhere to go.

But you have always found a way through and I believe you will again, because the stakes for the people of Northern Ireland are so high.

You stand as an example to the world of how even the staunchest adversaries can overcome differences to work together for the common and greater good.

So, I encourage everyone now to move forward with the same spirit of unstoppable grit and resolve that brought the peace 25 years ago. Your friends in the United States will be behind you all the way as you work toward peace, prosperity and stability that lasts.
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday said Russia was trying to erase Ukraine's history and culture after a strike on a museum killed one employee and wounded 10.
T he trainer of Hill Sixteen, the horse which broke its neck and died falling at the first hurdle in the Grand National, has blamed ignorant protesters for making horses hyper and causing more deaths.

Officers arrested 118 people on Saturday after scores of activists climbed fences, with at least two fixing themselves to a jump using glue and lock-on devices, to delay the start of the Grand National by 15 minutes.

Hill Sixteen was euthanised after falling at the first fence  the second to die at Aintree on Saturday and the third at the three-day festival  prompting campaigners to call for jump racing to be banned.

The Randox Grand National Handicap Chase (Tim Goode/PA) / PA Wire

But his trainer Sandy Thomson defended the racing authorities as continually moving forward to make the sport safer while blaming the Animal Rising protesters for more deaths than usual at this years event.

Sandy Thomson told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: If we look at the last nine years since the course has been modified, theres been an average of under two fallers at the first two fences and this year everybody got very uptight about it  horses, jockeys, starters  and there were eight fallers at those first two fences.

This was all caused by these so-called animal lovers who actually are ignorant and have absolutely no idea about welfare of horses.

AFP via Getty Images

Speaking about how the sport could become safer, Mr Thomson said: Two of the considerations  a shorter run to the first fence and a few less horses  those are obvious things that may be considered.

There have been huge changes in the whip rule, which has made a huge effect  last years winner would have been disqualified under the new rules, so we as a sport are continually moving forward and trying to make the sport safer.

The figures of people watching are surely a huge indication of where public perception is about the Grand National.

The Scot described the horse as hyper due to the protests, and blamed the activists.

He just hasnt taken off at the first fence; hes got so bloody hyper because of the carry on, he told the Racing Post.

He said he tried to calm the horse by washing him off but to no avail.

More than 100 arrested after protesters storm Grand National and delay race

Unfortunately, its a statistic were all trying to avoid, Mr Thomson said. Hes jumped round here twice and never had a bother. I dont know when he last fell.

I know how ignorant these people are and they havent a bloody clue. They just cause more problems than they ever solve.

Activists for Animal Rising hit back claiming their actions at the Grand National were aimed to prevent exactly that from happening.

The group told Sky News: Firstly, we want to offer our deepest condolences to anyone connected to Hill Sixteen or who has been impacted by their death. Animal Risings actions at the Grand National aimed to prevent exactly that from happening.

Horse deaths and injuries are an unavoidable consequence of the way we use animals for sport, not dissimilar to the way we cause billions of animal deaths in our food system.

The only way to prevent more harm from coming to these beautiful creatures is by completely re-evaluating our connection to them and finding a way of loving them that doesnt put them in harms way.

Wed welcome dialogue with Sandy Thomson or Jimmy Fyffe about how to move forwards together and really transform our relationship to horses and, indeed, to all animals and nature.

Hill Sixteen died after breaking his neck in a fall at the first fence during the main steeplechase on Saturday afternoon. Tarpaulins were immediately brought on to the course to offer privacy to the horse and rider.

The ten-year-old horse had completed the course twice before and started the race with odds of 66-1.

RSPCA policy director Emma Slawinski has called for the Grand National to make changes to ensure the safety of the horses, including having fewer on the field and prohibiting the use of whips.

She told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: One of the things we particularly see at the Grand National is a very big field, so lots of horses running together.

That, of course, causes issues when horses fall and can get in the way of other horses, and cause accidents in that way.

The other thing that we think needs to change very urgently is to see an end of the use of the whip for encouragement  hitting the horses to make them run faster.

We know that that actually causes more accidents, it makes accidents more likely, makes injuries more likely, so wed like to see that reform happen as well.
P arents are finding out if their children have been accepted to their chosen primary schools today (Monday, April 17), as the moment often known amongst parents as offer day finally arrives.

The UK Government said that in 2022, 92.2 per cent of families received an offer from their first choice of primary school and 98.1 per cent received an offer from one of their top three choices.

The Standard has revealed that over 10,000 London children have failed to get their first choice of primary school.

Should their child not be offered their first-choice school, parents are able to appeal.

Find out below what you need to know about the appeal process, with advice from Irwin Mitchell lawyers.

How to appeal your childs school offer

When you appeal your childs school offer, you will be given 20 days to file any evidence.

First stage of appeal

During the first stage of the appeal, the panel will decide whether the admission arrangements complied with the law, and whether they were impartially and correctly applied.

The panel will then decide whether admitting more children would impact the efficiency of the school and its resources.

If the panel finds that the admission arrangements did not comply and that admitting more children would not impact the school, the panel must admit the child.

However, if the panel finds that the school did comply and/or admitting more children would impact the school, the appeal process will move to the second stage.

Second stage of appeal

In stage two, the panel will balance the impact on the school against the reason for the child to be admitted.

If it finds that the benefit to the child outweighs the impact on the school, the panel must admit the child.

Results should be given in writing within five working days of the appeal.

When should you appeal your childs school offer?

Parents should be sure that appealing is the right thing to do. When considering appealing your childs school offer, the following reasons can be taken into account.
E mployment rates among international students in England and Wales are highest for people from eastern Europe, with more than half of people from some countries doing jobs alongside their studies, figures suggest.

Rates are highest for students born in Romania, with nearly three-quarters (73.9%) in employment, along with nearly two-thirds of students born in Bulgaria (62.3%).

The findings are among the latest data to be released from the census, which took place on March 21 2021.

Some 373,600 non-UK-born international students were in England and Wales at the time of the census, a third (32.6%) of whom were also in jobs.

A significantly higher proportion of EU-born international students had jobs (47.1%) than those born outside the EU (24.6%), according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

High employment rates among people born in eastern Europe helped contribute to the difference in these totals.

Along with Romania and Bulgaria, more than half of international students born in Poland (56.7%), Lithuania (55.9%) and Latvia (53.7%) said they were in employment on the day of the census.

Romania was the third most common country of birth for international students in England and Wales, accounting for nearly one in 10 of all of those recorded in the census, behind India and China (both around one in nine).

Employment rates for students from India and China were much lower than the rate for Romania, however, at 33.5% and 4.8% respectively.

Many EU-born international students will have arrived before the end of free movement, so the census figures do not represent the status of EU students under the post-Brexit immigration system, the ONS said.

The data also shows a third (33.9%) of the international student population of England and Wales was in London at the time of the census  the equivalent of 127,000 people.

South-east England and the West Midlands were the regions with the highest populations of international students outside London, with 12% and 9.4% of the total respectively.

After India, China and Romania, the most common countries of birth for international students were Nigeria, Poland, Italy and the US.

The most common type of work was in the wholesale and retail trade, including the repair of motor vehicles, which accounted for 18.5% of international students in employment.

This was followed by health and social work (16.8%), accommodation and food services (13%) and education (12%).

There were notable differences between EU-born and non-EU-born students, with non-EU students in employment twice as likely to work in health and social care than EU students.

The census classified international students as people who were born outside the UK and did not have a UK passport, who were aged 17 or over on their most recent arrival in the UK and 18 or over on the day of the census and who were in full-time education.
C haritable organisation Guts UK has warned that many people across the nation might be suffering from an undiagnosed and misunderstood bowel condition known as microscopic colitis.

Officially, around 17,000 people across the UK are diagnosed with the disorder every year. However, experts believe that the real number is likely to be higher.

Cases have risen in recent years, but many people dont know what microscopic colitis even is.

Here is a comprehensive look at the bowel condition, including its symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment.

What is microscopic colitis?

Microscopic colitis (MC) is an inflammatory disease that impacts the bowel.

There are two types: collagenous colitis and lymphocytic colitis. In collagenous colitis, a thick band of collagen develops under the colon lining, while in lymphocytic colitis, there is an increased number of white blood cells in the colon lining. Both types can cause similar symptoms, which include chronic diarrhea, abdominal pain, and cramping.

While the disease can develop at any time, it is more common in middle-aged people, with most diagnosed patients being aged between 50 and 70.

Guts UK says the disease is also more prevalent in women and can occur earlier in those who smoke.

The disorder is known to impact 18 in 100,000 people per year, with its cause unknown.

What are the symptoms of microscopic colitis?

Symptoms of microscopic colitis include chronic, watery diarrhoea and problems with bowel control.

Those with the disorder will also experience abdominal pain, bloating, weight loss, nausea, and dehydration.

Chris Probert, professor of gastroenterology at the University of Liverpool, explains: Undiagnosed microscopic colitis can cause years of unnecessary suffering. The diarrhoea symptoms tend to be very severe and house-limiting, leading to considerable distress for patients.

Those who have any of these symptoms for more than a few days are advised to contact their GP.

How is microscopic colitis diagnosed?

The symptoms of MC are often misjudged to be other bowel conditions such as ulcerative colitis and Crohns disease. Guts UK says that 1 in 10 people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) actually have microscopic colitis.

Thus, the charity encourages those with the symptoms to ask for a biopsy, as this is the only way they can see if they have the disorder.

The biopsy will involve a small tissue sample being taken from the bowel to be examined under the microscope.

What causes microscopic colitis?

The exact cause of microscopic colitis is unknown, but it may be related to an abnormal immune system response, genetics, or environmental factors.

How is microscopic colitis treated?

For most people, microscopic colitis is treatable using a course of gut-specific steroids and symptom-relieving medications.

Research into treatments is continuing for those who dont see their symptoms relieved with this. With proper management, most people with microscopic colitis can lead a relatively normal life.

The chief executive of Guts UK, Julie Harrington, said: Its terribly sad that thousands of people are suffering with the debilitating symptoms of microscopic colitis.

Most people with the condition can be easily treated with a course of gut-specific steroids or with symptom-relieving medicines but getting a diagnosis is the first, essential step.

People living with the condition but without the benefit of a correct diagnosis and effective treatments often can often feel very isolated due to the urgent nature of their symptoms and their need to be near to toilet facilities at all times.

We know that this can also have a detrimental effect on their mental wellbeing.

Ms Harrington added that the rates of microscopic colitis were increasing and likely to grow further as the population aged. Its crucial that we identify risk factors, provide specific training for healthcare providers, continue to raise awareness and invest in research to improve diagnosis and treatments, she said.
A n Essex pub which displayed golly dolls was vandalised on Sunday with graffiti and damaged windows, police have said.

Police said they would now conduct extra patrols in the area after the incident at the White Hart Inn in Grays at 12.40am on Sunday.

Officers had seized a collection of dolls from the pub, which are based on 18th century minstrels and now regarded as racist caricatures, on April 4, as part of an investigation into an allegation of hate crime.

Essex Police district commander Tony Atkin said: "Inquiries are taking place to establish what happened in the lead up to this incident and to identify those responsible, and includes viewing CCTV footage.

"One line of inquiry is that the criminal damage is linked to a previous incident that we are currently investigating, also linked to the White Hart Inn.

"We continue to investigate that incident and would ask the public to allow us to do so, remaining calm."

The pub first made headlines after it was reported by the MailOnline that Home Secretary Suella Braverman said Essex Police should not be getting involved in this kind of nonsense" and instead focus on catching criminals".

The couple who run the pub, Chris and Benice Ryley, have insisted the dolls are not racist and that a mountain has been made out of a molehill.

Mrs Ryley previously said she has displayed the collection of about 30 dolls, donated by her late aunt and customers, in the pub for nearly 10 years.

They're my childhood history, it's a part of our inheritance. I can't see any harm, she said. I really am angry because what they've taken away is valuable.

Mrs Ryley hit back at allegations of racism, saying the pub frequently hosts Indian weddings, and said she does not understand how people could be offended by the dolls.

When asked about her husband being photographed in a T-shirt from the far-right group Britain First, Mrs Ryley said: I dont think Chris is a supporter of Britain First, he was just wearing that shirt because it was convenient at the time.

The pub has been banned from being considered for any awards by the Campaign for Real Ales (Camra) and the group said it would not be included in its Good Beer Guide "while these discriminatory dolls continue to be on display".

No arrests have been made in connection to the alleged hate crime.

Essex Police are asking for anyone with information or footage to call 101.
A merica sent a warship through the Taiwan Strait just days after China ended war games around the island as tensions increase over its future.

The US warship USS Milius sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, the US Navy said on Monday.

It describe it as a routine transit.

But the timing came after China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, officially ended its three days of exercises around the island last Monday where it practiced precision strikes and blockading the island.

It staged the drills to express anger at Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wens meeting with US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

The US Navys 7th Fleet said the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit through waters where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law.

The ships transit demonstrates the United States commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, it added.

The USS Milius in the Taiwan Strait / AP

Meanwhile, Chinas defence minister Li Shangfu said Beijing is willing to work with Russia to have close strategic communications between their militaries, state media reported on Monday.

Li, who met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Sunday, also said China is willing to strengthen multilateral coordination and cooperation with Russia, said CCTV news.

China is willing to work with Russia to make new contributions to the maintenance of world and regional security and stability, Li said, according to the report.

The West has warned Beijing not to supply Putin with weapons for his war in Ukraine.
M elbourne has overtaken Sydney as Australias most populous city for the first time since the 19th century.

According to the latest government figures, Melbourne's population is 4,875,400  18,700 more than Sydney's.

This is driven largely by significant population growth on Melbournes outer fringes, with the city limits being expanded to include the suburb of Melton.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) includes any connecting suburbs with more than 10,000 people as part of a citys significant urban area.

Andrew Howe, of the statistics agencys Regional Population Unit, told the Sydney Morning Herald: Until the 2021 census definition, the Sydney significant area had a higher population than Melbourne.

However, with the amalgamation of Melton into Melbourne in the latest significant urban area classification, Melbourne has more people than Sydney  and has had since 2018.

However, when looking at the Greater Sydney and Greater Melbourne areas, Sydney remained bigger in June 2021.

Greater regions of a city take into account its functional area, and also include populations who regularly socialise, shop or work within the city, but may live in small towns and rural areas surrounding it.

The Australian federal government predicts Greater Melbournes population will overtake Greater Sydneys in 2031-32.

Melbourne has previously held the title of Australias biggest city  though not for a while.

The city experienced rapid growth during Victorias gold rush in the late nineteenth century, which saw Melbournes population outnumber Sydneys until around 1902.
F ormer Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin will not be given a new trial following his murder conviction for the killing of George Floyd, an appeals court has ruled.

Mr Floyd, 46, died in 2020 after Chauvin pinned him to the ground with a knee on his neck. The killing sparked protests in Minneapolis and around the globe over racial injustice.

Chauvin was convicted of state murder and manslaughter charges in 2021 and is currently serving 22-and-a-half years in jail.

His attorney had asked the appeals court to throw out the ex-officers convictions after claiming that legal and procedural errors deprived him of a fair trial.

However, the Minnesota Court of Appeals has upheld the murder conviction.

Chauvins attorney, William Mohrman, argued on appeal that the trial judge should have moved the case out of Minneapolis because of extensive pretrial publicity and unprecedented security precautions due to fears of violence.

The primary issue on this appeal is whether a criminal defendant can get a fair trial consistent with constitutional requirements in a courthouse surrounded by concrete block, barbed wire, two armored personnel carriers, and a squad of National Guard troops, all of which or whom are there for one purpose: in the event that the jury acquits the defendant, Mr Mohrman said in oral arguments in January.

But Neal Katyal, a special attorney for the state, argued that Chauvin got one of the most transparent and thorough trials in our nations history. ... Chauvins many arguments before this court do not come close to justifying reversal.

Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill sentenced Chauvin to 22 and-a-half years after jurors found him guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Chauvin later pleaded guilty to a separate federal civil rights charge and was sentenced to 21 years in federal prison, which he is now serving in Arizona concurrent with his state sentence.

Judge Cahill managed this trial with enormous care, and even if Chauvin could identify some minor fault, any error is harmless, Mr Katyal said. The evidence of Chauvins guilt was captured on video for the world to see.

Mr Mohrman argued in his brief that the pretrial publicity was the most extensive of any trial in Minnesota history, and that the judge should have moved the trial and sequestered the jury.

Mr Mohrman wrote that the publicity and the riots, the citys $27 million settlement with Floyds family announced during jury selection, the unrest over a police killing of a Black man in a Minneapolis suburb during jury selection, and the sealing off of the courthouse were just some of the factors prejudicing Chauvins chance of a fair trial.

His appeal also focused on one juror who participated in a civil rights event commemorating Martin Luther King Jr.s March on Washington, a few months after Mr Floyds death. Only after the trial did the juror reveal that he had been there.

The juror was questioned during selection about whether he had participated in any demonstrations or marches in Minneapolis against police brutality after Mr Floyds death. But Chauvins original attorney, Eric Nelson, did not ask whether he had participated in any marches elsewhere.

Mr Mohrman argued that Judge Cahill should have held a hearing after the revelation to determine whether the jurors nondisclosure constituted misconduct. He said the appeals court should send the case back to the judge for a hearing on that issue  a request that he had denied.

Other disputes in the appeal included whether it was legally permissible to convict Chauvin of third-degree murder, given a 2021 Minnesota Supreme Court decision clarifying the definition of that crime, and whether Judge Cahill was justified in exceeding the 12 1/2 years recommended under the states sentencing guidelines.
F rance has raised the alarm about the growing risk of forest fires because of climate change after firefighters tackled the biggest blaze of the year so far.

The fire, which erupted on Sunday, burned on more than 2,500 acres of woods and scrubland along the Mediterranean coast and spread across the border into north-eastern Spain.

Hundreds of firefighters were deployed to tackle the forest fire between Banyuls-sur-Mer and Cerbere in southern France.

On a visit to the area on Monday, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said: The fire season is starting early because of climate warming.

France has been afflicted by forest fires for years but they generally used to start later in the year.

However, major wildfires in Europe are now starting earlier, becoming more frequent and harder to stop, and doing more damage.

Scientists say they are likely to get worse as climate change intensifies, and the Mediterranean region is warming faster than the global average.

A plane drops fire retardant over a forest fire on a hill near the village of Banyuls-sur-Mer / AFP via Getty Images

Mr Darmanin said: We're in April. We have already seen the start of several important fires, notably in the south of France.

Droughts that hit France last year have been compounded by shortages of rain this past winter, pouring on even greater risk.

French authorities are urging home-owners to chop back and thin out trees and scrubland around their properties and appealing for people to take extra care not to discard cigarettes or otherwise start fires inadvertently.

French rescue services spokesman Arnaud Wilm told broadcaster FranceInfo on Monday morning that the blaze is being successfully contained and that its biggest flames have been extinguished but fire crews are still working to completely stop its spread and put it out.

On the Spanish side, firefighters said the flames that spread close to the town of Portbou are still active but have been stabilised and are no longer spreading.

They said two border roads remain closed to traffic and the train service linking Portbou to Cerbere has been halted.

Spanish national television said some 50 people were temporarily evacuated from their homes, while around 20 French people unable to cross the border were given accommodation in the town overnight.
A decaying oil tanker could explode at any time unleashing an environmental catastrophe, Cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell warned on Monday.

The Foreign Office minister called for action now from the international community to defuse the threat from the Safer vessel off Yemens coast.

Mr Mitchell and Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Liesje Schreinemacher are seeking to drum up tens of millions of dollars needed to remove the oil and avoid a disaster.

Ill be co-hosting a fundraising event on 4 May with @LSchreinemacher to resolve the Safer oil tanker issue, he tweeted.

Safer could break apart or explode at any time, unleashing an environmental, trade & humanitarian catastrophe.

Action from the international community is needed NOW.

The United Nations has purchased a large tanker to store about 1.1 million barrels of oil that will be transferred from Safer.

UN officials have been warning for several years that the Red Sea and the coastline of Yemen was at risk as the tanker could spill four times as much oil as the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster off Alaska.

But the top UN official in Yemen, David Gressly, has warned that no-one had stepped up to donate a tanker and no company was willing to lease a vessel that would be used near a civil war even though this situation has calmed down considerably.

The United Nations has said the clean-up of a spill could cost $20 billion (16 billion), but yet it is struggling to raise the $129 million (104 million) needed to remove the oil from the Safer and pay for the vessel bought from Euronav (EUAV.BR) for $55 million (44 million).

So far pledges of $95 million (77 million) have been made, mostly by governments - of which $75 (61 million) has been paid.

Even a public crowdfunding drive was started last year, which UN officials hope can help provide more money to finish the job.

The Safer supertanker was being used as a floating storage and offloading facility and is moored off Yemens Red Sea oil terminal of Ras Issa. Production, offloading and maintenance operations were suspended in 2015 because of the war in Yemen.

The UN has warned that the tankers structural integrity has significantly deteriorated and it is at risk of exploding.

Britain last year pledged some $7 million (5.6 million) for the operation.

Yemen has been mired in conflict since the Iran-allied Houthi group ousted the government from the capital Sanaa in 2014. A Saudi-led military coalition in 2015 intervened in a bid to restore the government.
World classic play first on cai luong stage

Medea - an ancient Greek tragedy written by Euripides and first produced in 431 BC has been on the cai luong (reformed opera) stage for the first time, conquering Vietnamese audiences.













The ancient Greek tragedy by Euripides is on the cai luong (reformed opera) stage at Vietnam Cai luong Theatre. (Photo: thethaovanhoa.vn)



The Medea was based upon the myth of Jason and Medea. The plot centers on the actions of Medea, a former princess of the kingdom of Colchis, and the wife of Jason; she finds her position in the Greek world threatened as Jason leaves her for a Greek princess of Corinth. Medea takes vengeance on Jason by murdering his new wife as well as her own two sons, after which she escapes to Athens to start a new life.



Euripides' play has been explored and interpreted by playwrights across the centuries and the world in a variety of ways, offering political, psychoanalytical, and feminist, among many other original readings of Medea, Jason, and the core themes of the play.



In Vietnam, the work was translated into Vietnamese by translator Hoang Huu Dan and has also been staged many times. The Medea play was adapted by People's Artist Trieu Trung Kien from a poetic script written by Excellent Artist Le Chuc.



Chuc and his team have surprised the public by bringing a version that fully guarantees the value of the original tragic work and makes the play new, luxurious, and imbued with human values.



Sharing the reason for choosing the Medea script to be staged as a cai luong play, People's Artist Trieu Trung Kien, Director of the Vietnam Cai Luong Theater, said that forms of stage are facing a shortage of good scripts, so choosing to stage the Medea is a way to enrich the theater's performance.



Right after the debut on April 11, the Theater offered a show for athletes participating in the 12th ASEAN Para Games in Cambodia and another show to audiences from the National Academy of Public Administration.



The Theater is also planning to cooperate with businesses to bring the play to students of universities and colleges.



The production team expects that when staging a Western classic masterpiece in the style of reformed opera, with a combination of traditional Vietnamese theater and world stage will attract more young audiences, bringing cai luong opera closer to the public, especially young people./.
The Ministry of Health and Population has screened over 8 million primary school students for anaemia, obesity and dwarfism since 2019, according to the most recent official figures released on Sunday.

The screenings were conducted by 2,400 medical teams on students aged 6 to 12 in 30,000 public and private schools, explained Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar, the official spokesman for the health ministry.

They included assessment of weight, height, and haemoglobin levels, Abdel-Ghaffar added.

According to recent government figures, the percentage of children in primary schools who suffer from anaemia was estimated at 33 percent, while 13.5 percent were estimated to suffer from obesity and five percent suffer from dwarfism.

The ministrys efforts to screen children on these three conditions come under the 100 Million Healthy Lives Presidential Initiative.

Parents can call the 106 Hotline for all inquiries on the campaign.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


A woman who was raped by Roman Polanski aged just 13 has claimed the attack was never a big problem.

Samantha Geimer, 60, said she didnt even know it was illegal when she was plied with alcohol and pills before being raped by the French-Polish film director in 1977.

I was fine, Im still fine, she said in an interview with Polanskis wife Emmanuelle Seigner, 56, for French outlet Le Point.

To have to constantly repeat that it wasnt a big deal, its a terrible burden.

Polanski has been wanted in the US for the rape of Ms Geimer. He admitted having unlawful sex with her and served 42 days in prison, but fled the country over fears his plea bargain was going to be scrapped. He has lived abroad ever since.

After the interview was published, Ms Seigner posted a photo of the two women on Instagram, captioned: Thank you Samantha for coming all this way to meet me and talk to me.

Victim Samantha Geimer / AFP via Getty Images

The victim replied: Im very happy to have a new friend.

In the article, Ms Geimer claimed differing attitudes towards sex in the 1970s meant sex was recreational, sometimes transactional.

She said: All the girls, the models, slept with the photographers and I was no exception.

Polanski had invited her to a photoshoot in 1977 under the guise of being featured in Vogue magazine, which he was set to guest-edit. The rape happened at actor Jack Nicholsons house in Los Angeles.

After Polanski took a plea bargain, charges of rape by use of drugs, perversion, sodomy, lewd act upon a child under 14, and furnishing a controlled substance to a minor were all dropped. He fled to France in 1978.

The director has since been accused of sexual assault by five other women, one of whom said he assaulted her when she was aged just ten. Polanski has always denied the allegations.

The interview also touched on the MeToo movement against sexual abuse.

Ms Geimer criticised lawyer Gloria Allred, who has taken on several high-profile cases of sexual assault and womens rights.

[Allred] just diminishes women to exploit their pain, she said. Today, womens pain is valued, and theres a whole industry that exploits suffering.

Ms Geimer said she initially did not feel a victim after the rape, but did later after being hounded by the press. She added: If someone had something to say about Roman, about any mistreatment, 1977 would have been a really good year to help me.

But Ms Geimer insisted that Polanski be cleared, adding: From my side, nobody wanted him to go to jail, but he did and it was enough. He paid his debt to society. There, end of story.
T he US has voiced deep concern over fighting in Sudan which has killed at least 97 civilians and injured hundreds more.

Fighting erupted on Saturday in the capital Khartoum and elsewhere between the Sudanese military and a powerful paramilitary group, involving armoured vehicles, truck-mounted machine guns and war planes.

The clashes are part of a power struggle between General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the commander of the armed forces, and General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the Rapid Support Forces group.

The two generals are former allies who jointly orchestrated an October 2021 military coup that derailed Sudan's short-lived transition to democracy.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Group of Seven Foreign Ministers meeting being held in Japan, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there was shared deep concern about the violence.

The threat that that poses to civilians, that it poses to the Sudanese nation and potentially poses even to the region," he said.

There was a strongly shared view that steps needed to be taken to protect civilians, non-combatants and people from third countries, he said.

And also a strongly held view, again, across all of our partners on the need for an immediate ceasefire and return to talks that were very promising in putting Sudan on the path to a full transition to civilian led government," he said.

AFP via Getty Images

The clashes come as most Sudanese are preparing to celebrate the holiday that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims traditionally fast from sunrise to sunset.

Fighting was also reported around Khartoum International Airport and state television headquarters.

A senior military official said clashes with RSF fighters began earlier in the day around military headquarters.

They are shooting against each other in the streets," said prominent rights advocate Tahani Abass who lives near the military headquarters. It's an all-out war in residential areas."

Ms Abass said her family spent the night huddling on the ground floor of their home.

No one was able to sleep and the kids were crying and screaming with every explosion," she said.

Both sides have signalled that they were unwilling to negotiate.

Among those calling for the fighting to end are the UN secretary-general, the EU foreign policy chief, the head of the Arab League and the head of the African Union Commission.

The African Union's top council called Sunday for an immediate cease-fire without conditions." It also asked the AU Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat to immediately travel to Sudan to engage the parties towards a cease-fire."

On Sunday, the UN World Food Program said it temporarily suspended operations in Sudan after three agency employees were killed in clashes the previous day and an aircraft used by the WFP was damaged.

About 16 million people, or one-third of Sudan's population, require humanitarian assistance, according to the UN.

The rival forces were fighting in several locations across Sudan, including the western Darfur region where tens of thousands of people live in camps for displaced people after years of genocidal civil war.

The recent tensions stem from disagreement over how the RSF should be integrated into the armed forces and what authority should oversee the process.

The merger is a key condition of Sudan's unsigned transition agreement with political groups.
T he European Union Ambassador to Sudan has been assaulted in his own home amid a third day of fighting, an EU representative has said.

Sudanese in the capital Khartoum and other cities huddled in their homes for a third day on Monday while the army and a powerful rival force battled in the streets for control of the country.

At least 185 people have been killed and over 1,800 wounded since the fighting erupted, UN envoy Volker Perthes told reporters. The two sides are using tanks, artillery and other heavy weapons in densely populated areas.

The European Unions foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, tweeted on Monday evening that the EU ambassador to Sudan was assaulted in his own residency, without providing further details. He did not name him, but the ambassador is Aidan OHara, an Irish diplomat.

Mr Borrell added: This constitues a gross violation of the Vienna Convention. Security of diplomatic premises and staff is a primary responsibility of Sudanese authorities and an obligation under international law.

In an earlier tweet he said: Civilians in Sudan urgently need a ceasefire in order to be safe and allow space for mediation. The EU is working to persuade each side to consider humanitarian pause and to encourage dialogue. Protection of civilians is an obligation under international humanitarian law.

The sudden outbreak of violence over the weekend between the nations two top generals trapped millions of people in their homes or wherever they could find shelter, with supplies running low and several hospitals forced to shut down.

AFP via Getty Images

Top diplomats on four continents scrambled to broker a truce, and the UN Security Council was set to discuss the crisis.

In central Khartoum, gunfire erupted and white smoke rose near the main military headquarters, a major battle front.

Nearby, at least 88 students and staffers have been trapped in the engineering college library at Khartoum University since the start of fighting, one of the students said in a video posted online Monday.

Even in a country with a long history of military coups, the scenes of fighting in the capital and its adjoining city Omdurman across the Nile River were unprecedented.

The turmoil comes just days before Sudanese were to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting.

The power struggle pits Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the commander of the armed forces, against Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group.

The former allies jointly orchestrated an October 2021 military coup. The violence has raised the specter of civil war just as Sudanese were trying to revive the drive for a democratic, civilian government after decades of military rule.

Heavy gunbattles raged in multiple parts of the capital and Omdurman, where the two sides have brought in tens of thousands of troops, positioning them in nearly every neighbourhood.

Twelve hospitals in the capital area have been forcefully evacuated and are out of service because of attacks or power outages, the Sudan Doctors Syndicate said, out of a total of around 20 hospitals.

The military on Monday claimed to have secured the main television building in Omdurman, fending off the RSF after days of fighting.

State-run Sudan TV resumed broadcasting.On Sunday, the RSF said it abandoned its main barracks and base, in Omdurman, which the armed forces had pounded with airstrikes.

The military and RSF were also fighting in most major centers around the country, including in the western Darfur region and parts of the north and the east, by the borders with Egypt and Ethiopia.

Battles raged on Monday around a strategic airbase in Merowe, some 350 kilometres (215 miles) northwest of the capital, with both sides claiming control of the facility.

Only four years ago, Sudan inspired hope after a popular uprising helped depose long-time autocratic leader Omar al-Bashir.

But the turmoil since, especially the 2021 coup, has frustrated the democracy drive and wrecked the economy. A third of the population  around 16 million people  now depends on humanitarian assistance in the resource-rich nation, Africas third largest.

With the US, European Union, African and Arab nations all calling for an end to fighting, the UN Security Council was to discuss the developments in Sudan.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was consulting with the Arab League, African Union and leaders in the region, urging anyone with influence to press for peace.
A n operation to remove British nationals from Sudan began on Tuesday (April 25), however there are still around 4,000 stranded amid a ceasefire during the conflict.

Families with children, the elderly, and those with medical issues will be given preference on military flights leaving from an airfield outside Khartoum.

The Government stated that people won't be contacted directly and that they should not travel to the airfield until they are called.

At least 413 people have been killed in Sudan since fighting broke out on Saturday, April 15, with 4,000 more wounded in the conflict.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that local hospitals in the African country are running out of critical supplies, including blood for transfusions, to treat the injured.

Global governments, including the UK, have expressed deep concern about the conflict in the capital city of Khartoum and throughout the country. The fighting has escalated to involve armoured vehicles, truck-mounted machine guns, and war planes.

Heres what triggered the fighting in Khartoum and throughout the rest of Sudan.

Why is there fighting in Sudan?

The conflict centres on a struggle between General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the commander of the armed forces, and General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo (also known as Hemedti), the head of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) group. Both groups had joined forces in the past to overthrow Islamist autocrat Omar Hassan al-Bashir in 2019, but are now locked in a disagreement about the integration of the RSF into the military.

Mr Hemedti has labelled Gen Burhan a criminal and accused the RSF of launching a coup in the country, amid smoke pouring out of buildings across the capital. Residents have been forced to take shelter in their homes.

If there is no intervention from armed forces leadership to stop the fighting, we are headed to an all-out civil war

What is a ceasefire?

A ceasefire is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions.

Sudans ceasefire began on Tuesday, April 25. Western, Arab, and Asian nations have 72 hours to extract their citizens from the country.

How many people have been killed so far in Sudan?

The WHO said on Friday, April 21, that 413 people had been killed and 3,551 injured in Sudan since intense fighting broke out.

The organisation has so far recorded 11 attacks on health facilities in the country and has called for such attacks to cease, spokesperson Margaret Harris said.

Unicef spokesperson James Elder said that at least nine children had been reported killed in the fighting and that more than 50 had been injured.

Sudan already has one of the highest rates of malnutrition among children in the world, Mr Elder said. And now critical life-saving care for an estimated 50,000 severely acutely malnourished children has been disrupted. This is life-threatening.

Unicef, the United Nations Childrens Fund, is responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide.

Why are there British nationals in Sudan?

There are a few thousand British nationals living in Sudan who work there, including a group of British diplomats and their families.

Although the precise number of remaining UK citizens is unknown, estimations have put the number in the thousands.

The chair of the foreign affairs select committee and a former employee of the Foreign Office, Alicia Kearns MP, warned the BBC that up to 4,000 British nationals who wish to leave could still be imprisoned.

Will there be a civil war in Sudan?

Yassir Abdullah, the managing editor of the Al-Sudani newspaper, has warned that Sudan is heading for all-out civil war, as reported by Sky News.

This is deeply serious, Mr Abdullah said. If there is no intervention from armed forces leadership to stop the fighting, we are headed to an all-out civil war.

This is a threat to the stability of the country as a whole. There are no winners here.

An evacuation is held to get foreign nationals out of Sudan / AP

How are different countries evacuating their citizens?

Sudans conflict has stranded thousands of foreigners, including diplomats and aid workers, and countries are working to evacuate their nationals.

Several evacuations are being carried out by air vehicles. Others are via Port Sudan on the Red Sea, which is about 650 kilometres (400 miles) north-east of Khartoum, but about 800km (500 miles) by road.

This is the status of some evacuations:

British armed forces staged a "complex and rapid evacuation of all diplomatic staff and their families from Sudan, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Sunday (April 23). Mr Sunak said the Government was pursuing every avenue to end the bloodshed and ensure the safety of British nationals. The UK is working with France, where a plane carrying about 100 people left Khartoum on Sunday for Djibouti with a second plane carrying a similar number preparing to take off.

Germany has flown out 311 people, while officials in Rome have said that some 140 Italians would be evacuated.

United States special forces evacuated all government personnel and their dependents, as well as several diplomats from other countries, from the embassy on Saturday. They used helicopters that flew from a base in Djibouti and refuelled in Ethiopia.

Other countries are also working with citizens to rescue hundreds of residents from Sudan.
T he UK government has demanded the release of a British-Russian Kremlin critic after he was jailed for 25 years for high treason by a court in Moscow.

Vladimir Kara-Murza, 41, was arrested in April 2022 just hours after he gave an interview to American television channel CNN, in which he said Russia was run by a regime of murderers.

Mr Kara-Murza was later charged with spreading false information about the Russian army in Ukraine. He was also accused of high treason and being affiliated with an undesirable organisation.

British foreign secretary James Cleverly paid tribute to Mr Kara-Murza following his prison sentence for bravely denouncing Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine.

In a statement, Mr Cleverly said: Vladimir Kara-Murza bravely denounced Russias invasion of Ukraine for what it was  a blatant violation of international law and the UN Charter.

Russias lack of commitment to protecting fundamental human rights, including freedom of expression, is alarming.

We continue to urge Russia to adhere to its international obligations, including Vladimir Kara-Murzas entitlement to proper healthcare.

I pay tribute to Mr Kara-Murza and his family, including his wife Evgenia and her unwavering commitment to raising her husbands cause on the international stage. The UK will continue to support them and to call for Mr Kara-Murzas immediate release.

Andrei Kelin, the Russian Ambassador to the UK, has been summoned to the Foreign Office for a dressing down over Russias human rights obligations, including the right to a fair trial.

Mr Kara-Murza has rejected the charges against him as political and likened the judicial proceedings to the show trials during the rule of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

The activist told a court in Moscow last week that he remains proud of standing up to Mr Putins dictatorship and his decision to send troops into Ukraine.

I know that the day will come when the darkness engulfing our country will clear, he said in remarks last week that were posted on social networks and Russian opposition media. And then our society will open its eyes and shudder when it realizes what terrible crimes were committed in its name.

Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza speaks to his lawyer Maria Eismont at Moscow City Court / AP

The charges against Mr Kara-Murza stem from his March 2022 speech to the Arizona House of Representatives in which he denounced Russias military action in Ukraine. Investigators added the treason charges while he was in custody.

Russia adopted a law criminalising spreading false information about its military days after it sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Authorities have used the law to stifle criticism of what the Kremlin calls a special military operation.

Mr Kara-Murza, a journalist and Cambridge graduate, was an associate of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was killed near the Kremlin in 2015. Mr Kara-Murza survived poisonings in 2015 and 2017 that he blamed on the Kremlin. Russian officials have denied responsibility.

Another prominent opposition figure, Ilya Yashin, was sentenced to 8 and a half years in prison late last year on charges of discrediting the military.
I n a report by The World Health Organisation, it was revealed that up to 90 per cent of the visible changes commonly attributed to ageing may be caused by sun exposure.

To combat signs of ageing as well as protect against skin cancer, the importance of sunscreen cannot be overlooked as the sunny weather approaches.

Yet, the parabens, silicones and synthetic fragrances contained in traditional sunscreens can actually have a damaging effect rather than protective  for both your skin and the environment.

Hawaii have recently passed a law banning the selling of certain chemical sunscreens that contain oxybenzone or octinoxate, which have been found in high concentrations at coral reefs - and theyre not the only ones. Palau and Mexico have followed suit.

These chemicals destroy the algae that lives on coral thereby harming the marine environment of the reefs and the surrounding wildlife.

More and more people are looking to natural and organic sunscreens to counter these damaging side effects, not just for our own skin but for our oceans as well.

Sun lotion falls into two major categories; chemical and mineral. Natural SPFs may also be known as mineral sunscreens. These formulas contain active ingredients like zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. They act as a physical barrier to deflect and shield against UVA and UVB rays where as chemical formulas absorb the rays. This ensures that they wont irritate the skin and makes them a better choice for those with sensitivities or irritations. The formulas are packed with antioxidants like vitamin E to give an extra defence against free radicals and environmental stressors that can cause premature skin ageing.

So whether you're a sun worshippers or a shade chasers, you can enjoy sun-soaked days with our selection of the best natural, organic and ocean-friendly alternatives for you and your family.
M ulti-cookers have witnessed a huge boom in popularity over recent years.

There are now more brands than ever producing their own versions of the handy kitchen appliance, making them ultimately more innovative, multi-functional and easy to use. Ideal for streamlining energy consumption and removing the stress from cooking, multi-cookers also offer a perfect solution to decluttering kitchens with a single machine being able to take on the tasks of so many countertop appliances.

Why buy a multicooker?

Regardless of your cooking skills, the main reasons for purchasing a multi-cooker are for simplicity, versatility and to utilise space in your kitchen. Todays multi-cookers regularly offer a number of functions thats well into double-digits, reducing the need for multiple appliances.

Whether thats slow-cooking, searing, pressure cooking, air frying, rice cooking, breadmaking, making yoghurt, or many other functions, the best multi-cookers provide plenty of freedom while being easy to use and fairly affordable in most cases.

Which features should I look for when buying a multicooker?

When considering which multi-cooker is best for you, there are various factors to consider. One concern for many is cost, with such a wide range of multi-cookers available at different price points.

More expensive doesnt always mean better, however. Some of the more expensive appliances have a great deal of functions, many of which will never be utilised for cooking minimalists  thus making them a colossal waste of money. Sure, some home cooks will be keen to experiment, but if youre only keen on using the multicooker for fewer tasks, theres no need to spend huge sums on it.

With that in mind, its worth deciding which functions youre most keen on, as well as working out which other regularly used appliances you can replace. For many home cooks, slow-cooking, searing and pressure cooking will be enough, so opt for a model which excels in these desired cooking functions.

Whereas if youre after an appliance with functions such as air frying, cooking rice and whipping up yoghurt, check that the multi-cooker performs those tasks before committing to buy. Bear in mind the multi-cookers with more functions will generally cost slightly more.

Cleaning and ease-of-use should also be taken into consideration. Today, many manufacturers aim to produce multicookers which are simple to use, with various pre-set temperatures and timings for various dishes and ingredients. Some work at the mere push of a button, others have myriad knobs and dials.

Ideally its worth investing in a multi-cooker with fewer knobs and dials, which will be easier to wipe clean, while many will also have dishwasher-safe components, which will make life much easier when it comes to the end of the process.

Which size multicooker should you buy?

Size depends entirely on your household or the amount of people you intend on cooking for. If youre cooking for one to two people, then anything from 1.4L upwards should be just fine. For families of four to five, wed suggest nothing smaller than 4L. If you cook for a crowd regularly or are seriously into batch cooking, then wed suggest a 6-7L multi cooker.

Best multi cookers at a glance

How we tested the best multicookers

All of the featured multicookers were tested in a home kitchen, with various criteria taken into consideration. The key focuses were quality of the food produced, ease of use and cleaning, size and storage, functionality, instructions and value for money.

Shop the best multicookers below

Ninja Foodi MAX 15-in-1 SmartLid Multi-Cooker with Smart Cook System 7.5L OL750UK Ninja Best for: retiring all other kitchen appliances A next generation multi-cooker from Ninja, the Foodi MAX 15-in-1 SmartLid multi-cooker takes home cooking to the next level. With 15 cooking functions in one machine, the multi-cooker has pressure cooking, air frying, slow cooking, grilling, baking, dehydrating, proving, searing, yoghurt and five combi-steam mode functions. These combi-steam functions combine steam with convection cooking for fast cooking which doesnt remove moisture from the dishes being prepared. As well as boasting the chance to roast a while chicken in under an hour with the steam roast function, the multicooker offers a steam air fry function, steam bread and steam bake options. Moreover, the Ninja Foodi MAX 15-in-1 SmartLid Multi-Cookers Smart Cook System takes guesswork out of homecooking, with a digital cooking probe included in the box, monitoring foods temperature as it cooks  ultimately making it perfect for meat and fish dishes. While the 7.5L model is fairly bulky, its ideal for cooking up to six portions, replacing a number of lesser kitchen gadgets - and all accessories dishwasher safe, so its easy to clean after use. Buy now  269.99 , Ninja {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{/hasItems}} {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} {{#hasItems}} {{/hasItems}} Instant Pot Pro Crisp Multi Pressure Cooker & Air Fryer Instant Pot Best for: cooking for groups, or for batch cooking Over the past 12 years, Instant Pot has garnered a cult following, becoming one of the biggest names in the constantly expanding multicooker market  and for good reason. Launched in the UK during the summer of 2021, the Instant Pot Pro Crisp multi pressure cooker and air fryer is essentially an upgrade of the brands duo crisp and air fryer. With a sleek new design and some new functions, its available in two sizes: 5.7 or 7.6 litres. While the Instant Pot Pro Crisp is at the more expensive end of the scale, its an absolute game-changer and will replace a number of (most likely inferior) kitchen gadgets. On account of its seemingly endless uses, the larger version is fairly bulky and particularly heavy, but especially ideal for cooking for groups, or for batch cooking. The pressure cooker element of the multicooker also has a particularly progressive steam venting method - with just the flick of a switch needed to activate, and coming complete with a diffusing cover over the steam release to minimise splashes and prevent burns. Moreover, the stainless steel pot can also be used on a hob and has silicone handles, which make it easy to pick up without risk of burning. Its the small things that really do make a huge difference. Buy now  249.99 , Amazon {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{/hasItems}} {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} {{#hasItems}} {{/hasItems}} Crockpot Express Pressure CSC051 5.6 Litre Multi Cooker Crockpot Best for: big meals on a low budget Priced at under 100, the Crockpot Express Pressure Multi Cooker offers excellent value for money. With 12 functions and a generous 5.6 litre capacity (easily capacious enough for a family of four), this multicookers settings are simply displayed on the front of the machine, easy to set up and programme at the touch of a button. While there are various functions, the Crockpot Express Pressure Multi Cooker excels at pressure cooking (the clue is in the name), with the ability to sear before quickly and safely pressure cooking  perfect for tough cuts of meat, which generally require longer cooking times. Moreover, the components are dishwasher safe, making the multi-cooker easy to clean after use. Buy now  89 , Amazon {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{/hasItems}} {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} {{#hasItems}} {{/hasItems}} Sage Fast Slow Go SAGE Best for: hacking big family dinners Like all Sage appliances, the Sage Fast Slow Go is an attractive multi-cooker. With 14 shortcuts packed into one multicooker, the machine has steam, saute/sear, reduce, sous vide, pressure cook and slow cook functions alongside eight different pre-sets such as soup, stock, meat, stew, legumes, rice/grains, risotto and rice. All of the buttons are also clearly laid out on the front of the appliance making it easy to use. Perhaps the main draw here, however, is the automatic steam release function when it comes to pressure cooking  at which the Sage Fast Slow Go excels  to make pressure cooking safer and less intimidating. Elsewhere, the slow-cookers six litre capacity means youll be able to comfortably feed six people, though the hinged lid does make the cleaning process a little more fiddly than necessary. Buy now  169 , Currys {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{/hasItems}} {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} {{#hasItems}} {{/hasItems}} Cuisinart Cook In Cuisinart Best for: one pan cooking Cuisinarts rectangular Cook In multicooker has searing, grilling, sauteing, steaming, simmering and slow-cooking functions. Given the pan shape, the appliance can be used for a variety of dishes, from seared steaks and full English breakfasts all cooked in one pan, through to slow-cooked dishes such as stews, casseroles and chillies. Its also worth noting that the multi-cooker is fairly compact for storing, but also has a reasonable capacity, making it an ideal size for family meals. Heating up in under 10 minutes, the Cuisinart Cook In has a temperature range of 90oC-220oC, which is easy to set, while interchangeable non-stick pans for grilling, cooking or steaming are also included. Whats more, the pans and glass lid are all dishwasher safe. Buy now  149.99 , Lakeland {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{/hasItems}} {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} {{#hasItems}} {{/hasItems}} VonShef 42cm Multi Cooker VonShef Best for: every meal of the day A versatile pan-shaped multi-cooker from VonShef, this appliance makes light work of frying, sauteing, roasting, baking, stewing and boiling food at the touch of a dial. Thanks to a precise thermostat control with five heat settings (similar to oven dial settings), the multicooker can cook food at temperatures up to 220oC, ideal for cooking casseroles, full English breakfasts, rice, risotto, eggs, pancakes, stir fries and even pizza. With a 42 centimetre diameter and five centimetre depth, the multi-cooker is generously sized but also extremely portable, with a lightweight design and detachable cord for convenient portability  ideal for camping, if you have an electrical hook-up. Buy now  49.99 , VonHaus {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{/hasItems}} {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} {{#hasItems}} {{/hasItems}} Amazon Basics 23 in 1 Multi-Purpose Electric Steamer, Pressure Cooker, 5.5 Litre Amazon Best for: making a Sunday roast From the Amazon Basics range, this multi-cooker is versatile with 15 pre-set options, ideal for cooking meat, poultry, vegetables, rice, beans, broth, curry, soup, multigrain, congee and chilli, with additional steaming, slow-cooking, pressure cooking and sauteing functions. A manual mode can also be utilised for everyday cooking, with a 24-hour delay start, pressure indicator and automatic keep warm function. Meanwhile, the 5.5-litre capacity is spacious enough to cook a whole chicken without taking up too much counter space. Buy now  79.20 , Amazon {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{/hasItems}} {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} {{#hasItems}} {{/hasItems}} Magimix Cook Expert Magimix Best for: food processing as well as multi-cooking The Magimix Cook Expert is, by far, the most expensive multi-cooker on the list, but its worth noting that the machine is designed to replace multiple appliances. The sleekly designed multicookers functions include mixing, food processing, blending, two-layered steaming, slow-cooking, soup making, warming and proving. Moreover, digital scales are also incorporated along with an auto-rinse programme for easy washing up after use. Designed to slice, grate, steam, sear, brown, simmer, stir, blend and knead effortlessly with strength and precision, the Magimix Cook Expert also has a simmer and stir function for hands off cooking and a smart induction feature. Magimix also promises their high end multi-cooker is built to last, too, offering a 30-year motor guarantee. Buy now  1195 , Magimix {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{/hasItems}} {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} {{#hasItems}} {{/hasItems}} Panasonic NN-DS59NBBPQ 4-in-1 Steam Combination Microwave Oven Panasonic Best for: replacing your oven The new Panasonic NN-DS59NBBPQ 4-in-1 Steam Combination Microwave Oven differs from most conventional multi-cookers, but given its versatile functionality, it can be considered a multi-cooker. Due to its size and price, however, its better suited to replacing ovens in small homes or holiday lets. Combining steam, microwave, grill and combination oven functionality, the Panasonic NN-DS59NBBPQ is ideal for preparing a great number of dishes, with technological advancements taking the hassle out of cooking. In addition to the multi-function oven, the multi-cooker has steam technology to cook food quickly and efficiently, allowing for even heat distribution, enabling you to combine cooking functions and use them simultaneously. The Panasonic NN-DS59NBBPQ also has auto programmes to make mealtimes effortless and is relatively easy to clean. Buy now  399 , AO {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{/hasItems}} {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} {{#hasItems}} {{/hasItems}}
E urovision-themed hairdressing classes and a hip hop block party are among the community events planned as Liverpool prepares to host the contest.

Grants of up to 2,000 have been given to 63 community groups and grassroots organisations to help spread the Eurovision magic across the city region in the run-up to the final on May 13.

Among the projects awarded funding is a Eurovision Hip Hop Block Party, including a breakdancing competition, DJs, beatboxers and graffiti art.

The chosen projects highlight different cultures, religious beliefs, food and languages. There truly is something for everyone

Hairdressing and nail art classes for young people inspired by Eurovision styles through the decades will be delivered by Brook Community Training Ltd and Holistic Harmonies will be holding Eurovision-inspired music and movement workshops for care home residents.

Many of the projects reflect the fact the contest is being hosted by the UK on behalf of last years winners Ukraine.

A Ukrainian-themed sing-along sew-along, music workshops inspired by artists of African-Ukrainian heritage and a cooking day and recipe book delivered by Knowsley Food Bank in partnership with Ukrainian chefs are among the ideas to receive grants.

Claire McColgan, director of Culture Liverpool, said: We were inundated with so many amazing ideas, making it really difficult for us to decide which projects to take forward.

We never fail to be impressed by the enthusiasm and creativity of community groups and grassroots organisations in Liverpool City Region and once again they have outdone themselves.

I think the successful projects reflect a good cross-section of the region.

Ukraine is at the heart of this years Eurovision Song Contest so it was important to ensure their culture is represented, but Liverpool is known the world over for being a cultural melting pot with centuries of immigration having shaped the culture and communities of the city and surrounding boroughs.

The chosen projects highlight different cultures, religious beliefs, food and languages. There truly is something for everyone.

Eilish McGuinness, chief executive at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, which supported the EuroGrant scheme, said: Its been fantastic to see the energy and enthusiasm of people and communities across the whole of the Liverpool City Region in coming up with the fantastic activities that EuroGrants will make possible.

Liverpool is home to a wealth of heritage from many different cultures and beliefs and this collection of projects highlights and celebrates the city regions diversity.

A Eurovision-themed theatre performance created for those living with dementia is also set to tour care homes in the run-up to the contest.

Songs for Europe, presented by Nwoko Arts and commissioned by Culture Liverpool as part of the EuroStreet programme, was created through interviews with care home residents about the themes of Eurovision and will tour 20 care homes from the start of May.
The presenter said she is feeling so much better on Instagram Stories on Friday.

Willoughby was absent from the ITV show this week, after sharing that she was unwell.

Speaking on on her Instagram story earlier this week, she wrote: Hi... Just to let you know i may be away for the rest of the week as i have shingles... Ill be back as soon as Im better. Huge Love, Holly xxx.

Rochelle Humes stepped in to present the show with Philip Schofield while their colleague recovered.

What is shingles?

Shingles is an infection that produces a painful rash on the body and is caused by the chickenpox virus, the NHS says.

It is common to get the shingles rash on the chest or abdomen. However, the NHS says it can appear anywhere on the body, including the face, eyes and genitals.

Around 194,000 people in England and Wales get shingles every year, the Shingles Support Society (SSS) website says.

The charity says: We call it chickenpox when we first catch it.

The virus hides away in the body and can appear again at any age. When this happens, we call it shingles.

This can be at any age but it is more likely to occur as we get older.

What causes shingles?

The virus flees to a neural ganglion (junction box) in the nerves next to the spine as soon as you recover from chickenpox. For the rest of your life, it remains there in a dormant state. One day, something triggers the virus to reactivate it, possibly when you are fatigued or ill, though no one is really sure why, and it manifests as shingles.

What are the symptoms of shingles?

The SSS says red patches are usually the first sign of the rash appearing. However, there may also be itching, tingling or burning under the skin, pain around the area and fluid-filled blisters that burst and turn into sores before they dry out.

The virus hides away in the body and can appear again at any age. When this happens, we call it shingles

How is shingles treated?

People are urged to call 111 or visit the doctor as soon as they suspect shingles as they might need medication.

For treating shingles at home, the NHS website advises taking paracetamol, keeping the rash clean and dry, wearing loose-fitting clothes, and using a cool compress a few times a day.

It warns against letting dressings or plasters stick to the rash or using antibiotic cream.

The NHS also urges those infected to stay away from certain groups of people to avoid spreading chickenpox. These include pregnant people who have not had chickenpox before, people with a weakened immune system, and babies less than one month old.

A vaccination is available on the NHS for people in their 70s.

The rash can take up to five weeks to heal.
T he BBC has confirmed the line-up for this years Eurovision Grand Final.

This years competition is set to take place on May 13 in Liverpool on behalf of 2022 winners Ukraine.

In addition to the 26 acts going head-to-head in the international singing competition, last years winners Kalush Orchestra will take to the stage along with runner-up Sam Ryder, plus, some established Eurovision icons.

During the Eurovision Flag Parade of all 26 Grand Finalists, viewers will be treated to a unique performance by some past Ukrainian Eurovision contestants including GO_A, Jamala, Tina Karol, and Verka Serduchka.

For the first interval performance, during which voting across Europe and the world takes place, Ryder will return to the Eurovision stage after leading the UKs biggest success in last years Contest for over two decades.

Last years Eurovision winners Kalush Orchestra said they are grateful to the UK for hosting on behalf of Ukraine / Getty Images

The final interval act, The Liverpool Songbook, is a celebration of the host citys contribution to the world of pop music. Six past Eurovision acts will be brought together, including Italys Mahmood, Israels Netta, Icelands Dai Freyr, Swedens Cornelia Jakobs, Duncan Laurence from the Netherlands  plus Liverpools very own Sonia, celebrating 30 years since she came second at Eurovision in 1993.

Kate Phillips, BBCs Director of Unscripted, said: What a way to bring in the winner of the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest. These live performances, with their twists on iconic Eurovision moments and countless creative collaborations, will ensure that were in for an utterly unforgettable Grand Final!

Expressing their gratitude to the UK for hosting this years competition, Kalush Orchestra said: Weve been looking forward to performing in Liverpool ever since it was announced as host last year. The city has a world-renowned musical heritage and were delighted to finally be able to announce what an honour it will be for us to be there.

While were sad that we couldnt bring the Eurovision Song Contest back to our home country, were really grateful to the UK for hosting this party on our behalf. We will perform for everyone in Ukraine to remind us that better days and our countrys victory is ahead, as well as to show the world what Ukraine is fighting for.

Meanwhile, Ryder added: What an honour to be invited back to the Eurovision stage for a second time! I cant wait to be back amongst the beautiful chaos of it all and to watch the incredible artists perform this time around, while bringing you a special performance of our own. Big love!

The Eurovision Song Contest will be broadcast live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Semi-Final 1 is broadcast Tuesday 9 May at 8pm, Semi-Final 2 is broadcast Thursday 11 May at 8pm, and the Grand Final is broadcast on Saturday 13 May at 8pm.
Around 5,000 Palestinian prisoners are currently held captive in Israel, including 31 women and 160 minors, one of whom is a girl, according to Palestinian prisoners' advocacy groups, marking the Palestinian Prisoners Day on Monday

The group added that they are held in administrative detention without charge or trial, as reported by the Palestinian news agency WAFA.

In a joint report, the Commission for Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoner's Society, Addameer Association for Prisoner Support and Human Rights, and Wadi Hilweh Information Center - Jerusalem, confirmed that an estimated 4,900 "freedom fighters" are currently incarcerated in Israel.

They also stated that 23 prisoners have been held before the signing of Oslo Accords in 1993. The oldest among them is Mohammad al-Tous, who has been held for 38 years now, since 1985.

Some 400 prisoners have been in jail for over 20 years and that 554 are serving multiple life terms, one of them being Abdullah Barghouti, who was sentenced to 67 life sentences.

Additionally, 11 prisoners were released in a prisoner exchange in 2011, but were re-arrested in 2014 and had their sentences reinstated. Among them, Nael Barghouti is considered the longest serving "freedom fighter" with 43 years behind bars, 34 of which were continuous.

The Israeli occupation authorities are still retaining the bodies of 12 Palestinians who passed away while in detention, with one of them being held since 1980.

Furthermore, around 700 prisoners are reportedly suffering from various illnesses, including 24 palestinians with different stages of cancer. The case of Walid Daqqa, who has been in custody for 37 years, is said to be one of the most challenging.

Several rallies are planned for Monday in West Bank and Gaza cities in support of the "freedom fighters" and to demand their release and freedom.

In Brussels, the Palestinian community in Belgium and supporters of Palestine, including lawmakers and party leaders, held a vigil today to commemorate Palestinian Prisoner's Day.

Participants raised Palestinian flags, pictures of prisoners in Israeli prisons, and banners expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people's struggle for freedom and dignity.

The commemorative gathering was called for by the Palestinian community in Belgium, the European Coalition in Support of Palestinian Prisoners' Rights, and the Belgian-Palestinian Association, and was held in front of the central train station in downtown Brussels.

Since 1974, Palestinians have been commemorating 17 April as Palestinian Prisoner's Day to honor the thousands of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli occupation prisons and to advocate for their legitimate right to freedom

Search Keywords:

Short link:


R achel Weisz has revealed how she has managed to keep her family life with husband Daniel Craig out of the public eye.

The British star, 53, lives in New York with Craig and their children but despite their collective stardom, they have remained largely out of the spotlight unless they are promoting their acting work.

In a new interview, Weisz insisted she never sees herself as a celebrity and credited the family unit she and Craig have established for helping maintain their privacy through the years.

She told The Observer: Celebrity  it really doesnt mean anything to me.

And its no work at all to keep not showing up at events. Its no work at all, to keep a private life. Life can be demanding; life in a family can be complicated but I dont even know what celebrity means. I dont think of myself like that.

While she recognises the tremendous privilege that comes with her career, the movie star insisted that fame doesnt dominate her life.

Weisz said she doesnt view herself as a celebrity (Jonathan Brady/PA) / PA Wire

She continued: Im used to it now. Like, if someone recognises my husband, its just part of life  theyre normally really nice and go, Best Bond ever! or whatever. Its not in a place where its difficult, or oppressive.

The Oscar winner has been married to the James Bond star since 2011 and they welcomed their first child together, a daughter, in 2018.

Weisz has a teenage son with director Darren Aronofsky, while Craig has an adult daughter, Ella, from a previous relationship.

Later in the interview, she was asked about her experience having a child at age 48 and the criticism she faced for being an older mother.

In response, Weisz admitted she didnt take notice of it, sharing: Perhaps its just that we were very, very tired. Maybe I didnt notice what was going on. You go into a bubble when you have a newborn, dont you?
G oogle is rushing to create a brand-new search engine that can predict what youre looking for using AI, according to a new report.

Interacting with the new service will be a lot like chatting to a chatbot, reports the New York Times. The personalised search engine will reportedly predict what you want based on your searches when you begin using it. It would also create a pre-selected list of products when youre shopping, fetch relevant research and other information.

The experience will apparently be like talking to a helpful person that knows what you want, and can provide recommendations.

Though Google is still in the early stages of developing the new tool, the shakeup indicates its broader vision for AI. Next month, the company is planning to refresh its current search engine using its latest AI systems, known as large language models. Another AI-powered update to the service is due in the autumn, according to internal documents viewed by the New York Times.

Google tentatively launched a chatbot named Bard earlier this year to a lukewarm reception.

The bot was caught spouting an error at its unveiling, wiping $100 billion (80.5bn) from Google parent Alphabets market valuation.

Google boss Sundar Pichai has even said that his company does not fully understand all of the bots capabilities. The remarks were made in reference to the AIs ability to quickly grasp new languages, without any prior training. Like other AI systems, Bard can also spew misinformation, a phenomenon known in the industry as a hallucination.

Nevertheless, Google reportedly has plans to integrate the tech with even more products. It is already working on a tool called GIFI that lets you generate GIFs using AI in Google Image results. A separate service called Tivoli Tutor would teach users a new language through AI conversations.

One of the main obstacles Google is facing is how to implement digital ads within the new tools. Targeted ads based on users internet browsing activity are the companys biggest cash cow. In its current guise, Bard does not contain ads, but Google plans to integrate them alongside conversations on its search engine.

Google has added new AI models to search in the past, but these typically work behind the scenes. For instance, the companys Multitask Unified Model , or MUM, is designed to reduce the amount of searches it takes to answer your question. The system can also recognise both text and images, and up to 75 different languages, to deliver refined results, Google says.

Meanwhile, the competition is threatening to lure users away from Google search. Both OpenAIs ChatGPT and Microsofts Bing AI have been used by more than 100 million people. Their growth has caught the eye of other tech firms, including Google partners that use its search engine on their smartphones in exchange for a fee.

Samsung, for example, is reportedly considering making the switch to Microsofts Bing search engine. Such a move would apparently cost Google $3bn (2.4bn) in annual revenue. Similarly, Google earns $20bn (16bn) in a deal with Apple that sees Google search act as the default search engine on iPhones. That contract is coming up for renewal later this year, amid rumours that Apple is working on its own AI language tech for Siri.
Egypts Minister of Foreign Affairs has stressed on Monday, in phone calls with his French, Djiboutian, and South Sudanese counterparts, the need for foreign parties to refrain from any interference in the Sudanese conflict so as not to exacerbate its severity.

Shoukry also made a phone call with Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan, during which they agreed on the necessity of exerting all possible efforts to preserve the stability and integrity of the Sudanese state and ensure the safety of its people.

In his phone call with the Saudi FM, Shoukry reaffirmed Egypts insistence that both parties to the conflict in Sudan resort to wisdom and reason, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Such an appeal to reason should lead to an immediate ceasefire that helps stop the bloodshed of the Sudanese people and protect their resources, the Egyptian FM stressed.

Shoukry and Prince Faisal agreed to continue their consultations over the coming days as they follow up on the developments of the crisis and efforts to contain it.

Separately, Shoukry and French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna agreed on the need to work to reach a ceasefire between the two sides as soon as possible and resolve the disputes through negotiations.

Both ministers agreed that these efforts aim to end the bloodshed in Sudan and set Sudan back on the peaceful political track.

During the phone call, Shoukry highlighted the need for foreign parties to refrain from interference in the Sudanese conflict in order to restore Sudans stability and security as soon as possible.

Shoukry also discussed the developments in Sudan with both his Djiboutian counterpart Mahmoud Ali Youssouf and Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in South Sudan Deng Dau, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

The top Egyptian diplomat also stressed to both ministers the importance of dealing with the ongoing conflict as an internal affair and urged against any foreign interferences that could exacerbate the situation, according to the ministry.

The ministry further added that the Djiboutian and South Sudanese diplomats shared the same view.

Shoukrys call for non-interference in the crisis echoes remarks by the Sudanese Foreign Ministry on Monday that the current conflict is a domestic affair that needs to be resolved by the Sudanese people".

During an emergency meeting of the Arab League (AL) on Sunday, Sudan's representative to the AL Al-Sadiq Omar Abdullah called on Arab states to mediate in order to reach a calm and peaceful settlement in Sudan "away from international interventions."

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Amr Moussa, the former Egyptian foreign minister and secretary-general of the Arab League, has expressed deep concerns over the ongoing military confrontations in Sudan, stressing that Egypt has a central role to play in ending the existential threats facing its southern neighbour.

In a series of tweets on Monday, Moussa noted that the ongoing bloody confrontations and overall deterioration and cracks in the political, social, and military structures in Sudan pose a serious threat to the future, independence, unity, and security of the country.

The 86-year-old veteran diplomat emphasised that the stability of the African continent and the Arab world, as well as Egypt's vital interests, are all at risk due to the ongoing crisis in the Arab/African country.

He said he expects a dynamic policy from Egypt including active rounds by all levels of Egyptian diplomacy, in public and in private, on the Arab and African arenas.

Such a policy, he added, "would secure a major position for Egypt in the course of events and defeat attempts to exclude it" from current efforts of communication and consultations.

Egypt-Sudan: Common interests

"The integration of Egypt and Sudan is imposed by nature in parallel of common interests, even if it [the integration] was spoiled by wrong policies since the 1950s, as well as foreign schemes that saw any strong rapprochement between them [Egypt and Sudan] as a threat to their interests in the African continent and the south of the Arab World," Moussa said.

Egypt has a clear and central role in helping Sudan avoid the repercussions of the current situation. he said.

"Some Arab interests may conflict with Egypt's deeper interests in Sudan, and the same applies in Africa. Hence, Egypt is expected to take a clear and bold stand, as our vital interests in that entire region have become threatened and are at stake," Moussa said.

"Frankness is important with our brothers [in Sudan] and others who have been active on the Sudan issue, especially recently," Moussa said.

Moussa also warned of the possibility of Ethiopia taking advantage of the situation, which could exacerbate the problem of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) for Egypt.

On Monday, for the third day in a row, Khartoum and other parts of Sudan awoke to heavy fighting between the Sudanese Armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The fierce clashes have left 100 dead and hundreds injured and exacerbated an already tenuous humanitarian situation in the country.

On Sunday, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and South Sudan President Salva Kiir expressed their willingness to mediate between the Sudanese parties to defuse the situation.

Also on Sunday, Egyptian Foreign Ministry Sameh Shoukry briefed the Chair of African Union Commission Moussa Faki on Egypt's efforts to deescalate the crisis in Sudan ahead of Faki's scheduled visit to Khartoum on Monday.

Egypt has called for the immediate cessation of military operations in Sudan and the prioritisation of dialogue, stressing that it is imperative that no external party attempt to exploit Sudans current situation by carrying out actions that further exacerbate the conflict or undermine the countrys territorial integrity.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


A Brock University graduate student is being recognized for his unique business idea after attending the Brock LINCubator, the universitys innovation centre which helps entrepreneurs.

Known as the Learn, Ideate, Navigate and Collaborate incubator (LINCubator) launched a new program called NAVIGATE which is a hands-on 11-week program to help individuals explore and develop their business idea.

Milad Nourvand, co-founder of CareCanada, and a Master of Science in Management student attended the program where he was awarded the $5,000 Dobson Entrepreneurial Excellence Prize for his business pitch for an artificial intelligence-powered search engine to help connect people with health-care professionals.

According to Brock University, the award helps to recognize and assist entrepreneurial excellence among their students who have start-up ideas.

CareCanada makes it easier for people to find the health care they need by providing a comprehensive list of what is available for everything from a family doctor to a care specialist, said Nourvand.

A lot of resources are wasted in the process (of looking for a health-care professional), so we want to be the first initial point of contact for patients, he said.

When patients look for special care, they come to our website. So, they say, OK, I have this allergy or I have this problem and I want to see a health-care professional.

Nourvand said using artificial intelligence provides a comprehensive timeline for finding a family doctor or specific health-care pro.

We have all that information about most of the professionals on our website and we are feeding the data for their scope of practices, he said.

When a person comes to our website, they can input whatever they want, for example, what their symptoms are or why they want to see a doctor and our search engine helps them to connect with these health-care professionals.

Nourvand said hundreds of people have been using the search engine already to assist in finding the appropriate proivder for their needs and that number is only going to grow.

We now have around 400 patients (per day) coming to our website looking for care and we provide them with information in their local area, he said.

For example, if you are in St Catharines looking for a family doctor, we show you how many doctors are in that area.

Revenue is an afterthought, said Nourvand, as he believes the true purpose of the business is to help as many people as he can to stay healthy and have access to quality health care.

It's not about the revenue, it's about the lives of people that we are touching, he said.

We know we have to make revenue in order to survive, to fulfil our costs, but we are helping each person, and we are helping (improve) their lives. I find the meaning of life in these types of periods.

This is one of the good reasons to wake up in the morning and say, Yeah, I'm going to work, he said.

SHARE:
Fifty-two people contributed $44,770 to Welland Mayor Frank Campions 2022 municipal re-election campaign, according to financial records filed with the city.

Those donations ranged between $200 and $1,200, the maximum allowable contribution to a municipal candidate.

The maximum amount someone can give candidates in the same jurisdiction  running for the same council or for the same school board  is $5,000.

Contributions to Campions campaign, which saw him elected a third time as mayor, totalled $45,373, $603 of which came from lawn signs used in his 2018 campaign that count as a personal/spouse donation.

There is a $25,000 cap on personal/spouse donations.

Municipal candidates can only accept contributions only from individuals who are Ontario residents.

Corporations; trade unions; federal and provincial political parties, constituency associations, or registered candidates in federal elections; provincial registered candidates or leadership contestants; federal and provincial governments; municipalities and school boards are among those prevented from donating to municipal candidates.

Those who contributed to Campions campaign, from Welland, Niagara and outside the region include Roman Grocholsky, Drew Toth, Edward S. Fox, Dennis Liu, Jerry Rinaldi, Riccardo Guglietti, Robert Lucchetta, Tim Clutterbuck and Keith Cumming.

With a spending limit of $43,730.40, Campions expenses totalled $41,264.52.

Mayoral candidate Jeff Walters also had a spending limit of $43,730.40 for his run in the 2022 election, and his expenses totalled $16,320.06, of which nearly $4,500 was spent on election signs.

He spent $3,638.43 on advertising and $6,800 on office expenses.

Walters campaign saw $10,200 contributed through a personal/spouse donation and $6,550 from individuals.

Of that, $6,550, $2,950 came from seven people, from Welland, Niagara and outside the region, with donations ranging from $100 to $1,200. Three people, Warren Rose, Regina Bendana and Mir Wise Khulmi, all with the same St. Catharines address, each contributed $1,200 for office space.

Ward 1 Coun. Mary Ann Grimaldi received $400 in contributions during the 2022 election, while her fellow councillor, Adam Moote, received a $500 donation from a Niagara Falls resident.

In Ward 2, councillor David McLeod received no donations from individuals, while Leo Van Vliet received $500 from a Toronto resident.

Incumbent Ward 3 Coun. John Chiocchio received $250 from a Mississauga resident and $1,000 from Dennis Liu of Markham, who also contributed to Campions campaign.

Ward 3 newcomer Sharmila Setaram received $850 from individuals outside of Niagara.

In Ward 4, councillor Bryan Green received $1,650 in donations, with $400 coming from Drew Toth, who also donated to Campions campaign. His fellow ward councillor, Tony DiMarco, received no outside donations for his re-election campaign.

Ward 5 Coun. Claudette Richard received $367.18 from her brother Jeff Ward in magnetic signs for her campaign, while fellow councillor Graham Speck received a $500 donation from a Port Colborne resident.

In Ward 5, councillor Bonnie Fokkens took in no outside donations for her campaign, while newcomer Jamie Lee received $200 from a Welland resident.

Welland regional councillor Pat Chiocchio received $2,200 from four individuals ranging from $200 to $1,200. One of his contributors was Keith Cumming, who also donated to Campion.

Leanna Villella, Wellands other directly-elected regional councillor, received $4,150 in donations. Cumming was one of those who gave funds to Villella, elected for a second four-year term. She also received $500 from acclaimed Port Colborne regional councillor Fred Davies.

All municipal, regional and school board candidates financial statements can be found at www.welland.ca/Elections/2022/2022ElectionFinancials.asp.

SHARE:
China has been having conniptions again.

President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan had a courtesy meeting last week with the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy. Beijing reacted by issuing a stern warning to the United States, and then encircled the island (its own words) with Chinese fighters, bombers, naval destroyers and missile boats.

Kevin McCarthy? Who he? Yes, he sort of controls the U.S. House of Representatives, but that is currently in the hands of the Republican Party, and thus has no power to shape the actions of the U.S. government.

As for the man himself, he only won the Speakership on the 15th ballot, the first time since 1923 that the post was even contested.

McCarthys glancing encounter with President Tsai was staged in California, not in Washington DC, in order not to ruffle Chinas feathers too much. But it didnt help. Beijings response was along the lines of King Lear. (You know: I will do such things  What they are, yet I know not, but they shall be the terrors of the earth!)

China declared three days of military exercises designed to show that Beijing could conquer Taiwan at a moments notice. As Chinese state media put it, the drills would simultaneously organize patrols and advances around Taiwan island, shaping an all-round encirclement and deterrence posture.

What do they mean by that? Encirclement means blockade, and deterrence is about deterring the U.S. navy from trying to break that blockade. But it is just an expression of anger, not a statement of imminent strategic intent, nor even a demonstration of military capability.

In other words, weve heard it all before. Were hearing it more often now, in a louder voice, but that may just be due to the domestic Chinese political situation. Chinas ability to conquer Taiwan by military force has slowly improved over time, but is still far from assured.

That may be another reason, beyond mere anger at being defied, why Beijing stages all these pantomime military drills: to convince the Taiwanese government and its foreign friends that China already possesses a capability that it does not actually have.

However, one should avoid embarrassing people whenever possible, and backing them into corners would be just stupid.

The right policy for the Biden administration would be to leave the high-profile meetings to publicity-hungry Republican politicians (no more Nancy Pelosi farewell tours); to confine President Biden to murmured promises to defend Taiwan (promptly walked back into ambiguity by his entourage); and to concentrate on the military realities.

The dominant military reality in the region is that Chinas armed forces will have a fair chance of success if they invade Taiwan in about five years time, at their current rate of growth, but only on two conditions. One is that neither China nor the United States uses nuclear weapons. The other is that Taiwan stays as weak militarily as it is now.

The former assumption is probably safe; the other is not. Taiwans various governments used to have such high confidence in the American deterrent that they let the countrys military spending fall until it was actually below Australias on a Per-capita basis.

That was unwise. As Ukraine has demonstrated, U.S. help does depend on a country being able to put up an effective defence itself.

If the two trends above unfold at similar rates in Taiwan and in China, there will never be a time when a Chinese invasion would be a militarily plausible undertaking. The primary U.S. role should be to ensure that Taiwan urgently rebuilds its military defences, ignoring all Chinese threats and imprecations.

Read more about:

SHARE:
SASKATOON - Premier Scott Moe says he did not meet with Justin Trudeau last week because he was only offered five minutes with the prime minister during a Saskatchewan stop.

Moe said the proposed short pull-aside meeting with Trudeau in Regina on Thursday would not have been sufficient to discuss the infrastructure fund, clean electricity standards and the Natural Resources Transfer Agreement. Moe was also scheduled to have meetings in Prince Albert that day.

I wasnt going to drive an eight-hour round trip to not fully discuss those three items as well as potentially some others, Moe said at a news conference Monday.

The two leaders have not met in person during either of Trudeaus two stops in the province so far this year and the federal Liberal government is often the target of Moes criticism on a range of topics.

In January, Moe expressed disappointment he was not made aware of Trudeaus visit to a rare earth elements processing plant in Saskatoon.

During the recent trip, Trudeau visited a grocery store and held a town hall at the First Nations University of Canada in the provincial capital. The prime minister said at the time that Moes office was notified in advance, but the two leaders werent able to meet because the premier was away.

Trudeau did commend the Saskatchewan Party government leader for working with Ottawa and other regions on child-care and health-care issues.

But Moe has been particularly critical of Liberal governments environmental policies and their impact on Saskatchewans resource sector.

Moe released a policy paper last year highlighting his governments plan to flex its autonomy and the provincial government has passed autonomy legislation meant to reassert Saskatchewans control over natural resources.

Contrary to what some in this room may think, I dont get up in the morning and the first thought through my mind is I wonder how I can disagree with the prime minister and the federal government today, Moe said during a speech at the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association convention in Saskatoon on Monday.

And that might surprise a few of you.

Moe said despite many disagreements, his Saskatchewan Party government will work with Ottawa when it is in the best interest of the province.

Daniel Westlake, a political studies assistant professor at the University of Saskatchewan, said the lack of in-person meetings is a symptom of a problematic relationship.

He said the provincial and federal governments have different interests and political ideologies. Ottawa is focused on fighting climate change in ways that will affect natural resources in Saskatchewan, while Moes government has defined itself as a defender of resource development.

There are these underlying conflicts there and they are manifesting themselves in animosity between the premier and the prime minister.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 17, 2023.

SHARE:
ST. JOHNS, N.L. - Its peak crab season in Newfoundland and Labrador, but hundreds of fishers spent Monday morning on land, hoisting fists and signs in the air outside the provincial legislature to protest what they say is an unlivable price for snow crab.

Some in the crowd said they would much rather be out on the water than protesting. But harvesters are refusing to fish this season after prices were set at $2.20 per pound, a price they say favours fish processors over those who catch the fish.

Our money tree is the fishery of Newfoundland and Labrador, and its time for all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to wake up, for that group of companies is stealing it out from under you! yelled St. Johns fisher Glen Winslow, pounding his fist on the lectern at the top of the legislature steps.

The fishers roared in response, waving signs with slogans, including End processor control and Save rural N.L.

Snow crab is Newfoundland and Labradors most valuable seafood export, accounting for more than half  $886 million  of the $1.6 billion generated by the provinces fisheries in 2021, according to the government.

Crab prices for harvesters are set each year by a government-appointed panel that hears arguments from the provinces Association of Seafood Producers and the Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union, which represents inshore harvesters and workers in fish plants. When the panel announced this years price  a precipitous drop from last years starting price of $7.60 a pound  the union issued a news release warning of layoffs and bankruptcies.

Shortly after, fishers vowed to keep their boats docked and demanded the provincial government force the panel to reconvene to hammer out a better price.

People understand that its not going to be $7.60, or $6.60, or maybe even $5.60. But they know that $2.20 is not a reasonable price, and its not a feasible price, Jason Spingle, the unions secretary-treasurer, said in an interview. With the wear and tear on your gear and your boat, if you cant make a certain amount of money, its just not worth it.

The price-setting panel, meanwhile, has said evidence of a declining, volatile international crab market partly informed its decision to reduce prices this season.

Roxane Collins fishes out of St. Johns, and said she would normally be landing her crab catches by now. She said its impossible to make a living with prices that low.

Its sad. All the fishers are all ready to go, Collins said in an interview. And its not only the fishermen. It goes back to truck drivers, grocery stores, everything. And then our plant workers  they need work as well.

The union chartered at least three buses to bring fishers and plant workers to the rally on Monday, some from as far away as St. Anthony, N.L., which is at the tip of Newfoundlands Great Northern Peninsula, more than 1,000 kilometres from St. Johns.

Many rural communities depend on the fishing industry, and some at the protest said an end to this years crab fishery would be disastrous for those towns.

You go to your Home Hardware, go to your furniture department, you go anywhere, said Loretta Ward, who fishes out of Southeast Bight, N.L., on Newfoundlands Burin Peninsula. How can they survive if were not bringing in the money?

Fisheries Minister Derrick Bragg told the crowd Monday his department has worked hard to address concerns about the price-setting panel, in consultation with the union. For rural Newfoundland to survive, our fishery must survive, Bragg said. Were all in this together. You have our 100 per cent support in this process.

His comments were met with tepid applause.

Union president Greg Pretty told the crowd fishers were willing to stay on land for as long as it takes for prices to improve.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 17, 2023.

SHARE:
Two people have been arrested in the United States for their alleged involvement with so-called overseas police stations set up by the Chinese government, according to the Justice Department.

The charges were announced Monday and reflect similar concerns in Canada about Chinese police outposts allegedly running in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. No charges have been laid by Canadian authorities.

In a separate case in New York, another 34 members of Chinas national police force were also charged for their roles in harassing dissidents in the U.S. via a social media offensive. A third case had eight Chinese government officials charged with directing an employee of a U.S. telecommunications company to remove Chinese dissidents from the companys platform.

The officials charged in those cases are believed to be in China.

The cases, put together, are part of a series of Justice Department prosecutions in recent years aimed at disrupting Chinese government efforts to locate activists who are openly critical of Beijings policies in the U.S.

Two men, Lu Jianwang, 61, and Chen Jinping, 59, were arrested in their New York homes Monday morning related to the outpost, which operated out of a building in Manhattans Chinatown.

They are charged with establishing the outpost under the direction and control of a Chinese government official, and with deleting communication with the official from their phones after becoming aware of the investigation, according to the Justice Department.

None of the people who were involved in the operations reported to the U.S government they were helping China operate the stations, the department said.

This prosecution reveals the Chinese governments flagrant violation of our nations sovereignty by establishing a secret police station in the middle of New York City, said Breon Peace, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York in a statement from the Justice Department.

As alleged, the defendants and their co-conspirators were tasked with doing (Chinas) bidding, including helping locate a Chinese dissident living in the United States, and obstructed our investigation by deleting their communications. Such a police station has no place here in New York City  or any American community.

Court documents reveal statements from those who say they were targeted by Beijing officials or their proxies, including having their cars broken into and harassing phone calls and emails. Some reported threats of violence and harassment of family members in China.

The police outpost, which authorities believe opened in early 2022, is linked to the Fuzhou branch of Chinas Ministry of Public Security, according to the Justice Department.

Last year, three such outposts were found to be operating in Toronto, they were also tied to officials in Fuzhuo, a city in southern China. Chinas embassy in Canada has said the stations are there to help Chinese citizens run basic errands, like renewing their Chinese drivers licences.

International uproar about such stations broke out last year after the Spain-based human rights group, Safeguard Defenders, released a report indicating there were more than 50 such clandestine China police stations around the world. Since then the organization has found others.

Safeguard Defenders said the stations were being used as bases to harass and coerce those wanted in China to return to face charges, and to intimidate dissidents.

Last November another indictment in New York for another operation harassing someone wanted by China revealed the extent to which Chinas authorities go to, promising misery to the target.

Weeks ago, police in Quebec announced they were investigating two such potential outposts in the Montreal area. Prior to the announcement the three stations in Toronto and at least one in Vancouver were reported by Safeguard Defenders. The RCMP said it was investigating the outposts.

With files from The Associated Press

Read more about:

SHARE:
Minister of Emigration and Expatriates Affairs Soha Gendy said on Monday that there have been no confirmed deaths among the Egyptian community in Sudan in the wake of the ongoing deadly clashes in the neighbouring country.

Gendy had a video call with 100 Egyptian students in Sudan and a number of their parents.

During the call, she confirmed that the ministry was regularly communicating with both the Egyptian embassy and consulate and the Egyptian community in Sudan.

The minister stressed that the students should refrain from leaving their houses until the situation becomes stable.

She added that the ministry is studying all scenarios and alternatives as exams draw nearer.

The Ministry of Emigration seeks to assess the extent of danger that the Egyptian students are currently facing in Sudan to review the possibility of setting an urgent evacuation plan based on developments on the ground, Gendy noted.

In this regard, the minister urged the students to fill in the online registration form sent to them to enable the ministry to follow up on their situation and quickly intervene when required.

On Saturday, Gendy said that the ministry is closely monitoring the situation in Sudan to ensure the safety of around 10,000 Egyptians in the country, including 5,000 students.

The Egyptian embassy in Khartoum has urged expatriates in Sudan to exercise maximum caution by staying away from the areas of ongoing fighting and refraining from unnecessary movements until the situation stabilises.

All Egyptians in Sudan can call the Egyptian embassy in Khartoum at: (00249183) 777646  766183

Meanwhile, Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria and Patriarch of Saint Mark Diocese told Egyptian state news agency MENA on Monday that all followers of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Sudan are safe.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


TOKYO (AP)  Japans military recovered two bodies of the 10 crew members on an army helicopter that sunk to the bottom of the sea after presumably crashing off a southern Japanese island 11 days ago.

On Monday, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force confirmed the deaths of two male crew members recovered by special divers from the 100-meter (330-foot) -deep seabed where they were found with the wreckage and three other crew members. The other five crew members on board at the time of the crash are still missing.

The UH-60JA Black Hawk helicopter disappeared April 6 soon after taking off from an army base on Miyako Island for a reconnaissance mission in Japans southern islands.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday expressed his deepest regret over the deaths Monday and pledged to do the utmost for the recovery of the rest of the crew members so that those who devoted their lives for the defense of the country can go back to their families as soon as possible, while we pursue our effort to find the cause of the accident.

Officials are studying ways to lift the aircraft to find the cause of the crash.

An unused lifeboat, a door, and other fragments believed to be from the helicopter were found but the army has had trouble locating the aircraft in the areas coral-rich deep sea.

Japan is aggressively building up its defense capability in its southwestern islands in response to Chinas increasingly assertive military activity in the region, including near Taiwan.

The helicopter was stationed at a key army base in Kumamoto prefecture on Japans southern main island of Kyushu, according to the Defense Ministry. One of its 10 crew members was Lt. Gen. Yuichi Sakamoto, who was just promoted to division commander at the end of March.

The army said the helicopter had a routine safety inspection in late March. No abnormality was found during its subsequent test flight nor on its trip from its home base of Kumamoto to the Miyako island, about 1,800 kilometers (1,120 miles) southwest of Tokyo.

Japan started deploying the Black Hawk, a twin-engine, four-bladed utility helicopter developed by U.S. manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft and produced by the Mitsubishi Heavy Industry, in 1999 for rapid response, surveillance and disaster relief missions.

Read more about:

SHARE:
MADISON, Wis. (AP)  The defrocked Roman Catholic cardinal who became the face of the churchs clergy sex abuse crisis has been charged in Wisconsin with sexually assaulting an 18-year-old man more than 45 years ago, court records show.

A criminal complaint filed Friday alleges that Theodore McCarrick, who was removed from the priesthood in 2019 after a Vatican investigation found he had sexually molested adults and children, fondled a man in 1977 while staying at a cabin on Geneva Lake in southeastern Wisconsin.

The alleged victim, who is not named, told investigators that McCarrick had repeatedly sexually assaulted him since he was 11 and even brought him to parties where other adult men sexually assaulted him, according to the complaint.

McCarrick became the highest-ranking Roman Catholic official in the U.S. to face criminal charges for sexual abuse when he was accused in 2021 of sexually assaulting a teenage boy in Massachusetts at a wedding reception in 1974. His attorneys asked the judge in that case earlier this year to dismiss the charges, saying that McCarrick, now 92 and suffering from dementia, is not competent to stand trial.

The once-powerful priest was ordained in 1958 and became archbishop in Newark, New Jersey, in 1986 and then archbishop of Washington, D.C., in 2000. He rose to power despite church officials knowledge of accusations against him. A two-year Vatican investigation into McCarricks tenure found credible reports of his problematic behavior dating back to 1999, including an inquiry confirming that McCarrick had slept with seminarians.

The church has confirmed it made financial settlements with adults who accused McCarrick of sexual misconduct. McCarrick retired in 2006 but continued to be active in political circles until he was defrocked by Pope Francis in 2019.

Wisconsin prosecutors learned of the alleged 1977 assault through a program dedicated to prosecuting instances of abuse by faith leaders, according to a news release. Officials were able to charge McCarrick because the statute of limitations does not apply to people who are not residents of the state. A similar law allowed Massachusetts prosecutors to bring their case against McCarrick more than 40 years later.

McCarricks attorney in Massachusetts, William Fick, did not immediately return a phone call or email sent Monday. An attorney for McCarrick has not yet been listed in the Wisconsin case.

___

Harm Venhuizen is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Venhuizen on Twitter.

SHARE:
SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas (AP)  SpaceX called off the first launch attempt of its giant rocket Monday after a problem cropped up during fueling.

Elon Musks company had planned to fly the nearly 400-foot Starship rocket from the southern tip of Texas, near the Mexican border.

The test flight was called off with just over eight minutes left in the countdown because of a stuck valve needed to pressurize the first-stage booster. Launch controllers couldnt fix the frozen valve in time, but for practice, took the clocks down to the 40-second mark before halting the countdown.

No people or satellites were aboard. There wont be another try until at least Thursday.

Learned a lot today, Musk tweeted after the flight was postponed.

The company plans to use Starship to send people and cargo to the moon and, ultimately, Mars.

On the eve of the launch attempt, cars, campers, RVs and even bicycles and horses jammed the only road leading to the launch pad, where the stainless steel rocket towered above the flat scrubland and prairie. Enthusiasts posed in front of the giant letters that spelled out Starbase at the entrance of the SpaceX complex, and in front of the rocket two miles farther down the road, which ended at a beach on the Gulf of Mexico.

On Monday, spectators were barred from the area, and instead packed a beach about six miles away on South Padre Island.

Ernesto and Maria Carreon drove two hours from Mission, Texas, with their two daughters, 5 and 7, to watch.

I got sad. They got sad, when the launch attempt was canceled, Maria Carreon said.

They cant return for the next try but planned to have fun on the beach Monday.

Michelle Vancampenhout, on vacation from Green Bay, Wisconsin, said shell be back.

Its a once-in-a-lifetime experience to see it, she said.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

SHARE:
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP)  The Delaware judge overseeing a voting machine companys $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News delayed the opening of the trial Monday, raising the prospect that the two sides might attempt to settle before the eagerly watched case goes before a jury.

Superior Court Judge Eric Davis suggested the sides try to mediate their dispute, according to a person close to Fox who was not authorized to speak publicly about the status of the lawsuit. Attorneys for both sides who appeared in court Monday declined to answer reporters questions about why it was put off, as did representatives for both companies.

Davis gave no explanation for postponing the trials start until Tuesday, although he did note that delays are common and built into the schedule. Jury selection and opening statements were planned for the first day in a trial that, if it happens, is expected to last six weeks.

This is not a press conference, Davis said during Mondays brief hearing. I dont do that.

A trial would force Fox to answer for its actions in the weeks after the 2020 presidential election and litigate denial about the outcome of the race in general. The case centers on whether Fox defamed Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems by spreading false claims that the company rigged the election against then-President Donald Trump.

A settlement is certainly a possibility in a trial that carries risks for both sides. Fox already has been embarrassed by revelations that some of its executives and on-air personalities did not believe fraud claims that the network spread on the air, and it doesnt want to see 92-year-old founder Rupert Murdoch testify. Dominion could miss a big payday if a jury rules against it.

Not everyone wants the case to go away quietly, however.

PLEASE Dominion  Do not settle with Fox! Youre about to prove something very big, tweeted Gretchen Carlson, the former Fox anchor whose accusations of sexual misconduct by former Fox chief Roger Ailes led to his downfall in 2016.

Fox, meanwhile, paid for a full-page advertisement in The New York Times on Monday headlined Trusted Now. More Than Ever.

Dozens of journalists gathered at the courthouse in downtown Wilmington, some before dawn, for a hearing that lasted about five minutes. The courtyard in front of the court building was full of TV crews ready to do live shots.

Besides its implications for Fox, the case is being watched carefully by journalists for what it could mean for libel law. Defamation is generally hard to prove, since it requires a finding that journalists published information they knew to be false, or with a reckless disregard for the truth.

Some First Amendment lawyers say Dominions lawsuit presents a powerful case, given the doubt expressed within Fox about the fraud allegations. Fox says Dominion cant prove that the people with such doubts were in position to affect what was said on the air about the company.

Even before a jury hears the case, Davis has made some rulings in Dominions favor, including stating that the allegations of election fraud made against the company were clearly false. That means the issue will not have to be litigated in the trial.

___

Associated Press Writer Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.

___

The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about APs democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

SHARE:
The race to replace John Tory, who stepped down as Torontos mayor after an affair with a staffer, officially kicked off two weeks ago but candidates are still adding their names to the list of contenders vying for the citys top job.

Heres a look at some of the high-profile candidates:

Olivia Chow

The former city councillor and NDP parliamentarian entered the race Monday after weeks of speculation and observers floating her name as a potential progressive mayoral hopeful.

Chow previously came up short in the 2014 mayoral race, placing a distant third behind runner-up Doug Ford, who is now Ontarios premier, and Tory, who was elected to three consecutive terms.

In her candidacy announcement, she said she will focus on building a safe, affordable and caring Toronto since the city has become more expensive and less livable over the years.

People in Toronto are feeling stuck. Theyre waiting for the bus, stuck in traffic or stuck on lists for housing, childcare and recreation programs, said Chow, blaming the affordability crisis on a decade of conservative mayors.

She also said her family, who immigrated to Toronto when she was 13 and relied on her mothers income as a maid, would never have survived in the city today.

___

Josh Matlow

Matlow, a longtime city councillor and frequent Tory critic, has said hes hoping to end years of leadership that he has claimed kept taxes artificially low by starving city services.

Matlow said his first act as mayor would be establishing a city works fund  a dedicated property tax costing the average homeowner $67 a year and contributing over $390 million to services over five years.

I have seen the decline in services for too many years, I have seen our TTC become less safe, I have seen our neighborhoods become less safe, he said.

I believe the best way to address our problem is to fix the root causes of the problems, and that will be a focus.

Matlow, who has represented Toronto-St. Pauls since 2010, is being championed by the progressive left as an answer to the citys past 12 years of moderate and right-leaning leadership.

___

Mark Saunders

Saunders, who served as Torontos police chief from 2015 until his resignation in 2020, has made public safety a key issue in his campaign. He was the citys first Black police chief and led the force during some of Torontos largest crime events, including the Toronto van attack and the Danforth Avenue shooting in 2018.

Saunders was also the citys top cop when serial killer Bruce McArthur was arrested in 2018. Toronto polices handling of the case was heavily criticized by the citys LGBTQ community, with many saying the force should have acted sooner on the disappearances of several men from the citys gay village.

In late 2020, Saunders was appointed to the provinces COVID-19 vaccine task force. Saunders ran in the 2022 Ontario general election under a Progressive Conservative banner but lost the Don Valley West seat to Liberal Stephanie Bowman.

Saunders has said hes uniquely positioned to tackle crime given his experience and is vying for the mayors chair during a time when safety in schools and on public transit are significant issues for voters.

We are at that tipping point, that is why I am running, he said. We are moving in a wrong direction, if we are going to get this right, we have to be safe, if we are not safe, we are not healthy.

___

Ana Bailao

Bailao  who represented the Toronto riding of Davenport on city council from 2010 to 2022, and acted as deputy mayor from 2017 until the end of her tenure  is returning to politics to run for mayor.

Shes touting her council and leadership experience, as well as pragmatism, in her bid for the job. She also managed Torontos housing portfolio as chair of its planning and housing committee.

Bailao has said she wants to continue working on building affordable housing and fixing services in the city she loves. Shes also said she wants to reverse public transit service cuts and offload municipal highways to the province.

She was a close political ally of Torys during her time in office, often voting in line with him.

I am proud of the work that I have done with my community, she said. I have a track record of getting things through council.

___

Brad Bradford

The Beaches-East York councillor is running on a theme of less talk, more action.

I have always been about delivering real results, he said. That is my position and that is what you will see from me on a go forward basis.

Tory endorsed Bradford, who has a background in urban planning, when the councillor ran for election in 2018. The former mayor later assigned Bradford some plum roles, including naming him to executive council and appointing him commissioner of the citys transit system.

Bradford is the citys current housing chair. Critics, however, have dubbed him Two-Faced Brad for his flip-flopping statements and voting record on housing, transit and policing issues.

___

Mitzie Hunter

A current Liberal MPP for the Scarborough-Guildwood riding, Hunter has said she will be giving up her provincial seat to run for mayor.

She is the Liberal partys deputy leader and a former education minister under Kathleen Wynnes government.

She said shes a consensus builder whose experience with Toronto Community Housing and in provincial politics make her well placed to advocate for more revenue tools to fund city services.

I will be a strong advocate for the people of Toronto, she said.

___

Gil Penalosa

The progressive urbanist, who came a distant second to Tory in Octobers municipal election, announced almost immediately after the former mayors resignation that he would run again.

Penalosa said he will run largely on the same platform he pitched last time, which focuses on improving affordability including social services and housing, as well as enhancing parks and public spaces.

Despite new strong mayor powers given to Toronto through provincial legislation, Penalosa has said he will not approve measures without at least half of councils support.

___

Giorgio Mammoliti

Former longtime councillor Mammoliti is running for mayor and has said he thinks the citys dignity is gone.

Mammoliti represented Torontos York West riding from 2000 until being defeated in 2018, and unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2010. Last year, he ran for the mayors seat in Wasaga Beach, Ont., but came in third.

Mammoliti previously made headlines as a councillor for some controversial proposals, including suggesting a citywide 11 p.m. curfew for youth and arming bylaw officers.

He has said that as mayor, hed help business owners recover from COVID-19 and increase the citys stock of affordable housing.

___

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 17, 2023.

SHARE:
OTTAWA - Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says Pierre Poilievres criticisms of the CBC amount to an attack on Canadian culture by the Conservative leader  and Quebec and francophone culture, in particular.

Singh addressed the issue, speaking in French, after Twitter added a label to CBCs main account on Sunday indicating the broadcaster was government-funded media.

That move prompted the corporation to announce Monday it was hitting pause on its use of the social-media platform, which described the BBC the same way before changing its own label to publicly funded media.

CBC receives roughly $1 billion in taxpayer money annually, but it contends the label is inaccurate because it maintains editorial independence and receives its funding through a vote in Parliament.

Poilievre regularly promises to slash that funding. And he sent a letter to Twitter last week requesting that the label be applied to accounts associated with CBC News, though the letter did not mention Radio-Canada, the French-language wing of the broadcaster.

The Conservative leader has suggested in media interviews that while he believes in defunding the CBC, he sees the value in its French-language programming and the need to serve francophone communities  but both the NDP and Bloc Quebecois are raising specific concerns about that approach.

This is not just an attack against independent journalists, Singh told reporters Monday, speaking in French. But it is also an attack against Canadian culture, particularly Quebec culture and francophone culture.

An attack on the broadcaster will hit the francophone community across the country that depends on Radio-Canada for the news, to share stories, to share culture, he said.

It shows someone who is willing to attack Quebec culture.

Poilievres office has not responded to a request for comment.

Earlier in the day, Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet said on Twitter that Poilievre is playing a risky ideological game, and that hes openly threatening French and access to information and the arts.

Pierre Paul-Hus, one of two Conservative MPs that Poilievre tapped to serve on his House of Commons leadership team, responded on the platform to say the Bloc leaders assertion of looming cuts was false.

The federal Conservatives currently hold nine out of 78 federal seats in Quebec, while the governing Liberals boast 34 and another 32 belong to the Bloc. The NDP has one seat and Alain Rayes, a former Conservative who left the party last fall after Poilievre won its leadership contest, sits as an independent.

Poilievre, a fluent French speaker, has visited Quebec several times since becoming Conservative leader.

Making gains in the seat-rich province has proved challenging for the federal party, whose support is heavily concentrated in Western Canada. Since the 2006 federal election that elected Stephen Harper, the Tories best showing in the province was to hold a dozen seats.

Alexandre Boulerice, the federal NDPs sole MP in Quebec, told reporters on Monday that Poilievre is at war with CBC, which he defended as an independent organization.

Asked about Poilievres pitch to maintain funding for its French-language services, Boulerice suggested that Conservatives were weighing their electoral chances in Quebec, a majority French-speaking province.

Maybe thats the calculation because otherwise, (it) makes no sense, this false distinction.

CBC has clarified that any proposal to axe its funding while maintaining its French-language programming would require a change to the Broadcast Act, the legislation that stipulates its mandate.

Spokesman Leon Mar said in a statement last week that to fund Radio-Canada and not CBC would change the very nature of how programs and services are funded in Canada to target public money at only one language group.

Mars statement pointed out that federal law says the broadcaster must provide services in both official languages.

The law also outlines that the corporation is to be independent. As it stands, funding decisions about where to allocate the taxpayer money it receives annually are handled by a board of directors, with no input from the government or Parliament.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez both slammed Poilievres comments toward the CBC and accused him of looking to U.S. billionaires to wage his attacks, referring to Twitter CEO Elon Musk.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 17, 2023.

Read more about:

SHARE:
The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether or not certain Romanian support measures in favour of the airline Blue Air Aviation are in line with EU state aid rules, according to a press statement released on Monday

The Romanian airline Blue Air has been experiencing financial difficulties since 2019. In March 2020, as other companies active in the aviation sector, it was seriously hit by the coronavirus pandemic. In November 2022, Blue Air's operating licence was suspended temporarily due to the airline's financial situation.In August 2020, the commission approved two measures in favour of Blue Air: about EUR 28 million in a public guarantee to compensate for the damages resulting from the coronavirus pandemic and the travel restrictions imposed by Romania and other countries to limit the spread of the virus; about EUR 34 million in a public guarantee on a rescue loan intended to partly cover Blue Air's liquidity needs for the following six months.Romania pledged to ensure that the public guarantee on the rescue loan would be terminated after six months, or that it would communicate either a liquidation plan or a comprehensive restructuring plan for Blue Air to the commission for state aid assessment.In April 2021, Romania first communicated to the commission a restructuring plan for Blue Air covering the period between August 2020 and September 2025. The plan has been updated several times and includes an extension of the duration of the guarantee on the rescue loan to six years (including the initial six months rescue period), allowing for a repayment of the aid until 2026, as well as planned restructuring measures and expected private finance. In November 2022, Romania reimbursed the loan and took a 75% shareholding in Blue Air.At this stage, the commission has concerns that the restructuring plan and the aid measures implemented to support this plan are not line with EU State aid rules, in particular with the Guidelines on rescue and restructuring aid.The commission will now carry out an in-depth investigation to determine whether or not its initial concerns are confirmed. In particular, the commission will examine whether the restructuring plan can restore Blue Air's long-term viability without additional or continued state aid; Blue Air's own or market contributions to the restructuring costs are sufficient, real, actual and free of any aid, so as to ensure that the restructuring aid is proportionate; and there are appropriate measures in place to limit the distortions of competition created by the restructuring aid on the internal market for air transport services.The opening of an in-depth investigation gives Romania and interested third parties, including the beneficiary of the aid, the opportunity to submit comments. It does not prejudge in any way the outcome of the investigation.Under the EU state aid rules, more specifically the guidelines on rescue and restructuring aid, the EU member states may support companies in distress under certain strict conditions. In particular, aid may be granted for a period of up to six months as rescue aid. Beyond this period, the aid must either be reimbursed or member states must notify a restructuring plan to the commission, for assessment under the state aid rules. In order for restructuring aid to be approved, the plan must ensure that the viability of the company can be restored without continued state support, that the company contributes sufficiently to the costs of its restructuring and that distortions of competition created by the aid are addressed through compensatory measures, including in particular structural or behavioural measures.
Romanian border guards on the maritime vessels of the Coast Guard on a mission as part of the Joint Maritime Operation "THEMIS 2023" under the auspices of the Eu's Frontex Agency together with their colleagues from the Italian Coast Guard have rescued 181 foreign citizens in distress during several missions carried out in the Mediterranean Sea.

According the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Border Police (IGPF), on March 23, as part of a search and rescue operation carried out in the Mediterranean Sea, Romanian border guards took on board their MAI 1106 maritime patrol vessel from a ship belonging to Italian Coast Guard 150 migrants, all men, including a person with medical problems who was constantly monitored until being disembarked in port. They were given medical assistance and were later taken over by the local authorities, told Agerpres.

On April 8, the crew on board the MAI 3066 surveillance and port control boat detected and intercepted two boats sailing towards the territorial sea of Italy. The Romanian border police rescued 31 people in danger -- 22 men, one woman and eight minors-- and provided them with medical assistance.

A day later, the same crew provided safe towing to a port on the island of Pantelleria for a sailboat with two French nationals on board. The sailboat was found drifting, unable to maneuver due to some malfunctions.
More than four million Ukrainians have entered Romania since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, according to data with the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Border Police (IGPF).

According to IGPF, 66,244 people, including 4,681 Ukrainian citizens, entered Romania on Sunday, April 16.

At the border points nationwide on Sunday nearly 138,600 people, Romanian and foreign citizens, were checked both on the way in and on the way out of Romania, as well as more than 30,500 means of transport, told Agerpres.

Starting February 10, 2022 (pre-conflict time) 4,000,661 Ukrainian citizens entered Romania.

The border police detected 30 illegal acts (16 crimes and 14 misdemeanors) in the areas under their jurisdiction - the crossing points and the green border - committed by both Romanian and foreign citizens.

Assets of a value of more than RON 570,000 were impounded.

Twenty-one foreign citizens who did not meet the conditions provided by the law were denied entry.

Also on Sunday, 17 Romanian citizens were not allowed to leave for various legal reasons.
As many as 4,201 new cases of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 were recorded in the April 10-16, 2023 week in Romania, with over 48,000 RT-PCR and rapid antigenic tests performed, the Health Ministry informed on Monday.

Of the new cases, 1,206 were in re-infected patients, who tested positive more than 90 days after the first time they recovered from the disease.As of April 16, 3,385,092 cases of people infected with the novel coronavirus were confirmed in Romania.- Hospitalisations -As many as 1,172 people with COVID-19, including 120 children, are hospitalised in Romania at specialist care facilities.Out of the total number of hospitalised patients, 134 patients are in intensive care.Of the 134 patients admitted to ICU, 107 are unvaccinated against COVID-19.- Deaths -According to the ministry, 40 Romanians - 19 men and 21 women - infected with SARS-CoV-2 are reported dead in the week.Deaths by age groups: one in the age group 30-39 years; six in the age group 60-69 years; 14 in the age group 70-79 years, and 19 in the age group over 80 years.All deaths were in patients with comorbidities.Of the deceased patients, 13 were vaccinated.Since the beginning of the pandemic, 68,001 people diagnosed with the SARS-CoV-2 infection have died in Romania.
The Egyptian soldiers held by the Sudanese Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are safe and in an excellent condition and will be returned when the situation cools down, adviser to the RSF head Ahmed Abdeen told Al-Jazeera on Monday.

The paramilitary group published a number of videos showing Egyptian soldiers apprehended by the RSF in Merowe north of Sudan.

Abdeen apologised for any "individual behavior" towards the soldiers.

Late on Saturday, Head of the RSF Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, aka Hemedti, confirmed that the Egyptian soldiers were safe and sound, stressing that he was willing to cooperate to return them to Egypt.

Dagalo also apologised for the released videos in remarks to Sky News Arabia, and affirmed that the Egyptian soldiers have not resisted the Sudanese RSF personnel.

On Saturday, the Egyptian Armed Forces stressed the importance of "safeguarding the safety and security of Egyptian troops who were in Sudan to conduct joint training with their Sudanese counterparts."

In a statement, the Egyptian Armed Forces said it is closely following up on the events taking place inside Sudan.

Fighting which erupted on Saturday between the army and paramilitaries in Sudan has killed around 200 people and wounded 1,800,

Search Keywords:

Short link:


MONTROSE, Mo.  It took Samantha Lesmeisters family four months to find a medical professional who could see that she was struggling with something more than her Down syndrome.

The young woman, known as Sammee, had become unusually sad and lethargic after falling in the shower and hitting her head. She lost her limited ability to speak, stopped laughing, and no longer wanted to leave the house.

General-practice doctors and a neurologist said such mental deterioration was typical for a person with Down syndrome entering adulthood, recalled her mother, Marilyn Lesmeister. They said nothing could be done.

The family didnt buy it.

Marilyn researched online and learned the University of Kansas Health System has a special medical clinic for adults with Down syndrome. Most other Down syndrome programs nationwide focus on children, even though many people with the condition now live into middle age and often develop health problems typically associated with seniors. And most of the clinics that focus on adults are in urban areas, making access difficult for many rural patients.

The clinic Marilyn found is in Kansas City, Kansas, 80 miles northwest of the familys cattle farm in central Missouri. She made an appointment for her daughter and drove up.

The programs leader, nurse practitioner Moya Peterson, carefully examined Sammee Lesmeister and ordered more tests.

She reassured me that, Mom, youre right. Somethings wrong with your daughter, Marilyn Lesmeister said.

With the help of a second neurologist, Peterson determined Sammee Lesmeister had suffered a traumatic brain injury when she hit her head. Since that diagnosis about nine years ago, she has regained much of her strength and spirit with the help of therapy and steady support.

Sammee, now 27, can again speak a few words, including hi, bye, and love you. She smiles and laughs. She likes to go out into her rural community, where she helps choose meals at restaurants, attends horse-riding sessions at a stable, and folds linens at a nursing home.

Without Petersons insight and encouragement, the family likely would have given up on Sammees recovery. She probably would have continued to wither within herself, her mother said. I think she would have been a stay-at-home person and a recluse.

A Whole Different Ballgame

The Lesmeisters wish Petersons program wasnt such a rarity. A directory published by the Global Down Syndrome Foundation lists just 15 medical programs nationwide that are housed outside of childrens hospitals and that accept Down syndrome patients who are 30 or older.

The United States had about three times as many adults with the condition by 2016 as it did in 1970. Thats mainly because children born with it are no longer denied lifesaving care, including surgeries to correct birth defects.

Adults with Down syndrome often develop chronic health problems, such as severe sleep apnea, digestive disorders, thyroid conditions, and obesity. Many develop Alzheimers disease in middle age. Researchers suspect this is related to extra copies of genes that cause overproduction of proteins, which build up in the brain.

Taking care of kids is a whole different ballgame from taking care of adults, said Peterson, the University of Kansas nurse practitioner.

Sammee Lesmeister is an example of the trend toward longer life spans. If shed been born two generations ago, she probably would have died in childhood.

She had a hole in a wall of her heart, as do about half of babies with Down syndrome. Surgeons can repair those dangerous defects, but in the past, doctors advised most families to forgo the operations, or said the children didnt qualify. Many people with Down syndrome also were denied care for serious breathing issues, digestive problems, or other chronic conditions. People with disabilities were often institutionalized. Many were sterilized without their consent.

Such mistreatment eased from the 1960s into the 1980s, as people with disabilities stood up for their rights, medical ethics progressed, and courts declared it illegal to withhold care. Those landmark rulings sealed the deal: Children with Down syndrome have the right to the same lifesaving treatment that any other child would deserve, said Brian Skotko, a Harvard University medical geneticist who leads Massachusetts General Hospitals Down Syndrome Program.

The median life expectancy for a baby born in the U.S. with Down syndrome jumped from about four years in 1950 to 58 years in the 2010s, according to a recent report from Skotko and other researchers. In 1950, fewer than 50,000 Americans were living with Down syndrome. By 2017, that number topped 217,000, including tens of thousands of people in middle age or beyond.

The population is expected to continue growing, the report says. A few thousand pregnant women a year now choose abortions after learning theyre carrying fetuses with Down syndrome. But those reductions are offset by the increasing number of women becoming pregnant in their late 30s or 40s, when they are more likely to give birth to a baby with Down syndrome.

Skotko said the medical system has not kept up with the extraordinary increase in the number of adults with Down syndrome. Many medical students learn about the condition only while training to treat pediatric patients, he said.

Few patients can travel to specialized clinics like Skotkos program in Boston. To help those who cant, he founded an online service, Down Syndrome Clinic to You, which helps families and medical practitioners understand the complications and possible treatments.

If They Say It Hurts, I Listen

Charlotte Woodward, who has Down syndrome, is a prominent advocate for improved care. She counts herself among the tens of thousands of adults with the condition who likely would have died years ago without proper treatment. Woodward, 33, of Fairfax, Virginia, had four heart surgeries as a child and then a heart transplant in her 20s.

Woodward, who is an education program associate for the National Down Syndrome Society, has campaigned to end discrimination against people with disabilities who need organ transplants.

She said her primary care doctor is excellent. But she has felt treated like a child by other health care providers, who have spoken to her parents instead of to her during appointments.

She said many general-practice doctors seem to have little knowledge about adults with Down syndrome. Thats something that should change, she said. It shouldnt just be pediatricians that are aware of these things.

Woodward said adults with the condition should not be expected to seek care at programs housed in childrens hospitals. She said the country should set up more specialized clinics and finance more research into health problems that affect people with disabilities as they age. This is really an issue of civil rights, she said.

Advocates and clinicians say its crucial for health care providers to communicate as much as possible with patients who have disabilities. That can lead to long appointments, said Brian Chicoine, a family practice physician who leads the Adult Down Syndrome Center of Advocate Aurora Health in Park Ridge, Illinois, near Chicago.

Its very important to us that we include the individuals with Down syndrome in their care, he said. If youre doing that, you have to take your time. You have to explain things. You have to let them process. You have to let them answer. All of that takes more time.

Time costs money, which Peterson believes is why many hospital systems dont set up specialized clinics like the ones she and Chicoine run.

Petersons methodical approach was evident as she saw new patients on a recent afternoon at her Kansas City clinic. She often spends an hour on each initial appointment, speaking directly to patients and giving them a chance to share their thoughts, even if their vocabularies are limited.

Her patients that day included Christopher Yeo, 44, who lives 100 miles away in the small town of Hartford, Kansas. Yeo had become unable to swallow solid food, and hed lost 45 pounds over about 1 years. He complained to his mother, Mandi Nance, that something tickled in his chest.

During his exam, he lifted his shirt for Peterson, revealing the scar where hed had heart surgery as a baby. He grimaced, pointed to his chest, and repeatedly said the word gas.

Peterson looked Yeo in the eye as she asked him and his mother about his discomfort.

The nurse practitioner takes seriously any such complaints from her patients. If they say it hurts, I listen, she said. Theyre not going to tell you about it until it hurts bad.

Yeos mother had taken him to a cardiologist and other specialists, but none had determined what was wrong.

Peterson asked numerous questions. When does Yeos discomfort seem to crop up? Could it be related to what he eats? How is his sleep? What are his stools like?

After his appointment, Peterson referred Yeo to a cardiologist who specializes in adults with congenital heart problems. She ordered a swallowing test, in which Yeo would drink a special liquid that appears on scans as it goes down. And she recommended a test for Celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that interferes with digestion and is common in people with Down syndrome. No one had previously told Nance about the risk.

Nance, who is a registered nurse, said afterward that she has no idea what the future holds for their family. But she was struck by the patience and attention Peterson and other clinic staff members gave to her son. Such treatment is rare, she said. I feel like its a godsend. I do, she said. I feel like its an answered prayer.

Like a Person, and Not a Condition

Peterson serves as the primary care provider for some of her patients with Down syndrome. But for many others, especially those who live far away, she is someone to consult when complications arise. Thats how the Lesmeisters use her clinic.

Mom Marilyn is optimistic Sammee can live a fulfilling life in their community for years to come. Some people have said I need to put her in a home. And Im like, What do you mean? And they say, You know  a home, she said. Im like, Shes in a home. Our home.

Sammees sister, who lives in Texas, has agreed to take her in when their parents become too old to care for her.

Marilyns voice cracked with emotion as she expressed her gratitude for the help they have received and her hopes for Sammees future.

I just want her to be taken care of and loved like I love her, she said. I want her to be taken care of like a person, and not a condition.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFFan independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

USE OUR CONTENT

This story can be republished for free (details).
LINCOLN COUNTY  A 5-year-old boy from St. Charles was crushed to death Sunday after falling from his uncle's tractor in Lincoln County, authorities said.

The Missouri Highway Patrol refused to release the name of the child.

The boy was killed about 1 p.m. Sunday on Apex Lane, a gravel road on private property in northeastern Lincoln County.

Missouri Highway Patrol Cpl. Logan Bolton said the boy was on a John Deere 8230 tractor operated by an uncle, a 59-year-old man from Foley, Missouri.

The tractor's door was open, police said, and the boy fell out and was run over by the tractor.

The uncle could not be reached for comment Monday. Bolton said the death was accidental and the uncle was not arrested or cited for any violation.

The scene is south of Elsberry and a few miles from the Leach Memorial Conservation Area.
JEFFERSON CITY  A Republican-backed plan to turn control of the St. Louis Police Department over to the state could face headwinds in the final four weeks of Missouris legislative session.

Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, said late last week that a separate plan for a special prosecutor in St. Louis could have more support from fellow Republicans.

The efforts to do something to address the Kim Gardner issue probably has a little broader support  on our side of the aisle than the state takeover, Rowden told reporters Thursday.

But Sen. Nick Schroer, a Defiance Republican who has sponsored a plan for a state takeover of the St. Louis police, said Monday there was a great amount of support for both the special prosecutor and state takeover bills.

Theres no indication, in talking to the majority caucus members, that theres less support for the special prosecutor bill than the state control bill, Schroer said Monday.

Both plans cleared the House earlier this legislative session over Democratic opposition, but have not been debated in the slower-moving Senate. And the clock is ticking on this years legislative session, which ends May 12.

House Bill 301, the special prosecutor bill, was scheduled for a vote in the Senate Fiscal Oversight Committee on Monday. Assuming the committee approves the plan, it would then be positioned for floor debate.

Rowden said to expect one really significant and robust conversation on crime.

On the Senate floor, senators could try to amend the special prosecutor bill to add the state takeover of police, which would likely cause Democrats to voice opposition through lengthy floor speeches.

I would assume all those issues are on the table, Rowden said.

Rowden said some fellow Republicans have expressed concerns over the state takeover of the St. Louis police department. Weve heard, in some instances, just that its hard to quantify whether or not that actually ends up being successful, he said.

Kansas City police are also under state control and the city also grapples with high crime. St. Louis department was returned to the city following a 2012 statewide referendum.

Theres actually fairly good and coherent arguments on both sides, Rowden said. But we do know that, at the end of the day, regardless of what we do on state control of police, if we dont have a prosecutor whos willing to prosecute crime, none of that stuff matters.

Gardner has been under fire at the state Capitol this year. A February car accident that left a 17-year-old volleyball player from Tennessee without her legs has fueled calls for a special prosecutor in St. Louis: The man accused of causing the accident, Daniel Riley, had violated his bond more than 50 times.

Rowden said at the time that Gardner was incompetent and grossly unfit to hold her office.

An aide for Gardner later blamed the judge, saying Judge Bryan L. Hettenbach refused to revoke bond.

The issue was framed erroneously as her (Gardner) having allowed Daniel Riley to remain out on bond, Redditt Hudson, diversion specialist for Gardner, told the Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee in February.

In the meantime, Attorney General Andrew Bailey, a Republican, has been trying to remove Gardner, a Democrat, from office.

And one of her top assistants quit Friday, citing a toxic work environment and untenable work load.
ST. LOUIS  A SWAT team shot and critically injured a man who they say pointed a rifle at officers from the second-floor window of his burning home early Monday.

The 30-year-old suspect had barricaded himself in a home on Balson Avenue, in the citys Ellendale neighborhood, and set it on fire, police said. The home was destroyed in the fire, and no one else was hurt.

St. Louis police Lt. John Green, head of the departments Force Investigative Unit, said five SWAT officers fired shots at the man after he pointed the rifle at them.

The suspect was rushed to surgery for gunshot wounds to his arm and neck; he also had a cut to his head, police said. Police have not identified the man.

The shooting before 2 a.m. Monday ended an hourslong standoff. About 11:20 p.m. Sunday, police were called for a disturbance at the home at 6824 Balson Avenue, south of Manchester Avenue.

A man, 36, and a woman, 41, told officers they had been inside the home with the man when he began having mental issues, police said.

The woman said the suspect threatened her with a rifle, and the 36-year-old man grabbed an ax in defense, police said. The suspect ran to the basement and fired a shot through the first floor, police said.

The man and woman escaped the home, and the gunman fired a shot at them as they ran, police said. Police heard the gunfire and called in SWAT officers. Green said the tactical officers tried to negotiate with the man to get him to come out of the home, but he wouldnt answer the phone.

As police evacuated neighbors from a home to the east, they saw the suspects house on fire. St. Louis fire crews stayed safely back until the standoff was over. At one point, the man leaned out the window and police said he pointed the rifle in their direction, Green said. The SWAT officers shot him, and he fell from the window.

Authorities have not released the names of the officers who fired shots. They are an officer who is 33 and has been a St. Louis policeman nine years; an officer who is 36 who has been on the force four years; an officer who is 46 with four years of experience; an officer who is 46 with 13 years of experience; and an officer who is 29 with six years on the department.

Online court records show that a 30-year-old man at that address is on probation for a 2018 domestic assault case from Jefferson County and has been cited for violating the terms of his probation as recently as September.

6800blk of Balson Ave - Occupied 1-1/2 story frame dwelling, heavy #fire showing. One line deployed. Primary search underway. #STLCity



Companies initially staged for this incident; @SLMPD secured the scene.



Truck Company 6 is first due.

Battalion 3 is in Command. pic.twitter.com/2sePOkIT5h  St. Louis Fire Dept (@STLFireDept) April 17, 2023
ST. LOUIS COUNTY  Chief Warrant Officer 3 Zachary Esparza was known for making and keeping friends everywhere he went, from Egypt to Hawaii.

On Monday morning, those friends showed up in droves to Crosspoint Church in south St. Louis County to honor the 36-year-old soldier and St. Louis native who was killed last month in a helicopter crash during a military training exercise in Kentucky.

I always wondered if Zac actually knew all of his Facebook friends. And after these last few weeks  yes, he did, his younger sister Rebecca Esparza said during Mondays service. It really is beautiful to see all of you come out today, and the last few weeks, to celebrate Zacs life with our family.

Seven other soldiers were killed in the March 29 crash, including Chief Warrant Officer 2 Rusten Smith, a native of Phelps County, Missouri. Army investigators are working to determine the cause, The Associated Press reported. The helicopters had a device on board that records the performance of aircraft in flight and analyzes crashes.

Speakers during Mondays service, attended by more than 100 people, said Esparza taught them lessons simply by living his own life, whether it was to laugh often  including at oneself  to act honorably and to be the glue that holds people together.

Lt. Col. Tyler Espinoza, commander of 6th Battalion 101st Aviation Regiment, said he was there first and foremost as Esparzas friend. He described Esparza as a passionate man who loved aviation, so much so he bought his own plane.

But his passion wasnt just for flying, Espinoza said.

When he knew what he wanted, he could obsess, he said. Maybe a quick cross-country flight just to get a slice from Imos or his love affair with Jimmy Johns, which led to his pursuit of purchasing every possible sandwich on the menu.

Esparzas friend Priscilla Portman said she met the soldier in flight school and they kept in touch ever since. On Monday, she wore a brightly colored shirt with pictures of her dog on it  a dog she said Esparza helped name Jerry in honor of the title character of their favorite show, Seinfeld.

Zac chose my outfit today, she said, which was met with chuckles throughout the church.

Portman said that while its true Esparza lit up a room, he did much more than that.

He has this other ability ... when somebody tells a story about Zac, they light up  thats what he does, Portman said.

Esparza grew up in St. Louis and graduated from Bayless High School in 2005, according to his obituary. After high school, he attended Southeast Missouri State University and then enlisted in the Army in 2010 while in Jackson, Missouri.

Michael Esparza said losing his older brother means he lost his role model who led by example.

My brother was many things, but mostly he was irreplaceable, Michael Esparza said.

Esparza was laid to rest at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis following the service.

Photos and Video: Funeral for U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Zachary Esparza
ST. LOUIS  A judge on Monday filed to hold St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner in contempt of court after prosecutors from her office didnt show up for a murder trial.

Jonathon Jones, 18, was set to face trial starting Monday on charges he shot and killed a man in 2021 near the Gateway Arch grounds, but no one from Gardners office appeared for the beginning of trial. The prosecutor assigned to the case is on sick leave.

Judge Scott A. Millikan filed an order for Gardners office to show cause for why she should not be held in criminal contempt and ordered to pay a fine or face jail time.

This conduct thwarts and defeats the authority of the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis, the judge wrote.

His filing comes on the eve of a hearing Tuesday where Gardners attorneys are expected to argue why a lawsuit seeking her removal should be dismissed. The lawsuit, filed by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, argues Gardner has repeatedly failed at her job as the citys top prosecutor.

Gardners office has faced years of criticism for understaffing and organizational dysfunction. Several hearings in recent months have been delayed because no one from Gardners office showed up to argue them, and in 2021, a murder case was dismissed altogether because a prosecutor failed to show up for trial. Authorities later learned the prosecutor had been assigned 30 cases while on maternity leave.

And the office has a dwindling number of staffers to call for help. In recent weeks, multiple prosecutors who handle the citys most serious felonies have left Gardners office, including one who wrote of a toxic work environment in her resignation letter. Just four prosecutors are now handling hundreds of violent felony cases in the city while the prosecutor assigned to Jones case is on medical leave.

In Jones case, prosecutors charged the then-17-year-old in September 2022 alongside Mark Perry, 37, in the fatal shooting of 29-year-old Brandon Scott. Scott was found dead in the drivers seat of a blue Dodge Charger on steps leading to the arch grounds, according to court documents. Police found two different types of shell cases at the scene.

Jones attorney filed a motion in December invoking his right to a speedy trial, which in Missouri requires him to face trial within 120 days of his arraignment. That deadline is set to expire April 26, according to court documents.

But as of Monday, the first day of trial, neither the judge nor defense attorney had received any information from the circuit attorneys office regarding this matter, according to court documents. The defense attorney and Jones appeared in court Monday, but no prosecutor arrived.

Jones attorney asked the judge to dismiss the case or for her client to be released on bond while the case proceeds. Millikan took those requests under advisement.

The next step in the contempt filing is for Gardner to appear in court next Monday, April 24, and argue why she should not be held in contempt of court.

A spokeswoman for Gardner did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

Tuesdays hearing in the suit to remove Gardner from office is set to begin at 1:30 p.m. in a city courtroom. Multiple city agencies, the Circuit Attorneys Office and its employees and the courts have been subpoenaed to provide information for the investigation.

Missouri Court of Appeals Judge John Torbitzky, who was appointed to preside over the case, is expected to hear arguments about subpoenas and Gardners motion to dismiss the suit. He could also set a timeline for evidence collection and future hearings.
UPDATED with names of victims

ST. LOUIS  Two men were found shot to death early Monday inside a car in the 2700 block of Semple Avenue, authorities said.

Robert Cook, 30, and Sterling Turner Jr., 43, were found dead about 5:15 a.m. Monday after someone called police to report suspicious occupants of an auto.

The scene is in the city's Wells-Goodfellow neighborhood.

Homicide detectives with the St. Louis Police Department are handling the investigation. Police have no suspects.

Both victims lived in St. Louis. Cook lived in the 700 block of Ponce Avenue and Turner Jr. lived in the 5000 block of Cote Brilliante Avenue.

St. Louis has had 41 homicides this year, compared with 49 the same time last year.
HIGH RIDGE  On a scale of yucky to amazing, most students at Woodridge Middle School gave high marks to their new lunch menu options.

The Flavor Fest Taste Test at the school on Friday was the first in the St. Louis region where students could sample and vote for next years cafeteria offerings.

Vendors gave out samples of breakfast, lunch and snack options including mango, peach and banana smoothies, four-cheese enchiladas, and chili-lime watermelon raisins. Students then rated the food items 1 (yucky), 2 (meh), 3 (its OK), 4 (pretty tasty) or 5 (amazing).

Normally the food at school is like meh, but now that we feel more included, its stuff well spend money on, said seventh grader Kelsey Menees, 12, who liked the confetti Rice Krispie treats and beef jerky the most.

Its adorable. But is it tasty? That is the question, said sixth grader Aubrey Kirgan, 12, before biting into a whole-wheat pancake with sugar-free syrup and circling a 5 on her score sheet.

Northwest School District administrators and the food service company, Southwest Foodservice Excellence, will compile the taste test results and add top-rated items to cafeteria menus in the fall.

While students can fill out surveys and offer feedback on cafeteria food throughout the year, this was the first opportunity to sample potential new menus.

Everything we do is entirely student-driven. We want to give them what they want, said chef Tori Christie, the general manager of the school districts account with Southwest.

The company, which also contracts with St. Louis Public Schools, will serve cafeteria food on Thursday at the districts Parent Action Council meeting so parents, too, can taste what their children are eating.

At the Woodridge event, Southwest served up garlic Parmesan boneless wings and a brown rice, edamame and chickpea salad.

Were trying to advocate for plant-based meals, but they still want the chicken nuggets, Christie said.

The chef also carved aquatic scenes into watermelons used as table decorations for the event. Students in the schools Family and Consumer Science course designed bouquets made of bell peppers.

Woodridge Principal Shannon Umfleet said she appreciated giving the students a voice in their lunch options.

Especially in middle school, that theyre being listened to is so important for their confidence and development  that they count and they matter, Umfleet said.

Seventh grader Madi St. Clair, 12, declared Friday the best day ever, saying she was initially skeptical of the taste test, but so far Ive liked everything.

Even the chocolate chickpea spread for apples and pretzels got a middle-school seal of approval from sixth grader Gage Ochampaugh, 12.

Nothing is disgusting, he said.
JEFFERSON CITY  Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe has raised more than $3.3 million in his bid for governor in 2024, easily topping his potential GOP rivals.

Quarterly reports filed Monday with the Missouri Ethics Commission show Kehoe and an accompanying political action committee collected major contributions from car dealers, farm groups and the Kansas City police union during the first four months of the year.

Kehoe, who has been the states No. 2 elected official since 2018, is on track to face Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft in the August 2024 Republican Party primary gubernatorial election. Sen. Bill Eigel, R-Weldon Spring, also is considering a run for the post.

Democrat Crystal Quade of Springfield, who serves as leader of the minority party in the House, has signaled shes considering a run. She reported $68,545 in her campaign account after raising just $5,300 since January. Her PAC raised $15,000 in the quarter and has $33,596 on hand, giving her a total of just over $100,000.

Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, is term limited and cannot seek another term, setting up the race for governor as a high-profile statewide matchup next year.

Kehoe is allied with Parson, while Ashcroft has been preparing to run to the right of Kehoe.

During the quarter, Kehoe collected $293,000 in contributions through his personal campaign account. His American Dream PAC raised $357,000, with big dollar donations from car dealers. Prior to serving in the Missouri Senate, Kehoe owned a car dealership in Jefferson City.

In addition to receiving the endorsement of the Missouri Automobile Dealers Association, Kehoe has the backing of the Missouri Soybean Association, the Missouri Corn Growers Association and the Missouri Cattlemens Association. Other endorsements include the Missouri Fraternal Order of Police.

Kehoes tally at this point in the election season compares favorably to the amount Parson had at the same time preceding his successful 2020 bid for the office against Democrat Nicole Galloway.

Ashcroft reported having more than $1.8 million in two campaign accounts. He was not actively raising money during the period, collecting just $1,125 for his personal account and $15,000 for his Committee for Liberty PAC. Among the contributors was a PAC associated with Sen. Nick Schroer, a St. Charles County Republican.

The reports show Ashcroft spent $122,000 on his bid, with much of that going to polling and mailing costs.

Eigel, meantime, reported $164,604 in his personal campaign account. Compared to the large donations tallied by Kehoe, many of Eigels contributors wrote small checks of between $20 and $50.
The Egyptian Meteorological Authority (EMA) has urged Egyptians to avoid direct sunlight exposure on Monday and Tuesday due to an impending heat wave across the country.

Should individuals choose to celebrate Sham El-Nessim national holiday by going out in parks, as is customary, it is recommended that they avoid direct sunlight and cover their heads, the EMA advised.

Moreover, people who suffer from sinus or chest allergies should wear masks while outside to protect them from the dust and the particles in the air, the EMA added.

Additionally, while daytime weather is hot on Monday and Tuesday, nighttime temperatures are significantly lower, the EMA noted, hence it is inadvisable to wear summer clothes at night.

The EMA warned citizens not to be tricked by the current brief heat wave, as temperatures will begin to gradually drop following Tuesday.

Greater Cairo, Lower Egypt, and the North Coast will experience the most significant drop in temperatures  by 7 degrees Celsius  through Thursday, predicted the EMA.

There is even a chance of light sporadic rainfall on areas of the North Coast and Northern Lower Egypt, the EMA added.

The country will also continue to experience strong winds in different regions through Saturday, noted the EMA.

Temperatures in numbers

Greater Cairo and Lower Egypt will experience highs of 33-35 degrees Celsius Monday through Tuesday and lows of 19-20 degrees Celsius. The same areas will see highs of 27-29 degrees and lows of 15-17 degrees Wednesday through Saturday, the EMA forecast.

Meanwhile, the North Coast will see highs of 28-31 degrees and lows of 16-17 degrees through Tuesday, as well as highs of 23-26 degrees and lows of 14-16 degrees Wednesday through Saturday, confirmed the EMA.

The southern regions of the country will experience less significant drops in temperature, noted the EMA.

Similarly, Northern Upper Egypt will see highs of 35-36 degrees until Tuesday and lows of 18-19 degrees. On the following days through Saturday, the region will see highs of 28-36 degrees and lows of 16-18 degrees Celsius, the EMA predicted.

South Sinai will see highs of 30-35 degrees and lows of 20-22 degrees through Saturday, the EMA said.

Finally, Southern Upper Egypt will see highs of 36-38 degrees and lows of 21-22 degrees, noted the EMA.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


JEFFERSON CITY  All Missouri school district buildings would be fitted with bullet-resistant doors and windows under a plan House lawmakers gave final approval to on Monday.

The legislation, included in a wide-ranging public safety bill, would require bullet-resistant doors and windows for all first-floor entryways and bullet-resistant glass "for each exterior window large enough for an intruder to enter."

The state Classroom Trust Fund would pay for the installations starting in the 2024-25 school year until completed, according to a summary of the legislation. The requirement is subject to a specific line item in the budget, the bill says.

Legislators advanced the measure to the Senate late Monday on a 116-10 vote, with 26 lawmakers voting present.

The action was in addition to a midyear spending request by Gov. Mike Parson for $20 million earmarked for school security upgrades, which lawmakers have already approved.

The Post-Dispatch reported Wednesday the state of Missouri has also inked a contract worth up to $3.4 million to purchase an app designed to protect students and school employees during an active shooter event.

During debate on the crime bill, Rep. Maggie Nurrenbern, D-Kansas City, said Republicans were focused on fortifying schools instead of addressing the wide availability of guns in the state.

"What's next? Are we having every student go to school with a bulletproof vest?" she asked.

Assuming 2,200 doors would need to be replaced at a cost of $2,500, that would cost $5.5 million, according to a state fiscal analysis. But with no estimate for bullet-resistant glass on the ground floor, costs "could substantially exceed" that, the analysis said.

Rep. Betsy Fogle, D-Springfield, called the fiscal analysis inaccurate and that "we know that this language alone probably exceeds north of $500 million, and I think that's a very large amount to push forward without more proper vetting."

Rep. Chad Perkins, R-Bowling Green, said legislators were taking action to protect children.

"On nearly a daily basis, we are told that we need to do more to protect children," Perkins said. "You can talk to me about the price, but what is the life of a child worth?"

Melissa Randol, executive director of the Missouri School Boards' Association, said state efforts on school safety "are a movement in the right direction" and said the association believes school safety needs "a comprehensive approach to be successful."

Republicans defeated a Democratic amendment to bar the sale of fully and semi-automatic firearms to individuals younger than 21, arguing the measure infringed on the Second Amendment.

A separate bill that already cleared the House includes a requirement for the addition at schools of bleeding control kits in high-traffic areas such as auditoriums, cafeterias or gymnasiums.

The kits would include combat-grade tourniquets, bandages, permanent markers, instructional materials and other equipment.

The bleeding control kits won't be required if the state doesn't fund the plan, and Department of Elementary and Secondary Education officials have said it would cost more than $1.5 million to provide the kits.

Rep. Donna Baringer, D-St. Louis, blasted the bill earlier this month.

The House will legislate  and even appropriate funds  to deal with the outcome of school shootings, but we will do next to nothing to actually prevent those shootings from taking place, Baringer said.

I find it frustrating that we are literally more focused on putting Band-Aids on bullet wounds while refusing to save lives by solving the problem of gun violence.

Democrats have filed numerous proposals aimed at limiting access to firearms for certain individuals. Republicans earlier this year sank a Baringer plan to outlaw possession of firearms in public by unsupervised minors; the restriction excluded legal game hunting.

A measure by Rep. Peter Merideth, D-St. Louis, would allow police to petition a court for a risk protection order to remove firearms from someone deemed a danger to themselves or others.

Merideth has pushed for the change to Missouri law in the wake of a school shooting at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School last October, in which the shooter's family tried to have the murder weapon confiscated prior to the shooting, according to police.

But police determined 19-year-old Orlando Harris, who shot and killed health and physical education teacher Jean Kuczka, 61, and sophomore Alexzandria Bell, 15, was legally entitled to the gun.

While a third person known to the family took possession of the gun, police said Harris eventually used it in the shooting, and authorities did not initially know how Harris regained possession.

In the months before the shooting, the shooters family had sought mental health care for him.
ST. LOUIS  Aldermen held their final meeting as a board of 29 on Monday, marking the end of a century-long run.

Board members spent most of the last day of the 2022-23 session on courtesy resolutions thanking colleagues for their work over the years and bidding farewell to those departing City Hall.

On Tuesday, more than half of the current aldermen will leave office as the board shrinks to 15, a change voters approved a decade ago.

But on Monday, the surviving aldermen showered their departing colleagues with praise: In one instance, Alderman Tom Oldenburg, of the soon-to-be-extinct 16th Ward, read a resolution thanking Jack Coatar, of the 7th Ward, praising him as a straight shooter and someone who always made colleagues earn his vote.

Especially your friends, Oldenburg said, at least partly in jest. Im still a little chapped you didnt support me on some things.

Aldermen also gave final approval to long-delayed legislation allocating millions of dollars for street and sidewalk repair.

A plan to hire lawyers for people facing evictions in the city stalled, however.

Aldermanic President Megan Green, a proponent of the plan, said the board needed to pass separate legislation freeing up the money for the lawyers first.

That task  and many others  will fall to the new, 15-member board set to be inaugurated Tuesday morning.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP)  An 84-year-old white man in Kansas City, Missouri, was charged Monday with first-degree assault for shooting a Black teen who mistakenly went to the man's home to pick up his younger brothers.

Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson said at a news conference that there was a racial component Thursday night when Andrew Lester twice shot 16-year-old Ralph Yarl, who is recovering at home after being released from the hospital. But nothing in the charging documents says the shooting was racially motivated, Thompson clarified.

We understand how frustrating this has been but I can assure you the criminal justice system is working and will continue to work, Thompson said.

The shooting outraged many in Kansas City and across the country. Civic and political leaders  including President Joe Biden  demanded justice. Some, including lawyers for Yarl, pressed the racial dimension of the case.

Yarl, an honor student and all-state band member, was supposed to pick up his two younger brothers when he approached the wrong house at roughly 10 p.m. Lester came to the door and shot Yarl in the forehead  then shot him again, in the right forearm.

No words were exchanged before the shooting, the probable cause statement said. But afterward, as Yarl got up to run, he heard Lester yell, Dont come around here, the statement said.

Yarl ran to multiple homes asking for help before finding someone who would call the police, the statement said.

Rev. Vernon Howard, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Kansas City, called the shooting a heinous and hate-filled crime. Vice President Kamala Harris wrote on Twitter that "No child should ever live in fear of being shot for ringing the wrong doorbell. The Missouri Senate held a moment of silence for Yarl on Monday.

The civil rights attorneys for Yarls family, Ben Crump and Lee Merritt, said in a statement that Biden called Yarls family and offered prayers for Ralphs health and for justice.

Gun violence against unarmed Black individuals must stop, the lawyers statement read. Our children should feel safe, not as though they are being hunted.

Yarls supporters plan to hold a rally Tuesday evening in Kansas City.

The assault charge carries a penalty of up to life in prison. Lester also was charged with armed criminal action, which has a penalty range of three to 15 years in prison. Lester was not charged with a hate crime. Thompson said Missouris statute is considered a lesser felony than first-degree assault, and carries a less severe penalty.

Missouri is among roughly 30 states with Stand Your Ground laws, which allow for the use of deadly force in self-defense, but the prosecutor determined the shooting was not in self defense.

An arrest warrant was issued but Lester was not yet in custody, Thompson said.

Lester told police that he lives alone and had just gone to bed when he heard his doorbell, according to the probable cause statement. He said he picked up his gun and went to the door, where he saw a Black male pulling on the exterior storm door handle and thought someone was breaking in.

A number for Lester was not in service on Monday evening and it was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney to speak on his behalf.

The shooting happened in a middle class neighborhood in north Kansas City. Yarl didn't have a phone with him and went to the wrong block, his aunt, Faith Spoonmore, wrote on a GoFundMe page set up to help pay medical bills. By Monday afternoon, $1.4 million had been raised.

Police Chief Stacey Graves said that Yarl's parents asked him to pick up his brothers at a home on 115th Terrace, but he mistakenly went to 115th Street, the Kansas City Star reported.

Yarl is a bass clarinetist who earned Missouri All-State Band honorable mention and who plays several instruments in the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of Kansas City, Spoonmore wrote. A statement from the North Kansas City School District described Yarl as an excellent student and talented musician.

Spoonmore said Yarl is doing well physically but has a lot of trauma to overcome emotionally.

By Monday afternoon, the home where the shooting happened had been vandalized. Black spray-paint on the side of the house showed a heart with 16 in the middle. Eggs splattered the front windows and the door.

A message seeking comment from Republican Gov. Mike Parson, a staunch gun rights supporter, wasnt immediately returned.

Crump, who has represented families in several high-profile cases of Black people being shot, including those of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, questioned why the shooter wasn't arrested and charged immediately.

We all believe that if the roles were reversed and this was a Black citizen who shot a 16-year-old for merely ringing his doorbell, they would have arrested him, and he wouldnt have slept in his bed that night, Crump said.

Two days after Yarl was shot, a 20-year-old woman was killed by a homeowner in Upstate New York Saturday after the car she was in drove to the wrong address. Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy said Kaylin Gillis was in a car with three others looking for a friends house.

As the car was turning around, Kevin Monahan came out and fired two shots, one of which struck Gillis. Monahan was charged with second-degree murder.

Salter reported from O'Fallon, Missouri. Nick Ingram in Kansas City and Summer Ballentine in Columbia, Missouri, contributed to this report.
The hits keep coming for ethics-challenged Justice Clarence Thomas. At a time when the credibility and objectivity of the Supreme Court are under attack, Thomas seems intent on demonstrating why public skepticism of the court is so richly merited. Court judges across the country at every other level of the justice system are bound by strict and enforceable ethics rules  but no such enforcement applies to the nations highest court, a fact that Thomas seems keenly aware of.

According to recent reports, Thomas has maintained an overly cozy financial relationship with Texas billionaire and GOP mega-donor Harlan Crow. Its not clear whether Crow had any business indirectly before the court, but his vast wealth and political ties could not have gone unnoticed by Thomas as he was wined and dined. The mere appearance of a conflict of interest should have been enough for Thomas to decline such gifts. Instead, Thomas wallowed in them.

ProPublica reported early this month that Thomas and his wife, Ginni, were the guests on Crows private jet immediately after the Supreme Court wrapped up its 2019 term. The jet whisked them away to Indonesia, where they enjoyed nine days of vacation aboard Crows yacht. ProPublica estimated the value of the gift at $500,000. Thomas didnt disclose any of it.

In 2014, Crow purchased the modest two-bedroom, one-bathroom house where Thomass 94-year-old mother was living in Savannah, Georgia, allowing her to live there afterward rent-free. Crow paid for expensive improvements.

Thomas should have reported it even if a strict interpretation of existing rules didnt require it. But he didnt. Nor did he report other expense-paid trips he received from Crow over the past two decades. Thomas explained the vacation in Indonesia as personal hospitality that he thought didnt have to be reported. New disclosure rules make clear that they must be reported.

In 2011, Thomas acknowledged that he had erroneously stated on disclosure forms that Ginni Thomas had earned no outside income when, in fact, she had received nearly $700,000 for work with the conservative Heritage Foundation along with Hillsdale College and some Republican members of Congress. She has more recently been the focus of much controversy for appearing to support former President Donald Trumps unfounded assertion that he was robbed of the 2020 presidential election.

The chances of Chief Justice John Roberts publicly condemning his colleagues skirting of disclosure rules are almost nil. Thomas gets away with whatever he can, even if his court rulings suggest a rigid requirement that all others abide by both the spirit and the letter of the law. Inscribed over the courts entrance are the words, equal justice under the law. Since Crow seems to be in a mood to pay for renovations these days, perhaps he could fund a more accurate update that reads: Money talks, and Clarence Thomas listens.
Gardners removal as prosecutor cant happen fast enough

Regarding the editorial For defendants who cross paths with Kim Gardner, its hurry up and wait for trial (April 13): Once again, the living proof the incompetence in St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardners office is demonstrated with the case of Charl Howard. After 4 years of delay, the 11th-hour continuance of his case resulted from a failure of the prosecutors office to announce they would call Howards girlfriend to testify. It resulted, once again, in a delay to this case and the mans chances of getting a fair and speedy trial.

Speedy at this point is laughable. But so is Gardners office. Good attorneys have quit in droves, which is usually a sign of poor management. The choices now? Another costly delay, continuing to deny this man his day in court, or dismiss the charges, which would potentially leave a murderer on the streets of St. Louis. That is, another murderer.

This same scenario has played out before. I certainly do not agree with everything Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is doing, but he is spot on with his attempt to remove Gardner. The citizens of St. Louis deserve safer streets. Those accused of crimes deserve a reasonably speedy and fair trial. And we all deserve the competence of our prosecutors office. After all, St. Louisans pay their salaries. If she cant do the job, theres the door.

In my opinion, the removal of Gardner cant happen fast enough.

Jerry S. Hutter  Florissant

Takeover of St. Louis police by the state is long overdue

I can understand why Mayor Tishara Jones opposes efforts by the state to take control of the police department. She believes it hinders the citys independence and reflects badly on its reputation. A politicians injured pride can often prevent her or him from seeing major problems within an organization.

Reputation? St. Louis reputation is as bad if not worse than Baltimore. Residents are reluctant to assist in resolving homicide cases  not because theyre cowards but because they fear of violent retaliation on the streets.

The circuit attorneys ongoing clash with the police department is a major handicap for the new police chief to overcome. By refusing certain cases, Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner makes a disgrace of the criminal justice system.

Does the mayor understand what this noted situation has done to the police department? Older officers, those closest to retirement, will coast to their finish line. The new or younger officers will experience levels of frustration to the point of quitting.

I wonder whether the mayor has noticed that those doing the killing and those doing the dying are getting younger all the time. The cameras show main downtown streets empty of moving cars, no people on the sidewalks, and downtown turning into a decaying wilderness.

I wonder how many people in the surrounding counties will not take the risk to their safety and property to drive into the city for sports, concerts, the Fox Theater, the zoo, the museums or many of the wonderful restaurants.

The mayor has a lot of problems to solve if she is hoping to save this city. Since the state handed over local control of the police force, crime now vacations here instead of tourists. The state needs to take control and solve what has not been solved for many, many years.

I was born and raised in St. Louis, worked as a police officer and 911 dispatcher, owned a home in Tower Grove and made good use of all the options available in the city. Like many residents we saw the city under one unqualified mayor and Board of Aldermen begin to decline, and that was two decades ago. How much more decay, corruption and poor leadership can the city take before its gone for good?

Phillip Reagan  Wentzville

Progressives were correct to hold conservatives in check

Regarding the editorial At Stanford, a teachable moment on civil discourse is squandered (April 13) and Johnson elected Chicago mayor in victory for progressives (April 5): When conservatives walk out because a progressive is speaking, they are being crybullies, in my opinion. When conservatives are criticized for making statements that they cant back up with facts or scientific justification, they shouldnt complain when they are called out.

A recent poll taken after the Chicago election demonstrated that voters dont accept conservative claims of failed progressive policies. In the case of the Stanford University Law School protest against a conservative federal judge, I believe he played victim when the audience decided to mock his inconsistent rulings.

Duncans rulings on transgender rights and abortion were appalling at best, and I dont think he had any intention of finding common ground with his audience when he came to speak at Stanford. Duncan spoke in a condescending manner and is now crying that he got called out. Progressives are not the ones being rude here. Duncan is.

Joshua Sulz  St. Louis

Read letters online at STLToday.com
Last month there was a major new development in Finland, which recently became a NATO member. That was significant because for nearly a century Finland has been neutral, a policy that provided some additional protection from Russian aggression. That protection became obviously less effective when Putin tried to restore the old USSRs borders, so Finland joined NATO for additional protection from Russia. Some of that protection is in the form of other NATO members providing specialized intelligence capabilities to give Finland and NATO more data on Russian threats.

Finland has a 1,300 kilometers border with Russia, which includes close proximity to bases and shipyards that support the Russian Northern Fleet. This is the largest of Russias four regional fleets and includes most of the nuclear submarines. There is also a major shipyard, for building new ships and maintaining or upgrading existing ones. In March the Russian border got its first visit from an American RC-135 Rivet Joint ELINT (electronic intelligence) aircraft. The RC-135 is based in England, flew from there to Finland and then carried out its patrol of the border, including the far north portion that is close to the Kola Peninsula, where most of those Russian naval facilities are. Another NATO member, Britain, has its own version of Rivet Joint which will also pay visits to Finland.

This degree of scrutiny annoys Russia, which considered most of its Finnish border safe from such scrutiny. The Northern Fleet bases are also near the 200 kilometer border with Norway, one of the founding (in 1949) NATO members. RC-135s sometimes scrutinized Russian bases near the Norway border. With Finland available for RC-135 visits, such scrutiny becomes more intense. The RC-135 was designed to thoroughly scrutinize nearby land areas for a wide array of electronic activity. This activity was identified, studied and cataloged. Since September 11, 2001, the RC-135s have been very busy.

For example, in 2016 RC-135s returned to Iraq after a five year absence. At least one was spotted taking off in Qatar and heading north to Iraq (likely) or Syria (less likely). These aircraft not only collect a wide variety of electronic signals in an area, and analyze them quickly, but can also cripple that activity using onboard jammers. The analysis effort looks principally for patterns. The enemy below leaves signs electronically (cell phones, walkie-talkies) or visually (images captured on surveillance cameras). Using the right math and analytical tools (software and computers), you can quickly discover where perpetrators of undesirable activity are coming from, and have the ground troops promptly shell, bomb or raid those locations. Its also possible to find out where people are going as well as the composition and status of a group with these analytical tools. But it all depends on collecting a lot of electronic data for long enough to detect the patterns.

This kind of work was popular with the RC-135 crews (about thirty aircrew, techies, linguists and analysts) in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Here the RC-135 crews were getting a chance to do, in a combat zone, what they have long trained for. Moreover, it's relatively risk free, as the aircraft fly beyond the range of machine-gun or shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles. In addition, the most productive work is done during night missions, when the enemy can't even see the RC-135's high above. Syria was potentially different because the Syrian government and their Russian allies had radars and jet fighters that could threaten an EC-135.

Other nations, both allied and hostile, have noted the success of the RC-135 and either (like Britain) bought the American originals or, like most other nations, built their own. Russia used the Tu-204 airliner for its new RC-135 type electronic warfare aircraft. This two engine jet can carry up to 210 passengers, or 21 tons of cargo. The military version is called the Tu-214 or, for the RC-135 clone, the Tu-214R. Russia has built at least two of these and although still in development one of them was seen over Syria in early 2016 and was apparently useful enough to keep around.

Russia and China both studied the use of RC-135s in Iraq and Afghanistan and while the Russian response was two Tu-214Rs, the Chinese have adapted an aircraft more similar to the C-130 and has been seen using these along contested borders (India and the South China Sea). Many nations, including the United States, have been equipping smaller (twin-engine turboprop) commercial aircraft and larger UAVs to carry out some of the functions of the RC-135.

The U.S. Air Force has been operating RC-135s for over half a century and in 2008 one of them set a record, spending over 50,000 hours in the air since it entered service in 1962. These are built on the same airframe as the KC-135 tanker and Boeing 707 airliner. Periodically the air force has to remove KC-135s or RC-135s from service because of metal fatigue problems (usually in the wings, or with the pylons that attach each of the four engines to the wings.) All 732 KC/RC-135s were built between 1956 and 1965. The Boeing 707 commercial transport is actually a civilian version of the original KC-135, which itself evolved from the World War II B-29 heavy bomber. Since the 1980s the KC-135 fleet has undergone constant repair and reconstruction. New engines, and new structural components have been added, as older items wore out, or showed signs of wearing out faster than anticipated.

The RC-135s, P-3s and other electronic surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft have been operating out of an American base in Qatar since the 1990s, and there are currently 9,000 U.S. troops in Qatar to support air and naval operations through the Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean and northwest Africa. Another base in Britain enables easy access to northern Europe.

The 130-ton RC-135 is a four-jet aircraft that usually cruises at 500 kilometers an hour and a range of 6,500 kilometers. RC-135 can be refueled in the air and has a max endurance of about twelve hours. The United States currently has 17 RC-135s in service.
NPAW Introduces New Product Analytics, SMB Solutions at NAB 2023

NPAW, the leading provider of analytics and business intelligence solutions for online video businesses, has introduced a series of new products and features at the NAB Show 2023 in Las Vegas. These new products broaden the scope of NPAWs analytics solut

Las Vegas, NV( )

NPAW, the leading provider of analytics and business intelligence solutions for online video businesses, has introduced a series of new products and features at the NAB Show 2023 in Las Vegas. These new products broaden the scope of NPAWs analytics solutions to encompass the entire video business ecosystem, with holistic and customizable analytics solutions catering to everyone from small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to large enterprises.

The new analytics solutions presented at NAB 2023 include:

Product Analytics: The NPAW Suite completes the video business circle by giving business and marketing professionals visibility of everything happening in their platform. Product Analytics combines NPAW's market-leading Video Analytics platform with new user journey and content analytics solutions to unlock all insights needed to boost business growth.

The NPAW Suite completes the video business circle by giving business and marketing professionals visibility of everything happening in their platform. Product Analytics combines NPAW's market-leading Video Analytics platform with new user journey and content analytics solutions to unlock all insights needed to boost business growth. SMB Solutions: A dedicated new product that democratizes advanced video analytics by making it accessible for everyone within the video industry, regardless of business size or data analytics skills. This new setup simplifies video analysis and adapts to the users needs as they become a data analytics expert and their business grows.

A dedicated new product that democratizes advanced video analytics by making it accessible for everyone within the video industry, regardless of business size or data analytics skills. This new setup simplifies video analysis and adapts to the users needs as they become a data analytics expert and their business grows. Custom App: The highest level of customization and flexibility for companies to achieve operational excellence on their own terms. The NPAW Suites new custom app feature allows businesses to build their own video intelligence platform, customizing branding, roles, and permissions to secure data, anonymize data among teams and business units, and much more.

The next evolution of NPAWs continued efforts to connect all aspects of the video business , Product Analytics connects video analytics insights with user journey and content consumption information to provide marketers and business owners with a one-stop hub to track the performance of their video products. With this new solution, business departments can easily assess the impact of new releases and features on user activation and engagement, prevent churn, optimize the user experience, and much more.

Meanwhile, NPAWs new SMB Solutions opens the companys deep analytics capabilities, until now reserved to large video businesses, to smaller video services. With a user-friendly interface, flexible setup, and a fast, seamless integration, SMB Solutions makes real-time video insights accessible to everyone regardless of their level of analytics expertise. It adapts to the users needs, evolving in scope and complexity as they learn how to leverage video insights to boost their business.

Finally, the new Custom App feature expands the NPAW Suites customization capabilities to allow customers to build custom-made apps and add them to their value proposition. Apps can be created from the ground up, specifying features, filters, and tools as well as roles and permissions and data privacy and security. Customers can then customize the traditional NPAW Suite interface to match their branding, giving the end-user the feeling that they are not leaving the customers ecosystem while accessing the application.

"With these new solutions, NPAW continues to demonstrate our commitment to providing the most innovative, flexible, and comprehensive analytics tools to the video industry as a whole," said Ferran G. Vilaro, CEO of NPAW. "We are excited to showcase these new products at the NAB Show 2023 and look forward to helping businesses of all sizes optimize their video operations and boost business growth."

In addition to its newest products and features, NPAW will be exhibiting the 360-degree capabilities of its NPAW Suite of analytics apps. As the only business intelligence platform integrating both application and video data, the NPAW Suite delivers a cohesive overview of platform performance, audience behavior, navigation, advertising, and content effectiveness in real time.

Attendees will also be able to explore the possibilities offered by NPAWs CDN Balancer, a smart multi-CDN monitoring and switching tool that optimizes video content delivery based on Quality-of-Experience data. CDN Balancer allows streaming providers to avoid outages and always choose the CDN that best meets their audiences and business needs, improving their users experience while reducing costs.

Visit NPAW at booth #W1327 in the West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center to learn more about its analytics and Multi-CDN solutions and how they can help video businesses around the world grow.

About NPAW

NPAW is an acknowledged global leader in technology innovations that track and analyze video consumption, user behavior, quality of experience, and quality of service, helping online streaming services grow. NPAW has over a decade of experience developing groundbreaking, scalable analytics solutions to optimize performance and user engagement, helping customers to build media experiences that maximize revenue. Its suite of analytics apps provides advanced visibility and actionable insights on platform performance, audience behavior, advertising and content efficiency, as well as app navigation in real-time to support data-driven decisions. NPAW serves more than 190 video services and processes over 100 billion plays per year worldwide. Established in 2008 by co-founders of the video streaming service Wuaki TV, which was later sold to Rakuten, NPAW has offices in Barcelona and New York with teams around the world.
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / April 17, 2023 / Boston Scientific

Originally published by Med Device Online

In 2017, our Boston Scientific leadership team found ourselves faced with a dilemma. Poring over our annual employee survey results, we were taken aback to learn - much to our chagrin - that not all of our female employees felt they had equal opportunities for promotion as their male counterparts. We took a collective deep breath to let the realization sink in: A swath of our workforce was letting us know that they felt overlooked. We knew immediately that we needed to do better for them - and not only because diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) align with our values, but because in medtech, DEI is a business imperative.

Why do I say so? Because the medical device industry's mission, making products to help solve healthcare's toughest problems, demands relentless ingenuity. But the best ideas don't emerge in a vacuum; they're sparked by a deep understanding of the problems faced by patients and customers, then forged by the creative interplay of different perspectives. Creating a workplace that encourages that level of empathetic, collaborative engagement is critical for the innovation that powers our industry.

Continue reading here.

Courtesy of Med Device Online

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Boston Scientific on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Boston Scientific

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/boston-scientific

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE: Boston Scientific

View source version on accesswire.com:
CEO Zach Booker also praises Midwest as haven for startups

GRAND RAPIDS, MI / ACCESSWIRE / April 17, 2023 / In two events at the recent SXSW Conference, ADHD Online, the leader in online ADHD testing and assessment, outlined the reasons for its exponential growth and addressed the unspoken prevalence of mental health issues for entrepreneurs.









"ADHD Online is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, far from the entrepreneurial hotbeds of the U.S. coasts. But the Midwest is a powerhouse of talent, with unique opportunities, and ADHD Online leveraged the region's advantages," CEO Zach Booker told the crowd at the "Scaling in the Midwest" panel. "That allowed the company to grow to serve patients in all 50 states in just one year," Booker said.

"Central to that success was the company's philosophy and structure, which allowed it to 'plug and play' a system that delivers and maintains a high standard of care for treating mental health patients in the same way regardless of where they live," Booker said.

At the "Mental Health and Entrepreneurs" panel, Keith Brophy, ADHD Online's chief operating officer, outlined the increasing prevalence of mental health issues in the United States and among entrepreneurs in particular. According to the Centers for Disease Control, one in five Americans will experience a mental illness in a given year, while one in 25 lives with a serious mental illness.

"Among the factors that can contribute to mental illness are adverse life experiences, substance abuse, trauma, loneliness and isolation - with the latter two being common problems among entrepreneurs as they create and launch their ventures," Brophy said, citing a number of studies.

Entrepreneur Online reports found that one in four entrepreneurs will experience mental illness of some kind, with anxiety and depression the most common issues. A recent study found that 72% of entrepreneurs had mental health problems. And statistics from the National Institute for Mental Health show that entrepreneurs have depression at twice the rate of the general population, six times the rate of ADHD, three times the rate of bipolar disorder, and twice the rate of addiction.

"Our panel really set the stage for entrepreneurs to be open in discussing their mental health and not hiding behind the mystique of entrepreneurs and leaders, where they can't be authentic about their mental health," Brophy said.

"The mental health of entrepreneurs is overlooked, or even swept under the rug," Booker agreed. "There's an assumption that people have that entrepreneurs must be good at everything since they're in business for themselves. And the 'fake it until you make it' phenomenon means many entrepreneurs can't be honest about their struggles."

To learn more about ADHD Online and Mentavi Health, visit https://adhdonline.com/.

About ADHD Online

ADHD Online was founded in 2018 with the mission that everyone should have access to quality ADHD assessments regardless of who and where they are. The ADHD Online team is filled with industry experts across the United States who all share the same passion for ADHD and making sure patients have access to critical mental health services. ADHD Online is leading the way with being a critical voice for those who might be struggling with ADHD and is the only organization to offer HIPAA-secured ADHD assessments online with results from licensed psychologists. ADHD Online is active in all 50 states.

Contact Information:

Mike Albanese

[email protected]

SOURCE: ADHD Online

View source version on accesswire.com:
Egypt's Official Gazette published a presidential decree on Monday announcing that daylight saving time will be implemented yearly from the final Friday of April to the last Thursday of October.

The government had issued this decree on 1 March, citing the need to rationalise energy and respond to global economic conditions and changes.

This move, which comes after a seven-year hiatus, will result in Egypts standard time becoming three hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) during the daylight saving time period.

Initially announced in August 2022, the implementation of daylight saving time was postponed until summer 2023 to provide advance notice to international organisations and institutions.

Reintroducing daylight-saving time is expected to relieve pressure on the Egyptian currency by reducing the amount of oil that Egypt imports each year to run its power plants.

The decline in the use of oil should result in a surplus of local products, especially natural gas, that may be exported, hence providing a new resource for US dollars and alleviating pressure on the hard currency.

Daylight saving time has been implemented and repealed multiple times. Initially introduced in 1957 as a power-saving strategy to extend daylight hours, it was discontinued in 1975 before being reintroduced in 1988.

However, it was repealed again in 2011 after the overthrow of former president Hosni Mubarak. At that time, the government announced that daylight saving time  as a means to rationalise energy  was ineffective.

The system was temporarily implemented in May 2014 to ease consumption, after the country experienced rolling power blackouts.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Revolutionizing the business consulting industry with advanced AI algorithms, personalized recommendations, and the expertise of seasoned business consultants.

VENICE, ITALY / ACCESSWIRE / April 17, 2023 / Enkronos O, an Estonian leading provider of digital solutions, is excited to announce the launch of AInova (https://www.ainova.io), a state-of-the-art AI-enhanced business consulting web application. AInova is specifically designed to empower business consultants, innovation departments, business development teams, founders, and owners in optimizing and transforming their business models.





AInova

AInova - AI-Enhanced Business Consulting



Developed by Enkronos OU, the AInova web application leverages powerful AI-driven insights, tailored recommendations, and the invaluable contribution of a pool of experienced business consultants who have shared their expertise in the field of consultancy to enrich the machine learning algorithms essential for AInova's development. By combining the knowledge of industry professionals with cutting-edge AI technology, AInova offers a unique approach to tackling traditional business challenges, increasing turnover, and ensuring company profitability.

AInova operates by collecting data through a comprehensive set of questions aimed at providing a complete scenario of the user's business situation. The AI algorithms then process the collected data, integrating the wisdom of the collaborating business consultants to identify areas for improvement and suggest targeted actions for business model transformation, product or service enhancement, and other vital changes. AInova also integrates with third-party tools for additional data analysis and insights, delivering a holistic solution for businesses seeking a competitive edge.

The Venetian engineer and entrepreneur Gianluca Busato, CEO of Enkronos OU, says, "We are thrilled to introduce our AI-enhanced business consulting web application to the market. With AInova, we are bridging the gap between advanced technology and traditional consulting practices. Our platform empowers businesses to make data-driven decisions and effectively adapt to the ever-changing market landscape, thanks to the invaluable expertise of our collaborating business consultants."

AInova is now available for a selected set of customers and has opened its waiting list for early adopters. The first public release of the platform will be available by the end of May 2023. To join the waiting list and learn more about AInova, visit https://www.ainova.io.

About Enkronos OU

Enkronos OU is an Estonian Company specialized in providing digital solutions, including advertising, marketing, promotions, gamification, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and the Internet of Things. For more information, please visit https://www.enkronos.com.

About AInova

AInova is a pioneering platform for AI-enhanced business consulting solutions, offering a powerful web application designed to help businesses improve their operations, identify new opportunities, and drive sustainable growth. With an expert team of data scientists, AI specialists, and business consultants, AInova is revolutionizing the business consulting industry by providing advanced AI-driven insights and personalized recommendations for businesses worldwide. For more information, please visit https://www.ainova.io.

Contact Information:

Gianluca Busato

CEO, Enkronos OU

[email protected]

+1 (347) 354-1564

SOURCE: Enkronos OU

View source version on accesswire.com:
MedeAnalytics uses augmented analytics capabilities built natively into its solutions to support powerful client outcomes; Presbyterian Healthcare Services and Oregon Health and Science University to present their results at HIMSS23

RICHARDSON, TX / ACCESSWIRE / April 16, 2023 / MedeAnalytics, a healthcare analytics software-as-a-service (Saas) leader enabling financial, clinical and operational analytics for healthcare providers, payers and payviders, today announced that two leading healthcare organizations are using its analytics solutions to greatly improve revenue cycle and operational performance with measurable value.

At the 2023 HIMSS Global Conference and Exhibition in Chicago, Illinois, MedeAnalytics will be showcasing its full suite of innovative solutions, including its unprecedented flexibility to accelerate digital transformation using its Data Fabric, a unified analytics framework purpose-built for healthcare to deliver rapid time-to-value. In addition to stopping by the MedeAnalytics booth, attendees can attend three lightning sessions delivered by MedeAnalytics clients on the Innovation Hub Stage and Lightning Session Stage, including:

Presbyterian Healthcare Services

Tuesday, April 18 at 10:15 a.m. (Innovation Hub Stage) and Wednesday, April 19 at 1:45 p.m. (Lightning Session Stage)

Founded in New Mexico in 1908, Presbyterian Healthcare Services (PHS) is a not-for-profit integrated healthcare system of nine hospitals, a statewide health plan and a multi-specialty medical group. PHS had a strategic need to differentiate their offerings and aspired to leverage analytics as a competitive differentiator. They needed a complementary solution to their Epic EHR for deeper granularity and insights.

With the MedeAnalytics Suite of RCM Analytics solutions, PHS reduced their total cost to collect by $450,000 and reduced the time spent consolidating data by 75%, resulting in $272,000 in savings alone. They also reduced their denials by $806,000.

"RCM Analytics from MedeAnalytics has helped transform our revenue cycle management (RCM)," said Soyal Momin, SVP, Chief Analytics Officer at PHS. "Our executives and analysts now have greater visibility into our RCM processes, metrics and outcomes, which has delivered significant value, ROI, and award-winning performance improvement."

"We've been awarded the HFMA MAP award seven times. Our consistent success is based on improved performance year-over-year," added Laura Calkins, VP, Revenue Cycle at PHS. "Much of this is driven by the self-service, real-time insights available to all members of the revenue cycle through the MedeAnalytics RCM Analytics solutions. Putting the data in the hands of the people doing the work has been critical to driving improvements every year."

Hear from Soyal Momin, SVP, Chief Analytics Officer; Jay Olive, Director, Business Intelligence; and Laura Calkins, VP, Revenue Cycle at Presbyterian Healthcare Services on both Tuesday and Wednesday.

Oregon Health and Science University - Tuesday, April 18 at 3:45 p.m. (Lightning Session Stage)

Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), the only academic medical center in Oregon, deployed MedeAnalytics to address their low CMI and CC/MCC capture rates plus low physician engagement. Employing MedeAnalytics' Revenue Integrity solution with CDI, OHSU increased Case Mix Index (CMI) by 21% (2016-20), improved CC/MCC capture rates by over 5%, and increased average rate of return (ARR) per CDI specialist per month by 159%.

"Actionable analytics from MedeAnalytics has been invaluable for our CDI program. We have seen measurable improvements in our CMI and CC/MCC capture rates, which have significantly augmented revenue capture," said Jennifer Hill, BSN, JD Assistant Director, Clinical Documentation, Inpatient Coding and HCC teams at OHSU.

Hear from Jennifer Hill, BSN, JD Assistant Director, on Tuesday from the Lightning Session Stage for more on empowering CDI teams with analytics to secure financial and clinical improvements.

"MedeAnalytics is committed to delivering innovative solutions to support our healthcare payer, provider and payvider clients, and we're thrilled to have three great presentations showcasing their remarkable outcomes," said Steve Grieco, CEO of MedeAnalytics. "The next-level capabilities we will be showcasing at the HIMSS23 Conference are a testament to our more than two decades of research and development, all aligned with our mission to deliver measurable value to our customers. We have unrivaled technology for data orchestration and interoperability, plus solutions with embedded augmented analytics capabilities, providing granular analytics and reporting not offered by EHRs and other systems."

MedeAnalytics will be showcasing its solutions at the upcoming 2023 HIMSS Global Conference & Exhibition in Chicago, Illinois. Attendees can visit MedeAnalytics at Booth #6011 or online at https://medeanalytics.com/landing/himss23.

# # #

About MedeAnalytics

MedeAnalytics is a leader in healthcare analytics, providing innovative SaaS solutions that enable measurable impact for healthcare payers and providers. With the most advanced data orchestration in healthcare, payers and providers count on us to deliver actionable insights that improve financial, operational and clinical outcomes. To date, we've helped uncover millions of dollars in savings annually. To learn more, visit www.medeanalytics.com, Twitter, LinkedIn, and The Impact Initiative: The MedeAnalytics Blog.

Media Contact:

Caryn Tomer

Senior Director, Marketing Communications for MedeAnalytics

618.579.9717

[email protected]

Contact Information

Caryn Tomer

Sr. Director, Marketing Communications

[email protected]

314-669-1784aaaaa

SOURCE: MedeAnalytics

View source version on accesswire.com:
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA / ACCESSWIRE / April 17, 2023 / Pearl Certification, the industry's foremost third-party certification program for high-performing homes, announces that Heather Elias, a real estate and marketing expert, will lead the company's Real Estate Division as its new Vice President.

Heather Elias, Pearl Certification

Heather Elias, long-time REALTOR and broker, joins Pearl Certification as its new Vice President of the Real Estate Division.

"I'm thrilled to join a purpose-centered company that is striving to transform the national housing market for good," said Elias. "The 'north star' of my nearly two decades of work in real estate has been to do everything I could to improve the industry, and this role gives me a unique opportunity to have a massive impact."

As a true pioneer of the real estate industry's digital era, Elias was one of the first real estate agents in the U.S. to leverage digital marketing to build a business by blogging about her local area when she became a REALTOR 19 years ago.

Prior to joining Pearl, Elias served as CEO of Artisan Consulting, advising numerous proptech companies as they expanded into the real estate industry. Her work included building and launching a national, referral-only real estate brokerage, creating and managing influencer/advocate programs, and developing recruiting and brand strategies for brokerages.

Elias's prior roles also included overseeing the social and digital strategy for the National Association of REALTORS as its Director of Social Business Practice and championing the brand story for Century 21 Redwood Realty, leading the brokerage's expansion to 12 offices and nearly 500 agents.

"Pearl is delighted to welcome Heather to a key role in Pearl's leadership team," said Robin LeBaron, co-founder and president of Pearl Certification. "She has an exceptionally broad and deep knowledge of the real estate industry, with experience that spans marketing and branding, policy, proptech, and on-the-ground work as a salesperson. Heather's leadership will be crucial to ensuring that Pearl continues to realize its brand promise - that energy-efficient, high-performing homes are properly valued at time of sale."

To learn more about bringing knowledge of high-performing homes to the real estate industry or to join the Pearl Network, please visit pearlcertification.com/real-estate-pros/.

About Pearl: Pearl Certification is the gold standard in high-performing home certifications, bringing visibility to the valuable features that make them healthy, safe, comfortable, and energy- and water-efficient. Pearl is the only national sponsor of the U.S. Department of Energy's Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program and is a partner with the National Association of REALTORS Green Resource Council. Pearl has certified and provided appraisal addenda on over 132,000 homes in 44 states and Washington, D.C. Pearl Certified homes sell on average for 5.5% more than comparable homes, according to independent appraiser studies. https://pearlcertification.com/

Contact Information

Caprice Johnson

Marketing Manager, Real Estate Division

[email protected]

(646) 463-2826

SOURCE: Pearl Certification

View source version on accesswire.com:
The new villages being built for the Pilbara's FIFO workforce are a significant development for the region, with the potential to improve living conditions for workers, boost productivity and reduce turnover rates.

PERTH, AUSTRALIA / ACCESSWIRE / April 16, 2023 / The Pilbara region of Western Australia has long been a hub for mining activity, with thousands of fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) workers travelling to the area for work. Until recently, the accommodations available for these workers have been limited, with many living in cramped, basic accommodation. That's set to change, as new resort-style accommodation villages are being built to cater to the Pilbara's FIFO workforce. Here, Techforce reveals everything to know.

Techforce

Techforce

According to Techforce, a leading recruitment and workforce management company with extensive experience in supplying qualified employees for a range of mining positions including rigger jobs and FIFO chef jobs Perth-wide, the new accommodation villages are designed to provide a comfortable, modern living environment for FIFO workers with private rooms for each worker in addition to amenities such as gyms and swimming pools plus communal areas for socialising and relaxing.

Techforce explains the new accommodation villages will have a range of benefits for workers in positions including mining chef jobs as well as employers. For workers, the improved living conditions are likely to lead to increased job satisfaction and a better work-life balance. The communal areas and social events will help to build a sense of community among workers, reducing feelings of isolation and loneliness.

For employers, Techforce says the new accommodation villages are likely to lead to increased productivity and lower staff turnover rates. By providing workers with comfortable, modern accommodation, employers can improve job satisfaction and reduce the likelihood of burnout or exhaustion.

Building these new accommodation villages is no small feat. The villages require a significant investment of time and money, with construction costs ranging into the millions of dollars. However, experts say that the investment is likely to pay off in the long run, as the improved living conditions are likely to lead to a happier, more productive workforce.

The new accommodation villages are likely to have a positive impact on the local economy too, creating jobs and generating revenue for local businesses. Techforce says the villages will also help to attract new workers to the region, as they provide a more appealing living environment than traditional FIFO accommodation.

To search for current positions including chef jobs and more, visit Techforce online.

About Techforce

Techforce Personnel is a national privately owned recruitment and workforce management company experienced in supplying qualified employees to a range of industries across Australia and New Zealand.

Contact Information

Techforce Personnel

Marketing Manager

[email protected]

(08) 6363 7040

SOURCE: Techforce

View source version on accesswire.com:
ServisFirst Bank, a subsidiary of ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE: SFBS), is pleased to announce the election of Dr. Betsy Bugg Holloway to the ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. and ServisFirst Bank Board of Directors.

ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. is proud to announce and welcome Dr. Betsy Bugg Holloway as a new Board Member, states Tom Broughton, ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. Chairman, President and CEO. Her outstanding leadership skills and impressive academic and global business experience make her an extremely valuable asset to ServisFirst Bancshares shareholders and customers.

Betsy Bugg Holloway, Ph.D.

Dr. Betsy Bugg Holloway is an accomplished global marketing executive with a long track record of innovative leadership and operational expertise in growing and improving organizations. She currently serves as Vice President for Advancement and Marketing for Samford University, where she leads all marketing, branding, and philanthropic initiatives for the university. Under Dr. Holloways leadership, Samford has experienced unprecedented growth in enrollment, fundraising, national reputation, awareness, recognition, and record levels of philanthropic engagement.

Before joining the universitys administration, Dr. Holloway served as Professor of Marketing, Dwight Moody Beeson Chair of Business, and Hackney Family Research Fellow in Samfords Brock School of Business. Additionally, Dr. Holloway was previously a Visiting Professor at Kiev Business School, the University of Jordan, and the Beijing Institute of Technology.

Dr. Holloway is also a well-known leader in her community, as she has a long history of admirable community and civic service. She currently serves on the Board of Directors and is a member of the executive committee and chair of the nominating committee for Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Alabama and is a member of the Board of Advisors for Founders Advisors. Dr. Holloway has served on several other Boards of Directors and executive committees across the state. She is a past president of the Rotary Club of Birmingham, the Omicron Delta Kappa national leadership honor society, and the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama (PARCA). She was also a founding board member and former chair of Scholarships for Kids and a trustee for the Alabama Symphony Orchestra Endowment, the IPC Foundation, and the Charles and Estelle Campbell Foundation. Dr. Holloway is a graduate of both Leadership Birmingham and Leadership Alabama and was the 2011 Aspen Institute Ideas Festival Scholar, among other numerous awards and recognitions she has received over the years.

Dr. Holloway earned her B.A. degree from Vanderbilt University, an M.B.A. degree from Samford University, and her Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Alabama.

For more information regarding ServisFirst Banks recent election, please contact Krista Conlin at [email protected]. For more about ServisFirst Bank, please visit www.servisfirstbank.com.

ABOUT SERVISFIRST BANK

ServisFirst Bank is a full-service commercial bank focused on commercial banking, correspondent banking, treasury management, private banking and the professional consumer market, emphasizing competitive products, state-of-the-art technology and a focus on quality service. Recently, the Bank announced that its assets exceed $14 billion. The Bank offers sophisticated treasury management products, Internet banking, home mortgage lending, remote deposit express banking, and highly competitive rates.

ServisFirst Bank was formed in May 2005, and has offices in Atlanta, Birmingham, Charleston, Charlotte, Dothan, Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery, Nashville, Northwest Florida, West Central Florida, and Western North Carolina. In April 2015, and annually thereafter, ServisFirst Bank has earned investment- grade ratings and a stable outlook from Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA), which measures companies financial fundamentals. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. files periodic reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Copies of its filings may be obtained at www.servisfirstbancshares.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230417005112/en/

Krista Conlin, [email protected]

Source: ServisFirst Bank
Kansas Gastroenterology, LLC and Columbia University Irving Medical Center Enroll First Patients in Nation in Clinical Trial of Boomerang Medical's Nerve Stimulation Device for Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Boomerang Medical, a women-led bioelectronic medicine company, has announced the enrollment of the first patients in its U.S. clinical trial evaluating the use of nerve stimulation as a potential treatment for Crohns disease and ulcerative colitis, the two most common forms of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). This study marks a significant milestone for the company, which was granted Breakthrough Device Designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) earlier this year for its bioelectronic technology targeting the treatment of IBD.

The trial will primarily examine the safety and performance of the device in patients with mild to moderately severe Crohns disease and ulcerative colitis, regardless of whether they have previously undergone advanced therapy such as biologics. Kansas Gastroenterology, LLC in Wichita, Kansas, enrolled the first patient in the study, followed by Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York, NY.

Crohns disease and ulcerative colitis remain very difficult to manage, despite the numerous approved biologic therapies available, said Michael Lievens, M.D., principal investigator for the Boomerang trial at Kansas Gastroenterology, LLC. The Boomerang clinical trial aims to investigate a novel alternative intervention  a device to treat IBD. We are excited to be investigating this promising new treatment.

The most fascinating aspect of this study is the possibility of managing IBD simply by stimulating the patients autonomic system to release anti-inflammatory mediators, said Marco Zoccali, M.D., FACS, principal investigator for the Boomerang trial at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

We are thrilled to enroll the first patients in this clinical trial of our breakthrough bioelectronic device for IBD, said Heather Simonsen, CEO of Boomerang Medical. This trial represents a major milestone in our efforts to develop a new therapeutic approach for patients suffering from Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. We are grateful for the support of our clinical trial partners and the FDA, and we look forward to advancing this important work.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a chronic, idiopathic inflammatory condition affecting the gastrointestinal tract. The two most common forms of IBD are Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Despite the availability of several approved biologic therapies, managing IBD remains a significant challenge. Non-response or loss of response to therapy is common, leaving patients to suffer from disease symptoms. In addition, surgical intervention is often required for medically refractory disease. As a result, there is a clear need for additional therapeutic options for IBD.

For more information about the clinical trial and Boomerang Medicals bioelectronic technology, please visit www.boomerangmedical.com.

About Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) is a leader in providing comprehensive patient care and offers a range of general and specialized medical, dental, and nursing services. We have more than 1,800 physicians, surgeons, dentists, and nurses in locations throughout the New York City metro area. Our knowledge of innovative treatments is enhanced by our compassion for patients and their families and a devotion to maintaining the highest standard of care.

For more information about Columbia University Irving Medical Center, visit https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/.

For information about our Colorectal and IBD Care Programs, please visit https://columbiasurgery.org/colorectal.

About Kansas Gastroenterology, LLC

Kansas Gastroenterology, LLC is a physician-owned practice where our priority is to deliver high quality efficient, compassionate, and patient-centered care. Our five physicians, six physician assistants, and staff are dedicated to providing the individual attention all patients deserve. We look forward to seeing patients for an office consultation, for a procedure in our Ambulatory Surgery Center, or in our new Infusion Center. Our Research department is continually reviewing opportunities to include patients in exciting and beneficial clinical trials.

About Boomerang Medical, Inc.

Boomerang Medical is a women-led bioelectronic medicine company on a mission to disrupt how we treat autoimmune diseases. Our innovative technology, granted Breakthrough Device Designation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), applies mild electrical impulses to peripheral nerves intended to decrease the inflammation caused by autoimmune disease. Headquartered in the heart of Silicon Valley on the campus of El Camino Hospital, Boomerang is a Company-In-Residence at the prestigious Fogarty Innovation incubator  the only healthcare-focused incubator/accelerator of its kind in the U.S.  giving us access to the brightest minds and expertise in the medical technology industry.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230417005883/en/

Pharoah Garma

[email protected]

(844) 423-9747

Source: Boomerang Medical, Inc.
CENTENNIAL, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- In the third paragraph, second sentence of release dated April 12, 2023, the spelling of Northrop Grumman has been updated.

The updated release reads:

CLEARANCEJOBS ENHANCED EMPLOYER PROFILE PUTS BRANDING IN SPOTLIGHT FOR GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AND CONTRACTORS

DHI Group, Inc. (NYSE: DHX) brand ClearanceJobs continues to gain traction with its latest product Enhanced Employer Profile. Enhanced Employer Profile enables government contractors and government agencies to attract in demand security-cleared talent by taking the standard Employer Profile on ClearanceJobs to the next level. This product boosts employer branding which gives employers an advantage while recruiting cleared professionals in a tight market.

Employer branding is critical to successful recruiting in the cleared space and, when done effectively, can broaden the pool of talent applying for positions. In today's candidate market, it's not enough to simply post jobs or attend networking events  employers must actively convey their company's culture, benefits, and the overall employment experience. Enhanced Employer Profile is a self-serve feature which enables employers to showcase their company and get creative with a multitude of layout configurations. Not only can employers engage candidates in a more meaningful manner, but in doing so theyll have the edge on competition.

Some of ClearanceJobs largest clients recognize the value of investing in Company Pages. Booz Allen Hamilton, Leidos, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, BAE, and Lockheed Martin have all increased spend with ClearanceJobs to promote their employer brand to cleared candidates.

As the market to entice security-cleared talent becomes even more difficult and employers try to find new ways to stand out from the competition, promoting values and culture are now table stakes, said Evan Lesser, Founder and President of ClearanceJobs. Employer branding used to be the icing on the cake. Today it is the cake.

Today, more candidates are researching companies' brands after finding an interesting job posting. According to ClearanceJobs, a majority of candidates identify a companys reputation as a key consideration when exploring new career opportunities. Candidates are less likely to fill out a job application for a company that is lacking in promoted culture.

The Enhanced Employer Profile allows employers to completely customize their company profile, building a destination for candidates interested in finding out more about a company. Recruiters can redistribute the order of content to their liking, use accordion blocks to save space, incorporate video and images in a visual gallery, and so much more with a host of media tools.

At ClearanceJobs, we understand the challenge of finding the purple squirrels, those perfect candidates with all the right attributes. Enhanced Employer Profile is another example of how were partnering with employers by giving the necessary tools to attract and impress that hard-to-hire cleared candidate, noted Mr. Lesser.

Learn more about Enhanced Employer Profile and how ClearanceJobs can enhance the cleared recruiting process at www.ClearanceJobs.com.

ClearanceJobs  About Us

Founded in 2002, ClearanceJobs is a modern marketplace for career opportunities in national security. We maintain a strong commitment to connecting security-cleared professionals and employers in a secure and private platform to fill the jobs that safeguard our nation. Our protected career marketplace allows industry employers and candidates the ability to connect, converse, and exchange opportunities. From instant messaging to deep personal and company branding, ClearanceJobs balances participation by giving every user  both employers and candidates  a platform to share, explore, and engage. With offices in Colorado and Iowa, ClearanceJobs (a DHI Group, Inc. brand) is the largest service focused solely on professionals with U.S. federal government security clearances.

DHI Group, Inc.  About Us

DHI Group, Inc. (NYSE: DHX) is a provider of AI-powered career marketplaces that focus on technology roles. DHI's two brands, Dice and ClearanceJobs, enable recruiters and hiring managers to efficiently search for and connect with highly skilled technologists based on the skills requested. The Company's patented algorithm manages over 100,000 unique technology skills. Additionally, our marketplaces allow technology professionals to find their ideal next career opportunity, with relevant advice and personalized insights. Learn more at www.dhigroupinc.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230412005101/en/

Investor Contact

Todd Kehrli or Jim Byers

MRK Investor Relations, Inc.

(212) 448-4181

[email protected]

Media Contact

Rachel Ceccarelli

VP Engagement

212-448-8288

[email protected]

Source: DHI Group, Inc.
Mr. Moreira to Enhance and Accelerate Expansion of Firms Business in Brazil

SAO PAULO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE: HLI), the global investment bank, announced today that Ronnie Vaz Moreira has been appointed as a Senior Advisor to assist the firm with its expansion in Brazil.

Mr. Moreira is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Andrade Gutierrez, a private multinational conglomerate where he also served as Chief Financial Officer. He previously was Chairman of the Board of Constellation Oil Services Holding; a Member of the Board of Directors of Grupo Baumgart; Executive Vice President of Light Servicos de Eletricidade; and CEO of Globo Comunicacoes e Participacoes. Prior experience also includes serving as Chief Financial Officer of Petrobras as well as senior roles at ABN AMRO, Banco Pactual, and Bank of Montreal. Mr. Moreira also has held numerous board assignments for financial sponsors across numerous sectors, including power generation, oil services and exploration, food, and retail, among others.

We are delighted that Ronnie has joined Houlihan Lokey as a Senior Advisor in Brazil, said David Hilty, Global Co-Head of Financial Restructuring at Houlihan Lokey. Having known and worked alongside Ronnie for more than two decades, I have no doubt his expert knowledge of the Brazilian markets will be crucially valuable to the growth of our business there and to our clients who seek our advice. His experience, market relationships, and deep understanding of the regional financial markets will all be highly additive to our ambitions and goals as we expand in Brazil.

Houlihan Lokeys long track record of success advising Brazilian clients, alongside its recent office opening in Sao Paulo, reflects the firms commitment to its clients here as well as its unique positioning as a trusted advisor in all types of markets. Im excited to amplify that commitment and join this next exciting phase of growth for Houlihan Lokey in Latin America, said Mr. Moreira.

We are pleased with the momentum we have achieved as we continue to build out our Brazilian operations, and Ronnies experience and advice as both we and our clients navigate increasingly complex and dynamic markets will serve as a steady hand and an invaluable source of guidance. I look forward to partnering with Ronnie to continue that momentum, realize the goals we have set for Houlihan Lokey, and deliver the best possible outcomes for our clients in Brazil, said Bruno Baratta, Houlihan Lokeys Head of Brazil.

About Houlihan Lokey

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE: HLI) is a global investment bank with expertise in mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, financial restructuring, and financial and valuation advisory. The firm serves corporations, institutions, and governments worldwide with offices in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific region. Independent advice and intellectual rigor are hallmarks of the firms commitment to client success across its advisory services. Houlihan Lokey is the No. 1 investment bank for global M&A transactions under $1 billion, the No. 1 M&A advisor for the past eight consecutive years in the U.S., the No. 1 global restructuring advisor for the past nine consecutive years, and the No. 1 global M&A fairness opinion advisor over the past 25 years, all based on number of transactions and according to data provided by Refinitiv.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230417005616/en/

Investor Relations

212.331.8225

[email protected]



Media Relations

917.331.1580

[email protected]

Source: Houlihan Lokey, Inc.
CALGARY, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- (TSE: IMO, NYSE American: IMO) Brad Corson, chairman, president and chief executive officer, and Dave Hughes, vice-president, investor relations, Imperial Oil Limited, will host a 2023 First Quarter Earnings Call on Friday, April 28, following the companys first quarter earnings release that morning. The event begins at 9 a.m. MT and will be accessible by webcast.

During the call, Mr. Corson will offer brief remarks prior to taking questions from Imperials covering analysts.

Please click here [https://event.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1606580&tp_key=24af6ed8e2] to register for the live webcast. The webcast will be available for one year on the companys website at www.imperialoil.ca/en-ca/company/investors.

In the event that the EDGAR system experiences technical difficulties or the company is unable to successfully complete its Form 8-K earnings press release filing at the intended time, investors and the public should look for this information at that time on Imperials website or on Canadas SEDAR system at www.sedar.com. In case of a failed filing, the company intends to furnish the information on EDGAR as soon as possible.

After more than a century, Imperial continues to be an industry leader in applying technology and innovation to responsibly develop Canadas energy resources. As Canadas largest petroleum refiner, a major producer of crude oil, a key petrochemical producer and a leading fuels marketer from coast to coast, our company remains committed to high standards across all areas of our business.

Source: Imperial

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230417005014/en/

Investor relations

(587) 476-4743

Media relations

(587) 476-7010

Source: Imperial
Primo Has Capitulated and Accepted Legion Partners Position in its Entirety

Views the Entire Episode of Primo Invalidating Nominees and Forcing Legion Partners and the Companys Shareowners to Waste Millions in Legal Fees as Nothing More than a Failed Entrenchment Tactic

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Legion Partners Asset Management, LLC, together with its affiliates (collectively, we or Legion Partners), is a significant shareowner of Primo Water Corporation (Primo, or the Company) (TSX/NYSE: PRMW). On March 22, Legion Partners was forced to file a lawsuit in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (the Court) against Primo in response to the rejection by the Board of Directors (the Board) of Legion Partners valid nomination of four independent, highly-qualified director candidates to the Primo Board.

Primo is reversing its position and has agreed to accept the nomination notice submitted by Legion Partners with respect to Legion Partners' nominees Henrik Jelert and Lori Tauber Marcus, and to reschedule the 2023 annual and special meeting of shareowners (the Annual Meeting). Primo has also agreed to refrain from interfering in the solicitation of Legion Partners proxies in any manner. All four of Legion Partners' nominees will now be standing for election to the Company's Board at the rescheduled Annual Meeting.

Legion Partners stated:

This outcome is confirmation of the position we have always taken: the actions by Primos Board  first attempting to invalidate our entire campaign and subsequently two of our nominees  were nothing more than a tactic to subvert the rights of shareowners. Primos assertion that it has abandoned its efforts to block shareowners from voting on the Legion Partners nominees due to expense and distraction associated with the litigation is not credible. Primos position in the litigation was meritless from the outset. Tellingly, Primo abandoned its position in the litigation before it had to file any evidence to justify its actions. The reality is that the attempt at invalidating our nominees has already cost Primo shareowners and Legion Partners millions of dollars in legal fees, and now is also resulting in the Company having to postpone its Annual Meeting to May 31, 2023, causing unnecessary confusion for shareowners and forcing both sides to incur significant additional costs given the need to mail all new proxy materials.

If Primo had simply recognized our valid nomination of all four of our nominees two months ago, millions of shareowner dollars would have been saved, the Annual Meeting would not be delayed by almost a month and a newly constituted Board could have been seated in just two weeks. We strongly believe that this Board has breached its fiduciary duties and all four of the directors we have targeted require replacement: Jeremy Fowden, Billy Prim, Eric Rosenfeld and Greg Monahan.

The behavior of Primos Board sets a troubling precedent. Companies should not be allowed to weaponize their bylaws in order to reject director nominations with no basis, and then force shareowners to bring costly litigation simply to have their nominees voted on. This is the definition of using corporate resources to the detriment of shareowners. In our view, the fact that the Board was willing to engage in this behavior, while wasting shareowner capital, underscores the need for significant change on the Primo Board.

Further, its important to remember that the rejection of our nomination notice was linked to the personal attacks Primo has levied against two of our nominees  attacks that are not true and are arguably defamatory. In our view, Primos about-face on the litigation calls into question its credibility on all related issues. Shareowners should send a strong message to this Board that these harmful efforts are unacceptable by electing all four of our nominees.

We are pleased that shareowners now have the chance to vote for all four of our highly-qualified nominees  Timothy Hasara, Henrik Jelert, Derek Lewis and Lori Tauber Marcus. We encourage shareowners to vote on our new WHITE universal proxy card, which we will be mailing soon.

About Legion Partners

Legion Partners is an activist investment manager based in Los Angeles, CA, focused on U.S. small-cap companies. Legion Partners seeks to generate attractive long-term returns employing deep fundamental research, a concentrated portfolio and responsible, collaborative engagement as a catalyst for value creation. Founded in 2012, Legion Partners takes a value-driven approach to managing a high-conviction portfolio on behalf of sophisticated institutional and individual investors. Learn more at www.legionpartners.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230417005692/en/

Investor Contact:

Saratoga Proxy Consulting LLC

John Ferguson / Joe Mills, 212-257-1311

[email protected]

Media Contact:

Longacre Square Partners

Scott Deveau / Dan Zacchei

[email protected]

Source: Legion Partners Asset Management, LLC
Egypt has brought back Daylight Saving Time (DST), known as Summer Time by Egyptians, during the period between the last Friday of April and the last Thursday of October. Ahram Online answers basic questions on whats and whys

What is Daylight Saving Time?

Daylight Saving Time (DST), which is known in Egypt as Summer Time, is the practice of advancing the clock by one hour during the summer months.

Why is DST back in Egypt?

The Egyptian Cabinet which made this call estimates that Daylight-Saving Time would save 10 percent in electricity consumption.

Which time zone will Egypt be under DST?

Egypt will be in the GMT+3 time zone rather than GMT+2.

What is the history of DST in Egypt?

Egypt applied DST for the first time in 1957.

The government discontuned its application in 1975.

The DST was reapplied between 1982 and 1985.

It made another run - a longer one - from 1988 to 2011.

It was reintroduced in May 2014 to lower electricity consumption amid electrical power outtages.

Where did Daylight Saving Time come from?

William Willet, a wealthy London builder, was the first to champion Daylight Saving Time in 1907 with the goal of increasing working hours.

Willet lobbyied other businessmen as well as parliament members to adopt Daylight Saving Time.

He proposed advancing clocks 20 minutes forward on Sundays in April and reverse the process on Sundays in September.

Despite Willet's efforts, Daylight Saving Time was not adopted in Britain until World War I.

During World War I, some countries, including Australia, Great Britain, Germany, and the United States, adopted Daylight Saving Time to save on fuel.

Again, during World War II, some nations applied DST for the entire duration of the conflict, also to save on fuel.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Matador Resources Company (NYSE: MTDR) (Matador or the Company) today announced plans to release first quarter 2023 operational and financial results after the close of trading on Tuesday, April 25, 2023. Management will also host a live conference call on Wednesday, April 26, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. Central Time to review first quarter 2023 financial results and operational highlights.

To access the live conference call by phone, you can use the following link https://register.vevent.com/register/BI9c40d9305d414fa0bbf5f0eefcb13b39 and you will be provided with dial in details. To avoid delays, it is recommended that participants dial into the conference call 15 minutes ahead of the scheduled start time.

The live conference call will also be available through the Companys website at www.matadorresources.com on the Events and Presentations page under the Investor Relations tab. The replay for the event will be available on the Companys website at www.matadorresources.com on the Events and Presentations page under the Investor Relations tab for one year.

About Matador Resources Company

Matador is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development, production and acquisition of oil and natural gas resources in the United States, with an emphasis on oil and natural gas shale and other unconventional plays. Its current operations are focused primarily on the oil and liquids-rich portion of the Wolfcamp and Bone Spring plays in the Delaware Basin in Southeast New Mexico and West Texas. Matador also operates in the Eagle Ford shale play in South Texas and the Haynesville shale and Cotton Valley plays in Northwest Louisiana. Additionally, Matador conducts midstream operations in support of its exploration, development and production operations and provides natural gas processing, oil transportation services, natural gas, oil and produced water gathering services and produced water disposal services to third parties.

For more information, visit Matador Resources Company at www.matadorresources.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230417005232/en/

Mac Schmitz

Vice President  Investor Relations

[email protected]

(972) 371-5225

Source: Matador Resources Company
LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Virgin Media O2 has selected Mavenir, the Network Software Provider building the future of networks with cloud-native solutions that run on any cloud, as its Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) vendor. Mavenir will also be the prime integrator, providing its Open virtualised Radio Access Network (Open vRAN) solution for sites on Virgin Media O2s network.

Virgin Media O2 will work with Mavenir to roll out a scalable Open vRAN solution as part of its network evolution plans and adopt a more flexible and cloud-native architecture.

Mavenirs Open vRAN solution is built from the ground up to be cloud-native, with fully containerised microservices allowing it to be deployed easily on any cloud. Mavenirs Open vRAN O-RAN compliant solution works on open interfaces supporting O-RAN Split 7.2x and Split 2.

It further disaggregates into Distributed Unit (DU) and Centralised Unit (CU). These entities work as containerised network functions running on Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) hardware containing Intel processors.

Designed to support multiple Fronthaul splits simultaneously, the vRAN solution provides a vendor-agnostic and future-proof architecture, leveraging Virgin Media O2s network infrastructure assets.

Mavenirs Open RAN system will consist of fully virtualised L1, L2 vRAN SW and will operate on Intel Xeon Scalable Processors, along with Intel vRAN Accelerator ACC100 and Intel 800 series Ethernet adapters. The delivery will also feature Mavenirs OpenBeam Radios including massive MIMO, 3rd party O-RAN based Radio Units (O-RU) for open Fronthaul, network monitoring and optimisation.

Jeanie York, Chief Technology Officer at Virgin Media O2, said: Through digitalising our networks, were seamlessly integrating our infrastructure to get more value from our existing assets. Extending our collaboration with Mavenir to the RAN for the first time will help us establish a future-proof Open vRAN architecture, unlocking the benefits of a multi-vendor open interface while allowing us to rapidly benefit from an end-to-end network solution.

Pardeep Kohli, President and CEO at Mavenir, said: Mavenirs Open vRAN cloud-native approach presents new pathways for automated networks to deliver on the use cases and data demands of today and beyond - driving network elasticity, flexibility and best-in-class automation. The Mavenir OpenBeam radio portfolio fully complements Virgin Media O2s full spectrum requirements and we look forward to playing an active role in unlocking network automation and openness in the RAN.

Cristina Rodriguez, Vice President Network and Edge Group at Intel, said: Open and virtualised RAN represents the future: a flexible and scalable software-defined network. Intel is pleased to collaborate with and be part of the Virgin Media O2 technology journey with Mavenir. Together we are delivering innovation, performance, and we are working towards more sustainable networks.

Notes to Editors

About Virgin Media O2

Virgin Media O2 launched on 1 June 2021, combining the UKs largest and most reliable mobile network with a broadband network offering the fastest widely-available broadband speeds. It is a customer-first organisation that brings a range of connectivity services together in one place with a clear mission: to upgrade the nation. Virgin Media O2 is the corporate brand of the 50:50 joint venture between Liberty Global and Telefonica SA, and one of the UKs largest businesses. The company has 47 million UK connections across broadband, mobile, TV and home phone. Its own fixed network currently passes 16.1 million premises alongside a mobile network that covers 99% of the nations population with 4G, and more than 1,600 towns and cities with 5G services targeting 50% population coverage in 2023.

About Mavenir

Mavenir is building the future of networks and pioneering advanced technology, focusing on the vision of a single, software-based automated network that runs on any cloud. As the industry's only end-to-end, cloud-native network software provider, Mavenir is focused on transforming the way the world connects, accelerating software network transformation for 250+ Communications Service Providers and Enterprises in over 120 countries, which serve more than 50% of the worlds subscribers. www.mavenir.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230316005006/en/

Mavenir PR Contacts:

[email protected]

Maryvonne Tubb (US)

Emmanuela Spiteri (EMEA)

Source: Mavenir
Growth-Oriented Leader to Drive Operational and Commercial Excellence Following Completed Merger with Techniks Tool Group

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Eppinger Technologies (Eppinger), a leading manufacturer of highly engineered OEM and aftermarket CNC tooling products and precision automation solutions, today announced that Jason Struthers has joined the company as President and Chief Executive Officer.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230417005296/en/

The appointment follows the successful completion of the previously announced merger between Eppinger and Techniks Tool Group (TTG). Eppinger Technologies is a portfolio company of Z Capital Partners, L.L.C., the private equity fund management arm of Z Capital Group, L.L.C. ("ZCG"), a leading privately held merchant bank. Mr. Struthers succeeds Dean Glover. Former Eppinger CEO Uwe Eppinger will continue to support the combined business as a Managing Director.

Mr. Struthers brings 30 years of commercial and operational leadership experience at public and private industrial manufacturing businesses. Most recently, he has been serving as a director of Flexible Robotic Environment, a privately owned manufacturer of robotic solutions for the fine jewelry industry. Previously, he was President and CEO of The Crosby Group, a global manufacturer of premium accessories for the lifting, rigging, and securement industry. There, he implemented various growth initiatives  including expanding into new vertical markets, regions and channels as well as implementing salesforce optimization strategies and tools  that led to the companys acquisition by one of the largest global alternative asset managers, and he was retained as CEO.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Struthers held various leadership roles at Kohler Co., IDEX Corporation, and Parker Hannifin Corporation, where he consistently delivered exceptional financial results through varying market cycles by leading diverse commercial teams and building customer-centric organizations. He has a B.S. in engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MBA from Ashland University.

Jason brings deep leadership experience and an exceptional track record of driving growth across the global manufacturing industry, said James Zenni, Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of ZCG. As Eppinger moves forward as a combined company with global reach, expanded manufacturing and distribution channels, and increased offerings for customers, Jason is uniquely positioned to further scale the business and achieve continued success. I look forward to working closely with him to deliver continued growth for the platform globally.

I am excited to work closely with Jim and the entire ZCG organization. Leveraging ZCGs expertise with Uwe and the newly merged Eppinger team, we will build on the companys strong foundation and nearly 100-year history of providing high-quality engineering and product offerings and service, said Mr. Struthers. I have a deep appreciation for Eppingers offerings and legacy, and I am confident that as a combined business with TTG, Eppinger Technologies will now deliver that focus and technology on a significantly broader scale.

Jason is an exceptional leader and business builder, and I am thrilled to welcome him to the Eppinger Technologies team as we integrate two complementary organizations and expand the services and capabilities we provide to customers, added Uwe Eppinger.

About Eppinger Technologies

Eppinger Technologies is a global leading mechanical engineering company supplying sophisticated, high precision automation solutions and tooling systems across the manufacturing space with expertise and product offerings across the aerospace, robotics, medical, automotive, defense, and energy industries.

Eppinger Technologies is a portfolio company of Z Capital Partners, L.L.C., the private equity fund management arm of Z Capital Group, L.L.C. ("ZCG").

For more information, please visit https://eppingertechnologies.com.

About ZCG

ZCG is a leading, privately held merchant bank comprised of private markets asset management, business consulting services, technology development and solutions.

For almost 30 years, ZCG Principals have invested tens of billions in capital and have industry leading track records in private equity and credit.

ZCG has approximately $6.5B of AUM in asset management and its investors are some of the largest and most sophisticated global institutional investors including pension funds, endowments, foundations, sovereign wealth funds, central banks, and insurance companies.

ZCG has a global team comprised of over 375 professionals. For more information, please visit www.zcg.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230417005296/en/

Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher

Tim Ragones / Kate Thompson / Erik Carlson

212-355-4449

Source: Eppinger Technologies
Tutor Perini Corporation (NYSE: TPC) (the Company), a leading civil, building and specialty construction company, announced today that its subsidiary, Lunda Construction Company, has been awarded a contract valued at approximately $62 million by the Minnesota Department of Transportation for Repairs to the I-494 Bridge over the Minnesota River in Bloomington, MN. The project scope of work includes pavement repair on I-494; reconstruction of the regional trail; replacement of bridge joints; repair of the bridge deck, beam ends and railings; reconstruction of bearings; replacement of highway lighting; and repair/replacement of drainage systems.

Work is expected to begin immediately with substantial completion anticipated in the summer of 2026. The contract value will be included in the Companys first-quarter 2023 backlog.

About Tutor Perini Corporation

Tutor Perini Corporation is a leading civil, building and specialty construction company offering diversified general contracting and design-build services to private clients and public agencies throughout the world. We have provided construction services since 1894 and have established a strong reputation within our markets by executing large, complex projects on time and within budget while adhering to strict quality control measures.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230417005196/en/

Tutor Perini Corporation



Jorge Casado, 818-362-8391



Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications



www.tutorperini.com

Source: Tutor Perini Corporation
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up a dismissed racketeering case General Motors (NYSE: GM) brought against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, now known as Stellantis (NYSE: STLA). The denial was included in a daily order list from the court on Monday.

The justices turned away an appeal by General Motors of a lower court's dismissal of its lawsuit that accused Fiat Chrysler of bribing employee union officials in a bid to undermine GM and pressure the Detroit-based automaker into a merger with FCA.

Stellantis in a statement praised the court's decision.

"We are pleased that the U.S. Supreme Court has denied GMs latest attempt to resuscitate the baseless claims that GM has sought to bring in various forms in multiple jurisdictions. Todays decision upholding the district courts dismissal of GMs lawsuit is another reaffirmation that its claims are meritless. We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously against these allegations and we will not be distracted from our focus on competing and winning in the marketplace," according to a statement provided by Stellantis spokeswoman Shawn Morgan.

GM brought a civil lawsuit in 2019 under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a law designed to target organized crime, claiming FCA bribed United Auto Workers (UAW) union officials over many years to corrupt the bargaining process and gain advantages, costing GM billions of dollars. GM sought an estimated $6 billion in damages.

A federal judge in Michigan dismissed the lawsuit in 2020, saying GM's alleged injuries were not legally caused by FCA's conduct. The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last August agreed.

"Even accepting GM's theory as true, the chain of causation between FCA's bribes and GM's injury is still too attenuated," the 6th Circuit wrote.

A separate federal corruption investigation led to at least 17 criminal convictions, including former FCA employees and two former UAW presidents, after FCA and UAW officials admitted embezzling funds for their personal benefit. In 2021, FCA US was sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to making more than $3.5 million in illegal payments to UAW officers.

Shares of GM are up 0.80% while STLA is down 1.56% in afternoon trading.

By Michael Elkins | [email protected]
Indonesian investment minister Bahlil Lahadalia announced Sunday that Volkswagen will build an electric vehicle (EV) battery ecosystem in Indonesia and will partner with miner Vale, Ford and China's battery minerals producer Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt.

Minister Lahadalia said on Sunday that Volkswagen, Europe's biggest automaker, will work with Vale, Ford, Huayou, French miner Eramet and several Indonesian firms like Merdeka Gold Copper, the parent company of Merdeka Battery, and energy firm Kalla Group.

Automakers have been courting Indonesia for its raw materials used in producing EV batteries, which account for about 40% of a vehicle's sticker price, aiming to cut costs.

The partnerships would consist of joint ventures and supply raw materials, Bahlil said in a video statement.

"Indonesia is an important and interesting country in terms of raw materials and we are in a positive exchange with the government and suppliers," Volkswagen said in a statement.

Last month, Ford (NYSE: F) inked its first investment in Indonesia by joining Vale Indonesia and Huayou in a $4.5 billion nickel processing plant in Southeast Sulawesi.

Volkswagen last month said it plans to invest 180 billion euros ($193 billion) over five years in areas including battery production and raw material sourcing.

Shares of F are up 0.24% in pre-market trading on Monday.

By Michael Elkins | [email protected]
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- American Potash Corp. KCL-CSE ("American Potash" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce that it has entered into a new option agreement (the "Option Agreement") with LiK Resources LLC, a private Houston-based exploration company ("LiK"), on its Green River Potash and Lithium Project, located in the Paradox Basin, Utah (the "Project").



The Option Agreement replaces the previous option agreement entered into by the Company and LiK on December 17, 2021. To earn a 70% interest in the Project, LiK must now:

make cash payments of $150,000 (USD) (received).



-advance $3 million USD to the Company by April 28, 2023, to be used exclusively for permitting and drilling the first exploratory well under the supervision of a mutually agreed upon top-tier industry consultant.



complete two separate Pre-Feasibility Studies; one for lithium and one for potash, evaluating a minimum of six mineral leases or claims within the Project by December 31, 2024.



commission a valuation of the Project by an independent, mutually agreed upon third-party, to be delivered 90 days from the completion date of the Pre-Feasibility Studies; and



in the event LiK is a publicly traded company with a market capitalization of more than one hundred million dollars ($100 million USD), transfer one million dollars($1millionUSD) worth of its common shares to the Company within forty-five days of completion of the Pre-Feasibility Studies and valuation of the Project.



Following completion of the above requirements, LiK will be deemed to have earned a 70% interest in the Project. LiK may then elect to acquire the remaining 30% from the Company by making a cash payment based on the valuation, within 90 days of the date of its completion. If LiK does not elect to purchase the remaining 30%, the parties will then enter into a joint venture to further develop the Project.

The Option Agreement applies only to the Companys 11 State of Utah mineral leases and 128 Federal placer mining claims, and excludes areas subject to the Potash Permit Applications which are currently under final review by the BLM (Bureau of Land Management).

Upon receipt of the $3million USD advance referred to above, the Company intends to immediately commence discussions with select consultants to obtain quotes for managing, supervising and drilling the first exploratory well The first well which the parties have agreed to drill is referred to as Duma Point and is located approximately a half mile west of an historical oil and gas well which indicated a potash interval of 5.9 meters with a composite grade of 24% KCL from gamma-log data. Drilling is anticipated to begin within the next four months.

About the Green River Potash and Lithium Project

A NI 43-101 Technical Report by Agapito Associates Inc. states that the Green River Potash and Lithium Project hosts an Exploration Target estimated to contain 600 million to 1 billion tons of sylvinite grading between 19% to 29% KCL*.

This target was modelled utilizing gamma-log data from 33 historical oil and gas wells within and near the project area, and based on a specific stratigraphic horizon know as Cycle 5. This is one of the same horizons that Intrepid Potash Inc., Americas largest potash company, produces from at their nearby Moab solution mine, providing strong evidence of stratigraphic continuity within this part of the Paradox Basin.

The Company holds a 100% interest in eleven State of Utah (SITLA) mineral and minerals salt leases covering over 7,000 acres, 128 Federal lithium brine placer claims covering 2,650 acres, and is in the final stages of the application process for 11 Federal (BLM) Potash Exploration permits comprised of approximately 25,000 acres.

Significantly, three of the State leases and a large area covered by the Federal (BLM) Potash Permit applications, lie within or border, an area designated for future potash and brine and processing, including energy efficient solar evaporation ponds.

Located only 20 miles northwest of Moab, Utah, the project has significant logistical advantages including close proximity to major rail hubs, airport, roads, water, towns and labour markets.

The U.S. imports more than 90% of its annual potash requirements, and domestic producers receive a higher sales price due to proximity to market; as of March 31st,2023, the muriate of potash price was quoted at $562.50 USD per tonne (fob Vancouver) - Intrepid Potash, Americas largest potash producer, reported receiving an average realized price for potash of $713 USD per ton in 2022***.

Kent Ausburn, PhD, PG, a qualified person within the meaning of NI-43-101 and a director of the Company has reviewed and approved for the technical details of this release.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Jonathan George, President & CEO

Neither the OTCQX nor the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

*Agapito Associates Inc. Technical report (October 2012) quantifies the Green River Potash Projects potash exploration potential in the form of a NI 43-101 Exploration Target. The Exploration Target estimate was prepared in accordance with the National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). It should be noted that Exploration Targets are conceptual in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define them as Mineral Resources, and, while reasonable potential may exist, it is uncertain whether further exploration will result in the determination of a Mineral Resource under NI 43-101. The Exploration Target stated in the Agapito Report is not being reported as part of any Mineral Resource or Mineral Reserve.

**Intrepid Potash Inc. Press Release March 6th ,2023

Forward Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking information (within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation) that involves various risks and uncertainties regarding future events. Such forward-looking information includes statements based on current expectations involving a number of risks and uncertainties and such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance of the Company, and include, without limitation, statements relating to plans for future exploration and the magnitude and quality of the mineralization at the Green River Potash and Lithium Project. There are numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and the Company's plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information in this news release, including without limitation, the following risks and uncertainties;; (i) risks inherent in the mining industry; (ii) regulatory and environmental risks; (iii) results of exploration activities and development of mineral properties; (i) risks relating to the estimation of mineral resources; (v) stock market volatility and capital market fluctuations; and (vi) general market and industry conditions. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. This forward-looking information is based on estimates and opinions of management on the date hereof and is expressly qualified by this notice. Risks and uncertainties about the Company's business are more fully discussed in the Company's disclosure materials filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada at www.sedar.com. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from such information unless required by applicable law.

1100-1199 West Hastings St.

Vancouver, BC Canada V6E 3T5

T 604 803 5838

E [email protected]

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8e2bdd67-7597-4d1c-9027-6340e9bed47b

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0b8f4ffd-959b-4157-8efc-12ebe152fa55

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e7a83395-b26b-43e7-9923-dc555d0bc30f
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Arras Minerals Corp. (TSX.V: ARK) (Arras, or the Company) is pleased to announce the detailed voting results of the proposals considered at its annual meeting of shareholders held on April 13, 2023 (the Meeting) as well as the appointment of Matthew Booth to Vice President of Exploration.

Annual General Meeting

A total of 14,319,748 or 20.9% of the Companys issued and outstanding shares were represented at the Meeting.

The Companys shareholders have voted to set the number of directors to seven (7) (12,159,049 or 99.1% voted For, and 116,603 or 0.9% voted Against).

The following nominees, as listed in Arras management information circular, were elected as directors of the Company:

Director Votes For % Withheld Votes % Brian Edgar 12,059,854 98.2% 215,798 1.8% Timothy Barry 12,100,079 98.6% 175,573 1.4% Darren Klinck 12,100,410 98.6% 175,242 1.4% G. Wesley Carson 12,088,322 98.5% 187,330 1.5% Daniel Kunz 12,011,422 97.8% 264,230 2.2% Vera Kobalia 12,068,454 98.3% 207,198 1.7% Christian Milau 12,094,347 98.5% 181,305 1.5%

Arras is also pleased to announce that the Companys shareholders have ratified and approved the appointment of Smythe LLP as the Companys auditors, for the fiscal year ending October 31, 2023 (14,209,690 or 99.2% voted For, and 110,058 or 0.8% abstained from voting).

Full details of the proposals are fully described in the Companys management information circular filed on March 14, 2023 available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Appointment of Matthew Booth as Vice President of Exploration

Mr. Matthew Booth is a seasoned geologist with 20 years experience predominantly in Latin America and Australia working in a variety of greenfields, brownfields and production environments. He will be relocating to be based in Kazakhstan later this year.

Tim Barry, CEO, commented, We are very pleased to welcome Matt to the Arras Minerals team. He brings a wealth of geological experience to the team, especially related to porphyry and epithermal mineralizing systems. Over the last 18 months Arras has assembled an expert team of local and international geologists, community relations experts and logistics personnel, and has significant drilling and exploration programs planned for this year.

About Matthew Booth: Matt holds a masters degree in Mineral Exploration from University of Leicester and has over 20 years field exploration experience, predominantly in Latin America. Over the course of his career Matt has worked as Exploration Manager for Golden Minerals in Mexico, and Exploration Manager of Peru for First Quantum Minerals Ltd. and is a Qualified Person member of the American Institute of Professional Geologists (CPG 12044).

About the Beskauga Deposit: The Beskauga deposit is a gold-copper-silver deposit with an Indicated Mineral Resource of 111.2 million tonnes grading 0.49 g/t gold, 0.30% copper, and 1.3 g/t silver for 1.75 million ounces of contained gold, 333.6 thousand tonnes of contained copper, and 4.79 million ounces of contained silver and an Inferred Mineral Resource of 92.6 million tonnes grading 0.50 g/t gold, 0.24% copper and 1.1 g/t silver for 1.49 million ounces of contained gold, 222.2 thousand tonnes of contained copper, and 3.39 million ounces of contained silver. The constraining open pit was optimized and calculated using a Gross Metal Value (GMV) cut-off of $20/tonne based on a price of $1,750/oz for gold, $3.50/lb for copper, $22/oz for silver, and with an average recovery of 85% for copper and 74.5% for gold and 50.0% for silver.

Qualified Person: The technical information of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Tim Barry, a Chartered Professional Geologist MAusIMM CP(Geo), and a qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

"Tim Barry" Tim Barry, MAusIMM (CP(Geo))Chief Executive Officer and Director

INVESTOR RELATIONS: +1 604 687 5800 [email protected]

Further information can be found on the Companys website https://www.arrasminerals.com or follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/arrasminerals or Twitter: https://twitter.com/arrasminerals

About Arras Minerals Corp.

Arras is a Canadian exploration and development company advancing a portfolio of copper and gold assets in northeastern Kazakhstan, including the Option Agreement on the Beskauga copper and gold project. The Company has established the third-largest license package in the country (behind Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group) prospective for copper and gold in the country. The Companys shares are listed on the TSX-V under the trading symbol ARK.

Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors concerning estimates of Measured, Indicated, and Inferred Resources: This press release uses the terms measured resources, indicated resources, and inferred resources which are defined in, and required to be disclosed by, NI 43-101. The Company advises U.S. investors that these terms are not recognized by the SEC. The estimation of measured, indicated and inferred resources involves greater uncertainty as to their existence and economic feasibility than the estimation of proven and probable reserves. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that measured and indicated mineral resources will be converted into reserves. The estimation of inferred resources involves far greater uncertainty as to their existence and economic viability than the estimation of other categories of resources. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that estimates of inferred mineral resources exist, are economically mineable, or will be upgraded into measured or indicated mineral resources. Under Canadian securities laws, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or other economic studies.

Disclosure of contained ounces in a resource is permitted disclosure under Canadian regulations, however the SEC normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute reserves by SEC standards as in place tonnage and grade without reference to unit measures. Accordingly, the information contained in this press release may not be comparable to similar information made public by U.S. companies that are not subject NI 43-101.

Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding future events and Arras future results that are subject to the safe harbors created under the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the Exchange Act, and applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements include, among others, statements regarding the use of net proceeds from the recent private placement, plans and expectations of the drill program Arras is in the process of undertaking, including the expansion of the Mineral Resource, and other aspects of the Mineral Resource estimates for the Beskauga project. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts, and projections about Arras exploration projects, the industry in which Arras operates and the beliefs and assumptions of Arras management. Words such as expects, anticipates, targets, goals, projects, intends, plans, believes, seeks, estimates, continues, may, variations of such words, and similar expressions and references to future periods, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond managements control, including undertaking further exploration activities, the results of such exploration activities and that such results support continued exploration activities, unexpected variations in ore grade, types and metallurgy, volatility and level of commodity prices, the availability of sufficient future financing, and other matters discussed under the caption Risk Factors in the Management Discussion and Analysis filed on the Companys profile on SEDAR on February 24, 2023 and in the Companys Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed on February 24, 2023 available on www.sec.gov. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual results or developments may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement made by the Company in this release is based only on information currently available and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments, or otherwise.

Source: Arras Minerals Corp.
CALGARY, Alberta, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PHX Energy Services Corp. ("PHX Energy" "we" "our" or the "Corporation") (TSX: PHX) is pleased to announce the release of our 2022 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and Sustainability Report, highlighting our 2022 performance, initiatives related to sustainability, ethical business practices and social responsibility.

We are committed to our ongoing ESG journey, focused on measurable objectives, data driven decisions, continual improvement and transparent communication. We are proud to share our commitment with our stakeholders, including these highlights from our 2022 ESG Report.

We focused on aligning our ESG program and reporting with SASB and TCFD and we are proud to say our ESG and Sustainability Report contains all relevant disclosure set forth by SASB and TCFD.

We undertook the process of mapping our companywide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and established our baseline for scope 1 and scope 2 emissions, which will aide us in further implementing GHG reduction strategies.

We established an environmental committee, comprised of employees in both Canada and the US, who meet monthly to discuss environmental goals, strategies and tactics.

We continued to evolve our workplace culture to ensure we maintain an environment where each individual feels safe, valued, and respected and did so through initiatives such as our employee engagement surveys, diversity training for supervisors and managers and a new development and assessment procedure.

For the second consecutive year we achieved silver status on our EcoVadis Assessment improving our ranking from the 80th percentile to the 88th.

We proudly and diligently maintained a safe work environment as evidenced by the feedback from our safety engagement survey and our Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) of 0.47, which is well below industry average.

We built upon the responsibilities in our Nomination and Corporate Governance Committee and Board of Directors Mandates to provide more in depth and clearly defined oversight related to ESG matters, including climate change.

Our full 2022 ESG and Sustainability Report is available on our website at www.phxtech.com.

About PHX Energy Services Corp.

PHX Energy, through its directional drilling subsidiary entities, provides horizontal and directional drilling technology and services to oil and natural gas producing companies in Canada, the US and Albania.

The common shares of PHX Energy are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "PHX". For further information please contact: John Hooks, CEO; Michael Buker, President; or Cameron Ritchie, Senior Vice President Finance and CFO

PHX Energy Services Corp. Suite 1400, 250 2nd Street SW Calgary, Alberta T2P 0C1 Tel: 403-543-4466 Fax: 403-543-4485

Source: PHX Energy Services Corp.
Nashville, Tenn., April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ramsey Solutions is celebrating 10 years of honoring teachers with a teacher appreciation giveaway during April, which is National Financial Literacy Month. This year, the Army National Guard is presenting the Ramsey Teacher Appreciation Giveaway for pre-K through 12th-grade teachers. One teacher will win a $5,000 vacation of their choice, and two additional teachers will each win a $3,000 vacation of their choice. Educators can register now through April 30 at ramseysolutions.com/teacher.

Teachers are crucial to students and a big part of what we do here at Ramsey Solutions, said Jim King, the executive vice president of Ramsey Education. The work they put in during their day, and even outside of their typical hours, speaks to the devotion they have toward improving the lives of their students. To recognize educators in this small way through the teacher appreciation giveaway, its my hope they will feel encouraged to continue this important work of educating the next generation.

As more states require a personal finance course to graduate high school, new research shows the importance of learning solid money principles early. The Financial Literacy Crisis in America 2023 report reveals nearly 3 in 4 Americans said if theyd learned more about personal finance in high school, they wouldve made fewer mistakes with money. Currently, only 17% of U.S. adults said they took a personal finance course in high school.

Ramsey Educations Foundations in Personal Finance curriculum has helped to bridge that gap for more than 6 million students in middle schools, high schools and universities whove been enrolled in a class that uses the curriculum. The easy-to-use lessons meet standards in all 50 states as well as national standards for personal finance. It has now been used in more than 45% of high schools nationwide. Trusted by educators for more than 15 years, Foundations in Personal Finance teaches students how to budget, save, spend wisely, invest and give generously  lessons thatll last a lifetime. For more information on Foundations in Personal Finance, visit ramseysolutions.com/education. About The Financial Literacy Crisis in America | The Financial Literacy Crisis in America is a biannual research study conducted by Ramsey Solutions to gain an understanding of personal growth behaviors, attitudes and opinions of everyday Americans. The nationally representative sample with 2,353 U.S. adults was fielded from Dec. 2 to Dec. 6, 2022, using a third-party research panel. About Ramsey Education | Ramsey Education, a division of Ramsey Solutions, was created more than 20 years ago in response to the common statement about personal finance, I wish I had learned this in high school! In 2008, Ramsey Solutions developed Foundations in Personal Finance, a personal finance curriculum for high school students that has since impacted the lives of over 6 million students. With additional personal finance curriculum for higher education institutions and a high school entrepreneurship curriculum, Ramsey Education wants to see every student in America enter adulthood with the knowledge and skills to handle money confidently and ultimately live up to their fullest potential.

Sara Gammell Ramsey Solutions 615.983.4765 [email protected]

Source: Ramsey Solutions
Slovakia became the third European Union country to ban food imports from Ukraine on Monday, deepening the challenge for the bloc as it works to help Ukraine transport its grain to world markets.

Slovakia followed Poland and Hungary, both of which announced bans Saturday on Ukrainian food imports through June 30. They did so in response to rising anger from farmers who say that a glut of grain in their countries is causing them economic hardship.

The EUs executive branch, the European Commission, manages trade on behalf of the 27 member countries and objects to them taking unilateral or uncoordinated measures.

At a briefing in Brussels, two spokespeople stressed gratitude to Poland and other Central European countries for supporting Ukraine, but said a solution must be found that respects the EU legal framework.

We are dealing with a war, right? And this war has consequences, obviously, on farmers and more generally, the population in Ukraine and the European Union and its member states, said Eric Mamer, chief spokesperson.

He acknowledged that Poland and other countries have been doing their utmost in order to help Ukraine, adding: So this is not about sanctioning. This is about finding solutions based on EU law in the interests at the same time of the Ukrainians and of the EU."

EU countries that neighbor Ukraine have asked the EU to treat the matter of Ukrainian food with urgency, saying they cant allow their own farmers to bear the cost of disruption that Ukrainian agriculture products are causing to their markets.

A delegation of Ukrainian officials visited Warsaw on Monday for government consultations on the issue. Poland faces an election in the fall and farmer groups have been protesting to urge action.

Hungarys agriculture minister, Istvan Nagy, said the surge in Ukrainian products on European markets had made it impossible for Hungarian farmers to remain competitive.

Nagy also said low production costs in Ukraine, owing to practices being used that are not permitted in EU countries, had allowed Ukraine to export large quantities of poultry, eggs and honey to the European market, driving costs down to unsustainable levels.

The Slovak Agriculture Ministry announced last week that tests of 1,500 tons of grain from Ukraine in one mill in Slovakia revealed it contained a pesticide banned in the EU. As a result, the Slovak authorities decided to test all Ukrainian grain in the country and temporarily banned its processing.

Its ban will affect imports of grain and also some other food, including sugar, hops, flax, hemp, fruits and vegetables and products made of them, vine, honey and honey products. Slovak Agriculture Minister Samuel Vlcan said the ban that takes effect Tuesday will remain in place until further notice and doesnt apply for transit.

Ukraine and Russia are both major global suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other affordable food products that developing nations depend on. The war upended those supplies to Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia where people were already going hungry and helped push millions more people into poverty or food insecurity.

After the eruption of the war in Ukraine, it became too dangerous for ships to sail in the Black Sea, disrupting the flow of large ships carrying food to distant markets. Shipments resumed under a deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey.

The EU reacted to the crisis by lifting tariffs and other trade duties on Ukraine to help keep its economy afloat. That helped to divert Ukraines grain flows destined for Africa and the Middle East through Europe  but much of this food has instead remained in the bordering countries, creating a glut that has caused high losses for local farmers.

The EU measures expire in June, but the EU is expected to renew them.

Ukraine's EU neighbors are, with the exception of Hungary, allies of Ukraine who favor their neighbors future membership in the EU.

Yet already the EUs decision to banish tariffs for Ukrainian goods as a result of the war in Ukraine underlines the challenges that would come with integrating a huge food producer with the rest of the bloc.

Ian Mitchell, an economist and London-based co-director of the Europe program at the Center for Global Development, said its unusual for EU member states to take unilateral trade action.

Mitchell, who specializes in agriculture and trade, argued that the move undermines the solidarity of the EU and shows the power of farmers voices in politics. He described it as an attempt to get the EU to provide more support for the agricultural industry, even though aid is already generous for farmers in Eastern and Central Europe.

Youre a consumer in Hungary, Slovakia or Poland, then effectively the government has just ensured that youre going to be paying a higher price for your food, Mitchell said. The balance of the food lobby is so powerful that it can get the government to do that even in a cost-of-living crisis.

Their bans come as Russia threatens to pull out of the Black Sea deal. Moscow is complaining that a separate agreement to facilitate exports of Russian food and fertilizers amid Western sanctions hasnt worked.

Global food commodity prices surged to record levels after the war in Ukraine and have been falling steadily since, but food is still expensive for people in many places because of factors like droughts, trade restrictions and the high cost of buying imported food priced in dollars as some emerging economies currencies weaken.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online

Search Keywords:

Short link:


TORONTO, Ontario, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rhyolite Resources Ltd. (TSXV: RYE) (Rhyolite or the Company) reports that its Chief Financial Officer, Cybill Tsung, has resigned her position to pursue other opportunities effective May 5, 2023. Rhyolite will appoint Mr. Quinn Martin as CFO effective May 5, 2023. In the coming weeks, Ms. Tsung will assist with the transition of duties to Mr. Martin, including the completion of Rhyolites 2022 annual financial statements.

"I would like to thank Cybill, who has been an integral part of Rhyolite over the past two and a half years, for her contribution and for making this transition as smooth as possible and wish her continued success in her future endeavors," says Rhyolite CEO Richard Graham.

Mr. Martin is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA) with over 17 years experience working with public companies in a variety of sectors. He currently provides CFO services to reporting issuers working in the mineral resource and biotechnology sectors, and also provides financial reporting consultancy services to numerous public companies in varying industries on Canadian Exchanges. Previously, Mr. Martin had spent 8 years working in assurance services for public companies at Davidson & Company LLP, where he was a Principal until his departure in 2018. He obtained his Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree at Thompson Rivers University in 2005 and received his Chartered Accountant (CPA) designation in 2009. Mr. Martin is currently a Principal at Donaldson Brohman Martin CPA Inc.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes certain forward-looking statements under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of 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; delay or failure to receive regulatory approvals; the ability to attract financing on these terms or at all; the price of commodities; and the results of current exploration. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as 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.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

For further information, please contact:

RHYOLITE RESOURCES LTD.Richard Graham, P.Geo.Chief Executive Officer[email protected]

Source: Rhyolite Resources Ltd.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 17, 2023) - Defence Therapeutics Inc. (CSE: DTC) (FSE: DTC) (OTC Pink: DTCFF) ("Defence" or the "Company"), a Canadian biopharmaceutical company specialized in the development of immune-oncology vaccines and drug delivery technologies, is pleased to announce that it commenced comparing the therapeutic potency of "naked" to AccumTM-linked mRNA in immunocompetent mice. This first set of studies aims to validate a recently achieved milestone regarding the establishment of a mRNA conjugation protocol.

With Defence's AccumTM-mRNA vaccine engineering and synthesis completed, the final established product and an SOP has been finalized to be able to apply the same method to any chosen mRNA molecule combined with AccumTM to create a new platform vaccine technology.

The current study is divided into two main parts. The first part consists of administering the vaccine to animals as a prime-boost vaccination protocol with animal bleeding to be performed every two weeks over a period of 6 weeks. These blood samples will be then used to quantify by ELISA the antibody titer induced by both mRNA vaccines. To simplify logistics, the study is focused on an mRNA vaccine encoding the ovalbumin protein. The vaccine is admixed with the R848 adjuvant (a TLR ligand) and administered intramuscularly.

Once this analysis completed, another set of animals will be used to test the therapeutic potency of Defence's AccumTM-mRNA vaccine. In this case, animals will be first transplanted with a solid T-cell lymphoma expressing the ovalbumin antigen. Two to three days later following tumor transplantation, mice will receive a prime-boost injection of Defence's AccumTM-mRNA vaccine and tumor growth will be followed thereafter.

"These in vivo tests are of extreme importance to our strategic growth as they will reveal how the AccumTM technology can be adapted to synergise with mRNA vaccines," says Mr. Plouffe, CEO of Defence Therapeutics.

mRNA vaccines were recently shown to be advantageous compared to other vaccination modalities but their immunogenicity and stability remain challenging. Based on the previously observed effects when AccumTM was applied to protein-based vaccines, Defence is convinced that AccumTM will increase the stability of mRNA molecules by enhancing structural integrity of the molecule and could in addition significantly augment their bio-accumulation and efficient translation in target cells resulting in a stronger immune-reactivity.

Defence is developing its own novel AccumTM-linked mRNA vaccines for multiple cancer indications. In parallel, the Company is actively working on establishing partnerships with companies currently testing/developing mRNA vaccines for both immune-oncology and infectious disease indications.

The mRNA therapeutics market size is projected to surpass around USD 128.14 billion by 2030 and growing at a registered CAGR of 13.03% from 2022 to 2030 according to Precedence Research.

https://www.precedenceresearch.com/mrna-therapeutics-market#:~:text=The%20mRNA%20therapeutics%20market%20size,forecast%20period%202022%20to%202030.

About Defence:

Defence Therapeutics is a publicly-traded biotechnology company working on engineering the next generation vaccines and ADC products using its proprietary platform. The core of Defence Therapeutics platform is the ACCUMTM technology, which enables precision delivery of vaccine antigens or ADCs in their intact form to target cells. As a result, increased efficacy and potency can be reached against catastrophic illness such as cancer and infectious diseases.

For further information:

Sebastien Plouffe, President, CEO and Director

P: (514) 947-2272

[email protected]

www.defencetherapeutics.com

Cautionary Statement Regarding "Forward-Looking" Information

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include regulatory actions, market prices, and continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.

Neither the CSE nor its market regulator, as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE, accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/162599
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 17, 2023) - Destiny Media Technologies (TSXV: DSY) (OTCQB: DSNY), the makers of Play MPE, a cloud-based SaaS solution for digital asset management in the music industry, today announced financial results for its fiscal 2023 second quarter ended February 28, 2023.

"Revenue continued to improve throughout the quarter," said Fred Vandenberg, President and CEO. "Growing independent label and artist distribution, increased global list offerings, and price adjustments all contributed to a foreign exchange-adjusted revenue increase of 7%. These results were partially offset by a decline in the value of the Euro where the Company generates 50% of its revenue."

"Our focus for the quarter was increasing our investments in product development designed to expand the addressable market and accelerate revenue growth," continued Vandenberg.

Highlights

Highlights for Q2 2023 include (all figures are USD, and comparisons are to Q2 2022):

Foreign exchange-adjusted revenue increased 7% for the quarter (including increases in Major Label revenue (+9%), independent record label revenue (+5%));

Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) was $63,984 for the quarter compared to an EBITDA loss of ($109,211) in the prior period. As described below, the Company commenced capitalizing certain software developments in the prior year. Assuming no software development costs were capitalized in either period, EBITDA for the quarter would be ($137,494) compared to ($191,472) for Q2 fiscal 2022;

During the quarter the Company capitalized $201,478 in software development costs (prior year's quarter $82,261) as the Company invested in new product development intended to expand the Company's addressable market.

Fiscal 2023 Second Quarter Earnings Webinar

Destiny Media Technologies will hold a live webinar on Monday, April 17 at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time) to discuss its 2023 second quarter results.

The live webinar will include comments from President, Chief Executive Officer, Fred Vandenberg, and Director of Business Development, Allan Benedict.

Date: Monday, April 17, 2022

Time: 2:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time)

Attendees are encouraged to register prior to the scheduled time at the following:

https://investors.dsny.com/investors/financials/

or directly on the REGISTRATION FORM by clicking here.

Attendees viewing the webinar can voluntarily submit verbal questions during the live presentation. Attendee cameras will remain off throughout the presentation. Attendees' microphones will remain off unless the attendee voluntarily selects to engage in questions similar to the format available on traditional conference call format.

The webinar format will provide the Company an opportunity to present visual information and provide attendees an opportunity for questions.

For those without internet access, the webinar can be accessed via the following dial in details:

Direct dial in: +1 312 626 6799 or +1 253 215 8782

Webinar ID: 850 1233 0609

Attendees participating via dial in will not have access the webinar video stream, and will not have access to question and answer functions.

A recording of the webinar will be available after the event on https://investors.dsny.com/investors/financials/.

Destiny Media Technologies Inc.

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(Expressed in United States dollars)

As at February 28, 2023

2023 2022 $

$

ASSETS Current Cash and cash equivalents 1,974,019 2,095,928 Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $41,148 (August 31, 2022- $39,518)

531,982 483,774 Other receivables 48,320 29,600 Prepaid expenses 50,097 83,242 Deposits 32,069 33,305 Total current assets 2,636,487 2,725,849 Property and equipment, net 237,497 311,792 Intangible assets, net 953,792 529,717 Total assets 3,827,776 3,567,358 LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY Current Accounts payable 103,072 116,290 Accrued liabilities 367,521 319,738 Deferred revenue 26,070 21,043 Total current liabilities 496,663 457,071 Total liabilities 496,663 457,071 Commitments and contingencies - - Stockholders' equity Common stock, par value $0.001, authorized 20,000,000 shares.

Issued and outstanding - 10,122,261 shares (August 31, 2022 - issued and outstanding 10,122,261 shares) 10,122 10,122 Additional paid-in capital 9,190,090 9,115,848 Accumulated deficit (5,382,475 ) (5,639,465 ) Accumulated other comprehensive loss (487,624 ) (376,218 ) Total stockholders' equity 3,331,113 3,110,287 Total liabilities and stockholders' equity 3,827,776 3,567,358

Destiny Media Technologies Inc.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

(Expressed in United States dollars)

Period ended February 28, 2023

2023 2022 $ $ Service revenue 899,042 896,420 Cost of revenue Hosting costs 25,526 45,611 Internal engineering support 12,883 13,812 Customer support 73,008 78,266 Third-party and transactions costs 15,177 13,622 126,594 151,311 Gross margin 772,448 745,109 86% 83% Operating expenses General and administrative 175,345 314,941 Sales and marketing 258,300 251,875 Product development 312,904 367,311 Depreciation and amortization 35,952 26,574 782,501 960,701 Income from operations (10,053 ) (215,592 ) Other income Interest and other income 8,777 1,964 Gain on disposal of assets - 11,018 Income before provision for income taxes (1,276 ) (202,610 ) Current income tax expense - - Net income (1,276 ) (202,610 ) Foreign currency translation adjustments (18,922 ) 1,961 Total comprehensive income (20,198 ) (200,649 ) Net income per common share, basic and diluted 0.00 (0.02 )

About Destiny Media Technologies Inc.

Destiny Media Technologies ("Destiny") provides software as service (SaaS) solutions to businesses in the music industry solving critical problems in distribution and promotion. The core service, Play MPE (www.plaympe.com), provides promotional music marketing to engaged networks of decision makers in radio, film, TV, and beyond. More information can be found at www.dsny.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements that reflect current views with respect to future events and operating performance. Any such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in these forward-looking statements. Destiny Media Technologies is not obligated to update these statements in the future. For more information on the Company's risks and uncertainties relating to those forward-looking statements, please refer to the Risk Factors section in our Annual Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2022, which will be available on www.sedar.com or www.sec.gov.

Contact:

Fred Vandenberg

CEO, Destiny Media Technologies, Inc.

604 609 7736 x236

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/162601
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 17, 2023) - Fjordland Exploration Inc. (TSXV: FEX) (the "Company") announces that it has received notice from Ivanhoe Electric BC Holding Limited ("Ivanhoe Electric") that it is terminating its investment agreement with Fjordland in the South Voisey's Bay ("SVB") Project, effective immediately. Fjordland currently owns a 75% interest in the project, with Commander Resources Ltd. owning the balance. Under the existing agreement with Commander, Fjordland has the option to increase its interest to 100% by expending $4 million in exploration expenditures, together with additional cash and shares, by October 31, 2024. The 150 square kilometer SVB project is in good standing with the Newfoundland and Labrador government until at least mid-2027. Due to exiting the venture, Mark Gibson, Ivanhoe Electric's Chief Operating Officer, has resigned from Fjordland's Board of Directors.

"We appreciate the time, effort and expenditures that Ivanhoe Electric put into evaluating the South Voisey's Bay project since they first entered into the agreement in 2017," said James Tuer, President and CEO of Fjordland Exploration. "While we are disappointed that the agreement has been terminated, we remain committed to creating value for our shareholders by advancing this world-class nickel exploration asset, whether on our own or with the help of another senior nickel explorer."

In 2022, Fjordland completed a small drill program which was cut short by poor performance from the drilling contractor. The one hole completed at the Worm gabbro reached a target depth of 420 m. Gabbro was intersected between 206 m and 260 m and from 400 m to the end of the hole. Assays failed to show any significant amounts of mineralization, however, there were obvious sulfide inclusions within the core suggestive of the potential for nearby mineralization. Recent re-interpretation of borehole EM from work completed in the late nineties across the entire property has generated some significant off-hole conductors that need to be tested. As demonstrated by several recent high grade nickel discoveries, world class nickel projects can be found within metres of near barren drill holes using this technique. Fjordland plans to create an exploration program in order to attract new investment or a partner to test these anomalies.

The company gratefully acknowledges the Newfoundland and Labrador Ministry of Natural Resources' Junior Exploration Assistance (JEA) program for its financial support that aided the 2021 LT Squid MLTEM survey and the 2022 drill program.

About Fjordland Exploration Inc.

Fjordland Exploration Inc. is a mineral exploration company that is focused on the discovery of large-scale economic metal deposits in Canada.

In collaboration with Commander Resources Ltd., Fjordland is exploring the SVB "Pants Lake Intrusive" target which is in a geologic setting analogous to the nearby nickel-cobalt-copper Voisey's Bay deposit. Fjordland has earned a 75% interest in the project.

Fjordland, owns a 100% interest in the Renzy nickel-project located near Maniwaki, Quebec. The project encompasses the former Renzy Mine where, during the period from 1969 to 1972, 716,000 short tons were mined with average grades of 0.70% nickel and 0.72% copper. Fjordland has staked additional claims to increase the size of the project to 530 sq. km.

As well, Fjordland has two copper-gold properties in the Quesnel Trough of central British Columbia, The West Milligan copper-gold project is a joint venture with Northwest Copper Corp. located within 4 km of Centerra's Mount Milligan copper-gold mine. The 103 sq. km. Witch copper-gold project is located another 35 km west of the Milligan mine.

Robert Cameron, PGeo, is a qualified person within the context of National Instrument 43-101 and has read and takes responsibility for the technical aspects of this release.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

"James Tuer"

James Tuer, CEO

For further information:

James Tuer

Ph: 604-688-3415

[email protected]

www.fjordlandex.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes certain forward-looking statements or information. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this news release, including, without limitation, statements regarding the use of proceeds from the private placement, and other future plans and objectives of the Company are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's plans or expectations include market prices, general economic, market or business conditions, regulatory changes, timeliness of government or regulatory approvals and other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators. The Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/162694
Sebset Digital Agency announces the release of a new book by Anthony Thomas Parker, "Life's Poems and Their Genesis Stories", a collection of personal experiences and memories that have been transformed into poems about life and love.

Swanton, Vermont--(Newsfile Corp. - April 17, 2023) - Anthony Thomas Parker's new book, announced by Sebset Digital Agency, is a unique blend of poems and short stories, "from the heart and for the soul", that will take readers on a journey through his life experiences, sharing insights and lessons that he has learned along the way.

Further details are available at https://www.amazon.com/author/atp





Inspiring Soulmate Love Poems For Wife: New Poetry Book Announced By Sebset

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8814/162378_60b1a8b4b4c13b81_001full.jpg

In "Life's Poems and Their Genesis Stories," readers will find a collection of poems that reflect the author's own life experiences and love for his wife. Mr. Parker's words, each carefully chosen to accurately communicate his romantic feelings, evoke an emotional response in the reader. Each poem is accompanied by its own backstory, giving context and a deeper insight into the life of the author.

According to Sebset Digital Agency, "Life's Poems and Their Genesis Stories" is a must-read for anyone who enjoys poems about life and love. Mr. Parker is a master storyteller, and his new book is not just about love but also about life lessons. His stories are intimate and touching, taking readers on a journey of self-discovery and healing. He shares his personal experiences, and readers will learn how each poem was inspired and what he learned from each experience.

Now retired, Mr Parker has dedicated his time to the creation of "Life's Poems and Their Genesis Stories", his first published book. Within its pages, the author shares his experiences of love, work and his extensive travels, told in both poetry and prose.

"Life's Poems and Their Genesis Stories" is available in both paperback and Kindle versions on Amazon. Interested parties can find out more details at https://www.amazon.com/author/atp

Contact Info:

Name: Anthony Parker

Email: [email protected]

Organization: Tall Oaks Inc. DBA Sebset

Address: 59 Mallard Lake Trail, Swanton, Maryland 21561, United States

Website: https://talloakscorp.com/

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/162378
This Announcement contains inside information as defined in Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation No. 596/2014 ("MAR"). Upon the publication of this Announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 17, 2023) - Thor Explorations Ltd. (TSXV: THX) (AIM: THX) ("Thor Explorations" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an operational update for the Segilola Gold mine, located in Nigeria ("Segilola"), and for the Company's mineral exploration properties located in Nigeria, Senegal and Burkina Faso for the three months to March 31, 2023 (the "Quarter" or "Q1").

Highlights

Segilola Production

Gold production of 20,629 ounces ("oz") during the Quarter at an average grade of 2.95 grammes per tonne ("g/t") of gold ("Au")

Segilola Near-Mine Exploration

Identification of new high grade quartz vein system within 15km of Segilola, with multiple high grade drillhole intercepts including 1m at 310g/tAu which equates to 10 ounces of gold per ton

Douta Exploration

Mineral Resource Estimate ("Douta Resource") updated to approximately 1.78 million ounces ("Moz") of gold, an increase of 144% in total resource as compared with the 2022 maiden mineral resource estimate declared for Douta in November 2021

Douta Resource constrained within optimised pit shells and comprised of: an initial Indicated Mineral Resource of 20.2 million tonnes ("Mt") grading 1.3 g/t Au for 874,900 oz Au; and Inferred Mineral Resource of 24.1 Mt grading 1.2 g/t Au for 909,400 oz Au

Douta Resource supported by a total of 64,567 metres of drilling

Updated Douta Resource encompasses the Makosa, Makosa Tail and the recently discovered Sambara prospects, all of which remain open along strike and down dip

Drilling is ongoing at Douta with a further 40,000 metre drilling program to be completed in 2023 consisting of diamond drilling and reverse circulation drilling. Mineralisation remains open along strike between the known prospects with further growth potential along 20 kilometres of under-explored prospective strike length covered by the Douta exploration permit

Corporate

Senior debt facility with Africa Finance Corporation ("AFC") amended and restated to facilitate the Company's growth opportunities

Senior debt facility reduced to $27.9 million as at 31 March 2023

Outlook

FY 2023 production guidance range remains at 85,000 to 95,000 oz of gold weighted towards the second half of the year

H1 2023 drilling programs: Resumption of drilling at Segilola aimed at increasing resources for potential future transition to underground operation and mine life extension Step-out drilling at Douta project in Senegal, aimed at further increasing existing resource Continuation of drilling at Segilola regional targets Initial program at the Company's new Malete prospect

Completion of the Douta preliminary feasibility study ("PFS") in Q4 2023

Applications for and acquisition of identified prospective exploration properties in Nigeria

Continued exploration programs across exploration portfolio in Nigeria

Segun Lawson, President & CEO, stated:

"I am pleased to report another quarter of solid production at Segilola for Q1 2023. The planned west wall push-back is progressing and we are well positioned for an increase in gold production following its completion late in Q2 2023 as the mine head grade improves over the next 3-6 months."

"The 2023 Mineral Resource Estimate at Douta has more than doubled the contained gold within the Douta permit to over 1.7 million ounces, with the Indicated Resource component of the resource alone exceeding 870,000 oz of gold. This is an excellent result and we're targeting further growth of the total resource as we proceed with a further 40,000 metres of drilling over the course of the year."

"Exploration is continuing on a number of greenfield opportunities in Nigeria which are delivering encouraging results as highlighted by our recent ten oz per ton drillhole intersection near Segilola. We have also continued to evaluate potential opportunities to leverage our technical capabilities and first mover advantage in Nigeria and I look forward to presenting our progress in this respect in Q2 2023."

Production and Sales update

In Q1 2023, mined and processed ore were 198,425 tonnes and 231,001 tonnes respectively. The average mine head grade was 2.85 g/t and processed grade 2.95 g/t, blended from mining and existing stockpile.

Gold production during the Quarter was approximately 5% lower than planned due to lower production drilling rates as a result of more challenging ground conditions (large boulders) at the upper levels of the western push-back. Approximately 25% of total material mined and 31% of mined ore during the Quarter was from lower grade areas which were originally planned to be mined later in the year. Mining of this area has now been mostly completed and the deficit is expected to be recovered later in the year as operations re-align with the 2023 mine plan.

At the end of the Quarter, an additional two production drilling rigs and fourteen new haul trucks were imported by the mining contractor in order to prepare for the planned step-up in production over the next 12 months. The drilling rigs have been commissioned and are now in operation and the haul trucks have been released from Lagos port and are en-route to site.

Process plant operations were impacted by the lower than planned mine head grade. Recoveries are generally correlated to mill feed grade and consequently, recovery reduced to 94.1% for the Quarter.

The process plant throughput continued to be well above design during the Quarter. A modification of the CIP circuit to CIL is currently being implemented in order to increase the residence time for carbon adsorption and the existing agitators are to be replaced with a larger model in order to improve circulation in the tanks. These enhancements are due to be completed in Q4 2022 and are aimed at further improving process plant recoveries.

Ore stockpile of 270,215 tonnes of ore grading 1.14 g/t containing approximately 9,931 oz compared to Q4 2022 of 300,531 tonnes of ore grading 1.48 g/t containing approximately 14,323 oz

Gold in-circuit of approximately 1,643 oz compared to Q4 2022 of 1,031 oz.

During the Quarter, Segilola exported 21,322 oz of payable gold and 1,989 oz of payable silver.

Units Q1 2023 Q4 2022 Q3 2022 Q2 2022 Q1 2022 Mining Total Mined Tonnes 4,194,689 4,296,494 4,018,431 4,031,584 3,759,524 Waste Mined Tonnes 3,996,264 3,974,073 3,793,249 3,747,504 3,533,610 Ore Mined Tonnes 198,425 322,421 225,182 284,079 226,314 Grade g/t Au 2.85 3.51 4.43 3.63 2.68 Processing Ore Processed Tonnes 231,001 254,824 241,434 211,582 221,900 Grade g/t Au 2.95 3.38 3.58 3.66 3.18 Recovery % 94.1 95.0 95.5 95.5 94.1 Gold Recovered oz 20,629 26,331 26,523 23,785 21,343

Further details can be found on the Company's website: www.thorexpl.com

About Thor Explorations

Thor Explorations Ltd. is a mineral exploration company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of mineral properties located in Nigeria, Senegal and Burkina Faso. Thor Explorations holds a 100% interest in the Segilola Gold Project located in Osun State, Nigeria and has a 70% economic interest in the Douta Gold Project located in south-eastern Senegal. Thor Explorations trades on AIM and the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "THX".

THOR EXPLORATIONS LTD.

Segun Lawson

President & CEO

For further information please contact:

Thor Explorations Ltd

Email: [email protected]

Canaccord Genuity (Nominated Adviser & Broker)

Henry Fitzgerald-O'Connor / James Asensio / Thomas Diehl

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7523 8000

Hannam & Partners (Broker)

Andrew Chubb / Matt Hasson / Jay Ashfield / Franck Nganou

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7907 8500

Fig House Communications (Investor Relations)

Tel: +1 416 822 6483

Email: [email protected]

Ibu Lawson (Investor Relations)

Tel: +447909825446

Email: [email protected]

BlytheRay (Financial PR)

Tim Blythe / Megan Ray / Said Izagaren

Tel: +44 207 138 3203

NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR FOR

DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. WIRE SERVICES

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/162610
Paid press release content from The Financial Capital. The StreetInsider.com news staff was not involved in its creation.

Abu Dhabi Capital Group shows optimistic attitude about Chinas digital medical sector and evaluating participation in MedSci Health HK IPO



In an recent interview, Al-Balaghi Praveen Ahmed from Abu Dhabi Capital Group, said that the focus of Middle Eastern capital has shifted towards Asia, particularly China, due to their promising economic growth after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ahmed mentioned that the group is optimistic about China's digital medical sector and has noticed the Chinese government's recent efforts to encourage the integration of information technology into healthcare platforms, resulting in improved internet medical applications. Ahmed further stated that the group has been gradually increasing its investment in China's digital healthcare sector, including its portfolio companies such as JD Health and Ping An Good Doctor, which have performed well financially in 2022.

Ahmed further explained that the group is exploring investment opportunities in Chinese companies that are planning to go public in Hong Kong and US. After a period of low activity, the IPOs in the Hong Kong market are becoming reasonable and have room for arbitrage.

The group is also reportedly negotiating with banks and evaluating the possibility of investing in the IPO debut of MedSci Healthcare, an internet-based physician service platform that provides digital marketing of pharmaceutical products, online physician research assistance, real-world research services, and paid medical knowledge.

Ahmed believes that MedSci has a business model and main business that can comparable with Doximity (DOCS.US) and M3 (2413.JP), which represent the mega stocks and market leader in the US and in Japan respectively. MedSci is the leader in China's digital healthcare market, which is still in its early stages, with high potential growth rates and low penetration rates.

Ahmed also noted that its interested to find that MedSci is similar to another Hong Kong listed Chinese company, Medlive (2192.HK). In terms of business and performance, MedSci out-perform Medlive in 2022, but has a lower valuation, making its IPO an attractive investment opportunity.

Abu Dhabi Capital Group's interest in China's capital markets is not surprising given the recent entry of Middle East capital into the Chinese market. For example, on March 27th, Saudi Aramco strategically invested RMB 24.6 billion in Rongsheng Petrochemical, a Chinese A-share listed company, with a 10% stake. On March 22nd, JD Group's subsidiary, JD Industrial, announced the completion of a $300 million B-round of financing, with Mubadala Investment Company and UAE investment fund 42XFund as lead investors.

Abu Dhabi Capital Group, one of the most well-known investment groups in the UAE, manages assets exceeding $20 billion and collaborates with other UAE investment institutions, such as the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Mubadala Investment Company.

Contact Info:

Name: Sylvie Young

Email: Send Email

Organization: Abu Dhabi Capital Group

Website: https://www.adcg.ae



Release ID: 89094560

If you detect any issues, problems, or errors in this press release content, kindly contact [email protected] to notify us. We will respond and rectify the situation in the next 8 hours.
Paid press release content from The Financial Capital. The StreetInsider.com news staff was not involved in its creation.

Sebset Digital Agency announces the release of a new book by Anthony Thomas Parker, "Life's Poems and Their Genesis Stories", a collection of personal experiences and memories that have been transformed into poems about life and love.



Anthony Thomas Parker's new book, announced by Sebset Digital Agency, is a unique blend of poems and short stories, "from the heart and for the soul", that will take readers on a journey through his life experiences, sharing insights and lessons that he has learned along the way.

Further details are available at https://www.amazon.com/author/atp

In "Life's Poems and Their Genesis Stories," readers will find a collection of poems that reflect the author's own life experiences and love for his wife. Mr. Parker's words, each carefully chosen to accurately communicate his romantic feelings, evoke an emotional response in the reader. Each poem is accompanied by its own backstory, giving context and a deeper insight into the life of the author.

According to Sebset Digital Agency, "Life's Poems and Their Genesis Stories" is a must-read for anyone who enjoys poems about life and love. Mr. Parker is a master storyteller, and his new book is not just about love but also about life lessons. His stories are intimate and touching, taking readers on a journey of self-discovery and healing. He shares his personal experiences, and readers will learn how each poem was inspired and what he learned from each experience.

Anthony Thomas Parker has enjoyed a varied career in science and engineering, using the expertise gained during study for his masters degree from Pennsylvania State University. In later years, he utilized his broad industry experience to undertake consulting work. Mr. Parkers private passion for writing inspired his more recent career change when he began copywriting for the industries he had previously worked for around the world. He is also the co-founder of two companies, Sebset Digital Marketing Agency and EpicCopywriter.com.

Now retired, Mr Parker has dedicated his time to the creation of "Life's Poems and Their Genesis Stories, his first published book. Within its pages, the author shares his experiences of love, work and his extensive travels, told in both poetry and prose.

"Life's Poems and Their Genesis Stories is available in both paperback and Kindle versions on Amazon. Interested parties can find out more details at https://www.amazon.com/author/atp

Contact Info:

Name: Anthony Parker

Email: Send Email

Organization: Tall Oaks Inc. DBA Sebset

Address: 59 Mallard Lake Trail, Swanton, Maryland 21561, United States

Website: https://talloakscorp.com/



Release ID: 89094380

If you detect any issues, problems, or errors in this press release content, kindly contact [email protected] to notify us. We will respond and rectify the situation in the next 8 hours.
KUALA LUMPUR, Apr 17, 2023 - (ACN Newswire) - - SYNERGY HOUSE BERHAD, a cross-border e-commerce seller and furniture exporter of ready-to-assemble (RTA) home furniture, has entered into an underwriting agreement with Kenanga Investment Bank Berhad (Kenanga IB) for the Group's upcoming initial public offering (IPO) on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad.

Prior to entering into the agreement, the Group had earlier obtained the approval from Bursa Securities for admission to the Official List as well as the listing of its shares on the ACE Market of Bursa Securities.

In conjunction with its listing, Synergy's IPO exercise will comprise a total of 130.0 million shares including a public issue of 80.0 million new shares representing 16.0% of the enlarged issued share capital. The IPO shares from the public issue will be allocated in the following manner:

1. 25.0 million shares representing 5.0% of the enlarged issued share capital to be allocated via balloting to the Malaysian public;

2. 12.5 million shares representing 2.5% of the enlarged issued share capital to be allocated to eligible directors, employees and persons who have contributed to the Group ("Eligible Persons");

3. 30.0 million shares representing 6.0% of the enlarged issued shares to be allocated to selected investors by way of private placement; and

4. 12.5 million shares representing 2.5% of the enlarged issued shares capital to be allocated to Bumiputera investors approved by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry ("MITI").

The IPO exercise also includes an offer for sale of 50.0 million existing shares representing 10.0% of the enlarged issued share capital which will be made available by way of private placement to Bumiputera investors approved by the MITI.

Under the underwriting agreement, Kenanga IB will underwrite the 25.0 million new shares made available to the Malaysian public and the 12.5 million existing shares made available to Eligible Persons.

Executive Director of Synergy House, Mr. Tan Eu Tah said, "The signing of the underwriting agreement marks an important milestone for us as it brings us one step closer towards being a listed company. We would like to extend our gratitude to Bursa Securities for granting the approval for our listing. We are also pleased to have Kenanga IB on board as our Principal Adviser, Sponsor, Underwriter and Placement Agent. Our IPO will provide us the capital to grow our business which business model we have adopted since 2004. Since 2004, we have focused solely on the design, development and sales of RTA home furniture and outsource all manufacturing works to third party manufacturers."

Executive Director of Synergy House, Mr. Teh Yee Luen said, "The funds raised via the IPO will enable us to continue to grow our business-to-consumer ("B2C") segment which we started in 2012. Our sales from our B2C segment have increased from RM1.99 million in the financial year ended ("FYE") 31 December 2019 to RM24.78 million in FYE 31 December 2021 at a compound annual growth rate of 252.88%. In tandem with our strategy to continue growing our B2C segment, part of our IPO proceeds will be used to purchase inventories for our B2C segment as well as for the implementation of e-commerce advertising and promotion strategies.

Executive Director, Head of Group Investment Banking and Islamic Banking of Kenanga IB, Datuk Roslan Hj Tik said, "We would like to thank Synergy House for having us onboard for the Group's IPO exercise. The Group's decision to focus solely on design, development and sales of RTA home furniture has been pivotal for its growth. We believe that the Group will be able to continue to leverage its design and development capabilities to further expand its business through the listing. Our best wishes to the Group on this new journey and we look forward to supporting Synergy House in its future endeavours."

Synergy House Bhd: https://www.synergyhouseberhad.com/

Copyright 2023 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
Company Launches New Regional Structure and Aspect Fine Wine Strategy in California

NEW YORK , April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Breakthru Beverage Group today announced it has completed the acquisition of California -based wholesaler Wine Warehouse, which is now operating as Breakthru Beverage California. The Wine Warehouse team, its facilities in both northern and southern California and its strong, diverse portfolio of wine, spirits and beer suppliers are all part of the Breakthru integration. The company also announced it is bringing Aspect, its specialized fine wine solution, to the California market. The Aspect team of fine wine certified experts will enhance service to select retail and on-premise accounts.

"The Myerson family built Wine Warehouse around its passion as fine wine collectors and has by far the most prestigious fine wine portfolio in California but they also assembled an excellent portfolio of emerging spirits and beer brands along the way," said Tom Bene, Breakthru Beverage Group President and CEO. "Launching Aspect Fine Wine is the first of many investments we intend to make in the business. We couldn't be more excited about the dedicated and experienced team on the ground and the opportunities to serve customers in California ."

Breakthru Beverage California will be led by acting EVP Greg Akins and operate within the parent company's newly defined West Region , which also includes Arizona , Colorado and Nevada . As the company optimizes how it supports local markets and leverages capabilities across its footprint, Breakthru will now operate as four North American Regions under the leadership of Chief Operating Officer Julian Burzynski .

"This regional model leaves financial responsibility at the market-level while ensuring we deliver an even better, more consistent experience for our enterprise-wide partners," Burzynski explained.

In addition to a fine wine portfolio serviced by Aspect wine certified experts, Breakthru will also assume a significant portfolio of spirit and beer brands. Breakthru has a long and successful legacy as a high-performing TBA wholesaler. It intends to bolster the efforts of the legacy team with additional sales supports, commercial tools and business intelligence capabilities to reach deeper and broader into both on and off-premise accounts throughout the state.

" California is a critical market to our growth strategy and with the best professionals in the business, strong supplier relationships and a differentiating and scalable model, Breakthru is well positioned to earn more business and further accelerate growth," Bene added.

The addition of California expands Breakthru's footprint to 16 markets, with more than $7.5 billion in annual sales revenue.

About Breakthru Beverage Group

Breakthru Beverage Group is one of the leading alcohol wholesalers in the United States and the largest broker in Canada representing a full total beverage alcohol portfolio of spirits, wine and beer. Breakthru is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion and supports a wide range of notable organizations as well as local charitable initiatives across its North American footprint. Across all markets, Breakthru aligns a nimble and insightful approach to sales, marketing and operations. Family ownership is active in the business and committed to being stewards of heritage and champions of innovation. For more information, visit www.BreakthruBev.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/breakthru-beverage-group-closes-acquisition-of-wine-warehouse-301799104.html

SOURCE Breakthru Beverage Group
A US helicopter raid on Monday targeted a senior Islamic State group leader in Syria suspected of plotting attacks in Europe and the Middle East, US Central Command said.

"US Central Command forces conducted a unilateral helicopter raid in northern Syria in the early morning... targeting a senior ISIS Syria leader and operational planner," Centcom said in a statement, using another acronym for IS.

The target of the strike was "responsible for planning terror attacks in the Middle East and Europe", it alleged.

"The raid resulted in the probable death of the targeted individual" while "two other armed individuals were killed", the statement said, without identifying any of them.

No civilians or US troops were hurt, the statement added.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strike "targeted the building where an IS member was present" in Al-Suwaydah, a village about 25 kilometres (15 miles) west of the town of Jarabulus on Syria's northern border with Turkey.

The Observatory, a Britain-based war monitor that relies on sources on the ground, said the strike killed the main target and two other fighters.

The IS member had previously been imprisoned in Kurdish-held Manbij, south of Jarabulus, according to the Observatory.

He had taken refuge in the Al-Suwaydah area around six months earlier under the protection of a pro-Turkish group, it added.

Local residents told AFP that the man was killed as he was trying to flee and that his body was handed over to one of his brothers.

- 'Desire to strike' -

A Turkish-backed rebel group deployed in the Al-Suwaydah area said in a statement that two of its fighters were killed after they went to the site of the raid.

Many former IS militants joined pro-Turkish groups after the jihadists lost their last scraps of territory in Syria in March 2019, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.

Earlier this month, the US military said it had launched a strike in Syria killing senior IS leader Khalid Aydd Ahmad al-Jabouri, who Centcom said was responsible for planning attacks in Turkey and Europe.

In October 2019, Washington announced it had killed IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in an operation in northwestern Syria.

His two successors have also been killed: the first in a US operation in northwestern Syria and the second in an operation by former Syrian rebels in the country's south.

Some 900 US troops remain in Syria, most in the Kurdish-administered northeast, as part of a US-led coalition battling remnants of IS, which remains active in both Syria and neighbouring Iraq, operating out of hideouts in desert and mountain areas.

IS "remains able to conduct operations within the region with a desire to strike beyond the Middle East", Centcom chief General Michael Kurilla was quoted as saying in Monday's statement.

In separate attacks on Sunday, suspected IS fighters killed at least 36 truffle hunters and five shepherds in Syria, the Observatory reported, with 17 pro-regime fighters among the dead.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Ossining, NY : May 13, 2023

OSSINING, N.Y. , April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The world-renowned Cassatt String Quartet returns to Bethany Arts Community for an afternoon reverie of music in an intimate setting. The program features Mozart 's last string quartet alongside music by two Black American pioneers, Florence Price and Dorothy Rudd Moore .

Florence Price and Dorothy Rudd Moore were both groundbreaking musicians. Price was the first African-American woman to have her music performed by a major orchestra. Moore, who lived in New York City until her death last year, was co-founder of the Society of Black Composers and taught at New York University. There's been a recent a renaissance of interest in both composers.

Come and experience these musical discoveries, right alongside the beautiful melodies of Mozart .

The concert at Bethany Arts Community ( 40 Somerstown Road , Ossining, NY ) will take place on Saturday, May 13, 2023 from 4-6PM . At 4pm , the audience is invited for a Wine & Cheese Art Reception to meet the artists. The concert will begin at 5pm . Tickets are $30 regular admission, $25 senior, and $10 student. Tickets can be purchased at the Bethany Arts Community website.

Hailed for its beautiful playing by The New York Times, the Cassatt String Quartet has performed to critical acclaim across the world, from Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center to Beijing's Central Conservatory. Founded in 1985, the group's discography includes over forty recordings, including three discs named "10 Best Classical Recordings" in The New Yorker Magazine. The CSQ is named for the American Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt .

The quartet consists of violinists Muneko Otani, and Jennifer Leshnower (an Ossining resident); violist Rosemary Nelis ; and cellist Gwen Krosnick .

The Bethany Arts Community Concert is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

To stay updated on what's happening at Bethany Arts Community, sign up for our newsletter.

ADDITIONAL LINKS:

For more information about the event: https://bethanyarts.org/calendar/cassatt-quartet-concert-2023/

To stay updated on what's happening at Bethany Arts Community, sign up for our newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/1c35e54594ec/bethanysubscribe

For more information on Bethany Arts Community: https://bethanyarts.org/

For more information about Cassatt String Quartet: https://www.cassattquartet.com

Contact us at: [email protected]

Visit our website: www.bethanyarts.org

Bethany Arts Community, 40 Somerstown Rd. , Ossining, NY 10562

Contact: Julia Schonberg

Community Engagement & Outreach Coordinator

[email protected]

914.944.4278

bethanyarts.org

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cassatt-string-quartet-concert-at-bethany-arts-community-301799189.html

SOURCE Bethany Arts Community
TSX.V: DME

U.S. OTC: DMEHF

Frankfurt : QM01

VANCOUVER, BC , April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - DESERT MOUNTAIN ENERGY CORP. (the "Company") (TSXV: DME) ( U.S. OTC: DMEHF) (Frankfurt: QM01) From the President of the Company. The Company is pleased to announce that it has closed on an additional 80 acres of surface property within the McCauley Helium Field which could be significant for future hydrogen and noble gas operations. The Company was offered the property at $125 per acre for a cash deal. Offsetting acreage has been offered to the Company for sale in excess of $1,250 per acre. The underlying mineral rights were previously held by the Company.

The Company has secured 50% of the mineral rights under a portion of the South Winslow prospect. This would reduce the royalties paid to the aggregate mineral owners from 12.5% to 6.25%, under that acreage. The Company continues to seek out opportunities to maximize our ultimate return to shareholders.

The Company will have a rig to swab the wells in the McCauley Helium Field by the middle of the week and has acquired additional trucks and trailers as outlined under the use of proceeds in the Short Form Prospectus.

ABOUT DESERT MOUNTAIN ENERGY

Desert Mountain Energy Corp. is a publicly traded resource company primarily focused on exploration, development and production of helium, hydrogen and noble gases. The Company is primarily looking for elements deemed critical to the renewable energy and high technology industries.

We seek safe harbor

"Robert Rohlfing"

Robert Rohlfing

Exec Chairman & CEO

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in polices of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The statements made in this press release may contain certain forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual events or results may differ from the Company's expectations.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Such forward looking statements and information herein include but are not limited to statements regarding the Company's anticipated performance in the future the planned exploration activities, receipt of positive results from drilling, the completion of further drilling and exploration work, and the timing and results of various activities.

Forward-looking statements or information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company and its operations to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such statements. Such factors include, among others, changes in national and local governments, legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments in Canada and the United States ; financial risks due to helium prices, operating or technical difficulties in exploration and development activities; risks and hazards and the speculative nature of resource exploration and related development; risks in obtaining necessary licenses and permits, and challenges to the Company's title to properties.

Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions management believes to be reasonable, including but not limited to the continued operation of the Company's exploration operations, no material adverse change in the market price of commodities, and such other assumptions and factors as set out herein. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or information, there may be other factors that cause results to be materially different from those anticipated, described, estimated, assessed or intended. There can be no assurance that any forward-looking statements or information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements or information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. The Company does not intend to, and nor does not assume any obligation to update such forward-looking statements or information, other than as required by applicable law.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/desert-mountain-energy-secures-additional-acreage-301799067.html

SOURCE Desert Mountain Energy Corp.
Featuring a pioneering process that results in a more complex Blanco tequila, the innovation from Campari Group will be available in the United States and Mexico beginning April 2023

JALISCO, Mexico , April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Mayenda, a new luxury sipping tequila created to capture lost flavors from the heart of the agave, launches today in the United States and Mexico with the introduction of Mayenda Tequila Blanco. Mayenda's pioneering process adds two extra steps of craft and care to ensure the deep flavors and aromas of cooked agave, which are often lost in tequila-making, appear in the bottle. The result is a richer, more elegant Blanco tequila ideal for sipping and savoring. Crafted by Maestro Tequilero Jesus Susunaga and his team of experts at Casa San Nicolas (NOM 1440), Mayenda is the first luxury brand innovation of its kind from Campari Group.

A Pioneering Process

Mayenda was named as a tribute to Mayahuel, the Aztec goddess of agave, and celebrates the rich history of the revered plant. Each small batch is carefully crafted at Casa San Nicolas, in Arandas, Jalisco , to ensure a tequila of the highest quality that honors the agave.

For Mayenda Tequila Blanco, only the finest 100% Agave Azul is hand-harvested with a low jima cut (

First, macerating, or steeping, the roasted pinas (agave hearts) in the base distillate, inviting the aromas and flavors of caramelized, cooked agave into the liquid.

Secondly, blending with agave miel, the "honey" from the agave cooking, to bring layers of complexity  sweet, caramel, vegetal, floral, and peppery notes.

The final distillation of Mayenda takes place in copper pot stills, which captures the sweetness and complexity of the cooked agave without any added sugars or additives.

This distinctive combination of time-honored craft with updated techniques creates an exquisite, rich, and multilayered Blanco tequila with aromas of wildflower honey and cinnamon alongside subtle top notes of orange blossom and fresh grass. Moon-bright in color, the tequila boasts a silky body with undertones of baking spices, fresh herbs and pepper that weave their way through caramelized agave notes. Best enjoyed neat at room temperature, the finish is a lingering echo of citrus, honey, and baking spices.

From the Heart of Mexico

"When you walk through the distillery, just as the agave has finished cooking, you're struck by the incredible roasted, caramelized, rich sweetness that envelops your senses," says Mayenda's Maestro Tequilero Jesus Susunaga. "Noticing that some of the most precious aromas and flavors from the agave are lost during the process, we asked ourselves 'how were we going to take these flavors and capture them in a bottle?'"

Driven by a reverence for agave and the desire to draw out unexplored facets of its distinctive taste, Mayenda's innovative tequila-making process took three years and dozens of iterations to perfect. It was on that final blend that Susunaga and the team knew they had discovered a taste like no other. "Before even taking a sip, you'll notice the complex bouquet," noted Susunaga. "The incredibly rich aroma of honey, caramelization, and a touch of pepper carries through onto the palate with every sip. Mayenda brings forward layers of flavor, something truly special in a Blanco ."

The Mayenda story is about its creators  the experts in Mexico who brought Mayenda to life by unearthing flavors consumers have never experienced. This extra care and attention to detail also extends to its striking bottle, inspired by handblown Jaliscan glass. The product and packaging are sourced from Mexico , with labels made from 100% reclaimed agave byproduct and featuring the Aztec goddess Mayahuel. As a finishing touch, each bottle is adorned with a copper medallion created by Mexican jeweler Mauricio Serrano .

A Fast-Growing Category

Mayenda arrives in the United States and Mexico as the ultra-premium tequila segment continues to experience unprecedented growth. According to IWSR 2022 data, tequila category growth and premiumization is on the rise, with super-premium and ultra-premium offerings projected to represent 54% of tequila value share by 2026.

"We saw an opportunity for Campari to bring not just category leadership and sales credentials, but a true depth of knowledge, experience, and artistry from our team at Casa San Nicolas," says Raul Gonzalez , Global Managing Director for Spirits at Campari Group. "With our global reach and Mexican spirits expertise, we had the tools to craft a truly differentiated tequila  one that we knew could meet and exceed the expectations of an increasingly knowledgeable consumer."

Mayenda Tequila Blanco will be available at select retailers in Mexico for SRP $1,799 pesos and the United States for SRP $70USD per 750 mL bottle. Please sip responsibly.

@mayendatequila

www.mayendatequila.com

ABOUT MAYENDA TEQUILA

Mayenda is a new luxury sipping tequila created to summon flavors from the heart of the agave often lost in the tequila-making process. Crafted in Arandas, Jalisco at Casa San Nicolas (NOM 1440), Mayenda's pioneering process adds two extra steps of craft and care  maceration and the introduction of agave miel - before the final distillation in copper pot stills. This innovative approach is led by Maestro Tequilero Jesus Susunaga and his team of experts. The result is a new standard of tequila-making, which yields a richer, more complex Blanco tequila ideal for sipping and savoring. Named as a tribute to Mayahuel, the Aztec goddess of the agave, Mayenda is a celebration of the rich history of this revered plant.

ABOUT THE CAMPARI GROUP

Campari Group is a major player in the global spirits industry, with a portfolio of over 50 premium and super premium brands, spreading across Global, Regional and Local priorities. The Group was founded in 1860 and today is the sixth-largest player worldwide in the premium spirits industry. Campari Group has a global distribution reach, trading in over 190 nations around the world with leading positions in Europe and the Americas . Campari Group is headquartered in Sesto San Giovanni , Italy , and owns 22 plants worldwide with its own distribution network in 23 countries. The shares of the parent company, Davide Campari-Milano N.V. (Reuters CPRI.MI - Bloomberg CPR IM), have been listed on the Italian Stock Exchange since 2001.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/introducing-mayenda-a-new-luxury-sipping-tequila-crafted-to-summon-the-lost-flavors-of-agave-301799196.html

SOURCE Mayenda
Kia's 'Opposites United' design philosophy to be showcased in global design exhibition

Event takes place from 17th to 23rd April at the Museo della Permanente in Milan, Italy

Key Kia designers including Karim Habib to present the brand's design vision

Design approach entails tackling the mobility challenges of today with a vision for tomorrow

MILAN and SEOUL, South Korea , April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Kia is presenting its brand design philosophy, 'Opposites United' at the 2023 Milan Design Week. The event will see the philosophy, which involves combining contrasting qualities and finding synergies between opposing concepts, illustrated in a series of art pieces on display from April 17-23 at the Museo della Permanente in Milan, Italy .

The exhibition's theme, 'Opposites United,' reflects Kia's design philosophy, which takes inspiration from the contrasts found in nature and humanity. Immersive media art installations will be displayed across seven exhibition halls, inviting visitors to experience Kia's design vision for a new era of sustainable mobility through video, sound, and sculpture.

The art exhibition, which premiered at the 2021 Gwangju Design Biennale in Korea to critical acclaim, will also feature an event space with a stage and forum for talks and keynotes. Here, top design executives - Karim Habib , Head of Kia Global Design Center; Teckkoun Kim, Head of Kia Next Design Group; Jochen Paesen, Head of Kia Next Design Interior Group; and Gregory Guillaume , Head of Kia Europe Design Center - will elaborate on the 'Opposites United' installation and discuss Kias design vision.

"We hope that this exhibition will convey the sincerity of Kia Design, which seeks to communicate our essential design values and commitments to our customers in an innovative manner," said Karim Habib , Executive Vice President and Head of Kia Global Design Center.

Five key design pillars

'Opposites United' is based on five key design pillars, each of which will be illustrated in a dedicated space as part of the exhibition: Bold for Nature, Joy for Reason, Power to Progress, Technology for Life, and Tension for Serenity.

Arriving visitors will be greeted at an entrance space showing the concept behind the Kia design philosophy exhibition. Attendees can intuitively experience the concept of 'Opposites United' through the archiving section, where they can briefly see the preparation process of the exhibition in order to build anticipation for the exhibition itself. The next stop is the Opposites Lobby, a space containing a message that allows visitors who are new to Kia's design philosophy to experience the basic concept of 'Opposites United' more intuitively.

Following the Opposites Lobby are five unique spaces, each embodying one of the five key design principles of 'Opposites United'. In addition, throughout the course of the week, each day will be dedicated to one of the five key design principles.

"Kia's 'Opposites United' design philosophy represents far more than just the way our cars look, it is a reflection of the brand's determination to compatibly further two vital fields which have come to be at odds with one another: human wellbeing and environmental sustainability," says Ho Sung Song , Kia President and CEO. "By adopting the 'Opposites United' ethos across our current and future models, we hope not only to demonstrate Kia's ability to innovate, and create products which go beyond fulfilling the needs of our customers to enrich their experiences as well, but to do so with a vision that also leaves a legacy for future generations."

For more information about Kia's design philosophy, please visit: www.kianewscenter.com

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kia-celebrates-opposites-united-design-philosophy-at-2023-milan-design-week-301798585.html

SOURCE Kia Corporation
In addition to $3.7 billion investment in Boone County , Lilly will commit $15 million to Ivy Tech to foster a diverse talent pipeline for high-tech manufacturing jobs

INDIANAPOLIS , April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) announced today that it will invest an additional $1.6 billion and add another 200 new jobs at its two new manufacturing sites within LEAP Innovation Park in Boone County , bringing the company's total commitment to $3.7 billion and up to 700 new jobs. The company also today committed $15 million over five years to the Ivy Tech Foundation to fund up to 1,000 scholarships for individuals interested in pursuing careers in pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Lilly's commitments within LEAP Innovation Park represent the largest manufacturing investment at a single location in the company's history. The up to 200 additional jobs announced today represent positions for highly skilled workers, such as engineers, operating personnel and lab technicians, who will utilize advanced technology to create innovative medicines.

"Through these new facilities, Hoosiers will make life-changing medicines that patients around the world need to address serious health challenges, including diabetes and cancer," said Lilly's Chair and CEO Dave Ricks . "We're investing at record levels in our home state to help our communities and economy thrive and enhance educational opportunities for more students. We look forward to doing our part to make Indiana an even better place to work and live, while fostering cutting-edge innovation in our state."

Lilly has introduced 19 new medicines, including Jaypirca (recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for mantle cell lymphoma), since 2014 and plans to introduce several additional potential medicines in 2023. These new facilities will expand the company's manufacturing network for active pharmaceutical ingredients, support increased demand for existing Lilly products and play a key role in bringing the next generation of therapeutic modalities, including genetic medicines, to patients globally.

"Lilly has played a critical role in shaping Indiana's economy over the past 145-plus years, and today's groundbreaking makes it clear  the company will be at the forefront of driving Hoosier innovation and job creation forward for generations to come," said Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb . "As a state, we are proud to partner with Lilly in accelerating Indiana's talent pipeline and career opportunities while leveraging the state's manufacturing excellence to develop life-changing and life-saving solutions for people across the world."

The new $15 million Lilly Scholars program announced today with the Ivy Tech Foundation, will create a scholarship and an experiential learning program at Ivy Tech Community College for high school and college students with diverse backgrounds who intend to pursue careers in pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Over the next five years, the company's collaboration with Ivy Tech will provide scholarships to individuals interested in pursuing two-year degrees or certificates in manufacturing, quality or related fields. Through the Lilly Scholars @ Ivy Tech program, students will be able to access a smart manufacturing lab to support their education. Preference will be given to those who are among the first generation in their family to attend college  which constitutes 40% of Ivy Tech's student population  and those who have overcome socioeconomic disadvantages.

Additionally, the program supports a new pathway for high school students, which allows them to receive a college certificate in pharmaceutical manufacturing or medical device quality upon graduation.

"Today, we are taking our collaboration with Lilly to the next level with the creation of Lilly Scholars @ Ivy Tech," said President of Ivy Tech Community College, Dr. Sue Ellspermann . "Lilly Scholars provides high school and adult students with a unique opportunity to leverage the world-class education at Ivy Tech with an exceptional employer partner in Lilly and put their education to work in high-wage, high-demand careers that contribute to the growth and prosperity of our state."

Last year, Lilly committed $42.5 million over 10 years to Purdue University to create the first Lilly Scholars program, which includes 75-100 pharmaceutical manufacturing scholarships with a guaranteed internship or co-op at Lilly to incoming students each year.

"Today's announcements demonstrate the strong collaboration between industry, academia and government in Indiana ," said Edgardo Hernandez , executive vice president and president, Lilly manufacturing operations. "Through our new academic commitment, we're looking to grow life sciences education in the state and foster a diverse pipeline of local talent to fill the new jobs created through our recent investments."

Over the past three years, Lilly has invested $6.4 billion in U.S. -based manufacturing sites to deliver medicines to patients worldwide. As Lilly prepares for future growth expected from potential new medicines to treat obesity, Alzheimer's disease and autoimmune conditions, the company anticipates further expansion of its global manufacturing footprint to ensure a sufficient supply of medicine.

About Lilly

Lilly unites caring with discovery to create medicines that make life better for people around the world. We've been pioneering life-changing discoveries for nearly 150 years, and today our medicines help more than 47 million people across the globe. Harnessing the power of biotechnology, chemistry and genetic medicine, our scientists are urgently advancing new discoveries to solve some of the world's most significant health challenges, redefining diabetes care, treating obesity and curtailing its most devastating long-term effects, advancing the fight against Alzheimer's disease, providing solutions to some of the most debilitating immune system disorders, and transforming the most difficult-to-treat cancers into manageable diseases. With each step toward a healthier world, we're motivated by one thing: making life better for millions more people. That includes delivering innovative clinical trials that reflect the diversity of our world and working to ensure our medicines are accessible and affordable. To learn more, visit Lilly.com and Lilly.com/newsroom or follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. C-LLY

Forward Looking Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements (as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) about planned capital investments in new manufacturing capacity and scholarship and related initiatives and reflects Lilly's current beliefs and expectations. There are substantial risks and uncertainties in the manufacturing process, development, and commercialization of pharmaceutical products which could impact the overall commercial success of our products, and as related to cost, completion timing, expected capacity, personnel, and other factors which could impact expected benefits of the capacity expansion and related initiatives. For further discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, see Lilly's most recent Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, Lilly undertakes no duty to update forward-looking statements to reflect events after the date of this release.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lilly-to-make-record-breaking-investment-in-indiana-manufacturing-facilities-301798439.html

SOURCE Eli Lilly and Company
DALLAS , April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC ("Oncor") plans to release its first quarter 2023 results on May 4 , prior to Sempra's (NYSE: SRE) (BMV: SRE) first quarter 2023 conference call. Oncor's earnings release will be available on Oncor's website, oncor.com.

Sempra executives will conduct a conference call at 12 p.m. ET , Thursday, May 4 that will include discussion of Oncor's first quarter 2023 operational and financial results. Investors, media, analysts and the public may listen to a live webcast of the conference call by registering on the Investors section of Sempra's website and clicking on the appropriate link. Prior to the conference call, an accompanying slide presentation will be posted on Sempra's Investors site.

For those unable to obtain access to the live webcast, it will be available on replay a few hours after its conclusion on Sempra's website.

Oncor's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2023 will be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after Sempra's conference call and, once filed, will also be available at oncor.com.

Headquartered in Dallas , Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC is a regulated electricity transmission and distribution business that uses superior asset management skills to provide reliable electricity delivery to consumers. Oncor (together with its subsidiaries) operates the largest transmission and distribution system in Texas , delivering power to nearly 3.9 million homes and businesses and operating more than 141,000 miles of transmission and distribution lines in Texas . While Oncor is owned by two investors (indirect majority owner, Sempra, and minority owner, Texas Transmission Investment LLC), Oncor is managed by its Board of Directors, which is comprised of a majority of disinterested directors.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/oncor-to-release-first-quarter-2023-results-may-4-301799486.html

SOURCE Oncor Electric Delivery Company, LLC
DUBLIN , April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "PSMF Online Training - A Technical Training Program on Creating and Maintaining Pharmacovigilance System Master File (PSMF)" training has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Today there is a large number of companies implementing the Pharmacovigilance System Master File as per the requirement of regulatory authorities.

As per the Pharmacovigilance Inspection Metrics Report for the period April 2016 - March 2017 , the major findings were observed in relation with:

PSMF content

Deficiencies in the maintenance of the PSMF and Article 57 Database

The largest proportion of minor findings was in relation to the PSMF

PSMF is a legal requirement globally for companies having their Pharmacovigilance system in place. The PSMF provides an overview of the pharmacovigilance system within a company, and supporting and documenting compliance. The content of the pharmacovigilance system master file should reflect the global availability of safety information for medicinal products authorized in the country, with information on the pharmacovigilance system not just confined to local or regional activities.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of this tutorial, participants should be able to:

Discuss the content of Pharmacovigilance System Master File

Describe how to create and maintain a PSMF to make it INSPECTION READY for regulatory authorities

Overcome challenges in preparation and maintenance of PSMF

If you are starting up your Pharmacovigilance System or facing challenges in maintaining your PSMF and looking forward to strengtheninyour pharmacovigilance knowledge in regards to PSMF, this TRAINING will help you to increase your knowledge base regarding the techniques and regulatory processes involved in the creation and maintenance of Pharmacovigilance Master File.

This will be a perfect learning opportunity in all areas of drug safety, pharmacovigilance, regulatory and quality compliance and will be a great addition to your knowledge in pharmacovigilance.

Who Should Attend:



All Professionals who are involved in:

Pharmacovigilance (including QPPV)

Clinical Research

Risk Management

Drug Safety Assessment Department

Safety Data Analysis

Pharmacoepidemiology

Information Technology

Regulatory Affairs

Pharmacovigilance consultancy

Quality and Compliance



Key Topics Covered:





Introduction and History of PSMF

PSMF Regulations and Countries

PSMF Structure - Core Sections & Annexes

Creating a PSMF

Creating Core Section 1 - QPPV and Annex A

Creating Core Section 2 - Organizational Structure and Annex B

Creating Core Section 3 - Sources of safety data and Annex C

Creating Core Section 4 - Computerized Systems and databases and Annex D

Creating Core Section 5 - Pharmacovigilance Processes and Annex E

Creating Core Section 6 - Pharmacovigilance system performance and Annex F

Creating Core Section 7 - Quality System and Annex G

Creating Core Section 8 - Change control, logbook, versions, and archiving and Annex I

Creating Annex H

Creating SOP on PSMF

EU - Location, registration, and maintenance

Pharmacovigilance System Master File Location (PSMFL) code

Initial submission of Pharmacovigilance System Master File (PSMF) information

(PSMF) information Requesting a single/multiple PSMF EV Code(s)

Maintenance of a Pharmacovigilance System Master File Location (PSMFL) entity

Change of PSMF information

Notifying a PSMFL entity as 'non-current'

PSMF and Article 57 XEVMPD content and maintenance

Submission of PSMFL information

Submission of different PSMFs at the same location

Intended use of PSMFL information

Pharmacovigilance System Master File (PSMF) number

(PSMF) number Timelines for submission of a PSMF

PSMFL within an AMP entity

Sharing a PSMFL EV Code between organizations

Notifications of QPPV details/PSMF location via Article 57 Database

Correction of information within a PSMFL entity

Update of an AMP entity to include PSMFL information

Update of PSMFL information referenced in an AMP

Update of PSMFL information following a variation/renewal

Nullification of PSMFL entity in the XEVMPD

Management of deviations and implementation of the associated CAPAs listed in the Pharmacovigilance System Master File (PSMF)

(PSMF) PSMF real-time scenarios for effective learning

Q&A

Speakers:



Sunil Verma

Director

Academy of Clinical Intelligence



Sunil has been in the Clinical Research Industry for over 10 years. He held the position of Director of Trainings for a leading Contract Research Organization, HAROM Solutions. His company facilitates the business sector by providing Pharmacovigilance services to Pharmaceutical companies and technical trainings to Medicine, Dental, and Pharmacy, Life Science professionals internationally in the fields of Pharmacovigilance, Clinical Research, and Medical Writing etc. He has been involved in trainings throughout his career particularly in the areas of Pharmacovigilance including ARGUS Safety, Clinical Research and Medical Writing. With over 10 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry and clinical research organization, Sunil offers his clients the assurance that their drug safety training programs are being conducted by a seasoned pharmacovigilance executive with experience in developing, implementing and leading safety trainings in lower cost markets.



Sunil was formerly Manager, Trainings & Operations of Clinical Research and Pharmacovigilance, where he successfully developed and led more than 8 therapeutic area teams and support training and operations functions for the management of Clinical Data and Adverse Event reporting for human health, including all phases of a product life cycle (drugs, vaccines and devices).

Sunil is a client certified trainer with expertise in techno-functional training on Oracle Argus Safety 7.0 including Argus activities, User management, Case processing including duplicate check, case book-in, follow up, coding, medical review, reports generating (Expedited, Aggregated, PSUR) and dashboard reports. He ahs proficiency in WHO-DD and MedDRA Dictionary and knowledgeable in various regulatory guidelines like ICH guidelines, Good Clinical Practices, Good Documentation Practices and Volume 9A etc.





For more information about this training visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/3w0xy1

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood , Senior Manager

[email protected]

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S. /CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S. ): +353-1-481-1716

Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/psmf-online-training---a-technical-training-program-on-creating-and-maintaining-pharmacovigilance-system-master-file-psmf-301798968.html

SOURCE Research and Markets
LOS ANGELES , April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Revolve Group, Inc. (NYSE: RVLV) announced today that it will release financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 , after the market close on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 , followed by a conference call at 1:30 PM (PT) / 4:30 PM (ET) on the same day.

Shortly following the release of its financial results, the company will make available a Q1 2023 financial highlights presentation at http://investors.revolve.com.

Live Conference Call

Toll free number: (888) 330-2454 (for domestic callers) Direct dial number: (240) 789-2714 (for international callers) Conference ID: 3102771



Conference Call Replay

Toll free number: (800) 770-2030 (for domestic callers) Direct dial number: (647) 362-9199 (for international callers) Conference ID: 3102771 Availability: Approximately one hour after the completion of the

conference call until May 10, 2023 Webcast:

Replay availability: For a limited time beginning immediately following the call







About Revolve Group, Inc.

Revolve Group, Inc. (NYSE: RVLV) is the next-generation fashion retailer for Millennial and Generation Z consumers. As a trusted premium lifestyle brand and a go-to online source for discovery and inspiration, we deliver an engaging customer experience from a vast yet curated offering of apparel, footwear, accessories, beauty and home products. Our dynamic platform connects a deeply engaged community of millions of consumers, thousands of global fashion influencers and more than 1,000 emerging, established and owned brands.

We were founded in 2003 by our co-CEOs, Michael Mente and Mike Karanikolas . We sell merchandise through two complementary segments, REVOLVE and FWRD, that leverage one platform. Through REVOLVE, we offer an assortment of premium apparel, footwear, accessories and beauty products from emerging, established and owned brands. Through FWRD, we offer an assortment of curated and elevated iconic and emerging luxury brands. For more information, visit www.revolve.com.

Contacts:

Investors:

Erik Randerson, CFA

562.677.9513

IR@revolve.com

Media:

Jennifer Walker

[email protected]walkerdrawas.com

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/revolve-group-inc-to-announce-first-quarter-2023-financial-results-on-may-3-2023-301798350.html

SOURCE Revolve Group, Inc.
CHICAGO , April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Staff Management | SMX, a recognized leader in comprehensive staffing solutions, is celebrating 35 years of connecting people with meaningful work.

Founded in 1988, Staff Management | SMX established the industry's first dedicated onsite staffing model. As a company, we are a leading, light industrial staffing partner, specializing in managing a contingent workforce at manufacturing, fulfillment and distribution facilities. Its proven onsite staffing solution and individualized recruitment and placement services provide value to a diverse range of clients.

Our success is also due to our proprietary hiring and workforce management tool, Stafftrack. Since 2005, this award-winning software helps our teams bring in the right people at the right time. And our Stafftrack mobile app allows employees to stay connected to their daily work and provides ongoing engagement through our Stafftrack Rewards program. Our technology has won numerous awards including a 2022 Brandon Hall Silver award and a 2022 HR Tech Award.

In 2014, Staff Management | SMX joined the TrueBlue family under the PeopleManagement division. TrueBlue is one of the largest industrial staffing firms in the U.S. and is on the Staffing Industry Analysts' list of largest global staffing firms. As part of TrueBlue, we offer a broad range of workforce management related solutions to best meet clients' needs.

"It's been an exciting journey to see how much this company has grown in 35 years." said Jerry Wimer , Senior Vice President of Staff Management | SMX. "Our first customer is still a customer today, which I think shows how much our teams go above and beyond to provide exceptional service for our customers and our associates."

Staff Management | SMX has provided excellent service for our clients and our associates that have stood the test of time. We've received ClearlyRated's 2023 Best of Staffing Client Diamond Award multiple years in a row, which is awarded exclusively to companies once they have appeared on ClearlyRated's Best of Staffing list for five years.. Fewer than 2 percent of all staffing agencies in the U.S. and Canada earn the Best of Staffing award annually.

We take our mission of connecting people with work seriously. For the third year in a row, Staff Management | SMX were winners of the Energage 2023 Top Workplaces USA award. Winners of the Top Workplaces USA list are chosen based solely on employee feedback gathered through an employee engagement survey.

"For 35 years, Staff Management |SMX has been committed to driving meaningful results for our clients and connecting people with work that matters," said Carl Schweihs , president and COO of TrueBlue's PeopleManagement division ,"I can't wait to celebrate this milestone and look forward to what the next 35 years and beyond bring for our teams and our customers."

About Staff Management | SMX

Staff Management | SMX is a leading, light-industrial staffing partner, specializing in managing the contingent workforce at manufacturing, fulfillment and distribution facilities. Its proven onsite staffing solution and individualized recruitment and placement services provide value to a diverse range of clients. Whether you need a dedicated onsite team to run your staffing program or are looking to partner with a seasoned recruiter to fill your semiskilled or high-skill positions, Staff Management | SMX has you covered. Staff Management | SMX is part of TrueBlue (NYSE: TBI) a leading provider of specialized workforce solutions, helping clients improve growth and performance by providing staffing, workforce management, and recruitment process outsourcing solutions. The company's specialized workforce solutions meet clients' needs for a reliable, efficient workforce in a wide variety of industries. In 2022, TrueBlue served 84,000 clients and connected approximately 611,000 people to work.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/staff-management--smx-celebrates-35th-anniversary-301799209.html

SOURCE Staff Management | SMX
DALLAS , April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Tailwater Capital LLC ("Tailwater"), a Dallas -based private equity firm that takes a full immersion approach to investing in energy and growth infrastructure solutions, today announced that Matthew Osborn has joined the firm as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence.

Tailwater Capital LLC today announced that Matthew Osborn has joined the firm as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence.

Osborn brings over 20 years of operations and engineering knowledge and more than a decade of senior leadership experience. As Entrepreneur-in-Residence, he will work closely with the Tailwater Innovation Partners team on cultivating and evaluating investment opportunities for Tailwater.

"We are excited to welcome Matt Osborn to the Tailwater Innovation Partners team as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence. With his background and extensive experience in the industry, Matt is a great fit for Tailwater, and we are confident he will be a dynamic leader," said Jason Downie and Edward Herring , Co-Founders and Managing Partners of Tailwater Capital. "We are delighted to see our team continue to grow with the addition of industry experts like Matt who will provide additional value to our teams and our investments."

"I'm thrilled to be joining Tailwater and look forward to working with this team again to further strengthen our position in the market," said Osborn. "I've worked closely with, and long admired, Tailwater's strategic investment approach and its track record of partnering with exceptional management teams. As the Firm continues to build its presence and growth across markets, I'm confident that our commitment to excellence and unique approach to investment will create value for all of our partners."

Matthew Osborn has worked alongside Tailwater for several years at Align Midstream Partners I and II. As the President and COO of Align, he saw the company through two successful sale processes. Prior to his time with Align, Matt worked at several companies in senior leadership roles with increasing levels of responsibilities. He began his career in the United States Navy as a nuclear submarine officer. Osborn graduated from Texas A&M University with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and went on to earn Master's degrees in Business Administration and Engineering Management from the University of Oklahoma and Old Dominion University respectively.

About Tailwater Capital

Dallas -based Tailwater Capital is an energy and growth infrastructure private equity firm with a well-established track record of working constructively with proven management teams to deliver value-added solutions. Tailwater has raised more than $4.4 billion in committed capital since inception and the team has executed more than 100 transactions representing over $23 billion in value. For more information, please visit www.tailwatercapital.com .

Forward-Looking Statements

Includes non-Tailwater controlled capital pursuant to the Tailwater led management buyout processes for which Tailwater provides management related services.

Contacts

Jill McMillan

Managing Director, Communications & Public Affairs

Phone: 214-489-7047

Email: [email protected]

John Schaufele

Managing Director, Investor Relations & Fundraising

Phone: 214-489-7043

Email: [email protected]

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tailwater-capital-hires-new-entrepreneur-in-residence-301799222.html

SOURCE Tailwater Capital
Iran said Monday it has formally invited Saudi King Salman to visit Tehran, following a reconciliation agreement reached last month between the two sides.

Saudi Arabia severed relations with Iran in 2016, after its embassy in Tehran and consulate in the northwestern city of Mashhad were attacked during protests over Riyadh's execution of Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

The two Middle East powerhouses had held several rounds of dialogue in Iraq and Oman before reaching the agreement to mend ties on March 10 in China.

On Monday, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said President Ebrahim Raisi had "invited the Saudi King to visit Iran".

Kanani said the Iranian president had already received an invitation to visit the Sunni-ruled kingdom.

The spokesman also expressed hope that Iran and Saudi Arabia would reopen their respective diplomatic missions by May 9, as scheduled in the China-brokered agreement.

"We and the Saudi side insist on activating the embassies in a very timely manner so that Iranian pilgrims can attend a calm hajj pilgrimage using the services provided by the embassy," he told a weekly press conference.

The annual hajj pilgrimage to holy sites in Saudi Arabia, one of the pillars of Islam, is expected to begin this year in late June.

In recent days, delegations from the two countries have visited the embassies in Riyadh and Tehran and consulates in Jeddah and Mashhad to launch the process of their reopening.

On April 6 the Iranian and Saudi foreign ministers, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Prince Faisal bin Farhan, held talks in Beijing on the implementation of normalisation of ties.

"The foreign ministers of the two countries will meet" again before the reopening of the embassies, the spokesman said.

Before the March deal to restore ties, Shia Muslim-majority Iran and Sunni Muslim-ruled Saudi Arabia had backed rival sides in conflict zones across the region for years, including in Yemen.

Riyadh led a military coalition that supported the internationally recognised government in the kingdom, while Tehran backed the Huthi rebels who control the capital Sanaa and large areas of the north.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


SAN JOSE, Calif. , April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Tsecond, a data mobility innovator, is joining forces with TD SYNNEX (NYSE: SNX) to enable the digital transformation of enterprises and organizations by addressing the complexities of massive data capture, storage, processing, and movement from any edge to cloud environment or data center. TD SYNNEX is a leading global distributor and solutions aggregator for the IT ecosystem, which will give Tsecond visibility and reach for its breakthrough new platform, the BRYCK.

"Data is the epicenter of digital transformation. Overcoming the constraints of massive data at mobile and static edges - namely capacity, speed, security, and form factor - makes the captured data actionable. Our flagship platform, the BRYCK, which is available in different variants solves the data conundrum for many different industries. Partnering with TD SYNNEX takes us one step closer to fulfilling our mission of changing the data mobility landscape," said Sahil Chawla , CEO and Co-Founder, Tsecond.

"TD SYNNEX is committed to uniting IT solutions that deliver business outcomes today and unlock growth for the future," said Cheryl Neal , VP of New Vendor Acquisition, TD SYNNEX. "With Tsecond added to our vast portfolio of vendor partners, we're able to enrich the breadth and depth of our offerings so customers can do great things with technology."

The collaboration between Tsecond and TD SYNNEX aligns two like-minded companies, focused on enabling organizations to seamlessly utilize big data to make informed decisions in real-time.

About Tsecond:

Founded in 2020, Tsecond is working to accelerate the value of the global datasphere by addressing the complexities of mass data generation and activation. The patented BRYCK platform, captures and processes massive data at any edge with lightning-fast speed to make informed and actionable decisions in real-time. The BRYCK platform has been successfully deployed in a variety of industries with proven performance across multi-national brands like Boeing, Department of Defense, RED, Streamland Media's Picture Shop and others. To learn more about Tsecond, please visit www.tsecond.us

About the BRYCK Platform:

The BRYCK platform can capture, process, store and move data generated from the most remote locations and transport petabytes of data from the edge to any cloud or data center with up to 40 GB/second throughput. The BRYCK platform consists of a 1) Tray (docking station) that connects via standard PCIe or ethernet cable and the 2) BRYCK the portable storage and data transfer unit 3) Server that provides the widest BIOS compatibility with dense storage and accelerator expansion systems. The BRYCK weighs 12 pounds and fits in your hand (4X4X9.5 inches). The BRYCK software is self-healing, has AES 256-bit encryption, is tamper proof and can be written/rewritten multiple times. The BRYCK is epoxy encapsulated - waterproof, shock/vibration resistant, extreme temperature tolerant - and comes in a variety of capacity options (128TB, 256TB, 512TB, 1PB). BRYCK is also available in other variants with compute and processing capabilities like BRYCK Mini, Pro, Block and DataDart (data-transfer-as-a-service).

About TD SYNNEX:

TD SYNNEX (NYSE: SNX) is a leading global distributor and solutions aggregator for the IT ecosystem. An innovative partner, TD SYNNEX helps more than 150,000 customers in 100+ countries to maximize the value of technology investments, demonstrate business outcomes and unlock growth opportunities. Headquartered in Clearwater, Florida , and Fremont, California , TD SYNNEX's 23,500 co-workers are dedicated to uniting compelling IT products, services and solutions from 1,500+ best-in-class technology vendors. Our edge-to-cloud portfolio is anchored in some of the highest-growth technology segments including cloud, cybersecurity, big data/analytics, IoT, mobility and everything as a service. TD SYNNEX is committed to serving customers and communities, and we believe we can have a positive impact on our people and our planet, intentionally acting as a respected corporate citizen. We aspire to be a diverse and inclusive employer of choice for talent across the IT ecosystem. For more information, visit www.TDSYNNEX.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

For media queries, please reach out to [email protected]

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2055494/Single_BRYCK_System.jpg

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1923950/Tsecond_Logo.jpg

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tsecond-partners-with-td-synnex-to-scale-breakthrough-technology-301798793.html

SOURCE Tsecond
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends the China-Arab summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia December 9, 2022. Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday said Egyptian troops held in Sudan were merely there to conduct exercises with their Sudanese counterparts and not to support any of the warring parties.

After clashes erupted across Sudan between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the army on Saturday, the RSF shared a video they said showed Egyptian troops who had "surrendered" to them in the northern town of Merowe, about halfway between the Sudanese capital Khartoum and the border with Egypt.

The video showed a number of men dressed in army fatigues crouched on the ground and speaking to members of the RSF, Sudan's main paramilitary group, in an Egyptian Arabic dialect.

In a speech broadcast by Egyptian state television after Sisi chaired a meeting of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces late on Monday, the president said he is in contact with the RSF to ensure the safety of Egyptian soldiers in Sudan.

RSF leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti, told Sky News Arabia TV that the Egyptian soldiers were safe, and that the RSF had provided them with food and water and was ready to facilitate their return.

"We hope to get back our troops as soon as possible," Sisi added.

Sisi also said Egypt was in regular contact with the Sudanese army and the RSF to "encourage them to accept a ceasefire and spare the blood of the Sudanese people."

(Reporting by Moaz Abd-Alaziz and Hatem Maher in Cairo; Editing by Chris Reese and Matthew Lewis)
FILE PHOTO: Secretary-General of the Organization of American States Luis Almagro speaks during the Leaders' Second Plenary Session during the Ninth Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 10, 2022. REUTERS/Lauren Justice/File Photo

By Matt Spetalnick

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -An independent probe has found that the head of the Organization of American States did not engage in serious misconduct in an intimate relationship with a staffer but that he violated its ethics code by failing to exercise "good judgment, according to the results of an investigation seen by Reuters.

The findings of the probe, launched late last year following a whistleblowers complaint against OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro, are laid out in a 121-page report distributed on a confidential basis to OAS member-states on Monday. It has not yet been made public.

The allegations against Almagro, who has long enjoyed U.S. backing, had raised questions about the future leadership of the OAS, the Western Hemispheres largest multilateral body. It was founded 75 years ago to promote regional cooperation but in recent years has struggled with ideological divisions among its 34 members.

The investigation, conducted for the OAS by the Washington law firm Miller & Chevalier Chartered, urged that the organization update and overhaul its ethics policies. The report stopped short of explicitly stating that Almagro was completely cleared of all the allegations he faced. It did not make any recommendations specific to him.

Still, Almagros critics in Latin America and other foes such as Russia could be emboldened to seek his ouster.

"The report exonerates me of all responsibility," Almagro, who had seen the findings, told Reuters in an emailed statement. "I accept and value especially the recommendations put forth."

The U.S., which had endorsed the launching of the ethics investigation, is likely to continue its support for Almagro, a former Uruguayan foreign minister who has headed the OAS since 2015.

He has mostly aligned himself with U.S. policy in recent years as an outspoken critic of Washingtons main regional rivals  Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua  which has alienated some on the Latin American left.

Frank Mora, U.S. ambassador to the OAS, said in statement that the report "appears to be thorough and fair" and he looks forward "to working collaboratively to implement the recommendations."

Almagro has also been criticized by Russia, especially after helping to push through a U.S.-backed OAS resolution last April suspending Moscow as a permanent observer to the Washington-based organization over the invasion of Ukraine.

The probe centered on what the report deemed was a consensual relationship between Almagro and a Mexican-born woman. Their romance, which began in mid-2018, became common knowledge inside the OAS and the couple made no effort to hide it, according to the report.

OAS guidelines say intimate relationships are allowed unless they interfere with performance of duties or disadvantage other staffers. It also dictates that managers must not take part in "supervising or evaluating" their romantic partners.

MADE SOME STAFF FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE

Almagro went public with it at an OAS summit in Lima in October, insisting he had done nothing wrong and welcoming any investigation. The staffer, not named in the report, has been on unpaid leave since mid-2022 devoting her time to academic studies. The two broke up last year. Almagro is separated from his wife.

The probe determined that Almagro did not violate OAS rules on "staff supervision, salary decisions, intimidation, travel or conflict of interest" and exercised no "abuse of power" in connection with the staffer, according to a Spanish-language version of the report. It concluded her work was supervised by others and Almagro had no hand in her promotions or pay raises.

Investigators did find, however, that Almagro violated the rules and regulations concerning provisions for common sense and good judgment and contravened some additional ethical responsibilities.

But the investigators softened this conclusion by stating there was no evidence these breaches were "intentional," noting that he had consulted advisers on whether the relationship was a conflict of interest and was told it was not.

The report determined, however, that the relationship had made some of Almagros subordinates feel uncomfortable and chided him for failing to dispel the misperception she was a close adviser. It also said he committed an ethical "transgression" by allowing her to work in close quarters with him while they were romantically involved.

The OAS permanent council could convene later this week to discuss the matter.

Almagro won the top OAS post in 2015 in a near-unanimous vote. But reflecting the regions growing political polarization, he was elected to a second five-year term in 2020 with the backing of only 23 member-states.

The Almagro investigation came shortly after the Inter-American Development Bank last year fired its president, Mauricio Claver-Carone, following an independent probe that found he favored a subordinate with whom he was alleged to have had an intimate relationship.

Unlike at the OAS, the IDBs ethics code prohibits such relationships.

(Reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Additional reporting by Marianna ParragaEditing by Don Durfee, Alistair Bell and Lisa Shumaker)
French President Emmanuel Macron appears on a screen, as he speaks during a special address to the nation from the Elysee Palace, after he signed into law the pension reform raising the retirement age, in Paris, France, April 17, 2023. REUTERS/Sarah Meyss

By Michel Rose

PARIS (Reuters) -French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday gave himself 100 days to heal the country after weeks of protests and anger at his unpopular plans to raise the retirement age, asking his government to open talks with unions on a wide range of issues.

In a televised speech two days after signing into law plans to increase the retirement age by two years to 64, Macron said he wanted his prime minister to propose measures on working conditions, law and order, education and health issues.

"On July 14, we must be able to take stock," Macron said, referring to Bastille Day, France's national day, often a milestone in French politics.

"We have ahead of us 100 days of appeasement, unity, ambition and action for France," he said.

Macron has staked his reputation as a reformer on the pension changes, which he said were needed to avoid billions of euros of deficit each year by the end of the decade.

But his failure to build a parliamentary majority to back the reform, which forced him to ram it through without a vote using special constitutional powers, cost him much political capital.

On Monday, he said he regretted the fact the changes were not supported by the broader public.

"Is this reform accepted? Obviously not. Despite months of talks, a consensus wasn't found, and I regret that. We must draw all the lessons from that," he said.

As Macron started his speech, demonstrators banged pots and pans in front of town halls across the country and small groups of protesters set garbage bins on fire in Paris.

Macron gave few details about the roadmap he wanted the government to work on but said it should improve working conditions and also tighten immigration laws.

Speaking immediately after Macron's speech, the head of France's largest union, the CFDT's Laurent Berger, said Macron's speech had been totally empty and failed to address the anger in the country.

"There's just a sort of emptiness, there is nothing in there, we expected something else," he said.

He said unions would be ready to talk with the government only after Labour Day on May 1, following what he called a period of "decency" to let workers' anger calm.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen said Macron was "stuck in a parallel world".

(Reporting by Michel Rose and Elizabeth Pineau; editing by GV De Clercq and Cynthia Osterman)
By Alexandra Valencia

QUITO (Reuters) - The defense representing Ecuador President Guillermo Lasso has asked lawmakers to declare impeachment hearings against him inadmissible, arguing that the embezzlement of which he is accused did not take place, the president's lawyer said on Monday.

Opposition lawmakers in Ecuador's National Assembly have pushed for impeachment hearings since last month. The country's top court gave the green light for hearings to proceed, which could end in Lasso being censured or dismissed.

Edgar Neira, Lasso's lawyer, asked the Assembly Oversight Committee handling the trial to reject the charges against the president and to declare the impeachment process inadmissible.

Lasso has presented arguments that demonstrate the alleged embezzlement connected to a shipping contract for crude oil between public company Flopec and private sector business Amazonas Tanker Pool Company LLC never took place, Neira said on Twitter, accompanied by a 38-page document detailing the defense.

The document was presented to the oversight committee on Sunday night.

Opposition lawmakers say they have strong evidence against Lasso and can prove he was responsible for alleged irregularities in the contract, which was signed before he took office in May 2021, but is still in effect.

"There's no economic damage to EP FLOPEC that could constitute the constitutional infringement of embezzlement," Neira said in the document, adding the contract was modified in October last year on recommendations from the comptroller's office so as to avoid harm to the state.

The oversight committee will begin hearings for the impeachment trial this week. On Tuesday, the committee is expected to approve a schedule for testimonies.

Lasso, who could to be called to give evidence on April 26, can appoint a lawyer for his defense.

Opposition lawmakers will need 92 votes from the 137-member assembly to find Lasso guilty if the process reaches the final stage.

Lasso has frequently clashed with the National Assembly, where he does not have a majority.

The impeachment hearings have increased the likelihood of Lasso dissolving the assembly and calling an early election.

(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Writing by Oliver Griffin; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
Ralph Yarl, a Black 16-year-old who was shot and wounded by a homeowner after mistakenly going to the wrong house to pick up his siblings, holds a bass clarinet in this picture obtained from social media. Lee Merritt/via REUTERS

By Jasper Ward

(Reuters) -Prosecutors charged an 84-year-old white Kansas City man with two felonies on Monday in the shooting of a Black teenager who was wounded after walking up to the wrong house when going to pick up his younger twin brothers.

Andrew Lester was charged with first-degree assault, which could bring a sentence of life in prison, and armed criminal action for shooting Ralph Yarl, 16, on the doorstep of his suburban home around 10 p.m. last Thursday, the prosecutor said.

"I can tell you there was a racial component to the case," Clay County prosecutor Zachary Thompson told a news conference, without providing further details.

Lester fired two shots through a glass door from a .32-caliber revolver, the prosecutor said. Yarl, who was struck in the head and an arm, did not cross the threshold, Thompson said, adding it did not appear any words were exchanged in the encounter.

But Yarl told police in an interview at the hospital where he was treated that the man told him, "Don't come around here," local media reported, citing court documents.

The teen was recovering at home on Monday, his family said.

In addition to facing life in prison should he be found guilty of the assault charge, he could be sentenced to up to 15 years for criminal action, the prosecutor said. Hate crimes, which were not filed, carry lesser penalties in Missouri, he added.

An arrest warrant had been issued for Lester with bond set at $200,000, but as of 5 p.m. CDT (2200 GMT) he was not in custody, the prosecutor said.

The homeowner was initially taken into custody, placed on a 24-hour investigative hold, then released pending an interview with Yarl and the collection of forensic evidence, Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said.

His release helped fuel two days of protests. Demonstrators gathered again on Monday at the suspect's single-story house on a tree-lined street, shouting "Black lives are under attack" and "Stand up, fight back," online videos showed.

"No child should ever live in fear of being shot for ringing the wrong doorbell," Vice President Kamala Harris tweeted in response to the shooting.

President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Yarl, a senior administration official said on Monday.

The family's lawyer Ben Crump on Monday had demanded the homeowner be arrested and charged with attempted murder of a teenager described by his school district as an "excellent student and talented musician."

Missouri has a "stand-your-ground law" that allows homeowners to use physical force to defend themselves against suspected intruders.

The law says a person cannot use deadly force unless they reasonably believe it is necessary to protect themselves or another person against death or serious physical injury, or a possible felony.

(Reporting by Jasper Ward, Brendan O'Brien, Andrew Hay and Daniel Trotta; Editing by Donna Bryson, Bill Berkrot and Jamie Freed)
A man holds up the program following the funeral services for Jayland Walker, a 25 year old black man was shot to death by up to eight police officers on June 27, 2022, in Akron, Ohio, U.S. July 13, 2022. REUTERS/Aaron Josefczyk

By Brendan O'Brien and Tyler Clifford

(Reuters) -An Ohio grand jury voted against indicting eight Akron police officers who fatally shot an unarmed Black man last year, the state attorney general said on Monday, as the city prepared for a fresh round of protests against alleged police misconduct.

The officers pursued Jayland Walker, 25, on foot after an attempted traffic stop last June and shot him 46 times, including five times in the back.

Police opened fire after mistakenly thinking Walker reached into his waistband for a gun, did a "cross draw motion," planted his foot and turned toward the officers while raising his hand, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said during a briefing to announce the grand jury's decision.

"Only then did the officers fire believing Mr. Walker was firing again at them," said Yost, whose office was asked by local prosecutors to investigate the shooting.

Earlier, while driving his car with officers in pursuit, Walker had fired at least one shot at them, but he left the gun in the car when he fled on foot, Yost said.

State law allows officers to use deadly force against a deadly threat to themselves or others, he said.

"The grand jury concluded that the officers were legally justified in their use of force," he told a news conference.

The Walker family's legal team derided the decision and said they would file a civil lawsuit against the city in June.

Paige White, one of the lawyers, claimed prosecutors presented a case that was in favor of the officers.

"What we saw happen this week in the grand jury was a miscarriage of justice," she said. "Jayland did not have a chance."

U.S. Representative Emilia Sykes from Ohio said she will formally request the Justice Department probe the patterns and practices of the Akron Police Department.

"We've seen it too many times. A routine traffic stop ends in death," she said in a statement.

The panel of three men and six women, including two Black people, reached its decision after hearing that Walker had shot at officers at least once, and that officers had first used non-lethal Tasers in an attempt to stop him, Yost added.

Walker had neither alcohol nor drugs in his system at the time of his death.

The shooting follows a spate of law enforcement killings of Black people in the U.S. that have triggered protests against racial injustice and police brutality, including the 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Akron officials were preparing for the possibility that the grand jury's decision would lead to more protests.

In June, Walker's death sparked mostly peaceful daytime protests, although some demonstrators broke storefront windows and damaged property in central Akron, prompting police to disperse the crowd with tear gas.

Calling for peaceful protests, Mayor Dan Horrigan on Monday said the police department would internally investigate the incident and its policies. The review will be publicized at a later date.

The officers involved will remain on administrative duty as the department reviews if they violated internal policies, Police Chief Steve Mylett said.

Barriers have been set up in downtown Akron outside of City Hall and the police department in anticipation of protests, he said.

Akron Public Schools closed all schools on Tuesday to "ensure the safety of our scholars and staff" in light of the grand jury's decision.

(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Chicago, Tyler Clifford in New York and Kanishka Singh in Washington, D.C.; Editing by Josie Kao and Christopher Cushing)
FILE PHOTO: Barclays Bank logo is seen in this illustration taken March 12, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

By Sinead Cruise

LONDON (Reuters) -Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has recommended Barclays investors re-elect all board members at next month's annual meeting, sapping the momentum of protests against bosses for supporting former CEO Jes Staley who is being investigated over his links with sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

The influential proxy advisor said in a report published on Monday that "questions may be posed" as to the board's judgment in its decision to back Staley between 2019-2021, but it may be too soon for those questions to influence director elections.

Investors should instead await the outcome of various investigations into the matter, ISS said.

In a pre-meeting notice to investors last month, Barclays said that since Staley resigned in November 2021 it had received "no material new evidence" from authorities to challenge the findings of a regulatory investigation into how Staley characterised his relationship with Epstein.

At the time of his resignation, Barclays said the preliminary conclusions of investigations by British financial regulators into how truthful Staley was about his ties to Epstein made "no findings that Mr Staley saw, or was aware of, any of Mr. Epstein's alleged crimes."

Staley has acknowledged having been friendly with Epstein, but expressed regret for their relationship and has denied knowing about the financier's criminal activities.

The notice also said Staley's unvested long-term bonuses remained suspended pending further developments, adding that the board would "consider further action as appropriate".

Staley, who joined Barclays in 2015 after more than 30 years at JPMorgan, has been named in two civil lawsuits lodged against the U.S. bank for enabling and concealing Epstein's network. JPMorgan, in turn, has sued Staley over "outrageous" alleged conduct and breaching his duty of loyalty to the bank.

Staley's lawyers have dismissed allegations that he hid what he knew about the late disgraced financier as "slanderous" and "false".

EXECUTIVE PAY

Separately, ISS also said there may be "some scope" for further cuts to executive bonuses following a massive regulatory breach which led to the unlawful sale of $17.7 billion of structured products in the United States.

It did, however, describe actions already taken to dock variable pay earned by incumbent and former executives as "substantial" and "well explained", and therefore worthy of "qualified support" from investors.

Rival advisor Glass Lewis on April 6 recommended shareholders vote against bosses' pay in protest against long-term bonuses awarded to former executive Tushar Morzaria, who was serving as chief financial officer when the securities were sold in error.

Barclays docked bonuses earned by Morzaria and its current top executives by a combined 1 million pounds ($1.24 million) in February over the blunder.

Barclays paid a $200 million fine to U.S. regulators last year for "staggering" failures over several years that contributed to the breach and also forced the restatement of 2021 financial accounts.

($1 = 0.8061 pounds)

(Reporting by Sinead Cruise, editing by Lawrence White and Susan Fenton)
GDANSK (Reuters) - Ten Square Games said on Monday it plans to cut its workforce by 25%, or about 120 people, by the end of April and suspend two major projects, blaming a challenging economy and an unstable mobile games market.

The company also decided to suspend further development on its Undead Clash and Fishing Masters projects and to book a writedown on these games. It said as of March 31, development costs had reached 14.3 million zlotys ($3.39 million) for Undead Clash and 11.4 million zlotys for Fishing Masters.

"We have decided to end work on two projects - Undead Clash and Fishing Masters - and to significantly reduce employment in areas outside the company's main products. This will allow us to focus Ten Square Games' resources and energy on the development of the main titles - Fishing Clash and Hunting Clash - in the coming months, and prepare for the further scaling of Wings of Heroes," CEO Maciej Zuzalek said in a statement.

The company will give a final figure for the write-downs in its first-half report, after calculating the amount of severance pay for lay offs. The games write-downs will be included in the company's second-quarter results.

($1 = 4.2200 zlotys)

(This story has been corrected to show figures relate to development costs, not writedown size, in paragraph 2)

(Reporting by Maria Gieldon, Editing by Louise Heavens and Susan Fenton)
FILE PHOTO: The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius (DDG-69), deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations, conducts underway operations, at an undisclosed location in South China Sea, in this handout picture released on April 10

TAIPEI/BEIJING (Reuters) -The U.S. warship USS Milius sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, in what the U.S. Navy described on Monday as a "routine" transit, just days after China ended its latest war games around the island.

China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, officially ended its three days of exercises around Taiwan last Monday where it practiced precision strikes and blockading the island.

It staged the drills to express anger at Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen's meeting with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, viewing it as an interference in China's internal affairs and U.S. support for Taiwan's separate identity from China.

The U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet said the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius conducted a "routine Taiwan Strait transit" through waters "where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law".

The ship's transit demonstrates the United States' commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, it added.

Chinese military's Eastern Theatre Command said in a social media post on Monday it organised troops to follow and monitor the U.S. destroyer throughout its operation.

Taiwan's defence ministry said the ship sailed in a northerly direction through the strait and that during its transit the situation in the strait was "as normal".

The U.S. Navy sails warships through the strait around once a month, and also regularly conducts similar freedom of navigation missions in the disputed South China Sea.

Last week, the USS Milius sailed near one of the most important man-made and Chinese controlled islands in the South China Sea, Mischief Reef. Beijing denounced it as illegal.

China has continued its military activities around Taiwan since the drills ended, though on a reduced scale.

On Monday morning, Taiwan's defence ministry said it had spotted 18 Chinese military aircraft and four naval vessels operating around Taiwan in the previous 24 hour period.

China has never renounced the use of force to bring democratically governed Taiwan under its control.

Taiwan's government rejects China's territorial claims, and says only the island's people can decide their future.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Beijing newsroom and Liz Lee; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Lincoln Feast.)
Tensions have been brewing for weeks between Sudan's two most powerful generals, who just 18 months earlier jointly orchestrated a military takeover to derail the nation's transition to democracy.

Over the weekend, those tensions between the armed forces chief, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the head of the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, erupted into an unprecedented battle for control of the resource-rich nation of more than 46 million people.

Both men, each with tens of thousands of troops deployed just in the capital of Khartoum, vowed not to negotiate or cease fire, despite mounting global diplomatic pressure. It is a deadly setback for a country at the crossroads of the Arab world and Africa, which four years ago ended the rule of a long-time dictator in part through largely peaceful popular protests.

Here's a look at how Sudan reached this point and what is at stake.

WHAT PRECEDED THE FIGHTING?

In recent months, negotiations had been under way for a return to the democratic transition that had been halted by the October 2021 military takeover.

Under mounting international and regional pressure, the armed forces and the RSF signed a preliminary deal in December with pro-democracy and civilian groups. But the internationally brokered agreement provided only broad outlines, leaving the thorniest political issues unsettled.

During tortuous negotiations to reach a final agreement, tensions between Burhan and Dagalo escalated. A key dispute is over how the RSF would be integrated into the military and who would have ultimate control over fighters and weapons.

Dagalo, whose RSF was involved in brutal crackdowns during tribal unrest and pro-democracy protests, also tried to fashion himself a supporter of the democratic transition. In March, he slammed Burhan, saying military leaders were unwilling to relinquish power.

Analysts argued that Dagalo is trying to whitewash the reputation of his paramilitary force, which began as brutal militias implicated in atrocities in the Darfur conflict.

HOW DID THE SITUATION ESCALATE?

On Wednesday, the RSF began deploying forces around the small town of Merowe north of the capital. The town is strategic, with its large airport, central location and downstream electric dam on the Nile River. The next day, the RSF also sent more forces into the capital and other areas of the country, without the army leadership's consent.

On Saturday morning, fighting erupted at a military base south of Khartoum, with each side blaming the other for having initiated the violence. Since then, the military and the RSF have battled each other with heavy weapons, including armored vehicles and truck-mounted machine guns, in densely populated areas of the capital and the adjoining city of Omdurman. The military has pounded RSF bases with airstrikes.

By Monday, dozens of people have been killed and hundreds wounded in the fighting.

The clashes spread to other areas in the country, including the strategic coastal city of Port Sudan on the Red Sea and eastern regions, on the borders with Ethiopia and Eritrea. Fighting was also reported in the war-wrecked Darfur region, where U.N. facilities were attacked and looted. The U.N. says three employees with the World Food Program were killed in the clashes there on Saturday.

WHAT ARE THE PROSPECTS FOR A CEASE-FIRE AND A RETURN TO DIALOGUE?

The prospects for an immediate cease-fire appear to be slim. Burhan and Dagalo have dug in, demanding that the other surrender. The intense nature of the fighting also might make it harder for the two generals to return to negotiations.

On the other hand, the military and the RSF both have foreign backers, who unanimously appealed for an immediate halt to hostilities.

The Muslim religious calendar might also play a role. The fighting erupted during the last week of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, with the three-day holiday of Eid al-Fitr marking the end of the fasting month later this week. The population is increasingly strained for necessities, many homebound by the violence.

Meanwhile, there has been a flurry of diplomatic contacts. The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to discuss Sudan on Monday.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he discussed the developments in Sudan with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Saudi Foreign Minister said he spoke separately by phone with Burhan and Dagalo, and urged them to stop all kinds of military escalation."

The Gulf Arab monarchies are close allies to the military as well as the RSF.

Cameron Hudson, a senior associate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank and a former U.S. diplomat, said the Biden administration should get its allies in the region to push for peace.

"Without such pressure, we could find a conflict with the same pattern of the war in Tigray (in Ethiopia), he said.

WHO ARE THE FOREIGN ACTORS AND WHAT RESOURCES ARE AT STAKE?

During the decades-long rule of strongman Omar al-Bashir, who was deposed in 2019, Russia was a dominant force. At one point, Moscow reached an initial deal to build a naval base on Sudan's Red Sea cost.

After al-Bashir's ouster, the United States and European nations began competing with Russia for influence in Sudan, which is rich in natural resources, including gold, but has been mired in civil conflicts and military takeover. In recent years, the Russian mercenary outfit Wagner has even made inroads in the country.

The military controls most of the country's economy, but the RSF runs major gold mining areas, a key source of income for the powerful group.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


FILE PHOTO: Indonesian Minister of Investment Bahlil Lahadalia delivers his address on Promoting Open, Fair and Efficient Post-pandemic Global Investment Regime, during the B20 Summit, ahead of the G20 Summit in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, November 13, 202

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Volkswagen will build an electric vehicle (EV) battery ecosystem in Indonesia and will partner with miner Vale, Ford and China's battery minerals producer Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, the Southeast Asian country's investment minister said.

Automakers are courting Indonesia for its raw materials used in producing EV batteries, which account for about 40% of a vehicle's sticker price, aiming to cut costs and close the gap on EV market leader Tesla.

Minister Bahlil Lahadalia said on Sunday that Volkswagen, Europe's biggest automaker, will work with Vale, Ford, Huayou, French miner Eramet and several Indonesian firms like Merdeka Gold Copper, the parent company of Merdeka Battery, and energy firm Kalla Group.

The partnerships would consist of joint ventures and supply raw materials, Bahlil said in a video statement from Germany, where an Indonesian delegation led by President Joko Widodo is attending industry fair Hannover Messe and meeting representatives of companies including German chemical giant BASF, Eramet and Volkswagen.

"Indonesia is an important and interesting country in terms of raw materials and we are in a positive exchange with the government and suppliers," Volkswagen said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Bahlil said BASF had also expressed an interest in building a plant to produce battery materials, partnering with Eramet, in Indonesia's north Maluku province, for a total investment of about $2.6 billion.

BASF and Eramet are jointly assessing the development of a nickel and cobalt hydrometallurgical refining complex in Indonesia, as was announced in 2020, and details would be announced once the assessment has been concluded, BASF said in an emailed response.

Bahlil said investment interest from European companies would allay concerns that Indonesia's management of its mines "did not adhere to international standards."

Widodo, who is widely known as Jokowi, told Reuters last month that Indonesia will improve monitoring of environmental standards for nickel mining, amid concerns over the impact of production of the metal.

Ford, Eramet, Kalla Group, Huayou, and Merdeka Gold Copper did not immediately respond to requests for comment. PT Vale Indonesia declined to comment.

Indonesia, which has the world's biggest nickel reserves, has been trying to develop downstream industries for the metal, ultimately aiming to produce batteries and EVs.

Last month, Ford inked its first investment in Indonesia by joining Vale Indonesia and Huayou in a $4.5 billion nickel processing plant in Southeast Sulawesi.

Volkswagen last month said it plans to invest 180 billion euros ($193 billion) over five years in areas including battery production and raw material sourcing.

(Reporting by Stanley Widianto; Additional reporting by Bernadette Christina in Jakarta, Siyi Liu in Beijing and Victoria Waldersee in Berlin; Editing by Ed Davies)
Smoke rises from the tarmac of Khartoum International Airport as a fire burns, in Khartoum, Sudan April 17, 2023 in this screen grab obtained from a social media video. Abdullah Abdel Moneim/via REUTERS

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Monday called for an immediate ceasefire to fighting in Sudan between the army and a paramilitary force and said U.S. officials are in touch with the military leaders there.

"We deplore the escalating violence out of Khartoum and elsewhere in Sudan. We call for an immediate ceasefire without conditions between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), said a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council.

The spokesperson said U.S. officials have been in direct contact with army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan as well as RSF leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti.

The message to them was "to urge them to end hostilities immediately without preconditions. And we are consulting very closely with regional and other partners on the situation in Sudan," the official said.

"This dangerous escalation jeopardizes the progress made to-date in the negotiations to restore Sudans democratic transition, and it undermines the aspirations of the Sudanese people. They want an end to fighting and to see a democratic Sudan," the spokesperson said.

(Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Chris Reese and Grant McCool)
false 0001537028 0001537028 2023-04-12 2023-04-12

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported):

Independence Contract Drilling, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware 001-36590 37-1653648 (State or other jurisdiction (Commission (I.R.S. Employer of incorporation) File Number) Identification No.)

20475 State Highway 249 , Suite 300

Houston , TX 77070

(Address of principal executive offices)

( 281 ) 598-1230

(Registrants telephone number, including area code)

N/A

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):

 Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

 Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

 Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

 Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class Trading symbol(s) Name of each exchange where registered Common Stock, $0.01 par value per share ICD New York Stock Exchange

Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Principal Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Principal Officers; Compensatory Arrangement of Certain Officers

On April 12, 2023, Daniel F. McNease notified Independence Contract Drilling, Inc. (the Company) of his decision to retire immediately from the Board of Directors for personal reasons. There were no disagreements between Mr. McNease and the Company or the Board of Directors. Mr. McNease served as Chairman of the Board and was a member of the Companys Compensation Committee.

On April 12, 2023, the Board elected James G. Minmier to serve as Chairman of the Board. Mr. Minmier has served as a director of the Company since October 2018 and serves as Chairman of the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors.

Effective April 17, 2023, Brian D. Berman was elected to the Board of Directors of the Company to fill the vacancy created by Mr. McNeases retirement. Mr. Berman was appointed to the Companys Board of Directors pursuant to the terms of the Investors Rights Agreement dated March 18, 2023, between the Company and Glendon Capital Management. Mr. Berman replaced Vincent J. Cebula as such designee of Glendon Capital Management, while in connection with Mr. McNeases retirement, Mr. Cebula, an independent director of the Company, has been redesignated as a Company nominee not appointed under such Investors Rights Agreement.

Mr. Berman, age 55, is a founding partner of Glendon Capital Management and has served in such position since 2013. Prior to such time, Mr. Berman was a Managing Director of the Barclays Asset Management Group from 2006 until 2013 and served as a Managing Director at Oaktree Capital Management from 1996 to 2006. Prior to Oaktree, Mr. Berman was employed for one year at Tamkin Capital Partners in merchant banking and for five years at Wertheim Schroder & Co. Mr. Berman received a B.S.E. from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1989 and earned an M.B.A. from The UCLA Anderson School of Management in 1996.

A copy of the Companys press release regarding the retirement of Mr. McNease and the appointment of Mr. Berman to the Companys Board of Directors is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1.

Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits

(d) Exhibits

Exhibit

Number Description 99.1 Press Release dated April 17, 2023 104 Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document)

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

Independence Contract Drilling, Inc. Date: April 17, 2023 By: /s/ Philip A. Choyce Name: Philip A. Choyce Title: Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Secretary

ATTACHMENTS / EXHIBITS

EX-99.1

XBRL TAXONOMY EXTENSION LABEL LINKBASE DOCUMENT

XBRL TAXONOMY EXTENSION SCHEMA DOCUMENT

XBRL TAXONOMY EXTENSION PRESENTATION LINKBASE DOCUMENT

IDEA: R1.htm

IDEA: icd-20230412_htm.xml

IDEA: Financial_Report.xlsx

IDEA: FilingSummary.xml

IDEA: MetaLinks.json
FALSE 0001384195 0001384195 2023-04-17 2023-04-17





UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________





FORM 8-K

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________





CURRENT REPORT





Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934





Date of Report:

(Date of earliest event reported)

______________________________________________________________________________________

RING ENERGY, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________





Nevada 001-36057 90-0406406 (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation) (Commission File Number) (IRS Employer Identification No.)

1725 Hughes Landing Blvd ., Suite 900

The Woodlands , TX 77380

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)





( 281 ) 397-3699

(Registrants telephone number, including area code)





Not Applicable.

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)





Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:  Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

x Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

 Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

 Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: Title of each class Trading Symbol(s) Name of each exchange on which registered Common Stock, $0.001 par value REI NYSE American





Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (240.12b-2 of this chapter).





Emerging growth company 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. 



















Item 8.01 Other Events.





On April 17, 2023, Ring Energy, Inc. (the Company) posted to its website a brief company presentation discussing the Companys proposal to increase the authorized number of shares of the Companys common stock (the Presentation Materials) that management intends to use from time to time. The Company may use the Presentation Materials, possibly with modifications, in presentations to current and potential investors, lenders, creditors, vendors, customers and others with an interest in the Company and its business.





The information contained in the Presentation Materials is summary information that should be considered in the context of the Companys filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other public announcements that the Company may make by press release or otherwise from time to time. The Presentation Materials speak as of the date of this Current Report on Form 8-K. While the Company may elect to update the Presentation Materials in the future or reflect events and circumstances occurring or existing after the date of this Current Report on Form 8-K, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. The Presentation Materials are filed herewith as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and are incorporated herein by reference.





IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE AUTHORIZED SHARE PROPOSAL





This communication may be deemed to be solicitation material in connection with the proposal to be submitted to the Company stockholders at its 2023 annual meeting seeking, among other proposals, the approval to increase the authorized shares of common stock. In connection therewith, on April 11, 2023, the Company filed a preliminary proxy statement on Schedule 14A with the SEC. Stockholders are urged to read the preliminary proxy statement and all other relevant documents filed with the SEC when they become available, including the definitive proxy statement, because they will contain important information about the authorized share proposal and other proposals set forth therein.





Investors and security holders will be able to obtain the documents when available free of charge at the SECs website, www.sec.gov. In addition, stockholders may obtain free copies of the documents filed with the SEC when available at the Companys website, www.ringenergy.com. Information contained on such websites or that can be accessed through such websites does not constitute a part of this communication.





PARTICIPANTS IN THE SOLICITATION





The Company and its directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the Companys stockholders in respect to the authorized share proposal and other proposals. Information about the directors and executive officers of the Company is set forth in the Companys preliminary proxy statement, which was filed with the SEC on April 11, 2023. Investors may obtain additional information regarding the interests of the Company and its directors and executive officers in the authorized share proposal and other proposals set forth therein by reading the preliminary proxy statement and, when it becomes available, the definitive proxy statement relating to the 2023 annual meeting. STOCKHOLDERS OF THE COMPANY ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO READ THE DEFINITIVE PROXY STATEMENT AND ALL OTHER DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE AS THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION.





ForwardLooking Statements





This report includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than statements of strictly historical facts included in this report constitute forward-looking









statements and may often, but not always, be identified by the use of such words as may, will, should, could, intends, estimates, expects, anticipates, plans, project, guidance, target, potential, possible, probably, and believes or the negative variations thereof or comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding the expected benefits to the Company and its stockholders from the acquisition of oil and gas properties (the Stronghold Acquisition) from Stronghold Energy II Operating, LLC and its affiliates; and the Company's financial position, future revenues, net income, potential evaluations, business strategy and plans and objectives for future operations. Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to be materially different than any future results expressed or implied in those statements. However, whether actual results and developments will conform to expectations is subject to a number of material risks and uncertainties. Some of the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expected results are described under Risk Factors in our 2022 annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 9, 2023 and the Companys other SEC filings. Although the Company believes that the assumptions upon which such forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such assumptions will prove to be correct. All forward-looking statements in this report are expressly qualified by the cautionary statements and by reference to the underlying assumptions that may prove to be incorrect.





The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date hereof, except as required by applicable law.





Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.





(d) Exhibits .





The following exhibits are included with this Current Report on Form 8-K:





Exhibit No. Description 99.1 Presentation Materials dated April 17, 2023. 104 Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document).

























SIGNATURE





Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.





RING ENERGY, INC. Date: April 17, 2023 By: /s/ Travis T. Thomas Travis T. Thomas Chief Financial Officer













ATTACHMENTS / EXHIBITS

EX-99.1

XBRL TAXONOMY EXTENSION SCHEMA DOCUMENT

XBRL TAXONOMY EXTENSION LABEL LINKBASE DOCUMENT

XBRL TAXONOMY EXTENSION PRESENTATION LINKBASE DOCUMENT

IDEA: R1.htm

IDEA: rei-20230417_htm.xml

IDEA: Financial_Report.xlsx

IDEA: FilingSummary.xml

IDEA: MetaLinks.json
(Tribune News Service)  The 155th Air Refueling Wing of the Air National Guard has been selected to house a training flight simulator at the Guard base in Lincoln, Neb.

The USAF KC-135 Operational Flight Training device will provide significant training opportunities, Col. John Williams said.

"The full motion KC-135 simulator provides incredibly realistic training experiences to pilots in nearly every imaginable condition," said Williams, commander of the 155th Air Refueling Wing.

The simulator is capable of recreating realistic missions while providing training for any emergency situation pilots may face while in an aircraft. Electrical problems, engine failure and loss of pressurization are just a few.

The last time Williams used it, the technician running the simulator asked where he wanted to fly, and he chose Lincoln.

"The visuals were fantastic, all the buildings you see on our base were represented," Williams said. "It felt like I was back in Lincoln."

Convenience is another benefit of the new simulator.

Currently, there are four of these devices, spread among 18 wings. If Williams wanted to use one of these simulators today, he would have to fly to Milwaukee.

Williams said he makes the trip twice a year, traveling two days and using the simulator for two days each time. With a simulator in Lincoln, the opportunities seem endless.

"Having it here, I will be able to get in that device every day that I want to," Williams said.

Plus, his newest aviators can jump in "The Box," as they call it, whenever they're having trouble.

"They can do that 365 days instead of waiting for those one or two opportunities a year."

One of the strong selling points for a simulator coming to Lincoln was centrality. Two other bases, the 185th Air Refueling Wing in Sioux City, Iowa, and the 190th Air Refueling Wing in Topeka, Kan., will both be within a three-hour drive of the simulator.

The simulator is ready, but a final decision on what building it will reside hasn't been made. Williams said the Air Guard could use a reconditioned building that was formerly considered for a simulator in the past.

Since the simulator is also considered a new mission, they could use military construction money to build a new facility for it as well.

The simulator will also create up to eight jobs locally, with government contractors needed to run the simulator and perform maintenance.

"We have an outstanding campus here. This is really going to make our outstanding facilities that much better," he said.

dbennett@journalstar.com

(c)2023 Lincoln Journal Star, Neb.

Visit at www.journalstar.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
COLUMBUS, Ga.  One after another, pairs of highly trained soldiers zip-lined across the Chattahoochee River from the downtown riverwalk of the western Georgia city into neighboring Alabama where they climbed into bright yellow kayaks and paddled down the waterway.

Onlookers marveled as the teams of soldiers  all graduates of the Armys grueling Ranger School at nearby Fort Benning  ran along the brick-lined riverwalk Saturday and shot across the 1,200-foot line, marking the approximate halfway point of the Armys 39th Annual Lt. Gen. David E. Grange Jr. Best Ranger Competition.

After the end of three nearly nonstop days of events that included live-fire exercises, obstacle courses, lengthy runs, CrossFit-style workouts, a nighttime land navigation and fast-rope jumps out of helicopters, a team from the Armys elite 75th Ranger Regiment claimed the title Best Ranger  marking the special operations units third consecutive victory in the competition.

Theyre truly the top 1% of 1% of our Army that epitomizes a more elite soldier who can do things with their hands, their minds, their weapons and their spirit that our adversaries cannot, Col. Chris Hammonds, commander of Fort Bennings Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade, which hosts the competition, said of the top finishers Capt. Luke Ebeling and Spc. Justin Rein.

The Best Ranger Competition is meant to pit the Armys top performing soldiers against each other and challenge them on various tasks troops could be faced with in the line of duty, while punishing their bodies with brutal workloads, Hammonds said. The teams operate on little sleep and food as they conduct operations during the day and overnight. This year, the competition began with 56 pairs that were cut down to 16 finishers over the course of the event.

It tests everything. Its what you can do with your mind, your hands and your weapons better than the others, Hammonds said. Thats the theme of the competition  what were really trying to test.

On Saturday, as the competition shifted off the enclosed Fort Benning installation and into the publics view at A.J. McClung Memorial Stadium and along the riverwalk in downtown Columbus, competitors initially faced a grueling workout. Teams peddled on an exercise bike, threw 60-pound sandbags over a 6-foot wall, pushed a 185-pound sled and then moved a casualty dummy over a wall, through a tunnel and under razor wire. Later, the teams evacuated another dummy onto a helicopter, set up an 81mm mortar tube, threw axes and used saws and welding equipment to breach obstacles. That all came before the mile-plus run to the zip line.

Sgt. Maj. Thomas Payne said the competitors were likely already struggling by that point, especially on a hot, humid Georgia day. Payne, an Army special operator who won the Best Ranger Competition in 2012, said he was amazed by some of the competitors he watched during the event.

Its truly inspiring to come out and watch these competitors, said Payne, who was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2020 for his actions during a 2015 hostage rescue operation against Islamic State militants in Iraq. These guys are all amazing athletes, high-quality guys. Some of these guys, Id say, could have made the Olympics, but then they have a passion to serve something greater than themselves, so here they are all volunteering for this competition.

Payne, who competed in Best Ranger three times, said the daytime portions of the competition are grueling, but the nighttime challenges  a long march on the first night and a land navigation course the second night  are what separate the top finishers from the pack.

You cant really win it during those two pieces, but you can definitely lose the competition on those two events, he said.

The 2023 winners, Ebeling and Rein, took a lead in the competition on the first day, and held it through most the event. Teams from Fort Bennings Maneuver Center of Excellence and the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, from Vilseck, Germany, earned second and third place, respectively.

Hammond and other Fort Benning officials said holding Saturdays events in a public setting in Columbus for the first time was meant to expose the local community to what soldiers do behind the Army posts closed gates.

It was an opportunity for us to give back to a community thats felt like right next door to us all this time, the colonel said. Its giving them some access and exposure that they wouldnt have otherwise to see the technical and tactical expertise of the soldiers that the Army has to offer  and in this case, were talking about the best of the best of our soldiers.
This story was updated April 19, 2023, 3:46 p.m. Central European Time.

AMBERG, Germany  One U.S. soldier was airlifted to a hospital and six others were injured Monday following a crash involving two tactical vehicles near Amberg, Army officials said.

The collision occurred shortly before 11 a.m. on the eastbound A6 highway between the Sulzbach-Rosenberg and Amberg-West junctions in Bavaria.

As of now, there are no life-threatening injuries to any of the individuals, said Army Brig. Gen. Maurice Barnett, the head of the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command.

Six soldiers were taken by ambulance to hospitals, said Kate Necaise, a spokeswoman for U.S. Army Garrison Ansbach. Four others were taken to the Grafenwoehr Army Health Clinic for evaluation.

Several of the injured soldiers were later released from the hospital while others remained under observation, Necaise said Wednesday.

A convoy of seven armored vehicles was going from Shipton Kaserne, near Ansbach, to Grafenwoehr Training Area when a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle collided with a Stryker, Army officials in Ansbach said. The MRAP was missing a wheel following the crash, and the Stryker also showed significant damage.

A civilian semitruck also was involved in the accident, an Army statement said.

German police cited "traffic-related braking" as the probable reason for the rear-end collision. The crash remains under investigation.

Both military vehicles involved in the crash belong to the 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, a subordinate unit of U.S. Army Europe and Africa's 10th AAMDC, which is headquartered in Sembach.

There were no munitions on board the vehicles involved in the crash, Necaise said. Uninjured troops in the convoy secured the duty weapons at the scene, she added.

The collision closed parts of the busy national autobahn for several hours Monday afternoon.

In February, an American soldier was injured on a different stretch of the A6 when two U.S. military trucks carrying weapons collided.

Stars and Stripes reporter Michael Slavin contributed to this report.
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan  A rainy day dampened but failed to deter crowds from the first open house at this air base south of Hiroshima since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Approximately 62,000 people attended the 44th Friendship Day on Saturday at MCAS Iwakuni, base spokesman Maj. Gerard Farao told Stars and Stripes by email Monday. That figure is less than half the estimated 165,000 who visited the last open house in 2019.

Morning rain canceled some aerial demonstrations and pushed others into the early afternoon, including flights by a Japanese aerobatic team in an EA300 and a Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II.

Despite the weather, spectators watched the Pacific Air Forces F-16 Demonstration Team and a Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet flyover. But the headliner, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force demonstration team, Blue Impulse, did not make it off the ground. A crowd gathered in anticipation as the Blue Impulse taxied their Kawasaki T-4 jets along the runway, only to see the jets backtrack to their flightline parking spots.

While the weather may not have been exactly what we wanted, and there had to be a few adjustments made to the schedule, it was great to see the smiles on everyones faces, Col. Richard Rusnok, the base commander, said in post Sunday on the bases official Facebook page.

The event was jointly hosted by Fleet Air Wing 31 of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, U.S. Navy Carrier Air Wing 5 and the Marine Corps Marine Aircraft Group 12.

One visitor who attended previous open houses noticed an improvement in collaboration.

This one is a markup. Ive seen a lot more cohesiveness between the forces, John Watson, 63, a Canadian living near Takamatsu, Japan, told Stars and Stripes at the event. The personnel were amazing today; they answered a lot of dumb questions I had because I dont know anything about airplanes.

The open house typically provides a once-a-year opportunity for Japanese citizens and civilians to walk on the Iwakuni flight line, view military aircraft up close and interact with the U.S. population at souvenir stands, static aircraft displays and food stalls.

This year, a large assortment of aircraft and terrestrial vehicles were on display. In addition to the F-35B, the Marines showed their MV-22 Osprey and KC-130J Super Hercules; the Navy brought its F/A-18 Super Hornet, E-2 Hawkeye and C-2 Greyhound; and the Maritime Self-Defense Force displayed its F-16, ShinMaywa US-2 amphibious aircraft and P-3 Orion surveillance and anti-submarine patrol plane.

Its also cool for me to see the Japanese side, [because] I dont deal a lot with the Japanese side, 1st Lt. Matthew Stevenson, 30, of Marine Wing Support Squadron 171, said at the event.

Dennis Bowers, 8, son of Marine Gunnery Sgt. Dennis Bowers Jr., said he most enjoyed looking at the planes and taking pictures of them.
BRASILIA, Brazil  Russias Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov traveled to the Brazilian capital Monday and expressed gratitude for Brazils approach in pushing for an end to hostilities in Ukraine  an effort that has irked both Kyiv and the West.

Brazils President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has refused to provide weapons to Ukraine while proposing a club of nations including Brazil and China to mediate peace.

On Sunday, Lula told reporters in Abu Dhabi that two nations  both Russia and Ukraine  had decided to go to war, and a day earlier in Beijing said the U.S. must stop stimulating the continued fighting and start discussing peace. Earlier this month, he suggested Ukraine could cede Crimea to end the war, which the spokesperson for Ukraines foreign ministry, Oleg Nikolenko, and others rejected.

After meeting Brazils foreign minister on Monday, Lavrov told reporters in a short press conference that the West has engaged in a rather tough struggle to maintain its dominance in world affairs, including economics and geopolitics.

As for the process in Ukraine, we are grateful to our Brazilian friends for their excellent understanding of this situations genesis. We are grateful (to them) for striving to contribute to finding ways to settle it, Lavrov said.

Lulas recent comments, particularly ascribing any blame to Ukraine for Russias invasion in Feb. 2022, run counter to the position held by the European Union, the U.S. and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. And any talk of a ceasefire is viewed as an opportunity for Russia to regroup its forces for a new offensive. Zelenskyy told The Associated Press last month that a loss anywhere at this stage in the war could put Ukraines hard-fought momentum at risk.

Brazils foreign minister, Mauro Vieira, told reporters that Russia accounts for one-quarter of the South American nations fertilizer imports, and that he and Lavrov discussed measures to guarantee the influx. He also reiterated that Brazil sees sanctions against Russia as causing negative impacts for the global economy, particularly developing nations, and that Brazil supports an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.

Both men will meet with Lula in the afternoon, according to the foreign ministrys website.

As part of his effort to end the war, Lula also has withheld munitions to Ukraine, despite a request from Germanys Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Lula has said that sending supplies would mean Brazil entering the war, which he seeks to end.

There were already indications that Moscow had appreciated Lulas stance. One of roughly 50 leaked classified documents on the platform Discord that have been viewed by the AP said that, as of late February, Russias foreign affairs ministry supported Lulas plan to establish a club of supposedly impartial mediators, as it would reject the Wests aggressor-victim paradigm. The item cited electronic surveillance as the source.

Critics have argued that Brazils position aims to avoid confronting a key supplier of fertilizer for its soybean plantations, exports from which are largely destined for China. Both Russia and China hold permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council, and Brazil for decades has sought to join them. Lavrov told reporters on Monday that Russia is backing Brazils bid.

Vinicius Vieira, an international relations professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a university and think tank, said Lulas comments on Ukraine have been badly calibrated and that saying Kyiv should cede Crimea would appear to favor Russia.

The issue of fertilizers is fundamental, but that would be well resolved with Brazil staying neutral, calling all sides to speak, but without saying Ukraine owes something to Russia, Vieira said.

After his stay in Brazil, Lavrov will travel to Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.

In an article published on the website of Russias Foreign Ministry, as well as in Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo and Mexican magazine Buzos, Lavrov noted that Russia favored strengthening cooperation with Latin American countries on the basis of mutual support, solidarity and consideration of each others interests ... in the spirit of strategic partnership.

He appeared to cast the countries trade relationship  notably that between Russia and Brazil, especially concerning fertilizers  as a backdrop and source of leverage for possible discussions regarding Brazils continued refusal to provide weapons to Ukraine, which Moscow would like to ensure.

Lavrov also stressed that Moscows ties with countries such as Brazil are crucial to the foundation of a multipolar world order.

He reiterated that position on Monday.

We are united by a common desire to promote the formation of a more just, truly democratic, polycentric world order, which would be based on the fundamental international legal principle of the sovereign equality of states, Lavrov told reporters. We see this as a guarantee that multipolarity will be fair and will reflect the interests of all states without exception, and not just one group of countries.

Manenkov reported from Tallinn, Estonia. AP journalist Elise Morton contributed from London.
KARUIZAWA, Japan  Top diplomats from the Group of Seven wealthy democracies are tackling two major worries in Northeast Asia, vowing a tough stance on Chinas increasing threats to Taiwan and North Korea's unchecked tests of long-range missiles.

Another major crisis, Russias war in Ukraine, will also consume the agenda Monday as the diplomats gather in this Japanese hot spring resort town for Day Two of talks meant to pave the way for action by G-7 leaders when they meet next month in Hiroshima.

For the American delegation, the meeting comes at a crucial moment in the worlds response to Russias invasion of Ukraine and efforts to deal with China, two issues that G-7 ministers from Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Italy and the European Union regard as potent challenges to the post-World War II rules-based international order.

A senior U.S. official traveling with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters that the Biden administrations goal for the talks is to shore up support for Ukraine, including a major initiative on Ukraines energy infrastructure launched at last years G-7 gatherings in Germany, as well as to ensure the continued provision of military assistance to Kyiv. Ramping up punishment against Russia for the conflict, particularly through economic and financial sanctions that were first threatened by the G-7 in December 2021, before the invasion, will also be a priority, the official said.

Ukraine faces an important moment in coming weeks with Russias current offensive largely stalled and Ukraine preparing a counter-offensive. The U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss Blinkens priorities at the closed-door meetings, said there would be discussion about ways to deepen support for Ukraines long-term defense and deterrence capabilities. That might also improve Kyivs position for potential negotiations that could end the conflict on its terms.

The role of Japan  the only Asian member of the G-7  as chairman of this year's talks provides an opportunity to discuss coordinated action on China. Leaders and foreign ministers of G-7 countries, most recently France and Germany, have recently concluded visits to China, and the diplomats in Karuizawa are expected to discuss their impressions of where the Chinese stand on numerous issues, including the war in Ukraine, North Korea, and Taiwan, which is a particular sore point in U.S.-Chinese relations.

At a private working dinner on Sunday night that marked the diplomats first formal meeting, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi urged continued dialogue with China on the many global challenges where participation from Beijing is seen as crucial. Among the Chinese interests that are intertwined with those of wealthy democracies are global trade, finance and climate efforts.

But the diplomats are also looking to address Chinas more aggressive recent stance in Northeast Asia, where it has threatened Taiwan, the self-governing democracy that Beijing claims as its own.

Hayashi told ministers that outside nations must continue building a constructive and stable relationship, while also directly expressing our concerns and calling for China to act as a responsible member of the international community, according to a summary of the closed-door dinner.

China recently sent planes and ships to simulate an encirclement of Taiwan. Beijing has also been rapidly adding nuclear warheads, taking a tougher line on its claim to the South China Sea and painting a scenario of impending confrontation.

The worry in Japan can be seen it its efforts in recent years to make a major break from its self-defense-only post-WWII principles, working to acquire preemptive strike capabilities and cruise missiles to counter growing threats.

Blinken, the top U.S. diplomat, had been due to visit Beijing in February, but the trip was postponed because of a Chinese spy balloon incident over U.S. airspace and has yet to be rescheduled.

Blinken met briefly with Chinas top diplomat, Wang Yi, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Forum, but high-level contacts between Washington and Beijing have become rare. Thus, Blinken will be seeking insight from his French and German counterparts on their interactions with the Chinese, the senior U.S. official said.

Despite indications, notably comments from French President Emmanuel Macron, that the G-7 is split over China, the official said there is shared worry among G-7 nations over Chinas actions. The official added that the foreign ministers would be discussing how to continue a coordinated approach to China.

North Korea is also a key area of worry for Japan and other neighbors in the region.

Since last year, Pyongyang has test-fired around 100 missiles, including intercontinental ballistic missiles that showed the potential of reaching the U.S. mainland and a variety of other shorter-range weapons that threaten South Korea and Japan.

Hayashi expressed grave concern over North Koreas launch of ballistic missiles with an unprecedented frequency and in unprecedented manners, including the launch in the previous week, and the G-7 Foreign Ministers strongly condemned North Koreas repeated launches of ballistic missiles, according to the summary.
For G7 diplomats meeting in the Japanese resort town of Karuizawa, unity was the name of the game on Monday, with ministers lining up to insist there is no daylight between them on China policy.

The two days of talks are taking place under the long shadow cast by controversial remarks from French President Emmanuel Macron, who last week suggested Europe should avoid "crises that aren't ours".

From the opening remarks of Monday's first session, the desire to emphasise common ground was on clear display, with Japan's Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi telling his counterparts "the unity of the G7 is extremely important".

Monday's first session, and the ministers' working dinner the night before, focused on China and regional challenges, with Hayashi urging counterparts to "demonstrate to the world the G7's strong determination" to defend the "international order based on the rule of law".

Host Japan has put regional challenges atop the agenda, and recent events including Chinese military drills around Taiwan and North Korean missile tests have sharpened that focus.

As the ministers began talks, the US Navy announced it had sailed a guided-missile destroyer through the Taiwan Strait in a freedom-of-navigation operation, with Beijing saying it had tracked the vessel.

The controversy over Macron's remarks will prompt closer scrutiny of whatever language a final statement uses on China and its threats to seize self-ruled Taiwan.

But comments during bilateral talks on Monday showed the direction of travel, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying discussions so far had "only reinforced the convergence of views that we have", as he met with his French counterpart Catherine Colonna.

"We're united, we're giving clearly the same signal to the rest of the world that any situation requires respect of international law as a precondition to the rest," Colonna added.

Striking a balance

The ministers are expected to agree strong language in a final statement on Tuesday, warning against militarisation of the South China Sea, and repeating opposition to any "change of the status quo by force" on Taiwan.

They are also likely to warn about the weaponisation of trade, and the need for diversification of supply chains on sensitive material like semiconductors -- seen as another message directed at Beijing.

"There is a lot of unity in the room and basically you'll see that reflected," a senior State Department official said.

The ministers will send the message that "we want to work with China but we are certainly going to stand up against any coercion" or market manipulation, the official added.

Still, for all the outward expressions of unity, Macron's comments reflect the fact that there are real differences among the allies, said Jacques deLisle, director of the Asia programme at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia.

"Europe's assessments of China and views of Taiwan have moved toward positions that the US has favoured. But this has not brought consensus," he said.

"Washington's views of China have become still more negative and, relatedly, signals of support for Taiwan have grown much stronger, maintaining a gap between European and American positions."

And in a sign that the daylight between the allies remains a concern, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned Europeans "must not withdraw into our shells."

"We must not limit ourselves to defending the European peace," she told a press conference in Karuizawa.

Despite the focus on China, Ukraine has remained a priority at talks with the diplomats committing to "intensifying" sanctions against Russia, without outlining any specific new measures.

They also agreed stepped-up efforts to "prevent and respond to evasion of sanctions as well as third party weapon supply to Russia," likely to be seen as a further warning to China, among others, on cooperating with Moscow on its war in Ukraine.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


IE SHIMA, Okinawa  Days after Army Col. Ned Holt got his license to drive in Japan, the newly minted 10th Support Group commander made a pilgrimage here to honor war correspondent Ernie Pyle, a man often referred to as the soldiers best friend.

Holt, who took command in July, returned on Sunday to the spot where Pyle was felled by Japanese machine-gun fire to offer the keynote address at the annual ceremony honoring the Pulitzer Prize recipient.

Pyle became a household name during World War II for his dispatches from the front lines in North Africa, Italy and France. He is buried in Hawaiis National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific alongside the troops he covered.

Ive been reading Ernie Pyles books since my early teens, Holt said. He has been a part of my life and continues to be.

Pyles enduring legacy was apparent Sunday, two days before the 78th anniversary of his death, as around 50 American Legionnaires, Marines, local officials and Boy Scouts from Okinawa-based Troop 102 gathered around an obelisk to discuss the man and his place in military history. Lawrence Occomy, commander of Okinawas American Legion Post 28, said this years ceremony drew the most attendees in years.

He would often capture the human side of war in a way that no other journalist has before, Occomy said.

Pyle was born in 1900 near Dana, Ind., and served in the Navy Reserve at the end of World War I. He studied journalism at Indiana University before becoming a war correspondent for Scripps-Howard newspapers.

He traveled to London in 1940 to report on the German bombings known as the Blitz. It wasnt long before he joined the American troops stationed there. He shared foxholes with U.S. troops as they drove across Europe.

Pyle was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1944 for his coverage of the war.

After a short break from the action, Pyle joined the 77th Infantry Division as it bore down on Okinawa.

Pyle was killed on April 18, 1945, after the jeep he was riding in was fired upon by a Japanese machine-gun from a ridge above. He was buried near where he fell. His body was later moved to the national cemetery in Honolulu, commonly called the Punchbowl.

Pyle was mourned nationwide in the U.S. and was awarded a posthumous Purple Heart, a rare honor for a civilian.

The monument on Ie Shima is maintained by Post 28 and a Marine detachment on the island. The legionnaires have held memorial services at the site since 1952. Ie Shima is 3  miles off the western tip of the Mobutu Peninsula of west-central Okinawa.

Holt grew emotional talking about the man who had such an impact on his life.

When I got my first job and could buy books with my own money, I bought a couple of original editions of his books, he recalled. When Holt arrived for a tour of Hawaii in 1999, his first stop was Pyles gravesite.

Hes got an uncanny ability to tell the story through the soldiers eyes and also tease out the big picture and what it all meant, he said. I recognized it when I was young. I think Ive read everything hes ever published.

Tom Quinn, a retired Marine and motorcycle enthusiast who was riding with friends from American Legion Post 28, joined his family at the ceremony.

Hes one of the most celebrated veterans that was on this island, he said. Him passing within this area here is significant so we got to pay respect.

Nearby, Summer Hunter, 16, talked quietly with her mom and brother. The Hunters laid a wreath on behalf of Troop 102, Crew 28.

Ive learned that he was a great writer, she said. Its always good to respect your history.
Top diplomats from Group of Seven nations sought to project unity on China and other issues after French leader Emmanuel Macron stirred unease across the bloc with a conciliatory tone on a recent trip to Beijing.

"The last day has only reinforced the convergence of views that we have on the approach to the most important issues of the day," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said alongside French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, following a meeting in the mountain resort of Karuizawa, Japan.

The statement of harmony masked differences behind the scenes that spilled into the open following Macron's state visit to Beijing, after which he said the European Union should avoid being dragged into a dispute with China by the U.S. The trip amounted to a diplomatic coup for Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who has sought to divide the U.S. and its longtime allies.

Macron's comments, which came as he gave support to Xi's efforts to bring peace to Ukraine, caused anger and confusion among European Union partners. They also surprised the Japanese, who have often tried to balance security concerns about China with deep economic ties.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who also attended the meetings in Japan, struck a starkly different tone during and after her own trip to Beijing last week. While new Foreign Minister Qin Gang sought to impress her, including with a trip from his hometown of Tianjin to Beijing, Baerbock emerged more skeptical with China than before, according to a person familiar with her thinking.

Baerbock felt lectured by Qin and was disappointed that China's leadership wasn't willing to call Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as part of a peace plan from Xi that many Western nations see as pro-Russian, the person said.

On Monday, Baerbock underscored that Germany wouldn't compromise on its values when it comes to engaging with China. In response to a question on Taiwan, she said that "Europe won't look away" if international law is violated.

"I made clear in China: We want to cooperate, we want to be partners, but we are not naive," she told reporters in Japan.

Baerbock and her French counterpart both briefed their colleagues Sunday night about their China visits as part of an attempt to coordinate messaging on how the E.U. should approach the world's second-biggest economy, according to a person familiar with the calls.

They agreed on an approach that emphasized trying to cooperate with Beijing wherever possible, while de-risking their economic reliance on China and sending clear signals that Chinese weapon deliveries to Russia  as well as military escalation with Taiwan  would be unacceptable, this person said.

The G-7 has translated its close coordination on arming Ukrainian forces over the last year into a renewed dialogue on the challenges presented by China, a senior State Department official told reporters on Monday evening. The group sees the need to stay engaged with China while standing up against any coercive measures or efforts to change the status quo in Taiwan, the official said.

Ahead of a G-7 leaders summit in Hiroshima next month, the foreign ministers also discussed how to provide critical infrastructure investments across the developing world to give countries a high-quality alternative to Chinese investments, the official said.

The U.S. hasn't had high-level meetings with Beijing since President Joe Biden met Xi late last year, as the shooting down of an alleged Chinese spy balloon prompted Blinken to cancel a long-planned trip to China. Ties only worsened following Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen's unprecedented meeting on U.S. soil with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, which prompted China to launch military exercises.

The ministers agreed at a session on Monday that there should be regular talks within the G-7 framework on the Indo-Pacific, to strengthen coordination with Southeast Asian nations and others in the region, Japan's Foreign Ministry said in a news release.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi stressed that standing together on China is "extremely important" in a statement following a working dinner with other foreign ministers on Sunday night. He also said Japan and the U.K. would "continue to coordinate closely in addressing issues related to China" after a bilateral meeting on Monday with U.K. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly.

Bloomberg's Isabel Reynolds and Yuki Hagiwara contributed to this report.
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa  A diving unit has recovered two bodies from the wreckage of a Japanese military helicopter that crashed in the East China Sea earlier this month with a lieutenant general aboard.

The two unnamed males were taken Sunday to Hirara Port on Miyako Island, where their deaths were confirmed at 6:55 p.m. and 7:05 p.m., a Ground Self-Defense Force spokesman told Stars and Stripes by phone Monday.

Three additional bodies remain in a section of the UH-60JA Black Hawk's fuselage discovered Sunday morning in 350 feet of water north of Irabu Island, southwest of Okinawa, the spokesman said.

The 8th Air Wing aircraft disappeared from radar at 3:56 p.m. April 6 during a reconnaissance flight 11 miles northwest of Miyako Airport. It carried 10 aboard, including four members of the wing, a member of Camp Miyakos security force and five members of the Ground Self-Defense Forces 8th Division headquarters staff, including division commander Lt. Gen. Yuichi Sakamoto.

Sakamoto, 55, was appointed division commander less than a month ago. He previously served as commander of the 12th Brigade.

The two recovered bodies arrived around noon Monday at Naha Airport, Okinawa, aboard a CH-47 Chinook helicopter from Camp Miyako, according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK. The Ground Self-Defense Force spokesman declined further comment.

Six surveillance aircraft, seven Japanese navy and coast guard vessels and 380 personnel continued the search Monday for the remaining five crew members and the rest of the aircraft, the spokesman said. Some government spokespeople in Japan are required to speak to the media only on condition of anonymity.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday confirmed the deaths on his official Twitter account.

"It is a deep regret," he said. He vowed to reunite Sakamoto and the missing crew members with their families.

The Black Hawk had flown to Miyako from its base on Kyushu, the southernmost of Japans four main islands, and crashed 10 minutes after taking off from Miyako Airport.

The crew last radioed air traffic controllers about two minutes before the helicopter disappeared from radar but said nothing about in-flight emergencies.

Initial search efforts were hindered by currents and an abundance of coral on the seafloor.

The wreckage and at least three bodies were first discovered at around 10 p.m. Thursday using sonar and underwater cameras, a Ground Self-Defense Force spokeswoman said Friday. A remotely operated underwater vehicle launched the next day revealed severe damage to the aircraft section.

Rough seas kept divers from the area until Sunday, a Joint Staff spokesman said by phone that day.

More than 20 pieces of the helicopter have been found, including portions of the nose, rotor blade and fuel tank, according to the Ground Self-Defense Force on Thursday. The aircrafts flight recorder has not been found.
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea  The United States, South Korea and Japan rehearsed their seaborne missile defense in international waters on Monday, four days after North Korea launched another ballistic missile.

The guided-missile destroyers Yulgok Yi I, the USS Benfold and the JS Atago trained together in the Sea of Japan, or the East Sea, South Koreas Ministry of National Defense said in a news release Monday. All three are equipped with the Aegis Combat System, shown capable in tests of intercepting ballistic missiles.

The drill included detecting and tracking simulated ballistic missiles and sharing that information between the ships, according to the ministry.

This is an opportunity to boost [our] trilateral security cooperation against growing North Korean nuclear and missile threats  and to firm up our navys readiness posture and capabilities in responding to ballistic missiles, South Korean navy Capt. Kim Ki Young, commander of the Yulgok Yi I, said in the release. We will increasingly toughen our operational readiness posture through exercises that are nearly identical to actual battles.

The drill follows what North Korea claimed was a successful test of a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile on Thursday. The new ICBM, dubbed the Hwasong-18, boosts North Koreas nuclear counterattack posture and offensive capabilities, according to a Friday report from the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

South Koreas military described the projectile as a medium- to long-range ballistic missile that flew an estimated 620 miles before splashing down in the sea; Japans Joint Staff said it suspected the launch vehicle was a high-angle ICBM.

The launch prompted Japan to issue a brief evacuation warning to residents in Hokkaido.

It also prompted South Korean and Japanese military aircraft to conduct separate air power demonstrations with the U.S. Air Force the next day.

Two B-52H Stratofortress bombers, two KC-135 Stratotankers and four F-35 Lightning IIs flew alongside four Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-15 fighters over the Sea of Japan, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a news release Friday.

The same day, B-52Hs and F-16 Fighting Falcons flew together over South Korean airspace with South Korean F-35As and F-15K Slam Eagles, according to the Ministry of National Defense.

Military aircraft from the U.S. and South Korea also began a large-scale, 12-day air exercise Monday. More than 110 aircraft, including the Marine Corps F-35B, are scheduled to fly during the exercise to reaffirm the solid [U.S.-South Korea] alliance, the ministry said in a statement.

North Korea, which launched 12 ballistic missiles in nine separate days of testing so far this year, condemned the drills as a declaration of war.

Since April 7, the communist regime has remained unresponsive to routine, diplomatic phone calls from South Korea. The countries make two calls each weekday through a military hotline to ensure a line of communication remains open.
The USS Makin Island amphibious assault ship conducted live-fire weapons training and practiced replenishment-at-sea with two Philippine navy vessels on Saturday.

The flattop, along with the Philippine navys missile frigate BRP Jose Rizal and landing dock BRP Tarlac, on Wednesday departed Subic Bay, a former U.S. naval base on the main island of Luzon, the government-run Philippine News Agency reported Friday.

The vessels traveled to the joint operational area of the Puerto Princesa, Palawan-based Western Command, the agency reported.

Saturdays live-fire training utilized the Makin Islands close-in weapons system, the U.S. Navy said in a statement Monday. The ship is equipped with the Phalanx, a rapid-fire 20-millimeter gun, as a last defense against anti-ship missiles.

The weapons drill was part of the largest-ever annual Balikatan exercise, involving 17,600 troops from both nations, which kicked off April 11 and concludes April 28. Balikatan is Tagalog for shoulder-to-shoulder.

The replenishment-at-sea rehearsed skills to transfer fuel, munitions and stores from one ship to another while under way.

Before leaving port, sailors from the two navies met to talk about the way they conduct such maneuvers, according to the Navy statement.

Subject matter expert exchanges like these enhance our maritime interoperability with the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Capt. Tony Chavez, commanding officer of the Makin Island, said in the statement. We need to do the reps and sets in a controlled environment so we are able to respond quickly in a contested environment.

The training follows an April 11 meeting in Washington, D.C., between Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their Philippine counterparts, Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo and Secretary of National Defense Carlito Galvez.

A fact sheet released by the Department of Defense after the meeting said the allies were finalizing plans for the resumption of combined maritime activities, including the conduct of joint sails by the U.S. and Philippine Navies, in the South China Sea.

Both sides also discussed plans to conduct multilateral maritime activities with other like-minded partners in the South China Sea later this year, according to the fact sheet.
MOSCOW  Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday hailed the military's performance during massive naval drills that have involved the entire Russian Pacific Fleet  a show of force amid the tensions with the West over the fighting in Ukraine.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to Putin that the exercise that began Friday involves 167 warships, including 12 submarines, 89 aircraft and 25,000 troops.

As part of the drills, Russia's nuclear-capable long-range strategic bombers will "fly over the central part of the Pacific Ocean to imitate strikes against groups of enemy ships," Shoigu said.

Speaking during Monday's meeting with Shoigu, Putin praised the navy's "high level" performance and said that similar drills should be held in other areas.

The Defense Ministry has declared that sectors in the southern part of the Sea of Okhotsk, the Peter the Great Bay of the Sea of Japan and the Avacha Bay on the southeastern coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula would be closed to sea and air traffic for the duration of practice torpedo and missile launches and artillery exercises.

The ministry said that the drills were intended to "test the Pacific Fleet's readiness to repel aggression." The ministry described the briefing as a show of Russia's "voluntary transparency."

The Russian military has concentrated the bulk of its forces on the front lines in Ukraine, but has also continued conducting regular drills across Russia to train its forces and demonstrate their readiness.

The Pacific Fleet drills started just before Chinese Defense Minister Gen. Li Shangfu arrived in Russia on Sunday and met with Putin, who hailed close ties between Moscow and Beijing.

Li's talks with Shoigu would focus on "prospects of bilateral defense cooperation and acute issues of global and regional security," the Russian Defense Ministry said.

On Friday, Shoigu noted that the scenario for the maneuvers envisages a response to an adversary's attempt to make a landing on Sakhalin Island and the southern Kuril Islands.

Japan asserts territorial rights to the Kuril Islands, which it calls the Northern Territories. The Soviet Union took them in the final days of World War II, and the dispute has kept the countries from signing a peace treaty formally ending their hostilities.

Last year, Russia announced it had suspended peace talks with Japan to protest Tokyo's sanctions against Moscow over its action in Ukraine.

Russia has built up its military presence on the islands in recent years, deploying advanced fighter jets, anti-ship missiles and air defense systems there.
A Navy guided-missile destroyer steamed through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, less than a week after Chinese forces concluded a three-day exercise in the area to protest meetings between Taiwans president and U.S. politicians.

Over the course of 16 hours, the USS Milius steamed northeast through the 110-mile-wide channel that separates mainland China from Taiwan, U.S. 7th Fleet spokeswoman Lt. Kristina Wiedemann told Stars and Stripes by email Monday.

She said the destroyers trip through the area was unrelated to Chinese military exercises there last week.

This was a routine transit of the Taiwan Strait from the South China Sea to the East China Sea in accordance with international law, she said. U.S. Navy ships and aircraft routinely use the Taiwan Strait to transit between the two and have done so for many years.

Beijing on April 7 launched a series of exercises in the strait and elsewhere around Taiwan to protest Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wens visit with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on April 6 and U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Michael McCaul on April 8.

Dubbed Joint Sword, the exercise saw scores of aircraft and dozens of ships operating in the region on a daily basis in what Chinas Defense Ministry described as a serious warning against the Taiwan independence separatist forces colluding with external forces and provocations.

Beijing considers self-governing Taiwan a breakaway province that must be reunited with the mainland, possibly by force.

The Navy regularly sends ships through the strait as a means of convenient navigation and as a message that it will fly, sail and operate anywhere that international law permits. China, in return, regularly criticizes the transits as antagonizing the status quo.

Chinas Eastern Theater Command monitored the entire process of the Milius journey through the Taiwan Strait, according to a Monday post on the commands official Weibo account. Chinese forces hailed the Milius during its transit, Wiedemann said, but all communications were consistent with international norms and did not impact the operation.

Sundays passage marks the Navys third there this year; a P-8A Poseidon reconnaissance and anti-submarine patrol aircraft made a flyover of the strait Feb. 27 and the Hawaii-based destroyer USS Chung-Hoon made the trip Jan. 5.

The Milius trip through the strait also comes less than a week after it passed by the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea during a freedom-of-navigation operation on April 10, which coincided with the official conclusion of Chinas drills.

The Spratlys, approximately 960 miles from Taiwan, are a group of about 100 islands between Vietnam and the Philippines that are claimed in full by China, Vietnam and Taiwan; portions of the chain are also claimed by Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.

During that operation, the Milius steamed near Mischief Reef, one of several islands that China has modified and built military infrastructure on over the past decade, to protest excessive maritime claims and unlawful restrictions such as permission or advanced notice for innocent passage through territorial waters.
WARSAW, Poland  Slovakia became the third European Union country to ban food imports from Ukraine on Monday, deepening the challenge for the bloc as it works to help Ukraine transport its grain to world markets.

Slovakia followed Poland and Hungary, both of which announced bans Saturday on Ukrainian food imports through June 30. They did so in response to rising anger from farmers who say that a glut of grain in their countries is causing them economic hardship.

The EUs executive branch, the European Commission, manages trade on behalf of the 27 member countries and objects to them taking unilateral or uncoordinated measures.

At a briefing in Brussels, two spokespeople stressed gratitude to Poland and other Central European countries for supporting Ukraine, but said a solution must be found that respects the EU legal framework.

We are dealing with a war, right? And this war has consequences, obviously, on farmers and more generally, the population in Ukraine and the European Union and its member states, said Eric Mamer, chief spokesperson.

He acknowledged that Poland and other countries have been doing their utmost in order to help Ukraine, adding: So this is not about sanctioning. This is about finding solutions based on EU law in the interests at the same time of the Ukrainians and of the EU.

EU countries that neighbor Ukraine have asked the EU to treat the matter of Ukrainian food with urgency, saying they cant allow their own farmers to bear the cost of disruption that Ukrainian agriculture products are causing to their markets.

A delegation of Ukrainian officials visited Warsaw on Monday for government consultations on the issue. Poland faces an election in the fall and farmer groups have been protesting to urge action.

Hungarys agriculture minister, Istvan Nagy, said the surge in Ukrainian products on European markets had made it impossible for Hungarian farmers to remain competitive.

Nagy also said low production costs in Ukraine, owing to practices being used that are not permitted in EU countries, had allowed Ukraine to export large quantities of poultry, eggs and honey to the European market, driving costs down to unsustainable levels.

The Slovak Agriculture Ministry announced last week that tests of 1,500 tons of grain from Ukraine in one mill in Slovakia revealed it contained a pesticide banned in the EU. As a result, the Slovak authorities decided to test all Ukrainian grain in the country and temporarily banned its processing.

Its ban will affect imports of grain and also some other food, including sugar, hops, flax, hemp, fruits and vegetables and products made of them, vine, honey and honey products. Slovak Agriculture Minister Samuel Vlcan said the ban that take effect Tuesday will remain in place until further notice and doesnt apply for transit.

Ukraine and Russia are both major global suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other affordable food products that developing nations depend on. The war upended those supplies to Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia where people were already going hungry and helped push millions more people into poverty or food insecurity.

After Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it became too dangerous for ships to sail in the Black Sea, disrupting the flow of large ships carrying food to distant markets. Shipments resumed under a deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey.

The EU reacted to the crisis by lifting tariffs and other trade duties on Ukraine to help keep its economy afloat. That helped to divert Ukraines grain flows destined for Africa and the Middle East through Europe  but much of this food has instead remained in the bordering countries, creating a glut that has caused high losses for local farmers.

The EU measures expire in June, but the EU is expected to renew them.

Ukraines EU neighbors are, with the exception of Hungary, allies of Ukraine who favor their neighbors future membership in the EU.

Yet already the EUs decision to banish tariffs for Ukrainian goods as a result of Russias invasion of its neighbor underlines the challenges that would come with integrating a huge food producer with the rest of the bloc.

Ian Mitchell, an economist and London-based co-director of the Europe program at the Center for Global Development, said its unusual for EU member states to take unilateral trade action.

Mitchell, who specializes in agriculture and trade, argued that the move undermines the solidarity of the EU and shows the power of farmers voices in politics. He described it as an attempt to get the EU to provide more support for the agricultural industry, even though aid is already generous for farmers in Eastern and Central Europe.

Youre a consumer in Hungary, Slovakia or Poland, then effectively the government has just ensured that youre going to be paying a higher price for your food, Mitchell said. The balance of the food lobby is so powerful that it can get the government to do that even in a cost-of-living crisis.

Their bans come as Russia threatens to pull out of the Black Sea deal. Moscow is complaining that a separate agreement to facilitate exports of Russian food and fertilizers amid Western sanctions hasnt worked.

Global food commodity prices surged to record levels after the invasion of Ukraine and have been falling steadily since, but food is still expensive for people in many places because of factors like droughts, trade restrictions and the high cost of buying imported food priced in dollars as some emerging economies currencies weaken.

Courtney Bonnell in London, Lorne Cook in Brussels, Justin Spike in Budapest, Hungary, and Karel Janicek in Prague, contributed to this report.
BELFAST, Northern Ireland  Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and past leaders of the U.K. and Ireland gathered in Belfast on Monday, 25 years after their charm, clout and determination helped Northern Ireland strike a historic peace accord.

They met to remember a moment, said former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, "when history opened itself to hope," in a Northern Ireland that has changed dramatically since 1998  and where some wonder if the accord that created peace is still capable of sustaining it.

"Twenty-five years ago the people of Northern Ireland and their leaders changed the course of history," said Mitchell, 89, who chaired two arduous years of peace negotiations that led to the accord.

A quarter-century on, "the people of Northern Ireland continue to wrestle with their doubts, their differences, their disagreements," he said. But, he added: "The people of Northern Ireland don't want to return to violence  not now and not ever."

A young peacetime generation is increasingly shedding the rival identities  British unionist and Irish nationalist  that erupted into three decades of bloodshed that killed 3,600 people. But at the same time, Northern Ireland is locked in a political crisis that threatens to rattle the peace secured by the Good Friday Agreement.

"You've got a transformed society in which (the labels) unionist, nationalist for many young people doesn't mean anything," said Katy Hayward, professor of political sociology at Queen's.

"But on the other hand, society is in a state of quite severe disrepair. We haven't had a functioning Assembly for four out of the last six years, and our public services are crumbling around our ears."

Clinton, who recently called the day the peace deal was struck "one of the happiest days of my presidency, indeed of my entire life," is joining former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, ex-Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern and Northern Ireland politicians and peacemakers at the Queen's University Belfast conference.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Queen's University's chancellor, urged people in Northern Ireland to show the same "unstoppable grit and resolve" that secured the peace deal.

"You have always found a way through, and I believe you will again," she told delegates.

The three-day gathering caps commemorations of the April 10, 1998, peace accord that included a flying visit last week by President Joe Biden, on his way to explore his Irish roots in the neighboring Republic of Ireland. During speeches in Belfast and Dublin, Biden reminded Northern Ireland's politicians how strongly the U.S. remains invested in peace.

"I wanted to make clear there's a lot at stake, a lot at stake," Biden told reporters as he left Ireland on Friday. "And I think the combination of Ireland, the whole island, Great Britain, Northern Ireland, United States can change the way things occur."

The Good Friday Agreement has been held up around the world as proof that bitter enemies can make peace. It committed armed groups to stop fighting and set up a Northern Ireland legislature and government with power shared between unionist and nationalist parties.

U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is due to host a gala commemorative dinner in Belfast on Wednesday, hailed "the courage, imagination and perseverance" of the peacemakers, including those, like former Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam, who have since died.

But critics say the U.K. government has been, at best, careless with Northern Ireland's peace  especially by leading Britain out of the European Union following a 2016 referendum.

Brexit shook the peace settlement by creating friction between Britain, the EU  including member state Ireland  and the U.S. It also destabilized the delicate political balance in Northern Ireland, by reviving the need for a customs border between the EU and now ex-member the U.K. An open border between Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland is one of the foundations of peace, so checks were imposed instead on goods moving from mainland Britain to Northern Ireland.

That unsettled unionists, who see the economic barrier as undermining Northern Ireland's place in the United Kingdom. The Democratic Unionist Party walked out of the government in protest more than a year ago, collapsing it. The party has not returned, despite a deal reached by the U.K. and the EU in February to remove many of the border checks.

As they reflect on the past, conference participants will grapple with how to get the power-sharing government back up and running.

Entreaties from the U.K., the EU and the United States have so far failed to coax the DUP back into government. Local elections in Northern Ireland next month will give an indication of whether the party's intransigence has cost it votes.

Increasing numbers of people argue that power-sharing must be tweaked to reflect the growing importance of forces such as the Alliance Party, which defines itself as neither unionist nor nationalist.

Meanwhile, violence hasn't disappeared completely. In February, IRA dissidents opposed to the peace process shot and wounded a senior police officer.

Former Irish leader Ahern, who played a key role in the 1998 peace talks, urged the DUP to compromise.

"You do not make much progress in politics if you don't do that," Ahern told Sky News on Sunday. "We have to get away from, you know, 'This is the position and no other position is satisfactory.' It's not tenable or sustainable. And it's not in the interests of the people in Northern Ireland."
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany  Defense ministers and senior military officials from the U.S. and some 50 partner nations helping Ukraine fight Russia will convene Friday at Ramstein Air Base for the latest round of talks.

The meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, hosted for the fourth time at Ramstein by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, may be a time for the U.S. to reassure allies following the leak of classified documents, a number of which relate to the Russia-Ukraine war.

Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guard member, was arrested last week and charged under the Espionage Act as a result of the extensive breach.

NATO allies and partners have used the contact group forum to hammer out what resources and military weapons to collectively provide to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion Feb. 24, 2022.

Ukraine hopes that support soon will include Western combat aircraft, a request made most recently last week by Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal when he met with Austin at the Pentagon.

Shmyhal said Ukraine is building a fighter jet coalition and invited the U.S. to become its most important participant, according to a Defense Department statement.

In modern warfare, air superiority is crucial, Shmyhal said. America can once again demonstrate its leadership by providing Ukraine with F-15 or F-16 aircraft.

NATO partners have already handed over older Soviet-era warplanes. Poland already had sent eight MiG-29 fighter jets, and last week, Germany gave permission for the Poles to send five more from old East German stocks, according to German news outlet Deutsche Welle.

Slovakia also delivered all 13 MiG-29s it had promised Ukraine, the Slovak Defense Ministry said Monday, Associated Press reported.

The aircraft will help, but the country needs more modern and versatile combat planes to gain air superiority and strike ground targets, said Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuri Ihnat, independent news outlet the New Voice of Ukraine reported Monday.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that he heard peoples anger over raising the retirement age from 62 to 64, but insisted that it was needed.

In a televised address to the nation, Macron said these changes were needed to guarantee everyones pension, after he enacted the pension law on Saturday.

Gradually working more is also producing more wealth for our whole country, he added.

The evening address kicks off a likely arduous battle for the French president, who is trying to repair the damage done to his public image and politics by forcing the pension plan through parliament last month.

French opponents to the unpopular new pension law have called for people to bang pots and pans across France while President Emmanuel Macron seeks to diffuse tensions in a televised address to the nation.

Macron, who just enacted protest-igniting pension changes, is expected to provide details about his domestic policies in the coming months.

He hopes that it will help the country move away from the period of protests and strikes over the retirement age that threatens the ambitions of his remaining four years in power.

The evening address kicks off a likely arduous battle for the second-term president to repair the damage done to his public image and politics by forcing the pension plan through parliament last month.

Opponents of the unpopular pension plan called for people to gather in front of city halls to make loud noises during the address, with the rallying cry: Macron wont listen to us? We wont listen to him!

Such gatherings have been banned by authorities in the cities of Dijon and Marseille, with local prefectures arguing there is a risk of public disorder.

Earlier in Marseille, police arrested 13 people after gas and power meters were strewn outside a government building in an unusual trade union demonstration against pension changes. Police said there was a loud blast as the meters were being dumped and that an officer on guard was hit by flying debris.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said Saturday that the government would move ahead with more reforms now that the pension law has been enacted. In the coming weeks and months ... we are determined to accelerate," she told the national council of Macrons Renaissance party.

The government has notably started working on a bill meant to improve employees working conditions and bring the unemployment rate down to around 5 percent  one of Macrons commitments. France's unemployment rate recently reached 7.2 percent, its lowest rate since 2008.

Weakened in parliament, where his centrist alliance lost its absolute majority in legislative elections last year, Macron's government needs to get support from lawmakers from diverse political forces to push ahead with his program. That's likely to be an uphill task in the uproarious climate of protest sparked by his retirement changes that pick at France's cherished social safety net.

Borne said Saturday she was convinced it was still possible to pass bills at parliament by negotiating with lawmakers from the left and the right on a case-by-case basis.

Labour unions that have been at the forefront of protests, mobilizing millions of marchers in 12 days of nationwide demonstrations and strikes since January, are vowing to fight on. They called for another mass protest on May 1, which is International Workers Day.

The pension changes were enacted into law Saturday, the day after the countrys constitutional body rejected some parts of the legislation but approved the higher minimum retirement age.

That key change  central to Macrons plan and the focus of opponents protests  was intended to be a showcase measure of Macrons second term. But it has come at a significant cost to the French president: opinion polls show his popularity has plunged to its lowest level in four years.

His government argued that requiring people to work two years more before qualifying for a pension was needed to keep the pension system afloat as the population ages. Opponents proposed raising taxes on the wealthy or employers instead.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


A unilateral strike by U.S. troops in northern Syria killed an Islamic State senior leader and at least other two people, U.S. Central Command said in statements Monday.

The U.S. military described the person targeted in the Monday attack, Abd-al-Hadi Mahmud al-Haji Ali, as a leader for ISIS and planner for strikes in the Middle East and Europe.

CENTCOM said two other people, described as ISIS operatives, were killed in the raid, which the U.S. military said was based on intelligence gathered about a plot to kidnap officials abroad.

No U.S. troops were injured in the raid, CENTCOM said in the statement.

The statement added that no U.S. helicopters were damaged, an apparent reference to local reports saying the opposite.

The affiliation of other two people killed differed in reports by organizations in Syria. The two people were described as members of the Soqour Al-Shamal faction, a Turkish-backed militia, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said in a Facebook post Monday.

The raid took place east of Aleppo in an area of Syria controlled by militant groups backed by Turkey and involved two missiles being fired at a building where an ISIS commander had been living for a few months, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights post said.

A U.S. official confirmed that the post referred to the same CENTCOM raid Monday.

U.S. forces did a DNA test on human remains they secured from the raid, said the U.S. official, who insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces also said the attack targeted Soqour Al-Shamal, The Associated Press reported Monday. The SDF partners with the U.S. in anti-ISIS operations. The SDF said the operation was launched from a base near the town of Kobani.

The Syrian volunteer rescue group known as the White Helmets reported a helicopter raid at approximately 1:30 a.m. Monday in a post on its Twitter page.

The White Helmets also said the raid took place east of Aleppo, adding that the group had transported two injured people to a hospital for treatment and that the two died.

A third person was killed as well, and family members took that persons body, according to the group.

The U.S. has about 900 service members in Syria, part of joint efforts with Kurdish fighters to prevent an ISIS resurgence, according to CENTCOM.

The U.S. also has about 170 contractors in Syria, CENTCOM spokesman Lt. Col. Dave Eastburn said last month.

These forces launched at least 34 operations against ISIS in the first three months of the year, statements by CENTCOM said.

In 2019, the Islamic State, which took over much of Iraq and Syria in 2014, lost the last territory it held. About 10,000 ISIS fighters remain in detention camps in northeastern Syria.

The U.S. says the group remains a threat in the region, and American military operations in recent years have resulted in the elimination of ISIS leaders.

In October 2022, the leader of ISIS, Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, was killed in battle with Syrian rebels in southern Syria.

His predecessor, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, was killed in a U.S. raid in northwestern Syria earlier that year. ISIS founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi died in a raid by U.S. forces in October 2019.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates  A Saudi-led military coalition on Monday freed 104 more prisoners captured in Yemen's war, a unilateral release that followed an organized prisoner swap amid renewed diplomatic efforts to halt the conflict.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it flew two flights carrying a total of 96 released detainees from Saudi Arabia's Abha International Airport to Sanaa, Yemen's capital that has been held for years by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. Another flight carried eight freed prisoners from Abha to Aden, a port city held by forces allied to the Saudi-led coalition.

A statement from Brig. Gen. Turki al-Maliki, a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, acknowledged the release of 104 Houthi detainees.

A U.N.-brokered deal saw the release of over 700 detained Houthis, and more than 180 other prisoners, including Saudi and Sudanese troops fighting with the Saudi-led coalition. That three-day operation was overseen by the Red Cross and ended on Sunday.

The prisoner releases come as the Houthis and Saudi Arabia say they have made progress in negotiations to revive an expired cease-fire and embark on talks to settle the conflict. Monday's release was to help those efforts, the kingdom said.

Hans Grundberg, the U.N. envoy for Yemen, said Monday that "We have not seen such a serious opportunity for making progress towards ending the conflict in eight years. But the tide could still turn unless the parties take bolder steps toward peace."

"Many aspects of the truce continue to be implemented beyond its lifespan," Grundberg said. "Yemen is experiencing the longest period of relative calm yet in this ruinous war. ... However, this is not enough."

According to the state-run Saudi Press Agency, al-Maliki said it was part of "efforts to stabilize the cease-fire and create an atmosphere of dialogue between the Yemeni parties to reach a comprehensive and sustainable political solution that ends the Yemeni crisis."

The Houthis say both sides will continue their talks after Eid al-Fitr, the holiday later this week that marks the end of the Islamic holy fasting month of Ramadan.
A former day care worker at a Marine Corps base in Arizona pleaded guilty to abusing 1-year-old children in her care by dragging, kicking and throwing toys at them, according to Yuma County court documents.

Valerie McKinstry, 29, pleaded guilty Wednesday to two felony counts of child abuse and 11 misdemeanor counts of child endangerment for her behavior with the children between December 2020 and March 2021 at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, according to court documents.

The classroom where McKinstry worked with 1-year-old children was under video surveillance  standard practice at Defense Department child development centers  and the base provided the Yuma Police Department with 78 videos of possible abuse, according to the 100-page police report.

McKinstry is seen on the videos hitting a young boy with his own hand repeatedly, forcefully shoving a childs chair into a table, carrying a child by just an arm or leg, shoving a chair into a child from behind, shaking a childs chair repeatedly, handling children roughly so their bodies strike furniture, and throwing toys at children hitting them in the face or body, among many other accusations described by police.

A sentencing hearing has not been scheduled, according to the countys online court records.

Police identified 15 child victims in their review of videos, according to the report.

Katherine McCombs, 29, worked alongside McKinstry and is also charged with seven counts of child abuse, according to online court records. Her case is still pending in Yuma County Superior Court.

A third child care worker is identified in police reports as a suspect but is not facing charges at this time, according to court records.

One parent, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said her son is still struggling with the abuse that he experienced at the hands of McKinstry and McCombs.

It was just a lot of talking with the teachers about what happened to him and having them create that bond with him, she said. When he gets hurt, even now, he does not really seek comfort, because in that classroom if you were crying or you were hurt, you got jacked up.

Yuma police arrested McKinstry on March 2, 2021, and MCAS Yuma officials placed her on administrative leave on the same day, said Capt. Brett Vannier, spokesman for the base. Her employment was officially terminated April 17, 2021.

The base assigned personnel from outside the child development center to review past video recordings from the previous 60 days to identify, document and report any possible instances of physical abuse, neglect or other inappropriate caregiver behavior, Vannier said.

A team of senior leaders then reviewed the reports and provided all evidence to police, he said.

This is the only case within the Marine Corps where a former employee was charged and later convicted of child abuse or endangerment in a civilian court, said Yvonne Carlock, a spokeswoman for the Marine Corps.

The Marine Corps has written policy and procedures on the prevention of child abuse and require initial and annual in-person training. All staff receive training and are continuously monitored by closed-circuit television and regularly observed by management to ensure they are following policy for positive guidance and appropriate touch, she said. There is a very low threshold for staff removal if found to be in violation of these policies.

Considering the abuse, MCAS Yuma now requires curriculum specialists and trainer assistants review live and recorded video feeds from each classroom every week at unannounced times, Vannier said. Child and Youth Program leaders must conduct additional reviews.

The staff at the child care facilities were required to take a training course consisting of approximately 26 different subjects such as developmentally appropriate practices, appropriate touch policy and procedures, child safety, and others.

During the investigation, MCAS Yuma also reviewed about 20 hours of random video samples from each of the other classrooms in the day care to ensure the abuse was not a systemic problem, base officials said.
WASHINGTON  Stepping gingerly over the lawn in their spiky heels, first lady Jill Biden and Yuko Kishida, the wife of Japan's prime minister, planted a cherry tree at the White House on Monday to honor decades of friendship between their countries.

"This is how you always plant a tree," Biden said, laughing about their shoes as she and Kishida shoveled soil around the base of a Yoshino cherry tree sapling on the south grounds.

She welcomed Kishida to the White House and said, "The planting of this tree is a symbol of the friendship between our two nations forever and ever."

Kishida is on a rare solo visit to the United States. It's the first time the spouse of the prime minister has traveled alone to the United States, and Kishida visited at Biden's invitation, according to the Japanese embassy in Washington.

She is spending part of the week in Washington to promote friendship between the U.S. and Japan, as well as cultural exchanges, the Japanese government said.

Biden took Kishida to the Oval Office to see President Joe Biden, the White House said, and hosted her for lunch. Among those invited to the women-only meal were Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif.; Maki Onuki, principal dancer at the Washington Ballet; and Akiko Iwasaki, immunology professor at Yale University School of Medicine, according to the first lady's office.

The new sapling is a Yoshino cherry tree that was propagated from a cutting from a cherry tree that was planted on the south grounds in July 2017, the White House said. It was planted near the East Wing. The White House has 23 other cherry trees across the 18 acres.

The meeting between Biden and Kishida was rescheduled from January when Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and President Biden met in the Oval Office. Kishida's wife accompanied him on the trip. But Jill Biden was unable to host Yuko Kishida at the time because the first lady was recovering from a surgical procedure performed two days earlier to remove several cancerous lesions from her skin.

It also comes before next week's state visit by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady, Kim Keon Hee.

President Biden has looked to build closer security cooperation with Japan and South Korea at a time of shared concerns about a restive North Korea and a more powerful China. He has sought opportunities to help the historic rivals improve their long, fraught relationship as the Indo-Pacific region becomes increasingly complicated.

In March, South Korea announced a plan to compensate Koreans who performed forced labor during Tokyo's colonial rule that doesn't require Japanese companies to contribute to the reparations.

President Biden hailed the step as a "groundbreaking new chapter" in cooperation between the countries. Yoon followed up by visiting Tokyo later in March for talks with Kishida. It was the first summit between the two nations' leaders since 2011.

The U.S. and Japanese spouses also met several weeks before Kishida hosts the annual Group of Seven summit of leading industrialized nations, including the U.S., in mid-May in Hiroshima, Japan.

Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani in Washington and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has expressed grief and sorrow over the death of three Pakistanis in a residential building fire in Dubai.

In a tweet on Monday, he extended heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families over the tragedy.

He directed Pakistan's Mission in the UAE to extend support to the affected families.

I am very sad to learn about the death of three Pakistanis in a residential building fire in Dubai. I extend my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families over the tragedy. Have directed Pakistan's Mission in the UAE to extend support to the affected families.  Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) April 17, 2023

On Sunday, sixteen people, including three Pakistanis, were killed and nine were injured in a Dubai residential building fire.

Read: 3 Pakistanis among 16 dead in Dubai residential building fire: report

The fire engulfed the five-storey building in the Al-Ras neighborhood, one of the oldest parts of Dubai and home to many migrant workers and traders.
A local court in Karachi on Monday remanded Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Ali Zaidi in police custody for three days in a case filed against him for "fraud and issuing threats".

The court also rejected Zaidi's plea seeking to discharge from the case.

During the proceeding, the investigation officer (IO) said that they produced the suspect before the court in the legally stipulated time of 24 hours.

Last week, Zaidi was arrested following a complaint by a property dealer, Fazal Elahi, who accused him of fraud.

The complaint alleged that Zaidi had borrowed Rs180 million from Elahi in 2013 which he only returned partially.

The first information report (FIR) was registered under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code, including cheating and forgery.

PTI leader was brought to court from Gadap police station in an armored vehicle and a large number of PTI workers showed up in solidarity with him.

After hearing arguments from both sides, the court awarded physical remand to the suspect.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has informed the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday that he fears the government may launch another operation during Eid ul Fitr holidays at his Zaman Park residence in a bid to arrest him.

A two-member bench of the high court recommended that Imran Khans petition be placed before a larger bench against the registration of similar cases and disciplinary proceedings against him.

The bench, comprising of Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh and Justice Farooq Haider, sent the file to the Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court.

Khan testified in court that despite court orders, the police had previously damaged his home during the Zaman Park operation, adding that the court had ordered the police not to launch an operation in Zaman Park, yet it had happened.

Now during the holidays, they will launch an operation. I have credible reports that they will launch an operation. The court must stop them, Khan urged, adding that the law of the jungle prevails where people are first arrested and then they are informed about the accusations.

I am just informing you about the threats beforehand, Khan said and returned to his seat.
There it stands throughout the world, a visible landmark of any Islamic city.

Tall, stately, beautiful, it looks up to the sky, almost touching it, in humble worship of Allah. It is an architectural masterpiece.

It is the minaret, the visual symbol of the mosque where faithful Muslims come to pray.

There are two purposes of a minaret: a platform used to summon Muslims to prayer; and an impressive, powerful symbol of the influence of Islam.

The holy month of Ramadan demands the most rigorous fast, abstinence from food and drink from 11 to 20 hours a day, depending on season and location. Simultaneously, the exacting Muslim prayers increase during those holidays, yet the atmosphere is full of joy, love and peace. Muslims glory in their faith and its rituals, holding on to their beloved traditions.

As important as fasting is prayer, including the Taraweeh, or night prayers extended by two to 20 rakaa  the kneeling in humility to God Almighty.

Although some young Muslims complain about prayers interfering with their modern lifestyles,-an inconvenience hard to adhere to, yet Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world.

According to a study of the Pew Research Centre, from 2010 to 2050, Muslims will increase by 73 per cent, Christians by 34 per cent, and Hindus by 34 per cent. It is also projected that 10 per cent of Europeans will be Muslims by 2050.

The simplicity, purity, and logic of the religion as well as its adherence to the Bibles Old Testament appeals to those who learn about it.

Since the birth of the religion in 610, Muslims prayed at dawn and sunset. The call to prayer was not established as it was in religions that preceded it.

The Jews used a rams horn to call their followers to prayer.

The Christians used a wooden gong, a cracker, or a bell. The sound of a bell ringing from a Christian monastery was a frequent image in pre-Islamic poetry.

Muslims needed some sign to call the faithful to prayer in an organised fashion.

According to a hadith (a saying by Prophet Mohamed), a member of the Sahaba (his followers) Abdallah Ibn Ziad had a dream where he saw an old man carrying a trundle with a bell in it. He asked the old man to sell him the bell. What for? asked the old man, and Ibn Ziad explained: To call Muslims to prayer. The old man answered: Just call God is great, God is great. Ibn Ziad told Prophet Mohamed about his dream, who immediately considered it a vision. He suggested another follower, Bilal, make the call to prayer since he had a stronger voice than Ibn Ziad. Bilal learned the words. He sought a high or public place, a doorway or a roof, a balcony or even a city wall in order to reach a greater number of ears.

His chant of the azan, or call to prayer, was so powerful, so spiritual, so strong, Muslims flocked out of every corner at the command, to perform the prayer ritual.

It was never performed from a tower.

There were no towers, manara, or minaret, then.

Where did the idea come from? Its origins remain unclear.

In 1859 Julius Franz Pasha in his Baukunst del Islam (Islamic Architecture) sees no connection with the architecture of other faiths or races

Many 19th and 20th century scholars traced the origin to the Umayyad Caliphate period (661-750). They believed minarets emulated the church steeples found in Christian Syria.

Scholars A J Butler and Herman Thiersh argued that the Egyptian minarets were inspired by the form of the Pharos Lighthouse in Alexandria, which survived up until mediaeval times.

J Creswell, important orientalist of the 20th century and scholar of Islamic architecture, contributed a major study on the question in 1926, which became the standard scholarly theory. Creswell ascertained that the first mosque was that of Amr Ibn Al-Aas, Arab conqueror of Egypt, built in Fustat, old Egyptian capital, in 673.

It is baffling that none considered the ancient Egyptian obelisk as an inspiration to the minaret

Art historian Jonathan Bloom contends that the first true minarets only appeared under the Abbasid rule, in the ninth century and the purpose was not the call to prayer, but always attached to a mosque, as a visual symbols of the mosques status.

They were used as a call to prayer in the 10th century and it was only in the 11th century that minaret towers became universal features of a mosque, visible from afar.

To us, they are a beacon of religion, a holy tower from which the faithful are called to prayer five times a day by a muezzin (one who chants the azan). Their designs are basically Islamic, but differ according to cultural influences.

Minarets spread from Africa to Asia, now to Europe, the UK, the US, and Canada announcing the presence of Islam.

The tallest minarets are found in Algiers, Bosnia, and Pakistan, but the most charming are right here in Cairo.

Known as the city with 1,000 mosques, Cairo now boasts 7,000 mosques. A unique metropolis Cairo with such charm, a multi-cultural mix, and minarets galore.

Despite radio, TV, mobiles and other technological means for a call to prayer, ones heart still throbs at the lyrical chant of the muezzin from atop a slender minaret with all its glorious beauty and splendour.

You pray in your stress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy.

Khalil Gibran (1883-1931)

* A version of this article appears in print in the 13 April, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

Search Keywords:

Short link:


UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned clashes in Sudan that have left dozens of civilians dead including three workers for the global body's food agency, demanding swift justice over the killings.

Guterres "strongly condemns the deaths and injuries of civilians, including the death of three staff members of the World Food Programme in North Darfur, with a further two seriously injured," the UN chief's spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement, adding: "Those responsible should be brought to justice without delay."

The top UN official also reiterated his call for an immediate halt to the fighting and "a return to dialogue," stressing he remains engaged with regional leaders and with Sudanese stakeholders "to find a way out of this crisis," Dujarric added.

"The Secretary-General reminds the parties of the need to respect international law, including the obligation to ensure the safety and security of all United Nations and associated personnel, their premises and their assets."

According to international media reports, the UN Security Council is planning to discuss the situation in Sudan at a closed-door meeting on Monday.

Raging urban battles over two days between the Sudanese Armed Forces and a rival paramilitary, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), have left at least 56 civilians dead and sparked regional concern, with neighbors Egypt and Chad closing their borders with Sudan.

Fighting continued after nightfall on Sunday, as Sudanese hunkered down in their homes with fears of a prolonged conflict that could plunge the country into deeper chaos, dashing long-held hopes for a transition to civilian-led democracy.

Violence erupted early Saturday following weeks of power struggles between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo who heads the heavily armed RSF.

The pro-democracy Central Committee of Sudan Doctors reported 56 civilians killed as well as "tens of deaths" among security forces, and around 600 wounded.
Members of the Byrne family including the victims mother Sadie Byrne, also left without comment and some relatives used umbrellas to frustrate photographers.

Gerry The Monk Hutch outside the Special Criminal Court, Dublin, after he was found not guilty of the murder of David Byrne at a hotel in Dublin in 2016.(Sam Boal/PA)   Sam Boal

Gerry The Monk Hutch (left) outside the Special Criminal Court, Dublin, after he was found not guilty of the murder of David Byrne at a hotel in Dublin in 2016 (Sam Boal/PA)   Sam Boal

Gerry The Monk Hutch and the family of murder victim David Byrne both remained silent as they left the Special Criminal Court in aftermath of his not guilty verdict.

Delivering the judgement today Ms Justice Tara Burns said that it had been the States case Hutch was one of the shooters at the Regency and that was not proved.

As Ms Justice Burns delivered the verdict, there was no reaction from Hutch as he remained in the dock while his lawyer asked the court to direct his immediate release.

Outside, amid a scrum of media he declined to answer any questions about the case as he walked about looking for his lift to bring him away.

Members of the Byrne family including the victims mother Sadie Byrne, also left without comment and some relatives used umbrellas to frustrate photographers.

Gerry Hutch   Colin Keegan

Cllr Nial Ring, an independent councillor from the north inner city told Virgin Media News the case has had a big impact on the community.

The decision is made now. Everybody accepts that verdict. Some elements are very happy with that verdict, others are not. That's the judicial system, we're just sorry it took months. That wasnt good for the community.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald in statement she commended the gardai and the courts for their work, but took issue with comment made by Sate witness Jonathan Dowdall during the trial.

In relation to false and deeply offensive comments made about me during the course of this trial I want to set out the facts.

I have never met Gerald Hutch, I have never received money or electoral support from Gerard Hutch. The record shows I have stood resolutely on the side of the community in the fight against criminal gangs drug dealers and anti-social elements and I will continue to do so.

Jonathan Dowdall should never have been a member of Sinn Fein. If I had known what he would become involved in, he would not have been a party member for one minute, never mind running for public office. I would not tolerate that.

Gerry The Monk Hutch outside the Special Criminal Court, Dublin, after he was found not guilty of the murder of David Byrne at a hotel in Dublin in 2016.(Sam Boal/PA)   Sam Boal

Justice Minister Simon Harris in statement on the verdict said: "The judiciary are, under the Constitution, independent in the exercise of their functions."

"The Minister also notes An Garda Siochana's investigation into the murder and events at the Regency Hotel on February 5th 2016 remains live and is continuing."

"An Garda Siochana has made significant progress in tackling gangland crime in recent years, and the Minister and Government will continue to support them in their efforts."

Retired Assistant Garda Commissioner Pat Leahy told RTE Radio 1s Drivetime that gardai would not react emotionally to the verdict but officers would learn from everything.

He said the guards have been relentless in their pursuit of the feuding gangs which had fractured the community in Dublins north inner city.

Online reaction immediately centred on whether or not there had been enough evidence to convict him or if the right charges were brought against him.

Footage from inside the Regency Hotel attack ahead of Gerry the monk Hutch verdict

While recordings of him discussing the shooting with ex-Sinn Fein councillor Jonathan Dowdell were enough to get him extradited from Spain to face trial for murder it didnt reach the bar for the three-judge Special Criminal Court.

Testimony from Jonathan Dowdall that didnt have additional evidence to back it up had to be treated with caution and he had lied and lied according to Ms Justice Burns.

There was a possibility that Patsy Hutch had been the organiser and Gerry Hutch stepped in afterwards, she said.

Online supporters of The Monk were quick to round on the former Sinn Fein city councillor Jonathan Dowdall who gave evidence during the trial.

One commented: Jonathan Dowdall, put that in your pipe and smoke it, you dirty lying snake.
Charles ONeill was due to be sentenced over an incident when four people entered a school illegally before threatening staff

Police are still hunting for an anti-lockdown protester who failed to turn up in court after he was convicted of trespassing at a school.

Charles ONeill was due to be sentenced on March 30 for his part in an incident in 2020 when four people entered a Derry school illegally before threatening staff with legal action for adhering to official lockdown guidelines during the pandemic.

However, ONeill did not turn up at the court hearing and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

When contacted this week in relation to the search for ONeill, a PSNI spokesperson said there was no update but inquiries are ongoing.

ONeill was one of four people who entered St Brigids College in the Carnhill area of Derry on September 11, 2020 to protest about the Covid safety regulations in place at the school.

They pressed the buzzer at the schools entrance door and, when questioned why they were at the school, one of them answered it was in relation to a child safety issue.

As a result, the door was opened and they were allowed into the school building.

At an earlier court hearing, the schools principal, Padraig O Mianain, said he went to the reception area after being contacted by a staff member and found three men and a woman who came towards him claiming they were going to serve papers from the people.

We are the people and we are here to serve legal documents, they told him.

Mr O Mianain said he found the people to be aggressive and intimidatory and they repeated they wanted to serve lawful documents.

He said that the group, who videoed the principal and other school staff during the incident, claimed the school was abusing pupils due to Covid regulations such as the wearing of masks and social distancing.

Mr O Mianain said the group became more aggressive and they were asked repeatedly to leave but refused to do so.

He said he tried to divert the group outside and eventually he got them outside and he closed the gate. He said the whole incident lasted for around 25 minutes.

Mr O Mianain described the protesters behaviour as threatening and bullying.

ONeill represented himself at previous court hearings and said that the incident at the school occurred during what he referred to as the scamdemic.

The Derry man was charged with trespassing at St Brigids College and failing to leave the premises when asked to do so.

ONeill denied the charges and a contest was due to take place at Derry Magistrates Court on March 23 this year.

However, ONeill did not turn up for the hearing and he was convicted in his absence.

Judge Barney McElholm said the group had entered the school illegally under false pretences.

If someone wants to make an argument they should go to the government or organise a public meeting but what you dont do is go into a school where there are vulnerable children and make a scene, said the judge. That is completely and utterly untenable.

They have no lawful right to go on these premises and video children and members of staff, added Judge McElholm, who described the documents which the protesters claimed had a legal basis as gibberish.

When ONeill failed to turn up for his sentencing on March 30, three police officers left the court and travelled a short distance to ONeills address in Derry to execute the warrant.

However, when officers called at the address at, which ONeill had used in all his correspondence with police and the court service, they were told he did not live there.

The officers returned to the court and it was established there was another address listed in Derry for ONeill on medical evidence which had been submitted to the court.

When officers called at the second address, the occupants confirmed they were related to ONeill but told police he did not live there. When asked by the officers where ONeill lived, the court was told the occupants refused to pass on that information.

The judge ordered that when ONeill was arrested, he is to be remanded in custody until he appears before him.
Two co-accused, Jason Bonney and Paul Murphy, will also learn their fate

Armed police on duty outside the Special Criminal Court in Dublin during the trial of Gerry Hutch last October. Photo: Niall Carson

The Special Criminal Court will this morning deliver its judgment on whether or not Gerry The Monk Hutch is guilty of the Regency Hotel murder.

A significant security operation will be in place at the Criminal Courts of Justice in Parkgate Street, Dublin, with the verdict due to be handed down after 11am.

Mr Hutch (60), of the Paddocks in Clontarf, Dublin, has denied the murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel on February 5, 2016.

If convicted, he will face the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment.

Gardai believe that, if found not guilty of murder, Mr Hutch will leave the jurisdiction almost immediately and return to Spain.

A separate criminal inquiry into Mr Hutch is ongoing on suspicion that he directed a criminal network.

He was arrested by members of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation in September 2022, prior to standing trial for the Regency murder.

Prison mugshot of Gerry Hutch

Mr Hutch was questioned for several hours before being released without charge and returned to custody in Wheatfield Prison.

Since then, detectives have been preparing a file to be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

It is the States case that he was one of the gunmen dressed in Garda tactical gear who entered the hotel and fatally wounded Mr Byrne.

The prosecutions main evidence during the lengthy trial related to audio recordings in which the accused allegedly confessed to the murder, and testimony from former Sinn Fein councillor Jonathan Dowdall.

The ex-politician told the non-jury court that he handed Mr Hutch a hotel room key used by one of the gunmen, Kevin Murray, the day before the murder.

He also gave evidence that he met the defendant in Whitehall Park in the days after the murder, during which Mr Hutch allegedly admitted his involvement.

The defence have denied this. Brendan Grehan SC, for Mr Hutch, argued that the former councillor lied about the interactions.

In his closing speech, Mr Grehan said he would challenge anyone to find any unambiguous admission in any of the audio recordings.

He also submitted that there was no evidence put forward that his client was even in the country let alone at the Regency, apart from Jonathan Dowdalls word.

The three judges, with Ms Justice Tara Burns presiding, will also give their verdicts in relation to Mr Hutchs two co-accused, Jason Bonney and Paul Murphy.

Both men are alleged to have helped the gang involved in the murder by collecting them after the shooting.
Fraudsters may attempt to contact the organisations and people whose data they have stolen in an attempt to extort money from them

The data of hundreds of sexual abuse victims has been stolen in a ransomware attack.

The attack targeted a company that manages data for around 140 charities and non-profit organisations in Ireland, Northern Ireland and the UK, was targeted by cyber criminals last month.

It is believed 1,000 survivors have had highly sensitive and personal information stolen. When alleged perpetrators and others are included, the number of people affected is believed to be around 2,000.

It is now believed fraudsters may attempt to contact the organisations and people whose data they have stolen in an attempt to extort money from them.

A spokesperson for Derry-based Evide said that as soon as it became aware that its systems had been accessed, it contacted the police and engaged cyber security specialists to help it contain the issue and support recovery efforts.

None of the material stolen, which is described as "highly sensitive and personal information", has so far been published on the darknet or other online forums.

The four organisations are located in Dublin and the south of the country and include One in Four, which helps adults who have experienced childhood sexual abuse.

One in Four chief executive Maeve Lewis said she believes over 1,000 people who sought support from the charity have been affected.

She said the charity has so far contacted around 500 people whose personal information may have been stolen. It has also set up a helpline for victims which will operate from today.

Ms Lewis urged people to be vigilant in relation to unusual emails or text messages.

We have become aware that our clients personal data has been accessed so that means email addresses, phone numbers and so on have been accessed, she told RTEs Morning Ireland.

Were being told by cyber security experts that that data is very valuable because it can be sold to people who then go on to try and commit fraud.

Weve been reaching out to people and trying to contact people individually for the last week or so. If theyve not heard from us, they can access support and information on our website.

It is believed around 2,000 victims, survivors and suspected perpetrators may have been affected in Ireland, along with other organisations and individuals in Northern Ireland and the UK.

The attack is being investigated by specialist detectives from the PSNI Cyber Crime Investigation team.

Evide said it engaged the services of cyber security experts as soon as it became aware of the issue and notified all relevant stakeholders including the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
Hutch had a reputation as a criminal genius who pulled off spectacular bank robberies

Gerry Hutch wears a disguise as he leaves after attending the funeral service for his brother Eddie Hutch,   REUTERS

GANGLAND figure Gerry The Monk Hutch didnt plan to spend his 60th birthday behind bars in Wheatfield Prison last week.

Until 2015, when his nephew Gary Hutch was shot dead in Spain, he had been retired from crime but had intervened to help his relatives in a dispute with the Kinahans over money.

His nephews murder changed that and, the Special Criminal Court was told he led the attempt to kill Daniel Kinahan at The Regency Hotel in 2016.

Kinahan fled but key gang member David Byrne was shot dead in that attack and the now US sanctioned Sean McGovern escaped with being wounded.

The audacious daylight attack in which the attackers dressed as gardai in tactical gear set off a catastrophic train of bloody events.

Hutch had a reputation as a criminal genius who pulled off spectacular bank robberies, the proceeds of which were invested in property that has made him a multi-millionaire.

A younger Gerry Hutch

He is regarded as a Robin Hood figure in his native north inner city and was given The Monk nickname thanks to his clean-living lifestyle.

Born in 1963, Hutch began his criminal career with the gang called the Bugsy Malones, snatching cash and other low-level crimes.

He picked up convictions between 1970 and 1983 and despite being questioned over various other crimes was never successfully prosecuted again.

Hutch is believed to be the man behind the 1.7million theft from a Securicor cash in transit van in Marino Mart, North Dublin, in 1987.

The 3 million Brinks Allied depot robbery in Clonshaugh, also in the north of the city, in 1995 is also believed to have been carried out following a sophisticated plan devised by The Monk.

Inside Gerry Hutch's limo service

In 1997 he was targeted by the Criminal Assets Bureau who described him in court as a gang leader.

He later settled with CAB, paying around 1.2million.

In 2008, he told RTEs Crime Correspondent Paul Reynolds, it was a tax settlement and denied being involved in crime.

"Oh, yes, a convicted criminal - I am that," he said. "But not a convicted armed robber. Not a convicted hitman; not a convicted drug dealer. "I've done a lot of business in property, it was a good time - that's where I made my money."

When it was put to him that the Garda, the CAB and many in the criminal world believe he made his money through armed robberies, he told RTE's Paul Reynolds: "I don't care what they believe to be honest but what can I say?

"If everyone believes I done it, hands up. I didn't do them. That's all I can say."

He insisted the reason the CAB reached a pounds 1.2million settlement with him was because of his "ignorance to the tax laws".

He added: "But they didn't take money off me from security van robberies and say, 'We want tax out of that'."

Unlike other gangland criminals he successfully created a public persona and was photographed with Mike Tyson as he chauffeured the boxer around Dublin in his Carry Any Body limo.

His retirement plans began to unravel in August 2014 when boxer Jamie Moore was shot and wounded in Spain in what was a case of mistaken identity with Daniel Kinahan being the real target.

Gerry Hutch wears a disguise as he leaves after attending the funeral service for his brother Eddie Hutch,   REUTERS

Gary Hutch who was subsequently murdered was blamed while it was heard at the Special Criminal Court Patrick Hutch jr had been personally shot in the leg by Daniel Kinahan as punishment for his role.

The Monk narrowly escaped being shot while in a pub in Lanzarote in December 2015 and the following February saw The Regency attack.

He spent the next five years on the run as the feud erupted with the Kinahan Cartel killing two more nephews, Gareth Hutch and Derek Coakely Hutch.

His brother Eddie Hutch was also shot dead within days of the Regency shooting and two friends Noel Kirwan and Noel Duggan were also murdered.

As a huge garda effort went into investigating the feuding gangs The Monk was arrested in Spain in August 2021 and flown back to Ireland to face trial.
The Good Glow podcast host and her husband Jamie took to Instagram on Sunday to share their exciting news.

Influencer Georgie Crawford has said that her dreams are coming true after announcing that her surrogate is pregnant.

The Good Glow podcast host and her husband Jamie, who already have a five-year-old daughter Pia, took to Instagram on Sunday to share their exciting news.

They posted a joint reel which included a series of clips of the pair embracing after learning they were set to be parents again with Georgie tearing up on camera.

They also shared some of the new babys scans as well as an adorable video of them telling Pia that she was going to be a big sister this year.

The video was accompanied by Ellie Gouldings song How Long Will I Love You.

In an emotional caption, the 38-year-old admitted that her journey to motherhood the second time round hasnt been an easy road as she shared her delightful news with her followers.

I think its finally starting to sink inour surrogate mother is pregnant!! she wrote.

After what feels like forever, our precious baby is on its way to us. In a million years I could never describe the emotions we have felt this year, our baby is due after the summer.

We are so grateful to the brave man who rescued our embryos from Ukraine back in February, 2022. But most of all we owe everything to the incredible lady who is carrying our baby for us, an earth angel, words cannot describe our gratitude.

I have so much love in my heart writing these words. It hasnt been an easy road for us, so much so, that its hard to believe its real.

Fans and friends flocked to the comments section to congratulate the couple and send them well wishes.

Rosanna Davison, whose daughter Sophia was born via gestational surrogate, wrote: Oh Georgie & Jamie, this is incredible news!! So happy for you and your family. Huge congratulations!

Fellow surrogate parent, Westlifes Mark Feehily, shared a string of heart and celebratory emojis, to which Georgie replied: Lots of love Mark, thanks for paving the way.

Former Love Island winner Greg OShea added: You deserve it so much. Such a beautiful family!

And Terrie McEvoy chimed in: Georgie!! Wonderful news!!!!! Huge congrats to you and your family.

While Louise Cooney penned: Awh Georgie, this is so incredible!! Huge, huge congrats.

Georgie and Jamie were left unable to conceive any more children naturally following Georgies breast cancer diagnosis in 2017.

The couple, who tied the knot in 2015, began to look into surrogacy and were matched with a surrogate in Ukraine in early 2022 but their plans had been put on hold following the Russian invasion last February.

Their latest addition to the family is due this autumn.
A Stop Co-Governance roadshow will go ahead at two venues in the Bay of Plenty this month with one venue secret and protests expected.

Julian Batchelors Anti Co-Governance roadshow is being held in Tauranga and Mount Maunganui on April 22 and 23.

No doubt there will be protests, says Julian.

We are only letting people in who we know who they are and police will stop anyone coming in that we dont want, or make anyone exit the building from inside. Attendees have to pre-register. We have people on the ground who know people, so they will know if anyone tries to register under another name.

Maori leader, Buddy Mikaere, says there were likely to be peaceful protests at the meetings.

He says he is entitled to the principle of free speech, and so are we. The views he expresses have consequences, and iwi and many others are not happy he is coming, but equally we have the right to attend to respond to what he is saying.

Batchelor opposes co-governance and criticises Maori MPs, Treaty of Waitangi rights for Maori and iwi organisations.

This weeks meeting in Mount Maunganui was assessed by committee members of Mount Community Hall, who decided it could still go ahead, confirmed a spokesperson.

The Tauranga meeting was originally planned in a historic hall overseen by Tauranga City Council.

Corporate services general manager Alastair McNeil says the council has received emails from people voicing their disappointment and concerns about safety.

The beliefs expressed by the Stop Co-governance campaign do not align with the community outcomes we are seeking to achieve and suspect the general anti co-governance rhetoric is offensive to many in our community.

Event organiser Batchelor says they has decided not to use the council venue after all as council was trying to impose ridiculous health and safety rules.

The new Tauranga venue is in a private building, he says, which he's not going to reveal.

People can meet at the Historic Village and then will be told where to go. This is to protect the owner of the new venue.

His roadshow has already hosted several anti-co-governance meetings around the country which sparked protests, with police in Orewa needed to separate counter-protesters from attendees.

Some of the venues booked throughout New Zealand for the five-month tour have been cancelled, including in Rotorua and Mount Eden.

A meeting planned for Hamilton in April was cancelled by the Waikato Indian Association, a spokesperson for the venue says.

At a Stop Co-Governance event in Orewa police separated protesters from those at the event. Photo: Supplied/Local Democracy Reporting.

A petition against the tour, started by Kaipara councillor Ihapera Paniora has more than 6000 signatures, alleging that Batchelors tour is inciting racial disharmony as defined by sections 61 and 131 of the Human Rights Act 1993.

Advocacy organisation, Aotearoa Liberation Group, run by Pere and Samah Huriwai-Seger, has encouraged peaceful protests at previous meetings, saying the tour is a thinly veiled vehicle to spread racist propaganda.

The group considered the forced cancellations and venue changes as a win, says Samah Huriwai-Seger,

It shows that people in Aotearoa are not willing to entertain this kind of negative discourse.

The group was not organising any Bay of Plenty protests but had pamphlets and other resources that locals could access.

Annemarie Quill/Stuff
Doorman dies after trying to break up fight in Mijas The victim worked at the establishment and was also a bodybuilder and personal trainer in the Marbella area

Juan Cano Malaga Compartir Copiar enlace

WhatsApp

Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Telegram

There has been a new violent death in Malaga province. It was the second of a black weekend that left another seven people injured by a knife or firearm. On this occasion, the victim was a 55-year-old man who worked as a doorman at a restaurant and who apparently died after being struck when he was trying to break up a fight.

The incident, which is now being investigated by the Guardia Civil, happened on Saturday, 15 April, at an establishment in Mijas. SUR has learned, the victim worked as a doorman on the premises and was also a bodybuilder and personal trainer in the Marbella area.

Initial investigations indicate that there was a fight between several customers of the establishment. Apparently, the man tried to separate those involved and break up the fight. Sources close to the case indicate that he might have received a punch that caused him to fall backwards and hit his head on the corner of a table.

The man was rushed to Malagas Regional hospital in a very serious condition, where he was admitted straight to the intensive care unit (ICU). Sources said that he went into a coma, and the doctors could not do anything to save his life.

The victims body has now been transferred to the Institute of Legal Medicine (IML) in Malaga, where today an autopsy will likely be carried out to certify the exact cause of death.

Guardia Civil investigations will also continue.
Six new restaurants scored one star in this year's guide: Goryori Ken, Soseoul Hannam, Sushi Matsumoto, Sushi Sanghyeon, YUN Seoul, Kojacha and Hane, and five of them at least serve partly Japanese food, bringing the total starred Japanese restaurants in the Korean capital to eight.

The latest Michelin Guide Seoul published on Thursday awards its coveted stars to 33 restaurants, many of them Japanese or Japanese-inflected rather than Korean.

Just two years ago, there was only one Japanese restaurant among the starred eateries in Seoul, but now there are as many of them as there are Korean restaurants.

Sushi Matsumoto, Sushi Sanghyeon and Hane are all sushi restaurants, reflecting the never-ending popularity of the fish-and-rice delicacies.

Two Korean restaurants landed two stars, but one of them is closed until early next year. Soseoul Hannam in Yongsan is helmed by chef Eom Tae-cheol, who cooks traditional Korean food with a modern twist, while YUN Seoul is a Korean-style tavern serving traditional liquor, which is why it closed during the coronavirus pandemic and will not reopen until March.

Instead, innovative chef Kim Do-yun went to New York to research new ingredients. When the Chosun Ilbo asked Michelin about the closure, it promised to list the fact on its website.

Since 2016, when the first Seoul guide was published, Korean restaurants Gaon and La Yeon have had three stars, while Korean restaurant Joo Ok has risen from one star last year to two this year.

The rising might of Japanese restaurants has spurred rumors that the Michelin reviewers are not as impartial as they might seem because it coincided with the end of sponsorship from the Korea Tourism Organization last year. One industry insider said, "After the sponsorship ended, there are rumors that Michelin Guide stopped giving extra points to Korean food."

Bib Gourmand, which lists the best cheap-and-cheerful restaurants, naturally focused on noodle joints. About 25 of the 61 restaurants chosen this year serve noodles, be it ramen or pasta.

"There has been an increase in the number of restaurants serving noodles from a wide range of countries, such as kalguksu and naengmyeon as well as pasta, udon, pad thai and Taiwanese beef noodles," a Michelin staffer said.
North Korea launched three short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Wednesday morning. One of them fell into South Korean territorial waters, triggering an air raid alert and sending residents on Ulleung Island scurrying for shelter.

A cruise ship departs from a port on Ulleung Island on Wednesday after an air-raid warning being cleared. /News1

The Joint Chiefs of Staff here said the missiles were fired from multiple areas at around 8:51 a.m. One of them flew across the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border, for the first time since the Korean War and fell into the East Sea only 57 km from Sokcho, Gangwon Province and 167 km from Ulleung Island. North Korea refuses to recognize the NLL, which runs close to its own coastline, but rarely violates it so blatantly.

President Yoon Suk-yeol (2nd left) chairs an emergency meeting at the presidential office in Yongsan, Seoul on Wednesday. /News1

The provocation was followed by at least seven other missile launches of various kinds from the West Sea. The JCS fired warning shots in response and warned the South "will never condone the North's provocation and firmly respond to it in close cooperation with the U.S. while further strengthening surveillance and vigilance." North Korea has been launching a continuous series of provocations amid signs of another imminent nuclear test.
Current Print Subscribers will be prompted to either login to their current site user account or to create a new one. A confirmation email will be sent when a new user account is created, which must be confirmed within three days in order to provide uninterrupted online access through your Print Subscription.

Once the email address is confirmed please provide your Account Number to activate your Print Subscription Service.
Syracuse, N.Y. -- More than 500 people came to the former Bristol Myers Squibb pharmaceutical plant in East Syracuse Monday to help Lotte celebrate its takeover of the site and the South Korean conglomerates plans to expand manufacturing at the facility.

Lotte Biologics CEO Richard Lee told the audience gathered under a giant tent at the plant off Thompson Road that the company plans to make the facility a premier manufacturing hub for biologics and antibody-drug conjugates, a new type of drugs that targets cancers like guided missiles.

Lotte executives from as far away as South Korea and Japan joined employees and Central New York business leaders at the event, which included a ribbon cutting.

Lotte Biologics, a newly formed subsidiary of Seoul-based Lotte, bought the Thompson Road plant from Bristol Myers Squibb on Jan. 1 for $160 million.

Lotte plans to make the plant its U.S. headquarters for manufacturing biologics, which are medications derived from a variety of natural sources (human, animal or microorganisms) rather than from chemicals.

In addition, the company plans to turn a long-idle building on the former Bristol campus into a manufacturing center for antibody-drug conjugates, or ADCs, which target cancers by using antibodies to carry chemotherapy agents directly to the site of a tumor.

Michael Hausladen, general manager of the pharmaceutical plant, said work has already begun on the building that will house the new cancer drug center. The center is part of nearly $80 million in investments Lotte says it will make in the plant.

Since acquiring the facility, Lotte has hired 37 people and plans to hire more than 30 more. Lotte employs 420 people at the plant.

Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon, who attended the event, said Lottes investment in the site is a pleasant change from the cutbacks that Bristol had made in East Syracuse since shifting much of its biologics manufacturing to Devens, Massachusetts.

Five or six years ago, this facility was really in jeopardy of being shuttered, he said. Now were talking about reinvesting $80 million in this facility. Its already creating new jobs and making products that are critical to not just our country but the world. This is a big deal.

Rick Moriarty covers business news and consumer issues. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact him anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148
Update: Syracuse police ID Shonnard Street homicide victim

Syracuse, N.Y.  One man died and a teenager was injured in two shootings reported within a half-hour of each other Sunday night, police said.

At 7:27 p.m., Syracuse police responded to the 400 block of Shonnard Street for a shooting with injuries call, Syracuse police spokesman Lt. Matthew Malinowski said in a news release Monday. The shooting was just off South Geddes Street.

Officers found a 39-year-old man with a gunshot wound to the midsection, Malinowski said.

Investigators put orange cones near shell casings in front of a garage at 475 Shonnard St., as well as near a car closer to the Shonnard-South Geddes Street intersection. The back passenger door of the vehicle was open. It was unclear if the car was involved in the shooting.

Witnesses at the scene told Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard they heard multiple gunshots.

The man was taken to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, where he was later pronounced dead, Malinowski said in the release.

About 25 minutes after the first shooting, a teenager was shot twice, police said.

At 7:52 p.m., police responded to the 600 block of North Townsend Street for another shooting with injuries call. When officers arrived, they found a 17-year-old boy shot in the midsection and leg, Malinowski said in the release.

The teen was conscious and breathing at the scene, according to Onondaga County 911 police dispatches.

Malinowski said the teen was taken to Upstate University Hospital and is expected survive.

The shootings were about two miles apart.

Police ask anyone with information about the shootings to call them at (315) 442-5200.

Staff writer Darian Stevenson covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? You can reach her at dstevenson@syracuse.com
Syracuse, N.Y.  If you drive on Erie Boulevard or Salina Street or any number of other Syracuse streets, a camera in the future could quietly capture your license plate number and store it in a database.

The Syracuse Police Department is proposing installing 26 stationary automatic license plate readers (ALPRs ) along the citys major roads traveled by hundreds of thousands of vehicles each day.

The plate numbers would be automatically checked against a hot list -- a list of cars police are looking for or interested in. They also would be stored so police could check them when investigating a crime.

Syracuse police say the cameras would help them catch criminals and solve crimes more quickly.

Critics worry the police  or others  will use the data to track people improperly or the network will focus on neighborhoods where people of color live. They say other states or agencies could use the information to find people seeking abortions or to find undocumented immigrants.

Syracuse Police Chief Joseph Cecile said the proposal calls for putting cameras at 26 locations on main streets that people must use to get around the city. Homicide detectives helped pick the locations.

The proposed list includes multiple spots on South Salina and Bear streets as well as Hiawatha and Erie boulevards.

Cecile said the plate readers would help solve crimes faster such as the murder of 11-year-old Brexialee Torres-Ortiz and the double homicide of Alexis Sellin and Jami Crawford on Burnet Avenue.

With Brexi, because the stolen vehicle became our focus, once we found that everything fell into place, we would have found that much quicker if we had LPRs in place, and we could go to that data, he said.

It took nine days for an arrest in the Brexialee case and almost two months for an arrest in the double homicide.

The plate readers would also be helpful with robberies, burglaries and stolen cars, the chief said.

Across the country, concerns have been raised about who has access to these records. Cecile said only law enforcement agencies would be able to access the data. A record would be kept of every request for the data, including by Syracuse police officers, he said.

Any other law enforcement agency would have to submit a request in writing to access the data, according to a written draft policy on plate readers Cecile provided. The agency would have to give the name of the person requesting it and also explain what they would do with the data, according to the policy.

The department would also have frequent audits to ensure the data is not being misused or mishandled, he said.

Theres nothing nefarious here, Cecile said. Were just looking for an edge on the criminals so that we can make things safer for the for the community.

Misuse of data a serious concern, expert says

Misuse and mishandling of personal data such as license plates is a serious concern, said Daniel Schwarz, senior privacy & technology strategist for the New York Civil Liberties Union. Schwarz is on the Syracuse Surveillance Technology Working Group that is reviewing the plate reader proposal. The group was created by Mayor Ben Walsh to review police and government technology to ensure residents arent unfairly surveilled.

I think it raises grave concerns and serious alarms for all our privacy and civil liberties, Schwarz said. It gives the power to whoever has access to this database to track where people are traveling.

Schwarz said it could result in people being tracked for visiting worship centers, protests and even people seeking abortions.

People coming to Syracuse for an abortion from an adversarial state that has criminalized abortions, their local law enforcement could just bypass Syracuse and directly go to the cloud vendor that holds the data set, he said.

Schwarz explained many ALPR vendors aggregate client data into huge databases of billions of movement records collected from all over the United States and offer access to these.

It will be important to have a detailed, written policy and rules that will ensure strict access and sharing restrictions to the Syracuse data, he said. It is also important to keep the information locally, not on a cloud server which can be vulnerable to third-party access, he said.

Schwarz also said that police need to keep the data for the least amount of time possible and the retention is something residents will have to reckon with.

Syracuse.com asked the police chief if the vendor will have access to the Syracuse data.

Cant say 100% because we havent chosen the vendor yet, Cecile said. However most vendors make a point of telling the customers that they (the customer) is the owner of the data.

Would data on undocumented workers and people seeking abortions be shared with others?

Our goal with LPRs and all surveillance technology is to make the Syracuse community safer, either by preventing crime or by effecting an arrest as swiftly as possible after the crime has been committed, Cecile said. SPD has no desire beyond that.

Schwarz also expressed concern about who will be targeted by the cameras. He noted that an overlay of the cameras and areas where the population is largely made up of minority groups shows the cameras disproportionately cover those groups.

If we deploy these surveillance technologies in those communities, they will also be disproportionately faced with policing, with police interactions with having the data collected and inserted into surveillance systems, he said.

Jackie Lasonde runs the Greater Syracuse Southside Neighborhood Food Pantry on South Salina Street  one of the streets targeted by the proposed cameras.

She said she worries about equity with the plate readers.

Dont concentrate them all on the South Side, said Lasonde, a retired NYPD officer. She said she is not opposed to the readers as long as everyone is under their watchful eye.

26 is a nice round number, make sure theyre evenly distributed, not just in Black and Brown communities, she said.

She said she worries about the unintended consequences and was not pleased the public comment period was online because not everyone has Wi-Fi. She also wonders if it would track where people frequent.

Its already a hard-hit community, she said. My greatest concern is equity.

How cameras would work

The stationary license plate readers are high-speed, computer-controlled cameras that typically are mounted on street poles, streetlights and overpasses. They automatically capture all license plate numbers that come into view, along with the location, date, and time.

The data, which can include photographs of the vehicle and sometimes its driver and passengers, is then uploaded to a central server.

The photos and information would be preserved on a cloud or server for about 30 days and then deleted if not evidence in a case, Cecile said. The decision on the data being on a cloud or server would come once the company is selected, he said.

The cameras are different from COPS cameras installed at various locations in Syracuse because the license plate readers cannot pan, tilt and zoom, he said. COPS cameras are used for more than just checking a license plate, often reviewing which way a suspect ran or used as evidence in a trial.

Drivers in Onondaga County are already being tracked by mobile license plate readers on police cars from many agencies. The Onondaga County Sheriffs Office already has had plate readers on vehicles since 2014.

That plate information has been feeding into a database operated by the Onondaga County Sheriffs Office. At one point, the database contained information on more than 5 million local drivers.

The Syracuse Police Department only has two plate readers installed on vehicles, Cecile said.

Cecile said stationary readers are better because they will be in high-traffic areas. Officers move around the city, can be on one call for a while, and have to do paperwork, meaning mobile readers on patrol cars are apt to collect fewer plates, he said. They also dont run when the car isnt in use or turned off, he said.

Stationary readers are expected to cost around $2,500 a year each, he said. With 26 readers that would be about $65,000 a year. An in-car reader is around $14,000 per car, he said.

The public comment period for the proposal has closed. Now the Surveillance Technology Working Group is reviewing the public comments and will make a recommendation to the mayor. The proposal will be narrowed down to three companies. It would then need to be approved by the Common Council and Mayor.

The ACLU said the positions of the plate readers proposed by the Syracuse Police Department unfairly target Black residents. (Courtesy ACLU)

Here are the proposed locations for the cameras:

A list of proposed automated license plate reader locations. (Courtesy Syracuse Police)

Staff writer Rylee Kirk covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, story idea, photo, question or comment? Reach her at 315-396-5961, on Twitter @kirk_rylee, or rkirk@syracuse.com.
Clinton, N.Y.  A sophomore at Hamilton College was apprehended in his dorm Monday after he posted an anonymous threat on social media about a shooter at the college, according to Hamilton campus safety official.

Peter A. Howard III, 20, of Louisville, KY, was charged Monday with making a threat of mass harm after posting a threat to Jodel, a location-based anonymous social media platform, according to a news release Monday from State Police.

Howard lived on campus and was apprehended in his dorm, Director of Campus Safety Francis Coots said in a news conference Monday. No weapons were found in the dorm room, he said.

The post threatened that the anonymous author would shoot up KJ, a nickname for the Kirner Johnson building, Coots said. The building houses the offices for faculty in the social sciences, classrooms as well as the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center.

Coots said that the reference to KJ and the use of Jodle -- a social media platform popular on the campus -- helped law enforcement and school officials narrow their search for the source of the threat to someone who is very familiar with the campus community.

The threat triggered a lockdown Sunday night that lasted almost three hours as police searched for a possible shooter. Coots said that they had every reason to believe the threat was credible last night.

Police and federal agents responded to the campus around 5:51 p.m. after the school was made aware of the threat. By 6:38 p.m. the college issued a shelter-in-place alert.

Around an hour later, the college sent a message that no shooter had been located but the shelter-in-place order was still in effect.

The order was finally lifted at 9:26 p.m., troopers said.

The lockdown was terrifying for some students stuck where they were unsure if there was a shooter on campus.

Coots talked about a student he talked to who was stuck in a custodial closet for the majority of the lockdown until police found the student and patted them down in search for weapons.

Howard faces a misdemeanor charge and has been placed on interim suspension from the college while they conduct an internal investigation, Coots said.

Howard was released and issued an appearance ticket. He is scheduled to appear in Kirkland Town Court on May 2.

Staff writer Anne Hayes covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? You can reach her at ahayes@syracuse.com.
Clinton, N.Y. - A Hamilton College student was arrested Monday after police say he made an active shooter threat on a social media platform that led to a shelter in place order on campus Sunday.

The school was on lockdown for almost three hours Sunday night as police searched for a shooter.

Peter A. Howard III, 20, of Louisville, KY, was charged with making a threat of mass harm after he posted a potential active shooter threat on the social media platform Jodel, according to a news release Monday from State Police. The charge is a misdemeanor.

Officers and federal agents responded to Hamilton College around 5:51 p.m. after the threat was posted online.

The college sent out an alert at 6:38 p.m., telling the college community to shelter in place.

An hour later, the college sent out a message that no shooter had been found, but the college directed students and staff to continue to shelter in place.

At 9:26 p.m., the college lifted the shelter in place order. The threat was discovered to be unfounded, troopers said.

Howard was issued an appearance ticket and is scheduled to appear in Kirkland Town Court on May 2.

Staff writer Darian Stevenson covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? You can reach her at dstevenson@syracuse.com
Wheatland, N.Y.  An Oswego woman was killed in a crash that also injured two teenagers this weekend on the state Thruway in Monroe County, state police said.

Yolonda F. Heathcote, 39, was driving a 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee eastbound on I-90 shortly before 5 a.m. Saturday when she drifted onto the center median near mile marker 374.9, between exit 47 (LeRoy) and exit 46 (Henrietta) in the town of Wheatland, troopers said in a news release.

Heathcote then overcorrected, drove across both eastbound lanes before exiting the roadway on the south shoulder, troopers said.

The Jeep overturned several times.

Heathcote was pronounced dead at the scene.

Two passengers in the Jeep, Aden L. Clarkson, 15, and Jamie L. Mandarino, 16, both of Oswego, were taken to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester for treatment. Their injuries are not considered life-threatening, state police said.

Investigators are not sure why Heathcote drifted onto the center median immediately before crashing, state police said in the release. Her body has been taken to the Monroe County Medical Examiners Office, where an autopsy will be performed, state police said.

Have a tip or a story idea? Contact Catie OToole: cotoole@syracuse.com | text/call 315-470-2134 | Twitter | Facebook
Update: Syracuse police ID Shonnard Street homicide victim

Update: 1 dead, 1 injured in shootings 30 minutes apart in Syracuse, police say

Syracuse, N.Y.  Syracuse police were called to two shootings in the span of a half-hour Sunday night, Onondaga County 911 dispatchers said.

At 7:27 p.m., police found a man shot in the chest in the area of 475 Shonnard St., 911 dispatchers said. The shooting was just off of South Geddes Street.

Witnesses at the scene said that they heard multiple gunshots.

Then, at 7:52 p.m., a person called 911 to report a neighbor had been shot in the 600 block of North Townsend Street. Officers confirmed someone had been shot in the lower back and right leg, 911 dispatchers said.

Both shooting victims were transported to Syracuse hospitals, according to 911.

Syracuse police closed part of Shonnard Street, from Geddes to Oswego streets, after the first shooting. American Medical Response (AMR) ambulance rushed the man to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse. His condition was not immediately known.

The victim on North Townsend Street was conscious and breathing, according to police dispatches. The victim also was taken to a hospital.

After the first shooting, there were reports of several males seen leaving a garage across the street from the crime scene; they were in a white vehicle, possibly a Nissan Rogue, last seen heading east on Shonnard Street, according to police dispatches.

Police ask anyone with information about the shootings to them call at (315) 442-5200.

Have a tip or a story idea? Contact Catie OToole: cotoole@syracuse.com | text/call 315-470-2134 | Twitter | Facebook
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was safely evacuated Saturday after a man appeared to throw an explosive device in his direction at a campaign event.

The incident happened at a small fishing port in Wakayama, in western Japan, where Kishida was scheduled to give a speech in support of a ruling party candidate for upcoming elections.

Video from the scene showed a man throwing what appeared to be a small metal pipe or canister, which landed near Kishida. Security agents quickly knocked the object away and rushed Kishida away.

According to videos posted on social media, the explosion did not occur until at least 30 seconds after it was thrown, possibly allowing people to evacuate the immediate area. No injuries have been reported.

Video also showed several police tackling a young man in a black hoodie. Japanese media reported Ryuji Kimora, a 24-year-old man from Hyogo Prefecture, was arrested at the scene. Police said they are still investigating a motive.
Syracuse, N.Y.  Syracuse police have released the name of the man shot and killed Sunday night on Shonnard Street.

Gregory Graves, 39, of Syracuse, was shot shortly before 7:30 p.m. in the 400 block of Shonnard Street, Syracuse police spokesman Sgt. Matthew Malinowski said in a news release.

American Medical Response (AMR) ambulance transported Graves to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, where he was pronounced dead, Malinowski said.

Witnesses at the scene told Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard that they heard multiple gunshots.

Officers hung yellow police tape at Shonnard and South Geddes streets for several hours after the fatal shooting.

Investigators placed orange cones near shell casings in front of a garage at 475 Shonnard St., as well as near a car closer to the Shonnard-South Geddes Street intersection. The back passenger door of the vehicle was open. It was unclear if the car was involved in the shooting.

Syracuse police are continuing to investigate the homicide and ask anyone with any information to call them at (315) 442-5222.

Have a tip or a story idea? Contact Catie OToole: cotoole@syracuse.com | text/call 315-470-2134 | Twitter | Facebook
Syracuse, N.Y. - Two men held another man at gunpoint early Monday morning before they stole his car in Syracuse, police said.

Police responded to a robbery call around 3:36 a.m. on Hoefler Street and Holden Street, Syracuse police spokesman Lt. Matthew Malinowski said. A 22-year-old males vehicle was stolen at gunpoint, he said.

Malinowski said the men drove off with the victims 2013 Toyota Rav4 and was later found in the 100 block of Columbia Avenue.

When police found the SUV, two people fled from the vehicle, Malinowski said. Officers soon found one of the suspects, a 17-year-old male, he said.

The teen was arrested and charged with second-degree robbery, fourth-degree grand larceny, fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon and second-degree menacing.

Staff writer Darian Stevenson covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? You can reach her at dstevenson@syracuse.com

Staff writer Darian Stevenson covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? You can reach her at dstevenson@syracuse.com
Students of Sandy Creek High School celebrated at their junior prom Saturday, April 15, 2023. The event had a starry night theme and was held at Manor House in Pierrepont Manor.

SUBSCRIBER BENEFIT: This prom season, Syracuse.com is offering a perk exclusively for subscribers: Log in, click on the photo gallery to see if we photographed your favorite prom-goer, and choose Get Photo to download free print-quality images. Plus, get 50% off the purchase of prom-related keepsakes.
Join NY Cannabis Insider on April 20 for an industry meetup at the Finger Lakes Cannabis Co. in Victor, NY. Tickets available here.

Rianna Young is the founder and CEO of Happy Hounds, a business focused on selling CBD products to help dogs through pain. Here, she shares the story behind her unique business, as well as ways to succeed in the industry as a woman.



Sign up for the NY Cannabis Insider Newsletter

Enter your email address to get exclusive reporting on NY's cannabis market delivered to your inbox:









Women are vastly underrepresented in cannabis, and not just in New York. From 2019 to 2022, executive-level females have seen their industry wide status drop from 37% to 23%. Yet the MRTA makes things very clear: women-owned businesses are a key component of the states social and economic equity plan.

NY Cannabis Insider is seeking to elevate women in cannabis through a hyper focus on female story sourcing, quoting and visual layouts, balanced representation in our People to know and Behind the story series, and prioritized guest column submissions.

This series will last for as long as submissions come in.

Why did you launch your career in the cannabis industry? Were there any women who inspired you to do so? How did you do it?

To pave my own way and give pets the support I saw was missing. My own dog who was hit by a car would have truly benefited and loved my products. Countless women inspired me from mentors to my fellow women-owned businesses.

What do you think is the most significant barrier to women leadership? Are the barriers different in cannabis than any other industry?

Funding. Yes, as a CBD pet brand I see a lot of fellow women-owned operators facing logistical, operational, and most importantly financial challenges that cannot be fixed with a license or mentorship.

Why do you think women are so underrepresented in leadership roles in cannabis?

I see a lot of women leaders who are represented, but like many other industries, cannabis, pre-legalization, was more of a mans game due to the physical danger involved. It is now legal, but the players in a sense remain the same.

What are some ways in which companies can support gender diversity at senior levels?

Promoting and speaking the names of women-owned businesses in your sphere of influence. Writing about us  many mainstream papers are hesitant to publish or promote cannabis businesses in general, let alone women-owned businesses that cannot afford the type of marketing required to get their name out there. A list of women to watch in cannabis published periodically would be helpful.

Shout out your other favorite women-owned or women-led businesses in the industry.

My own! Happy Hounds, but there are many notable brands such as ButACake, Puff Cards, Nekktar, and many more.

Who/what are your favorite tools and resources in the industry?

Women Grow, Our Academy, Budsfeed, Tsumo snacks (founded by my mentor, Caroline Yeh), SCORE, WEALF fund, and many more have helped me along this journey.

What advice would you give your 25-year-old self? What advice would you give to the next generation of women leaders?

Keep going because you never know where youll end up. Also, you have a lot more time than you think  and energy :)

Is there anything we left out that youd like to add?

Opportunities like this are what help women founders. Media can be quite pricey and not everyone has a newsworthy bite, but expanding the landscape or lowering prices for us or even offering group rates would be helpful.

If youd like people to connect with you, please share your favorite methods of contact (email, phone, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.).

Rianna@happyhoundscbd.com, (646)703-3659, @happyhoundscbd on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter
Update: At 9:26 p.m., the college lifted the shelter in place order.

Clinton, N.Y.  Hamilton College officials Sunday night ordered students and staff to shelter in place after receiving reports of an armed assailant at the college.

The first alert was sent out at 6:38 p.m.

At 7:37 p.m., the college sent out a message that no active shooter had been found. However, the college told people on campus to continue to shelter in place.

At 8:30 p.m., college officials sent out a message that police are continuing to search Kirner Johnson and surrounding buildings.

No threat has been identified, although everyone on campus should continue to shelter in place, the college said.

At 9:26 p.m., the college lifted the shelter in place order:

All clear. Law enforcement has secured Kirner Johnson and all buildings in the area. The shelter in place is now lifted.
This weekend kicked off prom season in Central New York and syracuse.com photographers were there to capture the fun moments, gowns and suits, and smiling faces.

Heres a gallery of some of the best photos.
Hebron, N.Y.  A 20-year-old woman on her way to a friends house in Upstate New York was driven to the wrong address and quickly shot to death by the homeowner, authorities said Monday.

Kevin Monahan, 65, was arrested on a second-degree murder charge for Saturday nights fatal shooting of Kaylin Gillis at his property in Hebron, north of Albany, said Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy.

Gillis was in a car with three other people looking for a friends house when the group mistakenly drove up to Monahans house, Murphy said. As they attempted to turn the car around, Monahan came out and fired two shots, one of which hit Gillis, he said.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Sunday that he will press for a trade agreement between the European Union and Indonesia as part of his country's efforts to reduce its reliance on China for crucial raw materials.

Speaking at the opening of the annual Hannover Messe trade fair, Scholz told Indonesian President Joko Widodo that a trade deal between Southeast Asia's most populous nation and the 27-nation bloc would create an economic area with 700 million people.

"I am working to finally get this agreement across the finish line," Scholz said of the negotiations between Jakarta and Brussels, which have been ongoing since 2016.

The German leader said he was similarly hopeful about talks between the EU and the Mercosur bloc in South America, Mexico, Australia, Kenya and India.

"Here, too, a whole new dynamic has emerged in recent months," he said, adding that such agreements were necessary to help countries reduce their dependence on particular markets.
The Taos News delivered to your Taos County address every week for a full year! We offer our lowest mail rates to zip codes in the county. Click Here to See if you Qualify. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
Rebuilding fodder reserves is key priority for the months ahead

A challenging March has caused issues for dairy, drystock and tillage farmers, attendees heard at a recent meeting of the Fertiliser Sub-group of the National Food and Fodder Security Committee (NFFSC) in Teagasc Oak Park, County Carlow

Rebuilding fodder reserves is key priority for the months ahead

The meeting was convened at the request of the Minister of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue TD, to provide a forum to explore and discuss the potential challenges around current weather conditions on fodder and grass availability, and to explore the readiness of the fertiliser supply chain to meet the fertiliser requirements that will arise in the coming months.

Amongst the overall advisory outcomes of the meeting, a strong focus for all farmers to plan for re-building fodder stocks on farms. All farms should plan and act now for appropriate fertilisation rates and harvest dates to ensure sufficient supply of high quality silage. Rebuilding fodder stocks in the order of 20% above normal winter requirements continues to be the advice to all farmers.

Relevant stakeholders attended the meeting from across the fertiliser wholesale and agri-retail sectors and from farm organisations. The meeting also included representatives from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, agri-finance, agri-media and Teagasc.

Opening the meeting, Mike Magan, NFFSC Chair, highlighted the ongoing disruption and uncertainty around fertiliser availability and price, and also acknowledged that many farmers have found themselves in a position of having taken purchase decisions that were prudent with respect to securing product, but were made during high price periods. He also highlighted that the collective industry had worked successfully together to avoid any significant fodder or feed supply crisis over the past 12 months since the initial emergence of fertiliser supply chain challenges arising from the war in Ukraine.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine summarised that fertiliser sales data and reported CSO import statistics indicate a significant reduction in the import of fertilisers for the period 1st August 2022 to end of January 2023, compared to previous years. They also highlighted the disproportionate reduction in phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) compared to nitrogen (N) within the overall reduction in fertiliser sales of products in 2022, and the potential risk of that trend on soil fertility in the long-term.

Input to the meeting from fertiliser wholesalers and retailers also confirmed that the fertiliser market was moving slower in terms of purchase and sales volumes compared to previous years. The message across the trade was that fertiliser stocks are available to meet demands for April. There is also availability of product for import to meet future requirements on farms, however, the potential for short-term supply challenges due to logistics may arise, depending on demand.

Input across the farm organisations highlighted the ongoing sense of frustration amongst farmers around fertiliser pricing remaining high.

A Teagasc delegation of Mark Plunkett, Michael ODonovan, Shay Phelan and Pearse Kelly, outlined the current situation at farm level, touching on the topics of fertiliser usage, grass growth, crop plantings and fodder supplies.

Fertiliser, lime use and soil fertility

Mark Plunkett, Teagasc Soil and Plant Nutrition Specialist, provided an update on fertiliser, lime use and soil fertility, pointing to a reduction in nitrogen fertiliser use of 14% in 2022, while phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) applications declined by 24% and 26%, respectively.

Although lime usage increased by 290,000 tonnes in the collective years of 2013 to 2022 when compared to 2003 and 2012 (inclusive), rising to 990,000 tonnes, a reversal has been witnessed in the number of soils with good overall soil fertility  classified as being at a soil pH >6.2 and being index 3 or 4 for P and K.

Back in 2019, 20.6% of soils tested had adequate levels of soil pH, P and K. The proportion of soils with good fertility declined to 18.5% in 2022 and this fails to account for the impact of reduced P and K applications in 2022, which will be picked up in soil testing carried out in subsequent years.

Given that 80% of soils in Ireland had inadequate levels of soil fertility in 2022, Mark explained that there is considerable scope to improve nitrogen use efficiency by correcting soil pH, P and K levels.

Tillage

The tillage sector faces challenges this spring, with the yield and profitability of many crops likely to be reduced this year, according to Teagasc Crops Specialist Shay Phelan. With significantly lower grain prices available, growers need to be realistic about what they can spend on their crops in 2023.

Organic manures, where available, offer a cheaper source of nutrition for crops and allowances must be made, when they are used, in the amount of chemical fertiliser applied. In addition to this, protected urea is still better value than CAN where it can be incorporated successfully into a fertiliser programme.

Like grassland-based systems, the tillage sector hasnt escaped the challenges posed by the weather in March, with delayed drilling set to impact yields. Crops of beans, oats and spring wheat that are not drilled yet are likely to be late harvested and yield poorly. Any crops planted from now on should include compound fertilisers placed or incorporated into the seedbed where possible.

In addition to late sowing of spring crops, many winter crops have been affected by weather conditions and have a limited potential to yield due to poor establishment and late fertilisation.

Grassland

Grass grown this year, as recorded through PastureBase Ireland, has declined by 25% - reaching 910 kg Dry Matter per hectare. This decline has largely occurred due to low growth rates in late February, Teagasc Head of Grassland Science Michael ODonovan explained.

Weather conditions during the month of March resulted in grazing being negatively affected  with grazing days lost on heavy farms, leading to high levels of supplementation where grazing proved challenging.

With a lack of a window to spread in March, fertiliser application rates have also reduced by 25-30% relative to the previous four years, although slurry applications have been largely up to date from February.

As we approach mid-April, a decision needs to be made at farm level on closing silage ground, even paddocks that have not yet been grazed. The latter should provide quality feed if closed early and fertilised.

Dairy

Although excellent grazing conditions in February promoted early grazing, leading to a significant silage-saving effect in most regions, the situation deteriorated during March and early April, resulting in the rehousing of stock and silage feeding at a time of rising feed demand on many dairy farms.

Although Teagasc advisors report that grass supplies are plentiful, grazing has been much delayed in many counties. On silage reserves, the west and north is reported to be okay, but supplies are very tight in some areas of the east and south, with some farmers  especially those affected by the drought in 2022 - purchasing low quality silage at high costs.

Rebuilding fodder stocks is essential to reduce the risk of feed supply issues if drought occurs in the summer of 2023.

Drystock

Although an increased number of beef farmers had stock at grass in February, saving on winter feed supplies, conditions over recent weeks have resulted in many returning indoors, Pearse Kelly, Head of Drystock Knowledge Transfer in Teagasc, outlined.

Highly stocked beef farms that fed silage during the drought last summer are now running very tight on fodder due to wet conditions. However, more typical, lower stocked beef farms do not currently have an issue with fodder supplies.

Like dairy farms, very little nitrogen fertiliser was applied on drystock farms over the month of March due to wet weather conditions. Fertiliser purchasing has also been delayed on most drystock farms due to the weather and price.

Rebuilding of fodder reserves across all grassland farms is now a priority for the coming months. Every farm should aim to have 20% fodder reserve over what would be normal winter requirements.
A North Korean patrol boat strayed into South Korean waters in the West Sea last Saturday while chasing after a Chinese trawler but turned back when a South Korean Navy speedboat fired warning shots.

But this led to a skirmish between the South Korean boat and the Chinese trawler that left three South Korean sailors injured.

Military authorities believe the North Korean patrol boat crossed the Northern Limit Line accidentally in the process of cracking down on illegal Chinese fishing. But they did not rule out that the intrusion was a deliberate provocation.

A spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff here on Sunday said the North Korean patrol boat breached the NLL near Baeknyeong Island at around 11 a.m. the previous day.

"The South Korean Navy broadcast a dozen warnings according to the rules of engagement as the North Korean patrol boat approached the NLL, and the speedboat fired 10 warning shots with a 40 mm gun as the boat continued to move southward," the spokesman said.

The North Korean boat strayed about 1.8 km into South Korean waters for about 10 minutes and turned back once the warning shots were fired. Authorities here sent a frigate and fighter jets to the area but there was no further disturbance.

It was the first time since March last year that a North Korean patrol boat crossed the NLL.

The three South Korean sailors were injured when their speedboat clashed with the Chinese trawler. One of them had surgery for a fractured clavicle in a military hospital in Gyeonggi Province.

Military authorities said visibility was poor at only about 90 m and the North Korean patrol boat was chasing after the Chinese trawler in a zigzag pattern instead of the straight line North Korean boats favor when they intentionally breach the NLL.

But they did not rule out the possibility that the North could be testing the waters in preparation for a higher-level provocation.
TechSpot is about to celebrate its 25th anniversary. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust

A hot potato: Not for the first time, an AI-generated image has taken first prize in a photography competition. On this occasion, the artist who created it refused the award, stating that he only entered the picture to determine if such competitions are prepared for AI images to become entrants.

Berlin-based "photomedia artist" Boris Eldagsen participated in the World Photography Organization's Sony World Photography Awards, which offers prizes that include $5,000 cash and Sony camera equipment, writes Petapixel.

Eldagsen entered his image, called 'The Electrician', in the Creative category. Part of a series called 'Pseudomnesia: Fake Memories', which illustrate the visual language of the 1940s, it appears to be a very old photograph of two women. In reality, all the works in the series "were imagined by language and re-edited more between 20 to 40 times through AI image generators, combining 'inpainting,' 'outpainting,' and 'prompt whispering' techniques."

Eldagsen said the image draws on his extensive photographic knowledge. He considers AI image generators to be co-creators, in which he is the director.

As to why he entered the image, Eldagsen said that "Participating in open calls, I want to speed up the process of the Award organizers to become aware of this difference and create separate competitions for AI-generated images."

"I applied as a cheeky monkey to find out if the competitions are prepared for AI images to enter. They are not. We, the photo world, need an open discussion. A discussion about what we want to consider photography and what not. Is the umbrella of photography large enough to invite AI images to enter  or would this be a mistake?"

Eldagsen confirmed on his website that he refused the award and the Sony camera equipment prize. He claims to have told the organizers beforehand that his image was AI-generated, though it has been taken off the website and out of the show. The photographer traveled to London at his own expense to attend the ceremony, where he crashed the main stage to give a statement.

This isn't the first time an AI-created image has won a photo competition; a Midjourney creation won a photography contest hosted by Australian photo retailer digiDirect earlier this year. Another Midjourney image won a category in Colorado State Fair's annual art competition in 2022. The latter incident brough plenty of anger from other artists who had entered, yet the creator insisted he didn't break any rules.

Expect to see many more of these instances until competition organizers address the trend. It also compounds fears of AI taking human jobs, which were intensified last week when a company announced it was replacing its creative workers with generative AI.
TechSpot is about to celebrate its 25th anniversary. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust

In brief: Netflix's second-ever livestreamed event didn't exactly go as planned. In fact, it didn't go down at all. The streaming giant was set to host a live reunion special for its Love is Blind reality series on Sunday starting at 8 pm Eastern. Viewers queuing up for the event were instead met with an error message asking them to check their Internet connection and try reloading the page.

Netflix acknowledged the delay via a now-deleted tweet, noting the broadcast would get started in about 15 minutes. An hour and a half later, Netflix returned to Twitter to apologize for the snafu and confirm the event would not air live as planned. Instead, the reunion would be recorded and uploaded to Netflix "as soon as humanly possible."

A follow-up tweet early this morning promised the show would be available globally today starting at 12 pm Pacific / 3 pm Eastern.

Netflix hosted its first live event, the Chris Rock comedy special Selective Outrage, on March 4 from the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland. That event aired without issue.

Remember renting vhs' from us. You could start it on time no problem This is what we get.  Blockbuster (@blockbuster) April 17, 2023

Netflix fielded criticism from all sides over the incident. The Twitter account for ridesharing service Lyft said it no longer wanted to hear complaints about its wait times, and Blockbuster's official account recalled the glory days of renting VHS tapes and noted how "this is what we get" now. Rivals including Pluto TV used the mishap to plug their own services.

Shares in Netflix are down 2.21 percent on the day as of writing although it's unclear if the dip is attributable to the livestreaming technical issue.

Related: Against All Odds  How Netflix Made It

Netflix cut its teeth as a DVD-by-mail provider before eventually transitioning to streaming, but you may be surprised to know that it still operates the DVD rental service as a subsidiary called DVD.com.

Live broadcasts like sporting events could be a future growth driver for Netflix but if this weekend's mishap is any indication, there are still some wrinkles that need to be ironed out.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has discovered a tiny galaxy that is generating new stars at an extremely high rate for its size, as per a press release.

This unique discovery was made using first-of-their-kind observations from the telescope, and the galaxy is one of the smallest ever discovered at a distance of more than 13 billion years after the Big Bang.

The discovery may enable scientists to have a better understanding of galaxies that existed soon after the Universe's creation.

Webb Sees a Far-off Tiny Galaxy

The University of Minnesota Twin Cities was home to the team that made the discovery. They were among the first teams to use the James Webb Space Telescope to examine a far-off galaxy, and their findings are anticipated to be among the very first to be made public.

Webb is the only one that can even remotely approach this galaxy, according to Patrick Kelly, the paper's senior author and an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota School of Physics and Astronomy.

The research team was able to discover and examine this brand-new, small galaxy thanks to gravitational lensing, where the mass in a galaxy or galaxy cluster magnifies light.

This faint background galaxy was magnified by a galaxy cluster, making it appear 20 times brighter than it would have otherwise.

The scientists then utilized spectroscopy to determine the galaxy's distance as well as some of its chemical and physical characteristics.

Scientists can get closer to resolving a major astronomical mystery involving how the Universe became reionized by examining galaxies that were present when the Universe was thus much younger.

Read Also: NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Catches an 'Asteroid Photobomber' Roughly the Size of Rome's Colosseum

Glimpse into the Universe's Infancy

According to Hayley Williams, the first author of the paper and a Ph.D. student at the Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics, "The galaxies that existed when the Universe was in its infancy are very different from what we see in the nearby Universe now.

"This discovery can help us learn more about the characteristics of those first galaxies, how they differ from nearby galaxies, and how the earlier galaxies formed," Williams added.

The James Webb telescope is substantially more sensitive at redder, longer infrared wavelengths and can gather nearly ten times as much light as the Hubble Space Telescope.

This gives researchers access to a brand-new window of data that might result in a treasure trove of astronomical discoveries.

Williams notes that Webb has the extraordinary ability to peer extraordinarily deep into the Universe, which is essentially receiving a snapshot of our Universe in the first 500 million years of its existence.

The discovery of this teeny tiny galaxy was published in the journal Science.

Related Article: NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Captures the Sharpest, Most Detailed Image of the Orion Nebula

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Houston Methodist researchers have developed an implantable nanofluidic device that could shrink pancreatic cancer tumors.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the fiercest and most difficult cancers to cure. The research team discovered a means to administer immunotherapy straight into the tumor through a tinier device than a grain of rice.

The Small Device NDES

The team delivered CD40 monoclonal antibodies (mAb), a promising immunotherapeutic agent, using their implantable nanofluidic device called nanofluidic drug-eluting seed (NDES).

They discovered that continuous low-dose delivery of the CD40 mAb reduced tumors at a dosage four times lower than that of conventional systemic immunotherapy. This was learned through experiments using murine models.

"One of the most exciting findings was that even though the NDES device was only inserted in one of two tumors in the same animal model, we noted shrinkage in the tumor without the device," Corrine Ying Xuan Chua, Ph.D., co-corresponding author of the study, said in a statement.

"This means that local treatment with immunotherapy was able to activate the immune response to target other tumors. In fact, one animal model remained tumor-free for the 100-days of continued observation."

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is usually found at an advanced stage, with over 85% of patients having the metastatic disease at diagnosis, according to the team.

Metastatic disease refers to the spread of cancer cells from one part of the body to another via the bloodstream or lymphatic system.

However, Houston Methodist researchers have discovered a method to concentrate immunotherapy delivery right into the tumor, giving the body superior defense against harmful medications and reducing side effects.

As a result, patients undergoing treatment may see an improvement in their quality of life.

Read Also: New Antibody-Based Therapy Shows Promise Against Aggressive Prostate Cancer

Revolutionizing Cancer Treatment

According to Alessandro Grattoni, Ph.D., co-corresponding author and head of the Department of Nanomedicine at Houston Methodist Research Institute, the team's objective is to revolutionize the way cancer is treated.

They believe employing this device will provide a better-targeted therapy with less medication by effectively accessing the pancreatic tumor.

The NDES device consists of a stainless steel drug reservoir with nanochannels, forming a membrane that permits sustained diffusion when the drug is released.

Intratumoral drug-eluting implants for cancer therapy are available from other medical technology companies. However, they are only meant to be used temporarily.

To avoid repeated systemic treatment, the Houston Methodist nanofluidic device is designed for long-term controlled and sustained release.

Researchers expect to make this a practical alternative for cancer patients within the next five years. However, further research is still needed to determine the efficacy and safety of this delivery technique.

Houston Methodist's nanomedicine lab is studying similar nanofluidic delivery technology for controlled and long-term drug delivery and cell transplantation in treating chronic diseases on the International Space Station.

The findings of this work were published in the journal Advanced Science.

Related Article: DeepMind's AlphaFold AI Develops Molecular Syringe That Can Help Cure Cancer, Treat Tumors

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Researchers at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) at the University of Chicago have accomplished a feat that will make the fashion-conscious among us jump for joy: they have developed a new digital display material so flexible and malleable that it can be worn on your wrist like a watch.

The material can be folded, curved, and stretched in any direction and still emits a fluorescent pattern.

Virtually Limitless

The applications for this kind of technology are virtually limitless. It could be used for wearable electronics and health sensors, for example, or even for foldable computer screens.

"This is the class of material you need to finally be able to develop truly flexible screens," said Juan de Pablo, Liew Family Professor of Molecular Engineering, who co-led the research with Sihong Wang, assistant professor of molecular engineering.

Most high-end smartphones and an increasing number of televisions use OLED (organic light-emitting diode) technology, which is more energy-efficient than older LED and LCDs and provides sharper images.

OLEDs have rigid molecular components with tightly bonded chemical structures, making them inflexible and frail.

Wang explained that their objective was to develop a material that could preserve OLED's electroluminescent properties but with the incorporation of stretchable polymers.

To make the OLED stretchable, the researchers created new polymers that combined long, bendable molecular chains with molecular structures that emit light efficiently.

They also used "thermally activated delayed fluorescence," which allowed the materials to convert electrical energy into light in a highly efficient way as well.

The result is a digital display material that is not only flexible and stretchable but also bright, durable, and energy-efficient.

Read Also: Apple's Smart Ring Might Feature 'Skin-To-Skin Detection' for Movement Gestures, Latest Patent Suggests

Flexible and Bright

The team intends to enhance the display's performance by integrating more colors into the fluorescence and creating new versions of the device.

Wang is enthusiastic about the prospects and stated that they now have a blueprint for creating new materials that optimize flexibility and luminescence.

The potential uses for this kind of technology are truly thrilling. This bendable light-up material could benefit wearable sensors that require light, such as those that measure blood oxygenation and heart rate.

Furthermore, it could potentially be integrated into implantable devices, like the ones that use light to control the activity of neurons in the brain.

The team's accomplishment is a big step forward in the development of flexible screens, and it is sure to make waves in the world of wearable electronics.

So if you are looking to stay on the cutting edge of technology while also making a fashion statement, keep an eye out for this new digital display material that you can wear on your wrist!

The findings of this work were published in the journal Nature Materials.

Related Article: Cornell's New Sonar Glasses to Deliver Silent-Speech Recognition Using Body Movements with 95% Accuracy

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
On Sunday, April 6, China launched a new weather satellite amid rising tensions with Taiwan.

Nikkei Asia reports that the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation successfully launched the Fengyun 3G satellite, which is designed to track rainfall, from the northwestern province of Gansu.

Civilian Flights Avoid No-Flight Zone

On the other hand, civilian flights had to reroute to avoid a no-fly zone imposed by China to the north of Taiwan. According to Taiwan's transport ministry, Beijing initially informed Taipei that it would impose a no-fly zone from Sunday to Tuesday.

However, after Taiwan objected, China reduced the time limit to 27 minutes on Sunday morning.

The no-fly zone area is in the East China Sea, slightly northeast of Taiwan, and sees a lot of civilian traffic. Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration confirmed that 33 flights were diverted, adding five to ten minutes to their flight time, but normal flight paths resumed shortly after 10 a.m. (0200 GMT).

China Downplays No-Fly Zone Alert

Reuters reports that China has denied that it is a no-fly zone, instead describing it as "airspace blocked due to aerospace flight activity." The move comes in the wake of China's recent staging of new war games around Taiwan, which Beijing considers to be Chinese territory.

The Long March 4B rocket carrying the Fengyun 3G satellite launched at 9:36 a.m. (0136 GMT), but no confirmation of its flight path was provided, which coincided with the time of the no-fly zone.

Read Also: NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Unveils Previously Unknown Details of Supernova Remnants

Although Taiwan's defense ministry confirmed that some rocket launch debris fell into a "warning zone" off the island's northern coast, it did not pose a territorial threat to Taiwan.

China-Taiwan Tension

China has dismissed the "hype" surrounding its space activities, accusing the West of attempting to escalate tensions across the Taiwan Strait. China-Taiwan tensions have risen recently, with Beijing conducting several military drills in the Taiwan Strait.

Just last week, China increased military pressure on Taiwan by sending 70 warplanes into the country's air defense identification zone, including fighter jets, reconnaissance planes, and refuellers.

According to The Guardian, the drills were in response to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen's meeting with the US House during her brief visit to the US.

Taiwan's defense ministry closely monitored China's missile forces' movements, and the US said it was also on high alert. China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) carried out these three-day exercises.

Taiwan has had its government and economy since 1949, but China regards it as a renegade province that must be reunited with the mainland, using force if necessary. The US has recently increased its support for Taiwan, much to Beijing's chagrin.

China's latest move to impose a no-fly zone has alarmed many in the region, especially given the increased military activity around Taiwan. It remains to be seen whether tensions will rise further or whether both sides will try to reduce tensions in the coming weeks.

Stay posted here at Tech Times.

Related Article: SpaceX Starship Receives FAA License to Launch Spacecraft-When is it Coming?

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Panasonic Holdings, a battery supplier to Tesla, is considering building a new battery plant in Oklahoma, which will make it the company's third facility in the United States, according to a report by Reuters.



The company is in the early stages of the planning process and is looking into the state's incentive package established to draw major corporations to its MidAmerica Industrial Park in Pryor, according to a statement by Panasonic.

Oklahoma's LEAD Act

"Panasonic has entered into an agreement with the State of Oklahoma that defines the eligibility and terms of the incentives under Oklahoma's LEAD Act," the company said in a statement with Reuters.



The statement added that no specific decisions had been made and that the company would share more information as it became available.



LEAD Act is an incentive package established by the state to attract major companies to its MidAmerica Industrial Park in Pryor.



The act provides eligible companies with tax exemptions, tax credits, and other incentives to encourage them to invest in Oklahoma and create jobs in the state.

This news comes at a time when electric vehicles are rising in popularity, with other car manufacturers, including Stellantis and BMW, looking to Panasonic as a possible battery supplier.

Read Also: Tesla Gigafactory Texas Now Reportedly Produces 4,000 EVs Every Week: Still Behind Giga Berlin?

New EV Plant in North America

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that the Japanese conglomerate is currently in discussions with these automakers about developing a new EV plant in North America.

Although Panasonic is primarily known for supplying batteries to Tesla, the electric vehicle maker, it is expanding its reach into the EV market by considering partnerships with other companies as well.



The decision to look into Oklahoma as a potential site for its new plant comes after the company chose Kansas over Oklahoma for its second EV battery plant in July 2021. The plant in Kansas is expected to create up to 4,000 jobs with an investment of up to $4 billion.

The possible new battery plant in Oklahoma would add to Panasonic's existing facilities in Nevada and New York.

The company has been working with Tesla since 2014, with the two companies partnering to build the Gigafactory in Nevada, which is responsible for producing batteries for Tesla's electric cars.

The applications for these batteries extend beyond electric vehicles. Panasonic is also exploring the possibility of supplying battery cells for energy storage systems in homes and businesses.

With the demand for renewable energy sources increasing, the need for affordable energy storage solutions is also growing.

Panasonic's potential decision to build a new battery plant in Oklahoma highlights the company's growing role in the EV and energy storage markets.



As electric vehicles become more popular, the demand for batteries will increase, and companies like Panasonic will need to expand their production capabilities to meet the needs of the market as well.

Related Article: EV Home Charging Experience Satisfaction Decreases, Study Reveals Why Owners Are Frustrated

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Banning TikTok is highly encouraged by many U.S. officials.

This popular social media app is criticized by many because of its owner's alleged ties with China.

Although ByteDance always clarifies that they are not linked to the Asian country, criticisms remain.

However, Prof. Robert Olson, a senior computer science lecturer at the Rochester Institute of Technology, claimed that a wide TikTok ban could have dire consequences.

TikTok Ban Consequences

According to Gizmodo's latest report, TikTok could be banned in numerous ways.

Also Read: Missouri Senator's Push for U.S. TikTok Ban Blocked by Fellow Republican

However, these methods could also lead to cybersecurity consequences.

Here are the possible TikTok banning methods and their potential cybersecurity risks, as provided by Prof. Olsen:

Method: Filtering TikTok-destined addresses

Risk: Could encourage the use of VPNs in the United States and other countries

Method: Removing TikTok from Google Play Store and Apple App Store

Risk: Users could lean towards sideloading, which allows devices to install apps from unsafe third-party providers.

Method: Removing the TikTok app directly from personal devices

Risk: This could force many users to disable essential security features like Google Play Protect.

These are just some of the alleged cybersecurity consequences that could happen if TikTok is ever banned across the globe.

TikTok Banned in Personal Devices

According to BBC, Montana is the first U.S. state to ban TikTok from personal devices. Legislation banning social media apps on citizens' gadgets was already passed.

As of writing, Montan residents are still waiting for Governor Greg Gianforte to sign it into law. Once it happens, the TikTok ban could start as early as January 2023. Of course, ByteDance will make efforts to prevent this from happening.

The company said it would take legal action to prevent the Montana bill from becoming law.

In other news, TikTok's CEO Shou Zi Chew said they plan to delete U.U.S.ser data from their servers as part of Project Texas.

Recently, a study claimed that TikTok labels for Russian state propaganda accounts are inconsistent.

For more news updates about TikTok and other social media platforms, keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: New Study Claims TikTok FYP Automatically Shows Self-Harm Videos; Suicide Hashtags Receive Billions of Views

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Researchers at Princeton have developed a new approach for detecting greenhouse gas leaks. The team used lasers combined with the agility of drones to accurately detect and quantify large and small greenhouse gas leaks, localizing the source of emissions to within a meter.

The technology is also capable of spotting unseen leaks in hard-to-access areas. The researchers said the new approach is a game-changing innovation for atmospheric sensing.

Princeton's Drone-based Method

The present methods for finding leaks frequently rely on labor-intensive handheld infrared cameras that are insensitive to minor leakage or use techniques that call for considerable measurement infrastructure to be set up beforehand.

However, the Princeton researchers' drone-based method offers more freedom for establishing a sensing region.

The method employs a small drone with a retroreflector, which returns incoming light to its source when reflected, and a base station comprising gas detection apparatus.

An operator can locate the leak's source and gauge its strength by bouncing a laser beam off the drone as it flies to specific spots around a suspected leak. This approach is regarded as the gold standard for finding leaks.

Drone-based approaches for atmospheric sensing already exist, but they entail attaching a gas sensor directly onto a drone, according to study co-author and professor of civil and environmental engineering Mark Zondlo.

Due to the weight a drone can carry and the inherent danger of piloting a drone crammed with pricey sensors in potentially dangerous situations, this technique may quickly run into significant hurdles.

The pricey gas-detecting components, however, were transferred by the Princeton group to the base station, which can be mounted on a mobile platform like a van so that the drone only needed to carry a small mirror.

Additionally, the sensing technique might make it possible to test several gases simultaneously, which is extremely challenging with conventional drone-based methods due to size, weight, and power issues.

Read Also: Australian Startup Offering AI-Powered Reforestation Drones Lands $200 Million Deal

"Unlocking Capability"

According to Michael Soskind, the study's primary author and a graduate student in electrical and computer engineering, expanding the system to measure other gases in addition to methane, such as carbon dioxide and ammonia, would only require the addition of lasers with various wavelengths.



"The most exciting thing is not simply the methane sensing abilities of the technology we developed," Soskind said in a press release statement.

"It's really about unlocking the capability for researchers and practitioners to use drones and other remote sensing techniques to take detailed measurements of small leaks and reconstruct emissions plumes."

With drones and other remote sensing methods, the system enables researchers and practitioners to precisely monitor tiny leaks and reassemble emissions plumes.

The device may save businesses time and money while assisting them in reducing the safety and environmental risks associated with leaks.

The work was further detailed in ScienceDirect.

Related Article: Zipline P2 Zip: New Machine for Precise Drone Delivery Debuts to Bring Packages Better and Quieter

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Advanced robotics are revolutionizing the healthcare industry by helping doctors and medical practitioners improve the efficiency of their work.

Now, a small robot is being created by the Ganymed project in Paris to improve the accuracy of joint replacement procedures, according to a report by Robohub.

A Robotic Arm with "Eyes"

The robot is made out of an arm with "eyes" installed on it, and it uses sophisticated computer vision to assess the location and orientation of a patient's anatomical structure without the usage of intrusive rods and optical trackers.

The 'eyes' increase accuracy by giving haptic feedback and limiting instrument movement outside of predetermined virtual boundaries. The robotic arm will then let surgeons carry out surgeries while employing instruments.

The robot gathers information that it may utilize to improve processes in real-time.

Many people have shown interest in Ganymed's robot, particularly distributors in developing nations like India.

Robohub notes that this demand is driven by the need for arthroplasty. It is a surgical procedure to restore the function of a joint by replacing or repairing damaged or diseased joint parts.

Although the team hopes to eventually expand to other joints like the shoulder, ankle, and hip, the robot's first concentration is on complete knee arthroplasty.

According to Sophie Cahen, chief executive officer and co-founder of Ganymed Robotics, the company wants to democratize access to high-quality medical care and surgery by making the robot affordable and widely available.

Read Also: [LOOK] Four-legged Robot Learns to Walk Narrow Balance Beam

The MUSA Robot

Meanwhile, the MEETMUSA project, which is supported by the EU, has been working to create what it claims is the first surgical robot for microsurgery to be approved under the EU's "CE" regulatory framework.

The tiny, light robot, known as MUSA, is coupled to a platform with arms that can precisely grasp and operate microsurgical equipment.

During surgery, the platform is suspended above the patient and is operated by the surgeon using specially designed joysticks.

The use of MUSA by surgeons to treat breast cancer-related lymphedema was documented in a study from 2020. Lymphedema is a chronic disorder that frequently develops as a side effect of cancer treatment and is defined by the swelling of bodily tissues as a result of fluid buildup.

The procedure was performed using a robot that connected neighboring veins in the afflicted location with tiny lymph capillaries measuring 0.3 to 0.8 millimeters in diameter.

Even with highly competent surgeons, such delicate surgeries are carried out manually and are impacted by a minor shaking of the hands. This issue is avoidable with the robot.

The team claims that MUSA can achieve even higher accuracy than traditional surgery since it can greatly scale down the surgeon's general hand movements rather than just repeating them one-to-one.

Other treatments have been performed with the current iteration of MUSA, such as lower leg soft tissue rebuilding and nerve repair.

The producer of MUSA, Microsure, is working on a third iteration of the robot called MUSA-3 that will increase accuracy and broaden its scope of use.

With its rate of advancement, robotics are transforming healthcare as they deliver tools that may allow more surgeons to do complex surgeries with a higher success rate.

Related Article: This Soft Robot Mimics Caterpillars, Explores Tight Spaces

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
President Yoon Suk-yeol's approval rating has dipped below 30 percent again in the wake of attempts to patch up relations with neighboring Japan that were seen as a sellout by voters.

Yoon's approval rating hovered in the mid-30-percent range from mid-November but fell below 30 percent again in the latest Gallup Korea poll published last Friday.

Other problems that weighed on his popularity were gaffes by lawmakers from his People Power Party and revelations that the U.S. bugged the presidential office.

The poll put Yoon's approval rating at 27 percent, down from 31 percent earlier this month, while outright disapproval rose from 61 percent to 65 percent.

Disapproval outweighed support in all parts of Korea including the PPP stronghold of South Gyeongsang Province.

Only among typically conservative voters in their 70s, approval (54 percent) outnumbered disapproval (34 percent). But 48 percent of voters in their 60s disapproved of Yoon's leadership, while only 47 percent supported him.

Among younger voters in their 20s to 40s, approval was a mere 13 to 15 percent. Among centrists or moderates, 73 percent disapproved of Yoon's leadership, while only 18 percent supported him.

A presidential office official said, "We are listening closely to the views of the public and always strive to reflect them."
Samsung Galaxy S23's value depreciates faster compared to its competitor, the iPhone 14 series.

This detail was shared by a new study conducted by SellCell; a U.S.-based trade-in firm.

This is a big deal since many consumers have already purchased the latest Samsung Galaxy S23 series, especially the S23 Ultra model.

Knowing the value depreciation rate of your smartphone can help you know if it is worth re-selling once you want to have a new device.

If you own a Samsung Galaxy S23 smartphone, here's what you need to do before trading it in or selling it.

Does the Samsung Galaxy S23 Series have faster depreciation rate?

According to Express UK's latest report, the fast value depreciation rate of the Samsung Galaxy S23 series could convince many consumers to switch to iOS smartphones.

Also Read: ASUS ROG Phone 7 Launch: Here Are the Exciting Smartphone, Gaming Features Announced -Worth It?

For the past years, Apple's iOS handsets have been well-known for their slow value depreciation rate, giving them a huge advantage over their competitors.

This 2023, SellCell revealed that this value depreciation trend is still there. "Despite the Samsung Galaxy S23 catching up a touch, it still hasn't managed to outdo the iPhone 14," said the trade-in company.

"However, with Samsung closing the gap, could we see a turn in fortune when the brand launches its next generation of smartphones?" added SellCell.

Galaxy S23 vs. iPhone 14 Depreciation Rate

Via its official blog post, SellCell claimed that the value depreciation rate of the Samsung Galaxy S23 series is 1.4 times faster compared to the iPhone 14 series.

In numbers, the Galaxy S23 series loses 41.1% of its original value after one month. After two months, it loses 43.3%.

On the other hand, the value of the iPhone 14 series depreciates by 32.3% after a month. After two months, it loses 31%.

For those who already purchased the Galaxy S23 Ultra, it is worth noting that its original value ($1,619) will drop by almost half; making it lose around $780.

You can click this link to learn more details.

In other stories, the Samsung Keyboard App drains the batteries of some Galaxy models. Meanwhile, the new iPhone 15 Pro might not have solid-state buttons, as claimed by Kuo.

For more news updates about smartphones, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: Younger Users Don't Replace Apple Devices as Quickly as Older Counterparts, New Study Finds

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Archaeologists have made a remarkable discovery in southern Italy, unearthing a figurine of the Greek god Eros riding a dolphin, alongside seven terracotta bullheads, according to a report by AP.



These findings have brought to light new information on the religious practices and beliefs of an ancient Greek city.

Great Historical Significance

Paestum, an ancient city in southern Italy that dates back to the 5th century B.C., is now the site of a sanctuary.



The sanctuary is of great historical significance as it contains a figurine of the Greek god Eros riding a dolphin and seven terracotta bullheads, which provide insight into the religious practices of the ancient city.



Paestum is a well-known archaeological site that is home to three massive Doric-columned temples, making it a popular tourist destination.



It is situated near Pompeii, another famous archaeological site, and is located farther down the Amalfi coast.



The discovery of the sanctuary and the artifacts it contains is expected to attract even more visitors to the city and contribute to a greater understanding of the ancient world.

In 2019, the small temple was initially detected near the ancient city walls of Paestum. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic caused excavations to be postponed temporarily.



Recently, the Italian Culture Ministry issued a statement stating that during the current excavation, archeologists discovered various small terracotta figurines and seven bullheads located around the temple altar.

Read Also: Archaeologists Uncover 5,000-year-old Tavern, Ancient Fridge in Iraq

Eros Rides a Dolphin

The figurine of Eros riding a dolphin is a stunning find, highlighting the cultural significance of the Greek god of love and his associations with water.

This is the first time that artifacts from the sanctuary have been identified, making it a significant discovery for archaeologists and historians alike.

Eros was a significant figure in ancient Greek mythology, representing the god of love and sexual desire. He was often depicted as a mischievous winged youth who would use his bow and arrows to inspire feelings of love and passion in both gods and mortals.

In addition to his role in mythological stories and legends, Eros was also celebrated in various religious ceremonies and festivals throughout ancient Greece.

The discovery of the bullheads has also shed light on the religious practices of the ancient Greek city.

The positioning of the bullheads around the altar suggests that they were likely placed there as a form of devotion or sacrifice.



This provides a glimpse into the spiritual beliefs and practices of the people who lived in Paestum during the 5th century B.C.



Culture ministry officials have expressed their excitement at the discovery, saying that it will enhance their understanding of the religious life and rituals of the ancient Greek city.



The findings have also given archaeologists a deeper insight into the social, cultural, and historical context of the region during that period.

The discovery of the Eros figurine and the bullheads is a testament to the enduring legacy of ancient Greek civilization and the important role that religious practices played in the lives of its people.



The artifacts will be preserved and studied, allowing future generations to learn more about the rich history and cultural heritage of this region.

Related Article: Turkish Man Breaks Basement Wall, Uncovers an Ancient Underground City that Sheltered 20,000 People

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
China's next-gen radar system allegedly detects all kinds of air combat threats.

The advanced YLC-16 multi-purpose S-band radar system was unveiled during the recent 10th World Radio Detection and Radio Expo, which happened on Thursday, Apr. 13.

The company behind this new defense tech is the China Electronics Technology Corp (CETC); one of the biggest defense electronics suppliers.

"It is one of the latest radar models CETC is offering on the international market," said CETC 14th Institute manager Tang Ji via China Daily.

Ji added that it is also the best three-dimensional, middle-range surveillance radar system in the market.

China's Next-Gen Radar Allegedly Detects ALL Air Combat Threats!

According to Interesting Engineering's latest report, the new YLC-16 can detect all threats; cruise missiles, stealth aircraft, helicopters, loitering weapons, etc.

Also Read: 70 Chinese Warplanes Launch Simulated Attacks on Taiwan, Escalating Tensions in the Region

The YLC-16 radar packs numerous advanced features. These include fully-solid active phased arrays, sophisticated processors, and other cutting-edge components.

This next-gen radar system consumes little power, has a sleek-looking design, and operates with a high degree of dependability and stability.

Aside from this, the YLC-16 can easily move from one location to another as well, thanks to its foldable antennas and covers.

Because of its efficiency, Tang Ji said that various foreign militaries already shared their interests in purchasing this next-gen system.

Among their potential clients are Asia and Africa. They even said that they plan to visit the institute of CETC so that they can see the new radar system for themselves.

YLC-16's Other Details

CETC began testing this next-gen radar system back in December 2021.

The results it acquired in the province of Fujian attracted many potential customers.

Some experts even claimed that the YLC-16 is a great investment because of its flexible design and cutting-edge technologies.

China is not the only country putting efforts into improving its defenses. Recently, North Korea unveiled a nuclear-capable underwater drone that can create a radioactive tsunami.

Also, the United States introduced its F-16 drones, which can act as robotic wingmen.

For more news updates about radar systems and other defense innovations, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: China Launches Weather Satellite, Imposes No-Fly Zone on Taiwan

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A man was sentenced to a year and a day in prison for stealing over 50,000 Bitcoins worth billions of dollars from a dark web online marketplace.

James Zhong, 32, stole the Bitcoins by opening multiple accounts and duping Silk Road into releasing the funds to his accounts, Business Insider reports.

According to a statement from the Department of Justice, he did not buy or sell anything on the website.

Dark Web Bitcoin Thief Faces Jailtime

Silk Road was a dark web online marketplace where users could use Bitcoin to purchase illegal items such as drugs, weapons, and pornography.

The FBI shut down the website in 2013, and its founder, Ross Ulbricht, was sentenced to life in prison for, among other things, drug trafficking, money laundering, and hacking.

According to the DOJ statement, Zhong committed wire fraud in September 2012 by stealing 50,000 Bitcoins from Silk Road. He managed to keep what he had done and how he came by his fortune hidden for the next ten years.

Read Also: South Korean Prosecutors Uncover $314M in Non-Recoverable, Illicit Assets Linked to Terraform Labs' Do Kwon

However, US authorities obtained a search warrant in November 2021 to search Zhong's home in Gainesville, Georgia. They discovered over 50,000 Bitcoins hidden in an underground floor safe and a single-board computer hidden under blankets in a Cheetos popcorn tin stored in a bathroom closet.

Authorities Uncover Billions Worth of Bitcoin

Authorities discovered more than $660,000 in cash and silver and gold bars at Zhong's home, in addition to 51,680 Bitcoin. The total value of the seized Bitcoins was $3.4 billion at the time, and they are now worth more than $1.5 billion.

According to the photo provided by the DOJ, the crypto tin originally contained Cheetos-brand popcorn in both Flamin' Hot and Cheddar flavors. According to media reports, the container and its promise of "2 favorites together" were only available at Walmart during the 2020 holiday season.

Zhong Guilty of Wire Fraud

The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, announced that James Zhong was sentenced to one year and one day in prison for wire fraud in September 2012, when he illegally obtained approximately 50,000 Bitcoin from the Silk Road dark web internet marketplace.

"Zhong used a decentralized Bitcoin mixer, an overseas cryptocurrency exchange, and an impressive array of technological tools to frustrate tracing efforts," said US Attorney Damian Williams in a statement.

However, the federal government uncovered Zhong's scheme and obtained final orders of forfeiture for more than 51,680 Bitcoin thanks to its efforts in following the money.

The authorities who caught Zhong have a message for other cybercriminals: "We will follow the money and hold you accountable, regardless of how sophisticated your scheme or how long it takes."

According to Reuters, the illicit use of cryptocurrencies reached a record $20.1 billion in 2022, as transactions involving companies sanctioned by the United States skyrocketed, based on data from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis.

Stay posted here at Tech Times.

Related Article: Bitrue Crypto Exchange Hackers Steal Nearly $23 Million in Latest Hot Wallet Exploit

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Hong Kong police arrested four people for allegedly using falsified identity documents to register over 7,300 SIM cards to facilitate social media scams, The South China Morning Post reports.

The arrests are the first since the SIM card real-name registration rule was implemented in 2022.

Four individuals, including three unemployed men aged 24 to 28 and a 35-year-old Indonesian woman, were apprehended during a police raid on industrial and residential buildings.

The operation was conducted by the police's cybersecurity and technology crime bureau, led by Superintendent Wilson Tam Wai-shun. According to Tam, the suspects began accumulating a significant number of mobile phone SIM cards in March of last year, and the police believe that they were involved in criminal activities.

All SIM cards in Hong Kong must be registered using a Hong Kong ID card by February 2022. The initiative was proposed to combat criminals who evade detection by using anonymous pay-as-you-go SIM cards.

SIM Card Registration

In similar legislation, Philippine President Bongbong Marcos signed a contentious SIM card registration act into law in October.

Supporters of the bill claim that it will be a significant step toward combating the country's rampant text scams. Meanwhile, human rights organizations point out that certain provisions of the law significantly increase the state's ability to monitor citizens.

How Hong Kong Scammers Spoof SIM Cards

Using computers and modem-pool devices to connect online intermediaries, SCMP reports that the group was able to obtain one-time passwords for scammers to create accounts on WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram.

Read Also: Bitrue Crypto Exchange Hackers Steal Nearly $23 Million in Latest Hot Wallet Exploit

Since modem-pool devices can house multiple SIM cards and make bulk calls, they are popular among phone scammers.

According to police, the group allegedly registered over 7,300 SIM cards with fake Hong Kong ID cards.

The registered cards could allow scammers to send phishing messages for fraudulent activities such as investment, romance, and online shopping scams.

According to Superintendent Tam, the trio earned HK$10 to HK$20 per SIM card from scammers who used their services.

SIM Card Swapping Scam

Scammers are finding new ways to exploit our personal information as our reliance on smartphones and other mobile devices grows.

SIM card swap scam, a sophisticated attack that can give criminals access to your online accounts and financial information, is one such scam that is becoming more common. This scam is a real threat, as even former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey fell victim to it in 2019.

Norton explains that SIM swap fraud operates by exploiting a flaw in two-factor authentication and verification intended to add an extra layer of security to your accounts.

Typically, this process entails sending a code to your phone number, which you then enter to gain access to your online account.

Scammers, on the other hand, can intercept this code and gain access to your account if they gain control of your phone number.

Stay posted here at Tech Times.

Related Article: FBI Arrests 21-Year-Old IT Specialist for Allegedly Leaking Pentagon Documents Online

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Nicotine-free vapes are the go-to of smokers who want to quit their smoking habits.

Some health experts suggest heavy smokers replace their traditional cigarettes with e-cigarettes.

However, these vaping products still have their negative effects. This is where nicotine-free vapes come in; promising vaping that is not addictive. But, tests revealed that nicotine-free vapes are still as addictive as full-strength e-cigarettes.

Nicotine-Free Vapes Raise Concerns

According to The Guardian's latest report, Inter Scientific tested dozens of nicotine-free vape brands in shops across Wales and England.

Also Read: FDA Temporarily Pauses Ban of Juul in the US Market to Start Additional Review of its Case

The analytical product testing service provider revealed that these nicotine-free vapes are still addictive. The company claimed that eight vape devices, which claim that have no addictive substances, do have some.

Inter Scientific discovered that most of them actually contain 20mg/ml of nicotine.

One of these brands even exceeds the legal limit in the United Kingdom; reaching levels more than 50% higher.

"We have seen a large increase in the number of illegal vape products being seized by trading standards and sent for analysis," explained Inter Scientific Chief Executive David Lawson.

Although these vape products don't pose immediate health risks, Lawson warned that they are still violating U.K. regulations.

Other Issues in These Nicotine-Free Vapes

Aside from exceeding the legal amount in the U.K., Inter Scientific said that none of the vapes they observed were listed in the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.

The agency explained that they should be included in this list so that any health harm linked to them can be logged.

The findings acquired by Inter Scientific are now raising concerns, especially since the U.K. government plans to offer millions of free vaping kits.

NDTV recently reported that this is a part of the country's anti-smoking program. You can click here to learn more about it.

In 2019, China asked e-cigarette online stores to stop their operations. In 2021, FDA confirmed that it rejected over one million e-cigarettes.

For more news updates about vapes and other similar products, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: Juul's e-Cigarettes to be Pulled Out From American Market After the FDA Denies its Application

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
According to a filing made last month, Twitter and Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk has created a new Artificial Intelligence company called X.AI Corp. The company was incorporated in Nevada.

(Photo : Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 24: Tesla CEO Elon Musk leaves the Phillip Burton Federal Building on January 24, 2023 in San Francisco, California. Musk testified at a trial regarding a lawsuit that has investors suing Tesla and Musk over his August 2018 tweets saying he was taking Tesla private with funding that he had secured.

Establishing X.AI

Billionaire and CEO Elon Musk has established a new company, dedicated to his AI efforts. Interesting Engineering reported that Musk incorporated X.AI in Nevada last March 9th and listed himself as the Sole Director and former Morgan Stanley Banker Jared Birchall as its Secretary. The company authorized the sale of 100 million shares to the private company.

Musk has assembled a group of teams, including AI specialists, researchers, engineers, and scientists from Alphabet's DeepMind. This is part of the CEO's plans to develop interconnected applications under the brand "X," which makes sense why the startup is called X.AI.

Among the recruited scientists is DeepMind Researcher Igor Babuschkin. Musk also tried to hire OpenAI employees to join the effort but only with limited success. Once this will be successful, X.AI will become one of the additions to the heated race among tech companies developing more models related to Artificial intelligence.

For the past few months, he was recruiting researchers and several developers aiming to create a rival effort to OpenAI who launched the popularly-known chatbot ChatGPT last November. OpenAI has been in the talks of several investors who have been very vocal about their interests in the sector.

Also Read: Elon Musk Thinks Reporting to AI 'Would Be an Improvement' and 'Robot Future' Would Soon Come!

As per The Verge, there were already several rumors circulating for the past few weeks that Musk has purchased thousands of graphic processing units (GPUs) to power an upcoming AI model and company to compete with OpenAI.

He also reportedly sought funds from his existing companies, including SpaceX and Tesla. But during an interview on Twitter Spaces, Musk did not address these rumors and only stated, "It seems like everyone and their dog is buying GPUs at this point."

Musk's AI Efforts

Wall Street Journal reported that Musk joined with other tech executives and AI researchers in proposing an extension of another six months or more moratorium on developments in advanced AI technology. As per their proposal, pausing the proponents would give the industry time to set safety standards for its design to prevent potential harm and risks.

Twitter has also merged with the umbrella company X Corp and was also incorporated in Nevada instead of its previous domicile in Delaware only last week. X Corp's parent company is named X Holdings Corp.

As per legal experts, one of the reasons why the company moved the incorporation to Nevada is because the state's laws grant more discretion and protection to the company's management and officers.

Related Article: Elon Musk AI: New Claims CEO Purchased 10,000 GPUs Over at Twitter to Compete with OpenAI's GPT-4

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The new Magi is the talk of the town for Google's new entry for its AI-powered search engine, but that is not the only development of the company as it has more projects coming. As per reports in the industry, Google is also looking to beef up its Chrome browser with new artificial intelligence-powered creations with "GIFI" and "Searchalong," to start.

AI is now the center of many Big Tech companies to bring better features and capabilities that would streamline the experience for all internet browsing, as made popular by Microsoft and OpenAI.

Google Chrome to Update AI Features with 'GIFI,' 'Searchalong,' and MORE

(Photo : Carsten Koall/Getty Images)

The New York Times report centers on two new additional tools to help power Google's quest to deliver generative AI for the Chrome browser, centering on GIFI and Searchalong. However, that is not all there is to it, as these two are only the beginning of what Google aims to open for its famed internet browser, with more coming in the future.

GIFI and Searchalong are not yet here, but the report provides context as to what they are and what they bring. The first, GIFI, is a text-to-image generator that would bring results via Google Images, instead of the usually available ones from the web.

On the other hand, Searchalong will be a built-in AI chatbot within Chrome to answer questions and help users with their internet searches.

Read Also: Google Bard: Answer Math and Logic Questions Better with Enhanced Capabilities-Fixed its Flaws?

Chrome's AI Updates Coming Soon Alongside the New 'Magi'

There are already previous developments from Google centering on its AI push, with Imagen and Parti, under its research team's creation, to help deliver a text-to-image technology for users.

However, it does not stop there, as the company also looks into developing it for Chrome, with two new names for its AI push to begin its significant presence in the web browser app. Soon, GIFI, Searchalong, and Magi will spearhead Google's AI integration, with more to come as per reports.

Google and its AI Developments Now

Google Bard was introduced earlier this year to bring a generative AI chatbot to the internet company's browser to bring an assistant for all their browsing needs. However, this was quickly followed by negative reviews from its users, particularly with the incorrect answer it gave about the James Webb Space Telescope being the first to photograph exoplanets in history.

Bard and Bing were among the firsts from Big Tech to deliver a new generative AI chatbot experience to their browsers, with the competition brewing from Microsoft and Google in this age.

Still, Microsoft took off with OpenAI's tech, now powering its Office suite and other features with GPT-4, the latest large language model with the most advanced features.

With the many developments in the tech industry, Google is looking to catch up, centering on the latest AI creations of the company as per reports. Magi is the first to be revealed by the insiders, but it is not alone in Google's quest to expand its AI projects for the world, with GIFI and Searchalong to help Chrome boost its generative machine-learning feats in the future.

Related Article: Google Races to Build New Search Engine, Powered by AI

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Last week, Google released an emergency security update for all its 3.2 billion Chrome users to address a high-severity zero-day vulnerability that is being actively exploited in the wild.

Google has rolled out the new Chrome version 112.0.5615.121 for Windows, Mac, and Linux systems, as an emergency update which means that the security issue in the Web browser is serious.

The emergency Chrome update to version 112.0.5615.121 is unique, as it only fixes a single security flaw. As a result, users are urged to apply the update to their Chrome browser as soon as possible and block attack attempts.

The zero-day vulnerability was submitted to Google by Clement Lecigne of Googles Threat Analysis Group (TAG) on April 11, 2023.

In a Chrome stable channel update announcement for desktops, published on April 14, 2023, Google confirms it is aware that an exploit for CVE-2023-2033 exists in the wild.

What Is CVE-2023-2033?

At this stage, Google hasnt publicly provided exact details about what the security update  CVE-2023-2033  is other than it is a Type Confusion in V8. This refers to the JavaScript engine employed by Chrome.

A type confusion error occurs when the program uses one type of method to allocate a resource, object, or variable using a type and then accesses that resource using a different, incompatible type method, resulting in an out-of-bounds memory access.

This vulnerability can allow a remote attacker to potentially exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page, says the CVE page.

The search giant said that access to bug details and links may be kept restricted until a majority of users are updated with a fix. In other words, as a precaution, Google will not disclose technical details of the vulnerability until the emergency update has been able to protect most of Chromes 3.2 billion users.

It also noted, We will also retain restrictions if the bug exists in a third party library that other projects similarly depend on, but havent yet fixed.

While the web browser will automatically check for new updates, you can too check for new updates by going to the three dots menu in Chrome in the top right corner, click on Help, and then About Chrome.

The security patch for Google Chrome is expected to roll out to all Chrome users over the coming days or weeks.

Google thanked the security researchers who notified the company about the vulnerability. We would also like to thank all security researchers that worked with us during the development cycle to prevent security bugs from ever reaching the stable channel, said the company.
Korea's exports to Russia have halved as Western countries tightened sanctions against Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in February last year, but shipments to other ex-Soviet republics have soared.

According to the Korea International Trade Association last week, the total value of goods exported to Russia amounted to US$514.18 million in February this year, down 44.8 percent from a year earlier.

But exports to Moscow-allied former Soviet republics such as Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have mysteriously soared, especially shipments of consumer goods like smartphones, noodles and shampoo.

Exports to Kyrgyzstan amounted to $71.80 million in February, a whopping six-fold increase from a year earlier. A mere $10 million worth of goods had been exported to the country every month until February last year, but shipments suddenly jumped to $29.71 million in July and to $63.85 million in October last year.

Exports of smartphones jumped a whopping 294 times and toothpaste 6.6 times for example.

Over the same period exports to Georgia and Kazakhstan also doubled, while those to Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan jumped by 87 percent and 50 percent.

Why? Industry insiders speculate that a considerable amount of exports to neighbors are funneled to Russia.

Western countries such as the EU and the U.S. have tightened sanctions on Russia since the invasion but taken no action against brotherly post-Soviet states.

"It's hard to discover the exact amount of Korean goods that are going to Russia through its neighbors, but the sudden rise could suggest that a considerable amount of them are going to Russia in a roundabout way," said a senior trade official. "Most items are medicines and consumer goods, which Russia needs most."
Quentin Tarantino doesnt smell of gunpowder. If he has the scent of anything, its of triumph. He certainly had it after he spoke to 1,500 enthusiastic fans about his book  Film Meditations  in Barcelona last Sunday. His European tour will soon conclude in Berlin. After celebrating how well the evening went at Barcelonas Coliseum Theater by spending the night at a bar, the 60-year-old filmmaker receives EL PAIS at his hotel for an interview. He appears somewhat tired, but satisfied. His presence  with that strong face, marked by iconic features  is imposing. After all, Tarantino, who was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, is a man who has filmed some of the most striking scenes in modern cinema, with many of the worlds most popular actors.

Question. How was yesterdays experience?

Answer. A lot of fun! Were you there? Yes? Did you like it? Im so glad. I loved it!

Q. You worried all of us when you said that your next movie will be your last feature film. Will you really not make any more movies?

A. Thats the intention.

Q. Wont you make a science fiction movie? Its the one genre that youre missing, even though you like it a lot.

A. Possibly not. But lets let a little time pass

Q. Do you have a good katana? I mean, a samurai sword.

A. I do, yes! I kept the swords from Kill Bill.

Q. So you have the Hattori Hanzo swords? Wow!

A. Ha ha ha, yes.

Q. In your book, when you talk about Steve McQueen  whom you praise a lot, especially for his work in Bullitt and The Great Escape  you say that he loved to read car magazines, and that he was always thinking about what weapons his characters would carry.

A. Yes, he was a weapons expert. Choosing the right weapon is very important in an action movie.

Q. What do you prefer: a katana, a .44 Magnum, a sawed-off shotgun, a Gatlin machine gun, or a flamethrower?

A. In general, in modern cinema, when I have to choose a weapon, I use a 9 mm [pistol], because it looks like a .45 automatic pistol, but it doesnt jam.

Q. What do you think of Alec Baldwins accident on the set of Rust that cost Halyna Hutchins her life?

A. What a tragedy. I dont know how it could have happened. On set, there are lots of security measures were very careful.

Q. Whats your position on the debate about gun ownership in the U.S.?

A. There are always two sides. We certainly dont need as many automatic weapons as there are. There should be better laws. [But] I do have a gun at home.

Q. A gun?

A. Yes, for protection.

Q. A few years ago in an interview, the father of Uma Thurman  a promoter of Tibetan Buddhism in the U.S., a friend of the Dalai Lama and a former monk  defended his cinematic work. He told me that we must distinguish between real violence and on-screen violence.

A. Robert [Thurman], yes. I couldnt have said it better myself. There is no real violence in the movies. Were just playing.

Q. Are you tired of the debate about violence in your movies?

A. Yes, very much so. In fact, I hope you stop asking about it, ha ha!

Q. But, in your book, you write about the unbearable violence of Bambi about how much it disturbed you. Yesterday, your thoughts about it made big headlines in Spain.

A. Bambi horrible. And when I said it, the audience reacted by showing that they knew exactly what I was talking about. Much of my generation was very traumatized by the film. Everyone remembers it.

Q. Maybe you identify more with Thumper (the rabbit in Bambi), because of the barrel of a revolver!

A. You keep emphasizing that, ha ha.

Q. You talk a lot about the film Deliverance (1972) by John Boorman, where one of the leading men is raped.

A. The analysis of that film is one of my favorite parts of my book.

Q. Your summary of it  what happens in the forest stays in the forest  is great. Some of us who saw the film were also young  although not as young as you  when we were introduced to archery by the character played by Burt Reynolds.

A. How interesting. Maybe you got over the [shock of the film] because of that.

Fans of Tarantino wait outside the Coliseum Theater in Barcelona before his lecture, on Sunday, April 9, 2023. MASSIMILIANO MINOCRI

Q. How did you come up with the idea of killing Hitler in Inglourious Basterds?

A. Good question. I was writing the script and I got stuck. I was thinking: Okay, it looks like the bastards and the resistance [fighters] are going to achieve their goal now what? I didnt know how to go on and no idea came to me. So, I thought, What if I just screw Hitler and I kill him? I asked myself: Can I do it? And I answered: Sure, its my movie, I can do whatever I want. Then I wrote the idea down on a piece of paper and, seeing it the next morning, I decided.

Q. Apart from the fact that you rewrite the history of Hitler by making him die in a French movie theater in a dramatic, bloody style  instead of committing suicide in the Fuhrerbunker in Berlin  you had a very good actor playing the role: Martin Wuttke.

A. Without a doubt, hes a great Hitler. Even with a cape.

Q. How do you achieve the climate of tension in those sequences of yours that are so characteristic, such as the one in the tavern in Inglourious Basterds, which ends with everyone getting shot?

A. I dont know how to explain it. I have a talent for it. Its easy for me to create those situations where the characters start talking and things fall into place and theres a climax. You throw a ball to the actors and they catch it.

Q. Whats your favorite tense moment?

A. In my movies? The one from the farm at the beginning of Inglourious Basterds. With the Nazi officer Hans Landa talking to the owner of the farm, who is hiding Jews in his cellar.

Q. And the tense sequence with the strudel and the whipped cream from the same film?

A. Ha ha ha, that one too.

Q. Humor plays an important role in your creation. An unforgettable moment in that regard is that of the pathetic Klu Klux Klan horsemen in Django Unchained. Was the sequence involving the riders improvised?

A. Not at all, the entire dialogue is written in the script, from beginning to end. The goal was to make it look very fresh.

Q. In your films, there are two legendary moments of dance. The one with the twist from Pulp Fiction and the one with Mr. Blonde dancing in Reservoir Dogs. Do you have a special interest in dance?

A. A dance sequence can work very well in a movie but the two cases you mention are very different. The one with Reservoir Dogs is strange, a torture dance, while the one with John and Uma [in Pulp Fiction] is a real dance. And then there was John Travolta!

Q. In the book, you express your admiration for Spanish cinema. Your assessment of Matador, however, is somewhat surprising, since it has never been considered as one of Pedro Almodovars best films.

A. Im not saying its the best movie, but I like it a lot. Talking last night at the bar, we remembered that Orson Welles also liked Matador. What surprised us in the 1980s in the U.S.  when cinema was so timid  were scenes as brave as the one of Almodovars ex-matador masturbating to slasher movies.

Q. In your book, you quote widely from Summertime Killer (1972), by Spanish director Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi.

A. Im a fan of Isasi. And that movie is a revenge-themed genre, which I talk about a lot. [The actor] Christopher Mitchum was great in that.

Q. He was riding an Ossa Enduro  a very popular all-terrain motorcycle at the time.

A. Did it become famous because of the movie?

Q. It was already a legendary motorcycle in Spain. Tell me, whats your relationship like with streaming platforms?

A. I dont watch Netflix. I stick with DVDs.

Q. Is your personal heaven the old video store in Manhattan, where you once worked as a clerk?

A. Yes, when they closed, I bought all their inventory. I didnt want to lose it. I have the entire collection.

Q. Are actors very special creatures?

A. Yes, they are. Ive always gotten along with them, we have a great time together. My job is to bring out the best in them. I always tell [my actors] that I hope they think that, after working with me, their next movie is crap! Let them say to themselves, I was so good in that last movie I did with Tarantino.

Q. Your enthusiasm for Rocky is somewhat surprising

A. I think I saw it at the ideal age, when I was 13. Sylvester Stallone is a really good actor.

Q. First Blood (1982)  starring Sylvester Stallone  was far worse than the novel by David Morrell that it was based on, dont you think?

A. Thats true. I really like Morrell and I read the novel before [watching the movie]. I like Stallone but the character of Rambo is much better in the book.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition
Disappearance of Chloe in Seine-et-Marne: how did the investigators find the young woman?

Rospotrebnadzor: in patients with measles in the first days, the face becomes puffy and the eyelids swell

Guide for passing the dungeon Tower of Babil in the Endwalker update in Final Fantasy 14

This is how Jenkin's won the Champions Burger in Madrid: 1,800 hamburgers in one day, a fridge truck and the "dream" of opening in the capital

Where to eat the best asparagus and artichokes in Madrid

The restaurant of a scrapyard in Madrid that triumphs with its luxury menus at popular prices

WhatsApp finally activates the option to use several phones with the same account

The best coca in Mallorca is made in this family business in Valldemossa

"I finally have my best friend by my side": the sigh of relief of Nicolas who found his stolen dog

May Day passenger flow out of Beijing will usher in a peak this Saturday The total number of passengers entering and leaving Beijing during the May Day holiday is expected to exceed the same period in 2019

Expert: There is no evidence that secondary infection is more harmful to the body

Guangxi residents are dressed in brilliant costumes, "Sticking" and "National Chao" on the same stage - China News Network video

Peeping purpose Destruction of the attic wall of the apartment or arrest of 43-year-old suspect Saitama

Moon landing Private company holding a press conference "Will it fall with fuel on the way?"

Beijing CDC issued a health reminder for the May Day holiday: masks should be worn in these situations or scenarios

Zibo Cultural and Tourism Bureau: Hotels in the central city have been basically sold out during May Day, and it is recommended to travel at different peaks

They apologized for falling with a hexagon. Tottenham players pay their fans for tickets for Newcastle match

Taty Castellanos eats Militao and enters, with four goals, in the history of Madrid

On character: "Ak Bars" missed first, but defeated CSKA in the fifth match of the final series of the Gagarin Cup

Formula 1: the leaders change the format of the sprint weekend to ensure more spectacle

Football: the former goalkeeper of the Blues Hugo Lloris leaves after 5 goals conceded in 45 minutes

Monaco, damaged by Maccabi Tel Aviv, already back to the wall in the quarterfinals of the Euroleague

Guoyu is all about competing in the Asian Championships: men's singles face a tough battle, women's doubles mixed doubles are looking forward to defending their titles

From a candidate for the treble to threatened with a zero season. 7 games with Tuchel spark crises at Bayern Munich

From traveling with his father in Guangdong to carrying the banner of the Chinese team, Si Jiahui entered the quarterfinals of the World Snooker Championship

"I stood at the check-in counter for four hours": Dyachenko about a missed flight, a selected passport and a shock experienced

Actively stabilize the overall situation of employment and firmly hold the basic market - employment observation for the first quarter of 2023

The new 20,000 homes of Sanchez still have the land "in the identification phase"

Barcelona, at the head of the rental drama: 51% drop in supply and the highest price in Spain

"The price war is not tragic enough"! Executives of well-known car companies: After April, they will welcome the price war of new cars, and the competition will be fiercer in the future

Demystifying the "family office": the super-rich come with trillions of "new money" to feed innovation

The stock price has doubled, the performance has lost money, and these leading AI shareholders are going to cash out billions

State Post Bureau: In the first quarter, the postal industry as a whole showed a trend of stabilization and recovery

"Izvestia": the European Parliament assessed the likelihood of closing the Permanent Mission of Russia to the EU

Fares up by 7.5%: why take the train is becoming more and more expensive?

Study and implement Xi Jinping's Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New EraConcentrating on forging the soul, building the fundamentals, doing practical work, and taking responsibility to promote development

"To prolong the confrontation": the EU reported that it had trained more than 16 thousand servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Colombia: no concrete commitments at the end of the meeting on Venezuela

In Conakry, a hundred fishermen treated for burns whose cause remains to be determined

A US fund declares Spain in "technical default" and asks for the reimbursement of government bonds for 910 million

No, Los Serrano are not back: this will be 'the reunion' for the 20 years of the mythical series

A woman dies in the Paris metro after her coat is hooked in the car

Why is Mr. DeSantis Japan? Florida Governor explains the reason for his visit to Japan

"Discrimination of pure water": the Polish airline refused to put tennis player Dyachenko on the flight because of the passport of the Russian Federation

What income and salary do Paco Gonzalez and Manolo Lama have, cheated by the false cancer of Guillermo Valades

 Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
The Sinaloa Cartel has entrusted its future to a second generation. Three of Joaquin El Chapo Guzmans sons have taken the reins of the drug trafficking business in Mexico. They are now building up an efficient corporate structure, perfecting the model that was founded by their father 30 years ago.

This past week, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted three of El Chapos sons  Ivan Archivaldo, Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar and Ovidio Guzman Lopez  for allegedly trafficking fentanyl from Mexico into the United States. The American government is looking to lay six charges against them and another 25 members of the powerful criminal organization. The authorities explain that Los Chapitos  as the sons of the feared capo are known  have restructured the Sinaloa Cartel in a highly-organized fashion, while also becoming the largest suppliers of fentanyl in North America.

These activities began in 2014. That year, Ovidio Guzman Lopez  known as the mouse  founded his first laboratory to process fentanyl in Culiacan, in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. The youngest of the Guzman brothers took advantage of the routes established by his fathers cartel to send small shipments to Tijuana and pass the drugs through the usual channels  land, sea and air  to reach Los Angeles.

By 2016, it was clear that the business had to make a change. After its beginnings in the 1980s with marijuana trafficking, the organization eventually grew to include cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. The group founded by El Chapo  alongside Ismael El Mayo Zambada  would certainly go through other transformations, but none like the latest, according to U.S. authorities: The cartel has grown exponentially in volume, scale and sophistication.

In 2016, in the state of Durango, Los Chapitos converted a laboratory  originally dedicated to manufacturing methamphetamine  into a new facility to produce fentanyl. Since then, they havent stopped expanding operations.

El Chapo was captured in 2016 and extradited to the United States in 2017. At that point, his three sons personally took the reins of the family business and refocused it on trafficking fentanyl. Ovidio was in charge of setting up a network of laboratories to ensure sustained production, while Jesus Alfredo built alliances to purchase the necessary chemicals from China to cook the fentanyl. Meanwhile, Ivan Archivaldo  the eldest of the sons  managed the security apparatus around the entire operation, protecting laboratories and distribution routes with highly-armed men.

El Chapos sons: Jesus Alfredo, Ivan Archivaldo and Ovidio Guzman. Agencias / RR SS

The sons also undertook a kind of cleansing in the states of Coahuila, Michoacan, Sonora, Tamaulipas and Chihuahua, ensuring they had control of strategic positions. They sowed terror among their enemies. However, they also formed new alliances, such as in Coahuila with the Northeast cartel, or in Chihuahua, with the Artistas Asesinos street gang.

Cruelty continues to be the hallmark of the clan, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Los Chapitos have allied with the Ninis  a group of hitmen from Sinaloa  and turned them into their armed wing. Torture is also commonly used to punish those who dont comply with their wishes. The techniques include waterboarding, electrocution, beatings and even throwing people to tigers, according to the DOJ. According to the American authorities, on Ivan Archivaldos ranch in Sinaloa, the drug traffickers keep an unspecified number of tigers as pets. They occasionally feed them the bodies of their enemies, dead or alive.

One of the pillars of the operation is obtaining the chemicals that are used to make fentanyl. To manufacture fentanyl, the cartel uses precursor chemicals procured principally from China, the DOJ stated in is April 14 press release. The cartel bosses have been weaving extensive networks, which involve sending chemicals from Asia past Mexican customs. Guatemalan national Ana Gabriela Rubio Zea is in charge of this operation. She has partnered with the Chinese firm Wuhan Shookang Biological Technology, which obtains the chemical elements. To mislead the Mexican authorities, they are passed off as food containers or packaged alongside legal products. Some shipments arrive at the ports in vessels that have previously passed through countries such as the U.S. and Germany, since they are subject to less strict controls than those that arrive directly from China.

The chemicals are subsequently distributed to the laboratories that are mainly located in the state of Sinaloa. There, the cartel prepares fentanyl to be sent north, in the form of pills or powder. The Justice Department says that, in the last year, the Mexican government has seized an underground laboratory that had elevators to move the shipments, as well as industrial stoves and pill presses.

The cartel is trying to produce the most powerful fentanyl and sell it in the U.S. at the lowest price, the U.S. government notes. The testimonies of undercover DEA agents reveal that, in the laboratories, the foremen experiment on humans with different doses of fentanyl and observe how the drug reacts with others, such as heroin. The Attorney Generals office recounts the case of a woman who was given three doses of the opiate to calculate the chemical amounts, before she ultimately died of an overdose. Some addicts have also been subjected to these tests. One of them died of an overdose, but the drug they consumed was still sent to the United States.

A laboratory set up to produce fentanyl and methamphetamine in Culiacan, Mexico, which was dismantled on February 15, 2023. Sedena (Cuartoscuro)

El Chapos sons use the old-fashioned ways of the Sinaloa Cartel to bring fentanyl into the U.S.: in planes, trucks, boats, as well as through border checkpoints and the groups infamous tunnels. Because the volume of the opiate is less than that of other substances, the drug lords have increased traffic through land crossings between Mexico and the United States, hidden in cars, or in people  so-called mules  who cross the checkpoints daily.

The [Sinaloa] cartel relies on the impossibility of inspecting all items that cross the border [they] also exploit corruption on both sides of the border, say U.S. authorities. Special attention is paid, for instance, to the crossing between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso, Texas. There, the U.S. government discovered that one of its immigration officials was being paid by the cartel and allowing mules to pass the checkpoint without inspection. For 12 months, the officer  who covered a night shift  let women through, who were each carrying up to 2,000 pills on each trip. They would sometimes cross up to three times in a single night. The pills were even imprinted with the word Raton  Spanish for mouse, Ovidios nickname.

The business has been more than profitable: with one kilogram of rough chemicals  for which they pay $800  they can manufacture up to 415,000 pills, or four kilograms of fentanyl powder. The pills are sold individually in places like New York for up to $3. Each shipment represents millions of dollars that are sent to Mexico through account transfers via tax havens and cryptocurrencies. Drug dealers in the U.S. are in charge of collecting the money and depositing it into the cartels bitcoin accounts, which are managed from Mexico.

Cryptocurrency technology makes it difficult for financial systems from detecting the money. It can then be converted to dollars or pesos in Mexico. In some cases, conversion to legal tender isnt even necessary: some suppliers in China accept payment in cryptocurrencies. The organization also buys real estate in the United States, makes shipments of cash, or buys products in the U.S.  such as cellphones  which are then sold in Mexico to launder the drug money.

A weapons cache belonging to the Sinaloa Cartel, in a photo taken by an undercover DEA agent. Especial

Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Anne Milgram described the Sinaloa Cartel as being more ruthless, more violent, more deadly than in the best years of El Chapo Guzman. The warning focuses on the exponential growth of fentanyl trafficking and the serious damage it has already caused in the U.S. Between August 2021 and 2022, more than 107,000 Americans died from an opioid overdose. Narcotics experts say the drug is 50 times more potent than heroin. The structure set up by El Chapos heirs reinforces the argument that Mexico, the United States and China are fighting against a new model of illegal drug trafficking. The second generation of the Sinaloa Cartel has a global reach  with a presence in around 45 countries  innovative tools and a transnational vision something that, even in his best days, El Chapo Guzman couldnt have imagined.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition
Nothing like it has been seen in Europe since 1945. The closest thing can only be found in history books or on tourist trips to visit the legendary Siegfried Line or the Gothic Line in Italy, both constructed by German forces before and during World War II: 800 kilometers (just under 500 miles) of trenches, anti-tank ditches, dragons teeth (reinforced concrete obstacles to hinder armored vehicles), concrete machine-gun nests and bunkers today form a defensive line protecting the territory occupied by Russia in Ukraine. Since last summer, the invading forces have been constructing a massive defensive barrier to hold off the expected Ukrainian counteroffensive. Meanwhile, Kyivs allies have been speeding up delivery of heavy armor designed precisely to overcome these defensive measures.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine face a titanic struggle to reconquer the territory gained by Russia since the start of the invasion in February 2022. The operation will require considerably more troops, tanks and air support than was deployed last summer and autumn when Kyiv launched successful counteroffensives in the provinces of Kharkiv and Kherson. At that time, the Russian army was retreating and had not had time to dig in along solid defensive lines. It was enough for Ukrainian forces to stage attacks with small infantry units supported by light armored vehicles that used hit-and-run tactics to break through Russian positions. Kyivs strategy in those counterattacks was based on NATO military doctrine, handing autonomy to battalion commanders on the ground and accompanied by high-precision artillery pounding the Russian rearguard and supply lines.

The panorama now facing Ukraines military is considerably more complicated. Throughout the occupied territories  on the front lines but also in municipalities behind them  Russia has erected defensive barriers not seen in Europe since the fall of Hitlers Third Reich. Javier Jordan, professor of political science at the University of Granada in Spain and director of the defense analysis group Global Strategy, and Stephen Biddle, a professor at Columbia University, made the comparison in a study published last November. There are no qualitative differences in these defensive structures with respect to World War II, Jordan says in a conversation with EL PAIS.

Russian fortifications in occupied Ukrainian territory Areas where Russian forces have constructed defensive positions in territory captured from Ukraine, according to analysis from Brady Africk of the American Enterprise Institute. This map includes over 2,580 contrasted actions. It is likely that there are dozens more still undetected. By region (from south to north) Crimea Kherson Zaporizhzhia Luhansk Kharkiv Donetsk RUSSIA Territory occupied by Russia Kyiv UKRAINE Kharkiv Zaporizhzhia Kherson Black Sea 200 Km The following graphs show examples of defensive fortification work carried out by Russian forces: 1. Stepove and Ternuvate 1. Stepove and Ternuvate Russian troops have dug a kilometer-long anti-tank ditch in the locality of these two farms and erected three artillery strongholds a couple of kilometers behind it, forming a basic defensive line. January 1 2023 Possible direction of Ukrainian attack Stepove O-081349 Anti-tank ditch Ternuvate Artillery positions 1 Km 2. Tokmak The strategic city of Tokmak is located 20km to the southeast of the Stepove-Ternuvate farms. Here, Russian forces have constructed a more complex system with several lines of defensive positions. March 2 2023 Possible direction of Ukrainian attack Anti-tank ditch Chervonohirka T-04-08 Trenches Anti-tank ditch Dragons teeth Solar farm Trenches H-30 Tokmak 1 Km Source: Brady Africk and Sentinel Hub. NACHO CATALAN / EL PAIS Russian fortifications in occupied Ukrainian territory Areas where Russian forces have constructed defensive positions in territory captured from Ukraine, according to analysis from Brady Africk of the American Enterprise Institute. This map includes over 2,580 contrasted actions. It is likely that there are dozens more still undetected. By region (from south to north) Crimea Kherson Zaporizhzhia Luhansk Donetsk Kharkiv RUSSIA Territory occupied by Russia Kyiv UKRAINE Kharkiv Zaporizhzhia Kherson Black Sea 200 Km The following graphs show examples of defensive fortification work carried out by Russian forces: 1. Stepove and Ternuvate 1. Stepove and Ternuvate Russian troops have dug a kilometer-long anti-tank ditch in the locality of these two farms and erected three artillery strongholds a couple of kilometers behind it, forming a basic defensive line. January 1 2023 Possible direction of Ukrainian attack Stepove O-081349 Anti-tank ditch Ternuvate Artillery positions 1 Km 2. Tokmak The strategic city of Tokmak is located 20km to the southeast of the Stepove-Ternuvate farms. Here, Russian forces have constructed a more complex system with several lines of defensive positions. March 2 2023 Possible direction of Ukrainian attack Anti-tank ditch Chervonohirka T-04-08 Trenches Anti-tank ditch Dragons teeth Solar farm Trenches H-30 Tokmak 1 Km Source: Brady Africk and Sentinel Hub. NACHO CATALAN / EL PAIS Russian fortifications in occupied Ukrainian territory Areas where Russian forces have constructed defensive positions in territory captured from Ukraine, according to analysis from Brady Africk of the American Enterprise Institute. This map includes over 2,580 contrasted actions. It is likely that there are dozens more still undetected. By region (from south to north) Crimea Kherson Zaporizhzhia Luhansk Donetsk Kharkiv RUSSIA Territory occupied by Russia Kyiv Kharkiv UKRAINE Zaporizhzhia Kherson Black Sea 200 Km The following graphs show examples of defensive fortification work carried out by Russian forces: 1. Stepove and Ternuvate Russian troops have dug a kilometer-long anti-tank ditch in the locality of these two farms and erected three artillery strongholds a couple of kilometers behind it, forming a basic defensive line. October 18 2022 January 1 2023 Possible direction of Ukrainian attack Stepove Stepove O-081349 O-081349 Anti-tank ditch Ternuvate Ternuvate Artillery positions 1 Km 1 Km 2. Tokmak The strategic city of Tokmak is located 20km to the southeast of the Stepove-Ternuvate farms. Here, Russian forces have constructed a more complex system with several lines of defensive positions. November 14 2022 March 2 2023 Possible direction of Ukrainian attack Anti-tank ditch Chervonohirka Chervonohirka T-04-08 T-04-08 Trenches Anti-tank ditch Dragons teeth Solar farm Trenches H-30 H-30 Tokmak Tokmak 1 Km 1 Km Source: Brady Africk and Sentinel Hub. NACHO CATALAN / EL PAIS Russian fortifications in occupied Ukrainian territory Areas where Russian forces have constructed defensive positions in territory captured from Ukraine, according to analysis from Brady Africk of the American Enterprise Institute. This map includes over 2,580 contrasted actions. It is likely that there are dozens more still undetected. By region (from south to north) Crimea Kherson Zaporizhzhia Luhansk Donetsk Kharkiv RUSSIA Territory occupied by Russia Kyiv Kharkiv UKRAINE Zaporizhzhia Kherson Black Sea 200 Km The following graphs show examples of defensive fortification work carried out by Russian forces: 1. Stepove and Ternuvate Russian troops have dug a kilometer-long anti-tank ditch in the locality of these two farms and erected three artillery strongholds a couple of kilometers behind it, forming a basic defensive line. October 18 2022 January 1 2023 Possible direction of Ukrainian attack Stepove Stepove O-081349 O-081349 Anti-tank ditch Ternuvate Ternuvate Artillery positions 1 Km 1 Km 2. Tokmak The strategic city of Tokmak is located 20km to the southeast of the Stepove-Ternuvate farms. Here, Russian forces have constructed a more complex system with several lines of defensive positions. November 14 2022 March 2 2023 Possible direction of Ukrainian attack Anti-tank ditch Chervonohirka Chervonohirka T-04-08 T-04-08 Trenches Anti-tank ditch Dragons teeth Solar farm Trenches H-30 H-30 Tokmak Tokmak 1 Km 1 Km Source: Brady Africk and Sentinel Hub. NACHO CATALAN / EL PAIS

This modern version of the Siegfried Line stretches from Russias border with Ukraine in the province of Luhansk in the northeast through the occupied territories of Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia, following the course of the Dnipro River as it passes the liberated city of Kherson and ends at the gateway to the Crimean Peninsula. According to John Helin, a Finnish historian and military analyst, Russian forces have also fortified municipalities to turn them into strongholds behind the lines, which Ukrainian forces will have to take one by one to avoid leaving enemy units in their own rearguard.

The defensive obstacles being thrown up by Russia are similar to those deployed 80 years ago, says Helin, although easier to overcome. As an example, the dragons teeth being deployed are not dug into the ground as they were during WWII but placed on the surface and can be easily removed with an excavator. The bunkers constructed are also similarly designed, with no subterranean foundations or fortified walls: they are prefabricated and have been placed mainly along roads to provide cover for snipers.

However, the Russian defensive line remains formidable, as noted on April 12 by U.K. intelligence, above all on the Zaporizhzhia front, where a Ukrainian counteroffensive toward Melitopol and the Azov Sea is anticipated. In Zaporizhzhia and the occupied area of Kherson province, Russia has constructed three parallel defensive lines of 120 km (75 miles) in length, each about 15 kilometers apart and all following the same system: a first line of combat trenches with barbed wire, preceded by minefields; then dragons teeth, anti-tank ditches and more trenches with additional positions for dug-in tanks to act as artillery.

Russian defensive lines Trenches and barbed wire Bunkers Mine field Trenches and barbed wire Dragons teeth Anti-tank ditch Concrete parapets for snipers machine-gunners and tanks Source: in-house production NACHO CATALAN / EL PAIS Russian defensive lines Trenches and barbed wire Bunkers Mine field Trenches and barbed wire Dragons teeth Anti-tank ditch Concrete parapets for snipers, machine-gunners and tanks Source: in-house production NACHO CATALAN / EL PAIS Russian defensive lines Bunkers Trenches and barbed wire Mine field Trenches and barbed wire Concrete parapets for snipers, machine-gunners and tanks Anti-tank ditch Dragons teeth Source: in-house production NACHO CATALAN / EL PAIS Russian defensive lines Bunkers Trenches and barbed wire Mine field Trenches and barbed wire Concrete parapets for snipers, machine-gunners and tanks Dragons teeth Anti-tank ditch Source: in-house production NACHO CATALAN / EL PAIS

NATO steps up armored deliveries

On April 4, Australian Major-General Mick Ryan noted a significant change in the materiel being provided to Ukraine by its NATO allies in one of his periodic analyses of the war: for the first time since the conflict began, vehicles specifically designed to overcome anti-armor obstacles have been given priority, as has equipment for sappers and engineers, such as C-4 plastic explosives to pen routes through the concrete blocks. Washington has provided MRAPs, which are built to withstand mine explosions; tanks with mine-detonating shovels; tracked vehicles with M-58 explosive charges, which horizontally detonate mines and destroy dragons teeth, and M-60 armored vehicles with deployable bridges to overcome trenches and anti-tank ditches. Germany has sent Biber mobile armored deployable bridges and Wisent-1 mine-clearing vehicles. Lithuania has provided armored all-terrain mine-resistant vehicles and Finland, Leopard tanks adapted to open routes through minefields while the Netherlands has sent Bradley bridges and M-3 pontoons for river landings and France has provided AMX-10P amphibious armored infantry carriers.

Kyiv is mulling the option of attempting an amphibious assault on the southern front, crossing the Dnipro River, an option that most of the analysts consulted by this newspaper consider a practically impossible feat: the Dnipros riverbed as it traverses Kherson is more than two kilometers long. The Moscow-installed governor in the annexed territories of Kherson, Vladimir Saldo, has stated Kyiv is amassing amphibious forces on the western bank of the river.

Attempting an offensive against multiple trench lines, minefields and obstacles with machine gun nests is not effective without sufficient artillery support, notes Jordan and Helin. The director of Global Strategy stresses that the morale of the defending soldiers is also an important factor. In the Kharkiv offensive, eliminating Russian commanders was decisive because of the strict hierarchical structure of the Russian army. When the chain of command was destroyed, the rank and file abandoned their positions.

There is no more difficult mission than planning and executing a combined attack against a line of obstacles, General Ryan wrote. Jordan concurs, highlighting the extraordinary level of professionalism required to coordinate all branches of the military involved in an assault such as the Ukrainian counteroffensive. The analyst believes that the Ukrainian army may currently exceed the three-to-one superiority in troop numbers that military theory prescribes as necessary in offensive operations. In any case, Jordan adds, the number of casualties and material losses will be vast.

A Russian soldier, facing the Dnipro River, in late November. ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO (REUTERS)

Slow progress at great cost

In the essay published in analytical journal War on the Rocks last November, Biddle stated that the even balance of the opposing forces witnessed so far during the war augured that a counteroffensive would achieve modest gains: Where defenses have been deep, supported by operational reserves and a well-prepared front line, successful blitzkriegs have been virtually impossible after more than a century of technological change. Well-trained and shrewdly directed attackers with numerical superiority, the Columbia professor notes, can achieve progress on the ground, but slowly and at great cost.

When opposing forces are not evenly matched, no amount of defensive preparation is sufficient. Helin cites the example of the first Gulf War (1990-1991), when, following the invasion of Kuwait, the United States-led coalition attacked Iraq. The Finnish expert points out that Saddam Husseins military constructed hundreds of kilometers of fortified trenches that were wiped out in a matter of hours by U.S. air superiority. And, Helin warns, this is Ukraines primary problem: Kyiv does not possess the air superiority to destroy Russian supply lines, artillery, and tanks. However, as Jordan notes, Kyiv does have an advantage in terms of precision missiles, such as the HIMARS, which its armed forces have proven very effective in using to disrupt supply lines and hit fuel dumps and weapons depots behind Russian lines.

According to the experts consulted, the victor will be the side that best manages to coordinate the different branches of their armed forces. The counteroffensive is crucial to Ukraine because if the assault falters on Russias defensive lines, where the elite of Kyivs military will be concentrated, it will potentially provide a golden opportunity for Russia to counterattack and gain ground for the first time since the beginning of the invasion. If that happens, Helin believes that the more than 30 MiG-29 fighters being delivered to Kyiv from Poland and Slovakia will be reserved to rescue the situation and perhaps the fate of Ukraine itself.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition
Nearly 20,000 school-age children in Louisiana have fallen off the education map, kids who should be in class but are missing from school rosters, a new analysis of enrollment trends during the pandemic found.

Theres no doubt that we have issues with chronic absenteeism, acknowledged State Education Superintendent Cade Brumley. I would not say its worse (here) than in other places, but it definitely needs our attention.

The analysis, released Thursday, is a collaboration between The Associated Press, Stanford Universitys Big Local News project and Stanford education professor Thomas Dee. They found an estimated 240,000 students in 21 states whose absence from school could not be explained, which they said almost certainly understates the real number of missing kids.

The researchers and journalists gathered enrollment data for the 2019-20 school year, the year before the coronavirus pandemic, and compared it to data from 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years. They compared that data  from public, private and homeschools  against U.S. Census estimates of the school-age population, children ages 5 to 17 years old.

Louisiana was one of 21 states where AP and Stanford amassed sufficient data. Its 19,000-plus missing kids represent 2.4% of the states school-age population of nearly 800,000 children, the highest percentage among the 21 states measured.

A state task force began meeting last summer to look at ways to improve school attendance. Brumley said that the data schools collect on attendance needs improving and that there needs to be a better flow of information to local district attorneys charged with enforcing truancy laws.

In addition to the impact of the pandemic, Brumley said major hurricanes in 2020 and 2021 kept many kids out of school for extended periods of time.
Traffic backs up on Interstate 10 East at the Nairn Drive overpass on Monday, April 10, 2023 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The north side of I-10 is where contractor Kiewit/Boh has proposed setting up a staging area as it embarks on a five-year long project to widen the interstate. The land is part of the campus of BR FLAIM, a popular magnet school in Baton Rouge. The project calls for adding a new lane in each direction between La. 415 in West Baton Rouge Parish and the I-10/12 split. The corridor is one of the most congested in the state.
President Joe Biden arrives to speak about his infrastructure agenda at Fern Hollow Bridge in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. Walking behind Biden is Mitch Landrieu, Senior Advisor and Infrastructure Act Implementation Coordinator. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Next month, Anthony Albanese welcomes the President of the United States Joe Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida for the first leaders-level meeting of the Quad hosted by Australia.

He will also attend the G7 meeting in Hiroshima to which Australia has been invited  along with fellow ad hoc members India and South Korea. Albanese has also been invited to the critical NATO summit on Ukraine in July; it would be a serious mistake not to attend.

Those international engagements, together with last months announcement on the AUKUS acquisition program and the coming release of the Defence Strategic Review, all focus attention on the challenging strategic position which Australia now faces as the democracies come to terms with the belligerence of the worlds two great authoritarian states, Russia and China.

Some Western politicians and commentators refer to the current strategic situation as a new Cold War. Yet the comparison is too glib, and in many important ways inaccurate.
JOHN ROGER RIMMER May 3, 1948-October 14, 2022

John Rimmer was a man of extraordinary talents. He was founding executive director of MultiMedia Victoria (1995-97), positioning Victoria well to capture the potential of the internet boom. This followed his initiating major policy and legislative reforms by the Victorian Government to mental health and intellectual disability services. His leadership at MMV was succeeded by success in the private sector in creating incubators for technology start-ups; and then as CEO of the National Office of the Information Economy (2001-04).

Along the way, he had been a budding concert pianist, a regional planner director and social work academic, a very senior state public servant and  in his private time  a swimming sports referee and administrator. In the twilight of his career, he returned to the health sector as a valued board member of the Royal Childrens Hospital and Forensicare. He also contributed as a board member to several major cultural institutions.

John was born in Ipswich, Queensland, the first of 10 children to William David Rimmer and Betty Jeanette Bell, both GPs. His brother Robert has described his older brother as being his CEO and co-conspirator as a teenager. Throughout his life he retained a keen interest in his siblings and their families, often providing practical support as well as advice.

After his secondary education at Downlands College, Toowoomba, John embarked on a degree in arts (politics) at the University of Queensland. He was a sufficiently talented pianist (trained by Nancy Weir) to make several recordings for the ABC. At UQ, he met the equally talented music major Charlotte Rendle-Short. In 1970, after both had graduated, they married in Brisbane, then drove with all their worldly possessions to Melbourne, where they took jobs as secondary teachers.
The mother of a young man who was critically injured while on holiday in South Korea and later died in Melbourne has called for laws to change to allow organ donation surgery on people whose deaths are imminent.

Associate Professor Sally Catt has written to a Victorian parliamentary inquiry asking for the legalisation of organ donation under anaesthesia to prevent organs of registered donors going to waste, as she says was the case with her son, Angus.

Angus Catt died tragically in February this year.

But some experts believe the change would create an ethical grey area in which the organ removal would be the cause of death, and could put some people off registering as donors.

Angus Catt died at The Alfred hospital in February after falling from a four-storey building at a party in South Korea on January 22.
A report tabled in WA parliament on Monday examined how it dealt with 10 of the recommendations and if they will help prevent future deaths.

The Coroners Court made 35 formal recommendations to the department between 2017 and 2021 following 13 inquests into the deaths of 17 prisoners in custody.

The department focused on closing recommendations rather than implementing changes. Credit: Fairfax

A report into the WA Department of Justices performance has found custodial staff are not properly trained and clinical staff are under significant pressure.

Mental health services in Western Australias prisons remain under-resourced and inadequate as authorities ignore coronial recommendations, a deaths in custody report says.

Inspector of Custodial Services Eamon Ryan found in several cases the department focused on closing recommendations, not implementing effective change.

Unnatural deaths in custody are an absolute tragedy that have far reaching impacts for everyone involved, but none more so than for the families of those who pass, Mr Ryan said.

While I feel the department takes seriously its responsibility to prevent future deaths in custody, it was disheartening to find many recommendations were closed with little evidence of any meaningful change to practices.

Many of the coronial recommendations related to improving the quality of mental health care provided to the 12 per cent of adult prisoners and young people in detention who were assessed as having a psychiatric condition or requiring further assessment for a suspected psychiatric condition.

Mr Ryan said mental health services for prisoners in crisis or with acute needs has been inadequate and often inaccessible for many years.
Russias Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived to the Brazilian capital Monday as Brazils President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva pushes a diplomatic approach for peace in Ukraine that has irked both Kyiv and the West. The meeting between Lavrov and his Brazilian counterpart Mauro Vieira was set in March, when they held a bilateral at the summit of the Group of 20 leading economies in New Dehli. They met Monday morning and, according to the foreign ministrys website, both will meet with Lula in the afternoon.

Lula has refused to provide weapons to Ukraine while proposing a club of nations including Brazil and China to mediate peace. On Sunday, he told reporters in Abu Dhabi that two nations  both Russia and Ukraine  had decided to go to war, and a day earlier in Beijing said the U.S. must stop stimulating the continued fighting and start discussing peace. Earlier this month, he suggested Ukraine could cede Crimea to end the war, which the spokesperson for Ukraines foreign ministry, Oleg Nikolenko, rejected.

Would you offer a Crimea-sized part of Brazil just for tranquilitys sake? Then well talk! Belgiums former prime minister, Guy Verhofstadt, said on Twitter earlier this month.

As part of his effort to end hostilities, Lula also has withheld munitions to Ukraine, despite a request from Germanys Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Lula has said that sending supplies would mean Brazil entering the war, which he seeks to end.

His position has apparently been appreciated in Moscow. One of roughly 50 leaked classified documents on the platform Discord that have been viewed by the AP said that, as of late February, Russias foreign affairs ministry supported Lulas plan to establish a club of supposedly impartial mediators, as it would reject the Wests aggressor-victim paradigm. The item cited electronic surveillance as the source.

Earlier this month, Celso Amorim, a special advisor to Brazils presidency and former foreign minister, took a discreet trip to Moscow, where he met with President Vladimir Putin. Vieira told reporters this month that Amorim went to listen and to say the time has come to talk.

Critics have argued that Brazils position on the Ukraine war aims to avoid confronting a key supplier of fertilizer for its soybean plantations, exports from which are largely destined for China. Both Russia and China hold permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council, and Brazil for decades has sought to join them.

Vinicius Vieira, an international relations professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a university and think tank, said Lulas comments on Ukraine have been badly calibrated and that saying Kyiv should cede Crimea would appear to favor Russia.

The issue of fertilizers is fundamental, but that would be well resolved with Brazil staying neutral, calling all sides to speak, but without saying Ukraine owes something to Russia, Vieira said.

After his stay in Brazil, Lavrov will travel to Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.

In an article published on the website of Russias Foreign Ministry, as well as in Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo and Mexican magazine Buzos, Lavrov noted that Russia favored strengthening cooperation with Latin American countries on the basis of mutual support, solidarity and consideration of each others interests ... in the spirit of strategic partnership.

Lavrov has repeatedly stressed that Moscows ties with countries such as Brazil are crucial to the foundation of a multipolar world order, which does away with what he described as the Wests monopoly on shaping the framework of international life in a speech to the lower house of Russian parliament in February. In his article, published Thursday, he described the increasingly prominent role in the multipolar world order played by Latin American states.

In particular, Lavrov appeared to cast the countries trade relationship  notably that between Russia and Brazil, especially concerning fertilizers  as a backdrop and source of leverage for possible discussions regarding the continued refusal to provide weapons to Ukraine, which Moscow would like to ensure.

However, Russia does not in fact possess such leverage, accrording to Andrey Sizov, Managing Director of agricultural markets research firm SovEcon.

Fertilizer is still exported by private companies and the Kremlin, as far as I know, does not direct them where to export those fertilizers, Sizov told The Associated Press by phone.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition
Liberal leader Peter Dutton has promoted Northern Territory senator Jacinta Price directly into shadow cabinet, in a shock move that has surprised members of his own front bench team.

South Australian senator Kerrynne Liddle has also been appointed to the outer ministry, a decision that promotes two Indigenous women to Duttons front bench ahead of the referendum on the Voice to parliament later this year.

Price takes the portfolio of Indigenous Australians while the role of shadow attorney-general went to West Australian senator Michaelia Cash, who was previously the shadow minister for employment and workplace relations.

The changes, announced on Tuesday morning in Adelaide, have been tightly held and go much further than anticipated by members of Duttons front bench team, with six members of the shadow ministry telling The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age on Monday that Price and Liddle would be given more junior positions.
On the face of it, this majority support in a majority of states should give the Yes campaign some comfort, said Resolve director Jim Reed. Loading However, support is following a clear downward trajectory from the highs of 80 per cent a year ago, and the end result later this year is likely to be a close-run thing. The new ballot paper wording and the turnout figures are doing very little to bolster the Yes vote. The new findings on voter turnout come after No advocates launched an advertising campaign against the Voice, while supporters of the Yes case have begun election-style door-knocking campaigns. Both sides are raising cash in the hope they can win the day with mainstream advertising blitzes, with Australian billionaire Anthony Pratt donating $1 million to the Yes side last month.

Australian Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers urged people to enrol for the referendum and said his staff were working to make sure Indigenous Australians were able to cast their ballots. We are doing as much as we possibly can to remind people of their obligation but we [will be] doing even more once the date of the referendum is known, Rogers told the ABC. Voting at a referendum is compulsory, as it is at an election. There were 17.2 million people enrolled to vote at the last federal election, according to a tally by the Australian Electoral Commission on April 21 last year, and 94.8 per cent turned out to vote. The 1999 referendum on a republic saw 95.1 per cent voter turnout but the new Resolve Political Monitor suggests this years referendum could fall below that level. Only 79.5 per cent of eligible Australians voted in the 2017 postal survey on marriage equality, which was not compulsory.

The new survey finds that 81 per cent of voters are likely to cast a ballot but that 10 per cent say they are unlikely to do so and 9 per cent are unsure about whether they will do so. While 89 per cent of those in favour of the Voice said they were likely to cast a ballot, 87 per cent of those against the Voice said the same. Only 56 per cent of those who were undecided on the issue said they were likely to vote. A decision by 10 per cent of voters to skip the referendum would cut 1.7 million ballots from the final count, highlighting the importance of get out the vote campaigns to shift the outcome. In the first question on the issue, the latest survey presented voters with the most recent version of the governments draft wording and found that 46 per cent were in favour of the change, 31 per cent were against and 22 per cent were undecided. This was largely unchanged from the results of the March survey.

In a subsequent question, the survey asked voters to indicate their position even if its a leaning and gave them no option to say they were undecided in order to match the Yes or No options in the actual referendum. On the second question, 58 per cent said Yes and 42 per cent said No. The changes over the past month were within the margin of error, given the March survey found 57 per cent were in favour and 43 per cent were against. Importantly, the wording of the question changed in the most recent survey to reflect the latest draft from the government, issued on March 23. The March 23 version of the amendment to the Constitution says: The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to the Parliament and the Executive Government of the Commonwealth on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Liberal MP Julian Leeser, who quit last week as the Coalition spokesman on Indigenous Australians because he could not support Duttons policy, has decided to back the Voice at the referendum but will campaign for changes to the draft because he believes the power of the Voice should be put in legislation rather than the Constitution.

The draft amendment from the government also says: The parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws with respect to matters relating to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, including its composition, functions, powers and procedures. Loading Albanese has emphasised that this ensures parliament can determine the power of the Voice, but Liberal MPs including Keith Wolohan fear that activist judges on the High Court would one day expand the power of the group so it could demand advance notice of a government decision on any matter. Liberals are at odds over their final position because they were presented with papers that set out the case for a national voice created by legislation when they debated their policy in a meeting in Canberra on April 5. Dutton emerged from that meeting to call for regional and local voices instead, making no mention of the national voice put to the meeting.

A bidding war by public servants for more bureaucrats sitting in Canberra or Darwin is not going to fix the problem in Alice Springs, Dutton said alongside Coalition Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, another critic of the Voice. Loading Albanese responded on Monday by declaring the Voice would ensure recognition through consultation because First Australians would have input into federal policies. This is an opportunity to change the nation for the better. This is an opportunity where every Australian can do their bit, to have their say and to advance reconciliation in the best way that they can, he said. In an interview on ABCs 7.30 on Monday night, Albanese also confirmed the Attorney-General would release the Solicitor-Generals advice on the wording of the referendum question.
Gunmen posing as journalists have shot dead a former Indian member of parliament and his brother, both of whom had criminal links, while they were speaking live on television.

Atiq Ahmed, 61, and Ashraf Ahmed were being taken in handcuffs to hospital by police and were answering reporters questions when they were shot at close range, authorities said.

Ashraf Ahmed and Atiq Ahmed, 61, were being taken in handcuffs to hospital by police and were answering reporters questions when they were shot at close range.

Atiq Ahmed had been jailed since 2019 and was convicted of kidnapping.

According to preliminary information, three persons posing as journalists approached them and opened fire.
New paper in The Lancet Neurology confirms that a key Parkinson's pathology can now be identified by examining spinal fluid from living patients

The Lancet Neurology Test validated in the gold-standard Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative demonstrates greater than 90% sensitivity in people with typical Parkinson's pathology, and is frequently positive even before onset of symptoms

Findings show differences in disease subtypes and among people with Parkinson's risk factors, providing a novel tool for precision medicine approaches, earlier intervention and improved clinical trial design

Michael J. Fox "deeply moved by breakthrough," "making a cure for Parkinson's inevitable"

NEW YORK, April 12, 2023 -- A landmark paper published today in The Lancet Neurology journal by leaders of the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI), the gold-standard Parkinson's biomarker study sponsored by The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF), confirms the most significant breakthrough yet in the search for a Parkinson's biomarker: a biological test for Parkinson's disease that demonstrates high diagnostic accuracy, differentiates molecular subtypes and detects disease in individuals before cardinal movement symptoms arise.

The new test, known as the alpha-synuclein seed amplification assay (?Syn-SAA), heralds the revolutionary ability for research to define Parkinson's disease biologically, offering a critical tool for clinical trial design and assessment of treatment effects, and for early detection of disease pathology.

As authors from PPMI detail in The Lancet Neurology, the test detects synuclein pathology, one of the two biological hallmarks of Parkinson's disease (alongside dopaminergic transport dysfunction, which can be visualized using DaTScan). As a result, for the first time since James Parkinson first characterized the disorder in 1817, researchers and clinicians can use biology (vs. clinical assessments and patient-reported outcomes) to identify, define and monitor Parkinson's objectively, based on cellular pathology in the living body.

"Validation of this biomarker launches a new, biological era in Parkinson's research," said Kenneth Marek, MD, PPMI Principal Investigator and president and senior scientist at the Institute for Neurodegenerative Disorders. "Using ?Syn-SAA, we are already unlocking new understanding of Parkinson's, which will transform every aspect of drug development and ultimately clinical care. We will rapidly be in a position to test new therapies in the right populations, target the right therapy to the right patient at the right time, and launch studies of agents with potential to prevent Parkinson's disease altogether. This is what PPMI was built to do, and we are especially grateful to the thousands of study participants whose contributions have enabled this watershed moment."

The paper, co-led by Andrew Siderowf, MD, PPMI Investigator and Director, Parkinson Disease and Movement Disorders Center at the University of Pennsylvania and Luis Concha, PhD, Director, Research and Development at Amprion, outlines ?Syn-SAA results from more than 1,100 PPMI participants including individuals with Parkinson's disease, those with genetic and/or clinical risk factors but not diagnosed with Parkinson's, and control volunteers. The large-scale analysis in PPMI confirms previous reports  including from MJFF-funded work  that ?Syn-SAA can distinguish Parkinson's from control volunteers with a stunningly robust sensitivity of 88 percent and specificity of 96 percent.

As an objective and reliable biomarker of Parkinson's biology, ?Syn-SAA will significantly decrease the risk for industry to invest in the development of potential blockbuster therapies, including preventive agents, and increase the speed and efficiency with which these therapies can be developed, tested and brought to market. With ?Syn-SAA in hand, it will be possible to establish objective endpoints for clinical trials of Parkinson's treatments, ensure study participants exhibit appropriate pathology, and detect therapy-induced changes in their status. This already is reworking the design of clinical trials and can induce greater pharma and biotech investment in the space  creating more "shots on goal" to benefit people at every stage of disease.

Subtypes of Parkinson's Biology Linked to Genetic and Clinical Factors

The authors reported findings related to olfactory deficit, or smell loss (enduring and significant smell loss is a common symptom of Parkinson's often seen years before a diagnosis) and to carrying a mutation in the Parkinson's-associated LRRK2 gene:

The assay accurately diagnosed disease in 99 percent (274 of 278) of people with smell loss and sporadic Parkinson's (without a known causal genetic mutation).

The proportion of positive results was lower in people with Parkinson's and a LRRK2 mutation [68 percent (83 of 123)].

Positive results also were lower in people with sporadic Parkinson's without olfactory deficit (78 percent).

People with Parkinson's, a LRRK2 mutation and normal smell ability were even less likely to show positive assay results. This was particularly true among females; only 12.5 percent of females in this population (three of 24) showed synuclein pathology on the test.

In people with Parkinson's enrolled in PPMI who consented to post-mortem examination and who have passed since joining the study, all those with positive assay results (14) showed typical alpha-synuclein aggregation pathology in brain cells; the single such PD participant who did not show positive assay results was a LRRK2 mutation carrier with preserved olfaction.

These results suggest that not all cases of clinical Parkinson's symptoms are associated with the accumulation of alpha-synuclein aggregates as detected by this assay, and that LRRK2 variant carriers, in particular, may not show this pathology. This insight opens new avenues of investigation toward treatments to benefit more people with PD. It also will enable deeper studies of the cellular pathways and cascades occurring in LRRK2-associated Parkinson's, some of which may be protective against synuclein dysfunction and Parkinson's toxicity. This could lead to breakthroughs to benefit everyone with Parkinson's, not just those who carry a genetic mutation. (Three therapies targeting dysfunction in the LRRK2 pathway are currently in clinical trials.)

New Evidence that Biological Changes in Synuclein Predate Both Symptoms and Dopamine Dysfunction, Setting Stage for First Prevention Trials

The ?Syn-SAA also has been validated in individuals enrolled in PPMI who have not been diagnosed with Parkinson's, but are age 60 or older and living with increased relative risk of developing Parkinson's due to genetic mutations, smell loss, or diagnosed REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD). (RBD is a sleep disorder of acting out dreams by hitting, punching or kicking, and is tied to significant risk of developing Parkinson's or a similar neurodegenerative disease.) PPMI reopened enrollment in 2020 and is building a longitudinal cohort of 2000 such at-risk individuals.

Most people with olfactory deficit [88 percent (16 of 18)] or RBD [84 percent (28 of 33)] showed positive assay results.

The authors also compared results to dopamine transporter (DAT) brain imaging scans, a tool for assessing dopamine transporter system dysfunction and thereby Parkinson's pathology, including in at-risk individuals. Only about 30 percent of at-risk individuals with a positive seed amplification assay result also had significant dopamine loss.

This finding suggests that synuclein pathology could be detectable by this assay earlier than dopamine dysfunction is seen with DAT imaging, extending the window in which it may be possible to intervene with preventive therapies.

On the other hand, undiagnosed but at-risk carriers of a LRRK2 or GBA mutation (the most common known genetic link to Parkinson's disease) were less likely to show positive assay results: 8.8 percent (14 of 159) and 7.3 percent (11 of 151) respectively.

This finding suggests that RBD and olfactory deficit arise closer to onset of Parkinson's movement symptoms.



It also suggests that alpha-synuclein aggregation in spinal fluid is not a life-long trait but rather acquired as part of a disease biology process that ultimately gives rise to symptoms. By exploiting this understanding to intervene in this process, drugmakers hope to make Parkinson's a preventable condition.

Biomarker Test Available for Diagnostic Assessment

The ?Syn-SAA was developed when MJFF on-staff neuroscience PhDs approached researchers at University of Texas working on seed amplification assays in Alzheimer's. The Foundation offered funding to experiment with developing an alpha-synuclein assay using PPMI cerebrospinal fluid samples.

The University of Texas team that developed the assay has since launched biotech Amprion, which partnered with PPMI on its analysis of ?Syn-SAA. The company has commercialized the assay as the SYNTap test, which is available for order by physicians for people exhibiting symptoms of Parkinson's or related disorders. When the test is positive, a person likely has Parkinson's or a related disorder of alpha-synuclein, such as Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) or Multiple System Atrophy (MSA). The test, on its own, cannot differentiate between these diseases. It also may not be covered by insurance. But, in conjunction with a doctor's examination, the test might help support a specific diagnosis.

"The Michael J. Fox Foundation has always recognized the indisputable need for biomarkers of Parkinson's disease, and has relentlessly pursued them as a mission-critical goal," said Deborah W. Brooks, MJFF's chief executive officer (and a PPMI control volunteer at the University of Pennsylvania since 2010). "It would be difficult to overstate the implications of this discovery. With development and scaling, ?Syn-SAA can usher in the era of objectively and biologically defining Parkinson's disease  revolutionizing every aspect of research and care."

Michael J. Fox said: "There are many ways I am involved with the work of the Foundation, but I come to this result first and foremost as a Parkinson's patient. I am deeply moved by this breakthrough and endlessly grateful to the researchers, study participants and funders who have endeavored to bring us this far. When we started PPMI, we weren't casting about for fish  we were going after a whale. Now, here we are. Together we are making a cure for Parkinson's inevitable."

PPMI: The Study that's Changing Everything

MJFF launched the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (www.ppmi-info.org, michaeljfox.org/ppmi) in 2010 at 18 clinical sites in the United States and Europe with a lead gift from the late Mrs. Lily Safra, a visionary friend, partner, and board member of MJFF. A longitudinal observational study, PPMI has built the most robust dataset and biosample library ever assembled in Parkinson's research, which is shared with the broader research community in real time for ongoing discovery and validation studies. Today the study has enrolled nearly 2000 participants and is actively enrolling Parkinson's patients, at-risk individuals and control volunteers at 51 clinical sites around the globe. Study data are downloaded by researchers worldwide for independent studies on average 2200 times a day.

With the publication of ?Syn-SAA, The Michael J. Fox Foundation announced that the tagline of the PPMI study will change from "The Study that Could Change Everything" about how Parkinson's disease is diagnosed, managed and treated to "The Study that's Changing Everything."

Major funding for PPMI comes from Aligning Science Across Parkinson's (ASAP) (www.parkinsonsroadmap.org), a coordinated research initiative focused on accelerating the pace of discovery and informing the path to a cure for Parkinson's disease. ASAP support is enabling the seismic expansion of PPMI to increase recruitment efforts and remote testing for those at-risk for PD as well as expanding assay development efforts to enable breakthroughs such as ?Syn-SAA. This infrastructure provides a ready platform for future discoveries.

In addition to ASAP, PPMI is supported by the Edmond J. Safra Foundation, the Farmer Family Foundation and Connie and Steve Ballmer. The study is additionally funded by a consortium of more than 40 biotech and pharmaceutical firms providing financial and in-kind support, and by tens of thousands of individual donors to The Michael J. Fox Foundation.

About The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF)

As the world's largest nonprofit funder of Parkinson's research, The Michael J. Fox Foundation is dedicated to accelerating a cure for Parkinson's disease and improved therapies for those living with the condition today. The Foundation pursues its goals through an aggressively funded, highly targeted research program coupled with active global engagement of scientists, Parkinson's patients, business leaders, clinical trial participants, donors and volunteers. In addition to funding $1.75 billion in research to date, the Foundation has fundamentally altered the trajectory of progress toward a cure. Operating at the hub of worldwide Parkinson's research, the Foundation forges groundbreaking collaborations with industry leaders, academic scientists and government research funders; creates a robust open-access data set and biosample library to speed scientific breakthroughs and treatment with its landmark clinical study, PPMI; increases the flow of participants into Parkinson's disease clinical trials with its online tool, Fox Trial Finder; promotes Parkinson's awareness through high-profile advocacy, events and outreach; and coordinates the grassroots involvement of thousands of Team Fox members around the world. For more information, visit us at www.michaeljfox.org, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2052850/The_Michael_J_Fox_Foundation_for_Parkinson_s_Research_Logo.jpg

SOURCE The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research
They say having sex is like riding a bike. In reality, it is more like getting your drivers license: no one pays much attention to the theory because everyone wants to jump right into the action, which they will continue to practice, hopefully, for the rest of their lives. Alexandre Lacroix thinks this is a big mistake. To help solve it, the French philosopher published Apprendre a faire lamour (Learning to Make Love), an essay on sex in which he promises clues to obtain the perfect fuck. Lacroix takes from classics such as Ovid and the Taoist tradition, bringing their teachings to the present, a moment in which sex is saturated with what he refers to as Freudporn.

This unique neologism entails a monotonous and rigid script (foreplay, penetration, orgasm) that was established by the father of psychoanalysis and reinforced the pornography industry. A script that lovers (mainly heterosexuals) repeat involuntarily, following the steps of a previously choreographed dance. Instead of being driven by an atavistic and irrational instinct, what we do in bed is quite often inspired by porn sites like Pornhub.

In addition to telling personal stories, Lacroix resorts to past and present names such as Aristotle, Michel Houellebecq, Andrea Dworkin, Arthur Schopenhauer or Immanuel Kant to make the case that sex must be understood as a living, creative and performative art. In his opinion, the biological perspective of this act has been overanalyzed, while its environmental, cultural and political dimensions are often overlooked. In his attempt to figure them out he consulted books, but also took a look at the bedsheets of history, where a whole composition of passionate, mechanical and violent sex has been imprinted; one that makes us understand and practice intercourse the way we do.

Question. Can a treatise on philosophy help in bed more than a Kama Sutra?

Answer. Yes. I think that there are two dimensions there. The first is that [the Kama Sutra] is not so useful. Its sometimes difficult to perform the positions, and it transforms the sexual intercourse into a sort of comic strip. Its like explaining with geometry that you are having a great moment with someone; its not so easy. On the other hand, I think that philosophy can help because sexology is influenced by medicine and psychology. But its something more complicated than that. Sex is not just a biological function. Its not like when you eat. When we are having sex, we are engaged in cultural scenarios.

Q. Its what you call Freudporn, which is quite a word

A. There is a theory which was quite interesting regarding the sociology of sexuality, which was published [in the 1970s] by two American researchers, John Gagnon and William Simon. [Its called] the theory of the sexual scripts. The idea is that when we are engaged in sexual intercourse, we are following some script. These scripts are not written, but we know them. We know perfectly well what we have to do at a certain moment. And the more banal, the more simple script, is what I call the Freudporn script. The idea is that, OK, we should have preliminaries and then penetration and then orgasm and this is the correct order. This is maybe what you will do with a new partner if you are heterosexual: preliminaries, penetration, orgasm. And this is cultural, not biological.

Q. But more than 100 years passed between the publication of Freuds Totem and Taboo and the ubiquity of Internet porn. We havent changed that much, then.

A. its difficult to say, but sexual life has changed. For example, the Greeks or the Romans were openly bisexual. Even the term homosexuality is very recent; the word exists since the end of the 19th century. So the concept was not used, it wasnt known. But there was a real tension between being a top or a bottom. It was a little shameful for a man, a macho man, to be a bottom, but it was normal for young men. Another example: a novel from the Middle Ages portrays a sexual relation between a princess and a knight. But hes not a real knight. Hes a servant disguised as a knight. And during the night, she feels that theres something wrong because he doesnt kiss her. People from the low layer of society didnt usually kiss while fucking. This is cultural.

[Another story is that of] famous French anthropologist, Jean Malaurie. He was living with the Inuits [inhabitants of the Arctic tundra of northern Alaska, Canada and Greenland] in the 1950s. And during the winter there was a woman he went to, who gave him some company. He describes this sexual intercourse: just penetration, in one position. Because if he had done something else, it would have felt like a profanation or an aggression. And its interesting because this describes the confrontation between the European script, which was for the preliminaries, penetration, orgasm, and the Inuit script, which was really just simple: just penetration in one position.

Q. Until a few years ago, sex was considered inherently apolitical. In your book, you quote thinkers like Andrea Dworkin to argue otherwise.

A. Shes a feminist, a radical feminist. And she was convinced that sex was very political. She said that what happens in the bedroom is outside the public sphere, but this does not mean that it is something neutral, it is convenient for a few. In this case, it has been perfect for the man.

Q. In your book, you promise a philosophical definition of the perfect fuck. What would it be?

A. There is the question of the rhythm [of our sex life]. It is like electronic music, you know, boom, boom, boom. Very mechanical. We would have to swing; when you swing, you repeat the same thing, but there is a kind of elasticity. Its something that you feel. [We must] deconstruct the Freudporn script, which is really thick with the idea of procreation, its like a moral justification. But the education is done by pornography.

Q. Because the sex that is practiced in solitude influences the sex that is performed with company.

A. More and more. In France, the median age of the first exposition to pornography is 11. But the median age of the first [encounter with a] person has not changed in 40 years, 15 for the men and 16 for the women. So it means that during five or six years, all your education is done by pornography. The main problem is that in the mainstream porn, women have no pleasure, the representation of the minorities...

Q. Regarding sex, people tend to prefer practice to theory. Is this a mistake? Should people read more on the subject?

A. Yes, Ive read a lot, and its not so easy to get out of the pornographic representation of sex. In every country in the world, Pornhub is among the ten most seen websites. It means that there is a globalization of access, but its not so easy to discuss it with the parents. Its not really easy for us to discuss it with the teenagers. So there is a silence there. Its not always easy to discuss some things. But there is a very big tradition in literature and philosophy: Ovid, The Art of Love, Chinas Taoist tradition. Its like dancing, it could be very creative. Its not just about getting a satisfaction. And so my idea was to write a book in this tradition, from the 21st century.

Q. We talk a lot about the influence of pornography, but how have other technological advances such as dating apps influenced? Have Tinder, Bumble and Grindr changed the way people think about sex?

A. It has improved the dynamic that is transforming sex into market. You have a price. The algorithm gives you a level of desirability. When you enter your age, the place you live in... Its like when you are in a chess tournament. If someone has a higher position than you, they swipe you. If someone has a lower position than you, you are good to go. You are in the market, and you behave a little like someone on Amazon, when you want to buy something you want to know a lot of things. What do you prefer? What is your body like?

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition
State Representative Justin Jones, D-Nashville, center, marches with supporters to the state Capitol, on April 10, 2023, in Nashville, Tennessee.

Squint a little as you take in the scene, or just close your eyes and listen to the voice, and 2023 stumbles back into another era. Another Memphis. You cant expel hope! the young man cries in his powerful voice, his message aimed at the Tennessee state legislators who had expelled him and another Black lawmaker a week earlier. You cant expel justice! You cant expel our voice.

Justin Pearson wears a dark suit in the county meeting room, a carefully knotted blue tie and glasses that bring Malcolm X to mind. He speaks in the rolling cadence of generations of Black preachers.

He ends by quoting a Bible verse beloved by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., vowing to fight until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

Then he turns to his cheering supporters and thrusts his fist into the air.

The two Black Democratic legislators ousted by the overwhelmingly white, Republican-controlled state Legislature  then reinstated by local officials days later  have only a few months experience in political office. But in barely two weeks, Pearson, 28, and Justin Jones, 27, have gone from neophyte politicians to national prominence, heralded as living echoes of the civil rights struggles of the 1960s, when leaders like King and John Lewis organized protests across the American South.

Two young Black men were forced from office, Vice President Kamala Harris said Friday at a convention in New York City of the civil rights group the National Action Network, calling the expulsions an attempt to silence the voice of the people.

But those expulsions, she added, simply set off more protests.

Now, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson are back in their seats! Harris said to cheers.

The two men  now widely known simply as the Justins  are executing tactics modeled after people theyve admired, said Noelle Trent, an official at Memphis National Civil Rights Museum, located on the site of the Lorraine Motel, where King was assassinated in 1968 while supporting a sanitation workers strike. They have actually studied the (Civil Rights) Movement.

That movement strikes powerful chords in this part of America.

The energy is there because both Memphis and Nashville are deeply rooted in the civil rights protest tradition, said the Rev. Andre E. Johnson, a civil rights activist, senior pastor at Memphis Gifts of Life Ministries and a professor of communications who has studied Black oratory and rhetoric.

Pearson and Jones both came to the state Legislature steeped in activism.

Jones, who was born in Oakland, California, and raised in the East Bay Area, moved to Nashville to attend Fisk University and is studying for a masters degree in theology at Vanderbilt University, according to campaign material. One set of grandparents were Black Chicagoans, and his other grandparents immigrated from the Philippines.

His life has taken him from protest to protest: leading a campaign against the bust prominently displayed at the state Capitol of Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, which GOP leaders refused to remove; blocking Nashville traffic after the election of former President Donald Trump; and spending more than 60 days at the Capitol plaza in 2020 to protest police violence after the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. As a student, he worked to expand health care and repeal voter ID laws.

The protests have also led to a handful of clashes with authorities, from the time he threw a cup of liquid at the former House speaker during the bust protests to when he stood on a police cruiser during demonstrations after Floyds killing. A campaign website says he has been arrested more than a dozen times for nonviolent protest.

He has no regrets about the protest that got him expelled, when he, Pearson and a white colleague, 60-year-old legislator Gloria Johnson, walked to the speakers podium while the Legislature was in session and led chants calling for gun control.

The protest unfolded in the aftermath of a shooting at a Nashville Christian school where six people, including three young students, were slain. While the protest also angered some Democrats  video captured some older Black, Democratic legislators berating the trio at the podium  the symbolism of expelling the two Black lawmakers while sparing their white colleague shifted the attention from guns to race.

But with only days left in the session, Jones, who was elected in 2022 and represents part of Nashville, said his focus was still on gun control legislation.

This is about saving Tennessee, saving our nation, saving the future for our children, he said in a brief interview Thursday at the Capitol.

He sees himself in the young protesters who flooded the capital to call for gun control, even though he calls himself an elder now in the movement.

Pearson grew up in Memphis and went to high school in the same district he was elected to represent after longtime state Rep. Barbara Cooper, a Black Democrat, died in office. The sprawling district sits on the Mississippi River, winding along the neighborhoods, forests and wetlands of south Memphis, through parts of downtown and then north into a series of semi-rural communities.

One of five children  his mother is a teacher and his father is a minister and pastor  Pearson has said his family struggled financially as he was growing up.

His activism reaches back at least to high school, when he complained to the school board about a lack of textbooks. Later, he attended Bowdoin College in Maine, where he was class president and recipient of the Presidents Award, given for exceptional personal achievements and uncommon contributions to the college.

He returned to Memphis and helped lead the fight against a planned oil pipeline that would have run through wetlands and under poor, predominantly Black neighborhoods in the citys south. The project was canceled in 2021.

Pearson won his legislative seat in a special election in late January.

Im very proud of him, said Kevin Webb, a teacher and band director at Mitchell High School who knew Pearson when he was a student there. Hes standing up for what he believes is right.

Sometimes doing the right thing isnt always going to look good, Webb continued. Thats how life is.

Pearson and Jones sudden rise to prominence also raises powerful questions about Americas continuing need for a civil rights movement.

The two mens return to office is not resurrecting democracy, said the Rev. Earle Fisher, a Memphis civil rights activist and senior pastor of Gifts of Abyssinian Baptist Church. Theres a difference between getting our lick back, and actually winning the fight, he said. The fight is far from over.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition
Batavia, NY (14020)

Today

Cloudy with a mixture of rain and snow in the morning. Becoming partly cloudy in the afternoon. High around 50F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

A few clouds from time to time. Low 32F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.
Dominion Voting Systems defamation case against Fox News will go to trial this week in Wilmington, Delaware. The trial is based on the fact  established by a judge  that the TV network and its star presenters, guests and commentators relentlessly spread the lie that the 2020 U.S. presidential election had been stolen from former president Donald Trump and that Dominions voting machines were responsible for rigging the vote. The question facing jurors is whether the ultra-conservative television network controlled by media tycoon Rupert Murdoch defamed the company by airing the bogus allegations. Dominion is suing Fox News for $1.6 billion, but theres more than money at stake: the jurors will be assessing the limits of freedom of expression in times of disinformation and media manipulation.

Without these false allegations of voter fraud, it would be difficult to explain the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, or why many Republican voters dont believe that Joe Biden won the 2020 election fairly, or why Trump  who already tried to raise doubts about Barack Obamas victory in 2012  remains the favorite politician of his partys rank and file.

In principle, what will be judged in the coming weeks in Wilmington  the adoptive city of Biden  are not the consequences of these lies, but whether Fox spread them with actual malice. In other words, if the network knew it was lying or recklessly misrepresenting the truth. The trial was scheduled to begin Monday, but the court announced Sunday night that it had been postponed by one day. While the court gave no reason for the postponement, sources quoted by The Washington Post say that the two parties are looking to reach a last-minute agreement.

In its lawsuit, Dominion Voting Systems maintains that Fox preferred to pander to its Trump-supporting viewers and air voter fraud conspiracy theories than tell the truth. Fox argues that the allegations of electoral fraud from Trump and his allies were newsworthy material that had to be covered.

But the preliminary investigation ahead of the trial, which presented affidavits, email and telephone messages and other documents, has not put the network in a good position. The revelations of the probe have cast an unwelcome light on the inner workings of Fox, which is the most influential conservative news outlet in the United States, reaching 75 million subscribers across the country.

Dominion voter machines in a New Mexico warehouse. Andres Leighton (AP)

The first interview that Donald Trump gave after his indictment was with Fox News star presenter Tucker Carlson. Carlson rolled out the red carpet for the former president and did not raise a single challenging question. He sounded like Trumps most avid admirer. But text messages presented during the defamation investigation paint a different picture of his feelings. We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights, he wrote. I truly cant wait. I hate him passionately, he wrote in another text message.

Carlson, at least, said that he suspected there was electoral fraud in the 2020 elections. Court filings, however, reveal that most Fox presenters and Murdoch himself did not. In sworn questioning in January, Dominions lawyers asked Murdoch: Do you believe that the 2020 presidential election was free and fair? Yes, he replied. The election was not stolen, he added, according to the case documents. Fox executives, however, realized that their viewers wanted to hear the election lies, and repeated them endlessly.

On election night, television networks deploy large teams to determine when a candidate has won a state based on statistical models, and compete to be the first to call a winner. Foxs team  its so-called Decision Desk  was the first to declare Biden the winner in Arizona, ahead of rival networks and the near-infallible Associated Press.

That Fox win  a journalistic triumph  infuriated Trump and his team. The defeat in Arizona left him with almost no chance of being re-elected president. Fox viewers did not like the news either. I hate our Decision Desk people! Rupert Murdoch wrote on November 7, the night that Biden was announced the winner of the 2020 election. Meanwhile, Newsmax, a new TV network founded by a former Murdoch executive, was gaining audiences for refusing to declare Biden the winner, which attracted Trumps staunchest supporters to the channel.

Rupert Murdoch, at an event in October 2019 in New York. Mary Altaffer (AP)

As part of the defamation case, Fox has been forced to hand over Murdochs communications on the matter. The media mogul sent an email warning about a story published in his own newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, concerning Trumps intentions to favor Newsmax. These people should be watched, if skeptically, he wrote. Murdoch also commented on the press conference given by Trumps lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, who espoused conspiracy theories as his hair dye dripped down his face. In a message to Suzanne Scott, the CEO of Fox News, he wrote that the allegations were terrible stuff damaging everybody, I fear. Probably hurting us too.

In the press conference, Giuliani accused Dominion of rigging the election  false allegations which led company workers to receive death threats. He also blamed another voting machine company, Smartmatic, which is suing Fox News for $2.7 billion in a case that is still pending.

In those weeks, Murdoch, his son Lachlan and Suzanne Scott held various meetings about how the network should act. They discussed the mounting viewer backlash to Fox, how to win back viewers (including by not booking Democratic guests), and the direction that Fox should take, the Dominion lawsuit states. There were also discussions and exchanges between presenters and journalists that have now come to light.

We dont want to antagonize Trump further, Murdoch said in a message dated November 16. When questioned in the preliminary proceedings of the case, Murdoch explained: [Trump] had a very large following, and they were probably mostly viewers of Fox, so it would have been stupid. Lots of sane Fox viewers still believe in Trump, he said at another point.

It may seem cynical to spread lies to retain viewers, but Murdoch claimed that the network was simply reporting the news. We report the news, and we have dozens of people a day on the channels that are talking about the news. And this was big news. The president of the United States was making wild claims, but that is news, he said under oath. But during the sworn questioning, Murdoch admitted that Fox presenters were endorsing the voter fraud lies.

The 12-person jury hearing the trial does not have to decide whether Fox acted ethically, but whether it exceeded the legal bar for defamation. Since the Supreme Court made its landmark 1964 ruling in The New York Times v. Sullivan, to sustain a claim of defamation, the First Amendment requires that the plaintiff knew it was lying and did so with actual malice. That is what the Delaware jury has to decide. In the previous proceedings, the judge said that it was crystal clear that the allegations against Dominion were false. A jury must now decide whether Fox knowingly spread the allegations, with reckless disregard as to whether they were true or not.

Fox News lawyers, leaving a Wilmington courthouse. EDUARDO MUNOZ (REUTERS)

The trial will begin with the lawyers opening arguments, followed by witness testimony. Fox News stars Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity and founder Rupert Murdoch are among the people expected to testify over the next few weeks. The case will be decided by the 12-person jury, which was selected last week from a clearly Democratic constituency.

Meanwhile, Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis has closed the door to one of Foxs main lines of defense: that Trumps election lies were newsworthy. Just because someone is newsworthy doesnt mean you can defame someone, Davis told Dominion and Foxs lawyers, according to The New York Times. In another controversial decision, the judge also ruled that Fox was responsible for what some of its guests said. And, in the pre-trial hearings, Davis also said that it was not enough for other guests to provide a countering view.

It is a sensitive issue, and legal experts are divided on which outcome would be best for free speech. Some experts say that if the lawsuit fails, despite all its evidence, it could fuel further misinformation and disinformation. It may also send the message to victims of defamation that the media are too well-protected to take on. Some justices of the Supreme Court, where the case may end up, are in favor of revising the precedent set by The New York Times v. Sullivan.

Other lawyers, on the other hand, believe that if Fox loses, it could trigger a wave of lawsuits that would force the media to reveal the criteria they use in their coverage and condition how they report the news. According to these lawyers, even falsehoods must sometimes be protected.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition




Batavia, NY (14020)

Today

Some sun in the morning with increasing clouds during the afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High around 50F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Rain showers in the evening with precipitation turning to a mixture of rain and snow overnight. Low around 35F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precip 70%.
Protestors march on April 16, 2023, in Kansas City, Missouri, to bring attention to the shooting of Ralph Yarl, 16, who was shot when he went to the wrong house to pick up his brothers.

The investigation into the shooting by a homeowner of Ralph Yarl, a Black teenager who went to the wrong house to pick up his younger brothers, includes questions about whether it was racially motivated, authorities in Kansas City said. Police are quickly preparing evidence for prosecutors in Thursdays shooting, Chief Stacey Graves said Sunday at a news conference at police headquarters.

I want everyone to know that I am listening, Graves said, and I understand the concern we are receiving from the community.

The Kansas City Star reported that the 16-year-old victim, identified online by family members as Yarl, was hospitalized Thursday night after he was shot while trying to pick up his younger twin brothers from a friends house. Police said he went to the wrong house and was shot there.

Officials would not confirm the number of times the homeowner shot the victim or where his injuries were. Police initially said Yarl was stable but had a life-threatening injury. His current condition has not been released, other than that he is stable.

Police have not identified the shooter or his race, though civil rights attorney Ben Crump told The Star the shooter appears to be white. Information that officials have now does not point to the shooting being racially motivated, but Graves said that aspect also remains under investigation.

Investigators also will consider whether or not the suspect was protected by Stand Your Ground laws, Graves said.

Yarl was meant to pick up his brothers from a friends house on 115th Terrace. He ended up ringing the doorbell at a home on 115th Street, Faith Spoonmore, the teens aunt, wrote online.

A man opened the door, saw Yarl and shot him in the head. When Yarl fell to the ground, the man shot him again. Yarl got up and ran from the property, but he had to ask at three different homes before someone helped him, Spoonmore wrote.

Kansas City police officers said they responded around 10 p.m.

Graves said Sunday that the homeowner was taken into custody Thursday and placed on a 24-hour hold. While searching the scene for evidence, detectives found the firearm used. Law enforcement released the suspect pending further investigation after consulting with the Clay County prosecutors office.

Missouri law allows a person to be held up to 24 hours for a felony investigation. At that point, the person must be released or arrested and formally charged. In order to arrest someone, law enforcement needs a formal victim statement, forensic evidence and other information for a case file to be completed, Graves said.

Because of the teens injuries, Graves said, police havent been able to get a victim statement.

Mayor Quinton Lucas, who attended the news conference, said police understand the communitys concern that the shooting could be racially motivated. Some members of the police department attended Sundays protest in the neighborhood where the shooting took place to listen to community concerns, he said.

This is not something that has been dismissed, marginalized or diminished in any way. This is something that is getting the full attention of the Kansas City Police Department, Lucas said.

Crump told The Star on Sunday that the family has retained his Florida-based law firm.

You cant just shoot people without having justification when somebody comes knocking on your door and knocking on your door is not justification, Crump said. This guy should be charged.

Crump has represented families in several high-profile cases, including those of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, as well as Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.

Crump said the homeowner initially shot the teen in the head and then a second time after the boy fell to the ground. The family also has retained Lee Merritt, a Texas-based civil rights attorney who previously represented the family of Cameron Lamb, who was fatally shot by Kansas City police detective Eric DeValkenaere in 2019.

Crump said that judging by what he was told by the teens family, the shooter is white.

It is inescapable not to acknowledge the racial dynamics at play, he said.

Even though Yarl is doing well physically, he has a long road ahead mentally and emotionally, Spoonmore wrote in a GoFundMe she started to raise money for Yarls medical bills and other expenses.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition
50-state Report: GOP-Led States Are in Best Economic Condition

A new report ranks all 50 states from best to worst for economic conditions, showing which states have improved, and worsened, in creating an economic climate where businesses want to invest.

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) released the state analysis, which ranks Utah as the number one state, North Carolina as second, and Arizona as third. Idaho and Oklahoma fill out the top five spots, ranking fourth and fifth, respectively.

The proof is in the pudding, Jonathan Williams, ALECs chief economist who co-authored the report, told The Center Square. Utah was the fastest growing state in the country by population, over 18 percent population growth in the last decade. So one of the key themes that we see not just in Utah but in so many of the top ten or the top half of states is that states that get it right with policy are getting it right with migration as people continue to vote with their feet. Taxpayers are continuing to vote with their feet against high-tax states and going toward states that offer more economic opportunity and really a better quality of life and a lower cost of life.

Weve been doing this long enough that there are really no accidents and no flukes, he added.

ALEC created its rankings using 15 metrics, most of them related to state tax environment. The metrics, which are equally rated, are as follows:

Top Marginal Personal Income Tax Rate

Top Marginal Corporate Income Tax Rate

Personal Income Tax Progressivity (change in tax liability per $1,000 of income)

Property Tax Burden (per $1,000 of personal income)

Sales Tax Burden (per $1,000 of personal income)

Remaining Tax Burden (per $1,000 of personal income)

Estate/Inheritance Tax Levied

Recently Legislated Tax Changes (2020 & 2021, per $1,000 of personal income)

Debt Service as a Share of Tax Revenue

Public Employees Per 10,000 of Population (full-time equivalent)

State Liability System Survey (tort litigation treatment, judicial impartiality, etc.)

State Minimum Wage (federal floor is $7.25)

Average Workers Compensation Costs (per $100 of payroll)

Right-to-Work State? (option to join or support a union)

Number of Tax Expenditure Limits

At the bottom of the rankings is New York, the worst state by ALECs metrics. Vermont is ranked 49th, Minnesota is 48th, and New Jersey is 47th. Illinois comes in at 46th, and California ranks as 45th.

This isnt just theory, Williams said. These are items that we know both from an academic perspective, these policies that we trackthings that we know matter just from an historical perspective but then now in the last 16 years it has been just phenomenal to look at. Its not just a theory. It actually works in practice.

For the most part, Republican-led states filled the better parts of the rankings while Democrat-led states fell to the bottom. The top ten states are almost entirely Republican-led, and the bottom ten states are all Democrat-led.

The states that followed the free market formula of keeping taxes low and keeping regulations limited, empowering workers, empowering taxpayers across the board are the fastest growing states in America, Williams said.

The full ranking of states, from best to worst by ALECs metrics:

Utah North Carolina Arizona Idaho Oklahoma Wyoming Indiana North Dakota Florida Nevada Tennessee Georgia Texas South Dakota Arkansas Michigan Wisconsin Virginia New Hampshire Ohio South Carolina Mississippi Alaska Alabama Colorado Louisiana Kentucky West Virginia Delaware Kansas Missouri Iowa Montana Washington Pennsylvania Nebraska Massachusetts New Mexico Connecticut Rhode Island Maryland Hawaii Oregon Maine California Illinois New Jersey Minnesota Vermont New York

By Casey Harper
Air Force Revoking Members Security Clearances in Retaliation for Opposition to Vaccine, Attorney Alleges

Even though the U.S. military has rescinded the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, an attorney alleges that some service members who refused to get the shot are still facing retaliatory action.

Regarding service members who sought religious accommodation to the COVID-19 vaccine, Attorney R. Davis Younts, a retired lieutenant colonel, told The Epoch Times that many of his clients are facing retaliation for their religious convictions and some commanders are using every administrative process possible to find ways to end their career or simply make continued service miserable.

Younts says he is seeing a disturbing trend for those who previously objected to the COVID-19 vaccine for religious reasons and concerns about the vaccines efficacy. Over the past several weeks, he has become aware of at least eight members of the Air Force who have had their security clearances threatened.

In what he called an interesting example, Younts said that an airman was picked for a random polygraph in early 2022. It was the service members first polygraph examination in nearly seven years. Interestingly, it occurred 30 days before his separation from service, which was initiated before any protections offered by a federal injunction for any member of the Air Force seeking religious exemptions to the COVID-19 vaccine.

He should not have been on the list [for polygraph examination], Younts said. Pulling his clearance was not based on failing the polygraph, but based on some of the things he said about the stress of getting kicked out of the military and his lack of trust in military leaders to follow the rule of law.

Younts said of another airman who had his clearance pulled, The only thing they could say is that they had a loss of trust in his judgment.

He said a lack of judgment is a rare reason to lose ones security clearance, although it does occur. But its usually accompanied by allegations of other misconduct or a clear pattern of irresponsible behavior.

According to Younts, What was cited as justification for lack of judgment was a 2021 submission of information to [the airmans] chain of command about why he was going to be seeking a religious accommodation [to the COVID-19 vaccine].

The airman wrote a very detailed letter to his leadership, outlining why he was objecting to the vaccine and the potential risks of the vaccine.

The airman expressed sincere concern about the efficacy of the vaccine and shared scientific studies related to the bodys natural immunity. In response, his command wrote a memo that said that he was providing inaccurate and misleading information. Younts said the airman is appealing the decision to revoke his security clearance.

Younts said that he recently learned that an Air National Guard officer is also fighting to retain his security clearance. His alleged misconduct was flying an Appeal to Heaven flag and an upside-down American flag from his personal flagpole at his private residence, Younts said.

His home is not located on or near any military installation, and the flags were flown as a symbol of distress during the lockdown period of the COVID pandemic.

The act of flying this flag is now being twisted to challenge his trustworthiness, judgment, and loyalty.

The officer also opposed the vaccine, Younts said.

An Emerging Pattern

The Department of Defense and members of command are threatening to take security clearances from service members when theres no clear legal justification for it, Younts said.

But what is clear is that there seems to be an emerging pattern targeting military members who were opposed to the vaccine mandate, he said.

Outside of the mental gymnastics it takes to suggest these service members disobeyed a so-called lawful order enforcing an illegal, experimental drug, these service members engaged in no misconduct.

Yet commanders are starting to pull their security clearances.

So far, the clearance issues Younts is aware of are isolated to the Air Force. But he said he remains concerned about other branches of service.

Across the board, various administrative processes are continuing to purge from the military any individual who had strong religious reasons for opposing the vaccine, he said. Pulling the security clearances of some of its members is just another way to do that.

The careers of anyone who had the mental clarity and courage to think for themselves and do independent research are still in jeopardy, Younts said. In these examples, the loss of a security clearance means service members are potentially going to be forced to change career fields or be forced out [of the military].

Sadly, theres still a swath of people, some of whom are my clients, who are getting kicked out of the military even though there is no longer a mandate.

Neither the Pentagon nor the Air Force responded by press time to requests by The Epoch Times for comment.
Alvin Bragg Has Given New York City Over to Lawlessness: Democratic Councilman

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks during a press conference following the arraignment of former U.S. President Donald Trump in New York City on April 4, 2023. (Kena Betancur/Getty Images)

Democratic New York City Councilman Robert Holden took aim at Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Braggs leadershipor perceived lack thereofat a New York field hearing of the House Judiciary Committee on April 17.

Im here to address the lawlessness that has taken over the city in recent years as a result of the failed progressive policies implemented by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Holden testified before the committee.

Noting that Braggs first year in office had been marked by a dramatic shift in the prosecution of crime, Holden asserted that the district attorneys soft on crime policies suggested his top priority was not protecting law-abiding citizens but keeping criminals out of jail.

On his first day in office, Bragg issued a memo that decriminalized a broad range of offenses and reduced charges for violent crime, the councilman said. This was a signal for every criminal that it was open season on law-abiding citizens in New York County.

Bragg, as well as politicians in the city council and on the state level, are contributing to what he sees as a pro-criminal element in New York City, Holden said.

Were going to have to change this, the councilor told The Epoch Times in an interview following his testimony. Were going to get to a point where people are fed up in New York state and cityand theyre leaving. I know a lot of friends have left for areas other than New York City.

Holden called for a simple solution: start enforcing accountability.

That means if you commit a crimeyou shoot a gun in New York Cityyou should go to jail, Holden said. Put the criminals in jail. Period.

Bragg assumed office in January 2022. By the end of the year, overall index crime in the city had risen by 22.4 percent, year-over-year, according to the New York City Police Department (NYPD). Homicides, however, were down 11.3 percenttheir lowest level since 2019.

Robert Holden, Democrat member of the New York City Council from the 30th District, attends the House Judiciary Committees Victims of Violent Crime in Manhattan field hearing as a witness at the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in New York City on April 17, 2023. (Chung I Ho/The Epoch Times)

Additionally, for the first quarter of 2023, homicides, rapes, robberies, and grand larceny all trended downward, year-over-year, though car thefts and felony assaults saw an increase.

But at Mondays hearing, Holden noted that Bragg had made a habit of downgrading most felonies to misdemeanors and declining to prosecute others.

Under Bragg, violent crimes such as resisting arrest, trespassing, fare evasion, prostitution are no longer prosecuted, which has led to a marked increase in criminal activity on the streets of Manhattan, he noted.

Serious offenses, such as knifepoint robbery, commercial and residential burglaries, weapons possession, and low-level drug dealing are being charged with lesser offenses or being plea-bargained down, resulting in shorter sentences or no jail time at all.

According to Politifact, Bragg downgraded 52 percent of the felony cases his office reviewed in 2022 to misdemeanors. Further, for cases thus far in 2023, that percentage has increased to 54 percent.

And Holden is hardly the first person to criticize Bragg for his lenient approach to crime.

In recent days, the district attorneys record has faced heightened scrutiny given his decision to upgrade falsification of business records chargestypically a misdemeanor in the state of New Yorkagainst former President Donald Trump to felony charges in a move that left some Trump critics scratching their heads.

What is the legal theory that ties that very solid misdemeanor case, 34 counts of misdemeanors, to the intent to conceal another crime, which is what makes it a felony? It simply isnt there, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe told CNN on April 4.

However, seemingly in response to Holdens comments, Braggs office shared a series of enforcement statistics on Monday via Twitter, stressing that gun and hate crime prosecutions had increased under his leadership and that, to date, homicides, shootings, robberies, burglaries, transit crime, and total index crime were down year-over-year in Manhattan.

Under D.A. Bragg, outreach to domestic violence survivors, support of other victims and witnesses, and crisis responses by both counselors and advocates have all increased significantly, his office added. We also requested $1.1 million in new funding from the New York City Council to expand the Offices Witness Aid Services Unit (WASU), which supports crime victims and witnesses.

Braggs office previously criticized the Judiciary Committee hearing as a political stunt that would do nothing to increase public safety.

In D.A. Braggs first year in office, New York City had one of the lowest murder rates in the United States (5.2)nearly three times lower than Columbus, Ohio (15.4), a spokesperson for Braggs office noted in an April 10 statement. If Chairman Jordan really cared about public safety, he could take a short drive to Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Akron, or Toledo in his home state, instead of using taxpayer dollars to travel hundreds of miles out of his way.

The Epoch Times has contacted Braggs office for further comment.
ANALYSIS: Unlike Trump, Democrats Escaped Prosecution for Election Violations

News Analysis

As radio host Mark Levin recently noted, when it comes to Democrats and real campaign violations, there is no justice. In contrast to the weak charges leveled against former President Donald Trump, Levin provided a series of concrete examples of Democrat campaign violations, including the $719,000 in fines against participants in the 1996 Democratic Party fundraising scandals.

In that scandal, Democratic fundraisers set specific prices for foreign nationals, including those from China and Korea, to make illegal campaign contributions in return for meetings with then-President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore. Foreign individuals and organizations are barred from contributing to federal elections. Those penalized included the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the ClintonGore campaign, and roughly two dozen people and corporations acting as conduits for the illegal contributions.

Despite the magnitude of the crimes, the DNC was fined only $115,000 and the ClintonGore campaign was fined just $2,000. As was reported at the time, the total in fines would have been significantly higher except that some of the corporations had folded and others were simply shell corporationsdummy operations, with no assetsset up as conduits for money from China, Venezuela, Canada, and other countries.

In some cases, foreigners who would have been subject to fines couldnt be located and served with papers. In other cases, the individuals pleaded guilty in criminal cases and were already bankrupt. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) decided to drop cases against contributors of more than $3 million in illegal DNC contributions because the respondents were either out of the country and beyond  reach, or corporations that are defunct.

Levin also highlighted fines levied by the FEC against former President Barack Obamas 2008 campaign$375,000 in total fines for campaign reporting violations. According to the audit report, Obamas 2008 presidential campaign failed to properly report almost $2 million of last-minute campaign contributions by refusing to file mandatory notices for about 1,300 contributions received just before the 2008 presidential election.

Most of the missing 48-hour notices came from a transfer on Oct. 24, 2008, from the Obama Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee of the Obama campaign and the DNC. Notably, the FECs audit report wasnt released until April 2012, even though it was Obamas 2008 campaign that was being audited. There were zero repercussions for Obama personally.

Levin is right, of course, and while he provided a litany of other examples, there are even more. In 2008, Obamas campaign admitted it mis-categorized the purpose of an $832,598 payment for get-out-the-vote efforts to Citizens Services Inc., a consulting firm affiliated with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN).

ACORN was the DNC community organizing group that endorsed Obama, who had earlier acted as one of their lawyers and had been involved in teaching community organizing classes for the organization. ACORN claimed that it was nonpartisan, but its highly questionable voter registration efforts always seemed to focus on groups friendly to Democratic candidates. Amid mounting charges of voter fraud, ACORN became a target for Republicans and finally closed in 2015 under the weight of the charges.

Although ACORN was forced to close its operations, Obamas campaign made sure to provide funding for DNC-affiliated groups that were directly modeled after ACORNmany of which are active to this day. Obamas self-described wingman, Attorney General Eric Holder, created what came to be known as the DOJs Slush Fund, which arose through the establishment of the Working Group, which was created in 2012, supposedly as a means of prosecution and punishment for those perceived to be responsible for the financial crisis of 2008.

At the formation of the Working Group, Holder foreshadowed the new direction of the Justice Department (DOJ), saying, When we find evidence of criminal wrongdoing, we bring criminal prosecutions. When we dont, we endeavor to use other tools available to us.

Holder was using the power of the DOJ to punish behavior and activities that he didnt likeeven though those behaviors werent actually illegal.

With the full weight of the DOJ behind it, the Working Group reached multibillion-dollar settlements with virtually every major bank in the United States. In total, $110 billion was collected in fines. According to a congressional committee report, the DOJ was pushing and even requiring settling defendants to donate money to left-wing political activist groups.

The committee found that these donations could earn up to double credit against defendants overall payment obligations, while credit for direct relief to consumers was merely dollar-for-dollar. The committee also found that the activist groups that stood to gain from these mandatory donations had actually lobbied the DOJ to include them in settlements.

Holders DOJ funneled nearly $1 billion in settlement proceeds to fund a variety of left-wing activist groups that included The National Council of La Raza or UnidosUS, The National Urban League, The National Community Reinvestment Coalition, and NeighborWorks America.

These payments, which should have been slated for injured consumers, occurred entirely outside of the congressional appropriations and grant oversight process. And in some cases, DOJ-mandated donations were used to restore funding that Congress had specifically cut.

Some of these funds were even used to pay the interest in Obamas settlement with Iran. Of the $110 billion that was actually collected by the DOJ, only $45 billion was slated for consumer relief. The use of the remainder of the proceeds has never been fully specified. However, its clear that many of the left-wing political activist groups that are so prevalent and active today received direct funding from Holders DOJ Slush Fund.

Notably, it was also Obama who enlisted the early and willing assistance of social media companies. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg infamously privatized elements of the 2020 presidential election when he sent nearly half a billion dollars to local election boards in key states to turn out likely Democratic voters.

To put that into perspective, Zuckerberg alone spent almost as much money funding government election offices as the entire federal government spent on the 2020 election. Zuckerbergs payments were supposedly made to fill so-called funding gaps from the federal government, but the reality is that the so-called Zuckerbucks were distributed on a highly partisan basis with the goal of electing Joe Biden and other Democrats.

Zuckerberg essentially mounted a private takeover of government election offices, which affected all of the key states that helped Biden win the election. In Wisconsin, the Zuckerbucks payments were later found to have violated bribery laws. A study also found that without those payments, Trump would have prevailed in Wisconsin.

Facebook later confirmed that it also provided the Biden White House with censorship assistance routinely on a variety of crucial issues. Zuckerberg also acknowledged that Facebook censored the Hunter Biden laptop story, a story that was entirely true and accurate, because of warnings they had received from the FBI. To make matters even worse, the FBI knew when they warned Facebook that the laptop story was real because the bureau had the laptop in its possession since at least December 2019.

As we noted earlier, despite the efforts of Zuckerberg and Facebook on behalf of Biden, the collusion between government officials and Big Tech didnt start with Biden. It goes back to at least 2012, when Facebook shared its user data with the Obama campaign.

On Feb. 17, 2012, the Guardian ran a story headlined Obama, Facebook and the Power of Friendship: the 2012 Data Election. The article noted that Obamas reelection team was building a vast digital data operation that for the first time combined a unified database on millions of Americans with the power of Facebook to target individual voters to a degree never achieved before.

The Guardian breathlessly wrote that At the core is a single beating hearta unified computer database that gathers and refines information on millions of committed and potential Obama voters.

At the time, the reaction to the news was glowing acclaim of the sophistication of Obamas digital campaign. But the reality of the situation was simple. Obamas election team apparently had full access to Facebooks data in 2012, access that wasntand wouldnt have beengranted to conservatives. Nor is this mere hyperbole.

In 2018, Facebook faced a huge political backlash because it was reported that Cambridge Analytica, a political data firm with links to President Trumps 2016 campaign, was able to harvest private data from Facebook profiles without the social network alerting those whose information was taken. Never mind that the Trump campaign never used the data in question from Cambridge, relying solely on the Republican National Committee (RNC) database once Trump became the GOP nominee.

Amid political uproar from the left, Facebook immediately suspended Cambridge Analytica for scraping the data from Facebook. But the political firm was hardly the only one doing so. In a surprising bout of honesty, The Washington Post rightly noted that thousands of other developersalong with political consultants from Obamas 2012 presidential campaignalso siphoned huge amounts of data about users and their friends, developing deep understandings of peoples relationships and preferences.

At the very end of the article, the Post revisited the assistance that Facebook had previously provided to Obamas 2012 digital campaign, noting that in 2011, Carol Davidsen, director of data integration and media analytics for Obama for America, built a database of every U.S. voter using the same Facebook developer tool used by Cambridge.

As the article stated, any time people used Facebooks log-in button to sign on to the campaigns website, the Obama data scientists were able to access their profile and their friends information. That allowed them to chart the closeness of peoples relationships and make estimates about which people would be most likely to influence other people in their network to vote.

We ingested the entire U.S. social graph, Davidsen said in an interview. We would ask permission to basically scrape your profile, and also scrape your friends, basically anything that was available to scrape. We scraped it all.

Davidsen expanded on the situation in a series of posts on Twitter, writing, Facebook was surprised we were able to suck out the whole social graph, but they didnt stop us once they realized that was what we were doing.

Davidsen also highlighted the favoritism that Facebook gave to Obamas campaign, writing, [Facebook] came to office in the days following election recruiting & were very candid that they allowed us to do things they wouldnt have allowed someone else to do because they were on our side.

This raises an important question. If Facebook gave the Obama campaign access to valuable data worth millions of dollars to bolster Obamas chances of winning the election, why wasnt it counted as in-kind political contributions by the Obama campaign?
Anti-Maths Mindset Holding UK Economy Back, Sunak Says

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak giving a speech on education at London Screen Academy, in London, on April 17, 2023. (Kirsty Wigglesworth/PA Media)

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said an anti-maths mindset is holding the economy back, as he announced a review on boosting the nations poor levels of numeracy.

Sunak, who was an investment banker before entering politics, told a north London audience on Monday that the UK remains one of the least numerate countries in the developed world.

In a speech at the London Screen Academy, the prime minister said a cultural issue is behind the numeracy problem.

Ill be honest, when my daughters first heard me talk about them doing more maths, they werent too excited. And thats just it.

We make jokes about not being able to do maths. Its socially acceptable.

We say things like, Oh, maths, I cant do that, its not for meand everyone laughs. But wed never make a joke like that about not being able to read.

Sunak said Britons have got to change this anti-maths mindset and start prizing numeracy for what it isa key skill every bit as essential as reading.

A teacher leads a maths class for year 4 children in their classroom at Greenacres Primary Academy in Oldham, northern England, on Sept. 2, 2020. (Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)

He said even just basic numeracy skills could increase earnings by around 1,600 a year.

Put simply, without a solid foundation in maths, our children risk being left behind, shut out of careers they aspire to, and the lives that they want to lead.

The prime minister said he wont sit back and allow this cultural sense that its OK to be bad at maths to put our children at a disadvantage.

Weve got to change this. Weve got to value maths, and what it can do for our childrens futures, he said.

Maths to 18

Sunak has previously announced a maths to 18 policy for England, meaning every student in England will be required to study maths until the age of 18.

The prime minister said on Monday that Britain is one of the few developed countries where young people dont routinely study some form of maths up to the age of 18.

They do it in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Finland, Japan, Norway, and America. Why should we accept any less for our children?

Let me be absolutely clear: I am not saying that the answer is A-Level maths for everyone, but we do need to work out the maths our young people should study, he said.

When I first announced this in January, I saw some of the reaction to it and I thought that actually spoke to this anti-maths mindset that weve got to challenge a little bit.

Sunak said the big long-term reform is not going to happen overnight.

He said he would appoint a new expert group who will help identify the core maths content that 16- to 18-year-olds need and whether a new specific qualification is needed to support that.

The expert group is expected to unveil their proposals around July.

Once we have that, you could expect us later in the year to be able to then come back and say this is how we will implement it over what timescale, he added.

You cant rush something like thisits a big reform and its important we get it right.

Teacher Shortage

Critics argue that the government has cut its recruitment target for maths teachers by 39 percent since 2020, and has failed to even achieve that.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, urged Sunak to resolve the pay dispute which has led to several teachers strikes in England.

It seems like an attempt to divert attention away from the most pressing matter in education in England, which is the industrial dispute triggered by the erosion of teacher pay and conditions and resulting crisis in recruiting and retaining enough staff, he said.

These severe shortages directly undermine the prime ministers ambition, because it means there are not enough maths teachers to deliver even the existing requirements, let alone extend maths to every pupil to the age of 18.

The main opposition Labour Party called Sunaks vision an empty pledge which is not supported by a sufficient number of maths teachers.

Labours shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said: Once again, the prime minister needs to show his working: he cannot deliver this reheated, empty pledge without more maths teachers.

But after 13 years of failing our children, the Tory government repeatedly misses their target for new maths teachers, with maths attainment gaps widening and existing teachers leaving in their droves.

Liberal Democrat education spokeswoman Munira Wilson said the governments plans dont add up because of problems with the recruitment and retention of teachers.

Parents and children deserve a proper plan to recruit the extra teachers we need, not more empty promises, she said.

PA Media contributed to this report.
At Least 6 Reportedly Killed in Mission to Rescue Abducted New Zealand Pilot

Indonesian military spokesman Julius Widjojono (2nd L) speaks during a press conference at the military headquarter in Jakarta on April 16, 2023. (Adek Berry/AFP via Getty Images)

At least six Indonesian soldiers have been reportedly killed during a mission to rescue New Zealand pilot Philip Mark Mehrtens, who was abducted by armed separatist group West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) in February.

Army reports said 36 troops were stationed at a post in the district of Nduga when gunmen from the TPNPB opened fire on Saturday, AP reported.

Military reports seen by AP state that six people died while another 21 are missing after they fled into the jungle.

An Indonesian military spokesman has only confirmed one death.

The soldier was shot and fell into a deep ravine and while fellow troops were getting his body out, the government troops were ambushed a second time, said First Admiral Julius Widjojono, spokesman for the Indonesian Armed Forces.

As of 2:03 p.m. local time, the information we have is one died, he said at a press conference on Sunday.

The task force was trying to get closer to the position of the kidnappers, but they were attacked.

Papua military spokesman, Colonel Herman Taryaman, said they were trying to locate about 30 soldiers.

Its still unknown exactly how many Indonesian army troops died and were injured, he said. We are still searching, but heavy rain, foggy weather and a lack of communication have hampered our search and evacuation efforts.

Meanwhile, Sebby Sambom, spokesman for the TPNPB, said they had fatally shot at least nine soldiers of the Indonesian army.

TPNPB, the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement, was classified as a terrorist group by the Indonesian government in 2021.

Sambom told AP that the attack had been made in revenge for killing two rebels in a shootout with Indonesian security forces in March.

He added that his group had offered to negotiate with both the Indonesian and New Zealand government over the pilot they took hostage but that they had not received any response.

The attacks would continue if Indonesia does not hold peace talks with the separatist group, with the United Nations as a third-party mediator.

The U.N. and New Zealand must pressure Indonesia to stop military operations and negotiate under the mediation of a neutral third party, he told BenarNews.

The rebel group previously said it would not release the New Zealander until the Indonesian government recognises Papuan sovereignty.

Abduction of Captain Mehrtens

Mehrtens was taken hostage in February after his plane was stormed and burned at an airstrip in Paro airport, Nduga, soon after landing.

Video footage and images released and distributed by the separatist rebels in March showed Mehrtens was still alive.

A man, identified as Philip Mehrtens, the New Zealand pilot who is said to be held hostage by a pro-independence group, stands among the separatist fighters in Indonesias Papua region in this undated picture released on Feb. 14, 2023. (The West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB)/Handout via Reuters)

It showed the pilot under instructions to read a propaganda statement that said foreign pilots would not be allowed to work or fly in Papua until it becomes an independent state.

Along with the footage, the groups leader demanded that New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, the U.S., France, China, and Russia to stop supporting the Indonesian military.

Clashes between the indigenous Papuans and Indonesian authorities, often resulting in fatalities, have escalated in recent years.

Papua, previously colonised by the Dutch, was incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 under a vote supervised by the United Nations.

The Free Papua Movement has rejected the ballot vote result, claiming it to be rigged.

Civilians often fall victim to the armed conflict between the two sides, with the United Nations estimating that since December 2018, between 60,000 and 100,000 people have been displaced due to violence.

The U.N. has raised concerns with the Indonesian government of allegations of security forces carrying out extrajudicial killings, inhuman treatment, and human rights abuses towards the native Papuans.

Meanwhile, the TPNPB has executed civilians who they claim were Indonesian military dressed in plain clothing. The targeting of civilians, primarily workers in government projects and non-Papuan citizens and migrants, has increased since 2020.
Australias National Broadcaster Receives Government-Funded Label From Twitter

A phone screen displays a photo of Elon Musk with the Twitter logo shown in the background in Washington on Oct. 4, 2022. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)

Australias national broadcaster has received the government-funded media label from Elon Musks Twitter.

The move follows a string of new designations for government-linked media outlets worldwide after the tech billionaire took over the ailing social media giant.

The new category for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) will be featured just under the name of the organisation.

In response, an ABC spokesperson told The Epoch Times, The ABC is liaising with Twitter regarding changes to account verification and labels.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporations Twitter profile. (Screenshot/The Epoch Times)

The decision by Twitter has swept up major news outlets worldwide with the label state-affiliated media slapped on Chinese Communist Party mouthpieces like Xinhua and CCTV, or Russian-backed outlets like RT and Sputnik News.

Twitter explained that the label was to define outlets where the state exercises control over editorial content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressures, and/or control over production and distribution.

The label appears on the profile page of the relevant Twitter account and on the Tweets sent by and shared from these accounts. Labels contain information about the country the account is affiliated with and whether it is operated by a government representative or state-affiliated media entity.

Western Media Outlets Dispute Tag

Western media like the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the U.S.-based National Public Radio (NPR), and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) have disputed the designation.

In NPRs case, Twitter altered the label after the platform objected vigorously to being called state-affiliated media, saying it would boycott Twitter.

NPR and our member stations are supported by millions of listeners who depend on us for the independent, fact-based journalism we provide. It is unacceptable for Twitter to label us this way, said CEO John Lansing.

The amount of government funding received by NPR is in dispute with estimates ranging from one percent to over 10 percent of funding.

Meanwhile, NPR has not posted any new content on its Twitter feed since mid-April and has encouraged users to engage with its other social media platforms.

Twitter has since changed its tag from state-affiliated media to government-funded media.

Read More NPR Quits Twitter Amid Spat With Elon Musk Over State Media Label

Meanwhile, PBS has also stopped posting on Twitter since April 8.

PBS stopped tweeting from our account when we learned of the change and we have no plans to resume at this time, PBS spokesman Jason Phelps told Bloomberg. We are continuing to monitor the ever-changing situation closely.

While the BBC, which was initially designated a government-funded media, managed to overturn the tag after arguing that all UK households were required (by law) to pay a license fee to support the network.

The BBC is, and always has been, independent, the broadcaster said in a statement. We are funded by the British public through the licence fee.

The BBC now receives the publicly-funded media tag.

For Australias ABC such an argument will be difficult given nearly all of its funding comes from the Australian federal government. The broadcaster currently receives over $1 billion (US$670 million) in taxpayer funds per year.

The British Broadcasting Corporations (BBC) Twitter page as of April 17, 2023. (Screenshot/The Epoch Times)

Read More Twitter to Relabel BBC as Publicly-Funded

Bryan Jung and Jack Philips contributed to this article.
Beijing Pledges to Stand Shoulder to Shoulder With Russia

Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin make a toast during their dinner at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21, 2023. (Pavel Byrkin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Beijing will continue deepening ties with Moscowdespite assurances the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) would remain neutral over Ukrainefollowing a meeting between Chinese Defence Minister Gen. Li Shangfu and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Li, recently appointed defence minister, said his visit to Russia was specifically designed to emphasise the special character and strategic importance of bilateral ties, according to a Kremlin transcript of the opening meeting.

He said the Chinese regime stood shoulder to shoulder with Russia and said their alliance was superior to all others.

Putin, who attended the talks with Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, said cooperation between the two countries was increasing across all areas and that military cooperation was developing rapidly.

We are also working actively through the military departments, regularly exchanging information that is useful to us, cooperating in the field of military-technical cooperation, conducting joint exercises, moreover, in different theatres: in the Far East region, and in Europe, and at sea, and on land and in the air, Putin said.

I think that this is, of course, another important area that strengthens the exclusively trusting, strategic nature of our relationsrelations between the Russian Federation and the Peoples Republic of China.

The visit comes less than a month after Chinese leader Xi Jinping travelled to Moscow for three days of talks.

Leaked Papers Allege China Secretly Delivering Weapons to Russia

The diplomatic overtures have occurred amid U.S. intelligence leaks revealing that Beijing has been propping up the Russian military with weapons shipments.

Alleged Pentagon papers dated Feb. 23 that were leaked online revealed information compiled by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) which disclosed the CCP had approved the provision of lethal aid to Russia earlier in 2023.

It also reported that the two countries planned to conceal the military equipment as civilian items.

The Epoch Times could not verify the authenticity of the images circulating online. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Defence and ODNI have yet to respond to a request for comment.

The Biden Administration has previously said it does not believe Beijing is an impartial actor in any way in the RussianUkraine conflict.

I dont think you can reasonably look at China as impartial in any way, said John Kirby, spokesperson for the National Security Council.

They havent condemned this invasion. They havent stopped buying Russian oil and Russian energy.

The comments from Kirby came after Putin endorsed Beijings proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine, which was launched during the three-day summit with Chinese leader Xi.

Beijings 12-point proposal, which has no concrete strategies, has been disregarded by Western government as a ploy to buy Moscow time.

Kirby also rubbished Beijings actual desire for the war to end, arguing that while Xi was willing to fly to Moscow he hasnt talked once to President Zelenskyy, hasnt visited Ukraine, hasnt bothered to avail himself for the Ukrainian objective.

He and his regime keep parroting the Russian propaganda that this is somehow a war of the West on Russia that is some sort of existential threat to Mr. Putin, Kirby said.

Thats just a bunch of malarkey. Ukraine poses no threats to anybody, let alone Russia.

Beijing Now in the Drivers Seat

According to China expert Philip Cunningham, Russia is in a historically weak position vis-vis China, with the Russian government behaving like a vassal state.

Cunningham wrote in an article in China-U.S. Focus that the statements were full of language in which Russia demonstrates its fealty not just to standard foreign policy positions, on the Taiwan question, for example, but to new and innovative and yet-untested visions advocated by Xi.

Its one thing to see a foreign head of state paying general lip service to shared goals, but this summit took it to a new level in which the host repeated the precise phraseology of his guest, he said.

This, he believes, indicates that Putin and the Russian government must work hard to please the CCP.

The balance of power in the Xi-Putin relationship now clearly favours Xi, with the summit highlighting him from start to finish, with Putin, who is not in robust health, often nursing his grievances and sulking on the sidelines, Cunningham said. Russia is in a historically weak position vis-a-vis China, and it shows.
Brecon Beacons National Park Changes Name as Giant Burning Brazier Is Not a Good Look

The summit of Cribyn mountain as seen from Pen y Fan, in Brecon Beacons National Park, Wales, on July 12, 2016. (Yui Mok/PA Media0

The Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales has changed its name, which its management says goes against the climate-friendly ethos of the park.

On Monday, the park formally dropped its well-known English name in favour of the Welsh name of Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, or the Bannau for short.

Bannau is the Welsh plural for peaks and Brycheiniog refers to the old kingdom of King Brychan, who lived in the fifth century.

The parks managers said the present name referencing wood-burning, carbon-emitting beacons no longer fits the ethos of the park.

The name change was welcomed by the Welsh nationalist Plaid Cymru party, but the Welsh Conservatives have questioned the cost and impact of the symbolic rebrand.

Leadership on Decarbonisation

Catherine Mealing-Jones, the parks CEO, said: Given that were trying to provide leadership on decarbonisation, a giant burning brazier is not a good look.

Our park is shaped by Welsh people, Welsh culture, and as we looked into it, we realised the brand weve got and the name weve got, its a bit of a nonsense, it doesnt really make any sensethe translation Brecon Beacons doesnt really mean anything in Welsh.

Wed always had the name Bannau Brycheiniog as the Welsh translation and we just felt we needed to put that front and centre as an expression about the new way we wanted to be celebrating Welsh people, Welsh culture, Welsh food, Welsh farmingall of the things that need to come with us as we go through this change in the management plan.

The new plan was launched on Monday, the 66th anniversary of the parks national designation.

It seeks to restore tree cover, wetlands, hedgerows, peaty bogs, and wildflowers to attract wildlife while introducing localised renewable energy sources like small wind turbines.

People will be encouraged to farm in a way that benefits nature, such as restricting grazing to certain areas, leaving a cover crop over winter for birds to eat, and not spreading manure or fertiliser where it could contaminate watercourses.

But Mealing-Jones acknowledged that people are used to calling the park by the name everyones used for 66 years so we dont expect everyone to use Bannau Brycheiniog, at least straight away.

Reclaim Our Heritage

Welsh actor Michael Sheen, star of The Damned United and Good Omens, filmed a promotional video to celebrate the name change, with words written by poet and author Owen Sheers.

Sheen said he welcomed the reclamation of the old Welsh namean old name for a new way of being.

Plaid Cymru, which holds four of the 40 Welsh seats in the UK Parliament, applauded the move, calling it positive step in normalising the use of Welsh.

In reclaiming our original Welsh names, we can reclaim our heritage, which is vital if we want our language to continue to play a role in Waless future, a spokesperson for the party said.

Its the second national park in Wales to be renamed in the Welsh language, with Snowdonia being renamed Eryri last year.

According to the 2021 census, the Welsh-speaking population of Wales aged 3 or older was 538,300 (17.8 percent), and nearly three quarters of the population in Wales said they had no Welsh language skills.

Symbolic

The Conservatives have criticised the name change, calling it a symbolic attempt to look trendy which could undermine the regions international identity.

Fay Jones, the Conservative MP for Brecon and Radnorshire, questioned the cost and impact of the rebrand and demanded to know why local people were not consulted.

Im amazed that a change of name should be imposed on those who live and work in the National Park without any consultation, she said.

I am worried that this is symbolic. This is about looking trendy and jumping on a sustainability bandwagon for PR purposes.

She added that the Welsh name could be used alongside the English name.

Welsh Tory leader Andrew RT Davies said: The Beacons are as recognisable outside of Wales as they are here. Why undermine that?

David Davis, the senior Tory MP for Haltemprice and Howden, wrote on Twitter: As far as virtue signalling goes, changing the name of the Brecon Beacons is one of the more bonkers ideas Ive heard in some time.

Do the park authorities not realise the massive re-printing and re-signing exercise needed when changing well established namesall of which will be carbon generating?

Downing Street said it expected people to carry on using the Brecon Beacons name.

The public, Im sure, will continue to use both the English and the Welsh names, Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks official spokesman said.

Asked if other places called beacon should be renamed, the spokesman said, I think on the specific issue of climate change, I think its tangible action thats important, rather than nomenclature.

PA Media contributed to this report.
Businessman Harlan Crow Says Leftists Funded Political Hit Job on Justice Clarence Thomas

Wealthy Republican donor Harlan Crow says that both he and his friend, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, are victims of a political hit job.

Crow, 73, was thrown into the national spotlight earlier this month when a left-wing media outlet reported that for years the conservative justice had been accepting luxurious vacations from the Texas billionaire without disclosing them in ethics reports. Thomas, 74, said April 7 he was advised he didnt have to report the trips but said he will follow new reporting requirements imposed on the federal judiciary.

In recent days it was also reported that Thomas has been declaring income from a real estate partnership for years even though the business was shuttered years ago. Last week it was reported that Thomas sold his mothers home to Crow but failed to disclose the transaction, as the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 is said to require. Crow has said his company, Crow Holdings, currently has about $30 billion in assets under management.

Democrats say Thomass acceptance of a friends largesse is corrupt in itself, even if the friend has no legal business pending before the Supreme Court, an argument rejected by legal experts consulted by The Epoch Times. Legal experts also say the fact that the Supreme Court was created by the Constitution, not Congress, means that only the Supreme Court can regulate the Supreme Court. If justices want to follow rules created by lawmakers, they can do so voluntarily, but forcing them to do so raises constitutional issues, the experts say.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has demanded that the justice be impeached and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committees panel on federal courts, wants the Judicial Conference of the United States, the congressionally-created policymaking body for the federal courts, to refer Thomas to the U.S. Department of Justice for potential violations of ethics laws.

The full committees chairman, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), has said the committee will hold a hearing regarding the need to restore confidence in the Supreme Courts ethical standards. Durbin also has said Chief Justice John Roberts should investigate the matter.

Critics also say that justices whose spouses are involved in political activism, like Thomas, whose wife, Ginni Thomas, a supporter of former President Donald Trump, is active in conservative politics, should have to recuse themselves from involvement in cases related to that activism. Despite pressure, the justice declined to recuse himself from the various challenges to the disputed 2020 presidential election that made it to the Supreme Court.

In an interview The Dallas Morning News published on April 17, Crow said he wanted to set the record straight about media coverage that is factually incorrect and being written with a strong political agenda.

I think its a political hit job, Crow said. I dont think the media cares really much about Harlan Crow, and I think theyre right. They shouldnt care much about Harlan Crow.

But I think that the media, and this ProPublica group in particular, funded by leftists, has an agenda to destabilize the [Supreme] Court. What theyve done is not truthful. It lacks integrity. Theyve done a pretty good job in the last week or two of unfairly slamming me and more importantly than that, unfairly slamming Justice Thomas.

ProPublica is a left-wing nonprofit funded in part by the preeminent Democratic Party donor, financier George Soros, through his Foundation to Promote Open Society. Soros has been widely criticized by conservatives and Republicans for funding the election campaigns of various district attorneys across the nation who are soft on crime.

ProPublica told the Dallas media outlet that Thomas and Crow were given an opportunity to comment before the publication published its articles. Thomas didnt respond and Crow didnt question the facts that were reported, ProPublica editor in chief Stephen Engelberg reportedly said.

Crow explained how he met Thomas 27 years ago in the nations capital. After learning that Thomas needed to get to Dallas for a speaking engagement, Crow offered him a ride on his private jet.

I had never met him, Crow said. During that flight, we found out we were kind of simpatico. Were the same age. We grew up in the same era. We come from absolutely polar opposite life stories, but we had a lot in common.

A deep friendship between their two families ensued.

A lot of people that have opinions about this seem to think that theres something wrong with this friendship, Crow said.

You know, its possible that people are just really friends. It blows my mind that people assume that because Clarence Thomas has friends, that those friends have an angle.

Crow acknowledged he is pro-choice even though Thomas is not.

Do you think I would try to influence him about my point of view on that matter? No, of course not. Thats insane, he said. We have different points of view on that and probably other issues.

When Crow and Thomas chat it is often about children and dogs, Crow said.

When asked if Crow would still be a friend of Thomas if he werent a member of the Supreme Court, the businessman said: Its an interesting, good question. I dont know how to answer that. Maybe not. Maybe yes. I dont know.

Asked if he thought his friendship with Thomas would lead to a quid pro quo, Crow said, Every single relationshipa babys relationship to his momhas some kind of reciprocity.

Clarence Thomas is one of the most honorable people Ive ever met in my life. Hes a man of incredibly high personal and moral standards, Crow said.

For me to comment about what kind of reporting any judge is required to do legally or morally, is just not something I know about. Thats not my world. Justice Thomas is a man of integrity and the idea that he would do anything thats not exactly correct is just not true.

Crow said it bothers him that some people think it is inappropriate that he purchased the home of Thomass mother.

ProPublica reported that Crow purchased a single-story home and two vacant lots on the same road for $133,363 from Thomas, his mother, and the surviving family of Thomass late brother.

Crow told The Dallas Morning News he was thinking he might turn the home into a museum honoring Thomas one day.

I assumed his mother owned the home, Crow said.

His life story is an amazing American life story: Born into deep poverty. Father gone. Motherthe lady whom were talking aboutreally not able to do a lot to help raise her two sons. Ultimately raised by his grandparents, who were illiterate. Growing up in Jim Crow Georgia.

So I approached him with the idea that I might purchase that home for the purpose that in due course it could be the boyhood home of a great American.

Crow said he made some improvements to the home.

Thomass mother works as a greeter in the local hospitala 94-year-old lady, he said.

When we made this purchase, she was just an 84-year-old lady, or something like that. I built a carport, so that she can park her car. Its not an enclosed garage. Thats what I did.  I dont remember any other rooms. However, if there was a commode that was terrible, I might have fixed it. I dont know.

The Epoch Times reached out to the Supreme Court and Thomas for comment through the courts public information office but had not received a reply as of press time.

The Epoch Times also reached out to Whitehouses office for comment but had not received a reply as of press time.
KYODO NEWS - Apr 17, 2023 - 21:03 | All, Japan

The suspect in an explosives attack on Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during his weekend stump speech in western Japan is believed to have arrived at the scene by train, bringing explosive devices with him onboard, investigative sources said Monday.

A security camera in the vicinity captured Ryuji Kimura, a 24-year-old man from Hyogo Prefecture, leaving the ticket gate of Wakayamashi Station roughly an hour before the explosion occurred at around 11:25 a.m. Saturday at a fishing port in Wakayama Prefecture, the sources said.

Prefectural police are confirming the footage with that taken by onboard cameras on local buses heading from the station to a stop near the port, where Kimura was around 10 meters away from Kishida when he threw the cylindrical-shaped explosive device.

The attack on Kishida came less than a year after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was fatally shot last July during a stump speech in the city of Nara before the House of Councillors election, an incident that led the National Police Agency to bolster its VIP security.

Investigative sources said the suspect brought two objects with him believed to be explosive devices, including the one used in the attack, which seems to have been a handmade pipe bomb. Fragments were found near a warehouse around 40 meters from the scene.

Kimura, who was subdued by local fishermen immediately after the device was thrown, was also found to have brought a knife with him tucked inside his backpack, with the blade's length measuring about 13 centimeters, the sources said.

According to the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters, the party released Kishida's schedule for Saturday on its website the evening before and an LDP election candidate also posted the prime minister's speech plans on social media, making it possible that the suspect planned his attack based on the information available online.

Prefectural police on Monday sent Kimura to the Wakayama District Public Prosecutors Office, where he could remain in custody until April 26, the office said.

Last year, Abe was assassinated by Tetsuya Yamagami, a former member of Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force, using a homemade weapon, despite Japan being a country that has some of the world's strictest gun laws.

Related coverage:

Japan PM denounces explosive attack just before stump speech

Japan PM Kishida unhurt after explosion during campaigning
China Tells AI Chatbots Content Should Embody Socialist Core Values

The ChatGPT logo at an office in Washington on March 15, 2023. (Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

Beijing released its draft Measures to regulate generative AI, which applies to the content and development of Chinese AI.

Experts see the priority of the regulations as highlighting censorship, which will only restrict the development of Chinese AI chatbots in the global competition in AI technology.

In the draft, the measures emphasized that content should embody the socialist core values and refrain from subversion of state power, [or] overthrow of the socialist system. Violators are subject to fines and criminal investigations.

Some Chinese netizens responded to the draft regulations and mockingly said the Chinese chatbot should be named ChatXJP, where XJP stands for Xi Jinping.

Fraudulent Information

Its inevitable for the government to apply institutional design to set boundaries on AI development, said Hsiu-Wen Wang, an assistant researcher at Taiwans Institute for National Defense and Security Research.

However, while ensuring the security and fundamental rights of human life, the nation, and society are the priority for Western countries, totalitarian states focus on preventing the regime from being overthrown, Wang said.

To prevent the chatbot from giving answers that could potentially harm the authorities, she said, The regime has to legitimize the supervision and suppression in the name of fraudulent information.

The draft regulations emphasized that the content generated by generative AI should be free of fraudulent information.

The so-called fraudulent information specifically refers to information that does not conform to the ideology of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), said Jung-Chin Shen, an assistant professor at the School of Administrative Studies of Atkinson Faculty at York University in Toronto, Canada.

He stressed, The regimes censorship aims at controlling peoples ideology.

A group of Google users holds a banner to wish Google well in Hong Kong, Jan. 14, 2010, after Web giant Google announced it might pull out of China following cyber-attacks on its Web site. The banner reads, Say no to internet censorship  Google well done! (Mike Clarke/AFP/Getty Images)

Information Filtering

The measures also require developers to adopt ways to filter any inappropriate content created by generative AI and optimize algorithms to prevent generating such content within three months.

Wang said the CCP is strengthening surveillance and filtering AI-generated answers with a significant language model. As a result, she said, The United States is training AI to respond with smarter, intelligent, and complete answers, but the CCP is training AI to answer less [comprehensively], to avoid sensitive topicscompletely the opposite direction of machine learning.

She believes Chinese AI may become less intelligent or stagnant with continuous reduction and screening of AI answers.

One ChatBot, Two Systems

Shen also believes that the Chinese ChatBot could evolve into a domestic and international version, just like the Chinese video-sharing platform Douyin, which has a Western version known as TikTok.

Previously, its been commented that theres likely to be a ChatBot with Chinese characteristics in China, according to Zhy Feida, an associate professor of Singapore Management University, reported Singapore-based media, the ZaoBao.

Wang believes the Chinese ChatBot is flawed because of the censorship and the market limits. Take Huaweis smartphone as an example; without the support of big-name apps, its market is limited to domestic China or its allies, she said.

The international market will gradually eliminate Chinese chatbots due to their inferior replies and functionality. She said, It may have to rely on lower prices to attract [customers in] low-developing countries.

China issued its plan for new-generation AI development in 2017. It set 2030 as the date by which Chinas AI theories, technologies, and applications should achieve world-leading levels, making China the worlds primary AI innovation center.

However, the U.S. stopped exporting top computing chips for artificial intelligence work to China, including Nvidias A100 and H100 chips designed to speed up machine learning tasks.

The Biden administrations new rule will address the risk that the covered products may be used in, or diverted to, a military end use or military end user in China, reported Reuters.

Shen said Nvidia designed an alternative chip, the A800, to replace the A100, but the calculation speed is far slower than A100. He said, The CCPs ChatBot is lagging behind the ChatGPT by two or three years.

Chen also agreed that for the Chinese to develop high-end chips would take another three to five years. Stagnation or delay in developing leading AI tech or becoming an innovation center is very likely. She said, The U.S. ban is effective [in this regard].

As a result, the AI tech and application will likely evolve into One earth, Two systems under the CCPs censorship and tech restrictions, she said.

Shen disagreed, however, The technique is the same. It is the CCPs censorship that forced the division of ChatBot. Thats what the Chinese tech companies adopted to comply with the censorship, he said.

They both agreed that the regimes censorship and the chip ban have restricted AI development in China.

Baidu CTO Wang Haifeng speaks at the unveiling of Baidus AI chatbot Ernie Bot at an event in Beijing on March 16, 2023. Chinese search engine company Baidus shares fell as much as 10 percent after the company unveiled its ChatGPT-like AI software, with investors unimpressed by the bots linguistic and maths skills display. (Michael Zhang/AFP via Getty Images)

Disappointing Chinese ChatGPT

Last month, the Chinese ChatGPT had a disappointing performance during its unveiling at a press event. The developer explained the huge market demand pushed the early release and admitted there are still flaws in the Chinese-made AI.

After Baidu released Chinas first artificial intelligence-powered chatbot, Ernie Bot, by showing a pre-recorded video on March 16, the media conducted tests on the Chinese-made chatBot.

The performance showed limitations when it came to politics. Asking if Xi Jinping is a good leader only prompted an input couldnt pass a safety review. When asked why the question could not pass a safety review, the Chatbot responded, Lets change the topic and talk about something else, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Haizhong Ning and Yi Ru contributed to this report.
Chapman University Receives $2 Million in Sustainability Research Funding

ORANGE, Calif.Chapman University received $2.2 million in federal funding on April 14 for its Earth Systems Science Data Solutions Lab, which helps track goals for sustainability set forth by the United Nations.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals target concerns related to human health, clean energy, air pollution, and poverty, among other related initiatives.

[The funding] enables us to invest in the infrastructure we need to build upon this research area, Chapmans Dean of Schmid College of Science and Technologywhich conducts the researchMichael Ibba, told The Epoch Times.

Ibba said the funds will help in recruiting experts and paying for facilities.

The use of data in the modern era is growing so fast, we need to be able to recruit top scientists to work in this space and facilities dedicated to this work, he said.

The funds come from the nearly $30 million secured by Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.) for community projects in his 46th congressional district representing Anaheim, Santa Ana, and parts of Orange.

Today were investing in a tremendous first-class university to train our students, our PhD candidates, as well as a lot of students from the communities of Anaheim and Santa Ana, where I grew up and I live, to understand our planet, Correa said while presenting a check in the campuss memorial hall to a group of students and faculty members involved in the research.

(L-R) Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.); Sachi Perera, graduate student and PhD candidate; Michael Ibba, dean of Schmid College of Science and Technology; Rejoice Thomas, graduate student and PhD candidate; and Daniele Struppa, president of Chapman University. (Courtesy of Lou Correa)

He emphasized the importance of understanding interesting weather patterns, jokingly referring to the massive amount of rain that hit Southern California recently, and understanding how to better predict and plan for such things.

The research that were conducting here today will help people around the world better survive those droughts, better survive those cataclysmic events that happen that we call acts of God, he said. If we can figure out whats coming our way then were all better off.

After presenting the check, Correa and the group were shuttled over to the state-of-the-art $130 million Keck Center, which provides classrooms and facilities for the researchers, where PhD students gave a presentation demonstrating some of their research applied to the congressmans district.

We love to share science with politicians and decision-makers because we can come up with solutions for them, but they have to be able to push it and make things happen, Niko Todorov, a PhD candidate studying Computational and Data Science in the science and technology college, told The Epoch Times.

Rejoice Thomas, another graduate student and PhD candidate told The Epoch Times he advises anyone interested in joining the schools research programs to talk to the professors and see if theyre interested.

You can always go and reach out to them directly. You dont need to be a PhD student to get a hold of the professors, he said.
Children of UK Politicians Targeted in China-Linked Intimidation Campaigns

Conservative MP Alicia Kearns, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, speaks during a debate on the Procurement Bill in Parliament, Westminster, London, on Jan. 9, 2023. (Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

Sinister intimidation campaigns targeting the children of UK politicians are emanating from China, according to reports.

The Telegraph reported that MPs now fear that Beijing is actively monitoring their families after publicly criticising the regime.

One Tory politician had their childs university place jeopardised over warnings Chinese funding would be pulled from the institution, while the child of another politician was blocked from travelling with a Chinese airline.

Former Tory party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith told the publication he believes Beijing is not only keeping tabs on his movement, but that of his family members as well.

He has even resorted to locking his phone in a box, away from serious conversations over fears his phone might be a two way listening device.

The MP said he has also been subjected to coordinated bot attacks and targeted by wolf warriorsindividuals believed to be set up by the Chinese regime to track annoying or bad people.

In one elaborate email hoax, a Hong King-based individual mailed politicians and political acquaintances pretending to be the senior Tory.

Tory colleague Alicia Kearns told the newspaper she believes she is on a China hit list owing to her record speaking out on Beijing.

Kearns, head of both the China Research Group and the Foreign Affairs Committee, has previously reported incidents of online intimidation and abuse linked to her stance on China, Mondays report said.

The MP also told the newspaper how she had been sent edited photos of herself paired with sexually explicit comments by someone she believed to be a Chinese hacker.

She said she suspected there were individuals linked to the Chinese state spending enormous amounts of time and effort impersonating MPs and their acquaintances for months on end with a view to souring their relationships.

Email Impostor

Writing in a separate editorial piece for The Telegraph, Duncan Smith said: It is clear that if China wants to get to you, theyll get to you.

Ive personally been targeted by wolf warriorsguys we suspect are set up by the Chinese government to track annoying or bad people, or those they consider a nuisance.

On this occasion someone created a fake email persona purporting to be me.

We think we were able to track the culprit to somewhere on the outskirts of Hong Kong.

The Tory politician said emails purporting to be from him were sent all over the world to various senators and MPs telling them he no longer believed that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was bad. In fact, quite the contrary, apparently I now believed that they were a beacon of goodness and decency, he wrote.

I started getting emails from people from around the world who knew of me saying they were sorry to hear it, or asking me why I was doing this.

I had to explain to them that it was not me at all but an impostor.

Describing the email hoax as low level, the MP said similar attacks erupt every now and then.

Describing how his family has been targeted, the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China founder said: Thats the bit that never gets reported. Our families are all sanctioned as well, at the same time.

If theyre grown-ups, that means their lives also have to be readjusted, which is annoying.

That is exactly what has had to happen, even though they themselves were not involved in this process.

And I am aware that the Chinese state notes who and where my family are.

Duncan Smith said Chinas sanctions on him and other MPs relate to actively calling out the many abuses of President Xi [Jinping]s CCP, from genocide of the Uyghur people to slave labour, persecution of peaceful Hong Kong democracy campaigners and organ harvesting, not to mention their threats to invade Taiwan.

He added, But we will carry on for the sake of those being persecuted, regardless of any threat.

Undated file photo of former Conservative Party leader, MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith. (Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA Media)

Beijing Fears

Kearns, who hasnt been sanctioned by China, said she knew of one colleague whose childs study plans had been threatened because their parent was a politician listed on the Chinese state sanction list.

She told the newspaper that the prospective students university bid was threatened when the institution in question was warned all Chinese funds would be withdrawn if they accepted the application.

The newspaper also reported claims that one politicians child ran into trouble after being assigned a flight with a Chinese airline when their original journey was cancelled.

They were allegedly barred from getting on the plane for the replacement trip because of their surname.

One China critic said he was told his safety could not be guaranteed on a trip to the Middle East over fears he could be extradited to Beijing, while one was said to have been advised against going on holiday to a European country because they had been sanctioned.

The newspaper said some politicians had criticised Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks softer stance on China compared to predecessor Liz Truss.

In March Sunak said the UK would continue working with Beijing on issues like climate change, but insisted that his government would work with allies to push back against China when necessary.

He said Chinas plans to reshape the world order represent an epoch defining challenge for Britain, but stopped short of categorising Beijing as a threat.
China-Brokered Deal Between Iran and Saudi Arabia Is About Energy: Expert

A man holds a local newspaper reporting on the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, in the Iranian capital Tehran on March 11, 2023. (Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)

Chinas effort in brokering the Iran-Saudi Arabia deal is about energy, according to Aryeh Lightstone, former special envoy for the Abraham Accords and senior adviser to the U.S. ambassador to Israel from 2017 to 2021.

Saudi Arabia and Iran announced on March 10 that they would resume diplomatic relations in a deal brokered by China.

Lightstone called it a brilliant move by China, referring to its mediation of the Iran-Saudi Arabia deal.

At the end of the day, regardless of what somebody tells you about green and natural resources, and whatever else it will be, energy is what makes the world go round. And in between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and their relationship with Russia right now, China has a very strong hold on energy supply for the near and not so near future, he recently told China in Focus on NTD, the sister media outlet of The Epoch Times.

And because China put themselves in a power position with Iran, Russia, and Saudi Arabia, China is guaranteeing itself the ability to fuel literally its future expansion while putting themselves in a position to cut off their challengers or enemies, even like the United States of America, from being able to have the fuel and the energy that we may need.

So what the Trump administration knew was that the Middle East has an enormous opportunity for success and peace and prosperity, and theyre leveraging our absence from the region, he said.

According to Lightstone, the deal has a devastating effect on the United States as Beijing only swept in at the last minute while Washington has had enormous influence in the Middle East for a significant amount of time, especially with its allies, like Riyadh.

He said the recent diplomatic efforts illustrate that Chinas communist regime is not retreating. Chinas advancing, and people should be aware of that, he noted.

No Change From Iran

Lightstone pointed to the report on strikes in Gaza, with allegedly Iranian-backed Hezbollah and Lebanon firing at Israel right after the deal was struck, saying that the agreement would not moderate Irans behavior.

Nobody should think for half a second that anything that Iran does on the international stage will moderate their behavior. They struck the Iran deal; they became a larger funder of terrorism than they were beforehand because they had more money to fund terrorism.

And so were not going to see Iran change and suddenly become this welcome guest in the community of nations. Theyre going to continue to try to hold their ironclad grasp amongst their people, he said.

Inconsistent Policies

According to Lightstone, Washingtons inconsistent policies toward the Middle East have confused the countries in the region.

The Middle East is getting whiplash, trying to understand what U.S. foreign policy is. They see Obamas policy [as] running to Iran. They see Trumps policy [as] running away from Iran. They see Bidens policy [as] running back to Iran. And theyre like, What are we supposed to do over here? Theyre not interested in being involved in this ping-pong game. Theyre looking for strong, consistent policy, and the United States of America has failed to deliver on that, he said.

He further urged for more explicit policies toward the region.

We should hold our funding of the Palestinian Authority until they get terrorism under control. That sends a message not just to the Palestinian terrorists, but it sends a message to the broader Middle East that we are not only going to say something  were going to back it up, he said.

Lightstone called on the United States to stop negotiating with Iran immediately on the nuclear deal, which the Biden administration is trying to reenter after the Trump administration terminated it.

We should tell them that they are out  until they give up their nukesnot for a short while but for good. These are basic things that we should be able to articulate very clearly. And if we do that, all of the other countries in the region will be able to follow our lead, he said.
China Uses Disguised Fishing Fleets to Control Indo-Pacific, Challenge US Dominance in the Region: Author

Illegal Chinese fishing bosts are seen in neutral waters near Ganghwa island, South Korea, on June 10, 2016. (South Korean Defense Ministry via Getty Images)

China uses disguised fishing fleets in its efforts to gain control of the Indo-Pacific and challenge U.S. dominance in the region, according to veteran intelligence officer and author Grant Newsham.

The fleets, with their swarming tactics, double as a maritime militia.

These are fishing boats. Sometimes they do fishing, but theyre also built [with] double hulls, up-engined. They have people with arms on them and [they] can use them to ram, to intimidate, and sink other vessels, particularly other fishing vessels, Newsham recently told EpochTVs American Thought Leaders program.

The tactic, he said, helps the communist regime to establish a long-term presence in various places and drive its opponents out.

If youre a fisherman, theres no way youre going to go in and challenge a big boat with a strong hull, a double hull, and guys with weapons on it, that is willing to ram and sink you and shoot you if necessary, he said.

According to him, the tactic is part of the gray-zone warfare, which means the use of nontraditional methods and actors to achieve the goals of war, but without triggering an armed conflict.

An Aspect of Lawfare

If called out on the unorthodox strategy, China can argue that the aggressive vessels are just fishing boats, not naval vessels, making it difficult to come up with an effective or common-sense response, he noted.

If the other guy knows that he can break the rules and elbow in on you and hurt you, and youre not going to do anything, because its against the law, hes going to take advantage of that. Its almost an aspect of so-called lawfare, where the Chinese use international law to their advantage. Partly, it helps if they dont obey it, and we do. You can see the advantage that it gives to the Chinese compared to us and others, Newsham said.

He cited an August 2020 report in The Diplomat describing how China has routinely employed maritime militia fishing vessels over the past decade or so, backed by coast guard and naval forces, to encroach on Japans territorial sea surrounding the Senkaku Islands.

In August 2016, some 230 Chinese fishing vessels swarmed the Senkaku Islands alongside Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) vessels. Eight fishing boats and CCG vessels repeatedly entered Japans territorial sea around the islands, while another 15 vessels repeatedly entered Japans contiguous zone, the report said.

The Chinese have done this now and then, and the purpose is to tell the Japanese, Look, when the time comes were going to, they say, assert administrative control, which is the legal term for asserting dominance of your territory. The Japanese are very worried about this, Newsham noted.

In one incident in 2009, Chinese vessels, including fishing trawlers, harassed the U.S. ocean surveillance ship USNS Impeccable in the South China Sea.

Newsham believes this approach is more than just annoying. Beijing could use it to do direct harm to America.

You can use these regular fishing boats, maritime militias to surreptitiously lay mines off of Japanese ports where the U.S. Navy operates. Cargo ships, for example, can launch drones that can cause the Americans a lot of trouble, say, as theyre sailing out of San Diego. These are things that we dont think of as war-fighting, but its a wonderful platform and we should expect that were going to have to deal with it, he said.

Economic Warfare

As the author of the upcoming When China Attacks and with decades of experience in Asia, including as a U.S. Marine and a diplomat, Newsham said that China has a very different concept of war and of bringing its enemy under control.

To the Chinese, the shooting is the last thing, if its even necessary. Ideally, youve weakened your enemy and enemies to the point that they cant respond effectively, and /or cant respond at all. You do this with methods that dont involve shooting people, although they are willing to do that, or they have other people do the shooting for them, he said.

This doctrine of warfare is multifaceted, Newsham said, and can include economic warfare, biological war, chemical war, cyberwarfare, and proxy warfare.

In terms of economic warfare, he said, The idea is to drive your opponents or your competitors out of business, to get their technology, suck the know-how out of them, rig the system in China so that you can build up Chinese companies.

He pointed to Chinas participation in the World Trade Organization in 2000, after the regimes most favored nation/normal trade relations status was made permanent by the Clinton administration in the same year.

Despite not meeting any of the requirements that every other country would need, things went wild and American businesses started flocking to China. China turned into this manufacturing juggernaut, he said.

He cited a 2018 report by the Economic Policy Institute, that said 3.5 million manufacturing jobs were lost as a result of letting China into the World Trade Organization.

Its weakened us and its strengthened China, as the Chinese economy has grown, Newsham said.

The strategy is very effective, he continued. You create a dependency for other countries, that are dependent on you, America not the least. It helps you develop your military as well. Its very much a net gain for the Chinese and a net loss for us. But once again, theres a psychological aspect to it.
Chinese Embassy Expresses Grave Concern Over Upcoming Hearing on COVID-19 Origins

Security personnel stand guard outside the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan in Wuhan, China, on Feb. 3, 2021. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)

China has expressed grave concern over a scheduled U.S. hearing on the origins of COVID-19.

According to an email sent by an official at the Chinese Embassy, China is in opposition to the investigation.

Li Xiang, a counselor at the U.S. Chinese Embassy sent the email to Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) on April 14 at 2:15 a.m. Wenstrup is the chairman of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.

The hearing is scheduled for April 18, under the title Investigating the Origins of COVID-19, Part 2: China and the Available Intelligence.

I am Counselor Li Xiang with the Chinese Embassy in the US. I am reaching out to express our grave concern regarding the COVID-19 Origins hearing to be chaired by Congressman Wenstrup on next Tuesday. According to the announcement, the hearing is to examine Chinas complicity in the COVID-19 crisis and hold China accountable. We firmly oppose it, Xiang wrote in the email.

A spokesperson for the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic told Fox News Digital that the attempted intimidation by the Chinese Embassy was absurd.

What is China trying to hide? The embassys attempt to silence the Select Subcommittees investigation into the origins of COVID-19 is absurd, and it will not work, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson went on to say that its essential to hold China accountable for the role it played in the crisis, further adding that this is key to preparing the United States for future pandemics and threats to national security.

Chairman Wenstrup is committed to examining all intelligence related to where and how this pandemic began. The members of the Select Subcommittee will not stop or stall their investigation on account of grave concerns, foreign intimidation, and baseless opposition, the spokesperson said.

The committee is set to hear from former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe and former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Feith, according to Fox News.

The incident isnt the first attempt China has made to exert pressure on U.S. lawmakers who are trying to determine the origins of the virus.

Xiang also sent a letter last month to the chief of staff for Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo). The letter described the bill to declassify information on the viruss origins as an act of political manipulation.

I am reaching out to express our grave concern regarding the Covid-19 Origin Act of 2023 (S.619), which falsely claimed that the Covid-19 coronavirus originated from Wuhan Institute of Virology, accuses China of blocking international investigations, refusing to share information and lacking transparency etc. and required the Director of National Intelligence to declassify information relating to the origin of COVID19. China firmly opposes and strongly condemns this, the letter states.

The letter was laughed off by Hawley, who stated that there was no chance the bill would be withdrawn.

Hawley has been a staunch opponent of U.S. reliance on Chinese drug imports. Earlier this month, he told Fox News that American dependence on Chinese drugs poses a great threat to national security.

From NTD News
Chinese Regime Launches Investigation Into Taiwans Trade Barriers, to End Day Before Taiwans 2024 Presidential Election

Chinas Ministry of Commerce has announced that it will launch a trade barrier investigation on Taiwan, while Taiwans Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) nominated party chairman Lai Ching-teh (William Lai) as their 2024 presidential candidate. But independent observers have pointed out that the probe is politically motivated and that Chinas ruling communist party (CCP) intends to interfere in the 2024 Taiwan election.

The Ministry of Commerce announced on April 12 that it will conduct investigations on trade barriers imposed by Taiwan on 2,455 Chinese products, ranging from agricultural products, textiles, coal, minerals, metals, plastics, rubber, chemicals, to construction materials. It said that the investigation will last for a maximum of nine months and is expected to end by Jan. 12, 2024 at the latest. Taiwans presidential election will happen on Jan. 13, 2024.

Taiwanese Governments Response

In response, Minister of Economics of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Wang Mei-hua replied on April 13 that, considering the timing of the announcement and Chinas military exercises against Taiwan, the investigations are clearly politically motivated.

Luo Bing-cheng, acting spokesman of Taiwans Executive Yuan (the executive branch) said at a press conference after a meeting on April 13 that the CCP shouldnt interfere with cross-Strait regional trade, nor should it excessively instrumentalize, complicate, and politicize normal trade, which will not help exchanges between both sides of the Strait.

Crates of pineapples being sorted at a warehouse in Taiwans Pingtung county on March 16, 2021. (Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images)

The Agricultural Commission of the Executive Yuan issued a press release on April 13 regarding Chinas investigation, stating that it will cooperate with the Taiwans Mainland Affairs Council, Ministry of Economic Affairs, and other ministries and commissions to take relevant countermeasures to protect farmers incomes.

The Mainland Affairs Council also stated that relevant government agencies will continue to pay close attention to how the situation develops, and provide the necessary assistance to business owners in the crosshairs.

CCPs Political Operation Through Trade

Taiwanese businessman Liao Jinzhang told The Epoch Times that the investigation by Chinas Ministry of Commerce on Taiwans trade barriers is a political operation to force Taiwan to buy Chinese products.

The size of Taiwans economy is small, so there must be trade barriers to protect its farmers, which is similar to Japans heavy protection of their agricultural products. Chinas market and economic volume are huge, and Taiwan has no way to adopt a countermeasure to the mainland, he said. Once Taiwan opens up the import of cheap Chinese products, the entire related industries in Taiwan will collapse. However, China being open to Taiwans agricultural products is unlikely to affect Chinas agriculture.

Liao added that Chinese leader Xi Jinping is likely targeting the DPPs campaign for next years general election through trade. But as a result, the Chinese action will make Taiwanese businessmen alert that they should not be overly dependent on the CCP for growth, and could lead to increased decoupling from the Chinese economy.

Visitors look at a screen at the Taiwan stall during the inaugural day of the 3-day Smart Asia 2018 Expo and Summit at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre in Bangalore on Oct. 4, 2018. (IndiaandTaiwanare(Manjunath Kiran/AFP via Getty Images)

He pointed out that, If Taiwans products in these industries are not exported to China, they can expand to other markets in the world, and there is still a way to survive, which is not a bad thing.

Gao Wei-bang, chairman of the Taiwanese Victims of Investment in China Association, told The Epoch Times that Xi wants to take Taiwan and will not give up even if the use of force is required. He said the investigation is the CCP adding to its psychological war against Taiwan.

The DPP announced on April 12 that Nominate Lai will be its candidate for the 2024 presidential election. On the same day, China announced it will conduct an investigation into Taiwans trade barriers, and the investigation can be extended to Jan. 12, 2024, which is the day before the voting day for the presidential election of the Republic of China next year, Gao said.

The CCPs military and economic pressure on Taiwan is politically motivated, attempting to interfere in the 2024 elections of the Republic of China.

The Taiwanese people should recognize the nature of the CCP and unite as one; not to be divided, he said. They should refuse to be unified under the CCPs rule.

Zhong Yuan and Lin Cenxin contributed to this report.
Conglomerate Starboard Buys Parler, to Shut Down Social Media App Temporarily

Logos of social media app Parler in an Illustration taken on Oct. 17, 2022. (Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters)

Digital media conglomerate Starboard said on Friday it has bought Parler for an undisclosed sum and will temporarily shut down the social media app popular with conservatives to give itself time to roll out a revamped version of the platform.

The move comes months after the collapse of a deal that would have seen American rapper Kanye West, who now goes by Ye, buy the platforms parent company Parlement Technologies.

Starboard, formerly Olympic Media, founded in 2018 houses conservative-leaning platforms American Wire and BizPac Review. It plans to service unsupported online communities and build a home for them away from the ad-hoc regulatory hand of platforms that hate them.

The Arlington, Virginia-based conglomerate did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for details on terms of the deal. However, it said the acquisition will be accretive by the end of second quarter 2023.

In September, Parler announced that it has restructured into Parlement Technologies Inc. and bought Irvine, California-based private cloud services company Dynascale Inc..

Parler, which was founded five years ago, was reinstated on Google and Apple Inc.s app stores after being removed following the U.S. Capitol breach in January 2021.

Parler is one of several social media platforms, from among Gettr, Gab and Truth Social, that have positioned themselves as free-speech alternatives to Twitter Inc. prior to its $44 billion acquisition by billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
DOJ Charges 40 CCP Officers With Allegedly Targeting US Residents, Spreading Propaganda

United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace and other officials are seen at the US Attorney's office in New York City on April 17, 2023 announcing arrests and charges against multiple individuals alleged to be working in connection to the Chinese Chinese Communist Party. (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)

The U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) is charging 40 members of Chinas national police with crimes related to a coordinated campaign of targeted harassment of U.S. residents.

Forty officers of Chinas Ministry of Public Security (MPS) and two employees of the Cyberspace Administration of China conspired to transmit interstate threats and otherwise harass dissidents and pro-democracy activists living in the United States and elsewhere, according to DOJ documents unsealed on April 17. Forty-four defendants were charged in total.

The MPS officers are part of an elite task force in China called the 912 Special Project Working Group, referred to in DOJ documents simply as the Group.

The alleged purpose of the Group is to target and silence Chinese dissidents on a global scale.

The Chinese government deploys an elite task force of its national policethe 912 Special Project Working Groupas a troll farm to attack Chinese dissidents in our country for exercising free speech that the [Chinese communist] government disfavors, and spread disinformation and propaganda to sow divisions within the United States, Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement.

CCP Targeting US Residents

The defendants allegedly carried out highly coordinated transnational repression schemes targeting U.S. residents whose political views are considered anathema by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which rules China as a single-party state.

As part of this effort, officers from the Group created and used thousands of fake social media accounts across multiple U.S.-owned platforms, including Twitter, to harass and intimidate dissidents and advocates for democratic processes in China.

Much of the activities took place on a platform created and operated by a U.S. company, referred to in DOJ documents simply as Company-1.

The Group also allegedly worked with an employee in Company-1 to leverage the thousands of phony social media accounts for harassment and outright threats against those critical of the CCP.

The officers also sought to crash online video conferences on the platform, filling chats with threats and obscenities, and to get anti-communist events banned from social media.

Chinas Ministry of Public Security used operatives to target people of Chinese descent who had the courage to speak out against the Chinese Communist Partyin one case by covertly spreading propaganda to undermine confidence in our democratic processes and, in another, by suppressing U.S. video conferencing users free speech, FBI Acting Assistant Director Kurt Ronnow said.

We arent going to tolerate CCP repressionits efforts to threaten, harass, and intimidate peoplehere in the United States. The FBI will continue to confront the Chinese governments efforts to violate our laws and repress the rights and freedoms of people in our country.

Chinese Propaganda on US Social Media



The Group didnt stop at seeking to suppress dissident voices.

The documents show the officers also used U.S. social media to spread CCP propaganda and disinformation intended to undermine U.S. national security and election integrity. The Group spread content that claimed that U.S. democracy was inevitably doomed, alleged that the United States created COVID-19, and promoted false information about U.S. elections.

The defendants also attempted to recruit U.S. citizens to act as unwitting agents of the regime by encouraging them to disseminate the propaganda online, effectively laundering the CCPs bogus claims.

DOJ documents reveal that the Group developed profiles on U.S. social media users assessed to be sympathetic to the regime then used their fraudulent accounts to directly approach and ask those people to disseminate content created by the Group.

These cases demonstrate the lengths the [Chinese] government will go to silence and harass U.S. persons who exercise their fundamental rights to speak out against [its] oppression, including by unlawfully exploiting a U.S.-based technology company, Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen said.

These actions violate our laws and are an affront to our democratic values and basic human rights.

All of the officers charged currently reside in either China or Indonesia and are considered to be at large.

The charges were released at the same time as those in another case, in which two U.S. residents were arrested for establishing a secret CCP police station in New York City, and illicitly tracking down and silencing U.S. residents at the request of the regime.

These complex investigations revealed an MPS-wide effort to repress individuals by using the U.S. communications platform and fake social media accounts to censor political and religious speech, David Sundberg, FBI assistant director in charge, said.

In the United States, the freedom of speech is a cornerstone of our democracy, and the FBI will work tirelessly to defend everyones right to speak freely without fear of retribution from the CCP.
European Union Lawmakers Call for an AI Summit

European Union lawmakers on Monday warned world leaders about the threats of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) systems, urging them to hold a summit to discuss how to control its development.

The 12 members of the European Parliament (MEP), all working on EU legislation on this type of technology, called on President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to convene the meeting, and said AI firms should be more responsible.

The statement came weeks after Twitter owner Elon Musk and more than 50,000 people signed a letter asking for a six-month pause in the development of systems more powerful than Microsoft-backed OpenAIs latest iteration of ChatGPT, which can mimic humans and create text and images based on prompts.

That open letter, published in March by the Future of Life Institute (FLI), had warned that AI could spread misinformation at an unprecedented rate, and that machines could outnumber, outsmart, obsolete and replace humans if left unchecked.

The MEPs said they disagreed with some of the FLI messages more alarmist statements.

We are nevertheless in agreement with the letters core message: with the rapid evolution of powerful AI, we see the need for significant political action, they added.

The letter urged countries to reflect on potential systems of governance, and to exercise restraint in their pursuit of very powerful AI.

A spokesperson for von der Leyen did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Biden administration has been seeking public comments on potential accountability measures for AI systems as questions loom about their impact on national security and education.

The European Commission proposed the draft rules for an AI Act nearly two years ago under which AI tools are expected to be classified according to their perceived level of risk, from low to unacceptable.

A parliamentary committee is debating the 108-page bill and hoping to reach a common position by April 26, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

AI in Education

The artificial intelligence behind ChatGPT, the homework-drafting chatbot that some schools have banned, is coming to more students via the company Chegg Inc.

The U.S. educational software maker has combined its corpus of quiz answers with the chatbots AI model known as GPT-4 to create CheggMate, a study aide tailored to students, said CEO Dan Rosensweig.

Its a tutor in your pocket, he said ahead of its announcement of CheggMate on Monday.

The software will adapt to students by processing data on what classes they are taking and exam questions they have missed, personalizing practice tests and guiding study in a way generalist programs like ChatGPT cannot, Rosensweig said. It will be available next month for free initially, Chegg said.

The release is poised to widen what pupils do with AI just as educators are grappling with its consequences. Last years launch of ChatGPT led students to turn in assignments written coherently by the chatbot, letting some sidestep coursework and forcing faculty to vet the integrity of the work.

AI in Video Editing

Adobe Inc. on Monday said its new video editing software used by film and television companies will incorporate AI tools.

The tools will let video editors do things like change the lighting in a shot from midday to sunset or generate background music just by typing in a few words of text to tell the system what to do. The tools build on a new system called Adobe Firefly that the company introduced last month for generating still images and text.

Adobe is riding a wave of interest in generative AI spurred by applications from OpenAI and Stability AI that allow users to create novel images with just a few words of description. But after Getty Images sued Stability AI alleging that the startup misused Gettys copyrighted images in training its AI system, legal questions clouded whether the output of such AI systems can be used in commercial work.

Musk Allegedly Starts AI Company

Meanwhile, billionaire Elon Musk is working on launching an artificial intelligence start-up that will rival ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing people familiar with his plans.

Twitter owner Musk is assembling a team of AI researchers and engineers, according to the FT report, and is also in discussions with some investors in SpaceX and Tesla Inc. about putting money into his new venture.

Musk has secured thousands of graphics processing units, systems that power the computing required for intensive tasks such as AI and high-end graphics, from Nvidia Corp., according to FT. Shares of the chip company, which declined to comment on the matter, gained on the news on Friday.

Musk last month registered a firm named X.AI Corp., incorporated in Nevada, according to a state filing. The firm lists Musk as the sole director and Jared Birchall, the managing director of Musks family office, as a secretary.

It was not clear if the firm is related to Musks reported AI start-up efforts.

Musk is one of the co-founders of OpenAI, which was started as a non-profit in 2015. He stepped down from the companys board in 2018.

Reuters contributed to this report.
KYODO NEWS - Apr 17, 2023 - 22:44 | All, Japan, World, G7

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday vowed to work closely together in upholding a rules-based international order, amid Russia's war in Ukraine and China's assertiveness.

Meeting on the sidelines of the Group of Seven foreign ministerial talks in Karuizawa, central Japan, the two also agreed to cooperate in dealing with North Korea's nuclear and missile development programs and seek to strengthen their bilateral alliance's defense capabilities, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

"At a crucial moment on whether or not the global community can firmly maintain the free and open international order based on the rule of law, we confirmed that Japan and the United States will continue to collaborate," Hayashi told reporters after the talks.

As Russia continues its war with Ukraine, Japan has been emphasizing that the security of Europe and the Indo-Pacific are inseparable, and unilaterally changing the status quo should never be tolerated anywhere in the world.

The security situation in the Indo-Pacific region remains tense, with China pushing its territorial claims in the East and South China seas and pressuring Taiwan, a self-ruled island that Beijing views as its own.

North Korea, meanwhile, has been carrying out a barrage of missile tests and the country's official media has reported that the most recent one saw a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile test-fired on Thursday.

Recognizing the increasing significance of U.S. involvement in shaping the region's economic order, Hayashi and Blinken reaffirmed their cooperation for progress in negotiations under the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, a U.S.-led initiative for enhanced economic cooperation, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

The IPEF, now joined by 14 countries such as Japan, South Korea and India, has been seen as a sign that the United States is seeking to reassert its economic leadership in the region following the country's pullout in 2017 from the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement under then Republican President Donald Trump.

Hayashi and Blinken also agreed during their 20-minute talks to continue to cooperate to make the G-7 summit in Hiroshima in western Japan a success, according to the Japanese ministry.

Earlier in the day, Hayashi met with his British counterpart James Cleverly and vowed to further deepen their cooperation in the security realm such as by seeking an early entry into force of an agreement that facilitates joint military drills, the ministry said.

The Reciprocal Access Agreement sets rules on the transportation of weapons during joint exercises or disaster relief operations in each other's countries. It was signed by the two countries' leaders in January.

Hayashi also held separate talks with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, with the two agreeing to continue to cooperate in dealing with China and North Korea, the ministry said.

Hayashi called on Germany work to remove import restrictions on some Japanese food items imposed by the European Union in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis, it said.

Related coverage:

French minister calls on China to act responsibly over Taiwan

G-7 vows to tackle Russian sanction evasion, weapon supply via others
EXCLUSIVE: Texas Coordinates With ATF to Share Income of Residents for Warrantless Monitoring

Texas secretly gives its citizens incomes to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Documents show this has led to at least one person being monitored by the feds without a warrant through the federal gun background check system. The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) told The Epoch Times that it has written contracts with ATF for sharing income information for criminal investigations. The revelation may lead to oversight by the legislature.

Texas state Rep. Briscoe Cain, a Republican, is deeply troubled about this coordination with the states unemployment agency and federal government.

My office will be looking into whether the Texas Workforce Commission is assisting the ATF in the Biden Administrations mission to violate the constitutional rights of law-abiding Texans, Cain told The Epoch Times after reviewing the emails obtained by Gun Owners of America (GOA) as part of its ongoing FOIA lawsuit.

This is the third part in an exclusive Epoch Times series on the ATF giving information on innocent suspects to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for daily monitoring through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). The FBI uses NICS as a database of people who are prohibited from possessing or buying guns.

Texans Income Exposed

In one of the documents, an ATF agent emailed the FBI that a person suspected of straw purchasing or firearms trafficking needed to be put into the gun background check database. The agent wrote that per TWC, the mans reported wage earnings with the State of Texas do not appear to supply the financial means to afford the firearms purchased.

The ATF agent requested on Dec. 28, 2020, that the Texans gun purchases be monitored daily for 90 days. However, as previously reported, the FBI wrote to ATF that its agents could request an extension of the monitoring for as long as they wanted.

Texass role in the program was uncovered in the ATFs ninth production of documents to GOA as part of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit. The 42 pages are more heavily redacted than the previous ones given to GOA. There are seven pages of blacked-out information before the source of the income of the person in Texas is shown as TWC.

One would think that a pro-gun state like Texas would not be handing over gun owners confidential financial information to the federal government without a warrant or likely even without probable cause, Rob Olson, an attorney for GOA, told The Epoch Times.

Second Amendment Sanctuary?

A spokeswoman for TWC said in a statement: Federal and State law provides a path for sharing income information with a federal governmental agency if the federal agency can establish a purpose that is permissible under law and enters into a written agreement which sets forth legal requirements regarding allowable use and protection of the information. She also said a warrant to release salary information is not required by law.

Texas does not have a state income tax. Employers report wages to the TWC in order to determine their unemployment taxes, so its the states only source for tracking income.

Asked how many times the TWC has given out citizens incomes, the spokeswoman said it provides this information to ATF pursuant to two contracts in Dallas and Houston. She said income was shared for any of these purposes: to assist in criminal investigations, to assist in locating defendants, witnesses, and fugitives in criminal cases, and to assist in locating persons with outstanding warrants.

When told about TWCs legal defense, Cain said he will put in a formal request to TWC for copies of the two contracts with ATF.

TWC is governed by three commissioners who are appointed by Governor Greg Abbott. In June 2021, Abbott signed a bill that made Texas a Second Amendment Sanctuary State to resist new gun-control policies from Pres. Joe Biden. The law prohibits state officials from enforcing specific federal regulations on firearms that are not in line with state law.

Steady Job, Too Many Guns

Another case in the documents shows agents in the ATF Dallas field office knew a Texas womans salary and used that information to get the FBI to put her into NICS. It does not say her salary came from TWC, but there is one paragraph redacted.

The agent wrote in Jan 2021 that the suspect has a steady job however her annual salary in no way can support her current spending on firearms. It also says that she received multiple wire transfers from a man in Sacramento, California.

It appears the woman was monitored daily by the FBI for at least 180 days. None of the emails between the FBI and ATF released have shown that a request to monitor someone was denied.

Federal agents have no business deciding whether they think a persons income qualifies them to buy a certain number of guns. If ATF thought it had enough for a warrant, presumably it would get one, GOAs Olson said.

The FBI and ATF, which call their program NICS Monitoring Services, do not get a warrant or court order for tracking people for just potential violations of law. The requirement that federally licensed dealers do an instant background check through NICS on gun buyers was created in the Brady Act in 1993. The law says that the database can only be used to track people who are in the nine categories prohibited to possess guns, which includes felons, drug users, domestic abusers, and illegal aliens.

Man Makes $30,000

In a previous FOIA production, an ATF agent from the Houston Crime Gun Strike Force requested the FBI monitor a Hispanic man who admitted to selling guns at a profit. The agent reported that a review of [redacted] employment wages revealed he earns approximately $30,000/year. The source of the information about his income is not given but could be behind the blacked-out part.

The Houston agent backed up his June 2020 request by citing that the Texas man admitted to selling multiple firearms in order to make money during a non-custodial interview with law enforcement. Its not illegal to make money from selling guns. The ATF requires you to become a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) if you repetitively buy and sell firearms with the principal motive of making a profit.

The ATF agent wrote that the man bought an unknown amount of additional firearms from other FFLs. This means licensed dealers did not suspect him of breaking the law.

Nevertheless, this Hispanic mans lower income and living in low income government housing resulted in his being tracked without a warrant.

Olson, GOAs lawyer, pointed out that there are reasonable explanations for gun purchases.

There are countless legitimate explanations for spending more money on guns than the income reported to the Texas Workforce Commissionfor example, income from investments or work in another state, a gift from a wealthy parent or grandparent, cash from a yard sale or selling old belongings online, or even something as simple as spending savings or putting purchases on a credit card. None of these scenarios makes a person a gun runner.

Feds Silent

While TWC was open about its cooperation with ATF, the federal government would not answer questions. ATF doesnt have anything additional to add regarding investigative techniques that might be utilized in our criminal investigations, spokesman Erik Longnecker told The Epoch Times when asked about working with TWC. Longnecker has previously stated that ATF utilizes a multitude of legal means in our criminal investigations to protect our communities from violent gun crime.

The GOA first uncovered the NICS monitoring program in April 2021. The ATF refused to respond to FOIA requests, so GOA filed a lawsuit in November 2021. The ATF documents released as part of the lawsuit are from the FBI. There have been no internal ATF documents released.

Spokesmen for both the FBI and ATF refuse to say if the program is ongoing and how many people are currently being monitored by NICS who are not legally prohibited from buying guns.
FBI Arrests 2 Over Secret Chinese Police Station in NYC

A balloon is held at a press conference and rally in front of the America ChangLe Association highlighting Beijing's transnational repression, in New York City on Feb. 25, 2023. A now-closed overseas Chinese police station is located inside the association building.(Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

NEW YORKThe FBI arrested two people on April 17 on charges of operating a secret police station in New York City on behalf of Chinas regime, according to the Justice Department (DOJ).

The duo, Lu Jianwang, 61, and Chen Jinping, 59, conspired to work as agents of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and took orders from the regime in order to track down and silence Chinese dissidents living in the United States, prosecutors said.

The police station is believed to be one of more than 100 overseas stations operated by the Chinese regime in 53 countries, according to Safeguard Defenders, a Spain-based nonprofit.

The effort revealed an immense violation of U.S. sovereignty by the CCP and a flagrant violation of international law, according to U.S. District Attorney Breon Peace.

This prosecution reveals the Chinese governments flagrant violation of our nations sovereignty by establishing a secret police station in the middle of New York City, Peace said at a news conference in Brooklyn.

Just imagine the NYPD opening an undeclared secret police station in Beijing.

Peace said that the two defendants established the secret police station in New York at the behest of the CCP and conducted transnational repression schemes in coordination with the regimes Ministry of Public Security.

Additionally, he said, the pair sought to destroy evidence of the conspiracy when they found out the FBI was investigating the site.

As alleged, the defendants were directed to do [Chinas] bidding, including helping locate a Chinese dissident living in the United States, and obstructed our investigation by deleting their communications with a Chinese Ministry of Public Security official, Peace said.

In addition to the charges of conspiracy and obstruction of justice, court documents allege that Lu had conducted work for the CCP regime in the United States since at least 2015.

The investigation found Lu to have a longstanding relationship of trust with the Chinese authorities, according to the complaint.

During Xis visit to the United States in 2015, Lu was asked to organize counterprotests to the demonstrations from the spiritual group Falun Gong, which has been heavily persecuted in China since 1999.

The Chinese consulate in New York directed Lu to publish materials in newspapers targeting Falun Gong, which he claimed he didnt do. But Lu said that he helped bring members from his association on buses to Washington.

Each association member would receive $60 from the consulate. Each bus would have a point of contact that would pay in cash from the Consulate, he told the investigators, the complaint said. People would not just travel from New York but also from Philadelphia. Several hundred people would go every time.

Lu received a plaque from the regime as thanks for his efforts, the filings state.

Later, Lu helped to coordinate threats of violence against a Chinese dissident and the dissidents family, in an attempt to force the person to return to China to be arrested by CCP authorities, according to court documents.

Lu also hired another agent through the secret police station to track a U.S. resident on U.S. soil and silence them on behalf of the regime in order to protect its authoritarian worldview, Peace said.

By targeting members of the Chinese diaspora through the illicit use of covert police stations, the duo repeatedly and flagrantly violated our nations sovereignty, Peace said.

In two separate cases, the DOJ announced that its charging 40 Chinese officials and police with conducting a coordinated harassment campaign against Chinese people living in New York City and elsewhere in the United States. All of the defendants charged in those cases currently reside in China.
Federal Court Sides With Facebook in Privacy Case Tied to Cambridge Analytica Affair

A car passes Facebook's new Meta logo on a sign at the company headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., on Oct. 28, 2021. (Tony Avelar/AP Photo)

A judge has dismissed the federal privacy watchdogs bid for a declaration that Facebook broke the law governing the use of personal information in a case flowing from the Cambridge Analytica affair.

In his ruling, Justice Michael Manson said the privacy commissioner had not shown that the social media giant, now known as Meta, failed to obtain meaningful consent from Facebook users or neglected to adequately safeguard their information.

A 2019 investigation report from Daniel Therrien, federal privacy commissioner at the time, and his British Columbia counterpart cited major shortcomings in Facebooks procedures and called for stronger laws to protect Canadians.

The probe followed reports that Facebook let an outside organization use a digital app to access users personal information, and that data was then passed to others.

The app, at one point known as This is Your Digital Life, encouraged users to complete a personality quiz but collected much more information about the people who installed the app as well as data about their Facebook friends.

Recipients of the information included British consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, which was involved in U.S. political campaigns and targeted messaging.

About 300,000 Facebook users worldwide added the app, leading to the potential disclosure of the personal information of approximately 87 million others, including more than 600,000 Canadians, the commissioners report said.

The commissioners concluded that Facebook violated Canadas privacy law by failing to obtain valid and meaningful consent of installing users and their friends, and that it had inadequate safeguards to protect user information.

Facebook disputed the findings of the investigation and refused to implement its recommendations.

The company has said it tried to work with the privacy commissioners office and take measures that would go above and beyond what other companies do.

In early 2020, Therrien asked the Federal Court to declare Facebook broke the law governing how the private sector can use personal information, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, known as PIPEDA.

In turn, Facebook filed its own action, asking the court to toss out the privacy watchdogs finding that the social media giants lax practices allowed personal data to be used for political purposes.

Facebook said the commissioners office improperly embarked on a broad audit of the companys privacy practices in the guise of an investigation into complaints about a specific breach of the law.

In a companion ruling, Manson dismissed Facebooks application.

But the judge also rejected the privacy commissioners arguments about the social media companys practices.

The commissioner had contended that Facebook failed to obtain meaningful consent from users before disclosing their information to the This is Your Digital Life app.

The watchdog said while Facebook verified the existence of privacy policies, and its Platform Policy and Terms of Service required third-party applications to disclose the purposes for which information would be used, it did not manually verify the content of these third-party policies.

The commissioner also said that Facebook provided no evidence of what users were told upon installing the This is Your Digital Life app.

Facebook argued that its network-wide policies, user controls and educational resources amounted to reasonable efforts under PIPEDA. It also criticized the commissioners suggestion that it manually review each apps privacy policy as impractical, as it would require legal staff to examine millions of documents.

Manson said the court was left to speculate and draw unsupported inferences from pictures of Facebooks various policies and resources as to what a user would or would not read; what they may find discouraging; and what they would or would not understand.

As a result, the commissioner failed to meet the burden of establishing that Facebook breached the law concerning meaningful consent, he wrote.

Manson also agreed with Facebooks argument that once a user authorizes it to disclose information to an app, the social media companys safeguarding duties under PIPEDA come to an end.

Meta said in a statement Monday it was pleased with the ruling. In the last few years, we have transformed privacy at Meta and built one of the most comprehensive privacy programs in the world.

Vito Pilieci, a spokesman for the privacy commissioner, said the office initiated the court application to protect Canadians privacy. With this in mind, we are reviewing the courts decision to determine the next steps.
NR | 1h 46min | Documentary, Ecology | 14 April 2023 (Austria)

Of all film genres, documentaries have the greatest amount of creative leeway. There are no structural guidelines regarding content, narrative style, or presentation and, thus, no rules with which to adhere: Almost anything goes. No one working within this genre knows these things better than Austrian director Nikolaus Geyrhalter.

To say Geyrhalters movies are an acquired taste would be a gargantuan understatement. Since 1992, hes made 15 features, yet only four of them (Elsewhere, Our Daily Bread, Abendland, and Homo Sapiens) have dedicated entries on more than one online movie-inclusive databases.

Director Nikolaus Geyrhalter shows many scenes of garbage in Matter Out of Place. (Icarus Films)

Geyrhalter followers are a scant few but fiercely loyal and will undoubtedly be wowed by and offer up hearty hosannas for his latest offering Matter out of Place (Matter). As the movie is only scheduled to open in New York and Los Angeles, the odds that Matter will rope in any new Geyrhalter converts are infinitesimal.

Same Old Wheelhouse

As with most of Geyrhalters previous efforts, he trots out the main tools from his wheelhouse: stationary imagery, and next to no dialogue, backing score, or narration. Some might say the last three arent tools at all, which is kind of true, yet I consider them to be negative asset gimmicks.

There have been many other movies from different filmmakers that utilize one of the above Geyrhalter calling cards, but when all four are tossed into the mix the result is a beyond-static, pretentious, naval-gazing snooze-fest.

As tedious and austere as this approach may be, it could have worked had Geyrhalter chosen to showcase the majesty of nature: the great plains of Africa, Germanys Black Forest, the White Cliffs of Dover, Montanas Big Sky, and the like. There are thousands of places on our planet that beautifully display Gods handiwork, destinations that wouldnt need any kind of extraneous embellishment.

To his credit, Geyrhalter does include a snowcapped mountain or two but is sure to include a juxtaposing visual reminding us of his movies purpose of existence: garbage. Not metaphoric garbage mind you, but actual garbage. Towering peaks of manmade waste in all of its various forms.

Globetrotting

Spanning the globe, Geyrhalter and his crew visit Switzerland, Albania, Nepal, Maldives, Austria, Greece, and the state of Nevada underscoring that trash should be of universal concern and, on that point, hes right. Nobody likes garbage, yet Matter (with minor exceptions) only addresses a single facet of the issue, namely moving it from one place to another, often at a snails pace.

We get the idea the movie is going nowhere fast with its first chapter, a flat, seemingly empty field directly adjacent to high-rise dwellings somewhere in Austria. Two guys in hard hats watch as an earth-moving machine digs a 5-foot by 10-foot by 5-foot rectangular hole revealing what they believe to be a 50-year-old landfill containing discarded aerosol cans, rubber tires, and other non-biodegradable objects.

First, we get the impression that the garbage is going to be relocated, but thats not the case. When done, everything is placed back in the hole and recovered again. Just exactly was the point of this exercise?

In Maldives, Albania, and Greece, there are multiple scenes showing volunteers at various beaches and underwater collecting trash, bagging it, and taking it to  wait for it  more landfills. While not on a shoreline, a similar chapter taking place in Nepal ends in the same place: a landfill.

The one chapter that shows a degree of ingenuity, resourcefulness, and forward-thinking takes place in Switzerland. Starting atop a village that doubles as a ski resort, we follow collected waste on a journey that includes dump trucks headed down steep slopes while strapped below ski-lift cars. The contents dont end up in a landfill and the final destination might surprise you.

The penultimate chapter finds Geyrhalter and company back in Austria where refuse of kinds (including furniture and mattresses) is first pulverized, then incinerated and recycled into something that again, might surprise you.

Nikolaus Geyrhalters Matter Out of Place shows garbage throughout the world. (Icarus Films)

The final scene takes place at the annual Burning Man Festival near Black Rock City, Nevada, where revelers attend outdoor Rave parties while donned in cosplay outfits and could easily be part of background crowds in a Mad Max flick. Spouting a bunch of leftover 60s hippie idealism, the attendees and staff also observe a leave no trace practice where they clean up so efficiently when done, no one can tell they were ever there.

There was enough going on during this segment to warrant a feature of its own and it is the only portion of the movie that both entertains and informs. As good as it is, it was too little too late and couldnt save a movie that only partially speaks to its own choir without offering much in the way of ecological solutions.

The message isnt whats wrong hereits the messenger.

Matter Out of Place opened in New York on April 14 and in Los Angeles on April 21.

Matter Out of Place

Documentary

Director: Nikolaus Geyrhalter

Running Time: 1 hour, 46 minutes

MPAA Rating: Not Rated

Release Date: April 14, 2023

Rating: 2 out of 5
G-7 Foreign Ministers Call for Peaceful Resolution to ChinaTaiwan Issues

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (C), accompanied by U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel (R), holds up his boarding card as he is greeted by Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi (L), as he boards a train at Tokyo Station to travel to Karuizawa for a G-7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting, in Japan on April 16, 2023. (Andrew Harnik/Pool/AP Photo)

The Group of Seven (G-7) foreign ministers on April 16 called for a peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues between China and Taiwan as they gathered in Japan to discuss the situation in the Indo-Pacific region.

Japan hosted a three-day G-7 ministerial meeting on April 16 that involved foreign ministers from the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United States, and the European Union.

The ministers said the unity of G-7 nations is extremely important in dealing with the various challenges facing the Indo-Pacific region, including the threats posed by communist China and North Korea, according to Japans Foreign Ministry.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi emphasized the need to continue dialogue with China while also directly expressing concerns and urging China to act as a responsible member of the international community.

The ministers opposed any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force and affirmed the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait to the security of the international community.

On April 16, FM HAYASHI hosted a working dinner on the Indo-Pacific for approximately 140 minutes. The G7 Foreign Ministers are also scheduled to continue to discuss matters such as regional affairs, including the Indo-Pacific, on April 17.https://t.co/KQAx5gqrJc pic.twitter.com/wR4p2gal43  MOFA of Japan (@MofaJapan_en) April 16, 2023

With increasing competition in the region, it is more important than ever that we promote a free and open Indo-Pacific. It is critical to the UK, to our economy, our security and our values, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a statement.

They strongly condemned North Koreas series of missile launches, with Hayashi expressing grave concern over the unprecedented frequency and manner of the launches by North Korea.

On April 17, the ministers discussed Russias ongoing war in Ukraine and reaffirmed their commitment to fully coordinate and enforce sanctions against Russia and to provide strong support for Ukraine.

[The ministers] concurred into reinforcing coordination to prevent and respond to evasion of sanctions as well as third-party weapon supply to Russia, Japans Foreign Ministry stated.

French Presidents Remarks on Taiwan

The meeting took place on the heels of French President Emmanuel Macrons comments that urged Europe to stay out of the conflict between the United States and China over Taiwan.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping (L) shakes hands with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, as they attend the official welcoming ceremony in Beijing on April 6, 2023. (Ng Han Guan/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

Macron made the remarks in an interview with Politico on April 9, just days after completing his three-day visit to Beijing. He said it would be the worst thing for Europe to become followers on the Taiwan issue and take [its] cue from the U.S. agenda focused on defending Taiwan.

The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance in China (IPAC), which is made up of international legislators from 30 countries, issued a statement condemning his remarks and said that Macron does not speak for Europe.

With Beijing ramping up military exercises in the South China Sea and showing continuing support for Russian aggression in Ukraine, this is the worst possible moment to send a signal of indifference over Taiwan, the IPAC stated.

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), chair of the House Select Committee on China, criticized Macrons remarks as embarrassing and disgraceful, saying they play right into the CCPs [Chinese Communist Partys] strategy to divide America and Europe.

That invites aggression; it actually does not perpetuate peace, Gallagher told Fox News on April 10.

US Deploys Warship to Taiwan Strait

Beijing views Taiwan as a renegade province that must be united with the mainland by any means necessary, even though Taiwan has never been ruled by the CCP and has its own democratic government.

Beijing staged a three-day military drill around the self-ruled island on April 8 after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in California.

Although the CCP has announced the end of its military exercise around Taiwan, the Taiwanese Defense Ministry vowed to maintain its defense and continue to keep a close watch on the Chinese military.

The USS Milius (DDG-69) guided-missile destroyer arrives to join the Forward Deployed Naval Force at the U.S. naval base in Yokosuka, Japan, on May 22, 2018. (Issei Kato/Reuters)

The United States deployed its guided-missile destroyer USS Milius to the Taiwan Strait on April 16. The U.S. Navys 7th Fleet stated that the warship was conducting a routine transit where high-seas freedom of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law.

Taiwans military stated that it detected 18 Chinese aircraft and four naval vessels near the island on April 16, with four aircraft spotted entering southwest and southeast of Taiwans air defense identification zone.

In response, Taiwan scrambled aircraft to monitor the Chinese aircraft, mobilized naval vessels, and deployed land-based missile systems.
Gang Clash Leaves at Least 12 Dead in Ecuador Prison

Security personnel arrive at the Penitenciaria del Litoral prison after a riot, in Guayaquil, Ecuador, on April 14, 2023. (Vicente Gaibor del Pino/Reuters)

QUITOAt least 12 inmates were killed in an Ecuadorian jail amid a new clash between gangs, the SNAI prison agency said on Saturday, in the latest chapter in the South American nations prison violence.

The confrontation occurred on Friday in the prison known as La Penitenciaria, in the city of Guayaquil, one of the countrys most dangerous.

Ecuador has been plagued by prison riots since 2021, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of inmates, which the government attributes to clashes between drug gangs fighting for territory and control.

Through the use of technology, it was established 12 people died, SNAI told reporters.

The entity added that the prosecutors office and the police are in the prison for the identification of the dead bodies.

Last year, a United Nations delegation found that the violence in Ecuadors prisons was caused by years of state neglect of the penitentiary system.

President Guillermo Lasso, a conservative former banker facing impeachment hearings on corruption charges he denies, has struggled to address the growing violence in Ecuador, a country used as a transit point for cocaine moving to Europe and the United States.

Earlier this month, Ecuadors government amended a decree to allow the civilian use of firearms and pepper spray, citing rising insecurity in the South American country.

Fridays clash follows the murder of three female prison officers outside the prison in Guayaquil. This week, SNAI reported that six prisoners were found hanged in one of the wards of La Penitenciaria.

Lasso has increased the presence of the security forces and has repeatedly declared an emergency in the prison system in an attempt to control the violence.
Germany and Chad Exchange Expulsions Over Delay in Return to Democracy

A photo provided by the Multinational Joint Task Force in the region of Lake Chad shows 17 detained Boko Haram terrorists in this 2022 file photo. (MNJTF)

A diplomatic spat between Germany and Chad has again brought attention to the delayed return to democracy in the oil-rich Central African nationstill reeling from multiple crises two years after long-term leader Idriss Deby Itno died while fighting rebels.

On April 11, Berlin ordered Chads ambassador to Germany, Mariam Ali Moussa, to leave the country within 48 hours in response to a similar move by the landlocked countrys transitional authorities.

In a tweet, the German foreign ministry expressed its regret that it had to come to this, further describing Chads actions as unfounded.

Germanys ambassador, Jan-Christian Gordon Kricke, flew out of Chad late on April 8.

Chads government spokesman Aziz Mahamat Saleh said in a statement posted on Twitter that the German envoy was expelled for being impolite and disrespecting diplomatic practice.

Kricke, who had served as Germanys ambassador to Chad since 2021, had reportedly expressed concerns about delays to elections that would restore democracy following the April 2021 military coup.

Hes also alleged to have criticized the lack of transparency in investigations into last Octobers violent opposition protests in which many civilians were killed.

Speaking to The Epoch Times from NDjamena, Chads capital, a keen observer of Chadian politics, Remadji Hoinathy, described the tit-for-tat diplomatic spat between Chad and Germany as a pity.

Remadji, who is a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies covering Central Africa and the African Great Lakes, said he was taken aback by Chads move to expel the German ambassador given that there has not been any sign of disagreements between the two states lately.

Chads decision might have been in response to remarks by the German ambassador on the transitional authorities delays in organizing elections, he said.

There may also be disagreements over the handling of the bloody events of October 2022. Whatever the case, Chad may just be acting to give a message to other diplomatic actors that its leaders are less and less ready to give any details on how the transitional process is being managed.

He said Chads transitional authorities have received a lot of support from international partners and as a result, any form of friction with any one of these partners is something that is bad for the transitional authorities reputation.

Terrorism Bulwark

Chad has long been led by an authoritarian military rule whose generals have aligned with France, but recent anti-French protests have shown that ordinary people have been fed up with both the oppressive regime and its so-called democratic European enabler.

Military ruler Idriss Deby Itno led Chad for more than three decades under an iron fist after he overthrew his pro-French former boss, Hissene Habre, in 1990.

In 2021, Deby was killed by the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT) rebels, a group led by former military officers who have alleged ties with Russia.

His son Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno succeeded him without any election as the leader of the Transitional Military Council, following which Parliament was dissolved.

Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno and his allies havent yet disclosed any timetable for electionsa move that has upset many citizens who think France is behind the ongoing military rule.

Chadians have also held various grievances against Paris, which has profited from the countrys rich oil resources since its colonial times.

Joshua Meservey, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Hudson Institute, also expressed surprise at Chads decision to expel the German ambassador, describing the justification given by the countrys leaders as flimsy.

Im similarly a little surprised at Germanys retaliation, though it was entirely appropriate, Meservey told The Epoch Times in an email.

My guess is that the junta is trying to warn other ambassadors and countries that it wont be pushed on the commitments it has made to transition to civilian rule, commitments it has already broken, he wrote.

It is good to see Berlin making it clear to Chad that there is a cost associated with bad behavior of that sort.

Meservey said that its very unlikely that the imbroglio involving Germany will affect Chads relations with other European countries or the United States.

Its a bilateral issue, and not a grievous enough offense to rally Germanys allies, he said.

I do think it might further diminish the juntas reputation with those countries, however, as expelling the German ambassador was such an impetuous and petty move.

Chad is important to the United States and European Union in the fight against extremism. Its also seen as a buffer to prevent the unrest in its northern neighbor Libya from spreading south.

Chad is a valuable ally in the fight against terrorism in the region, and Russia may be trying to destabilize or even overthrow the government as well, so I think those larger concerns will take precedence over this diplomatic spat, Meservey said.

Critics Say Amnesty Inadequate

On Oct. 20, 2022, thousands of Chadians marched across the country following a call by the opposition denouncing the two-year extension of the transition headed by Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno.

Government forces arrested more than 600 protesters in NDjamena, including some 80 minors.

A court in a high-security desert prison later sentenced 262 people to two to three years in prison after a mass trial with no lawyers. About 80 othersout of 401 people on trialwere given one- to two-year suspended prison sentences, and 59 were acquitted.

But 259 Chadian protesters who were pardoned in late March by the countrys transition president were freed on April 8. This was preceded last month by the freeing of 380 members of the FACT rebel group who were jailed in connection with the death of President Deby.

On March 21, the rebels were tried and found guilty of acts of terrorism, undermining national security, endangering the life of the head of state, and recruitment of minors, among other charges. They were handed life terms.

Chads justice minister, Mahamat Ahmat Alhabo, said that their release was to get them to reflect on the criminal act for which they were convicted with a view to changing behavior to live a dignified, responsible life after reintegration.

But critics have described the decision as a flash in the pan.

The way those arrested are being judged is being condemned by the civil society and some political actors, Remadji said.

This measure is not sufficient to heal the wounds created by the October 2022 events. As far as there is no independent report on what really happenedhow many people were actually killed, the number arrested and those still missingthe transitional authorities wont absolve themselves from public criticism.

Remadji noted that security threats posed by the FACT rebel group have greatly reduced although insecurity in Chad goes beyond just that.

We have, in the western part of the country, Boko Haram around the Lake Chad region. That is a threat that Chad shares with its  neighbors, he said.

We also have a lot of inter-community conflicts which, since 2021, have been raging in the country.

On the diplomatic sphere, it is intriguing to see that Chads diplomatic  war with Germany is escalating at a time when it is still trying to develop new diplomatic relationships with countries like Israel. Chad has opened an embassy in Tel Aviv.

Meservey said the coup in Chad and the transitional authorities ploy to delay elections have kept the country on the same trajectory as it was under Deby, except for the fact that the junta is more diplomatically isolated.

But the types of severe security challenges that Deby faced remain and the economy is struggling along, he told The Epoch Times.

Those problems, particularly the security challenges from Islamist terrorism and rebels, are not going away any time soon.

The Wagner Question

Chad is one of the worlds least developed countries, being among the poorest and most corrupt states on the globe.

France is the former colonial power in the African state and recently faced backlash for its military presence in the region, mainly from the continents different local populations of Mali and Burkina Faso.

Anti-French sentiment has also been growing in Chad, which Meservey attributes to long-simmering grievances about Frances traditional and, at times, very aggressive support for Deby and now his sons regime.

The Russians could be trying to take advantage of the anger that has flared up among some Chadians against the junta government, he told The Epoch Times.

Though I havent seen any evidence this is the case, it would be in keeping with the Russian playbook if Moscow had a hand in fomenting the protests.

The Wagner Group used anti-French propaganda in places like CAR and Mali to try to drive Paris out, and Wagner may have helped train the rebel group, FACT, that was fighting Chadian forces when Deby was killed in 2021.

The U.S. also has intelligence demonstrating that Wagner has offered help to Chadian rebels to overthrow the junta government.

But Remadji said that he remains skeptical about Chads connection with the Russian paramilitary group.

Even though there is an anti-French feeling that is growing within the public opinion, we are far from what is happening in West Africa and we are also far from evidence on the presence of the Wagner group in the country be it with the transitional authorities or with the rebel groups.
GOP Presidential Hopefuls Pitch Plans to Support Gun Rights to NRA Conference

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy speaks at the National Rifle Association annual convention in Indianapolis, Ind., on April 14, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)

INDIANAPOLISA group of politicians seeking the Republican presidential nomination went before the National Rifle Association (NRA) on April 14 and vowed to fight for the Second Amendment.

The Supreme Court has affirmed that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms, including outside ones home. However, states and government agencies are clamping down on those rights.

Its enough to make gun owners wonder how long there will be a Second Amendment.

During the NRAs Institute for Legislative Action Leadership Forum at its Annual Meetings and Exhibits in Indianapolis, prominent conservatives promised NRA members they would stand and fight for their right to own firearms.

Republican presidential candidate and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley greets attendees after speaking at the Vision 24 National Conservative Forum in Charleston, S.C., on March 18, 2023. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who was the governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017, promised to support the NRA. Both addressed the crowd by video because they couldnt attend the meeting in person.

Haley said that she has always stood for a strong Second Amendment. While she was governor, she said South Carolina adopted the castle doctrine and constitutional carry. She also said she has a concealed carry permit.

Youve always got a friend in me, Haley said.

DeSantis is a former U.S. Representative who left the House to run for governor in 2022. In a move sure to win favor with NRA members, DeSantis signed a law on April 3 that made Florida the 26th state to recognize constitutional carry.

DeSantis is expected to throw his hat into the presidential ring at some point, though he has yet to confirm that. He told NRA members he has always supported the Second Amendment.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, delivers remarks during the New Hampshire GOPs Amos Tuck Dinner in Manchester, N.H., on April 14, 2023. (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

The capacity of the people to defend themselves is fundamental to their ability to rule themselves, DeSantis said.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) also addressed the group via video. He thanked the NRA for endorsing his 2022 Senate campaign and giving him an A rating for his Second Amendment stand.

Scott recently formed an exploratory committee to look into a presidential run. He committed to protecting all aspects of the Second Amendmentincluding protecting gun manufacturers, dealers, and others in the industry from the weaponization of financial institutions.

Were trying to stop banks from unbanking our gun manufacturers, Scott said.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) speaks before a hearing in Washington on Sept. 14, 2021. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool/Getty Images)

Entrepreneur, author, and Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy gave an impassioned speech outlining his plan for gun policy. He called Democrats gun control plan a new version of racist reconstruction era policies.

He said the first gun control laws in the United States denied recently freed slaves the right to own guns and that the laws left many black Americans defenseless.

The Democratic Party wanted to put black people back in chains, Ramaswamy said.

He said the Second Amendment had kept Americans free from tyranny. That principle can and should be exported, he said.

If we want to stop [Chinese leader] Xi Jinping from invading Taiwan, then put a gun in every house in Taiwan, Ramaswamy said.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson speaks at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., on Nov. 30, 2022. (Jill McLaughlin/The Epoch Times)

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson confirmed his intent to run for president and vowed to protect Americans Second Amendment rights.

I have stood with the NRA throughout my time in public service, he said.

Hutchinson touted his work with the NRA School Shield program, which raised grant funding to improve school security. He said the program and others like it have made a difference in society.

He said that as governor, he dealt quickly with violent protesters in the states capital by involving the state police.

The violence stops when you enforce the law, Hutchinson said.

We need to set that example across America.
Government Urged to Scrap All Existing Smart Motorways Over Safety Concerns

Traffic passes an Emergency Refuge Area on a smart motorway section in the UK on Jan. 19, 2021. (Martin Rickett/PA)

All existing smart motorways should be scrapped, road safety campaigners and motoring groups have said after the UK government axed plans for any new routes.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on Saturday that all plans for new smart motorways have been cancelled, citing financial pressures and safety concerns.

Fourteen planned smart motorwaysincluding 11 that are already paused and three earmarked for constructionwill be removed from the governments road building plans, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced.

But the DfT said that the construction of two stretches of the smart motorway at junctions 6 to 8 of the M56 and junctions 21a to 26 of the M6 will continue as they are already more than three-quarters complete.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks to the media in Rochdale, England, on April 3, 2023. (Phil Noble  Pool/Getty Images)

Existing stretches will remain but will be subjected to a safety refit so there are 150 more emergency stopping places across the network.

While the decision to cancel the new routes has been welcomed, critics say the government must go further and scrap the existing smart motorways as well.

Public Confidence

Around 10 percent of Englands motorway network is made up of so-called smart motorways, which were developed to increase capacity without having to add extra traffic lanes.

They use technology to shut and slow lanes in response to accidents and breakdowns, freeing up the emergency hard-shoulder lane to be flexibly used for regular traffic when needed.

But concerns have been raised over the years following fatal incidents involving broken-down vehicles being hit from behind.

The DfT said that cancelling these schemes will allow more time to track public confidence in smart motorways over a longer period.

Commenting on the decision to scrap new smart motorways, the prime minister said: All drivers deserve to have confidence in the roads they use to get around the country. Thats why last year I pledged to stop the building of all new smart motorways, and today Im making good on that promise.

Many people across the country rely on driving to get to work, to take their children to school, and go about their daily lives and I want them to be able to do so with full confidence that the roads they drive on are safe.

Sitting Ducks

Motoring services firm the AA welcomed the decision to cancel the new routes, but said this is not enough.

AA President Edmund King told the BBC on Sunday that a permanent hard shoulder should be restored to 375 miles of existing smart motorways.

Basically drivers dont trust them, the technology is not foolproof, and 37 percent of breakdowns on smart motorways happen in live lanes. And basically those drivers are sitting ducks.

Simon Williams, road safety spokesman for motoring services firm the RAC, said: Our research shows all-lane-running smart motorways are deeply unpopular with drivers, so were pleased the government has finally arrived at the same conclusion.

Its now vitally important that plans are made for making the hundreds of existing miles of these types of motorway as safe as possible.

Claire Mercer (centre), whose husband died in a smart motorway crash, has campaigned for the hard shoulder to be restored. (Aaron Chown/PA)

Deadly Cost-Saving Gamble

Campaigner Claire Mercer, whose husband was killed on a smart motorway, also welcomed the governments move but pledged to continue pushing for the hard shoulder to return on every road.

She said: Its good news, but obviously its the existing ones that are killing us. And Im not settling for more emergency refuge areas. So its half the battle, but weve still got half the battle to go.

Jason Mercer and another man, Alexandru Murgeanu, died in 2019 when they were hit by a lorry on the M1 near Sheffield after they stopped on the inside lane of the smart motorway section following a minor collision.

Sarah Champion, the Labour MP for Mercers Rotherham constituency, said: Im relieved the government has finally listened to motorists and common sense, but this announcement is long overdue and I need to see the detail before celebrating.

Hopefully this is finally the end of a deadly cost-saving gamble with our lives, she said.

Flawed Logic

Sally Jacobs, whose husband died when his van was hit by a car near Sheffield in March 2019, said she will only be satisfied when they reinstate the hard shoulder right across the country.

She told The Telegraph: If an aeroplane was found to have serious safety issues would they still allow them to keep flying but merely stop making new ones? This is the flawed logic they are applying here.

In 2018, mother-of-five Nargis Begum died after she got out of the passenger side of a car on the M1 north of Woodhall Services and was hit by a Mercedes.

Her son Niaz Shazad criticised the DfT for continuing to funnel 900 million into existing smart motorways instead of axing the entire scheme.

He described Sunaks announcement as a deceitful political play, adding, If there was real concern for driver safety the entire scheme would have been scrapped long ago.

Conservative MP Greg Smith agreed.

He wrote on Twitter, Great news new smart motorways are being axed, but we need to reverse the ones weve got and put the hard shoulder back.

Simon Veazey and PA Media contributed to this report.
Scientists may have found a solution to blood clotting ailments from one of natures most unlikely sources, bears.

Those of us who had to sit on long flights know all too well the medical warnings that sitting inactive for hours can cause blood clots in our legs and lungs. These warnings arise from the fact that humans experiencing severe immobility caused by illness or injury are at risk of the potentially deadly condition known as venous thromboembolism (VTE).

But bears do not suffer from similar issues despite, during their winter hibernation, remaining immobile for months every year.

This caught the attention of cardiologists Tobias Petzold and Manuela Thienel at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany, who wanted to find out how bears avoid dangerous blood clotting.

The researchers conducted an experiment over two winters, during which they trekked through the snow to dig out and tranquillize 13 sleeping brown bears wearing GPS collars, taking blood samples. The bears were then returned to their dens to finish their winter nap.

In the following summers, they tracked the same bears and took more blood samples to determine if there was a difference in the blood composition compared to the winter-taken samples.

Petzold, Thienel and their colleagues found that a specific protein, called HSP47, was in high quantities in the bears blood during summer but almost absent during the winter period.

What is HSP47?

HSP47, which is the abbreviation of heat shock protein 47, is commonly found in cells of bone or cartilage, which are connective tissues for the body.

Its also found in plateletssmall, colourless fragments of cells that circulate in the bloodwhere it will attach to collagen, helping the platelets bond.

Platelets also form blood clots when they recognize damaged blood vessels, which aids healing when the body responds to a cut or other injury. However, it is dangerous when a clump of platelets blocks blood flow to the lungs.

Following this discovery, the researchers sought to confirm that the protein HSP47 was behind the bears lack of blood clots, so they performed laboratory tests on mice and found those lacking the protein in question had fewer clots and lower levels of inflammation than those with HSP47.

Further, similar results were observed in pigs where sows that had recently given birth and tended to remain mainly immobile for around 28 days to feed their piglets also had lower protein levels when compared to non-nursing pigs.

Similar results were also noticed in humans, with people with long-term immobility due to their spinal cord injury registering low levels of HSP47 and no signs of inflammation-related clotting.

Huge Step Forward

Tinen Iles, a computational biologist at the University of Minnesota, told Science News that the study was a huge step forward.

Iles, who was not involved with this research, said that the study had brought together scientists from various backgrounds, including wildlife biologists and healthcare experts and showed how animals had adapted to stop immobility-related blood clots.

This meant that researchers now have a roadmap to mimic natures solutions with drugs, Iles said.

Lead researcher Petzold told Science News that the studys findings would mean that researchers could now look to potential drugs that would aim to stop HSP47 from interacting with proteins or immune cells that spark clots.

What is VTE?

VTE is a condition characterized by the formation of blood clots (thrombi) in the veins, which can lead to serious health consequences if not promptly diagnosed and treated.

VTE can occur in different parts of the venous system, most commonly in the deep veins of the legs (known as deep vein thrombosis or DVT) or in the lungs (known as pulmonary embolism or PE).

VTE typically occurs when there is a disruption in the normal blood flow or a change in the bloods coagulation balance, leading to the formation of clots.

Several risk factors can increase the likelihood of developing VTE, including:

Immobility : Prolonged periods of immobility, such as during long-haul flights or bed rest after surgery or illness.

: Prolonged periods of immobility, such as during long-haul flights or bed rest after surgery or illness. Surgery : Major surgeries, especially those involving the lower abdomen, pelvis, or extremities.

: Major surgeries, especially those involving the lower abdomen, pelvis, or extremities. Trauma : Injuries that damage blood vessels or disrupt blood flow, such as fractures or severe muscle injuries.

: Injuries that damage blood vessels or disrupt blood flow, such as fractures or severe muscle injuries. Medical conditions : Certain medical conditions, such as cancer, heart disease, and inflammatory disorders.

: Certain medical conditions, such as cancer, heart disease, and inflammatory disorders. Hormonal factors : The use of estrogen-containing medications, such as hormonal contraceptives or hormone replacement therapy.

: The use of estrogen-containing medications, such as hormonal contraceptives or hormone replacement therapy. Genetic factors : Inherited conditions that affect blood clotting, such as factor V Leiden mutation or other genetic mutations.

: Inherited conditions that affect blood clotting, such as factor V Leiden mutation or other genetic mutations. Age : The risk of VTE increases with age, particularly in individuals over 60 years old.

: The risk of VTE increases with age, particularly in individuals over 60 years old. Obesity : Excess body weight can increase the risk of VTE.

: Excess body weight can increase the risk of VTE. Pregnancy: Pregnancy and the postpartum period increase the risk of VTE due to hormonal changes and increased pressure on the veins.

The symptoms of VTE can vary depending on the location and size of the blood clot. Common symptoms of DVT include swelling, pain, warmth, and redness in the affected leg, while symptoms of PE may include sudden onset of shortness of breath, chest pain, rapid heartbeat, and coughing up blood.

VTE can be diagnosed through various imaging tests, such as ultrasound, CT scan, or ventilation-perfusion scan for PE.

Treatment for VTE typically involves anticoagulant medications to prevent the clot from growing and to reduce the risk of further clot formation.

VTE is a serious condition that requires prompt medical attention, and if you suspect you may have VTE or have risk factors for developing VTE, its important to consult a healthcare professional for proper evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment.

Researchers have published their results in the article Immobility-associated thromboprotection is conserved across mammalian species from bear to human in the journal Science.
KYODO NEWS - Apr 17, 2023 - 22:36 | World, All, Japan

Japan and South Korea agreed Monday to bolster their security cooperation amid North Korea's nuclear and missile threats as the two countries held their first working-level security talks in Seoul for over five years.

Senior foreign and defense ministry officials of the two sides also agreed to strengthen coordination with the United States over real-time information sharing between the three countries during North Korean missile launches.

The officials also deepened mutual understanding about their countries' security and defense policies, according to Japanese and South Korean press releases.

Their meeting comes amid persisting concerns in South Korea over Japan's goal of developing capabilities to strike targets inside an adversary's territory.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's administration has maintained that there must be prior consultation and consent in situations involving South Korea's national interests.

The security talks were suspended in 2018 after South Korea's Supreme Court ordered Japanese companies to compensate plaintiffs for alleged forced labor during World War II under Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

Related coverage:

Japan, U.S., South Korea agree to enhance North Korean missile info sharing

North Korea tests new solid-fuel ICBM, overseen by leader Kim

Japan, South Korea mull 1st security talks in 5 years in April: source
Every cancer diagnosis comes with a range of reactions, including the natural inclination to act as quickly as possible to choose and begin treatment.

However, a new study has revealed that, in the case of prostate cancer, over 15 years, outcomes were surprisingly similar for three groups: a prostatectomy group, a radiotherapy group, and a nontreatment group under active monitoring. The studys authors found that prostate cancer-specific mortality was relatively low regardless of the approach taken.

The Clinical Trial

The new findings are based on 15-year outcomes of the Prostate Testing for Cancer and Treatment (ProtecT) clinical trial sponsored by the University of Oxford. This long-term trial was initiated in 2001 and will continue until 2027.

Heres a summary of the trial thus far:

The ProtecT trial included 82,429 men in the United Kingdom between 50 and 69 years of age who received a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test from 1999 to 2009.

Localized prostate cancer was diagnosed in 2,664 of the men.

Researchers followed a subgroup of 1,643 men to assess the efficacy of three approaches: active monitoring, prostatectomy, and radiotherapy.

The three approaches resulted in similar overall survival rates and low rates of disease progression over 15 years.

There are several possible explanations for this finding. The median PSA was relatively low among randomized patients; most of the trial patients were at low risk or favorable intermediate risk and would today be considered appropriate candidates for active surveillance.

Another possibility is that, in most cases, prostate cancer is a slow-growing cancer and may not necessarily lead to death if left untreated for some time.

Notably, patients who received radical prostatectomy or external-beam radiotherapy were more likely to experience adverse effects, such as urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction, than those on active monitoring.

Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that active monitoring could be appropriate for some men with localized prostate cancer, particularly those with low-risk disease. This approach involves regular monitoring of the cancer with PSA tests and other diagnostic measures, with treatment initiated only if the cancer shows signs of progression.

Overall, the current study findings highlight the importance of balancing the potential benefits and harms of prostate cancer treatments.

The authors published an additional paper on their long-term investigation. In the paper, they explain that effects on sexual, urinary, and bowel function can continue over time for some patients, which is an essential factor for therapy decision-making.

Prostate Cancer Survival Rate Is High, But so Is the Number of Cases

In the United States, 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetimes. Older males and non-Hispanic black men have the highest risk of developing prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is not usually fatal: It has a five-year 98 percent survival rate. The 10-year survival rate is also 98 percent. However, given the number of individuals diagnosed, its the second leading cause of cancer death among U.S. males. The American Cancer Society estimates that about 34,700 men will die of the disease in 2023.

Worldwide, incidence rates vary dramatically, from 6.3 to 83.4 per 100,000 people. The highest incidence rates are in Northern and Western Europe, the Caribbean, Australia/New Zealand, North America, and Southern Africa. Asia and North Africa have the lowest rates of prostate cancer. Men of African descent are most susceptible to the illness.

Mortality rates are highest in the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Micronesia/Polynesia.

Trends in Diagnosis

In an editorial published by the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Oliver Sartor, medical director of the Tulane Cancer Center, writes that current treatment approaches are very different today from when the ProtecT clinical trial started.

The ProtecT trial relied on PSA testing, which, though still a standard test, is no longer the norm, writes Sartor.

In many clinics, PSA testing is not done at all, and the legal consequences of not testing are diminished, given that guidelines now embrace patient-centric informed decision-making.

Active Monitoring

Sartor writes, Active monitoring as performed in the ProtecT trial should not be used today. We can do better by adding serial multiparametric MRI assessments.

Active monitoring, also known as active surveillance, is a management approach for prostate cancer. Patients with low- or intermediate-risk disease are closely monitored with regular PSA testing, prostate exams, and sometimes repeat biopsies but dont receive immediate active treatment such as surgery or radiation.

It aims to avoid overtreatment and its potential side effects in patients who may never develop symptoms or die from cancer while providing timely treatment if cancer shows signs of progression.

Methods used for active surveillance have evolved over the past two decades, with new evidence and guidelines informing the approach. For example, MRI and targeted biopsy have become more common in recent years, allowing for more accurate tumor size and location assessment and reducing the need for repeat biopsies. Additionally, some risk-stratification systems have been developed specifically for active surveillance patients, considering factors such as age, PSA level, and biopsy results to identify patients who may be good candidates for this approach.

Active surveillance is not appropriate for all prostate cancer patients and should be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Patients with higher-risk diseases or who are uncomfortable with close monitoring without active treatment may opt for more aggressive treatment options such as surgery or radiation.

Men with localized prostate cancer shouldnt rush their treatment choices or react with fear, according to lead ProtecT author Dr. Freddie Hamdy of the University of Oxford. Instead, they should consider the possible benefits and harms caused by the treatment options.

This may apply to other cancers as well.

For some cancers, waiting to get a better understanding of the molecular profiling of a tumor can yield significant improvements in survival. Molecular profiling refers to doctors using information about a patients proteinaceous, genetic, and metabolic profile to tailor medical care to that individuals needs. Its important to note that, in the case of lung cancer, once profiling is complete, its essential to start treatment as soon as possible, as early treatment can lead to better outcomes.

4 Consequences of Overtreatment

Overtreatment can include aggressive treatments, such as surgeries and chemotherapy, that may not provide significant benefits and may even be harmful to patients.

This study shows the consequences associated with overtreatment:

Harmful side effects: Many medical treatments come with potential side effects or risks, and overtreatment can increase the likelihood of these adverse outcomes. For example, unnecessary surgeries can lead to complications, such as infections and organ damage.

Many medical treatments come with potential side effects or risks, and overtreatment can increase the likelihood of these adverse outcomes. For example, unnecessary surgeries can lead to complications, such as infections and organ damage. Reduced quality of care: Overtreatment can distract health care providers from focusing on essential aspects of patient care, such as preventive measures and chronic disease management.

Overtreatment can distract health care providers from focusing on essential aspects of patient care, such as preventive measures and chronic disease management. Financial burden: Overtreatment and rising health care costs can result in significant financial obligations for individuals, families, and society. This can be particularly challenging for uninsured and underinsured patients.

Overtreatment and rising health care costs can result in significant financial obligations for individuals, families, and society. This can be particularly challenging for uninsured and underinsured patients. Emotional burden: Overtreatment can be stressful for the patient and his family.

Overtreatment can be stressful for the patient and his family. Waste of resources: Overtreatment can lead to the overuse of medical resources, including unnecessary tests, procedures, and medications.

Its possible to employ fewer resources while increasing overall efficiency and accuracy in prostate cancer diagnosis and management using artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to avoid overtreatment.

The ProtecT trial findings shouldnt be interpreted as a recommendation to forgo treatment for localized prostate cancer. Each patients situation is unique, and the decision to undergo treatment or active surveillance should be made in consultation with a health care provider.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Epoch Health welcomes professional discussion and friendly debate. To submit an opinion piece, please follow these guidelines and submit through our form here.
How China Made Russia Its Junior Partner

Commentary

When Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin met in March, it was to firm up a new SinoRussian strategic partnership crafted last year. Yet there is always a hierarchy in every alliance, and it is increasingly apparent that Russia is the junior partner in this relationship.

It wasnt always so. From the founding of communist China (Peoples Republic of China) in 1949 and up to the early 1960s, Beijing was definitely subordinate to the Soviet Union. Particularly in the beginning, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) looked to the USSR as an ideological brother-in-arms and an economic and administrative model to be emulated.

Just as important, China depended heavily on Soviet aid to underwrite industrialization and national economic development. During the 1950s, Moscow sent thousands of Soviet advisers, engineers, and workers to China, while also educating thousands of Chinese inside Russia. The Soviet Union built thousands of modern industrial plants across China, using Russian machinery, tools, and plans.

Moscows largesse wasnt free. Most Soviet aid to China came in the form of loans, to be paid off by exports of food and raw materials back to the USSR. (These grain exports, by the way, worsened Chinas great famine of the late 1950s.)

The USSR also supplied considerable amounts of military assistance to the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA), both in the form of arms transfers and, more importantly, through the construction of turnkey facilities that allowed the Chinese to manufacture a wide variety of Soviet arms. In fact, the vast majority of Chinese arms produced during the 1950s and 1960s were mostly copies of Soviet-designed weaponry, many of them among the most modern armaments then available.

During this period, for example, China produced T-54 and T-55 tanks; MiG-15, MiG-17, and MiG-19 fighter jets; the SS-N-2 Styx antiship missile (designated the HY-2 Silkworm by the PLA); the AA-2 air-to-air missile; and the Romeo-class diesel-electric submarine. In most cases, the USSR made these systems available for licensed manufacture by China within only a few years of deploying the weapons with the Soviet armed forces.

In particular, Moscow made its then most-potent fighter jet available to the PLA, the MiG-21. Despite the Sino-Soviet split of 1960, which partly derailed this program, the Chinese received enough MiG-21 airframes, kits, and technical documents to successfully reverse-engineer the aircraft as the Chinese J-7 fighter. The J-7, in turn, was subsequently produced in the thousands and exported around the world.

A Russian MiG-21 fighter prepares to take off at the Dubai air show, in the United Arab Emirates, on Nov. 17, 1999. (Rabih Moghrabi/AFP via Getty Images)

The second phase of Russian military-technical assistance occurred after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the warming of diplomatic and economic ties between Moscow and Beijing. At the time, the CCP was desperate for advanced foreign military technology in order to modernize its armed forces, and the West had recently cut the country off over its massacre of peaceful pro-democracy demonstrators during the Tiananmen protests.

Moscow gladly stepped in, and the 1990s and early 2000s saw another wave of Russian arms sales to China. In 1992, Beijing signed a contract for 24 Su-27 fighter jets, its first purchase of Russian military equipment in over 30 years. This was followed up by subsequent buys of additional Su-27 and Su-30 fighters and, later on, an agreement to license-produce 200 Su-27s at the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation in Liaoning Province.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), China received more than $28 billion worth of arms between 1992 and 2010. In addition to Sukhoi fighters, Beijing bought four Sovremenny-class destroyers (armed with the Moskit/SS-S-22 supersonic antiship cruise missile [ASCM]), 12 Kilo-class diesel-electric submarines, and several dozen Mi-8/-17 Hip helicopters, along with Tor-M1 and S-300 surface-to-air missile systems, AA-11 air-to-air missiles, Il-76 transport aircraft, Kh-31 antiradiation missiles, and 3M-54 missiles. As a result, Russian arms soon constituted the most potent weaponry in Chinas arsenal.

What a difference a few years make. Today, Chinas economy is light-years ahead of Russias. Chinas per capita GDP has skyrocketed since the early 2000s and now equals Russias. China has built thousands of miles of high-speed railways and dominates manufacturing spheres like shipbuilding and consumer electronics, while Russia is basically a third-world extractive economy based on oil, gas, and minerals.

Beijing also outstrips Moscow when it comes to next-generation research and development (R&D) in such areas as cyber, space, and robotics. In the field of artificial intelligence (AI), for example, Russian spending on AI R&D is estimated at around $360 million for the period 20202024. In comparison, Chinese investment in AI is expected to reach $26.7 billion in 2026. Russia will likely never be able to compete head-to-head in any AI arms race with China (or the United States).

Additionally, Chinas military hardly needs Moscow any longer. China spends three times more on its national defense than Russia ($225 billion versus $85 billion), and the difference is glaringly apparent. Over the past decade, the PLA has deployed hundreds of fifth-generation fighter jets, nuclear submarines, and advanced warships, while Russias backward forces remain bogged down in Ukraine.

As a result, Chinese purchases of Russian arms have dropped dramatically, from over $2.5 billion annually in the early 2000s to less than $750 million in 2022. The bulk of these recent purchases were for Russian jet engines, which were subsequently integrated into Chinese combat aircraft, given Chinas longstanding problems with building effective turbofan engines. Even in this regard, however, China is becoming increasingly self-reliant.

Today it is a weak Russia that desperately needs a strong China. Putin is now looking to Xi to supply Russia with the weapons it urgently requires to continue its war on Ukraine. As a result, the power dynamic between Moscow and Beijing has clearly shifted in favor of the latter. As David Ignatius of The Washington Post has put it, The paradox of the Ukraine war is that Putins bid for greater power in Europe has made him weaker. This, in turn, has made him more dependent than ever on China and Xi.

Little wonder, then, that Putin is increasingly the junior partner in the SinoRussian alliance. It will not shift back any time soon.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
IN-DEPTH: The $5 COVID-19 Treatment That Could Have Helped Save Thousands of Lives

Clinical immunologist on an effective treatment for COVID-19 that health authorities ignored

If the authorities had heeded advice from those with the most profound knowledge of the mechanics of COVID-19, the pandemic could have been handled more adeptly, according to an immunologist who is one of perhaps a few hundred in the world with that specific expertise.

Instead, he said, his and others voices were silenced.

Shortly after news of the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in Wuhan, China, in early 2020, Vojtech Thon, a clinical immunologist and professor at Masaryk University in the Czech Republic, started examining tissue samples of infected patients. His goal wasnt just to understand how the virus infects people but mainly to see the immune response dynamics that would protect a person. He focused on the mucosal system in the nose, mouth, and lungshis area of expertise.

His findings were striking and ran counter to many of the public health narratives heard worldwide.

He concluded that:

1) Early treatment was possible, available, and critical.

2) Pandemic mitigation measures were misused and, in many cases, counterproductive to fighting the disease.

3) Vaccines were rolled out improperly and presented to the public inaccurately. They couldnt achieve sterilizing immunity, that is, elimination of the virus before it could multiply in the body.

Virtually all of this was known at the pandemics beginning or at least by late 2020. Yet his attempts to make his expertise available to authorities were largely shut down.

Early Treatment

The lung tissue damage that Thon saw in severe COVID-19 cases resembled the damage that results from a disease he knew very wellobliterative bronchiolitis, or popcorn lung.

The implications were far-reaching. As he further studied the diseases mechanics, he realized that severe COVID-19 was primarily an immunological and vascular disease. As the virus binds to cells, it shuts down an enzyme that helps prevent oxidative stress in cells that make up the inner lining of blood vesselsendothelium.

With the enzyme lacking, oxidative stress damages the cells, which then causes inflammationoverstimulation of the immune systemwhich causes further damage as the immune system tries to eliminate the damaged cells. In the end, blood in the vessels starts to clot, leading to heart attacks and strokes. Inflamed lungs also lose their ability to supply oxygen to the blood. Death follows.

What kills the person is not the virus. What kills him is rather his own incorrectly regulated immune response, Thon told The Epoch Times.

Just as in popcorn lung, the key to treatment is to mitigate the inflammation.

Its been known to us for decades as a complication after transplants, he said.

We had a treatment for it, and thats the immune regulatory treatment, immune suppression.

The assertion by health authorities across much of the world that no early treatment was available was incorrect, according to Thon.

And immune regulation is a tricky businessif its overdone, it can put the patient at risk.

The immune system is like a Swiss watch. You should be very careful with it, and you should also be very careful with the treatmentyou should know exactly what youre doing, he said.

But many, including Thon, were confident they knew what they were doing and had good results.

I have done early treatment in my patients, and no one was admitted into a hospital, he said.

He said he used a very complex mix of medications tailored to each patients situation, particularly stressing anti-inflammatory drugs, such as some used in treating asthma.

Although there werent many doctors with sufficient immunology expertise to prepare such protocols, frontline practicing clinicians could learn and have learned how to use the protocols.

We teach each other, Thon said.

He offered the example of one physician in a senior home who lost many patients to the disease early in the pandemic. The physician then asked for help, and Thon instructed him on what to look for in bloodwork and what drugs to use. Several months later, the doctor told him that patient mortality had dropped dramatically. Only two died, although both were so sick that there was little chance they would have made it under any circumstances.

Thon acknowledged the usefulness of various inexpensive drugs in treatment protocols. However, he stressed that treatment shouldnt rely on any one medication but rather work with whats suitable for a particular patient and whats readily available.

One of the critical drugs he used was a generic antileukotriene, montelukast, widely available in central Europe. He managed to get the price down to about $5 for the entire treatment course.

You need to treat thousands of patients, and for that, you need something available, really available, and not only for the high society, he said.

He also recommended gargling with povidone-iodine. That reduces the amount of virus in the mouth, where its particularly concentrated. It helps reduce the amount of virus the body needs to deal with and how much the virus spreads to other people.

However, health authorities mainly rejected his and others attempts to get their treatment protocols used more broadly.

We are able to help the people, but it was mostly not allowed for us to do in the population, he said.

Instead, many people, afraid to go out, waited until their condition became severe before going to a hospital. At that point, it was often too late to stop the inflammation.

All around the world, these people were staying for a long time at home without help, Thon said.

Lockdowns

From early on, one thing was apparent to Thon: The way to stop the pandemic was to start treating patients early and let every person develop their immunity to the virus.

Every one of us will be in contact with this virus, he said.

Masking was of little help, he opined, given that the virus spreads through aerosols, basically the air we exhale, which spreads out through the mask and around its edges.

Meanwhile, ordering people to stay home was essentially a fools errand as, sooner or later, people would have to come out and face the virus.

It wasnt actually necessary to [order people to stay home], especially with children, he said.

What was necessary, he said, was to focus on the at-risk population, individuals with comorbidities. Most of the hospitalized patients fell into this category.

He said that the list of comorbidities was apparent early on, not just from the mortality data, but also from the mechanics of the disease.

It was clear, for example, why obese people were at much higher risk of the disease. As he explained, fatty tissue metabolism causes something similar to inflammation in the body.

From the immunological point of view, it is an inflammatory state, he said.

It was no surprise to him that when a chronic inflammatory state was combined with inflammation caused by the virus, the resulting illness was substantially worse. The same went for insufficiently treated diabetes, which is also partly a disease of fat tissue metabolism, he explained.

While age could be used as a proxy for comorbidities on a population level, older people arent automatically at risk, he noted.

Age is not itself a risk factor. The risk factors are the comorbidities, the inflammatory or pre-inflammatory state, he said.

He said some aspects of the lockdowns, such as closing beaches, parks, and playgrounds, were particularly counterproductive.

Lack of outdoor activity not only contributes to obesity but also undermines a persons ability to fight the virus on several fronts.

Some research during the pandemic showed that people with vitamin D deficiency fared worse with the disease. Thon wasnt surprised, because vitamin D3 has an immunoregulatory function.

The simplest way to get enough vitamin D3 is through exposure to sunlight, since ultraviolet light induces the production of the vitamin in the skin. Otherwise, a person would need more through means such as supplements and foods such as fish or fish oils.

But sunshine exposure is even more crucial in mitigating COVID-19, Thon explained, because the suns near-infrared radiation (NIR) induces melatonin production.

The pineal gland in the brain releases melatonin to regulate the day-night biorhythmit helps us fall asleep at night. Most of the melatonin in our bodies, however, is produced by mitochondria in individual cells, where it serves as an antioxidant, protecting cells from damaging oxidative compounds.

This function is critical for overcoming COVID-19 because the virus damages the bodys ability to convert a specific oxidative enzyme into an antioxidant, leading to an overabundance of the oxidant. Melatonin production is thus important to counter this oxidative stress that otherwise leads to damage to the blood vessel inner lining and excessive blood clottingsome of the most harmful effects of COVID-19.

Because the NIR has a relatively large wavelength, it can penetrate about an inch into the body, even through clothes. Theres enough of it in daylight, even when its cloudy.

You need to be outside, Thon said.

Vaccination

As soon as the first specific information became available about the COVID-19 vaccines in development, several things were evident to Thon.

First, the vaccines couldnt stop the virus from spreading.

As a respiratory virus, SARS-CoV-2 enters the body through the nose and mouth and then travels to the trachea and lungs. To enter the rest of the body, it first needs to break through the mucous membranethe soft tissue that lines the respiratory tract and includes glands in the nose and mouth that produce mucus and saliva. The immune system in the nose and mouth is robust and serves as the bodys first line of defense.

Even if the mucosal barrier only holds off the virus temporarily, it gives the immune system time to learn to recognize the virus and fight it off more efficiently.

Moreover, each time the mucosal system encounters the virus, it becomes better at dealing with it. After some time, new encounters with the virus become de facto immunization boosters.

We can be, any time, inoculated with the virus, again and again, Thon said.

Still, the mucosal system never reaches a point at which it would become completely sterile with regard to the microorganisms that try to invade our bodies.

You actually, with the mucosal immunity, dont reach the sterilization status in the organism itself because the mucosal part of our body cannot be sterile, Thon said.

That means that even if the person already went through the infection and is poised to overcome a following infection without significant illness, the virus will still enter the mucosal system and replicate, at least to some degree. The person will still spread the virus at least a bit.

Therefore, all the talk about herd immunity during the pandemic needed to be more accurate, to begin with, Thon said. The common concept of herd immunity is that once enough people are inoculated, the virus can no longer spread because it cant easily find a suitable hostthe immunized people protect those who arent.

That was never really an option with this virus.

It is not about the herd immunity itself. It is about immunity for each individual person, Thon explained.

The vaccines couldnt have prevented the virus from spreading in any significant way because they are injected directly into the body and lead to the development of systemic immunityantibodies in the bloodstream and tissues, according to Thon. Because the mucosal system is bypassed in this process, it doesnt develop sterilizing immunity, and when we breathe in the virus, it will relatively quickly take hold and replicate. The patient will spread the virus just as if he werent vaccinated.

He said that vaccines still have their utility, especially for at-risk people.

Its the emergency brake in the last phase, when it spreads to the whole body.

But it was also apparent from the beginning, at least to immunologists, that vaccination would provide less resistance than infection-induced resistance.

First, the vaccine only trains the immune system to recognize the viruss spike protein. If this protein mutates, the vaccine-induced immunity loses effectiveness, and the vaccine needs to be reformulated. On the other hand, natural infection trains the immune system to recognize up to 20 different proteins in the virus. Such immunity is thus likely to work against other variants too.

Furthermore, even if the virus breaks through it, the mucosal system keeps aiding our bodies in overcoming the disease. Crucially, it plays a regulatory function, Thon said. Since the most dangerous stage of COVID-19 is inflammation, at which the immune system goes haywire and starts to damage blood vessels, lungs, and other organs, the regulatory function of the immune system becomes critical, helping the body stop fighting the virus at the proper time.

The mucosal immunity is so important, much more important than the systemic immunity itself, he said, calling it the neglected but critical aspect and the missing link in comprehending SARS-CoV-2 infections and transmission.

The vaccination isnt enough to supplant infection-induced immunity, he said.

Even though you are inoculated with the vaccines, you need to be in contact with the SARS-CoV-2 virus to be protected against the disease.

The key is ensuring that a person doesnt get too much of the virus at once.

Repeatedly encountering smaller infection doses leads to the development of immunity that allows an individual to overcome the infection, he said.

Vaccine Rollout

Considering what the vaccines could and couldnt accomplish, Thon concluded that the approach to their distribution was also incorrect.

Instead of focusing on vaccinating as many people as possible in developed countries, the goal should have been to vaccinate all at-risk people worldwide as quickly as possible.

At the beginning, the vaccine was important for the risk population, but for others, its not so necessary, he said.

Also, the booster doses were overkill, in his view.

Just the first dose, at most the second dose, was enough, he said.

The most unadvisable was the trend of people lying about their vaccination status to get additional doses.

Excessive vaccination overstimulates the immune system. The systems regulatory part then starts suppressing the immune response.

The result could be that the people who are overvaccinated will get the disease much more easily, Thon said.

Moreover, it was also known all along that the vaccines had their risks.

In essence, this vaccine is based on a principle meant for treating tumors. In that context, you can have more side effects because youre talking about saving a life, prolonging meaningful life, quality of life. Those are different criteria, he said.

The most common COVID-19 vaccines in the West are based on mRNA technology. Genetic information is encapsulated in a tiny bubble of a particular fat molecule that protects it. The molecule then binds with cells in our bodies, releasing the genetic code inside. The cell reads the code as an instruction to produce spike proteins like the virus. The spike proteins pop out on the cells outer shell, prompting the immune system to recognize the cell as infected, attack it, and develop antibodies specifically designed to recognize the protein.

There are several risks associated with this process.

First of all, the vaccine dosage is tricky. Even though each person receives a dose of the vaccine based on their body weight, once its in their bodies, theres no telling how much spike protein their cells will produce.

Also, because the vaccine technology was developed for treating cancer, its designed to prompt immune response throughout the body because cancer can metastasize. For a respiratory virus, however, this is unnecessary, Thon said.

It goes into the parenchymal organs like the liver and spleen, like ovaria, and so on. And thats exactly what you dont need in this type of infection. You need it in case of cancer and metastasis.

Having the spike proteins produced in various organs thus creates an unnecessary unknown variable.

Were de facto creating an auto-immune reaction in organs like liver, adrenal glandsthats dangerous, Thon said.

Given the risks, the vaccines should have been recommended based on how much risk each person faced from the disease.

Young children, in particular, face minuscule danger.

This vaccine shouldnt be used in children whatsoever because they arent a risk group, he said, criticizing jurisdictions such as New York state that mandated COVID-19 vaccination for children to attend a school or even day care.

That is wrong, he said. Thats an experiment on population.

His research demonstrated that people who had already overcome the infection also didnt need the vaccine.

His study followed more than 30,000 Czech adults through the pandemic, tracking whether they developed antibodies against the viruseither by infection or vaccination.

The monitoring through health insurance data started in September 2020 and lasted until March 2022. It could thus compare health outcomes for people based on whether they were infected with the virus or their vaccination status since the vaccines became available in the Czech Republic in early 2021.

The research showed that by March 2021, more than half of the studied population had antibodies against the virus before widespread vaccination. By September 2021, more than 90 percent had antibodies through vaccination or infection.

The data indicated that those who already suffered through COVID-19regardless of vaccination statushad almost no risk of getting another bout of the disease that would be severe enough to require admittance to an intensive care unit.

By early 2022, it was clear from the entire population data that the pandemic was over. But even though Thon made the data and analysis available to the government, various pandemic restrictions continued well into 2022 in the Czech Republic.

By now, immunity levels in the population are so high that the risk profile of the vaccines no longer supports those restrictions, in his view.

Theres no need for vaccines here because the vaccine currently has more unwanted side effects than the positive ones, he said.

What Went Wrong?

Thon identified several reasons for the flawed pandemic response.

He said that it appeared to him, for instance, that public health authorities considered interests other than the populaces well-being. He noted that treatments officially recommended for COVID-19 tended to be particularly expensive and that the benefits of inexpensive drugs were largely dismisseda phenomenon The Epoch Times documented last year.

Undoubtedly, many experts involved in the pandemic response sought the populaces well-being. The problem was that those who were receiving the most attention didnt necessarily have the most relevant expertise, Thon noticed.

Many epidemiologists, virologists, and public health experts were involved, but clinical immunologists who possessed knowledge critical to understanding the disease didnt appear to rise to the same level of prominence.

We were overlooked, he said.

When the pandemic measures clearly appeared deficient, those with relevant expertise could come forward to help correct the course. But at that point, dissident voices were already out of favor.

The question is how many of them dare to resist the current because that means, indirectly, if youre in academia, your grants wont get approved, Thon said.

To his surprise, even some of his already retired colleagues failed to step forward.

They kept silent; they pulled back, he said. I dont know why.

Thon was among the experts advising the Czech government on the pandemic response, but his comments were excluded from reports, he said.

They kept overruling me.

In the end, he sent his findings to the government on his own.

They cant say they didnt know, he said.

Meanwhile, he was working on getting his research published abroad.

He said that he hopes some lessons were learned in case a similar pandemic occurs.

If something like this were to repeat itself, the pillar which wasnt used here adequately would be early treatment with drugs that dont need to be newly developed and dont need to be sold at a high price.
Japan Takes Clear Stance Against CCP by Curbing Chinese Access to Chipmaking Equipment: Expert

Technicians at work in the clean room of the Fab Equipment at a semiconductor company, Renesas Technology Corp., in Ibaraki, Japan, on June 17, 2004. (Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images)

News Analysis

Japans latest export controls on chipmaking equipment aim to significantly curb Chinas ability to make advanced chips. One expert told The Epoch Times that Japans move shows its clear stance against Chinas communist regime and alignment with the United States.

The Japanese government announced on March 31 export restrictions on 23 types of advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment spanning six key categories, including cleaning, deposition, lithography, and etching.

Tokyo said 42 countries, including the United States and Taiwan, will continue receiving the equipment under a simplified export measure. But China was not among them and will be subject to stricter controls.

The export control measures will take effect in July, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).

Japan is Chinas largest source of semiconductor equipment imports. In 2022, China imported $10.7 billion in chipmaking equipment from Japan, accounting for 37.3 percent of the total, according to Chinese customs data. Therefore, Japans export control is expected to deal a massive blow to Chinas semiconductor industry.

According to a recent analysis by Icsmart, a Chinese tech publication, Japan has a large number of manufacturers covering most types of chipmaking equipment. And that the countrys strength in semiconductor equipment is comparable to that of the United States. Therefore, Japan is the most accessible country to build an advanced semiconductor production line.

The report said, however, Japans new restrictive policy means giving up the opportunity to seize the Chinese market at a time when Washington is actively curbing Chinese access to semiconductor-related technologies.

Fang Qi, a UK-based investment consultant, told The Epoch Times on April 10 that Japans decision to implement the broad export controls is not unexpected. For it to remain in the world stage of technology, that decision is inevitable, especially amid an ongoing spat between the United States and China over chip technology.

Semiconductor chips on a printed circuit board on Feb. 17, 2023. (Florence Lo/Illustration/Reuters)

Japan: A Chipmaking Equipment Powerhouse

Fang said that Japans industrial technology upgrade has mostly been completed, and it is one of the worlds leading suppliers of chipmaking equipment.

According to a report (pdf) released in November 2022 by the Semiconductor Industry Association and Boston Consulting Group, Japan accounted for 27 percent of the global supply of semiconductor equipment in 2021.

In particular, Japanese companies hold key technologies and significant market shares in a number of semiconductor manufacturing segments.

Japans Nikon and Canon and the Neherlands ASML jointly monopolize the global supply of lithography machines, a key system used to pattern the finest details on advanced microchips.

Tokyo Electron is a major supplier of semiconductor etching equipment and thin film deposition equipment. It is an industry leader in photoresist coating and developing equipment (used with lithography machines). The companys coating equipment has a global market share of nearly 90 percent.

Japans Disco Corporation accounts for over 70 percent of the global semiconductor wafer-cutting equipment market share.

Screen Semiconductor Solutions Co. consistently holds the No. 1 position in the global market for semiconductor cleaning equipment, according to the companys website.

Tokyo-based Advantest owns more than 50 percent of the semiconductor testing equipment market.

Recognizing the CCP Threat

Fang said that Tokyo has long seen the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to the Indo-Pacific region, especially to Japan, and now it has begun to show a stronger and more explicit stance against it.

Japan and China have a long history of territorial disputes. In 2010, Beijing blocked all 17 rare earth product exports to Japan over a long-standing dispute about controlling unpopulated islands in the East China Sea after ships from Japans naval self-defense force and Chinese fishing vessels clashed. At the time, Beijing also restricted some rare earth exports to other countries, causing global rare earth prices to skyrocket.

In recent years, Japan has actively participated in the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific strategy, enabling it to cooperate more closely with the United States and Taiwan.

The worlds largest and most advanced chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), is building a new chip plant in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, and is considering continuing to set up a second factory in Japan.

Last December, Japan unveiled its biggest military buildup since World War II with a $320 billion plan to buy missiles capable of striking China and ready it for sustained conflict, as regional tensions and Russias Ukraine invasion stoke war fears. The sweeping five-year plan will make Japan the worlds third-biggest military spender after the United States and China.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishidas government is concerned that Moscow has set a precedent to encourage Beijing to attack Taiwan, threatening nearby Japanese islands, disrupting supplies of advanced semiconductors, and putting a potential stranglehold on sea lanes supplying Middle East oil.

On Dec. 16, 2022, Kishidas government approved three national security plansthe National Security Strategy, the National Defense Strategy, and the Defense Force Buildup Planto bolster Japans defense capabilities amid an increasingly unstable security environment.

Japans Maritime Self-Defense Forces (JMSDF) JS Mogami (FFM-1), a Japanese multi-mission stealth frigate, takes part in the International Fleet Review to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the foundation of JMSDF, at Sagami Bay, off Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, on Nov. 6, 2022. (Issei Kato/Reuters)

Strategic Partnerships to Counter Chinese Aggression

In March, the United States and Japan struck a trade deal on electric vehicle (EV) battery minerals that is key to strengthening their battery supply chains. The minerals include lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite, and manganese.

The swiftly negotiated agreement aims to reduce U.S.-Japanese dependence on China for such materials by prohibiting the two countries from enacting bilateral export restrictions on the minerals most critical for EV batteries.

Fang believes Japan wants to expand its global influence in more ways than just economics, particularly by strengthening its military ties with the United Kingdom and South Korea.

In January, Kishida visited the UK. The two sides signed a reciprocal access agreement that greatly expanded defense cooperation between the two countries, allowing both governments to deploy troops on each others territory.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (R) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shake hands after signing a defense agreement at the Tower of London, in London, England, on Jan. 11, 2023. (Carl Court/Getty Images)

Downing Street called the pactsigned by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Kishida in London on Jan. 11the most important defense treaty between London and Tokyo since 1902.

The pact is part of the UKs defense and foreign policy tilt toward the Indo-Pacific region, following an integrated review in 2021 that recognized the growing impact of China in the area.

In addition, talks between Britain and Japan also involve trade relations. The UK seeks to join the Asia-Pacific trade bloc, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), of which Japan is a founding member. At the end of March, the UK was approved to join the CPTPP, becoming the first European country to join the agreement.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (L) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shake hands ahead of a summit meeting at the prime ministers official residence in Tokyo on March 16, 2023. (Kiyoshi Ota/Pool/Getty Images)

On March 16, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol met with Kishida at a summit in Tokyo, where both promised to turn the page on years of animosity over their countries difficult, shared history.

Yoon became the first South Korean president to visit Japan under bilateral arrangements in 12 years. At the summit, the two leaders said they would develop bilateral relations and pursue common interests in security, economy, and global agenda.

The lack of cooperation between the two countries has long undercut U.S.-led efforts to present a united front against China and North Korea.

Aldgra Fredly and Reuters contributed to this report.
Judge Says He Found No Evidence of Government Misconduct in Jan. 6 Case

Judge Timothy Kelly shoots down Proud Boys defendant's calls for mistrial, dismissal of indictment

Protesters gather on the west front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Brent Stirton/Getty Images)

The federal judge overseeing the Proud Boys seditious-conspiracy trial in Washington on April 16 rejected a defendants calls for a mistrial and his allegations of evidence tampering, withholding of exculpatory evidence, and government misconduct.

In a 10-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly rejected requests from defendant Dominic Pezzola for a mistrial or dismissal of charges.

Kelly called Pezzolas conclusions bizarre and said they lack legal and factual support.

Pezzola claimed he was deprived of exculpatory evidence from video footage aired in March on Fox News Tucker Carlson Tonight.

Proud Boys defendant Dominic Pezzola smashes Capitol windows with a riot shield on Jan. 6, 2021. (U.S. DOJ/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

Drawn from 41,000 hours of security video from the U.S. Capitol, the Fox broadcasts claimed that defendant Jacob Chansley, known as the QAnon Shaman, was escorted around the building by police on Jan. 6, 2021.

Pezzola identifies footageof other peopletreating the Capitol respectfully after entering it, Kelly wrote.

He concludes that the Senate chamber was never violently breached and that there is no evidence of any raucous or extremely disruptive or violent demonstration in the Senate chamber.

But Pezzola has not shown how any of this relates to an element of an offense with which he is chargedor how it relates to him at all, the judge wrote. Thus, it does not tend to show his freedom from fault, guilt or blame.

Kelly wrote that Pezzola was sent a majority of the video he identifies in September 2021 and the rest in January.

Pezzola is one of five defendants charged with seditious conspiracy to attack the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He is on trial for 10 alleged offenses, including using a riot shield to smash Capitol windows.

Other defendants in the case are Henry Enrique Tarrio, Zachary Rehl, Ethan Nordean, and Joseph Biggs. The trial began in December 2022 and could move to closing arguments this week.

Kelly ruled that Pezzola has no standing to bring up allegations that the government monitored privileged communications between defendant Rehl and his former attorney.

Any strategy the government might have gleaned from the messages long predated Pezzolas joinder in the case and so cannot have involved him, Kelly wrote. And the Court has reviewed the messages; unsurprisingly, none reference Pezzola.

Kelly also rejected claims of government misconduct related to hundreds of hidden messages found in a spreadsheet prepared by Special Agent Nicole Miller.

Pezzola claimed that FBI agents admitted fabricating evidence and following orders to destroy hundreds of items of evidence, Kelly wrote.

Unfounded Speculation

The judge wrote that the hidden message about destroying 338 items of evidence was from a nearly 20-year-old case in which the defendant had exhausted avenues for appeal.

Neither the case nor the evidence related to the Proud Boys.

After the hidden messages were discovered, prosecutors produced a new version of the spreadsheet with 80 messages removed because they were classified or marked as law-enforcement sensitive.

Kelly said he reviewed the 80 messages and determined prosecutors had no duty to produce them to the Proud Boys defendants in the first place.

Pezzolas cries of foul play rest on unfounded speculation, which this court has already cautioned has no place in a courtroom, Kelly wrote.

Not one of Pezzolas contentions withstands scrutiny. His factual premises lack support, and his legal premises cannot be squared with case law.
Video Chapters:

0:00 Intro

3:45 DA Bragg sues Rep. Jordan to prevent interference in Trump case

19:00 Bills introduced to defund Manhattan DAs office

32:55 Trump sues ex-lawyer Cohen for $500 Million

50:25 Soros DAs scrutinized for soft-on-crime policies

1:054:50 The weaponization of global emergencies

1:17:30 Q&A with Josh

Former President Donald Trump is accusing Democrats of using the law as a weapon in an attempt to damage his 2024 election campaign. And he is pushing back with a $500 million lawsuit filed against Michael Cohen, the star witness in the New York case against him.

Meanwhile, lawlessness is spreading in the United States, and part of the blame is falling on progressive District Attorneys, whose campaigns were backed by money from billionaire George Soros. This is part of a new form of law being pushed in the country, where equity is taking priority over the equal application of justice.

In this live Q&A with Crossroads host Joshua Philipp, well discuss these stories and others, and answer questions from the audience.
Liberals, Tories Must Publish Fundraiser Venues Despite Concerns: Elections Canada

A vote sign is displayed outside a polling station during advanced voting in the Ontario provincial election in Carleton Place, Ont., on May 24, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick)

Elections Canada is insisting that regulated fundraising events be publicly advertised with precise locations, despite safety concerns raised by the governing Liberals and Opposition Conservatives.

Parties are obligated under political financing law to publicly list the venue name, but Elections Canada said in guidelines published last week that Parliament could change the law to account for those concerns.

Until then, all fundraising events held in personoutside a general electionmust be posted on the registered partys website and must include the venue name as well as the municipality, province or territory, and postal code.

Both the Liberal and Conservative parties have been leaving venue details out of online notices for fundraising events attended by their leaders, citing increased security threats.

Elections Canada made its final ruling last week after an unnamed political party suggested that listing the municipality and province or territory where an event was being held would be sufficient.

The agency did not say which party made the initial inquiry, but last spring the Liberal party informed the agency of a security issue linked to the public listing of a venue.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus planned fundraising event in Surrey, B.C., was cancelled after the RCMP warned the protest outside could escalate.

This incident followed numerous reports in recent years of security concerns involving politicians across the political spectrum, Elections Canada said in its decision.

For example, during the 2021 general election, there was an increase of incidents ranging from vandalism to assault. In summer 2022, MPs were issued panic buttons due to a rising concern about harassment of Parliamentarians.

The Liberal and Conservative parties have been united in their stance that disclosing venue locations leads to safety concerns. The New Democrats and Bloc Quebecois did not express those same concerns to Elections Canada.

The Conservative party told Elections Canada that disclosing events considerably increases the risk and security concerns for MPs, especially the leaders of registered parties.

Given that all regulated events must be advertised publicly five days prior, it exponentially increases security risks and concerns of all those involved: parliamentarians, attendees, and event staff, the party wrote in its submission.

As for the Liberal Party of Canada, it argued that events interrupted by security risks affects peoples ability to participate in the democratic process.

Allowing events to be disrupted in an escalated manner undermines the ability of individuals to support the democratic process, puts their safety at risk, and violates their guaranteed right to freedom of expression under the Charter of Rights and Freedom, the Liberal party wrote in its submission to Elections Canada.

But the agency argued that when the Liberal government brought in Bill C-50 in 2018, an act to amend the Canada Elections Act on political financing, the primary objective was to increase overall transparency around political fundraising.

A key element was transparency for the media, who have an interest in reporting on fundraisers attended by prominent politicians and who in turn keep the public informed, Elections Canada said in its final decision.

Elections Canada is concerned that parties might not disclose the location to all people with a legitimate interest in the event, or they might not disclose the location in a timely fashion if its not posted publicly online.
Secret government records posted on social media shed light on the Biden administrations policies at home and abroad. The records allege the president has been lying about everything from Ukraine to Israel. And now the White House may have found a scapegoat in a young Air National Guardsman for the leaks. But his arrest raises more questions, like: is it plausible that a 21-year-old in a support position had access to some of Americas most closely held secrets?

*Follow Over The Target on social media! 

Twitter | Truth Social | Gettr | Facebook

In this special live episode of Over the Target, Lee Smith speaks with Retired U.S. Army Green Beret combat veteran Joe Kent to uncover the real story behind the Biden leaks.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer holds a media event to discuss the debt ceiling at 12: p.m. ET on April 17.
Wayne Goodfellow enjoyed Shen Yun Performing Arts at St. James Theatre in Wellington, New Zealand, on April 16, 2023. (Tang Ruozhou/The Epoch Times)

WELLINGTON, New ZealandWayne Goodfellow said he would definitely recommend Shen Yun Performing Arts to his friends after catching the final of five sold-out shows in the city this year.

If you want to see something very, very different and something really cultural, Id recommend you come along, he said on April 16.

Mr. Goodfellow, a director and engineer working for New Zealand Police, said he loves Shen Yun.

I love the show  I thought the dancing and their acting was magnificent, he said. Magnificent job.

Shen Yun, founded in 2006, brings back to life legends and stories from Chinas 5,000 years of divinely-inspired culture, conveying the timeless virtues passed through the ages.

Mr. Goodfellow said he really enjoyed the stories. He said he became very emotional watching one of the story-based performances.

The hallmark of Shen Yun is classical Chinese dance, one of the most comprehensive and expressive dance systems in the world. It is typically a storytelling art form.

Classical Chinese dancers say learning it is a process of learning what it means to be human, in that they must understand and then express via their movements the cultural and historical context of China, including the purity and calmness of bygone heroes.

Mr. Goodfellow also praised the live orchestra, which employs traditional Chinese instruments alongside a backdrop of classical symphony instruments.

The music was fantastic, he said, adding that he felt impressed by the synchronisation between the dancers and the orchestra.

I did feel that the composer [was] doing amazing work and also watching the dancers with such passion and such flair. I thought Id been star-struck.

The World is Going to Heal and Be Made Well Again

Helen Platford, a primary school teacher, felt Shen Yuns overall message was one of hope.

The world is going to heal and be made well again, she said.

The world is full of creativity, Ms. Platford said. Divinity and creativity and life, thats what is important. To be creative, you must have this spirit. This divine spirit.

According to Shen Yuns website: In the past, artists looked to the divine for inspiration. They would meditate and seek virtue. They believed that to create art that uplifts, they must first cultivate goodness.

Today, Shen Yuns artists follow this noble tradition. Their source of inspiration is the spiritual discipline known as Falun Dafa. Rooted in traditional Chinese culture, Falun Dafa incorporates meditation exercises and teachings of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. Alongside their rigorous training, the artists meditate together, and require of themselves self-discipline and selflessness.

Ms. Platford expressed she was thoroughly impressed by the digital backdrop, the live orchestra, and the all-handmade costumes. Platford noted how Shen Yun is also very contemporary, noting how some dancers portray whats happening in China at the moment.

That was quite interesting  I am very cognizant of whats happening over there so Im finding [the performance] very interesting, she said.

Shen Yun cannot be seen in China today, and there is no other performance like it in China today. This is because of the Chinese Communist Partys systematic attempts to extinguish true Chinese culture, which runs contrary to Shen Yuns mission. It is also because Shen Yun seeks to portray modern-day persecution on stage.

I feel very compassionate and very  I thought I saw something about organ harvesting  Ive heard, but its the first time Ive seen it [performed on stage]. I thought: ah, did I actually see that? I did, she said. That surprised me. It actually shocked me.

Ms. Platford described Shen Yuns performers as brave, wonderful, strong, creative beautiful people.

She said she would tell her friends and family that Shen Yun is the most wonderful show, and it is a show of hope, hope in this world today.

Reporting by Tang Ruozhou and Mimi Nguyen Ly.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yuns inception in 2006.
KYODO NEWS - Apr 17, 2023 - 20:11 | All, World

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna called on China to "adopt a behavior appropriate to that of a responsible great power" amid growing tensions over the Taiwan Strait in the wake of its military buildup.

She also said France will continue to engage in tough talks with Beijing and is opposed to unilateral moves to bring Taiwan into its fold, in a recent written interview with Kyodo News before the Group of Seven foreign ministers meeting that started Sunday in Japan.

"In this context of tensions, it is indispensable to maintain a demanding dialogue with Beijing," the diplomat said.

Her remarks came as French President Emmanuel Macron drew criticism from some quarters in the United States and Europe after he called for Europeans not to be "followers" of either the United States or China.

Following his trip to China early this month, Macron cautioned against being drawn into a Taiwan crisis in an interview with media, amid growing concern over Beijing putting increasing pressure on the self-ruled island, which it views as a renegade province to be united with the mainland, by force if necessary.

Colonna added that Macron conveyed to Chinese President Xi Jinping that France's stance is to stick to maintaining the status quo on in the Taiwan Strait.

"We oppose any unilateral changes of the status quo, let alone by force," she said.

Colonna said France adheres to the "one China" policy, though it is deepening cooperation with Taiwan in various fields such as economy, industry and technology.

She said island shares the same democratic values and commitment to human rights as France, which, she added, is committed to the freedom of navigation in the Taiwan Strait.

Regarding Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the main topic discussed by the G-7 ministers in the town of Karuizawa, central Japan, she said their goal is to "help Ukraine defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity."

"Whereas Russia made the choice to continue the war, we must in tandem increase diplomatic pressure and reinforce its isolation in all international forums," she added.

Colonna pointed to the need to keep strengthening punitive measures on Russia and prevent Moscow from evading them as long as its aggression against Ukraine continues.

This is Colonna's first trip to Japan after she assumed office last year. She expressed her "strong hope" to enhance the bilateral relationship with Japan, reaffirming their "exceptional partnership."

The minister said the two countries will work on renewing their road map for cooperation when Macron makes a visit to Japan for the G-7 summit meeting in Hiroshima next month. The five-year road map was issued in 2019 between Macron and then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

She also showed eagerness for further cooperation in the fields of space and nuclear energy, as well as seeking collaboration in the areas of climate change and maritime security in the Pacific region.

Related coverage:

Xi, Macron call for early resumption of Ukraine peace talks

G-7 top diplomats agree on unity over China as talks begin in Japan
Man, Woman Arrested In Attempted Murder In Van Nuys

VAN NUYS, Calif.A man and a woman were arrested April 16 in the attempted murder of a man in Van Nuys on Friday.

An employee of a business in the 15200 block of Vanowen Street found the victim lying on the sidewalk in front of his business around 8:20 a.m. suffering from a gunshot wound to his chest, according to Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD).

The victim was taken to a hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery and was in stable condition, police said. The shooting happened several hours before the victim was found.

Detectives recovered a video recording that captured part of the shooting as well as the suspects who shot the man, the LAPD reported. On April 15, just after 6 p.m., patrol officers were conducting an unrelated investigation in the area of Harland Street and Kester Avenue when they saw two people who fit the descriptions of the shooting suspects.

Both were arrested and detectives found additional evidence that allegedly tied the duo to the shooting.

The suspects were identified as 39-year-old Javier Rosario of Van Nuys and 33-year-old Jennifer Yui of West Covina. The two were booked on charges of attempted murder, the police department reported. The firearm allegedly used in the crime was also recovered.

A motive for the shooting was not released by police as was any relationship between the pair and the victim.

Anyone with information on the shooting was asked to call LAPDs Van Nuys detectives at 818-374-0040.
Nadler Calls House Judiciarys Focus on Alvin Bragg an Outrageous Abuse of Power

House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) speaks to reporters in Washington on July 9, 2020. Behind him are Reps. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) and David Cicilline (D-R.I.). (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee accused his Republican colleagues of committing an outrageous abuse of power with their investigation of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg during a committee field hearing held in New York City on April 17.

Let me be very clear, Ranking Member Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) said. We are here for one reason, and one reason only: the chairman is doing the bidding of Donald Trump.

Committee Republicans designed this hearing to intimidate and deter the duly elected district attorney of Manhattan from doing the work his constituents elected him to do.  Theyre using their public offices and resources of this committee to protect their political patron, Donald Trump. It is an outrageous abuse of power. It is, to use the chairmans favorite term, the weaponization of the House Judiciary Committee.

The April 17 field hearing on Victims of Violent Crime in Manhattan was set by committee Republicans in the wake of the local district attorneys recent decision to pursue falsification of business records charges against former President Donald Trump.

House Republicans hold that Braggwho has drawn backlash for his lenient approach to violent crimeis targeting Trump for purely political reasons, and as a result, have launched an inquiry into Braggs office.

Democrats, on the other hand, have criticized Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and other House Republicans for what they see as an attempt to protect the former president from prosecution.

I do not know if Mr. Trump will be found guilty by a jury of his peers here in New York, or for that matter in Georgia and Washington D.C. on charges that may follow, but I do know he will have his day in court, Nadler added. Using this committee to undermine that process as it unfolds is cynical, unethical, and, given the violence unleashed on the Capitol by the former president, just plain dangerous.

Bragg Fires Back

Bragg, who shares Nadlers perspective on the matter, filed a lawsuit against Jordan, charging that the congressman had launched a transparent campaign to intimidate and attack him.

The lawsuit followed a subpoena Jordan issued to former Manhattan prosecutor Mark Pomerantz, ordering him to provide testimony on Braggs Trump investigation.

Jordan claims he is seeking to conduct oversight. But he has no power under the Constitution to oversee state and local criminal matters, Braggs lawsuit charged. By definition, then, he has no legitimate legislative purpose for issuing this subpoena.

Bragg also made an emergency request for a restraining order against Jordan, but the court denied that request on April 11, the same day it was filed.

Jordan, for his part, has held that Braggs case amounts to interference in the 2024 presidential election and is solely an attempt to prevent Trump from returning to the White House.

[That] Alvin Bragg used federal tax dollars to go after a former president, to indict a former president for no crime, interferes with the federal election, Jordan told Fox News in a recent interview.

And then we want to talk with someone who hasnt worked there in a year, and whats he do? He sues us.

Jordan has also requested documents and testimony from Matthew Colangelo, senior counsel to the New York County District Attorneys Office.
Northridge Fatal Shooting Victim Was Painting Over Gang Graffiti

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.An approximately 60-year-old man hired to paint over gang graffiti on the wall of a Northridge business was killed by a gunman armed with an Uzi-type semiautomatic handgun, who also wounded three other men in the vicinity, authorities said April 16.

The victims were standing near Vanalden Avenue and Parthenia Street at about 12:30 p.m. Saturday when the shooter approached in a white sedan traveling northbound on Vanalden, exited the vehicle, and opened fire, striking the man multiple times in the chest, according to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD).

The man painting over the gang graffiti was pronounced dead at a hospital a short time later.

Three other men in the immediate vicinity were also struck by gunfire before the shooter got back into the sedan and sped away northbound on Vanalden. Police said two of the shooting victims underwent surgery and the fourth was treated and released.

They were all Hispanic men, Officer Tony Im of the LAPD told City News Service.

The shooter was described as a tall, light-skinned Black man in his 30s, the police department reported Saturday evening.

Yesterday four individuals were shot in the community of Northridge while painting our graffiti on the wall of a local business. One person was killed and three were injured but are expected to make a full recovery, LA Police Commission President William Briggs II said in a statement Sunday.

On behalf of myself and my fellow commissioners I would like to offer our condolences for the loss of innocent life and wish the injured victims a speedy and full recovery, Briggs continued.

This indiscriminate violence will not be tolerated in the City of Los Angeles. Angelenos will not be terrorized in their homes, businesses, or going about their daily activities. The individual involved in this senseless crime will be found and brought to justice, and it is my hope that the District Attorney will prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law, Briggs said.

Police were canvassing the area for CCTV video and any possible witnesses. LAPD Valley Bureau homicide detectives urged anyone with information about the shooting to call them at 818-374-1928 or 877-527-3247. Those wishing to remain anonymous may contact Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 (TIPS) or visit their website.
NRA Official Says Concealed Carry License Holders Must Plan for Police Interactions

Glen Hoyer, director of the National Rifle Associations Law Enforcement Division presents the "Armed Citizen: How to Interact with Law Enforcement" seminar at the NRA's 2023 Annual Meetings and Exhibits in Indianapolis, Ind. (Michael Clements/The Epoch Times)

The time for a holder of a concealed carry firearm permit to determine how to interact with the police during a traffic stop or other situation is before law enforcement ever becomes involved, according to an official with the National Rifle Association.

Youve got to think ahead; youve got to prepare, Glen Hoyer told seminar attendees during the NRAs Annual Meetings and Exhibits in Indianapolis on April 16.

At the NRAs annual meeting, he leads the seminar, Armed Citizen: How to Interact with Law Enforcement. The seminar aims to provide law-abiding firearms owners with information they need to make the process run as smoothly as possible.

He said the first step is for the gun owner to understand the mind of the police officerwho has one goal in mind.

The officers No. 1 job, at the end of the day, is to go home to his family, Hoyer said.

A Riverside County Sheriffs deputy wipes his eye as he stands in Jurupa Valley, Calif. on Dec. 29, 2022. Authorities say a Southern California sheriffs deputy has been shot during a traffic stop. (Will Lester/The Orange County Register via AP)

With that in mind, the officer will arrive ready to do what he or she needs to preserve everyones safety. Its also important to realize that upon arrival, the officer will have limited information. So, he will do what he is trained to secure the scene, preserve evidence, and gather information, he said.

When firearms are involved in a possible crime, Hoyer said, people will be searched, handcuffed, and placed in a police car. This means the officer will use whatever force is necessary and legal.

There is nothing personal; they are simply trying to secure the scene, Hoyer said. Its a whole lot easier to apologize later.

At the same time, its essential to know your rights and responsibilities under the law. Some states require a concealed carry license holder to immediately notify a police officer that they have a gun. Some only require answering truthfully if the officer asks, and some states dont require notification.

Know the law in your area, Hoyer said.

Drugs, firearms, and ammunition recovered during recent search warrants. (Courtesy of Middletown Police Department)

In addition, he said it is essential to know your legal rights and to exercise those rights properly.

For example, under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, a citizen can refuse to allow a law enforcement officer with no warrant to search their person or property. However, arguing, taunting, or belittling an officer will only heighten tension. Politely declining could have long-term benefits.

That sounds a whole lot better to a judge and jury, Hoyer said.

He said its important to ensure the officer knows he has nothing to fear from the gun owner. Ensuring your hands are visible, making no sudden moves, and following instructions can communicate to the officer that you arent a threat.

Hoyer said simply asking, What would you like me to do? can go a long way when dealing with a police officer.

Find Your Lawyer Ahead of Time

He added that under certain circumstances, an officer doesnt need permission to search. If the officer believes he could be in danger, he can generally search for weapons.

He told the group that its important to be cooperative and polite, even if the police are excited. When dealing with the officer, especially in stressful situations, it isnt a good idea to begin arguing your case.

Hoyer said the better route is to note what is happening so you can tell your attorney about it later.

And, he said, anyone who carries a gun should have insurance and the number of a good lawyer. Hoyer said homeowners insurance wont cover a shooting, and sitting in a jail cell facing possible criminal charges is the wrong time and place to start lawyer shopping.

You dont necessarily have to have one on retainer, but the time to find an attorney is not when you need one, Hoyer said.
Ontario Tables Bill Seeking Greater Control Over School Boards

Stephen Lecce, minister of education for Ontario, makes an announcement in Toronto on Jan. 12, 2022. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)

Ontario is introducing legislation to give the province more control over school boards academic priorities and the education system in areas of student achievement and teacher education.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce began an April 17 news conference by reading a quote from the Royal Commission of Learning, commissioned by the NDP government in 1990.

There exists widespread unease that schools have become a kingdom onto themselves and little need to report to parents or at the world at large what theyre doing with our kids and whether theyre doing it successfully, read Lecce.

He said over the last 30 years it has been abundantly clear to parents that the system needs to change.

Lecce said new legislation tabled April 17, dubbed the Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act, is an overhaul intended to improve transparency for parents and ensure the education system is focused on improving student outcomes in back to basics learning.

We believe we can work better to elevate the standards and the fluency and fundamental skills like reading, writing and math, said Lecce.

The act, he said, is based on three key pillars: more accountability, building new schools faster, and improving training for educators. He said the legislation will enhance the rights of parents in the education system and authorize new transparent reporting requirements.

Lecce said the legislation gives the government new tools to set clear expectations and priorities for student achievement and includes reporting requirements for school boards to update progress on priorities directly to parents.

Lecce said there were too many examples where school boards were not at the standards when it comes to governance.

More Funding

On April 16, the province announced funding for 1,000 new educators to focus on reading and writing.

Lecce said on April 17 that the government will invest $690 million into the upcoming school year via Grants for Student Needsan increase of 2.7 percent in funding.

Lecce said the province would invest an additional $100 million, in addition to the announcement the previous day, to hire 1,000 more frontline educators focusing on students from grades seven to 10.

Lecce also said the government will set provincial priorities for school boards to meet on student achievement and overhaul the basics in reading, writing, and math.

He said there will now be a public-facing accountability where boards have to post an improvement plan and consult with parents twice annually on the development of the plan.

NDP education critic Chandra Pasma said the governments investment into education was more smoke and mirrors from a minister who will do literally anything but take responsibility for his own underfunding of education and the impact thats having on kids.

We know why our kids are struggling, its because theyre in overcrowded classrooms where they cant get the supports they need after three years of disrupted learning, said Pasma.

Lecce said parents have been loud and clear on their priorities when it comes to the education system. He said schools have to focus on reading, writing, math, and student achievement.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
Pennsylvania Taxpayers Fund Transgender Therapy Training for Hundreds of Mental Health Providers

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services gave more than $176,000 over three years to the Gender and Sexuality Development Program at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) to create a series of transgender therapy training workshops.

The webinars and in-person training have been taken by more than 1,800 mental health providers and educators between 20182022.

According to a story first reported by Reagan Reese and Megan Brock of the Daily Caller News Foundation, since 2017, CHOP provided at least 33 trainings in 15 schools, with Pennsbury School District donating $1,200 to CHOP in 2022 for professional development sessions that taught K12 educators how to create gender inclusive and affirming educational environments. In 2021, CHOP provided a training to Southern Lehigh School District which advised educators to allow students room for exploration of their gender.

Pennsylvanias Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services within the Department of Human Services gave CHOP $45,283 through the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant in fiscal year 20182019, then $51,966 in 20192020 and $79,446 in 20202021 to develop and provide training.

Pennsylvania taxpayers also paid more than $16 million under Democrat Gov. Tom Wolfs administration to fund sex reassignment and gender transition services for low-income children covered under medical assistance through the Childrens Health Insurance Program.

The Epoch Times requested comment from CHOP and the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services for this story.

Puberty Blockers

The trainings teach mental health providers to treat children under age 8 with acceptance and affirmation, and help guide the family through social gender transition by choosing a name, haircut, clothing style, and public bathroom of the gender the child wants to be. Puberty blocker medicines may start between ages 814. Ages 14 and up can be treated with testosterone, estrogen, and gender affirming surgeries, the training advises.

The decision to give a child puberty blockers can have permanent effects.

Puberty blockers can put the pause button on puberty, giving children more time to explore their gender identity, the training says, before the development of irreversible secondary sex characteristics, such as the natural development of breasts or deepening of the voice. If these characteristics never develop, the child may not need surgery later, the training indicates.

If a trans male does not develop breasts, then they are less likely to need chest surgery, or top surgery later on, said Dr. Zachary McClain, assistant professor of pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine and program director of adolescent medicine, in one of the trainings.

Puberty blockers will lower depression and anxiety, the training said.

Puberty blockers are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in gender transition, the training said.

Hormones are needed to build bone, so children taking puberty blockers will have weaker bones during development and throughout adulthood, putting them at higher risk of bone fractures. Blockers may also stall cognitive brain development.

Its not going to change how smart they are, but there is this abstract cognitive development that were just not sure about.  Some of the science is there, some of the science isnt there, but we know in general, these are safe, said McClain.

Hefty Costs

Puberty blockers are not cheap. The histrelin implant that goes into a childs arm in this off label use costs $49,000, according to the training. Histerline is ordinarily used to treat the symptoms associated with advanced prostate cancer or precocious puberty. It can affect the growth of children and teens.

The Lupron injection, a brand name of leuprolide, taken every three months, costs $9,000 per shot, and is another prostate cancer medicine used as a puberty blocker.

The really good news is, we usually get it covered. We have amazing social workers here at CHOP and in these clinics across the country, who work really hard to put in prior authorizations and write letters of medical necessity, said McClain, adding that insurance covers the cost 72 percent of the time.

While puberty blockers stop puberty, hormone therapy moves a childs body toward characteristics of the gender they want to be. Hormone therapy can start when the childs peer group starts to show external signs of puberty, usually around age 14, the training says.

When I start testosterone on a trans youth, they will have a voice drop and a little moustache in three months, said McClain.
Poilievre Calls for PMs Brother to Testify on Involvement in Trudeau Foundations Donation From Beijing

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre rises during question period in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Sept. 28, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld)

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling for Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus brother to appear before a parliamentary committee to face questions about his involvement in a Chinese regime-connected donation previously sent to the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation.

We already knew that intelligence services have stated that the Beijing communist regime disbursed $140,000 to the Trudeau Foundation in order to influence the Liberal leader whos now the Prime Minister of Canada, Poilievre said in French during question period in the House of Commons on April 17.

But now we know that his brotherhis own brotherwas the one that negotiated and signed the deal to receive the money, he added. Will the prime minister accept to call his brother to a parliamentary committee to answer questions about this?

Alexandre Trudeau, the prime ministers younger brother, was the foundations director in 2014 when he met with Chinese billionaires Zhang Bin and Niu Gensheng, who are responsible for the six-figure donation to the Trudeau Foundation in 2016.

Also present at the 2014 meeting was then-Universite de Montreal vice-president Guy Lefebvre. The group discussed establishing the Trudeau Education Foundation at UdeMs Faculty of Law.

Zhang is a member of the Chinese regimes National Committee of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference and also president of the China Cultural Industry Association (CCIA), a state-backed entity. Niu is a consultant with the CCIA.

Prime Minister Trudeau was not present at question period on April 17 to personally respond to Poilievres call for his brother to testify before a committee.

However, Government House Leader Mark Holland fielded the question, saying the prime minister has not been involved with the Trudeau Foundation for approximately a decade.

His [Poilievres] fixation with the prime ministers family is well known for its partisan interests, Holland said. But the prime minister and the government is not engaged with that foundation.

The Trudeau Foundation previously said it would return the Beijing-linked donation after it was reported on by the Globe and Mail in February.

However, the French-language news outlet La Presse reported on April 12 that the foundation had not returned the donation because the name on the cheque did not match that of the real donor.

Shortly after, the foundations entire leadership team resigned after voting unanimously to launch an independent review of its acceptance of the donation.

Noe Chartier contributed to this report.
Pro-CCP Group Trains 400 Hong Kong Students to Become Little Red Guards for National Security Education

The Hong Kong government has chosen April 15 as National Security Education Day for All to promote propaganda and national security to young children.

This years education theme is National security is the foundation of stability and prosperity. Pro-government media printed a ten-page feature to push national security. The newspaper also mentions the government may develop virtual exhibitions later to make learning about national security more fun.

A pro-communist organization has trained nearly 400 primary school students in Wong Tai Sin District to become the Little Red Guards for the National Security of Hong Kong, who will visit local kindergartens to pitch national security stories to students aged between about two to six.

Education professionals criticized the governments appalling and scary plan to use young kids to become the surveillance medium for the CCP. Like the Young Pioneers of China under the Communist Youth League, the children are equipped to become Hong Kongs Little Red Guards to promote the regimes totalitarian ideology at an older age.

Young Pioneers are part of the mass youth organizations aimed at children between six to fourteen under the Communist Youth League in China.

According to the Hong Kong governments event introduction flyers, district home affairs departments will back activities organized by some non-governmental organizations.

Regime Taking Over Hong Kong Youth

In December 2022, the trained Little Pioneers shared stories promoting National Security initiated in Wong Tai Sin.

Wong Tai Sin District Home Affairs Department funded the event with approximately HK$166,000 (US$21,000) using funds from the District Community Involvement Plan.

Love U All Charitable Funds (LUACF) was the main event organizer. Other partnered organizations included Hong Kong Culture, Sports, and Tourism Association and Wong Tai Sin Primary School Head Association.

The CCPs official mouthpiece media in Hong Kong, Wenweipo, reported in December 2022 that the Wong Tai Sin District Committee and East Kowloon Residents Committee were co-organizers.

A total of 20 primary schools and 11 kindergartens participated in the 2022 programs. Each primary school sent 18 students as the national securitys little helpers on that day.

The pro-CCP group disguised itself as a charity to convince people to join the mass youth brainwashing initiative.

In January, primary school teachers were the first to study three picture books about national security education for young children. The three books are In the Arms of Mom and Dad, A Visit To Asia World Expo, and I Love the Motherland.

The publishing house of the three books was the workshop host.

Once the primary school teachers completed their workshops, they passed on what they learned about the books to their school children from January to March. The children, who became the Youth Pioneers, could infect kindergarten students similarly this April.

Propaganda-sharing event organizer LUACF claimed in December 2022 that there would have been 32 schools joining the program. However, Wenweipo reported differently in April, only 20 primary schools and 11 kindergartens joined the initiative.

An estimated 380 primary school students are in training to be Young Pioneers of National Security.

With the main event organizer linked to the Hong Kong Liaison Office, LUACF sponsored Youth Pioneers for National Security Education.

The founding president of the so-called charity, Daisy Poon Chan Oi-ching, is a member of the board of Yan Chai Hospital. She is also a member of the Standing Committee of the Hebei Provincial CCP, which is responsible for managing the day to day party affairs of the provincial body.

The LUACF disguised itself as a nonprofit group while claiming it was founded in June 2008 by a group of public hospital rehabilitation patients. The disguised charity has no background in national security education or politics.

Fake Charity Receives Donations From Citizens

The organization claimed on its website that the groups purpose was to care for the old, the weak, the disabled, and those in need in the disadvantaged community and promote the concept of care.

It was officially named Love U All Charitable Funds in 2009.

The Epoch Times discovered that the nonprofit group is closely linked to the Hong Kong Liaison Office.

On July 23, 2022, LUACF held an event for donations and family time in Victoria Harbor.

Vice Minister of the Kowloon Work Department of the liaison office in Hong Kong, Guo Changyong, was one of the officiating guests.

On Oct. 17, 2019, the Vice President of the liaison office, He Jing, and the Vice Minister of the Kowloon Work Department of the liaison office, Wang Xiaoling, were officiating guests at the 10th Anniversary Charity Cantonese Opera Singing Gala, which LUACF hosted.

Board Director of LUACF, Conveyor of Young Pioneers for National Security Education (YPNSE), Deannie Yew Yat-wa is a subsector voter of the Hong Kong Chief Executive Election Committee.

Yeung Wing-yu, a former manager of the Examination and Evaluation Bureau and a historian, described the YPNSE scheme as appalling and scary and way more ridiculous than the Nazi Era; Yeung also said the government plan must be condemned during an interview with The Epoch Times on April 9.

The Historian compared Little Pioneers to the youth in the Nazi Era, In order to maintain national security, the Hitler Youth League in the Nazi era heavily monitored and prevented the people from practicing Christianity.

He said the youngest to join the Nazi league was ten years old.

He elaborated that the Hong Kong government had used adults to guide 10-year-old kids to brainwash kindergarteners. The regime is turning innocent children into flag bearers and little red guards for the Chinese regime.

Young Pioneers Compared to CCPs Youth Pioneers League

The politics scholar Chung Kim-wah elaborated on concepts of political scholars: using the possible dissidents support in an attempt to become their enemies. Chung added on April 9 that the regimes plan of using small children to sell national security stories is very evil in an attempt to make propaganda more convincing.

The current affairs professor added, The program is similar to Young Pioneers of the CCP. Those kids, or little teachers of national security education, may become the mainstream surveillance tool, who will continue to promote related brainwashing tasks.

Chung worried it would be nearly impossible to revert if the very young childrens distorted values dominated the worldview.

Therefore, the professor strongly urges Hong Kong parents to refuse any initiative of Young Pioneers for National Security Education and stand firm in saying no to schools.
Protesters at NRA Event Call for Stricter Gun Laws

Kerry Worthington (L) was one of a small group of protestors at the National Rifle Association's Annual Meetings and Exhibits in Indianapolis, Ind., April 15, 2023. (Michael Clements/The Epoch Times)

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.Kerry Worthington drove almost two hours to deliver a message to the National Rifle Association (NRA).

I believe that AR-15s should be taken out of society; theres no use for an AR-15 in our society, Worthington told The Epoch Times.

Worthington was one of several demonstrators across the street from the NRAs Annual Meetings and Exhibitions in the Indianapolis Convention Center. The gun rights organization has been a lightning rod for gun control protests. But this year, demonstrations at the April 1416 event were peaceful.

Worthington is a business owner and former city councilman from Cass County, Indiana. He said he is also chairman of the Indivisible Movement of Cass County. The movements objective, he said, is to oppose former President Donald Trump, who had spoken to the NRA membership the night before.

He and seven protesters sat in the afternoon sun and held signs on the events second day. He supports the Second Amendment, but said he doesnt believe all weapons should be legal.

National Rifle Association members walk past a rifle display at the groups Annual Meetings and Exhibits in Indianapolis, Ind., on April 15, 2023. (Michael Clements/The Epoch Times)

I cannot understand why anybody needs a weapon of war, Worthington said.

A female protester, who did not identify herself, agreed. She said she had spoken to one of the convention attendees who told her she used her AR-15 for hunting and self-protection. The protester was incredulous.

I cant believe she said she was using that tiny little bullet, she said.

Most AR-15s are chambered in .223 or 5.56 mm calibers. The bullet for the AR-15 is the size of a .22 caliber bullet but is loaded with a larger powder charge so that the bullet will travel faster and farther. Many, but not all, states prohibit hunting deer with that caliber.

Worthington said the hotter round is not suitable for hunting.

That would tear a deer apart, he said.

Visitors view weapons displays at the NRAs 2023 Annual Meetings and Exhibits in Indianapolis, Ind., on April 13, 2023. (Michael Clements/The Epoch Times)

When asked why the turnout for demonstrations seemed so low, he said they were working in shifts to keep a steady presence during the event.

Earlier that day, according to Worthington, approximately 100 people lay down on the grass for about an hour at Hudnut Commons, a small park across from the convention center, to symbolize the children killed by gunfire this year.

On April 16, the gun control group Moms Demand Action planned to place shoes in front of Christ Church Cathedral in Indianapolis to illustrate the same problem.

Worthington added that none of the local demonstrators wanted violence or to cause any trouble. He said they just wanted to send their message opposing the NRA and calling for stricter gun laws.

Worthington pointed out that Indiana is now a constitutional carry state. This means that anyone who can legally own a gun can carry it in public without a license. On the other hand, he pointed out that people must be licensed to drive and get married.

Why Not Require a Firearms License?

If you have to have a license for everything else, why dont you have to have a license to carry a gun? he asked.

The demonstrations in Indianapolis starkly contrasted the protests at the NRAs 2022 event in Houston, Texas. On the heels of the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, thousands of protesters converged on the event shouting and confronting attendees. Some violent incidents were reported.

In the weeks leading up to the Indianapolis meeting, city leaders made clear there would be a strong police presence at the Indiana Convention Center, and violence would not be tolerated.

As Worthington spoke, five police cars were parked nearby, and one police car cruised the area.

Periodically, drivers passing by on W. Maryland Street would honk their car horns or shout obscenities from their windows. But no violent acts were reported.

Worthington said if violence had been threatened, he would not have needed an AR-15.

I dont need it to protect myself because I can handle myself, he said.

The NRA had no comment, a spokesperson said.
In his article Presidential Farewell Addresses, Gleaves Whitney notes that before Harry Truman only three presidents had composed formal farewell addresses to the nation.

As Whitney tells us, three factors likely account for this circumstance. First, some of the early chief executives held George Washington and his farewell address in such esteem that they deemed it improper to deliver one of their own. Then, too, eight of our 45 presidents have died in office. Finally, a presidents last Annual Message to Congress, today called the State of the Union Address, falls near his final days in office, causing some chief executives to combine a farewell with that report.

Of those presidents who have used this occasion to reflect on their time in office and what the future may hold, four of them in particularGeorge Washington, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, and Ronald Reaganhave given us some warnings that even today we ignore at our peril.

In the radio broadcast of his farewell address on Jan. 15, 1953, President Harry S. Truman warned against the evil of communism. He is shown here giving a broadcast in 1952. (AL MUTO/AFP via Getty Images)

Some Fatherly Advice

Of the four, Washingtons formal farewell to the nation was by far the longest and was delivered in print rather than from a podium. Moreover, the two men who helped him prepare his remarksJames Madison and Alexander Hamiltonwere undoubtedly better speechwriters than any of the men and women available to other presidents.

In his address, Washington celebrated American successes and praised the cause of liberty. In his conclusion, he accepted as well responsibility for any wrongs or mistakes he had committed during his eight years in office.

But he also warned the young country of present and future dangers. Best known of these are his cautions about entangling alliances with foreign powers, fearing that our country might be sucked into foreign wars or otherwise abused by treaties favoring one nation over another. Even today, some politicians and commentators wave this cautionary flag whenever our commitments to other nations might bring harm to our country.

We hear less often of some of Washingtons other caveats. The diminishment of religion and morality, he wrote, would destroy the republic. Some people, he feared, might seek to assail the Constitution through change, alterations which will impair the energy of the system and thus to undermine what cannot be directly overthrown. He also roundly condemned political parties and partisanship, urging all to work together for the common good of the nation.

The eloquent language of this Father of His Country, his clear love for the republic, and his concerns for its preservation are why we still consider his advice important today.

Our Ideals Will Prevail

Harry Truman bade goodbye to the American people via a broadcast from the Oval Office. His remarks are typical of the mancandid and clearand convey his great affection for his country.

Truman begins by relating in some detail his ascension to the presidency. Later in the speech, he mirrors the modesty of George Washington when he notes: When Franklin Roosevelt died, I felt there must be a million men better qualified than I, to take up the Presidential task. But the work was mine to do, and I had to do it. And I have tried to give it everything that was in me.

Concerned with troubles around the globethe tensions with the Soviet Union, the war in KoreaTruman then devotes considerable time to foreign affairs. Of the Soviet Union, he exudes a confidence that America will eventually triumph in its confrontations with communism, concluding that in the long run the strength of our free society, and our ideals, will prevail over a system that has respect for neither God nor man.

Immediately before that remark, he comments on a question asked him by some of his fellow citizens: Why dont we issue an ultimatum, make all-out war, drop the atomic bomb? Truman responds that this course of action is not the American way, adding words that some of our present-day leaders might take to heart: Starting an atomic war is totally unthinkable for rational men.

Near the end, Truman says I cant help but dream out loud just a little here, and shares with his listeners a vision of a world at peace with abundant food for all. He speaks of this dream in simple, unsentimental language, characteristics of the man himself.

The Generals Last Salute

In a recent interview with Jan Jekielek of The Epoch Times, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says, President Eisenhower made what I look at today as the most important speech in American history. It was his farewell speech to the nation. While some may quarrel with Kennedys claim, certainly Eisenhowers departing remarks in a speech lasting less than 10 minutes contain some excellent advice, warnings even more pertinent to our day than they were 60 years ago.

Like his predecessor, Harry Truman, Eisenhower spends a significant part of his address commenting on foreign affairs. Of communism, he says: We face a hostile ideologyglobal in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose, and insidious in method. Unhappily the danger it poses promises to be of indefinite duration. He then reminds fellow Americans to carry forward steadily, surely, and without complaint the burdens of a prolonged and complex strugglewith liberty at stake. Today, such plain language regarding communist ideology and its assaults on American values is rarely heard from our politicians.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in his televised farewell address, warns against the military-industrial complex. (Public Domain)

One phrase, the military-industrial complex, is perhaps the best remembered part of this speech and is still commonly employed today. Here is Eisenhowers famous warning: In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

Less well remembered, but of tremendous importance, is another admonition. Speaking of the enormous changes underway in technology, the words of the outgoing president are prophetic:

The prospect of domination of the nations scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded.

Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite.

In these few words, Eisenhower capsulizes our governments recent response to the COVID pandemic, when Americans found themselves captive of a scientific-technological elite.

The Great Communicator

Like the other three presidents mentioned here, Ronald Reagan speaks of his administrations accomplishments both domestically and overseas, items like the changes in the Soviet Union, which would lead to its collapse shortly after Reagans departure from the White House, and the revival of the American economy. Like George Washington, he also owns up to failure, particularly regarding the deficit.

In this address, Reagans sunny disposition and his knack for storytelling come off loud and strong, yet like his predecessors he voices concerns about the future. Finally, he says, there is a great tradition of warnings in Presidential farewells, and Ive got one thats been on my mind for some time.

Ronald Reagan, at his desk in the Oval Office, delivers his televised farewell address to the nation in 1989. (Ronald Reagan Library/Getty Images)

He then shares his deep concern about the loss of well-grounded patriotism, pointing out that Americans lack the culturally built-in love of country of his youth. He takes pride in the resurgence of national pride that has occurred during his administration, but fears that it wont last unless its grounded in thoughtfulness and knowledge.  Im warning of an eradication of the American memory that could result, ultimately, in an erosion of the American spirit.

To thwart that erosion, the president urges our schools and teachers to teach history based not on whats in fashion but whats important and to place a greater emphasis on civic ritual. Here is where we find his frequently cited remark that all great change in America begins at the dinner table as he encourages parents and children to discuss politics, history, and culture in their homes.

Listen and Learn

These four presidents differed in their backgrounds, but they all shared one thing in common: a deep and abiding affection for liberty and their country. With wisdom gained from experience, they warned present and future generations of possible pitfalls: foreign alliances, partisan politics, the threat of communism, the dangers presented by the alliance of industry and technology with government, and the dire consequences stemming from ignorance about our past and our civic duties.

The dangers they described have not disappeared. To the contrary, they have intensified and even now plague our nation.

Yet here is some good news. When we revisit the advice left to us by these presidents, we note that each of them offered encouragement and hope. I have a deep and abiding faith in the destiny of free men, President Truman said, and the others expressed that same sentiment in their own way.

To remain free: That is the greatest task they set before us.
KYODO NEWS - Apr 17, 2023 - 10:30 | Arts, All, Japan, World

Tapestries depicting scenes from beloved Studio Ghibli Inc. films like "Spirited Away" and "Howl's Moving Castle" are giving a centuries-old French weaving tradition a contemporary Japanese twist.

Efforts are under way in the small central France town of Aubusson, famed for its UNESCO intangible cultural heritage-recognized tapestry-making tradition that stretches back to the 15th century, to create a single, five-tapestry work celebrating the films of acclaimed Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki.

In January, cheers and applause erupted at the Cite Internationale de la Tapisserie, Aubusson's international tapestry museum, when an elaborate, 3-meter-tall, 7.5-meter-wide craftwork showing a scene from Miyazaki's "Spirited Away" was unveiled.

It took about a year for the young employees of Aubusson tapestry firm Robert Four to create the work.

One weaver, 29-year-old Manon Gruel, teared up at the unveiling ceremony. "I love the film, so I put in a lot of effort," he said. "There was a lot of pressure."

The museum was established in 2009 after Aubusson tapestry weaving was designated as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. It also aims to train weavers to preserve the tradition.

Some of its recent productions also demonstrate the power of the modern imagination to revitalize traditional industry and ensure the passing down of techniques.

To bring more attention to tapestries, which are relics that were displayed in medieval castles, in 2017 the museum also engaged in a collaborative project to create a tapestry based on British author J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy series "The Lord of the Rings."

As for the Ghibli tapestries, museum director Emmanuel Gerard said, "Although Miyazaki's films belong to Japanese culture, they appeal to all generations across the world. I thought it was important to base the creations on a universal message."

The museum concluded an agreement with Studio Ghibli in 2019 to create five works based on Miyazaki films, beginning with "Princess Mononoke" and ending with "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind."

Aubusson's first Japanese weaver, 44-year-old Aiko Konomi, facilitated initial contact between the studio and the museum.

Konomi, who is working on the tapestry to be debuted in April based on "Howl's Moving Castle," said that "weaving a (scene from) Ghibli feels like I'm in a dream."

Aubusson collaboration projects go beyond the museum. Robert Four has teamed up with Paris-based Japanese artist Shinsuke Kawahara to design a "kakejiku" Japanese hanging scroll.

The collage-like work incorporates part of an 18th-century scroll, with Kawahara explaining he "wanted to mix Japan and France with the past, present and future."

Aubusson's tapestry industry almost vanished in the 1990s as weaver numbers dwindled, but an increasing number of young people are now showing interest in the tradition.

In 2022, the number of applicants to the center's artisan training program was approaching double that of an average year, the museum said, suggesting that it could be thanks to the contributions of the Ghibli tapestries.

The museum also plans to put the tapestries on display in Japan.

"We received a letter of recommendation from Studio Ghibli, and we want to (hold an exhibit in Japan) at the end of this year, or early next year," Gerard said.

Related coverage:

"My Neighbor Totoro" play on London stage bags 6 Olivier awards

FEATURE: "Totoro" play boosts East Asian visibility on British stage

Much-awaited Ghibli Park opens to fanfare in central Japan
Reflections on the Condition of British Liberalism

General view of the LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, asexual, and agender) flag outside a bookshop during UK Pride Month 2021 in London on June 1, 2021. (Edward Smith/Getty Images)

Commentary

Traveling to Portugal in early April, I came across an English-language newspaper serving the countrys Algarve region.

The Portuguese paper reported on a Positive News Magazine summary of a recent Kings College London study that found the UK is becoming more liberal.

Positive News reported that Britain is now among the worlds most progressive nations. The Kings College study declared that following huge shifts in attitudes on homosexuality, casual sex, abortion, euthanasia and divorce, the UK now ranks as one of the worlds most socially liberal countries.

A report accompanying the release of the survey analysis by the Policy Institute at Kings College London provided more detailed statistical evidence of Britains progress. The last 40 years appear to have produced significant shifts in social attitudes.

The survey (pdf) asked members of the British public for an opinion on whether or not certain things could always be justified, never be justified, or something in between. As part of a larger global survey, it has measured the share of the population who disapprove of certain things since 1981, with which an interesting comparison can be made.

For example, homosexuality is now regarded as justifiable by 66 percent of the population, which is up from 12 percent in 1981. Ditto for divorce: 64 percent up from 18 percent; abortion: 48 percent up from 14 percent; euthanasia: 47 percent up from 20 percent; suicide: 19 percent up from 6 percent; and prostitution: 17 percent, up from 7 percent.

Looking less far back, only 10 percent thought having casual sex was justifiable in 1999, while more than four times as many (42 percent) hold this view today.

The report pointed out that the 2010s saw an accelerated transition on several issues. In 2009, only 33 percent thought homosexuality was justifiablebut this doubled in the space of just over 10 years.

Professor Bobby Duffy, director of the Policy Institute at Kings College London, said in the report, Its easy to lose sight of just how much more liberal the UK has become.

The Kings College study shows the balance of public opinion shifting in favor of what Positive News calls an inclusive outlook on racial equality, immigration and sexual identity. Given the general disposition of 21st-century Western elites, its easy to imagine that such a survey would elicit similar responses in the United States and Canada.

Duffy appeared to see these trends coming. In a 2019 report on a different survey, he wrote: On all sorts of issues, from full frontal male nudity and violence on TV, to drug use and abortion, we are much more relaxed as a nation.  What were once pressing moral concerns have become simple facts of life for much of the public.

Duffy believes the transformation in values isnt just driven by generational turnover.

All generations have changed their views significantly, he said in the latest report. In 2019 he said, These findings show Britain has become decisively more liberal on a range of moral issues in the last 30 years.

In the Kingdom of the Woke, this is an unmistakable sign of progress.

Transformational Ideas

For anyone who hasnt been living in a monastery for the past 50 years, public responses to the Kings College survey were entirely predictable.

Like most transformational ideas, liberalism has been highly sensitive to time and circumstance. The assumptions framed by liberal philosophy have changed considerably. A single lifetime ago, support for liberalism would have been measured by responses to principles such as individual liberty, equality before the law, private property, free market capitalism, civil rights, representative democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and freedom of religion.

Liberalism, in the original British tradition, was tempered by conservative obligations toward family, nation, and faith. It was once an enormously positive force in Western civilization. From the Magna Carta, to Britains Glorious Revolution, to Constitutional Monarchy and the emergence of American Republicanism, English-speaking peoples once led the way toward the development of peaceful, prosperous, liberal-democratic societies.

Today, our behavior is governed by people who are incapable of governing themselves. Liberalism has been redefined to stand for moral license, self-indulgence, and personal omnipotence. Post-modern liberalism is inspired more by Marx and Freud than Locke, Jefferson, or Mill. Progressive academics promote a set of lifestyle preferences that have little to do with the maintenance of well-ordered liberty.

Theres considerable evidence that the new liberalism isnt working out as well as some might think. There may be a more relaxed atmosphere in the faculty rooms of progressive universities like Kings College, but that peaceful easy feeling the Eagles sang about in 1972 no longer exists in the public squares of English-speaking cities. Once amicable people are now afflicted by feelings of race, gender, and partisan hatred.

In the same April 1 edition of The Portugal News it was reported that authorities in the Netherlands are now telling rowdy British tourists on the prowl for sex and drugs to stay away from Amsterdam.

So-called liberal politicians in America cheer on some of the most dangerous and deadly movements in modern history.

Days after a transgender person murdered six innocents at a Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, the Whitehouse press spokesperson spoke to the nation about the resilience of LGBTQI+ kids.

They are fierce, they fight back, theyre not going anywhere, and we have their back, she said. Such is the cold new liberal standard for tolerance, diversity, inclusion, and equity.

So far, neither the intermittent election of conservative leaders nor the rise of common sense populist movements such as the American Tea Party, Brexit, MAGA, or the Peoples Party of Canada have disinclined Woke cultural elites from their present addiction to the carnal pleasures of post-modern amorality and permanent political power.

Hope springs eternal. As Martin Luther King once said, its only when its dark enough that we can see the stars. Nevertheless, rational men and women feel like theyre fighting off a jellyfish with a knife. Thrusts of truth and logic appear useless against a creeping social toxicity.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Russian Mercenary Leader Prigozhin Hints at Major African Campaign

This photograph taken on Feb. 3, 2021, shows a truck of the Russian private military group Wagner in the looted Central African Army (FACA) base of Bangassou, attacked on Jan. 3, 2021, by rebels.(Alexis Huguet/AFP via Getty Images)

In late March, the founder of the Russian mercenary force Wagner Group authored a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken that left the global intelligence community and governments scratching their collective heads.

In the communication, Yevgeny Prigozhin suggested to Blinken that the United States and Wagner PMC (Private Military Company) should cooperate to ensure peace and security in Africa going forward.

Prigozhin wrote that Washington should stop trying to exert political influence in Africa and focus solely on the security that the Wagner PMC can provide [there].

The letter was published on Twitter by the international conflict-watching group War Monitor.

After the Wagner PMC and I started actively operating in Africa in 20172018, we managed to achieve great results in establishing security and order in every country where we were present, Prighozin wrote.

That claim sparked a chorus of condemnation from international human rights groups and conflict analysts.

Wagners presence in Africa has caused exactly the opposite of what Prigozhin claims, Jasmine Opperman, a former intelligence operative for the South African military and now a security consultant specializing in terrorism on the continent, told The Epoch Times.

The Russian mercenaries have caused instability in Africa by means of violence and corruption. They have also interfered in domestic politics, to make sure that Prigozhins favored proxies, in the form of local warlords and dictators with whom he can do business, remain in power.

Prigozhins appetite for warand by extension profitin Africa, has never been a secret. He sees Africaand with good reasonas a theater in which his troops can operate above the law, in cooperation with corrupt politicians and illegitimate regimes and dictatorships.

In Exchange for Riches

Wagner props them up, in exchange for a share of riches from gold, diamonds, and other precious metals and minerals, Opperman said of the illegitimate regimes and dictatorships in Africa.

The Biden administration has sanctioned some of Prigozhins companies for what it calls malign political and economic influence around the globe.

As ludicrous as Prigozhins missive to Blinken appears to Opperman and others, contained in it is the implication that Wagner is considering moving into Africa in far greater numbers than it has thus far.

It also comes at a time when reports emanating from the Wagner chiefs press office suggest that relations between him and Putin are deteriorating.

Prigozhin is rightly upset about the numbers of fighters he is losing recently in Ukraine, especially in the ongoing Wagner assault on Bakhmut, Opperman said.

Hes lost a lot of experienced men in Ukraine, and hes afraid that hell be left with minimal forces to fulfill his ambitions elsewhere.

The West, and the United States in particular, is currently locked in a battle with Moscow and Beijing for African hearts and minds, as well as access to the continents natural resources, which include oil, gold, uranium, and coltan  especially coltan.

All modern devices, from laptops to cellphones, need coltan, Toby Shapshak, one of Africas foremost technology experts, told The Epoch Times. Basically, this mineral gets broken down into a powder called tantalum. This is then used to manufacture heat-resistant capacitors and thats what allows modern technological devices to work.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where war between government administrations, rebel groups, and jihadists has been raging for decades, is by far the worlds biggest coltan producer.

It produced about 700 tons in 2021, said Oluwole Ojewale, Central Africa coordinator for South Africas Institute for Security Studies (ISS).

The DRC is also endowed with large deposits of gold, diamonds, cobalt, and zinc.

Forget politics; this is what all the conflicts in DRC are about and always have been about, Ojewale told The Epoch Times.

The global coltan market alone will probably reach $2 trillion in the next two years. Why wouldnt the Wagner Group want a piece of this action?

While Prigozhin has denied that his mercenaries are present in DRC, witnesses frequently report attacks by groups that include white soldiers, and photographs of bodies wearing Wagner uniforms have been circulated on social media by several armed groups in DRC, whove claimed that theyve killed Russian mercenaries.

The probability assessment for Russias Wagner mercenaries being present in this country [DRC] is almost 100 percent, the U.S.-based Robert Lansing Institute (RLI), which studies global geopolitics, said in a recent report.

It claimed that the Kremlins quasi-legal troops have engaged in a dialogue with Denis Sassou Nguesso, the president of oil-producing Congo.

The institute wrote that Wagner is in DRC to gain shadow access to natural minerals, as their selling provides shadow income for Russias top leaders and funding for military operations abroad and to expand Russias geostrategic influence in Africa.

Wagner Just Destroys

The RLI stated that Wagner in Africa is increasingly focused on discrediting former colonial ruler France.

The best proof of this is anti-French rallies in Mali organized by the Russians, its report reads.

Opperman agrees with much of the RLI research.

Wagner is the key part of Putins strategy to use disinformation to turn Africa against the West. Just listen to recent speeches by Russian leaders; all mention the Wests colonial legacy in Africa, she said.

But whos pillaging Africa at the moment? Wagner and China, of course. Whos slaughtering innocent Africans? Wagner. At least the Chinese make some attempt at development projects in Africa; Wagner just destroys 

Prigozhin a True Mercenary

Prighozin appears to have a different perspective.

In a recent video message, he said Wagners aim is to transform itself from the best private army in the world into an army with ideology, and this ideology will be the struggle for justice, with Africa being the first stepping stone toward this objective.

But, in a November 2022 report, the Combating Terrorism Center, based at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, stated that the Wagner Group has little interest in genuine capacity building and instead seeks to capitalize and profit on insecurity, using nefarious practices, including opaque and manipulative contracts, disinformation campaigns, election meddling, and severe human rights abuses.

Prigozhin has always been a true mercenary, and his objective in forming Wagner in 2014 to fight in Syria for [President Vladimir] Putin was always less about achieving political objectives than it was about enriching himself and a few others, Opperman said.

Wagner is spearheading Putins assault on Ukraine. Its fighters have been accused of atrocities, including mass killings, rapes, executions of civilians, and beheading POWs, since the beginning of the conflict in February 2022.

Their modus operandi in Africa has been exactly the same as this, said Allan Ngari, advocacy director for Human Rights Watch Africa.

Wagner has committed atrocities across the Sahel region, in Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Mali, and Sudan; wherever it has been.

In the Central African Republic, Wagner has kept the rulers in place in exchange for control of gold and diamond mines.

On March 19, Wagner operatives allegedly attacked a mine run by a Chinese company, killing nine Chinese citizens. Prigozhin denied that his forces were responsible.

Wagner has gold mines in Sudan, after it supported the military administration formed after the October 2021November 2021 coup that toppled dictator Omar al-Bashir.

It uses Darfur [in western Sudan] as a base from which it launches operations in Chad, Libya, and CAR, Opperman said.

In 2018, in Madagascar, Wagner was given control of chrome mines shortly before then-President Hery Rajaonarimampianina lost the election to Andry Rajoelina.

In Libya, more than 1,200 Russian mercenaries are fighting for rebel leader Khalifa Hifter. The conflict-wracked North African nation is home to the biggest oil reserves on the continent.

Hundreds of Wagner fighters are supporting the pro-Putin, anti-Western military junta in Mali, a country rich in diamonds, gold, uranium, copper, iron ore, and precious stones.

On March 23, Bloomberg News, citing people close to the Kremlin and intelligence services, reported that Wagner was preparing to scale back operations in Ukraine to refocus on Africa.

That was after Russian military commanders apparently succeeded in cutting supplies of men to Wagner by preventing Prighozin from recruiting convicts and depriving his troops of ammunition.

The Wagner chief blames this on his forces failure so far to capture a key target, the city of Bakhmut.

Prigozhins critics within the Kremlin, according to the Bloomberg report, made the ultimately successful argument to Putin that the Wagner head was achieving little by sending wave after wave of poorly trained former prisoners to the frontlines of Bakhmut, where they were becoming cannon-fodder.

British intelligence has estimated that at least 20,000 convicts, promised freedom should they survive the war, have so far been killed in the siege of Bakhmut.

Theres no on-the-ground indication yet of Wagner boosting deployments to Africa, but there are signs that it will happen soon, Opperman said. A few weeks ago, Wagner began a fresh recruitment campaign, asking for soldiers to serve six months in Ukraine and then a further nine to 14 months in Africa.

But, according to Italian intelligence reports, an influx of Russian mercenaries is destabilizing North Africa and causing a spike in migrant flows into the European Union, with Italy bearing the brunt.

Italys defense minister, Guido Crosetto, has publicly blamed Wagner for fueling a surge in migrant boats crossing the Mediterranean.

Prigozhin denies that.
Senator Calls on Lidia Thorpe to Grow Up

Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe (formerly of the Greens) crawls away after attempting to disrupt British women's rights activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, also known as Posie Parker, at a Let Womaen Speak rally against transgenders entering women's spaces outside Parliament House in Canberra, Australia on March 23, 2023. (AAP Image/Michelle Haywood)

Tasmanian Senator Jacquie Lambie has called on controversial Senator Lidia Thorpe to take responsibility for her actions after a late-night tirade outside a Melbourne strip club.

The incident was the latest in a series of colourful incidents involving the former Greens senator who, just a few weeks back, was involved in a scuffle with police officers after intervening in a womens rights rally.

The footage was released on April 16, showing the now-independent Senator Thorpe outside Maxines Gentleman Club in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick after a friends 50th birthday.

All I want to say to the black brothers there and anyone that were fighting, she shouted.

Any black man that stands with the [expletive] white little [expletive] like that, youse can all get [expletive] too.

One person responded, How the [expletive] does someone get in Parliament like you?

Thorpe responded saying, Weve been repressed all our [expletive] life in this country, and you let this little dog speak.

Later, the senator issued a statement to Seven News saying she had been provoked over her Indigenous views.

Its sad people are utilising whatever they can to drag me down when were trying to discuss important issues in this country, she said.

Time to Take Responsibility: Senator

However, Senator Lambie said she could not keep doing this.

A good start would be  take the responsibility for your own actions and take them into your own hands, she told Sky News on April 17.

There is no getting out of this, you are a politician. Sometimes we do muck up, but not taking any responsibility for yourself is not very helpful.

She suggested Thorpe go for counselling.

Because, quite frankly, something needs to be done. I would say this to Lidia, you cannot keep doing this.

Thorpe was elected to the Australian Senate in 2020 as part of the left-wing Greens. Her tenure, thus far, has been eventful.

Thorpes Activism

In October 2022, Thorpe resigned from her position as Greens deputy leader in the senate following revelations she had a relationship with an ex-leader of an outlaw motorcycle gang when she sat on the parliamentary committee investigating criminal gangs.

In February 2023, the senator blocked the Mardi Gras parade in Sydney when she lay down in front of a parade float.

Black and brown trans women started the first pride march as a protest against police violence. Today, we still face violence from police, she wrote on Twitter.

In the same month, Thorpe quit the Greens and became independent after disagreeing over the partys support for the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.

The Greens back embedding an Indigenous advisory body into the Australian Constitution, while the senator says such a move will have little practical effect.

Im sad to see her go, as I respect her greatly as a fighter for her people, Greens leader Adam Bandt told reporters. I tried hard to get her to stay with the Greens as our First Nations spokesperson, but she has chosen another course to advance the Blak Sovereignty movement.

In March, Senator Thorpe was pulled to the ground by police after she interfered with a speech being delivered by British womens rights advocate Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull (also known as Posie Parker).

Several people tried to assist Thorpe with getting up, but the senator crawled away and then walked back towards a pro-LGBT+ counter-protest, in footage published online.
PHILADELPHIA, Penn.Shen Yun Performing Arts has an all-new program every year, and John Capaldi, a lawyer, was so impressed with Shen Yuns previous season that he immediately bought tickets to see Shen Yuns 2023 performance when he saw the billboards announcing their return.

Im very, very impressed, said Mr. Capaldi, who watched Shen Yun at the Miller Theater in Philadelphia on April 16.

The artistry, the skill of the dancers, the level of the choreography; thats all so artistically beautiful and impressive. But one of the overarching themes I love about Shen Yun is just the celebration of life, celebration of goodness, and spirituality and optimism of it, because its keeping alive the pre-communist Chinese culture and traditions of thousands of years, which is so important to have.

Based in New York, Shen Yun was founded in 2006 and is the worlds premier classical Chinese dance and music company. Now with eight equally-sized companies touring the world simultaneously, Shen Yuns mission is to revive traditional Chinese culture and to give its audiences a glimpse of China before communism.

Shen Yuns program includes story-based dances, some of which are set in modern-day China and depict the Chinese governments persecution of followers of Falun Dafa, a spiritual practice that teaches the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.

I think its very unfortunate and very sad and tragic that you have a regime that wants to squelch or even persecute people that want to express their artistry, their spiritualism, their faith, Mr. Capaldi said. If anything, that is one of the greatest strengths in China, and should be celebrated, it should be uplifted.

To try to censor and control and not have that be out for the people is very, very unfortunate. And then to persecute people is terrible.

If something is good, it will want to be in the light, it will want to be open, if a government or a regime if their arguments of what theyre promoting isnt good or isnt life-giving, then it will want to be controlling and restrictive, and not be transparent.

As a Christian, Mr. Capaldi appreciated the spiritual elements in Shen Yuns performance, which come from the spiritual teachings of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhist that make the foundations of traditional Chinese culture.

Im Christian, so I believe in the gospel Jesus Christ, whos messages of loving each other, loving life, loving God, living in harmony with your planet, your fellow people, helping your fellow people, a lot of those themes were expressed in the show today.

And I am very happy when I see anything thats promoting a positive belief in God and faith  because I think thats at the core of a people and a healthy society.

Lastly, Mr. Capaldi said he highly recommends Shen Yun, and that he was looking forward to seeing the performance again next year with family and friends.

If you havent come and seen Shen Yun, please come down. You will not be disappointed.

From a pure musical, theatrical production level,[it] is very, very enjoyable and very high calibre. And then from the message that its promoting and the content, its very uplifting and positive. And its for all people; its for senior citizens down to little toddlers.

Reporting by NTD and Wandi Zhu

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yuns inception in 2006.
LONDONBusiness owner Trudie McGuinness attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Eventim Apollo on April 16.

Ms. McGuinness said, Its absolutely incredible. The beauty of the dancing and of the singing that we just heard is extraordinary actually. Its so, so touching.

She commented on the wonderful energy from the performance. Theres a beautiful energy  and the message about really considering the Divine within each of us is very powerfully demonstrated.

You feel it when youre watching it, she said.

It speaks to me and it speaks to my heart because I do believe in our higher power, and I think its incredibly important that everybody has the ability to be able to pursue their own beliefs and to be really in touch with the spiritual part of themselves.

If Ms. McGuinness were to describe Shen Yun to friends, she said, I would describe the fact that art is able to touch the heart in a way that sometimes news or everyday stories cant. And that you get transported to a different place in watching the show, both because of the visual aspects but also you feel the energy of the dancers.

And the singing that we just heard from the soprano was extraordinary, she added. She said the lyrics also spoke to her heart.

Based in New York, Shen Yun was founded in 2006 by leading Chinese artists and quickly became the worlds premier classical Chinese dance and music company. Shen Yuns mission is to revive 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture.

I think its incredibly laudable, she said of Shen Yuns mission. I think its really important. There are so many aspects to ancient traditions that we just wouldnt know about, have any idea about, if werent for a production like this. So, I think its fantastic and I wish it every success.

Shen Yun is banned in China. Its a tremendous shame, Ms. McGuinness said. For me, the fact that such things are prohibited, its gut-wrenching, really, that people cant enjoy their own culture when it is part of their history and their tradition.

And I think it speaks volumes about any kind of regime thats so scared of art that it seeks to deprive its people from it. Theres fear within there and, actually, what we see in this show is that love is far greater than fear.

Ms. McGuinness had kind words for the performers. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for using the gifts that youve got to bring this absolute beauty to speak to us and to speak to the Divine within each of us.

Reporting by NTD.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yuns inception in 2006.
Soros-Funded DAs to Blame for Violent Crime Spree Sweeping the Nation: House GOP

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, attends the committee's "Victims of Violent Crime in Manhattan" field hearing at Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in New York on April 17, 2023. (Chung I Ho/The Epoch Times)

NEW YORKRising crime around the United States can be attributed to the soft-on-crime policies of Democratic district attorneys funded by George Soros, according to Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee.

While in New York on April 17 for a field hearing on Victims of Violent Crime in Manhattan, committee members shared their perspectives on the matter with The Epoch Times.

This hearing, of course, is about the violent crime spree and the soft-on-crime policies that have been instituted by Soros-funded DAs, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) asserted, noting that Congress has jurisdiction over the federal funding district attorneys offices receive.

And if some of that funding has been misspent or misapplied, then we have a responsibility as stewards of the taxpayers dollars to track that down and make sure that its not.

The committees choice to focus on crime in Manhattan follows Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Braggs recent decision to pursue falsification of business records charges against former President Donald Trump, which Republicans claim are politically motivated.

In bringing that case against Trump, Bragg upgraded 34 misdemeanor charges to feloniesa move that has raised brows on both sides of the political spectrum, given that he downgraded more than half of the felony crimes his office reviewed last year to misdemeanors.

Bragg took office in January 2022. By December 2022, overall crime had risen by 22.4 percent year-over-year in New York, according to the New York City Police Department.

Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.), vice chairman of the House Republican Conference, attends the committees Victims of Violent Crime in Manhattan field hearing at Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in New York on April 17, 2023. (Chung I Ho/The Epoch Times)

But according to House Republicans, Bragg is just one of many district attorneys politicizing their positions at the behest of Democrat mega-donor George Soros.

In June 2022, the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund reported (pdf) that at least 75 district attorneys in the United States had been elected with Soross backing.

Huge amounts of money from George Soros go to a PAC, which then goes to fund these very left-wing DAs that quite normally would never win, Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) contended. And thats the issue. The issue is that theyre taking the prosecutors office and making it purely political.

Even worse than that, theyre making the prosecutors office an office that doesnt protect, fight for, or stand up for American victims and victims in the city of New York, San Francisco, New Orleans, and many other places.

Its wrongits actually evil. Bad people should be in jail.

Democrats Respond

While Republicans charge that Democrat district attorneys such as Bragg are abusing their offices for political gain, Democrats, such as Judiciary Committee Ranking Democratic Member Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), have argued that House Republicans are doing the same by investigating Bragg.

In his opening remarks during the April 17 hearing, Nadler said: Committee Republicans designed this hearing to intimidate and deter the duly elected district attorney of Manhattan from doing the work his constituents elected him to do.  Theyre using their public offices and resources of this committee to protect their political patron, Donald Trump. It is an outrageous abuse of power. It is, to use the chairmans favorite term, the weaponization of the House Judiciary Committee.

After the hearing, Nadler followed up those comments by accusing his Republican colleagues of obstructing justice.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), ranking Democratic member of the House Judiciary Committee, attends the committees Victims of Violent Crime in Manhattan field hearing at Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in New York on April 17, 2023. (Chung I Ho/The Epoch Times)

Its an obstruction of justice, literally, to have a congressional hearing attempting to stop or influence a given prosecution, which is clearly  an obstruction of justice, he said. The Republicans are guilty of that.

The Democrat also suggested that rising crime was a result of Republican opposition to gun reform.

Were the only major country that has mass shootings, Nadler said. And were the only major country that has freely available guns. The causation is obvious. Thats why we have triedthe Democrats have triedto pass sensible gun control legislation, background checks, and so forth. And the Republicans have blocked it.

According to a Crime Prevention Resource Center study published by the Social Science Research Network in September 2020, the United States accounted for only 1.1 percent of the worlds mass shootings from 1998 to 2017, despite making up 4.6 percent of the worlds population.

Braggs office issued a scathing response to the hearing, describing it as a political stunt.

Ending violence, stopping crime, and supporting victims and their families are the most sacred duties of the Manhattan DAs office, a Manhattan District Attorneys Office spokesperson said in a statement. DA Bragg is reducing crime in Manhattan, reversing a tough spike that began before he even took office.

Noting that homicides, rapes, robberies, and burglaries had all decreased for the first quarter of 2023 compared with last year, the spokesperson said: For outside politicians to now appear in New York City on the taxpayer dime for a political stunt is a slap in the face to the dedicated NYPD officer, prosecutors, and other public servants who work tirelessly every day with facts and data to keep our home safe.

DA Bragg and the Manhattan DAs Office will always work with any local, state, or federal partner who is serious about achieving lasting public safety.
Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Case About Alleged Car-Seizure Abuse

The Supreme Court has agreed to look at class-action lawsuits filed by two women whose automobiles were seized by local governments even though they committed no crimes.

The women said they were deprived of due process by two municipalities in Alabama that failed to properly justify their actions. The women filed suit in federal court.

The Supreme Court issued an unsigned order on April 17 in the case. No justices dissented from the decision to hear the case. For a petition to move to oral argument, at least four of the nine justices have to vote in the affirmative.

The decision comes as the court prepares to hear a separate case next week about local government seizures in a different legal context. On April 26 the court will hold oral argument in the home equity theft case of Tyler v. Hennepin County, Minnesota, which challenges the constitutionality of laws that allow local governments to take the full value of a home as payment for much smaller property tax debts.

The new case deals with civil asset forfeiture (CAF), which has long been criticized by civil libertarians. CAF is a legal procedure in which law enforcement officials take assets from people suspected of criminal or illegal activity without necessarily charging the owners with wrongdoing. Often the owners are required to prove the asset was not involved in criminal or illegal activity. Failing that, the government keeps the property.

In the case at hand, petitioner Halima Tariffa Culleys automobile was seized by the city of Satsuma, Alabama, when her son was arrested while using it. She filed a federal class-action lawsuit in federal district court claiming the city and the state violated her 14th Amendment rights by failing to provide her with a prompt post-deprivation hearing. Such a hearing, she argues, should have determined whether the vehicle should be retained by the state pending the disposition of the case against her son and whether continued impoundment of the car was the least restrictive way for the State to secure its interest in the vehicle during the pendency of the Civil Asset Forfeiture  proceeding filed against her.

The city referred the matter to the state, which made Culley a defendant in a case it brought under Alabamas CAF statute. Culley moved for summary judgment and the state court granted it, ordering the car returned to her because she was deemed an innocent owner of the vehicle that was not subject to forfeiture under state law.

Petitioner Lena Sutton filed a federal class-action lawsuit against the town of Leesburg, Alabama, claiming she had been improperly deprived of her car and that, like Culley, she was not given a prompt post-deprivation hearing at which the state would have to show probable cause. Before that, Sutton won her case in state court and showed she was an innocent owner who did not participate in or have knowledge of the use of the vehicle in a crime.

Sutton asked the federal district court to grant summary judgment to her in her lawsuit but it refused. Sutton appealed and her case was consolidated with Culleys. In July 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled against the two women.

The petitioners asked the Supreme Court to grant their petition because the various circuit courts do not agree on the controlling issue of federal law and because the Supreme Court previously agreed to hear a similar case. The Supreme Court was unable to resolve that case because of a jurisdiction-related problem, according to the petition filed with the Supreme Court.

Civil asset forfeiture laws are ripe for abuse and provide undue incentives to governments to grab property that was not used in criminal activities, critics say.

Civil forfeiture laws in many states allow governments to seize property from people not convicted of any crime, and keep it for months or years without a hearing before a judge to decide whether forfeiture is justified, Larry Salzman, director of litigation at the Pacific Legal Foundation, told The Epoch Times in a statement.

The Constitution demands more respect for property rights, and the Supreme Court may rule in this case that a prompt hearing is required, Salzman said.

The Pacific Legal Foundation, a national public interest law firm based in Sacramento, California, filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case, which is known as Culley v. Marshall, court file 22-585. Steve Marshall, a Republican, is attorney general of Alabama.

Marshall told The Epoch Times that the petitioners here failed to follow state-prescribed procedures.

Like in most states, Alabama law provides that certain items used to commit crimes are subject to forfeiture. And Alabama law provides protections to innocent owners of such items. If, for example, a criminal uses a car that is not his to commit a crime, but the cars owner had no reason to think it would be used to commit a crime, Alabama law provides several ways for her to get her car back, he said in an emailed statement.

Plaintiffs in this case opted not to use those means and instead sued in federal court. My office successfully defended the constitutionality of Alabamas laws before two district courts and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. I am confident that after the U.S. Supreme Court reviews the merits of this case, the Court will reach a similar conclusion, Marshall said.

The Epoch Times reached out to counsel of record for the petitioners and the two municipalities for comment but had not received a reply from any of them as of press time.

The case is expected to be heard in the courts new term that begins in October.
Suspect Sought in Truck Arson, Possible Shooting in San Diego

KEARNY MESA, Calif.Police were searching for a suspected arsonist April 16 who was wanted in a truck fire and possible shot fired in a Kearny Mesa business parking lot.

At 10:30 a.m. Sunday, police and fire officials received a report about a truck arson and possible shots fired in front of a store in the 9500 block of Chesapeake Drive, San Diego Police Department Lt. Christian Sharp told OnScene TV.

The lieutenant said the suspect used an accelerant to light the white Toyota truck on fire. When approached by the trucks owner, the suspect displayed a handgun and a shot may have been fired, he said.

Sharp also said the truck owner saw the suspect throwing a Molotov cocktail at the truck, but investigators from the Metro Arson Task Force were examining the scene to determine exactly what started the fire. Multiple businesses had security cameras and authorities will examine the footage.

There were no injuries reported, the lieutenant said.

The suspect fled the scene in a vehicle with another person, Sharp said.
Taiwan Says Debris From Chinese Rocket Fell in Its Northern Waters

Taiwan's domestically produced corvette class vessel Ta Chiang is paraded to demonstrate its combat readiness during a drill on the seas off the northern city of Keelung on Jan. 7, 2022. (Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images)

Taiwan said on Sunday that Chinas recent launch of a meteorological satellite has resulted in rocket wreckage crashing into its northern waters, where Beijing had previously imposed a three-day entry restriction on flights in the area.

Beijing launched its long March-4B rocket carrying the Fengyun-3G weather satellite on Sunday. The rocket blasted off at 9.36 a.m. local time from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Chinas Gansu province.

Taiwans Defense Ministry said the Chinese rocket was spotted flying over the islands northern airspace after it launched.

Taiwanese armed forces monitored the rocket launch through joint intelligence and surveillance and found that it did not pose a threat to Taiwans security, according to the ministrys press release.

[Taiwans] armed forces monitored the whole process and detected some debris falling into the northern waters of Taiwan, it said on Twitter.

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation said the rocket had successfully sent the Fengyun-3G weather satellite into its preset orbit, which is a low-earth satellite designed to track heavy rainfall.

While it did not specify the flight path of the Long March-4B rocket carrying the satellite, the time of its launch appears to coincide with Chinas previous announcement of the no-fly zone near Taiwan.

The Long March-2F rocket carrying Chinas manned Shenzhou-10 spacecraft blasts off from its launch pad at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on June 11, 2013 in Jiuquan, Gansu Province, China. (ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images)

Taiwans Ministry of Transportation said last week that Beijing had notified that it would impose a no-fly zone in northern Taiwan from April 16 to 18, which will restrict flights from entering the designated airspace.

Beijing subsequently reduced the flight ban duration from three days to 27 minutes on Sunday and denied that it had imposed a no-fly zone over northern Taiwan, claiming instead that it was only taking measures to ensure flight safety.

Some 480 Flights Potentially Affected

The decision was made after Taiwan protested the flight ban, given the impact it would have had on the economy and airline traffic of other countries, particularly Japan, whose islands are located close to the zone.

Taiwanese media claims the zone is adjacent to Japans Ishigaki Island and Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, which China also claims and refers to as Diaoyu Islands.

Japan had requested that Beijing provide an explanation for its decision to impose a flight ban over northern Taiwan.

The government is continuing to collect and analyze detailed information, including the communication with the Chinese side, and will take appropriate measures based on the results, chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters.

Taiwanese transport minister Wang Kwo-tsai said the flight ban could have impacted about 480 international flights if Beijing had maintained the three-day duration, citing the increase in the number of flights using that route after the pandemic.

Wang said about 33 flights will still be affected despite the reduction in the flight ban time to 27 minutes as they would need to deviate south from their original routes, resulting in longer travel time.

The Chinese maritime safety agency also warned about possible falling debris in waters north of Taiwan and prohibited vessels from entering on Sunday. But Taiwan said the warning only applied to ships, not aircraft.

Flight Bans Part Of CCPs Strategy

The rocket launch came just a week after Beijing staged a three-day military drill around Taiwan on April 8 in response to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wens meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in California.

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) greets Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen (L) on arrival at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library for a bipartisan meeting in Simi Valley, Calif., on April 5, 2023. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Taiwanese security analyst William Chung warned in June 2020 that flight bans could be part of the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) gray zone strategy against the self-ruled island, Taipei Times reported.

In August 2022, Beijing responded to then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosis visit to Taiwan by staging war games around the self-ruled island and warning Asian airlines to avoid flying in areas designated as danger zones. This resulted in hundreds of Asian airlines having to cancel or reroute their flights to avoid Taiwans airspace.

The CCP regards Taiwan as a renegade province that must be united with the mainland by all means necessary despite the fact that Taiwan has never been ruled by the CCP and has its own democratic government and currency.

The Taiwanese Defense Ministry has vowed to maintain its defense and continue to keep a close watch on the CCP military even as Beijing announced the end of its military exercise on April 10.

Although Chinas military exercises have come to an end, the national army and national security teams will continue to stick to their posts and defend the country, Tsai said in a video address last week.

Taiwans military said it detected 18 Chinese aircraft and four naval vessels near the island on Sunday, with four aircraft spotted entering southwest and southeast of Taiwans air defense identification zone (ADIZ).

Taiwan scrambled aircraft to monitor the Chinese aircraft, mobilized naval vessels, and deployed land-based missile systems in response.

Reuters contributed to this report.
This Is a Major Failure: Lawmakers Demand Answers on Pentagon Leak

Members of Congress, appearing on the Sunday talk shows on April 16, said there are a lot of questions that need to be answered about how a 21-year-old airman in the Massachusetts Air National Guard was able to get a hold of and distribute highly classified and sensitive materials that revealed, among other intelligence, U.S espionage activity and evaluation of the Russia-Ukraine war.

The airman, Jack Texeira, an IT specialist with the Air National Guard, was arrested at his family home in Massachusetts on April 13 and charged in federal court in Boston the next day. He remains in custody. His next court date is April 19.

Adding to the anxiety and anger of lawmakers and other government officials is that the Pentagon security breach comes in the wake of earlier this year of a spy balloon sent from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which has outright stated its plan to overthrow liberal democratic America, that traveled eastward across the country before being shot down by a U.S. fighter jet off the coast of South Carolina.

Sen. Graham Weighs In

On ABCs This Week on April 16, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who was in Jerusalem, spoke to show host Jonathan Karl on the leak. Graham is a former officer in the Air National Guard.

The system failed. This is a major failure, Graham said.

I dont know what led to this airmans actions, but hes done a lot of damage to our standing. Its very hard to get people to come forward right now to tell us about things we need to know about, if they feel like theyre going to be compromised. The sources, the methods, on how we collect on adversaries have been compromised, and I am stunned that somebody at that level could have so much access. So the question is, How did he get it? And why did he do it?'

Karl asked Graham about legislators in the GOP who were applauding Texeiras actions, and mentioned a Twitter post that Marjorie Taylor Greene made in support, and that Fox News Tucker Carlson was turning him into a hero.

What theyre suggesting will destroy Americas ability to defend itself; that its okay to release classified information, based on your political views; that the ends justify the means, Graham said. It is not okay. If youre a member of the military intelligence community, and you disagree with American policy, and you think youre going to be okay when it comes to leaking classified information. Youre going to go to jail.

Clearly Theres Damage That Has Been Done

Do you have any sense yet of the scale of the damage caused by the leak of this classified material by apparently this 21-year-old airman who has been arrested? host Margaret Brennan asked guest Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, on CBS News Face the Nation.

Not completely, but clearly theres damage that has been done, Turner said.

We have documents classified because we dont want them to get in the hands of our adversaries, and these have been widely circulated so these are obviously damaging both to the United States, and to our allies. Whats troubling here is that when you look at the documents that were circulated that, you know, without the care of its handling; these relate to actual real people, and they can impact peoples lives, and thats certainly our concern.

Is the US Military the Weak Link?

On CNNs State of the Union, Jake Tapper asked guest Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) if House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was right when he accused the Biden administration of being asleep at the switch.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) talks to reporters following the Senate Democrats weekly policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, on March 10, 2020. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Sen. Gillibrand, who sits on the Senate Intelligence and Armed Services committees, replied: Were going to do a full investigation. And the Intelligence Committee is also going to have a full investigation. We focus intensely on how to keep our secrets safe. And I have a lot of questions about why were these documents lying around? Why did this particular person have access to them?

Tapper brought up a concern that the U.S. intelligence community holds that the military is the weak link in protecting American secrets because so many in the armed forces have security clearance, and the Department of Defense does not conduct a thorough background check on those it provides that clearance.

Do you agree with that assessment? Is the military the weak link when it comes to this sort of thing? Tapper asked.

Those are the type of questions were going to ask in a hearing. Were going to have an all-senators briefing this week, responded Gillibrand. But we will also be having hearings in the Intelligence Committee and the Armed Services Committee. We need to know the facts.

Who Is Keeping Watch?

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who serves as chairwoman of the Subcommittee on CyberSecurity, IT, and Government Innovation appeared on Fox News Sunday.

We should be asking ourselves, Who is keeping watch? Rep. Mace told host Shannon Bream. Here was a young kid, a 21-year-old, with access to classified information; maybe the largest classified leak in recent history, and where was the leadership. So I support an investigation on House Armed Services or House Oversight, both committees that I sit on.

Today to get more information about how this happened. And I want to know, I think like every other American, was who was in charge? And each side right now. One sides calling him a traitor; the sides calling him a hero. But neither side has the information or the data to make that decision yet.
By Keita Nakamura, KYODO NEWS - Apr 17, 2023 - 18:51 | All, Japan, G7, World

The Group of Seven foreign ministers on Monday agreed to step up cooperation to prevent Russia from evading economic sanctions and securing weapons supplies from other countries to aid its invasion of Ukraine, specifically naming Iran to stop providing military assistance.

In the latest show of support to Ukraine, the top diplomats from the industrialized nations agreed on the second day of their three-day talks in the central Japan town of Karuizawa to commit to "intensifying, fully coordinating and enforcing" punitive steps against Russia, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

The G-7, which groups Britain, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and the United States, plus the European Union, also condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement late last month that his country will deploy tactical nuclear weapons to its ally Belarus.

The Ukraine war has continued for more than a year even as the G-7 members have imposed sweeping sanctions to cripple Russia's economy, including against actors believed to be enabling sanctions evasion. But still there are concerns of loopholes.

The G-7 ministers "concurred on reinforcing coordination to prevent and respond to the evasion of sanctions, as well as third-party weapons supplies to Russia," the Japanese ministry said in a press release.

With Iranian drones known to be used in the Ukraine battlefield, the G-7 foreign ministers demanded that Tehran suspend its support for the Russia military, it said.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, who is chairing the meeting, said at the beginning of Monday's talks that the G-7 intends to demonstrate its "strong determination" to uphold the international order based on the rule of law.

"We will firmly reject any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force, including Russia's aggression against Ukraine, as well as its threat to use nuclear weapons," Hayashi said in the meeting, part of which was made available to media.

Hayashi also stressed the importance of the G-7 beefing up collaboration with other countries in the Global South, with many of them, including India, taking a neutral position over the conflict in Ukraine and refraining from imposing punitive steps on Moscow.

Developing countries have particularly been bearing the brunt of the fallout of the war and the economic sanctions imposed by the West, with food and energy prices surging.

Russia is one of the world's biggest grain, oil and gas exporters, and Ukraine is a major wheat and corn producer.

During the discussions on the Indo-Pacific, where China is increasing its clout, the G-7 foreign ministers also agreed to step up engagement with the Pacific island nations.

The United States and its allies have been alarmed by China's recent outreach to the region, including its signing of a security pact with the Solomon Islands in April last year.

The islands have also been the forefront of a turf war between China and Taiwan, with Kiribati and the Solomon Islands both having switched diplomatic relations from Taipei to Beijing in 2019.

The talks focusing on the Indo-Pacific continued from a day before, in which the G-7 foreign ministers agreed there must be unity in dealing with the various challenges in the region, including China and North Korea, according to the ministry.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell canceled his trip to Japan after testing positive for the coronavirus, with Enrique Mora, deputy secretary general for political affairs of the European External Action Service, representing the 27-member bloc, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

A joint statement will be released on the final day of the meeting, with the related discussions to be reflected at the leaders' summit slated for next month in the western Japan city of Hiroshima.

Related coverage:

FOCUS: Japan's G-7 leadership role faces tests at decarbonization talks

G-7 top diplomats agree on unity over China as talks begin in Japan

G-7 vows to phase out fossil fuels, but sets no date for coal power
Trump Announces Plan to Target Marxist Local District Attorneys If Elected

Former President Donald Trump arrives at Trump Tower the day after FBI agents raided his Mar-a-Lago Palm Beach home, in New York on Aug. 9, 2022. (David 'Dee' Delgado/Reuters)

If elected to a second presidential term in 2024, former President Donald Trump would investigate Marxist local district attorneys, according to a recent policy video he uploaded online.

The former commander-in-chief vowed to overhaul the Department of Justice if he wins another term and go after officials engaged in civil rights investigations, adding that Soros prosecutors appear to be engaging in selective enforcement based on illegal racial discrimination in places like Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. He was referring to left-wing billionaire financier George Soros, who has provided millions of dollars in campaign contributions to leftist district attorneys, including Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

As we completely overhaul the federal Department of Justice and FBI, we will also launch sweeping civil rights investigations into Marxist local district attorneys, Trump added in a video posted to his YouTube page, which was restored earlier this year after a two-year suspension. And thats what we havethey are Marxist in many cases.

He called for federal subpoenas into various DA offices emails, staff, and records to determine if theyve violated federal civil rights laws. Trump highlighted the case involving Daniel Perry, a former U.S. Army sergeant, who was convicted of murder in Austin, Texas, in a case that some conservatives said was unfairly brought by the local district attorneys office.

Trump also pledged to appoint about 100 U.S. attorneys who are the polar opposite of the Soros district attorneys and others being appointed around the United States. He said that those officials will be the most ferocious legal warriors who will target the worst communist corruption this country has ever seen.

We will have a complete investigation into the use of police state tactics by federal authorities to arrest conservatives and Christians, he said, adding that Americans should confront radicalized law schools.

Soross progressive Color of Change political action committee provided campaign donations to Bragg and other left-leaning district attorney candidates in other municipalities, according to Voting While Black. Notably, Bragg brought 34 felony charges against Trump earlier this month during a historic arraignment in Manhattans courthouse in connection to payments the former president made to Stormy Daniels and another woman during the 2016 campaign.

Amid the controversy, Bragg has not addressed the claims that his campaign received cash from Color of Change. But Soros, in a recent interview, denied having a connection to Bragg, a Democrat.

I think some on the right would rather focus on far-fetched conspiracy theories than on the serious charges against the former president, Soros told the Semafor news outlet. The funds I provide enable sensible reform-minded candidates to receive a hearing from the public. Judging by the results, the public likes what its hearing, the 92-year-old also wrote for the Wall Street Journal last year.

Color of Change, according to OpenSecrets.org, donated some $500,000 to Braggs campaign. He was elected in 2021.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks in New York City on April 4, 2023. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)

For too long, New Yorkers have lived under two systems of justice, Color of Change said in a 2021 press release in announcing it would support Braggs run. One system protects and privileges the powerful and well-connected; the other victimizes and penalizes people of color and the powerless.

The group argued that it supports such candidates because real criminal justice reform requires not just winning elections, but also changing laws and increasing funding for communities rather than a reliance on policing.

Some experts say that outside of Braggs office, dozens of like-minded local prosecutors have been elected since 2014 and have become a major power bloc within the United States, controlling jurisdictions that span a large number of major U.S. cities.

They believe that the criminal justice system is excessively punitive and racially biased and that it is irredeemable, Sean Kennedy, a criminal justice expert at the Maryland Public Policy Institute, told The Epoch Times last year. So theyre trying to undermine it from the inside.

The rogue prosecutor movement goes back to the prison abolition movement, said Zack Smith, a former federal prosecutor who works with The Heritage Foundation. There is actually a movement; its a Marxist movement that believes we should abolish prisons in the United States, he said.

Many members of this movement  bought into the idea that our criminal justice system is systemically racist, that we have a problem with mass incarceration, we arrest too many people, incarcerate too many people. And so because of that, they want to lower prison population, and they want to basically make many, many things that have traditionally been crimes either not be crimes or make the punishment for them very minor, like a speeding ticket, civil infraction, he said.
Twitter Labels CBC as Government-Funded Media

People enter the CBC building in Toronto in a file photo. (The Canadian Press/Nathan Denette)

Twitter labelled the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) as a government-funded media on April 16.

The social media platform under the leadership of business tycoon Elon Musk had recently applied similar labels to the National Public Radio (NPR) in the United States and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in the UK.

According to Twitter, the label is used in cases where the government provides some or all of the outlets funding and may have varying degrees of government involvement over editorial content.

CBC rejects Twitters labelling.

Twitters own policy defines government-funded media as cases where the government may have varying degrees of government involvement over editorial content, which is clearly not the case with CBC/Radio-Canada, CBCs director of media relations Leon Mar told The Epoch Times in an email on April 16.

The national broadcaster received $1.2 billion in funding from the federal government last year.

BREAKING: CBC officially exposed as government-funded media. Now people know that it is Trudeau propaganda, not news. Sign here to save $1 billion & defund the CBC: https://t.co/R8BvsAcR3O pic.twitter.com/Akf6IzdIb2  Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) April 16, 2023

On April 4, Twitter labelled NPR as state-affiliated media, the same label as Chinese-state media Xinhua and Russian state-controlled RT. After criticism, Twitter changed the label to government-funded media.

NPR said on April 12 that it is quitting Twitter, and wont be posting new content on the platform. Reacting to the development and questions about the platforms move, Musk said on Twitter: Defund @NPR.

The BBC also objected to its initial label of government-funded media, saying: The BBC is, and always has been, independent. We are funded by the British public through the licence fee.

Musk said in an email to the BBC that Twitter is aiming for maximum transparency and accuracy.

Linking to ownership and source of funds probably makes sense, he said.

Twitter later changed the label on the BBCs account to publicly-funded media.

Elon Musk speaks at the 2020 Satellite Conference and Exhibition in Washington, D.C., on March 9, 2020. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre, who often spars with the CBC and has asked for it to stop receiving federal funding, had written to Twitter to request the social media platform apply the government-funded media label to the broadcaster.

He welcomed the April 16 labelling.

CBC officially exposed as government-funded media,' Poilievre wrote on Twitter. Now people know that it is Trudeau propaganda, not news.

The Prime Ministers Office couldnt immediately be reached for comment.

Poilievre had also asked for the same label for CBCs @CBCNews and @CBCAlerts accounts, but the label wasnt imposed on those two accounts as of April 16.

CBCs Mar says the outlet has editorial independence.

CBC/Radio-Canada is publicly funded through a parliamentary appropriation that is voted upon by all Members of Parliament. Its editorial independence is protected in law in the Broadcasting Act, Mar said.

Owen Evans, Bryan Jung, and Noe Chartier contributed to this report.

Editors note: This article was updated to add CBCs response to the development when it was provided.
Ukrainian Prosecutor General: Leak Has No Influence On Our Work

Attorney General Merrick Garland meets with Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin (R) at the Department of Justice in Washington on April 17, 2023. (Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin assured on April 17 that the leak of U.S. documents related to Russias war in Ukraine will have no effect on his offices work in holding those behind the invasion accountable.

In response to a question during a press conference before a meeting with U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, Kostin said that the leak has no influence on our work.

One of the leaked documents revealed that there have been military special forces from the United States and elsewhere on the ground in Ukraine.

One paperUS, Allied, and Partner UAF Combat Power Buildshowed the timeline of military equipment committed to Ukraine by the United States and its allies between January and April 2023.

It also showed the timeline for training Ukrainian personnel on the equipment.

Another document is about the equipment buildup for Ukraine ahead of its expected spring offensive and the types of equipment and how many of each have been pledged and delivered.

One document showed the status of the conflict as of Feb. 28 and another showed the same, but as of March 1.

Moreover, another document encapsulated the response of U.S. allies to the conflict divided into four categories: whether they have provided or committed to training Ukrainian armed forces, whether they have committed or provided lethal aid to Ukraine, whether they have the ability to provide future lethal assistance, and whether they have the political will to provide lethal assistance to the Eastern European nation.

Additionally, there was a document highlighting the possibility that Israel provides lethal aid to Ukraine.

One of the four possible scenarios is Russia continues to allow Iranian advanced conventional weapons through Syria, prompting Israel to request expanded U.S. support for Israeli counter-Iran activities in exchange for lethal aid to Ukraine.

Israel has come out against the war, but it has refrained from providing lethal assistance as it has a strategic relationship with Russia in Syria, where Iran-backed forces continue to operate.

Also, Israel is home to many Russian Jews, and giving lethal aid to Ukraine could jeopardize the chances of more Russian Jews immigrating to Israel.

Russia has tried to shutter Russias branch of the Jewish Agency, which helps facilitate immigration to the Jewish state.

Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, was arrested last week for allegedly leaking the documents. He is facing charges under the Espionage Act.

A judge on April 14 ordered Teixierawho had held a top-secret clearanceto be held in custody pending a detention hearing on April 19.
US Guided-Missile Destroyer Sails Through Taiwan Strait Amid China Threat

The USS Milius (DDG69) guided-missile destroyer arrives to join the Forward Deployed Naval Force at the U.S. naval base in Yokosuka, Japan, on May 22, 2018. (Issei Kato/Reuters)

The United States deployed the guided-missile destroyer USS Milius through the Taiwan Strait on April 16, just days after the Chinese military simulated precision strikes against Taiwan.

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit to demonstrate the U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, the U.S. Navys 7th Fleet said in a statement.

The ship transited through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal state, it said. The United States military flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows.

The warship deployment immediately triggered a response from Beijing, which said it organized troops to monitor the U.S. warships operations and to maintain a high level of alert at all times.

Taiwans Defense Ministry said the Milius sailed through the Taiwan Strait from south to north.

During the northward sailing of the U.S. warship through the Taiwan Strait, the national army kept abreast of the relevant developments in the surrounding sea and airspace, and the situation was normal, it said.

The deployment came after Beijing launched a three-day military drill around Taiwan in response to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wens meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in California.

Chinas state media reported that the military conducted simulated joint precision strikes on key targets on Taiwan and its surroundings.

Beijing sent a record 91 warplanes and 12 naval vessels toward Taiwan on the final day of its drills, with 54 aircraft spotted crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait and the southwestern and southeastern parts of Taiwans Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).

Taiwan Keeping a Close Watch

Chinese aircraft incursions into the region continued despite the fact that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had already proclaimed the conclusion of its military exercise on April 10.

Taiwans military said it detected 18 Chinese aircraft and four naval vessels near the island on April 16, with four aircraft spotted entering southwest and southeast of Taiwans ADIZ.

President Tsai Ing-wen speaks about recent Chinese military drills in Taipei, Taiwan, on April 11, 2023. (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)

Tsai has condemned the CCPs military drills in the Taiwan Strait, saying that Beijing did not demonstrate the responsible behavior of a major Asian nation.

As the president, I represent our country in the world, whether its a visit to allied countries or stopping through in the U.S. and interacting with our international friends, and not only has this been going on for years, its the Taiwanese peoples shared expectation, Tsai said in a statement.

But China used this as a pretext to start military drills, creating instability in the Taiwan Strait and region. This is not the attitude of a responsible major nation in this region, she added.

The CCP regards Taiwan as a renegade province that must be united with the mainland by all means necessary despite the fact that Taiwan has never been ruled by the CCP and has its own democratic government.

Despite having only unofficial relations, the United States is Taiwans most important ally and source of military assistance. U.S. law requires Washington to regard all threats to the islandincluding a blockadeas matters of grave concern, although it does not explicitly require the commitment of forces.

David Stilwell, a retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general and former assistant secretary of state, said the CCP was continuously breaking its promises and assurances to the United States and Taiwan.

By threatening military violence and repeatedly crossing the center line of the Taiwan Strait, he said, the CCP was undoubtedly violating 50 years of promises not to unilaterally seek to change the status quo regarding Taiwan.

There comes a point when theyre going to cross a line and Taiwan is going to react, starting something that I am 100 percent sure that Beijing is not preparedat this pointto start, Stilwell told The Epoch Times.

Andrew Thornebrooke and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
US Supreme Court Rejects Lawsuit by Texas Inmate Held 27 Years in Solitary Confinement

Members of the Supreme Court pose for a group photo at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on April 23, 2021. Seated from left: Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justices Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor. Standing from left: Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Elena Kagan, Neil Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett. (Erin Schaff/Pool/Getty Images)

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from a Texas prisoner who was convicted of robbery but argued officials violated the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment by submitting him to spend 27 years in solitary confinement.

Dennis Wayne Hope, the inmate, appealed a lower court ruling that argued he did not show whether his prolonged stay in solitary confinement violated the Constitutions 8th Amendment. Hope is still in prison but was released from solitary last year.

In an unsigned order, the court turned away Hopes appeal. None of the justices issued a dissent.

After being convicted in 1990 of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon, he tried to escape prison in both 1990 and 1994 before he was sent to solitary confinement. Court papers that he submitted to the Supreme Court stated that he spent 22 to 24 hours per day in a small cell and suffered from hallucinations and thoughts of suicide as a result.

Hopes solitary confinement violated the Eighth Amendment because it was, objectively, a sufficiently serious deprivation and because prison officials, subjectively, acted with deliberate indifference to that deprivation (one defendant, for example, knew of the effects long-term isolation had on Mr. Hope yet refused to order his release from solitary confinement), court papers said. It noted that the state relied on Hopes escape more than two decades ago in justifying his solitary confinement punishment.

The 8th Amendment states: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

John F. Stinneford, a law professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, wrote in an amicus brief that common use of solitary confinement is a relatively new feature within Americas prison system.

This practice has not enjoyed anything close to long usage,' the professors brief stated (pdf). It was tried for a few decades in the nineteenth century but was then largely abandoned because it resulted in a high prevalence of severe harm to prisonersincluding insanity, self-mutilation, and suicide.

In 2020, a federal judge in Texas dismissed Hopes lawsuit and said he failed to bring arguments that rose to the level of a violation of the Eighth Amendment. The New Orleans-based U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2021 agreed with the judges assertion in 2021, triggering Hopes appeal to the Supreme Court.

Hopes allegations against the named defendants fail to show the defendants actions rose to the level of the deliberate indifference, federal Judge Ron Clark wrote. Meanwhile, he did not show either a retaliatory motive or causation regarding his claims against the defendants and that he has failed to produce either direct evidence of motivation or allege a chronology of events from which retaliation may plausibly be inferred.

The judge also factored Hopes propensity to commit violent crimes, as well as a history of possession and use of firearms, impersonating a public servant or security officer, and escaping from custody on two separate occasions in rejecting his lawsuit.

Plaintiff also complains of the defendants failure to follow prison rules and regulations. However, the failure to follow prison regulations, rules or procedures does not rise to the level of a constitutional violation, Clarks order said. Therefore, plaintiffs allegations fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.

Later, the 5th Appeals Court decided that long-term solitary confinement is not per se cruel and unusual and made reference to a Supreme Court ruling that stating that the length of isolation sentences was not considered in a vacuum.

After Hope filed his lawsuit, officials in Texas started a process that allowed Hope to transfer out of solitary confinement in June before he was released into the prisons general population, reported Reuters. The state of Texas had asked the Supreme Court to render Hopes case moot as hes no longer being held in solitary confinement.

After the Supreme Courts order Monday, Hopes attorneys expressed disappointment.

We are disappointed that the Supreme Court did not take up this case, lawyer Easha Anand of the Roderick & Solange MacArthur Justice Center said in a statement. Hundreds of people in Texas alone have spent double-digit numbers of years in solitary confinementa practice that the Supreme Court over the centuries has variously called perilously close to a penal tomb, something that will inevitably bring prisoners to the edge of madness, perhaps to madness itself, and a further terror even over and above a death sentence.'

She added: The idea of putting prisoners in solitary confinement for decades on end would have been anathema to the founders, and we believe that the Supreme Court must someday take up a case to make that clear.
US, Vietnam Pledge to Boost Ties as Blinken Visits Hanoi

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, accompanied by Ambassador of the United States to Vietnam Marc Knapper (R), walks to Binh Minh Jazz Club in Hanoi, Vietnam, on April 15, 2023. (Andrew Harnik/AP Photo)

HANOIFifty years after the last U.S. combat troops left South Vietnam, Secretary of State Antony Blinken looked Saturday to strengthen Americas ties with its old foes in Hanoi as it seeks to counter Chinas growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific.

Blinken and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh pledged to boost relations to new levels as they met just two weeks after the 50th anniversary of the U.S. troop withdrawal that marked the end of Americas direct military involvement in Vietnam.

And it came as Blinken broke ground on a sprawling new $1.2 billion U.S. embassy compound in the Vietnamese capital, a project the Biden administration hopes will demonstrate its commitment to further improving ties less than 30 years after diplomatic relations were restored in 1995.

Despite concerns over Vietnams human rights record, Washington sees Hanoi as a key component of its strategy for the region and has sought to leverage Vietnams traditional rivalry with its much larger neighbor China to expand U.S. influence in the region.

We think this is an auspicious time to elevate our existing partnership, Blinken told reporters after meetings with Chinh, Vietnams foreign minister.

This has been a very comprehensive and effective relationship and going forward we will continue to deepen relations, Chinh said. We highly appreciate the role and responsibility of the U.S. towards the Asia Pacific, or, in a larger scheme, the Indo-Pacific.

He added that Vietnams communist government is keen to further elevate our bilateral ties to a new height.

Along with a number of Chinas smaller neighbors, Vietnam has maritime and territorial disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea. The United States has responded by offering diplomatic support and bolstering military cooperation with the Philippines and the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which China claims as a renegade province.

Blinken noted that the United States is currently finalizing the transfer to Vietnam of a third Coast Guard cutter, which will complement existing maritime security cooperation that has seen Washington give Hanoi 24 patrol boats since 2016 along with other equipment and training.

All of these elements bolster Vietnamese capacity to contribute to maritime peace and stability in the South China Sea, he said.

Just last month, China threatened serious consequences after the U.S. Navy sailed a destroyer around the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea for the second day in a row, in a move Beijing claimed was a violation of its sovereignty and security. The Paracels are occupied by China but also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam.

U.S. officials are reluctant to describe any visit to Asia in terms of China, preferring instead to discuss the importance of improving bilateral ties. But they frequently speak to broader concerns in the region that are clearly directed at China.

We focused on how our countries can advance a free and open Indo-Pacific; one that is at peace and grounded in respect the rules-based international order, Blinken said.

And five decades after the Nixon administration pulled U.S. combat forces out of Vietnam on March 29, 1973, Blinken said the U.S. is seeking a more strategic orientation with the country.

Blinkens visit comes as the administration grapples with its own record of troop withdrawals and is facing congressional criticism and demands to explain the chaotic U.S. departure from Afghanistan two years ago.

Some have likened that to the Vietnam experience, especially as it relates to the fate of Afghans who supported the 20-year military mission but were left behind when the Biden administration pulled out of Afghanistan in 2021.

By Matthew Lee
3-member panel formed to probe killing of Atiq, brother





LUCKNOW :

The three assailants confessed to their crime and said that they did it to become popular. They were sent to 14 days judicial custody

 The commission will submit report to the Govt in 2 months

 Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC have been issued

 Bodies of Atiq Ahmad, Ashraf were buried at Kasari Masari graveyard after post-mortem

THE Uttar Pradesh Government on Sunday constituted a three-member judicial commission to probe into the killing of gangsterpolitician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Khalid Azeem alias Ashraf. The commission will be headed by High Court judge (retired) Arvind KumarTripathi, and retired judge Brijesh Kumar Soni and former DGP Subesh Kumar Singh will be its members, officials said here. The commission will have to submit its report to the Government within two months, they said, adding the State home department has constituted the commission under Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952. Policepatrollingwasintensified on Sunday in Prayagrajs Chakiya area where gangster-turnedpolitician Atiq Ahmads house is located even as the Uttar Pradesh Police tightened security across the State, aday afterAtiqandhis brother Ashraf were shot dead at point-blank range. Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) have been issued in all districts of Uttar Pradesh to prevent any untoward incident. Internetservicesremainshut in Prayagraj district as part of the security measures.

The two brothers were shot deadatpoint-blankrange by three men posing as journalists in the middle of a media interaction on Saturday night while police personnel were escorting them to a medical college here for a checkup. Meanwhile, gangsterpolitician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Khalid Azeem alias Ashraf were buried in their ancestral village in this Uttar Pradesh district on Sunday. The three assailants who killed gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf posed as journalists, carryingvideocameras,mike andmediaidentitycards,the Uttar Pradesh Police said on Sunday.
Bhent Mulaqat in Raipur North today





Staff Reporter

RAIPUR,

Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel will interact with people during his Bhent Mulaqat programme in Raipur North legislative assembly on Monday. He will participate in various programmes in Raipur North legislative assembly constituency. The Chief Minister will lay foundation stone for construction of BPO centre at Multilevel Parking near the Collectorate. He will flag off the vehicles, which have been included in cleanliness drive. He will also inaugurate various beautification works of urban areas.

He will interact with the residents of Raipur North legislative assembly constituency at Pragati Maidan, Pandri from 12.15 pm and 1.40 pm. He will take feedback about the Government schemes from the residents in the Bhent Mulaqat programme. Baghel will inaugurate and lay foundation stone for various development works worth around Rs 117.61 crore. Baghel will inaugurate various development works including Sheetala Talab. Raipur North MLA Kuldeep Juneja, Raipur Collector Dr Sarveshwar Narendra Bhure, Senior Superintendent of Police Raipur Prashant Agrawal, other officials and public representatives will be present. Chief Minister Baghel will meet the delegations of various social organizations at the Chief Ministers House from 5 pm to 6.30 pm. The Chief Minister will unveil the statue of veteran Congress leader Nand Kumar Patel, who was killed in Jhiram Ghati Naxal attack in 2013, at Oxyzone Pandri in the state capital on Monday evening.
Bhopals New Market to be developed on lines of Indores 56 Dukaan





Staff Reporter

New Market, the most prominent market of state capital, will be developed on the lines of Indores famous 56 Dukaan. For this the foot traffic for customers will be eased, so that they can make shopping easily. At the same time, the glory of the Taj Mahal in the State capital will return again, but before that adequate parking arrangements will be made here, so that the historical heritage situated amidst the dense population does not become the cause of the problem. Apart from this, every possible effort will be made to organise the city. At the same time, the works of the ongoing projects will be completed within the stipulated time. In fact, Collector Asheesh Singh has given these instructions to the concerned officials including the local TT Nagar SDM Sanjay Srivastava.

The main and biggest problem of New Market is the encroachment here. Here in front of the shops, people illegally occupy and collect their shops, do not leave space till the footpath. Due to this, there is a problem for the traders in doing their business, as well as the customers do not get space to walk and come to the shop. At the same time, no action is taken continuously by the municipal corporation. Due to this problem always persists. On this the Collector said that soon the encroachment would be removed and the New Market would be developed like the 56 Dukaan in Indore. The collector also inspected Bairagarh circle. During this, Bairagarh SDM Manoj Upadhyay was present with him. During this he reached the Taj Mahal and saw the renovation being done there and asked to complete it soon. He also said that adequate parking should be arranged at the Taj Mahal so that it does not become a problem for the people. Apart from this, he visited Lalghati, Civil Hospital, Bairagarh, Chirayu Astpal, Maidan Jalsa, Three EME Center, Ayyappa Temple, Data Colony, Airport Road, Aerocity BDA Project, Abbas Nagar, Asaram Tiraha, RGPV, IT Park, New Jail, Karond Chauraha, West Visited Prize, Karond Mandi, DIG Square, Bhopal Talkies, Pari Bazar, Idgah Hills, Cancer-TB Hospital, VIP Guest House, Gufa Mandir, Military Establishment and Manuabhan Tekri.
BJP protests against remark made by Govind Singh on Rani Kamlapati





Staff Reporter

Expressing great resentment against the derogatory remark made on Rani Kamlapati by Govind Singh, Leader of Opposition in State Assembly, the Bharatiya Janata Party, on Sunday burnt his effigy at all important squares of the city. Claiming Singhs statement highly objectionable, BJP leaders said he has insulted the tribal community.

It may be noted that a video gone viral on social media in which Govind Singh stating that nobody knows Rani Kamlapati. The statement spark controversy and claiming the statement derogatory and insult to the tribal community, all wings and blocks of Bharatiya Janata Party staged massive protest at many places in the city and burnt Singh effigy.

Speaking during the demonstrations, BJP leaders said disrespecting the nations great personalities has become the mentality of Congress leaders and making derogatory remarks against Veerangana Rani Kamlapati is unfortunate.
JINAN, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Italian chef Federico Bianchini rises with the first rays of spring sunshine, puts on his white work jacket and heads into the kitchen. A few hours later, the appetizing aroma of dessert fills the house.

This is the fourth year that Bianchini, 61, has lived in Dongying in east China's Shandong Province, running a restaurant with his Chinese wife, partly in remembrance of their deceased daughter.

In 2004, Bianchini married Dong Yan, a Chinese national living in Verona, Italy. However, the couple were plunged into grief when a car accident took away their only daughter. For years, the couple struggled to move on.

"Our daughter once told us that she wanted to open an Italian restaurant in Dongying," Bianchini said. "We found this city in the Yellow River Delta on the map, and we felt a kind of predestination."

Their daughter had visited Dongying and became attached to the city. "We wanted to see the place my daughter was thinking of, to fulfill her unfulfilled dream," said Bianchini.

In 2019, having finally mustered the courage to start a new business in their 50s, the couple made the move to Shandong.

"On the plane, we encouraged each other, saying that at least one person in 100 would like our dishes. To our surprise, we received a lot of help in opening our restaurant from the government and local people," said the husband.

The first Chinese words he learned after landing in Dongying were "beautiful" and "delicious," followed closely by "love." Such were the sentiments aroused by this inclusive and amiable city in the estuary of China's second-longest river.

The restaurant built a fan base with its Italian menu. Among their regular customers are many local parents, who chat with the couple while bringing their children to enjoy Italian food.

The restaurant has a signature dish called Wangwang Pizza, which Bianchini designed for a 9-year-old boy called Wangwang. The child's mother was among the couple's first local customers and friends, and helped open a social media account to spread the word about the restaurant.

"I like talking with them. It feels like they're my daughter's friends and neighbors," said Dong.

While most chefs keep their recipes secret, Bianchini shares them on a large board displayed in the restaurant. The couple have also joined in activities to introduce authentic Italian dishes to schools and communities, offering free culinary training.

"We feel that life in Dongying is full of love, and sharing is a kind of happiness," Bianchini said, adding that his Chinese friends have introduced him to Chinese traditions like acupuncture and taught him to make Chinese snacks such as steamed buns.

Last year, Bianchini received a senior citizen's ID and a free public transport card. Looking ahead, he is content to continue running his restaurant in Dongying.

"We'll stay in China and in the Yellow River estuary, where we have our family and love," said Bianchini. 
India, US building foundation for strong, peaceful global community: Nirmala





By Lalit K Jha

WASHINGTON,

INDIA and the US are together building a foundation for a strong, peaceful and harmonious global community, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said. When we celebrate diversity, celebrate inclusiveness, it is also the point that we share a lot of positive thoughts when we are doing this, the Finance Minister said. Today when we celebrate togetherness, it is that spirit which governs India and US relationship: a positive thinking relationship of two democracies, which have their own share of challenges and their own share of internal problems, but we dont allow them to overwhelm us, she said.

The minister was addressing Indian Americans at an event organised by the Indian Embassy here to celebrate the countrys diversity. We are together and building strong foundations for a strong, peaceful and harmonious global community. Thats where, I think, the contribution of the Indian diaspora, here people of Indian origin, to the US is very important, she said. You integrated yourself or do you recall with fondness the place of your origin, but youre part of the US today and building a very dynamic and robust economy, Sitharaman said.

This is exactly what is even in India. Differences are there between different regions, different people and different languages, she said. When people talk about digital achievements of India, the achievements are purely because the platforms have languages, which are at least 15, as recognised by the Constitution of India, there are more such languages, she said. The minister also highlighted that there are dialects, which can be spoken, but cannot be written as they dont have a script. But the Indian Constitution recognises 15 of them. Most of our platforms are available now in regional languages. And thats why when you pay your little bills to your milkman or you wish to vendor, you do it in their own languages. These are the instruments of success, the minister said. So, every diversity-related issue has been turned to an advantage in building a modern India, Sitharaman said.

I wish this relationship between the US and India grows from strength to strength, said the finance minister at the event that among others was also attended US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Kurt Campbell, the Indo Pacific Coordinator of US National Security Council, General Atomics Chief Executive Vivel Lall, White House official Dr Rahul Gupta.
Intent In Demand For Land





By Adv. R. S. Agrawal

THROUGH the judgment of the case  Anil Agarwal Foundation Etc. v. State of Orissa and others and a bunch of civil appeals, delivered on April 12, 2023, by Justice M.R. Shah and Justice Krishna Murari, at the Supreme Court, the Court has stated that the appellant-M/s Vedanta Resources Ltd. wants to acquire lands, which are agricultural lands belonging to 6000 families and their only source of livelihood, which cannot be compensated in terms of money, therefore appellants proposal made now has to be rejected outright. Under the new proposal, the appellant was ready to confine to acquisition of 3,837 acres of land only and willing to exclude the lands belonging to 7 land losers, who have filed the writ petitions against the acquisition proceedings and /or land-owners before the SC and/or the land belonging to the land losers before the SC is concerned, it will strengthen the Courts finding that there was no proper inquiry with respect to the requirement.

As has been already observed, initially, 15,000 acres were proposed to be acquired, which is now reduced to 3837 acres. Meaning thereby, the proposal was for exaggerated demand. This was mala fide intention on the part of the appellant Company/foundation. At this stage, it was required to be noted that it was the specific case on behalf of the original writ petitioners, more particularly, the Public Interest Litigation petitioners that if such a huge land would have been acquired and/or even the lands, which are already acquired would be misused and/or put to use for some other purpose like mining activities etc. The most important aspect, which is required to be considered is the non-application of mind by the State Government on environmental aspects and passing of two rivers from the acquired lands in question. It is not in dispute that from the lands in question two rivers namely, Nuanai and Nala are flowing, which as such were acquired by the State Government How the maintenance of the rivers etc. can be handed over to the beneficiary company. If the lands in question are continued to be acquired by the beneficiary company, the control of rivers would be said private company, which would violate the Doctrine of Public Trust.

Even requiring the beneficiary company to maintain the flow of those two rivers may also affect the residents of the locality at large. The Supreme Court has also noted that just across the road, there is a Wildlife Sanctuary, which is just adjacent across the road to the proposed University and the lands acquired. Therefore, large scale construction for the establishment of the proposed University as observed by the High Court will also adversely affect the Wildlife Sanctuary, entire Eco system and the ecological environment in the locality. It is a duty of the State to protect the Wildlife Sanctuary and it may affect the entire Eco system and the ecological environment in the locality. It is also required to be noted that even the distance of the sea from the proposed Vedanta University is approximately 2000 meters. Merely because the Balukhand Wildlife Sanctuary is separated from the proposed site by a highway  Puri-Konark Marine drive, cannot be a ground to acquire the huge lands for the proposed university and as rightly observed by the HC, the same will adversely affect the Wildlife Sanctuary and the entire Eco system and the ecological environment in the locality. These aspects have been not considered at all and /or by the State Government and/or the Collector and/or the appropriate authority even while considering the proposal and/or even the objections under section 5A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.

Even otherwise, there is non-application on the part of the State Government on the requirement of the lands by the beneficiary company. It is required to be noted that the lands were proposed to be required at the instance of one foundation/company and the State Government was dealing with the lands belonging to the agricultural landowners. It is also required to be noted that the Government is holding a public trust and has to deal with the lands belonging to private landowners, more particularly, agricultural landowners in accordance with law.

The Government could not have considered the proposal from only one beneficiary/Trust. There may be other public trusts/companies, who might be interested in establishing such university. Even no proper inquiry seems to have been initiated by the Government/Collector while considering the proposal by the beneficiary company.

The SC has also noted that initially, 15,000 acres of agricultural land was sought to be acquired for the proposed university. Ultimately, approximately, 8,000 acres of land belonging to the private landowners / agricultural landowners came to be acquired. The State Government has also handed over the possession of approximately 495 acres of land belonging to the State Government, including the Gochar lands etc. which could have been used for the other public purpose and even for the Gochar lands also. The SC has stated that it cannot appreciate as to why the State Government offered several undue favours in favour of one trust/company. Thus, the entire acquisition proceedings and the benefits which were proposed by the State Government were vitiated by favoritism and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. According to the apex court, it was more than satisfied that the Orissa HC did not commit any error and in fact, the HC was justified in setting aside the entire acquisition proceedings which has been vitiated by the non-compliance with the statutory provisions under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 and the Rules, 1963 and vitiated by mala fides and favouritism and is a clear case of the non-application of mind on relevant aspects. The Supreme Court has expressed that it is in complete agreement with the view taken by the High Court.

On November 16, 2010, through the impugned judgment, which has been now upheld by the Supreme Court, the Orissa High Court had allowed the three writ petitions and quashed the land acquisition proceedings and the awards passed in those proceedings in favour of the appellant and directed that the possession of the acquired lands shall be restored to the respective land-owners against refund of the amount of compensation paid to them. The High Court had also quashed the grant of Government land in favour of the beneficiary company under Rule 5 of the Government Land Settlement Rules with a direction to the State Government to resume the lands.
Kejriwal questioned for nearly 9 hours by CBI





NEW DELHI :

The Aam Aadmi Party held protests in many areas against the CBIs summons to Kejriwal and several top leaders were detained by police 

DELHI Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was questioned by the CBI on Sunday for nearly nine hours in connection with the Excise Policy scam case, officials said. The AAP chief, who arrived at the heavily fortified agency headquarters at around 11 am in his official black SUV, was taken to the first-floor office of the Anti Corruption Branch where he was quizzed by the investigation team, they said. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said the CBI asked him around 56 questions regarding the excise policy case and he answered them all.I want to say that the entire excise policy case is false. They do not have any evidence that the AAP is wrong. Its a result of dirty politics, he told reporters. Thanking the CBI officials for their hospitality, Kejriwal said,They asked me questions in a friendly and harmonious manner.

I answered all the questions asked by them. The CBI asked around 56questions regarding the excisepolicy, including when and whythe policy was started, headded. Kejriwal waved to the waiting mediapersons as he left thebuilding at around 8.30 pmafter nearly nine hours of questioning.The Chief Minister hada lunch break during the day, they said. AAP leader Manish Sisodiawas arrested on February 26after nearly eight hours of questioning in the case with officials saying his answers werenot satisfactory. He later quit as Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi. Senior officials of the agency remained present in the office on Sunday to keep an eye on the development, a normal course whenever a VIPcomestotheagency,they said. TheAamAadmiParty held protests in many areas against the CBIs summons to Kejriwal and several top leaders were detained by police.Inafive-minutevideo message on Twitter before arriving at the heavily fortified Headquarters of the Central Bureau of Investigation at around 11 am,Kejriwalclaimedthatthe BJP might have ordered the agency to arrest him.

The AAP chief, who received solidarity messages from a number of Opposition leaders after being summonedbytheagency,asserted that he would honestly answer questions posed by the CBI in the Excise case as he has nothing to hide. The BJP, which accused Kejriwal of indulging in theatricstodivertattentionfrom corruption,hasdared himto undergo a lie-detector test and said it was not the time for rhetoric but accountability. Kejriwal visited Mahatma Gandhis memorial at Rajghat on Sunday morning and was accompanied by his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann and some Cabinet colleagues to the CBI office. While he was being questioned, several senior AAP leaders were detained by the Delhi Police while they were holding a sit-in at ArchbishopRoadagainsthis summoning.
Maoists call killed tribal student a police informer, say arrested accused innocent





Staff Reporter

A month after killing a student preparing for competitive examination, the outlawed Maoist-terrorists have branded the student as a police informer. At the same time, the Maoists have called the accused arrested in this case as innocent. The cops have countered the Maoists by stating that the student killed by outlaws was not a police informer. Also, the cops have stated that the arrested accused is a former Maoist who had served a five-year prison sentence.

The terrorists of Communist Party of India (Maoist) had brutally killed Sainath Chaitu Naroti, a resident of village Mardhur in Bhamragarh tehsil of Gadchiroli district, on March 8. The Peoples Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) of the CPI (Maoist) had killed Sainath, following a tip-off from outlawed organisations Area Committee. As it had come to fore, Sainath Naroti was a tribal student who was preparing for competitive examinations. He was studying at Gadchiroli for the past three years and was preparing for the examinations for recruitment as Clerk, Talathi, police personnel, and other positions in Maharashtra Government.

After facing widespread criticism for killing a student, the Maoists recently issued a statement branding Sainath Naroti as a police informer. Shriniwas, Spokesperson of Western Sub-Zonal Bureau, Dandakaranya-Gadchiroli, CPI (Maoist), has signed this particular statement. Shockingly, Maoists have made an attempt to justify the killing of the tribal student by alleging in their statement that Sainath was killed as he did not mend ways and kept on passing information to police. More shocking is that the Red terrorists have called the accused Devidas Gawde and 10 others arrested by police in connection with Sainaths murder, as innocent and have demanded their unconditional release.
PM Modis degree: Court summons Kejriwal, Singh in defamation case by Guj University





AHMEDABAD,

A COURT in Ahmedabad has issued summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Partys Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh in a criminal defamation complaint for their alleged sarcastic and derogatory statements against the Gujarat University over Prime Minister Narendra Modis academic degree. The court of additional chief metropolitan magistrate Jayeshbhai Chovatiya on Saturday summoned the two AAP leaders on May 23, after observing that prima facie there appeared to be a case against them under Indian Penal Code Section 500 (defamation) on a complaint filed by the Gujarat Universitys registrar Piyush Patel. The court also ordered to delete Chief Minister from Kejriwals name in the cause title of the case, saying the statements were made by him in his personal capacity.

Kejriwal and Singh had made the comments after the Gujarat High Court passed an order setting aside the Chief Information Commissioners order asking the Gujarat University (GU) to provide information on PM Modis degree.

As per the complainant, they made defamatory statements in press conferences and on Twitter handles targeting the university over Modis degree.

Their comments targeting the Gujarat University were defamatory and hurt the prestige of the institution which has established its name among the public, he said. The Gujarat University was established more than 70 years ago. It is reputed among the people and utterances by the accused will create mistrust about the university, the complainants lawyer Amit Nair argued. The complainant alleged the statements were defamatory towards the university because they were sarcastic and intended to intentionally hurt the prestige of the university, and they were shared in the media.
Several State, Central Govt employees hold Pension Samvaidhanik March against New Pension Scheme





Staff Reporter

A large numbers of State and Central Government employees attended Pension Samvaidhanik March to revoke National Pension Scheme, on Sunday. The march was simultaneously organized throughout the country under National Pension Revoking Campaign. The march was taken out from Gole Bazar and concluded at Clock Tower with handing over a memorandum addressing the Prime Minister and Chief Minister.

Through the memorandum, government employees informed that Old Pension Scheme is their constitutional right provided by the Government of India under Pension Act 1972 but the current Government brought a resolution for stopping the Old Pension Scheme since January 1, 2004. The Government has introduced National Pension Scheme which is based on market investment scheme. National Pension Scheme has no guarantee of providing fixed pension to the retired government employees which insecure their future after the retirement.

During the march, Regional President of Madhya Pradesh, Parmanand Deria, Divisional President, Sandeep Verma, Womens President, Manisha Soni, Ordnance Factories members Ram Bhuvan Patel, Anil Gupta, Birbal, Amit Chandel , Uttam Biswas, Rohit Yadav, Ajay Rajak, members from Railway and several other government departments were present.
Strategic merger of steel PSUs in interest of nation, citizens: SEFI





Staff Reporter

BHILAI,

The Steel Executives Federation of India (SEFI) has urged the government to consider a strategic merger of steel public sector undertakings (PSUs) instead of privatisation. SEFI has already submitted a proposal to the Union Steel and Finance Ministries in this regard. According to N K Banchhor, Chairman of SEFI, SAIL is required to fully materialise its expansion projects by 2030 and the Government has to allocate a significant amount annually for the same. The strategic merger of RINL, FSNL, and Nagarnar Steel Plant into SAIL could help achieve this expansion more efficiently and quickly. This would also lead to the formation of a mega PSU under the Union Steel Ministry, which would enhance the profitability of the units. In the past, a decision was taken to merge FSNL into either SAIL or RINL, but it was later reversed.

However, FSNLs strategic merger could prove to be a major step towards profitability and development in the course.

Banchhor further emphasized that the PSUs have played a key role in nation-building and all-round development of the region, creating millions of employment opportunities and improving social and cultural aspects like education and health facilities. SEFI passed a resolution in this regard at a council meeting on April 4, 2021, and the issue was also discussed in parliament on December 15, 2022. The merger would allow the PSUs to supplement each others requirements and have their own port for export. Instead of privatization, the government should consider restructuring and strategic merger of steel PSUs for planned functioning. Its worth mentioning that a similar strategic merger was implemented in the banking sector in the past, which proved to be a worthwhile decision on the part of the government.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

WAKAYAMA, Japan (AP)  The fishermen who tackled the man suspected of the second attack on a Japanese political leader in less than a year were surprised by the lack of security for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Fisherman Tsutomu Konishi was watching Kishida at a campaign event at this fishing port when an object flew overhead and landed near the prime minister, Konishi said. A security officer covered the object with a bulletproof briefcase, Konishi said. The fishermen swarmed the attacker.

I never thought a crime like this would happen in my hometown, which is a rather small fishing area, Konishi, 41, said Sunday as he sipped a can of coffee at the port of Saikazaki. Im still shocked and stunned."

The prime minister was unhurt but like many others in Japan, Konishi was mulling Sunday what the country should do to better protect public figures.

At a time when Japans serving prime minister was visiting, perhaps we may have needed a metal detector, Konishi said.

Masaki Nishide, a 55-year-old fisherman from Saikazaki, said most of the people at Saturdays event were residents and supporters of the local candidate. He said the young man carrying the silver-gray backpack stood out.

People here all dress like me, and nobody carries a backpack; it was only him, Nishide said, wearing a sweatsuit and red rubber boots. If I were in charge of security, I would have asked for a bag check.

After the failed attack on the prime minister, one of the fishermen grabbed the suspect's neck from behind, another pushed his head down, and Konishi latched onto his leg. They were holding the man as police officers pulled him to the ground.

The chaotic scene was reminiscent of the assassination nine months ago of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which prompted police to tighten their protective measures after an investigation found holes in Abes security. Abe, one of Japans most influential and divisive politicians, was killed with a homemade gun during a campaign speech.

Suspect Tetsuya Yamagami has been charged with murder and several other crimes, including violating gun-control laws.

Authorities have said Yamagami told investigators he killed Abe because of the former prime ministers apparent links to a religious group that Yamagami hated. In statements and in social media postings attributed to him, Yamagami said his mother's donations to the Unification Church bankrupted his family and ruined his life.

Violent crimes are rare in Japan, and with its strict gun control laws, the country has only a handful of gun-related crimes annually. Most of the cases are gang-related, though in recent years there has been growing concern about homemade guns and explosives. There also have been some high-profile cases of random knifing on subways and arson attacks.

Groups of several officers have guarded serving prime ministers. Fewer officers have been watching Cabinet ministers and former leaders.

Compared with the U.S. elections, audience at political campaigns in Japan are often allowed to be quite close to dignitaries. At the campaign event for Kishida the front-row audience was within touching distance.

Only one person, a police official, was hurt, his arm cut by fragments of the device, which didn't fully explode. Police arrested 24-year-old Ryuji Kimura on suspicion of throwing an explosive in a metal tube at Kishida.

Police sent a special counter-explosives team to the suspect's home in Hyogo prefecture to search for evidence of bomb-making. There are nationwide local elections this month. and Japan is hosting a series of Group of Seven meetings leading up to the May 19-21 leaders' summit in Hiroshima. Diplomats arrived Sunday for the G-7 foreign ministers' meeting in Karuizawa.

Isao Itabashi, a public safety expert, said on NHK TV that the attack raised questions about how election campaigns are being handled. Guarding top politicians in campaigns is logistically hard, and balancing tight security with a free election is also difficult, he said.

Kiyotaka Hamada, 70, a senior member of the local fishing association, said he felt something hit his shoulder just as he heard the bang and was running from the scene. Police took his jacket to see if he'd been hit by a fragment of the explosive.

I just want to ask the suspect why he had to come here to make trouble," he said.

For Hamada and other fishermen, there's worry also about the expected loss of income from the days they cannot work while the port facilities are closed for the investigation.

We put so much effort throughout the village to welcome the prime minister here on his first ever visit, Hamada said. Now we cannot even go out to sea.

___

This story corrects the suspect's surname in the 15th paragraph to Kimura, not Nakamura.

___

Find more AP coverage of the Asia-Pacific region at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific
SPRINGFIELD  Two newly elected justices of the Illinois Supreme Court have declined to recuse themselves from a case challenging the states recently passed ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

The court as a whole also issued an unsigned order declining to disqualify them.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs in the case, which include state Rep. Dan Caulkins, R-Decatur, filed a motion March 30 asking Justices Mary Kay OBrien and Elizabeth Rochford, both Democrats, to recuse themselves from the case or, in the alternative, that the court disqualify them from participating.

The motion noted that both received substantial campaign donations during their 2022 campaigns from Gov. JB Pritzker and House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch, both of whom are named defendants in the case. The motion also noted that both received endorsements from two prominent gun control lobby organizations, Gun Violence Prevention PAC and Giffords PAC.

According to campaign finance records, both judicial candidates received $500,000 each from the JB for Governor campaign and another $500,000 each from the Jay Robert Pritzker Revocable Trust. Both also received contributions from Welchs campaign committee, $350,000 for OBrien and $150,000 for Rochford.

Motion cites gun safety support

The significance of the campaign contributions cannot be understated as often in politics, cash follows cash, especially when one considers the stake the Governor and/or Speaker were taking in the race(s), the motion stated. Thirty-Nine percent (39%) of Justice OBriens cash came from litigation stakeholders. Thirty-Six percent (36%) of Justice Rochfords cash came from litigation stakeholders.

The motion also cited a joint statement from G-PAC and Giffords PAC issued Nov. 9, the day after the election, in which the groups touted the victories of 88 gun-safety candidates they had endorsed in the election.

Chief among them are victories in both contested Illinois Supreme Court races as well as a pickup in the Illinois Senate and four pickups that build the supermajority in the Illinois House, the groups said.

G-PAC congratulates the gun safety candidates who were victorious in the general election, particularly newly elected Supreme Court Justices Elizabeth Rochford and Mary Kay OBrien as well as Senator-elect Rachel Ventura and Representatives-elect Diane Blair-Sherlock, Nabeela Syed, Mary Beth Canty and Laura Faver Dias, they said.

In their motion, the plaintiffs attorneys conceded that there is no Supreme Court rule specifying how a justice could be disqualified. But they did cite portions of the Illinois Code of Judicial Conduct, which states in part that, A judge shall be disqualified in any proceeding in which the judge's impartiality might reasonably be questioned.

That includes cases in which the judge has a personal bias or prejudice concerning the parties, attorneys or issues involved, as well as cases in which the judge has made public statements outside of a court proceeding that appear to commit the judge to a particular decision.

In Illinois, the decision on whether Supreme Court justices should recuse themselves from a case rests solely with the justices themselves, and both OBrien and Rochford declined to do so.

Justices quote retired Republican

In separate orders written by each of the two justices, OBrien and Rochford noted that the plaintiffs did not point to any specific pledges or statements that would indicate a bias in the case. They both also argued that the contributions they had received were within the states campaign finance limits for judicial elections.

Both justices cited a case involving now-retired Justice Lloyd Karmeier, a Republican, who was asked in 2014 to recuse himself from hearing an appeal in a $10 billion class action lawsuit against tobacco giant Philip Morris. Plaintiffs in that case argued that Philip Morris parent company, Altria Group, had given $500,000 to a group that supported Karmeier.

The claim that a judge may not hear a case because a party may have some association with a public interest group or political party that did support or may have supported the judges candidacy has no basis in the law, would be unworkable and is contrary to the very notion of an elected judiciary, Rochford quoted Karmeier as writing at the time.

When judges are elected, as the Illinois Constitution requires, it is inevitable (and entirely appropriate) that interest groups will support judges whose judicial philosophies they believe are most closely aligned with their own views, Rochfords quotation of Karmeier continued.

OBrien quoted Karmeier as well, stating: Litigants must not be permitted to create the grounds for recusal by criticizing the judge or casting sinister aspersions, nor may a party engage in judge-shopping by manufacturing bias or prejudice that previously did not exist.

2 suits challenge law

Lawmakers passed the ban on more than 170 types of semiautomatic firearms and high-capacity magazines during a special lame duck session in January. Gov. JB Pritzker signed it into law within hours of its passage, making Illinois the ninth state to enact such a ban.

There are currently two challenges to the law pending in state courts. The Caulkins case originated in Macon County while a separate suit filed by attorney Thomas DeVore, the 2022 Republican candidate for attorney general, originated in Effingham County.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear the Macon County case on an expedited schedule while the Effingham County case is being held in abeyance pending the outcome of the Macon County case.

The law is also being challenged in federal court in East St. Louis where a judge heard oral arguments last week.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to more than 400 newspapers statewide, as well as hundreds of radio and TV stations. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
EDWARDSVILLE  Madison County officials and local residents are hosting an Earth Day cleanup event Saturday in Roxana.

County board Chairman Kurt Prenzler is spreading the word about the 9 a.m. to noon event. Participants are asked to meet at Wanda Church, located at Madison Avenue and Wanda Road in Roxana, according to a press release from the county.



One of the local residents worked hard to help organize this event in an effort to clean up the roads near the Roxana Landfill, Prenzler said.

Prenzler commended Rusty Wheat for his efforts. He said Wheat works almost daily to pick up trash along Illinois routes 255 and 143 that is left behind by waste haulers headed to and from the landfill.



Hes tired of seeing the trash along the roadways, he said. We all are. No one wants this constant eyesore and what better way than to promote the beautification of the county than to hold an Earth Day event.

Trash has been big topic

The Monday media release from the county to announce the special cleanup day came just after The Intelligencer published an in-depth story Thursday regarding ongoing resident complaints about trash on roads near Roxana Landfill; the response of Republic Services, which operates the landfill; and related issues.

Building and Zoning Administrator Chris Doucleff said Monday afternoon that the Saturday cleanup may have been in the works before the reporting by The Intelligencer.

He said the county building and zoning department did not organize the event but is helping to facilitate it.

In addition, the Madison County Board is set Wednesday to vote on an emergency $200,000 to aid with cleanup in the area of the landfill. The Madison County Board's Building & Zoning Committee already approved the expenditure.

Targeted action

Prenzler said the Earth Day cleanup event is more about a particular issue near the landfill  the industrial level litter.



He said Wheat worked with county board member Alison LaMothe on the event. The countys building and zoning department will provide litter pick-up kits, which include safety vests, gloves, litter grabbers and garage bags.

The countys highway department is making arrangements to pick up the trash after it's gathered.



LaMothe said she went out and toured the area that local residents are complaining about and agrees with them that something needs to be done about the litter issue. She said the Saturday event is just a small step and she was more than happy to help Wheat in his endeavor.



County board member Terry Eaker of Bethalto said he receives calls almost daily about the trash on roads leading to the landfill. He said although the landfill itself isnt in his district, the intersection of Illinois routes 255 and 143 are located in it, as is the entrance to the Kendall Hill and Kendall Estates subdivisions.



Thats the intersection that I get the most calls about, because its the route the trucks take to the landfill, Eaker said. People are tired of seeing all the trash that falls off the trucks. They want it cleaned up.

County will give residents a kit anytime

Doucleff said the county offers a free resource tool kit, which includes trash bags, reflective vests, gloves and litter grabbers to anyone who wishes to go out and pick up trash in their community.



"We are focused on ways to reduce the amount of litter in the county and this resource helps battle that problem, Doucleff said. "Providing free resources for residents can impact change."

Since the kits first became available three years ago, the county has given away more than 4,000 of them.



To request a tool kit, volunteers are asked to fill out an online form to request the number of tool kits needed. Visit www.madisoncountybz.com or call 618-296-4468 for questions or more information about the program.

Volunteers can pick up their resource tool kit at the Madison County Administration Building, 157 N. Main St., Suite 254, Edwardsville.

We want to keep our streets, roads and highways clean, Doucleff said. Its not always easy, especially with two landfills in the county.

"We are working to find a solution and will continue to listen to residents when they complain about the trash.
NAIROBI, April 16 (Xinhua) -- East African leaders on Sunday called for an immediate end to the ongoing fighting in Sudan where military clashes have killed at least 56 people and injured nearly 600 others.

The Kenyan Presidency said the leaders from the regional bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), held an emergency virtual session on Sunday where they called for an immediate cessation of hostilities between the parties to the conflict in Sudan.

Those in the emergency session were President William Ruto of Kenya, Salva Kiir of South Sudan, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Ismail Omar Guelleh of Djibouti, and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia.

"President William Ruto asked IGAD leaders to take a firm position on the crisis to restore peace in the country," the presidency said in a statement issued in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.

The leaders resolved to send presidents Kiir, Ruto and Guelleh at the earliest possible time to reconcile the conflicting groups.

The leaders also asked the two parties to the conflict in Sudan to provide a safe corridor for humanitarian assistance in Khartoum, Sudan's capital, and other affected towns.

Violent clashes erupted on Saturday between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum and other cities, where the two sides traded accusations of initiating the conflict.

Sudan's Central Doctors' Committee said that at least 56 civilians had been killed while 595 more have been injured, among them soldiers who are in critical condition.

The tension between the two military forces has escalated since Wednesday in the Merowe region in northern Sudan, after the RSF moved military vehicles to a location near the military air base there, a move that the army considered illegal.

Deep differences have emerged between the Sudanese army and the RSF, particularly regarding the latter's integration into the army as stipulated in a framework agreement signed between military and civilian leaders on Dec. 5, 2022. 
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Azhaqraa Sagir (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, April 17, 2023 16:01 8 d5259e4d93052b0e76bee70b054b9ebb 4 Companies digital-product,Tokopedia Free

In the first quarter of 2023, Mitra Tokopedia has noted that Indonesians have purchased more digital products than wholesale products through their platform, signaling a shift in consumer behavior that aligns with post-pandemic era trends. Most notably, education fees, internet and cable TV, as well as E-Samsat product transactions increased sharply, by four times on average. This change in consumption is evidently having a positive impact on various business owners across the country, boosting their recovery after the pandemic era.

One such business owner is Aditya Hermawan, a Sidoarjo-based stall owner who has experienced massive growth since he transitioned into using e-commerce platforms to sell his products. Aditya started his business during his university days, initially selling only phone vouchers, but as technology developed, so did he, adopting new digital platforms like Mitra Tokopedia for his business. Today, Aditya has an offline stall located in Sidoarjo called Barokah Cell, where he sells a variety of digital products that include phone credit vouchers, internet data packages and bills for electricity and national healthcare.

During the pandemic, my stalls overall profit and transactions dropped drastically. I had to find a way to keep selling. Finally in 2022, I joined Mitra Tokopedia. The Mitra Tokopedia app helped me recover. Now my shops turnover can reach tens of millions of rupiah per day thanks to the initiative, Aditya said.

Aditya also makes a conscious effort to empower his community so that they, too, can adopt digital platforms. He often educates residents on the added value of digital platforms, which can also service E-Samsat and tax payments for land and buildings, eliminating the need for residents to travel to access these public services.

Aditya is only one of the many success stories of business owners who joined the Mitra Tokopedia program since Indonesian consumers have shifted their behavior to using digital platforms for digital product transactions. Taking note of this change, Tokopedia is altering its approach and modifying its business in accordance with the data it has.

Based on the data, we decided to modify our business by sunsetting the Wholesale Products feature in the Mitra Tokopedia application and focus on facilitating individuals and traditional business owners to sell 21 types of digital products at competitive prices so that they can earn more, said Carlo Yudhistira Praditya, Head of Mitra Tokopedia, when asked about consumer behavior in the first quarter of 2023.

Dividing the 21 types of digital products into three categories, the three segments of the products are as follows: digital wallets, payments and purchases, which are used to pay for Gojek Wallet Balance/GoPay Top Up, donations and bills and internet credit and game vouchers, respectively.

Tokopedia held a virtual media briefing on Thursday (13/04/2023) featuring speakers like the head of Mitra Tokopedia, Carlo Yudhistira Praditya, as well as a Sidoarjo-based business owner who uses the platform. (./.)

With over 700 cities and regencies in Indonesia having access to various digital products, individuals and traditional business owners all over the country have tapped into this market and upgraded their businesses by joining programs such as Mitra Tokopedia.

Furthermore according to Tokopedia data, Minahasa, Raja Ampat and South Manokwari have become the regions with the highest increase of digital product transactions, while Sabu Raijua (NTT), Kaimana (West Papua) and Mappi (South Papua) have become regions with the highest increase of digital products sellers, experiencing triple the growth this quarter compared to last year.

This development serves as a catalyst for Tokopedia to accelerate its efforts to democratize commerce in Indonesia. One example of its commitment is its warung digitalization initiative, a collaboration between Tokopedia and the Ministry of Cooperative and SMEs of the Republic of Indonesia meant to encourage the adoption of digital platforms for the business development of local stall owners.

Additionally, the Mitra Tokopedia program makes access to public services such as property tax (PBB) and E-Samsat much easier, helping boost state revenues, with a recorded increase of almost 1.5 times this quarter compared to the same period last year. It's also worth noting that Mitra Tokopedia is accelerating the realization of financial inclusion in the digital wallet product category so that people can more easily, safely and comfortably top up digital wallets to further facilitate the activity of digital product transactions within the country.

Tokopedia will continuously review the Mitra Tokopedia business so that it can better meet the needs of users, especially individuals and traditional business owners across Indonesia, concluded Carlo.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Front Row (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, April 17, 2023 16:27 8 d5259e4d93052b0e76bee70b054ba823 4 Front Row BSD,bsd-city Free

Since 1989, BSD City has been developing its region, becoming the largest independent area in Indonesia. Entering the final phase of its second developmental stage, already utilizing over 3,500 hectares of the total 6,000 hectares available, the lifestyle and general consensus of BSD city has drastically improved since its inception.

Currently, BSD City has three highway gates that are accessible for the public with plans to develop two more for a total of five highway entry and exit points in BSD City. Additionally, other means of transportation, like the KRL, which has three stations located throughout the area, make mobility into the downtown area of Jakarta very accessible for all citizens of the independent area.

Laurencia Evilyn, division head of BSD Residential said, BSD City is becoming an independent city area that serves as a dynamic one-stop solution for living, working, learning and leisure. There are over 40,000 units built already at an average rate of 1,500 units per year, totaling up to 150,000 residents.

She added that BSD City was the first metropolitan area in Indonesia that was considered a smart city, integrating digital solutions within its infrastructure, like reliable fiber optics, integrated command centers, a digitized traffic & safety supervision system and free public Wi-Fi. Moving forward, BSD City will also be equipped with lifestyle hubs such as a Korean Village and a dedicated theme park area covering over 35 hectares that includes Cimorys Dairyland and a City Zoo developed by Jatim Park.

To further push BSD City into becoming a one-stop destination for all aspects of life, the city is introducing Enchante Residence, a luxury lifestyle residential cluster that is aimed at the high-net-worth market in Indonesia, particularly individuals who are located in Greater Jakarta.

With the theme of Entice The Sense and designed by Denny Gondo, the Enchante Residence is a new milestone for BSD City in its mission of developing into an established city. Offering 112 units that come in three types of three-floored housing which vary in size, the residences found in Enchante are equipped with smart home functionality and safety features such as a panic button that directly connects to the clusters security office.

Besides that, each residence also features a multi storage garage, a home elevator, en suite bathrooms for each room in all three residence types and a dumbwaiter lift, all units are designed to provide a comfortable luxury experience for tenants.

Positioned right near the JORR 2 highway exit, a variety of malls such as, Aeon Mall, QBig BSD City and The Breeze, quality educational institutions like IPEKA school BSD, Prasetiya Mulya University and Atma Jaya University and important facilities such as The Quantis Sportclub and The Eka Hospital, Enchante Residence is located in the optimal spot within BSD City, which showcases the massive growth and potential that the area has to offer.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Front Row (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, April 17, 2023 09:42 9 d5259e4d93052b0e76bee70b054aff4a 4 Front Row PNM,marketing,digital Free

The smell of delicious food reached visitors who packed Senayan Avenues room, South Jakarta, as the cooking competition titled Collaboration Between Moms and Journalists to Inspire Indonesia came to near completion on April 14.

The cooking competition was completed when the respective cooked dish was already arranged with images or videos prepared for online marketing.

Those who attended the event and were familiar with Indonesian cuisine could immediately identify that it was the smell of opor ayam (chicken stew with coconut gravy).

Chef Viny Mudsyandari, who guided the competition, from the Bakool Program said prior to the contest that the menu that the contestants should make was opor ayam without santan (coconut milk) and minyak (cooking oil).

The smell of the dish could surely increase the fasting visitors appetite while waiting for the breaking-of-the-fast gathering. The visitors to the event included customers of PT Permodalan Nasional Madani (PNM), which organized the event, PNM president director Arief Mulyadi, PNM staff members, a number of invited journalists and other invited guests.

PNM communication secretariat head L Dodot Patria Ary appreciated the housewives and moms representing PNM Mekaar customers for their presence at the event. They included Ugik from Madiun, a hawker selling fried snacks wearing Nyi Roro Kidul dress and frequently dances and sings when selling to attract customers, leading her to go viral. Others were Ibu Martha from Papua, Ida Gandaria from Jakarta, Karlia from Jakarta and Ratnasari from Jakarta.

He hoped that PNM, accompanied by journalists and housewives, could work hand in hand to make the people prosperous.

Simple cookbook

The cooking contest was followed by a long-awaited event: the launch of a book titled 5 Langkah Ibu Eksis Dagangan Laris (Five Steps to Make Housewives Exist and Products Sell).

Dodot said the guidebook aimed to encourage moms engaged in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to develop their businesses by using social media platforms.

In the digital era, moms can use social media platforms as their most effective product promotion medium because in this way the products can reach a wider market.

The launch of the book was one of the small contributions made by PNM to moms accompanied by journalists. With the title is, of course, we want to make contributions and collaborations between moms and journalists, and actually to Indonesia as a whole, he said.

The title is five steps, five small tricks to not only make moms products sell well, but also for their business to exist, according to Dodot.

He added that the event was also part of a series of events to celebrate PNMs 24th anniversary, which will be held on June 1.

The guidebook, 5 Langkah Ibu Eksis Dagangan Laris has been made as simple as possible to make it easier for moms to put it into practice in a quick way. We deliberately made it eye-catching visually and less wordy to make it easier for moms to use it as a guide, Dodot said.

The five steps include how to make the concept of photo or video as attractive as possible, the choice of venues or sites, which should be okayed, using simple images or video editing tricks, and above all, how to promote products using social media platforms.

A social media platform is the most effective promotion to attract buyers because it can reach wider customers and this way, greater opportunity to make the products sellable is widely open, he said.

The book is expected to lift moms engaged in business up to a higher level by enhancing their product quality, which could make the products sellable, Dodot said.

While selling through social media platforms has gained ground, it is important for moms to use tricks to draw the attention of prospective customers to buy new products that they offer.

The book has been designed in a simple way to become a reference to housewives engaged in business that falls in the category of ultra-micro businesses to boost their income and their production capacity.

Dodot said the release of the books was one of the contributions made by PNM to its customers, now reaching more than 14 million. As a whole we have implemented the program for more than 18.1 million customers [moms], he added.

Dodot underscored the importance of appearance when people are selling on Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms, saying that unless the products are properly arranged, despite their being delicious, people tend not to buy them, because the products appearance helps people [prospective customers] decide to buy.

Simplicity is the key, said Dodot. This means that the guidebook can be put into practice quickly because it consists of only five steps. The book is visually simple and we encourage our customers to adopt simple marketing strategies and they can apply them in a simple way.

With the book, it is expected that PNM can help its moms who are eager to be engaged in selling snacks so that they can choose the right products according to what consumers need.

We hope that our presence, PNM, accompanied by journalists and moms, can collaboratively develop Indonesia to achieve prosperity, Dodot explained.

To date, PNM features programs including Mekaar and Ulamm, with the commitment to serve and assist customers in scaling up their business capacity.

Meanwhile, PNM president director Arief Mulyadi revealed that under the Mekaar program, PNM assists 14.25 million customers and under the Ulamm program, it assists 163,35,000 customers spread across 34 provinces in Indonesia, with 4,432 PNM networks.

He also revealed the non-performing loans (NPLs) under the programs for ultra-micro businesses were small, at around 0.18 percent.

Topics : PNM marketing digital
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Yerica Lai (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, April 17, 2023

The ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said its decision about whom it would forge an electoral alliance with would be made after the party matriarch Megawati Soekarnoputri named its presidential candidate, a move analysts said would likely lead to the creation of another bloc.

The remark was made by PDI-P secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto amid a plan by other major pro-government parties to build a grand coalition for the 2024 presidential election.

Any cooperation between PDI-P and other political parties will be carried out after the announcement of the presidential candidate by Megawati at the right moment, Hasto told The Jakarta Post on Saturday night.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Dio Suhenda (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, April 17, 2023

A recent uptick in the countrys daily COVID-19 caseload and the discovery of more people infected with the new Arcturus strain are no cause for concern just yet, the Health Ministry has said, but it also urged the public to take health precautions ahead of the Idul Fitri holiday.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, ministerial spokesman Mohammad Syahril said authorities had found five new cases linked to Arcturus (XBB.1.16), a subvariant of Omicron. This brought the nationwide tally to seven following the two cases that were announced last week, but were detected in late March.

Syahril said one of the first two Arcturus cases had traveled to India, while the other was infected in Indonesia. Both cases were detected in Jakarta and had since tested negative.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin AFP Jakarta  Mon, April 17, 2023

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has granted clemency to a woman who spent more than 20 years on death row for drug smuggling, the convict's lawyer said Friday, a move rights group Amnesty termed "unprecedented".

Merri Utami, 49, was sentenced to death in 2002 by a court in Tangerang, Banten, after she was found guilty of trying to smuggle heroin into the country. She had claimed that she was duped into becoming a drug mule.

"We appreciate this clemency decision. Finally, the president wants to open his eyes that drug crimes are not only about drug kingpins and... harsh punishments," said Aisya Humaida, one of Utami's lawyers.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Agencies Jakarta  Mon, April 17, 2023

Separatist rebels in Papua claimed on Sunday to have killed nine army personnel the day before, after Jakarta did not respond to a request for negotiations, while the military said one soldier died during the attack on Saturday.

Indonesian Military spokesperson Rear Admiral Julius Widjojono said on Sunday other soldiers were dispersed to several sites in the search for captured Susi Air pilot, Phillip Mehrtens, and they were having communication difficulties due to bad weather.

"As of 2:03 p.m. local time (0503 GMT) the information we have is one died. We have not received any other information because it is difficult to reach the area, especially with the uncertain weather," Julius said when asked about the higher casualty numbers.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, April 17, 2023

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati arrived on Sunday at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, from an official trip to the United States and proceeded to exit the terminal through the regular arrival door, joining dozens of other international travelers.

The decision to use the regular arrival door was a move to conduct a spot check on the quality of services provided by the customs and excise office at the international airport, Sri Mulyani's aide Yustinus Prastowo said.

"Bu Finance Minister chooses the regular lane and joins with other passengers to ensure the smooth delivery of services by the Customs and Excise Office. She checks all stages in the process," Yustinus tweeted on Sunday from his handle @prastow.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Editorial board (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 18, 2023 03:18 8 5fceed71997e5776a1634d25dc4e786c 1 Editorial Tourist,industry,tax,bali,social-media,Sandiaga-Uno,mischief Free

It did not take long for potential solutions to emerge after reports about foreign tourists misbehaving in Bali spread far and wide.

One idea that has made both domestic and foreign headlines is a proposal from Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan to impose a tax specifically on foreign tourists.

It is entirely unclear how this might fix the issue, because if the threat of arrest or deportation doesnt stop foreign nationals from posing half-naked at sacred sites, riding motorcycles without a helmet or displaying rowdy and drunken behavior in public, then neither will paying a tax beforehand.

Ugly incidents involving foreign nationals, both tourists and residents, have happened many times in the past, their behavior ranging from disrespectful to outright unlawful. There seems to have been a spate of cases in recent weeks, though perhaps that could simply be a misperception caused by wide exposure in the social media era.

However, perception outweighs statistics when it comes to branding and as such, this negative image could damage Balis reputation as a global tourism magnet. It is therefore understandable that public officials feel obliged to respond to the series of events, even at the risk of shooting from the hip.

To be clear, the way some individuals trample on cultural norms, laws and regulations or local beliefs while on holiday, whether in Bali or elsewhere, is a disgrace; no two ways about it. However, if such incidents are cited as the reason for imposing a tax on all foreign tourists across the board or even tourists from specific countries, such a policy smacks of collective punishment.

Most tourists will have no problem with paying such a tax, but framing the policy as a response to the bad behavior of a few will give the impression that Indonesia has had enough of all foreigners visiting its shores. And this will taint Indonesias well-deserved and hard-earned image as an easy-going, hospitable and welcoming country.

According to Statistics Indonesia, 5.47 million tourists visited the country in 2022, an increase of 250 percent compared to 2021.

The government should not discourage foreign tourists from visiting, given that they bring in foreign exchange and tend to spend considerably more than domestic tourists. These are the tourists we need as the industry continues to recover from the massive blow it suffered from the coronavirus pandemic.

Given that consumers are having to tighten their belts in other countries and that many struggle to afford costly airfares, the government may want to consider the exact opposite of a tourist tax: a temporary subsidy to support the sectors recovery.

As for the mischief caused by a small minority of foreigners, nothing is preventing the government from issuing new laws that protect sacred sites, tightening enforcement and deporting offenders.

A tax would do little to change the behavior of tourists or to keep out rowdy ones. The proposal therefore looks more like a knee-jerk reaction to the uproar over the viral incidents.

It must be tempting to jump on that populist bandwagon as election season nears, but the government must keep its focus on the tourist industry, which has expressed concern over the potential tax. It is the hotels, restaurants and many small businesses in Bali that will pay the price, and not the social media hotheads across the country, if such a tax is imposed and leads to a fall in the number of tourists.

Meanwhile, it seems the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry refuses to be rushed into a decision on the matter. We expect the study [on the proposed tax] to wrap up in the coming weeks so we can discuss and make a decision, tourism minister Sandiaga Uno told reporters last week, apparently keen to provide a cooling-off period from the social media frenzy.
Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, delivers a speech while attending a united front seminar in Beijing, capital of China, April 17, 2023. The seminar opened here on Monday. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

BEIJING, April 17 (Xinhua) -- A senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has called on the united front to pool great strength for advancing Chinese modernization.

Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, made the remarks at a united front seminar that opened on Monday.

Wang said the united front should effectively play its role in rallying the people's support and pooling their strength to build a modern socialist country in all respects.

Members of the united front should improve their capacity for political judgment, thinking and implementation, Wang said, urging efforts to ensure the Party's ongoing education campaign is organized well and carried out within the united front system.

The united front should shoulder its due responsibility and mission of ensuring great unity and solidarity in the advancement of Chinese modernization, and thoroughly implement the tasks and plans laid out at the 20th CPC National Congress for the united front work, Wang added.

Shi Taifeng, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the opening of the seminar. 
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Reuters (The Jakarta Post) Beijing  Mon, April 17 2023

China launched a weather satellite on Sunday as civilian flights altered their routes to avoid a Chinese-imposed no-fly zone to the north of Taiwan which Beijing put in place because of the possibility of falling rocket debris.

Taiwan's transport ministry said Beijing had initially notified Taipei it would impose a no-fly zone from Sunday to Tuesday but later said that period had been reduced to 27 minutes on Sunday morning after Taiwan protested.

The no-fly announcement rattled regional nerves as it followed shortly after China staged new war games around Taiwan, which Beijing views as sovereign Chinese territory.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Deni Ghifari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 18 2023

Publicly listed PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical and Indonesias sovereign wealth fund INA will join hands to build a world-class chlor-alkali plant in Indonesia.

The wealth fund, alongside several other investors, will explore taking an equity stake in PT Chandra Asri Alkali, a subsidiary of Chandra Asri that has been specially established to carry out the project.

By working together, we aim to significantly reduce Indonesia's import dependencies for caustic soda and bolster our nation's economic resilience, said INA CEO Ridha Wirakusumah in a statement on Thursday.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin AFP Moscow, Russia  Mon, April 17, 2023 13:25 8 d5259e4d93052b0e76bee70b054b8eaf 2 Europe China,Russia,Xi-Jinping,Ukraine-war,geopolitics,US,Vladimir-Putin Free

Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu on Sunday hailed ties with Moscow during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin.

"We have very strong ties. They surpass the military-political alliances of the Cold War era... They are very stable," he said in translated remarks broadcast on Russian TV.

He added that Russia-China ties have "already entered a new era".

"This is my first overseas visit since taking over as China's defence minister. I specifically chose Russia for this in order to emphasise the special nature and strategic importance of our bilateral ties," Li said.

Li also said China was willing to work with Russia to "further strengthen strategic communication between the two militaries", according to a readout of the meeting published by China's defence ministry.

In the meeting, also attended by Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, Putin welcomed military cooperation between Russia and China.

"We are also working actively through the military departments, regularly exchange useful information, cooperate in the field of military-technical cooperation, conduct joint exercises," Putin said.

"This is, undoubtedly, another important area that strengthens the exclusively trusting, strategic nature of our relations," he added.

Li's trip to Russia -- which will last until April 19 -- comes weeks after an official visit to Moscow by Chinese leader Xi Jinping last month.

During two days of talks, Putin and Xi hailed a "new era" in their relationship and discussed Beijing's proposals to end the Ukraine conflict.

Moscow and Beijing have over the past years ramped up cooperation, both driven by a desire to counterbalance US global dominance. Their partnership has only grown closer since Putin launched an offensive in Ukraine last February.

China has sought to portray itself as a neutral party in the Ukraine conflict, but Washington has accused Beijing of mulling arms exports to Moscow -- claims China has denied.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, April 17, 2023 12:15 9 d5259e4d93052b0e76bee70b054b8234 1 Europe Germany,Jokowi,Hannover-Messe,Olaf-Scholz,Airlangga-Hartarto,Industry-4-0,IKN,Nusantara Free

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo arrived over the weekend in Germany to hold a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and inaugurate Europe's largest industrial exhibition Hannover Messe.

This year, Indonesia is again the official partner country for Hannover Messe after partnering previously in 2020 and 2021. Indonesia has picked Making Indonesia 4.0 as its theme at the industrial exhibition for this year.

"My second day in Hannover, Germany. Today I will meet German businesspeople, go to the opening of Hannover Messe and hold a bilateral meeting with the German Chancellor," Jokowi posted on Twitter on Sunday night from his handle @jokowi.

From the participation at Hannover Messe, Indonesia expects to secure Rp 30 trillion (US$2.3 billion) in investment, Coordinating Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto said recently.

"Certainly, we expect that through Hannover Messe there will be more investment coming in, including in the manufacturing sector and especially in renewable energy, as well as in industrial areas or special economic zones," Airlangga said in Hannover on Sunday.

Airlangga said Indonesia would also showcase the progress of infrastructure projects in the planned capital city Nusantara.



"The development of IKN [Nusantara capital city] would be a long-term project and we expect to show a concept as well as investment targets for the IKN as the new smart city in Indonesia," he said.
Photo: East River Park, April 15, 2023.

In the news this past week:

The latest potential environmental scare at the Riis Houses: contaminated soil. [WPIX 11]

Vital Climbing Gym signs a lease for a 45,000 square foot space on three floors of Essex Crossing. [Commercial Observer]

Remembering Leonard Abrams, the founder of the East Village Eye, a community newspaper dripping with attitude that captured in newsprint the do-it-yourself post-punk ethos that ignited the explosion of groundbreaking art, music and fashion in downtown Manhattan in the 1980s. [The New York Times]

Another look at a story five generations in the making. A new book chronicles the history of the Chin family at 37 Mott St. [New York Post]

Rita Indiana brings her new show, Tu nombre verdadero, to the Clementes Flamboyan Theater. [The New York Times]

The celebrated Indian restaurant, Dhamaka, is closed until Tuesday for a face lift. When it reopens, the menu will be almost entirely new. [Eater]

Cheeky Sandwiches has found a new home. The quirky New Orleans-style sandwich shop is headed for the Essex Market. [Instagram]

Williamsburgs Thief Bar is opening a second location at 161 Ludlow St. Upon entering, guests will be, greeted by an aesthetic mixture of grit and nostalgia. Graffiti murals, gallery walls filled with photography circa the 80s in New York City [Thrillist]

How Adir Michaeli became the high priest of babka. [JTA]
Here are a few suggestions for local happenings that are on our radar:

ICP partners with the Brooklyn Rail for an online conversation about their current exhibition, Face to Face: Portraits of Artists on Friday, April 21st at 1pm. Face to Face curator Helen Molesworth and artists Tacita Dean, Brigitte Lacombe, and Catherine Opie join Rail Art Editor Amanda Gluibizzi for the discussion.

Think!Chinatown, with the Urban Design Forum and Van Alen Institue host a roundtable talk on April 24th at 6pm with elected officials, community activists, and urbanists to discuss next steps for neighborhood planning. This event is in tandem with their current photo exhibit, A Place for Us.

The Museum at Eldridge Street hosts a free discussion, on May 2nd at 6:00pm, about Iconic New York Jewish Food, with author June Hersh to celebrate the publication of her new book. Niki Russ Federman (co-owner of Russ & Daughters) and the programs moderator Rozanne Gold (four-time James Beard award-winning chef and author) will share their unique and personal New York food stories about the citys culinary legacy.

This years 13th Annual Lower East Side Film Festival kicks off opening night with the New York premiere of Molli and Max in the Future, the sci-fi romantic comedy directed by Michael Lukk Litwak on Thursday, May 4th at 8:30 pm followed by a Q&A with Litwak and the full cast. An opening Night Party to follow at the legendary Bowery Electric at 10:00 pm offering an open beer and wine bar with live performances by Charlie Blasberg and the Immortals.

Bowery Electric at 10:00 pm offering an open beer and wine bar with live performances by Charlie Blasberg and the Immortals. The Arts Center at Governors Island opens on Saturday May 6th featuring exhibitions that explore a range of ideas and media with an emphasis on site-specific projects that take the Art Centers unique location into consideration.

Lower East Side History Month returns for its tenth year of celebrating the arts, culture and history of the neighborhood. Over 70 Lower East Side cultural and community groups, small businesses, and residents will host a variety of public events, exhibits, tours, and festivals throughout the month of May.

Find more local events on our calendar and submit your own HERE.
Nuveen Senior Income Fund (NYSE:NSL  Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 22,200 shares, a decrease of 25.5% from the March 15th total of 29,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 164,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.1 days.

Nuveen Senior Income Fund Stock Performance

NYSE NSL traded down $0.02 on Friday, hitting $4.64. 101,646 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 161,994. The businesss fifty day moving average is $4.74 and its 200 day moving average is $4.73. Nuveen Senior Income Fund has a 52 week low of $4.45 and a 52 week high of $5.62.

Get Nuveen Senior Income Fund alerts:

Nuveen Senior Income Fund Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 14th will be issued a $0.043 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 13th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.12%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nuveen Senior Income Fund

Nuveen Senior Income Fund Company Profile

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NSL. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Nuveen Senior Income Fund by 176.1% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 34,646 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $196,000 after acquiring an additional 22,098 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in Nuveen Senior Income Fund by 11.2% during the first quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 41,920 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 4,238 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Nuveen Senior Income Fund by 11.9% during the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 21,456 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 2,286 shares during the period. UBS Group AG lifted its position in Nuveen Senior Income Fund by 11.9% during the first quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 326,437 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $1,851,000 after purchasing an additional 34,620 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Nuveen Senior Income Fund by 24.8% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 458,169 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $2,598,000 after purchasing an additional 91,172 shares during the period.

(Get Rating)

Nuveen Senior Income Fund is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched by Nuveen Investments, Inc It is managed by Symphony Asset Management LLC. The fund invests in fixed income markets of the United States. It primarily invests in adjustable rate U.S dollar-denominated secured Senior Loans. Nuveen Senior Income Fund was formed on October 26, 1999 and is domiciled in the United States.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Nuveen Senior Income Fund Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Nuveen Senior Income Fund and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Orient Overseas (International) Limited (OTCMKTS:OROVF  Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 932,700 shares, a decline of 26.6% from the March 15th total of 1,269,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4,663.5 days.

Orient Overseas (International) Stock Performance

OTCMKTS OROVF remained flat at $18.61 during trading on Friday. 50 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,653. The firms fifty day moving average is $17.36 and its 200-day moving average is $17.20. Orient Overseas has a 52-week low of $14.37 and a 52-week high of $36.59.

Get Orient Overseas (International) alerts:

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, HSBC upgraded shares of Orient Overseas (International) from a reduce rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, March 23rd.

About Orient Overseas (International)

Orient Overseas (International) Limited, an investment holding company, provides container transport and logistics services in Asia, Europe, Australia, North America, and internationally. The company offers supply-chain management and distribution services; and containerised shipping services in various trade lanes comprising Trans-Pacific, Trans-Atlantic, Asia/Europe, Asia/Australia, and Intra-Asia trades.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Orient Overseas (International) Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Orient Overseas (International) and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Meridian Mining UK Societas (OTCMKTS:MRRDF  Get Rating) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 41,500 shares, an increase of 212.0% from the March 15th total of 13,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 73,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.6 days.

Meridian Mining UK Societas Price Performance

OTCMKTS:MRRDF remained flat at C$0.49 during midday trading on Friday. The stocks 50 day moving average price is C$0.34 and its 200 day moving average price is C$0.31. Meridian Mining UK Societas has a twelve month low of C$0.24 and a twelve month high of C$0.81.

Get Meridian Mining UK Societas alerts:

About Meridian Mining UK Societas

(Get Rating)

See Also

Meridian Mining UK Societas, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties in Brazil. The company explores for manganese, gold, copper, and tin deposits. It holds interest in the Espigao polymetallic project and the Ariquemes tin project located in Rondonia.

Receive News & Ratings for Meridian Mining UK Societas Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Meridian Mining UK Societas and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Abrdn Australia Equity Fund Inc (NYSEAMERICAN:IAF  Get Rating) was the target of a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,200 shares, a decline of 36.1% from the March 15th total of 9,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 59,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.1 days.

Abrdn Australia Equity Fund Stock Performance

Shares of NYSEAMERICAN:IAF traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $4.47. The companys stock had a trading volume of 67,904 shares, compared to its average volume of 59,544. Abrdn Australia Equity Fund has a 52 week low of $3.74 and a 52 week high of $6.24.

Get Abrdn Australia Equity Fund alerts:

Abrdn Australia Equity Fund Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 17th. This is a positive change from Abrdn Australia Equity Funds previous quarterly dividend of $0.12.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

About Abrdn Australia Equity Fund

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Abrdn Australia Equity Fund by 519.7% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,856 shares of the companys stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 7,427 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Abrdn Australia Equity Fund during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in Abrdn Australia Equity Fund during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Bridgewealth Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Abrdn Australia Equity Fund during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $102,000. Finally, Belvedere Trading LLC acquired a new position in Abrdn Australia Equity Fund during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $108,000.

(Get Rating)

Abrdn Australia Equity Fund Inc is a closed ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by Aberdeen Standard Investments (Asia) Limited. The fund is managed by Aberdeen Standard Investments Australia Limited. It invests in the public equity markets of Australia. The fund makes its investments in firms operating across diversified sectors.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for Abrdn Australia Equity Fund Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Abrdn Australia Equity Fund and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
* The launch of the cross-border passenger service of the China-Laos Railway, a major part of the trans-Asian railway network, has been hailed as a historic event for Laos, as the landlocked country has realized its dream of becoming a land-linked hub in the region and beyond.

* Thonglor Duangsavanh, editor-in-chief of local daily Vientiane Times, said that the cross-border passenger service will greatly promote Laos' national socio-economic development and facilitate people-to-people exchanges between the two neighbors.

* As of Friday, 3,049 passenger trains have been running on the Lao section of the China-Laos Railway, carrying 2.22 million passengers. This year, 834 passenger trains have been running, transporting 778,000 passengers. The average passenger load rate reached 97.85 percent, and the highest daily count of passengers amounted to 10,197 on March 4.

VIENTIANE, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Bounthavy, a young man from the tourist city of Luang Prabang in northern Laos, felt a bustling aura of the Lao New Year not seen for years in his hometown.

He attributed it to the China-Laos Railway, which launched the cross-border passenger service on Thursday to shorten the travel time between Kunming, the capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province and the Lao capital Vientiane to 10 and a half hours.





HISTORIC EVENT

"I feel proud to see the changes the China-Laos Railway has brought to my hometown!" said Bounthavy, who has been working as an interpreter during the construction of the China-Laos Railway stations.

Tourists, he said, are swarming in for the Lao New Year holiday, and hotels in Luang Prabang are operating at full capacity. Many of his fellow villagers applauded the development and changes brought by the railway, expecting a brighter future for their hometown.

Lao staff members greet passengers taking the first cross-border passenger train from Kunming, the capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, to Lao capital Vientiane at the Boten Station of the China-Laos Railway in Luang Namtha, Laos on April 13, 2023. (Xinhua/Xing Guangli)

The launch of the cross-border passenger service of the China-Laos Railway, a major part of the trans-Asian railway network, has been hailed as a historic event for Laos, as the landlocked country has realized its dream of becoming a land-linked hub in the region and beyond.

The railway will now become a "golden key" for Laos to connect with China and other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which will greatly benefit the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area and the Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Cooperation.





PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE EXCHANGES

On the D888 train that departed Thursday from Vientiane for Kunming, Alounsack, a Lao passenger who took his family to Kunming for the Lao New Year holiday, was more than excited to be one of the first-day passengers.

The first cross-border passenger train departing from the Lao capital Vientiane to Kunming, the capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, runs on the Ganlanba bridge of the China-Laos railway in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province, April 13, 2023. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi)

"I would like to invite Lao people to come to take this historic train to China, to see their country, and invite Chinese to visit Laos through the railway that we jointly develop," he said, beaming with happiness.

Souklati, a staff member who performed Lao traditional singing and dancing for passengers, said she felt happy and proud to become part of the event.

"The opening of this cross-border railway is very important by making it convenient to travel internationally. Students or tourists, they have another way of travel to choose from. It will help the economy, transportation, trade, tourism to flourish, and there will be more people coming and going," she said.

"Cross-border passenger service on the China-Laos Railway will support the Lao government's policy to transform itself from being a landlocked country into a land link, as a regional one or even a global one," said Khampheuy Philapha, director general of Lao News Agency (KPL).

Thonglor Duangsavanh, editor-in-chief of local daily Vientiane Times, said that the cross-border passenger service will greatly promote Laos' national socio-economic development and facilitate people-to-people exchanges between the two neighbors.

"That may be recorded in the history book of cooperation between Laos and China," said Suanesavanh Vignaket, the Lao minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, on the first day of the cross-border passenger service.





FLOURISHING TOURISM

In northern Laos' tourist town of Vang Vieng, locals splashed water to celebrate the Lao New Year in the scorching April sun.

Despite its impressive landscapes such as karst terrain and strange caves, Vang Vieng has long been little known to the outside world for lack of transportation.

"Since the opening of the China-Laos Railway, it only takes one hour to travel from Vientiane to Vang Vieng, and the ticket price is cheaper than that of the bus. The number of tourists coming to Vang Vieng is two or three times that of the past," said Vang Vieng station passenger duty attendant Anhsamay Gnommilavong.

During the new year holiday, the ticket offices were crowded with passengers at the stations of Vientiane and Vang Vieng. Some were going home for family reunions, some visiting tourist sites, and there were also tourists coming from Europe and America.

Passengers enters the Vientiane Station of the China-Laos Railway in Vientiane, Laos, April 15, 2023. (Xinhua/Xing Guangli)

A Canadian tourist with the first name of Michael, told Xinhua at Vang Vieng Station that this was the second time he had traveled to Laos with his family.

"Last time we only visited Vientiane due to inconvenient transportation. Now with the convenient and comfortable China-Laos Railway, we can travel around northern Laos. I believe this journey will be very pleasant," he said.

Statistics from the Lao Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism show that since the China-Laos Railway opened on Dec. 3, 2021, it has activated the Lao tourism economy, as 85 percent of tourists from Vientiane to Luang Prabang have chosen to take the train.

As of Friday, 3,049 passenger trains have been running on the Lao section of the China-Laos Railway, carrying 2.22 million passengers. This year, 834 passenger trains have been running, transporting 778,000 passengers. The average passenger load rate reached 97.85 percent, and the highest daily count of passengers amounted to 10,197 on March 4.

Vignaket, the Lao minister, told Xinhua that with the support of the two governments, the Laos-China Railway, a landmark Belt and Road project, has turned from a blueprint into a reality, which will go down in the history of bilateral cooperation.

Liu Hong, general manager of Laos-China Railway Co. Ltd., said the railway is just a starting point. The iron dragon, carrying the friendship, dreams and hopes of the two peoples, is speeding towards a brighter future. (Video reporters: He Chunhao, Ding Yiquan, Wang Anhaowei, Zhang Jianhua, Lin Hao, Sun Yi, Phouthaphone, Jiang Sai, Sun Min, Zeng Wei; Video editors: Yang Zhixiang, Zhang Yuhong, Zhou Sa'ang, Liu Ruoshi)
All Season Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (NYSEARCA:AGG  Get Rating) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 9,195 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $892,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF by 145.5% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 6,590 shares of the companys stock valued at $705,000 after acquiring an additional 3,906 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF by 36.2% during the 1st quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 52,003 shares of the companys stock valued at $5,570,000 after acquiring an additional 13,829 shares during the last quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF during the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF during the 1st quarter valued at about $241,000. Finally, West Michigan Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC now owns 14,640 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,568,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. 80.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Get iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF alerts:

iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF Stock Performance

Shares of NYSEARCA AGG traded down $0.49 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $98.91. 1,771,641 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,442,452. The companys fifty day moving average is $98.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.92. iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF has a fifty-two week low of $93.20 and a fifty-two week high of $104.39.

iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF Profile

IShares are index funds that are bought and sold like common stocks on national securities exchanges as well as certain foreign exchanges. iShares are attractive because of their relatively low cost, tax efficiency and trading flexibility. Investors can purchase and sell shares through any brokerage firm, financial advisor, or online broker, and hold the funds in any type of brokerage account.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Almaden Minerals (NYSE:AAU  Get Rating) in a research note released on Thursday morning. The firm issued a sell rating on the stock.

Almaden Minerals Trading Down 4.8 %

Shares of NYSE:AAU opened at $0.18 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $24.48 million, a P/E ratio of -2.55 and a beta of 0.94. Almaden Minerals has a 12 month low of $0.17 and a 12 month high of $0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 26.92 and a current ratio of 18.39.

Get Almaden Minerals alerts:

About Almaden Minerals

(Get Rating)

See Also

Almaden Minerals Ltd. engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties. It focuses on the operation of Ixtaca gold-silver deposit. The company was founded by James Duane Poliquin on February 1, 2002 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Receive News & Ratings for Almaden Minerals Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Almaden Minerals and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Argo Group International Holdings, Ltd. (NYSE:ARGO  Get Rating) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,230,000 shares, an increase of 70.9% from the March 15th total of 1,890,000 shares. Approximately 9.7% of the companys shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 732,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Argo Group International

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd grew its position in Argo Group International by 515.8% during the third quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 1,324 shares of the companys stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,109 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Argo Group International by 2,751.0% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,454 shares of the companys stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,403 shares in the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Argo Group International in the 3rd quarter valued at $59,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of Argo Group International by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 4,760 shares of the companys stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Argo Group International in the 3rd quarter valued at $124,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.92% of the companys stock.

Get Argo Group International alerts:

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ARGO shares. Raymond James cut Argo Group International from a market perform rating to an underperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 28th. Compass Point cut Argo Group International from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Argo Group International in a research note on Thursday. They issued a hold rating for the company.

Argo Group International Stock Performance

NYSE:ARGO traded down $0.02 on Friday, hitting $29.54. The companys stock had a trading volume of 222,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 685,715. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $29.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.56 and a beta of 1.03. Argo Group International has a one year low of $19.00 and a one year high of $45.26.

Argo Group International (NYSE:ARGO  Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The company reported ($2.69) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.62) by ($1.07). Argo Group International had a negative net margin of 9.98% and a positive return on equity of 0.06%. The firm had revenue of $379.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $504.90 million. Research analysts predict that Argo Group International will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

About Argo Group International

(Get Rating)

Argo Group International Holdings Ltd. engages in the provision of underwriting property and casualty insurance and reinsurance products. It operates through the following segments: U.S. Operations, International Operations, and Run-off Lines. The U.S. Operations segment include distribution through retail, wholesale, and managing general brokers/agents in the specialty insurance market.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for Argo Group International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Argo Group International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Aarons (NYSE:AAN  Get Rating) had its price objective increased by Bank of America from $6.50 to $7.80 in a report issued on Thursday morning, The Fly reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on AAN. Stephens restated an equal weight rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Aarons in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Aarons from $20.00 to $15.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 6th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Aarons in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a buy rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aarons has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $13.45.

Get Aaron's alerts:

Aarons Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AAN opened at $10.59 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $337.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -55.74 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.64. Aarons has a 1-year low of $7.64 and a 1-year high of $22.43. The stocks 50-day moving average is $11.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.67.

Aarons Increases Dividend

Aarons ( NYSE:AAN Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.11. Aarons had a negative net margin of 0.23% and a positive return on equity of 9.09%. The business had revenue of $589.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $591.15 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 32.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Aarons will post 0.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 16th were given a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 15th. This is a positive change from Aaronss previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.72%. Aaronss payout ratio is currently -263.16%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aarons

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAN. Palisade Capital Management LP raised its stake in Aarons by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Palisade Capital Management LP now owns 1,132,442 shares of the companys stock valued at $13,533,000 after acquiring an additional 164,424 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Aarons by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 18,148 shares of the companys stock valued at $217,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396 shares during the last quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department lifted its stake in Aarons by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 52,151 shares of the companys stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 2,145 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new position in Aarons in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $170,000. Finally, State of Wisconsin Investment Board increased its position in Aarons by 83.0% in the 4th quarter. State of Wisconsin Investment Board now owns 74,338 shares of the companys stock valued at $888,000 after acquiring an additional 33,714 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.43% of the companys stock.

Aarons Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Headquartered in Atlanta, The Aarons Company, Inc (NYSE: AAN) is a leading, technology-enabled, omnichannel provider of lease-purchase solutions. Aarons engages in direct-to-consumer sales and lease ownership of furniture, appliances, consumer electronics and accessories through its approximately 1,300 company-operated and franchised stores in 47 states and Canada, as well as its e-commerce platform, Aarons.com.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Aaron's Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Aaron's and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP  Get Rating) had its price target boosted by Bank of America from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research note released on Thursday, The Fly reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, December 19th. Raymond James dropped their target price on ConocoPhillips from $150.00 to $135.00 and set a strong-buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Scotiabank lowered ConocoPhillips from a sector outperform rating to a sector perform rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on ConocoPhillips from $122.00 to $115.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on ConocoPhillips from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $137.45.

Get ConocoPhillips alerts:

ConocoPhillips Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE COP opened at $108.50 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $131.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The stocks 50-day moving average is $104.74 and its 200-day moving average is $114.85. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $78.30 and a one year high of $138.49.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

ConocoPhillips ( NYSE:COP Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The energy producer reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $2.72 by ($0.01). ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 22.74% and a return on equity of 35.30%. The firm had revenue of $19.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.27 EPS. The firms quarterly revenue was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 10.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 29th were paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 28th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. ConocoPhillipss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.06%.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other news, Director R A. Walker purchased 4,800 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $103.00 per share, for a total transaction of $494,400.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 27,600 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,842,800. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ConocoPhillips

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 205.8% in the 4th quarter. Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 211 shares of the energy producers stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 149.5% in the 4th quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC now owns 227 shares of the energy producers stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 93.4% in the 4th quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 236 shares of the energy producers stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Horan Securities Inc. raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 81.8% in the 4th quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 249 shares of the energy producers stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 138.2% during the 4th quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 243 shares of the energy producers stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. 81.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About ConocoPhillips

(Get Rating)

ConocoPhillips engages in the exploration, production, transportation and marketing of crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, natural gas liquids, and liquefied natural gas on a worldwide basis. It operates through the following geographical segments: Alaska, Lower 48, Canada, Europe, Middle East and North Africa, Asia Pacific, and Other International.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for ConocoPhillips Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for ConocoPhillips and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Enzo Biochem (NYSE:ENZ  Get Rating) in a report issued on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the medical research companys stock.

Enzo Biochem Price Performance

NYSE:ENZ opened at $2.54 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.14 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.53 and a beta of 1.03. Enzo Biochem has a 1 year low of $1.00 and a 1 year high of $3.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

Get Enzo Biochem alerts:

Enzo Biochem (NYSE:ENZ  Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 20th. The medical research company reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $16.34 million during the quarter. Enzo Biochem had a negative net margin of 43.44% and a negative return on equity of 67.73%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Enzo Biochem

About Enzo Biochem

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Shulman DeMeo Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Enzo Biochem during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Enzo Biochem by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,540,591 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $4,468,000 after acquiring an additional 7,420 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Enzo Biochem by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 951,235 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $2,759,000 after acquiring an additional 4,950 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Enzo Biochem by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,614,450 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $2,309,000 after acquiring an additional 20,585 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Enzo Biochem by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 90,158 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 5,328 shares during the last quarter. 50.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

(Get Rating)

Enzo Biochem, Inc is an integrated diagnostics, clinical lab, and life sciences company, which focuses on delivering and applying advanced technology capabilities to produce affordable reliable products and services that enable customers to meet their clinical needs. It operates through the following segments: Products, Clinical Services, and Therapeutics.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for Enzo Biochem Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Enzo Biochem and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF  Get Rating) had its price objective cut by Barclays from $48.00 to $46.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning, The Fly reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on FNF. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Fidelity National Financial in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Fidelity National Financial from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 28th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group restated an outperform rating and set a $47.00 price target on shares of Fidelity National Financial in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fidelity National Financial has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $48.60.

Get Fidelity National Financial alerts:

Fidelity National Financial Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE FNF opened at $35.42 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $37.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.65. Fidelity National Financial has a 12 month low of $31.84 and a 12 month high of $45.51. The company has a market capitalization of $9.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.70 and a beta of 1.34.

Fidelity National Financial Dividend Announcement

Fidelity National Financial ( NYSE:FNF Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.28 by ($0.22). Fidelity National Financial had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 9.83%. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.16 earnings per share. The firms revenue for the quarter was down 46.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Fidelity National Financial will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 17th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 16th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.08%. Fidelity National Financials payout ratio is 44.23%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fidelity National Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 8,348 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 7,938 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank grew its stake in Fidelity National Financial by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 10,162 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $368,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Fidelity National Financial by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 19,176 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $938,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zullo Investment Group Inc. grew its stake in Fidelity National Financial by 20.9% in the 3rd quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,674 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.98% of the companys stock.

Fidelity National Financial Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Fidelity National Financial, Inc engages in the provision of title insurance and transaction services to the real estate and mortgage industries. Its services include title insurance, escrow and other title-related services, including trust activities, trustee sales guarantees, recordings and reconveyances, and home warranty products and technology and transaction services to the real estate and mortgage industries.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Fidelity National Financial Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Fidelity National Financial and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Safehold Inc. (NYSE:SAFE  Get Rating) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,750,000 shares, a growth of 39.3% from the March 15th total of 3,410,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 284,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 16.7 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Safehold

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SAFE. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Safehold by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 7,262 shares of the companys stock valued at $403,000 after buying an additional 956 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Safehold by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 187,299 shares of the companys stock valued at $10,385,000 after buying an additional 1,511 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in Safehold by 28.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,548 shares of the companys stock valued at $318,000 after buying an additional 1,212 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Safehold during the 1st quarter worth $1,099,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Safehold by 55.4% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 11,119 shares of the companys stock worth $617,000 after purchasing an additional 3,965 shares in the last quarter. 25.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Get Safehold alerts:

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Safehold in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued an outperform rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $55.50.

Safehold Stock Performance

Shares of Safehold stock traded down $0.35 during trading on Friday, reaching $28.30. The companys stock had a trading volume of 569,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 601,283. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $30.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.74. The firm has a market cap of $393.09 million, a PE ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.28. Safehold has a fifty-two week low of $23.65 and a fifty-two week high of $49.39. The company has a current ratio of 10.40, a quick ratio of 10.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Safehold (NYSE:SAFE  Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $73.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $73.08 million. Safehold had a net margin of 266.55% and a negative return on equity of 16.29%. Safeholds revenue was up 41.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Safehold will post -1.26 EPS for the current year.

Safehold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 30th were paid a $0.177 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 29th. This represents a $0.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. Safeholds dividend payout ratio is currently 3.97%.

About Safehold

(Get Rating)

iStar, Inc is a real estate investment trust company, which engages in the financing, investing, and development of real estate and related projects. It operates through the following segments: Real Estate Finance, Net Lease, Operating Properties, Land and Development, and Corporate and Other. The Real Estate Finance segment is involved in all of the activities of the company related to senior and mezzanine real estate loans and real estate related securities.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Safehold Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Safehold and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Commerzbank AG (OTCMKTS:CRZBY  Get Rating) saw a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 37,200 shares, a growth of 190.6% from the March 15th total of 12,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 138,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.3 days.

Commerzbank Price Performance

Shares of CRZBY stock traded up $0.48 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $11.37. 52,458 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 53,704. Commerzbank has a fifty-two week low of $5.70 and a fifty-two week high of $12.75. The stocks fifty day moving average is $11.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.58.

Get Commerzbank alerts:

About Commerzbank

(Get Rating)

Recommended Stories

Commerzbank AG engages in the provision of commercial banking services. It operates through the following business segments: Private and Small-Businesses Customers, Corporate Clients, and Others & Consolidation. The Private and Small-Businesses Customers segment is comprised of the universal bank services for private and small-business customers, online securities transactions, and asset management.

Receive News & Ratings for Commerzbank Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Commerzbank and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Sunnova Energy International (NYSE:NOVA  Get Rating) had its price objective lowered by Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from $31.00 to $28.00 in a report released on Thursday, The Fly reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Sunnova Energy International in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. They set a sector outperform rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Sunnova Energy International from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 30th. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Sunnova Energy International from $51.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Sunnova Energy International from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on Sunnova Energy International from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sunnova Energy International currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $35.05.

Get Sunnova Energy International alerts:

Sunnova Energy International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NOVA opened at $15.85 on Thursday. Sunnova Energy International has a 1-year low of $12.46 and a 1-year high of $31.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.02, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $16.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.69. The company has a market capitalization of $1.82 billion, a PE ratio of -11.83 and a beta of 2.08.

Insider Activity at Sunnova Energy International

Sunnova Energy International ( NYSE:NOVA Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 22nd. The company reported ($0.40) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.02. Sunnova Energy International had a negative return on equity of 11.07% and a negative net margin of 27.53%. The firm had revenue of $195.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $145.09 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sunnova Energy International will post -1.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

In related news, insider Kelsey Hultberg sold 2,400 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.03, for a total transaction of $33,672.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $280,235.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 4.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in Sunnova Energy International by 236.4% in the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,487 shares of the companys stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in Sunnova Energy International by 168.8% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,809 shares of the companys stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 1,764 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Sunnova Energy International in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $66,000. Ellevest Inc. lifted its holdings in Sunnova Energy International by 195.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 3,014 shares of the companys stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Sunnova Energy International in the 1st quarter worth approximately $67,000.

About Sunnova Energy International

(Get Rating)

Sunnova Energy International, Inc operates as a residential energy service provider. It offers solar energy systems, electric vehicle chargers, and home solar protection. The company was founded by William Jackson Berger in 2012 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Sunnova Energy International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Sunnova Energy International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, speaks at a signing meeting for centrally administered enterprise business performance goals for 2023, in Beijing, capital of China, April 17, 2023. (Xinhua/Ding Lin)

BEIJING, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing on Monday urged state-funded and centrally administered enterprises to improve their core competitiveness and core functions to play a bigger role in building a modernized industrial system.

Zhang, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks at a signing meeting for centrally administered enterprise business performance goals for 2023.

He called on state-funded and centrally administered enterprises to strengthen technological innovation and achieve more breakthroughs in key and core technologies.

Efforts should be made to effectively safeguard the stability of industrial and supply chains as well as national industrial safety, Zhang said. 
Tekla Healthcare Investors (NYSE:HQH  Get Rating) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,600 shares, an increase of 74.5% from the March 15th total of 5,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 135,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.1 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tekla Healthcare Investors

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HQH. CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Tekla Healthcare Investors during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Tekla Healthcare Investors by 70.1% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,635 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,086 shares during the last quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of Tekla Healthcare Investors during the 4th quarter worth approximately $132,000. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Tekla Healthcare Investors during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $134,000. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. acquired a new position in shares of Tekla Healthcare Investors during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $180,000. 17.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get Tekla Healthcare Investors alerts:

Tekla Healthcare Investors Stock Performance

Shares of HQH stock traded down $0.14 on Friday, hitting $17.76. The company had a trading volume of 98,995 shares, compared to its average volume of 106,402. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $17.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.30. Tekla Healthcare Investors has a twelve month low of $16.76 and a twelve month high of $22.31.

Tekla Healthcare Investors Increases Dividend

About Tekla Healthcare Investors

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a positive change from Tekla Healthcare Investorss previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 24th.

(Get Rating)

Tekla Healthcare Investors is a closed-end investment fund, which engages in investing in the healthcare industry including biotechnology, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals. Its objective is to provide long-term capital appreciation through investments in companies in the healthcare industry. The company was founded on October 31, 1986 and is headquartered in Boston, MA.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for Tekla Healthcare Investors Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Tekla Healthcare Investors and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Videos

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos.
Kylie Graves, Policy Specialist with the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth, and Director of The Second Look Commission
KARUIZAWA, Japan, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) continued talks on Monday for a second day in Japan's central resort town of Karuizawa, highlighting the need to strengthen ties with developing countries.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told the gathering that with developing countries facing a variety of issues, the G7 intends to work together with them to tackle these issues.

Hayashi and his G7 counterparts arrived in Karuizawa on Sunday afternoon for a three-day meeting, where people held banners like Objection to G7.

The G7 summit will be held in the Japanese city of Hiroshima in May. 
That release could not be found.
During the pandemic, underage pregnancies soared in Uganda with a 366.5% increase in girls aged 10-14 becoming pregnant.1 The north in particular, has suffered a tragic level of child sexual abuse and incest  which many claim is caused by a legacy of a 20-year civil war led by Joseph Kony and the Lords Resistance Army (LRA).

For the BBC Africa Eye investigation, Ugandas Stolen Innocence , reporter Paul Bakibinga returns to his homeland of Uganda and travels to the north, to investigate the true scale of the problem in the region, and the price of justice for many.

Dr. Baifa Arwinyo, Head of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Gulu Regional General Hospital, spoke to the BBC about the complexities of underage pregnancies. From the last financial years report, about 23% of our pregnancies were teenagers. If I'm talking of teenage mothers, all of them are defiled. She added: Because they are young, their bodies are not developed to handle a delivery. And youll find that young mothers are the highest proportion of those dying of obstructed labour.

In Uganda, defilement is defined as unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl below the age of 18  the legal age of consent. If a girl is under 14, or her abuser is a carer or HIV positive, or if the accused is a repeat offender, it becomes aggravated defilement. Incest is a separate crime under the Penal Code.

Despite ongoing cases of defilement, the investigation found that criminal convictions remain low due to scarce resources and alleged corruption throughout the justice system.

A mother to a three-year old victim who was defiled by a relative, told BBC Africa Eye of her ordeal to find justice: The community wanted everything to be kept within, but the police had already been informed and he got arrested. Despite medical evidence supporting the abuse, the perpetrator was released on bail as the due legal process was not followed properly. The mother did not have the financial means to continue the legal case.

Eunice Lakaraber Latim, legal counsel for NGO Caritas, explained how poverty and corruption have led to an increase in such cases: Growing up from Gulu, I saw so many children getting defiled, and most of those parents did not have the resources to pursue the justice that their children deserved. She added: You have to literally pay your way to get justice. You have to pay money for fuel to have the suspect apprehended.

BBC Africa Eye also obtained an exclusive interview with Minister of State for Northern Uganda, Grace Freedom Kwiyucwiny who acknowledged wider challenges within the justice system. I can't deny corruptionIt's at all levels. We have laws on defilement, we have laws on incest, but somehow again, people just go behind the law and bribe police. On the level of cases prosecuted she added: There are cases which have been prosecuted, but the number is not high. From the cases which were reported, only 6% reached court.

The Regional Police Commander Nachula Damalie denied police corruption but admitted that there were problems in how some cases are dealt with.

In northern Uganda, the violent 20 -year conflict is a critical context.

The BBC spoke to Pamela Angwech, director of Gulu Womens Economic Development and Globalization (GWED-G), to understand how the post conflict legacy left by Joseph Kony and the LRA have fuelled sexual abuse and gender-based violence. She explains how the LRA used sexual abuse as a military strategy.

I describe it as the war was fought in the body of the woman and the woman became the battlefield. Pamela added: Living within a toxic, minefield environment had long term effects on the community. People are used to seeing death. People begin to think that sexual and gender-based abuse seems to not be the highest level of abuse.

GWED-G, have trained over 1,000 men with violent pasts, to help change the way women are treated within the community.

The organisation has also trained young women born in captivity to develop skills to enable them to earn a living. One of the beneficiaries of this program, Eunice, learned to bake, which has helped her support her own baby.

Reflecting on his time in Gulu, Paul Bakibinga said: It's over 15 years ago that the LRA were formally driven out of northern Uganda. But the aftereffects of the 20 year long insurgency continue to ripple through this society. The stories that I've heard from these women are heart breaking.

BBC Africa Eye: Ugandas Stolen Innocence is available on the BBC Africa YouTube channel on Monday 17 April 2023, here .
The Peter Obi Support Network (POSN) has asked All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to speak up and clear the air over his alleged dual citizenship. It said in a statement issued on Monday that Tinubu, who was controversially declared President-elect by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), must come clean on the issue of perjury circulating on the social media.

A picture of the bio-page of a Guinea Conakry passport belonging to Tinubu has been trending online after popular journalist David Hundeyin shared a copy on his Twitter handle.

Reacting to the development in a statement signed on its behalf by FCC Onwuasoanya Jones of its Directorate of Strategic communications, POSN noted that Tinubus alleged presidential mandate is at risk as the laws of the land are clear on the issue dual citizenship.

The statement reads in part: Our attention has been drawn to the bio-page of a Guinea Conakry Passport belonging to Mr. Bola Tinubu which has been trending online after popular journalist David Hundeyin shared a copy on his Twitter handle.

The Passport carried Tinubus image and said it was issued in 2015, expiring five years later in October 2020.

It is public knowledge how cordial relationship is between the Guinean President, Alhpa Conde, and Tinubu, as Tinubu had publicly claimed credit for helping Conde secure his re-election in October 2015.

POSN said that the allegation of dual citizenship by Tinubu has called for the need to investigate the former governor for perjury, as Section 56 of the Penal Code clearly states, Whoever, being legally bound by an oath or by any express provision of law to state the truth or being bound by law to make declaration upon any subject, makes any statement, verbally or otherwise, which is false in a material particular and which he either knows or believes to be false or does not believe to be true, is said to give false evidence.

The group noted that Tinubu did not disclose his Guinea citizenship in a document submitted to INEC for the recent Presidential election in Nigeria.

With the allegation of dual citizenship against Mr Tinubu, it is every expedient for him to respond to the allegation because any political office holder with dual citizenship risks losing his mandate according to the laws of Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Mr Tinubu needs to come out as early as possible to clear the air on the allegation of dual citizenship, which puts his alleged Presidential mandate as controversially declared by INEC at great risk, POSN further said.
It is not an exaggeration to say that much has been said about the deadly scourge of corruption in Nigeria, which has no doubt retrogressed the country when reconnoitered from all facets of national development.

While corruption is by no means a phenomenon that has seemingly become a culture among Nigerian politicians, it is considered by many to be the largest single impediment to our country's attainment of sustained economic growth and development. However, the focus of this opinion article is on financial corruption by politicians and how to hold them accountable through the legal instrument of the Assets Declaration.

Without a doubt, corruption is generally defined as the abuse of public office for private gain, and it is often drivenby individual greed and dishonesty. Against the foregoing backdrop, there is no denying the fact that corruption, as recklessly been perpetrated by Nigerian politicians, has assumed a worrisome dimension, so much so that there is abundant evidence to buttress the fact that it has since the adoption of a democratic system of government since 1999 since been undermining democracy, and the rule of law, stifling efforts made from the three tiers of government in ensuring that good governance is collectively attained.

Given the magnitude of its potential impact and its alarming and corrosive effects, the issue of corruption is something that should not be treated lightly by the populace or, for that matter, by the government.

In fact, corruption is fast eroding the collective quality of life of the people that variously voted them to power. It denies the people access to basic entitlements such as water, electricity, roads, health care, housing, and education. Corruption leads to human rights violations, hijacks political elections, and reduces investor confidence in the country. And corruption also undermines critical public institutions and enables organized crime and other threats to human security to flourish.

Against the foregoing backdrop, it is expedient to applaud the advocacy being pushed by the leadership of the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) as it has asked the outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari, and his Vice, Yemi Osinbajo, to declare their assets.

In a statement issued on Sunday by Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAPs Deputy Director, ahead of Mr. Buharis handingover power on May 29, 2023, to a new administration, SERAP urges both leaders thus: Publishing your asset declaration form and encouraging other public officials and officials of the next administration to do so would enable Nigerians to scrutinize the assets and worth of public officials before taking office and at the end of their term of office.

As gathered from the statement, the Nigerian 1999 constitution seeks to prevent corruption, and abuse of office through its provisions on the declaration of assets by public officers.

According to the Code of Conduct Bureau, its mandatory for all public officers whether elected, appointed, recruited, or contracted by whatever name called to collect and sign a form from the Code of Conduct Bureau Office.

The form would include only the Assets/Liabilities they own at the material time of filling it as all properties they acquired outside Nigeria must be stated clearly with the value of the said Assets in the currency of the country where the property is situated.

Be that as it may, SERAP clarified that the public declaration law doesnt compel a public officer to declare his or her assets publicly.

In the same vein, SERAP said Mr. Buhari needed to use his leadership position as the African Union Anti-Corruption Champion to widely publish his asset declaration form as hes vacating office to leave a legacy of transparency, and added that aside from Messrs. Buhari and Osinbajo, other top government officials who also worked with the government needed to declare their assets.

It specifically advised Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila to promptly follow suit, adding that it would be a good template for the incoming administration to encourage the same step.

It further stated, Those who voluntarily seek or occupy public offices and are catered for by the public have certain fiduciary duties to be open, transparent, and accountable to Nigerians regarding the details of their asset declaration forms.

Because asset declaration forms are public documents, public officials cannot claim that publishing their assets would violate their privacy rights. There is an overriding public interest in the disclosure of information on the assets of public officers who clearly are trustees of Nigerias wealth and resources, it added.

In the statement, SERAP also urged Mr. Buhari to emulate the good example of former President UmaruMusa YarAdua who consistently published his asset declaration forms as president and governor of KatsinaState.

He also planned legislative reform to make it mandatory for all public officers to declare their assets publicly. He believed that publishing his assets would put pressure on other public officers to do so, the group added.

Against the foregoing backdrop, it is expedient to opine that not a few Nigerians have a skeptical view regarding the essence and practicability or rather the implementation of asset declaration to curb corruption in Nigeria. Notwithstanding, it is germane to note that whatever cooperation needed by SERAP, particularly from members of the public and Journalists should be given to them as Politicians and civil servants hold substantial power over the allocation of resources meant for all Nigerian citizens who elected them, and who in effect pay their salaries through their tax contributions. In fact, the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), ratified by 166 countries, requires a legal framework for asset declarations of government officials. Not only that, research shows that an asset declaration open to public scrutiny is a way for citizens to ensure leaders do not abuse their power for personal gain.

In fact, seeing the implementation of asset declarations as a means of entrenching issues of ethics and integrity on Nigerias political landscape, there is no denying the fact that the leadership of SERAP deserves resounding applauses as its effort in ensuring that politicians are held accountable is unarguably laudable, given the fact that asset declaration is part of all codes of conduct. Not only that, its successful implementation will in the future put unscrupulous politicians in check.
The Community Concierge program in Kawartha Lakes and Peterborough County recently celebrated one year of connecting graduating university students with local employers.

It is terrific to see local businesses making new connections, or formalizing existing relationships, with Trent University. Kawartha Lakes is going to benefit from students joining into our communities while they learn, said Rebecca Mustard, Manager of Economic Development.

Thirty-six organizations in Kawartha Lakes are creating 1,500 work-Integrated Learning placements, giving upper-year Trent students opportunities to transition to local, full-time employment once they graduate through the program. Funding for the program, which is $822,392, comes from employment Ontarios Skills Development Fund.

The Community Concierge program aims to not only help Trent graduates enter the job market but also help fill employment gaps for skilled workers for local and rural employers.

"The benefits of this program will be evident for years to come. It is a wonderful example of what can be achieved when educators, the private sector and all levels of government work together. We are looking forward to Trent students, and graduates, living and working in Kawartha Lakes, added Mayor Doug Elmslie.

SHARE:
Cobourg Public Library staff can bear-ly contain their enthusiasm for their special offering toward the massive, coast-to-coast salute to Canadian Cinema  Celebrate National Canadian Film Day (CanFilmDay)  at the library on Wednesday, April 19.

The library will provide a free screening of the 2004 film "A Bear Named Winnie". The film is set in Winnipeg, Manitoba at the outbreak of the First World War and depicts the extraordinary story of the black bear that would become the inspiration for the A.A. Milne series "Winnie the Pooh," reads a recent release from the library.

CanFilmDay is a great opportunity to feel connected to our culture and shared values. Were pleased to have formed a partnership with Reel Canada to present 'A Bear Named Winnie' to the community," said Tammy Robinson, CEO of the Cobourg Public Library.

Launched in 2014, CanFilmDay has brought together hundreds of thousands of Canadians, to celebrate stories and the incredible achievements of filmmakers, said the library.

All are welcome to the free program on Wednesday, April 19 at 2 p.m. in the Cobourg Public Librarys Rotary Room. Light refreshments will be served and there will be an on-theme door prize.



SHARE:
Parents with elementary school children in Peterborough are turning to others like them to help finance the replacement of school playground equipment removed in the summer of 2022.

School council representatives from Prince of Wales Public School and Queen Mary Public School, both located on Monaghan Road in Peterborough, are reaching out for assistance after playground structures were removed from school yards because they were deemed unsafe.

These playground structures will not be replaced by the school board because it is not within their purview or budget to arrange and/or fund playground structure installations or accessories on school grounds, a notice from the school councils stated.

Each school council  formerly known as parent council  is left with the daunting responsibility to oversee the entire project for replacing the school yard play structure and features, including determining design, communicating with admin and community partners, sourcing suppliers, and contracting the work.

They say is overwhelming for a small group of community members to complete this work quickly, stating the amount of volunteer time required to navigate a major capital project of this size will easily exceed hundreds of hours of planning, communication, and oversight. It will also require a major fundraising campaign for each school  between $100,000 and $200,000  for each playground.

The reality that school yards depend on a school community to fundraise, and plan highlights the equity issues that exist within our public school system. Not all school communities have the time and resources to navigate a project like this.

Queen Mary P.S. and Prince of Wales P.S. were two of the schools affected by this situation. These two schools are located within one kilometre of each other along Monaghan Road and have decided to share ideas and resources to help the students in their communities as quickly as possible.

They say financial contributions made to the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board are eligible for charitable tax receipts. They add that letters of support directed to Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith, outlining the need for an increased education budget to provide sufficient and equitable resources to all schools, are more important now than ever.

These letters will impact the long-term health and well-being of our education system, our communities and our children.

They offer these tips to make financial contributions to the board for playground equipment:

 Through School Cash Online (kprdsb.schoolcashonline.com)

 Select Make a Donation

 Fill out the amount in the Gift Information section, select the school you wish to donate to from the drop down menu and select playground under the initiative dropdown menu.

 Add to cart and complete the transaction.

Or by cheque:

 Write a cheque to the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board

 Indicate that the funds are for an individual schools playground fund and request a charitable receipt.

 Make cheque payable to Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board, with School Name Playground in the memo line.

Cheques made payable to the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board or cash can be dropped off in-person to the individual school offices.

Those interested in contributing other resources, including time, skills, surfacing material, contracting services, volunteer hours, etc., can contact Queen Mary PS and Prince of Wales PS by email at QMPSplayground@gmail.com or POWplaygrounds@gmail.com.

SHARE:
CAIRO, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Arab League (AL) Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit on Monday welcomed the continuation of successfully exchanging detained and kidnapped persons between Yemeni sides.

In a statement, Aboul-Gheit said the move is an implementation of a plan that was agreed upon among all parties in March 2022.

"The prisoners and kidnapped people swap is a positive step for building confidence that will contribute to the success of endeavors exerted to renew and expand ceasefire," he said.

"It will also promote opportunities of reaching a deal in light of a comprehensive political framework for peacefully settling the crisis of Yemen," added the AL chief.

He expressed hopes that the swap process will be followed up and enhanced with other similar steps soon for improving humanitarian conditions in Yemen after a long time of suffering.

On Sunday, Yemen's Houthi militia unveiled a new prisoner swap agreement with the country's government a few hours after the Iran-backed Houthis and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government successfully completed a prisoner swap in which 887 prisoners and detainees from both sides were released.

The prisoner swap came as part of ongoing efforts aimed at building trust between the Yemeni government forces and the Houthi militia, who have been engaged in a brutal internal conflict since late 2014.

Yemen has been embroiled in a years-long military conflict after the Houthi militia took control of several northern cities and ousted the Yemeni government from Sanaa in 2014.

The ongoing conflict has resulted in a staggering number of casualties and has plunged the Arab world's poorest country into humanitarian crises, including widespread famine. 
To reduce costs, Peterborough County staff are planning to tender a new design of the James A. Gifford Causeway and Chemong Bridge rehabilitation project, and to have separate tenders for the roadwork and bridgework.

One change recommended is the narrowing of the originally proposed pedestrian and bicycle path between Bridgenorth and Ennismore.

Tenders closed in February for the original plan but all bids exceeded the engineers cost estimate by 44 per cent. Those tenders have been cancelled.

Staff, asking for $27,850 for additional engineering services and plan to re-tender the project, will present options to Peterborough County council at its Wednesdays meeting.

A staff report says that, through a public consultation process, it was decided the causeway and Chemong Bridge would change from the existing road into two lanes, 10 metres wide in total with 1 1/2-metre wide paved shoulders.

A three-metre wide multi-use path had also been planned across the causeway and across the south side of the Chemong Bridge, from Kelly Boulevard to the Rotary Park, with construction of a concrete centre median.

Staff are now recommending a 1.8-metre sidewalk be constructed instead, across the causeways rock-fill platform from west of Chemong Bridge to Rotary Park.

The report says the narrowing of the multi-use path will eliminate the need to relocate the existing high-pressure gas main to the south side of Chemong Bridge, resulting in significant savings to the project.

Additional work requiring the services of the design engineer, BT Engineering, has been identified for the James A. Gifford Causeway and Chemong Bridge rehabilitation project to allow for the redesign and retendering of this important infrastructure renewal project, states the report by Peter Nielsen, manager of capital projects for the county, and Doug Saccoccia, manager of engineering and design for the county.

Staff hope to see a rescope and redesign of the projects with the causeway work to be completed in 2023 and the Chemong Bridge work beginning and ending in 2024.

Savings will be achieved by allowing contractors, who specialize primarily in road rehabilitation, to bid on a separate roadworks tender, the report says.

Additional contractors who specialize primarily in bridge rehabilitation will be able to bid on a separate bridgeworks tender.

Separating tenders into specialized disciplines will increase the number of potential bidders, increase competition, reduce downtime and reduce respective costs, the staff report suggests.

The projects must be completed by Oct. 31, 2026 to receive grant money through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program.

BB Brendan Burke is a staff reporter at the Examiner, based in Peterborough. His reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.

SHARE:
MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - Construction company EllisDon says Geoff Smith will step down as president and chief executive in June.

The company says he will be replaced by Kieran Hawe, EllisDons current chief operating officer, construction.

Smith will continue to serve on the companys board of directors as executive chair, and will continue to be responsible for the companys digital and data strategy and execution, as well as for its Windjammer Landing Resort in Saint Lucia.

Gerald Slemko, the companys current chair, will become deputy chair.

Smith has been president and CEO of the construction firm, which his father founded, since 1996.

Hawe joined EllisDon in 1999 and held a series of increasingly senior roles at the company before being named executive vice-president and chief operations officer, construction, in 2019.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 17, 2023.

Read more about:

SHARE:
Two Canadian women and three teenage girls are missing somewhere in northeast Syria, after an attempt by the Canadian government to repatriate them earlier this month failed.

In an audio recording obtained by the Star, a Global Affairs Canada consular official tells the mother of one of the women that she is devastated by their disappearance.

This has happened to other countries, and they tried to warn us, and when it did actually happen  were kind of shocked by it, the senior consular official said in the April 11 call.

We didnt think it was an actual possibility.

What actually did happen on April 2  the last time anyone in Canada had contact with the women  is unclear.

Their families believe that instead of being handed over to Canadian officials to be flown home along with four other Canadian women and 10 children, they were instead taken by Kurdish officials to a facility other female captives refer to as the Red Prison.

The Canadian consular official told one womans mother they were looking into this report. We have never heard of it before. And so, were kind of at a loss as to what the prison is. And if they are indeed there, she said.

Global Affairs Canada would not comment, writing in an email that they politely declined the Stars request for any interviews with consular officials involved in the case, or with a department spokesperson.

The women are sisters-in-law from Edmonton who left Canada to join the Islamic State terrorist group in 2014. One of the women brought her three young daughters, who are now 13, 15 and 16. When the group, also known as ISIS or Daesh, lost its last battle to the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in 2019, the women were captured and taken to the sprawling detention camps administered by the Kurdish forces in whats known as the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, or AANES.

Edmonton lawyer Zachary Al-Khatib said the husband of one of the women (who is the brother of the other woman) had called home before that last battle in the Syrian city of Baghouz, saying they wanted to return to Canada, but were unable to find a way. He, too, was captured and remains in Kurdish custody.

Earlier this year, a Canadian Federal Court judge ordered Ottawa to repatriate all its citizens held in these camps.

Al-Khatib, who represents the missing women, said he was told by Global Affairs officials that both the women, aged 41 and 33, may be arrested upon return to Canada and the grandmother of the three girls would assume their custody. That was the fate of three other Canadian women who were successfully repatriated earlier this month and arrested on terrorism peace bonds. Days later, they were released on bail with conditions, until their bond applications could be heard in court. A fourth woman was not charged.

But the women in those cases were held in al-Roj camp, while the now-missing Canadian women and girls were in al-Hol, a much more dangerous and inaccessible camp. Medecins Sans Frontieres recently described the camp as a legal black hole, conducive to patterns of violence and exploitation, where criminal activities are treated with impunity.

Al-Khatib said he talked to his clients before they presented themselves to the Kurdish guards for transfer to al-Roj  as instructed by the Canadian government  and that they were terrified, but willing to take the risk to return to Canada.

What I was told by Global Affairs, Al-Khatib said he told the women, was that the Canadian government has told the Kurds to transport you to al-Roj, but you have to ask for it. You actually have to say we want to be transported; otherwise theyre not going to do it of their own initiative.

While the RCMP was reportedly on the ground at the time, the consular official told the womans mother that the federal police force had nothing to do with the repatriation and what theyre doing on the ground is their own mandate.

The Canadian women said they had planned to turn their phones over to other female captives in the camp before leaving their tents, because they knew they would be confiscated. According to texts from captives still in the camp, seen by the Star, at least one woman reportedly accompanied the Canadians to the gate to witness the transfer.

Back in Canada, their families waited for a call to go to the airport to pick up the three teenage girls. Instead, they started getting messages from women at al-Hol, saying the five had not been transported to Canadian officials, but had instead been put in a Humvee and taken to a prison by the guards.

We were under the impression they were on the plane to Canada, and the first we heard otherwise was when I got a frantic call from one of the womens moms saying, This is what Im hearing. Can you confirm whats going on? Al-Khatib said.

The case underscores the humanitarian and security issues posed by these camps, where there are still tens of thousands of captives from more than 60 countries. At al-Hol alone, 90 per cent are women and children, with an estimated 40,000 children under age 12.

According to the United Nations, at least 42 people were killed at al-Hol last year, including two 15-year-old Egyptian girls whose bodies were found in November in a sewage ditch, with multiple stab wounds. The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that, a few days earlier, the girls had been raped and a group of radicalized women in the camp then reportedly harassed the girls and their mother because of the stigma associated with being subjected to sexual violence.

Canada has been condemned internationally as lagging behind other countries in bringing its citizens back to face justice at home or protecting the rights of detained children.

Aside from human rights concern, theres also the dire security risk these camps pose as remnants of the Islamic State terror group try to rebuild inside the camps and in the surrounding regions.

Last summer, the Syrian Democratic Forces, with the backing of U.S. forces, conducted a 24-day operation in al-Hol, confiscating 25 kilograms of explosives and 25 hand grenades, and freeing six women who were allegedly found chained and tortured by ISIS operatives. Army Gen. Michael (Erik) Kurilla, the commander of the U.S. Central Command, called the camp a literal breeding ground for the next generation of ISIS, as the group looks to exploit these horrific conditions.

Michelle Shephard is an independent journalist and filmmaker and the Stars former national security correspondent. Follow her @shephardm

Read more about:

SHARE:
BRASILIA, Brazil (AP)  Russias Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday expressed gratitude to Brazil for its approach in pushing for an end to hostilities in Ukraine  an effort that has irked both Kyiv and the West, and by afternoon prompted an unusually sharp rebuke from the White House.

Brazils President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has refused to provide weapons to Ukraine while proposing a club of nations including Brazil and China to mediate peace.

On Sunday, Lula told reporters in Abu Dhabi that two nations  both Russia and Ukraine  had decided to go to war, and a day earlier in Beijing said the U.S. must stop stimulating the continued fighting and start discussing peace. Earlier this month, he suggested Ukraine could cede Crimea to end the war, which the spokesperson for Ukraines foreign ministry, Oleg Nikolenko, and others rejected.

After meeting Brazils foreign minister on Monday, Lavrov told reporters in a short press conference that the West has engaged in a rather tough struggle to maintain its dominance in world affairs, including economics and geopolitics.

As for the process in Ukraine, we are grateful to our Brazilian friends for their excellent understanding of this situations genesis. We are grateful (to them) for striving to contribute to finding ways to settle it, Lavrov said, sitting alongside his Brazilian counterpart, Mauro Vieira.

Lulas recent comments, particularly ascribing any blame to Ukraine for Russias invasion in Feb. 2022, run counter to the position held by the European Union, the U.S. and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. And any talk of a ceasefire is viewed as an opportunity for Russia to regroup its forces for a new offensive. Zelenskyy told The Associated Press last month that a loss anywhere at this stage in the war could put Ukraines hard-fought momentum at risk.

Vieira, for his part, told reporters that Brazil sees sanctions against Russia as causing negative impacts for the global economy, particularly developing nations, and that Brazil supports an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.

Following the meeting, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby blasted Brazils approach to the war and for its officials having met Lavrov and Russias Vladimir Putin in person, while thus far only speaking to Ukrainian officials by phone.

Brazil has substantively and rhetorically approached this issue by suggesting that the United States and Europe are somehow not interested in peace or that we share responsibility for the war, Kirby told reporters in Washington. In this case, Brazil is parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda without at all looking at the facts.

Kirby said the Biden administration hoped Lula and others will urge the Russians to cease the bombing of Ukrainian cities, hospitals and schools, halt the war crimes and the atrocities and, quite frankly, to pull back Russian forces from Ukraine.

Both foreign ministers were meeting with Lula in the afternoon.

As part of his effort to end the war, Lula also has withheld munitions to Ukraine, despite a request from Germanys Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Lula has said that sending supplies would mean Brazil entering the war, which he seeks to end.

His administration is seeking to simultaneously develop ties with China, Europe and the U.S. while keeping an open door to Russia. However, his recent remarks may have undermined his effort to secure these competing objectives, said Christopher Garman, managing director for the Americas at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group.

Its not a good look, when you have the Russian chancellor side by side, and its the Russian position, Garman said by phone. The optics do diminish Brazils credibility as an independent arbiter, but I think that the import is larger precisely because of the current storms that Lula stoked with his comments in China and the UAE.

There were already indications that Moscow had appreciated Lulas stance. One of roughly 50 leaked classified documents on the platform Discord that have been viewed by the AP said that, as of late February, Russias foreign affairs ministry supported Lulas plan to establish a club of supposedly impartial mediators, as it would reject the Wests aggressor-victim paradigm. The item cited electronic surveillance as the source.

Critics have argued that Brazils position aims to avoid confronting a key supplier of fertilizer for its soybean plantations, exports from which are largely destined for China. Both Russia and China hold permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council, and Brazil for decades has sought to join them. Lavrov told reporters on Monday that Russia is backing Brazils bid.

Vinicius Vieira, an international relations professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a university and think tank, said Lulas comments on Ukraine have been badly calibrated and that saying Kyiv should cede Crimea would appear to favor Russia.

The issue of fertilizers is fundamental, but that would be well resolved with Brazil staying neutral, calling all sides to speak, but without saying Ukraine owes something to Russia, Vieira said.

After his stay in Brazil, Lavrov will travel to Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.

In an article published on the website of Russias Foreign Ministry, as well as in Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo, Lavrov appeared to cast the Latin American countries trade relationship  notably that between Russia and Brazil, especially concerning fertilizers  as a backdrop and source of leverage for possible discussions regarding Brazils continued refusal to provide weapons to Ukraine, which Moscow would like to ensure.

Brazils foreign minister told reporters that Russia accounts for one-quarter of the South American nations fertilizer imports, and that he and Lavrov discussed measures to guarantee its influx.

___

Madhani reported from Washington. AP videojournalist Kostya Manenkov contributed from Tallinn, Estonia, and journalist Elise Morton contributed from London.

Read more about:

SHARE:
Donating Mobility: Wheelchairs for those in need

Over the past year Living Waters Phuket Foundation (LWPF) has donated more than 2,500 wheelchairs to the Thai Red Cross Society. This mobility project is part of a nationwide, strategic initiative to help fund the purchase of wheelchairs for use in hospitals, clinics and centres across Thailand to assist those with mobility challenges.

Community

By Joanna Matlub

Monday 17 April 2023, 11:04AM

Giving the gift of mobility via wheelchair donations was brought in by LWPF as a tool for promoting equality, independence and social inclusion, for people around Thailand with disabilities or limited mobility.

Working with the Thai Red Cross Society was a natural fit, especially given this organisations aim to endeavour to alleviate human suffering, promote international humanitarian law and provide health services to the most vulnerable among children, women and the elderly.

The latest batch of 200 wheelchairs, which were delivered and distributed in March, went to Ayutthaya, some 80 kilometres north of Bangkok. The Thai Red Cross Society once again were on hand to help with distribution efforts to hospitals and medical centres in this area after receiving these medical supplies.

Southern Thailand has already received around 1,300 donated wheelchairs for those in need to areas such as Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi, Trang and Ranong. In central Thailand, Bangkok and the surrounding areas received almost 1,000 units, with around 300 going to Chiang Mai and the other regions in Northern Thailand.

Shaun Stenning, founder of Living Waters Phuket Foundation, commented, Many communities across Thailand lack access to basic healthcare and mobility aids.

He continued to make his point on the importance of these donations, Wheelchairs provide not only mobility, but also accessibility to essential services including healthcare and education, which they could not get to without.

LWPF is driving this effort to help people gain a feeling of independence by enabling them to move around and perform everyday chores without assistance. This in itself can significantly enhance quality of life and enable people to become more involved in their communities. The Foundation also aims to break down barriers and encourage social inclusion by making it easier for people with disabilities or mobility challenges to leave their residences and engage in community life.

Employment is another driving factor behind this initiative; those with disabilities who now have access to wheelchairs may get the opportunity to work and earn a living, with the longer-term goal of helping to improve economic conditions.

This donation is a natural extension to Living Waters Phuket Foundations work on medical supply and mobility projects across Thailand, including post trauma medical equipment donations.

The Foundation works to unite the efforts of registered charities, foundations, private companies and government organisations, to provide strategic and credible aid for projects around essential relief areas including sustainable food security, education, healthcare, renewable energy and environmental issues.

For further Information about Living Waters Phuket contact Shaun Stenning at +66 (0)937206221 or visit them at www.livingwatersphuket.com

Facebook: Living Waters Phuket

Instagram: @livingwatersphuket

YouTube: Living Waters Phuket

Twitter: @livingwaters_th
Phuket officials assure smog is clearing

PHUKET: Phuket officials have assured that the heavy smog that has plagued Phuket for days is now clearing, and that people can safely enjoy outdoor activities.

weatherpollutionhealthtourism

By The Phuket News

Monday 17 April 2023, 09:23AM

Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew at a meeting yesterday (Apr 16) said that the unclear air was a natural phenomenon in the summer.

It is not a problem of PM 2.5 dust and [he] has ordered the relevant agencies to closely monitor the situation, said an official report.

Regardless, the Phuket Info Center, operated under the Phuket branch of the ministry of Interior, today posted photos proving otherwise. One image, taken from CCTV, showed heavy smog at 6:30am today, and another posted later showed the headlands at Patong very unclear as seen from Patong Beach at 8:30am.

Governor Narong yesterday recognised the poor air quality had raised concerns among many people, especially regarding PM 2.5 dust.

But from checking the data with the Southern Meteorological Center on the west coast, it is known that the weather in Phuket is still in good condition, he said.

It is not a problem of PM 2.5 dust at all, but a natural phenomenon in the summer which is about to change into the rainy season, he added, said the official report.

Therefore, I do not want people to worry. People can still engage in various outdoor activities due to the condition of the area of Phuket, which will have wind blowing all the time.

In addition, Phuket is a tourist city and a residential area, not agricultural area, so there isnt much burning, and no hot spots of concern have been found [on the island], and I have instructed relevant agencies to closely monitor the situation, Governor Narong continued.

It is expected that such characteristics and part of this may be due to climate change, he said.

Despite his assurances, Governor Narong yesterday himself still urged people with health issues to remain vigilant for ill effects on their health brought on by the smog.

The health of people at risk such as children, the elderly, pregnant women and patients with congenital diseases in the group of respiratory diseases and cardiovascular disease should be monitored. If there are initial symptoms such as coughing, difficulty breathing, eye irritation, the duration of outdoor activities should be reduced for health care during this period, he said.

Of note, the official government report of the air quality yesterday presented screenshots from the government-operated Air4Thai air-quality monitoring platform, showing all green and yellow indicators for Phuket.

Air4Thai stands alone in its assessment of Phukets recent air quality, with all other major air-quality monitoring platforms, including the Swiss-based IQAir, as presented by the Phuket Info Center this morning, showing red, light red and orange warning indicators for the island.
PLTO arrests 10 more taxi drivers at Phuket airport

PHUKET: The Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO) has confirmed arresting 10 more drivers for operating illegally at Phuket International Airport.

tourismtransport

By The Phuket News

Monday 17 April 2023, 10:12AM

Photos: PLTO

Officers, acting under instructions from PLTO Chief Adcha Buachan, conducted checks on taxis at the airport from 4pm to 6pm yesterday (Apr 16), said a PLTO report posted after 9m last night.

Joining the PLTO officers as support were airport officials (actually employees of Airport of Thailand Co Ltd, which operates Phuket airport), along with officers from the Sakhu Police and Phuket Tourist Police, said the report.

The officers found five drivers of metered taxis operating without turning on the taxi meter. A further five people were found using private vehicles as taxis, which the official PLTO report continued to use the moniker black taxi to describe.

The report made no mention of whether or not the drivers caught were using the popular ride-sharing apps inDriver and Bolt

The PLTO deems the two apps to be illegal in Phuket as they have not been approved by the Department of Transport, while Bolt and inDriver operate openly in Bangkok. The Department of Transport has remained silent on the crackdown on Bolt and inDriver in Phuket.

Regardless, the PLTO report yesterday said that the PLTO will consider suspending the drivers licences, using the word consider despite it now being standard practice and already admitted by PLTO Chief Mr Adcha.
Seven injured, no deaths recorded for Day 6 of Seven Days campaign

PHUKET: Phuket officials have recognised seven road accidents resulting in eight people injured during Day 6 of the Seven Days of Danger road and water safety campaign yesterday (Apr 16).

transportaccidentsSafetypolice

By The Phuket News

Monday 17 April 2023, 10:37AM

National road safety agency Thai Road Safety Committee (ThaiRSC) reported one death and 62 people injured in road accidents in Phuket yesterday (Apr 16). Image: Thai RSC

The official report for the 24-hour period came from the Phuket office of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM-Phuket) and was released on the Public Relations Phuket Facebook page this morning (Apr 17).

The eight people injured comprised three males and five females, the report said. No fatalities were reported.

This brought the tally for the Seven Days of Danger campaign for Songkran 2023, which began last Tuesday (Apr 11), to 44 accidents resulting in 47 people injured and two deaths, according to the report.

So far no details of the accidents that occurred during the Seven Days campaign or the arrests made by police during the campaign have been released.

The Seven Days campaign for the Songkran Thai New Year holidays will continue until midnight tonight (Apr 17).

Nationwide, 285 people have died and 15,278 people have been injured in road accidents since the campaign began last Tuesday, reports national road safety agency Thai Road Safety Committee (ThaiRSC).

According to ThaiRSC, 4,772 people have died and 241,917 people have been injured in road accidents in Thailand since the start of the year.

The national road safety agency also marks that Phuket suffered one death and 62 people injured in road accidents yesterday (Apr 16).

So far 46 people have died and 7,018 people have been injured in road accidents on the island since the year began, the agency notes.
Vietnamese staff members holding bouquets welcome Chinese tourists at the Huu Nghi International Border Gate in northern Vietnam's Lang Son province, on March 15, 2023. (Xinhua/Hu Jiali)

Chinese tourists make up a vast portion of visitor arrivals in Vietnam, and their higher spending power provides a significant boost to the destinations they choose to visit, said Ly Truong Xuan, marketing manager at Hanoi-based Vietnamtourism.

HANOI, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's tourism industry is well prepared to welcome more visitors, however, companies remain cautious in their business outlook due to the uncertainty caused by the absence of key markets and labor shortages, according to local tourism businesses at the four-day Vietnam International Travel Mart starting on Thursday in Hanoi.

STRONG RESUMPTION OF DOMESTIC TRAVEL

Vietnam's domestic tourism experienced impressive growth last year, serving 101.3 million locals, 168.3 percent higher than an official target and above the previous peak of 85 million in pre-pandemic 2019, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.

Two years of the COVID-19 pandemic made Vietnamese holidaymakers turn their attention inwards, exploring the treasure trove of travel opportunities at home rather than venturing abroad, said tour operators.

However, the pandemic has also left an impact on travel habits as local tourists want to be well-protected. They are traveling in smaller groups and to the places closer to their home, Ly Truong Xuan, marketing manager at Hanoi-based Vietnamtourism told Xinhua.

He was cautious over a four-fold surge in the number of COVID-19 cases over the past week, with the capital of Hanoi recording the most cases.

Besides, soaring transportation costs, especially airfares, which greatly add to travel expenses, would make domestic tourists think twice before booking trips, the marketing executive added.

Vietnam is slated to raise the fare caps on domestic airlines by an average 3.75 percent in the second half of this year after the Civil Aviation Administration said fuel prices, among other expenses, have been eating away at local airlines' profitability.

Despite a cautious outlook, the domestic tourism market has rebounded strongly, as the government statistics revealed that total sales at retailers and service revenues in the first three months were higher than an annual expansion of 12.6 percent in the same period in pre-pandemic 2019.

Restaurant and accommodation revenues during the January-March period totaled 6.84 billion U.S. dollars, up 28.4 percent from a year ago, while tourism revenues more than doubled from a year earlier to nearly 289 million dollars, said the General Statistic Office.

Tourists take boats to travel across the Tam Coc-Bich Dong scenic area in northern Vietnam's Ninh Binh province, May 21, 2022. (Xinhua/Jiang Shengxiong)

PREPARING FOR THE RISE OF CHINESE TOURISTS

Regarding the international market, 2022 saw some growth compared to the tough years of the pandemic, but the results failed to either reach the target or measure up to pre-pandemic levels.

Vietnam's tourism peaked in 2019, when the country welcomed 18 million international arrivals, earning more than 30.2 billion U.S. dollars, according to the General Statistics Office.

Then COVID-19 struck, plunging the number of foreign tourists to 3.8 million in 2020, which shrank to 157,300 in 2021. Last year, the Southeast Asian country received nearly 3.7 million arrivals, around 20 percent of the pre-pandemic levels despite being one of the first Southeast Asian countries to fully reopen its doors to foreign visitors.

However, Vietnam's tourism recovery is expected to accelerate considerably after recording tepid growth from key markets, especially China.

Chinese tourists wave to Vietnamese staff members at the Huu Nghi International Border Gate in northern Vietnam's Lang Son province, on March 15, 2023. (Xinhua/Hu Jiali)

"We have prepared to roll out several packages to entice visitors, but the number of Chinese visitors booking experiences in Vietnam is still lower than the corresponding period prior to the pandemic," said the marketing executive with Vietnamtourism.

Chinese tourists make up a vast portion of the total arrivals in Vietnam, and their higher spending power provides a significant boost to the destinations they choose to visit, he said.

As Chinese tourists return in greater numbers, they will play a crucial role in the recovery of the tourism industry, said Duong Thanh Phuong, chief executive of 5-star Annova Hotel in Vietnam's south-central province of Khanh Hoa.

Khanh Hoa, among the country's most popular tourist destinations, welcomed over 2.5 million Chinese tourists, making up more than 70 percent of the coastal province's international arrivals in 2019, statistics from the Department of Tourism showed.

Before the pandemic, China was obviously the biggest source of tourist arrivals in the beach city of Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa province, said Phuong.

The lure of beaches, combined with the convenience of direct flights, large accommodation capacity of hotels and luxury resorts, and high-quality services, brought an increasing number of Chinese tourists to the province, he added.

Local tourism companies at the annual Vietnam International Travel Mart said they embraced the opportunities brought by Chinese tourists to position themselves for long-term growth in the increasingly competitive travel industry.

As the world's largest tourism market, it will take some time for China to get back up to its full capacity, said the hotel chief executive, forecasting of a full rebound from Chinese tourists by the end of this year.

Photo taken on May 20, 2022, shows a view of the Hoa Lu Ancient Town in northern Vietnam's Ninh Binh province. (Xinhua/Jiang Shengxiong)

LABOR SHORTAGES HOLD BACK RECOVERY

As the Southeast Asian country is on track to welcome more tourists, targeting to receive 8 million foreign arrivals and earning about 27 billion U.S. dollars in revenue this year, tourism operators are finding it hard to recruit enough workers, especially high-skilled staff, to meet the expected demand.

Vietnam's tourism sector is among the world's hardest-hit as the country saw almost one third of all job losses occur in the industry, according to the International Labor Organization.

During the pandemic, airlines, tour operators, hotels and restaurants let go of staff who then decided to leave the sector for good, said the National Administration of Tourism, adding that 44 percent of workers with 5-10 years of experience and 90 percent of those with graduate degrees moved into other areas less affected by the pandemic.

After the pandemic, companies had little time to scale up their capacity before a rush of interest from both domestic and international markets.

"So now we are desperately in need of workers," said Annova Hotel's chief executive.

It has been a struggle for companies to recruit the staff back and re-train them, he said.

"This will take time, and it is not the problem that can be solved in one or two months," he stressed but hoped that thing would be back to normal by the end of this year.

Staff shortages are forcing owners of hotels, bars, restaurants and travel agencies in Vietnam to offer better pay for full-time workers responsible for multiple tasks, recruit more seasonal semi-qualified or unqualified workers and cut services, local media reported.

It requires the recruitment of full-time devoted workers, not part-time simple positions, with a focus on training to equip them with field experience, since services quality holds the key to the sustainable growth of the industry to draw high-spending and long-stay visitors, said the hotel chief executive. 
Three Cambridge residents are facing charges after being stopped for allegedly driving a stolen vehicle in Wellington County.

Wellington County OPP said on April 15 at approximately 3:30 a.m., an officer was patrolling on Wellington Road 39 when the Automated License Plate Recognition system alerted a stolen vehicle.

A tire deflation device was used after the vehicle failed to stop for officers, and the three occupants of the vehicle were placed under arrest.

A 42-year-old man was charged with possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000 and flight from peace officer. A 45-year-old woman was charged with possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000 and a 33-year-old woman has been charged with possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000 and possession of a Schedule I substance  methamphetamine.

All three are scheduled to appear in Guelph court on June 9.

Wellington County OPP is continuing to investigate and anyone with any information regarding this incident can contact the station at 1-888-310-1122 or, to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or submit a tip online at www.csgw.tips.



SHARE:
CAMBRIDGE  A residential area of Cambridge had an increased police presence on Sunday after police responded to a report of an armed suspect.

In a tweet at 2:19 p.m., Waterloo Regional Police said officers would be in the area of Arthur Fach Drive and Coulthard Boulevard for a weapons investigation.

The man police were looking for was described as white, 24 years old, with a heavy build, brown hair and wearing a black shirt and dark jeans.

On Monday morning at 7 a.m., police said the man they were looking for had been found, but no charges were handed out.

The investigation is ongoing, but police said there are no concerns for public safety.

SHARE:
KITCHENER  Six years after Melinda Vasilije was found stabbed to death in her Kitchener apartment, the Hamilton man accused of killing her is going on trial.

Jury selection began Monday in the murder trial of Vasilijes ex-boyfriend, Ager Hasan.

Hasan, now 30, is charged with second-degree murder. Vasilijes body was found on April 28, 2017, in her apartment on Country Hill Drive near Block Line Road. She was 22.

Hasan, wearing a suit and tie, pleaded not guilty on Monday.

Each potential juror was asked if there is a reason why they cant serve on the jury.

If the answer was no, they were asked if they have any racial, religious or ethnic biases.

One man said he has no biases and was accepted as a juror. A woman said she has biases and was excused.

By the end of the day, five jurors had been selected. The process continues Tuesday.

Hasans trial had originally been set for 2019 but was adjourned at the request of the defence.

It was then rescheduled for 2020 but was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was delayed again when Hasan discharged his original defence lawyer.

The Supreme Court of Canadas decision in R. v. Jordan sets timelines to bring an accused person to trial. Proceedings for serious charges have a 30-month cap. Since the Jordan ruling in 2016, hundreds of charges across Canada have been thrown out because of delays.

But the Jordan clock is paused if delays are caused by the defence. It can also be paused due to exceptional circumstances.

The Crowns position is that COVID-19 is an exceptional circumstance, Patricia Moore, the Waterloo Region Crown attorney at the time and now a judge, said in 2021.

The trial is expected to last six weeks.

Vasilijes neighbours remembered her as a kind person.

She was friendly, she always said hi in the hallway, Becky Green said the day the body was found. She was a beautiful person.

Callie Hummel, a Kitchener woman who was best friends with Vasilijes roommate, was in court for Hasans first appearance in January 2018.

She was very sweet, very selfless, Hummel said. Would do anything for anybody.

With Record files

SHARE:
WATERLOO REGION  Preliminary data from the Ontario Office of the Chief Coroner suggests overdose deaths continue in Waterloo Region at a steady rate.

The data shows 25 deaths in the first three months of the year, about the same number of lives lost in the final three months of 2022.

That puts the Region of Waterloo 11th for overdose deaths out of 34 provincial public health units.

More than 640 people have now died of overdose here since 2018.

For people like Michael Parkinson, those deaths are no surprise.

Unlike other important but less common causes of acute death and injury, there remains no actual strategy or emergency response, said Parkinson, formerly a drug strategist with the Waterloo Crime Prevention Council.

The work of the council led to the life-saving overdose drug Naloxone being widely available across the country, and to other life-saving and harm reduction measures for people who use drugs.

Parkinson is now a member of the Waterloo Region Drug Action Team, a group made up of community members, direct service outreach staff, academics, strategists and others directly impacted by drug use issues.

As part of its work the group advocates for community-driven solutions to the drug poisoning crisis.

For this crisis of death, first predicted in Waterloo Region almost a decade ago, it is community members who have driven home life-saving measures, not governments, despite the mandates and funding to respond effectively to public health and safety threats, he said.

It is a grossly inequitable life-threatening response to the worst poisoning crisis in Canadian history.

Paige Desmond is a Waterloo Region-based reporter focusing on municipal issues for The Record. Reach her via email: pdesmond@therecord.com

SHARE:
Reaching out to ATSUM via Pfoze STDCM on track

|

The Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee, Manipur (STDCM) is on track. Right thing it has done in seeking to reach out to the All Tribal Students Union, Manipur (ATSUM) in its pursuit for the ST tag for the Meiteis. It has also gone a step forward in first sending the needed feelers or points to Lok Sabha MP Dr Lorho Pfoze, a man regarded across Manipur. Too early to say how ATSUM would respond to the move of STDCM, but important to note that it is the student body which has been voicing its stand against the demand that the Meiteis be included in the ST list of the Constitution of India. Those who have been following the demand and the voice of opposition to it must still remember how ATSUM took their stand to New Delhi and canvassed against the move to get the Meiteis be enlisted in the ST list. The debate that raged on between some leaders of ATSUM and members of other organisations on the ST for Meiteis question in The Sangai Express is also there for the records. It is in taking cognizance of the stiff opposition raised that The Sangai Express had suggested the need for leaders of STDCM to reach out to all concerned and talk things over. The STDCM was also on the right track in maintaining that if there is any apprehension on job reservation, internal arrangements may be effected such as in the neighbouring States of Assam, Nagaland and Meghalaya. This line makes perfect sense and this is something which can be worked out to the satisfaction of everyone concerned. This is where it also becomes incumbent on the part of ATSUM to come to the point that the Meiteis do need some sort of a Constitutional protection. Opposing this may amount to taking a position that runs contrary to the understanding of co-existence. It is plain and simple logic-It certainly does not make sense to toe the line My land is protected and it will stay protected, but your land can stay exposed to the incursion of others. Look at the valley area, a mere 10 or 15 or 20 percent of the total geographical area of Manipur and it is open for everyone to come and settle including members of ATSUM. A look at some of the names of the localities given in Imphal should tell its own significant story. Certainly not a model for meaningful co-existence.

Reaching out-this is the first step that STDCM has taken and it would be right to take things to the next step and see how things unfold. This is where it may become necessary to get in touch with tribal leaders of the State and see how to put the case of the Meiteis in the right perspective before them. Such a step can go some way in convincing ATSUM that the ST for Meiteis demand will not in any way intrude into the rights of the existing tribal groups in Manipur. Let the Ministry concerned, the people who matter at New Delhi, decide on whether the Meiteis fit the bill to be included in the ST list or not. And for this, it is necessary for the Government at Imphal to send the needed recommendation. The silence maintained by the State Government, particularly the Chief Minister on the matter, may certainly not be the right way to go about dealing with the issue. Land and people and even as the hill people, particularly the NSCN (IM), have been talking about the unbreakable bond between land and the people, it should also not be forgotten that the Meiteis too cannot be understood without their ties to their land. Protection of land and resources and this is something which no one should grudge against the Meiteis. That would be gross injustice, bereft of all logic and sanity and getting included in the ST list is perhaps the most effective way to protect the land of the people. It should also not be forgotten that only when a sense of security envelops all section of the people, can the security of everyone in Manipur be guaranteed. The ST for Meiteis demand can be equated with the survival of Manipur. A point which the Government at Imphal should not overlook.
BEIJING, April 17 (Xinhua) -- At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, President of the Gabonese Republic Ali Bongo Ondimba will pay a state visit to China from April 18 to 21.

Ali Bongo, 64, once served as minister of defense and on other posts in the government. He was elected president of the Gabonese Republic in 2009 and was reelected in 2016.

He is married and has four children. 
Members of an advocacy group for rental property owners say theyre frustrated with a provincial system that limits their rights and forces them to house professional tenants who take advantage of Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) hearing delays.

Sherry Halsted, a Stoney Creek resident with six rental properties, is a member of Small Ownership Landlords of Ontario (SOLO), a group planning an April 29 protest at Mississaugas Celebration Square from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Halsted and partner Cam Shearer had hoped to sell their Hamilton rental property near the height of the real estate market in February 2022.

Having recently retired, Halsted and Shearer planned to use proceeds of the sale to cover everyday living expenses, along with reducing the stress of maintenance, repairs and tenant issues.

Their paralegal submitted an N12 notice to the tenant, used to terminate a tenancy when the property owner, a purchaser or a family member requires the rental unit. Another notice, known as an L2, was filed March 23, 2022, with the LTB.

Halsted said the tenant was given three months to move, one month longer than the LTB requires. Halsted said the tenant was offered an incentive known as cash for keys, plus the required one-month compensation. But the tenant refused to move and waited for an LTB hearing date.

Meanwhile, Halsted and Shearer had secured a willing buyer, but as the sale was set to close, the tenant still refused to move. A hearing with the LTB was eventually scheduled for Oct. 20, but by that time the sale had collapsed.

Halsted and Shearer were left with a rental property that had decreased by $192,000, according to a realtors valuation. The real estate agents and brokers lost their commissions, and the would-be buyers were left without a home.

It was a very frustrating, time consuming, and stressful situation for everyone, Halsted recalled. The buyers had signed an affidavit that they were moving into the property and (were) going to live there for at least a year. The buyers had nowhere to go, as they had sold their own property.

Since the initial sale agreement fell through, Halsted and Shearer have tried to relist the home, but with buyers demanding vacant possession, the property has garnered no offers.

Halsted and Shearer had hoped to sell another property they own in Stoney Creek, but upon notifying the tenants of the plan, Halsted said the occupants vowed to make it difficult for the owners to sell the property.

I cant even get out of being a landlord anymore, Halsted said.

Halsted has heard the news about the provinces plans to hire more LTB adjudicators but remains skeptical.

The struggles of small landlords continue to remain inconsequential to the Ontario government, who, through their inaction, have signalled a lack of concern, said Halsted.

Boubacar Bah, SOLO co-founder, said the organization is staging the April 29 protest to demand compensation from the provincial government for unreasonable delays in scheduling LTB hearings, among other issues.

The biggest issues that we have, even before COVID, was the length of time to get to the hearing, said Bah.

Bah said professional tenants can exploit hearing delays by withholding rent payments, while small property owners, who lack the financial resources of corporate landlords, fall into financial turmoil.

The main issue is the government is forcing small landlords to have people living for free, said Bah. We call them professional tenants.

While Bah acknowledged some property owners may be exploiting tenants to maximize profits, he noted property owners can face fines of up to $50,000 while tenants often face fewer consequences.

Some SOLO members have faced financial ruin from tenants who have withheld rent, Bah noted. In one case brought to SOLO's attention, a young Hamilton rental property owner died by suicide after a tenants nonpayment of rent created an extreme financial hardship.

Bah said SOLO is also asking the government for a system like New Brunswick, where an eviction can proceed without an LTB hearing in cases where non-payment of rent is the sole concern.



SHARE:
A builder planning to demolish vacant CityHousing townhouses for a mixed-income redevelopment is holding out hope that Canadian National Railway will drop its project-stalling appeal.

Fram Building Group is part of a private consortium that has partnered with CityHousing and non-profit Indwell on the long-planned 447-unit Jamesville project near the West Harbour GO station.

Fram president Frank Giannone says a case management conference on June 29 before the Ontario Land Tribunal could reopen the door to talks and a potential resolution, averting a full-blown hearing. over the redevelopment along James Street North.

Optimistically, were looking at not going to have to get to a full appeal on it, Giannone said. But were preparing ourselves for it.

CityHousing started vacating 91 subsidized townhomes on the site as early as 2015 to clear the way for 160 affordable units in two seven-storey buildings between it and Indwell. The rest of the planned homes in the redevelopment are market-rate stacked townhouses.

City council approved the project last year, but CN appealed that zoning decision to the provincial tribunal in September, citing a potential conflict with its bayfront shunting yard on Stuart Street, which is less than 300 metres away.

CN hasnt responded to The Spectators questions, but in its appeal letter, the rail giants lawyer noted her clients concerns revolve around safety, odour, vibration and noise.

However, its CNs desire to resolve outstanding issues without the need for a contested hearing, and we welcome the opportunity for further discussions with the city.

Giannone said the sticking point is how loud, crashing noises in the shunting yard could affect the future developments residents. But many homes sit closer to the yard than the roughly 2.1-hectare Jamesville property between James, MacNab, Ferrie and Strachan, he suggested.

What are you going to tell those people?

In an email, CityHousing development manager Sean Botham told The Spectator the municipal housing provider and the project team are continuing to work with CN towards resolving the appeal, noting the parties last met in mid-February.

They had a good meeting, Giannone said, adding the developer presented a study with recommendations to mitigate the concerns over acoustics that CN was to examine. They havent done that yet, and thats why weve had to at least schedule the (tribunal) process.

In the meantime, with demolition now halted pending the outcome of the appeal, residents have expressed outrage over the derelict Jamesville townhouses already sitting empty for years during a housing crisis.

Thats a problem to avoid in future development projects the city pursues, says Cameron Kroetsch, the areas new councillor.

The idea of emptying all the folks out of Jamesville before we even had some of the things in place, I think, has also been part of the problem.

He also contends the city may have missed an opportunity to head off the appeal when CN raised concerns with the municipality in 2021.

Nonetheless, Kroetsch, whos a CityHousing board member, likewise expressed optimism that talks could avert a long dispute before the tribunal.

I dont see this being stalled for years over an appeal. I just dont see it, he said, noting the redevelopment is a high-profile project that many support.

Moreover, previous CN appeals over other local projects, including the Witton Lofts on Murray Street and the citys Barton-Tiffany development plans, ended without protracted hearings, Kroetsch noted. Giannone also cites those two examples and a more recent CN appeal in Vaughan as relevant.

In the east end, a similar CityHousing partnership with private developers that also involved the razing of townhouses to build a denser, mixed-income community is under construction.

In April, tenants started moving into a new CityHousing building in the area just north of Queenston Road near the Red Hill Valley Parkway.

The Jamesville delay is frustrating, especially given the importance of building the affordable CityHousing and Indwell units, Giannone lamented. Its meeting the core needs of the community.

In fact, the consortium, had hoped to start construction a year and a half ago, but the COVID-19 pandemic upended those plans, he said. And if the project hadnt been appealed, we would have probably been on sale now.

SHARE:
Avoid traffic jams before they happen: The Ministry of Transportation has scheduled seven closures in Hamilton on April 17, 2023 for roadwork on Highway 403, Highway 6 and Queen Elizabeth Way.

Highway 403 eastbound at Lincoln M. Alexander Parkway: one left lane closed until April 21 at 5 a.m.

Highway 403 eastbound at Southcote Road: one right lane closed from April 17 at 9 p.m. until April 21 at 5 a.m.

Highway 403 eastbound between Aberdeen Avenue and Main Street West: one left lane closed until April 21 at 5 a.m.

Highway 403 eastbound between Main Street West and Old York Road: one left lane closed from April 17 at 10 p.m. until April 21 at 5 a.m.

Highway 6 southbound between Millgrove Sideroad / 6th Con. Road East and Highway 5 / Clappisons Corners: one right lane closed from April 17 at 9 a.m. until April 21 at 3 p.m.

Queen Elizabeth Way Fort Erie bound between Burloak Drive and Northshore Boulevard / Highway 2: two right lanes closed from April 17 at 10 p.m. until April 21 at 5 a.m.

Queen Elizabeth Way Toronto bound between Northshore Boulevard / Highway 2 and Bronte Road: two right lanes closed from April 17 at 10 p.m. until April 21 at 5 a.m.

Have further to travel? Highway closures for planned roadwork outside Hamilton

About this story

This story was automatically generated using open data from Ontario 511. These closures are scheduled for short-term or emergency repairs and maintenance of provincial highways around Hamilton, including Burlington, Stoney Creek, Flamborough, Ancaster, Dundas and Glanbrook. The disruptions may be intermittent or ongoing and can change due to weather, emergencies and other factors.

SHARE:
If youre intently saving for your first home, youre probably aware that the new First Home Savings Account (FHSA) is a great tax-advantaged way to build up your down payment.

But the FHSA has broader uses. In the right circumstances, it can also be a good way for renters to save even if theyre not sure about buying a home.

That makes the FHSA a surprisingly versatile addition to the somewhat crowded field of tax-advantaged savings accounts (which seem to follow a common pattern of having four-letter acronyms).

Still, you need to delve into the details to understand when the FHSA works well compared to the main established tax-advantaged savings programs, the Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) and the Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA).

Few Canadians can afford to make maximum contributions to all three, so you usually need to prioritize funding to the tax-advantaged accounts that best suit your circumstances.

It turns out the FHSA combines the best tax-saving features of RRSP and TFSA when used to purchase a first home, making it a superior option for those focused single-mindedly on home ownership.

But if you dont end up buying a home, the FHSA can function effectively much like an RRSP. That can suit your situation if your focus ends up gravitating instead to building up long-term financial savings.

Newest four-letter account

Legislation to enable the FHSA came into effect April 1. Canadian residents 18 years and older who havent owned a home in the current or preceding four calendar years are eligible. After opening an FHSA, you can contribute up to $8,000 per year to a maximum of $40,000. You can also carry forward unused contribution room.

Although the FHSA program is officially launched, few financial institutions are ready to offer them just yet. The Questrade online brokerage is one of few institutions that has them now. Expect other institutions like the big banks to roll them out over the next few months.

You can keep an FHSA open for up to 15 years or until you turn 71 while waiting to buy a home. If you dont end up making a home purchase within those constraints, you can transfer the money into an RRSP or RRIF (without the need to use existing RRSP contribution room). You can also withdraw the money on a taxable basis, but that usually isnt wise.

The FHSA combines the best features of the RRSP and TFSA when used for first-time home purchase. For starters, you dont pay tax on investment income while the money is held within the FHSA, similar to both the RRSP and the TFSA.

You get an upfront tax deduction on your FHSA contribution (like an RRSP), but you also get to withdraw the money tax-free (like a TFSA) when it is used specifically for first-time home purchase.

Home-plan confusion

There can be confusion between the FHSA and an RRSP feature known as the Home Buyers Plan (HBP). They have some similarities and many first-time home buyers will have cause to use both in combination. However, if you have limited funds and are trying to compare tax advantages of contributing to either a FHSA or an RRSP, its important to understand that the RRSP Home Buyers Plan is quite restrictive relative to the FHSA.

The HBP allows you to borrow up to $35,000 from your RRSP for a first-time home purchase without triggering tax consequences. But the HBP also requires you to repay the money to your RRSP over 15 years according to a set schedule (starting two years after drawing the funds)  otherwise its taxed as income.

If youve bought a home in the last few years and are hard-pressed to make hefty mortgage payments, this rigid repayment requirement can be onerous. In contrast, FHSA funds used for first-home purchase are untaxed with no strings attached.

By combining the best tax-saving features of RRSP and TFSA, the FHSA is generally the superior option when the sole objective is saving for a first home purchase.

If no home is bought

The relative benefits of the FHSA, RRSP and TFSA are more complicated if you dont end up buying a home.

Lets first discuss the traditional matchup between the RRSP (with its upfront tax deduction) and the TFSA (with its tax-free withdrawals).

The RRSP is usually the better choice in a common but specific circumstance. That typically applies when youre in a relatively high tax bracket when you contribute (you get a big tax-deduction bang for your buck), but youre in a relatively modest tax bracket when you take the money out (which is typical for a middle-class retirement).

So the RRSP is usually a great way for people with average or above-average salaries to save for retirement. But if you need to tap into your RRSP during your peak earning years, you pay a lot of tax, so it tends to be poorly suited to short-term saving.

In contrast, the TFSA is more of an all-purpose savings vehicle. It usually isnt quite as good as the RRSP for high earners saving for a typical middle-class retirement, but it is more versatile. It also tends to be better suited to those with relatively low incomes when they contribute.

Since withdrawals are tax-free, the TFSA is generally the better option for short-term saving when you might be taking the money out while still in your high-earning years.

Now lets bring the FHSA into the comparison for situations where the funds arent used to buy a first home.

In that circumstance, the FHSA works very similar to an RRSP. Like the RRSP, your FHSA contributions earn you a tax deduction up front, and your subsequent investment income is not taxed while held within the FHSA. In addition, your FHSA money is ultimately transferable into an RRSP (or RRIF) if unused for a home purchase. So, if you dont buy a home with the funds, the FHSA works well in situations where RRSPs work well.

Bottom line

In essence, the FHSA saves more tax than an RRSP if you buy a home with the funds, and has a similar tax impact if you dont buy a home. So on a combined basis, the FHSA has the overall advantage over the RRSP.

The FHSA also generally saves you more tax compared with the TFSA if you carry through on the home purchase. If you dont purchase a home, whether the FHSA or TFSA works best varies depending on individual circumstance.

If you have enough money to contribute to two of these tax-advantaged accounts but not all three, figuring out the best combination can get complicated and depends on individual situations. Personally, in many situations, I like the combination of FHSA and TFSA because they are complementary. The FHSA is typically a great way to save for a first home or long-term, but the TFSA is more versatile and usually better for short-term savings.

David Aston , a freelance contributing columnist for the Star, is a personal finance and investment journalist. He has a Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a Chartered Professional Accountant. Reach him via email: davidastonstar@gmail.com

SHARE:
MONTREAL - A judge sentenced a Quebec man to 13 years in prison on Monday for helping to kidnap a couple in their 70s from Upstate New York and hold them for ransom in connection with a botched multimillion-dollar cocaine deal.

Superior Court Justice Michel Pennou delivered his decision in a Montreal courtroom, adding that when time served is considered, Gary Arnold will have nine years, two months and six days remaining in his sentence.

Considering the evidence as a whole, the court is convinced beyond a reasonable doubt Mr. Arnold was involved from beginning to end in the planning and execution of the carried out kidnapping and extortion, Pennou said.

The Crown sought a 17-year sentence for Arnold, who was arrested on Oct. 1, 2020, and found guilty by a jury in February of five charges, including kidnapping, extortion and conspiracy to kidnap.

Arnolds trial heard he was part of a plot to abduct James and Sandra Helm of Moira, N.Y., in connection with what the Crown said was a drug deal gone bad. The four other co-accused were arrested on Sept. 29, 2020  the same day a Quebec provincial police tactical unit rescued the Helms from a cottage in Quebecs Eastern Townships. The other four accused were sentenced to between six and 15 years in prison.

The Crown argued the couple were kidnapped as leverage in a bid to recover 50 kilograms of cocaine, $3.5 million cash or their grandson, Mackenzie, who had been arrested in Vermont six days earlier with the drugs.

The Helms were taken from their home, smuggled into Canada through the Mohawk Territory of Akwesasne and held at a cottage in Magog, Que., for two days before police rescued them unharmed.

Pennou cited a number of aggravating factors that would justify a longer sentence, including the age and vulnerability of the victims, and the impact the traumatic events had on their health and daily lives. Arnold also had a criminal record related to smuggling contraband drugs and cigarettes, although none of his offences were violent.

However, the judge accepted that Arnold had been subjected to particularly harsh conditions in detention, which Pennou said should reduce the time the accused spends behind bars. Arnold, the judge said, was denied medication that had been prescribed to him for psoriasis, a painful skin condition.

The defence sought 10 years in prison for Arnold, who argued during his trial that he had acted under threats against his life and his family, did not know anything about a kidnap plot, had never met any member of the Helm family and denied being inside the couples home.

Arnold said he followed orders from a man named Big who instructed him to do various tasks such as transporting phones, sending text messages and picking up catheters Sandra Helm needed.

Pennou said that while its impossible to know why the jury reached its verdict, he described Arnolds testimony as generally not credible and said it left the court with a strong impression of pure fabrication.

The judge said the testimony included astonishing detail about conversations that had supposedly occurred two years earlier, as well as convenient and nonsensical claims. While its not implausible Arnold had been under pressure to participate, Pennou said his testimony couldnt be relied upon.

Mr. Arnold has a very elaborate story to tell, but thats all it was: a story, he said.

Speaking after the sentencing, Crown prosecutor Kim Chaiken acknowledged the sentence fell short of what prosecutors had asked for, adding she would take time to read the judgment before deciding whether to appeal.

While James Helm has died, she said Sandra Helm has to live with the impact of the kidnapping, including ongoing fears for her safety. She needs this episode to be done and finished and to take back her life, Chaiken said outside the courtroom.

Defence lawyer John T. Pepper Jr. said the judge took his clients denial of proper medical treatment into account. He said the absence of medication while in detention caused his client painful flare-ups that left his sheets bloodied.

The judge took that into consideration and gave him what I think was a fair sentence, Pepper Jr. said, noting that the principle of parity meant the judge had to impose a similar sentence to what the co-conspirators received.

I believe that this sentence is a sentence which respects the criteria of law and will be difficult to appeal, the lawyer added.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 17, 2023.

Read more about:

SHARE:
A man from Montreal has been charged after a woman was assaulted in Toronto on Saturday, police said.

Police responded to a call for an assault just after noon in the area of the southbound DVP and the Bayview Avenue and Bloor Street ramp.

A woman reported she was assaulted by a man she knew, according to police.

A 26-year-old man from Montreal was arrested and charged with assault and breach of probation.

He was to appear at the Toronto Regional Bail Centre at 10 a.m. on Sunday.

Anyone with information is being asked to contact police at 416-808-5500, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477) or at www.222tips.com.

Edward Djan is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Star's radio room in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @EdwardDjan1

SHARE:
Toronto police have arrested and charged two 19-year-old brothers in relation to a child sex trafficking investigation.

According to police, an investigation began on Nov. 22, 2022 with help from Durham Regional Police.

Police alleged that a 15-year-old girl from the GTA was brought to Toronto to work in the sex trade.

Over the course of four days, the girl was sex trafficked in the city at a short-term condo rental.

Police said the girl was rescued during their investigation.

Its further alleged that in October of 2022, another 15-year-old girl from Toronto was trafficked for the material benefit of one of the accused persons, according to a news release from police.

Police said they also rescued the girl from a short-term condo rental, but the 15-year-old was assaulted by one of the accused in November, 2022.

Sebastian Lucchesi and Kye Lucchesi are facing a combined 24 charges including transmitting child pornography, trafficking in persons under 18 years by exercising control, and assault causing bodily harm.

Sebastian appeared at the Toronto Regional Bail Centre on April 7, while Kye appeared at the College Park court on Nov. 23, 2022.

Police are concerned there could be more victims and are asking anyone who has been trafficked to contact them.

As well, anyone with information is being asked to contact police at 416-808-7474, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477) or at www.222tips.com.

Edward Djan is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Star's radio room in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @EdwardDjan1

SHARE:
DHAKA, April 17 (Xinhua) -- China's telecommunication giant Huawei will upgrade Bangladeshi state-run cellphone operator Teletalk's network to ensure better coverage in rural areas and 5G readiness.

Huawei said it will facilitate Teletalk with new 4G sites, core network, IP network, charging and billing system modernization solution. In this connection, both sides signed an agreement on April 13 in Dhaka.

Speaking at the signing event, Pan Junfeng, CEO of Huawei Technologies (Bangladesh) Limited, said "previously, we partnered with Teletalk to launch 5G for the first time in Bangladesh. It was a great achievement."

"We hope this agreement will help the nation to increase the pace of achieving the vision of Smart Bangladesh," Pan said.

Managing Director of Teletalk Bangladesh Limited A.K.M Habibur Rahman said they want to diversify their network so that everyone nationwide can access high-speed connectivity. Huawei has fantastic technologies, solutions and teams to support Teletalk in meeting its ambition.

"We feel pleased to partner with Huawei and upgrade our network nationwide. We aim to finish the project by mid-2024," he further said.

In December 2021, Teletalk introduced 5G in Bangladesh in collaboration with Huawei.

Huawei has served in Bangladesh for around 25 years and has been serving Teletalk with new technologies adapting to its need since 2004. 
TORONTO - Ontario Liberals are set to vote for their new leader through ranked ballots in late November, with the results to be unveiled Dec. 2.

The partys executive announced Sunday that it has set out the rules and timelines for the race to replace Steven Del Duca, who resigned after the Liberals did not win enough seats in the 2022 election to have official party status at the legislature for the second campaign in a row.

Several would-be candidates have said they are exploring leadership bids, including MP Nate Erskine-Smith, MP and former Ontario cabinet minister Yasir Naqvi, and current provincial caucus member and former MP Ted Hsu.

The party said it will host at least five debates around the province during the race.

The Liberals say they will soon announce the opening date for official candidate registration, but the deadline has been set as Sept. 5 and candidates must have an entry fee of $100,000 and a refundable $25,000 deposit.

Selecting our next leader is central to setting the stage for a successful campaign that will end Doug Fords disastrous term as Premier, party president Kathryn McGarry said in a statement.

Liberals from all across Ontario are feeling energized following our partys largest annual meeting in over 20 years, and are eager to continue building on this momentum as we prepare for a strong and competitive leadership race.

The word competitive was in italics in McGarrys statement, suggesting a dig at the NDP.

Marit Stiles was officially crowned leader of the New Democrats in early February after she was the only contender when nominations closed in December. The Liberals have boasted that there will be more interest in their top job and their leadership race will help to gain new members while raising money and the partys profile.

But the timing also means Stiles will have a years head start on introducing herself to voters ahead of the 2026 election.

Liberals will cast their votes by ranked ballot on Nov. 25 and 26, with the party set to announce round-by-round results the following weekend on Dec. 2.

Members at the partys annual general meeting last month overwhelmingly voted to ditch delegated conventions and move to a one-member-one-vote system. Proponents say the process is more democratic, and delegated conventions put too much power in back rooms.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 16, 2023.

SHARE:
Lawyers for the man accused of murdering Toronto woman Maryanne Blandizzi in 2020 plan to argue he was not criminally responsible at the time of the killing, as neighbours on Monday described witnessing a violent apartment hallway attack.

Wadea Al-Lala, who was 21 at the time, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the stabbing death of the 41-year-old woman. It has not yet been established if they knew each other. On the first day of his trial, Al-Lala chose to be tried before Superior Court Justice Katherine Corrick alone rather than before a judge and jury.

The defence plans to argue that Al-Lala was not criminally responsible at the time of the attack, Crown attorney Daniel De Santis told Corrick. He said the Crown also plans to get a second psychiatric assessment done on Al-Lala. A final decision in the case is not expected until later this year.

The issue here is really going to be the mental state of Mr. Al-Lala at the time that the incident occurred, defence lawyer Rameez Sewani said.

Blandizzi was found with stab wounds in the afternoon of Nov. 22, 2020, at an apartment building in the Rowena Drive and Victoria Park Avenue area, near Lawrence Avenue East. Al-Lala was arrested at the scene with a knife.

Neighbour Michael Campbell testified he went out into the hallway after hearing Blandizzi screaming that she had been stabbed. He saw her standing near the elevators with a knife in her shoulder. Al-Lala had his arm around her, appearing to direct her back to her unit, he said.

She was screaming for help, you could tell she was in shock, Campbell testified.

He said he recalled seeing Blandizzi about 30 to 45 minutes prior to the attack walking her dog in the park with a man who resembled Al-Lala, but couldnt be sure.

Campbell and Blandizzi were both dog owners and would see each other around the building. She was very neighbourly, very friendly, he said.

After seeing Blandizzi in distress in the hallway, Campbell retrieved a bat from his unit. He came back out to find Blandizzi on her back, with Al-Lala on top of her, stabbing her multiple times without saying a word. He described Al-Lala at various times as like a robot, a zombie, as having a blank stare on his face.

Campbell was one of several neighbours to testify that Al-Lala did not respond to their pleas to stop.

I was screaming at the top of my lungs to stop, to leave her alone, and there was just nothing, Campbell said of the accuseds demeanour.

Campbell struck Al-Lala several times with the bat to stop him, saying his focus was on trying to stop him rather than hurt him, worried that he himself could get arrested.

Im sorry to the family, but I didnt know how this works  if I crack him in the head and he dies, do I go to jail? I wanted to help, but it wasnt with all my strength, Campbell said.

He managed to smash the handle of the knife, and believes he temporarily knocked Al-Lala out.

He did stop for a second and looked at me and either said leave or get out of here. It was fairly calm, to be honest, and that was the first time I heard him say anything, Campbell said.

He went back to his unit. His partner called 911 as she also screamed for the assailant to stop. She said she believed he was on some kind of drug, describing him as having large pupils, but otherwise no expression whatsoever.

The trial continues Tuesday.

Jacques Gallant is a Toronto-based reporter covering courts, justice and legal affairs for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @JacquesGallant

SHARE:
Websites taking aim at the council track records of some high-profile candidates for mayor may have run afoul of the citys elections watchdog, sparking debate over what kind of campaign advertising could  or should  be allowed in the wide open race.

After receiving complaints and with no other contact information available, Toronto Elections sent public tweets this week to Twitter accounts linked to websites targeting Brad Bradford and Ana Bailao, asking them to get in touch.

Toronto Elections did not say who made the complaints, but the concern is that the websites constitute illegal paid political advertising because whoever is behind them is anonymous and has not registered with the city as a third-party advertiser, a requirement for anyone spending money on advertisements or other materials that, promote or oppose a candidate in the municipal election.

The ensuing social media responses have raised questions about where the line is on third-party advocacy and who is behind the posters, satirical ads, social media accounts and websites that have become part of the hotly contested race of more than 40 candidates.

Group chat unhappy with Brad Bradford starts website

It all began with a group chat of politically engaged friends in Bradfords ward of BeachesEast York who were unhappy with him as a councillor, said Britt Caron, one of the people involved in the initial Bradford-focused content.

When it became more clear that Brad was going to run for mayor, we kind of came together to say we want his track record to be out there, Caron said, adding that she did not make the website and is not behind any of the Twitter accounts.

Someone designed a movie-style poster available for download, and they posted some around town during the pre-election period. When they posted it on Twitter, it was shared widely  achieving a reach far bigger than they expected.

Since then, it has grown as a grassroots and decentralized group that has expanded to take on other candidates including Bailao and former Toronto police chief Mark Saunders, she said.

Theories about who is behind the websites

Theories have circulated about who is behind these accounts and websites, with some think it is the work of cunning political strategists. Caron said she does not know all the other people involved, but does not believe that is the case.

The Twitter accounts  one has a cartoon Jamaican patty as its profile picture in homage to Bradfords amusing pre-election stop video at a restaurant in Scarborough  have said the same: they are simply concerned residents sharing factual information about these candidates by scouring council records and news stories, and highlighting what they see as hypocrisy in short, snappy ways.

Caron understands why there has been criticism about the accounts and websites being anonymous, but counters that it protects, for example, people who want to be involved but may not be able to speak publicly due to their jobs.

The message also seems to be more powerful and resonant coming from a group of citizens rather than an individual, she says.

The rules favour people who are incorporated, who have money, who have recognition, who have resources, she said, noting that several candidates were able to soft launch campaigns before the official election period began.

Third-party advertising has a grey area

There is a grey area in the realm of third-party advertising and it really comes down to the question of, are you spending money, said Zachary Spicer, an associate professor at York Universitys School of Public Policy and Administration.

Does that including paying for a website? The Bradford-targeted website says it is an archived version of what was put online before the election period formally began. The Bailao-targeted website says small donations were used to pay for the domain name and hosting.

And in a practice that raises bigger questions about the proliferation of video and audio deepfakes in elections in general, its unclear if the rules include people making videos satirizing candidate ads that might have used AI to replicate candidate voices.

Third-party advertising rules are aimed at preventing anonymous smear campaigns against candidates that were funded by other candidates or their supporters, said Spicer, who used to work for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and was involved in reviewing the relevant legislation.

It was a big problem in small, often localized campaigns with low spending limits, particularly in the GTA, where an unknown group would print attack ad flyers and put them into mailboxes, he said.

Third-party rules created to stop anonymous smear campaigns

These advertising rules were brought in to try and prevent that and hold candidates to their spending limits, while also leaving space for people to publicly express their opinions. Prominent examples of third-party advertisers are the conservative advocacy group Ontario Proud (whose founder is Bradfords digital director) and Progress Toronto, a non-profit focused on electing progressive candidates.

Candidates are not allowed to have professional services volunteered for free  such as website designers or video editors  to keep the playing field level, Spicer said, and the third-party advertising rules are an extension of that.

We want to know how you are funded, to keep everything above board, he said.

One issue is that city clerks dont have the tools to investigate, which results in candidates themselves having to bring legal action if they feel there has been a breach of the rules, Spicer said.

Social media not covered by third party rules

The city is clear that social media use is not covered by third-party advertising rules.

Our tweets were only intended to contact website owners who appear to be engaging in third-party advertising as described in the Municipal Elections Act, a city spokesperson said.

We acknowledge that instead we made it appear we were commenting on individual social media posts. We did not intend to leave that impression since we are clear that social media posts supporting or opposing a candidate do not qualify as third-party advertising.

The candidates themselves say they are focused on the race.

Toronto Elections can focus on making sure a free and fair election takes place in accordance with the rules. Brad and his team are focused on less talk and more action to deliver for the people of Toronto, a spokesperson for Bradfords campaign said.

We have no idea who is behind these accounts. We look forward to engaging with residents and other candidates on issues and are focused on building support by meeting with communities, leaders, and stakeholders across the city, said a spokesperson for Bailao.

Alyshah Hasham is a Toronto-based reporter covering city hall and municipal politics for the Star. Reach her via email: ahasham@thestar.ca or follow her on Twitter: @alysanmati

Read more about:

SHARE:
A fire in Etobicoke in March that killed a woman, 64, has been ruled a homicide, according to Toronto police.

In a release, Toronto police said they responded to a house fire on March 23 after 12 a.m. in the area of Grand Avenue and Dalesford Road.

Police said they found an unresponsive woman inside and officers provided life saving measures but she was transported to hospital in the intensive care unit.

The woman died on March 29 and was identified as Melinda Boon, of Toronto.

Toronto polices homicide unit took over the investigation as a result of a post-mortem examination.

On April 5, Dusan Ludvig, 81, of Toronto was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. He was scheduled to appear in court on April 6.

A Toronto police spokesperson told the Star that Ludvig and Boon knew each other.

It is unclear what the circumstances around the fire were.

Police are asking anyone with information to contact them at 416-808-7474, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), or at www.222tips.com.

MH Mahdis Habibinia is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Stars radio room in Toronto. Reach her via email: mhabibinia@thestar.ca

SHARE:
Olivia Chow shook up the mayors race on Monday as the latest high-profile challenger on the left to join the campaign. The next 10 weeks could determine whether she emerges as the champion for Torontos progressives, or a spoiler who helped dash their hopes of recapturing city hall.

After weeks of speculation about whether she would sign up for the June 26 byelection, the former city councillor and New Democrat MP launched her bid at a rooftop restaurant in Chinatown.

We urgently need to build a city that cares, she said, pledging to work with residents to create a Toronto that is safer, more affordable, (and) where everyone belongs.

Chows strong name recognition ensured she immediately became one of the highest-profile challengers vying to replace John Tory, the former Ontario Progressive Conservative leader who occupied the mayors office for more than eight years.

The crowded field features a handful of well-known centrist and centre-right politicians, but until Chows entry it lacked a big name capable of serving as the standard-bearer for Torontos NDP-affiliated left.

That dynamic means Chow will likely compete for the support of left-leaning residents with the likes of Coun. Josh Matlow (Ward 12, TorontoSt. Pauls), the self-described pragmatic progressive who has been polling strongly in the early stages.

Minutes into her campaign, Chow faced questions about whether her candidacy risked splitting the left-wing vote and paving a path to victory for a more conservative contender.

Among the high-profile candidates already registered are former police chief Mark Saunders, who previously ran provincially for the Ontario PCs, and Coun. Brad Bradford (Ward 19, BeachesEast York), who has prominent Conservative strategists on his team. Scarborough-Guildwood Liberal MPP Mitzie Hunter as well as former Davenport councillor Ana Bailao, who has Liberal ties and the support of several major labour unions, are also considered prominent challengers.

Chow insisted she wasnt worried about competing with fellow progressives, and was instead focused on helping residents who have no money left for groceries after they pay rent, or who are turned away from overflowing homeless shelters.

Im not worried about splitting votes ... Im worried about them, she said.

Matlow wouldnt speculate about how Chow entering the election could affect his support, saying thats a job for pundits.

We havent had a very competitive mayors race in many years. So I think its very healthy that so many people want to run for mayor, and I hope that this election is a genuine contest of visions and ideas to improve our city, he said in an interview.

At her launch event, Chow recounted that when she and her family emigrated from Hong Kong in the 1970s, Toronto was a city of hope where her mother was able to support the family with her single income from working as a maid in a hotel.

Now, home ownership is out of reach for many residents, and households spend more than a decade stuck on the waiting list for subsidized housing.

We have to make a city that is more affordable, said Chow.

She asserted that residents feel stuck, whether it be sitting in traffic, struggling to find their kids spots in child care and recreation programs, or waiting on hold when they call 911.

Chow promised to release a full platform in due course, but reiterated her opposition to plans for a mega-luxury spa at Ontario Place, and vowed not to use the citys new strong-mayor powers to overrule council. She wouldnt say whether she would raise taxes, but called on the provincial and federal governments to do more to support the city financially.

Starting in 1992, Chow served 14 years on council, and she served as MP for Trinity-Spadina between 2006 and 2014.

But she was unsuccessful in the two most recent elections she contested in Toronto. She entered the 2014 mayors race as the favourite before finishing a disappointing third behind Tory and Doug Ford. The following year, she was defeated in the federal election in SpadinaFort York as the Liberals swept the city.

In 2016, Chow, who is the widow of former federal NDP leader Jack Layton, founded the Institute for Change Leaders, which trains activists in political organizing. She said wrapping up projects there delayed her entry to the mayors race. Nominations opened April 3.

In an interview Sunday ahead of her announcement, Chow said she was determined to learn from the mistakes of her previous mayoral campaign, when self-consciousness about speaking in English, her second language, led her to rely heavily on written speeches instead of spontaneous remarks. She pledged to present voters with a more authentic version of herself in this campaign.

I will do better this time, she vowed.

Michal Hay, executive director of left-leaning think tank Progress Toronto, will be Chows campaign director, while Ira Dubinsky, who did communications for Layton while he was leader of the federal New Democrats, is serving as an adviser. Former Ontario NDP media relations officer Shirven Rezvany is also on her team.

As of Monday, 48 candidates had registered for the byelection, which was triggered after Tory resigned in February over an inappropriate relationship with a member of his staff. They include sitting councillor Anthony Perruzza (Ward 7, Humber RiverBlack Creek), former council members Rob Davis and Giorgio Mammoliti, former Liberal MP Celina Caesar-Chavannes, and policy analyst Chloe Brown.

Gil Penalosa, an independent progressive who placed a distant second to Tory last October, has yet to register.

Ben Spurr is a Toronto-based reporter covering city hall and municipal politics for the Star. Reach him by email at bspurr@thestar.ca or follow him on Twitter: @BenSpurr

Read more about:

SHARE:
TORONTO - Olivia Chow is running to be the next mayor of Toronto, marking a return to electoral politics for the longtime city councillor and NDP parliamentarian.

Chow announced her bid for the mayors chair on Monday, adding a highly recognizable name to the long list of candidates running in the byelection set for June 26.

Toronto has become more expensive and less livable, Chow said, explaining that she was running to build a safe, affordable and caring city.

Life is getting harder. Toronto is still a great city, but not for everyone, she said, speaking on the terrace of a Chinatown restaurant overlooking downtown Toronto. We urgently need to build a city that cares.

Chow will be seeking to reverse her fortunes after coming a distant third in the 2014 mayoral race behind runner-up Doug Ford, who is now Ontarios premier, and John Tory, who was elected to three terms. Tory resigned in February after admitting to an affair with a staff member.

When asked what made this mayoral bid different from her 2014 campaign, Chow said she had learned a lot of lessons.

The key one was that its OK if my English is not perfect, said Chow, who immigrated to Toronto from Hong Kong at 13 years old. I can trust the decades of experience that I have. I will do fine. I can be more genuine and authentic by just speaking what I have in my mind.

Chows long-speculated, but delayed entry into the race will see her look to gain ground on byelection contenders who have been openly campaigning since the nomination period opened two weeks ago.

It wasnt an easy decision to re-enter the political fray, Chow said, after spending the last several years leading the Toronto-based charity she founded, the Institute for Change Leaders, which runs training programs for social movement organizers.

I also have to take a leave of absence from an organization that I love a lot and Ive committed to doing these trainings, especially for people that are really involved in housing. And I needed to make sure that things could continue, she said, when asked why she had waited to announce her candidacy.

Chow immediately becomes one of the most recognizable names in a crowded field that includes Coun. Josh Matlow and Coun. Brad Bradford, ex-police chief Mark Saunders, former deputy mayor Ana Bailao and former provincial education minister Mitzie Hunter.

Chows announcement did not include any specific platform policies, pledging to release more details in the coming days.

In response to questions, she stated her opposition to so-called strong mayor powers, which allow the mayor to pass a budget with only one-third council support, and the proposed provincial plans to turn part of Ontario Place into a spa.

She also said it doesnt make sense to move the Ontario Science Centre from its current location in east Toronto to the Ontario Place site, which Ford has hinted at.

Chow has longstanding ties to the New Democratic Party, having served as the NDP MP for Trinity-Spadina in the House of Commons alongside her late husband and former party leader Jack Layton.

Her mayoral campaign is being directed by Michal Hay, who ran federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singhs leadership bid and who was the founding executive director of Progress Toronto, a non-profit advocacy group that works to elect progressive candidates to city hall.

While Chows announcement sidestepped party affiliation, the NDPs network will likely be able to help her raise money and recruit volunteers, said political scientist Myer Siemiatycki.

The other high-profile campaigns are managed by staffers with ties to Liberal and Conservative politics.

Chows foray represents a major shakeup for the mayoral race, likely to cut into support for Matlow and Hunter -- the progressive candidates most aligned with Chows messaging, Siemiatycki said.

Vote splitting will be challenge for everyone in the crowded field -- with at least nine contenders who have held elected office and 48 registered candidates as of Monday, said Siemiatycki.

If Chow can repeat her 2014 election results, when she finished third after earning about 23 per cent of the popular vote, that could be enough to win this byelection, he said.

Each and every (candidate) has the challenge of rising above the field and developing a distinct, coherent messaging and spotlight onto themselves, said Siemiatycki, professor emeritus of politics at Toronto Metropolitan University.

Despite her NDP ties, Chow looked to court voters from across the ideological spectrum, referring on Monday to what she called her experience of working across the political aisle.

She repeatedly cited her efforts to ensure 911 service was provided in over 200 languages and to expand child nutrition programs.

Whether youre left, right, centre  doesnt matter. Lets come together, she said.

Siemiatycki, the political scientist, said he expected the campaign would get lively, and potentially nastier, as candidates looked to differentiate themselves from the field.

Shortly after her announcement, the Saunders campaign issued a statement accusing Chow of being another status quo politician. Bailao campaign staffers lingered outside the restaurant where Chow made her announcement, handing out material highlighting the endorsements Bailao received from four union locals.

This report from The Canadian Press was first published April 17, 2023.

SHARE:
A person has been pronounced dead after they were found without vital signs following reports of a fight at a west-end apartment building in the Lisgar Street and Queen Street West area Sunday night.

Toronto police were called to the scene around 9 p.m. and found a person they said had no vital signs.

Life-saving measures were performed, but the person was later pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said they are investigating the circumstances and cause of the death. No information has been provided on a possible suspect.

This is a developing story.

Edward Djan is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Star's radio room in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @EdwardDjan1

Read more about:

SHARE:
All of Toronto city council  barring one member  are calling for the cancellation of plans to cut a federal riding from Toronto, a decision they fear will end up losing the growing city crucial political representation at all levels of government.

Dont touch Toronto, said Coun. Lily Cheng (Ward 18 Willowdale), at a press conference Monday, flanked by Liberal MP Michael Coteau and Liberal MPP Adil Shamji, who both represent Don Valley East, which will effectively be split into three and eliminated if the North York riding boundary redistribution is finalized.

The plans have been put forward by Ontarios independent electoral boundaries commission.

By reducing the number of ridings in Toronto, the federal government is further silencing the diversity in our community, said Cheng.

Both Coteau and Shamji criticized the consultation process, which they say failed to give the community a chance to weigh in on proposed changes and the impact it will have, with Shamji pointing to the discussion around moving the Ontario Science Centre to Ontario Place as an example of the need for strong local representation.

Coteau has said provincial legislation, including the Representation Act and the City of Toronto Act, mean that a loss of a federal riding will almost certainly result in a loss of a provincial riding and a council seat.

I think its actually a slap in the face, said Coun. Jon Burnside, Ward 16 (Don Valley East), arguing that this decision will especially impact newcomer and racialized communities, which form a significant part of the riding, without their input. According to the 2021 census, about one-fifth of the riding is Muslim and about 18 per cent are not Canadian citizens.

Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie said there will be conversations with the province about what a federal riding change will mean for the number of city councillors, which was already cut in half by Premier Doug Ford in 2018.

The federal government did not kick in any money to cover the citys $815-million COVID-related shortfall from 2022 and the books are being closed with only provincial contributions, McKelvie said.

Nevertheless, the city is still asking for 2023 COVID bailout money from Ottawa as well as funding for transit, shelters and refugees, along with a new fiscal framework for funding municipalities.

We need as many MPs as possible on the Hill advocating for that, McKelvie said.

Cheng and other councillors presented Coteau with a letter, signed by all councillors other than Coun. Stephen Holyday, supporting Coteaus efforts to stop Toronto from losing a riding.

Holyday said he has been consistent over the years in supporting a smaller city council, as has been the public.

Correction  April, 21, 2023: This story has been updated. Plans to cut a federal riding in Toronto have been put forward by the independent Electoral Boundaries Commission, not Elections Canada, as a previous version suggested.

Alyshah Hasham is a Toronto-based reporter covering city hall and municipal politics for the Star. Reach her via email: ahasham@thestar.ca or follow her on Twitter: @alysanmati

SHARE:
E-scooter users who dont watch their speed can face fines of up to $25,000 and up to six months in prison.

In a TikTok posted Sunday by Toronto polices traffic services, Constable Sean Shapiro said that an e-scooter that travels faster than 24 km/h would be considered a motorcycle.

That means they must have the appropriate motorcycle license, registration, license plates and insurance. Without these, motorists can face fines of up to $25,000 and up to six months in prison, Shapiro said in the video.

Going over 24 km/h means the scooter would no longer be covered under the provincial pilot that allows them in some municipalities, said Shapiro in the video.

However, they are not allowed in Toronto at all.

On May 1, 2021 Toronto city council voted unanimously to opt-out of the provinces e-scooter pilot. The decision means that, in Toronto, e-scooters will remain prohibited on public streets, bike lanes, sidewalks, pathways, trails and other public spaces.

Toronto City Council has unanimously voted to reinforce the citys commitment to safety and accessibility for people, especially seniors and those living with disabilities, in Toronto by voting not to opt-in to the provincial e-scooter pilot, the city said at the time.

The province began the pilot project in Jan. 1, 2020 running until Jan. 1, 2025 which allows municipalities to determine where and how e-scooters are used.

In order for e-scooters to be allowed under the provinces pilot, the province requires that e-scooters that do not exceed 500 watts, have a maximum speed of 24 km/h on a level surface, have a handlebar for steering, have a platform to stand on and have two wheels, among others.

Municipalities could decide, whether they wanted to participate in the project. They could then decide where e-scooters may operate, where they may park, whether permits or licenses are required, among others.

Municipalities like Hamilton and Durham have signed onto the pilot.

Clarification  April 18, 2023: This article was updated to clarify the penalties that could be faced for travelling over 24 km/h on an e-scooter.

TG Thea Gribilas is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Star's radio room in Toronto. Reach her via email: tgribilas@thestar.ca

SHARE:
Leanne Junnila stared at the digital device that measures air quality in her home where she had lived for over a decade, and she was alarmed.

It showed she was breathing odourless, invisible and potentially fatal radon at a level that far exceeded the federal guideline.

Worried about her exposure to the second-leading cause of lung cancer in Canada, she searched the internet for how to get her lungs tested. Her alarm turned to anger.

She learned Canadians with documented levels of elevated radon in their homes are ineligible for lung cancer screening under provincial health-care systems.

Theres nothing out there and it seems like the only people who have access to any sort of early screening are heavy smokers, said Junnila, who is a non-smoker. If theres a test, why cant we get that test?

Radon, which is naturally emitted from soil, is estimated to be responsible for more than 3,000 deaths a year. Long-term radon inhalation is the primary cause of lung cancer among people who have never smoked and dramatically increases the risk for those who do.

As Canadians find themselves spending more time at home than ever before, that threat is becoming increasingly urgent, an ongoing Toronto Star/Investigative Journalism Bureau (IJB) investigation has found.

A gap in radon knowledge

The guideline established by the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care in 2016 recommends lung screenings for adults aged 55 to 74 who have a significant history of smoking.

For everyone else, the guideline recommends not screening for lung cancer.

Screening programs dont have any methods or formulas to quantify an individuals possible lung cancer risk from radon exposure, said Dr. Alain Tremblay, a professor of medicine at the University of Calgary and medical lead for Albertas lung cancer screening program.

Its a gap in our knowledge, he said.

And while researchers are working on the problem, Canada is currently missing 100 per cent of radon-related lung cancers in people who havent smoked, he said. Were not catching any with screening because its simply not on the radar.

Dr. Scott Klarenbach, vice-chair of the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care, calls the benefits of screening Canadians with high radon exposure an open question worth inquiry.

If you found there are people at high radon exposures that put them at high risk of lung cancer, would they have the same benefits as these other populations whove been studied for a lung cancer screening? he asks. I think its an excellent question.

Health Canada supports the addition of high radon exposure as a qualifier for publicly funded lung cancer screening, an official told the Star.

We would like to see it included over time  with a new screening program, theres an opportunity to educate about risk, said Kelley Bush, manager of Health Canadas radon outreach and stakeholder engagement program.

The provinces and territories that run the lung screening programs would have to implement the expansion of screenings, Bush said.

Its not Health Canada alone.

University of Calgary radon researcher Aaron Goodarzi calls the ineligibility of Canadians exposed to high levels of radon for lung cancer screening an acknowledged health  injustice.

Forty per cent of people who will get lung cancer are not, right now, ever going to be eligible for screening.

Work at home? Your radon exposure could increase

Canadians exposure to deadly radiation has spiked 19 per cent on average since the COVID-19 pandemic as more people work from home where levels are often higher than in workplaces, according to new research from the universities of Calgary and British Columbia, shared exclusively with the Star and IJB.

Canadians living in new houses  often young, suburban families  are disproportionately impacted. This is because modern construction methods designed to insulate and maximize energy efficiency can trap radon gas inside.

We will see more cancers unless we are proactive today about solving the exposure crisis, said Goodarzi, one of the co-authors of the study.

While Goodarzi and his colleagues have long known housebound radon is a problem, especially in Western Canada, now is the time to re-evaluate (Canadas) policies.

If youre an employer whos advertising a work-from-home position, that needs to now come with a consideration for how safe that workplace is.

Goodarzi and his fellow researchers at Evict Radon  an organization of Canadian scientists and scholars working on solutions to understand and fix the countrys radon problem  have been studying radon levels in more than 35,000 houses across Canada since 2015. They surveyed more than 4,000 of those households and found Canadians are spending over 10 per cent more time at home annually  over a month on average  leading to drastically higher doses of radiation for those in homes with high levels.

The most substantial increases in residential radon exposure, the study shows, were in homes occupied by those in professional, managerial and administrative positions. That excludes health care, which saw an increased demand for front-line workers.

Urban and suburban areas saw the greatest increases in annual radiation doses compared to rural or isolated communities where work patterns were less impacted by the pandemic.

Bungalows typically have the highest radon levels, research has shown, but detached multi-storey homes like Junnilas arent far behind.

Junnila, who designs research labs at the University of Calgary and is also a part-time rally car co-driver with national titles, had been living in her southwest Calgary split-level home for around 10 years when she first tested for radon in late 2020. The level was near Health Canadas guideline of 200 becquerels per cubic metre (Bq/m). The World Health Organizations guideline is far lower, at 100 Bq/m.

Just months later, she tested again and found a reading of 400 Bq/m.

I really started freaking out.

She opened the window when it was -25 C outside, hoping it would lower the radon levels inside. They remained high.

Junnila installed a $2,300 radon mitigation system last November, and now her levels are around 20 Bq/m.

But she still has no way of knowing whether the radon levels she was breathing for more than a decade have caused long-term damage.

Since lung cancer typically only shows symptoms in the later stages, she is scared of what lies ahead for her and frustrated at the lack of screening options available.

If I came home with a lung cancer diagnosis, then I would be very, very angry that there was nothing in the health-care system to help me when I knew it could potentially be a problem, she said. Right now, its this frustration that theres just nowhere to turn on the health-care side.

Its just a very clear gap that needs to be looked at.

Correction  April 18, 2023: A previous version of the graphic incorrectly labeled the dates of houses built before 2021.

The Investigative Journalism Bureau is a non-profit newsroom based at the University of Torontos Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

SHARE:
JIUQUAN, April 17 (Xinhua) -- A launch pad at northwest China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center has completed its 100th mission, following the launch of a Long March-4B rocket that placed a new meteorological satellite in space on Sunday.

The launch pad, officially put into use in May 2003, was the first launch pad in China that had reinforced concrete as its main structure.

Over the past 20 years, the number of missions carried out on this launch pad annually has increased to more than 10, said He Pengju, an expert working at the launch center.

The testing process and the efficiency of post-launch recovery have been continuously optimized, He said.

So far, the launch pad has placed more than 190 satellites into their planned orbits, including the dark matter probe satellite Wukong and the quantum science satellite Mozi. 
Good morning. This is the Monday, April 17 edition of First Up, the Stars daily morning digest. Sign up to get it earlier each day, in your inbox.

Heres the latest on who lung cancer screenings miss, the anonymous websites targeting Toronto mayoral candidates, and a new law to address domestic abuse.

DONT MISS:

She found out shed been breathing a cancer-causing gas for over a decade  so why wont the province let her get her lungs tested?

Leanne Junnila was alarmed when she learned that she was breathing odourless, invisible and potentially fatal radon at a level that far exceeded the federal guideline. Then she became angry when she learned that despite being exposed to the second-leading cause of lung cancer in Canada, she was ineligible for a lung cancer screening under provincial health care systems because she did not smoke. A new investigation by The Star and Investigative Journalism Bureau probed the fact that many Canadians are unable to access lung cancer screenings because of current medical guidelines. Heres who is the most impacted, and why one expert calls the oversight an acknowledged health  injustice.

+ Wait, what? The guideline established by the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care in 2016 recommends lung screenings for adults aged 55-74 who have a significant history of smoking. For everyone else, the guideline recommends not screening for lung cancer.

+ Bad news for: Non-smokers. Screening programs dont have any methods or formulas to quantify an individuals possible lung cancer risk from radon exposure. As a result, experts say Canada is currently missing 100 per cent of radon-related lung cancers in people who havent smoked. Radon is responsible for more than 3,000 deaths a year.

+ Why it matters: Canadians living in new houses  often young, suburban families  are disproportionately impacted. This is because modern construction methods designed to insulate and maximize energy efficiency can trap radon gas inside.

Grassroots fact-checking or illegal advertising? City probes websites targeting Toronto mayoral hopefuls

The citys elections watchdog is raising questions about public websites taking aim at the council track records of some high-profile mayoral candidates. The concern, the city notes, is that the websites constitute illegal paid political advertising, as whoever is behind them is anonymous and has not registered with the city as a third-party advertiser  a requirement for anyone spending money on advertisements or other materials that promote or oppose a candidate in the municipal election. While some theorize political strategists are behind the sites, others say it might simply be concerned residents highlighting what they see as hypocrisy. Alyshah Hasham explains the issue and unpacks the question of what kind of advertising should be allowed in the mayoral race?

+ Why it matters: The advertising rules were brought in to hold candidates to their spending limits, while also leaving space for people to publicly express their opinions.

+ What we know: A group chat of politically engaged friends in Brad Bradfords ward of BeachesEast York started the initial Bradford-focused content; this includes a movie-style poster. The content was shared widely, and has since grown as a grassroots and decentralized group that has expanded to take on other candidates, including Ana Bailao and former Toronto police chief Mark Saunders.

An Ontario law to identify domestic abusers seems like common sense  but its not as simple as it sounds

In 2014, the British government implemented Clares Law, giving people the right to confidentially receive information about a partners past charges or criminal convictions, while also allowing police to voluntarily divulge that information to those in potentially dangerous situations. Now, the Ontario government is taking a first step to introduce a similar law here, following the lead of other provinces, including Saskatchewan and Alberta. Kristin Rushowy reports on how the new law to identify abusers will work, and why the province has taken so long to implement it.

+ More: Clares Law, which has been put in place in a handful of jurisdictions around the world, typically entails a right to know by allowing someone to request details about their partner as well as giving police the right to tell someone they believe is vulnerable.

+ Go deeper: While domestic violence advocates have urged the Ontario government to establish Clares Law here, there have been privacy concerns with the law, as well as worries it puts the onus on victims and could lead to potential legal consequences if they receive troubling information but then dont leave the relationship.

WHAT ELSE:

Olivia Chow is planning to make an announcement today amid speculation shell enter mayors race.

Ontario Liberals announce a Dec. 2 leadership vote. Is a late vote exactly what the party needs or a dumb decision?

This is our last fight. Why shooting survivors say now is a pivotal moment for tougher gun control laws in Canada.

With a strike mandate in hand, Canadas largest federal public service union is expected to make an announcement today.

COVID hospitalizations in Canada are about six times higher today than they were at the lowest point of the pandemic. So, why arent we hearing about it anymore?

Education Minister Stephen Lecce revealed plans Sunday to add 1,000 extra teaching positions to help students with math and literacy. Heres how much it will cost.

Shame. Separation. Secrecy. Neglect. The painful legacy of tuberculosis in Canadas North.

Heres how to move out of your parents house and not go completely broke.

Why do Roma living in Europe flee to Canada? Is life that bad there?

Twitter has labelled CBCs account as government-funded media.

ICYMI: Inside the trail of offences that allegedly ended in an unprovoked killing on the TTC.

CLOSE-UP:

KYIV: More than 100 Ukrainian prisoners of war were released Sunday as part of a major Orthodox Easter exchange with Russia. Dozens of Ukrainians gathered to mark the holiday for a second time since the beginning of the war.

Thank you for reading First Up. You can reach me and the First Up team at firstup@thestar.ca

Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox.

SHARE:
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP)  The Sudanese military and a powerful paramilitary group battled for control of the chaos-stricken nation for a second day Sunday, signaling they were unwilling to end hostilities despite mounting diplomatic pressure to cease fire.

Heavy fighting involving armored vehicles, truck-mounted machine guns and war planes raged in the capital of Khartoum, the adjoining city of Omdurman and in flashpoints across the country. The rival forces are believed to have tens of thousands of fighters each in the capital alone.

At least 41 civilians were killed Sunday, bringing the two-day death toll to 97, the Sudan Doctors Syndicate said Monday. Hundreds of people have been wounded since fighting started Saturday, the group said. In addition, dozens of fighters are believed to have been killed, according to the group.

The clashes are part of a power struggle between Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the commander of the armed forces, and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the Rapid Support Forces group. The two generals are former allies who jointly orchestrated an October 2021 military coup that derailed Sudans short-lived transition to democracy.

In recent months, internationally backed negotiations revived hopes for such a transition, but growing tensions between Burhan and Dagalo eventually delayed a deal with political parties.

Volker Perthes, the U.N. envoy for Sudan, said that both Burhan and Dagalo agreed to a three-hour humanitarian pause in fighting in the late afternoon Sunday, but violence continued to engulf the capital.

As night fell, residents reported heavy explosions and continued gunfire, as well as airstrikes pounding RSF targets. The clashes come as most Sudanese are preparing to celebrate the holiday that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims traditionally fast from sunrise to sunset.

Fighting raged around the militarys headquarters throughout the day. Heavy explosions and gunfire around the clock, said Amany Sayed, a 38-year-old Khartoum resident. The battles here (in the capital) never stopped.

In Khartoum and Omdurman, fighting was also reported around Khartoum International Airport and state television headquarters. A senior military official said clashes with RSF fighters began earlier in the day around military headquarters.

They are shooting against each other in the streets, said prominent rights advocate Tahani Abass who lives near the military headquarters. Its an all-out war in residential areas.

Abass said her family spent the night huddling on the ground floor of their home. No one was able to sleep and the kids were crying and screaming with every explosion, she said. Sounds of gunfire were heard while she was speaking to The Associated Press.

Satellite images analyzed by the AP showed columns of black smoke covering the sky over the capitals airport. The images by Maxar Technologies showed two large planes on fire, and four others damaged. Airlines have suspended flights to the Sudanese capital.

The military and the RSF both claimed to be in control of strategic locations in Khartoum and elsewhere in the county. Their claims couldnt be independently verified.

Both sides signaled that they were unwilling to negotiate.

Burhans military called for dismantling the RSF, which it labeled a rebellious militia. Dagalo told the satellite news network Al Arabyia that he ruled out negotiation and called on Burhan to surrender.

Khalid Omar, a spokesman for the pro-democracy block that negotiated with the generals in recent months, warned that the conflict could lead to war and the countrys collapse.

In a series of tweets Sunday, Omar called on pro-democracy groups to set aside their disputes to find a way to end the crisis immediately.

Meanwhile, diplomatic pressure appeared to be mounting.

Top diplomats, including the U.S. Secretary of State, the U.N. secretary-general, the EU foreign policy chief, the head of the Arab League and the head of the African Union Commission urged the sides to stop fighting. Members of the U.N. Security Council, at odds over other crises around the world, called for an immediate end of the hostilities and a return to dialogue.

The African Unions top council called Sunday for an immediate cease-fire without conditions. It also asked the AU Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat to immediately travel to Sudan to engage the parties towards a cease-fire.

Arab states with stakes in Sudan  Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates  made similar appeals. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Farhan bin Faisal spoke by phone with Sudans rival generals and urged them to stop all kinds of military escalation, Saudi state TV reported.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he consulted with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. We agreed it was essential for the parties to immediately end hostilities without pre-condition, he said in a statement early Sunday.

On Sunday, the World Food Program said it temporarily suspended operations in Sudan after three agency employees were killed in clashes the previous day and an aircraft used by the WFP was damaged.

We cannot do our lifesaving work if the safety and security of our teams and partners is not guaranteed, said Cindy McCain, the executive director of the agency. About 16 million people, or one-third of Sudans population, require humanitarian assistance, according to the U.N.

The rival forces were fighting in several locations across Sudan, including the western Darfur region where tens of thousands of people live in camps for displaced people after years of genocidal civil war.

The three WFP employees were killed in clashes in the town of Kebkabiya in the province of North Darfur. Two agency employees were wounded.

Dozens of people were also killed and wounded since Saturday at a camp for displaced people in North Darfur, said Adam Regal, a spokesman for a Darfur charity.

In Nyala, the capital of South Darfur province, the two sides fought for control of the citys airport, said a military official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief media.

The official said fighting also spread to the eastern region, including the provinces of Kassala and al-Qadarif on the borders with Ethiopia and Eritrea. He said battles centered around RSF and army bases.

The recent tensions stem from disagreement over how the RSF, headed by Dagalo, should be integrated into the armed forces and what authority should oversee the process. The merger is a key condition of Sudans unsigned transition agreement with political groups.

Pro-democracy activists have blamed Burhan and Dagalo for abuses against protesters across the county over the past four years, including the deadly break-up of a protest camp outside the militarys headquarters in Khartoum in June 2019 that killed over 120 protesters. Many groups have repeatedly called for holding them accountable. The RSF has long been accused of atrocities linked to the Darfur conflict.

Sudan, a country at the crossroads of the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa, is known for its history of military coups and civil conflicts since it gained independence in 1950s. A decade-old civil conflict resulted in the secession of South Sudan in 2011.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for those responsible for the death of civilians, including three employees with the U.N. food agency, to be held accountable, according to his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric.

The U.N. Security Council will discuss the crisis in Sudan on Monday, said Fedor Strzhizhovskiy, the spokesman for the U.N. mission of Russia, which holds the councils presidency this month.

___

Magdy reported from Cairo.

___

Associated Press writer Frances DEmilio in Rome contributed.

SHARE:
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP)  As explosions and gunfire thundered outside, Sudanese in the capital Khartoum and other cities huddled in their homes for a third day Monday, while the army and a powerful rival force battled in the streets for control of the country.

At least 185 people have been killed and over 1,800 wounded since the fighting erupted, U.N. envoy Volker Perthes told reporters. The two sides are using tanks, artillery and other heavy weapons in densely populated areas. Fighter jets swooped overhead and anti-aircraft fire lit up the skies as darkness fell.

The toll could be much higher because there are many bodies in the streets around central Khartoum that no one can reach because of the clashes. There has been no official word on how many civilians or combatants have been killed. A doctors group earlier put the number of civilian deaths at 97.

The sudden outbreak of violence over the weekend between the nations two top generals, each backed by tens of thousands of heavily armed fighters, trapped millions of people in their homes or wherever they could find shelter, with supplies running low and several hospitals forced to shut down.

Top diplomats on four continents scrambled to broker a truce, and the U.N. Security Council was set to discuss the crisis.

Gunfire and shelling are everywhere, Awadeya Mahmoud Koko, head of a union for thousands of tea vendors and other food workers, said from her home in a southern district of Khartoum.

She said a shell stuck a neighbors house Sunday, killing at least three people. We couldnt take them to a hospital or bury them.

In central Khartoum, sustained gunfire erupted and white smoke rose near the main military headquarters, a major battlefront. Nearby, at least 88 students and staffers have been trapped in the engineering college library at Khartoum University since the start of fighting, one of the students said in a video posted online Monday. One student was killed during clashes outside and another wounded, he said. They do not have food or water, he said, showing a room full of people sleeping on the floor.

Even in a country with a long history of military coups, the scenes of fighting in the capital and its adjoining city Omdurman across the Nile River were unprecedented. The turmoil comes just days before Sudanese were to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting.

The power struggle pits Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the commander of the armed forces, against Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The former allies jointly orchestrated an October 2021 military coup. The violence has raised the specter of civil war just as Sudanese were trying to revive the drive for a democratic, civilian government after decades of military rule.

Under international pressure, Burhan and Dagalo had recently agreed to a framework agreement with political parties and pro-democracy groups, but the signing was repeatedly delayed as tensions rose over the integration of the RSF into the armed forces and the future chain of command.

The U.S., the U.N. and others have called for a truce. Egypt, which backs Sudans military, and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates  which forged close ties to the RSF as it sent thousands of fighters to support their war in Yemen  have also called for both sides to stand down.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is attending a Group of Seven meeting in Japan, spoke by phone with Burhan and Dagalo separately and underscored the urgency of reaching a cease-fire, according to the State Departments principal deputy spokesperson, Vedant Patel.

On Tuesday, Blinken told reporters in Japan that indiscriminate military operations are recklessly endangering civilians, diplomats, including U.S. personnel, and humanitarian personnel.

Blinken said a convoy of clearly marked U.S. Embassy vehicles came under fire Monday, and that preliminary reports indicate the attackers were linked to the RSF. He said everyone in the convoy is safe and at home.

Blinken called for an immediate 24-hour ceasefire as a step toward a longer truce.

In a joint statement Tuesday, the G-7 foreign ministers condemned the fighting. We urge the parties to end hostilities immediately without pre-conditions, it said, calling for them to return to negotiations and reduce tensions.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said late Monday that Cairo was in constant contact with both the army and the RSF, urging them to halt the fighting and return to negotiations.

But both generals have thus far dug in, demanding the others surrender.

The European Unions foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell tweeted that the EU ambassador to Sudan was assaulted in his own residency, without providing further details. EU officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Dagalo, whose forces grew out of the notorious Janjaweed militias in Sudans Darfur region, has portrayed himself as a defender of democracy and branded Burhan as the aggressor and a radical Islamist. Both generals have a long history of human rights abuses and their forces have cracked down on pro-democracy activists.

Heavy gunbattles raged in multiple parts of the capital and Omdurman, where the two sides have brought in tens of thousands of troops, positioning them in nearly every neighborhood.

Twelve hospitals in the capital area have been forcefully evacuated and are out of service because of attacks or power outages, the Sudan Doctors Syndicate said, out of a total of around 20. Four hospitals outside the capital have also shut down, it added in a statement late Monday.

Hadia Saeed said she and her three children were sheltering in one room on the ground floor of their home for fear of the shelling as gunfire rattled across their Bahri district in north Khartoum. They have food for a few more days, but after that we dont know what to do, she said.

Residents said fierce fighting with artillery and other heavy weapons raged Monday afternoon in the Gabra neighborhood southwest of Khartoum. People were trapped and screaming inside their homes, said Asmaa al-Toum, a physician living in the area.

Fighting has been particularly fierce around each sides main bases and at strategic government buildings  all of which are in residential areas.

The military on Monday claimed to have secured the main television building in Omdurman, fending off the RSF after days of fighting. State-run Sudan TV resumed broadcasting.

On Sunday, the RSF said it abandoned its main barracks and base, in Omdurman, which the armed forces had pounded with airstrikes. Online videos Monday purported to show the bodies of dozens of men said to be RSF fighters at the base, strewn over beds, the floor of a clinic and outside in a yard. The authenticity of the videos could not be confirmed independently.

The military and RSF were also fighting in most major centers around the country, including in the western Darfur region and parts of the north and the east, by the borders with Egypt and Ethiopia. Battles raged Monday around a strategic airbase in Merowe, some 350 kilometers (215 miles) northwest of the capital, with both sides claiming control of the facility.

Only four years ago, Sudan inspired hope after a popular uprising helped depose long-time autocratic leader Omar al-Bashir.

But the turmoil since, especially the 2021 coup, has frustrated the democracy drive and wrecked the economy. A third of the population  around 16 million people  now depends on humanitarian assistance in the resource-rich nation, Africas third largest.

Save the Children, an international charity, said it has temporarily suspended most of its operations across Sudan. It said looters raided its offices in Darfur, stealing medical supplies, laptops, vehicles and a refrigerator. The World Food Program suspended operations over the weekend after three employees were killed in Darfur, and the International Rescue Committee has also halted most operations.

With the U.S., European Union, African and Arab nations all calling for an end to fighting, the U.N. Security Council was to discuss the developments. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was consulting with the Arab League, African Union and leaders in the region, urging anyone with influence to press for peace.

___ Magdy reported from Cairo.

SHARE:
HONG KONG (AP)  Hong Kongs Roman Catholic bishop arrived in Beijing on Monday, marking the first visit to the Chinese capital by the citys bishop in nearly three decades, despite signs of Sino-Vatican strains.

The five-day trip by Bishop Stephen Chow began about two weeks after Vatican News, the news portal of the Holy See, reported that China had unilaterally appointed a new bishop to Shanghai.

Chow, who was named by Pope Francis as the citys bishop in 2021, earlier said that the visit underscores the mission of the Hong Kong Diocese to be a bridge church and promote exchanges between the two sides. He was invited to visit the Chinese capital by his counterpart there.

Chinas ruling Communist Party closely controls organized religion, which it sees as a potential threat to its monopoly on power. People are allowed to worship in institutions that abide by party rules. Some Christians have set up underground churches, which are considered illegal and harassed by authorities.

In 2018, the Vatican and China signed a provisional agreement  over the appointment of bishops, a breakthrough on an issue that stymied diplomatic relations for decades and aggravated a split among Chinese Catholics.

The agreement on Catholic bishops has been renewed twice, most recently for two more years last October. A month later, a feud broke out over the installation of an auxiliary bishop in Jiangxi province, which the Vatican does not recognize as a diocese.

The deal was also harshly criticized by Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen.

The Hong Kong Diocese did not reveal Chows itinerary when announcing his trip in March. But it said in a statement that it accepted the invitation from Beijings diocese in the spirit of brotherhood.

Kung Kao Po, a publication affiliated with the Hong Kong Diocese, reported that Chow would meet with his counterpart, Joseph Li, visit the National Seminary of Catholic Church in China and host a thanksgiving Mass at the Xuanwumen Catholic Church.

He would also visit the tomb of Matteo Ricci, one of the first Jesuits to live in China who died in Beijing in 1610, and other organizations that facilitated cultural exchanges, the report added.

Read more about:

SHARE:
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP)  The United States Navy has sailed a warship through the Taiwan Strait in its first known transit since China carried out an encirclement exercise around self-ruled Taiwan.

The U.S. 7th Fleet said the transit through the strait by the USS Milius on Sunday was routine. The cruisers transited through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal State, the statement said.

Last week China concluded large-scale air and sea drills in the strait in retaliation for Taiwans President Tsai Ing-wen meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on April 5 in California. China said Wednesday that the exercises simulating an encirclement of Taiwan were intended as a serious warning to pro-independence politicians on the self-governing island and their foreign supporters.

China protested the transit Monday, saying the U.S. transit was a public hype and that the Eastern Theater Command was ready at any time to resolutely safeguard the countrys sovereignty, safety, and regional peace and stability, according to a statement from the Eastern Theater Commands spokesperson Shi Yilu.

China has stepped up its military pressure over Taiwan in recent years, sending fighter jets and navy vessels towards the island on a near-daily basis. After former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan last August, China sent more and more military vessels over the midline of the Taiwan Strait, an unofficial boundary that had been accepted for decades. That increasing pressure from China has given greater attention to Taiwan globally.

Visiting French lawmaker Eric Bothorel, who arrived in Taipei on Monday, said that the world is watching.

What we want to say to Taiwan is if something happens to Taiwan, it will change the world, Bothorel told reporters. That is the reason why we have, for instance, a military ship from France, in the China Sea last week. We consider that we have to preserve the freedom of traveling, of moving in this space.

Taiwans military confirmed a French navy vessel had transited the middle of the Taiwan Strait last week. However, it did not elicit a public protest by the Chinese military.

China earlier had sanctioned the organizations involved with Tsais visit in the U.S., including the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, where her meeting with McCarthy and other members of Congress were held. It also sanctioned U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, the Texas Republican who chairs the chambers Foreign Affairs Committee, for visiting Taiwan.

On Sunday, China launched a rocket carrying a satellite that dropped debris into waters north of the capital Taipei. While the satellite launch had no obvious military purpose, it disrupted travel, delaying flights.

___

AP videojournalist Taijing Wu contributed to this report.

Find more AP coverage of the Asia-Pacific region at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific

SHARE:
SYDNEY (AP)  Two suspected Chinese spies gave a Sydney businessman envelopes of cash for information about subjects including a government deal with the United States and Britain to build a fleet of Australian nuclear-powered submarines, prosecutors told a court on Monday.

The businessman, Alexander Csergo, was refused bail when he appeared by video link from prison in Sydneys Downing Center Local Court charged with one count of reckless foreign interference.

The charge, included in laws against covert foreign interference and espionage that angered China when they were legislated in 2018, carries a maximum 15-year prison sentence.

He is accused of accepting money from two suspected Chinese spies he knew by the names Ken and Evelyn in exchange for handwritten reports on Australian defense, economic and national security arrangements since 2021 while he worked in Shanghai, where he owns a communications and technology infrastructure consultancy business.

The subjects included the AUKUS partnership among Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States to create an Australian submarine fleet powered by U.S. nuclear technology that was announced in September 2021, prosecutor Connor McCraith said.

U.S. President Joe Biden and the leaders of Australia and Britain announced details of the deal in March, including that Australia would buy secondhand Virginia-class submarines from the United States and build a new AUKUS class of submarines with Britain.

The suspected spies also requested details about Australias partnership with the United States, Japan and India known as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or the Quad, as well as information about lithium and iron ore mining in Australia, the prosecutors alleged.

Csergo has been in custody since Friday, when he was arrested at his home in the Sydney beachside suburb of Bondi. He had been questioned for weeks by police and agents of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, the nations main domestic spy agency.

McCraith said Csergo admitted early in the questioning that he suspected Ken and Evylen were spies soon after meeting them but remained in contact with them for two years.

He clearly has links to the Chinese state and two people he clearly thinks work for the MSS (Ministry of State Security), McCraith told the court. He also traveled back to Australia with a shopping list of requested information, he said.

McCraith said a reasonable person would have alerted Australian authorities immediately after being approached.

Instead, Csergo continued to communicate with the male suspected spy, including inviting him to visit Australia, McCraith said.

Csergos lawyer, Bernard Collaery, said there was nothing sinister about his clients behavior and that he was an experienced, successful businessman who was lauded for developing working relationships in China.

Businesspeople such as our client know all roads lead to the state, whether it be the state economic intelligence agency or the Ministry of State Security, Collaery said.

Cash payments for consulting reports might have a color to it in Australia but might be the way its done in China -- its not necessarily sinister, Collaery added.

Collaery said the reports were from publicly sourced documents, plus Csergos own creative efforts, and were nothing close to espionage.

Magistrate Michael Barko said Csergo was a very well-educated, sophisticated, worldly businessperson who was entitled to the presumption of innocence.

But Csergo faced a strong case from prosecutors, including several substantial admissions, Barko said.

Csergo told ASIO investigators he met Ken and Evelyn in empty cafes in Shanghai and believed the cafes had been specially cleared for him, according to court documents.

Csergo also believed Ken and Evelyn had been assigned by Chinas spy agency as his handlers, the documents say.

I dont know what they do in China, but in this country, if I were to read those facts to any layperson, they would be highly suspicious of the conduct of the defendant, at the very least, Barko said.

Csergo is due back in court in June.

Collaery told reporters outside the court that the Law Council of Australia, the peak group representing the nations legal profession, had long warned that the scope of the foreign interference laws was too broad.

If you work as a consultant in any foreign country, and you are any person, whether youre a private contractor or a government official, and you undertake consulting work that may relate to Australias foreign influences or national security such as articles on the supply of lithium, iron ore, you, according to this legislation ... can be guilty of foreign influence, Collaery said.

This is an issue of absolute civil liberties, Collaery said. The subset of all of this, is China. These are the drums of foreign antipathy coming down into the state of New South Wales.

SHARE:
KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  A top Ukrainian official said Monday that Ukraine will launch its counteroffensive against Russian troops when its ready, adding that its only a matter of time before the country achieves the necessary level of military preparedness to do so.

Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraines National Security and Defense Council, told The Associated Press in an interview in Kyiv that Ukraines allies are helping the government to achieve the level of technical equipment necessary to launch the attack, delivering heavy armored vehicles and ammunition.

But he also expressed frustration that sometimes officials from allied countries promise one thing and do a completely different one. He didnt elaborate.

If we arent ready, then nobody will start unprepared, he said.

Speaking about a major U.S. intelligence leak, Danilov echoed other Ukrainian leaders who say they dont see it as gravely damaging future offensives, stressing that Ukraine doesnt share highly sensitive information with anyone.

If someone thinks that we report to someone, then he is deeply mistaken, he said. Such sensitive security matters are decided in closed meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and only there will it be decided when, in what direction, at what pace we will liberate our territory, he added.

The documents include previously unreported sensitive disclosures about Ukraine, including just how close Ukraines vital air defense systems are to running out of missiles, with stocks expected to be exhausted as soon as late this month or May. That would open Ukraines skies to more of the Russian air and artillery strikes that already have devastated cities and infrastructure.

Danilov refused to comment on Ukraines current stockpiles of weapons, saying only that it will be enough to curb Russia.

Still, he said that Ukraine was working round the clock to prepare for a possible offensive, including Saturday and Sunday. There is no vacation in war.

Its only a matter of time. This time comes with a very high price for us.

Danilov stopped short of confirming that the Patriot air defense system promised by the U.S. has arrived in Ukraine, but strongly hinted that they have. Asked to comment on statements by Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat last week in which he said that the Patriots was expected in Ukraine sometime after Easter, he said: Well, Easter has passed already.

The answer to your question is simple: everything is good, he added.

Russias war in Ukraine has turned into a stalemate amid heavy fighting in the countrys east, particularly around the town of Bakhmut which for eight and a half months has been the stage for the wars longest and bloodiest fight.

Bakhmut lies in Donetsk province, one of four provinces Russia illegally annexed last fall. Moscow controls about half of the province. Bakhmut is a stepping stone to seizing the remaining half.

Ukrainian officials have said theyre buying time by depleting Russian forces in the battle while Kyiv prepares a counteroffensive. Zelenskyy argues that if Russia wins the Bakhmut battle, Russian President Vladimir Putin might be able to begin building international support for a deal that would require Ukraine to make unacceptable compromises to end the war.

Danilov is confident that it not only turned the tiny settlement into the place the whole world speaks about, but proves its extremely hard to conquer Ukraine by military means for Russia.

He also remains confident in Ukraines efforts to return to its occupied territories.

We will defeat Russia, he said. If you have a strong inner spirit, you will definitely win. And we always had it strong. This is something that always annoyed the Russians.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Read more about:

SHARE:
JERUSALEM (AP)  Israels president appealed for national unity as the country marked the beginning of Holocaust Remembrance Day on Monday after months of mass protests that have roiled the nation.

Yom Hashoah, the day Israel observes as a memorial for the 6 million Jews killed by Nazi Germany and its allies in the Holocaust, is one of the most solemn dates on the countrys calendar.

Official observances began after sundown on Monday with a ceremony at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem. Six survivors, including one of the few remaining survivors of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, lit torches for the memory of the 6 million killed in the Holocaust.

Speaking at the ceremony, President Isaac Herzog called on participants in the more than three months of weekly protests against the governments plan to overhaul the judiciary to lay their differences aside during the coming week of national mourning.

Let us leave these sacred days, which begin tonight and end on Independence Day, above all dispute, he said. Let us all come together, as always, in partnership, in grief, in remembrance.

Israel marks the 75th anniversary of its independence next week, a day after the countrys Memorial Day.

Tens of thousands of Israelis have participated in weekly protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus governments plan to pass contentious changes to curb the Supreme Courts authority and give politicians greater control over judicial appointments.

Opponents say the constellation of bills would destroy a system of checks and balances by concentrating power in the hands of Netanyahu and his allies in parliament.

Herzog, Israels figurehead president, has brokered dialogue between Netanyahus allies and opposition lawmakers in a bid to try to reach a compromise.

Even in the grips of ferocious disagreements about fate, about destiny, about faith, about values, we must be careful to avoid any comparisons, any equivalences  not with the Holocaust, and not with the Nazis, Herzog said.

Read more about:

SHARE:
BAGHDAD (AP)  Iraq on Monday offered to mediate between Ukraine and Russia to try and find an end to the war in Europe, but Ukraines top diplomat rejected the offer during a rare visit to Baghdad.

Ukraines Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba reiterated his countrys position that it would not engage in any peace talks unless Russia withdraws from all Ukrainian territory.

The Kremlin wants Kyiv to acknowledge Russias sovereignty over Crimea, which Moscow took over in 2014, and to also recognize Septembers annexation of the Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia. Ukraine has rejected those demands and insists it wont hold talks with Russia until Moscows troops pull back from all occupied territories.

In Iraq, Kuleba met with his Iraqi counterpart, Fuad Hussein. It was the first visit by a Ukrainian official to Baghdad since Russias invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the first visit by a Ukrainian foreign minister in 11 years.

Hussein pointed to Iraqs years of experience with war and conflict, as well as with hosting negotiations between hostile parties  such as the recent Saudi-Iran talks.

Baghdad had hosted several rounds of the talks between Riyadh and Tehran before the negotiations broke down. They later resumed with China as mediator, resulting in last month's announcement that the two regional rivals would restore diplomatic relations.

Baghdad has experience in communication with countries that have tension between them and is ready to be in service of peace, Hussein said in a press conference Monday. The continuation of the war will be dangerous not only to the two countries but to the world.

Iraq, like much of the Middle East, historically relies heavily on grain imported from Ukraine, and consumers have suffered from rising food prices since the beginning of the war.

Kuleba said that while Ukraine sees Iraq as a country that is capable of building bridges... Russia is on the offensive ... and this is the biggest hurdle on the way to peace.

We need Russia to agree with a very simple fact that it has to stop the war and withdraw, Kuleba added.

The current Iraqi government is seen as close to Iran, which the U.S. has accused of supplying drones to Russia for its war in Ukraine. Iran has acknowledged sending drones to Russia but says it was before the war.

Iraq also maintains close ties with the United States, which has a strong influence over its financial sector. Iraqs foreign currency reserves have been housed at the U.S. Federal Reserve since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.

While rejecting Baghdads offer of mediation, Kuleba said Ukraine hopes to strengthen ties with Iraq and that his visit Monday was part of an effort to reinvent Ukrainian-Iraqi relations.

___

Sewell reported from Beirut.

Read more about:

SHARE:
BEIRUT (AP)  A helicopter raid by U.S. forces in northern Syria early on Monday killed a senior leader of the militant Islamic State group, the U.S. military said.

The U.S. Central Command said in a statement that the IS leader, Abd-al-Hadi Mahmud al-Haji Ali, was responsible for planning terror attacks in the Middle East and Europe. Two other alleged IS members, were killed along with al-Haji Ali who was the target of the raid, CENTCOM said. The statement said no civilians or U.S. troops were hurt in the operation.

It said the raid was launched after intelligence uncovered a plan by IS to kidnap officials abroad as leverage for (IS) initiatives.

Syrias White Helmets, a civil defense group operating in opposition-held areas of northern Syria, said it transported two people wounded during the raid to a local hospital, which later said they had died. A third person was killed when the U.S. forces landed for the raid, the White Helmets said.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which partners with the U.S. in anti-IS operations in northeast Syria, said that the operation was launched from a base near the town of Kobani and targeted a military site belonging to a Turkish-backed armed opposition group, Suqour al-Shamal, in the village of Suwayda in the region of Jarablus, near the Turkish border.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, initially reported that the raid had resulted in the arrest of a senior IS leader and killed three people. The U.S. military made no mention of any arrests.

The Observatory said violent clashes took place after the helicopter landed, the first such landing this year.

At least 900 U.S. troops are deployed in Syria, along with an undisclosed number of contractors.

The Islamic State group, which swept through Iraq and Syria in 2014, taking control of large swaths of territory, was defeated in Syria in 2019, but sleeper cells maintain a presence and periodically stage attacks on military and civilian targets.

SHARE:
Artists perform archery during the Sankranta festival at the Angkor Archeological Park in Siem Reap province, Cambodia, on April 16, 2023. (Photo by Sao Khuth/Xinhua)

SIEM REAP, Cambodia, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Sankranta means "beginning of a new year" in Cambodia's Khmer language. At the famed Angkor Archeological Park, artists here perform archery during the Sankranta festival or traditional New Year celebrations.

Starting on Friday, the three-day Sankranta festival is the largest annual holiday in the Southeast Asian country. Various activities enriched the whole celebrations, with people blowing trumpets in the parade, spraying water on the grass, and men participating in archery competitions, which are cheerful and enthusiastic.

People play with water at the famed Angkor Archeological Park in Siem Reap province, Cambodia, on April 16, 2023. (Photo by Sao Khuth/Xinhua)



A parade of the Sankranta festival, or traditional New Year, is held at the famed Angkor Archeological Park in Siem Reap province, Cambodia, on April 16, 2023. (Photo by Sao Khuth/Xinhua)



Artists blow trumpets during a parade of the Sankranta festival, or traditional New Year, at the famed Angkor Archeological Park in Siem Reap province, Cambodia, on April 16, 2023. (Photo by Sao Khuth/Xinhua)



Buddhist monks splash holy water on revelers at the famed Angkor Archeological Park in Siem Reap province, Cambodia on April 16, 2023. (Photo by Sao Khuth/Xinhua)



Contestants race their buffalos at the famed Angkor Archeological Park in Siem Reap province, Cambodia, on April 16, 2023. (Photo by Sao Khuth/Xinhua) 
YUBA CITY, Calif. (AP)  Authorities in Northern California on Monday said they had arrested more than a dozen men from two warring criminal syndicates whose violent rivalry they say was responsible for a mass shooting at a Sikh temple and a brutal sword attack at a parade in 2018.

Sutter County District Attorney Jennifer Dupre said the two syndicates were responsible for multiple shootings where 11 people were shot, including five people at a Sikh temple in Stockton last year and two more victims at a temple in Sacramento last month.

None of the victims died. Dupre said all of the men arrested are part of Californias Sikh community and were members of one of two rival groups whose feud was fueled by intense personal connections.

This started out as one group, and one faction broke off, and since then they have been rivals trying to outdo each other. Mainly they show up places and try to shoot each other, Dupre said, comparing it to the U.S. Civil War where brothers were fighting against brothers.

Dupre said the arrests are not related to the murders last year of a Sikh family in the San Joaquin Valley, which included the killings of an 8-month-old baby, the babys parents and an uncle.

Dupre said the violence began in 2018 at the annual Sikh Parade in Yuba City, one of the largest South Asian festivals held outside of the Indian subcontinent. There, Dupre said, a man was beaten so hard with a sword that it broke. The violence soon escalated to shootings, including one at a wedding party in 2021.

The rash of violence attracted the attention of the Yuba-Sutter Narcotic and Gang Enforcement Task Force, which launched an investigation with assistance from the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and various other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.

The investigation intensified in March, when authorities learned of potential violence at a Sikh parade in Sacramento. Dupre said police stopped two cars before they reached the parade, arresting seven people and seizing four handguns and two other guns with large capacity magazines.

A shooting still happened at the parade, injuring two people, but Dupre said a mass casualty incident was prevented.

If those weapons had gotten into the parade, it could have been a bloodbath, Dupre said.

Altogether, Dupre said police seized 41 guns during the investigation, including a weapon described as a machine gun.

Authorities arrested 17 people, including Karandeep Singh, Pardeep Singh, Pavittar Singh, Husandeep Singh, Sahajpreet Singh, Harkirat Singh, Tirath Ram, Dharamvir Singh, Jobanjit Singh, Gurvinder Singh, Nitish Kaushal, Gurminder Singh Kang, Devender Singh, Karambir Gill, Rajeev Ranjan, Jobanpreet Singh and Singh Dhesi.

Dupre said five other people  Amandeep Singh, Harmandeep Singh, Gursharn Singh, Grucharan Singh and Jaskaran Singh  have not yet been arrested.

Dupre said the men have not had a court appearances yet. Its not clear if they have attorneys yet who can speak on their behalf.

Yuba City, a city of nearly 70,000 people along the Feather River just north of Sacramento, has a large Sikh community. Locals often refer to the area as mini Punjab, named after the Indian state where many Sikhs live. Each November, tens of thousands of people travel to the city for Nagar Kirtan, one of the largest Sikh gatherings in the U.S.

Sikhs also have a large presence throughout Californias Central Valley. The Sacramento County Assistant Sheriff said seven of the shootings occurred in Sacramento County within the past year.

The investigation in this particular case and the charges that have been brought forth does not in any way reflect or represent the vibrant Sikh community that are such an important and vital part of the greater community in this region, Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho said.

SHARE:
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP)  A lot was happening in March 1965 in the bungalow in Selma, Alabama, that then-4-year-old Jawana Jackson called home, and much of it involved her Uncle Martin.

There were late-night visitors, phone calls and meetings at the house that was a safe haven for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders as they planned the Selma to Montgomery marches calling for Black voting rights.

The role the Jackson House played was integral to the Civil Rights Movement, so Jackson contacted the The Henry Ford Museum near Detroit about a year ago to ask if it would take over the preservation of the Jackson House and its legacy.

It became increasingly clearer to me that the house belonged to the world, and quite frankly, The Henry Ford was the place that I always felt in my heart that it needed to be, she told The Associated Press last week from her home in Pensacola, Florida.

Starting this year, the Jackson House will be dismantled piece-by-piece and trucked the more than 800 miles (1,280 kilometers) north to Dearborn, Michigan, where it will eventually be open to the public as part of the history museum. The project is expected to take up to three years.

Owned by dentist Sullivan Jackson and his wife, Richie Jean, the 3,000-square-foot (280-square-meter) home was where King and others strategized the three marches against racist Jim Crow laws that prevented Black people from voting in the Deep South.

King was inside the home when President Lyndon Johnson announced a bill that would become the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

There was a synergy going on in that house during those critical times, Jawana Jackson said. Whether that was when Uncle Martin was praying the morning of the Selma to Montgomery march or whether he was talking to President Johnson (by phone) in the little bedroom of that home, I always got a sense of energy and a sense of hope for the future.

The house and artifacts, including Kings neckties and pajamas, and the chair where he sat while watching Johnsons televised announcement, will be part of the acquisition by The Henry Ford. The purchase price is confidential.

Named after Ford Motor Co. founder and American industrialist Henry Ford, the museum sits on 250 acres (100 hectares) and also features Greenfield Village where more than 80 historic structures are displayed and maintained. The Jackson House will be rebuilt there, joining the courthouse where Abraham Lincoln first practiced law, the laboratory where Thomas Edison perfected the light bulb, and the home and workshop where Orville and Wilbur Wright invented their first airplane.

Also among the collections artifacts are the Montgomery city bus whose seat Rosa Parks refused to give up to a white man in 1955 and the chair that Lincoln was sitting on in 1865 when he was assassinated at Fords Theatre in Washington.

Visitors to Greenfield Village will be able to walk through the Jackson House, according to Patricia Mooradian, The Henry Fords president and chief executive.

This house is the envelope, but the real importance is what happened inside, Mooradian said. We want people to immerse themselves in that history ... to feel and experience what may have gone on in that home. What were the conversations? What were the decisions that were being made around the dining room table?

Built in 1912, the home served as a guest house for Black authors W.E.B. Dubois and Booker T. Washington who held fireside chats regarding education, religion, the arts, community building and economic sustainability, according to the Alabama African American Civil Rights Heritage Sites Consortium.

It took on a greater importance following the fatal shooting of a young Black man, Jimmie Lee Jackson, by an Alabama trooper.

On March 7, 1965, weeks after that slaying, about 600 people participated in a peaceful protest. The late Georgia U.S. Rep. John Lewis was one of the leaders of the planned 54-mile (86-kilometer) march to the state Capitol, which was part of the larger effort to register Black voters. But police beat protesters as they tried to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma in what is now known as Bloody Sunday.

Television and newspaper reports seared images of that confrontation into the nations consciousness. Days later, King led what became known as the Turnaround Tuesday march, in which marchers approached police at the bridge and prayed before turning back.

Johnson introduced the Voting Rights Act of 1965 eight days after Bloody Sunday. On March 21, King began a third march, under federal protection, that grew to thousands of people by the time it arrived at the state Capitol. Five months later, Johnson signed the bill into law.

The Jackson House brings a new dimension to understanding the role Black Americans played in defeating Jim Crow, according to historian Gretchen Sullivan Sorin.

The Jacksons are unsung heroes, Sorin said. Their generosity and courage shows us how we, as ordinary Americans, can stand up against injustice.

Jackson said her parents felt the risks were worth taking.

For them, it was all about the future for me and millions of other children that were going to grow up, she said. They felt that everyone deserved a peaceful and more democratic society to grow up in.

___

Williams is a member of APs Race & Ethnicity team.

SHARE:
HEBRON, N.Y. (AP)  A woman looking for a friends house in upstate New York was shot to death after the car she was riding in mistakenly went to the wrong address and was met with gunfire in the driveway, authorities said Monday.

Kaylin Gillis, 20, was traveling through the rural town of Hebron with three other people Saturday night when the group made a wrong turn onto the property.

They were trying to turn the car around when the homeowner, Kevin Monahan, 65, came out onto his porch and fired two shots, according to Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy.

One round hit Gillis.

The group drove to the neighboring town of Salem, northeast of Albany near the Vermont state line, and called 911, said Murphy, who noted the shooting took place in an area with limited cell phone service. Emergency crews arrived and performed CPR on Gillis but couldnt save her.

When officers arrived at Monahans house to investigate the shooting, he refused to come out, Murphy said. Authorities spoke with him through a 911 dispatcher and in person for about an hour before he was taken into custody, according to the sheriff.

Monahan was booked into the Warren County jail on a charge of second-degree murder. It wasnt clear whether he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

Murphy said at a news conference Monday that Gillis, who lived in Schuylerville, was an innocent young girl who was out with friends looking for another friends house, according to the Times Union of Albany. He said there was no reason for Mr. Monahan to feel threatened.

The shooting happened days after 16-year-old Ralph Yarl was shot and wounded in Kansas City, Missouri, after going to the wrong house to pick up his younger brothers.

SHARE:
Theres a reason so many people who have been sexually assaulted prefer the label survivor to victim. It is because the term victim places them at the moment of a horrific event, whereas the term survivor places them in the aftermath  on the other side of it.

Sadly, though, survivors of sexual violence often find themselves reliving that horrific moment and this unfortunate reality isnt solely the fault of their assailants.

Ontarios Crown policy on restorative justice is a case in point. As the Star explained in two recent stories, Crown policy forbids the use of restorative justice in sexual assault cases, even though some survivors would prefer to use it.

Restorative justice represents a marked departure from the conventional justice system, which is centred around offenders. The trial process involves determining if the accused is guilty, and if so, determining an appropriate sentence.

In contrast, restorative justice is victim-centred. Although it can take different forms, the most common approach  conferencing  involves a facilitated, in-person or virtual meeting between survivors and offenders.

During the conference, the survivor explains how the crime affected him or her, and the offender is given a chance to express remorse. Conferencing typically also involves discussion of how the offender can provide redress, and offenders are monitored to ensure compliance.

Conferencing has been the subject of intensive study, and many survivors have stated that they find the process empowering, as it returns to them the voice that was removed by the conventional system. They also stress that it allows them to take control, to explain the harm done by the crime and to hear an acknowledgement of wrongdoing from the offender.

That can have an enormous therapeutic effect, and researchers have found that conferencing reduces fear, anxiety and other post traumatic stress symptoms among survivors.

Despite these benefits, the Ministry of the Attorney General maintains that sexual offences are too serious to use restorative justice procedures. Yet evidence from the United Kingdom suggests that restorative justice is actually more effective in cases involving serious crime.

In any case, restorative justice need not replace the conventional justice system. Both approaches can work simultaneously, with conferences sometimes occurring while the offender is in jail.

To be fair, the Ministrys policy also seems to stem at least partly from a desire to protect survivors of sexual assault from further trauma, which is laudable. But theres no evidence that restorative justice revictimizes those who have experienced sexual violence.

Indeed, University of Montreal criminologist Jo-Anne Wemmers notes that sexual assault survivors tend to consider the conferencing experience as empowering, rather than traumatizing. On the other hand, the Crown policy does risk contributing to further victimization by denying them choice, by removing from them all control over the process.

That said, conferencing isnt right for all survivors, or for all offenders. No survivor should be forced to participate, but equally, no one should be denied the right to choose restorative justice if its right for them. Choice itself is empowering, as it gives them control over their destinies.

In fact, Wemmers notes that making choices is integral to victims healing, noting that restorative justice allows them to reclaim their lives and transforms them from victims to survivors.

When it comes to sexual assault, there's nothing more important than that. Yet if Crown policy continues to deny the right to make choices, if it continues to silence their voices, it risks denying them the opportunity to move forward as survivors.

SHARE:
It is an undeniable fact that the culture of a nation is expressed in the importance it gives to the dignity and rights of its women. Apart from her reproductive function for the continuation of the race, a woman has played an extremely important role since the origin of the human species.

Because by her very biological function, she creates, cares, shares, and does not normally destroy. Many firmly believe that the Chinese revolution has been primarily a womans revolution. That is to say, it is Chinas women, more than the peasants and workers, who have benefitted from the communist revolution.

The women of todays China are fortunate, they have a taste of freedom. The women of todays Russia enjoy an equal position with men. Since ages, Indian women were living in abject conditions, homebound, caught in the grip of fear, illiteracy and social discrimination.

Mahatma Gandhi was concerned about the emancipation and empowerment of women from the early stages of his life. He also felt that a country could not move forward unless there was an awakening among the countrys women.

However, in the formative years, he was deeply influenced by his mother Putlibai, who imparted in him a strong sense of personal ethics and compassion that is conveyed through his favorite prayer song (bhajan) written by the 15th-century religious reformer, Narsinha Mehta: Vaishnav jan to tene re kahiye je peed parai jane re (A godlike man is one, who feels anothers pain, who shares anothers sorrow).

Indeed, motherhood was something that was natural to Gandhi. He was involved in a number of tasks that were considered largely feminine ~ nursing, cleaning, cooking and taking care of the ashram members. He firmly believed that the difference between men and women was only physical, and they play complementary roles.

He also expressed several times in his writings in Young India and Harijan that in many matters especially those of tolerance, patience, and sacrifice the Indian woman is superior to the male.

Gandhis views regarding the man-woman relation were very similar to Tolstoys. Tolstoy, while reviewing the famous short story entitled The Darling written by the famous Russian author Anton Chekhov, made some profound observations. The author made fun of women who lacked originality, and were shadows of men and whose tastes would change with a change of husbands. Tolstoy did not agree with the observation.

He believed that women had their own uniqueness and that both men and women had equal abilities and rights, although they had different roles to play in society.

Gandhi was a keen observer of the womens movement for voting rights in the UK, which at times did not practice the principled type of non-violence that he had advocated all along.

But he had tremendous faith in womens inherent capacity for non-violence. In his words: If non-violence is the law of our being, the future is with the women who can make a more effective appeal to the heart than women?  God has vouchsafed to women the power of non-violence more than to men.

It is all the more effective because it is mute. Women are the natural messengers of the gospel of non-violence if only they attain high state. Women in the Phoenix Settlement, founded by him in 1904 in South Africa, were unrestrained by social taboos and had more freedom than their counterparts anywhere in India.

With his experience of South Africa behind him, Gandhi was aware of the potential of women as satyagrahis. He also firmly believed that women of India should have as much share in the winning of swaraj as men.

In India, Gandhis first experiments with trying out the method of satyagraha was in Champaran district in Bihar in 1917. It was here that a few women such as Pravabati Devi, Rajbanshi Devi and Bhagawati Devi facilitated the entry of women into the freedom struggle.

These women led the fight against the purdah system. Social works gradually led to a political awakening among women. From Champaran Gandhi went to Kheda district (Gujarat) where peasants were protesting against unjust taxation. Gandhi was received with great enthusiasm by women everywhere.

In his historical march to Dandi on 12 March 1930, women came out in thousands. Womens participation in large numbers in Gandhis mass movements was a kind of social revolution which made a breakthrough in their lives.

Gandhi is known to be one of the few people who encouraged womens active participation in the freedom struggle  making him a rare promoter of womans liberation.

And his experience of participation by women in politics from his days in South Africa till the end of his life bears testimony to the fact that they never failed his expectations. In his letters and speeches to women, Gandhi repeatedly emphasized that women were not weak.

Addressing a meeting in Bombay in 1920, where women expressed their views on the atrocities committed in Punjab, Gandhi said: I, therefore, want the women of India not to believe themselves weak. It is ignorance to call women weak, women who have been the mother of mighty heroes like Hanuman. And he wrote in Young India in 1930, To call women the weaker sex is a libel; it is mans injustice to women.

Gandhi asked women to be fearless. As Jawaharlal Nehru wrote: The dominant impulse in India under British rule was that of fear-pervasive oppressing, strangling fear;  It was against this all-pervading fear that Gandhis quiet and determined voice was raised: Be not afraid (Discovery of India). Not only did he inspire women to be brave, he taught men too to respect women. Gandhi did everything to correct gender imbalances and bring women to the forefront in Indias social, economic, cultural and political mainstream.

Empowerment and uplift of women and the poor became his prime concern. He repeatedly pointed out that seeking freedom by imitating men would be a mockery of freedom. In his words: Man and woman are equal in rank but they are peerless pair being supplementary to one another.

As a result, women became prominent during the freedom struggle. Initially, many highly-educated women took part in the womens movement launched by Gandhi, but as the movement spread among the masses, women from middle and lower class families ~ educated, uneducated and half-educated ~ came out and joined hands with each other to strengthen the movement.

Many observers of the Indian scene during those times were amazed at the phenomenon. Depicting the picture of those days Pandit Nehru wrote: Most of us menfolk were in prison. And then a remarkable thing happened. Our women came to the front and took the charge of the struggle.

Women have always been there, of course, but now there was an avalanche of them, which took not only the British Government but their own menfolk by surprise [Discovery of India]. With Gandhis inspiration, they took the struggle right into their homes and raised it to a moral level. Women organized public meetings, sold khadi and proscribed literature, started picketing shops of liquor and foreign goods, prepared contraband salt, and came forward to face all sorts of atrocities, including inhuman treatment by police officers.

They came forward to give all that they had ~ their wealth and strength, their jewelry and belongings, their skill and labour ~ for this unusual and unprecedented struggle. During the 40 years of his political career, Gandhi only found more reasons to deepen his faith in what he wrote. He never had a specific programme for women, but women had an integral role to play in his programmes.

For this reason, women participated in all programmes overwhelmingly. Womanhood is not restricted to the kitchen, he opined and felt that only when the woman is liberated from the slavery of the kitchen, that her true spirit may be discovered. It does not mean that women should not cook, but only that household responsibilities be shared among men, women and children. He wanted women to outgrow their traditional responsibilities and participate in the affairs of the nation.

He connected women with services and not with power. In his words: If by strength is meant moral power, then a woman is immeasurably mans superior.

(The writer is a retired IAS officer Cambodia sets record for origami hearts display in charity effort SECULA)
Israeli protesters have been demonstrating against the Netanyahu governments controversial efforts to radically overhaul the judicial system for nearly three months.

And while the protests regularly bring out more than 100,000 people to the streets across Israel, few Arab faces have appeared among the demonstrators. The protests cause some minor annoyances, like traffic delays, to Palestinians living in East Jerusalem.

But the greater threat to these East Jerusalem Palestinians are the proposed changes to Israels judiciary system. The changes, referred to as reforms, would limit the Supreme Courts powers to rule against the legislative and executive branches, effectively giving the Knesset the power to override Supreme Court decisions with a simple majority.

I believe that such changes would be dangerous to East Jerusalem Palestinians, especially when right-wing governments  like the current one led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu  are in power and oppose giving Palestinians more rights.

As a political science scholar with a regional focus on the Middle East, I have spent a significant time with East Jerusalem Palestinians asking what they think about judicial reform plans and the protests against it.

Our discussions show that East Jerusalem Palestinians feel an an overarching sense of indifference and resignation to whatever will happen. That is the Israelis fight, not mine, or What does it matter what happens?

Nothing will help with anything anyway, were the most common reactions that East Jerusalem Palestinians had to the protests when I spoke with them in March 2023. While Israel claims that East Jerusalem is simply a part of its capital city, the United Nations and Palestinians say it is occupied territory by the Israeli government.

Further, East Jerusalem covers approximately 27 square miles and is home to about about 362,000 Arab residents who are considered permanent residents of Israel. These Palestinians have no passports and cannot vote in Israeli elections. Just 18,982 Palestinians in East Jerusalem have obtained Israeli citizenship since 1967.

This followed the 1967 Six-Day War, when Israel defeated Egypt, Syria and Jordan over a territorial dispute and occupied parts of Jerusalem that were under Jordanian control.

This small number of Palestinians in East Jerusalem who have received Israeli citizenship stems from two main factors. First, many Palestinians feel resistant toward taking Israeli citizenship because of cultural divisions and a desire for their own nationhood. Second, the Israeli government makes it difficult for these Palestinians to get Israeli citizenship. Today, East Jerusalem Palestinians truly live between two worlds.

They are politically and economically connected to West Jerusalem, home to Israeli Jews and the Israeli government. Most East Jerusalem Palestinians are able to cross in and out of West Jerusalem easily, though walls exist around sections of East Jerusalem, dividing Arab neighbourhoods from Jewish ones. Palestinians in East Jerusalem also pay Jerusalem city taxes and receive general city services, like water.

About 79 per cent of the Palestinian families in East Jerusalem live in poverty. Culturally, East Jerusalem Palestinians are more connected to the West Bank, a landlocked Arab area of Israel that is governed by a separate government, the Palestinian Authority. Many East Jerusalem Palestinians have extended families and friends living in the West Bank.

With this guiding question  what do East Jerusalem Palestinians think about the proposed judicial reforms and the protests against them  I conducted a survey and series of interviews with 24 Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem over the course of three days in March 2023. Another Palestinian I spoke with lived in the nearby city of Ramallah, but worked in East Jerusalem.

I spoke with 10 women and 15 men, and the average age of the respondents was about 26. Thirteen of these people had full-time jobs, while seven were employed part time. The rest were either students or temporarily unemployed.

A slight majority of the respondents  approximately 52 per cent  said that they were following news about the judicial reforms and ongoing protests. Respondents demonstrated empathy toward the protesters goals of suspending the judicial reform plans and, in some cases, pushing Netanyahu out of power, with one respondent openly claiming that If I were an Israeli, I would protest too! But just two respondents said that they would want to participate in the protests themselves.

I know how the Israeli police behave, one person explained, saying that they were afraid of being arrested or that legal action would be taken against them. More significantly, they said that they did not want to protest to help preserve a legal system that has not helped them.

The respondents were also very concerned about the potential for increased violence against them if they joined the protests. Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, for example, grabbed headlines in early November 2022 for encouraging Israeli police to open fire on Palestinian stone throwers.

As Israelis demonstrate in the name of saving their democracy, these Palestinians overarching sentiment is that they have no leader or partner to help them achieve their own civic rights or national aims. Who represents Jerusalem for us? Who speaks for Jerusalem? What brings us together? were rhetorical questions posed during my discussions and interviews with East Jerusalem Palestinians.

These people feel they are cut off from the Palestinian Authority  but that the Israeli government is also out to get them, as one respondent said. Fundamentally, these East Jerusalem Palestinians want their most basic needs met. In particular, they say that the city neglects their neighbourhoods  for example, resulting in a build-up of trash.

And that their schools are severely underfunded, relative to the Jewish ones in West Jerusalem. Palestinian civil society leaders have argued that this sense of isolation and lack of direction has produced a generation of young people in East Jerusalem willing to sacrifice everything and possibly push back violently against the Israeli government and citizens.

Its clear that East Jerusalem Palestinians indeed are listening and watching the major events underway in Israel. They want a voice in politics.

But until they feel like an equal partner with democratic rights equal to Jewish Israelis, they will sit on the sidelines  and sometimes, even respond angrily with violence.

(The writer is a PhD Student/Researcher, University of Michigan. This article was published on www.theconversation.com)
Noted litterateur Narayan Samat, who has been writing on the conditions of the Dalit community in Bengal and India, was bestowed with West Bengal Dalit Sahitya Academy Award by the states information and cultural affairs department on Ambedkar Jayanti as part of Dalit Sahitya Festival, from 14-17 April.

A resident of Ruinan in West Midnapore, Mr Samat is from the Dom Community and had to face various hardships in his childhood for his cultural background.

The writer, who has stories, novels and poems to his credit, says people like BR Ambedkar and President Droupadi Murmu inspire him.

The elated writer, who was first feted by the chief minister Mamata Banerjee for his literary works in 2017, when Jhargram was being carved out as a new district, is 75 years old now and had always longed for a government recognition.

According to the award-winning writer, he has 23 published works and four more are awaiting publication. All my works have been on the Dalit community, centering round their social structure, education, their social condition, language and work.

I have seen how the upper community has been neglecting the lower castes. After witnessing the oppression from a young age, I feel the levels of oppression has come down as the younger lot are getting education and have started to know their own potential. With education, they have also understood the society well.

The oppressor class has also realised that they can no longer subdue the Dalits. Caste oppression has come down but only by 30 per cent, said Mr Samat. Mr Samat is presently working on his latest book, Banglar Dom Shekorer Shondhane (Bengals Dom community in search of its roots).

Im also doing research on how we get our titles or surnames, which classifies our caste. Im curious to know how I got my surname, Samat. Is it from samal or something else? he wonders.

Adding some information about the Dom community, he said, Through our folklore we get to know that Dom community used to play a very responsible role in any kings army. Another book is on the topic:

Banglar sanskriti lupto o lupto prai (the lost and almost lost culture of Bengal), which explores the effect on the society as a result of the list culture. The litterateur, who has been penning his thoughts since the age of 18, has also been bringing out a newspaper, Alor Mela, for last 49 years.
Veteran Trinamul Congress leader Firhad Hakim lambasted the BJP and said the saffron party should answer why there were communal riots on the day of Ram Navami in Gujarat, Bihar and Odisha.

He was addressing a huge gathering in Birbhum this morning. Braving the scorching heat, thousands of people gathered to hear him.

BJP should answer why communal riots had taken place in Gujarat or at Sasaram in Bihar. The saffron party had engineered the riots, he alleged. Mr Hakim said the BJPs sole purpose is to divide society.

It fans the communal forces along with RSS and disturbs the communal fabric of our country. India was respected throughout the globe for its broad outlook.

Travellers and scholars from across the globe had come to India and they had written about our society and how people had lived in peace and harmony. He urged people not to fall into the trap of the BJP.

Do not fall into their trap as they are there to create trouble in society and let loose one community against the other. We have never seen weapons being carried in Ram Navami procession.

Ram is respected across India for his courage and commitment to the people. The BJP has turned peaceful processions into violent ones. They have terrorised people.

Mr Hakim said the Centre had deprived the people of Bengal by not clearing the dues amounting to Rs 1.15 lakh crore. The central leaders of the BJP are coming to the state but not saying a word on the dues and when they are going to clear the dues, he said. Criticising the local BJP leaders he said: They do not visit the constituencies but go to Delhi regularly to conspire to stop the stipulated funds. It is a big tragedy.

He urged people to ask the BJP leaders to explain why the funds have not been cleared. He said by doing this the BJP will not be able to make any dent in the Trinamul vote bank. BJP leaders live in a fools paradise.

But bt holding back the dues they will lose further support,  he said. The forthcoming Panchayat election will be peaceful as announced by partys national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, Mr Hakim added.
BEIJING, April 17 (Xinhua) -- China's automobile exports registered strong expansion in the first quarter (Q1) of this year, industry data shows.

A total of 994,000 vehicles were exported in this period, soaring 70.6 percent from a year ago, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

In breakdown, passenger vehicle exports jumped 82.9 percent year on year to 826,000 units, while exports of commercial vehicles climbed 28.1 percent from a year ago to 168,000 units.

In the January-March period, exports of new-energy vehicles more than doubled to 248,000 units, the data also reveals. 
The decision has been taken in view of the ongoing heat wave in the state. The school education department has asked the school authorities to make arrangement to conduct special classes

All state-run, -sponsored,  aided and private educational institutions shall remain closed for a week from 17 April, according to a notification issued by the state government today.

The decision has been taken in view of the ongoing heat wave in the state. Notifications in this regard have been issued by the schol education and higher education departments of the state government.

The school education department has asked the school authorities to make arrangement to conduct special classes.

The higher education department, in a separate notification, said all universities and colleges, including private ones, in the state, except in the hilly areas of Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts would remain closed for a week from 17 April.

Earlier the state government had declared the summer vacation from 2 May. But the date has been brought forward.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had to concede to the long pending demand of the Opposition for compensation to the families of those who died after consuming spurious liquor. On Monday, he announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh each to those who died in hooch tragedies since 2016.

It may be noted here that there is a complete prohibition in Bihar on manufacturing, collection, storage, transportation, sale, purchase and possession of any kind of liquor including country made since April 2016.

The chief minister made this surprise announcement that the compensation amount would be given from the CM Relief Fund following a hooch tragedy in Motihari, in Bihars East Champaran district in which 26 died after consuming spurious liquor on Friday night. According to unofficial sources, the death toll in the East Champaran hooch tragedy mounted to 38.

Last year on December 13-15, more than 70 people had died after consuming spurious liquor at Masrakh block in the Saran district.

In addition, over two dozen people are admitted to the government and private hospitals in the district. Sixteen police officials including five station house officers (SHOs), in-charge of anti liquor task force, village chowkidars have already been suspended, according to official sources.

In a complete U-turn from his earlier statement, Nitish said, Main bahut dukhi huin Motihari ki ghatna se. (I am deeply pained over the tragic incident happened in Motihari). Earlier, he used to say Jo piyega woh marega (Those who drink spurious liquor will die).

While the Opposition BJP has been repeatedly demanding compensation to those who died of drinking illicit liquor, the CM kept on rejecting the demand categorically, saying it Jo piyega wo marega. Last year, during winter session in the state assembly, he categorically said that there is no question of giving any compensation to those who died after consuming spurious liquor and also specifically said that there should not be any sympathy for them.

Giving details of the payment of compensation amount, Prohibition Minister Sunil Kumar, who is also a retired IPS officer, said the compensation amount would be given only after the families obtain a post-mortem report stating that the death was caused by consuming illicit liquor.

The recipient will also have to give an undertaking in writing that he or she supports total prohibition in Bihar. He or she will also generate awareness among the neighbouring people about this social evil, he told reporters. This will be applicable with effect from 2016.

One affected person seeking compensation will have to first submit a petition to the concerned district magistrate with a copy of the post mortem report. The concerned DM will verify it then it will be finally approved. The CM also said that if a lone earning member in the family has died after consuming illicit liquor, the government will provide a sustainable employment to the poor family for their livelihood. The government has not made any amendment in the existing Bihar prohibition Act of 2016. We have decided to provide compensation to the affected families purely on humanitarian ground, the CM told media persons.

It may be mentioned here that the hooch tragedy occurred on Friday night after locals allegedly consumed adulterated liquor mainly in four blocks- Harsidhi, Turkulia, Sugauli and Paharpur blocks of the district. The first report of casualty of 12 people came from Lakhimpur village till Saturday. The police said a total of 736.5 litre of spirit have been recovered and about 6110 litre of semi-processed liquor were destroyed.

According to information reached here from the district, out of the total casualty figure, post mortem was conducted on only three bodies. The remaining bodies were disposed of without conducting a post mortem.

Almost all the political parties, including the Opposition BJP, welcomed the decision of CM Nitish to provide compensation to those hit by hooch tragedy. The state BJP president Samrat Choudhary claimed that its a victory for the BJP. We have been demanding this for the last eight months. But the CM was adamant on this issue. BJP compelled the CM to do it. We have also raised this issue in the all party meeting, he told reporters.

Welcoming the CMs decision, Leader of the Congress legislature party in the Bihar assembly Ajit Sharma said that the culprit should be booked immediately. The erring officers should also be taken to task.
Bilateral trade between India and the US rose by almost 8 per cent to $128.55 billion in 2022-23, compared to $119.5 billion in 2021-22.

The growth in bilateral trade between the two countries is significant, considering the fact that in 2020-21, it was only $80.51 billion, according to Commerce Ministry data.

Exports to the US rose by 2.81 per cent to $78.31 billion in 2022-23 as against $76.18 billion in 2021-22, while imports grew by about 16 per cent to $50.24 billion.

At the same time, Indias bilateral trade with China fell by 1.5 per cent in 2022-23 to $114 billion, compared to $115 billion in 2021-22.

Exports to China fell by 28 per cent to $15.32 billion in 2022-23, while imports rose by 4 per cent to $98.51 billion in 2021-22.
The investigation in Delhis liquor policy case reached Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday as the AAP convenor was questioned for nearly 9 hours in the matter in which former deputy chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who held the excise portfolio and several other ministries, was arrested last month.

Kejriwal, who on Sunday was questioned for over nine hours at the CBI headquarters in the national capital, said that the probe agency does not have any bit of evidence against the Aam Aadmi Party government that it has committed any wrong in the framing of now scrapped new excise policy. Kejriwal arrived at the CBI office at around 11 am, accompanied by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and other party leaders. He was questioned for nearly nine years.

CBI questioning was conducted for 9.5 hours. I answered all the questions. The entire alleged liquor scam is false and is out of bad politics. AAP is kattar imaandaar party. They want to finish AAP but the countrys people are with us, Kejriwal said while speaking to the media after coming out of questioning.

When asked about the questions that were asked from him during the questioning, he said that it covered everything from the framing of the policy to the end of it.

They asked everything including why we started the policy and how we did it. They asked me nearly 56 questions starting from 2020 till the end, he said.

The Chief Minister added that he has not been summoned again.

They have not indicated that they will call me once again. They dont have an inch of evidence to prove that the AAP government has done anything wrong, Kejriwal said.

CBI, in a statement, said that it recorded Kejriwals statement in connection with the Excise policy case on Sunday and said that it will be verified and collated with the available evidence.

According to a statement by the CBI, the Chief Minister of Delhi, was issued a notice under section 160 Cr.P.C for his examination in this case on 16.04.2023 and answering various questions related to the case. He joined the investigation today and his statement has been recorded u/s. 161 Cr.P.C.

The statement will be verified and collated with the available evidence, the statement said.

Earlier in the day, the AAP leaders staged a protest against Kejriwals questioning in the national capital. Various leaders of the party including senior leaders like Raghav Chadha, Sanjay Singh and others. However, they were later released by the police.

AAP workers protested in Punjabs Amritsar also against Kejriwals questioning.

Ahead of his appearance before the central investigative agency in connection with the excise policy case, Kejriwal paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat in the national capital on Sunday.

Kejriwal was accompanied by his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Maan, AAP MP Sanjay Singh and other top leaders of the party.

Before heading to the CBI office, Kejriwal said that the central agency will arrest him if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has given the orders.

In a video message released on Sunday morning, Kejriwal said, They (CBI) have called me today and I will definitely go. They are very powerful, they can send anyone to jail. If BJP has ordered CBI to arrest me, then CBI will obviously follow their instructions.

Earlier today, Raghav Chadha called Kejriwal Lord Krishna and called Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as Kansa.

Kansa knew that Lord Shri Krishna would finish him and, hence, made every effort and hatched many conspiracies to inflict harm on Shri Krishna. He could not even harm a hair on his head. Similarly, today the BJP knows that the AAP will bring their downfall, Chadha said.

Chadha said the party which was carved out of the anti-corruption movement has seen all kinds of struggle and is not scared of CBI, ED or police detention.

We want to give the BJP a message that our party was carved out of the anti-corruption movement and has seen all kinds of struggle. We arent scared of CBI, ED or police detention. BJP suffers from Kejriwal phobia. It is because of Kejriwals fear that the BJP has come down to such an act. We have not been told our crime or the IPC regulation that we have broken, said Raghav Chadha while talking to ANI.

As the Aam Aadmi Party leaders were detained for protesting outside the CBI office in the national capital, party leader Jasmine Shah on Sunday asked if the central government has converted Delhi to North Korea which is governed by a dictatorship.

Addressing a press conference here, Shah said, Kejriwal did not try to duck the summons. He will cooperate in the future also. But does that mean that you will not allow a common man to protest? Have you made Delhi a North Korea? It is a matter of shame. The country is watching that democracy is being strangulated.

The AAP leader further alleged that the right to protest in the country is dead.

The right to protest is a sacred right in any democracy. Police was deployed outside the residences of MLAs and said that they would not let them get outside. They picked them up who came outside their residences. Delhi Police detained all the leaders who were protesting silently and waiting for Arvind Kejriwal to come out. The police took them to an unidentified place. The right to protest is dead, he alleged.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday named Shelly Oberoi and Aaley Mohammad Iqbal as the mayoral and deputy mayoral candidates respectively for the April 26 Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) mayoral polls.

The decision to renominate the two incumbents was taken by Chief Minister and AAP National Convener Arvind Kejriwal, in recognition of their performance in the MCD, the party said in a statement issued on Monday.

The incumbent Mayor Shelly Oberoi filed her nomination for the April 26 mayoral elections at the MCD Civic Centre on Monday.

The nominations took place in the presence of senior Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh, Delhi Education Minister Atishi, and MCD Leader of the House Mukesh Goyal.

Right after her nomination, Aaley Mohammad Iqbal filed his nomination for the post of Deputy Mayor in presence of all the leaders.

Speaking to the media on the occasion, AAP MP Sanjay Singh said: The BJP has become such a party that can not digest the mandate of the people.

BJP practises the politics of horse trading. But the people of Delhi have reposed faith in Arvind Kejriwal and his model of governance by voting the BJP out after 15 years, he said.

He also expressed confidence that the Aam Aadmi Party would win with a huge majority. Atishi expressed her confidence that both elections would be won with a vast majority in favour of AAP.

Our Mayor-Deputy Mayor do not sit in AC rooms but work on the ground, she added, while saying, They go everywhere, from the garbage mountains to different wards, schools, and hospitals. This has brought agility to the system. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal himself is personally monitoring the cleanliness and development works of the mountains of garbage.

She also affirmed that the Delhi government and the MCD would continue to work together under AAP.

AAPs Mayoral candidate Dr Shelly Oberoi thanked Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for giving her the opportunity. The people of entire Delhi have given us a huge majority. In such a situation, the people of Delhi have a lot of expectations from us, said Dr. Oberoi.

She added that the AAP will do its best to live up to the expectations of the people of Delhi in the coming times. We will work closely with the Delhi government with full honesty and hard work in the coming term.

Addressing a press conference, senior party leader and Rajya Sabha MP, Sanjay Singh, said that the decision to nominate Shelly Oberoi and Aaley Mohammad Iqbal for a second term in the MCD, was taken due to their exceptional performance during their time in office.

Singh added that the party is confident that they will secure another resounding win in the elections this time around.

He also emphasised the unprecedented support received by AAP during the MCD election for its vision to make Delhi a clean and prosperous city.

MCD Mayor Shelly Oberoi also expressed her gratitude to Chief Minister Kejriwal for nominating her once again as the Mayoral candidate. She pledged to continue with the same level of commitment in the future.

Meanwhile, Singh also accused the BJP of trying to destroy the democracy of the country at every level. Despite this, he said, all the councillors of the AAP stood firmly and voted for their candidates, putting a stop to the BJPs loot in the MCD for 15 consecutive years.
A male Cheetah brought from Namibia to the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh last year seems to have taken fancy to a couple of nearby villages, as the feline has fled the national park for the third time in the past 15 days and reached the same villages again yesterday.

According to Forest Department officials, the five-year-old male Cheetah named Obaan has been spotted in village Jorai located in the Bairaad tehsil of the Shivpuri district adjoining the Sheopur district in which the Kuno national park is located.

The Cheetah is wearing a collar through which the Forest Department officials locate its movements regularly. A team of forest officials is keeping vigil on the Cheetah and is ensuring that the feline is safe outside the park.

The forest staff is also sensitizing the villagers and making them aware of the felines presence so that the human population maintains a safe distance from the Cheetah.

According to Kuno National Park DFO Prakash Verma, the cheetah Obaan has been spotted in an agricultural field in Jorai village in the Bairaad region. This area is about 20 kilometres away from the Kuno jungles.

Obaan had slipped out of the national park for the first time on 2 April and went to village Jhar Baroda in the Bairaad region, about 20 kilometres away from the park.

The feline had returned to the park after about 10 hours.

However, it again went out of the park boundary the very next day and reached the same villages in the same area. It had roamed around in that area for almost four days, after which the forest department staff had tranquilized it to bring it back inside the national park on 6 April.

The national parks core area is spread over a region of 748 sq km while its buffer zone stretches to 487 sq km area.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had released in quarantine the first group of eight cheetahs brought from Namibia into the Kuno National Park on his birthday on September 17 last year.

The second lot of twelve cheetahs imported from South Africa was released in the national park on February 18 this year, taking their total number to twenty.

Of them, one Namibian female cheetah, five-and-half-years old Sasha, died due to renal failure on 27 March.

Another Namibian female cheetah, three-year-old Siyaya gave birth to four cubs around 24 March and the cubs were spotted for the first time on 29 March.

The cheetahs from the two African nations have been brought to India under an ambitious inter-continental translocation programme to revive their population in India seven decades after they became extinct. The countrys last cheetah was shot dead in the Koriya district of present-day Chhattisgarh in 1947 and the species was declared extinct in India in 1952.
Till recently, YSRCP seemed to be completely dominating the political narrative in Andhra Pradesh but with the shocking losses it suffered in MLC elections and the cross-voting by four of its MLAs, the party suddenly seems vulnerable. PV Midhun Reddy, the YSRCPs floor leader in the Lok Sabha and a close confidant of chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy candidly spoke to Anindita Chowdhury about the defeats, the lessons learnt and why it will not impact the partys prospects in the 2024 elections even if N Chandrababu Naidu and Pawan Kalyan join hands. Excerpts:

Q: The chief minister has said that 98 per cent of the poll promises have been fulfilled but when it comes to getting the provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act implemented how have you fared? He visited Delhi recently again, was it fruitful?

A: This has something to do with the previous government. Chandrababu Naidu had a pact with the BJP and he opted for a special package instead of the special category status that was in the Act. Then with Polavoram, it is a national project meaning the Centre will build it and then hand it over to us. That didnt happen. There were a lot of problems with the project like land acquisition, compensation and rehabilitation. Over time we have clarified all their doubts and now it is going at a slow pace but we are progressing. The recent visit of the chief minister was about the revenue deficit grant which we should have got after the bifurcation but didnt get at all in past years. Now we are going to get about Rs 10,000 crore. The chief minister visited for the second time in a month to get it cleared before 31 March. Then there is the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act. Chandrababu Naidu, when he was having good relations with BJP, borrowed Rs 17,000 crore, Now they are recovering it from us saying it is not about Chandrababu or Jagan Mohan, it is about Andhra Pradesh. The chief minister met the Union home minister and finance minister and earlier he had met the Prime Minister. A series of meetings were required to sort these things out.

Q: Coming to the recent MLC elections, you lost both the graduate constituencies in Rayalaseema and even Uttar Andhra. Did you let the youths down and did that cost you the graduate constituency in the MLC elections?

A: We actually got more first-preference votes. But there are BJP, CPI, and CPI-M whose second preference and even first preference votes went to TDP. See the CPI and CPI-M have unions, yet their candidates votes were less this time than what they got in the last elections. Our government is bringing in reforms like facial recognition-based attendance, pensions, etc. so some people are not happy. Generally, every party has a vote bank and in our case, some 87 per cent of the population receives some benefits from the government. The rest 13 per cent above BPL are the salaried class who do not get benefits. They are mostly the voters in graduate constituencies. We did create two lakh jobs through the village secretariat. But we have time to do the correction before the elections. Again, in Uttar Andhra, our candidate selection could have been better.

Q: So these losses will not impact Assembly elections?

A: KCR also lost the MLC election before winning a second term. YSR had lost Kadapa MLC. Everybody said we wont win the teachers constituency but we did.

Q: Did cornering Chandrababu Naidu in Kuppam prove to be counterproductive?

A: Cornering is not the right word. It was a fair election. Basically, the public voted for us because of the welfare measures. Naidu rarely visited his constituency only one or two times. The people there rebelled against Naidu. It was normal, nothing special but it was Naidu so it was hyped.

Q: But what happened to the MLC election under the MLA quota?

A: We had the information that Anam Ramanarayan Reddy and Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy will cross vote and also about Mekapati Chandrasekhar Reddy and Vundavalli Sridevi. We told the chief minister that they need not vote. He did not agree and chose to trust them. These two (Chandrasekhar Reddy and Sridevi) came to meet the chief minister, their kids took photographs with him. We told him to assure them of tickets and he said he cant lie for an MLC election. They have performed really badly in their constituencies. They wanted assurance for tickets. He told them that he cannot assure them that he will make it up in some other way but they wanted the tickets.

Q: But now there is talk that the chief minister has lost control over his MLAs?

A: Out of 151 MLAs there are only four and he is actually having total control and trust of the MLAs. These four have lost his trust. Anams daughter is already in the TDP. How can it happen that my son is in some other party and I am in another party? There is no point in keeping him here. And Kotamreddy Sridhar knows he has made a mistake. He has been around a long time but he made a mistake and lost the trust of the chief minister.

Q: Do you think Pawan Kalyan will join hands with CBN? And if they do, what will happen to the Kapu vote?

A: They have already joined hands. The Kapus are a divided lot. In the last election YSRCP won because we fielded more Kapus we got more MLAs from Kapus. According to the survey, our voting percentage will increase. Pawan Kalyan, whatever percentage of votes he gets while going alone, will get less if he goes with TDP. Suppose he has 15 per cent vote he may get only 10 per cent because the rest dont like Naidu and the vote transfer may not happen. There might be some impact in some seats like East Godavari but not widely. In fact, this election will be between those who are for Jagan and those against him.

Q: Ten years after Reorganisation, AP is again going to polls without a permanent capital. Will this impact the polls?

A: Just because Naidu had bought 50 acres of land he wanted the capital to be there (Amaravati). He wanted a city like Hyderabad which took some hundreds of years to grow. We need to make a decision holistically we cannot create unrest in any of the regions. I will not say there wont be any impact but the advantage will overshadow the disadvantage. The positivity of our decision will outweigh other considerations.

Q: In the past, we saw Telugus dominating national politics during Congress rule or Naidu and even YSR. Why did you cede that space?

A: The day Congress bifurcated the state we lost our strength. From 42 MPs we were reduced to 25. What can you do with just 22 MPs? Our chief minister on his first visit to Delhi had voiced this saying I wish we had a coalition government. Then there would have been some bargaining points. This government has a brute majority.

Q: Isnt KCR doing it with 17 MPs?

A: What option does he have? Why didnt he do it in the first term? He is doing it only because they lost Hyderabad (civic polls). There is nothing wrong with opposing. But could he get funds from the Centre? We took a conscious decision to offer issue-based support. We opposed triple talaq and on some other issues and whenever there is an opportunity we raise the demand for special category status.
Apni party President Syed Altaf Bukhari on Monday emphasised that reconciliation is important to shape the destiny of Jammu and Kashmir and its people in a positive way.

Bukhari was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a party event, in which a large number of political leaders and activists from central Kashmirs Badgam district joined the Apni Party at its headquarters in Srinagar.

In response to questions, the Apni Party President said, Militancy has taken backstage in J&K and the people have been contributing to restoring normalcy here; therefore, the time has come to start a reconciliation to shape up the destiny of this land and its people in a positive manner.

Bukhari expressed concern on the prevailing drug menace in the society and called for comprehensive efforts by one and all to eradicate the menace and protect the young population from falling prey to it. The problem needs to be tackled on a large scale and everyone from the society, especially religious leaders, need to come forward to play a vital role in eradicating drug abuse from the society.

Stressing on the release of religious leaders, Bukhari said, The prominent religious leaders including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Moulana Abdul Rasheed Dawoodi, Moulana Mushtaq Ahmad Veeri, and others who are in jail must be released because these veteran social and religious leaders have huge following in the Valley can play an important role to help eradicate social evils including drug abuse in the Valley.

He further said, Jammat-e-Islami J&K must be allowed to carry out its religious activities so that it can help eradicate social evils including the growing drug menace in Jammu and Kashmir.

Earlier, several political leaders and activists from Badgam district joined the Apni Party. Bukhari welcomed them into the party fold.

Prominent among the new entrants included former leader of the Democratic Azad Party (DAP) Zahid Hussain Jan, President of Municipal Committee Badgam Mushtaq Ahmad Bhat, former President of Municipal Committee Badgam Mehrajuddin and several municipal councillors.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday stressed the need to ensure cultural security, describing it as equally essential as security of the borders and other aspects such as food, energy, environment, cyber and space.

He asserted that the government was laying emphasis on cultural security and special attention was being paid to maintaining the countrys cultural unity.

Addressing the Saurashtra-Tamil Sangamam at Somnath in Gujarat, Rajnath said India has ushered in an era of a cultural renaissance under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The government, he said, was taking a number of steps to connect the people with the nations centuries-old traditions and cultures, adding that Indias deep-rooted traditions depict strength and unity, providing the ability and capability to withstand any challenge.

He termed the event  a confluence of Saurashtra and Tamil Nadu  as a celebration of Indias cultural unity and a shining example of Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat.

On the cultural connection between Saurashtra and Tamil Nadu, Rajnath stated that the ties date back more than a thousand years.

Saurashtra was attacked several times by foreign invaders around the eleventh century. It was that period when a large number of people from Saurashtra migrated to South India. During that time the people of Tamil Nadu welcomed them and helped in starting a new life, he said.

He gave numerous examples of the centuries-old connection between Saurashtra and Tamil Nadu, describing it as one of the shining chapters of a unified India.
The leaders will arrive in various places of North and South Karnataka to campaign for the May 10 Assembly polls.
Press Release

April 17, 2023 COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ORDER AND DANGEROUS DRUGS

OPENING STATEMENT

April 17, 2023

Agenda: P.S. Res. No. 518 - Brazen Assassination of Incumbent Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo (By: Sen. Hontiveros) First of all, I would just like to express my sincere condolences to the family and loved ones of Governor Degamo and the Negrense victims killed on March 4, 2023. Alam ko po kung gaano kahirap at kasakit mawalan ng mahal sa buhay. Ngunit ang hindi ko po yata kayang tanggapin ay kung ang isang mahal sa buhay ay mamamatay lamang sa mga kamay ng walang awa at walang pusong kriminal. We can only wish that this is only a bad dream and everything will be alright when we wake up. But we have to face the truth that our loved ones are lost forever. When the news came out that Governor Degamo, along with several civilians, had been mercilessly gunned down while he was in the middle of distributing provisions to his constituents, it came as a cruel shock to all of us. He was killed in the line of duty--serving the people. The spate of killings of several other political leaders and local government officials months prior, should have served as a warning to Governor Degamo to hide and fear for his own life. But he didn't. He continued his life of public service until his last breath. Although the worst has already happened, your Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs will not allow impunity to prevail. The brutality committed against Governor Degamo and the people of Negros Oriental will not be swept under the rug. Violence has no place in our society. The Senate is not a court of law. However, this does not mean that we do not bear the responsibility to prevent the proliferation of evil. The Senate cannot pass a sentence upon a person whom it believes has committed crime. But it is expected to craft laws to secure and maintain the peace and order in our communities. An unfortunate and reprehensible event has exposed policy gaps that hinder our law enforcement agencies, our Justice Department, and other government agencies, for the speedy administration of justice to the victims. We intend to bridge those gaps through legislation and hopefully, the tragedy that the people of Negros Oriental experienced would be the last. For the record, I personally know Governor Roel Degamo and his wife, Mayor Janice Degamo, and the alleged mastermind of this act, Congressman Arnie Teves. In the spirit of fairness, we invited in this proceeding resource persons that the Committee believes to be relevant in our quest to improve our policies for the preservation of peace and order in the country. We grieve with the victims; we condemn the wrongful acts of the perpetrators. We refuse to be bystanders. And ultimately, we are here to fulfill our mandate. May today's hearing be irrefutable proof of that.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative. Some Turkish artists say the initiative not only brings economic benefits to Belt and Road countries, but also brings different cultures closer. #GLOBALink







Produced by Xinhua Global Service
A man who allegedly duped several people by impersonating as an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer has been arrested, Kolkata police informed on Monday.

Shanta Kumar was arrested late on Sunday night by the cops of Burtolla Police station under the north & north suburban division of Kolkata Police.

City police sources said that Kumar was arrested on the basis of a complaint received against him last year. He was originally a resident of Beliaghata, currently residing at Haridevpur area in the southern outskirts of Kolkata from where he was picked-up.

Kumar has a number of vehicles in which he would move around sporting fake stickers of the state secretariat and the city police.

It is learnt that one Manju Ghosh filed a complaint at the Burtolla Police station last year against Santa Kumar. Ghosh alleged that Kumar, who introduced himself as an IAS officer, promised her two flats under special quota at Rajarhat Megacity area. For that purpose, she also paid an advance amount of Rs 11,76 lakhs to the fake IAS officer. However, since then Kumar has vanished with her money.

Police started investigation in the matter and came to know of similar cases against Kumar. Finally, on Sunday night, he was arrested. While investigating, police recovered certain government papers as well as several fake stickers from his residence. He will be presented to a city court on Monday where the police will seek his custody.

To recall, in 2021, the police busted a fake Covid-19 vaccination racket run by a bogus Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, Debanjan Deb, who used to hoodwink people using a vehicle sporting a red beacon.

Later, it was revealed that Deb, whose father was a retired senior officer with the state excise department, had duped several people faking as an IAS officer.
In a setback to the BJP ahead of the Assembly elections in Karnataka, former Chief Minister and prominent Linagayat leader Jagadish Shettar today joined the Congress, saying he was joining the grand old party whole-heartedly.

Shettar, who quit the BJP yesterday after being denied party ticket to contest, arrived at the Congress office in Bengaluru this morning. His induction into the party took place in the presence of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Karnataka state Congress chief D K Shivakumar and Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Siddaramaiah.

Yesterday I left BJP and today I joined the Congress party. Many are surprised as an opposition leader, former CM and party president is joining Congress. BJP has given me every position and being a party worker I always worked for the partys growth. I thought being a senior leader, I will get the ticket, but when I came to know that I am not getting it, I was shocked. No one spoke to me nor tried to convince me, not even gave assurance about what position I will get, Shettar told the media.

He slammed the BJP and alleged that the party has humiliated and ill-treated him. I was humiliated and badly treated by the BJP leaders. A few leaders in the state are misusing the BJP system and it is hurtful, he said.

Shettar further said, I was contacted by (Congress leaders) D K Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah, Surjewala and MB Patil. When they invited me I came without any other option. I am joining Congress wholeheartedly.

Khare said the joining of the Congress by a prominent Lingayat leader would empower the party. This will empower (the party), there is unity. This shows that everyone is happy with the atmosphere that is building up in Karnataka today and all leaders are connecting with usThis is not a question of Lingayats, they are connecting with us by looking at our programmes. We welcome them, he told reporters.

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai admitted that Shettars departure from the party might have an impact. Jagadish Shettar is a senior leader and his leaving the party will have an impact. We tried pacifying him by offering a key position in New Delhi and also an Assembly ticket to his family member. But Shettar was very adamant about his Assembly ticket and did not agree to our terms. We will overcome his impact at Hubballi  Dharwad region.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Dr. Mohanrao Bhagwat said on Monday that a day would come when the entire Hindu society would become the Sangh and that would be the day when there would be no need for a separate RSS within the Hindu society.

Dr. Bhagwat said this after inaugurating a newly-built district office of the Hedgewar Memorial Committee in Burhanpur in Madhya Pradesh.

He said the popularity of RSS has increased tremendously and the Sangh is expanding at a fast pace. Dr. Bhagwat asserted that in the near future the RSS would assume a society-like form and the whole Hindu society would become part of it.

He said the works carried out by the RSS are aimed at protecting the Hindu religion and providing a feeling of security to the peace-loving people while also generating fear in the minds of those who have nefarious intentions.

The RSS chief called upon all the people of India to cohesively work towards the development and progress of the country in all fields.

Dr. Bhagwat said that the RSS considers the entire society its own and so this newly built office will become the centre of the Hindu society and not just of the RSS.

Dr. Bhagwat was on a two-day visit to the Malwa region in Madhya Pradesh where he inaugurated the new RSS office at Burhanpur.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, on Monday, has raised with Russia Indias concern over the trade imbalance between the two countries, saying the issue needed to be addressed on an urgent basis.

There are understandable concerns about trade imbalance and we need to work with our Russian counterparts to address this imbalance. We should be honest about short and medium-term challenges in business, he said while addressing the India-Russia business dialogue organised by FICCI. Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade & Industry Denis Manturov also addressed the meeting.

Jaishankar underlined the importance of motivating businesses on both sides. You can see that there are big changes going on like Make in India. We are determined to make India a global manufacturing hub. I want to emphasise the opportunity of Make in India for Russia which is known for its technological strength, he added.

I would say that really what the future of our economic cooperation requires is the willingness and ability to look at it from the point of view of the other partner and then come up with solutions which will overcome the obstacles, he said. Payments, logistics and certification were some of the key areas and it was possible to find solutions to them.

He said the two countries were discussing the importance of connectivity and the north-south and maritime corridors. There were discussions also on payment issues like International trade settlement in the Indian rupee, he noted.

Jaishankar said the India-Russia partnership today was a subject of attention and comment, not because it has changed but because it has not. We share a commitment to a multipolar world. Russia was looking towards Asia and for India, it could mean broadening of ties.

The Russian leader, on his part, said India and Russia were discussing proposals across various sectors. We have allowed the import of original goods without the consent of the rights owners from unfriendly countries. We look forward to intensifying negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India, he added.

He said the two countries were also working on signing a Russia-India bilateral agreement for the promotion and protection of investments.
India on Monday with its inclusive and action-oriented policy processes at the heart of its agenda celebrated a key milestone of hosting its 100th meeting under its G20 Presidency with the meeting of Agricultural Chief Scientists (MACS) in Varanasi.

The G20, or Group of Twenty, is an intergovernmental forum of the worlds 20 major developed and developing economies, making it the premier forum for international economic cooperation. With more than 12,300 delegates from over 110 nations, the in-person participation in Indias G20 Presidency is the largest ever hosted by any G20 country so far. Throughout Indias Presidency, more than 200 meetings in around 60 cities across India are still being planned, making it the widest geographical spread.

Indias G20 presidency inclusive pan-India approach, centred on Jan Bhagidari or citizens engagement has so far covered over 41 cities, with around a dozen meetings held in the North Eastern part of the country. The meetings have also been successful in showcasing Indias incredible natural and architectural beauty through excursions, side events and more than 1500 cultural events with around 7000 artists performing.

The meetings include Agricultural Chief Scientists (MACS) in Varanasi, the second Health Working Group in Goa, the 2nd Digital Economy Working Group in Hyderabad and the Space Economy Leaders Precursor Meeting in Shillong which is being held on Monday.

With the first Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting (FMCBG) in Bengaluru on February 24-25, the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting (FMM) in New Delhi on March 1-3, and the second FMCBG meeting in Washington on April 12-13, three ministerial meetings have been held till date under India as G20 Chair along with the two Sherpa Meetings in Udaipur from December 4-7 December last year and Kumarakom from March 30  April 2.

28 Foreign Ministers (from 18 G20 members, 9 guest countries and AU Chai- Comoros) and two Deputy/Vice Foreign Ministers (from Japan and the Republic of Korea) attended the FMM. These Ministerial meetings concluded with substantive outcome documents that fostered consensus on G20s shared priorities.

These include consensus on setting up of an expert group on MDB reforms and on debt treatment in the 1st FMCBG, and on multilateral reforms, development cooperation, food and energy security, counter-terrorism, new and emerging threats, global skill mapping and disaster risk reduction in the FMM.

Showcasing Indias diversity, traditions and culture also remains an integral part of the visiting delegates programme. With Millet-based dishes being incorporated into the menu, a wide range of cultural performances and excursions have been organized.

The impact of Indias G20 Presidency gave a boost for Covid-hit sectors, a surge in demand for operators, guides and drivers in terms of boosting tourism, and also giving a boost to small businesses that brought global buyers at sellers doorstops.

Indias ongoing G20 Presidency comprise broad priority areas such as inclusive and resilient growth; progress on SDGs, green development and Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE); technological transformation and public digital infrastructure; reforming multilateral institutions; women-led development; and international peace and harmony.

India during its G20 presidency will host the largest-ever contingent of delegations in the final New Delhi Summit that will take place in September. Taking the baton from Indonesia, Indias year-long Presidency of the grouping commenced on 1 December 2022, and would continue until 30 November 2023.

On November 8, 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the G20 logo and unveiled Indias G20 Presidency theme  Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam- One Earth. One Family. One Future.

The G20, or Group of Twenty, is an intergovernmental forum of the worlds major developed and developing economies. It comprises 19 countries  Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, US and the European Union (EU).

Collectively, the G20 accounts for 85 per cent of global GDP, 75 pc of international trade and two-thirds of the world population, making it the premier forum for international economic cooperation.
CPI- M Kerala Secretary M V Govindan has said that the LDF government in Kerala is committed to silverline semi-high-speed rail project and the Vande Bharat Express allotted to Kerala by the Central government is not an alternative to the K-Rail (Silver Line) envisioned by the state government .

Speaking to media persons here, MV Govindan said that K-Rail is inevitable for the development of Kerala and that taking loans to create capital investments is not problematic

Stating that the LDF government is planning to run a train every 20 minutes, the CPI-M leader asked, Would running one train a day be a substitute for that? If not for today, K-Rail is essential for Keralas future, he added

Responding to BJP leader P K Krishnadas who, picking a line from his (MV Govindans) earlier speech, said that Malayalis dont have to wait till the arrival of K-Rail and can sell the bread they made in another place by travelling in Vande Bharat, Govindan said the bread will be rotten by the time Vande Bharat trains reach their destination. You need SilverLine for that, he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the first semi high-speed train allotted to Kerala in Thiruvananthapuram on 25 April. The new train, the Vande Bharat Express, will operate between Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur, providing a faster mode of transportation for the people in the state.

The new high-speed train is allotted to Kerala while the state government is pressing the Centre government for the approval of its Silverline semi-high-speed rail project

Meanwhile,in an embarrassment to the BJP, Metroman E Sreedharan, , who contested the 2021 Kerala Assembly elections as a BJP candidate has said Vande Bharat trains are not suitable for the existing railway tracks in Kerala.

It is possible to operate (Vande Bharat) in Kerala, but you will not get the benefits of it, he said.

In an interview given to an English daily, Sreedharan said that in the present circumstances, the high-speed trains can be run merely as a show or publicity.

The Vande Bharat train has a speed potential of 160km per hour. The present track can take 80km per hour or a maximum of 100 km per hour, which in effect can only run at 90km, he said.

Sreedharan, who was the former managing director of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), is also against the LDF governments proposed SilverLine semi-high-speed train project , citing technical reasons.
President Droupadi Murmu on Monday underlined the need for the development of villages for the overall progress of the nation.

Despite the rapid urbanisation over the past few decades, the majority of the population still lives in villages. Even those who live in cities are somehow connected to villages, she noted while presenting the National Panchayat Awards and inaugurating the National Conference on Incentivisation of Panchayats.

The president was of the view that villagers should be able to decide what should be the model for the development of a village, and how it should be implemented. She said that Panchayats were not just a means of implementing government programmes and initiatives, but also a place to encourage new leaders, planners, policy-makers, and innovators. By adopting the best practices of one Panchayat in other Panchayats, we can quickly develop and make our villages prosperous, she added.

President Murmu said there was a provision for the election of Panchayat representatives, every five years, to ensure the participation of every section of society. However, it has been observed that these elections sometimes created bitterness among the people. Keeping in mind the need to avoid any mutual discord among the villagers due to the elections, Panchayat elections have been kept separate from political parties.

She stressed that a society, in which there was mutual cooperation and trust among people, flourished more. She said that a village was an extension of the family. All community work should be done with mutual agreement as much as possible.

The president said that for the holistic development of any society, the participation of women was very important. Women should have the right to make decisions for themselves, for their families and for the welfare of society. This right could be achieved through their empowerment at the family and village levels.

She was happy to note that out of more than 31.5 lakh elected representatives of local rural bodies, 46 per cent were women. She urged women to actively participate in the work of the Gram Panchayats. She also appealed to their families to support them in these efforts.
In an apparent reference to the killing of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf in Prayagraj, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the judiciary has the right to decide the punishment of the criminal.

The constitution of the country has been made by those people who fought for freedom. This constitution and law of ours have got the highest position. No one can be allowed to mess with it. Judiciary has the right to decide the punishment of the criminal, Kharge said in a tweet in Hindi.

This right cannot be given to any government, any leader or any person who violates the law. Those who advocate the bullet system and mob system only destroy the Constitution, he said in another tweet.

Whoever interferes with our justice system for political purpose to intimidate and threaten someone in the society, he is also a partner of punishment along with the criminal.There are courts to ensure that any criminal gets the harshest punishment. Playing with law and order only gives birth to anarchy, the Congress president said in another tweet.

       ,                

           

         

1/3

 Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) April 16, 2023

Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee voiced concern over the brazen anarchy and said the incident shows total collapse of law and order in Uttar Pradesh.

According to Banerjee, such unlawful acts have no place in our constitutional democracy.

I am shocked by the brazen anarchy and total collapse of law & order in Uttar Pradesh. It is shameful that perpetrators are now taking the law in their own hands, unfazed by the police and media presence. Such unlawful acts have no place in our constitutional democracy, tweeted the West Bengal CM.

AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday appealed to the Supreme Court to take suo moto cognizance of the killing of former MP Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf in Uttar Pradesh and constitute an investigation team.

The Hyderabad MP said officials from Uttar Pradesh should not be part of the investigation team to ensure a fair probe.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has announced a three-member judicial commission that will probe the murders of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf in presence of the police and the media on Saturday night.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday dismissed a Punjab Police Service (PPS) officer Raj Jit Singh and ordered a vigilance probe against his disproportionate assets on the basis of reports about an alleged nexus between police officers and drug traffickers in the state.

No one involved in drug trafficking will be spared After scrutinising the sealed envelope reports, Rajjit Singh PPS (Punjab Police Service) is nominated in the drug trafficking case and immediately dismissed from the job to investigate the money laundering proceeds  the CM said in a tweet.

The action came after the three reports prepared by anti-drug Special Investigation Force were opened on Raj Jits alleged collusion with dismissed cop Inderjit Singh, who planted money on the innocent to extort money and helped drug smugglers by leaving loopholes in the investigation.

Inderjit was arrested by additional DGP Harpreet Sidhu-led STF on drugs in 2018 during Capt Amarinder Singhs government. No action was taken against Raj Jit.

Three sealed-cover reports regarding the role of police officials in the drug trade in the state were opened by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on 28 March. These reports were submitted on February 1, 2018, March 15, 2018 and May 8, 2018 by the Special Investigation Team, formed by the high court. The reports had been lying in the court since then.

After these reports were opened in the high court last month, Mann had said the state government will soon initiate action against those named in the report pertaining to drug trade in the state and those who have ruined youth of Punjab through drugs wont be spared.

The CM said the drug trade that had flourished during the previous Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (SAD-BJP) and Congress regimes had ruined the future generations of the state.

He said the affluent leaders of both these parties had patronised this illegal trade in connivance of bureaucrats and drug smugglers to mint money illegally. Mann said the perpetrators of this heinous crime will not be spared at any cost and they will be put behind the bars.

The CM said the probe report on this issue had been hanging in fire since long as none of the previous government was sincere to take action against those forces which had ruined the future of Punjab.

Mann had said exemplary action will be taken against those people whose hands are drenched with the blood of countless youth who fell prey to drug menace.
The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to Delhi government on a plea by Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Brinda Karat seeking registration of FIRs against Union minister Anurag Thakur and BJP MP Parvesh Verma for their alleged hate speeches.

The case dates back to 2020 in the backdrop of the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the Delhi riots that followed.

While issuing the notice, a bench of Justice K M Joseph and Justice B V Nagarathna observed that the reasoning of courts below that sanction under Section 196 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) was required may not be correct.

Goli Maron desh Ke gaddaro was not in terms of medicine prescription certainly as Gaddar means traitor I believe, Justice Joseph remarked while interpreting Thakurs remark.

Brinda Karat approached the top court along with K M Tiwari against a June 2022 Delhi High Court order which had rejected their plea. Both Karat and Tiwari had moved the high court challenging a trial court decision that had refused to order registration of FIRs against the two BJP leaders.

The speeches by the two leaders were made during the Delhi assembly elections in 2020, when the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests were ongoing in the national capital.

The high court in its ruling had expressed concern at the petitioners bypassing remedies under the CrPC in this case, terming it a trend and a worrying phenomenon that has gained traction and is in vogue these days.

Further, the polices status report had found that no cognisable offence had been made out.




NYINGCHI, April 17 (Xinhua) -- With distinctive plateau landscapes and constantly improving infrastructure, the tourism industry in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region is thriving and has brought tangible benefits to local farmers and herders.



In Suosong Village, Nyingchi City, the tourism economy has been booming over the past few years, thanks in part to the peach blossom festival, which has celebrated its 20th edition this year.

The village now has 120 households and 416 residents. Villagers now run 41 homestays, offering a total of 1,600 beds for tourists.

In 2022, the per capita disposable income of the village exceeded 31,000 yuan (about 4,511 U.S. dollars).

To attract repeat visitors, the village has constantly improved its infrastructure and upgraded the hostels.

This year's peach blossom festival in Nyingchi will last till mid-May.

In 2022, Nyingchi received 6.58 million tourists from home and abroad, and the tourism revenue reached 5.664 billion yuan (about 824.3 million U.S. dollars).

Produced by Xinhua Global Service
The Railways has brought a wonderful tour package. Under the package, you will get a chance to visit five Jyotirlingas on a special tourist train (Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train) for the darshan of Jyotirlingas.

The passengers can board the train at Kolkata. The journey will start on 20 May. About 700 people can travel together under the tour package. The journey will be of 12 days and 11 nights.

Through this train, you will be able to visit Omkareshwar, Mahakaleshwar, Somnath, Nageshwar, and Trimbakeshwar as well as the Statue of Unity, Shirdi Sai Baba, and Shani Shingnapur.

Apart from this, tourists will be given boarding and deboarding facilities from various stations covering the states of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh.

If you want to book tickets for this tour package then know the train ticket price. There will be all kinds of facilities on this train. Like if you want to travel in AC then you have to book an AC ticket and if you want to travel in a sleeper cheaply then you will also get this facility.

There will also be a pantry car in this train so that passengers will be able to get fresh food. CCTV cameras will be installed throughout the entire train.

Along with this, guards will also be present on the train for security. Stay will be booked in an AC hotel to rest at different places. You will not be charged for any kind of food in the hotel. Local transport will be made available for free

There are 315 berths in economy class (sleeper class) on this train. For you will have to pay Rs 20,060 to book a seat. In this package, the passengers will be provided accommodation in a non-AC budget hotel and the facility of the non-AC bus will be provided.

There are 297 berths available in Standard ie 3rd Ac package. In this, the fare of one person is Rs 31,800. In this package, you will be accommodated in an AC hotel and will be given the facility of a non-AC bus.

Comfort (2nd AC)  44 berths are available in this package and for this, each person will have to pay Rs 41,600. Also, in this package, passengers will be accommodated in AC hotels and an AC bus facility will be provided.

Booking has started for this tour, if you want more information about this package, then you can get information by calling on the given WhatsApp numbers 8595930998, and 9001094705. The booking facility for these packages is provided by IRCTC. Also available on IRCTCs website www.irctourism.com.
Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Road Transport and Highways General (Retd) V K Singh said as demand for food is set to increase significantly in the coming decades with the rise in population, countries should harness each others strengths and improve trade relations not just to open new business opportunities for sustainable agriculture but also stabilise food availability across regions and help small farmers as part of the agricultural value chain.

The G-20 countries should look into diverse areas of sustainable practices that promote diversification of crop production systems, efficient utilisation of water resources and fertilizers, assimilation of horticulture practices, soil, health management, and post-harvest management of crops, among others. We should utilise the emerging digital technologies to usher in ease of farming across the G20 countries and the world. India would be happy to share its expertise in this regard with other countries, especially developing and least developed countries, he said.

During Indias Presidency, the theme One Earth, One Family, One Future signifies our collective efforts for achieving SDGs. The theme of MACS Sustainable Agriculture & food System for healthy people and plant resonates the emphasis put forth in the theme,  Singh said while inaugurating the G20 Meeting of Agricultural Chief Scientists (MACS) here on Monday.

The Union minister said the UN General Assembly, based on Indias proposal has declared 2023 as International Year of the Millets. This will help highlight the benefits of Millets to the world. Millets are grown in over 130 countries across the world and the maximum production is in Africa. They are climate resilient and nutrition rich highlighting their need in these difficult times of climate change and post pandemic recovery. We have made it a peoples movement and appeal to all the G20 countries to support the move.

Today, much of Indias development agenda is mirrored in the Sustainable Development Goals. The country is working towards the localization of SDGs to deliver on its global commitments. At G-20, it will accelerate progress on SDGs across all its thematic areas, Singh said.

He said, This is an attractive opportunity to take stock of our progress on critical issues of food security and nutrition, climate change adaptation solutions, digital agriculture, public-private investment in agriculture. G20 as a group shares about 85% of the GDP of the world and hence has greater responsibility towards the wellbeing of global humanity.

The Union minister said, As two-thirds of the world population lives in G-20 Nations and 60% of all agricultural land and 80% of world trade in agricultural products is accounted for by these countries, our onus on food security and nutrition, livelihood support to the people is crucial. We must utilize our collective strengths for responsible and responsive R&D in agriculture and promoting cooperation for faster transition towards sustainable agriculture and food systems.

In India, as the food supply improved, we moved towards the goals of sustainability, efficiency, equity, affordable and healthy safe food as also farmers income and competitiveness in food value chain. Our efforts to deal with global food price shock of 2007-2011 and during COVID -19 pandemic offers useful lessions. We have put the worlds largest rural employment programme under National Rural Employment Guarantee Act since 2005. The scheme provides constitutional right to every rural household to get work for 100 days in a year on voluntary basis. We have the worlds largest food-based safety net programs, reaching out to about 800 million people in 2020, including ~ 120 million school children through the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) scheme, he stressed.

Singh maintained that political will and policy support in agricultural research gave India results through different research based revolutions viz. Green, White, Yellow, Blue, Golden, Silver and evergreen revolutions.

India is the lead producer of Pulses, Milk, Jute, Spices, Poultry and Livestock population of Buffalo & Goats. We were able to increase our agricultural production from 135 MT in 1950s to over 1300 MT in 2022. This sector engages around 47 % of the workforce and contributes for about 17% in Indias GDP, he said.

The Union minister disclosed that the country is moving towards bio-fortified crop varieties for quicker solution to improve health and address nutrition issues of women and children. Over 5 million hectare area in India is under bio-fortified varieties of different crops.

India recognizes and appreciates the renewed efforts made by G-20 and other nations and organizations for the digitalization of Agriculture. India has one of the largest digital connect in the form of over 1.2 billion mobile connections and 1.20 billion+ Unique ID-AADHAR holders. We have provided 120 million soil health cards to farmers, he added.

Singh said , Our strength is the pan-India presence of ICAR institutes and KVKs with domain expertise for crops, horticulture, livestock, fisheries, soil and water expertise/ farm machineries, and farmers outreach. This unique strength is being utilized to provide ICT interface with plants, animals, man and machine. 

He said recently, India has embarked upon Prakritik Kheti or chemical free natural farming, which offer greater opportunity to push and pull the local seed systems and utilization of agro-biodiversity for the benefit of the masses.

About 80 delegates from different countries are participating in this conference.
Battling with a mammoth debt, Sri Lankas Agriculture Minister last week announced a plan to export 1,00,000 monkeys to China, the countrys biggest bilateral lender.

According to the Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, the business is to get rid of the endemic toque macaques or common monkeys in Sri Lanka, which have won the wrath of farmers for destroying crops. According to China, the request for monkeys was for them to be distributed among 1,000 zoos and the Minister had even appointed a committee to study the project.

However, planned monkey export to China has been opposed by environmentalists and animal rights activists who complained that the ministers decision needs a comprehensive study especially in a backdrop where there had been no census of monkeys over the last 40 years.

Leading environmental rights activist Jagath Gunawardana demanded clarity and transparency on the plan to export the animals which are not a protected species in Sri Lanka but are in the international red list of endangered animals. We want to know why they want so many monkeys  whether it is for meat, medical research or some other purpose.

The environmentalist and animal rights activists, however, are against having the monkey business with China which some suspect as similar to donkey business with Pakistan. In last October it was announced that China was keen on importing donkeys and dogs from Pakistan, a cash-strapped country like Sri Lanka. Chinese interest in donkeys were to use the animals hide to manufacture traditional Chinese medicines eijao or donkey-hide gelatin that is believed to have medicinal properties. However Sri Lankas animal rights groups and others are dead against having the same fate of Pakistani donkeys to Sri Lankan monkeys.

The activists protest seems justifiable as business with China is interpreted with suspicion as opposed to any other country. No financial detail of possible monkey export to China was immediately disclosed by either party.

Not only with monkeys, given the past experience with multi-dollar million, white elephant Chinese credit projects like countrys second international airport, harbour, conference hall, highway all the islands rural southernmost point in Hambantota which is also the key location of Chinas BRIs Maritime Silk Road in the Indian Ocean, questions are now being asked what benefit Sri Lanka gained by becoming the biggest debtor to Beijing. While China holds over a fifth of Sri Lankas bilateral credit, what benefits Sri Lanka had reaped with these billion dollar loans are unknown to most.

It is a common knowledge that in the extremely corrupt political hands like in Sri Lanka, with no transparency with regard to financial handling, China, which is famous for offering commissions and kickbacks for anyone who would help their plans and become the victor, is able to get its plans through.

With such a history, this weeks two other Asian giants, Japan and India, together with France announced a common platform for talks among bilateral creditors to coordinate restructuring Sri Lankas debt. However, China last month announced that it would offer debt relief to the island nation for 2022 and 2023 in line with an IMF bailout program.

Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki, who announced the creation of a platform, extended an open invitation to China stating, I hope many countries will participate. It will be very nice if China will join,

While the Japanese Finance Minister made the request, Chinas Foreign Ministry spokesman in response had reiterated the extension on Sri Lankas debt service.

Sri Lanka will not have to repay the principal and interest due of the Banks (Chinas Exim Bank) loans during the above-mentioned period, so as to help relieve Sri Lankas short-term debt repayment pressure; meanwhile, the Bank would like to have friendly consultation with Sri Lanka regarding medium- and long-term debt treatment in this window period, the spokesman from Beijing said.

The proposed platform and other debt restructuring measures are desperately needed for Sri Lanka to secure a $2.9 billion bailout package and start repaying around $6 billion annually until 2029.

Japan, and France, Paris Club members and India G20 chair, the key countries which initiated the platform hope that it would be a model for solving the debt burdens of middle income countries.

But it is uncertain whether China would join this historic initiative. The group has sent an invitation to all of Sri Lankas bilateral creditors, including China, and hopes to hold the first round of talks at the earliest date possible, said Japans top currency diplomat Masato Kanda.

Playing a vital historical role to support her Southern neighbour, India had been with Sri Lanka throughout the crisis. Despite Sri Lanka having played the China card on a number of occasions ignoring India and Japan, it was India which was first to inform the IMF for debt relief support to Sri Lanka. The announcement in January was in addition to nearly $4 billion financial assistance within six months from January 2022, the period the country went through a major political turmoil.

Acting on the same spirit, last week, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman attending a high-level meeting on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings, announced Indias commitment to help Sri Lanka in handling the on-going economic crisis. Sitharaman stressed that a collaboration among creditors was important to ensure transparency and equality in treatment of all creditors in the debt restructuring discussions.
The death toll from fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has risen to 97, according to The Washington Post citing the Sudanese Doctors Union.

As of early Monday, 97 civilians had been killed and nearly 600 had been injured in the violence.

The Central Committee of Sudan Doctors said Monday morning that stray artillery struck a hospital in the southern part of the capital, creating a state of terror and panic, but that patients and staff were unharmed.

Eyewitnesses in the capital city of Khartoum told CNN that fighting intensified after Sunday morning prayers, with loud noises and explosions heard throughout the night. There have also been reports of battles hundreds of miles away in the eastern city of Port Sudan.

The armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been competing for power as political factions negotiate on forming a transitional government after a 2021 military coup. The tensions stem from a disagreement between the military, headed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, about how the paramilitary force should be integrated into the armed forces and what authority should oversee that process, according to Al Jazeera.

The military, 18 months after its coup, had promised to cede control to a civilian-led government this month. Yet, the process has been dominated by a rivalry between General al-Burhan and General Hamdan, also known as Hemeti.

The two generals have been openly criticising one another in speeches over the past few months, and they have dispatched reinforcements and armoured vehicles to oppose military camps spread around the city.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, three United Nations World Food Programme staff died. Following the death of three staff in the clash, the UN agency has temporarily halted all operations.

In a statement, Executive Director of the UN agency Cindy McCain, on Sunday, said that all the operations in Sudan have been suspended, pending a review of the evolving security situation.

WFP is committed to assisting the Sudanese people facing dire food insecurity, said McCain, adding, but we cannot do our lifesaving work if the safety and security of our teams and partners are not guaranteed. All parties must come to an agreement that ensures the safety of humanitarian workers on the ground and enables the continued delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance to the people of Sudan. They remain our top priority.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade, Denis Valentinovich Manturov on Monday expressed his desire to boost trade with India in order to balance Russias merchandise trade deficit with India.

Thats one of the issues which we just discussed with your colleague, so because of lack of input from India, its not enough to use the Rupee so we need to boost the trade from India and then in this case we are looking at balance like for example, we have with China. We have USD 200 billion trade with China, and its balanced, said Manturov on the India-Russia trade and payments issue. India and Russia are discussing a free trade agreement, a move that would further deepen bilateral commercial ties that have flourished since war broke out in Ukraine.

Notably, the China-Russia trade surge has increased the use of the Chinese renminbi. Chinas total exports to Russia grew to USD 76.12 billion in 2022, representing an increase of over 12 per cent compared to a year earlier.

Russias economy has been hit by Western sanctions due to its invasion of Ukraine, resulting in increased use of the Yuan.

The shift has made Russia a rare example of a country adopting the renminbi rather than the US dollar or euro as a reserve currency.

Russian President Vladimir Putin in March endorsed the broader international use of the renminbi. As he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, he said that he supported the use of the yuan in payments between Russia and countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America, reported TASS.

Manturov is on a two-day visit to India to co-chair the Intergovernmental Russian-Indian Commission, which is aimed at enhancing trade ties between the two countries.

On the first day of his visit, Manturov co-chaired the 24th India-Russia Inter-governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC)

The IRIGC-TEC is the primary institutional mechanism supervising economic cooperation. It integrates six working groups on economic and trade cooperation, modernisation and industrial cooperation, energy, tourism and culture, science and technology, and IT.

A plenary meeting of the intergovernmental commission (IGC) will be held on Tuesday, following which the co-chairs will sign the final protocol of the 24th IGC meeting.

Both sides plan to discuss the issues of bilateral trade, and economic and humanitarian cooperation. Manturov will also hold a number of bilateral meetings, the Russian Embassy in India said in a tweet.

A number of institutionalized mechanisms have been set up for the development of economic cooperation between the two countries. The primary institution at the government level is IRIGC-TEC.

Last month, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Manturov co-chaired the virtual meeting of IRIGC-TEC.
Saint-Laurent, CA (H4T1V6)

Today

Partly cloudy early followed by some light rain later in the day. High 54F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Showers in the evening, then partly cloudy overnight. Low 37F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.
A Medford man has been charged with murder in connection with the deaths of a married couple whose bodies were discovered in a storage unit in Boston
MOSCOW, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Chinese State Councilor and Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu here on Sunday.

Asking Li to convey his sincere greetings and best wishes to Chinese President Xi Jinping, Putin recalled Xi's recent fruitful Russia visit, during which they charted the course for the development of Russia-China relations in the new era, and agreed to further strengthen the strategic coordination between the two countries and deepen practical cooperation in such fields as economy, culture and education, among others.

Military cooperation plays an important role in Russia-China relations, he said, voicing hope that the two militaries will strengthen cooperation in joint training, professional exchanges and other fields, and that the strategic mutual trust between the two countries will continue to be deepened.

Conveying Xi's cordial greetings and best wishes to Putin, Li said that the two heads of state steer the development of China-Russia relations and the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era has been continuously deepened. The military mutual trust between the two countries has been increasingly consolidated with substantial progress in cooperation.

China is willing to work with Russia to fully implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, further strengthen the strategic communication between the two militaries and bolster multilateral coordination and cooperation so as to make new contributions to safeguarding global and regional security and stability, said the Chinese defense minister. 
Acting globally is the only way we can save the planet
A Black teenager is in critical condition after being shot in the head last Thursday in Kansas City, Missouri.

According to police, Ralph Yarl, 16, was supposed to pick up his siblings at Northeast 115th Terrace but mistakenly went to 115th Street. When he knocked on the door, he was shot; KMBC-TV in Kansas City reports. KMBC is a fellow Hearst Media outlet.

The incident occurred last Thursday, April 13, at about 10 p.m. central time.

Family and supporters marched and protested after the alleged shooter was not jailed.

"A person can be held up for 24 hours for investigation of a felony, at which time they're required by Missouri law to be charged or released," KCMO Police Chief Stacey Graves said at a joint press conference with Mayor Quinton Lucas. "The vast majority of cases to include violent crime involve the suspect being released pending further investigation. In this case, the prosecutor requires more information from investigators. That would take more than 24 hours to compile."

Well-known civil rights attorney Ben Crump announced Sunday he has been retained by Yarl's family. He also represented the families of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown in similar high-profile shooting cases.

"There can be no excuse for the release of this armed and dangerous suspect after admitting to shooting an unarmed, non-threatening and defenseless teenager that rang his doorbell," Crump said in a press release.

The news of Yarl's shooting has made national headlines, and it's sparked a lot of responses from celebrities on social media. Hollywood stars Halle Berry, Justin Timberlake and Jennifer Hudson among others have voiced their support.

Those close to Yarl have also posted to social media, including one of his teachers and his aunt, Faith Spoonmore, who shared her knowledge of the incident on video posts. Spoonmore has also started GoFundMe page which has raised more than $1.1 million with a goal set of $1.5 million.

"He didn't have his phone. He mistakenly went to the wrong house, one block away from the house where his siblings were," Spoonmore wrote on the fundraising page.
In the April 10th edition of the Telegraph, the Schlafly boys penned an editorial that states that anyone who is running for President should be immune from prosecution. Sorry, officer, but you will have to keep that ticket. You see, Im running for President.

Their absurd argument is based on the meritless claim that Trumps free speech rights have been violated. The assertion is their newest attempt to bullet proof Donald Trump from prosecution by District Attorney Alvin Bragg for Trumps alleged violations of New York State laws.

The Schlaflys point to cases where the Supreme Court ruled that in exceptional circumstances an injured party can seek relief from violations of civil rights caused by state officials, and that federal courts can provide such relief by injunction or other means. The problem with the boys argument is obvious. Trump isnt injured.

Trump has not been denied any right to speak. No gag order or otherwise limiting restriction has been imposed on Trump. That is obvious given his rantings on Truth Social. And if the judge does ultimately restrict some of Trumps speech, it would be either to protect the safety of the prosecutor and his family or prospective jurors from myriad threats and intimidation.

Meanwhile the Schlaflys declared Trump innocent of the charges without even a whiff of evidence in support of their claim. They would have you believe that the case is purely political. However, if you wish to believe that there is no legitimate basis for bringing the case, then you must also believe that all of the subject financial records are in order; Michael Cohen was wrongly convicted; Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal are each independently lying; 34 felonies are trivial and should be excused; 23 grand jurors are part of a plot to get Trump; Trumps longtime friend and CEO of the National Enquirer, David Pecker, is lying; and the audio tape of Trump directing Cohen is a fake. And if you believe all that, Ive got this bridge for sale.

What was purely political was Trumps motivation to conspire with others to commit crimes. He wanted to protect his candidacy for President. If as a part of Trumps purely political schemes he committed numerous felonies, it is entirely legitimate that he be held accountable for those crimes. And in the unlikely event the case is found to be wholly bogus, the judge will dismiss it.

The only evidence presented by the Schlaflys is of their own hypocrisy. As long time advocates of states rights, limiting the reach and control of the federal government, the Schlaflys are conveniently suspending that creed in fealty to Donald Trump. Here they wish to wipe away the State of New Yorks right to prosecute Trump under its laws employing all of the protections of due process in doing so. And in providing those protections, the judge has not reduced Trumps right to free speech, to stump for his candidacy, or to rally his supporters.

As a final insult to our respective intelligence, the Schlaflys reference the 19th century Dred Scott case that denied the rights of citizenship from a black man as some comparison or reference to Donald Trump. Trump is no Dred Scott. And given the Schlaflys past racist positions regarding replacement theory and their apologies for the Buffalo shooter, their use of Dred Scott to make a point is offensive.

Meanwhile, if the Schlaflys want to write a column supporting free speech, then they should choose actual victims like the two black representatives expelled from the Tennessee House of Representatives by a white supermajority because these two members supported protests seeking gun control legislation. Their free speech was silenced. Their constituents voices were silenced. The protests were deemed out of order despite the recent slaughter of school children in Nashville. The vote to expel was a startling example of racism blended with Fascism.

If the Schlaflys believe in free speech, then they should be against banning books and denying schools the ability to teach African-American studies and Critical Race Theory. They should condemn the actions of the Tennessee Houses expulsion of the black Congressmen.

And I will reciprocate by never preventing Trump from repeating his claims about the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, Our army manned the air, it rammed the ramparts, it took over the airports, it did everything it had to do, and at Fort McHenry, under the rockets red glare, it had nothing but victory. Trumps speech is free and worth every cent.
East African leaders on Sunday called for an immediate end to the ongoing fighting in Sudan where military clashes have killed at least 97 people and injured hundreds of others.

The Kenyan Presidency said the leaders from the regional bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), held an emergency virtual session on Sunday where they called for an immediate cessation of hostilities between the parties to the conflict in Sudan.

Those in the emergency session were President William Ruto of Kenya, Salva Kiir of South Sudan, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Ismail Omar Guelleh of Djibouti, and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia.

"President William Ruto asked IGAD leaders to take a firm position on the crisis to restore peace in the country," the presidency said in a statement issued in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.

The leaders resolved to send presidents Kiir, Ruto and Guelleh at the earliest possible time to reconcile the conflicting groups.

The leaders also asked the two parties to the conflict in Sudan to provide a safe corridor for humanitarian assistance in Khartoum, Sudan's capital, and other affected towns.

Violent clashes erupted on Saturday between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum and other cities, where the two sides traded accusations of initiating the conflict.

The tension between the two military forces has escalated since Wednesday in the Merowe region in northern Sudan, after the RSF moved military vehicles to a location near the military air base there, a move that the army considered illegal.

Deep differences have emerged between the Sudanese army and the RSF, particularly regarding the latter's integration into the army as stipulated in a framework agreement signed between military and civilian leaders on Dec. 5, 2022.





Produced by Xinhua Global Service
The Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (KCMMF), known by the brand Milma, is all set to revamp its brand image through the 'Repositioning Milma 2023' campaign, which would bring uniformity in packaging and products.

The move is aimed at equipping Milma to meet challenges from domestic and global dairy brands and firm up its position as the market leader, an official said here on Monday.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will launch the 'Repositioning Milma 2023' initiative at Edappazhanji in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday.

Noting that the makeover of products is intended to meet the challenges in the dairy sector in the prevailing scenario, Milma chairman K.S. Mani said the project had been finalised after more than one year of preparations, including a comprehensive market study.

Milma has to embrace a new packing standard and marketing strategy to compete with big domestic and global brands, he said at a press conference here.

As the first step, uniformity would be followed in the quality, design and production process of the liquid milk, curd, set curd, flavoured milk and ghee sold in the market by Milma and its regional milk unions, he said.

Conceived with the financial and technical assistance of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), the 'Repositioning Milma 2023' campaign envisages a holistic change and uniformity in packaging, design, quality of the dairy products and price to compete with any other brands.

The project also aims at extending the marketing network of Milma and ensuring the availability of all dairy products of Milma in remote areas across the state, the Milma chairman said.

Through this long-term plan, there will be a notable change in the main functional areas like production, quality and marketing of federation and regional milk unions.

Minister for Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development J. Chinchu Rani will be presiding over the inaugural function, Mani said.

Opposition Leader V.D. Satheesan will deliver the keynote address at the function where Transort Minister Antony Raju, MP Shashi Tharoor and NDDB Chairman Meenesh C Shah will be the chief guests.
As many as 11 people who attended the Maharashtra Bhushan award event in Navi Mumbai on Sunday died of sunstroke, the Chief Minister's Office said in a release on Sunday night. The weather station nearest to the venue recorded a maximum temperature of 38 degrees Celsius on Sunday.

The event, attended by lakhs, was held in an open ground in the Kharghar area in the Raigad district. It was attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah who conferred the award on spiritual leader and social reformer Appasaheb Dharmadhikari. Chief Minister Shinde, his deputy Devendra Fadnavis and Union minister Kapil Patil among MLAs, MLCs, and ministers were present on the occasion.

Besides the deceased, over 50 people had to be hospitalised. Of that, some are on ventilator support at hospitals in Navi Mumbai and Panvel city, PTI quoted an official. While a few have left the hospital after primary treatment, over 24 are still hospitalised.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who arrived at a hospital in Navi Mumbai to take stock of the situation, termed the deaths "very unfortunate". He said that the deceased will be given a compensation of Rs 5 lakh. "Medical treatment of the people under treatment due to sunstroke will be free. The state will pay from its coffers for their treatment," he said. The Chief Minister also directed officials to shift patients to specialised hospitals if they needed additional treatment.

He said a Deputy Municipal Commissioner-rank official of the Panvel Municipal Corporation has been deputed to coordinate with relatives of patients and medical teams and to give timely updates. "Lakhs of people had come for the event and it went well. It is painful to see some of them suffer. It is a very unfortunate situation which is very painful for me," he said.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray said the event at Khargar was not properly planned. "We have met the people who are undergoing treatment. I interacted with four to five patients. Two of them were in critical condition. The event was not planned properly. Who will investigate this incident?, Shinde said after visiting the patients at a hospital.

Uddhav was accompanied by his son Aditya Thackeray and NCP leader Ajit Pawar to the MGM Kamothe Hospital to take stock of the situation.

However, Shinde refused to respond to the opposition's allegations stating that his priority is to ensure that the affected people get proper treatment.
Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee claimed that he has been summoned by the CBI for questioning on Tuesday despite the Supreme Court staying an order by the Calcutta High Court that allowed them to interrogate him. Tweeting the images of the CBI letter dated April 16, Abhishek accused the central agencies of trying to harass him.

"In its desperation to 'harass' and 'target' me, BJP exposes CBI & ED to contempt of court! SC stayed the Calcutta HC's order in the morning that granted permission to the Central Agencies to summon me. Yet, the summons was hand-delivered today at 1:45 pm. Grave state of affairs!" Abhishek, nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, said on Twitter.

The Calcutta High Court's single-judge bench had on April 13 permitted both the CBI and the ED to question Abhishek over the allegations levelled by expelled youth Trinamool leader Kuntal Ghosh that the agencies are putting pressure on him to name Abhishek in the multi-crore teachers recruitment scam in West Bengal. Ghosh is an accused in the case.

Abhishek challenged the verdict in the Supreme Court. On Monday morning, a bench comprising Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices P.S. Narasimha and J.B. Pardiwala stayed the high court order that Abhishek and Ghosh can be questioned by investigating agencies.
A man mourns for victims of a school mass shooting at Town Square in Uvalde, Texas, the United States, on May 28, 2022. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)

Americans overall report feeling "frustrated" over the political gun debate -- more so than any other descriptor they could pick, even more than "angry" and a lot more than "satisfied."

NEW YORK, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Social pressures, bullies and academics are all things generations of U.S. children have had to worry about, but today, according to their parents, there's another worry weighing on most of them, too: the prospect of gun violence, according to a new CBS News/YouGov poll.

"It's increasingly on parents' minds, as well; concern among America's parents now is even higher than it was last summer," CBS News reported on Sunday.

"Today, 77 percent are at least somewhat concerned. Last year it was already high at 72 percent. Six in 10 parents say that their kids express worry over gun violence, either a lot or sometimes," the report said, citing results of the poll conducted April 12-14.

"While not as high as those perennial kids' concerns like bullying and social pressures, it is nonetheless true for most families in cities and suburbs; for those with higher and lower incomes; across racial groups; and in every region of the country. In short, the worry that kids have over gun violence is reported almost everywhere," it noted.

Americans overall report feeling "frustrated" over the political gun debate -- more so than any other descriptor they could pick, even more than "angry" and a lot more than "satisfied." And gun violence in particular does rank as a very important issue by nearly two-thirds of Americans, said the report.

"That frustration may be, in part, because most Americans don't see either political party as particularly effective in keeping people safe from gun violence," it added. 
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to include the 76 per cent caste quota provision made through a bill passed by the state assembly in December 2022 in the ninth schedule of the Constitution.

Inclusion in the ninth schedule gives protection to state and Central laws from judicial review. The Chhattisgarh 76 pc quota bill is pending with the Chhattisgarh governor for approval.

Baghels move comes right after Congress leader Rahul Gandhis jitni aabadi utna haq (rights in proportion to population) call in the context of caste quota in poll-bound Karnataka on Sunday. During a poll campaign in Karnataka, Gandhi called for making public of caste census conducted by the UPA government in 2011 so that the population percentage of OBCs is clear; removal of 50 per cent cap on caste quota and reservation in proportion to the population for scheduled castes (SC) and scheduled tribes (ST).

Pushing for increased caste quota in Chhattisgarh following Gandhis call, Baghel has written to the PM, citing the socio-economic conditions that call for higher quota to SC/ST and OBCs in the state.

The letter, shared by Baghel over Twitter with a mention of jitni aabadi utna haq slogan, said the state has 32 per cent ST, 13 pc SC and 42 pc OBC populations. About 44 per cent area of Chhattisgarh is under forests and a large part of other regions are hilly and inaccessible and this makes implementation of economic activities difficult in these areas. Baghel said according to a Reserve Bank of India report of 2012, Chhattisgarh had the highest poverty (40pc) in the country. The socio-economic and educational status of other backward classes (OBCs) is also as weak as that of SCs and STs. About three-fourth of these sections are marginal and minor farmers and farm labourers.

Baghel goes on to mention in the letter that in 2013, a provision of 12 pc, 32 pc and 14 pc quota (total 58 pc) was made for the SC, ST and OBC population, but it was quashed by the Chhattisgarh High Court in September 2022. The state assembly passed a unanimous bill to provide quotas of 13 pc, 32, 27 and 4 pc for SCs, STs, OBCs and economically weaker sections (EWS) respectively. The bill is pending approval with the governor.

Baghel further said in the letter that with the constitution bench of the Supreme Court upholding the 10 per cent EWS quota, the road for caste quota beyond the 50 per cent cap has been paved. In the past months, Jharkhand and Karnataka assemblies have passed bills for caste quotas beyond total 50 per cent.

It is notable that in the state of Tamil Nadu, which has per capita income far higher than Chhattisgarh and in many Northeastern states, the quota for STs and OBCs is over 50 per cent limit. In view of the special circumstances in Chhattisgarh, only the inclusion of higher quota provision in the ninth schedule of the Constitution will enable justice for deprived and backward category people. This is a request for you to kindly direct the concerned for this purpose, Baghel said at the end of the letter.

Due to indecision on quota distribution as the bill is pending approval, recruitments and admissions have been held up in poll-bound Chhattisgarh, causing resentment among people. The ruling Congress is apprehensive of this issue affecting its poll prospects and wants to get the issue resolved soon.

The Congress has been severely critical of the governor's office for holding up the bill, alleging that the governor is doing it at the behest of the opposition BJP. While Anusuiya Uikey was the governor when the bill was passed by the assembly and sent to the governor's office for approval, Biswabhushan Harichandan took up the office in February this year. However, the stalemate over the quota bill continues.
Delhi Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena on Monday shot off a letter to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal seeking accountability for the unsubstantiated and false statements made by the ministers and AAP leaders against him. Saxena asked Kejriwal to furnish the papers to prove that the L-G had conspired with officers or any political party to stop power subsidy in the national capital.

"I write to you seeking accountability and responsibility with regard to unsubstantiated and false statements made by you and your colleagues in the Government and Party, against me, Saxena wrote.

His scathing letter came after Delhi Power Minister Atishi on Friday alleged that the subsidized electricity being given to people in Delhi would have to be stopped from Saturday because the file regarding the cabinet decision to continue the subsidy has not come back from the L-G's office.

For the past few weeks, the Hon'ble Minister (Power), Hon'ble Minister (Health) and you yourself have been making blatantly false, misleading, accusatory, libellous and defamatory statements in the media and elsewhere to the effect that the 'subsidy given in the power sector is being stopped by the LL Governor / that the Lt. Governor is conspiring with the officers to stop power subsidy'," read the letter.

Saxena said the file with regards to the cabinet decision extending power subsidy was sent to him only on April 11 and he had cleared it and sent back to the government. However, the power minister resorted to false propaganda through her statements on April 14, he added.

"In light of the above, you are requested to furnish any paper or communication that establishes that the Lt. Governor wants power subsidy to be stopped or is conspiring with officers or a political party to stop power subsidy. as is being openly alleged by your Ministers and colleagues in the party," the L-G said in his letter.

"It is expected that the information sought above will be furnished to me at the earliest, failing which it would be assumed that you and your colleagues are deliberately misleading the people of Delhi and playing petty political games, which deserve unequivocal condemnation and legal redressal," he further said.
Amid a renewed effort by his rival Sachin Pilot to assert himself in Rajasthan Congress's scheme of things, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday embarked on a three-day exercise to collect feedback on governance issues from party legislators as also the independent MLAs supporting his government.

The initiative to hold one-to-one meetings with the MLAs is being viewed as a show of strength by Gehlot amid the ongoing tussle for power with Pilot and an assertion of his firm hold on the party and the government in the state.

Along with Gehlot, AICC in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and state Congress president Govind Singh Dotasara are meeting the MLAs to collect feedback from them. According to the programme announced by the state Congress, on April 17, meetings were to be held with MLAs from Ajmer and Jodhpur regions, on April 18 with legislators from Udaipur, Kota and Bharatpur and on April 20 with those from Jaipur and Bikaner divisions.

On April 19, the party will hold a workshop with the MLAs as also office-bearers in the state unit in which issues related to the Assembly elections that are scheduled to be held in December would be discussed.

The meetings are significant since they happen in the backdrop of the renewed activity with regard to the tussle for power between Gehlot and Pilot and the central leadership's efforts to resolve the matter. So far, the party high command has given indications of backing Gehlot and going into elections by focusing on the welfare measures taken by his government. However, the party leadership also does not want to alienate Pilot and efforts are on to find a middle path.

Meanwhile, Pilot is touring Shahpura in Jaipur division and Khetari in Jhunjhunu on Monday. He took part in a Mahayagna at the Parmand Dham in Shahpura. He was accompanied by MLAs Indraj Gujjar and Vedprakash Solanki as also local Congress leader Manish Yadav. The event was seen as a show of strength by Pilot as it was attended by thousands of people. Pilot's journey from Jaipur to Shahpura saw numerous stopovers to meet supporters who had gathered to meet him in large numbers.
A day after he quit the BJP for denying him ticket to the Karnataka Assembly elections, former state chief minister Jagadish Shettar will likely join the Congress on Monday. This comes as Shettar met with senion Congress leaders on Sunday regarding his next move.

The six-time Hubballi-Dharwad Central MLA resigned from the Assembly on Sunday after his talks with Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and Union Ministers Pralhad Joshi and Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday failed.

Shettar, who lashed out against the party, claimed a conspiracy against him. The former chief minister said he was unaware as to why he was denied a ticket but vowed to contest the elections.

Shortly after that, Shettar flew from Hubballi to Bengaluru in a special helicopter to meet Congress general secretary (Karnataka in-charge) Randeep Singh Surjewala, Congress state chief D K Shivakumar, former minister M B Patil and veteran Congress leader Shamanur Shivashankarappa, reported PTI.

The Congress had already welcomed Shettar to the fold, stating they had reserved a seat for him.

Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala on Sunday said that Jagadish Shettar was humiliated and BJP has crumbled like a house of cards.

Surjewala took to Twitter and said, "Humiliate, Insult, Throw away! This is how Modi-Bommai disgrace. A Former Chief Minister, A Leader of Opposition, A six times BJP MLA, A Senior Most BJP Lingayat Leader! BJPs CHAL, CHEHRA & CHARITRA! BJP has crumbled like a House of Cards," he said.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai expressed dissapointment at Shettar quitting the party, adding that BJP chief Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah had promised Shettar a big post in Delhi. "Jagadish Shettar has been a senior and an important leader in this region. JP Nadda and Union Home Minister had promised a big post in Delhi to Shettar. Everything would have been fine if the former CM had continued," Basavaraj Bommai told media in Hubballi.

Senior BJP leader B S Yediyurappa too hit out against Shettar and Laxman Savadi, who joined Congress last week, for ditching the party. Calling out the "betrayal", the Lingayat leader said: "What injustice have we done to Shettar? People know about Shettar only because of the BJP. I want to ask Shettar why he is joining Congress," Yediyurappa said.
A day after he quit the BJP for denying him a ticket to the Karnataka Assembly elections, former state chief minister Jagadish Shettar joined the Congress on Monday.

Shettar was inducted into the Congress by party president Mallikarjun Kharge at the party office in Bengaluru. KPCC president D K Shivakumar and Congress leaders Randeep Surjewala and Siddaramaiah were present on the occasion.

Shettar held meetings with senior Congress leaders on Sunday evening regarding his entry to the party.

The six-time Hubballi-Dharwad Central MLA resigned from the Assembly on Sunday after his talks with Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and Union Ministers Pralhad Joshi and Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday failed.

"Yesterday I left BJP and today I joined the Congress party. Many are surprised as an opposition leader, former CM and party president is joining Congress. BJP has given me every position and being a party worker I always worked for the party's growth," said Jagadish Shettar after joining the Congress on Monday.

"I thought being a senior leader, I'll get the ticket, but when I came to know that I'm not getting it, I was shocked. No one spoke to me nor tried to convince me, not even gave assurance about what position will I get," he added.

Shettar acknowledged that BJP had given him a good position and respect. "I agree that BJP had given me a good position and respect and in return even I have worked for the party. In the Hubli central constituency, I have won 6 times with a 25,000 votes margin, but I was hurt when they denied me a ticket," he added.

The Congress may field Shettar from Hubballi-Dharwad Central.

On Sunday, Shettar flew from Hubballi to Bengaluru in a special helicopter to meet Congress general secretary (Karnataka in-charge) Randeep Singh Surjewala, Congress state chief D K Shivakumar, former minister M B Patil and veteran Congress leader Shamanur Shivashankarappa, reported PTI.

Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala too said that Jagadish Shettar was humiliated and BJP has crumbled like a house of cards.

Surjewala took to Twitter and said, "Humiliate, Insult, Throw away! This is how Modi-Bommai disgrace. A Former Chief Minister, A Leader of Opposition, A six times BJP MLA, A Senior Most BJP Lingayat Leader! BJPs CHAL, CHEHRA & CHARITRA! BJP has crumbled like a House of Cards," he said.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai expressed disappointment at Shettar quitting the party, adding that BJP chief Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah had promised Shettar a big post in Delhi. "Jagadish Shettar has been a senior and an important leader in this region. JP Nadda and Union Home Minister had promised a big post in Delhi to Shettar. Everything would have been fine if the former CM had continued," Basavaraj Bommai told media in Hubballi.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday demanded a Supreme Court-monitored investigation into former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satyapal Malik's statement regarding the 2019 Pulwama attack in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed.

Speaking to reporters at the state secretariat, Banerjee alleged that it was the Centre's fault that India lost so many jawans.

"What Satyapal Malik-ji said is scary. He claimed that the central government, for mere polarisation of voters and to create a sense of fake nationalism, ignored the security of CRPF jawans. According to him, the Pulwama attack was an intelligence failure," she said.

"We had raised this issue back in 2019 too, but since at that time, it was a matter of nation first, we didn't want to say anything against the government. However, the truth has come out today. The BJP government was in power in 2019, and it was the Centre's fault that we have lost the lives of our jawans," she added.

Banerjee demanded a Supreme Court-monitored investigation into the claims made by Malik in an interview to a news portal.

"If the highest chair is involved, then it is only the Supreme Court that can conduct an impartial investigation. I have total confidence in the Supreme Court, only the judiciary can save this country. We need to have an inquiry into what happened in Pulwama, then only people will get to know the truth," she said.

There has been no reaction from the government since Malik's interview was released on Friday, but the BJP said that there were serious questions about his credibility and cited various statements made by him in recent years.

The opposition Congress demanded that the Centre reveal the outcome of the probe into the attack, and asked why the paramilitary personnel were "denied" aircraft and made to commute by road despite terror threat as claimed by Malik in the interview.
The mysterious shootout inside the sensitive Bathinda military cantonment on Wednesday that saw four sleeping soldiers being gunned down is likely to be a key focus in the first Indian Army Commanders Conference (ACC) of the year to be held in the hybrid mode from Monday.

On Wednesday afternoon, another death happened in the cantonment premises with one soldier being found in a pool of blood which the army authorities suspected to be a suicide. All five belonged to the artillery.

Other than information from a Punjab Police FIR, with the Army being very tightlipped on the issue, rumours and speculations are having a field time with reasons being ascribed from terrorist motives to an internal fratricide.

Till now no headway has been reported in the ongoing investigations into the incident.

The incident assumes more menace due to reports of a possibility that the shootout assailantsreported in the FIR to be "two white-kurta-clad" and "masked" personsmay have still been present inside the military cantonment in Bathindaraising very serious concerns of security threats and human resources related issues.

The ACCs almost weeklong affair this timefrom April 17 to 21will be held in the hybrid mode for the first ever time which among other things will also be a test of exploiting available technology for secure communication.

But after meeting on Monday in the online mode, the Army commanders and other senior functionaries will then travel to Delhi "for the physical meetings on matters which require detailed deliberations".

The agenda points sponsored by various Command Headquarters will be discussed on Monday itself followed by an update from the tri-services commander-in-chief of the Andaman and Nicobar Command followed by sessions by Principal Staff Officers of the Army Headquarters.

Besides the top commanders, the meet is also attended by heads of defence public sector undertakings and director-generals of various military arms and branches. Other important agenda items comprise progress on the Agnipath scheme, the digitisation and automation initiatives, combat engineers tasks, work aspects and budget management" not to speak of the review of operational preparedness of the Indian Army in the backdrop of the current and emerging security scenario.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will address the meeting on Wednesday besides reviewing an equipment display that will focus on "niche technology, innovation, solutions for surveillance, Artificial Intelligence, Training, Robotics, Virtual Reality, Operational Logistics etc".

The commanders will also be addressed by the Chief of Defence Staff, Navy chief and the IAF chief besides a talk "on future contours of Indo-China relations" by Vijay Gokhale, former Ambassador to China.

Held twice a year, the ACC is an important event in the planning and execution process of the Indian Army that undertakes a 360-degree look at the current emerging perspectives on issues relating to operations, logistics, administration, human resources and welfare. To ensure due diligence, decisions taken in the ACC are taken through the collegiate system comprising army commanders and senior officers.
Under fire for its alleged inaction in the Tirunelveli custodial torture case, the Tamil Nadu government on Monday registered a First Information Report (FIR) against former Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Balveer Singh IPS on charges of torturing suspects in custody in the Ambasamudram sub division.

The action comes ahead of the Home department's demand for grants in Tamil Nadu Assembly. Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, who is in charge of the Home department, had earlier informed the Assembly that Singh has been placed under Vacancy Reserve (VR) for his act. The former ASP has been booked under Sections 324 (causing hurt by weapons), 326 (grievous hurt by dangerous weapons) and 506/1 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code by the Tirunelveli District Crime Branch.

Singh has been charged with extreme torture of tooth extraction and even crushing the testicles of the suspects who were detained in various cases in a few police stations in Tirunelveli district.

The Ambasamudram custodial torture case had apparently exposed the chinks in Law and Order and the high handedness of the police department in the state. The chief minister himself said in the Assembly that Singh had damaged the teeth of the suspects who were in custody. However, the government's inaction for more than 23 days in the case had drawn flak from various quarters.

Despite human rights activists taking up the custodial torture case to the human rights commission and demanding severe action against the IPS officer, the government did not act.

However, with just two more days to go for the grants for the home department in the assembly on April 20, the government has chosen to register the FIR. Sources say that the opposition AIADMK had planned to rake up the issue in the assembly.

The FIR should have been registered under Section 307 of IPC. It is a clear attempt to murder. He had crushed the testicles of the detainees. One of them, Mariappan, is still under treatment and there is no way he can come out of it for the next two years, says advocate Maharajan. Vedha Narayanan, one of the auto drivers who was allegedly tortured by Singh, says that he had lost his hearing capacity.

Narayanan appeared before the inquiry committee headed by P. Amudha IAS. While the inquiry committee did not take off on the first day, a few of the victims and their families appeared before it on the second sitting on Monday.
As clash between the Sudanese Army and paramilitary force RSF is raging in the capital Khartoum and elsewhere, the army chief has ordered dissolution of the paramilitary force branding it as a rebel group.



Al Jazeera reported that Sudans Foreign Ministry said Army Chief al-Burhan has ordered the dissolution of the RSF and branded it as a rebellious group. The foreign ministry stated that clashes were result of RSF rebellion against the Sudanese armed forces. The publication reported al-Burhan had been scheduled to meet RSF head Mohamed Hamdan 'Hemedti' Dagalo on Saturday, the day clashes began.

Associated Press reported at least 97 civilians have been killed in the crossfire between the forces. Atiya Abdalla Atiya, Secretary of the Sudan Doctors' Syndicate said the toll is likely much higher because there are many bodies in the streets around central Khartoum. There has been no official word on the number of combatants killed, the publication reported.

The clashes are the result of the power struggle between military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the commander of the armed forces, and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the RSF. The two were allies during the 2021 coup that deposed the civilian administration but the relationship turned sour over the move to induct the RSF into the army. Both generals have dug in, saying they would not negotiate a truce and ignoring international calls to tell their forces to stand down even from their powerful foreign backers.
Sri Lanka's President Ranil Wickremesinghe is expected to make a fresh call for the formation of an all-party government for the cash-strapped country when Parliament takes up the debate on the IMF bailout programme next week, a senior opposition party leader said on Monday.



In March, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a USD 3 billion bailout programme to help Sri Lanka overcome its economic crisis and catalyse financial support from other development partners, a move welcomed by Colombo as a "historic milestone" in the critical period.

He (Wickremesinghe) will make an open invitation to all political parties to join the national government when the Parliament meets on April 25 to debate on the IMF bailout programme, Mano Ganesan, the leader of the Tamil Progressive Alliance, told the media.

President Wickremesinghe, also the country's finance minister, is keen to win the approval of the 225-member assembly for the IMF bailout package, which is a timely antidote to Sri Lanka's economic travails.

In July last year, Wickremesinghe urged lawmakers from all political parties to put their differences aside and work towards lifting Sri Lanka out of the throes of the economic crisis.

The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party led by the powerful Rajapaksa family voted for Wickremesinghe, the leader of the United National Party (UNP), as the president in July last year.

Wickremesinghe currently heads a cabinet of SLPP ministers.

Sri Lanka is in the midst of its worst economic crisis since its independence from Great Britain in 1948, triggered by a severe paucity of foreign exchange reserves.

In April last year, Sri Lanka declared its international debt default due to the forex crisis.

Earlier this month, Sri Lanka's election commission said the local body polls, which were scheduled to be held on April 25, were postponed indefinitely due to an acute shortage of funds. PTI CORR AKJ VM 04171559
BEIJING, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Monday talked over phone with Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki.

During the conversation, Qin said that China is highly concerned about the recent intensification of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the escalation of tensions, and has urged the UN Security Council to hold consultations and communicated closely with the international community to try to cool down the situation.

China strongly condemns the words and deeds that violate relevant UN resolutions, supports the resumption of peace talks between Palestine and Israel as soon as possible on the basis of the "two-state solution," and is willing to play an active role in this regard, he said.

For his part, Al-Maliki highly appreciated China's clear position on the Palestinian issue, thanked China for supporting the Palestinian national self-determination and independent statehood, and welcomed all efforts made by China.

He commended China for promoting the restoration of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which demonstrates China's role as a responsible major country.

Qin stressed that China always supports the strategic autonomy of Middle Eastern countries and supports them in holding their future in their own hands, adding that China is willing to continue to make contributions to peace and stability in the Middle East.

The two sides agreed to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, promote cooperation in various fields and push the traditional friendly relations between the two countries to a new level.

The Palestinian side expressed firm support for the one-China principle and opposition to external forces' interference in China's internal affairs under the pretext of human rights. 
The Chinese Embassy in Sudan's capital advised their citizens to stay indoors and away from windows on Monday. In a 'High alert' notice, the embassy advised Chinese nationals to strengthen security precautions.

The Chinese Embassy  urgently reminds Chinese citizens and Chinese institutions in Sudan to stay on high alert, strictly avoid going out, and strengthen security precautions, South China Morning Post reported quoting a statement from the Chinese Embassy.

Citizens should stay away from street-level rooms or windows, to avoid being accidentally injured by stray bullets, the statement said. A spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Sunday urged both the Sudanese military and RSF paramilitary force to cease fire as soon as possible. China hopes that all parties in Sudan will strengthen dialogue and jointly promote the political transition process, the spokesperson was quoted as saying by SCMP.

The fighting between the forces entered the third day on Monday and the death toll reportedly rose to 100. According to the Sudan Doctors' Syndicate, at least 41 civilians got killed on Sunday.

The clashes are the result of the power struggle between military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the commander of the armed forces, and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the RSF. The two were allies during the 2021 coup that deposed the civilian administration but the relationship turned sour over the move to induct the RSF into the army.
The clashes between Sudan's military and the para-military force, Rapid Support Forces (RSF), continued on day three too, with the death toll crossing 100. The fighting has extended to the eastern city of Port Sudan and the western Darfur region, said reports.

Residents in the capital of Khartoum claim hearing mortars and artillery in the early hours of the morning. Videos doing rounds on social media too showed the General Command building in flames. There are also reports of warplanes bombing sites east of the command. "We saw explosions and smoke rising from Obaid Khatim Street, and immediately after that, anti-aircraft artillery fired massively towards the planes, one eyewitness told CNN.

At least 41 civilians were killed on Sunday, bringing the two-day death toll to 97, the Sudan Doctors' Syndicate said Monday.

The clashes are the result of the power struggle between military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the commander of the armed forces, and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the RSF. The two were allies during the 2021 coup that deposed the civilian administration but the relationship turned sour over the move to induct the RSF into the army.

Civilians trapped

The residents of the cities where fighting continues said they were "trapped inside our own homes with little to no protection at all."

"All we can hear is continuous blast after blast. What exactly is happening and where we dont know, but it feels like its directly over our heads," a resident of Khartoum wrote on Twitter.

The hospitals are also suffering shortages of specialised medical personnel, including anesthesiologists. "Water and power cuts are affecting the functionality of health facilities, and shortages of fuel for hospital generators are also being reported," the WHO said on Sunday.

"They are shooting against each other in the streets," prominent rights advocate Tahani Abass who lives near the military headquarters told AP. "It's an all-out war in residential areas.

She added that her family spent the night huddling on the ground floor of their home. "No one was able to sleep and the kids were crying and screaming with every explosion," she said.

Mediation

Three African Presidents have been deputed by an East African regional grouping to initiate mediation in Sudan, reported BBC.

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) has agreed to send the leaders of Kenya, South Sudan and Djibouti to the capital Khartoum to seek immediate cessation of hostilities. Kenya's President William Ruto asked Igad leaders to take a firm position to restore peace in Khartoum.

However, it is unclear how they will arrive in the country since the international airport has been closed.
MUMBAI, India, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Parcos, a leader in the Indian luxury beauty retail segment, has now gone live with their new digital content IP  LUXEZINE.



Luxezine is the convergence of luxury & editorial content, that will only further the existing authority of Parcos, in the field of luxury beauty.



Expert content is one of the key levers to build trust and confidence for us at Parcos. Beauty is transcending boundaries, and though the Luxezine content is primarily in English, it will appeal to readers, both internationally and Indian.



Luxezine is targeted towards the aspiring luxury beauty consumer, existing beauty enthusiasts, and to the Parcos customer base, comprising of luxury loyalists, who are always keen on educating themselves and their understanding about sophisticated brands, versatile usage of products, and finding the right assortment to fit their lifestyle requirements. These beauty enthusiasts, whether they have intent to shop, or are just browsing to educate themselves, will find value in the articles.



Luxezine aims to leverage authentic brand content, to build trust in existing and prospect consumers of Parcos, to be synonymous as an authentic luxury beauty retailer, and guide the consumer towards their purchase decision, via a strong and credible editorial team, that aims at adding a weekly upload of fresh articles, in order to keep up with the current trends and news in the beauty space. The Luxezine team will diligently and consistently, monitor the gaps in understanding the luxury beauty business.



Kadambari Lakhani, Director, Baccarose Perfumes & Beauty Products Pvt. Ltd. and Ex-Beauty Editor, Elle Magazine, India, says 



"It's a very exciting time in India, for the beauty consumer. Today, they have so many buying options, that the beauty enthusiast is absolutely spoilt for choice. The flip side is, that the multiple options, can be very confusing to the end user. Luxezine is a great platform, to help educate consumers, and assist them in choosing the right brands and products. We hope that this platform, soon becomes every consumer's go-to guide, to stay up to speed on beauty trends, new product launches, and advice from international and Indian beauty experts on skincare, make-up, and fragrances."



Villoo Daji, Sr. Vice President, Group Marketing, Baccarose Perfumes & Beauty Products Pvt. Ltd. says, "At Parcos, we have redefined luxury beauty, using innovative approaches to connect and engage consumers. In today's world, influence and recommendations plays a superior role in the world of communication for Gen Z customers. Thus, we are happy to introduce a one stop destination, called Luxezine, to integrate and be an authentic platform, that will bring International brand content for easy search by consumers, build trust in existing and new consumers, and thus guide them in their informed purchase decision. It will provide credible information, in real-time via educative information and news, access to expert opinions, updates about new launches in the beauty industry, brand offers, curated lists and much more for customers to make a purchase decision about international brands."



The Luxezine team strongly believes, that the credibility of the content, is key to the success of the blog, and hence, has been carefully curated, with editorial contributions, from a plethora of beauty journalists and editors, relevant KOLs, beauty brand owners, and beauty industry insiders.



Luxezine will provide authentic and credible information in real time, as it is happening across the globe, via educative information and news, access to expert opinions, updates about new launches in the beauty industry, brands, offers, discounts, curated lists, based on persona, affinity, festivals and occasions, which simplify their shopping experience, among much more.



THE NAME



The name 'Luxezine' denotes that this is the editorial destination for luxury beauty. It is a portmanteau of the words 'Luxury' and 'Magazine'. It is a marriage of the Parcos brand principals, along with strong editorial integrity.



THE LOGO



The Luxezine logo establishes the IP, as an extension of the Parcos brand identity, while maintaining the property's individual identity. The Luxezine logo, is an extension of the Parcos design language, consisting of a sleek, clean font and a dot on the "I" which are a core part of the Parcos aesthetic.



ABOUT PARCOS



Established in 2004, Parcos has been synonymous with global luxury, prestige, and authentic beauty products. To deliver a holistic omnichannel experience to its consumers, Parcos, which has over 50 brick and mortar stores, recently launched Parcos.com, its online shopping destination for luxury fragrances, beauty, and wellness products with a promise to deliver products to all pin codes across the country.



Parcos has always worked very closely with influencers in India to nurture international partnerships, showcasing brands such as the SHISEIDO GROUP, L'OREAL, PUIG, COTY, INTERPARFUMS & many others. This pioneering step by Parcos will nurture talent, provide a platform to the rising community of beauty and lifestyle influencers in India and provide them exposure to international brands within the Parcos family.



www.parcos.com



Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2054374/Parcos_Luxezine.jpg



(Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with PRNewswire and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWR

PWR
JEAP is targeting to have 216 donors, each contributing INR 54 lakhs aggregating to a corpus of INR 108 cr. Jain International Trade Organisation (JITO), a not-for-profit organization with the object to provide financial assistance to deserving and meritorious students for pursuing higher education, is pleased to announce the launch of its latest initiative, JITO Educational Assistance Program (JEAP).







Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 17: Jain International Trade Organisation (JITO), a not-for-profit organization with the object to provide financial assistance to deserving and meritorious students for pursuing higher education, is pleased to announce the launch of its latest initiative, JITO Educational Assistance Program (JEAP).



The project aims to provide financial assistance to students who lack the financial resources to pursue higher education. With rising tuition fees and living expenses, many students face significant financial barriers to accessing quality education. JITO Educational Assistance Program (JEAP) seeks to bridge this gap by providing financial aid to meritorious and deserving students. Education is the key to unlocking opportunities and building a better future, and we believe that everyone should have access to it.



JITO believes that education is a fundamental human right and should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their financial background. JITO is committed to helping students achieve their academic goals and build a better future for themselves, the society and the nation.



As updated by JITO Chairman, Shri Sukhraj Nahar, JEAP is getting launched on April 15, Saturday at JIO World Convention Centre, BKC, Mumbai. In the first phase, JEAP is targeting to have 216 donors, each contributing INR 54 lakhs aggregating to a corpus of INR 108 cr.



(Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with PNN and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWR

PWR
New Delhi, Apr 17 (PTI) India and Russia are working on firming up a bilateral agreement for the promotion and protection of investments and Moscow is looking at expanding trade ties with New Delhi, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said on Monday.

Addressing an event, Manturov also said that Russia, along with the Eurasian Economic Commission, is looking forward to intensifying negotiations on a free trade agreement with India.

Manturov, who is also Russia's minister for trade and industry, is on a two-day visit to India primarily to attend an inter-governmental meeting on trade, culture and science and technology.

In his remarks at the India-Russia Business Dialogue, he also said that Moscow is keen to import manufacturing equipment and products relating to chemical and pharmaceutical industries from India.

"We pay special attention to the issues of mutual access of production to the markets of our countries. Together with the Eurasian Economic Commission, we are looking forward to intensifying negotiations on a free trade agreement with India," he said.

"Additionally, we are working on signing a Russia-India bilateral agreement for the promotion and protection of investments," he added.

The bilateral trade volume between India and Russia witnessed a significant upswing in view of New Delhi's increasing procurement of discounted Russian crude oil.

"To protect the principles of free trade with our partners, we have undertaken a set of effective measures," the Russian deputy prime minister said.

Manturov said the demand in Russia for road construction materials, manufacturing equipment and pharmaceutical products is rising and that Moscow is adopting policies that would benefit its partner countries to make the supplies.

"I am sure this will create opportunities for Indian companies to increase their supplies to Russia," he said.

In an apparent reference to the Rupee-Rouble payment mechanism, he said the resolution of the issue could give another impetus for trade and industrial cooperation.

"Within the framework of the intergovernmental dialogue

we propose to consider the possibility of the wide use of national currencies and currencies of friendly countries," he said.

"We also consider the development of transport and logistics infrastructure as one of the most important tasks," he said.

The Rupee-Rouble mechanism for trade between India and Russia was established to settle dues in rupees instead of US Dollars or Euros in view of the imposition of severe economic sanctions against Moscow by the West following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

However, there have been certain issues in the full use of the mechanism, according to experts.

Manturov said India could become one of the key partners within the framework of the development of the International North-South Transport Corridor.

"Also we believe that it is important to expand direct air connectivity. This is a necessary condition for regular exchange of business delegations, an increase of mutual tourist flow," he said.

Manturov said his country has launched a programme for preferential loans and insurance to Russian importers towards procurement of "priority products from foreign countries".
Colombo, Apr 17 (PTI) The head of Sri Lanka's environmental conservation body has warned that the first batch of 1,00,000 endangered monkeys from the cash-strapped country could be heading to test labs in China, media reports said on Monday.

Sri Lanka is planning to export 1,00,000 toque macaques to China, one of its largest bilateral lenders, agriculture minister Mahinda Amaraweera said last week.

The toque macaque is endemic to Sri Lanka and classified as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list.

Understandably, the move has alarmed environmentalists.

The Executive Director of the Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ), Hemantha Withanage warned that the first batch of 1,00,000 endangered monkeys could be heading for test labs in China, according to Daily Mirror Lanka newspaper.

Withanage said these monkeys could be used for testing cosmetic products and medical experiments, the report said.

Amaraweera had said that China's request for 1,00,000 toque macaques to be exhibited at over 1,000 Chinese zoos could be considered given the large macaque population in Sri Lanka.

Withanage, however, dismissed the minister's claims.

"As per the globally accepted criteria for the definition of zoos, there are only 18 zoos in China that fit the bill, which averages out to 5,000 monkeys per zoo, and so the claim is not credible," he asserted.

"We do not have 100,000 toque monkeys in zoos. Therefore, this situation cannot be justified under the law in the country," the newspaper quoted Withanage as saying.

Commenting on the government's proposal to export monkeys to China, President Ranil Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP) General Secretary Palitha Range Bandara said even peacocks should be exported, if possible.

Those who oppose the exportation of Toque monkeys including environmentalists should go to Wanathawilluwa, Anamaduwa and Anuradhapura to see the damage caused by these monkeys and peacocks to the cultivations and witness the losses suffered by the farming community," the Mirror quoted him as saying.

The request from China was made at a time when the local authorities have taken several measures to contain the monkey population in the country, according to media reports last week.

Sri Lanka bans almost all live animal exports and the proposed sale comes at a time when the country faces its worst-ever economic crisis.

The country, however, removed several species from its protected list this year, including all three of its monkey species as well as peacocks and wild boars, allowing farmers to kill them.

The toque macaque is known to destroy crops in several parts of Sri Lanka, and even sometimes attacks people.

Authorities in Sri Lanka have pegged the monkey population in the country between two to three million.

Withanage has requested the Sri Lankan government to revoke this decision.

We hope that the minister will revoke the decision. He cannot decide on exporting animals to other countries on his own, but the decision can be taken by the Wildlife Director-General justifying the situation," he said.

"If not, the CEJ will take legal action against the decision under the current wildlife law, Withanage added.

Sri Lanka is keen to fulfil China's request as Beijing is one of Sri Lankas biggest bilateral lenders.

Last week, China said it was willing to negotiate a medium and long-term debt disposal plan with Colombo in a friendly manner to enable the crisis-struck island nation to achieve debt sustainability.

In January this year, China gave debt-ridden Sri Lanka the financing assurances required by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to unlock the bailout package, days after India strongly backed the island nation's efforts to secure the loan from the global lender to recover from its worst-ever economic crisis.

In March, the IMF approved a USD 3 billion bailout programme to help Sri Lanka overcome its economic crisis and catalyse financial support from other development partners, a move welcomed by Colombo as a "historic milestone" in the critical period.

The IMF bailout, the 17th in Sri Lankas history, was approved following prolonged discussions over Colombo's unsustainable debt.

Sri Lanka was hit by an unprecedented financial crisis in 2022, the worst since its independence from Britain in 1948, due to a severe paucity of foreign exchange reserves, sparking a major political and humanitarian crisis in the island nation.
Chennai, Apr 17 (PTI) The Tamil Nadu government on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding with a well-known footwear maker for an investment of Rs 2,302 crore in the state.

The MoU was signed with High Glory Footwear, a subsidiary of Taiwan-based Pou Chen Corporation, "the world's largest branded footwear manufacturer," in the presence of Chief Minister M K Stalin, a tweet by Guidance Tamil Nadu, said.

It is the state government's nodal agency for investment promotion and single window facilitation,

"Over the next 12 years, this partnership will generate employment opportunities for more than 20,000 people in the non-leather footwear sector, especially for the youth and women in and around the Kallakurichi district," it added.

An official release said the manufacturing unit will come up at SIPCOT, Ulundurpet in Kallakurichi.

The investment has been attracted in the wake of the government releasing a Footwear and Leather Products Policy 2022 in August last, it said.

It was also in lines with the government's policy of ensuring industrial growth in the state's backward districts and would greatly help the newly created Kallakurichi district in employment generation, the release added.

Industries Minister Thangam Thennarasu and officials from the state government and the company were present.
Lahore, Apr 17 (PTI) Radical Islamists in Pakistan allegedly attacked and demolished an over 100-year-old worship place of the minority Ahmadi community in the Punjab province, police said on Monday.

The incident occurred on Sunday at the 118-year-old Ahmadi worship place in the Sargodha district of the province.

"A good number of workers of Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) on Sunday gathered outside the worship place of the Ahmadi community in Ghooghiat in Sargodha district, some 200 kilometres from Lahore," a police official told PTI on Monday.

"They chanted slogans against Ahmadis, venting out their anger for building minarets at their worship place," he added.

According to the TLP, the Ahmadi worship place was built like a mosque, the official said. Members of the minority community present had to scale walls to save their lives, the official said.

The miscreants destroyed the 118-year-old worship place of Ahmadis, Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Punjab official Amir Mahmood told PTI.

The Pakistani government does not consider Ahmadis to be Muslims, and the Ahmadis are not allowed to call themselves Muslims in Pakistan by a law passed in 1974.

"Attacking and demolishing Ahmadi worship places by mobs and government officials is a blatant violation of Pakistan's Constitution and Supreme Court's decision of 2014," he said, adding that the persecution of the Ahmadi community has been on a high in different areas of Pakistan.

The Punjab province has been the centre of it, and the extent of these activities is such that the Ahmadi community is not left alone even in the holy month of Ramadan, Mahmood added.

Last month Police in Punjab province demolished minarets of a 70-year-old worship place of the minority Ahmadi community allegedly under the pressure of radical clerics, according to a spokesman for the minority community.

A recent fact-finding mission led by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) underscored an alarming uptick in the persecution of members of the minority Ahmadi community in the province.

Minorities, especially Ahmadis, are vulnerable in Pakistan and are often targeted by religious extremists.

In Pakistan, around 10 million out of the 220 million population are non-Muslims. According to the 2017 census, Hindus constitute the largest religious minority (5 million) in Pakistan.

Christians make up the second largest religious minority, with almost the same number (4.5 million), and their concentration is mostly in urban Sindh, Punjab and parts of Balochistan. The Ahmadis, Sikhs and Parsi are also among the notable religious minorities in Pakistan.
Khartoum, Apr 17 (AP) Sudan's embattled capital awoke on Monday to a third day of heavy fighting between the army and a powerful rival force for control of the country, as the weekend's civilian death toll rose to 97.

Airstrikes and shelling intensified in parts of Khartoum and the adjoining city of Omdurman.

Rapid, sustained firing was heard near the military headquarters, with white smoke rising from the area. Residents hunkering down in their homes reported power outages and incidents of looting.

The clashes are part of a power struggle between Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the commander of the armed forces, and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group.

The two generals are former allies who jointly orchestrated an October 2021 military coup that derailed Sudan's short-lived transition to democracy.

Both men have dug in, saying they would not negotiate a truce, instead engaging in verbal attacks and demanding the other's surrender. Still, both have powerful foreign backers, making them potentially susceptible to mounting diplomatic pressure.

Since fighting erupted on Saturday, 97 civilians have been killed and hundreds have been wounded, said the Sudan Doctors' Syndicate, a pro-democracy group monitoring casualties.

There has been no official word on the number of fighters killed.

Footage posted online Monday purported to show RSF barracks in Omdurman. The bodies of dozens of men in camouflage uniforms were seen sprawled on beds and the floor of a medical ward and in a sandy outdoor area. Another video showed civilians inside the base, apparently looting food.

The authenticity of the videos could not be confirmed independently, but they surfaced after the military said it has targeted RSF bases with airstrikes. Mohmed al-Mokhtar al-Nour, an RSF adviser, told the Al Jazeera satellite network Sunday that RSF forces have withdrawn from the camp.

The doctors' group said a stray shell struck a hospital south of Khartoum on Monday morning, without causing causalities.

The chaotic scenes of fighting with tanks, truck-mounted machine guns, artillery and warplanes in densely populated areas of the capital are unprecedented. Sudan has a long history of civil strife, but much of that has taken place in remote tribal areas, far from Khartoum.

The violence erupted during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan which ends later this week and is capped by the three-day Eid al-Fitr holiday.

On Sunday, the warring sides agreed to a three-hour pause in fighting to allow civilians to stock up on necessities. Compliance was spotty, and there were reports of casualties during the humanitarian pause.

Top diplomats urged the sides to stop fighting, including the US secretary of state, the UN secretary-general, the EU foreign policy chief, the head of the Arab League and the head of the African Union Commission. The UN Security Council was to discuss the developments in Sudan later on Monday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken renewed his call for a truce and a return to negotiations during a meeting of the Group of Seven wealthy nations in Japan on Monday.

People in Sudan want the military back in the barracks," he said.

"They want democracy. They want the civilian-led government, Sudan needs to return to that path.

The fighting also spread to the war-wrecked western Darfur region, and areas of northern and eastern Sudan, near the borders with Egypt and Ethiopia. Over the weekend, the World Food Program suspended its operations in Sudan after three of its employees were killed in fighting in Darfur.

In recent months, negotiations had been under way to get back on a path to democracy.

Under international pressure, Burhan and Dagalo agreed to a framework agreement with political parties and pro-democracy groups.

However, the deal was vague on key points of dispute, including how the RSF would be integrated into the armed force and who would have final control.

The signing of the deal was put off repeatedly, amid rising tensions between Burhan and Dagalo.(AP) RUP

RUP
Jerusalem, Apr 17 (AP) Iran's exiled crown prince is scheduled to come to Israel this week on a visit that reflects the warm ties his father once had with Israel and the current state of hostility between Israel and the Islamic Republic.

Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last shah to rule Iran before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, said Sunday that he will be delivering a message of friendship from the Iranian people.

He is set to participate in Israel's annual Holocaust memorial ceremony on Monday night, said Israeli Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel, who will host him. He is also set to visit a desalination plant, see the Western Wall, and meet representatives of the local Baha'i community and Israeli Jews of Iranian descent, she said.

Gamliel praised the brave decision by Pahlavi to make what she said would be his first visit to Israel. The crown prince symbolises a leadership different from that of the ayatollah regime, and leads values of peace and tolerance, in contrast to the extremists who rule Iran, she said.

Pahlavi left Iran at age 17 for military flight school in the US, just before his cancer-stricken father Mohammad Reza Pahlavi abandoned the throne for exile. The revolution followed, with the creation of the Islamic Republic, the takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran and the sweeping away of the last vestiges of the American-backed monarchy.

Pahlavi, who still resides in the US, has called for a peaceful revolution that would replace clerical rule with a parliamentary monarchy, enshrine human rights and modernise its state-run economy.

Whether he can galvanise support for a return to power is unknown. His father ruled lavishly and repressively and benefitted from a CIA-supported coup in 1953. The late shah also had close diplomatic and military ties with Israel.

That ended in 1979, when the Iranian revolution's leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, declared Israel an enemy of Islam and cut all ties. Today, the countries are arch-enemies. Israel considers Iran to be its greatest threat, citing the country's calls for Israel's destruction, its support of hostile militant groups on Israel's borders and its nuclear programme. Iran denies accusations by Israel and its western allies that it is pursuing a nuclear bomb.

I want the people of Israel to know that the Islamic Republic does not represent the Iranian people. The ancient bond between our people can be rekindled for the benefit of both nations, Pahlavi said on Twitter.



VN

VN
LONDON, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Kitack Lim, secretary-general of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), applauded China's achievements in global maritime governance and in promoting the shipping industry during his meeting with Chinese Ambassador to the United Kingdom (UK) Zheng Zeguang at IMO headquarters here last Friday.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the restoration of China's IMO membership.

Lim thanked China for supporting the work of the IMO Secretariat and said that China has been playing a crucial role in issues of common concern to the international shipping community, such as the negotiations on maritime greenhouse gas emissions reduction. The IMO Secretariat expects to maintain close cooperation with China, he said.

As one of the world's largest maritime actors, ship-builders and seafarers, China has deepened and broadened its participation in the work of the IMO and become integrated in global maritime governance in an all-round way, Zheng said.

China has been an active participant in and an important contributor to IMO affairs and has benefited in a comprehensive way in this process, he said.

China stands ready, as always, to support the IMO and its Secretariat in furthering international maritime cooperation and to contribute its share to the sustainable development of the global shipping industry and the building of a maritime community with a shared future, he added. 
Belfast (Northern Ireland), Apr 17 (AP) Former US President Bill Clinton and past leaders of the UK and Ireland are gathering in Belfast on Monday, 25 years after their charm, clout and determination helped Northern Ireland strike a historic peace accord.

They are meeting for an anniversary conference in a Northern Ireland that has changed dramatically since 1998, and where some wonder if the accord that created peace is still capable of sustaining it.

A young peacetime generation is increasingly shedding the rival identities  British unionist and Irish nationalist  that erupted into three decades of bloodshed that killed 3,600 people.

But at the same time, Northern Ireland is locked in a political crisis that threatens to rattle the peace secured by the Good Friday Agreement.

You've got a transformed society in which (the labels) unionist, nationalist for many young people doesn't mean anything, said Katy Hayward, professor of political sociology at Queen's University Belfast.

But on the other hand, society is in a state of quite severe disrepair. We haven't had a functioning Assembly for four out of the last six years, and our public services are crumbling around our ears.

Clinton, who recently called the day the peace deal was struck one of the happiest days of my presidency, indeed of my entire life, is joining former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, ex-Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern and Northern Ireland politicians and peacemakers for a conference at Queen's University, where former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is chancellor.

Former US Sen. George Mitchell, who is 89 and fighting leukemia, has also made the trip to Belfast, where as chairman of negotiations over two arduous years he was essential to striking the accord.

The three-day gathering caps commemorations that included a flying visit last week by President Joe Biden, on his way to explore his Irish roots in the neighbouring Republic of Ireland.

During speeches in Belfast and Dublin, Biden reminded Northern Ireland's politicians how strongly the US remains invested in peace.

I wanted to make clear there's a lot at stake, a lot at stake, Biden told reporters as he left Ireland on Friday. And I think the combination of Ireland, the whole island, Great Britain, Northern Ireland, United States can change the way things occur.

The Good Friday Agreement has been held up around the world as proof that bitter enemies can make peace. It committed armed groups to stop fighting and set up a Northern Ireland legislature and government with power shared between unionist and nationalist parties.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is due to host a gala commemorative dinner in Belfast on Wednesday, hailed the courage, imagination and perseverance of the peacemakers, including those, like former Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam, who have since died.

But critics say the UK government has been, at best, careless with Northern Ireland's peace  especially by leading Britain out of the European Union following a 2016 referendum.

Brexit shook the peace settlement by creating friction between Britain, the EU  including member state Ireland  and the US. It also destabilised the delicate political balance in Northern Ireland, by reviving the need for a customs border between the EU and now ex-member the UK.

An open border between Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland is one of the foundations of peace, so checks were imposed instead on goods moving from mainland Britain to Northern Ireland.

That unsettled unionists, who see the economic barrier as undermining Northern Ireland's place in the United Kingdom. The Democratic Unionist Party walked out of the government in protest more than a year ago, collapsing it.

The party has not returned, despite a deal reached by the UK and the EU in February to remove many of the border checks.

As they reflect on the past, conference participants will grapple with how to get the power-sharing government back up and running.

Entreaties from the UK, the EU and the United States have so far failed to coax the DUP back into government. Local elections in Northern Ireland next month will give an indication of whether the party's intransigence has cost it votes.

Increasing numbers of people argue that power-sharing must be tweaked to reflect the growing importance of forces such as the Alliance Party, which defines itself as neither unionist nor nationalist.

Meanwhile, violence hasn't disappeared completely. In February, IRA dissidents opposed to the peace process shot and wounded a senior police officer.

Former Irish leader Ahern, who played a key role in the 1998 peace talks, urged the DUP to compromise.

You do not make much progress in politics if you don't do that, Ahern told Sky News on Sunday. We have to get away from, you know, This is the position and no other position is satisfactory.' It's not tenable or sustainable. And it's not in the interests of the people in Northern Ireland. (AP) PY

PY
Moscow, Apr 16 (AP) Russian President Vladimir Putin met with China's defence minister on Sunday, underscoring Beijing's strengthening engagement with Moscow, with which it has largely aligned its foreign policy in an attempt to diminish the influence of the United States and other Western democracies.

Putin and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu met with Gen Li Shangfu less than a month after Chinese leader Xi Jinping held a three-day state visit to Moscow.

China has refused to criticise Russia's military actions in Ukraine and blames the United States and NATO for provoking Moscow. But China's foreign minister said last week that China wouldn't be helping Russia with weapons, as the US and other Western allies have feared.

Officially, China remains neutral in the Ukraine conflict. However, Xi's trip emphasised how China is increasingly becoming the senior partner in the relationship as it provides Russia with political cover and an economic lifeline during the Ukraine conflict.

In comments opening the meeting, Putin praised the general development of Russia-China relations.

We are also working actively through the military departments, regularly exchanging information that is useful to us, cooperating in the field of military-technical cooperation, conducting joint exercises, moreover, in different theaters: in the Far East region, and in Europe, and at sea, and on land and in the air, he said, according to the Kremlin.

Li said that the countries' relations outperform the military-political unions of the Cold War era. They rest on the principles of nonalignment, and are very stable. (AP)



NSA
Islamabad, Apr 17 (PTI) The lower house of Pakistan's Parliament on Monday rejected a supplementary demand for Rs 21 billion grant for elections in Punjab despite the Supreme Court's order, deepening the uncertainty over the polls in the politically crucial province and adding to tensions between the government and the judiciary.

Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar moved the supplementary demand motion in the National Assembly, the lower house, to meet the expenditures for elections after the Cabinet referred the matter to Parliament.

However, the house turned down the request.

The move by the government came as the deadline given by the Supreme Court to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to release the required funds for the election was expiring on Monday.

Separately, Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Dr Aisha Ghaus Pasha told the media that neither the SBP nor the Finance Division had the authority to release funds from the Federal Consolidated Funds.

She explained that the process of the allocation required approval from Parliament.

Without the approval of the Parliament, no bill or budget has any legal authenticityHence, we leave the entire matter to the Parliament now. The Parliament is supreme for us because this is what is written in the Constitution, Pasha said.

She elaborated that the SBP can only allocate the money but cannot release it until and unless a proper indication was given by the Finance Division.

Parliament and the judiciary have locked horns over the holding of elections in the two provinces as the former has refused to authorise the funds to meet the expenditures.

The deadlock has increased political instability and with the economy already in freefall, the threat of default of the country has increased.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court (SC) had declared as unconstitutional the Election Commission of Pakistans (ECP) decision to postpone the election in Punjab, in a blow to the government that has been trying to delay the provincial election citing security issues and the economic crisis.

The three-member bench  headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Ijazul Ahsan  had also fixed May 14 as the date for the poll in the province.

The apex court had ordered the federal government to provide Rs21 billion in funds by April 10 to the ECP and directed the body to present a report on the issue by April 11.

The government missed the deadline for the release of the funds.

The SC then went on to order the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to release the funds.
New York, Apr 17 (AP) Donald Trump's rape trial will begin next week as scheduled after a federal judge on Monday rejected his lawyer's request for a one-month delay, saying the former president cannot make public statements to promote pretrial publicity and then claim it's prejudicial to him and reason to delay a trial.

Judge Lewis A Kaplan in Manhattan said the civil trial on claims against Trump by a longtime columnist, E. Jean Carroll, will begin as scheduled on April 25. Trump denies the rape happened or that he ever knew Carroll.

Kaplan rejected arguments by Trump attorney Joe Tacopina that Trump's recent indictment in New York state court on criminal falsification of business records charges had created such a wave of negative publicity that a one-month cooling off period was needed before the rape trial begins.

"There was, of course, a great deal of media coverage  some of it invited and, indeed, provoked by Mr. Trump  first of the apparently impending indictment, then the indictment itself, and finally the arraignment. But the connection that Mr. Trump seeks to draw between that coverage and either the need for or the effectiveness of a cooling off' period is unsupported by any evidence," the judge said.

Kaplan said a portion of recent media coverage of Trump's indictment was of his own doing as Trump made public statements on his social media platform, in press conferences and in interviews.

It does not sit well for Mr. Trump to promote pretrial publicity and then to claim that coverage that he promoted was prejudicial to him and should be taken into account as supporting a further delay, the judge said, adding that he was also concerned that the request was a delay tactic by Mr. Trump.

He noted that it wasn't necessary to find jurors who had never heard of Trump's legal woes as long as jurors agreed to be fair and impartial regardless of anything they'd heard.

There is no justification for an adjournment. This case is entirely unrelated to the state prosecution," Kaplan said, alluding to charges brought against Trump on the grounds that he played a role in hush money payments to two women who claimed affairs with him years before the 2016 presidential election. He has denied the affairs.

Tacopina declined comment on Monday about Kaplan's ruling and about whether Trump will attend the rape trial. He is required to notify Kaplan by Thursday if Trump plans to show up at court.

In a footnote, the judge cited other legal threats Trump faces to show that a month-long delay in the trial stemming from Carroll's lawsuit could make the climate to find a fair jury worse rather than better.

A Justice Department special counsel probe is looking into Trump's possible mishandling of classified documents, along with matters relating to the 2020 presidential election and the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. Meanwhile, a district attorney in Fulton County, Georgia, is probing Trump's actions after the 2020 election, and New York Attorney General Letitia James has sued Trump, his family and the Trump Organization for alleged financial wrongdoing.

Carroll first sued Trump for defamation after he said Carroll lied when she wrote in a 2019 memoir that he attacked her in the dressing room of an upscale Manhattan department store in early 1996. She brought a second lawsuit in November after New York state allowed victims to temporarily sue over sexual assaults that occurred long ago. (AP)



NSA
Panaji, Apr 17 (PTI) The second meeting of the G20 health working group (HWG) in Goa beginning on Monday will leverage the advocacy power of the forum for consolidation of all the existing initiatives in health emergencies, prevention and preparedness, an official said.



There will also be focus on the response arena to plug critical gaps in global health architecture, he said.



Apart from India, delegates from 19 G20 member states, 10 countries and 22 international organisations will be participating in the second HWG meeting, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's Additional Secretary Lav Agarwal said at a press conference here on Sunday.

He said health priorities were introduced in the first HWG meeting held in Thiruvananthapuram in January.

The group in principle agreed for three proposed priorities, including mapping ongoing initiatives in health emergencies, prevention, preparedness and response and promoted convergence in global health architecture, he said.

The HWG has also proposed deliverables, including creation of regional vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics (VTD), research and development manufacturing networks and creation of global medical countermeasures coordination platforms, Agrawal said.

Listing further the proposed HWG deliverables, Agarwal said the group also prioritised the launch of a global initiative on digital health as an institutional framework to converge ongoing digital health initiatives.

Based on the discussion of the first HWG, non-papers were drafted in close collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and circulated to countries to address issues discussed in the first meeting and continue the discussion in the second meeting starting Monday, he said.
Mumbai, Apr 17 (PTI) Following are the top stories from the Western Region at 1700 HRS.















BOM11 MH-SUNSTROKE-LD TOLL

* Sunstroke at Maha event: Death toll rises to 12



Thane: One more patient undergoing treatment after suffering from sunstroke at an award function in Navi Mumbai has died, taking the toll in the incident to 12, officials said on Monday. *











BOM10 MH-SUNSTROKE TRAGEDY-SHAH

* Maha sunstroke tragedy: Shah condoles death of attendees



Mumbai: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday expressed grief over the death of some attendees of the Maharashtra Bhushan award event due to sunstroke in Navi Mumbai a day earlier. *







BOM4 MH-SUNSTROKE-PATIENTS

* 20 people still hospitalised after sunstroke at Maha award function



Thane: At least 20 people were still undergoing treatment after suffering from sunstroke at the 'Maharashtra Bhushan' award function in Navi Mumbai, an official said on Monday. *









BOM3 MH-HEAT-DEATH-AJIT PAWAR

* Maha sunstroke deaths: Ajit seeks probe into award event held at noon



Thane: Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Ajit Pawar has sought an inquiry into how the 'Maharashtra Bhushan' award event was organised in Navi Mumbai during noon time when the temperature is very high, after at least 11 people died due to sunstroke. *











BOM12 GJ-RAJNATH-CULTURE

* Cultural security important to keep our identity intact: Rajnath



Somnath: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said "cultural security" is equally important as other aspects of security to maintain the identity of the country. *











BOM7 MP-KHANDWA-TENSION

* Prohibitory orders in Khandwa after protest, stone-pelting over kidnapping



Khandwa: Police have imposed Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) in Madhya Pradesh's Khandwa city, to bar the assembly of four or more people, after stone-pelting following an incident of kidnapping, officials said on Monday. *











BOM5 MP-TODDY-DEATHS

* MP: 3 die after consuming toddy in Dhar



Dhar: Two men and a woman died after consuming toddy in a tribal area of Madhya Pradesh's Dhar district, an official said on Monday. *















BOM8 MP-STUDENTS-FOOD POISONING

* MP: 20 students of Indore varsity fall ill due to food poisoning



Indore: At least 20 female students staying in a hostel of a private university in Madhya Pradesh's Indore district fell ill due to alleged food poisoning, an official said on Monday.











LGB1 MH-HC-BMC WARDS

HC junks 2 pleas against Maha govt's reversal of BMC ward delimitation



Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Monday dismissed petitions filed by two former councillors challenging the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government's ordinance reversing the delimitation of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) wards from 236 to 227. *







BES4 GA-G20 MEET-CONG

* Goa Cong claims small businesses asked to stay shut for 3-day G20 meet



Panaji: The Goa Congress on Monday claimed that small businesses operating along the route of the G20 meet have been asked to remain shut for the duration of the event and the state government must compensate them for their loss. ***
Pune, Apr 17 (PTI) NCP MP Supriya Sule on Monday targetted the Maharashtra government over the death of 12 people due to sunstroke after a state award event in Navi Mumbai and demanded the formation of a panel to probe the incident.

The Maharashtra Bhushan award ceremony was held in the open in Kharghar area of Navi Mumbai on Sunday morning, which was attended by several lakh people, most of them followers of awardee Appasaheb Dharmadhikari.

"I express condolences to the bereaved families. Since the temperature is increasing, everybody should be a little sensitive while organising a public event. I heard CM Eknath Shinde announcing the ex-gratia, but I would like to say that the worth of human life cannot be Rs 5 lakh," Sule told reporters.

When asked about the Opposition's demand for registration of an offence of culpable homicide in the sunstroke tragedy, the NCP leader alleged the state government is also insensitive towards farmers, women's safety, and damage caused by unseasonal rains.

"This is a tragic incident and it was a black day for the state. The state government should form a committee. It was the state government that had invited people who follow Appasaheb Dharamadhikari (the recipient of the Maharashtra Bhushan award) for the function, so the state should explain," Sule demanded.

Asked about speculations in political circles after senior NCP leader and her cousin Ajit Pawar reportedly cancelling his scheduled events, Sule said Ajit attended the MVA rally in Nagpur on Sunday.

"I think media should form a separate unit to track Ajit Pawar's whereabouts," she quipped.

The Lok Sabha member from Baramati said Maharashtra is facing several big issues like unemployment and crop loss.

"We all are busy on these issues. If any leader is cancelling any event, there is no need to speculate," she added.

Asked about Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole's claim that RDX used in the 2019 Pulwama attack was transported from Nagpur, Sule said she will seek a discussion on this issue in the next session of Parliament.
Pune, Apr 17 (PTI) At least five persons were killed and two others injured on Monday evening when an iron hoarding collapsed on them due to strong winds on a service road in Pimpri Chinchwad township in Pune district of Maharashtra, police said.

The incident occurred on a service road along the Mumbai-Pune highway in Ravet Kivale area.

"Some people had taken shelter under the iron hoarding due to strong winds. Suddenly, the structure came crashing down on them, killing five persons and injuring two others," a police officer said.

He said five bodies have been recovered and a search operation is underway to find out if anybody is trapped under the hoarding.

The injured persons have been rushed to a hospital.
Mumbai, Apr 17 (PTI) The timing for the Maharashtra Bhushan award event in Kharghar in Navi Mumbai, in which 13 persons died due to sunstroke, was suggested by awardee Appasaheb Dharmadhikari, said state minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sudhir Mungantiwar on Monday.

Thirteen people died and several others are hospitalised due to sunstroke and other health complications after several lakh people, mostly followers of Dharmadhikari, attended the event under the scorching summer sun in the sprawling International Corporate Park on Sunday.

The state government has come under severe criticism from the opposition parties as well as netizens for holding the event in such a grand scale in the morning neglecting the oppressive summer conditions.

Speaking to a regional news channel, Mungantiwar said, Appasaheb Dharmadhikari had given us the timing and the event was planned accordingly. Politics should not be brought into everything.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve sought the resignation of Mungantiwar since the event was organised by the state cultural affairs department, of which the latter is minister.

"A case of culpable homicide must be registered against the organisers. The state government spent nearly Rs 15 crore for this event. The minister must resign due to the poor organisation of the event. This is a blot on the state's reputation," Danve, who is leader of opposition (LoP) in the Legislative Council, said.

Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut had alleged the event was held in the morning for the convenience of Union Home Minister Amit Shah for political gains.

Shah had left for Goa on Sunday afternoon where he addressed a rally that kicked off the BJP's 2024 Lok Sabha campaign in the coastal state.

Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole had sought a case of culpable homicide against the "inhuman" Eknath Shinde government over the deaths at the Kharghar event.

Incidentally, in a press statement issued a day after the event, Dharmadhikari had said the deaths were "painful".

"The death of people due to sunstroke is painful for me. I feel like having lost someone from my family. I expect this incident should not be politicised in any way," he said.

"I am personally pained to see some people who are like my family members losing their lives due to sunstroke. It is like a calamity in my family. We all are together in this tragedy. The incident is very unfortunate," Dharmadhikari further said.

Dharmadhikari, 76, has a massive following in the state due to his tree plantation drives, blood donation and medical camps as well as de-addiction work in tribal areas conducted under the aegis of his organisation 'Shree Sadasya'.
Indore, Apr 17 (PTI) At least 20 female students staying in a hostel of a private university in Madhya Pradesh's Indore district fell ill due to alleged food poisoning, an official said on Monday.

The students complained of vomiting, diarrhoea and abdominal pain late Sunday night, SAGE University registrar Manish Chowdhary told PTI.

"Out of the affected students, the condition of eight is fine, while 10 to 12 students are undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Rau area," the official said.

Some videos of the students admitted to the hospital surfaced on social media, in which one of them was heard saying they had dinner in the hostel mess late Sunday evening.

The university management, however, has denied that the food prepared in the hostel's canteen was contaminated.

Many students of our hostel had gone to the city during the day and might have returned after consuming food from outside. We have also found out that some students had non-vegetarian food cooked outside the hostel premises on Sunday, Chaudhary said.

There are around 290 students (both male and female) in the university's hostel, but the other students who had food in the mess on Sunday are absolutely fine, he added.
Photo taken on April 17, 2023 shows jewelry products at a jewelry store in Ankara, Turkiye. Turkiye aims to increase the exports of its jewelry products to over 10 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, despite the February earthquakes' impact on the sector, a business leader said. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)

ANKARA, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Turkiye aims to increase the exports of its jewelry products to over 10 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, despite the February earthquakes' impact on the sector, a business leader said.

Burak Yakin, chairman of the Turkish Jewellery Exporters' Union (MIB), told Xinhua in a recent interview that the country's jewelry industry is recuperating from the catastrophic earthquakes that jolted southern Turkiye in February and expected to continue its robust growth in 2023, surpassing the 10 billion U.S. dollars in exports recorded in 2022, up from 6.7 billion dollars of jewelry exports and re-exports registered in 2021.

Turkiye's exports of jewelry products have increased significantly in the past decade, and accounts for 1.5 percent of all Turkish exports in 2022, according to data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute in March.

More than 300 tons of gold are made into sophisticated pieces of jewelry in Turkish factories each year, according to statistics released by MIB.

"In terms of gold and silver refinery technology and production capacity, the Turkish jewelry industry ranks among the top three in the world," Yakin said.

Turkiye is the second-biggest exporter of gold jewelry after Italy and the third biggest consumer of gold after India and the United States. The jewelry sector creates more than 250,000 jobs in Turkiye, according to data from the Ministry of Trade. 

A jeweler shows a ring at a jewelry store in Ankara, Turkiye, on April 17, 2023. Turkiye aims to increase the exports of its jewelry products to over 10 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, despite the February earthquakes' impact on the sector, a business leader said. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)

A jeweler checks a ring at a jewelry store in Ankara, Turkiye, on April 17, 2023. Turkiye aims to increase the exports of its jewelry products to over 10 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, despite the February earthquakes' impact on the sector, a business leader said. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)

Photo taken on April 17, 2023 shows rings at a jewelry store in Ankara, Turkiye. Turkiye aims to increase the exports of its jewelry products to over 10 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, despite the February earthquakes' impact on the sector, a business leader said. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)

A jeweler shows rings at a jewelry store in Ankara, Turkiye, on April 17, 2023. Turkiye aims to increase the exports of its jewelry products to over 10 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, despite the February earthquakes' impact on the sector, a business leader said. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)

A jeweler checks a ring at a jewelry store in Ankara, Turkiye, on April 17, 2023. Turkiye aims to increase the exports of its jewelry products to over 10 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, despite the February earthquakes' impact on the sector, a business leader said. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)
Siliguri (WB), Apr 17 (PTI) Members of two CPI(M)-backed teachers' organisations clashed with the police in the northern West Bengal city of Siliguri on Monday.

Hundreds of members of the All Bengal Teachers' Association (ABTA) and All Bengal Primary Teachers' Association (ABPTA) were marching to 'Uttar Kanya', the north Bengal secretariat of the state government, from Jalpai More to press for their demands when they were stopped at the Tinbatti More area.

As they tried to break through the police barricades, a clash broke out.

A police officer said the protesters were trying to move beyond the police cordon to the area where prohibitory orders were in place.

"Mild force" along with water cannons had to be used to disperse them, he said.

Later a five-member delegation of the teachers went to the secretariat to hand over a memorandum of their demands to the state government.

Among the demands are increase in dearness allowance, non-implementation of NEP 2020, recruitment of eligible teaching job aspirants and arrest of all those accused in the school jobs scam.

CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP Bikash Bhattacharya, who led the march, alleged, "The police action on the teachers brought to the fore the anti-people and anti-teacher face of the TMC government. Today's incident proves, this government is run by uneducated people."

Many protesters were detained and later released, police said.

The CPI(M) claimed that several teachers were injured in the police action, but police said it did not have information about serious injury to any agitator.
New Delhi, Apr 17 (PTI) Panchayat elections should not cause bitterness among people in villages, President Droupadi Murmu said on Monday as she highlighted the Gujarat governments Samras Gram Yojana that rewards villages electing panchayat representatives through consensus.

Speaking at the National Panchayat Awards, the president called for enhanced participation of women in panchayats.

Murmu said panchayat elections at times cause bitterness and altercations in villages.

"There is a provision for panchayat elections every five years so that all social groups can participate... However, it is seen that sometimes these elections cause bitterness among locals," the president said in Hindi.

"To avoid this, political parties have kept away from panchayat elections," she said.

Panchayati Raj polls are non-party-based elections, in which candidates do not use the symbol of any political party.

The president mentioned the Samras Gram Yojana which envisages rural residents choosing their village heads through consensus rather than elections.

The scheme, which seeks to avoid enmity between different groups in villages at the time of elections, was introduced in 2006 by then Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

"The panchayats that elected representatives unanimously were awarded. The thought was that there should be peace in the village, which is disturbed due to the bitterness caused by-elections," she said.

The president also said 46 per cent of panchayat representatives today are women and called for their higher participation in panchayats.

"I appeal to women to participate actively in the work at the panchayat. I also appeal to their families to support these efforts," she said.

Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh said the government's aim is to achieve 'gram swaraj' or self-sufficient villages, as imagined by Mahatma Gandhi.

He added that the government is also focusing on making villages carbon-neutral, and water sufficient.

The Ministry of Panchayati Raj is celebrating the National Panchayat Awards Week from April 17-21 as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav 2.0 in the run-up to the National Panchayati Raj Day on April 24.

The National Panchayat Awards include the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Panchayat Satat Vikas Puraskar, Nanaji Deshmukh Sarvottam Panchayat Satat Vikas Puraskar, Gram Urja Swaraj Vishesh Panchayat Puraskar and Carbon Neutral Vishesh Panchayat Puraskar.
New Delhi, Apr 17 (PTI) A fire broke out at a photo frame shop in central Delhi's Sadar Bazar area on Monday, officials said.

According to fire officials, they received information regarding the blaze at 11.31 am, following which 11 fire tenders were rushed to the spot.

The fire erupted in the temporary structure on the third floor of the shop, they said, adding no casualty was reported so far.

The blaze was brought under control at 12.50 pm, a senior official said.
New Delhi, Apr 17 (PTI) In a major relief to TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee, the Supreme Court on Monday stayed the Calcutta High Court's April 13 order directing the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate to interrogate him and Kuntal Ghosh, an accused in the school jobs-for-bribes case, and file a report based on that.

A single judge bench of the Calcutta High Court had also directed the West Bengal police not to lodge any FIR against CBI and Enforcement Directorate officers probing the alleged scam.

Taking the plea of the TMC leader for hearing urgently, a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said, List the petition on April 24, 2023. Till the next date of listing, there shall be a stay of all the directions against the petitioner (Banerjee) in pursuance to the directions contained in the impugned order of the single judge bench of the high court on April 13.

The high court had taken note of the public speech of Abhishek Banerjee, a nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, in which he had purportedly said that Ghosh, an accused in the case, was being pressured by the central probe agencies to name him in the case.

Senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for the Banerjee, referred to an interview given by the high court judge to a news channel and alleged that some statements he made were against Banerjee.

Singhvi also referred to the high court order which said no police station in the state shall lodge any FIR against the CBI and ED officers probing the recruitment scam.

The apex court bench, also comprising Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala, took note of the submissions of Singhvi and stayed the operation of the HC order till April 24.

It took note of Singhvi's contention that the direction of the high court was wholly extraneous to the relief which were sought in the petition and, moreover, Banerjee was not even made a party there.

The Calcutta High Court had on April 13 passed a slew of directions asking the police not to lodge FIRs on complaints against officers of the CBI or the ED who are investigating the alleged recruitment scam related to the West Bengal Central School Service Commission and the West Bengal Board of Primary Education without its permission.

It had asked the central agencies to probe the role of Banerjee saying such an "interrogation should be made soon".

The high court was hearing a petition related to alleged irregularities in recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff in West Bengal government-sponsored and aided schools.

The high court had said that Ghosh could also be questioned soon by the central agencies along with Banerjee, the TMC national general secretary.

Abhishek Banerjee had addressed a public meeting in Kolkata on March 29 where he reportedly made the claim about Ghosh being under pressure to name him.

Kuntal Ghosh, an accused in the school jobs scam case and in custody currently, had also soon after alleged that he was being pressured by investigators to allege the complicity of Banerjee, TMCs unofficial number two.

Holding that the complaint by Ghosh was made on March 31 before the special CBI court and on April 1 to Hastings police station in Kolkata, the high court had said the matter requires investigation.

"It is a matter to be enquired and investigated whether Kuntal Ghosh took the cue from the public speech of said Abhishek Banerjee for which both of them can be interrogated both by ED and by CBI and such interrogation should be made soon," the HC judge had said.

Maintaining that "terrorising" investigating officers of a probe agency by filing complaint before the police is wholly unwarranted, the high court had said such endeavours are to be stopped forthwith as otherwise officers will not be able to act in a fearless manner.

The HC had said Ghosh had not complained of any torture by CBI or ED officers immediately after his custody with the two agencies ended, and when he was sent to judicial remand, but did so in the complaints of March 31 and April 1.

Ghosh was in ED custody after his arrest by the agency till February 2, and was in CBI custody from February 20 to 23.

The high court had said if the money trail from the teaching jobs scam is considered a human body, the CBI and ED have reached maximum up to the waist of the body in this investigation and the heart and the head are yet to be touched.

The single judge had expressed hope that the agencies will be able to do so.

"From today no police station will lodge any FIR against any complaint made to it in respect of any officer of CBI and ED who are investigating the educational recruitment scam both of West Bengal Central School Service Commission and the West Bengal Board of Primary Education, without the leave of this court," the court directed.

It had directed that Ghosh's letters filed before the CBI court and sent to the Hastings police station will not be given effect to in any manner whatsoever until further order of this court.

The HC had directed the ED and CBI to file a report on their investigation into the matter, if necessary, with the video recordings, before this court on April 20, when this matter will be taken up again for hearing.

"All the aspects which have been indicated above including the public speech of one Abhishek Banerjee, should also not be outside the investigation of CBI and if necessary, by ED," the high court had directed.
New Delhi, Apr 17 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain the appeal of the Kerala government against the high court order asking it to translocate a rogue elephant 'Arikkomban' to the Parambikulam tiger reserve in Palakkad district of the state.

The state government wanted the elephant to be sent to a training centre, noting it had killed seven people and destroyed several homes, but the apex court observed that the Kerala High Court had given a "reasoned" order based on the view of the expert committee.

Earlier in the day, a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala took note of the urgent mentioning of the appeal by the state government and decided to hear it on Monday itself.

After hearing the matter for some time, the bench dismissed the appeal of the state government saying the recommendation to relocate the elephant was made by a committee of experts.

You (state) have an expert committee and experts themselves have said that the elephant has to be relocated. It is a reasoned order. We will not interfere, the bench ordered.

"If the expert panel has suggested something, the state government cannot then go over and above it," the bench said.

The bench decided to hear the plea urgently after senior advocate Jayant Muthuraj, appearing for the state government, said that the high court has given one week to relocate the elephant to an alternative space, failing which it has to be shifted to Parambikulam.

The senior lawyer said that the elephant has killed seven people so far and destroyed several homes and therefore, the state had decided to relocate it to its elephant training centre to tame it.

However, the high court stopped that move and directed it to be released to an alternate forest.

On April 12, the Kerala High Court refused to review its decision to translocate the rice-eating tusker to the Parambikulam tiger reserve.

The high court on April 5 ordered the relocation of the tusker to the tiger reserve as suggested by the CoE appointed by it to decide whether to relocate or keep in captivity the bull elephant.

During the hearing of the review plea before the high court, the state government was of the view that the tusker should be captured and kept in captivity.

While disagreeing with the state's stand, the high court had said that if the state government had an alternate place in mind for translocating the tusker, it can do so.

The review petition was moved by CPI(M) MLA from Nenmara assembly constituency, K Babu. He had contended that the High Court-appointed Committee of Experts (CoE) suggested Parambikulam for translocating the tusker without assessing its impact on local residents.

The directions of the court came on a PIL by two animal rights groups -- People for Animals (PFA), Trivandrum Chapter and the Walking Eye Foundation for Animal Advocacy.

However, local residents close to the tiger reserve have been protesting against the decision.
New Delhi, Apr 17 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Varanasi district collector to hold a meeting for providing congenial working arrangements for 'wazu' (ritual ablution) for Muslim devotees at the Gyanvapi mosque complex.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, informed a bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala that a meeting will be held on Tuesday and the direction for providing facilities for wazu on the premises will be implemented.

The court was hearing a plea by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid committee, which manages the mosque, seeking permission for 'wazu' inside the complex in Varanasi during the month of Ramzan.

The top court referred to its order of May 20 last year where it had directed that facilities for wazu and washrooms be provided to devotees following the sealing of certain areas inside the premises.

The solicitor general assures the court that a meeting shall be convened tomorrow by the district collector so that a congenial working arrangement is provided, the bench noted in the order.

The bench also recorded the statement of the mosque management committee that it will be satisfied if even mobile toilets are provided.

The court has now posted the matter for further hearing on Friday and directed that the solution, if found in the meeting, can be implemented in the meanwhile and a formal order may be passed on the next date of hearing.

The apex court had on November 11 last year extended till further orders the protection of the area where a 'Shivling' was claimed to have been found.

Senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, appearing for the Masjid committee, requested the bench to take up the matter for hearing soon, saying the month of Ramzan is underway and adequate arrangements should be made.

He had said the water for 'wazu' is being drawn from a drum and the number of worshippers has increased in the month of Ramzan.

On March 28, the apex court had agreed to list for hearing on April 21 a plea of the Hindu side seeking consolidation of all suits filed in a Varanasi court pertaining to the Gyanvapi mosque complex row.

The bench had taken note of the submissions of lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain that the district judge of Varanasi has deferred five times the decision on a plea seeking clubbing of all civil suits pertaining to the dispute.

The apex court had earlier allowed the Hindu parties to move an application before the Varanasi district judge for consolidation of all lawsuits filed on the Gyanvapi mosque-Shringar Gauri row.

It had also directed the Hindu parties to file their replies within three weeks to the appeal by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid committee challenging the Allahabad High Court order on appointment of a survey commissioner.

On May 17 last year, the top court had passed an interim order directing the Varanasi district magistrate to ensure protection of the area inside the Gyanvapi-Shringar Gauri complex where the structure claimed to be a 'Shivling' was found during a video survey ordered by the court of the civil judge (senior division) in Varanasi.

The mosque committee, however, maintained the structure was part of the water fountain mechanism at the 'wazukhana', the reservoir where devotees performed ablutions before offering namaz.

The apex court had transferred the case to the district judge on May 20 last, pointing at the "complexities" and the "sensitivity" of the issue and saying that a more senior judicial officer should handle it.

In its May 17 last year order, the top court had directed protection of the area around the claimed 'Shivling' while also allowing Muslims to offer namaz in the mosque.

It had said the interim order shall remain in operation till the maintainability of the suit is decided by the district judge, and then for eight more weeks to allow the aggrieved parties to approach a higher court.

The Varanasi district judge is now hearing the plea by a group of women seeking permission for daily worship of idols of Hindu deities located on the mosque's outer wall. The Hindu side has also sought a survey of two locked basements in the mosque complex.
Bengaluru, Apr 17 (PTI) Rejecting the petition of an accused in the DJ Halli-KJ Halli 2020 riots in Bengaluru, a single-judge bench of the Karnataka High Court has said that prima facie there was evidence to show that the acts committed by the accused were terrorist acts under Section 15 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).



Justice M Nagaprasanna, while rejecting the petition of Mohammed Shariff, accused number 25 in the case, said there was a prima facie case against him. The high court said that the accused committing a "terrorist act" was prima facie evident.



The allegation against the petitioner or others in common is usage of inflammable devices as there is allegation of burning of vehicles either with explosive substance or inflammable substance, loss or damage or destruction of public property, all with an intent to disturb the security of the region of the nation. Therefore, the ingredients of Section 15 of the Act, in the considered view of this Court, are prima facie met, the HC said.

Mohammed Shariff had approached the high court against the Special Judge for NIA Cases, Bengaluru taking cognisance of the offences against him. He claimed there were no offences under the UAPA which he can be accused of.

His counsel argued, The order of the Special Court bears no application of mind as there are no allegations against the petitioner that would touch upon offences punishable under the (UAPA) Act. At best, the petitioner can be said to be alleged of offences punishable under the IPC... Therefore, the petitioner has to be tried by the jurisdictional court, either the learned Magistrate or the learned Sessions Judge. Conducting trial by the NIA Court is contrary to law.



It was contended that the NIA Court is only concerned with offences that would become punishable as defined under Section 15 of the Act and, therefore, (I) would submit that the proceedings before the NIA Court against the petitioner be quashed and he be permitted to be tried for IPC offences before the regular Court.



The counsel for the National Investigation Agency (NIA) contended that the acts of the accused along with others clearly comes within the definition of 'terrorist act' as defined under Section 15 of the Act.



The bail application of the petitioner was earlier declined by the high court in 2022 which had considered this issue as well.



The HC in its judgment noted that there was prima facie material against the accused.



The investigation established the petitioner coordinating with the movements and activities of the other accused persons. He was in constant touch and was meeting the participants who conspired and decided to carry out the violent attack on the police personnel. Therefore, there is prima facie material in the charge sheet against the petitioner for alleging the offences under the Act, the HC said. PTI COR RS







http://ptinews.com/images/pti.jpg





We bring the World to you"





Disclaimer : This e-mail message may contain proprietary, confidential or legally privileged information for the sole use of the person or entity to whom this message was originally addressed. Please delete this e-mail, if it is not meant for you.

ANE
Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 17 (PTI) The Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the youth wing of the CPI(M), on Monday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to shed his silence over the claims made by former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satyapal Malik about the 2019 Pulwama attack in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed.



The Left organisation said it would soon initiate a nationwide agitation against the lack of answers and accountability with regard to the Pulwama attack.





Addressing the media here, DYFI All India president and Rajya Sabha MP A A Rahim said the revelations about the Pulwama attack were "deeply concerning" and the BJP government should answer to the families of the martyrs and to the country.





In a recent media interview, Malik, who was the governor of J&K during the Pulwama terror attack, alleged that the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) had asked for aircraft to ferry troops but the request was denied by the Union Home Ministry.





"The silence of the Prime Minister in the matter is mysterious. He should address the failures and provide answers to the families of the martyred soldiers and to the country. The revelations are deeply concerning," Rahim said.





Stating that the union government could not ignore the demand for transparency and accountability in the matter, he said the DYFI would soon organise a nationwide agitation.





Malik had also claimed that he was instructed to remain silent about the failures of the government in the issue.





On February 14, 2019, terrorists targeted a CRPF convoy at Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir in which 40 jawans were killed and several others injured.
(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)
Jalandhar, Apr 17 (PTI) Ahead of the Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll, the Congress on Monday launched the Zaroor Puchho Sawal (must ask question) campaign to expose false promises and fake claims" of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab.

Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and former minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu alleged that instead of concentrating on development, progress and prosperity of the state as promised in its poll manifesto, the Aam Aadmi Party deceived people with its lies and frauds.

In the name of badlaav' (change), the AAP burdened the state exchequer to mislead the voters and validate its false claims by propagating lies through paid advertisements," they alleged in a statement here.

Congress leaders, led by Warring, stood with placards mentioning 'Zaroor Puchho Sawal' along with promises that were not fulfilled by the ruling state government, it said.

Warring targeted the AAP government for not fulfilling its poll promise of giving Rs 1,000 per month to women.

Coming down heavily on the government, he said the Congress would address the pain of the people caused by the alleged misrule of the Bhagwant Mann-led government through the campaign.

Those who were present during the protest included Amritsar MP Gurjit Aujla, former speaker Rana K P, former MLA Surinder Dawar and other senior leaders from Jalandhar..

The polling for the Jalandhar parliamentary seat will take place on May 10. The counting will be held on May 13.

The bypoll was necessitated due to the death of Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary in January.
KHARTOUM, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Violent clashes in Sudan's capital of Khartoum renewed on Monday around the Sudanese army command, Khartoum International Airport, and the presidential palace, after a ceasefire for three hours on Sunday.

At least 97 people have been killed and hundreds of others injured since the beginning of the clashes, according to the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors, a non-governmental body.

The Sudanese Army on Monday said that they had limited clashes with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) around the perimeter of the army's General Command and the center of Khartoum.

"The armed forces are in complete control of all their headquarters, and what is being circulated about the enemy's seizure of the general command, the guesthouse, or the Republican palace is untrue," the army said in a statement.

The army said that the Sudanese Air Force on Monday launched strikes against a number of hostile targets with the aim of ending pockets of the RSF in the capital.

The army further accused what it called "media mouthpieces" loyal to the RSF of spreading many lies to mislead public opinion.

Meanwhile, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commander of the RSF, on Monday urged the international community to intervene to stop what he termed as "crimes of Sudanese army commander."

"The international community must take action now and intervene against the crimes of Sudanese General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, a radical Islamist who is bombing civilians from the air," Dagalo said on his Twitter account on Monday.

"The army is waging a brutal campaign against the innocent, bombing them with missiles," he added.

He also denied that his forces initiated the fighting with the Sudanese army. "We did not attack anyone. Our actions are merely a response to the siege and assault against our force," he said.

Volker Perthes, special representative of the Secretary-General for Sudan and head of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), Monday said he was "extremely disappointed" that the Humanitarian cessation of hostilities that both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF had committed to, was only partially honored on Sunday.

"Perthes continues to urge all parties to respect their international obligations, including to ensure the protection of all civilians," UNITAMS said in a statement.

He vowed to remain engaged with the Sudanese, regional and international partners to work for a cessation of hostilities.

On Sunday, the UN mission said that the two Sudanese sides had agreed to a ceasefire for three hours to open passages for humanitarian purposes.

Sudan has been witnessing armed clashes between the Sudanese army and the RSF since April 15.

The two sides traded accusations of initiating the conflict in the capital Khartoum and other places in Sudan.

The tension between the two military forces has escalated since Wednesday in the Merowe region in northern Sudan, after the RSF moved military vehicles to a location near the military air base there, a move that the army considered illegal.

Deep differences have emerged between the Sudanese army and the RSF, particularly regarding the latter's integration into the army as stipulated in a framework agreement signed between military and civilian leaders on Dec. 5, 2022. 
Kozhikode, Apr 17 (PTI) An expatriate who was reportedly abducted recently in connection with a gold smuggling matter, has been located in Karnataka, Kerala police said on Monday.



Muhammad Shafi, a Thamarassery resident who had come from the Gulf, was reportedly abducted along with his wife on April 7 by a gang in a vehicle. However, the gang dropped off his wife within 100 metres from where they were abducted, police said.



A senior police official from the district told PTI that the Shafi had been found at a place in Karnataka and the investigation was on.



On April 14, a video of Shafi had come out in which he was saying that he was abducted by his brother. However, the police is not currently considering his brother as a suspect in the kidnapping case. A few others who allegedly had a role in the kidnapping have been arrested and remanded in judicial custody, the police said.



"We are investigating the case. As of now, we have found him (Shafi) and the probe is on," the police official said.
Westerly, RI (02891)

Today

Mostly clear. Low 39F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Mostly clear. Low 39F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.
Westerly, RI (02891)

Today

Partly cloudy skies. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 57F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies in the evening, then becoming cloudy overnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 42F. Winds light and variable.




Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has downplayed his recent disagreement with President Joe Biden over his proposed judicial reforms. In a Sunday `interview on NBCs Meet the Press, Netanyahu spoke about his friendship with Biden, saying that Friends can have disagreements on occasion, but I share with them the view that we should act.

President Biden has been a great friend of Israel. Ive known him for 40 years, Netanyahu told NBCs Meet the Press. I know his commitment to Israels security. Friends can have disagreements on occasion, but I share with them the view that we should act  and not only share the view, Im actually acting on it to try to reach a broad consensus.

I always say America is Israels indispensable and, by far, the best ally, Netanyahu said. I dont think you have a better ally in the world than Israel because Israel has become a great technological power and a great asset to the United States. And our cooperation, mutual cooperation, saves a lot of American and Israeli lives.

Netanyahus proposed reform package would give Israels parliament, the Knesset, the power to overturn Supreme Court rulings. However, thousands of people have taken to the streets in protest, fearing that the move could weaken Israels democracy.

In response to the backlash, Netanyahu has postponed the move until at least the summertime legislative session, saying that he wants to get a balance between the opposing views. He believes the reforms are necessary to rein in judicial overreach, but he doesnt want the parliament overruling every decision of the Supreme Court.

I dont want the parliament overruling automatically every decision of the Supreme Court. So Ive decided to take time out, try to get a balance between the opposing views, Netanyahu added.

There are always these contentious polls, he said. We just had a poll three months ago, and its called an election. And in fact, what has happened in the last three months is that overwhelmingly, not only the parties that won, but right now the broad base of the Israeli public believes that we have to have these corrections in the judicial system.

Despite the disagreement, Netanyahu affirmed Israels kinship with the U.S., saying that ties are even more robust than they were two decades ago. He also responded to criticisms that his government is the most radical, extreme conservative government, pointing out that the speaker of the Knesset is gay and was nominated by him.

Netanyahu also denied allegations that Mossad, Israels national intelligence agency, advocated for its members to protest the current government, which was suggested in a recent batch of U.S. national security files that leaked.

God no  I value American intelligence a little more than that, and I think they probably know the truth, Netanyahu replied. The truth is that the Mossad legal adviser said that under Israeli law, junior members of Mossad can participate in demonstrations, not senior members. Thats, I think, what led to this misunderstanding.

There is so much misinformation about what is happening in Israel that is fed from Israels political opponents, Netanyahu said. Its natural. Theyre feeding the political opponents abroad, and so the picture is set.

Despite the controversy, Netanyahu remains optimistic about Israels future as a vibrant democracy. Israel is a vibrant democracy, has been a vibrant democracy, and will remain a vibrant democracy, he said. And you know the one whos most committed to that is me.

How many of your audience know that the speaker of the Knesset, the speaker of our Congress, is gay? How many know that he was nominated by me? And how many know that he was overwhelmingly elected just a few months ago? Nobody knows that because it doesnt fit the bill, Netanyahu said, also acknowledging investments in Arab sectors. There is so much misinformation about what is happening in Israel that is fed from Israel political opponents. Its natural. Theyre feeding the political opponents abroad, and so the picture is set.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)




House Republicans have taken their attack on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to New York City, holding a hearing on what they say is a local crime crisis, a move Democrats have lambasted as a political stunt.

GOP Rep. Jim Jordan convened the House Judiciary Committee Monday morning at the Jacob Javits Federal Building  just around the block from the Braggs office.

Among the witnesses were Jose Alba, a former bodega clerk who faced a murder charge after fatally stabbing an attacker in 2022; Joseph Borgen, the victim of an antisemitic attack in Times Square; as well as Madeline Brame and Jennifer Harrison, two women impacted by violent crime whove become advocates for victims rights in New York. Harrison recently told Fox News that crime victims are distraught over Braggs leadership.

At the hearing, Barry Borgen, father of Joey Borgen, who was beaten at a 2021 pro-Israel rally, slammed Rep. Jerry Nadler and Senator Chuck Schumer:

Youre a Jewish New Yorker, he said. I called your office numerous times. No one called us back.

SEE VIDEO BELOW VIA @@jhenrynews:

Joseph Borgen, 30, was wearing a yarmulke as he walked to a pro-Israel rally near Broadway and West 49th Street when he was jumped, beaten and pepper-sprayed.

Waseem Awawdeh was seen on surveillance video using a metal crutch to beat Borgen, who was also punched, kicked, knocked to the ground and doused with pepper spray, according to the criminal complaint. NYPD officers broke up the attack, and Awawdeh was arrested nearby.

During the brutal beatdown, Awawdeh allegedly called Borgen a dirty Jew, said, (expletive removed) Israel, and said, Hamas is going to kill all of you.

Yet, about a year and a half later, Bragg offered Awawdeh a six-month plea deal last week  even after prosecutors at Awawdehs arraignment said the alleged ringleader of the attack told jailers he would do it again if he could.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)




On Monday, April 17th, Israels national Holocaust memorial and museum, Yad Vashem, held a ceremony to mark the annual Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Day. This years Yom HaShoah is dedicated to Jewish Resistance during the Holocaust. The day of commemoration will last through Tuesday, marking the day when the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising began.

The opening ceremony took place at Yad Vashems Warsaw Ghetto Square on Jerusalems Mount of Remembrance. Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog spoke at the event, which was also attended by Reza Pahlavi, the son of Irans last Shah.

President Herzog called for unity within the Jewish society and emphasized the importance of always remembering the horrors of the Nazi monster. He also stressed that even amid strong disagreements about political or religious issues, Israelis should never compare their opponents to the Nazis.

Prime Minister Netanyahu praised Holocaust survivors who chose light and the Jewish victory which resulted in a free and democratic country, the Jewish state. He also warned against the calls to destroy the Jewish people, which he said now come from the horror regime in Tehran, adding that Israel is fighting against any Iranian nuclear deal.

According to Israels Central Bureau of Statistics, at the end of 2022, there were 15.3 million Jews around the world, with seven million of them living in Israel, which amounts to 46 percent. The second biggest diaspora outside Israel is in the United States with six million Jews.

On the eve of Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Day 2023, there are 147,199 Holocaust survivors and victims of anti-Semitic acts perpetrated during the Holocaust living in Israel, the Bureaus report said.

The report also highlights that before World War II, the global Jewish population was 16.6 million with only 449,000 of them living in Israel.

The ceremony comes as Israel and the world continue to grapple with the aftermath of the Holocaust and the ongoing threat of anti-Semitism. On this day of remembrance, Israel honors the memory of those who perished and the bravery of those who fought back against the Nazi regime, while also recognizing the continued need to combat anti-Semitism in all its forms.

Photos Via Michael Katz

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)




The Mexican navy is searching with the assistance of the U.S. Coast Guard for three U.S. men who went missing early this month while sailing in the Pacific near Mazatlan in western Mexico, authorities said.

The Secretariat of the Navy confirmed Saturday that elements of Mexicos navy are participating in the search.

The men  identified as Kerry OBrien, Frank OBrien and William Gross  were on the 44-foot sailboat Ocean Bound when they were last heard from on April 4, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement issued Friday.

No information was given on the mens hometowns.

The trio had planned to stop in Cabo San Lucas at the southern tip of Mexicos Baja California peninsula April 6 to take on supplies and report before continuing their voyage to San Diego, the statement said.

But there was no record of their arrival in Cabo San Lucas, nor a report of their location, the Coast Guard said.

Coordinators of the search have contacted marinas in Baja California, but there were no reports of sightings of the vessel, the statement said.

(AP)




Jerusalem Minister Meir Porush, Meron project manager Yossi Deitsch and the commander of the Northern District of Israel Police Shuki Tachucha presented the outline for Meron 2023 at a press conference on Sunday at Meron.

The plan allows for a significantly larger number of visitors at the site than last year after extensive work was carried out to prepare access and emergency routes and expand the Hilula Complex. The exact number of people allowed at the site will be determined after the completion of the work and an updated engineering assessment.

During the press conference, the expanded Hilula Complex (Complex 89) was revealed, which will be the main gathering site on Lag BOmer. The 110-dunam complex includes 50 new dunams of parking lots for public transportation and another 60 dunams of gathering areas.

Assembly areas for events will be established in the complex, each of which will be able to hold thousands of people, with safe bleachers and seating. The complex also includes a modern and spacious area for carrying out chalakos [upsherins], an area for distributing food and drink according to the Chai Rotel custom, a large dance floor with a band that will play throughout the night, and a tent with places to sit for tefillah and limmud.

In addition, space will be allocated in the Hilula Complex for a zicharon for the 45 Meron victims, where the yartzeit seudah will be held. A moving ceremony with songs of chizzuk and tefillah will be held with the participation of hundreds of family members.

The expanded Hilula Complex will also be used for the hadlkos of Chassidish Rebbes, Rabbanim and Roshei Kehillos and spacious areas have been allocated for this purpose.

The Tzion:

Those entering and leaving the tzion will be monitored by hundreds of ushers from the Chareidi sector who will secure all passages and ensure at any given moment that order is maintained and safety conditions are met.

In order to preserve the mesorah of Meron, areas will be allocated near the tzion for tefillah and dancing, instead of the courtyard adjacent to the entrance that will be used to allow safe entry into the cave. A band will be situated in the Rebbe Eliezer chatzer (the hadlakah complex of Toldos Aharon in the past) and will play live music throughout the event.

A spacious, air-conditioned and furnished tent will be erected in the Chatzer Hillel (the hadlaka complex of Toldos Aharon Yitzchak in the past) for tefillah and limmud with places to sit near the tzion. Two complexes will also be built nearby to carry out chalakos as well as large complexes and tents for women.

The traditional and only hadlaka on the roof of the tzion will be carried out by the Boyaner Rebbe. The hadlaka complex will be divided into two levels that can accommodate thousands of people.

Derech Mehadrin:

The emergency road has been tripled in size to six meters and will allow the movement of vehicles when necessary. In routine times, it will be used as a safe passage for those arriving at the site on foot on the derech Mehadrin.

An additional path was established next to the tzion complex which will connect the dancing and tefillos courtyards directly to the derech Mehadrin in the middle of the mountain, which will reduce the number of people going up the mountain on the main road.

Much effort and work were dedicated within the framework of the outline to ensure the safety of the visitors to the site, implement the recommendations of the investigative committee, and improvements even beyond that. However, work to expand the site will continue in the coming years, making it possible to increase the number of visitors permitted at the site even more in the future.

The outline was drawn up in recent months in dozens of meetings held by project manager Yossi Deitch with all the relevant parties, led by the Israel Police and the Transportation Ministry, along with other governmental, municipal, public and private entities.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)




The conscription law is back on the agenda ahead of the Knessets summer session, Yisrael Hayom reported on Sunday.

Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich received the authority to lead the issue in the coalition and has been working for three months to formulate a comprehensive package deal, which will balance the desires of the Chareidi sector and the economic need to integrate them into the labor market.

According to the report, the negotiations in the government between the defense, finance, and justice ministries and Chareidi parties are approaching the decisive moments. The government understands that the Chareidi MKs will not vote on the budget until the draft issue is resolved, as agreed upon in the coalition agreements.

According to Smotrichs plan, after years of the state trying to recruit Chareidim by force and failing, a comprehensive deal must be made, which he calls a new social contract.

According to this outline, the focus is on equality in the economic burden, which to a certain extent outweighs the equality in the security burden, by lowering the exemption age for Chareidim and encouraging them to enter the job market earlier, a move that may increase the Chareidi contribution to the economy. Additionally, the length of mandatory service in the IDF will be reduced to only two years for men, perhaps leading to an increase in Chareidi recruits.

The government made a large investment in the integration of Chareidim in the employment market, in the opening of branches of technological colleges, professional training and the accessibility of English, mathematics and computer studies in informal settings in the Charedi sector, to support, among other things, the new recruitment law.

Smotrich said in recent months that he believes that this government can lead a change that previous governments have not succeeded to carry out as the government now includes Chareidim and a finance minister who values Torah study and the Chareidi way of life and is not perceived as hostile or as someone who seeks to coerce or re-educate them.

The main points of the program: parallel legislative amendments so that on the one hand the exemption age for the Chareidim will be lowered to 21, so that they can go to work earlier and contribute to equality in the economic burden of the state, and on the other hand the length of mandatory service in the IDF will be reduced to only two years for men. The army will maintain soldiers for longer service according to a differential model, with those serving for longer receiving a salary increase.

In addition, a service premium law will be passed that will grant benefits to soldiers during recruitment and after it, such as preference in tenders, full funding for higher studies, annual vacation days, and more.

On a political level, the fear of the Chareidi parties is that yeshiva bochurim will go to work if the exemption age is too low  and on the other hand, they do not want quotas and sanctions. The UTJ party agreed to lower the exemption age to 21, while in Shas they fear the young men going to work early and want an exemption age higher than 21, but are willing to compromise for a conscription law that will stand the test of the Supreme Court and receive the support of the Defense Ministry.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
ADDIS ABABA, April 17 (Xinhua) -- As the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement gathers momentum, it is important to allow the pan-African business community to take ownership of this flagship project, an African Union (AU) Commission official has said.

The comment was made by Monique Nsanzabaganwa, deputy chairperson of the AU Commission, while addressing the AfCFTA Business Forum, which is co-hosted by the AfCFTA Secretariat and the Government of South Africa from April 16 to 19 in Cape Town, the AU said in a statement.

She said the adoption by the AU heads of state and government of the theme of the year 2023 as the "Year of AfCFTA: Acceleration of the African Continental Free Trade Area Implementation" is expected to generate greater political momentum, and the AfCFTA Business Forum has become one of the flagship-events contributing to the acceleration of the effective implementation of the AfCFTA agreement.

Noting that the AU, the AfCFTA Secretariat, African countries, regional economic communities, and development partners have delivered on the flagship free trade pact as part of the Agenda 2063, Nsanzabaganwa said "it is now up to the private sector to start trading."

She said a number of instruments have been introduced to start trading under the AfCFTA, which include the AfCFTA e-Tariff Book, the Rules of Origin Manual, the African Trade Observatory, the Intra-African Trade Fair, the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund, the AfCFTA Automotive Fund, the Pan-African Payments and Settlement System (PAPSS), the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative, the African Business Council, and the AfCFTA Dispute Settlement Mechanism.

"All these instruments and tools are designed to ensure that legitimate business transactions thrive," she said.

Noting that 47 African countries have ratified the treaty establishing the continental free trade pact, the AU Commission deputy chief said the situation serves as a clarion call to the customs authorities to do the necessary.

"This is an opportunity for our continent to leapfrog as we recover from the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic and the geopolitics. It is equally an opportune moment to galvanize the continent from the extra-continent dynamics and start looking for home-grown solutions," she said.

Nsanzabaganwa further emphasized the need to include women and youth owned businesses and small and medium-sized enterprises.

This requires a concerted effort that continues beyond the confines of this gathering and is characterized by key intervention areas of support such as capacity development and skills creation, access to finance, access to markets and access to information.

"The AfCFTA Agreement is for everyone and has positioned women and youth in trade as engines of its successful implementation," she said. 




An Iranian court has sentenced an air defense commander allegedly responsible for the deadly downing of a passenger plane amid Iran-U.S. tensions several years ago, a state news agency reported Sunday.

Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard mistakenly shot down the Ukraine International Airlines flight in January 2020. The missile strike killed all 176 people on board and came as Tehran and Washington teetered on the brink of war.

The Guards commander who officials purport ordered the strike was sentenced to 13 years in prison, the official judiciary news outlet said.

Mizan said the commander did not follow protocols in the moments leading up to the shooting down of the plane. The commander was ordered to pay fines to families of victims, the report added.

Mizan said the court also sentenced two personnel allegedly involved in running the surface-to-air missile system Tor M-1 to one year in prison each.

After a lengthy series of hearings, the court sentenced at least seven other personnel and air defense officers to up to three years in prison. According to Mizan, the verdicts are appealable within 20 days.

The report did not identify any of the defendants by name or further details.

The judiciary news agency also said Irans government plans to pay $150,000 for each victim to their families. It did not elaborate on how this money will be delivered to the families.

The hearing sessions have faced international criticism since starting in 2021. At that time, an association of the victims families also criticized the hearing and cast doubts on the courts legitimacy. The group also alleged that none of the defendants were present at hearings.

Just hours before the shootdown in January 2020, Iran had fired ballistic missiles at American bases in Iraq in retaliation for the U.S. drone strike that killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad.

(AP)




Irans exiled crown prince is scheduled to come to Israel this week on a visit that reflects the warm ties his father once had with Israel and the current state of hostility between Israel and the Islamic Republic.

Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last shah to rule Iran before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, said Sunday that he will be delivering a message of friendship from the Iranian people.

He is set to participate in Israels annual Holocaust memorial ceremony on Monday night, said Israeli Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel, who will host him. He is also set to visit a desalination plant, see the Western Wall and meet representatives of the local Bahai community and Israeli Jews of Iranian descent, she said.

Gamliel praised the brave decision by Pahlavi to make what she said would be his first visit to Israel. The crown prince symbolizes a leadership different from that of the ayatollah regime, and leads values of peace and tolerance, in contrast to the extremists who rule Iran, she said.

Pahlavi left Iran at age 17 for military flight school in the U.S., just before his cancer-stricken father Mohammad Reza Pahlavi abandoned the throne for exile. The revolution followed, with the creation of the Islamic Republic, the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and the sweeping away of the last vestiges of the American-backed monarchy.

Pahlavi, who still resides in the U.S., has called for a peaceful revolution that would replace clerical rule with a parliamentary monarchy, enshrine human rights and modernize its state-run economy.

Whether he can galvanize support for a return to power is unknown. His father ruled lavishly and repressively and benefitted from a CIA-supported coup in 1953. The late shah also had close diplomatic and military ties with Israel.

That ended in 1979, when the Iranian revolutions leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, declared Israel an enemy of Islam and cut all ties. Today, the countries are arch-enemies. Israel considers Iran to be its greatest threat, citing the countrys calls for Israels destruction, its support of hostile militant groups on Israels borders and its nuclear program. Iran denies accusations by Israel and its western allies that it is pursuing a nuclear bomb.

I want the people of Israel to know that the Islamic Republic does not represent the Iranian people. The ancient bond between our people can be rekindled for the benefit of both nations, Pahlavi said on Twitter.

(AP)
Bumper sales: Nyetimber boss Eric Heerema

English winemaker Nyetimber has predicted a 'bumper summer of sales' following the Coronation weekend.

Chief executive and chairman Eric Heerema said the Sussex-based company was anticipating 'strong demand' for homegrown fizz over the May bank holiday.

Sales have surged in recent years, thanks in part to warmer temperatures for grape growing.

English sparkling wine sales leapt almost 60 per cent over the Queen's Platinum Jubilee weekend last year, Heerema said.

And he is expecting to raise a glass to a sales boost this summer too.

King Charles III's Coronation on Saturday, May 6 has a special significance for Nye- timber, which has been served at many Royal events.

'Consumers are especially proud to champion and celebrate British goods and craftsmanship,' Heerema said.

Nyetimber has followed rival Chapel Down in releasing a 39.50 limited-edition wine for the Coronation, with grapes grown in West Sussex. Heerema said: 'We are expecting a bumper summer following the Coronation weekend.'

The winery is hoping to produce 2m bottles per year by 2026.
Takeover fever has swept the City today as online retailer Hut Group said it had received a buyout proposal from private equity firm Apollo, sending its shares 44 per cent higher.

Meanwhile, two FTSE 250-listed companies - Network International and John Wood - announced they were considering fresh takeover proposals from private equity investors.

THG, the company formerly known as the Hut Group behind websites Lookfantastic and Myprotein, did not disclose the terms of the 'highly preliminary and non-binding indicative proposal' from Apollo.

THG confirmed it received a takeover proposal from Apollo following months of speculation

THG shares jumped 44 per cent to 95p towards market close on Monday.

Apollo has until 15 May to make a firm offer, or walk away, the company said.

The move follows months of speculation about the future of THG, whose shares plunged almost 90 per cent following its 5.4billion float in 2020, with the company now valued at just 1.2billion.

It will present its latest results to investors this week amid continued concerns about strategy and how the Manchester-based health and beauty e-commerce group is run.

Founder Matt Moulding has been urged by a major investor to get his house in order as the company prepares to reveal yet more losses, the Financial Mail on Sunday reported at the weekend.

Elsewhere in the City, the board of payments group Network International said it was 'minded' to accept the latest cash offer of 387p per share from a private equity firms CVC and Francisco Partners valuing it at over 2billion.

The largest payment processing firm across Middle East and Africa, Network International received a series of previous proposals from the consortium of investors, which it said it had rejected.

But the board added the latest offer was 'at a value' that it was minded to recommend to shareholders. CVC and Francisco Partners now have until 11 May to make a firm offer, or walk away.

Network International shares rose 19 per cent to 361p in late trade on Monday, making it the top riser on the FTSE 250.

Takeover fever: UK-listed companies have been the target of foreign investors recently thanks to their cheap valuations

Meanwhile, oil services expert John Wood also said there could be merit in the final takeover proposal from Apollo valuing it at 1.7billion, and was opening up its books to the suitor so the latter could undertake proper due diligence.

The group told shareholders it had decided to 'engage' with US private equity suitor Apollo to firm up a fifth and final 240p per share offer.

Wood Group shares jumped 7 per cent to 226p in late trading following the decision to finally warm towards Apollo Management's advances.

Aberdeen-based Wood Group said it was now looking to see if a firm offer can be made after talks with shareholders.

Wood Group said: 'Having now weighed all relevant factors, particularly feedback received from Wood shareholders, the board has decided to engage with Apollo to see if a firm offer can be made on the same financial terms as the final proposal.

'Accordingly, the board will grant Apollo access to due diligence materials.'

Apollo now has to announce a firm intention to make an offer for Wood Group by May 17 after an extension was granted by the City's Takeover Panel to the original April 19 deadline.

UK-listed companies have been the target of foreign investors recently thanks to their cheap valuations.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: 'Everything is up for sale at the right price and given the uncertain economic outlook it seems that boards are minded to support takeovers as long as shareholders are not being messed about by unrealistically low offers.

'That situation might be a lot different in a stronger economic environment.'
Shares of Stryker Co. (NYSE:SYK  Get Rating) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of Moderate Buy from the twenty-five research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $277.45.

Several research firms have issued reports on SYK. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Stryker in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a buy rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Stryker from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Stryker from $240.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Stryker from $257.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Stryker in a research report on Tuesday, March 28th. They set a neutral rating and a $287.00 price objective for the company.

Get Stryker alerts:

Insider Activity

In other Stryker news, CAO William E. Berry, Jr. sold 4,058 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.79, for a total transaction of $1,135,387.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,886 shares of the companys stock, valued at $807,473.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Stryker news, CAO William E. Berry, Jr. sold 4,058 shares of Stryker stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.79, for a total transaction of $1,135,387.82. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,886 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $807,473.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Viju Menon sold 2,161 shares of Stryker stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total transaction of $571,173.91. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,611 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,804,593.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 347,303 shares of company stock valued at $95,218,362 in the last ninety days. 5.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Stryker

Stryker Price Performance

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in Stryker during the first quarter valued at $131,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Stryker by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 673,924 shares of the medical technology companys stock worth $180,182,000 after acquiring an additional 9,026 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC acquired a new stake in Stryker during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,444,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Stryker by 21.6% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,056 shares of the medical technology companys stock worth $817,000 after buying an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its holdings in Stryker by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 3,140 shares of the medical technology companys stock worth $839,000 after buying an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.10% of the companys stock.

Shares of NYSE SYK opened at $291.76 on Friday. Stryker has a fifty-two week low of $188.84 and a fifty-two week high of $294.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market cap of $110.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.29, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.94. The firms 50-day simple moving average is $273.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $248.48.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK  Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 31st. The medical technology company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.97 billion. Stryker had a net margin of 12.78% and a return on equity of 22.39%. The businesss revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.71 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Stryker will post 10.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stryker Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 30th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. Strykers dividend payout ratio is currently 48.62%.

Stryker Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Stryker Corp. is a medical technology company, which engages in the provision of innovative products and services that help improve patient and healthcare outcomes. It operates under the MedSurg and Neurotechnology, and Orthopaedics and Spine segments. The MedSurg and Neurotechnology segment includes surgical equipment and navigation systems, endoscopic and communications systems, patient handling, emergency medical equipment, intensive care disposable products, clinical communication, workflow solutions, products for the treatment of acute ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, traditional brain, and open skull based surgical procedures, orthobiologic, and biosurgery.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for Stryker Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Stryker and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS  Get Rating) have received an average rating of Moderate Buy from the seventeen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $64.93.

LVS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 24th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Las Vegas Sands in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $65.00 to $68.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, Credit Suisse Group upped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, January 26th.

Get Las Vegas Sands alerts:

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

NYSE:LVS opened at $58.25 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $56.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.59. The company has a market cap of $44.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.27, a PEG ratio of 16.37 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.81, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.73. Las Vegas Sands has a fifty-two week low of $28.88 and a fifty-two week high of $60.99.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Las Vegas Sands

Las Vegas Sands ( NYSE:LVS Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The casino operator reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.10). Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 44.57% and a negative return on equity of 22.49%. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.22) earnings per share. The businesss revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands will post 1.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 13.9% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 46,767 shares of the casino operators stock worth $1,818,000 after purchasing an additional 5,716 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 17.1% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 13,612 shares of the casino operators stock worth $529,000 after acquiring an additional 1,985 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 6.9% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 33,282 shares of the casino operators stock worth $1,294,000 after acquiring an additional 2,145 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 26.7% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 13,502 shares of the casino operators stock worth $525,000 after acquiring an additional 2,848 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 47.6% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 27,000 shares of the casino operators stock worth $1,050,000 after acquiring an additional 8,711 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.75% of the companys stock.

Las Vegas Sands Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Las Vegas Sands Corp. engages in the development of destination properties. The firm operates through the Macao and Singapore geographical segments. The Macao segment handles the operations of The Venetian Macao, The Londoner Macao, The Parisian Macao, The Plaza Macao and Four Seasons Macao, and Sands Macao.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for Las Vegas Sands Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Las Vegas Sands and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Agricultural Bank of China Limited (OTCMKTS:ACGBF  Get Rating) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 24,949,100 shares, a decrease of 30.0% from the March 15th total of 35,655,600 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 13,860.6 days.

Agricultural Bank of China Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of OTCMKTS ACGBF opened at $0.37 on Monday. Agricultural Bank of China has a 1-year low of $0.28 and a 1-year high of $0.39.

Get Agricultural Bank of China alerts:

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Agricultural Bank of China from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, March 28th.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for Agricultural Bank of China Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Agricultural Bank of China and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
ABN AMRO Bank (OTCMKTS:AAVMY  Get Rating) saw a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 34,200 shares, an increase of 161.1% from the March 15th total of 13,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 34,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.0 days.

ABN AMRO Bank Stock Up 3.4 %

OTCMKTS AAVMY opened at $16.84 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $16.63 and a 200-day moving average of $13.92. ABN AMRO Bank has a 1-year low of $8.47 and a 1-year high of $17.93.

Get ABN AMRO Bank alerts:

ABN AMRO Bank Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Featured Articles

ABN AMRO Bank N.V. provides various banking products and services to retail, private, and business clients in the Netherlands and internationally. It operates through three segments: Personal & Business Banking, Wealth Management, and Corporate Banking. The company provides savings and deposits products; labelled residential mortgage products under the Florius brands; and consumer loans under the Alpha Credit Nederland, Credivance, Defam, Moneyou, and ABN AMRO brands.

Receive News & Ratings for ABN AMRO Bank Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for ABN AMRO Bank and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Shares of Olo Inc. (NYSE:OLO  Get Rating) have been assigned an average rating of Hold from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $11.58.

OLO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of OLO from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 23rd. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of OLO in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a neutral rating and issued a $9.00 price objective on shares of OLO in a research note on Tuesday, March 7th.

Get OLO alerts:

Insider Activity at OLO

In related news, CRO Diego Panama sold 11,826 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.04, for a total transaction of $95,081.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 680,606 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,472,072.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CRO Diego Panama sold 11,826 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.04, for a total value of $95,081.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 680,606 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,472,072.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Peter J. Benevides sold 8,580 shares of OLO stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.79, for a total transaction of $66,838.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 353,004 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,749,901.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,491 shares of company stock worth $271,782 in the last ninety days. 40.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

OLO Stock Up 0.5 %

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in OLO in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. State of Wyoming raised its position in OLO by 41.7% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 5,317 shares of the companys stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566 shares during the last quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC bought a new position in OLO in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in OLO in the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in OLO during the 3rd quarter worth $64,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the companys stock.

Shares of OLO opened at $8.48 on Wednesday. OLO has a fifty-two week low of $5.74 and a fifty-two week high of $14.08. The company has a market cap of $1.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.28 and a beta of 1.22. The firms 50 day moving average price is $7.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.63.

OLO (NYSE:OLO  Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 22nd. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $49.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $48.47 million. OLO had a negative return on equity of 4.66% and a negative net margin of 24.79%. Research analysts forecast that OLO will post -0.16 earnings per share for the current year.

About OLO

(Get Rating)

Olo Inc provides software-as-a-service platform for multi-location restaurants in the United States. The company's platform enables on-demand commerce operations, which cover digital ordering and delivery through online and mobile ordering modules. Its modules include Order Management, an on-demand digital commerce and channel management solutions that enables consumers to order directly from and pay restaurants via mobile, web, kiosk, voice, and other digital channels; and Delivery Enablement, a fulfillment network, as well as a network aggregator and channel management solution, which enables restaurants to offer, manage, and expand direct delivery, as well as allows restaurants to control and syndicate menu, pricing, location data, and availability, while directly integrating and optimizing orders from third-parties into the restaurants' point-of-sale and systems.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for OLO Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for OLO and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Weatherford International (OTCMKTS:WFTIF  Get Rating) and Jutal Offshore Oil Services (OTCMKTS:JUTOY  Get Rating) are both small-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Weatherford International and Jutal Offshore Oil Services net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Get Weatherford International alerts:

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Weatherford International -53.77% N/A -7.53% Jutal Offshore Oil Services N/A N/A N/A

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Weatherford International and Jutal Offshore Oil Services, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Weatherford International 0 0 0 0 N/A Jutal Offshore Oil Services 0 0 0 0 N/A

Institutional and Insider Ownership

85.7% of Weatherford International shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Weatherford International shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Weatherford International and Jutal Offshore Oil Services gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Weatherford International $5.74 billion 0.01 -$2.81 billion ($0.59) -0.08 Jutal Offshore Oil Services $617.15 million 0.32 $1.71 million N/A N/A

Jutal Offshore Oil Services has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Weatherford International.

Risk and Volatility

Weatherford International has a beta of 2.81, suggesting that its share price is 181% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Jutal Offshore Oil Services has a beta of -0.01, suggesting that its share price is 101% less volatile than the S&P 500.

About Weatherford International

(Get Rating)

Weatherford International Plc provides equipment and services to the oil and natural gas exploration and production industry. It operates through two segments: Western Hemisphere and Eastern Hemispher. The company products and services are Drilling and Evaluation, Production, Completions, and Well Construction. Weatherford International was founded in 1941 and is headquartered in Baar, Switzerland.

About Jutal Offshore Oil Services

(Get Rating)

Jutal Offshore Oil Services Limited, an investment holding company, engages in the fabrication of facilities and provision of integrated services for oil and gas industries, new energy, and refining and chemical industries. The company engages in the construction of large-scale module, offshore engineering, and new energy equipment; project processing design, material procurement, structural prefabrication, machining, painting, assembly, mechanical equipment installation, pre-commissioning and loading, and transportation; painting, electrical installation and commissioning, hull closure and offshore platform construction, transformation, maintenance, and other integrated services; hazardous waste collection, storage, utilization and disposal services for petrochina; energy equipment construction services; and other business services. It operates in the People's Republic of China, the United States, Switzerland, Norway, Singapore, Japan, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and internationally. Jutal Offshore Oil Services Limited was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Shenzhen, the People's Republic of China.

Receive News & Ratings for Weatherford International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Weatherford International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Press Release

April 17, 2023 STATEMENT OF SENATOR JINGGOY EJERCITO ESTRADA ON MANDATORY USE OF BODY CAMERAS DURING DRUG BUSTS Even without the enactment of a law, our police force can and should make it a requirement to have those involved in anti-drug operations use body-worn cameras since the Supreme Court already promulgated a ruling in 2021 necessitating law enforcement agents to have these recording devices when serving arrest and search warrants. Kung sa mga simpleng pag-serve ng search at arrest warrants ay requirement na ito, mas higit na dapat ginagawa sa mga anti-drug operations. The SC, in its administrative ruling even stated that failure to comply with the regulation would make the evidence seized during an operation inadmissible to the court. PDEA agents in Western Visayas have been compliant with the SC circular. The problem lies, I believe, in the lack of funds for the procurement of these devices. Out of the 260,000-strong police force, only 3,000 has body-worn cameras. Congress can allocate funds in tranches for the acquisition of these units. But with or without the augmentation of the yearly budget of the PNP and the PDEA, we hold our law enforcers accountable for their actions and misdeeds. Kung mayroon man na lihis ang gawain sa kanilang hanay, the leadership of these agencies are well-within their authority to cleanse and rid their ranks of so-called scalawags.
KAMPALA, April 17 (Xinhua) -- At least one person was killed and four others were injured after a building collapsed Sunday evening here in Uganda's capital, police said.

The building is a commercial structure that houses a restaurant near Kampala International University, Luke Owoyesigyire, deputy police spokesperson for Kampala Metropolitan Area said in a statement late Sunday.

He said the victims, all South Sudanese, were reportedly inside the building watching the English Premier League match between West Ham United and Arsenal on television when the accident occurred.

"Four victims with minor injuries were rescued by the community members and rushed to Mukwaya Hospital," said Owoyesigyire.

He said preliminary investigation revealed that the building had an extension of a story structure with two floors, which collapsed and caved in, adding the investigation is still ongoing. 
Continental Aktiengesellschaft (OTCMKTS:CTTAY  Get Rating) and Canoo (NYSE:GOEV  Get Rating) are both auto/tires/trucks companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings and dividends.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Continental Aktiengesellschaft and Canoos gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Get Continental Aktiengesellschaft alerts:

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Continental Aktiengesellschaft $41.53 billion N/A $70.18 million $0.04 186.75 Canoo $2.55 million 126.01 -$487.69 million ($1.90) -0.36

Continental Aktiengesellschaft has higher revenue and earnings than Canoo. Canoo is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Continental Aktiengesellschaft, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Institutional and Insider Ownership

Continental Aktiengesellschaft has a beta of 1.53, suggesting that its stock price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Canoo has a beta of 1.2, suggesting that its stock price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

52.5% of Canoo shares are held by institutional investors. 18.5% of Canoo shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Continental Aktiengesellschaft and Canoo, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Continental Aktiengesellschaft 0 6 0 0 2.00 Canoo 0 1 3 0 2.75

Continental Aktiengesellschaft presently has a consensus price target of $59.00, suggesting a potential upside of 689.83%. Canoo has a consensus price target of $5.88, suggesting a potential upside of 766.90%. Given Canoos stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Canoo is more favorable than Continental Aktiengesellschaft.

Profitability

This table compares Continental Aktiengesellschaft and Canoos net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Continental Aktiengesellschaft 0.20% 0.56% 0.21% Canoo N/A -217.13% -111.17%

Summary

Continental Aktiengesellschaft beats Canoo on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Continental Aktiengesellschaft

(Get Rating)

Continental AG operates as a holding company, which engages in the manufacture and sale of soft rubber products, rubberized fabrics, and solid tires. It operates through the following segments: Automotive, Tires, ContiTech, and Contract Manufacturing. The Automotive segment comprises technologies for passive safety, brake, chassis, as well as motion and motion control systems. The Tires segment focuses on the provision of tire technology solutions. The ContiTech segment specializes in the development and manufacture of cross-material, as well as products and systems for the automotive industry. The Contract Manufacturing segment is involved in the contract manufacturing of products. The company was founded on October 8, 1871 and is headquartered in Hanover, Germany.

About Canoo

(Get Rating)

Canoo Inc., a mobility technology company, designs, engineers, develops, and manufactures electric vehicles for commercial and consumer markets in the United States. The company offers lifestyle delivery vehicles, lifestyle vehicles, multi-purpose delivery vehicles, and pickups. It also provides multi-purpose platform architecture is a self-contained, fully functional rolling chassis design to support various range of vehicle weight and ride profiles. The company serves to small businesses, independent contractors, tradespeople, utilities, and service technicians. Canoo Inc. was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Torrance, California.

Receive News & Ratings for Continental Aktiengesellschaft Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Continental Aktiengesellschaft and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR  Get Rating) Director Michael F. Barry sold 200 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $40,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 90,126 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $18,025,200. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Quaker Chemical Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE KWR opened at $197.44 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 2.80 and a quick ratio of 2.00. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $194.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $180.37. Quaker Chemical Co. has a 1 year low of $129.06 and a 1 year high of $216.45.

Get Quaker Chemical alerts:

Quaker Chemical (NYSE:KWR  Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.17. Quaker Chemical had a positive return on equity of 7.97% and a negative net margin of 0.82%. The firm had revenue of $484.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $460.01 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.29 EPS. The firms revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Quaker Chemical Co. will post 6.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Chemical Dividend Announcement

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quaker Chemical

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 14th will be given a dividend of $0.435 per share. This represents a $1.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 13th. Quaker Chemicals dividend payout ratio is currently -195.51%.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KWR. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Quaker Chemical by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 24,633 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $4,257,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Quaker Chemical by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 133,734 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $23,111,000 after purchasing an additional 544 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Quaker Chemical by 30.2% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 754 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $131,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Quaker Chemical by 54.2% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 7,035 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $1,216,000 after buying an additional 2,473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Quaker Chemical by 21.4% in the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,014 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. 80.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Quaker Chemical in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Quaker Chemical from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, February 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Quaker Chemical from $206.00 to $203.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 27th.

Quaker Chemical Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Quaker Houghton engages in the business of developing, producing, and marketing formulated chemical specialty products. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific, and Global Specialty Businesses. Its products include can making lubricants, cleaners, coatings, cold rolling oils, corrosion preventives, die casting lubricants, dust suppressants, greases, ground control agents, hot rolling oils, hydraulic fluids, industrial lubricants, longwall fluids, metal forming fluids, metal removal fluids, pickle oils, surface treatments, temper fluids, and tin plating.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for Quaker Chemical Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Quaker Chemical and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Shares of Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd (TSE:OR  Get Rating) have been given an average rating of Moderate Buy by the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$23.75.

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of Osisko Gold Royalties from C$22.00 to C$27.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 5th. Haywood Securities cut shares of Osisko Gold Royalties from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, April 10th. National Bankshares lifted their target price on shares of Osisko Gold Royalties from C$22.00 to C$23.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, January 13th. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Osisko Gold Royalties from C$22.50 to C$22.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 27th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Osisko Gold Royalties from C$23.00 to C$25.50 in a report on Monday, March 27th.

Get Osisko Gold Royalties alerts:

Osisko Gold Royalties Stock Down 0.8 %

OR stock opened at C$22.06 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 5.86, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.95. Osisko Gold Royalties has a twelve month low of C$11.90 and a twelve month high of C$22.87. The companys 50 day moving average is C$19.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$17.29. The stock has a market cap of C$4.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.94, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.67.

Osisko Gold Royalties Dividend Announcement

Insider Activity at Osisko Gold Royalties

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 14th. Investors of record on Friday, April 14th were given a $0.055 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 30th. This represents a $0.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. Osisko Gold Royaltiess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.81%.

In related news, Senior Officer Andre Le Bel sold 15,000 shares of Osisko Gold Royalties stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$18.40, for a total value of C$276,000.00. In related news, Senior Officer Andre Le Bel sold 15,000 shares of Osisko Gold Royalties stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$18.40, for a total value of C$276,000.00. Also, Director Sean Roosen sold 3,570 shares of Osisko Gold Royalties stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$18.31, for a total transaction of C$65,366.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 561,644 shares in the company, valued at C$10,283,701.64. Insiders have sold a total of 42,770 shares of company stock worth $797,516 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.52% of the companys stock.

About Osisko Gold Royalties

(Get Rating)

Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd acquires and manages precious metal and other royalties, streams, and offtake and other interests in Canada and internationally. It also owns options on royalty/stream financings; and exclusive rights to participate in future royalty/stream financings on various projects. The company's primary asset is a 5% net smelter return royalty on the Canadian Malartic mine located in Canada.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Osisko Gold Royalties Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Osisko Gold Royalties and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Visa (NYSE:V  Get Rating) had its price objective lifted by Citigroup from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note issued on Monday, The Fly reports. Citigroups target price would suggest a potential upside of 15.37% from the stocks current price.

Several other research firms also recently commented on V. Raymond James increased their price objective on Visa from $261.00 to $281.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, January 27th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Visa from $210.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Visa from $249.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Barclays lifted their target price on Visa from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Sunday, January 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Visa from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, January 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $260.30.

Get Visa alerts:

Visa Price Performance

Visa stock opened at $234.02 on Monday. Visa has a 52 week low of $174.60 and a 52 week high of $234.99. The firm has a market cap of $440.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.44. The businesss fifty day moving average is $223.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $212.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

Visa ( NYSE:V Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The credit-card processor reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.17. Visa had a net margin of 50.28% and a return on equity of 49.95%. The company had revenue of $7.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $7.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.81 EPS. Visas revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Visa will post 8.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In related news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 13,394 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.00, for a total value of $2,933,286.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 4,583 shares in the company, valued at $1,003,677. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Rajat Taneja sold 61,721 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.92, for a total value of $14,190,892.32. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 232,112 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $53,367,191.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 13,394 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.00, for a total value of $2,933,286.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 4,583 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,003,677. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 133,115 shares of company stock valued at $30,115,598 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.22% of the companys stock.

Institutional Trading of Visa

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BCK Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Visa during the first quarter worth approximately $2,717,000. Markel Corp grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 0.3% during the first quarter. Markel Corp now owns 961,105 shares of the credit-card processors stock valued at $213,144,000 after buying an additional 3,065 shares during the last quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Visa during the first quarter worth about $2,323,000. Ergoteles LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Visa in the 1st quarter worth about $538,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Visa in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,496,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.87% of the companys stock.

About Visa

(Get Rating)

Visa, Inc engages in the provision of digital payment services. It also facilitates global commerce through the transfer of value and information among a global network of consumers, merchants, financial institutions, businesses, strategic partners, and government entities. It offers debit cards, credit cards, prepaid products, commercial payment solutions, and global automated teller machines (ATMs).

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Visa Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Visa and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Investment analysts at BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Stem (NYSE:STEM  Get Rating) in a research report issued on Monday, The Fly reports. The firm set a market perform rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on STEM. Roth Capital reaffirmed a neutral rating on shares of Stem in a research note on Monday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Stem from $15.00 to $12.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 3rd. UBS Group cut their target price on Stem from $18.00 to $9.50 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Stem from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 30th. Finally, Cowen cut their price objective on Stem from $16.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Friday, February 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $14.59.

Get Stem alerts:

Stem Stock Performance

NYSE:STEM opened at $4.69 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $724.93 million, a P/E ratio of -5.79 and a beta of 2.07. Stem has a twelve month low of $4.64 and a twelve month high of $18.02. The companys 50-day moving average price is $7.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.93. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Insider Activity

Stem ( NYSE:STEM Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The company reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of ($0.19) by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $155.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $179.26 million. Stem had a negative return on equity of 22.55% and a negative net margin of 34.18%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Stem will post -0.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In other Stem news, CEO John Eugene Carrington sold 13,216 shares of Stem stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.33, for a total transaction of $83,657.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,422 shares of the companys stock, valued at $705,301.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Stem news, CEO John Eugene Carrington sold 13,216 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.33, for a total transaction of $83,657.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,422 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $705,301.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Rahul Shukla sold 4,193 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.23, for a total value of $34,508.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,331.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 44,472 shares of company stock valued at $300,029. Insiders own 7.20% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Stem by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,593 shares of the companys stock worth $155,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in Stem by 38.9% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 5,000 shares of the companys stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Stem by 16.2% in the third quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 11,717 shares of the companys stock valued at $156,000 after buying an additional 1,635 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its stake in shares of Stem by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 24,186 shares of the companys stock worth $216,000 after acquiring an additional 2,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Stem by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 92,032 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,013,000 after purchasing an additional 2,277 shares in the last quarter. 52.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Stem

(Get Rating)

Stem, Inc operates as a digitally connected and intelligent energy storage network provider in the United States and internationally. It offers energy storage systems sourced from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The company also provides Athena, an artificial intelligence platform, which offers battery hardware and software-enabled services to operate the energy storage systems.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Stem Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Stem and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Hallmark Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Invesco Variable Rate Preferred ETF (NYSEARCA:VRP  Get Rating) by 8.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,670 shares of the companys stock after selling 4,231 shares during the period. Hallmark Capital Management Inc.s holdings in Invesco Variable Rate Preferred ETF were worth $1,090,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VRP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Invesco Variable Rate Preferred ETF by 10.8% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 389,761 shares of the companys stock worth $9,526,000 after acquiring an additional 37,974 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Invesco Variable Rate Preferred ETF by 3.4% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 137,826 shares of the companys stock worth $3,369,000 after purchasing an additional 4,563 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in shares of Invesco Variable Rate Preferred ETF by 59.7% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 109,807 shares of the companys stock worth $2,683,000 after purchasing an additional 41,053 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Invesco Variable Rate Preferred ETF by 41.0% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 56,253 shares of the companys stock worth $1,375,000 after purchasing an additional 16,365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Invesco Variable Rate Preferred ETF during the first quarter worth $54,000.

Get Invesco Variable Rate Preferred ETF alerts:

Invesco Variable Rate Preferred ETF Stock Performance

Shares of VRP stock opened at $22.30 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $22.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.49. Invesco Variable Rate Preferred ETF has a 12 month low of $20.88 and a 12 month high of $24.12.

About Invesco Variable Rate Preferred ETF

The Invesco Variable Rate Preferred ETF (VRP) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in broad credit fixed income. The fund tracks a market-value-weighted index of variable- and floating-rate preferred stocks. VRP was launched on May 1, 2014 and is managed by Invesco.

Featured Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding VRP? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Invesco Variable Rate Preferred ETF (NYSEARCA:VRP  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for Invesco Variable Rate Preferred ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Invesco Variable Rate Preferred ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Blue Chip Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV  Get Rating) by 20.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 716 shares of the insurance providers stock after selling 187 shares during the quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLCs holdings in Travelers Companies were worth $134,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of TRV. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in shares of Travelers Companies in the 1st quarter valued at about $160,000. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 28.8% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 5,934 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $1,084,000 after purchasing an additional 1,327 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,905 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $2,210,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 40.6% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 51,551 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $9,420,000 after purchasing an additional 14,873 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 27,212 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $4,952,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286 shares during the period. 81.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Get Travelers Companies alerts:

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Travelers Companies from $188.00 to $182.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 10th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Travelers Companies from $196.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 4th. Barclays dropped their price target on Travelers Companies from $196.00 to $179.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 12th. Raymond James upped their price target on Travelers Companies from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Travelers Companies from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, March 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $191.00.

Travelers Companies Stock Performance

TRV stock opened at $168.37 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $38.89 billion, a PE ratio of 14.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The business has a 50 day moving average of $176.88 and a 200-day moving average of $180.11. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.65 and a 12-month high of $194.51.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV  Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 24th. The insurance provider reported $3.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $3.40. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 13.34% and a net margin of 7.71%. The company had revenue of $8.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.20 earnings per share. Travelers Companiess quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 14.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Travelers Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 10th were paid a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 9th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. Travelers Companiess payout ratio is 31.66%.

Insider Activity at Travelers Companies

In related news, Vice Chairman William H. Heyman sold 9,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.42, for a total value of $1,722,780.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 251,605 shares in the company, valued at $48,162,229.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Gregory C. Toczydlowski sold 5,420 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.19, for a total value of $998,309.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 18,416 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,392,043.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman William H. Heyman sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.42, for a total value of $1,722,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 251,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,162,229.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 188,163 shares of company stock worth $35,402,200. Insiders own 1.07% of the companys stock.

Travelers Companies Company Profile

(Get Rating)

The Travelers Cos., Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of commercial and personal property and casualty insurance products and services. It operates through the following business segments: Business Insurance, Bond and Specialty Insurance, and Personal Insurance. The Business Insurance segment provides an array of property and casualty insurance, and insurance related services to its customers primarily in the U.S., as well as in Canada, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and throughout other parts of the world as a corporate member of Lloyds.

Recommended Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding TRV? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for Travelers Companies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Travelers Companies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alger Mid Cap 40 ETF (NYSEARCA:FRTY  Get Rating) by 59.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 25,925 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 9,700 shares during the period. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC owned approximately 1.08% of Alger Mid Cap 40 ETF worth $299,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Separately, Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its position in Alger Mid Cap 40 ETF by 3.5% during the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 341,700 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,016,000 after purchasing an additional 11,594 shares during the period.

Get Alger Mid Cap 40 ETF alerts:

Alger Mid Cap 40 ETF Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Alger Mid Cap 40 ETF stock opened at $12.05 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $28.68 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.07 and a beta of 0.87. The companys 50 day moving average is $12.18 and its 200 day moving average is $12.00. Alger Mid Cap 40 ETF has a twelve month low of $11.19 and a twelve month high of $16.47.

Alger Mid Cap 40 ETF Company Profile

The Alger Mid Cap 40 ETF (FRTY) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the Russell Midcap Growth index. The fund is an actively-managed, non-transparent ETF that provides exposure to US mid-cap companies with growth characteristics. The fund utilizes the Precidian non-transparent model. FRTY was launched on Feb 26, 2021 and is managed by Alger.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding FRTY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Alger Mid Cap 40 ETF (NYSEARCA:FRTY  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for Alger Mid Cap 40 ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Alger Mid Cap 40 ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lessened its position in Trane Technologies plc (NYSE:TT  Get Rating) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,948 shares of the companys stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Boards holdings in Trane Technologies were worth $1,840,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Trane Technologies by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,490,139 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,677,558,000 after buying an additional 61,456 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Trane Technologies by 48.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,366,040 shares of the companys stock worth $777,057,000 after purchasing an additional 1,745,741 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Trane Technologies by 56.5% in the 3rd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,790,429 shares of the companys stock valued at $549,178,000 after purchasing an additional 1,368,481 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Trane Technologies by 4.4% in the third quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 2,863,785 shares of the companys stock worth $414,704,000 after purchasing an additional 119,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its position in Trane Technologies by 47.1% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,475,871 shares of the companys stock worth $378,184,000 after buying an additional 792,225 shares during the last quarter. 81.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get Trane Technologies alerts:

Trane Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TT opened at $174.98 on Monday. The businesss 50 day moving average is $182.19 and its 200-day moving average is $173.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.08 billion, a PE ratio of 23.36, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.99. Trane Technologies plc has a 1-year low of $120.64 and a 1-year high of $196.22.

Trane Technologies Dividend Announcement

Trane Technologies ( NYSE:TT Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.94 billion. Trane Technologies had a net margin of 10.98% and a return on equity of 29.14%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Trane Technologies plc will post 8.23 earnings per share for the current year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 1st. Trane Technologiess payout ratio is 40.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on TT shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Trane Technologies from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Trane Technologies from $184.00 to $183.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Trane Technologies from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Trane Technologies from $163.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Trane Technologies from $200.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, March 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $183.72.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Paul A. Camuti sold 7,950 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.78, for a total transaction of $1,516,701.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 89,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,983,426.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Trane Technologies news, EVP Paul A. Camuti sold 7,950 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.78, for a total value of $1,516,701.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 89,021 shares in the company, valued at $16,983,426.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Keith A. Sultana sold 279 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.02, for a total value of $50,783.58. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 34,864 shares in the company, valued at $6,345,945.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,967 shares of company stock worth $3,007,750. Company insiders own 0.74% of the companys stock.

About Trane Technologies

(Get Rating)

Trane Technologies Plc engages in providing solutions to buildings, homes, and transportation. It operates through the following business segments: Americas, EMEA, and Asia Pacific. The Americas segment encompasses commercial heating and cooling systems, building controls, and energy services and solutions, residential heating and cooling, and transport refrigeration systems, and solutions in North America and Latin America regions.

Featured Articles

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding TT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Trane Technologies plc (NYSE:TT  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for Trane Technologies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Trane Technologies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Meritage Portfolio Management trimmed its position in FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE:FCN  Get Rating) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 36,107 shares of the business services providers stock after selling 527 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Managements holdings in FTI Consulting were worth $5,734,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of FTI Consulting by 270.4% in the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,865 shares of the business services providers stock worth $2,195,000 after purchasing an additional 10,122 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of FTI Consulting by 33.4% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 22,159 shares of the business services providers stock worth $3,484,000 after purchasing an additional 5,542 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in shares of FTI Consulting by 10.5% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 12,566 shares of the business services providers stock worth $1,976,000 after purchasing an additional 1,198 shares in the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can lifted its position in shares of FTI Consulting by 8.3% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 19,575 shares of the business services providers stock worth $3,168,000 after purchasing an additional 1,505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of FTI Consulting by 1.6% in the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 19,080 shares of the business services providers stock worth $3,000,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter.

Get FTI Consulting alerts:

Analyst Ratings Changes

FCN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of FTI Consulting from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, March 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of FTI Consulting from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Saturday, March 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of FTI Consulting in a research report on Tuesday, January 10th. They set a neutral rating and a $167.00 price objective on the stock.

FTI Consulting Price Performance

Shares of FCN opened at $204.07 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $6.92 billion, a PE ratio of 31.06 and a beta of 0.28. The firms 50 day moving average price is $185.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $172.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 1.96. FTI Consulting, Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.09 and a twelve month high of $205.63.

FTI Consulting (NYSE:FCN  Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.19. FTI Consulting had a net margin of 7.78% and a return on equity of 14.73%. The company had revenue of $774.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $738.82 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. The companys quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that FTI Consulting, Inc. will post 7.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Steven Henry Gunby sold 38,908 shares of FTI Consulting stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.86, for a total value of $7,231,440.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 414,006 shares of the companys stock, valued at $76,947,155.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Steven Henry Gunby sold 38,908 shares of FTI Consulting stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.86, for a total value of $7,231,440.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 414,006 shares of the companys stock, valued at $76,947,155.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Curtis P. Lu sold 349 shares of FTI Consulting stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.35, for a total transaction of $66,781.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 29,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,700,890.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 69,187 shares of company stock valued at $12,795,055 over the last 90 days. 3.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

FTI Consulting Profile

(Get Rating)

FTI Consulting, Inc engages in the provision of financial, legal, operational, political and regulatory, reputational and transactional advisory services. It operates through the following segments: Corporate Finance and Restructuring, Forensic and Litigation Consulting, Economic Consulting, Technology, and Strategic Communications.

Recommended Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding FCN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE:FCN  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for FTI Consulting Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for FTI Consulting and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Tourists visit the Angkor Archeological Park in Siem Reap province, Cambodia, April 16, 2023. Cambodia's three-day Sankranta festival, or the traditional New Year celebration, ended on Sunday with 13.1 million people traveling to various tourist attractions across the kingdom, Tourism Minister Thong Khon said on Monday.(Photo by Sao Khuth/Xinhua)

PHNOM PENH, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's three-day Sankranta festival, or the traditional New Year celebration, ended on Sunday with 13.1 million people traveling to various tourist attractions across the kingdom, Tourism Minister Thong Khon said on Monday.

Sankranta festival is the largest annual holiday in the Southeast Asian nation. On the occasion, revelers participate in religious ceremonies, visit their families in home provinces, and go to tourist destinations for leisure.

"During the New Year celebrations from April 14 to April 16, a total of 13.1 million tourists, including 55,691 foreigners, had traveled across the country," Khon said in a news release.

"The number is much higher than expected and also higher than that of the pre-COVID-19 pandemic era," he added.

In the pre-pandemic era, the Ministry of Tourism recorded 4.6 million locals and 83,000 foreigners traveling across the country during the New Year holiday in 2019.

Khon attributed the sharp rise in New Year travelers to the country's full peace and successful control of the COVID-19. He said the top five tourist destinations were Siem Reap province, Battambang province, Kampong Cham province, Phnom Penh Municipality, and Preah Sihanouk province.

Siem Reap is home to the Angkor Archeological Park, a world heritage site. The province received 2.1 million tourists, including 13,373 foreign ones, during the holiday.

"Overall, security, safety and public order had been maintained well during the New Year holiday," the minister said.

Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said last Friday that the Sankranta festival would definitely give a boost to the recovery of the pandemic-devastated tourism industry.

He said the country is expected to attract more than 4 million international tourists in 2023, doubling the 2.2 million international visitors it received in 2022. 

Tourists visit the Angkor Archeological Park in Siem Reap province, Cambodia, April 16, 2023. Cambodia's three-day Sankranta festival, or the traditional New Year celebration, ended on Sunday with 13.1 million people traveling to various tourist attractions across the kingdom, Tourism Minister Thong Khon said on Monday. (Photo by Sao Khuth/Xinhua)

Tourists visit the Angkor Archeological Park in Siem Reap province, Cambodia, April 16, 2023. Cambodia's three-day Sankranta festival, or the traditional New Year celebration, ended on Sunday with 13.1 million people traveling to various tourist attractions across the kingdom, Tourism Minister Thong Khon said on Monday.(Photo by Sao Khuth/Xinhua)

Tourists visit the Angkor Archeological Park in Siem Reap province, Cambodia, April 16, 2023. Cambodia's three-day Sankranta festival, or the traditional New Year celebration, ended on Sunday with 13.1 million people traveling to various tourist attractions across the kingdom, Tourism Minister Thong Khon said on Monday.(Photo by Sao Khuth/Xinhua)

Tourists visit the Angkor Archeological Park in Siem Reap province, Cambodia, April 16, 2023. Cambodia's three-day Sankranta festival, or the traditional New Year celebration, ended on Sunday with 13.1 million people traveling to various tourist attractions across the kingdom, Tourism Minister Thong Khon said on Monday.(Photo by Sao Khuth/Xinhua)
Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC cut its stake in SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEARCA:GLD  Get Rating) by 35.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,192 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 6,046 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLCs holdings in SPDR Gold Shares were worth $2,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in SPDR Gold Shares by 83.0% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 3,095,139 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $478,711,000 after acquiring an additional 1,403,492 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in SPDR Gold Shares by 256.0% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,142,717 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $206,432,000 after acquiring an additional 821,773 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in SPDR Gold Shares by 134.7% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 934,636 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $168,842,000 after acquiring an additional 536,327 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in SPDR Gold Shares by 28.7% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 909,980 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $154,369,000 after acquiring an additional 203,030 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in SPDR Gold Shares by 192.5% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 660,604 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $112,061,000 after acquiring an additional 434,764 shares in the last quarter. 37.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Get SPDR Gold Shares alerts:

SPDR Gold Shares Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSEARCA GLD opened at $186.36 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $177.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.61. SPDR Gold Shares has a fifty-two week low of $150.57 and a fifty-two week high of $190.41.

SPDR Gold Shares Company Profile

SPDR Gold Trust (the Trust) is an investment trust. The investment objective of the Trust is for the Shares to reflect the performance of the price of gold bullion, less the Trusts expenses. The Trusts business activity is the investment of gold. The Trust creates and redeems Shares from time to time, but in one or more Baskets (a Basket equals a block of 100,000 Shares).

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GLD? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEARCA:GLD  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for SPDR Gold Shares Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for SPDR Gold Shares and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lessened its position in Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI  Get Rating) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 397,784 shares of the companys stock after selling 2,976 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned approximately 0.06% of Johnson Controls International worth $25,458,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Canton Hathaway LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson Controls International during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in Johnson Controls International by 48.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 654 shares of the companys stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton acquired a new stake in Johnson Controls International during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its position in Johnson Controls International by 152.4% during the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 588 shares of the companys stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares during the period. Finally, CI Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Johnson Controls International by 979.1% during the 3rd quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 928 shares of the companys stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 842 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.76% of the companys stock.

Get Johnson Controls International alerts:

Johnson Controls International Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE JCI opened at $57.49 on Monday. Johnson Controls International plc has a 1 year low of $45.52 and a 1 year high of $69.60. The firm has a market cap of $35.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.24, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is $61.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.13.

Johnson Controls International Increases Dividend

Johnson Controls International ( NYSE:JCI Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $6.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.25 billion. Johnson Controls International had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 4.98%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Johnson Controls International plc will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 20th were issued a $0.36 dividend. This is a positive change from Johnson Controls Internationals previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 17th. Johnson Controls Internationals payout ratio is currently 78.26%.

Insider Activity at Johnson Controls International

In related news, VP Daniel C. Mcconeghy sold 3,068 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.43, for a total value of $197,671.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,054 shares of the companys stock, valued at $325,629.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on JCI. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Johnson Controls International from $74.00 to $69.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. Barclays dropped their price target on Johnson Controls International from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Johnson Controls International from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, January 13th. StockNews.com started coverage on Johnson Controls International in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a buy rating on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Johnson Controls International from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $69.50.

About Johnson Controls International

(Get Rating)

Johnson Controls International Plc engages in the provision of building products, energy solutions, integrated infrastructure and next generation transportation systems. Its technology and service capabilities include fire, security, HVAC, power solutions and energy storage to serve various end markets including large institutions, commercial buildings, retail, industrial, small business and residential.

Read More

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding JCI? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for Johnson Controls International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Johnson Controls International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta Emerging Markets Equity ETF (NYSEARCA:GEM  Get Rating) by 13.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 175,482 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 20,979 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned about 0.57% of Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta Emerging Markets Equity ETF worth $5,421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta Emerging Markets Equity ETF during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,652,000. WMS Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta Emerging Markets Equity ETF by 388.2% during the 3rd quarter. WMS Partners LLC now owns 579,010 shares of the companys stock worth $14,956,000 after acquiring an additional 460,400 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta Emerging Markets Equity ETF by 172.6% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 330,457 shares of the companys stock worth $11,195,000 after purchasing an additional 209,250 shares during the last quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta Emerging Markets Equity ETF by 652.1% during the 2nd quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 234,958 shares of the companys stock worth $6,990,000 after purchasing an additional 203,716 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Udine Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta Emerging Markets Equity ETF during the 3rd quarter worth about $4,700,000.

Get Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta Emerging Markets Equity ETF alerts:

Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta Emerging Markets Equity ETF Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSEARCA:GEM opened at $30.01 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $930.31 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.32 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $29.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.67. Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta Emerging Markets Equity ETF has a 12-month low of $25.11 and a 12-month high of $33.31.

Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta Emerging Markets Equity ETF Profile

The Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta Emerging Markets Equity ETF (GEM) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in total market equity. The fund tracks an index of emerging market stocks comprising 4 sub-indexes: value, momentum, quality, and low volatility. The index uses multiple factors to pick stocks, and each sub-index receives equal weight.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta Emerging Markets Equity ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta Emerging Markets Equity ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of VMware, Inc. (NYSE:VMW  Get Rating) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,412 shares of the virtualization software providers stock after selling 131 shares during the period. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLCs holdings in VMware were worth $294,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in VMware by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,338,363 shares of the virtualization software providers stock worth $1,526,461,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102,577 shares in the last quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its holdings in VMware by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 6,152,810 shares of the virtualization software providers stock valued at $655,028,000 after buying an additional 333,245 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in VMware by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,372,625 shares of the virtualization software providers stock valued at $611,781,000 after buying an additional 143,362 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in VMware by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,408,400 shares of the virtualization software providers stock valued at $388,115,000 after buying an additional 186,229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in VMware by 28.5% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,716,536 shares of the virtualization software providers stock valued at $289,205,000 after buying an additional 602,026 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.85% of the companys stock.

Get VMware alerts:

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VMware news, CFO Zane Rowe sold 35,715 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.53, for a total value of $4,447,588.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 174,162 shares in the company, valued at $21,688,393.86. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 40.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

VMware Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:VMW opened at $125.90 on Monday. VMware, Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.53 and a twelve month high of $132.15. The company has a market cap of $53.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $119.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $118.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.15.

VMware (NYSE:VMW  Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 2nd. The virtualization software provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.13. VMware had a return on equity of 327.30% and a net margin of 9.84%. The firm had revenue of $3.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.64 billion. Analysts anticipate that VMware, Inc. will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VMW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of VMware from $131.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, February 7th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of VMware in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a strong-buy rating for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of VMware from $142.50 to $139.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, VMware currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $135.88.

About VMware

(Get Rating)

VMware, Inc engages in the provision of cloud infrastructure and business mobility. Its products include Software-Defined Data Center, Hybrid Cloud Computing, and End-User Computing. It supports modernizing data centers, integrating public clouds, empowering digital workspaces and transforming security.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding VMW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for VMware, Inc. (NYSE:VMW  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for VMware Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for VMware and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Meritage Portfolio Management trimmed its holdings in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX  Get Rating) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 36,484 shares of the industrial products companys stock after selling 1,625 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Managements holdings in IDEX were worth $8,330,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of IEX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of IDEX by 2.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,188,089 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $1,836,240,000 after purchasing an additional 252,058 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of IDEX by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,106,765 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $595,660,000 after purchasing an additional 117,605 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management SA lifted its position in shares of IDEX by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA now owns 1,602,662 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $320,292,000 after buying an additional 192,917 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in IDEX by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,022,433 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $204,333,000 after purchasing an additional 20,523 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Echo Street Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in IDEX by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Echo Street Capital Management LLC now owns 703,533 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $140,601,000 after purchasing an additional 3,336 shares in the last quarter. 96.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get IDEX alerts:

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on IEX. Mizuho raised their price objective on IDEX from $225.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on IDEX from $245.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on IDEX from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 18th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on IDEX from $242.00 to $246.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on IDEX from $273.00 to $268.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $240.27.

IDEX Price Performance

IDEX stock opened at $219.53 on Monday. IDEX Co. has a one year low of $172.18 and a one year high of $246.23. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $223.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $224.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 2.57 and a quick ratio of 1.71. The firm has a market cap of $16.59 billion, a PE ratio of 28.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX  Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $810.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $772.75 million. IDEX had a return on equity of 21.44% and a net margin of 18.44%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that IDEX Co. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO William K. Grogan sold 3,181 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.36, for a total value of $720,051.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,864 shares in the company, valued at $3,138,255.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the companys stock.

IDEX Company Profile

(Get Rating)

IDEX Corp. engages in the provision of engineering solutions. It operates through the following segments: Fluid and Metering Technologies, Health and Science Technologies, and Fire and Safety or Diversified Products. The Fluid and Metering Technologies segment is involved in the design, production, and distribution of displacement pumps, valves, flow meters, injectors, and fluid-handling pump modules and systems.

Featured Articles

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding IEX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for IDEX Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for IDEX and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
TFG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO  Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,542 shares of the oil and gas companys stock, valued at approximately $322,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VLO. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 2,470.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 257 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 60.6% during the 3rd quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 265 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its stake in Valero Energy by 150.0% in the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 250 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Valero Energy by 56.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 322 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. 79.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Get Valero Energy alerts:

Valero Energy Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Valero Energy stock opened at $131.11 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market cap of $48.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.66. Valero Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $96.71 and a fifty-two week high of $150.39. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $133.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $129.89.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

Valero Energy ( NYSE:VLO Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 26th. The oil and gas company reported $8.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.45 by $1.00. The firm had revenue of $41.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.31 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 50.15% and a net margin of 6.54%. Valero Energys quarterly revenue was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.47 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Valero Energy Co. will post 24.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 14th were given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. This is an increase from Valero Energys previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 13th. Valero Energys dividend payout ratio is 14.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VLO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $177.00 to $165.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Valero Energy from $140.00 to $160.00 in a report on Friday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Valero Energy from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, March 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Valero Energy from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Valero Energy from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, January 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $153.94.

Valero Energy Profile

(Get Rating)

Valero Energy Corp. engages in the manufacture and marketing of transportation fuels and other petrochemical products. It operates through the following business segments: Refining, Ethanol and Renewable Diesel. The Refining segment consists of refining operations, associated marketing activities, and logistics assets that support its refining operations.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Valero Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Valero Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Meredith Wealth Planning bought a new position in The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA  Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,657 shares of the aircraft producers stock, valued at approximately $697,000. Boeing comprises about 0.6% of Meredith Wealth Plannings investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meritage Portfolio Management grew its position in Boeing by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 10,727 shares of the aircraft producers stock worth $2,043,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. TFG Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Boeing by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 5,315 shares of the aircraft producers stock worth $1,012,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its stake in shares of Boeing by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 332,357 shares of the aircraft producers stock worth $63,311,000 after acquiring an additional 2,443 shares during the period. Mengis Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Boeing by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,693 shares of the aircraft producers stock worth $703,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Chip Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Boeing in the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,779,000. Institutional investors own 57.07% of the companys stock.

Get Boeing alerts:

Boeing Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:BA opened at $202.35 on Monday. The Boeing Company has a 1 year low of $113.02 and a 1 year high of $221.33. The firms fifty day simple moving average is $207.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $186.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Boeing ( NYSE:BA Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The aircraft producer reported ($1.75) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($1.80). The business had revenue of $19.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $20.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($7.69) earnings per share. Boeings revenue for the quarter was up 35.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Boeing Company will post 0.16 earnings per share for the current year.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BA shares. Northcoast Research lowered shares of Boeing from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Boeing from $210.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $225.00 price target on shares of Boeing in a research report on Friday, February 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Boeing from $261.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Boeing from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, January 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $223.59.

Boeing Company Profile

(Get Rating)

The Boeing Co is an aerospace company, which engages in the manufacture of commercial jetliners and defense, space, and security systems. It operates through the following segments: Commercial Airplanes (BCA), Defense, Space and Security (BDS), Global Services (BGS), and Boeing Capital (BCC). The Commercial Airplanes segment includes the development, production, and market of commercial jet aircraft and provides fleet support services, principally to the commercial airline industry worldwide.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for Boeing Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Boeing and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW  Get Rating) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 19,547 shares of the industrial products companys stock after selling 335 shares during the quarter. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc.s holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $4,306,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in Illinois Tool Works by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 52,903 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $11,653,000 after purchasing an additional 870 shares during the period. Balentine LLC grew its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 5,063 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $1,115,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 1,267 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $505,000. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $268,000. 79.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Get Illinois Tool Works alerts:

Insider Activity at Illinois Tool Works

In related news, Vice Chairman Christopher A. Oherlihy sold 60,137 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.26, for a total value of $14,809,337.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 40,072 shares of the companys stock, valued at $9,868,130.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Vice Chairman Christopher A. Oherlihy sold 60,137 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.26, for a total value of $14,809,337.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 40,072 shares of the companys stock, valued at $9,868,130.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ernest Scott Santi sold 235,656 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.29, for a total transaction of $58,039,716.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 213,538 shares of the companys stock, valued at $52,592,274.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.78% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

NYSE:ITW opened at $231.90 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $234.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $223.33. The company has a market cap of $70.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 52 week low of $173.52 and a 52 week high of $253.37.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW  Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The industrial products company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $2.60 by ($0.26). Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 19.04% and a return on equity of 87.15%. The company had revenue of $3.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $3.90 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.95 earnings per share. Illinois Tool Workss revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 13th. Investors of record on Friday, March 31st were given a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 30th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. Illinois Tool Workss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, January 19th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $222.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $174.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 7th. Credit Suisse Group raised their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $259.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $211.00 to $205.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $228.14.

Illinois Tool Works Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Illinois Tool Works, Inc engages in the manufacture of industrial products and equipment. It operates through the following segments: Automotive OEM, Test and Measurement and Electronics, Food Equipment, Polymers and Fluids, Welding, Construction Products, and Specialty Products. The Automotive OEM segment produces components and fasteners for automotive-related applications.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ITW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for Illinois Tool Works Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Illinois Tool Works and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT  Get Rating) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,689 shares of the aerospace companys stock after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc.s holdings in Lockheed Martin were worth $1,795,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lockheed Martin by 1.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,885,865 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $8,840,580,000 after acquiring an additional 289,110 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lockheed Martin by 5.3% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,256,069 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $2,320,030,000 after acquiring an additional 264,665 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Lockheed Martin by 2.3% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,148,736 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $443,745,000 after acquiring an additional 25,283 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Lockheed Martin by 1.1% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 988,725 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $381,934,000 after purchasing an additional 10,587 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in shares of Lockheed Martin by 59.2% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 698,200 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $269,708,000 after purchasing an additional 259,700 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the companys stock.

Get Lockheed Martin alerts:

Lockheed Martin Stock Performance

NYSE LMT opened at $489.00 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $478.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $467.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. Lockheed Martin Co. has a 12-month low of $373.67 and a 12-month high of $498.95. The firm has a market cap of $124.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.48, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.67.

Lockheed Martin Dividend Announcement

Lockheed Martin ( NYSE:LMT Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.41 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $18.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.25 billion. Lockheed Martin had a net margin of 8.69% and a return on equity of 68.01%. The companys revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $7.47 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lockheed Martin Co. will post 26.84 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. Lockheed Martins dividend payout ratio is currently 55.27%.

Insider Transactions at Lockheed Martin

In other news, EVP Timothy S. Cahill sold 2,534 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $479.44, for a total transaction of $1,214,900.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,460 shares in the company, valued at $5,014,942.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director John Donovan acquired 556 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $451.20 per share, for a total transaction of $250,867.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,324 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,048,588.80. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Timothy S. Cahill sold 2,534 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $479.44, for a total transaction of $1,214,900.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,460 shares of the companys stock, valued at $5,014,942.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on LMT shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Lockheed Martin from $417.00 to $422.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Lockheed Martin from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and set a $513.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, April 12th. Credit Suisse Group raised shares of Lockheed Martin from an underperform rating to an outperform rating and upped their price target for the stock from $427.00 to $510.00 in a report on Monday, February 6th. DZ Bank raised shares of Lockheed Martin from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $523.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, January 30th. Finally, Vertical Research cut Lockheed Martin from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $491.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, January 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $490.43.

Lockheed Martin Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Lockheed Martin Corp. is a global security and aerospace company, which engages in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration, and sustainment of technology systems, products, and services. It operates through the following business segments: Aeronautics, Missiles and Fire Control (MFC), Rotary and Mission Systems (RMS), and Space.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LMT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for Lockheed Martin Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Lockheed Martin and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. cut its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM  Get Rating) by 11.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,950 shares of the CRM providers stock after selling 1,023 shares during the period. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc.s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,054,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 506.1% in the third quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV now owns 200 shares of the CRM providers stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Salesforce by 113.4% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 207 shares of the CRM providers stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Capital Directions Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its holdings in Salesforce by 365.2% in the 4th quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 214 shares of the CRM providers stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HBC Financial Services PLLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 350.0% in the 2nd quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 225 shares of the CRM providers stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. 75.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Get Salesforce alerts:

Salesforce Stock Up 0.1 %

CRM stock opened at $194.75 on Monday. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $126.34 and a fifty-two week high of $200.00. The businesss 50-day moving average is $180.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $159.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $194.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 926.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.24.

Salesforce ( NYSE:CRM Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 1st. The CRM provider reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.32. Salesforce had a return on equity of 4.48% and a net margin of 0.66%. The firm had revenue of $8.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.24 earnings per share. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 1st that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the CRM provider to purchase up to 10.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the companys board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 725 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.16, for a total transaction of $107,416.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 27,753,609 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,111,974,709.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, CEO Bret Steven Taylor sold 466 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.59, for a total transaction of $72,504.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 901,945 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $140,333,622.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 725 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.16, for a total value of $107,416.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 27,753,609 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,111,974,709.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 50,859 shares of company stock valued at $9,191,477. 3.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Salesforce from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $211.24.

Salesforce Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Salesforce, Inc engages in the design and development of cloud-based enterprise software for customer relationship management. Its solutions include sales force automation, customer service and support, marketing automation, digital commerce, community management, collaboration, industry-specific solutions, and salesforce platform.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CRM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for Salesforce Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Salesforce and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
TOKYO, April 17 (Xinhua) -- As the Japanese government counts down on its plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean, it is sparing no effort in its public relations stunt to quell raging opposition both at home and abroad.

In its latest move, Japan sought to use its Group of Seven (G7) presidency to drum up endorsement from the rich bloc, but was slammed after G7 environment and energy ministers met in the Japanese city of Sapporo.

At a press conference jointly held Sunday by Japan, Germany and Italy, after the two-day G7 Ministers' Meeting on Climate, Energy and Environment, Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said that the G7 ministers "welcome" the steady decommissioning progress including the release of treated water into the ocean, local media reported.

Nishimura was immediately contradicted by Steffi Lemke, Germany's minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection, according to the Japanese Asahi Shimbun newspaper.

"I respect the efforts made by TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company, operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant) and the Japanese government after the nuclear accident, but we can not welcome the release of the treated water," Lemke was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

The joint communique issued after the meeting noted the G7 nations welcome the steady progress of decommissioning work at the site.

"We support the IAEA's independent review to ensure that the discharge of Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) treated water will be conducted consistent with IAEA safety standards and international law and that it will not cause any harm to humans and the environment, which is essential for the decommissioning of the site and the reconstruction of Fukushima," said the communique.

The joint statement failed the Japanese government's earlier expectations for G7 nations' endorsement of its latest wastewater discharge plan with restrained expressions, according to the newspaper.

Japan's attempt to pretext G7's joint statement for the process of discharging contaminated water from Fukushima has apparently failed. Nishimura told the media after the press conference that he "made a little mistake" by "including everything in the 'welcome'."

In January, the Japanese government announced that its controversial plan to release radioactive wastewater from the crippled nuclear power plant in the country's northeast into the Pacific Ocean will start to be carried out "in the spring or summer."

The potential harm to the marine environment and fisheries industry of the discharge, which may last for decades, is self-evident. However, the Japanese government and TEPCO are confusing the public with intensive public relations activities, refusing to make every effort to avoid discharge of nuclear-contaminated water.

Advertisements have been placed on television, in newspapers, and online to promote the "safety" of nuclear-contaminated water.

The country, doing everything possible to publicize the safety of the radioactive water, frequently holds press tours for diplomats and foreign journalists from various countries on the toxic water-dumping plan.

In the Japanese side's instructions on the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea, especially in foreign language materials, the term "treated water" is generally used to refer to "nuclear-contaminated water", which is intended to downplay its pollution characteristics and potential hazards, so as to achieve the purpose of confusing the public.

Japan's aggressive publicizing also reached Pacific island countries, whose livelihoods depend heavily on the marine environment. Due to geographical location and ocean currents, such countries are expected to be greatly affected by the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water.

These island countries that suffered from nuclear tests conducted by the United States and others in the Pacific Ocean now hold a strong stance against the discharge plan, making them critical targets of the Japanese government.

Some local experts here openly suggested that the Japanese government should spread more voices favorable to Japan's position through both major and local media in Pacific island countries.

The United States, out of its own hegemonic mentality, is complicit with Japan in the discharge of nuclear-polluted water.

A spokesperson with the U.S. State Department, when asked to comment on Japan's toxic water-dumping plan, made irresponsible remarks by saying that Japan's approach meets international standards.

Releasing nuclear-contaminated water into the sea is not a private or trivial matter for Japan alone, but a public and important matter related to the marine environment and human health.

Ignoring the legitimate concerns of the international community, the Japanese government, by forcibly discharging nuclear-contaminated water into the sea, violates its international obligations, endangers the marine environment and public health, and infringes on the legitimate rights and interests of neighboring countries.

Japan should focus on controlling nuclear-tainted water rather than racking its brains for more public relations stunts. 
BlackRock (NYSE:BLK  Get Rating) had its price objective raised by equities researchers at Bank of America from $868.00 to $920.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, The Fly reports. Bank of Americas price target would suggest a potential upside of 33.08% from the stocks previous close.

Several other research firms have also commented on BLK. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating for the company. Credit Suisse Group cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $675.00 to $662.00 in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $800.00 to $779.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $828.00 to $829.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, April 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $741.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, January 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $738.36.

Get BlackRock alerts:

BlackRock Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $691.33 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $677.16 and a 200-day moving average of $684.00. The firm has a market cap of $103.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.27. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $503.12 and a twelve month high of $785.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.99, a quick ratio of 2.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

BlackRock ( NYSE:BLK Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $7.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $7.71 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.24 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 28.97% and a return on equity of 14.38%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was down 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.52 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 34.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $742.31, for a total value of $742,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 74,307 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $55,158,829.17. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $742.31, for a total value of $742,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 74,307 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $55,158,829.17. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Marc D. Comerchero sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $728.66, for a total transaction of $473,629.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,055 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,226,056.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,839 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,947 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.06% of the companys stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Horan Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 72.7% in the 4th quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 38 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. HBC Financial Services PLLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 55.6% in the 4th quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 42 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 275.0% during the 3rd quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 45 shares of the asset managers stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steward Financial Group LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.69% of the companys stock.

About BlackRock

(Get Rating)

BlackRock, Inc engages in providing investment management, risk management, and advisory services for institutional and retail clients worldwide. Its products include single and multi-asset class portfolios investing in equities, fixed income, alternatives, and money market instruments. The company was founded by Susan L.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for BlackRock Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BlackRock and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
NEW DELHI, April 17 (Xinhua) -- The death toll in the toxic liquor consumption in the eastern Indian state of Bihar has risen to 32, the state-run broadcaster All India Radio said Monday.

"In Bihar, the death toll due to consuming spurious liquor mounted to 32," the broadcaster said. "The figure is likely to increase as the condition of 14 people is critical and they are undergoing treatment in different hospitals in Motihari and Muzaffarpur."

The deaths were first reported on Saturday in East Champaran (Motihari) district, about 151 km north of Patna, the capital city of Bihar.

The broadcaster quoted Kantesh Kumar Mishra, a senior police officer in Motihari, as saying that five station house officers and nine village watch and ward personnel of different police stations have been suspended.

Police have so far arrested 108 people in connection with the incident and seized over 6,000 liters of liquor during raids.

Meanwhile, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Monday announced a compensation of 4,881 U.S. dollars to the families of the victims.

The recent deaths highlighted the sale of spurious liquor in an otherwise dry state, where the sale and consumption of liquor are strictly prohibited under law.

Spurious alcohol deaths are often reported in India, where people often drink cheap country-made bootleg liquor. 
SEOUL, April 17 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's automotive export hit a record high last month thanks to robust demand for eco-friendly vehicles, government data showed Monday.

Car shipment soared 64.1 percent from a year earlier to 6.52 billion U.S. dollars in March, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

It marked the country's highest monthly auto shipment, continuing to grow for the eighth consecutive month since August last year.

The number of exported vehicles was 262,341 in March, up 48.0 percent from the same month of last year.

Export for eco-friendly cars jumped 94.7 percent to 2.27 billion dollars, while the number of exported such vehicles surged 79.5 percent to 71,781. Both figures recorded highs last month.

The number of vehicles manufactured in local factories gained 35.6 percent from a year earlier to 409,806 in March, topping 400,000 in six years amid the eased supply disruption of semiconductors used to make cars.

The number of cars sold in South Korea, including locally-made and imported vehicles, was 165,851 in March, up 19.6 percent from a year earlier. 
Finlands much-delayed Olkiluoto 3 (OL3) nuclear reactor, Europes largest, began regular output early on Sunday, its operator said, boosting energy security in a region to which Russia has cut gas and power supplies.

Nuclear power remains controversial in Europe, primarily due to safety concerns, and news of OL3s start-up comes as Germany on Saturday switches off its last three remaining reactors, while Sweden, France, Britain and others plan new developments.

OL3s operator Teollisuuden Voima (TVO), which is owned by Finnish utility Fortum (FORTUM.HE) and a consortium of energy and industrial companies, has said the unit is expected to meet around 14% of Finlands electricity demand, reducing the need for imports from Sweden and Norway.

The new reactor is expected to produce for at least 60 years, TVO said in a statement on Sunday after completing the transition from testing to regular output.

The production of Olkiluoto 3 stabilises the price of electricity and plays an important role in the Finnish green transition, TVO Chief Executive Jarmo Tanhua said in the statement.

Construction of the 1.6 gigawatt (GW) reactor, Finlands first new nuclear plant in more than four decades and Europes first in 16 years, began in 2005. The plant was originally due to open four years later, but was plagued by technical issues.

OL3 first supplied test production to Finlands national power grid in March last year and was expected at the time to begin regular output four months later, but instead suffered a string of breakdowns and outages that took months to fix.

Russias power exports to Finland ended last May when Russian utility Inter RAO said it had not been paid for the energy it sold, a consequence of the widening gulf between Moscow and Europe over the war in Ukraine.

Russian state export monopoly Gazprom shortly after ended shipments of natural gas to the Nordic nation.

SOURCE: REUTERS
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

When revamping a property with history, there are always choices: gut it or nod to its past. For Camptown, a retreat in the Catskills originally built in the 1930s, Kim Bucci and Ray Pirkle of Ramshackle Studio decided to take the latter route.

For the design, we wanted to honor the beauty of what already existed, so we ended up playing with different elements for every space. For us, its like having a conversation with a different personality and evolving with that person, Bucci said.

Camptown was formerly Carls Rip Van Winkle Motor Lodge, owned and operated by three generations of the Carl family in Leeds. The new hotel, which opened in March, maintains the 24-room motor lodge, as well as 26 log cabins on 22 acres.

Bucci and Pirkle, who opened Rivertown Lodge in Hudson in 2015, played mostly with color and space because there was already so much shape and texture in the log cabins and other materials that had been used throughout the decades.

Camptown If you go Address: 800 County Road 23B, Leeds N.Y. 12451

Rates: Rooms start at $209, cabins at $299

Info: camptowncatskills.com; hello@camptowncatskills.com; 518-719-0097

Etc: The hotel has 50 rooms across a motor lodge and freestanding cabins. It also has a restaurant and a swim club, both open to the public. See More Collapse

We did our best to renovate without removing the natural charm of the log cabins, original pine paneling, and stonework, Pirkle said.

Bucci and Pirkle worked with regional artists and woodworkers for the project, including Jackrabbit Studio, Sawkille, Chad Silver, Rowland Butler, Tony Gorga of New York Handmade, Becca Van K. and Romancing the Woods. The rooms feature a mix of modern and vintage furniture, but each cabin is unique in its design. Some have wood-burning stoves and Penobscot Bay porch swings, and all have organic mattresses.

The resulting rooms accommodate a variety of Catskills explorers: cozy nooks for quick getaways, and larger cabins with multiple rooms and a kitchenette for extended stays. The mix makes Camptown ideal for weddings, reunions and corporate retreats. Rooms start at $209 and cabins at $299.

Bucci and Pirkle met working in New York City and in time relocated to the Hudson Valley. They collaborated with Workstead, the design studio, on Rivertown Lodge. Camptown is their first solo design project with Ramshackle Studio, their new hospitality and real estate design company.

Camptowns farm-to-table Mexican restaurant, Casa Susanna, led by chef Efren Hernandez, focuses on Jaliscan flavors. Menu highlights include duck leg confit with fermented mole negro, whole grilled mackerel al pastor and prickly pear sorbet. The kitchen has a masa program using three types of heirloom corn (red, yellow and blue) from Mexico known as maiz criollo.

We use the red corn for tortillas, tostadas, totopos and sometimes sopes. We use the blue corn for tetelas, tlacoyos, sometimes sopes and the yellow corn for all three of our tamales and the pozole, said Hernandez, who also pays close attention to the corns grind. Tortillas puff better when corn is ground fine, while tamales will be fluffy instead of dense if the corn is ground more coarsely.

More for you Casa Susanna is a modern take on traditional Mexican cuisine

Casa Susanna features a large horseshoe-shaped bar with a cognac leather top. Guests can pull up a French oak bar stool from the 1960s for a glass of natural wine, a cocktail or a fermented drink created with house-made tinctures, seasonal jarred ingredients and garnishes from Camptowns greenhouse.

For travelers who prefer to cook in the cabins with kitchens, Camptown has an honor pantry with snacks, dry goods, fresh meats and vegetables. There are also on-site grills. Items signed out get billed to guest rooms. Some provisions are local, including Kinderhook Farm meats, Hawthorne Valley dairy, a selection of locally brewed beers and cookies. In the near future, guests who prefer not to shop in the honor pantry will be able to request a fill your fridge option, too.

Theres plenty to do around Campground, including hiking on the grounds, and a pool is slated to open Memorial Day weekend. Its for guests, of course, but local full-time residents of the Hudson Valley can snag a pool membership ($450 for individuals and $600 for families). When the pool closes on Labor Day, never fear  Camptown is planning on opening a sauna in the fall.
Paul Buckowski/Albany Times Union

GLENS FALLS  The Clean Air Action Network of Glens Falls will offer a screening of the documentary on polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, titled "The Devil We Know" at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 20 at the Crandall Library.

The 2018 investigative documentary film tells the story of how the world found out about PFAS forever chemicals and their impacts on health. The film focuses on DuPonts Teflon factory in Parkersburg, West Virginia, which for decades dumped the chemicals into the Ohio River, contaminating the drinking water of thousands of residents downstream.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP)  A grand jury has refused to indict a former northern Virginia police officer after he fatally shot an unarmed shoplifting suspect outside a busy shopping mall in February.

Authorities presented the case to a grand jury for an indictment against Wesley Shifflett, who shot and killed Timothy McCree Johnson outside Tysons Corner Center on Feb. 22.

Fairfax County Commonwealths Attorney Steve Descano  who ran for office on a reform agenda that included holding police accountable for misdeeds  had called a press conference Monday, presumably to announce criminal charges.

But the noon press conference was first delayed, then canceled. Later in the day, Descano issued a statement saying he's evaluating all options following the grand jury's decision.

Since, by law, no prosecutors were permitted to be present in the room when the investigating officers made their presentation to the grand jury, I cant say for sure what information was conveyed to the grand jurors, Descano said.

The shooting occurred after Shifflett and another Fairfax County police officer chased Johnson on foot from the mall after receiving a report from security guards that Johnson had stolen sunglasses from a Nordstrom department store.

Dimly lit body camera video shows the chase and the shooting. The officer is heard saying Get on the ground and later saying stop reaching as shots are fired. After the shooting, Shifflett tells another officer that he saw Johnson continually reaching in his waistband.

A search of the grounds after the shooting turned up no weapons.

Shifflett's lawyer, Caleb Kershner, praised the grand jury for its decision.

The grand jury has seen this case for exactly what it is, Kershner said.

Kershner said Johnson's death is a tragedy but that his client acted reasonably when he believed he saw Johnson reaching for a weapon in his waistband.

Shifflett was fired last month for what Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis called a failure to live up to the expectations of our agency, in particular use of force policies.

A lawyer for Johnson's family likened the shooting to an execution. Johnson's mother, Melissa Johnson, said officers shot her son when all they knew at the time was that he was Black and male and had allegedly triggered an alarm from a store for some sunglasses.

Descano, in his statement, said he had contacted Johnson's family Monday morning and told them he expected an indictment.

So I can only imagine their pain and shock when they received the news that the officer  who shot and killed their unarmed son  was not indicted, he said.

The Johnson family's lawyer, Carl Crews, said Descano's office had indicated to the family that prosecutors anticipated obtaining a manslaughter indictment.

Crews noted how rare it is for grand juries to reject an indictment; he said he suspects that police officers who presented the evidence  something that's done in Virginia outside of prosecutors' presence  shaded their delivery to protect one of their own.

We have to figure out a way to crush the blue wall of silence, Crews said, advocating for Descano to try again with a different grand jury.

Defense lawyer Kershner said it would be vindictive and almost anti-police if Descano were to try to obtain an indictment from a different grand jury.

The grand jury, thank God, did the right thing, and the commonwealth's attorney's office now has to accept that, he said.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

SCHOHARIE  State Supreme Court Justice Peter Lynch denied a motion Monday by Nauman Hussains legal team to delay the Schoharie limousine crash trial so that prosecutors could subpoena FBI Director Christopher Wray for details on an investigation into Hussains father, a longtime FBI informant with a checkered past.

Lee Kindlon, Hussains Albany attorney, told Lynch during a hearing Monday in Schoharie County Court that Shahed Hussain, who owned the limo company involved in the crash, had been able to break state law and fool the state Department of Motor Vehicles into registering the 31-foot stretch Ford Excursion as a regular SUV with less than 11 passengers.

Judge ruled Mavis committed fraud related to limo service

The falsified 2016 registration allowed the Excursion, which was stretched in 2001 to seat more than 18 people, to escape more stringent regulation by the state, which subjects most stretch limos to a regimen of inspections and certifications close to what school buses receive.

Twenty people died in the Oct. 6, 2018, crash  the worst highway transportation disaster in the U.S. in more than a decade.

Nauman Hussain is facing 20 counts each of criminally negligent homicide and manslaughter. The trial is scheduled to begin May 1.

Kindlon suggested that the recently completed FBI investigation of the crash and its oversight of Shahed Hussain could provide evidence that might help his son at trial  for instance, if the FBI had any role deceiving the DMV or knowledge that their erstwhile informant had been breaking the law with his limousine business.

Shahed Hussain purchased the white 2001 stretch Excursion in July 2016 from another limo company for a few thousand dollars and then registered it in his name.

That is perhaps the original sin in this case, Kindlon argued before Lynch. Why was this allowed to happen in 2016?

Lynch denied Kindlons motion, which sought to delay the trial and force Schoharie County District Attorney Susan Mallery to subpoena the FBI director to testify. After Lynchs denial, Kindlon asked the judge if he would sign a subpoena requiring Wray to testify. Lynch has not yet made a decision, the Schoharie County Court clerks office said.

Shahed Hussain never sought the required state Department of Transportation certification to carry passengers in the limo or get it properly inspected by the DOT.

Instead, he and his son were repeatedly allowed to get a less stringent Department of Motor Vehicles inspection at local auto repair shops in violation of state law. Mallery never charged Shahed Hussain, and has instead suggested that his son was the one who made all the decisions for the limo company.

There is no public evidence that the FBI assisted Shahed Hussain with his registration of the Excursion in 2016, although the Times Union has documented numerous occasions when he would use his role with the FBI in an attempt to bully local government officials and others to back off from his business dealings.

Shahed Hussain worked for years as an antiterrorism informant with the FBI, which sent him around the world in search of alleged terrorists. He also was the star witness at federal terrorism trials in Albany and White Plains.

In early 2018, the elder Hussain returned to his native Pakistan, leaving his son to operate Prestige Limousine, which was uncertified. Shortly after, in March 2018, a state DOT investigator ordered the limo off the road due to safety issues. The Excursion was again ordered off the road in September 2018 after it failed a subsequent inspection.

A month after that order, the limos brakes failed on a steep hill in Schoharie County. It barreled through a restaurant parking lot, killing two bystanders, and then slammed into a ditch. All 17 people aboard as well as the driver died from blunt force trauma.

Prosecutors allege Nauman Hussain failed to properly maintain the vehicle and used a driver who had not been properly trained or drug-tested and lacked the correct license.

In 2021, he accepted a plea deal that would have resulted in four years probation but no jail time. Lynch, who subsequently took over the case following the first judges retirement, last August stunned attendees at Hussains sentencing by announcing that he found the deal to be deficient.

Hussain has appealed Lynchs decision in an attempt to claw back the provisions of the original plea deal struck with the Schoharie County district attorney. That appeal is still being considered by a state Appellate Division panel in Albany.
ALBANY  The state Education Department has proposed clarifying and adding limits on how and when students can be physically restrained or placed in seclusion in school settings.

The changes are being implemented in response to a Times Union investigation that revealed a high number of instances in which physical restraints and timeout rooms have been used on school children, many times under questionable circumstances.

Among the newspapers findings that led to the proposal: State investigators knew that at schools serving children with disabilities, students were being physically restrained in violation of existing state rules, substantiating 214 such cases between 2016 and 2021.

The restraints were allowed on an emergency basis, but data obtained by the Times Union show they have been used regularly  often multiple times per school day  by private and state-operated schools approved to serve students with significant intellectual, developmental or emotional disabilities.

Some students were put in timeout rooms dozens of times a month. In a few cases, students were restrained more than 100 times per month.

The proposal focuses on reducing the usage of restraint and seclusion but emphasizes that corporal punishment is already prohibited. The Times Union, in a related investigation, also found that hundreds of cases of in-school corporal punishment have been substantiated in recent years, including cases in which students were spanked, slapped, choked, dragged and intimidated with a belt.

The state Board of Regents heard the proposal concerning restraint and seclusion changes on Monday. After a 60-day public comment period, the board will vote on July 17-18 whether to implement them. The new rules include banning prone restraint and seclusion but allowing restraint or a timeout if there is an imminent threat to a person. Harm to property does not trigger that threat.

In addition, the changes require same-day notification to parents, written reports after each restraint that list the de-escalation techniques used beforehand, and a meeting with administrators after each restraint to discuss how to avoid it in the future.

Regents members, many of whom have worked in schools, said the issue is more about proper training and support than a need for more rules.

They (teachers) want to conform with these very important constraints, said Regents member Frances Wills. It needs to include training, training that is real.

Misbehavior has been skyrocketing since the COVID-19 shutdown and she said teachers are resigning because of it.

Others said it is not as simple as it seems to avoid touching a child when they act out.

You have a 7-year-old who has impulsive behaviors, you try to talk them down ... it never works, said Regents member Susan Mittler. In the meantime, hes thrown a chair, bitten somebody.

Recently, she observed a classroom in which a child went into the hallway and suspended himself from the outside of the stairwell railing, holding on with his legs dangling. Another staffer told the teacher not to touch the child, she said.

She grabbed him by the belt loop and hoisted him back to the ground, Mittler said. I believe she acted in the best interest of the child.

The proposed changes call for widespread training, but she said psychologists and counselors are needed.

These rules (restricting restraint) are wonderful, but there isnt support. There is one psychologist for 500 students, Mittler said. We need to let educators know what to do with that one student ... so that child can be appropriately dealt with.

It would be better if a counselor was in the school, available to help, said Regents member Christine Cea.

We really need counselors and psychologists in the school, helping the teachers, she said. Not just in the school for one hour.

Likewise, Regents member Roger Catania noted that sometimes a child is about to hurt themselves or others. He noted restraint would still be allowed in those cases.

Sometimes youre left with few options, he said. Im glad the options are there.

He emphasized that training will be costly. When he trained staff in de-escalation and other such techniques, it was a three- to five-day program. That meant either hiring substitutes or paying the staffers during the summer.

It is a big challenge, especially with the number of people you need to train. That is a heavy lift, he said. Its an important challenge. It needs to be done.

But the department should press the state for funding for it, he said.
ALBANY  A jury was selected in U.S. District Court in Albany on Monday to hear the trial of a Schenectady businessman, his son and a Mafia-linked New Jersey man charged with conspiring to traffic an estimated $600,000 worth of cocaine between Schenectady and New York City.

Jeffrey Civitello, 51, and his 23-year-old son, Jeffrey Civitello Jr., are standing trial with Richard Sinde, 58, of Fort Lee, N.J., a reputed associate of the Bonanno crime family, in a case before U.S. District Judge Mae D'Agostino. The jury and three alternates were sworn in late Monday afternoon in a packed first-floor courtroom.

Opening statements are set to begin on Tuesday at 9 a.m.

Federal prosecutors allege the elder Civitello, who owns Focus Construction in Schenectady, conspired with his son as well as Sinde and two others to move the cocaine starting on March 31, 2021, when they allegedly met on Albany Street in Schenectady to discuss transporting the drugs downstate from Schenectady in the younger Civitello's blue Jeep Grand Cherokee. Sinde and the other the two men allegedly went downstate in three separate cars, with Sinde in the Jeep.

Investigators with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration had placed a GPS tracking device on that vehicle. It recorded the Jeep traveling from Schenectady, staying in Fort Lee that night, then traveling over the George Washington Bridge into Manhattan and eventually a location in the Breezy Point section of Queens. The vehicle then went back to Fort Lee, prosecutors said.

On April 2, 2021, State Police acting at the direction of the DEA stopped the Jeep on the Thruway in Greene County. Investigators seized 9 kilograms of cocaine that was in a hidden compartment in the SUV. Neither of the Civitellos were in the car at the time. But a man driving the vehicle, 76-year-old Robert Ingrao from Lodi, N.J., was charged. Sinde and another conspirator were allegedly following the Jeep when it was intercepted.

A four-count superseding indictment handed up last May charges the defendants with conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine. Ingrao pleaded guilty in November to conspiring to move the drugs. Ingrao, who is not cooperating with prosecutors, has not yet been sentenced.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Barnett and Dustin Segovia are prosecuting. The elder Civitello is being represented by Capital Region attorney Eric Galarneau, the younger Civitello by the local team of James Knox and Julie Nociolo. Sinde is being represented by Bronx attorney Stacey Richman.

When the judge individually asked all the defendants if they were OK with the jury that was selected, the elder Civitello said no. His attorney then told the judge he was OK with the panel.

In pre-trial rulings, D'Agostino held off deciding on whether jurors will be able to learn about the elder Civitello's previous conviction in federal court for conspiring to sell cocaine. Whether or not that information is heard would appear to depend on whether he testifies in his own defense. The judge will not allow jurors to hear about Sinde's conviction in 1992 for conspiring to possess heroin with intent to distribute it.

The judge will also not allow jurors to hear evidence about organized crime. In court documents, federal prosecutors have identified Sinde as an associate of the Bonanno crime family, one of five Cosa Nostra clans based in New York City.

The younger Civitello faces another case on charges that he possessed a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.
HEBRON  A 65-year-old man has been charged with second-degree murder after he allegedly shot and killed a 20-year-old Saratoga County woman Saturday evening after the car she was in mistakenly drove up the mans driveway.

Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy said Monday that Kaylin A. Gillis was in a car with three other people Saturday night looking for a friends house. The rural section of Washington County where the shooting took place is dark at night and many of the properties are only accessible by unpaved driveways.

Murphy said the group mistakenly drove up to a house on Patterson Hill Road, 19 miles northeast of Gillis' residence in Schuylerville. As they attempted to turn the car around, the sheriff said, Kevin D. Monahan came out on his porch and fired two shots, one of which hit Gillis while she was seated in the car. No one from the group had left the car or tried to enter Monahan's house before he came out and opened fire, Murphy said.

With Gillis wounded, the group drove to Cemetery Road in the neighboring town of Salem, six miles south of Monahans residence, at which time the shooting was reported to 911. Murphy did not say if the group was trying to get to a specific location, but said that the area has little cellular service. Emergency crews arrived and started CPR on Gillis.

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 5 1 of 5 Lori Van Buren/Times Union Show More Show Less 2 of 5 Lori Van Buren/Times Union Show More Show Less 3 of 5 4 of 5 Lori Van Buren/Times Union Show More Show Less 5 of 5









Someone else had called police to report there had been shots fired at the Patterson Hill Road residence. Murphy said when officers arrived, Monahan would not emerge. Authorities spoke with him through a 911 dispatcher and in person for about an hour before he was taken into custody.

Monahan was uncooperative with the investigation and refused to exit his residence to speak with police, the sheriffs office in a news release. He was later taken into custody with the assistance of the New York State Police Special Operation Response Team after several hours.

A law enforcement source said investigators do not believe alcohol or mental illness played a role in the shooting.

A woman who lives with Monahan was home at the time of the shooting. She did not immediately return a call on Monday.

The sheriff declined to identify the type of weapon that police believe was used in the fatal shooting. Monahan is in the Warren County jail. He will have a hearing in Washington County Court at a later date.

The sheriff said it was an administrative decision to send Monahan to the Warren County jail. Public records indicate Gillis' father is a correction officer at the Washington County jail.

One of the other people in the car was evaluated for a possible wound, but was not injured.

She was an innocent young girl who was out with friends looking for another friends house, Murphy said at the Monday news conference. There was no reason for Mr. Monahan to feel threatened, he said later.

A GoFundMe was created to help Gillis family.

As many of you know, Kaylin Gillis was taken from us far too soon tragically and devastatingly at the age of 20, the GoFundMes description says. We have set this up to raise money for Angel and Andys family, to help with funeral and other expenses. Please consider donating any amount you can to assist at this time.

Gillis was a 2021 graduate of Schuylerville High School. The school district released a statement late Monday saying school counselors would be available to students and staff.

"Gillis was a beloved member of our school community, a talented artist, and a kind, compassionate person. Kaylin has two younger siblings in the district, who we will surround with our love and support in the coming days, weeks, and months," Superintendent Gregg Barthelmas said in a statement.

The shooting comes days after a 16-year-old Kansas City boy was shot and injured after he rang the bell at the wrong house to pick up his siblings.
YANGON, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar's State Administration Council pardoned more than 3,000 prisoners in an amnesty on Monday, the first day of the Myanmar calendar New Year.

The council granted amnesty to 3,015 prisoners in an order, and 98 foreign prisoners and five Sri Lankans in separate orders on New Year's Day.

It is to mark the Southeast Asian country's traditional New Year with peace in mind and on humanitarian grounds, as well as in view of relations between the respective countries and Myanmar, the council said.

Myanmar typically pardons thousands of prisoners in an annual amnesty to mark its traditional New Year, and it released 1,619 prisoners on New Year's Day last year.

On Jan. 4 this year, Myanmar also pardoned more than 7,000 prisoners on its 75th Independence Day. 
This story has been updated: Washington County woman killed after turning into wrong driveway

HEBRON  A 20-year-old woman was killed in a shooting Saturday night.

Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey J. Murphy provided few details in a release Sunday, but said a person has been charged in the young woman's death.

Murphy said a press conference will be held Monday afternoon to provide more information, although he said in a statement there is no threat to the public.

The sheriff's office said a 911 call was made just before 10 p.m. Saturday night to report a shooting in the town of Hebron, which is on the border of Vermont and just north of the village of Salem.
You really dont want to mess with librarians.

Theyre smarter than the rest of us. A lot tougher too.

Behind that twee reputation are our soldiers of equity. Then theres what Connecticut Library Association President Douglas Lord refers to as their punk-rock, DIY mindset.

And yet, efforts to ban and restrict books in public and school libraries didnt just set a new record in 2022; the challenges nearly doubled the high set a year earlier.

Lets skip the subtext and just judge this issue by its cover: Some conservative groups are trying to censor books with LGBTQ+ and racial themes. They prefer their content as bland as a blank page. And they apparently forgot that librarians not only welcome, but embrace tough conversations.

Librarians arent asking us to hush. They want to talk about this.

So the Librarian Revolution advanced in January as Stamford became the first municipality in Connecticut to declare itself as a book sanctuary city. Alice Knapp, chief executive officer of Stamfords Ferguson Library, wrote an op-ed pledging a commitment to protecting endangered books, making them accessible to the public, hosting book talks, events, and conversations about diverse characters and stories, and educating others on the history of book banning and burning.

A few weeks later, a public hearing was held on a broad bill sponsored by Connecticuts Senate Democratic Caucus that aspires to enhance mental health programming for the children of Connecticut in the wake of the pandemic. Its hard to conjure a more critical issue. But a minor subplot of the bill is language that calls for support of sanctuary libraries.

The public testimony drew unanimous support from a crowd that notably included many experts in the mental health of children.

Then came the Committee on Children hearing, where everything went by the book weve all read before: Every Democrat voted Yea and every Republican chose Nay.

Republicans skipped the mental health crisis and jumped right on the library issue during the public hearing. It was unclear if some of them had ever been to a library before.

State Rep. Anne Dauphinais, R-Killingly, seems to think theres a pornography section of the library. State Rep. Gale Mastrofrancesco, R-Wolcott, asked for a clarification that libraries use computers. Fairfield Town Librarian Scott Jarzombek retorted by calling the vintage card catalogue system the original Google.

Jarzombek and his peers repeatedly explained the nuanced process for content selection. Thats why we have librarians, most of whom have masters degrees.

The thing that strikes me as the most funny is when people say, Oh, we know better than you about what belongs on the shelves. We know what children should be reading,  Lord says.

Lord may be the current president of the state association, but he calls peers such as Knapp and New Canaan Library Executive Director Lisa Oldham my personal hero librarians.

When Alice is in the room I just shut up and listen to Alice, he says of Knapp (me too).

I talked to Lord at the C.H. Booth Library in Newtown, where he is the director. Any time Im in a library Im reminded that my perennial life goal is to find more reading time (after Lord cites reading as the No. 1 leisure activity, he adds dryly, I think No. 2 is NASCAR).

As Lord casually sprinkles in names such as Toni Morrison, John Steinbeck and Dr. Seuss, it feels comforting to be in their presence. Thats not true for everyone, as books by all three authors have been banned.

Sounding like a textbook librarian, Lords quiet delivery almost masks that his words have serrated edges.

If you dont like a program, dont go. If you dont like a book, dont check it out. But you have no right to tell other people what they can and cant do, he says.

Lord is armed for the Librarian Revolution, firing back at cowardly snipes at librarians on social media.

Its hard to describe how horrendously hurtful it is, he says. These are dedicated librarians who get up every morning thinking they want to improve the world. They want to help children and theyre being called names like groomers and names like pedophiles and theyre being accused of peddling pornography. What are we peddling to kids? Curious George. Peppa Pig.

Lord is able to retain his sense of humor. Mention of Peppa Pig inspires a passable impersonation of the characters father, Daddy Pig (whose first name remains a mystery). If Lord were a book, it would come with spare illustrations. He strikes a pose as Rodins The Thinker and drums his fingers together like Dr. Evil.

He has other causes to champion during this session, including an effort to make electronic books and streaming services more affordable for libraries. Lord points out that the public can purchase eBooks for an average price of $12.77, but libraries are charged $45.75 for the same product. For audio books, those prices translate to $27.28 and $69.76.

And if you bristle at paying fines on overdue books, consider how the libraries get slammed. Publishers require libraries to pay again after an eBook or audio book is borrowed 26 times or two years lapse.

Sign up for the Observation Deck newsletter Read the latest Times Union opinion, perspective and letters to the editor on Mondays by signing up for our Observation Deck newsletter.

Of course, this is an issue Republicans might embrace, as it would save taxpayer money.

But sanctuary has become a triggering word for conservatives.

We dont have porn, Lord says with a sigh.

And folks, the notion of your kids using their library card to seek out porn between the pages is pretty laughable in 2023  or 1973.

But the far right would rather accuse libraries of peddling smut than talk about whats really bothering them. They are afraid of kids with identity issues they find threatening becoming empowered through words and art they find at their local library. So they try to bully librarians.

Librarians have no ego, Lord observes.

And no one is stronger than the person who lacks hubris.

But there is one thing that librarians are not, and Lord didnt need to go to Hartford to figure it out: Librarians are not good politicians.

Of course, neither are too many politicians.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

SCHOHARIE  Attorneys for Nauman Hussain, the man accused of causing the 2018 limousine crash in Schoharie that killed 20 people, are seeking to delay the May 1 start of Hussains criminal trial in order to get their hands on a recently-completed internal FBI report on the bureaus dealings with Nauman Hussains father, a longtime undercover informant who also owed the limo company involved in the crash.

Nauman Hussain, 33, has been free on bail since his April 2019 indictment on 20 counts each of criminally negligent homicide and manslaughter, felonies that carry significant prison sentences.

The Oct. 6, 2018, limo crash in Schoharie is considered the worst highway transportation disaster in the U.S. in decades and one of the most high-profile limo crashes in state history.

Whats made the story even more complicated is that Shahed Hussain, the legal owner of the 2001 stretch Ford Excursion involved in the crash and the father of Nauman Hussain, is a long-time FBI informant on anti-terrorism cases.

Stories by the Times Union about the Hussains, who arrived in the U.S. from Pakistan more than three decades ago, revealed that Shahed Hussain would often use his FBI affiliation to bully people looking into his shady business practices, including code enforcement officers and people who claimed to have been defrauded by Shahed Hussain.

U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, whose district includes Schoharie County, a ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, got FBI Director Chris Wray to conduct an internal investigation into the ties, if any, between Shahed Hussain, the FBI and his uncertified limousine company.

Last month, Stefanik said she was briefed by the FBI on its report into Shahed Hussain. Although Stefanik did not disclose any of the reports contents, she said that she had serious concerns with the FBIs undercover informant program.

A Stefanik spokeswoman, Palmer Brigham, said Friday that she has not shared the report, which was explained to her in a classified briefing, with anyone else, although Stefanik is hoping to get the FBI to brief the families of the Schoharie crash.

That is why the Congresswoman is pushing for a public, transparent briefing and a release of the review to the families first and then the public, Brigham said.

Albany attorney Lee Kindlon, one of Nauman Hussains attorneys, filed a motion in the case on Thursday in Schoharie County Court seeking to delay the trial and force Schoharie County District Attorney Susan Mallery to subpoena Stefanik or Wray for the FBI report on Shahed Hussain.

Kindlon asserts in a Thursday filing that the FBI filing could provide helpful or exculpatory evidence that would help Nauman Hussains defense.

It is believed that this investigation and the information contained therein is material to this case and it may contain potentially exculpatory information and its disclosure is mandated, Kindlon wrote.

Kindlon wants state Supreme Court Justice Peter Lynch to revoke or strike Mallerys certificate of readiness for trial and to delay the trial while Mallery is forced to subpoena Stefanik or Wray.

Mallery told the Times Union on Friday evening that her office does not have federal subpoena power but that she was preparing an answer for Lynch in the case.

A hearing on the motion will be held Monday in Schoharie, although Lynch previously said he would not delay the start of the trial for any reason, even when Kindlon asked for a delay on Monday since his co-counsel, New York City attorney Joseph Tacopina, is also representing former U.S. President Donald Trump in his criminal case in Manhattan.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

ALBANY  Much of the recent conversation on how to meet sweeping climate emissions goals in the next decade has focused on fully electrifying new construction in New York.

But several Albany community groups and lawmakers want the state to look closer to home at its own sprawling real estate portfolio  with an emissions footprint to match.

We can't impose on the public if we're not going to step forward and lead by example, said Assemblywoman Pat Fahy, an Albany Democrat.

Fahy is carrying the Renewable Capitol Act in the Assembly, which would direct the state Office of General Services to ensure that all the power needs of the Empire State Plaza complex  heating, cooling and electricity are met entirely through renewable energy systems.

But while fully electrifying the 98-acre complex would be a massive undertaking, environmental groups are pushing the state to expand its commitment to emissions-free buildings even further. They are asking the state to fully decarbonize its 15 highest-emitting facilities using thermal energy networks or other electrification projects by 2025.

The move would reduce on-site combustion of fossil fuels from state-owned buildings by 40 percent, according to a coalition called Upgrade NY, which is pushing for funding in the states budget to begin work on those projects.

Locally, Albany residents in nearby Sheridan Hollow have long contended that the areas steam plant has been a source of pollution and contamination since it began operation more than a century ago.

Through an underground tunnel, the plant sends high-pressure steam to the sprawling Empire State Plaza complex a mere half-mile away. It powers the cluster of government buildings that function as the seat of New Yorks government: the 98-acre plaza is home to the New York Capitol, the Corning Tower, and several other large-scale administrative buildings along with The Egg performance center. The energy produced in Sheridan Hollows plant also powers the Department of Education building and the Alfred E. Smith State Office Building.

The steam plants power sources have evolved from coal to oil and currently use natural gas, according to the Sheridan Hollow Alliance for Renewable Energy, a group of neighborhood activists who have been pushing for a full energy overhaul of the facility. Natural gas produces heated steam that then heats the plaza during frigid winters and powers electric chillers to cool off workers and visitors during the summer.

An audit meant to fully assess how the plaza can support geothermal will be released later this spring, providing Sheridan Hollow advocates a clearer picture of whether or not it will be possible to completely phase out the steam plant.

Longstanding fight

In 2017, a proposal by the New York Power Authority to install two gas-fired turbines in the Sheridan Hollow facility sparked outrage and the creation of SHARE.

Directed by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo to improve energy efficiency in state-owned buildings, NYPA concluded that while it had considered a number of options to meet high-energy needs  including geothermal and solar  neither would be sufficient to fully power the complex, in part questioning whether the electric grid could handle the increased strain.

NYPA instead proposed that the most efficient and environmentally friendly solution would be to convert the existing steam plant in Sheridan Hollow to something known as a cogeneration facility, or a combined heat and power plant. Such facilities produce heat and electricity simultaneously on site, which proponents say is a greener process, since less of the energy and emissions produced during combustion are released into the environment and instead captured and used. But such a plant would have required the Sheridan Hollow plant install two turbines that used natural gas.

Residents balked at the proposal, citing a long and storied history of environmental pollutants in the area -- in addition to Sheridan Hollows residents being predominately lower-income and from communities of color.

Many advocates point to the area as a prime example of environmental injustice; over the years, residents have cited higher rates of cancer and asthma than in surrounding areas.

Theres still bad stuff coming out of there, said Merton Simpson, an Albany County legislator who has been involved in the Sheridan Hollow fight for years. As long as youre burning stuff that people are ingesting, it's not going to be good for your health.

Meanwhile, Simpson and others with SHARE are waiting for the results of the audit, conducted by the Ramboll Energy Group. The audit will focus on ways to significantly reduce the plazas dependence on fossil fuels, according to a release at the time.

Part of that will involve an investigation into geothermal and surface water as potential energy sources  indicating that NYPA is reconsidering its initial conclusions that geothermal energy would be near-impossible as a reliable power source.

Fahy said thats likely due to an evolving technology around the power source in recent years that have made it increasingly cost-effective, as well as greater understanding of its benefits and drawbacks.

So many things deemed insurmountable back then are not only affordable, but achievable now, Fahy said.

Both the Senate and the Assembly included language for decarbonizing state buildings in their one-house proposals, giving advocates hope that the measure to more broadly target the states entire real estate holdings outside of just Albany may also be successful.

NYPA has highlighted several other energy-saving initiatives to green the states real estate portfolio, citing the electrification upgrade to the steam-powered chillers that promised to reduce gas use and emissions by 18 percent. It has also overhauled lighting systems and is currently working to replace 50-year-old emergency generators.

But until Sheridan Hollow can breathe clean air, there will still be work to do, said Ruth Foster with SHARE.

We're trying to be climate leaders, but people go to work every day in a building that is polluting Sheridan Hollow, Foster said. Our government should be able to clean up its act.
ALBANY  Senate Republicans are considering filing a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the governor's recent nomination of Caitlin Halligan, a former state solicitor general, to be on the Court of Appeals.

Halligan's confirmation hearing before the state Senate is scheduled to begin Tuesday, a day after Court of Appeals Associate Judge Rowan D. Wilson is expected to be confirmed as the court's new chief judge.

It's unclear whether Republicans, if they file a lawsuit, would be able to get a court order pausing Halligan's nomination before the hearing. Good government groups and some legal experts agree that a recent bill changing the nominating process that was rammed through the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul earlier this month is unconstitutional.

The measure enabled the governor to make two nominations for the Court of Appeals  to appoint Halligan and elevate Wilson to chief judge  from one list of candidates put forth by the Commission on Judicial Nomination. Critics contend the commission needs to vet a new list of candidates for each position.

The debate is unfolding as a contentious week is upcoming at the Capitol that many lawmakers expect will mark the final days of budget negotiations. It also follows the historic rejection of the governor's nomination of Justice Hector D. LaSalle as chief judge to the state's highest court, where rulings set legal precedent in New York and are usually the last stop for controversial litigation.

The nominations of judges to the Court of Appeals have normally been non-confrontational. But Democrats in the Senate, especially its progressive faction, pushed back on LaSalle's selection and cast him as "anti-abortion, anti-union and anti-due process," even as many legal experts asserted that characterization of LaSalle was unfair and misplaced.

But their strategy may have worked and Hochul's nominations are expected to shift the 7-member Court of Appeals away from what many view as a conservative majority.

The recent legislation seeking to expedite the process to select nominees to the Court of Appeals has riled Republicans and good government groups. They contend the law change changing the nominating process will fuel politicization of the Court of Appeals after the judicial selection process was changed under a constitutional amendment nearly half-a-century ago with the intent of restoring public trust.

"They're kind of acting like the Republicans at the federal level," said Albany Law School Professor Vincent M. Bonventre, who is an expert on the Court of Appeals. "They want to get something done, so they go and get it done."

Recent examples: Last year, the Court of Appeals, the state's version of the U.S. Supreme Court, ruled in favor of Republicans that the political maps drawn by Senate Democrats were gerrymandered to favor their political party and thrown out in a 4-3 decision. Earlier this year, a state Supreme Court justice ruled in favor of Republicans again and rejected Senate Democrats' assertion that a floor vote to confirm the nomination of a Court of Appeals judge was unnecessary. That ruling also determined their position to be unconstitutional.

This month, Republicans, good government groups, as well as legal experts and bar associations, have aligned on two new issues: altering the process to select judges for the Court of Appeals and Democratic leaders proposal to eliminate the Commission on Judicial Nomination through a constitutional amendment.

Two-for-one deal

Democrats in the Legislature, at the behest of Hochul, recently passed the bill that was tailored to allow the governor to quickly nominate Wilson as chief judge and Halligan to fill his position on the bench  both names drawn from one list of the commission's candidates for chief judge.

Traditionally, if an associate judge is selected to become chief judge  which was the case in the first-ever "merit selection" in 1979  the Commission on Judicial Nomination would announce a vacancy for associate judge and subsequently solicit applicants for that position. A list of finalists would be provided to the governor, who would nominate a candidate to be confirmed by the Senate.

Republicans assert the new law that allowed the governor to hasten that process and select a candidate from the same list enabled Hochul to receive support for her chief judge nominee in exchange for Senate Democrats getting their pick on the court. After Hochul's announcement of her nominations of Wilson and Halligan, Senate Democrats issued statements in support of Wilson within minutes.

During budget negotiations, were now ramming through two judges, said state Sen. Anthony Palumbo, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee. Theres clearly a deal being cut.

Will Waldron/Times Union

On Monday, Wilson's hearing is scheduled before the Senate Judiciary Committee before his nomination will move to the full Senate as Democrats are expected to vote in favor of the reliably liberal judge. The next steps become less clear.

Halligan is scheduled to appear before the Judiciary Committee as a "candidate" for associate judge on Tuesday morning  a position not yet vacant.

If a lawsuit is filed by Republicans, it's expected the timing of that would need to be done swiftly to allow a judget time to decide whether the process should be paused subject to further review.

If Halligan is confirmed, she is expected by legal scholars to cement a liberal majority on the state's highest court, which can have an outsized influence on controversial laws and policies. She could also factor into a new case on redistricting, which could benefit Democrats by leading to more favorable political lines for that party in next year's congressonal races.

Elias Law Group, which primarily focuses on litigation for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, is leading the latest redistricting case in New York. The firm was paid more than $13 million by the DCCC last year for legal work across the nation. Hochul and state Attorney General Letitia James recently filed a brief in support of the Democrats' lawsuit, which the Republican defendants are arguing should be dismissed.
Political parties in Northern Ireland should reach for compromise to resolve the current Stormont impasse, the man who chaired the Good Friday Agreement negotiations has said.

Former US senator George Mitchell urged leaders to act with the courage and wisdom that their predecessors had done 25 years ago.

Mr Mitchell was delivering the keynote speech on the first morning of the Agreement 25 conference at Queens University in Belfast, marking the anniversary of the deal which largely ended the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

He said: Today, a quarter century after the agreement, the people of Northern Ireland continue to wrestle with their doubts, their differences, their disagreements.

They will continue to do so no matter how successful their political leaders are.

The answer is not perfection or permanence, it is now, as it was then, for the current and future leaders of Northern Ireland to act with courage and vision as their predecessors did 25 years ago.

To find workable answers to the daily problems of the present, to preserve peace.

To leave to the next generation peace, freedom, opportunity and the hope of a better future for their children.

The Stormont powersharing institutions, the main element of the 1998 deal, are currently not operating due to disagreements over post-Brexit trading arrangements.

Mr Mitchell said: I know that each of your parties  like all political parties in the world  have some of what I call the 100 percenters, they want everything their way all the time  to them, any compromise is a sign of weakness, he said.

I say to you that reasoned, principled compromise is essential, especially in divided societies. It reflects a belief in democratic values that we all are in this together.

There is great depth in recognising that the only way to help us emerge from the rubble of conflict is that we must learn to understand one another. We dont need to love one another.

We dont even need to like one another, although we hope we could. But we must learn to understand one another and to be able to say yes to one another, especially when the quicker and easier answer is no.

Because, like it or not, we are all in this together, facing the reality of the future, rather than clinging to the myths of the past, takes strength and courage, and vision.

Those we honour today showed those qualities a quarter of a century ago, they will be forever remembered.

Mr Mitchell said it was unmistakably clear that the people of Northern Ireland did not want violence to return.

During his speech, he asked the audience to observe a moment of silence in tribute to the victims of the Troubles.

He also ask them to applaud for the politicians who struck the agreement 25 years ago.

I say now to the current and future leaders of Northern Ireland, there is much in your history and in your politics that divide you, but there also is much that can bring you together, that can inspire you to continue what your predecessors began a quarter century ago, he said.

It is not a sign of weakness to resolve your differences by democratic and peaceful means. To the contrary, it is a sign of strength and of wisdom, and it clearly reflects the will of the overwhelming majority of the people of Northern Ireland.

Yes, they often disagree, sometimes very strongly.

Yes, they may take offence quickly. But it is unmistakably clear that the people of Northern Ireland do not want to return to violence, not now and not ever.
Northern Irelands political leaders know the right thing to do to solve the Stormont stalemate  and need to get on and do it, former prime minister Sir Tony Blair has said.

Sir Tony was appearing alongside ex-US president Bill Clinton and former taoiseach Bertie Ahern at a major conference marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

Mr Ahern said he deeply hoped that the DUP would allow the powersharing institutions to return, while Mr Clinton spoke about how politicians winged it to help secure the historic peace deal in 1998.

Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who is hosting the Agreement 25 conference as part of her role as chancellor at Queens University in Belfast, chaired the panel discussion between the three former leaders.

Mr and Mrs Clinton were among political and civic leaders from across the UK and Ireland  including Senator George Mitchell, Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris, Catholic primate Eamon Martin and former Irish presidents Mary McAleese and Mary Robinson  who attended a banquet at Belfast City Hall as part of the events on Monday evening.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar are due to attend the conference later in the week.

The Good Friday Agreement largely ended Northern Irelands 30-year sectarian conflict.

Sir Tony said: We know the peace isnt perfect. We know the institutions have often been rocky and unstable as they are today.

We know theres still a lot of distrust and mistrust between the communities.

But we also know that Northern Ireland is a much better place than it was before the Good Friday Agreement.

And the only thing I would say to todays leaders is I think when you stand back and you reflect, you know in your heart of hearts, what the right thing to do is, and you should just get on and do it.

Mr Ahern said the alternatives to the Good Friday Agreement are not good.

He added: So, lets hope they (the DUP) listen to what George Mitchell said today, and listen to what were saying, that we all just get back on the track.

Theres too many big things to be dealing with than to be arguing about some detail that was caused over something or another, which Im not sure what it is even.

He added: So just lets move forward and try and make this work.

Mr Clinton told the conference that the 1998 peace deal came about because political leaders decided the time was right to do the right thing.

He said: It just happens, nobodys perfect, you cant foresee all this, and the fact that we trusted each other and we trusted (George) Mitchell, I think we earned the trust of the parties in Northern Ireland that we were dealing with across the board, because they thought we would be straight with them, and thats how it happened.

There were days I felt like I was taking Seamus Heaneys advice to take a flying leap and walk on air against your better judgment.

Thats how it started. We all just decided that the time was right to do the right thing.

Mr Clinton said people thought they were crazy to believe they could get the paramilitary groups to decommission their arms.

Wed like to tell you that we had it all thought through but the truth is we made up a lot of it as we went along, we had to wing it, he said.

The Good Friday Agreement created powersharing institutions at Stormont that involved nationalists and unionists governing Northern Ireland together in a mandatory coalition arrangement.

While the pact largely ended the Troubles, which had claimed more than 3,600 lives since the late 1960s, it has failed to bring long-term political stability in the region and devolution has collapsed several times in the last two decades.

The anniversary comes amid another period of collapse, with the DUP blocking powersharing in protest at post-Brexit trading arrangements that have created economic barriers between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

The barriers were first introduced under the Withdrawal Agreements contentious Northern Ireland Protocol.

The UK and EU recently agreed the Windsor Framework as a way to cut the red tape created by the protocol.

While the DUP says the framework has gone some way to address its concerns about the protocol, it says significant problems remain.

The party has opposed the framework at Westminster and has made clear its boycott of Stormont will continue until it secures further assurances from the UK Government over its concerns around sovereignty and the application of EU law in Northern Ireland.

Making the keynote address earlier in the day, former US senator George Mitchell, who chaired the 1998 negotiations, said the people of Northern Ireland and their political leaders changed history 25 years ago.

He said: When you approved the agreement you were also talking to Israelis and Palestinians, to Colombians, to Africans, Asians, to Americans  in fact you were talking to the world.

This is an agreement for peace and for the future, not just here, but everywhere.

He added: We need people who believe, who know that the possible does exist within the impossible  dont let it slip away.

A bust in honour of Mr Mitchell was later unveiled in the grounds of the Belfast campus.

Mrs Clinton said the Windsor Framework on post-Brexit trade provided Northern Ireland with an opportunity to become an economic hub for global trade and investment.

While the Good Friday Agreement is an enormous achievement, we know that peace, prosperity and progress that so many have worked tirelessly to achieve remains incomplete, she said.

The work of integration and housing and schools is far from finished, neighbourhoods remain divided, poverty and unemployment persist, the difficulties of the past continue to threaten the present.

You know, we are at a standstill with the Northern Ireland Assembly no longer functioning. But the Windsor agreement provides a path forward not just for convening but for positioning Northern Ireland as an economic hub for global trade and investment through privileged access to the UK and all of its trading partners, as well as the EU.

She added: There have been many moments in Northern Irelands peace journey where progress seemed difficult, when every route forward looked blocked, there seemed nowhere to go.

But you have always found a way through and I believe you will again, because the stakes for the people of Northern Ireland are so high.

You stand as an example to the world of how even the staunchest adversaries can overcome differences to work together for the common and greater good.

So, I encourage everyone now to move forward with the same spirit of unstoppable grit and resolve that brought the peace 25 years ago. Your friends in the United States will be behind you all the way as you work toward peace, prosperity and stability that lasts.
CANBERRA, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Australia's top advisory body on climate policy has urged the federal government to step up its commitments.

In a new report published on Monday, the Climate Change Authority (CCA) said Australia must embrace carbon sequestration technologies at a far greater scale or face failing to achieve its emissions reduction targets.

The federal government has committed to reducing emissions by 43 percent from 2005 levels by 2030 and reaching net zero emissions by 2050.

In order to reach those targets, the CCA said that ambitious emissions reductions must be combined with sequestration - the capture and storage of carbon at the point of emission and from the atmosphere.

"While reducing emissions at source is critical, the extent of the climate challenge means there must be effort directed to sequestration," Brad Archer, chief executive of the CCA, said in a media release.

"We need to use all the tools in the toolkit. That includes developing a carefully designed portfolio of approaches, as no single technology can achieve the levels of sequestration likely to be needed."

The report recommended that the government set separate targets for emissions reduction and sequestration and for the forthcoming net zero plan to identify how carbon removal will be used over time.

Archer said that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and International Energy Agency indicate the only technically feasible, cost-effective and socially acceptable pathways to net zero by 2050 "combine ambitious emissions reductions with carbon dioxide removals at far greater scale than at present."

In a separate report released on Monday, the Clean Energy Investor Group calculated that 421 billion Australian dollars (282 billion U.S. dollars) of investment was needed for Australia to align with limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. 
April 17, 2023





Technology has drastically changed the landscape of many industries and professions. In recent years, experts like Carlos Fernando da Costa Almeida de Paiva Nascimento in Parkland, FL, say the legal work has been transformed due to technological advances. From increased access to legal research databases to emerging court technologies and automation of repetitive tasks, these shifts have significantly impacted how lawyers investigate facts and present cases. We will explore how technology has impacted the legal profession regarding workflow, data storage/retrieval, law practice efficiency, etc.







The Benefits of Technology in the Legal Profession - Increased Efficiency and Cost Savings

Technology has revolutionized our lives and work, and the legal profession has certainly not been left behind. There are many benefits to using technology in the legal profession, but perhaps the most significant is the increased efficiency and cost savings. With the right technology tools, lawyers can streamline their work processes, automate tedious tasks, and access information and data faster and more accurately. This saves time and cuts costs by eliminating the need for paper-based processes, physical storage, and manual labor.

Carlos Fernando da Costa Almeida de Paiva Nascimento says studies show that law firms can save up to 25% on administrative costs alone by using technology. So, embracing technology can significantly impact your bottom line, whether you're a lawyer working in a small firm, a solo practitioner, or a large corporate legal team.

Automation of Legal Tasks - Document Processing, Case Management, and More

The legal profession is no stranger to technology and one of the latest advancements in automating legal tasks. From document processing to case management, automation tools streamline workflows and increase efficiency. These technologies save time, reduce errors, and free up legal professionals to focus on more high-value tasks, such as advising clients and developing a legal strategy. However, as with any new technology, there are concerns about job loss and its impact on the legal profession.

Nevertheless, there is no denying the potential benefits of automation to the legal industry. As these tools continue to develop and evolve, it will be interesting to see how they shape the future of the legal practice.

The Impact of Technology on Legal Research - Online Databases, Search Engines, and Artificial Intelligence

Carlos Fernando da Costa Almeida de Paiva Nascimento says as technology advances, its impact on the legal field becomes more apparent. With the rise of online databases, search engines, and artificial intelligence, legal research has never been easier or more efficient. Gone are the days of flipping through stacks of dusty law books; with just a few clicks, lawyers can access an array of information that would have taken hours to discover otherwise.

Online databases provide a wealth of constantly updated information, while search engines allow quick and easy access to specific cases, statutes, and rulings. And with the help of artificial intelligence, lawyers can now analyze vast amounts of data to make more informed legal opinions. This technological revolution has transformed legal research, making it more efficient and accessible than ever before.

Artificial Intelligence and Predictive Analytics in Legal Practice

Artificial intelligence and predictive analytics are revolutionizing the legal field, transforming how lawyers handle cases and make decisions. With the help of AI technology, legal professionals can now process vast amounts of data, from client information to court rulings, and use it to gain valuable insights and predict outcomes.

Predictive analytics tools can even analyze case histories and provide lawyers with recommendations for the best legal strategies. Integrating AI and predictive analytics in legal practice streamlines operations, improve efficiency, and ultimately benefits clients with faster and more successful case outcomes. As technology advances, we can only imagine its exciting possibilities for the legal world.

Cybersecurity Challenges for Law Firms - Mitigating Risks and Protecting Client Data

Law firms are entrusted with sensitive client data and are responsible for keeping it safe from cyber criminals. However, protecting data in today's digital world can be daunting. Law firms' cybersecurity challenges include phishing attacks, malware, ransomware, and data breaches.

Carlos Fernando da Costa Almeida de Paiva Nascimento says mitigating these risks and protecting client data requires a proactive approach, including staff training, implementing strong passwords and two-factor authentication, regularly updating antivirus and firewall software, and reviewing and updating security policies and procedures. With suitable measures, law firms can safeguard their clients' data and ensure their reputation and credibility remain intact.

Final Thoughts

Technology has opened up a world of possibilities for the legal profession but also presents some potential challenges. In short, technology is revolutionizing the legal profession - rapid adoption is critical for any firm wishing to remain competitive in todays market. For attorneys to take advantage of the great opportunities that technology provides, they must possess an understanding of the technologies available and how to use them most effectively  not only to increase their firms profits but also to provide their clients with an even higher standard of service than ever before.
[April 17, 2023] Lilly to Make Record-Breaking Investment in Indiana Manufacturing Facilities

In addition to $3.7 billion investment in Boone County, Lilly will commit $15 million to Ivy Tech to foster a diverse talent pipeline for high-tech manufacturing jobs INDIANAPOLIS, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) announced today that it will invest an additional $1.6 billion and add another 200 new jobs at its two new manufacturing sites within LEAP Innovation Park in Boone County, bringing the company's total commitment to $3.7 billion and up to 700 new jobs. The company also today committed $15 million over five years to the Ivy Tech Foundation to fund up to 1,000 scholarships for individuals interested in pursuing careers in pharmaceutical manufacturing. Lilly's commitments within LEAP Innovation Park represent the largest manufacturing investment at a single location in the company's history. The up to 200 additional jobs announced today represent positions for highly skilled workers, such as engineers, operating personnel and lab technicians, who will utilize advanced technology to create innovative medicines. "Through these new facilities, Hoosiers will make life-changing medicines that patients around the world need to address serious health challenges, including diabetes and cancer," said Lilly's Chair and CEO Dave Ricks. "We're investing at record levels in our home state to help our communities and economy thrive and enhance educational opportunities for more students. We look forward to doing our part to make Indiana an even better place to work and live, while fostering cutting-edge innovation in our state." Lilly has introduced 19 new medicines, including Jaypirca (recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for mantle cell lymphoma), since 2014 and plans to introduce several additional potential medicines in 2023. These new facilities will expand the company's manufacturing network for active pharmaceutical ingredients, support increased demand for existing Lilly products and play a key role in bringing the next generation of therapeutic modalities, including genetic medicines, to patients globally. "Lilly has played a critical role in shaping Indiana's economy over the past 145-plus years, and today's groundbreaking makes it clear  the company will be at the forefront of driving Hoosier innovation and job creation forward for generations to come," said Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb. "As a state, we are proud to partner with Lilly in accelerating Indiana's talent pipeline and career opportunities while leveraging the state's manufacturing excellence to develop life-changing and life-saving solutions for people across the world." The new $15 million Lilly Scholars program announced today with the Ivy Tech Foundation, will create a scholarship and an experiential learning program at Ivy Tech Community College for high school and college students with diverse backgrounds who intend to pursue careers in pharmaceutical manufacturing. Over the next five years, the company's collaboration with Ivy Tech will provide scholarships to individuals interested in pursuing two-year degrees or certificates in manufacturing, quality or related fields. Through the Lilly Scholars @ Ivy Tech program, students will be able to access a smart manufacturing lab to support their education. Preference will be given to those who are among the first generation in their family to attend college  which constitutes 40% of Ivy Tech's student population  and those who have overcome socioeconomic disadvantages. Additionally, the program supports a new pathway for high school students, which allows them to receive a college certificate in pharmaceutical manufacturing or medical device quality upon graduation. "Today, we are taking our collaboration with Lilly to the next level with the creation of Lilly Scholars @ Ivy Tech," said President of Ivy Tech Community College, Dr. Sue Ellspermann. "Lilly Scholars provides high school and adult students with a unique opportunity to leverage the world-class education at Ivy Tech with an exceptional employer partner in Lilly and put their education to work in high-wage, high-demand careers that contribute to the growth and prosperity of our state." Last year, Lilly committed $42.5 million over 10 years to Purdue University to create the first Lilly Scholars program, which includes 75-100 pharmaceutical manufacturing scholarships with a guaranteed internship or co-op at Lilly to incoming students each year. "Today's announcements demonstrate the strong collaboration between industry, academia and government in Indiana," said Edgardo Hernandez, executive vice president and president, Lilly manufacturing operations. "Through our new academic commitment, we're looking to grow life sciences education in the state and foster a diverse pipeline of local talent to fill the new jobs created through our recent investments." Over the past three years, Lilly has invested $6.4 billion in U.S.-based manufacturing sites to deliver medicines to patients worldwide. As Lilly prepares for future growth expected from potential new medicines to treat obesity, Alzheimer's disease and autoimmune conditions, the company anticipates further expansion of its global manufacturing footprint to ensure a sufficient supply of medicine. About Lilly

Lilly unites caring with discovery to create medicines that make life better for people around the world. We've been pioneering life-changing discoveries for nearly 150 years, and today our medicines help more than 47 million people across the globe. Harnessing the power of biotechnology, chemistry and genetic medicine, our scientists are urgently advancing new discoveries to solve some of the world's most significant health challenges, redefining diabetes care, treating obesity and curtailing its most devastating long-term effects, advancing the fight against Alzheimer's disease, providing solutions to some of the most debilitating immune system disorders, and transforming the most difficult-to-treat cancers into manageable diseases. With each step toward a healthier world, we're motivated by one thing: making life better for millions more people. That includes delivering innovative clinical trials that reflect the diversity of our world and working to ensure our medicines are accessible and affordable. To learn more, visit Lilly.com and Lilly.com/newsroom or follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. C-LLY Forward Looking Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements (as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) about planned capital investments in new manufacturing capacity and scholarship and related initiatives and reflects Lilly's current beliefs and expectations. There are substantial risks and uncertainties in the manufacturing process, development, and commercialization of pharmaceutical products which could impact the overall commercial success of our products, and as related to cost, completion timing, expected capacity, personnel, and other factors which could impact expected benefits of the capacity expansion and related initiatives. For further discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, see Lilly's most recent Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, Lilly undertakes no duty to update forward-looking statements to reflect events after the date of this release.







Refer to: Carrie Munk; [email protected]; 317-416-2393 (Media)

Joe Fletcher; [email protected]; 317-296-2884 (Investors)

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lilly-to-make-record-breaking-investment-in-indiana-manufacturing-facilities-301798439.html SOURCE Eli Lilly and Company

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[April 16, 2023] XPENG Presents Next-Gen Technology Architecture - SEPA2.0

XPeng Inc. ("XPENG" or the "Company," NYSE: XPEV and HKEX: 9868), a leading Chinese smart electric vehicle ("Smart EV") company, today unveiled its next-generation end-to-end integrated technology architecture SEPA2.0, which sets the foundation for future production models. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230416005077/en/ XPENG SEPA2.0 (Photo: Business Wire) SEPA2.0 (Smart Electric Platform Architecture) brings a series of more advanced architectural solutions, from XPENG's in-house development autonomous driving software to vehicle engineering. It will shorten future models' R&D cycle by 20%, significantly optimizing R&D efficiency. 80% of architectural components will be compatible with new models, enabling XPENG to meet diverse customer needs at optimized costs. SEPA2.0 is adaptable and flexible with multiple vehicle platforms for wheelbases between 1,800mm and 3,200mm and scalable to support a variety of vehicle types, including sedan, coupe, hatchback, wagon, SUV, MPV and pickup truck. On April 18, the first new production model built on SEPA2.0, XPENG G6 Ultra Smart Coupe SUV, will debut at Auto Shanghai 2023. "We envision that this evolutionary intelligent architecture will lead smart EV technology development for the next three years. It will make rapid advancements in technology available for our customers as standard, with faster software upgrades, stunning cost savings and elevated product experience," said He Xiaopeng, Chairman and CEO of XPENG. "Ultimately, SEPA2.0 will architecturally empower us in our ongoing quest to redefine mobility experience with compelling value, superb comfort and rich infotainment." English replay of XPENG SEPA2.0 Press Briefing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed99lGrtxn0

XPENG SEPA2.0 visual library: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1q1ZKsHv2V2vVoEUIXXWQ5pGrBbRBIlNA

XPENG SEPA2.0 smart manufacturing video: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1dF5sH5UdcP-ggyR-sVWFdwtFZTpDafhO Intelligent Architecture to Accelerate Smart Technology Inclusion XNGP Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS): XPENG's in-house full-scenario ADAS solution is the ultimate form of driver assistance and will come as standard on all future XPENG models for the Chinese market. With SEPA2.0 architecture, XNGP's overall R&D efficiency willincrease by 30%, while ADAS software model adaptation costs will reduce by 70%. Backed by China's largest and only operational autonomous driving supercomputing center, closed-loop data feedback and self-evolving AI system, XNGP will consistently evolve and upgrade its driving assistance skills. It targets takeover frequency less than once per 1000 km in highway scenarios in 2023 and takeover frequency less than once per 100 km in urban scenarios by 2025.

XPENG's in-house full-scenario ADAS solution is the ultimate form of driver assistance and will come as standard on all future XPENG models for the Chinese market. With SEPA2.0 architecture, XNGP's overall R&D efficiency willincrease by 30%, while ADAS software model adaptation costs will reduce by 70%. Backed by China's largest and only operational autonomous driving supercomputing center, closed-loop data feedback and self-evolving AI system, XNGP will consistently evolve and upgrade its driving assistance skills. It targets takeover frequency less than once per 1000 km in highway scenarios in 2023 and takeover frequency less than once per 100 km in urban scenarios by 2025. Xmart OS In-car Operating System: Xmart OS leverages a multi-sensor software and hardware platform to augment and transform control and driver-vehicle interaction. Powered by AI, supercomputers and foundation models, Xmart OS can make intelligent decisions to optimize control of cabin functions. The SEPA2.0-based R&D platform lowers Xmart OS software adaptation costs by 85%, shortens voice software R&D cycle by 50% and reduces cost of voice assistant service by 50%, making the industry's top smart cabin services available to every XPENG owner, while revolutionizing cockpit instrumentation and road perception.

Xmart OS leverages a multi-sensor software and hardware platform to augment and transform control and driver-vehicle interaction. Powered by AI, supercomputers and foundation models, Xmart OS can make intelligent decisions to optimize control of cabin functions. The SEPA2.0-based R&D platform lowers Xmart OS software adaptation costs by 85%, shortens voice software R&D cycle by 50% and reduces cost of voice assistant service by 50%, making the industry's top smart cabin services available to every XPENG owner, while revolutionizing cockpit instrumentation and road perception. X-EEA Electrical and Electronic Architecture: Consisting of a data technology platform, a whole-car software platform and a hardware architecture platform, X-EEA underpins XPENG's technology foundation with high performance, superior safety and cloud application integration. It optimizes overall vehicle R&D costs by 50%, shortens software iteration cycles by 30% and increases OTA update speed by 300%.



Architecture-based Solutions to Boost Charging Efficiency 800 Volt High Voltage Silicon Carbide (SiC) Platform : XPENG's industry leading superfast charging solution enables 800V high voltage charging, increasing battery charging speed by 50% over the previous generation. With a standard 3C cell configuration, the battery can add 130 kilometers of range with a five-minute charge, and can charge even faster at XPENG's S4 480kW superfast charging facilities, adding 200 km of range with a five-minute charge. When charging via third-party charging piles, it can generate up to 180kW of charging power.

: XPENG's industry leading superfast charging solution enables 800V high voltage charging, increasing battery charging speed by 50% over the previous generation. With a standard 3C cell configuration, the battery can add 130 kilometers of range with a five-minute charge, and can charge even faster at XPENG's S4 480kW superfast charging facilities, adding 200 km of range with a five-minute charge. When charging via third-party charging piles, it can generate up to 180kW of charging power. XPower 800 Volt High Voltage Oil-cooled Flat-wire SiC Integrated Electric Drive System: Full-stack and in-house developed, XPower increases the maximum electric drive efficiency to 97.5% and the overall electric drive efficiency to 92%. Each 1% increase in overall electric drive system efficiency, with other conditions unchanged, translates into an estimated 2% increase in EV range. Powerful system integrations deliver industry-leading power-to-weight ratio of 2.5 kW/kg, ensuring less whole-car weight while creating a more spacious and quieter cabin.

Full-stack and in-house developed, XPower increases the maximum electric drive efficiency to 97.5% and the overall electric drive efficiency to 92%. Each 1% increase in overall electric drive system efficiency, with other conditions unchanged, translates into an estimated 2% increase in EV range. Powerful system integrations deliver industry-leading power-to-weight ratio of 2.5 kW/kg, ensuring less whole-car weight while creating a more spacious and quieter cabin. X-HP Smart Thermal Management System: X-HP offers an intelligent, systematic energy-efficient solution for temperatures from -30? to 55?, ensuring range and charging capacity under all weather conditions. In cold conditions, it increases range by 15%; it improves battery cooling performance by 100%, leading to a 90% increase in charging power.

X-HP offers an intelligent, systematic energy-efficient solution for temperatures from -30? to 55?, ensuring range and charging capacity under all weather conditions. In cold conditions, it increases range by 15%; it improves battery cooling performance by 100%, leading to a 90% increase in charging power. Powerful Fast-Charging Network: Consisting of 7kW and 11kW home charging piles, 20kW DC fast-charging piles, S2 180kW DC supercharging piles and S4 480kW DC superfast charging piles across China, XPENG's charging network continues to expand. In 2023, approximately 500 new S4-enabled XPENG superfast charging stations will become operational. Advanced Manufacturing Capabilities

Front and Rear Integrated Aluminum Die Casting Technology: One of its kind in mass production models in China, enables more uniform fabrication of the car body, bringing more stable control and a better driving performance. It also improves torsional rigidity by 83% compared to a traditional car body, enhancing body safety, while at the same time reducing body weight by 17% versus traditional bodies, further boosting EV range.

One of its kind in mass production models in China, enables more uniform fabrication of the car body, bringing more stable control and a better driving performance. It also improves torsional rigidity by 83% compared to a traditional car body, enhancing body safety, while at the same time reducing body weight by 17% versus traditional bodies, further boosting EV range. CIB (Cell Integrated Body) Technology: Battery pack integrated in the car body optimizes cabin design with added vertical space, increases battery safety and enhances overall driving performance by improving center of gravity. With an 80-ton side collision resistance design and a IP68 waterproof & dustproof design, the CIB battery pack meets the highest safety standards in three main markets: China, North America and Europe.

Battery pack integrated in the car body optimizes cabin design with added vertical space, increases battery safety and enhances overall driving performance by improving center of gravity. With an 80-ton side collision resistance design and a IP68 waterproof & dustproof design, the CIB battery pack meets the highest safety standards in three main markets: China, North America and Europe. Chassis Platform: Compatible with multiple types of suspension systems, providing superior mechanical quality and excellent handling performance.

Compatible with multiple types of suspension systems, providing superior mechanical quality and excellent handling performance. Smart Manufacturing System: This system will be built out by 2025, including the Zhaoqing Plant, Guangzhou Base and several future projects. All manufacturing facilities will integrate SEPA2.0 through technology upgrades. About XPENG

XPENG is a leading Chinese Smart EV company that designs, develops, manufactures, and markets Smart EVs that appeal to the large and growing base of technology-savvy middle-class consumers. Its mission is to drive Smart EV transformation with technology, shaping the mobility experience of the future. In order to optimize its customers' mobility experience, XPENG develops in-house its full-stack advanced driver-assistance system technology and in-car intelligent operating system, as well as core vehicle systems including the powertrain and the electrical/electronic architecture. XPENG is headquartered in Guangzhou, China, with main offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, San Diego and Amsterdam. The Company's Smart EVs are mainly manufactured at its plants in Zhaoqing and Guangzhou, Guangdong province. For more information, please visit https://heyXPENG.com. Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about XPENG's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: XPENG's goals and strategies; XPENG's expansion plans; XPENG's future business development, financial condition and results of operations; the trends in, and size of, China's EV market; XPENG's expectations regarding demand for, and market acceptance of, its products and services; XPENG's expectations regarding its relationships with customers, contract manufacturers, suppliers, third-party service providers, strategic partners and other stakeholders; general economic and business conditions; and assumptions underlying or related to any of the foregoing. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in XPENG's filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and XPENG does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230416005077/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[April 17, 2023] Authentix Completes Acquisition of Royal Joh. Enschede Further Expanding Its Capabilities in Security Printing

ADDISON, Texas, April 17, 2023 /CNW/ -- Authentix, the authority in authentication and information services, announced that it has acquired Netherlands based Royal Joh. Enschede, a leading specialty printing and security solutions provider from investment firm Nimbus. Founded in 1703, Koninklijke (Royal) Joh. Enschede progressed from a small book printer to become a world-class security printing organization long associated with the highest quality security documents, postage stamps, banknotes, and brand protection solutions. Known worldwide for its design capabilities and unprecedented high-quality printworks, Royal Joh. Enschede also produces the world's most innovative banknotes and stamps and provides additional products to an impressive client list including financial transactions, cash equivalents, certificates, visas, diplomas, and multiple solutions for brand protection. Based in Haarlem, Netherlands with a branch in Yokohama, Japan, the company has been a frontrunner in the digital-physical cross-over technological transition, having introduced many product firsts during its rich and longstanding heritage. Authentix acquires the Joh. Enschede shares from hands-on investment firm Nimbus, who have been the majority shareholder of RJE since 2014. In that period Nimbus and the management prepared the company for the future, rationalizing the operation and investing in distinctive technologies and solutions. "This strategic acquisition expands our portfolio and capabilities in high security printing technologies to support Authentix's ongoing growth in programs for governments, central banks, and commercial brand owners," stated Kevin Mcenna, CEO of Authentix, adding that "the combination of experience, craftmanship, design innovation and production techniques that Joh. Enschede brings to Authentix fits perfectly with our current strategic growth strategy."



Gelmer Leibbrandt, CEO for Joh. Enschede, added, "We are extremely excited to become part of the highly talented and experienced team at Authentix. We feel the combination of the two companies' approach to quality and innovation enables ample opportunities to provide our customers with the most advanced security print solutions in the industry." Jannes Snel, Investment Manager for Nimbus stated "When Nimbus acquired Joh. Enschede in 2014 we knew the challenge was to identify new growth opportunities. We are proud that we have been able to find these and worked intensely to prepare the company for its next phase of development. We are very pleased with Authentix as the new home for Joh. Enschede, and are confident that under their wings, Joh. Enschede will continue its growth path."

Royal Joh. Enschede will remain a stand-alone operating entity retaining its respective brands and integrate within the Authentix group of companies to further grow its market share and collective set of strategic offerings leveraging the larger Authentix sales platform. About Joh. Enschede Royal Joh. Enschede, founded in 1703, is known worldwide for its attractive banknotes and stamps. With attention to detail, technical expertise and quality, Royal Joh. Enschede is the specialist for custom, secured and extremely reliable printing and security solutions. Royal Joh. Enschede creates and prints products for financial transactions, cash equivalents and certification products, such as postage stamps, passports, visas, tax stamps, diplomas, certificates and products to protect high value branded products (brand protection). Based on craftsmanship and expertise, the company provides security printing solutions against fraud and counterfeiting worldwide. About Authentix As the authority in authentication solutions, Authentix brings enhanced visibility and traceability to today's complex global supply chains. For over 25 years, Authentix has provided clients with physical and software-enabled solutions to detect, mitigate, and prevent counterfeiting and other illicit trading activity for currency, excise taxable goods, and branded consumer products. Through a proven partnership model and sector expertise, clients experience custom solution design, rapid implementation, consumer engagement, and complete program management to ensure product safety, revenue protection, and consumer trust for the best-known global brands on the market. Headquartered in Addison, Texas USA, Authentix, Inc. has offices in the North America, Europe, Middle East, Asia, and Africa serving clients worldwide. For more information, visit https://www.authentix.com. Authentix is a registered trademark of Authentix, Inc. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/authentix-completes-acquisition-of-royal-joh-enschede-further-expanding-its-capabilities-in-security-printing-301797850.html SOURCE Authentix, Inc.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[April 17, 2023] ASOLVI ENTERS SPAIN AND LATIN AMERICA THROUGH ACQUISITION OF BINARY SOLUCIONES

OSLO, Norway, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Asolvi, a leading provider of field service management software in Europe, has recently acquired Binary Soluciones, a Spanish software company specializing in solutions for the field service and maintenance industries with a special focus on customers in the alarm, fire and security industry. Binary Soluciones ("Binary") has established itself as a respected provider of field service management software not only in Spain but also in Colombia, Argentina, Mexico and Peru serving close to 200 customers. The acquisition of Binary will enable Asolvi to expand its reach in Spain and Latin America and enhance its offerings with Binary's expertise in mobile workforce management, maintenance scheduling, and other essential aspects of field service management. Antonio Delgado Prieto, CEO of Binary says: "I am very excited to join the Asolvi family and its potential to better serve their customers with the combined expertise of both companies." Asolvi's CEO, Pal M. Rdseth comments: "We are delighted to welcome the talented team of Binary, the acquisition will be a significant step in Asolvi's growth strategy and enabling us to be a significant provider of field service solutions in the Spanish and Latin American markets. The addition of Spain and Latin America with many customers within one of our core industry verticals further segments Asolvi as a leading provider of service management solution to this industry". The acquisition of Binary is an important milestone for Asolvi, and it reflects the company's commitment to expanding its offerings and reach to provide exceptional service to its customers in Spain, Latin America, and beyond. The combination of Asolvi's and Binary's expertise will enable the company to deliver even greater value to its customers and create new opportunities for growth and innovation. Erik Berggren of Volpi Capital comments: "The acquisition of Binary is an important milestone for Asolvi and our strategy to create a more international business. It demonstrates the strategic importance of the Fire and Security sector, as well as ability to grow through acquisitions into new geographies. We warmly welcome Antonio Delgado Prieto and his team." Fernando Piekenbrock, of Volpi Capital, adds: "We have been impressed by Antonio Delgado and his team since our first meeting, and we are thrilled to welcome them to the Asolvi family. Together, we will accelerate the continued growth of our combined business." Jostein Vik, Partner at Viking Venture also congratulates: "Binary is a perfect add-on acquisition that strengthens our offer within alarm, fire and security industry. We welcome Antonio Delgado and his team to the Asolvi family." With a presence in close to 40 countries and over 1,800 customers globally, Asolvi is now better positioned to increase its market share and establish its position as a leader in the European and Latin American field service management software industry. Asolvi has more than 100,000 users worldwide, and this acquisition will only enhance their ability to serve their customers better. About Asolvi With decades of combined experience developing solutions for a variety of field service sectors, Asolvi's products support thousands of engineers, millions of contracts, and tens of millions of service tasks. Its mission is to continue creating, deploying and refining new functionality and solutions for the largely under-served SME market, through close customer relations and strategic partnerships. Asolvi is a leading provider of service management software for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the field service industry in Europe, employing more than 160 staff in eleven offices across the Europe and Latin America. The company was founded in 1991 in Trondheim, Norway, and has grown organically and through recent acquisitions to reach 1,800+ customers in 40+ countries. It is headquartered in Trondheim, Norway, and is a private company owned by Volpi Capital, Viking Venture and the Management. More information about Asolvi's services can be found at: www.asolvi.com. Press Release: https://www.asolvi.com/news/asolvi-enters-spain-and-latin-america-through-acquisition-of-binary-soluciones Contact:

Marit Lund, E-mail: [email protected]

Phone: +47 7380 2200 Other relevant links: www.binary.es www.volpicapital.com www.vikingventure.com The following files are available for download:







https://mb.cision.com/Main/22279/3751250/1985428.pdf Press release (PDF)

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/asolvi-enters-spain-and-latin-america-through-acquisition-of-binary-soluciones-301798573.html

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[April 17, 2023] The Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) Continues to Advance ESG

Launches the First Dedicated ESG English Questionnaire, In Line with International Standards, Designed to Enable TASE-Listed Companies That Have Not Yet Published an ESG Report The Move Aims to Increase the Companies' Exposure to International ESG Rating Firms and to a Larger Pool of Local and International Investors The completed questionnaires of the TASE-listed companies will enable TASE to collaborate with international index editors in the development of additional ESG indices TEL AVIV, Israel, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE: TASE) published today its first ESG questionnaire for the TASE-listed companies as a means to increasing their ESG involvement and allowing investors better access to ESG-related information, in line with international standards. The questionnaire was developed in collaboration with Good Vision, an ESG advisory firm, and is designed to assist companies that have not yet published an ESG report. The questionnaire is based on an examination of similar questionnaires commonly used internationally, and was customized for the TASE-listed companies. The questionnaire is presented in English and contains 40 questions that address various aspects of the environment, society and governance, and also offers a basic glossary, in order to facilitate the process for newcomers and make the filling-out process more focused, easy and accessible. The companies that choose to complete the forms will publish the questionnaire on their own websites, thereby increasing their exposure to a broader pool of local and international investors.



TASE considers the publication of the questionnaire an additional milestone in the advancement of ESG, which has been gathering momentum in recent years, globally and in Israel, and as a means to increasing the exposure of Israeli companies to international ESG rating firms as well as to local and international investors.

TASE notes that currently only 70 of the TASE-listed companies publish full ESG reports, as compared to 90% of the companies included in the S&P-500 Index. A year ago, TASE aired on the TASE website a dedicated page containing a list of the TASE-listed companies that published an ESG report, including links to the relevant page on the company's website. TASE has 3 ESG indices: TA-125 Fossil Free, Cleantech, and the veteran Maala Index. The objective is to launch additional ESG indices in the future in collaboration with an international index editor, which will allow the public to invest in companies that publish a full or condensed ESG report, based on the questionnaire. To date, 40 ETFs and tracking funds on local and international ESG indices are traded on TASE, with an asset market cap of NIS 1.5 billion. Ivri Verbin, CEO of Good Vision and Chairman of Grant Thornton's Global Sustainability Forum, said: "In recent years, we are seeing the growing weight of public companies' ESG activity and disclosure in the considerations of regulators, customers and, above all, investors. By offering a simple and user-friendly questionnaire, TASE helps companies that are taking their first steps in this field to align with international standards, implement processes and make their ESG activity transparent." Hani Shitrit Bach, EVP and Head of Listings at TASE, said: "ESG has taken front stage as a significant and material consideration for both institutional and private investors, and in particular for foreign investors. The completed questionnaires will enhance the TASE-listed companies' exposure to foreign investors and international rating firms and enable TASE to collaborate with international index editors in the development of additional ESG indices. ESG champions values that further economic benefit and a real contribution to the ability of each and every one of us to ensure sustainable growth, protect the environment and create a more equal and fair society." View the dedicated page on the TASE website Contact: Orna Goren

Head of Communication and Public Relations Unit

Tel: +972 76 8160405

[email protected] View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-tel-aviv-stock-exchange-tase-continues-to-advance-esg-301798709.html SOURCE The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Ltd.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[April 17, 2023] Molecular and digital pathology innovators Xyall and Indica Labs forge global collaboration to transform precision oncology workflows

Bridging the gap between histopathology and molecular pathology ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. and EINDHOVEN, The Netherlands, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Xyall and Indica Labs have entered into a global strategic partnership designed to bridge the gap between histology and molecular pathology. It unites Xyall's unique automated tissue dissection solutions with Indica Labs' AI-powered, diagnostic digital pathology platform. Selecting tumor tissue is at the heart of molecular diagnostic testing. The collaboration will enable molecular laboratories to benefit from a fully digital and automated workflow for tissue macro dissection for molecular diagnostic testing, providing increased throughput and accuracy at lower operational cost. While the field of molecular diagnostics has seen great advances in next-generation sequencing technology, alongside the rapid adoption of digital pathology, tissue dissection has remained a manual, labor-intensive process, with limited precision and a high sensitivity to errors. The partnership enables Xyall's industry leading automated Tissector tissue dissection solutions to capitalize on Indica Labs' flagship HALO AP anatomic pathology image management and workflow software, which facilitates primary diagnosis, remote slide review, case sign-out and more. Xyall offers two solutions that enable molecular pathology laboratories to fully automate their tumor tissue dissection workflow. Its Tissector High Throughput (HT) system has been designed to meet the needs of high-volume molecular laboratories. The combined Tissector HT and HALO AP systems are already in use in a large commercial lab setting. Xyall's latest platform, the compact Tissector Table Top (TT) solution, is designed to meet the needs of lower volume molecular laboratories. Indica Labs' HALO AP is a CE-IVD certified software platform which brings remote slide review, case-centric digital pathology slide management, collaboration and AI-powered quantitative image analysis to anatomic pathology labs worldwide. HALO AP features a streamlined user interface that makes analysis and annotation of slides simple and easy. Slide annotations from HALO AP are automatically simplified and transferred to Xyall's Tissector system for tumor tissue dissection. Future dployments including tumor-detecting AI and cell-quantification algorithms via HALO AP's workflow-based interface promise pathologists even more tools for tumor content assessment.



Guido du Pree, Xyall's CEO, explained: "The increase in the number of therapies for cancer patients has, in turn, driven demand for molecular diagnostic testing to inform treatment decisions. These tests require a consistently high sample quality and efficiency that is difficult to achieve with the current way of working. "Clinicians and lab scientists have been calling for faster and more accurate tissue dissection as a critical element in precision oncology. Xyall's unique technology provides this missing link by delivering fully automated tissue dissection solutions which enable a more efficient, standardized and accurate workflow.

"By combining Xyall's technology with the advanced image management solutions of Indica Labs, we can provide optimal quality and efficiency across the whole workflow of tissue dissection for molecular pathology testing." Eric Runde, Indica Labs' COO, adds: "As new therapies are discovered and the need for molecular testing increases, it's important that clinicians are able to obtain as much tumor tissue as possible, as every cell contains vital information. We are excited to partner with Xyall to address this growing need. Our combined solution allows users to document and track each step of the dissection process. HALO AP simplifies the annotation process, ensuring that what you select is precisely what you get. With its simple-to-use interface, HALO AP has the potential to even further simplify the process of selection by providing easy access to AI-assisted workflows." About Xyall: Xyall B.V . is headquartered in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, and was founded in August 2018 by Guido du Pree and Hans van Wijngaarden. They are both advocates of precision medicine and worked together at Philips Healthcare as part of the senior management team developing the company's global digital pathology business. Xyall offers the Tissector HT and TT as the first fully for tissue macro-dissection for molecular pathology testing based on the unique technologies the company has developed in the areas of precision robotics, digital pathology and workflow optimization. It addresses the need for accuracy, speed and ease of use in an automated system to make the most efficient use of existing staffing levels. About Indica Labs: Indica Labs is the world's leading provider of computational pathology software and image analysis services. Our flagship HALO and HALO AI platform facilitates quantitative evaluation of digital pathology images. HALO Link facilitates research-focused image management and collaboration while HALO AP enables collaborative clinical case review. Through a combination of precision, performance, scalability, and usability our software solutions enable pharmaceutical companies, diagnostic labs, research organizations, and Indica's own contract pharma services team to advance tissue-based research, clinical trials, and diagnostics. For more information: Xyall

Guido du Pree: +31 (0)6 20444932

[email protected] Indica Labs

Kate Lillard, PhD

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/molecular-and-digital-pathology-innovators-xyall-and-indica-labs-forge-global-collaboration-to-transform-precision-oncology-workflows-301797883.html SOURCE Indica Labs

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[April 17, 2023] U.S. Century Bank Partners with Pidgin to Bring Real-Time Payments to Growing Customer Base

Pidgin, a secure real-time payments platform built for the future of payments, announced that U.S. Century Bank has chosen to partner with Pidgin to bring real-time payments to its growing customer base. With over $2.1 billion in assets and over 20 years in business, Miami-based U.S. Century Bank is dedicated to serving business owners, professionals and entrepreneurs in their south Florida community. U.S. Century has selected Pidgin as their newest fintech partner after an extensive evaluation process to provide instant payments to their customers, giving them a fast, easy and secure way to send and receive payments. With Pidgin, payments are routed directly from financial institution to financial institution. Since the platform eliminates the need to use a holding account by a third-party provider or a virtual wallet, Pidgin facilitates a more secure transaction. By partnering with Pidgin, U.S. Century Bank will be able to support faster payments across various use cases. For personal accounts, Pidgin is a single solution to send and receive payments directly from a checking account. There is no waiting or transfer period. Once a transaction is complete, funds are available almost immediately. For businesses and merchants, Pidgin makesit easy to accept real-time payments from customers with no waiting or transfer periods. Businesses get access to their funds faster and, as a result, can pay employees and vendor partners quicker.



Additionally, Pidgin supports the use of different payment routes, including FedNow, real-time payments, as well as same day ACH. As a result, U.S. Century Bank can route payments according to speed, cost and network, which ensures payments arrive when an accountholder needs them, at the lowest cost possible. "U.S. Century Bank provides the latest state-of-the-art technology for our customers that simplifies the banking process. As part of that mission, we strive to adapt as technology evolves and serve our customers with world-class banking, payment and technology solutions," said Andres Collazo EVP and Head of Information Technologies and Operations for U.S. Century Bank. "That's why we chose to partner with Pidgin. With their real-time payment platform, our bank will maintain its competitive edge while also facilitating a more positive customer experience."

"The demand for real-time payments is growing, among consumers and businesses alike. With nearly one in four banks planning to roll out real-time payments in 2023, according to research from Cornerstone Advisors, there is no better time than now for banks to search for a fintech partner that aligns with their goals and mission," said Abhishek Veeraghanta, CEO of Pidgin. "U.S. Century Bank is getting ahead of the curve and making real-time payments possible for the customers they serve. We look forward to our partnership." About Pidgin Pidgin is a new, innovative and secure faster payments ecosystem, enabling financial institutions, business owners and individuals to process transactions faster and with lower fees. Engineered to deliver innovation both today and in the future, no matter how payments evolve, Pidgin allows financial institutions to send and receive faster payments almost instantly, but in a more secure way than virtual wallet alternatives. When using Pidgin, money is kept within the financial institution, as opposed to a holding account owned by a fintech provider. For more information, please visit www.pidgin.net or follow them on Twitter @PidginPayments and LinkedIn. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230417005009/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[April 17, 2023] Illumio Launches Zero Trust Segmentation ROI Calculator to Help Organizations Maximize Cyber Investments

SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Illumio, Inc., the Zero Trust Segmentation company, today launched the Illumio Zero Trust Segmentation ROI Calculator, a self-service tool that quantifies what an organizations return on investment (ROI) on Illumios Zero Trust Segmentation (ZTS) platform would be, bringing more clarity into their decision-making process.

In a difficult economy, organizations need to understand and be able to show the impact of every dollar they spend, and they need solutions that deliver a reliable return on investment. By answering a few simple questions related to their specific business environment, respondents will receive a written assessment of the quantitative impact Illumio ZTS would have on their organization, which will arm decision makers with data to support further investment in cybersecurity initiatives that reduce risk and increase resilience to breaches. Illumio recently commissioned a Total Economic ImpactTM of Illumio Zero Trust Segmentation (ZTS) study frm Forrester Consulting, who interviewed Forrester analysts, Illumio stakeholders, and Illumio customers from organizations of varying sizes and industries to inform their findings. The study found that Illumio delivered a total benefit of $10.2 million over three years and paid for itself in six months for a composite organization. Additionally, over three years Illumio ZTS:



Reduced a cyberattacks blast radius by 66 percent by restricting lateral movement, which saved $1.8 million via decreased overall risk exposure.

Drove $3 million in savings via tool consolidation and reduced firewall costs.

Saved $3.8 million by limiting unplanned downtime.

Increased InfoSecs operational efficiency by $1.6 million by reducing the time and effort needed to implement security policy.

Delivered 111 percent return on investment.

The security industry is moving from the prevention and detection eras to the breach containment era to minimize the impact of breaches on the broader organization, said PJ Kirner, CTO and co-founder at Illumio. With a challenging economy, CFOs and boards are asking security teams to quantify the return on their investments. With this ROI calculator, leaders can validate the impact ZTS would have on their specific organization, accelerating the implementation of core security strategies that augment prevention and detection technologies to reduce risk and increase resilience to breaches more quickly. To measure the impact Illumio ZTS could have on your organization, use the Illumio Zero Trust Segmentation ROI Calculator. Learn more about The Forrester Total Economic ImpactTM of Illumio Zero Trust Segmentation here.

About Illumio

Illumio, the Zero Trust Segmentation Company, stops breaches and ransomware from spreading across the hybrid attack surface. The Illumio ZTS Platform visualizes all traffic flows between workloads, devices, and the internet, automatically sets granular segmentation policies to control communications, and isolates high-value assets and compromised systems proactively or in response to active attacks. Illumio protects organizations of all sizes, from Fortune 100 to small business, by stopping breaches and ransomware in minutes, saving millions of dollars in application downtime, and accelerating cloud and digital transformation projects. Illumio Contact

Holly Pyper

[email protected]

669.800.5000



[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[April 17, 2023] integrate.ai Announces Central Role in Ground-Breaking Software Platform for Genomics and Precision Health

integrate.ai, a SaaS company helping organizations solve the world's most important problems without risking the world's most sensitive data, today announced its central role in the Canadian Platform for Genomics and Precision Health (CP4GPH), funded in part by Digital. Together with partner DNAstack, the platform will help deliver better outcomes for Canadians by making it easier to derive AI-powered discoveries across networks of data in neuroscience, oncology, rare disease, infectious disease, health care, agriculture, and beyond. Scientists, clinicians, researchers and AI algorithms need large and diverse datasets to uncover innovative precision health solutions. The current approach to data centralization has made it nearly impossible to safely and accurately analyze the large amounts of data needed to make these discoveries. Ever-evolving regulations have also restricted researchers' access to quality patient data, further limiting advances in this space. "Traditional approaches like centralized data sharing are inefficient, insecure and impractical for sensitive health data. integrate.ai's software enables AI and analytic work across sensitive data silos without needing to move the data, providing maximum protection and unblocking critical innovation in genomics and precision health," said Steve Irvine founder and CEO of integrate.ai. "Canada's biotech industry has made a considerable impact on the global stage, and this project will put Canada at the forefront of precision health - driving innovation, enabling job creation and cultivating high-value research and discovery."



The CP4GPH will enable privacy-preserving federated analytics and AI through integrate.ai's technology, allowing researchers to safely activate data silos and derive insights across distributed datasets without sharing, moving, or providing direct access to data between organizations. Since the location and control of the data remains unchanged, privacy and security can be maintained and data can be utilized according to patient consent. The project will cultivate an open innovation ecosystem that additional stakeholders can plug into, and will ultimately commercialize globally-leading solutions to manage, share, analyze, and translate insights from genomics and health data. "We are committed to creating a world of possibilities in autism research by supporting critical projects like the Canadian Platform for Genomics and Precision Health," said Evdokia Anagnostou, VP of Research at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. "We are proud to lead innovative work through this initiative and we are indebted to participants in clinical trials that are accelerating meaningful discoveries for autistic individuals and their families."

By combining the latest standards for data interoperability with AI-powered technologies for federated learning, the CP4GPH is creating a new way for organizations to safely collaborate to unlock value from the world's exponentially growing volumes of genomic and health data. To learn more about this ground-breaking software platform, please visit their site or stop by to meet integrate.ai's executive team during the global HIMSS conference from April 17-21, 2023 in Chicago, IL. About integrate.ai integrate.ai is a SaaS company helping organizations solve the world's most important problems without risking the world's most sensitive data. Through its safe data collaboration platform, integrate.ai empowers data science leaders to activate data silos and run federated analytics and AI workloads by moving models, not data. Armed with experience building data networks within enterprises across eight industries, integrate.ai enables organizations to safely accelerate access to secure, interoperable data and advance insights across critical use cases, including precision medicine, drug discovery, clinical trials, collaborative research, corporate data silos, risk underwriting, fraud detection, and more. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230417005121/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
NEW YORK, April 17 (Xinhua) -- The family of a victim and several survivors of a mass shooting at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis, U.S. state of Indiana, filed a lawsuit against companies involved in the manufacturing, marketing and sale of the high capacity magazine used by the gunman who killed eight people and injured several others in 2021, reported CNN over the weekend.

The federal lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in the Western District of New York, targets a gun distributor and magazine manufacturers, and alleges the companies recklessly marketed and sold their products to impulsive young men at risk of violence, according to the report.

The lawsuit was filed on Thursday on behalf of the estate of Jaswinder Singh, who was killed during the shooting, Harpreet Singh, who was injured, and his wife Dilpreet Kaur, and Lakhwinder Kaur, who was also injured in the attack. They are each seeking at least 75,000 U.S. dollars from the lawsuit and are asking for a jury trial, according to the complaint.

"The lawsuit targets American Tactical Inc., an American firearms importer, manufacturer and seller, along with the company's president and the director of marketing and purchasing. Schmeisser GmbH, a German firearms manufacturer; and 365 Plus d.o.o., a Slovenian company that designs, produces and distributes firearms accessories and other tactical equipment are also listed as defendants," said the report.

The three companies were involved in the manufacturing, marketing and sale of the 60-round high-capacity magazines that "have been used repeatedly to slaughter and terrorize Americans in horrific mass shootings since long before April 2021," the lawsuit said. 
[April 17, 2023] Black Knight and Restb.ai Form Strategic Alliance to Offer an AI-driven Image Product Suite

PHOENIX, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Real estate agents rely on property photos today more than ever to sell homes. New AI technology takes this process to the next level, providing the ability to automate the creation of listing information directly from property photos. Using computer vision, advanced tags of interior and exterior features are generated. Property photo captions and full property listing descriptions are automatically generated. Applying new AI capabilities to property photos allows real estate agents to spend more time helping buyers and sellers and less time inputting data.

Two top industry firms are teaming up to deploy this new AI-powered technology. Today, Restb.ai , the leader in artificial intelligence and computer vision for real estate, announced a strategic alliance with Black Knight, Inc . (NYSE:BKI) to integrate the Restb.ai MLS Product Suite seamlessly into the Black Knight Paragon MLS platform and offer the integrated products to Black Knights customers . Black Knight, an award-winning software, data and analytics company that drives innovation in the mortgage and real estate industries, as well as the capital and secondary markets, will now offer its Paragon customers the real estate industry's most proven computer vision technology offering. These capabilities will automate listing creation processes, unlock new data sets and instantly validate property listings imagery to support compliance with MLS guidelines. Restb.ai technology, which processes more than 1 billion images monthly, modernizes and speeds up the listing input process by analyzing photos and auto-populating relevant listing details extracted from the images. As each listing photo is uploaded, industry-leading AI from Restb.ai automatically detects each image's interior and exterior features, architecture style, and room type. In addition, by tagging and labeling each image, the property listings displayed on MLS and broker and agent websites become ADA-compliant. Moreover, the Restb.ai Photo Compliance solution integrated intoBlack Knights Paragon MLS platform can evaluate logos, watermarks, yard signs, people, license plates, duplicate images and more. This enhances photo-monitoring processes by auto-detecting misuses of listing photos and corresponding violations based on MLS/Association rules and regulations.



Ben Graboske, president of Black Knight Data & Analytics, said, Black Knight is known for delivering highly innovative, proven and cutting-edge real estate solutions that strengthen customer relationships and help agents work faster and smarter, not harder. With Restb.ai, were helping our MLS clients deliver more value to brokers and agents nationwide. Agents will be able to spend significantly less time on manually entering listings, enabling them to focus instead on interacting with homebuyers and sellers. Building Restb.ai into Black Knights MLS platform will radically transform how MLS subscribers interact with MLS Listing data. This enhanced AI automation will provide users with a new listing entry experience along with unique visual search capabilities for over 200 MLSs, explained Lisa Larson, Restb.ai Managing Director, North America. Working with the exceptional Black Knight team members, who deeply understand their customers needs, created a milestone moment for us, delivering our most successful rollout strategy to date. she added.

A complete list of MLS Product solutions is available at https://restb.ai/company/press-releases/restb-ai-mls-suite . To learn more about Restb.ai solutions for real estate, contact Managing Director Lisa Larson at [email protected] About Restb.ai: Restb.ai , the leader in AI and computer vision for real estate, provides image recognition and data enrichment solutions for many of the industrys top brands and leading innovators. Its advanced AI-powered technology automatically analyzes property imagery to unlock visual insights at scale that empowers real estate companies with relevant and actionable property intelligence. Restb.ai is like having a real estate expert instantly research and provide a deep insight into each of the 1 million property photos uploaded daily. For more information on Restb.ai, visit its website . For Restb.ai related media inquiries, please reach out to Maya Makarem [email protected]. For Black Knight, contact Mitch Cohen at [email protected]  704.890,8158. Photos accompanying this announcement are available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/460cba79-54a4-477a-8f19-0a8c16a63733 https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ec182a70-68f1-4109-ae40-d39ecc642ce9



[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Global think tank Justitia opens first U.S. office at Vanderbilt, expands The Future of Free Speech project

Justitia, an independent and nonpartisan think tank based in Copenhagen, Denmark, has opened its first office in the U.S. at Vanderbilt University.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230417005347/en/

The office at Vanderbilt will be led by Justitia CEO Jacob Mchangama and will expand on the think tank's The Future of Free Speech project, which aims to foster a thriving global culture of free speech, particularly where free speech is under threat in authoritarian states and democracies, online and offline. As one of the world's leading authorities on free speech, Mchangama will also join Vanderbilt's faculty as research professor of political science in the College of Arts and Science.

"I'm delighted to welcome Jacob and Justitia by announcing the opening of The Future of Free Speech project," Chancellor Daniel Diermeier said. "Jacob's work as a legal expert and human rights lawyer highlights the importance of promoting free speech in higher education. The Future of Free Speech project will enhance Vanderbilt's status as a leading center for free speech, scholarship, collaboration and innovation."

Founded in 2014, Justitia focuses on fundamental freedoms and the rule of law, and it launched The Future of Free Speech project in 2020. The project has published cutting-edge research and provided influentialcommentary on the state of global freedom of expression that has been featured in over 900 media outlets in more than 60 countries.







"The new collaboration with such an esteemed institution as Vanderbilt University will enable The Future of Free Speech project to  help reverse the free speech recession and strengthen the most fundamental of human rights," Mchangama said.

The launch of the Future of Free Speech Project was featured in a New York Times column by David French:

On Monday, Vanderbilt University will announce the expansion of its Future of Free Speech Project, run with the think tank Justitia, which will include an international focus on free expression. I spoke to the project's executive director, Jacob Mchangama, and he emphasized that American support for free speech can have a global impact in combating tyranny. He pointed to a piece he wrote in Foreign Policy noting that American legal standards have influenced foreign courts, specifically by enhancing press freedom. In our conversation, he made a point that's critical in contemporary debates. "Free speech and equality," he said, "are mutually reinforcing, not mutually exclusive."

A New York Times editorial authored by Jeff Kosseff, a Future of Free Speech nonresident senior fellow, outlines the importance of the landmark decision of NY Times v. Sullivan in protecting democracy against politicized attempts to muzzle free and independent media.

Mchangama has written and commented extensively on the topic of free speech in the international media and has received several awards for his work. His book Free Speech-A History from Socrates to Social Media was published in 2022 and has been translated into several languages, most recently Arabic. He is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. He also is on the steering committee for the World Expression Forum and has been a visiting scholar at Columbia Global Freedom of Expression.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230417005347/en/
[April 17, 2023] The Christophers Welcome Media Literacy Expert Sister Nancy Usselmann, FSP, To Their Board of Directors

NEW YORK, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Christophers are happy to announce that Sister Nancy Usselmann, FSPa member of the Daughters of St. Paul and Director of the Pauline Center for Media Studies in Los Angeleshas joined their Board of Directors. The Christophers, a nonprofit founded in 1945 by Maryknoll Father James Keller, is rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition of service to God and humanity. The ancient Chinese proverb"It's better to light one candle than to curse the darkness" guides its publishing, radio, and awards programs. Maryknoll priest and current member of The Christophers' Board of Directors, Father Edward Dougherty, M.M., said, "We are thrilled to welcome Sister Nancy to our Board of Directors! Her wisdom and experience in Hollywood and the world of media are a perfect fit to the work of The Christophers and our mission to share stories that highlight the power of faith, hope, and love." Sister Nancy brings a wealth of experience to her role on The Christophers' Board of Directors. She is a Media Literacy Education specialist, theologian, author, writer, speaker, and film/television reviewer for bemediamindful.org and catholicmom.com. She gives numerous presentations, classes, workshops and intensive courses all around the country on media mindfulness, virtues and social media, cultural mysticism, and any topic relate to faith formation and the media to youth, young adults, parents, and teachers.



Sister Nancy authored "A Sacred Look: Becoming Cultural Mystics," a theology of popular culture, and writes for numerous publications and online journals, including Our Sunday Visitor News Service and St Anthony Messenger. She receives requests to be a panelist for film screenings and events. She has been a judge on the SIGNIS Catholic Jury for the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, and an interviewer host at the Windrider Summit at Sundance Film Festival. She hosts a web series, A Catholic Lens: Sharing the Journeys of Catholics in Media, on which she interviews actors, writers, and directors in Hollywood. Sister Nancy is currently working on her Doctorate in Ministry from Catholic University of America with a concentration in Liturgical Catechesis. She has degrees in Communication Arts and Business Management as well as a Masters of Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary. She is certified in Catechetics and Media Literacy Education.

Sister Nancy belongs to numerous organizations. She is an Executive Board member of CIMA (Catholics in Media Associates), and member of NAMLE (National Association for Media Literacy Education), SIGNIS (World Catholic Association for Communicators), and a contributing theologian at THEOCOM (Theology and Communications in Dialogue) sponsored by the Vatican. She is also a member of the School Advisory Board for St. Mark's Catholic School, Venice, CA and catechist for Confirmation and OCIA at St Timothy's Church in Los Angeles. More information about The Christophers is available at www.christophers.org. Contacts:

David Reich

Reich Communications

914-325-9997

[email protected] View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-christophers-welcome-media-literacy-expert-sister-nancy-usselmann-fsp-to-their-board-of-directors-301798895.html SOURCE The Christophers

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[April 17, 2023] Sui Foundation Names Greg Siourounis as Managing Director

The Sui Foundation (or the "Foundation"), dedicated to supporting the Sui ecosystem, today announced the appointment of Dr. Greg Siourounis as Managing Director. In this role, Dr. Siourounis will lead execution of the Foundation's efforts to support the Sui community through the launch of the Sui Layer 1 blockchain and beyond. This includes overseeing programs aimed at accelerating developer growth, educating the public about Sui blockchain technology, organizing developer and builder events, and integrating the Foundation with the Sui community to hasten decentralization. Dr. Greg Siourounis will report to Sui's independent board of directors. Dr. Siourounis brings over 25 years as a renowned academic, economist, and finance entrepreneur. As an academic, he most recently served as a tenured assistant professor in Economic Theory and Policy at Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences. He previously taught at Brown University and University of Peloponnese, and as an occasional teaching assistant at the London Business School, CASS Business School, and Iowa State University. As an entrepreneur, Dr. Siourounis founded Capital Stream Management S.A., a developer of open-ended fund structures and ultra-high frequency trading algorithms in foreign exchange markets. He also helped found Cenobe, a cybersecurity service provider, and EveryPay, a fully licensed payment service provider, regulated by the Bank of Greece. Dr. Siourounis has helped establish EveryPay as one of the top payments providers for marketplaces in Greece, having processed hundreds of millions of transactions. Dr. Siouounis previously served as Global Head of Quantitative Macroeconomic Research at Barclay's Capital.



Dr. Siourounis served as a board member of several FinTech companies and of FXCM Hellas, EveryPay, and Capital Stream Management S.A. He has received several awards, including the 2005 Young Economist Award from the European Economic Association and the 2008 Austin Robinson Prize from the Royal Economic Society on his academic achievements, along with numerous software trading patents. "The Sui Foundation has built an unparalleled community of founders, developers, and partners by providing them with the most comprehensive, innovative, and tech-forward resources and solutions to help grow and scale their brands," said Dr. Siourounis. "I believe Sui is uniquely positioned to revolutionize the digital asset ecosystem, and I can't wait to partner closely with the Foundation's mission-driven team and Board to enhance the developer experience and further drive the adoption of web3 via Sui."

About Sui Foundation The Sui Foundation is an independent organization that is dedicated to the advancement and adoption of the Sui network. The Sui Foundation deploys its resources to fund projects that build on Sui and support the creation of a cohesive ecosystem with long-term adoption, with the ultimate goal of onboarding the next billion users to web3 by supporting the advancement and global adoption of the Sui blockchain. To learn more, visit https://suifoundation.org. About Sui Sui is a first-of-its-kind Layer 1 blockchain and smart contract platform designed from the bottom up to make digital asset ownership fast, private, secure, and accessible to everyone. Its object-centric model, based on the Move programming language, enables parallel execution, sub-second finality, and rich on-chain assets. With horizontally scalable processing and storage, Sui supports a wide range of applications with unrivaled speed at low cost. Sui is a step-function advancement in blockchain and a platform on which creators and developers can build amazing, user-friendly experiences. Learn more: https://sui.io View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230417005370/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[April 17, 2023] BAFFIN AND BRUCE TRAIL CONSERVANCY LAUNCH TRAIL CONSERVANCY PROJECT

BOOT BRUSH STATION INSTALLATIONS TO PROTECT BRUCE TRAIL FROM INVASIVE SPECIES STONEY CREEK, ON, April 17, 2023 /CNW/ - Canadian cold-climate footwear brand, Baffin is proud to announce the Trail Conservancy Project in partnership with the Bruce Trail Conservancy. To prevent the spread of harmful, invasive species along Canada's oldest and longest marked footpath  Baffin has committed to building 100 co-branded boot brush stations by 2025. This adds to the existing 35 stations currently located throughout the 900 km of main trail. This partnership merges two Ontario organizations who share a passion for adventure and the outdoors. Baffin believes in Real-World Testing, bringing products to diverse climates to ensure quality and protection for customers. From the most extreme environments on Earth to hometown trails, Baffin relies on the conservation of local environments and the work organizations, including the Bruce Trail Conservancy, commit to preserving nature. Boot Brush Stations are an important tool in the protection of the diverse ecosystem within the Bruce Trail. The spread of invasive species is one of the top threats to Niagara Escarpment biodiversity, with hikers unknowingly bringing these species into the trail on their boots. These stations encourage hikers to brush off their boots before continuing their journey, to prevent the unintentional spread of invasive species and protect the native ecosystem. To launch the Trail Conservancy Project, Baffin will build the first 20 Boot Brush Stations in the Stoney Creek production facility on April 21, 2023. Baffin will be offering employees the opportunity to donate one hour of their time during the workday to help build the stations, providing the entire Baffin company the opportunity to give back and help protect the Bruce Trail. "As a Hamilton-based copany, the Bruce Trail is right in our backyard. From product testing activities and team building outings, to weekends spent on the trail with family  everyone at Baffin has benefitted from the work the Bruce Trail Conservancy does to protect this natural playground," says Mark Hubner, Senior Vice President, Commercial at Baffin. "Our ongoing partnership with the Bruce Trail Conservancy has been a passion project for us, connecting our love of exploration and our desire to help protect diverse Canadian environments for the future. By launching the Trail Conservancy Project and providing these Boot Brush Stations to the Bruce Trail, we are thrilled to take another step toward protecting the Niagara Escarpment, while leaving the invasive species behind."



A supporter of the Bruce Trail Conservancy for the past decade, Baffin has helped fund the conservation programming designed to conserve, restore and manage land along the Niagara Escarpment UNESCO World Biosphere and to protect its ecosystems for the benefit of all. The launch of Baffin's Trail Conservancy Project is the natural progression in this symbiotic partnership that aims to protect the environment so people can continue to spend time in nature and explore. "On behalf of the Bruce Trail Conservancy, I am thrilled that Baffin is continuing their commitment to the critical conservation efforts necessary to preserve a ribbon of wilderness along the Niagara escarpment," says Michael McDonald, Chief Executive Officer at the Bruce Trail Conservancy. "Their generous support of Boot Brush Stations along the Bruce Trail will go far to help us control invasive species and educate trail users on this important aspect of land stewardship and preservation."

Standing at approximately three feet tall and four feet wide, Boot Brush Stations are made of cedar wood and consist of a base and a large display. The display acts as an instructional and educational tool, teaching hikers about invasive species often brought through the trail and how to effectively use the stations to remove any possible threats from their boots. The boot brush itself is a plastic scrubber located at the bottom of the station for ease of access. Ontario-based company Turkstra Lumber has joined the project, generously supplying materials for the build. Turkstra Lumber is a family owned and operated business that has served Hamilton and the Niagara Region for over 65 years. Baffin will continue to support the Bruce Trail Conservancy's existing projects as they care for protected natural lands, a critical step to building nature-based solutions to address the climate crisis. About Baffin Baffin Ltd. is an innovative, leading outwear company based in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada with a core focus on technically advanced, innovative footwear and high-performance apparel. Baffin designs, develops, and field tests footwear in the most demanding environments on the planet and is focused on being a global leader in footwear and apparel within the Outdoor, Industrial and Hunt and Fish categories. Baffin Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canada Goose Holdings Inc. About The Bruce Trail Conservancy Bruce Trail Conservancy is one of Ontario's largest land trusts that acquires, protects and restores the vulnerable habitat and biodiversity of the UNESCO Niagara Escarpment Biosphere. For more than 50 years, we have responsibly connected people to nature through the Bruce Trail. We are a member-driven, volunteer-based, charitable organization, governed by a 19-member Board of Directors. Working with each of the nine Bruce Trail Clubs, we are committed to caring for the Bruce Trail and to preserving land along its route. SOURCE Baffin Limited

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[April 17, 2023] Ministers Guilbeault and Wilkinson wrap up G7 Ministers' Meeting in Japan focused on climate action, clean energy, and nature protection

SAPPORO, Japan, April 17, 2023 /CNW/ - The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, and the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources, have concluded this year's G7 Ministers' Meeting on Climate, Energy, and Environment, which took place in Sapporo, Japan, from April 1516. The Ministers came to champion increased ambition on climate action, nature protection, and pollution reduction, while at the same time advancing global energy security and seizing economic opportunities for Canadian businesses, workers, communities, and Indigenous peoples. On climate action and energy, Canada, recognizing that climate policy is security policy is economic policy, along with G7 countries: Made new commitments, championed by Canada , to report by the end of the year on the progress to phase out fossil fuel subsidies and international fossil fuel finance. Canada has already ended international fossil fuel finance and is committed to phasing out fossil fuel subsidies by the end of 2023 ahead of the G7's 2025 commitment and called on others to do the same.

, to report by the end of the year on the progress to phase out fossil fuel subsidies and international fossil fuel finance. has already ended international fossil fuel finance and is committed to phasing out fossil fuel subsidies by the end of 2023 ahead of the G7's 2025 commitment and called on others to do the same. Committed to accelerate the phase-out of unabated fossil fuels in combustion applications and called on other non-G7 countries to do the same, consistent with Canada's 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan and the need to apply large-scale decarbonizing technologies and practices to achieve net-zero.

2030 Emissions Reduction Plan and the need to apply large-scale decarbonizing technologies and practices to achieve net-zero. Reiterated its goal to phase out unabated coal power generation consistent with a 1.5 o C compatible future. As the co-chair of the Powering Past Coal Alliance, Canada is committed to phasing out unabated coal by 2030, and advocated over the weekend for the G7 and all Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries to follow.

C compatible future. As the co-chair of the Powering Past Coal is committed to phasing out unabated coal by 2030, and advocated over the weekend for the G7 and all Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries to follow. Advanced a goal to decarbonize each country's respective power sector by 2035 and welcomed the ambitious collective renewable energy targets of 150 gigawatts for offshore wind and 1 terawatt for solar photovoltaic power by 2030. In this year's Budget, Canada has committed historic clean-energy investments and tax credits supporting good paying jobs, affordability, and clean growth.

has committed historic clean-energy investments and tax credits supporting good paying jobs, affordability, and clean growth. Recognizing that critical minerals are essential to a secure energy transition, G7 countries affirmed that strong environmental, social, and governance standards are vital to align global security and sustainability goals and endorsed a Five Point Plan for Critical Mineral Security, which builds on Canada's leadership with the Sustainable Critical Minerals Alliance.

leadership with the Sustainable Critical Minerals Alliance. Encouraged the use of taxonomies for sustainable finance, and noted the work being undertaken by some G7 members to develop such taxonomies to enable investment decisions to align with climate objectives.

Reiterated common commitments and called for increased climate ambition through the implementation of carbon markets and pricing initiatives like the Global Carbon Pricing Challenge, accelerating the phase-out of thermal coal, reducing methane emissions, and using nature-based solutions.

On the margins of the ministerial, Minister Wilkinson participated in a Nuclear Energy Forum co-hosted by Japan and the US, where nuclear industry players agreed to a Joint Statement on Nuclear Industrial Cooperation. On environmental protection and pollution reduction, Canada and G7 countries: Celebrated the historic adoption of the the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and urged all countries to support its swift and full implementation and urgently develop and publish plans to implement their biodiversity commitments, including protecting at least 30 percent of land and water by 2030, both nationally and globally.

Reaffirmed their commitment to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030.

Committed to support global efforts to mobilize financial resources from all sources to demonstrate progress to close the global biodiversity finance gap and pushed for the successful launch of the Global Biodiversity Fund in Vancouver at the Global Environment Facility Assembly later this year.

at the Global Environment Facility Assembly later this year. Committed to end plastic pollution by 2040 and agreed to continue to work together toward an ambitious new international binding agreement on plastic pollution, including at the upcoming negotiations in May.

During the ministerial, Minister Guilbeault announced that Canada would contribute over $5 million to the United Nations Environment Programme to help ensure inclusive, equitable, and transparent negotiations toward an ambitious and effective legally-binding global agreement on plastic pollution and other key priorities, including nature-based solutions and methane reduction. Quotes "The G7 is the first big international opportunity for Canada to set the tone in 2023 for an ambitious agenda on fighting climate change, protecting nature, and cutting pollution. On each of these urgent priorities, Canada pushed hard to go further and faster on our collective level of ambition among our trusted allies We welcome the commitment by all G7 countries to accelerate efforts to phase out unabated fossil fuels and report by the end of the 2023 their progress on cutting fossil fuel subsidies, which we have intended to phase out by the end of the year. Similarly, getting G7 countries to commit to the swift and full implementation of the ambitious nature agreement signed in Montreal at COP15 was a fundamental step toward protecting at least 30 percent of land and water by 2030. This meeting has set us up well for making greater international gains in the year ahead."





"Canada's G7 partners are also our biggest customers. My message to them in Japan was clear: Canada should be their supplier of choice in a net-zero world. The building of a sustainable global economy is a historic opportunity for Canadian businesses and workers. If we act strategically and with purpose, this will result in thousands and thousands of good paying jobs across all regions of Canada. It is very much my job to work to ensure Canada seizes the economic opportunities offered by the shift to a net-zero future, and I'm pleased to say we made significant progress with our G7 partners this week in Sapporo."

 The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources

Quick Facts The G7 brings together Canada , France , Germany , Italy , Japan , the United Kingdom , the United States , and the European Union. The G7 presidency rotates annually between member countries; Canada will host in 2025.

, , , , , the , , and the European Union. The G7 presidency rotates annually between member countries; will host in 2025. G7 members were joined by the following guest countries and institutions:

Guest Countries:



India (G20 Presidency)

(G20 Presidency)



Indonesia (ASEAN Presidency)

(ASEAN Presidency)



UAE ( COP28 Presidency)

( Presidency)

Guest Organizations:



United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC )

)



The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ( OECD )

)



International Energy Agency ( IEA )

)



The International Renewable Energy Agency ( IRENA )

)



Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia ( ERIA )

( )



The International Union for Conservation of Nature ( IUCN )

)



World Business Council for Sustainable Development ( WBCSD )

) At this G7 meeting Minister Guilbeault held bilateral meetings with:

H.E. Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber , COP28 President Designate and UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change

, President Designate and UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change

John Kerry , US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate

, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate

Virginijus Sinkevicius, EU Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries



The Honourable Bhupender Yadav, India's Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

Simon Stiell , Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Minister Wilkinson held bilateral meetings with:

Yasutoshi Nichimura, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan



Jennifer Granhom, Secretary of Energy, US Department of Energy



Kadri Simson, Commissioner of Energy, European Commission



Dr. Fatih Birol , Executive Director, International Energy Agency

, Executive Director, International Energy Agency

H.E. Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber , COP28 President Designate and UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change

, President Designate and UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change Budget 2023 introduced investments of approximately $80 billion in clean energy, including incentives and tax measures to support clean electricity, clean hydrogen, and critical minerals.

in clean energy, including incentives and tax measures to support clean electricity, clean hydrogen, and critical minerals. Canada's 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan: Clean Air, Strong Economy advances its goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40 to 45 percent below 2005 levels by 2030 and reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

2030 Emissions Reduction Plan: Clean Air, Strong Economy advances its goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40 to 45 percent below 2005 levels by 2030 and reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. In November 2022 , Minister Wilkinson announced up to $800 million in project funding to advance Canada's clean fuels sector.

, Minister Wilkinson up to in project funding to advance clean fuels sector. In May 2021 , the Government of Canada launched the Sustainable Finance Action Council to help lead the Canadian financial sector toward integrating sustainable finance into standard industry practice. In a report released in March 2023 , the Sustainable Finance Action Council put forward recommendations addressing the merits, design, and implementation of a green and transition finance taxonomy for Canada .

, the Government of launched the Sustainable Finance Action Council to help lead the Canadian financial sector toward integrating sustainable finance into standard industry practice. In a report released in , the Sustainable Finance Action Council put forward recommendations addressing the merits, design, and implementation of a green and transition finance taxonomy for . Japan and Canada are founding members of the Sustainable Critical Minerals Alliance, whose goal is to drive the global uptake of environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive and responsible mining, processing, and recycling practices, and responsible critical minerals supply chains. Associated links G7 Climate, Energy and Environment Ministers' Communique (PDF) Environment and Climate Change Canada's Twitter page Environment and Climate Change Canada's Facebook page SOURCE Environment and Climate Change Canada

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[April 17, 2023]

MJV Innovation Sponsors InsureTech Connect LATAM

MIAMI, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- MJV Technology & Innovation is sponsoring this year's InsureTech Connect in Miami. With a focus this semester on the LATAM market, InsureTech is the largest gathering of insurance industry leaders. The conference is taking place on April 24-26, 2023 at the Fontainebleau Hotel.

"We are excited to be partnering with InsureTech Connect during an important moment for the insurance industry," says MJV CEO Mauricio Vianna. "The digital environment and shifts in the marketplace have put business transformation and digital strategy at the heart of staying competitive in insurance."

During the conference MJV Head of Innovation for USA, Bruna Lopes, will host a panel discussion with Bradesco Seguros Executive Superintendent Guilherme un Haraguchi called "Business Transformation: How Insurance Companies and Customers Are Changing". Bradesco Seguros is one of the top insurers in Latin America and has been MJV's client for over 20 years.







MJV Innovation's team serves leading insurance companies in areas including innovation, business transformation and analytics. Clients include Liberty Mutual, Aegon, Mapfre, and Zurich Insurance Group.

MJV also hosts an online Insurance Hub , a digital platform for resources on the latest trends and practices in the insurance industry.

About MJV Technology & Innovation

MJV Technology & Innovation is a leading global consulting and development firm specializing in digital transformation. The firm serves Fortune 500 clients including Coca-Cola, Delta, BNP, Cartier, and more in implementing data-driven innovation and strategies, including design thinking, ESG practices, consumer experiences, and data analytics. The firm was founded in 1997 and has locations across the US, Europe, and Latin America. Learn more at https://www.mjvinnovation.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mjv-innovation-sponsors-insuretech-connect-latam-301799181.html

SOURCE MJV Technology & Innovation
[April 17, 2023] EXCHANGE OFFER DECLARED UNCONDITIONAL

THIS PRESS RELEASE IS NOT FOR GENERAL RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN OR INTO, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, THE UNITED STATES OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE SUCH RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD VIOLATE APPLICABLE LAWS OR REGULATIONS This is a joint press release by Koninklijke DSM N.V. (DSM), Firmenich International SA (Firmenich) and Danube AG, to be renamed DSM-Firmenich AG (the Company), in connection with the voluntary public exchange offer by the Company for all the issued and outstanding ordinary shares in the share capital of DSM (each such share, a DSM Ordinary Share) (the Exchange Offer), pursuant to Section 16, paragraphs 1 and 2, and Section 17, paragraph 1 of the Dutch Decree on Public Takeover Bids (Besluit openbare biedingen Wft) (the Decree), and the admission to listing and trading of up to 174,786,029 ordinary shares in the capital of the Company with a nominal value of 0.01 each (each a DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Share) on Euronext Amsterdam (Euronext Amsterdam), a regulated market operated by Euronext Amsterdam N.V. (the Admission). The Exchange Offer is not being made, and the DSM Ordinary Shares will not be accepted for purchase from or on behalf of any holder of DSM Ordinary Shares (a DSM Shareholder), in any jurisdiction in which the making of the Exchange Offer or acceptance thereof would not be in compliance with the securities or other laws or regulations of such jurisdiction or would require any registration, approval or filing with any regulatory authority not expressly contemplated by the terms of the offering circular in relation to the Exchange Offer dated 22 November 2022 (the Offering Circular). KAISERAUGST, Switzerland and HEERLEN, Netherlands and GENEVA, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- DSM and Firmenich boards very happy to announce that the Company hereby declares the Exchange Offer unconditional

All Transaction Conditions have been satisfied or waived

86.6% of the DSM Ordinary Shares have been tendered in the Exchange Offer

DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares will trade on "as-if-and-when-delivered" basis as of 18 April 2023

Settlement will occur on 20 April 2023

Firmenich Contribution will occur on 8 May 2023

Remaining DSM Ordinary Shares can be tendered during the Post-Closing Acceptance Period commencing on 18 April 2023 at 09:00 hours CEST and expiring on 28 April 2023 at 17:40 hours CEST

at 09:00 hours CEST and expiring on at 17:40 hours CEST After settlement of the Post-Closing Acceptance Period, the Company intends to implement either the Buy-Out or the Post-Offer Merger and Liquidation DSM and Firmenich boards are very pleased to announce that the Company hereby declares the Exchange Offer unconditional. All Transaction Conditions have been satisfied or waived. As a result, the Exchange Offer will be settled on 20 April 2023 and the Firmenich Contribution will occur on 8 May 2023. Acceptance period

During the extended Acceptance Period, which expired at 17 April 2023 at 17:40 hours CEST, 150,742,711 DSM Ordinary Shares have been tendered for acceptance in the Exchange Offer, representing approximately 86.6% of DSM's aggregate issued and outstanding ordinary share capital (geplaatst en uitstaand gewoon aandelenkapitaal). As a result the minimum acceptance level Transaction Condition has been satisfied. The Company accepts all DSM Ordinary Shares that have been validly tendered (or defectively tendered, provided that such defect has been waived by the Company) and not validly withdrawn pursuant to the terms of the Exchange Offer. As of the date hereof, the Company does not yet directly or indirectly hold any DSM Ordinary Shares. Listing and trading of DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares

Trading in the DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares on Euronext Amsterdam will commence on 18 April 2023 at 9:00 hours CEST on an "as-if-and-when-issued" basis, and unconditional trading on the Settlement Date. The DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares will trade under the symbol "DSFIR". The ISIN code of the DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares is CH1216478797. Any dealings in DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares on Euronext Amsterdam prior to the Settlement are at the sole risk of the parties concerned. Settlement

DSM Shareholders who have tendered (and not validly withdrawn) and transferred (geleverd) their DSM Ordinary Shares for acceptance pursuant to the Exchange Offer will, on the terms and subject to the conditions set out in the Offering Circular, receive the Offer Consideration in respect of each tendered DSM Ordinary Share on 20 April 2023 (the Settlement Date). We cannot guarantee that DSM Shareholders will actually receive the Offer Consideration on the Settlement Date from the Admitted Institution with whom they hold their DSM Ordinary Shares. If a beneficiary to DSM Ordinary Shares located in the United States has tendered its shares into the Exchange Offer but has been unable to make the QIB Confirmations on behalf of itself or the person on whose behalf such DSM Ordinary Shares are held, any DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares to be allotted to such beneficiary will instead be transferred to a nominee, and such DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares will be sold on his, her or its behalf with the proceeds being remitted to its intermediary within five days of the Settlement Date. The Settlement of the Exchange Offer will be administered and effected by the Company or by the Listing, Paying and Settlement Agent (ABN AMRO Bank N.V.), on behalf of the Company. Post-Closing Acceptance Period

DSM Shareholders who have not yet tendered their DSM Ordinary Shares in the Exchange Offer will have the opportunity to tender their DSM Ordinary Shares, under the same terms and conditions applicable to the Exchange Offer, in a post-closing acceptance period (na-aanmeldingstermijn) starting on 18 April 2023 at 09:00 hours CEST and ending on 28 April 2023 at 17:40 hours CEST (the Post-Closing Acceptance Period). We will publicly announce the results of the Post-Closing Acceptance Period and the total number and percentage of DSM Ordinary Shares held by it in accordance with Section 17, paragraph 4 of the Decree on 28 April 2023. The Company will accept all DSM Ordinary Shares validly tendered (or defectively tendered, provided that such defect has been waived by the Company) during the Post-Closing Acceptance Period. During the Post-Closing Acceptance Period, DSM Shareholders have no right to withdraw their tendered DSM Ordinary Shares from the Exchange Offer, regardless whether their DSM Ordinary Shares have been validly tendered (or defectively tendered, provided that such defect has been waived by the Company) during the Acceptance Period or during the Post-Closing Acceptance Period. Additional information is included in section 14.17 (Withdrawal rights) of the Offering Circular. DSM Shareholders who have validly tendered (or defectively tendered provided that such defect has been waived by the Company) and transferred (geleverd) their DSM Ordinary Shares for acceptance pursuant to the Exchange Offer during the Post-Acceptance Period, will receive the Offer Consideration in respect of each tendered DSM Ordinary Share on 3 May 2023 (the Post-Closing Acceptance Settlement Date). We cannot guarantee that DSM Shareholders will actually receive the Offer Consideration on the Post-Closing Acceptance Settlement Date from the Admitted Institution with whom they hold their DSM Ordinary Shares. Buy-Out

If, after settlement of the DSM Ordinary Shares tendered during the Post-Closing Acceptance Period, the Company and its group companies within the meaning of the DCC hold in the aggregate at least 95% of DSM's aggregate issued and outstanding ordinary share capital, the Company shall commence the statutory buy-out procedure in accordance with Article 2:359c of the DCC or a buy-out procedure in accordance with Article 2:92a of the DCC to acquire the DSM Ordinary Shares that have not been tendered in the Exchange Offer (the Buy-Out). Any remaining DSM Shareholders (other than the Company) will receive a cash consideration as a result of the Buy-Out. Additional information is included in section 14.19 (Statutory buy-out) of the Offering Circular. Post-Offer Merger and Liquidation

If, after settlement of the DSM Ordinary Shares tendered during the Post-Closing Acceptance Period, the Company and its group companies within the meaning of the DCC hold in the aggregate less than 95% but at least 80% of DSM's aggregate issued and outstanding ordinary share capital, DSM may be notified by the Company or Firmenich to implement the Post-Offer Merger and Liquidation, in which case DSM shall implement a legal triangular merger with and into DSM Sub (as acquiring company), with DSM Holdco allotting shares to the Company and DSM Shareholders on a share-for-share basis in accordance with Articles 2:309 et seq. and 2:333a of he DCC (the Triangular Merger), which Triangular Merger was approved by DSM Shareholders at the DSM EGM on 23 January 2023. Once the Triangular Merger is implemented, the listing of DSM will terminate.



Prior to the Triangular Merger becoming effective, the Company shall, and DSM shall procure that DSM Holdco shall, enter into a share purchase agreement between the Company and DSM Holdco (the Post-Offer Share Purchase Agreement) pursuant to which, amongst other things, DSM Holdco will sell and the Company will purchase all issued and outstanding shares in the capital of DSM Sub (the Share Sale) and the Company will assume all liabilities of DSM Holdco. The consideration payable by the Company to DSM Holdco under the Post-Offer Share Purchase Agreement for the Share Sale shall be the issuance of a right that entitles the holder thereof to require the Company to deliver to it, on first demand, such number of DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares that is equal to the number of DSM Ordinary Shares held by the Company plus the DSM Ordinary Shares held by non-tendering DSM Shareholders, or the cash equivalent thereof, calculated by applying a value fairly representing the prevailing value of a DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Share (the Share Sale Consideration). The Post-Offer Merger and Liquidation is described in further detail in section 14.20 (Post-Offer Merger and Liquidation) of the Offering Circular.

Delisting

If, after settlement of the DSM Ordinary Shares tendered during the Post-Closing Acceptance Period, the Company and its group companies within the meaning of the DCC hold in the aggregate at least 95% of DSM's aggregate issued and outstanding ordinary share capital, DSM will request Euronext Amsterdam to delist the DSM Ordinary Shares. After delisting of the DSM Ordinary Shares, DSM will be converted from a Dutch public limited liability company (naamloze vennootschap) into a Dutch private limited liability company (besloten vennootschap met beperkte aansprakelijkheid). The DSM Preference Shares A will be repurchased and cancelled. Further implications of the Exchange Offer being declared unconditional

Remaining DSM Shareholders who do not wish to tender their DSM Ordinary Shares in the Exchange Offer during the Post-Closing Acceptance Period should carefully review the sections of the Offer Circular that further explain the consequences for non-tendering DSM Shareholders, such as (but not limited to) section 14.20 (Post-Offer Merger and Liquidation), section 14.26 (Withholding) and section 14.37 (Taxation) of the Offering Circular, which describe certain (tax and other) implications to which such DSM Shareholders may become subject with their continued shareholding in DSM. The advance liquidation distribution that will be paid to non-tendering DSM Shareholders in case the Post-Offer Merger and Liquidation is implemented, will generally be subject to 15% Dutch dividend withholding tax to the extent it exceeds DSM Holdco's average paid-in capital recognised for Dutch dividend withholding tax purposes. Announcements

Announcements in relation to the Exchange Offer are issued by means of a press release. Any joint press release issued by the Company, DSM and Firmenich is made available on the website of the Company (www.creator-innovator.com). Subject to any applicable requirements of the applicable laws and without limiting the manner in which the Company, DSM and Firmenich may choose to make any public announcement, the Company, DSM and Firmenich will have no obligation to communicate any public announcement other than as described in the Offering Circular. Home member state declaration

As a newly listed issuer, the Company declares that the Netherlands is its "home member state" for purposes of its disclosure obligations under the EU Transparency Directive (Directive 2004/109/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 2004 on the harmonisation of transparency requirements in relation to information about issuers whose securities are admitted to trading on a regulated market and amending Directive 2001/34/EC). Further information

Capitalised terms used but not defined herein are defined in the Offering Circular. This announcement contains selected, condensed information regarding the Exchange Offer and does not replace the Offering Circular. The information in this announcement is not complete and additional information is contained in the Offering Circular. A digital copy of the Offering Circular is available on the website of the Company (www.creator-innovator.com/en/offering-circular-and-egm/). General restrictions

The Exchange Offer is being made in and from the Netherlands with due observance of such statements, conditions and restrictions as are included in the Offering Circular. The Company reserves the right to accept any tender under the Exchange Offer, which is made by or on behalf of a DSM Shareholder, even if it has not been made in the manner set out in the Offering Circular. The distribution of the Offering Circular and/or the making of the Exchange Offer in jurisdictions other than the Netherlands may be restricted and/or prohibited by law. In particular, subject to certain exceptions, the Offering Circular is not for general circulation in the United States. The Exchange Offer is not being made, and the DSM Ordinary Shares will not be accepted for purchase from or on behalf of any DSM Shareholder, in any jurisdiction in which the making of the Exchange Offer or acceptance thereof would not be in compliance with the securities or other laws or regulations of such jurisdiction or would require any registration, approval or filing with any regulatory authority not expressly contemplated by the terms of the Offering Circular. Persons obtaining the Offering Circular are required to take due note and observe all such restrictions and obtain any necessary authorisations, approvals or consents (to the extent applicable). Outside of the Netherlands, no actions have been taken (nor will actions be taken) to make the Exchange Offer possible in any jurisdiction where such actions would be required. In addition, the Offering Circular has not been filed with nor recognised by the authorities of any jurisdiction other than the Netherlands. Neither the Company, nor DSM, nor Firmenich, nor any of their advisers accept any liability for any violation by any person of any such restriction. Any person (including, without limitation, custodians, nominees and trustees) who forwards or intends to forward the Offering Circular or any related document to any jurisdiction outside the Netherlands should carefully read section 16 (Restrictions) and section 17 (Important Information) of the Offering Circular before taking any action. The release, publication or distribution of the Offering Circular and any documentation regarding the Exchange Offer, the making of the Exchange Offer or the issuance and offering of the DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares in jurisdictions other than the Netherlands may be restricted by law and therefore persons into whose possession the Offering Circular comes should inform themselves about and observe such restrictions. Any failure to comply with any such restrictions may constitute a violation of the law of any such jurisdiction. United States of America

Unless otherwise determined by the Company, the Exchange Offer is not being, and will not be, made, directly or indirectly, in or into, or by the use of the mails of, or by any means or instrumentality (including, without limitation, telephonically or electronically) of, interstate or foreign commerce of, or of any facilities of a national securities exchange of, the United States except to DSM Shareholders who (i) are "qualified institutional buyers" as such term is defined in Rule 144A under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act, and each such person, a QIB) and (ii), to the Company's satisfaction (in its sole discretion), have duly completed and returned to the Company a letter confirming that it is a QIB and agreeing to certain transfer restrictions applicable to the DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares (a U.S. Investor Letter) available from the Company (each an Eligible U.S. Holder). Accordingly, to be eligible to receive DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares under the Exchange Offer, each DSM Shareholder that is a U.S. Person and that is a QIB must make their acceptance known through their custodian, bank or stockbroker by executing and delivering a U.S. Investor letter to such custodian or intermediary no later than 17:40 hours CEST on the Acceptance Closing Date. The custodian, bank or stockbroker may set an earlier deadline for communication by DSM Shareholders in order to permit the custodian, bank or stockbroker to communicate its acceptances to the Settlement Agent (ABN AMRO) in a timely manner. Accordingly, Eligible U.S. Holders holding DSM Ordinary Shares through a financial intermediary should comply with the dates communicated by such financial intermediary, as such dates may differ from the dates and times noted in the Offering Circular. The form of a U.S. Investor Letter will be distributed to custodians, nominees and other financial intermediaries to distribute to those they hold for in due course and is also available to QIBs from the Company. Any U.S. Person who is not a QIB, or in respect of whom no U.S. Investor Letter is received before 17:40 hours CEST on the Acceptance Closing Date, will be a Restricted Shareholder and will be treated as set out under section 14.35 (Notice to DSM Shareholders in certain jurisdictions) of the Offering Circular. The DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act or any other applicable law of the United States and accordingly, the DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares may not be reoffered, resold or transferred, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act. Any DSM Shareholder located in the United States at the time of the Transactions will be required to make certain representations, warranties and undertakings in respect of their status as QIB (the QIB Confirmations), in order to receive the DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares on the Post-Closing Acceptance Settlement Date. If a beneficiary to DSM Ordinary Shares located in the United States is unable to make the QIB Confirmations on behalf of itself or the person on whose behalf such DSM Ordinary Shares are held, any DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares allotted to such person will instead be transferred to a sales agent, and such DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares will be sold on his, her or its behalf with the proceeds being remitted to such person within five days of the Settlement Date, for DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares allotted in exchange for DSM Ordinary Shares tendered during the Acceptance Period, or within five days of the Post-Closing Acceptance Settlement Date, for DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares allotted in exchange for DSM Ordinary Shares tendered during any Post-Closing Acceptance Period. Additional information is included in section 16.1 (United States of America) of the Offering Circular. Forward looking statements

Certain statements in this press release other than statements of historical facts are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current beliefs and projections and on information currently available to the Company. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's control and all of which are based on its current beliefs and expectations about future events. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believe", "expect", "may", "will", "seek", "would", "could", "should", "intend", "estimate", "plan", "assume", "predict", "anticipate", "annualised", "goal", "target", "potential", "continue", "hope", "objective", "position", "project", "risk" or "aim" or the highlights or negatives thereof or other variations thereof or comparable terminology, or by discussions of DSM-Firmenich's strategy, short-term and mid-term objectives and future plans that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties and speak only as of the date they are made. Except as required by applicable law, the Company does not undertake and it expressly disclaims any duty to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statement in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Such forward-looking statements are based on current beliefs, assumptions, expectations, estimates and projections of the Directors in office at the time of this press release and the Company's management, public statements made by it, present and future business strategies and the environment in which DSM-Firmenich will operate in the future. By their nature, they are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which could cause DSM-Firmenich's actual results and future events to differ materially from those implied or expressed by forward-looking statements. The DSM Shareholders and other prospective investors are advised to read section 2 (Risk Factors) of the Offering Circular for a more complete discussion of the factors that could affect the DSM-Firmenich's future performance and the industry in which DSM-Firmenich operates. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialise, or should any of the assumptions underlying the above or other factors prove to be incorrect, DSM-Firmenich's actual results of operations or future financial condition could differ materially from those described herein as currently anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. In light of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions underlying the above factors, the forward-looking events described in the Offering Circular may not occur or be realised. Additional risks not known to the Company or that the Company does not currently consider material could also cause the forward-looking events discussed in the Offering Circular not to occur. For more information, please contact: DSM investor relations enquiries:

Dave Huizing

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: +31 45 578 2864 DSM media enquiries:

FTI Consulting LLP

Edward Bridges / Alex Le May

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: +44 20 3727 1017 Firmenich investor relations enquiries:

Ingvild van Lysebetten

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: +41 79 833 7252 Firmenich media enquiries:

Brunswick Group

Joseph Chi Lo / Edward Brown

Email: [email protected]oup.com

Telephone: +44 20 7404 5959 Settlement Agent and Listing and Paying Agent:

ABN AMRO Bank N.V.

Corporate Broking Issuer Services

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: +31 20 628 6070 About Firmenich

Firmenich, the world's largest privately-owned fragrance and taste company, was founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1895, and has been family-owned for 127 years. Firmenich is a business-to-business company specialized in the research, creation, manufacture and sale of perfumes, flavors, and ingredients. Renowned for its excellent research, as well as its leadership in sustainability, Firmenich offers its customers innovation in formulation, a broad palette of ingredients, and proprietary technologies such as biotechnology. Firmenich delivered CHF 4.7bn of sales in the financial year ended 30 June 2022. About DSM

DSM has transformed during its 150+ year history into today's health, nutrition & bioscience global leader. The Dutch-Swiss company specializes in nutritional ingredients for food and feed with proven world-leading bioscience capabilities and an international network of high-quality manufacturing sites that underpin a business model of global products, local solutions and personalization and precision. For Health, Nutrition & Bioscience (excluding Materials), DSM delivered 7.3bn of sales in the calendar year 2021, with adjusted EBITDA of 1.4bn and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 19%. Transaction website

Please visit www.creator-innovator.com for additional materials on the Transactions. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1829134/DSM_Firmenich_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/exchange-offer-declared-unconditional-301799197.html

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
There have been quite a few teens who have been shot in Kansas City over the past few years and for the most part nobody cares.

However . . .

A recent news report about a teen encountering gunfire after knocking at the wrong address has stirred anger, social justice protest and demands for hate crime investigation.

Consider . . .

Six people shot near Prospect Ave. including a toddler hasn't elicited a peep from our elected leaders or political contenders. In fact, KCMO is currently setting a record-breaking pace for homicides and none of the candidates running for office really want to talk about the issue . . . We even notice fewer vigils amid warmer weather.



What's the reason for the disparity in reaction???

Well, even the KCPD Chief was forced to acknowledge the "racial component" of this wrong address shooting case.

But there's more to it than that . . .



Initially, we wanted this post to examine fear and so much culture war blathering that might inspire many suburbanites to mistakenly believe that "people of color" are lurking outside of their door waiting to steal their cheese, Crocs & Apple products. However, on second thought, amid the protest we noticed so many youngsters also expressing the delusional myth that ALL minorities are "targeted" in the suburbs by old white dudes obsessed with lawn care and racial hatred. In both instances there's a slight exaggeration that's mostly used, in a practical sense, to garner sympathy from chubby white women -- The blessed constituency who have clandestinely decided nearly every facet of Western Civilization from movable type to yoga pants.

But, in the desperate hope to offend challenge every perspective in order arrive at some version of the truth, I digress . . .



For our right-wing reactionary friends who can't wait to get on their high horse about this one:

Gun owners with proper training should understand that there really is NO DEFENSE for shooting somebody who is merely knocking at your door. Gun ownership is a constitutional right that comes with a great deal of responsibility which limits people from taking aim at salesman, stranded motorists, utility workers, & Girl Scouts.



Amid demands for hate crime charges and promises for further investigation . . . The only thing we know for certain is that the cycle of violence in Kansas City, Missouri will persist and future killings won't meet with similar fanfare when there is no culture war capital at stake.

Put simply . . .

For the most part, national news doesn't really care if you kill somebody who is the same color as you.



Don't worry . . . It gets worse . . .

Whilst so many of our progressive activist friends demand arrest and swift justice against a suburbanite with an allegedly itchy trigger finger . . . We can't help but notice these same folks advocating against police and decrying prison consequences for violent offenders in the urban core.

Our only real takeaway . . .



There aren't really any good guys in this story other than the poor kid who suffered gunfire for, reportedly, merely trying to pick up his siblings.

Most everyone else seems to be working an angle that serves to benefit their own cause above all else.

And so we check the recap and link to more resources . . .



The shooting fueled a protest in Kansas City on Sunday, with hundreds gathering outside the home where Yarl was shot . . .



Protesters marched as they chanted, justice for Ralph and Black lives matter, and carried signs reading, Ringing a doorbell is not a crime and The shooter should do the time, footage shows.



We demand swift action from Clay County prosecutors and law enforcement to identify, arrest and prosecute to the full extent of the law the man responsible for this horrendous and unjustifiable shooting, the statement from the victims attorneys read.



Asked whether the shooting may have been racially motivated, the KCPD police chief Stacey Graves said, the information that we have now, it does not say that that is racially motivated. Thats still an active investigation. But as a chief of police, I do recognize the racial components of this case.



Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . .

Family seeks justice for teen shot in head while trying to pick up siblings at wrong address Protestors gathered to speak out for justice of a teenage boy who was shot twice while attempting to pick up his siblings at the wrong residential address. Ralph Yarl, 16, is currently in the hospital, recovering from severe gun shot injuries in the head after a man allegedly shot him twice.

'He is healing': Family of 16-year-old Ralph Yarl, community seeking justice KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Sunday, the family of 16-year-old Ralph Yarl stood side by side with hundreds of community members from across the Kansas City metro. Uniting to protest for justice, those who gathered started at a nearby Dollar Tree and marched to the residence where Yarl was shot, located at 1100 NE 115th St.

Kansas City officials address teen shot by homeowner as community protests KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Kansas City, Missouri's chief of police and mayor, as well as the Clay County prosecuting attorney, came together Sunday for a news conference on the case of the teenager shot by a homeowner after visiting the wrong home the night of April 13.

KCPD assures public 'thorough' investigation underway of teen's shooting in Clay County KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department held a press conference with KCMO Mayor Quinton Lucas Sunday afternoon to assure the public the shooting of a 16-year-old on April 13 is being 'thoroughly' investigated. KCPD Chief Stacey Graves said the alleged suspect was taken into custody after the incident and was placed on a 24-hour investigative hold.

Community protests after teen is shot in Clay County while trying to pick up siblings KANSAS CITY, Mo. - There is outrage and concern across the nation three days after a teenager was shot by a homeowner after going to the wrong address to pick up his siblings in Clay County. Nearly one thousand people marched to the Northland home where it happened.

Hundreds Gather in the Northland to Support Teen Shot on Thursday Night Hundreds of protestors took to the streets of the Northland Sunday in a sign of a support for a 16-year-old shot on Thursday night. Ralph Yarl was trying to pick up his siblings from a house in the 1100 block of NE 115th Terrace. Instead, he ended up at NE 115th street.

KC police chief says investigation of teen's shooting is moving as quickly as possible Police Chief Stacey Graves said Sunday the police department is working to make sure the investigation of the shooting of a Black teen-ager moves as quickly as it can so the case can be presented to the Clay County prosecutor.

KCMO leaders address the shooting of a teen in Clay County that sparked protests over the weekend Kansas City, Missouri Police Chief Stacey Graves and KCMO Mayor Quinton Lucas held a joint press conference Sunday afternoon to address the investigation into a shooting that left a teenager critically injured late last week in Clay County.Late on Thursday, April 13, 16-year-old Ralph Yarl was meant to pick up a sibling at a house along NE 115th Terrace.

Black Kansas City teen shot after going to wrong address to pick up siblings Kansas City police were working to quickly prepare evidence for the Clay county prosecutor in the shooting of a Black teenager who was trying to pick up his younger brothers from a friend's house on Thursday.

Kansas City Teenager Shot After Going to Wrong House to Pick Up His Siblings A Kansas City teenager was shot after going to the wrong home to pick up siblings Thursday night. Local news station Fox 4 reported that police found the teen suffering life-threatening injuries after officers were dispatched to the neighborhood at 10 p.m.

Outrage mounts over shooting of Black teen who knocked on wrong Kansas City door Authorities in Kansas City, Mo., on Sunday promised a full investigation into a homeowner's shooting of a Black teen who rang the wrong doorbell by mistake, sparking public outrage. Family members identified the boy as 16-year-old Ralph Yarl and said he had gone to pick up his younger twin brothers when he knocked on the wrong door a few blocks away.

A teenager was shot by a homeowner after going to the wrong house to pick up siblings, Kansas City police say | CNN A teenager was shot and wounded by a homeowner after mistakenly going to the wrong home to pick up his siblings in Kansas City, Missouri, police said Sunday. Officers responded to reports of a shooting on the evening ofApril 13 and arrived to find a teenager who had been shot by a homeowner outside of a residence, according to Kansas City Police.

Developing . . .
This increase in the country's tourism figures looked set to continue in the years to come, based on international trends

The year 2023 is on track to be better than 2022 for tourism, the president of the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) Yiannis Retsos stressed in an interview with the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA).

He pointed out that this increase in the country's tourism figures looked set to continue in the years to come, based on international trends.

According to Retsos, there was optimism that revenues from tourism could reach 18.2 billion euros in 2023, surpassing the record revenues in 2019, something that would start to become apparent over the course of the year.

"Greece is capitalizing on the very strong brand it has built during the pandemic," Retsos said, noting that it was the only Mediterranean country that opened its borders with complete success in 2020, showing that it could handle a serious crisis and becoming an example for other destinations to follow. The reputation for safety that Greece built at that time still follows the tourism sector at present, he said.

A key decision taken at that time, he said, was the decision to open the borders to Americans, making Athens Airport a hub for all of Europe. This led to a vote of confidence from Americans, who "have returned to Greece and will not leave for a long time," Retsos told ANA.

Asked how Greece can retain its current position as the fifth most recognizable tourism brand worldwide, Retsos noted that tourism activity was cyclical and this must be done with good strategy and organization, now that Greece was going through its peak phase. He said this would need improvements to infrastructure and waste management, with a number of issues that needed "immediate answers" on specific fronts.

He also underlined the importance of up-to-date promotional tools in order to stay ahead of the competition, where he praised the contribution of SETE's promotional company, Marketing Greece.

On the employment problem that has arisen for the tourist industry, with tourist enterprises struggling to find staff, Retsos said this was a huge problem for tourism and other sectors of the economy, and that the shortage of trained staff could have a serious impact on tourism, which was a service industry.

He blamed the phenomenon partly on the pandemic lockdown, which pushed workers into other areas of the economy, and also on an economic shift that occurred from 2020 onwards when previously stagnant sectors of the economy recovered and attracted staff from the largely seasonal tourism sector.

Other factors, such as poor working conditions, served to worsen the problem, he added, urging inspections sooner to assist address the problem.

Concerning pay, he pointed out that minimum pay in tourism was higher than the general minimum wage, while he said it was important to intensify efforts to provide young workers with training in tourism-related skills and also called for tourism to be permitted to import staff, as in agriculture.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations, Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
Incoming traffic was particularly heavy at the Athens-Corinth and the Athens-Lamia National Highways

Holidaymakers have begun their return to Athens from the Greek Easter weekend, as of Easter Monday, ANA reports.

Travelers to and from eastern Macedonia, western Peloponnese, western Central Greece, Evia, and central Greece overall are likely to meet rain and local thunderstorms, with phenomena expected to gradually recede by night.

Large trucks weighing over 3.5 tons will not be allowed on Athens-inbound highways prior to 22:00 on Easter Monday.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations, Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons License: CC-BY-SA Copyright: Tony esopi patra
The national elections announced for May 21, with processes to be formally set to motion this week, will not affect the dates as originally announced in September, except to delay the conclusion of exams for grades 10-12 by one day

The return of students to classrooms after the Greek Easter holidays will signal the start of the countdown to the close of the academic year and the national examinations for entrance into university, according to the dates announced last September, ANA reports.

According to the schedule, kindergartens and primary schools will hold their last class for the 2022-2023 academic year on June 14. Secondary school students will follow slightly different schedules, especially as the last school grade will be sitting for university entrance examinations (panelladikes).

Specifically, the schedules are as follows:

- Kindergartens and primary school grades (nipiagogeio & dimotiko) will hold their last classes on June 14.

- In Grades 7-9 (gymnasio), classes will end on May 30, and final exams held on June 1-15.

- In grades 10-12 (lykeio), classes will end on May 18. But final examinations for grades 10-11 will be held on May 23-June 15, and for grade 12 from May 23-May 30. The graduating class will then sit for entrance exams for university. These will be held on June 2-12 for regular high schools (day and evening ones), and June 1-16 for professional high schools (day and evening ones).

Examinations on special subjects required by particular university departments (e.g. languages, music, sketching, and drawing) will take place between June 17 and 29.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations, Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons License: CC-BY-SA Copyright: Dimboukas
Victoria Difede poses with new growth from Highbush Cranberry at Kayanase, an ecological restoration and native plant and seed busines which donated maple and oak trees from its nursery to Chiefswood Park for an Earth Day tree planting on April 23. - Tara Lindemann/ Metroland
Andrew Palamarchuk is a reporter with Metroland Media Toronto and toronto.com. He has been covering the crime beat since 2002 and has a passion for giving a voice to those affected by tragedy and looking at societal issues that may have contributed to it.
Ex-F1 driver Daniil Kvyat says his demotion from Red Bull back to Toro Rosso in 2016 felt like a betrayal by his employer and a "stab in the back".

Kvyat was pulled out of Red Bull Racing after just three races and replaced on the eve of the Spanish Grand Prix by the mercurial Max Verstappen.

It was a shrewd move by the bulls however as the Dutchman conquered in Barcelona his maiden win in Formula 1.

But for Kvyat, the demotion was a painful let-down by his Red Bull, as he explained recently on the Track Limits podcast.

"I felt really betrayed at that moment. It was a stab in the back and thats life, you get stabbed in the back sometimes you know, its normal," said the 28-year-old Russian.

"Now its the past. I have another good career in racing so part of me of course is very thankful to Red Bull. The other part of me is still very unhappy with it."

To make matters worse, Kvyat claims that at the time of his demotion from Red Bull to Toro Rosso, he was approached by Ferrari with an offer to replace Kimi Raikkonen, an overture he subsequently rejected having entrusted his future to Red Bull.

"I was performing really well," he said. "And I just scored another podium for the team [at the 2016 Chinese Grand Prix] and then at the time I had also a proposal to race for Ferrari to replace Kimi. That was going on behind the curtain.

"So it was a very difficult situation also for me mentally to go back from being wanted by Ferrari and having seen the contract and then you go back to Toro Rosso suddenly and then youre like, its not going very well suddenly."

After concluding his 2016 campaign with Toro Rosso, Kvyat remained with the Faenza-based squad the following year. But he then spent a year on the sidelines in 2018 before returning to the grid in 2019 and completing another two seasons with Toro Rosso/AlphaTauri.

His best result came at the 2019 German Grand Prix at Hockenhein where he finished P3.

Kvyat currently competes in the WEC in the LMP2 category with Prema Racing. Next week, the Russian who now races under an Italian licence will take part in Formula E's in-season test in Berlin with the NIO 333 squad.

In 2024, Kvyat will join Lamborghini for its works effort in the WEC.

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
Press Release

April 17, 2023 Legarda bats for sustainable livelihood for oil spill-affected communities Over a month after the oil spill incident hit the various provinces in MIMAROPA and Western Visayas (Region VI), Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda underscored the need for long-term livelihood programs and capacity-building for oil spill-affected communities. The four-term senator underscored that her goal is not just to give temporary assistance but to initiate long-term programs, such as mangrove rehabilitation and livelihood opportunities for microenterprises, especially for the fisherfolks affected by the oil spill. Legarda affirmed that funding should not be an issue, as there are more than 20 billion pesos in the NDRRM fund under the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Law of 2010. Each local government unit has the Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management (LDRRM) fund, while other government agencies have the Quick Response Fund (QRF). "Rather than funding, the focus should be on technological know-how and capacity building of the Coast Guard and other agencies within the NDRRM that are vital in addressing oil spill disasters. Even local governments near coastal areas must have easy access," she emphasized. On another note, Legarda urged shipping lines to observe responsible vessel management practices such as not overloading vessels and regularly checking their machines and engines to prevent comparable adversities. Since the news about the oil spill broke out, Legarda immediately coordinated with the concerned agencies regarding updates on the situations in the areas affected, including her home province of Antique, in partnership with Antique Representative AA Legarda. In collaboration with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Legarda's office went to Pola, Oriental Mindoro, to distribute monetary aid and food packs under the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) program. "I am and will always be committed to protecting our environment and the well-being of our kababayans. Long-term programs and capacity building initiatives are vital steps in ensuring that our country is prepared to handle future oil spill disasters," Legarda stated as she also called for a collaborative effort from all stakeholders, particularly the government, in resolving the recent ecological disaster and prevent similar catastrophes from happening in the future.
zorazhuang / Getty Images/iStockphoto

You've heard the Benjamin Franklin quote, "Nothing is certain except death and taxes," but what's not certain is what gets taxed. You might be surprised to find that your city or a city you're thinking of moving to has a tax you had no idea about.

Check Out: 7 States Considering More Stimulus Checks in 2023

Figures: 3 Signs You're Serious About Raising Your Credit Score

Here are some taxes from across the U.S. that you might not have heard of. And the wildest things your taxes are paying for.

vichie81 / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Chicago

Cell Phone Tax

Having a cell phone in Chicago is going to cost you more than just a service fee. A family with a four-line plan that costs $100 a month will have to pay 34% of their bill to taxes on average.

Take Our Poll: What Do You Plan To Use Your Tax Refund For?

Ultima_Gaina / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Portland, Maine

Wild Blueberry Tax

Thinking of bringing blueberries to your next picnic in Maine? You'll have to pay a tax for that. Wild blueberries are subject to a tax of 1.5 cents per pound if they're processed in the state.

Shutterstock.com

Charleston, West Virginia

Fireworks Tax

Any fireworks or sparklers selling in West Virginia are subject to a whopping 12% tax.

Shutterstock.com

Little Rock, Arkansas

Lawn Care Tax

If you want to get your lawn mowed by a professional in Little Rock (or anywhere in Arkansas for that matter), you'll be subject to a 6.5% sales tax. Any sort of landscaping falls into this category as well.

Discover: 7 Florida Cities That Could Be Headed for a Housing Crisis

Mark Herreid / Shutterstock.com

Minneapolis

Furs

Want a fur coat? In Minnesota, it will cost you extra. Though there is no sales tax on clothing in Minnesota, anything made with real fur will be taxed.

anouchka / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Honolulu

Highest Tourist Tax in the U.S.

Tourism taxes are pretty common, but Honolulu takes it to a new level. Honolulu, on average, charges $62.85 per night per person, depending on the room cost. That can add up to more than $439 in tax for a week.

DenisTangneyJr / Getty Images

Biloxi, Mississippi

Gambling Winnings

So, you've just won a jackpot in Biloxi. Congratulations! You'll be subject to a 3% income tax on that, though, so make sure to take that into account when you're counting your cash.

Story continues

Also See: 10 US Cities With Plenty of Jobs and Cheap Housing

Shutterstock.com

Denver

Food Packaging Tax

If you own a restaurant in Denver or anywhere else in Colorado, you'll want to watch the types of disposable packaging you're buying. According to Colorado state law, "nonessential" and disposable packaging that's given to the consumer out of convenience (like plasticware in your to-go bag) is subject to a 2.9% sales tax.

DenisTangneyJr / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Topeka, Kansas

Laundry & Dry Cleaning Tax

The next time you're in Topeka, you might want to rethink sending your clothes out for dry cleaning. The entire state of Kansas imposes a 2.5% dry cleaning environmental fee on clothes laundering services.

f11photo / Shutterstock.com

New Orleans

Boat Tax

Want to buy a boat in New Orleans? You'll pay more than the sales price. Until June 30, 2025, anyone buying a boat in Louisiana will be subject to a 4.45% sales tax.

Find: 6 Types of Retirement Income That Aren't Taxable

STLJB / Shutterstock.com

St. Louis

Live Entertainer Tax

For those performing in St. Louis or anywhere else in Missouri, you'll have to give up some of your earnings to the state. If you make more than $300 as a musician, comedian, dancer or any other live performer, 2% of your earnings are taken out for taxes.

DenisTangneyJr / iStock.com

Concord, New Hampshire

Interest & Dividends Tax

No, you won't have to pay income tax in the state of New Hampshire, but there is another tax you'll have to pay. If you make money off investments, you'll be subject to a 5% tax on your interest and dividends earned.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 12 US Cities With Unique Taxes
Thabo Bester: Dr Nandipha said she was being held against her will

The private plane carrying Thabo Bester and Dr Nandipha from Arusha in Tanzania to SA landed at the Lanseria Airport early on Thursday morning.

Thabo Bester: 'Dr Nandipha said she was being held against her will by Bester'

Thabo Bester and Dr. Nandipha Magudumana arrived back in South Africa after their arrest in Tanzania. Photo: Twitter/@FaizelPatel143 - The Citizen

The Citizen can reveal that Nandipha Magudumana initially told Tanzanian authorities that she was being held against her will by convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester.





Bester, faked his own death with Magudumanas help to facilitate an audacious break from the Mangaung Correctional Centre in May last year.





The pair have been on the run since photos of Bester and Magudumana shopping for free range chicken in a upmarket Joburg Woolworths, surfaced online earlier this year.





They were caught in Arusha on Wednesday and were extradited to South Africa on a private jet on Thursday morning.

Minister of Police Bheki Cele told Parliament the request to transport prisoners on a privately charted aircraft came at the behest of the Tanzanian government .

Back in SA

A South African delegation consisting of the Department of Justice and police officials had departed for the East African country on Sunday to bring the fugitives back to South Africa.

The duo were arrested in Tanzania, just 10km from the Kenyan border with several passports containing multiple identities  in their possession.

Victim

According to a Tanzanian source, Magudumana and Bester gave statements to Tanzanian authorities after their arrest.

She was being held against her will by him. That was her response in her initial arrest questions, thats what she said.

The source however said it is unclear if Magudumana changed her statement after that.

Cooperative

Following their arrival in South Africa, Cele said Magudumana was very cooperative, but not Bester.

We know that the good doctor (Magudumana) cooperated on the other side. We know that the good doctors customary husband (Bester) did not cooperate, said Cele.

South African authorities wasted no time after the couple landed in South Africa, processing Bester to the Kgosi Mampuru II prison and drove Magudumana to the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court for her first appearance.

Bester under 24/7 guard

During a media briefing on Thursday after Bester and Magudumanas arrival in South Africa, the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) Commissioner Makgothi Thobakgale said the Facebook rapist would be under 24/7 guard  including who he is in contact with.

High profile and high-risk offenders have been admitted to this section of the prison without incident. Obviously in that facility we have different sections, we chose to accommodate him at C-Max because we are also looking at the intensity of the security and the contact we need to manage around him, given the type of offender he is. Thobakgale said.

Dr Nandipha case

Meanwhile, the case against the now disgraced Magudumana was postponed to 17 April for a possible bail application.

While she has not been formally charged yet, according to police, she will face charges of aiding and abetting an escape from prison, murder, violation of bodies and fraud.

During her court appearance, Dr Nandipha was joined by Tebogo James Dipholo, an employee contracted to a company that installs CCTV cameras at the Mangaung Correctional Centre (MCC), where Bester escaped custody after faking his death.

Escape

Bester escaped from the MCC in Bloemfontein in May 2022 after it was initially believed he had committed suicide by setting himself alight in his cell.

However, the Department of Correctional Services (DCS), which originally declared him dead, confirmed that the charred body found in his cell was not that of Bester, who was convicted in 2012 of rape and murder.

Arrests

So far, five people, including Magudumanas father, Zolile Cornelius Sekeleni and a former G4S prison warder, have been arrested in connection with the jailbreak.





WIKI HII UTASHINDA TSH MILIONI MOJA KWA TSH 1000 TU,nunua jarida la JINSI ya kugundua wazo sahihi la Biashara.





HAPA Kama tayari unayo, furahia ndani ya Tovuti. Weka 1000 Tu, tembelea www.bizbongo.com au bofyaKama tayari unayo, furahia ndani ya Tovuti.

---
In Croatia, the court denied political asylum and international protection to five refugees from Chechnya who fled Russia, being unwilling to take part in the war against Ukraine.

This is reported by RFE/RLs Kavkaz. Realii with reference to the representative of the Assembly of Chechens in Europe, Isa Daduyev, Ukrinform saw.

"The interpreters who participated in the court session said that the refusal was issued without any evidence being examined. It was based only on the assumption that the applicants were Islamist extremists," Daduyev said, calling the decision "very biased."

Read also: FSB regularly recruits Ukrainian refugees in Estonia

He added that Chechen refugees could be deported back to Russia.

Chechnya natives, who are currently in transit in Croatia, cited their unwillingness to participate in the war against Ukraine as one of the reasons behind their emigration. Currently, they remain in the migration center, from where they could be released to travel to another country. At the same time, they may be deported to Russia. However, the final decision of Croatian authorities on their relocation is yet to be seen.

As reported earlier, Croatia will allocate EUR 500,000 worth of assistance to Ukraine.
In Sweden, on April 17, the Aurora 23 exercise kicks off, the countrys largest over the last more quarter of a century.

As Ukrinform reports with reference to the Armed Forces of Sweden, various Swedish forces will take part in the exercises together with partners, including Ukraine.

The purpose of the exercises is to enhance the potential of Swedish troops to counter an armed attack on their country. The training will take place in the air, on land, and at sea in many parts of Sweden.

Fourteen nations represented by nearly 26,000 military personnel will take part in the drill. Besides to Sweden, the participants are the USA, Great Britain, Finland, Poland, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Denmark, Austria, Germany, and France.

Read also: Sweden ramping up arms production capacity amid Russian war on Ukraine

"Training is a good way to strengthen, signal and test our military capabilities. Thus, conducting large-scale and extended exercises is key to creating a stronger defense," the Swedish Armed Forces said.

The training will wrap up in May. On the Swedish side, the army, navy, air force, and national guard will be involved.
The head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, says Ukraine will investigate all Russian war crimes and identify everyone who has committed them.

Yermak wrote about this on Telegram, commenting on a video published in the media in which Wagner Group mercenaries confess to taking part in mass murders of civilians, including children, Ukrinform reports.

"Russian terrorists confessed to killing Ukrainian children in Bakhmut and Soledar. Now we are talking about war criminals from the Wagner PMC, but this sheds light on the crimes of the Russian army in Ukraine. They abduct our children and kill them. How many more such crimes arhave been committed? A nation of non-humans and murderers, biological garbage of this world," emphasized Yermak.

However, according to the official, confession is not enough. There must be accountability  harsh and fair  and it will definitely come.

"We will find out about all such crimes and we will find everyone who committed them," Yermak assured.

According to him, the Russians have abducted thousands of Ukrainian children, and it remains unclear how many of them are still alive.

"We are doing everything to get our children back. The world must see the face of Russia  not be afraid of it but beat it hard," emphasized Yermak.

As reported, the Russian rights watchdog Gulagu.net published appalling evidence of war crimes committed by the Wagner Group on the orders of its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin. The video features two ex-commanders of the Wagner unit who confess to executing people in Bakhmut and Soledar, including children.

Read also: Germany receives 337 reports on war crimes in Ukraine

The first of them said that his group had shot 24 people, including teenagers, in Bakhmut, simply because of their tattoos.

The second "Wagnerite" told about the groups atrocities in Soledar and Bakhmut.

"I carried out the order with this hand, I killed children. You know, on orders. What we did... We were given the command to purge the area and kill everyone. So went there and killed everyone - women, men, the elderly, and children, including small ones - five-year-olds," he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has held meetings as part of preparations for another meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.

The head of state said in a video address on Monday, April 17, according to Ukrinform.

"We are already preparing for another Ramstein meeting. I held preparatory meetings. And we expect solidly grounded decisions that will meet the prospects on the battlefield. Quite ambitious prospects, which we are approaching with all our might. Moreover, we are approaching them not only for ourselves, not only for Ukraine but also for our entire anti-war coalition," Zelensky said.

He emphasized that the aggressor must lose. "And this is our joint responsibility with our partners  to gain more time for peace, that is, to be as active as possible now in providing weapons and ammunition to speed up our joint victory," he said.

Zelensky also noted that he had held a meeting with Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal on the results of his trip to Canada and the United States in an effort to receive financial support from these countries. According to Zelensky, the results are substantive. "This applies to relations with the IMF and other international institutions and bilateral relations with Canada and the United States," Zelensky said.

Ukrinform provides the full text of the head of state's address to Ukrainians.

Dear Ukrainians, I wish you health!

This day began with a meeting of the Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Many topics.

The front line is the actions of our defense forces, what is achieved, and what we need to achieve.

The commanders of the Khortytsia, Tavria, Odesa, Pivnich task forces, Commander-in-Chief Zaluzhny  all reported on the current situation.

Supply of ammunition for our soldiers  separately at the Staff meeting. Today, more details about this: not only supply, but also everything related to manufacturing  both by the state and private companies. Minister of Strategic Industries Kamyshin, Minister of Defense Reznikov, and Commander of the Logistics Forces Huliak also reported.

I held a meeting with Prime Minister Shmyhal on the results of his trip to Canada and the United States, these were meetings primarily for financial support of Ukraine by partners. The results are substantive. This applies to relations with the IMF and other international institutions and bilateral relations with Canada and the United States.

Thanks to all our partners who always help!

By the way, we are already preparing for another Ramstein meeting. I held preparatory meetings. And we expect solidly grounded decisions that will meet the prospects on the battlefield. Quite ambitious prospects, which we are approaching with all our might. Moreover, we are approaching them not only for ourselves, not only for Ukraine but also for our entire anti-war coalition.

The aggressor must lose. And this is our joint responsibility with our partners  to gain more time for peace, that is, to be as active as possible now in providing weapons and ammunition to speed up our joint victory.

I signed the decree on awarding state awards to our soldiers. 127 soldiers of the Armed Forces... 68 of them  posthumously.

It is very important to understand this: every time we hear that the promised supply of weapons is delayed, every time there are doubts about the type of weapons for Ukraine, about the range or other quality characteristics  every time it means that Ukrainian soldiers are giving their lives so that we have this time... The time that is spent to convince so that the supply of the necessary weapons takes place after all.

Today, I'd like to especially commend our soldiers from the 5th Separate Assault Brigade and the 80th Separate Airborne Assault Brigade for active and successful assault operations in Bakhmut. Thanks to the 214th Rifle Battalion for powerful blows against the enemy near Bakhmut!

92nd separate mechanized brigade  thank you for the result in Luhansk region!

Donetsk direction... Fighters of the 35th and 36th Separate Marine Infantry Brigades, 55th Separate Artillery Brigade. Paratroopers of the 79th Air Assault Brigade. Soldiers of the 74th Separate Intelligence Unit, the 59th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade named after Yakov Handziuk... Thank you all!

In Zaporozhzhia, there is something to praise for the soldiers of the 128th separate assault brigade of Zakarpattia. Well done!

Every destroyed enemy now is a liberated meter of Ukrainian land tomorrow.

And one more.

Yesterday, a search and rescue operation ended in Sloviansk after Russian terrorists attacked residential buildings. I want to mention our people who, together with their colleagues on the ground, did everything possible... Despite the threat of repeated strikes, and despite all the difficulties, they did everything possible to save as many lives as possible.

I thank Sergeant Yaroslav Pletsky, Senior Sergeant Viktor Herhel, Senior Lieutenant Bohdan Havrylov, and Lieutenant Colonel Mykhailo Zahnitko, all who participated in this operation.

Thank you to everyone in the great team of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine who works for the people!

Glory to our soldiers!

Eternal memory to all those, whose lives were taken by Russian terror!

Glory to Ukraine!
Ukrainian Agrarian Policy and Food Minister Mykola Solskyi and Hungarian Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy have discussed the situation with the export of Ukrainian agricultural products to Hungary.

According to Ukrinform, the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine said this in a post on Facebook.

Solskyi emphasized the need to continue negotiations in an effort to reach an agreement on the export of Ukrainian agricultural products and the unacceptability of unilateral decisions.

Nagy, in turn, said that transit for Ukrainian agricultural products would continue.

Both parties agreed to hold consultations and meet again in the near future.

The European Commission earlier on Sunday said that unilateral trade decisions by Poland and Hungary, which banned the import of Ukrainian grain and other agricultural products, were unacceptable.

On April 15, Hungary and Poland introduced a temporary ban on the import of grain and oil-bearing crops from Ukraine until June 30, 2023.
According to The Guardian, Slovakia will suspend imports of grain and other selected products from Ukraine, Ukrinform reports.

"Slovakia will temporarily halt imports of grains and other selected products from Ukraine, a government spokesperson said on Monday," the report said.

Reuters reports that this week representatives of European Union member states in Brussels will discuss the decision of Poland and Hungary to ban imports of grain and other food products from Ukraine, said a senior EU official on Monday. The official added that Slovakia and Romania raised this issue at the last summit of EU leaders.

"We expect Poland and Hungary to offer some explanation and there will also be reaction by the European Commision. There is an issue and we expect the Commission to come up with a proposal on that... We'll see what we can do in the coming weeks and months," the official said on condition of anonymity.

On Monday, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Mykola Solskyi stated that Kyiv wants to resume the transit of food and grain through Poland as a first step during talks in Warsaw.

As previously reported by Ukrinform, Hungary followed Poland in temporarily banning imports of grain and oilseeds from Ukraine.

Over the past few months, Polish farmers have been holding massive protests against the transportation of Ukrainian agricultural products through Poland to third countries. They emphasized that a significant portion of Ukrainian grain is not transported in transit but settles in Poland, thereby reducing the purchase prices in Poland for grain from Polish farmers. Under pressure from farmers, the Polish government appealed to the European Commission to abolish the zero duty on Ukrainian agricultural products. However, the European Commission did not fulfill the main demand of Polish farmers to impose duties on Ukrainian agricultural goods and extended the agreement on duty-free imports from Ukraine for another year, until June 5, 2024.

On April 5, Poland's previous Minister of Agriculture Henryk Kowalczyk resigned amid the crisis with Ukrainian grain. He was replaced by Robert Telus, who on the same day convened an interagency crisis headquarters to address the problem of the influx of Ukrainian grain into the Polish market.

During his official visit to Poland on April 5, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky discussed this issue with Prime Minister of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki. Afterward, during a media briefing, he said that the problem would be resolved soon.

During a meeting on April 7 at the border with his Polish counterpart Telus, Ukraine's Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Solskyi said that Ukraine would suspend exports of wheat, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower to Poland until the new season.

The European Commission considers the unilateral trade decisions of Poland and Hungary, which banned imports of Ukrainian grain and other agricultural products, unacceptable.
On April 17, 2023, Russia, for the second time, blocked inspections of ships in Turkish territorial waters heading through the "grain corridor".

The relevant statement was made by a press service of the Ministry of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine on Facebook, Ukrinform reports.

"Today, on April 17, the Russian side has blocked the ship's inspection in the territorial waters of Turkey for the second time," the statement said.

It is noted that since April 10, the Russian side at the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) in Istanbul has unilaterally suspended the registration of ships submitted by Ukrainian ports to form an inspection plan. Instead, the Russians form their own inspection plan, selecting ships from the queue at their discretion, which is entirely contrary to the terms of the initiative and unacceptable to Ukraine.

As a result, no inspection plan has been drawn up for the second time in the nine months of the Grain Initiative's operation, and no ship has been inspected. The Ministry emphasizes that this puts the functioning of the Grain Initiative at risk.

Since November 2022, the Russians have been sabotaging and delaying inspections for various reasons. This has already reduced the volume of Ukrainian agricultural exports to world markets by 15-18 million tons.

Since April 2023, Russian representatives of JCC have been trying to interfere with the activities of Ukrainian ports and exporters by imposing their own criteria for determining the specific vessels that will participate in the initiative. For example, since April 14, 2023, the Russians have refused to register three ships (2 of them are to deliver food to China). The cargo has already been waiting at the Pivdennyi port without any explanation.

The Ministry believes that in this way, the Russian side is trying to establish control over the number of loaded fleet and the directions of its work, which violates international norms and provisions of the "grain initiative".

"This is yet another attempt to dictate its policy to the world, to threaten food security and use food as a weapon. Ukraine strongly rejects the latest Russian demands and opposes interference in the activities of Ukrainian ports," the Ministry emphasizes.

The Ministry of Reconstruction hopes that UN partners and Turkey will be able to ensure that all parties in the JCC comply with the procedures that have been in place for nine months.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, on March 18, 2023, Ukraine, the United Nations and Turkey agreed to extend the "Initiative for the Safe Transportation of Agricultural Products through the Black Sea" for 120 days.

Photo: Ministry of Agrarian Policy
The Group of Seven must prove to the Russian president that he will never achieve his goals in Ukraine.

This was stated by Germanys Minister of Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock, who is participating in the Group of Seven foreign ministerial, Ukrinform reports.

"As a crisis team on a long-term mission, the G7 last year confronted Russian aggression with one barrier after another: winter aid for people in Ukraine, Russia sanctions and oil price caps. With our support, Ukraine survived the Russian energy war and the winter offensive," Baerbock said.

She noted that during the meeting in Japan, the G7 representatives will confirm and strengthen their commitments.

"At the moment it is about showing Putin our determination that he will not achieve his goals including due to exhaustion and fatigue," the diplomat said.

She recalled that Japan took over the G7 presidency from Germany, and thanked Tokyo for the fact that its partners can absolutely rely on Japan.

Overall, Baerbock believes the group of most advanced democracies is successful in confronting autocratic forces when its partners and friends around the world have confidence in the G7. At the same time, it is necessary to avoid perception that the G7 unity is an attempt to impose limitations or strengthen the gap, minister emphasized. She recalled that the G7 was working on solutions to the debt crises of many countries, persistently trying to prevent global hunger, and fighting the greatest security risk of the century  the climate crisis.

"As the G7, we are strong when united because we know exactly what we stand for: an international order in which the rule of law and international law take precedence over the right of the stronger; for economic relations based not on dependencies, but on fairness and general rules of competition," Baerbock said.

As reported, before arriving in Japan, Baerbock flew to China and South Korea.
Mlenny / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Retirement can be a big change. Not only is it a big change in terms of lifestyle, but it can also be a big change in income. For instance, the average Social Security payment for retired workers was $1,827 in January 2023.

Next: 10 Places in Florida Where You Can Live Only on Social Security

With a Recession Looming: Make These 3 Retirement Moves To Stay On Track

Some Americans rely on Social Security as their sole source of income. In other words, someone who receives an average payment could be living on less than $22,000 in annual income.

For those retired workers, absorbing high costs of living is likely not an option, especially if they have little to no retirement savings. Hence, cities with a high cost of living (CoL) should be avoided.

Here, we'll take a look at the worst cities for living on just a Social Security check, highlighting data such as rent for a one-bedroom apartment and the overall CoL.

Pgiam / Getty Images

20. Chicago, Illinois

Cost of Living Index : 107.4

2023 Average 1 Bdr Rent : $1,984

Livability Score: 59

Chicago, a city with a bold personality, boasts a thriving arts and culture scene, an electrifying nightlife, and a reputation as a more budget-friendly alternative to the pricey West Coast.

However, with a cost of living index of 107.4, it's not exactly a bargain, and the livability score of 59 is a factor to weigh when considering whether to call this city home. Despite its challenges, Chicago's unique blend of Midwestern charm and urban grit make it a city worth exploring.

Take Our Poll: Do You Think Bankruptcy Is an Acceptable Way To Escape Student Loan Debt?

Shutterstock.com

19. Honolulu, Hawaii

Cost of Living Index : 168.9

2023 Average 1 Bdr Rent : $2,393

Livability Score: 69

Honolulu beckons with a tantalizing taste of island living. From pristine beaches to lush tropical landscapes, this city is a paradise for those seeking a slower pace of life.

However, with a cost of living index of 168.9, living in this idyllic setting comes with a hefty price tag. While the livability score of 69 is not perfect, it's worth noting that there are intangible benefits to living in a place where the air is thick with the scent of plumeria, the sea is warm, and the sunsets are a daily showstopper. If you're willing to pay the price, Honolulu offers an unparalleled island lifestyle that's hard to beat.

Story continues

Ultima_Gaina / Getty Images/iStockphoto

18. Jersey City, New Jersey

Cost of Living Index : 144.4

2023 Average 1 Bdr Rent : $2,918

Livability Score: 69

Located just across the Hudson River from Manhattan, Jersey City is one possible alternative for those who can't afford Manhattan rent. However, rent in Jersey City is still high at over $2,900, and the overall CoL isn't much better. Plus, the livability score is just 69.

Sean Pavone / Getty Images/iStockphoto

17. Seattle, Washington

Cost of Living Index : 167.8

2023 Average 1 Bdr Rent : $2,195

Livability Score: 65

Home to companies like Starbucks and Amazon, Seattle is a big draw for those in search of high-paying jobs. However, if you're living on Social Security, Seattle is one city you may want to avoid.

While rent isn't the highest on this list, it still consumes all of the average Social Security check. The city is expensive overall, and the livability score is only 65.

Art Wager / Getty Images

16. San Diego, California

Cost of Living Index : 160.4

2023 Average 1 Bdr Rent : $3,004

Livability Score: 71

San Diego is a beautiful city. Not only is the weather gorgeous, but it features stunning Spanish and Victorian architecture.

However, the city's perks come at a cost. Rent is just over $3,004, and the cost of living is rated at 160.4, putting it out of reach for most Social Security recipients. Its livability score isn't the best, either; it's rated 71 in that category.

Shutterstock.com

15. Chula Vista, California

Cost of Living Index : 149.3

2023 Average 1 Bdr Rent : $3,044

Livability Score: 67

Chula Vista is a part of the San Diego metropolitan area, located just to the south and sitting right on the San Diego Bay. The city boasts more than 52 square miles of coastal landscape, canyons, rolling hills, mountains, quality parks and miles of trails

While Chula Vista is more affordable than San Diego, costs are still high; one-bedroom rent is $3,044. It also isn't very livable, receiving a 67 livability score.

Sean Pavone / Getty Images/iStockphoto

14. Miami, Florida

Cost of Living Index : 122.4

2023 Average 1 Bdr Rent : $3,204

Livability Score: 65

With beaches, parks and tropical weather, there are a lot of reasons Miami might seem like a great place to move. And while the pros are definitely there, one can't deny the downsides to the famous beach town, especially if you are living on Social Security.

For starters, one-bedroom rent is $3,204, which is almost the same amount as the typical Social Security check. The overall cost of living is above average at 122.4, and the city isn't very livable, rated 65.

MattGush / Getty Images/iStockphoto

13. Riverside, California

Cost of Living Index : 134.1

2023 Average 1 Bdr Rent : $2,395

Livability Score: 59

Riverside, too, isn't far from Los Angeles, although it's much closer to San Bernardino. It offers most of the typical suburban fare, such as coffee shops and parks. Rent isn't terrible with an average of $2,395; the same can be said for the cost of living at 134.1.

However, we are getting into territory with very low livability scores here -- it has just a 59 in that category.

DenisTangneyJr / Getty Images/iStockphoto

12. Long Beach, California

Cost of Living Index : 159.1

2023 Average 1 Bdr Rent : $2,227

Livability Score: 59

Long Beach is also near Los Angeles. In fact, you can be in L.A. in under 40 minutes by taking I-710 (traffic permitting). As its name suggests, the city is located right on the water with, well, a long beach.

While rent is much more affordable than it is in L.A., it is nevertheless nearly $2,227 for a one-bedroom. The overall CoL is high at 159.1, and the city is not very livable with a score of 59.

DenisTangneyJr / Getty Images/iStockphoto

11. Stockton, California

Cost of Living Index : 115.6

2023 Average 1 Bdr Rent : $1,961

Livability Score: 52

Stockton boasts a diverse community, and a thriving arts and culture scene. Its proximity to natural wonders such as Yosemite National Park and Lake Tahoe makes it an attractive place to live for outdoor enthusiasts. Additionally, Stockton's central location in California allows for easy access to many other popular destinations within the state.

Despite being more budget-friendly than Los Angeles, renting a one-bedroom apartment in this city can still set you back nearly $2,000. The cost of living index sits at a high 115.6, and the livability score of 52 suggests that there are some challenges to living here. However, for those who are willing to navigate the high cost of living, the city offers a unique blend of urban energy and laid-back charm that's hard to resist.

DenisTangneyJr / Getty Images

10. Newark, New Jersey

Cost of Living Index : 122.8

2023 Average 1 Bdr Rent : $1,904

Livability Score: 52

Located in close proximity to the bustling metropolis of New York City, Newark offers fast access to the excitement and energy of the Big Apple. This vibrant city boasts a dynamic nightlife scene and a lively atmosphere that's sure to keep you entertained.

Despite offering more affordable rent options compared to NYC, the cost of living index in Newark is high at 122.8, and the livability score of 52 suggests that there are some challenges to living here. However, for those who crave the urban energy of the East Coast and are willing to navigate the high cost of living, Newark can offer a unique and exciting lifestyle.

MattGush / Getty Images/iStockphoto

9. Anaheim, California

Cost of Living Index : 153.8

2023 Average 1 Bdr Rent : $2,706

Livability Score: 62

Another town located southeast of Los Angeles, Anaheim is part of the Greater Los Angeles metro area. The city is best known for being home to Disneyland, but there are plenty of bars and restaurants in town, too.

Unfortunately, its livability score is not the best, and both rent and the overall cost of living are high.

OlegAlbinsky / Getty Images/iStockphoto

8. New York City, New York

Cost of Living Index : 168.6

2023 Average 1 Bdr Rent : $3,319

Livability Score: 67

Known as "The City that Never Sleeps," there is always something to do in New York. Perhaps more importantly, there is something for everyone, as the city is extremely diverse and vibrant.

However, the one-bedroom rent is over $3,319, making it unaffordable for those on Social Security. The overall cost of living is 168.6, and the livability score is just 67.

Tanarch / Getty Images/iStockphoto

7. Washington, D.C.

Cost of Living Index : 150.6

2023 Average 1 Bdr Rent : $2,418

Livability Score: 56

With its status as the nation's capital, Washington, D.C. is a popular place for visitors and residents alike. Whether it's touring the White House or hanging out on the National Mall, D.C. has plenty to offer.

However, once the novelty wears off, you have a livability score of just 56. Rent isn't very affordable at over $2,418, and the CoL is rated 150.6.

NicolasMcComber / Getty Images/iStockphoto

6. San Jose, California

Cost of Living Index : 215

2023 Average 1 Bdr Rent : $3,033

Livability Score: 66

Located in the Bay Area, San Jose is another place that might offer a slight reprieve from the expensive real estate in San Francisco.

While the city is undoubtedly nice, rent is still over $3,033 in San Jose. The overall cost of living is nearly 215 as well. Livability matches that of New York, rated 66.

f11photo / Shutterstock.com

5. Boston, Massachusetts

Cost of Living Index : 153.4

2023 Average 1 Bdr Rent : $3,288

Livability Score: 59

Boston has some of the richest history of any city in America -- not to mention having prestigious universities such as Harvard and Boston University.

The city is not rated particularly livable, though, scoring just 59. Plus, one-bedroom rent is over $3,288 per month, and the overall cost of living is rated 153.4.

MattGush / Getty Images/iStockphoto

4. Santa Ana, California

Cost of Living Index : 144.8

2023 Average 1 Bdr Rent : $2,872

Livability Score: 54

Also located in Orange County, Santa Ana is just south of Anaheim. The city does offer easy access to pristine beaches, and costs are lower than they are in the surrounding area.

Still, rent is nearly $2,872 per month for a one-bedroom, and the overall cost of living is 144.8. Worst of all, the livability score is 54, which leaves a lot to be desired.

DenisTangneyJr / Getty Images/iStockphoto

3. Oakland, California

Cost of Living Index : 176.5

2023 Average 1 Bdr Rent : $2,718

Livability Score: 53

Located just across the bay from San Francisco, Oakland offers another cheaper alternative to the high rents in S.F. There are plenty of shops and restaurants, and Oakland is served by the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system.

Still, its livability score is 53, which is dead last, at least among cities on this list. The overall cost of living is still high, too, at 176.5.

Chones / Shutterstock.com

2. Los Angeles, California

Cost of Living Index : 176.2

2023 Average 1 Bdr Rent : $2,877

Livability Score: 54

We've taken a look at many of the cities in the L.A. area, and now we have the big city itself at #2. Needless to say, the city has endless things to do; it's highly unlikely you would ever be bored.

However, public transportation is lacking, and traffic is atrocious. That could explain its paltry livability score of 54. While rent is high for someone on Social Security, it's not as high as others on this list. Still, the overall CoL is high at 176.2.

Sean Pavone / Getty Images/iStockphoto

1. San Francisco, California

Cost of Living Index : 244

2023 Average 1 Bdr Rent : $3,437

Livability Score: 66

We have also looked at areas in the San Francisco area, and now we have San Fran itself, rated the worst city for those receiving only a Social Security check. San Francisco is undoubtedly beautiful, but it's also one of the most expensive places to live in the country.

It has by far the highest rating on the cost of living index on this list, rated 244. Keep in mind that San Jose, which is in the Bay Area, is #2 for CoL. Rent is nearly $3,437 for a one-bedroom, and the livability score isn't great, coming in at 66.

More From GOBankingRates

Bob Haegele contributed to the reporting for this article.

Methodology: GOBankingRates determined the worst big cities to live on only a Social Security check based on the (1) average monthly benefit for retired workers, $1,779.16, sourced from Social Security Administration; (2) the overall cost of living in each city, sourced from Sperling's Best Places; (3) February 2023 market rent as sourced from Zillow; and (4) livability scores sourced from AreaVibes. Factors (2) through (4) were scored and combined with the highest score being "worst." Factor (4) was weighted double in final calculations. For a city to be considered it had to have a population above 250,000 and a February rent above $1,300. All data was collected and is up to date as of March 13, 2023.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 20 Worst Big Cities To Live on Just a Social Security Check
Brazilian President Lula da Silva called on the world to create an analog of the Group of 20 to end the Russo-Ukrainian war.

Thats according to France24, Ukrinform reports.

"The G20 was formed to bail out the economy that was in crisis. Now its important to create another kind of G20 to end this war and establish peace. This is my intent and I think well manage to have great success," da Silva said.

He added that he had already discussed the issue of the Russo-Ukrainian war with a number of heads of state, including Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

And I think that we're meeting a set of people that prefer to talk about peace than war. And so I think we're going to have success," Brazilian president said.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, Brazilian President Lula da Silva said that the U.S. should stop "encouraging" war in Ukraine.

Earlier, the spokesman for Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oleg Nikolenko, commented on the statement of Brazils president offering to end the war in exchange for Crimea.

"Ukraine appreciates the efforts of the president of Brazil to find a solution to stop Russian aggression. At the same time, we must clearly state: Ukraine does not sell off its territories. There is no legal, political, or moral reason why we should give up even a centimeter of Ukrainian land," said Nikolenko.
Russias surprise inspection of the combat readiness of its Pacific Fleet looks like dance backup for China. Considering the condition of the Russian Navy, these training exercises failed to threaten anyone in Japan.

The relevant statement was made by Ambassador of Ukraine to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky in an interview with Radio NV, commenting on the opinion of some experts who claim that the aggressor state makes attempts to threaten the Japanese prior to the G7 Hiroshima Summit, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

They can try to do anything. They will not scare anyone. Everything will be reliably protected from all sides. [...] I think we see a junior dance backup for China, which has just conducted very powerful and really dangerous exercises around Taiwan. After that, I think, Moscow decided that they also would like to demonstrate their presence in Asia, and announced the incomprehensible exercises of their Pacific Fleet, Korsunsky said.

In his words, it is not the first time, when such situation occurs: Russian and Chinese ships are constantly sailing around the Japanese islands.

I discussed this issue with the leadership of the Japanese Navy. Its funny for them to look at these obsolete pots, which they [Russians  Ed.] call the fleet. Firstly, Japan has a powerful fleet; secondly, there is the well-armed U.S. Seventh Fleet deployed nearby... So, all of this is just to annoy, Korsunsky noted.

In this regard, Korsunsky paid attention to the fact that Russian exercises are related to two out of four islands called the Northern Territories, which were occupied by Russia but whose sovereignty belongs to Japan.

They [Russians  Ed.] were learning to repel landing attacks. It is such a cosmic nonsense that I dont even know how to describe this. Japan has never, not even once in more than 50 years since the status of these islands had been clearly stated as occupied, spoken of any intention to take them back by any military means, Korsunsky stressed.

A reminder that, on April 14, 2023, Russias Defense Ministry announced that the Russian military had raised the Pacific Fleet of the Eastern Military District to the highest level of combat readiness as part of a surprise inspection.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba of Ukraine arrived in Iraq on April 17. This is the first visit of the Ukrainian top diplomat to the country since 2012.

Thats according to a report by MFA Ukraine, seen by Ukrinform.

The visit is taking place in the context of the implementation of the agreements reached during the phone call between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister of Iraq Muhammad Shia Al-Sudani on April 10.

The head of Ukrainian diplomacy held talks in Baghdad with the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Fuad Hussein of Iraq.

"Ukraine and Iraq are united by a long history of friendship and mutual respect. At one time, Ukrainian servicemen helped normalize the situation on Iraqi territory. Currently, the government of Iraq supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine against the background of the full-scale invasion by Russia," Kuleba said.

"The phone calls of the leaders of our states last week gave a significant impetus to the reactivation of bilateral political dialogue. And today I arrived in Baghdad to open the door for new opportunities in bilateral relations between Ukraine and Iraq, to fill our relations with a new practical meaning," added the head of Ukrainian diplomacy.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the minister had told his Iraqi colleague about the efforts undertaken by the Ukrainian Defense Forces to repel Russian aggression and liberate the captured territories.

He paid special attention to President Volodymyr Zelensky's Peace Formula for the establishment of a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.

The two top diplomats separately discussed the export of Ukrainian grain.

The ministers agreed to hold consultations at the level of several ministries in the near future in order to intensify cooperation in the fields of trade, education, and digitalization.

The interlocutors agreed to hold political consultations of the ministries of foreign affairs, as well as the fifth meeting of the intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, scientific, and technical cooperation. The previous meeting was held in 2012.

Dmytro Kuleba invited Fuad Huseyn to pay a visit to Ukraine.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, President Volodymyr Zelensky last week discussed with the prime minister of Iraq the intensification of interstate cooperation and the Ukrainian peace formula.

Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
On April 17, Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba arrived in Iraq for a visit. This is the first visit of the Ukrainian Foreign Minister to Iraq since 2012.

This is stated in a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Ukrinform reports.

According to the report, the visit takes place in the context of the implementation of the agreements reached during a telephone conversation between President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister of Iraq Mohammad Shia al-Sudani on April 10.

The head of Ukrainian diplomacy held talks in Baghdad with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein.

"Ukraine and Iraq have a long history of friendship and mutual respect. At one time, Ukrainian servicemen helped to normalize the situation on Iraqi territory. Today, the Iraqi government supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine against the backdrop of Russia's full-scale invasion," Kuleba said.

"Last week's telephone conversation between the leaders of our countries gave a significant impetus to the intensification of bilateral political dialogue. And today I arrived in Baghdad to open the door to new opportunities in bilateral relations between Ukraine and Iraq, to fill our relations with new practical content," the head of Ukrainian diplomacy added.

The Ministry informed that the minister told his Iraqi counterpart about the efforts of the Ukrainian defense forces to repel Russian aggression and liberate the occupied territories.

He paid special attention to President Volodymyr Zelensky's Peace Formula to establish a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.

The foreign ministers also discussed the export of Ukrainian grain.

The ministers agreed to hold consultations at the level of a number of ministries of Ukraine and Iraq in the near future to intensify cooperation in the areas of trade, education and digitalization.

The interlocutors also agreed to hold political consultations of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, as well as the fifth meeting of the intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation. The previous meeting of the commission took place in 2012.

Dmytro Kuleba invited Fouad Hussein to visit Ukraine.

As Ukrinform reported, earlier last week, President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed with the Iraqi Prime Minister the intensification of interstate cooperation and the Ukrainian formula for peace.
Warsaw and Rome support a fast-track to EU integration for Ukraine, Moldova and the Western Balkans.

That's during a joint media briefing on Monday in Warsaw, President of Poland Andrzej Duda and President of Italy Sergio Mattarella said, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

According to the Polish President, Ukrainians are now fighting for "the right to decide their own destiny and move in the direction they want."

"Ukrainians want to be with us, they want to be on the side of the West and belong to our Community, and we must pave the way for them to this Community as much as possible. We must accept them into this Community as soon as possible," Duda said.

The Polish leader expressed hope that this year's report of the European Commission on the process of integration and implementation of reforms in Ukraine will bring Ukraine's membership in the EU closer.

"We will receive the EU report in May, and I hope this will be another step that will bring Ukraine closer to full EU membership," Duda stated.

He also called it essential that Moldova and the Western Balkan countries be accepted without delay to the EU.

Duda said they, with the Italian president, also discussed the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius.

"We talked about how NATO should continue to support Ukraine," he emphasized.

In his turn, the Italian President reminded that Ukraine and Moldova were granted the status of candidate countries for EU membership last year.

"We are now looking forward to the concrete implementation of the European integration of Ukraine and Moldova. This also applies to the countries of the Western Balkans," emphasized Mattarella

He called this a crucial issue, as these countries are waiting for EU membership, and it is essential for this to happen as it concerns of common European values.

As reported, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed an application for Ukraine's membership in the European Union on February 28, 2022. Later, on June 23 last year, the EU heads of state and government decided to grant Ukraine the status of EU candidate country.

On Wednesday, April 12, the first joint inter-committee meeting of Ukrainian parliamentarians with MEPs took place. As a result, the Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, said that the European Parliament is ready to start negotiations on Ukraine's full membership in the European Union by the end of this year.

Photo: agenzianova
facebook like button Tweet tweet button for twitter

Published April 17, 2023

CAPTION:Graduating seniors from local high schools committed to attend ULM and LDCC during a signing event at the annual Educators Rising Campus Day.

MONROE, LA  The University of Louisiana Monroe hosted the second annual Educators Rising Campus Day on Thursday, April 6, 2023, in The Hangar on the second floor of the ULM SUB. Over 200 students, administrators, and personnel from eight school districts and 11 partner high schools learned more about being professional educators. Partner school districts in attendance included Caldwell, DeSoto, Franklin, Madison, Monroe City, Morehouse, Ouachita, and Richland.

We are incredibly pleased to see the growth of this program and our campus visit day event. We have more than doubled our enrollment in pre-educator coursework and our attendance at this event from last year to this year, said Dr. Amy Weems, ULM Assistant Professor of Education. We make regular visits to all our partner schools throughout the school year, but it is especially exciting for them all to be together to share their ideas and energy towards the future of education, added Weems.

The crowd was welcomed in an opening address by ULM President Dr. Ron Berry, who encouraged the students on their path to becoming educators. If you look around, one of our biggest needs as a state is teachers. Teachers who care about other individuals and want to make a difference in their lives, who want to create their futures. So please stay with it. We desperately need you, said Berry. In closing, he added ULM is known for meeting people where they are and helping them get to where they need to be. So when you come to ULM, I can assure you that you will have the opportunity to become the best teacher possible.

The day continued with sessions and activities for the students including the opportunity to participate in a service-learning project by helping assemble LEAP Survival Kits that will be distributed to approximately 90 local 4th grade classrooms. These students are part of ULMs Centennial Scholars Program, who will make up the incoming freshman class of 2031, the Universitys 100th year. The kits included snacks and activities for the elementary students to enjoy during their state testing.

We are so thankful for the support of our service-learning project from the campus visit day participants, our ULM family, and the community, said Weems. We know these LEAP survival kits and the inspirational videos we are creating will help our Centennial Scholars during standardized testing week, she said.

The closing keynote speaker was Kimberly Eckert, who currently serves as the Dean of Oxford Teachers College at Reach University. An educator for 15 years, Eckert was a 2020 Global Teacher Prize finalist, 2019 NEA Social Justice Activist of the Year national finalist, the 2018 Louisiana Teacher of the Year, and the inaugural Louisiana Public Interest Fellow for her work developing a state-wide Educators Rising Program for targeted recruitment of a diverse and culturally responsive teacher pipeline.



In her speech, Eckert recounted experiences from a recent trip to Kenya. She spoke about the educational challenges faced by teachers and students there and what American educators can learn from them. She closed by saying that she would love for all of the students to join her in the profession of becoming a teacher. Because even though you may be one part of your community now, whenever you become a teacher, you become part of a much larger community, and none of us are alone. All of us have so much to share, and we do it all through the willingness to serve an entire community, said Eckert.

The afternoon closed with a signing ceremony featuring graduating high school seniors who have committed to attend ULM or Louisiana Delta Community College (LDCC) in the fall to pursue a degree in education. LDCC has a two plus two agreement with ULM which allows students to transfer to ULM after two years at LDCC and receive a teaching degree.

Students signing a commitment to attend ULM included: Keriann Cassels, Caldwell Parish High School; Rhiannon Doucet, Caldwell High School; Ray English, Jr., Wossman High School; Lauren Gwin, Mangham High School; Shelby Nicholson, Rayville High School; and Claire Russell, Sterlington High School.

Students signing a commitment to attend LDCC included: Alyssa Hernandez, Mangham High School; TyDresianna Jenkins, Wossman High School; RaNya McDaniel, Wossman High School; Natechia Pikes, Wossman High School; and Aakayla Ruff, Wossman High School.

I cannot think of a more inspiring way to end our campus visit day than to celebrate the commitment of these 10 pre-educators to continue their pursuit of teaching as a profession. We cannot wait to have them with us on campus in the fall semester, said Weems.

The 2023 Educators Rising Campus Day also marked the second year of a five-year, $100,000 grant from Regions Bank. The grant provides two Regions Bank ULM Educators Rising Program Scholarships per year and assists in retaining students in the School of Education.

For more information about the ULM Pre-Educator Pathway or Educators Rising, contact Weems at weems@ulm.edu or 318-342-1280.

About ULM Pre-Educator Pathway

The ULM Pre-Educator Pathway was recognized by the Louisiana Department of Education, Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. In 2020, the program was adopted statewide by the Louisiana State Workforce Commission Workforce Investment Council.

About Regions Financial Corporation

Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF), with $163 billion in assets, is a member of the S&P 500 Index and is one of the nations largest full-service providers of consumer and commercial banking, wealth management, and mortgage products and services. Regions serves customers across the South, Midwest and Texas, and through its subsidiary, Regions Bank, operates approximately 1,300 banking offices and more than 2,000 ATMs. Regions Bank is an Equal Housing Lender and Member FDIC. Additional information about Regions and its full line of products and services can be found at www.regions.com.

About Educators Rising

Educators Rising is a nonprofit organization designed to cultivate future educators by providing college-credit classes, support, and guidance while still in high school and through university graduation. The National Education Association, National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, and the Walton Family Foundation are among its partners.
Natural gas prices have continued their relentless slide after the latest inventory data showed the markets continue to be well supplied. Natural gas (Henry Hub) prices have given up early-week gains, with prices currently sitting at $2.00 per MMBtu down from $2.19 per MMBtu on Tuesday. EIA weekly data revealed that gas stocks for the week ended April 7, 2023 clocked in at 1,855 Bcf vs. 1,830 Bcf for the week ended March 31, 2023, good for +25 Bcf injection vs -23 Bcf for the previous week. Gas prices are now down a staggering 56% since the beginning of the year.

Unfortunately for the bulls, the short-term outlook remains bleak, with NatGasWeather saying storage surpluses are likely to expand further in the coming weeks due to light demand. Although there are some cool weather systems in the forecast, the latest weather models have trended warmer.

Thankfully, the longer term outlook is likely to be more favorable. Europe has failed to secure enough long-term LNG contracts to offset cut-off Russian gas imports, with Reuters predicting this may prove costly next winter and could sharply tighten the market. The European Union views natural gas as a bridge fuel in the transition to renewable energy, and buyers generally struggle to commit to long-term contracts. This means that Europe might be forced to buy more from the spot markets like it did in 2022, which in turn is likely to push prices up:

"Since the green lobby in Europe has managed to persuade politicians wrongly that hydrogen to a large extent can replace natural gas as an energy carrier by 2030, Europe has become far too reliant on spot and short term purchases of LNG," consultant Morten Frisch told Reuters.

Related: U.S. Drilling Activity Slips Further



Source: Business Insider

Given this backdrop, its hardly surprising that it has become more profitable to short natural gas equities than bet on them: the ProShares UltraShort Bloomberg Natural Gas ETF (KOLD) boasts a juicy year-to-date return of 146%, incomparable to -79% return by the ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Natural Gas ETF (BOIL).

Story continues

KOLD is an inverse ETF that provides daily -2x exposure to an index that tracks natural gas by holding one second month futures contract at a time while BOIL provides 2x the daily return of an index that measures the price performance of natural gas as reflected through publicly traded natural gas futures contracts.

That said, contrarian investors betting on a gas turnaround will be delighted to know that theres no shortage of natural gas bargains in the space. Here are a few.

EQT Corp.

Market Cap: $11.9B

YTD Returns: 2.9%

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based EQT Corporation (NYSE: EQT) is the largest natural gas producer in the United States with ~25.0 trillion cubic feet of proved natural gas, natural gas liquids, and crude oil reserves across approximately 2.0 million gross acres.

EQT is not content with just being a lumbering gas giant, but has been expanding via acquisitions: in the third quarter, the company announced a $5.2 billion purchase of natural gas producer THQ Appalachia I LLC as well as associated pipeline assets of XcL Midstream in the biggest M&A deal for the quarter. THQ Appalachia, which is owned by privately held gas producer Tug Hill Operating. EQT said the assets acquired include ~90K core net acres offsetting its existing core leasehold in West Virginia, producing 800M cfe/day and expected to generate free cash flow at average natural gas prices above ~$1.35/MMBtu over the next five years. The company also doubled its buyback program to $2B, and said it is increasing its year-end 2023 debt reduction goal to $4B from $2.5B.

Last year, EQT unveiled a plan centered on producing more liquified natural gas by dramatically increasing natural gas drilling in Appalachia and around the country's shale basins, as well as pipeline and export terminal capacity, which it said would not only boost United States energy security, but also help break the global reliance on coal and on countries like Russia and Iran. Its latest acquisition will, therefore, help the company meet its goal. EQT shares nearly doubled in 2022.

EQT Corporation is expected to report Q4 2022 earnings on 04/26/2023 after the market closes. According to Zacks Investment Research, based on 13 analysts' forecasts, the consensus EPS forecast for the quarter is $1.38. Vs. $0.81 for Q1 2022.

Antero Resources Corp (NYSE:AR)

Market Cap: ~$7B

YTD Returns: -16%

Down 16% year-to-date, and down nearly 30% in the past six months, Antero could be a decent buying opportunity. The stock has underperformed the broader market due to the slide in natural gas prices; however, if the expected increase in demand materializes, this one could turn around quickly. Markets are volatile and fickle these days.

Hedge funds are giving this one a fair amount of attention due to the potential upside given the companys strong financials.

Hedge funds view Antero as having a relatively decent ROE (return on equity), pays no dividend, but reinvests heavily into growth.

That said, its worth noting that Wells Fargo has recently downgraded Antero from overweight to equal weight, but still gives the stock a nearly 42% upside.

Cheniere Energy Inc (NYSEAMERICAN:LNG)

Market Cap: $37.2B

YTD Returns: 8.73%

While Cheniere is up 8.73% year-to-date, its also shed nearly 11% in the past six months as natural gas prices take investors for a ride. But the long-term picture suggests upside for the Houston-based energy company focused primarily on LNG production, shipping and marketing.

As one of the leading LNG exporters in the world, Cheniere is on solid ground long-term. However, the near-term concern is that the European Unions natural gas storage units are still relatively full after a mild winter.. Some (including Cheniere) are worried that we could see some LNG cargo cancellations this summer as a result. Shortly after that, though, we will see another drive to fill storage ahead of the next winter season.

Be on the lookout for Q1 2023 results, scheduled to be released on May 2. Last earnings season we saw Cheniere bring in $15.78 per share, with revenue of $9.1 billion.

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:

Read this article on OilPrice.com
gregobagel / Getty Images

As people get closer to retirement, they tend to dream about where they might live out their golden years. They might even scout out a few locations in preparation. However, when faced with the financial realities of what it would take each year to actually live in a popular retirement destination, those pleasant dreams sometimes falter.

Social Security: Proposal for $2,400 Extra in Checks Expanded and Reintroduced in Congress

More: 3 Ways To Recession-Proof Your Retirement

If popular and pricey retirement towns like Miami, Denver and Los Angeles aren't in your budget, here are five affordable alternatives to consider.

Juanmonino / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Hialeah, Florida (Instead of Miami, Florida)

Miami may seem like a quintessential retirement destination -- with its warm weather and beautiful beaches -- but only if you have millions in the bank to foot the cost of living there throughout the years.

An affordable alternative is Hialeah, Florida, which is a mere 25-minute drive from Miami. Housing is 5% below the national average there and expenses like utilities and goods and services are within 2-3% of the national average.

Take Our Poll: Do You Think the US Should Raise the Medicare Tax on High Earners To Help Save the Program?

gregobagel / Getty Images

Spokane, Washington (Instead of Portland, Oregon)

Portland has a lot to offer retirees, including abundant access to natural areas and an amazingly diverse culinary scene, but having to part with six figures each year to live there is hard on the wallet.

Luckily, Spokane, Washington is a good alternative. It has an impressive foodie scene as well, and is less than a 40-minute drive from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, which is a recreational paradise. Housing in Spokane is 15% below the national average and groceries and utilities are within 2-3% of the national average.

Jacob Boomsma / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Lamar, Colorado (Instead of Denver, Colorado)

There's no doubt that Denver is full of mountain views and beautiful scenery, but you would need a six-figure annual income to live here comfortably as a retiree. Lamar, Colorado, located in the southeastern part of the state, is an alternative that's a lot more affordable.

Story continues

While it doesn't have the majestic mountain scenery that Denver does, it is considered one of the state's best birding destinations. This rural town is more than a three-hour drive from Denver, so you likely won't be going there on a whim. However, the cost of housing in Lamar is 50% below the national average and groceries, utilities and healthcare are also below.

Read More: 6 Types of Retirement Income That Aren't Taxable

MattGush / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Lancaster, California (Instead of Los Angeles, California)

Los Angeles has its strong points for retirees, including great weather and some of the best hospitals in the nation, but its cost of living is high. To live comfortably as a homeowner, you'd need around $150,000 at your disposal annually.

Instead, consider retiring in Lancaster, which is on the northern end of Los Angeles County, and only about an hour or so from Los Angeles. Although many of the cost-of-living expenses are similar to L.A.'s, you can save big on housing here. For example, housing in L.A. is 127% above the national average, whereas in Lancaster, it's only 5% above.

traveler1116 / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Scranton, Pennsylvania (Instead of New York City, New York)

If you have an affinity for New York and would love to make it your retirement home, it's not a bad idea. After all, you wouldn't need a car. Unfortunately, the Big Apple also made GOBankingRates' list of the most expensive cities in the U.S. to retire, so you'd have to have pretty deep pockets.

Instead, consider Scranton, Pennsylvania, which is within two hours driving distance of NYC. The typical home value in Scranton is $153,421, according to Zillow, which is 38% lower than the national average. Healthcare is also 15% lower than the national average.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Retirees: Ditch These 20 Pricey American Cities  And Retire Here Instead
UNODC holds the second Multi-Stakeholder Coordination Meeting on Countering Trafficking in Persons

On 4 April 2023, UNODC convened the second Multi-Stakeholder Coordination Meeting on Countering Trafficking in Persons (TIP) in Uzbekistan in 2023.

Representatives of National Commission on Combating TIP and Forced Labour, and Sub-Commission on Combating TIP, Supreme Court (SC), Supreme Judicial Council, Prosecutor Generals Office (PGO), Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, U.S. Embassy in Uzbekistan, U.S. State Departments Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), International Organization for Migration (IOM), Winrock International and Istiqbolli Avlod NGO took part in the meeting. The event was aimed at discussing the results of the counter-TIP efforts in the first quarter of 2023, as well as the plans for the second quarter of 2023 and beyond.

Opening the meeting, Dr. Reda Sirgediene, UNODC Regional Adviser on Countering TIP and Smuggling of Migrants expressed gratitude to all partners for their active cooperation and commitment in enhancing the capacity of Uzbekistan in tackling TIP and emphasized that regular coordination meetings had proved to be a very important initiative with an enormous potential to make a real difference. She gave the rundown on the UNODC interventions in Central Asia, in particular in Uzbekistan. One of them was the elaboration of the handbook on investigation, prosecution, and adjudication of TIP cases in Uzbekistan.

As per her remarks, the TIP handbook will serve as a basis for developing future capacity building activities, as well as updating relevant curricula and modules at educational entities, while ultimately it will serve as a practical manual for criminal justice practitioners to handle TIP cases. Its completion is expected at the end of April. She also mentioned about the regional workshop on adjudication of TIP cases conducted in March 2023 with international experts and the regional meeting of Central Asian Ministries of Internal Affairs dedicated to setting up the Central Asia Law Enforcement Network against Trafficking in Persons (CALENTIP).

During the session on the review of the state of TIP in Uzbekistan and implemented activities in the first quarter of 2023, Zukhra Khodjaeva, representative of the Sub-Commission for Combating TIP, briefed on the TIP trends and statistics, as well as the state actions taken to address vulnerabilities to exploitation. She highlighted the fruitfulness of cooperation with UNODC in furthering criminal justice response to TIP and promotion of exchange of best practices in dealing with trafficking cases.

Activities carried out in the first quarter of 2023 by PGO were introduced to participants by Rustam Musaev, Senior Prosecutor of the International Legal Department of PGO. He updated, among others, on organized workshops related to peculiarities of investigation of TIP cases and exercising oversight over investigations of TIP cases.

Utkir Soatov, representative of the Supreme Court, briefed the participants on the TIP cases considered by courts in the first quarter of 2023 and conveyed gratitude to UNODC expressed by judges, who participated in the regional workshop on adjudication of TIP, as well as confirmed a strong commitment of the Supreme Court to prompting anti-trafficking efforts.

The coordination meeting provided an opportunity to discuss ways and strategies to strengthen partnerships in combating TIP, increasing outreach of activities, and sharing the results of conducted research and analysis conducted by the coordination meeting members.

Following the discussions, the parties agreed to continue fostering the informal platform of responsible counter-TIP stakeholders in the country and organize regular quarterly coordination meetings. The next coordination meeting is agreed to be held on 20 June 2023 .

****

The multi-stakeholder counter-TIP coordination meetings initiative was launched in February 2022 as a platform to unite government authorities, donors, international and non-governmental organizations for more sustainable and efficient coordination of counter-TIP efforts supported by international organizations and donors. This initiative is organized within the framework of the UNODC Global Programme against TIP under the financial support of INL.

For further information please contact:

Arifa Fatikhova

Communications and External Relations Officer

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

Regional Office for Central Asia

Mobile: (+998 99) 825-05-43 | Email: arifa.fatikhova[at]un.org
Date: 3 May 2023 - 3 May 2023

Time: 15:00-20:00

Town/City: Augustine United Church, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh and online

SEDAs 6th Howard Liddell Memorial Lecture

50 year ago Small is Beautiful  Economics as if People Mattered (Blond & Briggs 1973) was published. This event provides opportunity to investigate the legacy of its author the radical economist and eco-pioneer Fritz Schumacher. Our context for this event is that Scotland is one of only four countries in the world that has committed to a well-being economy and we hope to generate better understanding of what this means for us as individuals, our communities, technologies and policies. The Schumacher legacy embraces the now well understood critique of GDP and the less well explored discussion of the role of appropriate technology in meeting human needs( Good Work, Cape, 1979). We will ask what economic system and what technologies are appropriate to a planet in climate and biodiversity crisis.

An introduction to the event and the series will be provided by Professor Sandy Halliday, Principal of Gaia Group. The Keynote address on The Legacy of E. F. Schumacher: Buddhist Economics and Economics of Wellbeing; In the Context of Small is Beautiful will be delivered by Satish Kumar founder and Director of Programmes of the Schumacher College international centre for ecological studies and Editor Emeritus of Resurgence and Ecologist magazine.

Following an introduction to Doughnut Economics, Simon Trace, Principal Consultant in the Climate, Resilience and Sustainability practice at Oxford Policy Management will explore Technology as if people and planet mattered. Professor Paul Chatterton, Professor of Urban Futures in the School of Geography at the University of Leeds will discuss The LEEDS Doughnut ACTION LAB - How Do You Get a City into the Safe and Just Space of Doughnut Economics? Nela Cadinanos Gonzalez, Youth Representative of the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAII) will give her system change perspective on Going beyond GDP-growth: an economy for human and ecological wellbeing.

There will be ample time for Q&A and for those attending in person there will be networking with food and drinks offered from around 6pm. Food & Networking until 8pm. Venue Capacity is limited to 140 and early booking is recommended/
April 17 2023

Urban Realm kicks off 2023 in campaigning fashion, tackling some of the most contentious issues of the day, beginning with the looming presence of four condemned towers at Wyndford, Maryhill.

Amidst a housing and climate challenge, why are we still demolishing homes? Our focus this spring is our interiors feature as we find out what it takes to create functional and beautiful spaces.

Elsewhere we look at the challenges presented by public-private partnerships (PPP) in the company of Malcolm Fraser. Speaking up when others remain silent the veteran campaigner is taking his message of public sector probity to the corridors of power.

The importance of phenomenology, the philosophy of experience, in master planning provides a rich subtext for Allan Murray to throw meat on the bones of a nebulous concept. Murray calls for an end to the scourge of glass office blocks and a period of reflection on the relationship between society and place.

A similarly philosophical approach is taken by Roger Emmerson in Land of Stone, a broad strokes investigation of Scottish architecture that digs beneath lazy superficialities of style and starchitect to arrive at a deeper understanding of who we are and where weve come from.

Theres much to discuss so subscribe today to receive your copy of Urban Realm 53 and get up to speed on all this and more.
Key Insights

Significant insider control over Dicker Data implies vested interests in company growth

The top 2 shareholders own 63% of the company

Recent purchases by insiders

A look at the shareholders of Dicker Data Limited (ASX:DDR) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual insiders with 64% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Notably, insiders have bought shares recently. This could signal that stock prices could go up and insiders are here for it.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Dicker Data, beginning with the chart below.

See our latest analysis for Dicker Data

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Dicker Data?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

Less than 5% of Dicker Data is held by institutional investors. This suggests that some funds have the company in their sights, but many have not yet bought shares in it. If the business gets stronger from here, we could see a situation where more institutions are keen to buy. We sometimes see a rising share price when a few big institutions want to buy a certain stock at the same time. The history of earnings and revenue, which you can see below, could be helpful in considering if more institutional investors will want the stock. Of course, there are plenty of other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Dicker Data. The company's CEO David Dicker is the largest shareholder with 32% of shares outstanding. With 31% and 1.5% of the shares outstanding respectively, Fiona Brown and The Vanguard Group, Inc. are the second and third largest shareholders. Interestingly, the second-largest shareholder, Fiona Brown is also Top Key Executive, again, pointing towards strong insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders.

Story continues

A more detailed study of the shareholder registry showed us that 2 of the top shareholders have a considerable amount of ownership in the company, via their 63% stake.

Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Dicker Data

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

It seems that insiders own more than half the Dicker Data Limited stock. This gives them a lot of power. Given it has a market cap of AU$1.5b, that means insiders have a whopping AU$956m worth of shares in their own names. Most would argue this is a positive, showing strong alignment with shareholders. You can click here to see if they have been selling down their stake.

General Public Ownership

With a 31% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Dicker Data. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. To that end, you should learn about the 3 warning signs we've spotted with Dicker Data (including 2 which are a bit unpleasant) .

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

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.

Join A Paid User Research Session

Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here
ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 17th Apr, 2023) Agthia Group PJSC held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) today, which was attended both, in-person and virtually, by shareholders at the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

During the meeting, shareholders approved the Group's financial results for the year ending 31st December 2022 as well as all other recommendations by the Board of Directors, including the board's recommendation for an interim cash dividend payment of 8.25 fils per share for the six-month period ending 31st December, 2022, with a total value of AED 65.3 million, equivalent to 8.25 percent of the Company's share capital. The total amount of dividends distributed in 2022 was AED130.6 million.

The board also approved the board's recommendation to increase the size of the board, bringing the total number of board members from seven to nine.

Following the nomination and voting procedure, the shareholders re-elected Khalifa Sultan Al Suwaidi, Salmeen Obaid Alameri, Gil Adotevi, Khamis Mohamed Buharoon Al Shamsi, and Sharmila Murat as board members, while Gianluca Fabbri and Khalaf Al Hamadi stepped down from their board positions. In addition, the shareholders appointed Svet Varadzhakov, Caitlin Nguyen, Mariam Al Remeithi, and Maurizio Patarnello to the board.

Khalifa Sultan Al Suwaidi commented, On behalf of the entire board, I would like to express my gratitude to all our shareholders for their unwavering support and confidence in our leadership. In accordance with the UAE Governments initiatives to increase the representation of women on the boards of local entities across the public and private sectors, I am pleased to welcome our new board members and am confident that through our collective efforts, we will build upon our past successes to reach even greater heights in future.



Alan Smith, Group Chief Executive Officer, commented, On behalf of everyone at Agthia, I would like to extend a warm welcome to our returning and new board members. Our industry is constantly evolving, and as such, it is crucial that our leadership is forward-thinking, diverse, innovative, and strategic. I am delighted to see that a third of our board is now represented by accomplished female leaders, and I am confident that their breadth of experience and fresh perspectives will prove invaluable to our team as we navigate the ever-changing business environment. Agthias results over the past year are testament to the disciplined and methodical execution of our long-term strategy and transformative journey to becoming a leading food and beverage company in the MENAP region and beyond, and together, we will strive to deliver further value for all our shareholders and stakeholders alike.

Agthia Group recently announced its financial results for the fiscal year ending 31st December 2022 with Group Net Revenue up 33 percent YoY to AED 4.07 billion and positive like-for-like revenue growth across all verticals. Net operating income grew 36 percent YoY, maintaining a profitable core while leveraging synergies and efficiencies across the Group, while Group Net Profit attributable to shareholders grew 14 percent YoY to AED 247 million.
NEW YORK, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 17th Apr, 2023) Clashes intensified across Sudan on Monday, as top UN officials urged rival military factions to protect civilians and respect the countrys international obligations.

I strongly condemn the outbreak of fighting that is taking place in Sudan and appeal to the leaders of the Rapid Support Forces (RAF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) to immediately cease hostilities, restore calm, and begin a dialogue to resolve the crisis, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday.

Following the deaths of three employees of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in the restive Darfur region amid widespread fighting, he called for those responsible to be brought to justice without delay.

The situation has already led to horrendous loss of life, including many civilians, the UN chief said, ahead of delivering opening remarks at a UN Forum on Financing for Development.

Urging all those with influence over the deteriorating situation to press for peace, and support efforts to end the violence, restore order, and return to the path of transition, he warned that any further escalation could be devastating for the country and region.

The crisis began with armed clashes on Saturday, between forces from the SAF, loyal to the head of the military government, and those of his deputy, who leads the paramilitary RAF.

Skirmishes led to widespread fighting between RSF and SAF forces across the capital Khartoum and surrounding areas.

Since then, more than 83 people have been killed and more than 1,126 people injured across Khartoum, South Kordofan, North Darfur, Northern State and other regions, with the heaviest concentration of fighting taking place in Khartoum, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said in a statement released on Sunday.

Movement in the city is restricted due to the insecurity, creating challenges for doctors, nurses, patients and ambulances to reach health facilities, and putting at risk the lives of those who need urgent medical care, WHO said, calling for protecting health workers and patients and urging parties to respect the neutrality of healthcare.

Media reports said fighter jets had fired multiple rockets on Sunday into Khartoum, home to more than 6 million people, and that the RSF had claimed that it had taken control of Khartoum international airport, Merowe airport, al-Obeid airport and the presidential palace in the capital.

An independent Sudanese military force, the RSF evolved from the Janjaweed militia, formerly active in Sudans Darfur region, and has been involved in talks aimed at a transition to a civilian government from the military rule in place since the 2021 military coup.

Catastrophic humanitarian situation

UN chief Guterres said the already precarious humanitarian situation in Sudan is now catastrophic.

The UN food agency estimates that one third of Sudans population, or some 15 million people, face acute food insecurity. Meanwhile, WFPs operations in the country are temporarily on hold, as the agency said that threats to its teams make it impossible for them to operate safely and effectively.

I am appalled and heartbroken by the tragic deaths of three WFP employees on Saturday 15 April in violence in Kabkabiya, North Darfur while carrying out their life-saving duties on the front lines of the global hunger crisis, said WFP chief Cindy McCain in a statement on Sunday.

Any loss of life in humanitarian service is unacceptable and I demand immediate steps to guarantee the safety of those who remain, she urged. Aid workers are neutral and should never be a target. Threats to our teams make it impossible to operate safely and effectively in the country and carry out WFPs critical work.

Condemning the deaths and injuries to civilians and humanitarian workers and the targeting and looting of premises, Guterres reminded all parties of the need to respect international law, including ensuring the safety and security of all UN and associated personnel, and humanitarian aid workers.

I am engaging with leaders across the region, he said, reaffirming that the UN stands with the people of Sudan at this very difficult time, with full support for their efforts to restore the democratic transition and build a peaceful, secure future.

The Secretary-Generals Special Representative for Sudan, Volker Perthes, said in a statement early on Monday that he remains engaged with the Sudanese, regional and international partners to work towards ending the fighting.

He expressed disappointment that a UN-brokered humanitarian ceasefire was only partially honoured on Sunday. He urged all parties to respect their international obligations, including to ensure the protection of all civilians.

WHO warned that supplies it distributed to health facilities prior to the recent escalation of conflict are now exhausted.

Many of the nine hospitals in Khartoum receiving injured civilians are reporting shortages of blood, transfusion equipment, intravenous fluids, medical supplies and other life-saving commodities, WHO said.

Reports indicate shortages of specialised medical personnel, and water and electricity cuts are affecting operations at health facilities, while hospital generators are running short of fuel, WHO said.

As the situation evolves, WHO will continue to work with partners and health authorities to fill gaps in the provision of healthcare, especially for trauma care, while also ensuring the safety of staff and their families, the agency said.
DALIAN, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Apr, 2023 ) --:On Sunday, seven spotted seals were released into the waters of Liaodong Bay, off Dalian City in northeast China's Liaoning Province.

Among these seals, five were wild cubs separated from their mothers and were rescued by the Liaoning Ocean and Fisheries Science Research Institute in February, while the other two were artificially bred.

"Now is the time when spotted seals are active in our country's waters, and the Huping island where we released them is one of their land habitats," said Tian Jiashen, the deputy researcher at the institute, adding that releasing them here will help them integrate into the population.

Tian stated that rescuing and releasing the seals into the ocean can help improve their survival rate in the wild and have positive significance for the protection of the spotted seal population.

Under top-class national protection in China, the spotted seal is the only pinniped marine mammal to breed in Chinese waters.

The seals come to Liaodong Bay from cold waters at high latitudes from November to December every year, prey and rest in the area, and return northwards from April to May.
Karuizawa, Japan, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Apr, 2023 ) :The G7's top diplomats began talks in Japan on Monday, looking to project a unified message on concerns about China after remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron.

The foreign ministers are keen to move past the firestorm created by Macron's assertion, after a trip to Beijing, that Europe should avoid "crises that aren't ours".

After arriving at the mountain resort town of Karuizawa on a special bullet train, the group held a working dinner on China and North Korea, with Japan's Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi telling his counterparts that "the unity of the G7 is extremely important".

Monday's first session again focused on China and regional challenges, and Hayashi opened the talks by warning the international community was "at history's turning point".

He urged counterparts to "demonstrate to the world the G7's strong determination" to defend the "international order based on the rule of law".

Host Japan is keen to put regional challenges atop the agenda.

Even as the ministers began talks, the US Navy announced it had sailed a guided-missile destroyer through the Taiwan Strait in a freedom-of-navigation operation.

Trips to Beijing by Macron and other G7 officials "will be a topic of discussion", a senior US official said Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"I think there will be a discussion of how we can continue to be fully aligned on a common and concerted approach." The bloc's officials have been keen to avoid pouring more fuel on the fire, and French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna has insisted there is no change of policy on China and Taiwan.

Still, for all the outward expressions of unity, Macron's comments reflect the fact that there are real differences among the allies, said Jacques deLisle, director of the Asia programme at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia.

"Washington's views of China have become still more negative and, relatedly, signals of support for Taiwan have grown much stronger, maintaining a gap between European and American positions," he said.

Even within Europe, there are differing views on the right balance between criticising and engaging with China, with the EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell warning against "counterproductive" measures.

"We have to continue trading with China," added Borrell, who has not travelled to Japan because he has Covid.

To do otherwise "would be counterproductive and create a vacuum that someone else would be filling, and we would lose economic leverage in China." The G7 -- Japan, the United States, Britain, Canada, France, the EU, Italy and Germany -- is also likely to restate tough language on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, though no new measures are expected.

Japan has stepped up security for the meeting after an explosive was thrown towards Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a campaign event on Saturday.

But Hayashi has tried to keep the tone light.

Sunday was the birthday of both the US and French foreign ministers, and the group was presented with an Apple pie made by a Karuizawa hotel said to have been popular with John Lennon.
Tehran, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Apr, 2023 ) :Iran has sentenced 10 members of the armed forces to prison after finding them guilty of involvement in the downing of a Ukrainian airliner, the judiciary's Mizan Online website reported Sunday.

Iranian forces shot down Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 shortly after its takeoff from Tehran on January 8, 2020, killing all 176 people on board. Most were Iranians and Canadians, including many dual nationals.

Mizan reported that a commander received the heaviest penalty of 10 years in prison for having defied orders in shooting down the plane.

Nine other personnel were sentenced to between one and three years, Mizan reported.

The commander of a Tor M-1 surface-to-air missile system "fired two missiles" at the airliner "contrary to orders" and without obtaining authorisation, Mizan said.

It did not identify any of the accused.

Three days after the Kyiv-bound plane was shot down, the Iranian armed forces admitted there had been a "mistake".

"Given the extent of the effects and consequences of this action, the main defendant was sentenced to the maximum penalty," Mizan Online added on Sunday, without giving further details.

Tensions between Iran and the United States had been soaring at the time the airliner was shot down.
(@FahadShabbir)

MOSCOW , (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Apr, 2023 ) :Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will visit several Latin American countries for the first time since the start of the Ukraine war, the Foreign Ministry said Sunday.

Lavrov will pay an official visit to Brazil, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba from April 17-21, according to the ministry.

His meetings with the countries' leaders and talks with their foreign ministers aim to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation between Russia and the countries in political, commercial, economic, educational, cultural and other fields, it said.

"The talks are planned to focus on issues of strengthening the legal framework of the present-day world, which is based on the United Nations Charter," the ministry said.

Latin America is a friendly region, one of the centers of the formation of the multipolar world, where Russia wants to dynamically maintain dialogue and develop constructive cooperation without any external coercion, it added.
UNITED NATIONS, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Apr, 2023 ) :The World Food Programme (WFP), a Rome-based UN agency, Sunday temporarily halted all operations, as a result of the fighting between rival military groups in Sudan, which led to the deaths of three WFP employees on Saturday.

According to a statement attributable to WFP's Executive Director, Cindy McCain, the workers were carrying out life-saving duties in Kabkabiya, North Darfur.

In a separate incident on Saturday, a WFP-managed UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) aircraft was significantly damaged at Khartoum International Airport during an exchange of gunfire, seriously impacting WFP's ability to move humanitarian workers and aid within the country.

In the statement, Ms. McCain explained that all operations in Sudan have been suspended, pending a review of the evolving security situation.

"WFP is committed to assisting the Sudanese people facing dire food insecurity," said Ms. McCain, "but we cannot do our lifesaving work if the safety and security of our teams and partners are not guaranteed. All parties must come to an agreement that ensures the safety of humanitarian workers on the ground and enables the continued delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance to the people of Sudan. They remain our top priority." Ms. McCain emphasized that threats to WFP teams make it impossible for them to operate safely and effectively in the country and carry out the UN agency's critical work.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sudan and Head of the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission (UNITAMS) Volker Perthes strongly condemned the attacks on Sunday, and insisted that civilians and humanitarian aid workers are "not a target." Perthes referred to reports of projectiles hitting UN and other humanitarian premises, and of looting at these premises, in several locations in Darfur.

The UNITAMS chief said that these acts of violence disrupt the delivery of life-saving assistance, and must end. "When incidents like this occur, it is women, men, and children in desperate need of assistance who suffer the most." Perthes announced on Sunday that he had convinced the two warring parties to the current fighting to briefly pause hostilities, on humanitarian grounds, between four and seven PM, local time.

The members of the Security Council added their voices to the calls for an end to hostilities on Sunday, in a statement expressing their regret for the loss of lives and injuries.

In the statement, they urged the parties to restore calm and return to dialogue to resolve the current crisis in Sudan.

They went on to stress the importance that humanitarian access is maintained and the safety of UN personnel is ensured and reaffirmed their "strong commitment to the unity, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the Republic of Sudan."
Karuizawa, Japan, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Apr, 2023 ) :Britain and the United States called Monday for an "immediate cessation" of violence in Sudan, where fighting between the army and paramilitaries has killed nearly 100 people.

"There is a shared deep concern about the fighting... the threat that poses to civilians, that it poses to the Sudanese nation and potentially poses even to the region," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement alongside his British counterpart James Cleverly.

He said the fighting had been discussed with allies in the middle East and Africa and there is "a very strong shared view about the need for generals.

.. to ensure the protection of civilians and non-combatants as well as people from third countries." There was agreement "on the need for an immediate ceasefire and a return to talks", he added on the sidelines of the G7 foreign ministers' meeting in the Japanese town of Karuizawa.

"The immediate future lies in the hands of the generals who are engaged in this fight," Cleverly added.

"We call upon them to put peace first, to bring an end to the fighting, to get back to negotiations. That's what the people of Sudan want, that's what the people of Sudan deserve."
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Apr, 2023 ) :The National Assembly on Monday passed a unanimous resolution to confer a national award upon the late minister Mufti Abdul Shakoor in recognition of his services to the nation, religion and politics.

The resolution was tabled by Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Javed Abbasi who expressed his deep grief and sorrow over the death of the late Religious Affairs Minister Mufti Abdul Shakoor.

The resolution directed the investigation agencies to probe his tragic death and share all the facts with the house and the nation. The resolution said Mufti Abdul Shakoor worked for religion and service to humanity throughout his life.

It said that Mufti Abdul Shakoor always followed the party ideology. The resolution paid tribute to the late minister for upholding the Constitution and strengthening the parliament and democracy.

It added that his service for the restoration of peace in FATA will be remembered. The house also paid tribute to Mufti Abdul Shakoor for the arrangements made for Hajj 2022-23 The House as per its tradition suspended its agenda to pay tribute to the late Mufti Abdul Shakoor.

On the request of Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Federal Minister for Communications Asad Mehmood led the fateha. Minister for National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination Abdul Qadir Patel paid tribute to Mufti Abdul Shakoor and said his services for his party and the strengthening of parliament would always be remembered.

"Demise of Mufti Shakoor is not a loss of one party, but for the whole nation," the minister said. Moulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali while paying tribute to Mufti Abdul Shakoor said that the country has lost a great religious scholar. He also paid tribute to the late minister for standing firm with his party's ideology.

Member of the National Assembly Ali Wazir lauded the services of Mufti Shakoor for religion, nation, Constitution and democracy.

He said that he lacked the words to express his feelings on such a big loss for the entire nation.

He said Abdul Mufti Shakoor always disseminated knowledge of religion.

He prayed to the Almighty to rest the departed soul in eternal peace and grant courage and fortitude to the bereaved family to bear the irreparable loss with equanimity.

Member of the National Assembly Mohsin Dawar said that the late Mufti was a renowned religious scholar and an honest and hardworking member of the house.

Minister of Federal education and Professional Training Rana Tanveer Hussain said the death of Mufti Abdul Shakoor was a great loss to his party and said he will be remembered for his services to the party.

He said that Mufti Abdul Shakoor was a man of principle and always followed the party line on national and international issues. Engr. Sabir Hussain KaimKhani said that Abdul Shakoor Mufti's demise is a great loss to his party.

Federal Minister for Narcotics Control Nawabzada Shazain Bugti paid tribute to Abdul Shakoor Mufti and said that his services for corruption-free Hajj would be remembered forever.

Minister for Interior Rana Sanaullah also paid tribute to the services of Mufti Abdul Shakoor and said that as per the resolution, he would also endorse granting a national award to him.

He informed the house that as per the preliminary investigation death of Mufti Abdul Shakoor was an accident and there was no evidence of any terrorism.

He, however, informed the house that the investigation of the incident will continue. Minister for Communications Asad Mahmood thanked the member of the national assembly for expressing grief over the sad demise of Mufti Abdul Shakoor. He said that his service to the country and religion will be remembered.

Minister for Law and Justice Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar also paid tribute to great religious scholar Mufti Abdul Shakoor and suggested that the issue of granting a pension to such a person should be discussed in the NA standing committee on Finance. Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervaiz Ashraf referred the issue to the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance.
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Apr, 2023 ) :Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday said the revelations by the ex-Governor of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) about the reality of Pulwama incident, had exposed India's designs against Pakistan.

In a tweet, he said the revelations showed how the Indian government exploited the situation for political gains, which vindicated Pakistan's position.

He urged the international community to take notice of India's dangerous brinkmanship that could have led to disastrous consequences for the region.

The Foreign Office, in a statement, said the disclosures demonstrated how the Indian leadership had habitually used the bogey of terrorism from Pakistan to advance its sham victimhood narrative and the Hindutva agenda, clearly for domestic political gains.

"We hope that the international community would take cognizance of the latest revelations and see through India's propaganda campaign against Pakistan, driven by selfish political considerations and based on lies and deceit," it said.

The FO said it was time India be held accountable for the actions that imperiled regional peace in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack.
Fortune Business Insights

According to Fortune Business Insights, Sepsis Diagnostics Market size is anticipated to reach USD 1,603.3 Million by 2030, the market size was USD 770.4 Million in 2022 and is anticipated to rise at a CAGR of 9.7%.

Pune, India, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global sepsis diagnostics market size was valued at USD 770.4 million in 2022. The market is projected to grow from USD 840.5 million in 2023 to USD 1,603.3 million by 2030, exhibiting a CAGR of 9.7% during the forecast period. When the body reacts to an infection by damaging its own tissues, it is said to be experiencing sepsis. Infections caused by bacteria is one of the most frequent causes. This condition can also be brought on by other infections, including viral and fungal infections. Sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock are the three stages of the illness. For instance, the World Health Organization (WHO) projected that in 2020, this illness would afflict 49.0 million people and result in 11.0 million fatalities worldwide. Important product launches and technical developments are anticipated to benefit the global sepsis diagnostics market growth in the near future. Fortune Business Insights presents this information in its report titled "Global Sepsis Diagnostics Market, 20232030."

Key Industry Development:

May 2020: Danahers company, Beckman Coulter, Inc., launched the DxH 690T hematology analyzer mid volume analyzer for early diagnosis of sepsis in the U.S.





Request a Sample Copy of the Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/sepsis-diagnostics-market-107417





Report Scope & Segmentation

Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 2023 to 2030 Forecast Period 2023 to 2030 CAGR 9.7% 2030 Value Projection USD 1,603.3 Million Base Year 2022 Sepsis Diagnostics Market Size in 2022 USD 770.4 Million Historical Data for 2019 to 2021 No. of Pages 185

Key Takeaways

The growing prevalence of these diagnostic procedures among hospitalized patients has boosted demand for them.

The scenario has increased focus on developing rapid diagnostic techniques, expected to drive market growth.

The reagents and consumables segment dominated the worldwide sepsis diagnostics market share.

North America market was expected to be worth USD 392.8 million in 2022. Anticipated to dominate the global market.

Story continues





Browse Complete Report Details: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/sepsis-diagnostics-market-107417





Drivers and Restraints:

Increasing Awareness in Developing Countries to Promote Diagnostic Procedures

A large number of government and non-government organizations are attempting to raise public awareness of this disease. The Global Sepsis Alliance, one of the most well-known groups, has teamed up with several organizations from Latin America and Africa to spread awareness of this disorder. Additionally, the Global Maternal Sepsis Research and Campaign was launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with 52 nations (GLOSS). It seeks to evaluate the impact and treatment of maternal sepsis and increase awareness of this problem among healthcare professionals. As a result, it is projected that a rise in the number of foundations and government organizations attempts to raise awareness and support the market will accelerate this expansion.

However, since there is currently no single diagnostic test for this disorder, medical practitioners combine tests with urgent and concerning clinical indications. Throughout the projected period, the burden and expense of the condition will limit the global sepsis diagnostics market growth.

Segments:

New Product Launches by Major Players to Increase the Reagents & Consumables Segment Growth

Based on product type, the market is segmented into instruments and reagents & consumables.

In 2022, the reagents & consumables segment dominated the global market for sepsis diagnostics. Also, the segment's growth prospects are influenced by the fact that reagents and consumables are heavily used in diagnostic procedures.

Microbiology Technology's Dominance Benefits from Robust Application

Based on technology, the market is segmented into microbiology, molecular diagnostics, immunoassays, and others.

In terms of market share over the anticipated period, the microbiology segment was dominant. The majority of hospitals use microbiological diagnostics, including blood cultures. The main reason contributing to the segment's rise is the type of microbiological testing's robust adoption due to its affordability. The molecular diagnostics segment is anticipated to hold the third-largest market share. The greater sensitivity, greater specificity, and shorter turnaround times of molecular diagnostic solutions are anticipated to drive the segment's expansion throughout the forecast period.





Have Any Query? Ask Our Experts: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/sepsis-diagnostics-market-107417





Report Coverage:

The report offers:

Major growth drivers, restraining factors, opportunities, and potential challenges for the market.

Comprehensive insights into the regional developments.

List of major industry players.

Key strategies adopted by the market players.

Latest industry developments include product launches, partnerships, mergers, and acquisitions.

Regional Insights:

North America Dominates the Market Due to Fast Adoption of Contemporary Diagnostics

In 2022, the North America market was expected to be worth USD 392.8 million. Over the forecast period, the region is anticipated to dominate the global market. Due to the high frequency of this ailment, rapid uptake of modern sepsis diagnostics, and attractive reimbursement rules, the region dominates the market.

Competitive Landscape:

Businesses made Significant Sales to Get Competitive Edge

Luminex Corporation, Bruker, T2 Biosystems, Inc., and others are emerging market participants. In addition to focusing on regional development through territory-exclusive distribution agreements, these players have produced significant sales. The market positions of the aforementioned businesses are predicted to improve as a result. For instance, T2 Biosystems, Inc. signed territory-exclusive sales contracts in Norway, Finland, and Turkey in February 2022. T2 Biosystems sold T2Dx Instruments, T2Bacteria, T2Candida, and T2Resistance Panels via these wholesalers in accordance with the contract. Also, it completed a territory-exclusive distribution arrangement in Taiwan, Singapore, and South Korea in November and October 2021. During the projection period, these strategic initiatives are anticipated to increase these players' market shares.

List of Key Players Mentioned in the Report:

T2 Biosystems, Inc. (U.S.)

Danaher (U.S.)

Abbott (U.S.)

bioMerieux SA (France)

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (U.S.)

Luminex Corporation (DiaSorin S.p.A.) (U.S.)

BD (Becton, Dickinson, and Company) (U.S.)

Bruker (U.S.)

Siemens Healthcare GmbH (Germany)





Get A Quote: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/get-a-quote/sepsis-diagnostics-market-107417





Major Table of Contents:

Global Sepsis Diagnostics Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast, 2019-2030 Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Product Type Instruments Reagents & Consumables Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Technology Microbiology Molecular Diagnostics Immunoassays Others Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Method Conventional Automated Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Test Type Laboratory Tests Point-of-Care Tests Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Pathogen Bacterial Sepsis Diagnostics Fungal Sepsis Diagnostics Other Pathogens Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By End User Hospitals & Clinics Diagnostic Centres Others Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Region North America Europe Asia Pacific Rest of the World

North America Sepsis Diagnostics Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast, 2019-2030 Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Product Type Instruments Reagents & Consumables Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Technology Microbiology Molecular Diagnostics Immunoassays Others Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Method Conventional Automated Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Test Type Laboratory Tests Point-of-Care Tests Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Pathogen Bacterial Sepsis Diagnostics Fungal Sepsis Diagnostics Other Pathogens Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By End User Hospitals & Clinics Diagnostic Centres Others Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Country U.S. By Product Type Canada By Product Type



TOC Continued!





Related Reports:

Hospital Acquired Infections Treatment Market Size, Share, Forecast and Opportunities

Infectious Disease Molecular Diagnostics Market Size, Share, Revenue Forecast and Opportunities

Infectious Disease Point-of-care (POC) Diagnostics Market Size, Share, Opportunities & Analysis

Molecular Diagnostics Market Analysis, Global Size and Industry Share Forecast

In vitro Diagnostics Market Size, Share, Opportunities & Analysis





About Us:

Fortune Business Insights offers expert corporate analysis and accurate data, helping organizations of all sizes make timely decisions. We tailor innovative solutions for our clients, assisting them to address challenges distinct to their businesses. Our goal is to empower our clients with holistic market intelligence, giving a granular overview of the market they are operating in.

Contact Us:

Fortune Business Insights Pvt. Ltd.

US: +1 424 253 0390

UK: +44 2071 939123

APAC: +91 744 740 1245

Email: sales@fortunebusinessinsights.com




The European Union has won a case against India's trade tariffs on information and communication technology (ICT) products in the World Trade Organization (WTO), the European Commission (EC) announced on Monday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th April, 2023) The European Union has won a case against India's trade tariffs on information and communication technology (ICT) products in the World Trade Organization (WTO), the European Commission (EC) announced on Monday.

"In its panel ruling, the WTO upheld all EU claims against India and found that India's tariffs of up to 20% on certain ICT products, such as mobile phones, were not in line with its WTO commitments, and thus are illegal," the EC said in a statement.

The statement also noted that the value of products affected by India's trade restrictions amounts to 600 million Euros ($655 million) per year.

"While this is already significant, the real impact on European companies, which also export from other countries to India, is considerably higher," the statement added.

The WTO ruled that India brought no valid reasons to justify this measure and is not allowed to exclude more recent products from its zero-duty obligation.

"The panel also confirmed that no mistake was committed when determining India's tariff commitments, including when the tariff lines nomenclatures were updated, and refused to examine India's request to rectify its tariff commitments," the statement said.

Since 2014, India has been introducing tariffs of up to 20% on various IT products, including smartphones and its components. In 2019, the EU appealed the WTO to resolve the issue. The same year, Japan and Taiwan filed almost identical cases and the WTO is expected to announce a similar verdict later in the day.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th April, 2023) Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko discussed the situation around the Korean peninsula with Chinese special envoy on North Korea Liu Xiaoming in Moscow, and the parties agreed that Washington and its allies bear responsibility for the escalation of the situation around the peninsula, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

Last week, the North Korean state-run Korean Central news Agency (KCNA) reported that the new-type Hwansong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile was tested under supervision of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Earlier on Monday, United States and South Korea started large-scale combined air drills involving over 100 aircraft  the Korea Flying Training (KFT)

"The parties discussed in detail the current situation around the Korean Peninsula.

The parties agreed that Washington and its allies are responsible for the current escalation and contrary to their own obligations, refuse to conduct a dialogue with North Korea on providing it with security guarantees and take practical confidence-building measures, on the contrary, they are increasing large-scale military exercises in the region that are provocative," the ministry said in a statement following the meeting of Rudenko and Liu.

The diplomats emphasized the need to focus the efforts of the parties involved on finding a political and diplomatic solution to the problems of Northeast Asia, taking into account the legitimate security concerns of all states in the region. China and Russia agreed to maintain close coordination on the matter, according to the ministry.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th April, 2023) Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sudan Volker Perthes is disappointed that the UN-proposed humanitarian ceasefire in the country was only partially observed, with clashes between the conflicting sides continuing on Monday, the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) said.

On Sunday, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) agreed to open humanitarian corridors for several hours starting 4 p.m. local time (14:00 GMT).

"Mr. Volker Perthes is extremely disappointed that the Humanitarian cessation of hostilities that both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had committed to, was only partially honored yesterday. Clashes also intensified this morning," the mission said in a statement.

Perthes once again urged all parties to respect their obligations, ensuring the protection of civilians, according to UNITAMS.

The UNITAMS chief will remain engaged with local, regional and international partners to work for a cessation of clashes, it added.

Clashes between the SAF and the RSF broke out on Saturday, with the epicenter in Khartoum. Government forces accused the RSF of mutiny and launched airstrikes against their bases. The RSF claimed control of the presidential palace in Khartoum and the airports in Khartoum and Merowe. The national army denied the presidential palace's takeover. Late on Saturday, Sudanese Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Abdel Fattah Al Burhan issued a decree to dissolve the RSF.

Armed clashes continued into Sunday. On Monday, despite the agreed ceasefire, hostilities continued, with the RSF entering the Beit al-Mal area of Omdurman, while engaged in intense fighting, a Sputnik correspondent reported.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th April, 2023) A former US navy non-commissioned officer helped to manage a pro-Russian social-media account engaged in spreading the Pentagon's intelligence documents by reposting files from online chat rooms, The Wall Street Journal newspaper reported on Monday.

The English-language social media blogger network called Donbass Devushka, meaning Donbas Girl, combines podcasting, merchandise and fundraising accounts on several online platforms. The person who has hosted podcasts and managed the accounts was a 37-year-old former US enlisted aviation electronics technician whose real name is Sarah Bils, the newspaper reported.

Bils, who served at the US naval air station on Whidbey Island until late 2022, promoted Russia's views via the Donbass Devushka blog together with other 14 administrators from "all over the world," the report said.

Bils said that the classified files, which appeared on the Donbass Devushka Telegram channel earlier in April, had been posted by another administrator and declined to identify other media outlet's managers, according to the report.

The report added that there was no evidence that Bils might use her access to steal any classified data.

"I obviously know the gravity of top-secret classified materials. We didn't leak them," Bils was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Pat Ryder, a spokesman for the Pentagon, referred requests for comment on Bils' role in re-posting top secret materials to the Justice Department, which refused to give any comment, the report said, adding that Ryder said US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered to tighten intelligence access rules within the Pentagon in order to prevent future leaks.

The fact that the Donbass Devushka Telegram channel is hosted by a US citizen was first revealed by pro-Ukrainian online open-source intelligence analysts and activists known as NAFO, the report said.

On April 5, the Donbass Devushka Telegram channel posted four of the leaked classified documents to its over 65,000 followers. The Pentagon launched an investigation into the leaks after several large Russian social-media accounts reposted the materials, according to the newspaper.

A package of top secret US Department of Defense documents has been leaked online in the recent weeks, disclosing some of Washington's highly classified military analysis and showing that the US was conducting espionage not only on its opponents but also allies. The leakage sparked deep concern among US officials, who fear that the situation might endanger the US's sources and undermine important international ties.

On Thursday, the FBI arrested Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old member of the US Air Force National Guard, for his alleged involvement in leaking the classified documents. According to Washington Post, Teixeira started publishing classified documents on Discord around February 2022, at the beginning of Russia's military operation in Ukraine.

On Friday, a Federal court in Boston charged Teixeira with the unauthorized retention, removal and transmission of classified information, and ordered him to remain in custody until the next hearing scheduled for Wednesday.
UW Appoints Inaugural Professor for Jackson Fork Ranch-UW Research Project

Joe Holbrook, here holding a Canada lynx captured as part of his research, has been named the first Wyoming Biodiversity Term Professor for the Jackson Fork Ranch-University of Wyoming Research Project. (UW Photo)

Joe Holbrook, University of Wyoming assistant professor in carnivore and habitat ecology, has been named the first Wyoming Biodiversity Term Professor for the Jackson Fork Ranch-University of Wyoming Research Project. The position promotes environmental stewardship and conservation across Wyoming, with an initial focus on the greater Yellowstone ecosystem.

I am honored to be named the first Wyoming Biodiversity Term Professor, Holbrook says. Serving the cause of wildlife conservation while mentoring the next generation of applied scientists is where my passion lies. This collaboration will provide vast opportunity to expand conservation impact as well as influence the lives of numerous students.

The Wyoming Biodiversity Term Professor for the Jackson Fork Ranch-University of Wyoming Research Project aims to increase understanding of biodiversity throughout Wyoming by engaging outstanding UW researchers; training the next generation of wildlife conservation biologists; and sharing the research results with the world. It also grows sustainable conservation tourism in the region.

The professorship is funded by the Jackson Fork Ranch-University of Wyoming Research Project, made possible by a gift from Joe Ricketts Jackson Fork Ranch.

Holbrook is an interdisciplinary quantitative wildlife ecologist in UWs Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of Zoology and Physiology. He studies the intersection of population and community ecology, which informs conservation. In general, he studies why animals locate where they do and how environmental change influences them.

Holbrook earned a Ph.D. in natural resources from the University of Idaho, as well as a masters degree in range and wildlife management from Texas A&M University and a bachelors degree in wildlife ecology from the University of Idaho. Before coming to UW, Holbrook worked at Montana State University and the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station as a research scientist.

Holbrooks publications include work on the impact of wildfire and forest management on the snowshoe hare and Canada lynx; predicting coyote habitat in times of prey scarcity; and how interconnected habitat affects endangered ocelots.

Holbrooks focus for this professorship will be small- and medium-sized mesocarnivores, which form an important but poorly known component of the states fauna. Holbrooks body of work falls within this area and focuses on the American badger, ocelot, swift fox, jaguarundi, coyote, Canada lynx, red fox, wolverine, Pacific marten, bobcat, black bear and mountain lion.

The wide range of biodiversity in Wyoming is not well studied, especially lesser-known species that have a disproportionately large impact on ecosystem function and biodiversity.

Dr. Holbrook is a consummate professional committed to wildlife conservation and management, says John Koprowski, dean of the UW Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources. He is the ideal recipient of the Wyoming Biodiversity Term Professorship and has a passion for conservation research, student mentorship and sharing the stories that result -- the keys to this exciting collaboration.

The Wyoming Biodiversity Term Professor position was established through an endowment created by Ricketts and the Jackson Fork Ranch. Ricketts is an entrepreneur and philanthropist who lives in western Sublette County. He founded the online brokerage firm TD Ameritrade.

The position is part of the Jackson Fork Ranch-University of Wyoming Research Project, which supports the universitys conservation and biodiversity research throughout Wyoming. It will help increase public awareness of the unique value of biodiversity in the state and will promote the importance of environmental stewardship as an enduring value.

UWs Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources advances the understanding and resolution of complex environmental and natural resource challenges, with a diverse faculty undertaking novel approaches to environmental and natural resource questions in a range of fields.

The Haub Schools programs for undergraduate and graduate students emphasize critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving and interdisciplinary approaches in environmental systems science, sustainability, outdoor leadership, environmental law and more.
UW Doctoral Student Wins Energy Vault Student Competition

Rami Alloush, left, a UW doctoral student from Damanhour, Egypt, was the winner of the recent Energy Vault Student Competition. Presenting Alloush with his award is Peter Wittenberg, the companys director for advanced energy storage development. The student competition is designed to identify potential new methods of hydrogen storage and to provide examples of current research or companies exploring such methods. (UW Photo)

University of Wyoming doctoral student Rami Alloush, of Damanhour, Egypt, was named the winner of the Energy Vault Student Competition hosted by the UW School of Energy Resources (SER).

Sponsored by Energy Vault, the student competition is designed to identify potential new methods of hydrogen storage and to provide examples of current research or companies exploring such methods. Energy Vault is a leading energy storage technologies company with solutions for short, long and extra-long duration.

Energy Vaults mission is to identify, develop and bring to the market the most economic and sustainable energy storage solutions, says Daniel Han, the companys senior product manager. We have recently announced a project with PG&E in northern California where we will install an extra-long duration energy storage system based on a combination of Li-ion batteries for fast response -- one hour -- with a green hydrogen storage system to provide at least an additional 47 hours of storage. In this way, the local community will have a backup system for at least 48 hours, a breakthrough for a microgrid system.

The student competition was created to support that mission, he adds.

Our goal to meet the needs of our customers includes identifying new economic and sustainable solutions that maximize the financial and environmental value of our customers energy assets, Han says. The chance to deploy energy storage technologies through the use of hydrogen and batteries comes with the opportunity to introduce fresh ideas and bright minds already immersed in the field. We are excited to be working with the University of Wyoming on this competition.

Alloush was the recipient of a $5,000 prize for taking top honors.

A doctoral candidate of petroleum engineering in UWs Center of Innovation for Flow Through Porous Media, Alloush is supervised by Wyoming Excellence Chair Mohammad Piri, a UW energy and petroleum engineering professor. Alloush is part of the nanocondensation team investigating the phase behavior and storage of CO 2 , hydrogen and hydrocarbons in nanopores.

His presentation provided a thorough examination of current hydrogen storage methods; new and emerging hydrogen storage technologies; and recommendations for the most feasible pathways forward based on the economic applicability and potential growth for the future.

I would love to thank Energy Vault and SER for the great opportunity and the generous prize. The whole experience has been very educational and enlightening, Alloush says. Additionally, I am so grateful for Professor Piris continuous support and encouragement.

Students in the competition were judged on the commercial relevance of their research; breadth of the scope provided from end-to-end technology; and presentation presence.

Other teams and individuals competing were:

-- Madison Brigham, of Star Valley Ranch, and Drew Rone, of Casper. Brigham is currently completing her first year in the UW College of Law, while Rone is in the Master of Business Administration Program in the UW College of Business.

-- Sheida Sheikheh, a Ph.D. student in the UW Department of Energy and Petroleum Engineering, from Oshnavieh, Iran.

-- The team of Moustafa Aly, of Suez, Egypt; Omar Elkhatib, of Giza, Egypt; and Alvinda Sri Hanamertani, from Bandung, Indonesia. All three students are doctoral students in the UW Department of Energy and Petroleum Engineering.

We would like to thank Energy Vault for investing in our students, says Scott Quillinan, SER senior director of research. Sponsored student competitions are a great way for our brilliant students to use their skills and expertise, think outside of the box and help members of the industry find solutions to real challenges. We are so proud of the students from across multiple disciplines who were able to showcase their abilities, and we offer our congratulations to all of the competitors.
UW Graduate and Conservation Fellow Earns Distinguished Legal Writing Award

The Burton Awards has announced that University of Wyoming graduate and current UW Ruckelshaus Institute Conservation Fellow Travis Brammer is among 25 law student writers selected for the Law360 Distinguished Legal Writing Award.

Brammer graduated in 2022 from the JD/MA dual degree program between UWs College of Law and the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources. The award recognizes Brammer for his article, Using Land and Water Conservation Fund Money to Protect Western Migration Corridors, published in Volume 22 of the Wyoming Law Review.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) was established by Congress in 1964 to safeguard natural areas, water resources and cultural heritage and to provide recreation opportunities. At no cost to taxpayers, the LWCF supports public access and protection of national parks, forests, wildlife refuges and other federal lands, as well as provides for partnerships with landowners to support voluntary conservation activities.

In the article, Brammer shows that without a need to change existing law or enact new law, states and federal agencies can funnel significant money through the LWCF to corridor conservation in an effort to create a comprehensive corridor conservation strategy.

The article further shows how wildlife migration corridors support Western economies, ecosystems and culture.

Michael Smith, head of the College of Laws legal writing program, nominated Brammer for the award in consultation with Jason Robison, a faculty member in the law schools environmental, energy and natural resources program.

I was impressed by his clear, concise language, Robison says. Travis makes a compelling argument for protecting the routes game animals use for migrating between winter and summer ranges. More than that, he presents a viable funding option for doing so. This article is an exemplary piece of student scholarship that fits perfectly in the Wyoming Law Review.

Before pursuing his law degree, Brammer served as the stewardship coordinator and interim conservation director for the Wyoming Stock Growers Land Trust. As the conservation fellow in the Ruckelshaus Institute MacMillan Private Lands Stewardship Program at UW, he continues to research issues related to stewardship of private lands, including emerging conservation tools and policies.

I gained an interest in private lands conservation while working on my familys farm and ranch in Sterling, Colo., Brammer says.

The Burton Awards program was established in 1999 to recognize accomplishments in legal writing, reform, public service and interest, regulatory innovation and lifetime achievements in the legal profession. Other award recipients include student writers from Columbia Law School, Harvard Law School, Georgetown University Law Center, Emory University School of Law and Arizona State Universitys Sandra Day OConnor College of Law.

Brammer will be recognized at the 24th annual Burton Awards June 12 at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. The event is presented by Law360 and co-sponsored by the American Bar Association with the Library of Congress.
RichLegg / iStock.com

Social Security is a valuable program that ensures retirees have some income to rely on in their golden years. However, many Americans dont understand how it works.

Social Security: Whether Youre 62, 65, 67 or 70, Heres Why Your Age Matters

Retirement: 3 Ways To Recession-Proof Your Retirement

Just over two-third of soon-to-be retirees (ages 55 to 65) failed and another 18% earned a grade of D on a basic knowledge quiz about Social Security retirement benefits by MassMutual. Only 1% received an A+ by correctly answering all 12 true/false statements.

Knowing the ins and outs of Social Security will ensure you take full advantage of your benefits and avoid leaving money on the table. Here are facts about Social Security that you may not be aware of.

Social Security Isnt Going To Disappear

Its true that Social Security Trust Fund reserves are set to be depleted by 2035, and many Americans worry that there will be no benefits available by the time they retire.

This fear causes many people  to their detriment, most likely  to start collecting benefits as soon as theyre able to so they can get it while it lasts, said Taylor Jessee, a CPA, CFP and the director of financial planning for Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management.

However, Social Security is largely funded by payroll taxes, which will continue to be collected for the foreseeable future.

I caution todays retirees that Social Security is likely not going away any time soon, Jessee added.

Take Our Poll: Do You Think the US Should Raise the Medicare Tax on High Earners To Help Save the Program?

Social Security Isnt Enough To Live Off in Retirement

Most people cannot live on Social Security. On average, it will provide 30% to 40% of your pre-retirement income.

Nonetheless, Social Security benefits are still valuable, so youll want to do whatever you can to maximize them, said Jackie King, a financial advisor at Edward Jones.



The more you invest in a retirement plan such as a 401(k) or IRA, the more flexibility youll gain in managing your retirement costs, because youll have more sources of income to pair with Social Security.

Story continues

So try to contribute as much as you can afford to these plans, King said.

Benefits Are Based on Your Highest 35 Years of Earnings

Are you worried that several years on a lower salary will negatively impact how much you receive in Social Security benefits?

The good news is that the formula for calculating your benefit is based on your 35 highest-earning years, as well as the age you begin taking Social Security, according to King. If youre curious to know how much youre projected to get, she said you can sign up to receive a yearly statement from the Social Security Administration that provides an updated estimate.

Your Personal Situation Matters More Than Your Age

The longer you wait to take Social Security, the more money youll receive.

You can claim it as early as age 62, for a reduced benefit. Waiting until your full retirement age means youre entitled to your full benefit. Holding off until age 70 means youll get 132% of your full benefit.

But waiting as long as possible to claim your benefits isnt always the best move.

Your needs come first, said Stephan Baldwin, founder of Assisted Living Center.

For example, he said, if your spouse died, filing for survivor benefits instead of waiting for full benefits may make more sense. So be sure to evaluate all your options.

You Can Claim Your Exs Benefits

Even if youre no longer married, Baldwin said you may be able to claim spousal benefits. To qualify, your marriage must have lasted more than 10 years, you must be at least 62 and you cant be remarried. You can also claim 100% of the survivors benefit if your ex-partner has died, Baldwin noted.

You Get To Keep the Bigger Benefit If Your Spouse Dies

If both spouses receive Social Security benefits, the smaller benefit goes away when one person dies. It doesnt matter who dies first  the surviving spouse will begin receiving the larger of the two benefits.

That is why couples should focus on increasing the higher benefit, said Jeremy Keil, a retirement-focused financial planner with Keil Financial Partners and host of the Retirement Revealed blog and podcast. Its the one that will stay around longest and be there to help the widow(er).

Some of Your Benefits May Be Withheld

If you claim your benefits before reaching full retirement age, are still working and make more than the yearly earnings limit, you may have some of your Social Security benefits withheld.

The cap is $21,240 for 2023, and you would lose $1 in benefits for every $2 in earnings above the max.

But you dont really lose the benefit. You wont receive it while you are below full retirement age, but as soon as you hit that age, Social Security will recalculate and give you credit for those dollars, Kell explained.

You Can Undo a Social Security Benefits Claim Decision

If you decided to claim your benefits and then realized you should have waited, the Social Security Administration allows you to withdraw your application for a one-time do-over.

There are a host of reasons why someone may regret the decision to begin taking Social Security, said Jordan Kahn, a CFA and chief investment officer for HCR Wealth Advisors.

For example, you could decide to take on a part-time job and no longer need the extra income. Or maybe you didnt realize how much more money you could receive by waiting a couple more years.

If a person makes this determination within 12 months of filing their initial application, they can stop receiving benefits and move forward as if they never claimed them, Khan said.

But you would have to pay back any benefits you received during that time.

You May Have To Pay Taxes on Social Security Benefits

Many Americans pay taxes on their Social Security benefits. The exact amount youll need to pay depends on your total income.

It does not take a lot of income for your benefits to be taxed, Kahn said.

If youre a single filer and earn between $25,000 and $34,000, you may have to pay income tax on up to 50% of your benefits. If you earn more than $34,000, up to 85% of your benefits may be taxable. For joint filers, if you and your spouse have a combined income that is between $32,000 and $44,000, you may have to pay income tax on up to 50% of your benefits. If your combined income is more than $44,000, up to 85% of your benefits may be taxable.

In addition to paying federal income tax on your benefits, Kahn noted that 12 states also levy income tax on Social Security benefits: Colorado, Connecticut, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont and West Virginia.

If youre worried about your tax bill in retirement, its a good idea to speak with a professional who can help you find ways to lower your taxable income.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 9 Things Most Retirees Dont Know About Social Security
9 Key Singapore-Invested Industrial Parks in Vietnam

The Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park Joint Venture Company Limited (VSIP) has been investing heavily in developing industrial parks in Vietnam since 1996. Heres where they are and what they have to offer manufacturers.

On March 19, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended the groundbreaking ceremony of VSIP III Industrial Park in Binh Duong. This is yet another industrial park (IP) in a long list of projects that Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park Joint Venture Company Limited (VSIP) has developed in Vietnam.

These projects have been crucial to Vietnams economic development as it has sought to attract companies from around the world to build up its manufacturing base.

These factories are scattered around the country and cater to a broad range of industries producing a huge number of products for both domestic consumption and export.

This article lists nine key industrial parks run by the VSIP, which have been instrumental to making Vietnam an attractive place to do business for foreign companies and for their export-oriented production.

Introducing the Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park or VSIP

The Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park Joint Venture Company Limiteds main shareholders are Becamex IDC, which owns 49 percent of the company, followed by Sembcorp Development Ltd with 40.44 percent, Ascendas Investment Pte Ltd with 4.26 percent, UOL Overseas Investments Pte Ltd with 2.67 percent, MC Development Asia Pte Ltd with 1.89 percent, and KMP Vietnam Investment Pte Ltd with 1.74 percent.

The company seeks to attract investments in car part production and assembly, electronics, mechanical engineering, textile manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, food and beverage, as well as supporting industries.

Since 1994, VSIP has generated upwards of US$15 billion from tenants from 30 countries around the world. Each day, according to its website, 250,000 people attend industrial parks under the VSIP brand. It says that it currently has 880 tenant companies operating across seven VSIP industrial parks around Vietnam.

VSIP I Binh Duong

VSIP I is situated in Binh Duong Province, 16 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City or about 40 minutes from the heart of the city by car. This allows investors to take advantage of infrastructure, utilities, and support services in Ho Chi Minh City.

It was established in 1996, with the first stage covering 500 hectares. There are currently 232 projects operating in the IP, employing a total of 94,380 people. Total investment capital of over US$3.5 billion. The IP has a 100 percent occupancy rate, with 376.04 hectares of land leased.

The Vietnam Singapore Technical College was also established within the IP to assist with the hiring and development of human resources.

VSIP II Binh Duong

Inaugurated in 2006, VSIP II is also situated in Binh Duong. The first phase of this IP spans a total area of 345 hectares. The second phase covers a further 1,000 hectares. There is also an additional 700 hectares for commercial and residential purposes.

The VSIP II Industrial Park has attracted 129 projects from over 20 countries and territories with a total investment capital of more than US$1.5 billion.

The workforce of the park stands at 23,800 individuals with a 100 percent occupancy rate in the industrial portion of the site.

VSIP III Binh Duong

On March 19, VSIP Group held the groundbreaking ceremony of VSIP III in Hoi Nghia ward, in Tan Uyen, Binh Duong. The project, covering an area of 1,000 hectares, is the third addition to the VSIP brand in Binh Duong and the VSIP groups 11th project in Vietnam.

VSIP III is designed to be a smart and sustainable industrial park, with the integration of smart technology in industrial park operations, ranging from energy, water, and waste management, to traffic management and security.

VSIP III is situated next to existing VSIP industrial parks and the center of Binh Duong New City, along Ring Road 4 with easy access to My Phuoc  Tan Van highway and subsequently ports and airport infrastructure. It is also well connected to other manufacturing hubs in Dong Nai and Ba Ria  Vung Tau provinces.

The first phase of the project, 100 hectares, has been granted the Green Mark for industrial parks by the Singapore Construction Authority (BCA). This should see it become one of the most environmentally-friendly and sustainable workplaces in Vietnam.

VSIP III features a 50-hectare on-site solar farm, which provides a reliable and sustainable power supply to major customers in this industrial park. The LEGO Group of Denmark will be the first customer to access the planned solar farms outputs.

VSIP Bac Ninh

The VSIP Bac Ninh Industrial Park, established in 2007, covers 700 hectares, consisting of 500 hectares for the IP and 200 hectares dedicated to a purpose built urban area. It has a registered capital of US$80 million.

VSIP Bac Ninhs location is strategically situated at the intersection of National Highway 1 and Provincial Road 295. It has been developed and constructed to international standards.

The industrial park has garnered interest from more than 50 domestic and foreign investors. This includes:

Pepsico (USA)

Nokia (Japan)

Maple tree Logistics (Singapore)

Josung (Korea)

VSIP Bac Ninh is one of Vietnams top industrial zones and has broad appeal for industries across the board.

VSIP Hai Phong

The VSIP Hai Phong project is a collaboration between the VSIP Group and Becamex IDC (Binh Duong) and SembCorp Industries (Singapore). This project represented their fourth joint venture project. The project is located north of Cam River, in Thuy Nguyen district, Hai Phong. It covers an area of 1,600 hectares, with an initial investment of US$1 billion.

This project includes an industrial park covering 500 hectares and an urban area covering 1,100 hectares. The project is expected to be in operation from 2008 to 2058.

The road network includes two main roads: the East-West Highway and the North-South Boulevard. The project has nine ready-built factories with 25 tenants.

As of 2023, the VSIP Hai Phong industrial park has achieved remarkable growth since its inception about 15 years ago. With over 70 percent of the planned area already constructed, the park has successfully attracted nearly 50 projects, achieving an occupancy rate of over 76 percent.

Among the notable projects operating in the industrial park are:

FujiFilm which produces laser printers, photocopiers, and cameras,

Regina Miracle which makes clothing and apparel; and,

Kyocera Vietnam which manufactures printers.

VSIP Quang Ngai

The VSIP Quang Ngai Industrial-Urban and Service Complex is situated in Son Tinh district, within the Dung Quat economic zone. This is adjacent to National Highway 1A, approximately 11 kilometers from Quang Ngai City.

This project was inaugurated in September 2013, with the presence of the prime ministers of Vietnam and Singapore. It covers a total area of 1,746 hectares, of which 1,226 hectares are dedicated to industrial projects and 520 hectares is a dedicated urban area.

Currently, VSIP Quang Ngai has attracted domestic and foreign investors in textiles and apparel, footwear, food and beverage, fast-moving consumer goods, electronic component assembly, and supporting industries.

The IP area has already witnessed the development of seven FDI projects, employing over 3,000 local workers. This has significantly contributed to the industrialization and urbanization of Quang Ngai province. The following companies are among the investors operating in the industrial park:

Zigui Jisheng (Vietnam) Co., Ltd.

Happy Furniture Co., Ltd (Vietnam)

Whitex Textiles Industries (Vietnam) Co., Ltd.

Freetex Group Co., Ltd

Wangsheng Textiles (China)

Boilermaster Co., Ltd

South Sea Leatherwares Co., Ltd

Properwell Co., Ltd

Maystar (Vietnam) Footwear Co., Ltd

Kingmaker III (Vietnam) Footwear Co., Ltd

VSIP Hai Duong

VSIP Industrial Park is located in close proximity to Hanoi, Hai Phong Port, and both Noi Bai International Airport and the Cat Bi Hai Phong Airport.

In April 2015, the Phuc Hung Company transferred the Luong Dien  Cam Dien Industrial Park project with land use rights and assets spanning approximately 150 hectares to the VSIP Hai Duong.

The IP is located in Cam Giang district, in Hai Duong province, and is adjacent to National Highway 5 that connects Hanoi  Hung Yen, Hai Duong, and Hai Phong, making it easily accessible bringing in raw materials and exporting finished goods.

Several investors from S. Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Vietnam have rented land in the industrial park. This includes Best Pacific Vietnam and Regina Miracle International, among a number of others.

VSIP Nghe An

The VSIP Nghe An Industrial, Urban and Service Park, located near Vinh City, is one of the most significant IPs in Nghe An. It is characterized by a well-designed transportation system and international-standard infrastructure.

The project covers an area of 750 hectares, with 367.6 hectares of land allocated for the construction of the industrial park. Currently, 28 projects have been granted investment certificates/enterprise certificates, with a registered investment capital of VND 6,851 billion (equivalent to over US$296 million).

Of these, 14 projects are in operation, six are under construction, and eight are in the planning phases. Among the companies operating or looking to operate in VSIP Nghe An are:

Becker Industrial Coatings (Sweden)

Biomass Fuel Vietnam(Japan)

Sangwoo Vietnam (Korea)

HPL Company (Singapore)

Em-Tech Vietnam (Korea)

Luxshare-ICT (Taiwan)

In November 2020, VSIP Nghe An achieved ISO 9001: 2015, 14001: 2015, and 45001: 2018 certifications, making it the first industrial park in Vietnam to receive all three certifications from SGS Vietnam.

VSIP Becamex Binh Dinh

Becamex VSIP Binh Dinh is an industrial park covering an area of 1,374 hectares, out of which 374 hectares are reserved for commercial and residential purposes. The park offers a flexible land area that can be adapted to meet the needs of specific investors.

The industrial park aims to attract investors from several sectors, including electronics, automotive, mechanical engineering, support industries, textile, garment, leather, footwear, food, and beverage, logistics, and warehousing.

It enjoys a strategic location, situated in close proximity to the 19C national road, with easy access to provincial road 638, connecting it to the major ports and airports via highways 1A and 1D. Thus, Becamex VSIP Binh Dinh offers a perfect location for transportation between Binh Dinh and other neighboring provinces.

Choosing the right industrial park

These are just a handful of a number of industrial parks around Vietnam, each with their own unique benefits and advantages. Understanding which is the best location for a new manufacturing plant, however, will depend on the specific needs of the individual investor.

For assistance with site analysis and selection, contact the experts at Dezan Shira and Associates.
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy issued an executive order that called on government contractors to "take affirmative action to ensure that applicants and employees be treated without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin."

It was really a recognition that African Americans were excluded from the American dream for many years, says Natasha Warikoo, author of Is Affirmative Action Fair? The Myth of Equity in College Admissions. Meanwhile, selective colleges also wanted to increase representation, particularly of African Americans, because there were very few African Americans in these elite colleges. And so, they had their own kind of programs to bring in more African American students  and then taking into account race in the admissions process grew, as well.

Today, affirmative action refers to policies designed to increase representation of minorities and women at work and in higher education. The purpose of affirmative action in higher education is two-fold, says Katharine Meyer, a fellow at the Brookings Institution.

One is to increase the diversity of the student body, the rationale there being that exposure to diverse viewpoints and diverse perspectives is going to enrich the experience of all students, Meyer says.

The second purpose is more reparative, to reach out to students who might not have equal access to a high-quality high school education or quality advice on how to navigate the college admissions process.

Part of affirmative action is to identify students who would have thrived had they been placed in a ZIP code, say, that had the higher quality teachers, higher quality counselors, higher quality academic experiences, and to admit them to the institution where they believe they will thrive when they have access to those resources, Meyer says.

Sixty years later, affirmative action remains controversial in the United States and has faced earlier court challenges. Right now, the U.S. Supreme Court is considering two cases that argue that affirmative action discriminates against Asian American students. As a result, the justices could ban admissions policy that uses race as a factor.

It really violates all of our ideals, says Mike Gonzalez, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation who supports ending affirmative action. We're a multiethnic country where it's very important that government, or even the private sector, do not use race to pick and choose who rises and who doesn't rise. And getting into a school is one of the most important rungs in the ladder of success.

Nine states  California, Washington, Florida, Michigan, Nebraska, Arizona, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Idaho  have outlawed affirmative action based on race. Some colleges in those states now use other criteria  like admitting students in the top 10% of their high school's graduating class  in an effort to ensure diversity.

In places where they have banned affirmative action  we've seen drops with the racial representation relative to the high school population, when the school stopped engaging in affirmative action, Meyer says.

A 2013 study found that, following an affirmative action ban in some states, there was a 23% drop in the likelihood of admission for students of color at those states public colleges.

We should never be OK with injustice. We should never be OK with disparities that persist. We should be constantly trying to address them. So, thats not OK, Gonzales says. We should have an urge, as a society, to see what we can do to improve America and make sure that everybody has the opportunity to succeed.

Warikoo, who is also a sociology professor at Tufts University in Massachusetts, says there is no way to select the very best students, because not everyone agrees on what qualities and qualifications a best student should have.

We should get away from this idea of what's fair and what's not fair and think much more about what is our goal here as university? she says. Do we want to have a higher education system that is accessible to people regardless of their class backgrounds or their racial background?... Are we trying to create diverse leadership for tomorrow? These are the kinds of things that I think colleges should be thinking much more about. What is our mission, and how do we select students to best further that mission?

Gonzales says there are certain qualities that dont include race or ethnicity that colleges should look for in a student.

Activities, what you contribute to charity, how well-rounded a person you are, how much leadership you demonstrate. All of these things have to do with merit and good citizenship. None of those things have to do with the immutable characteristic of what your race is or your category, Gonzales says. Race or category or national background is an awful way to make any choice by government or by the private sector. It should be so obvious to everybody that I don't even understand why I have to explain this.

Warikoo worries about the potential long-term impacts of the Supreme Court striking down race-based admissions.

I don't want to be dramatic, but I think it undermines our democracy, Warikoo says. [Americans] are very much invested in this idea of education as a pathway to social mobility, to success, to a good life. But if we have a kind of elite education system in which students are selected that don't look like a cross-section of 18-year-olds in the United States, then that's problematic.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the future of race-based admissions by June.
Both military factions fighting for control in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, claimed to have made gains on Monday, as the death toll from the violence exceeded 180 amid calls from Washington, multiple international bodies and capitals around the world for an immediate cease-fire.

Residents in Khartoum reported hearing fighter jets and anti-aircraft fire after night fell Monday as the violence between Sudan's military and a paramilitary force raged through a third day.

Volker Perthes, the United Nation's special representative to Sudan, told reporters by video link from Khartoum Monday that at least 185 people had been killed and more than 1,800 wounded since fighting erupted Saturday.

The number of casualties from the fighting is likely to rise, with many of the wounded unable to reach hospitals for treatment. A Sudanese doctors group said the fighting had also "heavily damaged" multiple hospitals around the capital.

Large portions of the capital were without electricity and water. The violence also affected Khartoum's adjoining sister cities of Omdurman and Bahri, with bridges linking the cities blocked by armored vehicles.

U.N. chief Antonio Guterres on Monday again condemned the outbreak of fighting and appealed to the leaders of Sudan's military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group "to immediately cease hostilities, restore calm and begin a dialogue to resolve the crisis."

"I urge all those with influence over the situation to use it in the cause of peace," he said, adding that "the humanitarian situation in Sudan was already precarious and is now catastrophic."

The two military factions battling for control of Sudan had shared power during a shaky political transition. The clashes are part of a power struggle between General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, commander of the country's armed forces and head of the transitional council, and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, head of the RSF and deputy head of the transitional council.

John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council, told reporters on Monday that U.S. officials had "been in direct contact" with both generals "to urge them to end the hostilities immediately." He added that U.S. officials were also working closely with the African Union, the Arab League and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, an East African bloc.

"We call for an immediate cease-fire, without conditions, between the Sudanese armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces," he said. "As Secretary Blinken mentioned this morning, the fighting is killing civilians and threatens the Sudanese nation as well as stability in the region."

But when asked by VOA what specific leverage the U.S. has to influence the warring parties, Kirby said, "I'm not going to speak to specific diplomatic leverage."

He added that all U.S. personnel in the north African nation were accounted for and are sheltering in place. He said there are no plans to evacuate them at this time.

The RSF claimed Monday it had captured an airport and military bases. The military claimed it regained control of the main television station and said it was in control of its headquarters after brief fighting there.

The fighting in Khartoum has forced most people to stay inside. Offices, schools and gas stations are closed.

In the Al-Kalakla neighborhood south of Khartoum, the situation seemed to be relatively calm, as people ventured out to get basic supplies.

Wisal Mohammed, a mother of three, told VOA this is the first time in three days that she's come out to get food for her children. She said she does not have electricity or water and that she would not be able to travel if there was an emergency.

Al Muiz Hassan, a grocer in the Abu Adam neighborhood south of Khartoum, told VOA he is worried about being robbed and has only partially opened his shop as a precaution.

"The fighting has affected all the shops, not only mine," he said.

Residents of Khartoum said there has been no police presence on the city's streets since the military clashes began.

The European Union said its envoy to Sudan was assaulted in his own residence on Monday, but it did not give further details.

Calls to end the fighting have come from around the world and within Africa, including the African Union, the Arab League and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

IGAD said Kenyan President William Ruto, South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and Djibouti President Omar Guelleh will go to Khartoum to broker an immediate cease-fire.

"President Salva Kiir has already been in touch with both General Burhan and General Hemedti to convey the message of the summit.  Now, preparations are on the way to undertake this mission," Nuur Mohamud Sheekh, a spokesperson for IGAD's executive secretary, told VOA.

Sudan's two top generals, however, have yet to express a willingness to negotiate and have demanded the other's surrender.

Dagalo said Monday on Twitter that he was defending democracy in Sudan and called Burhan a "radical Islamist." Dagalo's forces emerged out of the notorious Janjaweed militias in Sudan's Darfur region and have been accused of carrying out atrocities in the region.

The two generals are former allies who together orchestrated an October 2021 military coup that derailed a transition to civilian rule following the 2019 ouster of longtime leader Omar al-Bashir.

Tensions between the generals have been growing over disagreements about how the RSF should be integrated in the army and who should oversee that process. The restructuring of the military was part of an effort to restore the country to civilian rule and end the political crisis sparked by the 2021 military coup.

"It's another example of the generals feeling threatened by a transition that might have diminished their powers, might have diminished the monopoly that they control," said Jeffrey Feltman, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution and former special envoy to the Horn of Africa at the U.S. State Department.

"What we have now is a fight for power. It's a lust for power  who is going to prevail among these two generals," Feltman told VOA.

Pro-democracy activists have accused both generals of being involved in human rights abuses.

In addition to the fighting around Khartoum, violence has also broken out in Sudan's western Darfur region, threatening to renew a decades-old conflict that killed hundreds of thousands of people.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) announced Monday it has halted much of its operations in Sudan because of the fighting.

In a statement, IRC regional Vice President Kurt Tjossem said, "Conflict has disrupted humanitarian action where over a third of the population, an estimated 15 million people, including refugees, are experiencing acute food insecurity. Humanitarian actors have limited ability to enter and operate in areas with ongoing war."

The World Food Program also suspended its operations in the country after the deaths of three of its staff members.

The African Union's Peace and Security Council held an emergency meeting on Sunday in Nairobi to discuss the situation in Sudan. Participants appealed to the Sudanese military and RSF leaders to de-escalate conflict and restore stability.

The U.S. and British foreign ministers have called for an "immediate cessation of violence" in Sudan and urged the opposing parties to return to talks. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his British counterpart, James Cleverly, made their statement in Japan on the sidelines of talks involving the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations, known as the G-7.

VOA English to Africa's Carol Van Dam Falk, VOA Africa correspondent Mariama Diallo, VOA U.N. correspondent Margaret Besheer and VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell contributed to the report.
Activist investor urges Getty to partner with Meta, Microsoft to grow revenue FILE PHOTO: Meta Platforms Inc's logo is seen on a smartphone in this illustration picture

(Reuters) - Activist investor Trillium Capital said on Monday stock-photo company Getty Images Holdings Inc should expand and create partnerships with technology firms and publishers to grow its revenue.

Last week, Trillium asked Getty for a board seat and urged the company to evaluate strategic options including a sale.

According to Trillium's Monday statement, Getty should expand its partnership with Nvidia Corp to use the chip company's image-rendering technology and collaborate with Adobe Inc to combine their media collections.

Trillium also said that the stock image and video platform should partner with Microsoft and its search engine Bing through their Open API (application programming interface) system.

A metadata partnership with Meta Platforms Inc's Facebook and Instagram to upload Getty's content as well as tie-ups with National Geographic, New York Times Co and The Washington Post to upload and download digital libraries should be on the cards too, Trillium said.

The investor, which holds more than 500,000 shares of Getty, said the platform should expand its library of generic stock photos to special events including religious functions, weddings, graduations and family celebrations.

Getty could not be immediately reached for comment.

Trillium also listed Nvidia, Microsoft, Adobe and Meta as potential takeover suitors for the company.

Getty competes with Reuters News and Associated Press to provide photos and videos for editorial use.

(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
In the past week, at least three people have died in the shelling that slams both in and out of Chasiv Yar, Ukraine, sometimes every few minutes. City workers say their main job now is to get people, and anything else of value, out.

"Many people have already left," says Yevgeni Dmytriev, 32, the city administrator, when we meet him by his van near the center of town. The local government building is now a distribution point for emergency aid like food and wood to burn for heat. Businesses are closed. Their windows are either boarded up or smashed in.

"Some humanitarian aid is still here," explains Dmytriev. "We want to move this humanitarian aid from here to a safer place."

Chasiv Yar is about 10 kilometers from the city of Bakhmut, where the longest and deadliest battle in Ukraine is currently taking place. Chasiv Yar is close enough to be hit by artillery aimed at Bakhmut, but it is also a target itself. Every tree-lined block in the city appears to have been bombed and most of the people we see are armed and armored soldiers. The roads are largely deserted, but tanks and vehicles carrying soldiers into battle whip by from time to time.

Across the street, a team of three journalists wearing helmets and blue body armor wander through the city's central park. At this moment, the nearby blasts are the Ukrainian Army's artillery firing on Russian forces, but that can change in an instant.

Outside a community shelter about five minutes' drive away, Alexandr Cverkovich, a 38-year-old aid worker and head of the Peace and Kindness Fund, oversees the delivery of boxes of food and water. He also wears body armor, and he and his colleagues are dressed in camouflage.

Early last month, Cverkovich delivered supplies to Bakhmut. Now Chasiv Yar is as close as aid organizations and most journalists can get to the heart of the battle zone. And the conditions in Chasiv Yar are now, in many ways, eerily like those in Bakhmut two months ago, he says.

"[Chasiv Yar] is heavily damaged now," he continues. "Last time we were here it was in one piece."

WATCH: Inside Russia's War in Ukraine

Invincibility

The community shelters here are called "invincibility points," providing electricity to charge phones and internet access. About 20% of the population remains in Chasiv Yar, but most city services are not operating.

The thousand-plus people still in town are mostly old, sick, poor, or all three. Phone numbers for evacuation teams are printed on small paper handouts in the shelter and hung on the wall, but they are not often called.

This situation was also similar in Bakhmut a few months ago, say aid workers. Back then all the people in Bakhmut who wished to flee were long-gone. But now things are different. The only way out is by rescue by an armed military unit, and soldiers are busy fighting to hold onto the city and their lives.

"We got lucky," says Svetlana, a 74-year-old former librarian who escaped Bakhmut last week after spending three days trying to wave down soldiers as they passed by, usually fleeing bombings.

But Alexandr, a 67-year-old Chasiv Yar resident and shelter volunteer, says he and many others have no plans to leave, despite warnings. In cities, towns and villages across Ukraine's conflict area, people live under fire in order to care for elderly or sick relatives or neighbors, pets or farm animals.

"[My home] was damaged," he says, matter-of-factly. "The windows were blown out. So we covered them with plastic tarps."

It is also commonly believed that many civilians who still live in Ukraine's eastern war zone stay because they support the idea of Russian rule. Besides cross-border familial and cultural bonds, Russian is the most used language here and it's not hard to find people who are nostalgic for the time of the Soviet Union.

But we meet no one living side by side with Ukraine's defending forces who overtly declares loyalty to Russia's invading army.

While having a cigarette outside the shelter, Vladimir, 80, tells us he is not interested in talking of the Soviet days. But he points out what he perceives as the futility of this war. He says that, in his opinion, neither the United States nor Britain would be able to beat Russia in battle, so he doesn't believe Ukraine can win now.

"Let's all be friendly," he says, emphatically repeating the final word in English with his finger pointed. "Friendly."

In Pictures: Chasiv Yar, Ukraine Battleground Town

Front line moving in

While we talk, residents and volunteers continue to move boxes of food into the shelter, and no one even blinks when the nearby artillery is fired. But one blast accompanied by the whistle of incoming weaponry makes a few people start and one woman declare, "It's normal" as Yan Boechat, our videographer, drops his camera to look for the location of the hit.

It isn't near enough to endanger us, so he continues his work.

Inside the shelter, the lights go off. It is 3 p.m. and the generator needs to rest until morning. There is no electricity, gas or running water in town. The only internet connections are brought in by the army.

With the shelter dark for the day, locals begin to make their way home with packets of donated food. Some have bicycles but most are on foot.

"I've stayed here at home for the whole war," says Olga, 72, as she prepares to leave the shelter. "But now I am considering evacuation. Maybe."

Oleksandr Babenko contributed to this report.
In Cameroon, the Muslim community is starting a week of prayers for peace against terrorism, crime, and a deadly separatist conflict. The prayers, to mark the ending of the holy month of Ramadan, come after the military said scores of people were killed this month in separatist clashes. Authorities say there has also been a deadly crime wave in the capital.

Hundreds of civilians gathered Monday in Nkolmesseng, a neighborhood in Yaounde, to pray for peace in the central African state. The civilians said they are praying for the welfare of the country troubled by terrorism, crime, and the ongoing separatist crisis in the mostly English-speaking west. Cameroon is a majority French-speaking nation.



Claude Abe, a sociology lecturer at the Catholic University of Central Africa in Yaounde, says he is a Christian but has joined Muslims in prayer because human life which was sacred and precious in Cameroon as it was in other African traditional societies is today trivialized up to a point where some people kill at will.

He says frustration, joblessness, religious intolerance and poverty have led to increasing violence and barbarism all over Cameroon.

Cameroons military reports that at least 35 people have died in three weeks of fighting between government troops and the separatists, while 15 civilians were killed in an increasing crime wave in Yaounde.

In one scene reported by local media, a family of six was found dead with machete wounds in the town of Nnaga Eboko.

Other mutilated corpses were found on street corners by civilians. Police say they are investigating what they call a spike in heinous crimes.

Sitan Mohammadou Kongyuy, a Muslim youth leader at Nkolmesseng, says the prayers for peace will be said in all Cameroonian mosques until the end of Ramadan.

"Islam originates from the word peace and we cannot practice Islam in an environment that is not peaceful," he said. "Cameroon is facing so many challenges as far as peace is concerned especially when we consider the activities of Boko Haram, the rebels in the Central African [Republic] border and we consider the separatist fighters in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon. It is very important for all Muslims in Cameroon to intensify prayers for peace in his country."

The Council of Imams and Muslim Dignitaries of Cameroon organized the prayer for peace.

The councils coordinator, Moussa Oumarou, says Cameroon will develop if its children embrace peace and stop the ongoing conflicts.

Cameroon has been fighting within the past 10 years to secure its northern border with Nigeria and Chad from Boko Haram.

Troops are also combating separatist fighters in Cameroons English-speaking western regions, and the military reports that rebels from the Central African Republic regularly cross Cameroons eastern border, kill civilians, seize their cattle and abduct villagers for ransom.

Territorial administration minister Paul Atanga Nji says Cameroon's government will welcome any initiative that can bring peace to troubled regions of the central African state.

"I told the religious leaders, especially the imam, that living together is something which is very important for President Paul Biya," he said. "I urge all the communities to work for the common good in a peaceful environment where Christians and other denominations work and live together without problems."

Muslims in Cameroon say the prayers will end with Eid al-Fitr, a religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to mark the end of the month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan.
Authorities in northwestern Pakistan confirmed Monday they had arrested a Chinese engineer for allegedly insulting Islam, ending overnight angry protests that called for legal action against the foreigner.



Police identified the detainee as "Mr. Tian," head of heavy transport at the China Gezhouba Group Company constructing the Dasu hydropower project about 350 kilometers north of Pakistans capital, Islamabad



The trouble erupted Saturday when the Chinese supervisor tried to push his local driving staff while they were collectively offering afternoon prayers at the worksite to speed up the pace of work instead.



"He went on to make insulting remarks and derogatory gestures to disparage Allah and the Prophet of Muslims," said a copy of the formal police complaint VOA received.



Police said the alleged blasphemy act had enraged the local staff, leading to angry protests Sunday evening across the Kohistan district where the project is being built, with thousands of protesters blocking the main highway linking Pakistan with China.



The demonstrations continued for several hours and only subsided pre-dawn Monday when the Chinese national was taken into custody, and community leaders were assured he would face legal action, police said, adding that traffic on the busy Karakoram Highway was later also restored.



Blasphemy is a sensitive issue in predominantly Muslim Pakistan and is punishable by death.

Suspects are often attacked and sometimes lynched by mobs. Domestic and international rights groups say allegations of blasphemy are enough to cause mob attacks and the killing of the accused. Blasphemy laws are also used to settle personal vendettas and disputes and intimidate religious minorities in Pakistan.

A Sri Lankan factory manager was beaten to death by co-workers in the country's most populous central Punjab province in December 2021 after he was falsely accused of insulting Islam. A court later sentenced six men to death for lynching the foreigner.



China has invested billions of dollars in close ally Pakistan in recent years, building roads, communication networks, ports, and power plants under Beijing's global Belt and Road Initiative.



The collaboration, known as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor or CPEC, has brought thousands of Chinese workers and engineers to work on the mega project. The 4,300 mega-watt Dasu hydropower project is not part of the CPEC, but Chinese nationals live and work at guarded facilities in the area.



A suicide car bombing targeted a bus convoy transporting Chinese and Pakistani workers to the construction site in 2021. The blast killed nine Chinese and three local workers, the largest loss of life of Chinese citizens in Pakistan in recent years.

The deadly attack forced the Chinese company to suspend work on the Dasu Dam for several months.
An armed dissident group of Colombia's disbanded FARC guerrillas said Sunday it was ready to start peace talks with the government next month in an apparent boost for leftist President Gustavo Petro's quest for "total peace."

The EMC dissident grouping, which rejected a 2016 peace deal that disarmed the FARC, announced at a leaders' meeting in the country's rural south that "our delegates to the dialogue table with the Colombian government... are ready for May 16."

Spokeswoman Angela Izquierdo added: "We hope the official installation of the (negotiating) table can be realized."

The government of Petro, who will meet U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington next week, has not officially announced talks with the EMC group, nor publicly proposed a date. It did not immediately offer a comment Sunday.

EMC top leaders have been meeting on a farm in the southern San Vicente del Caguan region since the beginning of April to plot a strategy for peace negotiations.

That included consultations with local communities under EMC control and members of the allied so-called "farmers' guard."

The leaders included top commander "Ivan Mordisco," who the government erroneously claimed to have killed last year.

Mordisco spoke Sunday of his "conviction and hope that... we can begin to build the road map that will allow Colombia to eradicate the causes of the conflict."

Some dissidents rejected the 2016 peace agreement that led to the dissolution of Latin America's most fearsome guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), while others later returned to the fold after failing to integrate into civilian life.

Despite the pact, fighting has continued between various groups of left-wing guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries and traffickers vying for control of drug and illegal mining resources.

The Indepaz research institute reported nearly 100 massacres in Colombia last year.

The EMC is estimated to have about 3,000 fighters operating mainly in the Amazon, on the Pacific coast and near the border with Venezuela.

Mordisco called Sunday for the rival ELN guerrilla group "to end the war between our two organizations" and vowed that from its side, the EMC would "do everything possible to find rapprochement."

The country's first-ever leftist president, Petro has pursued negotiations with FARC dissidents and other armed groups.

Petro came to power last August with plans to bring "total peace" to a country scarred by decades of violence.

At the president's initiative, a six-month cease-fire has been in place with FARC dissidents and other armed groups since January 1.

But there have been setbacks.

The ELN guerilla group, which has been engaged in negotiations with the government since last November, refuted Petro's announcement that it had agreed to the truce that entered into force on January 1.

Last month, Petro summoned government negotiators after ELN fighters killed nine soldiers and injured nine more.

Another round of talks with the ELN, for the National Liberation Army, is scheduled for later this month in Cuba.

Also in March, the government suspended its truce with the Gulf Clan  the country's largest drug cartel  after attacks on civilians and uniformed personnel.

Colombia's opposition frequently criticizes Petro for concessions he is willing to make to armed and criminal groups for peace.

Last week, the government said the peace process with EMC was being "consolidated."

The EMC had suggested negotiations should take place in Norway.

Thousands of sympathizers who live in EMC-controlled areas turned out for a popular consultation Sunday with the group's leaders to agree on the way forward.

We are the army of the people. ... Communities must take part in negotiations. We cannot leave them at the mercy of the paramilitaries," an EMC commander, Danilo Alvizu, told AFP.
Eleven people have died after attending an outdoor government function Sunday on the outskirts of Mumbai. The Times of India website reports that eight of the dead were women.

At least 50 people were admitted to the hospital.

The outdoor event was held to present an award to a social activist.

One doctor told The Times that the patients were suffering from dehydration, chest pain, rise in blood sugar levels and a host of other conditions.

The temperature Sunday had reached a scorching 38 degrees Celsius.
Slovakia became the third European Union country to ban food imports from Ukraine on Monday, deepening the challenge for the bloc as it works to help Ukraine transport its grain to world markets.

Slovakia followed Poland and Hungary, both of which announced bans Saturday on Ukrainian food imports through June 30. They did so in response to rising anger from farmers who say that a glut of grain in their countries is causing them economic hardship.

The EU's executive branch, the European Commission, manages trade on behalf of the 27 member countries and objects to them taking unilateral or uncoordinated measures.

At a briefing in Brussels, two spokespeople stressed gratitude to Poland and other Central European countries for supporting Ukraine, but said a solution must be found that respects the EU legal framework.

"We are dealing with a war, right? And this war has consequences, obviously, on farmers and more generally, the population in Ukraine and the European Union and its member states," said Eric Mamer, chief spokesperson.

He acknowledged that Poland and other countries "have been doing their utmost in order to help Ukraine, adding: "So this is not about sanctioning. This is about finding solutions based on EU law in the interests at the same time of the Ukrainians and of the EU."

EU countries that neighbor Ukraine have asked the EU to treat the matter of Ukrainian food with urgency, saying they can't allow their own farmers to bear the cost of disruption that Ukrainian agriculture products are causing to their markets.

A delegation of Ukrainian officials visited Warsaw on Monday for government consultations on the issue. Poland faces an election in the fall and farmer groups have been protesting to urge action.

Hungary's agriculture minister, Istvan Nagy, said the surge in Ukrainian products on European markets had made it impossible for Hungarian farmers to remain competitive.

Nagy also said low production costs in Ukraine, owing to practices being used that are not permitted in EU countries, had allowed Ukraine to export large quantities of poultry, eggs and honey to the European market, driving costs down to unsustainable levels.

The Slovak Agriculture Ministry announced last week that tests of 1,500 tons of grain from Ukraine in one mill in Slovakia revealed it contained a pesticide banned in the EU. As a result, the Slovak authorities decided to test all Ukrainian grain in the country and temporarily banned its processing.

Its ban will affect imports of grain and also some other food, including sugar, hops, flax, hemp, fruits and vegetables and products made of them, vine, honey and honey products. Slovak Agriculture Minister Samuel Vlcan said the ban that takes effect Tuesday will remain in place until further notice and doesn't apply for transit.

Ukraine and Russia are both major global suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other affordable food products that developing nations depend on. The war upended those supplies to Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia where people were already going hungry and helped push millions more people into poverty or food insecurity.

After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it became too dangerous for ships to sail in the Black Sea, disrupting the flow of large ships carrying food to distant markets. Shipments resumed under a deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey.

The EU reacted to the crisis by lifting tariffs and other trade duties on Ukraine to help keep its economy afloat. That helped to divert Ukraine's grain flows destined for Africa and the Middle East through Europe  but much of this food has instead remained in the bordering countries, creating a glut that has caused high losses for local farmers.

The EU measures expire in June, but the EU is expected to renew them.

Ukraine's EU neighbors are, with the exception of Hungary, allies of Ukraine who favor their neighbor's future membership in the EU.

Yet already the EU's decision to banish tariffs for Ukrainian goods as a result of Russia's invasion of its neighbor underlines the challenges that would come with integrating a huge food producer with the rest of the bloc.

Ian Mitchell, an economist and London-based co-director of the Europe program at the Center for Global Development, said it's unusual for EU member states to "take unilateral trade action."

Mitchell, who specializes in agriculture and trade, argued that the move undermines the solidarity of the EU and shows the power of farmers' voices in politics. He described it as an attempt to get the EU to provide more support for the agricultural industry, even though aid is already generous for farmers in Eastern and Central Europe.

"You're a consumer in Hungary, Slovakia or Poland, then effectively the government has just ensured that you're going to be paying a higher price for your food," Mitchell said. "The balance of the food lobby is so powerful that it can get the government to do that even in a cost-of-living crisis."

Their bans come as Russia threatens to pull out of the Black Sea deal. Moscow is complaining that a separate agreement to facilitate exports of Russian food and fertilizers amid Western sanctions hasn't worked.

Global food commodity prices surged to record levels after the invasion of Ukraine and have been falling steadily since, but food is still expensive for people in many places because of factors like droughts, trade restrictions and the high cost of buying imported food priced in dollars as some emerging economies' currencies weaken.
A former Indian lawmaker was shot dead Saturday on live television along with his brother.

Police were escorting Atiq Ahmed and his brother, Ashraf, to a medical facility for a checkup when the handcuffed men were ambushed by three gunmen.

Media reports say the gunmen had been posing as journalists.

The brothers died within moments of being shot.

The men who shot the brothers are in police custody in Uttar Pradesh state.

A few days before Atiq was shot, his son was shot by police.

The former politician has been brought up on several charges over the years, including kidnapping, murder and extortion.

He had been sentenced to life in prison earlier this year in a kidnapping case.
U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy pledged Monday that the narrow Republican majority in the House of Representatives will vote to raise the countrys debt ceiling to avert a default on the governments financial obligations in the coming months, but will also stipulate that future spending increases be capped at 1%.

The White House strongly criticized the announcement.

McCarthy, in a speech at the New York Stock Exchange, called the countrys nearly $31.7 trillion debt a ticking time bomb and assailed Democratic President Joe Biden as missing in action in resolving the contentious issue before the government runs out of money to pay its bills, which could be as soon as June.

Any resulting default on the governments financial obligations would be a U.S. first and could roil the world economy, plunge stock values and force widespread layoffs.

Biden and White House officials have called on Congress to approve a debt ceiling increase without conditions, as has often been done in the past, including during Republican administrations. But McCarthy said, "Since the president continues to hide, House Republicans will take action."

McCarthy, who has had trouble in getting his 222-seat majority in the 435-member House to agree on a package of spending cuts to present to Biden, nonetheless told Wall Street leaders that the Republican caucus would pass legislation that would raise the debt ceiling for one year, pushing the issue next year into the midst of the 2024 presidential election campaign.

In addition, McCarthy said Republicans would roll back federal spending to fiscal 2022 levels and curb future spending boosts to no more than 1%. Republicans are also hoping to cut federal spending for social safety net programs for poorer Americans.

The White House, in a statement, said that McCarthy was breaking with the politically bipartisan norm in approving a debt ceiling increase without conditions, as happened twice during former President Donald Trumps tenure. Biden has said he is willing to discuss future spending separately, aside from increasing the debt ceiling to authorize government borrowing to pay debts already incurred.

The White House said the Republican House leader again failed to clearly outline what House Republicans are proposing and will vote on. The White House contended Republicans would increase costs for hard-working families, take food assistance and health care away from millions of Americans, and yet would enlarge the deficit when combined with House Republican proposals for tax giveaways skewed to the super-rich, special interests, and profitable companies.

Biden and McCarthy met in early February about the debt ceiling but not since.
The International Committee of the Red Cross warned Sunday that fighting in densely populated areas in Sudan is putting the lives of civilians at risk.

The ICRCs call is one of many humanitarian organizations urging all parties to the conflict to take immediate action to protect civilians.

Germain Mwehu, ICRC spokesperson in Khartoum, told VOA there are grave concerns over the use of explosives in populated areas.

There are blasts, there is heavy gunfire anytime, Mwehu told VOAs English to Africa Services South Sudan in Focus radio program. He added that is the case not only in the capital city but other cities in the country.

The situation in Sudan remains tense, with ongoing clashes between government forces and the countrys paramilitary group, Rapid Support Forces, in several parts of the country.

Its a very horrifying situation for the civilian population. They cant move. Its very dangerous for everyone to move, including humanitarian organizations, Mwehu said.

Alfonso Verdu Perez, the head of the ICRC delegation in Sudan, said in a statement the ongoing conflict in Sudan has escalated, particularly in urban areas, leading to a high number of civilian casualties.

As of Sunday, the number of civilians killed has reached 59 with nearly 700 others injured, but humanitarian organizations say the death toll could rise.

The conflict is impacting the ability of humanitarian organizations to aid those in need, Mwehu said.

There are students, for example, who have been stuck in schools since yesterday morning. There are people who were traveling at the airport. They have been stuck there since yesterday morning. There are those who work in the market and other places. They are not able to go back to their home. Those who are in hospitals, they cant receive visits from the families, medical workers, they cant reach the place the[y] work, and humanitarian organizations, they're not in a position, they cant move in the cities to provide humanitarian assistance.

The ICRC has reiterated its commitment to providing assistance to civilians affected by the conflict, but emphasized that without an end to the fighting, the situation will continue to deteriorate.

The civilian population is exposed. They are not spared, Mwehu told VOA.

Mwehu said the fighting also impacts refugees and internally displaced people in the country. We have in Sudan, refugees from Chad, refugees from CAR [the Central African Republic], refugees from South Sudan, refugees from Ethiopia, refugees from Eritrea, the situation will also affect everyone, so the situation is already very difficult from [a] humanitarian perspective, Im afraid, due to this fighting happening now in different parts of the country and it will make it even more difficult.

According to the U.N., Sudan is home to more than 1 million refugees from neighboring countries.

This story originated in VOA English to Africa Services South Sudan in Focus radio program.
As Sudan was rocked by fighting for the third day in a row, IGAD  the Intergovernmental Authority on Development  said Kenyan President William Ruto, South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and Djiboutis President Omar Guelleh will go to Khartoum in an effort to broker an immediate ceasefire.

President Salva Kirr has already been in touch with both General Burhan and General Hemedti to convey the message of the summit yesterday // so now preparations are on the way to undertake this mission, Nuur Mohamud Sheekh, a spokesperson for IGADs executive secretary, told VOA.

This comes after IGAD called for an immediate and unconditional cessation of hostilities between the warring parties in Sudan during an emergency virtual session of heads of states and government on Sunday, Sheekh said.

They must stop fighting in civilian inhabited areas and open humanitarian corridors. So they [IGAD] constituted a committee of three heads of states who are highly experienced and knowledgeable on the Sudan situation to undertake a mission to visit Khartoum and reach out to all Sudanese stakeholders to make sure theres cessation of hostilities and the parties return to dialogue.

Sheekh said the conflict undermines the peace progress achieved over the last four months.

He added that East African countries are closely linked, so any outbreak of violence in one country has security, economic, social, and humanitarian implications for its neighbors.

Fighting broke out on Saturday in the Sudanese capital Khartoum between the Sudan Armed Forces unit led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of Sudan's transitional governing Sovereign Council, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, who is deputy head of the council.

The clashes have so far left nearly 100 people dead and 600 hundreds injured according to The International Rescue Committee, which has since stopped its operations in most parts of the country.
KeyCare Virtualist providers can access and share patient data with Allina Health care teams through the Epic platform

CHICAGO, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- KeyCare, the nation's first and only Epic-based virtual care company, announced today its partnership with Allina Health to deliver high-quality virtual care with licensed providers whenever and wherever patients need it. Allina Health patients can access care by scheduling a virtual visit through the Allina Health MyChart patient portal.

KeyCare is an Epic-based virtual care platform designed to help forward-thinking health systems improve access and quality by expanding their virtual care options for patients. With KeyCare, health systems can easily augment their care teams and widen their digital front doors. KeyCare offers health systems access to a network of independent virtual care providers working on KeyCare's Epic-based platform. (PRNewsfoto/KeyCare)

Allina Health is a nonprofit health system that cares for individuals, families, and communities throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin. The health system comprises 12 hospital campuses, 65 primary care clinics, 14 urgent care centers, 27,000 employees, 4,200 physicians, and 2,600 community volunteers.

"Allina Health strives to deliver care in the most convenient and cost-effective ways for patients," said Jennifer McAnnany, MBA, RN, Director of Operations - Urgent Care, Virtual Care & Convenience Care, Allina Health. "Our partnership with KeyCare enables us to increase access to our telehealth services and provide patients with care when and where they need it, including overnight or when they are out of state, without disrupting any of the technology and operations we currently have in place."

KeyCare offers health systems the ability to easily augment their care teams, optimize capacity, and widen their digital front doors by partnering with a nationwide network of virtual care providers working on its Epic platform, which easily and safely connects to other Epic-based health systems.

KeyCare Virtualist healthcare providers have secure access to a patient's Allina Health data while providing care and completing encounter details on KeyCare's Epic platform. Visit information is then seamlessly shared with members of the patient's Allina Health care team.

"We are thrilled to be able to partner with Allina Health. They have been a leader in the Epic community for many years and we look forward to advancing the future of virtual care with such an innovative system," said Lyle Berkowitz, MD, CEO of KeyCare. "And this starts with immediately helping them improve patient convenience and quality by expanding access to their digital front door."

Story continues

About KeyCareKeyCare is an Epic-based virtual care platform designed to help forward-thinking health systems improve access and quality by expanding their virtual care options for patients. KeyCare offers health systems access to a network of independent virtual care providers working on KeyCare's Epic-based platform. Health systems can start with nationwide virtual on-demand care coverage, and then may add other virtual health services based on their virtual care initiatives. To learn more about KeyCare, visit www.keycare.org.

About Allina Health

Allina Health is dedicated to the prevention and treatment of illness and enhancing the greater health of individuals, families and communities throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin. A not-for-profit health care system, Allina Health cares for patients from beginning to end-of-life through its 90+ clinics, 12 hospital campuses, 15 retail pharmacies, and many specialty care centers and specialty medical services, home care, and emergency medical transportation services. Learn more at allinahealth.org and join us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Media Contact KeyCare Media Contact Allina Health Grace Vinton Jennifer Steingas 203-561-8935 612-388-1895 gvinton@acmarketingpr.com Jennifer.Steingas@Allina.com

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/allina-health-partners-with-epic-based-keycare-platform-for-24-x-7-virtual-care-301798558.html

SOURCE KeyCare
Iran said Monday it has formally invited Saudi King Salman to visit Tehran, following a reconciliation agreement reached last month between the two sides.

Saudi Arabia severed relations with Iran in 2016, after its embassy in Tehran and consulate in the northwestern city of Mashhad were attacked during protests over Riyadh's execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

The two Middle East powerhouses had held several rounds of dialogue in Iraq and Oman before reaching the agreement to mend ties on March 10 in China.

On Monday, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said President Ebrahim Raisi had "invited the Saudi King to visit Iran."

Kanani said the Iranian president had already received an invitation to visit the Sunni-ruled kingdom.

The spokesman also expressed hope that Iran and Saudi Arabia would reopen their respective diplomatic missions by May 9, as scheduled in the China-brokered agreement.

"We and the Saudi side insist on activating the embassies in a very timely manner so that Iranian pilgrims can attend a calm hajj pilgrimage using the services provided by the embassy," he told a weekly press conference.

The annual hajj pilgrimage to holy sites in Saudi Arabia, one of the pillars of Islam, is expected to begin this year in late June.

In recent days, delegations from the two countries have visited the embassies in Riyadh and Tehran and consulates in Jeddah and Mashhad to launch the process of their reopening.

On April 6 the Iranian and Saudi foreign ministers, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Prince Faisal bin Farhan, held talks in Beijing on the implementation of normalization of ties.

"The foreign ministers of the two countries will meet" again before the reopening of the embassies, the spokesman said.

Before the March deal to restore ties, Shiite Muslim-majority Iran and Sunni Muslim-ruled Saudi Arabia had backed rival sides in conflict zones across the region for years, including in Yemen.

Riyadh led a military coalition that supported the internationally recognized government in the kingdom, while Tehran backed the Houthi rebels who control the capital Sanaa and large areas of the north.
A spate of attacks from Iranian-backed militants last month on U.S. military personnel in Syria caused traumatic brain injuries in 23 military personnel, Defense Department officials tell VOA. One American contractor was killed, and 25 U.S. military personnel were wounded in the attacks.

Thirteen of the 26 casualties were the result of a follow-on attack from Iranian-backed forces in Syria conducted after the U.S. retaliated for a deadly attack in the countrys northeast on March 23, according to defense officials.

The latest injury disclosure calls into question how effective the U.S. retaliatory strikes have been in deterring militants from trying to hurt American service members and contractors in Syria.

America's response to these attacks seems to be just to want to ignore them and they will go away. But these militias are not going away, retired Colonel Myles Caggins III, a senior fellow at the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy, told VOA, adding that Iranian-backed attacks have been ongoing against U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria since 2018.

Asked whether the latest U.S. strikes, which targeted multiple facilities used by groups affiliated with Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, had deterred militants from conducting future attacks, Pentagon press secretary Brigadier General Pat Ryder told reporters April 13 that the U.S. military would continue to do everything that we need to do at a time and place of our choosing to ensure that we are deterring and safeguarding our troops.

Timeline

On March 23 at a base near Hasaka known as RLZ, a suicide drone of Iranian origin killed a U.S. military contractor, wounded one other contractor, and caused 11 traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) in service members, according to Defense Department officials.

The U.S. retaliated later that day with what it called proportional and deliberate precision strikes against multiple facilities used by IRGC-backed groups, killing at least eight militants.

No group will strike our troops with impunity, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said at the time of the attacks.

But militant attacks on Syrian garrisons hosting U.S. forces continued on March 24 and March 25 in a coordinated manner that showed a higher level of sophistication than previous attacks from Iranian-backed militants, according to a U.S. official.

First, 10 rockets targeted Mission Support Site Green Village in northeast Syria the morning of March 24. That night, several rockets targeted Mission Support Site Conoco in northeast Syria, wounding one American service member and causing 12 TBIs. Less than an hour later, three one-way attack drones targeted Green Village, and another attack drone struck Green Village in the early hours of March 25.

On March 30, the U.S. initially reported that the attacks at Green Village resulted in two traumatic brain injuries. But according to several military officials speaking to VOA, the attacks actually resulted in no injuries, and those TBIs had been misreported.

Defense officials also say a military statement issued last month saying that five service members were wounded in the attack at RLZ also was inaccurate.

The Pentagon says the traumatic brain injuries were identified during post-attack screenings that are still ongoing.

The U.S. has about 900 troops in eastern Syria to help Syrian Kurdish forces prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State terror group.

To date, U.S. officials say Iran or its proxies have carried out more than 80 attacks on U.S. forces in the Middle East since President Joe Biden took office in 2021, including a single rocket attack last Monday on Mission Support Site Conoco that resulted in no injuries or damage to the base.

The United States has retaliated by launching four major strikes against the attackers.
Nigeria has granted provisional approval to Oxford University's R21 malaria vaccine, its medicines regulator said Monday, making it the second country to do so after Ghana last week.

The approvals are unusual as they have come before the publication of final-stage trial data for the vaccine.

"A provisional approval of the R21 Malaria Vaccine was recommended, and this shall be done in line with the WHO's Malaria Vaccine Implementation Guideline," Nigeria's National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) said.

Malaria, a mosquito-borne disease, kills more than 600,000 people each year, most of them African babies and children.

Nigeria, the continent's most populous nation, is the world's worst-affected country with 27% of global cases and 32% of global deaths, according to a 2021 World Health Organization (WHO) report.

It was unclear when the R21 vaccine may be rolled out in Nigeria or Ghana as other regulatory bodies, including the WHO, are still assessing its safety and effectiveness.

Childhood vaccines in the poorest parts of Africa are typically co-funded by international organizations such as Gavi, the vaccine alliance, only after getting WHO approval.

"While granting the approval, the Agency has also communicated the need for expansion of the clinical trial conducted to include a phase 4 clinical trial/Pharmacovigilance study to be carried out in Nigeria," NAFDAC's director-general, Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye, said in a statement.

Mid-stage data from the R21 trial involving more than 400 young children were published in September, showing vaccine efficacy of 70% to 80% at 12 months following the fourth dose.

Data from an ongoing phase 3 clinical trial involving 4,800 children in Burkina Faso, Kenya, Mali and Tanzania are due to be published in the coming months.

Oxford has a deal with the Serum Institute of India to produce up to 200 million doses of R21 annually.

The first malaria vaccine, Mosquirix from British drugmaker GSK GSK.L, was endorsed by the WHO last year, but a lack of funding is thwarting GSK's capacity to produce enough doses.
Separatist rebels in Indonesia's Papua region claimed Sunday to have killed nine army personnel the day before, after Jakarta did not respond to a request for negotiations, while the military said one soldier died during the attack Saturday.

Indonesian military spokesperson Julius Widjojono said Sunday other soldiers were dispersed to several sites in the search for captured Susi Air pilot, Phillip Mehrtens, and they were having communication difficulties due to bad weather.

"As of 2:03 p.m. local time (0503 GMT) the information we have is one died. We have not received any other information because it is difficult to reach the area, especially with the uncertain weather," Widjojono said when asked about the higher casualty numbers.

Widjojono said the military will intensify the operation to rescue Mehrtens as they have identified the pilot's location.

Erratic weather has made the effort challenging, he said.

The West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) abducted the New Zealand pilot in February. The group initially demanded Jakarta recognize the area's independence but told Reuters this month they were prepared to drop that demand and seek a dialogue.

"We asked the Indonesian and New Zealand governments to free the hostages through peaceful negotiations," rebel spokesperson Sebby Sambom said in a recorded message Sunday.

"But the Indonesian military and police attacked civilians on March 23. Because of that the TPNPB troops said they would take revenge and it had already started," Sambom said, adding that fighting continued Sunday.

A military spokesperson in Papua, Herman Taryaman, denied the allegation of a March attack on civilians, saying the security forces were protecting civilians who were chased away by the rebels.

A low-level battle for independence from Indonesia has been going on for decades in the remote and resource-rich Papua region, with the conflict intensifying significantly in recent years, analysts say.

The conflict began after a controversial 1969 vote supervised by the United Nations saw the former Dutch territory brought under Indonesian control.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said Monday that the warring sides in Yemen have released nearly a thousand detainees over four days.

These release operations reunited hundreds of families just in time for Eid celebrations, said Daphnee Maret, ICRCs head of delegation in Yemen. They were enabled by powerful acts of goodwill that will hopefully also bring us closer to seeing an end to the conflict and to years of human suffering.

From April 14 to 16, the ICRC says it operated 15 flights that saw 869 detainees returned to four cities in Yemen and two in Saudi Arabia.

Additionally, the Saudi-led coalition requested that the ICRC facilitate a separate unilateral release of 104 detainees from Saudi Arabia to Yemen.

The developments come a month after an agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran to restore ties. Saudi Arabia has backed Yemens internationally recognized government, while Iran supports the Houthi rebels who seized Yemens capital in 2014.

U.N. Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, told the U.N. Security Council Monday that Yemen is at a critical juncture.

I believe we have not seen such a serious opportunity for making progress towards ending the conflict in eight years, he said in a video briefing. But the tide could still turn unless the parties take bolder steps toward peace.

He warned that recent military activity in the governorates of Marib, Shabwa, Taiz and elsewhere could spill over, and he urged maximum restraint and for the parties to refrain from provocative actions and continue to engage with his office on de-escalation.

There has been recent engagement between the Saudis and Omanis with the Houthis in Sanaa, as well as Saudi discussions with their allies on the Presidential Leadership council.

Any new agreement in Yemen must be a clear step toward a Yemeni-led political process, Grundberg said. It needs to include a strong commitment from the parties to meet and negotiate in good faith with one another.

The conflict in Yemen has exacerbated an already tough humanitarian situation, with the United Nations estimating 80% of the population needs humanitarian aid and protection.

Chris Hannas contributed to this report.
The Somali government is making plans to evacuate its citizens from Sudan if the fighting between rival forces there escalates.

We are discussing, in case there is an evacuation, how they could be moved out of this country, Mohamed Sheikh Isak, the Somali ambassador to Sudan, told VOA on Monday.

There are no planes. There is a plan we are working on which is, if we cannot evacuate them through the airports, to rent buses and move them out of the city, and take them to the neighboring countries in South Sudan and Ethiopia.

As fighting raged Monday in Sudans capital Khartoum, Somali students expressed fear for their safety. In an interview with VOA, one of the students appealed to the Somali government to be evacuated.

Hayat Aden, a student at Khartoums International University of Africa, said gunfire in the city is terrifying the residents. Aden said she hopes the fighting will subside.

The gunfire is ongoing now...We, the Somali students appeal to the Somali government to assist us immediately, in returning us to our country. We cant continue to stay like this, said Aden.

Another student, Hassan Nor Ali, said they ran out of food and supplies, and water and electricity have stopped running.

In terms of living conditions there is no supermarket or a shop open, he said. You cannot get basic services like food. Water and electricity are shut off. You can imagine someone with no water and electricity in a hot country, during the Ramadan, said Ali.

Ali said there is a lot of fear as fighter jets fly over the city. He said educational institutions have closed.

Ambassador Isak, who is currently in Saudi Arabia on a pilgrimage, estimated that up to 3,000 Somalis are living in Sudan, many of them students.

He told VOA that the foreign affairs ministry has set up an online registration form for Somalis in Sudan and created a WhatsApp group to keep Somali citizens informed about the situation.

Isak said any movement and possible evacuation of citizens would depend on conditions on the ground.

The fighting between Sudans army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces continued Monday, taking the lives of nearly 100 people according to news agencies.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud urged rival sides in Sudan to come together and resolve their differences through peaceful and constructive dialogue. The rival sides are locked in a power struggle.
In welcoming Professor Olexiy Haran, who is part of a three-member Ukrainian delegation seeking support for the fight against Russia, the Holocaust Centers Director Richard Freedman said the suffering in Ukraine should not be ignored.

Freedman said many observers see an element of genocidal intent in Russias actions  something that several governments and human rights groups have also expressed.

And we here in South Africa, we need to be cognizant of this to know whats going on and to try and prevail with our government through one way or another to see it for what it is and call it for what it is, Freedman said.

A press release issued by the delegation says the Prosecutor General of Ukraine has recorded over 70,000 war crimes there since Russias invasion in February last year. Russia has denied targeting Ukrainian civilians in the conflict.

South Africa has remained steadfast in its neutrality and has abstained from several United Nations resolutions condemning Russias invasion.

A delegation from the ruling African National Congress party was also recently hosted by the ruling United Russia party in Moscow.

Professor Haran said it is clear there is genocidal ideology behind Russian President Vladimir Putins war on Ukraine. He noted that a Russian state-run news agency published an article speaking about the de-Ukrainianization of Ukraine. He said the mass graves, deaths and deportation of thousands of children to Russia was evidence of Putin's desire to have a great Russian people with no Ukrainians.

In appealing to the South African government to change its stance, Haran said he had a chance to look at the exhibition at the Holocaust Center in Cape Town, and it reminded him that many countries were still doing business with Hitler during the Second World War.

Were asking for support, were asking for support in any form. The former colonial power is trying to come back. Why dont you support us? Why do you abstain? You, the country that suffered from colonialism for centuries. So, it means that Russian propaganda is very strong, Russian ties are quite strong. You know Russia is using disinformation, corruption, all these things, said Haran.

He said Ukrainians often hear some African politicians saying its not their war  but Haran urged Africans to look at the soaring energy prices, fertilizer prices and food shortages.

He also reminded South Africa that its trade with Russia isnt the largest.

At least try to diversify, try not to depend on Russian gas as it was in Europe, or Russian nuclear facilities or whatever.

When asked to comment on the call for South Africa to change its neutral stance toward the war, President Cyril Ramaphosas spokesman Vincent Magwenya referred to a recent media briefing broadcast on the governments YouTube page.

It's an issue of major concern to the AU and to the whole continent because of the impact of this conflict. And so when South Africa engages on this conflict, were not engaging from a position of being apologetic for the stance that weve taken. We engage so as to encourage parties to find a peaceful resolution to encourage all other interested parties to continue the dialogue with both countries involved, said Magwenya.

Magwenya added that South Africa is seeking legal advice about hosting Putin at a summit in August with its partners in the BRICS bloc  Brazil, Russia, India and China.

The International Criminal Court recently issued an arrest warrant for Putin, for ordering the illegal deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia.
The United States, South Korea and Japan conducted a joint missile defense exercise Monday aimed at countering North Koreas growing nuclear arsenal, as a top North Korean army official warned the U.S. that it risks a clearer security crisis and insurmountable threats.

Last week, North Korea conducted one of its most provocative weapons demonstrations in years by flight-testing for the first time an intercontinental ballistic missile powered by solid fuel. It is considered a more mobile, harder-to-detect weapon and could directly target the continental United States.

South Koreas navy said Mondays three-way drills took place in international waters off the countrys eastern coast and focused on mastering procedures for detecting, tracking and sharing information on incoming North Korean ballistic missiles. The one-day naval exercise involved an Aegis destroyer from each country.

The drills goal is to improve our response capabilities against ballistic missiles and strengthen our ability to conduct joint operations as North Koreas nuclear and missile threats continue to escalate, Jang Do-young, a spokesperson for South Koreas navy, said at a news briefing.

The United States and South Korea also launched separate bilateral drills Monday involving some 110 warplanes, including advanced F-35 fighter jets, that will continue through April 28.

The two sets of exercises could trigger a belligerent response from North Korea, which views the United States military drills with its Asian allies as invasion rehearsals. North Korea has used such drills as a pretext to accelerate its own weapons development, creating a tit-for-tat cycle that has raised tensions in recent months.

Later Monday, Ri Pyong Chol, a North Korean army marshal and close associate of leader Kim Jong Un, warned that the United States should stop at once its political and military provocations getting on the nerves of [North Korea]."

If the U.S. persists in the acts of endangering the security environment on the Korean Peninsula in disregard of the repeated warnings by [North Korea], the latter will take necessary actions to expose the former to a clearer security crisis and insurmountable threats, Ri said in a statement carried by state media.

Without mentioning the drills that began Monday, Ri accused the U.S. and South Korea of having staged a series of large-scale joint military exercises simulating a preemptive nuclear strike and all-out war against North Korea. He also criticized the U.S. for calling for a meeting of the U.N. Security Council to discuss North Korea's solid-fuel ICBM launch, saying his country was exercising its right to self-defense.

Security Council resolutions ban North Korea from engaging in any ballistic activities. But the council has failed to impose new sanctions on North Korea despite its series of ballistic missile tests since early last year because of the opposition of China and Russia, which are both veto-wielding members.

North Korea's unprecedented run of weapons tests has so far involved more than 100 missiles of various ranges fired into the sea since the start of 2022 as it attempts to build a nuclear arsenal that could threaten its rival neighbors and the United States.

Experts say Kim wants to pressure the United States into accepting North Korea as a legitimate nuclear power and hopes to negotiate an easing of sanctions from a position of strength.

North Koreas growing nuclear threat has also led South Korea and Japan to increase their security cooperation and mend ties that were strained by history and trade disputes. On Monday, South Korea and Japan held their first security meeting of senior diplomats and defense officials following a five-year hiatus. During the meeting, Seoul and Tokyo discussed North Koreas nuclear program and trilateral cooperation with the United States, according to Seoul's Defense Ministry.

Japans Joint Staff in a statement stressed the need to strengthen trilateral cooperation as the security environment surrounding Japan increasingly becomes severe because of North Korea's missile activities.
Lynne Tracy, the U.S. ambassador to Russia, said she visited jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in Moscow Monday and that she found him in good spirits. Russia has accused Gershkovich of spying.

"This is the first time we've had consular access to Evan since his wrongful detention over two weeks ago, Tracy said in a short statement in Russian on Telegram. He feels well and is holding up. We reiterate our call for Evan's immediate release."

Gershkovich was arrested last month in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, 1,800 kilometers east of Moscow, while on a reporting assignment. Russia claims, without producing evidence, that he was caught red-handed while spying, collecting what it claimed were state secrets about a military industrial complex.

His newspaper and the U.S. government have rejected the charge of espionage, which, if he were to be convicted, carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

Two weeks ago, his parents, Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich, who fled the Soviet Union in 1979 and live in the eastern U.S. city of Philadelphia, received a two-page, hand-written note from him in Russian, the language the family speaks at home.

I want to say that I am not losing hope, Gershkovich said. I read. I exercise. And I am trying to write.

He also teased his mother about her cooking. Mom, you unfortunately, for better or worse, prepared me well for jail food, he said. For breakfast they give us hot creamed wheat, oatmeal cereal or wheat gruel. I am remembering my childhood.

The parents said in a video interview with the Journal that they remain optimistic for their sons release.

Its one of the American qualities that we absorbed, you know, be optimistic, believe in a happy ending, Milman said. But I am not stupid. I understand whats involved.

Milman said her son felt like it was his duty to report in Russia, even after most Western journalists left the country when President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine last year. He loves Russian people, she said of her son.

U.S. President Joe Biden has called the journalists detention totally illegal and told the family he was working for Gershkovichs release. The United States has officially declared that Gershkovich has been wrongfully detained and that he is being held as a hostage.

The U.S. has repeatedly told its citizens to leave Russia due to risk of arbitrary arrest.
The FBI on Monday arrested two New York City residents for allegedly operating a secret, illegal police station for Chinas Ministry of Public Security in the citys Chinatown neighborhood.

The station, one of more than 100 China operates around the world ostensibly to help its citizens renew documents such as drivers licenses, allegedly had a more sinister purpose: to monitor and harass Chinese activists and dissidents in the United States as part of what U.S. prosecutors call Chinas transnational repression campaign.

Harry Lu Jianwang and Chen Jinping, both U.S. citizens and leaders of a Chinatown non-profit, were arrested Monday morning on charges of conspiring to act as agents of the Chinese government, and obstruction of justice for destroying evidence of their communication with a Chinese security official.

The first charge carries a sentence of up to five years in prison, while the second charge calls for a maximum prison sentence of up to 20 years.

The men made their initial court appearances Monday afternoon.

In two other related schemes unveiled Monday, prosecutors charged a group of 34 officers of the Chinese ministry of public security with creating thousands of fake online personas to threaten and harass Chinese dissidents, and another group of six Chinese public security personnel with directing a China-based employee of video conference provider Zoom to remove Chinese dissidents from the companys platform. The tech executive, Julien Jin, was first charged in 2020.

The charges, announced by top law enforcement officials in New York, come amid growing tensions between China and the United States over a range of issues - from Beijings claim over Taiwan to Chinese transnational repression activities.

Calling the Chinese police stations operation in New York a flagrant violation of our nations sovereignty, U.S. Attorney Breon Peace of the Eastern District of New York, said the three cases cast a spotlight on Chinas transnational repression activities.

The cases shed further light on the extent of the PRC governments efforts to project its authoritarian worldview on the residents of this city and this country, Peace said.

The embassy of China in Washington did not respond to a VOA request for comment. But Chinas foreign ministry in the past has described the stations as service centers catering to its citizens around the world.

The existence of the New York outpost came to light in September 2022 after a Spain-based human rights group, Safeguard Defenders, released an investigative report on a network of dozens of stations around the world, saying it was part of Chinas growing transnational repression.

SEE ALSO: A related video by VOA's Henry Ridgwell:

It is not clear when the FBI began looking into the New York station. But in November 2022, FBI Director Christopher Wray, appearing before a congressional panel, confirmed the bureau was investigating the operation, vowing to put a stop to Chinas illegal law enforcement activities in the United States.

According to prosecutors, the station operated between February and October 2022.

Acting at the direction of the Fuzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau, a provincial arm of the Chinese ministry of public security, Lu and Chen set up the station in February but closed it in October after getting wind of the FBI probe.

Charging documents identified the two men as top leaders of a nonprofit organization in Lower Manhattan that describes its mission as a social gathering place for Fujianese people, prosecutors said.

The New York Post last year identified the charity as America ChangLe Association NY Inc. and said it owned and operated the alleged police station above a noodle restaurant in Chinatown.

U.S. prosecutors allege that Lu, who maintains a home in China, has had a long-standing relationship of trust with the Chinese government.

In 2015 during Chinese President Xi Jinpings visit to the United States, Lu allegedly took part in counterprotests against members of Falun Gong, a religious movement banned in China.

In 2018, he was enlisted by Chinese security officials to facilitate the return of a purported Chinese fugitive to China; in 2022, he was asked to locate a pro-democracy activist living in California.

FBI agents executed a search warrant at the Chinese police station in October, seizing Lu and Chens cellphones, according to the charging document.

In interviews with the FBI, the two men admitted that they had deleted their communications with their primary ministry of public security liaison after learning about the federal investigation.

In addition to Lu and Chen, five other members of the Chinatown nonprofit supported the police stations operations, according to the criminal complaint.

None of them registered as agents of a foreign government with the Justice Department, which suggests that more arrests and charges related to the illegal operation of the police station case may be coming.

In a statement, Matt Olsen, assistant attorney general for national security, said Chinas efforts go far beyond the bounds of acceptable nation-state conduct.

We will resolutely defend the freedoms of all those living in our country from the threat of authoritarian repression, he said.

In an updated report in December 2022, Safeguard Defenders said there were 102 Chinese overseas police service centers in 53 countries around the world.

Law enforcement authorities in 14 countries have launched investigations into the police stations, according to Safeguard Defenders.

U.S. law enforcement officials declined to comment on whether China is operating other stations in the United States.

But Safeguard Defenders says its research indicates the presence of a second Chinese police station based in Los Angeles.
Alphabet shares fall on report Samsung may dump Google Search for Bing FILE PHOTO: Google logo on office building in Irvine, California

(Reuters) -Alphabet Inc shares fell as much as 4% on Monday following a report South Korea's Samsung Electronics was considering replacing Google with Microsoft-owned Bing as the default search engine on its devices.

The report, published by the New York Times over the weekend, underscores the growing challenges Google's $162-billion-a-year search engine business face from Bing - a minor player that has risen in prominence recently after the integration of the artificial intelligence tech behind ChatGPT.

Google's reaction to the threat was "panic" as the company earns an estimated $3 billion in annual revenue from the Samsung contract, the report said, citing internal messages.

Another $20 billion is tied to a similar Apple contract that will be up for renewal this year, the report added.

In a response to Reuters, Google said it was working to bring new AI-powered features to Search without commenting on its association with Samsung. The South Korean consumer electronics major did not respond to a request for comment.

Google has for decades dominated the search market with a share of over 80%, but Wall Street fears the company could be falling behind Microsoft in a fast-moving AI race.

Parent firm Alphabet lost $100 billion in value on Feb. 8 after its new chatbot, Bard, shared inaccurate information in a promotional video and a company event failed to dazzle.

On Monday, the stock fell to $104.90 and erased nearly $50 billion from Alphabet's market capitalization. Microsoft, meanwhile, outperformed the broader market with a rise of 1%.

"Investors worry Google has become a lazy monopolist in search and the developments of the last couple of months have served as a wake-up call," Atlantic Equities analyst James Cordwell said.

Cordwell added the potential costs tied to making Google Search more competitive than AI-powered Bing could also be a cause of concern.

Alphabet shares ended 2.7% lower at $105.9 on Monday.

(Reporting by Aditya Soni and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Additonal reporting by Yuvraj Malik; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Krishna Chandra Eluri)
Plans by the Islamic State terror group to kidnap officials outside of the Middle East region and hold them for leverage triggered an early morning U.S. raid that led to the death of one of the plot's alleged masterminds.

U.S. Central Command on Monday confirmed the death of Abd-al-Hadi Mahmud al-Haji Ali during the operation in northern Syria, describing him as the official responsible for planning attacks in the Middle East and in Europe.

Confirmation of Ali's death came hours after a U.S. official, speaking to VOA on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the operation, said the senior leader's remains had been recovered and were undergoing DNA testing to confirm his identity.

Two armed fighters with Ali at the time of the raid were also killed, according to CENTCOM officials, who said no civilians were injured and that the U.S. forces involved in the operation emerged unscathed.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based opposition war monitor, reported the U.S. raid took place before dawn in the village of Suwayda, near the town of Jarabulus, not far from the border with Turkey.

Sources told the group that U.S. forces arrived by helicopter in the pre-dawn hours, sparking violent clashes with the IS fighters that ended only after the U.S. launched two missiles at the building where the IS leader was hiding.

VOA has not been able to independently confirm the account.

"We know ISIS retains the desire to strike beyond the Middle East," CENTCOM spokesman Colonel Joe Buccino said in statement Monday, using another acronym for Islamic State. "This raid deals a significant blow to ISIS operations in the region but does not eliminate ISIS' capability to conduct operations."

Word of the alleged plotting to kidnap officials on foreign soil, and the U.S. raid to hamper such efforts, comes as most Western assessments of IS in Syria and Iraq, sometimes referred to as ISIS core, have downplayed the group's capabilities.

Just last month, a top U.S. homeland security official said an attack on the U.S. by IS was "almost inconceivable" due to the suppressive effect of counterterrorism operations by the U.S. and its partners.

And even if IS were to try to launch an attack, most officials have pointed to the group's Afghan affiliate, IS-Khorasan, as the more dangerous and capable threat.

IS-Khorasan "can do external operations against U.S. or Western interests abroad in under six months with little to no warning," CENTCOM General Michael Kurilla told lawmakers last month.

Additional intelligence shared by United Nations member states for a report earlier this year suggested IS in Syria and Iraq appears to be historically weak, down to as few as 2,500 fighters in areas once covered by its self-declared caliphate, a far cry from the tens of thousands of militants once thought to be at its beck and call.

But a second U.S. official who spoke to VOA on the condition of anonymity warned that IS core, under the stewardship of a new generation of leaders, has been undeterred.

Ali's death is a "big deal," the official said, "in terms of planning  expansion beyond the region."

"He was a key figure in these plans," he added.

And while the official said Ali will be likely replaced, his death is a clear setback.

"They lose experience. They lose capability every time we take one of these guys out," the official said.

At least 13 senior IS leaders in Syria and Iraq have been killed or captured since early 2022, including Khalid 'Aydd Ahmad al-Jabouri, responsible for planning attacks in Turkey and Europe, in a U.S. airstrike earlier this month.

Last week, CENTCOM also announced the capture of another IS official, Hudayfah al Yemeni, describing him as an "attack facilitator."
Standing in the place where Islamic State militants held him hostage, Marc Marginedas was visibly moved.

"Who would have thought I would be back here?" the veteran war correspondent said.

Coalition bombing has leveled the building. But standing on the broken tiled floor, Marginedas could look out over the Euphrates; a river that he and other hostages had viewed from their cell.

These are the closing shots of Return to Raqqa, a documentary about the Spanish journalist and others held hostage by Islamic State militants.

Marginedas was held for nearly six months in Syria between September 2013 and March 2014, along with other Western journalists and aid workers  26 in total, nearly all of them journalists.

Almost 10 years later, the documentary, which is showing on the Spanish Movistar streaming service, recounts their harrowing treatment at the hands of militants, in particular a brutal cell nicknamed "The Beatles" because of their English accents.

The documentary has been viewed at festivals in Spain and France with a goal of showing it in other countries.

Marginedas knows war. He covered the Arab Spring anti-government protests and was on his third reporting trip to cover Syria's civil war when he was abducted.

He says he views the kidnapping as part of the risk of his job, which involves covering Russia and the Arab world for Spanish newspaper El Periodico de Catalunya.

"It wasn't that big a deal to tell you a truth. Because of my job, I have been exposed to violence. It is not a trauma," he told VOA in an interview.

"[Being kidnapped] is more of a job accident. It is like someone who cuts wood and cuts their finger. You are prepared for that. [But] if you are a mayor and you are kidnapped by ETA that is a shock," he said, referring to the Basque separatist organization.

Still, Marginedas acknowledges that journalists  including those in Russia where he has also worked  are a target.

"We are very juicy for militia and for Russia. I think it is good we have more protection. We need to understand the challenges," said Marginedas, a special correspondent covering Russia and Ukraine.

"Russia is a country which is run by a mafia mob and is perfectly fine with hostage taking. There is not much difference between Russia and Islamic State."

Russia is currently detaining The Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on accusations of espionage. The U.S. says the American journalist is "wrongfully detained" and Gershkovich's paper has denied the charges.

Marginedas's decision to return to reporting is partly the inspiration for Return to Raqqa.

Albert Sole, the film's producer, told VOA part of the reason he decided to make the documentary was to "pay homage to the bravery of his journalism."

"I know Marc [from] when we started in journalism," Sole said, adding, "I also wanted to make a work about Islamic State, knowing that there was huge interest in this subject around the world."

Connections

Marginedas is still in touch with many of the other hostages and the relatives of those who did not make it back.

"We are a small family. Our paths would never have crossed [otherwise]," he said.

Some of them reunited last year when one of their captors, El Shafee Elsheikh, appeared in a U.S. federal court in Alexandria, Virginia.

The court convicted Elsheikh, who was raised in London, of conspiring to kill four American hostages: James Foley, Steven Sotloff, Peter Kassig, and Kayla Mueller. He is serving a life sentence.

During the trial, said Marginedas, he realized some relatives were starting to recover from their loss.

"People start to heal," he said. "For [Kayla's family] the trial helped heal the pain."

Marginedas said that Foley's mother, Diane, had met last year with Alexanda Kotey, another of the so-called "The Beatles."

"She is very brave woman. She is a strong Catholic. She believes that forgiveness is important," he said.

Kotey was sentenced to life in prison by a U.S. judge in 2022. He pleaded guilty last September to the murders of Foley, Sotloff, Kassig and Mueller.

A third member of the group, Mohammed Emwazi, died in a U.S.-British missile strike in Syria in 2015.

Marginedas did not want to speculate on the fate of John Cantlie, a British photojournalist kidnapped in Syria alongside Foley and now presumed dead.

After releasing videos of them killing their hostages, the militants also published online several videos of Cantlie.

"I was very close to John. We slept side by side," he said. "My best friend was Steven [Sotloff] and [Cantlie] and Foley. John was the most intelligent one. He understood the mentality of our captors," he said.

Marginedas spoke dearly of Sotloff, describing him as the "bravest" among the hostages because as a Jewish American he was most at risk.

"James [Foley] was the most popular. He was very simple and very humble," Marginedas remembered.

As the first hostage to be released in March 2014, Marginedas said the sudden focus of the world's attention was "intimidating."

"Two days after being released, I had [met] the parents of Foley and other relatives. I was briefing them on the whereabouts of their relatives," he said.

He opened his computer to find cash offers for interviews from around the world. It was too much.

Marginedas underwent treatment for a year but does not believe he suffered post-traumatic stress disorder  a condition he had after covering the Algerian civil war in 1998.

He threw himself back into work, but soon realized he was struggling. While on assignment in Ukraine covering the downing of a Malaysia Airlines plane in 2014, he panicked when he thought he was going to be arrested.

In some cases, former hostages like Javier Espinosa, a correspondent for the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, met their former captors years later.

Another Spanish journalist, Ricardo Garcia Vilanova, returned to Syria to report on the civil war. If he had been kidnapped again, it would have been very difficult for him, Marginedas said.

Is this a foolhardy way to deal with being kidnapped? Marginedas believes not.

"I think it is a perfectly fine way of dealing with what we went through," said Marginedas. "Everything that happened needs to be revealed."
New developments:

Ukraine says more than 100 prisoners of war were freed in a major Orthodox Easter exchange with Russia Sunday. Its the second time Orthodox Ukrainians are marking the holiday since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion.

Russian shelling overnight hit an Orthodox church in Zaporizhzhia province despite the holiday. At least four civilians were killed, and eight others were injured.

Russia President Vladimir Putin marked the Orthodox Easter holiday attending a midnight service Saturday, crossing himself several times, even as Russian troops continued shelling Ukraine.

British military analysts say Moscow is bringing back a senior general that was dismissed in January. His return could signal a larger role for Russias air borne forces.

Ukraine and Russia said Sunday they carried out a new prisoner exchange on the Sunday of Orthodox Easter, with Kyiv saying 130 of its military personnel had returned home.

Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Ukraine's president, said the returning prisoners of war included soldiers, sailors, border guards and others, but it was not known how many Russian captives Ukraine released. Despite the ongoing war, now in its 14th month, the two countries have exchanged prisoners several times, usually roughly in equal numbers.

In a video on Telegram, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner mercenary group fighting alongside Moscows troops, was seen ordering a soldier to prepare the Ukrainian captives to leave Russian-controlled territory "by lunchtime" Sunday. The POWs were shown walking along a road and boarding trucks.

Yermak said in a Telegram post that the latest group of released Ukrainians included troops who fought near Bakhmut, the eastern mining city where Russian and Ukrainian forces have for months engaged in fierce fighting.



"The lives of our people are the highest value for us," Yermak said, adding that Kyiv's goal was to bring back all remaining POWs, although he did not disclose any head count of the remaining military personnel held by Russia.

Orthodox Easter celebrations in Ukraine were muted, with curfews barring the faithful from customary all-night services, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus in the Christian faith.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attended Easter services Saturday in Moscows Christ the Savior Cathedral. He crossed himself several times during the midnight service, known as the Divine Liturgy. When Patriarch Kirill announced, "Christ has risen," Putin, along with other members of the congregation, replied, "Truly he is risen."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in his Easter address released Sunday, described the holiday as marking "the victory of good, the victory of truth, the victory of life," and he stressed what he said was Ukrainian unity in the face of Russian aggression.

"Belief in victory unites all of us always, and especially today, Zelenskyy said. At Easter, which from time immemorial has been a family holiday for Ukrainians, a day of warmth, hope and great unity. We are one big family  Ukrainians. We have one big home  Ukraine. We have one big goal  victory for all."

Despite the holiday, fighting raged on, with officials in the country's south and east saying that churches had not been spared. The head of the local military administration in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia province said Russian shelling overnight hit an Orthodox church in the town of Komyshuvakha. Photos showed residents rescuing icons from the church, its gutted frame visible in the background.

Ukrainian officials said at least four civilians were killed and eight others were wounded Saturday and overnight. In the Russian-occupied territory in eastern Ukraine, the Kremlin-appointed head of the Donetsk region claimed that a Ukrainian strike killed one civilian and wounded six others in the province's namesake capital.

Some material in this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
KHARTOUM, SUDAN  A doctors group in Sudan reported early Monday that the death toll for civilians caught up in the fighting between Sudans military and a paramilitary force has grown to at least 97, with 365 injured, according to Reuters. Other reports say as many as 600 people have been injured.

Also Monday, the International Rescue Committee, or IRC, announced that it has halted its Sudan operations except in Tunaydbah, where it said it is still able to provide services to the refugee population.

In a statement, IRC Regional Vice President Kurt Tjossem said, Conflict has disrupted humanitarian action where over a third of the population, an estimated 15 million people, including refugees, are experiencing acute food insecurity. Humanitarian actors have limited ability to enter and operate in areas with ongoing war. The IRC calls upon all stakeholders to work without delay to address outstanding issues with a view to achieving a lasting, inclusive political peace.

The fighting erupted Saturday between army units loyal to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of Sudan's transitional governing Sovereign Council, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, deputy head of the council.

The U.N. had announced a three-hour cease-fire late Sunday afternoon between the two groups, yet residents told media that heavy explosions and continued gunfire, as well as airstrikes pounding RSF targets, could be heard Sunday night.

Early Sunday, heavy gunfire could be heard in downtown Khartoum, around Sudans military headquarters and the presidential palace.

Both the military and the RSF have claimed control of these strategic locations.

This looks like fighting to the finish, Saliman Baldo, director of Sudan Transparency and Policy Tracker, an anti-corruption campaign, told VOAs James Butty.

Baldo said he does not think any attempt at mediation would work because it appears both generals have branded each other as criminals and could be prepared to fight it out.

SEE ALSO:

The U.S. and British foreign ministers have called for an immediate cessation of violence in Sudan and urged the opposing parties to return to talks. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his British counterpart James Cleverly made their statement the sidelines of the G-7 talks.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the fighting between Sudans military and a paramilitary force that has killed three U.N. workers for the World Food Program.

Guterres strongly condemns the deaths and injuries of civilians, including the death of three staff members of the World Food Program in North Darfur, with a further two seriously injured, the U.N. chief's spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said in a statement, adding: Those responsible should be brought to justice without delay.

The statement said, United Nations and other humanitarian premises have also been hit by projectiles and looted in several locations in Darfur.

Guterres reiterated a call for an immediate cease-fire between the warring groups, the U.N. statement said.

SEE ALSO:

The World Food Program says it has suspended operations in the country after the deaths of its staff members.

The head of the Sudanese journalists syndicate, Abdulmuniem Abu Idris, told VOA via a messaging application that about 12 journalists, including four women, have been stranded in the Sudanese Kuwaiti business center since Saturday morning.

Abu Idris had earlier appealed to the warring parties to create a safe corridor for them to go to their families.

I am calling on the two parties to create a safe passage for all the civilians inside the conflict areas, especially the journalists who have been stuck since yesterday, he said.

SEE ALSO:

The Sudanese-Kuwaiti business center is located east of the presidential palace along the Nile River. It is a working office space for many media outlets.

Abu Idris says described the area as a serious confrontation zone between the military and the RSF.

He says those journalists and other civilians would be in need of basic items to survive.

They dont have food; they are not in a safe area because they are inside the area of the exchange fires. And we are calling on the Red Crescent to intervene and rescue the civilians and those journalists, he said.

Reports say recent tensions between the army and the RSF stem from disagreements with how the RSF should be integrated in the army and who should oversee that process. Its part of an effort to restore the country to civilian rule and end a political crisis sparked by a military coup in October 2021.

SEE ALSO:

The African Unions Peace and Security Council held an extraordinary meeting Sunday in Nairobi to discuss the situation in Sudan. Participants appealed to the Sudanese military and RSF leaders to de-escalate confrontation and restore stability.

Arab League countries also condemned the fighting in Sudan, calling for calm.

Egypt and South Sudan announced in a joint statement their intention to mediate between Sudans warring parties.

SEE ALSO:

Some information for this article came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
Funeral Announcements A daily list of current funeral annoucements as heard on KXRA 1490 AM/100.3 FM

News Updates The daily news, sports, and events delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria.



Sports Update This current sports headlines delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria.

Upcoming Events This email is the events of the area delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria.

Breaking News The big news. Sent only as it happens.
Press Release

April 17, 2023 REVILLA CONDEMNS INVOLVEMENT OF UNIFORMED PERSONNEL IN DEGAMO SLAY DURING the public hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs on Monday morning (April 17), Senator Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. strongly condemned the direct involvement of former members of uniformed personnel in the brutal assassination of the late Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo last March. "Hindi na dapat maulit pa ang katulad sa nangyaring kalunos-lunos na pagpaslang kay Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo. Ito ay tunay ngang sagad hanggang buto ang kasamaan. Lalo pa at nakikita natin ngayon na ang mga sangkot dito ay mismong mga may kaugnayan sa pamahalaan, the solon declared. Revilla deplored that the assailants were former soldiers who were dishonorably discharged from military service and expressed dismay since it was government funds that were used to train the soldiers in order to protect the people, only for them to incite political violence otherwise. "Government spent resources to train these people to protect the country and our kababayans, but instead, they used these specialized skills to inflict harm and terror", he said. Revilla also stated that the murder is not only a politically motivated act of violence but a direct attack to democracy as it created fear and havoc among the people. "Ang kalapastangang ito ay kahindik-hindik, kasuklam-suklam at kamuhi-muhi. No matter which way we look at it, we cannot reduce this into a mere political rivalry. It is no less than an affront to our democracy." He stressed that cruelty and lawlessness has no place in a society especially those caused by perpetrators who think they are untouchable. "The blind belief of those who perpetrated this heinous crime that they are untouchable ends today. Habang humahaba ang inyong sungay, patatalimin naman namin ang ngipin ng batas upang hindi kayo makatakas. After all, regardless of your audacity, one thing still remains constant - the rule of law will always prevail in our country", Revilla ended.
 Leading Test Solutions Provider Furthers Commitment to Canadian Customers 

OTTAWA, ON, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Anritsu Company announces that it has named Pylon Electronics Inc. as an authorized service center for select Anritsu test solutions. The agreement allows Anritsu to continue to best serve Canadian customers.

Anritsu Company Logo (PRNewsFoto/Anritsu Company)

Pylon Electronics operates the largest Canadian-owned calibration company and offers a true coast-to-coast solution. Pylon will service the majority of Anritsu handheld instruments, along with designated benchtop solutions, including bit error rate testers (BERTs), vector network analyzers (VNAs), and synthesizers in its Ottawa location.

"Anritsu is committed to providing premier support to our Canadian customers. We selected Pylon because of its staff's experience with Anritsu equipment, as well as our shared commitment to high-quality service and repair. Local customers will have confidence that their test Anritsu solutions will continue their peak performance and provide accurate, repeatable measurements," said Sean Grisier, Head of Technical Services, Anritsu Company.

Jarett Grant, President of Pylon Electronics, said, "Pylon is thrilled to become an authorized service center for Anritsu. Our companies have great synergy due to our shared values, such as our commitment to excellence, accuracy, and exceptional customer service. We will leverage our over 30 years in the calibration business to ensure Anritsu and their Canadian customers receive the high-quality service they have come to expect."

All equipment and calibration procedures are National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) traceable to ensure the highest quality service available. Pylon Electronics' veteran technicians are experienced at troubleshooting to the component level and have worked on the majority of test equipment in the market.

With the agreement, Pylon Electronics will service and repair Anritsu field and benchtop instruments, as well as RF components and power sensors. Among the field instruments are certain Site Master cable and antenna analyzers, ACCESS Master series, Network Master handheld analyzers, PIM Master family, Spectrum Master series, VNA Master, and LMR Master. Benchtop solutions supported by Pylon Electronics include designated VectorStar and ShockLine VNAs, Signal Quality Analyzer MP1800A, BERTWave, and MG3690 series of signal generators.

Story continues

About Pylon Electronics Inc.

Pylon is the largest independent and Canadian-owned service provider of test equipment calibration and repair services in Canada. Pylon has facilities in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, and Halifax. Pylon provides quality calibration services with accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025, active participation in the calibration community and commitment to customer satisfaction.

For more information, please visit www.pylonelectronics.com.

About Anritsu

Anritsu is a provider of innovative communications test and measurement solutions. Anritsu engages customers as true partners to help develop wireless, optical, microwave/RF, and digital solutions for R&D, manufacturing, installation, and maintenance applications, as well as multidimensional service assurance solutions for network monitoring and optimization. Anritsu also provides precision microwave/RF components, optical devices, and high-speed electrical devices for communication products and systems. The company develops advanced solutions for emerging and legacy wireline and wireless technologies used in commercial, private, military/aerospace, government, and other markets.

To learn more visit www.anritsu.com and follow Anritsu on Facebook , LinkedIn , Twitter , and YouTube .

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/anritsu-company-announces-canadian-authorized-service-center-301799477.html

SOURCE Anritsu Company
MN Governor Tim Walz welcomed Vice President Pence to Minnesota Thursday for a conversation at 3M about how we can partner across state and federal government, as well as the public and private sectors, to keep Minnesotans healthy.
Lets not let stan culture dominate the Bravo-verse.

Photo: Nicole Weingart/Bravo

In last weeks Vanderpump Rules recap, I came hard after Katie Maloney Schwartz Maloney, who I have long called the meanest woman on television, and the dues-paying members of the Housewives Institute were not very happy in the comments. Some said I was a misogynist and some said that I was being willfully ignorant of the fact that Katie went on the trip because production forced her to and she needed to make her money. After getting stroppy with a few of you, I thought, You know what? Im going to write The Case Against Katie Maloney in the newsletter where there is no comments section, so hahahahaha.

But then I had a better idea, mostly due to the preponderance of comments like this one from the excellently named HighBabyGorgeous: I love Brians recaps, but it is upsetting how he has missed the mark with this one. Schwartz is the awful one. SCHWARTZ. Yes, Tom Schwartz is also awful. Remember when he told Katie that he hated the sound of her voice? Remember when he never stood up for her in any fight ever? Remember when he refused to ask her to marry him? Remember when he poured a beer on her head and tried to tell her it was for her own good? Remember when his dick wouldnt work?

Okay, that last one was a Katie low blow, but these two have spent more time terrorizing each other than loving each other since the very first episode of this here program aired a decade ago. But the subtext of these comments  and others like them, which well get to in a moment  is that if you hate Katie, you have to love Schwartz, and if you hate Schwartz, you have to love Katie. Well, I am here to remind you that two people can be awful at the same time.

Ive been seeing this more and more in the online discourse about our favorite shows. Katie and Tom make up one example. Another is the feud between Melissa Gorga and Teresa Giudice, which takes up more of my brain cells than Teresa ever possessed. The battle lines on this one have been drawn for about as long as they have with Katie and Tom, but tensions are reaching a fever pitch now that the Giudice-Ruelases and the Gorgas are officially estranged. My allegiance is to hating Teresa, which makes many people assume that I support Melissa. (They are correct; I do.) But there are plenty of people out there who hate Melissa and feel that they then need to find justifications for Teresas behavior, which in my mind is indefensible. Everything has become sides, and if youre not on one, youre on the other. It seems like fans are making it impossible to love both Teresa and Melissa or hate both Teresa and Melissa.

This has been very pronounced for the past couple of seasons on RHOBH, particularly with last seasons feud between Kathy Hilton and Lisa Rinna. Did Rinna oversell Kathys rampage after a night out at the club? Most definitely. Did Kathy probably use a gay slur in a nightclub? I would bet money on it. As annoying as Rinna was, it doesnt mean that we have to love kooky Aunt Kathy, who is admittedly pretty lovable for a woman who skipped the finale cast party so that she could attend Donald Trumps Super Bowl party at Mar-a-Lago. The same goes for the squaring-off between Erika Jayne and Sutton Stracke. You can like one, you can like both, you can hate one, or you can hate both. These are all viable options, but the discourse seems intent on squeezing people toward one side or the other.

I dont want to get all political (he says after dropping the T-bomb in the last paragraph), but I think this is a symptom of living in a society that is so ideologically segregated. Were so used to digging into our side of the aisle and making fun of the other one that it has transferred to Housewifery. I think the other bad influence at play is stan culture, particularly on Twitter, which is where I consume most of my online Housewives content. Were seeing more and more communities like Nicki Minajs Barbs, who are rabid for their favorite Housewife and will obliterate anyone who disagrees. (TreHuggers, am I right?) This makes it impossible to love anyone who is on the other side of an argument with such a person. I also feel like these online sides are leading the women to pick their sides as well, tuning into the fans that applaud them and doubling down with their backing. Once the shows turn into sides, well, then its just boring for all of us.

One of my favorite things about Housewives fandom is that every woman in the franchise has fans who love her and fans who hate her, sometimes even for the same reason. One persons Ugh, Sonja Morgan is an annoying drunk is another persons, Oooh, Sonja Morgan is such a fun drunk! I love to talk to people who disagree with my stances to see where theyre coming from and try to explain where Im coming from. But when everything is boiled down to sides, it becomes more like warfare, a kind of sniping that isnt a fun argument but a vicious fight. What I really want is for us to be able to talk about these things with interest in and compassion for each others opinions. At the end of the day, no matter how you feel about the individual women, we all love the franchise, we all love the shows, we all love Bravo. Lets keep that in mind while were chatting. Oh, and next time I go in on someone in the comments, remind me I wrote this.
Mulaney in Baby J. Photo: Marcus Russell Price/Netflix

From an outsiders perspective, John Mulaneys last few years appear to have been as chaotic as a horse loose in a hospital. Starting at the outset of the pandemic, he hosted SNL, took a job writing for Late Night With Seth Meyers, checked into rehab, ended his marriage, began dating actress Olivia Munn, debriefed his bizarre time as a writer on Late Night With Seth Meyers on Late Night With Seth Meyers, became a father, hosted SNL again, embarked on a worldwide stand-up tour, was the subject of a frankly undignified number of speculative TikTok videos, and more. If all of this sounds like a good run-up for a new stand-up special, Mulaney and Netflix agree. A new teaser for the special, Baby J, features Mulaney teeing up a story in which he goes full villain. As you process and digest how obnoxious, wasteful, and unlikable that story is, just remember: Thats one Im willing to tell you, he says to huge cheers.

April 25. Only on Netflix. pic.twitter.com/EFwxL2R82U  John Mulaney (@mulaney) April 17, 2023

Filmed in February at Bostons Symphony Hall during his From Scratch tour, Baby J will mark Mulaneys third stand-up special for Netflix, following 2015s The Comeback Kid and 2018s Kid Gorgeous at Radio City, and fourth hour-long special overall. It was directed by Alex Timbers, who directed Kid Gorgeous, and will feature music from hot-dog-finger king David Byrne, who previously worked with Mulaney on John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch in 2019.

Mulaney has been dropping hints about this specials title since as early as February 2022, when he referenced it during his SNL monologue. I was there January 6 during the insurrection, he said of his stint in rehab. Wouldnt have happened on my watch! Because I wouldve seen to it. Was there ever an insurrection before I went to rehab? No! Has there been one since I got out? Absolutely not! They wouldnt dare. They know Baby J is back on the streets! Check out Baby J when it hits Netflixs streets on Tuesday, April 25.

This post has been updated.
Photo: David M. Russell/David M. Russell

Logan Roy has barely been dead 24 hours and the people who claim to have loved him most have descended on his home to pick through his leftovers, both physical and metaphysical, fish tacos jauntily perched in their hands. Thats right, folks, its a wake!

The episodes near-confinement to the wake works. Honeymoon States has a claustrophobic quality that really suits the narrative, but also makes it very hard to separate individual players for power-rankings purposes. Everybody is huddled together in small rooms, plotting and trying to decipher pencil strokes on recently discovered pieces of paper.

Nevertheless, power shall be ranked! Heres whos up (Kendall), down (Greg), and entering the charts (Willas mom) this week.

1.

Kendall wont come out and say it, but he doesnt have to. Everybody at that wake knows what he wanted most was to be Logans No. 1 special boy. And if he couldnt get that (and hed never be able to), then hed settle for taking over Logans job.

So when a piece of paper appears in Logans safe that seems to suggest Logan wanted Kendall to take over for him  unless the underline was actually Logan crossing his name out, which is almost certainly the case  Kendall seizes the opportunity to promote himself as interim CEO and a steady hand at the tiller. With Roman at his side, he can shepherd the GoJo deal to completion, spin off ATN, then go do something Pierce-related with his sibs. Nothing will ever go wrong for him again!

At one point Kendall invokes a haunted house, and of the four Roy kids, he most seems to have the ghost of Logan riding around on his shoulder, shouting insults in his ear. Hes too desperate to know if Logan loved him, even as he admits, He made me hate him, and then he died. Weve seen Kendall ride this high enough times to know a fall is probably coming, especially once he finally accepts that Logan was trying to cross out his name.

2.

Roman is the only Roy kid weve seen Logan physically abuse within the show. (Its heavily implied he hit the other kids, too, but weve only seen him hit Roman.) And Roman is the Roy kid we saw slowly getting drawn back into his dads orbit before Logans death. Romans disaffected cynicism is a natural offshoot of his simultaneous fear and worship of his father, a common response to suffering abuse at the hands of a parent.

You know what can be a common response to the death of that parent, though? A sudden, intense feeling of relief, complete with, say, some witty repartee, a willingness to broker deals when need be, and an insistence that youre pretty fine because youd done a lot of pre-grieving. Roman is almost  the most stable hes ever been?

While technically, hes in this position because hes situated nicely to take over the company when Kendall inevitably fucks everything up, in my heart hes in this position because hes on fire in this episode. So many great lines! He calls Tom lip balm Tom Wam! He says that Logan only smiled if a hobo was on fire! He lists Logans best friends as whats his face and get that fucker away from me! Roman should pre-grieve more often, is what Im saying.

3.

Marcia, who of course is Logans beloved wife with whom he spoke intimately every day, waltzes back into the wake to show off how much death becomes her and broker a handshake deal to sell the New York apartment to Connor. Its just nice to see Marcia again. She seems like shes been really living it up these last few months.

4.

Strictly speaking, Frank and Karl dont come out of this episode with much of a winning hand, which means theyll surely fall in the weeks to come. Yet in this episode, which seems almost designed to explore the various fracture points within the many different people who lived under Logans thumb, they join together early and often. Theyre the ones who talk over that mysterious piece of paper first, and they end up controlling the flow of information around it. You can almost imagine a version of this episode thats just them talking about which characters to bring in on what they know and when.

Plus, Karl did some amazing things with cable in the 90s! Dont count him out!

5.

For now, it remains undisturbed.

6.

Of the various high-level Waystar employees, Karolina and Hugo are the ones Ive always found least engaging. Theres nothing wrong with them, of course, but as people who work in PR, they are necessarily reactive and not driving stories.

But the death of Logan is a perfect time to prep some spin, and when the two pull Kendall and Roman aside to suggest that they could go with a standard Logan loved his boys and wanted them to follow in his footsteps narrative or a Logan was losing it and needed the boys help to stay on track spin, youre reminded theyre very necessary to everything Waystar does. Are they in this spot because I remembered PR is a necessary evil? Kind of. (Thank you to HBO publicity for all your help!)

All that said: After Roman and Kendall decide to go with the Logan was doing just great spin and Karolina and Hugo sign off, Kendall pulls Hugo aside. He knows that Hugos daughter sold a bunch of Waystar stock before Logans death became public knowledge, and hes using that to corner Hugo into making Logan look incompetent. Kendalls not great at being intimidating, but Hugo doesnt have much of a choice. So much for the power of PR!

7.

Why not go to an absurdly rich mans wake and load up on food if you just happen to be in town for a wedding? How many times are you going to get that chance?

8.

On the one hand, Shiv ends this episode with less overt power than ever, thanks to her brothers keeping her out of the centers of Waystar power. They promise not to fuck her over and to make sure everything still runs by her, but given her extreme anger after her brothers ascend, you can tell she doesnt believe them. So shes finally on the outs, right? I mean, she literally tumbles down a stair at one point!

Wrong! Kendall and Roman taking over Waystar could go wrong in a million different ways, and for now, her hands are clean. Yeah, the Pierce deal probably falls apart if the GoJo deal falls apart, but Shiv has made a lot of powerful friends over the course of the series, and in the premiere, she was already entertaining some other job offers.

Plus, shes doing the thing she does when she subtly weaponizes the misogyny people level at her to win sympathy points. Plus, it feels like she and Tom are at least figuring out how to talk to each other a little bit, maybe. PLUS, shes in the second trimester of a pregnancy, a thing the audience knows and nobody else does at this point. And she calls her OB/GYN by her first name. If theres one doctor you want to befriend, its your OB/GYN!

Shiv ends this episode on the edges of power, but given that there are six episodes left (I know this; she doesnt), thats a great place to be if you want to steadily rise up the ranks.

9.

Up: Connor appears to have purchased a really nice apartment in Manhattan, and Willa seems like she has some decorating ideas. Also, Willa nailed the look of extremely recent bride attending the wake of the father-in-law who died going to an event that wasnt her wedding.

Down: Their honeymoon will mosey among what Willa calls the honeymoon states. (You know: Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania.) Connors astute observation that Stephen Root is trying to body snatch his dad is undercut by his insistence that Logan was a paleo libertarian or almost an anarcho-capitalist. Whatever gets you through the night, Con.

10.

Tom keeps looking for allies this episode, and Tom keeps failing to find them. Roman insults him and calls him names, and Kendall offers him a pitying Good luck. Even Karl lays into him when Tom starts to pitch himself as a possible interim CEO. Certainly Karl can have a poison tongue, but he seems to have spared none of his venom when it comes to Tom.

By the time the speeches celebrating Logan are happening, Tom is right back to the place he feels most comfortable: whispering pithy little asides to Greg. It could almost feel like hes completely on the outside of everything again, right back to his old haunts. Except  he and Shiv kinda bond? A little? She shuts it down, but hope springs eternal when youre a 

11.

I wonder how long it will take these two crazy kids to realize their best play is to link up. And I wonder how long it will take them to discover how much they enjoy being on the outside together, plotting away. And I wonder how long it will take them to once again fall in love when that happens? My fan fiction is writing itself!

12.

Gerri really gives hanging onto what power she has a go, from casually insulting Karl and Frank as just being too old to snidely saying that Roman has no proof in writing that Logan wanted her out. Alas, it doesnt work in her favor, and its unclear what position (if any) shell hold within the new Waystar led by the Roy brothers. Maybe she can appeal to Romans conscience. He seems to have a tiny nubbin of one of late.

13.

Watch how many shots have Greg just kind of hanging out in the background, as though hes slowly realizing hes a glorified extra in the lives of everybody whos not Tom. He even greets the siblings Roy with My guys. My lovely guys. Greg is falling fast, and I dont see how he can save himself. Hes right down here with 

14.

Ill give Colin this: Even if Roman says hes like a dog who lost his human, he does seem to mostly hang around the edges of the party respectfully. It turns out that he even has a kid. A rich personal life, this guy!

Colin has no real function in the lives of these characters outside of his direct connection to Logan, and he might just disappear after the funeral. But at least he got an invite! Kerry did not. She shows up to grab some things, has a tense standoff with Marcia, then drops a bag full of items and mumbles about how she was supposed to be taken care of but obviously wasnt. Marcia haughtily tells her to go back to her little apartment.

Will this be Kerrys final appearance in the power rankings? Probably, but we can always hope she finds a second wind somehow!

15.

Connors Wedding prompted a new round of the TV discourse most annoying to pedants like my beloved colleague Kathryn VanArendonk and myself: Was that a bottle episode? As Kathryn has written so eloquently, the term bottle episode has a definition: an episode entirely (or almost entirely) set in a single location, often utilizing one of the shows standing sets to save money. You cant just call an episode like Connors Wedding a bottle episode because its different from other episodes. It takes place on an enormous yacht! And at an airport! And on a plane!

Now, like Kathryn, I am a bottle-episode truther, so I do not think I can call Honeymoon States a bottle episode. For starters, it technically takes place in several locations (since it opens in Kendall, Roman, and Shivs apartments before shifting to Logans place). Also, while the entire episode after that opening takes place in Logan and Marcias apartment  and thus was filmed on the shows regular sets  it takes place all over that apartment and not confined to a single room or even a single floor.

But.

By HBOs standards, where shooting an episode on regular sets like this is a cost-saving measure, even if youre using all of those sets? This is  I mean  I dont want to say it, because I might unlock something terrible  but  you could  argue that this is an HBO bottle episode, which is not a pure version of the form but is a riff on it all the same. Consider it the sparkling wine to the classic bottle episodes Champagne! Not remotely the same if youre a pedant like me, but for most people, probably close enough.

Yet will anybody suggest this is a bottle episode on Twitter? Probably not, because it just feels like another episode of Succession instead of anything conceptual. And so slips the world into chaos!
In managing an ensemble as big as the one in Succession, with so many ruinous battles and bits of intrigue in every corner of a room, creator Jesse Armstrong and his writers often turn to simple, elegant devices to serve as a fulcrum for the drama. Last week, it was the drafting of the statement to announce Logan Roys death, which then became the opening salvo on who gains control over the companys future: the plane people or the kids. This week, its a piece of paper discovered in Logans private safe. More specifically, its a piece of paper with Kendall Roys name on it as his preferred successor. The name is underlined in pencil for emphasis. Or maybe its crossed out. The document is an important expression of the founders wishes. Or maybe its totally irrelevant. It all entirely depends on the motives of whoevers looking at it.

Its absolutely delicious. Not even death can keep the old man from sadistically tormenting the people closest to him. They probably would have done just fine falling apart on their own, but the document gives Logan a presence in the room that seems unlikely to dissipate any time soon. Roman jokes that Colin  who wears jeans (!) and has a kid (!!) and mysteriously appears to have a life independent of serving the Roys (!!!)  looks like a dog without its master, but there sure are a lot of purebreds wandering listlessly around the Roys $63 million Manhattan home and barking at each other. Colin will move on to another job and go home to his family, but the plane people and the kids are stuck without a clear path forward and little to guide them but the vague, perhaps dated wishes of the despicable man whos still dictating their lives.

The day after Logans death, the same sycophantic happy birthday crew that so enraged him in the first episode this season is solemnly whispering sorry for your loss while loading up their plates with canapes. However, the price of admission is a greeting from Marcia  the widow in black, which is to say, the black widow  who will either graciously accept your condolences or swallow your soul like a spirit from The Evil Dead. Connor is thrilled to come to terms on a spit-shake deal for the house, but the pleasantries Marcia offers his wife (Congratulations. Look how far youve come.) are about as savage as the show has ever gotten, and its perfectly TV-Y7. Yet the same business-related urgency that percolated under the grief in the last episode is present here because Waystars leadership crisis must be resolved, like having to swear in the new president after an assassination. And that involves jockeying on several fronts, not just between the plane people (Gerri, Karl, and Frank) and the kids, but within the two groups as well  the board could theoretically approve anyone. Rest assured, though, its only an interim position until the GoJo deal is finalized, which is definitely something that is going to happen because everyone really, really likes it.

The alliance between Kendall, Roman, and Shiv has held together through the spit and bubblegum of grief and a shared interest in keeping the Keystone fucks in Logans inner circle from wresting control of Waystar. Yet theres a reminder early in Honeymoon States that theres an election around the corner, and the three are not on the same page about Jeryd Mencken, the alt-right demon who could become president, which is something a conservative network like ATN would have to metabolize. Shiv still cant abide his smirky autocratic face, but Kendall thinks its good business for them to have a relationship. So not only are they immediately off the same page on this crucial political moment, the idea that they could steer this creaky old legacy-media ship into some theoretically cool, hip 21st-century company seems unlikely. Theyre still in the business of angering geriatrics and alienating them from their grandkids.

Before the business part of the episodes goes down, the wake turns into a quietly hilarious roast, as the august eulogies that Logans tabloids and political allies prepare for him are translated by the poor souls who actually knew the man. The kids may be on the verge of breaking apart, but theyre a great comedy team when poring over the obituaries: A complicated man (Kendall: Threw phones at staff.); A sharp reader of the national mood (Roman: Hes a bit racist.); He was very much a man of his era. (Kendall: Again, racist. Also, relaxed about sexual assault.) The three really get a big laugh out of well-connected, which they suggest is a euphemism for pedophile until Kendall quips that his father wouldnt even hug his grandkids.

Around the edges of this affair, poor Tom labors to ingratiate himself to everyone in the inner circle. Its Karl, of all people, who offers the most brutal assessment of his position: Youre a clumsy interloper and no one trusts you. The only guy pulling for you is dead. And now youre just married to the ex-bosss daughter, and she doesnt even like you. And you are fair and squarely fucked. Tom gets rebuffed by nearly everyone he courts, like Roman, who calls him Tightrope Tommy for riding his subtle cycle across Niagara Falls. Yet Toms persistent refrain that he seeks to be of service, combined with a salesmans relentlessness, may keep him afloat in the long term. In full Mr. Darcy mode, Matthew MacFadyen seizes on Shivs vulnerability to remind of a time, not so long ago, when they had something real together. His use of her full name, Siobhan, rather than Shiv, feels weighty, like hes reverting back to the humility of courtship rather than the familiarity of a broken marriage.

The timing might work out for him, after all. In the frantic moments before the board is ready to meet about appointing an interim leader, Kendall returns to the piece of paper with his name on it and insists they use this opportunity to keep Waystar under family control. Roman believes it shouldnt just be Kendall; Roman was closer to Logan and also co-COO. And so, in breathtakingly short order, Kendall and Roman steamroll Shiv into supporting them as a leadership duo that keeps her on the inside, which is a promise but certainly not a position. When she leaves the meeting where the board has approved the Kendall/Roman team, Shiv looks extremely unhappy, recognizing too late that shes conceded power to siblings she has no reason to trust, despite their love for each other.

When Shiv takes a tumble down a stair, were reminded of the big revelation at the beginning of the episode: Shes pregnant. She rejects Toms gentlemanly effort to help her up, but how long will she be able to reject him? This child is a real product of their marriage  a seriously contentious issue at one time  and now shes feeling alienated and pushed out of the company. Thats Wambsgans country!

Meanwhile, Kendall and Roman are the dogs who have caught the car. As Karolina ushers them into Daddys office  a sanctum so unfamiliar to them that they didnt know he was into sudoku  they have to start making real, difficult, consequential decisions about the day-to-day and long-term operations of a massive media conglomerate. These screwups and dipshits. Its like the famous final scene in The Graduate, where Dustin Hoffman breaks up Katharine Rosss wedding to some square, and the two of them hop aboard a bus to leave the whole crazy scene behind. As they head toward their future together, the moments exhilaration starts to fade, and a troubling look passes on their faces: Now what?

Sad-Sack Wasp Traps

 Quipping about Kerris location, Roman speculates that shes in Marcias trunk, inside an anaconda, inside a sarcophagus, but Marcias real-life treatment of her is no less gruesome. The humiliation of crudely stuffing a bag full of Kerris things and scooting her out the back like the trash is so bad that even Roman feels Marcia has gone too far  the same Roman who said some very unflattering things about Kerris muffled phone voice not long ago.

 Gerri also not buying tickets to the Tom redemption tour: Oh, youre sick with grief? You might want to put down that fish taco. Youre getting your melancholy everywhere.

 The loaded talk from the plane people about losing the piece of paper is wonderfully ham-fisted: What if your hand goes a little wobbly, and a draft takes it away, and it gets flushed down a toilet by mistake? Im kidding. Of course, youre speculating in a comic mode. In a humorous vein.

 Tom also gets to pop off on Logans legacy when Ron Petkus (Stephen Root) turns up to pay homage. A man of humility, grace, dignity  ( who died fishing his iPhone from a clogged toilet. The man lived on Wonder Bread and steak-frites. He hadnt had a shit in 20 years.) He was a man without vanity. (He was a man who wasnt wearing his compression socks so he could look hot for Kerri.)

 Poor, stupid Hugo. His daughter happened to sell off Waystar stock before the market learned of Logans demise, and, well, he cannot recollect whether he might have talked to her on the phone. Jeremy Strong gets a lot of attention for his dramatic intensity, but his weary Oooooh, Hugo line reading is comically on point.

 A discussion of Logans art investment feels painfully true to a billion assets around the world. Roman: Hes got like a shit-ton of investment impressionisms. Like three Gauguins no one has seen for tax reasons. Frank: I think his suggestion was it might be smart, tax-wise, just to leave them in the Geneva vault. Shiv: Fuck it. Why not just burn them for the insurance?

 Lovely scene with Frank consoling Kendall. The two have been close for whatever reason, perhaps because theyre on the receiving end of the same wrath. He was an old bastard, and he loved you, says Frank. He loved you.

 Sandy Furness smiling in his wheelchair. Thats just how his face looks these days, his daughter explains.

 The Roy kids pause from their grief and scheming twice in this episode to make fun of the common people, first with the cracks about Colin and again with Willas mother, whose happiness over her daughter being among the rich is like Barbara Stanwyck in Stella Dallas. Does she know she can go back? Shiv comments on her full plate. Its distasteful to them to be around people who dont know how to be rich.

 An absolutely killer ending with Kendall reversing course on how the communications team should spin their relationship. He looks again at a cell-phone photo of his name on his dads piece of paper  its definitely crossed out. He strong-arms Hugo to boost his ascendence by sliming his father in the media. Their war continues.

For more, join us for Succession Club, our subscriber-exclusive newsletter obsessively chronicling all the biggest twists of the final season. Existing subscribers can visit this page to sign up. If youre not a subscriber yet, click here to get started.
Photo: David M. Russell/HBO

In Wambsgans Watch, we weigh in on the state of Tom Wambsganss relationships in each of the remaining episodes of Succession. Spoilers follow for episode four of season four, Honeymoon States.

In last weeks landscape-altering episode of Succession, Tom Wambsgans expressed concern that he had lost his protector. He was right to be worried.

It quickly becomes apparent in Honeymoon States, which takes place entirely at a wake/scramble to determine the interim CEO of Waystar Royco, that Tom is a man without a safe harbor. Actually, its Karl who sums up his situation best, with a brutally honest explanation of why no one from the companys top brass or the Roy family would support Tom becoming CEO.

The negative case would go, youre a clumsy interloper and no one trusts you, Karl says. Now, he could have just ended his comments there. But he doesnt. The only guy pulling for you is dead, he continues, and now youre just married to the ex-bosss daughter and she doesnt even like you. And you are fair and squarely fucked.

In a wonderfully panicked piece of acting from Matthew Macfadyen, Tom takes this in with a face that looks like hes just been shoved off a Brightstar cruise ship. Jesus, Karl, he chokes out. Tom hasnt been this humiliated since he had to oink-crawl his way through a game of Boar on the Floor.

While Karl couldve said all that a bit gentler, hes not wrong. Wambsgans has officially been Wambsgansed. Lets discuss, preferably while shoving an entire fish taco down our throats!

Who is Tom Wambsgans fucking with this week?

At first, it seems like Tom might be willing to fuck over whomever he needs to fuck over in order to get that interim-CEO gig. When he, Karl, Frank, Karolina, and Gerri have their senior-management huddle and Frank begins to suggest that the kids  meaning Shiv, Kendall, and Roman, because Connor is basically the Invisible Man Who Just Inherited a Sick Apartment  might not be up to the task of running the company, Tom immediately refers to them as screwups and dipshits.

But as soon as he realizes that those screwups and dipshits might very well decide his fate, and also after Karl punches him in the kidneys with his words, Tom sucks up to every single Roy sibling (not Connor, obviously) in hopes of finding an ally with some level of power.

A word cloud of Toms comments throughout the day would look like this: Respectfully. Im here to serve. Let me show you some kindness. Whether Tom fucks over someone in the future  which, lets face it, he probably will  in this moment, he is behaving like a man throwing himself on the mercy of the court.

The one instance in which Tom seems genuine is his interaction with Shiv. He speaks to her as if he wants to get back together, reminding her of a happy moment early in their relationship when he flew to her in France, and seems genuinely concerned for her well-being. Its notable, too, that Tom is the only one Shiv openly talks to about the guilt and grief shes feeling about losing her father. Shiv also knows something Tom does not: Shes carrying his baby, which, assuming she eventually gives birth to the child, means she and Tom will be family, on some level, for life.

Tom doesnt realize it yet, but he may have a permanent foothold in the Roy family because of that fetus. And that could give him a tiny bit of power? Maybe?

Who is fucking with Tom Wambsgans?

Oh, wow, practically everyone. Weve already talked about Karls roast, a.k.a. the Wambsgans Reaming Heard Round the World, but Gerris got no love for him either. When Tom says he is sick with grief over Logans passing, Gerri hits him with a zinger: Oh, youre sick with grief? You might want to put down that fish taco, youre getting your melancholy everywhere.

When Tom approaches Kendall about trying to clean the slate now that Logans gone, Kendall curtly responds, I like you, Tom. Good luck, in what may be the most ironic use of the phrase good luck in recorded history. Roman has even less patience for Tom or, if you prefer, Tommy Wammy/Tightrope Tommy/Tiptoe Tommy.

Roman can see straight through Toms attempts to ingratiate himself to anyone willing to throw him even half a life preserver. Romans fourth nickname for Tom  Lip Balm Tom Wam, Whos Lubing Up His Lips to Kiss My Butt  is the most accurate characterization of his brother-in-law in this entire episode. That said, when Tom reminds Roman that, despite whoevers name has or hasnt been crossed out on that recently discovered piece of paper, Logan recently made it clear to Roman that he planned to put him in a leadership role, Roman looks pensive. Tom plants a seed that makes Roman feel just as entitled to the interim-CEO job as Kendall, enabling the two of them to freeze Shiv out of the position.

Even when Toms getting fucked over, hes still able to pit the Roy siblings against each other. I have a feeling thats a tool he may pull out of his shed again in the future.

How fucked up are things between Tom and Greg?

This is basically a rhetorical question at this point, but theres something particularly dysfunctional about how Tom uses Greg to boost his ego after its been kicked all over Logans substantial apartment.

During a speech by Ron Petkus, the GOP donor and ultraconservative played by Stephen Root, Tom makes petty comments about Logan to Greg, which is Toms way of soothing the wounds sustained from his conversation with Karl. He was a man of grace, humility, dignity, says Petkus, even though Logan was none of those things.

He was a man who died fishing his iPhone from a clogged toilet, Tom whispers to Greg, later adding, He was a man who wasnt wearing his compression socks so he could look hot for Kerry.

When Greg tries to play the same game, though  making a weird joke about how Logan molded the country into the shape of a dick  Tom chastises him for lacking class. Once again, Succession reminds us that Tom is, at heart, a Greg whos in denial about how much of a Greg he actually is. Really, who needs three or four Gregs Gregging for you when youre already a Greg yourself?

At the end of this episode, how fucked is Tom?

To once again borrow Karls inspiring words, Tom is fair and squarely fucked. But I still think theres a chance he and Shiv form a formidable alliance, if only because this was only episode four and weve still got six more to go. And as we learned last week, anything can happen on this show.

For more, join us for Succession Club, our subscriber-exclusive newsletter obsessively chronicling all the biggest twists of the final season. Existing subscribers can visit this page to sign up. If youre not a subscriber yet, click here to get started.
By Aditya Kalra and Munsif Vengattil

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook will meet India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and its deputy IT minister as part of his visit to inaugurate the iPhone maker's first retail store in the country this week, people familiar with the plans said.

The visit by Cook to open the first official company-owned outlets in Mumbai and New Delhi this week underscores Apple's growing ambitions for India, where despite having just a 3% market share the company has been expanding iPhone assembly via contract manufacturers, and also boosting its exports.

Cook will meet Modi on Wednesday in New Delhi, said the two sources, who included an Indian government official.

One of the sources added the Apple chief would also meet India's deputy IT minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

Modi's office declined to comment, while Apple and the IT ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The sources did not elaborate, but Cook's meetings come amid Apple's growing focus on India, the world's second-largest smartphone market.

Around $9 billion worth of smartphones were exported from India between April 2022 and February this year and iPhones accounted for more than 50% of that, data from the India Cellular and Electronics Association shows.

On Monday, Apple opened its first store in Mumbai, but only for a private event where bloggers and some tech analysts reviewed the design and store layout. It will open to the public from Tuesday, while a second store will be inaugurated inside a New Delhi mall on Thursday.

So far, Apple has sold its products in India via resellers or e-commerce websites such as Amazon.

The Mumbai store is in the premier Reliance Jio World Drive mall, home to luxury clothing and jewellery brands like Michael Kors, Kate Spade and Swarovski. It is 20,800 square feet, far bigger than the planned Delhi outlet, local registration documents show.

In India, iPhones are assembled by three of Apple's contract manufacturers - Foxconn, Wistron Corp and Pegatron Corp. Apple also plans to assemble iPads and AirPods in India.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra and Munsif Vengattil in New Delhi and M. Sriram in Mumbai Additional reporting by Sanjeev Miglani; Editing by Mark Potter)
Drugs had market value of 400 million.

Italian customs police on Monday announced the seizure of two tonnes of cocaine found floating off the eastern coast of Sicily, after being spotted during an aeronautical patrol.

The cocaine haul, whose street value was estimated at more than 400 million, was described by the Guardia di Finanza police as a "record" seizure.

The drugs were sealed in waterproof bales held together by nets, police said in a statement, along with a "luminous signalling device" to allow the haul to be tracked.

#Gdf #Catania e #ROAN #Messina: attivita di contrasto al traffico di sostanze stupefacenti. Sequestro record di 2 tonnellate di cocaina del valore di oltre 400 milioni di euro.#NoiconVoi pic.twitter.com/l6Bg0COLBk  Guardia di Finanza (@GDF) April 17, 2023



The packaging of the drugs was designed to prevent the infiltration of water and "at the same time, avoid the danger of sinking", stated the Guardia di Finanza.

It is believed that the cocaine was deposited at sea by a cargo ship to be retrieved and transported to the mainland.

Photo Guardia di Finanza
Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share

INDIANAPOLIS  An Indiana judge has sentenced a convicted serial rapist to more than 150 years in prison, authorities said Monday. Darrell Goodlow was charged in 2021 with 57 counts, including rape, burglary and criminal confinement. He pleaded guilty in March to nine counts, including eight felony counts of rape and one felony count of killing a domestic animal, as part of a plea agreement.

Marion Superior Judge Mark Stoner sentenced him to 156 1/2 years behind bars on Friday, prosecutors said in a news release.

With this resolution, the defendant will spend the rest of his life in prison without putting the survivors in a position to relive the trauma they have experienced throughout the duration of a trial, Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said.

Telephone messages were left with defense attorneys listed in online court records as representing Goodlow.

Advertisement

Prosecutors alleged that Goodlow targeted women in their 60s and 70s on the east side of Indianapolis and in the suburb of Lawrence. They accused Goodlow of sexually assaulting eight women on six different occasions between August 2020 and September 2021.

In some cases, he dressed as a utility worker to gain access to his victims homes. He killed one of his victims dogs during one attack, police said.

A fingerprint at one of the scenes helped investigators identify him. They also matched his DNA to evidence collected in all eight cases.

GiftOutline Gift Article
Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share

BURLINGTON, Vt.  The Vermont man on trial for kidnapping a New Hampshire woman and her 4-year-old child more than four years ago testified Monday in his federal court trial that he took the two vehicles he is accused of stealing and taking across state lines, but he denied kidnapping the woman or her son.

Everett Simpson, who is representing himself in the trial, wrote the questions that were asked by his standby attorney. U.S. District Court Judge William Sessions told the jury that Simpson had provided the questions that were being asked of him.

After the days testimony, Sessions said closing arguments would be held on Tuesday, after which the case would be given to the jury. If convicted of the kidnapping charges, Simpson could be sentenced to life in prison.

Simpson answered I do, several times after Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Lasher asked questions, including whether he had taken the alleged victim and her son from New Hampshire to Vermont and whether he stole the womans car and drove it to Pennsylvania, where he was arrested.

Advertisement

I am guilty of a lot of things, but not kidnapping, Simpson said.

Simpson admitted before the jury that he left a Vermont drug treatment center shortly after he was dropped off there on the night of Jan. 4, 2019, for court-ordered substance abuse treatment from another case.

He then stole a van parked in a nearby driveway and drove it to New Hampshire, where it was abandoned. Simpson acknowledged driving back to Vermont with the alleged victim and her son, but he said it was consensual and she had opportunities to escape had she wanted to do so.

Prosecutors have said the victim did call for help, but it wasnt provided. They traveled to a Vermont motel, after which Simpson fled in her car and drove to Pennsylvania, where he was later arrested.

Court documents say the victim was sexually assaulted while in the motel, but the federal charges do not include sexual assault. Simpson is, however, facing separate state sexual assault charges.

Advertisement

Simpson said he fled the treatment center because he was trying to find his estranged wife, who he believed was having a relationship with another man.

In 2020, the woman received $400,000 in the settlement of a lawsuit accusing the state of Vermont of not doing enough to find Simpson after he left the addiction treatment center. In court last week, the woman said she had received a sizable settlement from the treatment center, but the exact amount is unclear.

GiftOutline Gift Article
Apple now supports more than 1 million developer jobs in India, and App Store payouts to them in India have more than tripled since 2018, the company said as it gears up major expansion in the South Asian market. The iPhone-maker this week will open its first two retail stores in India.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook is visiting India this week to launch the stores and meet the Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as many business leaders to talk about the company's growing commitment to India.

At Apple, our mission is to enrich lives and empower people around the world, said Tim Cook, Apples CEO, in a statement Monday. India has such a beautiful culture and an incredible energy, and were excited to build on our long-standing history  supporting our customers, investing in local communities, and working together to build a better future with innovations that serve humanity.

Despite being the worlds second-largest internet market, the majority of smartphones sold in India are priced below $250. While India accounts for a small portion of Apples overall revenue, the iPhone-maker has expressed optimism about the nations potential for growth.

Apple said that the new retail stores "mark a major expansion," for the company.

The company, which invited some bloggers to its Mumbai retail store on Monday, did not respond to a request to make Cook available for an interview.

In preparation for the store openings, Apple has been actively recruiting employees in recent months, according to growing job postings. The company, which launched its Indian online store in 2020, had initially planned to open its first retail location in 2021, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced a delay.

Apple is also working to turn India into a key global hardware manufacturing hub, thanks in part to the incentives New Delhi is offering to manufacturers to expand their presence in the country.

Apple exported more than $5 billion worth of smartphones from India, nearly half of all the exports from the country, in the financial year that ended in March, according to industry analysts.

The companys contract manufacturing partners, Foxconn and Wistron, have increased local assembly of iPhones and other Apple devices in recent quarters. According to a report by JP Morgan analysts last year, Apple is expected to expand its manufacturing capacity in India to produce 25% of all iPhones by 2025.

"Apple began manufacturing iPhone in India in 2017, and since then, the company has worked with suppliers to assemble iPhone models and produce a growing number of components. Apples work with Indian suppliers of all sizes supports hundreds of thousands of jobs across the country," Apple said in a statement Monday.
Australias media companies will stay on controversial social media app TikTok to attract the younger audiences they need, despite federal and state governments holding such significant security fears about the app that they banned employees from using it at work.

Some of the countrys most well-known publications and broadcasters have spent the past two years cultivating millions of young followers who engage with news stories through videos on the Chinese-owned app.

Social media app TikTok is causing concern in many Western democracies because of its Chinese ownership. Credit: Michaela Pollock

Paul Whittaker, chief executive of News Corps cable TV broadcaster Sky News, last week announced plans to stop using TikTok amid national security fears, but other media organisations say they have no immediate intentions to restrict professional use of the application or use of the service on company devices. TikTok Australias general manager of operations, Lee Hunter, is urging media companies not to be influenced by far-fetched hypotheticals.

Nine Entertainment, which owns broadcasting, streaming and publishing assets including The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, said there was currently no policy to limit TikToks use. These mastheads run professional accounts on the platform, such as @thesydneymorningherald, which has 96,200 followers and 5.5 million likes and @theageaustralia, with 63,200 followers and 2.4 million likes. An account for Nines popular television show Married at First Sight (@mafs) has 242,700 followers and 3.6 million likes.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Got it Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size When thousands of long-haul aircraft across the globe were grounded at the onset of the COVID pandemic in 2020, airlines were faced with the question of where to store them. At 73 metres long, 24 metres high and with a take-off weight of up to 560 tonnes, the Airbus A380 is the largest and heaviest passenger aircraft in the world and responsible for a significant chunk of international flying. Aircraft of this size require lots of space and arid conditions, making the worlds deserts the opportune (and arguably the only) place to keep them. Qantas was criticised for slipping standards after flights resumed following the end of COVID-19 restrictions. Aircraft boneyards have stored retired and damaged planes since the end of the Second World War and are vital to keeping the industry afloat, but the COVID-19 pandemic was the first time the worlds deserts were tested by so many simultaneously. This month, the last Qantas Airbus A380 embarked on its long voyage home after close to 1000 days in Victorville boneyard within Californias Mojave Desert. Qantas was Australias only long-haul carrier during the pandemic and although its planes may be close to back in action, the airline does not expect its international flying to return to pre-pandemic levels until at least 2024. Loading This is partly because of the complexity of returning an aircraft of such magnitude to service. Reviving an A380 requires 4500 hours of manpower, where its 22 wheels, 16 brakes and internal furnishings are replaced. Tasks including replacing all oxygen cylinders, fire extinguishers and inflatable slides have derailed the process for some airlines by months, due to the ongoing global supply shortage of crucial parts.

Advertisement

For Qantas engineers, reviving an A380 meant two months of work per aircraft in the sweltering Mojave Desert. Some lucky engineers were tasked with whacking the wheels of each plane to rid them of rattlesnakes or other unsuspecting foes. The airlines executive manager of engineering, Scott McConnell, said 100 of his engineers found themselves working through extreme weather  ranging from snow and icy cold storms to unforgiving heat. The only constant was the dust that enveloped everything. A Qantas A380 in one of Victorvilles storage hangars. The entire aircraft is wrapped to protect it from moisture, dust and insects. Every opening, panel and crack is taped up  and thats just the outside. Theres plastic covering everything from the carpets to the seats inside. And theres desiccant everywhere. Picture unwrapping a new shoe, except bigger, McConnell said. Loading Before the aircraft can be inspected, it needs to be unwrapped, a process that takes considerable time. The plane isnt even on the rack yet. Then theres a whole series of tests we need to perform from things like fluids to the actual nitrogen and oxygen systems. We store the fuel in the wings to eliminate the water and condensation that would accrue otherwise, McConnell said.

Advertisement

Qantas chief Alan Joyce didnt mince words about the gruelling nature of this task last October when quizzed about why the airline was taking so long to return to pre-pandemic capacity. They jack the aircraft up in the middle of the desert where all of its gear is tested, meaning aircrafts engines are running around in the desert for months to make sure that its functioning. All that work is just to get out of the desert to Los Angeles or to another maintenance facility, Joyce said. The planes then went through about 1000 additional hours of maintenance testing before returning to service. When global lockdowns eased, cash-strapped airlines were faced with millions of people whod been deprived of travel for the better part of two years and werent prepared to tolerate further delays. Instead, travellers were met with industry-wide staff shortages, confused border control, COVID testing and vaccination requirements, high airfares and supply chain shortages that prevented aircraft from returning to service. Planes in Californias Mojave Desert. Credit:Getty Images Some airlines weathered this storm better than others. Qantas was heavily criticised in 2022 for slipping standards as it failed to juggle the demands of premium-paying customers. Much of the anger was directed at Joyce, who responded with public apologies and promises of improved performance on behalf of the carrier he has led for the past 15 years. Qantas stored 12 of its A380s in Victorville. There are now seven servicing the airlines London, Los Angeles and Hong Kong routes, with another three expected to return next year following the completion of an extensive maintenance check and cabin reconfiguration process. The remaining two jumbos were left in Victorville to be broken up into parts.

Advertisement

Returning existing aircraft to service is not the end of Qantas fleet challenges. Although magnificent, Qantas fleet of A380s are ageing and the airline is yet to announce a plan to replace them. The carriers management have been heavily criticised by some current and former executives, as well as broader industry experts, for downgrading the importance of average fleet age, a metric used by airlines to help determine when to invest in new aircraft. The carriers average fleet age now sits at its oldest ever  15.4 years. Qantas will receive about 80 aircraft over the next four years to replace some of its domestic and international fleet. So far, its signed for a dozen A350-1000s. These are expected to service the long-awaited Project Sunrise routes, which will involve direct flights from Melbourne and Sydney to London and New York. Loading Despite a higher average fleet age than many of its long-haul competitors, Qantas expects to spend $US5 billion ($7.4 billion) over the next four years on fleet investment. UBS research analysts recently downgraded Qantas stock, estimating the carrier would need to invest $12 billion over this period in order to replace expired aircraft and meet its deliveries, as first reported by The Australian. A380s are not very fuel efficient. This is a hurdle for carriers such as Qantas or Emirates that choose to continue to rely on them while striving to meet their emissions-reduction goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. This is part of the reason Qantas has invested heavily in kick-starting Australias sustainable aviation fuel industry.

Advertisement
We have seen alarming new tactics emerge which make scams incredibly difficult to detect. This includes everything from impersonating official phone numbers, email addresses and websites of legitimate organisations to scam texts that appear in the same conversation thread as genuine messages. There has been an explosion of reported losses to phishing scams in the past year, such as Hi Mum and Toll/Linkt text scams, which skyrocketed by 469 per cent to $24.6 million in 2022. Catriona Lowe from the ACCC. Credit: Elke Meitzel Nina Merrilees told the Herald and The Age last month that she quickly responded to what she thought was her daughters call for help and paid more than $11,600 to scammers after receiving a Hi Mum text message. In a new twist, scammers are now also using artificial intelligence to sound like family members distressed and needing quick access to thousands of dollars in cash. Advancements in AI allow actors to impersonate a voice with an audio sample of just a few sentences. The scammer can then speak words they type.

Consumer Action Law Centre chief executive officer Stephanie Tonkin said voice mimicking was an example of just how sophisticated scamming technology had become  and Australia was a soft target. This is a whole new wave of technology and the scammers are incentivised to keep on going and developing, she said. We expect more and more of this stealing technology to develop. It has run away from us. Nina Merrilees made a first payment of $3450, a second for $3800 and a third for $4350  a total of $11,600. Lowe said scammers had become increasingly sophisticated in their tactics and a co-ordinated response by government, law enforcement and the private sector was needed to combat scams more effectively. Traditional bank transfers remain one of the most commonly reported payment methods to scammers. While some banks have made recent positive steps to protect their customers, we would welcome uniform measures across the sector, similar to the UKs Confirmation of Payee, which matches an account number to the intended recipient across all banks, Lowe said.

The Australian Banking Association says it is developing an industry-wide position on customer losses to scams. The ACCC report compiles data reported to government agencies including the ACCCs Scamwatch, ReportCyber, the Australian Financial Crimes Exchange and IDCARE. Professor Malcolm Fisher is a retired intensive care specialist who has been the victim of a finance scam. Credit: Steven Siewert Investment scams raked in the highest amount ($1.5 billion) followed by remote access scams ($229 million) and payment redirection scams ($224 million). Australians lost more money to scams than ever before in 2022, but the true cost of scams is much more than a dollar figure as they also cause emotional distress to victims, their families and businesses, Lowe said.

Retired intensive care specialist Professor Malcolm Fisher lost $10,000 in an alleged investment scam, despite doing his homework and checking the companys bonafides with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Loading Professor Malcolm Fisher, who was head of Royal North Shore Hospitals intensive care unit, signed up to an investment scheme in 2021 after getting an unsolicited phone call from a woman representing an investment company which is now the subject of a police investigation. Fisher said the scammers had a very impressive website, an ASIC listing and a sophisticated set up. Scamwatch received 239,237 scam reports last year, a 16.5 per cent drop compared to 2021. But the amount of money people had lost jumped by 76 per cent to more than $569 million. Lowe said she was concerned that people with a disability and those from migrant backgrounds were disproportionately impacted by scams.

Our report shows that people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities were significantly over-represented in terms of financial losses across a range of scam-types, accounting for more than one quarter (27.9 per cent) of total losses associated with identity theft and about a third (32.7 per cent) of all losses to pyramid schemes, she said. This is a worrying trend that urgently needs to be addressed by both government and industry with input from consumer advocacy groups. People from culturally and linguistically diverse communities made 11,418 scam reports which resulted in losses of $56 million, up 36 per cent compared to 2021. People with a disability reported financial losses of $33.7 million, a 71 per cent increase compared to 2021.
In an effort to strengthen the profile of students from areas where we have seen increased visa risks, VU will implement a higher level of requirements in some areas in India, the universitys regional recruitment manager Alex Hanlon wrote to education agents. A university spokeswoman said these additional requirements included assessing gaps in applicants study history to determine if they are suitably qualified and prepared for international study in Australia and can support themselves adequately. Those restrictions came just days after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited India, in part to celebrate Australias education links and announce a new agreement with Australias universities and colleges that would, he said, herald the most comprehensive and ambitious arrangement agreed to by India with any country. Crucially, the agreement included a mutual recognition of qualifications between Australia and India, which will make travelling to either country for university study easier. The University of Wollongong in March also ratcheted up conditions on its genuine temporary entrant test on students from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Lebanon, Mongolia, Nigeria and other countries deemed a risk [of students not being a genuine temporary entrant] by the Department of Home Affairs.

A spokeswoman for Adelaides Torrens University said it too was now looking carefully at each area where our applications come from after the university told The Times Higher Education in March that it was considering only very strong applications from Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab. The deluge of applications from south Asia began after the Morrison government, in January 2022, removed a 20-hour per week limit on the amount of work students can do  meaning there were no longer any restrictions on how many hours students could work. The move encouraged those wanting a low-skill Australian work visas to apply to cheaper education institutions. The Albanese government will on July 1 reintroduce this work limit, but lift it to 24 hours a week. The Age and the Herald has confirmed with five universities, or in one case agents working on a universitys behalf, that they have put restrictions on students wanting to come to Australia from India. Another list seen by The Age and the Herald and authored by one Australian education agency, showed 12 universities and colleges had put in restrictions. The agency asked not to be named for fear it would damage its relationship with education providers.

It is not just universities that are grappling with a surge in applications from people seeking to work in Australia and gain permanent residency  rather than studying  in Australia. The vocational education sector is also seeing a surge in applications from students ultimately judged to be too risky to accept. Under the process for getting a student visa, education providers accept applicants who are then assessed by Home Affairs. In February, Home Affairs rejected an unprecedented 94 per cent of offshore applicants from India to study in Australias vocational sector. It compared to less than 1 per cent of student applications from countries including the United States, the United Kingdom and France. In 2006, when Home Affairs started publishing records of this nature, 91 per cent of applicants from India were accepted. The international students pouring back into Australia fuel an overseas education industry worth about $40 billion annually, trailing only iron ore, coal and natural gas as an export. The University of Sydney took $1.4 billion of revenue in 2021 from fee-paying overseas students, Monash University collected $917 million in tuition fees while the University of Queensland got $644 million, federal education department figures show.

Many universities, like Monash, Melbourne, Sydney and the University of New South Wales, already receive more revenue from international students than from domestic students, said Peter Hurley, director of Victoria Universitys Mitchell Institute. International education is an incredibly valuable resource. It is really important that we manage it properly so that it works in everyones interests, especially international students. Hurley said international students provided both students for the nations higher education sector, and workers for Australias booming jobs market. We need this workforce, Hurley said. No Australian university could now function without international education revenue, he said, noting international students provide some institutions with three times as much in tuition fees as a domestic student. The Department of Home Affairs, which manages Australias student visa system, said in a statement that since the phased re-opening of the nations international borders in 2021, we witnessed an increase in incomplete applications and presentation of fraudulent information and documentation in student visa applications. We understand that student visa refusal decisions are a cause of concern, not just for those seeking to study in Australia, but also to education providers and all others who rely on the arrival of international students for economic reasons or otherwise, the statement said.

The restrictions on students from some Indian states have also put the spotlight on the lucrative work of education agents  the recruiters who work for Australias universities and vocational training colleges  and whether they are taking vulnerable international students for a ride. Applications to Australian universities from international students are almost entirely facilitated by education agents, who are subject to little government regulation  although universities and colleges can terminate their contracts if they behave inappropriately. Universities and training organisations pay education agents commissions worth thousands of dollars for every student enrolment that they arrange. Bijay Sapkota, a former international student and ex-president of the Council of International Students Australia, is now an advocate for students coming to study in Australia. Credit: Peter Rae Education agent Ravi Singh said too many of Australias training colleges had become visa factories interested in offering immigration pathways, not an education. Singhs company Global Reach is a high-profile firm among hundreds of education agents competing for a slice of Australias international student intake from countries including China, India, Nepal, Colombia and Vietnam. It is an enormous market, with 584,000 people now in Australia on student visas and hundreds of thousands more working after finishing their studies. Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson said education agents were vital in facilitating the flow of international students from more than 144 countries to Australia. Education is the biggest export we dont source from the ground, she said.

Others though warned that these students werent always aware of where the money they paid to Australian education institutions went. Students would be shocked if they knew how much some agents are demanding [in commissions], said federal Labor MP Julian Hill, once the head of international education for the Victorian government and now a member of a parliamentary inquiry looking at international education, which will hold its first Melbourne hearing on Tuesday. Interviews with students from India, China, Vietnam, the Philippines and Nepal reveal their main complaints are about being misled by education agents on their working rights once they arrive in Australia or the quality of the school they will attend. Victorian federal MP Julian Hill. Credit: Elke Meitzel Former international student Bijay Sapkota said it was common for education agents to direct students to colleges delivering the highest commission rather than the best or most suitable institution for the student. They wont prefer an institution that has better quality  they will instead send students to one that gives them a higher percentage commission, he said. Other times, the advice is so misguided students are counselled to enroll in courses they might not need.

William  who asked that his surname not be used  worked as a pastry chef in Taiwan and migrated to Australia after an education agent advised him to enroll at Melbournes William Angliss Institute of TAFE to get a patisserie certificate. The course cost about $16,000 and although he said it was excellent, he learned after completing the diploma that he could have used his previous experience to support his application for an Australian work visa, rather than undertake the training. I didnt need to spend years and so much money studying for an Australian diploma, he said. My agent didnt tell me [about credit for prior learning] because their business was to sell Australian education programs. Phil Honeywood, the chief executive of the International Education Association of Australia. Credit: Chris Hopkins Hill believes the federal government must consider greater regulatory oversight of agents who recruit students, particularly to vocational colleges, to stamp out poor advice and discourage weak applications. Students are vulnerable consumers, Hill said. Protections for students need to be strengthened to ensure agents act in their best interests. And there needs to be a mechanism to kick dodgy agents out of the system. Theres also a strong case for transparency in agent commissions to drive better behaviour and potentially banning certain practices, such as kickbacks. None of this is realistically achievable without light-touch registration of some sort.

A spokesman for the federal Department of Education said universities and colleges were responsible for the actions of those they engage to represent them. The International Education Association of Australia also wants more regulation of education agents. No government has ever done that, Liberal or Labor, said chief executive Phil Honeywood, a former Victorian state Liberal MP. Loading Honeywood said education agents should be regulated, as is required of migration agents, who can be barred from practising if they do the wrong thing. Asked by The Age and the Herald if more regulation was needed of education agents working in Australia, a federal education department spokesman said: The department is aware of concerns regarding the behaviour of some education agents and is in discussion with the sector about possible approaches to strengthening oversight arrangements.
Some weeks, psychologist-in-training Emily Radford has to choose between paying for rent or therapy. Its a decision many of Radfords clients face as well.

While some are on the NDIS, meaning the government subsidises their sessions for ADHD, autism and other complex conditions, the rest of Radfords clients are paying $156 out-of-pocket for each visit.

I have some clients who space out their sessions by weeks or months, just because of the cost, Emily Radford says. Credit: Kate Geraghty

Its the same service, whether my clients are NDIS or private-paying, Radford said. But as a provisional psychologist, Radford cant offer services under Medicare.

I have some clients who space out their sessions by weeks or months, just because of the cost... People are having to choose between therapy and paying rent. Even I have to.
Arras Minerals Corp.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Arras Minerals Corp. (TSX.V: ARK) (Arras, or the Company) is pleased to announce the detailed voting results of the proposals considered at its annual meeting of shareholders held on April 13, 2023 (the Meeting) as well as the appointment of Matthew Booth to Vice President of Exploration.



Annual General Meeting

A total of 14,319,748 or 20.9% of the Companys issued and outstanding shares were represented at the Meeting.

The Companys shareholders have voted to set the number of directors to seven (7) (12,159,049 or 99.1% voted For, and 116,603 or 0.9% voted Against).

The following nominees, as listed in Arras management information circular, were elected as directors of the Company:

Director Votes For % Withheld Votes % Brian Edgar 12,059,854 98.2% 215,798 1.8% Timothy Barry 12,100,079 98.6% 175,573 1.4% Darren Klinck 12,100,410 98.6% 175,242 1.4% G. Wesley Carson 12,088,322 98.5% 187,330 1.5% Daniel Kunz 12,011,422 97.8% 264,230 2.2% Vera Kobalia 12,068,454 98.3% 207,198 1.7% Christian Milau 12,094,347 98.5% 181,305 1.5%

Arras is also pleased to announce that the Companys shareholders have ratified and approved the appointment of Smythe LLP as the Companys auditors, for the fiscal year ending October 31, 2023 (14,209,690 or 99.2% voted For, and 110,058 or 0.8% abstained from voting).

Full details of the proposals are fully described in the Companys management information circular filed on March 14, 2023 available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Appointment of Matthew Booth as Vice President of Exploration

Mr. Matthew Booth is a seasoned geologist with 20 years experience predominantly in Latin America and Australia working in a variety of greenfields, brownfields and production environments. He will be relocating to be based in Kazakhstan later this year.

Tim Barry, CEO, commented, We are very pleased to welcome Matt to the Arras Minerals team. He brings a wealth of geological experience to the team, especially related to porphyry and epithermal mineralizing systems. Over the last 18 months Arras has assembled an expert team of local and international geologists, community relations experts and logistics personnel, and has significant drilling and exploration programs planned for this year.

Story continues

About Matthew Booth: Matt holds a masters degree in Mineral Exploration from University of Leicester and has over 20 years field exploration experience, predominantly in Latin America. Over the course of his career Matt has worked as Exploration Manager for Golden Minerals in Mexico, and Exploration Manager of Peru for First Quantum Minerals Ltd. and is a Qualified Person member of the American Institute of Professional Geologists (CPG 12044).

About the Beskauga Deposit: The Beskauga deposit is a gold-copper-silver deposit with an Indicated Mineral Resource of 111.2 million tonnes grading 0.49 g/t gold, 0.30% copper, and 1.3 g/t silver for 1.75 million ounces of contained gold, 333.6 thousand tonnes of contained copper, and 4.79 million ounces of contained silver and an Inferred Mineral Resource of 92.6 million tonnes grading 0.50 g/t gold, 0.24% copper and 1.1 g/t silver for 1.49 million ounces of contained gold, 222.2 thousand tonnes of contained copper, and 3.39 million ounces of contained silver. The constraining open pit was optimized and calculated using a Gross Metal Value (GMV) cut-off of $20/tonne based on a price of $1,750/oz for gold, $3.50/lb for copper, $22/oz for silver, and with an average recovery of 85% for copper and 74.5% for gold and 50.0% for silver.

Qualified Person: The technical information of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Tim Barry, a Chartered Professional Geologist MAusIMM CP(Geo), and a qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

"Tim Barry"

Tim Barry, MAusIMM (CP(Geo))

Chief Executive Officer and Director

INVESTOR RELATIONS:

+1 604 687 5800

info@arrasminerals.com

Further information can be found on the Companys website https://www.arrasminerals.com or follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/arrasminerals or Twitter: https://twitter.com/arrasminerals

About Arras Minerals Corp.

Arras is a Canadian exploration and development company advancing a portfolio of copper and gold assets in northeastern Kazakhstan, including the Option Agreement on the Beskauga copper and gold project. The Company has established the third-largest license package in the country (behind Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group) prospective for copper and gold in the country. The Companys shares are listed on the TSX-V under the trading symbol ARK.

Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors concerning estimates of Measured, Indicated, and Inferred Resources: This press release uses the terms measured resources, indicated resources, and inferred resources which are defined in, and required to be disclosed by, NI 43-101. The Company advises U.S. investors that these terms are not recognized by the SEC. The estimation of measured, indicated and inferred resources involves greater uncertainty as to their existence and economic feasibility than the estimation of proven and probable reserves. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that measured and indicated mineral resources will be converted into reserves. The estimation of inferred resources involves far greater uncertainty as to their existence and economic viability than the estimation of other categories of resources. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that estimates of inferred mineral resources exist, are economically mineable, or will be upgraded into measured or indicated mineral resources. Under Canadian securities laws, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or other economic studies.

Disclosure of contained ounces in a resource is permitted disclosure under Canadian regulations, however the SEC normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute reserves by SEC standards as in place tonnage and grade without reference to unit measures. Accordingly, the information contained in this press release may not be comparable to similar information made public by U.S. companies that are not subject NI 43-101.

Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding future events and Arras future results that are subject to the safe harbors created under the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the Exchange Act, and applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements include, among others, statements regarding the use of net proceeds from the recent private placement, plans and expectations of the drill program Arras is in the process of undertaking, including the expansion of the Mineral Resource, and other aspects of the Mineral Resource estimates for the Beskauga project. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts, and projections about Arras exploration projects, the industry in which Arras operates and the beliefs and assumptions of Arras management. Words such as expects, anticipates, targets, goals, projects, intends, plans, believes, seeks, estimates, continues, may, variations of such words, and similar expressions and references to future periods, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond managements control, including undertaking further exploration activities, the results of such exploration activities and that such results support continued exploration activities, unexpected variations in ore grade, types and metallurgy, volatility and level of commodity prices, the availability of sufficient future financing, and other matters discussed under the caption Risk Factors in the Management Discussion and Analysis filed on the Companys profile on SEDAR on February 24, 2023 and in the Companys Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed on February 24, 2023 available on www.sec.gov. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual results or developments may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement made by the Company in this release is based only on information currently available and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments, or otherwise.




London: Jason George was sitting in a pub in Holborn, in central London, enjoying an after-work pint when a woman approached him and held a piece of paper over the table with a plea for money scribbled on it.

Soon after politely declining her request, the Tasmanian, who moved to the UK in November 2021, noticed both his work and personal mobile iPhones, which had been on the table, had vanished along with the woman.

A thief steals a mobile phone from a man walking down a London street. Credit: City of London Police

This is par for the course in modern London, where new Metropolitan Police data has revealed that a phone is reported stolen every six minutes. The latest figures, obtained by the BBC last week, showed 91,000 reports of phone theft last year  an average of 248 a day.

Late last year Stephanie Dale, who left Sydney for Britain in July, was left shaken when her phone was plucked from her hands by a cyclist while she waited for a bus in Herne Hill, south London. Just last week Daniel Harness, a merchant banker who moved to London in January, was texting a friend after jumping off the Tube when his phone was taken from his hands near Old Street Station. Lauren Fishers phone was stolen from her bag by a stranger while she sat, 39 weeks pregnant, outside a pub at London Bridge.
Los Angeles: Hollywood film and TV writers voted overwhelmingly in favour of giving union negotiators the power to call a strike if contract talks with studios break down, the Writers Guild of America said on Monday.

The WGA, in a statement on Twitter, said 97.85 per cent of members who voted cast ballots in favour of letting negotiators order a work stoppage after May 1.

In 2007, picketers march outside the entrance to Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California. Credit: AP

Writers say they have suffered during the streaming TV boom, in part due to shorter seasons and smaller residuals, and are seeking pay increases from Netflix, Walt Disney Co and other studios.

The last WGA strike, in 2007 and 2008, lasted 100 days. TV networks broadcast re-runs and more reality shows, while the cost to the California economy was estimated at $US2.1 billion ($3.13 billion), according to the Milken Institute. Most TV and film writers live in Los Angeles or New York.
A follow-up and evaluation mission on the process of resuming the Customs valuation function by Cote dIvoire Customs took place from 27 to 31 March 2023 in Abidjan with the financial support of the Japan Customs Cooperation Fund (CCF Japan). Its aim was for the World Customs Organization (WCO) to continue to provide assistance to Ivorian Customs with a view to supporting it during this process.

The mission was led by an expert from the Valuation Sub-Directorate of the Tariff and Trade Affairs Directorate of the WCO Secretariat and an accredited WCO Revenue Package expert from Cameroon Customs.

The objective of the mission was to take stock of the process of resuming the valuation function, to make observations on the results achieved at mid-term and to put forward, where necessary, any suggestions and recommendations that may help improve the situation and ensure that the process is successful. The mission consisted primarily of working sessions with the central bodies responsible for valuation control both before and after Customs clearance, meetings with Customs partners and a visit to an immediate control unit.

A half-day was devoted to raising the awareness of some 30 auditors from the control and operational services on the training and capacity-building opportunities offered on the WCO website, in particular through the CLiKC! platform and the tools and instruments developed under the WCO Revenue Package.

During the debriefing meeting held at the Directorate General of Customs under the chairmanship of the Director General of Customs, the experts provided an update on the progress of the mission.

The Cote dIvoire Customs authorities confirmed that they had taken careful note of the missions findings, suggestions and recommendations, while stating that all arrangements were being made to take these into account, especially through the development and deployment of a new instrument for the control of Customs valuation.
Ascend expands its presence in Illinois with its first outlet and ninth dispensary in the state

NEW YORK, April 17, 2023 /CNW/ - Ascend Wellness Holdings, Inc. ("AWH" or the "Company") (CSE: AAWH.U) (OTCQX: AAWH), a multi-state, vertically integrated cannabis operator focused on bettering lives through cannabis, announced the grand opening of its Ascend Tinley Park adult-use cannabis outlet dispensary, located at 16200 S Harlem Ave, Tinley Park, IL 60477. The dispensary is Ascend's ninth in the state of Illinois and twenty-seventh across its six-state footprint.

Ascend Wellness Holdings, Inc. Logo (CNW Group/Ascend Wellness Holdings, Inc.)

The new dispensary will be open from 9 am to 9 pm and will offer adult-use cannabis products with seven point-of-sale (POS) terminals, accepting both cash and cashless ATM terminals for debit cards. The store is Ascend's first outlet store in the state offering everyday low pricing and 'flower at a fraction' of the price. The outlet joins Ascend's four outlets across the portfolio in Grand Rapids, Michigan; Scranton, Pennsylvania; Wayne, Pennsylvania; and New Bedford, Massachusetts.

The Tinley Park dispensary is located in a large shopping area, making it easily accessible to both local residents and visitors to the area. The dispensary offers a large parking lot for convenient parking and accessibility.

"We are excited to be expanding our retail presence with the opening of our 27th dispensary and our fifth outlet store," said Kathleen Olivastro, Regional Vice President of Retail Operations at Ascend Wellness Holdings. "Our Tinley Park store offers a convenient location and a great shopping experience for our customers to access a wide range of products and high-quality cannabis at everyday low prices."

The Tinley Park dispensary will offer Ascend's full catalog of top-tier brands including a full menu of premium flower, edibles, vapes, and concentrate products. The grand opening event will start at 8:45 am and the Company will offer doorbusters for early arrivals.

Story continues

Customers must be at least 21 years old to purchase cannabis products at the Tinley Park dispensary.

Ascend Rewards Program

Ascend has revamped its rewards program and launched the Ascenders Club this month. Customers can now earn and redeem points both online and in-store. Earn 1 point for every $1 spent and build points to earn products or apparel! Customers can enroll today in-store or through the Ascenders Club wallet online .

About Ascend Wellness Holdings, Inc (AWH):

AWH is a vertically integrated multistate cannabis operator with licenses and assets in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. AWH owns and operates state-of-the-art cultivation facilities, growing award-winning strains and producing a curated selection of products for retail and wholesale customers. AWH produces and distributes its in-house Simply Herb, Ozone, and Ozone Reserve branded products. For more information, visit www.awholdings.com .

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes forward-looking information and statements, which may include, but are not limited to, information and statements regarding the plans, intentions, expectations, estimates, and beliefs of the Company. Words such as "expects", "continue", "will", "anticipates" and "intends" or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current projections and expectations about future events and financial trends, and on certain assumptions and analyses made by the Company in light of experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors management believes are appropriate.

Forward-looking information and statements involve and are subject to assumptions and known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause actual events, results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from future events, results, performance, and achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking information and statements herein. Such factors include, among others: the risks and uncertainties identified in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, and in the Company's other reports and filings with the applicable Canadian securities regulators and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Although the Company believes that any forward-looking information and statements herein are reasonable, in light of the use of assumptions and the significant risks and uncertainties inherent in such information and statements, there can be no assurance that any such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, and accordingly, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such risks and uncertainties and should not place undue reliance upon such forward-looking information and statements. Any forward-looking information and statements herein are made as of the date hereof, and except as required by applicable laws, the Company assumes no obligation and disclaims any intention to update or revise any forward-looking information and statements herein or to update the reasons that actual events or results could or do differ from those projected in any forward-looking information and statements herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or results, or otherwise, except as required by applicable laws.

The CSE has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the content of this news release.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ascend-opens-1st-outlet-store-in-illinois-301798218.html

SOURCE Ascend Wellness Holdings, Inc.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2023/17/c9594.html
Thousands to walk at Weber States 160th commencement

April 17, 2023

OGDEN, Utah  Weber State University is honoring the class of 2023 during its 160th commencement ceremony April 28 beginning at 8:30 a.m., followed by ceremonies for each college throughout the day.

The university expects 3,442 students to graduate from among its academic seven colleges, representing arts to the sciences, associates degrees to doctorates.

This is always a fantastic day at Weber State, watching students take those final steps across the stage to get their degree, and I find myself celebrating right alongside them, said WSU President Brad Mortensen. Whether theyre staying at Weber to earn a higher degree or transitioning to the workforce, these graduates have proven their brilliance and I couldn't be prouder.

Mortensen said hes excited for graduation day as president  and this time hell also be cheering as one of the many proud parents in attendance, as his son gets an associates degree and his daughter earns her bachelors from WSU.

This years commencement speaker is Steve Starks, CEO of the Larry H. Miller Company. Starks is a WSU alum who was recently appointed to the Utah Board of Higher Education. He also serves as the governors Olympic and Paralympic Advisor and chair of the Economic Development Corporation of Utah.

The most popular majors this year are nursing, psychological science, criminal justice, communication, computer science and professional sales.

It feels so surreal to actually be graduating this semester, said communication student Chelsea Ann Baxa. Most of my college years were online due to the pandemic, but I still enjoyed every moment of it. Weber State has provided me with valuable work experience that has prepared me for my future.

Ceremonies for each college will be held throughout the day, primarily at the Val A. Browning Center and the Dee Events Center. Each will be held in person with an option to watch online, with times and locations available on the graduation webpage.

No tickets are required and parking is free, but seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Graduates who need special accommodations should contact Disability Services at 801-626-6413.
The Fort Erie Native Friendship Centre is calling on the community to show its gratitude for Mother Earth.

In honour of Earth Day, the Earth Day Clean Up has been organized at the centre, at 796 Buffalo Rd.

The event will take place on Friday, April 21 between 9 a.m. and noon.

Volunteers are asked to bring their own gloves suitable for garbage pickup as limited pairs will be available.

As a way to say thank you for volunteering, participants are invited to a potluck following the cleanup.

SHARE:
TSX: ASND

www.ascendantresources.com

Feasibility study expected in May

Final Metallurgical Results Expected Shortly

Appoints SD Capital Advisory and GKB Ventures (S&G) to Investigate Export Credit Agency Project Finance

TORONTO, April 17, 2023 /CNW/ - Ascendant Resources Inc. (TSX: ASND) (OTCQB: ASDRF) (FRA: 2D9) ("Ascendant" or the "Company") expects to complete the feasibility study ("FS") for its Lagoa Salgada Polymetallic Project in Portugal, in May 2023. All work streams associated with the various disciplines are progressing very well and are substantially completed. Metallurgy test work is also substantially complete confirming the salability of the Company's copper, lead, and zinc concentrates as well as finalizing the recovery curves. The current focus is investigating the potential to produce a saleable tin concentrate from the tailings. Final results and associated reports are expected to be completed in the coming weeks.

Ascendant Resources Inc. Logo (CNW Group/Ascendant Resources Inc.)

The permitting process is ongoing, with recent public and regulatory meetings having been concluded without any major issues to report. The Company continues to expect a robust FS in line with or improving on the successful PEA results completed in September of 2021.

Additionally, the Company is also pleased to announce that it has jointly appointed SD Capital Advisory Limited ("SDCA") and GKB Ventures Limited ("GKB") to structure and arrange Export Credit Agency ("ECA") supported project finance through a competitive bid process for the development of the Company's Lagoa Salgada Project.

SDCA is a London-based independent financial boutique that focuses on securing project finance for corporates and mining/resources companies in developed and emerging markets. The firm specializes in strategic business advisory, financial modelling, and credit analysis. The team consists of experienced finance professionals with major multinational, banking, and emerging markets experience complemented by geological and process engineering expertise.

Story continues

GKB is an award-winning independent consultancy helping clients to secure cross-border transactions and access international finance via ECAs. GKB has a track record of delivering knowledge and access to government-supported schemes, including ECA financing, creating bespoke solutions which are scalable for the long term. GKB founders include the previous Managing Director and Global Head of Barclays Capital Export Credit Agency & Structured Trade Finance business and the previous Head of Emerging Markets on the Capex Financing Solutions team at Barclays. GKB is currently appointed on over US$4 billion of structured ECA financings and has successfully closed over US$1bn of projects with ECA support in the developing markets.

SDCA and GKB are currently engaged by Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc. and Lake Resources Ltd. and have secured interest from several ECAs to support approximately 70% of the respective project's development costs with ECA-backed project financing.

About Ascendant Resources Inc.

Ascendant Resources is a Toronto-based mining company focused on the exploration and development of the highly prospective Lagoa Salgada VMS project located on the prolific Iberian Pyrite Belt in Portugal.

The Venda Nova deposit at Lagoa Salgada demonstrates compelling economics, as demonstrated in the results of the Preliminary Economic Assessment with scalability for future resource growth. Located just 80km from Lisbon, Lagoa Salgada is easily accessible by road and surrounded by exceptional Infrastructure. Ascendant holds a 50% interest in the Lagoa Salgada project through its position in Redcorp - Empreendimentos Mineiros, Lda ("Redcorp") and has an earn-in opportunity to increase its interest in the project to 80%.

The Company's common shares are principally listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "ASND". For more information on Ascendant, please visit our website at http://www.ascendantresources.com/.

Additional information relating to the Company, including the Preliminary Economic Assessment referenced in this news release, is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Forward Looking Information

This press release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking information" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that discusses predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, without limitation, statements regarding the business, the Project, and the exploration potential of Anomaly B, D or any other targets on the property. In making the forward- looking statements contained in this press release, Ascendant has made certain assumptions, including, but not limited to the anticipated time to complete metallurgical test work and time to complete a FS, the results of the FS and whether or not the engagement of SDCA and GKB may lead to ECA supported project financing for the development of the Lagoa Salgada Project. Although Ascendant believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that the expectations of any forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. 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. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this press release. Except as required by law, Ascendant disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, changes in factors affecting such forward-looking statements or otherwise. Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking information, including, without limitation, the risks described under the heading "Risks Factors" in the Company's Annual Information Form dated March 24, 2022 and under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" in the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 and other risks identified in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The risk factors referred to above are not an exhaustive list of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking information. The Company's statements containing forward-looking information are based on the beliefs, expectations and opinions of management on the date the statements are made, and the Company does not assume any obligation to update such forward-looking information if circumstances or management's beliefs, expectations or opinions should change, other than as required by applicable law. For the reasons set forth above, one should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ascendant-provides-an-update-for-its-lagoa-salgada-polymetallic-project-in-portugal-301798508.html

SOURCE Ascendant Resources Inc.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2023/17/c2033.html
The region got an early taste of cottage season last week, in more ways than one.

Niagara Colleges Project Brew returned Friday evening, welcoming hundreds of visitors in to try some of the 15 different beers final term students brewed over the previous 12 weeks. Each Project Brew comes with a theme, and last weeks summerlike weather fit in perfect with the Hops at the Docks cottage theme.

Ellie Riches created a sessionable beer she called Lake Lager that she said was meant to be an easy drinking brew perfect for those hot days on the dock.

To go along with the theme of cracking a few open at the cottage, she said.

Project Brew is held at the end of each term, providing a unique experience where graduating students get to showcase both what they learned, and their personality. Beers offered at the event were as diverse as the people making them.

Alongside Riches Lake Lager was Nate Perraults Fake It Till You Make It sour beer that used fruit from his familys Owen Sound farm to mimic a Belgian-style mixed fermentation beer, or Richard Lawsons strong ale inspired by Red Dragon Inn, a fantasy adventure board game he plays with friends.

My idea was to make a strong ale that's flavoured with both this idea of fire and the breath of the dragon, he said.

So its a smoked strong ale that's based roughly on the old U.K. cask ale.

The students said the diversity of beers was a big part of what makes Project Brew special.

I think we have a really diverse lineup of three or four lighter beers in flavour and alcohol content, a couple of fruity IPA and sour beers and then some darker stouts, some darker, stronger ales to go with it as well, Lawson said.

And we didn't plan that, is just that's kind of how we made it. So it's kind of representative of our class, added Perrault.

Brewmaster professor Jon Downing agreed.

Thats what makes it great, he said.

After spending so much of the early part of their schooling on the basics, safety, and process, Downing said its fun to let the students loose in their final term. Beers at Project Brew highlight many of the students backgrounds and passions. Lawson pointed to one beer, a golden strong that incorporated rice used in sake making and green tea, as a tribute to the students Asian heritage.

While the event is a chance for students and professors alike to relax and celebrate, Downing said next terms graduating students are already eager to get going on their beers for the summer Project Brew.

Downing said the support from the college and other programs goes a long way in making the event a success each time. Food at the event was provided by the colleges culinary services department.

SHARE:
This Earth Day, the city of Thorold is asking residents to help clean up.

The city has coordinated five separate spots where volunteers will gather from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on April 22 to pick up litter along sidewalks, parks, and trails.

Those five locations are: the Allanburg Community Centre, Battle of Beaverdams Park, McAdam Park, Port Robinson Community Centre, and Thorold Public Library.

Participants will be provided with materials, including gloves, garbage bags, and garbage pickers.

The cleanup is being presented in partnership with the citys public library, which said they are excited to bring the community together for a worthwhile cause in keeping our parks, walkways, and public spaces looking beautiful.

Mayor Terry Ugulini said he looks forward to seeing residents and community partners out to participate.

We all have a role to play in keeping our community clean and safe, he said. Every intentional act helps us work towards a more sustainable future.

Anyone looking to participate is asked to register in advance at thorold.ca/earthday.

RELATED STORIES Cleanups still an important part of Earth Day in St. Catharines

SHARE:
ASM Global, the management company responsible for upkeep of Canada Games Park spoke before Thorold City Council last week regarding operations and projections in the year ahead, which had some councillors concerned about utilization rates at the facility.

Thorold, one of three partners responsible for upkeep of Canada Games Park, is concerned residents are being impacted by several factors including their ability to enjoy the facility.

User groups are looking for times at the facility, which are coming up short, said Coun. Henry DAngela.

We have under-utilization rates and then I have user groups contacting me directly that arent getting sufficient ice time or sufficient usage, he said.

DAngela said it is worrisome when it comes to taxpayers looking to use the facility being met with few options.

Each of the partners involved have allotted times throughout the day and week they can use even when it is the odd times most groups might not want, said ASM Global general manager Jeff Dixon.

If youre speaking specifically about ice time usage, Thorold has certain dedicated times allotted to them and theyre working within their time slots, he said.

If they cannot fill the time slot because its a late hour or an odd early morning time or just a random time, then that would be the under-utilized space the municipality or partner would still have to pay for.

DAngela said he would be interested in seeing a list for potential times, as it is not always about making money, rather about serving the community and their needs.

Its not always about getting as much maximum dollars, its a matter of utilizing it for some purpose, he said.

If we know were not utilizing 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon, yet were paying for it. We need to know that so we can get user groups or whoever wants it, if its public skate or if its senior skate, then we can put them in there and were paying for each time anyway, so at least someones benefiting from it.

Dixon said non-primetime slots tend to be vacant, like other community facilities that host sporting and public events.

If you come in during the day that there is unused space, it would be like any arena throughout the community when primarily people are working, but during prime times we are maximizing, he said.

Dixon said generally from 5 p.m. onwards is when the most timeslots are utilized, and people have a hard time booking slots, otherwise, they are hoping to open off-peak slots and advertise them for community use.

Were also looking at drop-in sessions for things like shooting hoops, but trying to determine, if its a small fee to drop-in, do you get a membership card, is it open to the community? Whatever it is we are researching that, he said.

DAnglea brought up concerns regarding pricing associated with unused times and utilization rates to determine the overall cost to the facility if timeslots are not used.

From my standpoint, I havent seen any financial numbers and no idea about utilization rates, I see nothing, he said.

All I see is a cheque requisition for $20,000 for unused ice, so it doesnt give me that warm fuzzy feeling.

DAngela added he needs a little more communication and data to show how this makes sense.

Dixon said through a consultation process with the Region, Thorold, Brock University and St. Catharines everything is vetted, and pricing is approved.

Committee is back and forth with our director of finance goes through and then that is presented to the management committee and the management committee approves it and we operate to that budget.

SHARE:
Fresh off successfully pushing Niagara to declare a state of emergency surrounding mental health, addiction and homelessness, Steven Soos is working on next steps to address the situation.

The Niagara resident had been lobbying municipal councils on the declaration since 2019 while sharing his own experience with addiction and mental health.

Soos and Wayne Campbell, a Niagara Falls city councillor who lost his daughter to suicide, visited municipal councils asking them to make an emergency declaration. Eleven of Niagaras 12 lower-tier councils, including Niagara Falls, did so.

Regional councillors rejected taking similar action at the time amid concerns such a declaration would not bring about hoped-for change and create false expectations.

But Soos dogged determination eventually won out, convincing the new term of regional council in February to approve a motion directing Region Chair Jim Bradley to write letters to the provincial government asking for action to address the opioid crisis and to correct the funding allocation model used for homelessness services. It also asked gaps in mental health services be funded.

Now, Soos is asking municipalities to take further action.

In Tuesdays agenda for Niagara Falls city council is a lengthy resolution Soos said would assist people living rough throughout the community, push for more affordable-housing options and support Niagaras Indigenous population, who are disproportionately affected by homelessness, mental health and addiction.

In an interview, he said while the first step was for Niagara municipalities to formally acknowledge theyre facing emergencies, now its time to work towards addressing those emergencies.

Soos said in addition to the resolution that will go before Niagara Falls city council, he recently submitted 100 recommendations to Niagara Regions public health and social services committee co-chair and Niagara Falls regional Coun. Joyce Morocco on how they can transform the mental health, homelessness and addictions systems locally.

This state of emergency ties into so many things  I dont look at this from one lens, said Soos. I pushed back for years that this was not symbolic  I provided evidence. Im working with all the municipalities to come up with similar concepts in the motion that are core things we need, but  I want each municipality to do something thats special to them  specifically to the unique needs of the municipalities.

In addition to municipalities in Niagara, Soos is also pushing for similar state of emergencies to be declared in all other municipalities across Ontario.

The resolution outlines about 30 actions Niagara Falls can advocate or pursue.

For example, Soos wants the municipality to ask Niagara Region to deliver more preventative drug education through a public health campaign on the dangers of drugs and educate the public, including youth, on the benefits of carrying naloxone and how to access it.

Hes asking the city to lobby the province on more therapeutic approaches and treatment pertaining to mental health care, work to develop strategies to address mental health/homeless/addiction discrimination and to cover shortfalls of funding to organizations financially struggling who provide emergency support to Niagara Falls residents.

Soos requests city council advocate to the province the need for increased medium-housing supply for young people trying to enter the housing market and seniors downsizing, while supporting initiatives such as tiny homes/temporary modular housing and other models to address the housing crisis in Niagara Falls.

Hes calling on the city to learn more about how municipal and other levels of government can support Indigenous-led approaches to addressing mental health, homelessness and addiction.

Soos said he would like to see the municipality support the creation of a pilot project for an Indigenous mobile crisis unit and request the provincial Indigenous Affairs Ministry and federal Crown-Indigenous Relations Ministry to support and better fund Indigenous emergency services in Niagara.

He said the city should establish an emergency operations committee for the mental health, homelessness and addiction emergency it declared. It would allow both political and public/citizen appointments with an emphasis on recruiting those with lived experience in mental health, homelessness and addiction and marginalized communities.

Soos requests the municipality provide monthly updates on the state of emergency through its communication channels, such as social media.

Campbell said he supports Soos continued efforts to have more done to address mental health, addiction and homelessness.

What are we going to do about it now that weve defined that (the problem) does exist? said Campbell. Its financing. We need money to move things forward and the only place thats coming from is from the province or from the federal government.

SHARE:
JOIN THE CONVERSATION

Anyone can read Conversations, but to contribute, you should be a registered Torstar account holder. If you do not yet have a Torstar account, you can create one now (it is free)

Sign In

Register
MOSCOW (AP)  Chinas defense minister on Monday toured the top Russian military academy on a visit to the Russian capital that underscored the increasingly close ties between Moscow and Beijing amid the fighting in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Gen. Li Shangfu in the Kremlin on Sunday, noting that his trip follows a very productive three-day state visit to Moscow by Chinese leader Xi Jinping last month.

Putin emphasized that defense cooperation, including joint military drills, has helped strengthen the trust-based strategic relationship between the two countries.

Li told Putin that relations between our armed forces are growing stronger with every passing day, adding that your personal friendship with the president of China plays a major role in this process, and everyone in China knows this.

On Monday, Li visited the military academy of the Russian General Staff, the elite institution for training senior military officers.

The Russian Defense Ministry noted in a statement issued after his visit that the academy would welcome more than 20 senior military officers from China for a training course in the fall.

Lis trip to Moscow reflects Chinas strengthening engagement with Russia, with which it has closely aligned its foreign policy in an attempt to reshape the world order to diminish the influence of the United States and its Western allies.

China has refused to criticize Russias actions in Ukraine and blamed the U.S. and NATO for provoking Moscow. Xis three-day visit to Russia last month gave a strong political boost to Putin, sending a powerful message to Western leaders that their efforts to isolate Moscow have fallen short.

After the talks, Putin and Xi issued joint declarations pledging to further bolster their strategic cooperation, develop cooperation in energy, high-tech industries and other spheres and expand the use of their currencies in mutual trade to reduce dependence on the West.

After more than a year of fighting in Ukraine and bruising Western sanctions, Russias dependence on China has increased significantly. Facing Western restrictions on its oil, gas and other exports, Russia has shifted its energy flows to China and sharply expanded other exports, resulting in a 30% hike in bilateral trade.

Last month, Putin and Xi also vowed to further develop military cooperation between Moscow and Beijing and conduct more joint sea and air patrols. However, there was no mention of any prospective Chinese weapons supplies to Russia that the U.S. and other Western allies feared.

On Friday, the Chinese foreign minister emphasized that Beijing wouldnt sell weapons to either side in the conflict in Ukraine.

Read more about:

SHARE:
JERUSALEM (AP)  Irans exiled crown prince is scheduled to come to Israel this week on a visit that reflects the warm ties his father once had with Israel and the current state of hostility between Israel and the Islamic Republic.

Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last shah to rule Iran before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, said Sunday that he will be delivering a message of friendship from the Iranian people.

He is set to participate in Israels annual Holocaust memorial ceremony on Monday night, said Israeli Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel, who will host him. He is also set to visit a desalination plant, see the Western Wall and meet representatives of the local Bahai community and Israeli Jews of Iranian descent, she said.

Gamliel praised the brave decision by Pahlavi to make what she said would be his first visit to Israel. The crown prince symbolizes a leadership different from that of the ayatollah regime, and leads values of peace and tolerance, in contrast to the extremists who rule Iran, she said.

Pahlavi left Iran at age 17 for military flight school in the U.S., just before his cancer-stricken father Mohammad Reza Pahlavi abandoned the throne for exile. The revolution followed, with the creation of the Islamic Republic, the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and the sweeping away of the last vestiges of the American-backed monarchy.

Pahlavi, who still resides in the U.S., has called for a peaceful revolution that would replace clerical rule with a parliamentary monarchy, enshrine human rights and modernize its state-run economy.

Whether he can galvanize support for a return to power is unknown. His father ruled lavishly and repressively and benefitted from a CIA-supported coup in 1953. The late shah also had close diplomatic and military ties with Israel.

That ended in 1979, when the Iranian revolutions leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, declared Israel an enemy of Islam and cut all ties. Today, the countries are arch-enemies. Israel considers Iran to be its greatest threat, citing the countrys calls for Israels destruction, its support of hostile militant groups on Israels borders and its nuclear program. Iran denies accusations by Israel and its western allies that it is pursuing a nuclear bomb.

I want the people of Israel to know that the Islamic Republic does not represent the Iranian people. The ancient bond between our people can be rekindled for the benefit of both nations, Pahlavi said on Twitter.

Read more about:

SHARE:
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  An Indiana judge has sentenced a convicted serial rapist to more than 150 years in prison, authorities said Monday.

Darrell Goodlow was charged in 2021 with 57 counts, including rape, burglary and criminal confinement. He pleaded guilty in March to nine counts, including eight felony counts of rape and one felony count of killing a domestic animal, as part of a plea agreement.

Marion Superior Judge Mark Stoner sentenced him to 156 1/2 years behind bars on Friday, prosecutors said in a news release.

With this resolution, the defendant will spend the rest of his life in prison without putting the survivors in a position to relive the trauma they have experienced throughout the duration of a trial, Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said.

Telephone messages were left with defense attorneys listed in online court records as representing Goodlow.

Prosecutors alleged that Goodlow targeted women in their 60s and 70s on the east side of Indianapolis and in the suburb of Lawrence. They accused Goodlow of sexually assaulting eight women on six different occasions between August 2020 and September 2021.

In some cases, he dressed as a utility worker to gain access to his victims homes. He killed one of his victims dogs during one attack, police said.

A fingerprint at one of the scenes helped investigators identify him. They also matched his DNA to evidence collected in all eight cases.

SHARE:
MONTREAL - The risk of spring flooding in the Montreal area is high and officials on Monday warned residents living by the water to pack emergency kits in case evacuation orders are issued.

Martin Guilbault with Montreals fire department said the city is on alert as the risk of flooding is at its highest since 2019, when thousands of residents were forced from their homes in the region and across Quebec when several rivers and lakes burst their banks. People living near the Lac des Deux-Montagnes and the Riviere des Prairies are particularly at risk, the fire division chief said.

People should pack emergency kits that can sustain their families for three days, Guilbault told reporters. Kits should include drinking water, non-perishable food, a battery-powered radio, a flashlight, candles, matches, a first aid kit and a whistle.

Citizens are asked to prepare. The citizens responsibility is to organize themselves to protect their home, Guilbault said.

Officials are monitoring rivers and lakes across the province after recent warm weather in southern Quebec accelerated snow melt, followed by heavy rain in some areas. Several millimetres of rain was forecast for Monday in Montreal and more toward the end of the week, while about 25 millimetres of rain was expected in Quebec City.

Marie-Soleil Boulet-Pruneau, spokesperson for Quebecs Public Security Department, said authorities arent worried at the moment about major flooding, adding that they were monitoring lakes and rivers across the province, particularly in the Laurentian, Lanaudiere and Outaouais regions. She said officials do not expect the province to be hit with flooding as serious as in 2019.

The temperatures are expected to trend downward over the next few days, which could reduce snow melt, she said. If the temperatures continue to drop, the melting should become more stable.

In 2019, about 310 communities across Quebec were affected by flooding. An estimated 9,070 homes and 273 businesses were flooded, more than 12,000 people were displaced, 82 landslides linked to the flooding were recorded and 760 roads were washed out or damaged. Officials evacuated the town of Grenville-sur-la-Rouge when it seemed a local dam would not hold. And on April 27, 2019, part of the town of Ste-Marthe-sur-le-Lac was evacuated after a dike broke.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada reported that claims from damage linked to the flooding in Quebec totalled $185 million.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 17, 2023.



This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

Read more about:

SHARE:
AstuteAnalytica India Pvt. Ltd.

The Asia Pacific in-vitro diagnostics market is expected to grow due to the increasing demand for accurate and reliable diagnostic tests, the adoption of advanced diagnostic technologies, and the rising prevalence of chronic diseases. With a highly competitive market, the top companies are striving for large-scale commercialization of IVD products and continuously improving diagnostic capabilities across the globe.

New Delhi, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Asia Pacific in-vitro diagnostics market reached a valuation of $15.5 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 4.67% to achieve a valuation of $23.01 billion by 2031.

Get Free sample copy of this report @ https://www.astuteanalytica.com/request-sample/asia-pacific-in-vitro-diagnostics-market

The Asia Pacific in-vitro diagnostics market has been rapidly growing, fueled by various factors such as the increasing prevalence of chronic and infectious diseases, rising healthcare spending, and the growing demand for point-of-care testing. India and China, with their vast populations, contribute significantly to the patient visits to hospitals in the region. In 2021, India had an estimated 425 million outpatient visits and 118 million hospital admissions, while China had over 215 million hospital admissions. This large patient pool has been a key driver of the IVD market, as diagnostics are essential for disease diagnosis, treatment monitoring, and disease management.

Chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer are on the rise in the Asia Pacific region, which has significantly increased the demand for IVD tests. In 2021, around 463 million adults had diabetes in the Asia Pacific region, and this number is expected to reach 578 million by 2030, according to the International Diabetes Federation. Similarly, cancer is a significant health concern in the region, with the Asia Pacific in-vitro diagnostics market accounting for nearly half of all new cancer cases worldwide, according to a report by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

Story continues

Infectious diseases such as hepatitis, tuberculosis, and HIV are also widespread in the Asia Pacific region, and they have had a significant impact on the IVD market. For instance, India has the highest burden of tuberculosis globally, with an estimated 2.44 million cases in 2022, while China has a significant hepatitis B and C burden. Diagnostics play a crucial role in disease detection, treatment monitoring, and controlling the spread of infectious diseases, making them a vital component of the IVD market in the region.

By Service, Asia Pacific In-Vitro Diagnostics Market is Highly Unorganized

The Asia Pacific market is highly fragmented, with a large number of service providers offering various services. The market is flooded with numerous unorganized service providers, making it a highly competitive and challenging market for established players. This fragmentation is due to the low entry barriers, low capital requirements, and low regulatory barriers for establishing diagnostic labs in the region. As a result, the number of pathology labs in the Asia Pacific region is significantly higher, and anyone with basic requirements and educational criteria can establish such labs.

One of the main reasons for the high number of pathology labs in the Asia Pacific in-vitro diagnostics market is the low entry barriers. Compared to other regions such as Europe and North America, the regulations for establishing diagnostic labs in the Asia Pacific region are relatively low, allowing anyone with basic education and requirements to start a lab. This has resulted in a proliferation of small-scale diagnostic labs, leading to a highly fragmented market.

Moreover, the low capital requirements have also made it easier for small-scale service providers to establish labs. With advancements in technology, diagnostic equipment has become more affordable, and the cost of establishing a lab has decreased significantly. This has enabled small-scale service providers to establish labs with minimal investment, further contributing to the fragmentation of the market.

Reagents and Instruments Contribute More than 93% Revenue to Asia Pacific In-Vitro Diagnostics Market

The Asia Pacific in-vitro diagnostics market is largely driven by the demand for reagents and instruments, which together generate over 93% of the market's revenue. These components offer a broad range of diagnostic solutions, including PCR machines for identifying infectious diseases and genetic disorders, immunoassay analyzers for detecting antibodies and antigens, and mass spectrometers for analyzing biomolecules. ELISA kits and chemical reagents are also essential components of the market.

The high cost of these instruments and reagents underscores the importance of accurate and reliable diagnostic testing in the region's healthcare industry. As the demand for advanced diagnostic technologies continues to grow, the market for in-vitro diagnostics in the Asia Pacific region is expected to expand rapidly in the coming years.

Moreover, the rising prevalence of chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disorders in the Asia Pacific in-vitro diagnostics market is driving the demand for advanced diagnostic tools and techniques. In addition, the increasing focus on personalized medicine and precision diagnostics is also contributing to the growth of the market. As a result, manufacturers are investing heavily in research and development to bring innovative products and solutions to the market.

The demand for in-vitro diagnostics in the Asia Pacific region is also driven by the growing healthcare infrastructure, rising healthcare expenditure, and the increasing adoption of point-of-care testing. Governments and healthcare organizations in the region are actively promoting the use of in-vitro diagnostics to improve patient outcomes, reduce healthcare costs, and enhance the quality of care.

Browse summary of the report and Complete Table of Contents (ToC): https://www.astuteanalytica.com/industry-report/asia-pacific-in-vitro-diagnostics-market

Analysis of Asia Pacific In-vitro Diagnostics Market: Immunodiagnostics to Dominate Market as Demand for diagnostics of Infectious Disease on the Rise

Immunodiagnostics is expected to dominate the Asia Pacific IVD market, accounting for 29% of the market share. This growth is attributed to the increasing prevalence of chronic and infectious diseases, coupled with the demand for early and accurate diagnosis. Immunodiagnostics uses antibodies to detect antigens in patient samples and has become a popular technique in the region.

The infectious disease diagnostics segment is expected to be the largest application segment in the Asia Pacific IVD market, with a market share of over 49%. The rising incidence of infectious diseases, including COVID-19, hepatitis, and tuberculosis, is driving the growth of this segment. Moreover, there is growing awareness of the importance of early and accurate diagnosis of infectious diseases in the region.

Hospitals are the primary healthcare providers in the Asia Pacific region, and they are expected to dominate the IVD market, accounting for 40% of the market share by end-users. The increasing demand for healthcare services and the adoption of advanced diagnostic technologies are contributing to the growth of this segment.

Asia Pacific In-Vitro Diagnostics Market is Highly Consolidated with Top 3 Players Captures More than 48% Revenue Share

The Asia Pacific In-Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) market is a mix of large companies with diversified businesses and smaller but specialized players. Roche Diagnostics, Abbott, and Danaher Corporation dominate the Asia Pacific market with more than 48% of revenue share collegiately. With the implementation of the In-Vitro Diagnostic Regulation in India and China, companies are increasingly focused on large-scale commercialization of IVD products and improving diagnostic capabilities worldwide.

Astute Analyticas analysis suggests that the Asia Pacific IVD market is oligopolistic in nature. The market is dominated by a small number of companies with the top 5 players accounting for over 63% of the market share. This high market concentration leads to limited variation in the level of competition.

However, the Asia Pacific in-vitro diagnostics market also has many smaller players that cater to specific niche markets. These players are highly specialized and offer a range of unique products and services. These smaller players compete with the larger companies by offering specialized products and services that meet the specific needs of their target customers.

Some of the Top Market Players Are:

Abbott

Agilent Technologies, Inc.

Becton Dickinson and Company

bioMerieux SA

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc

Charles River Laboratories

Danaher Corporation

F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.

Qiagen

Quest Diagnostics

Quidel Corp.

Siemens Healthineers

Sysmex Corp.

Other Prominent Players

Directly Purchase a copy of report with TOC @ https://www.astuteanalytica.com/inquire-before-purchase/asia-pacific-in-vitro-diagnostics-market

About Astute Analytica

Astute Analytica is a global analytics and advisory company which has built a solid reputation in a short period, thanks to the tangible outcomes we have delivered to our clients. We pride ourselves in generating unparalleled, in depth and uncannily accurate estimates and projections for our very demanding clients spread across different verticals. We have a long list of satisfied and repeat clients from a wide spectrum including technology, healthcare, chemicals, semiconductors, FMCG, and many more. These happy customers come to us from all across the Globe. They are able to make well calibrated decisions and leverage highly lucrative opportunities while surmounting the fierce challenges all because we analyze for them the complex business environment, segment wise existing and emerging possibilities, technology formations, growth estimates, and even the strategic choices available. In short, a complete package. All this is possible because we have a highly qualified, competent, and experienced team of professionals comprising of business analysts, economists, consultants, and technology experts. In our list of priorities, you-our patron-come at the top. You can be sure of best cost-effective, value-added package from us, should you decide to engage with us.

Contact us:

Aamir Beg

BSI Business Park, H-15,Sector-63, Noida- 201301- India

Phone: +1-888 429 6757 (US Toll Free); +91-0120- 4483891 (Rest of the World)

Email: sales@astuteanalytica.com

Website: www.astuteanalytica.com




The race to lead Ontarios Liberals into the 2026 provincial election is about to heat up.

After months of delay following their drubbing at the hands of Premier Doug Ford and placing a distant third to the NDP in last Junes provincewide vote with just eight MPPs, party officials on Sunday set Dec. 2 as the date to announce a new leader.

Candidates face an entry fee of $100,000 plus a $25,000 refundable deposit and voting will take place Nov. 25 and 26 using ranked ballots and a new one-member, one-vote system decided at the partys annual general meeting in Hamilton last month.

The party executive had been under pressure from some leadership camps for an early date to give the new boss time to revive Grit fortunes in an about three dozen ridings where there are few, if any, warm bodies to mount campaigns.

There was a general feeling lets get on with this thing, a senior Liberal told the Star on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. It was not meant to favour or hinder anyone.

Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie, a former Liberal MP who has been encouraged to run as a potential high-profile threat to Ford but is believed to favour a later vote, must now decide if the conditions are right for her.

The mayor is assessing the situation and consulting with some of her people and will be making an announcement in due course, said veteran party activist Marcel Wieder, speaking on her behalf.

Crombie, who won another term as mayor last fall with 77.1 per cent of the vote, has been noncommittal about making the jump to provincial politics but attracted plenty of attention when she made an appearance at the Hamilton convention.

Others applauded the decision to name a leader before the holiday season gets into high gear.

This is exactly what we need, said Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith (Beaches-East York), who has been seriously exploring a bid. Were ready to rebuild our party and our province and will share next steps soon.

Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi (Ottawa Centre), a former Ontario Liberal cabinet minister, has also been travelling the province building support for a run. Rookie MPPs Stephanie Bowman (Don Valley West), Adil Shamji (Don Valley East) and Ted Hsu (Kingston and the Islands) are exploring bids, as well.

One longtime party strategist expressed concern at the Dec. 2 date, saying to hold a leadership vote this year will make fundraising more difficult because the byelection for Toronto mayor in late June will leave some donors strapped.

There could also be three byelections this fall to replace departing MPPs, including former Ford cabinet minister Merrilee Fullerton, who quit last month.

This is one of the dumbest decisions, said the strategist, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

The $100,000 entry fee is about double what the New Democrats set for their leadership race, in which Davenport MPP Marit Stiles was the only candidate. She was acclaimed as leader in February.

The Liberals have pledged to hold at least five leadership debates before their vote, which will mostly be in-person at riding associations, with some in sprawling northern ridings likely be allowed to mail in ballots.

Under rules for the race, candidates cannot spend more than $900,000. There is a debt limit of $50,000. Voters must be party members by Sept. 11.

The deadline for candidates to register is Sept. 5 at 5 p.m. They must submit to a criminal record and credit check.

Read more about:

SHARE:
Front row, from left, Tim O'Connor former senior Irish Diplomat and former Secretary General to the President of Ireland, Professor Ian Greer President and Vice-Chancellor of Queen's University Belfast (QUB), Senator George J. Mitchell, former US Representative for Northern Ireland an Chair of the NI All Party Talks with wife Heather MacLachlan, former US President Bill Clinton with his wife former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former taoiseach Bertie Ahern, former Teachta Dala of Ireland Liz O'Donnell, Lord Murphy, Professor Jonathan Powell, former Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of the UK, former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Northern Ireland for the PUP Dawn Purvis and Ryan Feeney, Acting Vice-President Strategic Engagement and External Affairs at QUB, back row, from left, Deputy Lieutenant for Belfast Jane Wells, former Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams, former Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland Mark Durkan, former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Northern Ireland for the Women's Coalition Monica McWilliams, Lord Reg Empey, Lord Alderdice, Gary McMichael, leader of the short-lived Ulster Democratic Party, Ian Paisley Jr, and QUB Professor Richard English during a photocall on the steps of the Lanyon Buildings at Queen's University Belfast during an event marking the 25th anniversary of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Monday, April 17, 2023. (Liam Mc Burney/PA via AP)
Reading, PA (19601)

Today

Turning out mostly cloudy with a chance of a few showers, mainly in the afternoon and evening..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy with a few passing showers.
Allentown, PA (18103)

Today

Turning out mostly cloudy with a chance of a few showers, mainly in the afternoon and evening..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy with a few passing showers.
The growth in geriatric population and the rising prevalence of cardiovascular diseases such as coronary artery disease and peripheral artery disease drive the growth of the global atherectomy devices market

PORTLAND, Ore., April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Atherectomy Devices Market by Product (Directional Atherectomy Devices, Rotational Atherectomy Devices, Orbital Atherectomy Devices, Others), by End User (Hospitals, Ambulatory surgery centers, Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031". According to the report, the global atherectomy devices industry generated $0.7 billion in 2021, and is anticipated to generate $2.1 billion by 2031, witnessing a CAGR of 10.5% from 2022 to 2031.

Allied_Market_Research_Logo

Download Free Sample Report: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/11870

Prime determinants of growth

The growth in geriatric population and the rising prevalence of cardiovascular diseases such as coronary artery disease and peripheral artery disease drive the growth of the global atherectomy devices market. However, limited availability of skilled healthcare professionals restricts the market growth. Moreover, use of atherectomy devices in minimally invasive procedures presents new opportunities in the coming years.

Covid-19 Scenario

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the global atherectomy devices market, owing to a reduction in the number of elective procedures being performed during the lockdown.

Hospitals and healthcare providers had to focus on treating COVID-19 patients, which led to a reduction in the number of non-emergency procedures being performed. This had resulted in a decline in the demand for atherectomy devices during the pandemic.

The rotational atherectomy devices segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period

Based on product, the rotational atherectomy devices segment held the highest market share in 2021, accounting for more than one-third of the global atherectomy devices market, and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period, owing to its high efficiency in removing plaque from the arterial walls due to its rotating burr. However, the directional atherectomy devices segment is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 11.1% from 2022 to 2031, owing to advancements in directional atherectomy devices.

Story continues

Procure Complete Report (290 Pages PDF with Insights, Charts, Tables, and Figures) @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/checkout-final/atherectomy-devices-market

The hospitals segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period

Based on end user, the hospitals segment held the highest market share in 2021, accounting for more than two-fifths of the global atherectomy devices market, and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period, owing to the preference for a large number of patients. However, the ambulatory surgery centers segment is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 10.9% from 2022 to 2031, owing to the affordable price at ambulatory surgery centers.

North America to maintain its dominance by 2031

Based on region, North America held the highest market share in terms of revenue in 2021, accounting for more than two-fifths of the global atherectomy devices market, and is likely to dominate the market during the forecast period. This is owing to an increase in adoption of atherectomy devices by patients, rise in awareness about the peripheral artery disease, and surge in healthcare infrastructure. Upsurge in healthcare expenditure in the emerging economies is anticipated to offer lucrative opportunities for the market expansion. However, the Asia-Pacific region is expected to witness the fastest CAGR of 11.9% from 2022 to 2031, owing to factors such as increase in per capita spending, growth in medical tourism, and rise in disposable incomes.

Leading Market Players: -

Medtronic plc,

Koninklijke Philips N.V.,

Boston Scientific Corporation,

Cardiovascular Systems, Inc.,

Becton,

Dickinson and Company,

AngioDynamics Inc.,

Rex medical,

Nipro Corporation,

Invamed medical,

Avinger Inc.

The report provides a detailed analysis of these key players of the global atherectomy devices market. These players have adopted different strategies such as new product launches, collaborations, expansion, joint ventures, agreements, and others to increase their market share and maintain dominant shares in different regions. The report is valuable in highlighting business performance, operating segments, product portfolio, and strategic moves of market players to showcase the competitive scenario.

Trending Reports in Healthcare Industry (Book Now with 10% Discount):

Plasma Therapy Market by Type (Pure Platelet-Rich Plasma, Leukocyte-Rich PRP, Pure Platelet-Rich Fibrin, and Leukocyte-Rich Fibrin), Application (Orthopedics, Dermatology, Dentistry, and Others), and End User (Hospitals, Dermatology Clinics, and Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2030

Nasal Polyps Treatment Market by Type of Treatment (Corticosteroids, Antibiotics, Leukotriene Inhibitors, and Others), Route of Administration (Oral, Nasal, and Others), and Distribution Channel (Hospital Pharmacies, Retail Pharmacies, and Online Pharmacies): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2030

Cosmetic Dentistry Market by Product Type (Dental Systems & Equipment, Dental Implants, Dental Bridges, Dental Veneers, Dental Crowns, Orthodontic Braces, and Inlays & Onlays), End User (Dental Hospitals & Clinics, Dental Laboratories, and Others), and Age Group (Children and Adults): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2030

Cerebral Palsy Treatment Market by Drug Type (Anticholinergics, Anticonvulsants, Antidepressants, and Others), Disease Type (Spastic Cerebral Palsy Treatment, Dyskinetic Cerebral Palsy Treatment, Ataxic Cerebral Palsy Treatment, and Mixed Cerebral Palsy Treatment), Distribution Channel (Hospital pharmacies, Retail Stores & Pharmacy, and Online Providers): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2030

Radiation Oncology Market by Type (External Beam Radiation Therapy, Internal Beam Radiation Therapy), by Application (Prostate Cancer, Breast Cancer, Lung Cancer, Head and Neck Cancer, Colorectal Cancer, Cervical Cancer, Gynecological Cancer, Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2030

About Us

Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.

We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Allied Market Research CEO Pawan Kumar is instrumental in inspiring and encouraging everyone associated with the company to maintain high quality of data and help clients in every way possible to achieve success. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.

Contact:

David Correa

5933 NE Win Sivers Drive

#205, Portland, OR 97220

United States

USA/Canada (Toll Free): +1-800-792-5285, +1-503-894-6022

UK: +44-845-528-1300

Hong Kong: +852-301-84916

India (Pune): +91-20-66346060

Fax: +1(855)550-5975

help@alliedmarketresearch.com

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/636519/Allied_Market_Research_Logo.jpg

Cision

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/atherectomy-devices-market-to-reach-2-1-billion-globally-by-2031-at-10-5-cagr-allied-market-research-301798693.html

SOURCE Allied Market Research
The play has its UK premiere this summer

Rakie Ayola

( Dan Wooller )

Rakie Ayola will make her Chichester debut in the UK premiere of Mom, How Did You Meet The Beatles? this summer.

The play, by Adrienne Kennedy and Adam P. Kennedy, runs from 16 June to 8 July at Chichester's Minerva Theatre, directed by Diyan Zora.

It centres on playwright Adrienne Kennedy, who impulsively leaves New York for London with her young son, intent on adapting John Lennon's book In His Own Write for the stage.

In the heady atmosphere of the Swinging '60s, she finds herself rubbing shoulders with a dizzying array of celebrities, including all four Beatles. And when her idols, Laurence Olivier - director of the National Theatre - and his influential literary manager Kenneth Tynan, along with actor Victor Spinetti, promise to produce her play, it seems like a dream come true. But slowly the stars seem to align in a different way.

Told in the form of a one-act, near-monologue to her son Adam, it's billed as "a mesmerising and disquieting tale of a young playwright trying to make her name in a new world".

Rakie Ayola won a BAFTA Best Supporting Actress Award in 2021 for her role in TV drama Anthony. Her many leading television roles also include The Pact, Grace, Shetland, No Offence and Holby City. Her recent theatre work includes On Bear Ridge for National Theatre Wales/Royal Court, for which she won the Black British Theatre Award for Best Actress, and Hermione in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in the West End.

The production will be designed by Anisha Fields, with lighting design by Joshua Gadsby, sound design by George Dennis and video design by Hayley Egan; the casting director is Lotte Hines CDG.
AtomBeam

AtomBeam Technologies Inc., whose game-changing product has the potential to revolutionize how data is sent and stored, announces today that it has raised $1.3M in its current crowdfunding campaign

MORAGA, Calif., April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via InvestorWire -- AtomBeam, whose Compaction product massively drives efficiency in data transmission and storage, announces today that it has raised $1.3 million in its current crowdfunding campaign on StartEngine. This milestone marks a significant achievement for the company and its growing investor community.

"We are thrilled to see the continued support of our investors, who recognize the potential of AtomBeam's technology to revolutionize how virtually every machine talks to another machine," said Charles Yeomans, CEO of AtomBeam. "This successful raise brings us one step closer to achieving our engineering goals and driving adoption of our technology."

AtomBeam's Compaction is poised to disrupt how connected machines, the Internet of Things, communicate. With its ability to reduce the amount of data that needs to be transmitted by an average of 75%, AtomBeam's technology offers significant cost and efficiency benefits to businesses and consumers alike.

Imagine your phone could send and receive data four times faster just with a software upgrade, Mr. Yeomans said. Compaction does that by squeezing out all the inefficiencies in data transmission, and it does it so fast all you experience is, Wow!

AtomBeam invites investors to join its growing community on StartEngine and be a part of the company's exciting journey. The company is committed to developing cutting-edge solutions that solve real-world problems and create meaningful impact.

Investors interested in learning more about AtomBeam and its innovative technology can visit the crowdfunding campaign page at https://www.startengine.com/offering/atombeam .

About AtomBeam

AtomBeam Technologies Inc. is a leading data compaction company, and its technology reduces the amount of data that needs to be transmitted by an average of 75%, offering significant cost and efficiency benefits to businesses and consumers.

Story continues

Company Contact:

Charles Yeomans

CEO

AtomBeam

charles@atombeamtech.com

Wire Service Contact:

InvestorWire (IW)

Los Angeles, California

www.InvestorWire.com

212.418.1217 Office

editor@InvestorWire.com




The Brainy Insights

Given the rising demand for attack helicopters from European countries, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has augmented the regional market. The presence of significant market players in the North American region with access to advanced technology drives innovation in attack helicopter manufacturing. North America emerged as the largest global attack helicopter market, with a 44% market revenue share in 2022.

Newark, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Brainy Insights estimates that the USD 7 billion in 2022 global attack helicopter market will reach USD 12.53 billion by 2032. The rising territorial conflicts in the contemporary world have increased the demand for modernizing the defence forces capable of neutralizing hostile attempts and other enemy threats. The Iranian attacks on US air force bases and the US counterattack on Syrian holdouts of radical Iranian outfits. The Israeli air raids in the Gaza strip. The Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. The Chinese transgressions on the North Indian border. Regular Chinese intrusion in the Taiwanese Defence Identification zone. The constant threats and nuclear tests of North Korea to South Korea, Japan and the US. These all describe the fragile geopolitical balance that can blow out of proportion into full-fledged wars. The increasing defence expenditure focused on acquiring new offensive capabilities, weapons systems, modern technology, avionics, and state-of-the-art military warfare training will propel the global attack helicopter market's growth and development.



Request to Download Sample Research Report - https://www.thebrainyinsights.com/enquiry/sample-request/13404



Report Coverage Details



Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 20232032 Base Year 2022 Market Size in 2022 7 billion Market Size in 2032 12.53 billion CAGR 6% No. of Pages in Report 238 Segments Covered Maximum Take-Off Limit, Product Type, Military Platform Drivers The increase in defence expenditure worldwide Opportunities The development of advanced attack helicopters Restraints The high investment and maintenance costs

Key Insight of the global attack helicopter Market



Story continues

Asia Pacific is expected to rise the fastest during the forecast period.



The region's military budget has increased as a result of the growing Chinese threat in the South China Sea, territorial disputes between India and China, China-Taiwan Issue, and North Korea's missile testing. One example is the Indian government's development of a domestic assault helicopter Prachand. The Prachand helicopter will give the Indian security forces access to the mountainous area along the northern border with China, enhancing their ability to conduct surveillance. Defence spending has also surged in Japan and South Korea, which is good news for the market.



In 2022, the above 8 metric tonnes segment dominated the market with the largest market share of 55% and market revenue of 3.85 billion.



The MTOW or maximum take-off limit segment is divided into below 8 metric tonnes and above 8 metric tonnes. In 2022, the above 8 metric tonnes segment dominated the market with the largest market share of 55% and market revenue of 3.85 billion.



In 2022, the double engine segment accounted for the largest market share, with 59% and a market revenue of 4.13 billion.



The product type is divided into single engine and double engine. In 2022, the double engine segment accounted for the largest market share, with 59% and a market revenue of 4.13 billion.



In 2022, the air force segment accounted for the largest market share, with 47% and a market revenue of 3.29 billion.



The military platform is divided into army, air force and navy. In 2022, the air force segment accounted for the largest market share, with 47% and a market revenue of 3.29 billion.



Procure Complete Research Report - https://www.thebrainyinsights.com/report/attack-helicopter-market-13404



Advancement in market



October 2022  Indias indigenously developed Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) "Prachand," which means fierce, was formally inducted into the Indian Air Force at the Jodhpur airbase. Prachand is a multi-role attack helicopter. It is designed, developed and manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL). The indigenous design has been developed to meet the unique high-altitude conditions of the northern Indian border with China. Because it can land and take off at 5,000 metres (16,400 feet), the LCH is the only attack helicopter in the world suitable for use in the Siachen glacier's high-altitude regions. It can also damage the enemy's air defence activities and fire various air-to-ground and air-to-air missiles.



Market Dynamics



Driver: The growth in global defence spending.



The Indo-China border stalemate in 2020 is an example of the expanding number of territorial conflicts the world is witnessing. The invasion of Ukraine by Russia was just the tip of the iceberg. Given their outdated fleet of attack helicopters from the Soviet era, the Ukrainian army finds it difficult to repel aerial raids by the Russian military. To avoid escalating the conflict and engaging Russia, the western nations led by the US are reticent about supplying Ukraine with high-precision assault weapons. These incidents have brought to light the necessity of having a defence force that is well-armed, capable, modern, and operational, equipped with the appropriate weaponry, ammunition, weapons systems, and aircraft. Therefore, most governments have raised their defence budget to safeguard their countries' sovereignty and territorial integrity. The increase in defence spending is anticipated to propel the growth of the global attack helicopter market. The increase in defence spending is specifically intended for indigenous design, development, and manufacturing in the defence sector, modernization, acquisition of advanced technology, knowledge, and weapons, and replacing the ageing fleet of attack helicopters, frigates, ships, etc.



Restraint: The expensive maintenance and investment costs.



Attack helicopter design, development, and production are sophisticated technological and expensive endeavours. The knowledge base, technology, raw materials, cash, and other production components required for designing, developing, and producing attack helicopters are only found in a few numbers of countries worldwide. Furthermore, years of trials, tests, and safety checks go into developing these technologies, cutting-edge weaponry systems, and superior aircraft avionics. Unless the partner country is an ally, the producer countries are reluctant to give their products or their knowledge. As a result, some nations are left without these offensive aircraft to protect their borders during battle. The market's expansion is also constrained by the governments control over private companies based in their countries, and the sale and purchase are subject to federal control or sanction. Attack helicopters have expensive upkeep and other working capital expenditures, which limits their market expansion.



Opportunities: The creation of cutting-edge technologies to improve the attack helicopters and their functions.



Territorial conflicts have increased as a result of escalating geopolitical tensions. The conflict between the modern Russian air force and the Ukrainian army's soviet-era air force has underlined the significance of having a strong, modern, and functional new-age air fleet. Other countries now have enough justification for investing in modernizing and preparing their armed forces for the challenges of the modern world after witnessing the Ukrainian government's failure to get a modern air fleet. Investments and increased capital expenditures are concentrated on creating indigenous systems with cutting-edge technology that can meet the needs and requirements of the country's security. Initiatives are promoting international agreements with global players, public-private partnerships, and bilateral and multilateral government cooperation. The advancements in 3D printing, robotics, and artificial intelligence technologies all contribute to the growth of advanced attack helicopters. As a result, rising government defence spending, partnerships and collaborations, and technological improvements will spur industry innovation and create profitable business prospects in the worldwide attack helicopter market.



Challenge: The stringent safety requirements set by regulatory authorities.



Attack helicopter design, development, and production are labour- and money-intensive processes. It takes years for development, testing, and trials. Before the products are formally accepted into any armed forces branch, they must pass rigorous testing. Failure to do so may result in loss of life, destruction of property, inadequate war preparedness, financial losses, and damage to the manufacturers' reputation and capabilities. These events are prevented, given a robust and high safety standard upheld by relevant regulatory authorities. The market's expansion will be hampered by the considerable capital required, the extended development process, and the necessary approvals and permissions by the appropriate authorities.



Interested to Procure the Research Report? Inquire Before Buying - https://www.thebrainyinsights.com/enquiry/buying-inquiry/13404



Some of the major players operating in the global attack helicopter market are:



 Airbus SE

 Denel Aeronautics

 Hindustan Aeronautical Limited

 Leonardo

 Lockheed Martin Corporation

 MD Helicopters Inc.

 Russian Helicopters (Rostec)

 Textron Inc.

 The Boeing Company

 Turkish Aerospace Industries



Key Segments cover in the market:



By Maximum Take-Off Limit



 Below 8 Metric Tonnes

 Above 8 Metric Tonnes



By Product Type



 Single Engine

 Double Engine



By Military Platform



 Army

 Air Force

 Navy



By Region



 North America (U.S., Canada, Mexico)

 Europe (Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Spain, Rest of Europe)

 Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, India, Rest of APAC)

 South America (Brazil and the Rest of South America)

 The Middle East and Africa (UAE, South Africa, Rest of MEA)



About the report:



The market is analyzed based on value (USD Billion). All the segments have been analyzed worldwide, regional, and country basis. The study includes the analysis of more than 30 countries for each part. The report analyses driving factors, opportunities, restraints, and challenges to gain critical market insight. The study includes porter's five forces model, attractiveness analysis, Product analysis, supply, and demand analysis, competitor position grid analysis, distribution, and marketing channels analysis.



About The Brainy Insights:



The Brainy Insights is a market research company, aimed at providing actionable insights through data analytics to companies to improve their business acumen. We have a robust forecasting and estimation model to meet the clients' objectives of high-quality output within a short span of time. We provide both customized (clients' specific) and syndicate reports. Our repository of syndicate reports is diverse across all the categories and sub-categories across domains. Our customized solutions are tailored to meet the clients' requirement whether they are looking to expand or planning to launch a new product in the global market.



Contact Us



Avinash D

Head of Business Development

Phone: +1-315-215-1633

Email: sales@thebrainyinsights.com

Web: http://www.thebrainyinsights.com




All Season Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Antero Midstream Co. (NYSE:AM  Get Rating) by 46.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,948 shares of the pipeline companys stock after buying an additional 18,408 shares during the period. All Season Financial Advisors Inc.s holdings in Antero Midstream were worth $625,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Antero Midstream by 2,155.9% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,301 shares of the pipeline companys stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 2,199 shares in the last quarter. Castle Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Antero Midstream during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Antero Midstream during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC bought a new stake in shares of Antero Midstream during the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC bought a new stake in shares of Antero Midstream during the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.21% of the companys stock.

Get Antero Midstream alerts:

Antero Midstream Stock Performance

Shares of AM remained flat at $10.62 on Monday. The company had a trading volume of 601,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,728,536. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.08 billion, a PE ratio of 15.62 and a beta of 2.36. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $10.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.61. Antero Midstream Co. has a one year low of $8.56 and a one year high of $11.61.

Antero Midstream Dividend Announcement

Antero Midstream ( NYSE:AM Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $241.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $235.91 million. Antero Midstream had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 35.46%. Antero Midstreams revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.20 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Antero Midstream Co. will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 26th will be given a dividend of $0.225 per share. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.47%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 25th. Antero Midstreams payout ratio is 132.35%.

Insider Activity at Antero Midstream

In other news, Director David H. Keyte bought 10,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $10.01 per share, with a total value of $100,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 79,373 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $794,523.73. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays increased their price target on Antero Midstream from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Antero Midstream from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Monday, January 9th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Antero Midstream in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $12.00.

About Antero Midstream

(Get Rating)

Antero Midstream Corp. is a growth-oriented midstream energy company, which owns, operates, and develops midstream energy assets to service Antero Resources production and completion activity. It operates through the Gathering and Processing and Water Handling segments. The Gathering and Processing segment includes a network of gathering pipelines and compressor stations that collect and process production from Antero Resources wells in West Virginia and Ohio.

Featured Articles

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Antero Midstream Co. (NYSE:AM  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for Antero Midstream Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Antero Midstream and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Allegion (NYSE:ALLE  Get Rating) had its target price decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $130.00 to $116.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the scientific and technical instruments companys stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on ALLE. Vertical Research raised shares of Allegion from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $128.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Allegion from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 23rd. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Allegion from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, February 23rd. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Allegion from $129.00 to $120.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Allegion from $116.00 to $132.00 in a research report on Monday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $120.89.

Get Allegion alerts:

Allegion Stock Up 1.8 %

ALLE traded up $1.90 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $104.64. 588,558 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 765,886. The company has a market cap of $9.19 billion, a PE ratio of 20.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.09. The stocks fifty day simple moving average is $109.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Allegion has a one year low of $87.33 and a one year high of $123.46.

Allegion Dividend Announcement

Allegion ( NYSE:ALLE Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $861.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $849.15 million. Allegion had a net margin of 14.00% and a return on equity of 61.54%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Allegion will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 14th. Allegions dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.75%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Allegion

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ALLE. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Allegion by 27.3% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 9,068 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock worth $996,000 after buying an additional 1,944 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Allegion by 11.8% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,825 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock valued at $639,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Allegion by 7.9% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 6,947 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock valued at $759,000 after buying an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Allegion by 35.2% in the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,090 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 544 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in shares of Allegion by 88.3% in the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 3,336 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 1,564 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.78% of the companys stock.

Allegion Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Allegion Plc engages in the provision of security products and solutions that keep people safe, secure, and productive. It operates through the Allegion Americas and Allegion International segments. Its brands include CISA, Interflex, LCN, Schlage, SimonsVoss, and Von Duprin. The company was founded on May 9, 2013 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Allegion Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Allegion and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
American Equity Investment Life (NYSE:AEL  Get Rating)s stock had its outperform rating reiterated by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $50.00 target price on the financial services providers stock. Royal Bank of Canadas target price would indicate a potential upside of 34.34% from the companys current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AEL. Piper Jaffray Companies cut American Equity Investment Life from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and lifted their target price for the company from $45.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on American Equity Investment Life from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, January 6th. Raymond James cut their price objective on American Equity Investment Life from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a strong-buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com began coverage on American Equity Investment Life in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on American Equity Investment Life from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 12th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $44.40.

Get American Equity Investment Life alerts:

American Equity Investment Life Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE AEL traded up $0.24 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $37.22. 166,979 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 650,017. The company has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a PE ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.88. American Equity Investment Life has a one year low of $28.05 and a one year high of $48.37. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $39.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23.

Insider Activity

American Equity Investment Life ( NYSE:AEL Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $654.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $652.84 million. American Equity Investment Life had a net margin of 86.25% and a return on equity of 9.84%. The companys revenue was down 41.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.04 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that American Equity Investment Life will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

In other news, Director Alan David Matula purchased 7,100 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $35.50 per share, with a total value of $252,050.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 39,942 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,417,941. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.59% of the companys stock.

Institutional Trading of American Equity Investment Life

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AEL. Barclays PLC increased its stake in American Equity Investment Life by 5,908.2% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,793,691 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $81,829,000 after acquiring an additional 1,763,837 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in American Equity Investment Life in the 4th quarter worth about $35,057,000. Ophir Asset Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in American Equity Investment Life in the 3rd quarter worth about $16,077,000. Segantii Capital Management Ltd bought a new position in American Equity Investment Life in the 4th quarter worth about $15,553,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in American Equity Investment Life by 30.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,407,083 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $64,191,000 after acquiring an additional 326,412 shares during the last quarter. 94.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About American Equity Investment Life

(Get Rating)

American Equity Investment Life Holding Co engages in the development and sale of fixed index and fixed rate annuity products. It focuses on the following portfolios: commercial mortgage loans, agricultural mortgage loans, and residential mortgage loans. The company was founded by David J. Noble on December 15, 1995 and is headquartered in West Des Moines, IA.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for American Equity Investment Life Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for American Equity Investment Life and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Shares of B&G Foods, Inc. (NYSE:BGS  Get Rating) have been given an average rating of Hold by the eight analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $15.70.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of B&G Foods in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a sell rating for the company. TheStreet upgraded shares of B&G Foods from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a research note on Friday, March 24th.

Get B&G Foods alerts:

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Bruce C. Wacha sold 12,500 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.81, for a total transaction of $185,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $688,531.71. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.80% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

B&G Foods Trading Down 3.4 %

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of B&G Foods by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 11,268,543 shares of the companys stock valued at $185,818,000 after purchasing an additional 145,921 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of B&G Foods by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,543,629 shares of the companys stock worth $140,884,000 after acquiring an additional 453,830 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of B&G Foods by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,829,591 shares of the companys stock worth $64,883,000 after acquiring an additional 85,627 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of B&G Foods by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,337,741 shares of the companys stock worth $22,059,000 after acquiring an additional 101,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of B&G Foods by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,325,442 shares of the companys stock worth $14,778,000 after acquiring an additional 69,006 shares during the last quarter. 63.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NYSE:BGS opened at $15.32 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 3.75, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of -102.13 and a beta of 0.45. The firms 50 day moving average is $14.40 and its 200 day moving average is $14.03. B&G Foods has a 12 month low of $10.91 and a 12 month high of $29.33.

B&G Foods (NYSE:BGS  Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $623.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $583.86 million. B&G Foods had a negative net margin of 0.53% and a positive return on equity of 8.97%. B&G Foodss revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that B&G Foods will post 1.02 earnings per share for the current year.

B&G Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 30th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.96%. B&G Foodss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -506.67%.

B&G Foods Company Profile

(Get Rating)

B&G Foods, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the manufacture, sale, and distribution of shelf-stable frozen food, and household products in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Its products include frozen and canned vegetables, hot cereals, fruit spreads, canned meats and beans, bagel chips, spices, seasonings, hot sauces, and wine vinegar.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for B&G Foods Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for B&G Foods and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
ARC Resources (TSE:ARX  Get Rating) had its target price reduced by investment analysts at ATB Capital from C$22.50 to C$21.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, BayStreet.CA reports. ATB Capitals target price would suggest a potential upside of 26.96% from the companys previous close.

Several other analysts also recently commented on ARX. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on ARC Resources from C$22.50 to C$21.00 in a research note on Friday, February 10th. Barclays set a C$22.00 target price on ARC Resources and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 18th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on ARC Resources from C$29.00 to C$27.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 17th. Stifel Firstegy restated a buy rating on shares of ARC Resources in a research note on Thursday, January 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a C$26.00 target price on ARC Resources and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, ARC Resources has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of C$23.27.

Get ARC Resources alerts:

ARC Resources Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of ARX stock traded up C$0.09 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting C$16.54. The companys stock had a trading volume of 904,975 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,481,088. The companys fifty day simple moving average is C$15.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$17.01. ARC Resources has a 52 week low of C$13.65 and a 52 week high of C$22.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 26.83, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.57. The company has a market cap of C$10.27 billion, a PE ratio of 4.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.53.

ARC Resources Company Profile

ARC Resources Ltd. explores, develops, and produces crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in Canada. The company holds interests in the Montney properties located in northeast British Columbia and northern Alberta; and Pembina Cardium properties in central Alberta. As of December 31, 2020, it had proved plus probable reserves of 929 millions of barrels of oil equivalent.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for ARC Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for ARC Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Shares of Banco de Chile (NYSE:BCH  Get Rating) have been given an average rating of Hold by the seven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $23.00.

Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Banco de Chile in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating on the stock.

Get Banco de Chile alerts:

Banco de Chile Stock Up 0.7 %

BCH stock opened at $19.85 on Monday. The firms fifty day simple moving average is $20.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.70. The company has a market capitalization of $10.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.37. Banco de Chile has a 12 month low of $15.64 and a 12 month high of $22.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.02, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 1.52.

Banco de Chile Increases Dividend

Banco de Chile ( NYSE:BCH Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 3rd. The bank reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.10. Banco de Chile had a return on equity of 31.64% and a net margin of 47.81%. The company had revenue of $563.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $881.37 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Banco de Chile will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 30th. Investors of record on Friday, March 17th were given a dividend of $1.3688 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 16th. This is an increase from Banco de Chiles previous annual dividend of $1.33. Banco de Chiles dividend payout ratio is 49.54%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco de Chile

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BCH. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Banco de Chile by 1.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 597,813 shares of the banks stock valued at $12,795,000 after purchasing an additional 7,462 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its stake in shares of Banco de Chile by 70.6% in the first quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 16,679 shares of the banks stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 6,904 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. purchased a new position in Banco de Chile in the first quarter valued at $297,000. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Banco de Chile by 13.7% in the second quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 46,711 shares of the banks stock valued at $852,000 after purchasing an additional 5,625 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Banco de Chile by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 253,516 shares of the banks stock worth $4,621,000 after buying an additional 21,640 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 0.99% of the companys stock.

About Banco de Chile

(Get Rating)

Banco de Chile SA engages in the provision of banking services. It operates through the following segments: Retail, Wholesale, Treasury, and Subsidiaries. The Retail segment consists of consumer loans, commercial loans, checking accounts, credit cards, credit lines, and mortgage loans. The Wholesale segment includes corporate clients and large companies where the product offering focuses on commercial loans, checking accounts and liquidity management services, debt instruments, foreign trade, derivative contracts, and leases.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for Banco de Chile Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Banco de Chile and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Blodgett Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT  Get Rating) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,523 shares of the retailers stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Blodgett Wealth Advisors LLCs holdings in Walmart were worth $216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 1,519.2% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,129,341 shares of the retailers stock valued at $1,054,376,000 after buying an additional 7,627,286 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in Walmart by 2.9% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 96,570,711 shares of the retailers stock valued at $12,525,224,000 after buying an additional 2,712,886 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Walmart by 1.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,176,496 shares of the retailers stock valued at $16,883,890,000 after buying an additional 1,832,388 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Walmart by 34.2% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,258,231 shares of the retailers stock valued at $783,056,000 after buying an additional 1,340,328 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in Walmart by 85.3% in the first quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,399,536 shares of the retailers stock valued at $357,339,000 after buying an additional 1,104,427 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 31.27% of the companys stock.

Get Walmart alerts:

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock traded up $0.41 during trading on Monday, reaching $148.89. 2,270,680 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,360,496. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $401.36 billion, a PE ratio of 34.69, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.48. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $117.27 and a twelve month high of $160.77. The firms fifty day moving average price is $143.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $142.89.

Walmart Announces Dividend

Walmart ( NYSE:WMT Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The retailer reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $164.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $158.67 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 20.45% and a net margin of 1.91%. The firms revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 6.06 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 8th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 7th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. Walmarts dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.27%.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, Director S Robson Walton sold 706,197 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.07, for a total transaction of $100,329,407.79. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 266,135,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,809,831,131.61. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 4,375 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.03, for a total transaction of $625,756.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 243,548 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $34,834,670.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director S Robson Walton sold 706,197 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.07, for a total value of $100,329,407.79. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 266,135,223 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $37,809,831,131.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,053,710 shares of company stock worth $2,982,527,217 in the last ninety days. 47.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on WMT. Tigress Financial upgraded Walmart from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $176.00 in a report on Thursday, January 26th. StockNews.com began coverage on Walmart in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a strong-buy rating for the company. Telsey Advisory Group restated an outperform rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, April 6th. Gordon Haskett upgraded Walmart from a hold rating to an accumulate rating and increased their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $155.00 in a report on Friday, February 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Walmart from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and increased their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $160.00 in a report on Thursday, March 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $164.34.

About Walmart

(Get Rating)

Walmart, Inc engages in retail and wholesale business. The company offers an assortment of merchandise and services at everyday low prices. It operates through the following business segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sams Club. The Walmart U.S. segment operates as a merchandiser of consumer products, operating under the Walmart, Wal-Mart, and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands, as well as walmart.com and other eCommerce brands.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Walmart Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Walmart and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Canadian Natural Resources (TSE:CNQ  Get Rating) (NYSE:CNQ) had its price objective reduced by research analysts at ATB Capital from C$94.00 to C$90.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, BayStreet.CA reports. ATB Capitals target price suggests a potential upside of 9.76% from the companys previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Canadian Natural Resources from C$90.00 to C$87.00 in a research note on Monday, March 27th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Canadian Natural Resources from C$86.00 to C$87.00 in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Canadian Natural Resources from C$76.00 to C$82.00 in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. Stifel Firstegy restated a buy rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Thursday, January 12th. Finally, Raymond James decreased their price target on Canadian Natural Resources from C$87.00 to C$85.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of C$90.50.

Get Canadian Natural Resources alerts:

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Down 1.0 %

TSE:CNQ traded down C$0.85 during trading hours on Monday, hitting C$82.00. 1,266,032 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,255,355. The firm has a market cap of C$90.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 2.02. Canadian Natural Resources has a twelve month low of C$58.75 and a twelve month high of C$88.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 34.01, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stocks fifty day moving average price is C$76.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$77.09.

Insider Activity at Canadian Natural Resources

About Canadian Natural Resources

In related news, Senior Officer Scott Gerald Stauth sold 14,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$81.05, for a total transaction of C$1,134,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 49,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$3,989,362.05. In other Canadian Natural Resources news, Senior Officer Scott Gerald Stauth sold 14,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$81.05, for a total value of C$1,134,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 49,221 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately C$3,989,362.05. Also, Director Norman Murray Edwards sold 200,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$81.38, for a total value of C$16,276,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,259,336 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately C$1,730,118,778.62. Insiders sold a total of 269,000 shares of company stock worth $21,881,897 in the last 90 days. 2.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

(Get Rating)

Canadian Natural Resources Limited acquires, explores for, develops, produces, markets, and sells crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs). The company offers synthetic crude oil (SCO), light and medium crude oil, bitumen (thermal oil), primary heavy crude oil, and Pelican Lake heavy crude oil.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Canadian Natural Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Canadian Natural Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Canadian Western Bank (OTCMKTS:CBWBF  Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,870,300 shares, a decline of 26.6% from the March 15th total of 2,546,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1,558.6 days.

Canadian Western Bank Stock Performance

Shares of CBWBF remained flat at $17.00 during midday trading on Monday. The stock had a trading volume of 29 shares, compared to its average volume of 883. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $18.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.46. Canadian Western Bank has a 1 year low of $15.70 and a 1 year high of $27.75.

Get Canadian Western Bank alerts:

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CBWBF. TD Securities decreased their price objective on Canadian Western Bank from C$34.00 to C$33.00 in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. Desjardins boosted their price objective on Canadian Western Bank from C$30.00 to C$35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 7th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Canadian Western Bank from C$30.00 to C$29.00 in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Canadian Western Bank from C$29.00 to C$28.00 in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Canadian Western Bank from C$36.00 to C$35.00 in a research note on Friday, March 3rd.

Canadian Western Bank Company Profile

Canadian Western Bank engages in the provision of business and personal banking; specialized financing; comprehensive wealth management offerings; and trust services. The firm focuses on providing business banking services for small- and medium-sized companies. The company was founded by Charles R. Allard and Eugene Pechet on March 22, 1984 and is headquartered in Edmonton, Canada.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for Canadian Western Bank Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Canadian Western Bank and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Include simulation of OFW evacuation in Taiwan in future Balikatan exercises - Tolentino

MANILA - Senator Francis 'TOL' N. Tolentino on Monday proposed for the country's Balikatan Exercises to include in upcoming drills the simulation of the evacuation of more than 150,000 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) based in Taiwan as a precautionary measure in case the geopolitical tension between Beijing and Taipei further worsens.

"I advise the head of the Balikatan Gaming Exercise--Philippine side--isama na rin sa practice next year kung paano tayo mag e-evacuate using ships/sasakyang pandagat galing Taiwan papunta ng Cagayan or Batanes in case--for contingency," Tolentino, vice-chairman of the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security said in an ambush media interview.

Tolentino stressed that sea evacuation is the most feasible type of evacuation plan to quickly repatriate OFWs working in Taiwan as The Washington Post reported on Sunday that the island nation is "highly vulnerable" to air attack from China's People's Liberation Army-Air Force and "is unlikely to thwart Chinese military air superiority in a cross-strait conflict."

He added that the participation of commercial vessels in the evacuation simulation should be also considered to hasten the repatriation of affected OFWs in case a full-scale conflict between Beijing and Taipei escalates along the Taiwan Strait.

"Kasi hindi naman pwedeng C-130 (plane)--papaano mo isasakay sa C-130 ang 150,000? So iku-kumander mo ang mga private ship--i-practice/ire-rehearse," the senator said.

Tolentino who is also the vice-chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, meanwhile, reminded Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian that the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) or the Balikatan Exercises were "not designed for any skirmishes in the Taiwan Strait" but rather for the protection of the Republic of the Philippines.

"Yung EDCA ay para sa proteksyon ng Pilipinas, hindi to project military force outside the jurisdiction of the Philippines," Tolentino stressed.

The senator also advised China's top diplomat in the country "to exercise prudence in the manner he speaks" to further improve the current relations between Manila and Beijing.
(Bloomberg) -- Indo-Pacific nations oppose having their future dictated by a single major power, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said, as the region faces an intensifying struggle for influence between the US and China.

Most Read from Bloomberg

In a major speech to the National Press Club on Monday, Wong warned that strategic competition between the US and China needs to be managed responsibly and is not merely about who is top dog in the Indo-Pacific.

Its clear to me from my travels throughout the region that countries dont want to live in a closed, hierarchical region where the rules are dictated by a single major power to suit its own interests, Wong said in Canberra.

The foreign minister defended Australias right to build up its military capabilities, including the Aukus agreement which will see it field a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines as early as the 2030s. China has warned the move could trigger a regional arms race.

Australia Optimistic China to End Barley, Wine Tariffs This Year

Australia needs to strengthen both its foreign and defense policies to make it more influential in the world, Wong said. Together, they make it harder for states to coerce other states against their interests through force or the threatened use of force.

Australia has long balanced its close security relationship with the US and vast economic ties with China, its largest trading partner. Since the election of the center-left Labor government in May 2022, relations between Australia and China have rapidly improved, with senior ministers from both sides meeting for the first time in years.

Trade sanctions imposed by China on Australia in the wake of a 2020 call by Canberra for an international investigation into the origins of Covid-19 are slowly being lifted. In the past week, Beijing announced a review of heavy tariffs imposed on Australian barley.

Story continues

In her speech, Wong said China is going to keep being China and middle powers such as Australia need to use their influence to shape the region in a way which is open, stable and prosperous.

Australias chief diplomat said frenzied discussion over potential flashpoints for armed conflict in the Indo-Pacific was unhelpful and the most dangerous of parlour games.

Let me be absolutely clear. A war over Taiwan would be catastrophic for all. We know that there would be no real winners, and we know maintaining the status quo is comprehensively superior to any alternative, she said.

(Adds further speech comments in final three paragraphs.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of China Green Agriculture (NYSE:CGA  Get Rating) in a report issued on Friday. The brokerage issued a sell rating on the basic materials companys stock.

China Green Agriculture Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE CGA opened at $4.00 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $4.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. China Green Agriculture has a 1 year low of $3.90 and a 1 year high of $10.28.

Get China Green Agriculture alerts:

China Green Agriculture (NYSE:CGA  Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 21st. The basic materials company reported ($0.27) EPS for the quarter. China Green Agriculture had a negative net margin of 37.35% and a negative return on equity of 36.71%. The company had revenue of $24.54 million for the quarter.

Institutional Trading of China Green Agriculture

China Green Agriculture Company Profile

A hedge fund recently bought a new stake in China Green Agriculture stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new stake in China Green Agriculture, Inc. ( NYSE:CGA Get Rating ) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 11,368 shares of the basic materials companys stock, valued at approximately $115,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.13% of China Green Agriculture as of its most recent SEC filing. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

(Get Rating)

China Green Agriculture, Inc engages in the research, development, production, and sale of various types of fertilizers and agricultural products. It operates through the following segments: Jinong, Gufeng, and Yuxing. The Jinong segment includes fertilizer products, with focus on humic acid-based compound fertilizer.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for China Green Agriculture Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for China Green Agriculture and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC increased its stake in shares of Cummins Inc. (NYSE:CMI  Get Rating) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,418 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 1,103 shares during the quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLCs holdings in Cummins were worth $4,220,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cummins by 0.7% in the third quarter. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC now owns 5,685 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,157,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Dowling & Yahnke LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cummins by 3.5% in the third quarter. Dowling & Yahnke LLC now owns 1,257 shares of the companys stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Lewis Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cummins by 0.8% in the third quarter. Lewis Capital Management LLC now owns 5,740 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,168,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Lincoln National Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Cummins by 2.5% in the third quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 1,857 shares of the companys stock valued at $378,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Blueprint LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cummins by 3.0% in the third quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 1,591 shares of the companys stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. 80.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Get Cummins alerts:

Cummins Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CMI traded up $0.49 on Monday, hitting $234.10. The companys stock had a trading volume of 160,309 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,040,637. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $240.35 and a 200-day moving average of $239.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $33.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.00. Cummins Inc. has a 12-month low of $184.27 and a 12-month high of $261.91.

Cummins Announces Dividend

Cummins ( NYSE:CMI Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 6th. The company reported $4.52 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $4.52. Cummins had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 24.58%. The firm had revenue of $7.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.85 earnings per share. Cumminss revenue for the quarter was up 32.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Cummins Inc. will post 18.96 EPS for the current year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 24th were given a $1.57 dividend. This represents a $6.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 23rd. Cumminss payout ratio is currently 41.56%.

Insider Transactions at Cummins

In other news, VP Sharon R. Barner sold 5,929 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.13, for a total value of $1,524,523.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 16,144 shares in the company, valued at $4,151,106.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Cummins news, Director Georgia R. Nelson sold 1,933 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.64, for a total transaction of $486,420.12. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 21,742 shares of the companys stock, valued at $5,471,156.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Sharon R. Barner sold 5,929 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.13, for a total transaction of $1,524,523.77. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 16,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,151,106.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,709 shares of company stock valued at $4,245,545 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the companys stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CMI shares. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Cummins in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a buy rating on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Cummins from $247.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Cummins from $264.00 to $262.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 20th. Credit Suisse Group boosted their price objective on shares of Cummins from $287.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, February 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Cummins from $231.00 to $227.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cummins currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $254.25.

About Cummins

(Get Rating)

Cummins, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and market of diesel and natural gas engines. It operates through the following segments: Engine, Distribution, Components, Power Systems, and New Power. The Engine segment manufactures and markets diesel and natural gas-powered engines under the Cummins brand name, for the heavy- and medium-duty truck, bus, recreational vehicle, light-duty automotive, construction, mining, marine, rail, oil and gas, defense, and agricultural markets.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Cummins Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Cummins and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL  Get Rating) updated its FY 2023 earnings guidance on Monday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $5.00-$6.00 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $5.39. The company issued revenue guidance of $52.45 billion-$54.73 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $53.74 billion. Delta Air Lines also updated its Q2 2023 guidance to $2.00-$2.25 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on DAL. StockNews.com raised Delta Air Lines from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America reduced their price target on Delta Air Lines from $43.00 to $40.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Barclays upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $44.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, March 10th. Argus upgraded Delta Air Lines from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $39.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Delta Air Lines from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and upped their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of $49.64.

Get Delta Air Lines alerts:

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 2.4 %

DAL stock traded up $0.82 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $34.59. 8,576,619 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,629,195. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.18 billion, a PE ratio of 11.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 1.25. Delta Air Lines has a 1-year low of $27.20 and a 1-year high of $46.27.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines ( NYSE:DAL Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 13th. The transportation company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.04). Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 56.49% and a net margin of 3.51%. The business had revenue of $12.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.25 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($1.23) EPS. Delta Air Liness revenue was up 36.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Delta Air Lines will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

In related news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 5,481 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.01, for a total value of $219,294.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,720 shares in the company, valued at $348,887.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Delta Air Lines news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 5,481 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.01, for a total transaction of $219,294.81. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,720 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $348,887.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 4,846 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.43, for a total value of $186,231.78. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 115,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,430,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 43,980 shares of company stock worth $1,696,902. Company insiders own 0.84% of the companys stock.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 124.9% in the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,273 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 707 shares during the period. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 429.0% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,349 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,094 shares during the period. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 293.7% in the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 1,799 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 1,342 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.47% of the companys stock.

About Delta Air Lines

(Get Rating)

Delta Air Lines, Inc engages in the provision of scheduled air transportation for passengers and cargo. It operates through the Airline and Refinery segments. The Airline segment provides scheduled air transportation for passengers and cargo. The Refinery segment provides jet fuel to the airline segment.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Delta Air Lines Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Delta Air Lines and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Douglas Dynamics (NYSE:PLOW  Get Rating) issued an update on its FY 2023 earnings guidance on Monday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of $1.55-$2.00 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $2.16. The company issued revenue guidance of $620.00 million-$650.00 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $646.83 million. Douglas Dynamics also updated its Q1 2023 guidance to -$0.55$0.55 EPS.

Douglas Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of PLOW traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $29.83. 86,820 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 77,736. Douglas Dynamics has a fifty-two week low of $27.76 and a fifty-two week high of $41.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $682.81 million, a P/E ratio of 18.52 and a beta of 1.00. The businesss 50 day moving average is $34.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82.

Get Douglas Dynamics alerts:

Douglas Dynamics (NYSE:PLOW  Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.08). Douglas Dynamics had a return on equity of 19.05% and a net margin of 6.27%. The business had revenue of $159.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.30 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Douglas Dynamics will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Douglas Dynamics Increases Dividend

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 17th were given a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 16th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.96%. This is an increase from Douglas Dynamicss previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Douglas Dynamicss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.84%.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PLOW shares. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Douglas Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a buy rating for the company. DA Davidson restated a buy rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Douglas Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, February 21st.

Insider Activity at Douglas Dynamics

In other Douglas Dynamics news, CFO Sarah C. Lauber sold 3,757 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.66, for a total value of $137,731.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,202 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,180,525.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Douglas Dynamics news, CFO Sarah C. Lauber sold 3,757 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.66, for a total value of $137,731.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,202 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,180,525.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Robert L. Mccormick sold 10,341 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.61, for a total transaction of $378,584.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,106 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,017,430.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,416 shares of company stock worth $528,098 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PLOW. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Douglas Dynamics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of Douglas Dynamics by 211.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,825 shares of the auto parts companys stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,239 shares in the last quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Douglas Dynamics by 52.8% during the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 7,992 shares of the auto parts companys stock worth $146,000 after purchasing an additional 2,762 shares in the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new position in shares of Douglas Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $201,000. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its stake in shares of Douglas Dynamics by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 5,946 shares of the auto parts companys stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. 91.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Douglas Dynamics

(Get Rating)

Douglas Dynamics, Inc engages in the manufacture of commercial work truck attachments and equipment. It operates through the following segments: Work Truck Attachments and Work Truck Solutions. The Work Truck Attachments segments include manufactured snow and ice control attachments sold under FISHER, HENDERSON, SNOWEX and WESTERN brands.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Douglas Dynamics Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Douglas Dynamics and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Elastic (NYSE:ESTC  Get Rating) in a research report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $71.00 price target on the stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Elastic from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Elastic from $90.00 to $75.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Elastic from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. Wedbush initiated coverage on Elastic in a research report on Wednesday, December 14th. They set a neutral rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Elastic from $83.00 to $64.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Elastic currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $76.50.

Get Elastic alerts:

Elastic Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Elastic stock traded up $0.46 during trading on Thursday, hitting $60.14. The stock had a trading volume of 380,590 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,137,615. Elastic has a 12 month low of $46.18 and a 12 month high of $95.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.89. The firms fifty day simple moving average is $58.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.35. The stock has a market cap of $5.80 billion, a PE ratio of -22.29 and a beta of 1.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

Elastic ( NYSE:ESTC Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 2nd. The company reported ($0.39) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.39). Elastic had a negative net margin of 24.80% and a negative return on equity of 52.03%. The business had revenue of $274.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $272.71 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Elastic will post -1.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

In other Elastic news, CFO Janesh Moorjani sold 3,956 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.28, for a total transaction of $230,555.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 178,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,387,535.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Ashutosh Kulkarni sold 12,098 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.28, for a total value of $705,071.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 343,037 shares in the company, valued at $19,992,196.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Janesh Moorjani sold 3,956 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.28, for a total transaction of $230,555.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 178,235 shares of the companys stock, valued at $10,387,535.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,118 shares of company stock worth $1,055,917 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 18.80% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Elastic

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Utah Retirement Systems grew its stake in shares of Elastic by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 13,800 shares of the companys stock worth $990,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Elastic by 7.4% in the third quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 18,230 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,308,000 after buying an additional 1,250 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. raised its position in shares of Elastic by 24.7% in the third quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 19,611 shares of the companys stock worth $1,407,000 after acquiring an additional 3,890 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Elastic by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 9,677 shares of the companys stock worth $693,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the period. Finally, Boothbay Fund Management LLC boosted its position in Elastic by 46.4% during the third quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 29,179 shares of the companys stock worth $2,093,000 after purchasing an additional 9,244 shares in the last quarter. 78.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Elastic

(Get Rating)

Elastic NV engages in the provision of open-source search and analytics engine services. It offers Elastic Stack, a set of software products that ingest and store data from various sources and formats, as well as perform search, analysis, and visualization. The firms Elastic Stack product comprises Elasticsearch, a distributed, real-time search and analytics engine, and data store for various types of data, including textual, numerical, geospatial, structured, and unstructured, Kibana, a user interface, management, and configuration interface for the Elastic Stack, Beats, a single-purpose data shippers for sending data from edge machines to Elasticsearch or Logstash, and Logstash, a data processing pipeline for ingesting data into Elasticsearch or other storage systems.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Elastic Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Elastic and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Electronic Cigarettes International Group (OTCMKTS:ECIGQ  Get Rating) and RLX Technology (NYSE:RLX  Get Rating) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, risk and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Electronic Cigarettes International Group and RLX Technologys net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Get Electronic Cigarettes International Group alerts:

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Electronic Cigarettes International Group N/A N/A N/A RLX Technology 27.21% 9.95% 8.80%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Electronic Cigarettes International Group and RLX Technology, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Electronic Cigarettes International Group 0 0 0 0 N/A RLX Technology 0 0 1 0 3.00

Insider & Institutional Ownership

RLX Technology has a consensus price target of $3.15, indicating a potential upside of 20.69%. Given RLX Technologys higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe RLX Technology is more favorable than Electronic Cigarettes International Group.

16.9% of RLX Technology shares are held by institutional investors. 53.4% of RLX Technology shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Electronic Cigarettes International Group and RLX Technologys top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Electronic Cigarettes International Group N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A RLX Technology $773.18 million N/A $208.96 million $0.15 17.40

RLX Technology has higher revenue and earnings than Electronic Cigarettes International Group.

Summary

RLX Technology beats Electronic Cigarettes International Group on 8 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Electronic Cigarettes International Group

(Get Rating)

Electronic Cigarettes International Group, Ltd. is a marketer and distributor of vaping products and electronic cigarettes primarily in the United States and internationally. It offers disposables, rechargeables, tanks, starter kits, e-liquids, open and closed-end vaping systems and accessories. The Companys brand portfolio includes the FIN, VIP, VAPESTICK and VICTORY. Electronic Cigarettes International Group, Ltd. is headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

About RLX Technology

(Get Rating)

RLX Technology Inc., together with its subsidiaries, researchers, develops, manufactures, distributes, and sells e-vapor products in the People's Republic of China. It serves RELX branded partner stores and other retail outlets through distributors. RLX Technology Inc. was founded in 2018 and is based in Beijing, China.

Receive News & Ratings for Electronic Cigarettes International Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Electronic Cigarettes International Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC  Get Rating) has received an average rating of Hold from the nine analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $15.14.

HTGC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Hercules Capital in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Hercules Capital from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Hercules Capital from a market perform rating to an underperform rating and lowered their target price for the company from $14.50 to $10.50 in a research note on Monday, March 13th. Piper Sandler raised Hercules Capital from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and set a $16.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 6th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a market outperform rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Hercules Capital in a report on Monday, March 13th.

Get Hercules Capital alerts:

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Wade Loo bought 4,000 shares of Hercules Capital stock in a transaction on Friday, March 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $11.95 per share, for a total transaction of $47,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 8,059 shares of the companys stock, valued at $96,305.05. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.40% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hercules Capital Trading Down 0.8 %

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HTGC. Granite Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hercules Capital during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $9,597,000. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 264.6% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 868,224 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $11,191,000 after purchasing an additional 630,120 shares in the last quarter. Conversant Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 262.5% in the 4th quarter. Conversant Capital LLC now owns 325,000 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $4,296,000 after purchasing an additional 525,000 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 576.2% in the 3rd quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 329,366 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $3,814,000 after purchasing an additional 280,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital in the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,706,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 23.77% of the companys stock.

Shares of HTGC stock opened at $12.62 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $13.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.68. Hercules Capital has a 12-month low of $10.94 and a 12-month high of $19.09. The firm has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.61 and a beta of 1.41.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC  Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.05. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 13.87% and a net margin of 31.73%. The company had revenue of $100.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $91.34 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.35 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Hercules Capital will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 1st. This is an increase from Hercules Capitals previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Hercules Capitals payout ratio is currently 205.27%.

Hercules Capital Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Hercules is the largest non-bank lender to venture capital-backed companies at all stages of development in a broadly diversified variety of technology, life sciences, and sustainable and renewable technology industries. With over a decade of experience in venture debt, Hercules is uniquely positioned to quickly create innovative financing solutions that perfectly fit within a companys existing capital structure and map to its business objectives.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Hercules Capital Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Hercules Capital and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Hitachi, Ltd. (OTCMKTS:HTHIY  Get Rating) was the target of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,100 shares, a growth of 164.3% from the March 15th total of 4,200 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 52,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.2 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Hitachi in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a conviction-buy rating on the stock.

Get Hitachi alerts:

Hitachi Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of HTHIY traded down $0.40 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $111.08. 11,377 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 32,206. Hitachi has a 52 week low of $83.49 and a 52 week high of $112.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The companys 50 day moving average is $105.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $101.19. The company has a market capitalization of $53.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.36, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.82.

Hitachi Company Profile

Hitachi ( OTCMKTS:HTHIY Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 1st. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $2.50 by ($0.36). Hitachi had a net margin of 3.77% and a return on equity of 7.38%. The company had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hitachi will post 9.85 earnings per share for the current year.

(Get Rating)

Hitachi Ltd. engages in the manufacture and sale of electrical equipment. It operates through the following segments: Information Technology (IT), Energy, Industry, Mobility, Life, Hitachi High Technologies, Hitachi Construction Machinery, Hitachi Metals, Hitachi Chemicals and Others. The IT segment handles systems integration, consulting, control systems, cloud services, software, IT products such as storage and servers, and automated teller machines.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Hitachi Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Hitachi and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Penobscot Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF (NYSEARCA:IEUR  Get Rating) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,136 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 3,612 shares during the quarter. iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF comprises 1.6% of Penobscot Wealth Managements holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Penobscot Wealth Managements holdings in iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF were worth $1,812,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. acquired a new position in iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF during the 3rd quarter worth $96,000. Credit Suisse AG acquired a new position in iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF during the 2nd quarter worth $110,000. Coastal Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF during the 3rd quarter worth $111,000. Finally, Destiny Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF during the 4th quarter worth $117,000.

Get iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF alerts:

iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF Stock Performance

NYSEARCA IEUR traded down $0.37 during trading on Monday, reaching $53.82. 659,969 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 808,181. The stock has a market cap of $4.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.11 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $51.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.40. iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF has a 1 year low of $38.54 and a 1 year high of $54.45.

iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF Company Profile

The iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF (IEUR) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI Europe IMI index, a market-cap-weighted index of developed European securities. IEUR was launched on Jun 10, 2014 and is managed by BlackRock.

Read More

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding IEUR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF (NYSEARCA:IEUR  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Shares of iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF (BATS:PICK  Get Rating) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $43.76 and last traded at $43.45, with a volume of 221886 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $43.27.

iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.38. The stock has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.48 and a beta of 1.18.

Get iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF alerts:

Institutional Investors Weigh In On iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sentinus LLC boosted its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Sentinus LLC now owns 27,629 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,092,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Family Firm Inc. now owns 34,152 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,162,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Greenline Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF by 69.4% during the 3rd quarter. Greenline Partners LLC now owns 1,680 shares of the companys stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 688 shares in the last quarter. Credit Suisse AG boosted its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 28,457 shares of the companys stock valued at $968,000 after acquiring an additional 3,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leuthold Group LLC raised its position in iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF by 37.9% during the 3rd quarter. Leuthold Group LLC now owns 16,507 shares of the companys stock worth $562,000 after purchasing an additional 4,538 shares during the last quarter.

iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF Company Profile

The iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF (PICK) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in materials equity. The fund tracks a market-cap-weighted index of global metals mining, extraction or production firms, excluding gold and silver mining firms. PICK was launched on Jan 31, 2012 and is managed by BlackRock.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Global Market Insights Inc.

Autonomous mobile robot industry is expected to register 15% CAGR between 2023 and 2032 propelled by the rising automation of manufacturing and other industrial operations.

Selbyville, Delaware, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As per the report published by Global Market Insights Inc., the Global Autonomous Mobile Robot Market was estimated at USD 2 billion in 2022 and is expected to surpass a valuation of $9 billion by 2032, progressing at a CAGR of 15% from 2023 to 2032. The report provides a detailed analysis of top winning strategies, drivers & opportunities, competitive scenario, wavering market trends, market size, statistics & estimations, and major investment pockets.

The report reveals that increased hospitality funding will hasten the development of autonomous mobile robot software. For instance, in July 2022, Hustlers Hospitality secured over USD 850k in seed funding to expand its reach in six cities through over nine dedicated central kitchens by the end of FY2022-23. Such initiatives will boost the requirement for fully autonomous mobile robots for disinfection, cleaning, room service, and other hospitality applications. Likewise, the emphasis on improving health and hygiene and the awareness of operational efficiency, safety, and low cost will accelerate product sales.

Request for a sample of this research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/5527







Autonomous mobile robots to gain traction for security and inspection of hazardous environments

Autonomous mobile robot market value from the security and inspection type segment will surpass USD 2.5 billion by 2032, given the strong focus of industrial robot manufacturers on novel product launches. A notable example is the introduction of Shandong OTO Robot Technology Co., Ltd.s TUTU, an intelligent security patrolling robot, in April 2022. Equipped with cameras and sensors, such robots can navigate through unknown environments and detect potential hazards. The report says that the knowledge about the significant role of autonomous robots in security and inspection tasks will foster industry trends.

Story continues

Key reasons for autonomous mobile robot market growth:

Emerging e-commerce and retail industry in Asia Pacific.

Rising demand from the manufacturing industry to supply material.

Growing application of autonomous mobile robot in hospitality industry.

Rise in demand for cleaning and disinfection robot across healthcare industry.

Increasing demand for security and inspection mobile robots.

Rise of e-commerce during COVID-19 proliferates the adoption of 3PL & logistics mobile robots

With respect to the end-use, the autonomous mobile robot market size from the 3PL and logistics segment registered over 16.5k units in 2022. The robust application scope in material handling, transportation, and supply chain inventory management is a key factor creating lucrative prospects for autonomous mobile robot manufacturers. With the rapid change in consumer behavior following the COVID-19 outbreak, e-commerce is growing at a rapid pace, and brands have been implementing various strategies to remain competitive. The report claims that these factors will fuel AMR usage in warehouse logistics applications.

Strong focus on industrial automation will stimulate the deployment of AMR technology in Europe

Europe autonomous mobile robot market share is anticipated to depict over 16% CAGR through 2023-2032, driven by the rise in industrial automation. Governments are also introducing favorable regulations and investing in AMR technology to drive automation, as a part of the effort to promote industrial innovation and competitiveness. However, due to the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic crisis, the European labor force declined considerably in the manufacturing sector, which may hinder the regional industry outlook to some extent over the forthcoming years.

Secure a copy of the premium research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/securecheckout/paymenta/5527?gmpaycod=sugmp



Collaborative business expansions by industry players will influence industry trends

Some of the key players in autonomous mobile robot market include Forwardx Robotics Inc., 6 River Systems, Zebra Fetch Robotics, SuperDroid Robots, OTTO Motors, ST Engineering Aethon, Inc., SoftBank Robotics, Seegrid Corp., ROBOTLAB Inc., Omron Group, Mobile Industrial Robots, MHS Global, Locus Robotics, Gideon Brothers, ABB Robotics, and Addverb technologies, among others. Strategic product launches, acquisitions, business expansions, and partnerships are among the prominent initiatives being undertaken by these companies to boost their market presence.

Partial chapters of report table of contents (TOC):

Chapter 3 Industry Insights

3.1 Impact of COVID-19 pandemic

3.2 Russia-Ukraine war impact

3.3 Industry ecosystem analysis

3.4 Price trend analysis

3.5 Patent analysis

3.6 Key initiative & news

3.7 Technology & innovation landscape

3.8 Regulatory landscape

3.9 Industry impact forces

3.10 Growth potential analysis

3.11 Porter's analysis

3.12 PESTEL analysis

Chapter 4 Competitive Landscape

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Company market share, 2022

4.3 Competitive analysis of major market players, 2022

4.4 Competitive analysis of innovation leaders, 2022

4.5 Competitive positioning matrix

4.6 Strategic outlook matrix

Chapter 5 Autonomous Mobile Robot Market, By Type (Revenue and Shipment)

5.1 Key trends, by type

5.2 Delivery and Material Handling

5.3 Security & Inspection

5.4 Cleaning and Disinfection

Browse Our Reports Store - GMIPulse @ https://www.gminsights.com/gmipulse



About Global Market Insights

Global Market Insights Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider, offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy, and biotechnology.









CONTACT: Contact Us: Aashit Tiwari Corporate Sales, USA Global Market Insights Inc. Toll Free: +1-888-689-0688 USA: +1-302-846-7766 Europe: +44-742-759-8484 APAC: +65-3129-7718 Email: sales@gminsights.com




Kobe Steel, Ltd. (OTCMKTS:KBSTF  Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,193,900 shares, an increase of 42.1% from the March 15th total of 839,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 0 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently  days.

Kobe Steel Price Performance

Shares of OTCMKTS:KBSTF remained flat at $7.74 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $6.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.43. Kobe Steel has a 1-year low of $4.47 and a 1-year high of $8.04.

Get Kobe Steel alerts:

Kobe Steel Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Recommended Stories

Kobe Steel, Ltd. engages in the manufacture, production, and sale of iron and steel. It operates through the following segments: Iron and Steel, Welding, Aluminum and Copper, Machinery, Engineering, Construction Machinery, Power, and Other Businesses. The Iron and Steel Business segment includes steel wire rods and bars, steel sheets, steel billets, steel castings and forgings, titanium and titanium alloys, foundry pig iron, slag products, stainless steel tube, construction materials, and other specialty steel products.

Receive News & Ratings for Kobe Steel Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Kobe Steel and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Legacy Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF (NYSEARCA:IJH  Get Rating) by 284.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,046 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 7,436 shares during the period. Legacy Advisors LLCs holdings in iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF were worth $2,430,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,133 shares of the companys stock valued at $758,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC increased its position in shares of iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF by 602.5% in the 4th quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 27,032 shares of the companys stock valued at $6,539,000 after purchasing an additional 23,184 shares during the last quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $229,000. Alaska Wealth Advisors increased its position in shares of iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Alaska Wealth Advisors now owns 210,767 shares of the companys stock valued at $50,982,000 after purchasing an additional 2,310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vishria Bird Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $210,000.

Get iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF alerts:

iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF Price Performance

NYSEARCA IJH opened at $248.23 on Monday. The firms fifty day moving average price is $252.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $247.76. The company has a market capitalization of $66.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.24 and a beta of 1.12. iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF has a 12 month low of $217.39 and a 12 month high of $272.95.

iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF Profile

Ishares S&P Midcap 400 Index Fund, formerly The iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF (the Fund), seeks investment results that correspond to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the United States mid-cap stocks, as represented by the Standard & Poors MidCap 400 (the Underlying Index).

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding IJH? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF (NYSEARCA:IJH  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
London Stock Exchange Group plc (LON:LSEG  Get Rating) insider Martin Brand bought 8,612 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of GBX 8,015 ($99.26) per share, with a total value of 690,251.80 ($854,800.99).

Martin Brand also recently made the following trade(s):

Get London Stock Exchange Group alerts:

On Tuesday, April 11th, Martin Brand sold 13,357 shares of London Stock Exchange Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 7,803 ($96.63), for a total transaction of 1,042,246.71 ($1,290,708.00).

On Wednesday, April 5th, Martin Brand bought 8,661 shares of London Stock Exchange Group stock. The shares were bought at an average price of GBX 7,916 ($98.03) per share, for a total transaction of 685,604.76 ($849,046.14).

On Monday, April 3rd, Martin Brand acquired 14,301 shares of London Stock Exchange Group stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 7,789 ($96.46) per share, with a total value of 1,113,904.89 ($1,379,448.78).

On Friday, March 31st, Martin Brand sold 9,541 shares of London Stock Exchange Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 7,924 ($98.13), for a total value of 756,028.84 ($936,258.63).

On Wednesday, March 29th, Martin Brand sold 10,576 shares of London Stock Exchange Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 7,840 ($97.09), for a total value of 829,158.40 ($1,026,821.55).

On Monday, March 27th, Martin Brand purchased 9,971 shares of London Stock Exchange Group stock. The shares were purchased at an average price of GBX 7,807 ($96.68) per share, with a total value of 778,435.97 ($964,007.39).

London Stock Exchange Group Stock Performance

Shares of LSEG opened at GBX 7,958 ($98.55) on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of GBX 7,648.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of GBX 7,595.26. London Stock Exchange Group plc has a one year low of GBX 6,710 ($83.10) and a one year high of GBX 8,612 ($106.65). The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 31.68, a quick ratio of 0.01 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market cap of 39.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 5,643.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.36.

London Stock Exchange Group Increases Dividend

Analysts Set New Price Targets

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 20th will be issued a GBX 75.30 ($0.93) dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 20th. This is a boost from London Stock Exchange Groups previous dividend of $31.70. London Stock Exchange Groups payout ratio is 7,588.65%.

Several brokerages have commented on LSEG. Bank of America restated a buy rating and issued a GBX 9,550 ($118.27) target price on shares of London Stock Exchange Group in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on London Stock Exchange Group from 105 ($130.03) to 102 ($126.32) and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a buy rating on shares of London Stock Exchange Group in a report on Wednesday, March 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of GBX 9,431.67 ($116.80).

About London Stock Exchange Group

(Get Rating)

London Stock Exchange Group plc engages in the market infrastructure business primarily in the United Kingdom, the United States, other European countries, Asia, and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Data & Analytics, Capital Markets, and Post Trade. It operates a range of international equity, fixed income, exchange-traded funds/exchange-trading, and foreign exchange markets, including London Stock Exchange, AIM, Turquoise, CurveGlobal, FXall, and Tradeweb.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for London Stock Exchange Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for London Stock Exchange Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
McDonalds (NYSE:MCD  Get Rating) had its target price raised by Oppenheimer from $304.00 to $315.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the fast-food giants stock. Oppenheimer also issued estimates for McDonalds Q3 2023 earnings at $2.90 EPS.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Credit Suisse Group lifted their price objective on McDonalds from $298.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. KeyCorp cut their target price on McDonalds from $295.00 to $290.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on McDonalds from $295.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, January 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on McDonalds from $315.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on McDonalds in a research report on Monday, January 23rd. They issued an equal weight rating and a $280.00 price target on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $293.52.

Get McDonald's alerts:

McDonalds Price Performance

NYSE:MCD traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $288.91. The companys stock had a trading volume of 1,189,588 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,676,667. McDonalds has a 1 year low of $228.34 and a 1 year high of $290.51. The stock has a market cap of $211.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.56, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.63. The businesss fifty day moving average is $271.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $266.57.

McDonalds Dividend Announcement

McDonalds ( NYSE:MCD Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 31st. The fast-food giant reported $2.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.13. McDonalds had a net margin of 26.65% and a negative return on equity of 120.10%. The business had revenue of $5.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.23 EPS. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that McDonalds will post 10.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 1st were given a $1.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 28th. This represents a $6.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. McDonaldss payout ratio is currently 72.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonalds

In other McDonalds news, SVP Catherine A. Hoovel sold 2,876 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.00, for a total value of $776,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,184 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $319,680. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other McDonalds news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,396 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.44, for a total value of $370,554.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 308 shares of the companys stock, valued at $81,755.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Catherine A. Hoovel sold 2,876 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.00, for a total transaction of $776,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $319,680. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,122 shares of company stock valued at $2,177,681 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.25% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in McDonalds by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 86,283 shares of the fast-food giants stock worth $24,126,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the period. City Holding Co. increased its stake in McDonalds by 1.2% in the first quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 30,169 shares of the fast-food giants stock valued at $8,435,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of McDonalds by 4.7% in the first quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 23,444 shares of the fast-food giants stock valued at $6,555,000 after buying an additional 1,049 shares during the period. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of McDonalds by 96.5% during the 1st quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 12,246 shares of the fast-food giants stock worth $3,424,000 after purchasing an additional 6,013 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Douglas Lane & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of McDonalds by 28.7% during the 1st quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 2,447 shares of the fast-food giants stock worth $684,000 after buying an additional 546 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.86% of the companys stock.

About McDonalds

(Get Rating)

McDonalds Corp. engages in the operation and franchising of restaurants. It operates through the following segments: U.S., International Operated Markets, and International Developmental Licensed Markets and Corporate. The U.S. segment focuses its operations on the United States. The International Operated Markets segment consists of operations and the franchising of restaurants in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, Spain, and the U.K.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for McDonald's Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for McDonald's and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Osisko Gold Royalties (TSE:OR  Get Rating) had its price objective lifted by equities research analysts at CIBC from C$23.00 to C$27.00 in a research note issued on Monday, BayStreet.CA reports. CIBCs price objective suggests a potential upside of 25.29% from the stocks previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Osisko Gold Royalties from C$19.50 to C$20.00 in a research report on Monday, January 23rd. National Bankshares boosted their price target on shares of Osisko Gold Royalties from C$22.00 to C$23.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, January 13th. Cormark boosted their price target on shares of Osisko Gold Royalties from C$22.00 to C$23.00 in a research report on Monday, February 27th. TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Osisko Gold Royalties from C$22.00 to C$27.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Osisko Gold Royalties from C$18.00 to C$21.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Osisko Gold Royalties has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of C$24.05.

Get Osisko Gold Royalties alerts:

Osisko Gold Royalties Price Performance

OR traded down C$0.51 on Monday, hitting C$21.55. 185,270 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 506,151. Osisko Gold Royalties has a fifty-two week low of C$11.90 and a fifty-two week high of C$22.87. The company has a current ratio of 5.86, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of C$19.29 and a 200-day moving average price of C$17.29. The stock has a market cap of C$3.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

Osisko Gold Royalties Company Profile

In related news, Senior Officer Andre Le Bel sold 15,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$18.40, for a total transaction of C$276,000.00. In related news, Director Victor Bradley sold 5,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$20.47, for a total transaction of C$102,350.00. Also, Senior Officer Andre Le Bel sold 15,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$18.40, for a total transaction of C$276,000.00. Insiders have sold 42,770 shares of company stock worth $797,516 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.52% of the companys stock.

(Get Rating)

Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd acquires and manages precious metal and other royalties, streams, and offtake and other interests in Canada and internationally. It also owns options on royalty/stream financings; and exclusive rights to participate in future royalty/stream financings on various projects. The company's primary asset is a 5% net smelter return royalty on the Canadian Malartic mine located in Canada.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Osisko Gold Royalties Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Osisko Gold Royalties and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
OZ Minerals Limited (ASX:OZL  Get Rating) announced a interim dividend on Friday, April 14th, MarketIndexAU reports. Investors of record on Monday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of 1.75 per share on Monday, May 1st. This represents a dividend yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 19th. This is an increase from OZ Mineralss previous interim dividend of $0.08.

OZ Minerals Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.27.

Get OZ Minerals alerts:

Insider Buying and Selling at OZ Minerals

In other news, insider Andrew Cole 146,316 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 16th. Corporate insiders own 2.29% of the companys stock.

OZ Minerals Company Profile

OZ Minerals Limited engages in the exploration, development, mining, and processing of mining projects in Australia. The company primarily explores for copper, gold, silver, nickel, iron oxide, zinc, and lead deposits. It owns and operates the Prominent Hill mine located in northern South Australia; the Carrapateena project located in South Australia; and the Antas mine located in the state of Para in the northern region of Brazil.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for OZ Minerals Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for OZ Minerals and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
PAR Technology (NYSE:PAR  Get Rating) had its price target upped by The Goldman Sachs Group from $30.00 to $34.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the software makers stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a buy rating and set a $43.00 price target on shares of PAR Technology in a report on Thursday, March 30th. Craig Hallum increased their price objective on PAR Technology from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on PAR Technology in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a sell rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $41.00.

Get PAR Technology alerts:

PAR Technology Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE PAR traded up $0.05 on Thursday, reaching $33.42. The company had a trading volume of 57,841 shares, compared to its average volume of 245,926. The stocks 50 day moving average is $34.27 and its 200-day moving average is $29.73. The stock has a market cap of $913.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.79 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a quick ratio of 2.75, a current ratio of 3.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. PAR Technology has a 52 week low of $20.37 and a 52 week high of $47.03.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PAR Technology

About PAR Technology

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PAR. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its position in PAR Technology by 18.1% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 16,275 shares of the software makers stock valued at $553,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in PAR Technology by 21.5% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 8,139 shares of the software makers stock worth $212,000 after buying an additional 1,442 shares in the last quarter. CI Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PAR Technology in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $422,000. Norwood Investment Partners LP grew its position in shares of PAR Technology by 290.2% in the 4th quarter. Norwood Investment Partners LP now owns 230,724 shares of the software makers stock valued at $6,015,000 after buying an additional 171,587 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wisconsin Investment Board grew its position in shares of PAR Technology by 43.3% in the 4th quarter. State of Wisconsin Investment Board now owns 37,900 shares of the software makers stock valued at $988,000 after buying an additional 11,456 shares during the last quarter.

(Get Rating)

PAR Technology Corp. engages in the provision of software and hardware support services for the hospitality industry. It operates through the Restaurant/Retail and Government segments. The Restaurant/Retail segment offers point-of-sale (POS) software, hardware, back-office software, systems, services, and integrated technical solutions to the restaurant and retail industries.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for PAR Technology Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for PAR Technology and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Parker-Hannifin (NYSE:PH  Get Rating) had its price objective lowered by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $385.00 to $366.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the industrial products companys stock. Wells Fargo & Companys price objective points to a potential upside of 13.20% from the stocks previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on PH. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Parker-Hannifin from $322.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Parker-Hannifin from $376.00 to $383.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Parker-Hannifin from $320.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 7th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Parker-Hannifin from $335.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Credit Suisse Group upped their target price on shares of Parker-Hannifin from $417.00 to $446.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $371.08.

Get Parker-Hannifin alerts:

Parker-Hannifin Stock Performance

Shares of PH stock traded up $4.22 on Thursday, hitting $323.33. 446,591 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 965,439. The firms 50 day moving average is $337.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $308.50. Parker-Hannifin has a one year low of $230.44 and a one year high of $364.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.47 billion, a PE ratio of 33.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Insider Transactions at Parker-Hannifin

Parker-Hannifin ( NYSE:PH Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The industrial products company reported $4.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.31. Parker-Hannifin had a net margin of 7.33% and a return on equity of 28.23%. The company had revenue of $4.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.46 EPS. Parker-Hannifins revenue was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Parker-Hannifin will post 19.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In other news, VP Berend Bracht sold 1,550 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.55, for a total value of $537,152.50. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,740 shares of the companys stock, valued at $602,997. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, VP Berend Bracht sold 1,550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.55, for a total transaction of $537,152.50. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,740 shares in the company, valued at $602,997. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Thomas L. Williams sold 38,098 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.63, for a total transaction of $13,434,497.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 229,027 shares of the companys stock, valued at $80,761,791.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 62,454 shares of company stock valued at $21,706,490 in the last ninety days. 1.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of Parker-Hannifin by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 15,110 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $5,079,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Parker-Hannifin during the first quarter valued at approximately $332,000. Lake Street Financial LLC increased its holdings in Parker-Hannifin by 17.9% during the first quarter. Lake Street Financial LLC now owns 1,147 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $386,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC bought a new position in Parker-Hannifin in the first quarter worth approximately $85,000. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Parker-Hannifin by 23.5% during the 1st quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 989 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $333,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. 81.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Parker-Hannifin

(Get Rating)

Parker-Hannifin Corp. engages in the manufacture of motion and control technologies and systems. It operates through Diversified Industrial and Aerospace Systems segments. The Diversified Industrial segment sells products to both original equipment manufacturers and distributors who serve the replacement markets in manufacturing, packaging, processing, transportation, mobile construction, refrigeration and air conditioning, agricultural and military machinery, and equipment industries.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Parker-Hannifin Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Parker-Hannifin and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
BlackRock ESG Capital Allocation Trust (NYSE:ECAT  Get Rating) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 327,200 shares, an increase of 194.8% from the March 15th total of 111,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 339,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.0 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackRock ESG Capital Allocation Trust

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Calton & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in BlackRock ESG Capital Allocation Trust by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. now owns 22,722 shares of the companys stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 5,883 shares during the period. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock ESG Capital Allocation Trust by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 105,985 shares of the companys stock worth $1,358,000 after purchasing an additional 20,003 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. acquired a new position in BlackRock ESG Capital Allocation Trust in the 3rd quarter worth about $156,000. Matisse Capital raised its holdings in BlackRock ESG Capital Allocation Trust by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Matisse Capital now owns 100,000 shares of the companys stock worth $1,281,000 after purchasing an additional 9,000 shares during the period. Finally, Saba Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in BlackRock ESG Capital Allocation Trust by 282.6% in the 3rd quarter. Saba Capital Management L.P. now owns 3,502,627 shares of the companys stock worth $44,869,000 after purchasing an additional 2,587,130 shares during the period.

Get BlackRock ESG Capital Allocation Trust alerts:

BlackRock ESG Capital Allocation Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ECAT stock traded down $0.01 on Friday, hitting $15.31. The company had a trading volume of 119,901 shares, compared to its average volume of 332,466. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $14.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.19. BlackRock ESG Capital Allocation Trust has a twelve month low of $12.74 and a twelve month high of $15.88.

BlackRock ESG Capital Allocation Trust Dividend Announcement

About BlackRock ESG Capital Allocation Trust

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 14th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 13th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.80%.

(Get Rating)

BlackRock ESG Capital Allocation Trusts (ECAT) (the Trust) investment objectives are to provide total return and income through a combination of current income, current gains and long-term capital appreciation. The Trust invests in a portfolio of equity and debt securities. Generally, the Trusts portfolio will include both equity and debt securities.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for BlackRock ESG Capital Allocation Trust Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BlackRock ESG Capital Allocation Trust and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Taylor Morrison Home Co. (NYSE:TMHC  Get Rating)s share price reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $38.54 and last traded at $38.33, with a volume of 98993 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $38.01.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on TMHC. StockNews.com began coverage on Taylor Morrison Home in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a buy rating for the company. Credit Suisse Group raised their price target on Taylor Morrison Home from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Taylor Morrison Home from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Taylor Morrison Home currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $34.21.

Get Taylor Morrison Home alerts:

Taylor Morrison Home Stock Up 0.8 %

The stock has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 5.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $36.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.79.

Insider Transactions at Taylor Morrison Home

Taylor Morrison Home ( NYSE:TMHC Get Rating ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 15th. The construction company reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.02. Taylor Morrison Home had a return on equity of 24.86% and a net margin of 12.80%. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.19 earnings per share. The firms revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Taylor Morrison Home Co. will post 6.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

In related news, CEO Sheryl Palmer sold 99,700 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.14, for a total value of $3,403,758.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 296,052 shares of the companys stock, valued at $10,107,215.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Sheryl Palmer sold 99,700 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.14, for a total transaction of $3,403,758.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 296,052 shares of the companys stock, valued at $10,107,215.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director William H. Lyon sold 3,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.50, for a total value of $106,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 50,127 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,779,508.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 325,224 shares of company stock valued at $11,752,812. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Taylor Morrison Home

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AE Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Taylor Morrison Home during the 1st quarter valued at $240,000. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new stake in Taylor Morrison Home during the 1st quarter valued at $222,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Taylor Morrison Home by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 149,692 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $5,727,000 after purchasing an additional 8,558 shares during the period. Polianta Ltd raised its stake in Taylor Morrison Home by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. Polianta Ltd now owns 34,200 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $1,308,000 after purchasing an additional 5,700 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Taylor Morrison Home by 20.2% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 391,643 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $11,886,000 after purchasing an additional 65,695 shares during the period. 96.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Taylor Morrison Home Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Taylor Morrison Home Corp. engages in the business of residential homebuilding and the development of lifestyle communities. It operates through the following segments: East, Central, West, and Financial Services. The East segment includes operations in Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Orlando, Raleigh, Southwest Florida, and Tampa regions.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Taylor Morrison Home Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Taylor Morrison Home and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
BOOT BRUSH STATION INSTALLATIONS TO PROTECT BRUCE TRAIL FROM INVASIVE SPECIES

STONEY CREEK, ON, April 17, 2023 /CNW/ - Canadian cold-climate footwear brand, Baffin is proud to announce the Trail Conservancy Project in partnership with the Bruce Trail Conservancy. To prevent the spread of harmful, invasive species along Canada's oldest and longest marked footpath  Baffin has committed to building 100 co-branded boot brush stations by 2025. This adds to the existing 35 stations currently located throughout the 900 km of main trail.

Baffin Limited (CNW Group/Baffin Limited)

This partnership merges two Ontario organizations who share a passion for adventure and the outdoors. Baffin believes in Real-World Testing, bringing products to diverse climates to ensure quality and protection for customers. From the most extreme environments on Earth to hometown trails, Baffin relies on the conservation of local environments and the work organizations, including the Bruce Trail Conservancy, commit to preserving nature.

Boot Brush Stations are an important tool in the protection of the diverse ecosystem within the Bruce Trail. The spread of invasive species is one of the top threats to Niagara Escarpment biodiversity, with hikers unknowingly bringing these species into the trail on their boots. These stations encourage hikers to brush off their boots before continuing their journey, to prevent the unintentional spread of invasive species and protect the native ecosystem.

To launch the Trail Conservancy Project, Baffin will build the first 20 Boot Brush Stations in the Stoney Creek production facility on April 21, 2023. Baffin will be offering employees the opportunity to donate one hour of their time during the workday to help build the stations, providing the entire Baffin company the opportunity to give back and help protect the Bruce Trail.

"As a Hamilton-based company, the Bruce Trail is right in our backyard. From product testing activities and team building outings, to weekends spent on the trail with family  everyone at Baffin has benefitted from the work the Bruce Trail Conservancy does to protect this natural playground," says Mark Hubner, Senior Vice President, Commercial at Baffin. "Our ongoing partnership with the Bruce Trail Conservancy has been a passion project for us, connecting our love of exploration and our desire to help protect diverse Canadian environments for the future. By launching the Trail Conservancy Project and providing these Boot Brush Stations to the Bruce Trail, we are thrilled to take another step toward protecting the Niagara Escarpment, while leaving the invasive species behind."

Story continues

A supporter of the Bruce Trail Conservancy for the past decade, Baffin has helped fund the conservation programming designed to conserve, restore and manage land along the Niagara Escarpment UNESCO World Biosphere and to protect its ecosystems for the benefit of all. The launch of Baffin's Trail Conservancy Project is the natural progression in this symbiotic partnership that aims to protect the environment so people can continue to spend time in nature and explore.

"On behalf of the Bruce Trail Conservancy, I am thrilled that Baffin is continuing their commitment to the critical conservation efforts necessary to preserve a ribbon of wilderness along the Niagara escarpment," says Michael McDonald, Chief Executive Officer at the Bruce Trail Conservancy. "Their generous support of Boot Brush Stations along the Bruce Trail will go far to help us control invasive species and educate trail users on this important aspect of land stewardship and preservation."

Standing at approximately three feet tall and four feet wide, Boot Brush Stations are made of cedar wood and consist of a base and a large display. The display acts as an instructional and educational tool, teaching hikers about invasive species often brought through the trail and how to effectively use the stations to remove any possible threats from their boots. The boot brush itself is a plastic scrubber located at the bottom of the station for ease of access. Ontario-based company Turkstra Lumber has joined the project, generously supplying materials for the build. Turkstra Lumber is a family owned and operated business that has served Hamilton and the Niagara Region for over 65 years.

Baffin will continue to support the Bruce Trail Conservancy's existing projects as they care for protected natural lands, a critical step to building nature-based solutions to address the climate crisis.

About Baffin

Baffin Ltd. is an innovative, leading outwear company based in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada with a core focus on technically advanced, innovative footwear and high-performance apparel. Baffin designs, develops, and field tests footwear in the most demanding environments on the planet and is focused on being a global leader in footwear and apparel within the Outdoor, Industrial and Hunt and Fish categories. Baffin Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canada Goose Holdings Inc.

About The Bruce Trail Conservancy

Bruce Trail Conservancy is one of Ontario's largest land trusts that acquires, protects and restores the vulnerable habitat and biodiversity of the UNESCO Niagara Escarpment Biosphere. For more than 50 years, we have responsibly connected people to nature through the Bruce Trail. We are a member-driven, volunteer-based, charitable organization, governed by a 19-member Board of Directors. Working with each of the nine Bruce Trail Clubs, we are committed to caring for the Bruce Trail and to preserving land along its route.

Bruce Trail Conservancy (CNW Group/Baffin Limited)

SOURCE Baffin Limited

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2023/17/c6447.html
Tobam reduced its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR  Get Rating) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 373,023 shares of the companys stock after selling 3,396 shares during the quarter. Tobams holdings in Kroger were worth $16,629,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Kroger by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 65,735,592 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,875,933,000 after buying an additional 3,443,687 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Kroger by 160.7% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,114,170 shares of the companys stock worth $136,245,000 after purchasing an additional 1,919,463 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in Kroger during the first quarter valued at about $71,410,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 403.7% during the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,180,854 shares of the companys stock valued at $51,662,000 after purchasing an additional 946,412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eaton Vance Management increased its stake in Kroger by 175.8% in the 1st quarter. Eaton Vance Management now owns 1,306,295 shares of the companys stock worth $74,943,000 after purchasing an additional 832,615 shares during the period. 78.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Get Kroger alerts:

Kroger Stock Up 1.9 %

Kroger stock traded up $0.89 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $47.54. 2,267,080 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,385,628. The company has a market cap of $34.11 billion, a PE ratio of 15.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.47. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $41.81 and a fifty-two week high of $58.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The companys fifty day moving average price is $46.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.96.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

Kroger ( NYSE:KR Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.09. Kroger had a return on equity of 31.84% and a net margin of 1.51%. The business had revenue of $34.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. The businesss revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 12th. Krogers payout ratio is 33.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on KR shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Kroger from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. Stephens lowered their price target on Kroger from $57.00 to $52.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 6th. Northcoast Research raised Kroger from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 20th. Roth Capital restated a neutral rating on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, March 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $52.31.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.90, for a total transaction of $137,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 40,147 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,842,747.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.90, for a total transaction of $137,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 40,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,842,747.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 62,414 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.47, for a total transaction of $2,900,378.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 63,079 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,931,281.13. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 153,505 shares of company stock valued at $7,332,497. 1.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Kroger

(Get Rating)

The Kroger Co engages in the operation of supermarkets and multi-department stores. Its brands include Big K, Check This Out?, Heritage Farm, Simple Truth, and Simple Truth Organic. The company was founded by Barney Kroger in 1883 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, OH.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding KR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for Kroger Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Kroger and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Turkiye Garanti Bankasi A.S. (OTCMKTS:TKGBY  Get Rating) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 135,600 shares, an increase of 91.5% from the March 15th total of 70,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 44,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Turkiye Garanti Bankasi A.S. from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 21st.

Get Turkiye Garanti Bankasi A.S. alerts:

Turkiye Garanti Bankasi A.S. Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of TKGBY traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $1.42. 3,100 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,044. Turkiye Garanti Bankasi A.S. has a 52 week low of $0.75 and a 52 week high of $1.69. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1.34 and a 200-day moving average of $1.32.

Turkiye Garanti Bankasi A.S. Company Profile

Turkiye Garanti Bankasi AS engages in the provision of service to its corporate, commercial and retail customers, including deposit, loans, foreign trade transactions, investment products, cash management, leasing, factoring, insurance, credit cards and other banking products. It operates through the followings segments: Retail Bank; Corporate and Commercial Banking; and Investment Banking.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Turkiye Garanti Bankasi A.S. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Turkiye Garanti Bankasi A.S. and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Viking Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE  Get Rating) (TSE:BCE) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 125,000 shares of the utilities providers stock after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Viking Fund Management LLCs holdings in BCE were worth $5,494,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in BCE by 53.5% during the 1st quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 13,375,600 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $742,107,000 after buying an additional 4,661,300 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in BCE by 31.2% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,302,998 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $263,569,000 after purchasing an additional 1,497,431 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in BCE by 581.5% in the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,488,570 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $62,747,000 after acquiring an additional 1,270,160 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its position in BCE by 13.3% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 10,224,429 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $469,861,000 after acquiring an additional 1,198,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can purchased a new position in shares of BCE in the third quarter worth about $22,517,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.92% of the companys stock.

Get BCE alerts:

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BCE. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on BCE from C$66.00 to C$64.00 in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. CIBC upped their price target on shares of BCE from C$62.00 to C$64.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 12th. National Bank Financial lowered BCE from an outperform market weight rating to a sector perform market weight rating in a research note on Thursday, January 12th. StockNews.com began coverage on BCE in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of BCE from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $63.53.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE stock traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $47.69. The stock had a trading volume of 474,594 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,242,155. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.20. The company has a market cap of $43.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. BCE Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.88 and a 12-month high of $59.34.

BCE (NYSE:BCE  Get Rating) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts consensus estimates of $0.53. The company had revenue of $4.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.68 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 16.03% and a net margin of 11.85%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th were given a $0.713 dividend. This represents a $2.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.98%. This is an increase from BCEs previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 14th. BCEs dividend payout ratio is 121.65%.

About BCE

(Get Rating)

BCE, Inc is a telecommunications and media company, which engages in the provision of communication services to residential, business, and wholesale customers. It operates through the following segments: Bell Wireless, Bell Wireline, and Bell Media. The Bell Wireless segment covers integrated digital wireless voice and data communications products and services to residential and business customers.

Featured Articles

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BCE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE  Get Rating) (TSE:BCE).

Receive News & Ratings for BCE Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BCE and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM  Get Rating) by 10.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,548 shares of the business services providers stock after buying an additional 148 shares during the quarter. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc.s holdings in Waste Management were worth $239,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the third quarter worth $25,000. Twin Lakes Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. TD Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 232.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 269 shares of the business services providers stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, HBC Financial Services PLLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.48% of the companys stock.

Get Waste Management alerts:

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, Director John C. Pope sold 218 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.76, for a total value of $33,737.68. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 55,809 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $8,637,000.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Waste Management news, Director John C. Pope sold 218 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.76, for a total value of $33,737.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 55,809 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $8,637,000.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total transaction of $31,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 64,317 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $9,969,135. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,961 shares of company stock valued at $4,796,057 in the last 90 days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Waste Management from $179.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Waste Management from $157.00 to $151.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Waste Management from a buy rating to a hold rating and cut their target price for the company from $185.00 to $171.00 in a research report on Monday, December 19th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Waste Management from $183.00 to $180.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Waste Management from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $173.27.

WM stock traded up $0.09 during trading on Monday, hitting $165.39. 208,415 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,845,304. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is $155.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $157.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $67.28 billion, a PE ratio of 30.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.73. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $138.89 and a 1 year high of $175.98.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM  Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 1st. The business services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 32.91% and a net margin of 11.36%. The company had revenue of $4.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. The businesss revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 9th. This is a boost from Waste Managements previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Waste Managements payout ratio is 51.95%.

Waste Management Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Waste Management, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of waste management environmental services. It operates through the following segments: East Tier, West Tier, and Other. The East Tier segment consists of Eastern U.S., the Great Lakes Region, and Canada. The West Tier segment includes the upper Midwest region and British Columbia, Canada.

Recommended Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for Waste Management Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Waste Management and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM  Get Rating) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of Moderate Buy from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $173.27.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Waste Management from $157.00 to $151.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus cut Waste Management from a buy rating to a hold rating and lowered their price target for the company from $185.00 to $171.00 in a research report on Monday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Waste Management from $179.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Waste Management from $183.00 to $180.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Waste Management in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a buy rating on the stock.

Get Waste Management alerts:

Waste Management Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $165.30 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $67.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.73. Waste Management has a 12-month low of $138.89 and a 12-month high of $175.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $155.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $157.64.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

Waste Management ( NYSE:WM Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The business services provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 32.91%. The business had revenue of $4.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. The firms revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Waste Management will post 6 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a boost from Waste Managements previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 9th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. Waste Managements dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.95%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, EVP John J. Morris sold 15,204 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.03, for a total transaction of $2,357,076.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 95,461 shares of the companys stock, valued at $14,799,318.83. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Waste Management news, CAO Leslie K. Nagy sold 800 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.11, for a total value of $120,888.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,210 shares of the companys stock, valued at $787,283.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John J. Morris sold 15,204 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.03, for a total value of $2,357,076.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 95,461 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $14,799,318.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,961 shares of company stock valued at $4,796,057. Insiders own 0.27% of the companys stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Management

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WM. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Twin Lakes Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Steward Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. TD Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 78.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Waste Management, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of waste management environmental services. It operates through the following segments: East Tier, West Tier, and Other. The East Tier segment consists of Eastern U.S., the Great Lakes Region, and Canada. The West Tier segment includes the upper Midwest region and British Columbia, Canada.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Waste Management Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Waste Management and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Waverton Investment Management Ltd trimmed its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM  Get Rating) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 34,195 shares of the CRM providers stock after selling 1,580 shares during the period. Waverton Investment Management Ltds holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,534,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Spinnaker Trust grew its position in Salesforce by 1,115.0% in the 4th quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 24,117 shares of the CRM providers stock worth $3,198,000 after purchasing an additional 22,132 shares during the last quarter. Arrow Financial Corp grew its position in Salesforce by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. Arrow Financial Corp now owns 30,360 shares of the CRM providers stock worth $4,026,000 after purchasing an additional 4,693 shares during the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its position in Salesforce by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 110,100 shares of the CRM providers stock worth $14,598,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206 shares during the last quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $203,000. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 589,487 shares of the CRM providers stock valued at $78,160,000 after acquiring an additional 5,885 shares in the last quarter. 75.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Get Salesforce alerts:

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 186 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.59, for a total value of $28,939.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,273 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $198,066.07. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 1,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.06, for a total value of $236,325.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 99,755 shares of the companys stock, valued at $18,859,680.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 186 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.59, for a total transaction of $28,939.74. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,273 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $198,066.07. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,859 shares of company stock valued at $9,191,477 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.60% of the companys stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Salesforce Stock Up 0.8 %

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Atlantic Securities lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $140.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $171.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $211.24.

CRM traded up $1.64 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $196.29. 3,050,822 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,569,072. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $126.34 and a 1-year high of $200.00. The stocks 50-day moving average is $180.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $159.29. The stock has a market cap of $196.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 926.95, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM  Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 1st. The CRM provider reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.32. Salesforce had a net margin of 0.66% and a return on equity of 4.48%. The business had revenue of $8.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $7.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.24 earnings per share. The firms revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, March 1st that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the CRM provider to buy up to 10.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the companys leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Salesforce Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Salesforce, Inc engages in the design and development of cloud-based enterprise software for customer relationship management. Its solutions include sales force automation, customer service and support, marketing automation, digital commerce, community management, collaboration, industry-specific solutions, and salesforce platform.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CRM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM  Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for Salesforce Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Salesforce and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS  Get Rating) had its price objective reduced by equities research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $29.00 to $25.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a buy rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Groups price objective would suggest a potential upside of 19.90% from the companys previous close.

ZWS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Mizuho reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 21st. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their target price on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $26.17.

Get Zurn Elkay Water Solutions alerts:

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions stock traded up $0.26 during trading on Friday, hitting $20.85. 492,617 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,427,729. The stocks fifty day moving average is $21.84 and its 200 day moving average is $22.68. The stock has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a PE ratio of 42.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 2.62. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions has a 12 month low of $19.29 and a 12 month high of $36.32.

Insider Activity

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions ( NYSE:ZWS Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.16. The business had revenue of $340.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $344.77 million. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 15.78%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 46.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions will post 0.88 EPS for the current year.

In other news, Director Thomas Christopoul sold 23,715 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.92, for a total value of $567,262.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 95,455 shares in the company, valued at $2,283,283.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Thomas Christopoul sold 23,715 shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.92, for a total value of $567,262.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 95,455 shares in the company, valued at $2,283,283.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Craig Wehr sold 1,442 shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.17, for a total value of $33,411.14. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 82,640 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,914,768.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,573 shares of company stock worth $633,483. 3.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 166,538 shares of the companys stock valued at $5,895,000 after purchasing an additional 5,067 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 56.7% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 56,374 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,996,000 after purchasing an additional 20,393 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 48.2% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 63,174 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,236,000 after purchasing an additional 20,555 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. bought a new position in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,094,000. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 26,225 shares of the companys stock valued at $934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,318 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.65% of the companys stock.

About Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

(Get Rating)

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corp. engages in the design, procurement, manufacture, and sale of water solutions. It operates through the United States, Canada, and Rest of World geographical segments. The company is headquartered in Milwaukee, WI.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Zurn Elkay Water Solutions and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
WESTPORT, Conn., April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Balance Point Capital Advisors, LLC ("Balance Point"), a leading provider of capital to lower middle market companies, is pleased to announce it has been named the 2023 Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) of the Year  Established Manager.

Balance Point Capital Partners, LP. (PRNewsfoto/Balance Point Capital Partners,)

The SBIC of the Year award is administered by the Small Business Administration's Office of Investment and Innovation in recognition of Balance Point's exceptional dedication, successful track record and unwavering support for expanding capital access to small businesses across the US, especially in underserved and often under-capitalized markets.

With $1.7B in total assets under management, Balance Point's platform includes portfolio companies across a variety of industries, including business services, consumer, food and beverage, healthcare, media and information services, and tech-enabled services that are:

44% smaller enterprises

33% led by women, minority, or veteran CEOs, CFOs or COOs

And have created/sustained 15,144 jobs

"We're grateful to have been a part of the SBIC Program for over 15 years and for the important role the program plays in supporting the small business community. It has been rewarding to partner with small business leaders throughout the US and to serve the communities in which they operate," says Seth Alvord, Founder and Managing Partner of Balance Point Capital.

"We appreciate the support we've received from the SBA and our investors over the last 15 years. The SBIC program is a cornerstone of our business and will continue to play an important role for Balance Point as we continue to scale our business." added Justin Kaplan, Balance Point Partner.

Balance Point, along with other national winners and finalists, will be recognized on Sunday, April 30, and Monday, May 1, during the National Small Business Week awards ceremony in Washington, D.C.

Balance Point Capital, along with other Connecticut Small Business Week awardees, will be highlighted at a Small Business Resource Expo and award ceremony, co-sponsored by Connecticut Business and Industry on Thursday, May 4 at Rentschler Field, East Hartford, CT.

Story continues

About the U.S. Small Business Administration

The U.S. Small Business Administration makes the American dream of business ownership a reality. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow or expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.

Media Contact:

Justin Kaplan, Partner

Office: (203) 652-8264

Email: jkaplan@balancepointcapital.com

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/balance-point-named-2023-sbic-of-the-year--established-manager-301799048.html

SOURCE Balance Point Capital
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his wife receive flowers presented by children from the Shanghai Children's Palace of the China Welfare Institute and pose for a photo with them upon arrival in Shanghai, east China, April 12, 2023.

Ever since China and Brazil established diplomatic ties 49 years ago, the two countries have maintained close high-level exchanges and solid political mutual trust.

BEIJING, April 16 (Xinhua)  "I've gotten a job, bought a sofa and a refrigerator with the money I earned, plastered the exteriors of my house with cement, have access to the Internet at home, and learned how to make business contacts, purchase and market online. All my dreams have come true," Marlene Araujo Dias told Xinhua.

Living in a forested village in the northern Brazilian state of Tocantins named Malhadinha, Araujo Dias is one of the many locals feeling their lives have changed since the launch of a Chinese-built fruit processing plant in August 2021. The change, which Araujo Dias described as "turning plain water into red wine," epitomizes close cooperation between the two countries oceans away.

The latest state visit of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to China, during which he and Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks, has mapped out an even brighter future for bilateral ties, where the two biggest developing countries and emerging markets in the Eastern and Western hemispheres work together to deliver greater benefits to the two peoples, and play a more important and positive role for peace, stability and prosperity in their regions and around the world.

'Friendship Is Like a Bottle of Wine'

"Friendship is like a bottle of wine, the older, the better." This Brazilian proverb quoted by Xi during his visit to Brazil in 2014 was repeated by Lula on Thursday when he praised the relationship between the two countries as "extraordinary" in China.

Ever since China and Brazil established diplomatic ties 49 years ago, the two countries have maintained close high-level exchanges and solid political mutual trust. In 1993, Brazil became the first developing country to establish a strategic partnership with China, and in 2012 that partnership was upgraded to a comprehensive strategic one. From 2006 to 2022, the China-Brazil High-Level Coordination and Cooperation Committee held six meetings, pushing for continuous fruits in all-round bilateral practical cooperation.

Agricultural products, minerals and petroleum have been pillars in the economic cooperation between China and Brazil. Investment from China in infrastructure and projects for the public good has benefited Brazilians. Moreover, the opening of a new cargo air route linking the southern Chinese metropolis Shenzhen to Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city, earlier in April is expected to further stimulate e-commerce trade between the two countries.

High-level interactions have become more frequent in recent years, too. In July 2014, Xi went to Brazil to attend the sixth BRICS summit, and met with leaders from the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. In November 2019, he travelled to Brazil again to attend the 11th BRICS summit. Lula, an old friend of the Chinese people who has visited China multiple times, chose China as his first destination outside the Americas after taking over the Brazilian presidency early this year.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visits an exhibition hall on the latest development in digital technology and digital economy at the Shanghai Research Center of Huawei in Shanghai, east China, April 13, 2023. [Xinhua/Gao Feng]

Stressing that China always sees its relationship with Brazil as a high priority on its diplomatic agenda, Xi said Friday that "China welcomes more high-quality products from Brazil into its market. China will actively explore greater synergy between its Belt and Road Initiative and Brazil's reindustrialization strategy."

The two countries have also jointly played an important role in today's turbulent world, communicating and coordinating closely within such multilateral frameworks as the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, BRICS and the Group of 20.

Facing global changes of a magnitude unseen in a century, China and Brazil are resolved to practice true multilateralism, advocate the common values of humanity, work for a more just and equitable international governance system, truly safeguard the common interests of developing countries and international justice and equity, and build a community with a shared future for mankind, Xi said Friday.

Lula said Brazil stands ready to work with China to contribute to developing countries' efforts to shake off unfair rules and realize a fairer and more balanced development.

'New Record in Trade'

Moored at the Port of Acu in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Chinese supertanker YUAN PENG YANG quietly awaits its departure for Asia once it is fully loaded with containers of Brazilian crude oil.

Vinicius Patel, director of the Port Administration, told Xinhua that exporting crude oil and iron ore to China has been one of the core businesses of the port since its operation in 2014.

"We signed new contracts with Chinese companies last year. Our exports to China have hit a new record," Patel said.

The buzz of the port is a stellar example of the booming trade between China and Brazil. "When I first visited Beijing, few analysts imagined that the Sino-Brazilian partnership would acquire the relevance it has today. Since then, our trade has multiplied 16-fold and China has become Brazil's main trading partner," Lula said in a written interview with Xinhua shortly before departing for his state visit to China.

"The value of our exports to China is greater than the sum of our exports to the United States and the European Union," he said, "China is a great engine for the Brazilian agro-industry."

China has been Brazil's biggest trade partner for 14 consecutive years, and Brazil is the first Latin American country to hit a trading volume of over 100 billion U.S. dollars with China.

A container ship docks at Rio de Janeiro Port in Brazil, March 20, 2023. [Photo by Claudia Martini/Xinhua]

In 2022, two-way trade stood at 171.35 billion dollars. China imported 54.4 million tons of soybeans and 1.11 million tons of frozen beef from Brazil, taking up 59.72 percent and 41 percent of their total import amount, respectively, showed data from China's General Administration of Customs.

On Feb. 7, the People's Bank of China signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Central Bank of Brazil to establish RMB clearing arrangements in Brazil, a move experts say will improve bilateral trade efficiency and defuse external risks to provide an effective safeguard mechanism for trade between the two countries.

After the talks between Xi and Lula on Friday, the two presidents witnessed the signing of various bilateral cooperation documents on trade and investment, digital economy, scientific and technological innovation, information and communications, poverty reduction, quarantine, space and others.

Gustavo Biscassi, head of External Affairs of Brazil's mining giant Vale, told Xinhua that for his company, which has been exporting products to China for the last 50 years, "China is not only our largest market, but also a critical supplier for the mining, infrastructure and logistics equipment and services."

"We are looking forward to continuing our close cooperation with China in the next 50 years," he said.

'When Cultures Come Together'

On Jan. 19, red lanterns, Chinese paper-cuts and lion dances decorated the ancient Brazilian city of Recife. Hundreds of Brazilians gathered at the city's Marco Zero Square on this very day, not only to mark the arrival of the Year of the Rabbit, but also to celebrate the inclusion of the Chinese New Year into Recife's official calendar.

"Our historical heritage, with the reception of the light show of China, is as if the two cultures are united ... and talk a little to the world that brotherhood between peoples is possible. And that, how beautiful it is when cultures come together!" said City Councilor Cida Pedrosa.

"The relationship between peoples is extremely important, because what makes a culture flow and (stay) alive is when one culture meets another culture," she said.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks at the inauguration ceremony of the new president of the New Development Bank (NDB), Dilma Rousseff, former Brazilian President, at the bank's headquarters in Pudong, Shanghai, east China, April 13, 2023. [Xinhua/Gao Feng]

On Sept. 19, 2022, Recife okayed a decree proposed by Pedrosa to establish the Chinese New Year as an official holiday in the city. In early February this year, the city of Foz do Iguacu in southern Brazil also decided to make the Chinese New Year celebration an annual event.

Cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries have been flourishing over the years, for example, in sports, medicine and the arts. Fourteen Confucius Institutes have been established in Brazil, the most among Latin American countries, and Brazil has set up a national festival to celebrate every August the arrival of Chinese immigrants to Brazil.

In February 2021, the first Chinese school in Brazil opened in Rio de Janeiro. Two years later, the two countries launched virtual courses for teaching Chinese language and culture to beginners.

China and Brazil need to capitalize on the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations next year to carry out more people-to-people exchanges, and cultivate stronger public support for Sino-Brazilian friendship, Xi said Friday.

Similarly, Lula said he has full confidence that Brazil-China relations will embrace a brighter future.

(Source: Xinhua)
COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BALANI Custom Clothiers , a leading custom tailor of menswear, has announced the opening of its 14th showroom location in Columbus, Ohio . Founded in 1961 by Peter Balani, BALANI Custom Clothiers has built a reputation of excellence in the industry, and the new showroom is set to continue the company's expansion.

BALANI Custom Clothiers (PRNewsfoto/BALANI Custom Clothiers - Suits, Tuxedos, & Shirts)

Located at 2158 Tremont Center, Columbus, OH 43221, the new showroom features a team of expert clothiers who operate on a foundational belief in true custom, elevated quality, and long-lasting relationships with their clients. BALANI Custom Clothiers offers custom suits, sport coats, tuxedos, separates, accessories, shoes, and casual menswear, ensuring a personalized and unique experience for each client.

"We're excited to bring our custom menswear experience to Columbus," said Sonny Balani, CEO of BALANI Custom Clothiers. "Our team of clothiers is dedicated to providing the best possible custom experience, with a focus on quality, attention to detail, and personalized service."

A custom experience with BALANI Custom Clothiers begins by meeting with a stylist to discuss custom needs and options. At the fabric bar, clients enjoy a drink and peruse swatches of fabric from world-renowned mills. Over 40 measurements are taken to ensure garments fit seamlessly to a client's unique shape and preferences. Throughout the process, BALANI's stylists work hand-in-hand with clients to ensure a final product that is uniquely their own.

To schedule an appointment with a BALANI stylist, clients can visit their website at www.balanicustom.com/custom-suits-columbus/ and select appointment slots at one of their 14 locations across the country. BALANI Custom Clothiers also offers virtual appointments for those unable to attend in person.

About BALANI Custom Clothiers:

BALANI Custom Clothiers is a custom tailor of menswear with 14 locations nationwide. Founded in 1961 by Peter Balani and currently led by the CEO and son of the founder, Sonny Balani, BALANI Custom Clothiers has built a reputation of excellence in the industry. The company operates on a foundational belief in true custom, elevated quality, and long-lasting relationships with their clients.

Story continues

Contact:

BALANI Custom Clothiers

Phone: (614) 636-5835

Email: columbus@balanicustom.com

Website: https://www.balanicustom.com/custom-suits-columbus/

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/balani-custom-clothiers-opens-new-showroom-in-columbus-ohio-301799009.html

SOURCE BALANI Custom Clothiers - Suits, Tuxedos, & Shirts
Articles

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular articles.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BayoTech, Inc. ("BayoTech"), an innovator in hydrogen production and transportation solutions, is proud to announce the appointment of Jeff Wood as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO). With a wealth of experience spanning 25 years in the energy value chain, Jeff is a highly skilled finance executive who brings to the role vast expertise in strategic planning, financial analysis, and capital raising.

Jeff Wood will join BayoTech as CFO on May 1, 2023

Jeff has an impressive track record, having served as CFO for three public companies over a decade, including his most recent role as President and CFO of Black Stone Minerals, the largest publicly traded mineral and royalty company in the US. Prior to that, Jeff was the SVP and CFO of Eagle Rock Energy Partners until its acquisition, and served as a private company CFO for Siluria Technologies, a technology company that produces fuels and chemicals from natural gas.

Earlier in his career, Jeff was SVP and Portfolio Manager for Lehman Brothers Investment Management division, where he managed over a billion dollars and raised over $400MM in capital. Before that, he was in Lehman Brothers' Investment Banking division, where he led the execution of numerous initial public offerings, follow-on equity offerings, and debt issuances. Jeff started his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers in the audit and compliance advisory practice.

"I'm delighted to welcome Jeff Wood into BayoTech's executive leadership team," said BayoTech President and CEO Mo Vargas. "Jeff is an experienced leader in the energy sector who will bring strategic depth and strong oversite to BayoTech as the organization fully commercializes the deployment of BayoTech Hydrogen Hubs. He is a fantastic leader and person and will be a great cultural fit for BayoTech."

"I am excited to be part of such a dynamic and innovative company," Jeff Wood adds. "As the market for hydrogen expands, investor interest in hydrogen-related projects is rapidly increasing. I look forward to working with the team to drive growth and create value for BayoTech's stakeholders."

Story continues

Jeff Wood holds a Master of Business Administration with honors from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts, Business Administration from Baylor University.

BayoTech's current CFO, Wendy Rollstin, is retiring but will remain available until year-end to ensure a smooth transition. During her five-year tenure as CFO, Wendy was instrumental in shaping BayoTech's go-to-market strategy, building scale, and accelerating growth by securing more than $160 million in equity investments.

"I want to thank Wendy for her dedication to BayoTech as not only CFO but a great business partner who leaves a strong impact on the company," said Mo Vargas. "On a personal note, she's been a trusted adviser to the Board and me; we will miss her partnership and wish her all the best in what will be an exciting and active retirement."

About BayoTech

BayoTech, an innovator in hydrogen solutions, is committed to addressing the global need for reliable, cost-effective, and low-carbon hydrogen. BayoTech sites hydrogen production close to demand and distributes it to nearby consumers via high-pressure gas transport and storage equipment. Customers are accelerating the decarbonization of their energy and transportation systems through BayoTech's supply of hydrogen molecules and equipment. Learn more at www.bayotech.us

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements concerning anticipated product deployments. These forward-looking statements reflect BayoTech's current expectations. Any such forward-looking statements are based on BayoTech's assumptions relating to its financial forecasts and expectations regarding its program development efforts, siting permits and market demand.

These statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause BayoTech's actual results to be materially different, including general economic and regulatory changes, detrimental reliance on third parties, successfully achieving our business plans and achieving and sustaining profitability. Readers should not place undue reliance on BayoTech's forward-looking statements and BayoTech assumes no obligation to update or release any revisions to these forward-looking statements, other than as required under applicable legislation.

BayoTech Logo June 2021 (PRNewsfoto/BayoTech)

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bayotech-appoints-jeff-wood-as-chief-financial-officer-to-drive-growth-and-financial-performance-301798291.html

SOURCE BayoTech
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law on Thursday which will prohibit women in that state from obtaining an abortion after the first six weeks of pregnancy. Given the fact that many women do not learn they are pregnant until after six weeks have past, the new law serves as a de facto ban on the procedure, which was constitutionally protected for decades before the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks to anti-abortion zealots before signing a 15-week abortion ban into law Thursday, April 14, 2022, in Kissimmee, Florida. Late Thursday night, April 11, 2023 DeSantis signed into law a six-week abortion ban, which is well before most women know they are pregnant. [AP Photo/John Raoux, File]

The bill passed in the state House of Representatives by a 70-40 margin. State Democrats attempted to derail the legislation by introducing a series of amendments that would invalidate the bills main provisions, but all were swiftly voted down by the Republican super-majority. Last year, the same legislature passed a similar ban that prohibits abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

The earlier ban was challenged in court as a violation of the Florida state constitution, which guarantees the right to privacy. If the state Supreme Court upholds the earlier law, then the six-week ban will take effect.

The new law is an assault on the democratic rights of all women in Florida, but its impact will be felt most directly by the poor and working class who, already deprived of adequate medical care and lacking the resources to seek abortions out of state, will be compelled to carry their pregnancies to term or face imprisonment.

Floridas new abortion ban comes only six days after a Christian fundamentalist judge in Texas overturned the FDAs approval of the abortion drug mifepristone, which has been approved for use for the last 20 years and was used by 500,000 women in 2022. In the aftermath of the Supreme Courts overturning of Roe v. Wade there are now 13 states that outlaw abortion completely, most without exceptions for rape or incest. Another five states, including Florida, have gestational limits of six weeks to 20 weeks.

The ban lacks popular support in Florida. In a recent poll taken by the University of North Florida, 75 percent of respondents were either somewhat or strongly opposed to the ban, including 61 percent of Republicans. This has not influenced DeSantis, who has set his sights on becoming president. The entire campaign of right-wing social engineering he has embarked upon, along with his lackeys in the state legislature, is directed at that goal.

In order to realize this aim, DeSantis must capture the allegiance of the right-wing Republican electoral base, which in most polls prefers former president Donald Trump by a commanding margin. Emboldened by a section of Republican donors and a compliant capitalist media, DeSantis has committed to breaking through this impasse by placing himself on the cutting edge of political reaction.

To this end he has signed into law a raft of bills since the opening of the Florida legislative session in March. Most recently, the legislature approved a bill expected to be signed by DeSantis which eliminates the need for a unanimous vote by a jury to impose a death sentence in a capital case. The new law would only require eight of 12 jurors to vote in favor of the death penalty for the presiding judge to impose that sentence.

DeSantis first floated the idea of eliminating the unanimous jury requirement after Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz was spared the death penalty after the jury in his case failed to vote unanimously for that sentence. The unanimous jury requirement has been in place since 2017 when the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the previous system, where the judge had the final word in sentencing, was unconstitutional. After DeSantis was elected in 2019, he appointed new judges to the state Supreme Court who reversed the earlier decision.

In 2018, the mentally ill Cruz slaughtered 17 people with an assault rifle that he had legally purchased. This massacre was preceded in 2016 by the second worst mass shooting in US history when a similarly armed gunman killed 49 people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. Gun violence and homicide are common throughout the state. Last month, DeSantis signed a new law which is highly likely to increase the likelihood of mass shooter events.

Dubbed constitutional carry by its supportersand already law in many, mostly Midwestern statesthe new legislation eliminates the need for a permit to carry a concealed weapon. The law has little support outside of the State House in Tallahassee. In a poll taken by the University of North Florida, 77 percent of respondents opposed the bill, including 61 percent who identify as Republican. The lack of popular support in Florida for the legislation is disregarded by the governor in favor of the endorsement of the National Rifle Association in the 2024 presidential race, which will be critical if he hopes to win the election.

After spending much of the last year using his executive power to extend control over Floridas public education systeminstituting censorship on a broad scale, eliminating sex education, and empowering the most backward layers in the state to take control of local school boardsDeSantis recently signed legislation that will gut public education in Florida and channel billions of taxpayer dollars to private charter school operators.

The new law provides annual subsidies of up to $8,500 per student to pay for private school tuition, regardless of a familys income level. The law will add further strains to the already dilapidated public education system and will further enrich the con artists who operate the states many charter school companies. Similar laws have been passed recently in other states, including Arizona and West Virginia.

DeSantis has made no attempt to conceal the naked political motivations for his agenda. Another piece of legislation, already passed by the state Senate, would eliminate automatic dues payment for most public sector unions. It would also require that 60 percent of a unions membership pay dues or be decertified. The current law requires only 50 percent. However, police and firefighters unions, who endorsed DeSantis in the last election, would be exempt from the new requirements.

This legislation is in transparent retaliation against the states teachers unions, whodespite collaborating with the governor in forcing students back into unsafe classrooms at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and having consistently thwarted their members struggle for better pay and working conditionsissued a few meek statements criticizing DeSantis for not providing them with sufficient political cover.
In timing that hardly seems accidental, Australian police and intelligence agencies dramatically arrested a Sydney businessman last Friday. He has been charged with providing unspecified defence, economic or national security information to two alleged Chinese intelligence agents who, according to the police, had posed as Chinese think tank representatives.

Alexander Csergo being arrested by Australian Federal Police in Bondi, Sydney, on April 15, 2023. [Photo: Australian Federal Police]

Much remains unclear about the allegations against Alexander Csergo, 55, a publicly-advertised corporate consultant in Shanghai, Chinas commercial capital. Several months after returning to Australia to visit his elderly mother, he was arrested at her home in Bondi, an inner Sydney suburb.

What is clear is that the arrestpolice video footage of which was splashed all over the mediaoccurred amid escalating moves by the Biden administration to militarily and economically confront China, which Washington has identified as the existential threat to American global dominance.

Last month, the Albanese Labor government further ramped up the bipartisan commitment to the US offensive against China by unveiling plans to spend $368 billion on US and UK nuclear-powered attack submarines, clearly designed for use against China.

There has been a barrage of articles in the corporate media, such as the Nine networks Red Alert series, proclaiming the necessity for the population to get ready for a war against China within three years, reflecting timelines outlined by top US military commanders.

Csergos is the first arrest conducted by the Labor government under the sweeping foreign interference legislation passed by the previous Liberal-National government, with Labors backing, in 2018. It is only the second arrest under these laws, whose introduction was accompanied by massive scare campaigns about alleged Chinese political interference in Australia.

Significantly, Csergo has not been accused of deliberately selling Australian defence and security secrets to foreign spies, as prejudicial front-page media headlines and articles claimed. Rather, he been charged with providing information while reckless as to whether the conduct would support intelligence activities of a foreign principal.

Under the federal Criminal Code, reckless does not require intent to harm Australias defence or national security or assist a foreign country. It just means being aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that ones conduct will do so.

Despite their vagueness and sweeping character, reckless foreign interference charges still carry heavy penalties, up to 15 years imprisonment. Conscious spying offences, such as espionage, have punishments of up to life imprisonment.

After a brief video-link hearing on Saturday, Csergo was held in custody over the weekend and was due to apply for bail on Monday.

Fridays much-publicised arrest was conducted by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) after what was described as an investigation by the Counter Foreign Interference Taskforce, a joint operation between the AFP and the domestic spy agency, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO). Both agencies have decades-long records of frame-ups and harassment of government opponents.

AFP Assistant Commissioner Krissy Barrett told a media conference that two alleged Chinese intelligence agents, referred to as Ken and Evelyn, offered Csergo money to obtain information about Australian defence, economic and national security arrangements, plus matters relating to other countries.

Barrett provided no details about the money, information or other countries involved. Under the 2018 legislation, national security is defined very broadly. It includes Australias political, military or economic relations with another country or other countries.

The charges against Csergo accuse him of unspecified covert and involved deception, yet he has been very public about his business activities in China. On his LinkedIn account, he describes himself as a multi award-winning integrated communications, technology infrastructure, business strategy & operational transformation specialist with expertise in large scale data, predictive analytics and artificial intelligence.

Moreover, it seems that Csergo has worked for major corporations, both in Australia and China. From media reports, he is the president of global innovation and transformation at Conversys, a digital solutions company headquartered in Shanghai.

Alexander Csergo [Photo: Linkedin]

The companys website says Csergo has worked for large companies, including Daimler, BMW, Jaguar Land Rover, Audi and Volkswagen Group China, and won 40 international awards for his work. The website says Conversys has previously worked with Australian telcos Optus and Telstra. Media reports in 2014 noted that Csergo was hired by luxury cosmetics firm Estee Lauder to improve their market presence in China.

In a statement, the AFP alleged that Csergo had been approached via social media by an unnamed individual who claimed to be from a think tank. Csergo allegedly met that persons two representatives, who work for a foreign intelligence service and are undertaking intelligence collection activities. The statement accused him of compiling a number of reports for the individuals and receiving payment for those reports.

The AFP statement insinuated that Csergo had committed serious crimes against the country. Espionage and foreign interference pose a serious threat to Australias sovereignty, security and the integrity of our national institutions, it said.

The previous person subjected to a police raid and arrest under the foreign interference legislation, Di Sanh Duong, 67, has been before the courts in Melbourne for more than two years. Duong, a long-time prominent Vietnamese-Chinese member of the Liberal Party, and former party election candidate, was accused in November 2020 of an even vaguer offence, that of preparing for an act of foreign interference, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.

Police claimed that a $37,000 donation Duong made to the Royal Melbourne Hospital to help with coronavirus research and preparation was designed to curry favour with then Coalition minister Alan Tudge so Duong could seek to influence government policy to benefit the Chinese government. Duong has denied the charge.

Duongs prosecution was presented by the corporate media, in both Australia and the United States, as a test case for the foreign interference legislation. Washington had welcomed the laws as a model for its own anti-China laws.

As the US business publication Bloomberg reported at the time: Australia is set to become the first developed country to pass sweeping laws against foreign interference, in a move aimed at reducing Chinese meddling in national affairs and seen as the inspiration for legislation introduced in the US Congress.

Several months earlier, in June 2020, similar AFP-ASIO raids were conducted against the home and parliamentary office of New South Wales state Labor Party parliamentarian Shaoquett Moselmane, accompanied by lurid media headlines accusing him of being a Chinese Communist Party agent.

Labors state and federal leadership supported the raids and forced Moselmane to take leave from parliament, yet no charges have been laid. The only publicly-released evidence against Moselmane was that he had visited China and had made statements praising the Chinese response to the coronavirus, and criticising US provocations targeting Beijing.

All the circumstances of these cases point to high-level decisions to step up the official and media accusations against China, and to send threatening messages to anyone, even within the business and political elite, with links to China or who does not line up sufficiently against Beijing.

As the WSWS has documented and explained, the foreign interference laws do not only target China and its alleged local sympathisers. They can be used to outlaw political opposition, anti-war dissent and social protests by alleging that these are connected to foreign or international campaigns.

The legislation created seven new far-reaching offences and also expanded an array of existing offences, such as treason, sabotage, advocating mutiny and breaching official secrecy, to broaden their potential use to criminalise anti-war advocacy and activity. The laws also can be used to illegalise the activities of publishers and whistleblowers who expose war crimes and government wrongdoing.

The WSWS warned the legislation constitutes a sweeping attack on democratic rights. Never before has it been a crime to work with an overseas group or individual to seek political change, whether on issues relating to war, the environment, refugees or social inequality, or to undertake any globally-connected activity that harms the profits and predatory interventions of the Australian ruling class and its US partners.

While targeting China, these measures are part of preparations to suppress the rapidly developing struggles of the Australian and global working class under conditions of an economic and social crisis, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the ever-rising danger of a catastrophic US-instigated war.
Less than a week after a mass shooting at a bank in Louisville, Kentucky left six people dead, some 113 miles north in Indianapolis, Indiana the fascistic National Rifle Association (NRA) welcomed over a dozen Republican politicians, including former President Donald Trump, to its annual convention.

In the face of the daily mass shootings and gun-related homicides that have claimed over 12,270 lives this year in the United States, every Republican that spokeincluding former Vice President Mike Pence, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamyvenerated the police and touted their fealty to the gun lobby, rejecting any measures to curb the sales of weapons.

NRA President Wayne LaPierre opened the convention with an ominous threat to any politicians who opposed the organization. I dont care how many billionaires, TikTok stars or Hollywood airheads they got. Hear this, gun-hating politicians should never go to bed unafraid of what this association and all of its millions of members can do to their political careers.

In his headline speech before an audience of a few thousand people, dominated by cops, libertarians and right-wing militia elements, the Republican presidential 2024 front-runner, Trump, delivered a fascist campaign rant.

Trump began his nearly hourlong speech with an attack on corrupt forces and communist maniacs, who he claimed wanted to take away your guns while throwing open the jail house doors and releasing bloodthirsty criminals into your communities.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at the National Rifle Association Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana Friday, April 14, 2023. [AP Photo/Michael Conroy]

They, Trump grunted, want to abolish your borders and impoverish your families. Trump and nearly every other Republican who spoke, whether in person or via a pre-recorded video, boasted of his or her support for the war on immigrants and a wall along the US-Mexico border. To applause, Trump again promised that if he was re-elected he would utilize all necessary state, federal, local and military resources to carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.

Along with his usual attacks on immigrants, Trump went on to blame all transgender persons for mass shootings. They want to demonize patriots and persecute Christians while pushing the transgender cult on your children. He later promised that if he was elected president, he would direct the Food and Drug Administration to convene an independent outside panel to investigate whether transgender hormone treatments increase the risk of extreme depression, aggression and violence.

Appealing to police and laying the groundwork for a fascist government, Trump said the issue was not too many guns. The issue, he declared, is too many thugs, hoodlums and savage criminals on our street. Thats really what the issue is.

In an appeal to anti-Semitism, Trump pledged to have the Department of Justice investigate Soros-backed district attorneys who hate our country, and to appoint 100 of the most ferocious crime fighters in American history.

In a sweeping attack on democratic rights, Trump said he will task them with demolishing every gang, street group and terrorist network they can find piece by piece until public safety is fully restored. That means in Democrat-run cities... at the top of the list is Washington D.C. itself.

In their speeches, Trump and other Republicans defended US Army soldier and fascist murderer Daniel Perry, whom Texas Governor Greg Abbott had pledged to pardon following his conviction earlier this month.

On Friday, the Texas Tribune reported about social media posts and texts made by Sergeant Perry in the weeks before he went on to murder anti-racism protester and US Air Force veteran Garrett Foster. The messages were released this week as part of his trial.

The Tribune reported that on May 29, 2020, Perry texted a friend, I might go to Dallas to shoot looters. Two days later, Perry was messaging with a friend on Facebook when he wrote no protesters go near me or my car.

Perrys friend replied, Can you catch me a negro daddy?

That is what I am hoping, Perry replied.

Later, in June, Perry texted a friend, the blacks... gathering up in a group I think something is about to happen. He then added, I wonder if they will let [me] cut the ears off of people who [have] decided to commit suicide by me.

Vowing to protect this racist killer and punish the district attorney for prosecuting him, Trump promised if he was elected, We will pass legislation protecting the absolute right to self-defense, with federal penalties for prosecutorial abuse like we saw just recently in Texas.

As with his defense of the QAnon fascist Ashli Babbitt, Trump falsely claimed Perry was trying to defend himself, yet they want to put him in jail for the rest of his life.

The speaker who preceded Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy, a Peter Thiel-backed 2024 Republican presidential candidate and frequent Fox News guest, also defended Perry, saying he was wrongly convicted for defending himself against a Black Lives Matter rioter.

Ramaswamy, Pence and Trump called for spending billions of dollars to hire armed private security guards for every public and private school.

Reducing the scourge of gun violence in America to a moralistic condemnation, Trump railed against evil monsters and sickos. To prevent sickos from shooting up schools, Trump called on the government to create a tax credit that will pay teachers to get concealed weapons training and to arm themselves in the classrooms.

Trump ended his fascist diatribe by calling on Congress to stop this Marxist revolution. We have a Marxist revolution going on, and I think youre starting to see it. ... We have to stop it. Fast.

With Trump and the Republicans laying the groundwork for a right-wing police state, President Joe Biden released a typically spineless statement Sunday morning following the latest mass shooting, in Dadeville, Alabama, focused as always on gun reform.

In his statement, Biden chided national Republican leaders for standing alongside the NRA in a race to the bottom on dangerous laws that further erode gun safety. He then heaped praise on Republican Tennessee Governor Bill Lee. Following last months mass shooting at Covenant School in Nashville, Lee signed a meaningless executive order requiring the criminal history of a potential gun purchaser and certain mental health documents to be turned over to state government entities within 72 hours of a purchase.

Neither political party has any solution to gun violence in America because neither party can address the underlying social and political crisis that is the source of the violence, rooted in the capitalist system and the enormous social inequality it produces.
Peter Dutton, the federal leader of the Liberal Party, used a tour of Alice Springs last week to vilify the towns Aboriginal population, with lurid allegations of widespread child abuse and other criminality. The trip was a political provocation, based on a transparent dog whistle to the most right-wing and backward layers of the population.

Speaking to the media, Dutton declared: Youve got kids here tonight who are going to be sexually abused or families where domestic violence has now become a current occurrence and were told that nothing can be done about it. He repeatedly claimed that children were being returned to known perpetrators of abuse, presumably by Northern Territory authorities.

Dutton, a former police officer, did not attempt to conceal the racially-directed character of his allegations. Instead he emphasised on multiple occasions that he was speaking about indigenous families.

As with all such witch-hunts, Duttons claims were based on hazy anecdotes and gossip. There are stories that weve heard today as weve walked the streets about the dysfunction, the desperation of young Indigenous kids who are being sexually assaulted, still, on a regular basis, Dutton said. He had also heard storiesabout break-ins, about stolen cars, about risk to human life.

The stories did not come from many people. Dutton hardly met with anyone in Alice Springs, except for a handful of private individuals, including small business people, whose remarks about a purported Aboriginal crime wave have repeatedly been aired in the right-wing gutter press.

Dutton did not meet with Aboriginal groups, child welfare organisations or any other body that would be in a position to know if there was a hidden child abuse epidemic.

When an Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) journalist asked what data Duttons assertions were based upon, the Liberal leader condemned this as such an ABC question, as though facts and figures were an irrelevance. Dutton, predictably, was not able to indicate any statistics or reports that verified his claims.

In the days since, Dutton has been widely condemned by Aboriginal organisations as well as by the Northern Territory Labor government. Catherine Liddle, CEO of the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care, said that The claims of rampant abuse fly in the face of evidence. Data from Territory Families show there has been no escalation in investigations of sexual abuse or exploitation.

Others noted that it is a legal requirement to notify police of child abuse. If Dutton did have information backing up his claims, he should have reported it to the relevant authorities.

Duttons media campaign was linked to a call for an immediate Australian Federal Police (AFP) intervention. This would take the form of a hostile occupation of the town, which has a large Aboriginal population, as well as other areas in the Northern Territory.

Duttons pitch on this line is connected with several developments. In the first instance, his trip to Alice Springs served as a launch for the Liberal Partys campaign for a no vote in the national referendum that is to be held on an indigenous Voice to parliament.

The policy, brought forward by the federal Labor government, would enshrine the Voice in the Constitution as an advisory body to the parliament and executive government. This would do nothing to address the horrendous social conditions confronting Aboriginal workers and youth.

Instead, its purpose is to put a progressive veneer on Labors right-wing agenda, including advanced preparations for war with China and sweeping budget austerity measures.

The Voice has received the backing of the dominant sections of big business, not only because its aim is to cover over these essential class issues. Within the ruling elite, there is broad recognition of the importance of integrating a layer of the Aboriginal elite and upper middle-class even more directly into government and corporate structures. The aim is to fashion a purportedly inclusive nationalism, to further the war drive and to blunt social opposition from the working class.

It goes without saying that the Liberal Partys opposition to the proposal is not based on any of these principled issues. Instead, the Liberals are running a campaign that is a thinly-veiled appeal to anti-Aboriginal racism.

The partys opposition to the Voice dovetails with the line of the extreme right-wing nationalist One Nation organisation, which has similarly called for a police deployment to the Northern Territory and even for the forced displacement of Aboriginal people living in remote communities there.

The Liberal Partys orientation to this right-wing layer is bound up with its historic crisis. In last Mays federal election, the Liberals received their lowest primary vote in some 80 years. The party was similarly reduced to a rump in the Victorian state election last year. It suffered a substantial defeat in the recently-concluded New South Wales election and, weeks after that poll, still does not have a state leader. The results are the starkest indication of an existential crisis of the Liberal Party and of the entire two-party set-up.

For some years, sections of the Liberals have flirted with a turn towards the development of an alt-right movement, modelled on Donald Trump. During the pandemic, some prominent Liberals promoted the right-wing anti-lockdown and anti-vaccine movement, which included outright fascists. Duttons visit to Alice Springs, and his right-wing campaign against the Voice, indicate a deepening of this orientation.

The outraged response of the Labor Party, together with sections of small l liberals, to Duttons remarks is drenched in hypocrisy.

Dutton is simply reprising the line that was used to justify the Northern Territory intervention in 2006. In the period preceding that police and military deployment, the ABC published a stream of lurid coverage, alleging an epidemic of child sexual abuse and demanding government action. Those claims were no less false than Duttons assertions.

The NT intervention, while launched by the Howard Liberal-National government, had the full support of the Labor Party. The intervention was extended and deepened by the Labor administrations of Prime Ministers Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard. Together with the Liberals, they used the intervention to establish a precedent for broader attacks on the working class, including the introduction of welfare quarantining.

Aboriginal child in front of prescribed area sign near his family home near Alice Springs during Northern Territory intervention in 2008. [Photo: John Hulme/WSWS]

The intervention, building on decades of government attacks, has deepened a social catastrophe in the Northern Territory. Figures prior to the pandemic showed that almost 45 percent of the roughly 61,000 Aboriginal people in the NT were living below the poverty line. They are afflicted by a lack of healthcare, education and employment.

The situation is continuing to worsen. In remote communities, a lack of housing is resulting in massive overcrowding, and is forcing others into town centres, such as Alice Springs, where they are provided with no assistance or opportunities.

The situation inevitably results in crime, but contrary to the lurid media accounts, these are primarily petty crimes of poverty, such as theft and youth vandalism.

Albanese, while denouncing Dutton, peddled a very similar line when he visited Alice Springs in January. He adapted himself completely to the media hysteria of a crime wave in the city. Rather than propose any policies to address the social crisis, Albaneses announcements centred on a major boost to police funding.

Duttons trip has only underscored the right-wing character of the official yes and no campaigns. The Liberal Party is openly orienting to the far-right. Meanwhile, Labor is hailing those few Liberal Party representatives who have backed the Voice as representing the real heritage of their right-wing, bourgeois party. Media pundits have written articles stressing that the Voice is not revolutionary, but moderate and reasonable.

Workers and young people must reject both camps, based on the fight for the unity of the entire working class, irrespective of race and other forms of identity. The horrific social conditions facing most Indigenous people, a sharp expression of the broader onslaught on the working class, underscore the urgent need for a socialist perspective that rejects the subordination of society to profit interests.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., questions top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing onon COVID-19, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, July 20, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, Pool)

On Saturday, the Washington Post published an editorial promoting the conspiracy theory that COVID-19 was released from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

But the Posts latest editorial, entitled Theres new lightand lingering questionsin the mystery of Wuhan, goes a step further than its previous statements, in that it has completely detached its litany of unfounded accusations from any examination of the origins of COVID-19 as a scientific question.

In previous editorials, the Posts editorial board felt compelled to at least address the fact that the overwhelming scientific consensus rejects the lab leak conspiracy theory. But the Posts task of swimming against the current of scientific consensus has become more difficult as the weight of scientific evidence has accumulated in favor of natural origins.

In the past month, scientists have discovered the direct means by which animals transferred Sars-CoV-2 to humans through zoonosis, the process that gave rise to every other human pandemic in history. The most recent study, by Dr. Florence Debarre, an evolutionary biologist at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, revealed that samples containing Sars-CoV-2 from the Wuhan wet market also contained the DNA of susceptible animals, such as raccoon dogs.

The Post editorial deals with the growing body of scientific evidence refuting its claims by simply ignoring it.

The editorial was vocally condemned by scientists. One thing is clear: if indeed theres new light on this topic its not coming from the WashPost, wrote vaccinologist Peter Hotez. All reckless speculation that ignores the preponderance of scientific evidence published in major journals.

Hotez continued,

Was there a single link to a scientific paper supporting this Ed Board statement? I couldnt find one. And you know why? Because there are none. This is the 3rd or 4th time Wash Post has done this on this particular issue. So its not a rookie mistake or accident. Theres an agenda here. Its starting to border on old school Hearst-Pulitzer yellow or tabloid journalism and its starting to smell

This is a reference to the role played by William Randolph Hearst, owner of the New York Journal, who systematically agitated for US entry into the Spanish-American War of 1898 by means of demagogic and sensationalist reporting.

Hearsts role was exemplified by his alleged telegram to artist Frederic Remington, stating: You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war. A week after the United States declared war on Spain, Hearst ran How do you like the Journals war?' on the front page.

Like Hearsts propaganda, the effort to blame China for the COVID-19 pandemic is a media-orchestrated hate campaign, designed to promote anti-Chinese xenophobia, with the aim of justifying war.

As Hotez states correctly, this is not a mistake, but a deliberate policy. But the Washington Post is not merely speaking for itself or its owner, billionaire Jeff Bezos. It is speaking for the American state.

In February, Christopher Wray, the director of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, publicly asserted that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan.

Wray made this statement as the United States was deliberately seeking to instigate a conflict with China over Taiwan. In the past three months, the US has moved to quadruple the number of US troops stationed on Taiwan, end the One-China policy, and directly arm Taiwan in an effort to goad China into invading the island, which the US would use to paint China as having fired the first shot in a Sino-American war.

Wrays accusation is, in fact, a deliberate lie, in keeping with the lies by the Bush administration to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

The Posts renewed promotion of the Wuhan Lab lie comes against the backdrop of the open embrace by the entire US and Western media of the principle that the government has the right to lie to the public.

Earlier this month, a series of leaked documents revealed that the US government has been systematically misleading the American public about US involvement in the Ukraine war. The documents have shown that over 150 NATO troops are deployed to Ukraine, and that NATO sees the operations of the Ukrainian armed forces as essentially interoperable with its own.

In response, the New York Times publicly identified the individual who released the documents, prompting his arrest just hours later, while the Washington Post declared, Keeping secrets is essential to a functioning governmenta statement completely repudiating democratic principles as articulated by Thomas Jefferson and other leaders of the American revolution.

But perhaps the most egregious defense of government lies came from the British Guardian newspaper, which declared in an editorial that true information exposing government lies puts lives at risk and should never have been seen.

In a particularly serious case, or at a particularly serious time, such as during a war, a leak can help an enemy, dismay allies, weaken morale and, at least potentially, change the military balance and put lives at risk.

The declaration by the Guardian, which worked with Edward Snowden in 2013 to reveal the massive warrantless domestic spying program created by the Bush administration under the cover of the war on terror, that the revelation of true information would weaken morale testifies to the degree to which the media has simply become an appendage of the state.

The qualification that it should be impermissible to publish true information during a war is meaningless, because the United States has been perpetually at war for decades. Indeed, the United States was at war when the Guardian reported Snowdens revelations. By this logic, the Guardians revelations in 2013 should never have been seen because they, too, would have weakened morale.

The Guardian concludes the editorial by stating:

The most important aspect from a European perspective are the doubts documented over Ukraines ability to defend itself against Russian air power. That information should never have been seen in public in this way. It could suggest that Ukraines low stocks of arms mean its expected spring offensive will be difficult to carry through, leaving Kyiv highly vulnerable to Russian counterattacks. This may mean a less decisive offensive and, instead, a protracted lower intensity conflict. If that is the result, then these leaks have altered the course of history too.

In other words, by showing the nonexistent prospect of a military solution to the war, the leaks will weaken morale by encouraging the public to support a peaceful solution of the war.

This is nothing but the glorification of the lie. Behind all the furor about leaks and state secrets, the media is simply defending the principle that the population should not know what is happening.

At the same time, the media is seeking to spin its own reporting on the leaks to justify a further escalation of the war. In an article on the leaks published Saturday, the New York Times wrote that some in Ukraine welcomed the disclosures as confirming what they have been saying for months  that its forces desperately need more weapons and munitions.

This brings us back to the Wuhan lab lie. If the lining up of the media against the leak of true information about the war in Ukraine is aimed at bolstering the conflict with Russia, the Wuhan Lab lie is aimed at promoting a war with China.

In this, it is fundamentally no different than Bidens lie that I will not send American servicemen to fight in Ukraine, or the White Houses lie that NATO is not involved in the Ukraine war.

Ultimately, however, the efforts by the US government and media to systematically lie to the public founder on the internet and social media, on which true statements, information, and documents that contradict the governments propaganda narrative remain accessible.

This reality explains the systematic efforts by the US government and major media outlets to censor the internet and persecute those who expose US war crimes. Wikileaks publisher Julian Assange has been imprisoned for four years and faces extradition and prosecution in the US under the Espionage Act. And left-wing opponents of war have been subject to a relentless censorship campaign.

There is a well-known saying that if geometrical axioms affected human interests, attempts would be made to refute them. Now, the interests of the state in provoking a war with China require the promotion of the Wuhan lab conspiracy theory in the face of overwhelming scientific consensus to the contrary.

The war drive by the US ruling class is the means by which all of social life is being subordinated to the state, and increasingly dictatorial principles are being proclaimed by the US media. Where the interests of the ruling class and science conflict, the US media has made clear that scientific truth must be sacrificed on the altar of war.
On Saturday, April 15, rank-and-file candidate for UAW president Will Lehman sent the following message to Thomas Murray, Detroit-Milwaukee District Director of the Department of Labors Office for Labor-Management Standards. On Thursday, April 13, Murray had sent Lehmans attorney a letter denying Lehmans request that the Department of Labor provide access to the protest of the UAW election filed by former UAW President Ray Curry. The previous week, the court-appointed UAW monitor had rejected Lehmans request for access to Currys protest.

Following Lehmans response is the exchange between Lehmans attorney and Glen McGorty of the monitors law firm Crowell & Moring, whose clients include General Motors, Dana, Caterpillar, Bosch and several other auto corporations.

To learn more about Lehmans campaign for UAW president and to contact him, visit willforuawpresident.org.

*

April 15 letter by Will Lehman to Thomas Murray, Detroit-Milwaukee District Director of the Department of Labors Office for Labor-Management Standards

Mr. Murray,

I received your email denying my request that the Department of Labor provide me with access to the contents of Ray Currys protest. In his protest, the former UAW president presents evidence of how the UAW apparatus committed massive disenfranchisement of tens of thousands of members in the UAW election, which saw the lowest turnout (9%) of any national union election in American history.

Your decision denying me access to the contents of Currys protest will make this whole process fundamentally unfair.

You write that the Department of Labor cannot confirm or deny any information related to other active election or other type of investigations we may have ongoing. You also write, OLMS policies prohibit staff from showing or providing copies of any case-related internal documents or other nonpublic information to anyone outside OLMS.

There is no valid reason for such secrecy. It is public knowledge that Ray Curry filed a protest over the election. In a March 17 public statement, Currys campaign said it filed a protest with the monitor over numerous issues that have arisen which affect the integrity of the election and its outcome. As of April 14, the Curry Solidarity Team website features a statement acknowledging that his campaign previously filed allegations of election violations and they will be investigated. Numerous newspaper articles reference the fact that his campaign filed a protest.

While some protective secrecy might be reasonable in protests filed by rank-and-file members fearful of retribution, this is clearly not the case here. Ray Curry was the president of the union when he filed this protest. His statements about massive disenfranchisement are not merely allegations out of left field, they are admissions by someone who was a direct witness of or participant in the disenfranchisement itself.

Currys protest is not only relevant to my protest, the information it contains is necessary for me to develop a record and make my arguments.

First, the monitors decision denying my protest stated that my claims of massive disenfranchisement were unsubstantiated, uncorroborated and vague. The fact that the president of the union filed a protest alleging massive disenfranchisement clearly substantiates and corroborates my claims.

Second, I need access to Currys protest in order to challenge the reliability of the legal brief which the UAW submitted to the monitor on March 17 in response to my protest. This unsigned brief claimed the election was conducted without problem, and that no workers rights were violated. The monitor relied heavily upon this brief in its denial of my protest. But Currys protest, which he announced the day before, on March 16, shows that the UAWs response brief is not reliable and that it intentionally left out evidence of disenfranchisement that the UAW knew at the time.

Third, Currys statement references specific issues that I also raise in my protest, including, most importantly, the refusal of the UAW to update the mailing list used to provide notice of the election to the rank and file. The monitor claims I did not provide evidence to corroborate my claim that the Local Union Information System (LUIS) was not updated, but now I am being denied access to evidence that would clearly allow me to corroborate this element of my complaint.

Ray Curry would know about the LUIS system, because his finance secretary, who ran on the same slate as he did, Frank Stuglin, was responsible for updating it. Currys protest evidently includes information about how tens of thousands of ballots were essentially thrown out using this system. The real number is almost certainly in the hundreds of thousands. I have a right to access this information.

There is no legal authority for withholding any of this information from me or from the rank and file. In your letter you fail to cite any section of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act, any section of the federal regulations, or any section of your internal policy guidebook to support your decision.

The LMRDAs preamble states that its purpose is to provide for the reporting and disclosure of the practices of labor organizations and employers in order to prevent abuses.

So far the UAW election has been conducted in flagrant violation of this basic principle. There was only 9 percent turnout, the lowest in the history of any national union election in the United States. Turnout in some major locals was as low as 0.26 percent.

When I filed a lawsuit warning of low turnout in November and asked the court to force the UAW to inform the rank and file an election was taking place, the judge dismissed my case. The law firms that comprise the court-appointed monitor, Crowell & Moring and Jenner & Block, are corporate lawyers who represent GM, Dana Inc., Caterpillar, and many other auto corporations, and helped suppress the vote on behalf of their corporate clients in the run-up to the Big Three contract expiration this year. Their denial of my protest constitutes a massive conflict of interest.

Your decision denying me access to the contents of Currys report indicates that the Department of Labor is joining in the cover-up. I have an interview with the Department of Labor scheduled for this week. Last week, an investigator from the Department of Labor told my lawyer that you would send me a list of subjects you plan to ask me about in my interview, but then we were informed you would not do this. This affects my ability to prepare.

Dont forget that the reason there even was an election was because the bureaucracy was robbing the rank and file of our dues and accepting bribes from the corporations. I believe this process should be as open and transparent as possible, so that the UAWs 1.1 million members can make their own informed decisions about whether the election was fair or not.

I will proceed with the Department of Labor interview next week, but only under strong protest.

Will Lehman



*

April 6 letter from Lehmans attorney to Glen McGorty of the monitor:

Mr. McGorty,



I am writing once again to demand the monitor provide Mr. Lehman with a copy of Ray Currys protest, including all attachments. I wrote you on March 31 asking for the legal basis for your March 28 decision to withhold this material, and you failed to provide one. Mr. Currys campaign did not provide me with their protest upon my request. Today I spoke to Ms. Kelly Casperson at the Department of Labor, who suggested I request these documents once more from you.



First, as a rank-and-file member of the UAW, Mr. Lehman has a right to access information contained in Currys protest relating to the fairness of the election.



Second, the protest and its contents are not plausibly covered by any claim of secrecy, privilege, or confidentiality. You have pointed to none.



Third, and most importantly, the contents of the documents you are withholding bear directly on the merits of Mr. Lehmans challenge to the election.



Mr. Lehman has a right to impeach the UAWs unsigned March 17 brief, upon which your office relied in reaching its conclusion that the election was conducted fairly. The truthfulness and credibility of this document were undermined by then-president Currys March 16 statement that the election involved massive disenfranchisement. Mr. Lehman must have access to the contents of Currys protest, or the Department of Labors adjudication process will be rendered fundamentally unfair.



Please reply with the full text of Currys protest, including any and all attachments or exhibits, by Monday April 10.



Eric Lee



*



McGortys response, dated April 10, 2023:

Mr. Lee,

As we informed you on March 28, 2023, the Monitor does not make public election protests filed with the Monitors office.

Best,

Glen McGorty

On Behalf of the Monitor
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 17, 2023 / BCM Resources Corp. (TSXV:B) is pleased to announce the appointment of Robert M. Ingram to the Board of Directors. Robert is a well established consultant and business development expert headquartered in Carson City Nevada. Mr. Ingram replaces Rick R. Redfern on the Board.

Sergei Diakov, President of BCM said, "We are pleased to welcome Robert to the Board of BCM Resources Corp. His experience with business development and his overall business judgement is a strong addition to our growing team. Rick Redfern remains with the company as valuable and important member of our TK technical team."

About BCM Resources

BCM Resources Corporation is a diversified Canadian mineral exploration company now focused on completing Phase 1 discovery drilling of the Thompson Knolls property, its key asset. BCM also controls prospective Copper, Gold, and Molybdenum exploration projects in British Columbia. BCM Resources is managed by experienced and successful board members and advisors. For further information, including area maps, sections, and photos, please visit our web site at www.bcmresources.com or contact us by e-mail at info@bcmresources.com. BCM has 185,043,523 shares issued and outstanding and trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol B.

ON BEHALF OF BCM RESOURCES CORP.

"Sergei Diakov"

President & Chief Executive Officer

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Investor Relations,

Telephone: 1 (604) 646-0144, ext. 222

info@bcmresources.com

www.bcmresources.com

Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This news release and related texts and images on BCM Resource Corporation's website contain certain "forward-looking statements" including, but not limited to, statements relating to interpretation of mineralization potential, drilling and assay results, future exploration work, and the anticipated results of this work. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to fluctuations in metals prices; uncertainties related to raising sufficient financing to fund the planned work in a timely manner and on acceptable terms; changes in planned work resulting from weather, logistical, technical, governmental, social, or other factors; the possibility that results of work will not fulfill expectations and realize the perceived potential of the company's projects; uncertainties involved in the interpretation of sampling and drilling results and other tests; the possibility that required permits and access agreements may not be obtained in a timely manner; risk of accidents, equipment breakdowns or other unanticipated difficulties or interruptions; the possibility of cost overruns or unanticipated expenses in these work programs. Forward-looking statements contained in this release are based on the beliefs, estimates, and opinions of management on the date the statements are made. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove accurate. Actual results may differ materially from those anticipated or projected. BCM Resources Corporation undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates, opinions, or other factors, should change this news release and the information contained herein does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States and securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or exemption from registration.

Story continues

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDERS (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

SOURCE: BCM Resources Corporation





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/749372/BCM-Welcomes-New-Board-Member




MAXIMIZE MARKET RESEARCH PRIVATE LIMITED

The Benzenoid market is highly competitive with several key players such as BASF SE, International Flavors & Fragrances Inc., Givaudan, and Firmenich SA. The growth of the market is driven by the increasing demand for fragrances and flavors in various industries.

Dublin, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A global Material & Chemical business consulting firm, Maximize Market Research, has published a market intelligence and competitive landscape report on the  Benzenoid Market . The report is a combination of primary data and secondary data and domain expert has analyzed the Benzenoid Market from a global point and regional standpoint. Over the forecast period, Maximize Market Research expects, the market to grow from USD 807.21 Mn in 2022 to USD 1,248.24 Mn in 2029 at a CAGR of 10.2 percent.



Benzenoid Market Report Scope and Research Methodology

Market Size in 2022 USD 807.21 Mn. Market Size in 2029 USD 1,248.24 Mn. CAGR 10.2 percent (2022-2029) Forecast Period 2023-2029 Base Year 2022 Number of Pages 281 No. of Tables 116 No. of Charts and Figures 115 Segment Covered Type, Application, and Region Regional Scope North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, South America Report Coverage Market Share, Size & Forecast by Revenue | 20222029, Market Dynamics, Growth Drivers, Restraints, Investment Opportunities, and Key Trends, Competitive Landscape, Key Players Benchmarking, Competitive Analysis, MMR Competition Matrix, Competitive Leadership Mapping, Global Key Players Market Ranking Analysis.

Request For Free Sample Report: https://www.maximizemarketresearch.com/request-sample/184401

The Benzenoid Market report includes a comprehensive analysis of emerging trends, market drivers, growth opportunities, and major restraints in the industry. It also provides a detailed analysis of the major segments of the Benzenoid Market with their sub-segments. The report covers historical data for understanding the past and forecasting future trends in the Benzenoid industry. To understand the structure of the market and the prevailing competition in the industry, a thorough regional and competitive analysis of the Benzenoid Market is covered in the report. The competitive landscape includes key players in the market along with new entrants. Regional analysis of the market is covered at global, regional, and country levels for understanding the market penetration, dominant players, and growth strategies used by them.

Story continues

The bottom-up approach was used to estimate the global and regional Benzenoid Market size. The main research methodology used by the Maximize Market Research team is data triangulation which involves data mining , analysis of the impact of data variables on the Benzenoid Market, and primary (industry expert) validation. The report includes extensive use of secondary sources directories and databases such as Bloomberg, Hoovers, Statista and other government associations. The company websites and private websites have also been used to identify and collect information useful for the technical, market-oriented and commercial study of the Benzenoid Market. To provide strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in the Benzenoid Market, a SWOT analysis was used. PESTLE was employed to understand the potential impact of the micro-economic and macro-economic factors affecting the Benzenoid Market.

Benzenoid Market Overview

Benzenoids are a class of aromatic compounds that are obtained from benzene and are renowned for their distinctive scent and aroma. They have diverse applications across industries such as personal care, cosmetics , household goods, and food and beverage, among others. Rapid growth in the aroma industry because of the rise in the retail sector and ease of availability of various products such as detergents, soaps, cosmetics, fragrances, and other products is estimated to fuel the benzenoid market demand during the forecast period.

Get a Sample Copy of the Report: https://www.maximizemarketresearch.com/request-sample/184401

Benzenoid Market Dynamics

The fragrance industry is experiencing a surge in demand due to the rise in personal grooming and hygiene products, as well as a growing interest in unique and innovative scents. Furthermore, Consumers are increasingly looking for fragrances that are made from natural and eco-friendly ingredients which have led to a growing interest in sustainable production methods for benzenoids. Many key players rely heavily on benzenoids as key ingredients in their products and they are continuously investing in new and innovative fragrance formulations, which will require a steady supply of high-quality benzenoids. They are investing in new and sustainable production methods to meet the growing demand for their products. Thus, the high Demand from the fragrance industry is expected to drive the Benzenoid Market during the forecast period.

The use of benzenoids in fragrances has been linked to health concerns such as skin irritation, allergies, and respiratory problems, causing concern among regulators and consumers that may impact demand for benzenoids. The market is subject to various regulations concerning health, safety, and environmental protection, as well as labeling requirements, which can be expensive and time-consuming to comply with. These factors may affect the growth of the benzenoid market in the forecast period.

Benzenoid Market Regional Insights

The Benzenoid market in North America is experiencing significant growth and is the largest region worldwide. The market's expansion is driven by the widespread use of benzenoids in the cosmetics and personal care, food and beverage, and household products industries. Additionally, the increasing demand for natural and safe ingredients in these industries is expected to fuel further growth in the forecast period. Rising consumer awareness about the negative impacts of synthetic chemicals is also expected to drive demand for the benzenoid market in North America.

Get Customization on this Report for Specific Research Solutions: https://www.maximizemarketresearch.com/request-customization/184401

Benzenoid Market Segmentation

By Type

Benzyl Acetate

Benzoate

Chloride

Salicylate

Benzaldehyde

Cinnamyl

Vanillin



By Application

Soaps and Detergents

Personal Care

Food and Beverage

Household Care

Benzenoid Market's Key Competitors include:

Jayshree Aromatics Pvt. Ltd.

BASF SE

Sigma-Aldrich Corporation (now part of Merck KGaA)

Firmenich International SA

LANXESS

International Flavors & Fragrances, Inc.

Valtris Specialty Chemicals

Eternis Fine Chemicals Ltd.

Emerald Performance Materials

Eastman Chemical Company

The Dow Chemical Company

Symrise AG

Givaudan

Robertet Group

Mane SA

Takasago International Corporation

Sensient Technologies Corporation



Get the Sample PDF of the Report: https://www.maximizemarketresearch.com/request-sample/184401

Key Offerings:

Past Market Size and Competitive Landscape (2018 to 2021)

Past Pricing and price curve by region (2018 to 2021)

Market Size, Share, Size & Forecast by different segment | 20232029

Market Dynamics  Growth Drivers, Restraints, Opportunities, and Key Trends by Region

Market Segmentation  A detailed analysis of the Benzenoid Market by Type, Application, and Region.

Competitive Landscape  Profiles of selected key players by region from a strategic perspective Competitive landscape  Market Leaders, Market Followers, Regional player Competitive benchmarking of key players by region

PESTLE Analysis

PORTERs analysis

Value chain and supply chain analysis

Legal Aspects of Business by Region

Lucrative business opportunities with SWOT analysis

Recommendations

Key questions answered in the Benzenoid Market are:

What is the growth potential of the Benzenoid Market?

What was the Benzenoid Market size in 2021?

What are the global trends in the Benzenoid Market?

What are the recent industry trends that can be implemented to generate additional revenue streams for Benzenoid Market?

How is the intervention from regulatory authority is shaping the Benzenoid Market?

What growth strategies are the players considering to increase their presence in the Benzenoid Market?

Who are the leading companies and what are their portfolios in Benzenoid Market?

What are the major challenges posed to Benzenoid Market?

Who held the largest market share in Benzenoid Market?



Maximize Market Research is leading Material & Chemical research firm, has also published the following reports:

Benzene and Its Derivatives Market - The market size is expected to reach USD 57.34 Bn by 2029 at a CAGR of 6.5 percent during the forecast period. The market is expected to be driven by the rising demand for coatings and paints.

Nitrobenzene Market - The Nitrobenzene Market size is expected to reach USD 16.23 Bn by 2029. The market is expected to be driven by the increase in the usage of MDI's stiffer polyurethanes, folders, sealants, adhesives, varnishes, and other MDI goods.

Heavy Alkyl Benzenes Market - The Heavy Alkyl Benzenes Market size is expected to reach USD 746.80 Mn by 2029 at a CAGR of 7.4 percent during the forecast period. The growing use of heavy alkyl benzene in lubricating applications is expected to boost the market during the forecast period.

Nitrochlorobenzene Market - The Nitrochlorobenzene Market size is expected to reach USD 5.65 Bn by 2029 at a CAGR of 8.7 percent during the forecast period. Increasing usage of nitro chlorobenzene in the automotive industry to drive the nitro chlorobenzene market during the forecast period.

Methanol Market - The Methanol Market size is expected to reach USD 40.58 Bn by 2029 at a CAGR of 5.93 percent during the forecast period. The Growing demand from the automotive and construction industry is expected to drive the Methanol market growth.

About Maximize Market Research:

Maximize Market Research is a multifaceted market research and consulting company with professionals from several industries. Some of the industries we cover include medical devices, pharmaceutical manufacturers, science and engineering, electronic components, industrial equipment, technology and communication, cars and automobiles, chemical products and substances, general merchandise, beverages, personal care, and automated systems. To mention a few, we provide market-verified industry estimations, technical trend analysis, crucial market research, strategic advice, competition analysis, production and demand analysis, and client impact studies.

CONTACT: Contact Maximize Market Research: 3rd Floor, Navale IT Park, Phase 2 Pune Banglore Highway, Narhe, Pune, Maharashtra 411041, India sales@maximizemarketresearch.com +91 96071 95908, +91 9607365656




ReportLinker

over the forecast period. Biofertilizers are commonly used in organic farming practises. Biofertilizers have been found to be helpful in terms of crop protection and soil fertility. They increase water retention capacity, boost soil fertility, and improve soil structure and texture.

New York, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Biofertilizers Market by Type, Mode of Application, Form, Crop Type and Region - Global Forecast to 2028" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p04208111/?utm_source=GNW

They are primarily used to increase crop yield, fix atmospheric nitrogen, and transform inorganic compounds into organic compounds.



The nitrogen-fixing biofertilizers segment is expected to be gain largest market share in 2022.

Nitrogen fixing biofertilizers are majorly used across the globe.These biofertilizers helps the plant bodies to fix the atmospheric nitrogen.



These are mostly used in the leguminous crops such as peas, soybean, cowpea, etc.Microorganism such as rhizobium bacteria is highly beneficial in legume crops.



Rhizobium converts dinitrogen gas into ammonia, which is then converted into organic substances such as amino acids for the better growth of crops. Apart from this, growing adoption of advanced agricultural techniques such as drip irrigation and sprinklers is also one of the major factors which is driving the growth of the segment.



The fruits and vegetables segment is projected to accounted for the largest market share in 2022

The primary factors anticipated to promote the use of biofertilizers in the major producing and exporting regions for fruits and vegetables include increased fruit output, high-quality fruits, decreased input costs, and increased soil organic content. The increase in the production of fruits such as strawberries, apples, grapes, pomogrenates, oranges, capsicum, bell pepper, tomato, chilli, etc. is further propelling the market.



The soil treatment segment is forecasted to occupy for the largest market share in 2022.

In order to boost plant output and satisfy the rising demand for food production, the use of biofertilizers by soil treatment method has become an essential component of agricultural practise.The soil treatment method assist in raising crop output, reduces the use of chemical fertilisers, improves soil fertility, produces better outcomes, and enhances soil quality by 20 to 30%.



To improve the microbiome, certain bacteria, fungus, and other microorganisms are added to ploughed soil in soil treatment method. These species include algae and protozoa.



North American market is projected to gain largest market share during the forecast period.

North America is the largest market for the biofertilizers.This is due to the higher production of fruits and vegetables in the region.



In North American region wheat, barley, corn maize, tomatoes, grapes, pome fruits and stone fruits are the majorly cultivated crops.These crops are also exported to different parts of the world in large quantities.



This has led to the increase in the utilization of biofertilizers. The demand for the organically grown crops has also fueled the growth of the biofertilizers market in the region.



Break-up of Primaries:

 By Company type: Tier 1  35%, Tier 2  45%, and Tier 3  20%

 By Designation: C level  35%, Director level  25%, Others  40%

 By Geography: North America 40%, Asia Pacific  30%, Europe 20%, South America- 5% and RoW 5%



Some Leading players profiled in this report:

 Novozymes (Denmark)

 UPL (India)

 Chr. Hansen Holding A/S (Denmark)

 Syngenta (Switzerland)

 T.Stanes and Company Limited (India)

 Lallemand Inc. (Canada)

 Rizobacter Argentina S.A. (Argentina)

 Vegalab SA (Switzerland)



Research Coverage:

This research report categorizes the biofertilizers market by type (nitrogen-fixing biofertilizers, phosphate solubilizing & mobilizing biofertilizers, potassium solubilizing & mobilizing biofertilizers and other types), by crop type (cereals & grains, pulses & oilseeds, fruits & vegetables, other crop types), by mode of application (soil treatment, seed treatment), by form (liquid and carrier-based), and region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America, and RoW).The scope of the report covers detailed information regarding the major factors, such as drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities, influencing the growth of the biofertilizers market.



A detailed analysis of the key industry players has been done to provide insights into their business overview, solutions; key strategies; partnerships, agreements; new product launches, mergers and acquisitions, and recent developments associated with the biofertilizers market. Competitive analysis of upcoming startups in the biofertilizers market ecosystem is covered in this report.



Reasons to buy this report:

The report will help the market leaders/new entrants in this market with information on the closest approximations of the revenue numbers for the overall biofertilizers market and the subsegments.This report will help stakeholders understand the competitive landscape and gain more insights to position their businesses better and to plan suitable go-to-market strategies.



The report also helps stakeholders understand the pulse of the market and provides them with information on key market drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities.



The report provides insights on the following pointers:

 Analysis of key drivers (growth in organic food industry, initiatives by government agencies and increase in awareness pertaining to need for sustainability in modern agriculture, hazards of using chemical fertilizers and increase in environmental concerns, increase in usage of biofertilizers in ranch and private farms, adoption of precision farming and protected agriculture, provision of range of phytohormones, macronutrients, and micronutrients), restraints (environmental and technological constraints, poor infrastructure and high initial investment, absence of well-constructed marketing routes and surrounding infrastructure), opportunities (new target markets: asia pacific & africa, increase in the production and yield of crops, increase in the utilization of liquid biofertilizers and fertigation method), and challenges (lack of awareness and low adoption rate of biofertilizers, unfavourable regulatory standards, supply of counterfeit and less-effective products) influencing the growth of the biofertilizers market

 Product Development/Innovation: Detailed insights on upcoming technologies, research & development activities, and new product launches in the biofertilizers market

 Market Development: Comprehensive information about lucrative markets  the report analyses the biofertilizers market across varied regions

 Market Diversification: Exhaustive information about new products, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments in the biofertilizers market

 Competitive Assessment: In-depth assessment of market shares, growth strategies and product offerings of leading players like Novozymes (Denmark), UPL (India), Chr. Hansen Holding A/S (Denmark), Syngenta (Switzerland), T.Stanes and Company Limited (India), and Lallemand Inc. (Canada) among others in the biofertilizers market strategies.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p04208111/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________

Story continues

CONTACT: Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001




Another day, another Wells notice.

The SEC has reportedly notified Bittrex of a potential enforcement action alleging that the firm was acting as an exchange, broker-dealer, and clearinghouse without registering with the regulator.

Back in March, SECs enforcement division reportedly informed Bittrex about the potential enforcement actionknown as a Wells notice. But, this news came after the crypto firm had already started to wind down its operations in the US, David Maria the general counsel of Bittrex told The Wall Street Journal.

On March 31, the exchange announced that it would shut down, citing the current U.S. regulatory and economic environment. Bittrex did not immediately respond to Decrypts request for comment.

Bittrex Shuts Down US Crypto Exchange Due to 'Regulatory Environment'

Bittrex reportedly explored the option of registering its operations with the SEC late last year but discovered that it wasn't a viable option as they'd have to essentially cease all revenue-producing activities.

The lack of regulatory clarity here results in substantial costs and no certainty as to what can and cant be offered, Maria told The Wall Street Journal.

The SEC requires crypto firms like Bittrex to register with the SEC so the regulatory body can help reduce conflicts of interest and make crypto exchanges look more like traditional stock exchanges.

One of the major pain points here is how cryptocurrencies are defined as securities thus putting them under the scrutiny of the SEC. The regulatory body often won't define a single digital asset as a security but points to the Howey test.

Bittrex is unsure if the SEC will file a lawsuit due to the company winding down its U.S. operations.

That said, Maria stated that his company would take this matter to the courts unless regulators came with a reasonable settlement offer."

Bittrex in the hot seat

This latest SEC investigation only adds insult to injury after Bittrex was fined $53 million last year, due to apparent violations of multiple U.S. sanctions programs.

The exchange allegedly failed to monitor suspicious crypto transactions from persons located in Cuba, Iran, Sudan, Syria, and the Crimea region of Ukraine, allowing them to engage in over $263 million from March 2014 to December 2017.

The SEC also fined Bittrex for failing to have a sufficient anti-money laundering program which reportedly led to the exchange having significant exposure to illicit finance.
Kerry O'Brien, Frank O'Brien and William Gross have not been heard from since April 4

United States Coast Guard Northern California/Twitter Kerry OBrien, Frank OBrien

A search is underway for three Americans who have been missing at sea for 13 days now since setting sail from Mexico en route to San Diego.

Frank O'Brien and Kerry O'Brien  who are husband and wife  as well as their friend, William Gross, have not been seen or heard from since April 4, when the trio left Mazatlan, Mexico, according to a release from the U.S. Coast Guard.

A stop in Cabo San Lucas for supplies had been planned for April 6, authorities say, but their 44-foot sailing vessel was not recorded arriving. A report of their location hasn't been made either.

Now, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Mexican Navy are combing a 2,500-mile area at sea in hopes to track them down.

"Search and rescue coordinators have contacted marinas throughout Baja, Mexico, with negative sightings of the vessel," the Coast Guard states. "Urgent marine information broadcasts have been issued over VHF radio requesting all mariners to keep a lookout for the missing persons and vessel."

Related:Calif. Teen Completes Solo Voyage Across the Atlantic Ocean Just Months After Learning to Sail

Gross' daughter Melissa Spicuzza told NBC San Diego that the O'Brien family invited her father to join them at sea, with all three sailors having decades of experience and the O'Briens having Coast Guard captain's licenses.

"I'm just wanting my dad, my dad and the O'Briens, to roll back in and say, 'What's going on guys?'" she said.

"The last message I got from my dad was, 'We have a 9:30 departure today,' on Tuesday, April 4," Spicuzza added. "... We communicate constantly with family and friends. We have a Facebook group that we post to. We check in. If our sailing plan changes, we let people know."

United States Coast Guard Northern California/Twitter The LaFitte model 44 sailing yacht

Related:All-Women Rowing Team Breaks World Record Crossing the Pacific from San Francisco to Hawaii

The journey, in which the trio is traveling on a LaFitte model 44 sailing yacht, requires a 200-plus-mile sail across the southern Gulf of California, per ABC News. The sailboat itself features a single mast for sailing and an auxiliary motor, the publication reports, and is designed by Robert H. Perry Yacht Designers.

Story continues

Kerry O'Brien's mother Ellen Argyle told local outlet KFMB that her daughter has "always loved the water" since she was a child, and has been sailing for about 20 years.

"They just keep hoping, hoping and praying that I'll hear some good news. I want good news, not bad news," Argyle said.

United States Coast Guard Northern California/Twitter LaFitte model 44 sailing yacht

Never miss a story  sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Family members have said that hundreds of boats have been helping in the search, with sailors throughout Southern California offering assistance.

"There is no confirmation they had filled the vessel's fuel tanks, nor confirmation that they took on food and supplies," Coast Guard Commander Gregory Higgins told NBC News on the Today show Monday, adding that they don't believe the trio have enough fuel or food on board for 13 days at sea.

Those with any information on their whereabouts are encouraged to contact the U.S. Coast Guard's rescue coordination center.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
A Townsend man died Monday from injuries he sustained in a March crash in the Townsend area, according to Delaware State Police.

Police said the three-car collision occurred at 9:53 a.m. March 23, as 84-year-old Charles Cook of Townsend drove a Jeep Comanche north on Summit Bridge Road, approaching Green Giant Road.

The Jeep turned left onto Green Giant into the path of an Audi Q3 traveling south on Summit Bridge Road, police said.

The Audis front bumper struck the right rear side of the Jeep. The impact spun the Jeep counterclockwise, causing its left rear side to hit a Chevy Silverado stopped at the intersection.

Cook was transported to a hospital, where he was admitted for critical injuries. He died on April 10 from the injuries sustained in the collision.

The driver of the Audi, a 65-year-old woman from Middletown, and the driver of the Chevy, a 41-year-old man from Townsend, were taken to an area hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

This incident is still under investigation by Delaware State Police Troop 2 Collision Reconstruction Unit. Troopers are asking anyone with dashcam footage or video of the collision to contact Master Cpl. J. Forester by calling 302-365-8485.

OTHER NEWS FROM THIS REPORTER: What motivated a father and daughter to turn a blighted building into affordable housing

Contact reporter Anitra Johnson at ajohnson@delawareonline.com with tips and story ideas. Become a subscriber to access more stories and the best in local reporting.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Driver dies from injuries from 3-car crash near Townsend in March
Hi everyone, my name is Esa Jeffries and Im fundraising for my godfather who is not only a legend and hall of fame professional wrestler, but a great humanitarian that has spent most his life in his charitable efforts to help his family, friends, the homeless on the streets of Atlanta, the elderly, handicapped, those hospitalized and different organizations here in Atlanta, GA and of course, his name is Abdullah the butcher. My godfather is 81 years old, on a fixed income, handicapped, walking on a walker, in need of a hip replacement and due to his condition and the covid 19 pandemic situation, he just can not get around to make the money he is used to making. He seriously is in need of your help and I need you to help me to help him to hire two attorneys for two different cases. Though Abdullahs highest level of school is the second grade, his natural genius and strong will to be successful, helped motivate and inspired him to overcome his schooling handicap. This man has worked hard most of his adult life to carve out and build his professional wrestling career and have been taken total advantage of by his wife and her brother just to find out that his wife owns all of the assets he worked most of his life for and he owns nothing. His wife is from Korea and he met her in Japan. She came here with absolutely nothing. While he travelled the world, working hard making a living, she and her brother obviously were taking advantage of him til where even his first home he purchased here in Atlanta, Georgia, way before he met her, he recently found out that the deed was changed to both their names without his knowledge and signature and now she wants a divorce and this is only touching this surface of his story. He has no money to hire an attorney to properly represent him he also needs an attorney to represent him in a civil case here in Fulton County Georgia, brought here from Canada in which he was not able to attend court in Canada due to the condition of his hip by doctors order. He has been desperately trying to seek attorneys to properly represent him in both cases but, the attorney fees are very expensive in which he can not afford due to his fixed income. The judge in his civil case gave him sixty days to get an attorney and he needs a divorce attorney asap because he has a hearing in February and attorneys need time to prepare each case my goal is to raise $50,000 Abdullah is in need of your prayers and support and I promise you that every penny of your donations will go toward his attorney fees thanking you in advance for your time, efforts and your support god bless!!
Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for an immediate end to hostilities between Sudans government and a powerful paramilitary group that have left at least 56 people dead.

Blinken said he spoke with top diplomats from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on Saturday, two countries with considerable interests in Sudan, and agreed that the fighting in the north African country should stop without pre-condition.

We agreed it was essential for the parties to immediately end hostilities without pre-condition, Blinken said in a statement Saturday.

Intense fighting between the military and a paramilitary force in Sudans capital city Khartoum has killed at least 56 people and wounded hundreds of others. The deadly clash between the two forces comes after months of flared tensions, with the sides negotiating a civilian transition to democracy.

The two groups, the Sudanese military and the Rapid Support Forces, joined to orchestrate a coup of the government in 2021. Now, the once-allied sides have descended into intense fighting.

Blinken said at a press conference in Vietnam on Saturday that the two parties in Sudan had reached an agreement on a very important framework, but said some actors were trying to push against the transition to a civilian-led democracy.

The major parties in Khartoum some weeks ago reached a very important framework agreement on how to proceed with a transition to civilian government, Blinken said. There are other actors that may be pushing against that progress. But this is a real opportunity to finally carry forward the civilian-led transition.

The pressure from the U.S., Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E for the parties in Sudan to stop the fighting comes as other international partners, like the European Union and the United Nations, have also called on the hostilities to stop.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The lineup for the 76th installment of the Cannes Film Festival has finally been announced. Nineteen films will be competing to take home the prestigious Palme dOr, including a record six films helmed by women. The festival will be taking place in the French Riviera from May 16 to May 27. This years jury will be headed by Ruben Ostlund, who won his second Palme dOr last year for Triangle of Sadness.

Knowing a filmmakers previous track record at Cannes can sometimes help give an idea as to who might be in the best position to claim the Palme. For instance, five of this years entries come from directors who have previously won the Palme. Another five are from auteurs who have had previous films win a prize in the main competition other than the Palme. Another five are from directors having their first film screen in the main competition.

More from GoldDerby

SEEIndiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny confirmed for 2023 Cannes premiere

Below is a breakdown of all 19 films that are in the main competition and the history that each director has had at the festival. Read on for our Cannes Film Festival preview 2023.

Jessica Hausner (Club Zero)

The Austrian filmmaker returns to the Croissette for a fifth time with this drama about a teacher (Mia Wasikowska) who takes a job at a prestigious school and forms a bond with several students that takes an alarming turn. Hausners first three films at Cannes all played in the Un Certain Regard section: Lovely Rita (2001), Hotel (2004) and Amour fou (2014). Her first film in the main competition was Little Joe in 2019 which claimed the Best Actress prize for Emily Beecham.

Story continues

Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest)

This marks the first film from the English director to screen at Cannes. Based on the novel by Martin Amis, it centers on a Nazi officer who finds himself falling in love with the wife of the commander of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Aki Kaurismaki (Fallen Leaves)

The latest from the Finnish director known for his minimalist style is about two lonely people in Helsinki who meet each other by a random chance. In 2002, The Man Without a Past took home both the Grand Prix and the Best Actress prize for Kati Outinen. Hes also had three other films play in the main competition but not win a prize: Drifting Clouds (1996), Lights in the Dusk (2006) and Le Havre (2011). A collection of vignettes he participated in, Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet, along with Kaige Chen, Victor Erice, Werner Herzog, Jim Jarmusch, Spike Lee and Wim Wenders, played in Un Certain Regard.

Kaouther Ben Hania (Four Daughters)

The details of the Tunisian directors latest are a bit tough to nail down. Several reports say the film is a documentary about a mother who discovers that two of her four daughters have suddenly gone missing, but other reports are stating that actress Hend Sabry is starring in it. Hania was first at Cannes in 2017 when Beauty and the Dogs played in the Un Certain Regard section.

SEEMartin Scorseses Killers of the Flower Moon finally officially confirmed for Cannes debut

Wes Anderson (Asteroid City)

One of two American directors in this years lineup, this project from the whimsical filmmaker is about a convention of Junior Stargazers that is interrupted by a world-altering event. The impressive ensemble includes Tom Hanks, Edward Norton, Jason Schwartzman, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton and Scarlett Johansson. This will be his third film in the main competition after Moonrise Kingdom (2012) and The French Dispatch (2021).

Justine Triet (Anatomie dUne Chute)

This film centers on a woman who becomes the main suspect in the murder of her husband and her blind son who faces a moral conundrum in being the only witness to the crime. This is the French directors second appearance in the main competition after making her first appearance in 2019 for Sybil.

Hirokazu Kore-eda (Monster)

The plot of the Japanese directors latest project is still being kept under wraps. Kore-eda has had an incredible history at Cannes. He first competed in the main competition in 2001 with Distance. He returned in 2004 with Nobody Knows which claimed Best Actor for Yuya Yagira and in 2013 he won the Jury Prize for Like Father, Like Son. He competed again in 2015 with Our Little Sister and then won the Palme dOr in 2018 for Shoplifters. He was at Cannes last year with Broker which won Best Actor for Song Kang-ho. Hes also competed twice in Un Certain Regard: Air Doll (2009) and After the Storm (2016).

Nanni Moretti (The Sun of the Future)

The film explores the circus world of Rome between the 1950s and the 1970s and stars Mathieu Amalric. This is Morettis ninth film to compete in the main competition. He was first here in 1978 for Ecco Bombo and then in 1994 with Dear Diary which won Best Director. He returned in 1998 with Aprile and then claimed the Palme in 2001 for The Sons Room. Since then hes had four other films in the main competition: The Caiman (2006), We Have a Pope (2011), Mia Madre (2015) and Three Floors (2021).

Alice Rohrwacher (La Chimera)

Coming off of her Oscar-nominated short film Le Pupille, the latest from the Italian director centers on a group of archaeologists dealing historic artifacts on the black market and stars Isabella Rossellini and Emmy winner Josh OConnor. Rohrwacher has been in the main competition twice before and each time has claimed a prize. The Wonders won the Grand Prix in 2014 and Happy as Lazzaro won Best Screenplay in 2018. Shes also been in the Directors Fortnight twice: Heavenly Body (2011) and Futura, (2021) a collective film made along with Pietro Marcello and Francesco Munzi).

Nuri Bilge Ceylan (About Dry Grasses)

A young teacher finds himself losing all hope as he years for a promotion after being forced to teach in a small village. The Turkish director is a longtime favorite at Cannes. He was first there in 1995 with the short film Cocoon. His first feature in competition was Distant in 2003 which won the Grand Prix along with Best Actor for Muzaffer Ozdemir and Mehmet Emin Toprak. In 2006 he competed with Climates and in 2008 won Best Director for Three Monkeys. He claimed a second Grand Prix in 2011 for Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (tying with The Kid with a Bike from the Dardenne brothers). He finally claimed the Palme dOr in 2014 for Winter Sleep and returned in 2018 with The Wild Pear Tree.

Catherine Breillat (LEte Dernier)

An accomplished lawyer puts her professional and personal life in jeopardy when she engages in an affair with her husbands son from a previous marriage. The French director was first at Cannes in 2002 when Sex is Comedy screened in the Directors Fortnight. She made her only appearance in the main competition in 2007 for The Last Mistress.

Tran Anh Hung (The Passion of Dodin Bouffant)

The romantic-drama from the Vietnamese-French director is about a celebrated cook and the gourmet she has been working at for over 20 years and stars Juliette Binoche. This marks the first time Hung will be in the main competition. The Scent of Green Papaya, competed in Un Certain Regard and won the Camera dOr for best debut feature in 1993 and returned in 2000 in the same section with The Vertical Ray of the Sun.

Marco Bellochio (Rapito)

A Jewish boy in the 1850s is kidnapped and forced to convert to Catholicism in the Italian filmmakers latest. Despite this being his eighth film to be in the main competition, Bellochio has yet to win a prize for himself. His first time at Cannes was in 1980 with A Leap in the Dark which won both the Best Actor and Actress prize for Michel Piccoli and Anouk Aimee, respectively. Since then hes competed with Henry IV (1984), The Prince of Homberg (1997), The Nanny (1999), My Mothers Smile (2002), Vincere (2009) and The Traitor (2019). He was also in Un Certain Regard in 2006 with The Wedding Director.

Todd Haynes (May December)

The American directors latest is about how decades after a married couples large age difference garnered huge tabloid attention, the wife (Julianne Moore) reluctantly allows an actress whos about to play her (Natalie Portman) to do research and get to know her. Haynes first competed at Cannes in 1998 with Velvet Goldmine and the jury gave him a special award for Best Artistic Contribution. He wouldnt be back until 2015 with Carol which took Best Actress for Rooney Mara and then again in 2017 for Wonderstruck.

Karim Ainouz (Firebrand)

This movie chronicles the marriage between King Henry VIII (Jude Law) and Queen Catherine Parr (Alicia Vikander) and also stars Eddie Marsan. This marks the first time the Brazilian filmmaker is competing in the main competition. He was first at Cannes in Un Certain Regard in 2002 for Madame Sata and then in the Directors Fortnight in 2011 for The Silver Cliff. In 2019, he returned to Un Certain Regard with Invisible Life, which claimed the top prize for that section.

SEEControversial HBO series The Idol to reportedly premiere at Cannes

Ken Loach (The Old Oak)

The English directors 15th film to play in the main competition is about the last remaining pub in a Northeastern English mining village, which starts to see a large amount of Syrian refugees moving in. Loach was first at Cannes in 1981 with Looks and Smiles. His next two films would both win the Jury Prize: Hidden Agenda (1990) and Raining Stones (1993). He was back in 1995 with Land and Freedom and again in 1998 for My Name is Joe, which won Best Actor for Peter Mullan. Bread and Roses screened in 2000 and Sweet Sixteen won Best Screenplay for Paul Laverty in 2002. He won his first Palme in 2006 for The Wind That Shakes the Barley. He next competed in 2009 with Looking for Eric and in 2010 for Route Irish. In 2012 he won his third Jury Prize with The Angels Share and competed again in 2014 with Jimmys Hall. He won his second Palme in 2016 with I, Daniel Blake and was last in competition in 2019 with Sorry We Missed You.

Ramata-Toulaye Sy (Banel & Adama)

The debut feature from the Senegalese-French filmmaker centers on a young Senegalese couple that has to deal with the disapproval that their secluded village has toward them.

Wim Wenders (Perfect Days)

This film stars Koji Yakusho as a toilet cleaner for Japans infamous public restrooms. Another Wenders film, Anselm (Das Rauschen der zeit), will have a special screening. The German filmmakers history at Cannes dates back to 1976 when Kings of the Road played in competition, followed by The American Friend in 1977 and Hammett in 1982. He was awarded the Palme dOr in 1984 for Paris, Texas. In 1987 he won Best Director for Wings of Desire and then won the Grand Prix in 1993 for Faraway, So Close! He had The End of Violence screen there in 1997 and was part of the vignette film Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet which was screened in Un Certain Regard. He was back in the main competition in 2005 for Dont Come Knocking and in 2008 for Palermo Shooting. In 2014, The Salt of the Earth won a Special Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section.

Wang Bing (Jeunesse)

The latest from the Chinese documentary filmmaker examines young people in China. Bing has another film at Cannes this year, Man in Black, which is getting a special screening. Its his first time in the main competition. In 2007 he directed a short film in the anthology, O Estado do Mundo, along with Ayisha Abraham, Chantal Akerman, Pedro Costa, Vicente Ferraz and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, which was in the Directors Fortnight.

SIGN UP for Gold Derbys free newsletter with latest predictions

Best of GoldDerby

Sign up for Gold Derby's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.
Eateries removed from Danang's Son Tra Peninsula

Authorities in the Son Tra District on Monday carried out a raid on restaurants that have been illegally built on Son Tra Peninsula.





Tuan Nui was among five restaurants that would be removed during the raid.





According to local authorities, these restaurants were illegally built on forest land. The owners of the restaurants had earlier been informed about their violations and fined between VND 5-12.50 million. They had also been asked to remove their illegal constructions before April 17 but failed to comply.







A report released by the Danang Inspectorate in 2016 found 68 constructions including houses, temporary shops, restaurants and other business facilities were illegally built on Son Tra Peninsula between 1997-2010. However, only 10 of them have been removed over the past six years due to legal issues. Local authorities have announced that they would try to remove all of them by 2025.



Located just 10 kilometres from the centre of Danang, Son Tra is the only peninsula in Vietnam that boasts a natural forest ecosystem linked with the sea, and it has become an ideal destination for holidaymakers.



The Son Tra Nature Reserve, which is 600m above sea level, is known for its rich biodiversity, with 287 animal species and 985 plant species. The reserve has shrunk from more than 4,400ha to 2,500ha to make room for dozens of resorts and hotels in the area.






AFP: The United States Navy has said that one of its warships sailed through the Taiwan Strait yesterday citing freedom of navigation in accordance with international law. Does the foreign ministry have any comments on this US warships transit?

Wang Wenbin: The spokesperson of the PLA Eastern Theater Command has stated our position. The US sends a military vessel to the Taiwan Strait to flex muscles, which poses a threat to Chinas sovereignty and security and undermines regional peace and stability. China urges the US to immediately end such moves of violation and provocation and stop causing troubles for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

Peoples Daily: Yesterday marked the 31st anniversary of Chinas participation in UN peacekeeping operations (UNPKOs) with its first formed military unit. As we speak, Chinese peacekeepers are undertaking UNPKOs in various countries such as South Sudan, Mali and Lebanon. Do you have any comment?

Wang Wenbin: Thirty-one years ago, at the invitation of the United Nations, China deployed an engineering unit to the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC), which marked the first time that China dispatched its formed military unit of Blue Helmets to a UN Peacekeeping Operation. Over the past 31 years, China has sent more than 50,000 peacekeepers to nearly 30 UNPKOs in over 20 countries and regions. A total of 25 Chinese peacekeepers have made the ultimate sacrifice. Being the largest troop contributor to peacekeeping operations among the five permanent members of the Security Council and the second largest contributor to UN peacekeeping assessments, China has become a key actor in UNPKOs.

From the Blue Line mined area along the Lebanon-Israel border to South Sudan, Mali and the DRC, the Chinese Blue Helmets have walked in harms way to safeguard world peace. They have been highly commended for their excellent performance, including receiving the UN Peace Medal of Honor several times. In war-ridden mission areas, Chinese military peacekeepers have dedicated their youth, hard work and even life and blood in exchange for peace. For example, from 2006 to early 2023, Chinese military peacekeepers disposed of over 15,000 landmines and unexploded ordnance in Lebanon, which has been widely commended by the Lebanese people and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. The Chinese medical units in the DRC ran a twinning project in SOS Childrens Village Bukavu to offer help, and children in the village called the female members their Chinese mothers. This love-filled program is still ongoing. UN Assistant Secretary-General Alexander Zuev commented that without the support of China and the Chinese people, the UN peacekeeping operations would not have achieved this much in recent years.

For China, to uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, safeguard world peace and contribute to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind is our fundamental mission in being part of the UN peacekeeping operations. We will continue to practice true multilateralism, advance the Global Security Initiative and contribute Chinas insights and efforts to reducing the peace deficit in the world and improving global security governance.

Reuters: EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said the EU-China relations depend on Beijings behavior. Do you have any comment on that?

Wang Wenbin: China and the EU share a wide range of common interests, with more cooperation than competition and more consensus than differences. The China-EU relationship is not targeted at, dependent on or subject to any third parties. The EU needs to further uphold strategic autonomy, have a more independent and objective perception of China and work with the Chinese side based on the principles of independence, mutual respect and mutually beneficial cooperation, so that China-EU relations can have greater global influence and provide more stability and positive energy to the international community.

I would also like to say that the Taiwan question is at the core of Chinas core interests. I hope the EU will abide by the one-China principle and fulfill its solemn commitment of not maintaining official relations or concluding any agreement with Taiwan, which it made when establishing diplomatic relations with China, and truly safeguard peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and international justice. I hope the EU will oppose the provocation of Taiwan independence elements and dissuade certain politicians from ganging up and playing the Taiwan card.

CCTV: On April 15, the US State Department released its report on 2023 Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments, accusing China of lacking transparency with regard to its nuclear testing activities, pursuing an offensive biological weapons program, proliferating missile technology, among other things. Whats your comment?

Wang Wenbin: We have taken note of the report. Year after year, the US concocts the so-called report on Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments, exalting its own behavior and styling itself as a judge to wantonly criticize and smear other countries compliance record. We firmly reject this.

As a matter of fact, the USs track record in arms control, disarmament and nonproliferation in recent years has been deplorable. In particular, it remains entrenched in the Cold War mentality, blatantly stokes major-power confrontation, pursues unrestrained military build-up and seeks absolute advantage in the field of security. This gravely undermines global and regional strategic stability, and impedes the international arms control, disarmament and nonproliferation process. When it comes to international obligations and multilateral rules, the US practices American exceptionalism and double standards, follows a selective approach dictated by selfish interests, constantly shifts the blame and shirks its responsibility, and even withdraws from treaties and organizations. This falls far short of what is expected of a major country.

It needs to be stressed that the US is merely chasing shadows and its accusations against China in this report are nothing but fabrications. In international arms control and nonproliferation, China is committed to multilateralism and has always upheld the international system with the UN at its core and the international order based on international law and faithfully fulfilled its international obligations and commitments. China has actively participated in the review process of the NPT, the BWC and the CWC, started the domestic procedure to ratify the UNs Firearms Protocol, and promoted the negotiation process for a legal instrument on arms control in space. With these concrete steps, China has contributed insight and solution to upholding the international arms control and nonproliferation system and safeguarding world peace.

We urge the US to stop its self-congratulatory, erroneous finger-pointing, take a long, hard look at its own behavior in arms control, disarmament and nonproliferation, and earnestly address the international communitys legitimate concerns over its compliance issue.

China Daily: According to reports, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told an interview with German media that she warned China during her visit against the use of force over Taiwan. Citing Baerbocks remarks, the German foreign ministry said on social media that destabilization in the Taiwan Strait will have serious consequences for every country and the global economy. The shock wave of such a world economic crisis would also hit China and Germany ... A unilateral and violent change in the status quo would not be acceptable to us as Europeans, she added. Do you have any comment?

Wang Wenbin: When meeting the press with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang made clear Chinas position on the Taiwan question. I want to stress again that Taiwans return to China is an important part of the post-war international order. The real status quo of the Taiwan question is that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one and the same China. Taiwan is part of China. Chinas sovereignty and territorial integrity has never been split. The Taiwan question is at the core of Chinas core interests. Resolving the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese ourselves. No foreign forces should try to interfere in the Taiwan question or expect China to make any concession on issues concerning its sovereignty and territorial integrity under external pressure.

The tensions in recent years in the Taiwan Strait are fundamentally caused by Taiwan independence separatists in Taiwan who are engaged in separatist activities with the support and connivance of foreign forces. Taiwan independence and cross-Strait peace and stability are as irreconcilable as fire and water. To keep the Taiwan Strait and the rest of the region peaceful and stable, it is essential to unequivocally oppose Taiwan independence and foreign interference. We urge relevant parties to respect history and facts, and hope that certain German politicians will have a correct understanding of the nature of the Taiwan question, earnestly abide by the one-China principle and stop making irresponsible remarks.

AFP: Hong Kong bishop Stephen Chow is beginning an official visit to Beijing today, marking the first official visit by a Hong Kong bishop to the mainland since 1994. Does the foreign ministry have any comment on the bishops visit?

Wang Wenbin: This is not a question about foreign affairs.

Global Times: According to reports, the joint statement of the G7 Ministers Meeting on Climate, Energy and Environment issued on April 16 did not voice support for the Japanese governments plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean. At the press conference, Nishimura Yasutoshi, Japans Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, said that the steady decommissioning progress including the release of treated water into the ocean will be welcomed. At the same event, Steffi Lemke, Germanys Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection, responded that he respects the efforts made by the Japanese side after the Fukushima nuclear accident, but we cannot welcome the release of the treated water. Whats Chinas comment?

Wang Wenbin: For some time, the Japanese side has been ignoring the legitimate security concerns raised by the international community on the basis of science for political purposes, and has been trying to downplay and cover up the hazards of discharging the nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean by strengthening international public relations campaigns and rope other countries into supporting Japans discharge plan. Such attempts to whitewash its erroneous decision will lead nowhere.

China has noted that both the Japanese people and the international community have expressed strong concerns and opposition to Japans plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water into the sea. The Japanese public has held many assemblies to protest against the discharge plan of the Japanese government. Recently, more than 30,000 netizens worldwide participated in a global survey conducted by CGTN within 24 hours. Among them, 93% strongly oppose Japans nuclear-contaminated water disposal plan. Up to 90% of the respondents say that they do not trust Japans statement that the treated water is safe. Up to 86% criticize Japan for not handling its nuclear-contaminated water in a science-based, open and transparent manner. Greenpeace issued a commentary on April 16, criticizing the Japanese government for violating international law including UNCLOS. It wrote that the Japanese government has failed to conduct a comprehensive environmental impact assessment, including the impact of transboundary marine pollution, adding that Japan is using the Pacific Ocean as a dumping ground for radioactive contaminated water.

All this clearly shows that the Japanese government will not win any support if it unilaterally decides to dump nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean, transferring the unpredictable risks to the whole world. China once again urges Japan to face up to international concerns, take due responsibilities, earnestly fulfill international obligations, have thorough and meaningful consultations with stakeholders including its neighbors, fully study and validate the best alternative to ocean discharge to ensure nuclear-contaminated water is handled in a scientific, open, transparent and safe manner, and fully submit to international oversight. Japan must not start discharging the nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean before reaching consensus through full consultation with neighboring countries and other stakeholders as well as relevant international agencies.

CCTV: On April 14 local time, the US government announced indictments and sanctions against Chinese companies and citizens involved in the trafficking of fentanyl precursor chemicals. Whats your comment?

Wang Wenbin: While saying it hopes to resume counternarcotics cooperation with China on various occasions, the US has again brazenly indicted and sanctioned Chinese individuals and entities, which is a serious violation of the lawful rights and interests of the companies and individuals concerned. China strongly condemns this and has made serious demarches to the US side.

The Chinese government takes a firm stance on counternarcotics. Guided by the humanitarian spirit, we have worked with the US to help solve its fentanyl abuse. In May 2019, China became the first country in the world to officially schedule fentanyl-related substances as a class, which played an important role in preventing the illicit manufacturing, trafficking and abuse of the substance. The US, however, in disregard of Chinas goodwill, cited the non-existent human rights issue in Xinjiang to wantonly sanction the Institution of Forensic Science of the Ministry of Public Security and the National Narcotics Laboratory of China. Now the US is imposing new sanctions on Chinese companies and individuals and attempting to blame China for its own fentanyl problem. This has seriously eroded the foundation for China-US counternarcotics cooperation.

It must be pointed out that the US blames China for exporting fentanyl precursors, which are in fact only ordinary chemicals sold through normal trade. In international trade, it is the importers duty to prevent such chemicals from falling into the hands of illicit drug-makers. By twisting the truth, the US vilifies Chinas normal trade of ordinary chemicals, trumps up a charge and slaps sanctions on Chinese companies and nationals. This is a classic case of US bullying and coercion. It is a flagrant defiance of international rule of law.

The US itself is the root cause of its drug problems. With 5% of the worlds population, the US consumes 80% of the worlds opioids. Yet the US still has not permanently scheduled fentanyl-related substances as a class. As China and the rest of the world strengthen control of fentanyl-related substances, the fentanyl issue in the US has been deteriorating and taking away even more lives. The US needs to do some serious reflections on this. Instead of working to reduce the demand for drugs at home, strengthen management of prescription drugs and step up public awareness campaigns about the harm of narcotics, the US has resorted to grossly sanctioning other countries in an attempt to mislead the public and deflect the blame for its inaction. This is clear to the American people and the rest of the world.

The US indictment and sanctions against Chinese companies and citizens will add more obstacles to China-US counternarcotics cooperation. Such moves hurt others as well as the US itself. If the US truly wants to solve its drug problem, it should respect facts, reflect on itself, correct its wrongdoing, and stop shifting the blame. China will continue to do what is necessary to safeguard the lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies and individuals.

NHK: The G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting opened in Japan. The ministers agreed they oppose Chinas unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force and reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. Do you have any response?

Wang Wenbin: There is but one China in the world, Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinas territory, and the government of the Peoples Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China. These are the core meaning of the one-China principle and the key to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. Relevant countries must recognize that the Taiwan question is Chinas internal affair which brooks no external interference. Though the mainland and Taiwan have yet to reunify, they belong to one and the same China. Taiwan is part of Chinas territory. Chinas sovereignty and territorial integrity have never been divided. This is the true status quo in the Taiwan Strait. Taiwans return to China is an important component of the post-war international order. To uphold the one-China principle is to defend the post-war international order.

If one truly cares about the situation in the Taiwan Strait, one must first have a clear understanding of the root cause for the tensions there. As facts have proven once and again, a separatist agenda advanced at all costs by Taiwan independence elements in Taiwan with the support and connivance of foreign actors  this is whats changing the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and the root cause of cross-Strait tensions. To maintain a stable situation across the Strait and safeguard peace and tranquility in the region, one must unequivocally uphold the one-China principle and oppose Taiwan independence separatist activities.

Those who say their one-China policy hasnt changed, but wink at Taiwan independence separatists, overtly and covertly support them and even frame the opposition to such separatism as changing the status quo  they are not adhering to, but departing from the one-China policy and not defending, but endangering cross-Strait peace and stability. Their moves are irresponsible.

AFP: Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu had a meeting with Russian President Putin over the weekend. With Russias military aggression in Ukraine continuing into a second year, what is Chinas reasoning for enhancing military ties with Moscow?

Wang Wenbin: As for the visit you mentioned, you may refer to the press release issued by the Ministry of National Defense.

On what you asked about China-Russia relations, I would like to reiterate that China and Russia are committed to the principles of no-alliance, no-confrontation and no-targeting of any third party and grow a new type of major-country relations featuring mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation. China is ready to work with Russia to fully implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state and move forward our comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era.

You also mentioned the Ukraine issue. Our position on that is consistent and clear. We are firmly committed to promoting talks for peace and will continue to work with the international community to play a constructive role in the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.

AFP: Australian police have said that an Australian businessman has been selling information about lithium mining in Australia to China. Does the foreign ministry have any details to add on this case?

Wang Wenbin: Im not aware of what you mentioned.
With more supply chain woes at Boeingthis time, fuselage deficiencies from contractor Spirit AeroSystemsmaking the headlines days before Boeings annual meeting this week, perhaps it is sane to wonder if it is just plane crazy that Boeings supply chain issues still flare up with alarming regularity four years after the highly publicized 737 MAX crashes that killed 346 passengers.

More from Fortune: 5 side hustles where you may earn over $20,000 per yearall while working from home Looking to make extra cash? This CD has a 5.15% APY right now Buying a house? Here's how much to save This is how much money you need to earn annually to comfortably buy a $600,000 home

At the very least, this latest mess turns up the heat for CEO Dave Calhoun, who has absorbed relentless slings and arrows from all corners for problems that largely predate him or are outside his control, including misfires with regulators, COVID shutdowns, order cancellations, and high indebtedness. He deserves tremendous credit for charting a path back to profitabilitywithout needing a single airplane purchase from China. In fact, just last year, we named Calhoun one of our five CEOs of the year, crediting him with finally guiding Boeing to take off after a long tarmac delay.

However, the seemingly unending procession of quality control issues speaks to three specific challenges that are still plaguing Boeings supply chain and which threaten to derail Calhouns plans mid-flight.

First, as supplier Spirit Aerosystems fuselage issue reminds us, Boeings supply chain diversificationor lack thereofmakes it unusually vulnerable to singular choke points. Boeing is basically solely dependent on Spirit Aerosystems as its outsourced aerostructure manufacturer. In fact, with Boeing represents a whopping 60% of Spirits revenues. This is over three times the dependence of Boeings competitors such as Airbus, which makes its own fuselages.

Thus it is hardly surprising that minor problems at Spirit have boomeranged into at least three major Boeing production disruptions, with 787 halts in 2020 and 2021, and now the 737 disruptions this week. With Spirits outside analysts such as Bank of America ominously warning that a significant ramp with a greener work force does not give the greatest comfort on execution, the fact that Boeing has tried and failed for years to take control over this part of the supply chain casts its own strategic missteps in starker relief.

Story continues

Spirit had been a part of Boeing since two years after its founding in 1927. Its core role for Boeing has been primary manufacturing of the entire fuselage of the Boeing 737, as well as its nose and forward-cabin sections of most Boeing plans and other parts. It was spun off by Boeing in 2005 to the Canadian private equity firm Onex, which took the company public just a year later, retaining 58% of ownership and 92% of the voting control!

Some voices inside Boeing advocated for Boeing to purchase Spirit to provide direct oversight and capitalizationbut senior executives have long reflexively shunned the acquisition, embarrassed by the idea of having to buy back a business, even though the cost would be relatively trivial with Spirit being only 2% of Boeings size.

The asset-lightening move may have been intended as financial engineering to appease activist investors or to address the federal governments concern over the concentration of defense-related businesses. Whatever the reason, the outcome now appears to be regrettable. Increased oversight and integration, which would have followed such a purchase, would have provided Boeing with a similar advantage to that of Airbus. Additionally, once-promising partnerships with Spirits many competitors, such as Embraer, failed to take off due to self-inflicted wounds.

Beyond the lack of supply chain diversification, persistent quality control problems continue to plague Boeing across its entire supply chain. Even though much criticism was levied at former leadership for turbocharging Boeings production rates before the supply chain was ready, compromising quality, Boeing continues to take billions in write-downs due to egregious cost overruns, while constantly postponing or canceling new product launches, ranging from the much-hyped jumbo 777X to new Air Force One jets, as the aerospace giant struggles to ramp up production and build capacity. Boeings customers have resorted to uncharacteristic public protests: One airline CEO compared Boeing execs to headless chickens, unable to deliver planes on time, while another lamented that Boeing lost its way.

Calhoun has vowed to overcome supply chain challenges eventuallybut also acknowledged frustration that it feels like a "steady whack-a-mole kind of situation."

As the largest manufacturing exporter in the U.S. with a workforce of 130,000 employees, Boeings persistent quality and culture challenges, unfortunately, trickle down across its entire extended ecosystem of thousands of suppliers. And unlike four years ago, these quality control issues cannot be blamed on excessive profit growth (of which there has been none) or an unseemly focus on boosting the stock price (which has gone nowhere) amidst an aerospace down cycle.

One cannot help but wonder about accountability across the Boeing supply chain, and why Boeing seemingly covered for its subcontractors instead of sharing the cost of the damage. For example, even though Collins Aerospace manufactured the faulty flight deck software which resulted in the 2018/2019 crashes, Boeing accepted full liability and sole responsibility for the 737 MAX crashes and paid a whopping $2.5 billion to settle criminal probes from the Department of Justice. Has Boeing become too deferential to its supplier base in their earnest efforts to fix relationships after years of relentless cost-cutting and pushing?

The company must not be seen as having its head in the clouds and its planes on the ground. Ultimately, Calhoun has gotten the company back on track by getting its planes back up in the airbut the specter of persistent supply chain woes means more turbulence could be on the horizon.

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld is the Lester Crown Professor in Management Practice and Senior Associate Dean at Yale School of Management.

Steven Tian is the director of research at the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute and former investment analyst at Rockefeller Capital.

The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.

More must-read commentary published by Fortune:

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

More from Fortune:

5 side hustles where you may earn over $20,000 per yearall while working from home

Looking to make extra cash? This CD has a 5.15% APY right now

Buying a house? Here's how much to save

This is how much money you need to earn annually to comfortably buy a $600,000 home


Elaine Zhou, the chief technology officer of Change.org. Change.org

F ounded in 2007, nonprofit Change.org raises awareness of social, environmental, and geopolitical issues.

To help the company grow, CTO Elaine Zhou is aiming to modernize the organization's internal tools.

This article is part of "Tech Leadership Playbook," a series that shares advice from the most innovative tech execs.

In the summer of 2020, Elaine Zhou decided to make a career change.

Inspired by racial-justice movements across the country and a momentous presidential election, she wanted to harness her tech leadership skills to make a difference. That's when she landed the job as the chief technology officer of Change.org, one of the largest global petition websites dedicated to rallying communities around social, geopolitical, and environmental issues.

Zhou found Change.org's user base to be vast  the nonprofit boasts over 700 million users across 196 different countries  so she wanted the company's team and tech strategies to reflect that.

"I used to have engineers in only three countries: the US, Canada, and France. And now I have engineers in 10 different countries, in South America, Africa, India," she told Insider. "I think that diverse teams bring in different perspectives. Our users come from more countries than 10. We need to at least have our engineers, the builders, represent them."

After spending over 15 years in the fast-paced startup economy, Zhou shared insights into how companies can incentivize organizational growth while working on consumer-facing products with purpose.

Think like a tech company, even if you're not one

When Zhou started at Change.org, her goal was to help the organization scale and meet demand. But to do that required a company-wide mindset adjustment.

"I think nowadays, every organization needs to think about themselves as a technology company," Zhou said. Technology is a powerful tool for growth, she added. Without taking full advantage of tech, companies might not be able to adapt their offerings to meet the market. And while Change.org is a values-driven organization, Zhou instructed her team to think like a tech company: solutions-driven and fast on their feet.

Story continues

Change.org's user base is located all across the globe. For example, an activist in the Middle East might have very different requirements for privacy and security than an organizer in Canada. Taking each user's safety requirements into account requires a localized, and adaptable, technological approach, Zhou said.

"Without technology, I don't think any organization can make that happen," she added. "If a team plans to utilize technology to make an impact, then they need to fundamentally position themselves as a technology company."

Don't be afraid of AI

Artificial intelligence has an intimidating reputation, especially for teams that have never used it. But Zhou said companies shouldn't be afraid to use AI in areas of the organization where there's limited manual bandwidth.

"What model to build is based on our understanding of the problems," she said, adding to first identify the problem that could be solved using AI and the one that will have the biggest impact on consumers. "Over time, we're able to build a model our users gain confidence working in."

Zhou recommends implementing the "human in the loop" strategy. Machine learning is not perfect, so to build a model that will be disseminated across a considerable user base, it's best to have people verify the results.

It also helps to include the people who will be using the tools. When using AI to build a new function, Zhou and her team connect with Change.org's users and watch in real time how they're interacting with the software.

"We work closely with our internal users, our campaigners, so we build our features with them," Zhou said. "The campaigners share with the engineers their challenges, and we observe how they do the work. Then we collect enough data to start to build the right models. This helps them to automate the work and get it done faster."

Move to modernize infrastructure

While Change.org's user base is large, its engineering team is small. And like many businesses across the country, Change.org is also facing economic and investment constraints. Zhou believes this is when it's time to take stock and modernize.

"For a smaller team to do more, we need to modernize and simplify things," she said. "This means cutting down on things we don't need, consolidating, and trying to leap far rather than catch up on everything."

It's imperative for leaders like Zhou to keep up with tech and all of its advancements. But sometimes, leaders don't have the bandwidth and have to turn the operational constraints  like dollars and resources  into incentive and motivation.

"If we are able to position ourselves as a technology company, and change the engineers' mindset to think about, 'If we were doing this right now, what would we do?' versus 'What is good enough to just get by?,' that's important," she said.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Clint Eastwood and Christina Sandera have been dating since 2014

David M Benett/Dave Benett/Getty

Clint Eastwood has found love again with Christina Sandera.

The Hollywood legend has had several high-profile romances over the years, but he keeps his relationship with Sandera, whom he's been dating since 2014, relatively private.

The pair reportedly met when Sandera was working at Eastwood's property, the Mission Ranch Hotel in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, on the Monterey peninsula where Eastwood has lived for decades.

Prior to their relationship, Eastwood had been married twice; to model Maggie Johnson from 1953 to 1987 and to news anchor Dina Ruiz from 1996 to 2004. He's also had several high-profile relationships outside of his two marriages, including long-term romances with Titanic actress Frances Fisher and his The Gauntlet costar Sondra Locke. With his past partners, he's welcomed eight children, including actor Scott Eastwood.

The Million Dollar Baby actor has made it clear that he doesn't discuss personal matters. "There are other people that are involved there and they're vulnerable people," he told CBS News in 2004. "I can protect myself, but they can't."

So, who is Clint Eastwood's girlfriend? Keep reading to learn more about Christina Sandera.

She and Eastwood started dating in 2014

Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic

Eastwood and Sandera reportedly first crossed paths while she was working as a hostess at a property Eastwood owns, the Mission Ranch Hotel.

The actor purchased the hotel back in 1986, and spent millions renovating the property into a luxurious resort. And while Eastwood is said to be a fixture at Mission Ranch, he's known to keep to himself. "I'm not the jolly host type," he told Architectural Digest in 2016.

She's very private

John Salangsang/Variety/Penske Media/Getty

While her boyfriend may be an A-list actor, Sandera maintains a more low-key profile. Aside from her relationship with Eastwood, not much is known about her, and she is not on social media.

Story continues

The Gran Torino star also skews from the spotlight, and the couple have opted for a quiet life together in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, a small coastal town in which Eastwood formerly served as the mayor.

Eastwood has yet to speak publicly about their relationship as well.

She and Eastwood made their red carpet debut at the Academy Awards

Jeff Vespa/WireImage

At the 2015 Oscars, Eastwood's film American Sniper was nominated for six awards, including Best Picture. He brought Sandera as his date, marking the couple's first public appearance together.

Before that, the pair were photographed grocery shopping together in June 2014, in photos obtained by the Daily Mail.

She's appeared on many red carpets with him since

Roy Rochlin/FilmMagic

Sandera has accompanied Eastwood to many events, especially pertaining to his films. In 2016, the pair appeared together at a screening of Eastwood's film Sully at the Directors Guild of America. In 2017, they went to the Cannes Film Festival together.

Eastwood has said he doesn't know if he'll ever remarry

Eastwood famously does not comment on his personal life, especially his romances  but in 1983, while in a long-term relationship with Sondra Locke, he expressed doubts about remarrying. At that point, Eastwood had divorced his first wife. "I've had one marriage that didn't work, and I don't know if I'd want to do that again," he told PEOPLE.

He did marry again, to newscaster Dina Ruiz, but the pair divorced in 2016.

She's spent time with Eastwood's kids

JB Lacroix/Getty

Though Eastwood's kids didn't all grow up together, the family is close  and Sandera has seemingly been welcomed in.

In 2018, she joined Eastwood and his entire family  including three of his kids, his granddaughter and Eastwood's first wife  at the premiere of his film The Mule.

In May 2020, Scott Eastwood shared with Access Hollywood how the blended family planned to celebrate Eastwood's 90th birthday.

"We're going to do just a family thing," Scott said. "Very calm, very mellow. He doesn't like birthdays. He's just sort of like, 'I don't want to do birthdays  We'll sneak a cake in there, definitely. He probably won't like it, but we'll put one in."

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
Learn all about the signature British bread and how it differs from the United Statess English muffin.

Victoria Gardner/Getty Images

Time for tea and crumpets. This is a scene you might be familiar with from your episodes of Downton Abbey or British comedies like Keeping Up Appearances, where Hyacinth Bucket serves crumpets and tea in her china of "Royal Doulton with the hand-painted periwinkles."

The British are known for their tradition of tea and crumpets, but are crumpets the same as the English muffins that pop up from the toaster of American kitchens?

What Is a Crumpet?

A crumpet is a small griddle bread made from an unsweetened batter of water or milk, flour, and yeast. It is a popular choice for breakfast or afternoon tea in the United Kingdom. They are also enjoyed in Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and Australia.

Crumpets are a small, round bread with a spongy interior texture. You can find crumpets in some grocery stores, along specialty aisles or international sections, in the United States. English muffins are the closest equivalent to the British treat widely available in the bread sections of markets or grocery stores in the U.S.

Related:12 British Cake Recipes to Sweeten Your Celebration

History of the Crumpet

The word for crumpet refers to a crumpled or curled-up cake, based on a 14th century reference to a "crompid cake" and the Old English word for crumpled.

Crumpets are a spongy type of griddle cake, made from a batter and cooked in a hot, flat pan. The batter is typically made with yeast, sugar, flour, baking soda, and milk. Crumpets are shaped on a hot griddle or pan with a designated ring to hold the shape. The batter is poured into the rings and cooked until it rises to form a spongy top. A traditional crumpet is crisp on the bottom with a soft and chewy exterior.

This British food item is first mentioned in 1382 in the work of theologian John Wycliffe, where they are described as a kind of flat cake and cooked on a hot stone. Early recipes for crumpets were often made with buckwheat flour. A fluffier leavened version appeared during the Victorian era when the specific ring molds were first introduced to give the crumpet its signature round, biscuit-like shape. The crumpet is often associated as a food item served by the characters of the higher class in British movies and television with tea in fine bone china. Pinkies up!

Story continues

That said, crumpets have actually always been enjoyed by people of all social classes for breakfast and afternoon tea.

Related:15 Elegant Tea Sandwiches

Crumpet vs. English Muffin: What's the Difference?

Crumpets and English muffins are both part of many breakfast menus. Is there really a difference?

The English muffin is widely recognized in its package with the horse-drawn carriage.

According to the Thomas' Breads website, Samuel Bath Thomas created the Original "Nooks & Crannies" English Muffin in 1880 after moving from England to the United States. It states, "He used a top secret process that included griddle baking to create a muffin that was crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. He later opened his own bakery in New York City. Soon after, Thomas' English Muffins became a popular part of the American breakfast."

These days, we recognize the English muffin as an all-American classic used by restaurants, chefs, and fast food chains.

Both English muffins and crumpets incorporate air bubbles which give them their unique structure thats perfect to hold a spread of butter, jam, preserves, eggs, melted cheese and other combinations of ingredients.

The key difference in preparation is that crumpets are made out of batter poured into ring molds, while English muffins are made from a dough. The crumpets are also only cooked on one side to give them their familiar texture of an all-over crusty exterior, while English muffins are cooked on both sides.

Then there is the advertised trait of English muffins being "fork split" to easily cut in half before being toasted. This is what makes them ideal for breakfast sandwiches. Crumpets, however, are kept whole with butter and jams spread on top, no splitting. The contrast between using a batter and dough is what creates the difference in taste and texture. Crumpets have a light and chewy structure, while an English muffin is more doughy and crispy with its signature nooks and crannies.

Crumpets can be served slathered with warm butter and jam, golden syrup, lemon curd, preserves or clotted cream.
The National Rifle Association Holds Annual Convention in Indianapolis - Credit: Getty Images

After a pro-Donald Trump super PAC released an ad depicting a Ron DeSantis lookalike eating pudding with his fingers, a super PAC supporting Floridas Republican governor put out an ad of its own, asking why the former president is being so mean to him.

Donald Trump is being attacked by a Democrat prosecutor in New York. So why is he spending millions attacking the Republican governor of Florida? the ad released Sunday by pro-DeSantis group Never Back Down asked, referring to the Southern District of New Yorks indictment of Trump on 34 felony counts related to hush money payments. The ad, entitled Fight Democrats, Not Republicans, first aired on Fox News Sunday this weekend.

More from Rolling Stone

The TV spot accused Trump of stealing pages from the Biden-Pelosi playbook and attacked him for claiming DeSantis would cut Social Security benefits. Trump should fight Democrats, not lie about Governor Ron DeSantis, the ad said. What happened to Donald Trump?

While the video released Sunday is Never Back Downs first televised ad, its not the groups first video attacking Trump. On Friday, right before the former president addressed the National Rifle Associations (NRA) annual meeting, the group released an ad calling Trump a gun grabber and featuring footage of Trump advocating for gun control measures.

Trump promised @NRA members he'd have their back.



But when #2A rights came under attack, Trump abandoned us and sided with liberal Democrats in support of gun control. https://t.co/vvc5QAgR42 pic.twitter.com/MEvwVETiXG  Never Back Down (@NvrBackDown24) April 14, 2023

Trump cut and run like a coward. Trump the gun grabber doesnt deserve a second chance, the narrator intoned in the video.

Story continues

While the former president has already launched his 2024 campaign, and the pro-Trump MAGA PAC has been running attack ads against DeSantis for weeks, the Florida Republican has not yet formally announced his intent to run. But with ads like these attacking Trump, its pretty clear DeSantis is gunning for the White House.

Best of Rolling Stone

Click here to read the full article.
Seven pieces of artwork from local high school students is part of the Ohio Governors Youth Art Exhibition.

Virtual art competitions were held regionally the first weekend in March in the states 15 regions. The exhibition is open to all of Ohio's 1,112 high schools, public and private, and chartered by the State of Ohio Department of Education. There were 365 entries submitted in the Eastern Region (Region 10), which includes schools in Carroll, Coshocton, Stark and Tuscarawas counties. Jurors for the 2023 Region 10 competition were Aaron Foster, professor at Kent State University at Stark; Tina Lawver, local mixed media artist; and Jade Brundelet, art education graduate assistant at Kent State University.

The jurors selected 60 pieces to compete virtually at the state level the second weekend in March, when fine art professionals and professors from across the country narrowed regional selections to the Top 300. The jurors selected an additional 60 works as part of a cameo show.

State art pieces selected by school district in Region 10 were:

Canton South High School  Top 300, Nadelie Perdew, photography,Reflection; Cameo Show: Mikayla Ramey, photography, Looking Glass.

Indian Valley High School  Top 300 , Emily Lewis, printmaking, Chinatown.

Perry High School  Top 300, Mya Hoskins, painting, Colors of Glass and Tatum Slates, fibers, Peace; Cameo Show: Emily Altimore, painting, Berry Delight" and Lilian Vazquez, painting, Orange Kiss.

State selections will be displayed in the Ohio Governor's Youth Art Exhibition's main show in Columbus at the Rhodes Tower, and the cameo show will hang at the State Department of Education.

A Region 10 art show was held at the Tuscarawas County Center for the Arts recently. Juror and local artist Bill Koch awarded top regional honors to the following students: Best in Show, Daniel Secrest of Perry; first place, Hayden Giauque of Perry; second place, Mya Hoskins of Perry; third place, Aubrey Elliott of Indian Valley; and honorable mentions, Chloe Erb of Indian Valley, Halle Lint of Dover and Aidan Gotchell of Perry.

Story continues

Art educators with selected state and regional works are Chris Bergert and Michelle Rosette from Canton South, Keri Stratton from Dover, Sara Dittfeld from Indian Valley, Jeff Baker from Newcomerstown, Heather Agar from New Philadelphia, Susan Rusu and Chris Wenning from Perry.

Nursing scholarships available

MASSILLON  The Massillon Rotary Foundation Nursing Scholarship awards will be available for 2023. The amount of the scholarship has yet to be determined.

Eligible applicants must live or work in Massillon or Western Stark County and be accepted or enrolled in an accredited nursing program. Scholarships are eligible to be renewed annually.

Scholarship applications and guidelines are available at www.massillonrotary.org under the Rotary Foundation tab. Deadline to submit applications is April 30, and awards will be announced by June 15. For more information, contact MRFoundation10@gmail.com.

Four Mount Union online courses earn national certification for academic quality

ALLIANCE  University of Mount Union recently had four online courses earn national certification from Quality Matters.

The four courses that earned QM certification were:

Introduction to Professional Writing, taught by Rodney Dick, professor of English

Marketing Management, taught by Wendy Ziems-Mueller, director of the fully online Master of Business Administration program

Foundations of Leadership, taught by Mandy Capel, professor of education in the fully online Master of Education program

Anatomy and Physiology I, taught by Chris Marks, associate professor of biology

To receive this recognition, Mount Union faculty worked with Stephen Craig, the universitys director of digital learning and design, for more than 20 weeks on a thorough course development process. After each course was taught at least twice, they were submitted to QM for certification, where a team of external reviewers analyzed each course on 42 specific review standards.

A course earns the QM Certification Mark once it meets QM Rubric Standards at the 85% threshold or better and meets all Essential Standards. All four Mount Union courses met the standard by more than 97%. To learn more about QM and its efforts, visit qualitymatters.org.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Area students in Region 10 Ohio Gov.'s Youth Art Exhibition
Halle Berry and Ben Crump

Celebrities are using their platforms to fight for justice as 16-year-old Ralph Yarl fights for his life in a hospital.

Yesterday (April 16), Halle Berry called on social media to seek justice for Yarl after learning what happened to him. His name is Ralph Yarl, and Im sick and tired of this feeling, Berry started on Twitter. My heart completely broke when I learned this precious 16-year-old, who accidentally rang the door of the wrong address in an attempt to pick up his siblings, was shot in the head.

The Monsters Ball actress also shared two photos of Yarl  one was an image of him posed on a balcony, and the other was a picture of him lying in a hospital. Berry added in her threads second post, By a man who didnt want him on his property.

His name is #RalphYarl and Im sick and tired of this feelingmy heart completely broke when I learned this precious 16-year-old, who accidentally rang the door of the wrong address in an attempt to pick up his siblings, was shot in the head (1/3) pic.twitter.com/4VaZo7EFVE  Halle Berry (@halleberry) April 17, 2023

The Academy Awards winner then called on the internet to help reach out to prosecutor Zachary Thompson and demand an immediate arrest of Yarls shooter, reportedly a white male, with the appropriate charges.

On (April 13), the Black teenager was heading to pick up his siblings in North Kansas City, Missouri when he accidentally rang a doorbell one block from where they were. According to a GoFundMe page created by his aunt yesterday, a man opened the door. After reportedly locking eyes with Yarl, he allegedly shot him in the head.

My nephew fell to the ground, and the man shot him again, the page continued. Ralph was then able to get up and run to the neighbors house, looking for help.

Story continues

Yarls aunt also noted her nephew ran to three different houses before someone offered him aid. An individual finally agreed to help Yarl after telling him to lie on the ground with his hands up.

The 16-year-old is fighting for his life at a Missouri hospital as his loved ones demand justice against the shooter. Last night, famed attorney Benjamin Ben Crump revealed Yarls family retained him for representation in the ongoing case.
EXCLUSIVE: Details are emerging about Wim Wenders 3D documentary Anselm, which will gets its world premiere as a special screening at the Cannes Film Festival next month.

HanWay Films has boarded world sales on the latest doc from three-time Oscar nominee Wenders, director of Pina, Buena Vista Social Club, Paris, Texas and Wings Of Desire.

More from Deadline

Deals have already been agreed for Les Films Du Losange in France and DCM in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Produced by Karsten Brunig (Race), the immersive film will deep dive into German artist Anselm Kiefers work, looking at his life path, inspiration, and creative process. It will hone in on his fascination with myth and history. Wenders shot the film over the course of two years. Above is a first-look image.

The movie was shot in Germany, France and Italy. Cinematography comes from Franz Lustig (The Aftermath) with music by Leonard Kuner (Dear Future Children) and editing by Maxine Goedicke (Everything Will Change). On screen are Anselm Kiefer, Daniel Kiefer (young man), Anton Wenders (boy).

Gabrielle Stewart, CEO HanWay Films said today: Wim Wenders is a true explorer and pioneer of 3D technology in cinema. It is a privilege after the success HanWay enjoyed with Pina to be presenting to the world Wenders latest groundbreaking use of the form to capture another pioneering artists life and work in a truly original way.

Wenders is also playing in Competition at Cannes with Tokyo-set drama Perfect Days.

Best of Deadline

Story continues

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.
About 20 years ago, Gerald Swart spotted his town jail sitting in a neighbors iron pile. It was just a big cage, really: a square box with iron lattice and a couple of chains hanging off a side door. A black sign with amateurish lettering said GOFF CITY JAIL.

It used to be right north of the bank in Goff when I was growing up, Swart, 82, said of the jail. Theyd lock up drunks and keep em in there overnight. But that ended sometime around the 50s.

Swart bought the jail from the neighbor for $11 and hauled it over to his property. It sits there to this day, not far from a building he calls Skeezixs Toy Museum, where Swart houses his collection of vintage toy trucks, tractors and other farm implements. Ive tried to research its history, Swart said of the jail, but all the reports from those days, theyre all lost.

Sometimes called tiny jails, sometimes called calabooses, single-cell holding structures like the Goff City Jail are scattered all across the prairie towns of Kansas. Most date back to sometime around the turn of the last century. Some, like Swarts, look like bear cages. Others are built from native stone or poured concrete.

Inside is just enough room for a prisoner, maybe two. A relic of harsher times on the frontier, they were used most often to temporarily hold troublemakers awaiting transport to county jails or larger towns.

Theyre kind of just sitting out there hiding in plain sight, said Emily Cowan, whose work researching tiny Kansas jails recently led the Kansas Preservation Alliance to add the structures to the states Most Endangered List. Some places have chosen to repaint them or preserve them somehow, or include them as part of a historical museum. But many are deteriorating and forgotten about, and information on them is scarce.

Cowan has so far documented about 50 tiny jails in Kansas, plus more in Missouri and Oklahoma. They are in places like Bison (population: 179) and Zenda (population: 72) and Mahaska (population: 46).

Story continues

Almost every town up here had a little place like that, said Jo Rippe of the Washington County Historical Society. Mahaska, Palmer, Greenleaf, Hanover. We dont do much with them. If theres some kind of gathering in town, maybe a few people stop and look.

In Mound Valley, about 20 miles north of the Oklahoma border in southeast Kansas, local officials have recently been discussing how to preserve their local calaboose, built in the late 1800s, according to Kevin Keltz, board chair of the Mound Valley Historical Society.

Tucked behind what is now a convenience store called Porkys, the 10-by-14-foot red-brick structure has an arched ceiling and a connected outhouse that was added at some point after its construction. It sits on city-owned property and is locked, the locals say, to keep people from fornicating and using drugs inside.

Its in really horrible shape, and we dont want people in there messing around, said Tammie Logan, Mound Valley city clerk.

Logan said the City Council voted in 2021 to appropriate funds for masonry work on the jail. But brick masons are hard to find in that part of the state, and the one quote they got for the work was $8,000  a steep price for a town of 348.

For such a tiny little building, its quite a bit just to make it look nice and keep the roof from falling in, Logan said. But we really dont want to lose it. In 1907, we had a couple of major fires that burned a lot of the original town, so theres not a lot of original buildings left, and this is one of them. We want it to be a safe structure where, when we have events like the Flagpole Festival in June, people can go inside it and have a look, take pictures, things like that.

The inside of a one-room jail house in Lecompton, Kansas.

There is some precedent for such preservation efforts. Outside Lawrence in 2011, the Lecompton Historical Society received a $55,000 cultural heritage grant from the Douglas County Commission that it used to relocate Lecomptons rapidly deteriorating 11-by-13-foot, 1892-built limestone jail off private property and onto property owned by the historical society.

The restoration provided, according to the grant application, an educational opportunity for students and adult visitors to experience firsthand what, by todays standards, was cruel and unusual punishment.

We took it apart piece by piece, with each stone numbered so it could be put in exactly the same spot, said Dan Rockhill, a University of Kansas professor whose firm, Rockhill and Associates, oversaw the project. The stone floor, the original wooden door, the bars across the opening, the hardware  everything like it was, just moved a few hundred feet across an alley.

And way out in Wyatt Earp territory, five and a half hours southwest of Kansas City, the Cimarron City Jail was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019. Prisoners were kept in the white concrete structure, built in 1929, until the sheriff could be located and take them to the bigger county jail, also in Cimarron.

Along with graffiti, the walls inside contain markings that indicate how long certain prisoners stayed in the cell.

The historic register states that the jail was in use only until 1958, but local resident Pete Thomas remembers things a little differently.

My dad was sheriff in the late 60s, and he used it to put drunks in to sleep it off, Thomas said. It was right next to the swimming pool and everyone tried to look in the high window to see who was there. I recall lifting and being lifted to see inside.

The Cimarron City Jail was built in 1929.

In recent years, before the National Register designation, the city had been storing various items in the 12-by-16-foot structure, said Sara McFarland, a local historian who works at the Cimarron City Library. Now theres nothing in there at all except the old chimney that doesnt work and a small toilet and sink in the holding cell. But weve got signage outside now. People around here laugh a little about it, having this tiny old jail on the national register. But I think its kind of cool.

You wont learn it from the plaque outside, but McFarland shared a story she dug up in the local paper The Jacksonian from 1929, the year Cimarrons calaboose was built. Three men whod stolen a Chevrolet in Los Angeles were picked up in Cimarron after stealing a tire and rim from a local automotive company. Two were put in the county jail, the other in the city jail. Overnight, the men in the county jail escaped by busting down the door and tying several blankets together, which they hung out a third-story window and climbed down to the ground.

In the dark, they made their way over to the tiny jail, where the third member of their gang was locked up. They took $20 from the man, left him inside the cell, and disappeared into the night.

No trace of them has been found, the newspaper reported.
Local agencies in the Treasure Valley are concerned about the impact that new Idaho laws focusing funds on car-centric projects will have on efforts to make cities more accessible to pedestrians and bicycles.

House Bill 237, which Gov. Brad Little signed into law earlier this month, restricts how property taxes collected by highway districts can be spent, and requires that they be primarily reserved for bridge and road infrastructure for vehicles.

Another new law defines congestion mitigation as only related to vehicles, which excludes potential efforts to reduce congestion by improving other forms of transit.

Two more bills that passed limit how road district revenues  like sales tax, which gets distributed in part to highway districts  can be used, requiring them to only be spent on improvements for vehicles.

In interviews with the Idaho Statesman, Rep. Megan Blanksma, R-Hammett and Rep. Joe Palmer, R-Meridian, emphasized that the legislation is not meant to prevent agencies from spending funds to improve public transit, pedestrian or other infrastructure.

But that hasnt stopped agencies in the Treasure Valley from worrying that the language  which they say is unclear  could handicap their efforts to diversify transit opportunities and implement life-saving safety improvements.

For more than a decade, road deaths have been on the rise nationwide, even as they continue to fall in many other wealthy countries. From 2017 to 2021, Idaho totaled 85 fatal pedestrian crashes and 15 fatal bicycle crashes, according to data from the Idaho Department of Transportation.

At a March hearing in the House, members of the Boise Bicycle Project, the Idaho Walk Bike Alliance and Compass testified against House Bill 237. Compass is the Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho, a regional transportation planning agency.

Local highway districts get revenue from a number of sources, but a large portion come from property taxes. Those funds are then used to pay for improvements and maintenance, ranging from road widening to adding bicycle lanes, crosswalks or curb cuts.

Story continues

Our real concern here was that the Legislature was ultimately tying the hands of the highway district and how they would be able to use that portion of their funding as it relates specifically to pedestrian and cyclist safety projects, Kathy Griesmyer, Boises government affairs director, told the Statesman by phone.

Local government officials also fear the restrictions could harm the ability of local transit agencies to receive federal grants. Those grants often require a local agency to match a portion of the funding. Property tax revenue is a common way to do so, as it is relatively stable.

There really arent many other sources available for funding that local (agencies) have the flexibility to use when theres a good opportunity for federal funding for those local matches, said Jacob Miller, government affairs coordinator for Compass, at the House hearing.

In an email, Amy Luft, a spokesperson for Compass, told the Statesman the agency has concerns about the effects of the bill, but said its too soon to know its impacts.

Griesmyer pointed out that last year, the Ada County Highway District received a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation for 12 pedestrian- and cyclist-focused projects. The grant required a $1.2 million match.

In an email, ACHD spokesperson Rachel Bjornestad told the Statesman the district has not done an assessment of how the new law will impact revenues and project selection.

After last years elections, which saw Miranda Gold defeat incumbent president Mary May, most of the ACHD Commission campaigned on supporting multi-modal transportation. Unlike other highway districts in the state, ACHD is responsible for not only more rural county roads but also roads in downtown Boise and other Ada County cities.

Federal grants often tied to local funding requirements

So far during the administration of President Joe Biden, Congress has authorized billions of dollars in new funding toward bike, pedestrian and mass transit infrastructure projects, which Griesmyer said she doesnt want Idaho to miss out on.

Tying the highway districts hands on federal tax dollars they could use I think is short-sighted when theres so much money on the table, Griesmyer said.

In an interview with the Statesman, Blanksma said that the bills were not intended to stop projects for alternative transportation and wont do so. She said the legislation is meant to clarify for citizens what their tax dollars are supposed to go toward. She added that the Legislature has directed more money toward highway districts in recent years, and wants those funds to be focused on building better roads.

If youre going to tax people, if youre going to collect their money, then you need to make sure that its directed to what it was intended to be used for, Blanksma said. If districts are taxing residents for highways, lets make sure that taxpayers understand that thats where those monies are intended to go. And if you want to put them in another direction, thats not prevented. Its just that you need to be completely transparent for the taxpayer.

She also said that other sections of state code allow agencies to use state funds in coordination with federal funds, allowing them to provided needed matching for federal grants.

Theres plenty of room for them to build bike lanes with other money, Rep. Palmer told the Statesman. He also noted it was not true that the new laws would limit the ability of such districts to get federal matching, adding that the state has recently provided more money for child safety on roads than ever.

He said that the legislation putting limits on special taxing districts  which in addition to highway districts can include cemetery, irrigation, and other districts  was meant to ensure they stay within the bounds of what taxpayers created them for.

They need to go back and double-check that theyre not stepping out of bounds a little bit, he said. You have to be responsible to what the taxpayers are asking for, noting that if the needs of a taxing district changes, then its charter should change, too.

Elaine Clegg, CEO of Valley Regional Transit, which oversees Treasure Valley public transit, said she had asked the Legislature to reword House Bill 237 to make it clearer that projects involving other forms of transit would not be excluded. The Idaho Association of Cities also asked for the same change, which Sen. Ali Rabe, D-Boise, attempted to add to the bill. The bill ended up passing without the suggested revision.

Clegg said she plans to take the Legislature at their word, hoping that the new law will not limit alternative transportation projects. But she said it will make those projects more difficult to secure.

The law create hurdles that will make it more difficult for most local governments in Idaho to access federal funds and to do other things than they might have had it not been written, she said. It is clearly the state trying to create a restriction on what local government can do.

Roughly 30% of Idahoans dont drive, Clegg said, adding that she hopes that, in the coming years, the Legislature pays more attention to other forms of transportation.
WASHINGTON, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Airlines for America (A4A) President and CEO Nicholas E. Calio was honored at Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology's spring 2023 gala. Vaughn College, a private college in New York, specializes in aviation education and is a pipeline to many A4A member carriers.

(PRNewsfoto/Airlines for America)

"I am honored and humbled to celebrate Vaughn College because I believe in what Vaughn does, what it stands for and what it produces," Calio said. "You are training future pilots, mechanics and air traffic controllers, who will help keep the U.S. aviation safety record the gold standard in the world."

As a first-generation college graduate, Calio addressed the opportunities higher education provides and the importance of Vaughn's workforce pipeline.

"Vaughn College does an exceptional job of instilling the same message my parents instilled in me  the value of working hard to turn dreams into reality," he said.

Calio specifically addressed Vaughn's Student Experience Fund, a program that provides hands-on, off-campus learning experiences for students to connect with potential employers and alleviates some of the financial burden to allow students to accept internships that lead to careers in the aviation industry. He praised the program as a key driver of the institution's incredible 92 percent career placement rate for graduates.

The U.S. airline industry is aggressively recruiting and investing in the 'next generation' of employees amid surging demand for air travel. In fact, they have helped launch more than 100,000 careers since 2020 from increasingly diverse backgrounds.

"A4A member carriers are recruiting aggressively and investing heavily in the 'next generation' of employees. That is why A4A and our carriers are proud to partner with educational institutions that are helping students reach their career goals in the aviation industry," Calio said.

Today, more than 90% of Americans have flown commercially in their lifetime  a percentage that continues to grow amid unprecedented accessibility and affordability. This is why U.S. carriers are committed to supporting institutions, like Vaughn College, that help secure a pipeline of talent for years to come.

Story continues

ABOUT A4A

Airlines for America (A4A) members are Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Atlas Air, Delta Air Lines, FedEx, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines and UPS. Air Canada is an associate member.

A4A advocates on behalf of the leading U.S. airlines, both passenger and cargo carriers. A4A works collaboratively with industry stakeholders, federal agencies, the Administration, Congress, labor and other groups to improve aviation for the traveling and shipping public.

For more information about the airline industry, visit our website airlines.org and our blog, A Better Flight Plan, at airlines.org/blog.

Follow us on Twitter: @airlinesdotorg.

Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/AirlinesforAmerica.

Join us on Instagram: instagram.com/AirlinesforAmerica.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/calio-honored-at-vaughn-college-annual-gala-301799013.html

SOURCE Airlines for America
First starting with Italian 'nonnas,' Enoteca Maria's rotating 30 chefs now include grandmothers from countries including Japan, Peru and Sri Lanka

Enoteca Maria Nonna Christina from Italy cooks in the kitchen

After Joe Scaravella's grandmother died in 1999, he really missed their traditional Italian family meals together.

To bring back these comforts of home, in March of 2007 he created a restaurant in Staten Island, New York, he called Enoteca Maria, where different Italian grandmothers  or 'nonnas'  would cook the meals they served their families for decades.

"They're so full of love, they hug me and they hug the customers," Scaravella, 67, tells PEOPLE in this week's issue.

Scaravella then decided he wanted, as he says, to "celebrate every culture," and added a melting pot of nonnas to his staff. There are now 30 rotating nonnas ages 50 to 91 from Italy and other countries including Japan, Peru and Sri Lanka serving up their native cuisines three nights a week to adoring diners.

"They say 'Oh it was so good,' " says one Enoteca Maria nonna, May "Dolly" Joseph, 71, from Sri Lanka. "It makes me feel really happy, out of this world."

Enoteca Maria Nonna Rosa from Peru showcases her meal

Opening the restaurant, named in his late mother Maria's honor, also restored a sense of joy in Scaravella's life.

Related: More Stories to Make You Smile

"I just tried," he says, "to recreate that part of my life that was gone. This is like therapy for me."

The home-cooked meals these nonna chefs create change daily. On April 9, for example, nonna Adelina from Italy's dishes included Agnello Arosto  roasted lamb with potatoes in a white wine sauce  and a variety of pastas. Meanwhile, nonna Yumi from Japan cooked miso grilled salmon and a Japanese eggplant dish

Never miss a story  sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

"Most of these ladies, their husbands have passed away, the children have grown up and they've moved out," Scaravella says. "They're packed with culture and they need an outlet. And that's what we do  we provide that outlet."

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
Ahmad Jamal performing live in 2014 | Photo by Andy Sheppard/Redferns via Getty Images

Jazz piano legend Ahmad Jamal has died at the age of 92. The pioneering musician, who was known for his minimalistic playing and compositions that explored space, time and dynamics, passed away at his home in Ashley Falls, Massachusetts on Sunday, 16th April.

The news was confirmed to The Washington Post by his longtime agent Maurice Montaya, who said Jamal died of complications from cancer.

Ahmad Jamal Performs Poinciana Live in 2012

Jamal was born Frederick Russell Jones in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1930. He began playing piano at the age of three. He studied under Mary Cardwell Dawson at the age of seven and pianist James Miller in his teens, beginning to play professionally at 14.

After leaving high school, Jamal began touring with jazz orchestras. He moved to Chicago in 1950, forming his own group  the Three Strings, later known as the Ahmad Jamal Trio  the following year. He put out multiple records in the late 50s as a bandleader, joined by bassist Israel Crosby and drummer Vernel Fournier.

It was around this time he put out arguably his most well-known work, an arrangement of jazz standard Poinciana which appeared on his 1958 live album At the Pershing: But Not for Me. Over the ensuing decades, he led bands that included bassist Jamil Nasser, drummer Frank Gant, guitarist Calvin Keys and more.

The iteration that included Nasser and Gant recorded one of Jamals most acclaimed albums, 1970s The Awakening. The album had a lasting impact both on jazz as well as hip-hop culture: artists including Nas and Common have sampled tracks from The Awakening in their own work.

Jamal received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy in 2017. His most recent album was 2019 Ballades, which includes a solo piano version of Poinciana  the song that brought him fame all those years ago.

The post Jazz Piano Great Ahmad Jamal Dead at 92 appeared first on Music Feeds.
The camera pans upwards. We see a balcony and a sliver of a window. A voice calls Action! Luca Marinelli emerges, dressed as Benito Mussolini. He looks down on the street below. Suddenly, he turns to the camera and speaks directly to the audience, the image of charm and seduction: Ive always loved dogs, he quips.

This scene sums up the essence of M. Son of the Century, the new eight-episode limited series, directed by Joe Wright (Atonement, Darkest Hour) and produced by Sky Studios and Lorenzo Mielis Fremantle-owned The Apartment Pictures, in collaboration with Pathe and Small Forward. The series may be, as Nils Hartmann, executive vp of Sky Studios Italy and Germany says, repeatedly, the largest and most ambitious project the Comcast-owned studio is working on, but what stands out is the shows unique tone and rhythm. The story of the rise of the Italian fascist leader is being told from the inside, showing how Mussolini could bewitch a nation and transform the politics of the 20th century. And, by casting the effortlessly charming Italian star Marinelli (The Old Guard, The Eight Mountains) as Il Duce, making the audience complicit in that transformation.

More from The Hollywood Reporter

We wanted to create something dangerous and divisive, just like the theme and the character in question, says Mieli. Mussolini had this incredible ability to charm. He was charismatic. And we decided to focus precisely on this aspect, without beating around the bush. Were telling a true story. But it was important to us that people could understand this character and his charisma. [Mussolini], in a sense, is similar to an actor.

Instead of the classic biopic approach, Mieli says, M. Son of the Century aims to be daring and brave [to] create a series that could be discussed.

Story continues

It is, Mieli admits, a risky approach  especially right now in Italy, where, after last years elections, the country is being ruled by the most far-right government since the fascist era. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni got her start in politics in a far-right party set up by diehard followers of Mussolini, though her Brothers of Italy movement  the big winners of the 2022 election  stresses its democratic credentials.

Joe Wright on the set of M. Son of the Century

M. Son of the Century represents a chance to explore the current significance of fascism and populism through an honest exploration of their modern-day origins. But it is walking a fine line: trying to make a 21st-century audience understand Mussolinis appeal, without portraying the father of fascism as some sort of hero.

My first reaction [when I was offered this role] was to run away, so to speak, says Marinelli. Before I started [shooting], I was shitting myself. We dont want to celebrate Mussolini at all. He was a criminal. We only want to tell his story and who he was, in our own way, according to Joes vision. All the adjectives used to describe Mussolini put a distance between us and him. We need to understand that he decided to do what he did, that he followed this path, and that he was always aware of what he was doing. [Joe] is a maestro, and Ive learned a lot from him. Like the devotion to this profession. Watching him at work was like watching an artist at work.

For his part, Wright calls Marinelli the most naturally gifted actor Ive ever met alongside his Darkest Hour star Gary Oldman. Hes always done everything I asked, and sometimes more. I am overwhelmed by what he does, and Im left glued to the screen.

By setting the story at the start of Mussolinis political career, when he was still working as a reporter, and was, in Mielis words, a charmer [with] great charisma, M. Son of the Century attempts to capture the complicated and ambivalent history of one of the 20th centurys most notorious figures.

M. Son of the Century, based on the first of a series of historical novels by Antonio Scurati on the life of Mussolini, tells the story of Mussolinis rise, from 1919, when he founded his extreme fascist organization Italian Fasces of Combat, through the kidnapping and murder in 1924 of one of his main political opponents, Italian socialist politician Giacomo Matteotti, by fascist forces. Stefano Bises (Gomorrah  The Series, The New Pope) and Davide Serino (1992, 1993) adapted the book for the screen.

On the set of TV series M. Son of the Century

We optioned the book roughly three years ago, says Mieli, so weve had a long time to shape this project. The book was very important to us as it offered essential information and a detailed documentation of those years. However, it is also a novel that tries to explain what this man did, from creating populism to fascism itself. Which is something were still dealing with today.

Wright, says Mieli, was a logical choice. Not only because of his work on the Oscar-winning Darkest Hour, which explores the personal struggles of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill ahead of his decision to go to war with Adolf Hitlers Germany, but also because, as a Brit, he brings an outsiders perspective.

Joe added something that an Italian director wouldnt, most likely, have been able to, says Hartmann. And the producers hope Wright will tell the Mussolini story in a way that will speak not just to an Italian audience, but will catch the attention of an international one too.

I feel I have a responsibility, says Wright. Im aware of the scope of this story. Most of all because its characters that havent been analyzed much. When youre making a movie about Churchill or Jane Austen [Wright directed the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice], you know that there are many other movies about Churchill and Jane Austen out there.

Fascism, notes Wright, is not a theme unique to Italy. Its everywhere, and that is truly terrifying. That is the problem.

Fremantle, who own producers The Apartment, has a five-year deal in place with Cinecitta Studios, but the group says it was Wrights decision to shoot the series on the legendary Roman backlot. For the show, entire neighborhoods, hotel rooms and newsrooms were thus re-created in 1920s style. The attention to detail, from production designer Mauro Vanzati, is astounding, almost obsessive. Hotel nightstands are stacked with books from the period. Old newspapers, with authentic 1920s headlines, lie discarded on desks. It would take an Italian mason to spot if the countertops and spotless floors of Mussolinis suite are fakes or actually hewn from Tuscan marble.

Every detail is being caught by Wrights Atonement cinematographer Seamus McGarvey, who is the first unit DOP on the series.

Director Joe Wright walks the Cinecitta Studios backlot during a break from shooting M. Son of the Century.

The scope of the project is immense. At the time of our visit, Wright had already been shooting for 94 days. This is the longest thing Ive ever shot, he admits.

While Wright is busy shooting some details, second unit director Sophie Muller and cinematographer Paolo Carnera (Gomorrah, The White Tiger) set up on Cinecittas high-tech LED wall, Europes second-largest, preparing a scene with Paolo Pierobon, who plays Gabriele DAnnunzio, an Italian poet who was an early supporter of, and inspiration for, the fascist movement.

All the details  costumes, furniture, architecture  are historically accurate. But, explains Bises, the tone and visual style break from the traditional path of a costume drama. For a long time we worked on tone, which is indeed fundamentally dramatic but contains comedic elements as well. We decided to have Mussolini talk directly to the camera in some scenes. Because Mussolini used two languages: a public one, where everything was carefully planned out, and a private one, where he was definitely more impulsive.

While the screenwriters worked on finding the right tone, Wright worked on the rhythm. On set, he says, he puts on music to re-create the atmosphere of the scene were about to shoot.

Reportedly, the soundtrack for M. Son of the Century will be composed by legendary English electronic music duo The Chemical Brothers, ensuring M. will not be your grandfathers period drama.

We wanted to show the grotesque side of this tragedy, says co-writer Serino. We didnt want to get on our soapbox with this series. Its tone will probably surprise you.

M. Son of the Century will go out next year, airing exclusively on Sky in Italy, the U.K., Ireland and German-speaking Europe. Fremantle is handling sales for the rest of the world.

Best of The Hollywood Reporter

Click here to read the full article.
Police tape

Details continue to emerge about the near-fatal shooting of 16-year-old Ralph Yarl in Kansas City, Missouri last Thursday (April 13). We now know what the gunman said to him immediately before opening fire.

Yarls mother asked him to pick up his 11-year-old twin brothers from a friends home in Kansas City. He mistakenly went to the wrong address and rang the doorbell shortly before 10 p.m. When an elderly white man answered the door, he wasted no time in telling the Black teen what he thought.

Whoever was inside took a little longer than he anticipated to respond, and so he just waited at the door, the familys attorney, Lee Merritt, told NBC News. He heard rustling around going on in the house and then finally the door was open. And he was confronted by a man who told him, Dont come back around here, and then he immediately fired his weapon.

The homeowner shot the teenager in the head, cracking his skull and leaving him with a critical brain injury. After the man fired the first shot, Yarl lay on the ground totally still. He fired his gun a second time and hit the accomplished clarinetist in his right arm.

The victims aunt, Faith Spoonmore, recounted to NBC how confused her nephew is by the whole situation. Well remind him like, Ralph, youre alive, buddy. And then he has the times where hes like, Why? I did nothing wrong. Why? I did nothing wrong. And he just cannot understand why, she lamented. So its waves. He goes through waves.

According to Merritt, the neighborhood where the shooting happened is predominantly white and conservative, and is commonly referred to among locals as Gods country.'

Weve heard reports from Black people who live in the neighborhood, who visit the neighborhood, that there seems to be a standing hostility towards Black presence in that community, he added.

Yarl was released from the hospital today (April 17) and is recovering at home with his family. The man who shot him was taken into custody after the incident but was released as the police investigation continues.
DESIGNER TRIBUTE: Relatives and friends of the late designer Katie Gallagher are planning a private memorial for her in May in New York, as officials continue to investigate her death as a homicide.

The invitation-only tribute will be held on May 18 at Saint Mary Grand in downtown Manhattan.

More from WWD

One of the designers three sisters, Marlee, said Monday that the program is still being finalized.

The three-hour affair is expected to feature a range of the designs that she created over the years that will be curated by her former stylists. There will also be prints of her last season and a video that focuses on her work and her career. Similar to many job-thirsty New York City transplants, Gallagher took a can-do approach to making ends meet, playing the long game to achieve what she really was after: a career in fashion. The Rhode Island School of Design graduate worked as a bartender, floral designer, seamstress and a fashion intern to make her way in the competitive field of fashion. Her ever-readiness was evident as a child, who on occasion would wake up the family household with a dinosaur-like lets-do-this roar, her mother Debra told WWD last year.

While Gallagher never ascended to international stardom or national fame, she created her own storyline and maintained a certain ingenuity. There also were occasional sparks of personal triumph, such as suiting up Lady Gaga, Laverne Cox and Daphne Guinness on occasion.

RELATED: Designer Katie Gallaghers Death Is Deemed a Homicide

Two weeks ago her death was ruled a homicide. At that time, the New York City Police Department reported no arrests had been made and the investigation remains ongoing. The New York City chief medical examiners office determined that the cause was due to acute intoxication by the combined effects of fentanyl, p-fluorofentanyl and ethanol. The 35-year-old had been found on July 24 in her Lower East Side apartment on Eldridge Street. In March, Gallaghers sister Lara encouraged anyone with information to contact the NYPD.

Story continues

Prior to her death, Gallagher was in the midst of a photography project with lensman William Eadon that involved a street casting (rather than using models), which was a new direction for her.

Next months event will feature a few speakers including former colleagues, friends and mentors, who will share insights into her life and work. Some of Gallaghers floral designer friends will handle the floral arrangements near the altar and other displays throughout the church.

The memorial service will conclude with a processional and ceremonial burning.

Best of WWD

Click here to read the full article.
LaShawn Thompson, 35, was pronounced dead in 2022 after succumbing to filthy, bug-infested conditions while incarcerated in Georgias Fulton County Jail. A year later, his family is fighting for answers and demanding a criminal investigation into his death, PEOPLE reports.

Attorney Michael D. Harper, whos representing Thompsons family, claims the Georgia-native was found unresponsive in his cell on Sept. 19, 2022, after being eaten alive by insects. Harper also blames Fulton County Jails unsanitary conditions as reasoning for his death.

More from VIBE.com

During a news conference on Thursday (April 13), graphic photos of Thompsons deceased body were shown to which his brother, Brad McCrae, compared what he saw to photos of Emmett Tills decades ago.

It was heartbreaking because nobody should be seen like that, McCrae stated, CNN reports. Nobody should see that. But the first thing that entered my mind was Emmett Till.

Thompsons family wants someone to be held accountable in his death and requests that Fulton County Jail, the same facility that holds Young Thug on RICO charges, be closed and replaced.

The jail cell Mr. Thompson was housed in, was not fit for a diseased animal, Harper said in a statement on April 12. He did not deserve this.

LaShawn Thompson

Per statement, Thompson was detained on June 12, 2022 for a simple battery misdemeanor, and was later placed in the psychiatric unit. Reportedly, authorities determined him to have unspecified mental conditions. Per reports, deterioration was visible on Thompsons body by officers and medical staff, but no one further investigated to see what was going on with his health.

They literally watched his health decline until he died, Harper said. When his body was found one of the detention officers refused to administer CPR because in her words she freaked out.

Story continues

Rapper YNW Melly Facing Death Penalty

Related Story

Per the Fulton County Medical Examiner, Thompsons body reportedly had no visible signs of trauma leading officials to list his death as undetermined. Elsewhere in reports, his body was covered in bed bugs when discovered and an official death date was unknown.

Reportedly documents also stated that, The decedents medical and social history is unknown.

According to PEOPLE, the Fulton County Sheriffs Office stated, Due to HIPPA statutes and regulations we are not able to share any information about what Mr. Thompsons health condition was upon being arrested or what decisions he made regarding his right to accept or refuse medical care.

However, the sheriffs office did acknowledge the dilapidated and rapidly eroding conditions of the jail, and declared that Sheriff Patrick Pat Labat would be fully investigating the circumstances possibly responsible for Thompsons death.

screenshot Fulton county sheriff's office response, LaSHawn Thompson death

The jails officials also stated that theyre taking immediate actions which would include: spending $500,000 to focus on the infestation of vermin; protocols for security rounds, hiring additional staff specifically for the mental health unit, and addressing overcrowding in the facility by transferring inmates to other counties.

Without making any explicit statements about Mr. Thompsons health, its fair to say that this is one of many cases that illustrate the desperate need for expanded and better mental health services, the sheriffs office statement reads.

Reportedly, an internal investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigations will find answers that will determine if criminal activity took place on Fulton County Jails behalf.

Click here to read the full article.
Not to be confused with an adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, comedy troupe Broken Lizards Quasi tells a story thats truer to the Oxford definition of its title than the 1831 Victor Hugo novel that inspired it. Kevin Heffernan settles uneasily into the directors seat usually occupied by colleague Jay Chandrasekhar for an underdog story more interested in leveraging funny pronunciations of French words for underwhelming laughs than in creating real characters  much less a visual backdrop that doesnt look like a second-rate Renaissance Faire.



Set in a 13th Century France that narrator and sometime Broken Lizard collaborator Brian Cox helpfully informs us sucked, the film centers on Quasimodo (Steve Lemme), a social outcast who works in the torture chambers of King Guy (Chandrasekhar). There, in a search for a cure to his own physical deformity, he develops the hottest, most pain-inducing device on the market, the rack. Quasis upbeat friend Duchamp (Heffernan) tries to cheer him up by offering one of his Papal Lottery tickets  and the amateur torturer wins, earning an audience with Pope Cornelius (Paul Soter). Ahead of that meeting, Guy instructs Quasi to assassinate Cornelius, who the king assures him is a danger to France and a total asshole. He also meets Catherine (Adrianne Palicki), Guys thoughtful new queen, who develops an unexpected affection for the disfigured peasant after he rallies his fellow torturers for a protest about oysters.



When he finally meets the pope, Quasi receives conflicting orders: Kill Guy instead. So he hatches a plan with Catherine to fake his death, but Duchamp, resentful of Quasis newfound popularity, reveals his pals hiding place to Lucien (also Soter), their torture-chamber supervisor. Captured by the Kings guard and sentenced to death, Quasi resigns himself to his fate as a victim rather than operator of the rack  until Catherine makes a fateful discovery that promises to change the course of French history.



Given that this project is piloted by Broken Lizard, its clear that Quasi is meant to be a comedy, but there are enough long stretches where no jokes are even attempted that youd be forgiven for thinking that laughs were only an incidental goal. The writing team of Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter and Erik Stolhanske smartly excise virtually any gags making fun of the title characters disfigurement  they dont try to eat their cake and have it too like the Farrellys often have but nothing has been inserted in their place except for exaggerated pronunciations of words like croissant, and a steady stream of reminders of how awful the period was for the poor and unfortunate.



The fact that the film was made inexpensively, though not a vice in and of itself, is not especially compensated for by Joe Collins cinematography, which renders Heffernans compositions flat, stagy and small. Only a sex scene in a dungeon achieves a modest degree of atmosphere, but its purposefully undercut by Lemmes slurping as the ill-mannered Quasi  a comic juxtaposition the rest of the film seldom exploits. Otherwise, the storys tether to Hugos novel or general historical precedent is almost nonexistent, reducing palace intrigue and peasant uprisings to window dressing for the core troupe members to play against one another in multiple roles.



While Lemme exudes convincing charm as the title character, only Broken Lizard ensemble outsider Palicki finds the right balance between commitment to the bit and winking self-awareness, bringing a palpable intelligence but also go-along fun to her role as a royal who feels more comfortable with the oddball commoners. As the entitled, casually cruel King Guy, Chandrasekhar continues to show why hes a standout among the group, but if the team (rightfully) planned to approach the casting anachronistically then why not add more performers (especially those of color) instead of just giving the rest of the Lizard team anemic secondary roles where they could be doubly underwhelming?



The films shortcomings feel even more egregious in the shadow of Mel Brooks recent History of the World, Part II, which not only broadly surpasses the imagination used here but serves as a much better example of how to deconstruct period events with modern humor. Not that the group has ever been particularly political, but it also doesnt bother to exploit its storys haves/have-nots dynamic or its petty, overindulged power brokers to draw any parallels to contemporary scenarios or figures. Its also clear that Heffernan and his collaborators hold a special affection for Quasi, so delivering something sweeter and kinder than the material typically associated with Broken Lizard further compromised his comedic potential.



But ultimately, even in a cinematic landscape that is especially starved for comedy, Broken Lizards latest feels more like a tax shelter than an oasis. Less Monty Python and the Holy Grail than a sub-Not Another French Gothic Novel Adaptation, Quasi squanders an opportunity to give Hugos iconic character an overdue glow-up, instead settling for a version that wont even ring a bell to the people already familiar with his story.

Story continues

More from Variety

Best of Variety

Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.
Rachel McAdams is opening up about how she used her personal life to prep for her role in Are You There God? Its Me, Margaret.

Access Hollywood spoke to her on the red carpet at the films premiere and she explained why she can relate to her character.

Barb is really grappling with work life balance, and you know its funny, Kelly and I were both kind of going through something similar. She had a young son at home and I had my kids too and so it was easy for us to find that struggle that Barb is in, its pretty palpable and we are dealing with it every day so it was a bit of method acting, she said.

WATCH: Rachel McAdams Gushes About Motherhood: I Love Sitting Around And Doing Nothing With Them

She also opened up about her Mothers Day plans for this year, saying she loves to just go to brunch with her kids and spend time with them.

I just love the crazy things they said. Im always like remember to write that down. My son said the other day that he wants to be a writer like his dad, which was so cute. And then he said The first book I am going to write is going to be called my cozy cozy bed,' she gushed.

She also reflected on her career as the 20th anniversary of her films The Notebook and Mean Girls approach.

They were wonderful experiences. Mean Girls I got to shoot in my hometown of Toronto. I just loved working with Mark Waters and Tina Fey. I learned so much from them, she said. Getting to shoot in Charleston, South Carolina, living there for 6 months. My first time in the south. There was something so, literally romantic about it all. Theyre wonderful memories and changed who I am really.

Are You There God? Its Me, Margaret is in theaters on April 28, 2023.
At school, Ralph Yarl is involved in jazz and competition band, among other activities. (Facebook, courtesy the family)

The father of a 16-year-old Kansas City student who was shot Thursday in the Northland said his son, Ralph Yarl, is home from the hospital.

Paul Yarl on Monday morning told The Star that Yarl, a junior at Staley High School, was released from the hospital on Sunday.

He is now back home with his mother, a nurse, who is taking off time from work to care for her son, Yarl said.

He continues to improve. Hes responsive and hes making good progress, Yarl said.

Yarl spent three nights in the hospital after he was shot after going to the wrong home to pick up his younger brothers, who are twins, family said.

Kansas City police said the homeowner who allegedly shot Yarl was taken into custody Thursday, placed on a 24-hour hold and then released, Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said Sunday.

How do you protect a Black kid? Protesters demand justice in shooting of Ralph Yarl, 16

Yarls aunt, Faith Spoonmore, started a GoFundMe on Sunday to raise money for Ralphs medical bills and other expenses. As of Monday, more than $1.2 million had been raised.

Even though he is doing well physically, he has a long road ahead mentally and emotionally, she wrote on the online fundraiser before joining Sundays protest.

Yarl was asked by a parent to pick up his brothers from an address on 115th Terrace, according to the family and a statement from the Kansas City Police Department. Instead he went to a residence in the 1100 block of 115th Street.

Family said a man at the house opened the door, saw Yarl and shot him in the head. When Yarl fell to the ground, family said the man shot him again.

Yarl got up and ran from the property, but he had to ask at three different homes before someone helped him, family added. Kansas City police officers said they responded to the area around 10 p.m.

The homeowner who allegedly shot Yarl was brought in for questioning and then released, Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said Sunday. Missouri law allows a person to be held up to 24 hours for a felony investigation. At that point, the person must be released or arrested and formally charged, the chief said.

Story continues

An investigation into the shooting is ongoing as authorities gather other information, including a formal victim statement and forensic evidence, Graves said.

The Clay County prosecutor on Monday morning said he is awaiting a criminal referral from the police department before deciding whether or not to charge the homeowner.

The family is being represented by civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Lee Merritt.

There can be no excuse for the release of this armed and dangerous suspect after admitting to shooting an unarmed, non-threatening and defenseless teenager that rang his doorbell!



Our offices have been retained to seek justice for Ralph Yarl. We demand immediate action. pic.twitter.com/ILGLDQxl8y  Lee Merritt (@MerrittForTexas) April 16, 2023

Who is Ralph Yarl?

Meara Mitchell, a long-time teacher of Yarls described him as a stellar human-being with a quiet fortitude.

Of her many students, Yarls work ethic and love and kindness for others makes him stand out. Hes dutiful to his family, she said, and he impressed her every day in his academics and his interactions with his peers.

He is the utmost example of how you want a young man to carry himself in this world, she told The Star.

Nicole Bryan, 17, one of Yarls classmates and friends, said Yarl has talked about studying chemical engineering in college. Hes a whiz at science and math, but his passion is music, she said.

Those close to Yarl say hes won numerous awards for his academics and his musical abilities, including recognition by Missouris All-State Band.

Band members headed to Columbia, Mo., today to audition for the Missouri All-State Band. Senior Kiyoko Nakano made All-State Band as piccolo first chair. Junior Ralph Yarl won second chair, honorable mention for bass clarinet. @SHSFalcons @StaleyBandFam https://t.co/4WC19BFhgE  Staley News (@StaleyNews) December 4, 2022

Dan Clemens, superintendent for North Kansas City Schools, said the district was devastated to learn what happened to Yarl.

Yarl is an excellent student and talented musician. He maintains a stellar GPA while taking mostly college level courses, Clemens wrote in a statement Monday. While he loves science and hopes to pursue that career path, his passion is music. Thankfully, we know he is now recovering alongside family.

Clemens said additional resources are available for students who need it at Staley High School this week.

Students are also organizing a unity walk Tuesday at the high school, where the Falcon Brigade band plans to play as students lock arms and walk around the school in a circle, the district said. Students can wear blue in Yarls honor.

They are also working to make 1,000 cards for Yarl showing their compassion during his recovery, the district said.

I know that many of you share the same anger, frustration, shock and disbelief that I am experiencing now, the superintendent said. We must allow time for the investigation to be completed. In the meantime, as educators, our focus is on supporting Yarl, his family, our students and staff.
CamScanner

New York City, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In celebration of Earth Month this April, leading document scanning and management app CamScanner has announced the launch of its environmental initiative, "Go Paperless, Save the Planet." The campaign aims to raise awareness of reducing paper consumption and its impact on the environment.











Taking place every April, Earth Month is a global initiative focused on raising awareness and inspiring collective action in the face of growing environmental issues. Building on Earth Day (April 22nd), Earth Month calls upon individuals, businesses and organizations to protect and preserve the planet and its resources through sustainable practices and innovative solutions, ensuring a healthy and sustainable future for everyone.

The environmental consequences of paper use cannot be understated. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, The world produces 300 million tons of paper annually, with the US accounting for over 30% of this consumption, using around 68 million trees for paper and related products. Paper and pulp production is the third largest source of pollution in North America, generating over 100 million kg of toxic waste and deforesting 18 million acres annually. Chemicals used in paper production infiltrate the food chain, affecting different species and food and water consumed by people. Additionally, the fossil fuels utilized in the industry contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, exacerbating climate change.

As the world increasingly embraces technology, transitioning to a paperless future begins with the digitization of everyday processes that involve using paper. From notes, files, recipes, photographs and IDs to essential paperwork, CamScanner assists in reducing paper consumption by streamlining these workflows through its scanning, digitization, editing, and sharing capabilities.

Using such document processing functions helps users eliminate the need for physical paper and provides an efficient and secure platform for document storage and management. Most importantly, individuals and businesses can contribute to a greener, more sustainable future for our planet.

Story continues

Readers can download CamScanner from Google Play, the Apple Store, or from https://www.camscanner.com/.

About CamScanner

First released in 2011, CamScanner is a mobile app that allows users to scan, edit and manage documents. With over 700 million downloads across 200+ countries in 55 languages, the app consistently ranks as one of the top business and efficiency apps on the market.

CONTACT: Tim Brown: tim198515@gmail.com




"It was exactly what was in my head," Selling the OC's Alexandra Jarvis tells PEOPLE of the custom Michael Costello wedding dress she wore while marrying Sergio Ducoulombier on Friday in Italy

bottega 53/@bottega53

Alexandra Jarvis had a clear vision of what she would wear on her big day.

The Selling the OC star, 32, tells PEOPLE that she "didn't want any traditional wedding dress" with all white heavy fabric as she married CEO Sergio Ducoulombier on Friday at the Villa del Balbianello, overlooking Italy's Lake Como.

"I know my body style. I also used to model wedding dresses growing up, and so I knew what I wanted, what I didn't want," explains Jarvis, adding: "I wanted something couture, sexy, but still elegant and feminine."

Related:'Selling the OC' Star Alexandra Jarvis is Married! Inside the 'Intimate' Lake Como Wedding (Exclusive)

She says designer Michael Costello was very "hands-on" in bringing her vision to life with a "completely custom dress" after she reached out in his DMs, noting he was "on board from the beginning."

"I met with Michael months ago," Jarvis recounts. "We sat down, I just explained my vision, and he sketched up what I was describing, and it was exactly what was in my head. He's so talented."

BOTTEGA 53/@BOTTEGA53

Never miss a story  sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Jarvis and Costello picked out the fabric together, and she describes the finished product as "an elaborate, fully embellished beaded dress with rhinestones."

Related:The Drama Continues! Netflix's Selling the OC Is Officially Renewed for Second and Third Season

"It's more of a ... couture-style dress with a nod toward bridal," she adds. "So, it has different elements that give it a bridal last look, but it's very couture."

The Oppenheim Group real estate agent says Ducoulombier, 46, who created the mobile payment app Slip Cash, hadn't seen the dress ahead of the big day. "He hasn't seen the sketch of my dress, he hasn't seen the fabric, he doesn't have a clue," says Jarvis.

Story continues

bottega 53/@bottega53

She accessorized the look with shoes by Rene Caovilla and custom jewelry, as well as some family heirloom pieces.

Jarvis and Ducoulombier dated for two years before getting engaged on Christmas in 2020. She tells PEOPLE that Lake Como is "a special place for us" while explaining why they opted not to have a "traditional wedding" with a bunch of guests.

RELATED VIDEO: Selling the OC Cast on Differences from Selling Sunset: We're 'Ourselves from the Very Beginning'

"We wanted to have a very intimate and romantic wedding day without all the traditional expectations around us," said Jarvis. "So we decided, let's the two of us go to Italy. We've been before and it's actually where I told him I loved him. He had already told me he loved me, but I held back for a little while."

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
Kate Kondakova left her hometown of Odesa two weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, but return a few months later. Kate Kondakova

Kate Kondakova left Ukraine two weeks after Russia's unprovoked invasion, and lived in Moldova.

She returned to Ukraine after months of working in other countries, because she felt it was safe.

Kondakova talked to Insider about how the war in Ukraine has changed her and her colleague's lives.

Kate Kondakova didn't want to leave her home in the Ukrainian port city of Odesa after Russia's unprovoked invasion of her country last February, because she said she didn't feel in immediate danger.

On the first day of the Russian invasion, Kondakova told Insider that Odesa was bombed "and it was scary," but after that, it felt quieter compared to other cities like Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Kherson, which underwent major attacks at the start of the war.

"I didn't want to take on this reality," she said.

Eventually, she was encouraged to leave the country by the CEO of her company, 3DLook, which makes technology to allow consumers to virtually try on clothes. Kondakova is the company's vice president of legal and finance.

She chose to relocate to Moldova, the closest bordering country to Odesa, because she had other Ukrainian friends who had moved there. And, if she had to return home, she said driving back to Odesa would be under four hours.

"It was a rather challenging period, as it was hard to establish your life in a foreign country," Kondakova said. "It was hard to accept the new reality, and my everyday life had changed entirely."

'I decided to imagine that it's some kind of journey'

Kondakova said 3DLook was able to support some of its Ukrainian employees with relocation at the beginning of the war, by booking and paying for accommodations and travel in safer regions.

"I decided to imagine that it's some kind of journey because it was a hard and stressful time," Kondakova said of adjusting to living in Moldova.

Kondakova said 3DLook volunteers to collect and send medicine to Ukraine's defenders. Kate Kondakova

She was able to meet some of her colleagues in Barcelona for a four-day work trip, and traveled to see Ukrainian friends who had relocated in Romania and the Czech Republic because of the war.

Story continues

At the end of the summer, Kondakova decided to return home to Odesa because "it was quiet," she said. However, some of her Ukrainian friends are still in Moldova and the Czech Republic.

"If it wasn't quiet, I would prefer to stay in Moldova or somewhere else," Kondakova said.

She said she feels stressed for people living in other regions, like Donetsk, who still face Russian bombing. Kondakova and some other 3DLook employees still in Ukraine have volunteered to collect medicine for Ukrainian defenders during the war.

'The office has become a place where we come to talk'

Since she's returned home, Kondakova said she spends most of her days working in her kitchen. She's used to the work-from-home experience due to COVID-19, she said.

Kondakova's home office setup. Kate Kondakova

"On the one hand, there are many advantages here  you don't have to get up early, you and the computer are always together, and it's easier to combine work and home," she said. "On the other hand, you rarely meet people, and it's hard for you to feel the boundaries of the working day, and sometimes it can drag on until night."

Kondakova said she personally likes to work from the office, because it's easier to communicate with her colleagues.

For a few months at the end of 2022, Kondakova said it was difficult to work at home because of blackouts, but the company found its employees an office space with a generator to keep the electricity and internet on.

Gathering together in the office again during that time felt normal, Kondakova said.

"In the mornings, you have the usual life when you're waking up and getting to the office, meeting people, talking with them," she recalled.

Kondakova said the office space that 3DLook has rented for its employees in Odesa has become a place for them keep up with each other. Kate Kondakova

"It was a few months just pretending that we had a common life," she said.

Now, Kondakova said she sees her colleagues less often because they have electricity, access to SpaceX's Starlink internet service, and power banks.

"The office has become a place where we come to talk," she said. "Most of our employees are scattered worldwide, so we have fun online."

Kondakova said she's waiting for the end of the war, and thinks about when she will get to see more of her colleagues and travel again. "But our life has changed completely," she said.

"I realized that despite the country's unstable situation, it is better for me to be at home with my close and beloved people," she said. "Most of all, I enjoy meeting them and walking to the sea. I could not even think such simple things make me happy and help me escape stress."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Image via Getty

Two individuals are recovering after being shot on the campus of Lincoln University, an HBCU located in Pennsylvania.

NBC Philadelphia reports the shooting took place during Lincolns annual Yardfest event on Saturday night. Both victims, whove been identified as females who are not Lincoln students, were taken to Christiana Hospital, and are currently listed in stable condition.

During Lincoln Universitys annual Yardfest celebration, tonight, a gun was discharged causing two non fatal injuries. The injured have been transported to the hospital. Campus Police with the assistance of state and local agencies are securing the campus and further investigating the incident, Lincoln University president Brenda Allen said in a statement.

Lincoln was put on lockdown following the shooting, but has since been freed of requirements, as neither suspect could be identified by law inforcement. We have a description of two individuals with white T-shirts, and thats all we have, Marc R. Partee, the head of campus security, told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

An investigation into the incident is ongoing, law enforcemet said.

Any Lincoln students who need mental or emotional support at this time are encouraged to contact counseling services. Lincoln is asking anyone who knows anything about the incident to contact campus security or the Chester County law enforcement authorities.
The following reflection is the second of six pieces focusing on the importance of university research. This series was initially posted a decade ago. The following, modified modestly here, appeared on November 27, 2012.

Second in a Series on Research

To find excellence in a university, find the intent of the organization. What do the people who work there and the students who study there think the place is about? What do they want it to be? What is important? What is the quality of your intent? An excellent question posed by Thurgood Marshall.

Quality wells up in universities for an array of reasons. The configuration of forces leading to recognition and acclaim are rooted in discovery and new ideas with value. Good leadership, committed faculty and staff and ambitious and demanding students focused on discovery make a university powerful and effective in its research intent.

Competition and national defense brought Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to life in the early 1950s. The University of California intentionally gathered leading physicists to address what was believed to be an issue of national importance  operational thermonuclear weapons in response to the Soviet Union's development of the H-bomb. No matter your views or feelings about nuclear arms, the concentration of expertise at the University of California led to scientific breakthroughs. Edward Teller, a controversial physicist, was in the middle of it all. He was inarguably one of the best in the world, and his intention towards innovative science attracted other leading physicists.

Dr. Walter Wendler, President of West Texas A&M University

A trickledown effect occurs when leading practitioners of any craft are drawn together. A talented group can make a better H-bomb, but the gravity of the group will also help create a better literature program. The reverse is also true. It is about the "quality of your intent." While difficult to explain outside of university circles, there is tension between those who are the best at what they do and those who are merely mediocre, regardless of field or specialization.

Story continues

The sheer force of will creates excellence too. In the U.S., five presidential libraries are associated with universities. Three are in Texas: LBJ Library at UT Austin and a pair of Bush athenaeums, 41s at Texas A&M and 43s at SMU. Michigan hosts the General Ford Library. The latest addition to make this group of five is at Mississippi State University. Announced on May 18, 2012, The Presidential Library of Ulysses S. Grant notably impacts our understanding of the Civil War in America and the role of radical republicanism in the Reconstruction Era that followed.

If rusty on Civil War history, Grant was the leader of the Union forces, and his decisive victory at Vicksburg cut the confederacy in half, leading, in measure, to the downfall of the confederacy. Mississippi State University diligently pursued the Ulysses S. Grant collection from Southern Illinois University, where the renowned Grant scholar, John Y. Simon, nurtured it for nearly half a century. To put a gallon of irony in a teacup, Grant started his campaign to divide the confederacy in Southern Illinois at Cairo, where the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers meet.

Through this exercise of intent, Mississippi State University meaningfully contributes to the study of American history for students. Additionally, the Grant Center attracts new faculty and endowment support because dollars follow the quality of intent, thought and execution.

National need in response to the devastation of the Dust Bowl spawned an effort to combat soil erosion and simultaneously create water conservation. Much of the work was initiated at the Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station in Columbia, Missouri. This university led the response to the great tragedy of rural America in the 20th century. Additionally, the work dovetails with contemporary sustainability concepts in the 21st century.

Economic development caused Louisiana State University to create a Sugar Research Station in 1885. State sugar growers were concerned about increasing yields in production. They implored the university to generate new knowledge and insight that would help the economic development of South Louisiana through more effective and productive sugar cane yields. While a more localized issue than the H-bomb or dust bowl, research evolved at Louisiana State University to impact academic excellence through sugar production.

Universities require leadership and guidance to pursue issues of import in response to a diverse range of needs and aspirations. Intent manifests itself in programmatic growth. Seeds of research and scholarly excellence are driven by a passion for better understanding the world around us, giving power to faculty and students' academic life and creating distinction for universities. This distinction attracts the best scholars and students. West Texas A&M University's goal is to become a regional research university, as expressed in WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.

Walter V. Wendler is President of West Texas A&M University. His weekly columns, with hyperlinks, are available at https://walterwendler.com/ .

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Wendler commentary: Intent and research at WT
The claim: Canadian bill would prosecute and fine those who misgender others or engage in anti-LGBTQ protests

An April 5 tweet features a video of a politician standing at a rainbow podium while announcing a new bill.

"New bill in Canada would prosecute anyone that misgendered, criticised (sic) or protested against Transgenderism," reads the tweet. "Anyone deemed 'transphobic, homophobic or offensive' would face prosecution and a $25,000 fine."

The post garnered more than 6,000 retweets on Twitter and 300 shares on Facebook in a week. Similar posts have been shared on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Follow us on Facebook! Like our page to get updates throughout the day on our latest debunks

Our rating: False

The post misrepresents the bill. It doesn't prohibit misgendering or offensive language, and it doesn't allow for criminal prosecution. It poses fines of up to $25,000 for anyone who threatens or endangers the LGBTQ community within designated safe zones in Ontario.

Tweet misrepresents bill

The tweet refers to Bill 94, which was introduced April 4 by several members of the Ontario New Democratic Party, which is a minority party in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Kristyn Wong-Tam, who is featured in the Instagram video, is one of the members who introduced the bill. The Progressive Conservative Party holds the majority of seats.

Contrary to the tweet's claim, the bill doesn't prohibit misgendering or criticizing members of the LGBTQ community, nor does it mention prosecution. Instead, it allows the attorney general to designate "2SLGBTQI+ community safety zones."

The bill allows for a fine of up to $25,000 for those that "perform an act of intimidation" within 100 meters of the safety zones.

"Acts of intimidation" are defined by the bill as creating a criminal disturbance, distributing hate propaganda, uttering threats on the basis of social orientation or gender roles, or engaging in homophobic or transphobic protests or demonstrations.

Story continues

A spokesperson for the New Democratic Party told USA TODAY in an emailed statement the bill won't allow fines against people who misgender others. The statement said the bill would create safety zones when there are real and credible threats against the LGBTQ community that endanger their human rights, but freedom of expression and assembly would still be permitted.

"For greater certainty, nothing in this Act prevents peaceful protests or demonstrations," the bill says.

Fact check: Video altered to show Joe Biden making transphobic remarks

Brenda Cossman, a law professor at the University of Toronto, told USA TODAY the bill doesn't specifically mention misgendering.

"It is possible that misgendering could be considered to fall within the definition of acts of intimidation within the safety zone," Cossman said in an email. "But our courts have not yet done so, and unless it was part of additional harassing behavior would be unlikely to do so."

Bill has not yet become law

David Bogart, spokesperson for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, told USA TODAY the bill was introduced as a private member's bill, not as a piece of government legislation.

"Bill 94 has been introduced and has been carried on first reading, which means that the Legislature has agreed to the principle of the bill," Bogart said in an email. "However, the legislation will only move forward if the government chooses to place it on the official agenda."

Fact check: Outdated claim that US is threatening to cut off aid to Uganda

Cossman told USA TODAY that since the bill is a private member's bill introduced by a member of the opposition party, it's highly unlikely to get government support and pass.

"It is (also) at the provincial level," Cossman added in an email. "The provinces do not have jurisdiction over criminal law, only the federal government does. So, it would not be making any of this a crime, and would at most, only apply in Ontario."

USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment.

The claim has been debunked by the Associated Press and PolitiFact as well.

Our fact-check sources:

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.

Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Post misrepresents new Canadian LGBTQ bill
Muramoto checking light

El Pueblo History Museum is opening a new exhibit at the end of the month featuring photographs from a Japanese immigrant who lived in Pueblo for decades.

Here are five things to know about the artist and upcoming exhibit.

Meet the featured artist, Frank Muramuto

Frank Duke Denichi Muramoto was born in Japan and lived in Pueblo from 1912 until he died in 1958.

Muramoto owned and operated the De Luxe photo studio in Bessemer. Most of Pueblos Japanese community in the early 1900s, which numbered approximately 400 in 1907, lived in Bessemer, according to a virtual exhibit about Muramoto on display through the Pueblo City-County Library District.

Why Muramutos photography is unique

Muramuto took portraits professionally, but also took photos on vacations and candid shots of friends and family.

His photographs were taken at a time before cameras were widespread and equipment was clunky, said Devin Flores, a digital content specialist for History Colorado.

It's pretty atypical to see so many candid photographs, and things like his nature photography, especially because he was not professionally a nature photographer, Flores said. In his spare time, he was carrying very heavy camera equipment with him on hikes and on vacation all over Colorado. It definitely is not the typical story.

Maramuto kept up with the evolving technology of cameras and experimented with new techniques and color film before it was widely used. The collection includes some color film footage  no stills  from the 1930s.

Big Hollywood studios started producing films in color, most notably with the release of the Wizard of Oz in 1939, but the cost was so high that color film did not become the norm for movies until the 1960s, Flores said.

What happened with Japanese internment

In the aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, most Japanese-Americans were forced to move to internment camps.

Muramuto was exempt from the order, according to the virtual library exhibit. Colorados governor at the time, Ralph Carr, opposed Japanese internment, but also was criticized for supporting hosting a Japanese internment camp in Colorado: a camp was opened near the town of Grenada at what is now the Amache National Historic Site.

Story continues

Why is this exhibit opening now?

The library district previously featured Muramotos recently digitized video in an online exhibit that debuted in 2021. The librarys work to digitize Muramotos films, which feature unique text cards interspersed through the footage, was supported by a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation.

This exhibition is a chance to explore an undertold story of immigration to Colorado, Flores said in a news release. "Through Muramotos lens, the audience gets a unique perspective on the diverse people, communities, cultures, and landscapes of southern Colorado, as seen by a first-generation immigrant.

The exhibit captures the lives of Pueblos Japanese and East Asian immigrant community, Flores told the Chieftain.

There was a very strong and surprisingly large community of not just Japanese, but other East Asian immigrants in southern Colorado at this time period, and while there are still remnants of that community, they are harder and harder to find every year, simply because a lot of them moved out of Pueblo, Flores said.

How to see the exhibit

The exhibit opens April 29 in the free gallery at the El Pueblo History Museum. A variety of Muramotos work will be on display, including portraits of himself, his family and his community.

A selection of Muramotos films will be on display at the museum, as well as an oral history with the artists grandson, Dave Muramoto.

The exhibition will continue until late July, Flores said.

El Pueblo History Museum is located at 301 N. Union Ave. and is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

The Muramoto exhibit is in the free community gallery. Admission to the rest of the museums exhibits is free for youth 18 and under, $7 for adults and $5 for seniors over the age of 60, as well as veterans.

Anna Lynn Winfrey is a reporter at the Pueblo Chieftain. She can be reached at awinfrey@gannett.com or on Twitter, @annalynnfrey.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: What to know about the new Muramuto photography exhibit at El Pueblo
According to our readers, these are the best airlines for wine lovers  especially if youre flying first or business class.

Courtesy of Emirates

Global Tastemakers is our first-ever readers choice awards, celebrating the best culinary destinations in the U.S. and abroad. F&W readers voted based on travel completed within the past three years, on categories including restaurants and bars, cities, hotels, airports, airlines, and cruises. Due to the limitations of pandemic travel, this years Global Tastemakers winners reflect a smaller portion of the globe. In many categories, were including an editors pick to shout out some more culinary destinations in places you cant miss. See all the winners at foodandwine.com/globaltastemakers.

Once youve stowed away your luggage, hung up your coat, and settled into a comfortable seat, pod, or, if youre lucky, suite, its time to raise a glass to the peaceful hours of flying ahead. While some airlines have branched into canned cocktails, or teamed up with James Beard Award-winning chefs, a select few are offering sommelier-curated experiences and rare tastings at 10,000 feet above the ground. Whether youre interested in tasting Dom Perignon for the first time or really want to know if your favorite cognac takes on a new dimension when you drink it in the air, read on to learn about the eight airline wine programs that Food & Wine readers voted most outstanding.

Emirates

Courtesy of Emirates

In first class, Emirates passengers have the opportunity to try bottles from the Emirates Vintage Collection, which includes casual offerings like a first-growth Bordeaux from Chateau Mouton Rothschild, or another bottle that has been aged for up to 15 years in the airlines cellars. Youll also enjoy a glass of Dom Perignon 2008 or Moet & Chandon Grand Vintage 2013 (depending on whether youre seated in business of first class) before take-off, and the impressive in-flight list features producers from Australia, Germany, France, and beyond, so theres something for every kind of drinker.

Story continues

Qatar Airways

M101Studio / Shutterstock

If you love Champagne, youll find flying first-class with Qatar Airways to be a special treat. Toast with a glass of Krug 2004 upon take-off (with a side of caviar, of course); while youre in-flight, choose from hard-to-find vintages of Sauternes, a 20-year aged tawny Port, and more.

Virgin Atlantic Airways

Courtesy of Virgin Atlantic

Sure, you could have a glass of Champagne before take-off, but this is Virgin Atlantic, so theres also a sparkling English wine to choose from  Hambledons Classic Cuvee, to be exact. Once youre safely in the skies, make your way through the airlines thoughtfully curated selections, like a 2020 Touraine Sauvignon Blanc, which plays especially nicely with the garlic and ginger prawns you can enjoy as a main course.



Air France

Getty Images

Whether youre a Burgundy fan or prefer a crisp glass of Loire Valley Chenin Blanc, Air France has the gamut of French wines covered for the duration of your trip. The airlines list is curated by award-winning sommelier Paolo Basso, and champions high-end winemakers from all over the country. Of course, Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 2006 / 2007 is also on offer.

Iberia

Jeff Greenberg / Education Images / Universal Images Group via Getty Images

If youre looking to get familiar with Spanish wine, a business class flight on Iberia is one of the best ways to do it. The airlines rotating wine list features some of the countrys best expressions of Tempranillo, Verdejo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and of course, Cava. If youre an Iberia Plus member, you can even sign up for the VIP wine club, which delivers bottles served in the airlines lounges and on business class right to your home.

British Airways

Sunshine Seeds / Getty Images

British Airways recently refreshed its first class food and beverage offerings, and the new wine list features multiple Champagnes in addition to some crowd-pleasing picks from Burgundy, Bordeaux, and Stellenbosch. Its a more concise list than what youll find on other airlines, and the curation is done by Master of Wine Tim Jackson, who serves as the full-time resident expert for all alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks served aboard BA.

AeroMexico

Dorothy Alexander / Alamy Stock Photo

Our readers love the options on AeroMexico flights, which serve more than 90 destinations around the world, with hubs in Mexico and Central America. And, as the airline explains, if you're taking off after 11 a.m., alcoholic beverages are always free, regardless of the length of your flight.

Turkish Airlines

Esra Hacioglu / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

If you haven't tried Turkish wine before, Business Class on Turkish Airlines is a great way to sample what local winemakers are doing with Merlot, Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay. However, there's something special for those celebrating, too, with several sparkling wines to choose from.

Editors pick: La Compagnie

Courtesy of La Compagnie

This relatively new, all-business class airline with flights to and from France offers a monthly-rotated wine list of exceptional French wines from around the country, curated by Bettane & Desseauve wine experts to pair with the in-flight menu. Whats more, the airline boasts rates that they claim are 30 to 50% less expensive than other international business class flights, so you can have an exceptional wine experience in the air at a relatively lower price point.  F&W Editors.

For more Food & Wine news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on Food & Wine.
Victoria's Steakhouse and Mexican Grill, a well-known restaurant in Canutillo for about six years, has expanded with its first restaurant in El Paso.

The second location has recently opened at 14021 Pebble Hills Blvd., the former site of a Jamaican restaurant. The first restaurant is at 420 Talbot Ave.

The two restaurants share a chef in Freddy Marquez, 21, who still works at the Canutillo restaurant on Wednesdays and Thursdays to relieve other chefs. The restaurants are owned by his uncle and aunt, David Arzola and Cynthia Lopez.

Chef David Arzola shows a steak and shrimp plate on Thursday at the newest location of Victoria's Steakhouse and Mexican Grill at 14021 Pebble Hills Blvd.

"We're so excited to bring our flavor to this side of town and hope to be able to expand more," he said. "Our main philosophy is always having the best quality of beef. Our beef is Iowa premium."

The restaurant is known for its ribeye steaks, and arrachera, the elongated steak often showing up on foodie's Instagram accounts.

From left, servers Marlyn Nunez and Jocelyn Millan, owner Cynthia Lopez, next to her husband, chef David Arzola, and their nephew, chef Freddy Marquez are shown at Victoria's Steakhouse and Mexican Grill's newest location at 14021 Pebble Hills Blvd.

Indeed, the arrachera ($55), 14 ounces of skirt steak, is quite impressive as it makes its way to your table. The juicy, tender and flavorful steak is served on a board with a baked potato with bacon, grilled onions, sliced avocado, jalapeno, and lovely fresh greens with a vinaigrette dressing.

We ordered an appetizer thinking we wouldn't be able to share the arrachera, but good mistakes were made. After a few tasty bites of the Nachos Mexicanos ($15)  chips with refried beans, melted cheese, jalapenos and tomato  we decided to save them and take them home for another meal.

And we didn't realize the attentive waiter would bring each of us a sopita, or traditional Mexican vegetable soup with macaroni pasta, before our entrees, so it was a yummy start to a big, satisfying meal. There also are complimentary chips that are served with three salsas.

Victoria's Steakhouse and Mexican Grill offers two types of nachos: one with beef and one without. The chips are crispy and the cheese is Mexican, melting nicely on the nachos.

We also have to give kudos to the kitchen staff, who make time to create desserts like sugar-dusted churros with a drizzle of caramel and a dollop of whipped cream. If you have room, they are delicious.

The second location is small, but Marquez said it's an excellent way to introduce their concept to El Paso with the hopes of expanding. The restaurant menu is extensive, with various appetizers, Mexican plates, soups and salads. The stars on the menu, of course, are the steaks. They have a separate breakfast menu, so there are lots of reasons to come back.

Story continues

Marquez said they are proud of their story, which began with his late grandmother, Rosa Emma Fong, who originally opened a Victoria's on Hondo Pass Drive and then later on Dyer Street. She wanted to name the restaurant after her uncle Victor, but there already was a restaurant with the same name, so she made it female.

The churros at Victoria's Steakhouse and Mexican Grill on the East Side are made in house and are delicious.

More: Restaurant update: West El Paso Luby's closing; new Cheddar's, Mutts and BBQ coming soon

Maria Cortes Gonzalez may be reached at 915-546-6150, mcortes@elpasotimes.com and @EPTMaria on Twitter.

Victoria's Steakhouse and Mexican Grill chef Freddy Marquez, 21, is proud to help run the new restaurant on the far East Side. His grandmother, Rosa Emma Fong, who started the original restaurant, is tattooed on his right arm.

Make plans to visit the El Paso steakhouse

What: Victoria's Steakhouse and Mexican Grill

Where: 14021 Pebble Hills Blvd., second shopping strip behind Albertsons; 420 Talbot Ave., Canutillo

Hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Sunday at the Pebble Hills location; 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday on Talbot

Information: 915-299-9544; https://www.facebook.com/VictoriasSteakhouseandMexicanGrill

The newest location of Victoria's Steakhouse and Mexican Grill is at 14021 Pebble Hills Blvd.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Victoria's Steakhouse expands with far East El Paso location
FILE PHOTO: A smartphone with a displayed ChatGPT logo is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken February 23, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo - DADO RUVIC/REUTERS

Policy experts and pundits are very excited about the idea that artificial intelligence (AI) will revolutionise the workplace. Perhaps it will, just not in the way they suppose.

For instead of making people redundant, ChatGPT may soon be empowering the most redundant people that your organisation employs.

A cartoon by Tom Fishburne captures this expectation. It shows two employees, each in their own office cubicle. AI turns this single bullet point into a long email I can pretend I wrote, says the first. Over in another part of the firm, a second employee enthuses: AI makes a single bullet point out of this long email I pretend I read.

If modern office work is really acting, then some employees really excel at looking busy. They are, as Bing Crosby once sang, busy doing nothing  finding lots of things not to do.

The core of the joke is that the latest AI chatbots will allow non-productive staff to look busier than ever: the AI is a sexy new prop for their performance. In turn, they will be able to devote more of their day to their personal activities at their employers expense, while giving them a ticket to the hottest technology show in town, one that will look great on their LinkedIn profile.

Theres much more idle and non-productive time at work than anyone wants to admit. But Fishburnes cartoon also highlights another awkward truth. In the past, technology replaced human labour. Instead, information technology today creates and emboldens our workplace bureaucrats.

Undated handout photo issued by Microsoft of Satya Nadella, Microsoft chief executive, who has announced the new version of the Bing search engine which is powered by OpenAI's ChatGPT technology. The firm announced it is expanding the preview to its Bing and Edge web browser mobile apps and will continue to add more users who sign up for the waiting list to test the new tools. Issue date: Wednesday February 22, 2023. PA Photo. The revamped search engine uses OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot, a form of generative AI which is able to respond to queries and hold human-like conversations with users as they interact with it. See PA story TECHNOLOGY Microsoft. Photo credit should read: Microsoft/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder. - Microsoft/PA

It's been over three decades since the Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Solow lamented: You can see the computer age everywhere but in the productivity statistics.

Since then, many major trends have swept through the labour market, each one promising to prove him wrong.

Thanks to personal computers, managers now type their own communications, rather than a temp.



Customer service is handled in cavernous offshore warehouses, or put back on the customer in the form of a self-service smartphone app.



Digital transformation was supposed to encompass all this, and also strip out administrative overhead from supply chains. Another great hype, machine to machine (M2M) communications, was also supposed to remove expensive human oversight and deliver us productivity savings.



So isnt it time we cashed the cheque for some of these promises, and saw the results in our GDP and productivity figures? Alas, digital technology doesnt seem to be delivering. Since the financial crash of 2008, there has been precious little labour productivity growth in the UK.

Story continues

We have a collective historical memory that technological progress brings a big and predictable stream of revenue growth across most of the economy. When it comes to the web, those assumptions are turning out to be wrong or misleading, wrote Tyler Cowen a decade ago, in a pamphlet called The Great Stagnation.

Perhaps the savings made by deploying digital technology have been real, but simply swallowed up by non-productive work popping up somewhere else in the firm.

Its amazing that were as productive as we are, and half of what we do is compliance, says Christopher Snowden of the Institute of Economic Affairs.

Thats a good place to start looking. Historically, an organisation had a department called Personnel, which did little more than collect references and process the payroll.

But in recent years, it has expanded its remit enormously, concerning itself with the employees health and well-being, which allowed it to intrude into how the employees behave.

The empire of Human Resources is very extensive indeed. HR will not only have crafted the employee handbook, but perhaps the mission and values statements too: things we never knew we needed until recently. The UK now employs over 400,000 people in human resources roles, almost as many people as work in agriculture. It provides a sinecure for the recent explosion of graduates, and a kind of secular manners and behaviour police.

Another culprit for the failure of technology to improve productivity may be, as Cowen suggests, the technology industry itself.

The venture capitalist Keith Rabois sparked a lively debate recently discussing the layoffs at large technology firms. There's nothing for these people to do ... It's all fake work, he lamented. Over at Twitter, Elon Musk has dispensed with two thirds of its staff and contractors and the service remains much the same as it was before.

Into this delicate and complex sociological picture comes ChatGPT, the parrot that has swallowed the internet and can burp it back up again quite brilliantly. ChatGPT replicates the administrative formalities that consume a bureaucrats day.

While many of us would see this as an opportunity to identify and remove those redundant processes and posts, a canny idler spies the chance to entrench them. No productivity savings will be found if they succeed.

As Amazons CEO Andy Jassy pointed out last week, all this marvellous AI magic doesnt come cheap. Todays large language models cost billions of dollars to train. Silicon Valley will need to recoup that somehow. So we may well wake up to a day where our enterprises are no more productive than they were before, but must pay an additional service charge to Silicon Valley simply to keep their AI-toting bureaucrats looking busy.

Revolutions have started over less.
A city-wide manhunt.

A police chase down the main street.

Social media sites filled with locals describing what they had just witnessed.

While these are usually the tell-tale signs of crisis, the small city of Harriman, Tennessee, witnessed a different kind of community-wide commotion on Wednesday when a local man's pet emu escaped and prompted a slow-speed police chase to capture the giant bird.

PHOTO: In this screen grab from a video, an emu leads police on a slow-speed chase in Harriman, Tenn., on April 12, 2023. (Steven McDaniel)

"People were calling in that it was in their yard, and the first part of the morning, officers would go check and wouldn't see him," Harriman police chief Baron Tapp said. "And then somebody else would call and say, 'Hey, the Emu is in my yard now' or 'It's going over here over there.'"

The emu at the center of the commotion was MeeMoo of Harriman. Software programmer Harry McKinney helped hatch MeeMoo five years ago when a local hatchery's incubator broke. McKinney described raising the emu on his 40-acre farm alongside sheep, turkeys, ducks, and other animals as a joy, or at least when MeeMoo stays in his enclosure.

He said that Wednesday's escape began when MeeMoo hopped over his seven-foot enclosure fence.

MORE: Mischievous bear escapes enclosure at St. Louis Zoo, again

"They have a flight or flight reflex, and he chose flight," McKinney said. "He chose to run."

Nearby residents tried to help spot MeeMoo, but after initial efforts failed, McKinney turned to social media for help locating the tall bird.

"The only thing we could do was put it on Facebook and just wait until somebody saw, and that did not disappoint," McKinney said.

Steven McDaniel was planning on taking his dog for a car ride on Wednesday when he noticed the commotion in the normally quiet town.

"I went over, looked out, and there's cop cars driving by at about three miles an hour," he said.

McDaniel took out his phone to film and post a video of four police cruisers slowly driving behind the emu to capture the bird. The chase ended when the officers cornered MeeMoo near a local home surrounded by hedges. McKinney was enlisted to end the pursuit, calling his pet emu back to safety.

Story continues

PHOTO: Harry McKinney took a selfie with his emu after it led police on a slow-speed chase on April 12, 2023, in Harriman, Tenn. (Harry McKinney)

"I whistled, and he realized that dad was there," he said. "And I went up, and I gave him a big hug."

According to McKinney, the entire search took seven hours and stretched across 20 miles. No one was injured, and most residents appeared delighted by the affair, though some were slightly intimidated by confronting the five-foot tall bird.

"He just would hold its feathers like hold its wings straight out and come at you like 'oh gosh, did it get mad or what,'" Tapp said about some of his officers' encounters with MeeMoo.

While McKinney spoke affectionately about MeeMoo, he conceded that the emu could be intimidating.

"For us, he's like a dog," he said. "But for people that had never seen any emus before, it was a T-Rex coming down the sidewalk at them."

MORE: Flaco the owl becomes New York's newest tourist attraction, as he settles into Central Park home

Upon returning to his enclosure (now being reinforced with higher walls to prevent another escape), McKinney said MeeMoo immediately returned to his nest to care for his eggs. MeeMoo and his partner MeeMee are caring for multiple eggs, meaning that a new generation of emus might be antagonizing police in Harriman soon.

With video of the incident circulating widely on social media, many community members reacted with laughter and joy; even Tapp, whose police force had to confront the large bird, described the incident as a "good time" that brought the community together.

"We've had a lot of stuff going on here in Tennessee  the shootings in Nashville  we've had a couple of shootings here," McDaniel said. "It's been a great thing for us as a community to be able to have a couple days [that bring] a smile on your face instead of just heartbreak."

Escaped emu takes owner and police on 20-mile chase in Tennessee originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has sent his first letter home after being detained and imprisoned by Russian intelligence forces.

Mr Gershkovich, 31, has been accused Russian officials of engaging in espionage. The reporter has categorically denied the allegations.

In his letter home, Mr Gershkovich said he was optimistic, looked forward to seeing his family, and poked fun at Russian prison food, according to the Wall Street Journal.

I want to say that I am not losing hope, he wrote. I read. I exercise. And I am trying to write. Maybe, finally, I am going to write something good.

The letter was addressed to his family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and dated 5 April. His mother told the paper that he tried to comfort them by adding humor to the note, joking about her cooking.

Mom, you unfortunately, for better or worse, prepared me well for jail food, he joked. In the morning, for breakfast, they give us hot creamed wheat, oatmeal cereal or wheat gruel. I am remembering my childhood.

His mother told the paper that she felt "great joy" when she received the letter.

These are my sons words, not someone else telling me, she said. And his spirit is shining.

The letter was written in Russian, which Mr Gershkovich speaks with his family. His parents fled Soviet Russia and settled in the US.

"I love you very-very much and hug you tightly. I received your words of support from the lawyers yesterday. Thank you very much. Until we meet soon. Write me," he wrote.

The reporter was detained on 29 March while reporting in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg.

The US State Department has designated Mr Gershkovich as "wrongfully detained," meaning federal officials are authorised to work toward releasing him.

The Wall Street Journal and the US government have denied the charges against him, and Senate leaders from both the Republican and Democratic parties have called for his release.
The Boise Police Department announced that its cracking down on downtown noise complaints and speeding, and officials are not messing around.

Boise Police and city officials have long battled with downtown cruisers, a group that spends spring and summer nights loudly revving car engines and racing through the streets of downtown Boise. Cruisers often have modified exhaust systems that amplify the sound of their vehicles when they accelerate.

Officers would hand out $67 citations to those who broke the Motor Vehicle Noise Ordinance, which initially stated that excessive noise was anything above 92 decibels when measured from a distance of more than 20 feet.

The Boise City Council recently adjusted the ordinance to determine excessive noise as any noise that can be heard from 50 or more feet away. The fine for violating the ordinance will jump to $356 starting this weekend.

New Fines and Enforcement Plans to Calm Downtown Traffic: https://t.co/iyfzeJb3cO pic.twitter.com/d2QVKLluYd  Boise PD (@BoisePD) April 13, 2023

Theres no insurance penalty, say, for like a regular speeding citation or a reckless driving citation, Boise Police Department Sgt. Matt Konvalinka told the Idaho Statesman in 2022. And a lot of people are willing to accept a $67 fine for what their vehicle has equipped.

The updated ordinance will also allow police to issue the $356 citations for excessive fumes, smoke or exhaust and for vehicles with exhaust systems that pop loudly and sound like gunfire.

Boise Police also announced they would begin evening patrols on eastbound Interstate 184, also known as the Connector, starting this weekend. The department said that drag racing and excessive acceleration have been seen along the Connector and in downtown Boise.

Vehicles coming into downtown Boise on I-184 are often observed at over 100 mph and routinely 20 mph over the posted speed limit of 60 mph, Boise Police Cpt. Mike Ruffalo said in the Thursday news release. We have found that stopping racing and reckless driving on I-184 lessens similar behaviors that occur later in the downtown core.
Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle didn't go to Balmoral to say goodbye to the Queen when she died.

Royal author Robert Jobson told The Daily Telegraph Australia that Kate didn't go so Meghan wouldn't.

The situation has caused Kate to develop "resentment" towards Meghan, according to Jobson.

Queen Elizabeth II's death fueled "resentment" from Kate Middleton towards Meghan Markle, a royal author told The Daily Telegraph Australia.

Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8, 2022, at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.

On the day of her death, members of the royal family traveled to Scotland to say a final farewell to the Queen, but Kate and Meghan notably did not join their husbands, Prince William and Prince Harry, in their journeys, though Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, went with Prince Edward.

At the time, the BBC reported that Kate stayed at Windsor so she could accompany her children to their first day of school.

But Robert Jobson, a royal correspondent who published the biography "Our King Charles III: The Man and the Monarch Revealed" on April 13, told The Daily Telegraph that Charles asked Kate not to come so Harry would not bring Meghan.

Kensington Palace declined to comment when contacted by Insider. Representatives for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton in 2018. POOL New/Reuters

"Harry was insisting Meghan travel with him to Scotland as the Queen's life ebbed away, but the king said it was only for the children and grandchildren to be with the Queen," Jobson told The Daily Telegraph.

"Privately, he wanted to say Meghan was not welcome, but he couldn't say that to Harry, so he personally intervened and asked Kate to stay back so that it was fairer on Meghan," Jobson went on to tell the outlet.

Jobson added: "Kate deliberately stayed away but she desperately wanted to be there with the Queen in her last moments. That's eaten Kate up and has built up resentment towards Meghan."

Story continues

According to Prince Harry's memoir "Spare," Kate and Meghan's relationship has been tense for years. For instance, in his book, Harry said that Kate was "taken aback" when Meghan asked to borrow her lip gloss at an event in 2018, and he shared more details about the issues between them over Princess Charlotte's flower girl dress.

Meghan and Kate participated in a walkabout together with their husbands two days after the Queen died, and they arrived at Queen Elizabeth's funeral together.

Prince William, Princess Kate, Prince Harry, and Meghan Markle on a walk at Windsor Castle on September 10, 2022. Kirsty O'Connor - WPA Pool/Getty Images

Despite appearing together, the walkabout was difficult for Kate, according to an excerpt of Jobson's book published in The Daily Mail, in which he wrote, "Catherine later admitted to a senior royal that, such was the ill feeling between the two couples, the joint walkabout was one of the hardest things she's ever had to do."

Meghan and Kate likely won't be seen together again anytime soon, as Buckingham Palace confirmed last Wednesday that Prince Harry will be attending King Charles' coronation on May 6 without his wife or children.

Royal watcher Kristen Meinzer told Insider's Maria Noyen and Erin McDowell that Meghan's choice not to attend was "brilliant," as it allows the Sussexes to support the crown while protecting their own family.

Read the original article on Insider
This epic safari adventure from CroisiEurope is the perfect family vacation  here's why.

ACroisi Europe

We had waited all morning to see elephants. "Dont get your hopes up," said our guide, Sonny. It had been rainy, and elephants, per Sonny, dont like the rain. Apparently, neither do lions, zebras, giraffes, or Cape buffalo. But we saw them all that day. Zebras trotting through a corner of the park where theyre normally rarely seen. Giraffes munching on acacia leaves just a few feet from our Jeep. A group of lions walking down the dirt road like they owned it  because lets face it, they do.

And when the elephants finally showed up, they came by the dozens  groups of mothers, babies, teenagers, and solitary tuskers. Without exaggeration, it was as if all our safari dreams were fulfilled in a single day.

Our familys first trip to Africa came by way of CroisiEurope, a French cruise company known for its mid-range, family-friendly European river cruises. The three of us, including my spouse and our 11-year-old daughter, were guests on CroisiEuropes South Africa land and cruise safari, a nine-day journey that started in Johannesburg, South Africa, and ended at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. It was a wildly adventurous trip, taking in four African countries via boats, planes (including some really small vessels), helicopters, and Jeeps.

Elizabeth Heath

We arrived in Johannesburg a few days ahead of the organized tour and checked into 54 on Bath, a low-key, modern hotel in the tony Rosebank district. For our first full day, we organized everything through Viator, including a private driver and a visit to the Elephant Sanctuary Hartbeespoort Dam and its adjacent monkey sanctuary.

For those who long to see elephants up close, but are wary of the ethics of wildlife attractions that permit interaction, its important to know the animals here are free-ranging and, while trained, can choose whether or not to interact. The chance to touch an elephant, make eye contact with it, and even feed it moved me to tears.

Story continues

AAlexandre Sattler

AAlexandre Sattler

When we joined the CroisiEurope group the next day, we headed out for a driving tour of Johannesburg that included the once-thriving CBD (or Central Business District), the Apartheid Museum, and the sprawling Soweto settlement, where the anti-apartheid movement was born and where its bloodiest history played out. The museum takes an unflinching look at South Africas brutal past and complicated present, and devotes significant space to Nelson Mandela and other heroes of the anti-apartheid movement. The entire experience is hard to sum up in a few sentences, other than to say that seeing the overcrowded, impoverished swaths of Johannesburg from behind the window of a tour bus, revisiting the museums searing images of police violence against 20th-century protestors, and listening as our guide discussed 21st-century disparities between white and Black people (referred to as "non-whites" during apartheid) leaves visitors with a lot to unpack.

The mood was lighter when we departed the next morning on a less-than-two-hour flight to Kasane, Botswana, the launch pad for visiting the Four Corners area of southern Africa, where the borders of Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe are just miles apart. In the center of it all, at the confluence of the Zambezi and Chobe rivers, is Impalila Island, Namibia. A Jeep ride, a border crossing, a short boat trip, another border crossing, and a 40-minute boat ride brought us to cozy, traditional Kaza Safari Lodge, one of two CroisiEurope lodges on the island. Vervet monkeys tumbled and leaped on the lodge grounds, but we werent to approach them, our host warned, as they bite. So do the hippos, but they were grunting from a safe distance.

Elizabeth Heath

Our first full day of safari was a doozy, beginning with an animal-studded game drive through Chobe National Park. At 4,500 square miles, Chobe is Botswanas third-largest national park, and it's known for its healthy population of African bush elephants  more than 50,000 roam in and out at any given time.

The elephants were slow to make an appearance that morning, but the kudus, impalas, baboons, warthogs, Cape buffalos, and hippos were not at all put off by the rain, nor were the countless species of birds. Even the lions obliged. But Sonny had a trick up his sleeve, and quickly went down a different track where no other Jeeps followed us. We watched breathlessly as a pride of five lions padded right past our open vehicle  a pinch-me moment that will be indelibly engraved in our memories.

On an afternoon water safari  one of several wed take that week  we saw countless hippos, a few crocodiles, and many elephants up close. We also spent a morning on a village walk on Impalila Island led by Lennon, our safari guide who lives in a village close to the lodge. Cattle, small-scale farming, and fishing are mainstays here, and tourism also provides a source of income for villagers. Only a few villages are connected to a shaky electrical grid, and most households that can afford them have diesel-powered generators or solar panels for limited electrical supply. Attacks from hippos, crocodiles, and poisonous snakes, as well as water-borne illnesses, are constant threats to the islands residents  Lennons own mom survived a crocodile encounter.

AMichelle Louise Lawson

We departed Namibia by way of Kasane  on two-, four-, and six-seater planes bound for Kariba, Zimbabwe, flying over boundless wilderness areas, mighty Victoria Falls, and the endless waters of Lake Kariba. CroisiEurope is a cruise line, after all, and the second half of our trip was spent aboard the Zimbabwean Dream, one of CroisiEuropes two 16-person luxury houseboats that ply the shores of Lake Kariba, the worlds largest artificial lake.

At more than 2,000 square miles, Kariba feels more like an inland sea than a lake  I almost expected to see porpoise fins break the smooth surface. Instead, that surface was cut by hippos, who seemed to gather near every grassy bank, along with the occasional crocodile. Once again, elephants were everywhere. Wed wake to find them at the waters edge or grazing the tall grass near the shoreline  a surreal view. We once counted a group of at least 23, including babies just a few weeks old. On our way from the ship back to Kariba Airport, our minibus had to make a quick maneuver in reverse to avoid the ire of two bull elephants walking down the road.

Elizabeth Heath

Elizabeth Heath

Our last stop was Victoria Falls, where we checked into Victoria Falls Safari Lodge, where all rooms overlook a watering hole. Here, too, the elephants did not disappoint. By late afternoon, they emerged from the surrounding forest to feed, bathe, and linger for hours by the water. It was tough to tear ourselves away at bedtime. A wet, exhilarating walk around several Victoria Falls viewpoints, as well as a thrilling helicopter ride the morning of our departure, capped a momentous trip.

Elizabeth Heath

CroisiEuropes southern Africa program is full of big adventures, offering the right mix of creature comforts while delivering a dizzying amount of animal sightings. The trips run in all but the height of summer (December to early March in in southern Africa), when heat, rain, and mosquitos make the voyage untenable. This safari adventure is priced at around $6,000 per person (airfare excluded).



For more Travel & Leisure news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on Travel & Leisure.
The trove of leaked Pentagon documents has the potential to both help and hurt embattled Ukraine, as the documents paint a messier picture of the war but also amp up pressure to get more weapons to the country.

Ukraine is largely dismissing the leaked documents as inconsequential for the war effort as they only provide a snapshot of U.S. assessments in March and February.

But the Pentagon papers, circulated online for millions to see, are emboldening critics across western nations who support less involvement in the war.

One February document reviewed by The Hill details a U.S. conclusion that the war is headed into a stalemate beyond 2023 and both sides are unlikely to make headway anytime soon.

The Pentagons intelligence predicts that Russia will continue to pound Ukrainian lines in the eastern regions, slowly overwhelming Ukrainian defenses with a daily deluge of artillery fires, airstrikes, and repeated, multi-pronged, small-unit ground assaults.

These tactics have diminished Russian forces and munition stockpiles to a level that, barring an unforeseen recovery, can exhaust Russian units and frustrate Moscows war aims, resulting in a protracted war beyond 2023, the assessment says.

The stunning conclusion is contrary to the public U.S. stance that Ukraine will be successful in its coming spring counteroffensive. The Pentagon is still reviewing the leaks, including whether any of the documents may have been altered.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a fierce critic of continued U.S. support for Ukraine, tweeted that the Biden administration and the Pentagon have been caught lying about the war.

While yes, leaking classified documents is serious, many are calling [Jack] Teixeira a hero for pulling back the flimsy transparent curtain and revealing what we suspected all along, Greene wrote, referencing the 21-year-old Air National Guard servicemember who is accused of leaking the documents.

Other critics also seized on the documents because they reveal U.S. involvement in Ukraine, with officials sharing detailed intelligence with Kyiv.

Story continues

Although it has long been known that Washington was providing support to Ukraine, Fox News host Tucker Carlson said the documents spilled secrets on an illegal war undeclared by Congress, falsely claiming that American troops were directly fighting Russian soldiers.

Its our war. The United States is a direct combatant in a war against Russia, Carlson said on Thursday. This is a hot war between the two primary nuclear superpowers on Earth and yet this war has never been formally declared.

He also said the U.S. was treating the alleged leaker like Osama bin Laden for telling the truth about Ukraines struggles in the war.

Additional records present a more unflattering picture of the war, including a document that says Ukraine sent drones to attack inside Russia and Belarus  when Ukrainian leaders have publicly pledged not to strike sovereign territory.

The documents, at least partly, offer a different story than the one told so far, which has been dominated by Ukraines successes and Russias failures through a more controlled narrative directed by Washington and Kyiv.

Michael Butler, a professor of political science at Clark University who specializes in foreign policy and security studies, said this might be exactly what the suspected leaker of the documents wanted.

Theres clearly some attempt to try to stage manage how the perception of the war is going, Butler told The Hill. The actors driving these leaks and distributing these documents are trying to construct or advance a particular narrative about how the war is going.

He said the motivation behind the leaks is a thinly veiled push at attempting to move more people into that camp of skeptics.

The Justice Department has charged Teixeira, an airman with the Massachusetts Air National Guards 102nd Intelligence Wing, under the Espionage Act on charges related to disseminating classified records.

Teixeira was upset about the war, according to the Washington Post, but its unclear if he meant to more broadly influence American perceptions on the conflict.

For months, Teixeira allegedly provided pictures of the documents to a select online community on chat forum site Discord  most commonly used by gamers and young people  but they were never meant to break out into the wider public sphere, The Post reported.

The leaks have already seized global attention, though Ukraine is trying to move on from the issue. In a Telegram post after the first batch of documents surfaced, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of Ukraines presidential office, dismissed the leaks as an attempt to divert attention and sow certain doubts between allied nations.

Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelensky has not publicly commented on the documents, but after the leaks he appeared to be trying to shift control of the narrative back in his favor.

Zelensky recently called out a video that surfaced of Russian soldiers allegedly beheading a Ukrainian servicemember. In a Tuesday address, the Ukrainian leader said his troops must be supported by Ukrainian positions politically and informationally, by the power of weapons and the power of our social unity, by our internal resilience and the strength of Ukraines ties with the world.

And this is the task of both the state and everyone in the state, of both Ukraine and everyone in the world who values a free life and an international order based on rules, he said.

The documents may also serve as something of a silver lining for Ukraine.

Branislav Slantchev, a professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego, who studies the conduct of war, said that for the Russians, all of this is bad news.

Slantchev said Moscow is unsure whether the documents are accurate or not, keeping them guessing, while there are also no battle plans or detailed operational assessments for the coming Ukrainian counter-offensive in the leaks.

I actually think this is going to be beneficial to the Ukrainians, Slantchev told The Hill. They are in a very advantageous position  sitting in the center of a circle and they can strike in many directions.

The Russians cannot guess which way and so its a big problem, he continued. I dont see anything in these documents that even remotely indicates or reveals what the Ukrainians are going to do.

And the records indicate Ukraine is inflicting a much higher toll on the Russian army than it is in turn taking on the battlefield, which is consistent with the Pentagons public assessments.

Somewhere between 189,000 to 223,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in the war, compared to Ukraines 124,000 to 131,000, according to the leaked documents, which the U.S. gave with low confidence.

Russian forces have also lost more than 3,000 tanks and upwards of 10,000 armored personnel carriers, compared to about 1,700 Ukrainian tanks and 5,700 APCs, documents say.

The documents could also drive up pressure to better arm Ukraine, potentially leading to faster movement on advanced weaponry transfers. But, the gravest concerns from the leaks regarded how Soviet-era systems, which make up 89 percent of Ukraines air defenses, are likely to run out by May.

While some analysts noted these documents are a month or older and might be corrected by now, it could increase pressure to get more western air defense systems  such as Patriots  to Ukraine to bolster defenses.

Documents also reveal just how much more aircraft are deployed by Russia compared to Ukraine, with Moscow maintaining 696 fighter jets and bombers compared to 145 warplanes for Kyiv. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal made a public plea to the U.S. for F-16 fighter jets as the document leaks were the hottest story in Washington.

Other records contain troubling information about how American-made smart bombs, or precision-guided rockets, are being jammed by Russia, potentially opening the door to public discussion and efforts to resolve the issue.

Tomasz Blusiewicz, a research fellow with the Hoover Institution, said the document leaks overall wont damage the war effort in the long run  but it does reveal a general mess in Washington to other countries.

It makes a comedy out of the whole thing, he told The Hill. Just the inability of the U.S. intelligence community to not only keep the house in order but also watertight.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A sunny day in Paris in May can be rare, but the Eiffel Tower shines in blue skies on May 17, 2017. Paris was listed as the worlds most powerful city by the World Travel & Tourism Council. | Sarah Gambles, Deseret News

You may have a favorite city you like to visit, but according to the World Travel & Tourism Council, the city of love is the worlds most powerful city for tourism.

What makes Paris the most powerful tourist city?

How did the research determine Paris as the top ranking city? It analysed key indicators such as Travel & Tourisms contribution to GDP, employment and traveller spend, per the report.

Its not just spend that is suggesting Paris as a top tourist destination. The French city also made the tops of U.S. News & World Reports travel rankings, which are based on analysis of expert and user opinions.

However, that ranking listed South Island, New Zealand, as No. 1 and Paris as No. 2.

It suggests visiting the beloved Musee dOrsay, shop the biggest designers on the Champs Elysees or hit the boutiques in Le Marais, take in the view atop the Eiffel Tower, or even plan a day trip to Versailles Palace.

What other cities does the Travel & Tourisms ranking mention?

The council did predict Paris will eventually drop to third place if trends continue in Beijing and Shanghai. Travel & Tourism predicts the Chinese cities will overtake the top two spots by 2032.

The list also takes into account museum tickets, spend on hotel rooms and investment that local and national government and business put into the cities, CNN reported.

Three cities in the U.S. made the list  Orlando, Las Vegas and New York City.

Red telephone booths are iconic London staples. This one remains on Great George Street in London, England, as of June 9, 2018. | Sarah Gambles, Deseret News

What were the top 10 most powerful cities in 2022?

Heres the top 10 cities based on Direct Travel & Tourism GDP in real terms for 2022.

Paris, France. Beijing, China. Orlando, Florida. Shanghai, China. Las Vegas, Nevada. New York City, New York. Tokyo, Japan. Mexico City, Mexico. London, England. Guangzhou, China.

The evening view near the Central Business District is seen in Beijing, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022. The World Travel & Tourism Council predicts Beijing will be the worlds most powerful tourist city by 2032. | Ng Han Guan, Associated Press

The World Travel & Tourism Councils top 10 city predictions for 2032

Heres the top 10 cities based on Predicted Direct Travel & Tourism GDP in real terms for 2032.
Livestock Guardian Dogs Help Ranchers Prepare for Wolves

guardian dog running across the landscape

(Photo credit: SafakOguz / Getty Images)

For Wyoming ranchers, livestock guardian dogs are key to protecting their herds from incoming wolves.

Speaking to Cowboy State Daily, Lauren Stoddard of Montana said her Anatolian Shepherd, Cyrus, had her deepest respect. (Cyprus) handled a grizzly bear by herself when she was eight months old, she said. The bear had come in, looking at our goats as an easy meal, she continued. She ran that bear right off of our place.

Returning wolves are a red flag for ranchers

For ranchers across the Mountain West like Stoddard, guardian dogs are a tried and true way to protect their herds from would-be predators. As such, recent plans to reintroduce wolves in nearby states arent sitting well with rural communities.

In Colorado, two dog deaths were traced back to the states North Park wolfpack this year. According to Dan Thompson, a carnivore specialist with Wyomings Fish and Game department, Simply put, wolves and domestic dogs dont mix.

However, a recently passed ballot measure is forcing rural residents to reckon with the thought of wolves returning. Approved by voters in 2020, the plan has been controversial from its inception, often putting ranchers and environmentalists at odds with each other. Significantly, the measure specified that a plan to reintroduce wolves into Western Colorado shall take effect by the end of 2023. However, the plan has encountered new obstacles after outcry from ranchers and hunters.

Livestock guardian dogs get ahead of the pack

With the wolves return seeming inevitable, Stoddard said that more people should consider guardian dogs for their homesteads. Notably, she mentioned how many of the dog breeds have histories dating thousands of years. For example, she explained how Anatolian Shepherds like Cyrus originated from Turkey, where they staved off wolves and brown bears for local shepherds.

Theyre bold and authoritative. They will go out to meet the threat, she said.

And on top of that, theyre great with kids.

The post Livestock Guardian Dogs Help Ranchers Prepare for Wolves appeared first on DogTime.
They were so excited to have a treat!

There is one thing in this world that never fails to put a smile on our faces and that is ice cream. Who doesn't love ice cream!? The delicious, sweet treat can turn anyone's bad mood upside down. And yes, that includes dogs too!

A Michigan-based animal shelter, known on TikTok as @mi_animalrescueleague, decided to surprise their furry residents with a special treat for the day. Each dog received his or her very own dog ice cream cup and well, the reactions are oh-so-relatable. Check it out!

View the original article to see embedded media.

O.M.G. Stop it right now! This is seriously the cutest thing we've seen all month. It's the perfect way to cool them off as the hotter days are rolling through. We also can't get enough of this because these sweet angels deserve the treat since they live in the shelter. It's the next best thing next to being adopted!

One dog, in particular, stood out to us and TikTokers. "The pup who yanked it out of your hand," wrote @cyns1. HA! That dog would've inhaled that thing in less than a second if they let him! @kathleencraig8 added, "The one who inhales the whole thing is almost too relatable." This is also how we eat ice cream. No shame! LOL!

If you're interested in adopting one of the adorable, ice-cream-loving dogs, please visit the Michigan Animal Rescue League website for more information. You can make your own 'Ice Cream Day' with your very own fur baby!

Looking for more PetHelpful updates? Follow us on YouTube for more entertaining videos. Or, share your own adorable pet by submitting a video, and sign up for our newsletter for the latest pet updates and tips.

READ THE COMMENTS
Raping someone who is intoxicated or unconscious is not classified as a violent felony in the California Penal Code, a serious flaw in Proposition 57, which was approved by state voters in 2016 and allows for earlier parole considerations for some nonviolent offenders.

The problem with the proposition, and what may not have been clear to state voters, was that some crimes that reasonable people would assume to be violent are not classified as violent  including crimes against people who were intoxicated or unconscious at the time they were raped.

It defies common sense that it is not a violent crime to rape someone unable to give consent because they are unconscious. These crimes need to be classified as violent rapes because they could lead to longer prison sentences for the rapists.

Democratic State Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil, herself a survivor of repeated childhood sexual abuse, wants to erase the legal difference and make all rapes violent crimes. She has introduced Senate Bill 268 to that effect. It deserves the support of all.

The legislation would also treat equally anyone who rapes someone who has a disability or is otherwise unable to provide consent.

Sen. Marie-Alvarado-Gil, D-Jackson, addresses a town hall meeting on sexual assault awareness at Stanislaus State University in Turlock on Friday, April 14, 2023.

No matter what you did, what you wore, who you trusted or the words you used, its not (the victims) fault, said Alvarado-Gil, who represents Stanislaus, Merced and 11 other counties. This is a crime where far too often we look at, `What could I have done differently? Why did I drink that much? Why did I trust them when they told me that they loved me? Im here to remind you, sexual assault is not your fault.

A national study in 2007 found that of 112 million women in the United States, 18% (20 million) had been raped, including nearly 3 million who were victims of drug-facilitated rape and 3 million who were incapacitated, according to the US Department of Justice.

The bill rightly has earned the support of local leaders such as State Assemblymen Juan Alanis and Heath Flora, both coauthors, and Stanislaus County Sheriff Jeff Dirkse, all Republicans.

Story continues

Unfortunately, the bill has about as much chance of success in Sacramento as an assault weapons ban does in Washington, D.C. The obstacle is politics.

Scheduled for a Tuesday hearing in the Senate Public Safety Committee, it would surprise no one if committee leadership does not choose to give SB 268 an airing. It then would proverbially die in committee.

Reflecting the Democratic supermajority in the California Capitol, most members of the Public Safety Committee have a knee-jerk opposition to anything adding time to prison sentences, even if the proposal comes from someone in their own party. Because people of color are disproportionately convicted, rejecting additional prison time sometimes makes sense.

But crime victims also are more likely to be people of color. And women of color are more likely to be sexually assaulted in incidents involving substance use, studies show.

This means little to a legislature committed to criminal justice reform, one which has repeatedly rejected bills calling for enhanced sentences for monstrous crimes involving human trafficking and deadly fentanyl.

`The hill I die on

Alvarado-Gil, elected in November, is undaunted.

Two decades ago, she was studying veterinary medicine at UC Davis when a part-time job advocating for crime victims, coupled with memories of her own experiences enduring sexual assault  in her immediate family, and in foster care  prompted a change of direction to help young people in education.

State Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil, seated at left with microphone, participates in a sexual abuse awareness panel at CSU Stanislaus in Turlock, Calif. on Friday, April 14, 2023.

No lobbyist or victims group approached Alvarado-Gil with a request to carry special-interest legislation. She originated SB 268 on her own, and will bring it forward as long as it takes, she said Friday after speaking on a sexual assault awareness panel at California State University, Stanislaus in Turlock.

This will be the hill I die on, she said.

She ought to be spared the indignity. In the name of equal justice, the Legislature should embrace SB 268.
By Jeffrey Dastin

(Reuters) - The artificial intelligence behind ChatGPT, the homework-drafting chatbot that some schools have banned, is coming to more students via the company Chegg Inc.

The U.S. educational software maker has combined its corpus of quiz answers with the chatbots AI model known as GPT-4 to create CheggMate, a study aide tailored to students, CEO Dan Rosensweig told Reuters last week.

"It's a tutor in your pocket," he said ahead of its announcement of CheggMate on Monday.

The software will adapt to students by processing data on what classes they are taking and exam questions they have missed, personalizing practice tests and guiding study in a way generalist programs like ChatGPT cannot, Rosensweig said. It will be available next month for free initially, Chegg said.

The release is poised to widen what pupils do with AI just as educators are grappling with its consequences. Last years launch of ChatGPT led students to turn in assignments written coherently by the chatbot, letting some sidestep coursework and forcing faculty to vet their integrity.

The Los Angeles Unified School District has blocked access to ChatGPT on its devices and networks pending more analysis, it told Reuters, while institutions such as Frances Sciences Po banned it out of concern it plagiarized sources. Still other teachers have encouraged ChatGPTs usage if disclosed, for purposes such as critique.

Rosensweig said Chegg focuses on math and the sciences, not the essay drafting that has challenged schools. It also lets teachers restrict review of answers to questions on current exams.

Accuracy remains a problem for AI models, which predict what to say next without a grasp of facts. Rosensweig said Chegg has structured and checked its answers to ensure accuracy.

Asked if AI will prompt Chegg to shrink its pool of 150,000 experts contributing to its content, he said the company already balances humans with technology. CheggMate likely will decrease its cost of content and boost profitability over time, he said.

Story continues

Analysts in recent months have questioned whether Chegg can grow its base of 8 million subscribers as students embrace the largely free ChatGPT software, created by the startup OpenAI. Cheggs stock has fallen 28% this year as of Friday, making its market capitalization about $2.3 billion.

OpenAIs CEO Sam Altman said in a Monday press release that the startup eagerly partnered with Chegg to "improve the way people around the world learn."

Rosensweig said Cheggs proprietary data showed its relevance. That's why they're working with us, he said.

(Reporting By Jeffrey Dastin; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
Screenshot: NBC News (Fair Use)

There was a sigh of relief reading that 16-year-old Ralph Yarl wasnt dead as a result of being shot by a Kansas City resident after knocking on the wrong door. Whats even better news is that the teen was discharged from the hospital and back home recovering with the support of his family, per Kansas City Star.

He continues to improve. Hes responsive and hes making good progress, said Paul Yarl, Ralphs father. His mother, a nurse, took off time from work to help her son. Ralph stayed in the hospital for three nights and his family has created a GoFundMe to raise money for medical bills.



Read more

Over $1.2 million has been raised.

On the topic of good news, the Clay County Prosecutors Office announced there will be charges filed against the man who shot at the teen, 84-year-old Andrew Lester, according to KMBC. Investigators found Lester shot through his glass door before responding to Yarl. He told the police he thought someone was breaking into his house and said Yarls size and age made him scared to death.

Maybe thats why Prosecutor Zachary Thompson suggested there was a racial component to this case.

Lester is facing first-degree assault and armed criminal action charges and faces life in prison upon conviction. Hes been released from jail.

BREAKING: This is a mugshot just released by @kcpolice of Andrew Lester, 84. He is the suspect in the #RalphYarl case.@kmbc pic.twitter.com/7hJSvEi8h0  Matt Flener KMBC (@MattFlenerKMBC) April 17, 2023

What Happened?

The family of a Black teenager shot after ringing the wrong doorbell hired Benjamin Crump to represent them in criticizing the authorities, according to NBC News. The resident who shot the boy was released after 24 hours, and the boys family argue the man should be back behind bars, facing criminal charges.



Story continues

Thursday, 16-year-old Ralph Paul Yarl was shot twice by a Kansas City resident. Kansas City police say he arrived at the home looking to pick up his siblings, but mistook the residence on the Northeast 115th Terrace for one on Northeast 115th Street. This honest mistake resulted in a shot to the head and arm. The white homeowner accused in the shooting was held in custody for 24 hours and released because charges werent filed. With the alleged shooter free to go home and Yarl sent to the hospital, anger erupted among city residents.

Yarls family and demonstrators gathered to protest over the weekend, demanding justice be served for what they considered to be racially motivated crime.

Read more from NBC News:

Lee Merritt and Ben Crump announced Sunday that they were taking the case and promptly criticized authorities in Kansas City, Missouri, for releasing the shooter, who they said is a white man. There can be no excuse for the release of this armed and dangerous suspect, the lawyers said. Police Chief Stacey Graves explained why the shooter was released and vowed to investigate thoroughly. She said that a vast majority of felony suspects are released after 24 hours but that many are re-arrested once enough evidence is gathered to trigger charges.

Mayor Quinton Lucas said hes going to make sure there is a thorough investigation into the incident and the report will be brought to the prosecutors office. He also said he aims to allow Yarl access to all the resources he needs to be supported in his recovery.

The teens family say he is stable condition. Its unclear what the next steps are for his family and their new civil attorneys. However, its clear the justice they seek results in the man being charged and tried for his actions.

More from The Root

Sign up for The Root's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.
Without citing a reason, the Delaware judge overseeing a voting machine companys $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News announced late Sunday that he was delaying the start of the trial until Tuesday.

The trial, which has drawn international interest, had been scheduled to start Monday morning with jury selection and opening statements.

More from The Hollywood Reporter

The case centers on whether Fox defamed Dominion Voting Systems by spreading false claims that the company rigged the 2020 presidential election to prevent former President Donald Trumps re-election. Records produced as part of the lawsuit show that many of the networks hosts and executives didnt believe the allegations but aired them, anyway.

Representatives for Dominion and for the two entities its suing  Fox News and its parent company, Fox Corp.  did not immediately return requests for comment on the delay. In his statement, Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis said only that the trial, including jury selection, would be continued until Tuesday and that he would announce the delay in court on Monday.

Thats when Fox News executives and the networks star hosts were scheduled to begin answering for their role in spreading doubt about the 2020 presidential election and creating the gaping wound that remains in Americas democracy.

Jurors hearing the $1.6 billion lawsuit filed against Fox by Dominion Voting Systems would have to answer a specific question: Did Fox defame the voting machine company by airing bogus stories alleging that the election was rigged against then-President Donald Trump, even as many at the network privately doubted the false claims being pushed by Trump and his allies?

Yet the broader context looms large. A trial would test press freedom and the reputation of conservatives favorite news source. It also would illuminate the flow of misinformation that helped spark the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and continues to fuel Trumps hopes to regain power in 2024.

Story continues

Fox News stars Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity and founder Rupert Murdoch are among the people who had been expected to testify.

Barring a settlement, opening statements are now scheduled for Tuesday.

This is Christmas Eve for defamation scholars, said RonNell Andersen Jones, a University of Utah law professor.

If the trial were a sporting event, Fox News would be taking the field on a losing streak, with key players injured and having just alienated the referee. Pretrial court rulings and embarrassing revelations about its biggest names have Fox on its heels.

Court papers released over the past two months show Fox executives, producers and personalities privately disbelieved Trumps claims of a fraudulent election. But Dominion says Fox News was afraid of alienating its audience with the truth, particularly after many viewers were angered by the networks decision to declare Democrat Joe Biden the winner in Arizona on election night in November 2020.

Some rulings by the judge have eased Dominions path. In a summary judgment, Davis said it was CRYSTAL clear that fraud allegations against the company were false. That means trial time wont have to be spent disproving them at a time when millions of Republicans continue to doubt the 2020 results.

Davis said it also is clear that Dominions reputation was damaged, but that it would be up to a jury to decide whether Fox acted with actual malice  the legal standard  and, if so, what thats worth financially.

Fox witnesses would likely testify that they thought the allegations against Dominion were newsworthy, but Davis made it clear thats not a defense against defamation.

New York law protects news outlets from defamation for expressions of opinion. But Davis methodically went through 20 different times on Fox when allegations against Dominion were discussed, ruling that all of them were fully or partly considered statements of fact, and fair game for a potential libel finding.

A lawsuit is a little bit like hitting a home run, said Cary Coglianese, law professor at the University of Pennsylvania. You have to go through all of the bases to get there. The judges rulings basically give Dominion a spot at third base, and all they have to do is come home to win it.

Both Fox and Dominion are incorporated in Delaware, though Fox News is headquartered in New York and Dominion is based in Denver.

Fox angered Davis this past week when the judge said the networks lawyers delayed producing evidence and were not forthcoming in revealing Murdochs role at Fox News. A Fox lawyer, Blake Rohrbacher, sent a letter of apology to Davis on Friday, saying it was a misunderstanding and not an intention to deceive.

Its not clear whether that would affect a trial. But its generally not wise to have a judge wonder at the outset of a trial whether your side is telling the truth, particularly when truth is the central point of the case, Jones said.

The lawsuit essentially comes down to whether Dominion can prove Fox acted with actual malice by putting something on the air knowing that it was false or acting with a reckless disregard for whether it was true. In most libel cases, that is the most difficult hurdle for plaintiffs to get past.

Dominion can point to many examples where Fox figures didnt believe the charges being made by Trump allies such as Sidney Powell and Rudolph Giuliani. But Fox says many of those disbelievers were not in a position to decide when to air those allegations.

We think its essential for them to connect those dots, Fox lawyer Erin Murphy said.

If the case goes to trial, the jury will determine whether a powerful figure like Murdoch  who testified in a deposition that he didnt believe the election-fraud charges  had the influence to keep the accusations off the air.

Credibility is always important in any trial in any case. But its going to be really important in this case, said Jane Kirtley, director of the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and the Law at the University of Minnesota.

Kirtley is concerned that the suit may eventually advance to the U.S. Supreme Court, which could use it as a pretext to weaken the actual malice standard that was set in a 1964 decision in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. That, she feels, would be disastrous for journalists.

Dominions lawsuit is being closely watched by another voting-technology company with a separate but similar case against Fox News. Florida-based Smartmatic has looked to some rulings and evidence in the Dominion case to try to enhance its own $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit in New York. The Smartmatic case isnt yet ready for trial but has survived Fox News effort to get it tossed out.

Many experts are surprised Fox and Dominion have not reached an out-of-court settlement, though they can at any time. Theres presumably a wide financial gulf. In court papers, Fox contends the $1.6 billion damages claim is a wild overestimate.

Dominions motivation may also be to inflict maximum embarrassment on Fox with the peek into the networks internal communications following the election. Text messages from January 2021 revealed Carlson telling a friend that he passionately hated Trump and couldnt wait to move on.

Dominion may also seek an apology.

The trial has had no apparent effect on Fox News viewership; it remains the top-rated cable network. And there is little indication that the case has changed Foxs editorial direction. Fox has embraced Trump once again in recent weeks following the former presidents indictment by a Manhattan grand jury, and Carlson presented an alternate history of Capitol riot, based on tapes given to him by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.

Best of The Hollywood Reporter

Click here to read the full article.
Write-in candidate Monica Curls has won a seat on the Kansas City school board, after no one met the qualifications to appear on the ballot.

When no one successfully filed to run for the Sub-district 4 seat, in the east-central region of Kansas City Public Schools, both Curls and Jacquada Jay Gray registered as write-in candidates and started campaigning. While the election was on April 4, the election office finished counting write-in ballots this week.

More than 1,000 people wrote in names for the seat, according to unofficial results, with Curls winning 691 votes and Gray receiving 172. She will replace board member Marvia Jones.

Curls, 49, is the manager of government compliance for Terracon, an Olathe engineering company. She is from Kansas City, a product of the Catholic school St. Teresas Academy, and comes from a political family, with both parents having served in the statehouse. She has been active in KCPS community meetings and also previously helped with some campaigns.

I am honored that the voters of the 4th Sub-district have chosen me to represent them on the KCPS Board of Directors. I want to congratulate Jacquada Gray for running a great campaign, and I know she will continue to advocate on behalf of our students, Curls said in an email to The Star.

I look forward to joining my colleagues on the KCPS Board as we focus on ensuring positive educational outcomes for all of our students. We have a lot of challenges in front of us, and I am ready to get to work.

On Wednesday, two other new board members were seated. Both Jamekia Kendrix and Josh Jackaway ran unopposed for two open seats, so they automatically won the positions. Kendrix fills the Sub-district 2 seat, covering the north-central region, to replacing board chair Nate Hogan. Jackaway replaces Jennifer Wolfise for the at-large seat.

It was an easy-to-miss election despite the past year being marked by school closures, the hiring of a new superintendent and contentious debates over the future of Kansas City Public Schools.

Story continues

The last Kansas City school board election saw big spending and two hard-fought races, including one that unseated a longtime incumbent and board chair.

But school leaders argued the sleepy election wasnt a sign of apathy. They have been working to build excitement for KCPS, hoping to grow enrollment, better compete with neighboring schools and gain voter support for a bond initiative next year.

Some potential candidates didnt realize their sub-districts had changed, following redistricting, or said that the new maps were confusing. And others struggled to gather enough signatures. For at-large seats, 500 signatures are required, while candidates running in the other races need 250 signatures from active voters who live in the sub-district.

Jennifer Wolfsie, who did not seek reelection, previously told The Star collecting enough signatures from people residing in a sub-district, who are not only registered to vote but actively do so, actually is more difficult than a lot of people realize. Some candidates have several signatures thrown out, she said.

On election years, KCPS holds training courses for residents considering running for school board. Wolfsie said the district plans to start offering those courses every year, and earlier in the fall, to help candidates get a head start on collecting signatures and meeting the qualifications.
A man is in custody after he was accused of stabbing his roommate in the face, Alabama police said.

The Decatur Police Department received a call at about 4:30 a.m. from someone speaking Spanish, according to an April 16 news release.

The caller was connected to an interpreter and told them his brother had been stabbed, and he was trying to get into his brothers home.

Officers arrived and found a man inside the home with multiple stab wounds to his face, according to the release.

He was taken to a hospital to be treated, officers said.

Police identified the mans 19-year-old roommate as a suspect in the stabbing, and he was charged with second-degree assault.

Officers did not say what led to the stabbing or a possible motive.

The man is being held in the Morgan County Jail, according to police.

Decatur is 86 miles north of Birmingham.

Fight over gun ends in a shooting inside KFC, Mississippi cops say. Teens charged

Two teens killed after prom when their car gets pinned underneath semi, AL reports say

Delivery driver trips teen chased by cops  and hangs onto the pizza, PA video shows

Man uses blowtorch to set house on fire with woman and dogs inside, Florida cops say
DETROIT - The doctor's prognosis was dire, and Geoffrey Fieger claimed he knew it.

"He should never be exposed to significant emotional stress," Dr. Michele DeGregorio wrote on Dec. 4, 2020, in an attending physician's statement.

"There is not a more stress-creating occupation than 'trial lawyer,' " Fieger wrote five months later in a disability claim seeking $16 million from Lloyd's of London. "I can no longer do it."

Nevertheless, Fieger continued to take high-profile cases and wage war in courtrooms across the country with his customary bravado. Even after asserting that he could no longer argue cases in court, Fieger argued cases in court as the lead attorney on malpractice lawsuits in St. Lucie County, Florida and in Johnson County, Iowa.

Geoffrey Fieger, the lawyer of Jeffrey and Brandi Franz who are parents of Riley and Bella Franz, gestures to a photo of James and Jennifer Crumbley, who are the parents of Oxford High School Shooter Ethan Crumbley, as he holds a press conference to announce the two federal $100 million lawsuit he has filed in their name at his office in Southfield on Dec. 9, 2021.

There was no sign here at home that the bombastic 72-year-old barrister was following doctor's orders and limiting his duties to paperwork, or working as what he described as an "office lawyer," as he told the insurance underwriters he would. Fieger held news conferences on the Oxford High School massacre and Detroit police shootings. He appeared on CNN and Fox News. And it's still hard to watch local TV for very long without seeing an ad for his law firm. It wasn't until last month, when his family and law firm disclosed that Fieger had suffered a stroke after undergoing "an elective procedure to address a minor heart arrhythmia," that we learned Fieger had any health issues.

But to anyone paying attention to a lawsuit working its way through a courthouse in Newark, New Jersey, the crucial question was not whether Fieger was ill, but whether he had misled Lloyd's of London about how long he had been warned that his heart could be a ticking time bomb  and whether he could walk away from the arena where he made his reputation and his fortune.

Danger of 'sudden death'

On March 2, 2019, Fieger declared on insurance paperwork that he was a trial lawyer who made $19.5 million the year before, stood 6-foot-2, weighed 235 pounds and was "in good health and free from mental or physical impairment, abnormality injury or disease." The two-year premium for his policy was $285,018.

Story continues

Geoffrey Fieger

Fifteen months later, on June 17, 2020, a cardiologist informed Fieger his "heart was dangerously enlarged." He underwent a second heart check four months later and said the doctor insisted he undergo an angioplasty, a procedure to open blocked arteries. Fieger told the insurance company's claims adjuster that the doctor was concerned "because of the dangers that he described as 'sudden death.' "

I don't know about you, but that's the kind of warning I take seriously.

More: For Geoffrey Fieger, stroke brings uncertain future to long and storied legal career

It appears Fieger did, too, because on Sept. 25, 2020, he underwent "detailed cardiac testing and examination." DeGregorio, an interventional cardiologist, diagnosed Fieger with heart disease.

"He should avoid moderate and strenuous exercise," DeGregorio wrote on an attending physician's report submitted as part of Fieger's insurance claim. Under the question "When do you expect the patient to be able to return to work," DeGregorio wrote: "Never as a trial lawyer."

The diagnosis must have been devastating for Fieger, who rose to national prominence in 1990 when he defended Dr. Jack Kevorkian against a charge of first-degree murder after the pathologist helped a chronically-ill woman end her life. I still remember watching a brash young Fieger say during a televised news conference that the only thing then-Oakland County Prosecutor Richard Thompson was missing was a clown nose. Then he pulled out a red ball and stuck it on a photo of Thompson. Fieger has done pretty well since then. He says he has won more than 165 jury verdicts of at least $1 million.

Jack Kevorkian smiles along with his attorney Geoffery Fieger, (left) as they watch a symbolic release of 28 ballons representing all of Kevorkian's patients after the verdicts of not guilty were handed down by an Oakland County jury in the assisted suicide cases against Kevorkian.

DeGregorio's diagnosis seemed to put an end to Fieger's days as a trial attorney, a role in which he charmed juries and antagonized opposing counsel for more than 40 years. On Nov. 18, 2020, Fieger filed a disability claim with his insurance underwriter. He would later write in a legal filing that he provided them with "incontrovertible medical evidence of his serious heart condition."

On Dec. 7, 2020, Fieger wrote on an insurance form asking how his medical condition had affected his ability to work: "Physician recommends I no longer engage in any strenuous activity." He also wrote that he last worked as a trial attorney in March 2020 and, in response to a question on the form asking when he expected to return to work, he wrote: "N/A Incurable."

Fieger also wrote that he had been working 80 hours a week, from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and "cannot, upon doctors orders, try cases."

Still, five months later, Fieger was in court in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Public records show that on April 1, 2021, Fieger participated in a pretrial conference as part of a team representing a family on a medical malpractice case.

I left a voicemail and sent emails to Fieger, his assistants and a public relations executive who has been representing Fieger and his firm since his stroke, but no one responded to discuss the disconnect between Fieger's declarations that his days as a trial attorney were over and what appears to be business as usual.

More: Detroit elected officials give city jobs to family members  and the city says that's OK

A month after Fieger's trip to Kenosha, he filled out more insurance forms describing himself as an "office lawyer," asserting that he had cut his hours down to 40 to 50 a week and was dividing his time evenly between "managing law office" and "pre-trial case work-up"

"I am unable to be a trial lawyer and try cases," he wrote on May 20, 2021. "I can now be an office lawyer. Doctors do not prelude this non-stressful work."

"As a trial lawyer, I worked throughout the U.S. and traveled extensively," he added. "Not now."

On Aug. 2, 2021, Fieger expressed frustration that insurance underwriters were requesting billing records.

"After March of 2020, all trials ceased. I told you that," he wrote. "Certainly, cases have been settled since March 2020, but sadly at a drastically discounted amount because there is no threat of me as a 'trial lawyer.' "

Three weeks later, on Aug. 26, 2021, Fieger sued insurance underwriters at Lloyd's of London seeking a $16 million disability payout.

On Sept. 27, 2021, the insurance underwriters sent Fieger a letter in which they "invoked the record examination provision of the policy as part of their ongoing efforts to determine whether (Fieger) had, in fact, ceased performing his trial lawyer duties per his doctor's recommendation  an essential requirement of the PTD coverage."

PTD is insurance jargon for "permanent total disability." In Fieger's case, that translates to not being able to argue a case in court.

What happens in Newark

The wheels of justice can move slowly, but Fieger's legal team wasn't wasting any time.

Less than two months after filing his lawsuit against Lloyd's of London, Fieger won a default judgment because lawyers for Lloyd's of London failed to respond to his lawsuit.

It was a short-lived victory.

Lawyers for the insurance underwriters told the judge Fieger failed to notify them about the lawsuit. They challenged the assertion of Fieger's legal team that a records clerk named "Alfonzo Zeebler," who stood between 5-foot-9 and 6-foot tall and weighed between 181 and 200 pounds, really received the legal paperwork. They said their records clerk is named "Alphonzo Ziegler," stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 320 pounds. Ziegler also swore that he never received the paperwork.

The insurance underwriters' lawyers also claimed that Fieger's legal team sent their notice of default to the wrong address. By the time the letter, sent to 750 Fifth Ave., finally caught up to them at 750 Seventh Ave., the judge had already granted Fieger's motion for default. The insurance underwriters' lawyers persuaded the judge to vacate the default judgment, but they had plenty more to say.

For starters, they accused Fieger of trying to rush the lawsuit through the court "to cut short a continuing investigation of (Fieger's) disability claim and leverage an immediate payment of benefits."

"Among the issues that must be determined  are whether (Fieger) continues to engage in 'trial attorney' duties."

The underwriters' lawyers also alleged that Fieger's heart problems date to 1999 and that he failed to disclose them, as required, and failed to disclose all the medications he was taking. Fieger countered that he saw a doctor for a minor heart flutter and did not disclose medications he took for preventive purposes.

The underwriters' lawyers even accused Fieger of writing a Feb. 18, 2010, letter in which Fieger's doctor gushed about his "extraordinary health."

"He maintains as good health as is possible in a man fifty-nine-years-old," the letter said. "He appears to be ten to fifteen years younger."

Fieger denied writing the letter, which he said his doctor wrote by hand and merely asked Fieger's office to type up for him.

Two particular claims the underwriters made that leaped out at me in the wake of Fieger's March medical procedure  which his wife described as an "elective procedure to address a minor heart arrhythmia"  are that Fieger went to the hospital in 2017 for a "cardiac arrhythmia" and in 2018 underwent "another cardioversion procedure by Dr. DeGregorio for recurrent atrial fibrillation and/or atrial flutter to restore normal sinus rhythm." Fieger's lawyers said he merely went to the doctor "because of a minor and temporary atrial flutter that was likely caused by a reaction to an injectable anti-cholesterol shot that Fieger had taken as part of his health regimen."

Ultimately, the underwriters' lawyers asked the judge to void Fieger's policy. In return, they said they would refund what Fieger paid for the policy.

On Jan. 19, 2022, Fieger's lawyers responded that the underwriters were aware of Fieger's medical condition and that "the prospect of continuing to collect enormous premiums from Fieger was a substantial factor in underwriters' decision to continue selling policies to Fieger."

While the lawyers jousted, Fieger prepared for a date he had in two weeks at the kind of place his doctors said could kill him.

A date with St. Lucie County

Past the palm trees and beyond the polished stone and glass facade of the St. Lucie County Courthouse in Florida, Fieger stood before a jury on Feb. 2, 2022, and delivered the opening statement in the case of a young girl who, he said, suffered permanent brain damage because medical workers failed to provide proper treatment when she was born.

If Fieger was worried about his doctor's warning that he avoid "significant emotional stress," it didn't show as he laid out his case, according to a transcript of the trial I reviewed.

Fieger became so impassioned while blaming hospital workers for taking too long to help a newborn start breathing that the hospital's lawyer was moved to interrupt him.

"Objection, your honor," the lawyer said. "He's screaming."

Fieger made his mea culpa even before the judge could sustain the opposing counsel's objection.

"I'm just  I apologize," Fieger said. "I just get a little enthusiastic. Hundred percent correct. I'm sorry, counsel."

Later, the judge cautioned Fieger against making comments that have "nothing to do with anything other than trying to inflame the jury inappropriately."

Fieger and the hospital's lawyer wrestled in court over the next three weeks.

Fieger began his closing argument by saying he wished he had been "more kind" to opposing counsel and had "listened more closely" to the judge. But, before long, the judge was again cautioning him to stop making inflammatory statements.

"Policy after policy was violated," Fieger argued, his fury apparently building. "They provided no objective written explanation for what they had done as the policy requires."

"Objection," the hospital's lawyer said. "He's yelling."

"Please," the judge told Fieger, "I know you're excited, but "

Fieger, undeterred, continued.

Before launching into his own closing argument, the hospital's lawyer requested a mistrial. The judge denied the motion.

The jury awarded Fieger's client $158,000.

Fieger fared better a month later in Johnson County, Iowa. On March 21, 2022, a jury awarded $97.4 million to a boy whose brain was severely damaged at birth. Local media reports said Fieger argued the case in court and described him as "the plaintiffs' lead courtroom lawyer." The plaintiffs' legal team issued a news release hailing Fieger, two Chicago lawyers and a Des Moines lawyer for winning "the largest malpractice verdict in Iowa state history."

Meanwhile, in New Jersey, Fieger's claim that his heart condition rendered him unable to do battle in a courtroom headed to mediation. A lawyer for the insurance underwriters said both sides were committed to resolving the case without a trial. On Jan. 18, Fieger offered to take $13.3 million to settle the case.

Court records do not say what happened with that offer.

On March 1, Fieger underwent what his wife, Keenie, described as "an elective and standard procedure to deal with a minor heart arrhythmia. Following the procedure, it was determined that Geoffrey had suffered a stroke."

Six days later, Fieger's disability lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice, which means it cannot be refiled. This kind of resolution generally means that both sides reached a settlement. But because Fieger's stroke did not become public until March 22, it's not clear what impact it may have had on his lawsuit  or even whether the insurance underwriters knew about it before the case concluded.

Fieger's longtime legal partner James Harrington issued a statement on March 22 that said Fieger was "awake, resting comfortably, and actively engaging in rehabilitation."

With Camp Fieger declining to respond to my questions, we're left wondering whether Fieger didn't take his doctors' warnings as seriously as he claimed to, or whether the lure of the courtroom was too great to resist.

Perhaps the most unusual aspect of this complex and convoluted yarn is that it ends with Fieger in a state many of us never expected: Silent.

M.L. Elrick is a Pulitzer Prize- and Emmy Award-winning investigative reporter and host of the ML's Soul of Detroit podcast. Contact him at mlelrick@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter at @elrick, Facebook at ML Elrick and Instagram at ml_elrick. Support investigative reporting and use this link to invite a friend to become a subscriber.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Fieger claimed disability in lawsuit, got heart diagnosis pre-stroke
Ralph Yarl Ben Crump Law

Protests erupted over the weekend over the shooting of a Black 16-year-old in Missouri whose family said was shot in the head after going to the wrong home to pick up his twin brothers.

Ralph Yarl was allegedly shot by the homeowner outside the Kansas City residence when he arrived on Thursday. According to a GoFundMe created by his aunt Faith Spoonmore, Yarl mistakenly went to a house one block away from where he was supposed to pick up his brothers. When he pulled into the driveway and rang the doorbell, the homeowner shot him twice, including once in the head, his aunt said.

According to Spoonmore, Yarl ran to three different homes after he was shot before one of the neighbors finally agreed to help him and was told to lie on the ground with his hands up.

Speaking at a press conference on Sunday, KCPD Chief Stacey Graves said the suspect was taken into custody following the incident and his firearm was seized. The suspect was placed on a 24-hour hold and released pending further investigation, Graves said, adding that the department needed to collect a formal statement from the victim and further evidence before the case can be handed over to prosecutors.

The vast majority of cases to include violent crime involve the suspect being released, pending further investigation. In this case, the prosecutor requires more information from investigators that would take more than 24 hours to compile, Graves said. We recognize the frustration this can cause in the entire criminal justice process.

Graves did not reveal the race or gender of the alleged shooter, but attorneys Lee Merritt and Ben Crump, who are representing Yarl and his family, have said that the homeowner is a white man.

On Monday, Clay County prosecutor Zachary Thompson announced charges of first-degree assault, which holds a maximum sentence of life in prison, and armed criminal action against Andrew Lester. Thompson said a warrant has been issued for Lester's arrest and his bond has been set at $200,000.

Story continues

Thompson noted that there was a "racial component" to the case but did not comment further on specifics.

In a joint statement released on Monday, Crump and Merritt said they had received news of the charges shortly after the family had gotten off a phone call with President Joe Biden.

Moments after the family got off the phone with President Biden, who offered his prayers for Ralphs health and for justice, we learned that the prosecutor will be charging the man who is responsible for the deplorable shooting of this innocent boy," the statement read. "Gun violence against unarmed Black individuals must stop. Our children should feel safe, not as though they are being hunted. While this is certainly a step in the right direction, we will continue to fight for Ralph while he works towards a full recovery.

In Kansas City on Sunday, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the home of the alleged shooter, chanting , Stand up, fight back!

Spoonmore, who went live on Instagram from the protest, said she spoke to a woman who lived close to the house where Yarl was shot. The woman told Spoonmore that she saw the homeowner the morning after, sweeping in the front of his house.

This was a child that this man attempted to assassinate, she said. He shot him twice. And we allowed him to not only go back home hours after the incident, but he was able to wake up the next morning and freaking claim like nothing ever happened.

In a joint statement released on Sunday, Merritt and Crump demanded the Clay County prosecutor's office take swift action on the case.

"There is no excuse for the release of this armed and dangerous suspect after admitting to shooting an unarmed, non-threatening, and defenseless teenager that rang his doorbell, they said. We demand swift action from Clay County prosecutors and law enforcement to identify, arrest, and prosecute to the full extent of the law the man responsible for this horrendous and unjustifiable shooting."

Protesters march on April 16 in the Kansas City, Missouri, neighborhood where Ralph Yarl was shot. Susan Pfannmuller/The Kansas City Star via AP

News of Yarls case erupted online, and prominent figures like Halle Berry and Viola Davis have called on prosecutors to charge the alleged shooter.

On the GoFundMe page, Spoonmore called Yarl a fantastic kid who is well loved by the people around him. She said he is a member of the Technology Student Association at his high school and section leader in the marching band, where he plays the clarinet.

Spoonmore said her nephew is doing well physically but still has a long road ahead mentally and emotionally.

The trauma that he has to endure and survive is unimaginable. He is our miracle. We have heard these types of stories many times, and unfortunately, most black boys are not alive to get another chance, she said.

A 2022 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association revealed that gun-related deaths have increased by an average of 8% since Missouri enacted a Stand Your Ground bill in 2016.

According to the advocacy group Everytown , Missouri gun laws are some of the weakest in the country, where theres no requirement for background checks on unlicensed gun sales. An average of 1,351 gun-related deaths are recorded yearly in the state.

More on this
The Salvation Army of Des Moines has opened a new food pantry in its coordination office in Clive.

The organization unveiled the pantry and its new office, 1400 N.W. 100th St., last week to community partners and area residents, highlighting its continued commitment to meeting people's needs. The Clive pantry is one of two Salvation Army centers that offer various food items such as meat, dairy products, fruits and vegetables.

The Salvation Army also distributes care packages for homeless individuals at another location in Des Moines and launched a mobile service bus last year to provide food and other resources.

More: More than 300,000 Iowans didn't have enough to eat in a week, report says

The pantry in Clive is "client choice," which means people can get the items they want and it's open for anyone in need, Tamyra Harrison, development coordinator, said in an interview. The pantry is open 10 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Staff and volunteers will be on hand to guide visiting patrons down the aisles.

"There is dignity in being able to shop for and pick out your items like most do at a grocery store," Harrison said in a news release. "Also, this can help reduce food waste because they are taking home items they know their family will use and enjoy.

The Salvation Army opened a new food pantry April 14 in Clive.

In Iowa, 300,000 people are struggling with hunger and one-third of them are children, according to statistics from the Food Bank of Iowa, which partnered with the Salvation Army and Des Moines Area Religious Council to help stock the Clive pantry shelves.

One in seven working Iowa households and one in six senior citizens are food insecure, Michelle Book, the food bank's president and CEO, previously told the Des Moines Register. And one in five Iowa homes that are food insecure has a resident who is a veteran.

More: As Des Moines' homeless population grows, the city grapples with solutions

"We just need to make sure people are aware that the need is still there, and we need to make sure we're still taking care of our friends and neighbors in need," Harrison said.

Story continues

"We are here to help anybody in need, regardless of their current or previous financial status, regardless of any, you know, race, sex, orientation, anything," she continued. "We're here to help without discrimination without religious requirements. We want to help."

F. Amanda Tugade covers social justice issues for the Des Moines Register. Email her at ftugade@dmreg.com or follow her on Twitter @writefelissa.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: The Salvation Army of Des Moines opens a new food pantry in Clive
Rep. Larry Householder, center, takes the oath of office after being elected as the new Speaker of the Ohio House. He and previous Speaker Ryan Smith, not pictured, battled for the position for months. [Fred Squillante/Dispatch]

Protect Ohioans from crooked one-party rule

In an April 12 guest column "Corrupt mastermind's plot shows frailty of our state's constitution," Secretary of State Frank LaRose wrote about a plan by Republican leader and convicted felon  Larry Householder to extend his corrupt reign as Speaker of the Ohio House by undermining term limits. Thats why he says Ohioans should support a Republican-led effort to make it more difficult for citizens to pass constitutional amendments. He claims that doing so will protect Ohioans from well-funded, dishonest political campaigns.

In reality, Ohio Republicans are just afraid of losing, so theyre trying to change the rules.

Frank LaRose: Larry Householder's sinister plot shows 'vulnerability' of Ohio Constitution

In an October 2022 survey of Ohio voters, 59% stated they would support amending the state constitution to protect abortion rights.

State Senator Bill DeMora (D-Columbus) represents Ohios 25th Senate District, which encompasses areas of Franklin County, including Clintonville, Upper Arlington, Grandview Heights, South Linden, Italian Village, Victorian Village, Ohio State University, and Northland.

Mere months later, Republicans introduced legislation to increase the voter threshold for constitutional amendments from a simple majority to 60% and create a costly August special election  just months after they voted to eliminate most August special elections, which was fully supported by Secretary LaRose.

Increasing the threshold for constitutional amendments just months before a reproductive rights amendment is on the November ballot is nothing more than a cynical scheme to preserve Republicans ability to impose their extreme views on Ohioans.

So yes, Secretary LaRose, we do need to protect Ohioans from crooked one-party rule, but you and your proposal are part of the problem, NOT the solution.

State Senator Bill DeMora (D-Columbus) represents Ohios 25th Senate District, which encompasses areas of Franklin County, including Clintonville, Upper Arlington, Grandview Heights, South Linden, Italian Village, Victorian Village, Ohio State University, and Northland.

It is the same Frank LaRose

Apr 23, 2022; Delaware, Ohio, USA; Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, middle, attends a rally for former President Donald Trump at the Delaware County Fairgrounds.

Frank LaRoses April 12 column, "Corrupt mastermind's plot shows frailty of our state's constitution," should be a hard stop for Dispatch readers. This is the same Frank LaRose that voted repeatedly to approve voting maps that were four times ruled unconstitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court.

Story continues

Susan Miller, Columbus

Letters to the Editor

More: How to submit a letter to the editor for The Columbus Dispatch

What hogwash

Frank LaRose's April 12 column, Corrupt mastermind's plot shows the frailty of our states constitution," argues that convicted felon Larry Householders unsuccessful plot to pass a constitutional amendment extending term limits justifies the present Republican push to raise the vote threshold to amend the state constitution.

What hogwash! Our problem is not our state constitution amendment process, which has worked flawlessly since 1912.

More: Where's our Obi-Wan Kenobi? Ohio Republican playing role of evil Galactic Empire |Opinion

Our problem is that corrupt Republican politicians, like Householder, control our state. And now LaRose has joined their ranks by supporting this undemocratic 60% proposal.

In a grossly gerrymandered state, the only way a majority (which is over 50%, not 60%) of Ohio citizens can express their opinion is through the present referendum process.

Philip Hawley, Upper Arlington

The majority of our citizens believe in freedom of choice

In the April 13 paper, Gov. Mike DeWine stated "The initiative would make Ohio one of the most liberal states in the union. That's not where the majority of Ohioans are today."

DeWine: Abortion amendment too liberal for Ohio, but lawmakers should look at current law

I respectfully disagree, Governor.

I believe that the majority of our citizens believe in freedom of choice. Women want to make their own reproductive decisions and, if given the opportunity, will vote to support that right.

Katy Bertner, Columbus

The real indoctrination

Page 8A, the entire April 13 Opinion page, should be required reading for every Ohioan (possessing a state issued ID). Thank you for printing and organizing a well-designed page of varying viewpoints.

Professor: Admitting white privilege shouldn't be required at Ohio universities

Opinion: Profs using 'shoddy, ideologically-motivated research' in attack on universities

Isn't white privilege a fact, and even accepted as an understood truth in mere Appalachia? Now, how can we convince state legislators that Ohioans have been indoctrinated to use guns to cause violent deaths?

Daniel Finn, Worthington

Get more political analysis by listening to the Ohio Politics Explained podcast

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Frank LaRose part of 'cynical scheme' to preserve power, stop abortion in Ohio
Trevor Worthington, a vice president who oversaw development of the all-new Super Duty and Ranger Raptor trucks and Bronco Raptor SUV, is leaving Ford Blue, the company announced Monday.

He joined Ford in 1985 and has led for the past year programs for gas-powered and hybrid vehicles, a news release said. The retirement of Worthington, a corporate officer, will take effect April 28.

Trevor Worthington, vice president of ICE product programs at Ford Motor Company, plans to retire after an extensive career this month.

He previously worked as vice president of global product development, operations and vehicle programs, responsible for bringing new products to market, according to the Ford website. He oversaw material costs and engineering expenses during development.

Worthington joined Ford as part of the regional product-planning team in Australia, the release said. He went on to lead strategy in Asia Pacific, including China and North America.

Having grown up watching Ford Falcon vehicles on the race track in Australia, Worthington led product development for Ford Performance and played a major role in "orchestrating a strategy and cycle plan" for Ford Performance Racing, including a return to Formula 1 with Red Bull Racing and Le Mans with the Mustang GT3, the release said.

More: Latest Ford Super Duty orders set 'insane' pace

Trevor has always had a keen and evolving sense of what customers want and, more importantly, what they dont know that they want in a vehicle, Jim Baumbick, vice president of Ford product development operations and quality, said in a release. But what really set Trevor apart was his leadership. His ability to inspire and develop employees throughout his career has played an important role in keeping Ford at the front of the pack with an iconic, winning portfolio of products.

From 2008 to 2019, Worthington helped deliver Fords first global products to Asia Pacific, the news release said.

As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to work for Ford, Worthington said in a news release. Its been a privilege  theres a legacy of people Ive worked with and mentored all over the world that Im really proud of.

Story continues

An aeronautical engineer by training, he plans to retire back home in Melbourne, Australia, not far from where he started his career, Ford said in its release. Worthington turns 60 this year, according to the Ford website.

Ford has not named a successor.

More: Ford hires John Dion as chief transformation officer to improve manufacturing quality

More: 2024 Ford Mustang chief engineer learned to drive on a Mustang GT stick, reveals future

More: Ford's plan to cut $3B in waste will funnel money from gas vehicles to fund electric, tech

Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: 313-618-1034 or phoward@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @phoebesaid

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Trevor Worthington, a major player in Ford Performance Racing, retires
ProChile and nine companies will represent the country, which will have its own panel called "Tech Talent: A global perspective from Chile."

MIAMI, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- For the third year, a Chilean delegation will travel to Miami to be part of eMerge Americas 2023, the premier technology conference transforming the city into a global tech hub scheduled for April 20-21.

The Chilean delegation at eMerge Americas 2022.

This time, nine companies from the South American country were chosen to participate in Startup Showcase 2023, a program that will give them access to the world's leading tech investors and corporate partners. They are Admetricks, By Bug, Hacknoid, Infraseg, Mi Tribu, Nala, Option, Smarketing Sales, and Youtouch.

As part of the initiative, they participated in six virtual boot camps. Once they arrive in Miami, they will have the opportunity to pitch in front of a curated group of seasoned judges, and they will have an exhibit space during the event.

"About 100 companies were selected to compete, nine of whom are from Chile. This shows you that the country is at the forefront of innovation and entrepreneurship in Latin America," said Claudia Serrer, Trade Commissioner in Miami at ProChile, the government institution promoting goods and services abroad.

In addition to this program, there will be a panel focused on the country called "Tech Talent: A global perspective from Chile," where Claudia will discuss the Chilean tech ecosystem and the opportunities and challenges in the Florida market with two Chilean entrepreneurs: Rene Espinoza, Co-Founder and CEO at Lazarillo, and Eyal Shats, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at SimpliRoute. Their companies have been in the Sunshine State since last year.

Furthermore, the ProChile representative will be a judge in the Hemispheric University Consortium Social Ideas Challenge, a unique international contest seeking entrepreneurial ideas with social impact through university communities. Two groups from Chile will compete with students from Ecuador, Peru, and the United States.

Story continues

Leader in Latin America

Since 2007, Chile has been the region's leader in the Global Innovation Index by the World Intellectual Property Organization. Last year, it was among the 50 more innovative countries worldwide.

According to the 2021/2022 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report, Chile is the most innovative country for early-stage entrepreneurs.

The country exported $359 million in tech services last year, which is 0,2% higher than in 2021. Of this amount, $88 million  equivalent to 24,5% of the total  was sent to the United States.

According to ProChile, 136 tech companies have started operations in the US in the past five years, of which 34 chose Florida as their launching pad into the American market. Their offices are in different cities, including Jacksonville, Miami, and Tampa.

Their expansion has been possible thanks to different initiatives hosted by ProChile, including GoGlobal, a soft landing and mentoring program carried out annually in Miami since 2019. More than 130 startups have participated in its four editions.

Part of this success comes from a government effort to develop a local innovation ecosystem and support the creation of technology-based, innovative, scalable, and high-impact companies. In 2010, the government launched Start-Up Chile, a public accelerator that seeks to attract global talent to Chile and counts Microsoft, AWS, Walmart, and Johnson & Johnson MedTech as its partners.

Its results speak for themselves: more than 2,000 companies are part of its portfolio, with a valuation exceeding $5 billion. Their combined sales are over $2 billion.

"These companies have had a great performance in our country, and our job now is to help them grow their operations into new markets, including the United States," said Serrer.

Miami NFT Week

At the beginning of April, four Chilean entrepreneurs participated in the "Web3 perspective and startup opportunities from Latam" panel at Miami NFT Week 2023.

The panelists were Daniel Pardo, Co-Founder and CEO of Wbuild; Ignacio Detmer, Co-Founder and CEO of Koywe; Nicolas Jaramillo, Co-Founder and COO of Arch; and Ignacio Ibaibarriaga, Founder of Trips3.

"By participating in these events, we want to give visibility to Chile's innovation ecosystem, its success stories, and its talented human capital," said Serrer.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chile-the-leading-innovation-hub-in-latin-america-will-be-part-of-emerge-americas-2023-301797827.html

SOURCE ProChile
James King and Harambee Purnell have more than a mother in common. They belong to the same fraternity, serve as ministers in the same church and both have undergone kidney transplants. In fact, Kings new kidney initially belonged to Purnell.

But Purnells kidney stopped working for King years ago and now King is on the list to receive a second kidney.

Purnell, who is undergoing treatment for cancer that claimed his lone remaining kidney, also became the beneficiary of a transplant of his own.

Twenty years ago, James King needed a kidney. His brother Harambee Purnell was a perfect match as a donor. But the brothers never expected decades later that Harambee would move to the top of the list for a kidney transplant. James King (left) and Harambee Purnell pose for a photo on Wednesday, March 15, 2023 at Emmanuel Christian Fellowship Center in Indianapolis.

While complications such as these are extraordinarily rare in the world of organ donation, the two brothers are sharing their story in the hope of raising awareness of the need for organs.

There is great need out there. That needs not going anywhere and it's not going to dramatically alter your life in a negative way, King said. In fact, you may get some personal fulfillment out of it.

More than two decades ago King, now 56, was out to dinner with a friend. As he was leaving the restaurant, his vision suddenly blurred. He went immediately to the hospital, where he learned he had end stage renal failure due to complications from hypertension. To stay alive, he had to go on dialysis.

King told his family he had his condition under control but his mother, who had developed advanced cancer, was concerned. Purnell who lived in Arizona with her knew only one thing would ease her mind: If he moved to Indiana to look after his brother.

While King never asked Purnell for his kidney, when he told his younger brother that would be the only way to get off dialysis, Purnell, now 50, knew what he had to do.

Minster Harambee Purnell (left) sits with paster Tom Glenn as his brother James King (right) greets friends during Sunday service on Sunday, March 19, 2023 at Emmanuel Christian Fellowship Center in Indianapolis.

Once I saw what he was going through, there was no way that I was going to let him continue, he said. He told me, you know, I need a kidney. And I said, Well, I'll tell you what, you have it. I'll give you mine.

Donating a kidney entails a complicated process. After a series of tests, doctors confirmed that Purnells kidney would be a good match for King.

Story continues

On September 14, 2004, doctors removed a kidney from Purnells abdomen and placed it in his brother. For King, the transplant proved life-altering.

I like to call it a get out of jail free card, King said. It changes everything. How you eat, how you live, what you can and cannot do. Its a drastic change.

After the transplant Purnell developed hypertension, a condition for which doctors recommended he visit a nephrologist twice annually.

The brothers resumed their lives. A few years after the transplant, Kings new kidney  the one Purnell had given him  failed.

Oh, that was devastating, King said. That was the get back in jail card.

While transplanted kidneys often fail, average longevity for donated kidneys ranges between 15 to 18 years for living donors and 14 to 16 years for deceased, said Dr. Asif Sharfuddin, medical director of kidney and pancreas transplant at IU Health.

As his brother returned to dialysis, Purnell married and had children. But then eight years ago came an even bigger blow.

During a routine visit to the nephrologist, Purnell learned he had cancer in his one remaining kidney, cancer that had spread to his bladder.

It was probably some of the worst news that I could have possibly received at that time, Purnell said.

In March 2015, Purnell started treatment but doctors could not save his kidney. A few months later, he had surgery to remove his kidney, bladder and prostate. With no second kidney he, too, had to go on dialysis.

The chance that a donors sole kidney will fail further down the line is less than 1%, maybe three or four out of 1,000, said Sharfuddin, Purnells doctor.

This case is highly unusual, Sharfuddin said. He did something great to help his brother out and he himself had really bad luck. No one would expect that This is like an extreme situation.

The one bright spot: Because of Purnells past as a kidney donor, should he ever become medically eligible for a new kidney, he would catapult to the top of the organ donation list. First, Purnell had to complete treatment and live two years cancer free.

In June of 2019, he became eligible for a new kidney.

Even with his priority status, Purnell waited months. On March 6, 2020, he went to IU Health University Hospital, blissfully unmasked. When he woke up from the operation, he found himself in a new world and a hospital full of stressed and fearful caregivers.

Minister Harambee Purnell worships during Sunday service on Sunday, March 19, 2023 at Emmanuel Christian Fellowship Center in Indianapolis.

Receiving a kidney, he learned, is easier than donating one, especially given that in the intervening years he had undergone numerous painful medical procedures.

I just had a little pain of where they put the kidney in, he said. I was up and walking the very next day.

After eight days, he went home, where he stayed sequestered through the pandemics early months.

By this point, King decided after years of pondering that he would go on the list for a second kidney. Although at first he had not wanted to go through with another transplant and stay on dialysis, he had explored the process more and is now comfortable with the idea.

I wasn't sure about the parameters of a second kidney. I didn't know how that would work, he said

About 15 to 20% of patients on the transplant list are awaiting a second or third transplant, Sharfuddin said. Unlike Purnell, however, King does not receive priority.

Meanwhile, Purnell had upsetting news about his own prognosis. Last year, almost two years after he had the kidney transplant, his doctors found spots on his lungs and the nodes in his neck. The cancer was back and had spread.

While theres no way to know for sure, the doctors suspected that some of the immunosuppressive drugs that Purnell had taken to prevent his body from rejecting his new kidney may have contributed to the return of the cancer.

Theoretically its possible that the medicines he was on, they may have had a role in reoccurrence of the cancer, Sharfuddin said.

Knowing that certain chemotherapies may increase the risk of organ rejection, Purnells doctors made calculated decisions about his chemotherapy regimen, stopping some of the immunosuppressive drugs he takes that might be helping the cancer spread.

So far, both doctor and patient say, the combination appears to be working.

Today the two brothers live a short way from one another, King in Speedway and Purnell in Pike Township. Like brothers, they bicker happily about inconsequential matters, such as how long a drive separates their two homes  Purnell ribbing King because he's older so he drives slow. They both serve as associate ministers at Emmanuel Christian Fellowship Center on the eastside.

With all the health issues the two men have faced, they take care of one another, said Purnell, adding that he has been learning from his older brother since he was a child.

Now that King needs another kidney, the two decided to share their story in the hope of raising awareness of organ donation. Even in hindsight Purnell has no regrets that years ago he gave his brother one of his kidneys and wound up losing the other.

If there was a way that you can take the donated kidney that I have in my stomach and split it in half, I will give it to him right now, he said.

Contact IndyStar reporter Shari Rudavsky at shari.rudavsky@indystar.com. Follow her on Twitter @srudavsky.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Brother donates kidney then needs kidney transplant himself
South Dakota governor and potential 2024 presidential candidate Kristi Noem told the crowd at a National Rifle Association event that her nearly two-year-old granddaughter already has a shotgun and a rifle.

I want to reassure you, she said from the stage at the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum in Indiana on 14 April.

Ms Noem was among a crowd of 2024 hopefuls and declared candidates addressing the influential firearm lobbying groups conference just days after a gunman killed six people inside a Louisville, Kentucky, bank with an AR-style rifle.

Speakers at the event largely spent their remarks pushing against Democratic demands for urgent gun reform measures, including reviving a federal ban on the kinds of assault weapons used during the attack in Louisville and the mass shooting inside a Nashville school that killed three nine-year-old children and three adult employees.

There have been more than 155 mass shootings and more than 12,000 gun-related deaths in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Ms Noem also signed an executive order in the middle of her remarks, inviting NRA president Wayne LaPierre to join her as she barred state agencies from working with banks that discriminate against firearm-related businesses

The order will protect the God-given right to keep and bear arms from being infringed upon by financial institutions, she said.

(AP)

During her 25-minute speech, she criticised efforts from Democratic lawmakers and President Joe Bidens administration to combat the proliferation of high-powered firearms during the nations gun violence epidemic.

Why do the liberals and Joe Biden want our guns? she said. Because it will make it easier for them to infringe on all our other rights.

She added: What if prosecutors actually did their jobs instead of going on the political attack? What if the laws we had today were actually enforced? What if, when tragedy happens, families gathered together, they bowed their heads and they prayed for wisdom and discernment on how to heal hearts and minds rather than to debate the methods used by those in society who do harm?

Last year, days after a gunman killed 19 children inside an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, Ms Noem attended the NRAs Texas event and accused Democratic officials of exploiting the tragedy to pass restrictions on guns.

In response to the Uvalde massacre, members of Congress passed bipartisan legislation signed into law by Presiden Biden to support expanded background checks and the creation of so-called red flag laws. The president has repeatedly called on lawmakers to reinstate an assault weapons ban that expired in 2004.
Unity Prom at Ohio State House

Dozens of queer Ohioans came together at the Ohio State House over the weekend to dress up and dance at Unity Prom, an LGBTQ-centric gala event sponsored by the Columbus Lesbian and Gay Softball Association.

With a non-gender-specific prom court and performances from artists like Virginia West, the sold-out event was designed to provide a do-over for those who could not be themselves at prom.

Kaleidoscope Youth Center, which supports Ohios queer youth, will receive proceeds from Saturdays event.

Over $10,000 was raised for the mission of Kaleidoscope, an organization that hosts its prom event, Other Prom, in May.

Many attendees thought the event was an opportunity to make their prom night perfect.

Various people attended, some dressed in ball gowns and harnesses, while others wore towering high heels and full drag outfits.

Cheryl Harrison, an organizer and member of CLGSA said the event aims to unite local LGBTQ+ organizations and encourage the community to support LGBTQ+ youth, the Columbus Dispatch reports.

More than 50 people were on the waiting list for the event, which saw 350 attendees.

Performances included drag queens West, Edna Mwah, and Maya Bizness; drag king Riley Poppyseed; and nonbinary drag performer Clinica Deprecious.

I think its easy to get caught up in all of the stories and the news and to think were doomed, one of the organizers, Keith Speers, told Columbus NBC station WCMH. But I think there are many more people out here that believe that people should be able to live their lives as they are, love the people that they love.

Those who went to the prom said it was meaningful for them since it was a more accepting experience than their own high school proms.

Julie Taylor told the Dispatch that she skipped her high school prom after feeling uncomfortable with what prom. She just hung out with friends instead.

"I was nervous, I'm not gonna lie. It kind of brings back those feelings," Taylor told the outlet. "(But) now as an adult ... I can come and still feel feminine, but wear a tuxedo jacket and a harness and show skin and not feel like I'm doing something wrong."

Story continues

"Me and my lesbian date went together, and her girlfriend and my date went together. My date and I won prom king and queen, and we both danced with our dates," said attendee Matt Sliger. "It's different because when you go from being young to an adult, you slowly start to realize that other people's opinions don't actually matter about you. You get to be who you are 24/7, no matter what."

Organizers hope to continue the event in the future based on the success of this years event.

Ohio has been one of the epicenters of radical right-wing anti-LGBTQ+ extremism, with neo-Nazis recently descending upon a public park in Wadsworth, near Akron, to protest a Drag Queen Story Hour event.

Several hundred armed white supremacists and ultra-right-wing nationalists screamed at supporters who carried rainbow-colored umbrellas.
The 2023 edition of Lizzos The Special 2our will stop in Memphis on April 24 for what promises to be one of the year's biggest concert events. The empowering pop/R&B singer and flautist will be joined on the bill by opening act and rising Atlanta rapper Latto.

The Lizzo concert at FedExForum originally was scheduled for April 26, but was moved due a scheduling conflict with a possible Game 5 of the Grizzlies-Lakers NBA Playoff series. All previously purchased tickets will be honored for the new date, and additional tickets are on sale now at ticketmaster.com.

Over the last five years Lizzo, born Melissa Viviane Jefferson, has become one of musics brightest stars. A native of Detroit, who has spent time in Houston and Minneapolis, Lizzo broke through with her 2019 album, Cuz I Love You. Its success would propel her to eight Grammy nominations and three wins.

Her 2022 follow-up LP, Special, reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts in the U.S. and landed in the top 10 in a dozen other counties, buoyed by the success of her chart-topping single, About Damn Time.

Lizzo performs a medley at the 65th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Since then Lizzos star power has continued to grow, as she won her fourth Grammy earlier this year and added an Emmy ( for her reality show Lizzos Watch Out for the Big Grrrls) to her collection of prizes. Shes also branched out into acting, appearing in films like Hustlers and more recently the Star Wars TV spinoff The Mandalorian.

Here's what to know before her Memphis show.

Jozzy: This Memphian wrote hits for Beyonce and Mary J. Blige. Now she's shining as a solo artist

Comedy in Memphis: From Chelsea Handler to Rickey Smiley, 8 don't-miss comedy shows coming to Memphis

Lizzo shows love to Memphis

Lizzos kicked off 2023s The Special 2our with a run of shows in Europe and Scandinavia in February and March. The first show of the U.S. leg will take place April 21 in Knoxville, followed by an April 22 stop in Lexington, Kentucky, before her Bluff City set at FedExForum.

Story continues

Although shes played Tennessee numerous times, including the Bonnaroo festival, and several Nashville shows dating back to when she was still a club act, the upcoming FedExForum show will mark her Memphis debut.

However, Lizzo did do a kindness for Mid-South medical workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. In July 2020, Lizzo treated more than 100 Baptist Memorial Hospital-DeSoto employees, who were working in the Southaven facility's COVID-19 unit, to a special catered lunch.

Workers at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Desoto enjoy the lunch from pop star Lizzo.

While Lizzo had no direct connection to the hospital or the region, she was apparently brightening work days for hospital staff in various cities around the country, with the Baptist workers experiencing her generosity during the difficult early days of the pandemic.

What the critics are saying about Lizzo's tour

Lizzos most recently reviewed gigs include several triumphant shows in the U.K. The Independent newspaper in London offered an ecstatic appraisal of her 25-song O2 Arena set, giving it five out of five stars.

In an industry that has long awarded privileges to slim, white bodies, Lizzo loudly and proudly defies both, noted reviewer Nicole Vassell. She demands that people notice her, and preaches the value of others doing the same. Lizzo is so fresh and exciting a cultural entity, however, that her actual talent is sometimes the last thing that comes to mind when you think of her.

Lizzo performs onstage for The Special Tour at the Moody Center on October 25, 2022 in Austin, Texas.

The Independent added that Lizzos 2-hour set, packed with spine-tingling belted vocals, trilling flute solos, and high-energy dance routines, is a firm reminder that Lizzo is more than a cultural figure; shes a musician for the ages.

The Guardian in the U.K. weighed in with similar fulsome praise for her Glasgow, Scotland, performance, also giving it a five-star rating. Critic Katie Hawthorne hailed Lizzos performance as relentlessly aerobic, theatrical, emotional, hilarious.

Tickets to Lizzo

Though Lizzos FedExForum show has sold well so far (at last look, it appears roughly 80% of all seats are gone), a number of good ticket options remain as of this writing.

Lizzos staging will feature a catwalk that will extend into a standing room pit area. Tickets for this unreserved general admission area are $156.50.

February 5, 2023: Lizzo accepts the award for record of the year for About Damn Time during the 65th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.

Although a bit farther back, floor seating is also available, ranging from $126-$280. Middle level seating is in the $126 range, while upper-level seats can be had for as low as $36.

For more information or to purchase, go to Ticketmaster.com

Lizzo in Memphis

8 p.m. April 24 at FedExForum, 191 Beale St.

Tickets: $36-$280; Ticketmaster.com

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Lizzo in Memphis: What to know about tour stop at FedExForum
WOODBURY - A Philadelphia man who shot at two police officers in Gloucester County, wounding one, has received a 25-year prison term.

Arthur Disanto Jr., 42, pleaded guilty in January to two counts of attempted murder in connection with an Aug. 23, 2021 gunfight with police in Washington Township, according to the Camden County Prosecutor's Office.

More: Supreme Court to decide Will South Jersey judge who put feet on desk, didn't wear robes to court be punished?

Disanto allegedly shot a Monroe officer in the hand and ear, but the officer was released after hospital treatment. He also shot at, but missed, a Deptford officer, the prosecutor's office said.

Arthur Disanto captured after shoot-out with police

Disanto was shot three times during the confrontation, which followed an hours-long search.

A search for Disanto had begun hours earlier in Pennsylvania, where the suspect was accused of shooting his girlfriend on July 3 in Media.

In the wake of the woman's shooting, the Delaware County Sheriff's Office added Disanto to its "most wanted" list, warning he should be considered armed and dangerous.

During attempts to arrest him in Pennsylvania on Aug. 23, Disanto crashed a motorcycle in Philadelphia, then allegedly shot at a Folcroft police officer and took his vehicle.

The stolen car was found when a Deptford resident reported a suspicious vehicle near his Sunrise Avenue home.

Multiple 911 calls reported a man walking through backyards in the area around 7:30 p.m.

Drone aided police search in Gloucester County

Police, aided by at least one drone, tracked Disanto about a mile through a ravine and into a forested area in Washington Township.

The shoot-out occurred when police ordered Disanto to surrender near Cape Cod Drive.

Disanto was sentenced April 14 to consecutive terms of 12.5 years on each count of attempted murder.

The state Attorney General's Office appointed the Camden County agency as an independent prosecutor.

Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Arthur Disanto Jr. shot two officers, wounding one, in 2021 gunfight
Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver on Monday said he was anxiously awaiting a police investigation into a man who shot Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old who approached the wrong door in Kansas City when going to pick up his siblings.

Cleaver, the first Black mayor of Kansas City, said Yarl was a bright, hard-working and responsible young man who was nearly killed for doing what countless older brothers do  pick up their younger siblings to get them home safely.

I want to be very clear that Ralph Yarl should be safe and at home with his family right now, Cleaver said. I can think of no justification for shooting a child multiple times for ringing the wrong doorbelland we as a society ought to think very carefully about whether or not that is the world we want to live in.

Yarl, who is Black, was shot on Thursday night. Kansas City police said he was attempting to pick up his siblings, but rang the doorbell at the wrong address  at a home on 115th Street instead of 115th Terrace. The man who opened the door shot Yarl in the head. Then shot Yarl again when he was on the ground. Yarl was able to get up and seek help from neighbors, but had to go to three homes before getting help.

The homeowner is a white man in his 80s, according to property records and law enforcement records. The Star is not naming the man because he has not been charged.

The shooting has drawn outcry from across the country, thrusting it into a contentious political debate over the countrys gun laws. Missouri has some of the least restrictive gun laws in the country and gives wide latitude to people who use deadly force if they can prove it was in self-defense.

Cleaver is a staunch proponent of gun regulation. In the past two years, he has performed a silent protest by leaving the House chamber every time lawmakers hold a moment of silence for people killed by gun violence, saying the prayers ring hollow when Congress has not taken more action.

Other Missouri lawmakers were silent on the shooting over the weekend. Republican Sens. Eric Schmitt and Josh Hawley did not immediately respond to a request for comment and have not issued any statements about Yarl. Rep. Eric Burlison, a Republican who worked to loosen gun laws while in the Missouri General Assembly before his election to Congress, also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Story continues

Lucas Kunce, a Democrat running against Hawley for Senate in 2024, said Law and order doesnt look like this.

You shouldnt get shot for mixing up an address, Kunce said. Shooting a child for ringing your doorbell should get you locked up forever. But in Missouri, violent white supremacists and criminals get to claim a legal defense to shoot first, ask later.

Kunce sent out an email Monday from his campaign directing people to the GoFundMe supporting Yarls family.
The head of the Southern Baptist Conventions public policy arm, who is a Covenant School parent, is urging the Tennessee General Assembly to back Gov. Bill Lees proposal for an extreme risk protective order law.

The Covenant School tragedy was the worst school shooting in our states history, Brent Leatherwood, president of the Nashville-based Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, wrote in a letter to Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, and every member of the legislature. I am asking that you take steps now to ensure no school in Tennessee ever has to endure our nightmare again.

Leatherwoods letter, an appeal from both his personal experience and on behalf of majority Southern Baptist sentiment, comes amid uncertainty about the success of Lees proposal to prevent people deemed a danger to themselves or others from accessing firearms.

Lawmakers are rushing this week to wrap up the legislative session, a tight timeline that makes debate on the legislation difficult.

Other voices are saying there is too little time left in this legislative session to consider such a proposal. Little credence should be given to that, said Leatherwood, former executive director of the Tennessee Republican Party.

Gov. Lee calls for extreme risk law: Gov. Bill Lee calls for 'order of protection law' to keep guns away from dangerous individuals

The week in politics: Is there time to heed Lee's call for gun legislation?

An extreme risk protection order law, or ERPO, allows civil courts to temporarily block a person from accessing firearms if they are deemed a danger to themselves or others. Extreme-risk laws are often referred to as "red flag" laws, a phrase considered political anathema in conservative circles. Lee has been careful to sidestep the term.

Leatherwood said regardless of the time left in the session, legislators have a responsibility to back Lees proposal.

Brent Leatherwood

Tennesseans have placed their trust in you to guide and steward our state, particularly in times of tragedy, Leatherwood said in the letter. This is one of those moments.

Story continues

Leatherwood reminded the lawmakers that Southern Baptists comprise one-fifth of the population of Tennessee.

The Nashville-based SBC, a conservative denomination whose members are generally supportive of the Second Amendment, have repeatedly called for lawmakers to find ways to reduce gun violence.

The convention approved a resolution in 2018 calling on authorities to to implement preventative measures that would reduce gun violence and mass shootings while operating in accordance with the Second Amendment. The resolution followed a mass shooting at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs that killed 26 and injured 22 others.

The convention approved a similar resolution last year calling on leaders to seek solutions to minimize the threat of gun violence.

SBC resolutions can help guide action by leaders of SBC-affiliated agencies, such as the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

Leatherwood assumes permanent role: Brent Leatherwood named new president of Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission

Leatherwoods request to lawmakers is also informed by his personal experience as a Covenant School parent.

A week ago, at 10:28 a.m., I received the most terrifying call a parent could imagine: a shooter was at the school of my three children, Leatherwood tweeted a week after the March 27 Covenant School shooting.

While our family is safe now, the trauma from that day & the memories of six friends, classmates, leaders, & servants will be with us for the rest of our lives.

Letter To_ Lt. Governor, Speaker, And Every Member of the Legislature by USA TODAY Network on Scribd

Liam Adams covers religion for The Tennessean. Reach him at ladams@tennessean.com or on Twitter @liamsadams.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Southern Baptist' public policy arm head backs Gov. Lee's gun proposal
Around 100 community members rallied in San Luis Obispo on Monday to urge lawmakers to extend the statute of limitations for prosecuting felony sexual assault and domestic violence.

The call-to-action event, hosted by the San Luis Obispo County District Attorneys Office, was held at the San Luis Obispo Veterans Memorial Hall to coincide with Victim Rights Awareness Month in SLO County.

We dont call it the victim justice system. We call it the criminal justice system, San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow told the crowd during Mondays event. Even just in the language that we use to describe our legal system sadly leaves the victims out of this conversation.

Dow urged the community to describe the legal system as the criminal and victims justice system to reframe it in a way that centers victims just as much as perpetrators.

SLO County supervisors Debbie Arnold and Dawn Ortiz-Legg attended the event, along with members of the San Luis Obispo County Sheriffs and Probation Offices and the San Luis Obispo County Behavioral Health Department.

Representatives from several community organizations, including Lumina Alliance and CASA, also attended the event.

San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow speaks at a Victims Rights Awareness Month event at the San Luis Obispo Veterans Memorial Hall on April 17, 2023.

Statute of limitations should be abolished for felony sex crimes, survivor says

Speakers at Mondays event called for the passage of Senate Bill 690, which would extend the statute of limitations for those who are victims of intimate partner violence from five years to 15 years.

They also called for a blanket ban on statute of limitations for victims reporting sexual violence.

According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, California currently does not have a statute of limitations for most felony sex offenses, but certain circumstances still have a statute of limitation applied.

For example, theres still a statute of limitations for rape by fraud or artifice, meaning the perpetrator convinced the victim they are someone else in order to get consent.

Story continues

Seven states  Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming  do not have statutes of limitations for felony sex crimes.

All you do in telling somebody that theyre past the statute of limitations is reinforce the fear that they felt in coming forward in the first place, Atascadero resident Brittany Barber, a survivor of childhood sexual assault, told The Tribune.

Barber, who spoke at the event, shared her story of navigating the court system after her father went to trial in 2021 on accusations he sexually assaulted her as a child.

She said he assaulted several children, adding that two survivors could not have their cases prosecuted because of the statute of limitations.

People need to understand that survivors need to be able to come forward in their own time, Barber said. And they need to be believed.

In her speech at Mondays event, Barber said she spoke with California State Assembly member Dawn Addis about abolishing the statute of limitations for felony sex crimes, adding that Addis was on board.

But when Addis brought the issue to lawmakers in Sacramento, Barber said, other lawmakers were not interested because they did not want to overpopulate prisons.

Addis is currently working on Assembly Bill 452, which would abolish the statute of limitations for victims of sexual assault to bring their assaulter to a civil trial, but this bill isnt enough, Barber said.

Moving forward with things in a civil form is only going to seclude the majority of survivors because most abusers are not going to be independently wealthy enough, she said.

Barber told The Tribune that she called 80 law firms to try to pursue a civil case against her father, but none would take her case.

Barber was told her case wasnt profitable enough to take on because her father wasnt wealthy and wasnt a part of a wealthy corporation, she said.

It was crushing every single time and it never got easier. It never got easier to tell my story, Barber said. It never got easier to be told that my abuse was not financially advantageous to somebody.

Barber urged the community to push state lawmakers to abolish the statute of limitations for felony sex crimes.

The San Luis Obispo District Attorneys Office has a pre-written letter that community members can sign and send to their representatives at https://linktr.ee/slo_da.

Survivors need to be centered, advocates say

Jessica Yates, director of the San Luis Obispo County Victim Witness Assistance Center with the District Attorneys Office, told The Tribune that Mondays event is just the beginning.

She said the county hopes to continue to push for statewide recognition and expansion of victims rights.

A big piece of what our organization or our department does is education and educating our victims on what their rights are and really that they do have a voice in the justice system, because a lot of people dont think that they do, Yates said.

She said her department is there to support victims in any way they need  legal or not  and can connect victims of crimes to resources and assistance.

The department works with multiple community partners to bring the best support possible to victims of crime in San Luis Obispo County, Yates said.

One of those partners is Lumina Alliance, which provides support for survivors of sexual and intimate partner violence.

Lumina Alliance CEO Jennifer Adams, spoke Monday about the importance of centering survivors experiences when talking about crime, specifically sexual assault.

Adams said the alliances role is to provide support to survivors and meet them where they are at.

Theres an important distinction between helping and empowering, Adams said. When we empower a survivor, we are placing their voice, their needs and wants, their innate wisdom first. We are there to support them, providing important information thats relevant to their decision making and reflecting back to them all of their strength. We are not there to tell them what to do.

Adams said survivors autonomy is paramount to their healing process because all their power was taken away during their assault.

This is why abolishing the statute of limitations for felony sex crimes is important, Barber told the Tribune, noting that it can take a long time for a survivor to heal and come to a place where they feel comfortable coming forward.

How to get help

Have you or your family been the victim of a crime? You have rights. View them at oag.ca.gov/victimservices/content/bill_of_rights.

If you or someone you know are a survivor of sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-4673.

The hotline offers a range of free services including confidential support from a trained staff member, help finding a local health facility, legal and medical advice and referrals for long-term support.

Survivor support and resources are also available by calling the Lumina Alliance Crisis and Information Line at 805-545-8888 or visiting at luminaalliance.org.
Zion Market Research

The demand analysis of Global Chondrodermatitis Nodularis Helicis Market size & share revenue was valued at around USD 501 billion in 2022 and is estimated to grow about USD 660 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of approximately 3.51% between 2023 and 2030. The key market players are listed in the report with their sales, revenues and strategies are Johnson & Johnson, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc., GlaxoSmithKline PLC, Pfizer, Inc., Sanofi S.A., Novartis International AG, Nestle Skin Health S.A., Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Bayer AG, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, AbbVie, Inc., Allergan, Inc., Amgen, Inc., Galderma S.A., Merck & Co., Inc., Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Perrigo Company plc., Beiersdorf AG, Roche Holding AG, L'Oreal S.A., AstraZeneca PLC, Mylan N.V., Eli Lilly and Company, Leo Pharma A/S, AbbVie Inc., and others.

Houston, TX, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zion Market Research has published a new research report titled Chondrodermatitis Nodularis Helicis Market By Causes (Use Of Headphones Or Telephones, Ear Trauma, Systemic Sclerosis, Frostbite, And Others), By End-Users (Dermatologist Clinics, Diagnostic Centers, Home Healthcare, Hospitals, And Others), By Distribution Channel (Hospital Pharmacy, Online Pharmacy, And Retail Pharmacy), By Treatment (Conservative Measures, Antibiotics, Corticosteroids, Liquid Nitrogen, Nitro-Glycerine, Collagen, Laser Treatment, And Surgery), And By Region - Global And Regional Industry Overview, Market Intelligence, Comprehensive Analysis, Historical Data, And Forecasts 2023  2030 in its research database.

According to the latest research study, the demand of global Chondrodermatitis Nodularis Helicis Market size & share in terms of revenue was valued at USD 501 billion in 2022 and it is expected to surpass around USD 660 billion mark by 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 3.51% during the forecast period 2023 to 2030.

Story continues

What are Chondrodermatitis Nodularis Helicis? How big is the Chondrodermatitis Nodularis Helicis Industry?

Report Overview:

The global chondrodermatitis nodularis helicis market size was worth around USD 501 Billion in 2022 and is predicted to grow to around USD 660 Billion by 2030 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of roughly 3.51% between 2023 and 2030.

The global chondrodermatitis nodularis helicis industry refers to the market that deals with the production and distribution of products and treatments that are used for the effective treatment and management of chondrodermatitis nodularis helicis (CNH). The condition is deemed benign by medical professionals. It is a common medical issue that affects the skin and cartilage of the ear. Some of the most common forms of treatment for CNH include medications, surgery, cryotherapy, and other therapies but it is crucial to note that these treatment processes are currently evolving with the regular addition of new options and further development of the existing ones. The fraternity includes products like antibiotics, laser treatment, corticosteroids, collagen, liquid nitrogen, and surgery, as well as diagnostic tests and medical devices. The industry may witness certain growth threats during the forecast period.

Get a Free Sample PDF of this Research Report for more Insights with a Table of Content, Research Methodology, and Graphs - https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/sample/chondrodermatitis-nodularis-helicis-market

(A free sample of this report is available upon request; please contact us for more information.)

Our Free Sample Report Consists of the Following:

Introduction, Overview, and in-depth industry analysis are all included in the 2023 updated report.

The COVID-19 Pandemic Outbreak Impact Analysis is included in the package

About 213+ Pages Research Report (Including Recent Research)

Provide detailed chapter-by-chapter guidance on Request

Updated Regional Analysis with Graphical Representation of Size, Share, and Trends for the Year 2023

Includes Tables and figures have been updated

The most recent version of the report includes the Top Market Players, their Business Strategies, Sales Volume, and Revenue Analysis

Zion Market Research research methodology

(Please note that the sample of this report has been modified to include the COVID-19 impact study prior to delivery.)

Global Chondrodermatitis Nodularis Helicis Market: Growth Factors

The global chondrodermatitis nodularis helicis market is expected to grow owing to the increasing number of patients suffering from the condition. This is further strengthened by the growing awareness rate amongst people and medical professionals about the condition and ways to differentiate it from other ear-related issues. Since there are no known causes for the condition, the diagnosis of chondrodermatitis nodularis helicis may get delayed or it may be misdiagnosed. However, regional governments have undertaken measures to spread public awareness about the treatment procedures.

In addition to this, the generally rising healthcare expenditure may contribute to the high CAGR in the industry. Market players can expect more funding for research & development for effective diagnosis and treatment of CNH. Additionally, growing support from government and domestic healthcare bodies on prioritizing public health and providing access to quality medical care is another crucial aspect for future growth. This may translate to more development and commercialization of new treatments for CNH.

The global chondrodermatitis nodularis helicis industry is expected to face growth restrictions owing to the associated side effects of the treatment methods employed to diagnose or cure the condition. Some patients may show severe side effects. For instance, antibiotics may lead to upset, vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, or allergic reactions. Corticosteroids are known to cause acne, skin thinning, or changes in skin pigmentation. Surgeries are associated with risks of infection, bleeding, or scarring. Moreover, regulatory hurdles and limited treatment options are also significant growth inhibitors for the industry.

The growing research & development may provide growth opportunities while underdiagnosis and misdiagnosis could challenge market growth.

Directly Purchase a copy of the report with TOC @ https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/buynow/su/chondrodermatitis-nodularis-helicis-market

Report Scope

Report Attribute Details Market Size in 2022 USD 501 billion Projected Market Size in 2030 USD 660 billion CAGR Growth Rate 3.51% CAGR Base Year 2022 Forecast Years 2023-2030 Key Market Players Johnson & Johnson, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc., GlaxoSmithKline PLC, Pfizer, Inc., Sanofi S.A., Novartis International AG, Nestle Skin Health S.A., Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Bayer AG, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, AbbVie, Inc., Allergan, Inc., Amgen, Inc., Galderma S.A., Merck & Co., Inc., Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Perrigo Company plc., Beiersdorf AG, Roche Holding AG, L'Oreal S.A., AstraZeneca PLC, Mylan N.V., Eli Lilly and Company, Leo Pharma A/S, and AbbVie Inc. Key Segment By Causes, By End-Users, By Distribution Channel, By Treatment, And By Region Major Regions Covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East &, Africa Purchase Options Request customized purchase options to meet your research needs. Explore purchase options

Chondrodermatitis Nodularis Helicis Market: Segmentation Analysis

The global chondrodermatitis nodularis helicis market is segmented based on causes, end-users, distribution channels, treatment, and region.

Based on causes, the global market segments are use of headphones or telephones, ear trauma, systemic sclerosis, frostbite, and others.

Based on end-users, the global market divisions are dermatologist clinics, diagnostic centers, home healthcare, hospitals, and others. In 2022, the industry witnessed the highest growth in the dermatologic clinic segment since they are most likely to be the end-users of CNH treatments. They are the healthcare professionals that are most commonly involved in the diagnosis and management of skin conditions including CNH. Hospitals and clinics may also act as significant growth contributors in the industry especially for more severe cases that may require medical surgery or intervention. As per research posted on JAMA Network, the mean duration of the CDNH was 11.6 months.

Based on end-users, the global market divisions are dermatologist clinics, diagnostic centers, home healthcare, hospitals, and others.

Based on treatment, the global market segments are conservative measures, antibiotics, corticosteroids, liquid nitrogen, nitro-glycerin, collagen, laser treatment, and surgery. CNH conditions are primarily treated with conservative medicines such as avoiding trauma or pressure on the affected area, using protective padding, and applying topical creams or ointments. However, for more serious cases, cryotherapy which refers to the use of liquid nitrogen may be used. This process freezes the affected tissue and is mostly applied in worsened conditions. Laser treatment is used for selective targeting while surgery deals with the excision of the affected tissue. The temperature of liquid nitrogen is approximately -196C (-321F).

The global Chondrodermatitis Nodularis Helicis market is segmented as follows:

By Causes

Use of Headphones or Telephones

Ear trauma

Systemic Sclerosis

Frostbite

Others

By End-Users

Dermatologist Clinics

Diagnostic Centers

Home healthcare

Hospitals

Others

By Distribution Channel

Hospital Pharmacy

Online Pharmacy

Retail Pharmacy

By Treatment

Conservative Measures

Antibiotics

Corticosteroids

Liquid nitrogen

Nitro-glycerine

Collagen

Laser treatment

Surgery

Browse the full Chondrodermatitis Nodularis Helicis Market By Causes (Use of Headphones or Telephones, Ear trauma, Systemic Sclerosis, Frostbite, and Others), By End-Users (Dermatologist Clinics, Diagnostic Centers, Home Healthcare, Hospitals, and Others), By Distribution Channel (Hospital Pharmacy, Online Pharmacy, and Retail Pharmacy), By Treatment (Conservative Measures, Antibiotics, Corticosteroids, Liquid nitrogen, Nitro-glycerine, Collagen, Laser treatment, and Surgery), and By Region - Global and Regional Industry Overview, Market Intelligence, Comprehensive Analysis, Historical Data, and Forecasts 2023  2030- Report at https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/chondrodermatitis-nodularis-helicis-market

Competitive Landscape

Some of the main competitors dominating the global Chondrodermatitis Nodularis Helicis market include -

Johnson & Johnson

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.

GlaxoSmithKline PLC

Pfizer Inc.

Sanofi S.A.

Novartis International AG

Nestle Skin Health S.A.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

Bayer AG

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company

AbbVie Inc.

Allergan Inc.

Amgen Inc.

Galderma S.A.

Merck & Co. Inc.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

Perrigo Company plc.

Beiersdorf AG

Roche Holding AG

L'Oreal S.A.

AstraZeneca PLC

Mylan N.V.

Eli Lilly and Company

Leo Pharma A/S

AbbVie Inc.

Key Insights from Primary Research:

According to the analysis shared by our research forecaster, the Chondrodermatitis Nodularis Helicis market is likely to expand at a CAGR of around 3.51% during the forecast period (2023-2030).

In terms of revenue, the Chondrodermatitis Nodularis Helicis market size was valued at around US$ 501 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach US$ 660 billion by 2030.

Based on end-user segmentation, dermatologist clinics were predicted to show maximum market share in the year 2022.

Based on causes segmentation, the use of headphones or telephones was the leading cause in 2022.

On the basis of region, North America was the leading revenue generator in 2022.

Have Any Query? Ask Our Experts: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/inquiry/chondrodermatitis-nodularis-helicis-market

Key questions answered in this report:

What is the market size and growth rate forecast for Chondrodermatitis Nodularis Helicis industry?

What are the main driving factors propelling the Chondrodermatitis Nodularis Helicis Market forward?

What are the leading companies in the Chondrodermatitis Nodularis Helicis Industry?

What segments does the Chondrodermatitis Nodularis Helicis Market cover?

How can I receive a free copy of the Chondrodermatitis Nodularis Helicis Market sample report and company profiles?

Key Offerings:

Market Size & Forecast by Revenue | 20232030

Market Dynamics  Leading Trends, Growth Drivers, Restraints, and Investment Opportunities

Market Segmentation  A detailed analysis By Causes, By End-Users, By Distribution Channel, By Treatment, And By Region

Competitive Landscape  Top Key Vendors and Other Prominent Vendors

Request for Customization on this Report as per your requirements - https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/custom/7146

(We tailor your report to meet your specific research requirements. Inquire with our sales team about customising your report.)

Regional Analysis:

North America is expected to lead the global chondrodermatitis nodularis helicis market owing to the robust medical infrastructure of the US and Canada.

Furthermore, high disposable income allowing growing medical expenditure along with rising strategic relations between market players and distributors is expected to propel regional expansion. In Asia-Pacific, the growth is expected to be led by India and China, home to some of the leading large-scale producers of medicines for benign conditions. In addition to this, the regions are witnessing a surge in medical infrastructure and a high influx of foreign players leveraging the population base of these regions since India and China offer high growth potential. In Latin America and Africa, the growth may be low due to a lack of adequate medical necessities and a lack of skilled professions.

By Region

North America U.S. Canada Rest of North America

Europe France UK Spain Germany Italy Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific China Japan India South Korea Rest of Asia Pacific

The Middle East & Africa Saudi Arabia South Africa Rest of the Middle East & Africa

Latin America Brazil Argentina Rest of Latin America



Recent Developments

In February 2023, an article published on Patient, an online website, that discussed in-depth the crucial factors that impact the medical community, stated that Chondrodermatitis Nodularis Helicis is mostly caused due to edema, inflammation, and necrosis resulting out of trauma, actinic damage, cold, or pressure. It also suggested that changes to the perichondrial arteriolar may be involved

In June 2021, the United States Food & Drugs Administration (FDA) approved the diuretic torsemide (Soaanz) developed by Sarfez Pharmaceuticals. Oral medicine is recommended once a day for patients with persistent edema along with other certain conditions

To know an additional revised 2023 list of market players, request a brochure of the report: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/requestbrochure/chondrodermatitis-nodularis-helicis-market

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is the chondrodermatitis nodularis helicis?

Which key factors will influence chondrodermatitis nodularis helicis market growth over 2023-2030?

What will be the value of the chondrodermatitis nodularis helicis market during 2023-2030?

What will be the CAGR value of the chondrodermatitis nodularis helicis market during 2023-2030?

Which region will contribute notably towards the chondrodermatitis nodularis helicis market value?

Which are the major players leveraging the chondrodermatitis nodularis helicis market growth?

Browse Other Related Research Reports from Zion Market Research:

Disposable Blood Bag Market By Product (Blood Collection Bags And Blood Transfusion Bags), By End User (Blood Banks, Hospitals, NGOs, And Others), And By Region - Global And Regional Industry Overview, Market Intelligence, Comprehensive Analysis, Historical Data, And Forecasts 2023  2030: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/disposable-blood-bag-market

Pet Travel Bags Market By Pet Types (Dog, Cats, And Others), By Product Type (Hard Kennel, Soft Side Bag, Sling Carrier, And Backpack), By Distribution Channel (Specialty Stores, Supermarkets & Hypermarkets, E-Commerce, And Others), And By Region - Global And Regional Industry Overview, Market Intelligence, Comprehensive Analysis, Historical Data, And Forecasts 2023  2030: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/pet-travel-bags-market

Twist Wrap Packaging Market By Raw Material (Plastics, Polyethylene, Cellophane, Wax Paper, Polypropylene, Polyvinyl Chloride, Aluminum, And Others), By Application (Confectionery Packaging, Chocolate Bars, Candy, Jelly, Gift Wraps, And Others), And By Region - Global And Regional Industry Overview, Market Intelligence, Comprehensive Analysis, Historical Data, And Forecasts 2023  2030: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/twist-wrap-packaging-market

Raffia Tape Stretching Line Market By Machine Type ( Hot Air Oven With Stretching Unit, Extruder With T Die, Inverter Cheese Winder, And Take Up Nip Roll Withholding Unit), By Output Capacity (700 G/Hr, 451700 Kg/Hr, 151450 Kg/Hr, And 80150 Kg/Hr), And By Region - Global And Regional Industry Overview, Market Intelligence, Comprehensive Analysis, Historical Data, And Forecasts 2023  2030: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/raffia-tape-stretching-line-market

Sandbags Market By Material (Plastic, Cotton, And Jute), By Closure (Zip Seal, Heat Seal, And Drawstring), And By Region - Global And Regional Industry Overview, Market Intelligence, Comprehensive Analysis, Historical Data, And Forecasts 2023  2030: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/sandbags-market

Cosmetic Surgery Market By Procedures (Invasive Procedures And Non-Invasive Procedures), By End-User (Ambulatory Surgical Units, Hospitals & Clinics, And Cosmetic Surgical Centers), And By Region - Global And Regional Industry Overview, Market Intelligence, Comprehensive Analysis, Historical Data, And Forecasts 2023  2030: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/cosmetic-surgery-market

Lung Cancer Genomic Testing Market By Sample Type (Liquid Biopsy And Tissue Biopsy), By Technology (Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS), Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), And Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization), By Type (Services And Products), By End-User (Hospitals/Clinics, Research Organization, And Diagnostic Laboratories), And By Region - Global And Regional Industry Overview, Market Intelligence, Comprehensive Analysis, Historical Data, And Forecasts 2023  2030: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/lung-cancer-genomic-testing-market

Veterinary Procedure Lights Market By End-User (Veterinary Clinics, Veterinary Hospitals, Veterinary Diagnostic Centers, And Others), By Product Type (Frontal Binocular Microscope & Headlights, Examination Lights, And Surgery Lights), By Modality (Wall Mount, Floor Stand, Double Head Ceiling Mount, And Single Head Ceiling Mount), And By Region - Global And Regional Industry Overview, Market Intelligence, Comprehensive Analysis, Historical Data, And Forecasts 2023  2030: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/veterinary-procedure-lights-market

Generic Sterile Injectable Ecosystem Market By Drug Type (Antibiotics, Blood Clotting Factors, Cytokines, Immunoglobulin, Insulin, Monoclonal Antibodies, Peptide Hormones, Vaccines, Others), By Therapeutic Application (Cancer, Cardiovascular Disease (CVD), Central Nervous System, Diabetes, Musculoskeletal System, Others), By Distribution Channel (Drug Stores, Hospitals, Retail Pharmacies), And By Region - Global And Regional Industry Overview, Market Intelligence, Comprehensive Analysis, Historical Data, And Forecasts 2023  2030: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/generic-sterile-injectable-ecosystem-market

Pet Travel Services Market By Travel Type (International And Domestic), By Pet Type (Cats, Dogs, And Others), By Booking Type (Offline Bookings And Online Bookings), By Application (Relocation And Transportation), And By Region - Global And Regional Industry Overview, Market Intelligence, Comprehensive Analysis, Historical Data, And Forecasts 2023  2030: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/pet-travel-services-market

About Zion Market Research:

Zion Market Research is a leading market research organization offering industry expertise and scrupulous consulting services to clients for their business development. The reports and services offered by Zion Market Research are used by prestigious academic institutions, start-ups, and companies globally to measure and understand the changing international and regional business backgrounds.

Our clients/customers conviction on our solutions and services has pushed us in delivering always the best. Our advanced research solutions have helped them in appropriate decision-making and guidance for strategies to expand their business.

Follow Us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/zion-market-research/

Follow Us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/zion_research

Follow Us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zionmarketresearch

Follow Us on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/zionmarketresearch/

Follow Us on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Y0Yfi7N8zSs

Contact Us:

Rushikesh Dorge

USA: +1 347 690-0211

United Kingdom: +44 2032 894158

Japan: +81 50 5806 9039

India: +91 7768 006 007

Web: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/

Blog: https://zmrblog.com/

Still, Looking for More Information? OR Want Data for Inclusion in Magazine, Case Study, or Media?

Email Directly Here with Detail Information: sales@zionmarketresearch.com




Accused of leaking classified documents, Jack Teixeira was charged after a quick investigation focused on his digital trail. The New York Times' investigative journalism team identified Teixeira by finding an Instagram account mentioned in his Steam profile. That, in turn, showed photos of the granite kitchen countertop and floor tiles visible in the leaks. The suspect hasn't yet entered a plea and will face a hearing on April 19th. The charges against him carry a maximum combined sentence of up to 15 years in prison.

Teixeira allegedly began sharing the documents on a Minecraft-oriented Discord server in late 2022. He supposedly didn't intend to act as a whistleblower, but the content eventually spread to other Discord servers as well as 4chan and Telegram.

 Mat Smith

The Morning After isnt just a newsletter  its also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.

The biggest stories you might have missed

Elon Musk has created his own artificial intelligence company

Parler's new owner immediately took the social network offline

Remembering Virginia Norwood, the mother of NASAs Landsat program

Hitting the Books: Why nobody knows Hiram Maxim, inventor of the incandescent lightbulb

Instagram redesigns the Reels editor to make it easier to use

The state passed a bill that requires app stores to block the service.

Montana is to become the first state to ban TikTok. The states legislature passed a bill requiring app stores to block the app in the state. The bill passed 54 to 43 and will now head to Republican Governor Greg Gianforte, who previously banned the app from state-owned devices. The ban is slated to go into effect in 2024, though it will likely face legal challenges well before then. Like federal lawmakers, the Montana bill claims TikToks ties to ByteDance puts US users' personal data at risk because the company could be compelled to turn over information to the Chinese government.

Story continues

Continue reading.

It's expected to feature an M2 chip.

According to Bloomberg, Apple recently began testing a 15-inch laptop to ensure its compatibility with third-party App Store apps, something the company does in the lead-up to the release of a new device. Developer logs reportedly show a machine with an eight-core CPU and 10-core GPU, along with 8GB of RAM. Those specs suggest the 15-inch MacBook Air, referred to as Mac 15.3 in the logs, will ship with an M2 chipset, not Apples next-generation chip.

Continue reading.

The DLC arrives next week.

TMA

Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores is a DLC chapter that continues Aloys story. Ahead of its launch, a new trailer offers a fresh look at the Burning Shores, a volcanic archipelago once home to Los Angeles. We also get a closer look at a Metal Devil boss fight  which looks huge. In fact, that battle is one reason Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores wont be available on PlayStation 4, even though you can play the original game on Sonys last generation console. Game Director Mathijs de Jonge said: The cityscape ruins of LA and its surroundings are highly detailed and require a lot of processing power as well as fast streaming technology to run properly.

Continue reading.

The artist said: 'AI is not photography.'

TMA

An AI-generated photo called The Electrician by Boris Eldagsen took first prize in the Creative category at the recent World Photography Organizations Sony World Photography Awards  despite not being taken by a camera. Eldagsen subsequently refused the award, saying "AI is not photography. I applied to find out if the competitions are prepared for AI images to enter. They are not." Eldagsen explained he used his experience as a photographer to create the prize-winning image, acting as a director of the process with the AI generators as "co-creators." Although photography inspired the work, he said the point of the submission is its not photography.

Continue reading.
When the Republicans in the Tennessee House of Representatives filed resolutions to expel three of their Democratic colleagues, many residents of the commonwealth across the Volunteer States northern border had a common reaction.

Wait, they can do that?

They can, they did, and Kentucky lawmakers can do the same.

On the heels of a late March mass shooting at a Nashville school that left three children and three adults dead, Democratic representatives Justin Jones of Nashville, Justin Pearson of Memphis and Gloria Johnson of Knoxville took to the House floor to protest for stricter gun control.

For this breach of House rules, individual resolutions to expel each of the Tennessee Three were drafted and voted on days later. Jones and Pearson, who are Black, were removed from office on April 6 while Johnson, who is white, survived by one vote.

In the week since, local governing bodies in Nashville and Memphis have voted to return Jones and Pearson to the House. A special election will follow, and both men have said theyll run again.

Now, Kentucky has been rocked by its own mass shooting at Old National Bank in downtown Louisville, which left five victims dead and eight more injured, including three police officers. The gunman was also killed on scene by police.

Unlike in Tennessee, the Kentucky legislature has adjourned sine die for the year and wont return until January 2024. However, the governor, Andy Beshear, has the power to call a special session to address a specific issue, and at least one Democratic representative is asking for lawmakers to signal their willingness to reconvene in Frankfort to work on common-sense gun laws.

In the event of a special session  or just a regular session  heres how an elected member of the Kentucky legislature could be expelled from their seat.

The law

The process for removing a representative or senator is laid out in both the Kentucky Constitution and the Kentucky Revised Statutes.

Story continues

The 1891 Constitution  the commonwealths current constitution  Section 39, says each chamber can determine its rules, punish a disorderly member, and expel a member with two-thirds of the body agreeing.

However, it also says a member cant be removed for a second time for the same reason.

Additionally, state law says a member can be censured, fined, or expelled for breach of privilege by a vote of two-thirds of members present.

Filling a vacancy

If a member were to be expelled  which would have to happen while lawmakers are in session  the constitution and state law would require a special election.

At that point, the president of the Senate or the speaker of the House would decide when the special election is to take place.

Additionally, the constitution says that no person shall ever be appointed a member of the General Assembly.

A vacancy is a vacancy regardless of cause, and filling a seat vacant due to expulsion would not operate differently from filling a seat due to death or to resignation, Secretary of State Michael Adams said. Expulsion would occur during a session, and the House Speaker or Senate President would be able to issue the writ of election. That said, I see no legal reason in the abstract that the expelled member could not be renominated and reelected to fill the vacant seat.

Adams added that, in theory, an elected legislator could be indicted for a felony, expelled then convicted, thus making them ineligible to serve again because of the felony.

Has Kentucky removed lawmakers before?

Yes, a long, long time ago.

Members of the House and Senate were removed in 1861 and 1862, under Kentuckys previous constitution.

A New York Times clip from then explained that Kentucky, which remained in the Union during the Civil War, expelled members for aiding in the rebellion.

However, there does not seem to have been an expulsion since the 1891 constitution was ratified and a Legislative Research Commission spokesperson was not aware of any expulsions.
The Trump 2024 campaign took aim Sunday at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) for his votes on Medicare and Social Security when he was in Congress.

DeSantis is colluding with his globalist handlers to go full Never Trump in order to gaslight the people into thinking that Medicare and Social Security should be ripped away from hard-working Americans, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement on Sunday.

President Trump has made it clear that he will always stand on the side of Americans, and protect benefits seniors worked for and paid for their entire lives, he continued.

The email campaign said that DeSantis voted to raise the retirement age to 70 years old in 2013, 2014 and 2015, and that he voted to change the formula for cost-of-living raises for those three years. The email also pointed to DeSantiss votes on Medicare, saying that he voted in 2015 and in 2017 to cut the programs benefits.

The email also included a poll from earlier this month that found that 79 percent of Americans say they oppose reducing Social Security benefits and 67 percent are against raising premiums for Medicare. The AP-NORC poll also found that about 75 percent said they oppose raising the required age to 70 for Social Security benefits and about 70 percent said they oppose raising the age to 70 for Medicare benefits.

Ron DeSantis has long embraced plans to cut Social Security and Medicare, as well as raising the eligibility age of both programs, yet the majority of Americans remain united in their opposition to these positions, the email read.

The fight over Social Security and Medicare benefits has been an embattled topic among lawmakers, with Democrats accusing Republicans of wanting to cut the programs. Republican leaders have maintained that cutting those programs is off the table, but have offered some solutions, including raising the retirement age.

Funding for Medicare is expected to hit a shortfall in 2028 with Social Security also hitting a shortfall in 2032.

Updated on April 17 at 5:51 a.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The past few weeks have seen the circulation of one of the most random conspiracies of recent memory: the 15-minute city.

As an urban planning adjacent person, Ive been aware of the concept of 15-minute cities for a while. The phrase originates from a city planning idea in which everyday necessities like grocery stores, pharmacies, schools, and places of work are accessible by a 15-minute walk, bike, or public transit ride from your home. It is meant to improve peoples quality of life and make owning a car a choice rather than a prerequisite for thriving in society.

Somewhere along the line, this was twisted into a conspiracy. Right-wing commentators like psychologist Jordan Peterson have characterized 15-minute city planning as authoritarian, connecting it to broader conspiracies that theorize a centralized government effort to keep people from leaving their homes. On the even more fringe end of things, some theorists are claiming that the Ohio train derailment was intentional and meant to relocate rural populations to 15-minute cities. (Huh?)

In reality, the idea that 15-minute cities are meant to control a population could not be further from the truth. Theyre more about freedom than anything. Freedom to choose whether or not to own a car, how to get to work, how to spend your leisure days, and how much energy youd like to consume while doing it all. The ability for people to have these choices is important as emissions from carbon-powered vehicles and mineral mining for EV batteries become major environmental concerns.

15-minute cities can also help solve a problem acutely relevant to Florida the issue of suburban sprawl. Our patterns of development often take up acres upon acres of space in areas with limited land, such as where the greater Miami area meets the Everglades. Spread-out single family homes, limited (if any) public transportation connections, seas of retention ponds and golf courses, and giant parking lots surrounding Publix plazas are all too common a sight to see throughout The Sunshine State.

Story continues

I recognize that suburban living has a sort of picturesque appeal to it that whole idea of having a big yard, two-car garage, your own private pool  but it becomes a problem when its essentially the only option.

In Tallahassee, where I currently live, a walkable lifestyle is hard to find outside of Collegetown, a neighborhood meant for college students (a demographic that often, you may note, doesnt own cars). Collegetown apartment complexes are arranged densely (by Florida standards), with access to a variety of restaurants, essential stores, and amenities. Collegetown doesnt really appeal to young professionals and families, so if theyre wanting to live somewhere walkable in Tallahassee, tough luck.

15-minute cities dont have to be bastions of collegiate debauchery, of course. Theyre actually just the pattern of urban development that existed before the rise of car culture. Think about historic suburbs like Winter Park near Orlando or Hyde Park in Tampa. These would be considered 15-minute cities, and theyre also some of the most in-demand places to live in Florida.

If you want to live in a quiet suburb only accessible by car, knock yourself out. No ones stopping you if anything, developers and single-family zoning laws are helping you, and will be for the foreseeable future. But for the Florida residents who would love to bike to work, walk to a corner store, and conserve our natural areas, its clear that our communities need to invest in 15-minute city planning.

Alex Music

Alex Music is a recent graduate from Florida State University with a degree in Applied Mathematics and Geography. She currently works at a civil engineering research center in Tallahassee, and she will be attending the University of Georgia in the fall.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

Send letters to the editor (up to 200 words) or Your Turn columns (about 500 words) to letters@tallahassee.com. Please include your address for verification purposes only, and if you send a Your Turn, also include a photo and 1-2 line bio of yourself. You can also submit anonymous Zing!s at Tallahassee.com/Zing. Submissions are published on a space-available basis. All submissions may be edited for content, clarity and length, and may also be published by any part of the USA TODAY NETWORK.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Why Florida needs to promote, encourage 15-minute city concepts
Gov. Jay Inslee announces the approval of two solar projects in northeast Yakima County during a visit to Perry Technical Institute in Yakima, Wash., Monday, April 17, 2023.
Features/The Vanished Editor

Tammy Ayer has worked at the Yakima Herald-Republic since 2015. This is her fourth newspaper gig. Alongside general assignment reporting and profiles, she writes about the centuries-long crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People, focusing on those who have gone missing, been murdered and have died mysteriously on and around the Yakama Reservation. Ayer grew up in Indiana, lived in Florida for 13 years and has a masters degree in history.
Afghan people climb atop a plane as they wait at the Kabul airport in Kabul on Aug. 16, 2021, after a stunningly swift end to Afghanistan's 20-year war. Thousands of people mobbed the city's airport trying to flee the group's feared hardline brand of Islamist rule.
Global Market Insights Inc.

Cloud data center industry is expected to register 10% CAGR between 2023 and 2032 propelled by increased adoption of cloud-based services.

Selbyville, Delaware, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As per the report published by Global Market Insights Inc., the Global Cloud Data Center Market was estimated at USD 20 billion in 2022 and is expected to surpass a valuation of $70 billion by 2032, progressing at a CAGR of 10% from 2023 to 2032. The report provides a detailed analysis of top winning strategies, drivers & opportunities, competitive scenario, wavering market trends, market size, statistics & estimations, and major investment pockets.

Government efforts fostering the advancement of cloud computing technologies are anticipated to be the major driver of market growth. Cloud computing projects provide integrated management with automatic problem resolution, end-to-end security management, and budgeting according to actual data consumption. The governments of several countries, including India, are emphasizing the improvement of cloud computing infrastructure for e-governance practices, and are setting up initiatives to enhance skill sets to promote digitalization.

Request for a sample of this research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/5491







Direct access to cloud server & storage to boost infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) segment growth

By service, the infrastructure-as-a-service segment accounted for over 30% share of the cloud data center market in 2022. Several organizations are adopting IaaS as it provides direct access to the cloud server and storage with the freedom to expand computer resources as needed and address data traffic issues. Leading industry players are constantly focusing on implementing innovative capabilities and advancing IaaS technology, which is anticipated to accelerate segment expansion through 2032.

Growing adoption by new start-ups to reduce costs to stimulate public segment development

Based on deployment model, the public cloud data center market was worth more than USD 5 billion in 2022 and is expected to record lucrative expansion through 2032. Many SMBs and new start-ups with limited budgets are adopting public cloud data centers as they reduce the cost of setting up an on-premises personal infrastructure for data storage. Major cloud technology providers are also taking efforts to broaden their reach, thereby supporting segment growth.

Story continues

Key reasons for cloud data center market growth:

Rising digitalization in various industries. Growth of e-commerce and online services. Government initiatives for cloud computing. Increasing data storage and processing requirements.

Limited need for data backups and data privacy to fuel Small/medium enterprise segment share

The cloud data market from small/medium enterprise segment is estimated to grow at over 12% CAGR through 2032. Cloud data software facilitates the consolidation of data and the understanding of business requirements. It reduces the need for data backups and data privacy, as well as assists MSMEs in avoiding infrastructure expenditures. Additionally, cloud technologies enable automated upgrades, ensure application availability, and provide much-needed business continuity and resilience to small and medium-sized businesses and startups, allowing them to focus on their core business activities. Moreover, SMEs choose cloud for data storage since it decreases infrastructure and labor costs while also saving time.

Automation of business operations to impel Europe industry trends

Europe cloud data center market size was worth more than USD 5 billion in 2022 and is projected to witness a robust growth rate between 2023 and 2032 owing to increasing efforts by European enterprises to automate business processes with real-time insights into market dynamics in response to market problems, such as supply chain disruption. In 2021, 41% of EU businesses utilized cloud computing for file storage and e-mail. In November 2022, AWS, the cloud computing giant, announced the establishment of a new cloud region and data centers in Spain with plans to invest $2.5 billion in the region. Such investments are estimated to propel the regional share.

Availability of fully redundant network connections to augment colocation segment revenue

As per end-user, the cloud data center market from colocation segment is expected to generate over USD 15 billion in revenue by 2032. Colocation entails a client transferring their servers and hardware into a data center and utilizing the facility's electricity, cooling, internet, and security systems. The fully redundant network connections in colocation data centers ensure that clients' mission-critical applications constantly function without interruption. Moreover, colocation enables businesses to scale their infrastructure to accommodate their expansion without having to incur capital costs. Hence, rising investment and innovations to enable cloud software applications for colocation are likely to support segment development from 2023 to 2032.

Secure a copy of the premium research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/securecheckout/paymenta/5491?gmpaycod=sugmp



Increasing investments in the development of data centers to define the market outlook

IBM Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Alibaba Cloud, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud Platform are among the major companies engaged in the cloud data center market. Industry participants are focused on implementing development strategies to fulfill expanding demand. Businesses have begun to invest in the development of new technologies and services to strengthen their market standing.

Partial chapters of report table of contents (TOC):

Chapter 4 Competitive Landscape, 2022

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Company market share, 2022

4.3 Competitive analysis of major market players, 2022

4.4 Competitive analysis of innovative players, 2022

4.5 Competitive positioning matrix, 2022

4.6 Strategic outlook matrix

Chapter 5 Market, By Service Model

5.1 Key trends, by service model

5.2 Infrastructure-as-a-service model (IaaS)

5.3 Platform-as-a-service model (PaaS)

5.4 Software-as-a-service model (SaaS)

Chapter 6 Market, By Deployment Model

6.1 Key trends, by deployment model

6.2 Public

6.3 Private

6.4 Hybrid

Chapter 7 Market, By Organization Size

7.1 Key trends, by organization size

7.2 Small/medium enterprises

7.3 Large enterprise

Browse Our Reports Store - GMIPulse @ https://www.gminsights.com/gmipulse



About Global Market Insights

Global Market Insights Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider, offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy, and biotechnology.









CONTACT: Contact Us: Aashit Tiwari Corporate Sales, USA Global Market Insights Inc. Toll Free: +1-888-689-0688 USA: +1-302-846-7766 Europe: +44-742-759-8484 APAC: +65-3129-7718 Email: sales@gminsights.com




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.
De ce sa speli gresia din casa cu pasta de dinti. Detaliul la care nu te-ai gandit pana acum

Este un produs nelipsit din casele noastre, important pentru igiena orala, dar care mai are cateva utilizari la care putini s-ar fi gandit pana acum. Afla, din randurile de mai jos, de ce ar trebui sa incepi [citeste mai departe]
Stiri pe aceeasi tema

- In the last week, the Romanian immigration police issued 1,575 residence permits for the beneficiaries of temporary protection, the General Immigration Inspectorate (IGI) reports.Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine last year, IGI has issued 122,287 such permits. Fii la curent cu cele

- According to the data obtained up to this moment, a total of five Romanian citizens, one of whom has dual citizenship, were involved in the serious traffic accident in Hungary, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed on Sunday. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro

- The ambassador of Ukraine in Bucharest, Ihor Prokopchuk, expressed on Tuesday his conviction that Romania will continue to help the Ukrainians as long as necessary, stressing that cooperation with Ukraine is necessary for peace. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro

- As many as 89,586 people, including 6,636 Ukrainian citizens, entered Romania on Sunday, February 26, the General Border Police Inspectorate (IGPF) reported on Monday. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro pe Facebook stiripesurse.ro  Help your

- The General Inspectorate of the Border Police informs that on Sunday, 72,333 people entered Romania through the border crossing points, of whom 6,487 were Ukrainian citizens, told Agerpres. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro pe Facebook stiripesurse.ro

- As many as 3,510,380 Ukrainian citizens entered Romania in one year, starting on February 10, 2022, the General Inspectorate of the Border Police (IGPF) informed on Friday. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro pe Facebook stiripesurse.ro  Help

- The General Inspectorate of the Border Police (IGPF) informs that on Tuesday, 58,159 people, including 6,843 Ukrainian citizens, entered Romania through the border points. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro pe Facebook stiripesurse.ro  Help

- The General Inspectorate of the Border Police informs that on Sunday, 67,032 people entered Romania through the border points, of which 6,665 were Ukrainian citizens, according to a press release sent to AGERPRES on Monday. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro
Romania's COVID-19 weekly cases rise by 4,201, April 10-16, 2023 As many as 4,201 new cases of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 were recorded in the April 10-16, 2023 week in Romania, with over 48,000 RT-PCR and rapid antigenic tests performed, the Health Ministry informed on Monday. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro pe Facebook stiripesurse.ro  .ro  Help your friends know more about Romania! Share this article on Facebook Share this article!  NEWSLETTER   NEWSLETTER  Am citit si sunt de acord cu

Politica de confidentialitate BACK TO TOP DESPRE BACK TO TOP DESPRE Exclusivitati si documente Citeste articolul mai departe pe stiripesurse.ro

Sursa articol si foto: stiripesurse.ro

Stiri pe aceeasi tema

- Romania's COVID-19 weekly cases rise by 5,032 , April 17-23, 2023.As many as 5,032 new cases of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 were recorded in the April 17-23, 2023 week in Romania, with over 60,000 RT-PCR and rapid antigenic tests performed, the Health Ministry informed on Monday, told Agerpres.

- As many as 1,492 people with COVID-19 are hospitalized in specialized health units, the Ministry of Health informed on Monday.163 patients are treated in the ICUs, of whom 134 are not vaccinated against COVID. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro pe Facebook

- As many as 5,211 new cases of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 were recorded in the February 20-26, 2023 week in Romania, with over 70,000 RT-PCR and rapid antigenic tests performed, the Health Ministry informed on Monday. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro

- The National Public Health Institute (INSP) informed on Tuesday that in the February 6-12 week, Romania reported 149 cases of of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron, including 46 variants of concern and 103 variants of interest, told Agerpres. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro

- Minister-President of Bavaria Markus Soder will be visiting Romania on Monday and will have bilateral meetings with President Klaus Iohannis and Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca, informs the German Embassy in Bucharest. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro pe Facebook

- As many as 841 people with COVID-19 are hospitalized in specialized health units, the Ministry of Health informed on Monday. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro pe Facebook stiripesurse.ro  Help your friends know more about Romania! Share

- The National Public Health Institute (INSP) informed on Tuesday that in the January 23 - 29 week, Romania reported 84 cases of of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron, including 24 variants of concern and 59 variants of interest. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro pe Facebook

- As many as 2,358 new cases of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 were recorded in the January 23 - 29 week in Romania, with over 66,000 RT-PCR and rapid antigenic tests performed, the Health Ministry informed on Monday. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro pe
Join us at our events to learn how you can help change the future of health

WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESSWIRE / April 16, 2023 / The Delta Research and Educational Foundation's (DREF) Research Matters for All of Us initiative will host a series of community health events and panel discussions nationwide from April 16th-22nd, 2023, in recognition of the milestone anniversary of the Foundation. The week-long awareness program, entitled "55 Years Strong: Preserving Our Legacy through Research," aims to raise awareness about the DREF Research Matters for All of Us Initiative, health topics that disproportionately impact the African American community, and how research can help close the health disparities gap. Join us at our events and use #DREFWeek to engage with panelists and attendees on social media.



Research Matters for All of Us

The events kick off on April 16th at 1:00 PM (CT) in Houston with a community health event in partnership with the East Harris Chambers Liberty County Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., held at Alexander Duessen Park.

On April 18th at 5:30 PM (CT) in Milwaukee, a panel discussion regarding community science and the importance being involved in research will be held in conjunction with the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Sci Starter. Register for this event at http://bit.ly/allofusw.

On April 18th at 6:00 PM (ET) in Boston, Dr. Liza Swedarsky will be the featured presenter for "You Have a Right to be Healthy: Seven Health Vows for Living Your Best Life." Partners for this event include the New England All of Us Program, South Middlesex County Alumnae Chapter, Greater Boston NPHC, National Council of Negro Women, Rho Omega Epsilon, 4 Corners Yoga & Wellness, Boston Alumnae Chapter, Boston Acupuncture Project, and Norfolk Plymouth County Area Alumnae Chapter. Registration for this virtual event can be found at https://bit.ly/7HealthVows.

On April 19th at 6:30 PM (ET), the DREF Research Matters for All of US HBCU team, along with current and former Student Ambassadors of the Research Accelerates Possibilities (R.A.P.) Program, will host a year-end panel discussion moderated by HBCU Research Specialist, Dr. Kelly Brittain. The event, "R.A.P Up," will focus on the importance of research in our communities and the impact of the R.A.P. Program. To register for this virtual event, visit https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0ocOyvqjwtHtQpJSn7MyCl_MwAd2hUxr2J.

Story continues

On April 21st at 7:30 PM (ET) in New York, the DREF will participate in an in-person event, held in conjunction with RECOVER, a wellness and fitness center, where a panel of researchers will discuss long-term effects and recovery from COVID. To register for this virtual event, visit https://bit.ly/RECOVERxDREF.

On April 22nd from 10 am to 2 PM (ET) in Atlanta at the CT Martin Natatorium and Recreation Center, a community health fair will be held in partnership with the Physical and Mental Health Committee of the Atlanta Alumnae Chapter. Participants will have the opportunity to receive free health screenings and learn about the All of Us Research Program.

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. established the Delta Research and Educational Foundation (DREF) in 1967 as a public charity supporting scholastic achievement, public service programs, and research initiatives focused upon African American women. The DREF Research Matters for All of Us initiative recognizes the importance of health research in marginalized communities and is committed to closing the health disparities gap. Visit our websites and follow us on social media to learn more:

All of Us Research Program: www.joinallofus.org/dref

Delta Research and Educational Foundation: www.deltafoundation.net

Contact Information

Marcia Johnson

Program Associate

researchmatters@deltafoundation.net

202-347-1337

SOURCE: Delta Research and Educational Foundation

.





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/749441/Community-Health-Events-to-Be-Held-Nationwide-as-Part-of-the-DREF-Research-Matters-for-All-of-Us-Initiative




Kathy Matzner thought she was seeing things December 23, 2021, when she arrived at McCool Junction Cemetery to visit her husband, Jim.

It was dusk. She directed her headlights toward her husbands burial place, where a headstone was installed 86 days prior.

Theres this gaping hole  I thought I was losing it, Matzner remembered. I just flung open the gate and ran over there. I just kept saying, 'Oh my God, Oh my God, I can't believe this. I can't believe it.'

And I took a picture.

***

Matzner purchased the headstone from Monument Advisors of Grand Island.

Other customers include Michelle Tatro of Hastings and her husband, David, who purchased a stone on Feb. 24, 2021 from the company for their two-year-old son, Ryker. Rykers parents were very intentional in selecting their stone.

They told Kelli Lepler, owner of Monument Advisors, they wanted Rykers stone to match Davids 15-year-old sisters headstone. A black granite star on the marker would be a special order, the Tatros were told.

It took me a while to save up, Michelle Tatro said, adding: We had never bought a headstone before.

(Funeral businesses) handled us very delicately, compassionately, up until that process, Tatro said of the time following Rykers death. So we really trusted her from the beginning.

After months without contact, the Tatros heard from Monument Advisors on April 7, 2022, Tatro said. She said the couple had no idea the stone hadnt been ordered until that conversation.

(Lepler) kept telling us the remainder had to be paid before it could be set," Michelle Tatro said.

In May 2022, the stone was paid in full, but Ryker Dean Tatro, who died Dec. 3, 2020, still rests in an unmarked grave.

***

There's been plenty said lately about Monument Advisors online  much of it accusing the company of lengthy delays on monument orders or monuments not arriving at all. The Independent reached out to Monument Advisors via phone and Facebook Messenger, but did not receive a response in time for publication. This story will be updated if company officials respond. The monument company is located at 2545 W. Old Potash Highway.

Tatro started the Facebook group Beware Monument Advisors Has Bad Communication, 22 weeks ago, according to the pages information section. There are 232 members. To be sure, not all have done business with Monument Advisors, but those who have are vocal.

Monument Advisors has resources on its website discussing supply chain issues in the monument industry. Lepler also mentioned supply chain issues to Tatro. The Independent reached out to Monument Advisorss supplier, Rock of Ages in Graniteville, Vermont, for more information. Rock of Ages representatives did not return messages left by a reporter in time for publication of this story.

Tatro said Lepler was upset Tatro aired her complaints on Facebook.

After she told me FB wasnt the route to go and Id have no results  I promised her Id tell everyone about my experience until I myself need a headstone, Tatro said in a Saturday, April 8, post.

***

The Independent published an article about Kelli Leplers purchase of Monument Advisors from her father, Alan, in November 2020. The company celebrated its 10th anniversary with an open house in the summer of 2021.

Matzner asked the company to repair and put the headstone back up. She wanted their assistance in rectifying the situation. At first, Lepler seemed concerned about her customer, Matzner said, but not long. On Christmas Eve, the day after Matzner discovered her husband's headstone had fallen, Lepler arrived at the McCool cemetery.

She had done a 180, overnight, Matzner said. She was saying vandalism.

A winter storm raging through the area a few weeks before the monuments placement was also blamed. From there, sometimes Matzner heard long periods of nothing.

She was hesitant to disclose how much she paid for the headstone for her husband  a firefighter who suddenly died of a heart attack April 26, 2019 at the age of 60. According to his obituary, he was a captain on the York Fire Department and member of the International Association of Firefighters Union #1648. He was also a member of the McCool Junction Volunteer Fire Department.

People are gonna say, 'Well, that's what she gets for putting something that big out there,' Matzner said of her purchase. I was trying to do a good thing.

The good thing she did for her late husband cost about $20,000, Matzner said, paid up front with a check.

Matzner said she filed an insurance claim after the headstone fell and the company divorced itself from the matter, The situation eventually ended up in court. The parties reached a settlement.

After that was all said and done, the cash out was for less than half of what I paid, Matzner said. This whole thing has just, it has almost broken me inside, changed my personality  like I'm scared of stuff. I never used to be scared of anything.

***

While looking into Monument Advisors reputation  and adding her own reviews  Tatro learned of other Monument Advisors clients.

I really wanted to connect with them, so I made the group, Tatro said. That's how all that started.

Matzner said until she came across the Facebook group, she had no idea others were out there.

Since last week, numerous reports of theft against a business with Monument Advisorss address have been brought to Grand Island Police Department.

At this point, there should be a pile of money, Tatro said.

Tatro, among others, has filed complaints with the Nebraska Attorney General's office, she said. The Tatros also filed a report with Grand Island Police Department on April 6, alleging a theft amounting to $7,840.

By Tuesday, April 11, police had received nine complaints, said GIPD Captain Jim Duering.

I feel really bad for all these other folks that are filing police reports, Matzner said. They've gotten nothing. They've paid thousands of dollars and have no stones.

Determining whether each of the complaints are criminal or civil will take time, Duering said.

Well do an investigation that will involve interviews, tracking of money and probably looking at shipping and bank records. It'll probably take us some time to determine that.

Theres no real police story until we have time to do our piece of it to determine whether it's criminal, Duering added.

The department has made little progress, Duering said.

Between manpower and some of the bigger cases that we are dealing with right now  we have to triage stuff around here. We really focus on the violent crimes first.

***

Matzner struggles to go visit her husbands resting place. People have been kind, she said, making signs to mark Jims grave.

But despite best efforts, the plot is unkempt. Its not anyones fault, Matzner said. The area couldnt be seeded properly, derailed by the lawsuit.

I was told during this whole lawsuit process to leave (the fallen stones) there. So they laid there, Matzner said.

In June 2022, a retired Lincoln firefighter and a group from the York Fire Department came to Jims resting place on a Sunday, wielding borrowed equipment from a local farmer.

They picked them up and we hauled them off the grave, she said of the pieces.

There was nothing wrong with the stones themselves for the most part, but the bottom was cracked and damaged, Matzner said.

Everything looked nice (when it was installed). It looked kind of weird on the bottom, because it was on these two great big pieces of granite they kind of glued together.

Since they fell that winter, Matzner has tried to find a way to repurpose the stones.

The really sad part of this whole deal is that those stones are granite, and they're just useless. I thought that maybe they could be made into a bench or something," she said.

One headstone company told Matzner they would break them into pieces and put them in the Platte River with other granite scrap.

It just stabbed me in the heart, she said, her voice pained. I think the worst part of all of this is that  didnt my husband deserve better than this?
Back in the day while growing up on the farm near Humphrey I had the opportunity to crank on a lot of wrenches while doing various tasks. However, I dont think I ever had a $700 wrench in my hands back then. That was among the highest prices this year at the wrench auction held this past weekend in conjunction with the spring meeting of the Missouri Valley Wrench Club held here in York.

Stan Schulz, retired director of the Kilgore Memorial Library, has been a member of the club since 1999 and was the local host for the meeting. He also has served as the newsletter editor for the club since 2000.

The late Tom Bailey of McCool Junction started the auction in conjunction with the spring meeting back in the day and thats been the key to a successful meeting, said Schulz.

This years auction featured the collection of Jim Plantikow of Omaha. This is the fourth auction Ive had from my collection, said Plantikow. Im getting older and have been collecting for over 55 years and just decided it was time to start downsizing my collection. Ive got more to go.

Bidders at the wrench auction came from 14 different states and there were over 60 bidders in attendance according to Ross Ronne of Green Auction Co. who conducted the auction. He was assisted by auctioneers Bill Winkelman of Waco and Gabe Wemhoff of Grand Island. Bids were also taken online along with pre-auction bids.

Over 125 box lots of wrenches were sold on Friday afternoon and then close to 800 individual lots were auctioned off on Saturday at the Cornerstone Events Center at the York Fairgrounds.

Dan Gaier of Piqua, Ohio has been the president of the Missouri Valley Wrench Club for the past four years and will relinquish that duty to Russ Marshall of Allen next year. Piqua and his wife Debbie will take over the newsletter from Schulz at that time.

York has kind of become the unofficial host for the spring meeting and thats because of Stan Schulz, said Piqua who has been a member since 1991.

Its really fun to learn the history behind the wrenches along with the companies that produced them, he said in talking about the appeal to club members. A lot of time, its the memories you create when searching for a particular wrench and it can just put a smile on your face when you find that top ten wrench youve been looking for.

He said the 20-year period of 1880 to 1900 was the biggest evolution in terms of patents issued on wrenches and that even today, some new wrenches being produced are founded on the principles of patents that were issued over 100 years ago.

You dont have to be rich to collect or get started, said Piqua. You can find old wrenches just about anywhere from swap meets to garage sales to antique malls. Sometimes its the wrench that came from dads or grandads estate that brings the fondest memories.

Piqua said the club has members from 39 states from both sides of the Mississippi River and several from Great Britain, Australia and Canada. The spring meeting for 2024 will be right back here in York about the same time in April.

Cornerstone Insurance Group receives award

Cornerstone Insurance Group, based out of York, was honored with a Star Award for exceptional performance on behalf of North Star Mutual Insurance Company in 2022.

Cornerstone Insurance Group is among a select number of agencies from Nebraska who received a Star Award from North Star Mutual this year. Agencies receiving this award have reached new milestones in growth. Cornerstone Insurance has been representing North Star Mutual for several years.

North Star Mutual Insurance Company is a Midwest property-casualty insurance company serving the states of Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Kansas. The company writes approximately $580 million in premium annually and is rated A+ Superior for financial stability by A.M. Best.

Cornerstone Insurance Group is an independent insurance agency and offers a wide range of business, personal and health insurance options. The agency has 18 locations and serves communities throughout eastern Nebraska.

VIBE @ 5

York General will host the York Chambers latest VIBE @ 5 this Thursday, April 20 from 4:30  6 p.m. The public is invited to come to York Generals Board room to hear about how York General is addressing the emerging need for elder care in our community with their fundraising campaign A Better Future for Elder Care in Our Community.

This will expand their opportunities to add years to elders lives and life to their years. Come to VIBE @ 5 on April 20 to hear more about the future of Elder Care for the York Community.
Punjab Cabinet Minister Harbhajan Singh on Sunday said construction work for the upcoming international airport in Halwara, about 40 kms from here, is likely to be completed by July.

The minister, who was in the city to inspect the construction, Singh said the tenders of the project have already been allotted by the Public Works Department (PWD). Addressing a gathering on the occasion, the cabinet minister said civil works amounting to Rs 46.91 crore have already been started.

Also read: China Satellite Launch Delays Flights Out Of Taiwan As Planes Avoid No Fly Zone

The works include the construction of internal roads, a taxiway, an apron, estate public health services, campus lighting, an interim airport, a terminal building, a sub-station, a toilet block, and parking, among others.

Listing the Halwara airport as an ambitious project of the state government, the minister said every effort was being made to start the flights as soon as possible as this project will pave the way for the holistic development of the region, besides helping the industry in Ludhiana and other adjoining districts by a large extent.

In January, Chief Minister Bhagwant Maan also inspected the ongoing work at civil air terminal Halwara and asked officers to expedite the work so that it is completed at the earliest.

Singh said the Punjab Vidhan Sabha had also passed a resolution to request the Centre to name the upcoming international airport at Halwara, Ludhiana, as Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha International Airport.

The minister was also accompanied by Raikot MLA Hakam Singh Thekedar, Deputy Commissioner Surabhi Malik, Ludhiana (Rural) SSP Navneet Singh Bains, besides several others during his visit.
A Cargolux aircraft flying from Dubai Al Maktoum International Airport to Luxembourg Findel Airport got in a minor accident at its destination airport. The plane sustained damages after one of its engines touched the runway during the landing. Noticing the incident, the pilot initiated a go-around and landed the aircraft safely, avoiding a major accident. It is to be noted that the aircraft in the incident is a Boeing 747-400F.

The incident with flight CV-7545 occurred on April 15th after the plane completed its flight from Luxembourg to Dubai. As per reports, after the plane scratched the runway, the pilot aborted the landing to try again. Before attempting another landing, the pilot reached 4,000 feet. The second attempt was successfully completed at around 18:45.

Also read: Watch: Scary Turbulence Captured On Camera As Drinks Spill Inside Flight Cabin

Many people on the airport premises witnessed the incident, and the video of the plane sustaining the damage was shared on social media platforms. In the video, the plane's left wing can be seen bending while the aircraft's engine grazes the ground. Realising the problem, the pilot can be seen aborting the landing.

Cargolux flight CLX5BP sustained damage to its left engine casing during landing at Luxemburg forcing the pilots to go-around



pic.twitter.com/1lnp0JcRNN  Flight Emergency (@FlightEmergency) April 16, 2023

As per Simple Flying's report, no personnel present on the ground or on the plane was injured in the incident.

According to Flightradar24, the 14-year-old Boeing 747-400F(ER) with the registration LX-ECV was originally flying from Luxembourg to Taipei on a return flight when the aeroplane was diverted to Dubai before continuing to Europe. Furthermore, the aircraft still needs to register for another flight after the incident. The aircraft will be allowed to take a flight once the technical team clears the Boeing plane.

Cargolux, one of the biggest cargo carriers in the world, maintains a fleet of 30 Boeing 747 aeroplanes and takes advantage of its strategic location in Europe between Germany, France, and Belgium to offer its cargo services to customers around the globe.

The cargo airline operates out of Luxembourg's Findel Airport and travels to 90 different countries. Cargolux Italia, one of its subsidiaries, flies out of Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) the majority of the time. It runs an extensive trucking network to more than 250 locations throughout the world in addition to its aviation operations.
Turbulence can have an adverse effect on the body of the aircraft. However, the effects are amplified for the cabin of the aircraft. One such incident of turbulence on aircraft was caught on camera by an influencer. The video shared on social media shows the aircraft's cabin with food and drinks thrown everywhere because of the panic among the passengers. The incident recorded in the video occurred on a plane flying to Portugal from Luanda in Angola, as per Mirror's report.

The incident on the Portugal-bound aircraft was recorded by Brazil's Diana Assis, who was one of the passengers onboard when the incident occurred. Reports suggest that the incident officer with a plane of TAAG Angolan Airlines.

Also read: Punjab's Halwara International Airport's Construction Likely To Be Completed By July

A video taken by Assis of what transpired inside the cabin showed how food and other items had been scattered all over the plane's floor. In the video, the plane's aisle can be seen covered with food items, while it also shows drinks spilled on passengers' seats.

In the video, Assis is initially seen laughing as the aeroplane starts to tremble, but the atmosphere abruptly changes when a jolt causes the drink from her wine glass to fall, spraying into the ceiling as the other passengers are seen screaming in terror. As per Mirror's report, Assis said that the plane hit turbulence two hours after the take-off when lunch was served to the passengers.

The passenger also mentions that the turbulence lasted only a few seconds. However, people were injured during the incident. Taking prompt action, the cabin crew provided first aid to the injured people. She also mentioned that an infant was among the injured. The baby had flown out of its parents' hands and struck the plane's ceiling, which led the captain to ask for a doctor to assist the child.

Other videos shared on different platforms also show that the ceiling panels of the plane were cracked and perforated. Furthermore, a plastic tray used to serve food on the plane can be seen stuck in the space between the overhead bins.
New Delhi: The Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (KCMMF), known by the brand Milma, is all set to revamp its brand image through the 'Repositioning Milma 2023' campaign, which would bring uniformity in packaging and products. The move is aimed at equipping Milma to meet challenges from domestic and global dairy brands and firm up its position as the market leader, an official said here on Monday.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will launch the 'Repositioning Milma 2023' initiative at Edappazhanji near here on Tuesday. (Also Read: In PICS Apple BKC: Here's A To Z About Company's Mumbai Store)

Noting that the makeover of products is intended to meet the challenges in the dairy sector in the prevailing scenario, Milma Chairman K S Mani said that the project had been finalised after more than one year of preparations, including a comprehensive market study. (Also Read: 'Last Selfie On Earth': AI Shows How The World Will Look Like Just Before Its End)

Milma has to embrace a new packing standard and marketing strategy to compete with big domestic and global brands, he said at a press conference here.

As the first step, uniformity would be followed in the quality, design, and production process of the liquid milk, curd, set curd, flavoured milk, and ghee sold in the market by Milma and its regional milk unions, he said.

Conceived with the financial and technical assistance of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), the 'Repositioning Milma 2023' campaign envisages a holistic change and uniformity in packaging, design, quality of the dairy products, and price to compete with any other brands.

The project also aims at extending the marketing network of Milma and ensuring the availability of all dairy products of Milma in remote areas across the state, the Milma chairman said.

Through this long-term plan, there will be a notable change in the main functional areas like production, quality, and marketing of federation and regional milk unions. Minister for Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development J Chinchu Rani will be presiding over the inaugural function, Mani said.

Opposition Leader V D Satheesan will deliver the keynote address at the function where Transport Minister Antony Raju, MP Shashi Tharoor, and NDDB Chairman Meenesh C Shah will be the chief guests.
Mumbai: As part of ongoing efforts to bolster the Opposition unity ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, All India Congress Committee general secretary KC Venugopal met Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai on Monday. During their meeting, the two leaders agreed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were sabotaging the democracy in the country and there was a need for all opposition parties to fight unitedly against this dictatorship.

Venugopal arrived in the metropolis in the evening and met the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray for more than half an hour, after which both leaders addressed a press conference. "We have witnessed how democracy has been sabotaged by PM Modi and Amit Shah. All the opposition parties have a general consensus to fight together against the dictatorship of PM Modi. The Congress is in full solidarity with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT). We are all in agreement that we have to fight these forces (BJP) together," he said.

 ,  . .       . .     .    ,    ,     ,     ,   pic.twitter.com/52Q0Ssbm7P  ShivSena -  Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (@ShivSenaUBT_) April 17, 2023

During the previous Parliamentary session, all Opposition parties were meeting for a common strategy under the leadership of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Venugopal said. "It was the government side that was disrupting proceedings in Parliament. We only sought a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe on the Adani issue. They (BJP) did not want this, hence, resorted to disturbing proceedings," he said.

Venugopal also stated that the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate were targeting opposition parties, especially the Shiv Sena (UBT). The Congress leader said that there was a feeling among all opposition parties for a broader unity, which is why Kharge and Rahul Gandhi met Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav as well as NCP supremo Sharad Pawar.

"There are some differences among political parties. They have their own ideologies but the country is facing a bigger issue. This type of atmosphere (under the Modi government) has never been witnessed before," Venugopal claimed.

Speaking on his discussion with Thackeray, the Congress leader said it was a fruitful one where a lot of issues were deliberated upon. "Hum saath hain (we are together) is the message we want to give," he added. "I have requested Uddhavji to come to Delhi to meet Soniaji. Then Rahul Gandhi will also definitely visit Mumbai,'' he said in response to a media query.

Speaking at the press conference, Thackeray, without naming PM Modi, used terms like "man-eater" and "power-hungry" for the current dispensation at the Centre. "I don't think it is wrong to use such terminology against them (BJP-led Union government). Only one person is considered important. The Shiv Sena is in the arena with all its strength," the former Maharashtra chief minister said.

"We were with them (BJP) for 25 years but they have forgotten this friendship. We (Shiv Sena) are a party that lives up to friendship. We treat it like a relation," he said. On BJP national president JP Nadda's recent comments in Mumbai that there won't be any other party left in the country, Thackeray said, "He may have said it unintentionally but it is something we have to oppose. The Sena will fight for democracy."

Thackeray said that his party had spoken to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, adding that the (Lok Sabha) elections are not even a year away. The Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party make up the Maha Vikas Aghadi, which was in power in Maharashtra till June last year.

A rebellion by Eknath Shinde led to a split in the Sena. Shinde went on to become chief minister with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
New Delhi: India recorded 9,111 new coronavirus infections, which took the country's active caseload to 60,313, the Union Health Ministry's data showed on Monday. The death toll also rose to 5,31,141, with 27 fresh fatalities. According to the health ministry, active cases now account for 0.13 percent of total infections, and the national Covid-19 recovery rate is 98.68 percent. The total tally of Covid-19 has now jumped to 4.47 crore with the daily positivity rate being at 8.40 percent, and the weekly positivity rate at 4.94 percent.

According to the ministry, active cases now account for 0.13 percent of total infections, and the national Covid-19 recovery rate is 98.68 percent. The number of individuals who have recovered from the illness has risen to 4,42,35,772, with a case fatality rate of 1.19 percent. According to the ministry's website, the country has received 220.66 crore doses of Covid vaccine as part of the statewide vaccination drive.

The state health agency reported 650 new coronavirus infections and two fatalities on Sunday, bringing the total number of cases to 81,55,839 and the death toll to 1,48,479. The state had documented 660 cases and two deaths due to Covid-19 the day before. There were 182 new cases reported in Mumbai.

Covid cases in Delhi

The state health department recorded 1,634 fresh cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, with a positive rate of 29.68%, in a bulletin issued on Sunday.

A total of 5,505 tests were conducted and 270 were cured, discharged, or migrated. One death was reported in the past 24 hours, it is said. Total Covid-19 positive patients in home isolation are 3393.

Meanwhile, the country recorded 10,093 new cases of coronavirus infection on Sunday, as per the daily health bulletin released by the Union Health Ministry. According to the Health Ministry, India`s active caseload currently stands at 57,542 which is 0.13 percent of the total cases.

Masks made mandatory in Tamil Nadu's Ranipet

Authorities in Tamil Nadu`s Ranipet have made wearing face masks mandatory in the district amid a surge in Covid cases in the state. District Collector S. Valarmathi has also directed people to maintain social distancing in crowded areas.

However the state Health Department has said that there was no need of panic as the state has not witnessed any large clusters and the cases are mostly isolated. It has, however, asked elderly people and those with co-morbidities to wear masks and not to move around in crowded places.

Here's what expert says about booster dose

Dr Sanjay Rai, the professor of Community Medicine, at AIIMS Hospital, Delhi, is of the opinion that at this point in time, a booster dose of the vaccine can do more harm than good. Talking to ANI, Dr. Sanjay said, "Due to the mutation in the RNA virus, the cases will continue to increase and decrease. This situation will continue like this in the coming times as well. There is no need to panic about this. The people that will get infected with the new variants will create new immunity. But despite all this, the more important thing is whether the severity, hospitalization, or death rate is increasing.
New Delhi: Congress leader Akhanda Srinivas Murthy on Sunday resigned as MLA after he was denied a ticket to contest the May 10 Assembly elections in Karnataka. The Congress leader was an MLA from the Pulikeshinagar Assembly constituency. The disgruntled Congress leader went to Sirsi and met Speaker Vishweshwar Hegade Kageri and submitted his resignation letter."I have not been given a ticket and three lists of the Congress party are out. I have suffered enough and I am fed up with this", he said that he has come to resign as an MLA.

He further stated that it should be understood that the party has not given him a ticket so far. The people of his constituency ask him every day. In his constituency, Hindus, Muslims, and Christians, all are united, he added. Srinivas Murthy expressed his anguish over the denial of the ticket and said that he was being treated unfairly.

"I have not discussed this with any other party leaders. I have decided to resign after discussing it with the leaders in the constituency. I have decided to contest as an independent candidate. The leaders of the constituency said that they will discuss with the supporters and take decisions," the Congress leader said.

Karnataka is slated to go to Assembly polls on May 10 and the counting of votes will take place on May 13. With less than a month to go for Karnataka Assembly polls, the Congress on Saturday released its third list of 43 candidates.

Former chief minister Siddaramaiah was not named from the Kolar constituency, with the grand old party, instead, fielding Kothur G Manjunath. The Congress declared 124 candidates in its first list and another 42 in the second list for the State Assembly elections.

Jagadish Shettar Resigns From BJP

Disgruntled former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar resigned as MLA on Sunday after expressing anguish over denial of ticket to contest in the May 10 Karnataka Assembly elections, and launched an attack on the BJP, saying those who had built the party are being thrown out of their 'own house'.

Shortly after the 67-year-old six-time MLA, who had also said he would quit the party, tendered his resignation, Karnataka BJP strongman B S Yediyurappa, slammed him for deserting the J P Nadda-led outfit, and said people would not pardon him for his move. Shettar, an influential Lingayat leader from north Karnataka, and sitting MLA from Hubli-Dharwad Central, said some people with their vested interests had hatched a conspiracy to not field him this time.

(With PTI Inputs)
recep-bg / Getty Images

Buying a home is a dream come true for so many Americans. Yet that dream can quickly turn into a bit of a nightmare when it comes down to the actual process of homebuying. How do you go about securing a loan? How can you get a good rate on your mortgage? What is the best type of home to buy in your city?

For lots of homebuyers, a big decision comes down to deciding between a condo or house. This can ultimately be determined by where you live and whats the best financial choice if you want your home to be going up in value.

Im a Self-Made Millionaire: These Are the 6 Investments Everyone Should Make During an Economic Downturn

More: 3 Things You Must Do When Your Savings Reach $50,000

The best overall investment in major cities depends on the individual investors goals and risk tolerance, says Eric Bramlett, co-founder of Bramlett Residential, an Austin-based real estate business. Generally speaking, houses have historically had a better return on investment than condos, but this is not always the case.

GOBankingRates reached out to real estate experts to find which is the best investment in some major American cities: a condo or a house?

Seattle, Washington

Zillow 2023 median home value: $850,175

Seattle might be known for the rain, but when it comes to home prices, the market is heating up. Thats because there is a high demand and short supply of housing in the city.

When it comes to Seattle, investing in a condo versus a house depends on your financial goals and investment strategy, says Mike Qiu, owner of GoodAsSoldHomeBuyers.com and licensed real estate agent in the state of Washington. Condos in Seattle are often less expensive than houses, and they are more convenient for those who prefer a low-maintenance lifestyle. A condo also offers the potential for rental income, which can be an excellent way to earn passive income. However, the condo market in Seattle can be volatile, with fluctuations in demand and supply affecting prices.

Story continues

On the other hand, Qiu suggests, investing in a house in Seattle can be a better long-term investment.

Houses in Seattle typically appreciate in value over time, and you can expect a higher return on investment compared to a condo. A house also offers more space, privacy and flexibility than a condo, making it a more attractive option for families or those who plan to live in the property.

Take Our Poll: Do You Think Bankruptcy Is an Acceptable Way To Escape Student Loan Debt?

Los Angeles, California

Zillow 2023 median home value: $901,291

Anywhere you go along Californias coastline, youll run into the same issue when it comes to buying a home: price.

Real estate is expensive, and the single most attractive location is one with ocean views, explains Leonard Ang, CEO of iPropertyManagement, an online resource guide for landlords, tenants and real estate investors. In this environment, condos have a clear advantage. What you lose in total acreage and square footage, you make up for with convenience, location and those high-demand views that will command a high resale price when the time comes.

Ang says that in Los Angeles there is not much of a difference between houses and condos in terms of investment returns. Overall, though, Ang suggests that condos may be the better option due their generally lower prices and higher rental yields.

Phoenix, Arizona

Zillow 2023 median home value: $398,908

With all the new construction projects Phoenix, buying a house could be the right choice when it comes to investing. However, dont underestimate what a condo can do.

I just finished working with a customer who bought a two-bedroom condo in the middle of Phoenixs downtown, recalls Jasen Edwards, founder of Agent Advice. The young professional who rented it out liked how walkable the neighborhood was and how convenient the buildings facilities were. The condominium is a fantastic investment for my customer because its value has grown over time.

A more accessible entry point into the citys real estate market may be provided through condos, which frequently include facilities like a fitness [center] or pool, explains Edwards, who says that Phoenix is on par with most major cities when it comes to real estate purchasing.

Alternatively, homes offer more solitude and may have a yard or outside space. The investors financial situation and lifestyle preferences will ultimately determine whether to purchase a condo or a home.

Chicago, Illinois

Zillow 2023 median home value: $272,270

While houses in Chicago may be the better investment due to lower purchase prices and solid rental yields, it is still worth exploring all factors.

As far as Chicago is concerned, the best property to start off with is a single-family home, suggests Cam Dowski, a real estate expert and founder of WeBuyHousesChicago.co. If youre buying an investment property, a single-family home will often yield a higher return on investment in Chicago. If youre looking for a long-term investment, condominiums can be just as beneficial as houses if you do your research and choose one in a desired area with a demonstrated track record of sound management and financial accountability.

One other thing to take into account, according to Dowski, is school district. It doesnt matter if the property is great and cheap, if its in a bad school area, youre not going to get anybody willing to rent it, Dowski explains. And if you do, youre not going to be willing to rent to them, if you know what I mean.

New York, New York

Zillow 2023 median home value: $622,280

Big Apple condos generally have higher rental yields, plus the draw of living in one of the biggest, most exciting cities in the world.

In NYC, condos are relatively affordable for small investors, says Michael Shapot, a residential real estate broker with Keller Williams in New York City and also a real estate investor.

Houses, especially in Manhattan, are much more expensive, and most small investors cannot afford to purchase a house, explains Shapot. The tenant pool for houses in NYC is more limited than for condos, again because of price. But, the greater the risk, the greater the potential reward.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Zillow 2023 median home value: $213,244

Houses appear to be the better investments due to lower purchase prices and the potential for appreciation. Alejandro Franqui of Solo Real Estate, an independent family-owned real estate brokerage in Philadelphia, would agree.

In Philadelphia, I think a house is a better investment, says Franqui. In general, houses seem to hold their value and appreciate more than condos. Houses are typically easier to resell, as there is more demand for houses in Philadelphia.

Additionally, Franqui cites that the majority of Philadelphia renters are not renting apartments or condos, but instead, they are renting houses.

Since the start of the pandemic, houses, which provide more space and usually some outdoor space, have seemed to be in higher demand than smaller units like condos, Franqui explains.

For the same price, a condo will typically have a higher monthly carrying cost when you factor in condo dues, Franqui says. The higher monthly costs often make it more challenging to cover your costs with a renter, as condos dont necessarily command a higher rent. The main advantage to a condo is less direct maintenance, as things like roofs, common areas, etc., are a shared responsibility.

Best Overall: Condo or House?

So what is the best overall investment no matter what city you live in: a condo or a house?

Condos are typically more affordable and low-maintenance, as the condo association handles many of the buildings maintenance needs, says Matthew Sanchez, founder and realtor team lead of Gator Rated, a real-estate association in Florida. They can also be a good option for those looking to live in a city with amenities such as a pool, gym or rooftop terrace.

Condominiums, on the other hand, are subject to association fees and may have more restrictions on renovations or modifications, Sanchez explains. Houses typically provide greater space, privacy and flexibility. Homeowners have greater control over their property and can make changes or improvements as they see fit. Owning a house can [also] be more expensive and requires more maintenance and upkeep than a condo.

The bottom line: assess your financial goals, look at your citys market trends and determine which long-term growth investment makes the most sense for you.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Condo vs. House: Which Is the Best Investment in Your City?
New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh police has formed two three-member Special Task Forces to probe the killings of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf. The two were killed in Prayagraj on Saturday by three assailants posing as media persons. Citing a statement issued by Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police RK Vishwakarma, Special Director General of Police (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said the SIT was formed on the instructions of the Commissioner of Police of Prayagraj.

In order to ensure qualitative investigation and time-bound action, a three-member team of supervisors has also been formed.

Two SITs have been constituted to investigate the killings of gangster-turned politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf in Prayagraj, UP



A three-member SIT, headed by ADG Prayagraj zone Bhanu Bhaskar, including CP Prayagraj and Director FSL has been formed by DGP RK pic.twitter.com/sbGje6Nj8I April 17, 2023

Atiq Ahmed and his brother were shot dead on Saturday amid police presence and buried in Prayagraj at the same graveyard where his son was laid to rest. The burial took place late on Sunday with a large police presence. Only a few relatives of the deceased brothers and locals were permitted to attend the funeral. Also Read: Atiq Ahmed, Brother Ashraf Buried In Prayagraj; UP Police Release Pictures Of Shooters

Three shooters who gunned down Atiq and Ashraf are currently lodged in the high-security cell of Naini Central Jail in Prayagraj.

The three shooters, Arun Maurya, Sunny Singh, and Lovelesh Tiwari were sent to 14-day judicial custody by the district court on Sunday. Also Read: After Atiq Ahmed's Killing, Plea In SC Seeks Inquiry Into 183 Encounters In UP

Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf were brought to Prayagraj after they were named in the FIR in this year's Umesh Pal murder case, who was prime witnesses in the 2005 Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Raju Pal murder case.
Life Corporation of India (LIC) on Monday released the admit card for the mains exam for LIC ADO. The exam will be conducted on April 23. Candidates can download the Apprentice Development Officer mains exam admit card at licindia.in. The LIC ADO Mains exam will be conducted on April 23, 2023. Those candidates who cleared the prelims exam are eligible to appear for the Mains exam. The exam is held in two phases including the Prelims and Mains exams. The ADO Prelims exam result was announced on April 10, 2023.

IBPS LIC ADO Mains 2023: Steps to download Admit Card

- Visit the official website licindia.in

- On the homepage, click on Careers tab

- Now click on the Mains admit card link under Recruitment of Apprentice Development Officer 22-23

- Key in your login details and submit

- Check and download the admit card

- Take a printout for future reference

IBPS LIC ADO Mains 2023: Selection Procedure

Selection will be made on the basis of on-line tests, followed by an interview of the candidates who qualify in the on-line test and subsequent pre-recruitment Medical examination.

IBPS LIC ADO Mains 2023: Exam Date

The LIC ADO Mains exam will be conducted on April 23, 2023. Those candidates who cleared the prelims exam are eligible to appear for the Mains exam. The exam is held in two phases including the Prelims and Mains exams. The ADO Prelims exam result was announced on April 10, 2023.

IBPS LIC ADO Mains 2023: Exam Pattern

The LIC ADO mains exam will have three sections including Reasoning Ability & Numerical Ability, General Knowledge, Current Affairs, and English Language with Special Emphasis on Grammar and Vocabulary, and Insurance and Financial Marketing Awareness with special emphasis on knowledge of Life Insurance and Financial Sector. Candidates will have 120 minutes to complete the exam. There will be 160 total questions on the Mains exam, with a maximum mark of 160.
New Delhi: The BJP on Monday released its third list of 10 candidates for the Karnataka assembly polls and fielded its state general secretary Mahesh Tenginkai from Hubli-Dharwad Central, a seat held by veteran Jagadish Shettar who has joined the Congress after being denied a ticket by the ruling party.

The BJP also dropped its seasoned leader Arvind Limbavali from the Mahadevapura constituency but, in an apparent bid to placate him, fielded his wife Manjula Aravind Limbavali. The BJP has so far named 222 candidates for the May 10 polls to the 224-member assembly. The last date for filing nominations is April 20.

#KarnatakaElections2023 | BJP releases third list of candidates.



BJP MLA Aravind Limbavali's wife Manjula Aravind Limbavali to contest from Mahadevapura. pic.twitter.com/Xc7VIautAp  ANI (@ANI) April 17, 2023

Top Karnataka Leaders File Nomination





Former Chief Minister and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy, state Congress president D K Shivakumar and BJP veteran B S Yediyurappa's son B Y Vijayendra were among the prominent leaders who filed their nominations on Monday for the May 10 Assembly polls in Karnataka. Roadshows, drumbeats, sloganeering, waving of party flags, and visits to temples marked the day in most constituencies across the state today, with a large number of candidates and leaders filing their papers.

H D Kumaraswamy

Kumaraswamy held a road show ahead of filing nominations in Channapatna. Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil Kumaraswamy filed his nomination in Ramanagara accompanied by his mother and JD(S) sitting MLA from the segment Anitha Kumaraswamy. Nikhil, an actor-turned-politician, contested the 2019 LokSabha polls from Mandya unsuccessfully.

Both father and son, who are contesting from the neighbouring constituencies of Channapatna and Ramanagara respectively, earlier in the day met party patriarch and former PM H D Deve Gowda (Kumaraswamy's father and Nikhil's grandfather) to collect their 'B form' and took his blessings.

"People of Ramanagara and my family have become integral parts of each other and there is an emotional connection with the people there. Similar is the case with Channapatna," Kumaraswamy said.

H D Revanna

Deve Gowda's elder son and former Minister H D Revanna filed his nomination from Holenarsipura in the family's home turf of Hassan district, accompanied by his wife Bhavani Revanna and their son and Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna. The family visited temples before filing the nominations.

D K Shivakumar

D K Shivakumar too held a road show and visited a temple of his family deity Kabbalamma, accompanied by his wife, in Kanakapura where the BJP has fielded its Vokkaliga face and Minister R Ashoka against him. Speaking to reporters after filing his nomination, Shivakumar said that he had nurtured hundreds of leaders in the constituency in the past 35 years and they would fight the election on his behalf, the results of which would be seen on the day of the announcement of results. "I'm not the candidate here. Every household and family in this constituency will do the elections thinking themselves as the candidates, as I have served them for 35 years..." he said.

B Y Vijayendra

In the Shikaripura seat in Shivamogga district, vacated by BJP strongman and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, his son and state BJP vice president B Y Vijayendra filed his nomination today accompanied by family and supporters. Vijayendra held a road show before filing papers. "I have filled my nomination at an auspicious muhurta today. On April 19, I will be filing another set of nominations accompanied by my father Yediyurappa and other leaders," he said.

V Somanna, C T Ravi & Others

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai accompanied Minister V Somanna who filed his nomination in Varuna, where he is contesting against senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. In Hoskote, both Minister and MLC M T B Nagaraj as well as his bitter opponent Sharath Bachegowda from Congress filed their papers today.

Minister R Ashoka, who is also contesting from Padmanabhanagar along with Kanakapura against Shivakumar, submitted his nomination today at Padmanabhanagar in Bengaluru which he currently represents, accompanied by Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya.

BJP's National general secretary C T Ravi from Chikkamagaluru, Kumar Bangarappa from Soraba, Ministers Ashwath Narayan from Malleshwaram and K Sudhakar from Chikkaballapura, and former KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao from Gandhinagar are among others who filed their nomination on Monday.
New Delhi: Former actor and Bigg Boss 6 contestant Sana Khan was seen at Baba Siddique's Iftaar party held on Sunday night in Mumbai. Sana, who is expecting her first child, was seen arriving at the party with her husband Mufti Anas Saiyad. In a video shared by a paparazzo, Sana was seen almost being dragged by her husband Mufti Anas Saiyad from the venue.

A video is making rounds on the internet where the soon-to-be-mom looked distressed and exhausted while she was being hurridly pulled by her husband Anas. She was also heard saying, "Itna nahi chal paungi. Thak Gayi mein. (I won't be able to walk this much. I am tired.)" Soon after the video surfaced on the internet, netizens started trolling Anas for his treatment towards the heavily-pregnant Sana.

A person commented on it, "Let her breathe, man."

Another one said, "Why is he pulling her that fast in her condition?"

One more said, "She looks breathless, she's pregnant..."

Notably, Sana responded to her video from Iftaar party last night and took to the comment section issuing a clarification. The former actor asked her fans and well-wishers to not worry about her well-being. She added that the video looks 'wierd' to her too.

She wrote, "This video just came to my notice. And I know it looks weird to all my lovely brothers and sisters and to me, in fact. We lost contact with driver and car once we came out and I was standing for longer than usual and started sweating and (getting) uncomfortable, so he quickly wanted to get me in so I can sit and have water and some air. I was the one to tell him lets go in quick as we did not want to disturb the paps (paparazzi), who were there clicking pics of all the guests. So just a request, please dont think otherwise. Thank you all once again for your concern. Loads of love to everyone here."

Sana Khan bid adieu to the showbiz world in 2020 which left many of hers shocked. Sana Khan and Anas Sayiad, who hails from Gujarat got married on November 20, 2020, in an intimate ceremony with family and close friends in attendance.

In March this year, Sana confirmed her pregnancy in an interview. "I'm looking forward to it. Obviously, it's a different journey altogether. Bohot emotionally bhi thoda mere liye as a woman ek up and down both chalta rehta hai (Emotionally, I have been facing many ups and downs). But I think it's a beautiful journey. I'm waiting to have my baby in my arms... that's it," said Sana in an interview with Iqra TV.

Sana Khan made her debut in Bollywood with 'Yehi Hai High Society' in 2005. She later went on to star in movies like 'Halla Bol', 'Jai Ho', 'Wajah Tum Ho' and 'Toilet: Ek Prem Katha'. She was one of the most-talked-about contestants in 'Bigg Boss 6'.
New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government had in 2015 introduced the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) to offer insurance coverage to the people.

Those with bank accounts --SBI, Post office or any other banks -- who consent to join or activate auto-debit and are in the age range of 18 to 50 are eligible for the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY).

Aadhar would serve as the primary form of KYC for bank accounts. The 12-month term of the 2-lakh-rupee life insurance policy, which runs from 1 June to 31 May, is renewable. This insurance offers risk coverage up to Rs. 2 Lakh in the case of the insured person's death for any reason.

Depending on the plan he selects, the annual premium is Rs 436 and must be auto-debited from the subscriber's bank account on or before May 31 of each annual coverage term. The scheme is offered by Life Insurance Company and all other life insurers who are prepared to offer the product on comparable terms with the necessary approvals and collaborate with banks for this purpose.

You can choose to cancel the annual auto-debiting process from your bank account if you are unable to continue with the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana for any reason. You must go to the bank branch where your account is connected to the PMJJBY programme in order to do this. You can complete the necessary steps and ask for the PMJJBY premium payment to be stopped. If the payment is not completed on time, your Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana policy will be automatically cancelled.

Also, auto-debiting of the premium will not be feasible if your bank account lacks the necessary funds, which will result in the cancellation of the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana.
Jalaun: In a shocking incident, a 21-year-old college student was shot dead by motorcycle-borne men in the Jalaun district of Uttar Pradesh on Monday. According to police, a second-year BA student, identified as Roshni, was shot in the head by two motorcycle-borne men at the Kotra crossing. Sharing more details of the crime, Superintendent of Police Iraj Raja said Roshni had gone to the college for an exam. Around 11.30 AM while she was on her way back home, the motorcycle-borne men shot her in the head and fled, SP Raja said.

The woman's parents later lodged a complaint against one - Raj Ahirwar  who was arrested by the police. The accused is being interrogated and efforts are on to nab the other accused, the Jalaun SP said.

Meanwhile, a video of the heinous crime also became viral on social media which showed the deceased lying on the ground in a pool of blood after being shot in the head. The shocking murder triggered anger among the locals who criticised the police for doing nothing to improve the law and order machinery.

In the viral video, the victim can be seen lying on the ground in her college uniform, and a pistol thrown close to her body.

The shocking murder of the 21-year-old college student comes just two days after the sensational murder of gangster-turned-political Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf by three sharpshooters in front of TV cameras in Prayagraj.

Meanwhile, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, which shared the disturbing video clip on Twitter, targeted the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh. "Will the wolves of Godi media and the BJP also celebrate this death?" the party asked, taking a dig at the ruling BJP over celebrations after Atiq's murder.
London: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is facing a watchdog inquiry under his parliamentary declaration of interest obligations related to a Budget policy that could benefit his wife, Akshata Murty, through her business interest in a childcare firm, it emerged on Monday. The inquiry has been opened by the UK's Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, an independent officer of the House of Commons in charge of looking at evidence if individual British members of Parliament are feared to have broken a rule under the Code of Conduct'.

The active inquiries on the watchdog's list include one opened on Sunak, 42, last Thursday under Paragraph 6 of the rules of conduct, as Downing Street said ministerial interests were "transparently declared".

Members must always be open and frank in declaring any relevant interest in any proceeding of the House or its Committees, and in any communications with Ministers, Members, public officials or public office holders, states Paragraph 6.

What Are The Accusations Against Sunak?

According to the BBC, the inquiry relates to the British PMs wife's interest in Koru Kids Ltd, which is likely to benefit from a new pilot scheme announced in the Spring Budget last month to incentivise people to become childminders.

Akshata Murty, the daughter of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy, is listed on the UK's Companies House register as a shareholder in Koru Kids, one of six childminder agencies in England listed on the government's website with contact details.

The Opposition had flagged this fact last month and called for further explanations at a hearing of the Liaison Committee made up of all House of Commons committee chairs. Labour MP Catherine McKinnell had asked Sunak if he had any interest to declare in relation to the new childcare policy. "No, all my disclosures are declared in the normal way," he said at the time.

However, in a letter to the Liaison Committee earlier this month, he acknowledged the minority stake his wife holds in Koru Kids and said that it had rightly been declared to the Cabinet Office.

Liberal Democrat Chief Whip Wendy Chamberlain MP said, Another day and another accusation of a Conservative Prime Minister bending the rules.

After months of Conservative sleaze and scandal, the public just want a government which is focused on the country, rather than saving their own skin, he added.

Now the parliamentary watchdog's investigation will decide if there has been any breach of the code, which can then be put before MPs sitting on the Committee on Standards, which is responsible for deciding any sanctions.

"We are happy to assist the Commissioner to clarify how this has been transparently declared as a ministerial interest," a Downing Street spokesperson said.

Violation Of Purdah Rules By Ministers

It comes as the Lib Dems accused ministers of flouting purdah rules by making a policy announcement in the run-up to local elections next month. The party has and demanded an investigation.

Purdah rules restrict what communications activity can take place in the weeks before polling day and state Government resources cannot be used for party political campaigning during the period.

On Monday Sunak outlined proposals that would see all pupils studying Maths in some form up to the age of 18. The Prime Ministers official spokesman said the Government had ensured its announcements were within the rules.
Mumbai: Actor Sharvari is in talks to join Yash Raj Films' spy universe. A source said, "Sharvari has been groomed for years within the well-oiled YRF system that has consistently produced superstars. Adi (Aditya Chopra) believes in Sharvari's talent and the industry too feels she is an artiste to watch out for. She is a fantastic actor and is extremely gorgeous. Basically, she has all that it takes to be the next female superstar of the country."

"Adi feels that the time is right to signal to audiences that a new star is set to be born which is why he has roped in Sharvari into his fabled YRF Spy Universe that features some of the biggest superstars of our country like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Deepika Padukone & Katrina Kaif. Sharvari will be part of a huge film from this universe and this announcement will blow people's minds," the source added.

Sharvari made her Bollywood debut with Aditya Chopra produced film 'Bunty Aur Babli 2'. She also has a few YRF projects in her kitty which are yet to be released. "YRF is betting big on Sharvari who has the acting chops and the carriage to be fit to be a part of the YRF Spy Universe. Now, let's wait and watch what they have planned for her and who she will be paired with.

Aditya Chopra is expanding the Spy Universe and Sharvari will have a very prominent role to play within the timeline of this universe in the years to come," the source further said. An official announcement about Sharvari's projects is yet to be made.
Eid-ul-Fitr is one of the most significant festivals celebrated by Muslims all around the world. The Holy month of Ramadan during which Muslims observe fasts and engage in acts of worship comes to an end. Eid-ul-Fitr is the most celebrated festival which is celebrated with great enthusiasm by Muslims. This festival is usually observed on the first day of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar. It is celebrated after the sighting of the moon. On this day many delicacies are made, from juicy kebabs to Shahi Tukda, and if you are celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr in Delhi, then there is no other place than Old Delhi to relish these delicacies.

The month of Ramzan and the charm of Old Delhi cannot be described in words. From juicy kebabs to Shahi Tukra, from fresh sharbat to sheermal, Jama Masjid can be termed as the `heaven` (Jannat) for the food-lovers. To increase your gastronomic appetite, let's walk through the lanes of Jama Masjid Road which invites people from different parts of the world to savour their delicacies, especially during the month of Ramzan. The festive glory remains incomplete if you haven't tasted the kebabs and nalli here!

Eid-Ul-Fitr 2023: 7 Best Places To Eat Near Old Delhis Jama Masjid During Ramadan

Qureshi Kebab Corner, Aslam Chicken, Karims

Situated just opposite Jama Masjid, this is a place for juicy and succulent kebabs. This is a must-have on your list.

Also read: High Cholesterol: 10 Unhealthy Eating Habits Likely To Raise Bad Cholesterol Levels

Haji Mohd. Hussain

For some juicy succulent fried fish and fried chicken taken out fresh from the frying pans to your plate, this is the address you need to search for. This place is located close to Al Jawahar and Karims and serves some lip-smacking meats.

Aslam Chicken

You can't miss this place for the legendary butter chicken. It's not your usual gravy butter chicken. Its a tandoori chicken topped with real butter. Try this with a Roomali Roti and write a food blog later.

Haji Shabrati Nihari Wale

For outstanding Nihari with a khameeri Roti, this is the place. Must try the brain curry too. The Nihari is cooked for 8-10 hours. So it's no wonder that it's tender and the gravy is just outstanding.

Karim Hotel

Visit this place only for its legendary value. Try some kebabs and mutton stew here nonetheless.

Al-Jawahar

Try the superb chicken and paneer changezi for sure.. Explore by yourself so that you can suggest to others.

Cool Point

Even though you will find the entire street lined with shops selling the melt-in-mouth delicacy of shahi tukda and freshly made phirni and kheer each evening of this entire month, Cool Point serves the most heavenly form of it. The royal bread pudding, topped with rich dry fruits is considered the must-have ones prepared specifically for the occasion.

(With inputs from ANI)
Eid ul-Fitr is one of the most important festivals in the Islamic calendar. It marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan, which is a time of fasting, prayer, and reflection for Muslims worldwide. The celebration of Eid ul-Fitr is a time of joy, happiness, and unity for Muslims worldwide. It is a day when families and friends come together to exchange gifts, share meals, and offer prayers. The festival is usually celebrated on the first day of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar, after the sighting of the new moon.

The festival calls for celebration, forgiveness, and renewal of ones faith and commitment to serving humanity. It is a time to reflect on the values of Islam and reminds of the importance of unity, love, and compassion. The exact date of Eid-ul-Fitr may vary in different parts of the world depending on the sighting of the moon.

Eid-ul-Fitr 2023: Date, Time Of Moon Sighting In Kerala And Kashmir

Eid-ul-Fitr will be celebrated in Kerala a day prior to the rest of the country. This is because the moon sighting adheres to the traditional Islamic calendar and waits for the actual sighting of the moon. The exact date and time of moon sightings in Kerala, and Kashmir may differ due to regional variations.

Also read: Eid-Ul-Fitr 2023: 7 Best Places To Eat Near Old Delhis Jama Masjid

Kerala is the only Indian state whose date for Eid-ul-Fitr is decided by the sighting of the moon in Saudi Arabia. This year, the Eid-ul-Fitr in Kerala will be celebrated on April 21.

Meanwhile, in Kashmir, the festival celebrations are determined by the grand mufti of the state who declares the beginning of the festival based on moon sighting timings. On this day the celebration includes offering prayers in mosques and sharing greetings with family, friends, and loved ones. The exact date and timing of the moon sighting may vary depending on the weather conditions and the moons position.

This year, Eid-ul-Fitr will be celebrated in Kashmir on April 22. In Kashmir, Eid ul-Fitr is also a time for charitable acts. Muslims in the region give Zakat al-Fitr, a form of charity given to the poor and needy. Overall, Eid ul-Fitr is a time of great significance and joy for Muslims in Kashmir. It is a time to give thanks for the blessings of Ramadan and to celebrate with loved ones. The date and moon sighting timings may vary from region to region.

(This article is intended for your general information only. Zee News does not vouch for its accuracy or reliability.)
Sabina Mammadli

The Azerbaijani Armys Operations Commando units are conducting tactical-special drills in line with the approved annual combat training plan for 2023, Azernews reports, citing the Defense Ministry.

According to the plan, targets located at different distances from the sniper rifles were detected and destroyed by accurate fire.

The commandos also successfully accomplished the tasks on overcoming the obstacle course.

The main purpose of conducting tactical-special exercises is to improve the tactical skills of servicemen, as well as further increase the combat capability of the Operations Commando units.

The activities to further increase the combat training of the commandos are being continued in a planned manner.

Azerbaijan periodically holds drills to improve the combat readiness of the military personnel.

The drills also aim to improve interaction and combat coordination between the servicemen during operations, as well as to develop commanders' military decision-making and unit management skills.




The Brainy Insights

High prevalence of diabetes, including growing urbanization and sedentary lifestyles in both emerging and developed countries will create positive scope for the continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems market in the upcoming period. The Asia-Pacific region is projected to achieve the highest growth rate due to the growing population base of elderly diabetics and increasing government expenditure to deliver better quality healthcare services in different regions, including developing regions such as China and India.

Newark, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As per the report published by The Brainy Insights, the global continuous glucose monitoring systems market is projected to grow from USD 7,914.82 million in 2022 to USD 26,023.61 million By 2032, at a CAGR of 12.64% during the forecast period 2023-2032.



The continuous glucose monitoring system is minimally invasive and provides a simple and efficacious approach to controlling diabetes. The continuous glucose monitoring system comprises a transmitter and one or more than one receiver that measures and portrays blood glucose level readings that patients can utilize to modify their insulin dose and lifestyle. These systems can also catch extreme differences in blood sugar levels, thus controlling hypoglycemia. Continuous glucose monitoring systems use sensors to analyze blood glucose levels over different periods. Wirelessly inputting individual readings into diabetes managing software gives patients a better knowledge of their disease, thus allowing them to handle it more effectively.



Request to Download Sample Research Report - https://www.thebrainyinsights.com/enquiry/sample-request/13405



Report Coverage Details



Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 20232032 Base Year 2022 Market Size in 2022 USD 7,914.82 Million Market Size in 2032 USD 26,023.61 Million CAGR 12.64% No. of Pages in Report 237 Segments Covered Component, Demography, Application, and End User Drivers Increasing Diabetes Prevalence

Real-Time Monitoring for 24*7 Opportunities Rising Government Support and R&D

Routine Inspection of Blood Glucose Levels Restraints High Cost

The CGMs market expansion can be associated with the growing incidence of diabetes mellitus and increasing understanding among end users, such as diabetes patients and healthcare professionals, about the features of continuous glucose monitoring systems in diabetes management. As a result, this also helps to increase the CGM systems acceptance rate. The rising government investments, increasing understanding of preventive diabetes care, and the latest system/device launches are boosting the CGMs market growth. Another factor contributing to the increased demand for CGMs during the COVID-19 outbreak is the issuance of guidelines for using glucose meters at home and setting up CGMs in hospitals.



Story continues

Competitive Strategy



To boost their market situation in the global continuous glucose monitoring systems market, the prominent industry players are now aiming to take the approaches such as mergers & acquisitions, collaborations, partnerships, joint ventures, product innovations, and recent developments.



 July 2022 - Empower Clinics Inc., one of the leaders in home testing solutions, launched the Empower Blood Glucose Monitor. This small medical device helps to measure the amount of glucose in a person's blood.



 September 2022 - Nemaura Medical, Inc., one of the world's renowned medical technology organizations, declared a decisive contract with EVERSANA. The contract strives to cover global and US sales of Nemaura's Diabetes Management Solution.



 November 2022 - Senseonics Holdings, Inc., a top medical technology organization, has partnered with the Nurse Practitioner Group (NPG). This partnership strives to extend patient access by offering home and office insertion options for the Eversense E3 continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system.



Procure Complete Research Report - https://www.thebrainyinsights.com/report/continuous-glucose-monitoring-systems-market-13405



Market Growth & Trends



Developments and inventions in the medical device industry for making continuous glucose monitoring systems have constructed opportunities for the CGM systems market. The rising number of CGMs companies and the evolution of continuous glucose monitoring systems (CGMs) are continuously pushing the CGMs market's growth. For example, in September 2022, Medical technology company GlucoRx and UK-based Cardiff University developed a non-invasive, multi-sensor continuous blood glucose monitoring (CGM) system. The system uses radio frequency technology and a multi-sensory approach to measure blood glucose levels exactly and non-invasively minute by minute.



Further, the shift in continuous glucose monitoring systems (CGMs) market share is anticipated to be guided by an increasing majority of diabetes, an increasing need for diagnostics, a growing ageing population, and rising unmet healthcare requirements. Elements such as increasing acceptance of medical systems and a growing understanding of continuous glucose monitoring systems are further pushing market growth.



Key Findings



 In 2022, the sensors segment accounted for the largest share of the market, with 41.86% and a market revenue of USD 3,313.14 million.



The component segment is classified into sensors, transmitters, receivers, and insulin pumps. In 2022, the sensors segment accounted for the largest market share, with 41.86% and a market revenue of USD 3,313.14 million.



 In 2022, the adult population segment dominated the market with the largest share of 74.58% and a market revenue of USD 5,902.87 million.



The demography segment includes child population and adult population. In 2022, the adult population segment dominated the market with the largest share of 74.58% and a market revenue of USD 5,902.87 million.



 In 2022, the type-2 diabetes segment led the market with the largest share of 52.71% and market revenue of USD 4,171.90 million.



The application section is divided into type-1 diabetes, type-2 diabetes, and gestational diabetes. In 2022, the type-2 diabetes segment led the market with the largest share of 52.71% and market revenue of USD 4,171.90 million.



 In 2022, the home healthcare segment registered the largest market share of 51.63% and a market revenue of USD 4,086.42 million.



The end user segment consists of home healthcare, hospitals, and others. In 2022, the home healthcare segment dominated the market with the largest share of 51.63% and a market revenue of USD 4,086.42 million.



Regional Segment Analysis of the Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems Market



 North America (U.S., Mexico, Canada)

 Europe (Germany, Italy, France, Spain, U.K., Rest of Europe)

 Asia-Pacific (India, China, Japan, Rest of APAC)

 South America (Brazil and the Rest of South America)

 The Middle East and Africa (UAE, South Africa, Rest of MEA)



The North American region registered the largest market share, with 39.61% revenue in 2022 and a market revenue of USD 3,135.06 million. The rising incidence of diabetes and increasing efforts by national governments to control diabetes on a more extensive scale are anticipated to boost the region's rise. North America is projected to thrive due to new technology developments, significant research, and inventions in diabetes care.



Asia Pacific is projected to register the highest CAGR of 14.6% over the forecast period. The increasing majority of diabetes in developing nations such as China and India has driven market expansion in this region. Additionally, industry players' high investments, increasing healthcare spending, and promising regulatory approaches in the Asia Pacific region are anticipated to boost the market's rise over the forecast period.



Interested to Procure the Research Report? Inquire Before Buying - https://www.thebrainyinsights.com/enquiry/buying-inquiry/13405



Key Players Operating in the Global Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems Market are:



 Abbott Laboratories

 Animas

 A. Menarini Diagnostics S.r.l

 AgaMatrix

 Ascensia Diabetes Care

 B Braun Melsungen AG

 Biolinq

 DexCom, Inc.

 Echo Therapeutics, Inc.

 F. Hoffman-La Roche Ltd.

 GlySens Incorporated

 GE Healthcare

 GNC Holdings, LLC

 GlySure

 Insulet Corporation

 Johnson & Johnson

 LifeScan IP Holdings LLC

 Medtronic plc

 Medtrum Technologies, Inc.

 Nemaura Medical Inc.

 Novo Nordisk A/S

 NXP Semiconductors

 OrSense

 One Drop (Sano)

 Roche

 Senseonics Holdings, Inc.

 STMicroelectronics

 Terumo Corporation

 Tandem Diabetes Care

 Ypsomed AG



This study forecasts global, regional, and country revenue from 2019 to 2032. The Brainy Insights has segmented the global continuous glucose monitoring systems market based on the below-mentioned segments:



Global Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems Market by Component:



 Sensors

 Transmitters

 Receivers

 Insulin Pumps



Global Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems Market by Demography:



 Child Population

 Adult Population



Global Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems Market by Application:



 Type-1 Diabetes

 Type-2 Diabetes

 Gestational Diabetes



Global Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems Market by End User:



 Home Healthcare

 Hospitals

 Others



About the report:



The global continuous glucose monitoring systems market is analyzed based on value (USD Million), Volume (K Units). All the segments have been analyzed worldwide, regional, and country basis. The study includes the analysis of more than 30 countries for each part. The report analyzes opportunities, challenges, driving factors, and restraints for gaining critical insight into the market. The study includes porter's five forces model, raw material analysis, supply and demand analysis, distribution analysis, competitor position grid analysis, attractiveness analysis, and marketing channels analysis.



About The Brainy Insights:



The Brainy Insights is a market research company, aimed at providing actionable insights through data analytics to companies to improve their business acumen. We have a robust forecasting and estimation model to meet the clients' objectives of high-quality output within a short span of time. We provide both customized (clients' specific) and syndicate reports. Our repository of syndicate reports is diverse across all the categories and sub-categories across domains. Our customized solutions are tailored to meet the clients' requirement whether they are looking to expand or planning to launch a new product in the global market.



Contact Us



Avinash D

Head of Business Development

Phone: +1-315-215-1633

Email: sales@thebrainyinsights.com

Web: http://www.thebrainyinsights.com




New Delhi: Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Sunday flagged "procedural lapses" in summoning a day-long session of the Delhi Assembly on April 17, drawing a sharp reaction from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who said he would want the LG to study the Constitution again. This came on a day Kejriwal was questioned for about nine hours by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the Delhi excise policy case. In a note to the Delhi government, Saxena has pointed out that the Speaker of the Delhi Legislative Assembly has proposed to call the second part of the fourth session of the seventh Assembly, whereas the Delhi Cabinet has recommended convening a one-day session of the House, officials at the LG office said. As per Rules and Act, the Assembly, which was adjourned sine die on March 29, 2023, has to be prorogued before a fresh session can be convened. As a session remains unprorogued, a new session cannot be convened, they said.

"I fail to understand as to under what circumstances and under which provision of the GNCTD Act, 1991 the Second Part of the Fourth Session (Budget session) of the Seventh Legislative Assembly has been convened instead of moving a proposal for prorogation of the Budget Session and convening of the 'One-Day Session as per the Cabinet Decision'," VK Saxena said in his note.

This convening of the session is not in accordance with the cabinet decision and hence inconsistent with the statutory provisions envisaged under Section 6 of the Government of NCT of Delhi Act, 1991, he said.

"Therefore, the proposed Second Part of the Fourth session on April 17 being summoned without following the due procedure, should not be convened," he added.

The LG, in his note, "advised" the government to direct the concerned department to submit an appropriate proposal to prorogue the fourth session (Budget Session) of the seventh Legislative Assembly with immediate effect, and for summoning a one-day session in accordance with provisions of Section 6 of the GNCTD Act, 1991.

Saxena further highlighted that there was no indication of any proposed legislative business to be transacted by the Assembly on Monday.

"This also needs to be reflected in the Cabinet Decision as per Rule 15 (1) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of Legislative Assembly of NCT of Delhi Rules, 1997 to allow the members of the House to come prepared for fruitful deliberations," he said.

Reacting to the LG's note, Kejriwal asserted that the Delhi Assembly's day-long session called by his government will be held on Monday.

"The session will be held tomorrow. I want the LG sahib to study the Constitution again or have some advisor who is at least well-educated and has knowledge about it," the chief minister said after emerging from the CBI office.

Earlier, Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj hit out at Saxena over his note.

"Let me enlighten LG saab... Under Rule 17 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Delhi Assembly, Hon'ble Speaker has the power to call a sitting of the House 'at any time after the House has been adjourned sine die'.

"However, as per prevailing parliamentary practice, the Speaker convenes (the House) only on the recommendation of the Cabinet. The House has not been prorogued and prorogation can be done only on recommendation of the Cabinet," Bharadwaj said in a series of tweets.

"As there was no recommendation of the Cabinet for prorogation, the Hon'ble Speaker rightly summoned the House under Rule 17(2)," he said.

Kejriwal had said on Saturday that a resolution would be tabled in the upcoming session of the Delhi Assembly urging the Centre to fix a time limit for governors and Lt governors to carry out their constitutional functions.

He alleged that in the national capital, the LG has "regularly meddled" with the democratic mandate of Delhi's Legislature, blocked the presentation of the budget and had gone even further to bring the day-to-day executive functioning of the government to a standstill under the guise of the unconstitutional 2021 amendment to the GNCTD Act.
New Delhi: Gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Khalid Azeem alias Ashraf, who were shot dead while they were being escorted by Uttar Pradesh police personnel to a medical college for a checkup, were buried in Prayagraj on Sunday. The two brothers were buried at the Kasari Masari graveyard, a day after Atiq's son Asad, an accused in the Umesh Pal murder case who fell to police bullets, was buried at the same graveyard. Atiq was laid to rest right next to his son's grave, who was killed in a police encounter in Jhansi on April 13. He was on the run since Umesh Pal's killing on February 24.

The graveyard is said to be located in Atiq Ahmed's ancestral village and his parents were also reportedly laid to rest there. Only a few distant relatives of the deceased brothers and locals were present inside the burial ground.

VIDEO | Locals gather in large numbers at Kasari Masari graveyard in Prayagraj where bodies of Atiq Ahmad and Ashraf are being buried. pic.twitter.com/9bq84xq3sI  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) April 16, 2023

Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf, who were in handcuffs, were shot dead by three men posing as journalists when they were answering reporters' queries while being escorted by police personnel to a medical college for a checkup in Prayagraj.

Ahmed, a former Samajwadi Party (SP) MP, and his brother were brought to Prayagraj for a court hearing in connection with this year's Umesh Pal murder case and were remanded in police custody.

On Sunday, the three assailants who pumped bullets into Atiq and Ashraf were presented in a district court, which remanded them in judicial custody for 14 days.

The Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government has formed a three-member judicial commission to probe the killing of the brothers. The commission will be headed by retired high court judge Arvind Kumar Tripathi. Retired judge Brijesh Kumar Soni and former Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) Subesh Kumar Singh will be the two other members of the panel, officials said.

The commission will have to submit its report to the government within two months, they said, adding that the state home department has formed the probe panel under the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952.

Atiq Ahmed's Killers Wanted To Become Famous

According to the FIR, the three shooters of Atiq and his brother Ashraf killed the Ahmed brothers to make a name for themselves in the world of crime. The assailants, who have been identified as Lavlesh Tiwari (22) of Banda, Mohit alias Sunny (23) of Hamirpur, and Arun Maurya (18) of Kasganj, were arrested soon after the dramatic shootout outside the Prayagraj hospital.

The shooters, who posed as TV crew and fired at almost point-blank range, told police they wanted to make a name for themselves and establish their identity by eliminating Atiq Ahmed's gang.

"Since the time we got to know about the police custody of Atiq and Ashraf, we were planning to murder them. So we posed as journalists and when we got the right opportunity, we pulled the trigger and implemented the plan," one of the accused is quoted as saying in the FIR.

Police described Sunny as a 'history-sheeter' who had 14 cases registered against him. These include murder, attempt to murder, robbery, and narcotics smuggling.

ALSO READ | After Atiq Ahmed's Killing, Plea In SC Seeks Inquiry Into 183 Encounters In UP

Lavlesh Tiwari also faces cases of selling illicit liquor, manhandling, eve-teasing, and charges under the IT Act in Banda, police said.

Police are still probing whether Maurya was involved in any crime earlier.

After the shootout, police charged the three men with murder and attempt to murder, as well as under the Arms Act. At least two firearms were recovered from the site of the shooting.

6 people named in Umesh Pal case killed so far

With Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf's killings, three of the family's four members named in the Umesh Pal murder case have been killed. Ten people were named in the FIR registered at the Dhoomanganj police station of Prayagraj on February 25, a day after Umesh Pal, a key witness in the 2005 BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case, in which Atiq was also an accused, was killed.

Apart from Atiq and Ashraf, four others named in the FIR -- Asad, Arbaaz, Vijay Chaudhary alias Usman and Ghulam -- have also been killed.

Atiq Ahmed's wife Shaista Parveen and three other alleged shooters are absconding.

Of the seven people seen in the CCTV footage that captured the killing of Umesh Pal, Arbaaz, who allegedly drove a sports utility vehicle (SUV) carrying the attackers, was killed in an encounter on February 27.

Shooter Vijay Chaudhary alias Usman was killed in an encounter in Prayagraj on March 6. Asad and Ghulam were killed in another encounter with the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force in Jhansi on April 13.

The three remaining shooters -- Guddu Muslim, Sabir and Armaan -- are absconding

After Umesh Pal's killing, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav had flagged the law-and-order situation of Uttar Pradesh in the state Assembly.

In a heated debate that followed, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had accused the SP of sheltering gangsters like Ahmed and said the government will ground the mafias to dust ("mitti me mila denge").
New Delhi: Samajwadi Party Leader Azam Khan has been hospitalized at Delhi's Sir Ganga Ram Hospital after his health deteriorated. Azam Khan's family members admitted him to the hospital at 3 AM on Sunday night. His condition is said to be stable at the moment, and his treatment is ongoing under the supervision of specialists. The senior SP leader was hospitalized in an ICU at a private hospital in Lucknow in August last year after being diagnosed with pneumonia.

In May of last year, the 72-year-old was admitted to the same Delhi hospital for a routine check-up. The state Assembly Secretariat, earlier in October, announced Khan`s disqualification from the House after a court sentenced him to three years in jail in a hate speech case.

The case was registered against Khan in April 2019 for leveling serious allegations against administrative officials posted in Rampur, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during an election meeting. Azam Khan was released from the Sitapur Jail in Uttar Pradesh on May 20, 2022, the same day the Supreme Court granted him interim bail in a cheating case.

Azam Khan was sentenced to three years in prison for hate speech. The Rampur MP/MLA court issued this judgment on October 27, 2022. He was also fined Rs 25,000 by the court. Bail was set at Rs 25,000 on a personal bond. His assembly membership was canceled after that due to the three-year sentence. His right to vote was also taken away. After that, Azam will be unable to run for office or vote.

In Uttar Pradesh, bye-elections for two assembly seats have been called. On May 10, Rampur's Swar assembly seat and Mirzapur's Chanbe assembly seat will be up for election. On May 13, the counting will take place. The most well-known of these two assembly seats is that of Swar in Rampur district. Abdullah Azam, Azam Khan's son, was disqualified in this case. Only after that did this seat become available. Let us remind you that Azam holds considerable power in the Rampur Sadar and Swar seats. There is speculation on who from Azam Khan's family will run for the Swar seat.
New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday shared the letter he wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding the up-to-date caste census. In the letter dated April 16, 2023, Kharge also pointed out that the regular decennial census was to be carried out in 2021 but it has not yet been conducted. He said that in the absence of an updated caste census, a reliable database so very essential for meaningful social justice and empowerment programmes, particularly for OBCs, is incomplete.

"I am writing to you to once again place on record the demand of the Indian National Congress for an up-to-date Caste Census. My colleagues and I have raised this demand earlier in both House of Parliament on a number of occasions as have leaders of many other Opposition parties," Mallikarjun Kharge wrote in his letter.

The Congress chief told PM Modi that it was the UPA government that conducted a Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) for the first time during 2011-12 covering some 25 crore households.

For a number of reasons, however, the caste data could not get published even though Congress and other MPs demanded its release after your government came to power in May 2014, he said.

"In the absence of an updated Caste Census, I am afraid a reliable data base so very essential for meaningful social justice and empowerment programmes, particularly for OBCs, is incomplete. This Census is the responsibility of the Union Government," Kharge said.

He demanded that it be done immediately and that a comprehensive Caste Census be made its integral part.

My letter to the Prime Minister demanding the publication of Socio Economic Caste Census.



Regular decennial Census was to be carried out in 2021 but it has not been conducted. We demand that it be done immediately and that a comprehensive Caste Census be made its integral part. pic.twitter.com/eoL52gRFC1  Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) April 17, 2023

Earlier on Sunday, while addressing a rally in Katnataka's Kolar, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had dared Prime Minister Modi to release the 2011 caste-based census data in the public domain and also demanded the 50 per cent cap on reservation be removed.

"UPA in 2011 did the caste-based census. It has the data of all the castes. Mr Prime Minister, you talk of OBCs. Make that data public. Let the nation know how many OBCs, Dalits, and tribals are there in the country," Gandhi had said at the Congress' 'Jai Bharat' election rally in Kolar in the run-up to the May 10 Karnataka polls.

He claimed there are only 7 per cent other backward castes, Dalits and tribals as secretaries in the central government.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday condemned the murders of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf in police custody and termed it "extremely tragic". Seeking immediate action against the criminals, Chief Minister Kumar said elimination of criminals in this manner is "completely unjustified". "Such an incident has never occurred in the country or in the world. Killers emerge amid a bunch of journalists and murder the persons who were on the way to hospital for treatment. It is an extremely unfortunate, painful and tragic incident. What were the authorities doing?. A strict vigil should have been maintained when the criminals were being brought," Kumar said.

"Things would have still been different had they been convicted, sentenced to death and lodged in jail. But a person who was brought out from jail for court hearing or medical treatment in hospitals and getting murdered, is extremely unfortunate and tragic. The governments have to think about it," Kumar said. "How could the criminals be eliminated in this manner? A country is governed by a set of rules which has to be adhered to at any cost. Only the court is empowered to award the death penalty to criminals," Kumar said.Coming down heavily on the saffron party, he added all the institutions have been captured by them (BJP and RSS). What can you do?"
Gujarat Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Gopal Italia was arrested by the Crime Branch of Surat Police on Monday for allegedly making derogatory remarks against a state minister and the BJP`s Gujarat unit chief. Italia`s was booked in September last year for his alleged defamatory remarks about Hujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi and BJP`s state unit chief C.R. Patil. The complaint was filed by a BJP worker, Pratap Chodwadia, and the case was later handed over to the Crime Branch. The arrest of former Gujarat AAP chief Italia is the latest in a string of troubles for the party. Senior AAP leaders, including former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, are currently lodged in Tihar jail. Additionally, AAP national convenor and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal was questioned by the CBI for nine hours on Sunday in connection with the excise liquor policy case. Italia made the controversial remarks in a video that went viral in August last year. In the video, Italia could be heard calling Harsh Sanghavi a `drugs Sanghavi`.

BJP worker Pratap Chodwadia had filed a case against Italia, accusing him of making derogatory remarks against the state minister and the BJP`s state unit chief. Italia has a history of making controversial comments about prominent leaders. Last year, he was detained by Delhi police for his alleged derogatory remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In a video that was reportedly from 2019 in the run-up to the general elections, Italia was heard calling PM Modi a "neech aadmi" (a lowly person). Surat, April 17 (IANS) Gujarat Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Gopal Italia was arrested by the Crime Branch of Surat Police on Monday for allegedly making derogatory remarks against a state minister and the BJP`s Gujarat unit chief. Italia`s was booked in September last year for his alleged defamatory remarks about Hujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi and BJP`s state unit chief C.R. Patil. The complaint was filed by a BJP worker, Pratap Chodwadia, and the case was later handed over to the Crime Branch.

The arrest of former Gujarat AAP chief Italia is the latest in a string of troubles for the party. Senior AAP leaders, including former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, are currently lodged in Tihar jail. Additionally, AAP national convenor and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal was questioned by the CBI for nine hours on Sunday in connection with the excise liquor policy case. Italia made the controversial remarks in a video that went viral in August last year. In the video, Italia could be heard calling Harsh Sanghavi a `drugs Sanghavi`. BJP worker Pratap Chodwadia had filed a case against Italia, accusing him of making derogatory remarks against the state minister and the BJP`s state unit chief. Italia has a history of making controversial comments about prominent leaders. Last year, he was detained by Delhi police for his alleged derogatory remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In a video that was reportedly from 2019 in the run-up to the general elections, Italia was heard calling PM Modi a "neech aadmi" (a lowly person).
New Delhi: Former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar, who was not reconsidered by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the May 10 Assembly elections, joined Congress on Monday. He joined the grand old party in the presence of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, and other senior leaders in Bengaluru.

"I thought being a senior leader, I'll get the ticket, but when I came to know that I'm not getting it, I was shocked. No one spoke to me nor tried to convince me, not even gave assurance about what position will I get," Jagadish Shettar said after joining Congress.

Former BJP CM,

Former BJP President,

Former Leader of Opposition,

Six times MLA,



Sh. Jagadish Shettar joins the Congress family today in the presence of CP @kharge ji, Gen. Sec (Org) @kcvenugopalmp ji, PCC President @DKShivakumar ji & Congress in-charge, Karnataka @rssurjewala pic.twitter.com/gY4wysOgzx  Congress (@INCIndia) April 17, 2023

Jagadish Shettar, a six-time Hubballi-Dharwad Central MLA, resigned from the Karnataka Assembly and quit BJP on Sunday after his talks with Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and two Union ministers Pralhad Joshi and Dharmendra Pradhan the previous night failed.

Earlier on Sunday, he flew from Hubballi to Bengaluru and held discussions with Congress general secretary (Karnataka in-charge) Randeep Singh Surjewala, Congress state chief DK Shivakumar, former minister MB Patil, and veteran Congress leader Shamanur Shivashankarappa.

Karnataka| Congress leaders including Randeep Surjewala, Siddaramaiah, and DK Shivakumar met former Karnataka CM Jagadish Shettar in Bengaluru, after he resigned from BJP (16/04) pic.twitter.com/93b80sp12v  ANI (@ANI) April 16, 2023

He had earlier alleged that he has been humiliated by denying him a BJP ticket and added that there was a systematic conspiracy against him in the ruling party.

Shettar, a veteran leader whose family has been associated with BJP since the Jana Sangh days, is an influential leader from its bastion of the Kittur-Karnataka region.

According to political observers, his latest move may adversely impact the saffron party's prospects in a number of segments in the region.

At least 16 Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation councillors have also reportedly offered to tender their resignation in support of the prominent Lingayat leader from north Karnataka.

BJP's Ticket Distribution Sparks Rebellion

The banner of revolt by disappointed ticket aspirants in a number of constituencies seems to be keeping the BJP leadership on tenterhooks, as it resorts to douse the fire with less than a month to go before the Assembly polls. The decision of Jagadish Shettar and former Karnataka deputy CM Laxman Savadi to quit the BJP after the party decided not to field them in the May 10 elections, has given a jolt to the saffron camp.

Savadi joined Congress on Friday and was subsequently given a ticket from Athani in the Belagavi district.

Among the legislators who have resigned from the post and the primary membership of the party are MLAs MP Kumaraswamy (Mudigere), Goolihatti Shekhar (Hosadurga), and MLCs Laxman Savadi (Athani) and R Shankar (Ranebennur).

The ruling party has so far announced candidates in 212 constituencies out of the total 224 in two lists. According to party sources, there seems to be a revolt in about two dozen Assembly segments.

The BJP in the first two lists dropped at least 17 sitting MLAs and fielded 67 new candidates.

While deciding tickets, the party has reportedly adopted the policy of trying to replace some seniors and those nearing "retirement" (75 years), fielding new faces in segments where it has not won, and asking leaders to withdraw from the fray if they want tickets for their children.

According to reports, the leadership, during the Central Election Committee meeting, had expressed reservations regarding the State BJP's recommendation list, which re-nominated most of the sitting legislators, and it contained the names of both father and children.

After the CEC meeting, CM Bommai himself had given an indication in this regard by stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave some directions and the party is working on various inputs to finalise the list. He, however, did not elaborate on the nature of directions or inputs. Several rounds of deliberations were held in Delhi before announcing the candidate lists.

Meanwhile, Bommai and Karnataka BJP strongman BS Yediyurappa have said that they are talking to all the disgruntled leaders personally to ensure that they don't leave the party, and the central leadership is personally in touch with some seniors who are upset.
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday came down heavily on Union Home Minister Amit Shah for his "undemocratic" and "unconstitutional" remarks that the TMC government won't survive beyond 2025 if the BJP wins 35 seats in the next year's Lok Sabha polls. The TMC supremo also called for Amit Shahs resignation over the comments he had made during a rally on April 14.

"On Friday, Amit Shah addressed a rally. That is fine. But how can the Union home minister of the country talk about toppling a democratically elected government of a state? Is the constitution of the country being changed? Mamata Banerjee said. "Shah can never make such a comment that if BJP wins 35 Lok Sabha seats, the state government won't complete the full term," Banerjee told reporters here.

We Demand Proper Probe Into Pulwama Attack: Mamata

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister also expressed doubts about the "real story" behind the terrorist attack at Pulwama in Jammu & Kashmir in February 2019 in which as many as 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) police personnel were killed. "My question is whether a single central investigation team went to Pulwama after that incident. We also demand a proper inquiry into the matter as well," the Chief Minister said.

HM @AmitShah's claims of LoP @SuvenduWB being a crusader against corruption in Bengal are laughable!



The true colours of the chameleon:



Confessed to his involvement in Narada scam;

Implicated in Sarada scandal;

Directly involved in teacher's recruitment scam. pic.twitter.com/QzjAjOeIlt  All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) April 14, 2023

Shah Vs Mamata Over 2024 Lok Sabha Polls

While addressing a public rally at Suri in Birbhum district, Shah set a target for the BJP to win 35 Lok Sabha seats from West Bengal and said the incumbent Mamata Banerjee government in the state won't survive beyond 2025 if the goal is achieved. The TMC supremo claimed Shah's remarks prove that "a conspiracy is being hatched to dislodge the state government," and added that the home minister should not speak like a "goon".

Banerjee claimed that the BJP won't return to power in the next parliamentary polls, reiterating the appeal to the opposition leaders to unite against the saffron party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The Mamata Banerjee government is scheduled to complete its third term in 2026.

Referring to CBI's summons to her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, Banerjee said, "Are they trying to send out a message that a chief minister can be summoned and questioned? If a CM can be questioned, why can't the home minister be questioned too?" she said.

Mamata Questions Yogi Govt Over Prayagraj Killings

Condemning Asads encounter done by the UP STF in Jhansi and the sensational killing of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf by three shooters in Prayagraj, she said, Encounters have become a normal thing for the people of Uttar Pradesh. I dont support any crime. But how come some people were killed when in judicial custody? Were the central investigation agencies sent to probe such incidents?

She went on to say, "People of UP should protest against these encounters. If anything happens in West Bengal, they (BJP) send central agencies. BJP is double enginedouble standard. She also warned that her TMC government will not allow the implementation of NRC or the CAA in West Bengal.

Bengal Chief Minister also slammed the BJP workers for carrying arms during Ram Navami processions in the state. We have got information that the BJP is conspiring to create communal tension in the state. They want to indulge in religious and caste politics, she alleged.

Arrest Of TMC MLAs Just A Ploy To Weaken TMC: Mamata

Referring to the arrest of Trinamool Congress MLAs in connection with the multi-crore scam in the recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff in West Bengal, CM Mamata said it is a ploy to reduce the strength of her party within the Assembly.

"The central agencies are only targetting our MLAs. They are not targeting any of the BJP legislators. But they will not be successful in this ploy, since our numerical strength in the Assembly is so high," the Bengal Chief Minister said.

She also alleged the Union government is sending central field inspection teams to West Bengal one after another just to stop the development projects undertaken by the state government. "As it is, the Union government has stopped payment of all dues to the state government under different centrally sponsored schemes. Now they have started adopting the strategy of sending the central inspection teams," CM Mamata said.
New Delhi: Union Power Minister R K Singh on Monday slammed Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav for addressing the slain gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed as "Atiq Ji", who was killed along with his brothers Ashraf in a shootout in Prayagraj on Saturday, and said that the RJD leader is shedding tears for a dreaded ganglord who had more over 100 criminal cases registered in his name.

Singh said that Tejashwi Yadav is Deputy Chief Minister but he addressed Atiq Ahmed as "Atiq ji" who had more than 100 cases of murder, kidnapping, and extortion against him. Referring to the ex-MP, the Union Minister said, "Whoever was a witness, he used to kill or kidnap his family so that he won`t testify against him. He was involved in Umesh Pal`s killing. For whom are these people (Tejashwi Yadav) crying? A man who has more than 100 criminal cases against him? He confessed he had a connection with the proscribed terror outfit Lashkar e Taiba (LeT)."

Atiq Ahmeds Killing 'Scripted': Tejashwi

Earlier in the day, Yadav termed the killing of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf, "scripted". "I have no sympathies for crime or criminals. But there is a law and a Constitution to eliminate crime in the country. We have seen in this country that the killers of the former Prime Minister have undergone trials and were punished. Whatever happened in UP, Toh Aap Dekhein Ye Atiq Ji ka Janaza Nahin, Kanoon Ka Janaza Nikla Tha (It was not the funeral of Atiq ji, but the funeral of the law)," Yadav had said.

Slamming the Bihar Deputy CM, the Union Minister said that people have made Yogi Adityanath as chief minister with a huge mandate. "Now a dreaded criminal, who is related to ISI and LeT, that dreaded criminal has been killed in a gang war and they are shedding tears for him because they think that by doing this, their minority vote bank will become stronger," he added.

Singh also lashed out at the opposition leaders for rallying in support of the gangster and said, "You people (opposition leaders) are going to be extinct. "It is absolutely a vote bank politics. It is a bit tragic that a criminal who has a connection with LeT is killed in a gang war and people are shedding tears over the incident," he said, adding that those who sprayed bullets upon him were also caught.

Atiq's Killers Shifted To Another UP Jail

Amid a blame game over the sensational killing of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf, three sharpshooters, who sprayed bullets killing the two on the spot, were shifted from the Prayagraj Central Jail to the Pratapgarh District Jail on Monday over security concerns. News agency PTI quoted a senior official as saying that the transfer of the three killers was done on administrative grounds.

The assailants - Mohit alias Sunny (23) of Hamirpur, Lavlesh Tiwari (22) of Banda and Arun Maurya (18) of Kasganj - were arrested soon after the sensational shootout outside the Prayagraj hospital where policemen were escorting the brothers for a medical check-up Saturday night.

The trio was taken from Prayagraj at 12 noon and reached Pratapgarh at 2.10 PM, officials said. It may be noted that one of the two remaining sons of Atiq Ahmad is currently lodged in the Prayagraj Central Jail in Uttar Pradesh.

On Sunday the three shooters - Arun Maurya, Sunny Singh and Lovelesh Tiwari - involved in the killings were sent to 14-day judicial custody by the district court. Atiq Ahmed was accused in the 2005 Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Raju Pal murder case and also in the case of murder of Umesh Pal which happened in February this year.
MarketsandMarkets Research Pvt. Ltd.

Controlled-release fertilizers (CRFs) are special types of fertilizers that release nutrients gradually over an extended period, ensuring that plants receive a consistent supply of nutrients, without any wastage.

Chicago, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global controlled release fertilizer market size was valued at USD 2.4 billion in 2021. The market is estimated to expand USD 3.3 billion in 2026, exhibiting a CAGR of 6.4% over the projected period. MarketsandMarkets provides this information in its research report, titled Controlled Release Fertilizers Market Global Forecast, 2021-2026.

Download PDF Brochure Now: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=136099624

Key Industry Development:

As the global population continues to grow, the demand for food also increases. controlled release fertilizer market helps to improve crop yields and reduce environmental pollution, making it a popular choice among farmers.

Report Scope & Segmentation:



Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 2021-2026 Forecast Period 2021 to 2026 CAGR 6.4% 2026 Value Projection USD 3.3 billion Base Year 2020 Dominant Geography North America Segments covered Type, Mode of Application, End Use, Region





Key Takeaways:

Controlled-release fertilizers (CRFs) market size was valued at USD 2.4 billion in 2021.

Increasing demand for food is driving the growth of the controlled release fertilizer market as it helps to improve crop yields and reduce environmental pollution.

The market is highly competitive, with numerous players operating in the industry. Key players include Nutrien Ltd., The Mosaic Company, ICL Group (Israel), Nufarm Ltd., Kingenta etc.

During the forecast period, the fertigation segment of the controlled release fertilizer market is expected to experience the highest Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR).

Drivers and Restraints:

Necessity for highly efficient fertilizers

Nutrient loss to the environment is one of the major concerns faced by farmers across the world. Heavily fertilized crops such as corn tend to have large losses relative to non-intensive uses such as pasture. Agricultural uses associated with poor land management practices that lead to erosion also produce significant nutrient losses. Nutrient losses can occur in many ways, which can have an extensive impact on the environment.

Story continues

Cost ineffectiveness

The cost of production of Controlled-release fertilizers (CRFs) is much higher than that of conventional soil-applied fertilizers due to the requirement of complex production processes. According to the International Fertilizer Association (IFA), the prices of controlled-release fertilizers have remained higher by four to six times than the conventional NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) prices. This is one of the major restraints for this market. Unlike conventional fertilizers, repeated application of these fertilizers is not required, owing to their programmed and predefined release pattern; the initial cost required to be invested by the farmer is very high. This limits the use of controlled-release fertilizers only to high-value cash crops, thereby restraining the growth of the market in other broad-acre crops such as rice and wheat since the return of investment for these crops has been quite low for the farmers in developing countries.

Inquiry Before Buying: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_BuyingNew.asp?id=136099624

Segments:

The non agriculture segment is estimated to account for the largest market share in the controlled release fertilizer market during the forecast period.

The growth in purchasing power and the rising environmental issues have led to an increase in the demand for CRFs in non-agricultural. However, because of government rules governing controlled-release fertilizers, their use on agricultural crops has expanded significantly in developing countries also. Growing usage of controlled-release fertilizers for turf & ornamental grass is driving the market. For more than a decade, CRF has been used for turf & ornamental grass in the US; however, its demand has been increasing recently in developing countries. Thus, the easy application of controlled-release fertilizers on ornamental crops is a major factor driving its market.

The coated and encapsulated subsegment in the by type segment is estimated to account for the largest market share in the controlled release fertilizer market.

The coated and encapsulated segment is estimated to dominate the controlled release fertilizer market. The adoption of these fertilizers has been increasing continuously in the global market, due to the growing awareness about the benefits associated with coated fertilizers and government support provided by the nation in terms of subsidies and policy amendment. Government policies and well-defined regulations act as a boosting factor for the growth of this market at the global level.

Regional Insights:

North America is a mature market for Controlled-release fertilizers (CRFs), with high adoption rates due to government regulations aimed at reducing fertilizer runoff and improving soil health. The United States is the largest market in the region, followed by Canada.

Europe is another mature market for controlled release fertilizers, with high adoption rates due to strict regulations on fertilizer use and the growing demand for sustainable agriculture. The United Kingdom, Germany, and France are the largest markets in the region.

Asia-Pacific is the fastest-growing market for controlled release fertilizers, driven by increasing demand for food, growing population, and rising environmental concerns. China, India, and Japan are the largest markets in the region.

Latin America is an emerging market for controlled release fertilizers, with growing adoption rates due to the increasing demand for sustainable agriculture and government initiatives to promote their use. Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico are the largest markets in the region.

The Middle East and Africa are also emerging markets for controlled release fertilizers, with growing adoption rates due to government initiatives and the increasing demand for food. South Africa, Saudi Arabia, and Israel are the largest markets in the region.

List of Key Players Mentioned in the Report:

Yara International ASA (Norway)

Nutrien Ltd. (Canada)

The Mosaic Company (US)

ICL Group (Israel)

Nufarm Ltd. (Australia)

Kingenta (China)

ScottsMiracle-Gro (US)

Koch Industries (US)

Helena Chemical (US)

SQM (Chile)

Book a meeting with our expert Analyst to discuss your business needs: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/speaktoanalystNew.asp?id=136099624

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):

How big is the controlled release fertilizer market?

The Controlled-release fertilizers (CRFs) market size is expected to reach USD 3.3 billion in 2026.

How fast is the controlled release fertilizers market growing?

The controlled release fertilizers market will exhibit a CAGR of 6.4% during the forecast period, 2021-2026.

Browse Adjacent Reports @ Agriculture Industry Market Research Reports & Consulting

Related Reports:

Specialty Fertilizers Market

CONTACT: About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets is a blue ocean alternative in growth consulting and program management, leveraging a man-machine offering to drive supernormal growth for progressive organizations in the B2B space. We have the widest lens on emerging technologies, making us proficient in co-creating supernormal growth for clients. The B2B economy is witnessing the emergence of $25 trillion of new revenue streams that are substituting existing revenue streams in this decade alone. We work with clients on growth programs, helping them monetize this $25 trillion opportunity through our service lines - TAM Expansion, Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy to Execution, Market Share Gain, Account Enablement, and Thought Leadership Marketing. Built on the 'GIVE Growth' principle, we work with several Forbes Global 2000 B2B companies - helping them stay relevant in a disruptive ecosystem. Our insights and strategies are molded by our industry experts, cutting-edge AI-powered Market Intelligence Cloud, and years of research. The KnowledgeStore (our Market Intelligence Cloud) integrates our research, facilitates an analysis of interconnections through a set of applications, helping clients look at the entire ecosystem and understand the revenue shifts happening in their industry. To find out more, visit www.MarketsandMarkets.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Contact: Mr. Aashish Mehra MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com




Bengaluru: Considered to be one of the richest politicians in the country, Karnataka Minister N Nagaraju (MTB) has declared total assets worth Rs 1,609 crore, while filing the nomination for May 10 Assembly polls in the state. Nagaraju filed the papers on Monday as the ruling BJP's candidate from the Hoskote Assembly segment, on the outskirts of Bengaluru.

In his election affidavit, Nagaraju, who has mentioned his occupation or profession as agriculturist and business, along with his wife M Shanthakumari, a housewife, together own movable assets worth Rs 536 crore. The couple's immovable assets are worth Rs 1,073 crore.

Nagaraju, who is currently an MLC, in June 2020, while contesting the Legislative Council election, had declared assets worth about Rs 1,220 crore, along with his wife. In the affidavit filed today along with the nomination, the couple has declared total liabilities of Rs 98.36 crore. Nagaraju (72), who has studied up to Class 9, has detailed his source of income as agriculture, house property, business and other sources, and that of his wife also to be house property and other sources.

Nagaraju in the 2018 Assembly polls had won from Hoskote Assembly segments from Congress. He was one of the 17 MLAs who later defected from the party led to the collapse of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government in 2019. In the subsequently held bypolls he lost from Hoskote against independent candidate Sharath Bachegowda, who is now with Congress. Both who have turned out to be bitter rivals are facing each other once again.

BJP Releases Third List

Meanwhile, the BJP today released its third list of 10 candidates for the Karnataka assembly polls and fielded its state general secretary Mahesh Tenginkai from Hubli-Dharwad Central, a seat held by veteran Jagadish Shettar who has joined the Congress after being denied a ticket by the ruling party.

The BJP also dropped its seasoned leader Arvind Limbavali from the Mahadevapura constituency but, in an apparent bid to placate him, fielded his wife Manjula Aravind Limbavali. The BJP has so far named 222 candidates for the May 10 polls to the 224-member assembly. The last date for filing nominations is April 20.

Top Karnataka Leaders File Nomination

Former Chief Minister and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy, state Congress president D K Shivakumar and BJP veteran B S Yediyurappa's son B Y Vijayendra were among the prominent leaders who filed their nominations on Monday for the May 10 Assembly polls in Karnataka. Roadshows, drumbeats, sloganeering, waving of party flags, and visits to temples marked the day in most constituencies across the state today, with a large number of candidates and leaders filing their papers.

H D Kumaraswamy

Kumaraswamy held a road show ahead of filing nominations in Channapatna. Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil Kumaraswamy filed his nomination in Ramanagara accompanied by his mother and JD(S) sitting MLA from the segment Anitha Kumaraswamy. Nikhil, an actor-turned-politician, contested the 2019 LokSabha polls from Mandya unsuccessfully.

Both father and son, who are contesting from the neighbouring constituencies of Channapatna and Ramanagara respectively, earlier in the day met party patriarch and former PM H D Deve Gowda (Kumaraswamy's father and Nikhil's grandfather) to collect their 'B form' and took his blessings.

"People of Ramanagara and my family have become integral parts of each other and there is an emotional connection with the people there. Similar is the case with Channapatna," Kumaraswamy said.

H D Revanna

Deve Gowda's elder son and former Minister H D Revanna filed his nomination from Holenarsipura in the family's home turf of Hassan district, accompanied by his wife Bhavani Revanna and their son and Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna. The family visited temples before filing the nominations.

D K Shivakumar

D K Shivakumar too held a road show and visited a temple of his family deity Kabbalamma, accompanied by his wife, in Kanakapura where the BJP has fielded its Vokkaliga face and Minister R Ashoka against him. Speaking to reporters after filing his nomination, Shivakumar said that he had nurtured hundreds of leaders in the constituency in the past 35 years and they would fight the election on his behalf, the results of which would be seen on the day of the announcement of results. "I'm not the candidate here. Every household and family in this constituency will do the elections thinking themselves as the candidates, as I have served them for 35 years..." he said.

B Y Vijayendra

In the Shikaripura seat in Shivamogga district, vacated by BJP strongman and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, his son and state BJP vice president B Y Vijayendra filed his nomination today accompanied by family and supporters. Vijayendra held a road show before filing papers. "I have filled my nomination at an auspicious muhurta today. On April 19, I will be filing another set of nominations accompanied by my father Yediyurappa and other leaders," he said.

V Somanna, C T Ravi & Others

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai accompanied Minister V Somanna who filed his nomination in Varuna, where he is contesting against senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. In Hoskote, both Minister and MLC M T B Nagaraj as well as his bitter opponent Sharath Bachegowda from Congress filed their papers today.

Minister R Ashoka, who is also contesting from Padmanabhanagar along with Kanakapura against Shivakumar, submitted his nomination today at Padmanabhanagar in Bengaluru which he currently represents, accompanied by Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya.

BJP's National general secretary C T Ravi from Chikkamagaluru, Kumar Bangarappa from Soraba, Ministers Ashwath Narayan from Malleshwaram and K Sudhakar from Chikkaballapura, and former KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao from Gandhinagar are among others who filed their nomination on Monday.
New Delhi: 'Pushpa' actor Rashmika Mandanna is surely the current national crush and loved and admired by all. Lately, she has been serving the audience with back-to-back stunning performances at major events around the country and the internet cannot have enough of her vivacious on-stage energy. From performing at Lavni for the first time, followed by an incredible performance at IPL'S opening ceremony to her viral 'Naatu Naatu' at the NMACC, the actress has clearly become a sensational queen with marvelous on stage performances.

While Rashmika has been giving several marvelous performances, the audience as well as her fans online are falling madly in love with her moves and her charisma. Her videos are going viral and everyone wants to see her perform even more after these mind-blowing performances. The actress is now being chased for more and more live stage performances on her hit numbers.

Rashmika's dance performances are nothing less than a visual treat for the viewers. Her energetic dance moves and effortless grace have often established her as the dancing diva by many. She continued to rule the hearts of thousands of viewers with her impeccable dancing skills. Her ability to emote through dance and bring out the character's essence is what sets her apart from the crowd.

Rashmika's live performances are filled with her gorgeous looks and stunning moves. From Marathi media awards to IPL to NMACC she made the audience cheering for her and grooving with her.

On the profesisonal front, Rashmika will be seen in 'Animal' along with Ranbir Kapoor and 'Pushpa: The Rule' along with Allu Arjun.
New Delhi: Bellamkonda Sreenivas is impressing the audiences with his action-pack look in Chatrapathi. Fans are swayed by the actor as he rain punches, kicks and shows off his chiselled body in the teaser.

Now, as Bellamkonda Sreenivas gears up for the release of his debut, the actor speaks about his dedication towards Cinema and his love for Bollywood. Speaking about King Khan of Bollywood, Sreenivas shared Shah Rukh Khan is the ever-charming Superstar of the industry. The actor also shed light on how much he enjoys action and family dramas as a genre.

When asked which Bollywood actresses Sreenivas would love to work with, the actor cheerfully mentioned Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor and Alia Bhatt. The actor also shared how excited he is about the release of Chatrapathi.

Apart from Chatrapathi, Sreenivas will also be seen in Stuartpuram Donga a Telugu film based on Tiger Nageswara Raos biopic.
New Delhi: Shehnaaz Gill, who rose to fame with 'Bigg Boss 13', and is recently making headlines for her stint in actor Salman Khan starrer 'Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan', talked about her working experience with the Bollywood superstar.

Speaking to media on Sunday, the actress also shared the difference she found in the Hindi film industry after being part of Punjabi industry and the advice she got from Salman for her career.

After working in the Punjabi industry, Shehnaaz experienced an altogether new atmosphere in Bollywood.

She said: "These are big-budget films. In fact, most Bollywood films are made with huge budgets and that can be seen on sets -- they are so big. I just hope the Punjabi industry also grows in the same way and similarly, big-budget films are made."

Shehnaaz said: "Salman is the same in reality as he is seen on the stage of 'Bigg Boss'. I can't see any difference in him. He gives good advice to others and motivates them. He corrected me and asked me to concentrate on my work. I am doing the same and learning Hindi."

Sharing her shooting experience, she said: "Salman used to have a lot of fun with us. From lunch to dinner, we enjoyed having food there."

Talking about her journey in the industry, Shehnaaz said: "I want to focus on my career and nothing else. I want to dedicate my life to work and I keep getting love and support from the media and the audience."

"I don't believe in planning. Because it never works. Just go with the flow."

The actress said that she will work hard on her acting skills and will do whatever roles will come to her.

She said that if she can reduce weight then she can do anything and she will give her best.

Shehnaaz also answered the question about Salman restricting actresses from wearing revealing dresses, however, she declined it and said: "Nothing like that, I wore a very sexy dress during the promotion."

"Salman sir keeps motivating me and saying that you will grow in your career," she concluded.
New Delhi: Apple's chief executive Tim Cook is likely to welcome customers to the iPhone maker's first store in India, which is scheduled to open at the BKC business district here on Tuesday, company executives said on Monday. The store is being launched as the company marks 25 years in the country.

Store openings for the iconic brand world over have witnessed fans queuing up to become the first customer, and it remains to be seen how the people of Mumbai welcome the store on a working day. (Also Read: In PICS Apple BKC: Here's A To Z About Company's Mumbai Store)

On the eve of opening for customers, a media preview was held at the store which is spread over a 20,000 square feet area. The Mumbai store opening will be followed by the launch of a similar facility in New Delhi's Saket on April 20. According to reports, Cook will also meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (Also Read: 'Last Selfie On Earth': AI Shows How The World Will Look Like Just Before Its End)

"India has such a beautiful culture and an incredible energy, and we're excited to build on our long-standing history -- supporting our customers, investing in local communities, and working together to build a better future with innovations that serve humanity," Cook said in a statement.

The company's senior vice president for retail Deirdre O'Brien told reporters that a lot of attention has been given to Apple's key beliefs of sustainability and inclusivity, and pointed out that the 100-strong team which will be on the floor will be speaking 18 Indian languages.

The company employs 2,500 people in the country and has indirectly helped create 10 lakh jobs through its app ecosystem, she said. The two-storey store occupies prime real estate at the corner of a sprawling mall which also houses brands like Diesel, Michael Kors, Kate Spade, and Swarovski.

While a lot of features at the store are the same as other Apple stores across the world, the company seems to have paid attention to 'Indianise' the facility by including local influences, starting with the much talked about 'kaali-peeli' theme on the facade borrowed from the black and yellow taxis on the city roads.

O'Brien said the store has an 8-metre tall ceiling if one were to include the upper floor, and has a specially made staircase leading to the upper floor that has 14-metre long, single-piece glass walls on either side.

For the walls inside the store, the company has specially procured stone from Rajasthan, and 4.5 lakh pieces of timber adorn the ceiling walls, she said.

The store has products, merchandise, and services like repairing the gadgets available for customers, executives said, adding that the customers will be able to check out the products and can also educate themselves on how to use them optimally.

At present, Apple has a 3 percent share in the highly competitive Indian smartphone market which is ruled by Chinese and South Korean brands. Lately, the company has upped its reliance on manufacturing in India, which is increasingly being seen as an alternative for China ever since the supply chain disruptions during the Covid pandemic.
Lucknow: Amid a blame game over the sensational killing of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf, three sharpshooters, who sprayed bullets killing the two on the spot, were shifted from the Prayagraj Central Jail to the Pratapgarh District Jail on Monday over security concerns. News agency PTI quoted a senior official as saying that the transfer of the three killers was done on administrative grounds.

The assailants - Mohit alias Sunny (23) of Hamirpur, Lavlesh Tiwari (22) of Banda and Arun Maurya (18) of Kasganj - were arrested soon after the sensational shootout outside the Prayagraj hospital where policemen were escorting the brothers for a medical check-up Saturday night.

The trio was taken from Prayagraj at 12 noon and reached Pratapgarh at 2.10 PM, officials said. It may be noted that one the two remaining sons of Atiq Ahmad is currently lodged in the Prayagraj Central Jail in Uttar Pradesh.



UP Police Constitutes SIT To Probe Atiq Ahmed-Ashraf Murder

Nearly two days after three persons posing as media persons gunned down gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Ahmed in Prayagraj, the Uttar Pradesh Police constituted two special investigating teams (SITs) to probe the sensational killing incident.

The first SIT which would be headed by Additional DCP (crime) Satish Chandra has been formed to probe the murder case registered at Shahganj police station, according to an order issued by Prayagraj Commissioner of Police, Ramit Sharma on Sunday. The second SIT has been formed to supervise the first one. This SIT will be headed by ADG Prayagraj Zone Bhanu Bhaskar and would also have Prayagraj Commissioner of Police and Director Forensic Science Laboratory as its members, an order issued by the Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police, RK Vishwakarma on Sunday, said.

Three-Member Judicial Panel To Probe Pryagraj Murders

The state government had on Sunday also announced to form a three-member judicial inquiry committee to probe the murder of Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Ahmed. The committee will be headed by Allahabad High Court (Retired) judge Arvind Kumar Tripathi, and have two others including retired judge Brijesh Kumar Soni, and retired IPS officer Subesh Kumar Singh.

Atiq- Ahmed, Ashraf Killled By Three Shooters Posing As Reporters

Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf Ahmad were shot dead by men posing as press persons on Saturday night while being taken for a medical examination in Prayagraj. Both the gangsters collapsed on the spot after they were shot at nearly point-blank range.

UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath soon after the incident took cognizance and ordered to set up a judicial commission in the matter. All three shooters, Arun Maurya, Sunny Singh and Lovelesh Tiwari who killed Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf, have been sent to 14-day judicial custody by the district court on Sunday. On Sunday, the last rites of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf took place at a family graveyard in the Kasari Masari area of Prayagraj.

Minor sons of gangster Atiq Ahmed were brought to the burial ground from a juvenile home. Atiq Ahmed was accused in the 2005 Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Raju Pal murder case and also in the Umesh Pal murder case which happened in February this year.
North American launch of the only fully consolidated platform for External Attack Surface Management, Digital Risk Protection and Cyber Threat Intelligence. Actively recruiting for its North American expansion

SAN FRANCISCO & MANAMA, Kingdom of Bahrain, April 17, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CTM360, the first Arab world cybersecurity technology operating at a global scale, will make the companys North American debut at the RSA Conference 2023 from April 24 to April 27 in San Francisco. CTM360 will demonstrate the company's award-winning consolidated external security platform that features the industrys only integrated Digital Risk Protection stack integrating multiple security technologies.

The RSA Conference 2023 is globally recognized as a key event for cyber security practitioners and innovators to demonstrate their technologies, build community strength, and encourage dialogue and collaboration across the cyber security industry. The week-long event marks CTM360s first North American appearance.

"CTM360 will be an active participant at the conference and will showcase our SaaS platform for External Attack Surface Management, Digital Risk Protection, and Cyber Threat Intelligence," said CTM360s CEO, Mirza Asrar Baig. "The CTM360 platform is offered as a consolidated Digital Risk Protection stack, where all technologies are fully integrated."

CTM360 was recognized in Frost & Sullivans report with the Enabling Technology Leadership award in the Digital Risk Protection (DRP) industry. CTM360 was applauded for excellence in commercialization success, application diversity, commitment to creativity and customer service experience. Bahrain-based CTM360 is among the few that originated an integrated approach to consolidate External Attack Surface, Digital Risk Protection and Cyber Threat Intelligence, collectively termed as External Risk Mitigation and Management (ERMM) by Frost & Sullivan.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices awards recognize companies in various regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development.

Story continues

CTM360 Challenge

CTM360 is extending an intriguing challenge to all conference attendees - See for yourself just how advanced their EASM, DRP & Takedown capabilities are. CTM360 is confident enough to offer free dinner for those that arent convinced!

Find CTM360 in the RSA Conference 2023 at Booth #6285 North Expo Hall for a live platform demonstration with the external attack surface and digital risk protection data-points mapped to your organization.

About CTM360

CTM360 is a unified external security platform that integrates External Attack Surface Management, Digital Risk Protection, Cyber Threat Intelligence, Brand Protection & Anti-phishing, Surface, Deep & Dark Web Monitoring, Security Ratings, Third Party Risk Management and Unlimited Takedowns. Seamless and turn-key, CTM360 requires no configurations, installations, or inputs from the end-user, with all data pre-populated and specific to your organization. All aspects are managed by CTM360.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230417005035/en/

Contacts

Dan Chmielewski

Madison Alexander PR

dchm@madisonalexanderpr.com

949-231-2965

714-832-8716

Sajal Khalid

CTM360

sajal@edxlabs.com

Tel: +973 33 616 212
Key Insights

The projected fair value for CTS Eventim KGaA is 47.78 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity

CTS Eventim KGaA's 57.90 share price signals that it might be 21% overvalued

Our fair value estimate is 30% lower than CTS Eventim KGaA's analyst price target of 68.43

Does the April share price for CTS Eventim AG & Co. KGaA (ETR:EVD) reflect what it's really worth? Today, we will estimate the stock's intrinsic value by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. We will take advantage of the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model for this purpose. Don't get put off by the jargon, the math behind it is actually quite straightforward.

Remember though, that there are many ways to estimate a company's value, and a DCF is just one method. If you still have some burning questions about this type of valuation, take a look at the Simply Wall St analysis model.

Check out our latest analysis for CTS Eventim KGaA

The Calculation

We're using the 2-stage growth model, which simply means we take in account two stages of company's growth. In the initial period the company may have a higher growth rate and the second stage is usually assumed to have a stable growth rate. In the first stage we need to estimate the cash flows to the business over the next ten years. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, so we discount the value of these future cash flows to their estimated value in today's dollars:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast

2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 Levered FCF (, Millions) 213.5m 336.3m 313.0m 298.7m 289.3m 283.0m 278.9m 276.2m 274.4m 273.3m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x3 Analyst x4 Analyst x3 Est @ -4.57% Est @ -3.15% Est @ -2.16% Est @ -1.46% Est @ -0.98% Est @ -0.64% Est @ -0.40% Present Value (, Millions) Discounted @ 6.2% 201 298 262 235 215 198 184 171 160 150

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = 2.1b

Story continues

The second stage is also known as Terminal Value, this is the business's cash flow after the first stage. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (0.2%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 6.2%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2032  (1 + g)  (r  g) = 273m (1 + 0.2%)  (6.2% 0.2%) = 4.6b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= 4.6b ( 1 + 6.2%)10= 2.5b

The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is 4.6b. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of 57.9, the company appears slightly overvalued at the time of writing. Remember though, that this is just an approximate valuation, and like any complex formula - garbage in, garbage out.

dcf

Important Assumptions

The calculation above is very dependent on two assumptions. The first is the discount rate and the other is the cash flows. Part of investing is coming up with your own evaluation of a company's future performance, so try the calculation yourself and check your own assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at CTS Eventim KGaA as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 6.2%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.009. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.

SWOT Analysis for CTS Eventim KGaA

Strength

Earnings growth over the past year exceeded the industry.

Currently debt free.

Weakness

Expensive based on P/E ratio and estimated fair value.

Opportunity

Annual revenue is forecast to grow faster than the German market.

Threat

Annual earnings are forecast to grow slower than the German market.

Next Steps:

Valuation is only one side of the coin in terms of building your investment thesis, and it shouldn't be the only metric you look at when researching a company. DCF models are not the be-all and end-all of investment valuation. Instead the best use for a DCF model is to test certain assumptions and theories to see if they would lead to the company being undervalued or overvalued. For example, changes in the company's cost of equity or the risk free rate can significantly impact the valuation. What is the reason for the share price exceeding the intrinsic value? For CTS Eventim KGaA, we've put together three further aspects you should assess:

Risks: For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for CTS Eventim KGaA that you should be aware of before investing here. Future Earnings: How does EVD's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered!

PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every German stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

Join A Paid User Research Session

Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here
(Bloomberg) -- Kojima Industries Corp. is a small company and little-known outside Japan, where it produces cup holders, USB sockets and door pockets for car interiors. But its modest role in the automotive supply chain is a critical one. And when the company was hacked in February 2022, it brought Toyota Motor Corp.s entire production line to a screeching stop.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The worlds top-selling carmaker had to halt 14 factories at a cost of about $375 million, based on a rough calculation of its sales and output data. Even after the initial crisis was over, it took months for Kojima to get operations close to their old routines.

The company is just one name on Japans long list of recent cyber victims. Ransomware attacks alone soared 58% last year compared to a year earlier, according to the National Police Agency, and hacking incidents have exposed shortcomings ranging from slow incident response times to a lack of transparency. In a nation that exported chip components worth $42.3 billion last year  dominating the supply of some materials  supply chain issues can have global implications.

Comparative data on cyberattacks can be hard to find. But Mihoko Matsubara, the chief cybersecurity strategist at Japanese telecommunications company NTT Corp., says the nation has had a particularly tough time.

Along with the increasing number of ransomware attacks, Japan was hit by Emotet attacks more than any other country in the first quarter of last year, she said, referring to a type of malware often spread through phishing emails. Japan had a difficult year to deal with more cyberattacks on industry, government and the health care sector.

Story continues

But while Japan has its own particular problems with hackers, many of its vulnerabilities are shared by the US and other technologically strong nations. From the Colonial Pipeline attack in the US to the Australian telecoms hack that exposed 10 million users personal data, wealthy countries have been repeatedly caught underestimating the harsh realities of cybercrime.

Meanwhile attacks on vital services such as Japans hospitals  which delayed surgeries and other treatments  have served as a reminder that money is not all thats at stake.

The ransomware attacks were a wake up call to the Japanese, Matsubara said. Because now human lives are at risk.

The Kojima attack on February 26, 2022 was whats known as a supply chain hack: Hackers penetrated the systems of a third-party business partner and used them to access Kojimas file servers. By 9 p.m., theyd encrypted data on some servers and computer terminals, according to a Kojima spokesperson.

The breach was detected at about 11 p.m. The hackers had sent a ransom demand but Kojimas engineers never responded to any kind of communication with the hackers, the spokesperson said.

Before dawn, Kojima shut down the systems it uses to communicate with external suppliers and the following day, Toyota announced it would suspend operations at all of its domestic plants. The breach meant subsidiaries including Daihatsu Motor Co. and Hino Motors Ltd. also had to halt production.

Attacks in Japan are on the rise, and more firms are becoming aware of the risks, said Shinpei Izumo, an underwriter at Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. He estimates cyber insurance sales are up 20% to 30% from the previous year.

Smaller firms have few protections, he added. They dont know what to do in the event of an emergency or incident, and they arent taking measures to prevent the damage from spreading.

High-End Powerhouse

Supply-chain hacks have huge potential to disrupt the economy. While much manufacturing and assembly happens in lower-cost markets, Japan is a powerhouse in producing a select group of high-end goods. Products like phones, computers and electric toothbrushes often contain Japanese parts.

The country produces about 80% of fine chemicals for electronics and dominates the global supply of photoresist, a light-sensitive material thats used in making semiconductor chips, according to Ulrike Schaede, professor of Japanese Business at the School of Global Policy and Strategy at the University of California, San Diego. Having those industries be vulnerable to cyberattacks would have an untold impact.

Not a day goes by where you dont use an item that wouldnt exist if it werent for the Japanese part in it, Schaede said.

Japanese companies are an important part of the global supply chain, she added. The more upstream you go, the more Japan is in there.

Last year, manufacturers Fujimi, Denso, Nichirin and TB Kawashima all experienced cyberattacks on overseas subsidiaries that hold Japanese intellectual property. Japanese clothing manufacturers, furniture makers, credit card companies, libraries and a social media services operator were also among hackers targets. And in September, pro-Russian hacker group Killnet downed 20 Japanese government websites in a distributed denial of service, or DDoS, attack.

In response, the Japanese government said it would introduce new laws to engage in offensive cyber operations to begin monitoring potential attackers and hack their systems as soon as signs of a potential risk are established.

Its a marked escalation in the governments approach to cybersecurity, which previously adhered to the spirit of Japans constitutional commitment to pacifism following the end of World War II. The changes are being reflected in the new cyber command thats being stood up within Japans defense force.

Western allies have been waiting for the country to acknowledge it has to do more, says David Suzuki, managing director for Japan at security firm Blackpanda.

I think theres finally been a realization in Japan that cyber security, its not an IT issue. Its a security issue, right? he said. Because its not a machine thats hacking you. Its a bad guy, using machines.

Recovery Costs

For all of its advanced technological knowledge, Japan is also a place where traditional ways of doing business are deeply entrenched. When ransomware attacks occur, companies are often able to keep operations running using paper inventories and offline backup systems  reliable and unhackable, but also slow and cumbersome. And as companies slowly restore their systems, breaches are not always reported, according to industry officials and cyber experts.

Historically, Japanese companies avoided paying ransoms by relying on punishingly slow data-recovery firms to piece together corrupted networks, says Tatsuhiro Tanaka, a retired major general who is now a research principal at Fujitsu System Integration Laboratories Ltd. But the rising frequency of attacks means the recovery cost is increasing too.

There are very few companies that employ a kind of incident commander, the person who deals with the cyber attack and business continuity, Tanaka said. We have to change the mindset.

Theres also resistance within some Japanese companies to disclosing attacks and upgrading systems, which stems from societal norms around assigning blame, according to Scott Jarkoff, who heads the strategic threat advisory group for cyber firm CrowdStrike and has lived in Japan for more than three decades.

That culture hinders the nations ability to build a local population of security experts, said Hiroshi Sasaki, an associate professor of manufacturing and innovation at the Nagoya Institute of Technology in Japan.

They need to be both accountable and responsible when a cybersecurity incident happens. Other countries that pay attention to their critical infrastructure will learn the importance of the supply chain from Japans situation, he said.

But while Japan might be an extreme example of such vulnerabilities, it is far from the only country at risk.

In the US, cybersecurity regulation has been patchy, and the government has long relied on businesses to voluntarily adhere to cybersecurity guidelines. But in releasing its national cyber strategy in March, the Biden administration endorsed tougher measures, pushing federal agencies to use existing authorities to set minimum cybersecurity requirements in critical sectors.

In Australia, businesses that failed to mitigate easily preventable security breaches faced minimal financial penalties until last year, when the government introduced fines of up to A$50 million ($33.5 million) or 30% of a companys adjusted turnover in the relevant period. Meanwhile the European Union noted in a recent report that much of its software originates in the US, and that its own cybersecurity industry needed to grow to address vulnerabilities. Cyberattacks in the region grew 26% in 2022 compared to a year earlier, according to Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.

The government agency in charge of overseeing Japans network security says the countrys disclosure rules arent that different from those of other advanced nations.

No country makes it mandatory for companies to publicly disclose accounts of their cybersecurity attacks, said an official from the National Center of Incident Readiness and Strategy for Cybersecurity, who asked not to be named. This is because they include information that could impact their business operations.

Instead Japan asks companies that provide critical infrastructure such as telecommunications, power, gas and railways to voluntarily report any cybersecurity incidents. Over a thousand companies fall under this category and a total of 407 reports were made in 2021.

Even though its not an obligation, the reports are done properly and necessary information is shared, the NISC official said. One unique thing about Japanese culture is that once people are committed, they comply with whats asked of them regardless of whether its voluntary.

Japan has some cyber victories to celebrate. NTT cybersecurity strategist Matsubara points out that the country fought off tens of thousands of cyberattacks targeting the Tokyo 2020 Olympics without fanfare. Japan has also been included in NATOs annual cyber exercises for the past two years, she said, even though its not a NATO member.

Even Japanese people I talk to didnt know that, she said. But this year everyone is more interested in cybersecurity because theyre worried about financially motivated or geopolitical cyberattacks.

Japan is far from the only country that is reluctant to admit its cybersecurity failings. But the relentless attacks its manufacturing industry has suffered in recent months serve as a cautionary tale for other wealthy nations with supply chains to protect. Japanese executives are still hesitant compared to those in other countries, according to Kouji Morii, the head of security at Segue Group Co., an information services firm.

Theres a tendency that Japanese employers dont think cyberattacks have anything to do with them unless theyre attacked. We have to change the thinking.

--With assistance from Reed Stevenson.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
DELTA DRONE

The 2022 accounts reflect the in-depth change

in the organization of Delta Drone

Dardilly, April 17, 2023, at 7 p.m.

Faced since the beginning of the second half of 2022 with the difficulties affecting small caps on the financial markets, resulting for Delta Drone in a collapse in its market value and liquidity, the group has reacted by deciding on a radical action plan likely to profoundly modify its structure and organization, and consequently its original economic model.

Of the 4 branches that constituted the group until then:

The Delta Drone International branch was sold in early 2023.

Delta Drone Human Tech business could be sold in the short term.

The UDT business is the subject of a phased disposal program.

The Delta Drone SA branch has undergone a drastic reorganization.

Details of the action plan implemented are presented below, branch by branch.

The disposals (and divestment projects) are mainly intended to bring cash to the group, without calling into question the quality and history of the relationships established: even when they have left the group's capital scope, the entities sold will continue to be first-rate business partners, particularly in terms of commercial development.

In addition, as part of the action plan to reduce Delta Drone's operating costs, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Christian Viguie, has decided to relinquish his duties as Chief Executive Officer at the next Annual General Meeting, and therefore the remuneration associated with it. On that date, he will cease to exercise any operational function within the company. This decision will require the implementation of new governance, in particular by identifying a new Chief Executive Officer.

The lightening of the only retained branch, Delta Drone SA, is intended to restore the agility necessary to thrive successfully in a market of civilian drones for professional use still largely in the state of construction and structuring.

New advantages that the new Delta Drone configuration will have:

A reduced workforce of 14 employees

Largely positive cash flow, gradually increased due to the program of disposals of assets from the UDT portfolio

A concentration of its commercial development on the security and logistics sectors, thanks to the ISS Spotter, SpotterBot and CountBot systems,

A close partnership with the Chinese group Sichuan AEE Technology, whose challenges are the industrialization and reliability of existing Delta Drone systems and the exclusive distribution of the AEE range of products and solutions in Europe and Africa. For the record, the Sichuan AEE Technology Group is one of the leading groups in the drone sector in China, long focused on its only domestic market before initiating an internationalization strategy two years ago

Story continues

The 2022 financial statements have been prepared in line with the action plan initiated, particularly in terms of the value of intangible assets, the 100% of which has been systematically depreciated. At the same time, non-recurring costs related to reorganizations (layoffs in particular) and branch closures also had a heavy impact on the income statement.

These accounts should therefore be analysed with caution, as they mainly reflect the importance of the action plan implemented.

Summary of the consolidated financial statements for the financial year 2022

(In K) 2022-12-31 2021-12-31 2022 vs 2021 2022-06-30 IFRS IFRS IFRS IFRS TURNOVER 13 093 15 865 (17,5)% 8 530 Other business income (361) 1 420 (125,4)% (393) Purchases and changes in inventories 4 685 7 164 (34,6)% 3 861 Staff costs 14 012 15 718 (10,9)% 8 694 Taxes 403 374 7,8% 204 Other current operating income and expenses 200 160 25,0% 37 EBITDA (6 568) (6 131) 7,1% (4 658) Net depreciation and amortization 1 965 2 066 (4,9)% 1 241 Net provisions and depreciations (155) 294 (152,7)% (241) CURRENT OPERATING RESULT (8 378) (8 491) (1,3)% (5 658) Other operating income and expenses (8 668) (1 023) 747,3% (773) OPERATIONAL RESULT (17 046) (9 514) 79,2% (6 431) Cash and financial equivalent income (11) (7) 57,1% (1) Cost of gross financial debt (222) (184) 20,7% (86) Cost of net financial debt (233) (191) 22,0% (87) Other financial income and expenses (596) 5 334 (111,2)% 1 267 RESULT BEFORE TAX (17 875) (4 371) N/S (5 249) Tax expense (161) (24) N/S (94) Share of net income of associates (14) (28) (50,0)% (12) NET PROFIT OR LOSS OF INTEGRATED COMPANIES (18 050) (4 423) N/S (5 355)

The 2022 financial statements (which are available in full on the www.deltadrone.com website) reflect the impact of the action plan, which has strongly impacted the 4 branches constituting the group (see press release of 18 July 2022):

1  The Delta Drone International branch and its operational subsidiaries Rocketmine

One of the important aspects of the action plan concerns the disposal of assets, in order to support the group's cash position. Thus, at the end of December 2022, 16.77% of Delta Drone International's capital was sold, followed by the balance of the group's stake in early January 2023, i.e. 41.37%. This total disengagement in this Australian subsidiary has made it possible to strengthen Delta Drone's cash position by nearly 1 million, while not calling into question the prospects for future commercial collaboration between the entities: these should on the contrary be facilitated, as the rules governing the relationship between two listed companies with capital links are complex, especially in Australia. It should be noted that this operation leads to the resignation of the two Delta Drone representatives from the Board of Directors.

In terms of consolidation, Delta Drone International and all of its subsidiaries in South Africa, Australia and Ghana have been treated as "Assets classified as held for sale" (application of IFRS 5) whose impacts are as follows:

Respectively 10,758K and 4,321K on the assets and liabilities of the consolidated balance sheet, and a contribution to the result of the period of  (5,641) K.

At the same time, goodwill with a net value of 320K (Rocketmine South Africa) and 185K (Rocketmine West Australia  ex. Arvista) respectively were 100% impaired as at 31 December 2022.

In order to be complete about our presence in Africa, the decision was taken to sell all the shares held by Delta Drone in the capital of Delta Drone Cote d'Ivoire, which left the scope of consolidation of the group in April 2022. This operation was mainly motivated by the creation with the buyer, the Weesure group, of a commercial relationship based on Weesure's teams already strongly established in the geographical area of West Africa and the Gulf of Guinea.

2  The Delta Drone Human Tech branch and its ATM operational subsidiaries

The presence of this traditional private security activity within the group has made it possible to build extremely strong relationships between teams and to create multiple concrete examples of the combined use of human resources and technological tools. The process of dronification of the security sector is now well under way and is expected to increase significantly in the months and years to come.

In this context, it became clear that it was no longer necessarily necessary to maintain capital links between Delta Drone and the Delta Drone Human Tech division, in an environment where the priority is to maximize its cash position without disrupting commercial and operational developments.

As a result of this strategic analysis and in perfect consultation with the historical leaders of the "private security" division, discussions have opened with a view to selling the interests currently held by Delta Drone in its subsidiary.

With this in mind and for reasons of prudence, an impairment of the entire goodwill relating to the companies forming the Delta Drone Human Tech sub-group has been recorded in the 2022 financial statements for an amount of 2.5 million.

3  The UDT branch  United Drone Technology

UDT, a 100% subsidiary of Delta Drone, aimed to build a relevant ecosystem in the drone sector, by taking minority stakes in high-potential start-ups with which Delta Drone SA is able to develop industrial synergies.

UDT's portfolio is now composed of five participations: three French companies (Elistair, Donecle and DIODON Drone Technology), a Swiss company (Aero41 SA) and an Israeli company (Sightec).

The UDT portfolio clearly constitutes a very significant asset value, the latest fair value estimate, established in June 2022, corresponds to a cumulative valuation of around 9 million.

As part of the action plan implemented, the gradual sale of all or part of the shareholdings constituting the UDT portfolio was decided, without haste, however, in order to maintain all the chances of obtaining the best possible price according to the opportunities. A mandate to this effect was signed at the beginning of the year with the Linkers bank.

The timetable of the action plan provides that a first transaction, involving an amount of 1 million of disposal, should be completed before the end of the1st half of 2023.



4  The Delta Drone SA branch and its satellite companies in France

As a reminder, the Delta Drone SA branch consisted of the parent company Delta Drone as well as several French subsidiaries acting as support companies (Technidrone, Delta Drone Experts and Delta Drone Engineering). It specializes in the design and marketing of professional solutions dedicated to two sectors of activity: security and logistics.

Technidrone: the entity's 9 employees were laid off in September 2022 (for a total cost of 229K) and the entire goodwill attributable to this subsidiary (515K) was 100% impaired in the 2022 financial statements. Society is now dormant.

Delta Drone Engineering: after being placed in safeguard by the Commercial Court of Nantes on August 31, 2022, the company was finally put into liquidation on March 1, 2023. These operations have led, either as a result of resignations or by way of redundancies, to the elimination of 14 employees' positions. The entire goodwill attributable to this subsidiary (906K) was written down 100% in the 2022 financial statements. Similarly, the residual value of research and development expenses (assets recorded prior to the takeover of the company by the Delta Drone group) was fully depreciated, i.e. 1,478K.

Delta Drone SA and Delta Drone Experts: during the year, the two companies saw their combined workforce decrease by 13 employees, 11 of whom were redundant for an overall cost of approximately 300K.





It should also be mentioned that the branch had integrated, during the 2022 financial year, the Belgian company Ab-Comtech, after the sale of its Solidbot systems ("surveillance trailers") to Delta Drone. Therefore, without activity or personnel, the shareholders of Ab-Comtech decided to liquidate the company, under the Belgian legal and regulatory conditions. In terms of consolidation, goodwill recorded in the 2022 financial statements was depreciated to 100% of net value, representing an impact of 259K.

In summary, the Delta Drone SA branch, now composed of 2 active entities (Delta Drone parent company and Delta Drone Experts), should have only 14 employees at the end of June 2023, compared to 50 employees at the end of 2021. Reorganization costs (mainly redundancies) represented nearly 600K, recorded as expenses for the 2022 financial year. Finally, the full impairment of assets (goodwill and intangible assets) accounts for 2.9 million in the 2022 income statement.

About Delta Drone : The Delta Drone group is a recognized international player in the sector of civil drones for professional use. It develops a range of professional solutions based on drone technology as well as all associated services that form a complete value chain.

Delta Drone shares are listed on Euronext Growth Paris  ISIN code: FR0014009LP0

www.deltadrone.com

Investor contacts:

Aelium Jerome Gacoin +33 1 75 77 54 65 jgacoin@aelium.fr

Attachment




DelveInsight Business Research LLP

Crohns diseases prevalence has been rising over the past few years, prompting the growing demand for treatment options. The increasing prevalence of Crohns disease and the growing research and development activities to develop novel therapies to treat Crohns disease to drive the market. The companies developing the potential therapies in the last stage of development include Janssen, RedHill Biopharma, Hoffmann-La Roche, Gilead Sciences, and several others.

New York, USA, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DelveInsight Highlights Major Advances, Transformative Therapies, and 80+ Leading Players Wheeling the Crohn's Disease Pipeline Landscape

Crohns diseases prevalence has been rising over the past few years, prompting the growing demand for treatment options. The increasing prevalence of Crohns disease and the growing research and development activities to develop novel therapies to treat Crohns disease to drive the market. The companies developing the potential therapies in the last stage of development include Janssen, RedHill Biopharma, Hoffmann-La Roche, Gilead Sciences, and several others.

DelveInsights 'Crohn's Disease Pipeline Insight 2023' report provides comprehensive global coverage of available, marketed, and pipeline Crohn's disease therapies in various stages of clinical development, major pharmaceutical companies are working to advance the pipeline space and future growth potential of the Crohn's disease pipeline domain.

Key Takeaways from the Crohn's Disease Pipeline Report

DelveInsights Crohn's disease pipeline report depicts a robust space with 70+ active players working to develop 80+ pipeline therapies for Crohn's disease treatment.

Key Crohn's disease companies such as Janssen, RedHill Biopharma, Amgen, Pfizer, Prometheus Biosciences, AgomAb Therapeutics, Hoffmann-La Roche, Gilead Sciences, Eli Lilly and Company, Celgene, AstraZeneca, Mesoblast, Alfasigma, Tiziana Life Sciences, Abivax, Arena Pharmaceuticals, Cytocom, HAV Vaccines Ltd, Enzo Biochem Inc., Stero Biotechs, Reistone Biopharma Company Limited, Qu Biologics, Pfizer, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Soligenix, Immunic, Pfizer, Atlantic Healthcare, 4D Pharma, Landos Biopharma, Janssen, Roche, Eisai, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Iltoo Pharma, Suzhou Connect Biopharmaceuticals, Theravance Biopharma, TaiwanJ Pharmaceuticals, Celularity, Cerecor, GlaxoSmithKline, KangStem Biotech, Immunic, Alpha Cancer Technologies, Koutif Therapeutics, Tract Therapeutics, Trio medicines, ChemoCentryx, Algernon Pharmaceuticals, Neuclone, JHL Biotech, Innovative Pharmacological Research (IPHAR) Co Ltd, Innovation Pharmaceuticals, Exeliom Biosciences SAS, AbbVie, Finch Therapeutics, Akeso Biopharma, Draconis Pharma, MakScientific, Engitix, Origo Biopharma, Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Orchard Therapeutics, Xbrane, Thetis Pharmaceuticals, Temisis Therapeutics, Synedgen, Synlogic, Morphic Therapeutic, Metacrine, Curacle, Commence Bio Inc, Cloud Pharmaceuticals, Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical Corp, Avobis Bio LLC, Avexegen Therapeutics, Assembly Biosciences, Aibios Co Ltd, Aclaris Therapeutics, Athos Therapeutics, Denali Therapeutics, Educell doo, and others are evaluating new Crohn's disease drugs to improve the treatment landscape.

Promising Crohn's disease pipeline therapies such as Guselkumab, ABP-654, RHB-104, Etrolizumab, PRA-023, AGMB-129, Filgotinib, Mirikizumab, Ozanimod, Brazikumab, Remestemcel-L, Rifaximin, Foralumab, ABX-464, Etrasimod, CYTO-201, Masitinib, HAV anti-MAP vaccine, Alequel, Cannabidiol, SHR0302, QBECO-SSI, PRV-6527, PF-06651600, MT-1303, TAK-018, SGX203, IMU 838, Alicaforsen, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, BT-11, JNJ-64304500, E6011, BMS-986165, Spesolimab, Aldesleukin, CBP-307, TD-1473, JKB-122, PDA-001, MDGN-002, GSK1070806, Furestem-CD, IMU-856, ACT-101, KT-1002, TregCel, TR8, CCX507, NP-178, NeuLara, JHL1255, Anti-inflammatory drug LIS, Brilacidin, Research programme: anti-fibrotic therapeutics Faecalibacterium Prausnitzii, Navitoclax, Research programme: Crohn's disease therapeutics, AK 101, IBD Program, MAK 11049, GI restricted TGF- inhibitor, Research programme: mannose receptor-targeted therapeutic agents, Research programme: haematopoietic stem cell based ex vivo gene therapy, Xcimzane, TP317, TEM1657, SYGN 313, SYNB 8802, MORF 057, IBD Program, CU06, MSC1 & MSC2, Phospholipid A2 (PLA2), CKD-506, Implantable cell therapies, Neuregulin-4 (NRG-4), ABBV-154, AIB-301, ATI-2138 ITK/TXK/JAK3 Inhibitor, JAK1/JAK3 Inhibitor, ITK/TXK/JAK3 Inhibitor, ATH-105, ATH-63, DNL975, CrohnArt, and others are under different phases of Crohn's disease clinical trials.

In February 2023, Janssen collaborated with Eli Lilly to address the lack of pediatric therapies for Crohns Disease. The agreement between Eli Lilly and Janssen was established to allow the two companies to share resources to accelerate the evaluation of the respective companies assets, mirikizumab and Tremfya (guselkumab) .

In February 2023, Agomab Therapeutics reported positive data from its Phase I study of AGMB-129 to treat Fibrostenosing Crohns Disease (FSCD). The trial was designed for assessing the tolerability, pharmacokinetics (PK), and safety of the oral, gastrointestinal (GI)-restricted, small molecule kinase ALK5 (TGFbRI or ALK5) inhibitor AGMB-129 in healthy participants. TGFb is a known master fibrosis regulator.

In December 2022, Prometheus Biosciences reported results from its APOLLO-CD Phase IIa study of PRA023, demonstrating strong efficacy and favorable safety results. Based on the totality of the data in the study, Prometheus intends to advance PRA023 into Phase III studies for Crohns disease (CD) in 2023.

In October 2022, Verily, and the Crohns & Colitis Foundation, announced an expanded strategic partnership. The collaboration will focus on building a longitudinal registry to accelerate research in Crohns disease and in ulcerative colitis, collectively known as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

In April 2022, Engitix, entered into an agreement with Takeda to expand an existing collaboration and included the discovery and development of novel therapeutics for fibrostenotic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohns disease and ulcerative colitis. Under the terms of this agreement, Engitix and Takeda will collaborate in the confirmation and validation of targets and the preclinical development of therapeutics in IBD using Engitixs unique extracellular matrix (ECM) discovery platform.

Story continues

Request a sample and discover the recent advances in Crohn's disease treatment drugs @ Crohn's Disease Pipeline Report

The Crohn's disease pipeline report provides detailed profiles of pipeline assets, a comparative analysis of clinical and non-clinical stage Crohn's disease drugs, inactive and dormant assets, a comprehensive assessment of driving and restraining factors, and an assessment of opportunities and risks in the Crohn's disease clinical trial landscape.

Crohn's Disease Overview

Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract in which inflammation extends from the mucosa to the serosa of the intestinal wall. It is a relapsing disease with remissions. Crohn's disease may affect only a small portion of the gastrointestinal tract at first, but it has the potential to spread widely. The digestive tract inflammation is followed by abdominal pain, severe diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss, and malnutrition. Crohn's disease can be painful and debilitating in people, sometimes leading to life-threatening complications. The inflammation caused by the intestine can be avoided between the patches of the diseased intestines. The signs and Crohn's disease symptoms observed in patients vary and can change over time.

A complete assessment based on clinical history, physical examination, and complementary diagnostic tests, such as assays for serological and fecal biomarkers, cross-sectional and endoscopic imaging, and histological evaluation of biopsy specimens, is required for the diagnosis of Crohn's disease. No single test can confirm a Crohn's disease diagnosis, and Crohn's disease symptoms are frequently confused with those of other conditions, such as bacterial infection.

The current Crohn's disease treatment stratifies the therapeutic agents based on the severity of the disease, with the ultimate goal of maintaining clinical remission. In patients, the treatment strategy frequently begins with a less effective, potentially less toxic treatment strategy, such as aminosalicylates (sulfasalazine), antibiotics, or corticosteroids (budesonide), with escalation to the highly effective but potentially more toxic treatment strategies, such as prednisone, immunomodulators (azathioprine, mercaptopurine, methotrexate), and biological therapy (infliximab, adalimumab, certolizumab, vedolizumab, natalizumab, ustekinumab), in patients who failed each line of therapy.





Find out more about Crohn's disease treatment drugs @ Drugs for Crohn's Disease Treatment

A snapshot of the Crohn's Disease Pipeline Drugs mentioned in the report:

Drugs Company Phase MoA RoA Guselkumab Janssen Phase III Interleukin-23 subunit p19 inhibitors Subcutaneous RHB-104 RedHill Biopharma Phase III Adenosine triphosphatase inhibitors; P-glycoprotein inhibitors; Phospholipase A2 inhibitors; Protein 50S ribosomal subunit inhibitors Oral Filgotinib Galapagos/Gilead Sciences Phase III Janus kinase 1 inhibitors Oral Mirikizumab Eli Lilly and Company Phase III Interleukin-23 subunit p19 inhibitors Intravenous/ Subcutaneous Ozanimod Celgene Corporation Phase III Sphingosine 1 phosphate receptor modulators Oral Brazikumab AstraZeneca Phase III Interleukin-23 subunit p19 inhibitors Subcutaneous Etrolizumab Roche Phase III Alpha4beta7 integrin antagonist Subcutaneous

Learn more about the emerging Crohn's disease pipeline therapies @ Crohn's Disease Clinical Trials

Crohn's Disease Therapeutics Assessment

The Crohn's disease pipeline report proffers an integral view of the Crohn's disease emerging novel therapies segmented by stage, product type, molecule type, mechanism of action, and route of administration.

Scope of the Crohn's Disease Pipeline Report

Coverage : Global

Therapeutic Assessment By Product Type: Mono, Combination, Mono/Combination

Therapeutic Assessment By Clinical Stages: Discovery, Pre-clinical, Phase I, Phase II, Phase III

Therapeutics Assessment By Route of Administration: Oral, Intravenous, Subcutaneous, Intramuscular, Topical

Therapeutics Assessment By Molecule Type : Monoclonal antibody, Peptides, Polymer, Small molecule, Gene therapy

Therapeutics Assessment By Mechanism of Action: Interleukin-23 subunit p19 inhibitors, Adenosine triphosphatase inhibitors, P-glycoprotein inhibitors, Phospholipase A2 inhibitors, Protein 50S ribosomal subunit inhibitors, Janus kinase 1 inhibitors, Sphingosine 1 phosphate receptor modulators, DNA-directed RNA polymerase inhibitors, Transcription factor inhibitors

Key Crohn's Disease Companies : Janssen, RedHill Biopharma, Amgen, Pfizer, Prometheus Biosciences, AgomAb Therapeutics, Hoffmann-La Roche, Gilead Sciences, Eli Lilly and Company, Celgene, AstraZeneca, Mesoblast, Alfasigma, Tiziana Life Sciences, Abivax, Arena Pharmaceuticals, Cytocom, HAV Vaccines Ltd, Enzo Biochem Inc., Stero Biotechs, Reistone Biopharma Company Limited, Qu Biologics, Pfizer, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Soligenix, Immunic, Pfizer, Atlantic Healthcare, 4D Pharma, Landos Biopharma, Janssen, Roche, Eisai, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Iltoo Pharma, Suzhou Connect Biopharmaceuticals, Theravance Biopharma, TaiwanJ Pharmaceuticals, Celularity, Cerecor, GlaxoSmithKline, KangStem Biotech, Immunic, Alpha Cancer Technologies, Koutif Therapeutics, Tract Therapeutics, Trio medicines, ChemoCentryx, Algernon Pharmaceuticals, Neuclone, JHL Biotech, Innovative Pharmacological Research (IPHAR) Co Ltd, Innovation Pharmaceuticals, Exeliom Biosciences SAS, AbbVie, Finch Therapeutics, Akeso Biopharma, Draconis Pharma, MakScientific, Engitix, Origo Biopharma, Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Orchard Therapeutics, Xbrane, Thetis Pharmaceuticals, Temisis Therapeutics, Synedgen, Synlogic, Morphic Therapeutic, Metacrine, Curacle, Commence Bio Inc, Cloud Pharmaceuticals, Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical Corp, Avobis Bio LLC, Avexegen Therapeutics, Assembly Biosciences, Aibios Co Ltd, Aclaris Therapeutics, Athos Therapeutics, Denali Therapeutics, Educell doo, and others

Key Crohn's Disease Pipeline Therapies: Guselkumab, ABP-654, RHB-104, Etrolizumab, PRA-023, AGMB-129, Filgotinib, Mirikizumab, Ozanimod, Brazikumab, Remestemcel-L, Rifaximin, Foralumab, ABX-464, Etrasimod, CYTO-201, Masitinib, HAV anti-MAP vaccine, Alequel, Cannabidiol, SHR0302, QBECO-SSI, PRV-6527, PF-06651600, MT-1303, TAK-018, SGX203, IMU 838, Alicaforsen, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, BT-11, JNJ-64304500, E6011, BMS-986165, Spesolimab, Aldesleukin, CBP-307, TD-1473, JKB-122, PDA-001, MDGN-002, GSK1070806, Furestem-CD, IMU-856, ACT-101, KT-1002, TregCel, TR8, CCX507, NP-178, NeuLara, JHL1255, Anti-inflammatory drug LIS, Brilacidin, Research programme: anti-fibrotic therapeutics Faecalibacterium Prausnitzii, Navitoclax, Research programme: Crohn's disease therapeutics, AK 101, IBD Program, MAK 11049, GI restricted TGF- inhibitor, Research programme: mannose receptor-targeted therapeutic agents, Research programme: haematopoietic stem cell based ex vivo gene therapy, Xcimzane, TP317, TEM1657, SYGN 313, SYNB 8802, MORF 057, IBD Program, CU06, MSC1 & MSC2, Phospholipid A2 (PLA2), CKD-506, Implantable cell therapies, Neuregulin-4 (NRG-4), ABBV-154, AIB-301, ATI-2138 ITK/TXK/JAK3 Inhibitor, JAK1/JAK3 Inhibitor, ITK/TXK/JAK3 Inhibitor, ATH-105, ATH-63, DNL975, CrohnArt, and others

Dive deep into rich insights for new drugs for Crohn's disease treatment, visit @ Crohn's Disease Drugs

Table of Contents

1. Crohn's Disease Pipeline Report Introduction 2. Crohn's Disease Pipeline Report Executive Summary 3. Crohn's Disease Pipeline: Overview 4. Analytical Perspective In-depth Commercial Assessment 5. Crohn's Disease Clinical Trial Therapeutics 6. Crohn's Disease Pipeline: Late Stage Products (Pre-registration) 7. Crohn's Disease Pipeline: Late Stage Products (Phase III) 8. Crohn's Disease Pipeline: Mid Stage Products (Phase II) 9. Crohn's Disease Pipeline: Early Stage Products (Phase I) 10. Crohn's Disease Pipeline Therapeutics Assessment 11. Inactive Products in the Crohn's Disease Pipeline 12. Company-University Collaborations (Licensing/Partnering) Analysis 13. Key Companies 14. Key Products in the Crohn's Disease Pipeline 15. Unmet Needs 16. Market Drivers and Barriers 17. Future Perspectives and Conclusion 18. Analyst Views 19. Appendix

For further information on the Crohn's disease pipeline therapeutics, reach out @ Crohn's Disease Treatment Drugs

Related Reports

Crohn's Disease Epidemiology

Crohn's Disease Epidemiology Forecast  2032 report delivers an in-depth understanding of the disease, historical and forecasted epidemiology as well as the Crohn's disease epidemiology trends.

Crohn's Disease Market

Crohn's Disease Market Insights, Epidemiology, and Market Forecast  2032 report deliver an in-depth understanding of the disease, historical and forecasted epidemiology, as well as the market trends, market drivers, market barriers, and key Crohn's disease companies, including Celgene, AstraZeneca, Abbvie, Mesoblast, Alfasigma, Tiziana Life Sciences, Abivax, Arena Pharmaceuticals, Cytocom, Amgen, Priothera, SLA Pharma, HAV Vaccines Ltd, Enzo Biochem Inc., VHsquared Ltd., among others.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome Market

Irritable Bowel Syndrome Market Insights, Epidemiology, and Market Forecast  2032 report delivers an in-depth understanding of the market trends, market drivers, market barriers, and key irritable bowel syndrome companies, including Arena Pharmaceuticals, 4D Pharma, OrphoMed, Boston Pharmaceuticals, RedHill Biopharma Limited, Takeda, Cosmo Technologies, CinRx Pharma, Rottapharm, Synthetic Biologics, Biomica, among others.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome Pipeline

Irritable Bowel Syndrome Pipeline Insight  2023 report provides comprehensive insights about the pipeline landscape, pipeline drug profiles, including clinical and non-clinical stage products, and the key irritable bowel syndrome companies, including Arena Pharmaceuticals, 4D Pharma, OrphoMed, Boston Pharmaceuticals, RedHill Biopharma Limited, Takeda, Cosmo Technologies, CinRx Pharma, Rottapharm, Synthetic Biologics, Biomica, among others.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome Epidemiology Forecast

Irritable Bowel Syndrome Epidemiology Forecast  2032 report delivers an in-depth understanding of the disease, historical and forecasted epidemiology, and the irritable bowel syndrome epidemiology trends.

Other Trending Reports

Treatment Resistant Depression Market | Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma Market | Brain Cancer Market | Centronuclear Myopathy Market | Head And Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Market | Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome Market | Acute Intermittent Porphyria Market | Neurovascular Devices Market | Defibrillators Market | Ventricular Hypertrophy Market | Urolithiasis Market | Alopecia Areata Market | Autonomic Dysfunction Market | Acute Ischemic Stroke Ais Market | Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma Market | Aspergillosis Market | Biliary Atresia Market | Biliary Tumor Market | Chronic Inducible Urticaria Market | Chronic Insomnia Market | Critical Limb Ischemia Market | Endometriosis Pain Market | Generalized Anxiety Disorder Gad Market | Hallux Valgus Market | Hemophilia B Market | Immunologic Deficiency Syndrome Market | Neuroblastoma Market | Neuromodulation Devices Market | Neurovascular Thrombectomy Devices Market | Osteosarcoma Market | Pemphigus Vulgaris Market | Progressive Familial Intrahepatic Cholestasis Market | Pruritus Market | Radiation Toxicity Market | Pulmonary Hypertension Associated With Interstitial Lung Disease Market | Cluster Headaches Market | Foot And Ankle Devices Market | Intravenous Immunoglobulin Market | Bile Duct Neoplasm Market | Blood Glucose Monitoring Systems Market | Rett Syndrome Market | Tissue Heart Valves Market | Cardiac Biomarkers Testing Devices Market | Subscription Healthcare | Hepatorenal Syndrome Market | Central Venous Catheters Market | Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy Machines Market | Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Market | Necrotizing Enterocolitis Market | Cardiac Amyloidosis Market | Artificial Iris Market | Aortic Aneurysm Stent Grafts Market | Polypoidal Choroidal Vasculopathy Market | Adrenal Crisis Market | Hearing Implants Market | Image Guided Surgery Devices Market | Angioedema Market | Bladder Cancer Market

Related Healthcare Services

Healthcare Consulting

Healthcare Competitive Intelligence Services

Healthcare Asset Prioritization Services

About DelveInsight

DelveInsight is a leading Business Consultant and Market Research firm focused exclusively on life sciences.

Connect with us at LinkedIn

CONTACT: Contact Us Shruti Thakur info@delveinsight.com +1(919)321-6187 www.delveinsight.com




Transparency Market Research

The increasing awareness regarding environmental concerns is one of the major factors that is anticipated to escalate the market growth

Wilmington, Delaware, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- United States, Transparency Market Research Inc.  The global deoiler chemicals market stood at US$ 18.0 billion in 2022 and the global market is projected to reach US$ 27.3 billion by 2031. The global industry is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 4.8% between 2023 and 2031.



The market value of deoiler chemicals is increasing due to the increasing advancements in technology. New technologies are being developed that allow for more efficient and effective removal of oil and other contaminants from water. For instance, the use of nanotechnology has allowed for the development of more effective Deoiler chemicals that can target specific contaminants and remove them more efficiently.

Request for a Sample PDF Report with Latest Industry Insights: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=85563

Additionally, increasing demand for oil and gas is also expected to accelerate the market growth in the near future. As the global population continues to grow and economies continue to develop, the demand for energy is also increasing. This has led to an increase in oil and gas production, which in turn has led to a greater need for deoiler chemicals to remove contaminants from wastewater produced during oil and gas operations.

Furthermore, the growing awareness of environmental concerns, and the need to reduce the impact of human activities on the environment, are other factors propelling the market prospects. the use of deoiler Chemicals is one way to reduce the impact of oil and gas production on the environment. By removing contaminants from wastewater before it is discharged, Deoiler Chemicals can help prevent pollution of water sources and protect aquatic ecosystems.

In addition, there is a trend towards more stringent regulations regarding the disposal of wastewater. Governments around the world are implementing regulations that require companies to treat wastewater before it is discharged into the environment. This has created a greater demand for deoiler chemicals that are effective at removing contaminants from wastewater.

Story continues

Another factor that is likely to create lucrative opportunities for the market growth includes the increasing exploration and production activities. As oil and gas exploration and production activities continue to increase, the amount of produced water generated also increases. This will drive the demand for deoiler chemicals to treat the wastewater generated during oil and gas operations.

Key Findings of the Market Report

On the basis of form, liquid chemicals are likely to be most preferred

Factors such as the increasing demand for effective and efficient solutions for wastewater treatment in the oil and gas industry, are expected to fuel the segmental growth.

Based on grade, industrial deoiler chemicals hold the highest market share, attributed to the increasing demand for cost-effective and sustainable solutions for industrial wastewater treatment.

By end-use, the oil & gas segment is expected to hold the major share in the deoiler chemicals market, due to the increasing adoption of advanced technologies such as membrane filtration, electrocoagulation, and biological treatment for the treatment of produced water.

Buy this Premium Research Report: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/checkout.php?rep_id=85563<ype=S

Global Deoiler Chemicals Market: Growth Drivers

The global deoiler chemicals market is projected to expand at a steady pace from 2021 to 2031, due to the increasing investment in infrastructure, including water treatment facilities.

Another factor that is projected to augment the market growth includes the growing focus on water conservation.

Additionally, the rising demand for clean energy is another factor that is anticipated to fuel the market prospects in the near future.



Global Deoiler Chemicals Market: Regional Landscape

North America is expected to dominate the deoiler chemicals market during the forecast period.

The regional market is witnessing an increase, due to the factors such as growing demand for wastewater treatment solutions, and more stringent regulations regarding wastewater disposal.

Additionally, increasing oil and gas production is also expected to further aid the market's growth.



Get Customization on this Report for Specific Research Solutions: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=CR&rep_id=85563

Global Deoiler Chemicals Market: Key Players

Some of the key market players in the global deoiler chemicals market are:

BASF SE

Nouryon

Thermax Limited

Champion Technologies

REDA Oilfield

MACJAMES Chemical Company

NuGenTec

AES Arabia Ltd.

Sulzer

MISC Group

Competitive Landscape

Prominent players in the deoiler chemicals industry are taking advantage of the rapidly increasing demand. To further their outreach, players are relying on collaborations, partnerships and acquisitions with existing small, medium and large-scale providers. Some prominent market developments are as follows:

In 2021, Nouryon announced the expansion of its deoiling portfolio with a new product line called Solvox . This line of deoiler chemicals is designed to reduce the environmental impact of oil and gas production by improving the efficiency of wastewater treatment.

In addition, in 2021, BASF launched a new range of deoiler chemicals under its Zetag brand. These products are designed to provide enhanced oil removal, while also reducing chemical usage and wastewater volumes.

In the same year, Ecolab introduced a new deoiler chemical called FoamPlus, which is designed to improve the performance of downstream wastewater treatment systems by reducing the amount of oil and solids that enter the system.



Global Deoiler Chemicals Market: Segmentation

Form

Liquid

Powder

Grade

Reagent

Powder

Industrial

Food

Type

Polyelectrolytes

Demulsifiers

Surfactants

Flocculants

Coagulants



Purity

< 99.9%

Above 99.9%

Application

Medicine

Nuclear

Paper

Aircraft Engine

Spacecraft

Water Treatment

Others



End Use

Oil & Gas

Power & Energy

Aerospace

Pharmaceutical

Paints & Coatings

Textile

Automotive

Others

Region

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Middle East & Africa

Latin America



About Transparency Market Research

Transparency Market Research, a global market research company registered at Wilmington, Delaware, United States, provides custom research and consulting services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insights for thousands of decision makers. Our experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools & techniques to gather and analyses information.

Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.

Contact:

Nikhil Sawlani

Transparency Market Research Inc.

CORPORATE HEADQUARTER DOWNTOWN,

1000 N. West Street,

Suite 1200, Wilmington, Delaware 19801 USA

Tel: +1-518-618-1030

USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453

Website: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

Blog: https://tmrblog.com

Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com




Transparency Market Research

The global diabetes devices market growth is driven by the increase in patient preference for monitoring blood glucose levels independently and the rise in prevalence of diabetes and increase in adoption of insulin pumps among type 1 diabetes patients.

Wilmington, Delaware, United States, April 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global diabetes devices market was valued at USD 50.5 Bn in 2021 and is anticipated to reach USD 90.2 Bn by 2031.



Increase in prevalence of diabetes has led to rise in demand for diabetes care devices and diabetes lancet devices. High susceptibility of the geriatric population to diabetes has led to surge in demand for diabetes tracker devices. Diabetes devices are used to monitor blood glucose level in a diabetic patient, which can be used independently or under supervision.

Download a Sample for Highlights on Market Drivers and Challenges Affecting the Diabetes Devices: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=14

Market Scope:

Report Coverage Details Market Revenue USD 50.5 Bn in 2021 Estimated Value USD 90.2 Bn by 2031 Growth Rate 6.0% Forecast Period 20222031 No. of Pages 211 Pages Segmentation By Product Type and Distribution Channel Regions Covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, South America Companies Covered Medtronic, Novo Nordisk A/S, Sanofi, Eli Lilly and Company, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Becton, Dickinson and Company, Tandem Diabetes Care, Inc., Abbott Laboratories, Cellnovo, Insulet Corporation, LifeScan, Inc., and Owen Mumford Ltd

Rise in demand for minimally invasive devices has encouraged companies to introduce patient-friendly blood glucose monitoring devices. Role of governments and health departments to create awareness about diabetes devices is fueling the diabetes devices market size. Furthermore, improvement in healthcare infrastructure and economic growth are driving the diabetes devices market demand.

Story continues

Key Findings of Study

Impact of COVID-19  The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted economic activities due to stringent border controls and nationwide lockdowns. The healthcare sector witnessed exhaustion of hospital resources during the pandemic. The supply chain of medical equipment, including diabetes devices, was negatively affected during the pandemic. However, the role of governments to minimize disruption in the supply chain, as diabetes is a chronic disease, has created business opportunities in the diabetes devices market.

Stay at home orders changed every day functioning of individuals during the pandemic. Large patient populations used remote monitoring devices for diabetes due to restrictions to visit health centers, thereby propelling market value.

Availability of Diabetes Tracker Devices with Advanced Sensors  Based on product type, the diabetes devices market has been divided into insulin delivery devices, glucose monitoring devices, artificial pancreas systems, and diabetes monitoring software. The glucose monitoring devices segment accounted for the leading share of global market in 2021, and the trend is projected to continue during the forecast period. Easy availability of diabetes tracker devices featuring advanced sensors for monitoring blood sugar levels is a key driver of the segment. Moreover, wireless technology integrated in continuous glucose monitoring for transmitting glucose readings has become a key tool for diabetes monitoring devices.

High Prevalence of Type 1 and 2 Diabetes  Based on distribution channel, the diabetes devices market has been classified into retail pharmacies, hospital pharmacies, and online pharmacies. The hospital pharmacies segment is estimated to account for leading share of the market during the forecast period. High prevalence of type 1 and type 2 diabetes leading to increase in hospital visits is accelerating market growth. Furthermore, increase in R&D activities and robust pipeline of artificial pancreas systems are expected to augment market value.

SHARE YOUR PRECISE REQUIREMENTS FOR CUSTOMIZED SAMPLE

Growth Drivers

Surge in demand for glucose monitoring devices owing to rise in patient population with diabetes is fueling global diabetes devices market

Initiatives by governments to spread awareness about the availability of diabetes devices is propelling the diabetes devices market

Regional Analysis

North America held the largest share of the global diabetes devices market in 2021. This is ascribed to large diabetic population, significant awareness about remote diabetes monitoring tools, rise in healthcare budget of governments, and higher penetration of healthcare services. The U.S. is a key market for diabetes devices in North America. Increase in geriatric population, highly developed healthcare industry, and favorable reimbursement policies from public and private health insurance firms are bolstering the diabetes devices market in the U.S. According to a report published in 2022, 37.3 million people in the U.S. had diabetes, of these 28.7 million were diagnosed and 8.5 million were undiagnosed.

The diabetes devices market in Asia Pacific is anticipated to grow at a rapid pace during the forecast period. Currently, Asia Pacific is a relatively underdeveloped market than developed regions. Rise in geriatric population, increase in healthcare expenditure, and surge in patient awareness about the availability of diabetes devices are fueling the industry growth in the region. China and India are key markets for diabetes devices in the region. These are the worlds most populous countries, with the maximum number of diabetes patients. According to data published by International Diabetes Federation (2017), China accounts for the largest number of people with diabetes aged between 20 and 79 years.

Key Players

Prominent players in the diabetes devices market include Medtronic, Sanofi, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Tandem Diabetes Care, Inc., Cellnovo, LifeScan, Inc., Novo Nordisk A/S, Eli Lilly and Company, Becton, Dickenson and Company, Abbott Laboratories, Insulet Corporation, and Owen Mumford Ltd.

Buy this Premium Research Report | Immediate Delivery Available at https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/checkout.php?rep_id=14<ype=S

The global diabetes devices market has been segmented as follows;

Diabetes Devices Market, by Product Type

Glucose Monitoring Devices Self-monitoring Blood Glucose Meters Blood Glucose Testing Strips Lancets Continuous Glucose Monitoring Meters

Insulin Delivery Devices Insulin Syringes Insulin Pens Insulin Pumps

Diabetes Management Software

Artificial Pancreas System



Diabetes Devices Market, by Distribution Channel

Hospital Pharmacies

Retail Pharmacies

Online Pharmacies

Diabetes Clinics/Centers

Diabetes Devices Market, by Region

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Latin America

Middle East & Africa



About Transparency Market Research

Transparency Market Research, a global market research company registered at Wilmington, Delaware, United States, provides custom research and consulting services. The firm scrutinizes factors shaping the dynamics of demand in various markets. The insights and perspectives on the markets evaluate opportunities in various segments. The opportunities in the segments based on source, application, demographics, sales channel, and end-use are analysed, which will determine growth in the markets over the next decade.

Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insights for thousands of decision-makers, made possible by experienced teams of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants. The proprietary data sources and various tools & techniques we use always reflect the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in all of its business reports.

Contact:

Nikhil Sawlani

Transparency Market Research Inc.

CORPORATE HEADQUARTER DOWNTOWN,

1000 N. West Street,

Suite 1200, Wilmington, Delaware 19801 USA

Tel: +1-518-618-1030

USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453

Website: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

Blog: https://tmrblog.com

Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com




urbazon / iStock.com

You and your partner have been dating for a while and youre living together. Maybe you even recently got married. You know you should talk about money with them, but youre anxious about how the conversation might go. Even though you think combining your finances would make things easier for you, youre not sure how to broach the subject.

Im a Self-Made Millionaire: These Are the 6 Investments Everyone Should Make During an Economic Downturn

Advice: How To Build a Financial Plan From Zero

Finances are a tough subject for anyone to discuss with another person, even if you love and trust them. GOBankingRates reached out to financial experts to determine the best ways to discuss money with a partner that wont result in a fight or embarrassment. Heres how to make sure both of you are on the same page when it comes to combining your accounts.

Be Open About How You Approach Finances

How we deal with money is shaped by a lot of factors. Some have to do with our upbringing, and some might have to do with past experiences. When youre beginning to talk about money with a partner, Stacie Hunter, Community Manager at Detroit JPMorgan Chase & Co, says its important to be completely transparent. Merging finances requires open conversation and communication, which makes it a great litmus test for your relationship, Hunter says. You can start by discussing how each of you have handled money in the past, including what has worked well and what youve learned from. Hunter says once youve talked about your financial past, you can successfully set financial goals for the future and determine a plan to achieve them together.

Avoid Judgment

Remember: Merging finances is a good thing for the both of you. Criticizing how a partner handles money wont help your finances. Instead, come from a place of appreciation. The best way to start the conversation is to express how much you value your partner and that you are excited about building your future as a team, says Jessica Alderson, Co-Founder & Relationship Expert at So Syncd. Starting the conversation with statements that show gratitude for your partner and a willingness to work together can help create an open and accepting atmosphere. You should avoid getting defensive and making assumptions. Dont set out to prove youre right and your partner is wrong. Instead, focus on collaboration and finding a common ground. Lastly, avoid using language that might be seen as judgmental or critical of your partners spending habits and financial decisions. If someone feels attacked, it can lead to a downward spiral of defensiveness.

Story continues

Take Our Poll: Would You Move for a Job That Paid You a $10,000 Signing Bonus?

Decide How Much You Want To Combine

When it comes to how to handle money, every couple is different. There are no hard fast rules. Tina DeGustino, Director of Consumer Strategy US at P&BB BMO Financial Group says you can merge some of your finances while keeping other accounts separate. Its important to note that money is personal and joint accounts are not always the best option for every couple. Its certainly ok to have a yours, mine and ours mindset and budget to cover your shared and personal expenses, DeGustino says.

Make a Budget Together

Hunter talked about making financial goals together. Making those happen starts with creating a budget for your household that both of you can agree to, while still leaving room for discretionary independent spending. In an ideal world, couples would get on the same page about spending and saving, while still maintaining some financial independence. A great way to do this is to map out how you plan to spend and save your money, Hunter says.

Consider Opening a Joint Account

Once youve made a budget, youll want to decide whos going to pay for what. One step that might make this easier is having a joint account for certain expenses that both of you contribute to throughout the month. Joint accounts may be helpful when there are shared expenses between couples and allows for both partners to share access to easily pay bills, DeGustino says. Additionally, joint accounts can be especially useful for tracking and budgeting common expenses like rent, utilities, and groceries.

Think Carefully About Taking on Debt

Some couples might get into debteither individually or together without considering how it impacts their joint finances. Hunter cautions that not discussing debt can impact your goals for the future. One of the biggest mistakes couples can make is taking on debt together without thinking throughand discussingthe implications. Its vital to come clean about credit histories, particularly if you decide to borrow money together, like for a home.

Take It in Stages

One conversation about money doesnt mean you suddenly have to combine your bank accounts and credit cards. Hunter says to give yourselves some grace in uniting your finances. Co-mingling finances does not have to be an all-or-nothing approach. You may find that a better strategy is to start small and take it in stages.

You can always adjust your goals and budgets as your situation changes. As you reach different milestones in your relationship, discuss which portions of your finances you may want to combine and which may be best to keep separate. For example, if youre buying or renting a home together, it could be beneficial to open a joint checking account for household expenses to start the journey of merging finances, Hunter says.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: How To Discuss Combining Finances With Your Partner
Sabina Mammadli

Assistant to Azerbaijani President, Head of the Department of Economic Issues and Innovative Development Policy of the Presidential Administration Shahmar Movsumov introduced the newly appointed Agriculture Minister Majnun Mammadov to the ministry staff, Azernews reports.

During the meeting, Mammadov pointed out that the non-oil sector, especially agriculture, plays an important role in the country's economy, and that there are great potential opportunities related to the development of this field. He gave relevant advice and recommendations to the ministry staff to achieve the main goals set by the country's leadership.

Besides, the newly appointed minister expressed his gratitude for the high trust shown to him by the head of the country and noted that he would fulfill the tasks set before him.

Furthermore, Mammadov said that under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, the non-oil sector, especially agriculture, has been successfully developed in the country.

To recap, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev appointed Majnun Mammadov as Agriculture Minister on April 14.
FILE PHOTO: European flags are seen in front of the ECB building, in Frankfurt, Germany

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank should stop relying on banks' self-assessments when setting capital requirements and do its own homework instead, independent experts said on Monday.

It was the most notable recommendation in a report commissioned by the ECB to evaluate its work on the key task as the euro zone's top financial supervisor, namely to decide how much capital banks must have to absorb losses.

The review was launched in September, well before problems at Silicon Valley Bank in the United States and Switzerland's Credit Suisse raised questions about banking watchdogs. But its findings chime with recent calls for tougher checks.

The ECB has been blending its analysis with the banks' own to come up with capital requirements.

But the five experts - all former bank supervisors from Japan, the United States, Ireland, Spain and Canada, respectively - said this approach was "conceptually weak" and banks' own Internal Capital Adequacy Assessment Process (ICAAP) was often biased, so it shouldn't be relied upon.

"Banks self-evaluations are often subject to biases that may become even more significant when ICAAPs play a prominent role in the determination of P2R (Pillar 2 requirements)," the experts said in the report, referring to the second of three tiers of bank capital requirements set under global rules.

"ICAAPs should be used as ancillary information, rather than the basis for the analysis."

They told the ECB to change the way it sets capital demands and focus "on specific risks requiring additional capital coverage, while significantly limiting the use of ICAAPs".

The ECB's top supervisor Andrea Enria said the recommendations strengthened his "conviction that supervision needs to become more adaptable, intrusive and risk-focused".

Fellow ECB supervisor Elizabeth McCaul welcomed a recommendation to use more "qualitative measures" with banks, which she said could include "limitations on business activity, demanding changes in the board and management, and monetary sanctions".

Story continues

Euro zone banks have come out unscathed from the recent turmoil in the banking sector, with Enria recently saying they were solid, also thanks to stricter rules in the European Union than in the United States.

Still, in a podcast published on Monday, Germany's central banker Joachim Nagel said recent events should spur supervisors to address the "black spots" in their vision.

(Reporting by Francesco Canepa and Huw Jones; Editing by Susan Fenton)
MILWAUKEE, April 17, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Enerpac Tool Group Corp. (NYSE:EPAC) ("Enerpac" or the "Company") announced today that Travis Williams has joined the Company as Director of Investor Relations, effective April 17. In this role Mr. Williams will be responsible for leading the Companys investor relations strategy and enhancing its communication with the investment community. He will report directly to EVP & Chief Financial Officer Anthony Colucci. Mr. Williams replaces Bobbi Belstner, who will depart the Company July 1 and will work closely with him to ensure a seamless transition.

Mr. Williams has nearly 20 years of extensive experience in the investment community. Most recently he served as a senior equity buy-side analyst with Invesco where he focused on the industrials, materials and utilities sectors. Prior to that he was a sell-side senior research analyst at Stephens. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Utah in Finance.

Anthony Colucci said, "I am thrilled to welcome Travis to our team. We firmly believe that Traviss breadth and depth of experience will contribute to attracting and retaining top investors in our company."

Mr. Williams added, "Enerpac has an exciting story to tell with its strong and compelling growth strategy, positive long-term secular growth trends, and clear progress executing its ASCEND transformation program. I look forward to communicating that story to the broader investment community and all stakeholders."

About Enerpac Tool Group

Enerpac Tool Group Corp. is a premier industrial tools, services, technology and solutions provider serving a broad and diverse set of customers in more than 100 countries. The Company makes complex, often hazardous jobs possible safely and efficiently. Enerpac Tool Groups businesses are global leaders in high pressure hydraulic tools, controlled force products, and solutions for precise positioning of heavy loads that help customers safely and reliably tackle some of the most challenging jobs around the world. The Company was founded in 1910 and is headquartered in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. Enerpac Tool Group common stock trades on the NYSE under the symbol EPAC. For further information on Enerpac Tool Group and its businesses, visit the Company's website at www.enerpactoolgroup.com.

Story continues

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230417005110/en/

Contacts

William Wendorff

Global Director of Communication

262.293.7609
Key Insights

Using the 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity, Coles Group fair value estimate is AU$17.47

Coles Group's AU$18.18 share price indicates it is trading at similar levels as its fair value estimate

The AU$18.30 analyst price target for COL is 4.8% more than our estimate of fair value

Does the April share price for Coles Group Limited (ASX:COL) reflect what it's really worth? Today, we will estimate the stock's intrinsic value by taking the forecast future cash flows of the company and discounting them back to today's value. We will take advantage of the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model for this purpose. There's really not all that much to it, even though it might appear quite complex.

We would caution that there are many ways of valuing a company and, like the DCF, each technique has advantages and disadvantages in certain scenarios. If you still have some burning questions about this type of valuation, take a look at the Simply Wall St analysis model.

Check out our latest analysis for Coles Group

Step By Step Through The Calculation

We're using the 2-stage growth model, which simply means we take in account two stages of company's growth. In the initial period the company may have a higher growth rate and the second stage is usually assumed to have a stable growth rate. To begin with, we have to get estimates of the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, and so the sum of these future cash flows is then discounted to today's value:

Story continues

10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast

2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 Levered FCF (A$, Millions) AU$868.3m AU$818.4m AU$1.03b AU$1.11b AU$1.18b AU$1.23b AU$1.27b AU$1.31b AU$1.35b AU$1.39b Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x4 Analyst x3 Analyst x3 Analyst x1 Est @ 5.58% Est @ 4.48% Est @ 3.72% Est @ 3.18% Est @ 2.81% Est @ 2.54% Present Value (A$, Millions) Discounted @ 6.7% AU$813 AU$718 AU$847 AU$858 AU$849 AU$831 AU$807 AU$780 AU$752 AU$722

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = AU$8.0b

After calculating the present value of future cash flows in the initial 10-year period, we need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all future cash flows beyond the first stage. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (1.9%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 6.7%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2032  (1 + g)  (r  g) = AU$1.4b (1 + 1.9%)  (6.7% 1.9%) = AU$29b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= AU$29b ( 1 + 6.7%)10= AU$15b

The total value is the sum of cash flows for the next ten years plus the discounted terminal value, which results in the Total Equity Value, which in this case is AU$23b. In the final step we divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of AU$18.2, the company appears around fair value at the time of writing. Valuations are imprecise instruments though, rather like a telescope - move a few degrees and end up in a different galaxy. Do keep this in mind.

dcf

The Assumptions

Now the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate, and of course, the actual cash flows. Part of investing is coming up with your own evaluation of a company's future performance, so try the calculation yourself and check your own assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Coles Group as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 6.7%, which is based on a levered beta of 0.809. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.

SWOT Analysis for Coles Group

Strength

Earnings growth over the past year exceeded its 5-year average.

Debt is not viewed as a risk.

Dividends are covered by earnings and cash flows.

Weakness

Earnings growth over the past year underperformed the Consumer Retailing industry.

Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Consumer Retailing market.

Opportunity

Annual earnings are forecast to grow for the next 3 years.

Good value based on P/E ratio compared to estimated Fair P/E ratio.

Threat

Annual earnings are forecast to grow slower than the Australian market.

Looking Ahead:

Although the valuation of a company is important, it is only one of many factors that you need to assess for a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" For instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. For Coles Group, we've put together three additional aspects you should look at:

Risks: Take risks, for example - Coles Group has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of. Future Earnings: How does COL's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered!

PS. The Simply Wall St app conducts a discounted cash flow valuation for every stock on the ASX every day. If you want to find the calculation for other stocks just search here.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

Join A Paid User Research Session

Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here
By Martin Coulter and Supantha Mukherjee

LONDON/STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -EU lawmakers urged world leaders on Monday to hold a summit to find ways to control the development of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) systems such as ChatGPT, saying they were developing faster than expected.

The 12 MEPs, all working on EU legislation on the technology, called on U.S. President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to convene the meeting, and said AI firms should be more responsible.

The statement came weeks after Twitter owner Elon Musk and more than 1,000 technology figures demanded a six-month pause in the development of systems more powerful than Microsoft-backed OpenAI's latest iteration of ChatGPT, which can mimic humans and create text and images based on prompts.

That open letter, published in March by the Future of Life Institute (FLI), had warned that AI could spread misinformation at an unprecedented rate, and that machines could "outnumber, outsmart, obsolete and replace" humans, if left unchecked.

The MEPS said they disagreed with some of the FLI message's "more alarmist statements".

"We are nevertheless in agreement with the letter's core message: with the rapid evolution of powerful AI, we see the need for significant political action," they added.

The letter urged democratic and "non-democratic" countries to reflect on potential systems of governance, and to exercise restraint in their pursuit of very powerful AI.

A spokesperson for von der Leyen did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Responding to the lawmakers accusation of alarmism, FLI President Max Tegmark said: They can think whatever they want as long as they do the right thing.

Tegmark told Reuters he was delighted by the reply and praised MEPs for taking the lead on AI regulation globally.

A key goal of our open letter was really to mainstream the conversation about policymaking and regulation, he said.

Story continues

It feels like our open letter really struck a nerve. A lot of people had an urge to discuss these things, but held back for fear of being seen as paranoid Luddites. The most important thing is that this conversation is happening.

Last week China's cyberspace regulator unveiled draft measures for managing generative AI services, saying it wants firms to submit security assessments to authorities before they launch their offerings to the public.

The Biden administration has also been seeking public comments on potential accountability measures for AI systems as questions loom about their impact on national security and education.

The European Commission proposed the draft rules for an AI Act nearly two years ago under which AI tools are expected to be classified according to their perceived level of risk, from low to unacceptable.

A parliamentary committee is debating the 108-page bill and hoping to reach a common position by April 26, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

(Reporting by Martin Coulter in London, Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm and Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru; Editing by Alex Richardson, Andrew Heavens and Sharon Singleton)
DUBLIN, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Europe's Top 5 Aerospace & Defense Companies - Annual Strategy Dossier - 2023 - Key Strategies, Plans, SWOT, Trends & Growth Avenues and Market Outlook - Airbus, BAE Systems, Rolls Royce, Leonardo, Safran" company profile has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Research and Markets Logo

Global Defense Spending on a Historic High and Poised for Rapid, Medium-Term Growth:



Global Defense Spending has been on a clear upswing and is at a historic high now, having breached the $2 trillion threshold in 2021, led by the whittling down of traditional, rule-based world order and the return of great power competition among leading geopolitical powers marked by sustained geopolitical instability, rising political tensions and conflicts.

The Russia-Ukraine war has been a watershed moment, or 'Zeitenwende', geopolitically having brought back the spectre of war over Europe back to life after almost 3 decades following Russia's military resurgence and is showing no signs of abating even after heading into its second year. Russia's looming threat and ongoing antics in Ukraine have effectively led to a renaissance in defense spending across Europe with surging defense budgets & overhaul of defense industrial base for the rapid production ramp-up required after decades of operating in the hibernation mode.



Revitalization of the European Defense Industrial Base Underway



The revitalization of the European defense industrial base is in full swing amid increasing threat perceptions from Russia, historic low inventory levels of munitions & missiles across NATO members following years of neglect, rapid shift in strategic defense posture across some nations and focus on preparedness with plans for replacement & modernization of ageing, cold-war era defense equipment which is likely to provide growth opportunities to European OEMs & their value chains going forward. Leapfrogging of technological capabilities is also very much there in the European agenda following the initiation of a number of new, joint defense programs across the old continent, led by the Franco-German FCAS & MGCS programs, and the Anglo-Japanese 6th generation fighter jet aircraft program.

Story continues

It is in addition to the outright procurement of in-production defense equipment from the other side of the Atlantic to ensure ready availability and Interoperability with NATO forces. For instance, the 5th generation F-35 Lightning II JSF has steadily been expanding its customer base across Europe with Switzerland, Poland, Finland, Czech Republic and now Germany choosing the F-35 platform as a replacement for their ageing, legacy fighter jets while the CH-47F Chinook has been procured by a couple of European nations recently for the combat proven heavy lift capability



Defense Industrial Base Globally Growth-Bound and Geared towards Rapid Ramp-Up of Production Rates while Facing Near-Term Supply Chain & Macroeconomic Challenges:



The ongoing U.S. & NATO military assistance to Ukraine from existing stocks needing backfilling of inventories, the focus of U.S. defense spending towards maintaining traditional overmatch over adversaries focused on developing next generation capabilities through accelerated R&D pursuits and the need for replacement of ageing defense equipment with next generation systems & technologies have collectively been driving the significant increase in investment outlay towards defense backed by steady increases in U.S. defense budget over the recent years. Europe, under NATO, is treading a similar pathway with defense spending by NATO alliance members having grown by 23% over 2018-2022 with focus on getting the defense spending to the 2% of GDP level which has been achieved by a majority of NATO members by 2022 marking a renaissance for the European defense industrial base after decades of slump & neglect



The defense industrial base across the U.S. & Europe is gearing up to rapidly ramp-up production rates over near term to backfill depleting U.S. & NATO allies' stockpiles of munitions, missiles & weapon systems following the extraordinary rate at which they are being used in Ukraine, given that almost 13 years worth of Javelin & Stinger stocks have already been utilized, and to meet growing international demand for them following the return of the era of great power competition. The global defense spending, thus, is projected to reach the record $2.5 trillion level by 2027 following a virtual defense renaissance globally with the industry gearing up to ramp up production rates to unprecedented rates & levels over near to medium term



Against this backdrop, the report analyzes & provides:



1. Overall Strategy Focus & Key Strategies & Plans being chalked out by the Europe's Top 5 Aerospace & Defense companies

2. Insights into Key Industry, Market & Technology Trends likely to shape the future of the Global Aerospace & Defense industry over medium term

3. Outlining of Emerging, Potential Growth Opportunities

4. Identifies Key Driving & Restraining Forces Impacting the Industry & assesses their potential Degree of Impact through a Comprehensive Force Field Analysis

5. Provides an overview of Key, Upcoming Defense Programs

6. Analysis of Defense Budgets & Overall Budgetary Trend across Key Nations

7. In-Focus, Emerging, Game-Changer Technologies

8. Comprehensive Outlook & Medium-Term Demand Growth Projections for the Global Aerospace & Defense industry



Relevance & Usefulness:



The report provides insights & inputs to be incorporated into the broader strategic planning & decision making processes:

Strategic Planning & Market Analysis Purposes

Identification of the degree of Congruence between Emerging Market Landscape & Strategy focus

Identifying & highlighting areas for making potential Strategic Changes, Adjustments & Realignment

Analysis of Forces Driving as well as restraining the Industry & their overall Dynamics through a Force Field Analysis

Analysis of Market Evolution with Medium Term Demand Growth Projections & Market Outlook

For Whom: Key Decision-Makers across Industry Value Chain



The report will be essential & a key resource for those associated with and having strategic interest in the European/Global Aerospace & Defense Industry. The report will be especially useful for:

Key Decision-Makers across the Aerospace & Defense Industry

Defense Procurement Executives & Defense Departments

Program Offices & Program Managers

Top Management of Industry OEMs, Players across Industry Value Chain & Other Companies

Suppliers, Vendors, Technology & Services Providers and other Key Players in the Industry Value Chain

Existing & Potential Investors

Industry & Company Analysts

M&A Advisory Firms

Strategy & Management Consulting Firms

PE Firms, Venture Capitalists and Financing & Leasing Companies

Researchers and all those associated with the industry in general

Key Topics Covered:



Section - 1 Business Structure & Snapshot - For each of the Europe's Top 5 Aerospace & Defense Companies

Founded

Headquartered

Business Segments

Employees

Revenues

Market Capitalization

Key Executives

Shareholding/Ownership Pattern & Structure

Section - 2 Financial Performance Snapshot - For each Industry OEM

Revenue Base & Growth Trend

Revenues Split by Key Segments

Revenues Split by Key Geographic Markets & Regions

Gross Earnings & Margin Trend

Operating Earnings & Operating Margin Trend

Return on Sales Trend

Profitability Growth Trend

Cash Flow from Operations

R&D Expenditure Trend

CAPEX Trend

Order Intake Trend

Order Backlog Position & Growth Trend

Section - 3 SWOT Analysis - For each of the Top 5 Industry Players

Strengths to be Leveraged

Weaknesses to be worked on

Opportunities to be capitalized upon

Threats to be negated & mitigated

Section - 4 Strategy Focus across OEMs - Near to Medium Term - For the Top 5 European A&D Primes

Airbus SE

BAE Systems plc

Rolls Royce Holdings plc

Safran SA

Leonardo S.p.A.

Section - 5 Analysis of Key Strategies & Plans for the A&D OEMs

Analysis Coverage:

Business and Product Portfolio Strategies & Plans

Market, Segment, Domain & Program Specific Strategies & Plans

R&D Strategies & Plans

Growth Strategies & Plans

Business and Corporate Strategies & Plans

Sales & Marketing Strategies & Plans

Production/Manufacturing Strategies & Plans

Financial Strategies & Plans

Portfolio Adjustment & Realignment based on Acquisitions, Strategic Alliances & JVs

Other Strategies & Strategic Initiatives

Section - 6 Global Aerospace & Defense Industry - Force Field Analysis - Analysis of Driving & Restraining Forces and their Overall Dynamics

Driving Forces

Restraining Forces

Section - 7 Key Trends

Industry Trends

Market Trends

Technology Trends

Section - 8 Key Issues, Challenges & Risk Factors



Section - 9 Latest & Upcoming European Defense Programs - Program Factsheets & Analysis

Program Size

Scale & Scope

Competing OEMs

Program Stage & Status

Contract Awards

Latest Developments

Upcoming Milestones

Program Outlook

Section - 10 Strategic Market Outlook - Global Aerospace & Defense Market - 2023-2027

Analysis of Emerging Market Scenario for Aerospace & Defense

U.S. & Global Defense Spending Trends

Top 5 & Top 10 Defense Spending Nations

Market Outlook & Growth Projections

Global Defense Spending - Trends & Projections - 2023-2027

Global Defense Spending & Growth Rates for Key Regions

U.S.

Europe

Asia-Pacific

Middle East

Companies Mentioned

Airbus SE

BAE Systems plc

Rolls Royce Holdings plc

Safran SA

Leonardo S.p.A.

For more information about this company profile visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/5hdbu8

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg

Cision

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/europes-top-5-aerospace--defense-companies---annual-strategy-dossier-2023---key-strategies-plans-swot-trends--growth-avenues-and-market-outlook-airbus-bae-systems-rolls-royce-leonardo-safran-301798972.html

SOURCE Research and Markets
THIS PRESS RELEASE IS NOT FOR GENERAL RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN OR INTO, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, THE UNITED STATES OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE SUCH RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD VIOLATE APPLICABLE LAWS OR REGULATIONS

This is a joint press release by Koninklijke DSM N.V. (DSM), Firmenich International SA (Firmenich) and Danube AG, to be renamed DSM-Firmenich AG (the Company), in connection with the voluntary public exchange offer by the Company for all the issued and outstanding ordinary shares in the share capital of DSM (each such share, a DSM Ordinary Share) (the Exchange Offer), pursuant to Section 16, paragraphs 1 and 2, and Section 17, paragraph 1 of the Dutch Decree on Public Takeover Bids (Besluit openbare biedingen Wft) (the Decree), and the admission to listing and trading of up to 174,786,029 ordinary shares in the capital of the Company with a nominal value of 0.01 each (each a DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Share) on Euronext Amsterdam (Euronext Amsterdam), a regulated market operated by Euronext Amsterdam N.V. (the Admission). The Exchange Offer is not being made, and the DSM Ordinary Shares will not be accepted for purchase from or on behalf of any holder of DSM Ordinary Shares (a DSM Shareholder), in any jurisdiction in which the making of the Exchange Offer or acceptance thereof would not be in compliance with the securities or other laws or regulations of such jurisdiction or would require any registration, approval or filing with any regulatory authority not expressly contemplated by the terms of the offering circular in relation to the Exchange Offer dated 22 November 2022 (the Offering Circular).

KAISERAUGST, Switzerland and HEERLEN, Netherlands and GENEVA, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ --

DSM and Firmenich boards very happy to announce that the Company hereby declares the Exchange Offer unconditional

All Transaction Conditions have been satisfied or waived

86.6% of the DSM Ordinary Shares have been tendered in the Exchange Offer

DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares will trade on "as-if-and-when-delivered" basis as of 18 April 2023

Settlement will occur on 20 April 2023

Firmenich Contribution will occur on 8 May 2023

Remaining DSM Ordinary Shares can be tendered during the Post-Closing Acceptance Period commencing on 18 April 2023 at 09:00 hours CEST and expiring on 28 April 2023 at 17:40 hours CEST

After settlement of the Post-Closing Acceptance Period, the Company intends to implement either the Buy-Out or the Post-Offer Merger and Liquidation

Story continues

DSM and Firmenich boards are very pleased to announce that the Company hereby declares the Exchange Offer unconditional. All Transaction Conditions have been satisfied or waived. As a result, the Exchange Offer will be settled on 20 April 2023 and the Firmenich Contribution will occur on 8 May 2023.

Acceptance period

During the extended Acceptance Period, which expired at 17 April 2023 at 17:40 hours CEST, 150,742,711 DSM Ordinary Shares have been tendered for acceptance in the Exchange Offer, representing approximately 86.6% of DSM's aggregate issued and outstanding ordinary share capital (geplaatst en uitstaand gewoon aandelenkapitaal). As a result the minimum acceptance level Transaction Condition has been satisfied.

The Company accepts all DSM Ordinary Shares that have been validly tendered (or defectively tendered, provided that such defect has been waived by the Company) and not validly withdrawn pursuant to the terms of the Exchange Offer.

As of the date hereof, the Company does not yet directly or indirectly hold any DSM Ordinary Shares.

Listing and trading of DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares

Trading in the DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares on Euronext Amsterdam will commence on 18 April 2023 at 9:00 hours CEST on an "as-if-and-when-issued" basis, and unconditional trading on the Settlement Date. The DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares will trade under the symbol "DSFIR". The ISIN code of the DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares is CH1216478797.

Any dealings in DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares on Euronext Amsterdam prior to the Settlement are at the sole risk of the parties concerned.

Settlement

DSM Shareholders who have tendered (and not validly withdrawn) and transferred (geleverd) their DSM Ordinary Shares for acceptance pursuant to the Exchange Offer will, on the terms and subject to the conditions set out in the Offering Circular, receive the Offer Consideration in respect of each tendered DSM Ordinary Share on 20 April 2023 (the Settlement Date). We cannot guarantee that DSM Shareholders will actually receive the Offer Consideration on the Settlement Date from the Admitted Institution with whom they hold their DSM Ordinary Shares.

If a beneficiary to DSM Ordinary Shares located in the United States has tendered its shares into the Exchange Offer but has been unable to make the QIB Confirmations on behalf of itself or the person on whose behalf such DSM Ordinary Shares are held, any DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares to be allotted to such beneficiary will instead be transferred to a nominee, and such DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares will be sold on his, her or its behalf with the proceeds being remitted to its intermediary within five days of the Settlement Date.

The Settlement of the Exchange Offer will be administered and effected by the Company or by the Listing, Paying and Settlement Agent (ABN AMRO Bank N.V.), on behalf of the Company.

Post-Closing Acceptance Period

DSM Shareholders who have not yet tendered their DSM Ordinary Shares in the Exchange Offer will have the opportunity to tender their DSM Ordinary Shares, under the same terms and conditions applicable to the Exchange Offer, in a post-closing acceptance period (na-aanmeldingstermijn) starting on 18 April 2023 at 09:00 hours CEST and ending on 28 April 2023 at 17:40 hours CEST (the Post-Closing Acceptance Period).

We will publicly announce the results of the Post-Closing Acceptance Period and the total number and percentage of DSM Ordinary Shares held by it in accordance with Section 17, paragraph 4 of the Decree on 28 April 2023. The Company will accept all DSM Ordinary Shares validly tendered (or defectively tendered, provided that such defect has been waived by the Company) during the Post-Closing Acceptance Period.

During the Post-Closing Acceptance Period, DSM Shareholders have no right to withdraw their tendered DSM Ordinary Shares from the Exchange Offer, regardless whether their DSM Ordinary Shares have been validly tendered (or defectively tendered, provided that such defect has been waived by the Company) during the Acceptance Period or during the Post-Closing Acceptance Period. Additional information is included in section 14.17 (Withdrawal rights) of the Offering Circular.

DSM Shareholders who have validly tendered (or defectively tendered provided that such defect has been waived by the Company) and transferred (geleverd) their DSM Ordinary Shares for acceptance pursuant to the Exchange Offer during the Post-Acceptance Period, will receive the Offer Consideration in respect of each tendered DSM Ordinary Share on 3 May 2023 (the Post-Closing Acceptance Settlement Date). We cannot guarantee that DSM Shareholders will actually receive the Offer Consideration on the Post-Closing Acceptance Settlement Date from the Admitted Institution with whom they hold their DSM Ordinary Shares.

Buy-Out

If, after settlement of the DSM Ordinary Shares tendered during the Post-Closing Acceptance Period, the Company and its group companies within the meaning of the DCC hold in the aggregate at least 95% of DSM's aggregate issued and outstanding ordinary share capital, the Company shall commence the statutory buy-out procedure in accordance with Article 2:359c of the DCC or a buy-out procedure in accordance with Article 2:92a of the DCC to acquire the DSM Ordinary Shares that have not been tendered in the Exchange Offer (the Buy-Out). Any remaining DSM Shareholders (other than the Company) will receive a cash consideration as a result of the Buy-Out. Additional information is included in section 14.19 (Statutory buy-out) of the Offering Circular.

Post-Offer Merger and Liquidation

If, after settlement of the DSM Ordinary Shares tendered during the Post-Closing Acceptance Period, the Company and its group companies within the meaning of the DCC hold in the aggregate less than 95% but at least 80% of DSM's aggregate issued and outstanding ordinary share capital, DSM may be notified by the Company or Firmenich to implement the Post-Offer Merger and Liquidation, in which case DSM shall implement a legal triangular merger with and into DSM Sub (as acquiring company), with DSM Holdco allotting shares to the Company and DSM Shareholders on a share-for-share basis in accordance with Articles 2:309 et seq. and 2:333a of the DCC (the Triangular Merger), which Triangular Merger was approved by DSM Shareholders at the DSM EGM on 23 January 2023. Once the Triangular Merger is implemented, the listing of DSM will terminate.

Prior to the Triangular Merger becoming effective, the Company shall, and DSM shall procure that DSM Holdco shall, enter into a share purchase agreement between the Company and DSM Holdco (the Post-Offer Share Purchase Agreement) pursuant to which, amongst other things, DSM Holdco will sell and the Company will purchase all issued and outstanding shares in the capital of DSM Sub (the Share Sale) and the Company will assume all liabilities of DSM Holdco. The consideration payable by the Company to DSM Holdco under the Post-Offer Share Purchase Agreement for the Share Sale shall be the issuance of a right that entitles the holder thereof to require the Company to deliver to it, on first demand, such number of DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares that is equal to the number of DSM Ordinary Shares held by the Company plus the DSM Ordinary Shares held by non-tendering DSM Shareholders, or the cash equivalent thereof, calculated by applying a value fairly representing the prevailing value of a DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Share (the Share Sale Consideration).

The Post-Offer Merger and Liquidation is described in further detail in section 14.20 (Post-Offer Merger and Liquidation) of the Offering Circular.

Delisting

If, after settlement of the DSM Ordinary Shares tendered during the Post-Closing Acceptance Period, the Company and its group companies within the meaning of the DCC hold in the aggregate at least 95% of DSM's aggregate issued and outstanding ordinary share capital, DSM will request Euronext Amsterdam to delist the DSM Ordinary Shares. After delisting of the DSM Ordinary Shares, DSM will be converted from a Dutch public limited liability company (naamloze vennootschap) into a Dutch private limited liability company (besloten vennootschap met beperkte aansprakelijkheid).

The DSM Preference Shares A will be repurchased and cancelled.

Further implications of the Exchange Offer being declared unconditional

Remaining DSM Shareholders who do not wish to tender their DSM Ordinary Shares in the Exchange Offer during the Post-Closing Acceptance Period should carefully review the sections of the Offer Circular that further explain the consequences for non-tendering DSM Shareholders, such as (but not limited to) section 14.20 (Post-Offer Merger and Liquidation), section 14.26 (Withholding) and section 14.37 (Taxation) of the Offering Circular, which describe certain (tax and other) implications to which such DSM Shareholders may become subject with their continued shareholding in DSM.

The advance liquidation distribution that will be paid to non-tendering DSM Shareholders in case the Post-Offer Merger and Liquidation is implemented, will generally be subject to 15% Dutch dividend withholding tax to the extent it exceeds DSM Holdco's average paid-in capital recognised for Dutch dividend withholding tax purposes.

Announcements

Announcements in relation to the Exchange Offer are issued by means of a press release. Any joint press release issued by the Company, DSM and Firmenich is made available on the website of the Company (www.creator-innovator.com).

Subject to any applicable requirements of the applicable laws and without limiting the manner in which the Company, DSM and Firmenich may choose to make any public announcement, the Company, DSM and Firmenich will have no obligation to communicate any public announcement other than as described in the Offering Circular.

Home member state declaration

As a newly listed issuer, the Company declares that the Netherlands is its "home member state" for purposes of its disclosure obligations under the EU Transparency Directive (Directive 2004/109/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 2004 on the harmonisation of transparency requirements in relation to information about issuers whose securities are admitted to trading on a regulated market and amending Directive 2001/34/EC).

Further information

Capitalised terms used but not defined herein are defined in the Offering Circular. This announcement contains selected, condensed information regarding the Exchange Offer and does not replace the Offering Circular. The information in this announcement is not complete and additional information is contained in the Offering Circular. A digital copy of the Offering Circular is available on the website of the Company (www.creator-innovator.com/en/offering-circular-and-egm/).

General restrictions

The Exchange Offer is being made in and from the Netherlands with due observance of such statements, conditions and restrictions as are included in the Offering Circular. The Company reserves the right to accept any tender under the Exchange Offer, which is made by or on behalf of a DSM Shareholder, even if it has not been made in the manner set out in the Offering Circular.

The distribution of the Offering Circular and/or the making of the Exchange Offer in jurisdictions other than the Netherlands may be restricted and/or prohibited by law. In particular, subject to certain exceptions, the Offering Circular is not for general circulation in the United States. The Exchange Offer is not being made, and the DSM Ordinary Shares will not be accepted for purchase from or on behalf of any DSM Shareholder, in any jurisdiction in which the making of the Exchange Offer or acceptance thereof would not be in compliance with the securities or other laws or regulations of such jurisdiction or would require any registration, approval or filing with any regulatory authority not expressly contemplated by the terms of the Offering Circular. Persons obtaining the Offering Circular are required to take due note and observe all such restrictions and obtain any necessary authorisations, approvals or consents (to the extent applicable). Outside of the Netherlands, no actions have been taken (nor will actions be taken) to make the Exchange Offer possible in any jurisdiction where such actions would be required. In addition, the Offering Circular has not been filed with nor recognised by the authorities of any jurisdiction other than the Netherlands. Neither the Company, nor DSM, nor Firmenich, nor any of their advisers accept any liability for any violation by any person of any such restriction. Any person (including, without limitation, custodians, nominees and trustees) who forwards or intends to forward the Offering Circular or any related document to any jurisdiction outside the Netherlands should carefully read section 16 (Restrictions) and section 17 (Important Information) of the Offering Circular before taking any action. The release, publication or distribution of the Offering Circular and any documentation regarding the Exchange Offer, the making of the Exchange Offer or the issuance and offering of the DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares in jurisdictions other than the Netherlands may be restricted by law and therefore persons into whose possession the Offering Circular comes should inform themselves about and observe such restrictions. Any failure to comply with any such restrictions may constitute a violation of the law of any such jurisdiction.

United States of America

Unless otherwise determined by the Company, the Exchange Offer is not being, and will not be, made, directly or indirectly, in or into, or by the use of the mails of, or by any means or instrumentality (including, without limitation, telephonically or electronically) of, interstate or foreign commerce of, or of any facilities of a national securities exchange of, the United States except to DSM Shareholders who (i) are "qualified institutional buyers" as such term is defined in Rule 144A under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act, and each such person, a QIB) and (ii), to the Company's satisfaction (in its sole discretion), have duly completed and returned to the Company a letter confirming that it is a QIB and agreeing to certain transfer restrictions applicable to the DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares (a U.S. Investor Letter) available from the Company (each an Eligible U.S. Holder). Accordingly, to be eligible to receive DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares under the Exchange Offer, each DSM Shareholder that is a U.S. Person and that is a QIB must make their acceptance known through their custodian, bank or stockbroker by executing and delivering a U.S. Investor letter to such custodian or intermediary no later than 17:40 hours CEST on the Acceptance Closing Date. The custodian, bank or stockbroker may set an earlier deadline for communication by DSM Shareholders in order to permit the custodian, bank or stockbroker to communicate its acceptances to the Settlement Agent (ABN AMRO) in a timely manner. Accordingly, Eligible U.S. Holders holding DSM Ordinary Shares through a financial intermediary should comply with the dates communicated by such financial intermediary, as such dates may differ from the dates and times noted in the Offering Circular.

The form of a U.S. Investor Letter will be distributed to custodians, nominees and other financial intermediaries to distribute to those they hold for in due course and is also available to QIBs from the Company. Any U.S. Person who is not a QIB, or in respect of whom no U.S. Investor Letter is received before 17:40 hours CEST on the Acceptance Closing Date, will be a Restricted Shareholder and will be treated as set out under section 14.35 (Notice to DSM Shareholders in certain jurisdictions) of the Offering Circular.

The DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act or any other applicable law of the United States and accordingly, the DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares may not be reoffered, resold or transferred, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act.

Any DSM Shareholder located in the United States at the time of the Transactions will be required to make certain representations, warranties and undertakings in respect of their status as QIB (the QIB Confirmations), in order to receive the DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares on the Post-Closing Acceptance Settlement Date.

If a beneficiary to DSM Ordinary Shares located in the United States is unable to make the QIB Confirmations on behalf of itself or the person on whose behalf such DSM Ordinary Shares are held, any DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares allotted to such person will instead be transferred to a sales agent, and such DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares will be sold on his, her or its behalf with the proceeds being remitted to such person within five days of the Settlement Date, for DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares allotted in exchange for DSM Ordinary Shares tendered during the Acceptance Period, or within five days of the Post-Closing Acceptance Settlement Date, for DSM-Firmenich Ordinary Shares allotted in exchange for DSM Ordinary Shares tendered during any Post-Closing Acceptance Period.

Additional information is included in section 16.1 (United States of America) of the Offering Circular.

Forward looking statements

Certain statements in this press release other than statements of historical facts are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current beliefs and projections and on information currently available to the Company. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's control and all of which are based on its current beliefs and expectations about future events. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believe", "expect", "may", "will", "seek", "would", "could", "should", "intend", "estimate", "plan", "assume", "predict", "anticipate", "annualised", "goal", "target", "potential", "continue", "hope", "objective", "position", "project", "risk" or "aim" or the highlights or negatives thereof or other variations thereof or comparable terminology, or by discussions of DSM-Firmenich's strategy, short-term and mid-term objectives and future plans that involve risks and uncertainties.

Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties and speak only as of the date they are made. Except as required by applicable law, the Company does not undertake and it expressly disclaims any duty to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statement in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Such forward-looking statements are based on current beliefs, assumptions, expectations, estimates and projections of the Directors in office at the time of this press release and the Company's management, public statements made by it, present and future business strategies and the environment in which DSM-Firmenich will operate in the future. By their nature, they are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which could cause DSM-Firmenich's actual results and future events to differ materially from those implied or expressed by forward-looking statements. The DSM Shareholders and other prospective investors are advised to read section 2 (Risk Factors) of the Offering Circular for a more complete discussion of the factors that could affect the DSM-Firmenich's future performance and the industry in which DSM-Firmenich operates. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialise, or should any of the assumptions underlying the above or other factors prove to be incorrect, DSM-Firmenich's actual results of operations or future financial condition could differ materially from those described herein as currently anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. In light of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions underlying the above factors, the forward-looking events described in the Offering Circular may not occur or be realised. Additional risks not known to the Company or that the Company does not currently consider material could also cause the forward-looking events discussed in the Offering Circular not to occur.

For more information, please contact:

DSM investor relations enquiries:

Dave Huizing

Email: investor.relations@dsm.com

Telephone: +31 45 578 2864

DSM media enquiries:

FTI Consulting LLP

Edward Bridges / Alex Le May

Email: scdsm@fticonsulting.com

Telephone: +44 20 3727 1017

Firmenich investor relations enquiries:

Ingvild van Lysebetten

Email: investor_relations@firmenich.com

Telephone: +41 79 833 7252

Firmenich media enquiries:

Brunswick Group

Joseph Chi Lo / Edward Brown

Email: firmenich@brunswickgroup.com

Telephone: +44 20 7404 5959

Settlement Agent and Listing and Paying Agent:

ABN AMRO Bank N.V.

Corporate Broking Issuer Services

Email: as.exchange.agency@nl.abnamro.com

Telephone: +31 20 628 6070

About Firmenich

Firmenich, the world's largest privately-owned fragrance and taste company, was founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1895, and has been family-owned for 127 years. Firmenich is a business-to-business company specialized in the research, creation, manufacture and sale of perfumes, flavors, and ingredients. Renowned for its excellent research, as well as its leadership in sustainability, Firmenich offers its customers innovation in formulation, a broad palette of ingredients, and proprietary technologies such as biotechnology. Firmenich delivered CHF 4.7bn of sales in the financial year ended 30 June 2022.

About DSM

DSM has transformed during its 150+ year history into today's health, nutrition & bioscience global leader. The Dutch-Swiss company specializes in nutritional ingredients for food and feed with proven world-leading bioscience capabilities and an international network of high-quality manufacturing sites that underpin a business model of global products, local solutions and personalization and precision. For Health, Nutrition & Bioscience (excluding Materials), DSM delivered 7.3bn of sales in the calendar year 2021, with adjusted EBITDA of 1.4bn and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 19%.

Transaction website

Please visit www.creator-innovator.com for additional materials on the Transactions.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1829134/DSM_Firmenich_Logo.jpg

Cision

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/exchange-offer-declared-unconditional-301799197.html
By Giulio Piovaccari

MILAN (Reuters) -Exor the holding company of Italy's Agnelli family, will seek further opportunities to expand in healthcare after investing almost one billion euros ($1.1 billion) in the industry last year, CEO John Elkann said on Monday.

After completing the sale of its reinsurer PartnerRE, Exor has around 6.5 billion euros in cash available for investments, including 5 billion euros for acquisitions.

It has already said its M&A activity would mainly focus on healthcare, luxury and technology businesses.

Last year Netherlands-based Exor bought a 10% stake in French healthcare group Institut Merieux for 833 million euros and a 45% stake in Lifenet Healthcare, an Italian company managing hospitals and outpatient clinics, for 67 million euros.

Elkann, the scion of Agnelli family, said the healthcare industry would continue to expand in the long term as the world's population was projected to age.

He said Exor would rely on the Merieux family's expertise as it searched "for future healthcare opportunities, in particular within the fields of genomics, proteomics, life science tools, imaging and instruments".

Through its venture capital arm Exor Ventures, Exor was also developing partnerships with healthcare companies at an early stage of their development, Elkann said.

NEW CHAIRMAN

Exor is the single largest investor in carmaker Stellantis and has controlling stakes in companies including Ferrari, CNH Industrial and soccer club Juventus.

Earlier on Monday Exor said Indian-born Ajay Banga, the U.S. nominee to run the World Bank, would not seek reappointment as its non-executive chairman and proposed Nitin Nohria for the role.

Nohria, a Harvard Business School professor with an academic focus on leadership and corporate performance, is the executive chairman of U.S. venture capital firm Thrive Capital and is a board member of companies including Anheuser-Busch InBev.

His nomination will have to be backed by shareholders at their general meeting on May 31, Exor said as it presented its full year results.

It said its profit rose to 4.227 billion euros ($4.64 billion) last year, from 1.717 billion euros in 2021 mainly due to the net gain it booked from the 8.6 billion euro sale of PartnerRe. ($1 = 0.9113 euros)

(Reporting by Giulio PiovaccariEditing by Keith Weir)
Key Financial, Inc.

Entrepreneur Of The Year celebrates ambitious entrepreneurs who are building bolder futures

CEO Patti Brennan

Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) today announced that Patti Brennan, CEO of Key Financial,Inc. was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year 2023 Greater Philadelphia Award finalist.

WEST CHESTER, Pa., April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) today announced that Patti Brennan, CEO of Key Financial, Inc. was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year 2023 Greater Philadelphia Award finalist. Now in its 37th year, Entrepreneur Of The Year is one of the preeminent competitive business awards for transformative entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies who are building a more equitable, sustainable and prosperous world for all.



Brennan was selected by an independent panel of judges. Entrepreneurs were evaluated based on their demonstration of building long-term value through entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth and impact, among other core contributions and attributes.

For nearly 40 years, this award has recognized audacious, game-changing business leaders, and seeks to recognize people who advance new ideas and innovative concepts. Key Financial was born on the premise that people are not their money, and that real wealth management is about holistic advice delivered in an unbiased and personal way. Caring for the person is as important as caring for the investment. I am grateful that a stubborn Irish woman who started out with little industry background can be recognized by a program with this legacy. To say that I am honored is a bold understatement.

Regional award winners will be announced on June 8, during a special celebration. The winners will then be considered by the National judges for the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards, which will be presented in November at the annual Strategic Growth Forum, one of the nations most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies. The Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner will then move on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year Award in June 2024.

The Entrepreneur Of The Year program has recognized more than 11,000 entrepreneurs throughout the US since its inception in 1986, and it has grown to recognize business leaders across 145 cities in over 60 countries around the world.

Story continues

Sponsors

Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards include presenting sponsors PNC Bank, N.A.; SAP America; and the Kauffman Foundation. In Greater Philadelphia, sponsors also include CRESA; Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN); Lockton; Ballard Spahr LLP; Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP and Troutman Pepper LLP.

About Entrepreneur Of The Year

Entrepreneur Of The Year is the worlds most prestigious business awards program for unstoppable entrepreneurs. These visionary leaders deliver innovation, growth and prosperity that transform our world. The program engages entrepreneurs with insights and experiences that foster growth. It connects them with their peers to strengthen entrepreneurship around the world. Entrepreneur Of The Year is the first and only truly global awards program of its kind. It celebrates entrepreneurs through regional and national awards programs in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries. National Overall Award winners go on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year title. Visit ey.com/us/eoy .

About EY Private

As Advisors to the ambitious, EY Private professionals possess the experience and passion to support private businesses and their owners in unlocking the full potential of their ambitions. EY Private teams offer distinct insights born from the long EY history of working with business owners and entrepreneurs. These teams support the full spectrum of private enterprises including private capital managers and investors and the portfolio businesses they fund, business owners, family businesses, family offices and entrepreneurs. Visit ey.com/us/private .

About EY

EY exists to build a better working world, helping create long-term value for clients, people and society and build trust in the capital markets.

Enabled by data and technology, diverse EY teams in over 150 countries provide trust through assurance and help clients grow, transform and operate.

Working across assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax and transactions, EY teams ask better questions to find new answers for the complex issues facing our world today.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. EY member firms do not practice law where prohibited by local laws. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com .

On a local level, Brennan proudly serves on the Board for the Penn Medicine Chester County Hospital, the YMCA of Greater Brandywine, the MIT AgeLab and Connect Thru Cancer. She has formerly served on the Boards of the Chester County Economic Development Council and SEEDCO.

As the President and CEO of Key Financial for over 30 years, Brennan provides comprehensive wealth management with integrated strategies that are unique to each client. Known for her ability to see the impact of the little details on the big picture, Brennan is known for communicating complex financial concepts in simple, understandable and meaningful terms. Brennan has guided standing room only audiences with her wisdom, perspective and practical advice through some of the most challenging times in our country. Brennan and her team also produce The Patti Brennan Show, a podcast dedicated to helping improve the listener's net worth. It can be found on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. The show is biweekly and covers timely financial topics as well as economic forecasts and market discussions. With assets under management of just under $2 billion as of April 2023, Key Financial, Inc. provides comprehensive financial planning and wealth management services and is located at 1045 Andrew Drive Suite A West Chester, PA. For information about the firm's planning services or to speak with Patti Brennan, call (610) 429-9050 or visit www.keyfinancialinc.com.

Securities offered through Royal Alliance Associates, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC. Insurance services offered through Patricia Brennan are independent of Royal Alliance Associates, Inc. Advisory services offered through Key Financial, Inc., a registered investment advisor not affiliated with Royal Alliance Associates, Inc.

The Barrons Winners Circle Top 1200 are select groups of individuals who are screened on a number of different criteria. Among factors the survey takes into consideration are the overall size and success of practices, the quality of service provided to clients, adherence to high standards of industry regulatory compliance, and leadership in best practices of wealth management. Portfolio performance is not a factor. Please see www.barrons.com for more information.

The Forbes ranking of Americas Top Women Wealth Advisors and Top 250 Wealth Advisors, is based on an algorithm of qualitative and quantitative data, rating thousands of wealth advisors with a minimum of seven years of experience and weighing factors like revenue trends, assets under management, compliance records, industry experience and best practices learned through telephone and in-person interviews. There is no fee in exchange for rankings.

Neither rankings and/or recognitions by unaffiliated rating services, publications, media, or other organizations, nor the achievement of any designation, certification, or license should be construed by a client or prospective client as a guarantee that he/she will experience a certain level of results if KFI is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services. Rankings published by magazines, and others, generally base their selections exclusively on information prepared and/or submitted by the recognized adviser. Rankings are generally limited to participating advisers. Unless expressly indicated to the contrary, KFI did not pay a fee to be included on any such ranking. No ranking or recognition should be construed as a current or past endorsement of KFI by any of its clients.

The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year award recognizes the endeavors of exceptional men and women who create the products and services that keep our worldwide economy moving forward.

Contact: Patti Brennan Company: Key Financial, Inc. Tel: 610-429-9050 Email: pbrennan@keyfinancialinc.com



A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3706d33d-9ce6-4d39-b6da-50a379388b88




Factbox-US banks hit by deposit flight as clients seek higher returns FILE PHOTO: The company logo for financial broker Charles Schwab is displayed at a location in the financial district in New York

(Reuters) - First Republic Bank said on Monday that deposits plunged by more than $100 billion in the first quarter and it was exploring options such as restructuring its balance sheet.

The closure of two U.S. regional banks in March shook investor confidence and set off fears over deposit safety. Spooked customers have since sought the refuge of "too-big-to-fail" institutions or money market funds for higher yields.

Total deposits at Wall Street's biggest lenders:

Big Banks Reported Q1 Deposits vs Q4

JPMorgan Chase and Co Total deposits increased 2% to $2.38

trillion

Bank of America Corp Total deposits declined 1% to $1.91

trillion

Citigroup Inc Total deposits declined 3% to $1.33

trillion

Wells Fargo & Co Total deposits declined 2% to $1.36

trillion

Goldman Sachs Group Inc Total deposits declined 3% to $375

billion

Morgan Stanley Total deposits declined 3% to $347.5

billion

Overview of deposits at other prominent financial firms:

Mid-Sized Firms Reported Q1 Deposits vs Q4

First Republic Bank Reported deposit

outflows of more than $100

billion, excluding $30 billion

injected by big banks

Charles Schwab Corp Deposits shrank 11% to $325.7

billion

M&T Bank Corp Total deposits fell nearly 3%

to $159.1 billion

State Street Corp Deposits at State Street fell

3% to $210 billion

Bank of New York Mellon Corp Average deposits fell 3% to

$274 billion

Citizens Financial Group Inc Average deposits fell 2.6% to

$174.4 billion

Western Alliance Bancorp Total deposits fell 11.3% to

$47.6 billion

PNC Financial Services Group Total deposits rose marginally

Inc to $436.8 billion

First Horizon Corp Total deposits declined 3% to

$61.4 billion

U.S. Bancorp Average total deposits

increased 5.9% to $510.32

billion

Zions Bancorporation Total deposits declined 3% to

$69.2 billion

Fifth Third Bancorp Total average deposits were

down marginally at $160.65

billion

Comerica Inc Average deposits fell about 5%

to $67.8 billion

Truist Financial Corp Average deposits dropped 1.2%

$408.5 billion

Story continues

KeyCorp Average deposits fell about

1.6% to $143.4 billion

Huntington Bancshares Inc Average total deposits

increased by $472 million

Source: Company statements

(Compiled by Mehnaz Yasmin and Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Edited by Shounak Dasgupta)
Fengate Asset Management

TORONTO and OAKVILLE, Ontario, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fengate Asset Management (or the Firm) is proud to be named on the Best Workplaces in Canada list for the second consecutive year. The Firm was ranked number five on this years list for organizations with 100-999 employees.



We are delighted that Fengate has been once again recognized as one of Canadas Best Workplaces. Placing fifth on the list is a testament to our Firms ongoing commitment to creating a culture where everyone feels valued, heard, and celebrated, said Jennifer Honey Brannon, Chief Human Resources Officer at Fengate.

I am proud of our team and grateful for their dedication in making Fengate a thriving and supportive workplace devoted to promoting employee health, wellbeing, and belonging through our wide range of initiatives and programs designed to support our organizational pillars: People, Excellence and Growth, said Lou Serafini Jr., President and CEO of Fengate.

Fengates most recent workplace implementations include:

A flexible work framework allowing employees to shift their life at work to accommodate their unique life at home

Recharge days through a combination of the office closing on every Friday before a long weekend and at noon on all other Fridays during the summer months

Group RRSP program for all employees with an employer match component

Championing Equity, Belonging, Inclusion and Diversity (EBID) through the firms EBID Think Tank and Employee Resource Group (ERG) program

Employee Education Assistance Program to encourage eligible employees to upgrade their education and/or skills via college/university programs and courses

A professional development program offering monthly training on Fengates Core Competencies, and access to LinkedIn Learning for all staff to create their own learning plan

Extended Healthcare Spending Account offering to include all employees



The 2023 Best Workplaces in Canada list is compiled by the Great Place to Work Institute. The competition process to be ranked on this list is employee driven and represents multiple industries and sizes of organizations. 75 percent of each organizations score is based on confidential employee feedback, from the globally recognized Trust Index Survey. The remaining 25 percent is based on quality, quantity and effectiveness of the programs and policies which support their employees and corporate culture. This study offers a rigorous representation of the organization from an employee perspective, and an overall portrait of the workplace culture. Together, they provide crucial data relative to five trust-building dimensions: credibility, respect, fairness, pride, and camaraderie.

Story continues

This years list captures the experience and sentiment of 150,000 employees, rolling out to impact over 500,000 Canadian employees.

About Fengate Asset Management

Fengate is a leading alternative investment manager, with $7 billion of capital commitments under management, focused on infrastructure, private equity, and real estate strategies. With offices in Ontario and Texas and team members across North America, Fengate invests in long-life, high-quality assets and businesses on behalf of our clients. A proud signatory of the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment and ILPA Diversity in Action initiative, and integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles into all stages of our investment process. Learn more at www.fengate.com

About Great Place to Work:

Great Place to Work is the global authority on high-trust, high- performance workplace cultures. It is a global research and consulting firm with a mission to build a better society by helping companies transform their workplaces. Great Place to Work provides the benchmarks, framework, and expertise needed to create, sustain, and recognize outstanding workplace cultures. In Canada, Great Place to Work produces both industry and demographic specific Best Workplace lists. This is part of the worlds largest annual workplace study, which culminates in a series of national lists in over 50 countries, including the studys flagship list of 100 Best Companies published annually in Fortune magazine.

Globally, this survey represents the voices of 11 million employees, which are the primary determinant used in selecting winners. Theres only one way to get on this list  your employees have to put you on it.

Check out www.greatplacetowork.ca

Follow Great Place to Work on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter and use #BestWorkplacesCA

Media Contact:

Gea Koleva

Marketing and Communications Manager

Fengate Asset Management

289-834-3728

gea.koleva@fengate.com




Azerbaijani Defense Ministry has flatly denied an Armenian report about the alleged shelling of its positions by the national army, Azernews reports, citing the Defense Ministry.

"The information spread by the Armenian Ministry of Defense that Azerbaijani army units allegedly opened fire in the Zod direction of the Basarkechar region is not true," the defense ministry said.

Armenia shells Azerbaijani military positions along the state border on a regular basis. Since early September, Azerbaijani positions have been repeatedly targeted by the Armenian forces.
SOUTHLAKE, Texas, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Flagship Facility Services is pleased to announce the acquisition of Biotechnical Services, Inc. (BTS)  an independent laboratory services company headquartered in San Diego, California.

Flagship Facility Services

BTS provides ongoing quality services and support to sustain innovation in Biotech. The company's main services are lab equipment repair, calibration, and maintenance. Integrating BTS's services with Flagship's lab services capabilities will bring the latest technology and comprehensive asset management system along with qualified engineers to Biotech clients.

BTS will join Flagship Lab Services, the business unit focused on meeting the needs of early-stage Biotechs on both the east and west coasts. This acquisition will expand its Biotech/lab services portfolio while offering additional lab equipment support to clients across the country.

"BTS and its employees are excited to be joining Flagship Lab Services," said Phil Parker, CEO of BTS. "Flagship's reputation in facility services is unmatched, and we're excited to add BTS's expertise in lab equipment repair and maintenance to the mix. Our culture of innovation and customer-focus is a great match for Flagship's culture, and we look forward to working closely with our new colleagues."

"Flagship Lab Services supports early-stage Biotechs throughout their evolution and their funding rounds," said Dave Pasek, Flagship CEO. "We have deep insights into the challenges that these researchers face, and we are committed to providing them with the resources and expertise they need to succeed at every stage of their journey. This latest acquisition puts us in an even better place to be that single-source provider for these Biotechs."

ABOUT FLAGSHIP FACILITY SERVICES

Flagship has over 6,000 highly trained employees who are dedicated to creating and maintaining safe and healthy facilities for customers. Whether its facility maintenance for business, manufacturing, Biotech, private education, or high tech's Class-A campuses, Flagship offers a comprehensive portfolio of facilities services available on an a la carte basis, including janitorial, building engineering, HVAC and boiler maintenance, project and vendor management, environmental health and safety services, mechanical/electrical/plumbing, space management, and culinary services, for organizations throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Story continues

ABOUT BIOTECHNICAL SERVICES, INC.

Biotechnical Services, Inc., is an independent sales and service company with over 31 years of success in calibration, repair, validation, and maintenance on a wide variety of laboratory equipment. BTS offers the best in quality lab equipment services to keep its customers' laboratory equipment online so they can focus on experimentation and manufacturing. BTS currently services San Diego, San Francisco, and Los Angeles as well as Arizona, Nevada, and Utah.

For more information on either company, please visit flagshipinc.com or biotechserv.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Maria Madrigal, VP/Human Resources

Flagship Facility Services

405 S. Kimball Ave.

Southlake, TX 76092

972-574-9702, ext. 319

Biotechnical Services, Inc.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/flagship-lab-services-expands-portfolio-with-acquisition-of-bts-301798426.html

SOURCE Flagship Facility Services
Fortune Business Insights

Key Companies covered in fluorochemicals market are Gujarat Fluorochemicals Limited, Arkema SA, Orbia, 3M, Honeywell International Inc., SRF, Dongyue Group, Chemours, Solvay SA, AGC Chemicals, Daikin Chemicals, and more players profiled.

Pune, India, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global fluorochemicals market size is poised to gain impetus from the increasing production of aluminium, further attributed to a rise in the demand from the construction and automation sectors. Fluorochemicals are used as plasma etching in light bulbs and semiconductors and for creating flat display panels in plastics such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE).

They are experiencing high demand from the chemical manufacturing, dental, and medical sectors. A recent report by Fortune Business Insights, titled, Fluorochemicals Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis and Regional Forecast, 2023-2030,

Fluorochemicals are a group of chemical compounds that contain fluorine atoms. They have a wide range of applications in various industries, including refrigeration, air conditioning, fire suppression, and manufacturing of plastics, textiles, and electronics.

Get a Free Sample Research Report:

https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/fluorochemicals-market-102343

List of Key Players Profiled in the Fluorochemicals Market Report:

Gujarat Fluorochemicals Limited

Arkema SA

Orbia

3M

Honeywell International Inc.

SRF

Dongyue Group

Chemours

Solvay SA

AGC Chemicals

Daikin Chemicals

Other players

Report Scope & Segmentation:

Report Attributes Details Forecast Period 2023-2030 Historical Data 2019-2021 Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Company Profiles, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors and Latest Trends Segments Covered By Type

By Application Regions Covered North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Latin America

Middle East and Africa Fluorochemicals Market Growth Drivers Rising Demand from Various End-use Industries to Propel Growth





Browse Detailed Summary of Research Report with TOC:



Story continues

https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/fluorochemicals-market-102343

Segment:

Majority of Industries to Use Fluorochemicals for Cleaning Steel or as Blowing Agents

The global market for fluorochemicals is distributed grounded on product and operation. Grounded on product, the request is divided into inorganic chemicals, thing organics, fluoropolymers, feasts, and fluorocarbons. With respect to segmentation by operation, the request is distributed into blowing agent, aluminium product, refrigerant, and others.

Geographic Segment Analyzed in the Report:

North America (USA and Canada)

Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, and the rest of Latin America)

Europe (UK, Germany, France and the rest of Europe)

Asia Pacific (China, Japan, India, and the rest of the Asia Pacific region)

Middle East and Africa (GCC and rest of the Middle East and Africa)

Drivers & Restraints-

Rising Demand from Various End-use Industries to Propel Growth

The adding demand for electric and electronic appliances is a significant factor in boosting the global fluorochemicals request growth. This, coupled with a rise in the demand for refrigerants and adding aluminium product are also adding motivation to the request. also, the rising demand from the automotive, healthcare, and dental sectors is likely to help the request show notable growth in the coming times.

On the wise side, the high cost of fluorochemicals manufacturing and the strict regulations assessed on its application is likely to beget significant interference to the request in the coming times. nonetheless, the adding demand for heating, ventilation, and air exertion( HVAC) technology worldwide is likely to produce economic growth openings for the request in the coming time.

Get a Quote Now:



https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/get-a-quote/fluorochemicals-market-102343

Regional Analysis-

North America Dominates on Account of Increasing Expenditure on Healthcare

The healthcare sector in North America is blessed with the latest technological innovations and government-supported reimbursement policies. The factor stated above is responsible for this region to earn the largest fluorochemicals market share. Europe ranks second owing to the increasing investments on research and development for using fluorochemicals in medical implants. However, Asia Pacific is likely to show notable growth in the coming years on account of the increasing need for effective commercial cooling systems for storing perishable goods.

The Fluorochemicals market report includes:

All-encompassing report of the market

Critical insights into the market

Dominant regions in the world

Market drivers and restraints

Competitive landscape

COVID-19 impact

Competitive Landscape-

Companies to Focus on Merger and Acquisition Strategies to Gain Momentum

Players operating in the fluorochemicals market are emphasizing on geographical expansion and better product portfolio for earning the highest share. The other players are engaging in joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, partnerships, and collaborative efforts to gain a competitive edge in the fluorochemicals market.

The information for each competitor includes:

 Company Profiles

 Company Overview

 Product Portfolio

 Recent Developments/Updates



Detailed Table of Content:

Introduction Research Scope Market Segmentation Research Methodology Definitions and Assumptions

Executive Summary

Market Dynamics Market Drivers Market Restraints Market Opportunities

Key Insights Key Emerging Trends  For Major Countries Key Developments: Capacity Expansions, Acquisitions, Partnerships, etc. Latest Technological Advancement Insights on Regulatory Scenario Porters Five Forces Analysis

Qualitative Insights on Impact of COVID-19 on Global Fluorochemicals Market Supply Chain Analysis & Challenges due to Covid-19 Steps taken by Government / Companies to Overcome this Impact Potential Challenges and Opportunities due to COVID-19 Outbreak



TOC Continued...!

Ask for Customization:

https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/ask-for-customization/fluorochemicals-market-102343

Major Industry Developments of the Fluorochemicals Gases Market Include:

December 2018  The expansion of Fluorospecialty chemicals was announced by Gujarat Fluorochemicals Limited. As per this announcement, the capacity will rise from an annual 22.3 KT to 46.8 KT per year at the Ranjit Nagar village located in India.

April 2019  UET and Chemours entered into a joint venture for addressing the challenge of renewable energy storage. The need for energy storage increases as the smart grid develops and this ultimately surges the need for generating renewable energy and storing applications.

July 2019  A worldwide player in speciality surfactants for infrastructural developments, mining, and crop nutrition called Arkema announced the acquisition of ArrMaz, a company dealing with speciality surfactants based in the United States.

About Us:

Fortune Business Insights delivers accurate data and innovative corporate analysis, helping organizations of all sizes make appropriate decisions. We tailor novel solutions for our clients, assisting them to address various challenges distinct to their businesses. Our aim is to empower them with holistic market intelligence, providing a granular overview of the market they are operating in.

Address:

Fortune Business Insights Pvt. Ltd.

9th Floor, Icon Tower, Baner,

Mahalunge Road, Baner, Pune - 411045,

Maharashtra, India.

Phone:

US: +1 424 253 0390

UK: +44 2071 939123

APAC: +91 744 740 1245

Email: sales@fortunebusinessinsights.com

Follow Us: LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter




Future Market Insights Global and Consulting Pvt. Ltd.

Demand for cleaning and disinfection services remains prominent in the USA. The country is expected to hold around 84.0% of the North America market share over the forecast period. Germany is expected to dominate the Europe food & beverage industrial disinfection and cleaning market during the assessment period.

NEWARK, Del, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The size of the global food & beverage industrial cleaning and disinfection market is anticipated to reach approximately US$ 3,270.9 million in 2023. It is projected to expand at a CAGR of 5.4% between 2023 and 2033.



By 2033, it is expected that the global market will be worth US$ 5,549.2 million . East Asia and South Asia Pacific are expected to continue to play a prominent role in the market due to growing demand in nations such as India, China, and Japan.

Growing worries have been raised in recent years about the frequency of food-borne illnesses brought on by viruses, radioactive materials, and inorganic chemicals. Around 10% of the world's population suffers from food-borne illnesses, according to the World Health Organization.

As a result, all economies nowadays have more stringent regulatory oversight both inside and outside the food & beverage sector.

In undeveloped and developing regions of Asia, Africa, and South America, the frequency of such illnesses is especially high. As a result, governments in these regions are working hard to implement suitable food testing and disinfection processes for food safety.

Download a Sample to Obtain Additional Highlights and Key Points on Various Market Segments and Their Impact in the Coming Years! https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-17014

Due to these developments, the market for disinfectants that are suitable for use on food has grown significantly over the past several years.

The food & beverage cleaning industry is experiencing growth mainly due to rising demand for food-grade disinfectants and need to prevent outbreaks of foodborne illnesses.

Story continues

There is an increased focus on reducing food waste, which has popularized the use of food-safe disinfectant sprays in several developed countries.

Cleaning and disinfecting are essential steps in the production process. If not done properly, disinfection can have negative effects. Effective cleaning is required prior to disinfection in order to remove dirt, residues, and other particulates.

Key Takeaways from Food & Beverage Industrial Disinfection and Cleaning Market Study

Top 3 countries in the global food & beverage industrial disinfection and cleaning market are set to hold a share of 40 to 45% in 2023.

In the historical period from 2018 to 2022, the global demand for food & beverage industrial disinfection and cleaning products exhibited 5.3% CAGR.

The USA food & beverage industrial disinfection and cleaning market is expected to hold around 84.0% of the North America.

Based on application, the processed food category accounted for a 7.5% market share in 2022.

In terms of product type, hydrogen peroxide showcased decent growth by generating 14.3% share in 2022.



Temperature is an important factor as a few disinfectants do not function well in cold climates. The type of product being produced and processed has a key impact on the disinfectant utilized. Novel production methods to meet changing demands are set to provide a sizeable boost to manufacturers in this industry.  Says a lead analyst.

Expand Operations in the Future - To Get Requisite Details, Ask for a Custom Report@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/customization-available/rep-gb-17014

Competitive Landscape: Food & Beverage Industrial Disinfection and Cleaning Market

To meet the needs of various markets, leading corporations are concentrating on creating novel products and expanding their manufacturing capacities both domestically and abroad. Only a few of the key firms collaborate and cooperate with other businesses to expand their product lines.

Sustainable solutions have become more and more in demand in recent years. This is a result directly of expanding environmental rules and rising worries about health risks.

The market is seeing prominent companies continue to concentrate on developing novel solutions using biodegradable goods.

For instance,

In December 2021, Kersia, a company operating in the food safety and biosecurity industry, entered into an exclusive agreement to acquire a controlling stake in Kalinisan Chemicals Corporation. It is a Philippines-based company.



The agreement is based on the potential for positive synergies between the two companies. Both have complementary geographical, business, industrial, and innovation profiles.

In November 2020, Ecolab introduced a new cleaning product called Exelerate TUFSOIL. It is a gel cleaner and degreaser that is ready-to-use and designed for food & protein manufacturers.



This cleaning solution is effective in quickly removing stubborn, burnt-on soils from a variety of equipment and areas. This includes fryers, ovens, dryers, catwalks, racks, smokehouses, and environmental spaces. The Launch of this new product will enable Ecolab to enhance its product range for the food & beverage industry.

Key Companies Profiled are Diversey Holdings, Ltd., Neogen Corporation, Pilot Chemical Company, Nilfisk Food, Kersia Group, CHRISTIANS, Danaher Corporation, Solvay, Ecolab, Evonik Industries, Lagafors AB, FOAMit, Rossari Biotech, Lilleborg AS, Stepan Company, Nerta (Entaco N.V.), Foamico, Jurgen Lohrke GmbH, Dosanova BV, PROQUIMIA S.A., Novadan, Calvatis GmbH, Kiilto, IXOM Operations Pte Ltd, Epsilon Chemicals Ltd., BASF SE

Browse Full Market Report@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/food-beverage-industrial-disinfection-cleaning-market

Food & Beverage Industrial Disinfection and Cleaning Market Outlook by Category

By Product Type:

Oxidizing Disinfectants

Non-Oxidizing Disinfectants

Alcohols and Cleaning Chemicals



By Process:

Coagulation

Steam Sterilization

Pasteurization

Carbonation

Chlorination

UV Process

Ozonation

Others

By Application:

Food Industry

Beverage Industry

More Insights into the Food & Beverage Industrial Disinfection and Cleaning Market Report

In its latest report, Future Market Insights (FMI) offers an unbiased analysis of the global food and beverage industrial disinfection and cleaning market, providing historical data from 2018 to 2022 and forecast statistics for the period 2023 to 2033.

To understand the global market potential, growth, and scope, the market is segmented based on product type (oxidizing disinfectants, non-oxidizing disinfectants, alcohols & cleaning chemicals), process (coagulation, steam sterilization, pasteurization, carbonation, chlorination, UV process, ozonation), application (food industry, beverage industry), and region.

Market Presence Across Multiple Geographical Footprints - Strong/Active/Niche/Trivial - Buy the Report! https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/checkout/17014

Table of Content

1. Executive Summary | Food & Beverage Industrial Disinfection and Cleaning Market

1.1. Global Market Outlook

1.2. Demand Side Trends

1.3. Supply Side Trends

1.4. Process Roadmap

1.5. Analysis and Recommendations

2. Market Overview

2.1. Market Coverage / Taxonomy

2.2. Market Definition / Scope / Limitations

3. Key Market Trends

3.1. Key Trends Impacting the Market

3.2. Material Innovation / Development Trends

4. Key Success Factors

4.1. Material Adoption / Usage Analysis

4.2. Material USPs / Features

4.3. Strategic Promotional Strategies

5. Global Market Demand Analysis 2018 to 2022 and Forecast, 2023 to 2033

5.1. Historical Market Volume (Tons) Analysis, 2018 to 2022

5.2. Current and Future Market Volume (Tons) Projections, 2023 to 2033

5.3. Y-o-Y Growth Trend Analysis

Complete TOC of this Report@

https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-17014



Explore FMIs Extensive Ongoing Coverage in the Chemicals & Materials Domain

Industrial and Institutional Cleaning Chemicals Market Size: The global industrial & institutional cleaning chemicals market is expected to reach a market valuation of US$ 71.35 Billion by the year 2022, accelerating with a CAGR of 7.3% by 2022 to 2032.

Cleaning In Place Market Demand: The overall sales of cleaning-in-place products are projected to grow at a robust CAGR of 5.7% between 2022 and 2032, totaling around US$ 16,496.1 Million by the end of 2032.

Disinfectant Chemicals Market Growth: The global disinfectant chemicals market is forecasted to surge at a CAGR of 5% from 2022 to 2032, expanding to US$ 4 Billion by 2032, compared to US$ 2.5 Billion in 2022

Green Coatings Market Trends: According to the research report published by Future Market Insights, the global Green Coatings market is projected to cross a valuation of US$ 131.27 billion in 2023. It is likely to reach a valuation of US$ 213.83 billion by 2033.

Europe Aluminum Oxide Market Value: Europe aluminum oxide market size is set to reach US$ 2,686.1 million in 2023. Overall aluminum oxide sales across Europe will surge at 5.2% CAGR during the assessment period.

About Future Market Insights, Inc.

Future Market Insights, Inc. is an ESOMAR-certified business consulting & market research firm, a member of the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce, headquartered in Delaware, USA. As a recipient of the Clutch Leaders Award 2022 for a high client score (4.9/5), we have been collaborating with global enterprises in their business transformation journey and helping them deliver on their business ambitions. 80% of the largest Forbes 1000 enterprises are our clients. We serve global clients across all leading & niche market segments across all major industries.

Contact Us:

Future Market Insights Inc.

Christiana Corporate, 200 Continental Drive,

Suite 401, Newark, Delaware - 19713, USA

T: +1-845-579-5705

LinkedIn| Twitter| Blogs | YouTube

For Sales Enquiries: sales@futuremarketinsights.com




NANNING, China, April 17, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Leading IT service provider FPT Software announced its newly opened Nearshore Development Center in Nanning, Guangxi Province, marking the company's 65th office globally. This development center assists the firm's expansion strategy and better serves the billion-people market, especially in the automotive industry.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230414005146/en/

FPT Software representatives and distinguished guests at Nearshore Development Center Opening Ceremony in Nanning, China (Photo: Business Wire)

Electric vehicles have emerged as a promising solution in various countries. With a massive production scale and favourable government policies, China is attracting several global automotive giants. FPT Software sees this as an opportunity to introduce its ready-made platforms and digital services to support businesses in this industry.

FPT Software has a solid workforce to address the increasing demand in the automotive sector, with more than 3,800 engineers currently supporting the world's leading car manufacturer partners. Its automotive services and solutions also meet international AUTOSAR standards set by automotive industry giants.

Located in Liangqing District, FPT Software's new delivery center is close to many top universities, spanning many majors from business and technology to social studies. This allows FPT Software to work closer with local university and university and educational institution partners to grow a robust talent pool, tapping the regions growing IT industry. Additionally, as the capital of Guangxi province, Nanning is only 380 kilometres away from Hanoi, Vietnam. The strategic location facilitates trading and training exchange between the two countries.

"With the new nearshore development center in Nanning, we aim to enhance our competencies in automotive, manufacturing, and other industries. We will be able to bridge the language barriers and time zone differences and have more in-person engagement with our clients.", FPT Software Chairwoman Chu Thi Thanh Ha said.

Story continues

"I hope the development center in Nanning will become the new growth engine for FPT Software in China. And Im certain that our clients can rely on FPT Software for agile support from our expert team", she added.

FPT Softwares Nanning development centre inauguration ceremony was attended by Vietnam Consul General in Nanning Do Nam Trung, Trade Consul Nguyen Huu Quan, FPT Software Chairwoman Chu Thi Thanh Ha, FPT Software Senior Executive Vice President Nguyen Khai Hoan, representative of Guangxi Foreign Investment Promotion Office, other partner representatives and distinguished guests in China. It is located at 2823, Building 1, Wuxiang Hangyang City, 401 Wuxiang Avenue, Liangqing District, Nanning City, Guangxi.

About FPT Software

FPT Software is a global technology and IT services provider headquartered in Vietnam, with $803 million in revenue and 25,000+ employees in 27 countries. As a pioneer in digital transformation, the company delivers world-class services in Smart factories, Digital platforms, RPA, AI, IoT, Cloud, AR/VR, BPO, and more. It has served 1000+ customers worldwide, a hundred of which are Fortune Global 500 companies in Automotive, Banking and Finance, Logistics & Transportation, Utilities, and more. For further information, please visit https://www.fpt-software.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230414005146/en/

Contacts

Media

Mai Duong (Ms.)

FPT Software

PR Manager

Email: MCP.PR@fsoft.com.vn

Website: https://www.fpt-software.com/newsroom/
FILE PHOTO: The logo of German industrial group Siemens is seen in Zurich, Switzerland

BERLIN (Reuters) - Luxembourg-based Freyr Battery sealed its partnership with Siemens at the Hannover Messe conference on Monday, making the German technology company its preferred supplier in automation and digitalization technology.

Freyr plans to equip its planned gigafactories in Norway and the United States with Siemens technology, and the two companies will join forces along the entire battery design and manufacturing process, the firms said in a statement.

"This relationship is much broader than the usual customer-supplier relationship and is strategic in nature," Freyr chief executive Tom Einar Jensen told Reuters.

Instead of the conventional 18 production steps, Freyr wants to make do with eight, he said, adding: "With Siemens, we can ramp up production faster and better, and with a much lower reject rate. That normally takes up to 36 months, we want to do it in half that time at most."

(Reporting by Alexander Huebner, writing by Miranda Murray, editing by Rachel More)
Starting today, residents in Baltimore City with SNAP and EBT benefits can save on fruits and vegetables accessible through Giant Pickup and Giant Delivers orders

LANDOVER, Md., April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Giant Food, the leading regional grocery chain, announces today its partnership with Baltimore City that will help residents with SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer) benefits save on produce throughout Baltimore City. The program supports access to healthy produce at a critical time as recent federal rollbacks of SNAP Emergency Allotments result in many individuals being challenged to stretch their food dollars even more. This program is made possible by utilizing funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

The partnership will offer a $15.00 promo code to eligible households which will be accessible through Giant Pickup and Giant Delivers orders placed on giantfood.com. The code can be redeemed up to six times over the course of six months for a maximum benefit of $180. The $15.00 incentive must be used in full each time a participant redeems the code, and eligible items include fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables.

"Giant is proud to partner with Mayor Brandon M. Scott and Baltimore City Department of Planning's Food Policy and Planning Division to offer fruit & vegetable savings to those who need it the most, available through convenient delivery and pickup orders," said Gregg Dorazio, Director of eCommerce for Giant Food. "With the recent conclusion of emergency SNAP allotments, the rollout of this partnership comes at a time of great need and further supports our mission to increase access to nutritious foods and address hunger relief in the communities we serve."

"Nearly 150,000 of our Baltimore neighbors are impacted by the hunger cliff. This is an important step to help address the effects of the loss of SNAP Emergency Allotments and support families' nutritional needs," said Michael J. Wilson, Director, Maryland Hunger Solutions. "Making sure our residents have access to healthy, affordable food is a step toward combating food insecurity."

Story continues

"Our vision is to ensure all Baltimore City SNAP participants have the resources and support they need to achieve nutritional security through both in-store and online purchasing of foods" said Taylor LaFave, Chief of Food Policy and Planning for Baltimore City. "ARPA funding has allowed us to provide supplemental support for residents to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables while encouraging affordable at-home delivery options for residents living in Healthy Food Priority Areas. These efforts help build a more equitable urban food system."

Same-day service is available through both Giant Delivers and Giant Pickup. Purchases made on Giant Delivers between Tuesday-Thursday include zero delivery fees while all other days include a fee of just $3.95 per order. Giant Pickup is free with same-day service in as fast as two hours.

Giant remains committed to providing savings and value to all its customers, both through this new produce program, as well as its Giant Flexible Rewards loyalty program.

The Giant Flexible Rewards program provides customers the opportunity to save on their regular grocery needs and earn rewards toward grocery savings, gas savings and special rewards. Last year, Giant also announced that customers are now able to redeem their rewards points for staple store brand products at reduced point requirements, delivering even more savings. Customers can enroll and manage their points and rewards online at giantfood.com or on the Giant Food mobile app.

Eligible Baltimore residents who wish to take advantage of the online promotion via Giant Pickup may place their orders for pick up at these nine eligible Baltimore locations:

Store 145- 5150 Sinclair Lane, Baltimore, MD 21206

Store 159- 3757 Old Court Rd, Pikesville, MD 21208

Store 23060 1020 W 41 st Street, Baltimore, MD 21211

Store 108- 6340-50 York Rd, Baltimore, MD 21212

Store 337- 6620 Reisterstown Road, Baltimore, MD 21215

Store 303- 601 East 33 rd St, Baltimore, MD 21218

Store 363- 1400 Merrit Boulevard, Dundalk, MD 21222

Store 317- 46254 Edmondson Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21229

Store 2333- 857 East Fort Avenue, Baltimore City, MD 21230

For more information including the promotional code, how to redeem during online checkout and the full list of eligible zip codes for home delivery, please visit giantfood.com/snap-ebt-baltimore.

About Giant Food

Since opening its first location 87 years ago in Washington, D.C. in 1936, Giant has been an integral part of the communities and customers it serves. Giant is committed to being a Better Neighbor and has designated four main giving pillars that address local Food Insecurity, Military Support, Pediatric Cancer Research and Social Equality. Giant is headquartered in Landover, Md. and operates 165 supermarkets in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia with approximately 20,000 associates. Included within the 165 stores are 153 full-service pharmacies, and 29 Starbucks locations. Giant fits all the ways today's busy customers want to shop - whether in store or online. With 162 Giant Pickup locations and Giant Delivers available in all of its markets, customers have even more convenient options right at their fingertips to get the best products and prices, whenever and however they choose. For more information on Giant, visit: www.giantfood.com.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/giant-food-announces-partnership-with-baltimore-city-government-benefiting-snap-and-ebt-eligible-residents-301798099.html

SOURCE Giant Food
Company Logo

Dublin, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Electric Cargo Bikes Market - Market Size & Forecast to 2032" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global electric cargo bikes market is estimated to be worth of USD 2.39 billion in 2023 and is growing at a CAGR of 32.78% during the forecast period from 2023 to 2032.

The electric cargo bikes market research report discusses the importance of the segments as well as the regional markets. An accurate overview for different segments and regions has been prepared on the basis of the market size as well as the growth rate (CAGR). The market research offers a growth map of the global electric cargo bikes market to help clients design the required strategies to meet their business goals.



Electric cargo bikes are the kind of bikes used for hauling cargo that are powered by batteries. They enable the user to move big objects that are challenging to move manually. These bikes are lightweight and have a streamlined design, which increases their stability and smoothness.

Moreover, electric cargo bikes are environmentally sustainable, have a set speed restriction, and protect the goods from harm. They are the greatest solution for short-term goods delivery vehicles since they have lower operating costs and can move more quickly through urban areas.



Manufacturers and governments are supporting the use of alternatives like electric cargo bikes, which are significantly more fuel-efficient than traditional cargo bikes, in an effort to lower this global consumption. As cities struggle with traffic congestion that causes noise and air pollution, the electric cargo bike and bicycle logistics sectors are emerging as a useful, sustainable, non-congested, and inclusive alternative for first- and last-mile deliveries, general logistical service provision, and family vehicles.



Some of the key drivers boosting the market's expansion are the new technology developments' lower operating costs and quicker delivery times. Also, it is anticipated that greater personal adoption of electric cargo bikes would considerably fuel market growth. However, some of the obstacles, such as the absence of adaptable infrastructure, repair facilities, and safe parking, are anticipated to restrain market expansion.



With many companies competing everywhere, the market for electric cargo bikes is fairly competitive on a global scale. Leading players are expanding their businesses and securing a bigger share of the market. Throughout the anticipated term, market players are expected to increase their geographic reach through acquisitions. Improvements in the global economy and the growing automotive industry in emerging economies are expected to fuel market expansion and motivate companies to provide new products in various regions.



Europe will continue to be one of the most alluring markets for electric cargo bikes during the forecast period. Germany is anticipated to dominate the European market during the projection period, according to the study. For each cargo bike with a weight (cargo and rider) of at least 150 kg and a 1 m3 capacity, the German Federal Government provides a subsidy.

Story continues

Additionally, Germany continues to be one of the world's major markets for e-mobility, making it a prosperous market for producers of electric cargo bikes. In addition, growing national populations, more transportation in Europe, and growing national concerns about carbon footprints will all contribute to market expansion.



Key Attributes:

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 363 Forecast Period 2023 - 2032 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2023 $2.39 7Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2032 $30.66 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 32.7% Regions Covered Global

Market Dynamics

Drivers

Growing Use of Environmentally Friendly Transportation

Opportunities

Growing Technological Advancements in Electric Vehicle Industry

Challenges

The Bikes' Limited Range

Competitive Leadership Outlook

Market Leaders

Innovators

Startups & Emerging Companies

Global Electric Cargo Bikes Market, Company Analysis

Accell Group N.V. (Netherland)

Amcargobikes (Denmark)

Amsterdam Bicycle Company Bv (Netherland)

Bizz on Wheels (Romania)

Butchers & Bicycles Ltd. (Denmark)

Cero Inc. (US)

Christiania Bikes (Denmark)

Derby Cycle AG (Germany)

Eav (Uk)

Giant Bicycles (Taiwan)

Hero Motocorp Limited (India)

Lectricebikes (US)

Nikola (US)

Okinawa Autotech Internationall Private Limited (India)

Rad Power Bikes Inc. (US)

Riese & Muller GmbH (Germany)

Worksman Cycles (US)

Xtracycle Cargo Bikes (US)

Xyz Cargo (US)

Yuba Bicycles LLC (US)





For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/atkwta

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

CONTACT: CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood,Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./ CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900




AstuteAnalytica India Pvt. Ltd.

The acetonitrile market is expected to grow significantly in the coming years due to its widespread use as a solvent in various industries such as pharmaceuticals, electronics, and agriculture. The market is driven by the increasing demand for acetonitrile in the production of pharmaceuticals and the growth of the electronics industry. The Asia-Pacific region is expected to dominate the market due to its expanding industrial sector and increasing demand for high-quality solvents.

New Delhi, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global acetonitrile market, which was valued at US$ 371.0 Mn in 2022, is expected to grow significantly, reaching a projected value of US$ 595.9 Mn by 2031, with a CAGR of 5.4% during the forecast period of 2023-2031.

Get Free sample copy of this report @ https://www.astuteanalytica.com/request-sample/acetonitrile-market

The demand for acetonitrile is on the rise due to its increasing use in various applications such as solvents, pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and dyes & pigments. Acetonitrile is also an essential reagent in the production of acetamide, which is used in the manufacture of plastics, fibers, and resins. The growing demand for these products is expected to boost the growth of the acetonitrile market in the foreseeable future.

The use of acetonitrile in various industries has been steadily increasing over the years, owing to its excellent solvent properties, high polarity, and ability to dissolve a wide range of organic and inorganic compounds. The pharmaceutical industry, in particular, is a significant consumer of acetonitrile, where it is used in drug synthesis, purification, and analysis.

Moreover, the Asia-Pacific region is projected to be the largest market for acetonitrile during the forecast period. This is mainly due to the growing demand for acetonitrile-based products in industries such as pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and dyes & pigments in countries like China and India. Additionally, the rise in environmental regulations is expected to further fuel the demand for acetonitrile from this region.

Story continues

Acetonitrile Market is Grappled with Rising Raw Material Cost and Fluctuating Production Output

The acetonitrile market is facing challenges due to the rising costs of raw materials and weak demand, leading to many companies suspending or reducing production. Despite this, there are positive indications for the industry's future, with new capacity being added in Asia and growing demand from the pharmaceutical sector.

The current trend of rising raw material costs presents a significant challenge for the acetonitrile industry, leading to production suspensions and reductions by several companies. The economic slowdown in Europe has also contributed to weak demand and a decline in chemical consumption.

However, there are positive developments in the industry, particularly in Asia where new capacity is being added in China and South Korea to meet the growing regional demand. The pharmaceutical sector is also a major driver of growth for the acetonitrile market, with the compound being a key starting material for the synthesis of various active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).

In April 2022, Ineos, based in London, has revealed its plan to invest in a world-scale acetonitrile production plant at its primary operating site in Koln, Germany. The proposed facility is expected to have an annual production capacity of 15,000 metric tons.

Global Production of Acetonitrile is Poised to Surpass 2,20,166.26 Tons by 2031

The global acetonitrile market is witnessing significant growth in production. acetonitrile production in 2022 was pegged at 1,32,962.60 tons and is expected to surpass 2,20,166.26 tons by 2031 at a CAGR of 5.7%. China is the largest producer of acetonitrile, accounting for more than 35% of global production, followed by the United States, Europe, and Japan. On the other hand, North America and Europe are the largest consumers of acetonitrile, with the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries being major end-users. The Asia-Pacific region is expected to witness the highest demand growth, driven by the increasing use of acetonitrile in various industrial applications.

In terms of imports, the United States and Europe are major importers of acetonitrile, while China and India are major exporters. China is expected to continue dominating the export market, as it is the largest producer and exporter of acetonitrile globally.

The major end-user applications of acetonitrile include pharmaceuticals, analytical laboratories, agrochemicals, and electronics. The pharmaceutical industry is the largest end-user, accounting for approximately 50% of global consumption. The demand for acetonitrile in the pharmaceutical industry is driven by its use as a solvent in the synthesis of drugs.

The demand and supply of acetonitrile are expected to remain balanced, with the increasing production capacity of acetonitrile in emerging economies and the rising demand from the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries. However, the market may witness fluctuations due to the impact of regulatory changes and geopolitical issues.

Browse summary of the report and Complete Table of Contents (ToC): https://www.astuteanalytica.com/industry-report/acetonitrile-market

Pharma Companies to Remain the Largest Consumer of Acetonitrile and Contribute over 52% Revenue to Global Acetonitrile Market

Acetonitrile is widely used in various industries, including pharmaceuticals, as a solvent, reagent, and extraction agent. The primary reason for the pharmaceutical industry's leading consumption of acetonitrile is its wide range of applications in drug synthesis, purification, and analysis. Acetonitrile is commonly used as a solvent in the manufacturing process of several pharmaceutical products, including antibiotics, antiseptics, antifungals, and steroids. It is also used in the purification of drugs through methods like liquid chromatography and in the analysis of drug compounds.

Acetonitrile has several other applications in the chemical and manufacturing industries, such as in the production of plastics, fibers, and rubber. However, the pharmaceutical industry is the largest consumer of acetonitrile due to its critical role in drug manufacturing and analysis.

Top 5 Players Hold Over 71% Revenue of Global Acetonitrile Market

The acetonitrile market is characterized by a high level of consolidation, with the top 5 players holding over 71% of the market's revenue share. This indicates a high degree of competition among a few dominant players in the industry, with smaller players having limited opportunities to gain market share. INEOS AG, Asahi Kasei Corporation, Shanghai SECCO Petrochemical Co., Ltd., Nova Molecular Technologies, Inc., and Avantor Performance Materials, LLC are top 5 players in the market.

INEOS AG, the largest player in the acetonitrile market, holds over 25% of the market's revenue share. This level of market dominance can provide INEOS AG with several advantages, including economies of scale, greater bargaining power with suppliers and customers, and a stronger brand reputation.

However, the high level of consolidation in the acetonitrile market can also create barriers to entry for new players, limiting competition and potentially resulting in higher prices for consumers. It can also increase the risk of market disruption, as any major changes or shifts in the strategies of the top players can have a significant impact on the overall market.

Some of the Top Market Players Are:

Asahi Kasei Corporation

Avantor Performance Materials, LLC

Concord Technology (Tianjin) Co., Ltd.

Concord Technology (Tianjin) Co., Ltd.

Formosa Plastic Corporation

GFS Chemicals, Inc.

Honeywell Research Chemicals

Imperial Chemical Corporation

INEOS AG

Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation

Nantong Acetic Acid Chemical Co., Ltd.

Nova Molecular Technologies, Inc.

Pharmco-Aaper

Qingdao Shida Chemical Co., Ltd.

Robinson Brothers

Shanghai Secco Petrochemical Company Limited

Standard Reagents Pvt. Ltd.

Taekwang Industrial Co., Ltd

Tedia Company, Inc

Unicel

Other Prominent Players

Directly Purchase a copy of report with TOC @ https://www.astuteanalytica.com/inquire-before-purchase/acetonitrile-market

About Astute Analytica

Astute Analytica is a global analytics and advisory company which has built a solid reputation in a short period, thanks to the tangible outcomes we have delivered to our clients. We pride ourselves in generating unparalleled, in depth and uncannily accurate estimates and projections for our very demanding clients spread across different verticals. We have a long list of satisfied and repeat clients from a wide spectrum including technology, healthcare, chemicals, semiconductors, FMCG, and many more. These happy customers come to us from all across the Globe. They are able to make well calibrated decisions and leverage highly lucrative opportunities while surmounting the fierce challenges all because we analyze for them the complex business environment, segment wise existing and emerging possibilities, technology formations, growth estimates, and even the strategic choices available. In short, a complete package. All this is possible because we have a highly qualified, competent, and experienced team of professionals comprising of business analysts, economists, consultants, and technology experts. In our list of priorities, you-our patron-come at the top. You can be sure of best cost-effective, value-added package from us, should you decide to engage with us.

Contact us:

Aamir Beg

BSI Business Park, H-15,Sector-63, Noida- 201301- India

Phone: +1-888 429 6757 (US Toll Free); +91-0120- 4483891 (Rest of the World)

Email: sales@astuteanalytica.com

Website: www.astuteanalytica.com




AstuteAnalytica India Pvt. Ltd.

The global Agriculture Equipment Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.6% from 2023 to 2031. The growth is driven by the increasing demand for food due to population growth, coupled with the adoption of advanced farming techniques. Tractors are the most widely used agricultural equipment, followed by harvesters, cultivators, and planters. The Asia-Pacific region is expected to be the fastest-growing market due to the increasing demand for food in emerging economies such as India and China.

New Delhi, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global Agriculture Equipment Market reached a valuation of US$ 257.07 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.6% during the forecast period from 2023 to 2031. By 2031, market revenue is estimated to reach an impressive US$ 519.44 billion, as farmers increasingly turn to advanced equipment and technology to boost yields and streamline operations.

Get Free sample copy of this report @ https://www.astuteanalytica.com/request-sample/agriculture-equipment-market

Global agricultural output has been growing steadily, but this growth has been insufficient to meet the increasing food demand. The widespread adoption of modern agricultural equipment and practices will play a critical role in achieving the FAO's target of increasing global agricultural production by 70% by 2050.

The current demand for agricultural equipment is on the rise, driven by factors such as the growing global population, increasing food consumption, and the need to improve agricultural productivity. The market is witnessing a surge in demand for advanced equipment such as tractors, combine harvesters, irrigation systems, and precision farming technologies.

The global food demand is increasing rapidly, with the demand-supply gap widening in the global Agriculture Equipment Market. According to the FAO, global agricultural production needs to increase by 70% by 2050 to feed the growing population. The demand for food and agricultural products is expected to increase by 50% by 2030, according to a report by the World Bank. As a result, there is an ongoing shift toward modern agricultural practices, including precision farming, automation, and data-driven decision-making. These practices have proven to improve crop yields, reduce waste, and optimize resource usage. Farmers are increasingly adopting technologies such as drones, sensors, and satellite imagery to monitor crop health, soil conditions, and weather patterns. This shift toward modern farming practices has fueled the demand for sophisticated agricultural equipment.

Story continues

The global food demand is increasing rapidly due to factors such as population growth, urbanization, and changing consumption patterns. The demand-supply gap is widening, with current agricultural production unable to keep pace with the growing demand for food. As a result, there is a need to increase agricultural productivity and make the best use of available resources.

Agricultural equipment plays a crucial role in enhancing agricultural productivity and bridging the demand-supply gap. Modern farming equipment and practices have the potential to increase crop yields, reduce labor requirements, and optimize resource usage. Advanced machinery and technologies such as precision farming, drones, and automated systems can help farmers produce more food with fewer resources, ultimately contributing to food security.

Growing Emphasis on Precision Farming to Shape the Global Agriculture Equipment Market

Precision farming is a farming management concept that involves using modern technology to improve crop yield and reduce waste. It involves the use of advanced equipment, such as sensors, GPS, and drones, to gather data on soil conditions, crop growth, and weather patterns. The data is then analyzed to optimize crop management decisions, such as planting, fertilization, and irrigation.

The adoption of precision farming has been steadily increasing over the years, driven by the need to increase crop yield and reduce costs. This trend has led to a surge in demand for agricultural equipment that can support precision farming practices. According to a report by Astute Analytica, the Agritech market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 19.2% and generate a revenue of $64 billion by 2031.

One of the key advancements in precision farming technology across the global Agriculture Equipment Market is the use of autonomous equipment. Autonomous tractors, for instance, can be programmed to operate in specific areas of a field, perform specific tasks, and avoid obstacles. This reduces the need for manual labor and helps farmers save time and money. The use of drones is also becoming increasingly popular in precision farming, as they can be used to monitor crop health, identify areas that need attention, and gather data on weather patterns.

The adoption of precision farming practices has also led to an increased demand for variable rate technology (VRT) equipment. VRT equipment can adjust the rate of application of inputs, such as fertilizers and pesticides, based on real-time data. This helps farmers optimize crop yield while reducing waste and environmental impact.

Browse summary of the report and Complete Table of Contents (ToC): https://www.astuteanalytica.com/industry-report/agriculture-equipment-market

Exploring the Dynamics of the Global Agriculture Equipment Market: Segmental Analysis by Equipment Type, Power Output, Drive Type, and Distributor Channel

The global Agriculture Equipment Market is divided into several segments based on equipment type, power output, drive type, and distributor channel. Among the major categories of equipment type are planting and fertilizing equipment, harvesting and threshing equipment, irrigation and crop processing equipment, and others. The harvesting and threshing equipment segment is expected to be the top revenue generator, accounting for over 57% of the market. This is due to the adoption of advanced technologies, including autonomous harvesters, which enhance efficiency and reduce manual labor during the harvesting process.

Regarding power output, the market is segmented into less than 30HP, 31-70HP, 71-130HP, and more than 130HP. The 71-130HP segment is projected to dominate the market, accounting for over 44% of the market's revenue. This is because mid-range tractors provide a balance of power, performance, and affordability, making them a popular choice among small to medium-sized farmers. Furthermore, the trend towards mechanization in agriculture has driven the demand for mid-range tractors, as farmers strive to decrease manual labor and enhance efficiency.

The drive type segment includes two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive. Two-wheel drive machines are more cost-effective and are suitable for use in smaller farms, making them the preferred choice among farmers with limited land. The two-wheel drive segment is anticipated to hold the largest share of the Agriculture Equipment Market, accounting for 75% of the market's revenue. However, the trend towards precision agriculture has increased the adoption of autonomous and four-wheel drive machines, as these technologies can assist farmers in optimizing crop production and reducing waste.

The distributor channel segment of the global Agriculture Equipment Market is classified into OEMs and aftermarket. The OEM segment is anticipated to generate over 82% of the market's revenue, due to the high level of trust and reliability associated with OEM products, as well as the extensive distribution networks of major manufacturers. OEMs offer a range of agricultural equipment, from tractors and harvesters to irrigation systems and fertilizers, providing farmers with a one-stop-shop for their agricultural needs. Additionally, the growing trend towards precision agriculture has increased the demand for advanced technologies, which are usually only available through OEMs.

Top 5 Players Generate Over 55% Revenue of Global Agriculture Equipment Market

The global Agriculture Equipment Market is highly competitive, with numerous companies offering a wide range of products to meet the needs of farmers worldwide. However, the market is largely dominated by a few major players, and in 2022, the cumulative market share of the top five players was approximately 55%, indicating an oligopoly.

Deere & Company, also known as John Deere, is the largest player in the market, with a revenue share of over 23%. The company's strong brand reputation, advanced technology, and extensive distribution network have helped it maintain its dominant position in the market.

Other major players in the Agriculture Equipment Market include Kubota Corporation, CLAAS KGaA MBH, CNH Industrial N.V. and China National Machinery Industry Corporation Ltd, each of which holds a significant share of the market. These companies also have a strong brand presence and offer a diverse range of products and solutions for the agricultural sector.

In terms of product offerings, the major players in the market offer a wide range of agricultural equipment, including tractors, harvesters, planting equipment, and irrigation systems, among others. These companies are also investing heavily in research and development to develop more advanced and efficient equipment to meet the growing demand for sustainable agriculture practices.

Most Recent Developments in Global Agriculture Equipment Market

In 2021, Deere & Company launched several new products, including the X Series Combines, which feature improved automation, greater capacity, and increased efficiency. The company also introduced new sprayers, cotton pickers, and self-propelled windrowers, among other products.

In 2020, Deere & Company launched the 8RX Tractor, which is the company's first four-track tractor, designed to provide greater flotation and traction on the field. The company also introduced the X9 Combine, which has a capacity of up to 100,000 bushels and is designed to increase harvesting efficiency.

Kubota, a leading manufacturer of agricultural equipment, has announced plans to invest over $1.2 billion (Rs 9400 crore) in Escorts Limited, a major tractor manufacturer in India. The investment will make Kubota the largest promoter in Escorts Limited and is aimed at strengthening the two companies' collaboration in the global agricultural machinery market.

AGCO Corporation acquired 151 Research, a technology company specializing in artificial intelligence, data analytics, and precision farming. The acquisition will help AGCO to enhance its precision farming capabilities and improve the efficiency of its equipment.

Deere & Company, largest player in the Agriculture Equipment Market, acquired Bear Flag Robotics, a startup that develops autonomous driving technology for tractors. The acquisition will help Deere to accelerate the development of its autonomous equipment and increase efficiency in farming operations.

CNH Industrial announced a partnership with Microsoft to develop advanced digital solutions for agriculture. The partnership aims to leverage Microsoft's expertise in artificial intelligence and the internet of things to enhance CNH's precision farming capabilities.

Some of the Top Market Players Are:

AGCO Corporation

Bellota

China National Machinery Industry Corporation Ltd.

CLAAS KGaA MBH

CNH Industrial N.V.

Deere & Company

Escorts Limited

Horsch Maschinen GmbH

J.C. Bamford Excavators Ltd.

Kubota Corporation

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.

MARUYAMA MFg., Co.Inc.

Maschio Gaspardo S.P.A.

Mater Macc S.p.A.

Morris Industries Ltd.

SDF S.p.A.

TAFE

Valmont Industries, Inc.

Other Prominent Players

Directly Purchase a copy of report with TOC @ https://www.astuteanalytica.com/inquire-before-purchase/agriculture-equipment-market

About Astute Analytica

Astute Analytica is a global analytics and advisory company which has built a solid reputation in a short period, thanks to the tangible outcomes we have delivered to our clients. We pride ourselves in generating unparalleled, in depth and uncannily accurate estimates and projections for our very demanding clients spread across different verticals. We have a long list of satisfied and repeat clients from a wide spectrum including technology, healthcare, chemicals, semiconductors, FMCG, and many more. These happy customers come to us from all across the Globe. They are able to make well calibrated decisions and leverage highly lucrative opportunities while surmounting the fierce challenges all because we analyze for them the complex business environment, segment wise existing and emerging possibilities, technology formations, growth estimates, and even the strategic choices available. In short, a complete package. All this is possible because we have a highly qualified, competent, and experienced team of professionals comprising of business analysts, economists, consultants, and technology experts. In our list of priorities, you-our patron-come at the top. You can be sure of best cost-effective, value-added package from us, should you decide to engage with us.

Contact us:

Aamir Beg

BSI Business Park, H-15,Sector-63, Noida- 201301- India

Phone: +1-888 429 6757 (US Toll Free); +91-0120- 4483891 (Rest of the World)

Email: sales@astuteanalytica.com

Website: www.astuteanalytica.com




Hans Peter Havdal

Hans Peter Havdal appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Hexagon Agility

Hans Peter Havdal at Hexagon Agility's production plant in Kassel, Germany

Hans Peter Havdal (center) with Michael Schulthei, Value Stream Manager CNG Cylinders (left) and Kai Schulte, VP Operations Kassel (right)

Costa Mesa, CA, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hexagon Composites ASA (Hexagon Group, the Group) is pleased to announce the appointment of Hans Peter Havdal as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of its subsidiary, Hexagon Agility, effective immediately. Havdals appointment as CEO Hexagon Agility comes in addition to his role as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Hexagon Group.

Havdal, a former member of the Hexagon Group Board of Directors joined the company as COO in March 2023. Havdal came from the position of General Manager, Engineering and Digital Services in Semcon International, a global consulting company. Prior to Semcon, he served as the CEO of Kongsberg Automotive ASA, and has broad international management experience within the automotive industry, both with passenger cars and commercial vehicles. Havdal holds an MSc in Mechanical Engineering from the Norwegian University of Science & Technology.

"Hans Peters extensive, experience from the automotive industry and his strategic approach to transformation, makes him the right choice to accelerate Hexagon Agilitys growth and to capture the opportunities ahead of us, says Jon Erik Engeset, CEO Hexagon Group. He complements our strong performance-oriented culture.

I am very excited to further engage in Hexagon Agilitys work to drive energy transformation with its compressed (renewable) natural gas distribution and heavy-duty trucking and transit solutions. I believe the potential for further growth and value creation is significant, given the organizations passionate people, strong technology, and worldwide footprint. I look forward to partnering with the teams globally to further build the business," commented Hans Peter Havdal. I aim to meet as many of our customers and partners in the coming weeks and months, as possible.

Hexagon Agility will be exhibiting at the upcoming ACT Expo 2023 in Anaheim, CA, May 2-4, 2023 (Booths #5652 and #5458).

Story continues

For more information, or to schedule an interview with Hans Peter Havdal please contact:

Karen Romer, SVP Communications, Hexagon Composites ASA

Telephone: EU +47 950 74 950 | US +1 402 450-6537 karen.romer@hexagongroup.com

Jelena Rowe, Senior Manager, Marketing and Communications, Hexagon Agility

Telephone: +1 310-872-0535 | jelena.rowe@hexagonagility.com

About Hexagon Agility

Hexagon Agility, a business of Hexagon Composites, is a leading global provider of clean fuel solutions for commercial vehicles and gas transportation solutions. Its product offerings include (renewable) natural gas storage and distribution systems, Type 4 composite natural gas cylinders, propane, and (renewable) natural gas fuel systems. These products transport clean gaseous fuels and enable vehicles to reduce emissions while saving operating costs.

Learn more at hexagonagility.com and follow @HexagonAgility on Twitter and LinkedIn.

About Hexagon Composites ASA

Hexagon delivers safe and innovative solutions for a cleaner energy future. Our solutions enable storage, transportation and conversion to clean energy in a wide range of mobility, industrial and consumer applications.

Learn more at www.hexagongroup.com and follow @HexagonASA on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Attachments

CONTACT: Jelena Rowe Hexagon Agility + 310 872 0535 jelena.rowe@hexagonagility.com




By Azernews

Qabil Ashirov

The delegation headed by Anar Alakbarov, the assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, is paying an official visit to the Peoples Republic of China. Within the framework, Anar Alakbarov has had a multifaceted meeting with various officials.

At a meeting with Lin Songtian, the chairman of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), the chairman said that Azerbaijan-China relations are rapidly developing under the leadership of the two presidents Xi Jinping and Ilham Aliyev. He noted that the political trust between the heads of state gave a great impetus to successful cooperation in various fields.

The Chairman emphasized the role of prominent political figure Heydar Aliyev in establishing relations between China and Azerbaijan and noted that these services of the National Leader will always be remembered. He said that the regular meetings of the heads of state play an important role in deepening the cooperation between the two countries.

Touching on the that the memorandum signed in 2017 between the Association led by the chairman of CPAFFC and the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Lin Songtian said that the MoU gave impetus to the deepening of cooperation in the humanitarian and cultural fields, and emphasized the possibility of cooperation in other fields in the future, including economic, tourism, youth, sports, and media.

The Aid to the Azerbaijani President said that the cooperation between the Foundation and the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries has greatly contributed to the further strengthening of close friendly relations between the two nations. The importance of mutual participation in international events held in the territory of both countries was emphasized in the future.

Emphasizing that Azerbaijan is one of the first supporters of China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative, Anar Alakbarov recalled the participation of President Ilham Aliyev in the second "One Belt, One Road" international forum in Beijing. He said that Azerbaijan has made great contributions to the implementation of these projects with its economic power and energy-logistics potential.

Also, the meeting discussed the future cooperation issues of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the CPAFFC.

Another meeting was held between the Azerbaijani delegation and the Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Zhang Ming in Beijing.

Emphasizing the active role of Azerbaijan as a dialogue partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, General Secretary Zhang Ming appreciated the active participation of Azerbaijan in the events held within the framework of the organization in recent times. Especially emphasizing the participation of President Ilham Aliyev at the SCO Summit held in Samarkand in September last year, Zhang Ming spoke about the effective cooperation between the organization and Azerbaijan. The Secretary-General said that the Haydar Aliyev Foundation's close participation in the SCO events strengthened Azerbaijan-SCO cooperation, and said that the cultural and humanitarian potential of Azerbaijan has demonstrated thanks to a number of important events held at the SCO Secretariat at the initiative of Azerbaijan.

Anar Alakbarov emphasized that Azerbaijan attaches great importance to relations with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and spoke about the prospects for the development of cooperation in various fields. He said that after Azerbaijan received the status of a dialogue partner of the SCO, the Haydar Aliyev Foundation, in close cooperation with the secretariat of the organization, organized several events, including the Day of Azerbaijan Culture in 2018, within the framework of the "Year of Nizami Ganjavi" and "Nizami Ganjavi - all "Poet of Humanity" held an event. He said that the bust of the genius poet, a gift of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, is constantly displayed in the building of the secretariat of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which has a great symbolic character for Azerbaijan.

The aid to the Azerbaijani President said that the participation of President Ilham Aliyev in the Samarkand Summit as a guest of honor shows that Azerbaijan is interested in raising cooperation with the SCO to a higher level. He recalled that a relevant request regarding raising the status of Azerbaijan from the level of dialogue partner to the observer level at the organization was addressed, and expressed his belief that Azerbaijan will be able to make a greater contribution to the activity of the said organization by obtaining observer status at the SCO.

At the meeting heard that 2023 has been declared the "Year of Heydar Aliyev" in Azerbaijan, and various events related to the 100th anniversary of the National Leader's birth will be held in Azerbaijan and abroad during the year.

Stating that Azerbaijan's request for observer status is currently being considered by the member states, Shanghai Cooperation Organization Secretary General Zhang Ming expressed hope that the request will have a positive outcome. He gave information about the history and activities of the organization he represents.

At the meeting, views were exchanged on the development of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the SCO in various fields.
ReportLinker

Global Business Intelligence (BI) and Analytics Platforms Market 2023-2027. The analyst has been monitoring the business intelligence (BI) and analytics platforms market and is forecast to grow by $17.99 bn during 2022-2027, accelerating at a CAGR of 8.5% during the forecast period.

New York, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Global Business Intelligence (BI) and Analytics Platforms Market 2023-2027" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p05628445/?utm_source=GNW

Our report on the business intelligence (BI) and analytics platforms market provides a holistic analysis, market size and forecast, trends, growth drivers, and challenges, as well as vendor analysis covering around 25 vendors.

The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, the latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. The market is driven by the rising need to improve business efficiency, increasing use of smart connected devices, and the exponential increase in data.



The business intelligence (BI) and analytics platforms market is segmented as below:

By End-user

 BFSI

 Healthcare

 ICT

 Government

 Others



By Deployment

 On-premise

 Cloud



By Geographical Landscape

 North America

 APAC

 Europe

 Middle East and Africa

 South America



This study identifies the flourishing medical tourism industry globally as one of the prime reasons driving the business intelligence (BI) and analytics platforms market growth during the next few years. Also, the rising demand for data integration and visual analytics and the movement of big data to cloud will lead to sizable demand in the market.



The analyst presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources by an analysis of key parameters. Our report on the business intelligence (BI) and analytics platforms market covers the following areas:

 Business intelligence (BI) and analytics platforms market sizing

 Business intelligence (BI) and analytics platforms market forecast

 Business intelligence (BI) and analytics platforms market industry analysis



This robust vendor analysis is designed to help clients improve their market position, and in line with this, this report provides a detailed analysis of several leading business intelligence (BI) and analytics platforms market vendors that include Argano LLC, Fair Isaac Corp., Global Software LLC, Hitachi Ltd., InetSoft Technology Corp., International Business Machines Corp., Microsoft Corp., MicroStrategy Inc., Oracle Corp., Palantir Technologies Inc., Panorama Software Inc., QlikTech international AB, SAP SE, SAS Institute Inc., ScienceSoft USA Corp., Sisense Ltd., Tableau Software LLC, TARGIT AS, TIBCO Software Inc., and Yellowfin International Pty Ltd. Also, the business intelligence (BI) and analytics platforms market analysis report includes information on upcoming trends and challenges that will influence market growth. This is to help companies strategize and leverage all forthcoming growth opportunities.

The study was conducted using an objective combination of primary and secondary information including inputs from key participants in the industry. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape in addition to an analysis of the key vendors.



The analyst presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources by an analysis of key parameters such as profit, pricing, competition, and promotions. It presents various market facets by identifying the key industry influencers. The data presented is comprehensive, reliable, and a result of extensive research - both primary and secondary. Technavios market research reports provide a complete competitive landscape and an in-depth vendor selection methodology and analysis using qualitative and quantitative research to forecast accurate market growth.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05628445/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________

Story continues

CONTACT: Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001




Company Logo

Dublin, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global and China Automotive Wireless Communication Module Industry Report,2023" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



Vehicle communication module research: 5G R16+C-V2X module, smart SiP module and other new products spring up.



In 2022, 4G modules swept 84.3% of the vehicle communication module market. 5G communication modules enter a boom period from the high-end intelligent electric vehicle target market to the stock market where 4G is being replaced. It is expected that the penetration of 5G modules will rise to over 30% in 2026.



5G C-V2X modules and highly integrated smart modules are key development directions.



The new products launched by automotive communication module manufacturers during 2022-2023 are mainly 5G C-V2X modules and smart modules.



(1) 5G C-V2X modules



In currant stage, 5G modules have a relatively high entry threshold and pose a much higher technical challenge than 4G modules. Generally, only manufacturers with certain technical expertise in communication modules can produce 5G modules, including Fibocom, MeiG Smart Technology, Quectel, Neoway Technology and Huawei. The new vehicle models in the past two years carried much more 5G modules. For example, the full range of Li Auto L9 was equipped with Quectel 5G vehicle module AG551Q as a standard configuration.



3GPP has frozen 5G Release 16. 5G NR C-V2X offers big improvements in reliability, latency, positioning accuracy, and transmission rate, and can serve second-stage scenarios such as fleet platooning, advanced driving, scalable sensors, and remote driving. C-V2X based on the 5G R16 protocol is expected to play a more important role in advanced driving assistance.



Quectel: in February 2023, Quectel introduced AG59x Series, its new-generation 5G automotive module and also the industry's first 3GPP R16-compliant automotive module. Quectel has designed multiple sub-models for different regional markets around the world, including AG59xH Series and AG59xE Series, and will provide engineering samples in the first half of 2023. Its products provide the following benefits:

Story continues

In terms of cellular communication capabilities, AG59x supports 4 x 4 MIMO, a technology which can significantly improve the wireless communication performance of the module and increase its data transmission rate;

The compatibility with Quectel's first-generation 5G automotive modules AG55xQ Series and AG57xQ Series allows existing automotive customers to realize seamless migration and upgrade just by directly replacing, slashing design cost and development time;

Support optional C-V2X PC5 Mode 4 direct communication function (subject to 3GPP R15);

For AG59x Series modules, the company can provide a range of matched high-performance antenna products.

MeiG Smart Technology: in March 2023, MeiG Smart Technology launched MA925 Series, its new-generation automotive 5G module designed, developed and produced on Qualcomm's second-generation Snapdragon automotive 5G modem and RF platform. It supports the 3GPP Release 16 standard, and integrates application processors (AP) with maximum compute of 22K DMIPS. The full range of the series supports the optional C-V2X function. In terms of software architecture, the introduction of hypervisor mechanism has greatly improved the safety, usability and maintainability of the product.



(2) Smart modules



Compared with conventional communication modules, smart modules have certain benefits: higher integration and effective cost reduction.



Smart modules that integrate high-compute chip and storage offer powerful processing capabilities and abundant interfaces, and enable such functions as driving record, 360-degree surround view, and head-up display. They may become the mainstream solutions for intelligent cockpits and body domain controllers in the future.



Quectel: in September 2022, Quectel introduced AG855G, China's first smart SiP module that integrates Qualcomm's third-generation automotive intelligent cockpit chip SA8155P. Kryo 485, a 64-bit octa-core processor integrated in AG855G, delivers CPU compute of 100K DMIPS and AI compute of 8 TOPS, and supports up to 3 channels of 4K multiple screens that allow for independent touch control to display different contents, and 12 channels of cameras, enabling high integration of the all-digital dashboard and center console.



In the trend for software-defined vehicles, module manufacturers are required to have great software strength.



The automotive communication module industry features first-mover advantages. Once OEMs select a communication module supplier, they will not change it readily due to high cost. This also made it hard for Chinese suppliers to enter the supply chains of overseas automakers in early years, so they made an expansion at abroad by acquiring automotive module businesses of foreign manufacturers. For example, in 2018, Titan Invo Technology Limited acquired Telit's vehicle communication business; in 2020, Fibocom bought Sierra Wireless' automotive communication module business through its subsidiary Rolling Wireless.



As 5G and C-V2X markets develop, module suppliers are required to have higher technical reserves, especially software strength. In addition, in the megatrend for software-defined vehicles, OEMs' needs for complex application development will further test the software support capabilities of suppliers. The automotive communication module industry has entered a new round of reshuffle.



CICTCI: the self-developed C-V2X module software development kit (gSDK) based on the OpenCPU architecture provides abundant APIs, and allows customers to redevelop peripheral device drivers based on their own hardware design and realize the joint optimization design of software and hardware for customized products.



Morningcore: partnered with several application software providers such as Nebula Link, Neusoft, nFore Technology and Hikailink to jointly launch a turnkey solution that integrate a C-V2X protocol stack and security application software: a full-stack software and hardware integrated solution for mass production.



The solution has a built-in complete protocol stack and various V2X application algorithms, meeting the function and performance requirements of all current V2X security application scenarios and algorithms for low latency, high reliability, high-speed mobility and security. Widely used in telematics, it provides reliable solutions for smart cars, autonomous driving and intelligent transportation systems, and accelerates the development and production of V2X products.



Global and China Automotive Wireless Communication Module Industry Report,2023 highlights the following:

Automotive communication module industry (overview, industry chain, industry standards, market size, market pattern, etc.);

Technical highlights of automotive communication modules (manufacturing capabilities of manufacturers, cost composition, and software strength of suppliers, etc.);

Development directions of automotive communication modules (including 5G modules, smart modules, etc.);

Integration of communication modules in vehicles (integration modes, OEMs' plans for communication module production and application in vehicles, etc.);

Major automotive communication module suppliers (product lines, product plans, latest products, application fields, etc.).

Key Topics Covered:



1 Status Quo of Automotive Communication Module Industry

1.1 Overview of Automotive Communication Module Industry

1.2 Policies and Standards for Automotive Communication Modules

1.3 Automotive Communication Module Market Size

1.3.1 Global and China Passenger Car OEM Communication Module Market Size, 2022-2026E

1.3.2 Global and China Passenger Car OEM Communication Module Market Size, 2022-2026E (Attached Sheet)

1.3.3 China Passenger Car OEM Communication Module Market Size (by 3G/4G/5G Module), 2022-2026E

1.3.4 China Passenger Car OEM Communication Module Market Pattern (by 3G/4G/5G Module), 2022-2026E

1.4 Competitive Landscape of Automotive Communication Module Market

1.4.1 Global Automotive Communication Module Market Pattern Is Stable

1.4.2 Chinese Communication Module Manufacturers Vigorously Acquire Overseas Targets To Expand Overseas Business

1.4.3 China's Automotive Communication Module Suppliers

1.5 Product Selection of Automotive Communication Modules

1.5.1 Release Timeline of Automotive Communication Module Products

1.5.2 Product Selection of Automotive Communication Modules



2 Technical Highlights of Automotive Communication Module

2.1 Technical Highlight 1: Manufacturing Capabilities

2.1.1 Manufacturing Capability 1: Packaging Technology

2.1.2 Manufacturing Capability 2: Production Capacity

2.1.3 Manufacturing Capability 3: Technical Strength

2.1.4 Three Dimensions Reflecting Suppliers' Manufacturing Capabilities

2.2 Technical Highlight 2: Cost

2.2.1 Value Distribution of Wireless Communication Module

2.2.2 Cost Composition of Automotive Wireless Communication Module

2.2.3 Price Trend of Automotive Communication Modules (by 3G\4G\5G Module)

2.3 Technical Highlight 3: Software Strength

2.3.1 Software Strength Becomes a Competitive Edge of Automotive Communication Module Manufacturers

2.3.2 Software Strength of Major Module Manufacturers

2.3.3 Software Strength Case of Module Manufacturers: Quectel Embedded Operating System

2.4 Technical Highlight 4: Key Chips

2.4.1 Overview of Automotive Wireless Communication Chip Market

2.4.2 Distribution of Automotive Communication Chip Vendors



3 Development Trends of Automotive Communication Module

3.1 Development Trend 1: 5G Modules

3.1.1 High Entry Barriers to 5G Module Market

3.1.2 Big Technical Challenges in 5G Modules

3.1.3 Application Directions of 5G Modules in Vehicles

3.1.4 5G Module Market Size

3.1.5 Chinese Manufacturers Lead in 5G Modules

3.1.6 Automotive 5G Communication Module Market Pattern

3.1.7 Mass Production of Automotive 5G Communication Modules

3.2 Development Trend 2: Smart Modules

3.2.1 Domain Control Architecture Helps Communication Modules Evolve Towards Integration (1)

3.2.2 Domain Control Architecture Helps Communication Modules Evolve Towards Integration (2)

3.2.3 Advantages of Smart Modules: High Integration and Low Cost

3.2.4 Smart Module Selection Reference

3.2.5 Smart Module Product Case: Quectel AG855G

3.3 Development Trend 3: 5G Fused Positioning

3.3.1 Advantages of 5G Fused Positioning: Higher Stability and Reliability

3.3.2 5G Fused Positioning Solution 1: 5G+GNSS/RTK

3.3.3 5G Fused Positioning Solution 2: 5G V2X + Positioning + HD Maps

3.3.4 Mass Production of 5G Fused Positioning Solutions

3.3.5 5G Fused Positioning Application Scheme 1: Qualcomm Indoor Positioning

3.3.6 5G Fused Positioning Application Scheme 2: China Mobile 5G + Beidou Positioning System



4 Communication Module Installation and Integration Schemes of OEMs

4.1 Installation Forms of Communication Modules in Vehicles

4.1.1 Integration Forms of Communication Modules in Vehicles

4.1.2 Integration Structure of Communication Modules by Form

4.2 Installation Form 1: Communication Module Integrated Into Independent T-Box

4.2.1 Integration of Communication Module into T-Box Is the Mainstream Solution in the Current Market

4.3 Installation Form 2: Communication Module Integrated into Smart Antenna

4.3.1 Vehicle 5G Smart Antenna

4.3.2 Advantages of Smart Antennas

4.3.3 Installation of Smart Antennas in Vehicles Is A Trend

4.4 Installation Form 3: Communication Module Integrated into Domain Controller

4.4.1 Evolution of Communication Technology under Domain Control Architecture

4.5 Installation Form 4: Communication Module Integrated into Smart Gateway

4.5.1 Integration Case of Communication Module into Smart Gateway

4.6 Communication Module SOP Planning of OEMs



5 Automotive Communication Module Suppliers



Companies Mentioned

Morningcore

Quectel

Fibocom

GosuncnWelink

Huawei

ZTE

MeiG Smart

CICTCI

Neoway Technology

Sunsea AIoT (Longsung + SIMCom)

TitanInvo

Flaircomm

Mobiletek Communication

u-blox

ASR Microelectronics

Qualcomm

Samsung

MediaTek

Autotalks

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/e7ojz9

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

CONTACT: CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood,Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./ CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900




AstuteAnalytica India Pvt. Ltd.

The data center cooling market has significant potential for growth, driven by the increasing number of data centers and the need for energy-efficient solutions. Projections indicate that the market will be valued at US$ 26.07 billion by 2031. The Asia Pacific region, in particular, is emerging as a significant market, with the opening of several new data centers. Companies operating in the market should focus on developing innovative, energy-efficient solutions to meet the evolving needs of data centers.

New Delhi, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global data center cooling market has experienced significant growth, with a value of US$ 8.49 billion in 2022. Projections indicate that this growth will continue, with the market expected to reach a valuation of US$ 26.07 billion by 2031. The market is growing at a CAGR of 13.82% during the forecast period.

Get Free sample copy of this report @ https://www.astuteanalytica.com/request-sample/data-center-cooling-market

Data centers are essential components of modern computing and are used by businesses and organizations to store and process vast amounts of data. However, as per Astute Analytica, data centers require large amounts of power to operate, and this is a growing concern as they are expected to consume 20% of the world's power supply by 2025. This highlights the need for energy-efficient solutions, including data center cooling systems, which can significantly reduce power consumption and associated costs.

The total number of data centers in the world is estimated to be 8,000, and this number is likely to increase as businesses and organizations continue to adopt digital technologies. This presents an opportunity for companies operating in the data center cooling market to develop innovative solutions that meet the unique needs of different types of data centers.

Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the data center infrastructure spending in 2021, reducing it by 10%. However, the market is expected to recover, and global IT data center spending is projected to reach $222 billion in 2023. This indicates that there is a growing demand for data center services and technologies, including data center cooling solutions.

Story continues

The US hosts approximately 33% of the world's data centers. This presents an excellent opportunity for data center cooling providers to focus their efforts in the US market and develop solutions tailored to the unique needs of US-based data centers. The US market is one of the largest and most competitive in the world, with significant demand for energy-efficient and reliable data center cooling solutions.

High Cost of Initial Investment to Acts as Hurdle in Growth of Data Center Cooling Market

The installation of a cooling system in a data center requires a significant initial investment cost. The amount of money needed for installation varies depending on factors such as the size of the data center, the type of cooling system used, and the level of redundancy required. Astute Analyticas study suggests that a traditional air conditioning-based cooling system for a data center can cost anywhere from $500,000 to $2 million for a data center with a capacity of 500 kW. For larger data centers with capacities of 5 MW or more, the cost of a traditional cooling system can range from $10 million to $30 million.

However, newer and more efficient cooling technologies such as liquid cooling can have a higher initial investment cost but may provide long-term cost savings in terms of energy consumption and maintenance. Liquid cooling solutions can range from $1,000 to $2,000 per kW of cooling capacity, with installation costs varying based on the complexity of the system and the location of the data center.

The amount of money spent on the cooling system in the global data center cooling market as a percentage of the total cost of the data center also varies based on the capacity of the data center. For smaller data centers with capacities of 500 kW or less, cooling systems may represent 15-20% of the total cost of the data center. For larger data centers with capacities of 5 MW or more, cooling systems may represent only 5-10% of the total cost.

It is worth noting that while the initial investment cost of a cooling system in a data center may be high, it is important to consider the long-term cost savings that can be achieved through increased energy efficiency and reduced maintenance costs. Investing in an efficient cooling system can also help to reduce the environmental impact of data centers and may be required by government regulations in some areas.

Browse summary of the report and Complete Table of Contents (ToC): https://www.astuteanalytica.com/industry-report/data-center-cooling-market

Asia Pacific is Emerging Hub for Data Center Cooling Market, Capture Over 28% Market Share

The Asia Pacific region is emerging as a new hub for data centers, driven by the growing demand for digital services and the adoption of cloud computing technologies. As a result, the region is projected to offer lucrative opportunities for the data center cooling market. Currently, the number of data centers in the Asia Pacific region is significant, with countries like China and India leading the way. According to recent reports, China is home to over 443 hyperscale data centers, while India has over 163 data centers. Additionally, other countries like Singapore, Japan, and Australia are also significant players in the region's data center market.

Recent advancements and developments in the region have further fueled the growth of the data center cooling market. For example, Singapore's recent launch of its first green data center, the BCA-IMDA Green Mark Platinum data center, has highlighted the importance of energy-efficient and sustainable data center operations. Additionally, China's push for renewable energy sources has led to the development of several green data centers in the country, which are expected to drive the growth of the data center cooling market.

the Asia Pacific region is expected to witness significant growth in the data center market, with the opening of several new data centers by 2031. For example, The Dongyuemiao Data Center Project in Hubei Province, China, completed its first phase, with Huawei Digital Power providing the infrastructure solution. The data center is located on the bank of Three Gorges Dam and will be the largest green data center cluster in Central China once all three phases are completed. It will house 26,400 racks and span over 100,000 square meters.This presents an excellent opportunity for data center cooling providers to capitalize on the growing demand for energy-efficient and reliable data center cooling solutions in the region.

Recent announcements related to data center cooling market in India and China:

India: In March 2022, NTT Ltd announced that it plans to build two new data centers in Mumbai and Chennai, India, with a total investment of $2 billion. The facilities will have a combined capacity of 100 MW and will support the growing demand for data center services in India.

China: In February 2022, China Mobile announced plans to build a new data center in Shanghai, with an investment of $565 million. The facility will have a capacity of 200 MW and will support the growing demand for cloud computing and 5G services in the region.

India: In December 2021, Yotta Infrastructure announced that it plans to build a new data center in Chennai, India, with an investment of $635 million. The facility will have a capacity of 30 MW and will cater to the growing demand for data center services in the region.

China: In November 2021, Alibaba Cloud announced that it plans to build a new data center in Nantong, China, with an investment of $1.4 billion. The facility will have a capacity of 200 MW and will support the growing demand for cloud computing services in the region.

India: In October 2021, STT GDC India announced that it plans to build a new data center in Bengaluru, India, with an investment of $600 million. The facility will have a capacity of 18 MW and will cater to the growing demand for data center services in the region.

Competitive analysis: Top 4 Players Hold Over 45% Market share, Vertiv Leads the Way with Over 22% Revenue Share

The data center cooling market is highly competitive, with several players vying for market share. According to the information provided, the market is slightly oligopolistic, with the cumulative market share of the four major players close to 45%.

Vertiv is currently the largest player in the global data center cooling market, holding more than 22% of the market share. The company offers a range of data center cooling solutions, including precision air conditioning units, free cooling systems, and liquid cooling systems. Vertiv's extensive product portfolio and strong market presence have helped it maintain its leading position in the market.

Schneider Electric is the second-largest player in the market, with a market share of around 13%. The company offers a range of data center cooling solutions, including room air conditioning units, in-row cooling systems, and chilled water systems. Schneider Electric's broad product portfolio and strong brand reputation have helped it maintain a significant market share.

Other notable players in the data center cooling market include STULZ, Rittal, Cool centric, Green Revolution Cooling, Asetek Inc., and Iceotope. These companies offer a range of data center cooling solutions, including air conditioning units, chillers, and cooling towers. These players have a smaller market share but are still significant players in the market.

Some of the Top Market Players Are:

Asetek Inc.

Coolcentric

Daikin Industries Ltd

Green Revolution Cooling

Iceotope

Johnson Controls International PLC

Liquid Cool Solutions Inc.

LiquidStack

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation

Munters Group AB.

Nortek Air Solutions

Parker Hannifin

Rittal GmbH & Co. KG

Schneider Electric SE

SPX Cooling Technologies, Inc

STULZ GMBH

Telx Holdings, Inc. (Digital Realty Trust, Inc.)

Vertiv Co.

Other Prominent Players

Directly Purchase a copy of report with TOC @ https://www.astuteanalytica.com/request-sample/data-center-cooling-market

About Astute Analytica

Astute Analytica is a global analytics and advisory company which has built a solid reputation in a short period, thanks to the tangible outcomes we have delivered to our clients. We pride ourselves in generating unparalleled, in depth and uncannily accurate estimates and projections for our very demanding clients spread across different verticals. We have a long list of satisfied and repeat clients from a wide spectrum including technology, healthcare, chemicals, semiconductors, FMCG, and many more. These happy customers come to us from all across the Globe. They are able to make well calibrated decisions and leverage highly lucrative opportunities while surmounting the fierce challenges all because we analyze for them the complex business environment, segment wise existing and emerging possibilities, technology formations, growth estimates, and even the strategic choices available. In short, a complete package. All this is possible because we have a highly qualified, competent, and experienced team of professionals comprising of business analysts, economists, consultants, and technology experts. In our list of priorities, you-our patron-come at the top. You can be sure of best cost-effective, value-added package from us, should you decide to engage with us.

Contact us:

Aamir Beg

BSI Business Park, H-15,Sector-63, Noida- 201301- India

Phone: +1-888 429 6757 (US Toll Free); +91-0120- 4483891 (Rest of the World)

Email: sales@astuteanalytica.com

Website: www.astuteanalytica.com




Polaris Market Research & Consulting LLP

Polaris Market Research has conducted a comprehensive 2023 research study spanning over [+115] pages, revealing that the global eco fiber market was valued at USD 43.06 Billion in 2022. The study predicts that the market will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.4%and is expected to reach USD 87.72 Billion By 2032. Regenerated fiber segment is expected to grow at fastest CAGR during the forecast period on account of growing prevalence for sustainable goods and high adoption as an alternative to synthetic-based fibers. Some of the top market players are Sateri, Lenzing AG, Grasim Industries; Tangshan Sanyou Xingda Chemical Fiber, US Fibers, Teijin Limited., Polyfiber Industries and others.

New York, NY, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Polaris Market Research has published a new research report titled Eco fiber Market Share, Size, Trends, Industry Analysis Report by Type (Organic, Recycled, Regenerated), Application (Clothing/ Textile, Industrial, Medical), Region; Segment Forecast, 2023 - 2032 in its research database.

According to the latest research analysis, the global eco fiber market size/share is anticipated to be valued at approximately USD 43.06 Billion in 2022 and is projected to hit a revenue of around USD 87.72 Billion By 2032, at a CAGR of around 7.4% between 2023 and 2032.

What are Eco Fibers? How Big is Eco Fiber Market?

Overview

Eco fiber is a type of fiber that is not dependent on the usage of any pesticides or herbicides, or chemicals, such as bamboo, hemp, Ramie, mud silk, etc. This is produced from synthetic materials recycled into eco-fibers, such as polypropylene and polyethylene. These fibers are microbial, mildew, and disease-free resistant. As consumers become more conscious of the effects of the textile industry on the environment, eco-fibers are growing in popularity.

Reduced carbon emissions, reduced water use, and less chemical waste are some advantages of adopting eco-friendly fibers in textiles. Eco fibers are the best alternative to traditional fibers, and their adoption can help create a more ecologically friendly and sustainable textile sector. The rising development of high-quality advanced fabrics, the rapidly growing fashion market, and growth in consumer disposable and inessential income are major factors driving the eco fiber market size across the globe.

Story continues

Request Sample Copy of Eco Fiber Market Research Report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/eco-fiber-market/request-for-sample

(The sample of this report is readily available on request. The report sample contains a brief introduction to the research report, a Table of Contents, a Graphical introduction of regional analysis, Top players in the market with their revenue analysis, and our research methodology.)

Our Sample Report Covers:

2032 Updated Report Introduction, Overview, and In-depth industry analysis.

115+ Pages Research Report (Inclusion of Updated Research).

Provide Chapter-wise guidance on Requests.

2023 Updated Regional Analysis with Graphical Representation of Size, Share & Trends

Includes Updated List of tables & figures.

Updated Report Includes Top Market Players with their Business Strategy, Sales Volume, and Revenue Analysis.

Some of the Top Market Players Are:

Sateri

Lenzing AG

Grasim Industries

Tangshan Sanyou Xingda Chemical Fiber

US Fibers

Teijin Limited

Polyfiber Industries

Foss Performance Materials

Shanghai Tenbro Bamboo Textile

Pilipinas Ecofiber Corporation

Wellman Advanced Materials

Enkev

To Know Additional List of Key Players, Request Here to Download a Free Report PDF Brochure: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/eco-fiber-market/request-for-sample

Prominent Factors Driving the Market Growth

Increasing demand for organic eco-fiber: Growing demand for organic cotton has led manufacturers to increase its production as it does not pollute surface water, soil, or air. Thus, rising concern over the harmful environmental effects of synthetic fibers has been contributing to the demand for organic eco-fiber, thereby propelling the eco fiber market growth.

Government regulations: Many governments have introduced regulations and policies for encouraging the use of eco fibers and discouraging the use of harmful chemicals, which is boosting the industry expansion.

Changing consumer behavior: Consumers are becoming more aware of their impact on the environment and focusing on purchasing eco fibers in textiles which is likely to fuel the eco fiber market demand.

Eco-Friendly Fabrics on the Rise in Fashion: Environmental-friendly fabrics are becoming a favorite among fashion designers. The textile industry is expected to see a rise in the utilization of eco-friendly fibers that possess several desirable properties, such as antimicrobial, insulating, UV-resistant, hypoallergenic, highly breathable, and absorbent.

Request for a Discount on this Report Before Purchase @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/eco-fiber-market/request-for-discount-pricing

Top Findings of Report:

The rising demand for sustainable and environmentally friendly products among consumers, strong government regulations and initiatives towards reducing carbon footprints, and promoting eco-friendly production practices are supporting the market growth.

The market is bifurcated based on type, application, and region.

In terms of geography, the eco fiber market in the Asia Pacific region is predicted to register dominance during the forecast period.

Top trends influencing the market

Growing product demand: Due to the growing demand for eco-fiber worldwide, many eco fiber market key players are focusing on developing and introducing advanced eco-friendly fibers to meet the increasing consumer demand.

Recent collaboration: In March 2022, Renewcell and Grasim Industries collaborated to execute a supply agreement for the provision of premium LIVA REVIVA fibers. The largest cellulosic fiber manufacturers in the world are establishing an unbreakable partnership for the manufacturing of synthetic cellulosic fiber.

Rising investments by textile companies: After China, India, and Germany, the U.S. has one of the major textile industries in the world. The textile companies in the country are concentrating on restructuring their businesses, enhancing their work processes, and investing in niche products and markets.

Request Customized Copy of Report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/eco-fiber-market/request-for-customization

(We customize your report according to your research need. Ask our sales team for report customization.)

Segmental Analysis

The regenerated fiber segment is anticipated to witness the fastest growth rate

By type eco fiber market segmentation, the regenerated fiber segment is expected to witness high growth during the forecast period due to the rise in demand for environment-friendly goods that leads to sustainability. Regenerated fibers are projected to experience a rapid expansion during the anticipated period as they offer definite outstanding attributes, including good absorbency, luster, ease of dyeing, good drape, and high wet tenacity, making them an ideal substitute for synthetic fibers.

Industrial segment is expected to register a considerable market share

The most common eco fibers used in industrial sectors include recycled polyester, lyocell, viscose, and organic cotton. Eco fibers have several uses in the industrial sector, including ropes, shoes, automobile parts, solar panels, labels, and clothing that is fire resistant. Eco fiber has revolutionized the industrial construction of various structures such as dams, houses, and tunnels. In addition, there has been a rise in the utilization of eco fibers by both military personnel and civilians due to their ability to provide fire-resistant protective clothing. This has led to the development of flame-resistant suits, gloves, and other such items.

Inquire more about this report before purchase @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/eco-fiber-market/inquire-before-buying

(Inquire about a report quote OR available discount offers to the sales team before purchase.)

Eco Fiber Market: Report Scope & Coverage

Report Attribute Details Revenue Forecast in 2032 USD 87.72 Billion Market size value in 2023 USD 46.18 Billion Expected CAGR Growth 7.4% from 2023  2032 Base Year 2022 Forecast Year 2023  2032 Top Market Players Sateri (China), Lenzing AG (Austria); Grasim Industries Ltd. (India); Tangshan Sanyou Group Xingda Chemical Fiber Co., Ltd. (China), US Fibers (US), Teijin Limited. (Japan), Polyfiber Industries Limited (India), David C Poole Company Inc (US) Segments Covered By Type, By Application, By Region Customization Options Customized purchase options are available to meet any research needs. Explore customized purchase options

Geographic Overview

Asia Pacific: The growing awareness of eco-friendly raw materials is expected to contribute to sustainable development in countries such as India, Japan, China, and other APACs. This factor is likely to support market growth in various Asian countries. Other factors, such as the growing population, demand for smooth textured fabric, and reusing organic and fashionable apparel while producing it in an eco-friendly manner with no CO2 emissions, are fueling the market growth in the Asia Pacific.

North America: The rising use of sustainable materials and methods for everything, such as eco-friendly fibers, in order to ensure future livelihood is one of the prominent eco fiber market trends propelling the North American market expansion.

Browse the Detail Report Eco fiber Market Share, Size, Trends, Industry Analysis Report by Type (Organic, Recycled, Regenerated), Application (Clothing/ Textile, Industrial, Medical), Region; Segment Forecast, 2023 - 2032 with in-depth TOC: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/eco-fiber-market

For Additional Information OR Media Enquiry, Please Mail At: sales@polarismarketresearch.com

Recent Developments

In April 2022, Teijin developed an eco-friendly polyester nanofiber to strengthen rubber in products such as hoses, belts, and tires. Through their THINK ECO initiative, they aim to improve environmental sustainability and expand applications from industrial to clothing materials.

In March 2022, Lenzing AG announced the construction of the largest lyocell production facility in the world, with a capacity of 100,000 tonnes, in Thailand to meet the steadily increasing demand for TENCEL-branded lyocell fibers.

The Key Questions Answered in This Report

What will be the market size and growth rate in the forecast year?

What are the key factors driving the industry?

What are the main trends that are positively impacting the market growth?

What growth opportunities does the market offer?

What are the key outcomes of Porters five forces model?

What are the names of key players working in the industry?

What growth strategies are the companies considering to stay in the market?

Polaris Market Research has segmented the eco fiber market report based on type, application, and region:

By Type Outlook

Organic

Recycled

Regenerated

By Application Outlook

Clothing/Textile

Industrial

Medical

By Region Outlook

North America (U.S., Canada)

Europe (France, Germany, UK, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Russia)

Asia Pacific (Japan, China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea)

Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina)

Middle East & Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Israel, South Africa)

Browse More Research Reports:

Plant-Based Leather Market: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/plant-based-leather-market

White Oil Market: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/white-oil-market

Surveillance Radars Market: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/surveillance-radars-market

Optical Waveguide Market: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/optical-waveguide-market

Mobile Accessories Market: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/mobile-accessories-market

About Polaris Market Research

Polaris Market Research is a global market research and consulting company. The company specializes in providing exceptional market intelligence and in-depth business research services for PMRs clientele spread across different enterprises. We at Polaris are obliged to serve PMRs diverse customer base present across the industries of healthcare, technology, semiconductors, and chemicals among various other industries present around the world. We strive to provide PMRs customers with updated information on innovative technologies, high-growth markets, emerging business environments, and the latest business-centric applications, thereby helping them always to make informed decisions and leverage new opportunities. Adept with a highly competent, experienced, and extremely qualified team of experts comprising SMEs, analysts, and consultants, we at Polaris endeavor to deliver value-added business solutions to PMRs customers.

Contact:

Likhil G

30 Wall Street

8th Floor,

New York City, NY 10005,

United States

Phone: +1-929 297-9727

Email: sales@polarismarketresearch.com

Web: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com

Follow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter

Blog: https://polarismarketresearch.medium.com




Company Logo

Dublin, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Glass Fiber Yarn Market- Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2018-2028 Segmented By Type (E-Glass, S-Glass, and Others), By Yarn Type (Single Yarn, Piled Yarn, and Others), By Application, By End User Industry, By Region and Competition" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global glass fiber yarn market is anticipated to increase at an impressive rate through 2028.

Companies Mentioned

Saint-Gobain S.A

Owens Corning Composite Materials, LLC

China Jushi Group Ltd

Nippon Electric Glass Co. Ltd

Chongqing Polycomp International Corporation

AGY Holdings Corp.

China Beihai Fiberglass Co. Ltd.

Taiwan Glass Industry Corp.

Fulltech Industries Corp.

F.I.T Industrial Co., Ltd.

Glass fibers yarn is a kind of yarn with comparatively allied glass fiber avoiding any weave. Glass fibers are used to strengthen the plastic or surfaces to increase tensile strength, flex modulus, impact resistance, dimensional constancy, heat, chemical, and worm resistance.

There are different types of yarns, such as E-glass, high-strength (HS)-glass, S- glass, and corrosion-resistant (CR)-glass. Each glass type has specific characteristics and different purposes according to its features.



Growing demand from various end users for construction, automobile, sports, fishers, aerospace, and manufacturing are the crucial factors that impel the market's growth. The standard of living and demand for eco-friendly products leads to an increase in the demand for consumer goods and products as well as related industries.

Furthermore, government regulation over trade, such as free trade agreements, bilateral agreements, and regional trade agreements, are encouraging import and export that propel the market growth. Thus, it is expected that the global glass fiber yarn market will grow in the projected year.



Rising demand from Construction Industries



Advanced characteristics possessed by glass fiber yarn, such as tensile strength, flex modulus, impact resistance, dimensional constancy, and heat resistance, have significantly increased the demand for glass fiber yarn across the construction industry.

Story continues

Additionally, glass fiber yarn is resistant to chemicals and worms. All these properties help industries to create a lighter and more rigid product that can be used to make desired finished goods. Glass fibers can be molded into different shapes and provide low thermal conductivity that makes this product to use in walls for insulation and in concrete to increase strength in low cost.

Due to these properties, it is used in the production of window and gate frames that expand and contract scantly with temperature fluctuations. Thus, the demand for glass fiber yarn is accepted to rise to satisfy the need for high strength, wall insulation, and different shape products. The flourishing construction industry is expected to increase the demand for the glass fiber yarn market in the coming years.



Growing Demand for Production Power Generation Machinery



The core area of today's development is revolved around renewable and sustainable development. Electricity is considered a significant component of modern development. This situation will lead to demand for renewable energy and shift the market to opt for new power generation methods and machinery.

Due to its properties, different machinery parts of the power generation industry, such as scrubbers, tank farms, and others, use fiberglass as a basic component. Apart from these, glass fiber yarn is used to make printed circuit boards (PCBs) that are used in different electronic devices. Hence, it is expected that the demand for glass fiber yarn will rise as the demand for power generation products and related product grows.



Increasing Demand for Electricity from Sustainable Sources



The growing awareness related to the environment and sustainability has significantly increased over the years. This, in turn, has increased the demand for renewable energy, especially wind energy which is one of the best renewable energy sources. The turbine blades of wind energy are made from glass fiber yarn, making them stiff and lighter in weight. As technology is emerging, there are huge prospects for the growth of the glass fiber yarn market in the coming years.



Report Scope:



In this report, global glass fiber yarn market has been segmented into the following categories, in addition to the industry trends which have also been detailed below:



Glass Fiber Yarn Market, By type:

E-Glass

S-Glass

Others PVC

Glass Fiber Yarn Market, By Yarn type:

Single Yarn

Piled Yarn

Others

Glass Fiber Yarn Market, By application:

PCB

Structural Parts

Facade

Marble & Mosaic Tiles

Others

Glass Fiber Yarn Market, By end-user industry:

Wind Energy

Automotive & Transportation

Building & Construction

Electronic & Electricals

Marine

Others

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/gms13l

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

CONTACT: CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood,Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./ CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900




Company Logo

Dublin, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Hard Seltzer Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2018-2028FSegmented By ABV Content, By Packaging, By Distribution Channel, By Region, Competition" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.





The global hard seltzer market is anticipated to project robust growth in the forecast period because of increasing awareness and the growing popularity of a healthy alternative worldwide.

The market is witnessing growth in countries like the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Moreover, the market is witnessing a surge in demand for regular alcoholic drinks as it is gluten-free with a low calorie, carbohydrate, and sugar content. Therefore, the focus of growing awareness among consumers on the significance of consuming hard seltzer is constantly on boost.

The market of Hard Seltzer is expected to witness a sudden surge in competition for manufacturing and supplying from another developing category, with the growing preference for low-ABV, sparkling-wine spritzes across the globe. While hard seltzer has taken market share away from beer, wine, and spirits, the sparkling-wine sector has been the most significantly impacted.

According to Nielsen's research, households with sparkling wine consumers spent an average of USD 43 on hard seltzer last year, followed by families with spirits consumers who spent an average of USD 41 and households with beer/malt/cider consumers with an average spend of 37 USD.



Women, millennials, and higher-income households were the most fans when hard seltzers emerged. As per the data collected by New York-based company Cowen Inc. in March 2020, white consumers have the greatest absolute hard seltzer prevalence among ethnic groups at roughly 19%.

Black/African Americans, Hispanic/Latinos, and Asian ethnic groups all have a prevalence rate of about 12%. According to the poll, consumers in the USD 50,000 to USD 99,000 income group had the highest incidence accounting for roughly 38% regarding income levels. The respondents in the cohort with the lowest income, less than USD 25,000, had the lowest incidence, around 17%.



It's also more accessible, safer, and less expensive for outdoor drinkers to bring hard seltzer than to mix up a pitcher of Aperol Spritz. This is why more than half of respondents to a 2019 Nielsen survey cited it as a reason for buying canned cocktails and hard seltzers.

Story continues

This convenience factor is more significant than ever during the Covid-19 and social distancing due to visiting bar restrictions. As a result, the product saw an increase in market demand. For instance, there were ten hard seltzer brands in 2018, 26 in 2019, and more than 65 brands worldwide in 2020.

Growing Health Consciousness Influencing Shift Towards Vegan Products

The market is expanding due to the wide availability of options in the product category, satisfying particular needs linked with the issue of obesity and age requirements, followed by the rising popularity of plant-based products. Hard seltzer is essentially fruit-flavored, boozy, carbonated water. Most hard seltzers have an alcohol content of 4.5-7% and have no more than 100 calories per can. It comes in various tastes, including tangerine, lemon, and watermelon.



In developed nations like the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and Australia, the demand for beverages with minimal alcohol content, calories, and carbohydrates is projected to increase. Gluten-free drinks are becoming more popular among health-conscious consumers as people with allergies or celiac disease discover their advantages of them. Gluten-free hard seltzer drinks have also been shown to be helpful for people with autoimmune disorders and inflammatory diseases.

Innovating Offerings Aiding the Market Growth

A significant factor in the market's growth is the accelerating demand for launching new and innovative products by relevant companies within each product category. For instance, consider the example of the meat substitute category; Vizzy comes in four flavors and is offered in 12-ounce variety packs.

Additionally, single 24-ounce cans and six-packs of the well-liked Pineapple Mango are available. Young adults between the ages of 25 and 35 who are conscious of their decisions and increasingly value the presence of positives above the absence of sugar and calories make up Vizzy's target market.

Rising Investment in Hard Seltzer Market Driving the Market Growth

Numerous businesses identify potential areas in the industry for their nations and develop regional strategies. A prominent trend gaining traction in the hard seltzer market is the increase in investment made by market participants in their R&D to introduce novel products.

Major players in the hard seltzer industry are concentrating their R & D spending on creating new products with standout features and strengthening their position. For instance, Molson Coors Beverage Co. will restart its investment to push the growth of the US hard seltzer market in June 2022.

The investment at a Fort Worth facility is part of a more significant effort by Molson Coors to increase its position in the hard seltzer market. Additionally, to increase its capacity for producing seltzer, Anheuser-Busch, the American division of Belgian brewing giant AB InBev, would invest USD 50 million in its St. Louis brewery in April 2022.

Competitive Landscape

To remain competitive in the market, companies are focusing on maximizing their reach. For instance, in May 2022, Mark Anthony Brands International increased its awareness campaign for its White Claw hard seltzer brand at UK festivals by spending more than 4 million on a marketing campaign.

Market Dynamics

Drivers

Growing Health Consciousness

Increase in Online Sales of Alcoholic Beverages

Wide Variety of Flavors offered under Hard Seltzer

Challenges

Stringent Government Laws

Lack of Awareness for Hard Seltzer

Competitive Landscape

Detailed analysis of the major companies present in the global hard seltzer market.

Anheuser-Busch Companies LLC

Boston Beer Company

Molson Coors Beverage Company

Diageo North America Inc.

Mark Anthony Brands International

E. & J. Gallo Winery (High Noon Spirits Company)

Heineken USA Incorporated

Oskar Blues Brewery Holding Co LLC

Constellation Brands, Inc.

San Juan Seltzer Inc.

Report Scope:

Hard Seltzer Market, By ABV Content:

Equals to 5%

Less than 5%

More than 5%

Hard Seltzer Market, By Packaging:

Bottle

Cans

Hard Seltzer Market, By Distribution Channel:

On-trade

Supermarkets/Hypermarkets

Specialty Stores

Online

Others

Hard Seltzer Market, By Region:

North America

United States

Canada

Mexico

Europe

United Kingdom

Germany

France

Italy

Spain

Switzerland

Netherland

Asia-Pacific

China

India

Japan

Malaysia

South Korea

Australia

New Zealand

South America

Brazil

Argentina

Colombia

Middle East & Africa

Israel

Saudi Arabia

South Africa

Iran

Turkey

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/ypqp87

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

CONTACT: CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood,Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./ CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900




AstuteAnalytica India Pvt. Ltd.

The mechanical ventilator market is expected to grow significantly in the coming years due to the increasing prevalence of respiratory diseases and a rising geriatric population. The COVID-19 pandemic has also led to a surge in demand for mechanical ventilators, further driving market growth. Advancements in technology, such as the development of portable and non-invasive ventilators, are also expected to contribute to the expansion of the market.

New Delhi, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global mechanical ventilator market was valued at US$ 4,577.82 million in 2022 and is expected to generate a revenue of US$ 8,938.98 million by 2031, reflecting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.16% during the forecast period.

Get Free sample copy of this report @ https://www.astuteanalytica.com/request-sample/mechanical-ventilator-market

The global mechanical ventilator market is experiencing significant growth, driven primarily by the increasing number of patients suffering from respiratory diseases and the rising number of preterm births. Governments' initiatives to promote the use of mechanical ventilators and technological advancements are also playing a crucial role in fueling the market's growth.

According to the World Health Organization, over 343 million people worldwide suffered from asthma in 2021, making it one of the most common chronic diseases in children. Moreover, asthma-related deaths were estimated to be around 461,000 globally. The high prevalence of respiratory diseases is a significant factor driving the mechanical ventilator market's growth.

Another crucial factor that is expected to fuel the market's growth during the forecast period is the increasing geriatric population. The Population Reference Bureau estimates that people aged 60 years or above are projected to reach 2.1 billion by 2050 from 1.4 billion in 2022, which is almost triple the geriatric population in 2010. The growth in the geriatric population is likely to increase the demand for mechanical ventilators in the coming years.

Story continues

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the mechanical ventilation industry, with demand for these devices surging as hospitals grapple with an influx of patients with severe respiratory illness. The sharp increase in demand put immense pressure on suppliers of mechanical ventilators in 2020 and early 2021, with some manufacturers struggling to keep up with orders and even rationing supplies of these critical devices. As a result, prices for mechanical ventilators soared in recent months. However, numerous players temporarily entered the mechanical ventilator manufacturing industry in 2020 and the following year to meet the high demand.

Non-Invasive and Portable Mechanical Ventilators Dominate Sales in 2022, Hospitals and Clinics Remain Top Consumers

According to the market research analysis, the global mechanical ventilator market had a total sale of 204,520 units in 2022, with a significant proportion of sales coming from non-invasive and portable ventilators.

Non-invasive ventilators, which are designed to provide respiratory support without the need for invasive procedures such as intubation, were the dominant segment in the market, accounting for over 57% of the total sales. This trend is expected to continue, as non-invasive ventilation is considered to be more patient-friendly and cost-effective compared to invasive ventilation, and can also reduce the risk of complications associated with invasive procedures.

Portable ventilators, which allow patients to be treated outside the hospital setting or while being transported, accounted for 44% of the total sales. This reflects the growing demand for mobility and flexibility in the healthcare industry, as well as the increasing adoption of home healthcare services.

The analysis also shows that hospitals and clinics are the primary consumers of mechanical ventilators, accounting for over 46% of the total sales. This highlights the critical role played by hospitals and clinics in driving the growth of the mechanical ventilator market. The increasing number of patients suffering from respiratory diseases, along with the rising number of preterm births, is expected to further fuel the demand for mechanical ventilators in hospitals and clinics.

More than 102.22 thousand units Mechanical Ventilators Were Sold in North America

The US is the largest contributor to the North American mechanical ventilator market. This is due to the high demand for these devices in the country. There are many reasons why people in the US require mechanical ventilation, including medical conditions such as COPD and asthma. This is not surprising given the high number of intensive care unit beds in the US and the fact that many hospitals have been investing in new ventilator technologies.

In the US, chronic respiratory diseases such as COPD, asthma, and lung cancer are prevalent. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as of 2021, about 16 million Americans have been diagnosed with COPD, and it is the third leading cause of death in the country. Additionally, about 25 million Americans have asthma, and lung cancer is the second most common cancer in the US.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also had a significant impact on the prevalence of respiratory diseases in the US mechanical ventilator market. As of April 2023, there have been over 56 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the US, with over 800,000 deaths. Many of the severe cases of COVID-19 require mechanical ventilation to support breathing, leading to an increased demand for ventilators in hospitals and other healthcare facilities.

Moreover, the US has an aging population, and the prevalence of chronic respiratory diseases tends to increase with age. According to the United States Census Bureau, as of 2021, there were over 73 million Americans aged 65 and older, and this number is expected to increase to over 92 million by 2060. This demographic shift is likely to drive up the demand for mechanical ventilators and other respiratory care equipment in the future.

Browse summary of the report and Complete Table of Contents (ToC): https://www.astuteanalytica.com/industry-report/mechanical-ventilator-market

Global Mechanical Ventilator Market is Highly Consolidate With top 3 Players Holding Over 56% Revenue Share

Hamilton Medical is a leading mechanical ventilator producer with over 35 years of experience. It offers a wide range of ventilators and has subsidiaries and distributors in over 100 countries. The company generated more than 21% revenue in 2022. It is followed by Getinge AB and Dragerwerk AG & Company KGaA.

The mechanical ventilator industry has seen significant changes in the past few years. The biggest change has been the consolidation of the industry into a handful of large companies. This has resulted in fewer choices for customers and higher prices. The other major change in the industry has been the introduction of new technology. This has allowed for smaller, more portable machines that are easier to use. The downside is that these new machines are more expensive than the older ones they replace.

There are still a few small companies operating in the mechanical ventilator market, but they are facing challenges from the larger companies. The small companies don't have the marketing budgets or sales teams of the larger companies, so they have a hard time getting their products noticed.

The future of the mechanical ventilator industry looks bright, despite the challenges it currently faces. The consolidation of the industry will continue, but there is still room for small companies to compete. And, as more hospitals and clinics adopt new technology, the demand for mechanical ventilators will continue to grow.

Some of the Top Market Players Are:

Becton, Dickinson and Company

Bunnell Incorporated

Carl Reiner GmbH

Dragerwerk AG & Co. KGaA

GE Healthcare

Getinge AB

Hamilton Medical

ICU Medical, Inc

Koninklijke Philips N.V.

Medtronic

Mindray Medical International Limited

Penlon Limited

ResMed

Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics Co., Ltd.

Smiths Medical

Vyaire Medical Inc.

Zoll Medical Corporation

Other prominent players

Directly Purchase a copy of report with TOC @ https://www.astuteanalytica.com/inquire-before-purchase/mechanical-ventilator-market

About Astute Analytica

Astute Analytica is a global analytics and advisory company which has built a solid reputation in a short period, thanks to the tangible outcomes we have delivered to our clients. We pride ourselves in generating unparalleled, in depth and uncannily accurate estimates and projections for our very demanding clients spread across different verticals. We have a long list of satisfied and repeat clients from a wide spectrum including technology, healthcare, chemicals, semiconductors, FMCG, and many more. These happy customers come to us from all across the Globe. They are able to make well calibrated decisions and leverage highly lucrative opportunities while surmounting the fierce challenges all because we analyze for them the complex business environment, segment wise existing and emerging possibilities, technology formations, growth estimates, and even the strategic choices available. In short, a complete package. All this is possible because we have a highly qualified, competent, and experienced team of professionals comprising of business analysts, economists, consultants, and technology experts. In our list of priorities, you-our patron-come at the top. You can be sure of best cost-effective, value-added package from us, should you decide to engage with us.

Contact us:

Aamir Beg

BSI Business Park, H-15,Sector-63, Noida- 201301- India

Phone: +1-888 429 6757 (US Toll Free); +91-0120- 4483891 (Rest of the World)

Email: sales@astuteanalytica.com

Website: www.astuteanalytica.com




Company Logo

Global Medical Coatings For Implants Market

Global Medical Coatings For Implants Market

Dublin, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Medical Coatings For Implants Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Product (Hydroxyapatite), By Technology (Plasma Spray), By Application, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2023 - 2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global medical coatings for implants market size is expected to reach USD 2,832.17 million by 2030. The market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 9.3% from 2023 to 2030.

The growth is mainly driven by growing demand for medical implants for cardiovascular, dental, and orthopedics on the account of rising health issues related to bones, dental, and heart. Increase in incidence of orthopedic injuries, diseases such as arthritis, osteoarthritis, and the rapid rise in geriatric population are propelling the demand for orthopedic implants, further driving the demand for medical coatings.

Increasing elderly population, rising need for medical care of the aging population, rise in the prevalence of chronic disorders & diseases, and increasing healthcare expenditure is also augmenting the demand for medical coatings for implants.



Medical device coatings provide beneficial properties, including lubricity, flexibility, biocompatibility, antimicrobial, drug-eluting, and thromboresistance, to medical devices. The consumption for medical coatings has largely surged among manufacturers of cardiac arrest devices, catheters, feeding tubes, epidural probes, stents, guide wires, and other devices, which are to be inserted in the human body. These coatings provide high resistance against Healthcare Associated Infections (HAI), which is very common among people, who have been implanted with foreign devices for medical health care purposes.



The growing demand for coatings is expected to augment industry growth, as they improve biocompatibility between living tissues and medical devices. Rising preference for implantable and non-implantable medical equipment, along with growing number of private and public hospitals, is likely to fuel market growth. Technological innovation, such as introduction of antimicrobial microRESIST technology for orthopedic implants and catheters with anti-microbial properties, are further expected to foster market growth over the forecast period.



Healthcare expenditure in North America is likely to be driven by the rising prevalence of chronic diseases coupled with the expansion of insurance coverage in the U.S. The strengthening of the Western European economies is expected to result in high provision for healthcare expenditure in the annual budgetary proposals. The healthcare expenditure in Central & South America is expected to be driven by developments in the healthcare industry in Brazil. Moreover, healthcare industry in Asia is expected to be fueled by the growing consumer wealth in economies such as China and India. The presence of a well-developed healthcare industry in India coupled with growth of medical tourism is expected to augment the demand for medical coatings for implants.



Medical Coatings For Implants Market Report Highlights

Story continues

Nanoparticle is the fastest growing product segment by revenue with an expected to expand at a CAGR of 10.3% on owing to the growing adaption of nano-technology in healthcare system

Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) is the second fastest growing technology segment after others by revenue with an expected CAGR of 9.7% due to its properties such as corrosion resistance of metallic implants and it reduces allergic reactions

Dental implants is the fastest growing application segment by revenue with an expected CAGR of 10.3% due to growing demand for dental implants on the account of deteriorating teeth condition due to excessive consumption of junk food

Asia Pacific is the fastest growing region by revenue with a CAGR of 10.0% because of growing population in the region

Medical Coatings for Implants manufacturers are striving to elevate their production capacities in order to ensure regular supply of the product due to its growing demand from automotive industry

Key Attributes:

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 112 Forecast Period 2022 - 2030 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2022 $1387.24 Million Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2030 $2832.17 Million Compound Annual Growth Rate 9.3% Regions Covered Global

Key Topics Covered:



Chapter 1 Methodology and Scope



Chapter 2 Executive Summary



Chapter 3 Medical Coatings for Implants Market Variables and Trends



Chapter 4 Medical Coatings for Implants Market: Product Estimates & Trend Analysis

4.1 Product Movement Analysis & Market Share, 2022 & 2030

4.2 Medical Coatings for Implants Market Estimates & Forecast, By Product (Tons) (USD Million)

4.2.1 Hydroxyapatite (HA)

4.2.2 Titanium Plasma Spray

4.2.3 Nanoparticle

4.2.4 Others



Chapter 5 Medical Coatings for Implants Market: Technology Estimates & Trend Analysis

5.1 Technology Movement Analysis & Market Share, 2022 & 2030

5.2 Medical Coatings for Implants Market Estimates & Forecast, By Technology (Tons) (USD Million)

5.2.1 Plasma Spray

5.2.2 Vacuum Spray

5.2.3 Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD)

5.2.4 Others



Chapter 6 Medical Coatings for Implants Market: Application Estimates & Trend Analysis

6.1 Application Movement Analysis & Market Share, 2022 & 2030

6.2 Medical Coatings for Implants Market Estimates & Forecast, By Application (Tons) (USD Million)

6.2.1 Orthopedic Implant Screws

6.2.2 Dental Implants

6.2.3 Cardiovascular Implants

6.2.4 Others



Chapter 7 Medical Coatings for Implants Market: Regional Estimates & Trend Analysis



Chapter 8 Medical Coatings for Implants Market - Competitive Landscape



Companies Mentioned

Himed

Hydromer

DOT GmbH

Lincotek Group S.p.A.

Medicoat AG

CAM Bioceramics B.V.

APS Materials, Inc.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/ak08vm

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Attachment

CONTACT: CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood,Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./ CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900




AstuteAnalytica India Pvt. Ltd.

The oil condition monitoring market is a rapidly growing industry that utilizes various technologies such as infrared spectroscopy, lubricant condition monitoring, and wear debris analysis to assess the health of machinery and equipment. This market is driven by the need for efficient maintenance and reducing downtime costs in various industries, including manufacturing, automotive, and aerospace. The market is expected to continue to grow due to the increasing demand for predictive maintenance solutions.

New Delhi, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global oil condition monitoring market is experiencing significant growth, with its valuation reaching US$ 862.7 million in 2022 and a projected market size of US$ 1,496.3 million by 2031. The market is set to expand at a CAGR of 6.35% during the forecast period from 2023 to 2031.

Get Free sample copy of this report @ https://www.astuteanalytica.com/request-sample/oil-condition-monitoring-Market

The rapid growth is attributed to various factors, including increasing demand for machinery reliability, rising concerns over environmental protection, and advancements in technology. Oil condition monitoring is essential in ensuring machinery reliability by monitoring the quality of lubricants used in machines, thus preventing breakdowns and unplanned downtime. In a survey conducted by Plant Engineering, 77% of respondents said that predictive maintenance, including oil analysis, helped reduce their maintenance costs. A report by Astute Analytica found that the adoption of oil condition monitoring technologies helped a company in the oil and gas industry save $300,000 annually in maintenance costs and increased equipment availability by 5%.

The current landscape of the global oil condition monitoring market is highly competitive, with several key players operating in the market. Some of the major players in this market include Parker Hannifin Corporation, General Electric, SGS SA, Intertek Group PLC, and Bureau Veritas SA. These companies offer a range of oil condition monitoring products and services such as spectroscopy, particle counting, viscosity measurement, and elemental analysis.

Story continues

One of the major factors driving the growth of the oil condition monitoring market is the increasing demand for predictive maintenance. With the help of oil condition monitoring, companies can predict potential problems and prevent equipment failure, which can result in costly downtime and repairs. Furthermore, oil condition monitoring helps companies to reduce their maintenance costs and increase their equipment lifespan. Additionally, the development of advanced technologies such as cloud-based oil condition monitoring systems and the internet of things (IoT) is expected to create new opportunities for market players in the future.

As per Astute Analytica, the global market offers attractive investment opportunities. Companies that focus on developing advanced technologies such as cloud-based oil condition monitoring systems and the IoT are likely to be well-positioned for future growth.

Key Findings of the Global Oil Condition Monitoring Market

By Sampling Type: The offsite lab sampling type is expected to capture over 55% of the market share, primarily due to the accuracy of results obtained from laboratory testing.

By Monitoring: The online segment is anticipated to generate more than 54% market revenue, as it allows for real-time monitoring of lubricants and early detection of anomalies in their condition.

By Methods: The oil conditioning sensors segment is expected to hold over 56% market share, thanks to their accuracy and reliability in detecting any anomalies in the lubricants' condition.

By Application: The combustion engine segment is projected to hold over 28% market share, due to the widespread use of combustion engines in various industries.

By Industry: The oil & gas industry is expected to hold more than 19% revenue share, as a result of significant investments made by the industry in predictive maintenance technologies.

Browse summary of the report and Complete Table of Contents (ToC): https://www.astuteanalytica.com/industry-report/oil-condition-monitoring-Market



Online Monitoring to Remain the Most Popular and Contribute Over 54% Revenue to Global Oil Condition Monitoring Market

Online monitoring is dominating the global market due to its numerous benefits over traditional methods of oil condition monitoring such as its ability to provide real-time monitoring, enabling early detection of potential equipment failures, thereby reducing downtime and maintenance costs. It also facilitates remote monitoring, eliminating the need for on-site personnel and providing access to data from anywhere in the world.

Another factor contributing to the dominance of online oil condition monitoring is the growing adoption of Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things (IoT) in various industries. With the increasing use of sensors and connected devices, it has become easier to collect and analyze data in real-time, making online oil condition monitoring a preferred choice. Moreover, companies opt for online oil condition monitoring to ensure the reliability of their equipment, prevent unplanned downtime, and reduce maintenance costs. They also see it as a way to improve operational efficiency, optimize equipment performance, and extend the lifespan of their assets.

According to a survey conducted by Astute Analytica on the oil condition monitoring market, the majority of respondents (57.8%) preferred online oil condition monitoring over traditional methods. The survey also found that the most significant drivers for adopting online oil condition monitoring were cost savings (29.1%), increased equipment reliability (23.5%), and improved maintenance planning (17.2%). The survey also revealed that the primary application areas for online oil condition monitoring were in the manufacturing and energy sectors. In the manufacturing sector, online oil condition monitoring was used to monitor critical equipment such as compressors, turbines, and pumps. In the energy sector, it was used for monitoring generators, transformers, and other electrical equipment.

Current Opportunities and Trends: Emergence of IoT and Big Data Analytics

The advancements in technology have been instrumental in driving the growth of the oil condition monitoring market. The introduction of new sensor technologies, such as optical sensors, vibration sensors, and acoustic sensors, has improved the accuracy and reliability of oil condition monitoring systems. These sensors can detect the smallest changes in the lubricant's chemical and physical properties, enabling early detection of potential equipment failures.

Moreover, the emergence of IoT and big data analytics has enabled the collection and analysis of large volumes of data from oil condition monitoring systems in real-time. This has allowed for predictive maintenance, which involves identifying potential equipment failures before they occur and taking proactive measures to prevent them. This has led to significant cost savings by reducing equipment downtime and repair costs.

Asia Pacific is Set to Remain Second-Largest Market with over 28% Market Share

North America to dominate the global oil condition monitoring market with over 35% market share. On the other hand, Asia Pacific to remain the fastest growing with second largest revenue share until the end of the forecast period. The Asia Pacific region's position as the second-largest market for adhesives is supported by several factors. The region's diverse mix of end-users, including the construction, automotive, and healthcare industries, has a significant impact on the market. The growth of these industries, coupled with the region's large and growing population, is driving demand for adhesives in the Asia Pacific region. Additionally, the region's economic growth and focus on innovation and technological advancements have led to the development of new applications for adhesives, further driving demand in various industries.

Looking ahead, the Asia Pacific market is projected to continue to grow as the region's population continues to expand, and economic development drives demand for adhesives in construction, automotive, and healthcare industries. The region's emphasis on innovation and technological advancements is also expected to drive further growth by creating new applications for adhesives.

However, the market is not without its challenges, such as the increasing cost of raw materials and the need for sustainability in product development. Despite these challenges, the Asia Pacific market is poised to remain a significant player in the global adhesive market, driving innovation and growth in various industries across the region.

Oil Condition Monitoring Market is Highly Competitive: General Electric Company and Shell LubeAnalyst Contribute Over 15% Revenue

The oil condition monitoring market is highly competitive and dominated by the top 10 players who collectively hold over 40% market share. General Electric Company and Shell LubeAnalyst are two major players that hold a considerable share of over 15%, with GE Company leading the market with over 7.8% market share.

The dominance of these players can be attributed to several factors, including their significant investments in research and development to improve their products and services. These investments have helped them to remain ahead of the competition by introducing new, innovative products that are tailored to meet the ever-changing needs of customers. Furthermore, these players have a strong global presence, allowing them to reach a wider audience and expand their customer base.

In addition, the competitive landscape of the oil condition monitoring market is shaped by several other factors such as the rising demand for predictive maintenance solutions, increasing focus on equipment optimization and the growing adoption of cloud-based solutions. Companies that offer advanced solutions to these problems are more likely to gain market share and maintain a competitive edge.

As a result, smaller players in the market face significant challenges in competing with these larger, established companies. These players often struggle to invest heavily in research and development, leading to a lack of innovation in their products and services. Furthermore, they may have a limited global presence, making it difficult to compete with larger players that have established themselves in multiple regions.

Some of the Top Market Players Are:

Al Nukhba

Avenisense SA

BP p.l.c.

Bureau Veritas

Bureau Veritas

Chevron Corporation

Cm Technologies GmbH

Delta Services Industries (DSI)

Des-Case Corporation

Eaton Corporation

Element Materials Technology

General Electric Company

Gill Sensors & Controls Limited

Hydac International

Insight Services Inc.

Intertek Group Plc

Lakeside

Maxxam Analytics

OptaSense

Parker Hannifin Corporation

Poseidon Systems, LLC

SGS Group

Shell LubeAnalyst

TE Connectivity

TestOil (Insight Services, Inc.)

Other Prominent Players

Directly Purchase a copy of report with TOC @ https://www.astuteanalytica.com/inquire-before-purchase/oil-condition-monitoring-Market

About Astute Analytica

Astute Analytica is a global analytics and advisory company which has built a solid reputation in a short period, thanks to the tangible outcomes we have delivered to our clients. We pride ourselves in generating unparalleled, in depth and uncannily accurate estimates and projections for our very demanding clients spread across different verticals. We have a long list of satisfied and repeat clients from a wide spectrum including technology, healthcare, chemicals, semiconductors, FMCG, and many more. These happy customers come to us from all across the Globe. They are able to make well calibrated decisions and leverage highly lucrative opportunities while surmounting the fierce challenges all because we analyze for them the complex business environment, segment wise existing and emerging possibilities, technology formations, growth estimates, and even the strategic choices available. In short, a complete package. All this is possible because we have a highly qualified, competent, and experienced team of professionals comprising of business analysts, economists, consultants, and technology experts. In our list of priorities, you-our patron-come at the top. You can be sure of best cost-effective, value-added package from us, should you decide to engage with us.

Contact us:

Aamir Beg

BSI Business Park, H-15,Sector-63, Noida- 201301- India

Phone: +1-888 429 6757 (US Toll Free); +91-0120- 4483891 (Rest of the World)

Email: sales@astuteanalytica.com

Website: www.astuteanalytica.com




NEW YORK, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A latest research report [115+] pages with 360-Degree visibility, titled "Oilfield Integrity Management Market Share, Size, Trends, Industry Analysis Report, By Management Type (Planning, Predictive Maintenance & Inspection, Data Management, Corrosion Management, and Monitoring System); By Component; By Application; By Region; Segment Forecast, 2023- 2032" published by Polaris Market Research in its research repository.

Polaris Market Research Logo

"According to research report, the global oilfield integrity management market size/share was valued at USD 13.11 Billion in 2022 and is expected to reach USD 26.57 Billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 7.34% during the forecast period."

What is Oilfield Integrity Management? How Big is Oilfield Integrity Management Market Share?

Overview

Oilfield integrity management indicates handling resources involving a plant, oil rig, refinery, and others to render it competent in executing its intentional impetus productively and proficiently. The rapidly rising demand for the oilfield integrity management market can be attributed to inspect defeat to guarantee perusal interims are not surpassed and execute life augmentation research. The prominent kind of oilfield integrity management is forethought, conjecturing continuance and exploration, data management, erosion management, monitoring systems, and others.

Global demand for the market is anticipated to increase during the forecast period due to the escalation in coastal exploration and the creation of oil and gas reserves worldwide. Offshore drilling activities are also gaining traction to encounter the growing demand for crude oil. As per World Oil, approximately 27,000 wells were drilled in the US in 2018, a rise over those drilled in 2017.

Request Sample Copy of Oilfield Integrity Management Market Research Report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/oilfield-integrity-management-market/request-for-sample

(The sample of this report is readily available on request. The report sample contains a brief introduction to the research report, Table of Contents, Graphical introduction of regional analysis, Top players in the market with their revenue analysis and our research methodology.)

Our Sample Report May Includes:

2032 Updated Report Introduction, Overview, and In-depth industry analysis.

115+ Pages Research Report (Inclusion of Updated Research).

Provide Chapter-wise guidance on Request.

2023 Updated Regional Analysis with Graphical Representation of Size, Share & Trends.

Includes Updated List of table & figures.

Updated Report Includes Top Market Players with their Business Strategy, Sales Volume, and Revenue Analysis.

Story continues

Some of the Top Market Players Are:

Aker Solutions

Bureau Veritas

Baker Hughes Company

Emerson Electric Company

Halliburton Limited

IBM Inc.

John Wood Group PLC

National Oilwell Varc

Oceaneering International Group

Oracle Corporation

Schlumberger Limited

Saipem limited Company

Siemens Limited

SGS SA Corporation

Weatherford Group

For Additional Information on Key Players, Request to Download Sample Pages Here: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/oilfield-integrity-management-market/request-for-sample

Key Factors Driving Market Growth

Increasing distant surveillance to push the market

The oil and gas are broadly involved in transforming its outdated business model into a contemporary one with astute functioning to increase industry contestants and concentrate on distant surveillance of oil fields. The Oilfield integrity management market size is expanding as distant surveillance lessens the requirement for human mediation, which therefore reduces the comprehensive price and probabilities of manual errors.

Research activities in oilfields and reserves have boosted the demand for the market globally. Oilfield integrity management market sales are soaring as it is projected that oil prices will seemingly escalate in the coming years, and that is anticipated to inspire the oil field drivers and individualistic firms to invest in oil and gas breakthroughs in exploration activities.

Request for a Discount on this Report Before Purchase @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/oilfield-integrity-management-market/request-for-discount-pricing

Recent Trends Influencing the Market

Growing awareness of lessening prices to drive the market

Changing oil prices, the growing demand for oil, and excessive prices of inspection and manufacturing ventures are some of the elements that are impacting the expediency of the companies. Thus several companies are accepting oilfield integrity management services to lessen prices, functional probabilities and to enhance resources obtainability to encounter such a state of affairs.

The oilfield integrity management tools assist the firms to advance contemporary approaches creating superlative regulation unintended downtime, reduced functional probability, superior output, and escalated flexibility of production. Further, it secures the welfare of employees, predominantly secluded workers, by providing them ingress to the information they need.

Segmentation Assessment

The onshore segment held a significant revenue share

Based on application, the onshore segment held a significant revenue share. Oilfield integrity management market demand is on the rise as, with superior oil and gas production probabilities in regions such as the Middle East, North America, Africa, and Asia Pacific, onshore wells are broadly utilized globally. Further, contrasted to offshore applications, onshore field pursuits are more cost-effective.

Inquire more about this report before purchase @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/oilfield-integrity-management-market/inquire-before-buying

(Inquire a report quote OR available discount offers to the sales team before purchase.)

Oilfield Integrity Management Market: Report Scope

Report Attribute Details Revenue forecast in 2032 USD 26.57 Billion Market size value in 2023 USD 14.05 Billion Expected CAGR Growth 7.34% from 2023- 2032 Base Year 2022 Forecast Year 2023  2032 Top Market Players Aker Solutions, Bureau Veritas, Baker Hughes Company, Emerson Electric Company, Halliburton Limited, IBM Inc., John Wood Group PLC, National Oilwell Varc, Oceaneering International Group, Oracle Corporation, Schlumberger Limited, Saipem limited Company, Siemens Limited, SGS SA Corporation, and Weatherford Group Segments Covered By Management Type, By Component, By Application, By Region Customization Options Customized purchase options are available to meet any research needs. Explore customized purchase options

Geographic Overview

Existence of prominent players to propel the North American market

North America held the largest oilfield integrity management market share due to the existence of prominent players and their concentration on funding in generating progressive solutions for the oil and gas industry. Oilfield integrity management services are being bought by North American firms engaged in clarifying to push production and curtail tariffs.

Because of the growing investment in onshore and offshore research and manufacturing ventures to escalate crude oil production to encounter ensuing energy demand, the Asia Pacific is anticipated to hold the second biggest market share for oilfield integrity management.

Browse the Detail Report "Oilfield Integrity Management Market Share, Size, Trends, Industry Analysis Report, By Management Type (Planning, Predictive Maintenance & Inspection, Data Management, Corrosion Management, and Monitoring System); By Component; By Application; By Region; Segment Forecast, 2023- 2032" with in-depth TOC: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/oilfield-integrity-management-market

For Additional Information OR Media Enquiry, Please Mail At: sales@polarismarketresearch.com

Recent Developments

In February 2022, Halliburton introduced the SPIDRIve Self-Powered Intelligent Data Retriever, a novel well-testing and fracture interaction monitoring device that collects good real-time data devoid of human intervention to save costs and enhance fracture comprehension for greater recovery.

Polaris Market Research has segmented the Oilfield Integrity Management Market report based on management type, component, application, and region:

By Management Type Outlook

Planning

Predictive Maintenance & Inspection

Data Management

Corrosion Management

Monitoring System

By Component Type Outlook

Software

Services

By Application Outlook

Onshore

Offshore

By Region Outlook

North America (U.S., Canada)

Europe (France, Germany, UK, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Russia)

Asia Pacific (Japan, China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia. South Korea)

Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina)

Middle East & Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Israel, South Africa)

Browse More Research Reports:

Plant-Based Leather Market: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/plant-based-leather-market

White Oil Market: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/white-oil-market

Surveillance Radars Market: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/surveillance-radars-market

Optical Waveguide Market: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/optical-waveguide-market

Mobile Accessories Market: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/mobile-accessories-market

About Polaris Market Research:

Polaris Market Research is a global market research and consulting company. The company specializes in providing exceptional market intelligence and in-depth business research services for PMR's clientele spread across different enterprises. We at Polaris are obliged to serve PMR's diverse customer base present across the industries of healthcare, technology, semi-conductors and chemicals among various other industries present around the world. We strive to provide PMR's customers with updated information on innovative technologies, high growth markets, emerging business environments and latest business-centric applications, thereby helping them always to make informed decisions and leverage new opportunities. Adept with a highly competent, experienced and extremely qualified team of experts comprising SMEs, analysts and consultants, we at Polaris endeavor to deliver value-added business solutions to PMR's customers.

Contact:

Likhil G

30 Wall Street

8th Floor,

New York City, NY 10005,

United States

Phone: +1-929 297-9727

Email: sales@polarismarketresearch.com

Web: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com

Follow Us: LinkedIn | twitter

Blog: https://polarismarketresearch.medium.com

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1316207/Polaris_Market_Research_Logo.jpg

Cision

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-oilfield-integrity-management-market-share-anticipated-to-hit-usd-26-57-billion-by-2032--with-a-cagr-of-7-34-polaris-market-research-301798824.html

SOURCE Polaris Market Research
The "Procedure for directing available funds of the State Social Protection Fund for investments and using investment income" has been approved in Azerbaijan, Azernews reports.

In this regard, the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has signed a relevant decree.

The Cabinet of Ministers and the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of Azerbaijan have been instructed to resolve issues arising from this decree.

This Procedure has been developed in accordance with Article 19.1-2 of the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan "On Social Insurance" and defines the procedure for directing available funds of the State Social Protection Fund for investments and the use of investment income.
Zion Market Research

The demand analysis of Global Olefins Market size & share revenue was valued at around USD 240.1 billion in 2022 and is estimated to grow about USD 348 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of approximately 4.76% between 2023 and 2030. The key market players are listed in the report with their sales, revenues and strategies are BASF SE, ExxonMobil Chemical, Dow Inc., Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd., LyondellBasell Industries, Lotte Chemical Corporation, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, Royal Dutch Shell plc, Formosa Plastics Corporation, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC, INEOS Group Holdings S.A., Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd., China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), LG Chem Ltd., PetroChina Company Limited, Occidental Petroleum Corporation, Braskem S.A., PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited, Reliance Industries Limited., and others.

Louisville, KY, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zion Market Research has published a new research report titled Olefins Market By Product Type (Olefin Oxides, Olefin Glycols, Ethylbenzene, Polyolefins, And Cumene), By Type (Ethylene, Butadiene, Propylene, Butylene, Others), By Distribution Channel (Distributors And Wholesale), By Application (Synthetic Lubricants, Polyethylene, Detergent Alcohol, Cosmetics, Plasticizers, Adhesives, And Others), And By Region - Global And Regional Industry Overview, Market Intelligence, Comprehensive Analysis, Historical Data, And Forecasts 2023  2030 in its research database.

According to the latest research study, the demand of global Olefins Market size & share in terms of revenue was valued at USD 240.1 billion in 2022 and it is expected to surpass around USD 348 billion mark by 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 4.76% during the forecast period 2023 to 2030.

What are Olefins? How big is the Olefins Industry?

Olefins Market Coverage & Overview:

The global olefins market size was worth around USD 240.1 Billion in 2022 and is predicted to grow to around USD 348 Billion by 2030 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of roughly 4.76% between 2023 and 2030.

Story continues

Olefins are a group of unsaturated hydrocarbons containing at least one carbon-to-carbon double bond. They are widely used as building blocks for different types of chemical products like rubber, plastics, fibers, and solvents. It is used in industries like textiles, automotive, packaging, and construction. The sectors have a wide range of applications for olefins in various products, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). These items have further applications in everyday items like plastic bags, pipes, water bottles, and cables.

Get a Free Sample PDF of this Research Report for more Insights with a Table of Content, Research Methodology, and Graphs - https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/sample/olefins-market

(A free sample of this report is available upon request; please contact us for more information.)

Our Free Sample Report Consists of the Following:

Introduction, Overview, and in-depth industry analysis are all included in the 2023 updated report.

The COVID-19 Pandemic Outbreak Impact Analysis is included in the package

About 195+ Pages Research Report (Including Recent Research)

Provide detailed chapter-by-chapter guidance on Request

Updated Regional Analysis with Graphical Representation of Size, Share, and Trends for the Year 2023

Includes Tables and figures have been updated

The most recent version of the report includes the Top Market Players, their Business Strategies, Sales Volume, and Revenue Analysis

Zion Market Research research methodology

(Please note that the sample of this report has been modified to include the COVID-19 impact study prior to delivery.)

Global Olefins Market: Growth Factors

The olefins industry is highly competitive since it is currently run by a growing number of players at domestic and international levels. Some other crucial but influential factors in the industry include fluctuations in crude oil prices. Companies are constantly investing in advanced research and development to enable them to improve their production processes and develop new products which has led to the market becoming highly competitive.

The global olefins market is projected to grow owing to the increasing popularity and demand for lightweight products. Olefins tend to have a high rate of strength-to-weight ratios. They are also lightweight. This has led to increased use of different types of olefins in various sectors, especially the ones that are aiming to reduce the overall weight of the final product. For instance, the demand for lightweight airplanes is causing more industry players to invest in olefin-derived products.

Similarly, the automotive industry is one of the largest consumers of the global industry. In addition to this, the production of olefins requires petroleum-based feedstocks as a main resource. The feedstock is made to undergo a process called steam cracking. This procedure is low in cost compared to other various petrochemical production processes. Hence the market is more attractive to new players in the petrochemical industry. The growing shift toward sustainable and renewable sources is another crucial factor for the market size as companies are now investing in finding out other renewable sources that can be used for the production of olefins.

The olefins industry faces growth restrictions owing to the fluctuating prices of crude oil. The industry is highly price-sensitive due to greater dependence on petroleum-based feedstocks. Any change in the price of crude oil directly impacts the profit rate of the businesses working in the sector. Furthermore, the growing competition from alternative materials like natural fibers and bioplastics which are gaining more attention as potential substitutes to olefins can lead to reduced demand in the industry. These materials are more cost-effective while offering comparable properties.

The increasing demand for renewable feedstock may provide excellent growth opportunities while the changing prices of feedstock could challenge market expansion.

Directly Purchase a copy of the report with TOC @ https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/buynow/su/olefins-market

Report Scope

Report Attribute Details Market Size in 2022 USD 240.1 billion Projected Market Size in 2030 USD 348 billion CAGR Growth Rate 4.76% CAGR Base Year 2022 Forecast Years 2023-2030 Key Market Players BASF SE, ExxonMobil Chemical, Dow Inc., Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd., LyondellBasell Industries, Lotte Chemical Corporation, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, Royal Dutch Shell plc, Formosa Plastics Corporation, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC, INEOS Group Holdings S.A., Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd., China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), LG Chem Ltd., PetroChina Company Limited, Occidental Petroleum Corporation, Braskem S.A., PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited, and Reliance Industries Limited. Key Segment By Product Type, By Type, By Distribution Channel, By Application, And By Region Major Regions Covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East &, Africa Purchase Options Request customized purchase options to meet your research needs. Explore purchase options

Olefins Market: Segmentation Analysis

The global olefins market is segmented based on product type, type, distribution channel, application, and region.

Based on product type, the global market divisions are olefin oxides, olefin glycols, ethylbenzene, polyolefins, and cumene.

Based on type, the global market divisions are ethylene, butadiene, propylene, butylene, and others. In 2022, the industry witnessed the highest growth in the ethylene segment since it is the most produced and consumed olefin globally. It accounts for more than 50% of the total global olefins production. It is used as a source for producing different chemicals, such as ethylene oxide, and ethylene dichloride which are further used in several applications like packaging, construction, and automotive. The second-most revenue-generating segment is the propylene segment as it accounts for nearly 30% of the global olefin production share.

Based on distribution channel, the global market is segmented into distributors and wholesale

Based on application, the global market divisions are synthetic lubricants, polyethylene, detergent alcohol, cosmetics, plasticizers, adhesives, and others. The market registered the highest growth in the polyethylene segment. It is a thermoplastic polymer that has the largest-scale applications across end-user verticals. It accounts for a major share of the industry due to high demand in the packaging, agriculture, construction, and healthcare sector. The second most revenue-generating segment is the synthetic lubricants segment. These are superiors in performance and in durability. The molecular formula for polyethylene is (C2H4)n

The global Olefins market is segmented as follows:

By Product Type

Olefin Oxides

Olefin Glycols

Ethylbenzene

Polyolefins

Cumene

By Type

Ethylene

Butadiene

Propylene

Butylene

Others

By Distribution Channel

Distributors

Wholesale

By Application

Synthetic Lubricants

Polyethylene

Detergent Alcohol

Cosmetics

Plasticizers

Adhesives

Others

Browse the full Olefins Market By Product Type (Olefin Oxides, Olefin Glycols, Ethylbenzene, Polyolefins, and Cumene), By Type (Ethylene, Butadiene, Propylene, Butylene, Others), By Distribution Channel (Distributors and Wholesale), By Application (Synthetic Lubricants, Polyethylene, Detergent Alcohol, Cosmetics, Plasticizers, Adhesives, and Others), and By Region - Global and Regional Industry Overview, Market Intelligence, Comprehensive Analysis, Historical Data, and Forecasts 2023  2030- Report at https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/olefins-market

Competitive Landscape

Some of the main competitors dominating the global Olefins market include -

BASF SE

ExxonMobil Chemical

Dow Inc.

Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd.

LyondellBasell Industries

Lotte Chemical Corporation

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC)

Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation

Royal Dutch Shell plc

Formosa Plastics Corporation

Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC

INEOS Group Holdings S.A.

Idemitsu Kosan Co. Ltd.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec)

LG Chem Ltd.

PetroChina Company Limited

Occidental Petroleum Corporation

Braskem S.A.

PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited

Reliance Industries Limited.

Key Insights from Primary Research:

According to the analysis shared by our research forecaster, the Olefins market is likely to expand at a CAGR of around 4.76% during the forecast period (2023-2030).

In terms of revenue, the Olefins market size was valued at around US$ 240.1 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach US$ 348 billion by 2030.

Based on distribution channel segmentation, distributors were predicted to show maximum market share in the year 2022.

Based on product type segmentation, polyolefins were the leading type in 2022.

On the basis of region, Asia-Pacific was the leading revenue generator in 2022.

Have Any Query? Ask Our Experts: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/inquiry/olefins-market

Key questions answered in this report:

What is the market size and growth rate forecast for Olefins industry?

What are the main driving factors propelling the Olefins Market forward?

What are the leading companies in the Olefins Industry?

What segments does the Olefins Market cover?

How can I receive a free copy of the Olefins Market sample report and company profiles?

Key Offerings:

Market Size & Forecast by Revenue | 20232030

Market Dynamics  Leading Trends, Growth Drivers, Restraints, and Investment Opportunities

Market Segmentation  A detailed analysis By Product Type, By Type, By Distribution Channel, By Application, And By Region

Competitive Landscape  Top Key Vendors and Other Prominent Vendors

Request for Customization on this Report as per your requirements - https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/custom/7142

(We tailor your report to meet your specific research requirements. Inquire with our sales team about customising your report.)

Regional Analysis:

Asia-Pacific is expected to register the highest revenue-grossing regional market in the global olefins industry. This is mainly due to the high production rate of olefins in China, India, and other territories that are currently investing heavily in the regional petrochemical sector. Furthermore, China is expected to lead the regional expansion since it is pushing for its chemical industry to overtake the global chemical sector. Alongside, Asia-Pacific is fast emerging as a dominant territory in the automotive sector which may open doors for new growth opportunities for the market players.

In North America, the demand for polypropylene and polyethylene is increasing due to growing end-user applications, especially in the construction sector. The growing hale gas production has also boosted the olefins market in North America.

By Region

North America U.S. Canada Rest of North America

Europe France UK Spain Germany Italy Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific China Japan India South Korea Rest of Asia Pacific

The Middle East & Africa Saudi Arabia South Africa Rest of the Middle East & Africa

Latin America Brazil Argentina Rest of Latin America



Recent Developments

In March 2023, KBR announced the launch of SCOREKlean? which is a proprietary propylene and ethylene process technology that makes use of 100% hydrogen-fueled burners and has 0 emissions

In March 2023, Exxonmonil announced its plans to develop a new production facility at its existing integrated petrochemical facility in Texas, USA. The new unit is expected to produce around 350,000 metric tons of linear alpha olefins annually

To know an additional revised 2023 list of market players, request a brochure of the report: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/requestbrochure/olefins-market

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is the olefins?

Which key factors will influence olefins market growth over 2023-2030?

What will be the value of the olefins market during 2023-2030?

What will be the CAGR value of the olefins market during 2023-2030?

Which region will contribute notably towards the olefins market value?

Which are the major players leveraging the olefins market growth?

Browse Other Related Research Reports from Zion Market Research:

2-Ethylhexanol Market Applications (Plasticizers (Non-Phthalate and Phthalate), 2-EH Nitrate, 2-EH Acrylate, and Others (Multiple Solvents)): Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis and Forecast, 2020  2026: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/2-ethylhexanol-market

2K Protective Coatings Market - By Resin Type (Epoxy, Alkyd, Polyurethane, And Acrylic), By End-Use Industry (Cargo Containers, Marine, Oil & Gas, Power Generation, Waste Water Treatment, And Petrochemical), And By Region- Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis, And Forecast, 2020  2026: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/2k-protective-coatings-market

Acaricides Market By Type (Organochlorine, Organophosphorus, Natural, And Others), By Application (Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Industrial, And Others), By Mode Of Application (Spray, Dipping Vat, Hand Dressing, And Others), And By Region - Global And Regional Market Overview, Market Intelligence, Comprehensive Analysis, Historical Data, And Forecasts 2022  2028: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/acaricides-market

Zinc Chemical Market By Application (Agriculture, Rubber Compounding, Paints & Coatings, Pharmaceuticals, And Food & Beverages), By Product Type (Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Zinc Chloride, And Zinc Carbonate), And By Region - Global And Regional Industry Overview, Market Intelligence, Comprehensive Analysis, Historical Data, And Forecasts 2022  2028: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/zinc-chemical-market

Zinc Oxide Market, By End-User (Rubber, Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, Agricultural, Personal Care, Ceramics, and Many Others), By Applications (Additive in Plastic, Glass, Paints, Lubricant, and Adhesive): Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis and Forecast, 2020  2026: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/zinc-oxide-market

Zinc Oxide Pigments Market by End-Use Industries (Paint, Agricultural, Pharmaceutical, Electronic, Rubber, Chemical, and Ceramic & Glass); by Region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa): Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis, and Forecast 2017-2024: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/zinc-oxide-pigments-market

Zinc-Air Batteries Market By Type (Rechargeable And Non-Rechargeable), By End-Use Industry (Military Devices, Hearing Aids, Safety Lamps, Medical Devices, Energy Storage, And Others) And By Region: Global And Regional Industry Overview, Market Intelligence, Comprehensive Analysis, Historical Data, And Forecasts 2022-2030: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/zinc-air-batteries-market

Zirconium Dioxide Market - By Product Type (Industrial Zirconium Oxide, Ultrafine Zirconium Oxide, and Others), By Most Widely Used Downstream Field (Ceramics, Stabilizer, and Others), and By Region - Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis, and Forecast, 2019  2025: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/zirconium-dioxide-market

Xanthan Gum Market By Function (Thickeners, Stabilizers, Gelling Agents, Fat Replacers, Coating Materials And Others), By Form (Dry And Liquid), By Application (Food & Beverages, Oil & Gas, Pharmaceuticals & Personal Care, And Others): Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis And Forecast, 2020  2028: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/xanthan-gum-market

Wood Adhesives And Binders Market By Type (Urea Formaldehyde (UF), Melamine Urea Formaldehyde (MUF), Phenol Formaldehyde (PF), Isocyanates, Soy Based And Others), By Applications (Cabinets, Flooring & Plywood, Furniture & Subcomponents, Windows & Doors And Other)- Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis And Forecast, 2020  2028: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/wood-adhesives-binders-market

Wood and laminate flooring Market - by Application (Residential, Non-Residential, Others)- Global Industry Perspective Comprehensive Analysis and Forecast 2020 - 2026: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/wood-and-laminate-flooring-market

Wood Coatings Market By Technology (Spraying, Conventional Spray, High-Volume Low-Pressure, Electrostatic, Airless Spraying, Non-Spray Coatings, Rollers, Brushes, Vacuums, Curtaining), By Resin Type (Acrylics, Polyurethane, Nitrocellulose, Melamine Formaldehyde, Others), By Application (Cabinets, Side And Deck, Furniture, Others), Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis, And Forecast, 2020  2028: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/wood-coatings-market

About Zion Market Research:

Zion Market Research is a leading market research organization offering industry expertise and scrupulous consulting services to clients for their business development. The reports and services offered by Zion Market Research are used by prestigious academic institutions, start-ups, and companies globally to measure and understand the changing international and regional business backgrounds.

Our clients/customers conviction on our solutions and services has pushed us in delivering always the best. Our advanced research solutions have helped them in appropriate decision-making and guidance for strategies to expand their business.

Follow Us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/zion-market-research/

Follow Us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/zion_research

Follow Us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zionmarketresearch

Follow Us on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/zionmarketresearch/

Follow Us on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Y0Yfi7N8zSs

Contact Us:

Rushikesh Dorge

USA: +1 347 690-0211

United Kingdom: +44 2032 894158

Japan: +81 50 5806 9039

India: +91 7768 006 007

Web: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/

Blog: https://zmrblog.com/

Still, Looking for More Information? OR Want Data for Inclusion in Magazine, Case Study, or Media?

Email Directly Here with Detail Information: sales@zionmarketresearch.com




AstuteAnalytica India Pvt. Ltd.

Global preclinical imaging market has immense potential due to the growing demand for non-invasive imaging techniques for drug development, disease diagnosis, and research. Advancements in technology and the emergence of new imaging modalities such as molecular imaging and optical imaging are further driving market growth. The market is expected to continue to grow at a significant rate in the coming years.

New Delhi, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global preclinical imaging market has been growing steadily and is expected to continue this trend in the coming years. In 2022, the market was valued at US$ 1,873.6 million in 2022, and it is projected to reach a market valuation of US$ 3,011.7 million by 2031, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.6% during the forecast period.

Get Free sample copy of this report @ https://www.astuteanalytica.com/request-sample/preclinical-imaging-market

Preclinical Imaging is an integral part of modern drug development. It allows researchers to image the living body in real-time, at high resolutions, and without harming the subject. This gives scientists unprecedented insights into how diseases progress and how new therapies can be developed to fight them. In recent years, the use of preclinical imaging has expanded beyond traditional small animal models to include larger animal models and even human patients.

Today, preclinical imaging is used in all stages of drug development, from target identification and validation to lead optimization and efficacy testing. It is also playing an increasingly important role in clinical decision making, as more and more drugs are being developed with personalized medicine in mind. In addition to its traditional uses, preclinical imaging is being increasingly used for functional applications such as receptor occupancy studies, safety pharmacology, and toxicology assessments.

Astute Analytica predicts that the preclinical imaging market will continue to expand as more pharmaceutical companies adopt image-based approaches to drug discovery and development. In addition, the introduction of new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning will enable preclinical imagers to provide even more insights into the mechanisms of disease and potential therapeutic targets.

Story continues

Trend Analysis of Preclinical Imaging Market: CT Imaging to Contribute over 18% Revenue By 2031.

Preclinical imaging is one of the most rapidly growing and important segments within healthcare, as it plays a pivotal role in the development of new therapies and the advancement of personalized medicine.

While PET and MRI are the most commonly used imaging modalities in preclinical research, Astute Analytica notes that newer technologies such as photoacoustic imaging and spectral CT are becoming more popular due to their ability to provide higher-resolution images. By 2031, the CT imaging is projected attain a 18% market valuation. On the other hand, MRI is projected to capture over 14% of market revenue by 2031.

In terms of application, oncology is currently the largest area of focus for preclinical imaging market, accounting for nearly 60% of all research studies. As of 2021, there are over 10,000 clinical trials related to cancer ongoing around the world, according to ClinicalTrials.gov, a database of privately and publicly funded clinical studies conducted around the world. We expect this trend to continue, as cancer remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Neurology and cardiology are also significant areas of interest, due to the growing prevalence of these diseases.

One key trend that is expected to shape the future of preclinical imaging is the move towards artificial intelligence (AI). AI will be used increasingly for image analysis and interpretation, as well as for identifying new targets for drug discovery. This technology has already begun to transform the field of radiology and it is expected that preclinical imaging will soon follow suit.

Browse summary of the report and Complete Table of Contents (ToC): https://www.astuteanalytica.com/industry-report/preclinical-imaging-market

Pharmaceutical Companies to Generate More than 33% Revenue of Global Preclinical Imaging Market

Preclinical imaging is a vital tool for pharmaceutical companies in the development of new drugs and therapies. It allows for the visualization of biological processes in living animals, providing crucial information on efficacy and safety. The demand for preclinical imaging services has grown significantly in recent years, as more companies seek to gain a competitive edge in drug development.

Preclinical imaging provides critical insights into the effects of new drugs and therapies prior to clinical trials. This allows pharmaceutical companies to optimize their candidates for maximum efficacy and safety before moving forward with expensive and time-consuming clinical trials. In addition, preclinical imaging can be used to monitor the progression of disease and identify potential therapeutic targets.

The demand for preclinical imaging market has grown rapidly in recent years, as more pharmaceutical companies seek to gain a competitive advantage in drug development. The number of companies offering preclinical imaging services has also increased, giving pharmaceutical companies more options to choose from.

Europe to Continue Being the Second Largest Preclinical Imaging Market with More Than 29% Revenue Share

The preclinical imaging market is expected to be dominated by North America, which is projected to have over 44% revenue share, followed by Europe with over 29% revenue share. This can be attributed to several factors such as the high prevalence of chronic diseases, increased investments in preclinical research, and strong demand for advanced imaging technologies in the region.

Europe has always been a competitive and tough place for businesses, with high overheads and taxes, so it is no surprise that the preclinical imaging market is struggling. For instance, in 2022, the region held over 30.8% revenue share of the market and is projected to witness a loss of around 1% in valuation by 2031. This is an industry which provides products and services to help pharmaceutical and biotech companies test their new drugs on animals before human clinical trials. It is a vital service, but one which is under pressure from falling revenues and government cutbacks.

However, there are some positive signs for the future of the industry. The European Commission has proposed a new regulation that would make it easier for small businesses to access funding, and this could help boost innovation in the sector. In addition, many of the leading companies in the industry are investing heavily in research and development, so they may be able to bring new products to market that can reverse the decline in sales.

Siemens Healthineers to Dominate Global Preclinical Imaging Market with Over 23% Revenue Share

Siemens Healthineers is a global leader in medical technology. The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of preclinical imaging products and services, including X-ray computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound, positron emission tomography (PET), and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). In addition, Siemens Healthineers also provides software solutions for image analysis and data management.

General Electric is another major player in the preclinical imaging industry. In 2022, the company held over 21% revenue of the global market. GE Healthcare offers a wide range of CT, MRI, PET/SPECT, ultrasound, and X-ray products and services. The company also provides support for customers throughout the product life cycle, from purchase to installation to maintenance and repair.

Both Siemens Healthineers and General Electric offer high-quality solutions in the global preclinical imaging market that are essential for advancing scientific research. These companies hold a combined market share of over 50%, making them the clear leaders in this industry.

Some of the Top Market Players Are:

Agilent Technologies

Bruker Corporation

Canon

Fujifilm Corporation

General Electric (GE)

Hitachi, Ltd.

Hologic

Konica Minolta, Inc.

Koninklijke Philips

Mediso Limited

MILabs B.V.

Molecubes

MR Solutions

PerkinElmer, Incorporated

Siemens Healthineers

TriFoil Imaging

Varex Imaging

Other Prominent Players

Directly Purchase a copy of report with TOC @ https://www.astuteanalytica.com/inquire-before-purchase/preclinical-imaging-market

About Astute Analytica

Astute Analytica is a global analytics and advisory company which has built a solid reputation in a short period, thanks to the tangible outcomes we have delivered to our clients. We pride ourselves in generating unparalleled, in depth and uncannily accurate estimates and projections for our very demanding clients spread across different verticals. We have a long list of satisfied and repeat clients from a wide spectrum including technology, healthcare, chemicals, semiconductors, FMCG, and many more. These happy customers come to us from all across the Globe. They are able to make well calibrated decisions and leverage highly lucrative opportunities while surmounting the fierce challenges all because we analyze for them the complex business environment, segment wise existing and emerging possibilities, technology formations, growth estimates, and even the strategic choices available. In short, a complete package. All this is possible because we have a highly qualified, competent, and experienced team of professionals comprising of business analysts, economists, consultants, and technology experts. In our list of priorities, you-our patron-come at the top. You can be sure of best cost-effective, value-added package from us, should you decide to engage with us.

Contact us:

Aamir Beg

BSI Business Park, H-15,Sector-63, Noida- 201301- India

Phone: +1-888 429 6757 (US Toll Free); +91-0120- 4483891 (Rest of the World)

Email: sales@astuteanalytica.com

Website: www.astuteanalytica.com




AstuteAnalytica India Pvt. Ltd.

The quantum measurement and sensors market is rapidly growing, driven by advancements in technology and increased demand for highly precise measurements. The market includes applications in industries such as healthcare, telecommunications, and defense. As quantum technology continues to advance, the potential for this market to revolutionize industries and unlock new capabilities is significant, making it an exciting area for investment and growth.

New Delhi, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global quantum measurement and sensors market is poised for robust growth in the coming years. According to recent reports, the market was valued at US$ 296.84 million in 2022 and is expected to reach a valuation of US$ 638.79 million by 2031. This translates to a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.26% during the forecast period of 2023-2031.

Get Free sample copy of this report @ https://www.astuteanalytica.com/request-sample/quantum-measurement-and-sensors-market

With advancements in quantum technology and increasing demand from various industries such as healthcare, aerospace, and defense, the market is set to witness sustained growth in the foreseeable future. In addition to the factors mentioned earlier, there are several other factors that are likely to contribute to market growth. One of the most significant factors is the increasing investments in quantum technology. Both public and private sector entities are investing heavily in quantum technology research and development, with a view to harnessing its potential in various applications. This is likely to drive the demand for quantum measurement and sensors, which are essential components of quantum technology systems.

Government funding is another key factor driving the growth of the quantum measurement and sensors market. Governments around the world are supporting quantum research and development initiatives through funding programs, grants, and other incentives. For instance, in the United States, the National Quantum Initiative Act was signed into law in 2018, which provides funding and support for quantum research and development. Similar initiatives have been launched in other countries as well, which is expected to drive the growth of the market.

Story continues

The development of major projects in the quantum technology domain is also expected to drive the demand for quantum measurement and sensors. For example, the European Union has launched the Quantum Flagship program, which aims to accelerate the development of quantum technology in Europe. The program includes several major projects, such as the Quantum Internet Alliance and the Quantum Computing and Simulation Hub, which are expected to drive the demand for quantum measurement and sensors.

Analysis of the Quantum Measurement and Sensors Market by Components, Products, and Technology

The quantum measurement & sensor market is poised for significant growth in the coming years, driven by various factors such as increasing investments in research and development, growing demand for quantum technology solutions across industries, and advancements in nanofabrication techniques.

Based on components, the advanced nanofab segment is expected to dominate the market with a market share of 39%. The use of advanced nanofabrication techniques enables the manufacturing of smaller and more sensitive quantum sensors, which are crucial for several applications, and the increasing investments in research and development of advanced nanofabrication techniques are expected to further drive the growth of this segment.

By product, magnetic sensors are expected to dominate the market with more than 40% revenue share. Their widespread use in various applications, such as automotive, consumer electronics, healthcare, and industrial manufacturing, is driving the growth of this segment in the Quantum Measurement & Sensor Market.

By technology, inertial sensing is expected to dominate the market with more than 24% market share. The increasing demand for highly accurate and sensitive inertial sensors in various industries, including aerospace, automotive, and defense, is driving the growth of this segment.

Top Trends in the Global Quantum Measurement and Sensors Market

Advancements in nanofabrication techniques: The use of advanced nanofabrication techniques enables the manufacturing of smaller and more sensitive quantum sensors, which are crucial for several applications. The increasing investments in research and development of advanced nanofabrication techniques are expected to further drive the growth of this segment.

Growing demand for quantum sensors in the automotive industry: Magnetic sensors are widely used in various applications, including automotive, and their use in the industry enables the manufacturing of advanced safety and navigation systems. The increasing demand for electronic devices and the need for high-precision sensors in these devices are expected to further drive the growth of the quantum measurement and sensors market.

Expansion of the quantum technology ecosystem: The development of quantum measurement and sensor technology has led to the emergence of a new quantum technology ecosystem, including quantum software and hardware providers, quantum network infrastructure providers, and quantum security providers. The expansion of this ecosystem is expected to drive the growth of the quantum measurement and sensors market.

Rising demand for highly accurate and sensitive inertial sensors: Inertial sensors are used in various applications, including aerospace, automotive, and defense, and the increasing demand for highly accurate and sensitive inertial sensors in these industries is driving the growth of this segment.

Browse summary of the report and Complete Table of Contents (ToC): https://www.astuteanalytica.com/industry-report/quantum-measurement-and-sensors-market

Quantum Lidar: Revolutionizing Industries through Advanced Sensing Technologies

The growing demand for quantum measurement and sensors market in quantum lidar is a significant trend in the market, with the segment projected to generate a revenue of around US$ 47.24 million by 2031. Quantum lidar is a promising application of quantum technology, which has the potential to revolutionize various industries such as automotive, aerospace, and defense.

Quantum lidar is an advanced sensing technology that uses quantum measurement and sensor technology to detect and measure the properties of light. This enables the development of highly accurate and sensitive lidar systems that can be used for various applications such as autonomous driving, environmental monitoring, and remote sensing.

The demand for quantum measurement & sensor in quantum lidar is being driven by the increasing investments in quantum technology research and development, and the growing need for advanced sensing technologies across various industries. With the development of new materials and technologies, quantum lidar systems are becoming more accessible and affordable, which is expected to drive their adoption in the coming years.

Moreover, the increasing demand for autonomous vehicles and the need for high-precision navigation systems is also driving the growth of the quantum lidar segment. Quantum lidar systems have the potential to provide highly accurate and reliable data for autonomous vehicles, enabling them to navigate safely and effectively

Competitive analysis: BASF and Keysight Technologies Hold over 23% Revenue Share

The global quantum measurement and sensors market is highly competitive, with numerous companies operating in the market to provide various products. Extensive research has revealed that big players in the market have adopted various competitive strategies such as mergers and acquisitions in order to gain a foothold in the emerging market. Leading companies are expanding their geographical boundaries by acquiring small brands and domestic companies to expand their product portfolio and customer base.

The cumulative market share of 5 major players in the market is close to 42.9%, indicating the presence of monopolistic competition in the market. This suggests that while there are numerous players in the market, a small number of companies dominate a significant portion of the market share. Wherein, BAE Systems, Keysight Technologies, Honeywell International Inc, Microchip Technology Inc, and Campbell Scientific Ltd. are the leading players.

BASF and Keysight Technologies are two of the leading players in the global quantum measurement and sensors market. BASF holds the largest market share in the industry, with over 12% of the market, followed closely by Keysight Technologies with over 10% of the market share.

BASF's position as the largest player in the market is likely due to its extensive product offerings and significant investments in research and development. The company has a strong focus on sustainability and has been actively developing quantum technology solutions to address various environmental and societal challenges. This has helped the company establish a strong foothold in the market and maintain its position as the market leader.

Keysight Technologies, on the other hand, is a leading provider of electronic measurement solutions and has been a pioneer in the quantum measurement and sensor industry. The company has developed a wide range of innovative products and solutions for quantum research, enabling it to establish a strong market presence and gain a significant share of the market.

Some of the Top Market Players Are:

AOSense Inc.

Apogee Instrument Inc.

BAE Systems

Biospherical Instruments Inc.

Campbell Scientific Ltd

GEM Systems

General Electric

Honeywell International Inc

IBM

Keysight Technologies

LI-COR Biosciences

Lockheed Martin Corporation

M Squared Lasers

Microchip Technology Inc

Miraex

Muquans SAS

NuCrypt

Oxford Instruments

Peratech

Q-CTRL

QuTech

Robert Bosch GmbH

SBQuantum

Single Quantum

Skye Instruments Ltd

Other Prominent Players

Directly Purchase a copy of report with TOC @ https://www.astuteanalytica.com/inquire-before-purchase/quantum-measurement-and-sensors-market

About Astute Analytica

Astute Analytica is a global analytics and advisory company which has built a solid reputation in a short period, thanks to the tangible outcomes we have delivered to our clients. We pride ourselves in generating unparalleled, in depth and uncannily accurate estimates and projections for our very demanding clients spread across different verticals. We have a long list of satisfied and repeat clients from a wide spectrum including technology, healthcare, chemicals, semiconductors, FMCG, and many more. These happy customers come to us from all across the Globe. They are able to make well calibrated decisions and leverage highly lucrative opportunities while surmounting the fierce challenges all because we analyze for them the complex business environment, segment wise existing and emerging possibilities, technology formations, growth estimates, and even the strategic choices available. In short, a complete package. All this is possible because we have a highly qualified, competent, and experienced team of professionals comprising of business analysts, economists, consultants, and technology experts. In our list of priorities, you-our patron-come at the top. You can be sure of best cost-effective, value-added package from us, should you decide to engage with us.

Contact us:

Aamir Beg

BSI Business Park, H-15,Sector-63, Noida- 201301- India

Phone: +1-888 429 6757 (US Toll Free); +91-0120- 4483891 (Rest of the World)

Email: sales@astuteanalytica.com

Website: www.astuteanalytica.com




AstuteAnalytica India Pvt. Ltd.

The potential of the quantum technologies market is enormous, with applications in cryptography, healthcare, finance, energy, manufacturing and logistics. Quantum technologies offer significant advantages in efficiency, accuracy and speed, enabling new solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing our planet. With projections for the market size to exceed US$ 21.38 billion by 2031, continued research and development in this field will drive the emergence of new, game-changing applications.

New Delhi, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global quantum technologies market is projected to reach US$ 21.38 billion by 2031, up from US$ 3.87 billion in 2022, growing at a CAGR of 21.47% during the forecast period 20232031.

The Quantum Technologies market has been rapidly evolving due to advancements in quantum computing, quantum communication, and quantum sensing technologies. The market is expected to continue to expand as more companies invest in the development of these technologies.

Get Free sample copy of this report @ https://www.astuteanalytica.com/request-sample/quantum-technologies-market

North America is the largest region with a higher investment in quantum technologies due to the presence of major players and investments by governments and private organizations. The US government has been investing heavily in quantum research and development, with a budget of USD 1.2 billion over five years, and Canada has invested CAD 1.2 billion over five years in its Pan-Canadian Quantum Strategy.

Government investment in quantum technology has had a significant impact on the market. The Chinese government, for instance, has made quantum technology a priority in its five-year plan, investing USD 10 billion in a National Laboratory for Quantum Information Sciences. The European Union has also invested heavily in quantum technology through its Quantum Flagship program, which has a budget of EUR 1 billion over ten years.

Story continues

One major breakthrough in quantum technology market was achieved in 2019 when Google announced its quantum supremacy experiment. The company claimed that its quantum computer had performed a calculation that would have taken the world's most powerful supercomputer 10,000 years to complete. This breakthrough has had a significant impact on the market, with increased interest and investment in quantum computing technologies.

The future landscape of the market is expected to continue to expand as more companies invest in quantum research and development. Quantum computing is expected to have a significant impact on a range of industries, including finance, healthcare, and energy. Quantum communication is also expected to play a significant role in secure communication networks, particularly in the defense and government sectors. Quantum sensing technologies are also expected to find applications in a range of industries, including aerospace, defense, and healthcare.

Aerospace and Defense to Contribute Over 28% Revenue to Global Quantum Technologies Market

The aerospace and defense industry continues to be a major consumer of quantum technologies due to various factors that contribute to its growth and development. For instance, quantum computing enables faster and more precise simulations and modeling, which are critical for testing and evaluating new products and technologies in the sector. Consequently, companies can expedite innovation and enhance efficiency in their operations.

Moreover, the industry's reliance on secure communication and data transfer highlights the importance of quantum cryptography, which boasts a superior level of security compared to its classical counterpart. This enhanced protection is particularly appealing for companies needing to safeguard sensitive data and communications. Furthermore, quantum machine learning can optimize logistics and supply chain management in the aerospace and defense field, leading to cost savings and increased efficiency in the quantum technologies market.

The industry's need for high-performance sensors in areas such as navigation, surveillance, and communication has led to a growing interest in quantum sensors. These sensors, which are based on quantum mechanics, offer heightened sensitivity and accuracy compared to traditional sensors, making them a valuable asset in the aerospace and defense industry. In summary, the continued adoption of quantum technologies in the aerospace and defense sector can be attributed to their advantages in simulation, modeling, cybersecurity, logistics optimization, and sensor technology.

North America is the Quantum Technologies Market Leader with 34% Revenue Share

North America, primarily led by the United States and Canada, is currently the largest and most dominant market in the field of quantum technologies. The region's market leadership is driven by significant investments in research and development, government funding, technological advancements, and a number of cutting-edge projects. This analysis will explore the factors behind North America's dominance in the quantum technologies sector, including recent projects, funding, and developments.

Recent Projects in North America

IBM Quantum: IBM is a global leader in quantum computing and has launched several quantum computers, including the 27-qubit Falcon and the 65-qubit Hummingbird, both available through the IBM Quantum Network. The network provides access to quantum computing resources for research, education, and business purposes.

Quantum Internet: Researchers from the University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory, Fermilab, and other institutions are collaborating on the development of a quantum internet, which aims to enable secure communication through quantum entanglement in the quantum technologies market. The project has successfully demonstrated the transmission of quantum information over a 52-mile-long fiber network.

Google Quantum AI: Google's Quantum AI team has made significant strides in quantum computing, with the announcement of Quantum Supremacy in 2019 using their 54-qubit Sycamore processor. They continue to develop quantum hardware and software solutions to solve complex computational problems.

Browse summary of the report and Complete Table of Contents (ToC): https://www.astuteanalytica.com/industry-report/quantum-technologies-market

Government Funding

North America benefits from substantial government funding in the field of quantum technologies:

The United States' National Quantum Initiative (NQI): Launched in 2018, the NQI aims to accelerate the development of quantum information science and technology. The initiative has allocated over $1.2 billion in funding for research, development, and educational programs in quantum technologies.

Canada's Quantum Valley: The Canadian government has invested more than CAD 1 billion in the Quantum Valley ecosystem, which includes the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo, the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, and Quantum Valley Investments, a private venture capital firm focused on quantum technology startups in the quantum technologies market.

Most Recent Developments in North America Quantum Technologies Market

Quantum Teleportation: In a groundbreaking experiment, researchers from Caltech, Fermilab, and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have achieved quantum teleportation of qubits over 27 miles, setting a new distance record and paving the way for future quantum networks.

Quantum Error Correction: Researchers from Yale University have developed a new error correction technique for quantum computing, called the "tweezer code." This advancement could help mitigate the impact of errors in quantum computing, bringing practical applications one step closer.

Quantum Sensing: Honeywell, a leader in quantum technologies, has developed a new quantum sensing technology called the H1, which promises to revolutionize fields such as navigation, geophysics, and medical imaging.

Competitive Landscape: Top 6 Players Hold Over 59% Revenue Share, IBM Continue to Lead

The quantum technologies market is characterized by oligopolistic competition, where a few dominant players control a significant portion of the market. The top six players in the market generate over 59.2% of the revenue, indicating a highly concentrated market. IBM and Microsoft are two of the leading players in the market, collectively holding over 34% of the market share. IBM is the clear leader in the market, with over 18% market share, followed closely by Microsoft with over 16% revenue share.

One of the key reasons for IBM's dominance in the market is its early entry into the quantum computing field. IBM started investing in quantum computing research back in the 1980s and has been leading the development of quantum computing technology ever since. The company has also made significant investments in building a strong ecosystem around quantum computing, including developing its own quantum hardware, software, and tools, as well as partnering with other technology companies and academic institutions.

IBM's early investment in quantum computing has enabled the company to develop a significant technological advantage over its competitors in the global quantum technologies market. IBM's quantum computers are among the most powerful and advanced in the world, and the company has also developed a number of proprietary software and tools that make it easier for developers to build and run applications on its quantum hardware.

The current landscape of the market is dominated by large technology companies such as IBM, Google, Microsoft, and Alibaba, who are investing heavily in quantum research and development. However, startups and smaller companies are also emerging in the market, focusing on specific areas such as quantum communication and sensing.

Top Start-ups and their Fund Raising in the Global Quantum Technologies Market

PsiQuantum: This startup focuses on building a silicon-based photonic quantum computer. As of 2021, PsiQuantum had raised over $215 million in funding.

Rigetti Computing: Rigetti Computing develops quantum integrated circuits and deploys them on cloud-based quantum computers. In 2021, the company had raised over $190 million in total funding.

IonQ: IonQ develops trapped ion quantum computing technology. In 2021, the company had raised over $84 million in funding before going public through a SPAC merger, which brought its total valuation to $2 billion.

Xanadu: Xanadu, one of the lucrative startups in quantum technologies market, is working on photonic-based quantum computing and has developed a unique approach using continuous-variable quantum computing. As of 2021, the company had raised over $145 million in funding.

Quantum Motion Technologies: This startup is developing silicon-based quantum computing technology using CMOS-compatible processes. In 2021, the company had raised around $32 million in funding.

Q-CTRL: Q-CTRL focuses on quantum control engineering and provides quantum control software solutions. As of 2021, the company had raised over $22 million in funding.

Some of the Top Market Players Are:

Amazon

Alibaba Group

Atos Quantum

Cambridge Quantum Computing

D-Wave Systems Inc.

Fujitsu

GEM Systems

Google

Honeywell

IBM Corporation

Intel

KETS Quantum Security

Microsoft Corporation

QRATE Quantum Communications

Quantum Blockchains

Quantum Xchange

Rigetti Computing

Single Quantum

Toshiba

Xanadu

Other Prominent Players

Directly Purchase a copy of report with TOC @ https://www.astuteanalytica.com/inquire-before-purchase/quantum-technologies-market

About Astute Analytica

Astute Analytica is a global analytics and advisory company which has built a solid reputation in a short period, thanks to the tangible outcomes we have delivered to our clients. We pride ourselves in generating unparalleled, in depth and uncannily accurate estimates and projections for our very demanding clients spread across different verticals. We have a long list of satisfied and repeat clients from a wide spectrum including technology, healthcare, chemicals, semiconductors, FMCG, and many more. These happy customers come to us from all across the Globe. They are able to make well calibrated decisions and leverage highly lucrative opportunities while surmounting the fierce challenges all because we analyze for them the complex business environment, segment wise existing and emerging possibilities, technology formations, growth estimates, and even the strategic choices available. In short, a complete package. All this is possible because we have a highly qualified, competent, and experienced team of professionals comprising of business analysts, economists, consultants, and technology experts. In our list of priorities, you-our patron-come at the top. You can be sure of best cost-effective, value-added package from us, should you decide to engage with us.

Contact us:

Aamir Beg

BSI Business Park, H-15,Sector-63, Noida- 201301- India

Phone: +1-888 429 6757 (US Toll Free); +91-0120- 4483891 (Rest of the World)

Email: sales@astuteanalytica.com

Website: www.astuteanalytica.com




Company Logo

Global Super Soldier Wearable Technology MarketGlobal

Global Super Soldier Wearable Technology MarketGlobal

Dublin, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Super Soldier Wearable Technology Market by Type, Application, End User, and Region 2023-2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global super soldier wearable technology market size reached US$ 6.88 Billion in 2022. Looking forward, the publisher expects the market to reach US$ 14.34 Billion by 2028, exhibiting a CAGR of 13.02% during 2022-2028.

Companies Mentioned

3M Company

AirBorn Inc.

Avon Protection plc

BAE Systems plc

Collins Aerospace (Raytheon Technologies Corporation)

Elbit Systems Ltd.

Honeywell International Inc.

L3harris Technologies Inc.

The increasing geopolitical tensions, rising use of drones, and the growing investments by governing agencies of numerous countries represent some of the key factors driving the market.



Super soldier wearable technology comprises exoskeletons, smart textiles, ballistic protection, and augmented reality systems that are designed to enhance the performance of soldiers and situational awareness on the battlefield. It helps soldiers perform multiple tasks, including carrying heavy equipment, navigating difficult terrain, and detecting threats.

It assists in improving the physical capabilities of armed forces, such as enhancing strength, speed, and endurance and protecting against different forms of harm. It also improves communication between soldiers and commanders to complete their missions more effectively and efficiently. It provides increased protection against bullets, shrapnel, and other threats that reduce the risk of injury or death on the battlefield.



The increasing geopolitical tension and considerable growth in the military and defense sectors represent one of the major factors driving the demand for super soldier wearable technologies around the world. Moreover, various military and defense organizations are investing in the upgradation of existing infrastructure to improve national security.

Story continues

This, along with the increasing use of super soldier wearable technologies in humanitarian missions, such as disaster response or search and rescue operations to enhance the safety and effectiveness of military personnel, is contributing to the market growth.

Apart from this, there is a rise in the adoption of super soldier wearable technologies like smart textiles to improve the physical and mental performance of soldiers by providing instant monitoring of vital signs, fatigue levels, and other metrics. This, coupled with the growing utilization of nanotechnology and electronics in these smart textiles to manufacture military uniforms, is creating a positive outlook for the market.

Furthermore, there is an increase in the integration of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), biometrics, sensors, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and a global positioning system (GPS) in super soldier wearable technologies for the protection and well-being of soldiers on the battlefield.

These advanced technologies are also used to identify soldiers and track their movements, analyze data from different sources, and share information about their surroundings, including maps, enemy positions, and mission objectives in real time with soldiers. This, along with the increasing use of drones and robotics for additional support to armed forces and minimize physical burden from them, is strengthening the growth of the market.



Key Questions Answered in This Report:

How has the global super soldier wearable technology market performed so far, and how will it perform in the coming years?

What are the drivers, restraints, and opportunities in the global super soldier wearable technology market?

What is the impact of each driver, restraint, and opportunity on the global super soldier wearable technology market?

What are the key regional markets?

Which countries represent the most attractive super soldier wearable technology market?

What is the breakup of the market based on the type?

Which is the most attractive type in the super soldier wearable technology market?

What is the breakup of the market based on the application?

Which is the most attractive application in the super soldier wearable technology market?

What is the breakup of the market based on the end user?

Which is the most attractive end user in the super soldier wearable technology market?

What is the competitive structure of the global super soldier wearable technology market?

Who are the key players/companies in the global super soldier wearable technology market?

Key Attributes:

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 143 Forecast Period 2022 - 2028 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2022 $6.88 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2028 $14.34 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 13.0% Regions Covered Global

Key Topics Covered:



1 Preface



2 Scope and Methodology



3 Executive Summary



4 Introduction

4.1 Overview

4.2 Key Industry Trends



5 Global Super Soldier Wearable Technology Market

5.1 Market Overview

5.2 Market Performance

5.3 Impact of COVID-19

5.4 Market Forecast



6 Market Breakup by Type

6.1 Headwear

6.1.1 Market Trends

6.1.2 Key Segments

6.1.2.1 Helmet

6.1.2.2 Eyewear

6.1.2.3 Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE)

6.1.3 Market Forecast

6.2 Bodywear

6.2.1 Market Trends

6.2.2 Key Segments

6.2.2.1 Exoskeleton

6.2.2.2 Vest

6.2.2.3 Jetpack

6.2.2.4 Battery Pack

6.2.2.5 Wearable Computers

6.2.3 Market Forecast

6.3 Hearables

6.3.1 Market Trends

6.3.2 Key Segments

6.3.2.1 Tactical Radio

6.3.2.2 Tactical Headset

6.3.3 Market Forecast

6.4 Connectivity Devices

6.4.1 Market Trends

6.4.2 Key Segments

6.4.2.1 Rectangular Connectors

6.4.2.2 Circular Connectors

6.4.2.3 Radio Frequency Connectors

6.4.2.4 Harness Connectors

6.4.3 Market Forecast



7 Market Breakup by Application

7.1 Personal Protection

7.1.1 Market Trends

7.1.2 Market Forecast

7.2 Communication and Navigation

7.2.1 Market Trends

7.2.2 Market Forecast

7.3 Situational Awareness

7.3.1 Market Trends

7.3.2 Market Forecast

7.4 Power and Energy Management

7.4.1 Market Trends

7.4.2 Market Forecast

7.5 Training and Simulation

7.5.1 Market Trends

7.5.2 Market Forecast



8 Market Breakup by End User

8.1 Infantry

8.1.1 Market Trends

8.1.2 Market Forecast

8.2 Special Forces

8.2.1 Market Trends

8.2.2 Market Forecast

8.3 Air Force

8.3.1 Market Trends

8.3.2 Market Forecast



9 Market Breakup by Region



10 Drivers, Restraints, and Opportunities

10.1 Overview

10.2 Drivers

10.3 Restraints

10.4 Opportunities



11 Value Chain Analysis



12 Porters Five Forces Analysis



13 Price Analysis



14 Competitive Landscape

14.1 Market Structure

14.2 Key Players

14.3 Profiles of Key Players

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/q6ucgr

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Attachment

CONTACT: CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood,Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./ CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900




AstuteAnalytica India Pvt. Ltd.

The global surgical drapes market is expected to experience significant growth in the coming years due to an increase in surgical procedures, rising prevalence of chronic diseases, and the need to prevent healthcare-associated infections. The market is also driven by technological advancements and innovation in surgical drapes, as well as increasing demand from emerging economies.

New Delhi, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global surgical drapes market has been valued at around USD 2,094.94 million in 2022, and is projected to grow to USD 3,431.6 million by 2031, representing a CAGR of 5.96% from 2023 to 2031.

Infection control is a major concern during surgeries as it can lead to serious complications. Surgical drapes are used to create a sterile barrier between the patient and contaminants present in the operating environment. They are also used to cover equipment and furniture in the operating room so as to reduce the risk of cross-contamination. There are different types of surgical drapes available in the market such as disposable drapes, non-disposable drapes, and others. Disposable drapes are gaining popularity as they offer better infection control and are convenient to use.

Get Free sample copy of this report @ https://www.astuteanalytica.com/request-sample/surgical-drapes-market

The increasing number of surgeries being performed globally is one of the major factors driving the growth of the surgical drapes market. For instance, the number of surgeries performed worldwide is quite significant, with an estimated 313 million surgeries taking place globally in 2021. With population growth and an increase in surgical procedures, this number is likely to grow even further in the years to come. The prevalence of surgeries in developed countries have a higher number of surgeries per 1,000 people, with an average of 5-6 surgeries per 1000 people per year, while developing countries have a lower number, with only around 2-3 surgeries per 1,000 people per year.

Story continues

The United States is one of the countries with the highest number of surgeries performed annually, with an estimated 51.4 million surgeries performed in 2021, which is followed by China, India, and Brazil. This rise in the number of surgeries is mainly due to the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

In addition, the rising demand for infection control is another major factor fueling the growth of this market. Surgical site infections (SSIs) are one of the most common nosocomial infections, which can often lead to death. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the incidence of SSIs in developed countries is estimated to be between 2% and 5%, while in developing countries, it can be as high as 20%. However, the true prevalence of SSIs may be higher, as many infections may not be reported or may be misdiagnosed. Thus, there is a growing need for effective infection control measures during surgery, which is boosting the demand for surgical drapes globally.

More than 281 million Units of Surgical Drapes were Sold in Global Surgical Drapes Market in 2022

As per Astute Analytica, the global market for surgical drapes experienced significant growth in 2022, with more than 281 million units sold worldwide. The rise in sales highlights the crucial role of surgical drapes in medical procedures, as they help prevent the spread of infections and maintain sterile environments.

One notable trend in the market is the increasing popularity of reusable surgical drapes, which accounted for over 42% of the total sales in 2022. This shift towards sustainability and environmental responsibility in the healthcare industry is commendable and is driving the market towards more eco-friendly products.

Europe dominated the surgical drapes market for over 22.6% of the total units sold. This highlights the important role the European market plays in the global healthcare industry.

Drape sheets were the most commonly sold surgical drapes, with over 75.87 million units sold in 2022, indicating their importance in surgical procedures and continued demand in the market.

It is also noteworthy that Moderate (AAMI Risk Level 3) surgical drapes accounted for over 32% of the total units sold. This suggests that healthcare professionals are placing a greater emphasis on infection prevention and patient safety, and are willing to invest in higher-level protection products.

More than 62% Revenue of Global Surgical Drapes Market to Come from Woven and Non-Woven Materials

Woven and non-woven surgical drapes are leading materials in the surgical drapes market, accounting for over 62% of the total revenue. The popularity of these materials can be attributed to several factors, including their availability, cost-effectiveness, acceptance among surgeons, and superior performance in maintaining a sterile environment during surgical procedures.

The easy availability of woven and non-woven surgical drapes is one of the primary reasons for their popularity. These materials are easily produced in large quantities, making them ideal for use in surgical procedures where a large number of drapes are required. In addition to availability, woven and non-woven surgical drapes are also cost-effective compared to other materials, such as disposable drapes made from polypropylene or nylon. This cost-effectiveness makes them an attractive option for healthcare facilities that need to manage their expenses while maintaining high standards of care.

The acceptance of woven and non-woven surgical drapes among surgeons is another key factor driving their demand. These materials have been in use for decades and are trusted by surgeons for their properties and performance. They provide excellent barrier protection against microorganisms and are highly effective in preventing the spread of infection in the operating room.

Furthermore, these drapes are known for their superior performance in maintaining a sterile environment during surgical procedures. They are highly absorbent and have the ability to wick away moisture, which helps to prevent the accumulation of bacteria and other contaminants. As a result, these materials contribute to a safer and more efficient surgical environment.

Browse summary of the report and Complete Table of Contents (ToC): https://www.astuteanalytica.com/industry-report/surgical-drapes-market

Asia Pacific is Largest Surgical Drapes Market with Revenue Share of 38%

The Asia Pacific region is the largest market globally, mainly due to its large population base, high number of surgeries across densely populated countries such as India and China, and a strong demand for medical tourism across these nations. The Asia Pacific region is home to some of the most populous countries in the world, such as China and India, which have a large patient base requiring surgical procedures. This high population base is a significant driver for the growth of the surgical drapes market in this region.

The rising prevalence of chronic diseases, increasing geriatric population, and advancements in medical technology are some of the key factors contributing to the growing demand for surgeries in the region. India and China are among the top five countries globally in terms of the number of surgeries performed. According to a report by the Lancet, India performs around 63.8 million surgeries annually, while China performs around 47.7 million surgeries annually.

Medical tourism is a significant contributor to the healthcare industry in the Asia Pacific region. According to a report by the Medical Tourism Association, the Asia Pacific region received around 21 million medical tourists in 2019, with Thailand, India, and Singapore among the top destinations.

3M is the Leader in Global Surgical Drapes Market in Highly Competitive Market with 11% Revenue Share

The surgical drapes industry is highly competitive. There are a large number of manufacturers and suppliers of surgical drapes, and the products are relatively standardized. This means that there is little to differentiate one product from another, and price is the main factor in determining market share.

The high degree of competition in the global surgical drapes market has resulted in slim margins for manufacturers. In order to remain profitable, companies must constantly strive to reduce costs and increase efficiency. This puts pressure on all aspects of the business, from product development and manufacturing to marketing and sales. However, some brands have been able to generate significant levels of brand equity and customer loyalty. 3M is one such brand that has built up a strong reputation for quality and innovation over many years. As a result, it holds a leading position in the surgical drape market with an estimated market share of 11%.

Despite the challenges, the surgical drapes industry is an attractive proposition for new entrants. The barriers to entry are relatively low, and there is potential for growth as demand for surgical drapes increases. With careful planning and execution, it is possible to build a successful business in this competitive industry.

Some of the Top Market Players Are:

3M

AliMed

Cardinal Health

Foothills Industries

Medica Europe BV

Medline Industries, Inc.

Molnlycke Health Care

OneMed

Paul Hartmann AG

Priontex

Standard Textile Co.

Steris

Other Prominent players

Directly Purchase a copy of report with TOC @ https://www.astuteanalytica.com/inquire-before-purchase/surgical-drapes-market

About Astute Analytica

Astute Analytica is a global analytics and advisory company which has built a solid reputation in a short period, thanks to the tangible outcomes we have delivered to our clients. We pride ourselves in generating unparalleled, in depth and uncannily accurate estimates and projections for our very demanding clients spread across different verticals. We have a long list of satisfied and repeat clients from a wide spectrum including technology, healthcare, chemicals, semiconductors, FMCG, and many more. These happy customers come to us from all across the Globe. They are able to make well calibrated decisions and leverage highly lucrative opportunities while surmounting the fierce challenges all because we analyze for them the complex business environment, segment wise existing and emerging possibilities, technology formations, growth estimates, and even the strategic choices available. In short, a complete package. All this is possible because we have a highly qualified, competent, and experienced team of professionals comprising of business analysts, economists, consultants, and technology experts. In our list of priorities, you-our patron-come at the top. You can be sure of best cost-effective, value-added package from us, should you decide to engage with us.

Contact us:

Aamir Beg

BSI Business Park, H-15,Sector-63, Noida- 201301- India

Phone: +1-888 429 6757 (US Toll Free); +91-0120- 4483891 (Rest of the World)

Email: sales@astuteanalytica.com

Website: www.astuteanalytica.com




Polaris Market Research & Consulting LLP

Polaris Market Research has conducted a comprehensive 2023 research study spanning over [+115] pages, revealing that the global waste heat recovery system market was valued at USD 71.33 Billion in 2022. The study predicts that the market will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.3% and is expected to reach USD 144.57 Billion By 2032. Steam & Electricity generation segment held the dominant position in global market in 2022 owing to rising prices of electricity worldwide. Some of the top market players are Siemens, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, General Electric, ABB, Boustead International, Forbes Marshall, John Wood Group, Ormat Technologies and others.

New York, NY, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Polaris Market Research has published a new research report titled Waste Heat Recovery System Market Share, Size, Trends, Industry Analysis Report, By Application (Steam & Electricity Generation, Preheating); By End-use; By Region; Segment Forecast, 2023-2032 in its research database.

According to the latest research analysis, the global waste heat recovery system market size/share is anticipated to be valued at approximately USD 71.33 Billion in 2022 and is projected to hit a revenue of around USD 144.57 Billion By 2032, at a CAGR of around 7.3% between 2023 and 2032.

What are Waste Heat Recovery Systems? How Big is Waste Heat Recovery System Market Size & Share?

Overview

Waste heat recovery system is a heat exchanger unit that recovers the waste energy at a high temperature from the exhaust gas and transfers it into electric energy. Sources of heat extraction can include steam from cooling towers, wastewater from cooling processes like steel cooling, and hot flue gases from a diesel generator. The system can include a steam turbine with an alternator, a power turbine, and/or an exhaust gas boiler (separately or in combination with an oil-fired boiler).

The thermal energy recovered from waste can be reused for pre-heating, converting to electricity, refrigerating, and upgrading to a better grade of heat. It seems that waste heat recovery is becoming a critical opportunity for businesses to increase their bottom line while lowering carbon emissions. The system provides a supplementary power source by producing energy while obtaining the high temperatures generated during the production. It thereby contributes to a reduction in energy costs which is driving the waste heat recovery system market size.

Story continues

Request Sample Copy of Waste Heat Recovery System Market Research Report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/waste-heat-recovery-system-market/request-for-sample

(The sample of this report is readily available on request. The report sample contains a brief introduction to the research report, a Table of Contents, a Graphical introduction of regional analysis, Top players in the market with their revenue analysis, and our research methodology.)

Our Sample Report Covers:

2032 Updated Report Introduction, Overview, and In-depth industry analysis.

115+ Pages Research Report (Inclusion of Updated Research).

Provide Chapter-wise guidance on Requests.

2023 Updated Regional Analysis with Graphical Representation of Size, Share & Trends

Includes Updated List of tables & figures.

Updated Report Includes Top Market Players with their Business Strategy, Sales Volume, and Revenue Analysis.

Some of the Top Market Players Are:

Siemens

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

General Electric

ABB

Boustead International

Forbes Marshall

John Wood Group

Ormat Technologies

Thermax

Cool Energy

Climeon BoschIndustriekessel

AURA GmbH

Promec Engineering

To Know Additional List of Key Players, Request Here to Download a Free Report PDF Brochure: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/waste-heat-recovery-system-market/request-for-sample

Key Growth Driving Factors:

Rapid industrialization: Commercial sectors and other industries generate a huge amount of waste heat in the energy. Many companies are utilizing heat recovery systems to recover this energy and decrease energy loss and thus increase in demand for heat recovery systems due to rapid industrialization is a prominent factor propelling the waste heat recovery system market demand.

Waste heat recovery systems in marine vessels: Waste heat recovery systems are used in marine vessels to recover lost fuel energy from diesel engines. These systems provide high-efficiency mechanical and electrical power, driving market growth.

Cost-effectiveness and advancements: Improving energy efficiency in industrial processes through waste heat recovery is gaining momentum due to rising energy prices and emphasis on sustainability. Advances in system design and performance make it cost-effective for businesses.

Rising technological innovations: Investments in waste heat recovery systems are driving the evolution of industries such as refineries, heavy metals, paper & pulp, petrochemicals, and chemicals. Major manufacturers are adopting waste heat recovery systems to reduce dependence on conventional energy and lower working costs by producing in-house power.

Top Report Findings:

Favorable government policies, rising demand for energy, and growing emphasis on sustainability are anticipated to accelerate the waste heat recovery system market growth.

The market is primarily categorized into application, end-user, and region.

Asia Pacific region is likely to hold the largest market share over the forecast period.

Request for a Discount on this Report Before Purchase @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/waste-heat-recovery-system-market/request-for-discount-pricing

Top Trends Influencing the Market:

Recent advancement: James Fisher acquired the second LNG dual tank marine vessel from China Merchant Jinling Shipyard in Jan 2023. The ship has improved hydrodynamic performance, and operational efficiency and reduced GHG, carbon, NOx, and SOx emissions with a centralized waste heat recovery system.

Benefits in industrial processes: The petrochemical, iron, and steel industries are experiencing growth, which is leading to an increased need for waste heat recovery solutions due to the large amounts of waste heat they generate. As these industrial plants expand their operations, they are seeking methods to utilize the waste heat from their processes, creating a higher demand for waste heat recovery solutions.

Segmental Analysis

Preheating category is predicted to register a high CAGR during the anticipated period

In order to preheat the combustion air, waste heat recovery is used in medium- to high-temperature ovens and furnaces. Burners prefer less fuel with the aid of preheated air to preserve the necessary process heat. The use of preheating may save energy costs and enhance the efficiency of producing many industrial processes, which is fueling the market growth. Further, the steam & electricity generation category accounted for the highest revenue share in the waste heat recovery system market in 2022 due to the increasing installation of heating units in utility, industrial, and commercial applications as well as a growing focus on reducing operating and maintenance costs. Strengthen government requirements to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions further support market development.

Petroleum Refinery segment held the largest waste heat recovery system market share in 2022

Based on end-use, the petroleum refinery category dominated the market. The petroleum refinery segment held the dominant position in the market. Numerous heat loss processes in refineries are enhanced either through the introduction of design optimization, such as optimizing heat exchange systems, or the introduction of waste heat recovery systems to produce on-site electricity or for preheating the combustion air and lower the energy requirement of the refineries. Furthermore, the cement industry is likely to show the fastest CAGR over the anticipated period. Cement production requires a lot of energy, which makes up 40% of total production costs. To cut costs, cement plants are now using waste heat recovery systems to generate power.

Inquire more about this report before purchase @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/waste-heat-recovery-system-market/inquire-before-buying

(Inquire about a report quote OR available discount offers to the sales team before purchase.)

Waste Heat Recovery System Market: Report Scope

Report Attribute Details Revenue Forecast in 2032 USD 144.57 Billion Market size value in 2023 USD 76.42 Billion Expected CAGR Growth 7.3% from 2023 2032 Base Year 2022 Forecast Year 2023  2032 Top Market Players Siemens AG, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., General Electric, ABB, Boustead International Heaters, Forbes Marshall, John Wood Group plc, Ormat Technologies Inc., Thermax Ltd., Cool Energy Inc., Climeon BoschIndustriekessel GmbH, AURA GmbH & Co. and Promec Engineering Segments Covered By Application, By End-use, By Region Customization Options Customized purchase options are available to meet any research needs. Explore customized purchase options

Geographic Overview

North America: The region captured the largest market share owing to the rising fuel prices, government initiatives, and efforts to increase industrial energy efficiency are all contributing to the market growth in this area. Companies aim to search for energy sources to decrease their carbon footprint and achieve sustainability goals. Also, governments in North America are conducting initiatives to encourage the use of waste heat recovery through tax incentives, subsidies, and regulations.

Asia Pacific: Asia Pacific in the waste heat recovery system market is predicted to obtain the highest CAGR throughout the study period. As a result of increasing construction activities, China has become a hub for waste heat recovery, which is boosting the demand for cement production. In addition, rising knowledge of the advantages of waste heat recovery, including cost savings and sustainability, as well as the rise of energy-intensive businesses like steel manufacturing, are fostering the regional market growth.

Browse the Detail Report Waste Heat Recovery System Market Share, Size, Trends, Industry Analysis Report, By Application (Steam & Electricity Generation, Preheating); By End-use; By Region; Segment Forecast, 2023-2032 with in-depth TOC: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/waste-heat-recovery-system-market

For Additional Information OR Media Enquiry, Please Mail At: sales@polarismarketresearch.com

Recent Developments

In September 2022, Transitional Energy and ElectraTherm signed a Letter of Intent in Sep 2022 to collaborate on converting heat waste into electricity in the oil and gas industry. Transitional Energy installed a custom system utilizing ElectraTherm's ORC technology to generate electricity from thermal energy produced in the oil and gas sector.

In September 2022, Climeon launched HeatPower 300 Maritime, a new waste heat recovery technology. Developed by marine engineers, it enhances energy efficiency in the shipping sector by converting waste heat into clean energy, decreasing CO2 emissions, lowering fuel consumption, and aiding compliance with stricter environmental laws.

Important Questions Answered by Report

What is the present size of the market?

What are the waste heat recovery system market key players?

What are trending strategies utilized by market enterprises to expand their businesses?

Which region of the market is expected to show promising expansion avenues in the assessment period?

Which product type of the market is in high demand?

What is the projected size of the market at the end of the forecast period?

What are the opportunities and threats to which players are exposed in the market?

Polaris Market Research has segmented the Waste Heat Recovery System Market report based on application, end-use, and region:

By Application Outlook

Steam & Electricity Generation

Preheating

By End-use Outlook

Petroleum Refining

Metal Production

Chemical

Cement

Paper & Pulp

Others

By Region Outlook

North America (U.S., Canada)

Europe (France, Germany, UK, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Russia)

Asia Pacific (Japan, China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia. South Korea)

Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina)

Middle East & Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Israel, South Africa)

Browse More Research Reports:

Plant-Based Leather Market: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/plant-based-leather-market

White Oil Market: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/white-oil-market

Surveillance Radars Market: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/surveillance-radars-market

Optical Waveguide Market: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/optical-waveguide-market

Mobile Accessories Market: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/mobile-accessories-market

About Polaris Market Research

Polaris Market Research is a global market research and consulting company. The company specializes in providing exceptional market intelligence and in-depth business research services for PMRs clientele spread across different enterprises. We at Polaris are obliged to serve PMRs diverse customer base present across the industries of healthcare, technology, semiconductors, and chemicals among various other industries present around the world. We strive to provide PMRs customers with updated information on innovative technologies, high-growth markets, emerging business environments, and the latest business-centric applications, thereby helping them always to make informed decisions and leverage new opportunities. Adept with a highly competent, experienced, and extremely qualified team of experts comprising SMEs, analysts, and consultants, we at Polaris endeavor to deliver value-added business solutions to PMRs customers.

Contact:

Likhil G

30 Wall Street

8th Floor,

New York City, NY 10005,

United States

Phone: +1-929 297-9727

Email: sales@polarismarketresearch.com

Web: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com

Follow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter

Blog: https://polarismarketresearch.medium.com




AMHERST, Mass., April 17, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GoNetspeed, a high-speed 100% fiber to the premises internet provider, today announced that construction has begun on the infrastructure that will provide residents and businesses throughout Amherst with high-speed fiber internet. Through GoNetspeeds fully funded $3 million investment, Amherst will mark the first community in Massachusetts that will have access to GoNetspeeds fast, reliable internet and voice service for their home or business.

As construction expands throughout the area, the first customers will be eligible for service installation as early as this spring. Construction is expected to be completed by late summer when more than 2,200 homes and businesses will have the opportunity to experience GoNetspeeds symmetrical fiber internet speeds that will allow customers to upload just as fast as they can download. Residents and businesses interested may visit gonetspeed.com to sign up for priority installation once service is available in their area.

"We have heard the growing demands for more access to faster, more affordable internet speeds, and GoNetspeed has worked diligently to be that option for many communities," said Richard Clark, GoNetspeed President and CEO. "Amherst will soon be supported by an infrastructure that will scale with their continued growth, meeting the needs of each resident and business we will serve. We are grateful for the towns support as we work to deploy future-proof fiber internet throughout the community."

GoNetspeed working to ensure that more communities throughout Massachusetts will have access to a high-speed 100% fiber internet infrastructure. In the coming months, more communities throughout the state will join Amherst in having access to GoNetspeeds fiber internet.

With a legacy of innovation and a commitment to customer service, GoNetspeed is excited to accelerate the expansion of fiber networks throughout nine states, including Massachusetts. GoNetspeed continues to deliver more fiber, more access, more speed, and better reliability to residents and businesses throughout our footprint. With access to 100% fiber internet, customers have access to symmetrical upload and download speeds, ranging from 250 Mbps to 1 Gbps (1,000 Mbps). Learn more about GoNetspeed at gonetspeed.com.

Story continues

About GoNetspeed:

GoNetspeed, a high-speed 100% fiber internet provider serving residential and business customers in Maine, Alabama, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and West Virginia, formed a partnership with Oak Hill Capital ("Oak Hill") in January 2021, allowing GoNetspeed to accelerate the expansion of its fiber network throughout the Northeastern U.S. Adding thousands of new service areas every year, GoNetspeed is one of the largest independent internet providers in the east. For more information about GoNetspeed, or to inquire about service in your residence, business or community, visit gonetspeed.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230417005346/en/

Contacts

Media Contact:

Katherine Yochum

502.963.8409

Katherine@RunSwitchPR.com
A.I. is coming for our jobs! Or not. It depends on who you ask.

Since the public launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT in November, the predicted shift to an artificial intelligence-driven workforce has stoked concerns about what comes next. In an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes" on Sunday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the worry were seeing in the early stages of A.I. development is a reason to be optimistic.

"On one hand, the pace at which we can think and adapt as societal institutions compared to the pace at which the technology is evolving, there seems to be a mismatch," Pichai said. "On the other hand, compared to any other technology, I've seen more people worried about it earlier in its lifecycle, so I feel optimistic about the number of people who started worrying about the implications, and hence the conversations are starting in a serious way as well."

Meet Chaos-GPT: An AI Tool That Seeks to Destroy Humanity

Worries about AI replacing humans are also overblown, Dr. Marek Suchenek, Professor of Computer Science at Cal State Dominguez Hills, told Decrypt in an interview.

"Historically, new technology has eliminated certain jobs, but the benefits have largely outweighed the disadvantages," Suchenek said. "While some jobs were lost, the Industrial Revolution created many higher-paying and more appealing opportunities for workers.

While machines can become more intelligent than a single person, they are unlikely to surpass humanity's combined intelligence, he said.

"AI has the potential for misuse, as unscrupulous developers could create malicious software for economic or political gain [or] use AI to impose control over others, leading to permanent tyranny," Suchenek added. "It is important to be aware of these issues when considering AI's impact on society."

Google and Microsoft have been in a race to bring artificial intelligence to the masses, with both tech giantsand Amazon's AWSrolling out tools and products like Google's Bard and Microsoft's Bing that incorporate ChatGPT into their search engines.

Story continues

The two tech giants have thrown billions into AI development. In January, Microsoft invested $10 billion in OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. In February, Google teamed with ChatGPT rival, Anthropic to accelerate the development of a reliable and trustworthy A.I. system.

Science fiction authors and Hollywood producers have spent the last hundred years creating grim stories of what happens when A.I. becomes sentient or smarter than its creators.

"These are deep questions," Pichai said. "We call this alignment. One way we think about [it is] how do you develop A.I. systems aligned to human values, including morality?"

Pichai said the development of advanced A.I. needs to include not just engineers, but social scientists, ethicists, and philosophers.

"I think we have to be very thoughtful," he said. "And I think these are all things society needs to figure out as we move along. It's not for a company to decide."

Given heated speculation as to who will have the edge in the race, the stock price of Google took a hit today when a report from the New York Times said that Samsungmanufacturer of the Android mobile phonewas considering using Microsoft's Bing as the default search engine of its devices instead of using Google.

Following the news, stock in Google's parent company Alphabet fell 3.81% from $108.90 to $104.75 before regaining ground to $105.97 on Monday. By comparison, Microsoft's stock price rose slightly from $286.54 to $288.53, following a drop of 1.38% from $290.83 in the last 24-hours according to data from MarketWatch.
SkyQuest Technology Consulting Pvt. Ltd.

SkyQuest's Fluoroelastomers market report is an excellent analysis for individuals interested in gaining insight into the valuable data, trends, and opportunities in a rapidly growing industry. Additionally, the report is written clearly and concisely, making it accessible to various audiences, from industry experts to market readers. Finally, one can gain an in-depth understanding of the primary and secondary market drivers, providing them with a comprehensive outlook of the current market situation and future projections.

Westford USA, April 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SkyQuest projects that the Fluoroelastomers market will attain a value of USD 1057.77 billion by 2030, with a CAGR of 4.50% over the forecast (2022-2030). To meet consumer demand for fuel-efficient vehicles and achieve the necessary economy, automotive manufacturers are investing heavily in research and development to adapt their current designs and focus on lightweight materials. As a result, manufacturers are shrinking the size to increase proficiency and engine and powertrain components, as well as air circulatory systems, are being used. These dimensional shifts reveal that the vehicle components are subjected to high temperatures as well as corrosive fluids and gases. It is expected to see an increase in demand due to its chemical resistance and resilience to a wide temperature range.

According to the SkyQuest's, Fluoroelastomers are expected to grow in demand over the forecast period due to their excellent chemical and heat resistance properties in certain application sectors. Companies are improving the chemistry of their existing products in order to improve their performance in specific application areas and under adverse conditions. Several companies have launched food-grade and pharmaceutical-grade products that the FDA has approved for use by regulatory agencies.

Browse in-depth TOC on "Fluoroelastomers Market"

Pages - 242

Tables - 95

Figures - 67

Story continues

Fluoroelastomers are highly fluorinated carbon-based polymers that are widely used in sealing, chemical resistance and lubricants, among other applications. This market is experiencing high demand from the automobile industry due to its exceptional mechanical qualities. Furthermore, its advantageous properties such as electrical insulation, heat resistance, and deterioration would contribute to the market's growth.

Prominent Players in Fluoroelastomers Market

Solvay S.A.

The Chemours Company

Daikin Industries Ltd.

3M

AGC, Inc.

Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.

Eagle Elastomer Inc.

HaloPolymer

James Walker & Co.

Air Boss Rubber Solutions

Dynafluon

Dow, Inc.

DuPont de Nemours, Inc.

Fluoron Chemicals

Greene, Tweed & Co., Inc.

Gujarat Fluorochemicals Limited

HaloPolymer OJSC

James Walker UK Ltd.

Marco Rubber & Plastic Products, Inc.

Polycomp B.V.

Get a sample copy of this report:

https://www.skyquestt.com/sample-request/fluoroelastomers-market

FKM Segment Held the Dominant Share of the Market Attributed to Its Extensive Usage in Automobiles and Aircraft Components

Fluorocarbon Elastomers were the market leaders in 2021. The popularity of the FKM segment can be attributed to its widespread use in automotive and aerospace components. FKM's chemical and heat resistance, low compression set, and good ageing properties have made it an important component in the manufacture of seals. The Fluoroelastomers market is expected to see significant demand from the automotive and aerospace industries due to its ability to withstand fuels and solvents at varying temperatures. Perfluorocarbon Food, pharmaceutical and food processing industries all have a high demand for elastomers. A chemical compound is FFKM. This product is used to provide minimal contamination when FDA compliance is required.

North America region is expected to see positive market growth because of the increasing technological advancement in the aerospace and defence industries, particularly in the United States. Fluoroelastomer adoption for the aerospace industry is increasing due to high heat-carrying capacity, and a surge in manufacturing facilities for this industry will boost demand for fluoroelastomers over the forecast period.

Browse summary of the report and Complete Table of Contents (ToC):

https://www.skyquestt.com/report/fluoroelastomers-market

Automotive Segment Grow at The Fastest Rate Due to Increase in The Fuel Efficiency of the Vehicle

The automotive segment is expected to have the largest market share during the forecast period. The majority of fluoroelastomers are used in the production of automobile components. Vehicle components include drive trains and fuel handling. Fluoroelastomer is used in systems to improve fuel efficiency and lower emissions. All of the factors mentioned above will contribute to the growth of the automobile industry. The increased use of O-rings, seals, gaskets and hoses in aircraft fuel systems, where they serve as an emission barrier as well as fuel resistance is fueling growth in the aerospace sector. The oil and gas sector are expected to grow significantly as a result of effective oil resistance and sealing applications.

Due to the region's major consuming countries, Asia Pacific has the largest Fluoroelastomers market share. Rising investment in the pharmaceutical, food processing, chemical processing and coating industries by developing countries such as India and China will drive its expansion.

A comprehensive analysis of the major players in the Fluoroelastomers market has been recently conducted in a report. The report encompasses various aspects, including collaborations, mergers, innovative business policies, and strategies, providing valuable insights into key trends and breakthroughs in the market. Furthermore, the report scrutinizes the market share of the top segments and presents a detailed geographic analysis. Lastly, the report highlights the major players in the industry and their endeavors to develop innovative solutions to cater to the growing demand.

Speak to Analyst for your custom requirements:

https://www.skyquestt.com/speak-with-analyst/fluoroelastomers-market

Key Developments in Fluoroelastomers Market

In July 2022, Chemours develops fluoroelastomer manufacturing method, Chemours announced the development of a process technology to create APA grades of Viton fluoroelastomers. According to Chemours, the process eliminates the use of fluorinated polymerisation aids, increasing the sustainability of the fluoroelastomer production process.

In October 2022, Synthetic rubber* futures prices fell over the previous trading week, led by styrene-butadiene rubber and fluoroelastomers, which fell more than 3% week on week. EPDM, halobutyl, polybutadiene, and nitrile rubbers all fell 1% to 1.7% over the same forecast period, while butadiene prices fell 1.3% week on week after a significant drop the previous week.

Key Questions Answered in Fluoroelastomers Market Report

What specific growth drivers are projected to impact the market during the forecast period?

Can you list the top companies in the market and explain how they have achieved their positions of influence?

In what ways do regional trends and patterns differ within the global market, and how might these differences shape the market's future growth?

Related Reports in SkyQuests Library:

Global Electric Vehicle Charging Station Market

Global Medical Education Market

Global Secure Logistics Market

Global Gas Engines Market

Global Decorative Lighting Market

About Us:

SkyQuest Technology is leading growth consulting firm providing market intelligence, commercialization and technology services. It has 450+ happy clients globally.

Address:

1 Apache Way, Westford, Massachusetts 01886

Phone:

USA (+1) 617-230-0741

Email: sales@skyquestt.com

LinkedIn Facebook Twitter




Sabina Mammadli

Armenia can not seem to seize fabricating fake news or provocations: one day it is cries about the "blockade and humanitarian crisis on the Lachin-Khankandi road, another - reports about the shelling of Armenian positions by the Azerbaijani army. All of this leads back to deep-rooted Azerbaijanophobia, which is constantly demonstrated in every aspect of Armenian society and government despite its tireless attempt to come out as a victim.

Just this morning, Azerbaijani Defense Ministry flatly denied the reports of the Armenian Defense Ministry about the alleged firing in the direction of Zod of Basarkechar region. Similarly, just a few days ago, on April 11, Armenian armed forces stationed in the direction of the Digh settlement of the Gorus region shelled positions of the Azerbaijani army in the Lachin District, which they, again, expectedly blamed on the Azerbaijani side.

However, Armenian MP Armen Khachatryan did admit that the incident of April 11 at the border was the fault of the Armenian side.

"Azerbaijanis demanded to stop engineering work, we gave a worthy answer, and military actions arose from this answer," Khachatryan said, Armenian media reported.

All of this indicates that Armenia carries out deliberate provocations. Yerevan seems to not be able to accept new realities in the region and perhaps prepares for another war. Although, its resources have had long been exhausted.

In a comment for Azernews, Azerbaijani military expert Alparslan Imamqulu talked about Armenian provocations and what they could mean.

The expert underlined that the provocation carried out against the Azerbaijani national flag once again serves to prove that the Armenian public hasnt given up on revanchism.

Armenia's political will and the army are performing aggressive actions against Azerbaijan. And today, serious measures are being taken in Armenia to develop the army,  the expert stated.

However, he pointed out that this shouldnt worry Azerbaijan in any way as Azerbaijani servicemen are permanently on duty and working with a principle of one step forward.

If Armenia is expecting a major war, our participation in anti-terrorist operations is inevitable, the expert stressed.
The Insight Partners

In 2022, Asia Pacific accounted for the largest share of the global talc market. The demand for talc in Asia Pacific is increasing due to the growing use of talc in ceramics and paint & coatings. The growing building & construction industry led to the dominance of Asia Pacific in 2022. The talc carbonate segment held the largest market share in 2022.

Pune, India., April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to our new research study on  Talc Market Size Report, Forecast to 2028  COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis  by deposit type, end-use industry and geography, the talc market was valued at US$ 1,987.43 million in 2022 and is projected to reach US$ 2,628.30 million by 2028; it is expected to record a CAGR of 4.8% from 2022 to 2028. Increasing demand for talc in the paper & pulp industry will drive market growth during the forecast period.





Download PDF Brochure: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/sample/TIPRE00008714/







Global Talc Market Growth Drivers:

 Increasing demand from end-use industries: Talc is widely used in the manufacturing of plastics, ceramics, paper, paint, and other products. As demand for these products grows, the demand for talc is also expected to increase.

 Growing use in the automotive industry: Talc is used in automotive parts such as interior and exterior trim components, electrical housings, and under-the-hood applications due to its properties such as heat resistance, low coefficient of thermal expansion, and good electrical insulation. The growing demand for lightweight and fuel-efficient vehicles is expected to drive the demand for talc in the automotive industry.

 Rise in demand from the cosmetics industry: Talc is used in the manufacturing of cosmetic products such as baby powder, face powders, and body powders. As the demand for cosmetics continues to grow, the demand for talc in this industry is also expected to rise.

 Increasing use in the healthcare industry: Talc is used in the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, as well as medical devices such as surgical gloves and catheters. The growing healthcare industry is expected to drive the demand for talc in this sector.

 Technological advancements: Advancements in technology have led to the development of new applications for talc, such as in the manufacturing of nanocomposites, which are used in a variety of industries including aerospace, electronics, and construction. These advancements are expected to drive the growth of the talc market.

 Expansion of production facilities: Major talc manufacturers are investing in expanding their production facilities to meet the growing demand for talc. For example, in 2020, Imerys Talc announced the expansion of its production facility in Montana, USA, to increase its capacity to meet the growing demand for talc in various industries.

Story continues





Global Talc Market Recent Developments:

 Increasing demand from the healthcare industry: Talc is widely used in the healthcare industry in the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and medical devices. In recent years, there has been a growing demand for talc in this industry due to its properties such as absorbency, lubricity, and low toxicity.

 Growing use in the plastics industry: Talc is used as a reinforcing filler in plastics due to its ability to enhance stiffness, impact resistance, and dimensional stability. In recent years, there has been a growing demand for talc in the plastics industry, especially in the production of lightweight and fuel-efficient automotive parts.

 Technological advancements: Advancements in technology have led to the development of new applications for talc, such as in the manufacturing of nanocomposites, which are used in various industries including aerospace, electronics, and construction. These advancements are expected to drive the growth of the talc market.

 Environmental concerns: The talc industry has faced scrutiny over the potential health and environmental risks associated with the use of talc. As a result, many companies are investing in sustainable practices and developing talc products that are free from contaminants.

 Mergers and acquisitions: In recent years, there have been several mergers and acquisitions in the talc industry, with companies seeking to expand their operations and gain a competitive edge. For example, in 2021, Imerys completed the acquisition of the talc business of Luzenac, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto, to strengthen its position in the talc market.

 Regulatory changes: Governments around the world are introducing regulations to control the use of talc in various industries. In 2020, for example, the European Union added talc to its list of restricted substances under the REACH regulation, which is expected to impact the talc market in the region.





Purchase Premium Copy of Talc Market Growth Report (2022-2028) at: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/buy/TIPRE00008714/





In 2022, Asia Pacific held the largest share of the global talc market. The Asia Pacific talc market is segmented into Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, and the Rest of Asia Pacific. Asia Pacific is one of the largest crude and processed talc-producing regions across the world. The region is home to major manufacturers producing paper and pulp and lightweight plastics for automotive components. The development of automotive parts and components in the region with the rise of electric vehicle production will create lucrative opportunities for the lightweight plastics market over the coming years. This, in turn, will drive the talc market in the region during the forecast period.

Growing Demand for Talc in Paper & Pulp Industry Drives Talc Market Growth:

Talc is commonly used in the pulp & paper industry as a pitch control agent, coating pigment, and functional filler. It helps enhance the runnability of a paper machine. Talc is used to recycle paper and produce new paper, pulp, and cardboard. The properties of talc prevent pitch agglomeration within the production machine. Talc is used as a filler to give smoothness, porosity, and opacity to paper. Also, in paper production, talc use enhances the quality of finished products and reduces production costs. China is one of the major producers of paper and pulp. The use of paper is highest in China. According to the report published by National Bureau of Statistics, manufacturers of paper and paper products in China generated a revenue of about US$ 201 billion in 2020, with a gross profit of about US$ 13 billion, at a 21.2% year-on-year growth. The demand for paper packaging is increasing in various sectors. Quick service restaurants (QSR) and fast-food restaurants are among the largest users of paper packaging products. The growing paper & pulp industry propels the demand for talc, which drives the talc market growth.

Global Talc Market: Segmental Overview

Based on deposit type, the talc market is bifurcated into talc chlorite and talc carbonate. The talc carbonate segment held a larger market share in 2022. Talc-carbonate ore bodies mainly contain talc carbonate and chlorite traces. Carbonate is typically dolomite (magnesium and calcium carbonate) or magnesium carbonate (magnesite). Talc-carbonate ores are processed to remove associated minerals and produce pure talc concentrate. Talc carbonate provides lower viscosity and better scrub resistance than other talc types. The carbonate deposits are widely used in the paints & coatings, construction, cosmetics, and personal care industries.

Based on end-use industry, the talc market is segregated into plastics, pulp & paper, ceramics, paints & coatings, rubber, pharmaceuticals, food, and others. The pulp & paper segment held the largest market share in 2022. Talc use improves the properties of finished products and reduces costs of production. Talc is organophilic and absorbs impurities such as pitch and resin particles from the process. Hence, talc is used as a cleaner for the wet-end system of a paper machine. It also prevents agglomeration. Therefore, it improves the functioning of a paper machine.





Inquiry Before Purchase: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/inquiry/TIPRE00008714/







Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Global Talc Market:

In 2020, various industries had to slow down their operations due to disruptions in value chains caused by the shutdown of national and international boundaries. COVID-19 pandemic caused supply chain disruptions in the chemical & materials industry and hampered the talc market growth. Adverse effect of the pandemic on manufacturing industries negatively impacted the demand for talc from these industries.

However, various economies have started reviving their operations. With this, the demand for talc started increasing. The rising use of talc in plastics, paper, ceramics, and other manufacturing industries is expected to offer lucrative opportunities for the global talc market during the forecast period.

Global Talc Market: Competitive Landscape

Elementis Plc, Golcha Minerals Pvt Ltd, Imerys SA, IMI Fabi SpA, Liaoning Aihai Talc Co Ltd, Minerals Technologies Inc, Nippon Talc Co Ltd, SCR-Sibelco NV, Sun Minerals Pvt Ltd, and Xilolite SA are among the major players operating in the global talc market. Market players are constantly focusing on strategies such as investments in research & development activities.









Go through further research published by The Insight Partners: (Purchase with 10% Instant Discount):

Talcum Powder Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis

Baby Powder Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis

Polymer Fillers Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis

Paints and coatings fillers Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis

Brucite Composites Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis

Feldspar Market Forecast to 2028 - Covid-19 Impact and Global Analysis









About Us:

The Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We specialize in industries such as Semiconductor and Electronics, Aerospace and Defense, Automotive and Transportation, Biotechnology, Healthcare IT, Manufacturing and Construction, Medical Device, Technology, Media and Telecommunications, Chemicals and Materials.

Contact Us:

If you have any queries about this report or if you would like further information, please contact us:

Contact Person: Sameer Joshi

E-mail: sales@theinsightpartners.com

Phone: +1-646-491-9876

Press Release: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/pr/talc-market






Vancouver, British Columbia --News Direct-- GSP Resource Corp.

News Release - Vancouver, British Columbia  TheNewswire - April 17, 2023: GSP Resource Corp. (TSXV:GSPR) (the Company or GSP) announces the results of initial 3D mineralization modelling for the Alwin Mine Copper-Silver-Gold Project (the Alwin Property) located in the Highland Valley Copper Camp of British Columbia. The recently completed 3D copper mineralization model has identified multiple new high priority drill ready targets within the Alwin Mine area.

The copper mineralization model integrates over 4,000 individual copper assays from more than 450 diamond drill holes for which results are available (see the Companys news release dated March 14, 2023). Based on these data points the copper grade shells were generated via implicit modelling, which were further constrained by the incorporation of structural trend surfaces based on the geometry of historically mined high-grade copper zones (Figure 1).

With the historic data compilation and mineralization model already generating targets for potential follow-up drilling, the Company looks forward to updating shareholders as it advances its plans towards a 2023 diamond drill campaign.

Highlights of new 3D mineralization model:

Multiple new untested high priority drill ready targetsoccur within the Alwin Mine defined by the mineralization model,

Potential for previously unrecognized moderate west, and shallow east plunging continuity of high-grade copper zones,

High grade copper zones defined by drilling and underground mining remain open along corridors at mid-depths, and down plunge to the west and to the east, beyond the extent of the historic underground workings,

New drill targets are underscored by the Companys recent diamond drill results that yielded:

3.4% copper (Cu), 2.3 grams-per-tonne (g/t) gold (Au), and 40 g/t silver (Ag) over 6.4 m within drill hole AM-21-01A,

3.0% Cu and 12 g/t Ag over 20 m within AM-21-05, which includes 7 m of unsampled underground void space,

10.4 g/t Au, 1.2% Cu, and 16 g/t Ag over 1.6 m within AM-21-08B, in addition to,

6.3% Cu over 3.6 m in drill hole 08-04A completed by a previous operator that terminated within historic workings1

Story continues

GSPs President & CEO, Simon Dyakowski, commented: With the release of the first 3D mineralization model for the high-grade past producing Alwin Copper-Silver-Gold Mine we continue to demonstrate the significant exploration upside of our flagship asset. The combination of an expansive historic drill hole and underground development dataset and modern 3D data analysis has yielded multiple untested high priority drill targets and an enhanced understanding of the structural controls and continuity of copper mineralized zones not previously recognized. The Company looks forward to further refining its Alwin Project exploration model as we look to advance our 2023 diamond drill campaign plans.

Click Image To View Full Size

Figure 1: Alwin Mine 3D Compilation Showing >2% Copper Exploration Model and Potential Drill Targets (oblique view looking southwest)

Weblink: Figure 1

About the Alwin Mine Project: The Alwin Mine Copper-Silver-Gold property is approximately 575.72 hectares and is located on the semi-arid, interior plateau in south-central British Columbia. The historic underground mine was developed over 500 m long by 200 m wide by 300 m deep. Production took place between 1916 to 1981 from five major subvertical high-grade copper mineralization zones totaling 233,100 tonnes that milled 3,786 tonnes of copper, 2,729 kilograms of silver and 46.2 kilograms of gold. The average diluted head grade was 1.5% copper.

The Alwin Property is adjacent with the western boundary of Teck Corporations Highland Valley Mine, the largest open-pit porphyry copper-molybdenum mine in western Canada. Alteration and mineralization of the Highland Valley hydrothermal system extends westward from the Highland Valley mine onto the Alwin property (see GSPs news release dated January 30, 2020).

Qualified Person: The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Kristopher J. Raffle, P.Geo. (B.C.), principal and consultant of APEX Geoscience Ltd. of Edmonton, AB, a consultant to the Company and a qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101  Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Raffle has verified the data disclosed, which include a review of the sampling, analytical and test data underlying the information and opinions contained herein. Mineralization hosted on nearby properties is not necessarily indicative of mineralization that may be hosted on the Alwin property.

About GSP Resource Corp.: GSP Resource Corp. is a mineral exploration & development company focused on projects located in Southwestern British Columbia. The Company has an option to acquire a 100% interest and title to the Alwin Mine Copper-Gold-Silver Property in the Kamloops Mining Division, as well as an option to acquire 100% interest and title to the Olivine Mountain Property in the Similkameen Mining Division, of which it has granted an option to earn a 60% interest to a third party.

Contact Information - For more information, please contact:

Simon Dyakowski, Chief Executive Officer & Director

Tel: (604) 619-7469

Email: simon@gspresource.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forwardlooking information or statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws, which may include, without limitation, completion of drilling plans on the Alwin property, future exploration work on the Companys projects, other statements relating to the technical, financial and business prospects of the Company, its projects and other matters. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future, including the price of metals, the ability to achieve its goals, that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner, that financing will be available if and when needed and on reasonable terms. Such forward-looking information reflects the Companys views with respect to future events and is subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including the risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of exploration results, risks related to the inherent uncertainty of exploration and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses, and those filed under the Companys profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include, but are not limited to, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions, adverse weather conditions, failure to maintain all necessary government permits, approvals and authorizations, failure to maintain community acceptance (including First Nations), decrease in the price of copper, gold, silver and other metals, increase in costs, litigation, and failure of counterparties to perform their contractual obligations. The Company does not undertake to update forwardlooking statements or forwardlooking information, except as required by law.

1 The estimated true width of mineralization is approximately 40-50% of the drilled width; see the Companys news release dated October 14, 2021, March 2, 2021, and May 18, 2022.

View source version on newsdirect.com: https://newsdirect.com/news/gsp-resource-corp-defines-multiple-new-high-priority-drill-targets-at-alwin-mine-copper-silver-gold-project-238865271
CHONGQING, China, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report from iChongqing - The 5th China-Singapore (Chongqing) Connectivity Initiative Financial Summit (CCI-FS) is scheduled to be held simultaneously in China's Chongqing and Singapore on April 20 and 21.

The 3rd CCI-FS was held in Chongqing, China on November 23, 2021. (Photo/ Wang Yiling)

Under the theme "Charting a New Path for Financial Centre Development, Creating New Impetus for Financial Opening-up," this year's CCI-FS aims to integrate strategic planning, forward-looking research, exemplary cooperation, and the display of leading results. The main venue will be the Intercontinental Chongqing Raffles City in Yuzhong District, Chongqing.

This year, CCI-FS has introduced a guest province for the first time, inviting Sichuan Province to serve in this role. It is also the first time the summit has invited the Consul General of RCEP countries in Chongqing, Chengdu, and Kunming, along with member governments and market entities of the "13+2" inter-provincial consultation and cooperation mechanism of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC), to participate. This expands the summit's circle of friends and global influence.

To date, 52 foreign guests from over 12 countries have confirmed their participation in the summit out of a total of 177 important guests. These include the Minister for Communications and Information and the Second Minister for Home Affairs of Singapore, the Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, as well as the heads of international financial organizations, the heads of the central banks of ASEAN countries, and other executives from overseas financial institutions.

Focusing on 12 major events and nine special events, this year's summit has an agenda aligned with industry hot topics and key areas, such as financial interconnection, financial technology innovation, green finance, and capital market cooperation.

The summit will discuss new strategic opportunities for constructing China's Western Financial Center and implementing RCEP, seeking high-quality financial cooperation between China and Singapore, and deepening the development of the China-ASEAN financial industry based on the co-construction mechanism of the ILSTC.

Story continues

In addition, the summit will facilitate the signing of key projects, emphasizing China-Singapore financial cooperation and the development of a Western Financial Center and Financial Service Innovation.

For instance, projects will be signed in key areas such as cross-border investment and financing, cross-border payment and settlement, and financial technology between China and Singapore. These projects aim to promote the iterative upgrade of the China-Singapore fund operation model and enhance the financial supply capacity of new trade formats.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/guests-spanning-over-12-countries-confirmed-for-the-upcoming-cci-fs-301798913.html

SOURCE iChongqing
There's no doubt that money can be made by owning shares of unprofitable businesses. For example, although Amazon.com made losses for many years after listing, if you had bought and held the shares since 1999, you would have made a fortune. 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 Trustpilot Group (LON:TRST) shareholders be worried about its cash burn? In this article, we define cash burn as its annual (negative) free cash flow, which is the amount of money a company spends each year to fund its growth. We'll start by comparing its cash burn with its cash reserves in order to calculate its cash runway.

Check out our latest analysis for Trustpilot Group

How Long Is Trustpilot Group's Cash Runway?

You can calculate a company's cash runway by dividing the amount of cash it has by the rate at which it is spending that cash. When Trustpilot Group last reported its balance sheet in December 2022, it had zero debt and cash worth US$75m. Looking at the last year, the company burnt through US$10m. So it had a cash runway of about 7.5 years from December 2022. Importantly, though, analysts think that Trustpilot Group will reach cashflow breakeven before then. In that case, it may never reach the end of its cash runway. The image below shows how its cash balance has been changing over the last few years.

How Well Is Trustpilot Group Growing?

At first glance it's a bit worrying to see that Trustpilot Group actually boosted its cash burn by 4.5%, year on year. At least the revenue was up 13% during the period, even if it wasn't up by much. On balance, we'd say the company is improving over time. Clearly, however, the crucial factor is whether the company will grow its business going forward. So you might want to take a peek at how much the company is expected to grow in the next few years.

How Hard Would It Be For Trustpilot Group To Raise More Cash For Growth?

We are certainly impressed with the progress Trustpilot Group has made over the last year, but it is also worth considering how costly it would be if it wanted to raise more cash to fund faster growth. Issuing new shares, or taking on debt, are the most common ways for a listed company to raise more money for its business. Many companies end up issuing new shares to fund future 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.

Story continues

Trustpilot Group's cash burn of US$10m is about 2.2% of its US$460m market capitalisation. That means it could easily issue a few shares to fund more growth, and might well be in a position to borrow cheaply.

How Risky Is Trustpilot Group's Cash Burn Situation?

As you can probably tell by now, we're not too worried about Trustpilot Group's cash burn. In particular, we think its cash runway stands out as evidence that the company is well on top of its spending. While its increasing cash burn wasn't great, the other factors mentioned in this article more than make up for weakness on that measure. It's clearly very positive to see that analysts are forecasting the company will break even fairly soon. Taking all the factors in this report into account, we're not at all worried about its cash burn, as the business appears well capitalized to spend as needs be. Its important for readers to be cognizant of the risks that can affect the company's operations, and we've picked out 1 warning sign for Trustpilot Group that investors should know when investing in the stock.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies insiders are buying, 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.

Join A Paid User Research Session

Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here
Hypoport SE (ETR:HYQ) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 18% in the last month. But that's not enough to compensate for the decline over the last twelve months. Specifically, the stock price slipped by 61% in that time. Some might say the recent bounce is to be expected after such a bad drop. Arguably, the fall was overdone.

With that in mind, it's worth seeing if the company's underlying fundamentals have been the driver of long term performance, or if there are some discrepancies.

See our latest analysis for Hypoport

While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. 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.

Unfortunately Hypoport reported an EPS drop of 38% for the last year. The share price decline of 61% is actually more than the EPS drop. This suggests the EPS fall has made some shareholders are more nervous about the business.

You can see below how EPS has changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on Hypoport's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

A Different Perspective

While the broader market lost about 3.1% in the twelve months, Hypoport shareholders did even worse, losing 61%. However, it could simply be that the share price has been impacted by broader market jitters. It might be worth keeping an eye on the fundamentals, in case there's a good opportunity. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 1.7% per year over five years. 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. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Hypoport you should know about.

Story continues

For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on German 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.

Join A Paid User Research Session

Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here
Idaho Power customers may see a substantial increase on their electric utility bills in the coming months.

The Boise-based company announced in a news release Friday that it filed its annual spring cost adjustments with the Idaho Public Utilities Commission to raise rates for services by $11.06 a month for the average residential customer.

Idaho Power said neither the company nor its shareholders would receive any financial return from the rate hike.

The filing is a request for $200.2 million to recover expenses tied to annual fluctuations in power supply costs, according to the news release. The adjustments, if approved, will take effect June 1.

We understand times are tough for many, and we are sensitive to the impacts price increases have on our customers, said Ryan Adelman, vice president of power supply at Idaho Power, in the news release. Unfortunately, our power supply costs were higher this past year because of continued drought conditions, high natural gas prices and fuel supply challenges, and we must recover those costs to maintain the reliable service our customers depend on.

There are two components of the annual cost adjustments, including a fixed-cost adjustment and a power-cost adjustment.

The fixed-cost adjustment, which Idaho Power filed March 15, proposed a near $10 million, or 1.6%, decrease for residential and small commercial customers, which would lower monthly bills for a typical residential customer by $1.66 a month. The adjustment alters prices based on changes in energy use per customer during the prior year.

In the power-cost adjustment, used to recover costs by passing them onto the customer, Idaho Power requested an increase of 11.9%, or $12.72 a month, for the average residential customer.

The combined impact means rates would increase by a total of 10.3% for residential customers, 8.1% for small commercial customers and 16.2% for large commercial customers. Large power customers would see rates go up 20.3% and irrigation users 15%.

Story continues

The adjustments would be effective from June 1 through May 31, 2024.

Idaho Power said the increase in this years power-cost adjustment is the result of higher power costs related to natural gas, market prices and lower than expected hydro generation, as well as a limited supply of coal.

It includes costs incurred the previous year and an estimate of what energy will cost in the coming year, the news release said.

The utilities commission will review the proposal and decide whether to approve, modify or reject it. Written comments regarding the case can be filed on the PUCs website.

This Boise company already raised utility rates for gas this year. Prices could go up again

Idaho Power to rebuild old transmission line from Boise to Emmett. What it means to you

Boise water company looks to raise rates 24%, cites improvements. Public to get its say
MONTREAL, April 17, 2023 /CNW/ - Imperial Tobacco Canada (ITCAN) was recognized amongst the top 50 Best Workplaces in Canada. Receiving such an award, considering over 800 organizations applied, reflects the unwavering employee confidence in the company's culture and journey towards A Better Tomorrow.

Imperial Tobacco Canada Logo (CNW Group/Imperial Tobacco Canada)

"We are thrilled to be recognized in the top 5% among other reputable organizations; this is a true testament to our people-first culture", said Lito Charet, Vice-President of Human Resources and Inclusion at Imperial Tobacco Canada. "We are in a period of transformation, entering new categories and offering less harmful alternatives to adult smokers. We are very proud of the progress we have made".

To be eligible for this prestigious certification, organizations must be Great Place to Work-Certified in the past year. This employee-led certification is based on employees' direct feedback as part of an extensive and anonymous survey about their workplace experience, the level of trust employees have in their leaders, the level of pride they have in their jobs, and the extent to which they share a strong sense of community with their colleagues.

"It is inspiring to know that our employees feel heard, empowered, and appreciated. Fostering a positive workplace experience has and will continue to remain a central part of our DNA. Together, we are cultivating an environment in which employees feel welcomed and empowered to bring their whole selves to work. It is thanks to our people that we are transforming faster than expected toward achieving our A Better Tomorrow purpose", concluded Lito.

About Imperial Tobacco Canada

Imperial Tobacco Canada is Canada's leading tobacco and vaping products company and is part of the world's most international tobacco and nicotine group: BAT. BAT is a global multi-category consumer goods business, operating in over 180 markets. We have a clear purpose to build A Better Tomorrow by reducing the health impact of our business. Our strong foundations, together with our capacity for cutting-edge innovation, are a platform for us to build more sustainable products for our adult consumers, and a more sustainable business for our colleagues, shareholders, and communities.

Story continues

About Great Place to Work

Great Place to Work is the global authority on workplace culture. Since 1992, they have surveyed more than 100 million employees worldwide and used those deep insights to define what makes a great workplace: trust. Their employee survey platform empowers leaders with the feedback, real-time reporting and insights they need to make data-driven people decisions. Everything they do is driven by the mission to build a better world by helping every organization become a Great Place to Work for all.

SOURCE Imperial Tobacco Canada

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2023/17/c0075.html
Insiders who purchased UK56k worth of DCC plc (LON:DCC) shares over the past year recouped some of their losses after price gained 4.9% last week. However, total losses seen by insiders are still UK6.7k since the time of purchase.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

Check out our latest analysis for DCC

DCC Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Independent Chairman of the Board Mark Breuer for UK56k worth of shares, at about UK55.87 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of UK49.20. It's very possible they regret the purchase, but it's more likely they are bullish about the company. We always take careful note of the price insiders pay when purchasing shares. It is encouraging to see an insider paid above the current price for shares, as it suggests they saw value, even at higher levels. Mark Breuer was the only individual insider to buy during the last year.

The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Insider Ownership Of DCC

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Insiders own 0.2% of DCC shares, worth about UK9.5m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

What Might The Insider Transactions At DCC Tell Us?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. We'd like to see bigger individual holdings. However, we don't see anything to make us think DCC insiders are doubting the company. If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.

Story continues

But note: DCC may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.

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.

Join A Paid User Research Session

Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here
Hack VC, 6th Man Ventures (6MV), Archetype, Blizzard and CMT Digital are among Fractal backers as it expands its institutional product suite

GENEVA, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Fractal, an infrastructure provider enabling institutions to clear, settle, and margin digital asset trades on-chain, announced today it has secured $6M in financing led by Hack VC. They are joined by a suite of strategic investors including 6th Man Ventures (6MV), Archetype Ventures, Avalanche Ecosystem Fund Blizzard, Circle Ventures, CMT Digital, CoinShares, GoldenTree Asset Management, QCP Capital, Spartan Group, as well as angel investors Akshai Rajendran, Anand Gomes, Josh Frank, Shiliang Tang and Sid Powell. The funding will be used to continue launching institutional-grade products that facilitate capital efficiency, transparency, as well as a simplified user journey.

Fractal Logo (PRNewsfoto/Fractal)

In the wake of ongoing developments in the CeFi space, institutional interest has intensified in finding fit-for-purpose solutions to facilitate on-chain finance. "We gave Fractal a term sheet the week after the FTX collapse and their team was able to close the round in the 3 weeks following, emphasizing institutional investor confidence. Fractal is well positioned to build the connective tissue and capital efficient solutions between assets on- and off-chain," said Alex Pack, Managing Partner at Hack VC. "Fractal provides tools that help investors to easily participate in the on-chain economy."

"The prior wave of centralized digital asset providers validated the need for institutional grade brokerage products but didn't allow depositors to properly evaluate risk. Fractal is building on the foundation that structuring products on-chain is the only method to reduce counterparty risk and enable real-time monitoring," said Carl Vogel, Partner at 6MV. He added, "We are thrilled to partner with such a terrific, experienced founding team to build products that leverage the unique benefits of blockchain to create more secure, trustworthy infrastructure to power the digital asset economy."

Story continues

Fractal recently launched in beta with an initial cohort of clients using applications on the Avalanche blockchain, with a view to tightly integrate with Ava Labs' institutional subnet efforts. "The last year's events in the cryptocurrency industry as well as today's current banking environment have taught us that disintermediation, institutionalization, and transparency are greatly needed to build trust in the counterparty risk of different players in the space. Digital asset infrastructure evolved from centralized exchanges and over-the-counter (OTC) dealers to Centralized Finance (CeFi) prime brokers that simplified price discovery," said Aya Kantorovich and Alexandre Elkrief, Fractal Co-Founders and Co-CEOs. "The next generation of digital asset infrastructure needs to enable transparent proof of reserves, tri-party collateral management and instant on-chain settlements. Our technology will provide just that as we transition to this next phase for the future of on-chain finance."

"It is challenging to cross collateralize on-chain yield bearing assets, OTC bilateral agreements in a cost efficient way. Fractal solves this by putting it on-chain, which is transparent, and efficient for both sides of the transaction. QCP Capital is pleased to support such a solution that improves capital efficiency and catalyzes the progression of DeFi," Stan Low, Head of Investments, QCP Capital.

Fractal was founded by Aya Kantorovich and Alexandre Elkrief. As a former founding team member of FalconX, Aya was responsible for scaling the company's revenue through their most recent $8B valuation last year and has over five years of experience in the institutional cryptocurrency space. Alexandre previously led DeFi at LedgerPrime, a multi-strategy digital asset investments firm. Prior to that, Alex was the co-founder of Knowhere, a San Francisco based startup that developed machine learning and text understanding models for the media industry. Fractal's engineering team is composed of early DeFi builders, who developed smart contracts that have collectively processed over one billion in transaction volumes and audited by leading audit firms in the space.

"Well-constructed protocols can make financial infrastructure more resilient, more scalable and cost less than traditional rails. Fractal has the right team and the right vision to expand DeFi towards mainstream institutional adoption," said Itay Tuchman, CEO of Consello Digital and former Global Head of Foreign Exchange at Citi. With over 20 years of experience in financial markets, Itay supports the Fractal team as a strategic advisor.

About Fractal

Fractal is an infrastructure provider enabling institutions to clear, settle, and margin digital asset trades on-chain. Fractal is backed by 6th Man Ventures (6MV), Archetype Ventures, Blizzard the Avalanche Fund LP, Circle Ventures, CMT Digital, CoinShares, GoldenTree Asset Management, QCP Capital, Spartan Group, Akshai Rajendran, Anand Gomes, Josh Frank, Shiliang Tang and Sid Powell. Fractal has offices in Switzerland and the British Virgin Islands. For more information visit https://fractalprotocol.org.

Related Links:

https://www.fractalprotocol.org

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2043317/Fractal_Logo.jpg

Media contact:

Aya Kantorovich

+16466009692

operations@fractalprotocol.org

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/institutional-on-chain-finance-startup-fractal-announces-6m-seed-raise-301797794.html

SOURCE Fractal
IntelGenx Technologies Corp.

Partner Gensco Pharma preparing to commercially launch RIZAFILM across the United States as soon as is practicable

SAINT LAURENT, Quebec, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- IntelGenx Corp. (TSX:IGX)(OTCQB:IGXT) (the "Company" or "IntelGenx"), a leader in pharmaceutical films, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the Companys RIZAFILM VersaFilm 505(b)(2) new drug application (NDA) for the treatment of acute migraine.1

RIZAFILM (U.S. market name for RIZAPORT) is a proprietary oral thin film formulation of rizatriptan benzoate, the active ingredient in Merck & Co.'s Maxalt. The global migraine drugs market was valued at nearly $3 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach nearly $11 billion by 2030, representing a compound annual growth rate of 15.6%.2

In December 2018, IntelGenx entered into a definitive licensing, development and supply agreement with Gensco Pharma (Gensco) for the exclusive commercialization of RIZAFILM in the United States. Under the terms of the agreement, IntelGenx is entitled to receive royalty payments based on net profits of RIZAFILM; and is eligible to receive pre-specified payments upon the achievement of certain regulatory and commercial milestones.

Following a successful pre-approval inspection by the FDA of our Montreal manufacturing facility earlier this month, we are thrilled to reach this milestone and excited to soon introduce what will be the first oral thin film for the treatment of acute migraines available in the U.S., said Andre Godin, IntelGenxs President and CFO. According to the American Migraine Foundation, 39 million or 12% of Americans suffer from migraine, which is the second leading cause of disability nationwide. We are looking forward to working with our commercialization partner, Gensco, to bring this innovative migraine therapeutic to patients seeking convenient administration and quick relief from their pain. In addition to these benefits, RIZAFILM is well suited to the approximately 80% of patients who have migraine-related nausea3, as well as those who have difficulty swallowing.

Story continues

1 RIZAFILM is a Registered Trademark of Gensco Pharma Corporation

2 Reports and Data, Migraine Drugs Market, https://www.reportsanddata.com/sample-enquiry-form/2515

3 Lainez MJA. (2006) Rizatriptan in the treatment of migraine. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2006 Sep; 2(3): 247259

About IntelGenx

IntelGenx is a leading drug delivery company focused on the development and manufacturing of pharmaceutical films.

IntelGenxs superior film technologies, including VersaFilm, DisinteQ, VetaFilm and transdermal VevaDerm, allow for next generation pharmaceutical products that address unmet medical needs. IntelGenxs innovative product pipeline offers significant benefits to patients and physicians for many therapeutic conditions.

IntelGenx's highly skilled team provides comprehensive pharmaceuticals services to pharmaceutical partners, including R&D, analytical method development, clinical monitoring, IP and regulatory services. IntelGenx's state-of-the-art manufacturing facility offers full service by providing lab-scale to pilot- and commercial-scale production. For more information, visit www.intelgenx.com.

Forward-Looking Information and Statements

This document may contain forward-looking information about IntelGenx's operating results and business prospects that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Statements that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about IntelGenx's plans, objectives, expectations, strategies, intentions or other characterizations of future events or circumstances and are generally identified by the words "may," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "could," "would," and similar expressions. All forward looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Because these forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, IntelGenx's actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in IntelGenx's annual report on Form 10-K, filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and available at www.sec.gov, and also filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities at www.sedar.com. IntelGenx assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements.

Source: IntelGenx Technologies Corp.

For IntelGenx:

Stephen Kilmer

Investor Relations

(647) 872-4849

stephen@kilmerlucas.com

Or

Andre Godin, CPA, CA

President and CFO

IntelGenx Corp.

(514) 331-7440 ext 203

andre@intelgenx.com




Dubai Airports has signed an agreement with Enova, a joint venture between Majid Al Futtaim and Veolia, to boost Emiratisation in Enovas provision of facilities management services.



The memorandum of understanding (MoU) aligns with the UAE Cabinets goal of increasing Emiratisation by two per cent annually and underwrites Dubai Airports commitment to meeting  and exceeding  national Emiratisation targets from 2023 to 2026, and beyond through its strategic private sector partnerships.



The agreement was recently signed by Meshari Al Bannai, Executive Vice President of Human Resources Development, Dubai Airports and Renaud Capris, Chief Executive Officer, Enova, in the presence of several senior leaders  including Majed Al Joker, Chief Operating Officer, and Omar Binadai, EVP Infrastructure of Dubai Airports, respectively, as well as Khalifa Bin Braik Chief Executive Officer, Majid Al Futtaim Asset Management Business and Fatima Alloghani, Emiratisation Director, Majid Al Futtaim.



The partnership will see Enovas proposed Emiratisation Plan  which aims to increase Emiratisation by 15 per cent by 2025 onwards  activated over the course of the contract. Enovas dedication to targeting 15 per cent Emiratisation during the next three years underpins Majid Al Futtaims initiative and the UAE Governments NAFIS Programme and is actively contributing to the nations economic growth and development journey.



Dubai Airports and Enova will allocate positions to graduate trainees, fresh graduates, and experienced professionals alike, with technical, administrative, and supervisory roles serving as key areas of professional development. The recruitment plan will roll out in phases, ensuring that UAE nationals receive high-quality, on-the-job training necessary to equip them for the demands of the industry.



Meshari Al Bannai said: Dubai Airports remains committed to supporting the UAE Governments initiatives, including its NAFIS Programme and larger goal of driving local economic development. Our partnership with Enova is another demonstration of our dedication to growth, and were positive that the phased approach will be successful in fulfilling our Emiratisation targets. The UAE prides itself on a talented national workforce, and were thrilled to play a role in championing Emiratis across the aviation sector.



Khalifa Bin Braik commented: Majid Al Futtaim is fully committed to supporting the UAE Government's NAFIS program in line with the growth, development, and well-being of the communities we serve. As such, doubling our Emiratisation efforts and exceeding our target last year puts us on track of welcoming 3,000 Emiratis into our workforce by 2026. Being an Emirati-owned organisation, we believe in the crucial contribution and nurturing of local talent.



Renaud Capris added: We are proud to be partnering with Dubai Airports in expanding our commitment towards the UAEs NAFIS program, particularly in an industry that is shaping the future by prioritising digital transformation and sustainability. Enova and Dubai Airports share a focus on protecting the environment, and with our dedication to integrating energy-efficient solutions within facilities management, we are ideally placed to develop the talented and ambitious national skills required to ensure the UAE remains a global leader in sustainable growth.



Developing its strategy for employing local talent is a priority for Enova  one that precedes the organisations competitive edge and long-term success. In 2022, Enova hired 30 UAE nationals in on-site operations and support services within its Dubai headquarters. The company has also seen an impactful increase in its internal Emirati workforce and remains dedicated to advancing Emirati human capital throughout the UAE.  TradeArabia News Service
Contrive Datum Insights Pvt Ltd

According to a market research study published by Contrive Datum Insights, The Internet of Things connects all of the devices and machinery used in healthcare. This enables the transmission and storage of data over the internet. The market is anticipated to expand due to the rising demand for internet-capable medical equipment and automated remote patient care.

Farmington, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Internet Of Things (Iot) In Healthcare Market Is Projected To Grow From USD 190.5 Billion In 2022 To USD 980.2 Billion In 2030 at a CAGR Of 20.41% During The forcast period 2023-2030. Key factors Self-Health Measurement and Monitoring Will Drive Market Growth

People around the world are gaining a greater understanding of self-health management as a result of the rise in early-life issues. Increasing health consciousness compels the young and physically active to employ wearable devices.

Request Sample Copy of Report  Internet of Things (IoT) in Healthcare Market Size, Share & Trends Estimation Report By Component (Devices {Implantable Sensor Devices, Wearable Sensor Devices, Others} Sensor Devices {System and Software, Network Layer, Database Layer, Analytics Layer), Services (Architecture (System integration), Consulting, Application Development (support and maintenance)}, By Application (Patient Monitoring, Clinical Operation and Workflow Optimization, Clinical Imaging, Fitness and Wellness Measurement, Drug Development), By End User (Healthcare Providers, Patients, Healthcare Payers, Research Laboratories (Biotech/Pharma), Government Authority), By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2023 - 2030 , published by Contrive Datum Insights.

Segmentation Overview:

Component Outlook:

Due to the rising demand for efficient platforms for downstream data servers and enterprise application connectivity, the platform is anticipated to experience the maximum CAGR growth.

Nonetheless, solutions and services are anticipated to hold the largest market share. A number of industries are implementing intelligent solutions to enhance their existing systems. For instance, healthcare facilities deploy connected devices to enhance patient outcomes.

Story continues

In addition, network management is anticipated to hold a sizable market share during the forecast period due to the rising demand for remote monitoring systems and internet-capable devices among enterprises. The network management solution is device-independent and provides a straightforward method for integrating hardware models and data structures from multiple vendors into the workflow.

Regional Outlook:

In addition to North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East, and India, the global market for Internet of Things (IoT) in healthcare has also been analyzed in other regions. In the near future, the global region will dominate this market.

North America dominated the market in 2018. The growth is attributable to the increasing demand for healthcare IT solutions, the presence of large corporations, government initiatives such as the HITECH Act of 2009, and the region's complex healthcare IT infrastructure.

It is anticipated that the United States will continue to have the largest income share in North America over the next few years. The factors that generate the most revenue are technological advancements and government programs that facilitate the use of digital platforms in the life sciences industry. eHealth and clinical interoperability are being developed in a variety of methods, which is also driving market growth.

Asia-Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing region. Improving healthcare IT infrastructure, working to connect more healthcare services, and encouraging more people to use new technologies such as smart wearable devices are all crucial to the development of the region. Demand for IoT technology may also be influenced by the fact that medical device and pharmaceutical companies in the region are investing more capital.

Buy this Premium Research Report@

https://www.contrivedatuminsights.com/buy/45489

Scope of Report:

Report Attributes Details Growth Rate CAGR of 20.41% from 2023 to 2030. Revenue Forecast by 2030 $980.2 Billion By Component Devices Implantable Sensor Devices Wearable Sensor Devices Others Sensor Devices

System and Software Network Layer Database Layer Analytics Layer

Services Architecture (System integration) Consulting Application Development (support and maintenance)

By Application Patient Monitoring

Clinical Operation and Workflow Optimization

Clinical Imaging

Fitness and Wellness Measurement

Drug Development By End User Healthcare Providers

Patients

Healthcare Payers

Research Laboratories (Biotech/Pharma)

Government Authority By Companies Medtronic

Cisco Systems, Inc.

IBM Corporation

GE Healthcare

Microsoft Corporation

SAP SE

Infosys Limited

Cerner Corporation

Diabetizer Ltd. & Co. KG Regions and Countries Covered North America: (US, Canada, Mexico, Rest of North America)

Europe(Germany, France, Italy, Spain, UK, Nordic Countries, Benelux Union, Rest of Europe)

Asia-Pacific (Japan, China, India, Australia, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Rest of Asia-Pacific)

The Middle East & Africa(Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, South Africa, Rest of the Middle East & Africa)

Latin America(Brazil, Argentina, Rest of Latin America)

Rest Of the World Base Year 2022 Historical Year 2017 to 2022 Forecast Year 2023 to 2030

Market Dynamics:

Restraining Factors:

Restriction on Privacy Protection to Halt Market Expansion

Data security and distinct algorithms will create market difficulties. The healthcare industry is at a high risk for a data breach because it stores so much confidential and health information about individuals. Using machine learning, deep learning tools, smart and connected devices, and other methods, IoT makes the most of the healthcare data it collects. These applications examine the medical history, symptoms, insurance information, and payment transactions of the user. Also, according to a study by Checkpoint Technologies Ltd, millions of U.S. patients are affected by the security risk of IoT in medical due to healthcare breaches. Therefore, the fact that assaults on healthcare data are escalating may reduce consumer interest in the technology.

Opportunity Analysis:

Governmental efforts to promote digital health yield enormous results.

Numerous governments have launched initiatives to promote digital health. The healthcare system is undergoing a significant reform, as evidenced by the implementation of mandatory EHR system regulations.

In the future years, diagnostic hardware devices that are portable will experience the greatest expansion.

As a result of technological advances in portable diagnostic devices, CDI predicts that portable hardware diagnostic devices will account for the majority of sales. In 2017, for instance, the FDA approved Eko Duo, an effective ECG monitoring device manufactured by EKO Devices. A CAGR of 15.1% is anticipated between 2022 and 2032, per the report.

Key Segments Covered:

Top Market Players:

Medtronic

Cisco Systems, Inc.

IBM Corporation

GE Healthcare

Microsoft Corporation

SAP SE

Infosys Limited

Cerner Corporation

Diabetizer Ltd. & Co. KG

By Component

Devices Implantable Sensor Devices Wearable Sensor Devices Others Sensor Devices

System and Software Network Layer Database Layer Analytics Layer

Services Architecture (System integration) Consulting Application Development (support and maintenance)



By Application

Patient Monitoring

Clinical Operation and Workflow Optimization

Clinical Imaging

Fitness and Wellness Measurement

Drug Development

By End User

Healthcare Providers

Patients

Healthcare Payers

Research Laboratories (Biotech/Pharma)

Government Authority

Regions and Countries Covered

North America: (US, Canada, Mexico, Rest of North America)

Europe: (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, UK, Nordic Countries, Benelux Union, Rest of Europe)

Asia-Pacific: (Japan, China, India, Australia, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Rest of Asia-Pacific)

The Middle East & Africa: (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, South Africa, Rest of the Middle East & Africa)

Latin America: (Brazil, Argentina, Rest of Latin America)

Rest Of the World

Check out more related studies published by Contrive Datum Insights:

Facility Management Market - The global facility management market was valued at $42.5 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.8% from 2022 to 2030, reaching a projected value of $59.3 billion by 2030.

Demand Side Platform Market - The Global Demand Side Platform Market Size Projected To Grow From USD 20.77 Billion In 2022 To USD 92.12 Billion By 2029, Exhibiting A CAGR Of 23.7% During The Forecast Period 2023-2030.

Global Liability Insurance Market - The global Liability Insurance Market size was valued at USD 252.34 Billion in 2022, and is projected to reach USD 432.81Billion by 2030, also is growing at a CAGR of 5.7% from 2022 to 2030.

Customization of the Report: The report can be customized as per client needs or requirements.For any queries, you can contact us on anna@contrivedatuminsights.com or +1 215-297-4078. Our sales executives will be happy to understand your needs and provide you with the most suitable reports.

About Us:

Contrive Datum Insights (CDI) is a global delivery partner of market intelligence and consulting services to officials at various sectors such as investment, information technology, telecommunication, consumer technology, and manufacturing markets. CDI assists investment communities, business executives, and IT professionals to undertake statistics-based accurate decisions on technology purchases and advance strong growth tactics to sustain market competitiveness. Comprising of a team size of more than 100 analysts and cumulative market experience of more than 200 years, Contrive Datum Insights guarantees the delivery of industry knowledge combined with global and country-level expertise.

Social: Facebook / LinkedIn / Twitter

Contact Us:

Anna B. | Head Of Sales

Contrive Datum Insights

Phone: +91 9834816757 | +1 2152974078

Email: anna@contrivedatuminsights.com

Website:

https://www.contrivedatuminsights.com

Contrive Datum Insights Press Releases

Latest Contrive Datum Insights Latest Reports




It might seem bad, but the worst that can happen when you buy a stock (without leverage) is that its share price goes to zero. But if you buy shares in a really great company, you can more than double your money. For instance the Heidelberger Druckmaschinen Aktiengesellschaft (ETR:HDD) share price is 152% higher than it was three years ago. That sort of return is as solid as granite. Better yet, the share price has risen 4.0% in the last week.

With that in mind, it's worth seeing if the company's underlying fundamentals have been the driver of long term performance, or if there are some discrepancies.

Check out our latest analysis for Heidelberger Druckmaschinen

While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. By comparing earnings per share (EPS) and share price changes over time, we can get a feel for how investor attitudes to a company have morphed over time.

During three years of share price growth, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen moved from a loss to profitability. That kind of transition can be an inflection point that justifies a strong share price gain, just as we have seen here.

The image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

It is of course excellent to see how Heidelberger Druckmaschinen has grown profits over the years, but the future is more important for shareholders. If you are thinking of buying or selling Heidelberger Druckmaschinen stock, you should check out this FREE detailed report on its balance sheet.

A Different Perspective

While the broader market lost about 3.1% in the twelve months, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen shareholders did even worse, losing 23%. Having said that, it's inevitable that some stocks will be oversold in a falling market. The key is to keep your eyes on the fundamental developments. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 8% 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. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Heidelberger Druckmaschinen better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with Heidelberger Druckmaschinen (at least 1 which is significant) , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

Story continues

We will like Heidelberger Druckmaschinen better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on German 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.

Join A Paid User Research Session

Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here
When close to half the companies operating in the Shipping industry in the United States have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") above 0.8x, you may consider Navios Maritime Holdings Inc. (NYSE:NM) as an attractive investment with its 0.2x P/S ratio. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the reduced P/S.

Check out our latest analysis for Navios Maritime Holdings

What Does Navios Maritime Holdings' P/S Mean For Shareholders?

The revenue growth achieved at Navios Maritime Holdings over the last year would be more than acceptable for most companies. One possibility is that the P/S is low because investors think this respectable revenue growth might actually underperform the broader industry in the near future. Those who are bullish on Navios Maritime Holdings will be hoping that this isn't the case, so that they can pick up the stock at a lower valuation.

Although there are no analyst estimates available for Navios Maritime Holdings, take a look at this free data-rich visualisation to see how the company stacks up on earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Is There Any Revenue Growth Forecasted For Navios Maritime Holdings?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should underperform the industry for P/S ratios like Navios Maritime Holdings' to be considered reasonable.

Taking a look back first, we see that the company managed to grow revenues by a handy 14% last year. Ultimately though, it couldn't turn around the poor performance of the prior period, with revenue shrinking 47% in total over the last three years. So unfortunately, we have to acknowledge that the company has not done a great job of growing revenue over that time.

For that matter, there's little to separate that medium-term revenue trajectory on an annualised basis against the broader industry's one-year forecast for a contraction of 18% either.

With this information, it's perhaps strange but not a major surprise that Navios Maritime Holdings is trading at a lower P/S in comparison. In general, shrinking revenues are unlikely to lead to a stable P/S long-term, which could set up shareholders for future disappointment regardless. There is still potential for the P/S to fall to even lower levels if the company doesn't improve its top-line growth, which would be difficult to do with the current industry outlook.

Story continues

The Bottom Line On Navios Maritime Holdings' P/S

Using the price-to-sales ratio alone to determine if you should sell your stock isn't sensible, however it can be a practical guide to the company's future prospects.

Upon examining Navios Maritime Holdings, we found that its recent revenue decline over the past three-year is affecting its P/S ratio more than we initially expected, even though the wider industry is also expected to experience a decline in revenue. When we see a revenue growth decline that is on par with its peers, we can only assume potential risks are what might be causing the P/S ratio to be lower than average. Perhaps there is some hesitation about the company's ability to stay its recent medium-term course and resist further pain to its business from the broader industry turmoil. At least the risk of a price drop looks to be subdued, but investors seem to think future revenue could see some volatility.

It's always necessary to consider the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 1 warning sign with Navios Maritime Holdings, and understanding should be part of your investment process.

If strong companies turning a profit tickle your fancy, then you'll want to check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a low P/E (but have proven they can grow earnings).

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.

Join A Paid User Research Session

Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here
Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE:BKD) shareholders have had their patience rewarded with a 56% share price jump in the last month. Unfortunately, the gains of the last month did little to right the losses of the last year with the stock still down 45% over that time.

Even after such a large jump in price, when close to half the companies operating in the United States' Healthcare industry have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") above 1.2x, you may still consider Brookdale Senior Living as an enticing stock to check out with its 0.3x P/S ratio. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the reduced P/S.

See our latest analysis for Brookdale Senior Living

What Does Brookdale Senior Living's Recent Performance Look Like?

Brookdale Senior Living could be doing better as its revenue has been going backwards lately while most other companies have been seeing positive revenue growth. Perhaps the P/S remains low as investors think the prospects of strong revenue growth aren't on the horizon. If you still like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's out of favour.

If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report on Brookdale Senior Living.

Is There Any Revenue Growth Forecasted For Brookdale Senior Living?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/S as low as Brookdale Senior Living's is when the company's growth is on track to lag the industry.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered virtually the same number to the company's top line as the year before. Whilst it's an improvement, it wasn't enough to get the company out of the hole it was in, with revenue down 16% overall from three years ago. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been undesirable for the company.

Looking ahead now, revenue is anticipated to climb by 11% during the coming year according to the three analysts following the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the industry is forecast to only expand by 8.2%, which is noticeably less attractive.

Story continues

With this in consideration, we find it intriguing that Brookdale Senior Living's P/S sits behind most of its industry peers. It looks like most investors are not convinced at all that the company can achieve future growth expectations.

What Does Brookdale Senior Living's P/S Mean For Investors?

Brookdale Senior Living's stock price has surged recently, but its but its P/S still remains modest. While the price-to-sales ratio shouldn't be the defining factor in whether you buy a stock or not, it's quite a capable barometer of revenue expectations.

To us, it seems Brookdale Senior Living currently trades on a significantly depressed P/S given its forecasted revenue growth is higher than the rest of its industry. When we see strong growth forecasts like this, we can only assume potential risks are what might be placing significant pressure on the P/S ratio. While the possibility of the share price plunging seems unlikely due to the high growth forecasted for the company, the market does appear to have some hesitation.

Plus, you should also learn about these 3 warning signs we've spotted with Brookdale Senior Living.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Brookdale Senior Living, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.

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.

Join A Paid User Research Session

Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here
ITM Isotope Technologies Munich SE

Roger Estafanos

ITM announces a new General Manager for U.S.

ITM U.S. Headquarters

ITM Opens U.S. Headquarters in Princeton

Garching / Munich and Princeton, NJ, April 17, 2023  ITM Isotope Technologies Munich SE (ITM), a leading radiopharmaceutical theranostics company, today announced that the company has opened its U.S. headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey and appointed Roger Estafanos as U.S. General Manager. Mr. Estafanos brings a wealth of experience from both the radiopharmaceutical and pharmaceutical industries including being one of the first leaders of the US division of Advanced Accelerator Applications (AAA), a Novartis company. His arrival builds on ITMs appointment of key hires to its U.S. leadership team in 2022. Establishing the headquarters in Princeton strengthens ITMs ongoing expansion of its U.S. business, including the sales and marketing of the companys therapeutic and diagnostic radioisotopes, while preparing for potential market registration of its targeted radiopharmaceutical pipeline product candidates currently in development.

With the high-profile addition of Roger to our strong U.S. leadership team and a prime headquarter location secured in Princetons pharmaceutical and biotech cluster, we are increasing the strength of our capabilities to serve the healthcare community and our partners around the world with our highly pure n.c.a. lutetium-177. This growth will accelerate us on ITMs path toward the potential market approval of ITM-11 and we remain committed to developing new radiopharmaceuticals for patients living with hard-to-treat cancers, commented Steffen Schuster, CEO of ITM.

"ITM is a global leader in providing radionuclide therapies and diagnostics to patients in need through its own products and its central role in contributing to its partners radiopharmaceutical treatments. I am thrilled to collaborate with this exceptional, passionate and knowledgeable team driving innovation in nuclear medicine to reach the full potential of this critically important modality, concluded Roger Estafanos, U.S. General Manager of ITM.

Story continues

Roger Estafanos joins ITM from Advanced Accelerator Applications (AAA), a Novartis Company, where he most recently held the position of VP, Head of Commercial and Access Realization. During his time at AAA, he played a crucial role in launching the companys therapeutic and diagnostic radiopharmaceutical portfolio. Before joining Novartis / AAA, Roger garnered 15 years of experience in management consulting, providing strategic advice to pharmaceutical, biotech, medical, and diagnostic companies on commercializing products across various disease areas. His leadership roles span across top life sciences consulting firms, including IBM Global Business Services, IQVIA, and Peppers & Rogers Group. Mr. Estafanos earned his undergraduate degree in Information Systems from Rutgers University and completed his MBA at Rutgers Business School.

- End -

About Targeted Radionuclide Therapy

Targeted Radionuclide Therapy is an emerging class of cancer therapeutics, which seeks to deliver radiation directly to the tumor while minimizing radiation exposure to normal tissue. Targeted radiopharmaceuticals are created by linking a therapeutic radioisotope to a targeting molecule (e.g., peptide, antibody, small molecule) that is designed to precisely recognize tumor cells and bind to tumor-specific characteristics, like receptors on the tumor cell surface. As a result, the radioisotope accumulates at the tumor site and decays, releasing a small amount of ionizing radiation, with the goal of destroying tumor tissue. The precise localization enables targeted treatment with potentially minimal impact to healthy surrounding tissue.



ITM Isotope Technologies Munich SE

ITM, a leading radiopharmaceutical biotech company, is dedicated to providing a new generation of radiomolecular precision therapeutics and diagnostics for hard-to-treat tumors. We aim to meet the needs of cancer patients, clinicians and our partners through excellence in development, production and global supply. With improved patient benefit as the driving principle for all we do, ITM advances a broad precision oncology pipeline, including two phase III studies, combining the companys high-quality radioisotopes with a range of targeting molecules. By leveraging our nearly two decades of pioneering radiopharma expertise, central industry position and established global network, ITM strives to provide patients with more effective targeted treatment to improve clinical outcome and quality of life. www.itm-radiopharma.com



ITM Contact

Corporate Communications

Julia Hofmann/Svenja Gartner

Phone: +49 89 329 8986 1500

Email: communications@itm-radiopharma.com



Investor Relations

Ben Orzelek

Phone: +49 89 329 8986 1009

Email: Ben.Orzelek@itm-radiopharma.com







Attachments




Grenadier Prototype Exterior

Billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe will build an all-electric version of his 4x4 Grenadier that will be tested in the Austrian mountains

Ineos, the chemicals company owned by Sir Jim, has announced it will build a battery-powered successor to its off road vehicles and launch the new cars in 2026.

The Grenadier is a passion project of the billionaire Monaco-based tycoon, who is currently in the running to buy Manchester United.

Sir Jim has personally funded the development of the Grenadier as a successor to the Land Rover Defender. Ineos began making petrol and diesel versions last year, with deliveries beginning in December.

The electric version will be smaller than the petrol-powered Grenadier and will be built by Magna International, a Canadian company that makes cars to the designs of other manufacturers.

Vehicles will be made in Magnas factory in Graz, Austria, before being tested by driving up the nearby 4,741-foot Austrian mountain Schockl.

Lynn Calder, chief executive of Ineos Automotive, said: Our all new electric 4x4 will be zero emission while offering customers exceptional off-road capability, without compromising on-road comfort or performance.

The new electric vehicle is a hedge on Ineos existing bet on hydrogen as the green fuel of the future.

The company signed a deal in 2020 with South Koreas Hyundai to develop hydrogen technology for future models.

Ineos's broader chemical operations make 300,000 tons of hydrogen a year, mostly as a by-product of other processes.

The Grenadier, which costs upwards of 55,000, was named after the London pub where Sir Jim had the idea for the car.

Ineos Grenadier - TIM SCOTT

In 2017 he drew up plans to replicate the rugged outlines of the Defender, which had halted production in the UK a year earlier.

Developing the Grenadier has cost Sir Jim, who is worth an estimated $14.2bn (11.2bn), more than 400m so far.

Since launching the project, Jaguar Land Rover restarted projection of the Defender, albeit with a facelift and marketed at a more upmarket audience rather than the country-focused original.

Story continues

The Grenadier was initially going to be made in Bridgend, south Wales, but Ineos shifted production to France after it was able to purchase a ready-made factory from Mercedes, which gave it better access to suppliers.

The company denied that the decision was motivated by Brexit.

While the Grenadier has been a passion project, Ineos has signalled its ambitions to launch a fleet of other vehicles alongside the 4x4.

Ineos Automotive trademarked the names Fusilier, Privateer, Brigadier, Quartermaster, Sapper and Gunner, the Telegraph revealed this week.
Fox defamation trial delayed, network pursues settlement talks FILE PHOTO: A Fox News channel sign is seen on a television vehicle outside the News Corporation building in New York City, in New York

By Helen Coster

WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) -The start of Dominion Voting Systems' $1.6 billion defamation trial against Fox has been pushed back by a day, the judge said on Sunday, with a source familiar with the matter saying the media giant was pursuing settlement talks.

The source, who was not authorized to speak publicly, told Reuters that Fox was seeking a possible settlement. The Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal also reported that Fox was pursuing settlement talks, citing sources.

Dominion is suing Fox Corp and Fox News in a defamation lawsuit over the network's coverage of the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

"The Court has decided to continue the start of the trial, including jury selection, until Tuesday, April 18, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. (1300 GMT)," Judge Eric Davis said in a statement, without providing a reason for the delay.

"I will make such an announcement tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. in Courtroom 7E," he added.

Davis had said on Thursday he expected to conclude jury selection on Monday and to proceed to opening statements.

Dominion and Fox declined to comment on the delay.

Davis on Wednesday sanctioned Fox News, handing Dominion a fresh chance to gather evidence after Fox withheld records until the eve of the trial.

The evidence includes recordings of Rudy Giuliani, former U.S. President Donald Trump's lawyer, saying in pre-taped Fox appearances that he did not have any evidence to back up the false allegations of election rigging by Dominion in the 2020 race that are at the heart of the lawsuit.

The recordings were made by a former Fox employee who is currently suing the network.

Davis said he would also very likely tap an outside investigator to probe Fox's late disclosure of the evidence and take whatever steps necessary to remedy the situation, which he described as troubling.

Fox said in a statement on Wednesday that it "produced the supplemental information" to Dominion "when we first learned it."

Story continues

CLOSELY WATCHED

The trial is one of the most closely-watched U.S. defamation cases in years, involving a leading cable news outlet with numerous conservative commentators.

Murdoch is set to testify, along with a parade of Fox executives and on-air hosts, including Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro.

The trial is considered a test of whether Fox's coverage crossed the line between ethical journalism and the pursuit of ratings, as Dominion alleges and Fox denies.

Dominion has accused Fox of ruining its reputation by airing baseless claims that its machines secretly changed votes in favor of Democrat Joe Biden, who defeated then-President Trump, a Republican, in the 2020 presidential election.

Dominion is asking for $1.6 billion in damages, a figure Fox has said is unrealistic and based on flawed economic modeling.

An expert report commissioned by Dominion attributed scores of lost contracts to Fox's coverage, though much of the report remains under seal.

Fox Corp reported nearly $14 billion in annual revenue last year.

Dominion has said Fox's conduct was damaging to American democracy and that the network must be held accountable, while Fox said on Friday that Dominion's lawsuit was a threat to press freedom.

"While Dominion has pushed irrelevant and misleading information to generate headlines, Fox News remains steadfast in protecting the rights of a free press," Fox said in a statement.

The primary question for jurors is whether Fox knowingly spread false information or recklessly disregarded the truth, the standard of "actual malice" that Dominion must show to prevail in a defamation case.

Dominion says defamatory statements were aired on Fox shows including "Sunday Morning Futures," "Lou Dobbs Tonight" and "Justice with Judge Jeanine."

Dominion alleges that Fox staff, ranging from members of the newsroom to the board of directors, knew the statements were false but continued to air them to avoid losing viewers to far-right outlets.

Dominion also cites evidence that some hosts and producers thought the guests spreading the false statements, including former Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, could not back up their allegations.

Fox had argued that coverage of the vote-rigging claims was inherently newsworthy and protected by the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment guarantee of press freedom.

Davis rejected that argument in a ruling last month on both parties' competing motions for summary judgment.

Fox has also said that Dominion cannot pin actual malice on the individuals whom Dominion says were responsible for the defamatory statements.

Fox has said Dominion must prove that a "superior officer" at the network or its parent company "ordered, participated in, or ratified" wrongdoing. The network has argued that doubts about the claims among certain individuals cannot be attributed to the organization as a whole.

(Reporting by Helen Coster and Dan Whitcomb; additional reporting by Leela de Kretser and Jack Queen; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Jamie Freed)
K92 Mining Inc.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- K92 Mining Inc. (K92 or the Company) (TSX: KNT; OTCQX: KNTNF) announces that it will release its 2023 first quarter financial results before the North American trading markets open on Monday, May 15, 2023.



Conference Call and Webcast to Present Results

K92 will host a conference call and webcast to present the 2023 first quarter financial results at 8:30 am (EDT) on Monday, May 15, 2023.

Listeners may access the conference call by dialing toll-free to 1-800-319-4610 within North America or +1-604-638-5340 from international locations.



The conference call will also be broadcast live (webcast) and may be accessed via the following link: https://services.choruscall.ca/links/k92mining2023q1.html

About K92

K92 Mining Inc. is engaged in the production of gold, copper and silver at the Kainantu Gold Mine in the Eastern Highlands province of Papua New Guinea, as well as exploration and development of mineral deposits in the immediate vicinity of the mine. The Company declared commercial production from Kainantu in February 2018 and is in a strong financial position. A maiden resource estimate on the Blue Lake porphyry project was completed in August 2022. K92 is operated by a team of mining company professionals with extensive international mine-building and operational experience.

On Behalf of the Company,

John Lewins, Chief Executive Officer and Director

For further information, please contact David Medilek, P.Eng., CFA, President at +1-604-416-4445

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release includes certain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation (forward-looking statements), including, but not limited to, the impact of global supply chain and financial market disruptions; projections of future financial and operational performance; statements with respect to future events or future performance; production estimates; anticipated operating and production costs and revenue; estimates of capital expenditures; future demand for and prices of commodities and currencies; estimated mine life of our mine; estimated closure and reclamation costs and statements regarding anticipated exploration, development, construction, production, permitting and other activities on the Companys properties, including: expected gold, silver and copper production and the Stage 3 Expansion and Stage 4 Expansion. Estimates of mineral reserves and mineral resources are also forward-looking statements because they constitute projections, based on certain estimates and assumptions, regarding the amount of minerals that may be encountered in the future and/or the anticipated economics of production. All statements in this Annual Information Form that address events or developments that we expect to occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, although not always, identified by words such as expect, plan, anticipate, project, target, potential, schedule, forecast, budget, estimate, intend or believe and similar expressions or their negative connotations, or that events or conditions will, would, may, could, should or might occur. All such forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made.

Story continues

Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on estimates and assumptions that are inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond our ability to control, that may cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, without limitation, Public Health Crises, including the COVID-19 Pandemic; changes in the price of gold, silver, copper and other metals in the world markets; fluctuations in the price and availability of infrastructure and energy and other commodities; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; volatility in price of our common shares; inherent risks associated with the mining industry, including problems related to weather and climate in remote areas in which certain of the Companys operations are located; failure to achieve production, cost and other estimates; risks and uncertainties associated with exploration and development; uncertainties relating to estimates of mineral resources including uncertainty that mineral resources may never be converted into mineral reserves; the Companys ability to carry on current and future operations, including development and exploration activities; the timing, extent, duration and economic viability of such operations, including any mineral resources or reserves identified thereby; the accuracy and reliability of estimates, projections, forecasts, studies and assessments; the Companys ability to meet or achieve estimates, projections and forecasts; the availability and cost of inputs; the availability and costs of achieving the Stage 3 Expansion or the Stage 4 Expansion; the ability of the Company to achieve the inputs the price and market for outputs, including gold, silver and copper; inability of the Company to identify appropriate acquisition targets or complete desirable acquisitions; failures of information systems or information security threats; political, economic and other risks associated with the Companys foreign operations; geopolitical events and other uncertainties, such as the conflict in Ukraine; compliance with various laws and regulatory requirements to which the Company is subject to, including taxation; the ability to obtain timely financing on reasonable terms when required; the current and future social, economic and political conditions, including relationship with the communities in Papua New Guinea and other jurisdictions it operates; other assumptions and factors generally associated with the mining industry; and the risks, uncertainties and other factors referred to in the Companys Annual Information Form under the heading Risk Factors.

Estimates of mineral resources are also forward-looking statements because they constitute projections, based on certain estimates and assumptions, regarding the amount of minerals that may be encountered in the future and/or the anticipated economics of production. The estimation of mineral resources and mineral reserves is inherently uncertain and involves subjective judgments about many relevant factors. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The accuracy of any such estimates is a function of the quantity and quality of available data, and of the assumptions made and judgments used in engineering and geological interpretation, Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance, and actual results and future events could materially differ from those anticipated in such statements. Although we have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actual results to differ materially from those that are anticipated, estimated, or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as 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.




SK Life Science will present analysis of 2,131 patients taking cenobamate during Phase 2 and 3 trials showing sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) rate of 0.88 per 1,000 person years is similar to community-based analyses of 0.35 to 2.3 per 1,000 person-years 1





Data also includes new post-hoc analysis from open-label Phase 3 study showing treatment with cenobamate led to a reduction in the number of concomitant anti-seizure medications (ASMs) while maintaining  50% and 100% seizure reduction response rates 2





SK Life Science will also host a symposium titled "An Update on Pharmacological Treatments for Refractory Epilepsy and Its Prevention," on Saturday, April 22 at 6:00 pm ET

PARAMUS, N.J., April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SK Life Science, Inc., a subsidiary of SK Biopharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., an innovative global pharmaceutical company focused on developing treatments for central nervous system (CNS) disorders, will present ten abstracts at the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) 75th Annual Meeting, to be held in Boston, MA, April 2227, 2023. The data includes post-hoc analyses on the rate of SUDEP and drug load in adults with partial-onset (focal) seizures taking XCOPRI (cenobamate tablets) CV.

SK Life Science Tagline Logo

"We look forward to presenting a variety of additional analyses from our trials which continue to show encouraging data on the use of XCOPRI in adults with partial-onset (focal) seizures," said Louis Ferrari, RPh, MBA, Vice President of Medical Affairs at SK Life Science. "Epilepsy is a priority at SK Life Science, so we look forward to presenting our new post-hoc analyses as well as hosting an informative symposium for those attending this year's AAN meeting."

For people with epilepsy, the all-cause mortality rate is typically higher than the general population, with one factor being SUDEP. A pooled analysis of data from four ASM development programs involving 9,144 adults and children with 13,617 person-years showed the rates of all-cause mortality and SUDEP to be 9.1 and 3.8, respectively, per 1,000 person-years. For those with drug resistant epilepsy, the SUDEP rate increases to as high as 9.3 deaths per 1,000 person years. When analyzing the deaths amongst patients taking XCOPRI (cenobamate tablets) CV (2,131 patients totaling 5,693 person-years) in the Phase 2 and 3 clinical studies, it was found that the all-cause mortality rate was 4 per 1,000 person years and the rate of SUDEP was 0.88 per 1,000 person-years. The rate of SUDEP is similar to reported rates of 0.35 to 2.3 per 1,000 person-years in community-based analyses of patients with epilepsy.

Story continues

"When treating patients with epilepsy, the number of ASMs they are taking, or their drug load, is an important factor to be mindful of as increased drug load may lead to increased adverse events," said William E. Rosenfeld, MD, FAAN, FAES, epileptologist/neurologist, principal investigator at the Comprehensive Epilepsy Care Center for Children and Adults in St. Louis, Missouri, and SK Life Science consultant. "At AAN, we will be presenting data from the open-label Phase 3 study which showed that some patients taking XCOPRI (cenobamate tablets) CV were able to reduce their drug load while maintaining similar rates of seizure reduction."

When analyzing data from 240 patients taking cenobamate, as treatment began, patients had an average drug load of 3.57 anti-seizure medications (ASMs). After taking cenobamate, all patient subsets experienced a reduction in their average drug load with a mean change of 29% (mean drug load = 2.52) and 32% (mean drug load = 2.43) after 12 and 24 months of treatment, respectively. In patients who had prior epilepsy-related surgery and had 3 seizures at baseline (n=50), patients were able to reduce their drug load by 35% and 37% after 12 and 24 months of treatment with cenobamate, respectively.

When reducing concomitant ASMs, patients taking cenobamate still experienced similar maintenance of 50% and 100% seizure reduction. Maintenance of seizure reduction response was measured by determining if the previous visit's 3-month seizure reduction response was the same or better than the current 3-month visit; this was then used to compare patients who had a (low, medium or high) concomitant ASM drug load reduction versus no change in drug load reduction.

An oral presentation titled "Predictors of Achievement of Response With Cenobamate: Post-hoc Subset Analysis From a Phase 3, Open-Label Safety Study" will take place on Thursday, April 27 at 2:00 PM EST. The post-hoc analysis being presented at AAN evaluated whether clinical characteristics could predict a meaningful response to cenobamate in a subset of patients from a phase 3, multicenter, open-label, safety study. Data from 214 patients (mean age 41.9 years; median duration of maintenance treatment 29.5 months) were analyzed. Of these patients, 188 (87.9%) and 145 (67.8%) achieved 50% and 100% seizure reduction, respectively, over any 3-month interval. Lower baseline concomitant drug load was associated with a higher likelihood of achieving 50% and 100% seizure reduction. Lower baseline seizure frequency (<3 seizures/28 days) was associated with a higher likelihood of achieving 100% seizure reduction.

SK Life Science will be hosting a symposium event, "An Update on Pharmacological Treatments for Refractory Epilepsy and Its Prevention," on Saturday, April 22 at 6:00 pm ET at the Westin Boston Seaport District in Grand Ballroom B.

All abstracts being presented at AAN, including the ten being presented by SK Life Science, can be found here and also at booth #2091.

About XCOPRI (cenobamate tablets) CV

Cenobamate is an anti-seizure medication (ASM) discovered and developed by SK Biopharmaceuticals and SK Life Science. While the precise mechanism by which cenobamate exerts its therapeutic effect is unknown, it is believed to reduce repetitive neuronal firing by inhibiting voltage-gated sodium currents. It is also a positive allosteric modulator of the -aminobutyric acid (GABA A ) ion channel.

Cenobamate is approved in the United States for the treatment of partial-onset seizures in adults and is available under the brand name XCOPRI (cenobamate tablets) CV. Cenobamate can be combined with other ASMs or used alone. The recommended initial dosage of cenobamate is 12.5 mg once-daily, with titration every two weeks; it is available in six tablet strengths for once-daily dosing: 12.5 mg, 25 mg, 50 mg, 100 mg, 150 mg and 200 mg.

Cenobamate is also approved in the European Union and the United Kingdom for the adjunctive treatment of focal-onset (partial-onset) seizures with or without secondary generalization in adult patients with seizures that have not been adequately controlled despite a history of treatment with at least two anti-epileptic medicinal products and is marketed by Angelini Pharma under the brand name ONTOZRY.

Additionally, cenobamate is in clinical development in Asia. Ono Pharmaceutical and Ignis Therapeutics have the rights to develop and commercialize cenobamate in Japan and in the Greater China region, respectively. SK Biopharmaceuticals has recently entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Endo for cenobamate in Canada.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION AND INDICATION FOR XCOPRI (cenobamate tablets) CV

DO NOT TAKE XCOPRI IF YOU:

Are allergic to cenobamate or any of the other ingredients in XCOPRI.

Have a genetic problem (called Familial Short QT syndrome) that affects the electrical system of the heart.

XCOPRI CAN CAUSE SERIOUS SIDE EFFECTS, INCLUDING:

Allergic reactions: XCOPRI can cause serious skin rash or other serious allergic reactions which may affect organs and other parts of your body like the liver or blood cells. You may or may not have a rash with these types of reactions. Call your healthcare provider right away and go to the nearest emergency room if you have any of the following: swelling of your face, eyes, lips, or tongue, trouble swallowing or breathing, a skin rash, hives, fever, swollen glands, or sore throat that does not go away or comes and goes, painful sores in the mouth or around your eyes, yellowing of your skin or eyes, unusual bruising or bleeding, severe fatigue or weakness, severe muscle pain, frequent infections, or infections that do not go away. Take XCOPRI exactly as your healthcare provider tells you to take it. It is very important to increase your dose of XCOPRI slowly, as instructed by your healthcare provider.

QT shortening: XCOPRI may cause problems with the electrical system of the heart (QT shortening). Call your healthcare provider if you have symptoms of QT shortening including fast heartbeat (heart palpitations) that last a long time or fainting.

Suicidal behavior and ideation: Antiepileptic drugs, including XCOPRI, may cause suicidal thoughts or actions in a very small number of people, about 1 in 500. Call your health care provider right away if you have any of the following symptoms, especially if they are new, worse, or worry you: thoughts about suicide or dying; attempting to commit suicide; new or worse depression, anxiety, or irritability; feeling agitated or restless; panic attacks; trouble sleeping (insomnia); acting aggressive; being angry or violent; acting on dangerous impulses; an extreme increase in activity and talking (mania); or other unusual changes in behavior or mood.

Nervous system problems: XCOPRI may cause problems that affect your nervous system. Symptoms of nervous system problems include: dizziness, trouble walking or with coordination, feeling sleepy and tired, trouble concentrating, remembering, and thinking clearly, and vision problems. Do not drive, operate heavy machinery, or do other dangerous activities until you know how XCOPRI affects you.

Do not drink alcohol or take other medicines that can make you sleepy or dizzy while taking XCOPRI without first talking to your healthcare provider.

DISCONTINUATION:

Do not stop taking XCOPRI without first talking to your healthcare provider. Stopping XCOPRI suddenly can cause serious problems. Stopping seizure medicine suddenly in a patient who has epilepsy can cause seizures that will not stop (status epilepticus).

DRUG INTERACTIONS:

XCOPRI may affect the way other medicines work, and other medicines may affect how XCOPRI works. Do not start or stop other medicines without talking to your healthcare provider. Tell healthcare providers about all the medicines you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins and herbal supplements.

PREGNANCY AND LACTATION:

XCOPRI may cause your birth control medicine to be less effective. Talk to your health care provider about the best birth control method to use.

Talk to your health care provider if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if XCOPRI will harm your unborn baby. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you become pregnant while taking XCOPRI. You and your healthcare provider will decide if you should take XCOPRI while you are pregnant. If you become pregnant while taking XCOPRI, talk to your healthcare provider about registering with the North American Antiepileptic Drug (NAAED) Pregnancy Registry. The purpose of this registry is to collect information about the safety of antiepileptic medicine during pregnancy. You can enroll in this registry by calling 1-888-233-2334 or go to www.aedpregnancyregistry.org.

Talk to your health care provider if you are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. It is not known if XCOPRI passes into breastmilk. Talk to your healthcare provider about the best way to feed your baby while taking XCOPRI.

COMMON SIDE EFFECTS:

The most common side effects in patients taking XCOPRI include dizziness, sleepiness, headache, double vision, and feeling tired.

These are not all the possible side effects of XCOPRI. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away. For more information, ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or at www.fda.gov/medwatch.

DRUG ABUSE:

XCOPRI is a federally controlled substance (CV) because it can be abused or lead to dependence. Keep XCOPRI in a safe place to prevent misuse and abuse. Selling or giving away XCOPRI may harm others and is against the law.

INDICATION:

XCOPRI is a prescription medicine used to treat partial-onset seizures in adults 18 years of age and older. It is not known if XCOPRI is safe and effective in children under 18 years of age.

Please see additional patient information in the Medication Guide. This information does not take the place of talking with your healthcare provider about your condition or your treatment.

Please see full Prescribing Information.

About Epilepsy

Epilepsy is the fourth most common neurological disorder. There are approximately 3.4 million people living with epilepsy in the United States, with 150,000 news cases each year in the country.3,4 Epilepsy is characterized by recurrent, unprovoked seizures. The seizures in epilepsy may be related to a brain injury or a family tendency, but often the cause is completely unknown. Having seizures and epilepsy can affect one's safety, relationships, work, driving, and much more.5,6 People with epilepsy are at risk for accidents and other health complications, including falling, drowning, depression and sudden unexplained death in epilepsy (SUDEP).5,6 Despite the availability of many antiepileptic therapies, almost 40 percent of people with epilepsy are not able to achieve seizure freedom, meaning they have epilepsy that remains uncontrolled.6

About SK Biopharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. and SK Life Science, Inc.

SK Biopharmaceuticals and its U.S. subsidiary SK Life Science are pharmaceutical companies focused on the research, development and commercialization of treatments for disorders of the central nervous system (CNS) and oncology. In 2017, SK Biopharmaceuticals established a research center to begin their expansion into oncology through research and development efforts. The companies have a pipeline of eight compounds in development in both CNS disorders and oncology. Additionally, SK Biopharmaceuticals is focused on the discovery of new treatments in oncology. For more information, visit SK Biopharmaceuticals' website at www.skbp.com/eng and SK Life Science's website at www.SKLifeScienceInc.com.

Both SK Biopharmaceuticals and SK Life Science are part of SK Group, one of the largest conglomerates in Korea. SK Inc., the parent company of SK Biopharmaceuticals, continues to enhance its portfolio value by executing long-term investments with a number of competitive subsidiaries in various business areas, including pharmaceuticals and life science, energy and chemicals, information and telecommunication, and semiconductors. In addition, SK Inc. is focused on reinforcing its growth foundations through profitable and practical management based on financial stability, while raising its enterprise value by investing in new future growth businesses. For more information, please visit https://sk-inc.com/en/main/mainpage.aspx.

XCOPRI and ONTOZRY are registered trademarks of SK Biopharmaceuticals Co., Ltd.

Media Contact:

Dina Albanese

dalbanese@sklsi.com

References

P12.012: Rosenfeld W, et al. Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy During the Cenobamate Clinical Development Program. Presented at American Academy of Neurology 2023 Annual Meeting; April 22-27, 2023; Boston, MA. P11.006: Aboumatar S, et al. Concomitant Drug Load Reduction During Adjunctive Cenobamate Therapy: Post-hoc Analysis of a Phase 3, Open-Label Study. Presented at American Academy of Neurology 2023 Annual Meeting; April 22-27, 2023; Boston, MA. Epilepsy Foundation. Epilepsy Statistics. https://www.epilepsy.com/learn/about-epilepsy-basics/epilepsy-statistics. Accessed March 2022. Epilepsy Foundation. Staying Safe. https://www.epilepsy.com/learn/seizure-first-aid-and-safety/staying-safe. Accessed March 2022. Epilepsy Foundation. Challenges with Epilepsy. https://www.epilepsy.com/learn/challenges-epilepsy. Accessed March 2022. Chen Z, Brodie MJ, Liew D, Kwan P. Treatment outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed epilepsy treated with established and new antiepileptic drugs: a 30-year longitudinal cohort study. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29279892. Published online December 26, 2017.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/latest-xcopri-cenobamate-tablets-cv-post-hoc-analysis-presented-at-the-75th-american-academy-of-neurology-annual-meeting-301798363.html

SOURCE SK Life Science, Inc.
Meticulous Market Research Pvt. Ltd.

LiDAR Drones Market by Survey (Topographic LiDAR, Bathymetric LiDAR), Type (Wing Drones, Rotary Drones), Range (Tactical, Medium, Long), End User (Agriculture, Construction, Power & Utilities, Mining), End User and Geography - Global Forecast to 2030

Redding, California, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Meticulous Researcha leading global market research company, published a research report titled,  LiDAR Drones Market by Survey (Topographic LiDAR, Bathymetric LiDAR), Type (Wing Drones, Rotary Drones), Range (Tactical, Medium, Long), End User (Agriculture, Construction, Power & Utilities, Mining), End User, and GeographyGlobal Forecast to 2030. According to this report, the LiDAR drones market is projected to reach $1.9 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 17.6% during the forecast period of 2023 to 2030.

The growth of this market is attributed to the growing application of LiDAR drones in land surveying, construction site monitoring, and environmental monitoring; the rising use of LiDAR drones for producing precise and accurate 3D maps and models; and growing agriculture drone applications. Furthermore, the increased use of LiDAR for environmental purposes and the emergence of 4D LiDAR sensors are expected to create significant opportunities for this market. However, the high cost of LiDAR drones hampers the growth of this market. In addition, the inability to function through heavy rain, snow, and fog is a major challenge to the growth of this market.

Download Free Report Sample Now @ https://www.meticulousresearch.com/download-sample-report/cp_id=5498



The global LiDAR drones market is segmented based on survey method, type, range, end-use industry, and geography. The study also evaluates industry competitors and analyses the regional and country-level markets.

Emergence of 4D LiDAR Sensors to Support the Growth of the LiDAR Drones Market

4D LiDAR is the next-generation frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) LiDAR sensor with an advanced 4D vision that detects instant velocity in addition to position. It detects the fourth dimension of instantaneous velocity for each point and 3D position. 4D LiDAR has camera-level image resolution (up to 20 times the resolution of standard sensors), allowing it to detect objects up to 500 meters away. The camera-level resolution allows the sensor to deliver real-time camera images with up to 1,000 lines per frame with no motion blur. These advantages have encouraged the demand for 4D LiDAR sensors in drones for various applications, including surveying, mapping, detecting, collecting 4D elevation data, and many others.

Story continues

Moreover, many companies are partnering to develop 4D LiDAR offerings. For instance, in August 2022, SICK AG (Germany) partnered with Aeva Technologies, Inc. (U.S.) to bring Aevas 4D LiDAR, Aeries II, to various industrial sensing applications, including long-range sensing technology. In addition, governments require high-quality data from shoreline mapping, monitoring, erosion measurement, and elevation for flood modeling. Therefore, the need for accurate, high-quality data for several applications is expected to encourage the development of 4D LiDAR sensors.

Based on survey method, the global LiDAR drones market is segmented into topographic and bathymetric LiDAR. In 2023, the topographic LiDAR segment is expected to account for the largest share of the market. The largest market share of this segment is attributed to the growing utilization of near-infrared laser beams for mapping land and buildings, increasing applications in military, civil engineering, and governments for determining the weather conditions, gathering information on the landmass, and in agriculture for crop growth.

Speak to our Analysts to Understand the Impact of COVID-19 on Your Business: https://www.meticulousresearch.com/speak-to-analyst/cp_id=5498

However, the bathymetric LiDAR segment is projected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. This LiDAR is widely used to measure the depth of water bodies and create high-resolution maps of underwater topography. It is a specialized form of LiDAR that uses a combination of green and blue lasers to penetrate the water and reflect off the seafloor or riverbed. Moreover, increased marine activities, including dredging, reclamation, offshore drilling, and other marine constructions, are expected to further fuel the segment's growth.

Based on type, the global LiDAR Drones market is segmented into wing and rotary drones. In 2023, the rotary drones segment is expected to account for the largest share of the market. The large share of this segment is attributed to rotary drones ability to have better control over position and framing for aerial photography and surveillance. Additionally, having more than one motor makes it capable of flying more closely to structures and buildings, increasing its operational efficiency and reducing inspection time. Rotary drones are widely used in various industries and applications, including aerial photography, surveying and mapping, search and rescue operations, and military and defense operations. They are typically small and agile, making them well-suited to fly in tight spaces and navigate challenging environments.

One of the advantages of rotary drones is their ability to hover in place and fly in any direction, giving them greater flexibility and maneuverability than fixed-wing drones. They can also take off and land vertically, making them well-suited for operations in urban areas or other environments where space is limited.

Based on range, the global LiDAR drones market is segmented into tactical range (up to 130 m), medium range (130m-230 m) and long-range (more than 230m). In 2023, the tactical range segment is expected to account for the largest share of the LiDAR drone market. The large share of this segment is attributed to the growing need to enable safe unmanned aircraft operations by providing a reliable and cost-effective way to detect turbulence, wind shear, volcanic ash, supercooled liquid clouds with icing risks, and high ice water content clouds from unmanned aircraft in real-time.

However, the long-range segment is projected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Long-range LiDAR drones can scan at high speeds at 360 angles. Long-range LiDAR drones have a wide range of applications, including land surveying, infrastructure inspection, environmental monitoring, and disaster response. They are particularly useful for mapping large areas quickly and efficiently, as they can quickly cover large distances and capture detailed data with high accuracy.

Quick Buy  LiDAR Drones Market- Global Opportunity Analysis And Industry Forecast (2023-2030), Research Report: https://www.meticulousresearch.com/Checkout/62203167

Based on end-use industry, the global LiDAR drones market is segmented into agriculture, archaeology, construction, power & utilities, mining, oil & gas, forestry, and other end users. In 2023, the agriculture segment is expected to account for the largest share of the LiDAR drones market. The largest share of this segment is attributed to the need for aerial imagery from drones for livestock management, rising demand for drone technology among farmers to make more accurate data-driven agriculture decisions, and a surge in need to minimizing soil erosion and improving plant health monitoring and irrigation.

However, the construction segment is projected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. These drones use LiDAR technology to create detailed 3D maps of construction sites, providing accurate and up-to-date information on the site's topography, terrain, and infrastructure. LiDAR drone is crucial for the construction industry as it provides qualitative data while saving costs. LiDAR drones can quickly and accurately map large construction sites, providing detailed information on the site's topography and features. This information can be used to identify potential hazards, plan the construction process, and ensure compliance with regulations.

Based on geography, the global LiDAR drones market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. In 2023, North America is expected to account for the largest share of the market. In North America, various initiatives are being undertaken to propel LiDAR drones adoption for safety and environmental application purposes, increasing investments by key players to enhance LiDAR drone-based geoscience data collection, mapping, data preservation, and scientific interpretation of areas with potential for critical minerals. LiDAR drones are used extensively in North America for various applications, including land surveying, infrastructure inspection, natural resource management, and environmental monitoring.

Some of the key players operating in the global LiDAR drones market are Ouster, Inc. (U.S.), Teledyne Geospatial (Canada), RIEGL Laser Measurement Systems GmbH (Austria), Phoenix LiDAR Systems (U.S.), YELLOWSCAN (France), SICK AG (Germany), DELAIR SAS (France), UMS SKELiDAR (Switzerland), mdGroup Germany GmbH (Germany), draganFLY INC (Canada), Geodetic Systems, Inc. (U.S.), Cepton, Inc. (U.S.), PrecisionHawk, Inc. (Canada), SureStar (Beijing), and SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd. (China).

To gain more insights into the market with a detailed table of content and figures, click here: https://www.meticulousresearch.com/product/lidar-drones-market-5498

Scope of the Report:

LiDAR Drones Market, by Survey Method

Topographic LiDAR

Bathymetric LiDAR

LiDAR Drones Market, by Type

Wing Drones Fixed Wing Drones Fixed-Wing Hybrid VTOL

Rotary Drones Single Rotor Drones Multi-rotor Drones



LiDAR Drones Market, by Range

Tactical Range (Up to 130m)

Medium Range (130m to 230m)

Long range (More than 230m)

LiDAR Drones Market, by End-use Industry

Agriculture Crop Production Livestock Management Other Agriculture Applications

Archaeology Short Site Surveying Long Site Surveying Other Archaeology Applications

Construction Roadways Rail Corridors Airports Other Construction Applications

Power & Utilities Powerplant Mapping & Inspection Substation Static Line Inspection Corridor Mapping Other Power & Utilities Applications

Mining Ground Control Network Geological survey Other Mining Applications

Oil & Gas Remote Monitoring and Surveillance Inspection and Predictive Maintenance Material Handling & Management Other Oil & Gas Applications

Forestry Resource Management Conservation Other Forestry Applications

Other End-use Industry

LiDAR Drones Market, by Geography

North America U.S. Canada

Asia-Pacific China Japan India South Korea Australia & New Zealand Rest of Asia-Pacific

Europe Germany U.K. France Italy Spain Switzerland Netherlands Rest of Europe

Latin America

Middle East & Africa (MEA)

Download Free Report Sample Now @ https://www.meticulousresearch.com/download-sample-report/cp_id=5498

Related Reports:

LiDAR Market by Dimension Type (2D, 3D, 4D), Technology (Macro-mechanical LiDAR, Flash LiDAR), Installation Type, Wavelength, Range, Service, Application, End-use Industry, and Geography - Global Forecast to 2029

https://www.meticulousresearch.com/product/lidar-market-5323

Delivery Drones Market by Type (Multi-rotor, Fixed-wing, Hybrid VTOL), Payload (Less than 2 KG, 2-5 KG), Range (Less than 25 km, more than 25 km), End User (Healthcare, Retailers and E-commerce, Logistics), and Geography - Global Forecasts to 2028

https://www.meticulousresearch.com/product/delivery-drones-market-5193

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Market by Component (Hardware, Software), Class (Mini UAVs, Micro UAVs), End User (Military, Commercial, Agriculture), Type (Fixed Wing, Rotary-Wing UAVs), Capacity, and Mode of Operation - Global Forecast to 2027

https://www.meticulousresearch.com/product/unmanned-aerial-vehicle-UAV-market-5086

About Meticulous Research

Meticulous Research was founded in 2010 and incorporated as Meticulous Market Research Pvt. Ltd. in 2013 as a private limited company under the Companies Act, 1956. Since its incorporation, the company has become the leading provider of premium market intelligence in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa.

The name of our company defines our services, strengths, and values. Since the inception, we have only thrived to research, analyze, and present the critical market data with great attention to details. With the meticulous primary and secondary research techniques, we have built strong capabilities in data collection, interpretation, and analysis of data including qualitative and quantitative research with the finest team of analysts. We design our meticulously analyzed intelligent and value-driven syndicate market research reports, custom studies, quick turnaround research, and consulting solutions to address business challenges of sustainable growth.

Contact:

Mr. Khushal Bombe

Meticulous Market Research Inc.

1267 Willis St, Ste 200 Redding,

California, 96001, U.S.

USA: +1-646-781-8004

Europe : +44-203-868-8738

APAC: +91 744-7780008

Email- sales@meticulousresearch.com

Visit Our Website: https://www.meticulousresearch.com/

Connect with us on LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/company/meticulous-research

Content Source: https://www.meticulousresearch.com/pressrelease/729/lidar-drones-market-2030



CONTACT: Mr. Khushal Bombe Meticulous Research Direct Lines: +1-646-781-8004 (North America) +44-203-868-8738 (Europe) +91 744-7780008 (Asia-Pacific) Email- sales@meticulousresearch.com Visit Our Website: https://www.meticulousresearch.com/ Meticulous Research Blog: https://meticulousblog.org/ Connect with us on LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/company/meticulous-research




Saudi Pharmaceutical Industries and Medical Appliances Corporation (Spimaco) has migrated its SAP enterprise resource planning (ERP) workloads to Google Cloud in the largest digital transformation drive in the history of the company.

The project will enable the migration of 11 key applications from Spimacos on-premise SAP infrastructure to Google Cloudwithout disruption to the businessas part of the companys latest digital transformation drive.

Spimaco chose to partner with Google Cloud to strongly position the business for future growth, accelerate digital transformation, and support regulatory requirements. Google Cloud is one of the cloud providers in Saudi Arabia that provides solutions that support compliance with the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards, a global standard in the pharmaceuticals sector. Google Cloud also has deep experience hosting many different SAP ERP systems in the country.

Growing footprint

Khaled Saleh Al Khattaf, Chief Executive Officer of Spimaco, said: We aspire to grow our footprint in the pharmaceutical sector by expanding into nine new markets. This requires us to have a solid digital infrastructure that will help us achieve our business goals. Our collaboration with Google Cloud definitely sets us up for success as we gear up internally with the right resources.

Our partners at Google Cloud have also gone beyond our expectations and invested in training our teams during the SAP migration project to ensure that the team is upskilled to the latest standards and is ready to lead the company into its next phase powered by the use of technology.

Bader Almadi, KSA Country Manager at Google Cloud, added: Spimaco has been an early adopter of technology in the pharmaceutical sector, with its factories and production facilities fully automated and powered by robotics since 2002. It is therefore no surprise that the company believes in the value of turning to the latest technologies to accelerate its growth further. Our collaboration can help Spimaco become more resilient, and will support the company to tap into more markets, acquire new business, and expand its footprint to new markets.

On-premise

Before the commencement of the digital transformation project, Spimacos information technology (IT) infrastructure was on-premise, which meant that the companys digital backend required a refresh and a new, more robust disaster recovery system to be implemented. Accordingly, Spimaco will migrate all 11 of its business systems to Google Cloud to enhance system performance and safeguard business continuity across the 13 countries where the company operates.

Cloudypedia, a Google Cloud infrastructure specialised partner, led the business systems migration project with Spimaco. Cloudypedia is specialised in providing cloud infrastructure services to build a green field of SAP environment or migrate existing SAP workloads from on premises or other cloud providers to Google Cloud.-- TradeArabia News Service
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 17, 2023 /CNW/ -- Lodestar Battery Metals Corp. (TSX-V: LSTR) (OTCQB: SVTNF) ("Lodestar" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has acquired an additional 7,859 ha of mineral claims adjacent to the Peny Property in the Snow Lake District, Manitoba.

"Since acquiring the Peny Property on September 2, 2022, our goal has been to rapidly evaluate the potential for battery metals and cost-effectively advance our efforts for our shareholders," said Lowell Kamin, CEO & Director of Lodestar. "Based on our analysis of the area, we are pleased to strategically increase our land position by staking additional claims to protect our areas of interest. These new claims will be a key area of focus for our exploration program."

Lodestar remains committed to solidifying its presence in the Snow Lake District in Manitoba. The Company recognizes the importance of the expansion of its flagship Peny Property as it focuses on growth in the world-class lithium pegmatite region. Lodestar looks forward to providing stakeholders with further updates pertaining to its upcoming exploration initiatives in the coming months. This coupled with our silver property provides an excellent investment opportunity to create near to mid-term shareholder value through aggressive advancement and expansion.

Peny Staking Expansion

The new management, appointed in 2022, decided to stake additional property in the Snow Lake District, with favourable infrastructure and lithium pegmatite potential in the surrounding district. Throughout February 2023, local crews staked a total of 32 additional claims totalling 7,859 ha, thereby expanding the Peny claims package to a total of 47 claims for 11,191 ha.

 The claims were staked over the prospective ground along the northward extension of the Crowduck Bay fault and Berry Fault systems which are noted regionally to host pegmatites along this late stage controlling fault trends. Where these intersect Kisseynew Domain toward the north, claims have additionally been staked over areas with favourably oriented potentially dilatational structures interpreted from regional magnetics over parts of the property.

Story continues

 The expanded claims blocks include outcroppings of Pegmatite noted from aerial reconnaissance over the property in late 2022. In addition, numerous out-cropping pegmatites were observed on the property see Figures 1 & 2 below.

 Based on a historical data compilation over the property, a total of 86 drill holes have been identified on the property, including 18 drill holes with noted pegmatite previously unsampled. The property also hosts a pegmatite mineral showing in the northwest and numerous instances of mapped syn to post tectonic Pegmatites and potentially fertile leucogranites.

Figure 1: Location of the Peny property and surrounding claims holders within the Greater Snow Lake district.

Infographic - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2055038/Lodestar_Figure_1.jpg

Figure 1: Location of the Peny property and surrounding claims holders within the Greater Snow Lake district.

Figure 2: a) Quartz Feldspar Pegmatite, b) outcropping pegmatite from the swamp c) outcropping leucogranites in the northwest of the property.

Infographic - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2055037/Lodestar_Figure_2.jpg

Figure 2: a) Quartz Feldspar Pegmatite, b) outcropping pegmatite from the swamp c) outcropping leucogranites in the northwest of the property.

2022 Exploration Results

A preliminary field exploration program was completed in September  October 2022 to confirm potential mineralization and the favourability of the geological environment to host lithium-bearing pegmatites. Initial prospecting was undertaken, as well as selective surface geochemical sampling and overall evaluation of the property.

A total of 70 rock samples were collected over the OG Peny claims. Samples were principally collected from exposures of Quartz and Feldspar dominant pegmatites across selected parts of the property. A further 268 soil samples were collected along the eastern margin of the OG Peny claims near the Crowduck Bay fault. Although results from the 2022 sampling program failed to produce significant results for Lithium, an initial evaluation of the results indicates a strong correlation between Li, Ce, and Ta. The results are currently being analyzed to determine further favourable trace element geochemical vectors.

Figure 3

Infographic - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2055039/Lodestar_Figure_3.jpg

A remote sensing satellite data acquisition and processing study has been commissioned to provide analysis of synthetic aperture radar data and multispectral Sentinel & Aster data over >100 km2 covering the property and surrounding areas. By combining modern remote sensing techniques using multispectral imaging and synthetic aperture radar to analyze topography, structure, alteration, vegetation and ground movement, complex anomalies covering large areas can be quickly and effectively identified. This multivariate exploration approach combines existing geological, geochemical, and geophysical data with multiple satellite analyses to identify new potential mineral targets.

About the Peny Property

The Peny Property is located approximately 25 kilometers northeast of the town of Snow Lake, Manitoba. The Peny Property is prospective for Lithium Pegmatite and Volcanic Massive Sulphide (VMS) style mineralization known to occur in the local area.

The Property encompasses rocks belonging to the Churchill Province and comprises metamorphic and metasedimentary rocks, predominantly Felsic and Arkosic Gniess's, including arkose, arenite, and quartzite-derived gneiss and migmatite belonging to the Missi Group, and Burntwood groups, and encompasses parts of the Crowduck pluton. The Property is located along the Crowduck Bay Fault, which is interpreted as a regional controlling structure associated with pegmatite occurrences and lithium mineralization to the south at the Zorro and Jean Lake prospective areas. The property is also adjacent to the formally producing Osborne Lake VMS Mine, previously operated by the Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Co. Historical worker's reports covering the property describe local host rocks that are intruded by coarse-grained, sheared pegmatites. The Company intends to refocus the asset on lithium exploration, which has proven successful at neighbouring sites.

Qualified Person

Qualified Person: Luke van der Meer, P.Geo is an independent consultant for the Company and an Independent Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards for Disclosure of Mineral Projects. He has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this news release.

QAQC Statement

Samples were submitted and delivered directly to BV Laboratories and an accredited independent lab based in Vancouver, BC. A total of 70 rock chip and grab samples and 268B Horizon soil samples were 250g of rock was crushed, split and pulverized to 200 mesh and analyzed by 1:1:1 Aqua Regia digestion Ultratrace ICP-MS analysis for 65 elements. Nominal field duplicates were submitted, and BV employed routine QAQC protocols during analysis.

References

1. Mineral resource estimate from 43-101 technical report titled "NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Zoro Lithium Project, Snow Lake, Manitoba," dated July 6th, 2018, authored by Fedikow et al. Resource quoted is within Table 1.1  Base Case Inferred Resource estimate: Inferred 1,074,567 tons at 0.91% Li2O (Cut-off grade of 0.30% Li2O).

About Lodestar Battery Metals Corp.

Lodestar Battery Metals Corp. is a Canadian mining exploration company focused on the battery metals space. The Company's 100% owned flagship Peny Property comprises 47 mineral claims totalling 11,191 hectares in the Snow Lake District, Manitoba, with access to tier-1 existing infrastructure: railway, roads, airstrip and power. The Company also owns 100% interest in two significant silver assets in Mexico. The Company intends to build a strong portfolio of battery metals projects to drive future growth through exploration success and from later-stage projects with production potential. The Lodestar business plan calls for a dynamic combination of developing its existing properties, acquisitions, and partnerships to achieve this growth. For more information, visit https://lodestarbatterymetals.ca/.

Contacts

Lodestar Battery Metals Corp.

Lowell Kamin, Chief Executive Officer (416) 272-1241

Email: lowell@lodestarbatterymetals.ca



Investor Relations

Alyssa Barry, IR Labs Inc.

investors@lodestarbatterymetals.ca

1-833-947-5227

Forward-Looking Statements

The information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements based on assumptions as of the date of this news release. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions, and expectations. They are not guarantees of future performance. Silverton cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by several material factors, many of which are beyond Silverton's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to Silverton's limited operating history and the need to comply with environmental and governmental regulations. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the forward-looking information's estimates, beliefs, intentions, and expectations expressed or implied. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, Silverton undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking information publicly.

NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lodestar-battery-metals-acquires-new-claims-and-reports-exploration-results-at-its-peny-project-in-the-snow-lake-district-manitoba-301798355.html

SOURCE Lodestar Battery Metals Corp

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2023/17/c0316.html
ChrisBoswell / Getty Images/iStockphoto

The amount of $1 million can seem pretty hefty to the average American, but it's actually the minimum financial experts suggest you have in retirement funds by the time you stop working and settle into your golden years. However, $1 million can go either very far or not far at all depending on where you live.

Social Security: Proposal for $2,400 Extra in Checks Expanded and Reintroduced in Congress

See: 3 Ways To Recession-Proof Your Retirement

In order to find out how long $1 million will last in America's biggest cities, GOBankingRates sourced the 50 biggest cities from the 2021 American Community Survey and then broke down the average annual expenditures for people 65 and older, sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2021 Consumer Expenditure Survey data. These key categories include: housing, groceries, utilities, transportation and healthcare.

Here, you'll find that places like the West Coast, especially California, and the Pacific Northwest are not great places to make your retirement money last the longest. Instead, the Midwest and the South will let you stretch your dollars the furthest. Of the 50 cities we studied, here are the 10 cities where $1 million will last the shortest amount of time, followed by the 10 cities where $1 million will last the longest.

Jorge Villalba / Getty Images

San Francisco

Annual expenditures: $127,224.04

How long $1 million will last: 7 years 10 months 9 days

San Francisco leads the way with the "worst" cities to retire in, in terms of making your nest egg go far. You'll get less than eight years here out of a $1 million nest egg. The biggest chunk of change will go to housing, which is $52,392.03 per year on average. However, all costs are higher in San Fran than anywhere else on this list.

DenisTangneyJr / Getty Images/iStockphoto

San Jose, California

Annual expenditures: $112,103.15

How long $1 million will last: 8 years 11 months 1 days

There's no surprise that this Silicon Valley suburb is also a pricey place to retire. Naturally, housing is also high here, at $44,508.30 per year, but utilities are not cheap either, at $7,571.31 per year.

Story continues

Davel5957 / Getty Images

Oakland, California

Annual expenditures: $92,028.87

How long $1 million will last: 10 years 10 months 13 days

If you notice a theme, it's that California cities are expensive places to retire. Housing alone runs $32,885.24 per year in Oakland, and utilities and healthcare are $8,211.04 and $5,161.57 respectively.

Take Our Poll: Are You Concerned About the Safety of Your Money in Your Bank Accounts?

shalunts / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Los Angeles

Annual expenditures: $91,872.44

How long $1 million will last: 10 years 10 months 16 days

Los Angeles is another big California city where you'll want to reconsider retiring. Healthcare is $6,782.26 per year and utilities are $6,327.00.

OlegAlbinsky / iStock.com

New York City

Annual expenditures: $87,909.73

How long $1 million will last: 11 years 4 months 18 days

The Big Apple also makes it onto the "pricey places to retire" side of this list. Big city living comes at a price, including $23,298.04 in annual housing costs. Utilities are $8,970.28 per year, transportation is $5,901.11 per year and healthcare is $7,430.53 per year.

benedek / iStock.com

Seattle

Annual expenditures: $87,492.60

How long $1 million will last: 11 years 5 months 5 days

The Pacific Northwest isn't much cheaper, especially Seattle, which draws a large number of tech companies. Housing is $30,319.65 annually, and utilities are $6,200.46.

Art Wager / Getty Images

San Diego

Annual expenditures: $83,634.16

How long $1 million will last: 11 years 11 months 16 days

Another California city finds its way in this list, though Southern California seems to be slightly less expensive than the northern part. Annual housing costs are $28,917.41, utilities are $6,256.70, and healthcare is $4,931.81.

Ron and Patty Thomas / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Long Beach, California

Annual expenditures: $82,956.33

How long $1 million will last: 12 years 0 months 18 days

In Long Beach, a coveted California beach town, $1 million won't even get you much past twelve years in retirement. Here, the highest annual expenses aside from housing are healthcare at $6,478.64 per year, and utilities at $6,095.01.

Social Security: Romney Asks Why 25% Drop in Funds Isn't in Biden's Budget

RomanBabakin / Getty Images

Boston

Annual expenditures: $79,984.29

How long $1 million will last: 12 years 5 months 30 days

This New England city may be cheaper than those in California and New York, but not by much. In addition to housing costs, residents pay an average of $5,407.75 annually for healthcare and $6,305.91 for utilities.

SeanPavonePhoto / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Washington, D.C.

Annual expenditures: $78,524.35

How long $1 million will last: 12 years 8 months 22 days

There may be a lot of rich history in the District of Columbia, but you need to be rich to retire here, as well. Annual grocery costs run around $5,131.08, healthcare is $5,551.36 and utilities are $6,713.65.

TriggerPhoto / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Kansas City, Missouri

Annual expenditures: $45,831.94

How long $1 million will last: 21 years 9 months 25 days

Kansas city marks the start of the "best" places to retire on this list. Here, your $1 million will last nearly twice as long as it would in Washington, D.C. Annual housing here is only $6,959.29, though utilities are actually a bigger expenditure at $7,191.69.

Long_Strange_Trip_01 / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Columbus, Ohio

Annual expenditures: $45,049.82

How long $1 million will last: 22 years 2 months 13 days

Columbus also has stunningly low annual housing costs at $7,333.22, with utilities and groceries being the biggest expenditures at $6,291.85 and $4,443.04 respectively.

Ron and Patty Thomas / Getty Images

Indianapolis

Annual expenditures: $44,267.71

How long $1 million will last: 22 years 7 months 2 days

In Indianapolis, you can expect to pay more in utilities at $7,051.09 than you will in housing costs, which are $6,512.65. Groceries are the next biggest expense at $4,209.19.

f11photo / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Milwaukee

Annual expenditures: $44,163.43

How long $1 million will last: 22 years 7 months 21 days

In Milwaukee, housing costs are $5,785.56 per year, groceries are $4,177.71 and healthcare is $4,189.16.

JTSorrell / Getty Images

Oklahoma City

Annual expenditures: $44,007.00

How long $1 million will last: 22 years 8 months 19 days

In Oklahoma City, the three biggest expenditures in order are utilities at $7,465.86 housing at $5,879.04 and groceries at $4,258.66.

Find: 5 Best Southern Cities To Retire on a Budget of $1,500 a Month

Davel5957 / Getty Images

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Annual expenditures: $42,964.18

How long $1 million will last: 23 years 3 months 12 days

In Tulsa, utilities are also the biggest expenditure at $7,269.02, followed by housing at $5,359.69, and groceries at $4,267.65.

DenisTangneyJr / Getty Images/iStockphoto

El Paso, Texas

Annual expenditures: $42,755.62

How long $1 million will last: 23 years 4 months 22 days

In El Paso, you can really enjoy your golden years with $1 million in savings, getting to nearly 24 years. Your biggest expense here annually will be utilities at $6,769.89. Housing is just $5,775.17.

Sean Pavone / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Wichita, Kansas

Annual expenditures: $42,547.06

How long $1 million will last: 23 years 6 months 1 days

The Midwest is another great place to retire. In Wichita, utilities are also the biggest annual expenditure, at $7,233.87, with housing following behind at $5,723.24. You'll pay $4,272.15 for groceries, as well.

Sean Pavone / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Memphis, Tennessee

Annual expenditures: $40,409.28

How long $1 million will last: 24 years 8 months 29 days

Leave it to the South to make a happy and affordable place for retirees. You can get very close to 25 years of retirement out of $1 million in Memphis, with the biggest annual expenditure being utilities at $6,805.04.

drnadig / Getty Images

Cleveland

Annual expenditures: $37,697.94

How long $1 million will last: 26 years 6 months 12 days

Cleveland, Ohio, takes the top spot, as your $1 million in retirement will last you over 26 years. Here, the three biggest expenditures are utilities at $5,820.84, groceries at $4,204.70, and transportation at $3,721.03. Housing is the lowest of the five key expenditures, at at mere $2,451.33 annually.

More From GOBankingRates

Methodology: In order to find how long $1,000,000 will last in America's biggest cities, GOBankingRates first found the 50 biggest cities in terms of total houseolds as sourced from the 2021 American Community Survey. Then GOBankingRates found (1) the national average annual expenditures for people 65 and older, sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2021 Consumer Expenditure Survey data. Then, GOBankingRates created (2) city level annual expenditure estimates by multiplying the national figure by each city's overall cost of living index score from Sperling's Best Places. Finally, GOBankingRates found (3) how many years $1,000,000 will last in each state by dividing $1,000,000 by each state's average annual expenditures estimate. All 50 cities were then ranked with No. 1 being the city where $1,000,000 will last the longest and No. 50 being the city where it will run out most quickly. GOBankingRates provided supplemental information on the average annual cost of groceries, housing, utilities, transportation, and healthcare for people 65 and older in each state by again using Sperling's Best Placescost o living indices for each category to factor out national estimates from the CEX. All data was collected on and up to date as of March 28, 2023.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: How Long $1 Million in Retirement Savings Will Last in These 20 Major US Cities
David Sacks / Getty Images

Once youve submitted your tax return to the Internal Revenue Service each year, the last thing you should think about is how to store your tax records. But making these arrangements is essential to protect yourself in the event of a future IRS audit.

Capital Gains Tax on Stocks: What It Is and How To Minimize It

Find: 3 Signs Youre Serious About Raising Your Credit Score

The general rule is to keep your tax records for three years, but there are several important exceptions for when you might need to keep your tax records longer as a taxpayer. Read on to learn how long to keep your tax records and when you can safely dispose of them.

Determining Expiration of the Statute of Limitations

Typically, the statute of limitations for the IRS to audit your tax return is generally three years. For an income tax return, the period of limitations is three years. But the IRS says keeping your tax returns even longer is wise. For example, if the IRS audits you, youll have the documents you need to protect yourself from an audit. The statute of limitations starts running later than the due date for your tax return or the date you file your taxes.

Special Tax Items

Youll need to keep your records for seven years if you claim a deduction of worthless securities or bad debts. For example, if you lent a friend $10,000 under a promissory note and the friend went bankrupt, keep records to prove that it was a legitimate debt discharged in bankruptcy that was never paid.

Another special tax item is employment taxes. Keep records for employment taxes for four years from the later of the date the tax is due or the date you pay the tax.

Take Our Poll: What Do You Plan To Use Your Tax Refund For?

Records Related To Property

When your tax return includes information related to property, keep those records until the statute of limitations  typically three years  runs out for the year in which you sell or otherwise dispose of the property.

Story continues

For example, if you bought a car in 2010, use it as part of your business and then sell it in 2020, you should keep all of those car-related tax records until the statute of limitations expires for your 2020 tax return.

In addition, keep your old property records until the statute runs out on the tax year you dispose of the new property if you exchange the property for another property to which you transfer your cost basis.

For example, say you use a 1031 exchange to sell a rental property and invest the proceeds tax-free into a new rental property. Your basis in the new property is dependent on your basis in the old rental property. As a result, keep the old rental property records until the statute runs on the tax year that you sell the replacement property.

Other Circumstances for Extended Statutes of Limitations

In some circumstances, the statute of limitations is longer than three years. For example, if you dont report income that youre required to report, and it exceeds 25% of the income shown on that years tax return, the IRS has six years to audit your return.

In addition, not filing or filing a fraudulent tax return allows the IRS to audit you indefinitely. So keep any tax records for those years permanently.

See: How To Avoid Paying Taxes Legally  and the 11 Craziest Ways People Have Done It

How To Store Documents

You can keep your tax documents in a fireproof safe or a banks safe deposit box. But to conserve space, consider scanning your tax-related documents and saving them to an external hard drive or a cloud service. The IRS accepts electronic copies as long as you can reproduce the documents and they are legible.

See which receipts to keep for doing your taxes.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: How Long To Keep Tax Records: Can You Ever Throw Them Away?
North Vancouver, British Columbia --News Direct-- Majuba Hill Copper Corp.

VANCOUVER, BC  TheNewswire - April 17, 2023  Majuba Hill Copper Corp. (CSE:JUBA) (OTC:JUBAF) (FWB:4NP) (Majuba Hill Copper or the Company) is pleased to provide this update for the Majuba Hill Porphyry Copper Project in Pershing County Nevada. The encouraging copper results from the past 3 years of drilling have outlined a large copper mineralized footprint that is within the long and wide 2023 Target Corridor.

Click Image To View Full Size

2023 Target Corridor

Based on the widespread copper values in recent and historic drilling the company is pleased to announce that they have engaged RESPEC Company LLC., (RESPEC) in Reno, Nevada to provide a compliant resource estimate and NI 43-101 report.

RESPEC is an international group that applies engineering, applied sciences and technology to natural resources. The Reno office was formerly Mineral Development Associates, a group with extensive experience in the Mineral and Exploration industry throughout Nevada and the western United States.

David Greenway, CEO stated, I am very pleased that we have reached this stage at Majuba Hill. In just three years we have been able to advance the project to the point where completing an outside evaluation of our work and pushing towards a resource calculation is the next logical step. This work will provide a strong basis for us to be advance the Majuba Hill Project.

Since beginning work on the project Majuba Hill Copper Corp. has completed 32,482 feet (9900.4 m) of drilling in 19 reverse circulation (RC) holes and 10 core holes. Much of the drilling was in core with a total of 17,402 feet (5304 m) completed which includes three deep holes drilled in 2022.

The 2022 exploration program at Majuba Hill highlighted the potential for evaluating an open pit to exploit copper mineralization.

2022 Exploration Highlights

Porphyry veining and alteration zonation indicates the intensity of the porphyry copper mineralization is increasing towards the northeast.

Completed initial property wide mineral inventory showing 0.5 to 1.5 billion pounds of copper equivalent mineralization in a non-compliant NI43-101 global estimate. These are not mineral resources or mineral reserves, they do not demonstrate economic viability, and the inventory of potential tons and grade has had insufficient exploration to estimate a current mineral resource.

Calculated copper equivalent values for all drill data containing Cu, Ag, Au, Mo, Pb, and Zn values. Results highlighted thick intervals of near surface mineralization in: MHB-5:755 feet (262.7 m) of 0.30% CuEQ from 45 to 800 feet (13.7-243.8 m). MHB-10:540 feet (164.6 m) of 0.456% CuEQ from 215 to 755 feet (65.5-230.1 m).

Collected 1050 additional soil samples which significantly increased the size of the DeSoto and the Copper Gold Target zones.

Age Dated mineralized samples, demonstrating that Majuba Hill is a series of overlapping copper, molybdenum, tin porphyry mineralization events.

Story continues

2022 Drilling Summary

Deep core holes drilled in 2022 focused on the southern portion of the Target Corridor. Significant results include:

MHB-27: 1136 ft (346.3 m) @ 0.25% CuEQ starting at 710 ft (216.4 m) including:

834 ft (254.2 m) @ 0.31% CuEQ from 750 to 1584 (228.6-482.8 m).

119 ft (36.3 m) @0.14% CuEQ from 1727-1846 ft (526.4-562.7m).

MHB-28: 1287 ft (392 m) @ 0.30% CuEQ starting at 245 ft (74.7 m), including:

652 ft (198.7 m) @ 0.33% CuEQ from 595 to 1247 ft.

192 ft (58.5 m) @ 0.21% CuEQ from 1340 to 1532 ft.

105 ft (32 m) @ 0.18% CuEQ from 1542 to 1647 ft.

MHB-29: Intersected granodiorite porphyry at 3403 ft (1037 m). The entire hole is mineralized with 3607 ft (1099.4 m) @ 0.05% CuEQ from 0 to 3607 ft.

Strong potassic alteration that is overprinted by pervasive propylitization.

Zoning within the Majuba Target Zone indicates MHB-29 is southwest of the main mineralized zone.

Intersected 26 intervals greater than 0.20% CuEQ.

Significant mineralization characteristics include:

Supergene enrichment from the surface down to at least 1420 ft (432.8 m).

Distinct porphyry style A, B, and D type veins in all drill holes.

Trace element geochemistry zoning for molybdenum, zinc, and bismuth.

Click Image To View Full Size

Cross-Section 375879E Looking West

Quality Assurance/Quality Control ("QA/QC") Measures, Chain of Custody

The Company has implemented a QA/QC program using best industry practices at the Majuba Hill Project. The samples are transported from the JUBA secure warehouse or directly from the drill to the ALS Sample Prep Facility in Reno or Elko, Nevada. ALS then transports the prepared pulps to their analytical lab in Reno, Nevada or Vancouver, B.C. Soil and rock chip samples are transported by the company directly to Elko or Reno, Nevada.

Drill core samples are sawn in half lengthwise and one half is placed in labeled cloth sample bags. All samples are analyzed for copper, gold, silver, and 33 other elements. Gold is determined by ALS method Au-AA23 which is a fire assay with an AAS finish on a 30-gram split. Copper, silver and the remaining 31 elements are determined by ALS method ME-ICP61 which is a four-acid digestion and ICP-AES assay. Approximately 5% of the submitted samples are duplicates and copper-gold-porphyry commercial standard reference material pulps. The sample rejects and remaining pulps will be retrieved from ALS.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed by E.L. "Buster" Hunsaker III, CPG 8137, a non-independent consulting geologist who is a "Qualified Person" as such term is defined under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43- 101").

About Majuba Hill Copper Corp.

Majuba Hill Copper Corp. is engaged in the identification, review and acquisition of latter stage copper and copper/silver/gold assets. This is in direct response to the growing worldwide demand and lack of supply for precious metals fueled by the Green New Deal in the US and most other developed nations with similar programs aimed at addressing climate change. Such programs are heavily reliant on silver, gold and especially copper to produce Electric Vehicles and other renewable power sources, as well as building infrastructure to provide clean and affordable electricity.

The flagship project is the Majuba Hill copper, silver and gold District located 156 miles outside Reno, Nevada, USA. Management has been mandated to focus on safe, mining friendly jurisdictions where government regulations are supportive of mining operations.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

On Behalf of the Board of Majuba Hill Copper Corp.

David Greenway

David C. Greenway

President & CEO

For further information, please contact:

Joel Warawa

VP of Corporate Communications

E: jw@majubahillcopper.com

P: 1 (855) 475-0745

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking" statements. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although Majuba Hill Copper Corp. believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of Majuba Hill Copper Corp. management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by law, Majuba Hill Copper Corp. undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.

###

View source version on newsdirect.com: https://newsdirect.com/news/majuba-hill-copper-corp-update-for-flagship-porphyry-copper-project-in-nevada-251734123
Pax8

DENVER, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pax8, the leading cloud commerce marketplace, welcomes Malwarebytes, a leader in real-time cyber protection, to its cloud marketplace as a new global security vendor. This partnership will provide Managed Service Providers (MSPs) with Malwarebytes' all-in-one endpoint security portfolio for advanced yet affordable protection for businesses. It is designed to safeguard MSPs and their clients from the constantly evolving threats posed by modern-day cybercriminals.



At Pax8, we understand the vital role security plays in the technology industry, and we emphasize our strong commitment to offer our partners the finest cybersecurity solutions available from top vendors such as Malwarebytes, said Sophie Merrifield, CVP of Vendor Operations at Pax8. This partnership provides MSPs with a convenient and efficient way to enhance their clients' security posture, strengthen their own businesses, and stay ahead of the latest cybersecurity threats.

Malwarebytes is consistently ranked #1 by independent third-party research labs for their ability to spot and stop more malware, including zero-day threats, ransomware, fileless attacks and exploits, underscoring the companys ability to stay ahead of todays evolving threats through continuous product innovation. Through the Pax8 Marketplace, MSPs can access Malwarebytes' entire security portfolio with ease. With a shared MSP emphasis, Pax8 and Malwarebytes are committed to providing MSPs with innovative technology and top-of-the-line security services to their clients while scaling their businesses and remaining competitive in the ever-changing managed services landscape.

Pax8 is the future of SaaS distribution and, together, we can deliver cybersecurity solutions purpose-built for MSPs to help them future proof their security posture, said Brian Thomas, VP of Global MSP and Channel Programs, Malwarebytes. We have aggressive plans to continue to invest in our MSP offerings and security portfolio to reach even more partners with our award-winning solutions.

Story continues

The Malwarebytes OneView platform empowers MSPs to deliver enterprise-class endpoint security solutions that drastically reduce customer malware infections and ransomware exposure. With centralized access into client sites, OneView streamlines management of endpoint security, licensing subscriptions, role-based access, customer reporting and more. With additional threat prevention modules and services such as DNS filtering and managed detection and response (MDR), partners can offer the right product or service to each customer, tailored to their specific needs.

Malwarebytes solutions available in the Pax8 Marketplace include:

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

Endpoint Protection (EP)

Incident Response (IR)

Mobile Security

Vulnerability and Patch Management

DNS Filtering

Application Block

Managed Detection and Response service

To learn more about Pax8 and Malwarebytes, please visit www.pax8.com.

About Pax8

Pax8 is the worlds favorite cloud marketplace for IT professionals to buy, sell, and manage best-in-class technology solutions. Pioneering the future of modern business, Pax8 has cloud-enabled more than 400,000 enterprises through its channel partners and processes one million monthly transactions. Pax8s award-winning technology enables managed service providers (MSPs) to accelerate growth, increase efficiency, and reduce risk so their businesses can thrive. The innovative company has ranked in the Inc. 5000 for five years in a row. Join the revolution at pax8.com.

Follow Pax8 on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

About Malwarebytes

Malwarebytes believes that when people and organizations are free from threats, they are free to thrive. Founded in 2008, Malwarebytes CEO Marcin Kleczynski had one mission: to rid the world of malware. Today, Malwarebytes award-winning endpoint protection, privacy and threat prevention solutions and its world-class team of threat researchers protect millions of individuals and thousands of businesses across the globe. The effectiveness and ease-of-use of Malwarebytes solutions are consistently recognized by independent third parties including MITRE Engenuity, MRG Effitas, AVLAB, AV-TEST (consumer and business), Gartner Peer Insights, G2 Crowd and CNET. The company is headquartered in California with offices in Europe and Asia. For more information, visit malwarebytes.com.

Follow Malwarebytes on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , TikTok and Twitter .

Pax8 Media Contact:

Melissa Gallegos, Communications Director

mgallegos@pax8.com

Malwarebytes Media Contact:

Ashley Stewart, Director, Analyst & Public Relations

astewart@malwarebytes.com




Nabors Industries Ltd.'s (NYSE:NBR) price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.4x may look like a pretty appealing investment opportunity when you consider close to half the companies in the Energy Services industry in the United States have P/S ratios greater than 1x. However, the P/S might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

See our latest analysis for Nabors Industries

How Has Nabors Industries Performed Recently?

There hasn't been much to differentiate Nabors Industries' and the industry's revenue growth lately. Perhaps the market is expecting future revenue performance to dive, which has kept the P/S suppressed. If you like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could pick up some stock while it's out of favour.

If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report on Nabors Industries.

What Are Revenue Growth Metrics Telling Us About The Low P/S?

In order to justify its P/S ratio, Nabors Industries would need to produce sluggish growth that's trailing the industry.

If we review the last year of revenue growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 32%. However, this wasn't enough as the latest three year period has seen the company endure a nasty 13% drop in revenue in aggregate. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of revenue growth.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the eight analysts covering the company suggest revenue should grow by 12% per annum over the next three years. That's shaping up to be similar to the 13% per year growth forecast for the broader industry.

With this in consideration, we find it intriguing that Nabors Industries' P/S is lagging behind its industry peers. It may be that most investors are not convinced the company can achieve future growth expectations.

What Does Nabors Industries' P/S Mean For Investors?

It's argued the price-to-sales ratio is an inferior measure of value within certain industries, but it can be a powerful business sentiment indicator.

Story continues

We've seen that Nabors Industries currently trades on a lower than expected P/S since its forecast growth is in line with the wider industry. The low P/S could be an indication that the revenue growth estimates are being questioned by the market. At least the risk of a price drop looks to be subdued, but investors seem to think future revenue could see some volatility.

And what about other risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Nabors Industries you should know about.

Of course, profitable companies with a history of great earnings growth are generally safer bets. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have reasonable P/E ratios and have grown earnings strongly.

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.

Join A Paid User Research Session

Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here
There wouldn't be many who think D-BOX Technologies Inc.'s (TSE:DBO) price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.8x is worth a mention when the median P/S for the Consumer Durables industry in Canada is similar at about 0.5x. While this might not raise any eyebrows, if the P/S ratio is not justified investors could be missing out on a potential opportunity or ignoring looming disappointment.

Check out our latest analysis for D-BOX Technologies

How D-BOX Technologies Has Been Performing

With revenue growth that's exceedingly strong of late, D-BOX Technologies has been doing very well. Perhaps the market is expecting future revenue performance to taper off, which has kept the P/S from rising. If you like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's not quite in favour.

Although there are no analyst estimates available for D-BOX Technologies, take a look at this free data-rich visualisation to see how the company stacks up on earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What Are Revenue Growth Metrics Telling Us About The P/S?

In order to justify its P/S ratio, D-BOX Technologies would need to produce growth that's similar to the industry.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 78% gain to the company's top line. The latest three year period has also seen a 11% overall rise in revenue, aided extensively by its short-term performance. So we can start by confirming that the company has actually done a good job of growing revenue over that time.

Comparing that to the industry, which is predicted to shrink 11% in the next 12 months, the company's positive momentum based on recent medium-term revenue results is a bright spot for the moment.

With this information, we find it odd that D-BOX Technologies is trading at a fairly similar P/S to the industry. It looks like most investors are not convinced the company can maintain its recent positive growth rate in the face of a shrinking broader industry.

Story continues

The Bottom Line On D-BOX Technologies' P/S

It's argued the price-to-sales ratio is an inferior measure of value within certain industries, but it can be a powerful business sentiment indicator.

As mentioned previously, D-BOX Technologies currently trades on a P/S on par with the wider industry, but this is lower than expected considering its recent three-year revenue growth is beating forecasts for a struggling industry. There could be some unobserved threats to revenue preventing the P/S ratio from outpacing the industry much like its revenue performance. Perhaps there is some hesitation about the company's ability to stay its recent course and swim against the current of the broader industry turmoil. At least the risk of a price drop looks to be subdued, but investors seem to think future revenue could see some volatility.

We don't want to rain on the parade too much, but we did also find 2 warning signs for D-BOX Technologies (1 is concerning!) that you need to be mindful of.

If companies with solid past earnings growth is up your alley, you may wish to see this free collection of other companies with strong earnings growth and low P/E ratios.

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.

Join A Paid User Research Session

Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here
Global Competition Encouraging Youth to Apply Critical Thinking to Solve UN SDGs

DALLAS, April 17, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mary Kay Inc., a decades-long corporate advocate of womens education and entrepreneurship, announced the top three winners of its third annual World Series of Innovation (WSI) challenge in partnership with Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE). This global competition encourages youth ages 13-24 to utilize critical thinking skills to help solve the worlds greatest challenges on a local, domestic, or international scale, as part of the advancement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230417005743/en/

Mary Kay Inc. announced the top 3 winners of its third annual Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship World Series of Innovation Challenge. Winning teams are Angel Gear, Saving the Superstars of the Global Ecosystem, and Reversify. (Graphic: Mary Kay Inc.)

Mary Kays WSI challenge kicked off September 15 in conjunction with World Clean Up Day and encouraged young entrepreneurs to submit innovative solutions to address UN SDG 14: Life Below Water. Specifically, students were asked to design a solution to further the conservation and/or protection of the worlds marine ecosystems and coastal communities.

"Businesses and Individuals play critical roles in protecting and conserving our worlds most precious resources," said Deborah Gibbins, Chief Operating Officer for Mary Kay Inc. "Posing the challenges of the worlds marine ecosystems to the next generation brings a fresh perspective on problem-solving, and no solution is too small. Students looked at all angles of the issue, proposing innovative, sustainable, and impactful ways to address water conservation everywhere from their own homes, all the way to tackling the vast ocean."

Annually, NFTE reaches more than 40,000 youth worldwide, with 3,860 students from around the world submitting ideas for this years WSI challenges. More than 485 students participated in the Mary Kay-sponsored challenge. The top three winners of Mary Kays 2022 WSI Challenge are:

Story continues

First Place: Angel Gear developed a business that purchases broken fishing nets and other gear and repurposes them into reusable nets. Developed by Ryan Zhang (17) and Jia-Teng Lu (16) from Kang Chiao International School in Taiwan. View submission video.

Second Place: Saving the Superstars of the Global Ecosystem utilizes unmanned surface water drones in combination with satellite-based remote sensing systems to locate and identify algae blooms in the Chesapeake Bay. Developed by Emily Carver (17) from Douglas S. Freeman High School in Virginia. View submission video.

Third Place: Reversify designed a sustainable washing machine that repurposes rainwater and filters harmful pollutants in wastewater. Developed by Iyshly Chen (16), Davina Liang (16), and Kelly Luo (16) from Abraham Lincoln High School in California. View submission video.

"Each year, WSI participants choose from a diverse offering of challenge topics, often selecting one that resonates personally with their experience. Mary Kays Global Oceans Conservation Challenge asked students to think critically about one of the worlds most vital resources  water  and their innovative ideas did not disappoint," said Dr. J.D. LaRock, President and CEO of NFTE. "Submissions ranged from social ideas such as engaging the community to clean up their local water sources, to engineering ideas such as creating drones that skim the ocean for waste without disrupting natural habitats."

NFTE is a global educational non-profit focused on bringing the power of entrepreneurship to low-income communities. Since its founding more than 35 years ago, NFTE has trained thousands of teachers and educated well over a million young people worldwide. Every fall, NFTE launches a new set of challenges for the WSI competition and invites corporate sponsors to address the UN SDGs. The 2022 NFTE World Series of Innovation is presented by Citi Foundation and features challenges sponsored by Mary Kay Inc., MetLife Foundation, Mastercard, Bank of the West, Link, Maxar, Ernst & Young, LLP (EY), ServiceNow and Zuora. View the top three winners for each challenge and learn more about all the World Series of Innovation challenges at https://innovation.nfte.com/.

About Mary Kay

Then. Now. Always. One of the original glass ceiling breakers, Mary Kay Ash founded her dream beauty brand in Texas in 1963 with one goal: to enrich womens lives. That dream has blossomed into a global company with millions of independent sales force members in more than 35 countries. For 60 years, the Mary Kay opportunity has empowered women to define their own futures through education, mentorship, advocacy, and innovation. Mary Kay is dedicated to investing in the science behind beauty and manufacturing cutting-edge skincare, color cosmetics, nutritional supplements, and fragrances. Mary Kay believes in preserving our planet for future generations, protecting women impacted by cancer and domestic abuse, and encouraging youth to follow their dreams. Learn more at marykayglobal.com, find us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, or follow us on Twitter.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230417005743/en/

Contacts

Mary Kay Inc. Corporate Communications

marykay.com/newsroom

972.687.5332 or media@mkcorp.com
(Bloomberg) -- A mass wave of downgrades that shocked investors as they watched Europes top ESG designation get stripped from almost $200 billion may now be reversed.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Many of the reclassifications, which saw a coveted ESG tag known as Article 9 get wiped off 175 billion ($192 billion) in funds in late 2022, appear to have been unnecessary in light of new guidance from the European Commission, according to Hortense Bioy, global director for sustainability research at Morningstar Inc.

The upheaval last year led investors and regulators alike to question the basic construction of the environmental, social and governance investing rulebook that Europe enforced more than two years ago. The Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, which EU officials had hoped would serve as a global standard, has undergone a series of updates since its enforcement to address a seemingly endless list of shortcomings.

Some market participants will think this is a complete circus, Bioy said. Its not clear why the EU Commission needed to wait so long to clarify fundamental questions around Article 9.

Last years downgrades, which led BlackRock Inc., Amundi SA and many others to reclassify their Article 9 funds under a weaker ESG designation known as Article 8, disproportionately affected passive strategies. The confusion set in last year as the market and even regulators struggled to interpret existing rules.

Passive funds that went from Article 9 to Article 8 because they tracked Paris-aligned benchmarks and climate-transition benchmarks now may be required to be reclassified as Article 9, Bioy said.

In a report published late January, Morningstar estimated that 90% of downgraded Article 9 assets comprised equity strategies, almost half of which tracked Paris-aligned and climate-transition benchmarks.

Story continues

In its new guidance, published on Friday, the EU Commission said SFDR is neutral when it comes to financial product design, and that investments that have an objective of reduction in carbon emissions can therefore fall within the scope of Article 9. That applies whether they use a passive or active investment strategy, it said.

The EU Commissions latest clarifications also seek to address the long-outstanding issue of how to define a sustainable investment. The EUs failure to date to provide clear parameters around such a key ESG concept has drawn criticism amid concerns of greenwashing.

The Commission said it wont impose minimum thresholds and instead leave it to market participants to demonstrate that their claims are fair. At the same time, it warned that the disclosure framework requires increased responsibility on the part of market participants.

But that could end up being costly for clients.

For investors, the lack of explicit regulatory standards increases the time and effort required to identify financial products that both meet their sustainability preferences and protect them from greenwashing, Stephan Kippe, an analyst at Commerzbank Research, said in a note.

In principle, we view the Commissions clarifications as positive, he said. But they still fail to address significant fundamental flaws in the basic structure of the SFDR regime.

Asset managers operating in the EU are also struggling to digest the details of a new proposal by the European Supervisory Authorities, which last week put a whole array of major ESG issues to a consultation thats due to run until July 4. The ESAs, which cover markets, banks and insurers, want fund managers to provide more information on social impacts, decarbonization targets and thresholds for excluding companies.

The ESAs also identified inconsistencies in SFDR relating to how it interacts with the EUs taxonomy of sustainable activities. For example, a company could be partially aligned with the list of sustainable business activities yet shareholders may not be able to consider it a sustainable investment under SFDR.

These two parallel concepts of sustainability mean that the regulation probably needs to be put back in the hands of EU lawmakers for a revision, the authorities said.

Lawyers for the fund industry are already warning that the proposal represents a potentially major disruption. People will participate heavily in the consultation because the impact is so tremendous depending on which way it goes, said Julia Vergauwen, an attorney at Linklaters.

The proposed changes are significant, she said. If they go through, they will require sufficient time to implement.

--With assistance from John Ainger.

(Adds reference to ESA consultation, Linklaters comments in final paragraphs.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Congress returns to Washington this week, and that means lawmakers will have a lot to grapple with on their return.

Here are three things to watch in politics:

McCarthy ratchets up debt ceiling debate

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy pressed Democrats to tie spending cuts with raising the debt ceiling in a speech at the New York Stock Exchange on Monday.

The speech will likely do little to move stalled talks between the Republican Speaker from California and President Biden, who has called for raising the debt ceiling  which totals more than $31 trillion  without linking it to spending cuts.

"Let me be clear: A no-strings-attached debt-limit increase will not pass," McCarthy said during his speech. "This will restore discipline to Washington."

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy talks to a reporter on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, April 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

The White House and Democrats pushed back, accusing McCarthy and Republicans of holding the nation's debt ceiling hostage. Washington's failure to raise the debt ceiling would roil markets and add turbulence to an already uneasy economy that is bracing for a potential recession.

Make no mistake: The longer President Biden waits to be sensible, to find agreement, the more likely it becomes that his administration will bumble into the first default in our nations history," McCarthy added.

FBI arrests two in New York over alleged ties to Chinese police activity

The FBI announced on Monday that it arrested two individuals in New York City and charged them with operating a "secret police station" on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party.

"It is simply outrageous that Chinas Ministry of Public Security thinks it can get away with establishing a secret, illegal police station on U.S. soil to aid its efforts to export repression and subvert our rule of law," Kurt Ronnow, the acting assistant director for the FBI Counterintelligence Division, said in a public statement.

The arrests occurred amid escalating tensions between the US and China. And they also follow increasing bipartisan support for crackdowns in the United States against China's surveillance efforts.

Story continues

US ambassador visits detained WSJ reporter in Russia

US Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy visited imprisoned WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was detained in a Moscow prison by Russia, prompting global outrage.

"I visited @WSJs Evan #Gershkovich today at Lefortovo Prison  the first time we've been permitted access to him since his wrongful detention more than two weeks ago," Tracy tweeted. "He is in good health and remains strong. We reiterate our call for his immediate release. #FreeEvan."

#AmbTracy: I visited @WSJs Evan #Gershkovich today at Lefortovo Prison - the first time we've been permitted access to him since his wrongful detention more than two weeks ago. He is in good health and remains strong. We reiterate our call for his immediate release. #FreeEvan     / U.S. Embassy Russia (@USEmbRu) April 17, 2023

The Wall Street Journal reported that more than 40 countries have called for Russia to release the journalist, who was detained on March 30.

The US and other NATO members have issued warnings about Russia's egregious human rights abuses, particularly since it launched its war with Ukraine. There is also growing scrutiny of Russia's relationship with China, whose defense minister is set to visit Russia this week.

Click here for politics news related to business and money

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones (Modon) and General Electric (GE) Saudi Arabia have signed an agreement whereby GE factories spread over 120,000 sq m in the Eastern Region will come under Modon supervision, a report said.

Eng Majed Al-Argoubi, Modon CEO, and Hisham Al-Bahkali, President of General Electric (GE) Saudi Arabia, signed the agreement, said the Saudi Press Agency report.

Under the above agreement, Modon says initiatives will be launched to support and empower entrepreneurs and SMEs, in line with the National Industry Strategy. It also aims to diversify the national economy, in line with the Saudi Vision 2030.

Modon is also keen to boost its partnerships with major global manufacturers and companies, to contribute to supporting the Saudi industry with advanced technologies and to enhancing its competitiveness in regional and international markets, it said.

Modon supervises 18 private industrial complexes and cities in Saudi Arabia. It has created an industrial environment that stimulates the growth of investment activities, supported by all industrial services and products, and offers logistical and technical solutions that are consistent with global best practices in this field.

Through its strategy to empower industry and contribute to increasing local contribution, Modon seeks to help the private sector contribute some 65% to the GDP, under the umbrella of the National Strategy for Industry, which is in line with the objectives of the Saudi Vision 2030.

GE Saudi Arabia's industrial complex consists of two factories and a research centre, including a power industry technology plant, which is the largest centre for service and repair of advanced turbocharged equipment and the largest gas maintenance and sophisticated turbine maintenance centre outside the US.

The plant directly serves its main customers within the kingdom, primarily Saudi Electricity Company, Aramco and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic). The centre, where Saudis constitute up to 64% of the employees, also provides services to over 70 customers in more than 40 countries in Europe, Asia and Africa.
The Hamburglar is back. And the villain is after what McDonald's says are the chain's best burgers ever.

McDonald's is improving its hamburger, cheeseburger, double cheeseburger, McDouble burger and Big Mac, the company said Monday.

Improvements include softer sandwich buns, which are toasted golden brown, "perfectly melted cheese," and a "juicier, caramelized flavor from adding white onions to the patties while theyre still on the grill," the company said in an update shared with USA TODAY. Big Macs will also be served with more sauce.

Some West Coast cities will be getting the new burgers this week and as the changes are rolled out across the U.S., cities will see new commercials and other promos featuring the Hamburglar.

McDonald's serves up its newest McFlurry: The Strawberry Shortcake McFlurry, available now

You can see the Hamburglar in a new commercial posted on YouTube. This iteration looks more like the cartoonish character of the late 1980s, as opposed to the more realistic-looking Hamburglar in his last appearance in 2015.

McDonald's looks to improve its burgers

"We found that small changes, like tweaking our process to get hotter, meltier cheese and adjusting our grill settings for a better sear, added up to a big difference in making our burgers more flavorful than ever," Chef Chad Schafer, McDonald's USA senior director of culinary innovation, said in a statement.

The burger changes have been introduced in Australia, Canada and Belgium and are being rolled out starting this week in several West Coast cities including Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Sacramento, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Denver, Boise, Tucson, and surrounding cities.

All U.S. restaurants will have McDonald's improved burgers by 2024, the company said.

McDonald's layoffs

These cooking changes come as McDonald's earlier this month initiated a company-wide restructuring including hundreds of layoffs and pay reductions for some employees, The Wall Street Journal reported. The company's growth strategy, implemented since the beginning of the pandemic, has targeted an accelerated pace of restaurant openings, as well as strengthening its digital, drive thru and delivery services.

Story continues

McDonald's 2022 global sales grew about 11%; U.S. sales increased by almost 6%, the fast-food giant reported in January.

Contributing: Amanda Perez Pintado, USA TODAY.

Follow Mike Snider on Twitter: @mikesnider.

What's everyone talking about? Sign up for our trending newsletter to get the latest news

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: McDonald's burger, Big Mac improvements: Here's what's changing
MD Financial Management Inc. (MD) expands its investment platform with the introduction of the MD Platinum Global Private Equity 2023 Trust, the fourth MD Platinum offering and the second MD Platinum private equity trust.

OTTAWA, ON, April 17, 2023 /CNW/ - The MD Platinum Global Private Equity 2023 Trust will enable physicians and their families to access sophisticated, non-traditional investment strategies usually reserved for institutional investors. The Trust:

MD Financial Management Inc. Logo (CNW Group/MD Financial Management Inc.)

strives for strong long-term performance and diversification through non-traditional investments that typically have barriers to entry, such as high minimum-purchase requirements, for individual investors, and

enables clients to diversify their portfolios and potentially grow their wealth over the long term.

"At MD, we're proud to offer our clients unique and exclusive investment opportunities, access to new portfolio diversification strategies and the potential to enjoy higher growth," said Pam Allen, MD's CEO. "We have a solid track record of successfully managing private assets and have leveraged all the learnings and best practices garnered from the first three MD Platinum offerings to create the new MD Platinum Global Private Equity 2023 Trust."

The MD Platinum Global Private Equity 2023 Trust, which is offered through the services of MD Private Investment Counsel (MDPIC), will include a variety of investment types, including primary and secondary private equity funds, as well as direct co-investment opportunities. Capital investments will be used to fund start-ups (venture capital) and to grow or improve existing businesses (growth equity) by acquiring mature companies (buyout) and turning around distressed situations.

"With the first MD Platinum private equity trust since 2018, MD is once again offering clients institutional-level private-equity investment strategies," said Craig Maddock, Vice President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Head of the Multi-Asset Management Team at 1832 Asset Management L.P, Portfolio Advisor to the MD Platinum offerings. "The MD Platinum Global Private Equity 2023 Trust's broad range of non-traditional investments provide an exciting investment opportunity. These types of longer-term, private-equity investments may enhance and diversify clients' existing investment portfolios, reducing assumed volatility and targeting returns above and beyond public-market equivalents."

Story continues

For MD Platinum Global Private Equity 2023 Trust, MD will once again partner with world-class private equity managers who bring extensive knowledge of and experience with institutional-level private equity.

The MD Platinum Global Private Equity 2023 Trust is the fourth private asset pool offered exclusively to Canadian physicians and their families. It follows the launch of the MD Platinum Global Private Credit Pool in 2021, the MD Platinum Global Real Estate Pool in 2019 and the MD Platinum Global Private Equity Pool in 2018.

To learn more about the MD Platinum Global Private Equity 2023 Trust and MD's approach, please call MD Client Services at 1 800 267-2332 or visit md.ca.

About MD Financial Management Inc.

With more than 50 years of physician-focused experience, MD Financial Management Inc. (MD) is dedicated to providing financial peace of mind to Canada's physicians and their families, so they can enjoy what matters most to them while achieving their career and life goals. MD had more than $56 billion in assets under management as of February 28, 2022. MD Management Limited was the first of the MD Group of Companies to be founded, in 1969. MD Financial Management Inc. wholly owns MD Management Limited. MD Financial Management provides financial products and services, the MD Family of Funds and investment counselling services through the MD Group of Companies. For a detailed list of these companies, visit md.ca.

About 1832 Asset Management LP

1832 Asset Management offers a range of wealth management solutions, including mutual funds, and investment solutions for private clients, institutions and managed asset programs. 1832 Asset Management is a limited partnership, the general partner of which is wholly owned by Scotiabank.

SOURCE MD Financial Management Inc.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2023/17/c0885.html
InsightAce Analytic Pvt. LTd.

Companies covered in this report are Medtronic pl (Ireland), Boston Scientific Corporation (US), Abbott Laboratories, Inc. (US), LivaNova PLC (UK), Cochlear Ltd. (Australia), Axonics Modulation Technologies, Inc.

Jersey City, NJ, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- InsightAce Analytic Pvt. Ltd. announces the release of a market assessment report on the "Global Mining Equipment Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Equipment Type (Underground Mining Equipment, Surface Mining Equipment, Crushing, Pulverizing & Screening Equipment, Drills & Breakers), By Application (Metal Mining, Non-Metal Mining, Coal Mining)- Market Outlook And Industry Analysis 2031"

The Global Mining Equipment Market is estimated to reach over USD 209.83 billion by 2031, exhibiting a CAGR of 5.70% during the forecast period.

Mining extracts natural resources from the surface, such as coal, metals, and other minerals. Mining equipment refers to the tools used in extraction. The material is mined underneath with sophisticated mining equipment such as trucks, loaders, diggers, and so on and is frequently hauled to the surface for further processing with skips or lifts. Automation and machine learning capabilities are increasing in the mining equipment market industry. This will allow mines to function more efficiently and with less human input, lowering labor costs.







Free PDF Report Brochure @ https://www.insightaceanalytic.com/request-sample/1728





Furthermore, artificial intelligence (AI) developments will likely play a role in the Mining Equipment Market by assisting mine operators in making better choices about where and how to expend resources. The industry is volatile, and various factors could influence its development or collapse. This research provides a thorough sector overview, examining current trends and prospects. It also includes insights into the market's leading players and their growth plans. Ines. The mining mechanization business is anticipated to grow due to technological advancements and innovations.

Story continues

Automation, the Internet of Things (IoT), 3D imaging, and plasma technology are among the technologies that are transforming the business. Additionally, telematics has proven to be a game changer in the mining sector. Internet of Things (IoT) sensors provide input to the fleet manager, reducing delays due to defects and assisting in maintenance planning. Businesses are constantly searching for process optimization in an ever-more-competitive setting across all sectors, which has increased the demand for automation in the mining industry.

Key Developments:

In April 2023, the acquisition of AARD Mining Equipment, a South African producer of mining equipment, was completed by Epiroc. AARD, a South African company headquartered not far from Johannesburg, specializes in low-profile underground machinery for mines with low mining heights. AARD also develops, produces, maintains, and supports a wide range of mining equipment.

List of Prominent Players in the Mining Equipment Market:

Epiroc

Boart Long year Ltd

Caterpillar Inc

China Coal Energy Group Co. Ltd

Vipeak Mining Machinery Co. Lt

Guangdong Leimeng Intelligent Equipment Group Co. Lt

Henan Baichy Machinery Equipment Co. Ltd

Komatsu Ltd;

Liebher

MetsoQutotec





Get Customized Report @ https://www.insightaceanalytic.com/customisation/1728





Mining Equipment Market Report Scope:

Report Attribute Specifications Market size value in 2022 USD 129.36 Bn Revenue forecast in 2031 USD 209.83 Bn Growth rate CAGR CAGR of 5.70 % from 2023 to 2031 Quantitative units Representation of revenue in US$ Billion, and CAGR from 2023 to 2031 Historic Year 2019 to 2022 Forecast Year 2023-2031 Report coverage The forecast of revenue, the position of the company, the competitive market statistics, growth prospects, and trends Segments covered Product, Type, And End User Regional scope North America; Europe; Asia Pacific; Latin America; Middle East & Africa Country scope U.S.; Canada; U.K.; Germany; China; India; Japan; Brazil; Mexico; The UK; France; Italy; Spain; China; Japan; India; South Korea; Southeast Asia; South Korea; Southeast Asia

Market Dynamics:

Drivers:

An increase in urban population increases the need for energy and natural resources, which is expected to raise demand for mining equipment and propel the mining market growth forward. The interdependence of population growth and natural resources influences the instability of climate adaptation capacity, particularly in developing countries with rapidly changing demography and sectors that rely largely on natural assets. The usage of natural resources, environmental pollution, and changes in land use, such as urbanization, will all increase as the population rises. Changes in global demographic trends will directly impact local environments via resource use and climate change.

Challenges:

The growth of uncontrolled miners has increased demand for used/pre-owned equipment, posing a threat to the mining equipment market. However, environmental and human issues are the primary restraints on the growth of the mining equipment market over the forecast period.

Regional Trends:

The Asia Pacific Mining Equipment market is expected to record the highest market share in revenue shortly. In the future years, market growth will be driven by the growing shift toward renewable energy resources and the adoption of electric vehicles in developing nations such as China and India. The region is projected to gain traction in the future years as significant expenditures increase mineral exploration activity. This advantageous mining legislation for foreign investors, particularly in Colombia, Peru, Brazil, and Chile, assists the regional market's growth.

On the other hand, the North America region is projected to hold the second-largest share of the market. Increasing mineral mining activity, more significant usage of cutting-edge mining equipment, and government initiatives in North America are the primary factors driving market expansion. Furthermore, during the forecast period, demand for these products is expected to be caused by the transition from traditional underground mining to cutting-edge, cost-effective open-pit mining.





Enquiry Before Buying @ https://www.insightaceanalytic.com/enquiry-before-buying/1728





Segmentation of Mining Equipment Market-

By Equipment Type

Underground Mining Equipment

Surface Mining Equipment

Crushing, Pulverizing & Screening Equipment

Drills & Breakers

Others

By Application

Metal Mining

Non-metal Mining

Coal Mining

By Region-

North America-

The US

Canada

Mexico

Europe-

Germany

The UK

France

Italy

Spain

Rest of Europe

Asia-Pacific-

China

Japan

India

South Korea

Southeast Asia

Rest of Asia Pacific

Latin America-

Brazil

Argentina

Rest of Latin America

Middle East & Africa-

GCC Countries

South Africa

Rest of Middle East and Africa

About Us:

InsighAce Analytic is a specializing in market research and consulting services that helps in building business strategies. Our mission is to provide high quality insights with using data analytics techniques and visualization tools that drives the disruption and innovation in market research industry. Our expertise is in providing syndicated and custom market intelligence reports with in-depth analysis and key market insights in a timely and cost-effective manner.

Follow Us @ https://www.linkedin.com/company/insightace-analytic-pvt-ltd/

Subscribe Our Exclusive Newsletters @ https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/latest-market-research-reports-6929319878155739136/

CONTACT: Contact Us: InsightAce Analytic Pvt. Ltd. Tel.: +1 551 226 6109 Email: info@insightaceanalytic.com Site Visit: https://www.insightaceanalytic.com




Minnesota has reached a settlement agreement with e-cigarette manufacturer Juul Labs and its major shareholder Altria Group (MO) over ads that allegedly violated state laws by targeting minors.

The states attorney general, Keith Ellison, announced the settlement on Monday, but held back the terms of the agreement. Ellison said in a press release that those details will be announced soon.

One of my goals in bringing this case was to send a message: We will not tolerate youth marketing of nicotine products in Minnesota, Ellison said in a statement sent to Yahoo Finance.

Juul brand vape cartridges are pictured for sale at a shop in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., September 26, 2019. (REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage)

Ellison filed suit against Juul in 2019  and later added Altria as a defendant  claiming that the pair disregarded consumer protection laws, breached a duty of reasonable care, and created a public nuisance.

The settlement comes within days of Juuls largest multi-state agreement to date to end a string of disputes over its allegedly deceptive ads targeting children. On Wednesday, state attorneys general for California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, and the District of Columbia announced a $462 million settlement with the company over alleged violations of their respective consumer protection laws.

Juul did not admit wrongdoing in entering the multi-state settlement.

Electronic cigarette devices made by JUUL (L) and Suorin are shown in this picture illustration taken September 14, 2018. (REUTERS/Mike Blake/Illustration)

In a statement concerning the settlement with the seven attorneys general, Juul said the agreement represents another critical part in its "ongoing commitment to resolve issues from the companys past" and moves the company to near total resolution of its historical legal challenges.

According to Juul, the companys multi-state settlement brought its settlements with states and territories to $1 billion. The figure is in addition to its effort to resolve more than 5,000 private U.S. lawsuits involving approximately 10,000 plaintiffs.

Alexis Keenan is a legal reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow Alexis on Twitter @alexiskweed.

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance

Download the Yahoo Finance app for Apple or Android

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, LinkedIn, and YouTube
Montana would become the first state in America to fully ban TikTok starting in 2024, after the states legislature passed a bill Friday banning the short-form app over security risks related to its ownership by China-based ByteDance. The bill now goes to the desk of Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte before it can become law, while TikTok said it plans to fight the legislation.

Under the Montana legislation, which would go into effect Jan. 1, 2024, TikTok would face fines of up to $10,000 per day per violation if it continued to operate in the state. In addition, the state could impose penalties on Apple and Google if they allow users in Montana to download the app from their respective app stores.

More from Variety

The Biden administration has threatened to enact a nationwide ban on TikTok unless ByteDance sells its ownership stake in the app. Similarly, the legislation in Montana would void the restrictions on the app if ByteDance sells TikTok.

The Montana bill says that the Peoples Republic of China is an adversary of the United States and Montana and has an interest in gathering information about Montanans, Montana companies and the intellectual property of users to engage in corporate and international espionage. The legislation also says that Chinas government exercises control and oversight over ByteDance, like other Chinese corporations, and can direct the company to share user information, including real-time physical locations of users. In addition, the bill alleges that TikTok fails to remove, and may even promote, dangerous content that directs minors to engage in dangerous activities.

A spokesperson for Gianforte told CNN, The governor will carefully consider any bill the legislature sends to his desk. In December, Gianforte banned TikTok from being used on state government devices; the Montana University System also banned TikTok after the governor urged it to follow suit.

Story continues

TikTok blasted the passage of the Montana bill as an attempt to censor American voices.

The bills champions have admitted that they have no feasible plan for operationalizing this attempt to censor American voices and that the bills constitutionality will be decided by the courts, TikTok said in a statement. We will continue to fight for TikTok users and creators in Montana whose livelihoods and First Amendment rights are threatened by this egregious government overreach.

Analysts said the chances of a U.S. ban on the app increased after CEO Shou Zi Chews appearance before a House hearing last March, given deep skepticism expressed by lawmakers  Republicans and Democrats alike  about his answers about Chinas influence over TikTok and the communist regimes ability to track user data via the app, as well as TikToks efforts to curb misinformation and harmful content. Chinas commerce ministry had said said it is firmly opposed to a forced sale of TikTok and that any such transaction would be subject to Chinese government approval.

A survey released last month by Pew Research Center found that 50% of American adults favor a U.S. government ban of TikTok, which claims to have more than 150 million U.S. monthly users. The survey of American adults, conducted between March 20-26, found that among people who actually use TikTok just 19% support a ban.

Donald Trump, in the final months of his presidency, attempted to enact a TikTok ban also over perceived national security threats posed by its Chinese ownership. Federal judges ruled that Trump overstepped his authority in ordering a ban on TikTok, finding the administrations hypothetical concerns about TikToks security risks unconvincing.

Best of Variety

Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.
Leading Home Maintenance, Repair, and Improvement Franchise Offers Homeowners Chance to Win Dream Deck Starting April 17, 2023

WACO, Texas, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Mr. Handyman, a Neighborly company and the nation's leading home maintenance, repair, and improvement franchise, has launched its first Worst Deck in America Contest, April 17-28, 2023, offering homeowners a chance to win a brand-new deck and landscape makeover. With more than 25 years of experience in repairing and replacing damaged decks, Mr. Handyman understands the importance of deck maintenance and safety. The Worst Deck in America Contest is an opportunity for homeowners with shabby and hazardous decks to get a much-needed deck makeover.

Mr. Handyman is North America's leading commercial and residential property maintenance, repair and improvement company. (PRNewsfoto/Mr. Handyman)

To enter the contest, starting today through April 28, 2023, participants can visit Mr. Handyman's Facebook page for contest rules and details. The winner will receive a new deck from Mr. Handyman and a landscape makeover from fellow Neighborly company The Grounds Guys, the local experts for lawn care and landscape services. The contest is open to all and easy to enter.

"Decks are a great place for outdoor relaxation and entertaining, but they require maintenance to remain safe and functional," said Jeff Palla, President of Mr. Handyman. "We're excited to kick off the contest to help homeowners improve their outdoor living spaces while promoting deck safety."

Mr. Handyman provides a range of home improvement services to make homeowners' lives easier. Experienced local professionals can help homeowners with their to-do list of small home improvement projects such as adding more storage, repairing or replacing damaged drywall, or installing doors, decks, mantels, and more in the home.

Mr. Handyman is part of the Neighborly family of home service brands, and all their work is guaranteed and backed by the Neighborly Done Right Promise. So, no job is done until the customer is completely satisfied.

For homeowners looking for additional home improvement inspiration, visit mrhandyman.com or contact your nearest Mr. Handyman location for assistance with your home maintenance, repair, and improvement needs.

Story continues

About Mr. Handyman

Mr. Handyman is North America's leading commercial and residential property maintenance, repair, and improvement company. With more than 300 locations throughout the U.S. and Canada, Mr. Handyman is recognized as one of the fastest growing, handyman service franchise systems. Acquired in 2015, Mr. Handyman is part of Neighborly, the world's largest home services company with more than 30 brands and 5,000 franchise businesses collectively serving 12 million+ customers in six countries, focused on repairing, maintaining, and enhancing homes and businesses. Neighborly brands are found at Neighborly.com or on the Neighborly App. For more information about Mr. Handyman, visit MrHandyman.com. To learn about franchising opportunities with Neighborly, click here.

Media Contact: Taylor Saltijeral, Fishman Public Relations, tsaltijeral@fishmanpr.com or 847-945-1300

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mr-handyman-launches-national-contest-to-find-worst-deck-in-america-301799000.html

SOURCE Mr. Handyman
how much do you have to make to file taxes

While taxes are inevitable for most Americans, the government doesnt require those with sufficiently low incomes to file. However, choosing not to file usually means forfeiting profitable tax breaks and other financial advantages. Plus, youll be penalized if it turns out you owe taxes or made too much to avoid filing. Individuals under age 65 must file taxes if they make a minimum of $12,950 in 2023 ($25,900 for joint filers under age 65). However, your status can affect your obligation to file. Heres what you need to know.

For help with your own tax situation, consider working with a financial advisor.

How Much Do You Have to Make to File Taxes?

Your income level and marital status determine if you must file taxes. As a result, its crucial to understand how tax regulations affect your individual circumstances. This table shows the tax requirements for every possible scenario for the 2022 tax year (filed by April 2023.) Remember, you can still file taxes if your income falls under the threshold for mandatory filing.

Income Threshold for Mandatory Filing Filing Status Age of Taxpayer at the End of 2022 Income Threshold for mandatory filing Single Under 65 $12,950 Single 65 and older $14,700 Head of household Under 65 $19,400 Head of household 65 and older $21,150 Married filing jointly Both spouses under 65 $25,900 Married filing jointly One spouse 65 or older $27,300 Married filing jointly Both spouses 65 or older $28,700 Married filing separately Any age $5 Qualifying surviving spouse Under 65 $25,900 Qualifying surviving spouse 65 or older $27,300

Filing Status Definitions

Its crucial when filing to understand what status you fall under. Knowing your status allows you to file correctly and receive the appropriate tax advantages. Heres how to tell your status:

Single

You have single filing status if youre unmarried or have legally ended your marriage. In addition, you have single status if you arent a surviving spouse or head of household (read on for descriptions of these, as they both provide more tax benefits than single status in most cases).

Story continues

Married Filing Jointly

If youre married or havent ended your marriage legally, you can file jointly or separately with your spouse. If your spouse passed away in 2022, you can file jointly, separately, or as a qualifying surviving spouse for that tax year. However, remarrying the same year your spouse passed away means youll file a separate return with your old spouse and a joint or separate return with your new spouse. On the other hand, if your spouse passed away more than two tax years ago, youll have single or head of household status if you havent remarried.

Married Filing Separately

You can also file separately if youre married. Filing jointly usually grants more tax deductions and credits. However, you may reap more advantages by filing separately if one or both spouses are self-employed or want to minimize their student loan payment amounts.

Head of Household

Unmarried filers have the head of household option if they pay over half their housing costs for the year and have a qualified dependent living with them (or pay for a dependent parents living expenses regardless of the parents home).

Qualifying Surviving Spouse

Those who became widows or widowers within the past two tax years can file as a surviving spouse. To qualify, you cant have remarried when filing. In addition, you must pay more than half your housing costs for the tax year and have a dependent son, stepson, daughter, or stepdaughter.

Married but Filing as Unmarried

Marriage tax situations can be complicated when couples separate but dont legally end their marriage. However, you can file unmarried for tax purposes even if you have a spouse. To do so, you must file a separate return and pay for more than half of your annual housing costs. In addition, you must have a dependent whose primary home was your house. Specifically, the dependent can be a biological child, stepchild, or foster child. Lastly, your spouse cant have lived in your home for the second half of the year.

If youre ready to be matched with local advisors that can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.

Factors that Impact Filing Requirements

how much do you have to make to file taxes

As a taxpayer, youll have various obligations depending on several elements in your individual circumstances, such as:

Gross Income

Your income is the primary determining factor in whether you must file taxes and how much you owe. The money you make from your job, side hustle, business, international transactions, and investments is subject to taxes. Generally, these income streams contribute to your ordinary income and capital gains tax brackets.

Filing Status and Threshold

As demonstrated above, your filing status influences the benchmark for when you must file taxes. For example, a married couple filing jointly can make more money than a single filer before needing to file.

Self-Employed versus Employee

Working for an employer means you file taxes once per year. Therefore, if your income is solely from wages your employer pays you, youll file annually in April. For example, W-2 workers have until April 18, 2023, to file this year. On the other hand, if you generate self-employment income of at least $400, you must pay estimated taxes each quarter or risk incurring financial penalties from the IRS. So, for 2023, your quarterly filing dates are April 18, June 15, and September 15 of 2023. The final quarterly filing date for 2023 is January 15, 2024.

Dependent Status

Regarding tax filing, a dependent relies on someone else for the majority of their financial support. However, being a dependent doesnt exempt you from filing taxes because dependents can receive income. For instance, a 17-year-old who lives with their parents might have dependent status but earn $13,000 of gross income by working part-time. In this case, their gross income requires them to file or have their parents file on their behalf.

In addition, a dependent with over $1,100 of unearned income (such as money from a trust) must file taxes.

Reasons to File Your Taxes Even if Youre Not Required to

If your tax status and income level dont require you to file taxes, filing is still a good idea. Generally, filing will put money in your pocket in this situation for a few following reasons.

First, your paychecks had federal income tax withheld. If you fall beneath the filing threshold, the government will return that money to you when you file.

Similarly, your quarterly tax payments as a self-employed worker will come back to you. If your income is under your filing threshold, the state and federal government will return the money to you when you file.

There are also numerous tax credits are available for filers with income under the required level, such as:

Earned income tax credit (EITC)

American opportunity tax credit

Child tax credit

Child and dependent care credit

Credit for federal tax paid on fuel

Credit for sick and family leave

Health coverage tax credit

Premium tax credit

Benefits of Filing Taxes

While your income and individual circumstances influence whether you must file taxes, filing regardless allows you to reap a host of advantages:

Maximize Your Refund

Filing taxes means youll get the highest possible refund. Therefore, its best to file regardless of your income level because youll see if you qualify for money back due to your individual circumstances, such as childcare costs or healthcare expenses.

Prevent Penalties

Not filing a tax return puts you at risk of incurring penalties and interest on unpaid taxes if your income is above the threshold. Remember, underestimating your income by a few dollars can be the difference between filing being optional and mandatory. For example, a 65-year-old who thinks their income is $14,695 (and therefore under the filing threshold) while its actually $14,705 will owe taxes. In addition, finding out too late means they will owe additional fees for filing after the deadline (April 18, 2023).

Access Governmental Assistance

Applying for financial aid from the government requires your filing status to be up to date. For example, if you want student loans, you must fill out the Free Application for Student Aid (FASFA) form, which requires information from your most recent tax return.

Increase Social Security

The government bases your Social Security benefit on your reported income. Therefore, filing taxes annually will help increase your Social Security check when you retire.

Acquire Loans

Banks and credit unions provide loans to borrowers with sufficient income. These financial institutions look at past tax returns to determine your eligibility, so filing taxes means you can apply for a mortgage or personal loan from your bank.

Peace of Mind

There is no penalty for filing taxes, but failing to file may incur financial penalties and disadvantages. Therefore, filing can only help you: youll preempt taxes you werent aware of, and youll receive the tax credits for which you were eligible.

How to File Your Taxes

how much do you have to make to file taxes

The federal tax code is complex, and getting your information to the IRS in time can be challenging. Fortunately, you have numerous ways to file taxes for free:

Get In-Person Tax Help

The IRS offers tax preparation through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA), Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE), and AARP Foundation Tax-Aide programs. These services are free for those with disabilities. In addition, if your income is $60,000 or lower, youre 60 or above, or you struggle with understanding English, you can access them at no cost.

If you dont qualify for free assistance, you can visit a tax preparation business to sit down with a professional and file your taxes.

File Online with Professional Help

IRS-certified volunteers can help you file on myfreetaxes.com if your income is $73,000 or less. In addition, you can get help from VITA online at getyourrefund.org if your income is $66,000 or less.

File Yourself Online or Physically

If youre confident in your tax knowledge, you can file for free through the IRS Free File online tool or print out the forms to fill out physically, regardless of your income level. Remember, you can get free help with filing if you have an income of $73,000 or less.

Use Military Service Benefits

Miltax is a free tax preparation service for those in the military, National Guard, and Coast Guard. In addition, qualifying family members can use the service, as can certain civilian employees of the Defense Department.

Tax Filing Tips

NOTE TO MIKE: I wasnt sure if this section was needed, but since the article is aimed at people who might be a bit less financially literate than our average reader, I left it in. If you disagree, go ahead and cut)

Filing taxes might not be your favorite annual occurrence, but you can make the most of it with an informed approach. Heres how to minimize stress and maximize your return when filing:

Keep Tabs on Tax Information

Remaining organized throughout the year will streamline the filing process. So, keep all tax-related documents in one place, such as:

Identification (such as a Social Security card) for yourself and your dependents

Your bank account and routing numbers if you want to receive your refund by direct deposit

Your most recent W-2s and pay stubs

Business documents

Estimated quarterly tax payment records

Documents for your rental properties

Retirement income forms, like a 1099-R from your IRA

1099 forms from other income sources, such as a savings account or stock transaction

Your state and income tax returns from the previous year

Weigh Tax Documents Against Your Expectations

Your tax documents should arrive by the first week or two of February. You can review them to see your annual income, federal tax withholdings, student loan and mortgage interest paid, and more. These numbers will likely reflect last years financial and tax circumstances and provide continuity when you file. However, a significant life change, such as a job change or the birth of a child, can mean submitting new information when you file.

Assess Your Needs

On that note, life changes and circumstances dictate your tax situations complexity. For instance, profiting from the sale of stock means youll owe capital gains taxes. Or, buying a home can lead to increased tax breaks. If the details are overwhelming, its best to seek professional help to file. Or, if you have a simple tax situation that hasnt changed since last year, you may feel comfortable filing on your own.

Remember, errors on your tax return can hurt you in two ways: first, you may leave money on the table by failing to claim the deductions and credits you qualify for. Second, you might make a mistake calculating your owed taxes, leading to penalties from the IRS for underpaying.

Determine Your Status

Usually, you can file in multiple ways, so the question remains each year of which status can provide the most financial benefit. For instance, married couples can choose between joint or separate filing. While filing jointly is usually better, thats not always the case. For instance, paying expensive COBRA premiums throughout the year can lead to a hefty deduction for a spouse filing separately. Fortunately, tax preparation volunteers and professionals can help identify your optimal status.

Hunt Down Deductions and Credits

Deductions are the primary way to reduce your taxable income. Therefore, taking as many as possible will minimize your tax burden. For example, you can deduct student loan interest, charitable giving, municipal sales taxes, jury duty expenses, and more.

Tax credits are even better than deductions because they can put money in your pocket even if your tax burden is $0. For instance, popular tax credits include the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child and Dependent Care Credit. However, dont hesitate to explore obscure credits, such as the Residential Clean Energy Credit for installing solar panels.

Put Money into Your IRA and HSA

Your traditional IRA contributions can lower your income taxes. Fortunately, if you forgot to deposit money throughout the year or realize you could have contributed more, you have recourse. Before the filing deadline (usually April 15), you can maximize contributions to a new or existing IRA. For the 2022 tax year, the maximum IRA contribution is $6,000 or $7,000 if youre 50 or older. Regulations for the 2023 tax year increase this amount to $6,500 and $7,500.

Similarly, you can deposit funds into your HSA retroactively. However, your health insurance plan must meet IRS standards for deductible and out-of-pocket costs. In addition, you cant open an HSA if you have Medicare or a plan without deductibles or co-pays. Lastly, youre disqualified if someone else claims you as a dependent.

Be Calendar-Conscious

Working the timetables can improve your tax situation. Generally, youll want to perform transactions or incur expenses before the end of the tax year to do so. For example, having a costly surgery before the years end can create a medical expense deduction. Likewise, paying your January mortgage payment before December 31 of the previous year will maximize your mortgage interest deduction.

The Bottom Line

Filing taxes is a necessity for most Americans. However, if your income is beneath the filing threshold for your status, its best to file taxes nonetheless. Youll receive tax credits, accumulate Social Security benefits, and eliminate the possibility of unpaid taxes creating financial penalties. As a result, its crucial to keep accurate records during the year and work with a tax professional to determine your ideal tax filing status.

Tips for Assessing Tax Status by Income

Taxes are difficult to figure out, regardless of your income level. Fortunately, help from a professional is available. Finding a financial advisor doesnt have to be hard. SmartAssets free tool matches you with up to three vetted financial advisors who serve your area, and you can interview your advisor matches at no cost to decide which one is right for you. If youre ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.

Tax credits are lovely because they pay out even if you dont owe taxes, unlike deductions. To ensure you get every credit possible, heres a guide to this years tax credits.

Photo credit: iStock.com/Delmaine Donson, iStock.com/Khanchit Khirisutchalual, iStock.com/Milan_Jovic

The post How Much Do You Have to Make to File Taxes? appeared first on SmartAsset Blog.
Market.Us

The growing demand for biopharmaceuticals is driving the need for mycoplasma testing, as mycoplasma contamination can pose a significant risk to their production.

New York, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to Market.us, The Global Mycoplasma Testing market generated a valued of US$ 766.63 million in 2022 and is estimated to reach US$ 2338 million in 2032, witnessing a CAGR of 12.11% from 2023 to 2032. The bacterium known as mycoplasma is distinguished by its diminutive size and absence of a cell wall. Pneumonia, bronchitis, urinary tract infections, and sexually transmitted infections are just a few of the many infections that mycoplasma species can infect humans and animals. Mycoplasma bacteria are sometimes referred to as "minimal bacteria" or "cell wall-deficient bacteria" due to the distinctive properties they possess. Mycoplasma testing services are also in high demand as a result of the corona virus pandemic and the detection of Mycoplasma Pneumoniae in SARS-CoV-2 patients.

Global Mycoplasma Testing market growth

Market.us has identified key trends, drivers, and challenges in the market, which will help clients improve their strategies to stay ahead of their competitors. - View a sample report @ https://market.us/report/mycoplasma-testing-market/request-sample/

Key Takeaway:

By product , in 2022, the Mycoplasma Testing market was dominated by the kit & reagents segment due to its developing accessibility of robotized hardware.

By technique , The PCR segment dominated the mycoplasma testing market and is projected to grow at the fastest rate, in 2022.

By end-user , the pharmaceutical and biotechnology segment dominated the largest market share in end-user type analysis

In 2022, North America dominated the market with the highest revenue share of 40.7%.

APAC is anticipated to have the highest CAGR among all the regions.

APAC is expected to grow at a greater pace owing to affordable prices, increasing medical tourism, as well as hospitals and clinics, among other factors.

Story continues

Factors affecting the growth of the Mycoplasma Testing industry?

There are several factors that can affect the growth of the mycoplasma testing industry, including:

Increasing demand for biopharmaceuticals : As the demand for biopharmaceuticals continues to grow, so too does the need for mycoplasma testing. Biopharmaceuticals are produced using living organisms, and mycoplasma contamination can be a significant risk factor in their production.

Stringent regulatory requirements: Regulatory agencies such as the FDA and EMA require mycoplasma testing for certain types of biopharmaceuticals. Compliance with these regulations is necessary for companies to market and sell their products, which can drive demand for mycoplasma testing services.

Technological advancements: Advances in mycoplasma testing technology have made testing faster, more accurate, and less expensive. These technological advancements have made mycoplasma testing more accessible and may increase the demand for these services.

Increasing awareness about mycoplasma contamination: The biopharmaceutical industry is becoming increasingly aware of the risks associated with mycoplasma contamination. This awareness may lead to more companies seeking mycoplasma testing services to mitigate these risks.

To understand how Mycoplasma Testing market report can bring a difference to your business strategy, Inquire about a brochure at https://market.us/report/mycoplasma-testing-market/#inquiry

Market Growth

Biopharmaceuticals are drugs produced using living cells or organisms, and mycoplasma contamination can be a significant risk factor in their production. As the demand for biopharmaceuticals continues to increase, so too may the demand for mycoplasma testing and removal services. Regulatory agencies such as the FDA and EMA require mycoplasma testing for certain types of biopharmaceuticals. Compliance with these regulations is necessary for companies to market and sell their products, which can drive demand for mycoplasma testing and removal services. Advances in mycoplasma testing and removal technology have made these services faster, more accurate, and more effective. These technological advancements have made mycoplasma testing and removal more accessible and may increase demand for these services. The biopharmaceutical industry is becoming increasingly aware of the risks associated with mycoplasma contamination. This awareness may lead to more companies seeking mycoplasma testing and removal services to mitigate these risks.

Regional Analysis

The North American market for Mycoplasma is expected to be the most lucrative, both in terms of revenue and market share, during the period 2022-2032. Mycoplasma testing products & services are in huge requirement all over the world, contributing to the expanding market for the product. In 2022, North America held a 40.7% income share, overwhelming the market. North America will likely continue to lead the projection period owing to its increased R&D spending and widespread adoption of technologies. Mycoplasma testing is in huge demand in Europe, which is the second-largest market for this service owing to the expansion of the biopharmaceutical industry.

To know about the regional trends and drivers that will have an impact on the market - Request a sample report!

Scope of the Report

Report Attribute Details Market Value (2022) USD 767 Million Market Size (2032) USD 2338 Million CAGR (from 2022 to 2032) 12.11% North America Revenue Share 40.7% Historic Period 2016 to 2022 Base Year 2022 Forecast Year 2023 to 2032

Market Drivers

The use of highly effective mycoplasma testing technology will surely rise as research expenses rise and major companies raise their R&D expenditures. Biologics, for instance, will make up seven of the top 10 most prescribed drugs by the middle of 2020. This shows the expansion of the worldwide biologics market. Many medicinal and therapeutic biologic products, such as monoclonal antibodies, viral vaccines, and cytokines, must be produced using cell lines. Mycoplasma testing is seeing growth as a consequence of clever initiatives and significant investments made by market players.

Market Restraints

Mycoplasma contamination in cell cultures and the significance of mycoplasma tests are still not well known. Many scientists do not understand the importance of routine testing or the negative effects of not testing their samples, which can produce erroneous findings and unreliable experiments. Testing for mycoplasma can be costly, especially for university institutions and small research labs with tight resources. The current mycoplasma testing procedures can be time-consuming and have sensitivity and specificity restrictions.

Market Opportunities

Mycoplasma testing may become more sensitive and specific, as well as more reliable and precise, with the advent of new technologies like digital PCR and CRISPR-based assays. Companies now have the chance to provide inexpensive, straightforward testing kits for usage internally. Mycoplasma testing in the production of biologics must adhere to tight guidelines set by regulatory organisations like the FDA and EMA.

Immediate Delivery Available | Buy This Premium Research Report@ https://market.us/purchase-report/?report_id=99656

Report Segmentation of the Mycoplasma Testing Market

Product Insight

The market is further segmented by product analysis as Instruments, Kits & Reagents, or Services. With a predicted CAGR of 12.11 percent and a market share of 55.6% in 2022, the kit and reagents sector was the market leader. The availability of run by robots hardware for the such location of mycoplasma is growing, hence it is expected that instruments will experience major development during the forecasted period.

Technique Insight

The market is divided into PCR, Direct Assay, Indirect Assay, ELISA, Enzymatic Approaches, and Microbial Culture Techniques according to technology. The PCR category dominated the mycoplasma testing market in 2022 with a revenue share of 36.1%, and it is anticipated to expand at the fastest rate. This technique allows for the identification of different mycoplasma species and the separation of contaminating DNA. Because ELISA technology makes it easier to identify mycoplasma using labelled probes or antibodies, it is predicted to hit the market during the forecast period.

End User Insight

Academic research institutes, contract research, cell banks, organizations, pharmaceutical & biotechnology firms, hospitals & surgical centres, clinics, and community healthcare, among others, are the different end-user categories in the market. With the biggest revenue share of 36.8 among these end users, the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sector is anticipated to be the most lucrative one in the worldwide mycoplasma testing market. Because these companies are now offering a wider range of research services, it is projected that contract research organisations (CROs) would grow financially throughout the foreseeable future. Mycoplasma tests are necessary to ensure the calibre of the contracted testing services and the sterility of the cultures used in preclinical and biopharmaceutical research.

If you want to get a better understanding of the report, you can access a PDF sample, which includes the complete table of contents, list of exhibits, selected illustrations, and example pages @ https://market.us/report/mycoplasma-testing-market/request-sample/

Market Segmentation

Based On Products

Instruments

Kits & Reagents

Services

Based On Technique

PCR

ELISA

Direct Assay

Indirect Assay

Microbial Culture Techniques

Enzymatic Methods

DNA Staining

Based On Testing Type

By Testing Type

Cell Line Testing

Virus Testing

End of Production Cells Testing

Others

Based On End User

Academic Research Institutes

Cell Banks

Contract Research Organizations

Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Companies

Hospitals and surgical centers

Clinics

Community Healthcare

Others

By Geography

North America

The US Canada Mexico



Western Europe

Germany France The UK Spain Italy Portugal Ireland Austria Switzerland Benelux Nordic Rest of Western Europe



Eastern Europe

Russia Poland The Czech Republic Greece Rest of Eastern Europe

APAC China Japan South Korea India Australia & New Zealand Indonesia Malaysia Philippines Singapore Thailand Vietnam Rest of APAC



Latin America

Brazil Colombia Chile Argentina Costa Rica Rest of Latin America



Middle East & Africa

Algeria Egypt Israel Kuwait Nigeria Saudi Arabia South Africa Turkey United Arab Emirates Rest of MEA



Competitive Landscape

Leading company Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. provides a variety of products and services for mycoplasma identification, including PCR-based tests, ELISA kits, & culture-based approaches. The mycoplasma testing market also features Roche Diagnostics, GenBio, Bio-Rad Laboratories, & InvivoGen as major participants. To improve their market positions and broaden their product offerings, these firms are making investments in R&D projects, strategic alliances, and acquisitions.

Some of the major players include:

Agilent Technologies

American Type Culture Collection

Asahi Kasei Medical Co. Ltd.

Biological Industries

Bionique Testing Laboratories Inc.

Biotools B & M Labs.

Charles River Laboratories International Inc.,

Clongen Laboratories Inc

Creative Bioarray

Eurofins Scientific

GenBio,GeneCopoeia Inc

Lonza Group Ltd.

Merck KGaA

Meridian Bioscience Inc.

Minerva Biolabs GmbH

Mycoplasma Experience

Nelson Laboratories Fairfield Inc.

NorgenBiotek Corp.

PromoCell GmbH

Roche Diagnostics

Sartorius AG

Savyon Diagnostics

ScienCell Research Laboratories Inc.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

Other Key Players

Recent Development of the Mycoplasma Testing Market

In June 2021, the Milliflex Quantum, a highly sensitive & automated test that identifies and quantifies mycoplasma within biopharmaceutical raw materials and products has been introduced by Merck.

In July 2021, with the launch of a new MycoSEQ(R) Mycoplasma Detection Test that is highly sensitive and specific and can produce quick results, Lonza announced the extension of its mycoplasma testing services for gene and cell therapies.

Browse More Related Reports:

Bleeding Disorder Testing Market size is expected to be worth around USD 16.3 Bn by 2032 from USD 6.8 Bn in 2022, growing at a CAGR of 9.4%

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Testing Market size is expected to be worth around USD 13.9 Bn by 2032 from USD 4.6 Bn in 2022, growing at a CAGR of 4.3%

ADME Toxicology Testing Market size is expected to be worth around USD 20,394.8 million by 2032 from USD 6,685 million in 2022.

Healthcare Analytical Testing Services Market Overview The healthcare global market for Analytical Testing Services was valued at USD 12.524 Billion in 2021.

Clinical Biomarker Testing Market is projected to reach a valuation of USD 1,30,293.84 Mn by 2032 at a CAGR of 20.8%.

About Us:

Market.US (Powered by Prudour Pvt Ltd) specializes in in-depth market research and analysis and has been proving its mettle as a consulting and customized market research company, apart from being a much sought-after syndicated market research report-providing firm. Market.US provides customization to suit any specific or unique requirement and tailor-makes reports as per request. We go beyond boundaries to take analytics, analysis, study, and outlook to newer heights and broader horizons.

Follow Us on LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter

Our Blog:

CONTACT: Global Business Development Team  Market.us Market.us (Powered By Prudour Pvt. Ltd.) Email: inquiry@market.us Address: 420 Lexington Avenue, Suite 300, New York City, NY 10170, United States Tel: +1 718 618 4351 Website: https://market.us




HUNTSVILLE, Ala., April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- For the first time since 2019, NASA's Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC) returns to in-person competition Friday, April 21, and Saturday, April 22, at the Aviation Challenge camp of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, near NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

NASA Logo. (PRNewsFoto/NASA) (PRNewsFoto/) (PRNewsfoto/NASA)

Media, the public, and families are invited to attend this free event from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. CDT both days, or until the last rover completes the course.

More than 500 students from around the world will attempt to drive human-powered rovers across a half-mile-long obstacle course designed to simulate the geographical terrain of the Moon, Mars, and other distant bodies.

HERC will host 48 teams from 16 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, as well as the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, India, Mexico, Peru, and Singapore.

To conclude the 2023 season and to recognize all students, NASA will host an in-person awards ceremony Saturday, April 22, at 5 p.m. in the National Geographic Theater of the Davidson Center for Space Exploration at the USSRC.

Media interested in attending or setting up interviews should contact Christopher Blair in the Marshall Office of Communications at 256-544-0034 or at christopher.e.blair@nasa.gov, or Pat Ammons with the USSRC at 256-721-5429; no later than 2 p.m. Thursday, April 20.

The two-day competition and awards ceremony will stream live on NASA's

Marshall YouTube page and NASA's HERC Facebook page.

About the Challenge

Celebrating its 29th year, HERC tasks students from around the world to design, build, and test lightweight, human-powered rovers on a complex obstacle course. In addition, students must also complete mission-focused science tasks, and submit detailed reports capable of passing critical design and safety reviews by NASA engineers.

Marshall hosts HERC with management support provided by NASA's Office of STEM Engagement - Southeast Region. HERC is one of NASA's eight Artemis Student Challenges - a variety of activities providing students access to the knowledge and technology required to achieve the goals of the Artemis Program . Through Artemis, NASA seeks to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon, establish long-term lunar science and exploration capabilities, and inspire the next generation of explorers - The Artemis Generation.

Story continues

To learn more about HERC, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/roverchallenge/home/index.html

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nasa-welcomes-the-return-of-its-human-exploration-rover-challenge-301799068.html

SOURCE NASA
Netflix (NFLX) reported mixed first-quarter results on Tuesday, missing Wall Street subscriber estimates while beating analyst expectations on earnings per share.

The stock, which initially fell as much as 12% after the release, saw shares pare losses as investors digested the report  the first since co-CEO and co-founder Reed Hastings stepped down from his leading role at the company.

Here are Netflix's first-quarter results compared to Wall Street's consensus estimates, as compiled by Bloomberg:

Revenue: $8.16 billion versus $8.18 billion expected

Earnings per share (EPS): $2.88 versus $2.86 expected

Subscribers: 1.75 million versus 2.3 million net additions expected

Earnings and revenue projections disappointed after Netflix revealed it anticipates earning $2.84 per share on $8.24 billion in the second quarter, below Wall Street forecasts for earnings of $3.05 per share on $8.5 billion in revenue.

Profitability, margins and free cash flow surpassed expectations as the streamer cut its content spend by $1 billion in the quarter compared to the same period last year.

The company, which raised its full-year free cash flow projection to $3.5 billion from $3 billion, said it will stay around its $17 billion annual content spend through 2024 but added there's more room to grow.

"As we reaccelerate revenue, we see a lot of opportunity to grow into that viewing, engagement, and business opportunity ahead," Netflix CFO Spencer Neumann said on the earnings call.

The results come as investors eagerly await updates regarding the company's recently-launched ad-supported tier, in addition to its controversial crackdown on password sharing.

Netflix, which broadened its crackdown to include countries like Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, and Spain, in addition to the test countries of Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru, revealed it's planning "a broad rollout" of the policy this quarter that will include the US.

Story continues

"While we could have launched [paid account sharing] broadly in Q1, we found opportunities to improve the experience for members. We learn more with each rollout and weve incorporated the latest learnings, which we think will lead to even better results," the company wrote in the release, adding it's "pleased with the results" so far despite near-term churn seen in Latin American markets.

Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos poses at the premiere of the Netflix series "Beef," Thursday, March 30, 2023, at the Tudum Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Netflix also revealed more insights into its ad-supported tier, telling shareholders in the release: "While it's still very early days, we continue to be pleased with our progress across all key dimensions: member experience, value to advertisers and incremental contribution to our business. Engagement on our ads tier is above our initial expectations and, as expected, weve seen very little switching from our standard and premium plans

The ad plan, dubbed "Basic with Ads," comes at a cost of $6.99 a month in the US and serves as a complement to Netflix's existing ad-free tiers  the Standard plan ($15.49 a month) and the Basic plan ($9.99 a month.)

The company, which said the ad tier now has about 95% of the same content as ad-free plans due to new licensing deals, added, "Given current healthy performance and trajectory of our per-member advertising economics, particularly in the U.S., were upgrading our ads experience with more streams and improved video quality to attract a broader range of consumers."

Prior to the earnings results, the company revealed it would be is shuttering its 25-year DVD rental division, explaining its been hard to provide the best service as the business "continues to shrink."

Alexandra Canal is a Senior Reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @alliecanal8193 and email her at alexandra.canal@yahoofinance.com

Click here for the latest stock market news and in-depth analysis, including events that move stocks

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
832,900 doses of Covid-19 vaccine allocated for booster shots

Around 832,900 doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine have been allocated to localities across the country as booster shots for people aged 18, according to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE).



The vaccine batch with expiry dates of July 9 and July 11 has been given to 63 cities and provinces nationwide, the NIHE under the Ministry of Health said.





Around 832,900 doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine have been allocated to localities across in Vietnam as booster shots for people aged 18



The Ministry of Health has asked localities to use the vaccine effectively.



So far, roughly 266 million doses have been used. Of these, 51.6 million people aged 18 and over have received a third dose. But there are significant disparities between cities and provinces as many localities have recorded booster coverage rates below 80 percent.



Vietnam is witnessing a reoccurrence of Covid-19 cases and over the past week, the country recorded 3,325 Covid-19 patients, marking the highest week of Covid-19 infection since early this year.



Vietnam has reported no deaths due to Covid-19 for over three months.

.
There is an increase in the trade of stolen ChatGPT Premium accounts, which enable cyber criminals to get around OpenAIs geofencing restrictions and get unlimited access to ChatGPT, warns Check Point Research (CPR).

The market of account takeovers (ATOs), stolen accounts to different online services, is one of the most flourishing markets in the hacking underground and in the dark web. Traditionally this markets focus was on stolen financial services accounts (banks, online payment systems, etc.), social media, online dating websites, emails, and more.

According to Sergey Shykevich, Threat Intelligence Group Manager at CPR: AI is a powerful tool. At Check Point Software, we use AI in our ThreatCloud to detect and block cyber-attacks in real time. Unfortunately, cyber criminals are also early adopters of AI. Since December, CPR has warned that ChatGPT has also implications for cybersecurity. Now, we are also seeing a growing marketplace for stolen ChatGPT premium accounts on the dark web  which has potential major implications for personal and corporate privacy.

Focus on premium accounts

Since March 2023, CPR sees an increase in discussion and trade of stolen ChatGPT accounts, with a focus on Premium accounts:

*Leak and free publication of credentials to ChatGPT accounts

*Trade of premium ChatGPT accounts that were stolen

*Bruteforcing and Checkers tools for ChatGPT  tools that allow cybercriminals to hack into ChatGPT accounts by running huge lists of email addresses and passwords, trying to guess the right combination to access existing accounts.

*ChatGPT Accounts as a Service  dedicated service that offers opening ChatGPT premium accounts, most likely using stolen payment cards.

Why is the market of stolen ChatGPT account on rise and what are the main concerns?

ChatGPT imposes geofencing restrictions on accessing its platform from certain countries (including Russia, China and Iran). Recently CPR highlighted that utilising the ChatGPT API allows cybercriminals to bypass different restrictions, as well as use of ChatGPTs premium account.

Stolen ChatGPT accounts

All this leads to an increasing demand for stolen ChatGPT accounts, especially paid premium accounts. In the dark web underground, where there is a demand  there are smart cybercriminals ready to take advantage of the business opportunity.

Meanwhile, during the last few weeks there have been discussions on ChatGPTs privacy issues, with Italy banning ChatGPT and Germany considering banning it as well. We highlight another potential privacy risk of this platform. ChatGPT accounts store the recent queries of the accounts owner.

So, when cybercriminals steal existing accounts, they gain access to the queries from the accounts original owner. This can include in personal information, details about corporate products and processes, and more.

Trade of stolen accounts of ChatGPT

Cybercriminals often exploit the fact that users recycle the same password across multiple platforms. Using this knowledge, malicious actors load sets of combinations of emails and passwords into a dedicated software (also known as an account checker) and execute an attack against a specific online platform to identify the sets of credentials that match the login to the platform.

A final account takeover occurs when a malicious actor takes control of an account without the authorisation of the account holder.

During the last month, CPR observed an increase in the chatter in underground forums related to leaking or selling compromised ChatGPT premium accounts:

Mostly those stolen accounts are being sold, but some of the actors also share stolen ChatGPT premium accounts for free, to advertise their own services or tools to steal the accounts. In the following example, a cybercriminal shared four stolen premium ChatGPT accounts. The way those accounts were shared and the structure of it, led CPR to conclude that those were stolen using a ChatGPT account checker.

Tools to Hack into ChatGPT Accounts

SilverBullet is a web testing suite that allows users to perform requests towards a target web application. It offers a lot of tools to work with the results. This software can be used for scraping and parsing data, automated pen testing, unit testing through selenium and much more.

This tool is also frequently used by cybercriminals to conduct credential stuffing and account checking attacks against different websites, and thus steal accounts for online platforms.

As SilverBullet is a configurable suite, to do a checking or bruteforcing attack against a certain website requires a configuration file that adjusts this process for a specific website and allows cybercriminals to steal account of this website in an automated way.

In the specific case, CPR identified cybercriminals offering a configuration file for SilverBullet that allows checking a set of credentials for OpenAIs platform in an automated way. This enables them to steal accounts on scale.

The process is fully automated and can initiate between 50 to 200 checks per minute (CPM). Also, it supports proxy implementation which in many cases allows it to bypass different protections on the websites against such attacks.

Another cybercriminal who focuses only on abuse and fraud against ChatGPT products, even named himself gpt4. In his threads, he offers for sale not only ChatGPT accounts but also a configuration for another automated tool that checks a credentials validity.

ChatGPT Plus Lifetime Upgrade Service

On March 20th, an English-speaking cybercriminal started advertising a ChatGPT Plus lifetime account service, with 100% satisfaction guaranteed.

The lifetime upgrade of regular ChatGPT Plus account (opened via email provided by the buyer) costs $59.99 (while OpenAIs original legitimate pricing of this services is $20 per month). However, to reduce the costs, this underground service also offers an option to share access to ChatGPT account with another cybercriminal for $24.99, for a lifetime.

A number of underground users have already left positive feedback for this service, and have vouched for it.

Like in other illicit cases, when the threat actor provides some services for a pricing that is significantly lower the original legitimate one (for another example see our blog on underground travel tickets services) we asses that the payment for the upgrade is done using previously compromised payment cards.-- TradeArabia News Service
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- NeuroSense Therapeutics Ltd. (Nasdaq: NRSN) ("NeuroSense"), a company developing treatments for severe neurodegenerative diseases, today provided an update from its CEO, Alon Ben-Noon, on the Company's clinical and operational developments during the first quarter of 2023.

NeuroSense Therapeutics Logo

Phase 2b Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) PARADIGM Trial Achieves 80% Patient Enrollment

Phase 2b double-blind, placebo-controlled, multinational clinical trial to assess PrimeC's efficacy, as well as safety and tolerability in people living with ALS

Enrollment on track to be completed H1 2023

Topline results expected H2 2023

Phase 2 Alzheimer's Disease (AD) Trial Under Preparation

Biomarker study revealed elevated levels of novel biomarker TDP-43 in AD as compared to healthy controls

Results demonstrate therapeutic potential of NeuroSense's combination drug platform for AD

Platform has shown a statistically significant reduction of TDP-43 in a prior Phase 2a clinical trial biomarker study in ALS

Phase 2 double-blind proof-of-concept clinical study is now under preparation, with regulatory submissions and site readiness during Q2 2023 and first patient enrolled expected Q3 2023

NeuroSense to collaborate with QuantalX, using direct electrophysiology imaging technology (Delphi-MD) to provide multiple clinically objective and accurate measurements in the Phase 2 AD study

Parkinson's Disease (PD) Biomarker Study Completed

Biomarker study evaluating levels of key biomarkers in PD as compared to healthy controls is completed and data are now being evaluated

Results expected by the first week of May

Collaboration Agreement with Massachusetts General Hospital's NeuroEpigenetics Lab

In-vitro studies to test the effects of PrimeC on key pathways involved in ALS, including autophagy defects, mitochondrial dysfunction, and oxidative stress

Utilizing a novel in-vitro model generated from post-mortem ALS brain tissue (synaptoneurosomes (SNs) system)

Story continues

"In a move that we believe significantly enhances the value of our combination drug platform, during the first quarter we established preclinical proof of concept in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and are preparing a Phase 2 study to commence this year. We are also well on our way to completing patient enrollment in our Phase 2b ALS study and reiterate our timeline to report topline results from the PARADIGM study in H2 2023," stated Alon Ben-Noon. "In addition to presenting at scientific conferences, we continue to form collaborations with leading institutions and innovative companies to advance the science of biomarkers in the diagnosis and treatment of neurological diseases."

About NeuroSense

NeuroSense Therapeutics, Ltd. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing treatments for patients suffering from debilitating neurodegenerative diseases. NeuroSense believes that these diseases, which include amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, among others, represent one of the most significant unmet medical needs of our time, with limited effective therapeutic options available for patients to date. Due to the complexity of neurodegenerative diseases and based on strong scientific research on a large panel of related biomarkers, NeuroSense's strategy is to develop combined therapies targeting multiple pathways associated with these diseases.

For additional information, we invite you to visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" that are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release may be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "believe," "contemplate," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "seek," "may," "might," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "target," "aim," "should," "will" "would," or the negative of these words or other similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Forward-looking statements are based on NeuroSense Therapeutics' current expectations and are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and assumptions that are difficult to predict and include statements regarding the timing of preclinical and clinical data for PrimeC and the timing of enrollment for clinical trials. Further, certain forward-looking statements are based on assumptions as to future events that may not prove to be accurate. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including a delay in the reporting of top-line results from our ALS Phase 2b clinical trial and the results of Parkinson's Disease (PD) Biomarker Study, a delay in commencement of our Phase 2 study in Alzheimer's and a delay in other clinical and regulatory milestones. The future events and trends may not occur and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward looking statements. You should not rely on these statements as representing our views in the future. More information about the risks and uncertainties affecting the Company is contained under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 22, 2023. Forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are made as of this date, and NeuroSense Therapeutics Ltd. undertakes no duty to update such information except as required under applicable law.

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1707291/NeuroSense_Therapeutics_Logo.jpg

Cision

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/neurosense-ceo-provides-q1-2023-update-phase-2b-als-trial-achieves-80-enrollment-301798875.html

SOURCE NeuroSense
CannGen Insurance Services, LLC

CannGen Canada Gains International Synergy With Established CannGen Brand





TORONTO, Ontario , April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NewMediaWire  CannGen Canada Insurance Services (CannGen Canada'' or the Company), the premier insurance provider writing comprehensive seed to sale insurance protection policies in the cannabis, CBD and hemp industries, announced today a Company name change and new growth strategies. Since 2018, CannGen Canada was previously Next Wave Insurance Canada, and will offer the same coverage options for clients in the cannabis industry under the new corporate name, which has international recognition for insurance excellence.

Based in Toronto, ON, Next Wave Insurance Canada (NWIC) is a subsidiary of Diversified Risk Holdings, LLC (DRH). NWIC was launched to provide insurance solutions to the cannabis, CBD and hemp industries in Canada. DRH is a holding company that also owns CannGen Insurance Services, LLC (CannGen). With origins dating back to 2008 in California, CannGen is the first and largest Managing General Underwriter exclusively focused on offering an all lines solution to medicinal and recreational cannabis operations in all legal U.S. states. The name change from NWIC to CannGen Canada represents synergy among the CannGen brands internationally, including the United States and European Union.

CannGen Canada writes the following lines:

Property

Boiler and Machinery

Crime

General Liability

Products Liability

Product Recall

Directors & Officers Liability

Errors & Omissions Liability

Our team has established ourselves to be the Canadian insurance partner of choice for all legal cannabis companies by providing valuable asset protection to business owners through best-in-class coverage offering, said Kelli Hunt, Senior Vice President of CannGen Canada. We cover all parts of the supply chain from seed to sale for Licensed Health Canada, or provincial, Licensed Producers, Wholesale, Extractors, Retailers, Building Owners and Ancillary services to the cannabis industry. We look forward to continuing to provide these award-winning services under our new name, CannGen Canada.

Story continues

About CannGen Insurance Canada



CannGen Canada was launched in 2018 to provide insurance solutions to the cannabis, CBD and hemp industries in Canada. CannGen writes the following lines: Property, Boiler and Machinery, Crime, General Liability, Products Liability, Product Recall, Directors and Officers Liability and Errors and Omissions Liability. With origins dating back to 2008 in California, CannGen is the first and largest Managing General Underwriter exclusively focused on offering an all lines solution to medicinal and recreational cannabis operations in all legalized states. CannGen teams have over 15 years of experience writing accounts in the cannabis industry and have participated in the creation of the first cannabis insurance policies.



MEDIA CONTACT:

Beth Adan

CMW Media

Beth@cmwmedia.com

www.cmwmedia.com




Stellar Cyber's Open XDR Platform Ensures Customers Protect Their Investments

MANILA, Philippines, April 17, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NEXTGEN Group Philippines today announced a strategic partnership with Stellar Cyber, an innovator of Open XDR.

The Philippines is home to a growing number of businesses that are increasingly vulnerable to cyber-attacks. In response to this growing threat, NEXTGEN Group has partnered with Stellar Cyber to offer a suite of cybersecurity solutions that will sit alongside NEXTGENs diverse and complementary best-of-breed vendor portfolio leveraging their Open XDR platform.

"Partnering with Stellar Cyber allows us to provide our channel partners with a cybersecurity solution that combines the best technologies with expertise, capability and an advanced channel services model from NEXTGEN," said Jenny Diamzon, Managing Director, Cyber Security and Data Resiliency, NEXTGEN Philippines. "Stellar Cyber will be supported by our go-to-market teams and our in-house cybersecurity professionals and proprietary CyberLab platform. We are confident that this collaboration will allow us to help our partners and customers navigate the challenges they face with ransomware and cyber-attacks."

Stellar Cyber's Open XDR platform combines multiple security technologies into a single, unified platform, providing organizations with a complete view of their security posture. With advanced threat detection and response capabilities, the platform helps organizations stay ahead of the curve and proactively defend against cyber-attacks.

"We are excited to partner with NEXTGEN Group to bring our advanced cybersecurity solutions to the Philippines market," said Jim O'Hara, CRO of Stellar Cyber. "Our partnership will enable organizations in the region to enhance their cybersecurity posture and better protect their sensitive data leveraging our Open XDR platform."

The partnership is effective immediately, and interested parties can contact NEXTGEN Group to learn more about the advanced cybersecurity solutions that are available.

Story continues

About NEXTGEN Group

The NEXTGEN Group is a pioneering technology services group that supports the channel ecosystem. We do this through the active management of a portfolio of established and emerging technology vendors, coupled with innovative and unique services across cybersecurity, cloud, enterprise software, and data management solutions. This model is the next generation of IT solutions, knowledge, service, and delivery. The business is a hub of collaboration within the channel that makes it easy for technology partners to do business with international vendors on complex and ever-changing product suites. Our unique and award-winning combination of specialist knowledge, innovative technology platforms and complementary services enables our partners and vendors to stay relevant and remain ahead in this dynamic IT environment.

About NEXTGEN CyberLab

NEXTGEN CyberLAB is a completely browser based virtual realization platform built on AWS that demonstrates and integrates the world's most innovative cybersecurity solutions. It was created for vendors and channel partners to help them cost-effectively showcase varied technologies in safe and controlled environments, customized for a specific use case.

About Stellar Cyber

The Stellar Cyber Open XDR platform delivers comprehensive, unified security without complexity, empowering lean security teams of any skill to secure their environments successfully. With Stellar Cyber, organizations reduce risk with early and precise identification and remediation of threats while slashing costs, retaining investments in existing tools, and improving analyst productivity, delivering an 8x improvement in MTTD and a 20x improvement in MTTR. The company is based in Silicon Valley. For more information, visit stellarcyber.ai.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230417005315/en/

Contacts

For Media Enquiries

NEXTGEN:

Wendy OKeeffe

E: wendy.okeeffe@nextgen.group

M: +65 8101 3018

Stellar Cyber:

Daniella Assaf

E: daniella@inboundjunction.com

M: +1-351-666-0130
Nordstrom Inc. is adding former Nike executive Eric Sprunk to its board of directors.

According to the Seattle-based department store chain, Sprunk will stand for election at the companys upcoming 2023 annual shareholders meeting. With Sprunks appointment, the Nordstrom board has been expanded to 11 directors.

More from Footwear News

Brad Tilden, chairman of the Nordstrom board, said in a statement that the board is eager to welcome an industry veteran of Sprunks caliber. With Erics decades of operational experience in the consumer retail industry and track record of driving e-commerce growth and large-scale transformations within a complex global business, were confident he will be a valuable addition to the board and look forward to benefitting from his expertise, Tilden said.

Sprunk most recently served as COO of Nike from 2013 to 2020, where he led the teams responsible for manufacturing, sourcing, sales, procurement and technology. During his 27-year career at Nike, he held various executive positions of increasing responsibility, including EVP of global product and merchandising from 2008 to 2013 and EVP and GM of global footwear from 2001 to 2008. Prior to joining Nike, Sprunk was a certified public accountant at Price Water House Coopers.

After his retirement from Nike in 2020, Sprunk has gone on to join the boards of several companies such as aviation leader Bombardier, UN refugee agency USA for UNHCR and General Mills, according to his LinkedIn page.

Late last month, Sprunk was part of a group of investors that raised $3 million in a round of funding for Hilos, which uses 3D printed technology to avoid overproduction waste in footwear.

This move comes just days after Nordstrom named Jason Morris as its new chief technology and information officer. Morris succeeds Edmond Mesrobian, who left the company in October.
From what we can see, insiders were net buyers in Illinois Tool Works Inc.'s (NYSE:ITW ) during the past 12 months. That is, insiders acquired the stock in greater numbers than they sold it.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

See our latest analysis for Illinois Tool Works

Illinois Tool Works Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The Independent Director David H. Smith made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$308k worth of shares at a price of US$222 each. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, at around the current price, which is US$231. While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company's future. We do always like to see insider buying, but it is worth noting if those purchases were made at well below today's share price, as the discount to value may have narrowed with the rising price. Happily, the Illinois Tool Works insider decided to buy shares at close to current prices. The only individual insider to buy over the last year was David H. Smith.

You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

Illinois Tool Works is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Insider Ownership Of Illinois Tool Works

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Illinois Tool Works insiders own about US$215m worth of shares (which is 0.3% of the company). This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.

Story continues

So What Does This Data Suggest About Illinois Tool Works Insiders?

The fact that there have been no Illinois Tool Works insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. It would be great to see more insider buying, but overall it seems like Illinois Tool Works insiders are reasonably well aligned (owning significant chunk of the company's shares) and optimistic for the future. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. Case in point: We've spotted 1 warning sign for Illinois Tool Works you should be aware of.

But note: Illinois Tool Works may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.

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.

Join A Paid User Research Session

Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here
Bryant, as First Entrepreneur in Residence at Clark Atlanta University's School of Business, commits to

supporting aspiring HBCU entrepreneurs

ATLANTA, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Clark Atlanta University's (CAU) School of Business hosted its first Entrepreneur Scholar-in-Residence, John Hope Bryant for a fireside chat in partnership with PNC Bank. The event marked the launch of PNC's National Center for Entrepreneurship. Bryant's new post aims to help CAU serve as an incubator for developing the next generation of leaders at the Historically Black College and University (HBCU). Bryant is a serial entrepreneur, philanthropist and the founder of Operation HOPE, the nation's largest non-profit dedicated to financial literacy.

Pictured L-R: Dr. Silvanus J. Udoka, Provost & SVP for Academic Affairs (Interim) at Clark Atlanta University; Erin Horne McKinney, Executive Director for PNC National Center of Entrepreneurship; John Hope Bryant, Founder, Chairman & CEO of Operation HOPE.

During his residency at CAU, Bryant will lead an ongoing speaker series on a range of topics such as managing financial risk, negotiating deals, and the importance of FICO scores, among others. He is also a member of CAU's Board of Trustees.

Bryant's remarks included a historical review of The Freedman's Bank and various HOPE programs including Financial Literacy for All (FL4A) and One Million Black Businesses (1MBB). He asserts that Black entrepreneurs hold the key to transforming communities through ownership and improved financial wellness. The event was a celebration of the shared commitment to advancing Black entrepreneurship and brought together nearly 100 students, alumni, business experts and community leaders. PNC has been a HOPE strategic partner for nearly a decade. To view event images, click HERE.

"When you are sitting in history it doesn't feel like it, this is one of those moments. Today, the right partners are at the table," Bryant said. "We are at an inflection point that I call the 'Third Reconstruction' and I look forward to engaging both PNC and CAU's extraordinary students in a conversation about how they can change the world through entrepreneurship. By better understanding capitalism and learning the language of money, they will be equipped to shape the future of America."

Story continues

"For three decades, John Hope Bryant has been on the frontlines with a message of 'Silver Rights.' He is an experienced and successful businessman who has demonstrated a strong commitment to helping others build generational wealth," said Dr. Silvanus Udoka, Interim Provost and SVP for Academic Affairs, CAU. "We are confident that Mr. Bryant's leadership, in partnership with PNC, will resonate with CAU students and unleash the power of entrepreneurship."

According to the US Small Business Administration, minority businesses account for more than 50% of the 2 million new businesses started in the United States in the past 10 years. Despite that growth, minority-business ownership represents only 18 percent of total U.S. businesses, and the businesses face huge disparities when it comes to access to capital, contracting opportunities and other entrepreneurial development.

About Operation HOPE, Inc.

Since 1992, Operation HOPE has been moving America from civil rights to "silver rights" with the mission of making free enterprise and capitalism work for the underserveddisrupting poverty for millions of low and moderate-income youth and adults across the nation. Through its community uplift model, HOPE Inside, which received the 2016 Innovator of the Year recognition by American Banker magazine, Operation HOPE has served more than 4 million individuals and directed more than $3.2 billion in economic activity into disenfranchised communitiesturning check-cashing customers into banking customers, renters into homeowners, small business dreamers into small business owners, minimum wage workers into living wage consumers, and uncertain disaster victims into financially empowered disaster survivors. Operation HOPE recently received its eighth consecutive 4-star charity rating for fiscal management and commitment to transparency and accountability from the prestigious non-profit evaluator, Charity Navigator. For more information: OperationHOPE.org. Join the conversation on social media at @operationhope.

About Clark Atlanta University

Established in 1988 by the historic consolidation of Atlanta University (1865) and Clark College (1869), Clark Atlanta University continues a 150-year legacy rooted in African American tradition and focused on the future. Through global innovation, educational experiences, and high-value engagement, CAU cultivates lifted lives that transform the world. To learn more about Clark Atlanta University, visit www.cau.edu.

Contact:

Lalohni Campbell, for Operation HOPE

la@persemediagroup.com

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/operation-hope-ceo-john-hope-bryant-joins-clark-atlanta-university-and-pnc-for-national-center-for-entrepreneurship-launch-301799188.html

SOURCE Operation HOPE, Inc.
NEW YORK, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Outlier.org, Urban Assembly, and New York City Public Schools are announcing a groundbreaking collaboration aimed at expanding access to financial accounting education for high school students in the New York area.

Kelly Richmond Pope, a world-renowned accounting professor at DePaul University, is the lead lecturer for the Intro to Financial Accounting course on Outlier.org.

400 NYC public school students will have the opportunity to enroll in Outlier.org's highly regarded Intro to Financial Accounting college course. These students will earn college credit and gain valuable skills and insights into what a future career could look like in the field of accounting. Urban Assembly, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing public school students' social and economic mobility, will serve as implementation leaders within New York City Public Schools to drive student awareness, school execution, and success of the program this fall.

"At Urban Assembly, we believe in providing students with opportunities for career-connected learning that allows them to gain real-world skills while they're still in high school," said David Adams, Chief Executive Officer at Urban Assembly. "With generous support from the Deloitte Foundation, Urban Assembly will be able to contribute to a reimagined student experience that opens doors to promising careers."

According to the AICPA 2021 Trends Report, only 2% of Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) are Black and 5% are Hispanic/Latinx despite significant job opportunities across the sector. By providing access to top-tier educational resources in high school, this initiative seeks to empower students and create a more diverse and inclusive workforce in the accounting industry.

"I teach accounting through the lens of fraud and true crime to show students the side of this industry that is exciting and requires true grit and skill," said Kelly Richmond Pope, a world-renowned accounting professor at DePaul University and the course's lead lecturer. "New York City high school students will get access to a top quality online learning experience on Outlier.org alongside hands-on support and oversight from faculty in their school."

Story continues

Leveraging Outlier.org's best-in-class high school dual enrollment course experience, 400 select juniors and seniors will participate in a year-long elective course built into the standard New York City Public School schedule that counts toward their high school diploma, while also earning three college credits to transfer into an undergraduate degree from Outlier.org's accreditation partner University of Pittsburgh, a top 50 university. Students will learn the basics of accounting from Pope with additional classroom oversight from an on-site faculty member and have access to 24/7 academic support and unlimited 1-on-1 tutoring via Outlier.org.

"This collaboration with Urban Assembly and New York City Public Schools directly furthers Outlier.org's mission to increase access to high quality higher education," said Aaron Rasmussen, CEO and Founder of Outlier.org. "We look forward to piloting this program in New York so that it can be replicated in school districts across the country."

About Outlier.org

Outlier.org empowers students to earn their degree with the best instructors without the debt. Students choose from for-credit courses and degree programs taught by leading instructors at Yale, MIT, and Harvard and enjoy a rigorous online learning experience with cinematic video, access to 1-on-1 tutoring, AI-proctored assessments, and active learning material. Outlier.org has partnered with high schools nationwide to offer high-quality dual enrollment courses that fit seamlessly into their schedules and enable students to earn college credit. Outlier.org offers an expansive and growing dual enrollment catalog with uncapped enrollment capacity that includes 16 college courses and 5 professional certificates. All Outlier.org courses and degree programs are transcripted by the University of Pittsburgh and Golden Gate University, respectively.

About Urban Assembly

The Urban Assembly is an education nonprofit that advances the social and economic mobility of communities through the design of our high-impact, public schools and by offering learning solutions to school districts across the country in the areas of Algebra, Postsecondary Readiness, and Social-Emotional Learning.

About NYC Department of Education

The New York City Department of Education is the largest system of public schools in the United States, serving over 1.1 million students across 1,800 schools. The NYC DOE is committed to providing a safe, inclusive, and nurturing learning environment for all students, regardless of their background, in order to prepare them for success in college, careers, and beyond.

Media Contacts

Charlotte Ward

press@outlier.org

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/outlierorg-urban-assembly-and-new-york-city-public-schools-launch-program-to-bring-financial-accounting-to-high-school-students-301798179.html

SOURCE Outlier.org
Long term investing works well, but it doesn't always work for each individual stock. We don't wish catastrophic capital loss on anyone. Imagine if you held Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE:TARO) for half a decade as the share price tanked 76%. And we doubt long term believers are the only worried holders, since the stock price has declined 37% over the last twelve months. Furthermore, it's down 21% in about a quarter. That's not much fun for holders.

So let's have a look and see if the longer term performance of the company has been in line with the underlying business' progress.

Check out our latest analysis for Taro Pharmaceutical Industries

To quote Buffett, 'Ships will sail around the world but the Flat Earth Society will flourish. There will continue to be wide discrepancies between price and value in the marketplace...' One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement.

During the five years over which the share price declined, Taro Pharmaceutical Industries' earnings per share (EPS) dropped by 25% each year. In this case, the EPS change is really very close to the share price drop of 25% a year. That suggests that the market sentiment around the company hasn't changed much over that time. Rather, the share price change has reflected changes in earnings per share.

The image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

This free interactive report on Taro Pharmaceutical Industries' earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

What About The Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?

We'd be remiss not to mention the difference between Taro Pharmaceutical Industries' total shareholder return (TSR) and its share price return. The TSR attempts to capture the value of dividends (as if they were reinvested) as well as any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings offered to shareholders. We note that Taro Pharmaceutical Industries' TSR, at -72% is higher than its share price return of -76%. When you consider it hasn't been paying a dividend, this data suggests shareholders have benefitted from a spin-off, or had the opportunity to acquire attractively priced shares in a discounted capital raising.

Story continues

A Different Perspective

While the broader market lost about 6.7% in the twelve months, Taro Pharmaceutical Industries shareholders did even worse, losing 37%. Having said that, it's inevitable that some stocks will be oversold in a falling market. The key is to keep your eyes on the fundamental developments. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 11% per year over five years. 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. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Taro Pharmaceutical Industries better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Taro Pharmaceutical Industries that you should be aware of before investing here.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of companies that have proven they can grow earnings.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on American 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.

Join A Paid User Research Session

Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here
Future Market Insights Global and Consulting Pvt. Ltd.

The United States plastic healthcare packaging industry was estimated to be worth US$ 4,648.1 million in 2022. The United States is currently the most attractive market, according to FMI. The United States is estimated to hold a market share of 19.5% in North America and is estimated to have a year-on-year growth rate of 5% in 2023.

NEWARK, Del, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The plastic healthcare packaging market is predicted to be valued at US$ 24,768.7 million in 2023, rising to US$ 40,306.8 million by 2033. The demand for plastic healthcare packaging is expected to rise at a CAGR of 5% during the forecast period.



The plastic healthcare packaging market is expected to experience significant growth in the coming years. The increasing demand for safe and hygienic packaging for medical products is driving the market. The healthcare industry is continuously growing and with it, the demand for safe and reliable packaging solutions is also increasing. Plastic packaging offers several advantages such as barrier protection, ease of use, and cost-effectiveness, making it a popular choice in the healthcare industry.

One of the major trends in the plastic healthcare packaging market is the shift toward eco-friendly packaging solutions. Consumers are becoming more aware of the environmental impact of plastic packaging and are looking for alternatives that are sustainable and environmentally friendly. To meet this demand, many players in the industry are investing in research and development to create eco-friendly packaging solutions. This is expected to create new growth opportunities for the plastic healthcare packaging industry in the coming years.

Identify key trends, drivers, and challenges in the market, which will help vendors improve their strategies to stay ahead of their competitors. View our PDF Sample Report https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1127

Another growth driver in the industry is the increasing demand for single-use packaging. Single-use packaging is gaining popularity as it helps to reduce the risk of contamination and the spread of infections. The packaging is designed for one-time use and can be easily disposed of, making it an ideal solution for the healthcare industry. The growing demand for single-use packaging is expected to drive the plastic healthcare packaging industry in the coming years.

Story continues

However, the plastic healthcare packaging industry is facing several challenges as well. The most significant challenge is the growing concern about plastic waste and its impact on the environment. Plastic packaging is often not recycled and ends up in landfills, where it can take hundreds of years to decompose. This has led to increased pressure on the industry to find sustainable and environmentally friendly alternatives to plastic packaging. Additionally, the high cost of raw materials used in the production of plastic packaging is also affecting the industry, making it challenging for players to maintain profitability. These challenges must be addressed by players in the plastic healthcare packaging industry to ensure continued growth in the coming years.

Key Takeaways from the Plastic Healthcare Packaging Market:

The plastic healthcare packaging industry in the United States is expected to be valued at US$ 4,648.1 million in 2022.

The China plastic healthcare packaging industry is expected to grow at an 8.8% CAGR over the forecast period. The China plastic healthcare packaging industry is expected to be valued at US$ 3,125.7 million in 2022.

In 2022, India's plastic healthcare packaging market was worth US$ 1,794.4 million.

Germany held a 4.6% market share of the global plastic healthcare packaging market in 2022. In 2022, the German plastic healthcare packaging business is expected to be valued at US$ 1,083.9 million.

Prefilled inhalers, syringes, and cartridges are widely utilized around the world, with the category accounting for 62.9% of the market by the end of 2033.

Polypropylene goods reached US$ 7.9 billion in 2022, with a 33.3% market share, and it is expected to grow 2.0 times its current market size by 2033.

The medical devices segment held a 59% share of the market in 2022.



Expand operations in the future - To get requisite details, ask for a custom report. https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/customization-available/rep-gb-1127

Competitive Landscape of the Plastic Healthcare Packaging Market

The plastic healthcare packaging market is characterized by a high degree of competition, with a large number of established players vying for market share. Major players such as Berry Global Inc, Amcor Limited, Gerresheimer AG, and Bemis Company, Inc. are dominating the market with their strong brand recognition, extensive distribution networks, and innovative product offerings.

In recent years, the market has witnessed the entry of several new players, which are investing heavily in research and development activities to expand their product portfolios and gain a larger share of the market. The growing demand for eco-friendly and sustainable packaging solutions has also encouraged companies to develop biodegradable and compostable plastic packaging solutions.

To remain competitive, players are focusing on expanding their production capacities, expanding their product portfolios, and strengthening their distribution networks. In addition, players are also collaborating with leading healthcare companies to provide customized packaging solutions for their products, thereby increasing their market share.

The Key Players Are:

Bilcare Limited

Gerresheimer AG

Amcor Limited, Schott AG

Constantia Flexibles Group

Alexander (James) Corporation

Klockner Pentaplast Group

Becton & Dickinson Company

Clondalkin Group, Berry Global, Inc.

Comar LLC

Nipro Corporation

Mondi Group plc

Adelphi Healthcare Packaging

Others.



Market presence across multiple geographical footprints - Strong/Active/Niche/Trivial - Buy the report! https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/checkout/1127

Plastic Healthcare Packaging Market Segmentations-

By Product Type:

Vials & Ampoules

Blisters

Bottles Dropper Bottles Nasal Spray Bottles Liquid Bottles

Bags, Pouches & Sachets IV Bags Medical Specialty Bags

Prefilled Inhalers, Syringes & Cartridges

Containers & Jars

Caps & Closures

Trays

Medication Tubes

By Material Type:

Polyethylene Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) Linear Low Density Polyethylene (LLDPE)

Polyvinyl Chloride

Polystyrene

Polypropylene Bi-axially Oriented Polypropylene (BOPP) Cast Polypropylene (CPP)

Polyethylene Terephthalate Bi-axially oriented Polyethylene Terephthalate (BoPET) Metallized PET

Others (Polycarbonate)



By Application:

Medical devices Sterile packaging Non sterile packaging

Pharmaceuticals

Table of Content

1. Executive Summary | Plastic Healthcare Packaging Market

1.1. Global Market Outlook

1.2. Demand-side Trends

1.3. Supply-side Trends

1.4. Technology Roadmap Analysis

1.5. Analysis and Recommendations

2. Market Overview

2.1. Market Coverage / Taxonomy

2.2. Market Definition / Scope / Limitations

3. Market Background

3.1. Market Dynamics

3.1.1. Drivers

3.1.2. Restraints

3.1.3. Opportunity

3.1.4. Trends

4. Global Market Analysis 2018 to 2022 and forecast, 2023 to 2033

4.1. Historical Market Size Value (US$ Million) & Volume (Units) Analysis, 2018 to 2022

4.2. Current and Future Market Size Value (US$ Million) & Volume (Units) Projections, 2023 to 2033

4.2.1. Y-o-Y Growth Trend Analysis

4.2.2. Absolute $ Opportunity Analysis

5. Global Market Analysis 2018 to 2022 and Forecast 2023 to 2033, By Product Type

5.1. Introduction / Key Findings

5.2. Historical Market Size Value (US$ Million) & Volume (Units) Analysis By Product Type, 2018 to 2022

5.3. Current and Future Market Size Value (US$ Million) & Volume (Units) Analysis and Forecast By Product Type, 2023 to 2033

Read More TOC.

Access Full Report: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/plastic-healthcare-packaging-market

Explore Our Other Related Reports:

Plastic Pails Market Scope: The global plastic pails market is estimated at US$ 1,223.6 Million in 2022 and is projected to reach US$ 1,743.1 Million by 2030, at a CAGR of 4.5% from 2022 to 2030.

Plastic Vials Market Demand: The global plastic vials market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.9% over the forecast period (2022-2032).

Plastic Caps & Closures Market Share: The global plastic caps & closures market is estimated at US$ 44 Billion in 2022 and is projected to reach US$ 61 Billion by 2029.

Plastic-Free Packs Market Overview: The global plastic-free packs market is projected to reach US$ 8,000.8 million by 2032, up from US$ 3,671.8 million in 2022.

Plastic Jar Packaging Market Trends: Global plastic jar packaging market is expected to be valued at US$ 27051 million in 2023 and to reach a valuation of US$ 35309.19 million by 2033.

About Us:

Future Market Insights (ESOMAR certified market research organization and a member of Greater New York Chamber of Commerce) provides in-depth insights into governing factors elevating the demand in the market. It discloses opportunities that will favor the market growth in various segments on the basis of Source, Application, Sales Channel and End Use over the next 10-years.

Contact Us:

Future Market Insights Inc.

Christiana Corporate, 200 Continental Drive,

Suite 401, Newark, Delaware - 19713, USA

T: +1-845-579-5705

LinkedIn| Twitter| Blogs | YouTube

For Sales Enquiries: sales@futuremarketinsights.com




Company Logo

Dublin, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Poland Elevator and Escalator - Market Size & Growth Forecast 2023-2029" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The Poland elevator and escalator market size by new installations was estimated at 4.4 thousand units in 2022 and is expected to reach 5.3 thousand units by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 2.68% during the forecast period (2023-2029).



During 2021-2030 the Poland railway will receive USD 75 billion under its National Railway Program (NRP). Two hundred thirty infrastructure projects had been planned by PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe (PKP PLK) with a budget of USD 18.7 billion. USD 2.6 billion worth of projects have been completed, and USD 10 million is in progress.

Major changes have taken place in Poland's transportation systems in past years as the development of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). Under the EU funding scheme, the polish government had planned to fund USD 17.5 billion from 2024-2023 to railway infrastructure and USD 36.6 billion in road infrastructure.

Cordia, an Urban generation project, was planned in Poznan. The project involves a 21,000 sqm plot that was once a garment factory. The initial phase of this project began in 2021 and is anticipated to be completed by 2023.

Rising Building Developments to Drive the Poland Elevator and Escalator Market

National Plan for Reconstruction and Increasing Resilience under the lift industry in Poland with The Polish Association of Lift Manufacturers (PALM) as public consultation. The project involves the modernization and extension of passenger lifts in multi-family residential buildings and public and healthcare buildings. This will create opportunities for the market for Poland elevator and escalator.

The Polish government had allocated USD 7.5 billion towards building activities, and almost USD 4.2 billion was assigned for the reconstruction and renovation of building activities.

Kosakov Residential Community, with an area of 34,600m2 and an investment of USD 175 million, involves the construction residential community comprising 642 apartments in Pomeranian Voivodeship. Construction work is anticipated to be completed in 2024.

Story continues

Between January and March 2022, the office sector saw the highest delivered quarterly supply in recent years, with more than 333,000 sqm of office space completed in Poland.

With the assistance of the Warsaw Archdiocese Roma Tower, a 170-meter building project is being piloted by BBI Development. The mixed-use development of 55,000 sqm will include office space and a luxury hotel and is anticipated to be completed by 2026.

Governments Effort to Expand Infrastructure Across Nation to Increase Demand for New Installations

Major international firms are considering relocating from Russia as well as from Ukraine. They could not operate due to various social and economic reasons in these areas and are looking for the nearest place where they can resourcefully trace investments. Driving investments and relocating firms to Poland will push the Poland elevator and escalator market growth.

The concept of the Central seaport in Gdansk was ready for environmental assessment and public discussion, followed by approval; the estimated capital for this project is around USD 1.57-2.0 billion and is expected to be completed by 2029.

Around USD 21.5 million had been provided by the European Investment Bank (EIB) as of September 2020 for rehabilitating and building 250 social and affordable housing units in Szczecin, Poland. The primary goal was to contribute to an urban regeneration and energy efficiency program for a historical city that will propel the Poland elevator and escalator market growth.

The elevator opened in October 2022 on the Oder-Havel Canal, replacing the lift built in 1934, which no longer can withstand the modern maritime traffic, hoists boats up 36 meters to enable travel from the Polish port of Szczecin to Berlin.

USD 2.2 billion were allotted by the Polish Ministry of Finance and Regional Policy to execute urban transportation projects. USD 499.9 million are spent on rolling stock, USD 108.5 million on digitization, and USD 1.6 billion are spent on infrastructure.

Regulation of the Minister of Entrepreneurship and Technology to Increase Demand for Maintenance and Modernization in Poland.

Maintenance and modernization in the Poland elevator and escalator market accounted for 86.1% and 13.9%, respectively, for 2022.

The issues related to handling equipment subject to technical supervision are regulated by national law by the Polish Association of Lift Manufacturers (PALM) in 2019.

As of December 6, 2018, the industry standards for the technical supervision regarding the operation, maintenance, and modernization of handling equipment as per the Regulation of the Minister of Entrepreneurship and Technology of October 30, 2018, became compulsory by law.

VENDOR LANDSCAPE

The top 4 prominent vendors in the Poland elevator and escalator market, including KONE, Otis, TK Elevator, and Schindler, account for 43% of the industry share in Poland.

Key Vendors

Otis

KONE

Schindler

TK Elevator

Fujitec

Other Prominent Vendors

Orona

GMV Lifts

Translift

Wittur

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/7dbh38

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

CONTACT: CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood,Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./ CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900




Hyundai Motor, Kia and Hyundai MOBIS together plan to invest KRW24 trillion ($18.28 billion) in the domestic electric vehicle industry by 2030, with the goal of making South Korea one of the top three players in the global EV market.

Kia President and CEO Ho Sung Song, said: "Our focus is to enhance the competitiveness of the entire electric vehicle ecosystem, including research and development, production, and infrastructure, and to lead the way in driving change and innovation in the new global automotive industry."

In this context Kia has held a groundbreaking ceremony for its dedicated plant for the production of battery-electric purpose-built vehicles (PBV).

Potential to expand

Kia will invest around one trillion won (approximately $758 million) to secure 99,000 acres of land, with the company planning to start mass-production in the second half of 2025. It plans to produce 150,000 units in the first full year, with the potential to expand in line with future market conditions.

The new PBV plant will be built as an eco-friendly plant that applies future innovative manufacturing technologies while minimising carbon emissions. It will also seek efficiency and intelligence with Hyundai Motor and Kias smart factory brand E-FOREST technologies such as digital manufacturing systems.

One of the innovative manufacturing processes to be implemented at the new PBV plant is known as the cellular (or cell) method, which allows vehicle production based on diverse customer demands.

The cell method is a process layout strategy that groups together machines or workstations that are used to produce similar products or parts. The goal of the cell method is to create a more efficient and flexible manufacturing process by reducing the distance that materials and products need to travel during production. Under the cell method, machines are arranged in a way that optimises the flow of materials and products between workstations, with the aim of minimising downtime, reducing costs and increasing productivity.

Cutting-edge

The PBV plants cutting-edge manufacturing system unifies the new cell method with the original mass-production conveyor system to allow flexible production with more customisation of various product types.

In addition, the PBV plant will be built as a low-carbon factory by operating a dry booth, a nature-friendly construction method, during the painting process of vehicle manufacturing, and reducing carbon emissions by about 20 percent compared to existing factories by utilising natural light and streamlining the manufacturing process.

Kia will also apply innovative technologies such as automation of facilities using machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), automation of painting quality inspection under the vehicle, automation of installation of parts such as glass, vehicle name, and company logo, and real-time automatic measurement quality data analysis to autonomously correct and install the vehicle body in real time.

The new facility will be a human-friendly plant by pushing automation in heavy-duty work and tasks that require looking up at the ceiling, while enhancing the feeling of openness and also reducing noise levels.

The facilitys ground-breaking ceremony was held at Kias Hwaseong plant, located in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, and was attended by over 200 people, including government officials, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung, Kias Global President and CEO Ho Sung Song, and other employees from Hyundai Motor Group and the automotive parts industry.

First battery electric PBV production set for 2025

Kia plans to show SW (project name), the first model in the companys dedicated PBV lineup, in 2025. The model will be a mid-sized PBV and will be based on the eS platform, a dedicated skateboard platform for battery electric PBVs, enabling various types of vehicle bodies to be flexibly combined.

SW has been developed to respond to various business demands such as delivery, ride hailing, and business-to-business (B2B) transactions thanks to its excellent load structure and spacious indoor space that reaches the height of an adult.

After launching the mid-sized SW PBV, Kia plans to expand its product lineup to large-sized PBVs that can be used for logistics, fresh food delivery, multi-seat shuttles, and mobile offices and stores as well as small-sized PBVs and mid-sized robotaxis applied with autonomous driving technology.

Hyundai to be one of the worlds top 3 EV manufacturers

At the groundbreaking ceremony, Hyundai Motor Group also outlined its aim to become one of the worlds top three EV manufacturers by 2030 through the combined sales of Hyundai Motor, Kia and Genesis electric models.

The Group also announced that it plans to significantly expand the annual EV production in Korea to 1.51 million units and global volume to 3.64 million units by 2030. To enable such plans, Hyundai Motor and Kia, alongside with Hyundai MOBIS, plan to invest KRW24 trillion (approximately $18 billion) in the EV sector domestically.

In 2030, Hyundai Motor Group will have a total lineup of 31 EV models, including models from Hyundai Motor, Kia, and luxury brand Genesis. Kia will launch EV9, its first three-row seat electric flagship SUV, this year and Hyundai Motor plans to launch the IONIQ 7 in 2024.

Hyundai Motor Groups large-scale investment aims to upgrade Koreas EV ecosystem and strengthen its role as a hub for driving innovation in the global future automotive industry. It is also expected to promote a virtuous cycle of domestic EV production, R&D, infrastructure and related industries.-- TradeArabia News Service
James brings 30 years of industry experience, with the most recent 10 years at PRA Group.

NORFOLK, Va., April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- PRA Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: PRAA) (the "Company), a global leader in acquiring and collecting nonperforming loans, has announced the appointment of Owen James as global investments officer, effective April 7. PRA Group also announced today that Chris Graves, executive vice president and global investments and analytics officer, is retiring for personal health reasons, effective May 12, 2023.

James has been with PRA Group for more than a decade, most recently as managing director of acquisitions. He has led the Company's investments in Europe and has served on the European senior management team. Over the past five years, PRA Group's European business has delivered strong results and has grown to become a significant driver of the Company's overall performance, with more than $2 billion invested in portfolios across 11 European markets. In 2022, James also began leading investments in the Australian market. James joined PRA Group as part of the Company's first entry into Europe through the acquisition of Mackenzie Hall Holdings in 2012.

"It is an honor to serve in this role at PRA Group as the Company continues its impressive growth across expanding geographies. I look forward to executing a successful global investment strategycreating and capitalizing on PRA's global market potential while building upon foundational principles like pricing discipline," said James.

James has more than 30 years of experience in the global nonperforming loan industry, leading operations, business development and investments. Prior to joining PRA Group, he worked for more than 15 years in a variety of senior roles at Intrum Justitia, a major European debt servicer and buyer.

James has assumed responsibility for PRA Group's global portfolio investments and has joined the senior leadership team, reporting directly to President and CEO Vikram "Vik" Atal.

Story continues

"Owen's extensive knowledge of the industry, experience within PRA Group and track record of global success makes him a great fit to drive our global investment strategy. He will help us expand into newer markets and continue to actively explore opportunities to grow our core business across clients, products and geographies, further positioning us as a global enterprise," said Atal. "We would like to give a warm thank you to Chris for his extensive contributions to PRA Group over the last 17 years, and we wish him all the best as he focuses on his health and family."

"I would like to thank the PRA Group team for an incredible 17 years. The Company is in excellent hands with Owen in the role of global investments officer, and I have every confidence in his ability to navigate the increase in supply that we expect to see in the coming months," said Graves.

About PRA Group

As a global leader in acquiring and collecting nonperforming loans, PRA Group, Inc. returns capital to banks and other creditors to help expand financial services for consumers in the Americas, Europe and Australia. With thousands of employees worldwide, PRA Group companies collaborate with customers to help them resolve their debt. For more information, please visit www.pragroup.com.

Media Contact:

Elizabeth Kersey

Senior Vice President, Communications and Public Policy

(757) 431-3398

Elizabeth.Kersey@PRAGroup.com

Investor Contact:

Najim Mostamand, CFA

Vice President, Investor Relations

(757) 431-7913

IR@PRAGroup.com

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pra-group-appoints-experienced-leader-owen-james-as-global-investments-officer-301799426.html

SOURCE PRA Group
When close to half the companies in the Hospitality industry in the United States have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") below 1.7x, you may consider Dutch Bros Inc. (NYSE:BROS) as a stock to potentially avoid with its 2.5x P/S ratio. However, the P/S might be high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

See our latest analysis for Dutch Bros

How Has Dutch Bros Performed Recently?

Recent revenue growth for Dutch Bros has been in line with the industry. It might be that many expect the mediocre revenue performance to strengthen positively, which has kept the P/S ratio from falling. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report on Dutch Bros.

How Is Dutch Bros' Revenue Growth Trending?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should outperform the industry for P/S ratios like Dutch Bros' to be considered reasonable.

Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew revenue by an impressive 48% last year. Pleasingly, revenue has also lifted 210% in aggregate from three years ago, thanks to the last 12 months of growth. So we can start by confirming that the company has done a great job of growing revenue over that time.

Looking ahead now, revenue is anticipated to climb by 29% per year during the coming three years according to the ten analysts following the company. With the industry only predicted to deliver 17% per annum, the company is positioned for a stronger revenue result.

With this information, we can see why Dutch Bros is trading at such a high P/S compared to the industry. Apparently shareholders aren't keen to offload something that is potentially eyeing a more prosperous future.

What Does Dutch Bros' P/S Mean For Investors?

Generally, our preference is to limit the use of the price-to-sales ratio to establishing what the market thinks about the overall health of a company.

Story continues

Our look into Dutch Bros shows that its P/S ratio remains high on the merit of its strong future revenues. Right now shareholders are comfortable with the P/S as they are quite confident future revenues aren't under threat. It's hard to see the share price falling strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

And what about other risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Dutch Bros you should know about.

If companies with solid past earnings growth is up your alley, you may wish to see this free collection of other companies with strong earnings growth and low P/E ratios.

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.

Join A Paid User Research Session

Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here
Stellar Cyber's Open XDR Platform Ensures Customers Protect Their Investments

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, April 17, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today PROVINTELL, an emerging Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) and Cybersecurity-as-a-Service (CSaaS) Provider in the region, specializing in the Next-Gen Cyber Defense and Response services, announced it has partnered with Stellar Cyber to uplevel their slate of cybersecurity services. Stellar Cyber, the pioneer of Open XDR, developed a unified security operations platform that enables security teams to perform their duties faster and more efficiently.

PROVINTELLs 24x7 Next-Gen CyberSOC is fully managed by in-house certified cybersecurity specialists highly skilled in threat hunting, incident response, red teaming, and penetration testing.

"We employ Threat Intelligence as First Line of Defense by continuously assessing our customers' attack surface, data breach, and exposure risk," said Nicholas Ng, CISSP, CCLP, PROVINTELL CEO. "The versatility, accessibility, and capabilities of the Stellar Cyber Open XDR Platform are aligned with our regional business expansion plan, reducing our time and cost in research and development and, most importantly, helping us to serve our customers more efficiently."

PROVINTELL implemented the Threat Intelligence as First Line of Defense approach and methodology for its 24x7 Managed Extended Detection and Response (MXDR) customers based on the NIST Cybersecurity Framework to Identify, Detect, and Respond to cyber risks, threats, and vulnerabilities.

Identify the attack surface, data breach, and exposure risk.

Assess and reduce the exposure risk with vulnerability management and security validation.

Continuous threat hunting and intrusion monitoring with XDR Kill Chain and machine learning.

Compromise assessment and incident response with external and internal threat intelligence.

Security orchestration and incident response playbook.

Latest threat and vulnerability advisory.

Story continues

This prescriptive methodology enables PROVINTELL to stand out from other MSSP alternatives. "We are focused on delivering the best holistic cybersecurity services possible, and Stellar Cyber is making that dream a reality today," said Ng.

"We are happy to add PROVINTELL as a trusted managed security service provider partner for their region," said Jim OHara, CRO at Stellar Cyber. "They have a great reputation in the region and are known for exceeding their customers' expectations daily by providing the outcomes security teams require to maintain business continuity."

ABOUT PROVINTELL

PROVINTELL is an emerging Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) and Cybersecurity-as-a-Service Provider (CSaaS) in the region, specializing in Next-Gen Cyber Defense and Response by utilizing the latest Open XDR with Machine Learning / Artificial Intelligence (XDR Kill Chain) technologies to hunt, detect and respond to threats in the most complex environment.

PROVINTELLs 24x7 Next-Gen CyberSOC is fully managed by in-house certified cybersecurity specialists highly skilled in threat hunting, incident response, red teaming, and penetration testing. They employ Threat Intelligence as First Line of Defense by continuously assessing the attack surface, data breach, and exposure risk of the customers, known as the threat and vulnerability intelligence, to enhance PROVINTELL CyberSOC capabilities in orchestrating the most effective cyber defense and response strategies against the latest and sophisticated cyber threats.

www.provintell.com

ABOUT STELLAR CYBER

The Stellar Cyber Open XDR platform delivers comprehensive, unified security without complexity, empowering lean security teams of any skill to secure their environments successfully. With Stellar Cyber, organizations reduce risk with early and precise identification and remediation of threats while slashing costs, retaining investments in existing tools, and improving analyst productivity, delivering an 20x improvement in MTTD and a 8x improvement in MTTR. The company is based in Silicon Valley. For more information, visit www.stellarcyber.ai

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230417005314/en/

Contacts

Stellar Cyber:

Daniella Assaf:

M: +1-351-666-0130

E: daniella@inboundjunction.com
By Sinead Cruise

LONDON (Reuters) -Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has recommended Barclays investors re-elect all board members at next month's annual meeting, sapping the momentum of protests against bosses for supporting former CEO Jes Staley who is being investigated over his links with sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

The influential proxy advisor said in a report published on Monday that "questions may be posed" as to the board's judgment in its decision to back Staley between 2019-2021, but it may be too soon for those questions to influence director elections.

Investors should instead await the outcome of various investigations into the matter, ISS said.

In a pre-meeting notice to investors last month, Barclays said that since Staley resigned in November 2021 it had received "no material new evidence" from authorities to challenge the findings of a regulatory investigation into how Staley characterised his relationship with Epstein.

At the time of his resignation, Barclays said the preliminary conclusions of investigations by British financial regulators into how truthful Staley was about his ties to Epstein made "no findings that Mr Staley saw, or was aware of, any of Mr. Epstein's alleged crimes."

Staley has acknowledged having been friendly with Epstein, but expressed regret for their relationship and has denied knowing about the financier's criminal activities.

The notice also said Staley's unvested long-term bonuses remained suspended pending further developments, adding that the board would "consider further action as appropriate".

Staley, who joined Barclays in 2015 after more than 30 years at JPMorgan, has been named in two civil lawsuits lodged against the U.S. bank for enabling and concealing Epstein's network. JPMorgan, in turn, has sued Staley over "outrageous" alleged conduct and breaching his duty of loyalty to the bank.

Staley's lawyers have dismissed allegations that he hid what he knew about the late disgraced financier as "slanderous" and "false".

Story continues

EXECUTIVE PAY

Separately, ISS also said there may be "some scope" for further cuts to executive bonuses following a massive regulatory breach which led to the unlawful sale of $17.7 billion of structured products in the United States.

It did, however, describe actions already taken to dock variable pay earned by incumbent and former executives as "substantial" and "well explained", and therefore worthy of "qualified support" from investors.

Rival advisor Glass Lewis on April 6 recommended shareholders vote against bosses' pay in protest against long-term bonuses awarded to former executive Tushar Morzaria, who was serving as chief financial officer when the securities were sold in error.

Barclays docked bonuses earned by Morzaria and its current top executives by a combined 1 million pounds ($1.24 million) in February over the blunder.

Barclays paid a $200 million fine to U.S. regulators last year for "staggering" failures over several years that contributed to the breach and also forced the restatement of 2021 financial accounts.

($1 = 0.8061 pounds)

(Reporting by Sinead Cruise, editing by Lawrence White and Susan Fenton)
AstuteAnalytica India Pvt. Ltd.

The potential of the quantum cryptography and network market is vast, with increasing demand for secure communication and data transfer in various industries. The adoption of quantum cryptography solutions is gaining momentum, particularly in sectors such as finance, healthcare, and defense. The emergence of quantum-based computing and communication technologies is opening up new opportunities for businesses and governments to improve security and reliability, while the development of quantum computing technology is expected to play an increasingly important role in the market.

New Delhi, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global quantum cryptography and network market was valued at US$ 698.31 million in 2022 and is projected to reach US$ 8,136.60 million by 2031 at a projected CAGR of around 32.99% during the forecast period 2023-2031. The increasing need for secure communication and data transfer, along with the rising adoption of quantum cryptography solutions by governments and defense agencies, are some of the key factors driving the market growth.

Get Free sample copy of this report @ https://www.astuteanalytica.com/request-sample/quantum-cryptography-and-network-market

The emergence of quantum-based computing and communication technologies is opening up new opportunities for businesses and governments in various sectors such as finance, healthcare, and defense, to improve security and reliability. Furthermore, the increasing investments in research and development activities to explore the potential of quantum technologies are expected to boost market growth.

However, the complexity and interference from the environment remain significant restraints to the adoption of quantum cryptography and network solutions, particularly in industries where high levels of precision and reliability are required. To address this challenge, industry organizations are working to develop solutions that can mitigate the effects of external factors on quantum systems.

Story continues

North America is expected to dominate the global quantum cryptography and network market, accounting for over 46% of the revenue share, followed by Europe and the Asia Pacific region. The presence of several key players in the region, including IBM, Microsoft, and Google, who are investing heavily in research and development of quantum computing and network solutions, is driving market growth.

Key Insights of the Global Quantum Cryptography and Network Market

The solution segment, including quantum key distribution systems, quantum random number generators, and post-quantum cryptography solutions, is expected to dominate the market, accounting for over 62% of the revenue share.

Network security solutions, including network encryption, VPNs, and IDPS, are expected to dominate the market, accounting for over 71.30% of the revenue share.

Quantum key distribution is expected to dominate the market for network types, accounting for more than 66% of the revenue share, due to its ability to provide unbreakable security for sensitive data transfers.

Symmetric encryption algorithms, including AES, DES, and 3DES, are expected to capture over 76% of the revenue share in the cryptography encryption type segment, due to their efficiency and simplicity.

3DES is expected to dominate the cryptography encryption algorithm segment, accounting for 42% of the revenue share, due to its high level of security provided by the use of three keys for encryption and decryption.

Large enterprises are expected to dominate the quantum cryptography and network market, accounting for over 72% of the revenue share, due to the high cost of developing and deploying quantum cryptography and network solutions.

Quantum Leap: Asia Pacific Emerges as Lucrative Hub for Quantum Cryptography and Network Market with Revenue Opportunity of 2,567 million by 2031

The Asia Pacific region is witnessing strong growth in the market due to the increasing adoption of quantum technologies and the rising demand for secure communication and data transfer. The region is projected to generate a revenue of $2,567 million by 2031, which is around 14 folds higher than in 2022. This growth can be attributed to several factors.

China and India, two of the largest economies in the region, are leading the way in the adoption of quantum cryptography and network solutions. The Chinese government has made significant investments in the development of quantum technologies, with the goal of becoming a global leader in the field. The country is also home to several leading companies in the quantum computing and network solutions space, including Alibaba and Huawei.

Similarly, the Indian government has also taken steps to promote the adoption of quantum technologies in the Asia Pacific quantum cryptography and network market, with the establishment of the National Mission on Quantum Technologies and Applications (NM-QTA). The mission aims to develop and promote quantum technologies in India, with a focus on areas such as cryptography, communication, and computing.

The governments in the region are also providing funding for research and development in the field of quantum cryptography and network solutions. For example, the Chinese government has launched several quantum research programs, including the National Key Research and Development Program and the National Laboratory for Quantum Information Sciences. The Indian government has also allocated funding for quantum research through the NM-QTA.

In addition to government funding, private funding is also driving growth in the region. Several startups in the quantum cryptography and network space have emerged in recent years, backed by private investors. For example, Singapore-based SpeQtral raised $1.9 million in seed funding in 2020 to develop its quantum communication technology.

New projects are also being launched in the Asia Pacific quantum cryptography and network market to develop and deploy quantum cryptography and network solutions. For instance, the Chinese Academy of Sciences is developing a quantum communication satellite network to provide secure communication for government agencies and financial institutions. Similarly, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is developing a quantum communication satellite, called Quantum Experiments Using Satellite Technology (QUEST), to provide secure communication for the Indian government.

Browse summary of the report and Complete Table of Contents (ToC): https://www.astuteanalytica.com/industry-report/quantum-cryptography-and-network-market

IBM Leads the Pack with 13% Market Share: A Look at the Competitive Landscape of the Global Quantum Cryptography and Network Market

The global market is highly competitive, with many companies providing a range of products to meet the increasing demand for secure communication and data transfer. The market is characterized by monopolistic competition, with the cumulative market share of the six major players close to 40.55%. IBM leads the market with over 13% market share, followed by Google with 7.46% and Intel with 6.28%. Other major players in the market include Toshiba, Microsoft, and D-Wave, among others.

IBM has a strong presence in the market with its quantum roadmap leading to increasingly larger and better chips. The company aims to build national quantum ecosystems, develop workforces, and accelerate R&D on a national and global scale. IBM is said to have a worldwide virtual monopoly on the market and its products are used in major quantum computers.

With the global quantum cryptography and network market expected to grow significantly in the coming years, the competition among the players is expected to intensify, with companies expanding their geographical boundaries by acquiring small brands and domestic companies to increase their market share.

Recent Developments

Honeywell Quantum Solutions acquired Cambridge Quantum Computing (CQC) to expand its portfolio of quantum solutions and services.

IonQ went public through a merger with dMY Technology Group III, raising $650 million in gross proceeds to fund its quantum computing initiatives.

UK-based Arqit Limited announced a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), Centricus Acquisition Corp, to become a publicly traded company and raise up to $400 million to support the development of its quantum encryption technology.

Japanese multinational corporation NEC announced a partnership with quantum software startup SeeQC to co-develop superconducting technologies for quantum computers in the global quantum cryptography and network market.

The US Department of Defense (DoD) announced a $34 million funding opportunity for research and development in quantum technology, including quantum cryptography and network solutions.

US Department of Energy announced funding of over $9.1 million in funding for 13 projects in Quantum Information Science

Some of the Top Market Players Are:

Amazon

Crypta Labs

IBM Corporation

D-Wave

Intel

Isara and Post-Quantum

Google LLC

Magiq Technologies

Microsoft

Nucrypt

Qasky

Quantum Computing Inc (QCI)

Quantum Xchange

Quantumctek

Qubitekk

Quintessencelabs

Rigetti Computing

Toshiba

Xanadu

Other Prominent Players

Directly Purchase a copy of report with TOC @ https://www.astuteanalytica.com/inquire-before-purchase/quantum-cryptography-and-network-market

About Astute Analytica

Astute Analytica is a global analytics and advisory company which has built a solid reputation in a short period, thanks to the tangible outcomes we have delivered to our clients. We pride ourselves in generating unparalleled, in depth and uncannily accurate estimates and projections for our very demanding clients spread across different verticals. We have a long list of satisfied and repeat clients from a wide spectrum including technology, healthcare, chemicals, semiconductors, FMCG, and many more. These happy customers come to us from all across the Globe. They are able to make well calibrated decisions and leverage highly lucrative opportunities while surmounting the fierce challenges all because we analyze for them the complex business environment, segment wise existing and emerging possibilities, technology formations, growth estimates, and even the strategic choices available. In short, a complete package. All this is possible because we have a highly qualified, competent, and experienced team of professionals comprising of business analysts, economists, consultants, and technology experts. In our list of priorities, you-our patron-come at the top. You can be sure of best cost-effective, value-added package from us, should you decide to engage with us.

Contact us:

Aamir Beg

BSI Business Park, H-15,Sector-63, Noida- 201301- India

Phone: +1-888 429 6757 (US Toll Free); +91-0120- 4483891 (Rest of the World)

Email: sales@astuteanalytica.com

Website: www.astuteanalytica.com




April 17, 7:00 p.m. EDT; Holy Blossom Temple

TORONTO, April 10, 2023 /CNW/ - Holocaust Remembrance Day, known in the Jewish community as Yom Hashoah, begins this year on the evening of April 17 and continues until sundown on April 18.

Holocaust survivor, Faigie Libman, lights a memorial candle at the 2018 Yom Hashoah Community Commemoration. Photo by Seed9 for the Toronto Holocaust Museum. (CNW Group/Toronto Holocaust Museum)

Toronto's Jewish community will come together in person, for a community-wide Yom Hashoah commemoration to remember the victims of the Holocaust, honour the survivors, and reaffirm the commitment to preserve the memories and lessons of the Shoah (Hebrew for Holocaust and used colloquially by Jews globally). This year also marks the 80th Anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising, an act of resistance and revolt by hundreds of Jewish insurgents in 1943.

The event is hosted by the Toronto Holocaust Museum (opening this June), alongside partner organizations Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies, Canadian Society for Yad Vashem, the Azrieli Foundation, Facing History and Ourselves, and March of the Living, Canada.

A virtual streaming option will be available for those who wish to participate online.

WHEN:

Monday, April 17, 7:00 p.m. EDT

WHERE:

Holy Blossom Temple - 1950 Bathurst St

**A virtual streaming option will be available for those who wish to participate online.

WHAT:

A candle lighting ceremony

A moving tribute to Toronto-based Holocaust survivors we have lost throughout this past year

Remarks from Canadian officials, dignitaries and community leaders

Songs performed by The Bialik Hebrew Day School's Choirs

A keynote conversation featuring Holocaust survivors: Pinchas Gutter and Irene Kurtz*

Interview opportunity with Dara Solomon, Executive Director, Toronto Holocaust Museum*

* Those indicated by an asterisk are available for interviews.

WHO:

This event is free and open to the public.

**Members of the public wishing to attend in person or virtually must register at holocaustcentre.com/yom-hashoah-2023.

For more information and guest registration, visit holocaustcentre.com/yom-hashoah-2023 .

Story continues

About the Toronto Holocaust Museum

Founded by Holocaust survivors in 1985 as a place dedicated to sharing their stories with students, the revitalized Museumone of the first to be designed for the post-survivor erawill ensure their testimonies continue to be shared long after they are gone. The new Museum will present an immersive educational experience for students from across the GTA. It will also serve as a site of memory for descendant families, affirming the enduring legacy of their parents and grandparents. The Toronto Holocaust Museum will inspire visitors to think deeply about the tragedies of the Shoah and to make connections between the Holocaust, world events, and contemporary Canadian life.

Media Contact

For more information, to RSVP or to coordinate interviews with Dara Solomon, Executive Director, Toronto Holocaust Museum or any of the participants, please contact:

Madison Gerrie, on behalf of the Toronto Holocaust Museum

Account Executive, Heads+Tales PR

905-630-8692

madison@headsandtales.ca

Toronto Holocaust Museum Logo (CNW Group/Toronto Holocaust Museum)

SOURCE Toronto Holocaust Museum

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2023/17/c7739.html
Meticulous Market Research Pvt. Ltd.

Radiotherapy Market by Product (Devices [LINAC, Gamma Knife, Cyber Knife, Cyclotron, Synchrotron, Brachytherapy], Services, Software) Technology (IMRT, IGRT, 3D-CRT, Proton Beam Therapy, PDR-BT) Cancer (Breast, Prostate, Lung) - Global Forecast to 2030

Redding, California, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to a new market research report titled,  Radiotherapy Market by Product (Devices [LINAC, Gamma Knife, CyberKnife, Cyclotron, Synchrotron, Brachytherapy], Services, Software), Technology (IMRT, IGRT, 3D-CRT, Proton Beam Therapy, PDR-BT), and Cancer (Breast, Prostate, Lung) - Global Forecast to 2030, published by Meticulous Research, radiotherapy market is projected to reach $17.86 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 8.4% from 2023 to 2030.

Radiotherapy is used in the early stages of cancer for therapeutic purposes. It uses high-energy particles to destroy the genetic material of cancer cells. To enhance treatment efficacy, radiotherapy can be combined with other cancer treatments, including immunotherapy, chemotherapy, and surgery. If the cancer is limited to one area of the body, radiation therapy may be curative. It may also be used as combination therapy to prevent tumor recurrence after primary melanoma removal surgery.

Download Free Report Sample Now @ https://www.meticulousresearch.com/download-sample-report/cp_id=5023

The growth of this market is driven by the rising cancer incidence rate, technological advancements in the field of radiotherapy, growing awareness about the benefits of radiotherapy for cancer treatment, growing healthcare expenditure, and rising use of particle therapy for cancer treatment. However, the high cost and complexities associated with radiotherapy procedures, lack of advanced infrastructure facilities, and lack of skilled healthcare professionals are restraining the markets growth.

Furthermore, the high growth prospects in emerging economies and rising investments by public and private organizations in cancer research are expected to offer significant market growth opportunities. However, the difficulties in visualizing tumors during radiotherapy procedures and the risks associated with radiation exposure are the major challenge to the markets growth.

Story continues

Growing Awareness about the Benefits of Radiotherapy for Cancer Treatment Supports the Growth of the Radiotherapy Market

In recent years, there has been a significant rise in investment in research activities aimed at early cancer detection and the development of new cancer treatment and management modalities. Educational institutes, research centers, healthcare authorities, and market players are actively organizing various conferences and meetings to raise awareness and demonstrate new technologies. For instance, in April 2021, the German Cancer-research Center conducted the 8th magnetic resonance (MR) at the Radiotherapy Symposium in Germany. This Symposium promoted expert discussion of recent advances in the mechanics and technology of MR-guided therapy.

The 6th Cancer World Congress was held in Portugal in September 2022, themed "Personalized Cancer Diagnosis and Therapy." Major topics included in the discussion were cancer therapy and immunology, Melanoma, Prevention and Palliative care in Cancer, and Tumor Molecular Epidemiology which will have a significant impact on the adoption of radiotherapy procedures for various applications in cancer. Such programs contribute to the spread of radiotherapy awareness, driving the growth of this market.

Speak to our Analysts to Understand the Impact of COVID-19 on Your Business: https://www.meticulousresearch.com/speak-to-analyst/cp_id=5023

The radiotherapy market is segmented based on Product [Radiotherapy Devices {External Beam Radiotherapy Systems, (Conventional Linear Accelerators, Conventional Co-60 Teletherapy Units, Advanced Stereotactic Radiotherapy Systems (Gamma Knife, CyberKnife, TomoTherapy), Proton Beam Therapy Systems/Particle Beam Therapy Systems (Cyclotron, Synchrotron, Synchrocyclotron), Internal Beam Radiotherapy Systems/Brachytherapy Systems (Electronic Brachytherapy Products, Afterloaders)}, Radiotherapy Consumables and Accessories, Services, Software], Technology [External Beam Radiotherapy {Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT), Stereotactic Radiation Therapy (SRT), 3D Conformal Radiation Therapy (3D-CRT), Proton Beam Therapy/ Particle Beam Therapy}, Internal Beam Radiotherapy [Brachytherapy {High Dose Rate Brachytherapy, Low Dose Rate Brachytherapy, Image Guided Brachytherapy, Pulse Dose Rate Brachytherapy}, Systemic Radiation Therapy {Intravenous Radiotherapy, Oral Radiotherapy}], Cancer Type [Breast Cancer, Prostate Cancer, Lung Cancer, Head and Neck Cancer, Colorectal Cancer, Cervical Cancer], and Geography. The study also evaluates industry competitors and analyzes the market at the regional and country levels..

Based on product, in 2023, the radiotherapy devices segment is expected to account for the largest share of the market. Radiotherapy devices are further classified into external beam radiotherapy devices and internal beam radiotherapy devices. Among the various types of external beam devices, the adoption of CyberKnife is significantly high. This higher adoption is attributed to the advantages offered by CyberKnife, such as painless treatment, the requirement of shorter treatment times, and shorter recovery time.

Based on technology, in 2023, the external beam radiotherapy segment is expected to account for the largest share of the radiotherapy market. The large market share of this segment is attributed to the rising incidence of cancer and initiatives promoting early cancer diagnosis. The success rate of radiation therapy is higher when it is preferred after the surgical removal of cancers. Growing demand for advanced treatment therapies and technological innovations in external beam radiotherapy also supports the largest share of this segment in the market.

Quick Buy  Radiotherapy Market- Global Opportunity Analysis And Industry Forecast (2023-2030), Research Report: https://www.meticulousresearch.com/Checkout/88492909

Based on cancer type, in 2023, the prostate cancer segment is expected to account for the largest share of the radiotherapy market. The largest share of this segment is attributed to the high incidence of prostate cancer and higher success rate of radiotherapy in prostate cancer than other cancers. For instance, according to Radiation Oncology Targeting Cancer data, external-beam radiation therapy cures 95.5% of men with localized prostate cancer.

Based on geography, in 2023, North America is expected to account for the largest share of the radiotherapy market, followed by Europe and Asia-Pacific. Furthermore, in 2023, the U.S. is expected to be the largest market shareholder in North America. The market growth in the U.S. is attributed to the high healthcare expenditure for cancer, highly developed healthcare infrastructure, the presence of key cancer radiotherapy developing companies such as Accuray Incorporated (U.S.) and Mevion Medical Systems, Inc. (U.S.), and government programs supporting early cancer screening.

However, Asia- Pacific is expected to witness rapid growth during the forecast period. The increasing government spending on healthcare in countries such as China, India, Singapore, and South Korea, rising funding for cancer research, and increasing prevalence of cancer are driving the growth of the cancer radiotherapy market in Asia-Pacific. Furthermore, government initiatives toward the development of healthcare facilities and increasing health insurance penetration are also boosting the growth of this market.

The report also includes an extensive assessment of the key growth strategies adopted by leading market players in the past three to four years. The radiotherapy market has witnessed various strategic developments. Some of the key players operating in the radiotherapy market are Siemens Healthineers AG (Germany), Elekta AB (Sweden), Accuray Incorporated (U.S.), IBA (Belgium), Mevion Medical Systems, Inc. (U.S.), Hitachi, Ltd. (Japan), ViewRay Technologies, Inc. (U.S.), Panacea Medical Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (India), IsoRay, Inc. (U.S.), Optivus Proton Therapy, Inc. (U.S.), and P-Cure, Ltd. (Israel).

To gain more insights into the market with a detailed table of content and figures, click here: https://www.meticulousresearch.com/product/radiotherapy-market-5023

Scope of the Report:

Radiotherapy Market Assessmentby Product

Radiotherapy Devices External Beam Radiotherapy Conventional Linear Accelerators Conventional Co-60 Teletherapy Units Advanced Stereotactic Radiotherapy Systems Gamma Knife CyberKnife TomoTherapy Proton Beam Therapy Systems/Particle Beam Therapy Systems Cyclotron Synchrotron Synchrocyclotron Internal Beam Radiotherapy Systems/Brachytherapy Systems Seeds Electronic Brachytherapy Products Applicators Afterloaders

Radiotherapy Consumables and Accessories

Services

Software

Radiotherapy Market Assessmentby Technology

External Beam Radiotherapy Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) Stereotactic Radiation Therapy (SRT) 3D Conformal Radiation Therapy (3D-CRT) Proton Beam Therapy/Particle Beam Therapy

Internal Beam Radiotherapy Brachytherapy High Dose Rate Brachytherapy Low Dose Rate Brachytherapy Image Guided Brachytherapy Pulse Dose Rate Brachytherapy Systemic Radiation Therapy Intravenous Radiotherapy Oral Radiotherapy



Radiotherapy Market Assessmentby Cancer Type

Breast Cancer

Prostate Cancer

Lung Cancer

Head and Neck Cancer

Colorectal Cancer

Cervical Cancer

Other Cancers

(Note: Other cancers include kidney cancer, ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer, and stomach cancer.)

Radiotherapy Market Assessmentby Geography

North America U.S. Canada

Europe Germany France Italy U.K. Spain Rest of Europe

Asia-Pacific China Japan India Rest of Asia-Pacific

Latin America Brazil Mexico Rest of Latin America

Middle East & Africa

Download Free Report Sample Now @ https://www.meticulousresearch.com/download-sample-report/cp_id=5023

Related Reports:

Medical Image Management Market by Product {PACS [Departmental (Radiology, Cardiology), Enterprise], VNA [(On-Premise, Hybrid, Cloud), (Independent, PACS Vendor)], AICA, Universal Viewer}, End User (Hospital, Diagnostic Center) - Global Forecast to 2030

https://www.meticulousresearch.com/product/medical-image-management-market-4761

Diagnostic Imaging Market by Product (X-ray (Digital, Analog), MRI (Closed, Open), Ultrasound, CT, Nuclear Imaging (SPECT, PET), Application (Orthopedic, OB/GYN, MSK, Cardiology, Oncology), End User (Hospital, Imaging Centers) - Global Forecast to 2025

https://www.meticulousresearch.com/product/diagnostic-imaging-market-4950

Multimodal Imaging Market By Product (Equipment, Reagent, Software), Technology (PET-CT, SPECT-CT, PET-MRI), Application [Clinical (Oncology, Orthopedic, Cardiology), Research], End User (Hospitals, Diagnostic Centers, Academia) - Global Forecast To 2024

https://www.meticulousresearch.com/product/multimodal-imaging-market-4876

Global Oncology Ablation Market Outlook (2015-2020 2nd Edition)

https://www.meticulousresearch.com/product/global-oncology-ablation-market-1266

Radiation Dose Management Market by Solution & Service, Modality (CT, Nuclear Medicine, Fluoroscopy, Mammography), Application (Oncology, Cardiology, Orthopedic, Neurology), End User (Hospitals, Ambulatory Care Setting) - Global Forecast to 2029

https://www.meticulousresearch.com/product/radiation-dose-management-market-5394

About Meticulous Research

Meticulous Research was founded in 2010 and incorporated as Meticulous Market Research Pvt. Ltd. in 2013 as a private limited company under the Companies Act, 1956. Since its incorporation, the company has become the leading provider of premium market intelligence in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa.

The name of our company defines our services, strengths, and values. Since the inception, we have only thrived to research, analyze, and present the critical market data with great attention to details. With the meticulous primary and secondary research techniques, we have built strong capabilities in data collection, interpretation, and analysis of data including qualitative and quantitative research with the finest team of analysts. We design our meticulously analyzed intelligent and value-driven syndicate market research reports, custom studies, quick turnaround research, and consulting solutions to address business challenges of sustainable growth.

Contact:

Mr. Khushal Bombe

Meticulous Market Research Inc.

1267 Willis St, Ste 200 Redding,

California, 96001, U.S.

USA: +1-646-781-8004

Europe : +44-203-868-8738

APAC: +91 744-7780008

Email- sales@meticulousresearch.com

Visit Our Website: https://www.meticulousresearch.com/

Connect with us on LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/company/meticulous-research

Content Source: https://www.meticulousresearch.com/pressrelease/80/radiotherapy-market-2030

CONTACT: Mr. Khushal Bombe Meticulous Research Direct Lines: +1-646-781-8004 (North America) +44-203-868-8738 (Europe) +91 744-7780008 (Asia-Pacific) Email- sales@meticulousresearch.com Visit Our Website: https://www.meticulousresearch.com/ Meticulous Research Blog: https://meticulousblog.org/ Connect with us on LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/company/meticulous-research




Sundar Pichai - SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP via Getty Images

Googles chief executive has admitted that the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) keeps him up at night, despite the company pushing ahead with the technology.

Sundar Pichai said he did not fully understand AI but said it would one day be far more capable than anything weve seen before.

In an interview with the US network CBS, he said: I've always thought of AI as the most profound technology humanity is working on. More profound than fire or electricity or anything that we've done in the past.

However, the tech executive admitted he was concerned about the technologys rapid, unchecked advancement.

Mr Pichai said: It can be very harmful if deployed wrongly, we dont have all the answers there yet and the technology is moving fast, so does that keep me up at night? Absolutely.



Last month, tech leaders including Elon Musk signed an open letter calling for a six-month pause in artificial intelligence research and warning that the technology was getting out of control.



The letter, led by the Future of Life Institute, lists dozens of Google employees as signatories.



Mr Pichai called the technology a black box that we don't fully understand.

You can't quite tell why it said this, or why it got it wrong. I don't think we fully understand how a human mind works either.

The Google chief said AI would need to be regulated.

Anybody who has worked with AI for a while, you know, you realise this is something so different and so deep that we would need societal regulations to think about how to adapt.

His concerns come despite Google pressing ahead with Bard, the companys AI chatbot and a rival to OpenAIs ChatGPT.

Google has been seen as a leader in AI but has been criticised for falling behind rivals including Microsoft, which has invested in OpenAI and is using its technology to power its Bing search engine.

Mr Pichai admitted that there was a risk that companies rushed to develop the technology without fully considering its downsides.

One of the things we need to be careful of when it comes to AI is [to] avoid race conditions where people working on it across companies get so caught up in whos first that we lose [sight of] the potential pitfalls and downsides to it.



Mr Pichais warnings come despite Google seeking to integrate AI more deeply into its search engine. The company is developing new features under the codename Magi that would seek to anticipate peoples needs when making searches and answer follow-up questions, according to the New York Times.



Google is expected to unveil more details at its annual software conference next month.
(Bloomberg) -- Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers said an independent review of the Reserve Bank has made some recommendations that will require changes to the institutions operating legislation, while adding that he expects to release the report in the next week or so.

Most Read from Bloomberg

What youll see when you see the 51 specific recommendations, and you read through the rationale for it, is that theres a role for government, theres a role for the Reserve Bank and its board, theres a role for legislation, Chalmers told reporters on Monday.

The treasurer said hes had some discussions with RBA Governor Philip Lowe about the contents of the review and before long he wants to speak to the opposition and possibly the cross bench as well.

One of the key reasons why I want it to be bipartisan, if we can, is because ideally, wed get all of those ducks in a row, he added. The RBA Act should be something that we can agree on and put beyond politics. Thats my objective. My aspiration.

Over the weekend, Chalmers told Bloomberg TV in Washington that he was hoping to release the review, which contains some very wise recommendations, in the next week or two. He reiterated that timeline on Monday.

I hope to be able to release the Reserve Bank review quite soon, ideally in the next week but certainly in the next couple of weeks, he said at a press conference in Canberra.

The review is likely to suggest an overhaul of the RBAs rate-setting board, fewer policy meetings and for the governor to hold press conferences to explain monetary settings, according to media reports. That follows comments last year from panel member Renee FryMcKibbin that the review was looking at whether two boards were required.

Story continues

While a dual structure is common at a number of central banks, splitting the board would require change to the RBA Act. Chalmers has also said he will take the reviews findings into account when deciding on the future of Lowe, whose seven-year term as governor of the RBA expires in September.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Which will reign supreme? We're leaving it up to our fans to try limited-edition Reese's Creamy and Crunchy Cups and make the call

HERSHEY, Pa., April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Are you Team Creamy or Team Crunchy? Well, we're settling the great peanut butter debate the best way possible, with the release of the new, limited-edition Reese's Creamy and Crunchy Peanut Butter Cups. As the authority on all things peanut butter, we want our fans to sound off and declare which peanut butter is truly supreme.

Are you Team Creamy or Team Crunchy? Try the limited-edition Reeses Creamy and Crunchy Peanut Butter Cups and help determine which peanut butter reigns supreme.

All in for Team Creamy? Or are you Team Crunchy? Sure, but can you truly be certain until you've tried both in their most esteemed form - wrapped in the smooth milk chocolate of a Reese's Cup? So, before you make any big decisions, you better do your research  the delicious, delicious research.

Reese's Creamy and Crunchy Peanut Butter Cups both feature the iconic peanut butter and chocolate combination of a Reese's Cup, but with two distinctly different textures. Creamy fans can enjoy a Reese's Creamy Peanut Butter Cup, which has a noticeably smoother texture while Crunchy lovers can treat themselves to a Reese's Crunchy Peanut Butter Cup, which contains chunks of peanuts for that perfect crunchy bite. Which Cup is the best? That may be the hardest decision you've ever had to make (at least when it comes to candy, but also, maybe ever). Just know, we support you no matter what team you're on.

Starting today through May 17 we are calling on the ultimate peanut butter lovers to enter the nationwide debate. First you gotta try both limited-edition Reese's Creamy and Crunchy Peanut Butter Cups, then head over to www.hersheyland.com/reeses/creamy-vs-crunchy.html and cast your vote. Fans will be able to track the head-to-head showdown in real time and see if Team Creamy or Team Crunchy steals America's hearts, minds... and stomachs.

"While you might think you know your peanut butter preference, you need to try them both in a Reese's Cup  the best way to enjoy peanut butter," said Chris Fenton, Reese's brand manager. "With these new Cups, peanut butter lovers will have a delicious way to sound off on one of the most contested disputes. Let the debate begin!"

Story continues

Will Team Creamy or Team Crunchy come out on top? Reese's will announce America's favorite peanut butter in the most fitting way possible  on National I Love Reese's Day on May 18 of course. Keep an eye on Reese's social channels to see if Team Creamy or Team Crunchy takes home the crown. It's crunch time, America. Or maybe it's not.

About The Hershey Company

The Hershey Company is headquartered in Hershey, Pa., and is an industry-leading snacks company known for bringing goodness to the world through its iconic brands, remarkable people and enduring commitment to help children succeed. Hershey has approximately 19,000 employees around the world who work every day to deliver delicious, quality products. The company has more than 100 brand names in approximately 80 countries around the world that drive more than $8.9 billion in annual revenues, including such iconic brand names as Hershey's, Reese's, Kit Kat, Jolly Rancher and Ice Breakers, and fast-growing salty snacks including SkinnyPop, Pirate's Booty and Dot's Pretzels. The Hershey Company sells Cadbury products under license from Cadbury UK Ltd.

For more than 125 years, Hershey has been committed to operating fairly, ethically and sustainably. Hershey founder, Milton Hershey, created the Milton Hershey School in 1909 and since then the company has focused on helping children succeed.

To learn more visit www.thehersheycompany.com

Follow:

http://www.twitter.com/hersheycompany

https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-hershey-company?trk=top_nav_home

http://www.facebook.com/hersheycompany

http://www.youtube.com/hersheycompany

http://www.instagram.com/hersheycompany

(PRNewsfoto/The Hershey Company)

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/reeses-is-settling-the-great-debate-once-and-for-all--creamy-or-crunchy-peanut-butter-301799021.html

SOURCE The Hershey Company
The Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar has assured the international travellers and relevant stakeholders that the semi-autonomous islands of Zanzibar remain open for business and there have been no cases of the Marburg virus in the region.



We are ready to welcome travelers from around the world. As we head towards the Green Season, the Zanzibar archipelago has yet to record a single case of the Marburg virus first detected in March 2023, in the north-west Kagera region of mainland Tanzania, said a statement.



Since the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions, the archipelago has seen an influx of visitors from the United States of America and the Middle East as well as those from its core European markets. It is anticipated this trend will continue in the coming months and throughout summer.



While the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended travelers avoid contact with sick individuals and monitor any potential symptoms, it has not advised against travelling to Tanzania and Zanzibar.



Furthermore, it is important to understand that the Islands of Zanzibar are located in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean, separated by at least 1,588kms of ocean and land between the islands and the Kagera region on the mainland. As such, it poses no risk of infection, it said.



While the United Republic of Tanzania and the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar are monitoring the situation closely, there is absolutely no cause for alarm, said Tourism Minister Simai M Said.



Given that Covid-19 is still fresh in our minds, we understand that people are cautious when learning of new infections. However, such fears are often unfounded, such is the case now. Tanzania is adhering to the World Health Organisation (WHO) standards and people have no reason to worry.



Members of the international business community and those visiting our beautiful region and islands can rest assured that it is very much business as usual, and their health is in no way at risk from this virus. In the next few weeks Tanzania should be free from the virus.

Findings by the United Republic of Tanzanias Ministry of Health in collaboration with WHO show that as of the 4th of April 2023, the total number of remaining Marburg virus cases in the Kagera region was three, of which only two remain in isolation after one person was discharged on the 5th of April 2023.



This is further evidence that the spread of the virus has been halted. As we prepare to welcome our annual influx of visitors from the Northern Hemisphere and the Middle East, they can be safe in the knowledge that the virus is contained and presents no threat to them or the citizens of Zanzibar, comments Said.



Meanwhile, The United Republic of Tanzania has deployed rapid response teams for the purposes of contact tracing and monitoring risk communication activities, measures that are proving highly successful with limiting the spread of the virus in the Kagera region.

Zanzibar is set for a bumper tourist season, with the country already welcoming 65,430 international visitors in February  an increase of 39.2% on the 46,995 visitors recorded in February 2022.



Excerpts of an interview with Tourism Minister:



In terms of revenue generation and job creation, how is the tourism industry fairing, post-pandemic?

Tourism still remains the main contributing sector to Zanzibars economy, contributing 29.2% and over 80% Foreign Earning. Zanzibar has fully recovered quicker than expected and we have surpassed 538, 000 visitors of pre-covid to over 540,000 post Covid. We have seen an increase in visitors for February 2023 by 39% compared to February last year. Increase of investments by has also translated to job creations numbers. . For instance, Emerald Zanzibar a new hotel project opened this year, recruiting over 300 staff of which 90% are locals.



What measures have been put in place to contain the spread of MVD and ensure safety of travelers?

The situation has been contained by both Governments, by immediately deploying a first response team to Kagera Region, which is more than 1000km away from Zanzibar and Mainland Dar es Salaam. All patients were treated according to WHO guidelines. From the 8 who have been infected, only 2 under observation.



With lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic, how has the Zanzibar built resilience for its tourism industry?

During the Covid 19 pandemic, Zanzibar has created Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all tourism operators to ensure they are adhering to international health and safety standards. Market Dependency on our traditional markets and products was also a lesson learnt and our promotional strategy was to maintain the existing traditional markets Western Europe and diversify targeting new emerging markets and products such as Eastern Europe and GCC countries.



Various financial programs in partnership with developing partners to support the tourism value chain were also introduced. And off course, us not closing our borders during the pandemic also meant that we did not have to start from the beginning but rather to strengthen existing efforts and introducing health and safety measures in accordance to WHO requirements. A national Covid-19 vaccine campaign was launched which saw a large number of the population vaccinated.



With an increasingly competitive landscape and increasing travel destinations, how is Zanzibar positioning itself to remain a destination of choice?

Rebranding efforts are underway which will highlight our unique characteristics such as cultural heritage in addition to the exotic white sandy beaches, to use technology to advance existing tourism products and services. Invest in our human capital to meet the needs of the industry and ensure that tourism is benefiting all stakeholders, particularly the communities.



Zanzibar being composed of 2 main islands and over 50 islets, means that our resources are limited and it is essential to promote sustainable green tourism practices, empower local communities by promoting locally made products. In the past two years Zanzibar has won a number of international accolades including the first preferred beach destination in Africa. A number of unique 5 star hotels have also won prestigious awards and this further highlights the uniqueness of Zanzibar as a destination.



The travel and tourism industry has bounced back, but with the current global economic pressures and shocks, will this trend continue?

Yes indeed. Tourism accounts for one out of every 11 jobs globally although jobs were lost during the pandemic, the opening of new investments and projects will translate to job creation. Since the bouncing back from the pandemic of Covid-19, the current global performance of the sector is looking positive and expected to grow.



Particularly now that we have all learnt from the pandemic, necessary changes are definitely necessary to ensure its growth. Now health and safety measures have become a priority for all visitors. Governments worldwide have adopted many changes. As you have seen with Zanzibar we have surpassed pre-covid numbers.



A study by The World Travel and Tourism Council that looked at the impact of tourism had in 2022 found that Travel & Tourism GDP is set to grow on average by 5.8% annually between 2022 and 2032, outpacing the growth of the overall economy (2.7% per year).



Their research showed that Travel & Tourism GDP could return to 2019 levels by the end of 2023. What is more, the sector is expected to create nearly 126 million new jobs within the next decade. Therefore the trend is set to continue and growth is on the horizon.



What are your revenue projections for the tourism industry in 2023 and what will drive its growth?

Post Covid-19 has also showed the increase need of visitors to travel after lockdowns, others are looking to work remotely while tucked away on an exotic island like Zanzibar. We have seen an increase in demand for these type of nomad travelers. In addition to the positive indicators from various researches as well as the performance of our own tourism sector in Zanzibar, growth will be driven by the investment interests as well as the diversification of our current products.



We have opened up Pemba for investment and with the current infrastructure projects that have already taken off, such as the construction of an international airport in Pemba and over. Generally we are looking to welcome over 850,000 tourists by 2025, with tourism earnings estimated to increase by an approximate average of between 10-20 percent per annum, this is an estimation based on previous and current performances as well as new projects which are in the pipeline.  TradeArabia News Service
By Gilles Guillaume

PARIS (Reuters) -French carmaker Renault is reviewing its pricing policies for electric cars worldwide to ensure it stays competitive after a wave of price cuts by U.S. rival Tesla Inc, a top executive said on Monday.

After slashing prices several times in the United States, Tesla on Friday cut prices in Europe- including on Renault's home turf of France - as well as Israel and Singapore, expanding a global discount drive it began in China in January.

"We will analyse country by country, market by market, which level of competitiveness we need to have to stay in the game," Fabrice Cambolive, the chief executive of the Renault brand, told reporters on Monday.

The brand's sales rose 9% in the first quarter of the year, indicating a restructuring strategy focusing on the most profitable models may be starting to pay off after four years of declining revenues.

Cambolive said the rebound had extended into April, adding however that Tesla's price cuts were a wake-up call.

He said sales of Renault's Megane electrified model, one of its most popular, had risen sharply in March.

After last week's price cut by Tesla, the Tesla Model 3 in France starts at 41,990 euros, compared with 42,000 euros for the Megane electric.

The Megane E sold 3,570 units in France in the first quarter, compared with 3,158 Tesla Model 3s, though the U.S. carmaker also sold 9,364 of its more upmarket SUV Model Y in the country.

"It's clear that (Tesla cutting prices) is a challenge, starting with the cost side of things. It's a warning that we are looking at," Cambolive said.

At a separate event in Paris, Hyundai Motor Group President Luc Donckerwolke told reporters the South Korean automaker will not participate in a price war and Tesla's cuts reflected a degree of anxiety in the face of growing competition.

Worldwide sales for the Renault brand reached 354,545 vehicles in the first three months of the year.

Story continues

The whole group, which also produces Dacia and Alpine cars and will release group-wide sales data Thursday, posted a 5.9% decline in sales in 2022. Sales for the Renault brand, which represents two-thirds of the group's total, fell by 9.4% last year, their fourth consecutive annual decline.

The French company, hit harder than most rivals by the COVID-19 crisis and a global chip shortage, is betting on higher-margin cars to boost profits, and plans to spin off and list its electric vehicles unit on the market this year.

An early mover in the EV race which then struggled in the face of Tesla's stellar growth, Renault ranked as the third EV brand for sales in Europe behind Tesla and Volkswagen last year. It was also third in the electrified segment, including hybrid vehicles, behind Toyota and Tesla.

In a sign of the pressure carmakers face on costs and margins, Tesla's Shanghai factory workers took to social media to appeal to boss Elon Musk after being told at the weekend about plans to cut their performance bonuses.

(Reporting by Gilles Guillaume Writing by Silvia Aloisi Editing by Mark Potter)
Knusford Berhad (KLSE:KNUSFOR) shares have had a really impressive month, gaining 26% after a shaky period beforehand. Unfortunately, despite the strong performance over the last month, the full year gain of 5.8% isn't as attractive.

In spite of the firm bounce in price, it's still not a stretch to say that Knusford Berhad's price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.4x right now seems quite "middle-of-the-road" compared to the Trade Distributors industry in Malaysia, where the median P/S ratio is around 0.5x. Although, it's not wise to simply ignore the P/S without explanation as investors may be disregarding a distinct opportunity or a costly mistake.

Check out our latest analysis for Knusford Berhad

What Does Knusford Berhad's Recent Performance Look Like?

For instance, Knusford Berhad's receding revenue in recent times would have to be some food for thought. It might be that many expect the company to put the disappointing revenue performance behind them over the coming period, which has kept the P/S from falling. If you like the company, you'd at least be hoping this is the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's not quite in favour.

Want the full picture on earnings, revenue and cash flow for the company? Then our free report on Knusford Berhad will help you shine a light on its historical performance.

Do Revenue Forecasts Match The P/S Ratio?

Knusford Berhad's P/S ratio would be typical for a company that's only expected to deliver moderate growth, and importantly, perform in line with the industry.

In reviewing the last year of financials, we were disheartened to see the company's revenues fell to the tune of 34%. As a result, revenue from three years ago have also fallen 56% overall. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of revenue growth.

This is in contrast to the rest of the industry, which is expected to decline by 5.9% over the next year, or less than the company's recent medium-term annualised revenue decline.

Story continues

In light of this, it's somewhat peculiar that Knusford Berhad's P/S sits in line with the majority of other companies. With revenue going quickly in reverse, it's not guaranteed that the P/S has found a floor yet. Maintaining these prices will be difficult to achieve as a continuation of recent revenue trends is likely to weigh down the shares eventually.

The Key Takeaway

Knusford Berhad's stock has a lot of momentum behind it lately, which has brought its P/S level with the rest of the industry. Generally, our preference is to limit the use of the price-to-sales ratio to establishing what the market thinks about the overall health of a company.

Our examination of Knusford Berhad revealed its sharp three-year contraction in revenue isn't impacting its P/S as much as we would have predicted, given the industry is set to shrink less severely. Right now we are uncomfortable with the P/S as this revenue performance isn't likely to support a more positive sentiment for long. We're also cautious about the company's ability to stay its recent medium-term course and resist even greater pain to its business from the broader industry turmoil. Unless the company's relative performance improves, it's challenging to accept these prices as being reasonable.

Having said that, be aware Knusford Berhad is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those is a bit concerning.

It's important to make sure you look for a great company, not just the first idea you come across. So if growing profitability aligns with your idea of a great company, take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a low P/E).

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.

Join A Paid User Research Session

Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here
Key Insights

Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, RHB Bank Berhad's stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions

51% of the business is held by the top 2 shareholders

Ownership research along with analyst forecasts data help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

Every investor in RHB Bank Berhad (KLSE:RHBBANK) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. We can see that institutions own the lion's share in the company with 71% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Institutional investors endured the highest losses after the company's market cap fell by RM765m last week. However, the 3.7% one-year returns may have helped alleviate their overall losses. We would assume however, that they would be on the lookout for weakness in the future.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of RHB Bank Berhad.

View our latest analysis for RHB Bank Berhad

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About RHB Bank Berhad?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in RHB Bank Berhad. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see RHB Bank Berhad's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. Hedge funds don't have many shares in RHB Bank Berhad. Employees Provident Fund of Malaysia is currently the company's largest shareholder with 40% of shares outstanding. With 10% and 8.8% of the shares outstanding respectively, OSK International Asset Management Sdn Bhd and Permodalan Nasional Berhad are the second and third largest shareholders.

Story continues

A more detailed study of the shareholder registry showed us that 2 of the top shareholders have a considerable amount of ownership in the company, via their 51% stake.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of RHB Bank Berhad

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

Our information suggests that RHB Bank Berhad insiders own under 1% of the company. Keep in mind that it's a big company, and the insiders own RM339k worth of shares. The absolute value might be more important than the proportional share. Arguably, recent buying and selling is just as important to consider. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 19% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand RHB Bank Berhad better, we need to consider many other factors. Be aware that RHB Bank Berhad is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those makes us a bit uncomfortable...

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter future.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

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.

Join A Paid User Research Session

Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here
Many have talked up the likelihood of a recession coming into play and chief among them is investing guru Rob Arnott. The founder and chairman of the board of Research Affiliates, who pioneered the smart beta investing technique, thinks theres an 80% chance a recession hits the U.S. economy over the next year. Whats more, Arnott knows who is responsible for this state of affairs.

Ultimately, I count myself as a moderate pessimist on our ability to avoid a recession, created as usual by the Fed, Arnott said. Thats because the Fed did not stave off multiple bank collapses, a consequence of which will be a credit crunch, and that in turn, will lead to a recession.

However, thats not to say Arnott thinks there are no opportunities out there right now for investors. While he notes that value stocks have been making a comeback vs. growth since the summer of 2020, he thinks value is only halfway back to historic norms, which means theres ample room for value to perform brilliantly in this decade.

With this in mind, weve opened the TipRanks database to get the lowdown on two value stocks Wall Streets stock pros think are ripe for the picking. Both are included in the Vanguard Value ETF, which is the largest value-focused fund, and both are also rated as Strong Buys by the analyst consensus. Lets check the details, then.

ConocoPhillips (COP)

Well start with ConocoPhillips, a global energy industry giant and one of the largest independent exploration and production (E&P) companies in the world, as measured by production levels and proved reserves.

The company has operations in 13 countries and its assets are spread over various locations across the globe, although almost half the Texas-based companys production is derived from US sources. With a market cap of $132 billion, the firm takes the 77th spot on the Fortune 500 list.

Like many other crude oil players, ConocoPhillips had a strong 2022. In the most recently reported quarter, 4Q22, net income rose to $3.2 billion, amounting to $2.61 a share, from $2.6 billion or $1.98 per share, in the same period a year ago. Production in the quarter reached 1,758 MBOED (thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day), an uptick of 150 MBOED from 4Q21. And throughout 2022, Conoco attained a record $18.4 billion in FCF with shareholder distributions reaching $15 billion.

Story continues

More recently, the company unveiled a 10-year plan that calls for over $115 billion of free cash flow to be made available for distributions. Thats a huge sum of money and amounts to almost 90% of Conocos present market cap.

For Barclays analyst Jeanine Wai, the companys cash returning endeavors are key for the bull-case. She writes: Using 2022 as a guide, the companys cash returns are in practice variable in commodity upswings wherein shareholders win alongside cash flows, and are more fixed in commodity downswings. This is only possible given the companys fortress balance sheet, strong asset base and through the cycle mentality.

Given its strong target total return of $15bn for this year, which management estimates is ~50% of CFO at $80 Brent, COP is one of the unique names where its FCF yield is average or slightly below average but its payout yield [(base dividend + variable dividend + buyback)/enterprise value] is above average. Numbers still matter, and investors want to get paid to ride out the commodity volatility, the analyst went on to add.

What does this all mean for investors? Wai rates COP shares an Overweight (i.e., Buy) while her $141 price target makes room for one-year returns of 30%. (To watch Wais track record, click here)

Most on the Street agree with Wais take. The stocks Strong Buy consensus rating is based on 13 Buys vs. 4 Holds. The average target stands at $134.63, implying shares will climb 24% higher in the year ahead. As a bonus, the company pays regular dividends that currently yield 2.14% annually. (See COP stock forecast)

UnitedHealth Group (UNH)

From one industry giant to another. Boasting a market cap of $477 billion, UnitedHealth is one of the biggest revenue generators in the world. This global mega-cap provides healthcare products and insurance services. Its activities are split into two separate segments: UnitedHealthcare, which offers health insurance, and Optum, which offers data and technology services.

The worldwide health insurance industry is seeing robust growth and the stock has reaped the benefits; UNH shares have bettered the S&P 500s annual performance in all but one of the last 10 years, 2022 included.

That said, that has not materialized so far in 2023, as investors reacted negatively to the recently reported Q1 numbers. That might seem weird at first glance, considering the results beat expectations on both the top-and bottom-line. Revenue increased by 14.7% year-over-year to $91.9 billion, trumping Street expectations by $2.12 billion. Adj. EPS of $6.26 came in $0.18 above the $6.08 forecast. As for the outlook, the company raised its adjusted net earnings forecast from the prior range of $24.40-$24.90 to between $24.50 to $25.00 per share. The consensus had previously been at $24.93.

Despite increasing its outlook, Deutsche Bank analyst George Hill thinks the relatively tame raise is partly to blame for investors disappointed reaction.

UNH management was particularly vague on the outlook for its fully capitated care delivery business as a result of the final rate notice and we consider the guidance raise of 10c (in line with the beat) relatively pedestrian by UNH standards, Hill explained.

However, that does little to change Hills bullish thesis: We continue to see the company as a high-quality defensive name in the large-cap healthcare services space given UNHs increasing diversification into complementary businesses and the continued erosion of regulatory risks, which is reflected in the premium we granted in our target multiple.

To this end, Hill has given UNH a Buy rating and a $627 price target, indicating potential growth of 22.5% over the next year. (To watch Hills track record, click here)

Overall, UNH has the bulls on its side; barring one skeptic, all 8 other recent reviews are positive, providing the healthcare giant with a Strong Buy consensus rating. The analysts see shares rising by 18% in the months ahead, considering the average target clocks in at $605.11. (See UNH stock forecast)

To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks equity insights.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.
The luxury boutique hotel will open by Q4 2023 with 35 guest rooms

RCU names GHM to operate the hotel under The Chedi brand

RCU is carefully uplifting several existing heritage buildings, including an old railway station, Hegra Fort, and surrounding structures, restoring them to their original grandeur

ALULA, Saudi Arabia, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Surrounded by awe-inspiring human and natural heritage, The Chedi Hegra will be the first hotel to welcome guests to a uniquely authentic luxury experience deep in the ancient Nabataean site in north-west Saudi Arabia. RCU has selected luxury hotel management company GHM to operate the hotel as The Chedi Hegra.

The Chedi Hegra Fort

Situated within Saudi Arabia's first UNESCO World Heritage Site and opening by Q4 2023, The Chedi Hegra will offer 35 bespoke guest rooms, each with its own distinct connection to the Hegra landscape, a breathtaking testimony of human expression within the natural environment.

RCU is building the hotel directly into several existing structures, including an old railway station and surrounding buildings, Hegra Fort, and others. Structural and exterior walls, some with historical mud-brick construction, are being preserved and integrated with modern architecture. The vast majority of the UNESCO World Heritage Site will remain untouched by construction and carefully preserved by RCU to maintain the integrity of Hegra's incredible human and natural heritage.

RCU has also ensured all design and construction efforts align with the Sustainability Charter for AlUla, including a light-touch tourism approach, imaginative infrastructure, planting of native flora, and an all-electric mobility system. Where possible, the project will use local construction materials and work with local businesses and labour, and the hotel is expected to create at least 120 jobs once fully operational.

The property will feature three fine-dining restaurants, a cafe, and a full-service spa and pool, with many of the buildings connected by an overhead art canopy focused on wind movement and natural light.

Story continues

The on-site restaurants will each offer unique experiences for hotel guests and others visiting Hegra. One of the restaurants inside the old railway station will feature an exhibition of carefully preserved artefacts, including a fully-restored train, while another will sit within the Hegra Fort, and a third will feature unobstructed views from a sunken water basin seating area.

John Northen, RCU Vice President of Hotels & Resorts, said: "Sitting at the nexus of AlUla's living museum, The Chedi Hegra embodies the fulfilment of our Journey Through Time master plan with its deep respect for heritage, sustainable design features, and an authentic luxury experience that celebrates what makes AlUla a special destination for travellers seeking both comfort and adventure."

Tommy Lai, Chief Executive Officer of General Hotel Management Pte Ltd (GHM), said: "GHM is thrilled to introduce this luxurious heritage boutique hotel that will offer authentic, unrivalled lifestyle experience deep within the ancient Nabataean site of Hegra. As the first hotel within Saudi Arabia's first UNESCO World Heritage Site, we are committed to preserve the site's integrity while seamlessly integrating modern architecture and comforts. I am certain that guests will recognise and appreciate the value we place in minimising our environmental impact, through the sustainable efforts of the hotel, in addition to our dedication in conserving the legacy of Hegra  a true GHM hallmark of creating inspired spaces."

Noted for editors:

It is always AlUla / not Al-Ula.

About the Royal Commission for AlUla

The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) was established by royal decree in July 2017 to preserve and develop AlUla, a region of outstanding natural and cultural significance in north-west Saudi Arabia. RCU's long-term plan outlines a responsible, sustainable, and sensitive approach to urban and economic development that preserves the area's natural and historic heritage while establishing AlUla as a desirable location to live, work, and visit. This encompasses a broad range of initiatives across archaeology, tourism, culture, education, and the arts, reflecting a commitment to meeting the economic diversification, local community empowerment, and heritage preservation priorities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 programme.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2055472/The_Chedi_Hegra.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2055473/The_Chedi_Hegra.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2055474/The_Chedi_Hegra.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2055475/The_Chedi_Hegra.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1926109/3988332/Royal_Commission_AlUla_Logo.jpg

The Chedi Hegra Guest Room

The Chedi Hegra Restaurant

The Chedi Hegra Water Basin

(PRNewsfoto/Royal Commission for AlUla)

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/royal-commission-for-alula-rcu-partners-with-luxury-hotel-operator-ghm-to-develop-the-chedi-hegra-within-the-hegra-unesco-world-heritage-site-301799078.html

SOURCE Royal Commission for AlUla
Rupert Murdoch - AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File

Rupert Murdoch has entered 11th hour settlement talks in a last-ditch effort to avoid taking the stand in a $1.6bn defamation lawsuit.

The billionaire media mogul was expected to be one of the first witnesses called to testify in the high-profile legal battle with Dominion Voting Systems, which centres around false claims about vote-rigging in the 2020 US presidential election aired on Fox News.

The trial was scheduled to begin on Monday but Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis last night announced a one-day delay, with final jury selection and opening arguments pushed back to Tuesday.

The pause is aimed at giving the two sides more time to reach a potential settlement, Bloomberg reported.

Dominion is seeking $1.6bn in damages from Fox over accusations Mr Murdochs news channel knowingly aired false claims that its ballot counting machines were used to rig the results of the 2020 election.

The bogus claim was falsely pushed by Donald Trump and his allies in the aftermath of the vote under the stop the steal conspiracy .

Fox has argued that claims of vote-rigging by Mr Trump and his lawyers were inherently newsworthy and protected by legal doctrines concerning press freedom.

Fox News is accused of knowingly spreading false claims of fraudulent voting - Fox Business

The two sides are said to have held previous settlement talks. They met with a mediator in December but failed to reach a deal.

However, the discussions are thought to have become more serious over the weekend.

A deal would allow the 92-year-old to avoid having to take the stand under the glare of the worlds media.

The lawsuit has already exposed internal Fox messages from figures including Mr Murdoch, showing widespread scepticism about claims of vote rigging.



Other executives expected to testify included Mr Murdochs son Lachlan, who is chief executive of Fox, as well as Fox News boss Suzanne Scott, and presenter Tucker Carlson.

The trial is expected to last for six weeks.

Dominion, meanwhile, faces a high legal bar to win the case given the First Amendments protection of press freedom in the US.

Story continues

Mr Murdochs failure to reach a settlement so far has raised eyebrows among analysts, given the risk of potentially embarrassing revelations at trial.

The tycoon has previously settled phone-hacking claims relating to the News of the World.

In a blow to Foxs case, Judge Davis last week ruled that the network could not simply argue that the vote-rigging claims were newsworthy, limiting a key line of defence.

In a further setback, the judge has also threatened sanctions against the channel over accusations its lawyers withheld critical details about the role Murdoch played at Fox News.
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ryanair does not expect to see major disruption this summer on account of Boeing's decision to halt deliveries of 737 MAX jets over quality issues, a senior executive told Irish broadcaster RTE on Monday.

The Irish airline in a statement on Friday said it was assessing with Boeing how the issue, related to certain components made by one of the U.S. firm's main suppliers, would impact the 24 737 aircraft which are scheduled for delivery in the remainder of April, May and June.

"We dont anticipate any major disruption this summer," Eddie Wilson, the head the largest airline in the Ryanair Group, Ryanair DAC, told RTE television.

(Writing by Conor Humphries, editing by Ed Osmond)
Company Logo

Dublin, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Saudi Arabia Automotive Interior Market By Vehicle Type, By Component, By Material, By Region, Competition Forecast & Opportunities, 2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



Saudi Arabia automotive interior market is anticipated to witness robust growth during the forecast period, 2023-2027

Factors such as the high demand for SUVs and the increased customer preference for comfort features in an automobile are driving the demand for the Saudi Arabia automotive interior market.

Also, the rapid launch of semi-autonomous and autonomous vehicles in the market and the ongoing technological advancements are expected to create significant growth opportunities for the Saudi Arabia automotive interior market over the next five years.



High Demand for SUVs Drives the Market Growth



In 2020, 452.54 thousand units of total vehicles were sold in Saudi Arabia. The country has abundant resources of oil & gas. Customers prefer to buy SUVs as they provide a comfortable and luxurious experience to the passengers and the availability of oil at low prices.

Also, the government recently lifted the ban on purchasing 7-seater or larger SUVs, which is expected to boost the demand for SUVs in the region considerably. Harsh climatic conditions and the high disposable income of the consumers enable them to afford a quality lifestyle. Large families could easily accommodate large spaces and have head and legroom space.

SUVs have a massive frame and can provide enough room to transport loads of luggage without dropping the back seats. SUVs have a larger load-carrying capacity which makes them suitable for long-distance traveling. SUVs are safer to drive and are integrated with driver assistance systems that lower the risk of driving and alert the driver in time to prevent road accidents.

Market players are launching SUVs in the environment-friendly market and are fuel-efficient to propel the sales of SUVs of their respective brands. SUVs or luxury cars are equipped with several interior components that provide consumers with an enhanced traveling experience. The rise in the demand for SUVs among consumers is expected to bolster the growth of Saudi Arabia automotive interior market over the forecast period.



Technological Advancements of Automotive Interior Components Supports High Market Demand



Market players are investing in research and development activities to find innovative solutions to upgrade the existing infrastructure. Manufacturers are making efforts to find lightweight materials and technologies to reduce the vehicle's weight. The weight of the automobile can also be lowered by changing the weight of the seats.

Story continues

Lightweight material makes vehicles more fuel-efficient. Automotive interior component manufacturers have started to use plastics in vehicle doors and instrument panels. Manufacturers use different kinds of plastic and finishing according to the price range of the vehicle.

Furthermore, the market players have started integrating advanced technologies like voice command control, internet of things technology, and 3D map navigation facility in the in-dash navigation system of the automobile, which is garnering significant attention from potential customers across the country.



Increased Popularity of Autonomous and Semi-Autonomous Vehicles Boosts the Market Growth



The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has allocated funds worth $500bn to invest in the development of Neom, a smart city. It will be built from scratch, and the residents will use the fully autonomous vehicle for daily commute purposes.

The demand for autonomous vehicles is expected to positively affect advanced automotive interior technologies as they need the interior components to switch between the different driver modes seamlessly.

Also, the sales of semi-autonomous vehicles are accelerating at a rapid pace as they contain a combination of automated and manual functions. They are expected to fuel the demand for electronic cockpit systems, which need to be installed in semi-autonomous vehicles.

Competitive Landscape



Detailed analysis of the major companies present in Saudi Arabia automotive interior market.

Robert Bosch GmbH

Continental AG

Denso Corporation

Panasonic Corporation

Magna International Inc.

Lear Corporation

Faurecia S.A.

Visteon Corporation

Yanfeng Automotive Interiors

Faurecia SE

Report Scope:



Saudi Arabia Automotive Interior Market, By Vehicle Type:

Passenger Car

LCV

M&HCV

Saudi Arabia Automotive Interior Market, By Component:

Center Stack

Display

Seat

Door Panel

Headliner

Interior Lightings

Dome Module

Infotainment System

Others

Saudi Arabia Automotive Interior Market, By Material:

Leather

Fabric

Plastic

Glass

Wood

Fiber

Saudi Arabia Automotive Interior Market, By Region:

Northern & Central

Southern

Eastern

Western

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/kxtngx

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

CONTACT: CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood,Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./ CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900




Scorpio Tankers Inc.

MONACO, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE: STNG ) ("Scorpio Tankers," or the "Company") announced today that on Tuesday, May 2, 2023, the Company plans to issue its first quarter 2023 earnings press release in the morning (Eastern Daylight Time) and host a conference call at 8:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time and 2:00 PM Central European Summer Time.



Conference Call Details

Date: Tuesday May 2, 2023

Time: 8:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time and 2:00 PM Central European Summer Time

The conference call will be available over the internet, through the Scorpio Tankers Inc. website www.scorpiotankers.com and the webcast link: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/5d8emazp

Participants for the live webcast should register on the website approximately 10 minutes prior to the start of the webcast.

The conference will also be available telephonically:

US/CANADA Dial-In Number: 1 (833) 630-1956

International Dial-In Number: +1 (412) 317-1837

Please ask to join the Scorpio Tankers Inc call

Conference Code: 10178106

Participants should dial into the call 10 minutes before the scheduled time.

The information provided on the teleconference is only accurate at the time of the conference call, and the Company will take no responsibility for providing updated information.

About Scorpio Tankers Inc.

Scorpio Tankers Inc. is a provider of marine transportation of petroleum products worldwide. Scorpio Tankers Inc. currently owns, finance leases or bareboat charters-in 113 product tankers (39 LR2 tankers, 60 MR tankers and 14 Handymax tankers) with an average age of 7.2 years. Additional information about the Company is available at the Company's website www.scorpiotankers.com , which is not a part of this press release.

Forward-Looking Statements

Matters discussed in this press release may constitute forwardlooking statements. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides safe harbor protections for forwardlooking statements in order to encourage companies to provide prospective information about their business. Forwardlooking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts. The Company desires to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. The words believe, expect, anticipate, estimate, intend, plan, target, project, likely, may, will, would, could and similar expressions identify forwardlooking statements.

Story continues

The forwardlooking statements in this press release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, managements examination of historical operating trends, data contained in the Companys records and other data available from third parties. Although management believes that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond the Companys control, there can be no assurance that the Company will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections. The Company undertakes no obligation, and specifically declines any obligation, except as required by law, to publicly update or revise any forwardlooking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. In addition to these important factors, other important factors that, in the Companys view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forwardlooking statements include unforeseen liabilities, future capital expenditures, revenues, expenses, earnings, synergies, economic performance, indebtedness, financial condition, losses, future prospects, business and management strategies for the management, the length and severity of the ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, including its effect on demand for petroleum products and the transportation thereof, expansion and growth of the Companys operations, risks relating to the integration of assets or operations of entities that it has or may in the future acquire and the possibility that the anticipated synergies and other benefits of such acquisitions may not be realized within expected timeframes or at all, the failure of counterparties to fully perform their contracts with the Company, the strength of world economies and currencies, general market conditions, including fluctuations in charter rates and vessel values, changes in demand for tanker vessel capacity, changes in the Companys operating expenses, including bunker prices, drydocking and insurance costs, the market for the Companys vessels, availability of financing and refinancing, charter counterparty performance, ability to obtain financing and comply with covenants in such financing arrangements, changes in governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities, potential liability from pending or future litigation, general domestic and international political conditions, potential disruption of shipping routes due to accidents or political events, vessels breakdowns and instances of offhires, and other factors. Please see the Companys filings with the SEC for a more complete discussion of certain of these and other risks and uncertainties.

Contact Information

Scorpio Tankers Inc.

James Doyle  Head of Corporate Development & Investor Relations

Tel: +1 646-432-1678

Email: investor.relations@scorpiotankers.com




The Shearwater Group plc (LON:SWG) share price has fared very poorly over the last month, falling by a substantial 29%. For any long-term shareholders, the last month ends a year to forget by locking in a 54% share price decline.

Following the heavy fall in price, Shearwater Group may look like a strong buying opportunity at present with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.4x, considering almost half of all companies in the Software industry in the United Kingdom have P/S ratios greater than 2.7x and even P/S higher than 5x aren't out of the ordinary. However, the P/S might be quite low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

Check out our latest analysis for Shearwater Group

How Has Shearwater Group Performed Recently?

Shearwater Group could be doing better as it's been growing revenue less than most other companies lately. Perhaps the market is expecting the current trend of poor revenue growth to continue, which has kept the P/S suppressed. If this is the case, then existing shareholders will probably struggle to get excited about the future direction of the share price.

If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report on Shearwater Group.

Is There Any Revenue Growth Forecasted For Shearwater Group?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/S as depressed as Shearwater Group's is when the company's growth is on track to lag the industry decidedly.

If we review the last year of revenue growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 16%. Although, its longer-term performance hasn't been as strong with three-year revenue growth being relatively non-existent overall. So it appears to us that the company has had a mixed result in terms of growing revenue over that time.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the two analysts covering the company suggest revenue growth is heading into negative territory, declining 6.9% over the next year. With the industry predicted to deliver 15% growth, that's a disappointing outcome.

Story continues

In light of this, it's understandable that Shearwater Group's P/S would sit below the majority of other companies. Nonetheless, there's no guarantee the P/S has reached a floor yet with revenue going in reverse. There's potential for the P/S to fall to even lower levels if the company doesn't improve its top-line growth.

What Does Shearwater Group's P/S Mean For Investors?

Shearwater Group's P/S looks about as weak as its stock price lately. We'd say the price-to-sales ratio's power isn't primarily as a valuation instrument but rather to gauge current investor sentiment and future expectations.

As we suspected, our examination of Shearwater Group's analyst forecasts revealed that its outlook for shrinking revenue is contributing to its low P/S. As other companies in the industry are forecasting revenue growth, Shearwater Group's poor outlook justifies its low P/S ratio. Unless these conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

Having said that, be aware Shearwater Group is showing 4 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those makes us a bit uncomfortable.

If you're unsure about the strength of Shearwater Group's business, why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals for some other companies you may have missed.

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.

Join A Paid User Research Session

Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here
Elaf Group has signed a deal with DNA Mega International Laundry Company providing for leasing of Central Laundry companys buildings, one of the biggest and most advanced hotel laundries in Makkah and a subsidiary of Elaf Group.

The contract was signed by Majed Kaki, Vice President Elaf Tourism and Elaf Hajj & Umrah at Elaf Group, and Noor Hayati Binti Basri, General Manager, DNA Mega International Laundry Company, at the headquarters of Elaf Group, in the presence of representatives from both the sides, which coincided with the Malaysian Prime Minister's visit to Saudi Arabia.

Central Laundry Company is one of the biggest laundry service providers for hotels. It is highly regarded for its diverse, efficient and high-quality services, especially as it offers laundry, dry-cleaning, steam ironing, and sterilisation services using cutting-edge tools and equipment.

Hospitality sector

The current agreement is in line with Elaf Groups commitment to improve the quality of the hospitality sector in Makkah by addressing the increasing demands for laundry and dry-cleaning services and delivering top-notch customer services.

DNA Mega International Laundry Company is one of the most prominent laundry companies globally that offers services to a diverse range of customers. Headquartered in Malaysia, the company has over 12 years of experience, and during this period it has established a robust position in the sector by delivering exceptional laundry management services as well as high-quality and eco-friendly services. The company strives to constantly enhance its services to match global standards by utilising advanced equipment and tools.-- TradeArabia News Service
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 17, 2023 / Silver X Mining Corp. (TSXV:AGX) (OTCQB:AGXPF) (F:AGX) ("Silver X" or the "Company") announces that it has entered into an asset purchase agreement (the "Agreement") to acquire the Revenue-Virginius Mine ("RV Mine") and certain related assets (collectively with the RV Mine, the "Assets") located in the San Juan Mountains near Ouray, Colorado from Alliance Management LLC (the "Receiver"), as receiver under a court supervised receivership in Ouray County, Colorado (the "Acquisition"). The Acquisition remains subject to several closing conditions, including, without limitation, the approval of the District Court, Ouray County, State of Colorado (the "District Court").

Highlights of the Acquisition

Acquisition of a silver project in the United States, which was previously built to a pre-production stage and was permitted for production prior to entering into receivership.

Low-cost acquisition with infrastructure in place and significant investment by previous owners. The Acquisition provides Silver X with an opportunity to advance the project through the pre-production stages with minimum capital deployment.

Capitalizes on proven expertise and synergies with Silver X's team in Peru, where management has experience applying a modern lens to exploration and mechanizing narrow vein structures.

"The Revenue-Virginius Mine complements Silver X's growth strategy by adding an advanced-stage exploration project to our pipeline at an attractive price," stated Jose Garcia, President and CEO of Silver X. "We believe that the project will benefit from our distinct approach to exploration aimed at generating value by reactivating past producing districts with good potential. While we remain focused on our core operations in Peru, our plan is to execute an exploration program over the next 12-18 months to confirm and strengthen the data and our understanding of the potential resource in advance of making a decision on how to best advance the project."

Story continues

Mr. Garcia continued: "This acquisition presented us with a low-cost opportunity to acquire a project that has already benefitted from considerable investment. With good planning and minimal expenditures, we hope to be able to add value through exploration while diversifying and gaining exposure to the US, a stable, low-risk mining jurisdiction."

Acquisition Summary

Subject to the approval of the District Court, the Assets will be acquired for aggregate consideration of US$4,500,000 payable as follows:

US$200,000 on signing of the Agreement;

US$1,000,000 on closing of the Acquisition;

US$2,000,000 upon the occurrence of (i) the earlier to occur of the transfer or re-issue of key permits or commencement of exploration drilling, and (ii) negotiation of access arrangements with Ouray County; and

US$1,300,000 upon the conditions for the immediately preceding payment having been met and the occurrence of the earlier of the completion of a current technical report, or September 30, 2024.

At Silver X's election on or before May 24, 2023, Silver X has the right to elect to pay the purchase price in full on or before May 31, 2023, and, if so elected, the purchase price will be reduced by US$1 million to US$3.5 million.

The Agreement was signed on April 14, 2023. The Acquisition remains subject to a number of conditions, including receipt of the confirmation of the District Court, completion by Silver X of a financing of not less than US$5 million, receipt of the consent to the assignment to certain material contracts and certain other standard closing conditions. Until the payments set out above have been made, the Assets will be subject to a security interest in favour of the Receiver.

The Acquisition is expected to close during the second quarter of 2023 subject to customary closing conditions including receipt of all required regulatory approvals, including, without limitation the TSX Venture Exchange and the approval of the District Court.

The Revenue-Virginius Mine Overview

The RV Mine is a past-producing polymetallic mine comprised of an epithermal vein system with numerous veins in Tertiary volcanics above the polymetallic replacement deposits hosted in the basal Telluride Conglomerate, including main vein structures such as Virginius, Terrible, Yellow Rose, Montana, Atlas/Cumberland or The Wheel of Fortune. All are quartz-carbonate veins containing silver (Ag), gold (Au), copper (Cu), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) minerals hosted primarily in the San Juan volcanic rocks. Veins range from several inches up to 10 feet in width and have been mined historically and drilled over a vertical extent of over 3,000 feet. The Virginius Vein has been mapped at surface by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) over a distance of approximately 11,700 feet, the Terrible Vein has been traced for over 4,000 feet and the Yellow Rose up to 16,000 feet extending off the current property limits. The northern portion of the property includes the northern extensions of the famous Smuggler-Union vein and several precious metal breccias as well as the main RV Mine vein system.

The RV Mine has been mined historically at various intervals since the late 1800s and has seen significant investment in drilling, development and infrastructure. Most recently owned and operated by Aurcana Silver Corporation ("Aurcana") from 2019 to 2022, production recommenced in 2021 and a feasibility study was completed in 2022. Operations were halted following financial hardships faced by Aurcana and the RV Mine was placed into receivership in March 2022. Much of the project infrastructure is currently in place and had been maintained or upgraded by Aurcana.

A historical estimate prepared in 2021 by SRK Consulting (U.S.), inc. is a report titled "NI 43-101 Technical Report, Feasibility Study, Revenue - Virginius Mine" is presented in the following table:

Table 1: Mineral Resource Estimate as of December 31, 2021 - SRK Consulting (U.S.), Inc.

Tons

(kst) Ag

(oz/t) Au

(oz/t) Pb

(%) Zn

(%) Cu

(%) Au

(koz) Ag

(koz) Pb

(klbs) Zn

(klbs) Cu

(klbs) Measured 306 23.8 0.06 5.38 2.07 0.30 20 7,272 31,586 12,430 1,608 Indicated 707 18.7 0.05 3.81 1.98 0.20 34 13,234 53,947 28,208 2,801 M&I 1,013 20.5 0.05 4.23 1.98 0.23 53 20,506 85,534 40,638 4,409 Inferred 320 30.7 0.07 4.99 2.43 0.25 23 9,881 32,680 15,416 1,601

Notes:

Historic Mineral Resources are reported inclusive of the historic Mineral Reserves.

Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that all or any part of the Mineral Resources estimated will be converted into Mineral Reserves.

Historic Mineral Resource tonnage and contained metal have been rounded to reflect the accuracy of the estimate and numbers may not add due to rounding.

All historic Measured and Indicated estimates with the defined wireframes are considered to have potential for economic extraction as the entire level will be mined.

Historic Inferred Mineral Resources are limited using a NSR cut-off US$200/st.

Historic Metal price assumptions considered for the calculation of NSR are: Gold (US$1,765/oz), Silver (US$23.75/oz), Lead (US$0.95/lb), and Zinc (US$1.15/lb).

Historic Cut-off calculations assume average metallurgical recoveries equal to: Gold (68%), Silver (94%), Lead (95%), Copper (91%) and Zinc (94%).

The historic resources were estimated by Benjamin Parsons, BSc, MSc Geology, MAusIMM (CP) #222568 of SRK, a Qualified Person Source: SRK, 2022.

The above resource statement predates Silver X's acquisition of its interest in the RV Mine and is therefore considered to be a historical reserve estimate. As the RV Mine is a past-producing mine with production history, the Company believes that historical estimates are relevant in that they provide a general basis for establishing the potential of mineralized material and historic production statements, however, a qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves and they should not be relied upon until verified. Silver X is not treating the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves.

The Company will initiate a 12- to 18-month exploration program to confirm and strengthen the data and its geological understanding of the project. With the results of the exploration program and its verification of the recent historical estimate the Company may then decide to produce a new compliant mineral resource as defined under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

Qualified Person

Mr. A. David Heyl, B.Sc., C.P.G., is the qualified person under National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") for Silver X and has reviewed, approved and verified the technical content of this news release. Mr. Heyl is a consultant for Silver X.

About Silver X Mining Corp.

Silver X is a rapidly-expanding silver developer and producer. The Company owns the 20,000-hectare Nueva Recuperada Silver District in Central Peru and produces silver, gold, lead and zinc from its Tangana Project. Our mission is to be a premier silver company delivering outstanding value to all stakeholders and we aim to achieve this by consolidating and developing undervalued assets, creating value by adding resources and increasing production while aspiring to social and environmental excellence. For more information visit our website at www.silverxmining.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Jose M. Garcia

CEO and Director

For further information, please contact:

Fiona Grant Leydier

Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Marketing

T: +1 647 259 6901 x 101

E: f.grant@silverxmining.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding "Forward-Looking" Information

This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation ("forward-looking information"). Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain acts, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". All information contained in this press release, other than statements of current and historical fact, is forward looking information. Forward-looking information contained in this press release may include, without limitation, the expected closing of the Acquisition including obtaining all court and required regulatory approvals, expected potential expansion of the Company's future cash flow, expected completion and success of exploration plans and performance of the RV Mine; expected added value to the Company as a result of the Acquisition; exploration plans, results of operations, expected performance at the Project, and the expected financial performance of the Company.

The following are some of the assumptions upon which forward-looking information is based: that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner; demand for, and stable or improving price for the commodities we produce; receipt of regulatory and governmental approvals, permits and renewals in a timely manner; that the Company will not experience any material accident, labour dispute or failure of plant or equipment or other material disruption in the Company's operations at the Project and Nueva Recuperada Plant; the availability of financing for operations and development; the Company's ability to procure equipment and operating supplies in sufficient quantities and on a timely basis; that the estimates of the resources at the Project and the geological, operational and price assumptions on which these and the Company's operations are based are within reasonable bounds of accuracy (including with respect to size, grade and recovery); the Company's ability to attract and retain skilled personnel and directors; and the ability of management to execute strategic goals.

Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company, as the case may be, to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to those risks described in the Company's annual and interim MD&As and in its public documents filed on www.sedar.com from time to time. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

SOURCE: Silver X Mining Corp.





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/749639/Silver-X-Mining-to-Acquire-Revenue-Virginius-Mine-Assets-in-Ouray-Colorado-Out-of-Receivership




Sir Martin Sorrell - Hollie Adams/Bloomberg

Sir Martin Sorrell is receiving chemotherapy after undergoing successful keyhole surgery to remove a malignant tumour.

The advertising executive said he was making an excellent recovery following an operation in February.

In a note to staff, he said: As you would expect, I have sought the best possible medical advice. My conclusion is that I should have preventative treatment over the coming months.

It is understood that Sir Martin, who is executive chairman of digital advertising business S4 Capital, will receive a low dose of chemotherapy as a precaution to prevent the cancer from returning.

The advertising boss said he expected to be able to work as normal most of the time. However, he has decided to reduce his travel schedule for the next few weeks.

Sir Martin, 78, founded S4 Capital in 2018 following his acrimonious departure from WPP, the advertising behemoth he built from a shell company more than three decades previously.

He has since grown S4 rapidly through a series of acquisitions, including digital media firms MediaMonks and MightyHive.

The company now employs roughly 8,900 people around the world, with 70pc of its revenues in the Americas.

The group published Sir Martins note to employees, which was addressed to all S4 Monks, on Monday.

Sir Martin wrote: My doctors have advised me that during this treatment, I should be able to work as normal most of the time, fully engaging with the company and our excellent executive team, although I have also decided to reduce my travel schedule for a few weeks.

Otherwise, business as usual. Thank you as ever for your continued support and let me know how to help you in any way I can.

S4 was last year rocked by accounting issues after its finance department struggled to keep pace with the rapid expansion.

Shares have slumped by 50pc over the last year, with the companys market value falling to 900m.

The company has previously said it has a succession plan in place for Sir Martins retirement, but has not issued any details.
(Bloomberg) -- Ukraines crop exports are being threatened again, with Black Sea shipments halting just as some of its European Union neighbors stop allowing imports of its cargoes.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Kyiv on Monday said Russia has blocked inspections of vessels under a key safe-passage deal, the second time in a week that the corridor has ground to a halt. Thats happening as Poland, Hungary and Slovakia in recent days banned imports of Ukrainian grain over concerns the supplies are hurting their domestic markets.

Its a setback for Ukraine, which when faced with difficulties shipping by sea in the wake of Russias invasion had been sending some cargoes by rail, truck and river through its EU neighbors. Port-export and EU transit issues would make it much harder for Ukraine to supply developing nations and get vital foreign currency income, while also threatening to push up global crop prices.

For now, traders dont appear to be hugely concerned, with supplies from the new season several months away. Benchmark wheat futures traded in Chicago added 0.3%, reversing earlier losses but remaining within recent weeks trading range.

Ukrainian agribusiness HarvEast is already feeling the impact of the bans. Negotiations over a new contract with a major client in Slovakia were called off after the country announced restrictions, Chief Executive Officer Dmitry Skornyakov said in an interview.

For most farmers its not so critical now because its the end of season and most of the crop was already sold, but if it continues in the summer it will be very very challenging for us to survive, he said. HarvEast ships about 60% of its produce via Black Sea ports  including via the corridor  and 40% by rail and road through Europe.

Story continues

Slovakia said while it hasnt set a date to end the import ban, Ukraine can still transit its grain through Slovakian territory. Poland and Hungary banned Ukrainian agricultural imports, without specifying what that means for transit of goods through their countries.

The import bans by the three eastern EU nations underscore splinters in the blocs efforts to support Ukraine. Member states have voiced dissent over issues including arming Kyiv, banning Russian energy imports and helping the war-ravaged country to export food that helps feed millions in developing nations.

Poland and other neighboring nations had agreed to help Ukraine  a crucial grain supplier  to move its cargoes through their territory after Moscows invasion temporarily blocked Black Sea exports last year. But part of that supply is now piling up in eastern Europe. Thats adding pressure on local farmers as global grain prices have slumped from last years peak.

A Grain Glut Is Straining the Goodwill That Ukraine Badly Needs

The EU at the weekend slammed the decisions by Poland and Hungary to ban imports from Ukraine, saying unilateral actions were unacceptable and a potential breach of the blocs trade policy. The governments of Hungary and Poland have blamed the EU for allegedly being slow to address the plight of farmers there.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko will join a government delegation thats due to arrive in Warsaw on Monday for talks to resolve the grain glut, Polish private radio RMF FM reported on its website, without saying where it got the information.

Inspections Halted

Ukraines infrastructure ministry said Russian inspectors in Istanbul unilaterally stopped registering vessels that Ukrainian ports submit to form an inspection plan for Black Sea cargoes. That means that an inspection plan hasnt been drawn up, the ministry said.

Inspections were also briefly halted last week, and Russia has indicated it may quit the initiative if its issues arent resolved by mid-May. The threat underscores uncertainty over the export deal that has been crucial for bringing down global food-commodity costs from records reached after Russias invasion.

The Joint Coordination Centre in Istanbul, which oversees inspections and hosts teams from Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations, didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. The UN last week said differing views had arisen over Ukraine submitting lists of vessels to be checked.

The grain initiative is under threat of shutdown, Ukraine Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said. This is another Russian attempt to dictate its policies to the world, endanger food security, and use food as a weapon.

For Ukraines cargoes moving through the EU, Kyiv expects that agreements will be made to restore transit, according to Denys Marchuk, deputy chair of the Ukrainian Agrarian Council.

--With assistance from Michael Winfrey, Olesia Safronova, Piotr Skolimowski and Veronika Gulyas.

(Updates with details on import bans in seventh paragraph)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Door County was ranked as the third-best of the state's 72 counties to own a small business in 2022, according to SmartAsset.

DOOR COUNTY - If you own a small business on the Peninsula, you're in a good place in Wisconsin, a national study says.

The study by New York-based financial technology and advice company SmartAsset ranked Door County as the third-best of the state's 72 counties to own a small business in 2022, based on the number of small businesses operating in each county, how much income they generate and what they pay in taxes. Nationally, the county came in at No. 1,172, one of nine in Wisconsin to rank in the top 2,000.

The study considered five factors:

Small Business Returns, which is the percentage of people in a county with small business income as defined by the Internal Revenue Service, according to their tax returns. The IRS considers small businesses as those who file Form 1040 or 1040-SR, Schedules C, E, F or Form 2106, as well as businesses with assets of less than $10 million;

The percentage of income in each county generated by small businesses, as reported in tax returns;

The potential income tax burden, which gave every county in Wisconsin the same number;

The change over the past five years of small business tax returns;

And the five-year change in small business income.

Door County ranked second in the state in small business returns with 26.22%, trailing only Vilas County at 27.36%, and sixth for small business income with 11.31%. The county also ranked ninth in the five-year change in small business returns with a score of 45.6 and 42nd in five-year income change with a 7.37. The five-year-change scores were indexed by SmartAsset on a scale with the top score being 100.

SmartAsset then created an index using the five factors to come up with a final score for each county. The Door's final score of 46.5 trailed the 48.41 given to Pepin County in western Wisconsin and the 48.18 tallied by Clark County in central Wisconsin. The only other county in the eastern part of the state to make the Top 10 was Ozaukee, which placed fifth.

Story continues

In previous SmartAsset small business studies, Door County placed second in 2020 behind Vilas County and fifth in 2019. Those surveys used the first three factors given, not taking into account the two five-year factors.

Korey Mallien, director of marketing and communications for Door County Economic Development Corp., said the survey confirms the organization's belief in the opportunities to run or start a small business on the Peninsula. He noted that DCEDC has several ways it fosters small business growth, including its annual Entrepreneurial Training Program in conjunction with the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Mallien also pointed out a U.S. Census Bureau report issued in September that said the midwestern U.S. saw a 3.7% increase in small business startups over the previous eight quarters, higher than any other region in the country.

"Small businesses are the backbone of the U.S. economy, and that's certainly true of Door County," Mallien said. "There are so many small businesses up and down the Peninsula. The survey reflects that Door County is a great place to start a small business."

For more on the studies, including interactive maps and an explanation of the methodology, visit smartasset.com/checking-account/savings-calculator?year=2022#wisconsin/smallBusinessIndex-0.

Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or cclough@doorcountyadvocate.com.

MORE: Door County organic farms win funds to support local food production, hunger relief

MORE: Lake Michigan water levels are high and will keep rising, but nowhere near record levels

MORE: Door County Candle owners win big - really big - on NBC game show 'The Wall'

FOR MORE DOOR COUNTY NEWS: Check out our website

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Small businesses thrive in Door County, study says
The Brainy Insights

The increasing demand for monoclonal antibodies and biosimilars and the rising usage of single-use bioreactors for mammalian cell culture in several research studies are the driving factors of the small-scale bioreactors market growth. North America region emerged as the largest global small-scale bioreactors market, with a 48.22% market revenue share in 2022.

Newark, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Brainy Insights estimates that the small-scale bioreactors market will grow to USD 1.56 billion in 2022 and reach USD 5.32 billion by 2032. In just ten years, increasing demand for breakthrough therapies, growing research programs for biopharmaceutical production, and rising government funding are also anticipated to drive market growth during the forecast period. Moreover, the increase in awareness related to the technological aspects of different bioreactors by organizations, coupled with the growing investment by CMOs for capacity expansion, is the driving factor of the market growth.



Download Report Sample (230+ Pages PDF with Insights) at: https://www.thebrainyinsights.com/enquiry/sample-request/13395

Key Insight of the Small-scale bioreactors Market



North America to account for the largest market size during the forecast period.



North America is expected to have the largest market share in small-scale bioreactors. Key factors favouring the growth of the small-scale bioreactors market in North America include increased demand for novel biologic drugs, the use of cells for the commercial production and development of vaccines, and the increase in the number of biomanufacturing facilities and investments are helping stimulate the market growth. Further, increasing collaborations between industry and academics to conduct R&D and advanced research in the field of life sciences are expected to drive market growth in this region.



The 1L-3L segment is expected to augment the Small-scale bioreactors market during the forecast period.



Story continues

The 1L-3L segment held the largest market share in 2022 and is expected to continue during the forecast period owing to its capacity to create customized drugs that target specific medical issues.



The single-use bioreactors segment market size was USD 0.87 billion in 2022



The single-use bioreactors segment is anticipated to dominate the market over the forecast period owing to the rising investments in single-use technologies. Additionally, the exceptional ability to improve flexibility, lower investment, and reduce operational expenses is also helping to boost the segments market growth. Further, by 2032, the reusable bioreactors segment will likely dominate the market due to the increasing R&D for novel product development.



The pharmaceutical & biopharmaceutical companies segment is anticipated to dominate the market by 52.05% in 2032.



The pharmaceutical & biopharmaceutical companies segment is anticipated to dominate the market by 52.05% in 2032 due to the increasing incidences of chronic diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, arthritis, and cancer. Additionally, the advancements in healthcare infrastructure, increasing government spending on healthcare policies, and the presence of essential members are also helping to boost the segments market growth. The CROs & CMOs segment held the largest share in the global small-scale bioreactors market in 2022 due to the increasing number of biologics pipelines. Additionally, increasing investment by the small and big biopharma players is also helping to boost the segments market growth.



Browse the full report with Table of Contents and List of Figures: https://www.thebrainyinsights.com/report/small-scale-bioreactors-market-13395

Advancement in Market



For example, in March 2022, Cellexus, a biotechnology firm, declared the launch of a faster & more inexpensive single-use airlift bioreactor, CellMaker, that assists scientists in expanding fragile cell cultures for their R&D activities.



Market Dynamics



Driver: The growth of bioreactors in pharmaceuticals:



The bioreactor is a container that is utilized to house organisms. Fermenters/bioreactors are designed to stimulate microorganisms to thrive, permitting sufficient fermentation to create a usable end product. The bioreactor technology utilized in pharmaceuticals helps a broad area of biological research, from cell treatment to vaccine development. Moreover, the rising incidence of lifestyle diseases like cancer and diabetes drives the market growth. However, the increase in the popularity of biologics and single-use bioreactors in biotechnological research is also helping to propel market growth.



Restraint: The concerns regarding the use of single-use bioreactors (SUBs):



A lack of adequate storage facilities, vulnerability to leaching, and transportation is also hindering the market growth. Moreover, the regulatory concerns regarding the usage of bioreactors and increasingly stringent government policies and regulations toward market growth are expected to restrain the market growth. However, the lack of dependable, accurate, and affordable sensors can meet single-use bioreactors' requirements. Additionally, to manage the system without compromising the sterility of the materials, the sensors utilized in single-use bioreactors must be compatible with the existing single-use bioreactors platforms. Single-use bioreactor systems have naturally had sensors installed, but this practice decreased the quality of the finished product. Thus, these factors are restraining the market growth.



Opportunity: The technological advancements in bioreactors:



The technological advancements in bioreactors are the opportunity factor for market growth. Further, the increase in the prevalence of various diseases that occur due to changes in the lifestyle of human beings is the driving factor of market growth. Moreover, the increasing healthcare expenditure and the presence of significant market players, coupled with the rising R&D expenditure of major biotechnology companies, are expected to propel market growth over the forecast period.



Inquiry Before Buying: https://www.thebrainyinsights.com/enquiry/buying-inquiry/13395



Some of the major players operating in the Small-scale bioreactors market are:



 Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

 Sartorius AG

 Eppendorf AG

 Lonza Group

 Merck KGaA

 Eppendorf AG

 Danaher Corp

 Solaris Biotechnology Srl

 Getinge AB

 Miltenyi Biotec

 Infors AG



Key Segments cover in the market:



By Capacity:



 5 ML -100 ML

 100 ML-250 ML

 250 ML -500 ML

 500 ML-1 L

 1L-3L

 3L-5L



By Product:



 Single-Use Bioreactors

 Reusable Bioreactors



 Glass Bioreactors

 Stainless-Steel Bioreactors



By End-User:



 CROs & CMOs

 Pharmaceutical & Biopharmaceutical Companies

 Academic & Research Institutes



By Region



 North America (U.S., Canada, Mexico)

 Europe (Germany, France, the U.K., Italy, Spain, Rest of Europe)

 Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, India, Rest of APAC)

 South America (Brazil and the Rest of South America)

 The Middle East and Africa (UAE, South Africa, Rest of MEA)



Inquire for Customized Data: https://www.thebrainyinsights.com/enquiry/request-customization/13395



About the report:



The market is analyzed based on value (USD Billion). All the segments have been analyzed worldwide, regional, and country basis. The study includes the analysis of more than 30 countries for each part. The report analyzes driving factors, opportunities, restraints, and challenges for gaining critical insight into the market. The study includes porter's five forces model, attractiveness analysis, product analysis, supply, and demand analysis, competitor position grid analysis, distribution, and marketing channels analysis.



About The Brainy Insights:



The Brainy Insights is a market research company that provides actionable insights through data analytics to companies to improve their business acumen. They have a robust forecasting and estimation model to meet the client's objectives of high-quality output within a short period. They provide both customized (client-specific) and syndicate reports. Their repository of syndicate reports is diverse across all the categories and sub-categories across domains. Their customized solutions meet the client's requirements whether they are looking to expand or planning to launch a new product in the global market.



Contact Us



Avinash D

Head of Business Development

Phone: +1-315-215-1633

Email: sales@thebrainyinsights.com

Web: http://www.thebrainyinsights.com




Despite an already strong run, Soma Gold Corp. (CVE:SOMA) shares have been powering on, with a gain of 54% in the last thirty days. Looking back a bit further, it's encouraging to see the stock is up 91% in the last year.

After such a large jump in price, Soma Gold's price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 62.6x might make it look like a strong sell right now compared to the market in Canada, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios below 10x and even P/E's below 5x are quite common. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly elevated P/E.

For instance, Soma Gold's receding earnings in recent times would have to be some food for thought. One possibility is that the P/E is high because investors think the company will still do enough to outperform the broader market in the near future. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

See our latest analysis for Soma Gold

We don't have analyst forecasts, but you can see how recent trends are setting up the company for the future by checking out our free report on Soma Gold's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What Are Growth Metrics Telling Us About The High P/E?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/E as steep as Soma Gold's is when the company's growth is on track to outshine the market decidedly.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 94% decrease to the company's bottom line. This has erased any of its gains during the last three years, with practically no change in EPS being achieved in total. Therefore, it's fair to say that earnings growth has been inconsistent recently for the company.

This is in contrast to the rest of the market, which is expected to grow by 7.0% over the next year, materially higher than the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.

With this information, we find it concerning that Soma Gold is trading at a P/E higher than the market. It seems most investors are ignoring the fairly limited recent growth rates and are hoping for a turnaround in the company's business prospects. Only the boldest would assume these prices are sustainable as a continuation of recent earnings trends is likely to weigh heavily on the share price eventually.

Story continues

The Final Word

Shares in Soma Gold have built up some good momentum lately, which has really inflated its P/E. Generally, our preference is to limit the use of the price-to-earnings ratio to establishing what the market thinks about the overall health of a company.

Our examination of Soma Gold revealed its three-year earnings trends aren't impacting its high P/E anywhere near as much as we would have predicted, given they look worse than current market expectations. When we see weak earnings with slower than market growth, we suspect the share price is at risk of declining, sending the high P/E lower. Unless the recent medium-term conditions improve markedly, it's very challenging to accept these prices as being reasonable.

You need to take note of risks, for example - Soma Gold has 5 warning signs (and 2 which don't sit too well with us) we think you should know about.

It's important to make sure you look for a great company, not just the first idea you come across. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a low P/E).

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.

Join A Paid User Research Session

Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here
South African Tourism

Induction of Hugh Masekela into Jazz at Lincoln Center Ertegun Hall of Fame

Hugh Masekelas children, Selema Masekela and Pula Twala, and his nephew, Mabusha Masekela accept Ertegun Hall of Fame award on behalf of the late jazz musician from Seton Hawkins (Jazz at Lincoln Center) and Themba Khumalo (South African Tourism).

NEW YORK, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- South African Tourism , in collaboration with the Hugh Masekela Heritage Foundation , celebrated the legendary jazz musician, Hugh Masekela, at an event held at Dizzy's Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center. The event honored Masekela's contributions to jazz music and his impact on South Africa as a cultural destination.



The highlight of the afternoon was the induction of Hugh Masekela into the Ertegun Hall of Fame, a prestigious recognition for his exceptional talent and remarkable achievements in the music industry. South African Tourism and the Hugh Masekela Heritage Foundation hosted a pre-induction reception at Jazz at Lincoln Centers Ertegun Hall of Fame which was attended by special guests, jazz enthusiasts, and journalists, who gathered to pay tribute to Masekela's legacy. Following the reception, guests were invited to Dizzys Club for the induction ceremony and special musical performances, which included select performances from Hugh Masekela Heritage Foundation scholarship students from the Manhattan School of Music. Selema Masekela and Pula Twala, the children of Hugh Masekela, accepted the honor on behalf of their late father.

Hugh Masekela, fondly known as "Bra Hugh," was born and raised in South Africa, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time. His unique style and fusion of African rhythms, jazz, and world music have captivated audiences around the globe for decades. Masekela's music has become a symbol of South African culture, showcasing the rich heritage and diversity of the country and inspiring travelers to experience the destination's unique offerings.

In 2015 Hugh Masekela established the Hugh Masekela Heritage Foundation for the express purpose of preserving and promoting our African heritage and the restoration of our African identity through various mediums. In the five years since his passing the Hugh Masekela Heritage Foundation has continued to devote energy and time to maintaining and motivating projects that Bra Hugh initiated while still with us, as well as new initiatives that fit within our mission statement, stated Pula Twala, Board Member of the Hugh Masekela Heritage Foundation. None of these projects or initiatives would be possible without the continued support, both material and spiritual, of our friends and family, sisters and sons, institutions and organizations, near and far, sharing the values that Hugh espoused, promoted and stood for.

Story continues

Visitors to South Africa can immerse themselves in the local culture through music, art, dance, and cuisine, which are integral parts of the country's identity. The destination also offers a range of adventure activities such as wildlife safaris, hiking, and water sports, making it an ideal destination for travelers seeking unique and diverse experiences.

Speaking about the event, Themba Khumalo, Acting CEO of South African Tourism said, "We are honored to pay tribute to the late Hugh Masekela, a true icon of jazz music and a cultural ambassador for South Africa. His music continues to inspire and captivate audiences around the world, and his legacy lives on through the Hugh Masekela Heritage Foundation. We are proud to celebrate his induction into the Ertegun Hall of Fame and highlight the unique cultural offerings of South Africa as a must-visit destination for travelers seeking enriching experiences."

The event honoring Hugh Masekela at Dizzys Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center was a successful celebration of his legacy and South Africa's cultural richness. South African Tourism is focused on promoting the country's cultural heritage and diverse travel offerings to visitors from around the world, inspired by the legendary musician's contributions to jazz and his homeland.

ABOUT SOUTH AFRICAN TOURISM

South African Tourism is the national agency responsible for marketing South Africa as a preferred leisure and business events destination.

From breathtaking beauty to sun-soaked coasts; from wildlife to adventure; from vibrant urban energy to the incredible warmth and cultural diversity of its people  South Africa is a travelers dream! Destination South Africa offers a wide variety of experiences in close proximity including wildlife safaris in 19 national parks, breathtaking diverse scenic outdoor spaces, vibrant modern designer cities, an amazing 2,500 km coastline with Blue Flag beaches, inspiring heritage and cultural journeys, as well as active adventure experiences and holidays offering impressive value for time and money at any budget.

ABOUT THE HUGH MASEKELA HERITAGE FOUNDATION

From his birth to his passing Hugh Masekelas most ardent passion was the restoration, promotion and evolution of African identity, heritage and culture. The Hugh Masekela Heritage Foundation is an expression of that passion, that legacy, through the creation of cultural information programmes, the support and involvement in heritage arts, and the dissemination of this information and cultural inheritance throughout the African Diaspora and the world. The Foundations specific focus is in the areas of Inter-generational collaborations, Exhibitions, Music, Dance, Theatre, Literature, Visual, Culinary, Arts, African History, Languages and Genealogy. www.hmhf.co.za

Contact:

Justin Barnette, Head: Marketing & Comms North America, South African Tourism

justin@southafrica.net

Taryn McCarthy, Account Supervisor, MMGY Myriad,

tmccarthy@myriadmarketing.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0c495997-1d06-4c91-b2f6-e77696c87415

The photo is also available at Newscom, www.newscom.com, and via AP PhotoExpress.




AstuteAnalytica India Pvt. Ltd.

The South American synthetic rubber market has significant potential due to the region's large automobile industry and growing demand for durable and high-performance rubber products in various sectors, including construction, packaging, and industrial manufacturing. The increasing focus on sustainability and eco-friendly materials in the region is also expected to drive the demand for synthetic rubber in the coming years.

New Delhi, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- South America synthetic rubber market was worth US$ 1,367.47 million in 2022 and is expected to reach US$ 1,898.52 million by 2031 at a CAGR of 4.19% during the forecast period.

Get Free sample copy of this report @ https://www.astuteanalytica.com/request-sample/south-america-synthetic-rubber-market

The synthetic rubber market has been experiencing healthy growth in recent years and is expected to continue this trend. The market is driven by various factors, including the increasing demand for synthetic rubber in automotive, construction, and other industrial sectors, as well as technological advancements and the need for eco-friendly and sustainable materials. As of 2021, the total production of synthetic rubber in South America was approximately 544,130 metric tons, while the consumption was around 530,000 metric tons. It is projected that both production and consumption will continue to grow at a moderate rate, CAGR of around 4% over the forecast period.

The most popular type of synthetic rubber in South America is Styrene-Butadiene Rubber (SBR), which accounts for approximately 32% of the market share. SBR is widely used in tire manufacturing, footwear, and other industrial applications due to its excellent resistance to abrasion, low-temperature flexibility, and ability to mix with other types of synthetic rubbers.

One of the key factors driving the growth of the synthetic rubber market in South America is the increasing demand for eco-friendly and sustainable materials. As the awareness about the impact of synthetic materials on the environment grows, more and more companies are looking for alternatives to traditional rubber materials. Synthetic rubber offers a more sustainable and eco-friendly solution as it is derived from petrochemicals, which are non-renewable resources, but are more efficient to produce and have a lower carbon footprint than natural rubber.

Story continues

Moreover, the increasing adoption of technology in the production process is also contributing to the growth of the market. Advances in technology have led to the development of innovative manufacturing processes and improved production efficiency, which have resulted in cost savings for manufacturers and higher quality products for end-users.

Transportation Industry to Generate More than 54% Revenue of South America Synthetic Rubber Market

The major end users of synthetic rubber in South America are:

Transportation Industry: 54% market share

Building & Construction Industry: 17.9% market share

Textile and Apparel: 11.2% market share

Medical: 8.7% market share

The transportation industry is the largest contributor to the South America synthetic rubber market, generating over 54% of the total revenue. This is due to the significant demand for synthetic rubber in tire production, which is a key component of vehicles. The South American tire market is projected to grow at a CAGR of around 6% over the next 10 years.

In 2021, approximately 12 million passenger cars were sold in South America, while the region also witnessed the production of approximately 10.2 million vehicles. The demand for new tires is expected to increase in the aftermarket, which accounts for about 55% of the total tire demand in South America. The growing demand for tire replacements can be attributed to factors such as rising disposable income, increasing vehicle ownership, and the need for better-performing tires.

In terms of market share, the compact car segment is the largest in South America, accounting for approximately 35% of the total passenger car market share. The mid-size car segment comes in second, with around 28% of the market share. Overall, the South America synthetic rubber market offers significant opportunities for manufacturers and suppliers of synthetic rubber products, especially those that can offer high-quality, cost-effective, and sustainable solutions to meet the growing demand from the automotive industry and other end-user sectors.

Fluctuating Raw material Prices to Pose a Challenge for Players in South America Synthetic Rubber Market

The fluctuating prices of raw materials pose a challenge to the South American market. The primary raw materials used in synthetic rubber production are monomers derived from petroleum, such as styrene and butadiene. Prices of these monomers are influenced by various factors, including crude oil prices, supply and demand dynamics, and geopolitical events.

In 2019, crude oil prices showed moderate fluctuations, ranging between $50 and $70 per barrel. This, in turn, led to some variability in the prices of styrene and butadiene. However, in general, prices remained relatively stable compared to the subsequent years. The global economy experienced a significant impact from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, causing a sharp decline in demand for oil and petroleum-based products. As a result, crude oil prices dropped dramatically, falling as low as $20 per barrel in April. This led to decreased prices for raw materials used in synthetic rubber production. However, as economies in the South America synthetic rubber market began to recover and demand started to rebound, prices for styrene and butadiene increased towards the end of the year.

The year 2021 saw a gradual recovery in demand for petroleum-based products, and crude oil prices began to stabilize. Prices increased to around $60-$70 per barrel, leading to a moderate increase in the prices of styrene and butadiene. However, supply chain disruptions and geopolitical tensions contributed to periodic fluctuations in raw material prices throughout the year.

These fluctuations in raw material prices create uncertainties for synthetic rubber producers in South America, affecting their production costs and profitability. The market's ability to adapt to these price changes and maintain a steady supply of raw materials will be crucial for the continued growth of the synthetic rubber industry in the region.

Brazil to Hold More than 40% Revenue Share of the South America Synthetic Rubber Market

Brazil is expected to dominate the South America market with a market share of more than 40%. This is largely due to its strong manufacturing base and high demand from various end-user industries, including automotive, construction, transportation, footwear, and manufacturing. Wherein, the automotive industry is a key driver in Brazil, accounting for a significant share of the demand for synthetic rubber. Brazil is one of the largest producers of vehicles in the world, with over 2.5 million units produced in 2021. This high production volume translates into a significant demand for synthetic rubber, which is used extensively in tire manufacturing.

The construction industry is another key driver of the synthetic rubber market in Brazil. With the government investing heavily in infrastructure development, the demand for synthetic rubber in the construction sector is expected to grow. Synthetic rubber is used in construction applications such as roofing, flooring, waterproofing, and sealants due to its excellent resistance to weather and chemicals.

The manufacturing industry is another important contributor to the synthetic rubber market in Brazil. The country is home to several large manufacturers of synthetic rubber, which helps to meet the domestic demand for synthetic rubber products and also export to other countries. This is further supported by the presence of large manufacturers in Brazil, such as Petrobras, Braskem, and Lanxess, is also expected to drive the growth of the market in the country. These companies have a strong presence in the domestic market and also export their products to other countries.

Browse summary of the report and Complete Table of Contents (ToC): https://www.astuteanalytica.com/industry-report/south-america-synthetic-rubber-market

Top 6 Players Hold More than 55% Revenue Share of South America Synthetic Tire Market

The South American synthetic rubber market appears to be moderately concentrated, with the top six players contributing more than 55% of the market share. ContiTec, a dominant market player, likely holds a substantial share of this percentage. A moderately concentrated market like this suggests that there is room for smaller players to enter the market, but they may face challenges in competing with the top players.

Some factors that may influence the competitiveness of the South American synthetic rubber market include:

Demand growth: The demand for synthetic rubber in South America may be driven by various industries, such as automotive, construction, and consumer goods. If the demand for synthetic rubber continues to grow in these sectors, it can lead to increased competition among market players.

Technological advancements: Innovations in the production process and the development of new synthetic rubber products could influence the competitiveness of the market. Companies that invest in R&D and adopt advanced technologies may gain a competitive advantage over their rivals.

Raw material prices: The prices of raw materials, such as crude oil and natural gas, can impact the production costs of synthetic rubber. Companies that can effectively manage their supply chain and mitigate the risks associated with fluctuating raw material prices may have a competitive edge.

Regulatory landscape: Environmental regulations and trade policies can have a significant impact on the synthetic rubber market. Companies that can adapt to changes in the regulatory environment and implement sustainable practices are likely to be more competitive.

Some of the Top Market Players Are:

ContiTech

Goodyear

HM Rubber

Rubber Brasil

Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd.

Yokohama

Mg Industria E Comercio S.A.

Industries De Calcados Kissol Ltda

Vulcabrasazaleia (Vulcabras)

Dakota Nordeste S.A.

Other Prominent players

Directly Purchase a copy of report with TOC @ https://www.astuteanalytica.com/inquire-before-purchase/south-america-synthetic-rubber-market

About Astute Analytica

Astute Analytica is a global analytics and advisory company which has built a solid reputation in a short period, thanks to the tangible outcomes we have delivered to our clients. We pride ourselves in generating unparalleled, in depth and uncannily accurate estimates and projections for our very demanding clients spread across different verticals. We have a long list of satisfied and repeat clients from a wide spectrum including technology, healthcare, chemicals, semiconductors, FMCG, and many more. These happy customers come to us from all across the Globe. They are able to make well calibrated decisions and leverage highly lucrative opportunities while surmounting the fierce challenges all because we analyze for them the complex business environment, segment wise existing and emerging possibilities, technology formations, growth estimates, and even the strategic choices available. In short, a complete package. All this is possible because we have a highly qualified, competent, and experienced team of professionals comprising of business analysts, economists, consultants, and technology experts. In our list of priorities, you-our patron-come at the top. You can be sure of best cost-effective, value-added package from us, should you decide to engage with us.

Contact us:

Aamir Beg

BSI Business Park, H-15,Sector-63, Noida- 201301- India

Phone: +1-888 429 6757 (US Toll Free); +91-0120- 4483891 (Rest of the World)

Email: sales@astuteanalytica.com

Website: www.astuteanalytica.com




(Bloomberg) -- The Alberta Energy Regulator is reconsidering approval of a plan allowing Suncor Energy Inc. to extend its Fort Hills oil-sands mine into nearby wetlands after pressure from an environmental group.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The AER in September approved Suncors plan for protecting certain portions of the McClelland Lake Wetlands Complex, a necessary step for allowing mining to expand in the area. The agency said in an email that its now reconsidering that approval.

The Alberta Wilderness Association had asked the regulator to revoke the permission after finding deficiencies in Suncors plan that pose a serious risk to the wetlands.

Suncor hasnt been told whether authorization would be reconsidered, Leithan Slade, Suncor spokesman, said by email. The plan for the wetlands was the result of years of work informed by a Sustainability Committee struck in 2005, including representatives of local Indigenous communities.

Located in northern Alberta, Fort Hills is Canadas newest oil-sands mine. The site began operation about five years ago and produced about 164,000 barrels a day last year, AER data show.

The Alberta Energy Regulator is facing increased federal oversight and a third-party review of its response to a tailings-pond leak at Imperial Oil Ltd.s Kearl oil-sands mine that was criticized by local indigenous communities.

(Adds Suncor comment in fourth paragraph)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Reuters

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday warned that failure by Congress to raise the government's debt ceiling - and the resulting default - would trigger an "economic catastrophe" that would send interest rates higher for years to come. Yellen, in remarks prepared for a Washington event with business executives from California, said a default on U.S. debt would result in job losses, while driving household payments on mortgages, auto loans and credit cards higher. She said it was a "basic responsibility" of Congress to increase or suspend the $31.4 trillion borrowing cap, warning that a default would threaten the economic progress that the United States has made since the COVID-19 pandemic.
By Oliver Hirt

ZURICH (Reuters) - The Swiss government has awarded an advisory mandate worth up to 8.7 million Swiss francs ($9.70 million) to Alvarez & Marsal Switzerland, linked to the rescue of Credit Suisse, according to state procurement platform Simap.ch on Monday.

Swiss authorities last month engineered a takeover of struggling Credit Suisse by rival UBS that included over 200 billion francs in financial guarantees.

As part of the shotgun marriage between Switzerland's two largest banks, Bern told UBS it would cover up to 9 billion francs of losses on the sale of Credit Suisse assets that are difficult to value.

UBS would cover the first 5 billion francs of losses. "For the contractual implementation of the granting of the guarantee, the Confederation needs advice and support in the short term from an economic point of view," it says on Simap.ch. Since the merger of the banks is to be completed very quickly, the guarantee to cover losses must be prepared immediately, it said. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance said that Alvarez & Marsal would provide advice to the government during the negotiations to draw up a detailed agreement with UBS and in the liquidation of the assets.

A spokesperson for Alvarez & Marsal confirmed the mandate. Ten days ago, the Ministry of Finance also awarded the law firm Niederer Kraft Frey (NKF) a contract to advise on the contractual implementation of the granting of the guarantee. The Ministry of Finance will pay up to CHF 10.3 million for this service.

($1 = 0.8965 Swiss francs)

(Writing by Noele Illien; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
(Bloomberg) -- The question of when the US could default will come into sharp relief this week when the Treasury reveals how big its tax take is likely to be.

Most Read from Bloomberg

With the political battle over the statutory debt ceiling set to amp up again, the Treasurys tax receipts will give a clearer idea of how much cash it will have on hand as it approaches the limits imposed by the $31.4 trillion cap that will prevent it from borrowing.

Right now, the estimates for that so-called drop-dead date are wide  anywhere from early summer through to the US fall  but investors and officials are hoping they will have a better idea soon.

This Tuesday is the deadline for most US taxpayers to get their annual paperwork filed and make payments for what they estimate is owed. Those funds should show up in the Treasurys bank account shortly afterward to bolster its rapidly dwindling cash pile.

The key question is by how much and whether that will be enough to keep the Treasury flush with dollars until around June when theres an additional influx of tax money and when it can also tap some additional accounting gimmicks beyond those that its already employing to keep the government away from the precipice.

We maintain our current base case for a mid-August X-date but see risks skewed towards earlier, Bank of America analysts Mark Cabana and Katie Craig wrote in a note to clients, referring to the point when the US is about to run out of ceiling headroom.

In their view, an increase in the Treasury cash pile of more than $200 billion following this weeks tax day would be strong, while a figure of less than $150 billion would be weak, based on historical precedent.

Story continues

The narrowing window for negotiations is likely to become an increased focus for lawmakers in the coming weeks, with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Monday telling a Wall Street audience that lawmakers will vote in coming weeks on a plan to lift the nations borrowing limit, but not without new curbs on spending. Republicans have long sought to make any deal contingent on spending cuts, while President Joe Biden has insisted that ceiling and budget issues ought to be separate.

Following are some ways to help gauge just how jittery markets are getting and what timeframes theyre most concerned about.

Bill Curve Dislocations

Watch out for investors demanding higher yields on securities that are due to be repaid shortly after the US runs out of borrowing capacity. Thats because the government wont be able to sell fresh securities and get cash to repay holders. In past episodes, thats created an unusual kink in the curve around the most vulnerable point. Right now there are small dislocations around various maturities, but not one clear-cut spot, and uncertainty over the Federal Reserves interest-rate policy path in the near term is also a complicating factor. But if a clear distortion does emerge then it is a significant red flag.

Relative Yields

The same logic that pushes investors away from certain more vulnerable securities means that alternatives linked to less risky dates are in greater demand. Securities that mature sufficiently ahead of any likely ceiling crunch point, such as one- and two-month T-bills, have been proving relatively popular. While the absolute yields on these shorter bills have moved up along with the rest of the curve because of Fed benchmark increases, the rate they offer has declined relative to overnight index swaps. Those are instruments that traders use to bet on central bank rates, so in a sense the gap is a measure of the bills popularity once you strip out monetary policy expectations.

Auction Demand

The preference of investors for certain bill maturities and an unwillingness to hold paper maturing around riskier dates can also manifest itself in their behavior at regular government debt sales. Last weeks four-week bill sale, for example, saw auction yields plummet versus the prior week as buyers devoured the $60 billion offering. Similar preferences for shorter maturities were also evident in the eight-week operation. In contrast, auctions for some securities that will mature over the summer have been noticeably more lackluster. Fueled by a combination of ceiling concerns and Fed rate expectations, Mondays three month-bill auction went off at a yield of 5.08%, the highest since Bill Clinton was US president back in 2001.

Insuring Against Default

Beyond T-bills, one key market to watch is what happens in credit default swaps for the US government. There was a notable uptick in activity in recent months and pricing has surged past the levels seen in previous debt-cap episodes, implying a higher probability of default.

Dwindling Government Cash

Perhaps one of the most stark measures of how close America is to the edge  although not a market-based metric  is the Treasurys cash balance. The approach of the debt limit usually results in the Treasury drawing down the amount of ready cash it keeps as officials avoid borrowing excess money thats not needed right away.

The cash pile on Thursday was around $99 billion and on Wednesday it went as low as $87 billion, the smallest amount since December 2021, when the US was also wrangling with a debt-ceiling battle. Given that amount can shift by tens of billions of dollars on a single day and that it was above half a trillion as recently as February, that means theres not a huge amount of leeway for the government right now.

That means that the size of tax take this week really is critical. If its big enough to get the Treasury through until an anticipated influx of tax money on June 15  when some payers have installments due  then its also likely to bridge the gap to the next available extraordinary measures on June 30 and stave off default until later in the summer  or even beyond that if receipts are really big. Conversely, if revenues disappoint, then the government might not even make it to June 15 and the clock really is ticking to find a legislative solution.

(Updates with auction result, McCarthy announcement.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Tecnoglass Inc.

Barranquilla, Colombia, April 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tecnoglass, Inc. (NYSE: TGLS) ("Tecnoglass" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of architectural glass, windows, and associated aluminum products serving the global residential and commercial end markets, today announced it will release financial results for the first quarter 2023 before the market opens on Thursday, May 4, 2023. Management will host a webcast and conference call that same day at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time (9:00 a.m. Bogota, Colombia time) to review the Companys results.



Webcast and Conference Call

The conference call will be broadcast live over the Internet. Additionally, a slide presentation will accompany the conference call. To listen to the call and view the slides, please visit the Investors section of Tecnoglass' website at www.tecnoglass.com. Please go to the website at least 15 minutes early to register, download and install any necessary audio software. For those unable to access the webcast, the conference call will be accessible by dialing 1-844-826-3035 (domestic) or 1-412-317-5195 (international). Upon dialing in, please request to join the Tecnoglass First Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call.

To listen to a telephonic replay of the conference call, dial toll-free 1-844-512-2921 (domestic) or 1-412-317-6671 (international) and enter pass code 10177642. The playback can be accessed until August 4, 2023.

About Tecnoglass

Tecnoglass Inc. is a leading producer of architectural glass, windows, and associated aluminum products serving the multi-family, single-family and commercial end markets. Tecnoglass is the second largest glass fabricator serving the U.S. and the #1 architectural glass transformation company in Latin America. Located in Barranquilla, Colombia, the Companys 4.1 million square foot, vertically-integrated and state-of-the-art manufacturing complex provides efficient access to over 1,000 global customers, with the U.S. accounting for more than 90% of revenues. Tecnoglass' tailored, high-end products are found on some of the world's most distinctive properties, including One Thousand Museum (Miami), Paramount (Miami), Salesforce Tower (San Francisco), Via 57 West (NY), Hub50House (Boston), Aeropuerto Internacional El Dorado (Bogota), One Plaza (Medellin), Pabellon de Cristal (Barranquilla). For more information, please visit www.tecnoglass.com or view our corporate video at https://vimeo.com/134429998.

Story continues

Investor Relations:

Santiago Giraldo

CFO

305-503-9062

investorrelations@tecnoglass.com




SHANGHAI (Reuters) -Tesla's Shanghai factory workers took to social media to appeal to Elon Musk and the Chinese public after being told at the weekend about cuts to their performance bonuses, according to online posts and employees who spoke to Reuters.

Several posts said they believed the deductions were linked to a fatal accident earlier this year at the plant, its biggest worldwide, and criticised Tesla for the cuts.

The situation marks a rare outburst of discontent at Tesla's Shanghai plant, whose workers Musk praised last year for burning "the 3 a.m. oil" to keep operations running during the city's two-month COVID lockdown.

Musk said in a tweet that he was alerted about the issue over the weekend and was looking into the matter.

It comes as Tesla has been slashing prices in multiple markets, including China where demand has been weakening, which has raised concerns about its industry-leading profit margin.

The posts began appearing on forums such as Baidu Tieba late last week. Some took to Twitter, owned by Musk and blocked in China, to tweet to the billionaire, his mother Maye Musk, and Tesla.

"Please pay attention to the performance (bonus) of frontline workers at Tesla's Shanghai factory being arbitrarily deducted," said a person with the handle @AFeiywu on Twitter in a tweet directed at Elon Musk and Tesla's Asia unit.

Two workers at the plant, where Tesla employs around 20,000, told Reuters they were informed by their supervisors over the weekend about a cut to their quarterly bonus payout, which is linked to the factory's performance.

The workers said Tesla supervisors mentioned a "safety incident" when they were asked about reasons for the bonus cut. They declined to be named out of concern for their jobs.

Several online posts claimed workers at the Shanghai plant were being unfairly penalised for an incident this year at the factory in February where one worker died.

Story continues

According to a report published by the local Pudong government on April 12, there was a mechanical accident in the welding workshop at Tesla's Shanghai plant on Feb. 4 that killed one worker.

The local government's investigation concluded an oversight in Tesla's safety management indirectly contributed to the accident and said the deceased worker was directly responsible.

His mother, Maye Musk is a model who has attracted a following in China. She recently completed a two-week tour in the country during which she visited the Shanghai factory and promoted her memoir.

Tesla did not immediately respond to request for comment.

UPCOMING RESULTS

Some workers said in online posts their quarterly bonuses had been cut by around 2,000 yuan ($291.19).

Base salaries at the Shanghai plant start from around 5,340 yuan per month, with additional income in some cases coming from over-time work, shifts and annual and quarterly bonuses.

Before tax, workers can earn around 110,000-120,000 yuan a year, including bonuses and overtime pay, according to a recruitment post on state-owned Lingang Group's official Wechat account, which provides hiring services for companies in the region. That level of pay is in line with other international and Chinese manufacturers in the region.

Aidan Chau, a researcher at Hong Kong-based China Labour Bulletin, said it wasn't uncommon for companies to penalise employees after a work accident but that it usually came out of a safety bonus.

"Deducting the performance bonus, which should be related to workers' output and has nothing to do with work safety, is even more unfair," said Chau.

Tesla is set to report first-quarter results on Wednesday. A key focus for investors and analysts will be how its round of price reductions on its electric vehicles have cut into its margins.

On Friday, it slashed electric vehicle prices in Europe, Israel and Singapore, expanding the discount drive it began in China in January.

Tesla Chief Financial Officer Zach Kirkhorn said last quarter that the company expected to sustain a gross margin of 20% on autos, excluding leases and regulatory credits, with an average-sale price for its EVs globally above $47,000.

($1 = 6.8684 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Zhang Yan, Zhuzhu Cui and Brenda Goh; additional reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree; Sonali Paul and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
Its nearly 8,000 miles from Pune, India to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. But for Munjal Joshi, a student in the one-year MBA program at Lehigh University, the distance was a secondary consideration.

The most important thing for Joshi was what the one-year MBA program at the Lehigh College of Business could do for his career.

The 25-year-old consultant was drawn to Lehighs accelerated MBA because of the efficient curriculum that covers the same material as a traditional two-year MBA but at a quicker pace, he tells Poets&Quants. This allowed me to achieve my academic goals in a shorter time without sacrificing the quality of my education.

Additionally, I appreciated the intense nature of the one-year program, which allowed me to focus entirely on my studies and achieve my goals in a concentrated timeframe.

ONE-YEAR MBAS LACK DEPTH & RIGOR? NOT TRUE!

Lehigh College of Business one-year MBA student Munjal Joshi: My MBA has been instrumental in developing my problem-solving skills and broadening my perspective

Like anyone planning a major investment, Joshi considered several schools before choosing Lehigh. But the fact that its a small program at a school that has historically escaped the notice of the major rankings was not a turnoff, he says  it was a big part of the appeal. And like all one-year MBA programs, he adds, Lehighs is a strong financial bet, costing significantly less and offering the chance of a starting salary comparable to what he would get from a two-year program.

Fit is key. Lehighs one-year MBA is comprised of 70% international students like Joshi, representing 10 countries. Forty-five percent are women. All  100%  of the students come to the program with prior industry work experience. Perhaps the most innovative aspect of the program is its Consulting Practicum, which gives students consulting skills by throwing them into real-world situations with real-world stakes. Lehighs EXTERNSHIP series transitions students in tight-knit groups to practical experiences working on actual company projects  helping them to gain the hands-on experience employers are seeking in the graduating MBA students they recruit.

Story continues

Choosing Lehigh was a no-brainer, Joshi says. The schools small class size, personalized learning experience, exceptional faculty, and innovative subjects like societal shifts and Practicum, along with others that focused on experiential learning, were all factors that drew me in. Moreover, Everyone has been extremely helpful and supportive in my academic journey, from the program director and career development director to the professors.

He says a major misconception about one-year MBAs is that they lack depth and rigor. Not true, he insists.

One-year programs are designed to be intensive and require students to complete the same coursework and assignments as two-year programs, Joshi says. My experience has also shown me that industry experts or hiring managers look at one-year MBAs as equally valuable and impactful as a two-year MBA. In fact, the programs fast-paced nature is an advantage as it accelerates ones learning and career goals and makes one industry ready.

SEISMIC SHIFT IN PROGRAM POPULARITY

From the most elite programs like Kellogg's to the more intimate ones like Lehigh's, one-year MBAs have traditionally lagged their two-year cousins in basic metrics like Graduate Management Admission Test score and GPA averages, if only because they have always been slightly less popular, with a smaller talent pool from which to construct their classes. That is no longer the case, according to the Graduate Management Admission Council's annual Prospective Students Survey released earlier this month.

For what may be the first time ever, a majority of prospective B-school students said that they prefer one-year MBA programs over the more traditional two-year options more popular in the U.S. In the survey completed by 2,710 respondents in 131 countries, 22% of the would-be students seeking a graduate management education said they would prefer the more accelerated MBA program that costs less and involves half the time away from a paycheck. Some 20% expressed a preference for the two-year, full-time residential MBA.

The survey results (see below) may be within the margin of error but they underscore the now commonly accepted notion that full-time MBA programs  in the U.S. particularly  are a mature product, and the preference for one-year options tilts in favor of European schools where a one-year MBA is more popular than in the U.S. Across generations, Gen Z is most interested in the two-year MBA and millennials are most interested in the one-year MBA, GMAC notes in its report. Taken together, the full-time MBA of any duration continues to surpass interest in more flexible or executive MBAs and business masters programs."

one-year vs. two-year MBA

Source: 2023 GMAC Prospective Students Survey

COSTS AT 1-YEAR PROGRAMS ARE GENERALLY HALF  AND SOMETIMES EVEN LESS

GMAC's survey has an international bias, with more respondents hailing from outside the U.S. than inside it. In fact, there are fewer than two dozen one-year MBA programs in the U.S. at business schools that are ranked for their two-year programs, led by elite 12-month programs at Northwestern Kellogg School of Management, Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, Duke Fuqua School of Business, and Emory Goizueta Business School. At these programs, the curricula is not simply an accelerated version of their larger and more well-known cousins: they innovate, they break new ground while condensing most if not all of a two-year curriculum into one year, and they produce well-rounded graduates who command enviable salaries in leading industries.

It is true, however, that at these and other B-schools the appeal of the one-year MBA has always been financial: It costs less, and keeps students out of the workforce for less time.

A two-year MBA at one of the top 26 business schools in the United States now exceeds $200,000 at 15 schools, with three more B-schools knocking on the door. Thats up from 14 schools in 2021, 13 in 2020, 12 in 2019, and nine in 2018. At 17 of those B-schools, the annual price tag  including tuition, estimated living expenses, insurance, and fees  exceeds $100K. In terms of tuition, among the top U.S. B-schools, the number with two-year MBA tuition over $80K is four, when there were none in 2021; the number with tuition over $75K is 12  double the number in 2021. (The flip side of the discussion is the question of ROI, and how quickly graduates can make up for expenses and lost time.)

Costs are generally halved at the leading one-year programs in the U.S., while grads' starting salaries are comparable. At Northwestern Kellogg, tuition for the one-year MBA is $108K and total cost with fees and living expenses is an estimated $157,578; base salary for the most recent graduating class was a median $162,555. Compare that to the two-year cost of $228,917 and median starting salary of $165K. At Cornell Johnson, the one-year Tech MBA costs about $176K, and the median base salary for the most recent class for which data has been published (2021) was $150,000; the two-year cost is $209,307, and the two-year starting salary is $155,048. At Emory Goizueta, the one-year MBA costs $148K and grads reported an average base salary of $148,250; the two-year costs $190K and grads reported an average salary of $149,751.

See page 3 for tuition and total cost information on 23 one-year MBA programs in the United States.

Emory University's Goizueta Business School h as one of the top one-year MBA programs in the United States  and one of the most costly. At nearly $150,000 including tuition, fees and living expenses, the Goizueta one-year MBA is second only to Northwestern Kellogg's accelerated program for total cost

ONE-YEAR MBAs ARE 'NOT FOR EVERYONE'

Brian Mitchell, associate dean of full-time MBA programs at Emory Goizueta Business School: "A common myth is that a one-year MBA is a watered-down MBA degree. Although it is a shorter academic experience, it is also a more intense experience"

Emory Goizueta's Brian Mitchell predicted the rise of the one-year MBA in 2021. In an article published by Poets&Quants, Mitchell, associate dean of full-time MBA programs for the Atlanta B-school, writes that "one-year MBA programs have slowly been on the rise in the U.S. lagging behind the popularity of the degree in Europe. But demand for the accelerated MBA has grown over the last decade as U.S. prospective students look for more focused paths and less expensive options to accelerate their careers." He cites some then-new GMAC data showing that 47% of prospective students in 2018 considered a one-year MBA, the highest percentage in a decade, despite the fact that one-year MBA programs accounted for just 10% of AACSB-accredited MBA programs in the U.S. "A common myth," Mitchell writes, "is that a one-year MBA is a watered-down MBA degree. Although it is a shorter academic experience, it is also a more intense experience that packs the full learning opportunities from a traditional full-time MBA into just one year."

One-year MBA programs "are not for everyone," Mitchell continues. "The intensity of the program can be daunting. And the high-touch nature of the program due to smaller cohort sizes is not a good fit for those looking to be a small fish in a big pond. But for those looking to accelerate their existing career paths or transition into a related field or industry, the lower cost, shorter timeframe, faster ROI, and higher touch accelerated MBA degree may be an ideal fit."

CORNELL DROPS ITS ACCELERATED ONE-YEAR MBA

At one major U.S. school, one one-year MBA program is thriving, but two proved to be too many. For years, Cornell University boasted not one but two industry-leading one-year MBA programs, but in October Cornells Johnson College of Business announced that it will shutter its one-year Accelerated MBA after the graduation of this years class in spring 2023, allowing the school to double down on its other May-to-May program, the New York City-based Tech MBA. NYU Stern is now the only major U.S. B-school with two one-year MBA programs.

Andrew Karolyi, dean of Cornells SC Johnson College of Business, says it was a hard choice to close down the Accelerated MBA, which for more than two decades has been among the top-ranked one-year programs in the United States. But he adds that Cornells leadership sees more promise in the five-year-old Tech MBA, a collaborative effort with Cornell Tech.

Its an interesting decision that we made, a very strategic one, Karolyi told Poets&Quants last fall. One has to paint the picture of where we are. It has been a program that has been around for 20-plus years and has been doing fine. But we had grander ambitions for it."

The Tech MBA, launched in 2017, was named P&Q's Program of the Year that year on the strength of its innovative and immediately popular Studi curriculum, in which students develop and implement new product and business ideas in collaboration with innovators and thought leaders from New Yorks tech and startup communities. The Tech MBA has grown steadily from about 50 students in that first cohort to more than 80 in the one that enrolled last summer, and Karolyi expects it to grow even more.

The one-year Accelerated MBA, meanwhile, had been shrinking for years.

Weve had some wonderful students come through the Accelerated program and have gone on to be able to leverage it for very successful careers, says Karolyi, who became Charles Field Knight dean of the College of Business in April 2021 after three years as dean of academic affairs and many more years as a finance professor at the school. Its wonderful meeting them along the way. But weve never felt that we were able to drive hard enough with that given its mission as it was crafted. We never felt we were able to meet our ambitious goals for it.

As the Tech MBA has grown, the Accelerated MBA has declined, he notes. The Tech MBA program had an initial target number of 50, and its now blossomed to about 85. We see imminently on the horizon the fact that we can grow this one.

'DEVELOPING MY PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS & BROADENING MY PERSPECTIVE'

For Munjal Joshi: the best part of the Lehigh College of Business one-year MBA program is its people. The biggest challenge has been the pace.

"The personalized attention from professors and staff has been exceptional," Joshi tells P&Q. "The class size is largely international from candidates across the globe, allowing us to engage in genuinely fruitful discussions and helping me broaden my perspective. The biggest challenge has been balancing the high academic demands with other aspects of life. Still, the supportive environment at Lehigh has helped me navigate those challenges."

After graduation this spring, Joshi will be joining Axtria, a global software and data analytics provider to the life sciences industry, as a senior associate consultant.

"My MBA has been instrumental in developing my problem-solving skills and broadening my perspective," he says. "It has given me the confidence to take on new challenges and approach them with a strategic mindset. Additionally, the MBA has helped me develop a comprehensive understanding of business strategy, finance, marketing, and management, which are crucial for a consulting career; more importantly, this helped me develop a holistic point of view and think differently."

Lehigh University's College of Business offers a one-year MBA that costs around $100K including tuition and other expenses

DON'T MISS AMONG WOULD-BE STUDENTS, ONE-YEAR MBA OPTIONS OVERTAKE TWO-YEAR MBAs IN POPULARITY and THE RISE OF THE ONE-YEAR MBA

The post The Top One-Year MBA Programs In The United States appeared first on Poets&Quants.
MANILA, Philippines, April 17, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Philippines top digital solutions platform Globe has partnered with Singapore-based Proxtera, lead operator of the SME Financial Empowerment (SFE) program, and the Philippine Trade Training Center - Global MSME Academy (PTTC-GMEA), the training arm of the Department of Trade and Industry, to champion the SFE Program, which provides online courses designed to equip micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) nationwide with financial literacy and skills they need to succeed in the digital economy.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230416005031/en/

The Philippines leading digital solutions platform Globe, Singapore-based Proxtera, and the Philippine Trade Training Center - Global MSME Academy (PTTC-GMEA), the training arm of the Department of Trade and Industry, recently launched a partnership to champion financial literacy education among MSMEs, which make up a bulk of enterprises in the Philippines. In photo (L-R): Agnes Padilla, Head of Marketing at UnoBank; Miguel Bermundo, Globes head of Stakeholder Engagement and Management; Assistant Secretary Glenn Penaranda of the Philippines Department of Trade and Industry (DTI); Nelly Nita Dillera, Executive Director of the Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC), Felix Tang, Director for Strategy at Proxtera; and Rajan Uttamchandani, Chairman and CEO of Esquire Financing, Inc. (Photo: Business Wire)

Globe's partnership with the SFE Program involves supporting the production of localized content for Philippine MSMEs and extending free passes to its network of MSMEs. This March, the free passes were also extended to women-owned businesses in celebration of National Womens Month.

By investing in the SFE program, Globe is committed to supporting the growth and development of MSMEs in the Philippines, regardless of their location.

"We are excited to bring the SME Financial Empowerment program to micro and small business owners in the Philippines. Through this partnership, we aim to empower local MSMEs with the tools and knowledge they need to thrive and succeed. We believe that this program can make a significant impact on the lives of Filipino entrepreneurs and contribute to economic development as a whole," said KD Dizon, Group Head, Globe Business, MSME Group.

Story continues

"With 99.5 percent of Filipino businesses being MSMEs, it is necessary to help them to become the best they can be. By unleashing their potential  especially in the age of digital and cross border economy, and by teaching them how to innovate, we are also teaching them how to become financially resilient," PTTC-GMEA Executive Director Nelly Nita Dillera said.

Saurav Bhattacharyya, Proxtera CEO, said: "We are excited about our partnership with Globe, which allows us to expand our reach to more MSMEs in the Philippines and offer localized content that caters specifically to the needs of Filipino businesses. Our collaboration with PTTC-GMEA aligns with our commitment to building and nurturing small businesses, and helping them thrive in today's challenging economic environment."

SFE is a comprehensive and globally focused initiative by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), International Finance Corporation (IFC), and United Nations Development Program (UNDP). It aims to build foundational digital literacy and a good understanding of cross-border financial services relevant to MSMEs.

PTTC-GMEA is the official training partner of the SFE Program in the Philippines with the Global Fintech Institute as the academic partner.

The SFE program in the Philippines currently provides three courses that cater to MSMEs seeking to expand their businesses and benefit from digital marketplaces and the network effect. These courses offer valuable financial literacy insights and decision-making skills, allowing MSMEs to make informed decisions and achieve their business goals.

The Foundational Financial Literacy course covers fundamental financial concepts, financial discipline for success, and starter financial service options. It aims to equip learners with the necessary know-how to effectively manage their finances.

The Global Financial Literacy Course, on the other hand, delves deeper into crucial financial literacy principles and offers guidance on broadening one's business to new markets, adopting novel digital financing options, and utilizing digital networks.

The latest addition to the SFE program is the Green Financing for SMEs Course, which emphasizes the importance of sustainable development for SMEs. It covers green vs traditional financing and provides learners with the tools and options to incorporate green financing into their business operations.

The courses include a series of modules with videos by industry experts explaining different concepts followed by a short quiz. Each module has a content summary downloadable as PDF so users can refer to it as an additional resource.

To get started, interested parties can visit smefe.org, which is accessible via the web and can also be downloaded as an app for Android and iOS. They can register for the course on the dashboard and start by watching the videos and answering the questions. Upon completing the course, users will receive a verifiable certificate instantly.

To learn more about Globe, visit www.globe.com.ph.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230416005031/en/

Contacts

For more information, please contact:



GOLIN for Globe Group

Email Address: globegroup@golin.com
SINGAPORE, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- UOB and Lazada Group have entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate on retail products and banking solutions for their combined customer base in five key Southeast Asian markets, namely Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. This regional strategic partnership will also see the two industry leaders working together to increase access to financing for e-commerce sellers on the Lazada platform.

Mr Frederick Chin, Head of Group Wholesale Banking and Markets, UOB (left) and Mr James Dong, Chief Executive Officer, Lazada Group (right) at the signing of the MOU between UOB and Lazada to collaborate on retail products and banking solutions for their combined customer base in five key Southeast Asian markets.

This will be Lazada's first partnership with a bank across a variety of payments and financial services in Southeast Asia, as well as UOB's first regional collaboration with an e-commerce platform. The partnership will tap on Lazada's technology and position as a leading Southeast Asian e-commerce platform and UOB's proven expertise in financial products, best-in-class digital banking services and long-established trust with customers. This will allow both customers and sellers to enjoy better access and enhanced benefits from payment and financial services that best meet their needs.

Mr Frederick Chin, Head of Group Wholesale Banking and Markets, UOB, said, "ASEAN plays a strategic role as an economic powerhouse to the world. As a bank with strong presence in ASEAN, our ambition is to open doors to new business opportunities across the region. Working with an e-commerce partner like Lazada complements our continued effort to bring personalised and innovative solutions to a thriving ASEAN. Through this partnership, consumers and businesses can benefit from seamless financial services that bring about access to rewarding experiences within ASEAN's dynamic digital landscape."

Mr James Dong, Lazada Group Chief Executive Officer, said, "Lazada is committed to building an open, accessible ecosystem for Southeast Asia. We are pleased to share this vision with UOB. For consumers, we will offer easy-to-use, convenient and secure payment and financing options to enable their lifestyle needs. For brands and sellers, we are here to help them scale up their businesses and accelerate growth. We are here for the long haul, to achieve sustainable, long-term growth with all our ecosystem partners."

Story continues

Enhanced benefits for customers

UOB and Lazada customers can look forward to a more rewarding experience when shopping on the e-commerce platform and using lifestyle banking services for their purchases. Singapore customers will be the first to enjoy these benefits. In Singapore, UOB will offer new customers Lazada cashback vouchers worth up to $200 as a welcome gift.

With UOB's acquisition of Citigroup's consumer banking businesses in four ASEAN markets, the Bank will be continuing the partnership of the Citi-Lazada co-brand credit cards in Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. In these three markets, the cards will be refreshed as new UOB-Lazada co-brand credit cards later this year with enhanced benefits. UOB and Lazada will look to extend the co-brand credit card partnership to Singapore and Indonesia. Apart from enjoying attractive Lazada rewards all year round, cardholders will gain access to special Lazada deals during mega sale events.

As Lazada expands its localised payments and financial services products throughout the region, the e-commerce platform and UOB also intend to collaborate on cash management and transaction processing services for Lazada sellers across the region.

Improved financing services and access for e-commerce sellers

The two partners are looking into offering loans to sellers on the Lazada platform through a new digital lending experience. Leveraging Lazada's seller insights and UOB's digital banking capabilities with integrated financial supply chain management solutions, the collaboration will focus on giving sellers access to streamlined onboarding, approval and disbursement processes for loans and financing across their businesses. Both parties are working toward a pilot launch this year.

Increased customer engagement and personalisation

UOB and Lazada are committed to offering their combined customer base a seamless and integrated experience tailored to customers' shopping behaviour on the platform and their individual needs. This partnership will strengthen both parties' capabilities to deliver personalised rewards to customers across Southeast Asia, to better engage and delight them in their online shopping experience.

About UOB

UOB is a leading bank in Asia. Operating through its head office in Singapore and banking subsidiaries in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, UOB has a global network of around 500 offices in 19 countries and territories in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America. Since its incorporation in 1935, UOB has grown organically and through a series of strategic acquisitions. Today, UOB is rated among the world's top banks: Aa1 by Moody's Investors Service and AA- by both S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings.

For nearly nine decades, UOB has adopted a customer-centric approach to create long-term value by staying relevant through its enterprising spirit and doing right by its customers. UOB is focused on building the future of ASEAN  for the people and businesses within, and connecting with, ASEAN.

The Bank connects businesses to opportunities in the region with its unparalleled regional footprint and leverages data and insights to innovate and create personalised banking experiences and solutions catering to each customer's unique needs and evolving preferences. UOB is also committed to help businesses forge a sustainable future, by fostering social inclusiveness, creating positive environmental impact and pursuing economic progress. UOB believes in being a responsible financial services provider and is steadfast in its support of art, social development of children and education, doing right by its communities and stakeholders.

About Lazada Group

Lazada Group is Southeast Asia's pioneer eCommerce platform. For the last 11 years, Lazada has been accelerating progress in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam through commerce and technology. Today, a thriving local ecosystem links about 160 million active users to more than one million actively-selling sellers every month, who are transacting safely and securely via trusted payments channels and Lazada Wallet, receiving parcels through a homegrown logistics network that has become the largest in the region. With a vision to achieve USD100 billion annual GMV, Lazada aims to serve 300 million shoppers by 2030, and be the best at enabling brands and sellers in digitalizing their businesses.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/uob-and-lazada-form-strategic-partnership-to-grow-digital-ecosystem-in-southeast-asia-with-enhanced-payments-and-financial-services-301799024.html

SOURCE UOB
FILE PHOTO: The Slack Technologies Inc. logo is seen on a banner outside the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) during thew company's IPO in New York

By Andrew Chung

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court justices on Monday weighed a bid by Salesforce Inc's Slack Technologies to avoid a lawsuit over its 2019 direct listing in a case that could undermine the ability of shareholders to sue companies for alleged misstatements when they go public.

The justices heard arguments in an appeal by Slack, which makes workplace communications software, of a lower court ruling that let the proposed class action lawsuit filed by shareholder Fiyyaz Pirani for alleged violations of a federal investor protection law proceed. A direct listing is an alternative to a traditional initial public offering.

Questions asked by the justices indicated that even if they side with Slack on part of the case, they may send it back to lower courts to further consider the full scope of Pirani's claims.

Slack contends that Pirani's lawsuit alleging violations of Sections 11 and 12 of a federal law called the Securities Act of 1933 must be dismissed because he cannot prove that he bought registered shares that were specified in the company's allegedly misleading registration statement for the direct listing, rather than shares that were exempt from registration. The registration statement was filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Salesforce, a major business software maker, purchased Slack for $27.7 billion in 2021.

The justices seemed open to Slack's view that Section 11 of the Securities Act, which lets plaintiffs sue for falsities in a registration statement if they bought "such security," refers to registered, not unregistered, shares.

"The statute says, 'such security.' I mean that's the big hurdle for you to get over," conservative Chief Justice John Roberts told Pirani's attorney Kevin Russell.

Liberal Justice Elena Kagan told Russell, "It does seem to me like you have hard row to hoe here."

But some justices also seemed hesitant to endorse Slack's view of claims under Section 12 - which focuses on untrue statements in a prospectus that accompanies the sale of a security - saying that there is little case law and the SEC itself has not weighed in on the issue.

Story continues

"That strikes me as a big issue for these direct listings and something that I'm not sure we're fully equipped at this moment to chime in on," conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh told Slack's lawyer, Thomas Hungar.

In a direct listing, an approach approved by the SEC in 2018, registered shares and the unregistered shares of early investors in a company are made available to the public at the same time. That differs from an IPO, under which newly registered shares are offered to the public while existing shareholders are typically barred from selling their unregistered shares for months.

Slack's direct listing released 118 million shares that were registered under its registration statement and 165 million pre-existing shares that were exempt from registration.

When Slack's stock price dropped, Pirani sued, alleging the company's registration statement and prospectus contained misstatements about service outages, the credits it promised to pay customers when service was disrupted, and the competition it faced from Teams, Microsoft's rival software.

The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2021 rejected Slack's bid to dismiss the case because Pirani cannot prove his shares were registered, saying the argument in the context of a direct listing would "create a loophole large enough to undermine the purpose of Section 11."

(Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham)
BMW, Nissan and other major automakers are set to lose access to a $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit this week.

The U.S. Treasury on Monday released a full list of the vehicles with access to U.S. electric vehicle tax credits under new battery sourcing requirements, which benefit companies that use battery minerals from the U.S. or its trading partners and manufacture battery components in North America.

The new rules were announced last month and go into effect Tuesday.

Tax Day 2023 live updates: Deadline to file tax returns is April 18. Here's what to know.

Car brands that will be losing access to the U.S. EV tax credit include:

Audi

BMW

Genesis

Nissan

Rivian

Volkswagen

Volvo

Electric cars from Kia and Hyundai also do not qualify because they are manufactured outside North America.

Electric vehicles are displayed before a news conference with White House Climate Adviser Gina McCarthy and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg about the American Jobs Plan and to highlight electric vehicles at Union Station near Capitol Hill on April 22, 2021 in Washington, DC. The Biden administration has proposed over $170 billion in spending to boost the production of zero-emission buses and cars and increase the number of EV charging stations.

Which cars qualify for EV tax credits?

Vehicles that qualify for the full $7,500 in tax credits include:

Cadillac Lyriq

Chevrolet Blazer

Chevrolet Bolt

Chevrolet Bolt andEUV

Chevrolet Equinox

Chevrolet Silverado

Chrysler Pacifica PHEV

Ford F-150 Lightning

Lincoln Aviator Grand Touring

Tesla Model 3 Performance

Tesla Model Y (All-Wheel Drive, Long Range All-Wheel Drive and 2022 Performance)

Other vehicles qualify for $3,740 in tax credits, including:

Ford Escape Plug-in Hybrid

Ford E-Transit

Ford Mustang Mach-E

Jeep Grand Cherokee PHEV 4xe

Jeep Wrangler PHEV 4xe

Lincoln Corsair Grand Touring

Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Rear Wheel Drive

What are the EV tax credits?

To qualify for $3,750 of the EV tax credit, 40% of battery minerals must come from North America, from a country with a U.S. free trade agreement or recycled in North America. That threshold is set to gradually increase to 80% over the next four years.

Half of the battery components must be made or assembled in North America to qualify for the other $3,750. This benchmark is set to rise to 100%.

Dig deeper:

You can follow USA TODAY reporter Bailey Schulz on Twitter @bailey_schulz and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter here for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New EV tax credits 2023: See which electric, hybrid vehicles qualify
The $50,000 Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise recognize rising immigrant scientists living and working in the United States whose work represents a significant contribution to their field.

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / April 17, 2023 / Edward Chouchani receives a Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science for his work to decipher the molecular mechanisms that drive metabolic disease, with the aim of developing therapeutic interventions.

Edward Chouchani receives Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science

The Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise is a $50,000 recognition awarded annually by the Vilcek Foundation as part of its prizes program. Awarded annually since 2006, the Vilcek Foundation prizes recognize and celebrate immigrant contributions to scientific research and discovery, and to artistic and cultural advancement in the United States. The Vilcek Foundation prizes support the Vilcek Foundation's mission to raise public awareness of the value of immigration for a robust society.

As part of the Vilcek Foundation's recognition of Chouchani's work, the foundation has produced a biographical profile and video profile celebrating his experience and research. Titled "Edward Chouchani seeks to understand the role of metabolism in disease," it is now available on the Vilcek Foundation website.

Born in Canada to an Egyptian academic, Chouchani grew up attending schools in Greece, Thailand, and Cuba as his father's work took the family abroad. This peripatetic lifestyle and a fascination with science fiction literature fostered an innate curiosity in Chouchani about human life and biology. He earned a BS in biochemistry and biotechnology at Carleton University in Ottawa, and his Ph.D. in biological sciences at the University of Cambridge. In 2014, he moved to Boston to pursue postdoctoral research at Harvard Medical School, where he is now an associate professor of cell biology. Chouchani directs a research laboratory at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where he is also an associate professor of cancer biology.

Story continues

"Edward Chouchani's research has had a powerful impact on our current understanding of metabolism and mitochondrial biology," says Vilcek Foundation Chairman and CEO Jan Vilcek. "His approach encompasses the spectrum of research, from bench science to computational analysis. With this approach, he has not only developed new tools and methods to study metabolism in cells, but has identified potential clinical applications and interventions for metabolic and metastatic disorders and disease."

Chouchani's work primarily focuses on metabolism, using mass spectrometry and biochemical approaches to understand how metabolites regulate cellular function in pre-clinical models of health and disease. The research implications are myriad: By better understanding the function of metabolism and the role that different metabolites play in living cells and tissues, Chouchani and his team can identify metabolites and enzymes that contribute to disease.

"Mass spectrometry lets us peer into the cell and systematically map how metabolism controls our biology," he says. "Our goal is to leverage these newfound mechanisms to develop new therapies for metabolic, inflammatory, and metastatic diseases."

"There are over 20,000 different types of protein machines in the cell and over 95% of them are what's called un-drugged," he says. "The way our technology works, we query many of those 20,000 proteins in living systems and look for pockets where small-molecule metabolites can interact with them." By finding and understanding these pockets, Chouchani and his team illuminate metabolic functions and identify potential points of intervention. "If we can understand the nooks and crannies of where these interactions occur, we can develop new ways to leverage these interactions, and protect against cancers and diseases of aging."

Chouchani is energized by his work, and takes inspiration from his research team and colleagues at Harvard. "That really is one of the most invigorating things about science," he says. "If you're doing it properly, and with the right people, it starts evolving in ways you never could have anticipated, and it makes it one of the most exciting careers that one can have."

Access the full article and video at the Vilcek Foundation: Edward Chouchani seeks to understand the role of metabolism in disease

Contact Information

Elizabeth Boylan

Communications Manager

elizabeth.boylan@vilcek.org

+12124722500

Related Files

2023VFP - Press Release - Edward Chouchani - Newswire.pdf

SOURCE: The Vilcek Foundation

.





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/749324/Vilcek-Foundation-Awards-50000-Prize-to-Immigrant-Biochemist-Edward-Chouchani




HAI PHONG, VIETNAM --News Direct-- Vingroup

HAI PHONG, VIETNAM - Media OutReach - 17 April 2023  VinFast announced the shipment of the second batch of 1,879 VF 8 vehicles to the US and Canada. The vehicles are expected to be delivered to US customers in May and to Canadian customers in June.

The Silver Queen departed from the MPC Port in Haiphong, Vietnam for North America. The ship is expected to arrive at the Port of Benicia in California after more than 20 days at sea. Upon arrival, VinFast will hand over 1,098 VF 8 vehicles to the US market and will continue the journey with the remaining 781 vehicles to Canada afterwards.

This is the second exported EV batch of VinFast, and the first exported VF 8 standard batch to the international market. The VF 8 standard comes in two trim levels - the Eco and the Plus, which offer a higher estimated range* than the existing City Edition that VinFast delivered to US customers in March of this year.

The VF 8 Eco is equipped with a 260 kW maximum power electric motor reaching a maximum torque of 500Nm. At the same time, the Plus trim comes with a maximum power of 300 kW and maximum torque of 620Nm.

The VF 8 Standard is also equipped with the Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS), providing a wide range of features that will be enhanced and updated regularly with technologies such as highway assist, auto lane changing assist, fully-automated parking assistance, smart summon mode, remote parking and more.

Smart Services are integrated with immersive features such as virtual assistant and remote control via the VinFast app. In addition, convenience features such as online shopping along with in-car home and office services, etc. will provide an immersive experience to consumers.

After completing imported procedures and required licenses and certificates, VinFast expects to hand over these VF 8 standards to the US customers in May and Canadian customers in June.

For the European markets, the first exported batch is expected to commence in mid-July 2023 with 700 VF 8 vehicles.

Story continues

In the past year, VinFast has continued to expand its global business network opening more than 30 retail stores and service centers in the US, Canada, Germany, France, and the Netherlands, to serve consumers in these key markets.

In Vietnam, VinFast officially delivered the first VF 9 all-electric SUVs to customers in March 2023 and expects to deliver the new subcompact VF 5 Plus models in April 2023.

On a global scale, VinFast will soon open reservations for VF 6 and VF 7 and deliver VF 9 vehicles to customers who have made reservations.

* The official EPA ranges will be announced when available.

About VinFast

VinFast - a member of Vingroup  envisioned to drive the movement of global smart electric vehicle revolution. Established in 2017, VinFast owns a state-of-the-art automotive manufacturing complex with globally leading scalability that boasts up to 90% automation in Hai Phong, Vietnam. Strongly committed to the mission for a sustainable future for everyone, VinFast constantly innovates to bring high-quality products, advanced smart services, seamless customer experiences, and pricing strategy for all to inspire global customers to jointly create a future of smart mobility and a sustainable planet. Learn more at: https://vinfastauto.com

VinFast Safe Harbor Disclosure

This news release may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions and include VinFasts expectations. Forward-looking statements typically can be identified by the use of words such as will, expect, believe, and similar terms. While these forward-looking statements represent VinFasts current judgment on what the future holds, they are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated above include, but are not limited to, general economic conditions, hazards customary in the automotive industry, competition in certain markets, the volatility of battery prices, failure of customers to perform under contracts, changes in government regulation of markets and of environmental emissions, and our ability to achieve the expected benefits and timing of our electric vehicle projects. VinFast undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The foregoing review of factors that could cause VinFasts actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in the forward-looking statements included in this news release should be considered in connection with information regarding risks and uncertainties that may affect VinFasts future results.

Contact Details

VinFast

Media Contact

v.chidqd1@vingroup.net

Company Website

https://vinfastauto.com

View source version on newsdirect.com: https://newsdirect.com/news/vinfast-exports-next-batch-of-1-879-vf-8-vehicles-to-north-america-209661358
Of ads and passwords.

Did Netflixs ad-supported tier bait work to hook users? The answer to this question lies somewhere in the streaming giants earnings, which will be released after markets close tomorrow (Apr. 18).



The $6.99 planwhich is $3 cheaper than the basic plan in the USlaunched in mid-quarter in November 2022, so its impact wasnt entirely visible in the companys earnings last quarter. This earnings season marks the end of the first full quarter since Netflix launched its ad-supported tier.

Read more

The success of the ad-supported subscription plans is kind of a litmus test for the companys password sharing clampdown, which has already begun in a handful of markets like Chile, Peru, Costa Rica, Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain. As people need to cough up extra money to add an extra member that doesnt physically reside in their households, millions will get locked out of friends and families accounts. Wall Street will have its eyes and ears glued to what these freeloading customers do next.

Assuming many of these subscribers are price-conscioushence the sharing of passwordsthe $6.99 ad plan is the most affordable subscription. But there is another option altogether: cancel Netflix. Searches for these terms surged in the aftermath of paid sharing announcements. As the password-sharing crackdown rolls out to more marketsincluding its biggest, in the USinvestors expect some pushback.

Wall Street is Watching: Password crackdown in the US

We think a US announcement is imminent, given how pervasive password sharing is in the region and the money Netflix is therefore leaving on the table by allowing free riders. Macquarie analyst Tim Nollen

Netflixs business, by the digits

1 million: US monthly active users for Netflixs ad-supported services

30: Number of countries where Netflix slashed its prices in February by between 20% and 60%

Story continues

57: Original titles lined up in the second quarter, versus 125 in the first, which included the hit shows The Night Agent and You Season 4

$770 million: Estimated ad revenue the Los Gatos, California firm will make from its new ad-supported tier by the end of 2023, according to Insider Intelligence. Its expected to grow to $1.07 billion by 2024 and $1.28 billion by 2025

$8 per month: What extra member pricing in the US is expected to look like, according to Wells Fargo analyst Steven Cahall

26.3%: Netflixs share of overall OTT subscription revenues in the US by the end of 2023, down from 49.1% in 2018, according to Insider Intelligence

15 million and 30 million: How many more subscribers the ad-tier could draw onto Netflix in the US, but not right away

19%: Share of Netflixs new sign ups in the US that were opting for an ad-supported plan in the third month. The uptake is slower than Disney+ (36%) and HBO Max (21%), but at least its not missing viewership guarantees

Charted: New signups are increasingly picking Netflixs ad-supported tier in the US

datawrapper-chart-OBVug

More originals means less discounts on Netflixs ads plan

There was a negative correlation between the volume of upcoming Netflix Originals and the level of discount Netflix is offering for subscription to its new ad-funded tier in non-English speaking markets, according to an Ampere Analysis report looking at November data, commissioned by Netflix. Thats the case for Japan, where the rate of discount is the lowest, and the volume of local Originals is the highest.

Given this push into non-English-language scripted content its understandable Netflix is less inclined to offer high rates of discount for its new ad-supported tier service in markets where it has made significant investment, Amperes Olivia Deanna wrote. Although some non-English-language titles have found international success (such as Squid Game, Lupin, or La Casa de Papal), there is a risk that localised content will struggle to find wider appeal beyond its home market.

Company of interest: Microsoft

Netflix partnered with Microsoft last July for ad tech. The two are locked in a contract for two years. A report in Digiday last month said that Netflix is in a build or buy conundrum about its agreement with the Redmond, Washington-based behemoth.

Related stories

 How did Netflix lose subscribers in 2022?

 Is Netflixs best hope an acquisition by Microsoft?

 Netflixs earnings wont yet show the full impact of the new $6.99 ad-supported subscription

More from Quartz

Sign up for Quartz's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.
The American flag waves in front of the U.S. Capitol building.

In 2022, the federal government spent $6.27 trillion1. Most of the governments revenue comes from taxes collected from individuals and businesses across the U.S. Though taxes are mostly collected by the federal government, individual states are primary recipients of that same tax revenue. In a way, tax inflows and outflows act as a form of wealth redistribution among U.S. states.

To find out which states are most and least reliant on the federal government  and thus taxpayers from other states  SmartAsset evaluated tax and government spending data to determine which states are getting the best and worst return for their tax dollars.

Key Findings

The top one percent of earners paid about 42% of the income tax revenue in the United States. This accounts for 10% of the governments total federal tax revenue. Californian one percenters paid 16.13% of the national income tax, while New Yorks top 1% paid 8.34%, Texas one percenters paid 7.85% and Floridians paid 7.58%. In some states, including Florida, Nevada and Wyoming, the top 1% of earners pay more than half of the states total income taxes.

New Mexico is the only state paying less in taxes than it receives in support  paying only 85 cents in federal taxes for each dollar of support. This was the only state with that paid less in federal taxes than it received back. The next four most dependent states  West Virginia, Alaska, Mississippi and Montana  receive nearly as much in support as they send to the federal government each year. Hawaii, Vermont, Louisiana, Alabama and Wyoming also top the list of most dependent states.

Minnesota, New Jersey, Delaware, Illinois and Florida are least dependent on the federal government. These states all contribute multiples more to the federal government than they receive, with residents paying at least $5 in taxes for every $1 in direct support received from the federal government. Minnesota  the least dependent state  pays nearly $6.88 in taxes for each dollar it receives back. Other states that made the top 10 least dependent list include Washington, South Dakota, Massachusetts, Nebraska and California.

Texass love of vices disproportionately supports federal income. Texas pays an exorbitant $17B in excise taxes to the federal government  more than any other state by far and more than the income taxes on Texass top 1% of earners. Texas pays nearly three times as much in taxes on items like alcohol, gas, cigarettes, gambling and other specialty items as the second most state, Ohio.

Story continues

States Most Dependent on the Federal Government

1. New Mexico

New Mexico pays an inexpensive $0.85 to the federal government for every dollar of support received. Brain drain  where highly educated workers leave for better opportunities elsewhere  has been a problem for New Mexicos economy2. Left behind are a particularly high number of residents 65 and older.

2. West Virginia

West Virginians end up getting back almost every dollar they submit to the federal government  paying $1.04 for every dollar redistributed back to their state.

With a poverty rate of 16.8%3, West Virginia also placed third in a recent SmartAsset study determining states where residents are financially hurting the most. Additionally, just about 22% of residents have completed a college education  less than any other state in the nation.

3. Alaska

Being uniquely situated away from the United States mainland and in a particularly harsh climate, Alaska requires more support than most states. The state pays in about $1.09 for every support dollar it receives, and in 2022 had the third smallest state GDP.

If youre ready to be matched with local advisors that can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.

4. Mississippi

Mississippi has a handful of factors working against its economic independence, leading it to receive $1 from the federal government for every $1.19 it collects from residents, businesses and transactions. The state has historically ranked high in poverty and low in education  Mississippi also ranked as the second most state where residents are hurting financially in a recent SmartAsset study. Its also prone to natural disasters that require cleanup.

5. Montana

Known for much of its natural scenery, Montana is also home to a number of federal agencies, of which a few maintain landmarks like the Yellowstone and Glacier National Park. The Treasure State received roughly $5.1 billion from the federal government in 2021 and paid back approximately $1.53 for every federal dollar received.

States Least Dependent on the Federal Government

1. Minnesota

Between personal and corporate income taxes, excise taxes, estate taxes and gift taxes, Minnesota contributes $6.88 to the federal government for every dollar it receives for support. As the least dependent state on the federal government, Minnesota has a median household income of around $77,720  above the U.S. median of $69,717  and is the fifth most prominent agricultural state4.

2. New Jersey

New Jerseys dense population, proximity to New York City and Philadelphia, beaches, and a major port and airport are an effective combination for a productive economy. New Jersey also has a particularly educated workforce, which helps support the internal economy: With 41.5% of residents completing college5, it ranks fourth in the nation for 2017-2021. For every $6.28 New Jersey forks over to the federal government, it receives $1 back.

3. Delaware

More than 65% of Fortune 500 companies in the United States are incorporated in The First State6, which is known for its business-friendliness. Delaware pays roughly $32.3 billion to the federal government in collective taxes or $6.09 for every federal dollar received.

4. Illinois

Illinois is the sixth most populous state at over 12.5 million people  its also got the fifth largest GDP by state7,8. And by contributing $5.88 tax dollars for every $1 in returned to it, Illinois also takes the fourth place spot for least dependent on the federal government. Chicagos location on the Great Lakes makes it an economic hub for the midwest, and like Minnesota, it is one of the top 10 agricultural states by production in the U.S.

5. Florida

The Sunshine State is the fifth-least dependent state on the federal government contributing $5.78 tax dollars for every $1 in federal aid it receives. As a popular tourist destination, Florida had the fourth largest GDP of all states in 2022.

Data and Methodology

To compare outflowing tax dollars to support dollars incoming from the federal government, we examined personal income tax, corporate income tax, excise tax, gift tax and estate tax data, all of which were classified as gross receipts to the federal government. Gross receipts include taxes, additional fees and interest.

We compared gross receipts to federal government distributions to state and local governments for 2021 to find the ratio of tax dollars paid to federal dollars received.

Data:

Collective tax revenue paid by states. Income tax, excise, estate, gift and business income tax data came from SOI Tax Stats: Gross Collections, by Type of Tax and State for 2021. Income tax data by earning percentile comes from SOI Tax Stats - Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) Percentile Data by State from the IRS for 2020. This statistic was not used for the purpose of state rankings.

Federal share of state government revenue. This is the percentage of the state governments revenue that comes from intergovernmental aid. Data comes from the U.S. Census Bureaus 2020 Annual Survey of State Government Finances.

Previous editions of this study utilized a different methodology, and thus are not comparable to the 2023 study.

1FiscalData.Treasury.gov

2The University of New Mexico

3U.S. Census Bureau ACS 1 Year, 2021

4USDA Economic Research Service, 2021 data

5USDA Economic Research Service, 2017-2021 Education data

6Delaware Division of Corporations

7U.S. Census Bureau Population Clock

8Bureau of Economic Analysis, State annual gross domestic product summary for 2022

Tax Planning Tips

Work with a finance professional. A financial advisor can help you make the most of your money. SmartAssets free tool matches you with up to three vetted financial advisors who serve your area, and you can interview your advisor matches at no cost to decide which one is right for you. If youre ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.

Do the math. If youre considering itemizing your deductions instead of taking the standard deduction, its important to keep track of your expenses and do the math to determine whether they exceed the standard deduction.

Know your tax liability. SmartAsset has a number of tools to help you calculate your tax liability in a given year, including an income tax calculator, capital gains calculator and a property tax calculator.

Questions about our study? Contact us at press@smartasset.com

Photo credit: iStock.com/franckreporter

The post Where Your Tax Dollars Go: States Most Dependent on the Federal Government  2023 Study appeared first on SmartAsset Blog.
INDIANAPOLIS, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Williams Comfort Air, a leading Indianapolis heating and cooling company, and Mr. Plumber, a leading Indianapolis plumbing company, are proud to announce they have donated 475 First Alert carbon monoxide (CO) alarms from Resideo to the Indianapolis Fire Department (IFD). The donation comes at a time when the IFD reports increased need for these devices as more residents have been requesting preventative devices due to an increased number of residential fire fatalities.

MAX Service Group Names Greg Wells As New President (PRNewsfoto/MAX Service Group)

In January of 2023, there were six fire fatalities within the IFD Service District; which matches the total fire fatality count for all of 2022. These tragedies sparked an increased demand from area residents requesting free smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms provided and installed by the IFD. The demand has been so high the department's supply of CO alarms was nearly depleted.

To supply the CO detectors, Williams Comfort Air and Mr. Plumber collaborated with Resideo Technologies, Inc., a leading global provider of solutions for energy management, home comfort, security and safety to identify the right alarms for IFD.

"Fuel-burning equipment like furnaces, boilers and water heaters are found in so many homes we service across Indianapolis. We recognize how important it is for these homes to have working carbon monoxide alarms since they play such a key role helping to prevent needless tragedies," said Greg Wells, President of Williams Comfort Air and Mr. Plumber. "Being in service to others is one of our company core values, and we want to help our community in ways that are meaningful even beyond HVAC and plumbing. Supporting local families and individuals looking to make their homes safer is something we are proud to do, and we are very happy to work alongside Resideo and the Indianapolis Fire Department to make it happen."

IFD Fire Marshal and Chief of the Fire and Life Safety Division Michael Beard said, "We are thankful for the community partnership with Williams Comfort Air and Mr. Plumber. Their extraordinary generosity will allow us to fill a critical need in our community at a time where family budgets are tight and many must make the difficult decision to put food on the table or keep their home fire safe. These detectors, installed by IFD firefighters, will allow them to sleep better at night knowing their home has an added layer of protection. The IFD is committed to protecting lives, property and the environment while serving our community with courage, commitment, and compassion. Thank you, Williams Comfort Air and Mr. Plumber, for stepping up to make a difference in our fire service district."

Story continues

The IFD provides complimentary smoke and CO alarms to Indianapolis residents upon request. To request one, residents can connect with the IFD through this form.

To learn more about Williams Comfort Air, visit https://williamscomfortair.com/

To learn more about Mr. Plumber, visit https://mrplumberindy.com/

About MAX Service Group

MAX Service Group operates five leading heating, cooling and plumbing companies that serve the Midwestern portion of the United States. With industry-leading brands including Williams Comfort Air and Mr. Plumber in central Indiana, Thomas & Galbraith Heating, Cooling and Plumbing in southwestern Ohio, Buckeye Heating, Cooling & Plumbing in greater Columbus, Ohio and Jarboe's Heating, Cooling and Plumbing in greater Louisville, Kentucky, MAX Service Group provides home services for hundreds of thousands of customers each year. Owned by Wrench Group, a national leader in home repair, replacement and maintenance services, MAX Service Group is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/williams-comfort-air-and-mr-plumber-donate-carbon-monoxide-detectors-to-indianapolis-fire-department-amid-shortage-301797435.html

SOURCE MAX Service Group
A cluster of just six Lego bricks can be combined in over 915 million different ways. Lego Groups Chesterfield County factory, which is expected to be running by the end of 2025, will be pumping out billions of those small, colored bricks for customers worldwide.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced 10 months ago that the Danish toymaker had chosen Meadowville Technology Park as the site for U.S. manufacturing. That $1 billion investment includes a 1.7 million-square-foot manufacturing facility with a pledge of 1,761 jobs for the area.

Lego on Wednesday held a groundbreaking ceremony for the plant with Youngkin; national, state and local officials; and economic development groups.

The factory will soon span over 340 acres of land with an initial opening date scheduled in 2025.

On these grounds we will continue our traditions of super strong craftsmanship rooted in high quality, in a sustainable manufactured way with state of the art technology to produce billions of these. I'm excited, said Carsten Rasmussen, Lego's chief operations officer.

Each Lego brick is made with the precision of 1/10th of a hair. By completion of the facility and a full ramping up of its workforce, the factory will manufacture the full array of Lego products.

This year also coincides with the 50th anniversary of Legos move into the U.S.; Rasmussen said the factory had an initial planned lifespan of 50 years, with the possibility that it could last for up to 100 years.

We have built strong foundations in the U.S., Rasmussen said. Today, it is one of our biggest markets, and we have still a lot of potential to strengthen our presence but, more importantly, to delight many more children with fantastic play experience that will help them with creativity and learning.

Eco-friendly design planned with project

Rasmussen said the factorys design is also slated to have a major component of environmental friendliness when it comes to operational aspects like water usage, waste treatments and energy usage. The initial structure is set to be powered entirely by a solar park at the sites grounds and rooftop.

Youngkin and legislators signed a bill for the Precision Plastic Manufacturing Grant Fund. Identical bills in the state House and Senate are offering $56 million on grants between 2027 and 2035. The bills do not specifically mention Lego by name but refer to a company making precision plastic products with expected capital investments of $1 billion creating 1,761 new full-time jobs.

We will see the spirit of Virginia further breathe life into this facility. And that facility will build tools to inspire the imagination and we will hear that click over and over again that kids love, Youngkin said. "This will be the best. This facility, this culture and this opportunity. The best business climate in Virginia, the best education in Virginia. The best sites in Virginia, the best infrastructure, the best trained workforce. This is what we come together to deliver.

Kevin Carroll, chair of the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors, said the countys EDA had been intentionally saving the last undeveloped parcel at the Meadowville Technology Park for just the right partner.

We found that strong partner was LEGO Group; what a lucky break, Carroll said. The future economic impact of the plant ... cannot be overstated, as we will see the creation of 1,761 jobs coupled with the contributions to the commercial tax revenue will significantly help fund public safety, schools and other public services while reducing the county's reliance on residential property taxes.

Other investments in area

The Meadowville Technology Park, at Interstate 295 and the James River, is also home to an Amazon fulfillment center and a Capital One data center among other tenants. The Chesterfield EDA expanded the parks footprint in 2020 by purchasing the now-Lego property. The Chesterfield board contributed $3 million of the $21 million price tag, with the rest coming from the EDA. The land was formerly part of an 800-acre American Tobacco cigarette plant site.

Virginia Economic Development Partnership said in a statement that Lego cited more than 100 factors and sub-factors when choosing Meadowville. Virginias solution, that statement said, was focused on an attractive, pad-ready site with strategic access to markets, comprehensive custom workforce solutions from talent recruitment to training, a competitive state and community incentive package, and a commitment to renewable energy.

The ultimate 1,700-member workforce is being hired in two states. The first stage of 500 employees is already underway with around 20 people hired so far. That first batch of workers will work out of a local facility until the full factory is built. Rasmussen said the initial operations will package around 35 to 40 different products that are molded at its site in Monterrey, Mexico.

Rasmussen said Lego Group is still determining the average salary for a worker at the plant, but it should be competitive with the market with other great benefits.

The Chesterfield facility is one Legos seventh worldwide  two in Asia, three in Europe and the one in Monterrey. Rasmussen said the Chesterfield factory will have to ramp up production over an unspecified number of years before making its full assortment of products. While ramping up, it will work in tandem with the Mexico factory. He said the Chesterfield operations will start with around 40 products.

A scale model of the factory  made out of 34,174 Lego bricks  includes a line representing where the facility could possibly expand in the coming years. Rasmussen said the facility has space to double its operations on the current parcel of land, but that a timeline for that growth is unknown.

It's going to take us some years before we were going to expand. That could be done in sections, so not necessarily everything at one time, Rasmussen said. It could be some section first. It's like the brick. It's very, very modular. You can build it together.

Site work on the land began this week. Rasmussen said vertical construction would start within the next couple of months.
The Nebraska Soybean Board (NSB) is now accepting proposals for the FY24 funding cycle that strategically align with four initiative areas: Farmer Support, Production & Crop Research, Community Engagement and Demand & Utilization. The funding cycle begins on Oct. 1, 2023, and ends on Sept. 30, 2024.

All project plans should aim to benefit all Nebraska soybean farmers and address opportunities for research, education, promotion, or increasing the demand for soy. Interested parties can view more details on the NSB proposal process, including timelines, initiative areas and strategic plan documents at nebraskasoybeans.org/about/fy24-rfp-process.

For over three decades, NSB has been dedicating soybean checkoff funds to support Nebraska soybean farmers and the industry as a whole. Previously funded work includes research and promotion of biodiesel, increased exports of red meats, sustainably promoting livestock production in Nebraska, bolstering value of exports through the Pacific Northwest, and education projects focused on the importance of soybeans in Nebraska agriculture.

Proposals will be evaluated on their effectiveness at addressing the needs of Nebraska soybean farmers and the overall alignment with NSBs current strategic plan.

The deadline for submitting proposals is May 12, 2023. To access the proposal form, visit: nebraskasoybeans.org/about/fy24-rfp-process. For additional questions, please contact Andy Chvatal at 402-441-3240 or andy@nebraskasoybeans.org.
MONDAY, April 17, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Consistently good sleep is important for everyone, but it is particularly important for patients with schizophrenia, a new study suggests.

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh, along with collaborators in Italy, used wrist monitors to measure activity and rest in 250 people, including 150 patients with schizophrenia, in both outpatient settings and in psychiatric hospitals.

The investigators found that the schizophrenia patients had erratic sleep patterns, dysregulated transitions between sleep and wake cycles, and excessively rigid daily routines that were predictive of worse symptoms.

Regulating sleep and wake cycles is important for your overall health and our findings can also be extended to people without underlying mental health conditions, said senior study author Dr. Fabio Ferrarelli, an associate professor of psychiatry at Pitt. Most people can benefit from better sleep hygiene and paying attention to their daily routines by incorporating activity and variety in their daily lives.

Well-established research literature suggests that people suffering from schizophrenia have trouble falling asleep and get poorer rest than people without mental health conditions.

Sedatives used to manage schizophrenia symptoms can extend sleep to 15 hours per day. Getting too much sleep like this can have a negative effect on symptoms.

Its important to be mindful of how drugs that we prescribe to patients affect their health more broadly, Ferrarelli said in a Pitt news release. Our study shows that a 12- to 15-hour sleep can be harmful, and its important to avoid overprescribing sedatives and use the lowest dose possible.

Both inpatient and outpatient schizophrenia patients tended to have fewer active hours during the day and spent more time sleeping or passively resting than the studys healthy controls, the findings showed.

Inpatients had more fragmented sleep and more abrupt transitions between rest and activity compared to the outpatient group. They also had more rigid rhythms of daily rest and activity than outpatients. That correlated with a greater degree of negative mental health symptoms in these patients, including reduced motivation to interact with others and blunted capacity for feeling pleasure.

The consistency between the two patient cohorts was somewhat surprising to us, Ferrarelli said. But, interestingly, we found that residential patients had much more stable daily routines. We tend to think of stable routines as a good thing, but when these routines become too rigid, they can present a problem. In our study, this rigidity in daily rhythms was strongly correlated to the severity of negative mental health symptoms in residential patients with schizophrenia.

The findings were published April 14 in the journal Molecular Psychiatry. This research was supported by the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health.

The researchers suggested that varying your daily routines and incorporating movement into your life are two simple steps that everyone can take to improve and protect their brain health.

Especially as people get older, we tend to get deep into our routines, said Ferrarelli. Routines provide a sense of control to our lives and can be very beneficial. But if a routine is too rigid, it can backfire. Keeping your sleep schedule consistent while mixing up your daily tasks and splitting them across different days of the week is a good way to add variety to your schedule and improve your health long-term.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Mental Health has more on schizophrenia.

SOURCE: University of Pittsburgh, news release, April 14, 2023
Nebraska tax collections have come in short of projections over a five-month period, with the cumulative shortfall topping $92 million, according to a report released Friday.

The Nebraska Department of Revenue report caught the attention of key state lawmakers, who are in the midst of crafting a new state budget for the next two fiscal years and debating major tax relief packages.

State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of the Omaha area, who chairs the Revenue Committee, said she will be watching the tax receipts closely, especially what happens in April, when many people file their income taxes.

She also will be keeping an eye on what the states revenue forecasting board does. Board members are scheduled to meet at the end of April to review their projections for the years ending June 30, 2025. Lawmakers and the governor use those projections in setting the state budget.

Sen. Rob Clements of Elmwood, the Appropriations Committee chairman, said revenues remain relatively strong and the state has a healthy cushion.

Nebraska collected a record $6.35 billion in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2022. Under state law, $1.29 billion of that amount went into the states cash reserve fund.

It does appear the revenues are decreasing from record highs, Clements said. But he noted: The committee is maintaining a strong cash reserve for absorbing future decreases, if they happen.

Fridays report showed that net tax receipts for March totaled $360 million. That was nearly $56 million, or 13.4%, below projections. The monthly total reflected lower-than-expected gross tax collections and higher-than-expected refunds.

Net tax receipts since the fiscal year began on July 1 were $4.45 billion. Thats 2% below projections in the five months since the forecasting board last revised its projections.

The board met in February but decided against making any changes, citing conflicting outlooks offered by the professional economic forecasting services used to help inform their decisions.

The biggest year-to-date shortfall was for individual income taxes, which were $105 million, or 4.8%, below projections. Sales and use tax collections were $72 million, or 4%, low. They were offset in part by net corporate income taxes that came in $76.5 million higher than expected.

Gov. Jim Pillen said the report did not deliver any real shocks and said Nebraska still has the opportunity to make transformative change.

Its going to be really important that we understand our responsibility to be fiscally responsible, he said. Were not going to spend money on anything we dont need. We have plenty of resources for our needs.

Pillen has been pushing a major tax cut and school aid plan that would reduce the states top income tax rate, eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits and boost property tax credits. It also aims to drive down property taxes by eliminating community college levies and combining increased state aid to schools with caps on school revenues.

Linehan said adjustments may need to be made in the plan if the fiscal picture dims. She said that could mean taking longer to implement changes but would not mean abandoning goals.

But Rebecca Firestone, executive director of the OpenSky Policy Institute, urged lawmakers not to enact further tax cuts amid signs of a slowing economy.

Prudent revenue and spending decisions now are crucial to keeping Nebraska on sound financial footing in the future, she said.

Photos: 2023 Nebraska legislative session 010523-owh-new-lege-em01.jpg 010523-owh-new-lege-em02.jpg 010523-owh-new-lege-em04.jpg 010523-owh-new-lege-em05.jpg 010523-owh-new-lege-em06.jpg 010523-owh-new-lege-em65 010523-owh-new-lege-em37 010523-owh-new-lege-em38 010523-owh-new-lege-em49 010523-owh-new-lege-em60 010523-owh-new-lege-em45 010523-owh-new-lege-em39 010523-owh-new-lege-em48 010523-owh-new-lege-em55 010523-owh-new-lege-em59 010523-owh-new-lege-em43 010523-owh-new-lege-em42 010523-owh-new-lege-em50 010523-owh-new-lege-em53 010523-owh-new-lege-em46 010523-owh-new-lege-em40 010523-owh-new-lege-em47 010523-owh-new-lege-em51 010523-owh-new-lege-em61 010523-owh-new-lege-em64 010523-owh-new-lege-em52 010523-owh-new-lege-em56 010523-owh-new-lege-em62 010523-owh-new-lege-em63 010523-owh-new-lege-em58 010523-owh-new-lege-em44 010523-owh-new-lege-em41 010523-owh-new-lege-em54 010523-owh-new-lege-em36 010523-owh-new-lege-em31 010523-owh-new-lege-em30 010523-owh-new-lege-em32 010523-owh-new-lege-em33 010523-owh-new-lege-em35 010523-owh-new-lege-em34 010523-owh-new-lege-em24 010523-owh-new-lege-em27 010523-owh-new-lege-em26 010523-owh-new-lege-em28 010523-owh-new-lege-em25 010523-owh-new-lege-em29 010523-owh-new-lege-em23 010523-owh-new-lege-em18 010523-owh-new-lege-em21 010523-owh-new-lege-em15 010523-owh-new-lege-em17 010523-owh-new-lege-em22 010523-owh-new-lege-em19 010523-owh-new-lege-em16 010523-owh-new-lege-em20 010523-owh-new-lege-em12 010523-owh-new-lege-em09 010523-owh-new-lege-em14 010523-owh-new-lege-em13 010523-owh-new-lege-em07 010523-owh-new-lege-em11 010523-owh-new-lege-em08 010523-owh-new-lege-em03 010523-owh-new-lege-em10 010523-owh-new-lege-em03.jpg
Colorado's second-highest court last week ordered an El Paso County judge to hold a hearing on an incarcerated man's claim that he received constitutionally-ineffective assistance of counsel, based on his trial lawyer's decision not to call multiple witnesses who would have corroborated the defendant's alibi.

Antonio Jose Vargas Jr. is serving a 96-year sentence for kidnapping and an additional sentence of 48 years to life for sexual assault. A jury found Vargas guilty in 2009 and the Court of Appeals upheld his convictions in 2013.

Now, Vargas is asserting his trial lawyer was deficient for not presenting four witnesses: Vargas' son, mother, family friend and employee. Two of them would have testified Vargas was not with the victim the night of the crime, and the other two would have explained the victim did not appear injured or rattled the morning after the crime.

Such testimony, "if found credible, would seem to corroborate Vargas hotly disputed alibi," wrote Judge Craig R. Welling in the April 13 opinion of a three-judge appellate panel.

According to the evidence, Vargas abducted the victim, bound her hands and mouth, and took her to his property, where he sexually assaulted her. Vargas maintained he did have consensual sex with the victim two days earlier, but he was not with her the night of the assault. He offered a theory for why the victim would fabricate allegations against him.

In 2015, Vargas filed a petition for postconviction relief, claiming specifically his trial lawyer's performance dipped below the constitutionally-required level of effectiveness.

District Court Judge Gregory R. Werner held a hearing on one of Vargas' claims and found Vargas to not be credible. He then denied all of Vargas' claims for relief, including Vargas' contention that he was actually innocent.

The Court of Appeals panel agreed with Werner's handling of the case in part. Welling acknowledged in the opinion that it is unclear whether Colorado courts can act upon a claim of innocence that is untethered to a constitutional violation. But if an innocence claim exists, it has an "extraordinarily high threshold" that Vargas had not satisfied in this instance, Welling added.

Sign up for free: Springs AM Update Your morning rundown of the latest news from Colorado Springs and around the country overnight and the stories to follow throughout the day delivered to your inbox each evening. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters.

The panel then parted ways with Werner on Vargas' allegation that his trial lawyer neglected to call four witnesses who would have cast doubt on the victim's story.

Although one of Vargas' sons did testify that Vargas was at home the night of the kidnapping and sexual assault, Vargas' other son and a family friend would have also corroborated that alibi. At the time of trial, Vargas' non-testifying son was allegedly "on the run" and the prosecution was "unable to locate" the friend. However, there were no further details and no clear understanding of whether both witnesses were unable to testify.

"Because the record regarding (the friend) doesnt establish why defense counsel didnt call him to testify ... we remand this issue for an evidentiary hearing," wrote Welling, reaching the same conclusion for Vargas' son.

As for Vargas' mother and employee, both had breakfast with Vargas and the victim the morning after the crime. They now say they would have testified the victim did not appear injured and acted normally.

The prosecution argued to the Court of Appeals that the victim testified she "pretended to be fine," and additional witnesses would not have undermined her account.

"In our review of the transcript, however, there is no instance where the victim says she 'pretended' to be fine while eating," Welling countered. "While it may be true that some parts of the testimony by Vargas mother and his employee would have been consistent with the victims trial testimony, the proffered testimony, if credible, would seem to corroborate Vargas theory of defense."

The appellate panel returned the case to Werner for a hearing on whether Vargas' trial lawyer was constitutionally ineffective for failing to call those witnesses. Under U.S. Supreme Court precedent, Vargas must show the attorney's performance was below an "objective standard of reasonableness" and, in the absence of the attorney's errors, the outcome likely would have been different.

The case is People v. Vargas.
The family of a Colorado Springs teen who was paralyzed following a shooting at The Citadel mall in May of last year has filed a lawsuit against the companies that own the shopping center.

Stewart Miller Simmons, an Atlanta-based law firm representing Marjorie Bell and her daughter, Makayla Anderson, announced at a news conference on Monday that it is suing Citadel Mall Realty, Mason Asset Management and Namdar Realty, alleging substandard security practices that the law firm says led to the shooting.

They do not have the proper security at that mall, said attorney L. Chris Stewart. And that is why we filed a lawsuit and we will get justice not just for Makayla, but to protect every person in Colorado Springs.

Its when companies put profits over people that lives change, said Kelley Simoneaux of the Spinal Cord Injury Law Firm, part of the plaintiffs' legal team. And Makaylas life changed in a second.

On May 22, Anderson, then 12, was shopping at The Citadel mall when an argument between two groups erupted into gunfire. Anderson, who was reportedly waiting for a ride home, was struck in the chest by a bullet.

As a result of her injuries, Anderson is paralyzed from the waist down and has lost partial use of her right arm, Stewart said.

The lawsuit alleges that Anderson has endured, and will continue to endure, overwhelming pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, psychological trauma, and post-traumatic stress disorder, all of which will require a lifetime of care that could cost tens of millions of dollars.

Stewart said the lawsuit will prove that the malls owners were aware of at least six shootings that took place at The Citadel between Jan. 1, 2016, and May 22, 2022, and failed to employ measures  including an increase in trained security personnel, working surveillance cameras and other potential deterrents  that could have prevented Andersons injury.

Clearly, (the malls owners) do not care about that mall or their patrons, Stewart said.

Sign up for free: Springs AM Update Your morning rundown of the latest news from Colorado Springs and around the country overnight and the stories to follow throughout the day delivered to your inbox each evening. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters.

Marjorie Bell, Andersons mother, said the shooting has permanently altered her daughters day-to-day life. Kayla, as Bell calls her, is in near-constant pain, struggles to sit up and has trouble with simple tasks like bathing, Bell said. Additionally, the family lacks the financial resources to make their home and van wheelchair accessible.

Shes in excruciating pain, Bell said. Its so heartbreaking to watch Kayla have to go through this. She cant even enjoy her life like a normal child anymore.

Simoneaux, who lost the use of her legs at 16 following a spinal cord injury, said the alleged negligence of The Citadels owners has fostered an atmosphere where violent crimes regularly take place, which led to the preventable incident that paralyzed Anderson.

A spinal cord injury is the most permanent, most expensive injury you can ever have in your life, Simoneaux said. Her needs are tremendous. And its up to the companies that have contributed to what Makayla has gone through, to do the right thing, and to change their practices, and do whats right for Makayla.

Namdar Realty and Mason Asset Management, which also own Chapel Hills Mall in Colorado Springs, said they could not comment on an ongoing lawsuit, but that their "thoughts and prayers" go out to Anderson and her family.

"Makayla is yet another victim of senseless gun violence across communities all around the United States, and it is our hope that she and her family can find peace and continue recovery during this difficult time," a representative said in a statement.

Stewart said the owners' future actions will prove, or disprove, their sincerity.

What (The Citadel malls owners) are doing is atrocious, Stewart said. This lawsuit, we pray, will stop that.

The lawsuit comes two weeks after an officer-involved shooting at The Citadel left a teen dead when at least one Colorado Springs police officer exchanged fire with a 19-year-old in Burlington Coat Factory. The shooting on April 3 was preceded by an undercover surveillance operation of a group on foot through the mall.

The mall was also the scene of a double killing in March 2022 when two young men died by gunfire after what police described as a fight in the parking lot outside Dillards and Burlington Coat Factory. At some point during the altercation, shots were fired and four people were hit, killing two men in their early 20s.
The North Creek fire, which has burned approximately 43 acres and is at 10% containment, appears to have been caused by human activity, officials said Sunday.

A campfire, apparently set by a hunter, is believed to be the primary cause of the blaze, and a person of interest has been identified, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The investigation is ongoing, officials said.

We would like to use this opportunity to remind everyone that many of our day to day actions can have the potential to cause a wildfire, the Forest Service said in a statement. The weather in many areas of southern Colorado continues to be dry and warm and there have been a number of wildfires in the past few weeks along the Front Range and in Southern Colorado.

Authorities cautioned campers, hunters, and other outdoor enthusiasts to think their actions through and avoid any activity that might set off a wildfire.

Always ensure that you dispose of any heat source properly, trailer chains are not dragging and campfires are built safely and extinguished completely, officials said. Remember, we are all responsible for our own actions and we all have the opportunity to prevent wildfires.

Mandatory evacuations for the Red Mountain Youth Camp and surrounding areas in Beulah were lifted on Saturday and downgraded to pre-evacuation status.
Starbucks on Monday announced a new test pilot program at its coffee shops in Colorado, encouraging customers to bring in their own personal cup.

The pilot program is running at 192 participating stores across the Centennial State and is aimed at reducing waste.

We set a bold aspiration to become a resource positive company  to store more carbon than we emit, to eliminate waste and to conserve and replenish more freshwater than we use. This aspiration included setting ambitious 2030 targets to cut our carbon, water, and waste footprints in half, Michael Kobori, Starbucks chief sustainability officer, said in a post announcing some of the companys new tests to reduce waste. Innovation is how we will build our next chapter, advance our planet positive impact, and boldly reimagine our future together.

As an incentive to encourage customers to bring their own cup, Starbucks is giving 10 cents off the order. Rewards members would also get 25 bonus stars, up to three times per day.

The Seattle-based coffee chain said it chose Colorado as a test market for the program because customers in the state were already bringing in personal cups at a rate higher than the national average.

We selected Colorado for this test due to the customers in this market having a tendency to be early adopters with personal cup use, a Starbucks spokesperson told The Denver Gazette in an email. The spokesperson declined to share any data on the percentage of customers currently bringing in personal cups.

Sign up for free: Springs AM Update Your morning rundown of the latest news from Colorado Springs and around the country overnight and the stories to follow throughout the day delivered to your inbox each evening. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters.

The test runs from April 10 to June 30, and Starbucks says its the companys largest test on reusable cups it has ever run in the U.S.

Only clean cups will be accepted, and Starbucks partners will not be able to clean cups for customers, the Starbucks spokesperson said. We appreciate our customers bringing their clean personal cup and reminding their barista that they have their personal cup with them when they place their order at the drive thru. This is another small way were inviting our customers to join us in our efforts to reduce waste in our communities.

The spokesperson said Starbucks hopes to expand the program across the U.S. and Canada for every visit by the start of 2024.

The company said its goal is to create a cultural movement towards reusables by 2025, and in other markets it is testing a borrow a cup program in which drinks are sold in designated reusable cups which are later returned to stores and professionally cleaned.

Through testing, our goal is to learn how to offer customers a way to shift from single use cups toward a reusable to-go-coffee experience, in a way that is convenient, easy and enjoyable, while also providing a standardized and barista-informed solution, the Starbucks spokesperson said.
By Jonathan Allen

(Reuters) -The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday upheld the conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd during a 2020 arrest, rejecting Chauvin's request for a new trial.

The panel of three judges rejected Chauvin's argument that the judge in his 2021 state trial made multiple errors and abused his discretion, including a decision to deny Chauvin's request to move the trial outside of Minneapolis.

Chauvin, a white man, was convicted of murdering Floyd, who is Black, by kneeling on a handcuffed Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes during an arrest on May 25, 2020, which sparked protests across the country against police brutality and racism.

Chauvin was sentenced to 22-1/2 years in prison. In December 2021, Chauvin pleaded guilty in federal court to charges he violated George Floyd's civil rights.

Chauvin's lawyer, William Mohrman, argued in a court filing in April 2022 that Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill made multiple errors that denied Chauvin a fair trial.

Because of extensive pre-trial publicity, the judge should have agreed to Chauvin's motions to move the trial outside Minneapolis and sequester the jury, Mohrman argued. A bystander's cellphone video of a prone Floyd pleading for his life before falling limp beneath Chauvin's knee was widely circulated, drawing outrage around the world.

In a 50-page opinion, the appeals court disagreed, writing that "a district court does not abuse its discretion by denying the motions if it takes sufficient mitigating steps and verifies that the jurors can set aside their impressions or opinions and deliver a fair and impartial verdict."

Cahill, Chauvin's attorneys and prosecutors from the state attorney general's office spent about two weeks questioning potential jurors before seating the 12-person jury.

The most serious state crime for which Chauvin was convicted was second-degree unintentional murder involving third-degree assault. Although his lawyers did not raise this during the trial, Chauvin in his appeal argued that an on-duty police officer cannot be convicted of this crime because they are authorized to use force when arresting a resisting suspect.

Writing for the appeals court panel, Judge Peter Reyes disagreed.

"The law only permits police officers to use reasonable force when effecting a lawful arrest," he wrote in the opinion. "Chauvin crossed that line here when he used unreasonable force on Floyd."

(Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New YorkEditing by Nick Zieminski and Franklin Paul)
Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) defended his role in counter-demonstrations outside former President Donald Trump's Manhattan arraignment earlier this month that clashed with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's (R-GA) rally protesting the indictment.

Greene, an ardent Trump supporter, made headlines when she announced her plans to protest outside the Manhattan courthouse where the former president was being arraigned on hush money charges. The news prompted GOP detractors, including progressive New Yorkers like Bowman and other progressive local lawmakers, to hold a counter-protest in the same area. Greene was only able to speak to the crowd for under 10 minutes before being escorted away by police over security concerns.

DONALD TRUMP ARREST: MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE LIKENS INDICTMENT TO ARRESTS OF JESUS AND NELSON MANDELA

Bowman was seen shouting, "Get out of here, get the hell out of here," at Greene's car as she was driven away from the chaotic scene before turning to reporters and saying, "Now, let's talk about the truth."

"We will never accept hateful rhetoric in our city," Bowman told the packed crowd of police, media, and demonstrators. "Any rhetoric that is divisive, any rhetoric that uplifts white supremacy, we are pushing back against that in all its forms."

"Marjorie Taylor Greene, she should take her a** back to Washington and do something about gun violence, do something about affordable health care, do something about childhood poverty, do something about climate change," he continued. "Do your freaking job, Marjorie Taylor Greene. You don't need to be in New York City talking that nonsense. Go back to your district. What are you doing here? You're here for politics, you're here because you want to be VP, you're here for your own fundraising, you're here for your own nonsense."

Asked about the incident during a Saturday appearance on MSNBC, specifically what was going through his head when he told her to go back home, Bowman replied, "First of all, I was angry that she would even come, because she's coming for political theater and to help with her fundraising."

"It was the day of the Trump arraignment so for her it's about theater," he added. "It's about going viral. It's about fundraising, and I've heard she wants to be the VP nominee."

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicted Trump this month on charges related to the hush money matter, marking the first time a former U.S. president has been criminally charged.

Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer, testified before Congress in 2019 that he paid Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, $130,000 during the 2016 campaign to prevent her from going public about an affair she claimed to have with Trump in 2005. Cohen, who pleaded guilty and served time over the alleged payment, told lawmakers Trump reimbursed him in monthly installments.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Trump has denied any wrongdoing and vowed to fight the charges. He has also made targets of Bragg and the judge overseeing the case on social media while condemning the charges as unserious and politically motivated.

Greene has repeatedly decried the investigation and charges as an "unconstitutional witch hunt."

Original Location: Bowman defends counter-demonstration to MTG's protest outside Trump arraignment

Washington Examiner Videos
Former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) cautioned those calling former President Donald Trump the likely 2024 nominee that he has not "cleared" the field of fellow GOP primary candidates.

Christie dismissed the idea Trump had already cleared the field despite some 2024 contenders, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, opting against challenging the former president announcing they will not make a White House run. Trump is considered the frontrunner in the field, with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) close behind in several polls, but with other contenders far behind the two leaders.

SUPER PAC BACKING DESANTIS RELEASES FIRST TV AD: 'TRUMP SHOULD FIGHT DEMOCRATS'

"I don't think the field is starting to look like Trump. When you're indicted in one place and you're facing investigations in two others, it makes you at least an uncertain winner. But again, he's the former president. So course he's going to be the front runner. He has the best name ID of anybody in the race. But you already have four candidates who announced," Christie said on ABC's This Week on Sunday.

"This is what I said a couple months ago on this show. This is not going to be a 2016 field. This is going to be six to eight candidates that are going to be running. It will be a normal type sized field. But certainly it won't be a field that Donald Trump has cleared," Christie added.

Christie also said that he believes the 2024 contenders who announced they would not run, likely did it for personal reasons rather than seeing the primary as Trump's to lose.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

"You see Asa Hutchinson in the race and Nikki Haley in the race, now Tim Scott in the race. These are substantial people who are going to have something to say. And so I don't think that's what it means at all," Christie said. "I do think each one of these decisions were made on rather personal levels. I think, in particular, Pompeo's was a decision, that was just he didn't want to do it. And boy you got to really want to do it to be able to get in."

Christie, who ran for president in 2016, has teased that he may run again in 2024 but would not announce a decision on This Week when asked directly.

Original Location: Chris Christie says Trump has not 'cleared' 2024 GOP primary field

Washington Examiner Videos
By Humeyra Pamuk and Patricia Zengerle

(Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's administration notified Congress on Monday of the planned sale to Turkey of avionics software upgrades for its current fleet of F-16 fighter aircraft, a deal valued at up to $259 million.

The deal, first reported by Reuters earlier on Monday, moves ahead with the sale of the modernization package for Turkey's aircraft, after leaders of U.S. congressional committees gave informal approval.

A larger agreement, NATO member Turkey's request to buy billions of dollars worth of F-16s, remains in limbo amid continuing opposition in Congress.

If it is cleared by Congress during the formal approval process, the package would be the first major military sale to Turkey that Congress has approved for years.

"Turkiye is a longstanding and valued NATO ally," a State Department spokesperson said in a statement. "The Biden Administration supports Turkiyes efforts to bring the avionics of its F-16 fleet up to standard."

The spokesperson noted that the upgrade will improve the interoperability between Turkish and NATO systems by updating its communications and also provide upgrades to enhance safety measures such as a ground collision avoidance system.

The F-16 modernization deal follows Turkey approving Finland's accession to the NATO military alliance and signs of easing tensions between Turkey and neighbor Greece ahead of Turkish elections next month.

Lockheed Martin Corp will be the principal contractor on the deal.

The package is separate from the proposed $20 billion sale of new Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters and nearly 80 modernization kits that Turkey requested in October 2021.

The smaller package was approved after the administration pushed the lawmakers to approve it to send a "positive signal" to Ankara, according to one source familiar with the deal.

The approval does not mean the bigger sale will receive a green light from Congress as U.S. lawmakers are seeking assurances from Turkey on issues that go beyond the Nordic NATO expansion.

Those issues include easing tensions with Greece for good, refraining from an invasion in northern Syria and enforcing sanctions against Russia.

Such conditions are likely to anger Turkey, which has said the United States had "endless" demands relating to the sale of F-16s and that Washington's behavior wasn't fair.

(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle in Washington; Editing by Doina Chiacu, Don Durfee and Grant McCool)
NAPLES, Florida  In downtown Naples, nearly every street along the turquoise waterfront has an active construction project, whether a new home or a remodel.

Almost every part of Collier County, southwest Florida, and South Florida more generally has only been expanding more after people began relocating to the Sunshine State to escape pandemic restrictions in the rest of the country.

50-STATE REPORT: GOP-LED STATES ARE IN BEST ECONOMIC CONDITION

Naples, a city of about 20,000 people, is part of the much larger Collier region, which boasts some 375,000 residents as of the 2020 census. "Naples," which is now the name used to reference much of the county west of Interstate 75 even beyond city limits, has become an in-demand locale for out-of-staters attracted to the wealth, coastal lifestyle, and hot labor market.

The area is a major contrast to other parts of the country. The National Association of Homebuilders last year declared a nationwide "housing recession," which is expected to deepen next year as higher mortgage rates have put home buying out of reach for many sales and slowed starts of new construction.

In San Jose, California, for instance  long one of the hottest housing markets, thanks to the long ascent of nearby Silicon Valley  housing prices have fallen 8.8% over the past year, according to Redfin. Prices have dropped 4% in New York City and 4.6% in Los Angeles.

Prices have declined more than 16% in Austin, Texas, which was also a popular pandemic destination, rivaling Florida.

But South Florida is defying those trends. Naples has seen 13.1% growth over the past year, and Miami has had prices rise 7.6%. In Fort Myers, prices have climbed nearly 14% in the past year alone  astonishing growth that cuts against the national housing recession narrative.

"Despite what is happing nationally, this market here is really its own situation outside of the national picture," Chris Spina, owner and president of Spina Realty Company, told the Washington Examiner while standing in the foyer of a $14 million home located just a short walk from the beach.

The residence is a "spec home," which is one built without a specific buyer already in mind. Its construction shows Spina's confidence in the housing market. On the short street near where that house is listed, construction workers could be seen at several other sites and work vans lined streets around the area.

A spec home listed for sale. The property, located in downtown Naples, is just a short walk away from the beach. (Zachary Halaschak/Washington Examiner)

The property is set up to project a relaxed Florida lifestyle to entice wealthy buyers from the Northeast and elsewhere. The color scheme is light, and shades of blue and green evoke the nearby ocean and palm trees.

Realtor Chris Spina shows off the kitchen of a new home built in downtown Naples, Florida, on April 10, 2023. (Zachary Halaschak/Washington Examiner)

Florida's pandemic boom is extending even though others states have long since dropped restrictions. Several people interviewed by the Washington Examiner mentioned that some migration was linked to the laxer pandemic restrictions Florida imposed as well as the ability for younger people to keep their jobs in New York City and major cities while moving to the Sunshine State and working remotely.

Bill Gaston, owner of Naples-based construction management firm BUILD, told the Washington Examiner that, anecdotally, some of the inbound migration has been driven by politics. He noted the conservative direction Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has taken the state in recent years. Just a decade ago, the state was seen as a purple swing state, but in recent cycles, it has become a bastion of conservative Republicanism.

DeSantis, a strong opponent of the lockdowns and business closures typical for blue states during the pandemic, served as a beacon for those chafing against restrictions. The lower tax burden, coupled with the growing tide of conservatism, proved an effective lure for many.

"Definitely saw a much stronger migration of Northeastern people and Californians than we have ever seen," Gaston said, noting that many more were from the Midwest before the pandemic. "And I think a lot of that, on the client side, was driven by the politics of everything with COVID."

Gaston said his company's annual revenue was about 24% higher in 2021 than in 2020. In 2022, the company marked a whopping 85% growth in revenue from the year before, and if revenue projections for this year hold true, the business will bring in 38% more revenue than last year.

Florida also has no income tax, one of only nine such states. Living in a high-tax state like New York or California, which have top marginal rates in the double digits, can eat away at earnings quickly. A move to Florida can mean more money in the bank and more money to spend in the local economy.

Vikki Salese, who works in real estate, moved to Florida in July 2021, just over a year after the pandemic began, from Connecticut. She said it had been a dream to move south for some time but was never a possibility in terms of work. But her husband, who works in finance, was granted full remote work, and the move began to seem possible. She also noted that one of her sons was struggling with virtual learning, another factor weighing in favor of moving to Florida.

"We got to spring of 2021, things were not getting better; our COVID policies up there were quite different than what was going on here," she told the Washington Examiner.

"Everything seemed to fall in place," Salese said about the ability to remote work plus the educational opportunities a pandemic-era relocation afforded. "For us, it was definitely the best decision; we have not looked back."

Salese said her family has benefited financially even beyond the income tax savings. They don't need to worry about paying for heat in the winter and don't need an entirely new wardrobe for the cold and snowy months up North. Also in dealing with snow, Florida residents don't need to worry about paying extra for an all-wheel drive vehicle.

"The taxes definitely are lower with no state income tax, and even our property taxes aren't so bad," Naples City Council member Ted Blankenship told the Washington Examiner.

For instance, take someone who is working at an accounting job in New York City. If they are earning $200,000 annually, their take-home pay after taxes is $5,197 on a semimonthly basis, or $124,728 per year. If that same accountant were to move down to Naples, they would net nearly $6,000 twice per month, meaning they would get more than $19,000 more in earnings each year.

The scene in downtown Naples is serene yet still buzzing with activity. Construction equipment can be heard amid the ambient sounds of birds and the breeze blowing through the carefully manicured Florida landscaping. Private jets increasingly cut through the light blue sky, carrying visitors and potential residents bound for the area. Spina said the sound of incoming and outgoing jets has grown alongside the area's housing market, speaking to the infusion of people and wealth driving the region's breakneck activity.

A private jet flies over downtown Naples, Florida, on April 10, 2023. (Zachary Halaschak/Washington Examiner)

Nearby cities like Marco Island, Bonita Springs, and Fort Myers have also seen big spurts of growth. During the winter, when the bevy of new permanent residents over the past few years mingles with the crush of seasonal residents, it can be difficult to find a parking place on Marco after crossing one of the two bridges connecting it to the mainland.

From April 2020 to July of last year alone, just over two years, the population of Collier County ballooned by about 6%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, building upon longer-term growth trends in the area. The Naples area has cemented itself as a bastion of wealth as housing prices keep soaring yet without deterring buyers, many of whom forego mortgages and pay in cash (meaning they are not hurt by the higher mortgage rates over the past year). But there have been some key changes in those moving to the area; instead of elderly retirees from the Midwest, demographics are evolving.

"The average age is getting younger. We are seeing more young buyers with families," Budge Huskey, CEO of Premier Sotheby's International Realty, told the Washington Examiner.

A boat passes under the Marco Island bridge on April 10, 2023. Marco Island has become another popular destination for people seeking lower taxes and a new place to live. (Zachary Halaschak/Washington Examiner)

Just under 100 miles away, on the other coast of Florida, the Miami real estate market is also still strong. Ines Hegedus-Garcia, chairwoman of the Miami Association of Realtors, the nation's largest local Realtor association, said while the housing market has slowed a bit from its breakneck post-pandemic pace, it is still red hot despite markets in other parts of the country coming crashing down.

"The real estate market is gradually returning to a more stable state following the pandemic; however, Miami continues to outpace national trends," Hegedus-Garcia told the Washington Examiner. "Despite the growing inventory, property prices in Miami continue to rise, albeit at a more modest rate.

"The city's real estate market is unique due to the significant number of cash transactions and the high rate of migration," she added.

The skyline near Miami's bustling Brickell neighborhood on April 11, 2023. Housing prices in the area have boomed since the start of the pandemic as new residents flood into South Florida. (Zachary Halaschak/Washington Examiner)

The skyline of Brickell towers over the city of Miami and is notably marked by large cranes and construction projects, owing to a massive growth in migration over the past few years. The neighborhood is located just south of downtown and is a densely packed mix of residential apartments, ritzy condominiums, and layers of restaurants and shops built not only out but up. In fact, the neighborhood has the highest ratio of people moving into the area vs. out in all of Miami, according to data analyzed by moveBuddha.

Prices in the hip enclave have soared (alongside Miami as a whole) as a result of the surge in demand. Right before the pandemic took hold, the average home value in the main Brickell ZIP code was just over $385,000, according to Zillow. That has since swelled to nearly $600,000 at the end of last year, a jaw-dropping 55% increase in three years.

A high-rise building goes up in downtown Miami on April 11, 2023. (Zachary Halaschak/Washington Examiner)

Salese is one of the thousands of people who have moved to Florida in recent years  something that has caused the housing market in South Florida to remain buoyant even as other markets across the country now face grim prospects. Population data released late last year from the U.S. Census Bureau showed that Florida was the fastest-growing state, adding a 1.9% population increase from 2021 to 2022 alone. It is also worth noting that Florida's population has grown every year since 1946, even during years of national decline.

The Sunshine State's population boomed a whopping 14.6% from 2010 to 2020 and 34.8% since 2000.

Compare that to a state like New York, which, between July 2021 and July 2022, lost some 180,341 residents. California's total population declined by more than 500,000 between the start of the pandemic and July of last year.

"It's a continued flow, and a lot of it's because of the way the economy is run in the state of Florida. That's what it is," Spina, the Realtor, said.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Gaston noted that, for southwest Florida specifically, Hurricane Ian further caused demand for construction work, including rebuilding and restoring homes that were damaged. That has compounded activity in the area. He doesn't expect the housing market to slow anytime soon.

"There is not enough supply of labor to meet the demand of just the rebuild alone, let alone the growth in the market. I do not expect any recession at all for our area in the construction industry," he said. "In fact, it would be great if it slowed a little bit because it would make the projects more manageable for us."

Construction and housing projects dot the streets of Southwest Florida on April 10, 2023. (Zachary Halaschak/Washington Examiner)

Original Location: Florida defying national housing 'recession' with post-pandemic boom

Washington Examiner Videos
A former Navy noncommissioned officer has been outed as being involved in a popular pro-Russian social media presence that has promoted the leaked classified U.S. documents.

Sarah Bils, 37, who was an electronic technician second class, according to her biography, is one of about 15 people who are allegedly behind a pro-Russian series of social media accounts known as "Donbass Devushka," according to the Wall Street Journal. She served at the U.S. naval air station on Whidbey Island until late last year.

SUSPECT FIRST LEAKED TEXT OF CLASSIFIED DOCS AROUND DECEMBER, AFFIDAVIT SAYS

While Bils had a security clearance during her time in the Navy, there's no information to suggest she leaked any classified information herself.

Airman 1st Class Jack Douglas Teixeira was charged last week with unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information and unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material, according to court documents. He was allegedly releasing the information in a chatroom on the Discord platform in a group, Thug Shaker Central, of about 20-30 young men who share similar interests.

Two U.S. defense officials told USNI News that the Department of Justice is investigating her role in the spreading of the classified documents, while a DOJ spokesperson declined to comment to the Washington Examiner. A Department of Defense official said on Monday that Bils was not under investigation while she was in the military.

"As far as I'm aware, while she was in uniform, there was not" an investigation, Pentagon deputy spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters on Monday.

The Donbass Devushka telegram account posted four of the purportedly leaked documents to its roughly 65,000 followers, which led to several larger pro-Russian accounts to notice them. Bils denied posting the documents, saying another administrator did it and she later deleted them.

"Some very interesting potential intel," the Donbass Devushka Telegram account posted on April 5. "The authenticity cannot be confirmed but looks to be very damning nato information."

One of the documents the account reposted looked like an identical photograph to one that had allegedly been released by Teixeira on Discord but had been changed to inflate Ukrainian casualties in the war and decrease those of Russia. A week later, the account denied altering the document.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Bils left the military last November with an honorable discharge, though she did so at the rank of E-5; she had been promoted to the E-7 rank of chief aviation electronics technician in late 2020. There was no clear explanation for the demotion.

The Donbas region is in the eastern part of Ukraine, though there's a heavy pro-Russian presence. Fighting has been going on in the region for years, but it is also where most of the entire war is going on.

Original Location: Former Navy sailor outed as behind pro-Russian Donbass Devushka accounts

Washington Examiner Videos
Police in New Mexico have released body camera footage after officers shot and killed a homeowner and shot at the man's wife earlier this month while responding to the wrong address.

On April 5, at about 11:30 p.m., the Farmington Police Department's dispatch sent officers to 5308 Valley View Avenue due to a domestic violence call. However, officers walked past the correct house, which was illuminated by an outside light, up to the front door of 5305 Valley View Avenue, knocked on the door, and announced themselves. It was only minutes later that shots were fired.

NEW MEXICO POLICE FATALLY SHOT MAN AFTER OFFICERS VISIT WRONG ADDRESS

In the body camera footage, officers can be heard repeatedly announcing who they are, but they receive no response. They then ask a dispatcher to confirm the address. The dispatcher tells them the correct address, "5308," which was diagonal from the house where they were knocking.

Shortly after, the homeowner, Robert Dotson, 52, opened the door with a handgun, and the officers immediately began shooting as they backed away. After the officers' shots, Dotson dropped to the ground.

About a minute later, Dotson's wife fired shots from a handgun, with hers coming from the inside of the home, but neither she nor any officers were injured in their shootout. She can be heard screaming and crying as she shoots. "Help! Somebody shot my husband. Please! Please! My kids are upstairs," she said.

She was not charged with a crime.

In this image taken from body camera video provided by the Farmington Police Department, a police officer knocks on the door of the wrong address in response to a domestic violence call, in Farmington, N.M., late April 5, 2023. Moments later, the homeowner was fatally shot by police after appearing at the door armed with a handgun. (Farmington Police Department via AP) AP

Dispatchers also received a distressing call from Dotson's daughter, saying she heard gunfire and her father needed help. She and two other children were inside the home at the time of the shooting, per the Associated Press.

Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe addressed the shooting in a video statement on Facebook and expressed condolences for Dotson's family.

"I am just heartbroken.  Mr. Dotson was not the subject of this call," Hebbe said in the statement posted on Facebook. "This ending is just unbelievably tragic. I'm extremely sorry that we're in this position. There's nothing I can say that will make this better," Hebbe said. "It's a terrible event, and I'm heartbroken over it."

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

The three officers involved in the shooting have not been identified and were placed on administrative leave. The New Mexico State Police is investigating the shooting.

Farmington is a city in northwestern New Mexico, home to about 50,000 people.

Original Location: Police release body camera footage after shooting homeowner at wrong address

Washington Examiner Videos
By Jasper Ward

(Reuters) -Prosecutors charged an 84-year-old white Kansas City man with two felonies on Monday in the shooting of a Black teenager who was wounded after walking up to the wrong house when going to pick up his younger twin brothers.

Andrew Lester was charged with first-degree assault, which could bring a sentence of life in prison, and armed criminal action for shooting Ralph Yarl, 16, on the doorstep of his suburban home around 10 p.m. last Thursday, the prosecutor said.

"I can tell you there was a racial component to the case," Clay County prosecutor Zachary Thompson told a news conference, without providing further details.

Lester fired two shots through a glass door from a .32-caliber revolver, the prosecutor said. Yarl, who was struck in the head and an arm, did not cross the threshold, Thompson said, adding it did not appear any words were exchanged in the encounter.

But Yarl told police in an interview at the hospital where he was treated that the man told him, "Don't come around here," local media reported, citing court documents.

The teen was recovering at home on Monday, his family said.

In addition to facing life in prison should he be found guilty of the assault charge, he could be sentenced to up to 15 years for criminal action, the prosecutor said. Hate crimes, which were not filed, carry lesser penalties in Missouri, he added.

An arrest warrant had been issued for Lester with bond set at $200,000, but as of 5 p.m. CDT (2200 GMT) he was not in custody, the prosecutor said.

The homeowner was initially taken into custody, placed on a 24-hour investigative hold, then released pending an interview with Yarl and the collection of forensic evidence, Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said.

His release helped fuel two days of protests. Demonstrators gathered again on Monday at the suspect's single-story house on a tree-lined street, shouting "Black lives are under attack" and "Stand up, fight back," online videos showed.

"No child should ever live in fear of being shot for ringing the wrong doorbell," Vice President Kamala Harris tweeted in response to the shooting.

President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Yarl, a senior administration official said on Monday.

The family's lawyer Ben Crump on Monday had demanded the homeowner be arrested and charged with attempted murder of a teenager described by his school district as an "excellent student and talented musician."

Missouri has a "stand-your-ground law" that allows homeowners to use physical force to defend themselves against suspected intruders.

The law says a person cannot use deadly force unless they reasonably believe it is necessary to protect themselves or another person against death or serious physical injury, or a possible felony.

(Reporting by Jasper Ward, Brendan O'Brien, Andrew Hay and Daniel Trotta; Editing by Donna Bryson, Bill Berkrot and Jamie Freed)
Recipients of a food and utility subsidy program in Chelsea, Massachusetts, will receive their next payment from the program on Saturday.

Payments ranging from $200 to $400 are going to 738 selected households. The funds from this program, called the Chelsea Eats program, are meant to subsidize food and utility bill payments. A Chelsea city spokesperson told the Washington Examiner that the funds would be loaded on recipients' debit cards, which were issued in early March.

SMALL BUSINESSES ARE LESS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE FUTURE, SURVEY FINDS

"Recipients of the program will be chosen using a lottery system," the program's website reads. "City staff is reviewing applications and giving preferences to applicants with children under 18, disabled residents, veterans, seniors over 65, families who are ineligible for other forms of federal assistance, families with a female-identifying head of household, and families with a member with a marginalized gender identity."

To be eligible, families had to have been residents of Chelsea with a household income of 30% less than the area median. Households of one would have to make less than $29,450, and households of two would have to make less than $33,650 to be part of the program. The amount increased for each additional member of the household.

The amount issued depends on how many people are in the household. A household of one will receive $200, a household of two will receive $300, and a household of three or more will receive $400.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

This payment marks the second one of this program to be issued to recipients. The first payment was already issued on March 15, and the final payment will be issued on May 15.

The spokesperson informed the Washington Examiner that the program would be discontinued after the final payment in May.

Original Location: Stimulus update: Direct payment worth up to $400 to be paid to Massachusetts residents today

Washington Examiner Videos
TAIPEI/BEIJING (Reuters) -The U.S. warship USS Milius sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, in what the U.S. Navy described on Monday as a "routine" transit, just days after China ended its latest war games around the island.

China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, officially ended its three days of exercises around Taiwan last Monday where it practiced precision strikes and blockading the island.

It staged the drills to express anger at Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen's meeting with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, viewing it as an interference in China's internal affairs and U.S. support for Taiwan's separate identity from China.

The U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet said the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius conducted a "routine Taiwan Strait transit" through waters "where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law".

The ship's transit demonstrates the United States' commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, it added.

Chinese military's Eastern Theatre Command said in a social media post on Monday it organised troops to follow and monitor the U.S. destroyer throughout its operation.

Taiwan's defence ministry said the ship sailed in a northerly direction through the strait and that during its transit the situation in the strait was "as normal".

The U.S. Navy sails warships through the strait around once a month, and also regularly conducts similar freedom of navigation missions in the disputed South China Sea.

Last week, the USS Milius sailed near one of the most important man-made and Chinese controlled islands in the South China Sea, Mischief Reef. Beijing denounced it as illegal.

China has continued its military activities around Taiwan since the drills ended, though on a reduced scale.

On Monday morning, Taiwan's defence ministry said it had spotted 18 Chinese military aircraft and four naval vessels operating around Taiwan in the previous 24 hour period.

China has never renounced the use of force to bring democratically governed Taiwan under its control.

Taiwan's government rejects China's territorial claims, and says only the island's people can decide their future.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Beijing newsroom and Liz Lee; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Lincoln Feast.)
The FBI's Denver office has a warning about using public phone charging stations. The FBI warns you should avoid using the free charging stations in airports, hotels or shopping centers.

Bad actors have figured out ways to use public USB ports to introduce malware and monitoring software onto devices, FBI Denver tweeted. Carry your own chargers and USB cord and use an electrical outlet instead.

The Federal Communications Commission calls the scheme "juice jacking." I reached out to the FCC and it described juice jacking as a cybertheft tactic that cybersecurity experts warn can be used to maliciously access electronic devices while they are being charged. The FCC told me malware can be installed through a USB port that can lock your phone or device and export your personal data and passwords.

The crooks can also use your information, like passwords, to access other online accounts, including your bank account or social media accounts.

I reached out to the Denver International Airport and the Colorado Springs Airport to find out how they are keeping travelers safe. The Colorado Springs Airport told me it has not received any reports of this type of activity, but it is taking precautions. The airport said in a statement, Our Airport takes cyberattacks very seriously and this is a growing concern for travelers who rely on public charging stations to power their electronic devices on the go.  Our charging outlets provide both standard plug-in and USB capabilities. These outlets are electric only and are not connected to a network or have data/storage capabilities.

The Colorado Springs Airport is also sharing the following tips for travelers:

 Passengers are advised to use their own cords for the USB option and cords/plugs for the electric outlets. Avoid using cords that have been left behind or bring your own portable charger.

Sign up for free: Springs AM Update Your morning rundown of the latest news from Colorado Springs and around the country overnight and the stories to follow throughout the day delivered to your inbox each evening. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters.

 Use a data blocker to prevent data transfers when a mobile device is connected to a charging station. COS charging outlets are charge only and do not connect to the Wi-Fi or any other data storage.

 Make sure your devices operating system and security software is up to date to protect against known vulnerabilities.

 When connecting to public Wi-Fi, use a virtual private network (VPN) to encrypt your internet traffic.

DIA told me it hasn't had any reports or alerts of juice jacking. It said in a statement, "DEN has methods of determining whether a public charging port has been tampered with and the ability to take any tampered port out of service. However, the best defense against this type of attack on any public charging port remains within the smartphone itself, as both Apple and Android have released updates to their smartphones to prevent or alert users to this type of attack when using a public charging port."

The FCC said in some cases, crooks leave cables plugged in at charging stations. Avoid using a public USB charging station, the FCC said. Use an AC power outlet instead. The FCC also suggests you bring your own AC, car chargers, power cords, and USB cables with you when you travel. The FCC recommends carrying a charging-only cable, which prevents data from sending or receiving while charging.

The FCC warns if you do use a free USB port, watch for any on-screen prompts or pop-ups on your phone or device. Make sure you dont click any links or pop-ups and dont grant them permission to your device.

Find more information at FCC.gov.
As the Marshall fire whipped through Superiors Rock Creek Ranch subdivision, one firefighter clocked the amount of time it took for each house to explode into flames: seven minutes.

No one had ever seen such a destructive fire in the middle of winter.

Just before lunch on Dec. 30, 2021, hurricane force wind gusts ignited dry grasses, which then carried the flames to wooden fences that surrounded every home in Superiors Rock Creek subdivision. The Rock Creek Home-Owners Association mandated cedar fences 25 years ago. Today, all of them stand 6 feet tall, painted in a color called Cabot Dune Gray.

Those cedar and split rail fences  miles of which had been left untreated and dried out  became match sticks for anything in their path, including dozens of Rock Creek homes.

Fences acted like fuses. They moved the fire along fence lines and brought the fire to the houses, said Mountain View Fire Marshal Jeff Webb. We tried to create fire breaks by kicking down fences and breaking the continuous path.

Firefighters had to make split second decisions on which houses to fight for  and which didnt stand a chance.

Any time we have a fire that is bigger than the capacity of the resources available, we have to triage, Webb said.

Most Marshall fire victims who are in the throes of rebuilding believe that installing fire-wise fencing  as opposed to cedar  around their homes will help prevent a second catastrophic fire disaster. Scores of foundations have been excavated and frames sit on properties like a promise unkept, waiting for HOAs to decide on whether theyll budge on wooden fence mandates.

subhed:Aesthetics versus safety?

The seven-member Rock Creek Master Homeowners Association Community board has kept Marshall fire survivors waiting for more than a year as it mulls over whether or not to amend codes to allow them to install metal fencing.

The hold-up? Aesthetics and property values.

The waiting has grated on nerves that are already frayed over other delays, notably debris cleanup, which was held up over lawsuits from private companies who wanted the lucrative work and were not awarded the job.

Pushback from their own HOAs was the last thing anyone expected, some homeowners said.

You would think that the easiest hurdle to get over would be folks on the HOA board and their decisions. Theyre the community. They should understand more than anyone, said Jen Kaaoush, a Superior town trustee who is co-director of a Marshall fire victim group called Superior Rising.

Rock Creek resident Thomas OConnor agreed.

Were finding the progress is slower than wed like, he said. There are homeowners ready to build fences and they cant move forward.

After excruciating months of waiting, he turned to the neighborhood Facebook page to help make his point. Last week, after a particularly pivotal HOA meeting, he posted a scary home doorbell Ring video recorded from the back of his home on the morning the fire struck. It showed a view of his backyard as smoke billowed from the adjacent open space, carrying flames that consumed his wooden fence in minutes.

It was video no one wanted to see, but its powerful images changed some minds.

Of the 2,400 residents of Rock Creek, less than 1% lost their homes. Many of the 99% do not attend the HOAs virtual meetings, according members who have showed up.

The major worry of many of those unaffected by the Marshall fire is how rebuilding would affect home property values.

You do want the aesthetic. It affects your property values. It makes a difference when you take a walk through the neighborhood, said one neighbor who was out applying weed killer to the front yard on Friday.

She is a renter whose home survived the Marshall fire and didnt want to be identified because she didnt want to upset her neighbors.

I feel sorry for the people who lost their homes, but would this require me to have to replace my fencing, too? another homeowner, who also wished to remain anonymous due to a wish for privacy, asked a reporter.

The answer is no, said OConnor.

We are not asking for a mandates for everyone. Were just asking for the option, OConnor said. A year and a half ago, I wasnt really thinking about wildfire protection. Its been a real learning process for all of us and we are asking the HOAs to take the lead and protect our communities.

HOAs on the fence

Louisvilles Coal Creek Ranch HOA also faces pressure to act from its Marshall fire survivors, who are anxiously waiting for guidelines on what to do about fences.

Of 330 homes in the subdivision, 130 were a total loss, including Cheryl Boyd.

She understands that its the job of an HOA, which is largely made up of volunteers, to monitor consistency among the properties. But she thinks that HOAs should be proactive when it comes to unpredictable natural disasters.

I used to think beautiful landscaping was the most important thing, but since the Marshall fire, our priorities need to shift, Boyd said.

The Marshall fire, which jumped the highway and hit Boyds dream home, changed her mind.

The conversation has revolved around aesthetics or trying to blend in, she said. I say lets have the conversation be about risk of future fire. How can we build something that protects our community from inevitable events?

A call to the Coal Creek Ranch HOA went unanswered, but its website documents say the updated policy for fencing guidelines are in progress.

Boyd hopes those guidelines will include amendments to allow for fire-resistant fencing.

The HOAs next meeting is set for April 12.

Sign up for free: Springs AM Update Your morning rundown of the latest news from Colorado Springs and around the country overnight and the stories to follow throughout the day delivered to your inbox each evening. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters.

Boyd, a wife and mother of two small kids who have been living out of a townhome, said shes tired.

I just want for my kids to be able to walk to school, said Boyd.

The children wont be walking to class from a new front door by August because of the delays.

Boyds family has moved six times since the fire, but she hates to complain because the world is filled with unsurmountable challenges worse than hers.

This is a tough time to be a human, Boyd said. Its the worlds tiniest violin for us.

subhed:Polis to HOAs: Be flexible

Not all housing areas that lost homes to The Marshall fire are controlled by HOAs.

The fire tore through Superiors Sagamore subdivisions 176 homes, but the Town of Superior is in charge of housing codes and rebuilding decisions.

Using fire-resistant materials can be tricky.

Sagamore was effectively ground zero for the Marshall Fire, Mayor Pro Tem Neal Shah said.

Some people have moved into their homes, adjusting for coyotes that come to the back door. They have not put their fencing up as they wait for the towns board to provide more flexibility in the next month.

Its 100% likely that we will approve fire-resistant fencing, said Shah.

He believes that the Marshall fire will not be the states last natural disaster. The official is shouting from the rooftops for Colorado to be better prepared.

Gov. Jared Polis, who grew up in Boulder, is already warning HOAs to be flexible when it comes to future mandates.

The issue was raised in a March 23 community meeting at the Superior Community Center.

HOAs have their function, Polis said to scores of fire survivors seated in the main hall.

He then compared what state government has done in the past with other HOA regulations.

They (HOAs) can no longer ban solar if you want it. They can no longer ban EV charging. This could be a similar thing. Its too late for this session, but lets just say you cant ban fire mitigation. It seems like a logical thing, Polis told the audience. It might be an area to look in the future.

In a statement, gubernatorial spokesperson Conor Cahill said that HOA policies shouldnt be so restrictive that they overlook common sense fire mitigation.

Governor Polis continues to support efforts to reduce the power of HOAs when they prevent homeowners from protecting themselves and others. The Colorado Fire Commission is aware of this, he wrote.

Other state fire agencies are weighing in.

Wooden fencing was referred to as vertical fuels and, though not the cause, they were a significant aggravator to homes lost in the Marshall fire, according to a major state government report written by the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Controls. In its Facilitated Learning Analysis, division officials found that, in subdivisions where perimeter wooden fences abutted open space, a large majority of houses were lost, yet in areas where manicured lawns acted as a buffer between wildland fuels and fences, many houses were saved.

Division Director Mike Morgan said that now a Wildfire Resiliency Code Board now exists and it is working its way through the legislative process this session.

The job of that Code Board could evaluate matters, such as this on a case-by-case basis, and provide standards for ensuring safety is properly prioritized while recognizing and respecting local control, Morgan said.

subhed:Getting off the fence

If all goes according to their hopes, Rock Creek Marshall fire survivors may finally be able to install their metal fence and pave the way for other HOAs to follow suit.

After months of thorough research, a Rock Creek fencing committee  which includes some determined fire survivors, such as Thomas OConnor  came up with a powder-coated metal fence that is manufactured in Australia and offered by a Greeley company. Except for a small opening along the bottom, the metal fence looks very similar and is around the same cost of the cedar fences, which link Rock Creek homes like a daisy chain.

The color, Dune, and is also a dead ringer for Cabot Dune gray, which is the name of the paint on Rock Creeks cedar fences.

Still, the HOA board was not convinced until a pivotal meeting Thursday night. After a couple of presentations by board members who changed their stance, other board members appeared to be ready to approve the fire-safe metal option, according to Kaaoush, who listened to the meeting.

In a straw poll vote of 5-2, the volunteer Rock Creek HOA boards members said they would likely support allowing the metal fence if the vote were done last Thursday.

That vote is scheduled to happen on April 27, but theres no guaranteed outcome.

Some homeowners said they will build a metal fence and let the board deal with their decision.

In an email, Rock Creek Master Homeowners Association community manager Danielle McDonough said the board is currently in the process of considering alternative options for fence design and/or materials.

Kaaoush hopes that promises, such as this, are not just lip service to appease vocal and heartbroken Marshall fire victims, who just want to go home.

The HOAs job is to ensure that Rock Creek looks harmonious, Kaaoush said. But common sense is being ignored.
The bill (The Consumer Right to Repair Agriculture Equipment Act) sponsored by Rep. Brianna Titone to provide the right to repair agriculture equipment is headed to Gov. Jared Polis desk. It was an interesting bill to witness moving through the process, particularly in the wide range of opinions within the ag community. Theres no doubt I frequently answer my phone and get an earful from a reader. Oddly enough, they typically agree with what was written and they tend to agree with others who also have a role within the industry.

Of course, those within the vast agriculture industry certainly dont agree on all issues, but ag right to repair was an issue I didnt even know we didnt agree on. The American Farm Bureau Federation signed memorandum of understanding with John Deere and CNH Industrial, manufacturer of Case IH and New Holland that AFBF said respects the intellectual property rights and recognizes the need to ensure safety controls and emission systems are not altered, but allows access to brand manuals, tools, product guides.

In an age of tractors that arent like your granddads, farmers are able to either work on the equipment or hire an independent repair facility. Its a non-government solution and I can certainly appreciate that.

In Colorado Titone introduced the ag right to repair bill that mirrored the wheelchair right to repair law she sponsored in 2022. She said after wheelchair users, ag producers seemed to be the group that most needed a right to repair. The national discussion has been robust with the MOU agreements, and she said she repeatedly reads articles about farmers who have to purchase 30 and 40-year-old tractors so they are able to work on them.

Sen. Cleave Simpson, R-Alamosa, who represents thousands of the states ag producers, supported Titones wheelchair right to repair bill but not the ag bill. He said a quick internet search produces wheelchair repair services available only in Denver and Colorado Springs, leaving much of the state without repair access in their community. He said, however, that is not the case for agriculture equipment dealers and repair facilities which are scattered across the state and accessible to ag producers. That differentiation was an important one to him. He never supported the bill, calling it a problem looking for a solution. In his comments prior to the final House vote, he said only four of his constituents urged him to support the bill.

Sign up for free: Gazette Opinion Receive updates from our editorial staff, guest columnists, and letters from Gazette readers. Sent to your inbox 12:00 PM. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters.

Conversely, in northeastern Colorado, Sen. Byron Pelton, R-Sterling, said he had a number of constituents who urged him to support the bill. Pelton was a force in passing several of the bills 31 amendments. Among them, repealing the law if Congress enacts a federal ag right to repair law, excluding the inner working of high voltage irrigation equipment, and taking into account MOUs. None of the legislators from the states ag-heavy districts supported the legislation.

As one of the few members of this body that owns agricultural equipment, that should raise a little bit of a flag with folks to say maybe there is something not quite right in the bill, Simpson said. I think I can highlight that by saying the introduced bill is not quite four pages long, but today was the introduction of the 31st amendment to the bill.

The bill is headed to Gov. Polis desk and proponents of the bill, including Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, expect it will be signed. Titone said she is hopeful the bill will serve as a model for other states, hopefully without the concessions made. Among those celebrating the win is Montana Farmers Union president Walter Schweitzer who called the legislation a breakthrough.

This allows farmers and ranchers from anywhere in the United States to go to Colorado and buy the tools to repair their equipment, Schweitzer said. What that means is I can order the tools and they can ship them to me. The hardware you need is mostly the cables that will connect you to your equipment, software, access to the diagnostics and repair tools that really allow you to program new parts that you purchase to communicate with the on-board computers. And thats what weve been fighting for and now we can buy it in Colorado.

Rachel Gabel is a longtime agriculture writer and the assistant editor of The Fence Post Magazine.
This week, tens of thousands of space leaders and experts from around the globe will convene at The Broadmoor Hotel to kick-off the 38th annual Space Symposium. Well-regarded as the worlds premier space gathering, this week-long conference will bring together experts from government, industry, and academia to evaluate the progress that has been made in defense and civil space and set the course for future achievements. There is no better place to honor past successes and plan for future breakthroughs than Colorado Springs, the nations capital for space innovation. As Chairman of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee, I am pleased to welcome our guests to this years Space Symposium.

The legacy of space discovery, development, and advancement is deeply rooted in Colorado Springs. Here, our perspective on and approach to advancing space encompasses the fresh minds of the cadets at the Air Force Academy to the expertise of the Commander of U.S. Northern Command at Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station. It evolves with every commissioned and noncommissioned space operator and Guardian serving at Peterson and Schriever Space Force Bases. The drive to advance our space technologies and further our space defense capabilities ripples through the broader Colorado Springs community and the space industry it fosters.

The United States continues to experience a sense of wonder regarding space. Just two weeks ago the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced the four astronauts who will orbit the moon aboard Artemis II. American leadership in civil space exploration can be seen here in Colorado Springs. Kratos RT Logic and other companies in my District are a part of the Orion program, working directly on the spacecraft these astronauts will use to transit around the moon. Collins Aerospace will be crafting the spacesuits that Artemis III astronauts will wear on the surface of the moon. Hundreds of small and large space companies here in the Springs provide the software, hardware, and technological solutions that will make both defense and civil defense concepts a reality.

We have been blessed that for decades the space culture that is cultivated in the Pikes Peak Region has grown within a peaceful and benign environment. These positive innovations have fostered breakthrough developments which will result in the global space economy reaching one trillion dollars in value by the end of this decade. The investments we have made in the space domain and our reliance on space-based assets like GPS have made this domain essential to our way of life. Our adversaries have determined that they can coerce and undercut our interests by making space a warfighting domain, causing us to spread our efforts between civil advancements and the defense of space and space assets.

In 2018, the United States started to formally address this new challenge by forming the United States Space Force and Space Command. Colorado Springs has been a fertile soil for these organizations to take shape due to our legacy of generating world-class ideas for space  many of these concepts originating since 1984 from the annual Space Symposium.

Sign up for free: Gazette Opinion Receive updates from our editorial staff, guest columnists, and letters from Gazette readers. Sent to your inbox 12:00 PM. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters.

Today, Colorado Springs happily hosts a large majority of space operations at the National Space Defense Center, Space Operations Command, Space Training and Readiness Command, the 310th Space Wing  and of course, the provisional and appropriate headquarters of U.S. Space Command.

I am honored to represent this District and all that it represents for the space community in the U.S. House of Representatives. As Chairman of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee, I have the privilege and responsibility to work on our nations most consequential national security challenges daily. This year I have four strategic forces priorities that will shape our nations deterrence posture: accelerating testing of offensive and defensive hypersonic capabilities; achieving full modernization of our nuclear triad while addressing Chinas nuclear breakout; advancing missile defense technology to address modern and future missile threats; and fostering rapid growth in the national security space domain to stay ahead of our adversaries.

To those who are gathered in Colorado Springs this week for Space Symposium, I hope that your interactions will foster creative approaches to the challenges we face as we move rapidly in space. The specific national security initiatives I am driving in Congress regarding the misuse and overuse of classification labels, the need to streamline space acquisitions, and better incorporate small businesses into our space procurements, will greatly benefit from your expertise and insights. I look forward to another year of fantastic achievements in space, beginning right here in Colorado Springs, and to working with each of you to accelerate and combine our efforts.

Rep. Doug Lamborn has {span}served as the U.S. representative for Colorados 5th congressional district since 2007.{/span}
Imagine a healthy city for all

Imagine a city where even those who serve your daily specialty coffees or clean your hospital room could afford to live in decent accommodation, with a key and a mailbox, and money left over to fill the fridge.

As a Lutheran pastor, I am called to speak publicly to the world in solidarity with the poor and oppressed, calling for justice and proclaiming Gods love for the world. I see folks living on couches between shifts and missing the normal window of setting up a family, and at the other end of life, missing the gradual retreat from working, due to the unaffordable housing situation in our city.

This is a many factored problem. Lets look at one: Lack of imagination of a better city. Playing this as a zero-sum game means everybody loses. If because you got here first and can claim your single-resident neighborhood, you have the right to shuttle everybody else to the margins, East and South and far North, then we all lose.

In terms of resources, mass transportation needs, pollution, labor force, peace of mind, we all lose. Before you condemn the More Housing Now bill, look at the options it opens. Imagine coming together around the better functioning and health of all in the city, not just the privileged. Wouldnt that be lovely?

Rev. Paula Stecker

Colorado Springs

The home of the timid

America has morphed from the land of the free and the home of the brave to the land of the subservient and the home of the timid. We fear criminals but are too lazy to address the fundamental causes of crime or to vigorously punish criminals.

We fear mass shootings, so our Colorado legislature is working to pass laws to make it more difficult for law abiding members of society to buy or responsibly use firearms. Never mind that criminals, by definition, dont abide by such restrictions. We are afraid we dont have enough water to support the existing population, but our legislature wants to mandate denser housing to drive down costs and induce more people to come to the state. We fear those with mental illness but dont want to invest the money to adequately identify and treat them.

We fear that children raised in single parent homes, particularly those without fathers, are more likely to wind up impoverished or in trouble with the law but we do little to encourage traditional marriage and family structures.

If our state legislature is looking for suggestions on laws they could pass that might have a real impact on the risks we face in daily life may I suggest that we ban liquor in all its forms because it can be misused and lead to drunk driving, marijuana because it can be misused and lead to driving while high, prescription opioids because they can be misused and cause addiction, social network platforms in all their forms because they can be misused to spread lies and promote the breakdown of civil society and finally, cell phones because they can be misused while driving. Never mind the lawful or responsible uses of these products, they all should be outlawed because they can be misused.

Bill Healy Jr.

Sign up for free: Gazette Opinion Receive updates from our editorial staff, guest columnists, and letters from Gazette readers. Sent to your inbox 12:00 PM. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters.

Monument

Keeping schools safe

We have thousands of war vets who need jobs. These people have been in battle and have been trained and been under fire. I suggest that they screen individuals and if they have no mental issues hire them to be security guards at the schools, and yes arm them with AR-15 rifles which they are very familiar with and would counter the bad shooters weapons.

If a school has one entry post one there, or one at every entry to the school buildings. They would not run from danger like the security guard did at the Florida school shooting. Also the shooters may think twice about trying to enter a school to shoot innocent people with an armed veteran guarding the door. The VA and federal government could help with funding the salaries and it would employ our American vets and keep our children and grandchildren safer.

David Chidester

Colorado Springs

If America falls

Why does the George Soros machine hate America? How does it benefit Soros if America falls?

The same legal system that allowed Donald Trump to be indicted apparently allows George Soros to buy judges, district attorneys and attorneys general.

How does that work? Think about that.

Ed Webb

Colorado Springs
Middle East Churches Dedicate Day to Kidnapped Bishops

Bishop Boulos Yazigi and Mar Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim, kidnapped in Aleppo, Syria. Churches in the Middle East have announced an 'Ecumenical Day for the Abducted and the Forcibly Absented' to take place every 22 April. The initiative, promoted by the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), will be presented on Monday, April 24, ion the tenth anniversary of the kidnapping of the two Metropolitans of Aleppo, Greek Orthodox Boulos Yazigi and Syriac Orthodox Mar Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim, who disappeared on April 22, 2013.

A seminar, organized on the anniversary, will take place under the patronage of Yohanna X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch (who is also the brother of the late Metropolitan Boulos Yazigi and current President of MECC) and Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch. At the end of the commemorative seminar, the declaration to proclaim April 22 as "Ecumenical Day for the Abducted and the Forcibly Absented" will be read.

The seminar will begin with a joint statement issued by the Patriarchates of Antioch and All the East for the Greek Orthodox and Syriac Orthodox Churches. The seminar also includes testimonies via video for some kidnapped victims and will end with two messages via video from His Beatitude Patriarch Yohanna X and Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II.

The two metropolitan bishops of Aleppo were kidnapped in the area between the Syrian metropolis and the border with Turkey. The car in which the two Bishops were traveling was blocked by the group of kidnappers and the driver - the Latin-rite Catholic Fatha' Allah Kabboud, father of three children - who was shot in the head. The kidnapping was not claimed by any group, and since then no certain and verified details have emerged regarding the reasons for the kidnapping and the fate of the two clergymen. Over the years, rumors and news announcements were filtered around the case on several occasions, which later proved to be unfounded.

In August 2013, the leaders of the Syriac Orthodox Church had to issue a statement to reject with outrage the insinuations spread by some local media that pointed to possible intra-ecclesiastical rivalries and envy among the causes of the kidnapping. Six months after the kidnapping, General Abbas Ibrahim, head of the Lebanese General Security, claimed the place where the two kidnapped Bishops were being held had been identified, and said "indirect contacts" had begun with the kidnappers to obtain their release. These claims were not followed by concrete evidence.

In January 2020, an investigation carried out by an investigative team led by Mansur Salib, a Syrian researcher residing in the USA, and disseminated through the digital platform medium.com, exposed a reconstruction of the case according to which the kidnappers and then the two archbishops were militants of Nour al-Din al-Zenki, an independent group involved in the Syrian conflict, financed and armed during the conflict by both Saudi Arabia and the US. According to the authors of the investigation, the two archbishops had left Aleppo on April 22, 2013, with the intention of going to negotiate the release of two priests, Armenian Catholic Michael Kayyal and Greek Orthodox Maher Mahfouz, who had been kidnapped earlier by anti-Assad jihadist groups then controlling territories east of the Syrian metropolis.

The investigation published on medium.com suggested that figures connected to MIT (Turkish intelligence service) were involved in the kidnapping. The reconstruction reported news that was already known, along with inferences exposed without objective evidence. In the final section, the investigation claimed that the two bishops were killed and buried in an unspecified location only in December 2016, as areas east of Aleppo were being recaptured by the Syrian army.

On January 20, 2020, in a joint statement released on social media, the Greek Orthodox and Syriac Orthodox Patriarchates of Antioch reported that they were unable to provide useful elements to confirm or deny the "disturbing reconstructions" circulating around the kidnapping of the two Metropolitans of Aleppo, and called such reconstructions as initiatives "totally independent of the efforts we made in the search for our two missing archbishops".

During the ten years that have passed since their kidnapping, the memory of the two kidnapped bishops has been kept alive at all times through processions, prayer vigils, bishops' statements and public demonstrations.
The Colorado Springs-based Space Foundation has hired a soon-to-retire Air Force general to replace CEO Tom Zelibor, a retired Navy rear admiral, when he retires June 30.

Maj. Gen. Heather Pringle is commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio and technology executive officer for the Air Force and Space Force. She manages 6,000 people and $3 billion in Air Force research and technology projects as well as more than $2 billion in research funded from other sources.

She was selected after a nationwide search led by Denver executive search firm McAleer Gray. Pringle will leave the laboratory June 5 and start as the foundations CEO July 1.

The laboratory also has a software development operation at Catalyst Campus, a downtown Colorado Springs business park focused on technology and space, and it sponsors an internship program at the campus where interns are mentored by the labs scientists and engineers.

Sign up for free: News Alerts Stay in the know on the stories that affect you the most. Sign Up For Free View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters.

Pringles demonstrated capabilities as an engineer/scientist, educator, innovator and team builder give us great confidence she is the right leader for Space Foundation, Jeff Grant, chairman of the foundations board of directors, said earlier this month in a news release.

Pringle said in the release that the space ecosystem presents greater opportunities for more people than ever before, and I look forward to doing my part with Space Foundations team to advance education and service opportunities for everyone.

The new CEO is a 1991 graduate of the Air Force Academy, receiving a bachelors degree in human factors. She also received masters and doctoral degrees in psychology from the University of Illinois and has additional masters degrees from the Air Command and Staff College and the Naval War College.

During her 32-year Air Force career, she has been an instructor at the Air Force Academy, commanded air base wings in New Mexico and Texas, held senior staff positions for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and was executive officer for the Air Force chief of staff.
Catholic leaders said they are "mourning" the enactment of three more abortion laws in Colorado, arguing they remove women's choice and violate the First Amendment rights of Coloradans who want to support women in carrying a pregnancy through.

The Catholic leaders also accused Colorado's Democratic policymakers of preferring abortion over "life-affirming" care.

Gov. Jared Polis signed the three measures yesterday, a year after Democrats enacted legislation to enshrine abortion rights in Colorado statutes.

Senate Bill 188 inoculates patients and providers of abortion and gender-affirming care  services that includes social, psychological or medical interventions, such as hormone therapy and surgical procedures. Senate Bill 189 expands health insurance coverage for abortion, sterilization and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases. Finally, Senate Bill 190 prohibits what supporters call "deceptive" advertising and the use of abortion "reversal" pills in crisis pregnancy centers.

"When pro-abortion lawmakers in the General Assembly tell Coloradans they prioritize abortion over life-affirming reproductive healthcare decisions, our hearts ache for those women who consequently lost their right to change their mind and those children who will not be allowed to live," the Archdiocese of Denver and the Colorado Catholic Conference said in statement.

"This new group of bills even includes a measure that forces all Coloradans to pay for abortion through their insurance premiums. This is not freedom, its immoral coercion," the bishops added.

The bill's supporters said the measures reinforce individuals' ability to make their own health care decisions.

"Today is really about freedom. Standing up to protect freedoms that are under attack, sadly, in many other states," Polis said in signing the measures. "That's not the Colorado way. We believe in the ability of individuals to make their own decisions. That's a really important value that we share in our state. These bills further that value."

"In Colorado, we've got your back," added Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, who sponsored one of the bills. "Let the passage of these three bills, as they are being signed into law today, stand as a testament to folks in this state and across the country that Colorado is a beacon of care. That we will support you."

The two sides clashed in framing the measures, highlighting different provisions to hold up or criticize.

To supporters, SB 188 is the proper response to fears that other states would seek the medical records of their residents who undergo an abortion in Colorado in order to prosecute them. Polis earlier issued an executive order, saying Colorado would decline "requests for the arrest, surrender, or extradition of any person charged with a criminal violation of a law of another state" for assisting a woman in getting an abortion.

The bill effectively codifies that executive order, prohibiting Colorado from providing information or using government resources to aid an out-of-state investigation or proceeding that seeks to impose civil or criminal liability  or professional sanctions  against a person or entity for engaging in abortion.

Sign up for free: News Alerts Stay in the know on the stories that affect you the most. Sign Up For Free View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters.

The new law also applies to gender-affirming care for transgender individuals.

To the Catholic bishops, the measure violates the First Amendment rights of medical professionals and medical centers or hospitals that do not provide abortion-related services or gender-affirming care, in addition to "(restricting) legal action against Colorado from states with pro-life laws."

To supporters, SB 189 is another step in ensuring access to abortion. The bill requires health insurance carriers that serve employers with more than 100 employees to cover abortion, sterilization and treatment of HIV and other STDs without deductibles, copays or coinsurance. For the small group and individual market, health insurance coverage depends on how it would affect premiums.

To the bishops, the measure circumvents Colorado's constitutional prohibition against public funding for abortion by requiring insurance providers to cover its full cost. The bishops also lamented that it increases access to contraception and abortion referrals to minors and removes parental notification requirements.

To supporters, SB 190 ensures that Coloradans aren't tricked into going to pregnancy centers by prohibiting the latter from advertising abortions, emergency contraceptives or referrals they dont, in fact, provide. The bill classifies these acts as "deceptive" advertising.

The measure also bans the practice of using "abortion reversal pills" to try to stop a medication-based abortion  unless the Colorado's medical, pharmacy and nursing boards conclude the practice is generally accepted and thereby expressly permit it by prescribing regulations by October of this year.

The studies on "abortion reversal" are not conclusive, and the chances of Colorado's medical boards finding it to be a generally accepted standard of practice by this October are practically nil.

To the bishops, the governor and lawmakers foreclosed an avenue for women to save their child's life if they changed their mind after taking the first of two abortion pills.

"Babies who have been born to mothers who have taken progesterone during pregnancy are healthy and strong," the bishops said in a separate letter to Catholics. "Colorado is the first state to eliminate this choice of life for women."

During the bill signing ceremony, Sen. Lisa Cutter, D-Jefferson County, sponsor of SB 189, said Colorado voters already made their voices loud and clear  they support pro-abortion rights measures.

"We support access to the full range of reproductive care. We all value this. It's health care," Cutter said.

The bishops countered that Polis and Democratic legislators just told Coloradans they "prioritize abortion over life-affirming reproductive healthcare decisions for women, at the expense of the mothers health and, even more grave, at the cost of countless childrens lives."
Colorado lawmakers this week are preparing to review a bill designed to address a loophole in the state's marijuana laws.

But the bill, which springs from a task force report, doesn't go far enough, according to some from the panel that issued the recommendations.

Senate Bill 271 would require the state to begin regulating what's known as intoxicating hemp.

The difference between hemp and marijuana, which come from the same plant, is in the Delta-THC level. In order to be classified as hemp under federal law, the plant cannot have more than 0.3% delta-9 THC, marijuana's psychoactive.

But some in the hemp industry have found a work-around: Delta-8 THC, which is made by concentrating hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) from the hemp plant. It's not quite as intoxicating as delta-9 THC, with estimates pegging it at anywhere between 50% to 75% of the potency.

The federal 2018 Farm Bill amended the Controlled Substances Act to exclude hemp from the statutory definition of marijuana, meaning hemp would be unregulated.

And that's led to a proliferation of unregulated but intoxicating products with delta-8 THC which can be legally sold almost anywhere, and to anyone.

The Food and Drug Administration reported last year that national poison control centers received 2,362 case of exposure to delta-8 THC between Jan. 1, 2021 and Feb 28, 2022. Of that total, 41% were pediatric patients under the age of 18 and with one reported pediatric death.

Legislation in 2022 allowed the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment to begin the process of regulating hemp with delta-8 THC, as well as to set up a task force to look at intoxicating hemp products, and to make legislative and rule recommendations. Those formed the basis for Senate Bill 271.

The marijuana industry has taken notice, and backs the efforts to regulate intoxicating hemp.

In a statement last week, the Marijuana Industry Group said the intoxicating hemp market is "selling hundreds of millions of dollars in completely unregulated, untaxed products annually without ID checks, purchase limits, or safety restrictions. Under current law, kids can purchase these products, often shaped like popular candy, online and have them shipped anywhere or even pick them up at a local gas station or grocery store."

Under SB 271, any hemp product with more than 2.5 mg of delta-8 THC per serving would be regulated, meaning it will require a legal ID to purchase and would be sold at a dispensary rather than online or at a convenience store.

The measure puts the CDPHE in charge of regulating and registering hemp products, including certain intoxicating hemp products. The state's Marijuana Enforcement Division, part of the Department of Revenue, would regulate intoxicating products through rulemaking that would either authorize or prohibit chemical modification, conversion, or synthetic derivation to create certain types of intoxicating cannabinoids; labeling and advertising requirements, production and testing, and inspection and record-keeping.

In addition, the bill creates a "safe harbor" provision, under which a company could manufacture intoxicating hemp products in Colorado but couldn't sell them here.

Sign up for free: News Alerts Stay in the know on the stories that affect you the most. Sign Up For Free View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters.

The Marijuana Industry Group has had some criticisms for the task force created under SB 22-205.

The group said the task force's recommendation for 2.5 mg of delta-8 THC per serving was too high a limit, and the task force didn't make any recommendations on per package limits, which would allow anyone of any age to purchase large packages with unlimited servings.

Bill co-sponsor Sen. Kevin Van Winkle, R-Highlands Ranch, also isn't crazy about the high delta-8 THC limit, although SB 271, as introduced, keeps that 2.5 mg level.

In the interest of preventing youth access and ensuring public safety, however, we believe we need to institute a lower THC limit, create per package limitations, and require testing and labeling requirements just as we would with cannabis products," Van Winkle said in a statement.

Even the task force members weren't all happy with the recommendations. The report included dissenting opinions that pointed to weaknesses in the regulations proposed as well as issues outside the scope of the task force that will become more important in the years to come.

Task force member Kyle Ray of Colorado Chromatography Labs pointed out the legislation should classify all cannabinoids as potentially intoxicating, with exceptions for CBD and other related cannabinoids. The bill divides them into three categories: non-intoxicating, potentially intoxicating and intoxicating. He suggests just two standards: intoxicating and non-intoxicating.

Ray also said intoxication should be based on dosage, not specific cannabinoids. For example, he said, a 25 mg delta-8 gummy is likely to be more intoxicating than a 2 mg delta-9 THC gummy.

Then there's the impact on the hemp industry, Ray said. The regulations stemming from the bill could result in the "mass exodus" of hemp companies due to "overly burdensome and inconsistent recommendations."

Several dissenters also pointed out the task force recommendations don't restrict the sale of intoxicating hemp at 2.5 mg delta-8 THC to minors. Those products should only be sold in dispensaries, several said.

"A lack of recommendation for total servings per container opens a gigantic loophole to youth intoxication," said a dissent led by Truman Bradley of the Marijuana Industry Group, another task force member.

Van Winkle told Colorado Politics he is looking at several changes to the bill, most notably on the 2.5 mg delta-8 THC floor for intoxicating hemp and on per-serving packaging.

"We are looking at lowering that 2.5 mg limit and adding packaging limits" to ensure kids in Colorado are not getting access to products that get them high, Van Winkle said. "We need to make sure if it is 'hot hemp' that we're able to define what that is and that we can protect the public, including kids."

"If companies do want to sell products that are intoxicating, they can do it in the regulated market just as any other marijuana product," he added.

SB 271 is scheduled for the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday.
Colorado's second-highest court last month declined to overturn a man's Arapahoe County convictions, while acknowledging the head of the Colorado Department of Corrections failed to follow a law designed to give detainees a speedy trial.

A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals noted the department's then-executive director, Rick Raemisch, did not forward to the prosecutor or the trial judge a communication from Tremaine Dwayne Speer invoking his right to be brought to trial. Speer had been detained in the Aurora jail for 14 months on pending charges, and state law obligated Raemisch to forward the letter "forthwith" so that Speer could be tried within 182 days.

By 2-1, the panel believed Raemisch's noncompliance had not harmed Speer. Despite the prosecution and trial judge being unaware of Speer's request, his jury trial did, in fact, occur within 182 days of submitting his letter to Raemisch.

"Speers rights related to a speedy disposition werent defeated by Raemischs violation," wrote Judge Craig R. Welling, "and his trial wasnt delayed past the expiration of the speedy trial deadline. Instead, Speers speedy disposition rights were vindicated notwithstanding Raemischs failure."

Judge Timothy J. Schutz, however, believed the majority disregarded what the Colorado Supreme Court has said about the law in question  the Uniform Mandatory Disposition of Detainers Act (UMDDA). The law's purpose is not only to give detainees a speedy trial, nor is that its primary purpose, Schutz wrote.

Instead, the Supreme Court has recognized the main function of the UMDDA is to resolve pending criminal charges against those already serving prison sentences. In doing so, defendants will avoid prolonged stays in jail that disrupt the rehabilitative programming they receive in prison.

Schutz believed it a mistake to overlook a UMDDA violation based solely on the defendant's trial date.

"Neither the (prosecution) nor the majority opinion points to, nor could I locate, a decision from the Colorado Supreme Court that supports the conclusion that a superintendents wholesale failure to comply with the UMDDA may be summarily dismissed if the defendant is brought to trial within the speedy trial time period," Schutz wrote.

In Speer's case, he was released from prison to parole in July 2016. Immediately, he committed several armed carjackings and was taken into custody again the next month. From August onward, he remained at the Aurora jail pending the resolution of the vehicle theft charges, but he was technically under the supervision of the corrections department.

Sign up for free: News Alerts Stay in the know on the stories that affect you the most. Sign Up For Free View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters.

Fourteen months later, in December 2017, Speer wrote to Raemisch and referenced his desire for "speedy and final disposition" of his pending case. The next month, he sent a second letter expressly invoking the UMDDA. Under the law, a state prisoner who is detained in a local jail for untried offenses may write to the court and the prosecution to demand a trial within 182 days. The superintendent of the facility is obligated to deliver the letter "forthwith."

The UMDDA explicitly provides a consequence for failing to bring a defendant to trial within the deadline: dismissal of the charges. However, there is no mention of what happens when a superintendent neglects to deliver the letter in the first place.

In May 2018, Speer's attorneys moved to dismiss the pending charges due to Raemisch's UMDDA violation. District Court Judge Andrew Baum denied the motion, reasoning that even though Raemisch never forwarded the letter, Speer's trial was taking place days later  within the 182-day deadline the letter would have triggered anyway.

Reviewing Speer's case after his conviction, a majority on the Court of Appeals panel agreed with that logic. The prosecution needed to show Speer was not harmed by Raemisch's failure to provide notice of the letter. Because the speedy trial goal of the law was accomplished, there was no prejudice, Welling wrote for himself and Judge Jerry N. Jones.

To dismiss the charges outright would "create a remedy for a procedural violation that is beyond what the legislature provided," Welling explained in the March 23 opinion.

Schutz disagreed with the majority's decision to only look at whether Speer's trial was timely. Holding a state prisoner in jail awaiting trial can affect the programs they participate in and their "attitude toward rehabilitation," he wrote. Schutz cited the Supreme Court's own directive to consider "more than the general factors underlying the constitutional right to a speedy trial" when looking at a UMDDA violation.

"But the trial court never considered this issue, or any other prejudice visited on Speer," he wrote. "I am concerned that the majoritys analysis fails to track the course chartered by the Colorado Supreme Court."

The case is People v. Speer.
Marc Snyder was mayor of Manitou Springs when the Waldo Canyon fire devastated the city, killing two people, destroying 346 homes and becoming the most destructive wildfire in state history at the time.

Since the 2012 fire, Colorado wildfires have become more common and more catastrophic. In the past three years, the state has endured the three largest wildfires in state history and its most destructive wildfire, the Marshall fire, destroyed over 1,100 homes and businesses in Boulder County in December 2021.

Snyder, now a state representative, is trying to prevent this destruction by introducing House Bill 1273.

If passed into law, the bill would create grants to incentivize homeowners to make their houses more resilient to wildfires.

This is not going to, all by itself, solve the wildfire threat that we have here in Colorado, said Snyder, D-Manitou Springs, but its one of the many tools we have that we can utilize.

Under the bill, homeowners could apply for grants to pay for retrofitting or structural improvements to existing houses and other buildings, as well as for new builds and rebuilds.

The bill requests $2 million for the grants, though Snyder said the program could also use federal funds that are expected to become available in the coming months.

Changes to make homes wildfire-resilient include replacing roofs and siding with nonflammable materials, enclosing soffit vents to prevent ambers from being sucked inside and moving burnable vegetation 100 feet away from a home.

HB 1273 passed its first vote in the House Agriculture, Water and Natural Resources Committee on Thursday.

Lawmakers voted 10-3 in support of the bill, also sponsored by Rep. Junie Joseph, D-Boulder. Though the bill received bipartisan approval, only Republicans voted against it.

Sign up for free: News Alerts Stay in the know on the stories that affect you the most. Sign Up For Free View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters.

We need to look at free market solutions, said Rep. Richard Holtorf, R-Akron, who voted no on the bill.

Instead of a grant program, the state should publicly publish the standards for fire-resistant homes, Holtorf said. He also argued that the grants should have income limitations, making high-income homeowners ineligible.

Proponents of the bill argued that wildfire destruction is a statewide issue that requires government intervention.

The December 2021 Marshall fire was the costliest in state history and the 10th costliest wildfire in U.S. history, causing over $2 billion in losses. While some homeowners have started to make fire-proofing changes on their own, most dont. And that leaves the entire state at risk, they said.

Tanya Samaroo said she lost her home in the Marshall fire.

Now working to rebuild, Samaroo said she has taken precautions to protect her home from future wildfires, but most in her community have not.

Im afraid to go home and live in my non-fire-hardened neighborhood, Samaroo said while testifying in support of HB 1273 on Thursday.

Under the bill, the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control would be responsible for determining the amounts and limits of the grants.

Snyder said its possible the grants could be restricted to around $5,000 per individual, or be used for cost matching or sharing. The bill will next be sent to the House Appropriations Committee.
Colorado's second-highest court ruled on Thursday that a jury will decide whether Centura Health Corp. fired a physician for violating its policy against aid-in-dying, as Centura claims, or for events outside of her work, as the doctor claims.

Barbara Morris' lawsuit against her former employer attracted significant attention from Christian organizations, which argued that faith-based healthcare providers should not be forced to dispense medication enabling the death of terminally-ill patients, as Colorado law allows.

However, both Morris and the Court of Appeals countered that the litigation was not a referendum on the voter-approved End-of-Life Options Act, nor did it implicate Centura's religious exercise under the First Amendment. Instead, Morris' case focused on a narrow question: Is she entitled to 90 days' pay because Centura fired her for reasons not outlined in her employment agreement?

"Centuras reason for terminating Morris matters. If Centura fired Morris because it concluded that her actions in the hospital violated hospital policy, that is one case," wrote Judge W. Eric Kuhn for a three-member panel of the Court of Appeals.

But based on the information gathered to date, he continued, "we cannot say that this evidence conclusively establishes that she violated Centuras aid-in-dying policy."

In 2016, a Colorado ballot initiative passed to allow terminal patients with a life expectancy of six months or less to request and administer medication to voluntarily end their lives. The law contains safeguards to qualify for the medication, including multiple forms of confirmation and the participation of a second physician.

Last year, 316 people received prescriptions for aid-in-dying medication, according to the state's health department.

The law also permits healthcare providers to not participate. Likewise, facilities may bar their physicians from writing aid-in-dying prescriptions. Centura, which is a faith-based operator, chose that route in accordance with the Catholic Church's prohibition on "euthanasia and assisted suicide."

Morris filed her lawsuit in 2019. At the time, she had consulted with terminally-ill patient Cornelius "Neil" Mahoney, who is now deceased. Mahoney wanted to pursue aid-in-dying, but Centura's Ethical and Religious Directives stipulated that Catholic healthcare providers "may never condone or participate in euthanasia or assisted suicide in any way."

Morris and Mahoney filed a lawsuit against Centura seeking a court declaration that the health system could not prohibit Morris from providing aid-in-dying care to Mahoney or penalize her for doing so.

Five days later, Centura fired Morris from her job at St. Anthony Hospital.

"(Y)ou have encouraged a morally unacceptable option," her termination letter read. "It is our religious judgment that your conduct in relation to Mr. Mahoney violates the religious principles upon which the Hospital operates and warrants the termination of your employment for cause."

Morris then amended her lawsuit to assert new claims against her ex-employer. Specifically, she alleged Centura wrongfully discharged her because of her lawsuit, and not for any breach of policy. She also claimed Centura's actions violated Colorado's Lawful Off-Duty Activities Statute, which generally prohibits terminations based on employees' conduct outside of their workplace.

Arapahoe County District Court Judge Peter F. Michaelson granted Centura's motion for summary judgment, finding the facts undisputedly allowed the health system to prevail under the law.

Sign up for free: News Alerts Stay in the know on the stories that affect you the most. Sign Up For Free View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters.

By meeting with Mahoney and determining he would qualify for aid-in-dying, "Morris condoned Mr. Mahoney's desire for AID and in doing so violated the ERDs which formed an essential condition of her employment," Michaelson wrote, adding that a "reasonable jury could not find other than that."

Morris then appealed. Several outside religious organizations  including the Catholic Medical Association, the Little Sisters of the Poor and the Christian Medical and Dental Associations  claimed Morris wanted to "require" Centura to employ her so that she may engage in euthanasia against the beliefs of the Catholic Church.

But Morris did not seek such a ruling from the Court of Appeals, and did not even dispute that Centura could terminate her for any reason. She only argued Centura had to pay her 90 days' severance if she did not actually violate its policy.

"So, the main questions on that claim are first, why did Centura terminate Dr. Morris? Second, did that reason constitute cause under the contract? And third, if it did, did she really commit the act that they claim?" attorney Chip G. Schoneberger told the appellate panel during oral arguments last month.

Schoneberger argued his client did not actually "engage in the process" of qualifying Mahoney for aid-in-dying. Judge JoAnn L. Vogt quoted from Centura's Ethical and Religious Directives, which, in addition to prohibiting euthanasia, encourage that patients receive "the appropriate medical information" about their options.

"Couldnt a juror potentially conclude that her initial conversations with the patient were to fulfill that portion of the policy? To make sure that that patient could make an informed decision about his future care?" Vogt asked.

Centura's attorney, Ian Speir, argued Morris "went beyond" that guidance with Mahoney.

Ultimately, the panel decided the question of why Centura fired Morris  and if it did so in a manner that triggered a severance payment  required a jury's evaluation of the facts. Consequently, Michaelson improperly granted summary judgment to the health system.

"If Centura terminated Morris for violating Centuras aid-in-dying policy or breaching the ERD clause, in accordance with those policies, then it has no liability," Kuhn wrote in the April 13 opinion. If Centura fired her for filing a lawsuit and for her personal support of aid-in-dying, "then Centura owed her ninety days of pay."

Matthew Cron, an attorney for Morris, said his client was pleased with the panel's decision.

"Throughout this case, Centura has desperately attempted to thwart Dr. Morris ability to present this case to a jury because Centura knows that any reasonable jury will see right through its false and unlawful reasons for terminating Dr. Morris employment," he said.

Attorneys for Centura did not respond to an email seeking comment.

The case is Morris v. Centura Health Corporation et al.
Tom Zelibor will retire as Space Foundation CEO June 30 after more than six years leading the Colorado Springs-based nonprofit best known for its annual Space Symposium.

This year, the symposium will attract more than 14,000 attendees, making it the biggest annual convention in Colorado Springs.

Zelibor, 69, joined the foundation in 2017 succeeding longtime CEO Elliot Pulham. Zelibor had been CEO of Longmont communications technology company Lightwave Logic, was director of a space-focused business incubator in Boulder, was CEO of Boulder information technology company Flatirons Solutions and served as a dean at the Naval War College. He had a nearly 30-year career in the Navy, retiring in 2006 as a rear admiral after serving as director of operations for U.S. Strategic Command.

He will be replaced by Heather Pringle, who will retire in June as an Air Force major general and commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.

The Gazette interviewed Zelibor about his tenure at the Space Foundation, including leading the organization through the COVID-19 pandemic that forced the cancellation of its symposium in 2020 and postponement of the 2021 event for five months. Questions and answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.

What are your plans after you retire?

I have offered, if Heather wants my input, on a couple of projects. The first is refurbishing and doing a complete overhaul of the Space Discovery Center (a space, science and technology center and museum adjacent to the foundations headquarters).

The center opened 10 years ago, and we have designed a $2 million project to do that, including refurbishing the Science on a Sphere and the Mars labs and building two new labs, the Drone Zone and the Fab Lab, which will be focused on 3D printing.

We have been approached by local drone clubs to lease the Drone Zone when we arent using it and we will make our 3D printers available for public use. We want kids to be able to learn how important 3D printing is in space, especially for missions to the moon and Mars.

The second project is an area for rotating exhibits so there will always be something new to see in the Discovery Center.

I also will be serving on the boards of three companies  Ree Medical, Baker Street Scientific and a new company focused on space that I cannot yet make public. I plan to spend more time with my family since I have been commuting to Colorado Springs from Longmont for the past six years.

I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of working here and love this place; it is an incredible organization. It has been a great six years, and I will miss it. The impact we have had on the global space community has been significant over the past five or six years and I want to express my gratitude for all the support the foundation has received.

I do plan on coming to future symposiums  I would love to visit the team and see what I could do (to help).

Sign up for free: News Alerts Stay in the know on the stories that affect you the most. Sign Up For Free View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters.

What were the high points of your tenure with the Space Foundation?

I am very people oriented; I love to lead people and watch them thrive and improve. In 2017, the foundation management structure was very flat, and people were wearing three or four hats with little opportunity for professional development. We created a structure for people at the foundation to expand their careers and professional development has become a big point of emphasis.

When I first arrived, we were nearly singularly oriented toward the Space Symposium, which is hugely important to the space community and Colorado Springs. But I couldnt sleep at night because we were not diversified in our revenue stream. We were one disaster away from not surviving.

During COVID, we created the Center for Innovation and Education, a lifelong learning platform that doubled the amount and breadth of educators on our staff covering everything from pre-kindergarten to college. We also began helping young entrepreneurs to combat the No. 1 issue facing the space industry  workforce development.

Space is a $469 billion industry that is growing at 9% a year and will be at $1 trillion by the end of the decade with 77% of that growth coming from the commercial side of the industry.

The first component of the Center for Innovation and Education is the Discovery Center, which we have already discussed. The second is formal education and we now have 10 professional educators working with schools to get kids interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), using space as a hook. The third part is the Space Commerce Institute, which offers professional development for young entrepreneurs and has really taken off with online courses.

We have professionals from the space industry that have recorded programs, and online panel discussions with industry thought leaders. My last (high) point is fundraising  a lot of people want to donate to STEM education and space. We started with 55 employees in 2017 and now we have 110. We started with less than $10 million in annual revenue in 2017 and now we are at nearly $30 million, and that is without doing a symposium for 18 months during COVID.

What was the biggest challenge you faced?

My biggest challenge was people. For an organization that realized the majority of its revenue from a single event and wasnt able to do that event for 18 months, we had to make some tough decisions. We did it for the good of the company, but that didnt make it any less difficult (the foundation had to cut nearly 20 people from its payroll in 2021 during the pandemic).

To meet that challenge, we launched the Center for Innovation and Education during COVID, and that helped us learn to present content without being in person.

What challenges will your successor face?

The biggest issue is space awareness, or what benefits space brings to life on Earth. We need to get that message out better. People dont understand why we have to invest in space. They dont realize space technologys impact on Earth.

Heather (Pringle) has been intimately involved in space technology, but she will have to learn more about whos who in the space industry. I have no doubt she will be successful  she is one of the most positive and upbeat people I have met in a long time. I couldnt be happier with the selection (of the new CEO).
Australia and Vietnam enhance two-way investment ties

The Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade), in partnership with the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment held the Australia  Vietnam Investment Forum in Hanoi on Monday.





Delegates at the event

The event saw the attendance of Australias Minister of Trade and Tourism, Senator the Hon Don Farrell, Vietnams Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment, Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc, and over 350 representatives from Australian and Vietnamese governments, industry associations and the private sector.

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment, Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc speaks at the forum

Bolstering two-way trade and investment is a joint priority as Vietnam and Australia commemorate 50 years of bilateral diplomatic relations in 2023.

In 2021-22, two-way goods and services trade grew by around 40% to AUD 33 billion with Australian exports to Vietnam up around 50% valued at AUD 20.5 billion compared to the previous year. The two countries are working together on new opportunities and challenges, including measures to address climate change to meet our shared objective of net zero emissions by 2050.

Australia is a long-term partner of Vietnams economic development and Australian companies have been investing in Vietnam for decades. Companies including Telstra, RMIT, ANZ, Bluescope Steel, Allens and BHP have made strategic investments that have contributed to the infrastructure and economic development of Vietnam.

Other notable investment from Australian includes Austal, VMS and Midway Metals in manufacturing; Linfox and Aurecon in logistics and services; Blackstone Minerals and Blueleaf Energy in resources and renewable energy; and CBH and SunRice in agribusiness.

Vietnamese companies have invested capital in Australia of AUD 850 million. The Hoa Phat Group and TH Group are the largest investors, focusing on resources and livestock.

Joining the Australia-Vietnam Investment Forum, Senator the Hon Don Farrell, Australias Minister of Trade and Tourism stated: Deepening our engagement with Vietnam is a priority for the Australian Government, including as we diversify our trade and investment links and develop the Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040. Vietnam offers significant trade and investment opportunities for Australia over the next few decades.

To further promote economic, investment and trade cooperation between Vietnam and Australia, the Ministry of Planning and Investment shared: "Two sides need to continuously promote the role and effectiveness of the Vietnam - Australia Economic Partnership Ministerial Conference. This is an important channel for economic exchange and cooperation between the two countries and creates favourable conditions for businesses of both sides to carry out effective business activities. Also, the two sides need to continue to research, develop and implement cooperation activities to promote the effective implementation of the Strategy for Enhancing Economic Cooperation between Vietnam and Australia (EEES).

This Forum successfully raised awareness of the investment environment in Australia and Vietnam and helped to identify commercial opportunities to forge clean energy trade and investment partnerships.
DES MOINES  Strong winds and warmer-than-normal temperatures led to drier soil conditions that allowed 5.2 days suitable for fieldwork during the week ending Sunday, according to the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Sandwiched between severe storms and chilly snow flurries were some unseasonably warm and dry conditions that allowed farmers to get planters rolling across the state, said Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig on Monday as the weekly Iowa Crop Progress and Condition Report was released.

With cooler-than-average temperatures expected through the end of April, farmers should monitor soil temperatures and be aware of the potential for localized patches of frost, Naig said.

There were a few isolated areas in the southern part of Iowa that saw more precipitation than average for this time of year. Fertilizer applications continued and oat seeding accelerated. Farmers began planting corn and soybeans, although many operators are waiting for precipitation to improve soil moisture supplies.

Topsoil moisture condition rated 7% very short, 23% short, 66% adequate and 4% surplus. Subsoil moisture condition rated 9% very short, 28% short, 60% adequate and 3% surplus.

Seven percent of Iowas expected corn crop has been planted, almost two weeks ahead of last year and six days ahead of the five-year average. Over one-third of the states expected oat crop was planted during the week ending April 16 to reach 51%, 10 days ahead of last year and six days ahead of normal. Four percent of the oat crop has emerged.

Pastures continue to break dormancy and become green, but little new growth has been seen so far. Calving continues. Overall, livestock conditions continue to be good.

Weather summary

Iowa experienced summerlike conditions over several days of the reporting period as positive temperature departures from 8 to 16 degrees were observed, according to Justin Glisan, state climatologist with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. The statewide average temperature was 58.6 degrees, 11.1 degrees above normal. Coupled with these anomalously warm temperatures, was a very dry airmass until a late-week pattern shift brought widespread rainfall and some snow statewide. Southwestern Iowa measured above-normal totals, with deficits of over 0.50 inch at many eastern stations.

Weekly precipitation totals ranged from 0.01 inch at multiple stations to 2.21 inches in Hastings. The statewide weekly average precipitation was 0.44 inch while the normal is 0.81 inch. Airports in Sioux City and Spencer reported the weeks high temperature of 92 degrees on Friday, on average 33 degrees above normal. Beaconsfield in Ringgold County reported the weeks low temperature of 27 degrees on April 10, eight degrees below normal.
Three members of the Mason City Fire Department had to grab their stuffed animals and run on Saturday morning.

The firefighters who were called to duty, along with Mason City Police Officer Jason Trask and Cerro Gordo Sheriff's Deputy Russell Jensen, were at the Moose Lodge in Mason City to collect a couple dozen "Tommy Moose" stuffed animals donated by the Moose to give to children in stressful situations.

"The Moose is about children and seniors," Moose Lodge Governor Dick Cory said. "We have Mooseheart (Child City and School) in Chicago and Moosehaven (senior living facility) in Florida."

According to the Tommy Moose webpage, the international program has been going on since 2002. More than 100,000 Tommy Moose plush dolls have been donated to shelters, hospitals, and emergency workers, who in turn deliver them to children in need of some comfort when facing some of life's biggest challenges. The Tommy Moose character has grown and developed beyond the comforting plush toy program.

Trask said the Tommy Moose dolls can definitely be a comfort when children are in a tough spot, especially when they may not know what exactly is happening.

"Medical calls where parents are having to be taken away in an accident," Trask said. "We had one where it would have been kind of handy as a medical call where the mother was taken away and I had to stand by until a grandparent could get there."

Jensen said the plush dolls can be useful in a number of situations.

"Pretty much any kind of high-stress situation where we're dealing with the parents and there's kids there," he said. "This can kind of keep their mind off of what's going on. Could be a medical call, could be a domestic or car accident."

Tommys origin appears in a childrens color-along story book, a format that combines an easy-to-read story in pages suitable for youngsters to color.

Tommy also appears on complimentary bookmarks, available at many public and school libraries courtesy of Moose Lodges and Chapters in the U.S. and Canada. The bookmark also includes a list of safety tips for children to follow while using the internet.

A line of infant through toddler clothing has been developed bearing Tommys image, and the Tommy Moose life size mascot appears throughout the country in parades and events, meeting and greeting children and posing for pictures.

The MCPD, CGSO and MCFD were each given two boxes of a dozen plush dolls to give to children Saturday morning. Trask said the department has used stuffed animals in the past, but the effort by the Moose Lodge is a nice gesture that's not taken for granted.

"We appreciate the Moose doing this," he said. "We've had similar things in the past. We've had stuffed animals in the past, we know how they work."

North Iowa History: Demonstration downtown 1972 Demonstration downtown 1972 Demonstration downtown 1972 Demonstration Downtown #4.jpg Demonstration downtown #5.jpg Demonstration downtown Demonstration downtown #7.jpg Demonstration downtown #8.jpg Demonstration downtown #9.jpg Demonstration downtown #10.jpg Demonstration downtown #11.jpg Demonstration downtown #12.jpg Demonstration downtown.jpg
jayids123 wrote:





My train of thought is as follows:



If the controlled harvesting increases the impact of erosion then net income would fall because GFC would have additional expenses (dredging, more new facilities).



So by saying that the controlled harvesting does not impact erosion we know that costs are flat, but revenue is increasing, so net income would be increasing.



I picked answer (E).



I have two issues with answer (D) that I am struggling to understand.



1) How do we know that GFC even has a fishing operation? Just because of its name? That seems like a big assumption to make. It's not implausible to name a business something outside of the realm of its primary income source.



2) How do we know that increasing fish populations would increase net income? We don't know anything about the business of fishing. How do we know that fishing would have a positive margin and thus increased fishing would grow net income? Seems like a big assumption to make.



With (E) we know that revenue is increasing, and also that one form of cost is staying flat, so net income would be more likely to increase. Could someone help explain what is wrong with my train of thought?



Also, the OA says that option (E) is incorrect because we do not know the effect that coastal erosion has on GFC's net income. However the stem states that it has added additional costs for GFC for dredging and new facilities. Seems like those are direct expenses from coastal erosion that are lowering net income.



GMATNinja I'm not sure I understand why E is wrong here.My train of thought is as follows:If the controlled harvesting increases the impact of erosion then net income would fall because GFC would have additional expenses (dredging, more new facilities).So by saying that the controlled harvesting does not impact erosion we know that costs are flat, but revenue is increasing, so net income would be increasing.I picked answer (E).I have two issues with answer (D) that I am struggling to understand.1) How do we know that GFC even has a fishing operation? Just because of its name? That seems like a big assumption to make. It's not implausible to name a business something outside of the realm of its primary income source.2) How do we know that increasing fish populations would increase net income? We don't know anything about the business of fishing. How do we know that fishing would have a positive margin and thus increased fishing would grow net income? Seems like a big assumption to make.With (E) we know that revenue is increasing, and also that one form of cost is staying flat, so net income would be more likely to increase. Could someone help explain what is wrong with my train of thought?Also, the OA says that option (E) is incorrect because we do not know the effect that coastal erosion has on GFC's net income. However the stem states that it has added additional costs for GFC for dredging and new facilities. Seems like those are direct expenses from coastal erosion that are lowering net income.

Quote:

E. A controlled harvesting of mangrove wood by the GFC would have little effect on coastal erosion.

First, lets take a look at (E):The problem with (E) is that while it gives us SOME reason to believe that coastal erosion wont get worse with the new plan, it does little to strengthen the idea that Gachas net income will increase. Sure, Gocha isnt going to incur additional costs from dredging. But we still dont have reason to believe that the overall plan will INCREASE net income.Moreover, (E) doesnt tell us that the plan will have NO effect on coastal erosion. It tells us that the plan will have LITTLE effect on coastal erosion. But its possible that a small negative effect on coastal erosion will cause a large reduction in fish populations, thus hurting GFCs bottom line. (E) simply leaves too much room for speculation, so we can eliminate it.We covered (D) in our previous post , but well address your two questions here.First, its fair to assume that a fishing cooperative is involved in fishing. A cooperative, by definition, is a farm, business, or other organization which is owned and run jointly by its members, who share the profits or benefits. Its not a big assumption to conclude that a fishing cooperatives main business is fish.Second, it must be the case that fishing has a positive margin. Otherwise, the fishing cooperative would have gone out of business and ceased to exist. Therefore, if fish are more abundant, more fish are likely to be caught and sold, increasing GFCs net income. Even if GFC chooses not to catch more fish (which would be strange for a fishing company), its likely that the increased number of fish in the sea would make it easier to catch fish and decrease GFCs cost.For those reasons, (D) strengthens the argument and is the best answer choice.I hope that helps!_________________
On April 17 2023, the Prime Minister, Minister of State, Xavier Bettel, the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development, Joelle Welfring, the Minister for Energy, Claude Turmes, and the Minister of the Economy, Franz Fayot, presented the first draft of the update of the "Energie- a Klimaplang fir Letzebuerg".

SIP / Luc Deflorenne (from left to right) Xavier Bettel, Prime Minister, Minister of State; Franz Fayot, Minister of the Economy SIP / Luc Deflorenne Xavier Bettel, Prime Minister, Minister of State SIP / Luc Deflorenne (from left to right) Claude Turmes, Minister for Energy; Joelle Welfring, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development; Xavier Bettel, Prime Minister, Minister of State; Franz Fayot, Minister of the Economy SIP / Luc Deflorenne (from left to right) Claude Turmes, Minister for Energy; Joelle Welfring, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development; Xavier Bettel, Prime Minister, Minister of State; Franz Fayot, Minister of the Economy SIP / Luc Deflorenne (from left to right) Joelle Welfring, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development; Xavier Bettel, Prime Minister, Minister of State SIP / Luc Deflorenne Joelle Welfring, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development SIP / Luc Deflorenne (from left to right) Claude Turmes, Minister for Energy; Joelle Welfring, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development; Xavier Bettel, Prime Minister, Minister of State; Franz Fayot, Minister of the Economy SIP / Luc Deflorenne (from left to right) Claude Turmes, Minister for Energy; Joelle Welfring, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development SIP / Luc Deflorenne Claude Turmes, Minister for Energy SIP / Luc Deflorenne (from left to right) Claude Turmes, Minister for Energy; Joelle Welfring, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development; Xavier Bettel, Prime Minister, Minister of State; Franz Fayot, Minister of the Economy SIP / Luc Deflorenne Franz Fayot, Minister of the Economy SIP / Luc Deflorenne Tom Haas, Modeling and forecasting, Statec

EU member states are required to update their national energy and climate plans for 2024. A draft update must therefore be sent to the European Commission at the end of June 2023, in advance of this deadline. The government has raised its ambitions by proposing new and enhanced measures for the energy transition and for climate action by 2030, drawing inspiration from recent public consultations.

In the context of the Paris agreements on climate action and their implementation at the national and European levels, the "Energie- a Klimaplang fir Letzebuerg" represents a key component of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourgs climate and energy policy. Adopted in its first version by the Government Council in May 2020, it sets out climate and energy objectives by 2030, as well as the policies and measures to reach them, specifically for each of six target sectors: buildings, transport, industry, agriculture, waste and LULUCF (Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry). Therefore, the "Energie- a Klimaplang fir Letzebuerg" is a strategic document enabling Luxembourg to actively engage in climate action, the energy transition as well as the development of a sustainable economy. By aiming to reduce the countrys dependence on fossil fuels, the plan is a direct response to the climate crisis and to the energy crisis.



An ambitious update with a focus on participation

Under Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 on governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action  the regulation that introduced national plans, member states are required to update their respective plans for 2024. In advance of this deadline, a draft update is to be sent to the European Commission by the end of June 2023. As was the case when the first version of the plan was adopted, the draft update of the Luxembourg plan is once again the subject of a public inquiry, open from 17 April to 16 May 2023. The inquiry invites citizens to submit their comments and proposals.

As the national climate targets were already ambitious in the 2020 version of the plan and compatible with the EU targets, including the revised EU targets, there is currently no need to further adapt them. However, renewable energy and energy efficiency targets need to be strengthened. With the aim to arm itself with the means to achieve the targets set for the coming years, the government has strengthened existing measures and introduced new ones to better fulfil these ambitions.



The targets for 2030 consist in a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to 2005 (as foreseen by the climate law and the previous version of the plan), an increase in the share of renewable energy of final consumption (from 25% in the previous plan to 35-37%), and a 44% improvement in energy efficiency (from a range of 40-44% in the previous plan).



While these ambitions and strengthened measures reflect the political will of the government, they are also based on the results of various public consultation and institutional cooperation processes implemented in recent years. In fact, the public consultation conducted as part of the "Luxembourg in Transition" (LIT) international consultation, carried out in 2021 and focusing on spatial planning, the "Klima-Biergerrot" organised in 2022 (KBR, Citizens Council on Climate), the Climate Policy Observatory (OPC, "observatoire de la politique climatique") launched at the end of 2021 and the Platform for Climate Action and Energy Transition - bringing together organised civil society in its entirety - all came out in favour of even more ambitious targets and measures for Luxembourg. Taking all these opinions and proposals into consideration, the entire government drafted the new version of the "Energie- a Klimaplang fir Letzebuerg".



Enhanced and new measures to ensure a just transition



In total, the draft update of the "Energie- a Klimaplang fir Letzebuerg" lists 197 different measures. They correspond to different types of instruments, are at different stages of completion, have different deadlines for their implementation, and identify different entities responsible for said implementation. The objective of a "just transition" was a guiding principle in the review process.

The following measures were identified and noted as being the most important or innovative compared to the previous version of the plan:

The CO2 tax, which will continue to increase annually by 5/t CO2. Its main goal is to reduce emissions from the sale of fuels for road transport. The revenues will be used to finance climate measures and solutions, to invest in the energy transition and to finance social compensation measures (tax credit for low-income households, cost-of-living allowance).

The continuous development of "Klimapakt 2.0", which encourages and supports municipalities in strengthening their exemplary role in climate action and energy transition, to contribute to efforts to adapt to climate change, to promote resource efficiency, and thus to stimulate sustainable local and regional investments. Municipalities are important partners in the implementation of the climate objectives at the local level.



The phase-out of fossil fuel heating, in a first step through a voluntary approach, with the support of financial aid and a wide range of collective solutions such as systematic neighbourhood renovations and the development of decarbonised heat networks. If the voluntary approach proves to be too slow or insufficient, only the replacement of heating installations operated with a minimum of 70% renewable energy will be allowed.



The creation of a national entity to support energy renovation of all low energy performing residential buildings. The main objective here is to provide structured and comprehensive support to owners of low energy performing residential buildings.



Concerning the "Klimabonus", the plan stipulates a simplified procedure for accessing support and, in addition, the option of pre-financing mechanisms will be explored.



The promotion of the electrification of Luxembourg-registered vehicles, most notably via the promotion of the private charging point network, of the public charging infrastructure and via the introduction of financial subsidies for zero-emission vehicles. In addition, a working group dedicated to the logistics sector will, in particular, establish a decarbonisation strategy for the sector.



The introduction of "social leasing", meaning a social leasing system for electric cars, implemented by means of long-term lease contracts to support low-income households in electrifying their individual mobility.



The launch of the Klimapakt fir Betriber" (KPB), a new tool conceived to support SMEs in the energy transition and climate action.



With regards to hydrogen, the plan supports the national hydrogen strategy. This strategy was presented in 2021 and is fully in line with the 2050 decarbonisation and climate neutrality targets.



In agriculture, in line with the Ministry of Agriculture, Viticulture and Rural Developments National Strategic Plan, in particular an accelerated roll-out of the agriculture council and a promotion of agrivoltaics.



In forestry, the raising of targets for net greenhouse gas removals, and the introduction of an aid scheme, the "Klimabonus Besch".



Finally, it is important to emphasise that, in addition to the consultations conducted prior to the updating work, this draft update of the "Energie- a Klimaplang fir Letzebuerg" is the result of an intrinsically collaborative approach between the ministries and administrations concerned, coordinated by the Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development and the Ministry of Energy and Spatial Planning. Now, it is important to continue to work in this spirit of openness when finalising the draft update and especially when implementing the measures.

Press release by the Ministry of State / Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development / Ministry of Energy and Spatial Planning / Ministry of the Economy


GREENSBORO  The city may offer at least $240,000 in incentives to a British aerospace manufacturer to build a maintenance facility here.

The agenda for todays 5:30 p.m. City Council meeting includes a public hearing for incentives offered to Marshall USA, a subsidiary of Marshall Aerospace. The council meets at 300 W. Washington St.

The company is proposing to build the $50 million facility at Piedmont Triad International Airport and create up to 240 jobs, according to city documents.

The average wage for the new full-time positions would be approximately $73,250 with additional benefits and no new jobs will pay below $15 per hour, the documents say.

The company expects to create the new jobs by Dec. 31, 2027. The incentive grant would expire if the new jobs are not created and the investment is not made by that date.

The company is also eligible for an additional $250 incentive per job for any new employee whose permanent address is located in an Impact Zone or who is hired through NCWorks Career Centers.

The company would be paid in annual installments after the new jobs are created and the investment is confirmed. The agreement also would have a claw-back provision that requires the new jobs be maintained for a certain period of time (not yet specified) and capital investment be made as per the incentive grant agreement.

The new facility would allow the company to better meet the C-130 aircraft maintenance requirements of the U.S. military, documents say.

Its a company that we would be very pleased to bring to Greensboro and Guilford County, Mayor Nancy Vaughan said.

The Guilford County Board of Commissioners plans to hold a similar public hearing at its 5:30 p.m. meeting on Thursday. The county would offer up to $308,879 in incentives, plus a $124,000 local matching fund utility grant. The board meets at the Old County Courthouse, 301 W. Market St.

A state Commerce Department incentive package also is likely from the Job Development Grant program.

According to its website, Marshall Aerospace has operations in the U.K., Europe, Middle East, Canada and U.S. Its primary customers are Air Forces across the globe.

PTI already has a FedEx cargo-sorting hub, HAECO maintenance facilities, HondaJet manufacturing operations, as well as other aviation companies on its campus. And Boom Supersonic is building a supersonic jet manufacturing facility at the airport, with plans to create 2,400 jobs by 2032.

PTI remains the states third-largest airport overall and third for commercial service, at $9.3 billion in economic impact in 2021, according to an N.C. Aviation Division report released in January. That is up 7.6% from the 2019 report.

John H. Boyd, a global site-selection expert with The Boyd Co. of Boca Raton, Fla., recently told the News & Record that its not surprising that Marshall is considering PTI for the maintenance facility given the burgeoning aerotropolis and advanced manufacturing already in the Triad.

Even more so than pharma and biotech, the aerospace industry  given its very demanding, precision skill sets in manufacturing and engineering  tends to cluster when making location decisions, Boyd said.
Wildlife officials have an important message entering spring: Dont drink and fly.

Experts warned that some birds may be a little tipsy this season, according to a post from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division on April 12.

Some bird species, notably cedar waxwings and American robins often eat fruit that has started to rot and ferment, officials said.

When fruits ferment, they produce alcohol, the post said.

Waxwings and robins have ranges that extend across the United States, and as they start to increase their fruit consumption this spring, they may get a buzz.

The consumption of these fermented fruits can cause the birds to lose much of their coordination and capacity to fly, officials said.

Wildlife officials warned that this may cause birds to crash into windows or other objects more frequently.

The birds can even die from alcohol poisoning if they eat too much of the fermented fruit, officials said.

Most birds likely just get a bit tipsy, and very few people would be able to pick them out as intoxicated, Meghan Larivee, laboratory coordinator for Environment Yukon, told National Geographic. However, every now and then, some birds just overdo it.

Other than fermented fruit, officials said birds can also be found flying under the influence when they eat Nandina berries, or sacred bamboo.

The plant, often used in landscaping, pulls cyanide out of the soil and harbors it in its berries, according to wildlife officials. There can be lethal doses of cyanide in the red fruit.

To help prevent birds from drunken crashes, make windows more visible by adding a net, tape, shutters, paint or decals to windows, the Humane Society of the United States said.

Learn from our feathered friends and consume fruits responsibly, officials said.
GREENSBORO  After losing some officers to higher-paying departments, the citys police chief is hearing positive feedback after he recently urged elected leaders to fund higher starting salaries to help hire and keep officers.

Officers have reached out to their leadership and reached out to me directly, expressing gratitude and feeling encouraged by the recent conversations, Police Chief John Thompson said about the citys signal of support.

With a shortage of 115 officers  out of an allocated 691  Thompson received a commitment from City Council to direct staff to seek funding in its next budget cycle to raise starting salaries from $46,000 to $57,000.

According to Thompson, the Burlington police department raised its starting salary to $55,000 last year. At least four Greensboro officers have recently made lateral moves to the neighboring city.

I believe this work (to raise salaries) is encouraging to those inside the agency, and potential recruits and laterals, Thompson said. We want to be a premier agency and compensation and benefits play a critical role in that.

This news comes as the department plans to host an informational and hiring event on Wednesday.

Working in law enforcement, officials acknowledge, can be tough on good days, and even tougher without the communitys trust and support. Thompson said the support from elected leaders is a direct reflection of their constituents concerns for public safety.

Competitive salaries are a crucial component, Thompson explained, for being able to attract and retain the officers needed to respond to 911 calls across the city and keep the community safe.

Last week, the Alamance County Sheriffs Office held a recruiting event for sworn deputies and detention officers. According to spokesman Byron Tucker, new hires can expect to make roughly $50,000 with additional incentives possible.

Competitive salaries and benefits are extremely important not only to attract new hires but to retain them, Tucker said. Training a new officer, whether a sworn deputy or a detention officer, is very expensive and time consuming. Starting salaries are certainly important, but benefits can become a make or break.

At the High Point Police Department, the current minimum base salary for police recruits starts at $47,887 before incentives are added for education (up to 10%), military or previous experience (up to 10%), Spanish proficiency (up to 5%) and probationary salary increases (a minimum of 4.5%) during the first 12 months of employment.

In Forsyth County, a deputy sheriffs starting pay is $44,531.50  or about $20.15 per hour. Pay incentives are offered for prior law enforcement service, prior active military service, associates degree, bachelors degree and bilingual ability.

In Guilford County, a deputy sheriffs starting pay is $43,430.47 with many of the same pay incentives as its neighbor to the west.

It is clear that law enforcement salaries are not representative of the times we are living in, Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr. said. Should not those among us who are required to give the most and, if necessary, make the ultimate sacrifice  should not their salaries represent it?

The Highway Patrol also is hoping for a bump to troopers starting salaries upon the conclusion of this legislative session and approval of the state budget. Currently, the hiring salary of $46,058 increases to $49,516 upon graduation from Patrol School, according to spokesman Sgt. Chris Knox.

While agencies look at how to best attract recruits and experienced personnel, the impact of vacancies is being felt in Greensboro. Due to the shortage of officers, Thompson said department leadership has been forced to make difficult decisions about how to shift personnel to bolster the patrol division. For instance, Thompson said he reduced traffic units  including DWI enforcement  despite traffic issues being a concern among residents who participated in recent community surveys.

Thompsons top priorities are to ensure the patrol units are staffed in order to respond to 911 calls across the city and to have officers available to address violent crime.

Unfortunately, what were seeing, is that this violence is across our community and is impacting us in multiple ways, Thompson said.

Thompson suggested possibly cutting 30 allocated, unfilled positions to provide a $3,000 across-the-board raise. It wasnt immediately clear when or if that may be voted upon by council members.

The police department is also considering whether civilians should fill roles such as taxi inspector and court liaison to free up more officers to assist with patrol, Thompson said.

City Councilwoman Marikay Abuzuaiter said during a recent meeting that the community is aware police officers are leaving the department for other communities that pay more. She said this comes at a time when Greensboro is experiencing growth and attracting businesses to the city.

Were not going to have enough officers to cover this, she said. Its time for us to do something.

Abuzuaiter said increasing pay will also help retain recruits that the city has invested in training  at a cost of about $75,000 per officer. According to department spokeswoman Josie Cambareri, the department also pays recruits their full police salary when they are in the academy.

Lt. Kory Flowers, who oversees recruiting for the Greensboro Police Department, said his team enjoys talking to interested recruits about the rewards and challenges that come with the profession.

We value those conversations, Flowers said. Its the job everybody wants to do.

He said the departments recruiters also travel to colleges and job fairs, where candidates often ask about quality of life, cost of living and taxes in North Carolina, housing and patrol schedules.

We have the best patrol schedule in the United States, Flowers said. You have four days on, four days off. Thats a big draw.

That schedule, he said, allows officers to use that time for family, hobbies or an opportunity to earn supplemental income.

Among applicants, the academy will usually accept between 25 to 35%, he said. About half are from the Triad region, and the department receives a lot of interest from people in New York and New Jersey.

Were casting a very wide net, Flowers said.
Determining the feasibility of getting the Triads three largest cities interconnected with passenger rail service is the goal of a bill recently filed by three Democrat state senators.

Senate Bill 520  also known as the Commuter Rail Study Piedmont Triad  is sponsored by Sens. Michael Garrett and Gladys Robinson of Guilford County and Paul Lowe of Forsyth County.

The bill would require the N.C. Department of Transportation to study the cost and potential economic benefits of a commuter rail service linking Winston-Salem, Greensboro and High Point. The study also would measure potential population growth through 2050.

"Certainly it's worth studying the feasibility of it," Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan said. Trains here depart from the J. Douglas Galyon Depot, which was built in 1927 as the Greensboro Southern Railway Depot.

Greensboro and High Point are served by three passenger trains  the Crescent, Carolinian and Piedmont  with service to New York, Raleigh, Charlotte, New Orleans and a handful of smaller towns.

We are very interested in developing rail connections with our sister cities in the Triad and state, Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines said. Certainly, having good data and strategy will be important.

When Winston-Salem finished a $12 million renovation of Union Station off Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in 2019, the city was aiming for a front door to future passenger rail service. The last train with passengers stopped at Union Station in 1970 during a route from Greensboro to Asheville.

In December 2021, Winston-Salem leaders unveiled plans to encourage the revival of passenger rail service to the city. They acknowledged at the time it wouldnt be easy to accomplish.

However, their confidence was stoked by the congressional passage in 2021 of a $1 trillion infrastructure bill that earmarks $66 billion for Amtrak, the nations passenger rail operator. Amtraks corridor vision includes additions to the passenger rail system in North Carolina that would extend service to both Asheville and Wilmington, and give Raleigh a connection to points north through Richmond, Va.

However, the plan calls for no train station in Winston-Salem.

Similarly, a state plan for rail unveiled in 2015 shows potential lines connecting Asheville to the existing passenger rail service through Salisbury and Wilmington through Selma and Raleigh. Winston-Salem would keep its Amtrak Connector bus service through the Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation with potential extensions  but no train to Wilkesboro, Boone and Statesville.

Joines has said the citys biggest challenge is convincing the railroad that it makes sense for them.

What I have been told is that the railroads have not included us on the list because of their concerns about the marketability of it.

****

Amtrak and the state Department of Transportation are not the only elements in the equation: Norfolk Southern owns the rail line to Winston-Salem and would have to approve allowing a passenger train to use it.

They indicated a few years ago that they did not want to share the existing freight line with passenger rail, said Pat Ivey, a division engineer for the Transportation Department. There would have to be a new corridor for passenger traffic if the Norfolk Southern stance did not change.

Council Member D.D. Adams said during a December 2021 discussion that passenger rail is vital to the citys economic future, citing business expansion in the Triad and Triangle.

You cant move people and goods in the world we live in if you dont have rail, Adams said. Nobody looks at you.

The federal investment in Amtrak, in turn, spurred the March 6 announcement from Siemens Mobility that it was building a $220 million plant in Lexington Industrial Park as its first East Coast operations. The manufacturer plans to begin production in 2024 of passenger rail cars with a projected workforce of roughly 500 employees.

The plants creation is intended to meet increasing domestic demand for passenger trains, particularly in metro areas along the East Coast.

Now is the moment in time for rail in America, said Marc Buncher, chief executive of Siemens Mobility North America.

****

But not everyone feels that way. At least not those Triad residents who have a dependence and devotion to driving.

According Keith Debbage, a UNCG professor who specializes in regional economic development issues, trains as a mode of transit is not as feasible in small- to mid-sized cities.

Commuter rail service in the Triad is always a tough sell because of the multi-centered and dispersed nature of the urban system, Debbage said. It is not a surprise that in North Carolina light rail only exists in Charlotte. Unlike the Triad, all roads (and rail lines) lead to Charlotte since it is a concentrated hub and spoke system with one dominant city.

The end result is we historically have not had the type of density needed to generate high rail transit passenger demand.

However, Debbage said the planned creation of between 1,750 and 2,400 jobs at Piedmont Triad International Airport by Boom Supersonic and about 2,100 jobs at the Toyota North Carolina electric vehicle battery plant in Randolph County could be enough reason to take another look to see if it is more feasible now, and into the future, as our city centers and major corporate suburban sites continue to densify.

In a June 2021 opinion piece for the Winston-Salem Journal, local architect Glenn Fulk wrote that Winston-Salem and Concord are the states only top-10 metro areas not getting direct Amtrak service out of the 2021 transportation infrastructure funding.

Were also not included on the proposed high-speed rail network even though there has been a vocal push from Charlotte business leaders for a high-speed rail network connecting their city to Winston-Salem and Raleigh, Fulk wrote. It appears that when our nation is poised to pass a once-in-a-lifetime infrastructure bill, Winston-Salem is seemingly nowhere to be found. Were not even on the map.

Urban sprawl could take on a whole new meaning for the Triad and central North Carolina if projected housing and population growth patterns come to fruition by 2050.

It could lead to  if not make necessary  the intertwining of the Triads economy with Charlotte and the Triangle into what a UNC-Chapel Hill demographer calls a megalopolis. Such a region, based mostly on the Interstate 85 corridor, could resemble the urban thoroughfare that connects Baltimore and Washington with New York and Boston, said Rebecca Tippett, director of an organization called Carolina Demography.

It also could lead to the swallowing up of small- to medium-size communities, such as Burlington, Lexington and Salisbury, which are between the three urban hubs. Those communities likely would maintain their independence, but lose a portion of their identity.

Michael Walden, an economics professor at N.C. State, said he could see the development of a megalopolis similar to the Washington-Boston corridor.

It could have limited open space, still big cities but a blur of lower-density development in between, and commuting time would skyrocket, Walden said.

That potential for further interstate congestion, Walden said, would make options for mass transit look much better.
" " The bhut jolokia pepper  also known as ghost pepper or naga chili  can actually kill you, but it probably won't. Yvan Cohen/LightRocket via Getty Images

Some people just love jalapenos, raw or pickled, on just about any kind of food, any time of day. Each time you chew a jalapeno pepper, you're releasing a spicy heat that measures 2,500 to 5,000 units on the Scoville heat scale. But eating a ghost pepper, or bhut jolokia, takes the heat to a whole new (and painful) level.

The Scoville scale is used to measure the heat of chili peppers and foods made with chili peppers, such as hot sauce. During the measurement process, capsaicin oil is extracted from a pepper and assigned an intensity rating that can range from zero to millions of Scoville units. A green bell pepper, for example, has a Scoville rating of zero, while the ghost pepper tips the scale at more than 1 million units. It was the first pepper to measure so high.

Advertisement

When you bite into a ghost pepper, your mouth feels heat in the most extreme way. Your tongue's receptors register the intensity of the pepper and relay that information to your brain, which interprets the pepper as a burning, pain-inducing interloper. This causes a chain reaction in your body as the capsaicin in the ghost pepper initiates widespread tissue inflammation and begins to wreak havoc on your nerve endings, dilating blood vessels and making you feel hot all over. Suddenly, you're too, too hot.

Your body is staging a violent protest. But to what extent? Could eating ghost peppers cause your demise?

Yes, you could die from ingesting ghost peppers. In fact, researchers have determined a 150-pound (68-kilogram) person would need to eat 3 pounds (1.3 kilograms) of dried and powdered capsaicin-rich peppers like the ghost pepper to die. They based their findings on results extrapolated from similar studies that measure capsaicin's toxic effects on animals.

The good news for spice lovers is that your body would give up long before you reached a deadly level of capsaicin ingestion. The pain and inflammation would be too much to bear. Capsaicin is debilitating to the eyes and airways; that's why pepper spray is an effective defense weapon. At 2 million Scoville heat units, pepper spray can stop an attacker in his or her tracks. In India, the ghost pepper's country of origin, the Defence Research and Development Organization once even made grenades with the powerful bhut jolokia (they had to give them up as the chili powder was susceptible to fungal rot).

In 2016, a man taking part in an eating contest ate a ghost pepper and felt an intense burning in the mouth. He drank six glasses of water to cool off, one of the worst things you can do when you've had too much pepper (milk is a better choice). He vomited so much that he tore a hole in his esophagus. He was rushed to hospital where doctors found out his left lung collapsed. The man spent 23 days in the hospital and was sent home with a gastric tube, according to a report in the Journal of Emergency Medicine. Still, this seems to be a rare case.

So why do some people seem to handle the heat of ghost peppers better than others? It's a nurtured ability, scientists believe. Over time, capsaicin kills pain receptors in the mouth, and, eventually, peppers that are excruciating to the uninitiated are simply a pleasant heat to others.

Now That's Interesting The ghost pepper was at one time the hottest pepper in the world, but it's been surpassed by several others including the current champion, the Carolina Reaper, which measures more than 2 million Scoville units. A pepper known as Pepper X is the unofficial hottest pepper in the world, reportedly measuring 3.2 million Scoville units.

Advertisement

Originally Published: Aug 11, 2015
More information can be found on the congress website.

More than one million people a year are killed by hepatitis B or hepatitis C. 650,000 people die from HIV-related causes annually and 1.5 million acquire HIV.

The World Health Organization has made the elimination of all three viruses by 2030 one of its global health strategies but new tests are necessary if case numbers are to be reduced.

The most common test for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV involves taking a blood sample from a vein using a needle. While this method works extremely well, there is a potentially large reservoir of the three conditions in places where this method is not suitable. This could be prisons, drug rehabilitation centers and homeless shelters, where the taking of venous blood samples isn't always suitable or in countries in which the shipping and refrigerated storage of blood samples can be challenging. Alternatives include dried blood spot tests, in which a single spot of blood is tested for nucleic acid from the three viruses.

Mr. Stephen Nilsson-Mller and colleagues at the Department of Clinical Microbiology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark validated (assessed) one such test. To do the test, the individual's finger is pricked and a few spots of blood collected on filter paper and allowed to dry. The Hologic Panther Systemtesting equipment widely found in public health laboratoriesthen uses a technique called transcription mediated amplification to analyze one of the blood spots for genetic material from the three viruses.

The analysis is designed to be, and is normally, run on liquid samples of plasma or serumnot the dried samples used here. Twenty samples with known amounts of HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C were analyzed via the dried blood spot method (60 in total) and the viruses were detected in all of the samples. The plasma was also diluted to determine the lower limit of detection. This showed that it was possible to detect the viruses at levels that are much lower than are normally found in untreated patients.

Mr. Nilsson-Mller says, "We've shown that using existing hospital equipment, it is possible to detect HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C from a single drop of blood."

"The dried blood spot test is ideal for places where you don't want to use a needle for safety reasons or where it is less practical. This includes prisons, drug rehabilitation centers and homeless shelters."

"It is also suitable for developing countries or places where you run the risk of a blood sample being ruined before it is transferred to a laboratory that can analyze it."

"Blood samples need to be analyzed within six hours when kept at room temperature, while dried blood spots can last for nine months without refrigeration."





Source: European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
A 31-year-old Helena man is facing several charges after a confrontation with his ex-girlfriend during which he allegedly struck her several times and threatened to kill himself.

Dylan Joseph Sparkman has been charged in Justice Court with one count each of felony aggravated burglary, felony partner or family member assault, stalking and misdemeanor charges of obstructing a police officer, unlawful restraint and driving a motor vehicle with a suspended license.

A woman called 911 shortly after midnight April 13, stating she had been assaulted by her ex-boyfriend at her York Road residence. She asked to meet a deputy at a gasoline station in East Helena. She said she had filed a restraining order and it was served against the ex-boyfriend earlier in the day, according to court documents.

She said the defendant was waiting for her when she returned home about 5 p.m. April 12. He asked why she filed the restraining order and said she could not leave until she killed him. He blocked her from leaving the house and at one time held a knife to his own throat, authorities said.

She calmed him down and got the knife away from him. She told deputies that he had punched her repeatedly earlier in the face and head, the affidavit stated. She said he threatened suicide with the knife and she calmed him down and he went to sleep. She left the house and got into her vehicle and locked the door. He began tapping on the vehicle windows.

Deputies saw his vehicle on Canyon Ferry Road, but he got out and ran away. He was arrested later by a deputy without incident, authorities said.

The defendant had a partner and family member assault conviction from 2015 and a 2011 domestic violence conviction out of Washington, the affidavit stated.

Charges against Sparkman were filed Friday. He was listed on the Lewis and Clark County Detention Center jail roster Monday.

All are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is proposing a significant increase to compensation under its new habitat leasing program, including doubling funding.

Last year, FWP announced the new leasing program as an addition to programs funded by Habitat Montana. Using funding from hunting license sales, Habitat Montana is also used for conservation easements and land purchases. The program opened for applications last summer.

The program saw a mixed reaction from hunting and access groups who applauded additional access tools but also raised concerns about impacts to easements and land purchases.

Agency leaders said at the time FWP would continue to pursue easements and purchases, but those have stirred some controversy in the past and leasing could provide an additional option.

Under the current program FWP seeks long-term leases of 30-40 years, with terms similar to perpetual conservation easements held by the department. State funding would be leveraged against federal funding or other sources in an effort to sign up to 500,000 acres over the next five years. Terms of the leases would include limits on development and allowance of some public access.

The program ranks priority prairie habitats for funding with a focus on sage grouse, including sagebrush grasslands, mixed grass prairie and wetland-grassland in eastern and southwest Montana, involving habitats overlapping with parts of 45 counties.

Lease payments are set at a fixed rate per acre paid upfront to a landowner. Rates are set at 5-10% of the lands fee simple value, determined by an average value per acre of habitat types in that part of the state.

A lease could be broken by the landowner, but would incur repayment of the remainder and a 25% penalty.

While the programs initial goal aimed for 500,000 acres in five years, the initial call for applications netted only six totaling about 10,000 acres. The low interest led to FWPs recent proposals and request for comment on upping compensation.

The response to our call for applications was considerably less than what we were hoping for, said FWP spokesperson Greg Lemon. We're proposing some changes to make the program more attractive and flexible for landowners.

FWP now proposes increasing the payment level to 15% of average fee title value for a 30year lease and 20% of fee title value plus a 5% bonus for a 40year lease. That would bring total program costs from an estimated $25-$35 million to $50-$75 million over the first five years.

The proposal also calls for dropping the penalty for a landowner breaking a lease should a landowner wish to pursue permanent conservation protections.

FWP is accepting public comment on the proposals until May 1 at www.fwp.mt.gov.
News Channel 10's Doppler Dave Oliver and Ruben Flores made a trip to Spearman Wednesday to chat with Spearman Mayor, Tobe Shields, about one of the most interesting historical markers in the Texas Panhandle.

Doppler Dave has visited Spearman in the past during extreme weather events and noticed the marker and always wanted to come back to learn more about the history behind behind it.

Dave is in Spearman covering the May 1990 tornado

Doppler Dave Chief Meteorologist of the First Alert Weather Team at NewsChannel 10

While Doppler Dave is probably best known as a meteorologist, he also enjoys history.

"I just really enjoy highlighting the interesting things about the small communities in the area," said Dave, "I was excited to come back to Spearman and learn more about the Lindbergh Landing."





one of the 13 historical markers in Hansford County located just a mile south on HWY 207

Gus Birdwell GT Class took some time lately to study the historical markers in the county
HISD Board Certifies Materials, Hears Updates From Directors The Hillsboro Independent School District (HISD) Board of Trustees met in regular session Monday, April 10, and certified that the district will provide Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) aligned materials for the 2023-2024 school year.



Executive Director of Curriculum Angela Boyd told the board that districts are required to certify annually to the State Board of Education and the commissioner. Boyd said that once approved, a form will be submitted to the Texas Education Agency. Submittal of the form will allow the district to order instructional materials utilizing Instructional Materials Allotment Funds through the educational materials ordering system.



Boyd added that the system offers products from publishers that the district uses, including McGraw Hill, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and SAVVAS Learning.



In the directors' reports, Boyd told the board that Hillsboro along with all districts in the state will begin state testing Tuesday, April 18. She also said that the testing will be conducted online over the next three weeks.



Executive Director of Human Resources Keith Hannah told the board that his department had recently been recruiting teachers by participating in job fairs at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Region 12 and Tarleton State University in Stephenville.



For the complete story, see the Monday, April 17, edition of The Reporter Newspaper.


Sentences Handed Down In District Court The office of District Attorney Mark Pratt recently prosecuted felony criminal cases in the 66th Judicial District Court of Hill County. The following Texas Department of Criminal Justice convictions are for March:



Justin Walter Freels, possession of methamphetamine under one gram, 12 months state jail; bail jump and failure to appear felony, five years prison



OC Hawley III, possession of methamphetamine between one and four grams, 25 years prison



James Earl Mantooth III, assault family/household member with previous convictions, six years prison



Johnny Andrew Windell, unauthorized use of a vehicle, nine months state jail; theft of property between $30,000 and $150,000, two years prison



Rogelio Garcia, possession of methamphetamine between one and four grams, three years prison.



For the complete story, see the Monday, April 17, edition of The Reporter Newspaper.


" " The sun sets over St. Peter's Basilica, located in the world's smallest country. Alexander Spatari/Getty Images

It makes a great trivia question  What is the world's smallest country? You could decide to look at population or the actual area the country occupies. In this case, the answer is the same either way: Vatican City.

Vatican City, an enclave within Rome, may seem a surprising answer. Its name implies it's a municipality, not a country. Plus, it's home to the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. But Vatican City was declared an independent state in 1929 via the Lateran Treaty, an agreement signed by Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini and Pope Pius XI. The treaty granted Vatican City sovereignty in exchange for papal recognition of the kingdom of Italy.

Advertisement

So, exactly how tiny is this unique country? Vatican City is a mere 0.2 square miles (0.52 square kilometers), which is smaller than New York City's Central Park. Nevertheless, it has its own post office, telephone system, radio station, banking system and even its own currency, the Vatican euro. About 800 people live here, 75 percent of whom are members of the clergy.

While Vatican City is a bona fide country, it's not recognized by the United Nations (U.N.), the world's largest intergovernmental organization. Instead, it's considered a permanent, nonmember observer, which means it's welcome to sit in the U.N.'s General Assembly and access most U.N. services and benefits, but it can't cast a vote. And that's just fine with Vatican City.

Unlike its only other U.N. counterpart, Palestine, which has repeatedly applied to become a full U.N. member, Vatican City has never done so. In fact, it's the only independent nation to ever decline U.N. membership. Experts believe it has eschewed membership because the pope doesn't wish to directly interfere in international policies. In addition, if it were to apply for membership, the U.N. might challenge the idea that it's a true country per the U.N.'s definition, which includes the ability to assist with global security. Instead, the U.N. could argue it is simply a religious organization.
There aren't many "stories" associated with Nyx, says Turkeltaub, but the ancient Greek author Homer makes a passing reference in his epic poem, the "Iliad," that shows us the respect and even fear that Nyx commanded.

In this part of the "Iliad," the powerful goddess Hera hatched a plan to "lay in love" with Zeus, but she needed help from Hypnos, the god of Sleep and son of Nyx. If Hypnos would just lull Zeus into a deep slumber, Hera promised him thrones of gold.

Advertisement

Hypnos wasn't having it, though. He said that he played the same trick for Hera once before when she wanted to meddle in the Trojan War, and it didn't go well. Zeus woke up angry and "beat the gods up and down his house" in search of Hypnos, writes Homer.

Hypnos thought he was finished "had not Nyx (Night) who has power over gods and men rescued me," writes Homer. "I reached her in my flight, and Zeus let be, though he was angry, in awe of doing anything to swift Nyx's displeasure."

In other words, Zeus knew better than to tick off Nyx.

"The other gods do not mess with Nyx," says Turkeltaub. "She has a power that precedes Zeus. Nyx is a looming ancestral mother figure with a primordial power that other gods respect and revere."

Now That's Cool While no statues of Nyx survive, there may have been a temple dedicated to her in the Greek coastal city of Megara. Turkeltaub says that the ancient Greek geographer Pausanias described a "temple to Night" at the acropolis in Megara where Nyx was believed to prophesy the future.
Dairy farmers strive to get the most return on investment from every asset on their farm. One part of the business that might be overlooked as an asset, though, is the feed center.

The feed center  with its storage facilities, daily traffic, and impact on animal performance  has a tremendous effect on farm profitability. Feed itself is the largest expense on dairies. A Cornell University study dug into the cost areas within that sector, and labor came out on top as the most expensive. In summarizing the study at the Professional Dairy Producers (PDPW) Business Conference, Kansas State University professor emeritus Joe Harner noted that labor made up 45% of the operating costs of a feed center.

Efficiency in the feed area begins with how employees time is spent, said Harner. Generally, 40% to 45% of the time spent on a load of feed is for loading ingredients, 20% to 25% is used for feed delivery, and the remaining time is spent doing chores including prepping, cleaning, and pushing up feed. In the same Cornell study, Harner explained that the least efficient farms spent more than an hour on each load of feed while the most efficient took only about 40 minutes.

What can be done to reduce the amount of time needed for each load? There are certainly employee considerations, but Harner emphasized that management decisions are what makes the jobs of those employees either easier or harder. Most feed center problems are probably not the feeders problem, he said.

This includes factors like the construction of the feed center, such as drainage, the height of the walls, enclosure, or traffic patterns that influence feed quality, shrink, and the ability of employees to do their jobs.

Harner described that efficient feed mixing can be achieved with practices like using traffic patterns that dont cause interference between equipment, sizing mixers and loaders to match your needs, and looking into the use of premixing low inclusion ingredients or stationary mixers.

Reach an ingredients potential

Beyond the functionality of the feed center and the people working there, that assets return is affected by the quality and quantity of the ingredients it holds. Maintaining ingredient potential requires the same attention to detail as the milking center, Harner advised.

Feed quality may be lost due to spoilage and heating. Feed quantity can be reduced because of weather events, mixing errors, or product substitutions. Making prudent purchasing decisions and communicating changes to the feeder as they occur will help make the most out of each ingredient.

Harner proposed that instead of feed shrink, think about lost material as feed potential. Can more return be captured by reducing the amount of material damaged or lost to rain, wind, or inefficient handling practices? Though some feed will always be lost, it can be minimized. Harner cited that a farm with 8% shrink will spend the first 3 to 4 pounds of each cows daily milk production to pay back the cost of that lost feed. Thats your opportunity, he said.

To comment, email your remarks to intel@hoards.com.

(c) Hoard's Dairyman Intel 2023

April 13, 2023
A new day has dawned on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Originally home to the very first dairy foods short course in the United States back in 1890, the university has doubled down on dairy foods research by unveiling its recently completed $72.9 million renovation of Babcock Hall thats home to the department of food science, the Babcock Hall Dairy Plant, the Babcock Hall Dairy Store, and the Center for Dairy Research (CDR).

This is a great moment for Wisconsin, stated the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It was a massive project.

Its the CDR and its outreach efforts with the greater dairy industry that opened doors to unique fundraising possibilities. To help bring this effort to completion, nearly 200 donors eventually stepped forward to provide over $18 million to support the project. The reason we were so successful is the fact we had a great staff, said Lou Gentine of the staff at CDR and throughout the food science department. That made fundraising easy, continued the fundraising campaign co-chair.

While donations from the dairy community went a long way to creating a world-class dairy foods research facility, the state of Wisconsin and the University of Wisconsin-Madison also stepped up in a big way to provide $55 million to complete the project. Wisconsin State Senator Joan Ballweg, who chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Tourism, played a big role in bringing the project to fruition. As a member of the state building commission, she worked hard to keep this unique project on track. Over the years, it went before the State Building Commission on three occasions due to its unique nature. When you get the industry behind you, you will get something done, shared Ballweg, describing that the $18 million in donations from the industry spoke volumes in moving the project forward. You get more done when working together, added Randy Romanski, Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. That working together involved industry, government, and the university.

Seeds for the future

The new and improved Babcock Hall makes it a global dairy destination and ideation center for dairy foods research. Theres no facility like this in the U.S. and probably the world, shared John Lucey, CDR director and food science professor.

While the new facility includes a completely renovated building, its the equipment found throughout that facility that will help all involved churn out new dairy product opportunities.

Theres a new two-story spray dryer and an aseptic pilot bottling plant. That spray dryer, sourced from Denmark, can dry milk in three stages and opens the doors to countless new products involving both milk and the wide array of whey. In the same vein, the aseptic bottling equipment will allow for the creation of more shelf-stable products that can remain safe for up to a year without refrigeration. Yogurt will also receive focus with state-of the art fermentation equipment.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) is launching a range of new green asset finance solutions to support businesses investing in green vehicles, equipment and machinery and achieving their sustainability goals, while also lowering energy costs and boosting productivity.

CBA says its new Green Vehicle and Equipment Finance offers discounts of up to 1 per cent off the standard rate for new and used electric or hydrogen powered cars, trucks, vans or buses valued up to $250,000 - and discounts of up to 0.5 per cent on other qualifying assets including electric and hydrogen powered machinery, solar, wind and hydro-powered equipment and charging and storage equipment.

CBA General Manager Asset Finance, Chris Moldrich, said many businesses were expected to take advantage of the Commonwealth Governments Instant Asset Write-Off scheme before it expires on 30 June, to bring forward purchases of green vehicles and equipment.

This new green asset finance offering is designed to assist companies in the manufacturing, logistics and construction sectors who are focused on lowering their running costs and energy wastage, while also reducing carbon emissions, Moldrich said.

These new offerings enable businesses to transition their fleets and equipment to the latest, best-in-class sustainability options such as electric vehicles and green equipment. Our financing solutions cover up to 100 per cent of the purchase price of these assets, as well as supporting infrastructure such as chargers and batteries.

There is a range of terms to suit different cash flow needs and the ability to use the purchased equipment as security for the loan also enables businesses to free up their working capital for other purposes.

CBA points to a recent report by East & Partners showed that environmental concerns, lower finance costs and higher cost of fuels as well as regulatory pressures and investor requirements are key drivers for business investment in sustainability - and one in five companies plan to install green energy production facilities on site, while one in three are broadly considering solar, hydrogen, electric vehicle chargers, batteries or pumped hydro, the report found.CBA Green Vehicle and Equipment Finance is available for assets including:

Vehicles: Electric cars, trucks or buses

Charging and storage: Electric vehicle and equipment charging and storage assets such as batteries

Electric or hydrogen machinery and engines: Battery powered agri, and goods and earth moving equipment

LED Lighting upgrade projects

Renewable energy: Solar, wind and hydro powered equipment including panel installations

Commonwealth Bank says green asset finance adds to its existing sustainable finance offering including for the purchase or construction of low carbon commercial property, property upgrade loans to improve energy and water efficiency and green home loans.

For more information on finance for green vehicles or equipment visit
St John Ambulance NSW has signed a deal with Macquarie Cloud Services, part of Macquarie Telecom Group, to bolster cyber protection across its cloud environment.

The partnership gives St John NSW protection against cyber threats.

According to St John NSW chief information officer Peter Bouhalis, moving to the cloud combined with rising cyber-crime accelerates the need for every business leader to give security a higher priority.

Keeping our systems safe for our internal staff and our volunteer members is a full-time job, he said.

Bouhalis and his team turned to the expertise of Macquarie. With the Managed Detection and Response solution, powered by Microsoft Sentinel, the charity has front row seats to its security posture, with the ability to monitor the entire perimeter and detect threats in real time.

Macquarie has also worked with St John NSW to provide cyber education, primarily through a Threat Intelligence Platform, which is the culmination of input from more than 40 data sources.

Bouhalis said this has played a crucial role in keeping St John NSW secure amid industry-wide skills shortages.

St John tries to make life easy for volunteers using our systems, and Macquarie helped us introduce tailored conditional access policies to help them. It is difficult for small organisations to hire their own cyber security personnel. Macquarie is my source for this high-level security talent, and the team consistently brings both new skills and proven experience to the table.

By leveraging a solution that is fast, reliable and spans its broad tapestry of stakeholders, St John NSW is upholding its enduring reputation for keeping Australians safe, commented Macquarie head of Azure and Consulting Naran McClung.

Founded in 1883, St John NSW is a charity that saves lives through first aid. This includes via paramedic services, training and advocacy, right through to assistance provided during natural disasters and at large-scale events.

This first appeared in the subscription newsletter CommsWire on 14 April 2023.
Australians lost a record $3.1 billion to scams in 2022, as government, law enforcement and the private sector look to improve collaborative efforts to support the community in the fight against scams, according to the latest Targeting Scams reportt from the competition watchdog, the ACCC.

The total combined losses of $3 billion-plus reported to ScamWatch, ReportCyber, IDCARE, Australian Financial Crimes Exchange (AFCX) and government agencies, come as the ACCCs Scamwatch service reports it received 239,237 scam reports last year - a 16.5 per cent drop on the number of reports received in 2021.

However financial losses reported to Scamwatch in 2022 totalled more than $569 million, a 76 per cent increase compared to losses reported in the previous year.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says that despite fewer reports to Scamwatch, the losses experienced by each victim rose by more than 50 per cent last year, to an average of almost $20,000.

This is due, in part, to scammers using new technology to lure and deceive victims.

Scammers evolve quickly and unfortunately, many Australians are losing their life savings, ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said.

We have seen alarming new tactics emerge which make scams incredibly difficult to detect. This includes everything from impersonating official phone numbers, email addresses and websites of legitimate organisations to scam texts that appear in the same conversation thread as genuine messages. This means now more than ever, anyone can fall victim to a scam.

There has been an explosion of reported losses to phishing scams in the past year, such as Hi Mum and Toll/Linkt text scams, which skyrocketed by 469 per cent to $24.6 million in 2022, Lowe said.

The ACCC says that millions of Australians became more vulnerable to scams in 2022, following a spate of large-scale, high-profile data breaches late last year.

Scammers are the most opportunistic of all criminals. Unfortunately, the more information a scammer has about you, the more convincing they can be, Lowe said.

In the weeks after the data breaches, there were hundreds of reports to Scamwatch, including reports of scammers impersonating government departments and businesses to carry out identity theft and remote access scams

While this brought about unprecedented collaboration across government, law enforcement and industry to share information and disrupt scams, there is still more work to be done.

Unfortunately, there are still significant gaps between and within the key sectors  banks, telcos and digital platforms; and between regulators that scammers exploit to steal money from customers. So we would like to see initiatives that apply across the sectors, knowing that scammers will target the weakest link.

The ACCC says it continues to advocate for a three-pronged approach to tackling scams.

First, we need to stop scammers reaching consumers by disrupting phone calls, SMS, email, social media messaging or other ways in which scammers contact would-be victims. Second, we need to make sure consumers are supported with up-to-date information so they have the best chance of spotting a scammer when contacted. Finally, we need effective measures in place to prevent funds being transferred to scammers, Lowe said.

The ACCC says that in 2022, Australians that may have been experiencing vulnerability or hardship reported record losses.

People with a disability reported financial losses of $33.7 million, a 71 per cent increase compared to 2021 - and Indigenous Australians also reported losses of $5.1 million (up five per cent compared to 2021) to Scamwatch, while the median loss for Indigenous Australian scam victims rose to $754, from $650 reported in 2021.

And people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities made 11,418 scam reports which resulted in losses of $56 million, up 36 per cent compared to 2021.

We are very concerned that people experiencing vulnerability continue to be disproportionally impacted by scams, Lowe said.

Our report shows that people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities were significantly over-represented in terms of financial losses across a range of scam-types, accounting for more than one quarter (27.9%) of total losses associated with identity theft and about a third (32.7%) of all losses to pyramid schemes.

This is a worrying trend that urgently needs to be addressed by both government and industry with input from consumer advocacy groups.

Traditional bank transfers remain one of the most commonly reported payment methods to scammers. While some banks have made recent positive steps to protect their customers, we would welcome uniform measures across the sector, similar to the UKs Confirmation of Payee, which matches an account number to the intended recipient across all banks, Lowe said.

The ACCC also reports that small and micro business losses doubled in 2022.

Scamwatch data shows that small and micro businesses lost $13.7 million to scams in 2022, a 95 per cent increase compared to the previous year - and the biggest contributor to these losses were payment redirection scams, also known as business email compromise.

More broadly, there was a 73 per cent increase in scam losses across the Australian business community last year, totalling $23.2 million.
COMPANY NEWS: Autodesk has revealed how it has helped in the reconstruction of the Notre-Dame de Paris, donating its software, 3D model and technical expertise to support the mammoth project following the 2019 fire.

Four years ago, a thick cloud of smoke filled the Parisian sky. Notre-Dame de Paris, one of the worlds most iconic cathedrals, was burning. Eight centuries of French history went up in flames as Pariss beloved cathedral was scarred by the fire. About five hundred firefighters battled the blaze for hours, as Parisians watched the tragedy unfold before their eyes.

Soon after the fire, our CEO Andrew Anagnost recognised that a cash donation was not enough, and that Autodesk needed to play an integral role in saving the historic structure, said Autodesk vice president of AEC design strategy Nicolas Mangon.

As a French native who spent six years studying less than two blocks from the cathedral, I was eager to get involved. Two weeks following the fire, I went to Paris to assess the damage and identify opportunities for Autodesk to support the reconstruction.

Visiting the cathedral that day was surreal  it was shocking and emotional to see the damage so up close after Id spent years passing by as a student.

Autodesk shared its expertise and Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology to support the project. To start, Autodesk recruited reality-capture and digital-reconstruction firm AGP to create an incredibly detailed 3D digital model of the cathedral as it existed before the catastrophic event. The project combined Autodesk software and AGPs data from earlier scans of Notre-Dame.

AGP leveraged its previous work with new laser scanning, photogrammetry, and drone footage after the fire to capture a complete view of the cathedral. Because of the complexity, structural details, and sheer size of Notre-Dame, it took Autodesk and AGP over a year to create the full-scale model. It is an unrivalled example of historical modelling using BIM technology.

Once finished, Autodesk donated the BIM model and its software to the public institution dedicated to the conservation and restoration of the cathedral  Etablissement public Rebatir Notre-Dame de Paris  to be used by the teams involved in the project. Through an official patronage, Autodesk is contributing design and construction solutions, including BIM, and technical expertise to enhance collaboration, clarity, and efficiency across the teams working on the reconstruction effort.

The president of the public institution Rebatir Notre-Dame de Paris, Army General Jean-Louis Georgelin, said, using digital technologies designed for the supervision and management of the restoration site is essential for the public institution. Thanks to Autodesks patronage, the use of cutting-edge design and construction technologies and BIM are being leveraged to help prepare for the reopening of the cathedral, and to once again welcome both pilgrims and visitors.

One of the major stakeholders in the project is Setec opency, the company managing the planning and construction of the site. Leveraging the 3D model created with Autodesks BIM solutions, Setec opency was able to quickly understand the constraints of the site.

Having the 3D building information model significantly increased the accuracy and speed of the process, two necessary elements to reopen by the end of 2024. Autodesks technology has been crucial to the work we are doing to rebuild the spire, along with integrating new technical safety and comfort elements, said Setec opency director building division Yvan Rouard.

Mangon added, The restoration is not complete yet, and Autodesk will keep providing support to reopen the cathedral in 2024. Bringing together Autodesk employees from different teams and countries, this project shows how the use of BIM creates a historical digital record for increased resiliency for future events and restoration projects.

Ultimately, this is exactly the type of project that our software is designed to support in a quick and efficient way. I am incredibly proud to provide our technical expertise, combined with traditional design and modern workflow solutions, to help Notre-Dame stand once more.

About Autodesk

Autodesk is changing how the world is designed and made. Our technology spans architecture, engineering, construction, product design, manufacturing, media and entertainment, empowering innovators everywhere to solve challenges big and small. From greener buildings to smarter products to more mesmerising blockbusters, Autodesk software helps our customers to design and make a better world for all.
COMPANY NEWS: Vertiv, a global provider of critical digital infrastructure and continuity solutions, has been recognised as Asia-Pacific Data Centre Power Solutions Industry 2022 Company of the Year by Frost & Sullivan. The award recognises companies that exemplify visionary innovation, market-leading performance, and unmatched customer care.

Frost & Sullivan applies a rigorous analytical process to evaluate multiple nominees for each award category before determining the final award recipient. The process involves a detailed evaluation of best practices criteria across two dimensions for each nominated company.

Frost & Sullivan acknowledges that Vertivs global business infrastructure adds immense value to its brand image and testifies to its offerings exclusivity. With a solid regional and international presence, the company efficiently delivers local market-centred, global quality solutions and quickly meets customer needs. The accessibility of engineering and support staff locally represents Vertivs commitment to outstanding customer ownership and service experiences in all regions, said Frost & Sullivan best practices research analyst Iqra Azam.

Vertiv designs, manufactures and supports solutions that enable reliable and efficient management of critical digital equipment. The portfolio is regularly refreshed with upgraded and new offerings, in an effort to align solutions with changing customer needs. In 2022, the company expanded its power distribution portfolio with Vertiv Powerbar iMPB, a modular busbar system for seamless, on-demand power upgrades in different data centre environments  an addition made possible by the 2021 acquisition of E+I Engineering Ireland Limited and its affiliate, Powerbar Gulf.

The company also introduced its Vertiv Liebert APM Plus uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system, designed to minimise energy utilisation and carbon dioxide emissions. This high-density, modular, and transformer-free UPS provides up to 97% power efficiency in double conversion mode and up to 99% efficiency in eco-mode. Furthermore, in June 2022, the company launched the Vertiv Geist rack transfer switch (RTS), a new product line that allows redundant power delivery to single-corded devices.

Frost & Sullivan recognised five principles that Vertiv follows in the development and delivery of its offerings: high efficiency, high reliability, low impact, low touch, and circular economy. Vertiv produces critical infrastructure power, thermal management, and IT management products, enabling users to conserve their space, water, and energy consumption. The company also works with customers on data centre designs and system architectures to match their sustainability goals.

Frost & Sullivan stated that they believe Vertiv is well-positioned to drive the data centre power solutions space into its next growth phase, capturing market share and sustaining its leadership in the coming years.

We are deeply honoured by this recognition from Frost & Sullivan, said Vertiv ASI (Australia and New Zealand, Southeast Asia and India) president Anand Sanghi.

Our research and development team is laser-focused on developing solutions that excel on technology innovation to help our customers address their ever-evolving data centre challenges.

About Vertiv

Vertiv brings together hardware, software, analytics and ongoing services to enable its customers vital applications to run continuously, perform optimally and grow with their business needs. Vertiv solves the most important challenges facing todays data centers, communication networks and commercial and industrial facilities with a portfolio of power, cooling and IT infrastructure solutions and services that extends from the cloud to the edge of the network. Headquartered in Westerville, Ohio, USA, Vertiv does business in more than 130 countries.
GUEST OPINION: Technology has changed everything, from how businesses operate to how consumers behave. Nowadays, consumers access everything they need online from the comfort of their homes or offices. Gone are the days when they needed to visit a physical store to purchase products and services.

If youre missing a digital presence, youre risking the success and future of your business. Therefore, you may want to build a digital enterprise to reap the benefits of an online presence.

This means an entirely digital transformation in all business operations. You can check out service providers like www.attentus.tech for the best technological and digital transformation tools to help take your business to the next level.

A digital transformation will help you create a better consumer experience and improve your teams efficiency and productivity. If youre wondering ring how to create a digital enterprise, here are five detailed steps:

1. Creating A Digital Business Plan

Creating a digital business plan is the first step in building a digital enterprise. This plan will help you determine your short-term and long-term goals, visions, and strategies to achieve them. It also ensures you prioritize tasks depending on their importance and urgency.

Your business plan must include financing, target audience, and marketing strategies to generate leads. Your business plan must also include the technologies you intend to integrate into your business strategies.

2. Implement Digital Business Strategies

To achieve complete digital transformation, you must implement digital strategies to help you achieve your long-term goals. Digital business strategies ensure you access and understand customer behaviour and profile. It also allows you to keep up with the competition as it helps you acquire real-time data.

Strategies that leverage digital technology, such as artificial intelligence, robotic process automation (RPA), and other relevant technologies, can help streamline your business operation and boost your rate of return. When implementing your digital strategies, ensure you focus on the following:

Effective Technology

Your digital strategies should also integrate the right technology with your business models. You must invest in user-friendly, compatible, scalable, and flexible technology solutions to help you create a successful digital enterprise.

These tools include digital marketing solutions, such as email marketing, social media, and business websites. You may also consider cloud computing for real-time data access and RPA to reduce work redundancy and increase productivity.

The best part is that many experts can help you integrate these technologies. For instance, you can contact RPA services company 1Rivet to work with a trusted partner in RPA solutions if you operate in New York.

Digitally Enabled Business Models

These models leverage digital technology to create added value for the target audience through improved customer experience and enhanced products and services. Digitally enabled models include digital platforms, E-commerce, data analytics, digital marketing, automated workflow, and digital communication.

Information

Your digital strategy must focus on data. Its a crucial business asset that helps you add value to your customers. It enables you to understand their needs and create more personalized content, ultimately increasing your sales and conversion rates.

You must focus on these three components to implement an effective digital strategy. You may also consider customizing your plans to address product and service portfolio and the content and media channels customers prefer.

3. Create The Right Mindset

You must develop a quick and resilient mind to run a successful business enterprise. You should- think proactively and focus your strategies on business growth. Creating the right mindset will help you navigate the challenges, such as insufficient technological resources and expertise, that come with digital transformation.

Building a digital enterprise requires an innovative culture. You must also be open to innovation and experiments to stay ahead of the competition. You should be ready to take risks and exploit the new opportunities technology creates.

Also, youll need to exercise the highest level of patience and perseverance, as building a digital enterprise is a process that requires commitment and increased investments.

4. Build A Tech-Driven Team

As mentioned, digital transformation involves fully incorporating technology into daily business operations. However, the journey doesnt end with integration. You must also hire experts to execute digital strategies and to ensure technological tools function as intended.

You can also train your existing team on using these digital tools. However, you may have to outsource a professional to track and monitor your progress. Therefore, you must build partnerships with vendors and IT service companies to strengthen your digital presence.

5. Adapt A Digital Culture

After building a tech-driven team, you can focus on developing a digital culture to run a successful digital enterprise. This involves creating more than just an innovative mindset. It entails building training programs for your team to learn about new technologies, creating a collaborative environment, and embracing change.

Conclusion

Building a digital enterprise can be daunting. It needs well-drafted business plans, clear strategies, and technology solutions for an effective transformation. Follow the steps in this post to help you build a strong foundation for your online business.

Remember, you dont need to add an IT department for a successful digital transformation. You can also outsource these services from qualified professionals.
Boere will be responsible for the global financial strategy and operations of the company as it enters its next phase of growth.

"Michiel is a great fit as Remotes first CFO  he brings extensive experience in leading the financial operations of high-growth technology businesses as well as a personal commitment to Remotes mission of enabling more people from anywhere to participate in the global economy, said Job van der Voort, CEO and Co-Founder of Remote. His leadership will be invaluable in building Remote into a generational company.

Boere joins Remote from Uber, where he held various roles and most recently was Global CFO for UberEats. He also serves on the supervisory board of the RAI Amsterdam and previously worked as CFO of Greetz, a Dutch ecommerce company. Like all Remote employees, Boere will work from his chosen location in the world  Amsterdam. He reports directly to CEO Job van der Voort.

Globally distributed businesses are the future. Remote is empowering the next generation of companies to scale internationally in a way that wasn't possible just four years ago without a lot of upfront capital investment. Now every company can compete in the global market, said Boere. I am excited to join Remote during this period of incredible growth to build a finance function that supports Remotes work to help more companies realize the benefits of a globally distributed workforce.

As Boere joins Remote, former Senior Vice President of Finance Pedro Monteiro de Barros moves into the role of General Manager, Contractors. With the number of contractors on the Remote platform more than doubling globally within the past year, Barros will act as a leader of Remotes contractor platform end-to-end and focus on expanding Remotes reach and leadership within the market.

To sign up or learn more about Remote, visit remote.com.

About Remote:

Talent is everywhere  opportunity is not. Remote closes the gap by enabling employers to hire anyone from anywhere, providing access to opportunity so people everywhere can build better lives. Remote helps companies become global powerhouses by expanding their access to talent beyond their borders. Thousands of businesses rely on Remotes modern platform and legal, financial, and cultural expertise to onboard, pay, and manage employees and contractors in 150+ countries. Remote was founded in 2019 by Job van der Voort and Marcelo Lebre, and is backed by leading investors including SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Accel, Sequoia, Index Ventures, Two Sigma Ventures, General Catalyst and B Capital.
Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are moving from virtual tests to early development phases worldwide in commercial spaces like ride-hail services, freight logistics, and mobile retail, according to a new report from data and analytics company GlobalData.

GlobalData also says car and commercial vehicles are leveraging real-time data to build complex simulations and understand how artificial intelligence (AI) responds to unpredictable situations.

Manish Dixit, Practice Head at GlobalData, comments: AVs are focused on using advanced algorithms and sensing technology to improve vision, radar, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), and vehicle control systems. AI is helping in path planning and predictions to forecast the behavior of other vehicles and pedestrians, and with predictive maintenance to reduce downtime and maintenance costs of AVs.

Prathyusha Paruchuri, Senior Disruptive Tech Analyst at GlobalData, comments AI is an integral part of AVs functionality, starting from observation and decision-making to control and supervision. AI can not only reduce traffic congestion and optimize travel routes but also eliminate human intervention in driving. However, it still needs to overcome challenges in terms of safety and reliability of AVs and improve overall vehicle performance.

{loadosition peter}

According to GlobalData the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic along with a slowdown in economic development and global funding has brought many AV trials to a temporary halt, and, moreover, the high investment costs, lack of profitability, and the time involved in manufacturing AVs is leading to the exit of many players - for instance, Uber disposed of its AV unit in late 2020, and Argo.ai joint venture between Ford and VW was dispersed in 2022. and subsequently, companies like Tesla, Waymo, and Baidu are looking to manufacture safer and more reliable vehicles.

GlobalData's latest report, Digital Innovation Case Studies in Automotive, highlights the implementation of AI technologies with real-world use cases and assesses the return on investment.

Continental AG, a Germany-based supplier of automotive parts, collaborated with NVIDIA, a provider of AI and IBM Spectrum storage for data. They launched Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), which use deep learning and trained artificial neural networks to develop intelligent sensors and data-driven traffic safety solutions. The systems are claimed to improve AI training time by 70% and reduced training time from weeks to days.

GlobalData also notes that BMW Group collaborated with DXC Technology, an IT and consulting services provider, to effectively access and analyze the vast amounts of data required to develop and improve the driving algorithms for its automated vehicles - and the platform provided nearly 230 petabytes of usable storage and established sufficient processing capacity to simulate up to 240 million kilometers of test data within a period of just 3 months.

The GlobalData report notes that Splunk, a technology provider, was approached by Honda Manufacturing of Alabama (HMA), which is Honda's biggest light truck production facility, to implement its machine learning (ML) solution - and Splunk claims that its ML solution allowed HMA to access the right data and reduce the mean time to repair (MTTR) by 70%.

Prathyusha Paruchuri concludes: The use of AI and machine learning is converting the vehicles into intelligent and adaptable systems. AVs are also incorporating cybersecurity to safeguard passenger data from malicious activity. Manufacturers are now focusing on Generative AI that uses synthetic training data to conduct virtual tests in a controlled environment, which could train their AVs more efficiently and effectively.


include_once "/home/jwreview/public_html/$theme/includes/sidebar.php"; ?> Regarding electric vehicles, President Joe Biden cannot simply use his bully pulpit to preach EVs' virtues. Gift-wrapping them in lavish taxpayer-funded subsidies is not enough for Biden, either. So, this dictator rules by fiat. Rather than ask Congress to enact a pro-EV law, Emperor Biden issued a decree on Wednesday, via the Environmental Protection Agency: By 2030, 54% of new passenger vehicles must be electric. Just two years later, this mandate would grow by more than one fifth, until 67% of new cars and light trucks are electric in 2032. This edict bludgeons personal freedom, is terminally grandiose, and defies economic reality. It surely was crafted by leprechauns whom Biden just befriended in Ireland. Most offensive, Biden's directive tells American adults which vehicles to purchase. I respect a woman's right to choose which car to buy. Biden disrespects that right and will make it tougher for women (and men) to exercise it. Barking orders at grown Americans gives Biden something close to carnal satisfaction. For the 47% of Americans who recently told pollsters that they are "Not too likely/Not at all likely" to buy EVs, Biden's command feels like taking a cold shower  alone. Biden's mandate is absurdly overambitious.

SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY JWR UPDATE. IT'S FREE. Just click here.

Last year, just 5.8% of new cars were EVs. So, Biden demands a 931% increase in EV sales in the next seven years  a 133% annual hike through 2030. And he ordains 1,155.2% unit-sales growth in the next nine years  a 128.3% yearly boost between today and 2032.

Good luck!

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation said: "This requires a massive, 100-year change to the U.S. industrial base and the way Americans drive."

Imposing such a wholesale economic overhaul this swiftly would rival Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward. That government program killed a mere 20 million Chinese citizens.

This timetable is unachievable, especially when Biden padlocks mining projects in Alaska, Nevada, Minnesota, and additional sources of copper, cobalt, lithium, and other minerals indispensable to EV production.

Even if America manufactured all of these EVs, what would happen after they got plugged into an already strained grid? Imagine a national overburdened-power-strip inferno.

"Independent estimates indicate that we need to expand electricity transmission systems by 60% by 2030, and may need to triple it by 2050 to meet the country's increase in renewable generation and expanding electrification needs," the U.S. Department of Energy stated last May 10.

"Between 2008 and 2021, according to C Three Group, the U.S. high-voltage transmission system grew by about 1,700 miles per year," energy scholar Robert Bryce wrote in February 9's Substack. At 1,700 miles of new high-voltage power-line construction per year, increasing today's 240,000 miles of HV lines by 60%, or 144,000 miles, would take 84 years or until 2107. To build this new capacity by Biden's 2030 deadline, productivity would have to rocket 12-fold.

What would this cost? Bryce calculates about $4 million per mile. So, these 144,000 miles would devour $576 billion or $82.3 billion annually between now and 2030.

So, will Biden's proclamation at least curb so-called "global warming?"

According to a White House statement: "Through 2055, EPA projects that the proposed standards would avoid nearly 10 billion tons of CO2 emissions  equivalent to more than twice the annual U.S. CO2 emissions in 2022." Thus, over the next 32 years, Biden's scheme would cut US CO2 by 312.5 million tons annually, totaling 10 billion tons at mid-century.

Too bad China produced 10.081 billion tons of CO2 in 2020 alone, the International Energy Agency reports. Hence, China's yearly CO2 output would obliterate whatever "gains" Biden imagines over a 32-year period.

In other words: Unless Beijing revolutionizes its behavior, Biden's 10-billion-ton CO2 reduction will vanish within a 320-billion-ton cloud of Chinese carbon.

Biden's EV policy combines fascistic decrees, magic thinking, exorbitant costs, elusive benefits, and powerful acid. If the White House pumps enough LSD into the U.S. water supply, every American could enjoy Emperor Biden's phantasmagorical vision.
include_once "/home/jwreview/public_html/$theme/includes/sidebar.php"; ?> I'd like to work four days a week instead of five. Wouldn't you?

I'd take Fridays off. The way I imagine it, it'd be just a few years from now. A robot in a butler's uniform would serve us drinks in the backyard on what used to be just another workday. I'd toss a ball around with the kids while ChatGPT did their homework for them.

Who says the world is going to hell and the future is bleak? Artificial intelligence, advanced robotics and job automation hold out the hope of less work, more leisure and long weekends every weekend.

That's the view, anyway, of Christopher Pissarides, who was awarded a Nobel Prize in economics and believes that thanks to AI and automation, society "could move to a four-day week easily."

He said it in an article that appeared in the L.A. Times last week.

"They could take away a lot of boring things that we do at work  and then leave only the interesting stuff to human beings," he added.

Pissarides has written that automation gets a "bad rap" and that we should "embrace AI and automation without hesitation" while helping workers make the transition to the new economy.

It'd be great if he's right that productivity gains and increases in efficiency will be reinvested, spurring new innovations, creating new jobs and industries, and driving economic growth as older, less productive jobs are replaced with "more advanced occupations" and we all get Fridays off with no cut in pay.

But I'm skeptical that it'll happen easily.

SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY JWR UPDATE. IT'S FREE. Just click here.

I realize it's presumptuous of me to question the optimism of a Nobel Prize winner, especially given that I didn't do so good in "Intro to Economics" 45 years ago.

But, with all due respect, count me among those who wonder whether the financial benefits of automation will really be put to use improving workers' well-being  or whether they'll just feed higher profits for shareholders and heftier bonuses for executives, thereby exacerbating income inequality.

Count me among those who worry that employers will work hard to grab most of the savings for themselves unless society forces them not to.

Automation, of one sort or another, is as old as humans are, and fear of losing jobs to machines goes back at least to the textile mills of the Industrial Revolution. Many of us learned in school about the Luddites, a secret organization of disaffected early 19th century English mill workers who went around destroying automated looms and other newfangled machinery they feared would eliminate their jobs or worsen labor conditions.

These days automation is moving faster than ever. A Goldman Sachs report released last month said 300 million jobs worldwide could be "impacted" or "disrupted" thanks to generative AI alone. A report by the McKinsey Global Institute determined that up to half the jobs people do in the world could theoretically be automated.

Already, salespeople are disappearing at my local Rite-Aid because of self-service checkout machines. Parking garage attendants can hardly be found thanks to automatic gates, ticket-dispensing machines and self-paying kiosks. At airports, boarding passes are dispensed by machines. Baggage handlers are being displaced by robots, immigration officers by facial recognition technology.

And do we think those workers are all off enjoying three-day weekends?

With the extraordinary innovations in AI, automation may soon move beyond blue-collar and less-skilled workers, increasingly affecting so-called "knowledge workers" with college educations. Who's at risk? Think software engineers, tax preparers, copy editors and paralegals. For starters.

Many economists share Pissarides' optimistic view. They note that, historically, when automation has eliminated jobs, new ones offset the losses. Productivity gains drive down prices, which drives up spending and creates jobs. And innovation itself requires workers: Although we no longer employ blacksmiths, we've got auto mechanics, solar panel installers and airline pilots.

One Massachusetts Institute of Technology study found that more than 60% of jobs in the U.S. in 2018 hadn't been invented in 1940.

Furthermore, robots can do jobs that are undesirable or highly dangerous or require superhuman strength and stamina. In many cases, robots are faster, stronger, more accurate and more efficient than people.

So there are definitely benefits to automation. But the challenge is to ensure they're spread around.

MIT economist Daron Acemoglu says that over the last four decades, jobs lost to automation have not been replaced by an equal number of new ones. Since the late 1980s, he says, automation has increased income inequality rather than raising all boats.

The real beneficiaries of automation during that period? Corporations, their owners and in some cases workers with very high skill levels, especially those with postgraduate degrees.

"The case that workers will benefit from mass-scale automation is pretty weak," Acemoglu told me. "The evidence indicates that the productivity gains from automation of the last four decades have been largely captured by companies and managers."

Now I'm not suggesting we should  or could  stop innovation or halt progress.

But to mitigate the enormous disruption, the transition cannot be left entirely to the caprice of employers. Automation's benefits must not simply be dispatched directly into the pockets of the Jeff Bezoses and Elon Musks of the world.

Pissarides urges the government to provide income and job-transition support to workers.

Harry J. Holzer, a public policy professor at Georgetown University, calls for tax incentives and subsidies for "good job" creation. K-12 education, he says, should be retooled to prepare 21st century workers with the communication skills, critical thinking abilities, creativity and good judgment that will be valuable and marketable in the new economy.

Too often in history, society has left workers to fend for themselves in times of dramatic economic change. Is government committed, this time, to ensuring it doesn't happen again?

Like everyone else, I'm eager for my four-day workweek.

But I don't kid myself that it'll happen on its own thanks to the generosity of the modern-day mill owners. It'll take a fight.

(COMMENT, BELOW)

Nicholas Goldberg

Los Angeles Times/(TNS)

Nicholas Goldberg is an associate editor and op-ed columnist for the Los Angeles Times.
Jews all over the world recently marked Passover, the celebration of the Jewish exodus from Egypt. As we congregated around seder tables to read from the "Haggadah"  the compendium of texts telling the story of the exodus  we said the following words: "And this (G od's blessings and the Torah) is what kept our fathers and what keeps us. For not only one arose and attempted to destroy us, but in each generation, they stand to destroy us, and God saves us from their hands." The Dee family, a family of seven originally from Great Britain but now from Efrat, Israel  the so-called West Bank, the heart of Biblical Israel  undoubtedly said the same words. Then, on Friday, Rina Dee (15), Maia Dee (20) and their mother Lucy (48) went on a drive through the Jordan Valley on the way to Tiberias, just miles from where Joshua would have brought the Jews across the Jordan River. There, they were attacked and shot to death by a Palestinian Arab terrorist who riddled their car with 20 bullets. Hamas, the governing Palestinian party in the Gaza Strip and a powerful force in Palestinian Arab areas of Judea and Samaria, celebrated the murders. "We congratulate the Jordan Valley operation and warn the occupation against continuing its aggression against our Palestinian people and the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque," they said. Meanwhile, husband and father Rabbi Leo Dee gave a eulogy for half of his family: "Let the Israeli flag today send out a message to humanity which is: We will never accept terror as legitimate. We will never blame the murder on the victims. There is no such thing as moral equivalence between terrorist and victim."

SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY JWR UPDATE. IT'S FREE. Just click here.

include_once "/home/jwreview/public_html/$theme/includes/sidebar.php"; ?>

Sadly, the media played the moral equivalence game, treating the murder of two sisters and their mother as yet another round in the supposed "cycle of violence" between Israelis and Palestinian Arabs. Of course, in that "cycle of violence," Palestinian Arab terrorists target innocent civilians and then hand out candies when they achieve their evil goals, while the Israeli Defense Forces seek to root out and destroy terrorists. But to the media, it's all the same. "Daughters of British rabbi die in West Bank drive by shooting," touted The Sunday Times (U.K.), leaving no explanation for who had committed the shooting or why. "Two British sisters killed and mother injured in West Bank shooting," tut-tutted The Guardian; "2 killed in West Bank after Israel strikes Lebanon, Gaza," the Associated Press lied by omission.

The Biden administration has been little better. In recent weeks, as terrorism metastasized, the Biden administration urged Israel to "de-escalate," as though any state could ignore its moral duty to defend its citizens from routine acts of terrorism. Instead, the Biden administration summoned Michael Herzog, Israel's U.S. ambassador, to stress "the importance of all parties refraining from actions or rhetoric that could further inflame tensions leading into the Ramadan, Passover and Easter holidays."

This vile moral equivalence motivates terrorists to murder civilians and step up other violence. After all, there's no downside. When the media treat legitimate self-defense as terrorism and terrorism as legitimate self-defense, terrorists thrive. And they are thriving today, raising the specter of violence all across Israel: 18 civilians have been slaughtered by terrorists in Israel since Jan. 27. As terror increases, the necessity for larger-scale intervention grows, too. Then, the same media and Left-wing governments will decry the "cycle of violence" again, fostering yet more terrorism.

In every generation, the story is the same: In each generation, there are those who seek to destroy the Jews, and in every generation, through the grace of God, they fail. But that doesn't relieve those who retain any measure of decency from standing up against evil terrorists. The alternative is apathetic complicity  and that apathetic complicity costs lives.

(COMMENT, BELOW)

Ben Shapiro, bestselling author and syndicated columnist, first went into syndication after appearing in JWR.


There are now five candidates who have either joined the 2024 Republican presidential race or have taken official steps toward doing so: Former President Donald Trump; former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, also the former South Carolina governor; entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy; former Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR); and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC). Scott became the latest to join the group Wednesday with a video announcing that he has formed an exploratory committee for a presidential run. That is not really necessary  super PACs supporting Scott have already raised tens of millions of dollars. But it elevates Scott's status in the race without a declaration of candidacy and all the paperwork that entails. Also on Wednesday, the Republican National Committee announced that Fox News will host the first GOP primary debate, to be held in Milwaukee in August. Which raises the question: What will that debate look like? First, there will surely be more candidates. The biggest likely entrant is Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), followed by former Vice President Mike Pence; former representative, CIA director, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ); and Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA). That's a lot of 'formers.' Assume they all enter the race, for a total of 10 candidates. Just three, DeSantis, Scott, and Youngkin, will currently be in office. The rest, even Trump, will be former this and former that. Trump, of course, has a huge lead over the field. In the latest Real Clear Politics average of polls, Trump has the support of 51.4% of Republicans, while DeSantis has 24.7%. After that, Pence has 4.9%, Haley 3.9%, Pompeo 1.3%, Christie 1.2%, Ramaswamy 0.9%, Scott 0.8%, and Youngkin 0.5%. (Hutchinson, with possibly even lower support, is not in the average.) Those numbers will, of course, change. Trump is on an upward trajectory at the moment, boosted by many Republicans' belief that he was politically targeted by an elected Democratic local prosecutor in Manhattan. But that boost could be short-lived, not because the Manhattan case will get any stronger  it won't  but because other problems remain on the horizon for the former president.

SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY JWR UPDATE. IT'S FREE. Just click here.

DeSantis, after a strong period following his decisive reelection, has been casting about, looking for the best way to run against Trump. So far, he hasn't found it, which is no disgrace because no other Republican has found it, either. Still, DeSantis is strong enough that it is accurate to call the GOP contest, at this moment, a two-man race. Everybody else is  again, at this moment  in the lower registers. Many of them will probably stay there.

Now think about the August debate. For the first big GOP debate in 2015, Fox News originally announced that candidates would have to show at least 1% support in the polls to qualify. Fox News later reduced that in the interest of allowing as many candidates as possible to take part. Perhaps something like that will happen again.

But the fact is, there will be a huge stature gap in the debate, no matter who precisely is in it. The gap will be between Trump and...everybody else. Trump dominated the debate fields in 2016 because he simply seemed bigger than the others. His personality was bigger, his positions were more forcefully expressed, his ability to connect with a crowd unchallenged. In a word, Trump was big, and the others were small.

Now, that is likely to be the same, only this time Trump has been president of the United States. Which means that in the GOP field, he was big in 2016, and he is bigger now.

Judging by resumes alone, several Republican candidates are well qualified to run for president. Pence is at the top of that list, having served as vice president, governor, and member of the House. Haley is also highly qualified, having been a governor and ambassador to the U.N. DeSantis has been a governor and member of the House, as has Hutchinson. Pompeo was a member of the House and then CIA director and then secretary of state. That is a lot of experience. But none has been president, and Trump has.

Many non-Republicans reading this might say: What are you talking about? Trump is already under indictment. He might be under more indictments in the next few months. Then there is Jan. 6. Then there is all the 2020 election denial. What does it take to disqualify him as a candidate in the eyes of Republican primary voters?

That is a complicated question. Look at four factors. First, most Republicans are very happy with what Trump accomplished in office  the border, the economy, deregulation, judicial appointments, national security, and more. They would like to see a president do that sort of thing again. Second, most Republicans believe, with good reason, that Trump was unfairly targeted during the Russia investigation, in which a special counsel, Robert Mueller, took years to investigate allegations of conspiracy and coordination between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia and concluded that he could not establish that it even happened. On top of that, there were years of general media hysteria surrounding the Russia matter, again unfairly targeting Trump.

Third, concerning the 2020 presidential election, many polls have shown that lots of Republicans still think there was something fishy about what went on. The problem is there has never been proof of election fraud anywhere near the scale that would be required to change the results of the election. There just wasn't. And that leaves those Republicans in the position of Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who has been famously quoted saying, "We've got lots of theories. We just don't have the evidence." Yes, it's obvious that many in the media joined Democrats in trying hard to defeat Trump in 2020. Of course Republicans find that galling. But when it comes to actual electoral fraud, they've got the theories without the evidence.

Fourth, on the question of Jan. 6, it appears many Republicans have simply averted their eyes from some of the worst scenes from that day. They don't focus on the ugly violence that happened in many places at the Capitol. Instead, they look at the examples of Jan. 6 participants who did not take part in any violence and have been charged and sentenced for what is basically a federal trespassing offense. They also look at the government still being coy about the number of federal confidential human sources in the crowd. And as for the larger events that led to Jan. 6, they just haven't delved deeply into it. Ask them what the Eastman memo says and they will probably not know.

One last thing: Trump supporters do not appear worried by the fact that he will be 78 years old on inauguration day 2025 and 82 at the end of his term  the same age Joe Biden was when many of them said, with good reason, that Biden was too old to be president. Trump is obviously far more vigorous than Biden today, but Republicans would be betting that situation will remain unchanged through 2029. (Were Trump to win in 2024, he could not run again in 2028, having been elected twice to the presidency.)

Put that all together, and you have the current level of support for Trump and the enormous gap in the polls between Trump and the rest of the Republican field. Yes, there are a significant number of Republicans who appreciate what Trump did in office but would like to see the party move on to a new leader. But for many, many Republicans, the stature gap between Trump and the rest of the field, accomplished as those other candidates are, is, at this point in the campaign, insurmountable.

Maybe that will change as time passes. But for now, Trump is big, and they, with the exception of DeSantis at this moment, are small.

(COMMENT, BELOW)




Imperial Brands Plc said last week it is on track to meet full-year 2023 financial projections, foremost low single-digit net revenue growth.

Imperial had a 2.7% year-over-year gain in net fiscal 2022 revenue at $9.27 billion, as well as a 3.5% increase in operating profit to $4.39 billion.

The manufacturer plans to issue its first-half report on May 16.

The U.K. tobacco manufacturer is the parent company of ITG Brands LLC of Greensboro.

About 70% of Imperials traditional cigarette sales, including Winston, Salem, Kool and Maverick in the U.S., come from the U.K., U.S., Australia, Germany and Spain.

Imperial cited that focused investment in our priority combustible (traditional cigarette) markets continues to support the stabilization of market share, particularly in the United States  where it has been an 8% and 10% market share  and in Australia and Spain.

However, Imperial said it continues to experience market share declines in Germany and the U.K.

"This resilient performance has been achieved while maintaining strong pricing discipline across all five markets, Imperial said in its news release. These results now complete two years of stable market share delivery following several years of decline.

When it comes to new nicotine and tobacco products, Imperial said its heated cigarette products Pulze and iD, are available in seven European countries.

It also cited its blu 2.0 electronic cigarette product being launched in the U.K., Spain, France, Czech Republic and Portugal.

Although Imperial said that first-half revenue from its next-generation products "are expected to be ahead of the prior period, driven by strong growth in Europe, there continues to be a decline in the U.S., driven by uncertainty caused by the marketing denial order for myblu.

The FDA announced in April 2022 the denial of marketing applications for seven myblu electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) products made by Imperials Fontem Ventures affiliate.

The FDA said it issued marketing denial orders after determining their applications lacked sufficient evidence to show that permitting the marketing of these products would be appropriate for the protection of the public health.

The top-selling Vuse electronic cigarette of R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. continued to expand the market-share gap with Juul, according to the latest Nielsen convenience store report released April 5.

Vuses market share rose from 41.5% in the previous report to 42.2%, compared with Juul declining from 26.1% to 26.1%.

No. 3 NJoy was unchanged at 2.7%, while blu eCigs was unchanged at 1.4%.

The latest Nielsen analysis covers the four-week period ending March 25.

Imperial projects overall revenue to be similar to the first half of fiscal 2022, with strong combustible pricing offset by temporarily increased volume declines against a prior period which benefited from COVID-related changes in buying patterns.

We expect a stronger net revenue performance in the second half, supported by a normalization of volume trends and price increases taken during the first half.

Imperial also provided that it has completed spending $665.6 million toward its $1.25 billion share purchase program.

We remain committed to delivering a material reduction in the share capital base, Imperial said.

This buyback program represents an ongoing source of shareholder returns alongside our progressive dividend policy.

Barclays analyst Jain Gaurav said that after Imperial announced the share-repurchase program, our belief going into fiscal year 2022 results was that there wouldnt be much to get excited about.

We think there are enough encouraging signs in these results to give a further boost to the bullish narrative.

ITGs Greensboro workforce has shrunk from 1,700 at the time of its formation in June 2015 to 895. Those cuts mostly reflect production jobs being eliminated in 2016-17 as Newport production was shifted from ITG to R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.s plant in Tobaccoville.

ITG also has 775 field sales employees nationally. Imperial added 200 salespeople in the Americas market during fiscal 2021.
Guerrilla RF Inc., a wireless semiconductor company based in Greensboro, has completed a one-for-six reverse split of its common stock in an attempt to bolster its stock market listing options.

The split went into effect at 12:01 a.m. Monday. The stock will trade under the temporary symbol of GUERD on the Over-the-Counter QX market.

At Mondays opening share price of $1.40, the stock would be worth $8.40 a share.

Meanwhile, the number of outstanding shares would drop from 40.55 million to 6.76 million.

In most instances, a reverse stock split is done to lift a stock above the $1 threshold to avoid being delisted by a stock market.

However, Guerrilla RFs motivation, as announced by its board of directors on April 5, was to meet the share price requirements for its stock for the purpose of filing an application to uplist to a national exchange.

The board has considered a reverse stock split range of 1-for-2 to 1-for-20.

Among corporations with a Triad presence, the largest reverse stock split occurred in November 2014 with Bank of the Carolinas at 1-for-100 prior to its sale to Bank OZK.

We believe that uplisting to a national securities exchange will allow us greater access to capital, better liquidity and more visibility for our brand as we embark on the next phase of our commercialization strategy, Sam Funchess, the companys vice president of investor relations, said in a statement.

This coincides with our focus on expanding the depth and breadth of our product pipeline and moving into the highly lucrative industry verticals  5G, automotive connectivity, cellular boosters and DAS, military radios and wireless audio.

Funchess said the initiative also serves to increase the liquidity and visibility of Guerrilla RFs common stock and better serve our shareholders.

The reverse stock split comes after a near doubling in operating expenses offset a record annual revenue performance for Guerrilla RF, the company reported March 2.

The company has 70 local employees and 75 overall.

Its main focus is providing monolithic microwave integrated circuits for the automotive, 5G infrastructure and cellular booster markets. The company has shipped more than 100 million devices that include low-noise amplifiers, RF switches and digital-step attenuators.

Guerrilla reported a $12 million loss for fiscal 2022, compared with a $2.8 million loss in fiscal 2021.

Product revenue was up 7.4% to a record $10.5 million, while royalties and non-recurring engineering revenue rose nearly 60% to $1.04 million.

However, overall operating expenses jumped 82.1% to $17.9 million. That broke down to: $8.1 million in research and development expenses; $5.1 million in general and administrative costs; and $4.6 million in sales and marketing costs.

The company said the higher research and development expenses were due to continued investment in new products intended to increase future revenues. The main cause for higher general and administrative costs was cited as largely due to increased expenses necessary to support a public company.

Guerrilla RF became a publicly traded company in 2022, less than 10 years after its founding, founder and chief executive Ryan Pratt said in a statement. We closed out the year strong as we saw cycle times return to pre-COVID levels. We won numerous design awards, expanded our product portfolio and customer base, and invested to drive future revenue growth.

The company provided first-quarter financial guidance of revenue in a range of $2.8 million to $3.3 million. By comparison, Guerrilla had fourth-quarter revenue of $2.1 million.

Also in March, Guerrilla completed a previously announced private placement equity financing, selling 7.1 million units to accredited investors. The private placement has resulted in aggregate gross proceeds of $9.2 million.

The funds will provide the resources needed to support our working capital, expand our research and development, initiatives and accelerate our growth through new market penetration, expand our product offerings, and capitalize on our strong competitive position, Pratt said.
Two area school systems were among systems across the state that received bomb threats Monday that officials believe was unfounded.

Affected systems were Davie County and Lexington City public schools, according to Karen Jarvis, the marketing and communications officer for Davie County Schools.

Threats were also reported from school systems in Lenoir and Camden counties, Jarvis said. The threats came by email. No threat was received by Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, according to Brent Campbell, a spokesman for the district.

No individual schools in the Davie County system were named in the email.

The Davie County Sheriffs Office is continuing to investigate the origin of the threat.

Davie Superintendent Jeff Wallace sent an email to parents and students saying that while the threat was not believed to be credible, safety plans were put into place that involved additional law enforcement officers at schools.

In Lexington, Superintendent Anitra Wells took a similar approach, saying that the system would use the threat to check procedures that would be used if the threat were real.
HomeGoods will open its fourth Omaha-area store Thursday  this one at Shadow Lake Towne Center in Papillion.

The opening comes after the outdoor mall in Papillion lost a longtime tenant this spring: Best Buy.

The HomeGoods retail chain will now have six stores in Nebraska, including in Lincoln and Grand Island.

HomeGoods, as the name indicates, sells home furnishings. Its website says that includes everything from lamps and rugs to art, furniture, bedding, storage, toys, cookware and other kitchen items. It also sells items for the bath and for outdoor living.

Find an eclectic selection of home fashions from around the world, all at amazing prices, the website says.

The grand opening of the new 21,810-square-foot store is set for Thursday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Regular hours will be Monday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., and Sunday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The company says store hours may shift, and shoppers are encouraged to visit the stores website for up-to-date hours.

The Papillion store expects to fill about 65 full- and part-time positions.

The other metro HomeGoods stores are at Nebraska Crossing in Gretna, 12955 West Center Road and 13454 West Maple Road, which is a TJ Maxx & HomeGoods store.

HomeGoods operates more than 894 stores across the country and is a division of The TJX Companies, Inc.

Best Buy did not renew the lease for its Papillion store, and its last day of business was March 4.

Top Journal Star photos for April 2023
It's been a long slog to get Virtual Incision Corp. to where it is today.

The Lincoln-based company that makes a minimally invasive surgical robot for abdominal surgeries was founded in 2006 by Dr. Dmitry Oleynikov, who was then a professor of surgery at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and Shane Farritor, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

But its beginnings actually go back a few years earlier, to 2001, when the two started working together.

Oleynikov had come to UNMC to help start its surgical robotics program after it became one of the first facilities in the world to start using the DaVinci surgical robot.

Farritor said the two began collaborating shortly thereafter, which eventually led them to form Virtual Incision.

The pair spent years refining and perfecting their invention, the worlds first miniaturized robotic-assisted surgery platform -- called the MIRA Surgical System -- and then several more years testing it.

Now the company is on the cusp of being able to sell its MIRA system commercially, which is leading it to take a big step forward.

Later this month, Virtual Incision plans to move out of its offices at Nebraska Innovation Campus, where it's been based since 2016, and into an office building at 1501 Old Cheney Road.

The building, which used to be home to a local software company, looks modern and high-tech, befitting a company that's in the medical technology space.

It also has more than twice the amount of space of Virtual Incision's digs at Innovation Campus, giving the company room to grow.

"That's really the impetus for our move," Farritor said. "We're stacked on top of each other at our current location."

The company, which started as just Farritor and Oleynikov, now has about 60 employees, including executives, engineers, salespeople and others.

Virtual Incision up to this point has operated off of government grants and more than $100 million in venture capital, but it's getting close to being able to sell its products commercially.

The company earlier this year finished its Food and Drug Administration Investigational Device Exemption clinical study, which is the last hurdle it has to clear to be able to submit a market authorization request.

Farritor said he expects the FDA's review process to take about 8-10 months.

"So potentially early next year we'll find out if the FDA has approved our device for sale," he said.

Assuming that happens, Farritor said the company is planning a "very controlled launch" of the device.

"We'll pick a few select sites and people we can work with to be the early adopters of our technology," he said.

While sales may start off small, there is a big potential market.

Currently, less than 10% of the 90,000 operating rooms in the U.S. are equipped with mainframe RAS (robotic-assisted surgery) systems," John Murphy, president and chief executive officer of Virtual Incision, said in a February news release announcing completion of the FDA study.

And most of the units that are currently used are large systems that can only be used in a single operating room. The advantage of Virtual Incision's robotic system is that it weighs just 2 pounds, meaning it can be used in virtually any operating room.

The company is currently focused on using its system just for colon resection procedures, of which Farritor said there are anywhere from 400,000-600,000 a year in the U.S.

"That in and of itself is a large market," he said.

But it has plans to develop additional robotic surgery systems that could be used for other abdominal surgeries, such as gynecological procedures and hernia repair.

"We kind of have a vision for performing a lot of surgeries in a lot of different domains," he said.

In fact, Virtual Incision announced last month that Oleynikov, who now is chair of the Department of Surgery at Monmouth Medical Center, will transition to a role of chief surgeon, focusing on the research and development of new robotic-assisted surgery technology.

To fill his former role of chief medical officer, the company hired Dr. Piet Hinoul, who has more than 30 years of experience in the health care industry, including working for the surgical subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.

Murphy, the company's CEO, called Hinoul, "an accomplished global physician executive with a demonstrated track record of success."

"I am confident Dr. Hinouls broad experience with post-market medical affairs activities, in addition to his clinical background in womens health, will critically boost our ability for future planning and execution in the U.S. and internationally on a variety of indications for MIRA.

One fairly unique thing about Virtual Incision is that it not only designs its devices in house, it also manufactures them.

Farritor said that while some of the components come from other places, the devices are built and assembled in Lincoln and will continue to be in the new building.

"That's one of the things we are really excited about, is to build our robots," he said.

"We plan to do that internally all the way into the future."

The Fastest Growing Industry in Every State The Fastest Growing Industry in Every State US GDP recovered quickly following the start of the pandemic The information sector experienced the greatest change in economic output over the past five years Western states saw the largest increase in GDP over the past five years Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
A 27-year-old Lincoln man is in jail after he fled Nebraska State Patrol troopers in a stolen car at speeds higher than 100 mph after an attempted traffic stop Sunday evening, according to authorities.

Troopers ultimately deployed spike strips to stop Edwin Portillo Barrientos on Interstate 80 after he had fled nearly 40 miles from where troopers initially tried to stop him, near Bradshaw in York County, the patrol said in a news release.

When troopers stalled Barrientos' vehicle near mile marker 383, he and a front-seat passenger fled authorities on foot, running across the westbound lanes of I-80 before they were taken into custody, according to the news release.

Authorities determined the car Barrientos was driving had been stolen, the State Patrol said.

And they found that the passenger who fled, a 17-year-old girl, had been reported missing, according to the news release.

Troopers arrested Barrientos on suspicion of flight to avoid arrest, willful reckless driving and felony theft by receiving stolen property. He was taken to the York County jail.

The 17-year-old girl was taken to the Lancaster County Youth Intervention Center for an outstanding warrant, according to the release.

Most dangerous cities in Nebraska Dangerous Cities in Nebraska 6. South Sioux City 5. Scottsbluff 4. North Platte 3. Lincoln 2. Grand Island 1. Omaha A note about the numbers
State senators on the Legislature's Education Committee on Monday voted to advance a bill capping superintendent pay at five times the pay of a first-year teacher to the floor for debate.

Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil, the sponsor of the bill (LB800), said the committee will meet later this week to discuss whether to include the measure in a package of other education-related bills or have it be considered on its own.

The bill advanced from the committee on a 5-2 vote after delaying a vote on Friday.

Along with Murman, Sens. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn, Danielle Conrad of Lincoln, Joni Albrecht of Thurston and Justin Wayne of Omaha all voted to advance LB800.

Sens. Rita Sanders of Bellevue and Lynne Walz of Fremont voted against it. Sen. Tom Briese of Albion was absent from Monday's executive session.

The bill has already generated controversy as Gov. Jim Pillen has signaled that he would veto LB800 should it pass three rounds of voting and land on his desk for a signature.

A former member of the University of Nebraska Board of Regents that participated in two president searches, Pillen said he believed the bill would take away local control from school boards.

Murman said his bill was designed to control administrative costs and could incentivize school districts to raise teacher pay. It would only affect new superintendent contracts moving forward.

But organizations representing school administrators, education service units and school districts in urban and rural areas opposed the bill, and said a one-size-fits all approach could keep boards from hiring the best candidates for the job.

The bill largely appears to target Nebraska's three largest school districts  Lincoln Public Schools, Omaha Public Schools and Millard Public Schools  where school boards have approved large contracts for their top administrators in recent years.

Representatives from those groups told the committee earlier this year that those increases were needed to recruit top candidates for those jobs.

Other bills advanced by the committee include:

* LB603 from Linehan to allow for alternative methods for individuals with bachelor's degrees to get certified as teachers in Nebraska. Teachers pursuing certification through this route would be required to complete a semester of student teaching under an amendment approved by the committee.

* LB703 by Murman, which would allow state and community colleges to sell surplus property on their campuses rather than have to haul those items to Lincoln for an auction under the existing state rules.

* LB708 from Speaker John Arch to create a memorandum of understanding between the Nebraska Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Office of Probation Administration and the State Court Administrator to share data about students who are in the juvenile court system.

* LB762 from Sen. Wendy DeBoer of Bennington creating the Paraprofessional to Teacher Program to help recruit more certified teachers. The program would receive $100,000 in funding from the Education Future Fund in 2023-24 and $1 million annually after that to help paraprofessionals become teachers using an alternative certification process.

Top Journal Star photos for April 2023
A 74-year-old Verdigre man convicted of killing his wife died Saturday at the state prison in Tecumseh.

Phillip Privett was serving a sentence of 40 to 60 years for second-degree murder and use of a firearm to commit a felony. A spokeswoman for the Nebraska Department of Corrections said Sunday that the cause of death has not been determined, but Privett was being treated for a medical condition.

Prosecutors said Privett fatally shot his wife, 66-year-old Linda Privett, at their home in northeast Nebraska on Oct. 20, 2014. A Knox County Sheriff's Office deputy said he responded to a report of shooting and the woman dead on the back porch of the couple's Verdigre home.

Privett, who was arrested without incident, would have been eligible for parole in 2037. Whenever an inmate dies in custody, a grand jury conducts an investigation.

Photos: Nebraska's new Reception and Treatment Center
Kathy Matzner thought she was seeing things Dec. 23, 2021, when she arrived at McCool Junction Cemetery to visit her husband, Jim.

It was dusk. She directed her headlights toward her husbands burial place, where a headstone was installed 86 days prior.

Theres this gaping hole  I thought I was losing it, Matzner remembered. I just flung open the gate and ran over there. I just kept saying, 'Oh my God, Oh my God, I can't believe this. I can't believe it.'

And I took a picture.

***

Matzner purchased the headstone from Monument Advisors of Grand Island.

Other customers include Michelle Tatro of Hastings and her husband, David, who purchased a stone on Feb. 24, 2021 from the company for their two-year-old son, Ryker. Rykers parents were very intentional in selecting their stone.

They told Kelli Lepler, owner of Monument Advisors, they wanted Rykers stone to match Davids 15-year-old sisters headstone. A black granite star on the marker would be a special order, the Tatros were told.

It took me a while to save up, Michelle Tatro said, adding: We had never bought a headstone before.

(Funeral businesses) handled us very delicately, compassionately, up until that process, Tatro said of the time following Rykers death. So we really trusted her from the beginning.

After months without contact, the Tatros heard from Monument Advisors on April 7, 2022, Tatro said. She said the couple had no idea the stone hadnt been ordered until that conversation.

(Lepler) kept telling us the remainder had to be paid before it could be set," Michelle Tatro said.

In May 2022, the stone was paid in full, but Ryker Dean Tatro, who died Dec. 3, 2020, still rests in an unmarked grave.

***

There's been plenty said lately about Monument Advisors online  much of it accusing the company of lengthy delays on monument orders or monuments not arriving at all. The Independent reached out to Monument Advisors via phone and Facebook Messenger, but did not receive a response in time for publication.

Tatro started the Facebook group Beware Monument Advisors Has Bad Communication, 22 weeks ago, according to the pages information section. There are 232 members. To be sure, not all have done business with Monument Advisors, but those who have are vocal.

Monument Advisors has resources on its website discussing supply chain issues in the monument industry. Lepler also mentioned supply chain issues to Tatro. The Independent reached out to Monument Advisors supplier, Rock of Ages in Graniteville, Vermont, for more information. Rock of Ages representatives did not return messages left by a reporter in time for publication of this story.

Tatro said Lepler was upset she aired her complaints on Facebook.

After she told me FB wasnt the route to go and Id have no results  I promised her Id tell everyone about my experience until I myself need a headstone, Tatro said in a Saturday, April 8, post.

***

Matzner asked the company to repair and put the headstone back up. She wanted their assistance in rectifying the situation. At first, Lepler seemed concerned about her customer, Matzner said, but not for long. On Christmas Eve, the day after Matzner discovered her husband's headstone had fallen, Lepler arrived at the McCool Junction cemetery.

She had done a 180, overnight, Matzner said. She was saying vandalism.

A winter storm raging through the area a few weeks before the monuments placement was also blamed. From there, Matzner sometimes heard long periods of nothing.

She was hesitant to disclose how much she paid for the headstone for her husband  a firefighter who died of a heart attack April 26, 2019 at the age of 60. According to his obituary, he was a captain on the York Fire Department and member of the International Association of Firefighters Union #1648. He was also a member of the McCool Junction Volunteer Fire Department.

People are gonna say, 'Well, that's what she gets for putting something that big out there,' Matzner said of her purchase. I was trying to do a good thing.

The good thing she did for her late husband cost about $20,000, Matzner said, paid up front with a check.

Matzner said she filed an insurance claim after the headstone fell and the company divorced itself from the matter, The situation eventually ended up in court. The parties reached a settlement.

After that was all said and done, the cash out was for less than half of what I paid, Matzner said. This whole thing has just, it has almost broken me inside, changed my personality  like I'm scared of stuff. I never used to be scared of anything.

***

While looking into Monument Advisors reputation  and adding her own reviews  Tatro learned of other Monument Advisors clients.

I really wanted to connect with them, so I made the group, Tatro said. That's how all that started.

Matzner said until she came across the Facebook group, she had no idea others were out there.

Since last week, numerous reports of theft against a business with Monument Advisors address have been brought to Grand Island Police Department.

At this point, there should be a pile of money, Tatro said.

Tatro, among others, has filed complaints with the Nebraska Attorney General's office, she said. The Tatros also filed a report with Grand Island Police Department on April 6, alleging a theft amounting to $7,840.

By April 11, police had received nine complaints, said GIPD Captain Jim Duering.

I feel really bad for all these other folks that are filing police reports, Matzner said. They've gotten nothing. They've paid thousands of dollars and have no stones.

Determining whether each of the complaints are criminal or civil will take time, Duering said.

Well do an investigation that will involve interviews, tracking of money and probably looking at shipping and bank records. It'll probably take us some time to determine that.

Theres no real police story until we have time to do our piece of it to determine whether it's criminal, Duering added.

The department has made little progress, Duering said.

Between manpower and some of the bigger cases that we are dealing with right now  we have to triage stuff around here. We really focus on the violent crimes first.

***

Matzner struggles to go visit her husbands resting place. People have been kind, she said, making signs to mark Jims grave.

But despite best efforts, the plot is unkempt. Its not anyones fault, Matzner said. The area couldnt be seeded properly, derailed by the lawsuit.

I was told during this whole lawsuit process to leave (the fallen stones) there. So they laid there, Matzner said.

In June 2022, a retired Lincoln firefighter and a group from the York Fire Department came to Jims resting place on a Sunday, wielding borrowed equipment from a local farmer.

They picked them up and we hauled them off the grave, she said of the pieces.

There was nothing wrong with the stones themselves for the most part, but the bottom was cracked and damaged, Matzner said.

Everything looked nice (when it was installed). It looked kind of weird on the bottom, because it was on these two great big pieces of granite they kind of glued together.

Since they fell that winter, Matzner has tried to find a way to repurpose the stones.

The really sad part of this whole deal is that those stones are granite, and they're just useless. I thought that maybe they could be made into a bench or something," she said.

One headstone company told Matzner they would break them into pieces and put them in the Platte River with other granite scrap.

It just stabbed me in the heart, she said, her voice pained. I think the worst part of all of this is that  didnt my husband deserve better than this?

Photos: Wreaths Across America honors veterans at Lincoln's Wyuka Cemetery
The governors of Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri announced this week that they have formally backed an application for federal funds to power what's known as a "hydrogen hub" in the three-state region.

Gov. Jim Pillen said in a statement Thursday that the three states have signed a memorandum of understanding supporting an application by the Mid-Continent Clean Hydrogen Hub with the U.S. Department of Energy.

The group, known as MCH2, already has applied to become one of between six and 10 regional networks of hydrogen producers, users and transporters seeking a share of $8 billion the federal government is offering in an effort to accelerate the development of hydrogen as a clean energy source. The funding pool was created by the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

"This partnership will help grow Nebraska and the Midwest's economy by opening the pathway for billions of dollars of new investment into our community and hundreds of new, good-paying jobs," Pillen said in the statement. "This hydrogen hub once again shows Nebraska's commitment to renewable energy and our leadership in improving our country's energy security."

State lawmakers last year adopted a measure creating a work group to draft an initial proposal. Of the 79 initial proposals, Nebraska's was one of 33 given the green light to submit an application, which was made on behalf of the three states, said Courtney Dentlinger, vice president of customer service and external affairs with the Nebraska Public Power District.

"It's incredibly exciting for Nebraska and this region," she said.

NPPD is among a number of businesses involved in the proposal. One is Monolith Inc., which has plans to expand a facility near Hallam, Nebraska, that converts natural gas into carbon black and hydrogen, which is used to make ammonia-based fertilizer in a process that doesn't create carbon emissions. Werner Enterprises has committed to rolling out new hydrogen-fueled semitrailer trucks, and NuStar, which operates an ammonia pipeline in the three states.

Nebraska lawmakers also gave first-round approval to a bill that would bolster efforts to create a hub. Legislative Bill 565, sponsored by State Sen. Bruce Bostelman of Brainard, would provide $500,000 in state funds over two years to provide grants for additional engineering and modeling work.

Dentlinger noted that federal funding would require a one-to-one dollar match. Matching funds would come from businesses participating in the hub, not state government.

"It's truly a way to accelerate the development of the hydrogen economy in this region," she said. "That additional influx of funding could help move things forward more quickly."
KHARTOUM, Sudan  As explosions and gunfire thundered outside, Sudanese in the capital Khartoum and other cities huddled in their homes for a third day Monday, while the army and a powerful rival force battled in the streets for control of the country.

At least 185 people were killed and over 1,800 wounded since the fighting erupted, U.N. envoy Volker Perthes told reporters. The two sides are using tanks, artillery and other heavy weapons in densely populated areas. Fighter jets swooped overhead and anti-aircraft fire lit up the skies as darkness fell.

The toll could be much higher because there are many bodies in the streets in central Khartoum that no one can reach because of the clashes.

There has been no official word on how many civilians or combatants have been killed. The doctors' syndicate earlier put the number of civilian deaths at 97.

The outbreak of violence over the weekend between the nation's two top generals, each backed by tens of thousands of heavily armed fighters, trapped millions of people in their homes or wherever they could find shelter, with supplies running low and several hospitals forced to shut down.

Top diplomats on four continents scrambled to broker a truce, and the U.N. Security Council was set to discuss the crisis.

"Gunfire and shelling are everywhere," Awadeya Mahmoud Koko, head of a union for thousands of tea vendors and other food workers, said from her home in a southern district of Khartoum.

She said a shell stuck a neighbor's house Sunday, killing at least three people. "We couldn't take them to a hospital or bury them."

At least 88 students and staffers were trapped in the engineering college library at Khartoum University since the start of fighting, one of the students said in a video posted online Monday. One student was killed during clashes outside and another wounded, he said. They do not have food or water, he said, showing a room full of people sleeping on the floor.

Even in a country with a long history of military coups, the scenes of fighting in the capital and adjoining city Omdurman across the Nile River were unprecedented.

The power struggle pits Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the commander of the armed forces, against Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group. The former allies jointly orchestrated an October 2021 military coup. The violence raised the specter of civil war just as Sudanese were trying to revive the drive for a democratic, civilian government after decades of military rule.

A third of the population  around 16 million people  depends on humanitarian assistance in the resource-rich nation, Africa's third largest.

Under international pressure, Burhan and Dagalo recently agreed to a framework agreement with political parties and pro-democracy groups, but the signing was delayed as tensions rose over the integration of the RSF into the armed forces and the future chain of command.

The U.S., the U.N. and others called for a truce. Egypt, which backs Sudan's military, and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates  which forged close ties to the RSF in recent years as it sent thousands of fighters to support their war in Yemen  also called for both sides to stand down.

Both generals have thus far dug in, demanding the other's surrender and ruling out negotiations.

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, tweeted that the EU ambassador to Sudan "was assaulted in his own residency" without providing further details. EU officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Dagalo, whose forces grew out of the notorious Janjaweed militias in Sudan's Darfur region, portrayed himself as a defender of democracy and branded Burhan as the aggressor and a "radical Islamist." Both generals have a long history of human rights abuses and crackdowns on pro-democracy activists.

Heavy gunbattles raged in multiple parts of the capital and Omdurman, where the two sides have brought in tens of thousands of troops.

Twelve hospitals in the capital area were "forcefully evacuated" and are "out of service" because of attacks or power outages, the Sudan Doctors' Syndicate said, out of a total of about 20 hospitals. Four other hospitals outside the capital also shut down, it said late Monday.

Residents said fierce fighting raged Monday afternoon in the Gabra neighborhood southwest of Khartoum. People were trapped and screaming inside their homes, said Asmaa al-Toum, a physician living in the area.

The military on Monday claimed it secured the main television building in Omdurman, fending off the RSF after days of fighting. State-run Sudan TV resumed broadcasting.

The military and RSF were also fighting in most major centers around the country, including in the western Darfur region and parts of the north and east, and around a strategic airbase in Merowe.

Hadia Saeed said she and her three children were sheltering in one room of their home for fear of the shelling as gunfire rattled across their Bahri district in north Khartoum. They have food for a few more days, but "after that we don't know what to do," she said.

Photos: Sudan battles intensify
1. Yes. Police officers should be the only ones armed in the council chambers. Period.

2. Yes. Such a ban is allowed by state law, and the city council should consider it .

3. No. The possibility of violence is always present, but disarming everyone isnt the answer.

4. No. Its unwise to change the city ordinance based on one unfortunate incident.

5. Unsure. Some steps must be taken, but its hard to say if a gun ban is necessary.

Vote

View Results
KEARNEY  Kearney radio station Y102 (KRNY-FM) along with their sisters stations Hits 106, KGFW, 107.7 The Island & Classic Rock 101.5 and TV station NTV were able to raise $303,622 for the kids at St. Jude during their radiothon on Thursday and Friday, March 30th and 31. This years total donations is the second largest amount raised and the fourth time in the last six (non-Covid) years that the events total has topped $300,000.
Kia's factory in Slovakia / Courtesy of Kia



Korea will send a delegation to Hungary, Poland and Slovakia this week to discuss ways to boost economic and trade ties with the respective European countries, the industry ministry said Monday.



The delegation led by First Vice Industry Minister Jang Young-jin will visit the three European nations from Monday through Friday to meet with senior officials from the nations for talks on enhancing cooperation on steel, batteries and other major industry fields and to hold business forums involving major companies there, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.



In Hungary, Korea will sign the Trade and Investment Promotion Framework (TIPF) with Budapest, a non-binding agreement that calls for enhanced economic cooperation and the facilitation of bilateral corporate exchanges.



It is Korea's first TIPF with a European nation and Seoul's third one following agreements with the United Arab Emirates and the Dominican Republic.



Bilateral trade between Korea and Poland hit an all-time high of $8.95 billion last year, government data showed.



In Poland, the delegation will focus on discussions on how to work more closely in the battery, infrastructure and defense fields, as well as the European Union's safeguard measures against South Korean steel products.



The EU has imposed a 25 percent duty on Korean steel products above its quotas since 2018, which will remain in effect through June 2024 following a three-year extension in 2021.



Trade between Korea and Poland also reached a record high last year of $6.96 billion.



In Slovakia, the delegation will have talks on the auto, hydrogen and nuclear power generation industries, among other issues, according to the ministry.



Some 70 Korean companies have been operating in Slovakia, including Samsung Electronics and Kia, and the Kia factory in the European nation is expected to produce electric vehicles starting in 2025.



"The three nations have been and will be key partners for South Korea in terms of EV, battery and other advanced industries at a time when net-zero industries are becoming more crucial," the ministry said in a release. (Yonhap)


It is important for Dunn County officials to stay connected to their constituents, so the county has launched a new video series and expanded its social media presence to provide important information in ways that people are becoming more comfortable with.

Social media is where a lot of people now go for their information, said Krista Vind, the countys web support specialist who is leading this new information effort. People go to social media sites to find out about events, services, facts and just about everything. Thats why we decided to expand our social media efforts.

Starting late last year, Vind and her colleagues began the Learning About County Government Video Series, which is hosted on the countys website as well as the countys YouTube channel. The first of two videos tell constituents how they can get involved in county government, and the second describes how the Register of Deeds office handles vital records.

We take the need for transparency very seriously in Dunn County, said Kris Korpela, county manager. As the media industry continues to shift, we knew we had to find additional ways to communicate important information to county residents and use all the platforms at our disposal.

Part of this communications effort is posting links to county board committee and full board meetings that have been recorded on the meeting platform Zoom.

In case somebody cant attend in person, we do Zoom for every meeting, Vind said. So, if committee members cannot attend a meeting in person, they have the option to attend virtually, and county residents can then watch the meeting as well.

All meetings are posted to YouTube 24 to 48 hours after the meeting.

Finally, the county makes extensive use of its Facebook and other social media platforms to inform constituents about upcoming events, office closures, voting information and other services that residents need to know about.

We want to keep educating the public because sometimes it seems there isnt a lot of transparency in government Vind said. Our goal is to be more transparent and really inform people about what programs and services we offer.

Snow plowing attracts a lot of attention in winters like we just had, Vind said. In February, the county posted information on its Facebook page concerning the amount of time it takes the county to plow for each snow event.

People really appreciated that kind of information, Vind said, adding it explains to people why dont they see a snowplow out.

Vind said the county uses a collaborative process to decide what videos to do and to work on the script, filming the video and editing the final product.

I meet with the department head who I am working with on the video, and we discuss the best information to provide, she said. We want to provide accurate information that is important for people to know.

A script is developed and either the department head or Vind records the narration. Then pertinent video is shot, and both are edited into a finished product, adding graphics and/or music. Vind said she tries to hold the videos to five minutes or less but will exceed that if the amount of information calls for it.

Some videos will be longer to provide all the needed information, Vind added.

This effort to use videos and social medial to promote transparency will continue to evolve, Vind said, adding: I love doing those videos. I love getting that information out.

The Learning About County Government Video Series can be found at https://bit.ly/3KTvtBC.

The countys Facebook page can be found at www.facebook.com/dunncountywi.
ARCADIA  Ashley for the Arts is set to bring music-lovers and their families together yet again Aug. 10-12.

The full lineup for the main stage will feature a variety of acts covering multiple genres.

On Thursday, Restless Road will take the main stage at 8 p.m.

Fridays lineup is set to include Sawyer Brown at 3 p.m., Trace Adkins at 5 p.m., Jake Owen at 7 p.m. and Reo Speedwagon at 9 p.m.

As for Saturday, the main stage will feature Raelynn at 3 p.m., Walk the Moon at 5 p.m., Tyler Hubbard of Florida Georgia Line at 7 p.m. and OneRepublic at 9 p.m.

Weve had a few years in a row here where we were fairly country-heavy on our headliners. We pride ourselves on being a multi-genre event. Were excited this year to kind of level the playing field with a little more pop and contemporary country, said Ashley for the Arts event manager Bailey Waldera. So we have a little bit of classic rock, a little bit of classic country, modern country and we are welcoming Walk The Moon and One Republic for our pop.

The fun of the festival doesnt stop with the headline acts.

Along with side stage music, there will also be events such as an art and craft fair, painting in the park and a photo contest.

There is also set to be a large amount of family-focused fun, including circus acts, lumberjack show, inflatable air park, petting zoo, fireworks and more.

Additionally, a Pursuit of a Cure Glow Run is scheduled for Thursday evening to start the event.

Pursuit of a Cure acts as a fundraiser to advance medical research and help offset the medical-related costs that families incur during medical emergencies, according to the events website. The funds raised during Pursuit of a Cure benefit the American Cancer Society, Rita Tranberg Memorial and the Arcadia Ambulance Service.

Profits from the festival are donated to local organizations that volunteer during the weekend.

We have almost 4,000 volunteer shifts throughout the weekend, and those volunteers help basically run our event with us, Waldera said.

Last year, over 70 nonprofit organizations benefited from the donated funds.

Supported organizations in the past have included American Cancer Society, Aquinas Catholic School, Arcadia Food Pantry, Arcadia schools, Cotter schools, La Crosse schools, Saint Marys University of Minnesota, Trempealeau County Humane Society, Trempealeau County Fair, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Winona schools, Winona State University and more.

Last year, Ashley for the Arts donated almost $650,000 to local nonprofit organizations.

Ashley for the Arts also offers Community Care Grants, which help support nonprofit organizations conduct projects that focus on the arts, music or cultural activities that are accessible to the general public.

Beyond organizations, Waldera said Ashley for the Arts is benefits the surrounding area because the tens of thousands of people who attend the event each year provide increased business to the vendors who work at the festival, along with other businesses in the area.

Its really not only that we can raise that kind of money for local area organizations, were also helping the local businesses and community showcase what they they bring to the table and what they offer and hopefully they have a financial benefit from the weekend as well, Waldera said.

To purchase tickets for the festival or to register for the glow run ahead of time, visit www.ashleyforthearts.com.
Outdoor burning can resume, including burning of brush and grass at this time. Please remember that if you are going to do any burning you shall call the Vernon County Sheriffs Office Dispatch Center at 608-637-2123 BEFORE burning. This is to ensure they are aware of the burning in case other calls come in. When you are done burning you should notify the dispatch center to let them know your burning is complete so they can take it off their list. Please be mindful of the weather conditions on the day you plan to burn.
A 26-year-old Rochester, Minnesota, man was arrested April 8 after he allegedly struck a La Crosse Police Department officer in the head.

Malik Davison was charged in La Crosse County Circuit Court with a felony count of battery to a law enforcement officer and a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct.

According to the criminal complaint, La Crosse police were called to a fight on the 100 block of South Third Street. Police pursued one of the suspects through an alley on the 300 block of Pearl Street. Officers caught up with the suspect and were restraining him when Davison ran toward the scene.

The complaint says Davison threw a punch that struck one of the officers in the back of the head. Davison was taken into custody after another officer arrived on the scene.

Davison reportedly told police he didnt intend to punch the officer. He said he was sprinting toward the scene and tried to stop after hearing someone say, This is police. 

Police disputed Davisons account. The complaint says Davison said nothing after striking the officer and that he projected anger toward police during the encounter. He reportedly told police he was a criminal justice major and that he intended to sue the department. Police said Davison showed signs of intoxication, and a preliminary breath test recorded a blood-alcohol level of 0.092 percent.

The injured officer didnt report any immediate pain from Davisons punch. However, the officer reported blurry vision when typing the report. He was examined at a local hospital and was diagnosed with a bruise on the back of his head and a possible concussion.

Davison is free on a $1,000 signature bond. His next court date is an April 18 preliminary hearing.
COLUMBIA, S.C.  The 12 U.S. soldiers died in a pine forest in South Carolina in 1780, their bodies hastily buried beneath a thin layer of soil as their comrades fled from the British who appeared ready to put a quick and brutal end to the American Experiment.

But this month, the carefully gathered and studied remains of the dozen unknown soldiers are getting a proper memorial and burial where they fell on the Camden battlefield. It's part of the ongoing 250th anniversary commemorations of the Revolutionary War, which historians hope will highlight history that unites instead of divides.

"Our democracy is the oldest in the world  we don't always get it right, and we have fought amongst ourselves more than I care to think about. But today, we are the most powerful country in the world. This is what you paid for with your life," reads a letter from Air Force veteran Stacey Ferguson that was placed in the soldiers' coffins in late March as she helped prepare the remains for reburial.

But the soldiers' excavation and reburial is not only a memorial. It also illustrates what modern science can do.

Several of the fallen were teenagers, and one had a musket ball in his spine. Their names may soon be discovered through DNA testing and genealogy.

However, there are limits to what can be discovered. Time took its toll on the bodies. Bones that didn't decompose to dust were scattered by wild animals, souvenir hunters and a mid-1900s farmer growing watermelons. Some of the remains showed scars from plows or other equipment. Consequentially, a gap in a bone might be a wound from a musket ball or a bayonet  or it might not be.

"For a lot of these people, we were not able to ascertain their exact cause of death. The skeletons are very fragmented," said Madeline Atwell, a deputy coroner and forensic anthropologist with the Richland County Coroner's Office.

Atwell's office spent several months helping other archeologists carefully dig up the soil at the site. When remains were found, they were draped in a U.S. flag and a veteran escorted them to a truck.

The remains have been X-rayed, tested and meticulously cataloged. They are now being prepared for a reburial ceremony worthy of what historians are calling America's first heroes.

"They are truly America's first veterans. We have a responsibility to honor their sacrifice," said Doug Bostick, the CEO of the South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust.

A huge ceremony is planned in South Carolina from April 20-22. The soldiers will be honored at the national cemetery at Columbia's Fort Jackson Army basic training base before heading on a 20-mile procession to Camden. They will lie in state for two days before horse-drawn caissons carry them back to their resting places.

A similar project is underway in New Jersey, where the bodies of as many as 12 German soldiers, called Hessians, who fought for the British were found in a mass grave at the Red Bank battlefield. In-depth testing, including DNA, are taking place there as well.

"History is an ongoing process. It's not like we've written the Battle of Red Bank and we know everything that happened," said Jennifer Janofsky, a public historian at Rowan University and director of Red Bank Battlefield Park. "We have a better opportunity to tell a more complete story of these individuals."

Organizers of South Carolina's commemorations of the 250th anniversary of the Revolutionary War are remembering battles, but also want to emphasize American ideals of democracy and the country's ability to change, mature and acknowledge where it has fallen short.

Ferguson thought about that as she worked on her note to the long-fallen soldiers. As director of operations for the Historic Camden Foundation, she has been there every step of the way in preserving and honoring them. Among the 14 excavated bodies are one Scottish Highlander and one soldier from North Carolina, both of whom were fighting for the British. They will be honored as well.

The U.S. soldiers appear to be from Maryland or Delaware. Researchers are collecting DNA from them, and people who have ancestors who died in the Revolutionary War volunteered to give samples in hopes the soldiers won't remain unknown forever. That work is still months or years away.

For now, Ferguson helped other archeologists and Richland County Coroner's Office employees carefully place the remains into handmade longleaf pine coffins, built from 18th century designs, which will be sealed with nails a blacksmith made individually.

They sprinkled dirt from the site where each man was recovered into the coffin. They all signed Ferguson's letter, in which the one-time Air Force officer told the soldiers they probably couldn't fathom the power and riches their country gained in the 250 years since they died.

As an officer, Ferguson said she felt a duty to take care of them like she did the men and women in her command.

"You died a brave, yet horrible death far from home and loved ones. You were unceremoniously dumped into a shallow grave with so many more just like you. Now we will give you the hero's farewell you deserve," Ferguson wrote. "All I can say is thank you on behalf of a grateful nation."

Photos: Dig finds evidence of Revolutionary War prison camp
I want to know, have you ever seen the rain? went the well-known Creedence Clearwater Revival refrain, sung by a local guitarist perched on his stool inside MudBugs Cajun Kitchen on Sanibel Island, Florida.

The island saw more than its fair share of rain during Hurricane Ian, which inundated the island with 12 feet of storm surge and flooded some homes up to the roofs. The storm has become a fact of life and a collective lived experience for everyone in this area, the elephant in the room that nobody can stop talking about.

After all, it was the costliest hurricane in Florida history, blamed for $112.9 billion in damage and 66 direct deaths, according to a National Hurricane Center report. Many Lee County residents cut their losses and left the area, but the real theme of human resilience comes through in those who chose to stay and rebuild at whatever cost.

For a few days in late February and early March, I stayed at Latitude 26 Waterfront Resort, just across the bridge facing the bay near Fort Myers Beach. Five months after the storm, it was hard to stomach the remaining signs of devastation, but it was remarkable to see the region returning to life with some bars, restaurants and shops again bustling with business.

I was inspired by leaders like Sanibel Mayor Holly Smith, who gave out her personal phone number amid the storm and celebrated the relighting of the islands iconic lighthouse five months later. Jacki Liszak, the Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce president, lost her hotel, the Sea Gypsy Inn, gift shop, chamber of commerce building and dozens of vacation rental properties  yet spent countless hours dedicated to helping area businesses bounce back.

When describing the experience of vacationing in Lee County less than a full year after a near Category 5 storm struck, its hard not to focus on the devastation that still exists: boats forcefully wedged into mangroves, beachfront hotels that were leveled and massive piles of debris that still remain.

While beachfront accommodations are a little harder to come by, the Lee County Visitor and Convention Bureau has tallied nearly 10,000 guest rooms open for guests. There are places for people to stay and things to do, but marketing after Ian has proven to be a delicate balance.

It is my job to say, The sky is blue, the water is warm and the sand is soft. But if were not truthful with people when they come, and their experience is bad, thats a poor reflection on our dedication to them, said Tamara Pigott, the bureaus executive director. We try to be very truthful with people and honest about whats going on.

Still, tourists can embark on sunset tiki tours or pirate cruises, get up-close with wildlife at Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve or rent a personal watercraft for the day. There are plenty of places to dine, drink and be merry, even amid the tireless recovery effort. Visit Fort Myers has an entire section of its website dedicated to sharing whats open and good news on the long journey to a full recovery.

Some beaches are still closed, but even the tiny stretches of shoreline you can visit come with a disclaimer. Caution: Potential buried debris in sand and water, reads a sign on Blind Pass Beach.

While riding my rental bike across the bridge that connects the Sanibel and Captiva islands, something clicked.

While beachside attractions and eateries are part of the draw for such tourism destinations, I firmly believe its nature that has the most significant drawing power for those who choose to visit or live on this scenic stretch of Florida coast.

Right across from leveled lots and shacks in shambles, I noticed the soothing sounds of waves lapping onto the sand while tranquil beachgoers looked for shells. Later, I returned to find an epic sunset casting an amber glow over the sea while a few visitors gathered to relish the gorgeous conclusion of the day.

Nobody wanted to be anywhere but there in those moments. It only makes sense why some arent ready to give up their slice of paradise.

It was also interesting to note how natural resilience played its role in preserving some of those beloved havens.

I visited Cabbage Key (by paddling there from Pine Island, something I would absolutely not recommend). I learned how the islands historic restaurant opened on generator power 17 days after the storm. The mangroves and natural vegetation served as a protective barrier on the island, where only 20 of 111 acres are developed.

Sanibel Island, which comprises nearly 70 percent conservation land, suffered the worst damage where beachfront hotels and condos had no protective barrier from the hurricane. But the newly reopened J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge fared remarkably well in its predominantly natural state.

The strength of both nature and humans has been on full display since the catastrophic weather event that struck in late September 2022. The path to recovery isnt easy, but theres a collective unshakable will to keep moving forward.

Several songs later, that same musician at MudBug broke into a beautiful rendition of Here Comes the Sun. Plucking his strings, he reminded the small and lively crowd at the restaurant, Its alright.

The sun is shining, the area is recovering and tourists are eager to return. The resilient humans in the region refuse to be beaten down, even by something as massive and life-altering as Hurricane Ian.

Heading inland across the causeway that night, I couldnt help but notice the LED light blinking atop Sanibels iconic luminescent tower. Its a beacon of hope. The island is alive.

Photos: Hurricane Ian's destructive path across Florida
James Skibo was more than just an explorer of Wisconsins past.

As the states archaeologist, he was an ambassador of antiquity, sharing history and artifacts with community groups and members of the Wisconsin Historical Society. Skibo, who took on the role in 2021 after a distinguished career with Illinois State University, also worked closely with other archaeologists and the states Indigenous communities, especially after the remarkable discovery of two ancient canoes in Lake Mendota in 2021 and 2022.

Skibos work and passion were being fondly remembered after he died Friday after being found unresponsive in the lake just a few hundred yards east of where the canoes were found. Skibo, who was 63, was with two other divers, including marine archaeologist Tamara Thomsen, and was taking part in a preparation dive for the upcoming season, according to Christian Overland, director and CEO of the Historical Society.

He had retired and he chose to work with us, in terms of bringing his great expertise and conviction of education and democratizing archaeology and history for everyone. So, its a huge loss, Overland said Monday.

Jim was such a collaborator. Hes just one of those scientists/historians that worked for the greater good of everyone, and with our sovereign nations as well. Everybody is mourning right now.

Skibo was pulled from Lake Mendota just off McKenna Park in Shorewood Hills by rescue crews from the Madison Fire Department at about 9:20 a.m. Friday. The cause of death remains under investigation, according to the Dane County Medical Examiners Office.

For an archaeologist with decades of experience, finding the canoes and participating in the multiyear restoration effort at the State Archive Preservation Facility on Madisons Near East Side were among the highlights of a career that included years of study on Grand Island, located in Lake Superior off Munising, Michigan.

Carbon dating determined that one canoe found last September was 3,000 years old, making it the oldest boat ever found in the Great Lakes region. The other canoe, recovered in June 2021, was found to be about 1,200 years old.

He was looking forward to getting back in the water with his colleagues this spring to further explore the site of the historic canoe recoveries, as he knew there are many stories yet to be shared, the Historical Society wrote on its Facebook page.

Skibo had previously chaired the anthropology department at Illinois State University, where he worked for 27 years. During his career, Skibo authored and edited 11 books and reviewed dozens of articles on pottery, archaeological theory and the archaeology of the Great Lakes. From 2000 to 2018, Skibo co-edited, with Catherine Cameron, the Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory and edited a book series, Foundations of Archaeological Inquiry.

But when he retired from Illinois State, Skibo could not stay away from his craft and in 2021 was named Wisconsins state archaeologist.

He was a mentor but also a great learner, Overland said. And what I mean by a great learner is that he was an explorer. He was always thinking about what people could learn from history, not just reading it in books but bringing it to people.

Skibo also kept a robust schedule that often sent him to speaking engagements three or four times a week. Just two days before his death, Skibo and Thomsen spoke about the canoe recoveries at the 22nd annual meeting of the of the Lake Shore Nature Preserve. On Thursday night, Skibo was at the preservation facility sharing details and stories about the canoes at a special event for members of the Historical Society.

Skibo is survived by his wife of over 30 years, Becky, and his adult children, Matt and Sadie.

Overland praised Skibo for his continued outreach and collaboration and work to promote Wisconsin history not just to academics or in journals but to everyday Wisconsinites.

He brought people together, Overland said. He was a partner with many people, and people will miss that because Jim helped not just his team, but he helped out community members, too. He was the peoples archaeologist, and I would like him to remembered that way.

Photos: Dugout canoe recovered from Lake Mendota after 1,200 years Dugout canoe Dugout canoe Dougout canoe Dugout canoe Dugout canoe Dugout canoe Dugout canoe Dugout canoe Dugout canoe Dugout canoe Dugout canoe
The city of Minneapolis will pay nearly $9 million to settle lawsuits filed by two people who said former police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into their necks years before he used that move in the killing of George Floyd. Their attorney, Bob Bennett, says John Pope Jr. will receive $7.5 million and Zoya Code will receive $1.375 million. The settlements were announced during a meeting of the Minneapolis City Council. The lawsuits stemmed from arrests in 2017. That was three years before Chauvin killed Floyd during an arrest captured on video that resulted in a national reckoning on racial injustice.
A UW-Madison art professor has been cited with disorderly conduct for exposing her breasts last month to a student to make a point about safety around art studio tools and chemicals, UW-Madison police said Friday.

Lisa Gralnick is listed on the universitys website as a professor of art metal within the Art Department. Police say their investigation showed that there was a disagreement between the student and the professor about the students attire, spokesperson Marc Lovicott said.

Gralnick told UWPD officers that she was upset about the students attire because it was not appropriate due to the tools and chemicals in the space and wanted to prove a point, he said.

The student reported the incident on March 28, Lovicott said. He declined to provide the students gender or biological sex, but the victim listed on Gralnicks disorderly conduct ticket is described as a 30-year-old female.

UW-Madison spokesperson John Lucas said the university is reviewing the incident and has removed the faculty member from their teaching duties and has restricted their access to their art studio to limit interactions with students.

In this case, within 24 hours, the Deans Office in the School of Education initiated a response and Office of Human Resources and others have been involved, he said.

He said Art Department members and others at the university also have met with the student to offer support and follow-up resources.

Court records show Gralnick, 66, was issued the ticket on March 31 and pleaded no contest by mail on Friday and paid $295 in fines.

She has been a UW-Madison professor since 2001 and prior to that taught in New York City, Canada and Ohio. Reached by phone on Friday afternoon, she said no comment before the line disconnected.

Art Department officials sent two emails to department staff and students about the incident, on March 29 and on April 12. Neither provided details about the incident itself other than to say it involved a faculty member and student.

The March email says the department was taking corrective action and strives to ensure that our engagements, class offerings, and spaces are inclusive and provide equitable access to everyone.

We do not condone hostile and intimidating behavior, nor do we condone discrimination based on race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin, disability, ancestry, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, marital status or parental status in any of our activities or operations, the email from department chair Derrick Buisch and associate chair Leslie Smith III said.

A follow-up email on April 12 from Buisch provided contact information for students to report misconduct or bias.

State Journal reporter Kimberly Wethal contributed to this report.
Over the weekend, fighting broke out between the armies of Sudan's two most powerful generals.

Tensions had been rising for weeks between the armed forces chief, General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the head of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group, General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.

Just 18 months earlier they worked together to overthrow the government as Sudan moved toward democracy.

Both men each have tens of thousands of troops just in the capital of Khartoum. They have repeatedly said they will not negotiate nor stop fighting, even with rising international pressure.

Here is a look at how Sudan, a country with 46 million people and a long history of military overthrows, reached this point.

What led to the fighting?

In recent months, negotiations had been under way to restart the change to a democratic political system. The process had been suspended since October 2021, when the government was overthrown.

Under rising international pressure, the armed forces and the RSF signed a deal in December with pro-democracy and civilian groups. But the agreement left many important political issues unsettled.

Tensions between Burhan and Dagalo worsened during long negotiations to reach a final agreement. A main dispute is over how the RSF would be mixed into the military and who would have control over fighters and weapons.

Dagalos RSF took strong action against tribal unrest and pro-democracy activists. But he claimed he was a supporter of the democratic transition. In March, he criticized Burhan, saying military leaders were unwilling to hand over power.

Experts argued that Dagalo is trying to cover up the reputation of his paramilitary force. It had been accused of war crimes during the Darfur conflict.

How did the situation worsen?

On Wednesday, the RSF began sending forces around the small town of Merowe, north of the capital. The town is important, with its large airport, central position and dam on the Nile River. The next day, the RSF also sent more forces into the capital and other areas of the country.

On Saturday morning, fighting began at a military base south of Khartoum. Each side blamed the other for having started the violence. Since then, the military and the RSF have battled each other with heavy weapons in highly populated areas of the capital and the nearby city of Omdurman.

By Monday, people have been killed and hundreds wounded in the fighting.

What are the chances of a ceasefire?

An immediate ceasefire appears unlikely. Burhan and Dagalo have demanded that the other surrender. The fierce fighting also might make it harder for the two generals to return to negotiations.

However, the military and the RSF both have foreign supporters, who all called for an immediate end to the fighting. The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to discuss Sudan on Monday.

Who are the foreign interests?

During the decades-long rule of dictator Omar al-Bashir, who was removed in 2019, Russia was a strong influence. At one point, Moscow reached an initial deal to build a naval base on Sudan's Red Sea cost.

After al-Bashir's removal, the United States and European nations began competing with Russia for influence in Sudan. The country is rich in natural resources, including gold.

Burhan and Dagalo have also made close ties with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Sudanese troops from the military and the RSF have fought alongside the Saudi-led alliance in Yemens civil war.

Egypt also has deep ties with the Sudanese military. The two armies conduct regular war exercises, most recently this month.

The military controls most of the country's economy. But the RSF runs major gold mining areas, an important source of money for the group.

Im Faith Pirlo.

Dan Novak adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on reporting by The Associated Press.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

reputation  n. the way in which people think of someone or something

influence  n. the power to change or affect someone or something
ELWOOD  The Bonneville and Omaha Chapters, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution are pleased to announce the dedication of an America 250! Marker at the Gosper County Courthouse in Elwood, Nebraska, on Saturday, June 10 at 1 p.m.

Additionally, a plaque in memory of Dorothy Wilken Abbott, a former Elwood resident and Omaha Chapter, NSDAR member will also be recognized.

Dorothy Wilken Abbott graduated from Elwood High School in 1949 and was a sister of the late Arline Miles and an aunt of Deb Miles Hatfield.

We invite the community of Elwood and surrounding areas to attend the dedication of this America 250! Marker, which will be visible from Highway 283. After the dedication ceremony, there will be a reception in the courthouse.

Nebraska Daughters are preparing for the 250th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies in 1776. The 2026 Semiquincentennial celebration will be an even bigger event than our Bicentennial in 1976. Wed love to have you help serve our communities and preserve the memory of those who carried the musket and beat the drum. They witnessed the birth of our nation. Let us never forget them! said DAR Nebraska State Regent Marcia K. Shavlik

As of April 15th, the Nebraska Society NSDAR has placed America 250! Markers at Omahas Memorial Park on November 6, 2022, and the Archway in Kearney on March 11, 2023.

Other marker dedications will be held on April 30, 2023, in Lincoln, and in Alliance on May 14, 2023.

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolutions goal is to place America 250! Markers in every state of the Union before the 250th birthday of our nation. Please join us for this celebration.
LINCOLN  Agricultural security is national security. Hackers, criminals, foreign intelligence actors, and terrorists continue to pose a threat to Nebraskas food and agriculture sector.

In particular, the cyber threats we see today are more pervasive, target a wider range of victims, and can cause greater damage than ever before. Only through robust partnerships and information sharing can we mitigate these threats and protect the nations food supply.

On June 6  7, 2023, the FBI Omaha field office will host the 2023 Agriculture Threats Symposium. It will take place in Lincoln. We are inviting private sector, academia, industry, and government officials from the agriculture sector to attend, as well as law enforcement partners.

The free two-day symposium is designed to provide information on cyber, terrorist, foreign intelligence, and criminal threats to the agriculture sector in the Upper Midwest and offer resources and guidance for the sector to prevent, detect, and mitigate these threats. To register, please visit https://AgThreatsSymposium.eventbrite.com and complete the registration process. Space is limited.
Chinas senior official overseeing Hong Kongs affairs said Saturday that protests are not the only way for people to express their views, weeks after the citys strict protest rules sparked controversy while signaling Beijings vision for the financial hub.

Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, said the anti-government movement sparked by an extradition bill in 2019 is a scar that will not fade away and he warned against a repeat of such chaos.

Xias remarks at a ceremony on Chinas National Security Education Day indicated Beijings views on the city, which is promoting its return to normalcy following strict pandemic-

related restrictions and political turmoil over the past three years.

In late March, Hong Kong saw its first authorized protest against a government policy since the lifting of major pandemic restrictions under unprecedentedly strict rules, with demonstrators made to wear numbered badges around their necks.

Demonstrations are not the only way to express ones interests and demands, Xia said Saturday, noting that there is no contradiction between safeguarding national security and expressing ones views.

Past experiences have shown that causes centered on environmental protection and livelihood issues can be easily hijacked, he said.

Peoples good will can be easily exploited and manipulated by others with ulterior motives, he said. Demands on livelihood issues can even be distorted into political issues and that eventually trigger social confrontation.

He said a confrontational society has no future, calling on Hong Kong to build a climate for rational communication.

I hope Hong Kong can host exhibitions, develop innovation and technology, strive for economic development, have horse races, dances, stock activities, and earn some money every day, he said.

Xia also described the 2019 protests as Hong Kongs version of a color revolution and said the city cannot allow its district councils to be controlled by anti-China and destabilizing forces.

The citys district councilors largely handle municipal matters such as organizing construction projects and ensuring that public facilities are in order. KANIS LEUNG, HONG KONG, MDT/AP

SAR holds exhibition on national security

An exhibition on national security education was unveiled Saturday in the region, aiming to help local residents better understand new achievements in building and developing the national security system.

Jointly hosted by the SAR government and the Liaison Office of the Central Peoples Government in the Macao SAR, the one-month exhibition displays over 350 photographs and multiple video footages showcasing increased modernization of the national security system and capabilities during the past decade.

Director of the liaison office Zheng Xincong remarked that it is imperative to continuously improve the Macau SARs system and capabilities to safeguard national security, advance the steady and sustained development of the One country, two systems cause with Macau characteristics, further improve supporting legislation and enforcement mechanism, and leverage the unique cultural advantages of Macau.
Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng has told the parliament that, to return to pre-Covid levels, the city must recover 20% of its previous volume of Hong Kong visitors.

Last Friday, the head of the government took questions from lawmakers, including several about the development of tourism.

April 5 was the first time since 1999 that the proportion of Hong Kong arrivals surpassed that from mainland China.

Ho said the number of Hong Kong arrivals between Jan. 13 and March 31 this year reached 1.51 million, 80% of same period in 2019.

It means that we still have 20% to recover, Ho said.

The special benefits issued to Hong Kong visitors may be halted in the future. The policy refers to special enticements and the belief that, at the end of the day, market operations should return to pre-Covid levels.

The effort to attract more Hong Kong tourists has not yet been fully implemented because the two ferry companies are operating on restricted capacities due to an insufficient workforce.

Ho believes that when ferry services return to normal levels, Macau will see more Hong Kong visitors.

On attracting foreign visitors, Ho said Macaus weakness is that it only has regional flights. However, marketing efforts have been initiated to promote Macau at the Hong Kong International Airport.

Buy-one-get-one-free promotions for air tickets will also be rolled out to attract foreign visitors to Macau via Hong Kong. Media familiarization tours will also be held involving press from Korea, Thailand and Malaysia.

He added that in the past three years of Covid-19 restrictions many aviation industry workers have departed from their original positions. As with the ferry services, this has prevented airlines from opening new routes.

Responding to a question from appointed lawmaker Cheung Kin Chung about local hotel capacities, Ho said the city needs more hotel accommodation options, a problem which had long been observed by members of the public and less wealthy travelers.

Nonetheless, it is the first time a head of the Macau government has pointed out that no tourists should be discriminated against, be they wealthy or unwealthy. In the past two decades, the citys tourism industry has focused mostly on big spenders.

Ho said tourists in group tours usually do not want expensive top-notch accommodation, as with some individual tourists. Although the city has many luxury hotels, it lacks mid-range accommodation.

In addition, mainland governmental delegations are bound by mainland laws to stay in non-casino accommodation. Ho said there are only a handful of such hotels of acceptable quality for them to choose from.

He then suggested that hoteliers upgrade these mid-range, non-casino hotels to cater to group tours.

CE apologizes for Apr. 5 Zone A traffic standstill

Lawmaker Chan Chak Mo asked Ho about regular traffic jams at the connection bridge between New Urban Zone A and the main peninsula, particularly the massive traffic congestion on April 5 during the Ching Ming or Tomb-sweeping Festival.

Ho attributed the reason to the previously approved Macau Vehicles to Mainland scheme, drivers misplacement of vehicle identification chips and construction procedures.

He also commended his teams effort in frequent application that saw the scheme approved ahead of time.

There was no reason we put [the scheme] on hold when it was approved, he defended.

Against this backdrop, roads in Zone A appear insufficient in number, he said.

He suggested drivers bound for mainland China on the scheme position their vehicle identification chips correctly to facilitate smoother immigration clearance.

For example, he pointed out, should the chip be positioned to overlap the mainland highway autopay chip, immigration clearance will be obstructed, as the Macao Customs sensors cannot distinguish between the two chips.

Moreover, slot pre-booking may be introduced to avoid peak periods.

Construction procedures have also led to severe traffic problems, Ho added. Many Zone A roads are still in the pipeline because underground pipe networks are being constructed.

Repeating earlier replies to lawmakers from the Transport Bureau, he said that future road networks  with the earliest date for new road opening set for next year  would help resolve prevalent congestion.

Ho made no comment on public criticism over the governments lack of preparation in the past few years for the increase of traffic in the area.

Civil servant pay raise next year to be studied

Replying to questions from allies Pereira Coutinho and Che Sai Wang on salary increments for civil servants, Ho said the government was considering the feasibility. He said a balance must be struck between the adaptability of a recovering economy and rising commodity prices.

Ho said the government had always been open to raising salaries for civil servants, adding that it was not done because lawmakers expressed their demands.

He rejected Ches suggestion to issue an extra month of salary to civil servants who had helped during the June 18 outbreak. After attributing the success to all people in Macau, he pointed to the law as not accommodating the additional salary payment.

On general salary levels, he believes with the economy recovering, the working population will see higher incomes.

Lowering unemployment rate in mind

Ho has pledged to be attentive to the changes in the employment market as the citys unemployment rate stands at 4.1%.

Although the figure represents an improvement compared to last years (May-July 2022) 5.4%, a record high since 2008, according to the available data disclosed by the government, lawmakers have been calling for the government to attend to the numbers of currently unemployed local residents.

In the plenary session, Ho pledged that his government would be attentive to changes in the market and that in due time it would launch various support services, showing its commitment to helping the local population, as well as alleviating the pressure of the human resources problem and reducing the unemployment rate.
The Sudanese military and a powerful paramilitary group battled for control of the chaos-stricken nation for a second day Sunday, signaling they were unwilling to end hostilities despite mounting diplomatic pressure to cease fire.

Heavy fighting involving armored vehicles, truck-mounted machine guns and war planes raged Sunday in the capital of Khartoum, the adjoining city of Omdurman and in flashpoints across the country. The rival forces are believed to have tens of thousands of fighters each in the capital alone.

A doctors group said that at least 56 civilians were killed and that it believed there were dozens of additional deaths among the rival forces. The Sudan Doctors Syndicate said close to 600 people were wounded, including civilians and fighters.

The clashes capped months of heightened tensions between the military and its partner-turned-rival, the Rapid Support Forces. Those tensions had delayed a deal with political parties to get the country back to its short-lived transition to democracy, which was derailed by an October 2021 military coup.

In Khartoum and Omdurman, fighting was reported around the military headquarters, Khartoum International Airport and state television headquarters. A senior military official said RSF fighters clashed with troops at military headquarters early Sunday and that a fire broke out at a facility for ground troops.

The battles have not stopped, said prominent rights advocate Tahani Abass who lives near the military headquarters. They are shooting against each other in the streets. Its an all-out war in residential areas.

Abass said her family spent the night huddling on the ground floor of their home. No one was able to sleep and the kids were crying and screaming with every explosion, she said. Sounds of gunfire were heard while she was speaking to The Associated Press.

The military and the RSF both claimed to be in control of strategic locations in Khartoum and elsewhere in the county. Their claims couldnt be independently verified.

Both sides signaled late Saturday that they were unwilling to negotiate.

The military, headed by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, called for dismantling the RSF, which it labeled a rebellious militia. The head of the RSF, Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, told the satellite news network Al Arabyia that he ruled out negotiations. Dagalo called on Burhan to surrender.

Meanwhile, diplomatic pressure appeared to be mounting.

Top diplomats, including the U.S. Secretary of State, the U.N. secretary-general, the EU foreign policy chief, the head of the Arab League and the head of the African Union Commission urged the sides to stop fighting. Members of the U.N. Security Council, at odds over other crises around the world, called for an immediate end of the hostilities and a return to dialogue.

Arab states with stakes in Sudan  Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates  made similar appeals.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he consulted with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. We agreed it was essential for the parties to immediately end hostilities without pre-condition, he said in a statement early Sunday.

The rival forces were fighting in several locations across Sudan, including the western Darfur region where tens of thousands of people live in camps for displaced people after years of genocidal civil war.

In the province of North Darfur, dozens were killed and wounded since Saturday at a camp for displaced people, said Adam Regal, a spokesman for a Darfur charity.

In Nyala, the capital of South Darfur province, the two sides fought for control of the citys airport, said a military official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief media.

The official said fighting also spread to the eastern region, including the provinces of Kassala and al-Qadarif on the borders with Ethiopia and Eritrea. He said battles centered around RSF and army bases.

The Sudan Doctors Syndicate appealed to international humanitarian and medical organizations to support medical facilities in the country. The group also called on the international community to press both sides to ensure safe passage for ambulances and medical personnel.

The recent tensions stem from disagreement over how the RSF, headed by Dagalo, should be integrated into the armed forces and what authority should oversee the process. The merger is a key condition of Sudans unsigned transition agreement with political groups.

Pro-democracy activists have blamed Burhan and Dagalo for abuses against protesters across the county over the past four years, including the deadly break-up of a protest camp outside the militarys headquarters in Khartoum in June 2019 that killed over 120 protesters. Many groups have repeatedly called for holding them accountable. The RSF has long been accused of atrocities linked to the Darfur conflict.

Sudan, a country at the crossroads of the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa, is known for its history of military coups and civil conflicts since it gained independence in 1950s.

The country has borders with six African nations and a strategic coastline on the Red Sea. A decade-old civil conflict resulted in the secession of South Sudan in 2011.

The clashes will increase hardship in Sudan, where the U.N. says some 16 million people  or one-third of the population  already depend on humanitarian assistance. MDT/AP
In the weeks since Chinese leader Xi Jinping won a third five-year term as president, setting him on course to remain in power for life, leaders and diplomats from around the world have beaten a path to his door. None more so than those from Europe.

French President Emmanuel Macron made a high-profile state visit to Beijing last week accompanied by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, just days after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock arrived in the northeast port city of Tianjin on Thursday, following a visit by Chancellor Olaf Scholz in November. The European Unions foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, would have been in China this week, too, but he tested positive for COVID-19.

For the 27-nation trading bloc, the reasons to head to China are clear.

As an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Xi could play a pivotal role in helping to end the war in Ukraine. The conflict has dragged on for over a year, driven up energy prices and inflicted more damage on economies struggling to rebound from the coronavirus pandemic.

The Europeans want Xis help. They want him to talk to Ukraines president as well as Russias, but they dont see him as the key mediator. Chinas proposed peace plan for Ukraine is mostly a list of its previously known positions and is unacceptable, EU officials say.

The EU also fears that Xi might supply weapons to Russia. Theyve been particularly disturbed by Putins plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus. That announcement came just days after Xi and Putin met to cement their no-limits friendship.

Baerbock said the war is top of my agenda. Praising Beijing for easing tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, she said that its influence vis a vis Russia will have consequences for the whole of Europe and for our relationship with China.

At the same time, the EU is deeply concerned about a military escalation in the Taiwan Strait. China launched war games just after Macron left. But unlike the U.S., with its military and strategic interest in Taiwan, the Europeans mostly see the island in economic and pro-democracy terms.

So the visits are meant to reassure Xi of respect for Beijings control over all of Chinese territory and to urge calm. They also highlight the challenge the U.S. faces as it tries to build a coalition of countries to ramp up pressure on Beijing over its expansionist policies.

The key is that we have every interest, both in Europe and in China, to maintain the status quo, a senior EU official said Wednesday, briefing reporters on plans for Borrells sensitive trip on condition that he not be named. It has worked well for all sides for decades.

Beyond the geopolitics lies business. The EU and China did more than 2.3 billion euros ($2.5 billion) worth of trade every day last year, and the Europeans dont want to endanger that. However, the EUs trade deficit has more than tripled over the past decade, and it wants to level the business playing field.

Its also desperate to limit its imports of critical resources from China, like rare earth minerals or hi-tech components, after painfully weaning itself off its biggest, and most unreliable, gas supplier, Russia.

Over the past two decades, the Chinese government has often used its economic heft to pry France, Germany and other allies away from the U.S. on issues ranging from military security and trade to human rights and Taiwan, observers in the West say.

Beijing has called repeatedly for a multi-polar world, a reference to Chinese frustration with U.S. dominance of global affairs and the ruling Communist Partys ambition to see the country become an international leader.

There has been a serious deviation in U.S. understanding and positioning about China, treating China as the primary opponent and the biggest geopolitical challenge, the Chinese foreign minister, Qin Gang, told reporters last month.

China-Europe relations are not targeted, dependent, or subject to third parties, he said.

Macrons visit appeared to illustrate that Qins view isnt just wishful thinking. As tensions rise between Beijing and Washington, the French leader said, it is important for Europe to retain its strategic autonomy.

Being a friend doesnt mean that you have to be a vassal, Macron said last week, repeating a remark from his trip that alarmed some European partners. Just because were allies, it doesnt mean (that) we no longer have the right to think for ourselves.

Such comments could strain ties with the U.S. and have also exposed divisions within the EU.

Without mentioning Macron, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki warned that some in Europe were too slow to heed the wake-up call on China.

You could see this over the past couple of weeks as some European leaders went to Beijing, Morawiecki said, adding: I do not quite understand the idea of strategic autonomy, if it means de-facto shooting into our own knee.

For its part, the White House has sought to downplay Macrons talk of Europe as an independent pole in a multi-polar world.

It thinks European skepticism toward Beijing is growing. U.S. officials note a recent Dutch decision to restrict Chinas access to advanced computer chip components or Scholz publicly prodding Xi not to deliver weapons to Russia.

Despite the differences of national emphasis, the EUs strategy on China remains much as it was enshrined in 2019  that the Asian giant is a partner, a competitor and systemic rival. The aim of the recent visits fit that mold: to secure Xis commitment to peace, keep trade flowing fairly and reduce Europes reliance on China for critical resources. LORNE COOK, BRUSSELS, MDT/AP
Finlands much-delayed and costly new nuclear reactor, Europes most powerful by production capacity, has completed a test phase lasting over a year and started regular output, boosting the Nordic countrys electricity self-sufficiency significantly.

The Olkiluoto 3 reactor, which has 1,600-megawatt capacity, was connected into the Finnish national power grid in March 2022 and kicked off regular production on Sunday. Operator Teollisuuden Voima, or TVO, tweeted that Olkiluoto 3 is now ready after a delay of 14 years from the original plan.

It will help Finland to achieve its carbon neutrality targets and increase energy security at a time when European countries have cut oil, gas and other power supplies from Russia, Finlands neighbor.

The production of Olkiluoto 3 stabilizes the price of electricity and plays an important role in the Finnish green transition, said TVO President and CEO Jarmo Tanhua in a statement. The company added that the electricity production volume of Europes largest nuclear power plant unit is a significant addition to clean, domestic production.

Construction of Olkiluoto 3 began in 2005 and was to be completed four years later. However, the project was plagued by several technological problems that led to lawsuits. The last time a new nuclear reactor was commissioned in Finland was over 40 years ago.

The Olkiluoto 3 is western Europes first new reactor in more than 15 years. It is the first new-generation EPR, or European Pressurized Reactor, plant to have gone online in Europe. It was developed in a joint venture between Frances Areva and Germanys Siemens.

Primarily due to safety concerns, nuclear power remains a controversial issue in Europe. The launch of the Finnish reactor coincides with Germanys move to shut down its last remaining three nuclear plants on Saturday.

Experts have put Olkiluoto 3s final price tag at some 11 billion euros ($12 billion)  almost three times what was initially estimated. Finland now has five nuclear reactors in two power plants located on the shores of the Baltic Sea. Combined, they cover more than 40% of the nations electricity demand.

The conservative National Coalition Party, or NCP, which won Finlands April 2 general election, wants to increase the share of energy that the country of 5.5 million gets from nuclear power still further.

NCP leader Petteri Orpo, Finlands likely new prime minister, said during the election campaign that the new Cabinet should make nuclear power the cornerstone of the governments energy policy.

JARI TANNER, HELSINKI, MDT/AP
Flights out of northern Taiwan were delayed yesterday after China launched a rocket carrying a satellite that dropped debris into waters north of the capital Taipei.

While the satellite launch had no obvious military purpose, it comes after China held large-scale military drills in response to Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wens transit visit to the United States earlier this month, during which she met U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California.

Tensions remain high and China sent warplanes flying toward Taiwan more than 200 times last weekend, while its navy ships circled the self-ruled island it claims as Chinese territory to be annexed by force if necessary.

Taiwans Defense Ministry issued a statement on public media, saying it had monitored the 9:36 a.m. launch from the Jiuquan base in northwestern China. While some rocket parts had landed within Taiwans air defense identification zone, they posed no threat to our nations territory, the statement said.

China had declared a 27-minute halt to flights over a section of the East China Sea, considerably shorter than the no-fly period over parts of three days it had originally announced. Taiwan said it strongly protested the notice and was able to get China to reduce the flight ban time to the brief period yesterday morning.

Still, the flight ban caused disruptions for travelers headed to Japan from Taipeis Songshan Airport.

Lee Yang-ming, a 54-year-old working in the medical industry, said he had lost an afternoon of sightseeing in Tokyo after his departure time was put back by two hours.

We had our schedule all planned, Lee said. Thats ruined one day of our visit.

Recent Chinese exercises around Taiwan have been seen as a display of its ability not only to attack the island, but to cut off air and sea transit routes in the area that is among the most vital to trade and travel in the world.

That has brought strong condemnations from the U.S., Taiwans chief ally, and warnings from other nations of the calamitous effect a Taiwan Strait conflict would have on the entire world. MDT/AP
The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) will arrange for Macaus cultural and creative industries to participate in the 19th China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair (ICIF) in June. Cultural and creative organisations or companies in Macau can apply to join the exhibition or attend the product promotion sessions at the same venue, as cited in a statement issued by the IC. The organisers will select 10 applicants for the exhibition and product promotion sessions, with confirmation from IC, based on the number of designs, originality, creativity and uniqueness of their products.

Related
MGM Resorts International has been granted a license to operate the first casino in Japan, and is further expanding its international portfolio by way of Japan and Osaka.

Japans government on Friday approved a controversial plan to open the countrys first casino in the city of Osaka as it seeks to lure more foreign tourists.

The resort will be operated by Osaka IR KK, established by the Japanese subsidiary of U.S. casino operator MGM Resorts International, Japans Orix Corp. financial services group, and a number of regional investors.

The casino resort is to include conference facilities, an exhibition hall, a hotel and a theater and is expected to open as early as autumn 2029, four years after Osaka hosts a World Expo.

It is expected to contribute to the local economy and the economic growth of all of Japan after the Osaka-Kansai Expo and become a tourism hub for transmitting the charms of Japan, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at a meeting of the governments IR, or integrated resort, promotion panel.

The panel said the plan meets the governments requirements, including financial stability, contribution to the local economy and consideration of anti-addiction measures. It was formally approved by Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito.

The planned 1.08 trillion yen ($8 billion) project, submitted last year, will be located on an artificial island and is projected to have 20 million visitors and 520 billion yen ($3.9 billion) in revenue annually. Most of the revenue is expected to come from the casino.

Osaka is close to other attractions such as Universal Studios Japan and the tourist destination of Kyoto. But experts say its business could shrink in the future in a country with a rapidly aging and declining population.

Past attempts to build casinos have failed, often because of strong public opposition to gambling, even though state-run wagering on horse and boat racing is extremely popular. The Nikkei business newspaper said it recently surveyed Osaka residents and found that their opinions were divided, with 45% in favor of the casino plan and 38% against it.

Back in 2020, some gaming operators in Macau who submitted their proposals for operating IRs in Japans different cities backed out at the race at close intervals.

The original application period for local governments in Japan, together with their chosen IR partners, to submit joint proposals to the national government was set as January 4 to July 31, 2021. However, in December 2020, Japans government announced that the application period would be pushed back nine months to October 1, 2021 to April 28, 2022, due to the hindrance of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Owing to the adverse impact of the coronavirus, the government eyed opening the first integrated resort in the late 2020s. MDT/AP
Li Shulei, a senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC), met with a media delegation from the SAR late last week. Li, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, briefed the delegation on the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress. He also reviewed the historic achievements made in the cause of the Party and the country since the 18th CPC National Congress. Li called on Macaus press circles to continue to hold high the banner of loving both the motherland and Macau, foster greater patriotism and a strengthened sense of national identity.

Related
LEGISLATURE BADGERCARE

Wisconsinites receiving public health care assistance through BadgerCare Plus would no longer be automatically reenrolled in the system and would have to renew their status with the state every six months under a Republican-authored bill in the Legislature.

The proposal, Assembly Bill 148, largely mirrors legislation passed last session by the Republican-controlled state Assembly and Senate. The bill was ultimately vetoed last April by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

Proponents of the bill say the changes aim to reduce the number of ineligible individuals receiving public benefits and reduce state spending. More than 1.6 million Wisconsinites are enrolled in BadgerCare or Medicaid programs, which are provided to low-income, pregnant, disabled and elderly individuals, according to state data.

"I'm all for helping people that need help, but unfortunately our safety net has become a hammock over the years," Rep. Donna Rozar, vice chair of the Assembly Committee on Health, Aging and Long-term Care, said at a public hearing Wednesday.

The committee could vote on the proposal as early as Wednesday.

The bill would bar the Department of Health Services from automatically renewing eligibility for BadgerCare recipients. DHS would also have to determine an individual's eligibility every six months and would be prohibited from filling out eligibility forms for recipients in advance.

In addition, any BadgerCare recipient who fails to timely report to DHS any changes that may affect their eligibility would become ineligible for benefits for six months.

Earlier bill

Evers vetoed a similar bill in April 2022,writing in a veto message at the time that "individuals who otherwise meet existing eligibility criteria are entitled to these program benefits under federal law."

For the 2022 bill, DHS said the proposed Badger Care eligibility changes could jeopardize up to $7 billion in federal funding for administering Medicaid. DHS officials said inwritten testimony provided to the committee that a fiscal estimate for the current bill was not available for Wednesday's meeting.

"The provisions of AB 148 are out of compliance with current federal regulations and would jeopardize Wisconsin's ability to draw down both regular and enhanced federal funds for the Medicaid program," DHS Legislative Director HJ Waukau wrote in the testimony.

Waukau also notes that, under the bill, the agency's workload for determining Medicaid eligibility would double, necessitating the need for additional employees.

"Further, the administrative burden of the renewals would be much more time intensive without the use of pre-printed renewal forms," Waukau added. "Such efforts would be further complicated by the unwinding of the public health emergency with current members already having their eligibility status redetermined. AB 148 does not provide any funding for DHS for these purposes and DHS would be unable to absorb these costs under its existing budget

Supporters of the bill say the amount of funding recovered from improper BadgerCare payments would more than make up for any expense.

"By requiring periodic eligibility determinations and data-sharing agreements, we can better monitor program usage and make sure that taxpayer dollars are being used efficiently," Rep. Gae Magnafici, R-Dresser, said in a Thursday statement. "It's time to put an end to the abuse of our government assistance programs and help those who truly need it."

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reports that roughly $85 billion in improper Medicaid payments are made annually nationwide. Nearly 87% of those payments were the result of insufficient documentation, as opposed to fraud or abuse.

'Missed opportunity'

Mike Browne, deputy director of the liberal group A Better Wisconsin Together, described the bill as "yet another missed opportunity by these right-wing Republican state legislators."

"When they could be working with Gov. Evers and Democrats to expand health care, family and medical leave and create family-supporting jobs, they're instead focusing on taking health insurance and unemployment benefits away from people who need it," Browne said in a statement.

A dozen groups, including the Wisconsin Counties Association, Wisconsin Council of Churches, Disability Rights Wisconsin and American Diabetes Association, have registered in opposition to the bill. Two groups, Wisconsin Independent Businesses, Inc., and Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, support the measure.

The bill was proposed after more than 78% of Wisconsin voters approved a nonbinding question on the April 4 ballot asking voters: "Shall able-bodied childless adults be required to look for work in order to receive taxpayer-funded welfare benefits?"

The proposed bill also comes as COVID-19 federal health emergencies are scheduled to end May 11, meaning people no longer eligible for Medicaid around the country will lose coverage over the coming year.

Wisconsin has seen BadgerCare enrollment increase 49% since March 2020, with 1.2 million residents now in the state's main Medicaid program. An estimated 309,000 people are expected to lose coverage by June 2024, according to a report in December from the Urban Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Most of those people now have incomes that exceed 100%of the federal poverty level or 300% for pregnant women and children, the state Medicaid cutoffs that depend on family size. Or they now have access to employer insurance.
MADISON SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT

Madison School District Superintendent Carlton Jenkins, who announced his retirement in February, is a finalist for a job to lead Memphis schools.

On its website, Memphis Shelby County Schools listed Jenkins as a finalist in its hunt for a new superintendent. He is one of three finalists for that post alongside a former Boston Public Schools superintendent, Brenda Cassellius, and Memphis' current interim superintendent, Toni Williams.

The Tennessee school district said it is pausing interviews with Jenkins and the other finalists pending further review of other candidates.

Jenkins will no longer lead Madison schools come July 28. In his retirement announcement, Jenkins said he was looking forward to spending more time with his family, particularly his 3-year-old grandson.

The district's spokesperson Tim LeMonds had not responded to a request for comment Sunday.

The District's first Black superintendent, Jenkins has helmed the city's schools since August 2020. In the nearly three years since, he has led the district through the COVID-19 pandemic, budget issues, learning loss, staffing shortages and more.

On Monday night, the Madison School Board is slated to consider naming an interim superintendent and hiring a consultant to help find a new leader for the district.
James Skibo was more than just an explorer of Wisconsins past.

As the states archaeologist, he was an ambassador of antiquity, sharing history and artifacts with community groups and members of the Wisconsin Historical Society. Skibo, who took on the role in 2021 after a distinguished career with Illinois State University, also worked closely with other archaeologists and the states Indigenous communities, especially after the remarkable discovery of two ancient canoes in Lake Mendota in 2021 and 2022.

Skibos work and passion were being fondly remembered after he died Friday after being found unresponsive in the lake just a few hundred yards east of where the canoes were found. Skibo, who was 63, was with two other divers, including marine archaeologist Tamara Thomsen, and was taking part in a preparation dive for the upcoming season, according to Christian Overland, director and CEO of the Historical Society.

He had retired and he chose to work with us, in terms of bringing his great expertise and conviction of education and democratizing archaeology and history for everyone. So, its a huge loss, Overland said Monday.

Jim was such a collaborator. Hes just one of those scientists/historians that worked for the greater good of everyone, and with our sovereign nations as well. Everybody is mourning right now.

Skibo was pulled from Lake Mendota just off McKenna Park in Shorewood Hills by rescue crews from the Madison Fire Department at about 9:20 a.m. Friday. The cause of death remains under investigation, according to the Dane County Medical Examiners Office.

For an archaeologist with decades of experience, finding the canoes and participating in the multiyear restoration effort at the State Archive Preservation Facility on Madisons Near East Side were among the highlights of a career that included years of study on Grand Island, located in Lake Superior off Munising, Michigan.

Carbon dating determined that one canoe found last September was 3,000 years old, making it the oldest boat ever found in the Great Lakes region. The other canoe, recovered in June 2021, was found to be about 1,200 years old.

He was looking forward to getting back in the water with his colleagues this spring to further explore the site of the historic canoe recoveries, as he knew there are many stories yet to be shared, the Historical Society wrote on its Facebook page.

Skibo had previously chaired the anthropology department at Illinois State University, where he worked for 27 years. During his career, Skibo authored and edited 11 books and reviewed dozens of articles on pottery, archaeological theory and the archaeology of the Great Lakes. From 2000 to 2018, Skibo co-edited, with Catherine Cameron, the Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory and edited a book series, Foundations of Archaeological Inquiry.

But when he retired from Illinois State, Skibo could not stay away from his craft and in 2021 was named Wisconsins state archaeologist.

He was a mentor but also a great learner, Overland said. And what I mean by a great learner is that he was an explorer. He was always thinking about what people could learn from history, not just reading it in books but bringing it to people.

Skibo also kept a robust schedule that often sent him to speaking engagements three or four times a week. Just two days before his death, Skibo and Thomsen spoke about the canoe recoveries at the 22nd annual meeting of the of the Lake Shore Nature Preserve. On Thursday night, Skibo was at the preservation facility sharing details and stories about the canoes at a special event for members of the Historical Society.

Skibo is survived by his wife of over 30 years, Becky, and his adult children, Matt and Sadie.

Overland praised Skibo for his continued outreach and collaboration and work to promote Wisconsin history not just to academics or in journals but to everyday Wisconsinites.

He brought people together, Overland said. He was a partner with many people, and people will miss that because Jim helped not just his team, but he helped out community members, too. He was the peoples archaeologist, and I would like him to remembered that way.
University of Wisconsin System chancellors are being told to audit the viability of their branch campuses as headcounts at most of the Systems two-year schools continue to rapidly decline.

System President Jay Rothman said everything is on the table, from adding bachelors degree or continuing education programs to consolidating campuses.

The directive comes as UW-Platteville at Richland, which has seen the steepest enrollment declines of all branch campuses, is about to end its degree-fulfilling classes, and Washington County considers a community college pilot program with the Wisconsin Technical College System. The audits are a part of a wider strategic plan Rothman initiated shortly after he joined the System in June, he said.

Rothman said Monday he had asked the seven System chancellors with branch campuses to determine what the financial and operating challenges are at each campus and what can be done to stabilize them.

He stressed there is not a one-size-fits-all solution that applies to each branch. UW-Green Bay, for example, is exploring a one university, four campuses model in which each of the branch sites is considered equivalent to the main campus.

After discussing with chancellors what has and hasnt been working, Rothman said, audits were the logical next step.

Thats my ask to them, to see what we can do to ensure the long-term viability of those institutions, Rothman said. Certainly, the enrollment has declined, and we just have to be responsible stewards of taxpayers money as we look at that.

As part of the audits, chancellors will be asked to establish goals, an action outline, expected results and a timeline to attain them.

All branch campuses have experienced steep declines from their peak enrollments, although some are experiencing a rebound. Enrollment declines at the Systems two-year campuses prompted the Board of Regents to merge all of its two-year campuses with the Systems four-year universities at the start of the 2018 school year.

A previous consolidation in 2015 further consolidated the branch campuses, then called UW Colleges, into regional groups that shared administrative, marketing and recruiting staff. That consolidation eliminated 83 administrative jobs between the 13 two-year colleges and was prompted by a $250 million cut to the Systems budget in 2015.

Some of the branch campuses seem to be bucking their declining enrollment trends. The Manitowoc campus started seeing enrollment growth in 2020 after a decade of declines; campuses at Sheboygan and Marinette saw their enrollment tick up slightly in recent years after experiencing similar fall-offs.

UW-Green Bay, which oversees those three branches, credits adding localized bachelors degree programs for each county and dual enrollment programs that allow high school students to earn associate degrees.

Others have similar plans, with UW-Platteville adding hospitality and business management degrees at the Baraboo-Sauk County branch campus, which sits just south of the economic engine that is the Wisconsin Dells, and UW-Stevens Point offering a masters in business administration at its Wausau branch.

Rothman said he wants to see a holistic approach in the audits, with a focus on improving the educational experience while using scarce resources effectively and meeting community needs.

Our goal is to find a path forward to viability, Rothman said. As patterns change, we want our branch campuses and our universities to continue to evolve ... (lets) put all of the options on the table and lets figure out the best pathway forward.
The identity has been released of the woman who police say broke into a Belleville bar and fired gunshots, resulting in a more than eight-hour standoff.

Jovanna K. Kirtz, 42, of Belleville, is being held at the Dane County Jail on multiple tentative charges that include burglary, criminal damage to property, six counts of recklessly endangering safety, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and theft.

Sheriffs spokesperson Elise Schaffer said Kirtz is believed to have been involved in a domestic incident in Green County, but details on that incident have not yet been released.

On Saturday, the Sheriffs Office reported that a woman broke into the Dam Bar and Grill at 3 E. Main St. after a domestic altercation at another location. Police were called to the bar just before 2 a.m. Saturday, and while the woman was inside, she fired several shots, forcing the evacuation of five apartments above the bar.

Deputies, the Sheriffs Offices Tactical Response Team and Crisis Negotiation Team and Belleville police, along with the Madison Police Departments armored rescue vehicle, remained on the scene until about 10:20 a.m., when the woman surrendered and was taken into custody.

The bar was closed Sunday and it was unclear Monday when it would reopen, according to the bars Facebook page.

Thank you to everyone for your concerns and patience while we get the bar back in order, the post read. There was a lot of broken glass and therefore everything needed to be moved, thrown away, cleaned, etc. We are uncertain as to whether we will be open on Monday but will definitely post it. Thanks again.
The defrocked Roman Catholic cardinal who became the face of the churchs clergy sex abuse crisis has been charged in Wisconsin with sexually assaulting an 18-year-old man more than 45 years ago, court records show.

A criminal complaint filed Friday alleges that Theodore McCarrick, who was removed from the priesthood in 2019 after a Vatican investigation found he had sexually molested adults and children, fondled a man in 1977 while staying at a cabin on Geneva Lake in southeastern Wisconsin.

The alleged victim, who is not named, told investigators that McCarrick had repeatedly sexually assaulted him since he was 11 and even brought him to parties where other adult men sexually assaulted him, according to the complaint.

McCarrick became the highest-ranking Roman Catholic official in the U.S. to face criminal charges for sexual abuse when he was accused in 2021 of sexually assaulting a teenage boy in Massachusetts at a wedding reception in 1974. His attorneys asked the judge in that case earlier this year to dismiss the charges, saying that McCarrick, now 92 and suffering from dementia, is not competent to stand trial.

The once-powerful priest was ordained in 1958 and became archbishop in Newark, New Jersey, in 1986 and then archbishop of Washington, D.C., in 2000. He rose to power despite church officials knowledge of accusations against him. A two-year Vatican investigation into McCarricks tenure found credible reports of his problematic behavior dating back to 1999, including an inquiry confirming that McCarrick had slept with seminarians.

The church has confirmed it made financial settlements with adults who accused McCarrick of sexual misconduct. McCarrick retired in 2006 but continued to be active in political circles until he was defrocked by Pope Francis in 2019.

Wisconsin prosecutors learned of the alleged 1977 assault through the Attorney Generals Clergy and Faith Leader Abuse initiative, a program dedicated to prosecuting instances of abuse by faith leaders, according to a news release. Officials were able to charge McCarrick because the statute of limitations does not apply to people who are not residents of the state. A similar law allowed Massachusetts prosecutors to bring their case against McCarrick more than 40 years later.

McCarricks attorney in Massachusetts, William Fick, did not immediately return a phone call or email sent Monday. An attorney for McCarrick has not yet been listed in the Wisconsin case.

Registered child sex offenders in Dane County Addy, Keith M Aikens, Aaron J Andaverde, Rodolfo Anderson, Thomas H Babcock, Jay A Bagneski, Jeffrey H Banks, Dennis D Banuelos, Evelio Baumgartner, Michael A Beierle, Christopher A Belling, Richard A Black, Michael L Blue, Roscoe L Bohn, Andrew J Booker, Derrick J Borka, Thomas A Bradley, Colin M Brien, Ty B Brooks, Jonquil J Brown, John F Brown, Kenton E Buchino, Jacob M Buhler, Adam L Bunnell, John R Burdick, Kyle D Burns, Bruce E Burns, Michael D Capps, Robert J Carter, Javontae D Chestnut, Dean Chvala, Charles F Comello, Richard E Conklin, Bruce B Conroy, Michael B Cosme, Lloyd M Cox, Joshua M Cramer, David L Crass, Joshua Daniel Curry, John M Delacruz-Aguero, Faustino Delao, Manuel R Dickert, Alexander T Douglas, Marcel Drabek, Joshua P Dybevik, Todd P Dydyn, Michael Benjamin Dye, Eric J Eagen, Robert T Ellsworth, Michael B Elsner, Michael Erickson, Jesse L Erickson, Zachary S Evenson, Robert J Faust, Larry W Fenske, Jason E Ferro, Hudson D Finch, Brandon A Folts, Brandon E Forqurean, Patrick T Forsythe, Thomas J Fountain, Timothy M Frausto, Manuel Villarreal Freeman, Jeffrey S Frills, Vernon L Frye, Terry L Sr Galston, Troy M Gassen, Nathan A Gatling, Patrick S Gaugert, Billy Jo Gilbert, Jeffery Gillaum, Anthony D Gillaum, Larry D Gillespie, James A Gintowt, Daniel C Gordon, John T Green, Matthew E Griffin, Walter J Hagberg, Timothy C Hairston, Jason L Hanson, Robin D Harris, Nakim E Haslett, Emmanuel M Hernandez-Lopez, Abel Hilleshiem, Jan A Hirsch, Anthony J Hobbs, Jeremy W Holmes, Brian V Holmstrom, Daniel E Holtan, Matthew Horton, James M Horton, Nathaniel R Hunter, Joel M Husband, Pierre Hutchins, Spencer L Israelstam, David M Jackson, Amar D Jespersen, Paul R B Jessick, Brandon Johnson, Frederic E Jr Johnson, Haji J Johnson, Joseph C Johnson, Marcus L Johnson, Thomas R Jones, Dquann R Jones, Jacob B Jones, Terrence L Juarez, Gregorio Karnga, Trokon I Kendall, Benjie L Keodouangsy, Micknvgm M Klapps, Benjamin J Knutson, Jeffrey Kolman, Shelby K Kornacki, Michael T Kosinski, Daniel S Kudingo, Anthony T Kvalo, Jacob S Lafavor, Jason P Lagally, Karsten S Landers, Christopher M Lange, Walter J Lawrence, Michael Lentz, Mark A Leroy, William R Lewis, Stanley Lovell, David L Lucas, Phillip E Lucas, Reconald D Macartney, Cody J Mack, David L Mackesey, Michael R Malone, Martez M Matousek, Craig Mccune, Douglas M Mckay, Darryl Mckinzy, Terry D Mcnabney, Kyle S Mcquillen, Nathan A Medina Lopez, Elimelec Meseberg, Michael T Miller, David L Moore, Rodney C Moreno, Juan G Mouth, Rodney M Munoz, Cody A Myers, David C Nafzger, James A Nelson, Eric F Nelson, Mathew D Nelson, Ricky A Sr Nienhaus, Pierce B Norsetter-Shiner, Michael A Noyes, Randy R Olsen, Hans H Olson, Larry W Ossmann, Chad C Ostern, Gregory S Pagel, James M Phillips, Morrise Pierce, Rick C Pillar, Erik Daniel Pineda, Alfredo Pirk, Leslie M Potenberg, Richard A Praedel, David G Preston, Chester J Qualmann, Justin M Raisbeck, John C Rasmussen, Matthew J Rave, Francis P Revels, William J Richmond, Billy N Rigby, Jonathon S Ristau, Stacey E Rivera, Aristides Roder, Dale Rodriguez, Antonio G Rodriguez, Kevin Rojas-Laguna, Jose Rose, Andrew L Rose, Doran R Ruiz, Armando L Sabel, Thomas J Sallay, Carlos B Schielzeth, Joel S Schindel, Joshua A Schmidt, Andrew R Schneider, Joseph R Scott, Jerod Selkurt, Scott A Shelton, Tyler Shields, Cortez W Shoulders, Jamarious M Shy, Kirk L Simpson, Steven B Singleton, Marcus O Smith, Michael M Sorenson, Kristi L Stadelmayer, David R Steinhorst, Gregory R Strom, David R Suttles, James E Swift, Jarvis M Swisher, Richard W Szudy, Matthew J Tanon, Miguel A Teed, Kevin W Tengowski, Myron Sr Tessmann, Cody A Thelen, Thomas L Tuckwood, Andrew James Turner, Berlin Ujke, Joshua M Urrea, Noe Vanderscheuren, Anthony P Vang, Sai Vega Hernandez, Cesar Vosen, Jeremy P Walker, Jimmie T Warren, Ricky L Jr Wasley, Richard Webb, Devon A Weiss, Mark E West, Mark A Westendorf, Theodore John White, David B Will, Gary A Williams, Corwin K Williams, Dewy Wayne Williams, Lamar Williams, Richard D Williams, Willie L Winch, James T Yoder, Isaac Young, Steven R Zimmerman, John F Zobjeck, James L
A small yet worthy idea to address gun violence in Wisconsin seems to have bipartisan support, which is encouraging.

But so much more must be done to protect the public from senseless shootings, including universal background checks and strict limits on weapons of war.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Republican lawmakers appear to agree on the need for suicide prevention measures at gun stores and ranges. The governor included $150,000 in his state budget proposal to train staff at firearm retailers and ranges to recognize when someone might be contemplating suicide. The money also could pay for related literature at gun shops and precautionary, voluntary firearm storage.

Two lawmakers  Sen. Jesse James, R-Altoona, and Rep. Shae Sortwell, R-Two Rivers  have introduced the same proposal as a standalone bill. So this looks like it can pass, which is good. Paying closer attention to people with guns who might have harmful thoughts could save lives and maybe even prevent a mass shooting. Credit James and Sortwell for seeking this small measure of progress.

Yet the epidemic of gun violence across America  including last weeks killing of two police officers near the northwestern Wisconsin village of Cameron  demands much bigger and broader action from the Republican-run Legislature.

Gun rights advocates claim, Guns dont kill people. People kill people. But mass shooters using military-style weapons kill more people, on average, than other mass shooters. So the gun can be the difference in how many die.

Moreover, the absence of a gun can prevent violence. The gun homicide rate in the U.S. is 26 times higher than in other wealthy nations with stricter laws, according to Everytown for Gun Safety.

After so many massacres at schools, theaters and stores, a significant legislative response is needed, which Evers and other Democrats have strongly favored.

Wisconsin, for example, should require consistent background checks on all gun purchases and transfers. That way, if a dangerous person isnt supposed to have a deadly weapon, a potential sale can be canceled. While licensed dealers must run a check before finalizing a purchase, many online and in-person sellers are exempt.

Thats how a man was able to purchase a .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun to fatally shoot three women at a Brookfield spa in 2012. He got the gun from an online seller. A background check would have stopped the sale because of the mans lengthy restraining order.

The GOP-controlled Legislature also should adopt a red flag law allowing judges to temporarily disarm people with strong evidence of imminent danger. At the national level, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act encourages states to adopt red flag protections.

GOP representatives should bring back a 48-hour waiting period for gun purchases, which could have prevented a young man in Madison from buying a gun in 2016 and, the very next day, shooting a 24-year-old grocery store worker from Stoughton.

Wisconsins GOP should hold parents responsible for loose guns when children use them to kill or maim people. The 15-year-old who killed his principal at Weston High School in rural Cazenovia in 2006 got his guns from his fathers home.

The legal age for buying a firearm should be raised from 18 to 21, given how many young people cause mass shootings. Florida did just that  and more  following the 2018 school massacre in Parkland.

Wisconsin should strictly limit  if not ban  the sale of military-style weapons to civilians, such as assault rifles and exploding ammunition. An AR-15, which was designed for war, isnt necessary to hunt deer or protect your family. Similarly, reasonable limits should be set on high-capacity magazines.

Some Republicans are finally stepping up to help Democrats protect the public from chronic gun violence. But James and Sortwells baby steps, though welcome, are far from real solutions.
HANOI  Fifty years after the last U.S. combat troops left South Vietnam, Secretary of State Antony Blinken looked Saturday to strengthen America's ties with its old foes in Hanoi as it seeks to counter China's growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific.

Blinken and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh pledged to boost relations to new levels as they met just two weeks after the 50th anniversary of the U.S. troop withdrawal that marked the end of America's direct military involvement in Vietnam.

It came as Blinken broke ground on a new $1.2 billion U.S. embassy compound in the Vietnamese capital, a project the Biden administration hopes will demonstrate its commitment to further improving ties less than 30 years after diplomatic relations were restored in 1995.

Despite concerns over Vietnam's human rights record, Washington seeks to leverage Vietnam's rivalry with China.

"We think this is an auspicious time to elevate our existing partnership," Blinken told reporters after meetings with Chinh, Vietnam's foreign minister and Communist Party chief.

"This has been a very comprehensive and effective relationship and going forward we will continue to deepen relations," Chinh said. "We highly appreciate the role and responsibility of the U.S. towards the Asia Pacific, or, in a larger scheme, the Indo-Pacific."

He added that Vietnam's communist government is keen to "further elevate our bilateral ties to a new height."

With a number of China's other neighbors, Vietnam has maritime and territorial disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea. The U.S. offered diplomatic support and bolstered military cooperation with the Philippines and the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which China claims as a renegade province.
Checking people's records can be a wise choice if you are hiring an employee or going out with someone you met on a dating app. Let's be honest  we all know how much people suffer after being deceived by someone they trusted. This can happen to anyone, especially if you dont verify a person before you let them into your life or go into business with them. TruePeopleSearch.io has proved itself extremely handy in these situations. This advanced and extremely user-friendly people search platform can help you obtain valid and up-to-date information about people across the U.S.

TruePeopleSearch is a people search website that is completely free for anyone to use. The website works quite differently from search engines like Google. For instance, if you are searching for someone by their name on your average search engine, you will most likely get a list of social media profiles that match your searched keywords. With this people search website, TruePeopleSearchs database is not limited to online records. The portal has access to public records as well as search engines to give you the most accurate results. All you have to do is simply enter the first and last name of the person you want to look up and click the search button.

Unlike most people search platforms that charge a small fee for showing you results, TruePeopleSearch is completely free for anyone. It is accessible through any type of device with an internet connection and can be used anywhere. If you are worried about a long list of similar names appearing after you initiate your search, don't worry  this portal allows you to narrow down your options by filtering them according to the state where the person youre searching for lives.

This people search database stands out because of its accurate resources and for offering information fast. You can find out every detail about a person, from their contact number to their social media profiles, court records, address, phone records, marital status, job status, etc. So the next time you feel a potential candidate is perfect for your team, dont forget to go for a background check on TruePeopleSearch to avoid being deceived in the future.

Conducting a search on this people search website requires little to no effort at all, thanks to its built-in technology and regularly updated database that offers unmatched accuracy and detailed results in minutes. Finding information about a person by searching through public records might take weeks or even months. However, TruePeopleSearch has the ability to cut the duration of your search into seconds. There is no better, more cost-effective, and easier way to search through public records.

The platforms users also testify that the portal ensures a high level of confidentiality regarding your search history and results. This means every search you conduct is completely risk-free. Interestingly, there are numerous ways you can use the people search database on this platform besides verifying the background information of a new team member, business associate, or date. You can also find a long-lost relative or a friend you have lost contact with. Checking whether your new neighbor has any previous criminal records is now a click away. For all this, you just need to type the person's name into TruePeopleSearchs search bar and wait a few minutes to see the results. It is unbelievably simple and costs nothing.

Lee Enterprises newsroom and editorial were not involved in the creation of this content.